Produced by Karl Hagen and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team




Transcriber's Notes: Despite the severity with which the author of this
work treats those who depart from his standard of correctness, the source
text does contain a small number of typographical errors. Missing
punctuation has been supplied silently, but all other errors have been left
uncorrected. To let the reader distinguish such problems from any
inadvertent transcription errors that remain, I have inserted notes to flag
items that appear errors by Brown's own standard. Spellings that are simply
different from current practice, e.g., 'Shakspeare' are not noted. Special
characters: vowels with macrons are rendered with an equals sign (=) before
the vowel. Vowels with breve marks are rendered with tildes (~) before the
vowels.--KTH.

THE

GRAMMAR

OF

ENGLISH GRAMMARS,

WITH

AN INTRODUCTION

HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL;

THE WHOLE

METHODICALLY ARRANGED AND AMPLY ILLUSTRATED;

WITH

FORMS OF CORRECTING AND OF PARSING, IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION, EXAMPLES
FOR PARSING, QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION, EXERCISES FOR WRITING, OBSERVATIONS
FOR THE ADVANCED STUDENT, DECISIONS AND PROOFS FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF
DISPUTED POINTS, OCCASIONAL STRICTURES AND DEFENCES, AN EXHIBITION OF THE
SEVERAL METHODS OF ANALYSIS,

AND

A KEY TO THE ORAL EXERCISES:

TO WHICH ARE ADDED

FOUR APPENDIXES,

PERTAINING SEPARATELY TO THE FOUR PARTS OF GRAMMAR.

BY GOOLD BROWN,

AUTHOR OF THE INSTITUTES OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, THE FIRST LINES OF ENGLISH
GRAMMAR, ETC.

"So let great authors have their due, that Time, who is the author of
authors, be not deprived of his due, which is, farther and farther to
discover truth."--LORD BACON.

SIXTH EDITION--REVISED AND IMPROVED.

ENLARGED BY THE ADDITION OF A COPIOUS INDEX OF MATTERS.

BY SAMUEL U. BERRIAN, A. M.




PREFACE

The present performance is, so far as the end could be reached, the
fulfillment of a design, formed about twenty-seven years ago, of one day
presenting to the world, if I might, something like a complete grammar of
the English language;--not a mere work of criticism, nor yet a work too
tame, indecisive, and uncritical; for, in books of either of these sorts,
our libraries already abound;--not a mere philosophical investigation of
what is general or universal in grammar, nor yet a minute detail of what
forms only a part of our own philology; for either of these plans falls
very far short of such a purpose;--not a mere grammatical compend,
abstract, or compilation, sorting with other works already before the
public; for, in the production of school grammars, the author had early
performed his part; and, of small treatises on this subject, we have long
had a superabundance rather than a lack.

After about fifteen years devoted chiefly to grammatical studies and
exercises, during most of which time I had been alternately instructing
youth in four different languages, thinking it practicable to effect some
improvement upon the manuals which explain our own, I prepared and
published, for the use of schools, a duodecimo volume of about three
hundred pages; which, upon the presumption that its principles were
conformable to the best usage, and well established thereby, I entitled,
"The Institutes of English Grammar." Of this work, which, it is believed,
has been gradually gaining in reputation and demand ever since its first
publication, there is no occasion to say more here, than that it was the
result of diligent study, and that it is, essentially, the nucleus, or the
groundwork, of the present volume.

With much additional labour, the principles contained in the Institutes of
English Grammar, have here been not only reaffirmed and rewritten, but
occasionally improved in expression, or amplified in their details. New
topics, new definitions, new rules, have also been added; and all parts of
the subject have been illustrated by a multiplicity of new examples and
exercises, which it has required a long time to amass and arrange. To the
main doctrines, also, are here subjoined many new observations and
criticisms, which are the results of no inconsiderable reading and
reflection.

Regarding it as my business and calling, to work out the above-mentioned
purpose as circumstances might permit, I have laid no claim to genius, none
to infallibility; but I have endeavoured to be accurate, and aspired to be
useful; and it is a part of my plan, that the reader of this volume shall
never, through my fault, be left in doubt as to the origin of any thing it
contains. It is but the duty of an author, to give every needful facility
for a fair estimate of his work; and, whatever authority there may be for
anonymous copying in works on grammar, the precedent is always bad.

The success of other labours, answerable to moderate wishes, has enabled me
to pursue this task under favourable circumstances, and with an unselfish,
independent aim. Not with vainglorious pride, but with reverent gratitude
to God, I acknowledge this advantage, giving thanks for the signal mercy
which has upborne me to the long-continued effort. Had the case been
otherwise,--had the labours of the school-room been still demanded for my
support,--the present large volume would never have appeared. I had desired
some leisure for the completing of this design, and to it I scrupled not to
sacrifice the profits of my main employment, as soon as it could be done
without hazard of adding another chapter to "the Calamities of Authors."

The nature and design of this treatise are perhaps sufficiently developed
in connexion with the various topics which are successively treated of in
the Introduction. That method of teaching, which I conceive to be the best,
is also there described. And, in the Grammar itself, there will be found
occasional directions concerning the manner of its use. I have hoped to
facilitate the study of the English language, not by abridging our
grammatical code, or by rejecting the common phraseolgy [sic--KTH] of its
doctrines, but by extending the former, improving the latter, and
establishing both;--but still more, by furnishing new illustrations of the
subject, and arranging its vast number of particulars in such order that
every item may be readily found.

An other important purpose, which, in the preparation of this work, has
been borne constantly in mind, and judged worthy of very particular
attention, was the attempt to settle, so far as the most patient
investigation and the fullest exhibition of proofs could do it, the
multitudinous and vexatious disputes which have hitherto divided the
sentiments of teachers, and made the study of English grammar so
uninviting, unsatisfactory, and unprofitable, to the student whose taste
demands a reasonable degree of certainty.

"Whenever labour implies the exertion of thought, it does good, at least to
the strong: when the saving of labour is a saving of thought, it enfeebles.
The mind, like the body, is strengthened by hard exercise: but, to give
this exercise all its salutary effect, it should be of a reasonable kind;
it should lead us to the perception of regularity, of order, of principle,
of a law. When, after all the trouble we have taken, we merely find
anomalies and confusion, we are disgusted with what is so uncongenial: and,
as our higher faculties have not been called into action, they are not
unlikely to be outgrown by the lower, and overborne as it were by the
underwood of our minds. Hence, no doubt, one of the reasons why our
language has been so much neglected, and why such scandalous ignorance
prevails concerning its nature and history, is its unattractive,
disheartening irregularity: none but Satan is fond of plunging into
chaos."--_Philological Museum_, (Cambridge, Eng., 1832,) Vol. i, p. 666.

If there be any remedy for the neglect and ignorance here spoken of, it
must be found in the more effectual teaching of English grammar. But the
principles of grammar can never have any beneficial influence over any
person's manner of speaking or writing, till by some process they are made
so perfectly familiar, that he can apply them with all the readiness of a
native power; that is, till he can apply them not only to what has been
said or written, but to whatever he is about to utter. They must present
themselves to the mind as by intuition, and with the quickness of thought;
so as to regulate his language before it proceeds from the lips or the pen.
If they come only by tardy recollection, or are called to mind but as
contingent afterthoughts, they are altogether too late; and serve merely to
mortify the speaker or writer, by reminding him of some deficiency or
inaccuracy which there may then be no chance to amend.

But how shall, or can, this readiness be acquired? I answer, By a careful
attention to such _exercises_ as are fitted to bring the learner's
knowledge into practice. The student will therefore find, that I have given
him something to _do_, as well as something to _learn_. But, by the
formules and directions in this work, he is very carefully shown how to
proceed; and, if he be a tolerable reader, it will be his own fault, if he
does not, by such aid, become a tolerable grammarian. The chief of these
exercises are the _parsing_ of what is right, and the _correcting_ of what
is wrong; both, perhaps, equally important; and I have intended to make
them equally easy. To any real proficient in grammar, nothing can be more
free from embarrassment, than the performance of these exercises, in all
ordinary cases. For grammar, rightly learned, institutes in the mind a
certain knowledge, or process of thought, concerning the sorts, properties,
and relations, of all the words which can be presented in any intelligible
sentence; and, with the initiated, a perception of the construction will
always instantly follow or accompany a discovery of the sense: and
instantly, too, should there be a perception of the error, if any of the
words are misspelled, misjoined, misapplied,--or are, in any way,
unfaithful to the sense intended.

Thus it is the great end of grammar, to secure the power of apt expression,
by causing the principles on which language is constructed, if not to be
constantly present to the mind, at least to pass through it more rapidly
than either pen or voice can utter words. And where this power resides,
there cannot but be a proportionate degree of critical skill, or of ability
to judge of the language of others. Present what you will, grammar directs
the mind immediately to a consideration of the sense; and, if properly
taught, always creates a discriminating taste which is not less offended by
specious absurdities, than by the common blunders of clownishness. Every
one who has any pretensions to this art, knows that, to _parse_ a sentence,
is but to resolve it according to one's understanding of its import; and it
is equally clear, that the power to _correct_ an erroneous passage, usually
demands or implies a knowledge of the author's thought.

But, if parsing and correcting are of so great practical importance as our
first mention of them suggests, it may be well to be more explicit here
concerning them. The pupil who cannot perform these exercises both
accurately and fluently, is not truly prepared to perform them at all, and
has no right to expect from any body a patient hearing. A slow and
faltering rehearsal of words clearly prescribed, yet neither fairly
remembered nor understandingly applied, is as foreign from parsing or
correcting, as it is from elegance of diction. Divide and conquer, is the
rule here, as in many other cases. Begin with what is simple; practise it
till it becomes familiar; and then proceed. No child ever learned to speak
by any other process. Hard things become easy by use; and skill is gained
by little and little. Of the whole method of parsing, it should be
understood, that it is to be a critical exercise in utterance, as well as
an evidence of previous study,--an exhibition of the learner's attainments
in the practice, as well as in the theory, of grammar; and that, in any
tolerable performance of this exercise, there must be an exact adherence to
the truth of facts, as they occur in the example, and to the forms of
expression, which are prescribed as models, in the book. For parsing is, in
no degree, a work of invention; but wholly an exercise, an exertion of
skill. It is, indeed, an exercise for all the powers of the mind, except
the inventive faculty. Perception, judgement, reasoning, memory, and
method, are indispensable to the performance. Nothing is to be guessed at,
or devised, or uttered at random. If the learner can but rehearse the
necessary definitions and rules, and perform the simplest exercise of
judgement in their application, he cannot but perceive what he _must say_
in order to speak the truth in parsing. His principal difficulty is in
determining the parts of speech. To lessen this, the trial should commence
with easy sentences, also with few of the definitions, and with definitions
that have been perfectly learned. This difficulty being surmounted, let him
follow the forms prescribed for the several praxes of this work, and he
shall not err. The directions and examples given at the head of each
exercise, will show him exactly the number, the order, and the proper
phraseology, of the particulars to be stated; so that he may go through the
explanation with every advantage which a book can afford. There is no hope
of him whom these aids will not save from "plunging into chaos."

"Of all the works of man, language is the most enduring, and partakes the
most of eternity. And, as our own language, so far as thought can project
itself into the future, seems likely to be coeval with the world, and to
spread vastly beyond even its present immeasurable limits, there cannot
easily be a nobler object of ambition than to purify and better
it."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 665.

It was some ambition of the kind here meant, awakened by a discovery of the
scandalous errors and defects which abound in all our common English
grammars, that prompted me to undertake the present work. Now, by the
bettering of a language, I understand little else than the extensive
teaching of its just forms, according to analogy and the general custom of
the most accurate writers. This teaching, however, may well embrace also,
or be combined with, an exposition of the various forms of false grammar by
which inaccurate writers have corrupted, if not the language itself, at
least their own style in it.

With respect to our present English, I know not whether any other
improvement of it ought to be attempted, than the avoiding and correcting
of those improprieties and unwarrantable anomalies by which carelessness,
ignorance, and affectation, are ever tending to debase it, and the careful
teaching of its true grammar, according to its real importance in
education. What further amendment is feasible, or is worthy to engage
attention, I will not pretend to say; nor do I claim to have been competent
to so much as was manifestly desirable within these limits. But what I
lacked in ability, I have endeavored to supply by diligence; and what I
could conveniently strengthen by better authority than my own, I have not
failed to support with all that was due, of names, guillemets, and
references.

Like every other grammarian, I stake my reputation as an author, upon "a
certain set of opinions," and a certain manner of exhibiting them,
appealing to the good sense of my readers for the correctness of both. All
contrary doctrines are unavoidably censured by him who attempts to sustain
his own; but, to grammatical censures, no more importance ought to be
attached than what belongs to grammar itself. He who cares not to be
accurate in the use of language, is inconsistent with himself, if he be
offended at verbal criticism; and he who is displeased at finding his
opinions rejected, is equally so, if he cannot prove them to be well
founded. It is only in cases susceptible of a rule, that any writer can be
judged deficient. I can censure no man for differing from me, till I can
show him a principle which he ought to follow. According to Lord Kames, the
standard of taste, both in arts and in manners, is "the common sense of
mankind," a principle founded in the universal conviction of a common
nature in our species. (See _Elements of Criticism_, Chap, xxv, Vol. ii, p.
364.) If this is so, the doctrine applies to grammar as fully as to any
thing about which criticism may concern itself.

But, to the discerning student or teacher, I owe an apology for the
abundant condescension with which I have noticed in this volume the works
of unskillful grammarians. For men of sense have no natural inclination to
dwell upon palpable offences against taste and scholarship; nor can they be
easily persuaded to approve the course of an author who makes it his
business to criticise petty productions. And is it not a fact, that
grammatical authorship has sunk so low, that no man who is capable of
perceiving its multitudinous errors, dares now stoop to notice the most
flagrant of its abuses, or the most successful of its abuses? And, of the
quackery which is now so prevalent, what can be a more natural effect, than
a very general contempt for the study of grammar? My apology to the reader
therefore is, that, as the honour of our language demands correctness in
all the manuals prepared for schools, a just exposition of any that are
lacking in this point, is a service due to the study of English grammar, if
not to the authors in question.

The exposition, however, that I have made of the errors and defects of
other writers, is only an incident, or underpart, of the scheme of this
treatise. Nor have I anywhere exhibited blunders as one that takes delight
in their discovery. My main design has been, to prepare a work which, by
its own completeness and excellence, should deserve the title here chosen.
But, a comprehensive code of false grammar being confessedly the most
effectual means of teaching what is true, I have thought fit to supply this
portion of my book, not from anonymous or uncertain sources, but from the
actual text of other authors, and chiefly from the works of professed
grammarians.

"In what regards the laws of grammatical purity," says Dr. Campbell, "the
violation is much more conspicuous than the observance."--See _Philosophy
of Rhetoric_, p. 190. It therefore falls in with my main purpose, to
present to the public, in the following ample work, a condensed mass of
special criticism, such as is not elsewhere to be found in any language.
And, if the littleness of the particulars to which the learner's attention
is called, be reckoned an objection, the author last quoted has furnished
for me, as well as for himself, a good apology. "The elements which enter
into the composition of the hugest bodies, are subtile and inconsiderable.
The rudiments of every art and science exhibit at first, to the learner,
the appearance of littleness and insignificancy. And it is by attending to
such reflections, as to a superficial observer would appear minute and
hypercritical, that language must be improved, and eloquence
perfected."--_Ib._, p. 244.

GOOLD BROWN.

LYNN, MASS., 1851.



TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PRELIMINARY MATTERS.
  Preface to the Grammar of English Grammars
  This Table of Contents
  Catalogue of English Grammars and Grammarians

INTRODUCTION.
  Chapter I. Of the Science of Grammar
  Chapter II. Of Grammatical Authorship
  Chapter III. Of Grammatical Success and Fame
  Chapter IV. Of the Origin of Language
  Chapter V. Of the Power of Language
  Chapter VI. Of the Origin and History of the English Language
  Chapter VII. Changes and Specimens of the English Language
  Chapter VIII. Of the Grammatical Study of the English Language
  Chapter IX. Of the Best Method of Teaching Grammar
  Chapter X. Of Grammatical Definitions
  Chapter XI. Brief Notices of the Schemes of certain Grammars

THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH GRAMMARS.
  Introductory Definitions
  General Division of the Subject

PART I. ORTHOGRAPHY.
  Chapter I. Of Letters
    I. Names of the Letters
    II. Classes of the Letters
    III. Powers of the Letters
    IV. Forms of the Letters
    Rules for the use of Capitals
    Errors concerning Capitals
    Promiscuous Errors of Capitals
  Chapter II. Of Syllables
    Diphthongs and Triphthongs
    Rules for Syllabication
    Observations on Syllabication
    Errors concerning Syllables
  Chapter III. Of Words
    Rules for the Figure of Words
    Observations on Figure of Words
    On the Identity of Words
    Errors concerning Figure
    Promiscuous Errors in Figure
  Chapter IV. Of Spelling
    Rules for Spelling
    Observations on Spelling
    Errors in Spelling
    Promiscuous Errors in Spelling
  Chapter V. Questions on Orthography
  Chapter VI Exercises for Writing

PART II. ETYMOLOGY.
  Introductory Definitions
  Chapter I. Of the Parts of Speech
    Observations on Parts of Speech
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis I
  Chapter II. Of the Articles
    Observations on the Articles
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis II
    Errors concerning Articles
  Chapter III. Of Nouns
    Classes of Nouns
    Modifications of Nouns
      Persons
      Numbers
      Genders
      Cases
    The Declension of Nouns
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis III
    Errors concerning Nouns
  Chapter IV. Of Adjectives
    Classes of Adjectives
    Modifications of Adjectives
    Regular Comparison
    Comparison by Adverbs
    Irregular Comparison
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis IV
    Errors concerning Adjectives
  Chapter V. Of Pronouns
    Classes of the Pronouns
    Modifications of the Pronouns
    The Declension of Pronouns
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis V
    Errors concerning Pronouns
  Chapter VI. Of Verbs
    Classes of Verbs
    Modifications of Verbs
      Moods
      Tenses
      Persons and Numbers
    The Conjugation of Verbs
    I. Simple Form, Active or Neuter
    First Example, the verb _LOVE_
    Second Example, the verb _SEE_
    Third Example, the verb _BE_
    II. Compound or Progressive Form
    Fourth Example, to _BE READING_
    Observations on Compound Forms
    III. Form of Passive Verbs
    Fifth Example, to _BE LOVED_
    IV. Form of Negation
    V. Form of Question
    VI. Form of Question with Negation
    Irregular Verbs, with Obs. and List
    Redundant Verbs, with Obs. and List
    Defective Verbs, with Obs. and List
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis VI
    Errors concerning Verbs
  Chapter VII. Of Participles
    Classes of Participles
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis VII
    Errors concerning Participles
  Chapter VIII. Of Adverbs
    Classes of Adverbs
    Modifications of Adverbs
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis VIII
    Errors concerning Adverbs
  Chapter IX. Of Conjunctions
    Classes of Conjunctions
    List of the Conjunctions
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis IX
    Errors concerning Conjunctions
  Chapter X. Of Prepositions
    List of the Prepositions
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis X
    Errors concerning Prepositions
  Chapter XI. Of Interjections
    List of the Interjections
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis XI
    Errors concerning Interjections
  Chapter XII. Questions on Etymology
  Chapter XIII. Exercises for Writing

PART III. SYNTAX.
  Introductory Definitions
  Chapter I. Of Sentences
    The Rules of Syntax
    General or Critical Obs. on Syntax
    The Analyzing of Sentences
    The several Methods of Analysis
    Observations on Methods of Analysis
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis XII
  Chapter II. Of the Articles
    Rule I. Syntax of Articles
    Observations on Rule I
    Notes to Rule I; 17 of them
    False Syntax under Notes to Rule I
  Chapter III. Of Cases, or Nouns
    Rule II. Of Nominatives
    Observations on Rule II
    False Syntax under Rule II
    Rule III. Of Apposition
    Observations on Rule III
    False Syntax under Rule III
    Rule IV. Of Possessives
    Observations on Rule IV
    Notes to Rule IV; 5 of them
    False Syntax under Notes to Rule IV
    Rule V. Of Objectives after Verbs
    Observations on Rule V
    Notes to Rule V; 8 of them
    False Syntax under Rule V
    Rule VI. Of Same Cases
    Observations on Rule VI
    Notes to Rule VI; 2 of them
    False Syntax under Rule VI
    Rule VII. Of Objectives after Prepositions
    Observations on Rule VII
    Note to Rule VII; 1 only
    False Syntax under Rule VII
    Rule VIII. Of Nominatives Absolute
    Observations on Rule VIII
    False Syntax under Rule VIII
  Chapter IV. Of Adjectives
    Rule IX. Of Adjectives
    Observations on Rule IX
    Notes to Rule IX; 16 of them
    False Syntax under Rule IX
  Chapter V. Of Pronouns
    Rule X. Pronoun and Antecedent
    Observations on Rule X
    Notes to Rule X; 16 of them
    False Syntax under Rule X
    Rule XI. Pronoun and Collective Noun
    Observations on Rule XI
    Notes to Rule XI; 2 of them
    False Syntax under Rule XI
    Rule XII. Pronoun after AND
    Observations on Rule XII
    False Syntax under Rule XII
    Rule XIII. Pronoun after OR or NOR
    Observations on Rule XIII
    False Syntax under Rule XIII
  Chapter VI. Of Verbs
    Rule XIV. Verb and Nominative
    Observations on Rule XIV
    Notes to Rule XIV; 10 of them
    False Syntax under Rule XIV
    Rule XV. Verb and Collective Noun
    Observations on Rule XV
    Note to Rule XV; 1 only
    False Syntax under Rule XV
    Rule XVI. The Verb after AND
    Observations on Rule XVI
    Notes to Rule XVI; 7 of them
    False Syntax under Rule XVI
    Rule XVII. The Verb with OR or NOR
    Observations on Rule XVII
    Notes to Rule XVII; 15 of them
    False Syntax under Rule XVII
    Rule XVIII. Of Infinitives with TO
    Observations on Rule XVIII
    False Syntax under Rule XVIII
    Rule XIX. Of Infinitives without TO
    Observations on Rule XIX
    False Syntax under Rule XIX
  Chapter VII. Of Participles
    Rule XX. Syntax of Participles
    Observations on Rule XX
    Notes to Rule XX; 13 of them
    False Syntax under Rule XX
  Chapter VIII. Of Adverbs
    Rule XXI. Relation of Adverbs
    Observations on Rule XXI
    Notes to Rule XXI; 10 of them
    False Syntax under Rule XXI
  Chapter IX. Of Conjunctions
    Rule XXII. Use of Conjunctions
    Observations on Rule XXII
    Notes to Rule XXII; 8 of them
    False Syntax under Rule XXII
  Chapter X. Of Prepositions
    Rule XXIII. Use of Prepositions
    Observations on Rule XXIII
    Notes to Rule XXIII; 5 of them
    False Syntax under Rule XXIII
  Chapter XI. Of Interjections
    Rule XXIV. For Interjections
    Observations on Rule XXIV
    False Syntax Promiscuous
    Examples for Parsing, Praxis XIII
  Chapter XII. General Review
    False Syntax for a General Review
  Chapter XIII. General Rule of Syntax
    Critical Notes to the General Rule
  General Observations on the Syntax
    False Syntax under the General Rule
    False Syntax under the Critical Notes
    Promiscuous Examples of False Syntax
  Chapter XIV. Questions on Syntax
  Chapter XV. Exercises for Writing

PART IV. PROSODY.
  Introductory Definitions and Observations
  Chapter I. Punctuation
    Obs. on Pauses, Points, Names, &c.
    Section I. The Comma; its 17 Rules
    Errors concerning the Comma
    Section II. The Semicolon; its 3 Rules
    Errors concerning the Semicolon
    Mixed Examples of Error
    Section III. The Colon; its 3 Rules
    Errors concerning the Colon
    Mixed Examples of Error
    Section IV. The Period; its 8 Rules
    Observations on the Period
    Errors concerning the Period
    Mixed Examples of Error
    Section V. The Dash; its 3 Rules
    Observations on the Dash
    Errors concerning the Dash
    Mixed Examples of Error
    Section VI. The Eroteme; its 3 Rules
    Observations on the Eroteme
    Errors concerning the Eroteme
    Mixed Examples of Error
    Section VII. The Ecphoneme; its 3 Rules
    Errors concerning the Ecphoneme
    Mixed Examples of Error
    Section VIII. The Curves; and their 2 Rules
    Errors concerning the Curves
    Mixed Examples of Error
    Section IX. The Other Marks
    Mixed Examples of Error
    Bad English Badly Pointed
  Chapter II. Of Utterance
    Section I. Of Articulation
      Article I. Of the Definition
      Article II. Of Good Articulation
    Section II. Of Pronunciation
      Article I. Powers of Letters
      Article II. Of Quantity
      Article III. Of Accent
    Section III. Of Elocution
      Article I. Of Emphasis
      Article II. Of Pauses
      Article III. Of Inflections
      Article IV. Of Tones
  Chapter III. Of Figures
    Section I. Figures of Orthography
    Section II. Figures of Etymology
    Section III. Figures of Syntax
    Section IV. Figures of Rhetoric
    Section V. Examples for Parsing, Praxis XIV
  Chapter IV. Of Versification
    Section I. Of Verse
    Definitions and Principles
    Observations on Verse
    Section II. Of Accent and Quantity
    Section III. Of Poetic Feet
    Critical Observations on Theories
    Section IV. Of the Kinds of Verse
  Order I. Iambic Verse; its 8 Measures
  Order II. Trochaic Verse; its Nature
    Observations on Trochaic Metre
    Trochaics shown in their 8 Measures
  Order III. Anapestic Verse; its 4 Measures
    Observations on the Short Anapestics
  Order IV. Dactylic Verse; its 8 Measures
    Observations on Dactylics
  Order V. Composite Verse
    Observations on Composites
    Section V. Improprieties for Correction
  Chapter V. Questions on Prosody
  Chapter VI. Exercises for Writing

KEY TO THE ORAL EXERCISES.

THE KEY.--PART I.--ORTHOGRAPHY.
  Chapter I. Of Letters; Capitals
    Corrections under each of the 16 Rules
    Promiscuous corrections of Capitals
  Chapter II. Of Syllables
    Corrections of False Syllabication
  Chapter III. Of the Figure of Words
    Corrections under each of the 6 Rules
    Promiscuous corrections of Figure
  Chapter IV. Of Spelling
    Corrections under each of the 15 Rules
    Promiscuous corrections of Spelling

THE KEY.--PART II--ETYMOLOGY.
  Chapter I. Of the Parts of Speech
    Remark concerning False Etymology
  Chapter II. Of Articles; 5 Lessons
  Chapter III. Of Nouns; 3 Lessons
  Chapter IV. Of Adjectives; 3 Lessons
  Chapter V. Of Pronouns; 3 Lessons
  Chapter VI. Of Verbs; 3 Lessons
  Chapter VII. Of Participles; 3 Lessons
  Chapter VIII. Of Adverbs; 1 Lesson
  Chapter IX. Of Conjunctions; 1 Lesson
  Chapter X. Of Prepositions; 1 Lesson
  Chapter XI. Of Interjections; 1 Lesson

THE KEY.--PART III.--SYNTAX.
  Chapter I. Of Sentences; Remark
  Chapter II. Of Articles. Corrections under the 17 Notes to Rule 1
  Chapter III. Of Cases, or Nouns
    Cor. under Rule II; of Nominatives
    Cor. under Rule III; of Apposition
    Cor. under Rule IV; of Possessives
    Cor. under Rule V; of Objectives
    Cor. under Rule VI; of Same Cases
    Cor. under Rule VII; of Objectives
    Cor. under Rule VIII; of Nom. Absolute
  Chapter IV. Of Adjectives. Corrections under the 16 Notes to Rule IX
  Chapter V. Of Pronouns. Corrections under Rule X and its 16 Notes
    Corrections under Rule XI; of Pronouns
    Cor. under Rule XII; of Pronouns
    Cor. under Rule XIII; of Pronouns
  Chapter VI. Of Verbs. Corrections under Rule XIV and its 10 Notes
    Cor. under Rule XV and its Note
    Cor. under Rule XVI and its 7 Notes
    Cor. under Rule XVII and its 15 Notes
    Cor. under Rule XVIII; of Infinitives
    Cor. under Rule XIX; of Infinitives
  Chapter VII. Of Participles. Corrections under the 13 Notes to Rule XX
  Chapter VIII. Of Adverbs. Corrections under the 10 Notes to Rule XXI
  Chapter IX. Of Conjunctions. Corrections under the 8 Notes to Rule XXII
  Chapter X. Of Prepositions. Corrections under the 5 Notes to Rule XXIII
  Chapter XI. Promiscuous Exercises. Corrections of the 8 Lessons
  Chapter XII. General Review. Corrections under all the preceding Rules
    and Notes; 18 Lessons
  Chapter XIII. General Rule. Corrections under the General Rule; 16
    Lessons
  Corrections under the Critical Notes
  Promiscuous Corrections of False Syntax; 5 Lessons, under Various Rules

THE KEY.--PART IV.--PROSODY.
  Chapter I. Punctuation
    Section I. The Comma; Corrections under its 17 Rules
    Section II. The Semicolon; Corrections under its 8 Rules
    Mixed Examples Corrected
    Section III. The Colon; Corrections under its 8 Rules
    Mixed Examples Corrected
    Section IV. The Period; Corrections under its 8 Rules
    Mixed Examples Corrected
    Section V. The Dash; Corrections under its 8 Rules
    Mixed Examples Corrected
    Section VI. The Eroteme; Corrections under its 3 Rules
    Mixed Examples Corrected
    Section VII. The Ecphoneme; Corrections under its 3 Rules
    Mixed Examples Corrected
    Section VIII. The Curves; Corrections under their 2 Rules
    Mixed Examples Corrected
    Section IX. All Points; Corrections
    Good English Rightly Pointed
  Chapter II. Utterance; no Corrections
  Chapter III. Figures; no Corrections
  Chapter IV. Versification. False Prosody, or Errors of Metre, Corrected

THE FOUR APPENDIXES.
  Appendix I. (To Orthography.) Of the Sounds of the Letters
  Appendix II. (To Etymology.) Of the Derivation of Words
  Appendix III. (To Syntax.) Of the Qualities of Style
  Appendix IV. (To Prosody.) Of Poetic Diction; its Peculiarities

INDEX OF MATTERS.



A DIGESTED CATALOGUE OF ENGLISH GRAMMARS AND GRAMMARIANS,

WITH SOME COLLATERAL WORKS AND AUTHORITIES, ESPECIALLY SUCH AS ARE CITED IN
THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH GRAMMARS.

ADAM, ALEXANDER, LL. D.; "Latin and English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 302:
Edinburgh, 1772; Boston, 1803.

ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY, LL. D.; "Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory;" 2 vols.,
8vo: Cambridge, N. E., 1810.

ADAMS, Rev. CHARLES, A. M.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 172: 1st Edition,
Boston, 1838. ADAMS, DANIEL, M. B.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 103: 3d
Edition, Montpelier, Vt., 1814.

ADAMS, E.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 143. Leicester, Mass., 1st Ed., 1806;
5th Ed., 1821.

AICKIN, JOSEPH; English Grammar, 8vo: London, 1693.

AINSWORTH, ROBERT; Latin and English Dictionary, 4to: 1st Ed., 1736;
revised Ed., Lond., 1823.

AINSWORTH, LUTHER; "A Practical System of English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 144:
1st Ed., Providence, R. I., 1837.

ALDEN, ABNER, A. M.; "Grammar Made Easy;" 12mo, pp. 180: 1st Ed., Boston,
1811.

ALDEN, Rev. TIMOTHY, Jun.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 36: 1st Ed., Boston,
1811.

ALDRICH, W.; "Lectures on English Grammar and Rhetoric, for Common Schools,
Academies," &c.; 18mo, pp. 68: 11th Ed., Boston, 1847.

ALEXANDER, CALEB, A. M.; (1.) "Grammatical Elements," published before
1794. (2.) "A Grammatical Institute of the Latin Language;" 12mo, pp. 132:
Worcester, Mass., 1794. (3.) "A Grammatical System of the English
Language;" 12mo, pp. 96; written at Mendon, Mass., 1795: 10th Ed., Keene,
N. H., 1814. Also, (4.) "An Introduction to Latin," 1795; and, (5.) "An
Introduction to the Speaking and Writing of English."

ALEXANDER, SAMUEL; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 216: 4th Edition, London,
1832.

ALGER, ISRAEL, Jun., A. M.; "Abridgement of Murray's E. Gram.," &c.; 18mo,
pp. 126: Boston, 1824 and 1842.

ALLEN, Rev. WILLIAM, M. A.; "Grammar of the English Language," &c.; 18mo:
London. Also, "The Elements of English Grammar." &c.; 12mo, pp. 457:
London, 1813; 2d Ed.,

ALLEN and CORNWELL; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 162: 3d Edition, London,
1841.

ALLEN, D. CAVERNO; "Grammatic Guide, or Common School Grammar;" 12mo, pp.
94: Syracuse, N. Y., 1847.

ANDREW, JAMES, LL. D.; English Grammar; 8vo, pp. 129: London, 1817.

ANDREWS & STODDARD; "A Grammar of the Latin Language;" 12mo, pp. 328:
Boston, 1836; 11th Ed., 1845.

ANGELL, OLIVER, A. M.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 90: 1st Edition,
Providence, R. I., 1830.

ANGUS, WILLIAM, M. A.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 255: 2d Edition, Glasgow,
Scotland, 1807.

ANON.; "The British Grammar;" 8vo, pp. 281: London, 1760, or near that
date. Boston, Mass., 1784.

ANON.; "A Comprehensive Grammar," &c.; 18mo, pp. 174: 3d Ed., Philadelphia,
T. Dobson, 1789.

ANON.; "The Comic Grammar," &c,: London, 1840.

ANON.; "The Decoy," an English Grammar with Cuts; 12mo, pp. 33: New York,
S. Wood & Sons, 1820.

ANON.: E. Gram., "By T. C.;" 18mo, pp. 104: London, 1843.

ANON.; Grammar and Rhetoric; 12mo, pp. 221: London, 1776.

ANON.; "The English Tutor;" 8vo: London, 1747.

ANON.; English Grammar, 12mo: London, Boosey, 1795.

ANON.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 161: London, 1838.

ANON.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 85: London, 1838.

ANON.; An English Grammar, with Engravings; 18mo, pp. 16: London, 1820.

ANON.; English Grammar, pp. 84: 1st Ed., Huddersfield, 1817.

ANON.: "The Essentials of English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 108: 3d Edition,
London, 1821.

ANON.; "A Plain and Comprehensive Grammar," in "The Complete
Letter-Writer;" 12mo, pp. 31;--pages of the whole book, 215: London, 1811.

ANON.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 131: Albany, N. Y., 1819.

ANON.; (A. H. Maltby & Co. pub.;) Murray's Abridgement, "with Additions;"
18mo, pp. 120: Newhaven, Ct., 1822.

ANON.; (James Loring, pub.;) Murray's Abridgement, "with Alterations and
Improvements; by a Teacher of Youth;" (Lawson Lyon;) 18mo, pp. 72: 14th
Ed., Boston, 1821.

ANON.; "The Infant School Grammar;" (said to have been written by Mrs.
Bethune;) 18mo, pp. 182: New York, 1830. Jonathan Seymour, proprietor.

ANON.; Pestalozzian Grammar; 12mo, pp. 60: Boston, 1830.

ANON.; Interrogative Grammar; 12mo, pp. 70: Boston, 1832.

ANON.; Grammar with Cuts; 18mo, pp. 108: Boston, 1830. ANON.; "The
Juvenile English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 89: Boston, 1829. B. Perkins & Co.,
publishers and proprietors.

ANON.; "The Little Grammarian;" 18mo, pp. 108: 2d Edition, Boston, 1829.

ANON.; An Inductive Grammar; 12mo, pp. 185: Windsor, Vt., 1829.

ANON.; "A Concise Grammar of the English Language, attempted in Verse;"
18mo, pp. 63: 1st Edition, New York, 1825. ANON.; "Edward's First Lessons
in Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 108: 1st Ed., Boston, T. H. Webb & Co., 1843.

ANON.; "The First Lessons in English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 90: 1st Edition,
Boston, 1842.

ANON.; "A New Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo, pp. 124: New York,
1831; 2d Ed., Boston, 1834.

ANON.; "Enclytica, or the Principles of Universal Grammar;" 8vo, pp. 133:
London, J. Booth, 1814.

ANON.; "The General Principles of Grammar, edited by a few Well-Wishers to
Knowledge;" 18mo, pp. 76: Philadelphia, Lea & Blanchard, 1847.

ANON.; "English School Grammar;" small 12mo, pp. 32: London, 1850. A meagre
sketch, published by "the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge."

ANON.; "An English Grammar, together with a First Lesson in Reading;" 18mo,
pp. 16: James Burns, London; 2d Ed., 1844. Not worth a pin.

ARISTOTLE; his Poetics;--the Greek text, with Goulston's Latin Version, and
Winstanley's Notes;--8vo, pp. 320: Oxford, England, 1780.

ARNOLD, T. K., M. A.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 76: 2d Edition, London,
1841.

ASH, JOHN, LL. D.; "Grammatical Institutes;" 18mo, pp. 142: London, first
published about 1763; New York, "A New Edition, Revised and Corrected,"
1799.

BACON, CALEB, Teacher; "Murray's English Grammar Put into Questions and
Answers;" 18mo, pp. 108: New York, 1st Edition, 1818; 5th Edition, 1823,
1827, and 1830.

BADGLEY, JONATHAN; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 200: 1st Edition, Utica, N.
Y., 1845. Suppressed for plagiarism from G. Brown.

BALCH, WILLIAM S.; (1.) "Lectures on Language;" 12mo, pp. 252: Providence,
1838. (2.) "A Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo, pp, 140: 1st Edition,
Boston, 1839.

BALDWIN, EDWARD; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 148: London, 1810; 2d Ed.,
1824.

BARBER, Dr. JONATHAN; "A Grammar of Elocution;" 12mo; Newhaven, 1830.

BARNARD, FREDERICK A. P., A. M.; "Analytic Grammar; with Symbolic
Illustration;" 12mo, pp. 264: New York, 1836. This is a curious work, and
remarkably well-written.

BARNES, DANIEL H., of N. Y.; "The Red Book," or Bearcroft's "Practical
Orthography," Revised and Enlarged; 12mo, pp. 347: New York, 1828.

BARNES, WILLIAM, B. D.; (1.) English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 120: London, 1842.
(2.) "A Philological Grammar, grounded upon English, and formed from a
Comparison of more than Sixty Languages;" 8vo, pp. 312: London, 1854.

BARRETT, JOHN; "A Grammar of the English Language;" 18mo, pp. 214: 2d Ed.,
Boston, 1819.

BARRETT, SOLOMON, Jun.; (1.) "The Principles of Language;" 12mo, pp. 120:
Albany, 1837. (2.) "The Principles of English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 96;
"Tenth Edition, Revised:" Utica, 1845. (3.) "The Principles of Grammar;"
12mo, pp. 407: "Revised Edition;" Cambridge, 1854.

BARRIE, ALEXANDER; English Grammar; 24to, pp. 54: Edinburgh, 9th Ed., 1800.

BARTLETT, MONTGOMERY R.; "The Common School Manual;" called in the Third or
Philadelphia Edition, "The _National_ School Manual;"--"in Four Parts," or
Separate Volumes, 12mo: I, pp. 108; II, 302; III, 379; IV, promised "to
consist of 450 or 500 pages." First three parts, "Second Edition," New
York, 1830. A miserable jumble, in the successive pages of which, Grammar
is mixed up with Spelling-columns, Reading-lessons, Arithmetic, Geometry,
and the other supposed daily tasks of a school-boy!

BAILEY, N., Schoolmaster; "English and Latin Exercises;" 12mo, pp. 183:
London. 18th Ed., 1798.

BAILEY, Rev. R. W., A. M.; "English Grammar," or "Manual of the English
Language;" 12mo, pp. 240: 2d Ed., Philadelphia, 1854.

BAYLEY, ANSELM, LL. D.; English Grammar, 8vo: London, 1772.

BEALE, SOLON; English Grammar, 18mo, pp. 27: Bangor, Maine, 1833.

BEALL, ALEXANDER; English Grammar, 12mo: 1st Ed., Cincinnati, Ohio, 1841.

BEATTIE, JAMES, LL. D.; "Theory of Language:" London, 1783; Philadelphia,
1809. "Elements of Moral Science;" 12mo, pp. 572; Baltimore, 1813. See, in
Part 1, the sections which treat of "The Faculty of Speech," and the
"Essentials of Language;" and, in Part IV, those which treat of "Rhetorick,
Figures, Sentences, Style, and Poetry."

BECK, WILLIAM; "Outline of English Grammar;" very small, pp. 34: 3d Ed.,
London, 1829.

BEECHER, CATHARINE E.; English Grammar, 12mo, pp. 74. 1st Ed., Hartford,
Ct., 1829.

BELL, JOHN; English Grammar, 12mo, pp. 446: (2 vols.:) 1st Ed., Glasgow,
1769.

BELLAMY, ELIZABETH; English Grammar, 12mo: London, 1802.

BENEDICT,--------; English Grammar, 12mo, pp. 192: 1st Ed., Nicholasville,
Ky., 1832.

BETTESWORTH, JOHN; English Grammar, 12mo: London, 1778.

BICKNELL, ALEXANDER, Esq.; "The Grammatical Wreath; or, a Complete System
of English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 804: London, 1790.

BINGHAM, CALEB, A. M.; "The Young Lady's Accidence;" 18mo, pp. 60: Boston,
1804; 20th Ed., 1815.

BLAIR, HUGH, D. D., F. B. S.; "Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres;"
8vo, pp. 500: London, 1783; New York, 1819.

BLAIR, JOHN, D. D.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 145: 1st Ed., Philadelphia,
1831.

BLAIR, DAVID, Rev.; "A Practical Grammar of the English Language;" 18mo,
pp. 167: 7th Ed., London, 1815.

BLAISDALE, SILAS; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 88: 1st Ed., Boston, 1831.

BLISS, LEONARD Jun.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 73: 1st Ed., Louisville,
Ky., 1839.

BOBBITT, A.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 136: 1st Ed., London, 1833.

BOLLES, WILLIAM; (1.) "A Spelling-Book;" 12mo, pp. 180: Ster. Ed., N.
London, 1831. (2.) "An Explanatory and Phonographic Pronouncing Dictionary
of the English Language;" royal octavo, pp. 944; Ster. Ed., New London,
1845.

BOOTH, DAVID; Introd. to Analytical Dict.; 8vo, pp. 168: London, 1814.
Analytical Dictionary of the English Language: London, 1835. E. Grammar,
12mo: London, 1837.

BRACE, JOAB; "The Principles of English Grammar;" (vile theft from Lennie;)
18mo, pp. 144: 1st Edition, Philadelphia, 1839.

BRADLEY, JOSHUA, A. M.; "Youth's Literary Guide;" 12mo, pp. 192: 1st Ed.,
Windsor, Vt., 1815.

BRADLEY, Rev. C.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 148: York, Eng., 1810; 3d Ed.,
1813.

BRIDIL, EDMUND, LL. D.; E. Gram., 4to: London, 1799.

BRIGHTLAND, JOHN, _Pub._; "A Grammar of the English Tongue;" 12mo, pp. 800:
7th Ed., London, 1748.

BRITTAIN, Rev. LEWIS; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 156: 2d Edition, London,
1790.

BROMLEY, WALTER; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 104: 1st Ed., Halifax, N. S.,
1822.

BROWN, GOOLD; (1.) "The Institutes of English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 220-312:
New York, 1st Ed., 1823; stereotyped in 1832, and again in 1846. (2.) "The
First Lines of English Grammar;" early copies 18mo, late copies 12mo, pp.
108: New York, 1st Ed., 1823; stereotyped in 1827, and in 1844. (3.) "A Key
to the Exercises for Writing, contained in the Institutes of English
Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 51: New York, 1825. (4.) "A Catechism of English
Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 72: New York, 1827. (5.) "A Compendious English
Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 22: (in Part I of the Treasury of Knowledge:) New York,
1831. (6.) "The Grammar of English Grammars;" 8vo, pp. 1028; first printed
in Boston in 1850 and 1851.

BROWN, JAMES; (1.) An Explanation of E. Grammar as taught by an Expensive
Machine; 8vo, pp. 40: 1st Ed., Boston, 1815. (2.) "The American Grammar;" a
Pamphlet; 12mo, pp. 48: Salem, N. Y., 1821. (3.) "An American Grammar;"
18mo, pp. 162: New York, 1821. (4.) "An Appeal from the British System of
English Grammar to Common Sense;" 12mo, pp. 336: Philadelphia, 1837. (5.)
"The American System of English Syntax;" 12mo, pp. 216: Philad., 1838. (6.)
"An Exegesis of English Syntax;" 12mo, pp. 147: Philad., 1840. (7.) "The
First Part of the American System of English Syntax;" 12mo, pp. 195:
Boston, 1841. (8.) "An English Syntascope," a "Chart," and other
fantastical works.

BROWN, J. H., A. M.; (with Gengemhre;) "Elements of English Grammar, on a
Progressive System;" 12mo, pp. 213: Philad., 1855.

BROWN, RICHARD; English Grammar, 12mo: London, 1692.

BUCHANAN, JAMES; "A Regular English Syntax;" 12mo, pp. 196: 5th American
Ed., Philad., 1792.

BUCKE, CHARLES; "A Classical Grammar of the E. Language;" 18mo, pp. 152:
London, 1829.

BULLEN, Rev. H. ST. JOHN; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 140: 1st Edition,
London, 1797.

BULLIONS, Rev. PETER, D. D.; (1.) "Elements of the Greek Language;" (now
called, "The Principles of Greek Grammar;") mostly a version of Dr. Moor's
"Elementa Linguæ Græcæ:" 1st Ed., 1831. (2.) "The Principles of English
Grammar;" (mostly copied from Lennie;) 12mo, pp. 187; 2d Ed., New York,
1837; 5th Ed., Revised, pp. 216, 1843, (3.) "The Principles of Latin
Grammar;" (professedly, "upon the foundation of Adam's Latin Grammar;")
12mo, pp. 312: Albany, 1841: 12th Ed., New York, 1846. (4.) "Practical
Lessons in English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 132: New York, 1844. (5.) "An
Analytical and Practical Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo, pp. 240:
1st Ed., New York, 1849.

BULLOKAR, WILLIAM; (1.) "Booke at Large for the Amendment of Orthographie
for English Speech." (2.) "A Bref Grammar for English:" London, 1586.

BURHANS, HEZEKIAH; "The Critical Pronouncing Spelling-Book;" 12mo, pp. 204:
1st Ed., Philad., 1823.

BURLES, EDWARD; E. Gram., 12mo: Lond., 1652.

BURN, JOHN; "A Practical Grammar of the E. Lang.;" 12mo, pp. 275: Glasgow,
1766; 10th Ed., 1810.

BURR, JONATHAN, A. M.; "A Compendium of Eng. Gram.;" 18mo, pp. 72: Boston,
1797,--1804,--1818.

BUTLER, CHARLES; E. Gram., 4to: Oxford, Eng., 1633.

BUTLER, NOBLE, A. M.; (1.) "A Practical Grammar of the E. Lang.;" 12mo, pp.
216: 1st Ed., Louisville, Ky., 1845. (2.) "Introductory Lessons in E.
Grammar," 1845.

CAMPBELL, GEORGE, D. D., F. R. S.; "The Philosophy of Rhetoric;" 8vo, pp.
445: London, 1776: Philad., 1818.

CARDELL, WM. S.; (1.) An "Analytical Spelling-Book;" (with Part of the
"Story of Jack Halyard;") 12mo, pp. 192: (published at first under the
fictitious name of "John Franklin Jones:") New York, 1823; 2d Ed., 1824.
(2.) An "Essay on Language;" 12mo, pp. 203: New York, 1825. (3.) "Elements
of English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 141: New York, 1826; 3d Ed., Hartford, 1827.
(4.) "Philosophic Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo, pp. 236:
Philadelphia, 1827.

CAREY, JOHN; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 220: 1st Ed., London, 1809.

CARTER, JOHN; E. Gram., 8vo: Leeds, 1773.

CHANDLER, JOSEPH R.; "A Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo, pp. 180:
Philad., 1821. Rev. Ed., pp. 208, stereotyped, 1847.

CHAPIN, JOEL; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 252: 1st Edition, Springfield,
Mass., 1842.

CHAUVIER, J. H., M. A.; "A Treatise on Punctuation;" translated from the
French, by J. B. Huntington; large 18mo, pp. 112: London, 1849.

CHESSMAN, DANIEL, A. M.; Murray Abridged; 18mo, pp. 24: 3d Ed., Hullowell,
Me., 1821.

CHILD, PROF. F. J.; "Revised Edition" of Dr. Latham's "Elementary English
Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 236: Cambridge, N. E., 1852.

CHURCHILL, T. O.; "A New Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo, pp. 454:
1st Ed., London, 1823.

CLAPHAM, Rev. SAMUEL; E. Grammar: London, 1810.

CLARK, HENRY; E. Grammar; 4to: London, 1656.

CLARK, SCHUYLER; "The American Linguist, or Natural Grammar;" 12mo, pp.
240: Providence, 1830.

CLARK, S. W., A. M.; "A Practical Grammar," with "a System of Diagrams;"
12mo, pp. 218; 2d Ed., New York, 1848.

CLARK, WILLIAM; E. Gram.; 18mo: London, 1810.

CLARKE, R.; "Poetical Grammar of the English Language, and an Epitome of
Rhetoric;" 12mo, pp. 172; price, 2s. 6d.: London, 1855.

COAR, THOMAS; "A Grammar of the English Tongue;" 12mo, pp. 276: 1st Ed.,
London, 1796.

COBB, ENOS; "Elements of the English Language;" 12mo, pp. 108: 1st Ed.,
Boston, 1820.

COBB, LYMAN, A. M.; (1.) A Spelling-Book according to J. Walker; "Revised
Ed.:" Ithaca, N. Y., 1825. (2.) "Abridgment of Walker's Crit. Pron. Dict.:"
Hartford, Ct., 1829. (3.) "Juvenile Reader, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and Sequel:" New
York, 1831. (4.) "The North American Reader;" 12mo, pp. 498: New York,
1835. (5.) "New Spelling-Book, in Six Parts;" 12mo, pp. 168: N. Y., 1843.
(6.) An "Expositor," a "Miniature Lexicon," books of "Arithmetic, &c., &c."

COBBETT, WILLIAM; "A Grammar of the E. Language;" 12mo, New York and Lond.,
1818; 18mo, N. Y., 1832.

COBBIN, Rev. INGRAM, M. A.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 72: 20th Edition,
London, 1844.

COCHRAN, PETER, A. B.: English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 71: 1st Ed., Boston,
1802.

COLET, Dr. John, Dean of St. Paul's; the "English Introduction" to Lily's
Grammar; dedicated to Lily in 1510. See _Gram. of E. Gram., Introd._, Chap.
XI, ¶¶ 3, 4, and 5.

COMLY, JOHN; "English Grammar Made Easy;" 18mo, pp. 192: 6th Ed., Philad.,
1815; 15th Ed., 1826.

COMSTOCK, ANDREW, M. D.; "A System of Elocution;" 12mo, pp. 364:
Philadelphia, 1844. "A Treatise on Phonology;" 12mo, 1846: &c.

CONNEL, ROBERT; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 162: Glasgow, 1831; 2d Ed.,
1834.

CONNON, C. W., M. A.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 168: Edinburgh, 1845.

COOPER, Rev. JOAB GOLDSMITH, A. M.; (1.) "An Abridgment of Murray's English
Grammar;" (largely stolen from G. Brown;) 12mo, pp. 200: Philadelphia,
1828. (2.) "A Plain and Practical English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 210: Philad.,
1831.

COOTE, C., LL. D.; on the English Language; 8vo, pp. 281: 1st Edition,
London, 1788.

CORBET, JAMES; English Grammar; 24to, pp. 153: 1st Edition, Glasgow, 1743.

CORBET, JOHN; English Grammar; 12mo: Shrewsbury, England, 1784.

CORNELL, WILLIAM M.; English Grammar; 4to, pp. 12: 1st Edition, Boston,
1840.

COVELL, L. T.; "A Digest of English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 219: 3d Ed., New
York, 1853. Much indebted to S. S. Greene, H. Mandeville, and G. Brown.

CRANE, GEORGE; "The Principles of Language;" 12mo, pp. 264: 1st Ed.,
London, 1843.

CROCKER, ABRAHAM; English Grammar, 12mo: Lond., 1772.

CROMBIE, ALEXANDER, LL. D., F. R. S.; "A Treatise on the Etymology and
Syntax of the English Language;" 8vo, pp. 425: London, 2d Ed., 1809; 4th
Ed., 1836.

CUTLER, ANDREW, A. M.; "English Grammar and Parser;" 12mo, pp. 168: 1st
Ed., Plainfield, Ct., 1841.

DALE, W. A. T.; a small "English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 72: 1st Ed., Albany,
N. Y., 1820.

DALTON, JOHN; "Elements of English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 122: London, 1st
Ed., 1801.

DAVENPORT, BISHOP; "English Grammar Simplified;" 18mo, pp. 139: 1st Ed.,
Wilmington, Del., 1830.

DAVIDSON, DAVID; a Syntactical Treatise, or Grammar; 12mo: London, 1823.

DAVIS, Rev. JOHN, A. M.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 188: 1st Ed., Belfast,
Ireland, 1832.

DAVIS, PARDON; (1.) An Epitome of E. Gram.; 12mo, pp. 56: 1st Ed., Philad.,
1818. (2.) "Modern Practical E. Gram.;" 12mo, pp. 175: 1st Ed., Philad.,
1845.

DAY, PARSONS E.; "District School Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 120: 2d Ed., Ithaca,
N. Y., 1844.

DAY, WILLIAM; "Punctuation Reduced to a System;" 18mo, pp. 147: 3d Ed.,
London, 1847.

DEARBORN, BENJAMIN; "Columbian Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 140: 1st Ed., Boston,
1795.

DEL MAR, E.; Treatise on English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 115: 1st Ed., London,
1842.

D'ORSEY, ALEXANDER J. D.; (1.) A Duodecimo Grammar, in Two Parts; Part I,
pp. 153; Part II, pp. 142: 1st Ed., Edinburgh, 1842. (2.) An Introduction
to E. Gram.; 18mo, pp. 104: Edin., 1845.

DE SACY, A. J. SYLVESTRE, Baron; "Principles of General Grammar;"
translated from the French, by D. Fosdick, Jun.; 12mo, pp. 156: 1st
American, from the 5th French Edition; Andover and New York, 1834.

"DESPAUTER, JOHN, a Flemish grammarian, whose books were, at one time, in
great repute; he died in 1520."--_Univ. Biog. Dict._ Despauter's Latin
Grammar, in Three Parts,--Etymology, Syntax, and Versification,--comprises
858 octavo pages. Dr. Adam says, in the "Preface to the Fourth Edition" of
his Grammar, "The first complete edition of Despauter's Grammar was printed
at Cologne, anno 1522; his _Syntax_ had been published anno 1509." G.
Brown's copy is a "complete edition," printed partly in 1517, and partly in
1518.

DEVIS, ELLEN; E. Gram.; 18mo, pp. 130: London and Dublin; 1st Ed., 1777;
17th Ed., 1825. [Fist] Devis's Grammar, spoken of in D. Blair's Preface, as
being too "comprehensive and minute," is doubtless an other and much
larger work.

DILWORTH, THOMAS; "A New Guide to the English Tongue;" 12mo, pp. 148:
London; 1st Ed., 1740: 26th Ed., 1764; 40th Ed., (used by G. B.,) undated.

DOHERTY, HUGH; a Treatise on English Grammar; 8vo, pp. 240; 1st Ed.,
London, 1841.

DRUMMOND, JOHN; English Grammar; 8vo: London, 1767. DYCHE, THOMAS; English
Grammar; 8vo, pp. 10: London, 1st Ed., 1710; 12th Ed., 1765.

EARL, MARY; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 36: 1st Ed., Boston, 1816.

EDWARDS, Mrs. M. C.; English Grammar; 8vo: Brentford. England, 1796.

EGELSHEM, WELLS; English Grammar; 12mo: London, 1781.

ELMORE, D. W., A. M.; "English Grammar, or Natural Analysis;" 18mo, pp. 18:
1st Ed., Troy, N. Y., 1830. A mere trifle.

ELPHINSTON, JAMES; on the English Language; 12mo, pp. 298: 1st Ed., London,
1796.

EMERSON, BENJAMIN D.; "National Spelling-Book;" 12mo, pp. 168: Boston,
1828.

EMERY, J., A. B.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 39: 1st Ed., Wellsborough,
Pa., 1829.

EMMONS, S. B.; "The Grammatical Instructer;" 12mo, pp. 160: 1st Ed.,
Boston, 1832. Worthless.

ENSELL, G.; "A Grammar of the English Language;" in English and Dutch; 8vo,
pp. 612: Rotterdam, 1797.

EVEREST, Rev. CORNELIUS B.; "An English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 270: 1st Ed.,
Norwich, Ct., 1835. Suppressed for plagiarism from G. Brown.

EVERETT, ERASTUS, A. M.; "A System of English Versification;" 12mo, pp.
198: 1st Ed., New York, 1848.

FARNUM, CALEB, Jun., A. M.; "Practical Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 124: 1st
Edition, (suppressed for petty larcenies from G. Brown,) Providence, R. I.,
1842; 2d Edition, (altered to evade the charge of plagiarism,) Boston,
1843.

FARBO, DANIEL; "The Royal British Grammar and Vocabulary;" 12mo, pp. 344:
1st Ed., London. 1754.

FELCH, W.; "A Comprehensive Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 122: 1st Edition, Boston,
1837. This author can see others' faults better than his own.

FELTON, OLIVER C.; "A Concise Manual of English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 145:
Salem, Mass., 1843.

FENNING, DANIEL; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 224: 1st Ed., London, 1771.

FENWICK, JOHN; an English Grammar, 12mo.: London, 1811.

FISHER, A.; "A Practical New Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 176: London: 1st Ed.,
1753; 28th Ed., 1795; "A New Ed., Enlarged, Improved, and Corrected," (used
by G. B.,) 1800.

FISK, ALLEN; (1.) Epitome of E. Gram.; 18mo, pp. 124: Hallowell, Me., 1821;
2d Ed., 1828. (2.) "Adam's Latin Grammar Simplified;" 8vo, pp. 190: New
York, 1822; 2d Ed., 1824. (3.) "Murray's English Grammar Simplified;" 8vo,
pp. 178: 1st Ed., Troy, N. Y., 1822.

FLEMING, Rev. CALEB; an English Grammar, 12mo: London, 1765.

FLETCHER, LEVI; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 83: 1st Ed., Philadelphia, 1834.

FLETCHER, Rev. W.; English Gram.; 18mo, pp. 175: London; 1st Ed., 1828; 2d
Ed., 1833.

FLINT, ABEL, A. M., and D. D.; "Murray's English Grammar Abridged;" 12mo,
pp. 204: Hartford, Ct.; 1st Ed., 1807; 6th Ed., pp. 214, 1826.

FLINT, JOHN; "First Lessons in English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 107: 1st Ed.,
New York, 1834.

FLOWER, M. and W. B.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 170: 1st Ed., London,
1844.

FOLKER, JOSEPH; "An Introduction to E. Gram.;" 12mo, pp. 34: Savannah, Ga.,
1821.

FORMEY, M., M. D., S. E., &c., &c.; "Elementary Principles of the
Belles-Lettres;"--"Translated from the French, by the late Mr. Sloper
Forman;" 12mo, pp. 224: Glasgow, 1767.

FOWLE, WILLIAM BENTLEY; (1.) "The True English Grammar," (Part I;) 18mo,
pp. 180: Boston, 1827. (2.) "The True English Grammar, Part II;" 18mo, pp.
97: Boston, 1829. (3.) "The Common School Grammar, Part I;" 12mo, pp. 46:
Boston, 1842. (4.) "The Common School Grammar, Part II;" 12mo, pp. 108:
Boston, 1842.

FOWLER, WILLIAM C.; "English Grammar;" 8vo, pp. 675: 1st Ed., New York,
1850.

FRAZEE, Rev. BRADFORD; "An Improved Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 192: Philad., 1844;
Ster. Ed., 1845.

FRENCH, D'ARCY A.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 168: Baltimore, 1st Ed.,
1831.

FROST, JOHN, A. M.; (1.) "Elements of English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 108: 1st
Ed., Boston, 1829. (2.) "A Practical English Grammar;" (with 89 cuts;)
12mo, pp. 204: 1st Ed., Philadelphia, 1842.

FULLER, ALLEN; "Grammatical Exercises, being a plain and concise Method of
teaching English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 108: 1st Ed., Plymouth, Mass., 1822. A
book of no value.

GARTLEY, G.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 225: 1st Edition, London, 1830.

GAY, ANTHELME; "A French Prosodical Grammar;" for English or American
Students; 12mo, pp. 215: New York, 1795.

GENGEMBRE, P. W.; "Brown and Gengembre's English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 213:
Philad., 1855. (See J. H. Brown.)

GIBBS, Prof. J. W., of Yale C.; on Dialects, Sounds, and Derivations. See
about 126 pages, credited to this gentleman, in Prof. Fowler's large
Grammar, of 1850.

GILBERT, ELI; a "Catechetical Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 124: 1st Ed., 1834; 2d
Ed., New York, 1835.

GILCHRIST, JAMES; English Grammar; 8vo, pp. 269: 1st Ed., London, 1815.

GILES, JAMES; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 152: London, 1804; 2d Ed., 1810.

GILES, Rev. T. A., A. M.; English Grammar; 12mo, London, 2d Ed., 1838.

GILL, ALEXANDER; English Grammar, treated in Latin; 4to: London, 1621.

GILLEADE, G.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 206: London; 1st Ed., 1816.

GIRAULT Du VIVIER, Ch. P.; (1.) "La Grammaire des Grammaires;" two thick
volumes, 8vo: Paris; 2d Ed., 1814. (2.) "Traité des Participes;" 8vo, pp.
84: 2d Ed., Paris, 1816.

GOLDSBURY, JOHN, A. M.; (1.) "The Common School Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 94: 1st
Ed., Boston, 1842. (2.) "Sequel to the Common School Grammar;" 12mo, pp.
110: 1st Ed., Boston, 1842.

GOODENOW, SMITH B.; "A Systematic Text-Book of English Grammar;" 12mo, pp.
144: 1st Edition, Portland, 1839; 2d Edition, Boston, 1843.

GOUGH, JOHN and JAMES; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 212: 2d Ed., Dublin,
1760.

GOULD, BENJAMIN A.; "Adam's Lat. Gram., with Improvements;" 12mo, pp. 300:
Boston, 1829.

GRAHAM, G. F.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 134: 1st Ed., London, 1843.

GRANT, JOHN, A. M.; (1.) "Institutes of Latin Grammar;" 8vo, pp. 453:
London, 1808. (2.) A Comprehensive English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 410: 1st Ed.,
London, 1813.

GRANVILLE, GEO.; English Grammar, 12mo: London, 1827.

GRAY, JAMES, D. D.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 144: 1st Ed., Baltimore,
1818.

GREEN, MATTHIAS; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 148: 1st Ed., London, 1837.

GREEN, RICHARD W.; "Inductive Exercises in English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 108:
1st Ed., New York, 1829; 5th Ed., Phila., 1834.

GEEENE, ROSCOE G.; (1.) E. Gram.; 12mo, pp. 132: Hallowell, Me.; 1st Ed.,
1828; Ster. Ed., 1835. (2.) "A Practical Grammar for the English Language;"
(with Diagrams of Moods;) 12mo: Portland, 1829. (3.) "A Grammatical
Text-Book, being an Abstract of a Practical Gram., &c.;" 12mo, pp. 69:
Boston, 1833.

GREENE, SAMUEL S.; (1.) "Analysis of Sentences;" 12mo, pp. 258: 1st Ed.,
Philadelphia, 1848. (2.) "First Lessons in Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 171: 1st
Ed., Philad., 1848.

GREENLEAF, JEREMIAH; "Grammar Simplified;" 4to, pp. 48: New York; 3d Ed.,
1821; 20th Ed., 1837.

GREENWOOD, JAMES; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 315: London, 1711; 2d Ed.,
1722.

GEENVILLE, A. S.; "Introduction to English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 63: 1st Ed.,
Boston, 1822.

GRISCOM, JOHN, LL. D.; "Questions in English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 42: 1st
Ed., New York, 1821.

GURNEY, DAVID. A. M.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 72: Boston, 1801; 2d Ed.,
1808.

GUY, JOSEPH, Jun.; "English School Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 143: 4th Ed., London
1816.

HALL, Rev. S. R.; "The Grammatical Assistant;" 12mo, pp. 131: 1st Ed.,
Springfield, Mass., 1832.

HALL, WILLIAM; "Encyclopedia of English Grammar;" (by report;) Ohio, 1850.

HALLOCK, EDWARD J., A. M.; "A Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo, pp.
251: 1st Ed., New York, 1842. A very inaccurate book, with sundry small
plagiarisms from G. Brown.

HAMLIN, LORENZO F.; "English Grammar in Lectures;" 12mo, pp. 108: New York,
1831; Ster. Ed., 1832.

HAMMOND, SAMUEL; English Grammar; 8vo: Lond., 1744.

HARRIS, JAMES, Esq.; "Hermes; or a Philosophical Inquiry concerning
Universal Grammar;" 8vo, pp. 468; London, 1751: 6th Ed., 1806.

HARRISON, Mr.; "Rudiments of English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 108: 9th American
Ed., Philad., 1812.

HARRISON, Rev. MATTHEW, A. M.; "The Rise, Progress, and Present Structure
of the English Language;" 12mo, pp. 393: Preface dated Basingstoke, Eng.,
1848; 1st American Ed., Philad., 1850.

HART, JOHN S., A. M.; "English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 192; 1st Ed.,
Philadelphia, 1845.

HARVEY, J.; English Grammar: London, 1841.

HAZEN, EDWARD, A. M.; "A Practical Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo,
pp. 240: New York, 1842.

HAZLITT, WILLIAM; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 205: London, 1810.

HENDRICK, J. L., A. M.; "A Grammatical Manual;" 18mo, pp. 105: 1st Ed.,
Syracuse, N. Y., 1844.

HEWES, JOHN, A. M.; English Grammar; 4to: London, 1624.

HEWETT, D.; English Grammar; folio, pp. 16: 1st Edition, New York, 1838.

HIGGINSON, Rev. T. E.; E. Gram.; 12mo; Dublin, 1803.

HILEY, RICHARD; "A Treatise on English Grammar," &c.; 12mo, pp. 269: 3d
Ed., London, 1840. Hiley's Grammar Abridged; 18mo, pp. 196: London, 1843:
4th Ed., 1851.

HILL, J. H.; "On the Subjunctive Mood;" 8vo, pp. 63: 1st Ed., London, 1834.

HODGSON, Rev. ISAAC; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 184: 1st Ed., London, 1770.

HOME, HENRY, Lord Kames; "Elements of Criticism;" 2 volumes 8vo, pp. 836:
(3d American, from the 8th London Ed.:) New York, 1819. Also, "The Art of
Thinking;" 12mo, pp. 284: (from the last London Ed.:) New York, 1818.

HORNSEY, JOHN; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 144; York, England, 1798: 6th
Ed., 1816.

HORT, W. JILLARD; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 219: 1st Ed., London, 1822.

HOUGHTON, JOHN; English Grammar; 8vo: London, 1766.

HOUSTON, SAMUEL, A. B.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 48: 1st Ed.,
Harrisburgh, Pa., 1818.

HOWE, S. L.; English Grammar; 18mo; 1st Ed., Lancaster, Ohio, 1838.

HOWELL, JAMES; English Grammar; 12mo: London, 1662.

HULL, JOSEPH HERVEY; "E. Gram., by Lectures;" 12mo, pp. 72: 4th Ed.,
Boston, 1828.

HUMPHREY, ASA; (1.) "The English Prosody;" 12mo, pp. 175: 1st Ed., Boston,
1847. (2.) "The Rules of Punctuation;" with "Rules for the Use of
Capitals;" 18mo, pp. 71: 1st Ed., Boston, 1847.

HURD, S. T.; E. Gram.: 2d Ed., Boston, 1827.

HUTHERSAL, JOHN; English Grammar; 18mo: England, 1814.

INGERSOLL, CHARLES M.; "Conversations on English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 296:
New York, 1821.

JAMIESON, ALEXANDER; "A Grammar of Rhetoric and Polite Literature;" 12mo,
pp. 345: "The first American, from the last London Edition;" Newhaven,
1820.

JAUDON, DANIEL; "The Union Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 216: Philadelphia; 1st Ed.,
1812; 4th, 1828.

JENKINS, AZARIAH; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 256; 1st Ed., Rochester, N.
Y., 1835.

JOEL, THOMAS; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 78: 1st Ed., London, 1775.

JOHNSON, RICHARD; "Grammatical Commentaries;" (chiefly on Lily;) 8vo, pp.
436: London, 1706.

JOHNSON, SAMUEL, LL. D.; "A Dictionary of the English Language;" in two
thick volumes, 4to: 1st American, from the 11th London Edition;
Philadelphia, 1818. To this work, are prefixed Johnson's "History of the
English Language," pp. 29; and his "Grammar of the English Tongue," pp. 14.

JONES, JOSHUA; E. Gram.; 18mo: Phila., 1841.

JONSON, BEN;--see, in his Works, "The English Grammar, made by Ben Jonson,
for the Benefit of all Strangers, out of his Observation of the English
Language, now spoken and in use:" London, 1634: 8vo, pp. 94; Lond., 1816.

JUDSON, ADONIRAM, Jun., A. B.; E. Grammar; 12mo, pp. 56: 1st Ed., Boston,
1808.

KENNION, CHARLOTTE; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 157: 1st Ed., London, 1842.

KILSON, ROGER; English Grammar; 12mo: England, 1807.

KING, WALTER W.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 76: 1st Ed., London, 1841.

KIRKHAM, SAMUEL; "English Grammar in familiar Lectures;" 12mo, pp.
141--228: 2d Ed., Harrisburgh, Pa., 1825; 12th Ed., New York, 1829.

KNOWLES, JOHN; "The Principles of English Grammar;" 12mo: 3d Ed., London,
1794.

KNOWLTON, JOSEPH; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 84: Salem, Mass., 1818; 2d
Ed., 1832.

LATHAM, ROBERT GORDON, A. M., M. D., F. R. S. (1.) "The English Language;"
8vo, pp. 418: 1st Ed., London, 1841. (2.) "English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 214:
1st Ed., London, 1843. (3.) "A Hand-Book of the English Language;" large
12mo, pp. 898: New York, 1852.

LEAVITT, DUDLEY; English Grammar; 24to, pp. 60: 1st Ed., Concord, N. H.,
1826.

LENNIE, WILLIAM; "The Principles of English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 142: 5th
Ed., Edinburgh, 1819; 13th Ed., 1831.

LEWIS, ALONZO; "Lessons in English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 50: 1st Ed., Boston,
1822.

LEWIS, JOHN; (1.) English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 48: 1st Ed., New York, 1828.
(2.) "Tables of Comparative Etymology; or, The Student's Manual of
Languages;" 4to, pp. 108: Philad., 1828.

LEWIS, WILLIAM GREATHEAD; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 204: 1st Ed., London,
1821.

LILY, WILLIAM; "Brevissima Institutio, seu Ratio Grammatices cognoscendæ;"
large 18mo, pp. 140: London, 1793.

LINDSAY, Rev. JOHN, A. M.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 88: 1st Ed., London.
1842.

LOCKE, JOHN, M. D.; small English Grammar; 18mo: 1st Ed., Cincinnati, Ohio,
1827.

LOUGHTON, WILLIAM; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 194: 3d Ed., London, 1739.

LOVECHILD, Mrs.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 72: 40th Ed., London, 1842.

LOWTH, ROBERT, D. D.; "A Short Introduction to English Grammar;" 18mo, pp.
132: London, 1763;--Philadelphia, 1799;--Cambridge, Mass., 1838.

LYNDE, JOHN; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 10: 1st Ed., Woodstock, Vt., 1821.

MACK, EVERED J.; "The Self-Instructor, and Practical English Grammar;"
12mo, pp. 180: 1st Ed., Springfield, Mass., 1835. An egregious plagiarism
from G. Brown.

MACGOWAN, Rev. JAMES; "English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 248: London, 1825.

MACKINTOSH, DUNCAN; "An Essay on English Grammar;" 8vo, pp. 239: Boston,
1797.

MACKILQUHEM, WILLIAM; English Grammar; 12mo: Glasgow, 1799.

MAITTAIRE, MICHAEL; English Grammar; 8vo, pp. 272: London, 1712.

MANDEVILLE, HENRY, D. D.; (1.) "Elements of Reading and Oratory;" large
12mo: Utica, N. Y., 1845. (2.) "A Course of Reading for Schools;" 12mo, pp.
377: Improved Ed.; New York, 1851.

MARCET, Mrs.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 331: 7th Ed., London, 1843.

MARTIN, BENJ.; English Grammar; 12mo: London, 1754.

MATHESON, JOHN; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 138: 2d Ed., London, 1821.

MAUNDER, SAMUEL; Grammar prefixed to Dict.; 12mo, pp. 20: 1st Ed., London,
1830.

MAVOR, WILLIAM; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 70: 1st Ed., London, 1820.

M'CREADY, F.; 12mo Grammar: Philad., 1820.

M'CULLOCH, J. M., D. D.; "A Manual of English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 188: 7th
Ed., Edinburgh, 1841.

M'ELLIGOTT, JAMES N.; "Manual, Analytical and Synthetical, of Orthography
and Definition;" 8vo, pp. 223: 1st Ed., New York, 1846. Also, "The Young
Analyzer:" 12mo, pp. 54: New York, 1846.

MEILAN, MARK A.; English Grammar; 12mo: London, 1803.

MENDENHALL, WILLIAM; "The Classification of Words;" 12mo, pp. 36: Philad.,
1814.

MENNYE, J.: "English Grammar;" 8vo, pp. 124: 1st Ed., New York, 1785.

MERCEY, BLANCHE; English Grammar; 12mo, 2 vols., pp. 248: 1st Ed., London,
1799.

MERCHANT, AARON M.; Murray's Small Grammar, Enlarged; 18mo, pp. 216: N. Y.,
1824. This "Enlarged Abridgement" became "The American School Grammar" in
1828.

MILLER, ALEXANDER; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 119: 1st Ed., New York, 1795.

MILLER, The Misses; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 63: 1st Ed., London, 1830.
MILLER, FERDINAND H.; "The Ready Grammarian;" square 12mo, pp. 24: Ithaca,
New York, 1843.

MILLER, TOBIAS HAM; Murray's Abridgement, with Questions; 12mo, pp. 76:
Portsmouth, N. H., 1823.

MILLIGAN, Rev. GEORGE; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 72: Edin., 1831; 2d Ed.,
1839.

MOORE, THOMAS; "Orthography and Pronunciation;" 12mo, pp. 176: London,
1810.

MORGAN, JONATHAN, Jun., A. B.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 405: 1st Ed.,
Hallowell, Me., 1814.

MORLEY, CHARLES, A. B.; "School Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 86: (with Cuts:) 1st
Ed., Hartford, Ct., 1836.

MOREY, AMOS C.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 106: Albany, N. Y., 1829.

MULKEY, WILLIAM; "An Abridgment of Walker's Rules on the Sounds of the
Letters;" 18mo, pp. 124: Boston. 1834. Fudge!

MULLIGAN, JOHN, A. M.; (1.) "Exposition of the Grammatical Structure of the
English Language;" small 8vo, pp. 574: New York, 1852. (2.) Same Abridged
for Schools; 12mo, pp. 301: N. Y., 1854.

MURRAY, ALEXANDER, D. D.; "The History of European Languages;" in two
vols., 8vo.; pp. 800.

MURRAY, ALEXANDER, Schoolmaster; "Easy English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 194: 3d
Ed., London, 1793.

MURRAY, LINDLEY; (1.) "English Grammar, Adapted to the Different Classes of
Learners;" 12mo, pp. 284: York, Eng., 1795; 2d Ed., 1796; 23d Ed., 1816.
(2.) "Abridgment of Murray's English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 105: "From the
30th English Ed.," New York, 1817. (3.) "An English Grammar;" in two
volumes, octavo; pp. 684: 4th American from the last English Ed.; New York,
1819. (4.) A Spelling-Book; 18mo, pp. 180: New York, 1819.

MYLINS, WM. F.; Gram., 12mo: England, 1809.

MYLNE, Rev. A., D. D.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 180: 11th Ed., Edinburgh,
1832.

NESBIT, A.; "An Introd. to English Parsing;" 18mo, pp. 213: 2d Ed., York,
England, 1823.

NEWBURY, JOHN; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 152: 5th Ed., London, 1787.

NIGHTINGALE, Rev. J.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 96: 1st Ed., London, 1822.

NIXON, H.; (1.) "The English Parser;" 12mo, pp. 164: 1st Ed., London, 1826.
(2.) "New and Comprehensive English Grammar;" 12mo: 1st Ed., London, 1833.

NUTTING, RUFUS, A. M.; "A Practical Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 144: 3d Ed.,
Montpelier, Vt., 1826.

ODELL, J., A. M.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 205: 1st Ed., London, 1806.

OLIVER, EDWARD, D. D.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 178: 1st Ed., London,
1807.

OLIVER, SAMUEL; English Grammar; 8vo, pp. 377: 1st Ed., London, 1825.

PALMER, MARY; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 48: New York, 1803.

PARKER, RICHARD GREEN; (1.) "Exercises in Composition;" 12mo, pp. 106: 3d
Ed., Boston, 1833. (2.) "Aids to English Composition;" 12mo, pp. 418: 1st
Ed., Boston, 1844.

PARKER and FOX; "Progressive Exercises in English Grammar;" in three
separate parts, 12mo:--Part I, pp. 96; Boston, 1834: Part II, pp. 60;
Boston, 1835: Part III, pp. 122; Boston, 1840.

PARKHURST, JOHN L.; (1.) "A Systematic Introduction to English Grammar;"
18mo, pp. 104: Concord, N. H., 1820; 2d Ed., 1824. (2.) "English Grammar
for Beginners;" 18mo, pp. 180: 1st Ed., Andover, Mass., 1838.

PARSONS, SAMUEL H.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 107: 1st Ed., Philadelphia,
1836.

PEIRCE, JOHN; "The New American Spelling-Book," with "A Plain and Easy
Introduction to English Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 200: 6th Ed., Philadelphia,
1804. This Grammar is mostly copied from Harrison's.

PEIRCE, OLIVER B.; "The Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo, pp. 384:
1st Ed., New York, 1839. Also, Abridgement of the same; 18mo, pp. 144:
Boston, 1840.

PENGELLEY, EDWARD; English Gram.; 18mo, pp. 108: 1st Ed., London, 1840.

PERLEY, DANIEL, M. D.; "A Grammar of the English Language;" 18mo, pp. 79:
1st Ed., Andover, Mass., 1834.

PERRY, WILLIAM; Grammar in Dict.; 12mo: Edinburgh, 1801.

PICKBOURN, JAMES; "Dissertation on the English Verb:" London, 1789.

PICKET, ALBERT; "Analytical School Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 252: New York, 1823;
2d Ed., 1824.

PINNEO, T. S., M. A., M. D.; (1.) "A Primary Grammar, for Beginners:"
Cincinnati. (2.) "Analytical Grammar of the E. Language:" 12mo, pp. 216:
Cincinnati, 1850; New York, 1853. (3.) "Pinneo's English Teacher; in which
is taught the Structure of Sentences by Analysis and Synthesis;" 12mo, pp.
240: Cincinnati, 1854.

PINNOCK, W.; (1.) A Catechism of E. Gram.; 18mo, pp. 70: 18th Ed., London,
1825. (2.) A Comprehensive Grammar; 12mo, pp. 318: 1st Ed., London, 1829.

POND, ENOCH, D. D.; "Murray's System of Eng. Grammar, Improved;" 12mo, pp.
228: 5th Ed., Worcester, Mass., 1835. Also, under the same title, a petty
Grammar with Cuts; 18mo, pp. 71: New Ed., Worcester, 1835.

POWERS, DANIEL, A. M.; E. Grammar; 12mo, pp. 188: 1st Ed., West Brookfleld,
Mass., 1845.

PRIESTLEY, JOSEPH, LL. D.; "The Rudiments of E. Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 202: 3d
Ed., London, 1772.

PUE, HUGH A.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 149: 1st Ed., Philadelphia, 1841.

PULLEN, P. H.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 321: London, 1820; 2d Ed., 1822.

PUTNAM, J. M.; "English Grammar;" (Murray's, Modified;) 18mo, pp. 162:
Concord, N. H., 1825; Ster., 1831.

PUTNAM, SAMUEL; "Putnam's Murray;" 18mo, pp. 108: Improved Ster. Ed.;
Dover, N. H., 1828.

PUTSEY, Rev. W.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 211: London, 1821; 2d Ed.,
1829.

QUACKENBOS, GEO. PAYN; (1.) "First Lessons in Composition." (2.) "Advanced
Course of Composition and Rhetoric;" 12mo, pp. 455: New York, 1854.

RAND, ASA; "Teacher's Manual," &c.; 18mo, pp. 90: 1st Ed., Boston, 1832.

REED, CALEB, A. M.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 30: 1st Ed., Boston, 1821.

REID, A.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 46: 2d Ed., London, 1839.

REID, JOHN, M. D.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 68: 1st Ed., Glasgow, 1830.

RICORD, F. W., A. M.; "The Youth's Grammar; or, Easy Lessons in Etymology;"
12mo, pp. 118: 1st Ed., N. Y., 1855.

RIGAN, JOHN; Grammar, 12mo: Dublin, 1823.

ROBBINS, MANASSEH; "Rudimental Lessons in Etym. and Synt.;" 12mo, pp. 70:
Prov., R. I., 1826.

ROBINSON, JOHN; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 95: 1st Ed., Maysville, 1830.

ROOME, Rev. T.; Gram.; 12mo: England, 1813.

ROSS, ROBERT; an American Grammar; 12mo, pp. 199: 7th Ed., Hartford, Ct.,
1782.

ROTHWELL, J.; English Grammar; 12mo: 2d Ed., London, 1797.

ROZZELL, WM.; English Grammar in Verse; 8vo: London, 1795.

RUSH, JAMES, M. D.; "Philosophy of the Human Voice;" 8vo: Philadelphia,
1833.

RUSSELL, Rev. J., D. D.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 168: London, 1835; 10th
Ed., 1842.

RUSSELL, WILLIAM; (1.) "A Grammar of Composition;" 12mo, pp. 150: Newhaven,
1823. (2.) "Lessons in Enunciation:" Boston, 1841. (3.) "Orthophony; or the
Cultivation of the Voice;" 12mo, pp. 300: improved Ed., Boston, 1847.

RUSSELL, WILLIAM E.: "An Abridgment of Murray's Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 142:
Hartford, 1819.

RYLAND, JOHN; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 164: 1st Ed., Northampton, Eng.,
1767.

SABINE, H., A. M.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 120: 1st Ed., London, 1702.

SANBOBN, DYER H.; "An Analytical Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo,
pp. 299: 1st Ed., Concord, N. H., 1836.

SANDERS, CHARLES W. and J. C.; "The Young Grammarian;" 12mo, pp. 120:
Rochester, N. Y., 1847.

SARGENT, EPES; "The Standard Speaker; a Treatise on Oratory and Elocution;"
small 8vo, pp. 558: Philadelphia, 1852.

SCOTT, WILLIAM; Grammar, 12mo: Edinb., 1797. Dictionary, with Grammar
prefixed; square, pp. 492: Cork, 1810.

SEARLE, Rev. THOMAS; Grammar in Verse; 18mo, pp. 114: 1st Ed., London,
1822.

SHATFORD, W.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 104: 1st Ed., London, 1834.

SHAW, Rev. JOHN; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 259: 4th Ed., London, 1793.

SHERIDAN, THOMAS, A. M.; (1.) "Lectures on Elocution;" 12mo, pp. 185:
London, 1762; Troy, N. Y., 1803. (2.) "Lectures on the Art of Reading."
(3.) "A Rhetorical Grammar;" square 12mo, pp. 73: 3d Ed., Philadelphia,
1789. (4.) "Elements of English;" 12mo, pp. 69: Dublin, 1789. (5.) "A
Complete Dictionary of the English Language;" 1st Ed., 1780.

SHERMAN, JOHN; American Grammar; 12mo, pp. 323: 1st Ed., Trenton Falls, N.
Y., 1836.

SIMMONITE, W. J.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 228: 1st Ed., London, 1841.

SKILLERN, R. S., A. M.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 184: 2d Ed., Gloucester,
England, 1808. SMART, B. H.; (1.) "A Practical Grammar of English
Pronunciation;" 8vo: London, 1810. (2.) "The Accidence of English Grammar;"
12mo, pp. 52: London, 1841. (3.) "The Accidence and Principles of English
Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 280: London, 1841.

SMETHAM, THOMAS; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 168: 1st Ed., London, 1774.

SMITH, ELI; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 108: 1st Ed., Philadelphia, 1812.

SMITH, JOHN; Grammar, 8vo: Norwich, Eng., 1816.

SMITH, PETER, A. M.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 176: 1st Ed., Edinburgh,
1826.

SMITH, Rev. THOMAS; (1.) Alderson's "Orthographical Exercises," Copied;
18mo, pp. 108: 15th Ed., London, 1819. (2.) "Smith's Edition of L. Murray's
Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 128: London, 1832. Very petty authorship. SMITH,
ROSWELL C.; (1.) "English Grammar on the Inductive System;" 12mo, pp. 205:
Boston, 1830; 2d Ed., 1881. (2.) "English Grammar on the Productive
System;" 12mo, pp. 192: 2d Ed., New York, 1832. A sham.

SNYDER, W.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 164: 1st Ed., Winchester, Va., 1834.

SPALDING, CHARLES; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 36: 1st Ed., Onondaga, N. Y.,
1825.

SPEAR, MATTHEW P.; "The Teacher's Manual of English Grammar;" 12mo, pp.
116: 1st Ed., Boston, 1845.

SPENCER, GEORGE, A. M.; "An English Grammar on Synthetical Principles;"
12mo, pp. 178: New York, 1851.

STANIFORD, DANIEL, A. M.; "A Short but Comprehensive Grammar;" 12mo, pp.
96: Boston, 1807; 2d Ed., 1815.

STEARNS, GEORGE; English Grammar; 4to, pp. 17: 1st Ed., Boston, 1843.

STOCKWOOD, JOHN; Gram., 4to: London, 1590.

STORY, JOSHUA; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 180: 1st Ed., Newcastle, Eng.,
1778; 3d, 1783.

ST. QUENTIN, D., M. A.; "The Rudiments of General Gram.;" 12mo, pp. 163:
Lond., 1812.

SUTCLIFFE, JOSEPH, A. M.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 262; London, 1815; 2d
Ed., 1821.

SWETT, J., A. M.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 192: Claremont, N. H., 1843;
2d Ed., 1844.

TICKEN, WILLIAM; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 147: 1st Ed., London, 1806.

TICKNOR, ELISHA, A. M.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 72: 3d Ed., Boston,
1794.

TOBITT, R.; "Grammatical Institutes;" (in Verse;) 12mo, pp. 72: 1st Ed.,
London, 1825.

TODD, LEWIS C.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 126: Fredonia, N. Y., 1826; 2d
Ed., 1827.

TOOKE, JOHN HORNE, A. M.; "Epea Pteroenta; or, the Diversions of Purley;" 2
vols., 8vo; pp. 924: 1st American, from the 2d London Ed.; Philadelphia,
1806.

TOWER, DAVID B., A. M.; "Gradual Lessons in Grammar;" small 12mo, pp. 180:
Boston, 1847.

TRENCH, RICHARD CHENEVIX, B. D; "On the Study of Words;" 12mo, pp. 236:
London, 1st Ed., 1851; 2d Ed., 1852: reprinted, New York, 1852.

TRINDER, WILLIAM M.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 116: 1st Ed., London, 1781.

TUCKER, BENJAMIN; "A Short Introd. to E. Gram.;" 18mo, pp. 36: 4th Ed.,
Phila., 1812.

TURNER, DANIEL, A. M.; English Grammar; 8vo: London, 1739.

TURNER, Rev. BRANDON, A. M.; Grammar from G. Brown's Inst.; 12mo, pp. 238:
Lond., 1841.

TWITCHELL, MARK; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 106: 1st Ed., Portland. Me.,
1825.

USSHER, G. NEVILLE; English Grammar: 12mo, pp. 132: London, 1787; 3d Amer.
Ed., Exeter, N. H., 1804.

WALDO, JOHN; "Rudiments," 12mo; Philad., 1813: "Abridg't," 18mo, pp. 124;
Philadelphia, 1814.

WALKER, JOHN; (1.) E. Gram., 12mo, pp. 118: London, 1806. (2.) "Elements of
Elocution;" 8vo, pp. 379: Boston, 1810. (3.) Rhyming Dict., 12mo; (4.)
Pronouncing Dict., 8vo; and other valuable works.

WALKER, WILLIAM, B. D.; (1.) "A Treatise of English Particles;" 12mo, pp.
488: London, 1653; 10th Ed., 1691. (2.) "The Art of Teaching Grammar;"
large 18mo, pp. 226: 8th Ed., London, 1717.

WALLIS, JOHN, D. D.; E. Gram. in Latin; 8vo, pp. 281:. Lond., 1653; 6th
Ed., 1765.

WARD, H.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 151: Whitehaven, England, 1777.

WARD, JOHN, LL. D.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 238: London, 1768.

WARD, WILLIAM, A. M.; "A Practical Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 192: York, England,
1765.

WARE, JONATHAN, Esq.; "A New Introduction to English Grammar;" 12mo, pp.
48: Windsor, Vt., 1814.

WASE, CHRISTOPHER, M. A.; "An Essay of a Practical Gram.," 12mo, pp. 79:
Lond., 1660.

WATT, THOMAS, A. M.; "Gram. Made Easy;" 18mo, pp. 92: Edinburgh, 1708.; 5th
Ed., 1742.

WEBBER, SAMUEL, A. M., M. D.; "An Introd. to E. Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 116:
Cambridge, Mass., 1832.

WEBSTER, NOAH, LL. D.; (1.) "A Plain and Comprehensive Grammar;" 12mo, pp.
131: 8th Ed., Hartford, Ct., 1800. (2.) "A Philosophical and Practical
Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 250: Newhaven, Ct., 1807. (3.) "Rudiments of English
Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 87: New York, 1811. (4.) "An Improved Grammar of the E.
L.;" 12mo, pp. 180: Newhaven, 1831. (5.) "An American Dictionary of the E.
L.," 4to; and an Abridgement, 8vo.

WELCH, A. S.; "Analysis of the English Sentence;" 12mo, pp. 264: New York,
1854. Of no value.

WELD, ALLEN H., A. M.; (1.) "English Grammar Illustrated;" 12mo, pp. 228:
Portland, Me., 1846; 2d Ed., 1847: "Abridged Edition," Boston, 1849.
"Improved Edition," much altered: Portland, 1852. (2.) "Parsing Book,
containing Rules of Syntax," &c.; 18mo, pp. 112: Portland, 1847.

WELLS, WILLIAM H., M. A.; "Wells's School Grammar;" 12mo, pp. 220: 1st Ed.,
Andover, 1846; "113th Thousand," 1850.

WHITE, MR. JAMES; "The English Verb;" 8vo, pp. 302: 1st Ed., London, 1761.

WHITING, JOSEPH, A. M.; English Grammar; 12mo: Detroit, 1845.

WHITWORTH, T.; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 216: 1st Ed., London, 1819.

WICKES, EDWARD WALTER; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 106: 2d Ed., London,
1841.

WILBER & LIVINGSTON; "The Grammatical Alphabet;" (with a Chart;) 18mo, pp.
36: 2d Ed., Albany, 1815.

WILBUR, JOSIAH; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 132: Bellows Falls, N. H., 1815;
2d Ed., 1822.

WILCOX, A. F.; "A Catechetical and Practical Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 110: 1st
Ed., Newhaven, Ct., 1828.

WILLARD, SAMUEL: English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 54: 1st Ed., Greenfield, Mass.,
1816.

WILLIAMS, MRS. HONORIA; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 226: London, 1823; 3d
Ed., 1826.

WILSON, CHARLES, D. D.; "Elements of Hebrew Grammar;" 8vo, pp. 398: 3d Ed.,
London, 1802.

WILSON, GEORGE; English Grammar; 18mo; London, 1777.

WILSON, JAMES P., D. D.: "An Essay on Grammar;" 8vo, pp. 281: Philadelphia,
1817.

WILSON, JOHN; "A Treatise on English Punctuation;" 12mo, pp. 204: Boston,
1850.

WILSON, Rev. J.; English Grammar; 18mo, pp. 184: 3d Ed., Congleton,
England, 1803.

WINNING, Rev. W. B., M. A.; "A Manual of Comparative Philology;" 8vo, pp.
291: London, 1838.

WISEMAN, CHARLES; an English Grammar, 12mo: London, 1765.

WOOD, HELEN; English Grammar; 12mo, pp. 207: London, 1st Ed., 1827; 6th
Ed., 1841.

WOOD, Rev. JAMES, D. D; English Grammar; 12mo: London, 1778.

WOODWORTH, A.; "Grammar Demonstrated;" 12mo, pp. 72: 1st Ed., Auburn, N.
Y., 1823.

WORCESTER, JOSEPH, E.; "Universal and Critical Dictionary of the English
Language;" 1st Ed., Boston, 1846.

WORCESTER, SAMUEL; "A First Book of English Grammar;" 18mo, pp. 86; Boston,
1831.

WRIGHT, ALBERT D.; "Analytical Orthography;" 18mo, pp. 112: 2d Ed.,
Cazenovia, N. Y., 1842.

WRIGHT, JOSEPH W.; "A Philosophical Grammar of the English Language;" 12mo,
pp. 252: New York and London, 1838.

[Asterism] The _Names_, or _Heads_, in the foregoing alphabetical
Catalogue, are 452; the _Works_ mentioned are 548; the _Grammars_ are 463;
the _other Books_ are 85.

END OF THE CATALOGUE.




INTRODUCTION

HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL


CHAPTER I.

OF THE SCIENCE OF GRAMMAR.

"Hæc de Grammatica quam brevissime potui: non ut omnia dicerem sectatus,
(quod infinitum erat,) sed ut maxima necessaria."--QUINTILIAN. _De Inst.
Orat._, Lib. i, Cap. x.

1. Language, in the proper sense of the term, is peculiar to man; so that,
without a miraculous assumption of human powers, none but human beings can
make words the vehicle of thought. An imitation of some of the articulate
sounds employed in speech, may be exhibited by parrots, and sometimes by
domesticated ravens, and we know that almost all brute animals have their
peculiar natural voices, by which they indicate their feelings, whether
pleasing or painful. But _language_ is an attribute of reason, and differs
essentially not only from all brute voices, but even from all the
chattering, jabbering, and babbling of our own species, in which there is
not an intelligible meaning, with division of thought, and distinction of
words.

2. Speech results from the joint exercise of the best and noblest faculties
of human nature, from our rational understanding and our social affection;
and is, in the proper use of it, the peculiar ornament and distinction of
man, whether we compare him with other orders in the creation, or view him
as an individual preëminent among his fellows. Hence that science which
makes known the nature and structure of speech, and immediately concerns
the correct and elegant use of language, while it surpasses all the
conceptions of the stupid or unlearned, and presents nothing that can seem
desirable to the sensual and grovelling, has an intrinsic dignity which
highly commends it to all persons of sense and taste, and makes it most a
favourite with the most gifted minds. That science is Grammar. And though
there be some geniuses who affect to despise the trammels of grammar rules,
to whom it must be conceded that many things which have been unskillfully
taught as such, deserve to be despised; yet it is true, as Dr. Adam
remarks, that, "The study of Grammar has been considered an object of great
importance by the wisest men in all ages."--_Preface to Latin and English
Gram._, p. iii.

3. Grammar bears to language several different relations, and acquires from
each a nature leading to a different definition. _First_, It is to
language, as knowledge is to the thing known; and as doctrine, to the
truths it inculcates. In these relations, grammar is a science. It is the
first of what have been called the seven sciences, or liberal branches of
knowledge; namely, grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry,
astronomy, and music. _Secondly_, It is as skill, to the thing to be done;
and as power, to the instruments it employs. In these relations, grammar is
an art; and as such, has long been defined, "_ars rectè scribendi, rectèque
loquendi_" the art of writing and speaking correctly. _Thirdly_, It is as
navigation, to the ocean, which nautic skill alone enables men to traverse.
In this relation, theory and practice combine, and grammar becomes, like
navigation, a practical science. _Fourthly_, It is as a chart, to a coast
which we would visit. In this relation, our grammar is a text-book, which
we take as a guide, or use as a help to our own observation. _Fifthly_, It
is as a single voyage, to the open sea, the highway of nations. Such is our
meaning, when we speak of the grammar of a particular text or passage.

4. Again: Grammar is to language a sort of self-examination. It turns the
faculty of speech or writing upon itself for its own elucidation; and makes
the tongue or the pen explain the uses and abuses to which both are liable,
as well as the nature and excellency of that power, of which, these are the
two grand instruments. From this account, some may begin to think that in
treating of grammar we are dealing with something too various and
changeable for the understanding to grasp; a dodging Proteus of the
imagination, who is ever ready to assume some new shape, and elude the
vigilance of the inquirer. But let the reader or student do his part; and,
if he please, follow us with attention. We will endeavour, with welded
links, to bind this Proteus, in such a manner that he shall neither escape
from our hold, nor fail to give to the consulter an intelligible and
satisfactory response. Be not discouraged, generous youth. Hark to that
sweet far-reaching note:

   "Sed, quanto ille magis formas se vertet in omnes,
    Tanto, nate, magis contende tenacia vincla."
                    VIRGIL. Geor. IV, 411.

   "But thou, the more he varies forms, beware
    To strain his fetters with a stricter care."
                    DRYDEN'S VIRGIL.

5. If for a moment we consider the good and the evil that are done in the
world through the medium of speech, we shall with one voice acknowledge,
that not only the faculty itself, but also the manner in which it is used,
is of incalculable importance to the welfare of man. But this reflection
does not directly enhance our respect for grammar, because it is not to
language as the vehicle of moral or of immoral sentiment, of good or of
evil to mankind, that the attention of the grammarian is particularly
directed. A consideration of the subject in these relations, pertains
rather to the moral philosopher. Nor are the arts of logic and rhetoric now
considered to be properly within the grammarian's province. Modern science
assigns to these their separate places, and restricts grammar, which at one
period embraced all learning, to the knowledge of language, as respects its
fitness to be the vehicle of any particular thought or sentiment which the
speaker or writer may wish to convey by it. Accordingly grammar is commonly
defined, by writers upon the subject, in the special sense of an art--"the
_art_ of speaking or writing a language with propriety or
correctness."--_Webster's Dict._

6. Lily says, "Grammatica est rectè scribendi atque loquendi ars;" that is,
"Grammar is the art of writing and speaking correctly." Despauter, too, in
his definition, which is quoted in a preceding paragraph, not improperly
placed writing first, as being that with which grammar is primarily
concerned. For it ought to be remembered, that over any fugitive colloquial
dialect, which has never been fixed by visible signs, grammar has no
control; and that the speaking which the art or science of grammar teaches,
is exclusively that which has reference to a knowledge of letters. It is
the certain tendency of writing, to improve speech. And in proportion as
books are multiplied, and the knowledge of written language is diffused,
local dialects, which are beneath the dignity of grammar, will always be
found to grow fewer, and their differences less. There are, in the various
parts of the world, many languages to which the art of grammar has never
yet been applied; and to which, therefore, the definition or true idea of
grammar, however general, does not properly extend. And even where it has
been applied, and is now honoured as a popular branch of study, there is
yet great room for improvement: barbarisms and solecisms have not been
rebuked away as they deserve to be.

7. Melancthon says, "Grammatica est certa loquendi ac scribendi ratio,
Latinis Latinè." Vossius, "Ars benè loquendi eóque et scribendi, atque id
Latinis Latinè." Dr. Prat, "_Grammatica est rectè loquendi atque scribendi
ars._" Ruddiman also, in his Institutes of Latin Grammar, reversed the
terms _writing_ and _speaking_, and defined grammar, "_ars recè loquendi
scribendique_;" and, either from mere imitation, or from the general
observation that speech precedes writing, this arrangement of the words has
been followed by most modern grammarians. Dr. Lowth embraces both terms in
a more general one, and says, "Grammar is the art of _rightly expressing_
our thoughts by words." It is, however, the province of grammar, to guide
us not merely in the expression of our own thoughts, but also in our
apprehension of the thoughts, and our interpretation of the words, of
others. Hence, Perizonius, in commenting upon Sanctius's imperfect
definition, "_Grammatica est ars rectè loquendi_," not improperly asks,
"_et quidni intelligendi et explicandi_?" "and why not also of
understanding and explaining?" Hence, too, the art of _reading_ is
virtually a part of grammar; for it is but the art of understanding and
speaking correctly that which we have before us on paper. And Nugent has
accordingly given us the following definition: "Grammar is the art of
reading, speaking, and writing a language by rules."--_Introduction to
Dict._, p. xii.[1]

8. The word _rectè_, rightly, truly, correctly, which occurs in most of the
foregoing Latin definitions, is censured by the learned Richard Johnson, in
his Grammatical Commentaries, on account of the vagueness of its meaning.
He says, it is not only ambiguous by reason of its different uses in the
Latin classics, but destitute of any signification proper to grammar. But
even if this be true as regards its earlier application, it may well be
questioned, whether by frequency of use it has not acquired a signification
which makes it proper at the present time. The English word _correctly_
seems to be less liable to such an objection; and either this brief term,
or some other of like import, (as, "with correctness"--"with propriety,")
is still usually employed to tell what grammar is. But can a boy learn by
such means what it is, _to speak and write grammatically_? In one sense, he
can; and in an other, he cannot. He may derive, from any of these terms,
some idea of grammar as distinguished from other arts; but no simple
definition of this, or of any other art, can communicate to him that learns
it, the skill of an artist.

9. R. Johnson speaks at large of _the relation_ of words to each other in
sentences, as constituting in his view the most essential part of grammar;
and as being a point very much overlooked, or very badly explained, by
grammarians in general. His censure is just. And it seems to be as
applicable to nearly all the grammars now in use, as to those which he
criticised a hundred and thirty years ago. But perhaps he gives to the
relation of words, (which is merely their dependence on other words
according to the sense,) an earlier introduction and a more prominent
place, than it ought to have in a general system of grammar. To the right
use of language, he makes four things to be necessary. In citing these, I
vary the language, but not the substance or the order of his positions.
_First_, That we should speak and write words according to the
significations which belong to them: the teaching of which now pertains to
lexicography, and not to grammar, except incidentally. "_Secondly_, That we
should observe _the relations_ that words have one to another in sentences,
and represent those relations by such variations, and particles, as are
usual with authors in that language." _Thirdly_, That we should acquire a
knowledge of the proper sounds of the letters, and pay a due regard to
accent in pronunciation. _Fourthly_, That we should learn to write words
with their proper letters, spelling them as literary men generally do.

10. From these positions, (though he sets aside the first, as pertaining to
lexicography, and not now to grammar, as it formerly did,) the learned
critic deduces first his four parts of the subject, and then his definition
of grammar. "Hence," says he, "there arise Four Parts of Grammar;
_Analogy_, which treats of the several parts of speech, their definitions,
accidents, and formations; _Syntax_, which treats of the use of those
things in construction, according to their relations; _Orthography_, which
treats of spelling; and _Prosody_, which treats of accenting in
pronunciation. So, then, the true definition of Grammar is this: Grammar is
the art of _expressing the relations_ of things in construction, with due
accent in speaking, and orthography in writing, according to the custom of
those whose language we learn." Again he adds: "The word _relation_ has
other senses, taken by itself; but yet the _relation of words one to
another in a sentence_, has no other signification than what I intend by
it, namely, of cause, effect, means, end, manner, instrument, object,
adjunct, and the like; which are names given by logicians to those
relations under which the mind comprehends things, and therefore the most
proper words to explain them to others. And if such things are too hard for
children, then grammar is too hard; for there neither is, nor can be, any
grammar without them. And a little experience will satisfy any man, that
the young will as easily apprehend them, as _gender, number, declension_,
and other grammar-terms." See _R. Johnson's Grammatical Commentaries_, p.
4.

11. It is true, that the _relation of words_--by which I mean that
connexion between them, which the train of thought forms and suggests--or
that dependence which one word has on an other according to the sense--lies
at the foundation of all syntax. No rule or principle of construction can
ever have any applicability beyond the limits, or contrary to the order, of
this relation. To see what it is in any given case, is but to understand
the meaning of the phrase or sentence. And it is plain, that no word ever
necessarily agrees with an other, with which it is not thus connected in
the mind of him who uses it. No word ever governs an other, to which the
sense does not direct it. No word is ever required to stand immediately
before or after an other, to which it has not some relation according to
the meaning of the passage. Here then are the relation, agreement,
government, and arrangement, of words in sentences; and these make up the
whole of syntax--but not the whole of grammar. To this one part of grammar,
therefore, the relation of words is central and fundamental; and in the
other parts also, there are some things to which the consideration of it is
incidental; but there are many more, like spelling, pronunciation,
derivation, and whatsoever belongs merely to letters, syllables, and the
forms of words, with which it has, in fact, no connexion. The relation of
words, therefore, should be clearly and fully explained in its proper
place, under the head of syntax; but the general idea of grammar will not
be brought nearer to truth, by making it to be "the art of _expressing the
relations_ of things in construction," &c., according to the foregoing
definition.

12. The term _grammar_ is derived from the Greek word [Greek: gramma], a
letter. The art or science to which this term is applied, had its origin,
not in cursory speech, but in the practice of writing; and speech, which is
first in the order of nature, is last with reference to grammar. The matter
or common subject of grammar, is language in general; which, being of two
kinds, _spoken_ and _written_, consists of certain combinations either of
sounds or of visible signs, employed for the expression of thought. Letters
and sounds, though often heedlessly confounded in the definitions given of
vowels, consonants, &c., are, in their own nature, very different things.
They address themselves to different senses; the former, to the sight; the
latter, to the hearing. Yet, by a peculiar relation arbitrarily established
between them, and in consequence of an almost endless variety in the
combinations of either, they coincide in a most admirable manner, to effect
the great object for which language was bestowed or invented; namely, to
furnish a sure medium for the communication of thought, and the
preservation of knowledge.

13. All languages, however different, have many things in common. There are
points of a philosophical character, which result alike from the analysis
of any language, and are founded on the very nature of human thought, and
that of the sounds or other signs which are used to express it. When such
principles alone are taken as the subject of inquiry, and are treated, as
they sometimes have been, without regard to any of the idioms of particular
languages, they constitute what is called General, Philosophical, or
Universal Grammar. But to teach, with Lindley Murray and some others, that
"Grammar may be considered as _consisting of two species_, Universal and
Particular," and that the latter merely "applies those general principles
to a particular language," is to adopt a twofold absurdity at the
outset.[2] For every cultivated language has its particular grammar, in
which whatsoever is universal, is necessarily included; but of which,
universal or general principles form only a part, and that comparatively
small. We find therefore in grammar no "two species" of the same genus; nor
is the science or art, as commonly defined and understood, susceptible of
division into any proper and distinct sorts, except with reference to
different languages--as when we speak of Greek, Latin, French, or English
grammar.

14. There is, however, as I have suggested, a certain science or philosophy
of language, which has been denominated Universal Grammar; being made up of
those points only, in which many or all of the different languages
preserved in books, are found to coincide. All speculative minds are fond
of generalization; and, in the vastness of the views which may thus be
taken of grammar, such may find an entertainment which they never felt in
merely learning to speak and write grammatically. But the pleasure of such
contemplations is not the earliest or the most important fruit of the
study. The first thing is, to know and understand the grammatical
construction of our own language. Many may profit by this acquisition, who
extend not their inquiries to the analogies or the idioms of other tongues.
It is true, that every item of grammatical doctrine is the more worthy to
be known and regarded, in proportion as it approaches to universality. But
the principles of all practical grammar, whether universal or particular,
common or peculiar, must first be learned in their application to some one
language, before they can be distinguished into such classes; and it is
manifest, both from reason and from experience, that the youth of any
nation not destitute of a good book for the purpose, may best acquire a
knowledge of those principles, from the grammatical study of their native
tongue.

15. Universal or Philosophical Grammar is a large field for speculation and
inquiry, and embraces many things which, though true enough in themselves,
are unfit to be incorporated with any system of practical grammar, however
comprehensive its plan. Many authors have erred here. With what is merely
theoretical, such a system should have little to do. Philosophy, dealing in
generalities, resolves speech not only as a whole into its constituent
parts and separable elements, as anatomy shows the use and adaptation of
the parts and joints of the human body; but also as a composite into its
matter and form, as one may contemplate that same body in its entireness,
yet as consisting of materials, some solid and some fluid, and these
curiously modelled to a particular figure. Grammar, properly so called,
requires only the former of these analyses; and in conducting the same, it
descends to the thousand minute particulars which are necessary to be known
in practice. Nor are such things to be despised as trivial and low:
ignorance of what is common and elementary, is but the more disgraceful for
being ignorance of mere rudiments. "Wherefore," says Quintilian, "they are
little to be respected, who represent this art as mean and barren; in
which, unless you faithfully lay the foundation for the future orator,
whatever superstructure you raise will tumble into ruins. It is an art,
necessary to the young, pleasant to the old, the sweet companion of the
retired, and one which in reference to every kind of study has in itself
more of utility than of show. Let no one therefore despise as
inconsiderable the elements of grammar. Not because it is a great thing, to
distinguish consonants from vowels, and afterwards divide them into
semivowels and mutes; but because, to those who enter the interior parts of
this temple of science, there will appear in many things a great subtilty,
which is fit not only to sharpen the wits of youth, but also to exercise
the loftiest erudition and science."--_De Institutione Oratoria_, Lib. i,
Cap. iv.

16. Again, of the arts which spring from the composition of language. Here
the art of logic, aiming solely at conviction, addresses the understanding
with cool deductions of unvarnished truth; rhetoric, designing to move, in
some particular direction, both the judgement and the sympathies of men,
applies itself to the affections in order to persuade; and poetry, various
in its character and tendency, solicits the imagination, with a view to
delight, and in general also to instruct. But grammar, though intimately
connected with all these, and essential to them in practice, is still too
distinct from each to be identified with any of them. In regard to dignity
and interest, these higher studies seem to have greatly the advantage over
particular grammar; but who is willing to be an ungrammatical poet, orator,
or logician? For him I do not write. But I would persuade my readers, that
an acquaintance with that grammar which respects the genius of their
vernacular tongue, is of primary importance to all who would cultivate a
literary taste, and is a necessary introduction to the study of other
languages. And it may here be observed, for the encouragement of the
student, that as grammar is essentially the same thing in all languages, he
who has well mastered that of his own, has overcome more than half the
difficulty of learning another; and he whose knowledge of words is the most
extensive, has the fewest obstacles to encounter in proceeding further.

17. It was the "original design" of grammar, says Dr. Adam, to facilitate
"the acquisition of languages;" and, of all practical treatises on the
subject, this is still the main purpose. In those books which are to
prepare the learner to translate from one tongue into another, seldom is
any thing else attempted. In those also which profess to explain the right
use of vernacular speech, must the same purpose be ever paramount, and the
"original design" be kept in view. But the grammarian may teach many things
incidentally. One cannot learn a language, without learning at the same
time a great many opinions, facts, and principles, of some kind or other,
which are necessarily embodied in it. For all language proceeds from, and
is addressed to, the understanding; and he that perceives not the meaning
of what he reads, makes no acquisition even of the language itself. To the
science of grammar, the _nature of the ideas_ conveyed by casual examples,
is not very essential: to the learner, it is highly important. The best
thoughts in the best diction should furnish the models for youthful study
and imitation; because such language is not only the most worthy to be
remembered, but the most easy to be understood. A distinction is also to be
made between use and abuse. In nonsense, absurdity, or falsehood, there can
never be any grammatical authority; because, however language may be
abused, the usage which gives law to speech, is still that usage which is
founded upon the _common sense_ of mankind.

18. Grammar appeals to reason, as well as to authority, but to what extent
it should do so, has been matter of dispute. "The knowledge of useful
arts," says Sanctius, "is not an invention of human ingenuity, but an
emanation from the Deity, descending from above for the use of man, as
Minerva sprung from the brain of Jupiter. Wherefore, unless thou give
thyself wholly to laborious research into the nature of things, and
diligently examine the _causes and reasons_ of the art thou teachest,
believe me, thou shalt but see with other men's eyes, and hear with other
men's ears. But the minds of many are preoccupied with a certain perverse
opinion, or rather ignorant conceit, that in grammar, or the art of
speaking, there are no causes, and that reason is scarcely to be appealed
to for any thing;--than which idle notion, I know of nothing more
foolish;--nothing can be thought of which is more offensive. Shall man,
endowed with reason, do, say, or contrive any thing, without design, and
without understanding? Hear the philosophers; who positively declare that
nothing comes to pass without a cause. Hear Plato himself; who affirms that
names and words subsist by nature, and contends that language is derived
from nature, and not from art."

19. "I know," says he, "that the Aristotelians think otherwise; but no one
will doubt that names are the signs, and as it were the instruments, of
things. But the instrument of any art is so adapted to that art, that for
any other purpose it must seem unfit; thus with an auger we bore, and with
a saw we cut wood; but we split stones with wedges, and wedges are driven
with heavy mauls. We cannot therefore but believe that those who first gave
names to things, did it with design; and this, I imagine, Aristotle himself
understood when he said, _ad placitum nomina significare._ For those who
contend that names were made by chance, are no less audacious than if they
would endeavour to persuade us, that the whole order of the universe was
framed together fortuitously."

20. "You will see," continues he, "that in the first language, whatever it
was, the names of things were taken from Nature herself; but, though I
cannot affirm this to have been the case in other tongues, yet I can easily
persuade myself that in every tongue a reason can be rendered for the
application of every name; and that this reason, though it is in many cases
obscure, is nevertheless worthy of investigation. Many things which were
not known to the earlier philosophers, were brought to light by Plato;
after the death of Plato, many were discovered by Aristotle; and Aristotle
was ignorant of many which are now everywhere known. For truth lies hid,
but nothing is more precious than truth. But you will say, 'How can there
be any certain origin to names, when one and the same thing is called by
different names, in the several parts of the world?' I answer, of the same
thing there may be different causes, of which some people may regard one,
and others, an other. * * * There is therefore no doubt, that of all
things, even of words, a reason is to be rendered: and if we know not what
that reason is, when we are asked; we ought rather to confess that we do
not know, than to affirm that none can be given. I know that Scaliger
thinks otherwise; but this is the true account of the matter."

21. "These several observations," he remarks further, "I have unwillingly
brought together against those stubborn critics who, while they explode
reason from grammar, insist so much on the testimonies of the learned. But
have they never read Quintilian, who says, (Lib. i, Cap. 6,) that,
'Language is established by reason, antiquity, authority, and custom?' He
therefore does not exclude reason, but makes it the principal thing. Nay,
in a manner, Laurentius, and other grammatists, even of their fooleries,
are forward to offer _reasons_, such as they are. Moreover, use does not
take place without reason; otherwise, it ought to be called abuse, and not
use. But from use authority derives all its force; for when it recedes from
use, authority becomes nothing: whence Cicero reproves Coelius and Marcus
Antonius for speaking according to their own fancy, and not according to
use. But, 'Nothing can be lasting,' says Curtius, (Lib. iv,) 'which is not
based upon reason.' It remains, therefore, that of all things the reason be
first assigned; and then, if it can be done, we may bring forward
testimonies; that the thing, having every advantage, may be made the more
clear."--_Sanctii Minerva_, Lib. i, Cap. 2.

22. Julius Cæsar Scaliger, from whose opinion Sanctius dissents above,
seems to limit the science of grammar to bounds considerably too narrow,
though he found within them room for the exercise of much ingenuity and
learning. He says, "Grammatica est scientia loquendi ex usu; neque enim
constituit regulas scientibus usus modum, sed ex eorum statis
frequentibusque usurpatiombus colligit communem rationem loquendi, quam
discentibus traderet."--_De Causis L. Latinæ_, Lib. iv, Cap. 76. "Grammar
is the science of speaking according to use; for it does not establish
rules for those who know the manner of use, but from the settled and
frequent usages of these, gathers the common fashion of speaking, which it
should deliver to learners." This limited view seems not only to exclude
from the science the use of the pen, but to exempt the learned from any
obligation to respect the rules prescribed for the initiation of the young.
But I have said, and with abundant authority, that the acquisition of a
good style of writing is the main purpose of the study; and, surely, the
proficients and adepts in the art can desire for themselves no such
exemption. Men of genius, indeed, sometimes affect to despise the pettiness
of all grammatical instructions; but this can be nothing else than
affectation, since the usage of the learned is confessedly the basis of all
such instructions, and several of the loftiest of their own rank appear on
the list of grammarians.

23. Quintilian, whose authority is appealed to above, belonged to that age
in which the exegesis of histories, poems, and other writings, was
considered an essential part of grammar. He therefore, as well as Diomedes,
and other ancient writers, divided the grammarian's duties into two parts;
the one including what is now called grammar, and the other the
explanation of authors, and the stigmatizing of the unworthy. Of the
opinion referred to by Sanctius, it seems proper to make here an ampler
citation. It shall be attempted in English, though the paragraph is not an
easy one to translate. I understand the author to say, "Speakers, too, have
their rules to observe; and writers, theirs. Language is established by
reason, antiquity, authority, and custom. Of reason the chief ground is
analogy, but sometimes etymology. Ancient things have a certain majesty,
and, as I might say, religion, to commend them. Authority is wont to be
sought from orators and historians; the necessity of metre mostly excuses
the poets. When the judgement of the chief masters of eloquence passes for
reason, even error seems right to those who follow great leaders. But, of
the art of speaking, custom is the surest mistress; for speech is evidently
to be used as money, which has upon it a public stamp. Yet all these things
require a penetrating judgement, especially analogy; the force of which is,
that one may refer what is doubtful, to something similar that is clearly
established, and thus prove uncertain things by those which are
sure."--QUINT, _de Inst. Orat._, Lib. i, Cap. 6, p. 48.

24. The science of grammar, whatever we may suppose to be its just limits,
does not appear to have been better cultivated in proportion as its scope
was narrowed. Nor has its application to our tongue, in particular, ever
been made in such a manner, as to do _great_ honour to the learning or the
talents of him that attempted it. What is new to a nation, may be old to
the world. The development of the intellectual powers of youth by
instruction in the classics, as well as the improvement of their taste by
the exhibition of what is elegant in literature, is continually engaging
the attention of new masters, some of whom may seem to effect great
improvements; but we must remember that the concern itself is of no recent
origin. Plato and Aristotle, who were great masters both of grammar and of
philosophy, taught these things ably at Athens, in the fourth century
_before_ Christ. Varro, the grammarian, usually styled the most learned of
the Romans, was _contemporary_ with the Saviour and his apostles.
Quintilian lived in the _first_ century of our era, and before he wrote his
most celebrated book, taught a school twenty years in Rome, and received
from the state a salary which made him rich. This "consummate guide of
wayward youth," as the poet Martial called him, being neither ignorant of
what had been done by others, nor disposed to think it a light task to
prescribe the right use of his own language, was at first slow to undertake
the work upon which his fame now reposes; and, after it was begun, diligent
to execute it worthily, that it might turn both to his own honour, and to
the real advancement of learning.

25. He says, at the commencement of his book: "After I had obtained a quiet
release from those labours which for twenty years had devolved upon me as
an instructor of youth, certain persons familiarly demanded of me, that I
should compose something concerning the proper manner of speaking; but for
a long time I withstood their solicitations, because I knew there were
already illustrious authors in each language, by whom many things which
might pertain to such a work, had been very diligently written, and left to
posterity. But the reason which I thought would obtain for me an easier
excuse, did but excite more earnest entreaty; because, amidst the various
opinions of earlier writers, some of whom were not even consistent with
themselves, the choice had become difficult; so that my friends seemed to
have a right to enjoin upon me, if not the labour of producing new
instructions, at least that of judging concerning the old. But although I
was persuaded not so much by the hope of supplying what was required, as by
the shame of refusing, yet, as the matter opened itself before me, I
undertook of my own accord a much greater task than had been imposed; that
while I should thus oblige my very good friends by a fuller compliance, I
might not enter a common path and tread only in the footsteps of others.
For most other writers who have treated of the art of speaking, have
proceeded in such a manner as if upon adepts in every other kind of
doctrine they would lay the last touch in eloquence; either despising as
little things the studies which we first learn, or thinking them not to
fall to their share in the division which should be made of the
professions; or, what indeed is next to this, hoping no praise or thanks
for their ingenuity about things which, although necessary, lie far from
ostentation: the tops of buildings make a show, their foundations are
unseen."--_Quintiliani de Inst. Orat., Prooemium._

26. But the reader may ask, "What have all these things to do with English
Grammar?" I answer, they help to show us whence and what it is. Some
acquaintance with the history of grammar as a science, as well as some
knowledge of the structure of other languages than our own, is necessary to
him who professes to write for the advancement of this branch of
learning--and for him also who would be a competent judge of what is thus
professed. Grammar must not forget her origin. Criticism must not resign
the protection of letters. The national literature of a country is in the
keeping, not of the people at large, but of authors and teachers. But a
grammarian presumes to be a judge of authorship, and a teacher of teachers;
and is it to the honour of England or America, that in both countries so
many are countenanced in this assumption of place, who can read no language
but their mother tongue? English Grammar is not properly an indigenous
production, either of this country or of Britain; because it is but a
branch of the general science of philology--a new variety, or species,
sprung up from the old stock long ago transplanted from the soil of Greece
and Rome.

27. It is true, indeed, that neither any ancient system of grammatical
instruction nor any grammar of an other language, however contrived, can be
entirely applicable to the present state of our tongue; for languages must
needs differ greatly one from an other, and even that which is called the
same, may come in time to differ greatly from what it once was. But the
general analogies of speech, which are the central principles of grammar,
are but imperfectly seen by the man of one language. On the other hand, it
is possible to know much of those general principles, and yet be very
deficient in what is peculiar to our own tongue. Real improvement in the
grammar of our language, must result from a view that is neither partial
nor superficial. "Time, sorry artist," as was said of old, "makes all he
handles worse." And Lord Bacon, seeming to have this adage in view,
suggests: "If Time of course alter all things to the worse, and Wisdom and
Counsel shall not alter them to the better, what shall be the
end?"--_Bacon's Essays_, p. 64.

28. Hence the need that an able and discreet grammarian should now and then
appear, who with skillful hand can effect those corrections which a change
of fashion or the ignorance of authors may have made necessary; but if he
is properly qualified for his task, he will do all this without a departure
from any of the great principles of Universal Grammar. He will surely be
very far from thinking, with a certain modern author, whom I shall notice
in an other chapter, that, "He is bound to take words and explain them as
he finds them in his day, _without any regard to their ancient construction
and application_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 28. The whole history of every
word, so far as he can ascertain it, will be the view under which he will
judge of what is right or wrong in the language which he teaches. Etymology
is neither the whole of this view, nor yet to be excluded from it. I concur
not therefore with Dr. Campbell, who, to make out a strong case,
extravagantly says, "It is _never from an attention to etymology_, which
would frequently mislead us, but from custom, the only infallible guide in
this matter, that the meanings of words in present use must be
learnt."--_Philosophy of Rhetoric_, p. 188. Jamieson too, with an
implicitness little to be commended, takes this passage from Campbell; and,
with no other change than that of "_learnt_" to "_learned_" publishes it as
a corollary of his own.--_Grammar of Rhetoric_, p. 42. It is folly to state
for truth what is so obviously wrong. Etymology and custom are seldom at
odds; and where they are so, the latter can hardly be deemed infallible.




CHAPTER II.

OF GRAMMATICAL AUTHORSHIP.

"Respondeo, dupliciter aliquem dici grammaticum, arte et professione.
Grammatici vera arte paucissimi sunt: et hi magna laude digni sunt, ut
patuit: hos non vituperant summi viri; quia ipse Plinius ejusmodi
grammaticus fuit, et de arte grammatica libelos edidit. Et Grellius veræ
grammaticæ fuit diligentissimus doctor; sic et ipse Datus. Alii sunt
grammatici professione, et ii plerumque sunt inceptissimi; quia scribimus
indocti doctique, et indignissimus quisque hanc sibi artem vindicat:----hos
mastigias multis probris docti summo jure insectantur."--DESPAUTER.
_Syntaxis_, fol. 1.


1. It is of primary importance in all discussions and expositions of
doctrines, of any sort, to ascertain well the _principles_ upon which our
reasonings are to be founded, and to see that they be such as are immovably
established in the nature of things; for error in first principles is
fundamental, and he who builds upon an uncertain foundation, incurs at
least a _hazard_ of seeing his edifice overthrown. The lover of _truth_
will be, at all times, diligent to seek it, firm to adhere to it, willing
to submit to it, and ready to promote it; but even the truth may be urged
unseasonably, and important facts are things liable to be misjoined. It is
proper, therefore, for every grammarian gravely to consider, whether and
how far the principles of his philosophy, his politics, his morals, or his
religion, ought to influence, or actually do influence, his theory of
language, and his practical instructions respecting the right use of words.
In practice, grammar is so interwoven with all else that is known,
believed, learned, or spoken of among men, that to determine its own
peculiar principles with due distinctness, seems to be one of the most
difficult points of a grammarian's duty.

2. From misapprehension, narrowness of conception, or improper bias, in
relation to this point, many authors have started wrong; denounced others
with intemperate zeal; departed themselves from sound doctrine; and
produced books which are disgraced not merely by occasional oversights, but
by central and radical errors. Hence, too, have sprung up, in the name of
grammar, many unprofitable discussions, and whimsical systems of teaching,
calculated rather to embarrass than to inform the student. Mere collisions
of opinion, conducted without any acknowledged standard to guide the
judgement, never tend to real improvement. Grammar is unquestionably a
branch of that universal philosophy by which the thoroughly educated mind
is enlightened to see all things aright; for philosophy, in this sense of
the term, is found in everything. Yet, properly speaking, the true
grammarian is not a philosopher, nor can any man strengthen his title to
the former character by claiming the latter; and it is certain, that a most
disheartening proportion of what in our language has been published under
the name of Philosophic Grammar, is equally remote from philosophy, from
grammar, and from common sense.

3. True grammar is founded on the authority of reputable custom; and that
custom, on the use which men make of their reason. The proofs of what is
right are accumulative, and on many points there can be no dispute, because
our proofs from the best usage, are both obvious and innumerable. On the
other hand, the evidence of what is wrong is rather demonstrative; for when
we would expose a particular error, we exhibit it in contrast with the
established principle which it violates. He who formed the erroneous
sentence, has in this case no alternative, but either to acknowledge the
solecism, or to deny the authority of the rule. There are disputable
principles in grammar, as there are moot points in law; but this
circumstance affects no settled usage in either; and every person of sense
and taste will choose to express himself in the way least liable to
censure. All are free indeed from positive constraint on their phraseology;
for we do not speak or write by statutes. But the ground of instruction
assumed in grammar, is similar to that upon which are established the
maxims of _common law_, in jurisprudence. The ultimate principle, then, to
which we appeal, as the only true standard of grammatical propriety, is
that species of custom which critics denominate GOOD USE; that is, present,
reputable, general use.

4. Yet a slight acquaintance with the history of grammar will suffice to
show us, that it is much easier to acknowledge this principle, and to
commend it in words, than to ascertain what it is, and abide by it in
practice. Good use is that which is neither ancient nor recent, neither
local nor foreign, neither vulgar nor pedantic; and it will be found that
no few have in some way or other departed from it, even while they were
pretending to record its dictates. But it is not to be concealed, that in
every living language, it is a matter of much inherent difficulty, to reach
the standard of propriety, where usage is various; and to ascertain with
clearness the decisions of custom, when we descend to minute details. Here
is a field in which whatsoever is achieved by the pioneers of literature,
can be appreciated only by thorough scholars; for the progress of
improvement in any art or science, can be known only to those who can
clearly compare its ruder with its more refined stages; and it often
happens that what is effected with much labour, may be presented in a very
small compass.

5. But the knowledge of grammar may _retrograde_; for whatever loses the
vital principle of renovation and growth, tends to decay. And if mere
copyists, compilers, abridgers, and modifiers, be encouraged as they now
are, it surely will not advance. Style is liable to be antiquated by time,
corrupted by innovation, debased by ignorance, perverted by conceit,
impaired by negligence, and vitiated by caprice. And nothing but the living
spirit of true authorship, and the application of just criticism, can
counteract the natural tendency of these causes. English grammar is still
in its infancy; and even bears, to the imagination of some, the appearance
of a deformed and ugly dwarf among the liberal arts. Treatises are
multiplied almost innumerably, but still the old errors survive. Names are
rapidly added to our list of authors, while little or nothing is done for
the science. Nay, while new blunders have been committed in every new book,
old ones have been allowed to stand as by prescriptive right;. and
positions that were never true, and sentences that were never good English,
have been published and republished under different names, till in our
language grammar has become the most ungrammatical of all studies!
"Imitators generally copy their originals in an inverse ratio of their
merits; that is, by adding as much to their faults, as they lose of their
merits."--KNIGHT, _on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 117.

   "Who to the life an exact piece would make,
    Must not from others' work a copy take."--_Cowley_.

6. All science is laid in the nature of things; and he only who seeks it
there, can rightly guide others in the paths of knowledge. He alone can
know whether his predecessors went right or wrong, who is capable of a
judgement independent of theirs. But with what shameful servility have many
false or faulty definitions and rules been copied and copied from one
grammar to another, as if authority had canonized their errors, or none had
eyes to see them! Whatsoever is dignified and fair, is also modest and
reasonable; but modesty does not consist in having no opinion of one's own,
nor reason in following with blind partiality the footsteps of others.
Grammar unsupported by authority, is indeed mere fiction. But what apology
is this, for that authorship which has produced so many grammars without
originality? Shall he who cannot write for himself, improve upon him who
can? Shall he who cannot paint, retouch the canvass of Guido? Shall modest
ingenuity be allowed only to imitators and to thieves? How many a prefatory
argument issues virtually in this! It is not deference to merit, but
impudent pretence, practising on the credulity of ignorance! Commonness
alone exempts it from scrutiny, and the success it has, is but the wages of
its own worthlessness! To read and be informed, is to make a proper use of
books for the advancement of learning; but to assume to be an author by
editing mere commonplaces and stolen criticisms, is equally beneath the
ambition of a scholar and the honesty of a man.

   "'T is true, the ancients we may rob with ease;
    But who with that mean shift himself can please?"
            _Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham_.

7. Grammar being a practical art, with the principles of which every
intelligent person is more or less acquainted, it might be expected that a
book written professedly on the subject, should exhibit some evidence of
its author's skill. But it would seem that a multitude of bad or
indifferent writers have judged themselves qualified to teach the art of
speaking and writing well; so that correctness of language and neatness of
style are as rarely to be found in grammars as in other books. Nay, I have
before suggested that in no other science are the principles of good
writing so frequently and so shamefully violated. The code of false grammar
embraced in the following work, will go far to sustain this opinion. There
have been, however, several excellent scholars, who have thought it an
object not unworthy of their talents, to prescribe and elucidate the
principles of English Grammar. But these, with scarcely any exception, have
executed their inadequate designs, not as men engaged in their proper
calling, but as mere literary almoners, descending for a day from their
loftier purposes, to perform a service, needful indeed, and therefore
approved, but very far from supplying all the aid that is requisite to a
thorough knowledge of the subject. Even the most meritorious have left
ample room for improvement, though some have evinced an ability which does
honour to themselves, while it gives cause to regret their lack of an
inducement to greater labour. The mere grammarian can neither aspire to
praise, nor stipulate for a reward; and to those who were best qualified to
write, the subject could offer no adequate motive for diligence.

8. Unlearned men, who neither make, nor can make, any pretensions to a
knowledge of grammar as a study, if they show themselves modest in what
they profess, are by no means to be despised or undervalued for the want of
such knowledge. They are subject to no criticism, till they turn authors
and write for the public. And even then they are to be treated gently, if
they have any thing to communicate, which is worthy to be accepted in a
homely dress. Grammatical inaccuracies are to be kindly excused, in all
those from whom nothing better can be expected; for people are often under
a necessity of appearing as speakers or writers, before they can have
learned to write or speak grammatically. The body is more to be regarded
than raiment; and the substance of an interesting message, may make the
manner of it a little thing. Men of high purposes naturally spurn all that
is comparatively low; or all that may seem nice, overwrought, ostentatious,
or finical. Hence St. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, suggests that
the design of his preaching might have been defeated, had he affected the
orator, and turned his attention to mere "excellency of speech," or "wisdom
of words." But this view of things presents no more ground for neglecting
grammar, and making coarse and vulgar example our model of speech, than for
neglecting dress, and making baize and rags the fashionable costume. The
same apostle exhorts Timothy to "hold fast the form of sound _words_,"
which he himself had taught him. Nor can it be denied that there is an
obligation resting upon all men, to use speech fairly and understandingly.
But let it be remembered, that all those upon whose opinions or practices I
am disposed to animadvert, are either professed grammarians and
philosophers, or authors who, by extraordinary pretensions, have laid
themselves under special obligations to be accurate in the use of language.
"The _wise in heart_ shall be called prudent; and _the sweetness of the
lips_ increaseth learning."--_Prov._, xvi, 21. "The words of a man's mouth
are as deep waters, and the well-spring of wisdom [is] as a flowing
brook."--_Ib._, xviii, 4. "A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips
are the snare of his soul."--_Ib._, xviii, 7.

9. The old maxim recorded by Bacon, "_Loquendum ut vulgus, sentiendum ut
sapientes_,"--"We should speak as the vulgar, but think as the wise," is
not to be taken without some limitation. For whoever literally speaks as
the vulgar, shall offend vastly too much with his tongue, to have either
the understanding of the wise or the purity of the good. In all untrained
and vulgar minds, the ambition of speaking well is but a dormant or very
weak principle. Hence the great mass of uneducated people are lamentably
careless of what they utter, both as to the matter and the manner; and no
few seem naturally prone to the constant imitation of low example, and
some, to the practice of every abuse of which language is susceptible.
Hence, as every scholar knows, the least scrupulous of our lexicographers
notice many terms but to censure them as "_low_," and omit many more as
being beneath their notice. Vulgarity of language, then, ever has been, and
ever must be, repudiated by grammarians. Yet we have had pretenders to
grammar, who could court the favour of the vulgar, though at the expense of
all the daughters of Mnemosyne.

10. Hence the enormous insult to learning and the learned, conveyed in the
following scornful quotations: "Grammarians, go to your _tailors_ and
_shoemakers_, and learn from them the _rational_ art of constructing your
grammars!"--_Neef's Method of Education_, p. 62. "From a labyrinth without
a clew, in which the _most enlightened scholars_ of Europe have mazed
themselves and misguided others, the author ventures to turn
aside."--_Cardell's Gram._, 12mo, p. 15. Again: "The _nations_ of
_unlettered men_ so adapted their language to philosophic truth, that all
physical and intellectual research can find no essential rule to reject or
change."--_Ibid._, p. 91. I have shown that "the nations of unlettered men"
are among that portion of the earth's population, upon whose language the
genius of grammar has never yet condescended to look down! That people who
make no pretensions to learning, can furnish better models or instructions
than "the most enlightened scholars," is an opinion which ought not to be
disturbed by argument.

11. I regret to say, that even Dr. Webster, with all his obligations and
pretensions to literature, has well-nigh taken ground with Neef and
Cardell, as above cited; and has not forborne to throw contempt, even on
grammar as such, and on men of letters indiscriminately, by supposing the
true principles of every language to be best observed and kept by the
illiterate. What marvel then, that all his multifarious grammars of the
English language are despised? Having suggested that the learned must
follow the practice of the populace, because they cannot control it, he
adds: "Men of letters may revolt at this suggestion, but if they will
attend to the history of our language, they will find the fact to be as
here stated. It is commonly supposed that the tendency of this practice of
unlettered men is _to corrupt the language_. But the fact is directly the
reverse. I am prepared to prove, were it consistent with the nature of this
work, that nineteen-twentieths of _all the corruptions_ of our language,
for five hundred years past, have been introduced by _authors_--men who
have made alterations in particular idioms _which they did not understand_.
The same remark is applicable to the _orthography_ and _pronunciation_. The
tendency of unlettered men is to _uniformity_--to _analogy_; and so strong
is this disposition, that the common people have actually converted some of
our irregular verbs into regular ones. It is to unlettered people that we
owe the disuse of _holpen, bounden, sitten_, and the use of the regular
participles, _swelled, helped, worked_, in place of the ancient ones. This
popular tendency is not to be contemned and disregarded, as some of the
learned affect to do;[3] for it is governed by _the natural, primary
principles of all languages_, to which we owe all their regularity and all
their melody; viz., a love of uniformity in words of a like character, and
a preference of an easy natural pronunciation, and a desire to express the
most ideas with the smallest number of words and syllables. It is a
fortunate thing for language, that these natural principles generally
prevail over arbitrary and artificial rules."--_Webster's Philosophical
Gram._, p. 119; _Improved Gram._, p. 78. So much for _unlettered
erudition!_

12. If every thing that has been taught under the name of grammar, is to be
considered as belonging to the science, it will be impossible ever to
determine in what estimation the study of it ought to be held; for all that
has ever been urged either for or against it, may, upon such a principle,
be _proved_ by reference to different authorities and irreconcilable
opinions. But all who are studious to know, and content to follow, _the
fashion_ established by the concurrent authority of _the learned_,[4] may
at least have some standard to refer to; and if a grammarian's rules be
based upon this authority, it must be considered the exclusive privilege
of the unlearned to despise them--as it is of the unbred, to contemn the
rules of civility. But who shall determine whether the doctrines contained
in any given treatise are, or are not, based upon such authority? Who shall
decide whether the contributions which any individual may make to our
grammatical code, are, or are not, consonant with the best usage? For this,
there is no tribunal but the mass of readers, of whom few perhaps are very
competent judges. And here an author's reputation for erudition and
judgement, may be available to him: it is the public voice in his favour.
Yet every man is at liberty to form his own opinion, and to alter it
whenever better knowledge leads him to think differently.

13. But the great misfortune is, that they who need instruction, are not
qualified to choose their instructor; and many who must make this choice
for their children, have no adequate means of ascertaining either the
qualifications of such as offer themselves, or the comparative merits of
the different methods by which they profess to teach. Hence this great
branch of learning, in itself too comprehensive for the genius or the life
of any one man, has ever been open to as various and worthless a set of
quacks and plagiaries as have ever figured in any other. There always have
been some who knew this, and there may be many who know it now; but the
credulity and ignorance which expose so great a majority of mankind to
deception and error, are not likely to be soon obviated. With every
individual who is so fortunate as to receive any of the benefits of
intellectual culture, the whole process of education must begin anew; and,
by all that sober minds can credit, the vision of human perfectibility is
far enough from any national consummation.

14. Whatever any may think of their own ability, or however some might
flout to find their errors censured or their pretensions disallowed;
whatever improvement may actually have been made, or however fondly we may
listen to boasts and felicitations on that topic; it is presumed, that the
general ignorance on the subject of grammar, as above stated, is too
obvious to be denied. What then is the remedy? and to whom must our appeal
be made? Knowledge cannot be imposed by power, nor is there any domination
in the republic of letters. The remedy lies solely in that zeal which can
provoke to a generous emulation in the cause of literature; and the appeal,
which has recourse to the learning of the learned, and to the common sense
of all, must be pressed home to conviction, till every false doctrine stand
refuted, and every weak pretender exposed or neglected. Then shall Science
honour them that honour her; and all her triumphs be told, all her
instructions be delivered, in "sound speech that cannot be condemned."

15. A generous man is not unwilling to be corrected, and a just one cannot
but desire to be set right in all things. Even over noisy gainsayers, a
calm and dignified exhibition of true docrine [sic--KTH], has often more
influence than ever openly appears. I have even seen the author of a faulty
grammar heap upon his corrector more scorn and personal abuse than would
fill a large newspaper, and immediately afterwards, in a new edition of his
book, renounce the errors which had been pointed out to him, stealing the
very language of his amendments from the man whom he had so grossly
vilified! It is true that grammarians have ever disputed, and often with
more acrimony than discretion. Those who, in elementary treatises, have
meddled much with philological controversy, have well illustrated the
couplet of Denham: "The tree of knowledge, blasted by disputes, Produces
sapless leaves in stead of fruits."

16. Thus, then, as I have before suggested, we find among writers on
grammar two numerous classes of authors, who have fallen into opposite
errors, perhaps equally reprehensible; the visionaries, and the copyists.
The former have ventured upon too much originality, the latter have
attempted too little. "The science of philology," says Dr. Alexander
Murray, "is not a frivolous study, fit to be conducted by ignorant pedants
or visionary enthusiasts. It requires more qualifications to succeed in it,
than are usually united in those who pursue it:--a sound penetrating
judgement; habits of calm philosophical induction; an erudition various,
extensive, and accurate; and a mind likewise, that can direct the knowledge
expressed in words, to illustrate the nature of the signs which convey
it."--_Murray's History of European Languages_, Vol. ii, p. 333.

17. They who set aside the authority of custom, and judge every thing to be
ungrammatical which appears to them to be unphilosophical, render the whole
ground forever disputable, and weary themselves in beating the air. So
various have been the notions of this sort of critics, that it would be
difficult to mention an opinion not found in some of their books. Amidst
this rage for speculation on a subject purely practical, various attempts
have been made, to overthrow that system of instruction, which long use has
rendered venerable, and long experience proved to be useful. But it is
manifestly much easier to raise even plausible objections against this
system, than to invent an other less objectionable. Such attempts have
generally met the reception they deserved. Their history will give no
encouragement to future innovators.

18. Again: While some have thus wasted their energies in eccentric flights,
vainly supposing that the learning of ages would give place to their
whimsical theories; others, with more success, not better deserved, have
multiplied grammars almost innumerably, by abridging or modifying the books
they had used in childhood. So that they who are at all acquainted with the
origin and character of the various compends thus introduced into our
schools, cannot but desire to see them all displaced by some abler and
better work, more honourable to its author and more useful to the public,
more intelligible to students and more helpful to teachers. Books
professedly published for the advancement of knowledge, are very frequently
to be reckoned, among its greatest impediments; for the interests of
learning are no less injured by whimsical doctrines, than the rights of
authorship by plagiarism. Too many of our grammars, profitable only to
their makers and venders, are like weights attached to the heels of Hermes.
It is discouraging to know the history of this science. But the
multiplicity of treatises already in use, is a reason, not for silence, but
for offering more. For, as Lord Bacon observes, the number of ill-written
books is not to be diminished by ceasing to write, but by writing others
which, like Aaron's serpent, shall swallow up the spurious.[5]

19. I have said that some grammars have too much originality, and others
too little. It may be added, that not a few are chargeable with both these
faults at once. They are original, or at least anonymous, where there
should have been given other authority than that of the compiler's name;
and they are copies, or, at best, poor imitations, where the author should
have shown himself capable of writing in a good style of his own. What then
is the middle ground for the true grammarian? What is the kind, and what
the degree, of originality, which are to be commended in works of this
sort? In the first place, a grammarian must be a writer, an author, a man
who observes and thinks for himself; and not a mere compiler, abridger,
modifier, copyist, or plagiarist. Grammar is not the only subject upon
which we allow no man to innovate in doctrine; why, then, should it be the
only one upon which a man may make it a merit, to work up silently into a
book of his own, the best materials found among the instructions of his
predecessors and rivals? Some definitions and rules, which in the lapse of
time and by frequency of use have become a sort of public property, the
grammarian may perhaps be allowed to use at his pleasure; yet even upon
these a man of any genius will be apt to set some impress peculiar to
himself. But the doctrines of his work ought, in general, to be expressed
in his own language, and illustrated by that of others. With respect to
quotation, he has all the liberty of other writers, and no more; for, if a
grammarian makes "use of his predecessors' labours," why should any one
think with Murray, "it is scarcely necessary to apologize for" this, "or
for _omitting_ to _insert_ their names?"--_Introd. to L. Murray's Gram._,
8vo, p. 7.

20. The author of this volume would here take the liberty briefly to refer
to his own procedure. His knowledge of what is _technical_ in grammar, was
of course chiefly derived from the writings of other grammarians; and to
their concurrent opinions and practices, he has always had great respect;
yet, in truth, not a line has he ever copied from any of them with a design
to save the labour of composition. For, not to compile an English grammar
from others already extant, but to compose one more directly from the
sources of the art, was the task which he at first proposed to himself. Nor
is there in all the present volume a single sentence, not regularly quoted,
the authorship of which he supposes may now be ascribed to an other more
properly than to himself. Where either authority or acknowledgement was
requisite, names have been inserted. In the doctrinal parts of the volume,
not only quotations from others, but most examples made for the occasion,
are marked with guillemets, to distinguish them from the main text; while,
to almost every thing which is really taken from any other known writer, a
name or reference is added. For those citations, however, which there was
occasion to repeat in different parts of the work, a single reference has
sometimes been thought sufficient. This remark refers chiefly to the
corrections in the Key, the references being given in the Exercises.

21. Though the theme is not one on which a man may hope to write well with
little reflection, it is true that the parts of this treatise which have
cost the author the most labour, are those which "consist chiefly of
materials selected from the writings of others." These, however, are not
the didactical portions of the book, but the proofs and examples; which,
according to the custom of the ancient grammarians, ought to be taken from
other authors. But so much have the makers of our modern grammars been
allowed to presume upon the respect and acquiescence of their readers, that
the ancient exactness on this point would often appear pedantic. Many
phrases and sentences, either original with the writer, or common to
everybody, will therefore be found among the illustrations of the following
work; for it was not supposed that any reader would demand for every thing
of this kind the authority of some great name. Anonymous examples are
sufficient to elucidate principles, if not to establish them; and
elucidation is often the sole purpose for which an example is needed.

22. It is obvious enough, that no writer on grammar has any right to
propose himself as authority for what he teaches; for every language, being
the common property of all who use it, ought to be carefully guarded
against the caprices of individuals; and especially against that
presumption which might attempt to impose erroneous or arbitrary
definitions and rules. "Since the matter of which we are treating," says
the philologist of Salamanca, "is to be verified, first by reason, and then
by testimony and usage, none ought to wonder if we sometimes deviate from
the track of great men; for, with whatever authority any grammarian may
weigh with me, unless he shall have confirmed his assertions by reason, and
also by examples, he shall win no confidence in respect to grammar. For, as
Seneca says, Epistle 95, 'Grammarians are the _guardians_, not the
_authors_, of language.'"--_Sanctii Minerva_, Lib. ii, Cap. 2. Yet, as what
is intuitively seen to be true or false, is already sufficiently proved or
detected, many points in grammar need nothing more than to be clearly
stated and illustrated; nay, it would seem an injurious reflection on the
understanding of the reader, to accumulate proofs of what cannot but be
evident to all who speak the language.

23. Among men of the same profession, there is an unavoidable rivalry, so
far as they become competitors for the same prize; but in competition there
is nothing dishonourable, while excellence alone obtains distinction, and
no advantage is sought by unfair means. It is evident that we ought to
account him the best grammarian, who has the most completely executed the
worthiest design. But no worthy design can need a false apology; and it is
worse than idle to prevaricate. That is but a spurious modesty, which
prompts a man to disclaim in one way what he assumes in an other--or to
underrate the duties of his office, that he may boast of having "done all
that could reasonably be expected." Whoever professes to have improved the
science of English grammar, must claim to know more of the matter than the
generality of English grammarians; and he who begins with saying, that
"little can be expected" from the office he assumes, must be wrongfully
contradicted, when he is held to have done much. Neither the ordinary power
of speech, nor even the ability to write respectably on common topics,
makes a man a critic among critics, or enables him to judge of literary
merit. And if, by virtue of these qualifications alone, a man will become a
grammarian or a connoisseur, he can hold the rank only by courtesy--a
courtesy which is content to degrade the character, that his inferior
pretensions may be accepted and honoured under the name.

24. By the force of a late popular example, still too widely influential,
grammatical authorship has been reduced, in the view of many, to little or
nothing more than a mere serving-up of materials anonymously borrowed; and,
what is most remarkable, even for an indifferent performance of this low
office, not only unnamed reviewers, but several writers of note, have not
scrupled to bestow the highest praise of grammatical excellence! And thus
the palm of superior skill in grammar, has been borne away by a _professed
compiler_; who had so mean an opinion of what his theme required, as to
deny it even the common courtesies of compilation! What marvel is it, that,
under the wing of such authority, many writers have since sprung up, to
improve upon this most happy design; while all who were competent to the
task, have been discouraged from attempting any thing like a complete
grammar of our language? What motive shall excite a man to long-continued
diligence, where such notions prevail as give mastership no hope of
preference, and where the praise of his ingenuity and the reward of his
labour must needs be inconsiderable, till some honoured compiler usurp them
both, and bring his "most useful matter" before the world under better
auspices? If the love of learning supply such a motive, who that has
generously yielded to the impulse, will not now, like Johnson, feel himself
reduced to an "humble drudge"--or, like Perizonius, apologize for the
apparent folly of devoting his time to such a subject as grammar?

25. The first edition of the "Institutes of English Grammar," the doctrinal
parts of which are embraced in the present more copious work, was published
in the year 1823; since which time, (within the space of twelve years,)
about forty new compends, mostly professing to be abstracts of _Murray_,
with improvements, have been added to our list of English grammars. The
author has examined as many as thirty of them, and seen advertisements of
perhaps a dozen more. Being various in character, they will of course be
variously estimated; but, so far as he can judge, they are, without
exception, works of little or no real merit, and not likely to be much
patronized or long preserved from oblivion. For which reason, he would have
been inclined entirely to disregard the petty depredations which the
writers of several of them have committed upon his earlier text, were it
not possible, that by such a frittering-away of his work, he himself might
one day seem to some to have copied that from others which was first taken
from him. Trusting to make it manifest to men of learning, that in the
production of the books which bear his name, far more has been done for the
grammar of our language than any single hand had before achieved within the
scope of practical philology, and that with perfect fairness towards other
writers; he cannot but feel a wish that the integrity of his text should be
preserved, whatever else may befall; and that the multitude of scribblers
who judge it so needful to remodel Murray's defective compilation, would
forbear to publish under his name or their own what they find only in the
following pages.

26. The mere rivalry of their authorship is no subject of concern; but it
is enough for any ingenuous man to have toiled for years in solitude to
complete a work of public utility, without entering a warfare for life to
defend and preserve it. Accidental coincidences in books are unfrequent,
and not often such as to excite the suspicion of the most sensitive. But,
though the criteria of plagiarism are neither obscure nor disputable, it is
not easy, in this beaten track of literature, for persons of little reading
to know what is, or is not, original. Dates must be accurately observed;
and a multitude of minute things must be minutely compared. And who will
undertake such a task but he that is personally interested? Of the
thousands who are forced into the paths of learning, few ever care to know,
by what pioneer, or with what labour, their way was cast up for them. And
even of those who are honestly engaged in teaching, not many are adequate
judges of the comparative merits of the great number of books on this
subject. The common notions of mankind conform more easily to fashion than
to truth; and even of some things within their reach, the majority seem
contend to take their opinions upon trust. Hence, it is vain to expect that
that which is intrinsically best, will be everywhere preferred; or that
which is meritoriously elaborate, adequately appreciated. But common sense
might dictate, that learning is not encouraged or respected by those who,
for the making of books, prefer a pair of scissors to the pen.

27. The fortune of a grammar is not always an accurate test of its merits.
The goddess of the plenteous horn stands blindfold yet upon the floating
prow; and, under her capricious favour, any pirate-craft, ill stowed with
plunder, may sometimes speed as well, as barges richly laden from the
golden mines of science. Far more are now afloat, and more are stranded on
dry shelves, than can be here reported. But what this work contains, is
candidly designed to qualify the reader to be himself a judge of what it
_should_ contain; and I will hope, so ample a report as this, being thought
sufficient, will also meet his approbation. The favour of one discerning
mind that comprehends my subject, is worth intrinsically more than that of
half the nation: I mean, of course, the half of whom my gentle reader is
not one.

   "They praise and they admire they know not what,
    And know not whom, but as one leads the other."--_Milton_.




CHAPTER III.

OF GRAMMATICAL SUCCESS AND FAME.

"Non is ego sum, cui aut jucundum, aut adeo opus sit, de aliis detrahere,
et hac viâ ad famara contendere. Melioribus artibus laudem parare didici.
Itaque non libenter dico, quod præsens institutum dicere cogit."--Jo.
AUGUSTI ERNESTI _Præf. ad Græcum Lexicon_, p. vii.


1. The real history of grammar is little known; and many erroneous
impressions are entertained concerning it: because the story of the systems
most generally received has never been fully told; and that of a multitude
now gone to oblivion was never worth telling. In the distribution of
grammatical fame, which has chiefly been made by the hand of interest, we
have had a strange illustration of the saying: "Unto every one that hath
shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not,
shall be taken away even that which he hath." Some whom fortune has made
popular, have been greatly overrated, if learning and talent are to be
taken into the account; since it is manifest, that with no extraordinary
claims to either, they have taken the very foremost rank among grammarians,
and thrown the learning and talents of others into the shade, or made them
tributary to their own success and popularity.

2. It is an ungrateful task to correct public opinion by showing the
injustice of praise. Fame, though it may have been both unexpected and
undeserved, is apt to be claimed and valued as part and parcel of a man's
good name; and the dissenting critic, though ever-so candid, is liable to
be thought an envious detractor. It would seem in general most prudent to
leave mankind to find out for themselves how far any commendation bestowed
on individuals is inconsistent with truth. But, be it remembered, that
celebrity is not a virtue; nor, on the other hand, is experience the
cheapest of teachers. A good man may not have done all things ably and
well; and it is certainly no small mistake to estimate his character by the
current value of his copy-rights. Criticism may destroy the reputation of a
book, and not be inconsistent with a cordial respect for the private worth
of its author. The reader will not be likely to be displeased with what is
to be stated in this chapter, if he can believe, that no man's merit as a
writer, may well be enhanced by ascribing to him that which he himself, for
the protection of his own honour, has been constrained to disclaim. He
cannot suppose that too much is alleged, if he will admit that a
grammarian's fame should be thought safe enough in his _own keeping_. Are
authors apt to undervalue their own performances? Or because proprietors
and publishers may profit by the credit of a book, shall it be thought
illiberal to criticise it? Is the author himself to be disbelieved, that
the extravagant praises bestowed upon him may be justified? "Superlative
commendation," says Dillwyn, "is near akin to _detraction_." (See his
_Reflections_, p. 22.) Let him, therefore, who will charge detraction upon
me, first understand wherein it consists. I shall criticise, freely, both
the works of the living, and the doctrines of those who, to us, live only
in their works; and if any man dislike this freedom, let him rebuke it,
showing wherein it is wrong or unfair. The amiable author just quoted, says
again: "Praise has so often proved an _impostor_, that it would be well,
wherever we meet with it, to treat it as a vagrant."--_Ib._, p. 100. I go
not so far as this; but that eulogy which one knows to be false, he cannot
but reckon impertinent.

3. Few writers on grammar have been more noted than WILLIAM LILY and
LINDLEY MURRAY. Others have left better monuments of their learning and
talents, but none perhaps have had greater success and fame. The Latin
grammar which was for a long time most popular in England, has commonly
been ascribed to the one; and what the Imperial Review, in 1805, pronounced
"the best English grammar, beyond all comparison, that has yet appeared,"
was compiled by the other. And doubtless they have both been rightly judged
to excel the generality of those which they were intended to supersede; and
both, in their day, may have been highly serviceable to the cause of
learning. For all excellence is but comparative; and to grant them this
superiority, is neither to prefer them now, nor to justify the praise which
has been bestowed upon their authorship. As the science of grammar can
never be taught without a book, or properly taught by any book which is not
itself grammatical, it is of some importance both to teachers and to
students, to make choice of the best. Knowledge will not advance where
grammars hold rank by prescription. Yet it is possible that many, in
learning to write and speak, may have derived no inconsiderable benefit
from a book that is neither accurate nor complete.

4. With respect to time, these two grammarians were three centuries apart;
during which period, the English language received its most classical
refinement, and the relative estimation of the two studies, Latin and
English grammar, became in a great measure reversed. Lily was an
Englishman, born at Odiham,[6] in Hampshire, in 1466. When he had arrived
at manhood, he went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; and while abroad studied
some time at Rome, and also at Paris. On his return he was thought one of
the most accomplished scholars in England. In 1510, Dr. John Colet, dean of
St. Paul's church, in London, appointed him the first high master of St.
Paul's School, then recently founded by this gentleman's munificence. In
this situation, Lily appears to have taught with great credit to himself
till 1522, when he died of the plague, at the age of 56. For the use of
this school, he wrote and published certain parts of the grammar which has
since borne his name. Of the authorship of this work many curious
particulars are stated in the preface by John Ward, which may be seen in
the edition of 1793. Lily had able rivals, as well as learned coadjutors
and friends. By the aid of the latter, he took precedence of the former;
and his publications, though not voluminous, soon gained a general
popularity. So that when an arbitrary king saw fit to silence competition
among the philologists, by becoming himself, as Sir Thomas Elliott says,
"the chiefe authour and setter-forth of an introduction into grammar, for
the childrene of his lovynge subjects," Lily's Grammar was preferred for
the basis of the standard. Hence, after the publishing of it became a
privilege patented by the crown, the book appears to have been honoured
with a royal title, and to have been familiarly called King Henry's
Grammar.

5. Prefixed to this book, there appears a very ancient epistle to the
reader, which while it shows the reasons for this royal interference with
grammar, shows also, what is worthy of remembrance, that guarded and
maintained as it was, even royal interference was here ineffectual to its
purpose. It neither produced uniformity in the methods of teaching, nor,
even for instruction in a dead language, entirely prevented the old manual
from becoming diverse in its different editions. The style also may serve
to illustrate what I have elsewhere said about the duties of a modern
grammarian. "As for the diversitie of grammars, it is well and profitably
taken awaie by the King's Majesties wisdome; who, foreseeing the
inconvenience, and favorably providing the remedie, caused one kind of
grammar by sundry learned men to be diligently drawn, and so to be set out,
only every where to be taught, for the use of learners, and for the hurt in
changing of schoolemaisters." That is, to prevent the injury which
schoolmasters were doing by a whimsical choice, or frequent changing, of
grammars. But, says the letter, "The varietie of teaching is divers yet,
and alwaies will be; for that every schoolemaister liketh that he knoweth,
and seeth not the use of that he knoweth not; and therefore judgeth that
the most sufficient waie, which he seeth to be the readiest meane, and
perfectest kinde, to bring a learner to have a thorough knowledge therein."
The only remedy for such an evil then is, to teach those who are to be
teachers, and to desert all who, for any whim of their own, desert sound
doctrine.

6. But, to return. A law was made in England by Henry the Eighth,
commanding Lily's Grammar only, (or that which has commonly been quoted as
Lily's,) to be everywhere adopted and taught, as the common standard of
grammatical instruction.[7] Being long kept in force by means of a special
inquiry, directed to be made by the bishops at their stated visitations,
this law, for three hundred years, imposed the book on all the established
schools of the realm. Yet it is certain, that about one half of what has
thus gone under the name of Lily, ("because," says one of the patentees,
"he had _so considerable a hand_ in the composition,") was written by Dr.
Colet, by Erasmus, or by others who improved the work after Lily's death.
And of the other half, it has been incidentally asserted in history, that
neither the scheme nor the text was original. The Printer's Grammar,
London, 1787, speaking of the art of type-foundery, says: "The Italians in
a short time brought it to _that_ perfection, that in the beginning of the
year 1474, they cast a letter not much inferior to the best types of the
present age; as may be seen in a Latin Grammar, written by Omnibonus
Leonicenus, and printed at Padua on the 14th of January, 1474; _from whom
our grammarian, Lily, has taken the entire scheme of his Grammar, and
transcribed the greatest part thereof, without paying any regard to the
memory of this author_." The historian then proceeds to speak about types.
See also the same thing in the History of Printing, 8vo, London, 1770. This
is the grammar which bears upon its title page: "_Quam solam Regia Majestas
in omnibus scholis docendam prcæcipit_."

7. Murray was an intelligent and very worthy man, to whose various labours
in the compilation of books our schools are under many obligations. But in
original thought and critical skill he fell far below most of "the authors
to whom," he confesses, "the grammatical part of his compilation is
_principally indebted for its materials_; namely, Harris, Johnson, Lowth,
Priestley, Beattie, Sheridan, Walker, Coote, Blair, and
Campbell."--_Introd. to Lindley Murray's Gram._, p. 7. It is certain and
evident that he entered upon his task with a very insufficient preparation.
His biography, which was commenced by himself and completed by one of his
most partial friends, informs us, that, "Grammar did not particularly
engage his attention, until a short time previous to the publication of his
first work on that subject;" that, "His Grammar, as it appeared in the
first edition, was completed in rather less than a year;" that, "It was
begun in the spring of 1794, and published in the spring of 1795--though he
had an intervening illness, which, for several weeks, stopped the progress
of the work;" and that, "The Exercises and Key were also composed in about
a year."--_Life of L. Murray_, p. 188. From the very first sentence of his
book, it appears that he entertained but a low and most erroneous idea of
the duties of that sort of character in which he was about to come before
the public.[8] He improperly imagined, as many others have done, that
"little can be expected" from a modern grammarian, or (as he chose to
express it) "from a _new compilation_, besides a careful selection of the
most useful matter, and some degree of improvement in the mode of adapting
it to the understanding, and the gradual progress of learners."--_Introd.
to L. Murray's Gram._; 8vo, p. 5; 12mo, p. 3. As if, to be master of his
own art--to think and write well himself, were no part of a grammarian's
business! And again, as if the jewels of scholarship, thus carefully
selected, could need a burnish or a foil from other hands than those which
fashioned them!

8. Murray's general idea of the doctrines of grammar was judicious. He
attempted no broad innovation on what had been previously taught; for he
had neither the vanity to suppose he could give currency to novelties, nor
the folly to waste his time in labours utterly nugatory. By turning his own
abilities to their best account, he seems to have done much to promote and
facilitate the study of our language. But his notion of grammatical
authorship, cuts off from it all pretence to literary merit, for the sake
of doing good; and, taken in any other sense than as a forced apology for
his own assumptions, his language on this point is highly injurious towards
the very authors whom he copied. To justify himself, he ungenerously places
them, in common with others, under a degrading necessity which no able
grammarian ever felt, and which every man of genius or learning must
repudiate. If none of our older grammars disprove his assertion, it is time
to have a new one that will; for, to expect the perfection of grammar from
him who cannot treat the subject in a style at once original and pure, is
absurd. He says, "The greater part of an English grammar _must necessarily
be a compilation _;" and adds, with reference to his own, "originality
belongs to but a small portion of it. This I have acknowledged; and I trust
_this acknowledgement_ will protect me from all attacks, grounded on any
supposed unjust and irregular assumptions." This quotation is from a letter
addressed by Murray to his American publishers, in 1811, after they had
informed him of certain complaints respecting the liberties which he had
taken in his work. See "_The Friend_," Vol. iii, p. 34.

9. The acknowledgement on which he thus relies, does not appear to have
been made, till his grammar had gone through several editions. It was,
however, at some period, introduced into his short preface, or
"Introduction," in the following well-meant but singularly sophistical
terms: "In _a work_ which professes itself to be a _compilation_, and
which, _from the nature and design of it_, must consist chiefly of
materials selected from the writings of others, _it is scarcely necessary
to apologise_ for the use which the Compiler has made of his predecessors'
labours, or for _omitting to insert_ their names. _From the alterations_
which have been frequently made in the sentiments and the language, to suit
the connexion, and to adapt them to the particular purposes for which they
are introduced; and, in many instances, _from the uncertainty to whom_ the
passages originally belonged, the insertion of names _could seldom be made
with propriety_. But if this could have been generally done, a work of this
nature _would derive no advantage from it_, equal to the inconvenience of
crowding the pages with a repetition of names and references. It is.
however, proper to acknowledge, in general terms, that the authors to whom
the grammatical part of this compilation is principally indebted for its
materials, are Harris, Johnson, Lowth, Priestley, Beattie, Sheridan,
Walker, and Coote."--_Introd.; Duodecimo Gram._, p. 4; _Octavo_, p. 7.

10. The fallacy, or absurdity, of this language sprung from necessity. An
impossible case was to be made out. For compilation, though ever so fair,
is not grammatical authorship. But some of the commenders of Murray have
not only professed themselves satisfied with this general acknowledgement,
but have found in it a candour and a liberality, a modesty and a
diffidence, which, as they allege, ought to protect him from all
animadversion. Are they friends to learning? Let them calmly consider what
I reluctantly offer for its defence and promotion. In one of the
recommendations appended to Murray's grammars, it _is_ said, "They have
nearly superseded every thing else of the kind, by concentrating the
remarks of the best authors on the subject." But, in truth, with several
of the best English grammars published previously to his own, Murray
appears to have been totally unacquainted. The chief, if not the only
school grammars which were largely copied by him, were Lowth's and
Priestley's, though others perhaps may have shared the fate of these in
being "superseded" by his. It may be seen by inspection, that in copying
these two authors, the compiler, agreeably to what he says above, omitted
all names and references--even such as they had scrupulously inserted: and,
at the outset, assumed to be himself the sole authority for all his
doctrines and illustrations; satisfying his own mind with making, some
years afterwards, that general apology which we are now criticising. For if
he so mutilated and altered the passages which he adopted, as to make it
improper to add the names of their authors, upon what other authority than
his own do they rest? But if, on the other hand, he generally copied
without alteration; his examples are still anonymous, while his first
reason for leaving them so, is plainly destroyed: because his position is
thus far contradicted by the fact.

11. In his later editions, however, there are two opinions which the
compiler thought proper to support by regular quotations; and, now and
then, in other instances, the name of an author appears. The two positions
thus distinguished, are these: _First_, That the noun _means_ is
necessarily singular as well as plural, so that one cannot with propriety
use the singular form, _mean_, to signify that by which an end is attained;
_Second_, That the subjective mood, to which he himself had previously
given all the tenses without inflection, is not different in form from the
indicative, except in the present tense. With regard to the later point, I
have shown, in its proper place, that he taught erroneously, both before
and after he changed his opinion; and concerning the former, the most that
can be proved by quotation, is, that both _mean_ and _means_ for the
singular number, long have been, and still are, in good use, or sanctioned
by many elegant writers; so that either form may yet be considered
grammatical, though the irregular can claim to be so, only when it is used
in this particular sense. As to his second reason for the suppression of
names, to wit, "the _uncertainty to whom_ the passages originally
belonged,"--to make the most of it, it is but partial and relative; and,
surely, no other grammar ever before so multiplied the difficulty in the
eyes of teachers, and so widened the field for commonplace authorship, as
has the compilation in question. The origin of a sentiment or passage may
be uncertain to one man, and perfectly well known to an other. The
embarrassment which a _compiler_ may happen to find from this source, is
worthy of little sympathy. For he cannot but know from what work he is
taking any particular sentence or paragraph, and those parts of a
_grammar_, which are new to the eye of a great grammarian, may very well be
credited to him who claims to have written the book. I have thus disposed
of his second reason for the omission of names and references, in
compilations of grammar.

12. There remains one more: "A work of this nature _would derive no
advantage from it_, equal to the inconvenience of crowding the pages with a
repetition of names and references." With regard to a small work, in which
the matter is to be very closely condensed, this argument has considerable
force. But Murray has in general allowed himself very ample room,
especially in his two octavoes. In these, and for the most part also in his
duodecimoes, all needful references might easily have been added without
increasing the size of his volumes, or injuring their appearance. In nine
cases out of ten, the names would only have been occupied what is now blank
space. It is to be remembered, that these books do not differ much, except
in quantity of paper. His octavo Grammar is but little more than a reprint,
in a larger type, of the duodecimo Grammar, together with his Exercises and
Key. The demand for this expensive publication has been comparatively
small; and it is chiefly to the others, that the author owes his popularity
as a grammarian. As to the advantage which Murray or his work might have
derived from an adherence on his part to the usual custom of compilers,
_that_ may be variously estimated. The remarks of the best grammarians or
the sentiments of the best authors, are hardly to be thought the more
worthy of acceptance, for being concentrated in such a manner as to merge
their authenticity in the fame of the copyist. Let me not be understood to
suggest that this good man sought popularity at the expense of others; for
I do not believe that either fame or interest was his motive. But the right
of authors to the credit of their writings, is a delicate point; and,
surely, his example would have been worthier of imitation, had he left no
ground for the foregoing objections, and carefully barred the way to any
such interference.

13. But let the first sentence of this apology be now
considered. It is here suggested, that because this work is a compilation,
even such an acknowledgement as the author makes, is "scarcely necessary."
This is too much to say. Yet one may readily admit, that a compilation,
"from the nature and design of it, must consist chiefly"--nay,
_wholly_--"of materials selected from the writings of others." But what
able grammarian would ever willingly throw himself upon the horns of such a
dilemma! The nature and design _of a book_, whatever they may be, are
matters for which the author alone is answerable; but the nature and design
_of grammar_, are no less repugnant to the strain of this apology, than to
the vast number of errors and defects which were overlooked by Murray in
his work of compilation. It is the express purpose of this practical
science, to enable a man to write well himself. He that cannot do this,
exhibits no excess of modesty when he claims to have "done all that could
reasonably be expected in a work of this nature."--_L. Murray's Gram.,
Introd._, p. 9. He that sees with other men's eyes, is peculiarly liable to
errors and inconsistencies: uniformity is seldom found in patchwork, or
accuracy in secondhand literature. Correctness of language is in the mind,
rather than in the hand or the tongue; and, in order to secure it, some
originality of thought is necessary. A delineation from new surveys is not
the less original because the same region has been sketched before; and how
can he be the ablest of surveyors, who, through lack of skill or industry,
does little more than transcribe the field-notes and copy the projections
of his predecessors?

14. This author's oversights are numerous. There is no part of the volume
more accurate than that which he literally copied from Lowth. To the Short
Introduction alone, he was indebted for more than a hundred and twenty
paragraphs; and even in these there are many things obviously erroneous.
Many of the best practical notes were taken from Priestley; yet it was he,
at whose doctrines were pointed most of those "positions and discussions,"
which alone the author claims as original. To some of these reasonings,
however, his own alterations may have given rise; for, where he "persuades
himself he is not destitute of originality," he is often arguing against
the text of his own earlier editions. Webster's well-known complaints of
Murray's unfairness, had a far better cause than requital; for there was no
generosity in ascribing them to peevishness, though the passages in
question were not worth copying. On perspicuity and accuracy, about sixty
pages were extracted from Blair; and it requires no great critical acumen
to discover, that they are miserably deficient in both. On the law of
language, there are fifteen pages from Campbell; which, with a few
exceptions, are well written. The rules for spelling are the same as
Walker's: the third one, however, is a gross blunder; and the fourth, a,
needless repetition.

15. Were this a place for minute criticism, blemishes almost innumerable
might be pointed out. It might easily be shown that almost every rule laid
down in the book for the observance of the learner, was repeatedly violated
by the hand of the master. Nor is there among all those who have since
abridged or modified the work, an abler grammarian than he who compiled it.
Who will pretend that Flint, Alden, Comly, Jaudon, Russell, Bacon, Lyon,
Miller, Alger, Maltby, Ingersoll, Fisk, Greenleaf, Merchant, Kirkham,
Cooper, R. G. Greene, Woodworth, Smith, or Frost, has exhibited greater
skill? It is curious to observe, how frequently a grammatical blunder
committed by Murray, or some one of his predecessors, has escaped the
notice of all these, as well as of many others who have found it easier to
copy him than to write for themselves. No man professing to have copied and
improved Murray, can rationally be supposed to have greatly excelled him;
for to pretend to have produced an _improved copy of a compilation_, is to
claim a sort of authorship, even inferior to his, and utterly unworthy of
any man who is able to prescribe and elucidate the principles of English
grammar.

16. But Murray's grammatical works, being extolled in the reviews, and made
common stock in trade,--being published, both in England and in America, by
booksellers of the most extensive correspondence, and highly commended even
by those who were most interested in the sale of them,--have been eminently
successful with the public; and in the opinion of the world, success is the
strongest proof of merit. Nor has the force of this argument been
overlooked by those who have written in aid of his popularity. It is the
strong point in most of the commendations which have been bestowed upon
Murray as a grammarian. A recent eulogist computes, that, "at least five
millions of copies of his various school-books have been printed;"
particularly commends him for his "candour and liberality towards rival
authors;" avers that, "he went on, examining and correcting his Grammar,
through all its forty editions, till he brought it to a degree of
perfection which will render it as permanent as the English language
itself;" censures (and not without reason) the "presumption" of those
"superficial critics" who have attempted to amend the work, and usurp his
honours; and, regarding the compiler's confession of his indebtedness to
others, but as a mark of "his exemplary diffidence of his own merits,"
adds, (in very bad English,) "Perhaps there never was an author whose
success and fame were more _unexpected by himself than Lindley
Murray_."--_The Friend_, Vol. iii, p. 33.

17. In a New-York edition of Murray's Grammar, printed in 1812, there was
inserted a "Caution to the Public," by Collins & Co., his American
correspondents and publishers, in which are set forth the unparalleled
success and merit of the work, "as it came _in purity_ from the pen of the
author;" with an earnest remonstrance against the several _revised
editions_ which had appeared at Boston, Philadelphia, and other places, and
against the unwarrantable liberties taken by American teachers, in altering
the work, under pretence of improving it. In this article it is stated,
"that _the whole_ of these mutilated editions _have been seen_ and examined
by Lindley Murray himself, and that they, have met with _his decided
disapprobation_. Every rational mind," continue these gentlemen, "will
agree with him, that, 'the _rights of living authors_, and the _interests
of science and literature_, demand the abolition of this _ungenerous
practice_.'" (See this also in _Murray's Key_, 12mo, N. Y., 1811, p. iii.)
Here, then, we have the feeling and opinion of Murray himself, upon this
tender point of right. Here we see the tables turned, and other men judging
it "scarcely necessary to apologize for the use which _they have made_ of
their predecessors' labours."

18. It is really remarkable to find an author and his admirers so much at
variance, as are Murray and his commenders, in relation to his grammatical
authorship; and yet, under what circumstances could men have stronger
desires to avoid apparent contradiction? They, on the one side, claim for
him the highest degree of merit as a grammarian; and continue to applaud
his works as if nothing more could be desired in the study of English
grammar--a branch of learning which some of them are willing emphatically
to call "_his_ science." He, on the contrary, to avert the charge of
plagiarism, disclaims almost every thing in which any degree of literary
merit consists; supposes it impossible to write an English grammar the
greater part of which is not a "compilation;" acknowledges that originality
belongs to but a small part of his own; trusts that such a general
acknowledgement will protect him from all censure; suppresses the names of
other writers, and leaves his examples to rest solely on his own authority;
and, "contented with the great respectability of his private character and
station, is satisfied with being _useful_ as an author."--_The Friend_,
Vol. iii, p. 33. By the high praises bestowed upon his works, his own voice
is overborne: the trumpet of fame has drowned it. His liberal authorship is
profitable in trade, and interest has power to swell and prolong the
strain.

19. The name and character of Lindley Murray are too venerable to allow us
to approach even the errors of his grammars, without some recognition of
the respect due to his personal virtues and benevolent intentions. For the
private virtues of Murray, I entertain as cordial a respect as any other
man. Nothing is argued against these, even if it be proved that causes
independent of true literary merit have given him his great and unexpected
fame as a grammarian. It is not intended by the introduction of these
notices, to impute to him any thing more or less than what his own words
plainly imply; except those inaccuracies and deficiencies which still
disgrace his work as a literary performance, and which of course he did not
discover. He himself knew that he had not brought the book to such
perfection as has been ascribed to it; for, by way of apology for his
frequent alterations, he says, "Works of this nature admit of repeated
improvements; and are, perhaps, never complete." Necessity has urged this
reasoning upon me. I am as far from any invidious feeling, or any sordid
motive, as was Lindley Murray. But it is due to truth, to correct erroneous
impressions; and, in order to obtain from some an impartial examination of
the following pages, it seemed necessary first to convince them, _that it
is possible_ to compose a better grammar than Murray's, without being
particularly indebted to him. If this treatise is not such, a great deal of
time has been thrown away upon a useless project; and if it is, the
achievement is no fit subject for either pride or envy. It differs from
his, and from all the pretended amendments of his, as a new map, drawn from
actual and minute surveys, differs from an old one, compiled chiefly from
others still older and confessedly still more imperfect. The region and the
scope are essentially the same; the tracing and the colouring are more
original; and (if the reader can pardon the suggestion) perhaps more
accurate and vivid.

20. He who makes a new grammar, does nothing for the advancement of
learning, unless his performance excel all earlier ones designed for the
same purpose; and nothing for his own honour, unless such excellence result
from the exercise of his own ingenuity and taste. A good style naturally
commends itself to every reader--even to him who cannot tell why it is
worthy of preference. Hence there is reason to believe, that the true
principles of practical grammar, deduced from custom and sanctioned by
time, will never be generally superseded by any thing which individual
caprice may substitute. In the republic of letters, there will always be
some who can distinguish merit; and it is impossible that these should ever
be converted to any whimsical theory of language, which goes to make void
the learning of past ages. There will always be some who can discern the
difference between originality of style, and innovation in
doctrine,--between a due regard to the opinions of others, and an actual
usurpation of their text; and it is incredible that these should ever be
satisfied with any mere compilation of grammar, or with any such authorship
as either confesses or betrays the writer's own incompetence. For it is not
true, that, "an English grammar must necessarily be," in any considerable
degree, if at all, "a compilation;" nay, on such a theme, and in "the
grammatical part" of the work, all compilation beyond a fair use of
authorities regularly quoted, or of materials either voluntarily furnished
or free to all, most unavoidably implies--not conscious "ability,"
generously doing honour to rival merit--nor "exemplary diffidence,"
modestly veiling its own--but inadequate skill and inferior talents,
bribing the public by the spoils of genius, and seeking precedence by such
means as not even the purest desire of doing good can justify.

21. Among the professed copiers of Murray, there is not one to whom the
foregoing remarks do not apply, as forcibly as to him. For no one of them
all has attempted any thing more honourable to himself, or more beneficial
to the public, than what their master had before achieved; nor is there any
one, who, with the same disinterestedness, has guarded his design from the
imputation of a pecuniary motive. It is comical to observe what they say in
their prefaces. Between praise to sustain their choice of a model, and
blame to make room for their pretended amendments, they are often placed in
as awkward a dilemma, as that which was contrived when grammar was
identified with compilation. I should have much to say, were I to show them
all in their true light.[9] Few of them have had such success as to be
worthy of notice here; but the names of many will find frequent place in my
code of false grammar. The one who seems to be now taking the lead in fame
and revenue, filled with glad wonder at his own popularity, is SAMUEL
KIRKHAM. Upon this gentleman's performance, I shall therefore bestow a few
brief observations. If I do not overrate this author's literary importance,
a fair exhibition of the character of his grammar, may be made an
instructive lesson to some of our modern literati. The book is a striking
sample of a numerous species.

22. Kirkham's treatise is entitled, "English Grammar _in familiar
Lectures_, accompanied by a _Compendium_;" that is, by a folded sheet. Of
this work, of which I have recently seen copies purporting to be of the
"SIXTY-SEVENTH EDITION," and others again of the "HUNDRED AND FIFTH
EDITION," each published at Baltimore in 1835, I can give no earlier
account, than what may be derived from the "SECOND EDITION, enlarged and
much improved," which was published at Harrisburg in 1825. The preface,
which appears to have been written for his _first_ edition, is dated,
"Fredericktown, Md., August 22, 1823." In it, there is no recognition of
any obligation to Murray, or to any other grammarian in particular; but
with the modest assumption, that the style of the "best philologists,"
needed to be retouched, the book is presented to the world under the
following pretensions:

"The author of this production has endeavoured to condense _all the most
important subject-matter of the whole science_, and present it in so small
a compass that the learner can become familiarly acquainted with it in a
_short time_. He makes but small pretensions to originality in theoretical
matter. Most of the principles laid down, have been selected from our _best
modern philologists_. If his work is entitled to any degree of _merit_, it
is not on account of a judicious selection of principles and rules, but for
the easy mode adopted of communicating _these_ to the mind of the
learner."--_Kirkham's Grammar_, 1825, p. 10.

23. It will be found on examination, that what this author regarded as
_"all the most important subject-matter of the whole science" of grammar_,
included nothing more than the most common elements of the orthography,
etymology, and syntax, of the English tongue--beyond which his scholarship
appears not to have extended. Whatsoever relates to derivation, to the
sounds of the letters, to prosody, (as punctuation, utterance, figures,
versification, and poetic diction,) found no place in his "comprehensive
system of grammar;" nor do his later editions treat any of these things
amply or well. In short, he treats nothing well; for he is a bad writer.
Commencing his career of authorship under circumstances the most
forbidding, yet receiving encouragement from commendations bestowed in
pity, he proceeded, like a man of business, to profit mainly by the chance;
and, without ever acquiring either the feelings or the habits of a scholar,
soon learned by experience that, "It is much better to _write_ than [to]
_starve_."--_Kirkham's Gram., Stereotyped_, p. 89. It is cruel in any man,
to look narrowly into the faults of an author who peddles a school-book for
bread. The starveling wretch whose defence and plea are poverty and
sickness, demands, and must have, in the name of humanity, an immunity from
criticism, if not the patronage of the public. Far be it from me, to notice
any such character, except with kindness and charity. Nor need I be told,
that tenderness is due to the "young;" or that noble results sometimes
follow unhopeful beginnings. These things are understood and duly
appreciated. The gentleman was young once, even as he says; and I, his
equal in years, was then, in authorship, as young--though, it were to be
hoped, not quite so immature. But, as circumstances alter cases, so time
and chance alter circumstances. Under no circumstances, however, can the
artifices of quackery be thought excusable in him who claims to be the very
greatest of modern grammarians. The niche that in the temple of learning
belongs to any individual, can be no other than that which his own labours
have purchased: here, his _own merit_ alone must be his pedestal. If this
critical sketch be unimpeachably _just_, its publication requires no
further warrant. The correction has been forborne, till the subject of it
has become rich, and popular, and proud; proud enough at least to have
published his utter contempt for me and all my works. Yet not for this do I
judge him worthy of notice here, but merely as an apt example of some men's
grammatical success and fame. The ways and means to these grand results are
what I purpose now to consider.

24. The common supposition, that the world is steadily advancing in
knowledge and improvement, would seem to imply, that the man who could
plausibly boast of being the most successful and most popular grammarian of
the nineteenth century, cannot but be a scholar of such merit as to deserve
some place, if not in the general literary history of his age, at least in
the particular history of the science which he teaches. It will presently
be seen that the author of "English Grammar in Familiar Lectures," boasts
of a degree of success and popularity, which, in this age of the world, has
no parallel. It is not intended on my part, to dispute any of his
assertions on these points; but rather to take it for granted, that in
reputation and revenue he is altogether as preëminent as he pretends to be.
The character of his alleged _improvements_, however, I shall inspect with
the eyes of one who means to know the certainty for himself; and, in this
item of literary history, the reader shall see, in some sort, _what profit_
there is in grammar. Is the common language of two of the largest and most
enlightened nations on earth so little understood, and its true grammar so
little known or appreciated, that one of the most unscholarly and
incompetent of all pretenders to grammar can have found means to outrival
all the grammarians who have preceded him? Have plagiarism and quackery
become the only means of success in philology? Are there now instances to
which an intelligent critic may point, and say, "This man, or that, though
he can scarcely write a page of good English, has patched up a grammar, by
the help of Murray's text only, and thereby made himself rich?" Is there
such a charm in the name of _Murray_, and the word _improvement_, that by
these two implements alone, the obscurest of men, or the absurdest of
teachers, may work his passage to fame; and then, perchance, by contrast of
circumstances, grow conceited and arrogant, from the fortune of the
undertaking? Let us see what we can find in Kirkham's Grammar, which will
go to answer these questions.

25. Take first from one page of his "hundred and fifth edition," a few
brief quotations, as a sample of his thoughts and style:

"They, however, who introduce _usages which depart from the analogy and
philosophy_ of a language, _are conspicuous_ among the number of those who
_form that language_, and have power to control it." "PRINCIPLE.--A
principle in grammar is a _peculiar construction_ of the language,
sanctioned by good usage." "DEFINITION.--A definition in grammar is a
_principle_ of language expressed in a _definite form_." "RULE.--A rule
describes _the peculiar construction_ or circumstantial relation of words,
_which_ custom has established for our observance."--_Kirkham's Grammar_,
page 18.

Now, as "a rule describes a peculiar construction," and "a principle is a
peculiar construction," and "a definition is a principle;" how, according
to this grammarian, do a principle, a definition, and a rule, differ each
from the others? From the rote here imposed, it is certainly not easier
for the learner to conceive of all these things _distinctly_, than it is to
understand how a departure from philosophy may make a man deservedly
"_conspicuous_." It were easy to multiply examples like these, showing the
work to be deficient in clearness, the first requisite of style.

26. The following passages may serve as a specimen of the gentleman's
taste, and grammatical accuracy; in one of which, he supposes the neuter
verb _is_ to express an _action_, and every _honest man_ to be _long since
dead!_ So it stands in all his editions. Did his praisers think so too?

"It is correct to say, _The man eats, he eats_; but we cannot say, _The man
dog eats, he dog eats_. Why not? Because the man _is here represented_ as
the possessor, and dog, the property, or thing possessed; and the genius of
our language requires, that when we add _to the possessor_, the _thing_
which _he_ is represented as possessing, _the possessor_ shall take a
particular form to show ITS case, or relation to the property."--_Ib._, p.
52.

THE PRESENT TENSE.--"This tense is sometimes applied to represent the
_actions_ of persons _long since dead_; as, 'Seneca _reasons_ and
_moralizes_ well; An HONEST MAN IS the noblest work of God.'"--_Ib._, p.
138.

PARTICIPLES.--"The term _Participle_ comes from the Latin word
_participio_,[10] which signifies to _partake_."--"Participles are formed
by adding to the verb the termination _ing, ed_, or _en_. _Ing_ signifies
the same thing as the noun _being_. When _postfixed_ to the _noun-state_ of
the verb, the _compound word_ thus formed expresses a continued state of
the _verbal denotement_. It implies that what is meant by the verb, is
_being_ continued."--_Ib._, p. 78. "All participles _are compound_ in their
meaning and office."--_Ib._, p. 79.

VERBS.--"Verbs express, not only _the state_ or _manner of being_, but,
likewise, all the different _actions_ and _movements_ of all creatures and
things, whether animate or inanimate."--_Ib._, p. 62. "It can be easily
shown, that from the noun and verb, all the other parts of speech have
sprung. Nay, more. _They_ may even be reduced to _one_. _Verbs do not, in
reality, express actions_; but they are intrinsically _the mere_ NAMES _of
actions_."--_Ib._, p. 37.

PHILOSOPHICAL GRAMMAR.--"I have thought proper to intersperse through the
pages of this work, under the head of '_Philosophical Notes_,' an entire
system of grammatical principles, as deduced from what _appears[11] to me_
to be the _most rational and consistent_ philosophical investigations."--
_Ib._, p. 36. "Johnson, and Blair, and Lowth, _would have been laughed at_,
had they essayed to thrust _any thing like our_ modernized philosophical
grammar _down the throats of their cotemporaries_."--_Ib._, p. 143.

Is it not a pity, that "more than one hundred thousand children and youth"
should be daily poring over language and logic like this?

27. For the sake of those who happily remain ignorant of this successful
empiricism, it is desirable that the record and exposition of it be made
brief. There is little danger that it will long survive its author. But the
present subjects of it are sufficiently numerous to deserve some pity. The
following is a sample of the gentleman's method of achieving what he both
justly and exultingly supposes, that Johnson, or Blair, or Lowth, could not
have effected. He scoffs at his own grave instructions, as if they had been
the production of some _other_ impostor. Can the fact be credited, that in
the following instances, he speaks of _what he himself teaches_?--of what
he seriously pronounces _"most rational and consistent?"_--of what is part
and parcel of that philosophy of his, which he declares, "will _in general
be found to accord_ with the _practical theory_ embraced in the body of his
work?"--See _Kirkham's Gram._, p. 36.

"Call this '_philosophical parsing_, on reasoning principles, according to
the original laws of nature and of thought,' and _the pill will be
swallowed_, by pedants and their dupes, with the greatest ease
imaginable."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 144. "For the _satisfaction_ of those
teachers who prefer it, and _for their adoption, too_, a modernized
philosophical theory of the moods and tenses is here presented. If it is
not quite so convenient and useful as the old one, they need not hesitate
to adopt it. It has the advantage of being _new_; and, moreover, it sounds
_large_, and will make the _commonalty stare_. Let it be distinctly
understood that you teach '[_Kirkham's_] _philosophical grammar_, founded
on reason and common sense,' and you will pass for a very learned man, and
make all the good housewives wonder at the rapid march of intellect, and
the vast improvements of the age."--_Ib._, p. 141.

28. The _pretty promises_ with which these "Familiar Lectures" abound, are
also worthy to be noticed here, as being among the peculiar attractions of
the performance. The following may serve as a specimen:

"If you _proceed according to my instructions_, you will be sure to acquire
a practical knowledge of Grammar in _a short time_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p.
49. "If you have sufficient _resolution to do this_, you will, in a short
time, _perfectly understand_ the nature and office of the different parts
of speech, their various properties and relations, and the rules of syntax
that apply to them; _and, in a few weeks_, be able to speak and write
accurately."--_Ib._, p. 62. "You will please to turn back and read over
again _the whole five lectures_. You must exercise _a little_
patience."--_Ib._, p. 82. "By studying these lectures with attention, you
will acquire _more grammatical_ knowledge in three months, than is commonly
obtained in _two years_."--_Ib._, p. 82. "I will conduct you _so smoothly
through the moods and tenses_, and the conjugation of verbs, that, instead
of finding yourself involved in obscurities and deep intricacies, you will
scarcely find _an obstruction to impede your progress_."--_Ib._, p. 133.
"The supposed Herculean task of learning to conjugate verbs, will be
transformed into _a few hours of pleasant pastime_."--_Ib._, p. 142. "_By
examining carefully_ the conjugation of the verb through this mood, you
will find it _very easy_."--_Ib._, p. 147. "By pursuing the following
direction, you can, _in a very short time_, learn to conjugate any
verb."--_Ib._, p. 147. "Although this mode of procedure _may, at first,
appear to be laborious_, yet, as it is necessary, I trust you will not
hesitate to adopt it. _My confidence in your perseverance_, induces me to
recommend _any course_ which I know will tend to facilitate your
progress."--_Ib._, p. 148.

29. The grand boast of this author is, that he _has succeeded_ in "pleasing
himself and the public." He trusts to have "gained the latter point," to so
great an extent, and with such security of tenure, that henceforth no man
can safely question _the merit_ of his performance. Happy mortal! to whom
that success which is the ground of his pride, is also the glittering ægis
of his sure defence! To this he points with exultation and self-applause,
as if the prosperity of the wicked, or the popularity of an imposture, had
never yet been heard of in this clever world![12] Upon what merit this
success has been founded, my readers may judge, when I shall have finished
this slight review of his work. Probably no other grammar was ever so
industriously spread. Such was the author's perseverance in his measures to
increase the demand for his book, that even the attainment of such accuracy
as he was capable of, was less a subject of concern. For in an article
designed "to ward off some of the arrows of criticism,"--an advertisement
which, from the eleventh to the "one hundred and fifth edition," has been
promising "to the _publick another and a better_ edition,"--he plainly
offers this urgent engagement, as "an apology for its defects:"

"The author is apprehensive that his work is _not yet as_ accurate and as
much simplified as it _may be_. If, however, the disadvantages of lingering
under a broken constitution, and of being able to devote to this subject
_only a small portion of his time_, snatched from the _active pursuits of a
business life_, (active as far as imperfect health permits him to be,) are
any apology for his defects, he hopes that the candid will set down _the
apology to his credit_.--Not that he would beg a truce with the gentlemen
_criticks_ and reviewers. Any compromise with them would betray a want of
_self-confidence_ and _moral courage_, which he would by no means, be
willing to avow."--_Kirkham's Gram._, (Adv. of 1829,) p. 7.

30. Now, to this painful struggle, this active contention between business
and the vapours, let all _credit_ be given, and all _sympathy_ be added;
but, as an aid to the studies of healthy children, what better is the book,
for any forbearance or favour that may have been won by this apology? It
is well known, that, till _phrenology_ became the common talk, the author's
principal business was, to commend his own method of teaching _grammar_,
and to turn this publication to profit. This honourable industry, aided, as
himself suggests, by "not much _less_ than one thousand written
recommendations," is said to have wrought for him, in a very few years, a
degree of success and fame, at which both the eulogists of Murray and the
friends of English grammar may hang their heads. As to a "_compromise_"
with any critic or reviewer whom he cannot bribe, it is enough to say of
that, it is morally impossible. Nor was it necessary for such an author to
throw the gauntlet, to prove himself not lacking in "_self-confidence_." He
can show his "_moral courage_," only by daring do right.

31. In 1829, after his book had gone through ten editions, and the demand
for it had become so great as "to call forth twenty thousand copies during
the year," the prudent author, intending to veer his course according to
the _trade-wind_, thought it expedient to retract his former
acknowledgement to "our best modern philologists," and to profess himself a
modifier of the Great Compiler's code. Where then holds the anchor of his
praise? Let the reader say, after weighing and comparing his various
pretensions:

"Aware that there is, in the _publick_ mind, a strong predilection for the
doctrines contained in Mr. Murray's grammar, he has thought proper, not
merely from motives of policy, but from choice, _to select his principles
chiefly from that work_; and, moreover, to adopt, as far as consistent with
his own views, _the language of that eminent philologist_. In no instance
has he varied from him, unless he conceived that, in so doing, _some
practical advantage_ would be gained. He hopes, _therefore_, to escape the
censure so frequently and so justly awarded to those _unfortunate
innovators_ who have not scrupled to alter, mutilate, and torture the text
of that able writer, merely to gratify an itching propensity to figure in
the world _as authors_, and gain an ephemeral popularity by arrogating to
themselves _the credit due to another_." [13]--_Kirkham's Gram._, 1829, p.
10.

32. Now these statements are either true or false; and I know not on which
supposition they are most creditable to the writer. Had any Roman
grammatist thus profited by the name of Varro or Quintilian, he would have
been filled with constant dread of somewhere meeting the injured author's
frowning shade! Surely, among the professed admirers of Murray, no other
man, whether innovator or copyist, unfortunate or successful, is at all to
be compared to this gentleman for the audacity with which he has "not
scrupled to alter, mutilate, and torture, the text of that able writer."
Murray simply intended to do good, and good that might descend to
posterity; and this just and generous intention goes far to excuse even his
errors. But Kirkham, speaking of posterity, scruples not to disavow and to
renounce all care for them, or for any thing which a coming age may think
of his character: saying,

"My pretensions reach not so far. To the _present generation only_, I
present my claims. Should it lend me a listening ear, and grant me its
suffrages, _the height of my ambition_ will be attained."--_Advertisement,
in his Elocution_, p. 346.

His whole design is, therefore, upon the very face of it, a paltry scheme
of present income. And, seeing his entered classes of boys and girls must
soon have done with him, he has doubtless acted wisely, and quite in
accordance with his own interest, to have made all possible haste in his
career.

33. Being no rival with him in this race, and having no personal quarrel
with him on any account, I would, for his sake, fain rejoice at his
success, and withhold my criticisms; because he is said to have been
liberal with his gains, and because he has not, like some others, copied me
instead of Murray. But the vindication of a greatly injured and perverted
science, constrains me to say, on this occasion, that pretensions less
consistent with themselves, or less sustained by taste and scholarship,
have seldom, if ever, been promulgated in the name of grammar. I have,
certainly, no intention to say more than is due to the uninformed and
misguided. For some who are ungenerous and prejudiced themselves, will not
be unwilling to think me so; and even this freedom, backed and guarded as
it is by facts and proofs irrefragable, may still be ingeniously ascribed
to an ill motive. To two thirds of the community, one grammar is just as
good as an other; because they neither know, nor wish to know, more than
may be learned from the very worst. An honest expression of sentiment
against abuses of a literary nature, is little the fashion of these times;
and the good people who purchase books upon the recommendations of others,
may be slow to believe there is no merit where so much has been attributed.
But facts may well be credited, in opposition to courteous flattery, when
there are the author's own words and works to vouch for them in the face of
day. Though a thousand of our great men may have helped a copier's weak
copyist to take "some practical advantage" of the world's credulity, it is
safe to aver, in the face of dignity still greater, that testimonials more
fallacious have seldom mocked the cause of learning. They did not read his
book.

34. Notwithstanding the author's change in his professions, the work is now
essentially the same as it was at first; except that its errors and
contradictions have been greatly multiplied, by the addition of new matter
inconsistent with the old. He evidently cares not what doctrines he
teaches, or whose; but, as various theories are noised abroad, seizes upon
different opinions, and mixes them together, that his books may contain
something to suit all parties. "_A System of Philosophical Grammar_,"
though but an idle speculation, even in his own account, and doubly absurd
in him, as being flatly contradictory to his main text, has been thought
worthy of insertion. And what his title-page denominates "_A New System of
Punctuation_," though mostly in the very words of Murray, was next invented
to supply a deficiency which he at length discovered. To admit these, and
some other additions, the "comprehensive system-of grammar" was gradually
extended from 144 small duodecimo pages, to 228 of the ordinary size. And,
in this compass, it was finally stereotyped in 1829; so that the
ninety-four editions published since, have nothing new for history.

35. But the publication of an other work designed for schools, "_An Essay
an Elocution_" shows the progress of the author's mind. Nothing can be more
radically opposite, than are some of the elementary doctrines which this
gentleman is now teaching; nothing, more strangely inconsistent, than are
some of his declarations and professions. For instance: "A consonant is a
letter that cannot be perfectly sounded without the help of a
vowel."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 19. Again: "A consonant is not only capable
of being perfectly sounded without the help of a vowel, but, moreover, of
forming, like a vowel, a separate syllable."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 32.
Take a second example. He makes "ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS" a _prominent division_
and _leading title_, in treating of the pronouns proper; defines the term
in a manner peculiar to himself; prefers and uses it in all his parsing;
and yet, by the third sentence of the story, the learner is conducted to
this just conclusion: "Hence, such a thing as an _adjective-pronoun_ cannot
exist."--_Grammar_, p. 105. Once more. Upon his own rules, or such as he
had borrowed, he comments thus, and comments _truly_, because he had either
written them badly or made an ill choice: "But some of these rules are
foolish, trifling, and unimportant."--_Elocution_, p. 97. Again: "Rules 10
and 11, rest on a sandy foundation. They appear not to be based on the
principles of the language."--_Grammar_, p. 59. These are but specimens of
his own frequent testimony against himself! Nor shall he find refuge in the
impudent falsehood, that the things which I quote as his, are not his
own.[14] These contradictory texts, and scores of others which might be
added to them, are as rightfully his own, as any doctrine he has ever yet
inculcated. But, upon the credulity of ignorance, his high-sounding
certificates and unbounded boasting can impose any thing. They overrule all
in favour of cue of the worst grammars extant;--of which he says, "it is
now studied by more than one hundred thousand children and youth; and is
more extensively used than _all other English grammars_ published in the
United States."--_Elocution_, p. 347. The booksellers say, he receives from
his publishers _ten cents a copy_, on this work, and that he reports the
sale of _sixty thousand copies per annum_. Such has of late been his public
boast. I have once had the story from his own lips, and of course
congratulated him, though I dislike the book. Six thousand dollars a year,
on this most miserable modification of Lindley Murray's Grammar! Be it
so--or double, if he and the public please. Murray had so little
originality in his work, or so little selfishness in his design, that he
would not take any thing; and his may ultimately prove the better bargain.

36. A man may boast and bless himself as he pleases, his fortune, surely,
can never be worthy of an other's envy, so long as he finds it inadequate
to his own great merits, and unworthy of his own poor gratitude. As a
grammarian, Kirkham claims to be second only to Lindley Murray; and says,
"Since the days of Lowth, no other work on grammar, Murray's only excepted,
has been so favourably received by the _publick_ as his own. As a proof of
this, he would mention, that within the last six years it has passed
through _fifty_ editions."--_Preface to Elocution_, p. 12. And, at the same
time, and in the same preface, he complains, that, "Of all the labours done
under the sun, the labours _of the pen_ meet with the poorest
reward."--_Ibid._, p. 5. This too clearly favours the report, that his
books were not written by himself, but by others whom he hired. Possibly,
the anonymous helper may here have penned, not his employer's feeling, but
a line of his own experience. But I choose to ascribe the passage to the
professed author, and to hold him answerable for the inconsistency. Willing
to illustrate by the best and fairest examples these fruitful means of
grammatical fame, I am glad of his present success, which, through this
record, shall become yet more famous. It is the only thing which makes him
worthy of the notice here taken of him. But I cannot sympathize with his
complaint, because he never sought any but "the poorest reward;" and more
than all he sought, he found. In his last "Address to Teachers," he says,
"He may doubtless be permitted emphatically to say with Prospero, '_Your
breath has filled my sails_.'"--_Elocution_, p. 18. If this boasting has
any truth in it, he ought to be satisfied. But it is written, "He that
loveth silver, shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth
abundance, with increase." Let him remember this.[15] He now announces
three or four other works as forthcoming shortly. What these will achieve,
the world will see. But I must confine myself to the Grammar.

37. In this volume, scarcely any thing is found where it might be expected.
"The author," as he tells us in his preface, "has not followed the common
'artificial and unnatural arrangement adopted by most of his predecessors;'
_yet he_ has endeavoured to pursue a more judicious one, namely, '_the
order of the understanding_.'"--_Grammar_, p. 12. But if this is the order
of his understanding, he is greatly to be pitied. A book more confused in
its plan, more wanting in method, more imperfect in distinctness of parts,
more deficient in symmetry, or more difficult of reference, shall not
easily be found in stereotype. Let the reader try to follow us here. Bating
twelve pages at the beginning, occupied by the title, recommendations,
advertisement, contents, preface, hints to teachers, and advice to
lecturers; and fifty-four at the end, embracing syntax, orthography,
orthoëpy, provincialisms, prosody, punctuation, versification, rhetoric,
figures of speech, and a Key, all in the sequence here given; the work
consists of fourteen chapters of grammar, absurdly called "Familiar
Lectures." The first treats of sundries, under half a dozen titles, but
chiefly of Orthography; and the last is three pages and a half, of the most
common remarks, on Derivation. In the remaining twelve, the Etymology and
Syntax of the ten parts of speech are commingled; and an attempt is made,
to teach simultaneously all that the author judged important in either.
Hence he gives us, in a strange congeries, rules, remarks, illustrations,
false syntax, systematic parsing, exercises in parsing, two different
orders of notes, three different orders of questions, and a variety of
other titles merely occasional. All these things, being additional to his
main text, are to be connected, in the mind of the learner, with the parts
of speech successively, in some new and inexplicable catenation found only
in the arrangement of the lectures. The author himself could not see
through the chaos. He accordingly made his table of contents a mere meagre
alphabetical index. Having once attempted in vain to explain the order of
his instructions, he actually gave the matter up in despair!

38. In length, these pretended lectures vary, from three or four pages, to
eight-and-thirty. Their subjects run thus: 1. Language, Grammar,
Orthography; 2. Nouns and Verbs; 3. Articles; 4. Adjectives; 5.
Participles; 6. Adverbs; 7. Prepositions; 8. Pronouns; 9. Conjunctions; 10.
Interjections and Nouns; 11. Moods and Tenses; 12. Irregular Verbs; 13.
Auxiliary, Passive, and Defective Verbs; 14. Derivation. Which, now, is
"more judicious," such confusion as this, or the arrangement which has been
common from time immemorial? Who that has any respect for the human
intellect, or whose powers of mind deserve any in return, will avouch this
jumble to be "the order of the understanding?" Are the methods of science
to be accounted mere hinderances to instruction? Has grammar really been
made easy by this confounding of its parts? Or are we lured by the name,
"_Familiar Lectures_,"--a term manifestly adopted as a mere decoy, and,
with respect to the work itself, totally inappropriate? If these chapters
have ever been actually delivered as a series of lectures, the reader must
have been employed on some occasions eight or ten times as long as on
others! "People," says Dr. Johnson, "have now-a-days got a strange opinion
that every thing should be taught by _lectures_. Now, I cannot see that
lectures can do so much good as a private reading of the books from which
the lectures are taken. I know of nothing that can be best taught by
lectures, except where experiments are to be shown. You may teach chymistry
by lectures--you _might_ teach the making of shoes by lectures."
--_Boswell's Life of Johnson_.

39. With singular ignorance and untruth, this gentleman claims to have
invented a better method of analysis than had ever been practised before.
Of other grammars, his preface avers, "They have _all overlooked_ what the
author considers a very important object; namely, _a systematick order of
parsing_."--_Grammar_, p. 9. And, in his "Hints to Teachers," presenting
himself as a model, and his book as a paragon, he says: "By pursuing this
system, he can, with less labour, advance a pupil _farther_ in the
practical knowledge of this _abstruse science_, in _two months_, than he
could in _one year_, when he taught in the _old way_."--_Grammar_, p. 12.
What his "_old way_" was, does not appear. Doubtless something sufficiently
bad. And as to his new way, I shall hereafter have occasion to show that
_that_ is sufficiently bad also. But to this gasconade the simple-minded
have given credit--because the author showed certificates that testified to
his great success, and called him "amiable and modest!" But who can look
into the book, or into the writer's pretensions in regard to his
predecessors, and conceive the merit which has made him--"preëminent by so
much odds?" Was Murray less praiseworthy, less amiable, or less modest? In
illustration of my topic, and for the sake of literary justice, I have
selected that honoured "_Compiler_" to show the abuses of praise; let the
history of this his vaunting _modifier_ cap the climax of vanity. In
general, his amendments of "that eminent philologist," are not more
skillful than the following touch upon an eminent dramatist; and here, it
is plain, he has mistaken two nouns for adjectives, and converted into bad
English a beautiful passage, the sentiment of which is worthy of an
_author's_ recollection:

   "The evil _deed_ or _deeds_ that men do, _lives_ after them;
    The good _deed_ or _deeds is_ oft interred with their bones." [16]
                    _Kirkham's Grammar_, p. 75.

40. Lord Bacon observes, "Nothing is thought so easy a request to a great
person as his letter; and yet, if it be not in a good cause, it is so much
out of his reputation." It is to this mischievous facility of
recommendation, this prostituted influence of great names, that the
inconvenient diversity of school-books, and the continued use of bad ones,
are in a great measure to be attributed. It belongs to those who understand
the subjects of which authors profess to treat, to judge fairly and fully
of their works, and then to let the _reasons_ of their judgement be known.
For no one will question the fact, that a vast number of the school-books
now in use are either egregious plagiarisms or productions of no
comparative merit. And, what is still more surprising and monstrous,
presidents, governors, senators, and judges; professors, doctors,
clergymen, and lawyers; a host of titled connoisseurs; with incredible
facility lend their names, not only to works of inferior merit, but to the
vilest thefts, and the wildest absurdities, palmed off upon their own and
the public credulity, under pretence of improvement. The man who thus
prefixes his letter of recommendation to an ill-written book, publishes,
out of mere courtesy, a direct impeachment of his own scholarship or
integrity. Yet, how often have we seen the honours of a high office, or
even of a worthy name, prostituted to give a temporary or local currency to
a book which it would disgrace any man of letters to quote! With such
encouragement, nonsense wrestles for the seat of learning, exploded errors
are republished as novelties, original writers are plundered by dunces, and
men that understand nothing well, profess to teach all sciences!

41. All praise of excellence must needs be comparative, because the thing
itself is so. To excel in grammar, is but to know better than others
wherein grammatical excellence consists. Hence there is no fixed point of
perfection beyond which such learning may not be carried. The limit to
improvement is not so much in the nature of the subject, as in the powers
of the mind, and in the inducements to exert them upon a theme so humble
and so uninviting. Dr. Johnson suggests, in his masterly preface, "that a
whole life cannot be spent upon syntax and etymology, and that even a whole
life would not be sufficient." Who then will suppose, in the face of such
facts and confessions as have been exhibited, that either in the faulty
publications of Murray, or among the various modifications of them by other
hands we have any such work as deserves to be made a permanent standard of
instruction in English grammar? With great sacrifices, both of pleasure and
of interest, I have humbly endeavoured to supply this desideratum; and it
remains for other men to determine, and other times to know, what place
shall be given to these my labours, in the general story of this branch of
learning. Intending to develop not only the principles but also the history
of grammar, I could not but speak of its authors. The writer who looks
broadly at the past and the present, to give sound instruction to the
future, must not judge of men by their shadows. If the truth, honestly
told, diminish the stature of some, it does it merely by clearing the sight
of the beholder. Real greatness cannot suffer loss by the dissipating of a
vapour. If reputation has been raised upon the mist of ignorance, who but
the builder shall lament its overthrow? If the works of grammarians are
often ungrammatical, whose fault is this but their own? If _all_
grammatical fame is little in itself, how can the abatement of what is
undeserved of it be much? If the errors of some have long been tolerated,
what right of the critic has been lost by nonuser? If the interests of
Science have been sacrificed to Mammon, what rebuke can do injustice to the
craft? Nay, let the broad-axe of the critic hew up to the line, till every
beam in her temple be smooth and straight. For, "certainly, next to
commending good writers, the greatest service to learning is, to expose the
bad, who can only in that way be made of any use to it." [17] And if, among
the makers of grammars, the scribblings of some, and the filchings of
others, are discreditable alike to themselves and to their theme, let the
reader consider, how great must be the intrinsic worth of that study which
still maintains its credit in spite of all these abuses!




CHAPTER IV.

OF THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE.

"Tot fallaciis obrutum, tot hallucinationibus demersum, tot adhuc tenebris
circumfusum studium hocce mihi visum est, ut nihil satis tuto in hac
materia præstari posse arbitratus sim, nisi nova quadam arte critica
præmissa."--SCIPIO MAFFEIUS: _Cassiod. Complexiones_, p. xxx.

1. The origin of things is, for many reasons, a peculiarly interesting
point in their history. Among those who have thought fit to inquire into
the prime origin of speech, it has been matter of dispute, whether we ought
to consider it a special gift from Heaven, or an acquisition of industry--a
natural endowment, or an artificial invention. Nor is any thing that has
ever yet been said upon it, sufficient to set the question permanently at
rest. That there is in some words, and perhaps in some of every language, a
natural connexion between the sounds uttered and the things signified,
cannot be denied; yet, on the other hand, there is, in the use of words in
general, so much to which nature affords no clew or index, that this whole
process of communicating thought by speech, seems to be artificial. Under
an other head, I have already cited from Sanctius some opinions of the
ancient grammarians and philosophers on this point. With the reasoning of
that zealous instructor, the following sentence from Dr. Blair very
obviously accords: "To suppose words invented, or names given to things, in
a manner purely arbitrary, without any ground or reason, is to suppose an
effect without a cause. There must have always been some motive which led
to the assignation of one name rather than an other."--_Rhet._, Lect. vi,
p. 55.

2. But, in their endeavours to explain the origin and early progress of
language, several learned men, among whom is this celebrated lecturer, have
needlessly perplexed both themselves and their readers, with sundry
questions, assumptions, and reasonings, which are manifestly contrary to
what has been made known to us on the best of all authority. What signifies
it[18] for a man to tell us how nations rude and barbarous invented
interjections first,[19] and then nouns, and then verbs,[20] and finally
the other parts of speech; when he himself confesses that he does not know
whether language "can be considered a human invention at all;" and when he
believed, or ought to have believed, that the speech of the first man,
though probably augmented by those who afterwards used it, was,
essentially, the one language of the earth for more than eighteen
centuries? The task of inventing a language _de novo_, could surely have
fallen upon no man but Adam; and he, in the garden of Paradise, had
doubtless some aids and facilities not common to every wild man of the
woods.

3. The learned Doctor was equally puzzled to conceive, "either how society
could form itself, previously to language, or how words could rise into a
language, previously to society formed."--_Blair's Rhet._, Lect. vi, p. 54.
This too was but an idle perplexity, though thousands have gravely pored
over it since, as a part of the study of rhetoric; for, if neither could be
previous to the other, they must have sprung up simultaneously. And it is a
sort of slander upon our prime ancestor, to suggest, that, because he was
"_the first_," he must have been "_the rudest_" of his race; and that,
"consequently, those first rudiments of speech," which alone the
supposition allows to him or to his family, "must have been poor and
narrow."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 54. It is far more reasonable to think, with
a later author, that, "Adam had an insight into natural things far beyond
the acutest philosopher, as may be gathered from his giving of names to all
creatures, according to their different constitutions."--_Robinson's
Scripture Characters_, p. 4.

4. But Dr. Blair is not alone in the view which he here takes. The same
thing has bean suggested by other learned men. Thus Dr. James P. Wilson, of
Philadelphia, in an octavo published in 1817, says: "It is difficult to
discern how communities could have existed without language, and equally so
to discover how language could have obtained, in a peopled world, prior to
society."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 1. I know not how so many
professed Christians, and some of them teachers of religion too, with the
Bible in their hands, can reason upon this subject as they do. We find
them, in their speculations, conspiring to represent primeval man, to use
their own words, as a "_savage_, whose 'howl at the appearance of danger,
and whose exclamations of joy at the sight of his prey, reiterated, or
varied with the change of objects, were probably the origin of
language.'--_Booth's Analytical Dictionary_. In the dawn of society, ages
may have passed away, with little more converse than what these efforts
would produce."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p. 31. Here Gardiner quotes
Booth with approbation, and the latter, like Wilson, may have borrowed his
ideas from Blair. Thus are we taught by a multitude of guessers, grave,
learned, and oracular, that the last of the ten parts of speech was in fact
the first: "_Interjections_ are exceedingly interesting in one respect.
They are, there can be little doubt, _the oldest words_ in all languages;
and may be considered the elements of speech."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._,
p. 78. On this point, however, Dr. Blair seems not to be quite consistent
with himself: "Those exclamations, therefore, which by grammarians are
called _interjections_, uttered in a strong and passionate manner, were,
_beyond doubt_, the first elements or beginnings of speech."--_Rhet._,
Lect. vi, p. 55. "The _names_ of sensible objects were, _in all languages_,
the words most early introduced."--_Rhet._, Lect. xiv, p. 135. "The _names
of sensible objects_," says Murray too, "were the words most early
introduced."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 336. Bat what says the Bible?

5. Revelation informs us that our first progenitor was not only endowed
with the faculty of speech, but, as it would appear, actually incited by
the Deity to exert that faculty in giving _names_ to the objects by which
he was surrounded. "Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of
the field and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam, to see
what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature,
that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the
fowls of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was
not found a help meet for him."--_Gen._, ii, 19, 20. This account of the
first naming of the other creatures by man, is apparently a parenthesis in
the story of the creation of woman, with which the second chapter of
Genesis concludes. But, in the preceding chapter, the Deity is represented
not only as calling all things into existence _by his Word_; but as
_speaking to the first human pair_, with reference to their increase in the
earth, and to their dominion over it, and over all the living creatures
formed to inhabit it. So that the order of the events cannot be clearly
inferred from the order of the narration. The manner of this communication
to man, may also be a subject of doubt. Whether it was, or was not, made by
a voice of words, may be questioned. But, surely, that Being who, in
creating the world and its inhabitants, manifested his own infinite wisdom,
eternal power, and godhead, does not lack words, or any other means of
signification, if he will use them. And, in the inspired record of his work
in the beginning, he is certainly represented, not only as naming all
things imperatively, when he spoke them into being, but as expressly
calling the light _Day_, the darkness _Night_, the firmament _Heaven_, the
dry land _Earth_, and the gatherings of the mighty waters _Seas_.

6. Dr. Thomas Hartwell Horne, in commending a work by Dr. Ellis, concerning
the origin of human wisdom and understanding, says: "It shows
satisfactorily, that religion _and language_ entered the world by divine
revelation, without the aid of which, man had not been a rational or
religious creature."--_Study of the Scriptures_, Vol. i, p. 4. "Plato
attributes the primitive words of the _first language_ to a divine origin;"
and Dr. Wilson remarks, "The transition from silence to speech, implies an
effort of the understanding too great for man."--_Essay on Gram._, p. 1.
Dr. Beattie says, "Mankind must have spoken in all ages, the young
constantly learning to speak by imitating those who were older; and, if so,
our first parents must have received this art, as well as some others, by
inspiration."--_Moral Science_, p. 27. Horne Tooke says, "I imagine that it
is, _in some measure_, with the vehicle of our thoughts, as with the
vehicles for our bodies. Necessity produced both."--_Diversions of Purley_,
Vol. i, p. 20. Again: "Language, it is true, _is an art_, and a glorious
one; whose influence extends over all the others, and in which finally all
science whatever must centre: but an art _springing from necessity_, and
originally invented by artless men, who did not sit down like philosophers
to invent it."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 259.

7. Milton imagines Adam's first knowledge of speech, to have sprung from
the hearing of his own voice; and that voice to have been raised,
instinctively, or spontaneously, in an animated inquiry concerning his own
origin--an inquiry in which he addresses to unintelligent objects, and
inferior creatures, such questions as the Deity alone could answer:

   "Myself I then perused, and limb by limb
    Surveyed, and sometimes went, and sometimes ran
    With supple joints, as lively vigor led:
    But who I was, or where, or from what cause,
    Knew not; _to speak I tried, and forthwith spake;
    My tongue obeyed, and readily could name
    Whatever I saw_. 'Thou Sun,' said I, 'fair light,
    And thou enlightened Earth, so fresh and gay,
    Ye Hills and Dales, ye Rivers, Woods, and Plains;
    And ye that live and move, fair Creatures! tell,
    Tell, if ye saw, how came I thus, how here?
    Not of myself; by some great Maker then,
    In goodness and in power preëminent:
    Tell me how I may know him, how adore,
    From whom I have that thus I move and live,
    And feel that I am happier than I know.'"
                  _Paradise Lost_, Book viii, l. 267.

But, to the imagination of a poet, a freedom is allowed, which belongs not
to philosophy. We have not always the means of knowing how far he
_literally_ believes what he states.

8. My own opinion is, that language is partly natural and partly
artificial. And, as the following quotation from the Greek of Ammonius will
serve in some degree to illustrate it, I present the passage in English for
the consideration of those who may prefer ancient to modern speculations:
"In the same manner, therefore, as mere motion is from nature, but dancing
is something positive; and as wood exists in nature, but a door is
something positive; so is the mere utterance of vocal sound founded in
nature, but the signification of ideas by nouns or verbs is something
positive. And hence it is, that, as to the simple power of producing vocal
sound--which is as it were the organ or instrument of the soul's faculties
of knowledge or volition--as to this vocal power, I say, man seems to
possess it from nature, in like manner as irrational animals; but as to the
power of using significantly nouns or verbs, or sentences combining these,
(which are not natural but positive,) this he possesses by way of peculiar
eminence; because he alone of all mortal beings partakes of a soul which
can move itself, and operate to the production of arts. So that, even in
the utterance of sounds, the inventive power of the mind is discerned; as
the various elegant compositions, both in metre, and without metre,
abundantly prove."--_Ammon. de Interpr._, p. 51.[21]

9. Man was made for society; and from the first period of human existence
the race were social. Monkish seclusion is manifestly unnatural; and the
wild independence of the savage, is properly denominated a state of nature,
only in contradistinction to that state in which the arts are cultivated.
But to civilized life, or even to that which is in any degree social,
language is absolutely necessary. There is therefore no danger that the
language of any nation shall fall into disuse, till the people by whom it
is spoken, shall either adopt some other, or become themselves extinct.
When the latter event occurs, as is the case with the ancient Hebrew,
Greek, and Latin, the language, if preserved at all from oblivion, becomes
the more permanent; because the causes which are constantly tending to
improve or deteriorate every living language, have ceased to operate upon
those which are learned only from ancient books. The inflections which now
compose the declensions and conjugations of the dead languages, and which
indeed have ever constituted the peculiar characteristics of those forms of
speech, must remain forever as they are.

10. When a nation changes, its
language, as did our forefathers in Britain, producing by a gradual
amalgamation of materials drawn from various tongues a new one differing
from all, the first stages of its grammar will of course be chaotic and
rude. Uniformity springs from the steady application of rules; and polish
is the work of taste and refinement. We may easily err by following the
example of our early writers with more reverence than judgement; nor is it
possible for us to do justice to the grammarians, whether early or late,
without a knowledge both of the history and of the present state of the
science which they profess to teach. I therefore think it proper rapidly to
glance at many things remote indeed in time, yet nearer to my present
purpose, and abundantly more worthy of the student's consideration, than a
thousand matters which are taught for grammar by the authors of treatises
professedly elementary.

11. As we have already seen, some have supposed that the formation of the
first language must have been very slow and gradual. But of this they offer
no proof, and from the pen of inspiration we seem to have testimony against
it. Did Adam give names to all the creatures about him, and then allow
those names to be immediately forgotten? Did not both he and his family
continually use his original nouns in their social intercourse? and how
could they use them, without other parts of speech to form them into
sentences? Nay, do we not know from the Bible, that on several occasions
our prime ancestor expressed himself like an intelligent man, and used all
the parts of speech which are now considered _necessary_? What did he say,
when his fit partner, the fairest and loveliest work of God, was presented
to him? "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be
called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." And again: Had he not
other words than nouns, when he made answer concerning his transgression:
"I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked;
and I hid myself?" What is it, then, but a groundless assumption, to make
him and his immediate descendants ignorant savages, and to affirm, with Dr.
Blair, that "their speech must have been poor and narrow?" It is not
possible now to ascertain what degree of perfection the oral communication
of the first age exhibited. But, as languages are now known to improve in
proportion to the improvement of society in civilization and intelligence,
and as we cannot reasonably suppose the first inhabitants of the earth to
have been savages, it seems, I think, a plausible conjecture, that the
primeval tongue was at least sufficient for all the ordinary intercourse of
civilized men, living in the simple manner ascribed to our early ancestors
in Scripture; and that, in many instances, human speech subsequently
declined far below its original standard.

12. At any rate, let it be remembered that the first language spoken on
earth, whatever it was, originated in Eden before the fall; that this "one
language," which all men understood until the dispersion, is to be traced,
not to the cries of savage hunters, echoed through the wilds and glades
where Nimrod planted Babel, but to that eastern garden of God's own
planting, wherein grew "every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good
for food;" to that paradise into which the Lord God put the new-created
man, "to dress it and to keep it." It was here that Adam and his partner
learned to speak, while yet they stood blameless and blessed, entire and
wanting nothing; free in the exercise of perfect faculties of body and
mind, capable of acquiring knowledge through observation and experience,
and also favoured with immediate communications with their Maker. Yet Adam,
having nothing which he did not receive, could not originally bring any
real knowledge into the world with him, any more than men do now: this, in
whatever degree attained, must be, and must always have been, either an
acquisition of reason, or a revelation from God. And, according to the
understanding of some, even in the beginning, "That was not first which is
spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is
spiritual."--_1 Cor., xv, 46_. That is, the spirit of Christ, the second
Adam, was bestowed on the first Adam, after his creation, as the life and
the light of the immortal soul. For, "In _Him_ was life, and the life was
the light of men," a life which our first parents forfeited and lost on the
day of their transgression. "It was undoubtedly in the light of this pure
influence that Adam had such an intuitive discerning of the creation, as
enabled him to give names to all creatures according to their several
natures."--_Phipps, on Man_, p. 4. A lapse from all this favour, into
conscious guilt and misery; a knowledge of good withdrawn, and of evil made
too sure; followed the first transgression. Abandoned then in great measure
by superhuman aid, and left to contend with foes without and foes within,
mankind became what history and observation prove them to have been; and
henceforth, by painful experience, and careful research, and cautious
faith, and humble docility, must they gather the fruits of _knowledge_; by
a vain desire and false conceit of which, they had forfeited the tree of
life. So runs the story

   "Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
    Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
    Brought death into the world, and all our wo,
    With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
    Restore us, and regain the blissful seat."

13. The analogy of words in the different languages now known, has been
thought by many to be sufficiently frequent and clear to suggest the idea
of their common origin. Their differences are indeed great; but perhaps not
greater, than the differences in the several races of men, all of whom, as
revelation teaches, sprung from one common stock. From the same source we
learn, that, till the year of the world 1844, "The whole earth was of one
language, and of one speech."--_Gen._, xi, 1.[22] At that period, the whole
world of mankind consisted only of the descendants of the eight souls who
had been saved in the ark, and so many of the eight as had survived the
flood one hundred and eighty-eight years. Then occurred that remarkable
intervention of the Deity, in which he was pleased to confound their
language; so that they could not understand one an other's speech, and were
consequently scattered abroad upon the face of the earth. This, however, in
the opinion of many learned men, does not prove the immediate formation of
any new languages.

14. But, whether new languages were thus immediately formed or not, the
event, in all probability, laid the foundation for that diversity which
subsequently obtained among the languages of the different nations which
sprung from the dispersion; and hence it may be regarded as the remote
cause of the differences which now exist. But for the immediate origin of
the peculiar characteristical differences which distinguish the various
languages now known, we are not able with much certainty to account. Nor is
there even much plausibility in the speculations of those grammarians who
have attempted to explain the order and manner in which the declensions,
the moods, the tenses, or other leading features of the languages, were
first introduced. They came into use before they could be generally known,
and the partial introduction of them could seldom with propriety be made a
subject of instruction or record, even if there were letters and learning
at hand to do them this honour. And it is better to be content with
ignorance, than to form such conjectures as imply any thing that is absurd
or impossible. For instance: Neilson's Theory of the Moods, published in
the Classical Journal of 1819, though it exhibits ingenuity and learning,
is liable to this strong objection; that it proceeds on the supposition,
that the moods of English verbs, and of several other derivative tongues,
were invented in a certain order by persons, not speaking a language
learned chiefly from their fathers, but uttering a new one as necessity
prompted. But when or where, since the building of Babel, has this ever
happened? That no dates are given, or places mentioned, the reader regrets,
but he cannot marvel.

15. By what successive changes, our words in general, and especially the
minor parts of speech, have become what we now find them, and what is their
original and proper signification according to their derivation, the
etymologist may often show to our entire satisfaction. Every word must have
had its particular origin and history; and he who in such things can
explain with certainty what is not commonly known, may do some service to
science. But even here the utility of his curious inquiries may be
overrated; and whenever, for the sake of some favourite theory, he ventures
into the regions of conjecture, or allows himself to be seduced from the
path of practical instruction, his errors are obstinate, and his guidance
is peculiarly deceptive. Men fond of such speculations, and able to
support them with some show of learning, have done more to unsettle the
science of grammar, and to divert ingenious teachers from the best methods
of instruction, than all other visionaries put together. Etymological
inquiries are important, and I do not mean to censure or discourage them,
merely as such; but the folly of supposing that in our language words must
needs be of the same class, or part of speech, as that to which they may be
traced in an other, deserves to be rebuked. The words _the_ and _an_ may be
articles in English, though obviously traceable to something else in Saxon;
and a learned man may, in my opinion, be better employed, than in
contending that _if, though_, and _although_, are not conjunctions, but
verbs!

16. Language is either oral or written; the question of its origin has
consequently two parts. Having suggested what seemed necessary respecting
the origin of _speech_, I now proceed to that of _writing_. Sheridan says,
"We have in use _two kinds of language_, the spoken and the written: the
one, the gift of God; the other, the invention of man."--_Elocution_, p.
xiv. If this ascription of the two things to their sources, were as just as
it is clear and emphatical, both parts of our question would seem to be
resolved. But this great rhetorician either forgot his own doctrine, or did
not mean what he here says. For he afterwards makes the former kind of
language as much a work of art, as any one will suppose the latter to have
been. In his sixth lecture, he comments on the gift of speech thus: "But
still we are to observe, that nature did no more than furnish the power and
means; _she did not give the language_, as in the case of the passions, but
left it to the industry of men, to find out and agree upon such articulate
sounds, as they should choose to make the symbols of their ideas."--_Ib._,
p. 147. He even goes farther, and supposes certain _tones of the voice_ to
be things invented by man: "Accordingly, as she did not furnish the
_words_, which were to be the symbols of his ideas; neither did she furnish
the _tones_, which were to manifest, and communicate by their own virtue,
the internal exertions and emotions, of such of his nobler faculties, as
chiefly distinguish him from the brute species; but left them also, like
words, to the care and invention of man."--_Ibidem_. On this branch of the
subject, enough has already been presented.

17. By most authors, alphabetic writing is not only considered an
artificial invention, but supposed to have been wholly unknown in the early
ages of the world. Its antiquity, however, is great. Of this art, in which
the science of grammar originated, we are not able to trace the
commencement. Different nations have claimed the honour of the invention;
and it is not decided, among the learned, to whom, or to what country, it
belongs. It probably originated in Egypt. For, "The Egyptians," it is said,
"paid divine honours to the Inventor of Letters, whom they called _Theuth_:
and Socrates, when he speaks of him, considers him as a god, or a god-like
man."--_British Gram._, p. 32. Charles Bucke has it, "That the first
inventor of letters is supposed to have been _Memnon_; who was, in
consequence, fabled to be the son of Aurora, goddess of the
morning."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 5. The ancients in general seem to
have thought Phoenicia the birthplace of Letters:

   "Phoenicians first, if ancient fame be true,
    The sacred mystery of letters knew;
    They first, by sound, in various lines design'd,
    Express'd the meaning of the thinking mind;
    The power of words by figures rude conveyed,
    And useful science everlasting made."
                            _Rowe's Lucan_, B. iii, l. 334.

18. Some, however, seem willing to think writing coeval with speech. Thus
Bicknell, from Martin's Physico-Grammatical Essay: "We are told by Moses,
that Adam _gave names to every living creature_;[23] but how those names
were written, or what sort of characters he made use of, is not known to
us; nor indeed whether Adam ever made use of a written language at all;
since we find no mention made of any in the sacred history."--_Bicknell's
Gram._, Part ii, p. 5. A certain late writer on English grammar, with
admirable flippancy, cuts this matter short, as follows,--satisfying
himself with pronouncing all speech to be natural, and all writing
artificial: "Of how many primary kinds is language? It is of two kinds;
natural or spoken, and artificial or written."--_Oliver B. Peirce's Gram._,
p. 15. "Natural language is, to a limited extent, (the representation of
the passions,) common to brutes as well as man; but artificial language,
being the work of invention, is peculiar to man."--_Ib._, p. 16.[24]

19. The writings delivered to the Israelites by Moses, are more ancient
than any others now known. In the thirty-first chapter of Exodus, it is
said, that God "gave unto Moses, upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony,
tables of stone, _written with the finger of God_." And again, in the
thirty-second: "The tables were the work of God, and the writing was _the
writing of God_, graven upon the tables." But these divine testimonies,
thus miraculously written, do not appear to have been the first writing;
for Moses had been previously commanded to write an account of the victory
over Amalek, "for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of
Joshua."--_Exod._, xvii, 14. This first battle of the Israelites occurred
in Rephidim, a place on the east side of the western gulf of the Red Sea,
at or near Horeb, but before they came to Sinai, upon the top of which, (on
the fiftieth day after their departure from Egypt,) Moses received the ten
commandments of the law.

20. Some authors, however, among whom is Dr. Adam Clarke, suppose that in
this instance the order of the events is not to be inferred from the order
of the record, or that there is room to doubt whether the use of letters
was here intended; and that there consequently remains a strong
probability, that the sacred Decalogue, which God himself delivered to
Moses on Sinai, A. M. 2513, B. C. 1491, was "the first writing _in
alphabetical characters_ ever exhibited to the world." See _Clarke's
Succession of Sacred Literature_, Vol. i, p. 24. Dr. Scott, in his General
Preface to the Bible, seems likewise to favour the same opinion. "Indeed,"
says he, "there is some probability in the opinion, that the art of writing
was first communicated by revelation, to Moses, in order to perpetuate,
with certainty, those facts, truths, and laws, which he was employed to
deliver to Israel. Learned men find no traces of _literary_, or
alphabetical, writing, in the history of the nations, till long after the
days of Moses; unless the book of Job may be regarded as an exception. The
art of expressing almost an infinite variety of sounds, by the interchanges
of a few letters, or marks, seems more like a discovery to man from heaven,
than a human invention; and its beneficial effects, and almost absolute
necessity, for the preservation and communication of true religion, favour
the conjecture."--_Scott's Preface_, p. xiv.

21. The time at which Cadmus, the Phoenician, introduced this art into
Greece, cannot be precisely ascertained. There is no reason to believe it
was antecedent to the time of Moses; some chronologists make it between two
and three centuries later. Nor is it very probable, that Cadmus invented
the sixteen letters of which he is said to have made use. His whole story
is so wild a fable, that nothing certain can be inferred from it. Searching
in vain for his stolen sister--his sister Europa, carried off by
Jupiter--he found a wife in the daughter of Venus! Sowing the teeth of a
dragon, which had devoured his companions, he saw them spring up to his aid
a squadron of armed soldiers! In short, after a series of wonderful
achievements and bitter misfortunes, loaded with grief and infirm with age,
he prayed the gods to release him from the burden of such a life; and, in
pity from above, both he and his beloved Hermíonè were changed into
serpents! History, however, has made him generous amends, by ascribing to
him the invention of letters, and accounting him the worthy benefactor to
whom the world owes all the benefits derived from literature. I would not
willingly rob him of this honour. But I must confess, there is no feature
of the story, which I can conceive to give any countenance to his claim;
except that as the great progenitor of the race of authors, his sufferings
correspond well with the calamities of which that unfortunate generation
have always so largely partaken.

22. The benefits of this invention, if it may be considered an invention,
are certainly very great. In oral discourse the graces of elegance are more
lively and attractive, but well-written books are the grand instructors of
mankind, the most enduring monuments of human greatness, and the proudest
achievements of human intellect. "The chief glory of a nation," says Dr.
Johnson, "arises from its authors." Literature is important, because it is
subservient to all objects, even those of the very highest concern.
Religion and morality, liberty and government, fame and happiness, are
alike interested in the cause of letters. It was a saying of Pope Pius the
Second, that, "Common men should esteem learning as silver, noblemen value
it as gold, and princes prize it as jewels." The uses of learning are seen
in every thing that is not itself useless.[25] It cannot be overrated, but
where it is perverted; and whenever that occurs, the remedy is to be sought
by opposing learning to learning, till the truth is manifest, and that
which is reprehensible, is made to appear so.

23. I have said, learning cannot be overrated, but where it is perverted.
But men may differ in their notions of what learning is; and, consequently,
of what is, or is not, a perversion of it. And so far as this point may
have reference to theology, and the things of God, it would seem that the
Spirit of God alone can fully show us its bearings. If the illumination of
the Spirit is necessary to an understanding and a reception of scriptural
truth, is it not by an inference more erudite than reasonable, that some
great men have presumed to limit to a verbal medium the communications of
Him who is everywhere His own witness, and who still gives to His own holy
oracles all their peculiar significance and authority? Some seem to think
the Almighty has never given to men any notion of Himself, except by words.
"Many ideas," says the celebrated Edmund Burke, "have never been at all
presented to the senses of any men _but by words_, as God,[26] angels,
devils, heaven, and hell, all of which have however a great influence over
the passions."--_On the Sublime and [the] Beautiful_, p. 97. That God can
never reveal facts or truths except by words, is a position with which I am
by no means satisfied. Of the great truths of Christianity, Dr. Wayland, in
his Elements of Moral Science, repeatedly avers, "All these being _facts_,
can never be known, except _by language_, that is, by revelation."--_First
Edition_, p. 132. Again: "All of them being of the _nature of facts_, they
could be made known to man _in no other way than by language_."--_Ib._, p.
136. But it should be remembered, that these same facts were otherwise made
known to the prophets; (1 Pet., i, 11;) and that which has been done, is
not impossible, whether there is reason to expect it again or not. So of
the Bible, Calvin says, "No man can have the least knowledge of true and
sound doctrine, without having been a disciple of the Scripture."--
_Institutes_, B. i, Ch. 6. Had Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham, then,
no such knowledge? And if such they had, what Scripture taught them? We
ought to value the Scriptures too highly to say of them any thing that is
_unscriptural_. I am, however, very far from supposing there is any _other
doctrine_ which can be safely substituted for the truths revealed of old,
the truths contained in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments:

   "Left only in those written records pure,
    Though not but by the Spirit understood." [27]--_Milton_.



CHAPTER V.

OF THE POWER OF LANGUAGE.

"Quis huic studio literarum, quod profitentur ii, qui grammatici vocantur,
penitus se dedidit, quin omnem illarum artium pæne infinitam _vim_ et
_materiam_ scientiæ cogitatione comprehenderit?"--CICERO. _De Oratore_,
Lib. i, 3.

1. The peculiar _power_ of language is another point worthy of particular
consideration. The power of an instrument is virtually the power of him who
wields it; and, as language is used in common, by the wise and the foolish,
the mighty and the impotent, the candid and the crafty, the righteous and
the wicked, it may perhaps seem to the reader a difficult matter, to speak
intelligibly of its _peculiar power_. I mean, by this phrase, its fitness
or efficiency to or for the accomplishment of the purposes for which it is
used. As it is the nature of an agent, to be the doer of something, so it
is the nature of an instrument, to be that with which something is
effected. To make signs, is to do something, and, like all other actions,
necessarily implies an agent; so all signs, being things by means of which
other things are represented, are obviously the instruments of such
representation. Words, then, which represent thoughts, are things in
themselves; but, as signs, they are relative to other things, as being the
instruments of their communication or preservation. They are relative also
to him who utters them, as well as to those who may happen to be instructed
or deceived by them. "Was it Mirabeau, Mr. President, or what other master
of the human passions, who has told us that words are things? They are
indeed things, and things of mighty influence, not only in addresses to
the passions and high-wrought feelings of mankind, but in the discussion of
legal and political questions also; because a just conclusion is often
avoided, or a false one reached, by the adroit substitution of one phrase
or one word for an other."--_Daniel Webster, in Congress_, 1833.

2. To speak, is a moral action, the quality of which depends upon the
motive, and for which we are strictly accountable. "But I say unto you,
that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof
in the day of judgement; for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by
thy words thou shalt be condemned."--_Matt._, xii, 36, 37. To listen, or to
refuse to listen, is a moral action also; and there is meaning in the
injunction, "Take heed what ye hear."--_Mark_, iv, 24. But why is it, that
so much of what is spoken or written, is spoken or written in vain? Is
language impotent? It is sometimes employed for purposes with respect to
which it is utterly so; and often they that use it, know not how
insignificant, absurd, or ill-meaning a thing they make of it. What is
said, with whatever inherent force or dignity, has neither power nor value
to him who does not understand it;[28] and, as Professor Duncan observes,
"No word can be to any man the sign of an idea, till that idea comes to
have a real existence in his mind."--_Logic_, p. 62. In instruction,
therefore, speech ought not to be regarded as the foundation or the essence
of knowledge, but as the sign of it; for knowledge has its origin in the
power of sensation, or reflection, or consciousness, and not in that of
recording or communicating thought. Dr. Spurzheim was not the first to
suggest, "It is time to abandon the immense error of supposing that words
and precepts are sufficient to call internal feelings and intellectual
faculties into active exercise."--_Spurzheim's Treatise on Education_, p.
94.

3. But to this it may be replied, When God wills, the signs of knowledge
are knowledge; and words, when he gives the ability to understand them,
may, in some sense, become--"spirit and life." See _John_, vi, 63. Where
competent intellectual faculties exist, the intelligible signs of thought
do move the mind to think; and to think sometimes with deep feelings too,
whether of assent or dissent, of admiration or contempt. So wonderful a
thing is a rational soul, that it is hard to say to what ends the language
in which it speaks, may, or may not, be sufficient. Let experience
determine. We are often unable to excite in others the sentiments which we
would: words succeed or fail, as they are received or resisted. But let a
scornful expression be addressed to a passionate man, will not the words
"call internal feelings" into action? And how do feelings differ from
thoughts?[29] Hear Dr. James Rush: "The human mind is the place of
representation of all the existences of nature which are brought within the
scope of the senses. The representatives are called ideas. These ideas are
the simple passive pictures of things, or [else] they exist with an
activity, capable of so affecting the physical organs as to induce us to
seek the continuance of that which produces them, or to avoid it. This
active or vivid class of ideas comprehends the passions. The functions of
the mind here described, exist then in different forms and degrees, from
the simple idea, to the highest energy of passion: and the terms, thought,
sentiment, emotion, feeling, and passion, are but the verbal signs of these
degrees and forms. Nor does there appear to be any line of classification,
for separating thought from passion: since simple thoughts, without
changing their nature, do, from interest or incitement, often assume the
colour of passion."--_Philosophy of the Human Voice_, p. 328.

4. Lord Kames, in the Appendix to his Elements of Criticism, divides _the
senses_ into external and internal, defining _perception_ to be the act by
which through the former we know outward objects, and _consciousness_ the
act by which through the latter we know what is within the mind. An _idea_,
according to his definition, (which he says is precise and accurate,) is,
"That _perception_ of a real object which _is raised_ in the mind by the
power of _memory_." But among the real objects from which memory may raise
ideas, he includes the workings of the mind itself, or whatever we remember
of our former passions, emotions, thoughts, or designs. Such a definition,
he imagines, might have saved Locke, Berkley, and their followers, from
much vain speculation; for with the ideal systems of these philosophers, or
with those of Aristotle and Des Cartes, he by no means coincides. This
author says, "As ideas are the chief materials employed in reasoning and
reflecting, it is of consequence that their nature and differences be
understood. It appears now that ideas may be distinguished into three
kinds: first, Ideas derived from original perceptions, properly termed
_ideas of memory_; second, Ideas communicated _by language_ or other signs;
and third, Ideas _of imagination_. These ideas differ from each other in
many respects; but chiefly in respect to their _proceeding from different
causes_. The first kind is derived from real existences that have been
objects of our senses; _language is the cause of the second_, or any other
sign that has the same power with language; and a man's imagination is to
himself the cause of the third. It is scarce [ly] necessary to add, that an
idea, originally of imagination, being conveyed to others by language or
any other vehicle, becomes in their mind an idea of the second kind; and
again, that an idea of this kind, being afterwards recalled to the mind,
becomes in that circumstance an idea of memory."--_El. of Crit._, Vol. ii,
p. 384.

5. Whether, or how far, language is to the mind itself _the instrument of
thought_, is a question of great importance in the philosophy of both. Our
literature contains occasional assertions bearing upon this point, but I
know of no full or able discussion of it.[30] Cardell's instructions
proceed upon the supposition, that neither the reason of men, nor even that
of superior intelligences, can ever operate independently of words.
"Speech," says he, "is to the mind what action is to animal bodies. Its
improvement is the improvement of our intellectual nature, and a duty to
God who gave it."--_Essay on Language_, p. 3. Again: "An attentive
investigation will show, that there is no way in which the individual mind
can, within itself, to any extent, _combine its ideas_, but by the
intervention of words. Every process of the reasoning powers, beyond the
immediate perception of sensible objects, depends on the structure of
speech; and, in a great degree, according to the excellence of this _chief
instrument of all mental operations_, will be the means of personal
improvement, of the social transmission of thought, and the elevation of
national character. From this, it may be laid down as a broad principle,
that no individual can make great advances in intellectual improvement,
beyond the bounds of a ready-formed language, as the necessary means of his
progress."--_Ib._, p. 9. These positions might easily be offset by contrary
speculations of minds of equal rank; but I submit them to the reader, with
the single suggestion, that the author is not remarkable for that sobriety
of judgement which gives weight to opinions.

6. We have seen, among the citations in a former chapter, that Sanctius
says, "Names are the signs, and as it were _the instruments, of things_."
But what he meant by "_instrumenta rerum_" is not very apparent. Dr. Adam
says, "The principles of grammar may be traced from the progress of the
mind in the acquisition of language. Children first express their feelings
by motions and gestures of the body, by cries and tears. _This is_[31] the
language of nature, and therefore universal. _It fitly represents_[32] the
quickness of sentiment and thought, which are as instantaneous as the
impression of light on the eye. Hence we always express our stronger
feelings by these natural signs. But when we want to make known to others
the particular conceptions of the mind, we must represent them by parts, we
must divide and analyze them. We express _each part by certain signs_,[33]
and join these together, according to the order of their relations. Thus
words are _both the instrument and signs[34] the division_ of
thought."--_Preface to Latin Gram._

7. The utterance of words, or the making of signs of any sort, requires
time;[35] but it is here suggested by Dr. Adam, that sentiment and thought,
though susceptible of being retained or recalled, naturally flash upon the
mind with immeasurable quickness.[36] If so, they must originate in
something more spiritual than language. The Doctor does not affirm that
words are the instruments of thought, but of _the division_ of thought. But
it is manifest, that if they effect this, they are not the only instruments
by means of which the same thing may be done. The deaf and dumb, though
uninstructed and utterly ignorant of language, can think; and can, by rude
signs of their own inventing, manifest a similar division, corresponding to
the individuality of things. And what else can be meant by "_the division
of thought_," than our notion of objects, as existing severally, or as
being distinguishable into parts? There can, I think, be no such division
respecting that which is perfectly pure and indivisible in its essence;
and, I would ask, is not simple continuity apt to exclude it from our
conception of every thing which appears with uniform coherence? Dr. Beattie
says, "It appears to me, that, as all things are individuals, all thoughts
must be so too."--_Moral Science_, Chap, i, Sec. 1. If, then, our thoughts
are thus divided, and consequently, as this author infers, have not in
themselves any of that generality which belongs to the signification of
common nouns, there is little need of any instrument to divide them
further: the mind rather needs help, as Cardell suggests, "to combine its
ideas." [37]

8. So far as language is a work of art, and not a thing conferred or
imposed upon us by nature, there surely can be in it neither division nor
union that was not first in the intellect for the manifestation of which it
was formed. First, with respect to generalization. "The human mind," says
Harris, "by an energy as spontaneous and familiar to its nature, as the
seeing of colour is familiar to the eye, discerns at once what in many is
one, what in things dissimilar and different is similar and the
same."--_Hermes_, p. 362. Secondly, with respect to division. Mechanical
separations are limited: "But the mind surmounts all power of concretion;
and can place in the simplest manner every attribute by itself; convex
without concave; colour without superficies; superficies without body; and
body without its accidents: as distinctly each one, as though they had
never been united. And thus it is, that it penetrates into the recesses of
all things, not only dividing them as wholes, into their more conspicuous
parts, but persisting till it even separate those elementary principles
which, being blended together after a more mysterious manner, are united in
the minutest part as much as in the mightiest whole."--_Harris's Hermes_,
p. 307.

9. It is remarkable that this philosopher, who had so sublime conceptions
of the powers of the human mind, and who has displayed such extraordinary
acuteness in his investigations, has represented the formation of words, or
the utterance of language, as equalling in speed the progress of our very
thoughts; while, as we have seen, an other author, of great name, avers,
that thought is "as instantaneous as the impression of light on the eye."
Philosophy here too evidently nods. In showing the advantage of words, as
compared with pictures, Harris says, "If we consider the ease and speed
with which words are formed,-an ease which knows no trouble or fatigue, and
a _speed which equals the progress of our very thoughts_,[38]--we may
plainly perceive an answer to the question here proposed, Why, in the
common intercourse of men with men, imitations have been rejected, and
symbols preferred."--_Hermes_, p. 336. Let us hear a third man, of equal
note: "Words have been called _winged_; and they well deserve that name,
when their abbreviations are compared with the progress which speech could
make without these inventions; but, compared with the rapidity of thought,
they have not _the smallest claim to that title_. Philosophers have
calculated the difference of velocity between sound and light; but who will
attempt to calculate the difference between speech and thought!"--_Horne
Tooke's Epea Pteroenta_, Vol. i, p. 23.

10. It is certain, that, in the admirable economy of the creation, natures
subordinate are made, in a wonderful manner, subservient to the operations
of the higher; and that, accordingly, our first ideas are such as are
conceived of things external and sensible. Hence all men whose intellect
appeals only to external sense, are prone to a philosophy which reverses
the order of things pertaining to the mind, and tends to materialism, if
not to atheism. "But"--to refer again to Harris--"the intellectual scheme
which never forgets Deity, postpones every thing corporeal to the primary
mental Cause. It is here it looks for the origin of intelligible ideas,
even of those which exist in human capacities. For though sensible objects
may be the destined medium to awaken the dormant energies of man's
understanding, yet are those energies themselves no more contained, in
sense, than the explosion of a cannon, in the spark which gave it fire. In
short, all minds that are, are similar and congenial; and so too are their
ideas, or intelligible forms. Were it otherwise, there could be no
intercourse between man and man, or (what is more important) between man
and God."--_Hermes_, p. 393.

11. A doctrine somewhat like this, is found in the Meditations of the
emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, though apparently repugnant to the
polytheism commonly admitted by the Stoics, to whom he belonged: "The
world, take it all together, is but one; there is but one sort of matter to
make it of, one God to govern it, and one law to guide it. For, run through
the whole system of rational beings, and you will find reason and truth but
single and the same. And thus beings of the same kind, and endued with the
same reason, are made happy by the same exercises of it."--Book vii, Sec.
9. Again: "Let your soul receive the Deity as your blood does the air; for
the influences of the one are no less vital, than those of the other. This
correspondence is very practicable: for there is an ambient omnipresent
Spirit, which lies as open and pervious to your mind, as the air you
breathe does to your lungs: but then you must remember to be disposed to
draw it."--Book viii, Sec. 54; _Collier's Translation_.

12. Agreeably to these views, except that he makes a distinction between a
natural and a supernatural idea of God, we find Barclay, the early defender
of the Quakers, in an argument with a certain Dutch nobleman,
philosophizing thus: "If the Scripture then be true, there is in men a
supernatural idea of God, which altogether differs from this natural
idea--I say, in all men; because all men are capable of salvation, and
consequently of enjoying this divine vision. Now this capacity consisteth
herein, that they have such a supernatural idea in themselves.[39] For if
there were no such idea in them, it were impossible they should so know
God; for whatsoever is clearly and distinctly known, is known by its proper
idea; neither can it otherwise be clearly and distinctly known. _For the
ideas of all things are divinely planted in our souls_; for, as the better
philosophy teacheth, they are not begotten in us by outward objects or
outward causes, but only are by these outward things excited or stirred up.
And this is true, not only in supernatural ideas of God and things divine,
and in natural ideas of the natural principles of human understanding, and
conclusions thence deduced by the strength of human reason; but even in the
ideas of outward objects, which are perceived by the outward senses: as
that noble Christian philosopher Boëthius hath well observed; to which also
the Cartesian philosophy agreeth." I quote only to show the concurrence of
others, with Harris's position. Barclay carries on his argument with much
more of a similar import. See _Sewell's History_, folio, p. 620.

13. But the doctrine of ideas existing primarily in God, and being divinely
planted in our souls, did not originate with Boëthius: it may be traced
back a thousand years from his time, through the philosophy of Proclus,
Zeno, Aristotle,[40] Plato, Socrates, Parmenides, and Pythagoras. It is
absurd to suppose any production or effect to be more excellent than its
cause. That which really produces motion, cannot itself be inert; and that
which actually causes the human mind to think and reason, cannot itself be
devoid of intelligence. "For knowledge can alone produce knowledge." [41] A
doctrine apparently at variance with this, has recently been taught, with
great confidence, among the professed discoveries of _Phrenology_. How much
truth there may be in this new "_science_," as it is called, I am not
prepared to say; but, as sometimes held forth, it seems to me not only to
clash with some of the most important principles of mental philosophy, but
to make the power of thought the result of that which is in itself inert
and unthinking. Assuming that the primitive faculties of the human
understanding have not been known in earlier times, it professes to have
discovered, in the physical organization of the brain, their proper source,
or essential condition, and the true index to their measure, number, and
distribution. In short, the leading phrenologists, by acknowledging no
spiritual substance, virtually deny that ancient doctrine, "It is not in
flesh to think, or bones to reason," [42] and make the mind either a
material substance, or a mere mode without substantial being.

14. "The
doctrine of _immaterial substances_," says Dr. Spurzheim, "is not
sufficiently amenable to the test of observation; it is founded on belief,
and only supported by hypothesis."--_Phrenology_, Vol. i, p. 20. But it
should be remembered, that our notion of material substance, is just as
much a matter of hypothesis. All accidents, whether they be qualities or
actions, we necessarily suppose to have some support; and this we call
_substance_, deriving the term from the Latin, or _hypostasis_, if we
choose to borrow from the Greek. But what this substance, or hypostasis,
is, independently of its qualities or actions, we know not. This is clearly
proved by Locke. What do we mean by _matter_? and what by _mind_? _Matter_
is that which is solid, extended, divisible, movable, and occupies space.
_Mind_ is that which thinks, and wills, and reasons, and remembers, and
worships. Here are qualities in the one case; operations in the other. Here
are two definitions as totally distinct as any two can be; and he that sees
not in them a difference of _substance_, sees it nowhere: to him all
natures are one; and that one, an absurd supposition.

15. In favour of what is urged by the phrenologists, it may perhaps be
admitted, as a natural law, that, "If a picture of a visible object be
formed upon the retina, and the impression be communicated, by the nerves,
to the brain, the _result_ will be an act of perception."--_Wayland's Moral
Science_, p. 4. But it does not follow, nor did the writer of this sentence
believe, that perception is a mere act or attribute of the organized matter
of the brain. A material object can only occasion in our sensible organs a
corporeal motion, which has not in it the nature of thought or perception;
and upon what principle of causation, shall a man believe, in respect to
vision, that the thing which he sees, is more properly the cause of the
idea conceived of it, than is the light by which he beholds it, or the mind
in which that idea is formed? Lord Kames avers, that, "Colour, which
appears to the eye as spread upon a substance, has no existence but in the
mind of the spectator."--_Elements of Criticism_, i, 178. And Cicero placed
the perception, not only of colour, but of taste, of sound, of smell, and
of touch, in the mind, rather than in the senses. "Illud est album, hoc
dulce, canorum illud, hoc bene olens, hoc asperum: animo jam hæc tenemus
comprehensa, non sensibus."--_Ciceronis Acad._ Lib. ii, 7. Dr. Beattie,
however, says: "Colours inhere not in the coloured body, but in the light
that falls upon it; * * * and the word _colour_ denotes, an external thing,
and never a sensation of the mind."--_Moral Science_, i, 54. Here is some
difference of opinion; but however the thing may be, it does not affect my
argument; which is, that to perceive or think is an act or attribute of our
immaterial substance or nature, and not to be supposed the effect either of
the objects perceived or of our own corporeal organization.

16. Divine wisdom has established the senses as the avenues through which
our minds shall receive notices of the forms and qualities of external
things; but the sublime conception of the ancients, that these forms and
qualities had an abstract preëxistence in the divine mind, is a common
doctrine of many English authors, as Milton, Cowper, Akenside, and others.
For example: "Now if _Ens primum_ be the cause of _entia a primo_, then he
hath the idea of them in him: for he made them by counsel, and not by
necessity; for then he should have needed them, and they have a parhelion
of that wisdom that is in his Idea."--_Richardson's Logic_, p. 16: Lond.
1657.

   "Then the Great Spirit, whom his works adore,
    Within his own deep essence view'd the forms,
    The forms eternal of created things."--AKENSIDE.
                    _Pleasures of the Imagination_, Book i.

    "And in the school of sacred wisdom taught,
    To read his wonders, in whose thought the world,
    Fair as it is, existed ere it was."--COWPER.
                    _Task: Winter Morning Walk_, p. 150.

    "Thence to behold this new-created world,
    The addition of his empire, how it show'd
    In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair,
    Answering his great idea."--MILTON.
                    _Paradise Lost_, Book vii, line 554.

    "Thought shines from God as shines the morn;
    Language from kindling thought is born."
                    ANON.: _a Poem in imitation of Coleridge_.

17. "Original Truth," [43] says Harris, "having the most intimate
connection with the _Supreme Intelligence_, may be said (as it were) to
shine with unchangeable splendor, enlightening throughout the universe
every possible subject, by nature susceptible of its benign influence.
Passions and other obstacles may prevent indeed its efficacy, as clouds and
vapours may obscure the sun; but itself neither admits diminution, nor
change, because the darkness respects only particular percipients. Among
_these_ therefore we must look for ignorance and error, and for that
_subordination of intelligence_ which is their natural consequence. Partial
views, the imperfections of sense; inattention, idleness, the turbulence of
passions; education, local sentiments, opinions, and belief; conspire in
many instances to furnish us with ideas, some too partial, and (what is
worse than all this) with many that are erroneous, and contrary to truth.
These it behoves us to correct as far as possible, by cool suspense and
candid examination. Thus by a connection perhaps little expected, the cause
of _Letters_, and that of _Virtue_, appear to coincide; it being the
business of both, to examine our ideas, and to amend them by the standard
of nature and of truth."--See _Hermes_, p. 406.

18. Although it seems plain from our own consciousness, that the mind is an
active self-moving principle or essence, yet capable of being moved, after
its own manner, by other causes outward as well as inward; and although it
must be obvious to reflection, that all its ideas, perceptions, and
emotions, are, with respect to itself, of a spiritual nature--bearing such
a relation to the spiritual substance in which alone they appear, as bodily
motion is seen to bear to material substances; yet we know, from experience
and observation, that they who are acquainted with words, are apt to think
in words--that is, mentally to associate their internal conceptions with
the verbal signs which they have learned to use. And though I do not
conceive the position to be generally true, that words are to the mind
itself the necessary instruments of thought, yet, in my apprehension, it
cannot well be denied, that in some of its operations and intellectual
reaches, the mind is greatly assisted by its own contrivances with respect
to language. I refer not now to the communication of knowledge; for, of
this, language is admitted to be properly the instrument. But there seem to
be some processes of thought, or calculation, in which the mind, by a
wonderful artifice in the combination of terms, contrives to prevent
embarrassment, and help itself forward in its conceptions, when the objects
before it are in themselves perhaps infinite in number or variety.

19. We have an instance of this in numeration. No idea is more obvious or
simple than that of unity, or one. By the continual addition of this, first
to itself to make two, and then to each higher combination successively, we
form a series of different numbers, which may go on to infinity. In the
consideration of these, the mind would not be able to go tar without the
help of words, and those peculiarly fitted to the purpose. The
understanding would lose itself in the multiplicity, were it not aided by
that curious concatenation of names, which has been contrived for the
several parts of the succession. As far as _twelve_ we make use of simple
unrelated terms. Thenceforward we apply derivatives and compounds, formed
from these in their regular order, till we arrive at a _hundred_. This one
new word, _hundred_, introduced to prevent confusion, has nine hundred and
ninety-nine distinct repetitions in connexion with the preceding terms, and
thus brings us to a _thousand_. Here the computation begins anew, runs
through all the former combinations, and then extends forward, till the
word _thousand_ has been used nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand times;
and then, for ten hundred thousand, we introduce the new word _million_.
With this name we begin again as before, and proceed till we have used it a
million of times, each combination denoting a number clearly distinguished
from every other; and then, in like manner, we begin and proceed, with
_billions, trillions, quadrillions, quintillions, etc._, to any extent we
please.

20. Now can any one suppose that words are not here, in some true sense,
the instruments of thought, or of the intellectual process thus carried on?
Were all these different numbers to be distinguished directly by the mind
itself, and denominated by terms destitute of this artificial connexion, it
may well be doubted whether the greatest genius in the world would ever be
able to do what any child may now effect by this orderly arrangement of
words; that is, to distinguish exactly the several stages of this long
progression, and see at a glance how far it is from the beginning of the
series. "The great art of knowledge," says Duncan, "lies in managing with
skill the capacity of the intellect, and contriving such helps, as, if they
strengthen not its natural powers, may yet expose them to no unnecessary
fatigue. When ideas become very complex, and by the multiplicity of their
parts grow too unwieldy to be dealt with in the lump, we must ease the view
of the mind by taking them to pieces, and setting before it the several
portions separately, one after an other. By this leisurely survey we are
enabled to take in the whole; and if we can draw it into such an orderly
combination as will naturally lead the attention, step by step, in any
succeeding consideration of the same idea, we shall have it ever at
command, and with a single glance of thought be able to run over all its
parts."--_Duncan's Logic_, p. 37, Hence we may infer the great importance
of method in grammar; the particulars of which, as Quintilian says, are
infinite.[44]

21. Words are in themselves but audible or visible signs, mere arbitrary
symbols, used, according to common practice and consent, as significant of
our ideas or thoughts.[45] But so well are they fitted to be made at will
the medium of mental conference, that nothing else can be conceived to
equal them for this purpose. Yet it does not follow that they who have the
greatest knowledge and command of words, have all they could desire in this
respect. For language is in its own nature but an imperfect instrument, and
even when tuned with the greatest skill, will often be found inadequate to
convey the impression with which the mind may labour. Cicero, that great
master of eloquence, frequently confessed, or declared, that words failed
him. This, however, may be thought to have been uttered as a mere figure of
speech; and some may say, that the imperfection I speak of, is but an
incident of the common weakness or ignorance of human nature; and that if a
man always knew what to say to an other in order to persuade or confute, to
encourage or terrify him, he would always succeed, and no insufficiency of
this kind would ever be felt or imagined. This also is plausible; but is
the imperfection less, for being sometimes traceable to an ulterior source?
Or is it certain that human languages used by perfect wisdom, would all be
perfectly competent to their common purpose? And if some would be found
less so than others, may there not be an insufficiency in the very nature
of them all?

22. If there is imperfection in any instrument, there is so much the more
need of care and skill in the use of it. Duncan, in concluding his chapter
about words as signs of our ideas, says, "It is apparent, that we are
sufficiently provided with the means' of communicating our thoughts one to
another; and that the mistakes so frequently complained of on this head,
are wholly owing to ourselves, in not sufficiently defining the terms we
use; or perhaps not connecting them with clear and determinate
ideas."--_Logic_, p. 69. On the other hand, we find that some of the best
and wisest of men confess the inadequacy of language, while they also
deplore its misuse. But, whatever may be its inherent defects, or its
culpable abuses, it is still to be honoured as almost the only medium for
the communication of thought and the diffusion of knowledge. Bishop Butler
remarks, in his Analogy of Religion, (a most valuable work, though
defective in style,) "So likewise the imperfections attending the only
method by which nature enables and directs us to communicate our thoughts
to each other, are innumerable. Language is, in its very nature,
inadequate, ambiguous, liable to infinite abuse, even from negligence; and
so liable to it from design, that every man can deceive and betray by
it."--Part ii, Chap. 3. Lord Kames, too, seconds this complaint, at least
in part: "Lamentable is the imperfection of language, almost in every
particular that falls not under external sense. I am talking of a matter
exceedingly clear in the perception, and yet I find no small difficulty to
express it clearly in words."--_Elements of Criticism_, Vol. i, p. 86. "All
writers," says Sheridan, "seem to be under the influence of one common
delusion, that by the help of words alone, they can communicate all that
passes in their minds."--_Lectures on Elocution_, p. xi.

23. Addison also, in apologizing for Milton's frequent use of old words and
foreign idioms, says, "I may further add, that Milton's sentiments and
ideas were so wonderfully sublime, that it would have been impossible for
him to have represented them in their full strength and beauty, without
having recourse to these foreign assistances. _Our language sunk under
him_, and was unequal to that greatness of soul which furnished him with
such glorious conceptions."--_Spectator_, No. 297. This, however, Dr.
Johnson seems to regard as a mere compliment to genius; for of Milton he
says, "The truth is, that both in prose and verse, he had formed his style
by a perverse and pedantick principle." But the grandeur of his thoughts is
not denied by the critic; nor is his language censured without
qualification. "Whatever be the faults of his diction, he cannot want the
praise of copiousness and variety: he was master of his language in its
full extent; and has selected the melodious words with such diligence, that
from his book alone the Art of English Poetry might be learned."--
_Johnson's Life of Milton_: _Lives_, p. 92. 24. As words abstractly
considered are empty and vain, being in their nature mere signs, or tokens,
which derive all their value from the ideas and feelings which they
suggest; it is evident that he who would either speak or write well, must
be furnished with something more than a knowledge of sounds and letters.
Words fitly spoken are indeed both precious and beautiful--"like apples of
gold in pictures of silver." But it is not for him whose soul is dark,
whose designs are selfish, whose affections are dead, or whose thoughts are
vain, to say with the son of Amram, "My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my
speech shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and
as the showers upon the grass."--_Deut._, xxxii, 2. It is not for him to
exhibit the true excellency of speech, because he cannot feel its power. It
is not for him, whatever be the theme, to convince the judgement with
deductions of reason, to fire the imagination with glowing imagery, or win
with graceful words the willing ear of taste. His wisdom shall be silence,
when men are present; for the soul of manly language, is the soul that
thinks and feels as best becomes a man.



CHAPTER VI.

OF THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

"Non mediocres enim tenebræ in sylva, ubi hæc captanda: neque eon, quo
pervenire volumus semitæ tritæ: neque non in tramitibus quædam objecta, quæ
euntem retinere possent."--VARRO. _De Lingua Latina_, Lib. iv, p. 4.

1. In order that we may set a just value upon the literary labours of those
who, in former times, gave particular attention to the culture of the
English language, and that we may the better judge of the credibility of
modern pretensions to further improvements, it seems necessary that we
should know something of the course of events through which its
acknowledged melioration in earlier days took place. For, in this case, the
extent of a man's knowledge is the strength of his argument. As Bacon
quotes Aristotle, "Qui respiciunt ad pauca, de facili pronunciant." He that
takes a narrow view, easily makes up his mind. But what is any opinion
worth, if further knowledge of facts can confute it?

2. Whatsoever is successively varied, or has such a manner of existence as
time can affect, must have had both an origin and a progress; and may have
also its particular _history_, if the opportunity for writing it be not
neglected. But such is the levity of mankind, that things of great moment
are often left without memorial, while the hand of Literature is busy to
beguile the world with trifles or with fictions, with fancies or with lies.
The rude and cursory languages of barbarous nations, till the genius of
Grammar arise to their rescue, are among those transitory things which
unsparing time is ever hurrying away, irrecoverably, to oblivion. Tradition
knows not what they were; for of their changes she takes no account.
Philosophy tells us, they are resolved into the variable, fleeting breath
of the successive generations of those by whom they were spoken; whose
kindred fate it was, to pass away unnoticed and nameless, lost in the
elements from which they sprung.

3. Upon the history of the English language, darkness thickens as we tread
back the course of time. The subject of our inquiry becomes, at every step,
more difficult and less worthy. We have now a tract of English literature,
both extensive and luminous; and though many modern writers, and no few
even of our writers on grammar, are comparatively very deficient in style,
it is safe to affirm that the English language in general has never been
written or spoken with more propriety and elegance, than it is at the
present day. Modern English we read with facility; and that which was good
two centuries ago, though considerably antiquated, is still easily
understood. The best way, therefore, to gain a practical knowledge of the
changes which our language has undergone, is, to read some of our older
authors in retrograde order, till the style employed at times more and more
remote, becomes in some degree familiar. Pursued in this manner, the study
will be less difficult, and the labour of the curious inquirer, which may
be suspended or resumed at pleasure, will be better repaid, than if he
proceed in the order of history, and attempt at first the Saxon remains.

4. The value of a language as an object of study, depends chiefly on the
character of the _books_ which it contains; and, secondarily, on its
connexion with others more worthy to be thoroughly known. In this instance,
there are several circumstances which are calculated soon to discourage
research. As our language took its rise during the barbarism of the dark
ages, the books through which its early history must be traced, are not
only few and meagre, but, in respect to grammar, unsettled and diverse. It
is not to be expected that inquiries of this kind will ever engage the
attention of any very considerable number of persons. Over the minds of the
reading public, the attractions of novelty hold a much greater influence,
than any thing that is to be discovered in the dusk of antiquity. All old
books contain a greater or less number of obsolete words, and antiquated
modes of expression, which puzzle the reader, and call him too frequently
to his glossary. And even the most common terms, when they appear in their
ancient, unsettled orthography, are often so disguised as not to be readily
recognized.

5. These circumstances (the last of which should be a caution to us against
innovations in spelling) retard the progress of the reader, impose a labour
too great for the ardour of his curiosity, and soon dispose him to rest
satisfied with an ignorance, which, being general, is not likely to expose
him to censure. For these reasons, ancient authors are little read; and the
real antiquary is considered a man of odd habits, who, by a singular
propensity, is led into studies both unfashionable and fruitless--a man who
ought to have been born in the days of old, that he might have spoken the
language he is so curious to know, and have appeared in the costume of an
age better suited to his taste.

6. But _Learning_ is ever curious to explore the records of time, as well
as the regions of space; and wherever her institutions flourish, she will
amass her treasures, and spread them before her votaries. Difference of
languages she easily overcomes; but the leaden reign of unlettered
Ignorance defies her scrutiny. Hence, of one period of the world's history,
she ever speaks with horror--that "long night of apostasy," during which,
like a lone Sibyl, she hid her precious relics in solitary cells, and
fleeing from degraded Christendom, sought refuge with the eastern caliphs.
"This awful decline of true religion in the world carried with it almost
every vestige of civil liberty, of classical literature, and of scientific
knowledge; and it will generally be found in experience that they must all
stand or fall together."--_Hints on Toleration_, p. 263. In the tenth
century, beyond which we find nothing that bears much resemblance to the
English language as now written, this mental darkness appears to have
gathered to its deepest obscuration; and, at that period, England was sunk
as low in ignorance, superstition, and depravity, as any other part of
Europe.

7. The English language gradually varies as we trace it back, and becomes
at length identified with the Anglo-Saxon; that is, with the dialect spoken
by the Saxons after their settlement in England. These Saxons were a
fierce, warlike, unlettered people from Germany; whom the ancient Britons
had invited to their assistance against the Picts and Scots. Cruel and
ignorant, like their Gothic kindred, who had but lately overrun the Roman
empire, they came, not for the good of others, but to accommodate
themselves. They accordingly seized the country; destroyed or enslaved the
ancient inhabitants; or, more probably, drove the remnant of them into the
mountains of Wales. Of Welsh or ancient British words, Charles Bucke, who
says in his grammar that he took great pains to be accurate in his scale of
derivation, enumerates but one hundred and eleven, as now found in our
language; and Dr. Johnson, who makes them but ninety-five, argues from
their paucity, or almost total absence, that the Saxons could not have
mingled at all with these people, or even have retained them in vassalage.

8. The ancient languages of France and of the British isles are said to
have proceeded from an other language yet more ancient, called the
_Celtic_; so that, from one common source, are supposed to have sprung the
present Welsh, the present Irish, and the present Highland Scotch.[46] The
term _Celtic_ Dr. Webster defines, as a noun, "The language of the Celts;"
and, as an adjective, "Pertaining to the primitive inhabitants of the south
and west of Europe, or to the early inhabitants of Italy, Gaul, Spain, and
Britain." What _unity_, according to this, there was, or could have been,
in the ancient Celtic tongue, does not appear from books, nor is it easy to
be conjectured.[47] Many ancient writers sustain this broad application of
the term _Celtæ_ or _Celts_; which, according to Strabo's etymology of it,
means horsemen, and seems to have been almost as general as our word
_Indians_. But Cæsar informs us that the name was more particularly claimed
by the people who, in his day, lived in France between the Seine and the
Garonne, and who by the Romans were called _Galli_, or _Gauls_.

9. The _Celtic_ tribes are said to have been the descendants of Gomer, the
son of Japhet. The English historians agree that the first inhabitants of
their island owed their origin and their language to the _Celtæ_, or Gauls,
who settled on the opposite shore. Julius Cæsar, who invaded Britain about
half a century before the Christian era, found the inhabitants ignorant of
letters, and destitute of any history but oral tradition. To this, however,
they paid great attention, teaching every thing in verse. Some of the
Druids, it is said in Cæsar's Commentaries, spent twenty years in learning
to repeat songs and hymns that were never committed to writing. These
ancient priests, or diviners, are represented as having great power, and as
exercising it in some respects beneficially; but their horrid rites, with
human sacrifices, provoked the Romans to destroy them. Smollett says,
"Tiberius suppressed those human sacrifices in Gaul; and Claudius destroyed
the Druids of that country; but they subsisted in Britain till the reign of
Nero, when Paulus Suetonius reduced the island of Anglesey, which was the
place of their retreat, and overwhelmed them with such unexpected and
sudden destruction, that all their knowledge and tradition, conveyed to
them in the songs of their predecessors, perished at once."--_Smollett's
Hist. of Eng._, 4to, B. i, Ch. i, §7.

10. The Romans considered Britain a province of their empire, for a period
of about five hundred years; but the northern part of the island was never
entirely subdued by them, and not till Anno Domini 78, a hundred and
thirty-three years after their first invasion of the country, had they
completed their conquest of England. Letters and arts, so far at least as
these are necessary to the purposes of war or government, the victors
carried with them; and under their auspices some knowledge of Christianity
was, at a very early period, introduced into Britain. But it seems strange,
that after all that is related of their conquests, settlements, cities,
fortifications, buildings, seminaries, churches, laws, &c., they should at
last have left the Britons in so helpless, degraded, and forlorn a
condition. They _did not sow among them the seeds_ of any permanent
improvement.

11. The Roman government, being unable to sustain itself at home, withdrew
its forces finally from Britain in the year 446, leaving the wretched
inhabitants almost as savage as it found them, and in a situation even less
desirable. Deprived of their native resources, their ancient independence
of spirit, as well as of the laws, customs, institutions, and leaders, that
had kept them together under their old dynasties, and now deserted by their
foreign protectors, they were apparently left at the mercy of blind
fortune, the wretched vicissitudes of which there was none to foresee, none
to resist. The glory of the Romans now passed away. The mighty fabric of
their own proud empire crumbled into ruins. Civil liberty gave place to
barbarism; Christian truth, to papal superstition; and the lights of
science were put out by both. The shades of night gathered over all;
settling and condensing, "till almost every point of that wide horizon,
over which the Sun of Righteousness had diffused his cheering rays, was
enveloped in a darkness more awful and more portentous than that which of
old descended upon rebellious Pharaoh and the callous sons of Ham."--_Hints
on Toleration_, p. 310.

12. The Saxons entered Britain in the year 449. But what was the form of
their language at that time, cannot now be known. It was a dialect of the
_Gothic_ or _Teutonic_; which is considered the parent of all the northern
tongues of Europe, except some few of Sclavonian origin. The only remaining
monument of the Gothic language is a copy of the Gospels, translated by
Ulphilas; which is preserved at Upsal, and called, from its embellishments,
_the Silver Book_. This old work has been three times printed in England.
We possess not yet in America all the advantages which may be enjoyed by
literary men in the land of our ancestors; but the stores of literature,
both ancient and modern, are somewhat more familiar to us, than is there
supposed; and the art of printing is fast equalizing, to all nations that
cultivate learning, the privilege of drinking at its ancient fountains.

13. It is neither liberal nor just to argue unfavourably of the
intellectual or the moral condition of any remote age or country, merely
from our own ignorance of it. It is true, we can derive from no quarter a
favourable opinion of the state of England after the Saxon invasion, and
during the tumultuous and bloody government of the heptarchy. But I will
not darken the picture through design. If justice were done to the few
names--to Gildas the wise, the memorialist of his country's sufferings and
censor of the nation's depravity, who appears a solitary star in the night
of the sixth century--to the venerable Bede, the greatest theologian, best
scholar, and only historian of the seventh--to Alcuin, the abbot of
Canterbury, the luminary of the eighth--to Alfred the great, the glory of
the ninth, great as a prince, and greater as a scholar, seen in the evening
twilight of an age in which the clergy could not read;--if justice were
done to all such, we might find something, even in these dark and rugged
times, if not to soften the grimness of the portrait, at least to give
greater distinctness of feature.

14. In tracing the history of our language, Dr. Johnson, who does little
more than give examples, cites as his first specimen of ancient English, a
portion of king [sic--KTH] Alfred's paraphrase in imitation of Boëthius.
But this language of Alfred's is not English; but rather, as the learned
doctor himself considered it, an example of the Anglo-Saxon in its highest
state of purity. This dialect was first changed by admixture with words
derived from the Danish and the Norman; and, still being comparatively rude
and meagre, afterwards received large accessions from the Latin, the
French, the Greek, the Dutch--till, by gradual changes, which the
etymologist may exhibit, there was at length produced a language bearing a
sufficient resemblance to the present English, to deserve to be called
English at this day.

15. The formation of our language cannot with
propriety be dated earlier than the thirteenth century. It was then that a
free and voluntary amalgamation of its chief constituent materials took
place; and this was somewhat earlier than we date the revival of learning.
The English of the thirteenth century is scarcely intelligible to the
modern reader. Dr. Johnson calls it "a kind of intermediate diction,
neither Saxon nor English;" and says, that Sir John Gower, who wrote in the
latter part of the fourteenth century, was "the first of our authors who
can be properly said to have written English." Contemporary with Gower, the
father of English poetry, was the still greater poet, his disciple Chaucer;
who embraced many of the tenets of Wickliffe, and imbibed something of the
spirit of the reformation, which was now begun.

16. The literary history of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is full
of interest; for it is delightful to trace the progress of great and
obvious improvement. The reformation of religion and the revival of
learning were nearly simultaneous. Yet individuals may have acted a
conspicuous part in the latter, who had little to do with the former; for
great learning does not necessarily imply great piety, though, as Dr.
Johnson observes, "the Christian religion always implies or produces a
certain degree of civility and learning."--_Hist. Eng. Lang. before his 4to
Dict._ "The ordinary instructions of the clergy, both philosophical and
religious, gradually fell into contempt, as the Classics superseded the
one, and the Holy Scriptures expelled the other. The first of these changes
was effected by _the early grammarians_ of Europe; and it gave considerable
aid to the reformation, though it had no immediate connexion with that
event. The revival of the English Bible, however, completed the work: and
though its appearance was late, and its progress was retarded in every
possible manner, yet its dispersion was at length equally rapid, extensive,
and effectual."--_Constable's Miscellany_, Vol. xx, p. 75.

17. Peculiar honour is due to those who lead the way in whatever advances
human happiness. And, surely, our just admiration of the character of the
_reformers_ must be not a little enhanced, when we consider what they did
for letters as well as for the church. Learning does not consist in useless
jargon, in a multitude of mere words, or in acute speculations remote from
practice; else the seventeen folios of St. Thomas Aquinas, the angelical
doctor of the thirteenth century, and the profound disputations of his
great rival, Duns Scotus the subtle, for which they were revered in their
own age, had not gained them the contempt of all posterity. From such
learning the lucid reasoning of the reformers delivered the halls of
instruction. The school divinity of the middle ages passed away before the
presence of that which these men learned from the Bible, as did in a later
age the Aristotelian philosophy before that which Bacon drew from nature.

18. Towards the latter part of the fourteenth century, Wickliffe furnished
the first entire translation of the Bible into English. In like manner did
the Germans, a hundred and fifty years after, receive it in their tongue
from the hands of Luther; who says, that at twenty years of age, he himself
had not seen it in any language. Wickliffe's English style is elegant for
the age in which he lived, yet very different from what is elegant now.
This first English translation of the Bible, being made about a hundred
years before the introduction of printing into England, could not have been
very extensively circulated. A large specimen of it may be seen in Dr.
Johnson's History of the English Language. Wickliffe died in 1384. The art
of printing was invented about 1440, and first introduced into England, in
1468; but the first printed edition of the Bible in English, was executed
in Germany. It was completed, October 5th, 1535.

19. "Martin Luther, about the year 1517, first introduced metrical psalmody
into the service of the church, which not only kept alive the enthusiasm of
the reformers, but formed a rallying point for his followers. This practice
spread in all directions; and it was not long ere six thousand persons were
heard singing together at St. Paul's Cross in London. Luther was a poet and
musician; but the same talent existed not in his followers. Thirty years
afterwards, Sternhold versified fifty-one of the Psalms; and in 1562, with
the help of Hopkins, he completed the Psalter. These poetical effusions
were chiefly sung to German melodies, which the good taste of Luther
supplied: but the Puritans, in a subsequent age, nearly destroyed these
germs of melody, assigning as a reason, that music should be so simplified
as to suit all persons, and that all may join."--_Dr. Gardiner's Music of
Nature_, p. 283.

20. "The schools and colleges of England in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries were not governed by a system of education which would render
their students very eminent either as scholars or as gentlemen: and the
monasteries, which were used as seminaries, even until the reformation,
taught only the corrupt Latin used by the ecclesiastics. The time however
was approaching, when the united efforts of Stanbridge, Linacre, Sir John
Cheke, Dean Colet, Erasmus, William Lily, Roger Ascham, &c., were
successful in reviving the Latin tongue in all its purity; and even in
exciting a taste for Greek in a nation the clergy of which opposed its
introduction with the same vehemence which characterized their enmity to a
reformation in religion. The very learned Erasmus, the first who undertook
the teaching of the Greek language at Oxford, met with few friends to
support him; notwithstanding Oxford was the seat of nearly all the learning
in England."--_Constable's Miscellany_, Vol. xx, p. 146.

21. "The priests preached against it, as a very recent invention of the
arch-enemy; and confounding in their misguided zeal, the very foundation of
their faith, with the object of their resentment, they represented the New
Testament itself as 'an impious and dangerous book,' because it was written
in that heretical language. Even after the accession of Henry VIII, when
Erasmus, who had quitted Oxford in disgust, returned under his especial
patronage, with the support of several eminent scholars and powerful
persons, his progress was still impeded, and the language opposed. The
University was divided into parties, called Greeks and Trojans, the latter
being the strongest, from being favoured by the monks; and the Greeks were
driven from the streets, with hisses and other expressions of contempt. It
was not therefore until Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey gave it their
positive and powerful protection, that this persecuted language was allowed
to be quietly studied, even in the institutions dedicated to
learning."--_Ib._, p. 147.

22. These curious extracts are adduced to show the _spirit of the times_,
and the obstacles then to be surmounted in the cause of learning. This
popular opposition to Greek, did not spring from a patriotic design to
prefer and encourage English literature; for the improvement of this was
still later, and the great promoters of it were all of them classical
scholars. They wrote in English, not because they preferred it, but because
none but those who were bred in colleges, could read any thing else; and,
even to this very day, the grammatical study of the English language is
shamefully neglected in what are called the higher institutions of
learning. In alleging this neglect, I speak comparatively. Every student,
on entering upon the practical business of life, will find it of far more
importance to him, to be skillful in the language of his own country than
to be distinguished for any knowledge which the learned only can
appreciate. "Will the greatest Mastership in Greek and Latin, or [the]
translating [of] these Languages into English, avail for the Purpose of
acquiring an elegant English Style? No--we know just the Reverse from
woeful Experience! And, as Mr. Locke and the Spectator observe, Men who
have threshed hard at Greek and Latin for ten or eleven years together, are
very often deficient in their own Language."--_Preface to the British
Gram._, 8vo, 1784, p. xxi.

23. That the progress of English literature in early times was slow, will
not seem wonderful to those who consider what is affirmed of the progress
of other arts, more immediately connected with the comforts of life. "Down
to the reign of Elizabeth, the greater part of the houses in considerable
towns, had no chimneys: the fire was kindled against the wall, and the
smoke found its way out as well as it could, by the roof, the door, or the
windows. The houses were mostly built of wattling, plastered over with
clay; and the beds were only straw pallets, with a log of wood for a
pillow. In this respect, even the king fared no better than his subjects;
for, in Henry the Eighth's time, we find directions, 'to examine every
night the straw of the king's bed, that no daggers might be concealed
therein.' A writer in 1577, speaking of the progress of luxury, mentions
three things especially, that were 'marvellously altered for the worse in
England;' the multitude of chimneys lately erected, the increase of
lodgings, and the exchange of treen platters into pewter, and wooden spoons
into silver and tin; and he complains bitterly that oak instead of willow
was employed in the building of houses."--REV. ROYAL ROBBINS: _Outlines of
History_, p. 377.

24. Shakspeare appeared in the reign of Elizabeth; outlived her thirteen
years; and died in 1616 aged 52. The English language in his hands did not
lack power or compass of expression. His writings are now more extensively
read, than any others of that age; nor has any very considerable part of
his phraseology yet become obsolete. But it ought to be known, that the
printers or editors of the editions which are now read, have taken
extensive liberty in modernizing his orthography, as well as that of other
old authors still popular. How far such liberty is justifiable, it is
difficult to say. Modern readers doubtless find a convenience in it. It is
very desirable that the orthography of our language should be made uniform,
and remain permanent. Great alterations cannot be suddenly introduced; and
there is, in stability, an advantage which will counterbalance that of a
slow approximation to regularity. Analogy may sometimes decide the form of
variable words, but the concurrent usage of the learned must ever be
respected, in this, as in every other part of grammar.

25. Among the earliest of the English grammarians, was Ben Jonson, the
poet; who died in the year 1637, at the age of sixty-three. His grammar,
(which Horne Tooke mistakingly calls "the _first_ as well as the _best_
English grammar,") is still extant, being published in the several editions
of his works. It is a small treatise, and worthy of attention only as a
matter of curiosity. It is written in prose, and designed chiefly for the
aid of foreigners. Grammar is an unpoetical subject, and therefore not
wisely treated, as it once very generally was, in verse. But every poet
should be familiar with the art, because the formal principles of his own
have always been considered as embraced in it. To its poets, too, every
language must needs be particularly indebted; because their compositions,
being in general more highly finished than works in prose, are supposed to
present the language in its most agreeable form. In the preface to the
Poems of Edmund Waller, published in 1690, the editor ventures to say, "He
was, indeed, the Parent of English Verse, and the first that shewed us our
Tongue had Beauty and Numbers in it. Our Language owes more to Him, than
the French does to Cardinal Richelieu and the whole Academy. * * * * The
Tongue came into His hands a rough diamond: he polished it first; and to
_that_ degree, that all artists since him have admired the workmanship,
without pretending to mend it."--_British Poets_, Vol. ii, Lond., 1800:
_Waller's Poems_, p. 4.

26. Dr. Johnson, however, in his Lives of the Poets, abates this praise,
that he may transfer the greater part of it to Dryden and Pope. He admits
that, "After about half a century of forced thoughts and rugged metre, some
advances towards nature and harmony had been already made by Waller and
Denham;" but, in distributing the praise of this improvement, he adds, "It
may be doubted whether Waller and Denham could have over-born [_overborne_]
the prejudices which had long prevailed, and which even then were sheltered
by the protection of Cowley. The new versification, as it was called, may
be considered as owing its establishment to Dryden; from whose time it is
apparent that English poetry has had no tendency to relapse to its former
savageness."--_Johnson's Life of Dryden: Lives_, p. 206. To Pope, as the
translator of Homer, he gives this praise: "His version may be said to have
tuned the English tongue; for since its appearance no writer, however
deficient in other powers, has wanted melody."--_Life of Pope: Lives_, p.
567. Such was the opinion of Johnson; but there are other critics who
object to the versification of Pope, that it is "monotonous and cloying."
See, in Leigh Hunt's Feast of the Poets, the following couplet, and a note
upon it:

   "But ever since Pope spoil'd the ears of the town
    With his cuckoo-song verses half up and half down."

27. The unfortunate Charles I, as well as his father James I, was a lover
and promoter of letters. He was himself a good scholar, and wrote well in
English, for his time: he ascended the throne in 1625, and was beheaded in
1648. Nor was Cromwell himself, with all his religious and military
enthusiasm, wholly insensible to _literary_ merit. This century was
distinguished by the writings of Milton, Dryden, Waller, Cowley, Denham,
Locke, and others; and the reign of Charles II, which is embraced in it,
has been considered by some "the Augustan age of English literature." But
that honour, if it may well be bestowed on any, belongs rather to a later
period. The best works produced in the eighteenth century, are so generally
known and so highly esteemed, that it would be lavish of the narrow space
allowed to this introduction, to speak particularly of their merits. Some
grammatical errors may be found in almost all books; but our language was,
in general, written with great purity and propriety by Addison, Swift,
Pope, Johnson, Lowth, Hume, Horne, and many other celebrated authors who
flourished in the last century. Nor was it much before this period, that
the British writers took any great pains to be accurate in the use of their
own language;

   "Late, very late, correctness grew our care,
    When the tir'd nation breath'd from civil war."--_Pope_.

28. English books began to be printed in the early part of the sixteenth
century; and, as soon as a taste for reading was formed, the press threw
open the flood-gates of general knowledge, the streams of which are now
pouring forth, in a copious, increasing, but too often turbid tide, upon
all the civilized nations of the earth. This mighty engine afforded a means
by which superior minds could act more efficiently and more extensively
upon society in general. And thus, by the exertions of genius adorned with
learning, our native tongue has been made the polished vehicle of the most
interesting truths, and of the most important discoveries; and has become a
language copious, strong, refined, and capable of no inconsiderable degree
of harmony. Nay, it is esteemed by some who claim to be competent judges,
to be the strongest, the richest, the most elegant, and the most
susceptible of sublime imagery, of all the languages in the world.



CHAPTER VII.

CHANGES AND SPECIMENS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

"Quot enim verba, et nonnunquam in deterius, hoc, quo vivimus, sæculo,
partim aliqâ, partim nullâ necessitate cogente, mutata sunt?"--ROB.
AINSWORTH: _Lat. Dict., 4to_; Præf., p. xi.


1. In the use of language, every one chooses his words from that common
stock which he has learned, and applies them in practice according to his
own habits and notions. If the style of different writers of the same age
is various, much greater is the variety which appears in the productions of
different ages. Hence the date of a book may often be very plausibly
conjectured from the peculiarities of its style. As to what is best in
itself, or best adapted to the subject in hand, every writer must endeavour
to become his own judge. He who, in any sort of composition, would write
with a master's hand, must first apply himself to books with a scholar's
diligence. He must think it worth his while to inform himself, that he may
be critical. Desiring to give the student all the advantage, entertainment,
and satisfaction, that can be expected from a work of this kind, I shall
subjoin a few brief specimens in illustration of what has been said in the
foregoing chapter. The order of time will be followed _inversely_; and, as
Saxon characters are not very easily obtained, or very apt to be read, the
Roman letters will be employed for the few examples to which the others
would be more appropriate. But there are some peculiarities of ancient
usage in English, which, for the information of the young reader, it is
proper in the first place to explain.

2. With respect to the letters, there are _several changes_ to be
mentioned. (1.) The pages of old books are often crowded with capitals: it
was at one time the custom to distinguish all nouns, and frequently verbs,
or any other important words, by heading them with a great letter. (2.) The
letter Ess, of the lower case, had till lately two forms, the long and the
short, as [tall-s] and s; the former very nearly resembling the small f,
and the latter, its own capital. The short _s_ was used _at the end of
words_, and the long _[tall-s]_, in other places; but the latter is now
laid aside, in favour of the more distinctive form. (3.) The letters _I_
and _J_ were formerly considered as one and the same. Hence we find
_hallelujah_ for _halleluiah, Iohn_ for _John, iudgement_ for _judgement_,
&c. And in many dictionaries, the words beginning with _J_ are still mixed
with those which begin with _I_. (4.) The letters _U_ and _V_ were mixed in
like manner, and for the same reason; the latter being a consonant power
given to the former, and at length distinguished from it by a different
form. Or rather, the figure of the capital seems to have been at last
appropriated to the one, and that of the small letter to the other. But in
old books the forms of these two letters are continually confounded or
transposed. Hence it is, that our _Double-u_ is composed of two _Vees_;
which, as we see in old books, were sometimes printed separately: as, VV,
for W; or vv, for w.

3. The _orthography_ of our language, rude and unsettled as it still is in
many respects, was formerly much more variable and diverse. In books a
hundred years old or more, we often find the most common words spelled
variously by the same writer, and even upon the very same page. With
respect to the forms of words, a few particulars may here be noticed: (1.)
The article _an_, from which the _n_ was dropped before words beginning
with a consonant sound, is often found in old books where _a_ would be more
proper; as, _an heart, an help, an hill, an one, an use_. (2.) Till the
seventeenth century, the possessive case was written without the
apostrophe; being formed at different times, in _es, is, ys, or s_, like
the plural; and apparently without rule or uniformity in respect to the
doubling of the final consonant: as _Goddes, Godes, Godis, Godys_, or
_Gods_, for _God's_; so _mannes, mannis, mannys_ or _mans_, for _man's_.
Dr. Ash, whose English Grammar was in some repute in the latter part of the
eighteenth century, argued against the use of the apostrophe, alleging that
it was seldom used to distinguish the possessive case till about the
beginning of that century; and he then prophesied that the time would come,
when _correct writers would lay it aside again_, as a strange corruption,
an improper "departure from the original formation" of that case of English
nouns. And, among the speculations of these latter days, I have somewhere
seen an attempt to disparage this useful sign, and explode it, as an
unsightly thing _never well established_. It does not indeed, like a
syllabic sign, inform the ear or affect the sound; but still it is useful,
because it distinguishes to the eye, not only the _case_, but the _number_,
of the nouns thus marked. Pronouns, being different in their declension, do
not need it, and should therefore always be written without it.

4. The common usage of those who have spoken English, has always inclined
rather to brevity than to melody; contraction and elision of the ancient
terminations of words, constitute no small part of the change which has
taken place, or of the difference which perhaps always existed between the
solemn and the familiar style. In respect to euphony, however, these
terminations have certainly nothing to boast; nor does the earliest period
of the language appear to be that in which they were the most generally
used without contraction. That degree of smoothness of which the tongue was
anciently susceptible, had certainly no alliance with these additional
syllables. The long sonorous endings which constitute the declensions and
conjugations of the most admired languages, and which seem to chime so well
with the sublimity of the Greek, the majesty of the Latin, the sweetness of
the Italian, the dignity of the Spanish, or the polish of the French,
_never had_ any place in English. The inflections given to our words never
embraced any other vowel power than that of the short _e_ or _i_; and even,
this we are inclined to dispense with, whenever we can; so that most of our
grammatical inflections are, to the ear, nothing but consonants blended
with the final syllables of the words to which they are added. _Ing_ for
the first participle, _er_ for the comparative degree, and _est_ for the
superlative, are indeed added as whole syllables; but the rest, as _d_ or
_ed_ for preterits and perfect participles, _s_ or _es_ for the plural
number of nouns, or for the third person singular of verbs, and _st_ or
_est_ for the second person singular of verbs, nine times in ten, fall into
the sound or syllable with which the primitive word terminates. English
verbs, as they are now commonly used, run through their entire conjugation
without acquiring a single syllable from inflection, except sometimes when
the sound of _d, s_, or _st_ cannot be added to them.

5. This simplicity, so characteristic of our modern English, as well as of
the Saxon tongue, its proper parent, is attended with advantages that go
far to compensate for all that is consequently lost in euphony, or in the
liberty of transposition. Our formation of the moods and tenses, by means
of a few separate auxiliaries, all monosyllabic, and mostly without
inflection, is not only simple and easy, but beautiful, chaste, and strong.
In my opinion, our grammarians have shown far more affection for the
obsolete or obsolescent terminations _en, eth, est_, and _edst_, than they
really deserve. Till the beginning of the sixteenth century, _en_ was used
to mark the plural number of verbs, as, _they sayen_ for _they say_; after
which, it appears to have been dropped. Before the beginning of the
seventeenth century, _s_ or _es_ began to dispute with _th_ or _eth_ the
right of forming the third person singular of verbs; and, as the Bible and
other grave books used only the latter, a clear distinction obtained,
between the solemn and the familiar style, which distinction is well known
at this day. Thus we have, _He runs, walks, rides, reaches_, &c., for the
one; and, _He runneth, walketh, rideth, reacheth_, &c., for the other.
About the same time, or perhaps earlier, the use of the second person
singular began to be avoided in polite conversation, by the substitution of
the plural verb and pronoun; and, when used in poetry, it was often
contracted, so as to prevent any syllabic increase. In old books, all verbs
and participles that were intended to be contracted in pronunciation, were
contracted also, in some way, by the writer: as, "_call'd, carry'd,
sacrific'd;" "fly'st, ascrib'st, cryd'st;" "tost, curst, blest, finisht_;"
and others innumerable. All these, and such as are like them, we now
pronounce in the same way, but usually write differently; as, _called,
carried, sacrificed; fliest, ascribest, criettst; tossed, cursed, blessed,
finished_. Most of these topics will be further noticed in the Grammar.


I. ENGLISH OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

6. _Queen Victoria's Answer to an Address.--Example written in 1837_.

"I thank you for your condolence upon the death of his late Majesty, for
the justice which you render to his character, and to the measures of his
reign, and for your warm congratulations upon my accession to the throne. I
join in your prayers for the prosperity of my reign, the best security for
which is to be found in reverence for our holy religion, and in the
observance of its duties."--VICTORIA, _to the Friends' Society_.

7. _From President Adams's Eulogy on Lafayette.--Written in 1834_.

"Pronounce him one of the first men of his age, and you have yet not done
him justice. Try him by that test to which he sought in vain to stimulate
the vulgar and selfish spirit of Napoleon; class him among the men who, to
compare and seat themselves, must take in the compass of all ages; turn
back your eyes upon the records of time; summon from the creation of the
world to this day the mighty dead of every age and every clime; and where,
among the race of merely mortal men, shall one be found, who, as the
benefactor of his kind, shall claim to take precedence of Lafayette?"--JOHN
QUINCY ADAMS.

8. _From President Jackson's Proclamation against Nullification.--1832_.

"No, we have not erred! The Constitution is still the object of our
reverence, the bond of our Union, our defence in danger, the source of our
prosperity in peace. It shall descend, as we have received it, uncorrupted
by sophistical construction, to our posterity: and the sacrifices of local
interest, of State prejudices, of personal animosities, that were made to
bring it into existence, will again be patriotically offered for its
support."--ANDREW JACKSON.

9. _From a Note on one of Robert Hall's Sermons.--Written about 1831_.

"After he had written down the striking apostrophe which occurs at about
page 76 of most of the editions--'Eternal God! on what are thine enemies
intent! what are those enterprises of guilt and horror, that, for the
safety of their performers, require to be enveloped in a darkness which the
eye of Heaven must not _penetrate_!'--he asked, 'Did I say _penetrate_,
sir, when I preached, it?' 'Yes.' 'Do you think, sir, I may venture to
alter it? for no man who considered the force of the English language,
would use a word of three syllables there, but from absolute necessity.'
'You are doubtless at liberty to alter it, if you think well.' 'Then be so
good, sir, as to take your pencil, and for _penetrate_ put _pierce_;
_pierce_ is the word, sir, and the only word to be used there.'"--OLINTHUS
GREGORY.

10. _King William's Answer to an Address.--Example written in 1830_.

"I thank you sincerely for your condolence with me, on account of the loss
which I have sustained, in common with my people, by the death of my
lamented brother, his late Majesty. The assurances which you have conveyed
to me, of loyalty and affectionate attachment to my person, are very
gratifying to my feelings. You may rely upon my favour and protection, and
upon my anxious endeavours to promote morality and true piety among all
classes of my subjects."--WILLIAM IV, _to the Friends_.

11. _Reign of George IV, 1830 back to 1820.--Example written in 1827_.

   "That morning, thou, that slumbered[48] not before,
    Nor slept, great Ocean I laid thy waves to rest,
    And hushed thy mighty minstrelsy. No breath
    Thy deep composure stirred, no fin, no oar;
    Like beauty newly dead, so calm, so still,
    So lovely, thou, beneath the light that fell
    From angel-chariots sentinelled on high,
    Reposed, and listened, and saw thy living change,
    Thy dead arise. Charybdis listened, and Scylla;
    And savage Euxine on the Thracian beach
    Lay motionless: and every battle ship
    Stood still; and every ship of merchandise,
    And all that sailed, of every name, stood still."
                  ROBERT POLLOK: _Course of Time_, Book VII, line 634-647.


II. ENGLISH OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

12. _Reign of George III, 1820 back to 1760.--Example written in 1800_.

"There is, it will be confessed, a delicate sensibility to character, a
sober desire of reputation, a wish to possess the esteem of the wise and
good, felt by the purest minds, which is at the farthest remove from
arrogance or vanity. The humility of a noble mind scarcely dares approve of
itself, until it has secured the approbation of others. Very different is
that restless desire of distinction, that passion for theatrical display,
which inflames the heart and occupies the whole attention of vain men. * *
* The truly good man is jealous over himself, lest the notoriety of his
best actions, by blending itself with their motive, should diminish their
value; the vain man performs the same actions for the sake of that
notoriety. The good man quietly discharges his duty, and shuns ostentation;
the vain man considers every good deed lost that is not publickly
displayed. The one is intent upon realities, the other upon semblances: the
one aims to _be_ virtuous, the other to _appear_ so."--ROBERT HALL: _Sermon
on Modern Infidelity_.

13. _From Washington's Farewell Address.--Example written in 1796_.

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,
Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man
claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great
pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and
citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect
and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with
private and publick felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the security
for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious
obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in
courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that
morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to
the influence of refined education on minds of a peculiar structure; reason
and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail
in exclusion of religious principle."--GEORGE WASHINGTON.

14. _From Dr. Johnson's Life of Addison.--Example written about 1780_.

"That he always wrote as he would think it necessary to write now, cannot
be affirmed; his instructions were such as the character of his readers
made proper. That general knowledge which now circulates in common talk,
was in his time rarely to be found. Men not professing learning, were not
ashamed of ignorance; and in the female world, any acquaintance with books
was distinguished only to be censured. His purpose was to infuse literary
curiosity, by gentle and unsuspected conveyance, into the gay, the idle,
and the wealthy; he therefore presented knowledge in the most alluring
form, not lofty and austere, but accessible and familiar. When he shewed
them their defects, he shewed them likewise that they might easily be
supplied. His attempt succeeded; inquiry was awakened, and comprehension
expanded. An emulation of intellectual elegance was excited, and from this
time to our own, life has been gradually exalted, and conversation purified
and enlarged."--SAMUEL JOHNSON: _Lives_, p. 321.

15. _Reign of George II, 1760 back to 1727.--Example written in 1751_.

"We Britons in our time have been remarkable borrowers, as our _multiform_
Language may sufficiently shew. Our Terms in _polite Literature_ prove,
that this came from _Greece_; our terms in _Music_ and _Painting_, that
these came from Italy; our Phrases in _Cookery_ and _War_, that we learnt
these from the French; and our phrases in _Navigation_, that we were taught
by the _Flemings_ and _Low Dutch_. These many and very different Sources of
our Language may be the cause, why it is so deficient in _Regularity_ and
_Analogy_. Yet we have this advantage to compensate the defect, that what
we want in _Elegance_, we gain in _Copiousness_, in which last respect few
Languages will be found superior to our own."--JAMES HARRIS: _Hermes_, Book
iii, Ch. v, p. 408.

16. _Reign of George I, 1727 back to 1714.--Example written about 1718_.

"There is a certain coldness and indifference in the phrases of our
European languages, when they are compared with the Oriental forms of
speech: and it happens very luckily, that the Hebrew idioms ran into the
English tongue, with a particular grace and beauty. Our language has
received innumerable elegancies and improvements from that infusion of
Hebraisms, which are derived to it out of the poetical passages in holy
writ. They give a force and energy to our expressions, warm and animate our
language, and convey our thoughts in more ardent and intense phrases, than
any that are to be met with in our tongue."--JOSEPH ADDISON: _Evidences_,
p. 192.

17. _Reign of Queen Anne, 1714 to 1702.--Example written in 1708_.

   "Some by old words to Fame have made pretence,
    Ancients in phrase, mere moderns in their sense;
    Such labour'd nothings, in so strange a style,
    Amaze th' unlearn'd, and make the learned smile."
    "In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold;
    Alike fantastick, if too new or old:
    Be not the first by whom the new are try'd,
    Nor yet the last to lay the old aside."
                    ALEXANDER POPE: _Essay on Criticism_, l. 324-336.


III. ENGLISH OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

18. _Reign of William III, 1702 to 1689.--Example published in 1700_.

"And when we see a Man of _Milton's_ Wit _Chime_ in with such a _Herd_, and
Help on the _Cry_ against _Hirelings_! We find How Easie it is for _Folly_
and _Knavery_ to Meet, and that they are Near of Kin, tho they bear
Different Aspects. Therefor since _Milton_ has put himself upon a _Level_
with the _Quakers_ in this, I will let them go together. And take as little
Notice of his _Buffoonry_, as of their _Dulness_ against _Tythes_. Ther is
nothing worth _Quoting_ in his _Lampoon_ against the _Hirelings_. But what
ther is of _Argument_ in it, is fully Consider'd in what follows."--CHARLES
LESLIE: _Divine Right of Tithes, Pref._, p. xi.

19. _Reign of James II, 1689 back to 1685.--Example written in 1685._

      "His conversation, wit, and parts,
    His knowledge in the noblest useful arts,
     Were such, dead authors could not give;
     But habitudes of those who live;
    Who, lighting him, did greater lights receive:
     He drain'd from all, and all they knew;
    His apprehension quick, his judgment true:
     That the most learn'd with shame confess
    His knowledge more, his reading only less."
       JOHN DRYDEN: _Ode to the Memory of Charles II; Poems_, p. 84.

20. _Reign of Charles II, 1685 to 1660.--Example from a Letter to the Earl
of Sunderland, dated, "Philadelphia, 28th 5th mo. July, 1683."_

"And I will venture to say, that by the help of God, and such noble
Friends, I will show a Province in seven years, equal to her neighbours of
forty years planting. I have lay'd out the Province into Countys. Six are
begun to be seated; they lye on the great river, and are planted about six
miles back. The town platt is a mile long, and two deep,--has a navigable
river on each side, the least as broad as the Thames at Woolwych, from
three to eight fathom water. There is built about eighty houses, and I have
settled at least three hundred farmes contiguous to it."--WILLIAM PENN.
_The Friend_, Vol. vii, p. 179.

21. _From an Address or Dedication to Charles II.--Written in 1675_.

"There is no [other] king in the world, who can so experimentally testify
of God's providence and goodness; neither is there any [other], who rules
so many free people, so many true Christians: which thing renders thy
government more honourable, thyself more considerable, than the accession
of many nations filled with slavish and superstitious souls."--ROBERT
BARCLAY: _Apology_, p. viii.

22. The following example, from the commencement of _Paradise Lost_, first
published in 1667, has been cited by several authors, to show how large a
proportion of our language is of Saxon origin. The thirteen words in
Italics are the only ones in this passage, which seem to have been derived
from any other source.

   "Of man's first _disobedience_, and the _fruit_
    Of that forbidden tree, whose _mortal_ taste
    Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
    With loss of _Eden_; till one greater Man
    _Restore_ us, and _regain_ the blissful _seat_,
    Sing, heav'nly _Muse_, that on the _secret_ top
    Of _Oreb_, or of _Sinai_, didst _inspire_
    That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
    In the beginning, how the Heav'ns and Earth
    Rose out of _Chaos_."--MILTON: _Paradise Lost_, Book I.

23. _Examples written during Cromwell's Protectorate, 1660 to 1650_.

"The Queene was pleased to shew me the letter, the seale beinge a Roman
eagle, havinge characters about it almost like the Greeke. This day, in the
afternoone, the vice-chauncellor came to me and stayed about four hours
with me; in which tyme we conversed upon the longe debates."--WHITELOCKE.
_Bucke's Class. Gram._, p. 149.

"I am yet heere, and have the States of Holland ingaged in a more than
ordnary maner, to procure me audience of the States Generall. Whatever
happen, the effects must needes be good."--STRICKLAND: _Bucke's Classical
Gram._, p. 149.

24. _Reign of Charles I, 1648 to 1625.--Example from Ben Jonson's Grammar,
written about 1634; but the orthography is more modern_.

"The second and third person singular of the present are made of the first,
by adding _est_ and _eth_; which last is sometimes shortened into _s_. It
seemeth to have been poetical licence which first introduced this
abbreviation of the third person into use; but our best grammarians have
condemned it upon some occasions, though perhaps not to be absolutely
banished the common and familiar style."

"The persons plural keep the termination of the first person singular. In
former times, till about the reign of Henry the eighth, they were wont to
be formed by adding _en_; thus, _loven, sayen, complainen_. But now
(whatever is the cause) it hath quite grown out of use, and that other so
generally prevailed, that I dare not presume to set this afoot again:
albeit (to tell you my opinion) I am persuaded that the lack hereof well
considered, will be found a great blemish to our tongue. For seeing _time_
and _person_ be, as it were, the right and left hand of a verb, what can
the maiming bring else, but a lameness to the whole body?"--Book i, Chap.
xvi.

25. _Reign of James I, 1625 to 1603.--From an Advertisement, dated 1608_.

"I svppose it altogether needlesse (Christian Reader) by commending M.
_VVilliam Perkins_, the Author of this booke, to wooe your holy affection,
which either himselfe in his life time by his Christian conversation hath
woon in you, or sithence his death, the neuer-dying memorie of his
excellent knowledge, his great humilitie, his sound religion, his feruent
zeale, his painefull labours, in the Church of God, doe most iustly
challenge at your hands: onely in one word, I dare be bold to say of him as
in times past _Nazianzen_ spake of _Athanasius_. His life was a good
definition of a true minister and preacher of the Gospell."--_The Printer
to the Reader_.

26. _Examples written about the end of Elizabeth's reign--1603_.

   "Some say, That euer 'gainst that season comes
    Wherein our Saviour's Birth is celebrated,
    The Bird of Dawning singeth all night long;
    And then, say they, no Spirit dares walk abroad:
    The nights are wholsom, then no Planets strike,
    No Fairy takes, nor Witch hath pow'r to charm;
    So hallow'd and so gracious is the time."
                                      SHAKSPEARE: _Hamlet_.

    "The sea, with such a storme as his bare head
    In hell-blacke night indur'd, would haue buoy'd up
    And quench'd the stelled fires.
    Yet, poore old heart, he holpe the heuens to raine.
    If wolues had at thy gate howl'd that sterne time,
    Thou shouldst haue said, Good porter, turne the key."
                                       SHAKSPEARE: _Lear_.


IV. ENGLISH OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

27. _Reign of Elizabeth, 1603 back to 1558.--Example written in 1592_.

"As for the soule, it is no accidentarie qualitie, but a spirituall and
inuisible essence or nature, subsisting by it selfe. Which plainely
appeares in that the soules of men haue beeing and continuance as well
forth of the bodies of men as in the same; and are as wel subiect to
torments as the bodie is. And whereas we can and doe put in practise
sundrie actions of life, sense, motion, vnderstanding, we doe it onely by
the power and vertue of the soule. Hence ariseth the difference betweene
the soules of men, and beasts. The soules of men are substances: but the
soules of other creatures seeme not to be substances; because they haue no
beeing out of the bodies in which they are."--WILLIAM PERKINS: _Theol.
Works, folio_, p. 155.

28. _Examples written about the beginning of Elizabeth's reign.--1558_.

"Who can perswade, when treason is aboue reason; and mighte ruleth righte;
and it is had for lawfull, whatsoever is lustfull; and commotioners are
better than commissioners; and common woe is named common weale?"--SIR JOHN
CHEKE. "If a yong jentleman will venture him selfe into the companie of
ruffians, it is over great a jeopardie, lest their facions, maners,
thoughts, taulke, and dedes, will verie sone be over like."--ROGER ASCHAM.

29. _Reign of Mary the Bigot, 1558 to 1553.--Example written about 1555_.

"And after that Philosophy had spoken these wordes the said companye of the
musys poeticall beynge rebukyd and sad, caste downe their countenaunce to
the grounde, and by blussyng confessed their shamefastnes, and went out of
the dores. But I (that had my syght dull and blynd wyth wepyng, so that I
knew not what woman this was hauyng soo great aucthoritie) was amasyd or
astonyed, and lokyng downeward, towarde the ground, I began pryvyle to look
what thyng she would save ferther."--COLVILLE: _Version from Boëthius:
Johnson's Hist. of E. L._, p. 29.

30. _Example referred by Dr. Johnson to the year 1553_.

"Pronunciation is an apte orderinge bothe of the voyce, countenaunce, and
all the whole bodye, accordynge to the worthinea of such woordes and mater
as by speache are declared. The vse hereof is suche for anye one that
liketh to haue prayse for tellynge his tale in open assemblie, that hauing
a good tongue, and a comelye countenaunce, he shal be thought to passe all
other that haue not the like vtteraunce: thoughe they have muche better
learning."--DR. WILSON: _Johnson's Hist. E. L._, p. 45.

31. _Reign of Edward VI, 1553 to 1547.--Example written about 1550._

   "Who that will followe the graces manyfolde
    Which are in vertue, shall finde auauncement:
    Wherefore ye fooles that in your sinne are bolde,
    Ensue ye wisdome, and leaue your lewde intent,
    Wisdome is the way of men most excellent:
    Therefore haue done, and shortly spede your pace,
    To quaynt your self and company with grace."
                    ALEXANDER BARCLAY: _Johnson's Hist. E. L._, p. 44.

32. _Reign of Henry VIII, 1547 to 1509.--Example dated 1541_.

"Let hym that is angry euen at the fyrste consyder one of these thinges,
that like as he is a man, so is also the other, with whom he is angry, and
therefore it is as lefull for the other to be angry, as unto hym: and if he
so be, than shall that anger be to hym displeasant, and stere hym more to
be angrye."--SIR THOMAS ELLIOTT: _Castel of Helthe_.

33. _Example of the earliest English Blank Verse; written about 1540_.

The supposed author died in 1541, aged 38. The piece from which these lines
are taken describes the death of _Zoroas_, an Egyptian astronomer, slain in
Alexander's first battle with the Persians.

   "The Persians waild such sapience to foregoe;
    And very sone the Macedonians wisht
    He would have lived; king Alexander selfe
    Demde him a man unmete to dye at all;
    Who wonne like praise for conquest of his yre,
    As for stoute men in field that day subdued,
    Who princes taught how to discerne a man,
    That in his head so rare a jewel beares;
    But over all those same Camenes,[49] those same
    Divine Camenes, whose honour he procurde,
    As tender parent doth his daughters weale,
    Lamented, and for thankes, all that they can,
    Do cherish hym deceast, and sett hym free,
    From dark oblivion of devouring death."
                       _Probably written by SIR THOMAS WYAT._

34. _A Letter written from prison, with a coal._ The writer, _Sir Thomas
More_, whose works, both in prose and verse, were considered models of pure
and elegant style, had been Chancellor of England, and the familiar
confidant of Henry VIII, by whose order he was beheaded in 1535.

"Myne own good doughter, our Lorde be thanked I am in good helthe of bodye,
and in good quiet of minde: and of worldly thynges I no more desyer then I
haue. I beseche hym make you all mery in the hope of heauen. And such
thynges as I somewhat longed to talke with you all, concerning the worlde
to come, our Lorde put theim into your myndes, as I truste he doth and
better to by hys holy spirite: who blesse you and preserue you all. Written
wyth a cole by your tender louing father, who in hys pore prayers
forgetteth none of you all, nor your babes, nor your nources, nor your good
husbandes, nor your good husbandes shrewde wyues, nor your fathers shrewde
wyfe neither, nor our other frendes. And thus fare ye hartely well for
lacke of paper. THOMAS MORE, knight."--_Johnson's Hist. E. Lang._, p. 42.

35. _From More's Description of Richard III.--Probably written about 1520._

"Richarde the third sonne, of whom we nowe entreate, was in witte and
courage egall with either of them, in bodye and prowesse farre vnder them
bothe, little of stature, ill fetured of limmes, croke backed, his left
shoulder much higher than his right, hard fauoured of visage, and such as
is in states called warlye, in other menne otherwise, he was malicious,
wrathfull, enuious, and from afore his birth euer frowarde. * * * Hee was
close and secrete, a deep dissimuler, lowlye of counteynaunce, arrogant of
heart--dispitious and cruell, not for euill will alway, but after for
ambicion, and either for the suretie and encrease of his estate. Frende and
foo was muche what indifferent, where his aduauntage grew, he spared no
mans deathe, whose life withstoode his purpose. He slew with his owne
handes king Henry the sixt, being prisoner in the Tower."--SIR THOMAS MORE:
_Johnson's History of the English Language_, p. 39.

36. _From his description of Fortune, written about the year 1500._

   "Fortune is stately, solemne, prowde, and hye:
    And rychesse geueth, to haue seruyce therefore.
    The nedy begger catcheth an half peny:
    Some manne a thousaude pounde, some lesse some more.
    But for all that she kepeth euer in store,
    From euery manne some parcell of his wyll,
    That he may pray therefore and serve her styll.
      Some manne hath good, but chyldren hath he none.
    Some manne hath both, but he can get none health.
    Some hath al thre, but vp to honours trone,
    Can he not crepe, by no maner of stelth.
    To some she sendeth chyldren, ryches, welthe,
    Honour, woorshyp, and reuerence all hys lyfe:
    But yet she pyncheth hym with a shrewde wife."
                                       SIR THOMAS MORE.


V. ENGLISH OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

37. _Example for the reign of Henry VII, who was crowned on Bosworth field,
1485, and who died in 1509._

"Wherefor and forasmoche as we haue sent for our derrest wif, and for our
derrest moder, to come unto us, and that we wold have your advis and
counsail also in soche matters as we haue to doo for the subduying of the
rebelles, we praie you, that, yeving your due attendaunce vppon our said
derrest wif and lady moder, ye come with thaym unto us; not failing herof
as ye purpose to doo us plaisir. Yeven undre our signett, at our Castell of
Kenelworth, the xiii daie of Maye."--HENRY VII: _Letter to the Earl of
Ormond: Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 147.

38. _Example for the short reign of Richard III,--from 1485 to 1483._

"Right reverend fader in God, right trusty and right wel-beloved, we grete
yow wele, and wol and charge you that under oure greate seale, being in
your warde, ye do make in all haist our lettres of proclamation severally
to be directed unto the shirrefs of everie countie within this oure
royaume."--RICHARD III: _Letter to his Chancellor._

39. _Reign of Edward IV,--from 1483 to 1461.--Example written in 1463._

"Forasmoche as we by divers meanes bene credebly enformed and undarstand
for certyne, that owr greate adversary Henry, naminge hym selfe kynge of
England, by the maliceous counseyle and exitacion of Margaret his wife,
namynge hir selfe queane of England, have conspired," &c.--EDWARD IV:
_Letter of Privy Seal_.

40. _Examples for the reign of Henry VI,--from 1461 back to 1422._

"When Nembroth [i.e. _Nimrod_] by Might, for his own Glorye, made and
incorporate the first Realme, and subduyd it to hymself by Tyrannye, he
would not have it governyd by any other Rule or Lawe, but by his own Will;
by which and for th' accomplishment thereof he made it. And therefor,
though he had thus made a Realme, holy Scripture denyd to cal hym a Kyng,
_Quia Rex dicitur a Regendo_; Whych thyng he did not, but oppressyd the
People by Myght."--SIR JOHN FORTESCUE.

41. _Example from Lydgate, a poetical Monk, who died in 1440._

   "Our life here short of wit the great dulnes
    The heuy soule troubled with trauayle,
    And of memorye the glasyng brotelnes,
    Drede and vncunning haue made a strong batail
    With werines my spirite to assayle,
    And with their subtil creping in most queint
    Hath made my spirit in makyng for to feint."
        JOHN LYDGATE: _Fall of Princes_, Book III, Prol.

42. _Example for the reign of Henry V,--from 1422 back to 1413._

"I wolle that the Duc of Orliance be kept stille withyn the Castil of
Pontefret, with owte goyng to Robertis place, or to any other disport, it
is better he lak his disport then we were disceyved. Of all the remanant
dothe as ye thenketh."--_Letter of_ HENRY V.

43. _Example for the reign of Henry IV,--from 1413 back to 1400._

"Right heigh and myghty Prynce, my goode and gracious Lorde,--I recommaund
me to you as lowly as I kan or may with all my pouer hert, desiryng to hier
goode and gracious tydynges of your worshipful astate and welfare."--LORD
GREY: _Letter to the Prince of Wales: Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 145.


VI. ENGLISH OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

44. _Reign of Richard II, 1400 back to 1377.--Example written in 1391._
"Lytel Lowys my sonne, I perceve well by certaine evidences thyne abylyte
to lerne scyences, touching nombres and proporcions, and also well consydre
I thy besye prayer in especyal to lerne the tretyse of the _astrolabye_.
Than for as moche as a philosopher saithe, he wrapeth hym in his frende,
that condiscendeth to the ryghtfull prayers of his frende: therefore I have
given the a sufficient astrolabye for oure orizont, compowned after the
latitude of Oxenforde: vpon the whiche by meditacion of this lytell
tretise, I purpose to teche the a certame nombre of conclusions,
pertainynge to this same instrument."--GEOFFREY CHAUCER: _Of the
Astrolabe_.

45. _Example written about 1385--to be compared with that of 1555, on p.
87_.

"And thus this companie of muses iblamed casten wrothly the chere dounward
to the yerth, and shewing by rednesse their shame, thei passeden sorowfully
the thresholde. And I of whom the sight plounged in teres was darked, so
that I ne might not know what that woman was, of so Imperial aucthoritie, I
woxe all abashed and stonied, and cast my sight doune to the yerth, and
began still for to abide what she would doen afterward."--CHAUCER: _Version
from Boëthius: Johnson's Hist. of E. L._, p. 29.

46. _Poetical Example--probably written before 1380_.

   "O Socrates, thou stedfast champion;
      She ne might nevir be thy turmentour,
    Thou nevir dreddist her oppression,
      Ne in her chere foundin thou no favour,
      Thou knewe wele the disceipt of her colour,
      And that her moste worship is for to lie,
    I knowe her eke a false dissimulour,
      For finally Fortune I doe defie."--CHAUCER.

47. _Reign of Edward III, 1377 to 1327.--Example written about 1360_.

   "And eke full ofte a littell skare
    Vpon a banke, er men be ware,
    Let in the streme, whiche with gret peine,
    If any man it shall restreine.
    Where lawe failleth, errour groweth;
    He is not wise, who that ne troweth."--SIR JOHN GOWER.

48. _Example from Mandeville, the English traveller--written in 1356_.

"And this sterre that is toward the Northe, that wee clepen the lode
sterre, ne apperethe not to hem. For whiche cause, men may wel perceyve,
that the lond and the see ben of rownde schapp and forme. For the partie of
the firmament schewethe in o contree, that schewethe not in another
contree. And men may well preven be experience and sotyle compassement of
wytt, that zif a man fond passages be schippes, that wolde go to serchen
the world, men mighte go be schippe all aboute the world, and aboven and
benethen. The whiche thing I prove thus, aftre that I have seyn. * * * Be
the whiche I seye zou certeynly, that men may envirowne alle the erthe of
alle the world, as wel undre as aboven, and turnen azen to his contree,
that hadde companye and schippynge and conduyt: and alle weyes he scholde
fynde men, londes, and yles, als wel as in this contree."--SIR JOHN
MANDEVILLE; _Johnson's Hist. of E. L._, p. 26.

49. _Example from Rob. Langland's "Vision of Pierce Ploughman," 1350_.

   "In the somer season,
    When hot was the Sun,
    I shope me into shroubs,
    As I a shepe were;
    In habit as an harmet,
    Vnholy of werkes,
    Went wyde in this world
    Wonders to heare."

50. _Description of a Ship--referred to the reign of Edward II: 1327-1307_.

   "Such ne saw they never none,
    For it was so gay begone,
    Every nayle with gold ygrave,
    Of pure gold was his sklave,
    Her mast was of ivory,
    Of samyte her sayle wytly,
    Her robes all of whyte sylk,
    As whyte as ever was ony mylke.
    The noble ship was without
    With clothes of gold spread about
    And her loft and her wyndlace
    All of gold depaynted was."
        ANONYMOUS: _Bucke's Gram._, p. 143.

51. _From an Elegy on Edward I, who reigned till 1307 from 1272_.

   "Thah mi tonge were made of stel,
      Ant min herte yzote of bras,
    The goodness myht y never telle,
      That with kyng Edward was:
    Kyng, as thou art cleped conquerour,
      In uch battaille thou hadest prys;
    God bringe thi soule to the honour,
      That ever wes ant ever ys.
    Now is Edward of Carnavan
      Kyng of Engelond al aplyght;
    God lete him never be worse man
      Then his fader, ne lasse myht,
    To holden his pore men to ryht,
      Ant understonde good counsail,
    Al Engelond for to wysse and dyht;
      Of gode knyhtes darh him nout fail."
        ANON.: _Percy's Reliques_, Vol. ii, p. 10.

VII. ENGLISH OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.

52. _Reign of Henry III, 1272 to 1216.--Example from an old ballad entitled
Richard of Almaigne_; which Percy says was "made by one of the adherents of
Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, soon after the battle of Lewes, which
was fought, May 14, 1264."--_Percy's Reliques_, Vol. ii.

   "Sitteth alle stille, and herkneth to me;
    The kyng of Almaigne, bi mi leaute,
    Thritti thousent pound askede he
    For te make the pees in the countre,
          Ant so he dude more.
      Richard, thah thou be ever trichard,
          Trichten shalt thou never more."

53. In the following examples, I substitute Roman letters for the Saxon. At
this period, we find the characters mixed. The style here is that which
Johnson calls "a kind of intermediate diction, neither Saxon nor English."
Of these historical rhymes, by _Robert of Gloucester_, the Doctor gives us
more than two hundred lines; but he dates them no further than to say,
that the author "is placed by the criticks in the thirteenth
century."--_Hist. of Eng. Lang._, p. 24.

   "Alfred thys noble man, as in the ger of grace he nom
    Eygte hondred and syxty and tuelue the kyndom.
    Arst he adde at Rome ybe, and, vor ys grete wysdom,
    The pope Leo hym blessede, tho he thuder com,
    And the kynges croune of hys lond, that in this lond gut ys:
    And he led hym to be kyng, ar he kyng were y wys.
    An he was kyng of Engelond, of alle that ther come,
    That vorst thus ylad was of the pope of Rome,
    An suththe other after hym of the erchebyssopes echon."

    "Clere he was god ynou, and gut, as me telleth me,
    He was more than ten ger old, ar he couthe ys abece.
    Ac ys gode moder ofte smale gyftes hym tok,
    Vor to byleue other pie, and loky on ys boke.
    So that by por clergye ys rygt lawes he wonde,
    That neuere er nere y mad to gouerny ys lond."
             ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER: _Johnson's Hist. of E. L._, p. 25.

54. _Reign of John_, 1216 _back to_ 1199.--_Subject of Christ's
Crucifixion_.

   "I syke when y singe for sorewe that y se
    When y with wypinge bihold upon the tre,
    Ant se Jhesu the suete ys hert blod for-lete
                           For the love of me;
    Ys woundes waxen wete, thei wepen, still and mete,
                           Marie reweth me."
                               ANON.: _Bucke's Gram._, p. 142.

VIII. ENGLISH, OR ANGLO-SAXON, OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY.

55. _Reign of Richard I, 1199 back to 1189.--Owl and Nightingale_.

   "Ich was in one sumere dale,
    In one snive digele pale,
    I herde ich hold grete tale,
    An hule and one nightingale.
    That plait was stif I stare and strong,
    Sum wile softe I lud among.
    An other again other sval
    I let that wole mod ut al.
    I either seide of otheres custe,
    That alere worste that hi wuste
    I hure and I hure of others songe
    Hi hold plaidung futhe stronge."
             ANON.: _Bucke's Gram._, p. 142.

56. _Reign of Henry II, 1189 back to 1154.--Example dated 1180_.

   "And of alle than folke
    The wuneden ther on folde,
    Wes thisses landes folke
    Leodene hendest itald;
    And alswa the wimmen
    Wunliche on heowen."
              GODRIC: _Bucke's Gram._, p. 141.

57. _Example from the Saxon Chronicle, written about 1160_.

"Micel hadde Henri king gadered gold & syluer, and na god ne dide me for
his saule thar of. Tha the king Stephne to Engla-land com, tha macod he his
gadering æt Oxene-ford, & thar he nam the biscop Roger of Seres-beri, and
Alexander biscop of Lincoln, & te Canceler Roger hife neues, & dide ælle in
prisun, til hi jafen up here castles. Tha the suikes undergæton that he
milde man was & softe & god, & na justise ne dide; tha diden hi alle
wunder." See _Johnson's Hist. of the Eng. Language_, p. 22.

58. _Reign of Stephen, 1154 to 1135.--Example written about this time_.

   "Fur in see bi west Spaygne.
    Is a lond ihone Cokaygne.
    There nis lond under heuenriche.
    Of wel of godnis hit iliche.
    Thoy paradis be miri and briyt.
    Cokaygne is of fairer siyt.
    What is ther in paradis.
    Bot grasse and flure and greneris.
    Thoy ther be ioi and gret dute.
    Ther nis met bot ænlic frute.
    Ther nis halle bure no bench.
    Bot watir manis thurst to quench."
                ANON.: _Johnson's Hist. Eng. Lang._, p. 23.

59. _Reign of Henry I, 1135 to 1100.--Part of an Anglo-Saxon Hymn_.

   "Heuene & erthe & all that is,
      Biloken is on his honde.
    He deth al that his wille is,
      On sea and ec on londe.

    He is orde albuten orde.
      And ende albuten ende.
    He one is eure on eche stede,
      Wende wer thu wende.

    He is buuen us and binethen,
      Biuoren and ec bihind.
    Se man that Godes wille deth,
      He mai hine aihwar uinde.

    Eche rune he iherth,
      And wot eche dede.
    He durh sighth eches ithanc,
      Wai hwat sel us to rede.

    Se man neure nele don god,
      Ne neure god lif leden,
    Er deth & dom come to his dure,
      He mai him sore adreden.

    Hunger & thurst, hete & chele,
      Ecthe and all unhelthe,
    Durh deth com on this midelard,
      And other uniselthe.

    Ne mai non herte hit ithenche,
      Ne no tunge telle,
    Hu muchele pinum and hu uele,
      Bieth inne helle.

    Louie God mid ure hierte,
      And mid all ure mihte,
    And ure emcristene swo us self,
      Swo us lereth drihte."
                  ANON.: _Johnson's Hist. Eng. Lang._, p. 21.

IX. ANGLO-SAXON OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY, COMPARED WITH ENGLISH.

60. _Saxon,--11th Century_.[50]

LUCÆ, CAP. I.

"5. On Herodes dagum Iudea cynincges, wæs sum sacred on naman Zacharias, of
Abian tune: and his wif wæs of Aarones dohtrum, and hyre nama waas
Elizabeth.

6. Sothlice hig wæron butu rihtwise beforan Gode, gangende on eallum his
bebodum and rihtwisnessum, butan wrohte.

7. And hig næfdon nan bearn, fortham the Elizabeth wæs unberende; and hy on
hyra dagum butu forth-eodun.

8. Sothlice wæs geworden tha Zacharias hys sacerdhades breac on his
gewrixles endebyrdnesse beforan Gode,

9. Æfter gewunan thæs sacerdhades hlotes, he eode that he his offrunge
sette, tha he on Godes tempel eode.

10. Eall werod thæs folces wæs ute gebiddende on thære offrunge timan.

11. Tha ætywde him Drihtnes engel standende on thæs weofodes swithran
healfe.

12. Tha weard Zacharias gedrefed that geseonde, and him ege onhreas.

13. Tha cwæth se engel him to, Ne ondræd thu the Zacharias; fortham thin
ben is gehyred, and thin wif Elizabeth the sunu centh, and thu nemst hys
naman Johannes."--_Saxon Gospels_.

_English.--14th Century_.

LUK, CHAP. I.

"5. In the dayes of Eroude kyng of Judee ther was a prest Zacarye by name,
of the sort of Abia: and his wyf was of the doughtris of Aaron, and hir
name was Elizabeth.

6. And bothe weren juste bifore God, goynge in alle the maundementis and
justifyingis of the Lord, withouten playnt.

7. And thei hadden no child, for Elizabeth was bareyn; and bothe weren of
greet age in her dayes.

8. And it befel that whanne Zacarye schould do the office of presthod in
the ordir of his course to fore God,

9. Aftir the custom of the presthood, he wente forth by lot, and entride
into the temple to encensen.

10. And al the multitude of the puple was without forth and preyede in the
our of encensying.

11. And an aungel of the Lord apperide to him, and stood on the right half
of the auter of encense. 12. And Zacarye seyinge was afrayed, and drede fel
upon him.

13. And the aungel sayde to him, Zacarye, drede thou not; for thy preier is
herd, and Elizabeth thi wif schal bere to thee a sone, and his name schal
be clepid Jon."

_Wickliffe's Bible_, 1380.

_English.--17th Century_.

LUKE, CHAP. I.

"5. There was in the days of Herod the king of Judea, a certain priest
named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters
of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

6. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord, blameless.

7. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren; and they both
were now well stricken in years.

8. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before
God in the order of his course,

9. According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn
incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

10. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time
of incense.

11. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right
side of the altar of incense.

12. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

13. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias; for thy prayer is
heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call
his name John."

_Common Bible_, 1610.

See Dr. Johnson's History of the English Language, in his Quarto
Dictionary.


X. ANGLO-SAXON IN THE TIME OF KING ALFRED.

61. Alfred the Great, who was the youngest son of Ethelwolf, king of the
West Saxons, succeeded to the crown on the death of his brother Ethelred,
in the year 871, being then twenty-two years old. He had scarcely time to
attend the funeral of his brother, before he was called to the field to
defend his country against the Danes. After a reign of more than
twenty-eight years, rendered singularly glorious by great achievements
under difficult circumstances, he died universally lamented, on the 28th of
October, A. D. 900. By this prince the university of Oxford was founded,
and provided with able teachers from the continent. His own great
proficiency in learning, and his earnest efforts for its promotion, form a
striking contrast with the ignorance which prevailed before. "In the ninth
century, throughout the whole kingdom of the West Saxons, no man could be
found who was scholar enough to instruct the young king Alfred, then a
child, even in the first elements of reading: so that he was in his twelfth
year before he could name the letters of the alphabet. When that renowned
prince ascended the throne, he made it his study to draw his people out of
the sloth and stupidity in which they lay; and became, as much by his own
example as by the encouragement he gave to learned men, the great restorer
of arts in his dominions."--_Life of Bacon_.

62. The language of eulogy must often be taken with some abatement: it does
not usually present things in their due proportions. How far the foregoing
quotation is true, I will not pretend to say; but what is called "the
revival of learning," must not be supposed to have begun at so early a
period as that of Alfred. The following is a brief specimen of the language
in which that great man wrote; but, printed in Saxon characters, it would
appear still less like English.

"On thære tide the Gotan of Siththiu mægthe with Romana rice gewin
upahofon. and mith heora cyningum. Rædgota and Eallerica wæron hatne.
Romane burig abræcon. and eall Italia rice that is betwux tham muntum and
Sicilia tham ealonde in anwald gerehton. and tha ægter tham foresprecenan
cyningum Theodric feng to tham ilcan rice se Theodric wæs Amulinga. he wass
Cristen. theah he on tham Arrianiscan gedwolan durhwunode. He gehet Romanum
his freondscype. swa that hi mostan heora ealdrichta wyrthe beon."--KING
ALFRED: _Johnson's Hist. of E. L., 4to Dict._, p. 17.




CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE GRAMMATICAL STUDY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

"Grammatica quid est? ars rectè scribendi rectèque loquendi; poetarum
enarrationem continens; omnium Scientiarum fons uberrimus. * * * Nostra
ætas parum perita rerum veterum, nimis brevi gyro grammaticum sepsit; at
apud antiques olim tantum auctoritatis hic ordo habuit, ut censores essent
et judices scriptorum omnium soli grammatici; quos ob id etiam Criticos
vocabant."--DESPAUTER. _Præf. ad Synt_, fol. 1.


1. Such is the peculiar power of language, that there is scarcely any
subject so trifling, that it may not thereby be plausibly magnified into
something great; nor are there many things which cannot be ingeniously
disparaged till they shall seem contemptible. Cicero goes further: "Nihil
est tam incredibile quod non dicendo fiat probabile;"--"There is nothing so
incredible that it may not by the power of language be made probable." The
study of grammar has been often overrated, and still oftener injuriously
decried. I shall neither join with those who would lessen in the public
esteem that general system of doctrines, which from time immemorial has
been taught as grammar; nor attempt, either by magnifying its practical
results, or by decking it out with my own imaginings, to invest it with any
artificial or extraneous importance.

2. I shall not follow the footsteps of _Neef_, who avers that, "Grammar and
incongruity are identical things," and who, under pretence of reaching the
same end by better means, scornfully rejects as nonsense every thing that
others have taught under that name; because I am convinced, that, of all
methods of teaching, none goes farther than his, to prove the reproachful
assertion true. Nor shall I imitate the declamation of _Cardell_; who, at
the commencement of his Essay, recommends the general study of language on
earth, from the consideration that, "The faculty of speech is the medium of
social bliss for superior intelligences in an eternal world;" [51] and who,
when he has exhausted censure in condemning the practical instruction of
others, thus lavishes praise, in both his grammars, upon that formless,
void, and incomprehensible theory of his own: "This application of words,"
says he, "in their endless use, by one plain rule, to all things which
nouns can name, instead of being the fit subject of blind cavil, _is the
most sublime theme presented to the intellect on earth. It is the practical
intercourse of the soul at once with its God, and with all parts of his
works!_"--_Cardell's Gram._, 12mo, p. 87; _Gram._, 18mo, p. 49.

3. Here, indeed, a wide prospect opens before us; but he who traces
science, and teaches what is practically useful, must check imagination,
and be content with sober truth.

   "For apt the mind or fancy is to rove
    Uncheck'd, and of her roving is no end."--MILTON.

Restricted within its proper limits, and viewed in its true light, the
practical science of grammar has an intrinsic dignity and merit sufficient
to throw back upon any man who dares openly assail it, the lasting stigma
of folly and self-conceit. It is true, the judgements of men are fallible,
and many opinions are liable to be reversed by better knowledge: but what
has been long established by the unanimous concurrence of the learned, it
can hardly be the part of a wise instructor now to dispute. The literary
reformer who, with the last named gentleman, imagines "that the persons to
whom the civilized world have looked up to for instruction in language were
all wrong alike in the main points," [52] intends no middle course of
reformation, and must needs be a man either of great merit, or of little
modesty.

4. The English language may now be regarded as the common inheritance of
about fifty millions of people; who are at least as highly distinguished
for virtue, intelligence, and enterprise, as any other equal portion of the
earth's population. All these are more or less interested in the purity,
permanency, and right use of that language; inasmuch as it is to be, not
only the medium of mental intercourse with others for them and their
children, but the vehicle of all they value, in the reversion of ancestral
honour, or in the transmission of their own. It is even impertinent, to
tell a man of any respectability, that the study of this his native
language is an object of great importance and interest: if he does not,
from these most obvious considerations, feel it to be so, the suggestion
will be less likely to convince him, than to give offence, as conveying an
implicit censure.

5. Every person who has any ambition to appear respectable among people of
education, whether in conversation, in correspondence, in public speaking,
or in print, must be aware of the absolute necessity of a competent
knowledge of the language in which he attempts to express his thoughts.
Many a ludicrous anecdote is told, of persons venturing to use words of
which they did not know the proper application; many a ridiculous blunder
has been published to the lasting disgrace of the writer; and so intimately
does every man's reputation for sense depend upon his skill in the use of
language, that it is scarcely possible to acquire the one without the
other. Who can tell how much of his own good or ill success, how much of
the favour or disregard with which he himself has been treated, may have
depended upon that skill or deficiency in grammar, of which, as often as he
has either spoken or written, he must have afforded a certain and constant
evidence.[53]

6. I have before said, that to excel in grammar, is but to know better than
others wherein grammatical excellence consists; and, as this excellence,
whether in the thing itself, or in him that attains to it, is merely
comparative, there seems to be no fixed point of perfection beyond which
such learning may not be carried. In speaking or writing to different
persons, and on different subjects, it is necessary to vary one's style
with great nicety of address; and in nothing does true genius more
conspicuously appear, than in the facility with which it adopts the most
appropriate expressions, leaving the critic no fault to expose, no word to
amend. Such facility of course supposes an intimate knowledge of all words
in common use, and also of the principles on which they are to be combined.

7. With a language which we are daily in the practice of hearing, speaking,
reading, and writing, we may certainly acquire no inconsiderable
acquaintance, without the formal study of its rules. All the true
principles of grammar were presumed to be known to the learned, before they
were written for the aid of learners; nor have they acquired any
independent authority, by being recorded in a book, and denominated
grammar. The teaching of them, however, has tended in no small degree to
settle and establish the construction of the language, to improve the style
of our English writers, and to enable us to ascertain with more clearness
the true standard of grammatical purity. He who learns only by rote, may
speak the words or phrases which he has thus acquired; and he who has the
genius to discern intuitively what is regular and proper, may have further
aid from the analogies which he thus discovers; but he who would add to
such acquisitions the satisfaction of knowing what is right, must make the
principles of language his study.

8. To produce an able and elegant writer, may require something more than a
knowledge of grammar rules; yet it is argument enough in favour of those
rules, that without a knowledge of them no elegant and able writer is
produced. Who that considers the infinite number of phrases which words in
their various combinations may form, and the utter impossibility that they
should ever be recognized individually for the purposes of instruction and
criticism, but must see the absolute necessity of dividing words into
classes, and of showing, by general rules of formation and construction,
the laws to which custom commonly subjects them, or from which she allows
them in particular instances to deviate? Grammar, or the art of writing and
speaking, must continue to be learned by some persons; because it is of
indispensable use to society. And the only question is, whether children
and youth shall acquire it by a regular process of study and method of
instruction, or be left to glean it solely from their own occasional
observation of the manner in which other people speak and write.

9. The practical solution of this question belongs chiefly to parents and
guardians. The opinions of teachers, to whose discretion the decision will
sometimes be left, must have a certain degree of influence upon the public
mind; and the popular notions of the age, in respect to the relative value
of different studies, will doubtless bias many to the adoption or the
rejection of this. A consideration of the point seems to be appropriate
here, and I cannot forbear to commend the study to the favour of my
readers; leaving every one, of course, to choose how much he will be
influenced by my advice, example, or arguments. If past experience and the
history of education be taken for guides, the study of English grammar will
not be neglected; and the method of its inculcation will become an object
of particular inquiry and solicitude. The English language ought to be
learned at school or in colleges, as other languages usually are; by the
study of its grammar, accompanied with regular exercises of parsing,
correcting, pointing, and scanning; and by the perusal of some of its most
accurate writers, accompanied with stated exercises in composition and
elocution. In books of criticism, our language is already more abundant
than any other. Some of the best of these the student should peruse, as
soon as he can understand and relish them. Such a course, pursued with
regularity and diligence, will be found the most direct way of acquiring an
English style at once pure, correct, and elegant.

10. If any intelligent man will represent English grammar otherwise than as
one of the most useful branches of study, he may well be suspected of
having formed his conceptions of the science, not from what it really is in
itself, but from some of those miserable treatises which only caricature
the subject, and of which it is rather an advantage to be ignorant. But who
is so destitute of good sense as to deny, that a graceful and easy
conversation in the private circle, a fluent and agreeable delivery in
public speaking, a ready and natural utterance in reading, a pure and
elegant style in composition, are accomplishments of a very high order? And
yet of all these, the proper study of English grammar is the true
foundation. This would never be denied or doubted, if young people did not
find, under some other name, better models and more efficient instruction,
than what was practised on them for grammar in the school-room. No disciple
of an able grammarian can ever speak ill of grammar, unless he belong to
that class of knaves who vilify what they despair to reach.

11. By taking
proper advantage of the ductility of childhood, intelligent parents and
judicious teachers may exercise over the studies, opinions, and habits of
youth a strong and salutary control; and it will seldom be found in
experience, that those who have been early taught to consider grammatical
learning as worthy and manly, will change their opinion in after life. But
the study of grammar is not so enticing that it may be disparaged in the
hearing of the young, without injury. What would be the natural effect of
the following sentence, which I quote from a late well-written religious
homily? "The pedagogue and his dunce may exercise their wits correctly
enough, in the way of grammatical analysis, on some splendid argument, or
burst of eloquence, or thrilling descant, or poetic rapture, to the strain
and soul of which not a fibre in their nature would yield a
vibration."--_New-York Observer_, Vol. ix, p. 73.

12. Would not the bright boy who heard this from the lips of his reverend
minister, be apt the next day to grow weary of the parsing lesson required
by his schoolmaster? And yet what truth is there in the passage? One can no
more judge of the fitness of language, without regard to the meaning
conveyed by it, than of the fitness of a suit of clothes, without knowing
for whom they were intended. The grand clew to the proper application of
all syntactical rules, is _the sense_; and as any composition is faulty
which does not rightly deliver the author's meaning, so every solution of a
word or sentence is necessarily erroneous, in which that meaning is not
carefully noticed and literally preserved. To parse rightly and fully, is
nothing else than to understand rightly and explain fully; and whatsoever
is well expressed, it is a shame either to misunderstand or to
misinterpret.

13. This study, when properly conducted and liberally pursued, has an
obvious tendency to dignify the whole character. How can he be a man of
refined literary taste, who cannot speak and write his native language
grammatically? And who will deny that every degree of improvement in
literary taste tends to brighten and embellish the whole intellectual
nature? The several powers of the mind are not so many distinct and
separable agents, which are usually brought into exercise one by one; and
even if they were, there might be found, in a judicious prosecution of this
study, a healthful employment for them all. The _imagination_, indeed, has
nothing to do with the elements of grammar; but in the exercise of
composition, young fancy may spread her wings as soon as they are fledged;
and for this exercise the previous course of discipline will have furnished
both language and taste, as well as sentiment.

14. The regular grammatical study of our language is a thing of recent
origin. Fifty or sixty years ago, such an exercise was scarcely attempted
in any of the schools, either in this country or in England.[54] Of this
fact we have abundant evidence both from books, and from the testimony of
our venerable fathers yet living. How often have these presented this as an
apology for their own deficiencies, and endeavoured to excite us to greater
diligence, by contrasting our opportunities with theirs! Is there not
truth, is there not power, in the appeal? And are we not bound to avail
ourselves of the privileges which they have provided, to build upon the
foundations which their wisdom has laid, and to carry forward the work of
improvement? Institutions can do nothing for us, unless the love of
learning preside over and prevail in them. The discipline of our schools
can never approach perfection, till those who conduct, and those who
frequent them, are strongly actuated by that disposition of mind, which
generously aspires to all attainable excellence.

15. To rouse this laudable spirit in the minds of our youth, and to satisfy
its demands whenever it appears, ought to be the leading objects with those
to whom is committed the important business of instruction. A dull teacher,
wasting time in a school-room with a parcel of stupid or indolent boys,
knows nothing of the satisfaction either of doing his own duty, or of
exciting others to the performance of theirs. He settles down in a regular
routine of humdrum exercises, dreading as an inconvenience even such change
as proficiency in his pupils must bring on; and is well content to do
little good for little money, in a profession which he honours with his
services merely to escape starvation. He has, however, one merit: he
pleases his patrons, and is perhaps the only man that can; for they must
needs be of that class to whom moral restraint is tyranny, disobedience to
teachers, as often right as wrong; and who, dreading the expense, even of a
school-book, always judge those things to be cheapest, which cost the least
and last the longest. What such a man, or such a neighbourhood, may think
of English grammar, I shall not stop to ask.

16. To the following opinion from a writer of great merit, I am inclined to
afford room here, because it deserves refutation, and, I am persuaded, is
not so well founded as the generality of the doctrines with which it is
presented to the public. "Since human knowledge is so much more extensive
than the opportunity of individuals for acquiring it, it becomes of the
greatest importance so to economize the opportunity as to make it
subservient to the acquisition of as large and as valuable a portion as we
can. It is not enough to show that a given branch of education is useful:
you must show that it is the most useful that can be selected. Remembering
this, I think it would be expedient to dispense with the formal study of
English grammar,--a proposition which I doubt not many a teacher will hear
with wonder and disapprobation. We learn the grammar in order that we may
learn English; and we learn English whether we study grammars or not.
Especially we _shall_ acquire a competent knowledge of our own language, if
other departments of our education were improved."

17. "A boy learns more English grammar by joining in an hour's conversation
with educated people, than in poring for an hour over Murray or Horne
Tooke. If he is accustomed to such society and to the perusal of
well-written books, he will learn English grammar, though he never sees a
word about syntax; and if he is not accustomed to such society and such
reading, the 'grammar books' at a boarding-school will not teach it. Men
learn their own language by habit, and not by rules: and this is just what
we might expect; for the grammar of a language is itself formed from the
prevalent habits of speech and writing. A compiler of grammar first
observes these habits, and then makes his rules: but if a person is himself
familiar with the habits, why study the rules? I say nothing of grammar as
a general science; because, although the philosophy of language be a
valuable branch of human knowledge, it were idle to expect that school-boys
should understand it. The objection is, to the system of attempting to
teach children formally that which they will learn practically without
teaching."--JONATHAN DYMOND: _Essays on Morality_, p. 195.

18. This opinion, proceeding from a man who has written upon human affairs
with so much ability and practical good sense, is perhaps entitled to as
much respect as any that has ever been urged against the study in question.
And so far as the objection bears upon those defective methods of
instruction which experience has shown to be inefficient, or of little use,
I am in no wise concerned to remove it. The reader of this treatise will
find their faults not only admitted, but to a great extent purposely
exposed; while an attempt is here made, as well as in my earlier grammars,
to introduce a method which it is hoped will better reach the end proposed.
But it may easily be perceived that this author's proposition to dispense
with the formal study of English grammar is founded upon an untenable
assumption. Whatever may be the advantages of those purer habits of speech,
which the young naturally acquire from conversation with educated people,
it is not true, that, without instruction directed to this end, they will
of themselves become so well educated as to speak and write grammatically.
Their language may indeed be comparatively accurate and genteel, because
it is learned of those who have paid some attention to the study; but, as
they cannot always be preserved from hearing vulgar and improper
phraseology, or from seeing it in books, they cannot otherwise be guarded
from improprieties of diction, than by a knowledge of the rules of grammar.
One might easily back this position by the citation of some scores of
faulty sentences from the pen of this very able writer himself.

19. I imagine there can be no mistake in the opinion, that in exact
proportion as the rules of grammar are unknown or neglected in any country,
will corruptions and improprieties of language be there multiplied. The
"general science" of grammar, or "the philosophy of language," the author
seems to exempt, and in some sort to commend; and at the same time his
proposition of exclusion is applied not merely to the school-grammars, but
_a fortiori_ to this science, under the notion that it is unintelligible to
school-boys. But why should any principle of grammar be the less
intelligible on account of the extent of its application? Will a boy
pretend that he cannot understand a rule of English grammar, because he is
told that it holds good in all languages? Ancient etymologies, and other
facts in literary history, must be taken by the young upon the credit of
him who states them; but the doctrines of general grammar are to the
learner the easiest and the most important principles of the science. And I
know of nothing in the true philosophy of language, which, by proper
definitions and examples, may not be made as intelligible to a boy, as are
the principles of most other sciences. The difficulty of instructing youth
in any thing that pertains to language, lies not so much in the fact that
its philosophy is above their comprehension, as in our own ignorance of
certain parts of so vast an inquiry;--in the great multiplicity of verbal
signs; the frequent contrariety of practice; the inadequacy of memory; the
inveteracy of ill habits; and the little interest that is felt when we
speak merely of words.

20. The grammatical study of our language was early and strongly
recommended by Locke,[55] and other writers on education, whose character
gave additional weight to an opinion which they enforced by the clearest
arguments. But either for want of a good grammar, or for lack of teachers
skilled in the subject and sensible of its importance, the general neglect
so long complained of as a grievous imperfection in our methods of
education, has been but recently and partially obviated. "The attainment of
a correct and elegant style," says Dr. Blair, "is an object which demands
application and labour. If any imagine they can catch it merely by the ear,
or acquire it by the slight perusal of some of our good authors, they will
find themselves much disappointed. The many errors, even in point of
grammar, the many offences against purity of language, which are committed
by writers who are far from being contemptible, demonstrate, that a
_careful study_ of the language is previously requisite, in all who aim at
writing it properly."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, Lect. ix, p. 91.

21. "To think justly, to write well, to speak agreeably, are the three
great ends of academic instruction. The Universities will excuse me, if I
observe, that both are, in one respect or other, defective in these three
capital points of education. While in Cambridge the general application is
turned altogether on speculative knowledge, with little regard to polite
letters, taste, or style; in Oxford the whole attention is directed towards
classical correctness, without any sound foundation laid in severe
reasoning and philosophy. In Cambridge and in Oxford, the art of speaking
agreeably is so far from being taught, that it is hardly talked or thought
of. _These defects_ naturally produce dry unaffecting compositions in the
one; superficial taste and puerile elegance in the other; ungracious or
affected speech in both."--DR. BROWN, 1757: _Estimate_, Vol. ii, p. 44.

22. "A grammatical study of our own language makes no part of the ordinary
method of instruction, which we pass through in our childhood; and it is
very seldom we apply ourselves to it afterward. Yet the want of it will not
be effectually supplied by any other advantages whatsoever. Much practice
in the polite world, and a general acquaintance with the best authors, are
good helps; but alone [they] will hardly be sufficient: We have writers,
who have enjoyed these advantages in their full extent, and yet cannot be
recommended as models of an accurate style. Much less then will, what is
commonly called learning, serve the purpose; that is, a critical knowledge
of ancient languages, and much reading of ancient authors: The greatest
critic and most able grammarian of the last age, when he came to apply his
learning and criticism to an English author, was frequently at a loss in
matters of ordinary use and common construction in his own vernacular
idiom."--DR. LOWTH, 1763: _Pref. to Gram._, p. vi.

23. "To the pupils of our public schools the acquisition of their own
language, whenever it is undertaken, is an easy task. For he who is
acquainted with several grammars already, finds no difficulty in adding one
more to the number. And this, no doubt, is one of the reasons why English
engages so small a proportion of their time and attention. It is not
frequently read, and is still less frequently written. Its supposed
facility, however, or some other cause, seems to have drawn upon it such a
degree of neglect as certainly cannot be praised. The students in those
schools are often distinguished by their compositions in the learned
languages, before they can speak or write their own with correctness,
elegance, or fluency. A classical scholar too often has his English style
to form, when he should communicate his acquisitions to the world. In some
instances it is never formed with success; and the defects of his
expression either deter him from appearing before the public at all, or at
least counteract in a great degree the influence of his work, and bring
ridicule upon the author. Surely these evils might easily be prevented or
diminished."--DR. BARROW: _Essays on Education_, London, 1804; Philad.,
1825, p. 87.

24. "It is also said that those who know Latin and Greek generally express
themselves with more clearness than those who do not receive a liberal
education. It is indeed natural that those who cultivate their mental
powers, write with more clearness than the uncultivated individual. The
mental cultivation, however, may take place in the mother tongue as well as
in Latin or Greek. Yet the spirit of the ancient languages, further is
declared to be superior to that of the modern. I allow this to be the case;
but I do not find that the English style is improved by learning Greek. It
is known that literal translations are miserably bad, and yet young
scholars are taught to translate, word for word, faithful to their
dictionaries. Hence those who do not make a peculiar study of their own
language, will not improve in it by learning, in this manner, Greek and
Latin. Is it not a pity to hear, what I have been told by the managers of
one of the first institutions of Ireland, that it was easier to find ten
teachers for Latin and Greek, than one for the English language, though
they proposed double the salary to the latter? Who can assure us that the
Greek orators acquired their superiority by their acquaintance with foreign
languages; or, is it not obvious, on the other hand, that they learned
ideas and expressed them in their mother tongue?"--DR. SPURZHEIM: _Treatise
on Education_, 1832, p. 107.

25. "Dictionaries were compiled, which comprised all the words, together
with their several definitions, or the sense each one expresses and conveys
to the mind. These words were analyzed and classed according to their
essence, attributes, and functions. Grammar was made a rudiment leading to
the principles of all thoughts, and teaching by simple examples, the
general classification of words and their subdivisions in expressing the
various conceptions of the mind. Grammar is then the key to the perfect
understanding of languages; without which we are left to wander all our
lives in an intricate labyrinth, without being able to trace back again any
part of our way."--_Chazotte's Essay on the Teaching of Languages_, p. 45.
Again: "Had it not been for his dictionary and his grammar, which taught
him the essence of all languages, and the natural subdivision of their
component parts, he might have spent a life as long as Methuselah's, in
learning words, without being able to attain to a degree of perfection in
any of the languages."--_Ib._, p. 50. "Indeed, it is not easy to say, to
what degree, and in how many different ways, both memory and judgement may
be improved by an intimate acquaintance with grammar; which is therefore,
with good reason, made the first and fundamental part of literary
education. The greatest orators, the most elegant scholars, and the most
accomplished men of business, that have appeared in the world, of whom I
need only mention Cæsar and Cicero, were not only studious of grammar, but
most learned grammarians."--DR. BEATTIE: _Moral Science_, Vol. i, p. 107.

26. Here, as in many other parts of my work, I have chosen to be liberal of
quotations; not to show my reading, or to save the labour of composition,
but to give the reader the satisfaction of some other authority than my
own. In commending the study of English grammar, I do not mean to
discountenance that degree of attention which in this country is paid to
other languages; but merely to use my feeble influence to carry forward a
work of improvement, which, in my opinion, has been wisely begun, but not
sufficiently sustained. In consequence of this improvement, the study of
grammar, which was once prosecuted chiefly through the medium of the dead
languages, and was regarded as the proper business of those only who were
to be instructed in Latin and Greek, is now thought to be an appropriate
exercise for children in elementary schools. And the sentiment is now
generally admitted, that even those who are afterwards to learn other
languages, may best acquire a knowledge of the common principles of speech
from the grammar of their vernacular tongue. This opinion appears to be
confirmed by that experience which is at once the most satisfactory proof
of what is feasible, and the only proper test of what is useful.

27. It must, however, be confessed, that an acquaintance with ancient and
foreign literature is absolutely necessary for him who would become a
thorough philologist or an accomplished scholar; and that the Latin
language, the source of several of the modern tongues of Europe, being
remarkably regular in its inflections and systematic in its construction,
is in itself the most complete exemplar of the structure of speech, and the
best foundation for the study of grammar in general. But, as the general
principles of grammar are common to all languages, and as the only
successful method of learning them, is, to commit to memory the definitions
and rules which embrace them, it is reasonable to suppose that the language
most intelligible to the learner, is the most suitable for the commencement
of his grammatical studies. A competent knowledge of English grammar is
also in itself a valuable attainment, which is within the easy reach of
many young persons whose situation in life debars them from the pursuit of
general literature.

28. The attention which has lately been given to the culture of the English
language, by some who, in the character of critics or lexicographers, have
laboured purposely to improve it, and by many others who, in various
branches of knowledge, have tastefully adorned it with the works of their
genius, has in a great measure redeemed it from that contempt in which it
was formerly held in the halls of learning. But, as I have before
suggested, it does not yet appear to be sufficiently attended to in the
course of what is called a _liberal education_. Compared with, other
languages, the English exhibits both excellences and defects; but its
flexibility, or power of accommodation to the tastes of different writers,
is great; and when it is used with that mastership which belongs to
learning and genius, it must be acknowledged there are few, if any, to
which it ought on the whole to be considered inferior. But above all, it is
_our own_; and, whatever we may know or think of other tongues, it can
never be either patriotic or wise, for the learned men of the United States
or of England to pride themselves chiefly upon them.

29. Our language is worthy to be assiduously studied by all who reside
where it is spoken, and who have the means and the opportunity to become
critically acquainted with it. To every such student it is vastly more
important to be able to speak and write well in English, than to be
distinguished for proficiency in the learned languages and yet ignorant of
his own. It is certain that many from whom better things might be expected,
are found miserably deficient in this respect. And their neglect of so
desirable an accomplishment is the more remarkable and the more censurable
on account of the facility with which those who are acquainted with the
ancient languages may attain to excellence in their English style.
"Whatever the advantages or defects of the English language be, as it is
our own language, it deserves a high degree of our study and attention. * *
* Whatever knowledge may be acquired by the study of other languages, it
can never be communicated with advantage, unless by such as can write and
speak their own language well."--DR. BLAIR: _Rhetoric_, Lect. ix, p. 91.

30. I am not of opinion that it is expedient to press this study to much
extent, if at all, on those whom poverty or incapacity may have destined to
situations in which they will never hear or think of it afterwards. The
course of nature cannot be controlled; and fortune does not permit us to
prescribe the same course of discipline for all. To speak the language
which they have learned without study, and to read and write for the most
common purposes of life, may be education enough for those who can be
raised no higher. But it must be the desire of every benevolent and
intelligent man, to see the advantages of literary, as well as of moral
culture, extended as far as possible among the people. And it is manifest,
that in proportion as the precepts of the divine Redeemer are obeyed by the
nations that profess his name, will all distinctions arising merely from
the inequality of fortune be lessened or done away, and better
opportunities be offered for the children of indigence to adorn themselves
with the treasures of knowledge.

31. We may not be able to effect all that is desirable; but, favoured as
our country is, with great facilities for carrying forward the work of
improvement, in every thing which can contribute to national glory and
prosperity, I would, in conclusion of this topic, submit--that a critical
knowledge of our common language is a subject worthy of the particular
attention of all who have the genius and the opportunity to attain
it;--that on the purity and propriety with which American authors write
this language, the reputation of our national literature greatly
depends;--that in the preservation of it from all changes which ignorance
may admit or affectation invent, we ought to unite as having one common
interest;--that a fixed and settled orthography is of great importance, as
a means of preserving the etymology, history, and identity of words;--that
a grammar freed from errors and defects, and embracing a complete code of
definitions and illustrations, rules and exercises, is of primary
importance to every student and a great aid to teachers;--that as the vices
of speech as well as of manners are contagious, it becomes those who have
the care of youth, to be masters of the language in its purity and
elegance, and to avoid as much as possible every thing that is
reprehensible either in thought or expression.




CHAPTER IX.

OF THE BEST METHOD OF TEACHING GRAMMAR.

"Quomodo differunt grammaticus et grammatista? Grammaticus est qui
diligenter, acutè, scienterque possit aut dicere aut scribere, et poetas
enarrare: idem literatus dicitur. Grammatista est qui barbaris literis
obstrepit, cui abusus pro usu est; Græcis Latinam dat etymologiam, et totus
in nugis est: Latinè dicitur literator."--DESPAUTER. _Synt._, fol. 1.


1. It is hardly to be supposed that any person can have a very clear
conviction of the best method of doing a thing, who shall not at first have
acquired a pretty correct and adequate notion of the thing to be done. Arts
must be taught by artists; sciences, by learned men; and, if Grammar is the
science of words, the art of writing and speaking well, the best speakers
and writers will be the best teachers of it, if they choose to direct their
attention to so humble an employment. For, without disparagement of the
many worthy men whom choice or necessity has made schoolmasters, it may be
admitted that the low estimation in which school-keeping is commonly held,
does mostly exclude from it the first order of talents, and the highest
acquirements of scholarship. It is one strong proof of this, that we have
heretofore been content to receive our digests of English grammar, either
from men who had had no practical experience in the labours of a
school-room, or from miserable modifiers and abridgers, destitute alike of
learning and of industry, of judgement and of skill.

2. But, to have a correct and adequate notion of English grammar, and of
the best method of learning or teaching it, is no light attainment. The
critical knowledge of this subject lies in no narrow circle of observation;
nor are there any precise limits to possible improvement. The simple
definition in which the general idea of the art is embraced, "Grammar is
the art of writing and speaking correctly," however useful in order to fix
the learner's conception, can scarcely give him a better knowledge of the
thing itself, than he would have of the art of painting, when he had
learned from Dr. Webster, that it is "the art of representing to the eye,
by means of figures and colors, any object of sight, and sometimes emotions
of the mind." The first would no more enable him to write a sonnet, than
the second, to take his master's likeness. The force of this remark extends
to all the technical divisions, definitions, rules, and arrangements of
grammar; the learner may commit them all to memory, and know but very
little about the art.

3. This fact, too frequently illustrated in
practice, has been made the basis of the strongest argument ever raised
against the study of grammar; and has been particularly urged against the
ordinary technical method of teaching it, as if the whole of that laborious
process were useless. It has led some men, even of the highest talents, to
doubt the expediency of that method, under any circumstances, and either to
discountenance the whole matter, or invent other schemes by which they
hoped to be more successful. The utter futility of the old accidence has
been inferred from it, and urged, even in some well-written books, with all
the plausibility of a fair and legitimate deduction. The hardships of
children, compelled to learn what they did not understand, have been
bewailed in prefaces and reviews; incredible things boasted by literary
jugglers, have been believed by men of sense; and the sympathies of nature,
with accumulated prejudices, have been excited against that method of
teaching grammar, which after all will be found in experience to be at once
the easiest, the shortest, and the best. I mean, essentially, the ancient
positive method, which aims directly at the inculcation of principles.

4. It has been already admitted, that definitions and rules committed to
memory and not reduced to practice, will never enable any one to speak and
write correctly. But it does not follow, that to study grammar by learning
its principles, or to teach it technically by formal lessons, is of no real
utility. Surely not. For the same admission must be made with respect to
the definitions and rules of every practical science in the world; and the
technology of grammar is even more essential to a true knowledge of the
subject, than that of almost any other art. "To proceed upon principles at
first," says Dr. Barrow, "is the most compendious method of attaining every
branch of knowledge; and the truths impressed upon the mind in the years of
childhood, are ever afterwards the most firmly remembered, and the most
readily applied."--_Essays_, p. 84. Reading, as I have said, is a part of
grammar; and it is a part which must of course precede what is commonly
called in the schools the study of grammar. Any person who can read, can
learn from a book such simple facts as are within his comprehension; and we
have it on the authority of Dr. Adam, that, "The principles of grammar are
the first abstract truths which a young mind can comprehend."--_Pref. to
Lat. Gram._, p. 4.

5. It is manifest, that, with respect to this branch of knowledge, the
duties of the teacher will vary considerably, according to the age and
attainments of his pupils, or according to each student's ability or
inclination to profit by his printed guide. The business lies partly
between the master and his scholar, and partly between the boy and his
book. Among these it may be partitioned variously, and of course unwisely;
for no general rule can precisely determine for all occasions what may be
expected from each. The deficiencies of any one of the three must either be
supplied by the extraordinary readiness of an other, or the attainment of
the purpose be proportionably imperfect. What one fails to do, must either
be done by an other, or left undone. After much observation, it seems to
me, that the most proper mode of treating this science in schools, is, to
throw the labour of its acquisition almost entirely upon the students; to
require from them very accurate rehearsals as the only condition on which
they shall be listened to; and to refer them to their books for the
information which they need, and in general for the solution of all their
doubts. But then the teacher must see that he does not set them to grope
their way through a wilderness of absurdities. He must know that they have
a book, which not only contains the requisite information, but arranges it
so that every item of it may be readily found. That knowledge may
reasonably be required at their recitations, which culpable negligence
alone could have prevented them from obtaining.

6. Most grammars, and especially those which are designed for the senior
class of students, to whom a well-written book is a sufficient instructor,
contain a large proportion of matter which is merely to be read by the
learner. This is commonly distinguished in type from those more important
doctrines which constitute the frame of the edifice. It is expected that
the latter will receive a greater degree of attention. The only successful
method of teaching grammar, is, to cause the principal definitions and
rules to be committed thoroughly to memory, that they may ever afterwards
be readily applied. Oral instruction may smoothe the way, and facilitate
the labour of the learner; but the notion of communicating a competent
knowledge of grammar without imposing this task, is disproved by universal
experience. Nor will it avail any thing for the student to rehearse
definitions and rules of which he makes no practical application. In
etymology and syntax, he should be alternately exercised in learning small
portions of his book, and then applying them in parsing, till the whole is
rendered familiar. To a good reader, the achievement will be neither great
nor difficult; and the exercise is well calculated to improve the memory
and strengthen all the faculties of the mind.

7. The objection drawn from the alleged inefficiency of this method, lies
solely against the practice of those teachers who disjoin the principles
and the exercises of the art; and who, either through ignorance or
negligence, impose only such tasks as leave the pupil to suppose, that the
committing to memory of definitions and rules, constitutes the whole
business of grammar.[56] Such a method is no less absurd in itself, than
contrary to the practice of the best teachers from the very origin of the
study. The epistle prefixed to King Henry's Grammar almost three centuries
ago, and the very sensible preface to the old British Grammar, an octavo
reprinted at Boston in 1784, give evidence enough that a better method of
teaching has long been known. Nay, in my opinion, the very best method
cannot be essentially different from that which has been longest in use,
and is probably most known. But there is everywhere ample room for
improvement. Perfection was never attained by the most learned of our
ancestors, nor is it found in any of our schemes. English grammar can be
better taught than it is now, or ever has been. Better scholarship would
naturally produce this improvement, and it is easy to suppose a race of
teachers more erudite and more zealous, than either we or they.

8. Where invention and discovery are precluded, there is little room for
novelty. I have not laboured to introduce a system of grammar essentially
new, but to improve the old and free it from abuses. The mode of
instruction here recommended is the result of long and successful
experience. There is nothing in it, which any person of common abilities
will find it difficult to understand or adopt. It is the plain didactic
method of definition and example, rule and praxis; which no man who means
to teach grammar well, will ever desert, with the hope of finding an other
more rational or more easy. This book itself will make any one a
grammarian, who will take the trouble to observe and practise what it
teaches; and even if some instructors should not adopt the readiest means
of making their pupils familiar with its contents, they will not fail to
instruct by it as effectually as they can by any other. A hope is also
indulged, that this work will be particularly useful to many who have
passed the ordinary period allotted to education. Whoever is acquainted
with the grammar of our language, so as to have some tolerable skill in
teaching it, will here find almost every thing that is true in his own
instructions, clearly embraced under its proper head, so as to be easy of
reference. And perhaps there are few, however learned, who, on a perusal of
the volume, would not be furnished with some important rules and facts
which had not before occurred to their own observation.

9. The greatest peculiarity of the method is, that it requires the pupil to
speak or write a great deal, and the teacher very little. But both should
constantly remember that grammar is the art of speaking and writing well;
an art which can no more be acquired without practice, than that of dancing
or swimming. And each should ever be careful to perform his part
handsomely--without drawling, omitting, stopping, hesitating, faltering,
miscalling, reiterating, stuttering, hurrying, slurring, mouthing,
misquoting, mispronouncing, or any of the thousand faults which render
utterance disagreeable and inelegant. It is the learner's diction that is
to be improved; and the system will be found well calculated to effect
that object; because it demands of him, not only to answer questions on
grammar, but also to make a prompt and practical application of what he has
just learned. If the class be tolerable readers, and have learned the art
of attention, it will not be necessary for the teacher to say much; and in
general he ought not to take up the time by so doing. He should, however,
carefully superintend their rehearsals; give the word to the next when any
one errs; and order the exercise in such a manner that either his own
voice, or the example of his best scholars, may gradually correct the ill
habits of the awkward, till all learn to recite with clearness,
understanding well what they say, and making it intelligible to others.

10. Without oral instruction and oral exercises, a correct habit of
speaking our language can never be acquired; but written rules, and
exercises in writing, are perhaps quite as necessary, for the formation of
a good style. All these should therefore be combined in our course of
English grammar. And, in order to accomplish two objects at once, the
written doctrines, or the definitions and rules of grammar, should statedly
be made the subject of a critical exercise in utterance; so that the boy
who is parsing a word, or correcting a sentence, in the hearing of others,
may impressively realize, that he is then and there exhibiting his own
skill or deficiency in oral discourse. Perfect forms of parsing and
correcting should be given him as models, with the understanding that the
text before him is his only guide to their right application. It should be
shown, that in parsing any particular word, or part of speech, there are
just so many things to be said of it, and no more, and that these are to be
said in the best manner: so that whoever tells fewer, omits something
requisite; whoever says more, inserts something irrelevant; and whoever
proceeds otherwise, either blunders in point of fact, or impairs the beauty
of the expression. I rely not upon what are called "_Parsing Tables_" but
upon the precise forms of expression which are given in the book for the
parsing of the several sorts of words. Because the questions, or abstract
directions, which constitute the common parsing tables, are less
intelligible to the learner than a practical example; and more time must
needs be consumed on them, in order to impress upon his memory the number
and the sequence of the facts to be stated.

11. If a pupil happen to be naturally timid, there should certainly be no
austerity of manner to embarrass his diffidence; for no one can speak well,
who feels afraid. But a far more common impediment to the true use of
speech, is carelessness. He who speaks before a school, in an exercise of
this kind, should be made to feel that he is bound by every consideration
of respect for himself, or for those who hear him, to proceed with his
explanation or rehearsal, in a ready, clear, and intelligible manner. It
should be strongly impressed upon him, that the grand object of the whole
business, is his own practical improvement; that a habit of speaking
clearly and agreeably, is itself one half of the great art of grammar; that
to be slow and awkward in parsing, is unpardonable negligence, and a
culpable waste of time; that to commit blunders in rehearsing grammar, is
to speak badly about the art of speaking well; that his recitations must be
limited to such things as he perfectly knows; that he must apply himself to
his book, till he can proceed without mistake; finally, that he must watch
and imitate the utterance of those who speak well, ever taking that for the
best manner, in which there are the fewest things that could be
_mimicked_.[57]

12. The exercise of parsing should be commenced immediately after the first
lesson of etymology--the lesson in which are contained the definitions of
the ten parts of speech; and should be carried on progressively, till it
embraces all the doctrines which are applicable to it. If it be performed
according to the order prescribed in the following work, it will soon make
the student perfectly familiar with all the primary definitions and rules
of grammar. It asks no aid from a dictionary, if the performer knows the
meaning of the words he is parsing; and very little from the teacher, if
the forms in the grammar have received any tolerable share of attention. It
requires just enough of thought to keep the mind attentive to what the
lips are uttering; while it advances by such easy gradations and constant
repetitions as leave the pupil utterly without excuse, if he does not know
what to say. Being neither wholly extemporaneous nor wholly rehearsed by
rote, it has more dignity than a school-boy's conversation, and more ease
than a formal recitation, or declamation; and is therefore an exercise well
calculated to induce a habit of uniting correctness with fluency in
ordinary speech--a species of elocution as valuable as any other.[58]

13. Thus would I unite the practice with the theory of grammar;
endeavouring to express its principles with all possible perspicuity,
purity, and propriety of diction; retaining, as necessary parts of the
subject, those technicalities which the pupil must needs learn in order to
understand the disquisitions of grammarians in general; adopting every
important feature of that system of doctrines which appears to have been
longest and most generally taught; rejecting the multitudinous errors and
inconsistencies with which unskillful hands have disgraced the science and
perplexed the schools; remodelling every ancient definition and rule which
it is possible to amend, in respect to style, or grammatical correctness;
supplying the numerous and great deficiencies with which the most
comprehensive treatises published by earlier writers, are chargeable;
adapting the code of instruction to the present state of English
literature, without giving countenance to any innovation not sanctioned by
reputable use; labouring at once to extend and to facilitate the study,
without forgetting the proper limits of the science, or debasing its style
by puerilities.

14. These general views, it is hoped, will be found to have been steadily
adhered to throughout the following work. The author has not deviated much
from the principles adopted in the most approved grammars already in use;
nor has he acted the part of a servile copyist. It was not his design to
introduce novelties, but to form a practical digest of established rules.
He has not laboured to subvert the general system of grammar, received from
time immemorial; but to improve upon it, in its present application to our
tongue. That which is excellent, may not be perfect; and amendment may be
desirable, where subversion would be ruinous. Believing that no theory can
better explain the principles of our language, and no contrivance afford
greater facilities to the student, the writer has in general adopted those
doctrines which are already best known; and has contented himself with
attempting little more than to supply the deficiencies of the system, and
to free it from the reproach of being itself ungrammatical. This indeed was
task enough; for, to him, all the performances of his predecessors seemed
meagre and greatly deficient, compared with what he thought needful to be
done. The scope of his labours has been, to define, dispose, and exemplify
those doctrines anew; and, with a scrupulous regard to the best usage, to
offer, on that authority, some further contributions to the stock of
grammatical knowledge.

15. Having devoted many years to studies of this nature, and being
conversant with most of the grammatical treatises already published, the
author conceived that the objects above referred to, might be better
effected than they had been in any work within his knowledge. And he
persuades himself, that, however this work may yet fall short of possible
completeness, the improvements here offered are neither few nor
inconsiderable. He does not mean to conceal in any degree his obligations
to others, or to indulge in censure without discrimination. He has no
disposition to depreciate the labours, or to detract from the merits, of
those who have written ably upon this topic. He has studiously endeavoured
to avail himself of all the light they have thrown upon the subject. With a
view to further improvements in the science, he has also resorted to the
original sources of grammatical knowledge, and has not only critically
considered what he has seen or heard of our vernacular tongue, but has
sought with some diligence the analogies of speech in the structure of
several other languages. If, therefore, the work now furnished be thought
worthy of preference, as exhibiting the best method of teaching grammar; he
trusts it will be because it deviates least from sound doctrine, while, by
fair criticism upon others, it best supplies the means of choosing
judiciously.

16. Of all methods of teaching grammar, that which has come nearest to what
is recommended above, has doubtless been the most successful; and whatever
objections may have been raised against it, it will probably be found on
examination to be the most analogous to nature. It is analytic in respect
to the doctrines of grammar, synthetic in respect to the practice, and
logical in respect to both. It assumes the language as an object which the
learner is capable of conceiving to be one whole; begins with the
classification of all its words, according to certain grand differences
which make the several parts of speech; then proceeds to divide further,
according to specific differences and qualities, till all the classes,
properties, and relations, of the words in any intelligible sentence,
become obvious and determinate: and he to whom these things are known, so
that he can see at a glance what is the construction of each word, and
whether it is right or not, is a good grammarian. The disposition of the
human mind to generalize the objects of thought, and to follow broad
analogies in the use of words, discovers itself early, and seems to be an
inherent principle of our nature. Hence, in the language of children and
illiterate people, many words are regularly inflected even in opposition to
the most common usage.

17. It has unfortunately become fashionable to inveigh against the
necessary labour of learning by heart the essential principles of grammar,
as a useless and intolerable drudgery. And this notion, with the vain hope
of effecting the same purpose in an easier way, is giving countenance to
modes of teaching well calculated to make superficial scholars. When those
principles are properly defined, disposed, and exemplified, the labour of
learning them is far less than has been represented; and the habits of
application induced by such a method of studying grammar, are of the utmost
importance to the learner. Experience shows, that the task may be achieved
during the years of childhood; and that, by an early habit of study, the
memory is so improved, as to render those exercises easy and familiar,
which, at a later period, would be found very difficult and irksome. Upon
this plan, and perhaps upon every other, some words will be learned before
the ideas represented by them are fully comprehended, or the things spoken
of are fully understood. But this seems necessarily to arise from the order
of nature in the development of the mental faculties; and an acquisition
cannot be lightly esteemed, which has signally augmented and improved that
faculty on which the pupil's future progress in knowledge depends.

18. The memory, indeed, should never be cultivated at the expense of the
understanding; as is the case, when the former is tasked with ill-devised
lessons by which the latter is misled and bewildered. But truth, whether
fully comprehended or not, has no perplexing inconsistencies. And it is
manifest that that which does not in some respect surpass the
understanding, can never enlighten it--can never awaken the spirit of
inquiry or satisfy research. How often have men of observation profited by
the remembrance of words which, at the time they heard them, they did not
"_perfectly understand!_" We never study any thing of which we imagine our
knowledge to be perfect. To learn, and, to understand, are, with respect to
any science or art, one and the same thing. With respect to difficult or
unintelligible phraseology alone, are they different. He who by study has
once stored his memory with the sound and appropriate language of any
important doctrine, can never, without some folly or conceit akin to
madness, repent of the acquisition. Milton, in his academy, professed to
teach things rather than words; and many others have made plausible
profession of the same thing since. But it does not appear, that even in
the hands of Milton, the attempt was crowned with any remarkable success.
See _Dr. Barrow's Essays_, p. 85.

19. The vain pretensions of several
modern simplifiers, contrivers of machines, charts, tables, diagrams,
vincula, pictures, dialogues, familiar lectures, ocular analyses, tabular
compendiums, inductive exercises, productive systems, intellectual methods,
and various new theories, for the purpose of teaching grammar, may serve to
deceive the ignorant, to amuse the visionary, and to excite the admiration
of the credulous; but none of these things has any favourable relation to
that improvement which may justly be boasted as having taken place within
the memory of the present generation. The definitions and rules which
constitute the doctrines of grammar, may be variously expressed, arranged,
illustrated, and applied; and in the expression, arrangement, illustration,
and application of them, there may be room for some amendment; but no
contrivance can ever relieve the pupil from the necessity of committing
them thoroughly to memory. The experience of all antiquity is added to our
own, in confirmation of this; and the judicious teacher, though he will not
shut his eyes to a real improvement, will be cautious of renouncing the
practical lessons of hoary experience, for the futile notions of a vain
projector.

20. Some have been beguiled with the idea, that great proficiency in
grammar was to be made by means of a certain fanciful method of
_induction._ But if the scheme does not communicate to those who are
instructed by it, a better knowledge of grammar than the contrivers
themselves seem to have possessed, it will be found of little use.[59] By
the happy method of Bacon, to lead philosophy into the common walks of
life, into the ordinary business and language of men, is to improve the
condition of humanity; but, in teaching grammar, to desert the plain
didactic method of definition and example, rule and praxis, and pretend to
lead children by philosophic induction into a knowledge of words, is to
throw down the ladder of learning, that boys may imagine themselves to
ascend it, while they are merely stilting over the low level upon which its
fragments are cast.

21. The chief argument of these inductive grammarians is founded on the
principle, that children cannot be instructed by means of any words which
they do not perfectly understand. If this principle were strictly true,
children could never be instructed by words at all. For no child ever fully
understands a word the first time he hears or sees it; and it is rather by
frequent repetition and use, than by any other process, that the meaning of
words is commonly learned. Hence most people make use of many terms which
they cannot very accurately explain, just as they do of many _things_, the
real nature of which they do not comprehend. The first perception we have
of any word, or other thing, when presented to the ear or the eye, gives us
some knowledge of it. So, to the signs of thought, as older persons use
them, we soon attach some notion of what is meant; and the difference
between this knowledge, and that which we call an understanding of the word
or thing, is, for the most part, only in degree. Definitions and
explanations are doubtless highly useful, but induction is not definition,
and an understanding of words may be acquired without either; else no man
could ever have made a dictionary. But, granting the principle to be true,
it makes nothing for this puerile method of induction; because the regular
process by definitions and examples is both shorter and easier, as well as
more effectual. In a word, this whole scheme of inductive grammar is
nothing else than a series of _leading_ questions and _manufactured_
answers; the former being generally as unfair as the latter are silly. It
is a remarkable tissue of ill-laid premises and of forced illogical
sequences.

22. Of a similar character is a certain work, entitled, "English Grammar on
the _Productive System_: a method of instruction recently adopted in
Germany and Switzerland." It is a work which certainly will be
"_productive_" of no good to any body but the author and his publishers.
The book is as destitute of taste, as of method; of authority, as of
originality. It commences with "the _inductive_ process," and after forty
pages of such matter as is described above, becomes a "_productive_
system," by means of a misnamed "RECAPITULATION;" which jumbles together
the etymology and the syntax of the language, through seventy-six pages
more. It is then made still more "_productive_" by the appropriation of a
like space to a reprint of Murray's Syntax and Exercises, under the
inappropriate title, "GENERAL OBSERVATIONS." To Prosody, including
punctuation and the use of capitals, there are allotted six pages, at the
end; and to Orthography, four lines, in the middle of the volume! (See p.
41.) It is but just, to regard the _title_ of this book, as being at once a
libel and a lie; a libel upon the learning and good sense of
Woodbridge;[60] and a practical lie, as conveying a false notion of the
origin of what the volume contains.

23. What there is in Germany or Switzerland, that bears _any resemblance_
to this misnamed system of English Grammar, remains to be shown. It would
be prodigal of the reader's time, and inconsistent with the studied brevity
of this work, to expose the fallacy of what is pretended in regard to the
origin of this new method. Suffice it to say, that the anonymous and
questionable account of the "Productive System of Instruction," which the
author has borrowed from a "valuable periodical," to save himself the
trouble of writing a preface, and, as he says, to "_assist_ [the reader] in
forming an opinion of the comparative merits of _the system_" is not only
destitute of all authority, but is totally irrelevant, except to the
whimsical _name_ of his book. If every word of it be true, it is
insufficient to give us even the slightest reason to suppose, that any
thing analogous to his production ever had existence in either of those
countries; and yet it is set forth on purpose to convey the idea that such
a system "_now predominates_" in the schools of both. (See _Pref._, p. 5.)
The infidel _Neef_, whose new method of education has been tried in our
country, and with its promulgator forgot, was an accredited disciple of
this boasted "productive school;" a zealous coadjutor with Pestalozzi
himself, from whose halls he emanated to "teach the offspring of a free
people"--to teach them the nature of things sensible, and a contempt for
all the wisdom of _books_. And what similarity is there between his method
of teaching and that of _Roswell C. Smith_, except their pretence to a
common parentage, and that both are worthless?

24. The success of Smith's Inductive and Productive Grammars, and the fame
perhaps of a certain "Grammar in Familiar Lectures," produced in 1836 a
rival work from the hands of a gentleman in New Hampshire, entitled, "An
Analytical Grammar of the English Language, embracing the _Inductive and
Productive Methods of Teaching_, with _Familiar Explanations in the Lecture
Style_" &c. This is a fair-looking duodecimo volume of three hundred pages,
the character and pretensions of which, if they could be clearly stated,
would throw further light upon the two fallacious schemes of teaching
mentioned above. For the writer says, "This grammar professes _to combine_
both the _Inductive_ and _Productive_ methods of imparting instruction, of
which much has been said within a few years _past_"--_Preface_, p. iv. And
again: "The inductive and productive methods of instruction contain the
essence of modern improvements."--_Gram._, p. 139. In what these modern
improvements consist, he does not inform us; but, it will be seen, that he
himself claims the _copyright_ of _all_ the improvements which he allows to
_English grammar_ since the appearance of Murray in 1795. More than two
hundred pretenders to such improvements, appear however within the time;
nor is the grammarian of Holdgate the least positive of the claimants. This
new purveyor for the public taste, dislikes the catering of his
predecessor, who poached in the fields of Murray; and, with a tacit censure
upon _his productions_, has _honestly bought_ the rareties which he has
served up. In this he has the advantage. He is a better writer too than
some who make grammars; though no adept at composition, and a total
stranger to method. To call his work a "_system_" is a palpable misnomer;
to tell what it is, an impossibility. It is a grammatical chaos, bearing
such a resemblance to Smith's or Kirkham's as one mass of confusion
naturally bears to an other, yet differing from both in almost every thing
that looks like order in any of the three.

25. The claimant of the combination says, "this new system of English
grammar now offered to the public, embraces _the principles_ of a
'Systematic Introduction to English Grammar,' by John L. Parkhurst; and the
_present author_ is indebted to Mr. Parkhurst for a knowledge of _the
manner_ of applying the principles involved in _his peculiar method_ of
teaching grammatical science. He is also under obligations to Mr.
Parkhurst for many useful hints received several years since while under
his instruction.--The _copy right_ of Parkhurst's Grammar has been
purchased by the writer of this, who alone is responsible for the present
application of _its definitions._ Parkhurst's Systematic Introduction to
English Grammar has passed through two editions, and is _the first improved
system_ of English grammar that has appeared before the public _since the
first introduction_ of Lindley Murray's English Grammar."--_Sanborn's
Gram., Preface_, p. iii. What, then, is "THE PRODUCTIVE SYSTEM?" and with
whom did it originate? The thousands of gross blunders committed by its
professors, prove at least that it is no system of writing grammatically;
and, whether it originated with Parkhurst or with Pestalozzi, with Sanborn
or with Smith, as it is confessedly a method but "recently adopted," and,
so far as appears, never fairly tested, so is it a method that needs only
to be _known_, to be immediately and forever exploded.

26. The best instruction is that which ultimately gives the greatest
facility and skill in practice; and grammar is best taught by that process
which brings its doctrines most directly home to the habits as well as to
the thoughts of the pupil--which the most effectually conquers inattention,
and leaves the deepest impress of shame upon blundering ignorance. In the
language of some men, there is a vividness, an energy, a power of
expression, which penetrates even the soul of dullness, and leaves an
impression both of words unknown and of sentiments unfelt before. Such men
can teach; but he who kindly or indolently accommodates himself to
ignorance, shall never be greatly instrumental in removing it. "The
colloquial barbarisms of boys," says Dr. Barrow, "should never be suffered
to pass without notice and censure. Provincial tones and accents, and all
defects in articulation, should be corrected whenever they are heard; lest
they grow into established habits, unknown, from their familiarity, to him
who is guilty of them, and adopted by others, from the imitation of his
manner, or their respect for his authority."--_Barrow's Essays on
Education_, p. 88.

27. In the whole range of school exercises, there is none of greater
importance than that of parsing; and yet perhaps there is none which is, in
general, more defectively conducted. Scarcely less useful, as a means of
instruction, is the practice of correcting false syntax orally, by regular
and logical forms of argument; nor does this appear to have been more ably
directed towards the purposes of discipline. There is so much to be done,
in order to effect what is desirable in the management of these things; and
so little prospect that education will ever be generally raised to a just
appreciation of that study which, more than all others, forms the mind to
habits of correct thinking; that, in reflecting upon the state of the
science at the present time, and upon the means of its improvement, the
author cannot but sympathize, in some degree, with the sadness of the
learned Sanctius; who tells us, that he had "always lamented, and often
with tears, that while other branches of learning were excellently taught,
grammar, which is the foundation of all others, lay so much neglected, and
that for this neglect there seemed to be no adequate remedy."--_Pref. to
Minerva_. The grammatical use of language is in sweet alliance with the
moral; and a similar regret seems to have prompted the following
exclamation of the Christian poet:

   "Sacred Interpreter of human thought,
    How few respect or use thee as they ought!"--COWPER.

28. No directions, either oral or written, can ever enable the heedless and
the unthinking to speak or write well. That must indeed be an admirable
book, which can attract levity to sober reflection, teach thoughtlessness
the true meaning of words, raise vulgarity from its fondness for low
examples, awaken the spirit which attains to excellency of speech, and
cause grammatical exercises to be skillfully managed, where teachers
themselves are so often lamentably deficient in them. Yet something may be
effected by means of better books, if better can be introduced. And what
withstands?--Whatever there is of ignorance or error in relation to the
premises. And is it arrogant to say there is much? Alas! in regard to this,
as well as to many a weightier matter, one may too truly affirm, _Multa non
sunt sicut multis videntur_--Many things are not as they seem to many.
Common errors are apt to conceal themselves from the common mind; and the
appeal to reason and just authority is often frustrated, because a wrong
head defies both. But, apart from this, there are difficulties:
multiplicity perplexes choice; inconvenience attends change; improvement
requires effort; conflicting theories demand examination; the principles of
the science are unprofitably disputed; the end is often divorced from the
means; and much that belies the title, has been published under the name.

29. It is certain, that the printed formularies most commonly furnished for
the important exercises of parsing and correcting, are either so awkwardly
written or so negligently followed, as to make grammar, in the mouths of
our juvenile orators, little else than a crude and faltering jargon. Murray
evidently intended that his book of exercises should be constantly used
with his grammar; but he made the examples in the former so dull and
prolix, that few learners, if any, have ever gone through the series
agreeably to his direction. The publishing of them in a separate volume,
has probably given rise to the absurd practice of endeavouring to teach his
grammar without them. The forms of parsing and correcting which this author
furnishes, are also misplaced; and when found by the learner, are of little
use. They are so verbose, awkward, irregular, and deficient, that the pupil
must be either a dull boy or utterly ignorant of grammar, if he cannot
express the facts extemporaneously in better English. They are also very
meagre as a whole, and altogether inadequate to their purpose; many things
that frequently occur in the language, not being at all exemplified in
them, or even explained in the grammar itself. When we consider how
exceedingly important it is, that the business of a school should proceed
without loss of time, and that, in the oral exercises here spoken of, each
pupil should go through his part promptly, clearly, correctly, and fully,
we cannot think it a light objection that these forms, so often to be
repeated, are so badly written. Nor does the objection lie against this
writer only: "_Ab uno disce omnes_." But the reader may demand some
illustrations.[61]

30. First--from his etymological parsing: "O Virtue! how amiable thou art!"
Here his form for the word _Virtue_ is--"_Virtue_ is a _common substantive,
of_ the _neuter_ gender, _of the third_ person, _in the_ singular number,
_and the_ nominative case."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. ii, p. 2. It
should have been--"_Virtue_ is a common _noun_, personified _proper_, of
the _second_ person, singular number, _feminine_ gender, and nominative
case." And then the definitions of all these things should have followed in
regular numerical order. He gives the class of this noun wrong, for virtue
addressed becomes an individual; he gives the gender wrong, and in direct
contradiction to what he says of the word in his section on gender; he
gives the person wrong, as may be seen by the pronoun _thou_, which
represents it; he repeats the definite article three times unnecessarily,
and inserts two needless prepositions, making them different where the
relation is precisely the same: and all this, in a sentence of two lines,
to tell the properties of the noun _Virtue!_--But further: in etymological
parsing, the definitions explaining the properties of the parts of speech,
ought to be regularly and rapidly rehearsed by the pupil, till all of them
become perfectly familiar; and till he can discern, with the quickness of
thought, what alone will be true for the full description of any word in
any intelligible sentence. All these the author omits; and, on account of
this omission, his whole method of etymological parsing is, miserably
deficient.[62]

31. Secondly--from his syntactical parsing: "_Vice_ degrades us." Here his
form for the word _Vice_ is--"_Vice_ is a common substantive, _of_ the
third person, _in the_ singular number, _and the_ nominative
case."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. ii, p. 9. Now, when the learner is told
that this is the syntactical parsing of a noun, and the other the
etymological, he will of course conclude, that to advance from the
etymology to the syntax of this part of speech, is merely, _to omit the
gender_--this being the only difference between the two forms. But even
this difference had no other origin than the compiler's carelessness in
preparing his octavo book of exercises--the gender being inserted in the
duodecimo. And what then? Is the syntactical parsing of a noun to be
precisely the same as the etymological? Never. But Murray, and all who
admire and follow his work, are content to parse many words by
halves--making, or pretending to make, a necessary distinction, and yet
often omitting, in both parts of the exercise, every thing which
constitutes the difference. He should here have said--"_Vice_ is a common
noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative
case: and is the subject of _degrades_; according to the rule which says,
'A noun or a pronoun which is the subject of a verb, must be in the
nominative case.' Because the meaning is--_vice degrades_." This is the
whole description of the word, with its construction; and to say less, is
to leave the matter unfinished.

32. Thirdly--from his "Mode of verbally correcting erroneous sentences:"
Take his first example: "The man is prudent which speaks little." (How far
silence is prudence, depends upon circumstances: I waive that question.)
The learner is here taught to say, "This sentence is incorrect; because
_which_ is a pronoun _of the neuter gender, and does not agree in gender_
with its antecedent _man_, which is masculine. But a pronoun should agree
with its antecedent in gender, &c. according to the fifth rule of syntax.
_Which_ should _therefore_ be _who_, a relative pronoun, agreeing with its
antecedent _man_; and the sentence should stand thus: 'The man is prudent
_who_ speaks little.'"--_Murray's Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 18;
_Exercises_, 12mo, p. xii. Again: "'After I visited Europe, I returned to
America.' This sentence," says Murray, "_is not correct_; because the verb
_visited_ is in the imperfect tense, and yet used here to express an
action, not only past, but prior to the time referred to by the verb
_returned_, to which it relates. By the thirteenth rule of syntax, when
verbs are used that, in point of time, relate to each other, the order of
time should be observed. The imperfect tense _visited_ should therefore
have been _had visited_, in the pluperfect tense, representing the action
of _visiting_, not only as past, but also as prior to the time of
_returning_. _The sentence corrected would stand thus_: 'After I _had
visited_ Europe, I returned to America.'"--_Gr._, ii, p. 19; _and Ex._
12mo, p. xii. These are the first two examples of Murray's verbal
corrections, and the only ones retained by Alger, in his _improved,
recopy-righted edition_ of Murray's Exercises. Yet, in each of them, is the
argumentation palpably false! In the former, truly, _which_ should be
_who_; but not because _which_ is "of the _neuter gender_;" but because the
application of that relative to _persons_, is now nearly obsolete. Can any
grammarian forget that, in speaking of brute animals, male or female, we
commonly use _which_, and never _who_? But if _which_ must needs be
_neuter_, the world is wrong in this.--As for the latter example, it is
right as it stands; and the correction is, in some sort, tautological. The
conjunctive adverb _after_ makes one of the actions subsequent to the
other, and gives to the _visiting_ all the priority that is signified by
the pluperfect tense. "_After_ I _visited_ Europe," is equivalent to
"_When_ I _had visited_ Europe." The whole argument is therefore void.[63]

33. These few brief illustrations, out of thousands that might be adduced
in proof of the faultiness of the common manuals, the author has
reluctantly introduced, to show that even in the most popular books, with
all the pretended improvements of revisers, the grammar of our language has
never been treated with that care and ability which its importance demands.
It is hardly to be supposed that men unused to a teacher's duties, can be
qualified to compose such books as will most facilitate his labours.
Practice is a better pilot than theory. And while, in respect to grammar,
the consciousness of failure is constantly inducing changes from one system
to another, and almost daily giving birth to new expedients as constantly
to end in the same disappointment; perhaps the practical instructions of an
experienced teacher, long and assiduously devoted to the study, may
approve themselves to many, as seasonably supplying the aid and guidance
which they require.

34. From the doctrines of grammar, novelty is rigidly excluded. They
consist of details to which taste can lend no charm, and genius no
embellishment. A writer may express them with neatness and
perspicuity--their importance alone can commend them to notice. Yet, in
drawing his illustrations from the stores of literature, the grammarian may
select some gems of thought, which will fasten on the memory a worthy
sentiment, or relieve the dullness of minute instruction. Such examples
have been taken from various authors, and interspersed through the
following pages. The moral effect of early lessons being a point of the
utmost importance, it is especially incumbent on all those who are
endeavouring to confer the benefits of intellectual culture, to guard
against the admission or the inculcation of any principle which may have an
improper tendency, and be ultimately prejudicial to those whom they
instruct. In preparing this treatise for publication, the author has been
solicitous to avoid every thing that could be offensive to the most
delicate and scrupulous reader; and of the several thousands of quotations
introduced for the illustration or application of the principles of the
science, he trusts that the greater part will be considered valuable on
account of the sentiments they contain.

35. The nature of the subject almost entirely precludes invention. The
author has, however, aimed at that kind and degree of originality which are
to be commended in works of this sort. What these are, according to his
view, he has sufficiently explained in a preceding chapter. And, though he
has taken the liberty of a grammarian, to think for himself and write in a
style of his own, he trusts it will be evident that few have excelled him
in diligence of research, or have followed more implicitly the dictates of
that authority which gives law to language. In criticising the critics and
grammatists of the schools, he has taken them upon their own
ground--showing their errors, for the most part, in contrast with the
common principles which they themselves have taught; and has hoped to
escape censure, in his turn, not by sheltering himself under the name of a
popular master, but by a diligence which should secure to his writings at
least the humble merit of self-consistency. His progress in composing this
work has been slow, and not unattended with labour and difficulty. Amidst
the contrarieties of opinion, that appear in the various treatises already
before the public, and the perplexities inseparable from so complicated a
subject, he has, after deliberate consideration, adopted those views and
explanations which appeared to him the least liable to objection, and the
most compatible with his ultimate object--the production of a work which
should show, both extensively and accurately, what is, and what is not,
good English.

36. The great art of meritorious authorship lies chiefly in the
condensation of much valuable thought into few words. Although the author
has here allowed himself ampler room than before, he has still been no less
careful to store it with such information as he trusted would prevent the
ingenious reader from wishing its compass less. He has compressed into this
volume the most essential parts of a mass of materials in comparison with
which the book is still exceedingly small. The effort to do this, has
greatly multiplied his own labour and long delayed the promised
publication; but in proportion as this object has been reached, the time
and patience of the student must have been saved. Adequate compensation for
this long toil, has never been expected. Whether from this performance any
profit shall accrue to the author or not, is a matter of little
consequence; he has neither written for bread, nor on the credit of its
proceeds built castles in the air. His ambition was, to make an acceptable
book, by which the higher class of students might be thoroughly instructed,
and in which the eyes of the critical would find little to condemn. He is
too well versed in the history of his theme, too well aware of the
precarious fortune of authors, to indulge in any confident anticipations of
extraordinary success: yet he will not deny that his hopes are large, being
conscious of having cherished them with a liberality of feeling which
cannot fear disappointment. In this temper he would invite the reader to a
thorough perusal of these pages.

37. A grammar should speak for itself. In a work of this nature, every word
or tittle which does not recommend the performance to the understanding and
taste of the skillful, is, so far as it goes, a certificate against it. Yet
if some small errors shall have escaped detection, let it be recollected
that it is almost impossible to compose and print, with perfect accuracy, a
work of this size, in which so many little things should be observed,
remembered, and made exactly to correspond. There is no human vigilance
which multiplicity may not sometimes baffle, and minuteness sometimes
elude. To most persons grammar seems a dry and difficult subject; but there
is a disposition of mind, to which what is arduous, is for that very reason
alluring. "Quo difficilius, hoc præclarius," says Cicero; "The more
difficult, the more honourable." The merit of casting up a high-way in a
rugged land, is proportionate not merely to the utility of the achievement,
but to the magnitude of the obstacles to be overcome. The difficulties
encountered in boyhood from the use of a miserable epitome and the deep
impression of a few mortifying blunders made in public, first gave the
author a fondness for grammar; circumstances having since favoured this
turn of his genius, he has voluntarily pursued the study, with an assiduity
which no man will ever imitate for the sake of pecuniary recompense.




CHAPTER X.

OF GRAMMATICAL DEFINITIONS.

"Scientiam autem nusquam esse censebant, nisi in animi motionibus atque
rationibus: quâ de causâ _definitiones_ rerum probabant, et has ad omnia,
de quibus disceptabatur, adhibebant."--CICERONIS _Academica_, Lib. i, 9.


1. "The first and highest philosophy," says Puffendorf, "is that which
delivers the most accurate and comprehensive _definitions_ of things." Had
all the writers on English grammar been adepts in this philosophy, there
would have been much less complaint of the difficulty and uncertainty of
the study. "It is easy," says Murray, "to advance plausible objections
against almost every definition, rule, and arrangement of
grammar."--_Gram._, 8vo, p. 59. But, if this is true, as regards his, or
any other work, the reason, I am persuaded, is far less inherent in the
nature of the subject than many have supposed.[64] Objectionable
definitions and rules are but evidences of the ignorance and incapacity of
him who frames them. And if the science of grammar has been so unskillfully
treated that almost all its positions may be plausibly impugned, it is time
for some attempt at a reformation of the code. The language is before us,
and he who knows most about it, can best prescribe the rules which we ought
to observe in the use of it. But how can we expect children to deduce from
a few particulars an accurate notion of general principles and their
exceptions, where learned doctors have so often faltered? Let the abettors
of grammatical "_induction_" answer.

2. Nor let it be supposed a light
matter to prescribe with certainty the principles of grammar. For, what is
requisite to the performance? To know certainly, in the first place, what
is the _best usage_. Nor is this all. Sense and memory must be keen, and
tempered to retain their edge and hold, in spite of any difficulties which
the subject may present. To understand things exactly as they are; to
discern the differences by which they may be distinguished, and the
resemblances by which they ought to be classified; to know, through the
proper evidences of truth, that our ideas, or conceptions, are rightly
conformable to the nature, properties, and relations, of the objects of
which we think; to see how that which is complex may be resolved into its
elements, and that which is simple may enter into combination; to observe
how that which is consequent may be traced to its cause, and that which is
regular be taught by rule; to learn from the custom of speech the proper
connexion between words and ideas, so as to give to the former a just
application, to the latter an adequate expression, and to things a just
description; to have that penetration which discerns what terms, ideas, or
things, are definable, and therefore capable of being taught, and what must
be left to the teaching of nature: these are the essential qualifications
for him who would form good definitions; these are the elements of that
accuracy and comprehensiveness of thought, to which allusion has been made,
and which are characteristic of "the first and highest philosophy."

3. Again, with reference to the cultivation of the mind, I would add: To
observe accurately the appearances of things, and the significations of
words; to learn first principles first, and proceed onward in such a manner
that every new truth may help to enlighten and strengthen the
understanding; and thus to comprehend gradually, according to our capacity,
whatsoever may be brought within the scope of human intellect:--to do these
things, I say, is, to ascend by sure steps, so far as we may, from the
simplest elements of science--which, in fact, are our own, original,
undefinable notices of things--towards the very topmost height of human
wisdom and knowledge. The ancient saying, that truth lies hid, or in the
bottom of a well, must not be taken without qualification; for "the first
and highest philosophy" has many principles which even a child may
understand. These several suggestions, the first of which the Baron de
Puffendorf thought not unworthy to introduce his great work on the Law of
Nature and of Nations, the reader, if he please, may bear in mind, as he
peruses the following digest of the laws and usages of speech.

4. "Definitions," says Duncan, in his Elements of Logic, "are intended to
make known the meaning of words standing for _complex ideas_;[65] and were
we always careful to form those ideas exactly in our minds, and copy our
definitions from that appearance, much of the confusion and obscurity
complained of in languages might be prevented."--P. 70. Again he says: "The
writings of the mathematicians are a clear proof, how much the advancement
of human knowledge depends upon a right use of definitions."--P. 72.
Mathematical science has been supposed to be, in its own nature, that which
is best calculated to develop and strengthen the reasoning faculty; but, as
speech is emphatically _the discourse of reason_, I am persuaded, that had
the grammarians been equally clear and logical in their instructions, their
science would never have been accounted inferior in this respect. Grammar
is perhaps the most comprehensive of all studies; but it is chiefly owing
to the unskillfulness of instructors, and to the errors and defects of the
systems in use, that it is commonly regarded as the most dry and difficult.

5. "Poor Scaliger (who well knew what a definition should be) from his own
melancholy experience exclaimed--'_Nihil infelicius grammatico
definitore!_' Nothing is more unhappy than the grammatical
definer."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 238. Nor do our later teachers
appear to have been more fortunate in this matter. A majority of all the
definitions and rules contained in the great multitude of English grammars
which I have examined, are, in some respect or other, erroneous. The nature
of their multitudinous faults, I must in general leave to the discernment
of the reader, except the passages be such as may be suitably selected for
examples of false syntax. Enough, however, will be exhibited, in the course
of this volume, to make the foregoing allegation credible; and of the rest
a more accurate judgement may perhaps be formed, when they shall have been
compared with what this work will present as substitutes. The importance of
giving correct definitions to philological terms, and of stating with
perfect accuracy whatsoever is to be learned as doctrine, has never been
duly appreciated. The grand source of the disheartening difficulties
encountered by boys in the study of grammar, lies in their ignorance of the
meaning of words. This cause of embarrassment is not to be shunned and left
untouched; but, as far as possible, it ought to be removed. In teaching
grammar, or indeed any other science, we cannot avoid the use of many terms
to which young learners may have attached no ideas. Being little inclined
or accustomed to reflection, they often hear, read, or even rehearse from
memory, the plainest language that can be uttered, and yet have no very
distinct apprehension of what it means. What marvel then, that in a study
abounding with terms taken in a peculiar or technical sense, many of which,
in the common manuals, are either left undefined, or are explained but
loosely or erroneously, they should often be greatly puzzled, and sometimes
totally discouraged?

6. _Simple ideas_ are derived, not from teaching, but from sensation or
consciousness; but _complex ideas_, or the notions which we have of such
things as consist of various parts, or such as stand in any known
relations, are definable. A person can have no better definition of _heat_,
or of _motion_, than what he will naturally get by _moving_ towards a
_fire_. Not so of our complex or general ideas, which constitute science.
The proper objects of scientific instruction consist in those genuine
perceptions of pure mind, which form the true meaning of generic names, or
common nouns; and he who is properly qualified to teach, can for the most
part readily tell what should be understood by such words. But are not many
teachers too careless here? For instance: a boy commencing the process of
calculation, is first told, that, "Arithmetic is the art of computing by
numbers," which sentence he partly understands; but should he ask his
teacher, "What is a _number_, in arithmetic?" what answer will he get? Were
Goold Brown so asked, he would simply say, "_A number, in arithmetic, is an
expression that tells how many_;" for every expression that tells how many,
is a number in arithmetic, and nothing else is. But as no such definition
is contained in _the books_,[66] there are ten chances to one, that, simple
as the matter is, the readiest master you shall find, will give an
erroneous answer. Suppose the teacher should say, "That is a question which
I have not thought of; turn to your dictionary." The boy reads from Dr.
Webster: "NUMBER--the designation of a unit in reference to other units, or
in reckoning, counting, enumerating."--"Yes," replies the master, "that is
it; Dr. Webster is unrivalled in giving definitions." Now, has the boy been
instructed, or only puzzled? Can he conceive how the number _five_ can be a
_unit_? or how the word _five_, the figure 5, or the numeral letter V, is
"the designation of a _unit_?" He knows that each of these is a number, and
that the oral monosyllable _five_ is the same number, in an other form; but
is still as much at a loss for a proper answer to his question, as if he
had never seen either schoolmaster or dictionary. So is it with a vast
number of the simplest things in grammar.

7. Since what we denominate scientific terms, are seldom, if ever, such as
stand for ideas simple and undefinable; and since many of those which
represent general ideas, or classes of objects, may be made to stand for
more or fewer things, according to the author's notion of classification;
it is sufficiently manifest that the only process by which instruction can
effectually reach the understanding of the pupil and remove the
difficulties spoken of, is that of delivering accurate definitions. These
are requisite for the information and direction of the learner; and these
must be thoroughly impressed upon his mind, as the only means by which he
can know exactly how much and what he is to understand by our words. The
power which we possess, of making known all our complex or general ideas of
things by means of definitions, is a faculty wisely contrived in the nature
of language, for the increase and spread of science; and, in the hands of
the skillful, it is of vast avail to these ends. It is "the first and
highest philosophy," instructing mankind, to think clearly and speak
accurately; as well as to know definitely, in the unity and permanence of a
general nature, those things which never could be known or spoken of as the
individuals of an infinite and fleeting multitude.

8. And, without contradiction, the shortest and most successful way of
teaching the young mind to distinguish things according to their proper
differences, and to name or describe them aright, is, to tell in direct
terms what they severally are. Cicero intimates that all instruction
appealing to reason ought to proceed in this manner: "Omnis enim quse à
ratione suscipitur de re aliqua institutio, debet à _definitione_
proficisci, ut intelligatur quid sit id, de quo disputetur."--_Off_. Lib.
i, p. 4. Literally thus: "For all instruction which from reason is
undertaken concerning any thing, ought to proceed from a _definition_, that
it may be understood what the thing is, about which the speaker is
arguing." Little advantage, however, will be derived from any definition,
which is not, as Quintilian would have it, "Lucida et succincta rei
descriptio,"--"a clear and brief description of the thing."

9. Let it here be observed that scientific definitions are of _things_, and
not merely of _words_; or if equally of words _and_ things, they are rather
of nouns than of the other parts of speech. For a definition, in the proper
sense of the term, consists not in a mere change or explanation of the
verbal sign, but in a direct and true answer to the question, What is such
or such a thing? In respect to its extent, it must with equal exactness
include every thing which comes under the name, and exclude every thing
which does not come under the name: then will it perfectly serve the
purpose for which it is intended. To furnish such definitions, (as I have
suggested,) is work for those who are capable of great accuracy both of
thought and expression. Those who would qualify themselves for teaching any
particular branch of knowledge, should make it their first concern to
acquire clear and accurate ideas of all things that ought to be embraced in
their instructions. These ideas are to be gained, either by contemplation
upon the things themselves as they are presented naturally, or by the study
of those books in which they are rationally and clearly explained. Nor will
such study ever be irksome to him whose generous desire after knowledge, is
thus deservedly gratified.

10. But it must be understood, that although scientific definitions are
said to be _of things_, they are not copied immediately from the real
essence of the things, but are formed from the conceptions of the author's
mind concerning that essence. Hence, as Duncan justly remarks, "A mistaken
idea never fails to occasion a mistake also in the definition." Hence, too,
the common distinction of the logicians, between definitions of the _name_
and definitions of the _thing_, seems to have little or no foundation. The
former term they applied to those definitions which describe the objects of
pure intellection, such as triangles, and other geometrical figures; the
latter, to those which define objects actually existing in external nature.
The mathematical definitions, so noted for their certainty and
completeness, have been supposed to have some peculiar preëminence, as
belonging to the former class. But, in fact the idea of a triangle exists
as substantively in the mind, as that of a tree, if not indeed more so; and
if I define these two objects, my description will, in either case, be
equally a definition both of the name and of the thing; but in neither, is
it copied from any thing else than that notion which I have conceived, of
the common properties of all triangles or of all trees.

11. Infinitives, and some other terms not called nouns, may be taken
abstractly or substantively, so as to admit of what may be considered a
regular definition; thus the question, "What is it _to read?_" is nearly
the same as, "What is _reading?_" "What is it _to be wise?_" is little
different from, "What is _wisdom?_" and a true answer might be, in either
case, a true definition. Nor are those mere translations or explanations of
words, with which our dictionaries and vocabularies abound, to be dispensed
with in teaching: they prepare the student to read various authors with
facility, and furnish him with a better choice of terms, when he attempts
to write. And in making such choice, let him remember, that as affectation
of _hard_ words makes composition ridiculous, so the affectation of _easy_
and _common_ ones may make it unmanly. But not to digress. With respect to
grammar, we must sometimes content ourselves with such explications of its
customary terms, as cannot claim to be perfect definitions; for the most
common and familiar things are not always those which it is the most easy
to define. When Dr. Johnson was asked, "What is _poetry_?" he replied,
"Why, sir, it is easier to tell what it is not. We all know what _light_
is: but it is not easy _to tell what it is_."--_Boswell's Life of Johnson_,
Vol. iii, p. 402. This was thought by the biographer to have been well and
ingeniously said.

12. But whenever we encounter difficulties of this sort, it may be worth
while to seek for their _cause_. If we find it, the understanding is no
longer puzzled. Dr. Johnson seemed to his biographer, to show, by this
ready answer, the acuteness of his wit and discernment. But did not the wit
consist in adroitly excusing himself, by an illusory comparison? What
analogy is there between the things which he compares? Of the difficulty of
defining _poetry_, and the difficulty of defining _light_, the reasons are
as different as are the two things themselves, _poetry_ and _light_. The
former is something so various and complex that it is hard to distinguish
its essence from its accidents; the latter presents an idea so perfectly
simple and unique that all men conceive of it exactly in the same way,
while none can show wherein it essentially consists. But is it true, that,
"We all know _what light is_?" Is it not rather true, that we know nothing
at all about it, but what it is just as easy to tell as to think? We know
it is that reflexible medium which enables us to see; and this is
definition enough for all but the natively blind, to whom no definition
perhaps can ever convey an adequate notion of its use in respect to sight.

13. If a person cannot tell what a thing is, it is commonly considered to
be a fair inference, that he does not know. Will any grammarian say, "I
know well enough what the thing is, but I cannot tell?" Yet, taken upon
this common principle, the authors of our English grammars, (if in framing
their definitions they have not been grossly wanting to themselves in the
exercise of their own art,) may be charged, I think, with great ignorance,
or great indistinctness of apprehension; and that, too, in relation to many
things among the very simplest elements of their science. For example: Is
it not a disgrace to a man of letters, to be unable to tell accurately what
a letter is? Yet to say, with Lowth, Murray, Churchill, and a hundred
others of inferior name, that, "_A letter_ is _the first principle_ or
_least part_ of a word," is to utter what is neither good English nor true
doctrine. The two articles _a_ and _the_ are here inconsistent with each
other. "_A_ letter" is _one_ letter, _any_ letter; but "_the first
principle_ of a word" is, surely, not one or any principle taken
_indefinitely_. Equivocal as the phrase is, it must mean either _some
particular principle_, or some particular _first_ principle, of a word;
and, taken either way, the assertion is false. For it is manifest, that in
_no sense_ can we affirm of _each_ of the letters of a word, that it is
"_the first principle_" of that word. Take, for instance, the word _man_.
Is _m_ the first principle of this word? You may answer, "Yes; for it is
the first _letter_." Is _a_ the first principle? "No; it is the _second_."
But _n_ too is a letter; and is _n_ the first principle? "No; it is the
_last_!" This grammatical error might have been avoided by saying,
"_Letters_ are the first principles, or least parts, of words." But still
the definition would not be true, nor would it answer the question, What is
a letter? The true answer to which is: "A letter is an alphabetic
_character_, which commonly represents some elementary sound of human
articulation, or speech."

14. This true definition sufficiently
distinguishes letters from the marks used in punctuation, because the
latter are not alphabetic, and they represent silence, rather than sound;
and also from the Arabic figures used for numbers, because these are no
part of any alphabet, and they represent certain entire words, no one of
which consists only of one letter, or of a single element of articulation.
The same may be said of all the characters used for abbreviation; as, & for
_and_, $ for _dollars_, or the marks peculiar to mathematicians, to
astronomers, to druggists, &c. None of these are alphabetic, and they
represent significant words, and not single elementary sounds: it would be
great dullness, to assume that a word and an elementary sound are one and
the same thing. But the reader will observe that this definition embraces
_no idea_ contained in the faulty one to which I am objecting; neither
indeed could it, without a blunder. So wide from the mark is that notion of
a letter, which the popularity of Dr. Lowth and his copyists has made a
hundred-fold more common than any other![67] According to an other
erroneous definition given by these same gentlemen, "_Words_ are articulate
_sounds_, used by common consent, as signs of our ideas."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 22; _Kirkham's_, 20; _Ingersoll's_, 7; _Alger's_, 12;
_Russell's_, 7; _Merchant's_, 9; _Fisk's_, 11; _Greenleaf's_, 20; and many
others. See _Lowth's Gram._, p. 6; from which almost all authors have taken
the notion, that words consist of "_sounds_" only. But letters are no
principles or parts of _sounds_ at all; unless you will either have visible
marks to be sounds, or the sign to be a principle or part of the thing
signified. Nor are they always principles or parts of _words_: we sometimes
write what is _not a word_; as when, by letters, we denote pronunciation
alone, or imitate brute voices. If words were formed of articulate sounds
only, they could not exist in books, or be in any wise known to the deaf
and dumb. These two primary definitions, then, are both false; and, taken
together, they involve the absurdity of dividing things acknowledged to be
indivisible. In utterance, we cannot divide consonants from their vowels;
on paper, we can. Hence letters are the least parts of written language
only; but the least parts of spoken words are syllables, and not letters.
Every definition of a consonant implies this.

15. They who cannot define a letter or a word, may be expected to err in
explaining other grammatical terms. In my opinion, nothing is well written,
that can possibly be misunderstood; and if any definition be likely to
_suggest_ a wrong idea, this alone is enough to condemn it: nor does it
justify the phraseology, to say, that a more reasonable construction can be
put upon it. By Murray and others, the young learner is told, that, "A
_vowel_ is an articulate _sound_, that can be perfectly _uttered by
itself_;" as if a vowel were nothing but a sound, and that a sort of echo,
which can _utter itself_; and next, that, "A _consonant_ is an articulate
_sound_, which cannot be perfectly uttered _without the help of_ a vowel."
Now, by their own showing, every letter is either a vowel or a consonant;
hence, according to these definitions, all the letters are articulate
_sounds_. And, if so, what is a "silent letter?" It is a _silent articulate
sound!_ Again: ask a boy, "What is a _triphthong?_" He answers in the words
of Murray, Weld, Pond, Smith, Adams, Kirkham, Merchant, Ingersoll, Bacon,
Alger, Worcester, and others: "A triphthong is the union of three vowels,
_pronounced in like manner_: as _eau_ in beau, _iew_ in view." He
accurately cites an entire paragraph from his grammar, but does he well
conceive how the three vowels in _beau_ or _view_ are "pronounced _in like
manner?_" Again: "A _syllable_ is a _sound_, either simple or _compound_,
pronounced by a single impulse of the voice."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
22. This definition resolves syllables into _sounds_; whereas their true
elements are _letters_. It also mistakes the participle _compounded_ for
the adjective _compound_; whereas the latter only is the true reverse of
_simple_. A _compound sound_ is a sound composed of others which may be
separated; a _sound compounded_ is properly that which is made an
ingredient with others, but which may itself be simple.

16. It is observable, that in their attempts to explain these prime
elements of grammar, Murray, and many others who have copied him, overlook
all _written_ language; whereas their very science itself took its origin,
name, and nature, from the invention of writing; and has consequently no
bearing upon any dialect which has not been written. Their definitions
absurdly resolve letters, vowels, consonants, syllables, and words, all
into _sounds_; as if none of these things had any existence on paper, or
any significance to those who read in silence. Hence, their explanations
of all these elements, as well as of many other things equally essential to
the study, are palpably erroneous. I attribute this to the carelessness
with which men have compiled or made up books of grammar; and that
carelessness to those various circumstances, already described, which have
left diligence in a grammarian no hope of praise or reward. Without
alluding here to my own books, no one being obliged to accuse himself, I
doubt whether we have any school grammar that is much less objectionable in
this respect, than Murray's; and yet I am greatly mistaken, if nine tenths
of all the definitions in Murray's system are not faulty. "It was this sort
of definitions, which made _Scaliger_ say, _'Nihil infelicius definitore
grammatico_.'"--See _Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 351; also _Paragraph_ 5th,
above.

17. Nor can this objection be neutralized by saying, it is a mere matter of
opinion--a mere prejudice originating in rivalry. For, though we have ample
choice of terms, and may frequently assign to particular words a meaning
and an explanation which are in some degree arbitrary; yet whenever we
attempt to define things under the name which custom has positively fixed
upon them, we are no longer left to arbitrary explications; but are bound
to think and to say that only which shall commend itself to the
understanding of others, as being altogether true to nature. When a word is
well understood to denote a particular object or class of objects, the
definition of it ought to be in strict conformity to what is known of the
real being and properties of the thing or things contemplated. A definition
of this kind is a proposition susceptible of proof and illustration; and
therefore whatsoever is erroneously assumed to be the proper meaning of
such a term, may be refuted. But those persons who take every thing upon
trust, and choose both to learn and to teach mechanically, often become so
slavishly habituated to the peculiar phraseology of their text-books, that,
be the absurdity of a particular expression what it may, they can neither
discover nor suspect any inaccuracy in it. It is also very natural even for
minds more independent and acute, to regard with some reverence whatsoever
was gravely impressed upon them in childhood. Hence the necessity that all
school-books should proceed from skillful hands. Instruction should tell
things as they are, and never falter through negligence.

18. I have admitted that definitions are not the only means by which a
general knowledge of the import of language may be acquired; nor are they
the only means by which the acquisition of such knowledge may be aided. To
exhibit or point out _things_ and tell their names, constitutes a large
part of that instruction by which the meaning of words is conveyed to the
young mind; and, in many cases, a mere change or apposition of terms may
sufficiently explain our idea. But when we would guard against the
possibility of misapprehension, and show precisely what is meant by a word,
we must fairly define it. There are, however, in every language, many words
which do not admit of a formal definition. The import of all definitive and
connecting particles must be learned from usage, translation, or
derivation; and nature reserves to herself the power of explaining the
objects of our simple original perceptions. "All words standing for complex
ideas are definable; but those by which we denote simple ideas, are not.
For the perceptions of this latter class, having no other entrance into the
mind, than by sensation or reflection, can be acquired only by
experience."--_Duncan's Logic_, p. 63. "And thus we see, that as our simple
ideas are the materials and foundation of knowledge, so the names of simple
ideas may be considered as the elementary parts of language, beyond which
we cannot trace the meaning and signification of words. When we come to
them, we suppose the ideas for which they stand to be already known; or, if
they are not, experience alone must be consulted, and not definitions or
explications."--_Ibid._, p. 69.

19. But this is no apology for the defectiveness of any definition which
might be made correct, or for the effectiveness of our English grammars, in
the frequent omission of all explanation, and the more frequent adoption of
some indirect form of expression. It is often much easier to make some
loose observation upon what is meant by a given word or term in science,
than to frame a faultless definition of the thing; because it is easier to
refer to some of the relations, qualities, offices, or attributes of
things, than to discern wherein their essence consists, so as to be able to
tell directly and clearly what they are. The improvement of our grammatical
code in this respect, was one of the principal objects which I thought it
needful to attempt, when I first took up the pen as a grammarian. I cannot
pretend to have seen, of course, every definition and rule which has been
published on this subject; but, if I do not misjudge a service too humble
for boasting, I have myself framed a greater number of new or improved
ones, than all other English grammarians together. And not a few of them
have, since their first publication in 1823, been complimented to a place
in other grammars than my own. This is in good keeping with the authorship
which has been spoken of in an other chapter; but I am constrained to say,
it affords no proof that they were well written. If it did, the definitions
and rules in Murray's grammar must undoubtedly be thought the most correct
that ever have been given: they have been more frequently copied than any
others.

20. But I have ventured to suggest, that nine tenths of this author's
definitions are bad, or at least susceptible of some amendment. If this can
be shown to the satisfaction of the reader, will he hope to find an other
English grammar in which the eye of criticism may not detect errors and
deficiencies with the same ease? My object is, to enforce attention to the
proprieties of speech; and this is the very purpose of all grammar. To
exhibit here all Murray's definitions, with criticisms upon them, would
detain us too long. We must therefore be content to take a part of them as
a sample. And, not to be accused of fixing only upon the worst, we will
take a _series_. Let us then consider in their order his definitions of the
nine parts of speech;--for, calling the participle a verb, he reduces the
sorts of words to that number. And though not one of his nine definitions
now stands exactly as it did in his early editions, I think it may be said,
that not one of them is now, if it ever has been, expressed grammatically.

21. FIRST DEFINITION:--"An Article is a word _prefixed_ to substantives,
_to point them out_, and to show how far their[68] signification
extends."--_Murray, and others, from, Lowth's Gram._, p. 10. This is
obscure. In what manner, or in what respect, does an article point out
substantives? To point them out _as such_, or to show which words are
substantives, seems at first view to be the meaning intended; but it is
said soon after, "_A_ or _an_ is used in a vague sense, to _point out_ one
single _thing_ of the kind, in other respects _indeterminate_; as, 'Give me
_a_ book;' 'Bring me _an_ apple.'"--_Lowth_, p. 11; _Murray_, p. 31. And
again: "It is _of the nature_ of both the articles to determine or limit
_the thing_ spoken of."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 170. Now to point out
_nouns_ among the parts of speech, and to point out _things_ as individuals
of their class, are very different matters; and which of these is the
purpose for which articles are used, according to Lowth and Murray? Their
definition says the former, their explanations imply the latter; and I am
unable to determine which they really meant. The term _placed before_ would
have been better than "_prefixed_;" because the latter commonly implies
junction, as well as location. The word "_indeterminate_" is not a very
easy one for a boy; and, when he has found out what it means, he may
possibly not know to which of the four preceding nouns it ought to be
referred:--"in a vague _sense_, to point out one single _thing_ of the
_kind_, in other _respects_ indeterminate." What is this "vague sense?" and
what is it, that is "indeterminate?"

22. SECOND DEFINITION:--"A Substantive or Noun is the name of any thing
_that_ exists, or of _which_ we have any notion."--_Murray, and others_.
According to his own syntax, this sentence of Murray's is wrong; for he
himself suggests, that when two or more relative clauses refer to the same
antecedent, the same pronoun should be used in each. Of clauses connected
like these, this is true. He should therefore have said, "A Substantive, or
Noun, is the name of any thing _which_ exists, or of _which_ we have any
notion." His rule, however, though good against a text like this, is
utterly wrong in regard to many others, and not very accurate in taking
_two_ for a "_series_" thus: "Whatever relative is used, in one of a
_series_ of clauses relating to the same antecedent, the same relative
ought, generally to be used in _them all_. In the following sentence, _this
rule is violated_: 'It is remarkable, that Holland, against _which_ the war
was undertaken, and _that_, in the very beginning, was reduced to the
brink of destruction, lost nothing.' The clause ought to have been, 'and
_which_ in the very beginning.'"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 155. But both
the rule and the example, badly as they correspond, were borrowed from
Priestley's Grammar, p. 102, where the text stands thus: "Whatever relative
_be_ used, in one of a _series_ of clauses, relating to the same
antecedent, the same ought to be used in _them all_. 'It is remarkable,
that Holland,'" &c.

23. THIRD DEFINITION:--"An Adjective is a word added to a substantive, to
express _its_ quality."--_Lowth, Murray, Bullions, Pond, and others_. Here
we have the choice of two meanings; but neither of them is according to
truth. It seems doubtful whether "_its_ quality" is the _adjective's_
quality, or the _substantive's_; but in either sense, the phrase is false;
for an adjective is added to a noun, not to express any quality either of
the adjective or of the noun, but to express some quality of the _thing
signified_ by the noun. But the definition is too much restricted; for
adjectives may be added to pronouns as well as to nouns, nor do they always
express _quality_.

24. FOURTH DEFINITION:--"A Pronoun is a word used instead of a noun, to
_avoid the too frequent_ repetition of _the same word_."--_Dr. Ash's
Gram._, p. 25; _Murray's_, 28 and 50; _Felton's_, 18; _Alger's_, 13;
_Bacon's_, 10; _and others_. The latter part of this sentence is needless,
and also contains several errors. 1. The verb _avoid_ is certainly very
ill-chosen; because it implies intelligent agency, and not that which is
merely instrumental. 2. The article _the_ is misemployed for _a_; for,
"_the_ too frequent repetition," should mean _some particular_ too frequent
repetition--an idea not intended here, and in itself not far from
absurdity. 3. The phrase, "_the same word_" may apply to the pronoun itself
as well as to the noun: in saying, "_I_ came, _I_ saw, _I_ conquered,"
there is as frequent a repetition of _the same word_, as in saying,
"_Cæsar_ came, _Cæsar_ saw, _Cæsar_ conquered." If, therefore, the latter
part of this definition must be retained, the whole should be written thus:
"A Pronoun is a word used _in stead_ of a noun, to _prevent_ too frequent
_a_ repetition of _it_."

25. FIFTH DEFINITION:--"A Verb is a word which signifies _to be, to do_, or
_to suffer_"--_Lowth, Murray, and others_. NOTE:--"A verb may generally be
distinguished by _its making sense_ with any of the personal pronouns, or
the word _to_ before it."--_Murray, and others_. It is confessedly
difficult to give a perfect definition of a _verb_; and if, with Murray, we
will have the participles to be verbs, there must be no small difficulty in
forming one that shall be tolerable. Against the foregoing old explanation,
it may be objected, that the phrase _to suffer_, being now understood in a
more limited sense than formerly, does not well express the nature or
import of a passive verb. I have said, "A Verb is a word that signifies _to
be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_." Children cannot readily understand,
how every thing that is in any way _acted upon_, may be said _to suffer_.
The participle, I think, should be taken as a distinct part of speech, and
have its own definition. The note added by Murray to his definition of a
verb, would prove the participle not to be included in this part of speech,
and thus practically contradict his scheme. It is also objectionable in
respect to construction. The phrase "_by its making sense_" is at least
very questionable English; for "_its making_" supposes _making_ to be a
noun, and "_making sense_" supposes it to be an active participle. But
Lowth says, "Let it be either the one or the other, and abide by its own
construction." Nay, the author himself, though he therein contradicts an
other note of his own, virtually condemns the phrase, by his caution to the
learner against treating words in _ing_, "as if they were of an _amphibious
species_, partly nouns and partly verbs."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 193.

26. SIXTH DEFINITION:--"_An_ Adverb is _a part of speech joined_ to a verb,
an adjective, _and sometimes to_ another adverb, to express some _quality_
or _circumstance_ respecting _it_."--_Murray's Gram._, pp. 28 and 114. See
_Dr. Ash's Gram._, p. 47. This definition contains many errors; some of
which are gross blunders. 1. The first word, "_An_," is erroneously put for
_The: an_ adverb is _one_ adverb, not the whole class; and, if, "_An_
adverb is a part of speech," any and every adverb is a _part of speech_;
then, how many parts of speech are there? 2. The word "_joined_" is not
well chosen; for, with the exception of _not_ in _cannot_, the adverb is
very rarely _joined_ to the word to which it relates. 3. The want of a
comma before _joined_, perverts the construction; for the phrase, "_speech
joined_ to a verb," is nonsense; and to suppose _joined_ to relate to the
noun _part_, is not much better. 4. The word "_and_" should be _or_;
because no adverb is ever added to three or four different terms at once.
5. The word "_sometimes_" should be omitted; because it is needless, and
because it is inconsistent with the only conjunction which will make the
definition true. 6. The preposition "_to_" should either be inserted before
"_an adjective_," or suppressed before the term which follows; for when
several words occur in the same construction, uniformity of expression is
desirable. 7. For the same reason, (if custom may be thus far conformed to
analogy,) the article "_an_" ought, in cases like this, if not always, to
be separated from the word _other_; thus, "An adverb is a word added to _a_
verb, _a_ participle, _an_ adjective, or _an_ other adverb." Were the eye
not familiar with it, _another_ would be thought as irregular as
_theother_. 8. The word "_quality_" is wrong; for no adverb ever expresses
any _quality_, as such; qualities are expressed by _adjectives_, and never,
in any direct manner, by adverbs. 9. The "_circumstances_" which we express
by adverbs never belong to the _words_, as this definition avers that they
do, but always to the _actions_ or _qualities_ which the words signify. 10.
The pronoun _it_, according to Murray's second rule of syntax, ought to be
_them_, and so it stands in his own early editions; but if _and_ be changed
to _or_, as I have said it should be, the pronoun _it_ will be right.

27. SEVENTH DEFINITION:--"Prepositions serve to connect words with _one
another_, and to show the relation _between them_."--_Lowth, Murray, and
others_. This is only an observation, not a definition, as it ought to have
been; nor does it at all distinguish the preposition from the conjunction.
It does not reach the thing in question. Besides, it contains an actual
solecism in the expression. The word "_between_" implies but _two_ things;
and the phrase "_one another_" is not applicable where there are but two.
It should be, "to connect words with _each other_, and to show the
_relation between_ them;"--or else, "to connect words with _one an other_,
and to show the _relations among_ them." But the latter mode of expression
would not apply to prepositions considered severally, but only to the whole
class.

28. EIGHTH DEFINITION:--"A Conjunction is _a part of speech_ that is
_chiefly_ used to connect sentences; so as, out of two _or more_ sentences,
to make but one: it sometimes connects only words."--_Murray, and others_.
Here are more than thirty words, awkwardly and loosely strung together; and
all that is said in them, might be much better expressed in half the
number. For example: "A Conjunction is a word which connects other terms,
and commonly of two sentences makes but one." But verbosity and want of
unity are not the worst faults of this definition. We have three others to
point out. 1. "A conjunction is" not "_a part of speech_;" because _a_
conjunction is _one_ conjunction, and a part of speech is a whole class, or
sort, of words. A similar error was noticed in Murray's definition of an
adverb; and so common has this blunder become, that by a comparison of the
definitions which different authors have given of the parts of speech,
probably it will be found, that, by some hand or other, every one of the
ten has been commenced in this way. 2. The words "_or more_" are erroneous,
and ought to be omitted; for no one conjunction can connect more than two
terms, in that consecutive order which the sense requires. Three or more
simple sentences may indeed form a compound sentence; but, as they cannot
be joined in a _cluster_, they must have two or more connectives. 3. The
last clause erroneously suggests, that any or every conjunction "_sometimes
connects only words_;" but the conjunctions which may connect only words,
are not more than five, whereas those which connect only sentences are four
times as many.

29. NINTH DEFINITION:--"Interjections are words _thrown in between the
parts of a sentence_, to express the passions or emotions of the _speaker_;
as, 'O Virtue! how amiable thou art!'"--_Murray, and many others_. This
definition, which has been copied from grammar to grammar, and committed to
memory millions of times, is obviously erroneous, and directly contradicted
by the example. Interjections, though often enough thrown in between the
parts of a _discourse_, are very rarely "thrown in between the parts of a
_sentence_." They more frequently occur at the beginning of a sentence than
any where else; and, in such cases, they do not come under this narrow
definition. The author, at the head of his chapter on interjections,
appends to this definition two other examples; both of which contradict it
in like manner: "_Oh_! I have alienated my friend."--"_Alas_! I fear for
life." Again: Interjections are used occasionally, in _written_, as well as
in _oral_ discourse; nor are they less indicative of the emotions of the
_writer_, than of those "of the _speaker_."

30. I have thus exhibited, with all intentional fairness of criticism, the
entire series of these nine primary definitions; and the reader may judge
whether they sustain the praises which have been bestowed on the book,[69]
or confirm the allegations which I have made against it. He will understand
that my design is, here, as well as in the body of this work, to teach
grammar practically, by _rectifying_, so far as I may, all sorts of
mistakes either in it or respecting it; to compose a book which, by a
condensed exposition of such errors as are commonly found in other
grammars, will at once show the need we have of a better, and be itself a
fit substitute for the principal treatises which it censures. Grammatical
errors are universally considered to be small game for critics. They must
therefore be very closely grouped together, to be worth their room in this
work. Of the tens of thousands who have learned for grammar a multitude of
ungrammatical definitions and rules, comparatively few will ever know what
I have to say of their acquisitions. But this I cannot help. To the readers
of the present volume it is due, that its averments should be clearly
illustrated by particular examples; and it is reasonable that these should
be taken from the most accredited sources, whether they do honour to their
framers or not. My argument is only made so much the stronger, as the works
which furnish its proofs, are the more esteemed, the more praised, or the
more overrated.

31. Murray tells us, "There is no necessary connexion between words and
ideas."--_Octavo Gram._, Vol. i, p. 139. Though this, as I before observed,
is not altogether true, he doubtless had very good reason to distinguish,
in his teaching, "between _the sign_ and _the thing signified_." Yet, in
his own definitions and explanations, he frequently _confounds_ these very
things which he declares to be so widely different as not even to have a
"necessary connexion." Errors of this kind are very common in all our
English grammars. Two instances occur in the following sentence; which also
contains an error in doctrine, and is moreover obscure, or rather, in its
literal sense, palpably absurd: "To substantives belong gender, number, and
case; and _they_ are _all of_ the third person _when spoken of_, and of the
second person _when spoken to_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 38; _Alger's
Murray_, 16; _Merchant's_, 23; _Bacon's_, 12; _Maltby's_, 12; _Lyon's_, 7;
_Guy's_, 4; _Ingersoll's_, 26; _S. Putnam's_, 13; _T. H. Miller's_, 17;
_Rev. T. Smith's_, 13. Who, but a child taught by language like this, would
ever think of _speaking to a noun_? or, that a noun of the second person
_could not be spoken of_? or, that a noun cannot be put in the _first
person_, so as to agree with _I_ or _we_? Murray himself once taught, that,
"Pronouns _must always agree_ with their antecedents, _and_ the nouns for
which they stand, in gender, number, and _person_;" and he departed from a
true and important principle of syntax, when he altered his rule to its
present form. But I have said that the sentence above is obscure, or its
meaning absurd. What does the pronoun "_they_" represent? "_Substantives_,"
according to the author's intent; but "_gender, number_, and _case_,"
according to the obvious construction of the words. Let us try a parallel:"
To scriveners belong pen, ink, and paper; and _they_ are all of primary
importance when there is occasion to use them, and of none at all when they
are not needed." Now, if this sentence is _obscure_, the other is not less
so; but, if this is perfectly _clear_, so that what is said is obviously
and only what is intended, then it is equally clear, that what is said in
the former, is gross absurdity, and that the words cannot reasonably be
construed into the sense which the writer, and his copyists, designed.

32. All Murray's grammars, not excepting the two volumes octavo, are as
_incomplete_ as they are _inaccurate_; being deficient in many things which
are of so great importance that they should not be excluded from the very
smallest epitome. For example: On the subject of the _numbers_, he
attempted but one definition, and that is a fourfold solecism. Ho speaks of
the _persons_, but gives neither definitions nor explanations. In treating
of the _genders_, he gives but one formal definition. His section on the
_cases_ contains no regular definition. On the _comparison_ of adjectives,
and on the _moods_ and _tenses_ of verbs, he is also satisfied with a very
loose mode of teaching. The work as a whole exhibits more industry than
literary taste, more benevolence of heart than distinctness of
apprehension; and, like all its kindred and progeny, fails to give to the
principles of grammar that degree of clearness of which they are easily
susceptible. The student does not know this, but he feels the effects of
it, in the obscurity of his own views on the subject, and in the conscious
uncertainty with which he applies those principles. In grammar, the terms
_person, number, gender, case, mood, tense_, and many others, are used in a
technical and peculiar sense; and, in all scientific works, the sense of
technical terms should be clearly and precisely defined. Nothing can be
gained by substituting other names of modern invention; for these also
would need definitions as much as the old. We want to know the things
themselves, and what they are most appropriately called. We want a book
which will tell us, in proper order, and in the plainest manner, what all
the elements of the science are.

33. What does he know of grammar, who cannot directly and properly answer
such questions as these?--"What are numbers, in grammar? What is the
singular number? What is the plural number? What are persons, in grammar?
What is the first person? What is the second person? What is the third
person? What are genders, in grammar? What is the masculine gender? What is
the feminine gender? What is the neuter gender? What are cases, in grammar?
What is the nominative case? What is the possessive case? What is the
objective case?"--And yet the most complete acquaintance with every
sentence or word of Murray's tedious compilation, may leave the student at
a loss for a proper answer, not only to each of these questions, but also
to many others equally simple and elementary! A boy may learn by heart all
that Murray ever published on the subject of grammar, and still be left to
confound the numbers in grammar with numbers in arithmetic, or the persons
in grammar with persons in civil life! Nay, there are among the professed
_improvers_ of this system of grammar, _men_ who have actually confounded
these things, which are so totally different in their natures! In "Smith's
New Grammar on the Productive System," a work in which Murray is largely
copied and strangely metamorphosed, there is an abundance of such
confusion. For instance: "What is the meaning of the word _number_? Number
means _a sum that may be counted_."--_R. C. Smith's New Gram._, p. 7. From
this, by a tissue of half a dozen similar absurdities, called _inductions_,
the novice is brought to the conclusion that the numbers are _two_--as if
there were in nature but two sums that might be counted! There is no end to
the sickening detail of such blunders. How many grammars tell us, that,
"The first person is the _person who speaks_;" that, "The second person is
the _person spoken to_;" and that, "the third person is the _person spoken
of_!" As if the three persons of a verb, or other part of speech, were so
many _intelligent beings_! As if, by exhibiting a word in the three
persons, (as _go, goest, goes_,) we put it first _into the speaker_, then
_into the hearer_, and then _into somebody else_! Nothing can be more
abhorrent to grammar, or to sense, than such confusion. The things which
are identified in each of these three definitions, are as unlike as
Socrates and moonshine! The one is a thinking being; the other, a mere form
peculiar to certain words. But Chandler, of Philadelphia, ("the Grammar
King," forsooth!) without mistaking the grammatical persons for rational
souls, has contrived to crowd into his definition of _person_ more errors
of conception and of language,--more insult to common sense,--than one
could have believed it possible to put together in such space. And this
ridiculous old twaddle, after six and twenty years, he has deliberately
re-written and lately republished as something "adapted to the schools of
America." It stands thus: "_Person is a distinction which is made in a noun
between its representation of its object, either as spoken to, or spoken
of_."--Chandler's E. Grammar; Edition of 1821, p. 16; Ed. 1847, p. 21.

34. Grammarians have often failed in their definitions, because it is
impossible to define certain terms in the way in which the description has
been commonly attempted. He who undertakes what is impossible must
necessarily fail; and fail too, to the discredit of his ingenuity. It is
manifest that whenever a generic name in the singular number is to be
defined, the definition must be founded upon some property or properties
common to all the particular things included under the term. Thus, if I
would define a _globe_, a _wheel_, or a _pyramid_, my description must be
taken, not from what is peculiar to one or an other of these things, but
from those properties only which are common to all globes, all wheels, or
all pyramids. But what property has _unity_ in common with _plurality_, on
which a definition of _number_ may be founded? What common property have
the _three cases_, by which we can clearly define _case_? What have the
_three persons_ in common, which, in a definition of _person_, could be
made evident to a child? Thus all the great classes of grammatical
modifications, namely, _persons, numbers, genders, cases, moods_, and
_tenses_, though they admit of easy, accurate, and obvious definitions in
the plural, can scarcely be defined at all in the singular. I do not say,
that the terms _person, number, gender, case, mood_, and _tense_, ia their
technical application to grammar, are all of them equally and absolutely
undefinable in the singular; but I say, that no definition, just in sense
and suitable for a child, can ever be framed for any one of them. Among the
thousand varied attempts of grammarians to explain them so, there are a
hundred gross solecisms for every tolerable definition. For this, as I have
shown, there is a very simple reason in the nature of the things.

35. But this reason, as well as many other truths equally important and
equally clear, our common grammarians, have, so far as I know, every man of
them, overlooked. Consequently, even when they were aiming at the right
thing, they frequently fell into gross errors of expression; and, what is
still more surprising, such errors have been entailed upon the very art of
grammar, and the art of authorship itself, by the prevalence of an absurd
notion, that modern writers on this subject can be meritorious authors
without originality. Hence many a school-boy is daily rehearsing from his
grammar-book what he might well be ashamed to have written. For example,
the following definition from Murray's grammar, is found in perhaps a dozen
other compends, all professing to teach the art of speaking and writing
with propriety: "_Number_ is the _consideration of an object_, as _one_ or
_more_." [70] Yet this short sentence, as I have before suggested, is a
fourfold solecism. _First_, the word "_number_" is wrong; because those
modifications of language, which distinguish unity and plurality, cannot be
jointly signified by it. _Secondly_, the word "_consideration_" is wrong;
because _number_ is not _consideration_, in any sense which can be put upon
the terms: _condition, constitution, configuration_, or any other word
beginning with _con_, would have done just as well. _Thirdly_, "the
consideration of _an_ object as _one_," is but idle waste of thought; for,
that one thing is one,--that _an_ object is _one_ object,--every child
knows by _intuition_, and not by "_consideration_." _Lastly_, to consider
"_an_ object as _more_" than one, is impossible; unless this admirable
definition lead us into a misconception in so plain a case! So much for the
art of "the grammatical definer."

36. Many other examples, equally faulty and equally common, might, be
quoted and criticised for the further proof and illustration of what I have
alleged. But the reader will perhaps judge the foregoing to be sufficient.
I have wished to be brief, and yet to give my arguments, and the neglected
facts upon which they rest, their proper force upon the mind. Against such
prejudices as may possibly arise from the authorship of rival publications,
or from any interest in the success of one book rather than of an other,
let both my judges and me be on our guard. I have intended to be fair; for
captiousness is not criticism. If the reader perceives in these strictures
any improper bias, he has a sort of discernment which it is my misfortune
to lack. Against the compilers of grammars, I urge no conclusions at which
any man can hesitate, who accedes to my preliminary remarks upon them; and
these may be summed up in the following couplet of the poet Churchill:

   "To copy beauties, forfeits all pretence
    To fame;--to copy faults, is want of sense."



CHAPTER XI.

BRIEF NOTICES OF THE SCHEMES OF CERTAIN GRAMMARS.

"Sed ut perveniri ad summa nisi ex principiis non potest: ita, procedente
jam opere, minima incipiunt esse quæ prima sunt."--QUINTILIAN. _De Inst.
Orat._, Lib. x, Cap. 1, p. 560.


1. The _history_ of grammar, in the proper sense of the term, has
heretofore been made no part of the study. I have imagined that many of its
details might be profitable, not only to teachers, but to that class of
learners for whose use this work is designed. Accordingly, in the preceding
pages, there have been stated numerous facts properly historical, relating
either to particular grammars, or to the changes and progress of this
branch of instruction. These various details it is hoped will be more
entertaining, and perhaps for that reason not less useful, than those
explanations which belong merely to the construction and resolution of
sentences. The attentive reader must have gathered from the foregoing
chapters some idea of what the science owes to many individuals whose names
are connected with it. But it seems proper to devote to this subject a few
pages more, in order to give some further account of the origin and
character of certain books.

2. The manuals by which grammar was first
taught in English, were not properly English Grammars. They were
translations of the Latin Accidence; and were designed to aid British youth
in acquiring a knowledge of the Latin language, rather than accuracy in the
use of their own. The two languages were often combined in one book, for
the purpose of teaching sometimes both together, and sometimes one through
the medium of the other. The study of such works doubtless had a tendency
to modify, and perhaps at that time to improve, the English style of those
who used them. For not only must variety of knowledge have led to
copiousness of expression, but the most cultivated minds would naturally be
most apt to observe what was orderly in the use of speech. A language,
indeed, after its proper form is well fixed by letters, must resist all
introduction of foreign idioms, or become corrupted. Hence it is, that Dr.
Johnson avers, "The great pest of speech is frequency of translation. No
book was ever turned from one language into another, without imparting
something of its native idiom; this is the most mischievous and
comprehensive innovation."--_Preface to Joh. Dict._, 4to, p. 14. Without
expressly controverting this opinion, or offering any justification of mere
metaphrases, or literal translations, we may well assert, that the practice
of comparing different languages, and seeking the most appropriate terms
for a free version of what is ably written, is an exercise admirably
calculated to familiarize and extend grammatical knowledge.

3. Of the class of books here referrred [sic--KTH] to, that which I have
mentioned in an other chapter, as Lily's or King Henry's Grammar, has been
by far the most celebrated and the most influential. Concerning this
treatise, it is stated, that its parts were not put together in the present
form, until eighteen or twenty years after Lily's death. "The time when
this work was completed," says the preface of 1793, "has been differently
related by writers. Thomas Hayne places it in the year 1543, and Anthony
Wood, in 1545. But neither of these accounts can be right; for I have seen
a beautiful copy, printed upon vellum, and illuminated, anno 1542, in
quarto. And it may be doubted whether this was the first edition."--_John
Ward, Pref._, p. vii. In an Introductory Lecture, read before the
University of London in 1828, by Thomas Dale, professor of English
literature, I find the following statement: "In this reign,"--the reign of
Henry VIII,--"the study of grammar was reduced to a system, by the
promulgation of many grammatical treatises; one of which was esteemed of
sufficient importance to be honoured with a royal name. It was called, 'The
Grammar of King Henry the Eighth;' and to this, 'with other works, the
young Shakspeare was probably indebted for some learning and much loyalty.'
But the honour of producing the first English grammar is claimed by William
Bullokar, who published, in the year 1586, 'A Bref Grammar for English,'
being, to use his own words, 'the first Grammar for English that ever waz,
except my Grammar at large.'"

4. Ward's preface to Lily commences thus: "If we look back to the origin of
our common _Latin Grammar_, we shall find it was no hasty performance, nor
the work of a single person; but composed at different times by several
eminent and learned men, till the whole was at length finished, and by the
order of _King Henry_ VIII.[,] brought into that form in which it has ever
since continued. The _English introduction_ was written by the reverend and
learned Dr. _John Colet_, Dean of St. _Paul's_, for the use of the school
he had lately founded there; and was dedicated by him to _William Lily_,
the first high master of that school, in the year 1510; for which reason it
has usually gone by the name of _Paul's Accidence_. The substance of it
remains the same, as at first; though it has been much altered in the
manner of expression, and sometimes the order, with other improvements. The
_English syntax_ was the work of _Lily_, as appears by the title in the
most ancient editions, which runs thus: _Gulielmi Lilii Angli Rudimenta_.
But it has been greatly improved since his time, both with, regard to the
method, and an enlargement of double the quantity."

5. Paul's Accidence is
therefore probably the oldest grammar that can now be found in our
language. It is not, however, an English grammar; because, though written
in antique English, and embracing many things which are as true of our
language as of any other, it was particularly designed for the teaching of
_Latin_. It begins thus: "In speech be these eight parts following: Noun,
Pronoun, Verb, Participle, declined; Adverb, Conjunction, Preposition,
Interjection, undeclined." This is the old platform of the Latin
grammarians; which differs from that of the Greek grammars, only in having
no Article, and in separating the Interjection from the class of Adverbs.
Some Greek grammarians, however, separate the Adjective from the Noun, and
include the Participle with the Verb: thus, "There are in Greek eight
species of words, called Parts of Speech; viz. Article, Noun, Adjective,
Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, and Conjunction."--_Anthon's Valpy_, p.
18. With respect to our language, the plan of the Latin Accidence is
manifestly inaccurate; nor can it be applied, without some variation, to
the Greek. In both, as well as in all other languages that have _Articles_,
the best amendment of it, and the nearest adherence to it, is, to make the
Parts of Speech _ten_; namely, the Article, the Noun, the Adjective, the
Pronoun, the Verb, the Participle, the Adverb, the Conjunction, the
Preposition, and the Interjection.

6. The best Latin grammarians admit that the Adjective ought not to be
called a Noun; and the best Greek grammarians, that the Interjections ought
not to be included among Adverbs. With respect to Participles, a vast
majority of grammarians in general, make them a distinct species, or part
of speech; but, on this point, the English grammarians are about equally
divided: nearly one half include them with the verbs, and a few call them
adjectives. In grammar, it is wrong to deviate from the old groundwork,
except for the sake of truth and improvement; and, in this case, to vary
the series of parts, by suppressing one and substituting an other, is in
fact a greater innovation, than to make the terms ten, by adding one and
dividing an other. But our men of nine parts of speech innovated yet more:
they added the Article, as did the Greeks; divided the Noun into
Substantive and Adjective; and, without good reason, suppressed the
Participle. And, of latter time, not a few have thrown the whole into
confusion, to show the world "the order of [their] understanding." What was
grammar fifty years ago, some of these have not thought it worth their
while to inquire! And the reader has seen, that, after all this, they can
complacently talk of "the censure so frequently and so justly awarded to
_unfortunate innovators_."--KIRKHAM'S _Gram._, p. 10.

7. The old scheme of the Latin grammarians has seldom, if ever, been
_literally_ followed in English; because its distribution of the parts of
speech, as declined and undeclined, would not be true with respect to the
English participle. With the omission of this unimportant distinction, it
was, however, scrupulously retained by Dilworth, by the author of the
British Grammar, by William Ward, by Buchanan, and by some others now
little known, who chose to include both the article and the adjective with
the noun, rather than to increase the number of the parts of speech beyond
eight. Dr. Priestley says, "I shall adopt the _usual distribution_ of words
into eight classes; viz. Nouns, Adjectives, Pronouns, Verbs, Adverbs,
Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections.[71] I do this in compliance
with the practice of most Grammarians; and because, _if any number, in a
thing so arbitrary, must be fixed upon_, this seems to be as comprehensive
and distinct as any. All the innovation I have made hath been to throw out
the _Participle_, and substitute the _Adjective_, as more evidently a
distinct part of speech."--_Rudiments of English Gram._, p. 3. All this
comports well enough with Dr. Priestley's haste and carelessness; but it is
not true, that he either adopted, "the usual distribution of words," or
made an other "as comprehensive and distinct as any." His "_innovation_,"
too, which has since been countenanced by many other writers, I have
already shown to be greater, than if, by a promotion of the article and the
adjective, he had made the parts of speech ten. Dr. Beattie, who was
Priestley's coeval, and a much better scholar, adopted this number without
hesitation, and called every one of them by what is still its right name:
"In English there are _ten_ sorts of words, which are all found in the
following short sentence; 'I now see the good man coming; but, alas! he
walks with difficulty.' _I_ and _he_ are pronouns; _now_ is an adverb;
_see_ and _walks_ are verbs; _the_ is an article; _good_, an adjective;
_man_ and _difficulty_ are nouns, the former substantive, the latter
abstract; _coming_ is a participle; _but_, a conjunction; _alas!_ an
interjection; _with_, a preposition. That no other sorts of words are
necessary in language, will appear, when we have seen in what respects
these are necessary."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, Vol. i, p. 30. This
distribution is precisely that which the best _French_ grammarians have
_usually_ adopted.

8. Dr. Johnson professes to adopt the division, the order, and the terms,
"of the common grammarians, without inquiring whether a fitter distribution
might not be found."--_Gram. before 4to Dict._, p. 1. But, in the Etymology
of his Grammar, he makes no enumeration of the parts of speech, and treats
only of articles, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs; to which if we
add the others, according to the common grammarians, or according to his
own Dictionary, the number will be _ten_. And this distribution, which was
adopted by Dr. Ash about 1765, by Murray the schoolmaster about 1790, by
Caleb Alexander in 1795, and approved by Dr. Adam in 1793, has since been
very extensively followed; as may be seen in Dr. Crombie's treatise, in the
Rev. Matt. Harrison's, in Dr. Mandeville's reading-books, and in the
grammars of Harrison, Staniford, Alden, Coar, John Peirce, E. Devis, C.
Adams, D. Adams, Chandler, Comly, Jaudon, Ingersoll, Hull, Fuller,
Greenleaf, Kirkham, Ferd. H. Miller, Merchant, Mack, Nutting, Bucke, Beck,
Barrett, Barnard, Maunder, Webber, Emmons, Hazen, Bingham, Sanders, and
many others. Dr. Lowth's distribution is the same, except that he placed
the adjective after the pronoun, the conjunction after the preposition,
and, like Priestley, called the participle a verb, thus making the parts of
speech _nine_. He also has been followed by many; among whom are Bicknell,
Burn, Lennie, Mennye, Lindley Murray, W. Allen, Guy, Churchill, Wilson,
Cobbett, Davis, David Blair, Davenport, Mendenhall, Wilcox, Picket, Pond,
Russell, Bacon, Bullions, Brace, Hart, Lyon, Tob. H. Miller, Alger, A.
Flint, Folker, S. Putnam, Cooper, Frost, Goldsbury, Hamlin, T. Smith, R. C.
Smith, and Woodworth. But a third part of these, and as many more in the
preceding list, are confessedly mere modifiers of Murray's compilation; and
perhaps, in such a case, those have done best who have deviated least from
the track of him whom they professed to follow.[72]

9. Some seem to have supposed, that by reducing the number of the parts of
speech, and of the rules for their construction, the study of grammar would
be rendered more easy and more profitable to the learner. But this, as
would appear from the history of the science, is a mere retrogression
towards the rudeness of its earlier stages. It is hardly worth while to
dispute, whether there shall be nine parts of speech or ten; and perhaps
enough has already been stated, to establish the expediency of assuming the
latter number. Every word in the language must be included in some class,
and nothing is gained by making the classes larger and less numerous. In
all the artificial arrangements of science, distinctions are to be made
according to the differences in things; and the simple question here is,
what differences among words shall be at first regarded. To overlook, in
our primary division, the difference between a verb and a participle, is
merely to reserve for a subdivision, or subsequent explanation, a species
of words which most grammarians have recognized as a distinct sort in their
original classification.

10. It should be observed that the early period of grammatical science was
far remote from the days in which _English_ grammar originated. Many things
which we now teach and defend as grammar, were taught and defended two
thousand years ago, by the philosophers of Greece and Rome. Of the parts of
speech, Quintilian, who lived in the first century of our era, gives the
following account: "For the ancients, among whom were Aristotle[73] and
Theodectes, treated only of verbs, nouns, and conjunctions: as the verb is
what we say, and the noun, that of which we say it, they judged the power
of discourse to be in _verbs_, and the matter in _nouns_, but the connexion
in _conjunctions_. Little by little, the philosophers, and especially the
Stoics, increased the number: first, to the conjunctions were added
_articles_; afterwards, _prepositions_; to nouns, was added the
_appellation_; then the _pronoun_; afterwards, as belonging to each verb,
the _participle_; and, to verbs in common, _adverbs_. Our language [i. e.,
the _Latin_] does not require articles, wherefore they are scattered among
the other parts of speech; but there is added to the foregoing the
_interjection_. But some, on the authority of good authors, make the parts
only eight; as Aristarchus, and, in our day, Palæmon; who have included the
vocable, or appellation, with the noun, as a species of it. But they who
make the noun one and the vocable an other, reckon nine. But there are also
some who divide the vocable from the appellation; making the former to
signify any thing manifest to sight or touch, as _house, bed_; and the
latter, any thing to which either or both are wanting, as _wind, heaven,
god, virtue_. They have also added the _asseveration_ and the
_attrectation_, which I do not approve. Whether the vocable or appellation
should be included with the noun or not, as it is a matter of little
consequence, I leave to the decision of others."--See QUINTIL. _de Inst.
Orat._, Lib. i, Cap. 4, §24.

11. Several writers on English grammar,
indulging a strange unsettlement of plan, seem not to have determined in
their own minds, how many parts of speech there are, or ought to be. Among
these are Horne Tooke, Webster, Dalton, Cardell, Green, and Cobb; and
perhaps, from what he says above, we may add the name of Priestley. The
present disputation about the sorts of words, has been chiefly owing to the
writings of Horne Tooke, who explains the minor parts of speech as mere
abbreviations, and rejects, with needless acrimony, the common
classification. But many have mistaken the nature of his instructions, no
less than that of the common grammarians. This author, in his third
chapter, supposes his auditor to say, "But you have not all this while
informed me _how many parts of speech_ you mean to lay down." To whom he
replies, "That shall be as you please. Either _two_, or _twenty_, or
_more_." Such looseness comported well enough with his particular purpose;
because he meant to teach the derivation of words, and not to meddle at all
with their construction. But who does not see that it is impossible to lay
down rules for the _construction_ of words, without first dividing them
into the classes to which such rules apply? For example: if a man means to
teach, that, "A verb must agree with its subject, or nominative, in person
and number," must he not first show the learner _what words are verbs?_ and
ought he not to see in this rule a reason for not calling the participle a
verb? Let the careless followers of Lowth and Priestley answer. Tooke did
not care to preserve any parts of speech at all. His work is not a system
of grammar; nor can it be made the basis of any regular scheme of
grammatical instruction. He who will not grant that the same words may
possibly be used as different parts of speech, must make his parts of
speech either very few or very many. This author says, "I do not allow that
_any_ words change their nature in this manner, so as to belong sometimes
to one part of speech, and sometimes to another, from the different ways of
using them. I never could perceive any such fluctuation in any word
whatever."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 68.

12. From his own positive language, I imagine this ingenious author never
well considered what constitutes the sameness of words, or wherein lies the
difference of the parts of speech; and, without understanding these things,
a grammarian cannot but fall into errors, unless he will follow somebody
that knows them. But Tooke confessedly contradicts, and outfaces "_all
other Grammarians_" in the passage just cited. Yet it is plain, that the
whole science of grammar--or at least the whole of etymology and syntax,
which are its two principal parts--is based upon a division of words into
the parts of speech; a division which necessarily refers, in many
instances, the same words to different sections according to the manner in
which they are used. "Certains mots répondent, ainsi au même temps, à
diverses parties d'oraison selon que la grammaire les emploie
diversement."--_Buffier_, Art. 150. "Some words, from the different ways in
which they are used, belong sometimes to one part of speech, sometimes to
another."--_M'Culloch's Gram._, p. 37. "And so say all other
Grammarians."--_Tooke, as above_.

13. The history of _Dr. Webster_, as a grammarian, is singular. He is
remarkable for his changeableness, yet always positive; for his
inconsistency, yet very learned; for his zeal "to correct popular errors,"
yet often himself erroneous; for his fertility in resources, yet sometimes
meagre; for his success as an author, yet never satisfied; for his boldness
of innovation, yet fond of appealing to antiquity. His grammars are the
least judicious, and at present the least popular, of his works. They
consist of four or five different treatises, which for their mutual credit
should never be compared: it is impossible to place any firm reliance upon
the authority of a man who contradicts himself so much. Those who imagine
that the last opinions of so learned a man must needs be right, will do
well to wait, and see what will be his last: they cannot otherwise know to
what his instructions will finally lead: Experience has already taught him
the folly of many of his pretended improvements, and it is probable his
last opinions of English grammar will be most conformable to that just
authority with which he has ever been tampering. I do not say that he has
not exhibited ingenuity as well as learning, or that he is always wrong
when he contradicts a majority of the English grammarians; but I may
venture to say, he was wrong when he undertook to disturb the common scheme
of the parts of speech, as well as when he resolved to spell all words
exactly as they are pronounced.

14. It is not commonly known with how rash a hand this celebrated author
has sometimes touched the most settled usages of our language. In 1790,
which was seven years after the appearance of his first grammar, he
published an octavo volume of more than four hundred pages, consisting of
Essays, moral, historical, political, and literary, which might have done
him credit, had he not spoiled his book by a grammatical whim about the
reformation of orthography. Not perceiving that English literature,
multiplied as it had been within two or three centuries, had acquired a
stability in some degree corresponding to its growth, he foolishly imagined
it was still as susceptible of change and improvement as in the days of its
infancy. Let the reader pardon the length of this digression, if for the
sake of any future schemer who may chance to adopt a similar conceit, I
cite from the preface to this volume a specimen of the author's practice
and reasoning. The ingenious attorney had the good sense quickly to abandon
this project, and content himself with less glaring innovations; else he
had never stood as he now does, in the estimation of the public. But there
is the more need to record the example, because in one of the southern
states the experiment has recently been tried again. A still abler member
of the same profession, has renewed it but lately; and it is said there are
yet remaining some converts to this notion of improvement. I copy
literally, leaving all my readers and his to guess for themselves why he
spelled "_writers_" with a _w_ and "_riting_" without.

15. "During the course of ten or twelv yeers, I hav been laboring to
correct popular errors, and to assist my yung brethren in the road to truth
and virtue; my publications for theze purposes hav been numerous; much time
haz been spent, which I do not regret, and much censure incurred, which my
hart tells me I do not dezerv." * * * "The reeder wil observ that the
_orthography_ of the volum iz not uniform. The reezon iz, that many of the
essays hav been published before, in the common orthography, and it would
hav been a laborious task to copy the whole, for the sake of changing the
spelling. In the essays, ritten within the last yeer, a considerable change
of spelling iz introduced by way of experiment. This liberty waz taken by
the writers before the age of queen Elizabeth, and to this we are indeted
for the preference of modern spelling over that of Gower and Chaucer. The
man who admits that the change of _hoasbonde, mynde, ygone, moneth_ into
_husband, mind, gone, month_, iz an improovment, must acknowlege also the
riting of _helth, breth, rong, tung, munth_, to be an improovment. There iz
no alternativ. Every possible reezon that could ever be offered for
altering the spelling of wurds, stil exists in full force; and if a gradual
reform should not be made in our language, it wil proov that we are less
under the influence of reezon than our ancestors."--_Noah Webster's Essays,
Preface_, p. xi.

16. But let us return, with our author, to the question of the parts of
speech. I have shown that if we do not mean to adopt some less convenient
scheme, we must count them _ten_, and preserve their ancient order as well
as their ancient names.[74] And, after all his vacillation in consequence
of reading Horne Tooke, it would not be strange if Dr. Webster should come
at last to the same conclusion. He was not very far from it in 1828, as may
be shown by his own testimony, which he then took occasion to record. I
will give his own words on the point: "There is great difficulty in
devising a correct classification of the several sorts of words; and
probably no classification that shall be simple and at the same time
philosophically correct, can be invented. There are some words that do not
strictly fall under any description of any class yet devised. Many attempts
have been made and are still making to remedy this evil; but such schemes
as I have seen, do not, in my apprehension, correct the defects of the old
schemes, nor simplify the subject. On the other hand, all that I have seen,
serve only to obscure and embarrass the subject, by substituting new
arrangements and new terms which are as incorrect as the old ones, and less
intelligible. I have attentively viewed these subjects, in all the lights
which my opportunities have afforded, and am convinced that the
distribution of words, most generally received, _is the best that can be
formed_, with some slight alterations adapted to the particular
construction of the English language."

17. This passage is taken from the advertisement, or preface, to the
Grammar which accompanies the author's edition of his great quarto
Dictionary. Now the several schemes which bear his own name, were doubtless
all of them among those which he had that he had "_seen_;" so that he here
condemns them all collectively, as he had previously condemned some of them
at each reformation. Nor is the last exempted. For although he here plainly
gives his vote for that common scheme which he first condemned, he does not
adopt it without "some slight alterations;" and in contriving these
alterations he is inconsistent with his own professions. He makes the parts
of speech _eight_, thus: "1. The name or noun; 2. The pronoun or
substitute; 3. The adjective, attribute, or attributive; 4. The verb; 5.
The adverb; 6. The preposition; 7. The connective or conjunction; 8. The
exclamation or interjection." In his Rudiments of English Grammar,
published in 1811, "to unfold the _true principles_ of the language," his
parts of speech were _seven_; "viz. 1. Names or nouns; 2. Substitutes or
pronouns; 3. Attributes or adjectives; 4. Verbs, with their participles; 5.
Modifiers or adverbs; 6. Prepositions; 7. Connectives or conjunctions." In
his Philosophical and Practical Grammar, published in 1807, a book which
professes to teach "the _only legitimate principles_, and established
usages," of the language, a twofold division of words is adopted; first,
into two general classes, primary and secondary; then into "_seven species_
or parts of speech," the first two belonging to the former class, the other
five to the latter; thus: "1. Names or nouns; 2. Verbs; 3. Substitutes; 4.
Attributes; 5. Modifiers; 6. Prepositions; 7. Connectives." In his
"Improved Grammar of the English Language," published in 1831, the same
scheme is retained, but the usual names are preferred.

18. How many different schemes of classification this author invented, I
know not; but he might well have saved himself the trouble of inventing
any; for, so far as appears, none of his last three grammars ever came to a
second edition. In the sixth edition of his "Plain and Comprehensive
Grammar, grounded on the _true principles_ and idioms of the language," a
work which his last grammatical preface affirms to have been originally
fashioned "on the model of Lowth's," the parts of speech are reckoned
"_six_; nouns, articles, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, and abbreviations or
particles." This work, which he says "was extensively used in the schools
of this country," and continued to be in demand, he voluntarily suppressed;
because, after a profitable experiment of four and twenty years, he found
it so far from being grounded on "true principles," that the whole scheme
then appeared to him incorrigibly bad. And, judging from this sixth
edition, printed in 1800, the only one which I have seen, I cannot but
concur with him in the opinion. More than one half of the volume is a loose
_Appendix_ composed chiefly of notes taken from Lowth and Priestley; and
there is a great want of method in what was meant for the body of the work.
I imagine his several editions must have been different grammars with the
same title; for such things are of no uncommon occurrence, and I cannot
otherwise account for the assertion that this book was compiled "on _the
model of Lowth's_, and on the same principles as [those on which] Murray
has constructed his."--_Advertisement in Webster's Quarto Dict., 1st Ed._

19. In a treatise on grammar, a bad scheme is necessarily attended with
inconveniences for which no merit in the execution can possibly compensate.
The first thing, therefore, which a skillful teacher will notice in a work
of this kind, is the arrangement. If he find any difficulty in discovering,
at sight, what it is, he will be sure it is bad; for a lucid order is what
he has a right to expect from him who pretends to improve upon all the
English grammarians. Dr. Webster is not the only reader of the EPEA
PTEROENTA, who has been thereby prompted to meddle with the common scheme
of grammar; nor is he the only one who has attempted to simplify the
subject by reducing the parts of speech to _six_. John Dalton of
Manchester, in 1801, in a small grammar which he dedicated to Horne Tooke,
made them six, but not the same six. He would have them to be, nouns,
pronouns, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions. This writer, like
Brightland, Tooke, Fisher, and some others, insists on it that the articles
are _adjectives_. Priestley, too, throwing them out of his classification,
and leaving the learner to go almost through his book in ignorance of their
rank, at length assigns them to the same class, in one of his notes. And so
has Dr. Webster fixed them in his late valuable, but not faultless,
dictionaries. But David Booth, an etymologist perhaps equally learned, in
his "Introduction to an Analytical Dictionary of the English Language,"
declares them to be of the same species as the _pronouns_; from which he
thinks it strange that they were ever separated! See _Booth's Introd._, p.
21.

20. Now, what can be more idle, than for teachers to reject the common
classification of words, and puzzle the heads of school-boys with
speculations like these? It is easy to admit all that etymology can show to
be true, and still justify the old arrangement of the elements of grammar.
And if we depart from the common scheme, where shall we stop? Some have
taught that the parts of speech are only _five_; as did the latter stoics,
whose classes, according to Priscian and Harris, were these: articles,
nouns appellative, nouns proper, verbs, and conjunctions. Others have made
them _four_; as did Aristotle and the elder stoics, and, more recently,
Milnes, Brightland, Harris, Ware, Fisher, and the author of a work on
Universal Grammar, entitled Enclytica. Yet, in naming the four, each of
these contrives to differ from _all the rest!_ With Aristotle, they are,
"nouns, verbs, articles, and conjunctions;" with Milnes, "nouns, adnouns,
verbs, and particles;" with Brightland, "names, qualities, affirmations,
and particles;" with Harris, "substantives, attributives, definitives, and
connectives;" with Ware, "the name, the word, the assistant, the
connective;" with Fisher, "names, qualities, verbs, and particles;" with
the author of Enclytica, "names, verbs, modes, and connectives." But why
make the classes so numerous as four? Many of the ancients, Greeks,
Hebrews, and Arabians, according to Quintilian, made them _three_; and
these three, according to Vossius, were nouns, verbs, and particles.
"Veteres Arabes, Hebræi, et Græci, tres, non amplius, classes faciebant; l.
Nomen, 2. Verbum, 3. Particula seu Dictio."--_Voss. de Anal._, Lib. i, Cap.
1.

21. Nor is this number, _three_, quite destitute of modern supporters;
though most of these come at it in an other way. D. St. Quentin, in his
Rudiments of General Grammar, published in 1812, divides words into the
"three general classes" last mentioned; viz., "1. Nouns, 2. Verbs, 3.
Particles."--P. 5. Booth, who published the second edition of his
etymological work in 1814, examining severally the ten parts of speech, and
finding what he supposed to be the true origin of all the words in some of
the classes, was led to throw one into an other, till he had destroyed
seven of them. Then, resolving that each word ought to be classed according
to the meaning which its etymology fixes upon it, he refers the number of
classes to _nature_, thus: "If, then, each [word] has a _meaning_, and is
capable of raising an idea in the mind, that idea must have its prototype
in nature. It must either denote an _exertion_, and is therefore a _verb_;
or a _quality_, and is, in that case, an _adjective_; or it must express an
_assemblage_ of qualities, such as is observed to belong to some individual
object, and is, on this supposition, the _name_ of such object, or a
_noun_. * * * We have thus given an account of the different divisions of
words, and have found that the whole may be classed under the three heads
of Names, Qualities, and Actions; or Nouns, Adjectives, and
Verbs."--_Introd. to Analyt. Dict._, p. 22.

22. This notion of the parts of speech, as the reader will presently see,
found an advocate also in the author of the popular little story of Jack
Halyard. It appears in his Philosophic Grammar published in Philadelphia in
1827. Whether the writer borrowed it from Booth, or was led into it by the
light of "nature," I am unable to say: he does not appear to have derived
it from the ancients. Now, if either he or the lexicographer has discovered
in "nature" a prototype for this scheme of grammar, the discovery is only
to be proved, and the schemes of all other grammarians, ancient or modern,
must give place to it. For the reader will observe that this triad of parts
is not that which is mentioned by Vossius and Quintilian. But authority may
be found for reducing the number of the parts of speech yet lower. Plato,
according to Harris, and the first inquirers into language, according to
Horne Tooke, made them _two_; nouns and verbs, which Crombie, Dalton,
M'Culloch, and some others, say, are the only parts essentially necessary
for the communication of our thoughts. Those who know nothing about
grammar, regard all words as of _one_ class. To them, a word is simply a
word; and under what other name it may come, is no concern of theirs.

23. Towards this point, tends every attempt to simplify grammar by
suppressing any of the _ten_ parts of speech. Nothing is gained by it; and
it is a departure from the best authority. We see by what steps this kind
of reasoning may descend; and we have an admirable illustration of it in
the several grammatical works of William S. Cardell. I shall mention them
in the order in which they appeared; and the reader may judge whether the
author does not ultimately arrive at the conclusion to which the foregoing
series is conducted. This writer, in his Essay on Language, reckons seven
parts of speech; in his New-York Grammar, six; in his Hartford Grammar,
three principal, with three others subordinate; in his Philadelphia
Grammar, three only--nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Here he alleges, "The
unerring plan of _nature_ has established three classes of perceptions, and
consequently three parts of speech."--P. 171. He says this, as if he meant
to abide by it. But, on his twenty-third page, we are told, "Every
adjective is either a noun or a participle." Now, by his own showing, there
are no participles: he makes them all adjectives, in each of his schemes.
It follows, therefore, that all his adjectives, including what others call
participles, are nouns. And this reduces his three parts of speech to two,
in spite of "the unerring plan of _nature!_" But even this number is more
than he well believed in; for, on the twenty-first page of the book, he
affirms, that, "All other terms are but derivative forms and new
applications of _nouns_." So simple a thing is this method of grammar! But
Neef, in his zeal for reformation, carries the anticlimax fairly off the
brink; and declares, "In the grammar which shall be the work of my pupils,
there shall be found no nouns, no pronouns, no articles, no participles, no
verbs, no prepositions, no conjunctions, no adverbs, no interjections, no
gerunds, not even one single supine. Unmercifully shall they be banished
from it."--_Neef's Method of Education_, p. 60.

24. When Cardell's system appeared, several respectable men, convinced by
"his powerful demonstrations," admitted that he had made "many things in
the _established doctrines_ of the expounders of language appear
sufficiently ridiculous;" [75] and willingly lent him the influence of
their names, trusting that his admirable scheme of English grammar, in
which their ignorance saw nothing but new truth, would be speedily
"perfected and generally embraced." [76] Being invited by the author to a
discussion of his principles, I opposed them _in his presence_, both
privately and publicly; defending against him, not unsuccessfully, those
doctrines which time and custom have sanctioned. And, what is remarkable,
that candid opposition which Cardell himself had treated with respect, and
parried in vain, was afterwards, by some of his converts, impeached of all
unfairness, and even accused of wanting common sense. "No one," says
Niebuhr, "ever overthrew a literary idol, without provoking the anger of
its worshipers."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 489. The certificates
given in commendation of this "set of opinions," though they had no
extensive effect on the public, showed full well that the signers knew
little of the history of grammar; and it is the continual repetition of
such things, that induces me now to dwell upon its history, for the
information of those who are so liable to be deceived by exploded errors
republished as novelties. A eulogist says of Cardell, "He had adopted a set
of opinions, which, to most of his readers, appeared _entirely new."_ A
reviewer proved, that all his pretended novelties are to be found in
certain grammars now forgotten, or seldom read. The former replies, Then he
[Cardell,] is right--and the man is no less stupid than abusive, who finds
fault; for here is proof that the former "had highly respectable authority
for almost every thing he has advanced!"--See _The Friend_, Vol. ii, pp.
105 and 116, from which all the quotations in this paragraph, except one,
are taken.

 25. The reader may now be curious to know what these doctrines
were. They were summed up by the reviewer, thus: "Our author pretends to
have drawn principally from his own resources, in making up his books; and
many may have supposed there is more _novelty_ in them than there really
is. For instance: 1. He classes the _articles_ with _adjectives_; and so
did Brightland, Tooke, Fisher, Dalton, and Webster. 2. He calls the
_participles, adjectives_; and so did Brightland and Tooke. 3. He make the
_pronouns_, either _nouns_ or _adjectives_; and so did Adam, Dalton, and
others. 4. He distributes the _conjunctions_ among the other parts of
speech; and so did Tooke. 5. He rejects the _interjections_; and so did
Valla, Sanctius, and Tooke. 6. He makes the _possessive case_ an
_adjective_; and so did Brightland. 7. He says our language has _no cases_;
and so did Harris. 8. He calls _case, position_; and so did James Brown. 9.
He reduces the adjectives to two classes, _defining_ and _describing_; and
so did Dalton. 10. He declares all _verbs_ to be _active_; and so did
Harris, (in his Hermes, Book i, Chap. ix,) though he admitted the
_expediency_ of the common division, and left to our author the absurdity
of contending about it. Fisher also rejected the class of _neuter verbs_,
and called them all _active_. 11. He reduces the _moods_ to _three_, and
the _tenses_ to _three_; and so did Dalton, in the very same words. Fisher
also made the _tenses three_, but said there _are no moods_ in English. 12.
He makes the _imperative mood_ always _future_; and so did Harris, in 1751.
Nor did the doctrine originate with him; for Brightland, a hundred years
ago, [about 1706,] ascribed it to some of his predecessors. 13. He reduces
the whole of our _syntax_ to about _thirty lines_; and two thirds of these
are useless; for Dr. Johnson expressed it quite as fully in _ten_. But
their explanations are both good for nothing; and Wallis, more wisely,
omitted it altogether."--_The Friend_, Vol. ii, p. 59.

26. Dr. Webster says, in a marginal note to the preface of his
Philosophical Grammar, "Since the days of _Wallis_, who published a Grammar
of the English Language, in Latin, in the reign of Charles II.[,] from
which Johnson and Lowth borrowed most of their rules, _little improvement_
has been made in English grammar. Lowth supplied some valuable criticisms,
most of which however respect obsolete phrases; but many of his criticisms
are extremely erroneous, and they have had an ill effect, in perverting the
true idioms of our language. Priestley furnished a number of new and useful
observations on the peculiar phrases of the English language. To which may
be added some good remarks of Blair and Campbell, interspersed with many
errors. Murray, not having mounted to the original sources of information,
and professing only to select and arrange the rules and criticisms of
preceding writers, has furnished little or nothing new. Of the numerous
compilations of inferior character, it may be affirmed, that they have
added nothing to the stock of grammatical knowledge." And the concluding
sentence of this work, as well as of his Improved Grammar, published in
1831, extends the censure as follows: "It is not the English language only
whose history and principles are yet to be illustrated; but the grammars
and dictionaries of _all other_ languages, with which I have any
acquaintance, must be revised and corrected, before their elements and true
construction can be fully understood." In an advertisement to the grammar
prefixed to his quarto American Dictionary, the Doctor is yet more severe
upon books of this sort. "I close," says he, "with the single remark, that
from all the observations I have been able to make, I am convinced the
dictionaries and grammars which have been used in our seminaries of
learning for the last forty or fifty years, are _so incorrect and
imperfect_ that they have introduced or sanctioned more errors than they
have amended; in other words, had the people of England and of these States
been left to learn the pronunciation and construction of their vernacular
language solely by tradition, and the reading of good authors, the language
would have been spoken and written with more purity than it has been and
now is, by those who have learned to adjust their language by the rules
which dictionaries prescribe."

27. Little and much are but relative terms; yet when we look back to the
period in which English grammar was taught only in Latin, it seems
extravagant to say, that "little improvement has been made" in it since. I
have elsewhere expressed a more qualified sentiment. "That the grammar of
our language has made considerable progress since the days of Swift, who
wrote a petty treatise on the subject, is sufficiently evident; but whoever
considers what remains to be done, cannot but perceive how ridiculous are
many of the boasts and felicitations which we have heard on that topic."
[77] Some further notice will now be taken of that progress, and of the
writers who have been commonly considered the chief promoters of it, but
especially of such as have not been previously mentioned in a like
connexion. Among these may be noticed _William Walker_, the preceptor of
Sir Isaac Newton, a teacher and grammarian of extraordinary learning, who
died in 1684. He has left us sundry monuments of his taste and critical
skill: one is his "Treatise of English Particles,"--a work of great labour
and merit, but useless to most people now-a-days, because it explains the
English in Latin; an other, his "Art of Teaching Improv'd,"--which is also
an able treatise, and apparently well adapted to its object, "the Grounding
of a Young Scholar in the Latin Tongue." In the latter, are mentioned other
works of his, on "_Rhetorick_, and _Logick_" which I have not seen.

28. In 1706, _Richard Johnson_ published an octavo volume of more than four
hundred pages, entitled, "Grammatical Commentaries; being an Apparatus to a
New National Grammar: by way of animadversion upon the falsities,
obscurities, redundancies and defects of Lily's System now in use." This is
a work of great acuteness, labour, and learning; and might be of signal use
to any one who should undertake to prepare a new or improved Latin grammar:
of which, in my opinion, we have yet urgent need. The English grammarian
may also peruse it with advantage, if he has a good knowledge of Latin--and
without such knowledge he must be ill prepared for his task. This work is
spoken of and quoted by some of the early English grammarians; but the
hopes of the writer do not appear to have been realized. His book was not
calculated to supply the place of the common one; for the author thought it
impracticable to make a new grammar, suitable for boys, and at the same
time to embrace in it proofs sufficient to remove the prejudices of
teachers in favour of the old. King Henry's edict in support of Lily, was
yet in force, backed by all the partiality which long habit creates; and
Johnson's learning, and labour, and zeal, were admired, and praised, and
soon forgot.

29. Near the beginning of the last century, some of the generous wits of
the reign of Queen Anne, seeing the need there was of greater attention to
their vernacular language, and of a grammar more properly English than any
then in use, produced a book with which the later writers on the same
subjects, would have done well to have made themselves better acquainted.
It is entitled "A Grammar of the English Tongue; with the Arts of Logick,
Rhetorick, Poetry, &c. Illustrated with useful Notes; giving the Grounds
and Reasons of Grammar in General. The Whole making a Compleat System of an
English Education. _Published by_ JOHN BRIGHTLAND, for the Use of the
Schools of Great Britain and Ireland." It is ingeniously recommended in a
certificate by Sir Richard Steele, or the Tattler, under the fictitious
name of Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., and in a poem of forty-three lines, by
Nahum Tate, poet laureate to her Majesty. It is a duodecimo volume of three
hundred pages; a work of no inconsiderable merit and originality; and
written in a style which, though not faultless, has scarcely been surpassed
by any English grammarian since. I quote it as Brightland's:[78] who were
the real authors, does not appear. It seems to be the work of more than
one, and perhaps the writers of the Tattler were the men. My copy is of the
seventh edition, London, printed for Henry Lintot, 1746. It is evidently
the work of very skillful hands; yet is it not in all respects well planned
or well executed. It unwisely reduces the parts of speech to four; gives
them new names; and rejects more of the old system than the schools could
be made willing to give up. Hence it does not appear to have been very
extensively adopted.

30. It is now about a hundred and thirty years, since _Dr. Swift_, in a
public remonstrance addressed to the Earl of Oxford, complained of the
imperfect state of our language, and alleged in particular, that "in many
instances it offended against every part of grammar." [79] Fifty years
afterward, _Dr. Lowth_ seconded this complaint, and pressed it home upon
the polite and the learned. "Does he mean," says the latter, "that the
English language, as it is spoken by the politest part of the nation, and
as it stands in the writings of the most approved authors, often offends
against every part of grammar? _Thus far, I am afraid the charge is
true_."--_Lowth's Grammar, Preface_, p. iv. Yet the learned Doctor, to whom
much praise has been justly ascribed for the encouragement which he gave to
this neglected study, attempted nothing more than "A Short Introduction to
English Grammar;" which, he says, "was calculated for the learner _even of
the lowest class_:" and those who would enter more deeply into the subject,
he referred to _Harris_; whose work is not an English grammar, but "A
Philosophical Inquiry concerning Universal Grammar." Lowth's Grammar was
first published in 1758. At the commencement of his preface, the reverend
author, after acknowledging the enlargement, polish, and refinement, which
the language had received during the preceding two hundred years, ventures
to add, "but, whatever other improvements it may have received, it hath
made _no advances_ in grammatical accuracy." I do not quote this assertion
to affirm it literally true, in all its apparent breadth; but there is less
reason to boast of the correctness even now attained, than to believe that
the writers on grammar are not the authors who have in general come nearest
to it in practice. Nor have the ablest authors always produced the best
compends for the literary instruction of youth.

31. The treatises of the learned doctors Harris, Lowth, Johnson, Ash,
Priestley, Horne Tooke, Crombie, Coote, and Webster, owe their celebrity
not so much to their intrinsic fitness for school instruction, as to the
literary reputation of the writers. Of _Harris's Hermes_, (which, in
comparison with our common grammars, is indeed a work of much ingenuity and
learning, full of interesting speculations, and written with great elegance
both of style and method,) _Dr. Lowth_ says, it is "the most beautiful and
perfect example of analysis, that has been exhibited since the days of
Aristotle."--_Preface to Gram._, p. x. But these two authors, if their
works be taken together, as the latter intended they should be, supply no
sufficient course of English grammar. The instructions of the one are too
limited, and those of the other are not specially directed to the subject.

32. _Dr. Johnson_, who was practically one of the greatest grammarians that
ever lived, and who was very nearly coetaneous with both Harris and Lowth,
speaks of the state of English grammar in the following terms: "I found our
speech copious without order, and energetick _without rules_: wherever I
turned my view, there was perplexity to be disentangled, and confusion to
be regulated."--_Preface to Dict._, p. 1. Again: "Having therefore _no
assistance but from general grammar_, I applied myself to the perusal of
our writers; and noting whatever might be of use to ascertain or illustrate
any word or phrase, accumulated in time the materials of a
dictionary."--_Ibid._ But it is not given to any one man to do every thing;
else, Johnson had done it. His object was, to compile a dictionary, rather
than to compose a grammar, of our language. To lexicography, grammar is
necessary, as a preparation; but, as a purpose, it is merely incidental.
Dr. Priestley speaks of Johnson thus: "I must not conclude this preface,
without making my acknowledgements to Mr. _Johnson_, whose admirable
dictionary has been of the greatest use to me in the study of our language.
It is pity he had not formed as just, and as extensive an idea of English
grammar. Perhaps this very useful work may still be reserved for his
distinguished abilities in this way."--_Priestley's Grammar, Preface_, p.
xxiii. Dr. Johnson's English Grammar is all comprised in fourteen pages,
and of course it is very deficient. The syntax he seems inclined entirely
to omit, as (he says) Wallis did, and Ben Jonson had better done; but, for
form's sake, he condescends to bestow upon it ten short lines.

33. My point here is, that the best grammarians have left much to be done
by him who may choose to labour for the further improvement of English
grammar; and that a man may well deserve comparative praise, who has not
reached perfection in a science like this. Johnson himself committed many
errors, some of which I shall hereafter expose; yet I cannot conceive that
the following judgement of his works was penned without some bias of
prejudice: "Johnson's merit ought not to be denied to him; but his
dictionary is the most imperfect and faulty, and the least valuable _of
any_[80] of his productions; and that share of merit which it possesses,
makes it by so much the more hurtful. I rejoice, however, that though the
least valuable, he found it the most profitable: for I could never read his
preface without shedding a tear. And yet it must be confessed, that his
_grammar_ and _history_ and _dictionary_ of what _he calls_ the English
language, are in all respects (except the bulk of the _latter_[81]) most
truly contemptible performances; and a reproach to the learning and
industry of a nation which could receive them with the slightest
approbation. Nearly one third of this dictionary is as much the language of
the Hottentots as of the English; and it would be no difficult matter so to
translate any one of the plainest and most popular numbers of the
_Spectator_ into the language of this dictionary, that no mere Englishman,
though well read in his own language, would he able to comprehend one
sentence of it. It appears to be a work of labour, and yet is in truth one
of the most idle performances ever offered to the public; compiled by an
author who possessed not one single requisite for the undertaking, and
(being a publication of a set of booksellers) owing its success to that
very circumstance which alone must make it impossible that it should
deserve success."--_Tooke's Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 182.

34. _Dr. Ash's_ "Grammatical Institutes, or Easy Introduction to Dr.
Lowth's English Grammar," is a meagre performance, the ease of which
consists in nothing but its brevity. _Dr. Priestley_, who in the preface to
his third edition acknowledges his obligations to Johnson, and also to
Lowth, thought it premature to attempt an English grammar; and contented
himself with publishing a few brief "Rudiments," with a loose appendix
consisting of "Notes and Observations, for the use of those who have made
some proficiency in the language." He says, "With respect to our own
language, there seems to be a kind of claim upon all who make use of it, to
do something for its improvement; and the best thing we can do for this
purpose at present, is, to exhibit its actual structure, and the varieties
with which it is used. When these are once distinctly pointed out, and
generally attended to, the best forms of speech, and those which are most
agreeable to the analogy of the language, will soon recommend themselves,
and come into general use; and when, by this means, the language shall be
written with sufficient uniformity, we may hope to see a complete grammar
of it. At present, _it is by no means ripe for such a work_;[82] but we may
approximate to it very fast, if all persons who are qualified to make
remarks upon it, will give a little attention to the subject. In such a
case, a few years might be sufficient to complete it."--_Priestley's
Grammar, Preface_, p. xv. In point of time, both Ash and Priestley
expressly claim priority to Lowth, for their first editions; but the former
having allowed his work to be afterwards entitled an Introduction to
Lowth's, and the latter having acknowledged some improvements in his from
the same source, they have both been regarded as later authors.

35. The great work of the learned etymologist _John Horne Tooke_, consists
of two octavo volumes, entitled, "EPEA PTEROENTA, or the Diversions of
Purley." This work explains, with admirable sagacity, the origin and
primitive import of many of the most common yet most obscure English words;
and is, for that reason, a valuable performance. But as it contains nothing
respecting the construction of the language, and embraces no proper system
of grammatical doctrines, it is a great error to suppose that the common
principles of practical grammar ought to give place to such instructions,
or even be modelled according to what the author proves to be true in
respect to the origin of particular words. The common grammarians were less
confuted by him, than many of his readers have imagined; and it ought not
to be forgotten that his purpose was as different from theirs, as are their
schemes of Grammar from the plan of his critical "Diversions." In this
connexion may be mentioned an other work of similar size and purpose, but
more comprehensive in design; the "History of European Languages," by that
astonishing linguist the late _Dr. Alexander Murray_. This work was left
unfinished by its lamented author; but it will remain a monument of
erudition never surpassed, acquired in spite of wants and difficulties as
great as diligence ever surmounted. Like Tooke's volumes, it is however of
little use to the mere English scholar. It can be read to advantage only by
those who are acquainted with several other languages. The works of
_Crombie_ and _Coote_ are more properly essays or dissertations, than
elementary systems of grammar.

36. The number of English grammars has now become so very great, that not
even a general idea of the comparative merits or defects of each can here
be given. I have examined with some diligence all that I have had
opportunity to obtain; but have heard of several which I have never yet
seen. Whoever is curious to examine at large what has been published on
this subject, and thus to qualify himself to judge the better of any new
grammar, may easily make a collection of one or two hundred bearing
different names. There are also many works not called grammars, from which
our copyists have taken large portions of their compilations. Thus Murray
confessedly copied from ten authors; five of whom are Beattie, Sheridan,
Walker, Blair, and Campbell. Dr. Beattie, who acquired great celebrity as a
teacher, poet, philosopher, and logician, was well skilled in grammar; but
he treated the subject only in critical disquisitions, and not in any
distinct elementary work adapted to general use. Sheridan and Walker, being
lexicographers, confined themselves chiefly to orthography and
pronunciation. Murray derived sundry principles from the writings of each;
but the English Grammar prepared by the latter, was written, I think,
several years later than Murray's. The learned doctors Blair and Campbell
wrote on rhetoric, and not on the elementary parts of grammar. Of the two,
the latter is by far the more accurate writer. Blair is fluent and easy,
but he furnishes not a little false syntax; Campbell's Philosophy of
Rhetoric is a very valuable treatise. To these, and five or six other
authors whom I have noticed, was Lindley Murray "principally indebted for
his materials." Thus far of the famous contributors to English grammar. The
Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory, delivered at Harvard University by John
Quincy Adams, and published in two octavo volumes in 1810, are such as do
credit even to that great man; but they descend less to verbal criticism,
and enter less into the peculiar province of the grammarian, than do most
other works of a similar title.

37. Some of the most respectable authors or compilers of more general
systems of English grammar for the use of schools, are the writer of the
British Grammar, Bicknell, Buchanan, William Ward, Alexander Murray the
schoolmaster, Mennye, Fisher, Lindley Murray, Penning, W. Allen, Grant,
David Blair, Lennie, Guy, Churchill. To attempt any thing like a review or
comparative estimate of these, would protract this introduction beyond all
reasonable bounds; and still others would be excluded, which are perhaps
better entitled to notice. Of mere modifiers and abridgers, the number is
so great, and the merit or fame so little, that I will not trespass upon
the reader's patience by any further mention of them or their works.
Whoever takes an accurate and comprehensive view of the history and present
state of this branch of learning, though he may not conclude, with Dr.
Priestley, that it is premature to attempt a complete grammar of the
language, can scarcely forbear to coincide with Dr. Barrow, in the opinion
that among all the treatises heretofore produced no such grammar is found.
"Some superfluities have been expunged, some mistakes have been rectified,
and some obscurities have been cleared; still, however, that all the
grammars used in our different schools, public as well as private, are
disgraced by errors or defects, is a complaint as just as it is frequent
and loud."--_Barrow's Essays_, p. 83.

38. Whether, in what I have been enabled to do, there will be found a
remedy for this complaint, must be referred to the decision of others. Upon
the probability of effecting this, I have been willing to stake some
labour; how much, and with what merit, let the candid and discerning, when
they shall have examined for themselves, judge. It is certain that we have
hitherto had, of our language, no complete grammar. The need of such a work
I suppose to be at this time in no small degree felt, especially by those
who conduct our higher institutions of learning; and my ambition has been
to produce one which might deservedly stand along side of the Port-Royal
Latin and Greek Grammars, or of the Grammaire des Grammaires of Girault Du
Vivier. If this work is unworthy to aspire to such rank, let the patrons of
English literature remember that the achievement of my design is still a
desideratum. We surely have no other book which might, in any sense, have
been called "_the Grammar of English Grammars_;" none, which, either by
excellence, or on account of the particular direction of its criticism,
might take such a name. I have turned the eyes of Grammar, in an especial
manner, upon the conduct of her own household; and if, from this volume,
the reader acquire a more just idea of _the grammar_ which is displayed in
_English grammars_, he will discover at least one reason for the title
which has been bestowed upon the work. Such as the book is, I present it to
the public, without pride, without self-seeking, and without anxiety:
knowing that most of my readers will be interested in estimating it
_justly_; that no true service, freely rendered to learning, can fail of
its end; and that no achievement merits aught with Him who graciously
supplies all ability. The opinions expressed in it have been formed with
candour, and are offered with submission. If in any thing they are
erroneous, there are those who can detect their faults. In the language of
an ancient master, the earnest and assiduous _Despauter_, I invite the
correction of the candid: "Nos quoque, quantumcunque diligentes, cùm a
candidis tùm a lividis carpemur: a candidis interdum justè; quos oro, ut de
erratis omnibus amicè me admoneant--erro nonnunquam quia homo sum."

GOOLD BROWN.

_New York_, 1836.




THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH GRAMMARS.

Grammar, as an art, is the power of reading, writing, and speaking
correctly. As an acquisition, it is the essential skill of scholarship. As
a study, it is the practical science which teaches the right use of
language.

_An English Grammar_ is a book which professes to explain the nature and
structure of the English language; and to show, on just authority, what is,
and what is not, good English.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR, in itself, is the art of reading, writing, and speaking
the English language correctly. It implies, in the adept, such knowledge as
enables him to avoid improprieties of speech; to correct any errors that
may occur in literary compositions; and to parse, or explain grammatically,
whatsoever is rightly written.

_To read_ is to perceive what is written or printed, so as to understand
the words, and be able to utter them with their proper sounds.

_To write_ is to express words and thoughts by letters, or characters,
made with a pen or other instrument.

_To speak_ is to utter words orally, in order that they may be heard and
understood.

Grammar, like every other liberal art, can be properly taught only by a
regular analysis, or systematic elucidation, of its component parts or
principles; and these parts or principles must be made known chiefly by
means of definitions and examples, rules and exercises.

A _perfect definition_ of any thing or class of things is such a
description of it, as distinguishes that entire thing or class from every
thing else, by briefly telling _what it is_.

An _example_ is a particular instance or model, serving to prove or
illustrate some given proposition or truth.

A _rule of grammar_ is some law, more or less general, by which custom
regulates and prescribes the right use of language.

An _exercise_ is some technical performance required of the learner in
order to bring his knowledge and skill into practice.

LANGUAGE, in the primitive sense of the term, embraced only vocal
expression, or human speech uttered by the mouth; but after letters were
invented to represent articulate sounds, language became twofold, _spoken_
and _written_, so that the term, _language_, now signifies, _any series of
sounds or letters formed into words and employed for the expression of
thought._

Of the composition of language we have also two kinds, _prose_ and _verse_;
the latter requiring a certain number and variety of syllables in each
line, but the former being free from any such restraint.

The _least parts_ of written language are letters; of spoken language,
syllables; of language significant in each part, words; of language
combining thought, phrases; of language subjoining sense, clauses; of
language coördinating sense, members; of language completing sense,
sentences.

A discourse, or narration, of any length, is but a series of sentences;
which, when written, must be separated by the proper points, that the
meaning and relation of all the words may be quickly and clearly perceived
by the reader, and the whole be uttered as the sense requires.

In extended compositions, a sentence is usually less than a paragraph; a
paragraph, less than a section; a section, less than a chapter; a chapter,
less than a book; a book, less than a volume; and a volume, less than the
entire work.

The common order of _literary division_, then, is; of a large work, into
volumes; of volumes, into books; of books, into chapters; of chapters, into
sections; of sections, into paragraphs; of paragraphs, into sentences; of
sentences, into members; of members, into clauses; of clauses, into
phrases; of phrases, into words; of words, into syllables; of syllables,
into letters.

But it rarely happens that any one work requires the use of all these
divisions; and we often assume some natural distinction and order of parts,
naming each as we find it; and also subdivide into articles, verses,
cantoes, stanzas, and other portions, as the nature of the subject
suggests.

Grammar is divided into four parts; namely, Orthography, Etymology, Syntax,
and Prosody.

Orthography treats of letters, syllables, separate words, and spelling.

Etymology treats of the different _parts of speech_, with their classes and
modifications.

Syntax treats of the relation, agreement, government, and arrangement of
words in sentences.

Prosody treats of punctuation, utterance, figures, and versification.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--In the Introduction to this work, have been taken many views of
the study, or general science, of grammar; many notices of its history,
with sundry criticisms upon its writers or critics; and thus language has
often been presented to the reader's consideration, either as a whole, or
with broader scope than belongs to the teaching of its particular forms. We
come now to the work of _analyzing_ our own tongue, and of laying down
those special rules and principles which should guide us in the use of it,
whether in speech or in writing. The author intends to dissent from other
grammarians no more than they are found to dissent from truth and reason;
nor will he expose their errors further than is necessary for the credit of
the science and the information of the learner. A candid critic can have no
satisfaction merely in finding fault with other men's performances. But the
facts are not to be concealed, that many pretenders to grammar have shown
themselves exceedingly superficial in their knowledge, as well as slovenly
in their practice; and that many vain composers of books have proved
themselves _despisers_ of this study, by the abundance of their
inaccuracies, and the obviousness of their solecisms.

OBS. 2.--Some grammarians have taught that the word _language_ is of much
broader signification, than that which is given to it in the definition
above. I confine it to speech and writing. For the propriety of this
limitation, and against those authors who describe the thing otherwise, I
appeal to the common sense of mankind. One late writer defines it thus:
"LANGUAGE is _any means_ by which one _person_ communicates his _ideas_ to
_another_."--_Sanders's Spelling-Book_, p. 7. The following is the
explanation of an other slack thinker: "One may, by speaking or by writing,
(and sometimes _by motions_,) communicate his thoughts to others. _The
process_ by which this is done, is called LANGUAGE.--_Language_ is _the
expression_ of thought _and feeling_."--_S. W. Clark's Practical Gram._, p.
7. Dr. Webster goes much further, and says, "LANGUAGE, in its most
extensive sense, is the instrument or means of communicating ideas _and
affections_ of the mind _and body_, from one _animal to another_. In this
sense, _brutes possess the power of language_; for by various inarticulate
sounds, they make known their wants, desires, and sufferings."--
_Philosophical Gram._, p. 11; _Improved Gram._, p. 5. This latter
definition the author of that vain book, "_the District School_," has
adopted in his chapter on Grammar. Sheridan, the celebrated actor and
orthoëpist, though he seems to confine language to the human species, gives
it such an extension as to make words no necessary part of its essence.
"The first thought," says he, "that would occur to every one, who had not
properly considered the point, is, that language is composed of words. And
yet, this is so far from being an adequate idea of language, that the point
in which most men think its very essence to consist, is not even a
necessary property of language. For language, in its full extent, means,
any way or method whatsoever, by which _all that passes in the mind of one
man_, may be manifested to another."--_Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution_,
p. 129. Again: "I have already _shown_, that words are, in their own
nature, _no essential part of language_, and are only considered so through
custom."--_Ib._ p. 135.

OBS. 3.--According to S. Kirkham's notion, "LANGUAGE, in its most extensive
sense, implies those signs by which _men and brutes_, communicate _to each
other_ their thoughts, affections and desires."--_Kirkham's English Gram._,
p. 16. Again: "_The language of brutes_ consists in the use of those
inarticulate sounds by which they express _their thoughts and
affections_."--_Ib._ To me it seems a shameful abuse of speech, and a vile
descent from the dignity of grammar, to make the voices of "_brutes_" any
part of language, as taken in a literal sense. We might with far more
propriety raise our conceptions of it to the spheres above, and construe
literally the metaphors of David, who ascribes to the starry heavens, both
"_speech_" and "_language_," "_voice_" and "_words_," daily "_uttered_" and
everywhere "_heard_." See _Psalm_ xix.

OBS. 4.--But, strange as it may seem, Kirkham, commencing his instructions
with the foregoing definition of language, proceeds to divide it, agreeably
to this notion, into two sorts, _natural_ and _artificial_; and affirms
that the former "is common both to man and brute," and that the language
which is peculiar to man, the language which consists of _words_, is
altogether an _artificial invention_:[83] thereby contradicting at once a
host of the most celebrated grammarians and philosophers, and that without
appearing to know it. But this is the less strange, since he immediately
forgets his own definition and division of the subject, and as plainly
contradicts himself. Without limiting the term at all, without excluding
his fanciful "_language of brutes_," he says, on the next leaf, "_Language_
is _conventional_, and not only _invented_, but, in its progressive
advancement, _varied for purposes of practical convenience_. Hence it
assumes _any and every form_ which those who make use of it, choose to give
it."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 18. This, though scarcely more rational than
his "_natural language of men and brutes_," plainly annihilates that
questionable section of grammatical science, whether brutal or human, by
making all language a thing "_conventional_" and "_invented_." In short, it
leaves no ground at all for any grammatical science of a positive
character, because it resolves all forms of language into the irresponsible
will of those who utter any words, sounds, or noises.

OBS. 5.--Nor is this gentleman more fortunate in his explanation of what
may really be called language. On one page, he says, "_Spoken language_ or
_speech_, is made up of articulate sounds uttered by the human
voice."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 17. On the next, "The most important use of
_that faculty called speech_, is, to convey our thoughts to
others."--_Ib._, p. 18. Thus the grammarian who, in the same short
paragraph, seems to "defy the ingenuity of man to give his words any other
meaning than that which he himself intends _them to express_," (_Ib._, p.
19,) either writes so badly as to make any ordinary false syntax appear
trivial, or actually conceives man to be the inventor of one of his own
_faculties_. Nay, docs he not make man the contriver of that "natural
language" which he possesses "in common with the brutes?" a language "_The
meaning of which_," he says, "_all the different animals perfectly
understand_?"--See his _Gram._, p. 16. And if this notion again be true,
does it not follow, that a horse knows perfectly well what horned cattle
mean by their bellowing, or a flock of geese by their gabbling? I should
not have noticed these things, had not the book which teaches them, been
made popular by _a thousand_ imposing attestations to its excellence and
accuracy. For grammar has nothing at all to do with inarticulate voices, or
the imaginary languages of _brutes_. It is scope enough for one science to
explain all the languages, dialects, and speeches, that lay claim to
_reason_. We need not enlarge the field, by descending

   "To beasts, whom[84] God on their creation-day
    Created mute to all articulate sound."--_Milton_.[85]




PART I.

ORTHOGRAPHY.

ORTHOGRAPHY treats of letters, syllables, separate words, and spelling.


CHAPTER I.--OF LETTERS.

A _Letter_ is an alphabetic character, which commonly represents some
elementary sound of the human voice, some element of speech.

An elementary sound of the human voice, or an element of speech, is one of
the simple sounds which compose a spoken language. The sound of a letter is
commonly called its _power_: when any letter of a word is not sounded, it
is said to be _silent_ or _mute._ The letters in the English alphabet, are
twenty-six; the simple or primary sounds which they represent, are about
thirty-six or thirty-seven.

A knowledge of the letters consists in an acquaintance with these _four
sorts of things_; their _names_, their _classes_, their _powers_, and their
_forms_.

The letters are written, or printed, or painted, or engraved, or embossed,
in an infinite variety of shapes and sizes; and yet are always _the same_,
because their essential properties do not change, and their names, classes,
and powers, are mostly permanent.

The following are some of the different sorts of types, or styles of
letters, with which every reader should be early acquainted:--

1. The Roman: A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M
m, N n, o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z.

2. The Italic: _A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l,
M m, N n, o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z._

3. The Script: [Script: A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K
k, L l, M m, N n, o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z
z.]

4. The Old English: [Old English: A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I
i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x,
Y y, Z z.]

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--A letter _consists_ not in the figure only, or in the power only,
but in the figure and power united; as an ambassador consists not in the
man only, or in the commission only, but in the man commissioned. The
figure and the power, therefore, are necessary to constitute the letter;
and a name is as necessary, to call it by, teach it, or tell what it is.
The _class_ of a letter is determined by the nature of its power, or sound;
as the ambassador is plenipotentiary or otherwise, according to the extent
of his commission. To all but the deaf and dumb, written language is the
representative of that which is spoken; so that, in the view of people in
general, the powers of the letters are habitually identified with their
sounds, and are conceived to be nothing else. Hence any given sound, or
modification of sound, which all men can produce at pleasure, when
arbitrarily associated with a written sign, or conventional character,
constitutes what is called _a letter_. Thus we may produce the sounds of
_a, e, o_, then, by a particular compression of the organs of utterance,
modify them all, into _ba, be, bo_, or _fa, fe, fo_; and we shall see that
_a, e_, and _o_, are letters of one sort, and _b_ and _f_ of an other. By
_elementary_ or _articulate_ sounds,[86] then, we mean not only the simple
tones of the voice itself, but the modifying stops and turns which are
given them in speech, and marked by letters: the real voices constituting
vowels; and their modifications, consonants.

OBS. 2.--A mere mark to which no sound or power is ever given, cannot be a
letter; though it may, like the marks used for punctuation, deserve a name
and a place in grammar. Commas, semicolons, and the like, represent
_silence_, rather than sounds, and are therefore not letters. Nor are the
Arabic figures, which represent entire _words_, nor again any symbols
standing for _things_, (as the astronomic marks for the sun, the moon, the
planets,) to be confounded with letters; because the representative of any
word or number, of any name or thing, differs widely in its power, from the
sign of a simple elementary sound: i. e., from any constituent _part_ of a
written word. The first letter of a word or name does indeed sometimes
stand for the whole, and is still a letter; but it is so, as being the
first element of the word, and not as being the representative of the
whole.

OBS. 3.--In their definitions of vowels and consonants, many grammarians
have resolved letters into _sounds only_; as, "A Vowel is an articulate
_sound_," &c.--"A Consonant is an articulate _sound_," &c.--_L. Murray's
Gram._, p. 7. But this confounding of the visible signs with the things
which they signify, is very far from being a true account of either.
Besides, letters combined are capable of a certain mysterious power which
is independent of all sound, though speech, doubtless, is what they
properly represent. In practice, almost all the letters may occasionally
happen to be _silent_; yet are they not, in these cases, necessarily
useless. The deaf and dumb also, to whom none of the letters express or
represent sounds, may be taught to read and write understandingly. They
even learn in some way to distinguish the accented from the unaccented
syllables, and to have some notion of _quantity_, or of something else
equivalent to it; for some of them, it is said, can compose verses
according to the rules of prosody. Hence it would appear, that the powers
of the letters are not, of necessity, identified with their sounds; the
things being in some respect distinguishable, though the terms are commonly
taken as synonymous. The fact is, that a word, whether spoken or written,
is of itself _significant_, whether its corresponding form be known or not.
Hence, in the one form, it may be perfectly intelligible to the illiterate,
and in the other, to the educated deaf and dumb; while, to the learned who
hear and speak, either form immediately suggests the other, with the
meaning common to both.

OBS. 4.--Our knowledge of letters rises no higher than to the forms used by
the ancient Hebrews and Phoenicians. Moses is supposed to have written in
characters which were nearly the same as those called Samaritan, but his
writings have come to us in an alphabet more beautiful and regular, called
the Chaldee or Chaldaic, which is said to have been made by Ezra the
scribe, when he wrote out a new copy of the law, after the rebuilding of
the temple. Cadmus carried the Phoenician alphabet into Greece, where it
was subsequently altered and enlarged. The small letters were not invented
till about the seventh century of our era. The Latins, or Romans, derived
most of their capitals from the Greeks; but their small letters, if they
had any, were made afterwards among themselves. This alphabet underwent
various changes, and received very great improvements, before it became
that beautiful series of characters which we now use, under the name of
_Roman letters_. Indeed these particular forms, which are now justly
preferred by many nations, are said to have been adopted after the
invention of printing. "The Roman letters were first used by Sweynheim and
Pannartz, printers who settled at Rome, in 1467. The earliest work printed
wholly in this character in England, is said to have been Lily's or Paul's
Accidence, printed by Richard Pinson, 1518. The Italic letters were
invented by Aldus Manutius at Rome, towards the close of the fifteenth
century, and were first used in an edition of Virgil, in
1501."--_Constables Miscellany_, Vol. xx, p. 147. The Saxon alphabet was
mostly Roman. Not more than one quarter of the letters have other forms.
But the changes, though few, give to a printed page a very different
appearance. Under William the Conqueror, this alphabet was superseded by
the modern Gothic, Old English, or Black letter; which, in its turn,
happily gave place to the present Roman. The Germans still use a type
similar to the Old English, but not so heavy.

OBS. 5.--I have suggested that a true knowledge of the letters implies an
acquaintance with their _names_, their _classes_, their _powers_, and their
_forms_. Under these four heads, therefore, I shall briefly present what
seems most worthy of the learner's attention at first, and shall reserve
for the appendix a more particular account of these important elements. The
most common and the most useful things are not those about which we are in
general most inquisitive. Hence many, who think themselves sufficiently
acquainted with the letters, do in fact know but very little about them. If
a person is able to read some easy book, he is apt to suppose he has no
more to learn respecting the letters; or he neglects the minute study of
these elements, because he sees what words they make, and can amuse himself
with stories of things more interesting. But merely to understand common
English, is a very small qualification for him who aspires to scholarship,
and especially for a _teacher_. For one may do this, and even be a great
reader, without ever being able to name the letters properly, or to
pronounce such syllables as _ca, ce, ci, co, cu, cy_, without getting half
of them wrong. No one can ever teach an art more perfectly than he has
learned it; and if we neglect the _elements_ of grammar, our attainments
must needs be proportionately unsettled and superficial.


I. NAMES OF THE LETTERS. The _names_ of the letters, as now commonly spoken
and written in English, are _A, Bee, Cee, Dee, E, Eff, Gee, Aitch, I, Jay,
Kay, Ell, Em, En, O, Pee, Kue, Ar, Ess, Tee, U, Vee, Double-u, Ex, Wy,
Zee_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--With the learning and application of these names, our literary
education begins; with a continual rehearsal of them in spelling, it is for
a long time carried on; nor can we ever dispense with them, but by
substituting others, or by ceasing to mention the things thus named. What
is obviously indispensable, needs no proof of its importance. But I know
not whether it has ever been noticed, that these names, like those of the
days of the week, are worthy of particular distinction, for their own
nature. They are words of a very peculiar kind, being nouns that are at
once _both proper and common_. For, in respect to rank, character, and
design, each letter is a thing strictly individual and identical--that is,
it is ever one and the same; yet, in an other respect, it is a
comprehensive sort, embracing individuals both various and numberless. Thus
every B is a _b_, make it as you will; and can be nothing else than that
same letter b, though you make it in a thousand different fashions, and
multiply it after each pattern innumerably. Here, then, we see
individuality combined at once with great diversity, and infinite
multiplicity; and it is _to this combination_, that letters owe their
wonderful power of transmitting thought. Their _names_, therefore, should
always be written with capitals, as proper nouns, at least in the singular
number; and should form the plural regularly, as ordinary appellatives.
Thus: (if we adopt the names now most generally used in English schools:)
_A, Aes; Bee, Bees; Cee, Cees; Dee, Dees; E, Ees; Eff, Effs; Gee, Gees;
Aitch, Aitches; I, Ies; Jay, Jays; Kay, Kays; Ell, Ells; Em, Ems; En, Ens;
O, Oes; Pee, Pees; Kue, Kues; Ar, Ars; Ess, Esses; Tee, Tees; U, Ues; Vee,
Vees; Double-u, Double-ues; Ex, Exes; Wy, Wies; Zee, Zees._

OBS. 2.--The names of the letters, as expressed in the modern languages,
are mostly framed _with reference_ to their powers, or sounds. Yet is there
in English no letter of which the name is always identical with its power:
for _A, E, I, O_, and _U_, are the only letters which can name themselves,
and all these have other sounds than those which their names express. The
simple powers of the other letters are so manifestly insufficient to form
any name, and so palpable is the difference between the nature and the name
of each, that did we not know how education has been trifled with, it would
be hard to believe even Murray, when he says, "They are frequently
confounded by writers on grammar. Observations and reasonings on the
_name_, are often applied to explain the _nature_ of a consonant; and by
this means the student is led into error and perplexity."--_L. Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 8. The confounding of names with the things for which they
stand, implies, unquestionably, great carelessness in the use of speech,
and great indistinctness of apprehension in respect to things; yet so
common is this error, that Murray himself has many times fallen into
it.[87] Let the learner therefore be on his guard, remembering that
grammar, both in its study and in its practice, requires the constant
exercise of a rational discernment. Those letters which name themselves,
take for their names those sounds which they usually represent at the end
of an accented syllable; thus the names, _A, E, I, O, U_, are uttered with
the sounds given to the same letters in the first syllables of the other
names, _Abel, Enoch, Isaac, Obed, Urim_; or in the first syllables of the
common words, _paper, penal, pilot, potent, pupil_. The other letters, most
of which can never be perfectly sounded alone, have names in which their
powers are combined with other sounds more vocal; as, _Bee, Cee, Dee,--Ell,
Em, En,--Jay, Kay, Kue_. But in this respect the terms _Aitch_ and
_Double-u_ are irregular; because they have no obvious reference to the
powers of the letters thus named.

OBS. 3.--Letters, like all other things, must be learned and spoken of _by
their names_; nor can they be spoken of otherwise; yet, as the simple
characters are better known and more easily exhibited than their written
names, the former are often substituted for the latter, and are read as the
words for which they are assumed. Hence the orthography of these words has
hitherto been left too much to mere fancy or caprice. Our dictionaries, by
a strange oversight or negligence, do not recognize them as words; and
writers have in general spelled them with very little regard to either
authority or analogy. What they are, or ought to be, has therefore been
treated as a trifling question: and, what is still more surprising, several
authors of spelling-books make no mention at all of them; while others,
here at the very threshold of instruction, teach falsely--giving "_he_" for
_Aitch_, "_er_" for _Ar_, "_oo_" or "_uu_" for _Double-u_, "_ye_" for _Wy_,
and writing almost all the rest improperly. So that many persons who think
themselves well educated, would be greatly puzzled to name on paper these
simple elements of all learning. Nay, there can be found a hundred men who
can readily write the alphabetic names which were in use two or three
thousand years ago in Greece or Palestine, for one who can do the same
thing with propriety, respecting those which we now employ so constantly in
English:[88] and yet the words themselves are as familiar to every
school-boy's lips as are the characters to his eye. This fact may help to
convince us, that _the grammar_ of our language has never yet been
sufficiently taught. Among all the particulars which constitute this
subject, there are none which better deserve to be everywhere known, by
proper and determinate names, than these prime elements of all written
language.

OBS. 4.--Should it happen to be asked a hundred lustrums hence, what were
the names of the letters in "the Augustan age of English literature," or in
the days of William the Fourth and Andrew Jackson, I fear the learned of
that day will be as much at a loss for an answer, as would most of our
college tutors now, were they asked, by what series of names the Roman
youth were taught to spell. Might not Quintilian or Varro have obliged
many, by recording these? As it is, we are indebted to Priscian, a
grammarian of the sixth century, for almost all we know about them. But
even the information which may be had, on this point, has been strangely
overlooked by our common Latin grammarians.[89] What, but the greater care
of earlier writers, has made the Greek names better known or more important
than the Latin? In every nation that is not totally illiterate, custom must
have established for the letters a certain set of names, which are _the
only true ones_, and which are of course to be preferred to such as are
local or unauthorized. In this, however, as in other things, use may
sometimes vary, and possibly improve; but when its decisions are clear, no
feeble reason should be allowed to disturb them. Every parent, therefore,
who would have his children instructed to read and write the English
language, should see that in the first place they learn to name the letters
as they are commonly named in English. A Scotch gentleman of good education
informs me, that the names of the letters, as he first learned them in a
school in his own country, were these: "A, Ib, Ec, Id, E, Iff, Ig, Ich, I,
Ij, Ik, Ill, Im, In, O, Ip, Kue, Ir, Iss, It, U, Iv, Double-u, Ix, Wy, Iz;"
but that in the same school the English names are now used. It is to be
hoped, that all teachers will in time abandon every such local usage, and
name the letters _as they ought to be named_; and that the day will come,
in which the regular English _orthography_ of these terms, shall be
steadily preferred, ignorance of it be thought a disgrace, and the makers
of school-books feel no longer at liberty to alter names that are a
thousand times better known than their own.

OBS. 5.--It is not in respect to their _orthography_ alone, that these
first words in literature demand inquiry and reflection: the
_pronunciation_ of some of them has often been taught erroneously, and,
with respect to three or four of them, some writers have attempted to make
an entire change from the customary forms which I have recorded. Whether
the name of the first letter should be pronounced "_Aye_," as it is in
England, "_Ah_," as it is in Ireland, or "_Aw_," as it is in Scotland, is a
question which Walker has largely discussed, and clearly decided in favour
of the first sound; and this decision accords with the universal practice
of the schools in America. It is remarkable that this able critic, though
he treated minutely of the letters, naming them all in the outset of his
"Principles" subsequently neglected the names of them all, except the first
and the last. Of _Zee_, (which has also been called _Zed, Zad, Izzard,
Uzzard, Izzet_, and _Iz_,)[90] he says, "Its common name is _izzard_, which
Dr. Johnson explains into _s hard_; if, however, this is the meaning, it is
a gross misnomer; for the _z_ is not the hard, but the soft _s_;[91] but as
it has a less sharp, and therefore not so audible a sound, it is not
impossible _but_ it may mean _s surd_. _Zed_, borrowed from the French, is
the more fashionable name of this letter; but, in my opinion, _not to be
admitted, because the names of the letters ought to have no
diversity._"--_Walker's Principles_, No. 483. It is true, the name of a
letter ought to be one, and in no respect diverse; but where diversity has
already obtained, and become firmly rooted in custom, is it to be obviated
by insisting upon what is old-fashioned, awkward, and inconvenient? Shall
the better usage give place to the worse? Uniformity cannot be so reached.
In this country, both _Zed_ and _Izzard_, as well as the worse forms _Zad_
and _Uzzard_, are now fairly superseded by the softer and better term
_Zee_; and whoever will spell aloud, with each of these names, a few such
words as _dizzy, mizzen, gizzard_, may easily perceive why none of the
former can ever be brought again into use. The other two, _Iz_ and _Izzet_,
being localisms, and not authorized English, I give up all six; _Zed_ to
the French, and the rest to oblivion.

OBS. 6.--By way of apology for noticing the name of the first letter,
Walker observes, "If a diversity of names to vowels did not confound us in
our spelling, or declaring to each other the component letters of a word,
it would be entirely needless to enter into _so trifling a question_ as the
mere name of a letter; but when we find ourselves unable to convey signs to
each other on account of this diversity of names, and that words themselves
are endangered by an improper utterance of their component parts, it seems
highly incumbent on us to attempt a uniformity in this point, which,
insignificant as it may seem, is undoubtedly the foundation of a just and
regular pronunciation."--_Dict., under A_. If diversity in this matter is
so perplexing, what shall we say to those who are attempting innovations
without assigning reasons, or even pretending authority? and if a knowledge
of these names is the basis of a just pronunciation, what shall we think of
him who will take no pains to ascertain how he ought to speak and write
them? He who pretends to teach the proper fashion of speaking and writing,
cannot deal honestly, if ever he silently prefer a suggested improvement,
to any established and undisturbed usage of the language; for, in grammar,
no individual authority can be a counterpoise to general custom. The best
usage can never be that which is little known, nor can it be well
ascertained and taught by him who knows little. Inquisitive minds are ever
curious to learn the nature, origin, and causes of things; and that
instruction is the most useful, which is best calculated to gratify this
rational curiosity. This is my apology for dwelling so long upon the
present topic.

OBS. 7.--The names originally given to the letters were not mere notations
of sound, intended solely to express or make known the powers of the
several characters then in use; nor ought even the modern names of our
present letters, though formed with special reference to their sounds, to
be considered such. Expressions of mere sound, such as the notations in a
pronouncing dictionary, having no reference to what is meant by the sound,
do not constitute words at all; because they are not those acknowledged
signs to which a meaning has been attached, and are consequently without
that significance which is an essential property of words. But, in every
language, there must be a series of sounds by which the alphabetical
characters are commonly known in speech; and which, as they are the
acknowledged names of these particular objects, must be entitled to a place
among _the words_ of the language. It is a great error to judge otherwise;
and a greater to make it a "trifling question" in grammar, whether a given
letter shall be called by one name or by an other. Who shall say that
_Daleth, Delta_, and _Dee_, are not three _real words_, each equally
important in the language to which it properly belongs? Such names have
always been in use wherever literature has been cultivated; and as the
forms and powers of the letters have been changed by the nations, and have
become different in different languages, there has necessarily followed a
change of the names. For, whatever inconvenience scholars may find in the
diversity which has thence arisen, to name these elements in a set of
foreign terms, inconsistent with the genius of the language to be learned,
would surely be attended with a tenfold greater. We derived our letters,
and their names too, from the Romans; but this is no good reason why the
latter should be spelled and pronounced as we suppose they were spelled and
pronounced in Rome.

OBS. 8.--The names of the twenty-two letters in Hebrew, are, without
dispute, proper _words_; for they are not only significant of the letters
thus named, but have in general, if not in every instance, some other
meaning in that language. Thus the mysterious ciphers which the English
reader meets with, and wonders over, as he reads the 119th Psalm, may be
resolved, according to some of the Hebrew grammars, as follows:--

[Hebrew: Aleph] Aleph, A, an ox, or a leader; [Hebrew: Beth] Beth, Bee,
house; [Hebrew: Gimel] Gimel, Gee, a camel; [Hebrew: Dalet] Daleth, Dee, a
door; [Hebrew: he] He, E, she, or behold; [Hebrew: vav] Vau, U, a hook, or
a nail; [Hebrew: zajin] Zain, Zee, armour; [Hebrew: het] Cheth, or Heth,
Aitch, a hedge; [Hebrew: tet] Teth, Tee, a serpent, or a scroll; [Hebrew:
jod] Jod, or Yod, I, or Wy, a hand shut; [Hebrew: kaf] Caph, Cee, a
hollow hand, or a cup; [Hebrew: lamed] Lamed, Ell, an ox-goad; [Hebrew:
mem] Mem, Em, a stain, or spot; [Hebrew: nun] Nun, En, a fish, or a snake;
[Hebrew: samekh] Samech, Ess, a basis, or support; [Hebrew: ayin] Ain, or
Oin, O, an eye, or a well; [Hebrew: pe] Pe, Pee, a lip, or mouth; [Hebrew:
tsadi] Tzaddi, or Tsadhe, Tee-zee, (i. e. tz, or ts,) a hunter's pole;
[Hebrew: qof] Koph, Kue, or Kay, an ape; [Hebrew: resh] Resch, or Resh,
Ar, a head; [Hebrew: shin] Schin, or Sin, Ess-aitch, or Ess, a tooth;
[Hebrew: tav] Tau, or Thau, Tee, or Tee-aitch, a cross, or mark.

These English names of the Hebrew letters are written with much less
uniformity than those of the Greek, because there has been more dispute
respecting their powers. This is directly contrary to what one would have
expected; since the Hebrew names are words originally significant of other
things than the letters, and the Greek are not. The original pronunciation
of both languages is admitted to be lost, or involved in so much obscurity
that little can be positively affirmed about it; and yet, where least was
known, grammarians have produced the most diversity; aiming at disputed
sounds in the one case, but generally preferring a correspondence of
letters in the other.

OBS. 9.--The word _alphabet_ is derived from the first two names in the
following series. The Greek letters are twenty-four; which are formed,
named, and sounded, thus:--

[Greek: A a], Alpha, a; [Greek: B, b], Beta, b; [Greek: G g], Gamma, g
hard; [Greek: D d], Delta, d; [Greek: E e], Epsilon, e short; [Greek: Z z],
Zeta, z; [Greek: Æ æ], Eta, e long; [Greek: TH Th th], Theta, th; [Greek: I
i], Iota, i; [Greek K k], Kappa, k; [Greek: L l], Lambda, l; [Greek: M m],
Mu, m; [Greek: N n], Nu, n; [Greek: X x], Xi, x; [Greek: O o], Omicron, o
short; [Greek: P p], Pi, p; [Greek: R r] Rho, r; [Greek: S s s], Sigma, s;
[Greek: T t], Tau, t; [Greek: Y y], Upsilon, u; [Greek: PH ph], Phi, ph;
[Greek: CH ch], Chi, ch; [Greek: PS ps], Psi, ps; [Greek: O o], Omega, o
long.

Of these names, our English dictionaries explain the first and the last;
and Webster has defined _Iota_, and _Zeta_, but without reference to the
meaning of the former in Greek. _Beta, Delta, Lambda_, and perhaps some
others, are also found in the etymologies or definitions of Johnson and
Webster, both of whom spell the word _Lambda_ and its derivative
_lambdoidal_ without the silent _b_, which is commonly, if not always,
inserted by the authors of our Greek grammars, and which Worcester, more
properly, retains.

OBS. 10.--The reader will observe that the foregoing names, whether Greek
or Hebrew, are in general much less simple than those which our letters now
bear; and if he has ever attempted to spell aloud in either of those
languages, he cannot but be sensible of the great advantage which was
gained when to each letter there was given a short name, expressive, as
ours mostly are, of its ordinary power. This improvement appears to have
been introduced by the Romans, whose names for the letters were even more
simple than our own. But so negligent in respect to them have been the
Latin grammarians, both ancient and modern, that few even of the learned
can tell what they really were in that language; or how they differed,
either in orthography or sound, from those of the English or the French,
the Hebrew or the Greek. Most of them, however, may yet be ascertained from
Priscian, and some others of note among the ancient philologists; so that
by taking from later authors the names of those letters which were not used
in old times, we can still furnish an entire list, concerning the accuracy
of which there is not much room to dispute. It is probable that in the
ancient pronunciation of Latin, _a_ was commonly sounded as in _father_;
_e_ like the English _a_; _i_ mostly like _e_ long; _y_ like _i_ short; _c_
generally and _g_ always hard, as in _come_ and _go_. But, as the original,
native, or just pronunciation of a language is not necessary to an
understanding of it when written, the existing nations have severally, in a
great measure, accommodated themselves, in their manner of reading this and
other ancient tongues.

OBS. 11.--As the Latin language is now printed, its
letters are twenty-five. Like the French, it has all that belong to the
English alphabet, except the _Double-u_. But, till the first Punic war, the
Romans wrote C for G, and doubtless gave it the power as well as the place
of the Gamma or Gimel. It then seems to have slid into K; but they used it
also for S, as we do now. The ancient Saxons, generally pronounced C as K,
but sometimes as Ch. Their G was either guttural, or like our Y. In some of
the early English grammars the name of the latter is written _Ghee_. The
letter F, when first invented, was called, from its shape, Digamma, and
afterwards Ef. J, when it was first distinguished from I, was called by the
Hebrew name Jod, and afterwards Je. V, when first distinguished from U, was
called Vau, then Va, then Ve. Y, when the Romans first borrowed it from the
Greeks, was called Ypsilon; and Z, from the same source, was called Zeta;
and, as these two letters were used only in words of Greek origin, I know
not whether they ever received from the Romans any shorter names. In
Schneider's Latin Grammar, the letters are named in the following manner;
except Je and Ve, which are omitted by this author: "A, Be, Ce, De, E, Ef,
Ge, Ha, I, [Je,] Ka, El, Em, En, O, Pe, Cu, Er, Es, Te, U, [Ve,] Ix,
Ypsilon, Zeta." And this I suppose to be the most proper way of writing
their names _in Latin_, unless we have sufficient authority for shortening
Ypsilon into Y, sounded as short _i_, and for changing Zeta into Ez.

OBS. 12.--In many, if not in all languages, the five vowels, A, E, I, O, U,
name themselves; but they name themselves differently to the ear, according
to the different ways of uttering them in different languages. And as the
name of a consonant necessarily requires one or more vowels, that also may
be affected in the same manner. But in every language there should be a
known way both of writing and of speaking every name in the series; and
that, if there is nothing to hinder, should be made conformable to _the
genius of the language_. I do not say that the names above can be regularly
declined in Latin; but in English it is as easy to speak of two Dees as of
two trees, of two Kays as of two days, of two Exes as of two foxes, of two
Effs as of two skiffs; and there ought to be no more difficulty about the
correct way of writing the word in the one case, than in the other. In Dr.
Sam. Prat's Latin Grammar, (an elaborate octavo, all Latin, published in
London, 1722,) nine of the consonants are reckoned mutes; b, c, d, g, p, q,
t, j, and v; and eight, semivowels; f, l, m, n, r, s, x, z. "All the
mutes," says this author, "are named by placing _e_ after them; as, be, ce,
de, ge, except _q_, which ends in _u_." See p. 8. "The semivowels,
beginning with _e_, end in themselves; as, ef, _ach_, el, em, en, er, es,
_ex_, (or, as Priscian will have it, _ix_,) _eds_." See p. 9. This mostly
accords with the names given in the preceding paragraph; and so far as it
does not, I judge the author to be wrong. The reader will observe that the
Doctor's explanation is neither very exact nor quite complete: K is a mute
which is not enumerated, and the rule would make the name of it _Ke_, and
not _Ka_;--H is not one of his eight semivowels, nor does the name Ach
accord with his rule or seem like a Latin word;--the name of Z, according
to his principle, would be _Ez_ and not "_Eds_," although the latter may
better indicate the _sound_ which was then given to this letter.

OBS. 13.--If the history of these names exhibits diversity, so does that of
almost all other terms; and yet there is some way of writing every word
with correctness, and correctness tends to permanence. But Time, that
establishes authority, destroys it also, when he fairly sanctions newer
customs. To all names worthy to be known, it is natural to wish a perpetual
uniformity; but if any one thinks the variableness of these to be peculiar,
let him open the English Bible of the fourteenth century, and read a few
verses, observing the names. For instance: "Forsothe whanne _Eroude_ was to
bringynge forth hym, in that nigt _Petir_ was slepynge bitwixe tweyno
knytis."--_Dedis_, (i. e., _Acts_,) xii, 6. "_Crist Ihesu_ that is to
demynge the quyke and deed."--_2 Tim._, iv, 1. Since this was written for
English, our language has changed much, and at the same time acquired, by
means of the press, some aids to stability. I have recorded above the
_true_ names of the letters, as they are now used, with something of their
history; and if there could be in human works any thing unchangeable, I
should wish, (with due deference to all schemers and fault-finders,) that
these names might remain the same forever.

OBS. 14.--If any change is desirable in our present names of the letters,
it is that we may have a shorter and simpler term in stead of _Double-u_.
But can we change this well known name? I imagine it would be about as easy
to change _Alpha, Upsilon, or Omega_; and perhaps it would be as useful.
Let Dr. Webster, or any defender of his spelling, try it. He never named
the _English_ letters rightly; long ago discarded the term _Double-u_; and
is not yet tired of his experiment with "_oo_;" but thinks still to make
the vowel sound of this letter its name. Yet he writes his new name wrong;
has no authority for it but his own; and is, most certainly, reprehensible
for the _innovation_.[92] If W is to be named as a vowel, it ought to _name
itself_, as other vowels do, and not to take _two Oes_ for its written
name. Who that knows what it is, to name a letter, can think of naming _w_
by double _o_? That it is possible for an ingenious man to misconceive this
simple affair of naming the letters, may appear not only from the foregoing
instance, but from the following quotation: "Among the thousand
mismanagements of literary instruction, there is at the outset in the
hornbook, _the pretence to represent elementary sounds_ by syllables
composed of two or more elements; as, _Be, Kay, Zed, Double-u_, and
_Aitch_. These words are used in infancy, and through life, as _simple
elements_ in the process of synthetic spelling. If the definition of a
_consonant_ was made by the master from the practice of the child, it might
suggest pity for the pedagogue, but should not make us forget the realities
of nature."--_Dr. Push, on the Philosophy of the Human Voice_, p. 52. This
is a strange allegation to come from such a source. If I bid a boy spell
the word _why_, he says, "Double-u, Aitch, Wy, _hwi_;" and knows that he
has spelled and pronounced the word correctly. But if he conceives that the
five syllables which form the three words, _Double-u_, and _Aitch_, and
_Wy_, are the three simple sounds which he utters in pronouncing the word
_why_, it is not because the hornbook, or the teacher of the hornbook, ever
made any such blunder or "pretence;" but because, like some great
philosophers, he is capable of misconceiving very plain things. Suppose he
should take it into his head to follow Dr. Webster's books, and to say,
"Oo, he, ye, _hwi_;" who, but these doctors, would imagine, that such
spelling was supported either by "the realities of nature," or by the
authority of custom? I shall retain both the old "definition of a
consonant," and the usual names of the letters, notwithstanding the
contemptuous pity it may excite in the minds of _such_ critics.


II. CLASSES OF THE LETTERS.

The letters are divided into two general classes, _vowels_ and
_consonants_.

A _vowel_ is a letter which forms a perfect sound when uttered alone; as,
_a, e, o_.

A _consonant_ is a letter which cannot be perfectly uttered till joined to
a vowel; as, _b, c, d_.[93]

The vowels are _a, e, i, o, u_, and sometimes _w_ and _y._ All the other
letters are consonants.

_W_ or _y_ is called a consonant when it precedes a vowel heard in the same
syllable; as in _wine, twine, whine; ye, yet, youth_: in all other cases,
these letters are vowels; as in _Yssel, Ystadt, yttria; newly, dewy,
eyebrow._

CLASSES OF CONSONANTS.

The consonants are divided, with respect to their powers, into _semivowels_
and _mutes._

A _semivowel_ is a consonant which can be imperfectly sounded without a
vowel, so that at the end of a syllable its sound may be protracted; as,
_l, n, z_, in _al, an, az._

A _mute_ is a consonant which cannot be sounded at all without a vowel, and
which at the end of a syllable suddenly stops the breath; as, _k, p, t_, in
_ak, ap, at._

The semivowels are, _f, h, j, l, m, n, r, s, v, w, x, y, z_, and _c_ and
_g_ soft: but _w_ or _y_ at the end of a syllable, is a vowel; and the
sound of _c, f, g, h, j, s_, or _x_, can be protracted only as an
_aspirate_, or strong breath.

Four of the semivowels,--_l, m, n_, and _r_,--are termed _liquids_, on
account of the fluency of their sounds; and four others,--_v, w, y_, and
_z_,--are likewise more vocal than the aspirates.

The mutes are eight;--_b, d, k, p, q, t_, and _c_ and _g_ hard: three of
these,--_k, q_, and _c_ hard,--sound exactly alike: _b, d_, and _g_ hard,
stop the voice less suddenly than the rest.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The foregoing division of the letters is of very
great antiquity, and, in respect to its principal features sanctioned by
almost universal authority; yet if we examine it minutely, either with
reference to the various opinions of the learned, or with regard to the
essential differences among the things of which it speaks, it will not
perhaps be found in all respects indisputably certain. It will however be
of use, as a basis for some subsequent rules, and as a means of calling the
attention of the learner to the manner in which he utters the sounds of the
letters. A knowledge of about three dozen different elementary sounds is
implied in the faculty of speech. The power of producing these sounds with
distinctness, and of adapting them to the purposes for which language is
used, constitutes perfection of utterance. Had we a perfect alphabet,
consisting of one symbol, and only one, for each elementary sound; and a
perfect method of spelling, freed from silent letters, and precisely
adjusted to the most correct pronunciation of words; the process of
learning to read would doubtless be greatly facilitated. And yet any
attempt toward such a reformation, any change short of the introduction of
some entirely new mode of writing, would be both unwise and impracticable.
It would involve our laws and literature in utter confusion, because
pronunciation is the least permanent part of language; and if the
orthography of words were conformed entirely to this standard, their origin
and meaning would, in many instances, be soon lost. We must therefore
content ourselves to learn languages as they are, and to make the best use
we can of our present imperfect system of alphabetic characters; and we may
be the better satisfied to do this, because the deficiencies and
redundancies of this alphabet are not yet so well ascertained, as to make
it certain what a perfect one would be.

OBS. 2.--In order to have a right understanding of the letters, it is
necessary to enumerate, as accurately as we can, the elementary _sounds_ of
the language; and to attend carefully to the manner in which these sounds
are enunciated, as well as to the characters by which they are represented.
The most unconcerned observer cannot but perceive that there are certain
differences in the sounds, as well as in the shapes, of the letters; and
yet under what heads they ought severally to be classed, or how many of
them will fall under some particular name, it may occasionally puzzle a
philosopher to tell. The student must consider what is proposed or asked,
use his own senses, and judge for himself. With our lower-case alphabet
before him, he can tell by his own eye, which are the long letters, and
which the short ones; so let him learn by his own ear, which are the
vowels, and which, the consonants. The processes are alike simple; and, if
he be neither blind nor deaf, he can do both about equally well. Thus he
may know for a certainty, that _a_ is a short letter, and _b_ a long one;
the former a vowel, the latter a consonant: and so of others. Yet as he may
doubt whether _t_ is a long letter or a short one, so he may be puzzled to
say whether _w_ and _y_, as heard in _we_ and _ye_, are vowels or
consonants: but neither of these difficulties should impair his confidence
in any of his other decisions. If he attain by observation and practice a
clear and perfect pronunciation of the letters, he will be able to class
them for himself with as much accuracy as he will find in books.

OBS. 3.--Grammarians have generally agreed that every letter is either a
vowel or a consonant; and also that there are among the latter some
semivowels, some mutes, some aspirates, some liquids, some sharps, some
flats, some labials, some dentals, some nasals, some palatals, and perhaps
yet other species; but in enumerating the letters which belong to these
several classes, they disagree so much as to make it no easy matter to
ascertain what particular classification is best supported by their
authority. I have adopted what I conceive to be the best authorized, and at
the same time the most intelligible. He that dislikes the scheme, may do
better, if he can. But let him with modesty determine what sort of
discoveries may render our ancient authorities questionable. Aristotle,
three hundred and thirty years before Christ, divided the Greek letters
into _vowels, semivowels_, and _mutes_, and declared that no syllable could
be formed without a vowel. In the opinion of some neoterics, it has been
reserved to our age, to detect the fallacy of this. But I would fain
believe that the Stagirite knew as well what he was saying, as did Dr.
James Rush, when, in 1827, he declared the doctrine of vowels and
consonants to be "a misrepresentation." The latter philosopher resolves the
letters into "_tonics, subtonics_, and _atonics_;" and avers that
"consonants alone may form syllables." Indeed, I cannot but think the
ancient doctrine better. For, to say that "consonants alone may form
syllables," is as much as to say that consonants are not consonants, but
vowels! To be consistent, the attempters of this reformation should never
speak of vowels or consonants, semivowels or mutes; because they judge the
terms inappropriate, and the classification absurd. They should therefore
adhere strictly to their "tonics, subtonics, and atonics;" which classes,
though apparently the same as vowels, semivowels, and mutes, are better
adapted to their new and peculiar division of these elements. Thus, by
reforming both language and philosophy at once, they may make what they
will of either!

OBS. 4.--Some teach that _w_ and _y_ are always vowels: conceiving the
former to be equivalent to _oo_, and the latter to _i_ or _e_. Dr. Lowth
says, "_Y_ is always a vowel," and "_W_ is either a vowel or a diphthong."
Dr. Webster supposes _w_ to be always "a vowel, a simple sound;" but admits
that, "At the beginning of words, _y_ is called an _articulation_ or
_consonant_, and _with some propriety perhaps_, as it brings the root of
the tongue in close contact with the lower part of the palate, and nearly
in the position to which the close _g_ brings it."--_American Dict.,
Octavo_. But I follow Wallis, Brightland, Johnson, Walker, Murray,
Worcester, and others, in considering both of them sometimes vowels and
sometimes consonants. They are consonants at the beginning of words in
English, because their sounds take the article _a_, and not _an_, before
them; as, _a wall, a yard_, and not, _an wall, an yard_. But _oo_ or the
sound of _e_, requires _an_, and not _a_; as, _an eel, an oozy bog_.[94] At
the end of a syllable we know they are vowels; but at the beginning, they
are so squeezed in their pronunciation, as to follow a vowel without any
hiatus, or difficulty of utterance; as, "_O worthy youth! so young, so
wise!_"

OBS. 5.--Murray's rule, "_W_ and _y_ are consonants when they begin a word
or syllable, but in every other situation they are vowels," which is found
in Comly's book, _Kirkham's_, Merchant's, Ingersoll's, Fisk's. Hart's,
Hiley's, Alger's, Bullions's, Pond's, S. Putnam's, Weld's, and in sundry
other grammars, is favourable to my doctrine, but too badly conceived to be
quoted here as authority. It _undesignedly_ makes _w_ a consonant in
_wine_, and a vowel in _twine_; and _y_ a consonant when it _forms_ a
syllable, as in _dewy_: for a letter that _forms_ a syllable, "begins" it.
But _Kirkham_ has lately learned his letters anew; and, supposing he had
Dr. Rush on his side, has philosophically taken their names for their
sounds. He now calls _y_ a "_diphthong_." But he is wrong here by his own
showing: he should rather have called it a _triphthong_. He says, "By
pronouncing in a very deliberate and perfectly natural manner, the letter
_y_, (which is a _diphthong_,) the _unpractised_ student will perceive,
that the sound produced, is compound; being formed, at its opening, of the
obscure sound of _oo_ as heard in _oo_-ze, which sound rapidly slides into
that of _i_, and then advances to that of _ee_ as heard in _e_-ve, _and_ on
which it gradually passes off into silence."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 75.
Thus the "unpractised student" is taught that _b-y_ spells _bwy_; or, if
pronounced "very deliberately, _boo-i-ee_!" Nay, this grammatist makes _b_,
not a labial mute, as Walker, Webster, Cobb, and others, have called it,
but a nasal subtonic, or semivowel. He delights in protracting its
"guttural murmur;" perhaps, in assuming its name for its sound; and, having
proved, that "consonants are capable of forming syllables," finds no
difficulty in mouthing this little monosyllable _by_ into _b-oo-i-ee!_ In
this way, it is the easiest thing in the world, for such a man to outface
Aristotle, or any other divider of the letters; for he _makes_ the sounds
by which he judges. "Boy," says the teacher of Kirkham's Elocution,
"describe the protracted sound of _y_."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 110. The
pupil may answer, "That letter, sir, has no longer or more complex sound,
than what is heard in the word _eye_, or in the vowel _i_; but the book
which I study, describes it otherwise. I know not whether I can make you
understand it, but I will _tr-oo-i-ee_." If the word _try_, which the
author uses as an example, does not exhibit his "protracted sound of _y_,"
there is no word that does: the sound is a mere fiction, originating in
strange ignorance.

OBS. 6.--In the large print above, I have explained the principal classes
of the letters, but not all that are spoken of in books. It is proper to
inform the learner that the _sharp_ consonants are _t_, and all others
after which our contracted preterits and participles require that _d_
should be sounded like _t_; as in the words faced, reached, stuffed,
laughed, triumphed, croaked, cracked, houghed, reaped, nipped, piqued,
missed, wished, earthed, betrothed, fixed. The _flat_ or _smooth_
consonants are _d_, and all others with which the proper sound of _d_ may
be united; as in the words, daubed, judged, hugged, thronged, sealed,
filled, aimed, crammed, pained, planned, feared, marred, soothed, loved,
dozed, buzzed. The _labials_ are those consonants which are articulated
chiefly by the lips; among which, Dr. Webster reckons _b, f, m, p_, and
_v_. But Dr. Rush says, _b_ and _m_ are nasals, the latter, "purely nasal."
[95] The _dentals_ are those consonants which are referred to the teeth;
the _nasals_ are those which are affected by the nose; and the _palatals_
are those which compress the palate, as _k_ and hard _g_. But these
last-named classes are not of much importance; nor have I thought it worth
while to notice _minutely_ the opinions of writers respecting the others,
as whether _h_ is a semivowel, or a mute, or neither.

OBS. 7.--The Cherokee alphabet, which was invented in 1821, by See-quo-yah,
or George Guess, an ingenious but wholly illiterate Indian, contains
eighty-five letters, or characters. But the sounds of the language are much
fewer than ours; for the characters represent, not simple tones and
articulations, but _syllabic sounds_, and this number is said to be
sufficient to denote them all. But the different syllabic sounds in our
language amount to some thousands. I suppose, from the account, that
_See-quo-yah_ writes his name, in his own language, with three letters; and
that characters so used, would not require, and probably would not admit,
such a division as that of vowels and consonants. One of the Cherokees, in
a letter to the American Lyceum, states, that a knowledge of this mode of
writing is so easily acquired, that one who understands and speaks the
language, "can learn to read in a day; and, indeed," continues the writer,
"I have known some to acquire the art in a single evening. It is only
necessary to learn the different sounds of the characters, to be enabled to
read at once. In the English language, we must not only first learn the
letters, but to spell, before reading; but in Cherokee, all that is
required, is, to learn the letters; for they have _syllabic sounds_, and by
connecting different ones together, a word is formed: in which there is no
art. All who understand the language can do so, and both read and write, so
soon as they can learn to trace with their fingers the forms of the
characters. I suppose that more than one half of the Cherokees can read
their own language, and are thereby enabled to acquire much valuable
information, with which they otherwise would never have been blessed."--_W.
S. Coodey_, 1831.

OBS. 8.--From the foregoing account, it would appear that the Cherokee
language is a very peculiar one: its words must either be very few, or the
proportion of polysyllables very great. The characters used in China and
Japan, stand severally for _words_; and their number is said to be not less
than seventy thousand; so that the study of a whole life is scarcely
sufficient to make a man thoroughly master of them. Syllabic writing is
represented by Dr. Blair as a great improvement upon the Chinese method,
and yet as being far inferior to that which is properly _alphabetic_, like
ours. "The first step, in this new progress," says he, "was the invention
of an alphabet of syllables, which probably preceded the invention of an
alphabet of letters, among some of the ancient nations; and which is said
to be retained to this day, in Ethiopia, and some countries of India. By
fixing upon a particular mark, or character, for every syllable in the
language, the number of characters, necessary to be used in writing, was
reduced within a much smaller compass than the number of words in the
language. Still, however, the number of characters was great; and must have
continued to render both reading and writing very laborious arts. Till, at
last, some happy genius arose, and tracing the sounds made by the human
voice, to their most simple elements, reduced them to a very few _vowels
and consonants_; and, by affixing to each of these, the signs which we now
call letters, taught men how, by their combinations, to put in writing all
the different words, or combinations of sound, which they employed in
speech. By being reduced to this simplicity, the art of writing was brought
to its highest state of perfection; and, in this state, we now enjoy it in
all the countries of Europe."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, Lect. VII, p. 68.

OBS. 9.--All certain knowledge of the sounds given to the letters by Moses
and the prophets having been long ago lost, a strange dispute has arisen,
and been carried on for centuries, concerning this question, "Whether the
Hebrew letters are, or are not, _all consonants_:" the vowels being
supposed by some to be suppressed and understood; and not written, except
by _points_ of comparatively late invention. The discussion of such a
question does not properly belong to English grammar; but, on account of
its curiosity, as well as of its analogy to some of our present disputes, I
mention it. Dr. Charles Wilson says, "After we have sufficiently known the
figures and names of the letters, the next step is, to learn to enunciate
or to pronounce them, so as to produce articulate sounds. On this subject,
which appears at first sight very plain and simple, numberless contentions
and varieties of opinion meet us at the threshold. From the earliest period
of the invention of written characters to represent human language, however
more or less remote that time may be, it seems absolutely certain, that the
distinction of letters into _vowels and consonants_ must have obtained. All
the speculations of the Greek grammarians assume this as a first
principle." Again: "I beg leave only to premise this observation, that I
absolutely and unequivocally deny the position, that all the letters of the
Hebrew alphabet are consonants; and, after the most careful and minute
inquiry, give it as my opinion, that of the twenty-two letters of which the
Hebrew alphabet consists, five are vowels and seventeen are consonants. The
five vowels by name are, Aleph, He, Vau, Yod, and Ain."--_Wilson's Heb.
Gram._, pp. 6 and 8.



III. POWERS OF THE LETTERS.

The powers of the letters are properly those elementary sounds which their
figures are used to represent; but letters formed into words, are capable
of communicating thought independently of sound. The simple elementary
sounds of any language are few, commonly not more than _thirty-six_;[96]
but they may be variously _combined_, so as to form words innumerable.
Different vowel sounds, or vocal elements, are produced by opening the
mouth differently, and placing the tongue in a peculiar manner for each;
but the voice may vary in loudness, pitch, or time, and still utter the
same vowel power.

The _vowel sounds_ which form the basis of the English language, and which
ought therefore to be perfectly familiar to every one who speaks it, are
those which are heard at the beginning of the words, _ate, at, ah, all,
eel, ell, isle, ill, old, on, ooze, use, us_, and that of _u_ in _bull_.

In the formation of syllables, some of these fourteen primary sounds may be
joined together, as in _ay, oil, out, owl_; and all of them may be preceded
or followed by certain motions and positions of the lips and tongue, which
will severally convert them into other terms in speech. Thus the same
essential sounds may be changed into a new series of words by an _f_; as,
_fate, fat, far, fall, feel, fell, file, fill, fold, fond, fool, fuse,
fuss, full_. Again, into as many more with a _p_; as, _pate, pat, par,
pall, peel, pell, pile, pill, pole, pond, pool, pule, purl, pull_. Each of
the vowel sounds may be variously expressed by letters. About half of them
are sometimes words: the rest are seldom, if ever, used alone even to form
syllables. But the reader may easily learn to utter them all, separately,
according to the foregoing series. Let us note them as plainly as possible:
eigh, ~a, ah, awe, =eh, ~e, eye, ~i, oh, ~o, oo, yew, ~u, û. Thus the eight
long sounds, _eigh, ah, awe, eh, eye, oh, ooh, yew_, are, or may be, words;
but the six less vocal, called the short vowel sounds, as in _at, et, it,
ot, ut, put_, are commonly heard only in connexion with consonants; except
the first, which is perhaps the most frequent sound of the vowel A or
_a_--a sound sometimes given to the word _a_, perhaps most generally; as in
the phrase, "twice _~a_ day."

The simple _consonant sounds_ in English are twenty-two: they are marked by
_b, d, f, g hard, h, k, l, m, n, ng, p, r, s, sh, t, th sharp, th flat, v,
w, y, z_, and _zh_. But _zh_ is written only to show the sound of other
letters; as of _s_ in _pleasure_, or _z_ in _azure_.

All these sounds are heard distinctly in the following words: _buy, die,
fie, guy, high, kie, lie, my, nigh, eying, pie, rye, sigh, shy, tie, thigh,
thy, vie, we, ye, zebra, seizure_. Again: most of them may be repeated in
the same word, if not in the same syllable; as in _bibber, diddle, fifty,
giggle, high-hung, cackle, lily, mimic, ninny, singing, pippin, mirror,
hissest, flesh-brush, tittle, thinketh, thither, vivid, witwal, union,[97]
dizzies, vision_.

With us, the consonants J and X represent, not simple, but complex sounds:
hence they are never doubled. J is equivalent to _dzh_; and X, either to
_ks_ or to _gz_. The former ends no English word, and the latter begins
none. To the initial X of foreign words, we always give the simple sound of
Z; as in _Xerxes, xebec_.

The consonants C and Q have no sounds peculiar to themselves. Q has always
the power of _k_. C is hard, like _k_, before _a, o_, and _u_; and soft,
like _s_, before _e, i_, and _y_: thus the syllables, _ca, ce, ci, co, cu,
cy_, are pronounced, _ka, se, si, ko, ku, sy_. _S_ before _c_ preserves the
former sound, but coalesces with the latter; hence the syllables, _sca,
sce, sci, sco, scu, scy_, are sounded, _ska, se, si, sko, sku, sy_. _Ce_
and _ci_ have sometimes the sound of _sh_; as in _ocean, social_. _Ch_
commonly represents the compound sound of _tsh_; as in _church_.

G, as well as C, has different sounds before different vowels. G is always
hard, or guttural, before _a, o_, and _u_; and generally soft, like _j_,
before _e, i_, or _y_: thus the syllables, _ga, ge, gi, go, gu, gy_, are
pronounced _ga, je, ji, go, gu, jy_.

The possible combinations and mutations of the twenty-six letters of our
alphabet, are many millions of millions. But those clusters which are
unpronounceable, are useless. Of such as may be easily uttered, there are
more than enough for all the purposes of useful writing, or the recording
of speech.

Thus it is, that from principles so few and simple as about six or seven
and thirty plain elementary sounds, represented by characters still fewer,
we derive such a variety of oral and written signs, as may suffice to
explain or record all the sentiments and transactions of all men in all
ages.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--A knowledge of sounds can be acquired, in the first
instance, only by the ear. No description of the manner of their
production, or of the differences which distinguish them, can be at all
intelligible to him who has not already, by the sense of hearing, acquired
a knowledge of both. What I here say of the sounds of the letters, must of
course be addressed to those persons only who are able both to speak and to
read English. Why then attempt instruction by a method which both ignorance
and knowledge on the part of the pupil, must alike render useless? I have
supposed some readers to have such an acquaintance with the powers of the
letters, as is but loose and imperfect; sufficient for the accurate
pronunciation of some words or syllables, but leaving them liable to
mistakes in others; extending perhaps to all the sounds of the language,
but not to a ready analysis or enumeration of them. Such persons may profit
by a written description of the powers of the letters, though no such
description can equal the clear impression of the living voice. Teachers,
too, whose business it is to aid the articulation of the young, and, by a
patient inculcation of elementary principles, to lay the foundation of an
accurate pronunciation, may derive some assistance from any notation of
these principles, which will help their memory, or that of the learner. The
connexion between letters and sounds is altogether _arbitrary_; but a few
positions, being assumed and made known, in respect to some characters,
become easy standards for further instruction in respect to others of
similar sound.

OBS. 2.--The importance of being instructed at an early age, to pronounce
with distinctness and facility all the elementary sounds of one's native
language, has been so frequently urged, and is so obvious in itself, that
none but those who have been themselves neglected, will be likely to
disregard the claims of their children in this respect.[98] But surely an
accurate knowledge of the ordinary powers of the letters would be vastly
more common, were there not much hereditary negligence respecting the
manner in which these important rudiments are learned. The utterance of the
illiterate may exhibit wit and native talent, but it is always more or less
barbarous, because it is not aided by a knowledge of orthography. For
pronunciation and orthography, however they may seem, in our language
especially, to be often at variance, are certainly correlative: a true
knowledge of either tends to the preservation of both. Each of the letters
represents some one or more of the elementary sounds, exclusive of the
rest; and each of the elementary sounds, though several of them are
occasionally transferred, has some one or two letters to which it most
properly or most frequently belongs. But borrowed, as our language has
been, from a great variety of sources, to which it is desirable ever to
retain the means of tracing it, there is certainly much apparent lack of
correspondence between its oral and its written form. Still the
discrepancies are few, when compared with the instances of exact
conformity; and, if they are, as I suppose they are, unavoidable, it is as
useless to complain of the trouble they occasion, as it is to think of
forcing a reconciliation. The wranglers in this controversy, can never
agree among themselves, whether orthography shall conform to pronunciation,
or pronunciation to orthography. Nor does any one of them well know how our
language would either sound or look, were he himself appointed sole arbiter
of all variances between our spelling and our speech.

OBS. 3.--"Language," says Dr. Rush, "was long ago analyzed into its
alphabetic elements. Wherever this analysis is known, the art of teaching
language has, with the best success, been conducted upon the rudimental
method." * * * "The art of reading consists in having all the vocal
elements under complete command, that they may be properly applied, for the
vivid and elegant delineation of the sense and sentiment of
discourse."--_Philosophy of the Voice_, p. 346. Again, of "the
pronunciation of the alphabetic elements," he says, "The least deviation
_from the assumed standard_ converts the listener into the critic; and I am
surely speaking within bounds when I say, that for every miscalled element
in discourse, ten succeeding words are lost to the greater part of an
audience."--_Ibid._, p. 350. These quotations plainly imply both the
practicability and the importance of teaching the pronunciation of our
language analytically by means of its present orthography, and agreeably to
the standard assumed by the grammarians. The first of them affirms that it
has been done, "with the best success," according to some ancient method of
dividing the letters and explaining their sounds. And yet, both before and
afterwards, we find this same author complaining of our alphabet and its
subdivisions, as if sense or philosophy must utterly repudiate both; and of
our orthography, as if a ploughman might teach us to spell better: and, at
the same time, he speaks of softening his censure through modesty. "The
deficiencies, redundancies, and confusion, of the system of alphabetic
characters in this language, prevent the adoption of its subdivisions in
this essay."--_Ib._, p. 52. Of the specific sounds given to the letters, he
says, "The first of these matters is under the rule of every body, and
therefore is very properly to be excluded from the discussions of that
philosophy which desires to be effectual in its instruction. How can we
hope to establish a system of elemental pronunciation in a language, when
great masters in criticism condemn at once every attempt, in so simple and
useful a labour as the correction of its orthography!"--P. 256. Again: "I
_deprecate noticing_ the faults of speakers, in the pronunciation of the
alphabetic elements. It is better for criticism to be modest on this point,
till it has the sense or independence to make our alphabet and its uses,
look more like the work of what is called--wise and transcendent humanity:
till the pardonable variety of pronunciation, and the _true spelling by
the vulgar_, have satirized into reformation that pen-craft which keeps up
the troubles of orthography for no other purpose, as one can divine, than
to boast of a very questionable merit as a criterion of education."--_Ib._,
p. 383.

OBS. 4.--How far these views are compatible, the reader will judge. And it
is hoped he will excuse the length of the extracts, from a consideration of
the fact, that a great master of the "pen-craft" here ridiculed, a noted
stickler for needless Kays and Ues, now commonly rejected, while he boasts
that his grammar, which he mostly copied from Murray's, is teaching the old
explanation of the alphabetic elements to "more than one hundred thousand
children and youth," is also vending under his own name an abstract of the
new scheme of "_tonicks, subtonicks_, and _atonicks_;" and, in one breath,
bestowing superlative praise on both, in order, as it would seem, to
monopolize all inconsistency. "Among those who have successfully laboured
in the philological field, _Mr. Lindley Murray_ stands forth in bold
relief, as undeniably at the head of the list."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p.
12. "The modern candidate for oratorical fame, stands on very different,
and far more advantageous, ground, than that occupied by the young and
aspiring Athenian; especially since a _correct analysis of the vocal
organs_, and a faithful record of their operations, have been given to the
world by _Dr. James Rush_, of Philadelphia--a name that will _outlive_ the
unquarried marble of our mountains."--_Ibid._, p. 29. "But what is to be
said when presumption pushes itself into the front ranks of elocution, and
thoughtless friends undertake to support it? The fraud must go on, till
presumption quarrels, as often happens, with its own friends, or with
itself, and thus dissolves the spell of its merits."--_Rush, on the Voice_,
p. 405.

OBS. 5.--The question respecting the _number_ of simple or elementary
sounds in our language, presents a remarkable puzzle: and it is idle, if
not ridiculous, for any man to declaim about the imperfection of our
alphabet and orthography, who does not show himself able to solve it. All
these sounds may easily be written in a plain sentence of three or four
lines upon almost any subject; and every one who can read, is familiar with
them all, and with all the letters. Now it is either easy _to count_ them,
or it is difficult. If difficult, wherein does the difficulty lie? and how
shall he who knows not what and how many they are, think himself capable of
reforming our system of their alphabetic signs? If easy, why do so few
pretend to know their number? and of those who do pretend to this
knowledge, why are there so few that agree? A certain verse in the seventh
chapter of Ezra, has been said to contain all the letters. It however
contains no _j_; and, with respect to the sounds, it lacks that of _f_,
that of _th sharp_, and that of _u_ in _bull_. I will suggest a few
additional words for these; and then both all the letters, and all the
sounds, of the English language, will be found in the example; and most of
them, many times over: "'And I, even I, Artaxerxes, the king, do make a
decree to all the treasurers' who 'are beyond the river, that whatsoever
Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require
of you, it be done speedily' and faithfully, according to that which he
shall enjoin." Some letters, and some sounds, are here used much more
frequently than others; but, on an average, we have, in this short passage,
each sound five times, and each letter eight. How often, then, does a man
speak all the elements of his language, who reads well but one hour!

OBS. 6.--Of the number of elementary sounds in our language, different
orthoëpists report differently; because they cannot always agree among
themselves, wherein the identity or the simplicity, the sameness or the
singleness, even of well-known sounds, consists; or because, if each is
allowed to determine these points for himself, no one of them adheres
strictly to his own decision. They may also, each for himself, have some
peculiar way of utterance, which will confound some sounds which other men
distinguish, or distinguish some which other men confound. For, as a man
may write a very bad hand which shall still be legible, so he may utter
many sounds improperly and still be understood. One may, in this way, make
out a scheme of the alphabetic elements, which shall be true of his own
pronunciation, and yet have obvious faults when tried by the best usage of
English speech. It is desirable not to multiply these sounds beyond the
number which a correct and elegant pronunciation of the language obviously
requires. And what that number is, it seems to me not very difficult to
ascertain; at least, I think we may fix it with sufficient accuracy for all
practical purposes. But let it be remembered, that all who have hitherto
attempted the enumeration, have deviated more or less from their own
decisions concerning either the simplicity or the identity of sounds; but,
most commonly, it appears to have been thought expedient to admit some
exceptions concerning both. Thus the long or diphthongal sounds of _I_ and
_U_, are admitted by some, and excluded by others; the sound of _j_, or
soft _g_, is reckoned as simple by some, and rejected as compound by
others; so a part, if not all, of what are called the long and the short
vowels, as heard in _ale_ and _ell, arm_ and _am, all_ and _on, isle_ or
_eel_ and _ill, tone_ and _tun, pule_ or _pool_ and _pull_, have been
declared essentially the same by some, and essentially different by others.
Were we to recognize as elementary, no sounds but such as are
unquestionably simple in themselves, and indisputably different in quality
from all others, we should not have more sounds than letters: and this is a
proof that we have characters enough, though the sounds are perhaps badly
distributed among them.

OBS. 7.--I have enumerated _thirty-six_ well known sounds, which, in
compliance with general custom, and for convenience in teaching. I choose
to regard as the oral elements of our language. There may be found some
reputable authority for adding four or five more, and other authority as
reputable, for striking from the list seven or eight of those already
mentioned. For the sake of the general principle, which we always regard in
writing, a principle of universal grammar, _that there can be no
syllable without a vowel_, I am inclined to teach, with Brightland, Dr.
Johnson, L. Murray, and others, that, in English, as in French, there is
given to the vowel _e_ a certain very obscure sound which approaches, but
amounts not to an absolute suppression, though it is commonly so regarded
by the writers of dictionaries. It may be exemplified in the words _oven,
shovel, able_;[99] or in the unemphatic article _the_ before a consonant,
as in the sentence, "Take the nearest:" we do not hear it as "_thee
nearest_," nor as "_then carest_," but more obscurely. There is also a
feeble sound of _i_ or _y_ unaccented, which is equivalent to _ee_ uttered
feebly, as in the word _diversity_. This is the most common sound of _i_
and of _y_. The vulgar are apt to let it fall into the more obscure sound
of short _u_. As elegance of utterance depends much upon the preservation
of this sound from such obtuseness, perhaps Walker and others have done
well to mark it as _e_ in _me_; though some suppose it to be peculiar, and
others identify it with the short _i_ in _fit_. Thirdly, a distinction is
made by some writers, between the vowel sounds heard in _hate_ and _bear_,
which Sheridan and Walker consider to be the same. The apparent difference
may perhaps result from the following consonant _r_, which is apt to affect
the sound of the vowel which precedes it. Such words as _bear, care, dare,
careful, parent_, are very liable to be corrupted in pronunciation, by too
broad a sound of the _a_; and, as the multiplication of needless
distinctions should be avoided, I do not approve of adding an other sound
to a vowel which has already quite too many. Worcester, however, in his new
Dictionary, and Wells, in his new Grammar, give to the vowel A _six_ or
_seven_ sounds in lieu of _four_; and Dr. Mandeville, in his Course of
Reading, says, "_A_ has _eight_ sounds."--P. 9.

OBS. 8.--Sheridan made the elements of his oratory _twenty-eight_. Jones
followed him implicitly, and adopted the same number.[100] Walker
recognized several more, but I know not whether he has anywhere told us
_how many there are_. Lindley Murray enumerates _thirty-six_, and the same
thirty-six that are given in the main text above. The eight sounds not
counted by Sheridan are these: 1. The Italian _a_, as in _far, father_,
which he reckoned but a lengthening of the _a_ in _hat_; 2. The short _o_,
as in _hot_, which he supposed to be but a shortening of the _a_ in _hall_;
3. The diphthongal _i_, as in _isle_, which he thought but a quicker union
of the sounds of the diphthong _oi_, but which, in my opinion, is rather a
very quick union of the sounds _ah_ and _ee_ into _ay, I_;[101] 4. The long
_u_, which is acknowledged to be equal to _yu_ or _yew_, though perhaps a
little different from _you_ or _yoo_,[102] the sound given it by Walker; 5.
The _u_ heard in _pull_, which he considered but a shortening of _oo_; 6.
The consonant _w_, which he conceived to be always a vowel, and equivalent
to _oo_; 7. The consonant _y_, which he made equal to a short _ee_; 8. The
consonant _h_, which he declared to be no letter, but a mere breathing, In
all other respects, his scheme of the alphabetic elements agrees with that
which is adopted in this work, and which is now most commonly taught.

OBS. 9.--The effect of _Quantity_ in the prolation of the vowels, is a
matter with which every reader ought to be experimentally acquainted.
_Quantity_ is simply the _time_ of utterance, whether long or short. It is
commonly spoken of with reference to _syllables_, because it belongs
severally to all the distinct or numerable impulses of the voice, and to
these only; but, as vowels or diphthongs may be uttered alone, the notion
of quantity is of course as applicable to them, as to any of the more
complex sounds in which consonants are joined with them. All sounds imply
time; because they are the transient effects of certain percussions which
temporarily agitate the air, an element that tends to silence. When mighty
winds have swept over sea and land, and the voice of the _Ocean_ is raised,
he speaks to the towering cliffs in the deep tones of a _long_ quantity;
the rolling billows, as they meet the shore, pronounce the long-drawn
syllables of his majestic elocution. But see him again in gentler mood;
stand upon the beach and listen to the rippling of his more frequent waves:
he will teach you _short_ quantity, as well as long. In common parlance, to
avoid tediousness, to save time, and to adapt language to circumstances, we
usually utter words with great rapidity, and in comparatively short
quantity. But in oratory, and sometimes in ordinary reading, those sounds
which are best fitted to fill and gratify the ear, should be sensibly
protracted, especially in emphatic words; and even the shortest syllable,
must be so lengthened as to be uttered with perfect clearness: otherwise
the performance will be judged defective.

OBS. 10.--Some of the vowels are usually uttered in longer time than
others; but whether the former are naturally long, and the latter naturally
short, may be doubted: the common opinion is, that they are. But one author
at least denies it; and says, "We must explode the pretended natural
epithets _short_ and _long_ given to our vowels, independent on accent: and
we must observe that our silent _e_ final lengthens not its syllable,
unless the preceding vowel be accented."--_Mackintosh's Essay on E. Gram._,
p. 232. The distinction of long and short vowels which has generally
obtained, and the correspondences which some writers have laboured to
establish between them, have always been to me sources of much
embarrassment. It would appear, that in one or two instances, sounds that
differ only in length, or time, are commonly recognized as different
elements; and that grammarians and orthoëpists, perceiving this, have
attempted to carry out the analogy, and to find among what they call the
long vowels a parent sound for each of the short ones. In doing this, they
have either neglected to consult the ear, or have not chosen to abide by
its verdict. I suppose the vowels heard in _pull_ and _pool_ would be
necessarily identified, if the former were protracted or the latter
shortened; and perhaps there would be a like coalescence of those heard in
_of_ and _all_, were they tried in the same way, though I am not sure of
it. In protracting the _e_ in _met_, and the _i_ in _ship_, ignorance or
carelessness might perhaps, with the help of our orthoëpists, convert the
former word into _mate_ and the latter into _sheep_; and, as this would
breed confusion in the language, the avoiding of the similarity may perhaps
be a sufficient reason for confining these two sounds of _e_ and _i_, to
that short quantity in which they cannot be mistaken. But to suppose, as
some do, that the protraction of _u_ in _tun_ would identify it with the
_o_ in _tone_, surpasses any notion I have of what stupidity may
misconceive. With one or two exceptions, therefore, it appears to me that
each of the pure vowel sounds is of such a nature, that it may be readily
recognized by its own peculiar quality or tone, though it be made as long
or as short as it is possible for any sound of the human voice to be. It is
manifest that each of the vowel sounds heard in _ate, at, arm, all, eel,
old, ooze, us_, may be protracted to the entire extent of a full breath
slowly expended, and still be precisely the same one simple sound;[103]
and, on the contrary, that all but one may be shortened to the very minimum
of vocality, and still be severally known without danger of mistake. The
prolation of a pure vowel places the organs of utterance in that particular
position which the sound of the letter requires, and then _holds them
unmoved_ till we have given to it all the length we choose.

OBS. 11.--In treating of the quantity and quality of the vowels, Walker
says, "The first distinction of sound that seems to obtrude itself upon us
when we utter the vowels, is a long and a short sound, according to the
greater or less duration of time taken up in pronouncing them. This
distinction is so obvious as to have been adopted in all languages, and is
that to which we annex _clearer ideas than to any other_; and though the
short sounds of some vowels have not in our language been classed with
sufficient accuracy with their parent long ones, yet this has bred but
little confusion, as vowels long and short are always sufficiently
distinguishable."--_Principles_, No. 63. Again: "But though the terms long
and short, as applied to vowels, are pretty generally understood, an
accurate ear will easily perceive that these terms do not always mean the
long and short sounds of the respective vowels to which they are applied;
for, if we choose to be directed by the ear, in denominating vowels long or
short, we must certainly give these appellations to those sounds only which
have _exactly the same radical tone_, and differ only in the long or short
emission of that tone."--_Ib._, No. 66. He then proceeds to state his
opinion that the vowel sounds heard in the following words are thus
correspondent: _tame, them; car, carry; wall, want; dawn, gone; theme, him;
tone_, nearly _tun; pool, pull_. As to the long sounds of _i_ or _y_, and
of _u_, these two being diphthongal, he supposes the short sound of each to
be no other than the short sound of its latter element _ee_ or _oo_. Now to
me most of this is exceedingly unsatisfactory; and I have shown why.

OBS. 12.--If men's notions of the length and shortness of vowels are the
clearest ideas they have in relation to the elements of speech, how comes
it to pass that of all the disputable points in grammar, this is the most
perplexed with contrarieties of opinion? In coming before the world as an
author, no man intends to place himself clearly in the wrong; yet, on the
simple powers of the letters, we have volumes of irreconcilable doctrines.
A great connoisseur in things of this sort, who professes to have been long
"in the habit of listening to sounds of every description, and that with
more than ordinary attention," declares in a recent and expensive work,
that "in every language we find the vowels _incorrectly classed_"; and, in
order to give to "the simple elements of English utterance" a better
explanation than others have furnished, he devotes to a new analysis of our
alphabet the ample space of twenty octavo pages, besides having several
chapters on subjects connected with it. And what do his twenty pages amount
to? I will give the substance of them in ten lines, and the reader may
judge. He does not tell us _how many_ elementary sounds there are; but,
professing to arrange the vowels, long and short, "in the order in which
they are naturally found," as well as to show of the consonants that the
mutes and liquids form correspondents in regular pairs, he presents a
scheme which I abbreviate as follows. VOWELS: 1. _A_, as in _=all_ and
_wh~at_, or _o_, as in _orifice_ and _n~ot_; 2. _U--=urn_ and _h~ut_, or
_l=ove_ and _c~ome_; 3. _O--v=ote_ and _ech~o_; 4. _A--=ah_ and _h~at_; 5.
_A--h=azy_, no short sound; 6. _E--=e=el_ and _it_; 7. _E--m=ercy_ and
_m~et_; 8. _O--pr=ove_ and _ad~o_; 9. _OO--t=o=ol_ and _f~o~ot_; 10.
_W--vo=w_ and _la~w_; 11. _Y_--(like the first _e_--) _s=yntax_ and
_dut~y_. DIPHTHONGS: 1. _I_--as _ah-ee_; 2. _U_--as _ee-oo_; 3. _OU_--as
_au-oo_. CONSONANTS: 1. Mutes,--_c_ or _s, f, h, k_ or _q, p, t, th sharp,
sh_; 2. Liquids,--_l_, which has no corresponding mute, and _z, v, r, ng,
m, n, th flat_ and _j_, which severally correspond to the eight mutes in
their order; 3. Subliquids,--_g hard, b_, and _d_. See "Music of Nature,"
by _William Gardiner_, p. 480, and after.

OBS. 13.--Dr. Rush comes to the explanation of the powers of the letters as
the confident first revealer of nature's management and wisdom; and hopes
to have laid the foundation of a system of instruction in reading and
oratory, which, if adopted and perfected, "will beget a similarity of
opinion and practice," and "be found to possess an excellence which must
grow into sure and irreversible favour."--_Phil. of the Voice_, p. 404. "We
have been willing," he says, "_to believe, on faith alone_, that nature is
wise in the contrivance of speech. Let us now show, by our works of
analysis, how she manages the _simple elements_ of the voice, in the
production of their unbounded combinations."--_Ibid._, p. 44. Again: "Every
one, with peculiar self-satisfaction, thinks he reads well, and yet all
read differently: there is, however, _but one mode_ of reading
well."--_Ib._, p. 403. That one mode, some say, his philosophy alone
teaches. Of that, others may judge. I shall only notice here what seems to
be his fundamental position, that, on all the vocal elements of language,
nature has stamped duplicity. To establish this extraordinary doctrine, he
first attempts to prove, that "the letter _a_, as heard in the word _day_,"
combines two distinguishable yet inseparable sounds; that it is a compound
of what he calls, with reference to vowels and syllables in general, "the
radical and the vanishing movement of the voice,"--a single and indivisible
element in which "two sounds are heard continuously successive," the sounds
of _a_ and _e_ as in _ale_ and _eve_. He does not know that some
grammarians have contended that _ay_ in _day_ is a proper diphthong, in
which both the vowels are heard; but, so pronouncing it himself, infers
from the experiment, that there is no simpler sound of the vowel a. If this
inference is not wrong, the word _shape_ is to be pronounced _sha-epe_;
and, in like manner, a multitude of other words will acquire a new element
not commonly heard in them.

OBS. 14.--But the doctrine stops not here. The philosopher examines, in
some similar way, the other simple vowel sounds, and finds a beginning and
an end, a base and an apex, a radical and a vanishing movement, to them
all; and imagines a sufficient warrant from nature to divide them all "into
two parts," and to convert most of them into diphthongs, as well as to
include all diphthongs with them, as being altogether as simple and
elementary. Thus he begins with confounding all distinction between
diphthongs and simple vowels; except that which he makes for himself when
he admits "the radical and the vanish," the first half of a sound and the
last, to have no difference in quality. This admission is made with respect
to the vowels heard in _ooze, eel, err, end_, and _in_, which he calls, not
diphthongs, but "monothongs." But in the _a_ of _ale_, he hears _=a'-ee_;
in that of _an, ~a'-~e_; (that is, the short _a_ followed by something of
the sound of _e_ in _err_;) in that of _art, ah'~-e_; in that of _all,
awe'-~e_; in the _i_ of _isle, =i'-ee_; in the _o_ of _old, =o'-oo_; in the
proper diphthong _ou, ou'-oo_; in the _oy_ of _boy_, he knows not what.
After his explanation of these mysteries, he says, "The seven radical
sounds with their vanishes, which have been described, include, as far as I
can perceive, all the elementary diphthongs of the English
language."--_Ib._, p. 60. But all the sounds of the vowel _u_, whether
diphthongal or simple, are excluded from his list, unless he means to
represent one of them by the _e_ in _err_; and the complex vowel sound
heard in _voice_ and _boy_, is confessedly omitted on account of a doubt
whether it consists of two sounds or of three! The elements which he
enumerates are thirty-five; but if _oi_ is not a triphthong, they are to be
thirty-six. Twelve are called "_Tonics_; and are heard in the usual sound
of the separated _Italics_, in the following words: _A_-ll, _a_-rt, _a_-n,
_a_-le, _ou_-r, _i_-sle, _o_-ld, _ee_-l, _oo_-ze, _e_-rr, _e_-nd,
_i_-n,"--_Ib._, p. 53. Fourteen are called "_Subtonics_; and are marked by
the separated Italics, in the following words: _B_-ow, _d_-are, _g_-ive,
_v_-ile, _z_-one, _y_-e, _w_-o, _th_-en, a-_z_-ure, si-_ng_, _l_-ove,
_m_-ay, _n_-ot, _r_-oe."--_Ib._, p. 54. Nine are called "_Atonics_; they
are heard in the words, U-_p_, ou-_t_, ar-_k_, i-_f_, ye-_s, h_-e,
_wh_-eat, _th_-in, pu-_sh_."--_Ib._, p. 56. My opinion of this scheme of
the alphabet the reader will have anticipated.



IV. FORMS OF THE LETTERS.

In printed books of the English language, the Roman characters are
generally employed; sometimes, the _Italic_; and occasionally, the [Font
change: Old English]: but in handwriting, [Font change: Script letters] are
used, the forms of which are peculiarly adapted to the pen.

Characters of different sorts or sizes should never be _needlessly mixed_;
because facility of reading, as well as the beauty of a book, depends much
upon the regularity of its letters.

In the ordinary forms of the Roman letters, every thick stroke that slants,
slants from the left to the right downwards, except the middle stroke in Z;
and every thin stroke that slants, slants from the left to the right
upwards.

Italics are chiefly used to distinguish emphatic or remarkable words: in
the Bible, they show what words were supplied by the translators.

In manuscripts, a single line drawn under a word is meant for Italics; a
double line, for small capitals; a triple line, for full capitals.

In every kind of type or character, the letters have severally _two forms_,
by which they are distinguished as _capitals_ and _small letters_. Small
letters constitute the body of every work; and capitals are used for the
sake of eminence and distinction. The titles of books, and the heads of
their principal divisions, are printed wholly in capitals. Showbills,
painted signs, and short inscriptions, commonly appear best in full
capitals.  Some of these are so copied in books; as, "I found an altar
with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD."--_Acts_, xvii, 23. "And they
set up over his head, his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF
THE JEWS."--_Matt._, xxvii, 37.


RULES FOR THE USE OF CAPITALS.


RULE I.--OF BOOKS.

When particular books are mentioned by their names, the chief words in
their titles begin with capitals, and the other letters are small; as,
"Pope's Essay on Man"--"the Book of Common Prayer"--"the Scriptures of the
Old and New Testaments." [104]


RULE II.--FIRST WORDS.

The first word of every distinct sentence, or of any clause separately
numbered or paragraphed, should begin with a capital; as, "Rejoice
evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise
not prophesyings. Prove all things: hold fast that which is good."--_1
Thess._, v, 16--21.

"14. He has given his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
 15. _For_ quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
 16. _For_ protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for murders:
 17. _For_ cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
 18. _For_ imposing taxes on us without our consent:" &c.
           _Declaration of American Independence._


RULE III.--OF THE DEITY.

All names of the Deity, and sometimes their emphatic substitutes, should
begin with capitals; as, "God, Jehovah, the Almighty, the Supreme Being,
Divine Providence, the Messiah, the Comforter, the Father, the Son, the
Holy Spirit, the Lord of Sabaoth."

   "The hope of my spirit turns trembling to Thee."--_Moore_.


RULE IV.--PROPER NAMES.

Proper names, of every description, should always begin with capitals; as,
"Saul of Tarsus, Simon Peter, Judas Iscariot, England, London, the Strand,
the Thames, the Pyrenees, the Vatican, the Greeks, the Argo and the
Argonauts."


RULE V.--OF TITLES.

Titles of office or honour, and epithets of distinction, applied to
persons, begin usually with capitals; as, "His Majesty William the Fourth,
Chief Justice Marshall, Sir Matthew Hale, Dr. Johnson, the Rev. Dr.
Chalmers, Lewis the Bold, Charles the Second, James the Less, St.
Bartholomew, Pliny the Younger, Noah Webster, Jun., Esq."


RULE VI.--ONE CAPITAL.

Those compound proper names which by analogy incline to a union of their
parts without a hyphen, should be so written, and have but one capital: as,
"Eastport, Eastville, Westborough, Westfield, Westtown, Whitehall,
Whitechurch, Whitehaven, Whiteplains, Mountmellick, Mountpleasant,
Germantown, Germanflats, Blackrock, Redhook, Kinderhook, Newfoundland,
Statenland, Newcastle, Northcastle, Southbridge, Fairhaven, Dekalb,
Deruyter, Lafayette, Macpherson."


RULE VII.--TWO CAPITALS.

The compounding of a name under one capital should be avoided when the
general analogy of other similar terms suggests a separation under two; as,
"The chief mountains of Ross-shire are Ben Chat, _Benchasker_, Ben Golich,
Ben Nore, Ben Foskarg, and Ben Wyvis."--_Glasgow Geog._, Vol. ii, p. 311.
Write _Ben Chasker_. So, when the word _East, West, North_, or _South_, as
part of a name, denotes relative position, or when the word _New_
distinguishes a place by contrast, we have generally separate words and two
capitals; as, "East Greenwich, West Greenwich, North Bridgewater, South
Bridgewater, New Jersey, New Hampshire."


RULE VIII.--COMPOUNDS.

When any adjective or common noun is made a distinct part of a compound
proper name, it ought to begin with a capital; as, "The United States, the
Argentine Republic, the Peak of Teneriffe, the Blue Ridge, the Little
Pedee, Long Island, Jersey City, Lower Canada, Green Bay, Gretna Green,
Land's End, the Gold Coast."


RULE IX.--APPOSITION.

When a common and a proper name are associated merely to explain each
other, it is in general sufficient, if the proper name begin with a
capital, and the appellative, with a small letter; as, "The prophet Elisha,
Matthew the publican, the brook Cherith, the river Euphrates, the Ohio
river, Warren county, Flatbush village, New York city."


RULE X.--PERSONIFICATIONS.

The name of an object personified, when it conveys an idea strictly
individual, should begin with a capital; as, "Upon this, _Fancy_ began
again to bestir herself."--_Addison_. "Come, gentle _Spring_, ethereal
mildness, come."--_Thomson_.


RULE XI.--DERIVATIVES.

Words derived from proper names, and having direct reference to particular
persons, places, sects, or nations, should begin with capitals; as,
"Platonic, Newtonian, Greek, or Grecian, Romish, or Roman, Italic, or
Italian, German, or Germanic, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese, Genoese, French,
Dutch, Scotch, Welsh:" so, perhaps, "to Platonize, Grecize, Romanize,
Italicize, Latinize, or Frenchify."


RULE XII.--OF I AND O.

The words _I_ and _O_ should always be capitals; as, "Praise the Lord, O
Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion."--_Psalm_ cxlvii. "O wretched man that I
am!"--"For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not;
but what I hate, that do I."--_Rom._, vii, 24 and 15.


RULE XIII.--OF POETRY.

Every line in poetry, except what is regarded as making but one verse with
the line preceding, should begin with a capital; as,

   "Our sons their fathers' failing language see,
    And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be."--_Pope_.

Of the exception, some editions of the Psalms in Metre are full of
examples; as,

   "Happy the man whose tender care
      relieves the poor distress'd!
    When troubles compass him around,
      the Lord shall give him rest."
             _Psalms with Com. Prayer, N. Y._, 1819, Ps. xli.


RULE XIV.--OF EXAMPLES.

The first word of a full example, of a distinct speech, or of a direct
quotation, should begin with a capital; as, "Remember this maxim: 'Know
thyself.'"--"Virgil says, 'Labour conquers all things.'"--"Jesus answered
them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"--_John_, x, 34.
"Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not
steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy
mother."--_Luke_, xviii, 20.


RULE XV.--CHIEF WORDS.

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


RULE XVI.--NEEDLESS CAPITALS.

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


OBSERVATIONS.

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

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

OBS. 2.--A lavish use of capitals defeats the very purpose for which the
letters were distinguished in rank; and carelessness in respect to the
rules which govern them, may sometimes misrepresent the writer's meaning.
On many occasions, however, their use or disuse is arbitrary, and must be
left to the judgement and taste of authors and printers. Instances of this
kind will, for the most part, concern _chief words_, and come under the
fifteenth rule above. In this grammar, the number of rules is increased;
but the foregoing are still perhaps too few to establish an accurate
uniformity. They will however tend to this desirable result; and if doubts
arise in their application, the difficulties will be in particular examples
only, and not in the general principles of the rules. For instance: In 1
Chron., xxix, 10th, some of our Bibles say, "Blessed be thou, LORD God of
Israel our father, for ever and ever." Others say, "Blessed be thou, LORD
God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever." And others, "Blessed be
thou, LORD God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever." The last is wrong,
either in the capital F, or for lack of a comma after _Israel_. The others
differ in meaning; because they construe the word _father_, or _Father_,
differently. Which is right I know not. The first agrees with the Latin
Vulgate, and the second, with the Greek text of the Septuagint; which two
famous versions here disagree, without ambiguity in either.[105]

OBS. 3.--The innumerable discrepancies in respect to capitals, which, to a
greater or less extent, disgrace the very best editions of our most popular
books, are a sufficient evidence of the want of better directions on this
point. In amending the rules for this purpose, I have not been able
entirely to satisfy myself; and therefore must needs fail to satisfy the
very critical reader. But the public shall have the best instructions I can
give. On Rule 1st, concerning _Books_, it may be observed, that when
particular books or writings are mentioned by other terms than their real
titles, the principle of the rule does not apply. Thus, one may call
Paradise Lost, "Milton's _great poem_;" or the Diversions of Purley, "the
_etymological investigations_ of Horne Tooke." So it is written in the
Bible, "And there was delivered unto him _the book of the prophet_
Esaias."--_Luke_, iv, 17. Because the name of Esaias, or Isaiah, seems to
be the only proper title of his book.

OBS. 4.--On Rule 2d, concerning _First Words_, it may be observed, that the
using of other points than the period, to separate sentences that are
totally distinct in sense, as is sometimes practised in quoting, is no
reason for the omission of capitals at the beginning of such sentences;
but, rather, an obvious reason for their use. Our grammarians frequently
manufacture a parcel of puerile examples, and, with the formality of
apparent quotation, throw them together in the following manner: "He is
above disguise;" "we serve under a good master;" "he rules over a willing
people;" "we should do nothing beneath our character."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 118. These sentences, and all others so related, should, unquestionably,
begin with capitals. Of themselves, they are distinct enough to be
separated by the period and a dash. With examples of one's own making, the
quotation points may be used or not, as the writer pleases; but not on
their insertion or omission, nor even on the quality of the separating
point, depends in all cases the propriety or impropriety of using initial
capitals. For example: "The Future Tense is the form of the verb which
denotes future time; as, John _will come_, you shall go, they will learn,
the sun will rise to-morrow, he will return next week."--_Frazee's Improved
Gram._, p. 38; _Old Edition_, 35. To say nothing of the punctuation here
used, it is certain that the initial words, _you, they, the_, and _he_,
should have commenced with capitals.

OBS. 5.--On Rule 3d, concerning _Names of Deity_, it may be observed, that
the words _Lord_ and _God_ take the nature of proper names, only when they
are used in reference to the Eternal Divinity. The former, as a title of
honour to men, is usually written with a capital; but, as a common
appellative, with a small letter. The latter, when used with reference to
any fabulous deity, or when made plural to speak of many, should seldom, if
ever, begin with a capital; for we do not write with a capital any common
name which we do not mean to honour: as, "Though there be that are called
_gods_, whether in heaven or in earth--as there be _gods_ many, and _lords_
many."--_1 Cor._, viii, 5. But a diversity of design or conception in
respect to this kind of distinction, has produced great diversity
concerning capitals, not only in original writings, but also in reprints
and quotations, not excepting even the sacred books. Example: "The Lord is
a great God, and a great King above all _Gods_."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 88.
Perhaps the writer here exalts the inferior beings called gods, that he may
honour the one true God the more; but the Bible, in four editions to which
I have turned, gives the word _gods_ no capital. See _Psalms_, xcv, 3. The
word _Heaven_ put for God, begins with a capital; but when taken literally,
it commonly begins with a small letter. Several nouns occasionally
connected with names of the Deity, are written with a very puzzling
diversity: as, "The Lord of _Sabaoth_;"--"The Lord God of _hosts_;"--"The
God of _armies_;"--"The Father of _goodness_;"--"The Giver of all
_good_;"--"The Lord, the righteous _Judge_." All these, and many more like
them, are found sometimes with a capital, and sometimes without. _Sabaoth_,
being a foreign word, and used only in this particular connexion, usually
takes a capital; but the equivalent English words do not seem to require
it. For "_Judge_," in the last example, I would use a capital; for "_good_"
and "_goodness_," in the preceding ones, the small letter: the one is an
eminent name, the others are mere attributes. Alger writes, "_the Son of
Man_," with two capitals; others, perhaps more properly, "_the Son of
man_," with one--wherever that phrase occurs in the New Testament. But, in
some editions, it has no capital at all.

OBS. 6.--On Rule 4th, concerning _Proper Names_, it may be observed, that
the application of this principle supposes the learner to be able to
distinguish between proper names and common appellatives. Of the difference
between these two classes of words, almost every child that can speak, must
have formed some idea. I once noticed that a very little boy, who knew no
better than to call a pigeon a turkey because the creature had feathers,
was sufficiently master of this distinction, to call many individuals by
their several names, and to apply the common words, _man, woman, boy,
girl_, &c., with that generality which belongs to them. There is,
therefore, some very plain ground for this rule. But not all is plain, and
I will not veil the cause of embarrassment. It is only an act of imposture,
to pretend that grammar _is easy_, in stead of making it so. Innumerable
instances occur, in which the following assertion is by no means true: "The
distinction between a common and a proper noun is _very
obvious_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p 32. Nor do the remarks of this author, or
those of any other that I am acquainted with, remove any part of the
difficulty. We are told by this gentleman, (in language incorrigibly bad,)
that, "_Nouns_ which denote the genus, species, or variety of beings or
things, are always common; as, _tree_, the genus; _oak, ash, chestnut,
poplar_, different species; and _red oak, white oak, black oak_,
varieties."--_Ib._, p. 32. Now, as it requires _but one noun_ to denote
either a genus or a species, I know not how to conceive of _those_ "_nouns_
which denote _the genus_ of things," except as of other confusion and
nonsense; and, as for the three varieties of oak, there are surely no
"_nouns_" here to denote them, unless he will have _red, white_, and
_black_ to be nouns. But what shall we say of--"the Red sea, the White sea,
the Black sea;" or, with two capitals, "Red Sea, White Sea, Black Sea," and
a thousand other similar terms, which are neither proper names unless they
are written with capitals, nor written with capitals unless they are first
judged to be proper names? The simple phrase, "the united states," has
nothing of the nature of a proper name; but what is the character of the
term, when written with two capitals, "the United States?" If we contend
that it is not then a proper name, we make our country anonymous. And what
shall we say to those grammarians who contend, that "_Heaven, Hell, Earth,
Sun_, and _Moon_, are proper names;" and that, as such, they should be
written with capitals? See _Churchill's Gram._, p. 380.

OBS. 7.--It would seem that most, if not all, proper names had originally
some common signification, and that very many of our ordinary words and
phrases have been converted into proper names, merely by being applied to
particular persons, places, or objects, and receiving the distinction of
capitals. How many of the oceans, seas, lakes, capes, islands, mountains,
states, counties, streets, institutions, buildings, and other things, which
we constantly particularize, have no other proper names than such as are
thus formed, and such as are still perhaps, in many instances, essentially
appellative! The difficulties respecting these will be further noticed
below. A proper noun is the name of some particular individual, group, or
people; as, _Adam, Boston_, the _Hudson_, the _Azores_, the _Andes_, the
_Romans_, the _Jews_, the _Jesuits_, the _Cherokees_. This is as good a
definition as I can give of a proper noun or name. Thus we commonly
distinguish the names of particular persons, places, nations, tribes, or
sects, with capitals. Yet we name the sun, the moon, the equator, and many
other particular objects, without a capital; for the word the may give a
particular meaning to a common noun, without converting it into a proper
name: but if we say _Sol_, for the sun, or _Luna_, for the moon, we write
it with a capital. With some apparent inconsistency, we commonly write the
word _Gentiles_ with a capital, but _pagans, heathens_, and _negroes_,
without: thus custom has marked these names with degradation. The names of
the days of the week, and those of the months, however expressed, appear to
me to partake of the nature of proper names, and to require capitals: as,
_Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday_; or, as
the Friends denominate them, _Firstday, Secondday, Thirdday, Fourthday,
Fifthday, Sixthday, Seventhday_. So, if they will not use _January,
February_, &c., they should write as proper names their _Firstmonth,
Secondmonth_, &c. The Hebrew names for the months, were also proper nouns:
to wit, Abib, Zif, Sivan, Thamuz, Ab, Elul, Tisri, Marchesvan, Chisleu,
Tebeth, Shebat, Adar; the year, with the ancient Jews, beginning, as ours
once did, in March.

OBS. 8.--On Rule 5th, concerning _Titles of Honour_, it may be observed,
that names of office or rank, however high, do not require capitals merely
as such; for, when we use them alone in their ordinary sense, or simply
place them in apposition with proper names, without intending any
particular honour, we begin them with a small letter: as, "the emperor
Augustus;"--"our mighty sovereign, Abbas Carascan;"--"David the
king;"--"Tidal king of nations;"--"Bonner, bishop of London;"--"The sons of
Eliphaz, the first-born you of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho,
duke Kenaz, duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek."--_Gen._, xxxvi, 15.
So, sometimes, in addresses in which even the greatest respect is intended
to be shown: as, "O _sir_, we came indeed down at the first time to buy
food."--_Gen._, xliii, 20. "O my _lord_, let thy servant, I pray thee,
speak a word in my _lord's_ ears."--_Gen._, xliv, 18. The Bible, which
makes small account of worldly honours, seldom uses capitals under this
rule; but, in some editions, we find "Nehemiah the _Tirshatha_," and "Herod
the _Tetrarch_," each with a needless capital. Murray, in whose
illustrations the word _king_ occurs early one hundred times, seldom
honours his Majesty with a capital; and, what is more, in all this mawkish
mentioning of royalty, nothing is said of it _that is worth knowing_.
Examples: "The _king_ and the queen had put on their robes."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 154. "The _king_, with his life-guard, has just passed through
the village."--_Ib._, 150. "The _king_ of Great Britain's
dominions."--_Ib._, 45. "On a sudden appeared the _king_."--_Ib._, 146.
"Long live the _King_!"--_Ib._, 146. "On which side soever the _king_ cast
his eyes."--_Ib._, 156. "It is the _king_ of Great Britain's."--_Ib._, 176.
"He desired to be their _king_."--_Ib._, 181. "They desired him to be their
_king_."--_Ib._, 181. "He caused himself to be proclaimed _king_."--_Ib._,
182. These examples, and thousands more as simple and worthless, are among
the pretended quotations by which this excellent man, thought "to promote
the cause of virtue, as well as of learning!"

OBS. 9.--On Rule 6th, concerning _One Capital for Compounds_, I would
observe, that perhaps there is nothing more puzzling in grammar, than to
find out, amidst all the diversity of random writing, and wild guess-work
in printing, the true way in which the compound names of places should be
written. For example: What in Greek was "_ho Areios Pagos_," the _Martial
Hill_, occurs twice in the New Testament: once, in the accusative case,
"_ton Areion Pagan_," which is rendered _Areopagus_; and once, in the
genitive, "_tou Areiou Pagou_," which, in different copies of the English
Bible is made _Mars' Hill, Mars' hill, Mars'-hill, Marshill, Mars Hill_,
and perhaps _Mars hill_. But if _Mars_ must needs be put in the possessive
case, (which I doubt,) they are all wrong: for then it should be _Mars's
Hill_; as the name _Campus Martins_ is rendered "_Mars's Field_," in
Collier's Life of Marcus Antoninus. We often use nouns adjectively; and
_Areios_ is an adjective: I would therefore write this name _Mars Hill_, as
we write _Bunker Hill_. Again: _Whitehaven_ and _Fairhaven_ are commonly
written with single capitals; but, of six or seven _towns_ called
_Newhaven_ or _New Haven_, some have the name in one word and some in two.
_Haven_ means a _harbour_, and the words, _New Haven_, written separately,
would naturally be understood of a harbour: the close compound is obviously
more suitable for the name of a city or town. In England, compounds of this
kind are more used than in America; and in both countries the tendency of
common usage seems to be, to contract and consolidate such terms. Hence the
British counties are almost all named by compounds ending with the word
_shire_; as, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire,
Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, &c. But the best books we
have, are full of discrepancies and errors in respect to names, whether
foreign or domestic; as, "_Ulswater_ is somewhat smaller. The handsomest is
_Derwentwater_."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 212. "_Ulswater_, a lake of England,"
&c. "_Derwent-Water_, a lake in Cumberland," &c.--_Univ. Gazetteer_,
"_Ulleswater_, lake, Eng. situated partly in Westmoreland,"
&c.--_Worcester's Gaz._ "_Derwent Water_, lake, Eng. in
Cumberland."--_Ibid._ These words, I suppose, should be written _Ullswater_
and _Derwentwater_.

OBS. 10.--An affix, or termination, differs from a distinct word; and is
commonly understood otherwise, though it may consist of the same letters
and have the same sound. Thus, if I were to write _Stow Bridge_, it would
be understood of a _bridge_; if _Stowbridge_, of a _town_: or the latter
might even be the name of a _family_. So _Belleisle_ is the proper name of
a _strait_; and _Belle Isle_ of several different _islands_ in France and
America. Upon this plain distinction, and the manifest inconvenience of any
violation of so clear an analogy of the language, depends the propriety of
most of the corrections which I shall offer under Rule 6th. But if the
inhabitants of any place choose to call their town a creek, a river, a
harbour, or a bridge, and to think it officious in other men to pretend to
know better, they may do as they please. If between them and their
correctors there lie a mutual charge of misnomer, it is for the literary
world to determine who is right. Important names are sometimes acquired by
mere accident. Those which are totally inappropriate, no reasonable design
can have bestowed. Thus a fancied resemblance between the island of
Aquidneck, in Narraganset Bay, and that of Rhodes, in the Ægean Sea, has
at length given to a _state_, or _republic_, which lies _chiefly on the
main land_, the absurd name of _Rhode Island_; so that now, to distinguish
Aquidneck itself, geographers resort to the strange phrase, "_the Island of
Rhode Island_."--_Balbi_. The official title of this little republic, is,
"_the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations_." But this name is
not only too long for popular use, but it is doubtful in its construction
and meaning. It is capable of being understood in four different ways. 1. A
stranger to the fact, would not learn from this phrase, that the
"Providence Plantations" are included in the "State of Rhode Island," but
would naturally infer the contrary. 2. The phrase, "Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations," may be supposed to mean "Rhode Island
[Plantations] and Providence Plantations." 3. It may be understood to mean
"Rhode Island and Providence [i.e., two] Plantations." 4. It may be taken
for "Rhode Island" [i.e., as an island,] and the "Providence Plantations."
Which, now, of all these did Charles the Second mean, when he gave the
colony this name, with his charter, in 1663? It happened that he meant the
last; but I doubt whether any man in the state, except perhaps some learned
lawyer, can _parse_ the phrase, with any certainty of its true construction
and meaning. This old title can never be used, except in law. To write the
popular name "_Rhodeisland_," as Dr. Webster has it in his American
Spelling-Book, p. 121, would be some improvement upon it; but to make it
_Rhodeland_, or simply _Rhode_, would be much more appropriate. As for
_Rhode Island_, it ought to mean nothing but the island; and it is, in
fact, _an abuse of language_ to apply it otherwise. In one of his parsing
lessons, Sanborn gives us for good English the following tautology: "_Rhode
Island_ derived its name from the _island of Rhode Island_."--_Analytical
Gram._, p. 37. Think of that sentence!

OBS. 11.--On Rules 7th and 8th, concerning _Two Capitals for Compounds_, I
would observe, with a general reference to those _compound terms_ which
designate particular places or things, that it is often no easy matter to
determine, either from custom or from analogy, whether such common words as
may happen to be embraced in them, are to be accounted parts of compound
proper names and written with capitals, or to be regarded as appellatives,
requiring small letters according to Rule 9th. Again the question may be,
whether they ought not to be joined to the foregoing word, according to
Rule 6th. Let the numerous examples under these four rules be duly
considered: for usage, in respect to each of them, is diverse; so much so,
that we not unfrequently find it contradictory, in the very same page,
paragraph, or even sentence. Perhaps we may reach some principles of
uniformity and consistency, by observing the several different kinds of
phrases thus used. 1. We often add an adjective to an old proper name to
make a new one, or to serve the purpose of distinction: as, Now York, New
Orleans, New England, New Bedford; North America, South America; Upper
Canada, Lower Canada; Great Pedee, Little Pedee; East Cambridge, West
Cambridge; Troy, West Troy. All names of this class require two capitals:
except a few which are joined together; as _Northampton_, which is
sometimes more analogically written _North Hampton_. 2. We often use the
possessive case with some common noun after it; as, Behring's Straits,
Baffin's Bay, Cook's Inlet, Van Diemen's Land, Martha's Vineyard, Sacket's
Harbour, Glenn's Falls. Names of this class generally have more than one
capital; and perhaps all of them should be written so, except such as
coalesce; as, Gravesend, Moorestown, the Crowsnest. 3. We sometimes use two
common nouns with _of_ between them; as, the Cape of Good Hope, the Isle of
Man, the Isles of Shoals, the Lake of the Woods, the Mountains of the Moon.
Such nouns are usually written with more than one capital. I would
therefore write "the Mount of Olives" in this manner, though it is not
commonly found so in the Bible. 4. We often use an adjective and a common
noun; as, the Yellow sea, the Indian ocean, the White hills, Crooked lake,
the Red river; or, with two capitals, the Yellow Sea, the Indian Ocean, the
White Hills, Crooked Lake, the Red River. In this class of names the
adjective is the distinctive word, and always has a capital; respecting the
other term, usage is divided, but seems rather to favour two capitals. 5.
We frequently put an appellative, or common noun, before or after a proper
name; as, New York city, Washington street, Plymouth county, Greenwich
village. "The Carondelet canal extends from the city of New Orleans to the
bayou St. John, connecting lake Pontchartrain with the Mississippi
river."--_Balbi's Geog._ This is apposition. In phrases of this kind, the
common noun often has a capital, but it seldom absolutely requires it; and
in general a small letter is more correct, except in some few instances in
which the common noun is regarded as a permanent part of the name; as in
_Washington City, Jersey City_. The words _Mount, Cape, Lake_, and _Bay_,
are now generally written with capitals when connected with their proper
names; as, Mount Hope, Cape Cod, Lake Erie, Casco Bay. But they are not
always so written, even in modern books; and in the Bible we read of "mount
Horeb, mount Sinai, mount Zion, mount Olivet," and many others, always with
a single capital.

OBS. 12.--In modern compound names, the hyphen is now less frequently used
than it was a few years ago. They seldom, if ever, need it, unless they are
employed as adjectives; and then there is a manifest propriety in inserting
it. Thus the phrase, "the New London Bridge," can be understood only of a
new bridge in London; and if we intend by it a bridge in New London, we
must say, "the New-London Bridge." So "the New York Directory" is not
properly a directory for New York, but a new directory for York. I have
seen several books with titles which, for this reason, were evidently
erroneous. With respect to the ancient Scripture names, of this class, we
find, in different editions of the Bible, as well as in other books, many
discrepancies. The reader may see a very fair specimen of them, by
comparing together the last two vocabularies of Walker's Key. He will there
meet with an abundance of examples like these: "Uz'zen Shérah,
Uzzen-shérah; Talitha Cúmi, Talithacúmi; Náthan Mélech, Nathan'-melech;
A'bel Mehólath, Abel-mehólah; Házel Elpóni, Hazelepóni; Az'noth Tábor,
Asnoth-tábor; Báal Ham'on, Baal-hámon; Hámon Gog, Ham'ongog; Báal Zébub,
Bäal'zebub; Shéthar Boz'näi, Shether-boz'näi; Meródach Bal'adan,
Merodach-bal'adan." All these glaring inconsistencies, and many more, has
Dr. Webster restereotyped from Walker, in his octavo Dictionary! I see no
more need of the hyphen in such names, than in those of modern times. They
ought, in some instances, to be joined together without it; and, in others,
to be written separately, with double capitals. But special regard should
be had to the ancient text. The phrase, "Talitha, cumi,"--i. e., "Damsel,
arise,"--is found in some Bibles, "Talitha-cumi;" but this form of it is no
more correct than either of those quoted above. See _Mark_, v, 41st, in
_Griesbach's Greek Testament_, where a comma divides this expression.

OBS. 13.--On Rule 10th, concerning _Personifications_, it may be well to
observe, that not every noun which is the name of an object personified,
must begin with a capital, but only such as have a resemblance to _proper
nouns_; for the word _person_ itself, or _persons_, or any other common
noun denoting persons or a person, demands no such distinction. And proper
names of persons are so marked, not with any reference to personality, but
because they are _proper nouns_--or names of individuals, and not names of
sorts. Thus, Æsop's viper and file are both personified, where it is
recorded, "'What ails thee, fool?' says the _file_ to the _viper_;" but the
fable gives to these names no capitals, except in the title of the story.
It may here be added, that, according to their definitions of
personification, our grammarians and the teachers of rhetoric have hitherto
formed no very accurate idea of what constitutes the figure. Lindley Murray
says, "PERSONIFICATION [,] or PROSOPOPOEIA, is that figure by which we
attribute _life_ and _action_ to _inanimate_ objects."--_Octavo Gram._, p.
346; _Duodecimo_, p. 211. Now this is all wrong, doubly wrong,--wrong in
relation to what personification is, and wrong too in its specification of
the objects which may be personified. For "_life and action_" not being
peculiar to _persons_, there must be something else than these ascribed, to
form the figure; and, surely, the objects which _Fancy_ thinks it right to
personify, are not always "_inanimate_." I have elsewhere defined the thing
as follows: "_Personification_ is a figure by which, in imagination, we
ascribe intelligence and personality to unintelligent beings or abstract
qualities."--_Inst._, p. 234.

OBS. 14.--On Rule 11th, concerning _Derivatives_, I would observe, that not
only the proper adjectives, to which this rule more particularly refers,
but also nouns, and even verbs, derived from such adjectives, are
frequently, if not generally, written with an initial capital. Thus, from
_Greece_, we have _Greek, Greeks, Greekish, Greekling, Grecise, Grecism,
Grecian, Grecians, Grecianize_. So Murray, copying Blair, speaks of
"_Latinised English_;" and, again, of style strictly "_English_, without
_Scotticisms_ or _Gallicisms_."--_Mur. Gram._, 8vo, p. 295; _Blair's
Lect._, pp. 93 and 94. But it is questionable, how far this principle
respecting capitals ought to be carried. The examples in Dr. Johnson's
quarto Dictionary exhibit the words, _gallicisms, anglicisms, hebrician,
latinize, latinized, judaized_, and _christianized_, without capitals; and
the words _Latinisms, Grecisms, Hebraisms_, and _Frenchified_, under like
circumstances, with them. Dr. Webster also defines _Romanize_, "To
_Latinize_; to conform to _Romish_ opinions." In the examples of Johnson,
there is a manifest inconsistency. Now, with respect to adjectives from
proper names, and also to the nouns formed immediately from such
adjectives, it is clear that they ought to have capitals: no one will
contend that the words _American_ and _Americans_ should be written with a
small _a_. With respect to _Americanism, Gallicism_, and other similar
words, there may be some room to doubt. But I prefer a capital for these.
And, that we may have a uniform rule to go by, I would not stop here, but
would write _Americanize_ and _Americanized_ with a capital also; for it
appears that custom is in favour of thus distinguishing nearly all verbs
and participles of this kind, so long as they retain an obvious reference
to their particular origin. But when any such word ceases to be understood
as referring directly to the proper name, it may properly be written
without a capital. Thus we write _jalap_ from _Jalapa, hermetical_ from
_Hermes, hymeneal_ from _Hymen, simony_, from _Simon, philippic_ from
_Philip_; the verbs, to _hector_, to _romance_, to _japan_, to _christen_,
to _philippize_, to _galvanize_; and the adverbs _hermetically_ and
_jesuitically_, all without a capital: and perhaps _judaize, christianize_,
and their derivatives, may join this class. Dr. Webster's octavo Dictionary
mentions "the _prussic_ acid" and "_prussian_ blue," without a capital; and
so does Worcester's.

OBS. 15.--On Rule 12th, concerning _I_ and _O_, it may be observed, that
although many who occasionally write, are ignorant enough to violate this,
as well as every other rule of grammar, yet no printer ever commits
blunders of this sort. Consequently, the few erroneous examples which will
be exhibited for correction under it, will not be undesigned mistakes.
Among the errors of books, we do not find the printing of the words _I_ and
_O_ in small characters; but the confounding of _O_ with the other
interjection _oh_, is not uncommon even among grammarians. The latter has
no concern with this rule, nor is it equivalent to the former, as a sign:
_O_ is a note of wishing, earnestness, and vocative address; but _oh_ is,
properly, a sign of sorrow, pain, or surprise. In the following example,
therefore, a line from Milton is perverted:--

   "_Oh_ thou! that with surpassing glory crowned!"
        --_Bucke's Gram._, p. 88.

OBS. 16.--On Rule 13th, concerning _Poetry_, it may be observed, that the
principle applies only to regular versification, which is the common form,
if not the distinguishing mark, of poetical composition. And, in this, the
practice of beginning every line with a capital is almost universal; but I
have seen some books in which it was whimsically disregarded. Such poetry
as that of Macpherson's Ossian, or such as the common translation of the
Psalms, is subjected neither to this rule, nor to the common laws of verse.

OBS. 17.--On Rule 14th, concerning _Examples, Speeches_, and _Quotations_,
it may be observed, that the propriety of beginning these with a capital or
otherwise, depends in some measure upon their form. One may suggest certain
words by way of example, (as _see, saw, seeing, seen_,) and they will
require no capital; or he may sometimes write one half of a sentence in his
own words, and quote the other with the guillemets and no capital; but
whatsoever is cited as being said with other relations of what is called
_person_, requires something to distinguish it from the text into which it
is woven. Thus Cobbett observes, that, "The French, in their Bible, say _Le
Verbe_, where we say _The Word_."--_E. Gram._, p. 21. Cobbett says _the
whole_ of this; but he here refers one short phrase to the French nation,
and an other to the English, not improperly beginning each with a capital,
and further distinguishing them by Italics. Our common Bibles make no use
of the quotation points, but rely solely upon capitals and the common
points, to show where any particular speech begins or ends. In some
instances, the insufficiency of these means is greatly felt,
notwithstanding the extraordinary care of the original writers, in the use
of introductory phrases. Murray says, "When a quotation is brought in
obliquely after a comma, a capital is unnecessary: as, 'Solomon observes,
"that pride goes before destruction."'"--_Octavo Gram._, p. 284. But, as
the word '_that_' belongs not to Solomon, and the next word begins his
assertion, I think we ought to write it, "Solomon observes, that, '_Pride
goeth_ before destruction.'" Or, if we do not mean to quote him literally,
we may omit the guillemets, and say, "Solomon observes that pride goes
before destruction."


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS RESPECTING CAPITALS.

[Fist][The improprieties in the following examples are to be corrected
orally by the learner, according to the formules given, or according to
others framed from them with such slight changes as the several quotations
may require. A correct example will occasionally he admitted for the sake
of contrast, or that the learner may see the quoted author's inconsistency.
It will also serve as a block over which stupidity may stumble and wake up.
But a full explanation of what is intended, will be afforded in the Key.]

UNDER RULE I.--OF BOOKS.

"Many a reader of the bible knows not who wrote the acts of the
apostles."--_G. B._

[FORMULE OF CORRECTION.--Not proper, because the words, _bible, acts_, and
_apostles_, here begin with small letters. But, according to Rule 1st,
"When particular books are mentioned by their names, the chief words in
their titles begin with capitals, and the other letters are small."
Therefore, "Bible" should begin with a capital B; and "Acts" and
"Apostles," each with a large A.]

"The sons of Levi, the chief of the fathers, were written in the book of
the chronicles."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Neh._, xii, 23. "Are they not written in
the book of the acts of Solomon?"--SCOTT, ALGER: I _Kings_, xi, 41. "Are
they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of
Israel?"--ALGER: _1 Kings_, xxii, 39. "Are they not written in the book of
the chronicles of the kings of Judah?"--SCOTT: _ib._, ver. 45. "Which were
written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the
psalms."--SCOTT: _Luke_, xxiv, 44. "The narrative of which may be seen in
Josephus's History of the Jewish wars."--_Scott's Preface_, p. ix. "This
history of the Jewish war was Josephus's first work, and published about A.
D. 75."--_Note to Josephus_. "'I have read,' says Photius, 'the chronology
of Justus of Tiberias.'"--_Ib., Jos. Life_. "A philosophical grammar,
written by James Harris, Esquire."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 34. "The reader is
referred to Stroud's sketch of the slave laws."--_Anti-Slavery Mag._, i,
25. "But God has so made the bible that it interprets itself."--_Ib._, i,
78. "In 1562, with the help of Hopkins, he completed the psalter."--_Music
of Nature_, p. 283. "Gardiner says this of _Sternhold_; of whom the
universal biographical dictionary and the American encyclopedia affirm,
that he died in 1549."--_Author_. "The title of a Book, to wit: 'English
Grammar in familiar lectures,'" &c.--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 2. "We had not,
at that time, seen Mr. Kirkham's 'Grammar in familiar Lectures.'"--_Ib._,
p. 3. "When you parse, you may spread the Compendium before you."--_Ib._,
p. 53. "Whenever you parse, you may spread the compendium before
you."--_Ib._, p. 113. "Adelung was the author of a grammatical and critical
dictionary of the German language, and other works."--_Univ. Biog. Dict._
"Alley, William, author of 'the poor man's library,' and a translation of
the Pentateuch, died in 1570."--_Ib._

UNDER RULE II.--OF FIRST WORDS.

"Depart instantly: improve your time: forgive us our sins."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 61.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the words _improve_ and _forgive_ begin with
small letters. But, according to Rule 2nd, "The first word of every
distinct sentence should begin with a capital." Therefore, "Improve" should
begin with a capital I; and "Forgive," with a capital F.]

EXAMPLES: "Gold is corrupting; the sea is green; a lion is bold."--_Mur.
Gram._, p. 170; _et al_. Again: "It may rain; he may go or stay; he would
walk; they should learn."--_Ib._, p. 64; _et al_. Again: "Oh! I have
alienated my friend; alas! I fear for life."--_Ib._, p. 128; _et al_.
Again: "He went from London to York;" "she is above disguise;" "they are
supported by industry."--_Ib._, p. 28; _et al_. "On the foregoing examples,
I have a word to say. they are better than a fair specimen of their kind,
our grammars abound with worse illustrations, their models of English are
generally spurious quotations. few of their proof-texts have any just
parentage, goose-eyes are abundant, but names scarce. who fathers the
foundlings? nobody. then let their merit be nobody's, and their defects his
who could write no better."--_Author_. "_goose-eyes_!" says a bright boy;
"pray, what are they? does this Mr. Author make new words when he pleases?
_dead-eyes_ are in a ship, they are blocks, with holes in them, but what
are goose-eyes in grammar?" ANSWER: "_goose-eyes_ are quotation points,
some of the Germans gave them this name, making a jest of their form, the
French call them _guillemets_, from the name of their inventor."--_Author.
"it_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person singular."--_Comly's
Gram._, 12th Ed., p. 126. "_ourselves_ is a personal pronoun, of the first
person plural."--_Ib._, 138. "_thee_ is a personal pronoun, of the second
person singular."--_Ib._, 126. "_contentment_ is a noun common, of the
third person singular."--_Ib._, 128. "_were_ is a neuter verb, of the
indicative mood, imperfect tense."--_Ib._, 129.


UNDER RULE III.--OF DEITY.

"O thou dispenser of life! thy mercies are boundless."--_W. Allen's Gram._,
p. 449.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _dispenser_ begins with a small
letter. But, according to Rule 3d, "All names of the Deity, and sometimes
their emphatic substitutes, should begin with capitals." Therefore,
"Dispenser" should here begin with a capital D.]

"Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?"--SCOTT: _Gen._, xviii, 25.
"And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 330. "It is the gift of him, who is the great author of good,
and the Father of mercies."--_Ib._, 287. "This is thy god that brought thee
up out of Egypt."--SCOTT, ALGER: _Neh._, ix, 18. "For the lord is our
defence; and the holy one of Israel is our king."--See _Psalm_ lxxxix, 18.
"By making him the responsible steward of heaven's bounties."--_Anti-
Slavery Mag._, i, 29. "Which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me
at that day."--SCOTT, FRIENDS: 2 _Tim._, iv, 8. "The cries of them * * *
entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth."--SCOTT: _James_, v, 4. "In
Horeb, the deity revealed himself to Moses, as the eternal I am, the
self-existent one; and, after the first discouraging interview of his
messengers with Pharaoh, he renewed his promise to them, by the awful name,
jehovah--a name till then unknown, and one which the Jews always held it a
fearful profanation to pronounce."--_Author_. "And god spake unto Moses,
and said unto him, I am the lord: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac,
and unto Jacob, by the name of god almighty; but by my name jehovah was I
not known to them."--See[106] _Exod._, vi, 2. "Thus saith the lord the king
of Israel, and his redeemer the lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the
last; and besides me there is no god."--See _Isa._, xliv, 6.

   "His impious race their blasphemy renew'd,
    And nature's king through nature's optics view'd."--_Dryden_, p. 90.


UNDER RULE IV.--OF PROPER NAMES.

"Islamism prescribes fasting during the month ramazan."--_Balbi's Geog._,
p. 17.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _ramazan_ here begins with a small
letter. But, according to Rule 4th, "Proper names, of every description,
should always begin with capitals." Therefore, "Ramazan" should begin with
a capital R. The word is also misspelled: it should rather be _Ramadan_.]

"Near mecca, in arabia, is jebel nor, or the mountain of light, on the top
of which the mussulmans erected a mosque, that they might perform their
devotions where, according to their belief, mohammed received from the
angel gabriel the first chapter of the Koran."--_Author_. "In the kaaba at
mecca, there is a celebrated block of volcanic basalt, which the
mohammedans venerate as the gift of gabriel to abraham, but their ancestors
once held it to be an image of remphan, or saturn; so 'the image which fell
down from jupiter,' to share with diana the homage of the ephesians, was
probably nothing more than a meteoric stone."--_Id._ "When the lycaonians,
at lystra, took paul and barnabas to be gods, they called the former
mercury, on account of his eloquence, and the latter jupiter, for the
greater dignity of his appearance."--_Id._ "Of the writings of the
apostolic fathers of the first century, but few have come down to us; yet
we have in those of barnabas, clement of rome, hermas, ignatius, and
polycarp, very certain evidence of the authenticity of the New Testament,
and the New Testament is a voucher for the old."--_Id._

"It is said by tatian, that theagenes of rhegium, in the time of cambyses,
stesimbrotus the thracian, antimachus the colophonian, herodotus of
halicarnassus, dionysius the olynthian, ephorus of cumæ, philochorus the
athenian, metaclides and chamæleon the peripatetics, and zenodotus,
aristophanes, callimachus, erates, eratosthenes, aristarchus, and
apollodorus, the grammarians, all wrote concerning the poetry, the birth,
and the age of homer." See _Coleridge's Introd._, p. 57. "Yet, for aught
that now appears, the life of homer is as fabulous as that of hercules; and
some have even suspected, that, as the son of jupiter and alcmena, has
fathered the deeds of forty other herculeses, so this unfathered son of
critheis, themisto, or whatever dame--this melesigenes, mæonides,
homer--the blind schoolmaster, and poet, of smyrna, chios, colophon,
salamis, rhodes, argos, athens, or whatever place--has, by the help of
lycurgus, solon, pisistratus, and other learned ancients, been made up of
many poets or homers, and set so far aloft and aloof on old parnassus, as
to become a god in the eyes of all greece, a wonder in those of all
Christendom."--_Author_.

   "Why so sagacious in your guesses?
    Your _effs_, and _tees_, and _arrs_, and _esses_?"--_Swift_.


UNDER RULE V.--OF TITLES.

"The king has conferred on him the title of duke."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p.
193.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _duke_ begins with a small letter.
But, according to Rule 5th, "Titles of office or honour, and epithets of
distinction, applied to persons, begin usually with capitals." Therefore,
"Duke" should here begin with a capital D.]

"At the court of queen Elizabeth."--_Murray's Gram._; 8vo, p. 157; 12mo, p.
126; _Fisk's_, 115; _et al_. "The laws of nature are, truly, what lord
Bacon styles his aphorisms, laws of laws."--_Murray's Key_, p. 260. "Sixtus
the fourth was, if I mistake not, a great collector of books."--_Ib._, p.
257. "Who at that time made up the court of king Charles the
second."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 314. "In case of his majesty's dying without
issue."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 181. "King Charles the first was beheaded in
1649."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 45. "He can no more impart or (to use lord
Bacon's word,) _transmit_ convictions."--_Kirkham's Eloc._, p. 220. "I
reside at lord Stormont's, my old patron and benefactor."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 176. "We staid a month at lord Lyttleton's, the ornament of his
country."--_Ib._, p. 177. "Whose prerogative is it? It is the king of Great
Britain's;" "That is the duke of Bridgewater's canal;" "The bishop of
Llandaff's excellent book;" "The Lord mayor of London's authority."--_Ib._,
p. 176. "Why call ye me lord, lord, and do not the things which I
say?"--See GRIESBACH: _Luke_, vi, 46. "And of them he chose twelve, whom
also he named apostles."--SCOTT: _Luke_, vi, 13. "And forthwith he came to
Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him."--See _the Greek: Matt._,
xxvi, 49. "And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from
the dead, they will repent."--_Luke_, xvi, 30.


UNDER RULE VI.--OF ONE CAPITAL.

"Fall River, a village in Massachusetts, population 3431."--See _Univ.
Gaz._, p. 416.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the name _Fall River_ is here written in two
parts, and with two capitals. But, according to Rule 6th, "Those compound
proper names which by analogy incline to a union of their parts without a
hyphen, should be so written, and have but one capital." Therefore,
_Fallriver_, as the name of a _town_, should be one word, and retain but
one capital.]

"Dr. Anderson died at West Ham, in Essex, in 1808."--_Biog. Dict._ "Mad
River, [the name of] two towns in Clark and Champaign counties,
Ohio."--_Williams's Universal Gazetteer_. "White Creek, town of Washington
county, N. York."--_Ib._ "Salt Creek, the name of four towns in different
parts of Ohio."--_Ib._ "Salt Lick, a town of Fayette county,
Pennsylvania."--_Ib._ "Yellow Creek, a town of Columbiana county,
Ohio."--_Ib._ "White Clay, a hundred of New Castle county,
Delaware."--_Ib._ "Newcastle, town and halfshire of Newcastle county,
Delaware."--_Ib._ "Sing-Sing, a village of West Chester county, New York,
situated in the town of Mount Pleasant."--_Ib._ "West Chester, a county of
New York; also a town in Westchester county."--_Ib._ "West Town, a village
of Orange county, New York."--_Ib._ "White Water, a town of Hamilton
county, Ohio."--_Ib._ "White Water River, a considerable stream that rises
in Indiana, and flowing southeasterly, unites with the Miami, in
Ohio."--_Ib._ "Black Water, a village of Hampshire, in England, and a town
in Ireland."--_Ib._ "Black Water, the name of seven different rivers in
England, Ireland, and the United States."--_Ib._ "Red Hook, a town of
Dutchess county, New York, on the Hudson."--_Ib._ "Kinderhook, a town of
Columbia county, New York, on the Hudson."--_Ib._ "New Fane, a town of
Niagara county, New York."--_Ib._ "Lake Port, a town of Chicot county,
Arkansas."--_Ib._ "Moose Head Lake, the chief source of the Kennebeck, in
Maine."--_Ib._ "Macdonough, a county of Illinois, population (in 1830)
2,959."--_Ib._, p. 408. "Mc Donough, a county of Illinois, with a
courthouse, at Macomb."--_Ib._, p. 185. "Half-Moon, the name of two towns,
in New York and Pennsylvania; also of two bays in the West Indies."--See
_Worcester's Gaz._ "Le Boeuf, a town of Erie county, Pennsylvania, near a
small lake of the same name."--_Ib._ "Charles City, James City, Elizabeth
City, names of counties in Virginia, not cities, nor towns."--See _Univ.
Gaz._ "The superior qualities of the waters of the Frome, here called
Stroud water."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 223.


UNDER RULE VII.--TWO CAPITALS.

"The Forth rises on the north side of Benlomond, and runs
easterly."--_Glas. Geog_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the name "_Benlomond_" is compounded under
one capital, contrary to the general analogy of other similar terms. But,
according to Rule 7th, "The compounding of a name under one capital should
be avoided when the general analogy of other similar terms suggests a
separation under two." Therefore, "Ben Lomond" should be written with two
capitals and no hyphen.]

"The red granite of Ben-nevis is said to be the finest in the
world."--_Ib._, ii, 311. "Ben-more, in Perthshire, is 3,915 feet above the
level of the sea."--_Ib._, 313. "The height of Benclough is 2,420
feet."--_Ib._. "In Sutherland and Caithness, are Ben Ormod, Ben Clibeg, Ben
Grin, Ben Hope, and Ben Lugal."--_Ib._, 311. "Benvracky is 2,756 feet high;
Ben-ledi, 3,009; and Benvoirlich, 3,300."--_Ib._, 313. "The river Dochart
gives the name of Glendochart to the vale through which it runs."--_Ib._,
314. "About ten miles from its source, the Tay diffuses itself into
Lochdochart."--_Geog. altered_. LAKES:--"Lochard, Loch-Achray, Loch-Con,
Loch-Doine, Loch-Katrine, Loch-Lomond, Loch-Voil."--_Scott's Lady of the
Lake_. GLENS:--"Glenfinlas, Glen Fruin, Glen Luss, Ross-dhu, Leven-glen,
Strath-Endrick, Strath-Gartney, Strath-Ire."--_Ib._ MOUNTAINS:--"Ben-an,
Benharrow, Benledi, Ben-Lomond, Benvoirlich, Ben-venue, and sometimes
Benvenue."--_Ib._ "Fenelon died in 1715, deeply lamented by all the
inhabitants of the Low-countries."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 322. "And
Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim, the son of Josiah, king."--SCOTT, FRIENDS: 2
_Kings_, xxiii, 34. "Those who seem so merry and well pleased, call her
_Good Fortune_; but the others, who weep and wring their hands,
_Bad-fortune_."--_Collier's Tablet of Cebes_.


UNDER RULE VIII.--OF COMPOUNDS.

"When Joab returned, and smote Edom in the valley of salt."--SCOTT: _Ps._
lx, _title_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the words _valley_ and _salt_ begin with
small letters. But, according to Rule 8th, "When any adjective or common
noun is made a distinct part of a compound proper name, it ought to begin
with a capital." Therefore, "Valley" should here begin with a capital V,
and "Salt" with a capital S.]

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill and said," &c.--SCOTT: _Acts_,
xvii, 22. "And at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called
the mount of Olives."--_Luke_, xxi, 37. "Abgillus, son of the king of the
Frisii, surnamed Prester John, was in the Holy land with
Charlemagne."--_Univ. Biog. Dict._ "Cape Palmas, in Africa, divides the
Grain coast from the Ivory coast."--_Dict. of Geog._, p. 125. "The North
Esk, flowing from Loch-lee, falls into the sea three miles north of
Montrose."--_Ib._, p. 232. "At Queen's ferry, the channel of the Forth is
contracted by promontories on both coasts."--_Ib._, p. 233. "The Chestnut
ridge is about twenty-five miles west of the Alleghanies, and Laurel ridge,
ten miles further west."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 65. "Washington City, the
metropolis of the United States of America."--_W.'s Univ. Gaz._, p. 380.
"Washington city, in the District of Columbia, population (in 1830)
18,826."--_Ib._, p. 408. "The loftiest peak of the white mountains, in new
Hampshire, is called mount Washington."--_Author_. "Mount's bay, in the
west of England, lies between the land's end and lizard point."--_Id._
"Salamis, an island of the Egean Sea, off the southern coast of the ancient
Attica."--_Dict. of Geog_. "Rhodes, an island of the Egean sea, the largest
and most easterly of the Cyclades."--_Ib._ "But he overthrew Pharaoh and
his host in the Red sea."--BRUCE'S BIBLE: _Ps._ cxxxvi, 15. "But they
provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea."--SCOTT: _Ps._ cvi, 7.[107]


UNDER RULE IX.--OF APPOSITION.

"At that time, Herod the Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus."--ALGER:
_Matt._, xiv, 1.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word Tetrarch begins with a capital
letter. But, according to Rule 8th, "When a common and a proper name are
associated merely to explain each other, it is in general sufficient, if
the proper name begin with a capital, and the appellative, with a small
letter." Therefore, "tetrarch" should here begin with a small _t_.]

"Who has been more detested than Judas the Traitor?"--_Author_. "St. Luke,
the Evangelist, was a physician of Antioch, and one of the converts of St.
Paul."--_Id._ "Luther, the Reformer, began his bold career by preaching
against papal indulgences."--_Id._ "The Poet Lydgate was a disciple and
admirer of Chaucer: he died in 1440."--_Id._ "The Grammarian Varro, 'the
most learned of the Romans,' wrote three books when he was eighty years
old."--_Id._ "John Despauter, the great Grammarian of Flanders, whose works
are still valued, died in 1520."--_Id._ "Nero, the Emperor and Tyrant of
Rome, slew himself to avoid a worse death."--_Id._ "Cicero the Orator, 'the
Father of his Country,' was assassinated at the age of 64."--_Id._
"Euripides, the Greek Tragedian, was born in the Island of Salamis, B. C.
476."--_Id._ "I will say unto God my Rock, Why hast thou forgotten
me?"--SCOTT: _Ps._ xlii, 9. "Staten Island, an island of New York, nine
miles below New York City."--_Univ. Gaz._ "When the son of Atreus, King of
Men, and the noble Achilles first separated."--_Coleridge's Introd._, p.
83.

   "Hermes, his Patron-God, those gifts bestow'd,
    Whose shrine with weaning lambs he wont to load."
        --POPE: _Odys._, B. 19.


UNDER RULE X.--OF PERSONIFICATIONS.

"But wisdom is justified of all her children."--SCOTT, ALGER: _Luke_, vii,
35.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _wisdom_ begins with a small
letter. But, according to Rule 10th, "The name of an object personified,
when it conveys an idea strictly individual, should begin with a capital."
Therefore, "Wisdom" should here begin with a capital W.]

"Fortune and the church are generally put in the feminine
gender."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 37. "Go to your natural religion; lay
before her Mahomet, and his disciples."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, p. 157: see
also _Murray's Gram._, i, 347. "O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where
is thy victory?"--_1 Cor._, xv, 55; _Murray's Gram._, p. 348; _English
Reader_, 31; _Merchant's Gram._, 212. "Ye cannot serve God and
Mammon."--SCOTT, FRIENDS, ET AL.: _Matt._, vi, 24. "Ye cannot serve God and
mammon."--IIDEM: _Luke_, xvi, 13. "This house was built as if suspicion
herself had dictated the plan."--See _Key_. "Poetry distinguishes herself
from prose, by yielding to a musical law."--See _Key_. "My beauteous
deliverer thus uttered her divine instructions: 'My name is religion. I am
the offspring of truth and love, and the parent of benevolence, hope, and
joy. That monster, from whose power I have freed you, is called
superstition: she is the child of discontent, and her followers are fear
and sorrow.'"--See _Key_. "Neither hope nor fear could enter the retreats;
and habit had so absolute a power, that even conscience, if religion had
employed her in their favour, would not have been able to force an
entrance."--See _Key_.

   "In colleges and halls in ancient days,
    There dwelt a sage called discipline."--_Wayland's M. Sci._, p. 368.


UNDER RULE XI.--OF DERIVATIVES.

"In English, I would have gallicisms avoided."--FELTON: _Johnson's Dict._

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _gallicisms_ here begins with a
small letter. But, according to Rule 11th, "Words derived from proper
names, and having direct reference to particular persons, places, sects, or
nations, should begin with capitals." Therefore, "Gallicisms" should begin
with a capital G.]

"Sallust was born in Italy, 85 years before the christian era."--_Murray's
Seq._, p. 357. "Dr. Doddridge was not only a great man, but one of the most
excellent and useful christians, and christian ministers."--_Ib._, 319.
"They corrupt their style with untutored anglicisms."--MILTON: _in
Johnson's Dict._ "Albert of Stade, author of a chronicle from the creation
to 1286, a benedictine of the 13th century."--_Universal Biog. Dict._
"Graffio, a jesuit of Capua in the 16th century, author of two volumes on
moral subjects."--_Ib._ "They frenchify and italianize words whenever they
can."--See _Key_. "He who sells a christian, sells the grace of
God."--_Anti-Slavery Mag._, p. 77. "The first persecution against the
christians, under Nero, began A. D. 64."--_Gregory's Dict._ "P. Rapin, the
jesuit, uniformly decides in favour of the Roman writers."--_Cobbett's E.
Gram._, ¶ 171. "The Roman poet and epicurean philosopher Lucretius has
said," &c.--_Cohen's Florida_, p. 107. Spell "calvinistic, atticism,
gothicism, epicurism, jesuitism, sabianism, socinianism, anglican,
anglicism, anglicize, vandalism, gallicism, romanize."--_Webster's El.
Spelling-Book_, 130-133. "The large ternate bat."--_Webster's Dict. w_.
ROSSET; _Bolles's Dict., w_. ROSET.

   "Church-ladders are not always mounted best
    By learned clerks, and latinists profess'd."--_Cowper_.

UNDER RULE XII.--OF I AND O.

"Fall back, fall back; i have not room:--o!
methinks i see a couple whom i should know."--_Lucian, varied._

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _I_, which occurs three times, and
the word _O_, which occurs once, are here printed in letters of the lower
case.[108] But, according to Rule 12th, "The words _I_ and _O_ should
always be capitals." Therefore, each should be changed to a capital, as
often as it occurs.]

"Nay, i live as i did, i think as i did, i love you as i did; but all these
are to no purpose: the world will not live, think, or love, as i
do."--_Swift, varied_. "Whither, o! whither shall i fly? o wretched prince!
o cruel reverse of fortune! o father Micipsa! is this the consequence of
thy generosity?"--_Sallust, varied_. "When i was a child, i spake as a
child, i understood as a child, i thought as a child; but when i became a
man, i put away childish things."--_1 Cor._, xiii, 11, _varied_. "And i
heard, but i understood not: then said i, o my Lord, what shall be the end
of these things?"--_Dan._, xii, 8, _varied_. "Here am i; i think i am very
good, and i am quite sure i am very happy, yet i never wrote a treatise in
my life."--_Few Days in Athens, varied_. "Singular, Vocative, _o master_;
Plural, Vocative, _o masters_."--_Bicknell's Gram._, p. 30.

   "I, i am he; o father! rise, behold
    Thy son, with twenty winters now grown old!"--See _Pope's Odyssey_.

UNDER RULE XIII.--OF POETRY.

   "Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,
    lie in three words--health, peace, and competence;
    but health consists with temperance alone,
    and peace, O Virtue! peace is all thy own."
        _Pope's Essay on Man, a fine London Edition_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the last three lines of this example begin
with small letters. But, according to Rule 18th, "Every line in poetry,
except what is regarded as making but one verse with the preceding line,
should begin with a capital." Therefore, the words, "Lie," "But," and
"And," at the commencement of these lines, should severally begin with the
capitals L, B, and A.]

   "Observe the language well in all you write,
    and swerve not from it in your loftiest flight.
    The smoothest verse and the exactest sense
    displease us, if ill English give offence:
    a barbarous phrase no reader can approve;
    nor bombast, noise, or affectation love.
    In short, without pure language, what you write
    can never yield us profit or delight.
    Take time for thinking, never work in haste;
    and value not yourself for writing fast."
        See _Dryden's Art of Poetry:--British Poets_, Vol. iii, p. 74.


UNDER RULE XIV.--OF EXAMPLES.

"The word _rather_ is very properly used to express a small degree or
excess of a quality: as, 'she is _rather_ profuse in her
expenses.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 47.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _she_ begins with a small letter.
But, according to Rule 14th, "The first word of a full example, of a
distinct speech, or of a direct quotation, should begin with a capital."
Therefore, the word "She" should here begin with a capital S.]

"_Neither_ imports _not either_; that is, not one nor the other: as,
'neither of my friends was there.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 56. "When we say,
'he is a tall man,' 'this is a fair day,' we make some reference to the
ordinary size of men, and to different weather."--_Ib._, p. 47. "We more
readily say, 'A million of men,' than 'a thousand of men.'"--_Ib._, p. 169.
"So in the instances, 'two and two are four;' 'the fifth and sixth volumes
will complete the set of books.'"--_Ib._, p. 124. "The adjective may
frequently either precede or follow it [the verb]: as, 'the man is
_happy_;' or, '_happy_ is the man:' 'The interview was _delightful_;' or,
'_delightful_ was the interview.'"--_Ib._, p. 168. "If we say, 'he writes a
pen,' 'they ran the river, 'the tower fell the Greeks,' 'Lambeth is
Westminster-abbey,' [we speak absurdly;] and, it is evident, there is a
vacancy which must be filled up by some connecting word: as thus, 'He
writes _with_ a pen;' 'they ran _towards_ the river;' 'the tower fell
_upon_ the Greeks;' 'Lambeth is _over against_ Westminster-abbey.'"--_Ib._,
p. 118. "Let me repeat it;--he only is great, who has the habits of
greatness."--_Murray's Key_, 241. "I say not unto thee, until seven times;
but, until seventy times seven."--See _Matt._, xviii, 22.

   "The Panther smil'd at this; and when, said she,
    Were those first councils disallow'd by me?"--_Dryden_, p. 95.


UNDER RULE XV.--OF CHIEF WORDS.

"The supreme council of the nation is called the divan."--_Balbi's Geog._,
p. 360.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _divan_ begins with a small letter.
But, according to Rule 15th, "Other words of particular importance, and
such as denote the principal subjects treated of, may be distinguished by
capitals." Therefore, "Divan" should here begin with a capital D.]

"The British parliament is composed of kings, lords, and
commons."--_Murray's Key_, p. 184. "A popular orator in the House of
Commons has a sort of patent for coining as many new terms as he
pleases."--See _Campbell's Rhet._, p. 169; _Murray's Gram._, 364. "They may
all be taken together, as one name; as, the _house of commons_."--
_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 25. "Intrusted to persons in whom the
parliament could confide."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 202. "For 'The Lords'
house,' it were certainly better to say, 'The house of lords;' and, in
stead of 'The commons' vote,' to say, 'The votes of the commons.'"--See
_ib._, p. 177, 4th _Amer. Ed._; also _Priestley's Gram._, p. 69. "The house
of lords were so much influenced by these reasons."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo,
p. 152; _Priestley's Gram._, 188. "Rhetoricians commonly divide them into
two great classes; figures of words, and figures of thought. The former,
figures of words, are commonly called tropes."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 132.
"Perhaps figures of imagination, and figures of passion, might be a more
useful distribution."--_Ib._, p. 133. "Hitherto we have considered
sentences, under the heads of perspicuity, unity, and strength."--_Ib._, p.
120.

   "The word is then depos'd, and in this view,
    You rule the scripture, not the scripture you."--_Dryden_, p. 95.

UNDER RULE XVI.--OF NEEDLESS CAPITALS.

"Be of good cheer: It is I; be not afraid."--ALGER: _Matt._, xiv, 27.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _It_ begins with a capital _I_, for
which there appears to be neither rule nor reason. But, according to Rule
16th, "Capitals are improper wherever there is not some special rule or
reason for their use." Therefore, 'it' should here begin with a small
letter, as Dr. Scott has it.]

"Between passion and lying, there is not a Finger's breadth."--_Murray's
Key_, p. 240. "Can our Solicitude alter the course, or unravel the
intricacy, of human events?"--_Ib._, p. 242. "The last edition was
carefully compared with the Original M. S."--_Ib._, p. 239. "And the
governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews?"--ALGER:
_Matt._, xxvii, 11. "Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame,
that say, Aha, Aha!"--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Ps._, lxx, 3. "Let them be desolate
for a reward of their shame, that say unto me, Aha, aha!"--IB.: _Ps._, xl,
15. "What think ye of Christ? whose Son is he? They say unto him, The Son
of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in Spirit call him
Lord?"--SCOTT: _Matt._, xxii, 42, 43. "Among all Things in the Universe,
direct your Worship to the Greatest; And which is that? 'T is that Being
which Manages and Governs all the Rest."--_Meditations of M. Aurelius
Antoninus_, p. 76. "As for Modesty and Good Faith, Truth and Justice, they
have left this wicked World and retired to Heaven: And now what is it that
can keep you here?"--_Ib._, p. 81.

   "If Pulse of Terse, a Nation's Temper shows,
    In keen Iambics English Metre flows."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 151.


PROMISCUOUS ERRORS RESPECTING CAPITALS.

LESSON I.--MIXED.

"Come, gentle spring, Ethereal mildness, come."--_Gardiner's Music of
Nature_, p. 411.

[FORMULES.--1. Not proper, because the word _spring_ begins with a small
letter. But, according to Rule 10th, "The name of an object personified,
when it conveys an idea strictly individual, should begin with a capital."
Therefore "Spring" should here begin with a capital S.

2. Not proper again, because the word _Ethereal_ begins with a capital E,
for which there appears to be neither rule nor reason. But, according to
Rule 16th. "Capitals are improper whenever there is not some special rule
or reason for their use." Therefore, "ethereal" should here begin with a
small letter.]

As, "He is the Cicero of his age; he is reading the lives of the Twelve
Cæsars."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 36. "In the History of Henry the fourth, by
father Daniel, we are surprized at not finding him the great
man."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 151. "In the history of Henry the fourth, by
Father Daniel, we are _surprised_ at not finding him the great
man."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 172; _Ingersoll's_, 187; _Fisk's_, 99. "Do not
those same poor peasants use the Lever and the Wedge, and many other
instruments?"--_Murray_, 288; from _Harris_, 293. "Arithmetic is excellent
for the gauging of Liquors; Geometry, for the measuring of Estates;
Astronomy, for the making of Almanacks; and Grammar, perhaps, for the
drawing of Bonds and Conveyances."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 295. "The wars of
Flanders, written in Latin by Famianus Strada, is a book of some
note."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 364. "_William_ is a noun.--why? _was_ is a
verb.--why? _a_ is an article.--why? _very_ is an adverb.--why?"
&c.--_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 20. "In the beginning was the word, and
that word was with God, and God was that word."--_Gwilt's Saxon Gram._, p.
49. "The greeks are numerous in thessaly, macedonia, romelia, and
albania."--_Balbi, varied_. "He is styled by the Turks, Sultan (Mighty) or
Padishah (lord)."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 360. "I will ransom them from the
power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy
plagues;[109] O grave, I will be thy destruction."--SCOTT, ALGER, ET AL.:
_Hosea_, xiii, 14. "Silver and Gold have I none; but such as I have, give I
unto thee."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 321. "Return, we beseech thee, O God
of Hosts, look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine."--_Ib._,
p. 342. "In the Attic Commonwealth, it was the privilege of every citizen
to rail in public."--_Ib._, p. 316. "They assert that, in the phrases,
'give me _that_,' '_this_ is John's,' and '_such_ were _some_ of you,' the
words in italics are pronouns: but that, in the following phrases, they are
not pronouns; '_this_ book is instructive,' '_some_ boys are ingenious,'
'_my_ health is declining,' '_our_ hearts are deceitful,' &c."--_Ib._, p.
58. "And the coast bends again to the northwest, as far as Far Out
head."--_Glasgow Geog._, Vol. ii, p. 308. Dr. Webster, and other makers of
spelling-books, very improperly write "sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday,
thursday, friday, saturday," without capitals.--See _Webster's Elementary
Spelling-Book_ p. 85. "The commander in chief of the Turkish navy is styled
the capitan-pasha."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 360. "Shall we not much rather be
in subjection unto the father of spirits, and live?"--SCOTT'S BIBLE:
_Heb._, xii, 9. "Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father
of Spirits, and live?"--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Heb._, xii, 9. "He was more
anxious to attain the character of a Christian hero."--_Murray's Sequel_,
p. 308. "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount
Zion."--_Psalms_, xlviii, 2. "The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear
what man shall do unto me."--SCOTT: _Heb._, xiii, 6. "Make haste to help
me, O LORD my Salvation."--SCOTT: _Ps._, xxxviii, 22.

   "The City, which Thou seest, no other deem
    Than great and glorious Rome, Queen of the Earth."
                              _Harris's Hermes_, p. 49.


LESSON II.--MIXED.

"That range of hills, known under the general name of mount
Jura."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 110. "He rebuked the Red sea also, and it
was dried up."--SCOTT: _Ps._, cvi, 9. "Jesus went unto the mount of
Olives."--_John_, viii, 1. "Milton's book, in reply to the _Defence of the
king_, by Salmasius, gained him a thousand pounds from the parliament, and
killed his antagonist with vexation."--See _Murray's Sequel_, 343.
"Mandeville, sir John, an Englishman, famous for his travels, born about
1300, died in 1372."--_Biog. Dict._ "Ettrick pen, a mountain in
Selkirkshire, Scotland, height 2,200 feet."--_Glasgow Geog._, Vol. ii, p.
312. "The coast bends from Dungsbyhead in a northwest direction to the
promontory of Dunnet head."--_Ib._, p. 307. "Gen. Gaines ordered a
detachment of near 300 men, under the command of Major Twiggs, to surround
and take an Indian Village, called Fowl Town, about fourteen miles from
fort Scott."--_Cohen's Florida_, p. 41. "And he took the damsel by the
hand, and said unto her, Talitha Cumi."--ALGER: _Mark_, v, 4. "On religious
subjects, a frequent recurrence of scripture-language is attended with
peculiar force."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 318. "Contemplated with gratitude to
their Author, the Giver of all Good."--_Ib._, p. 289. "When he, the Spirit
of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth."--_Ib._, p. 171;
_Fisk_, 98; _Ingersoll_, 186. "See the lecture on verbs, rule XV. note
4."--_Fisk's E. Gram._, p. 117. "At the commencement of lecture II. I
informed you that Etymology treats, 3dly, of derivation."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 171. "This VIII. lecture is a very important one."--_Ib._, p.
113. "Now read the XI. and XII. lectures _four_ or _five_ times
over."--_Ib._, p. 152. "In 1752, he was advanced to the bench, under the
title of lord Kames."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 331. "One of his maxims was,
'know thyself.'"--_Lempriere's Dict., n. Chilo._ "Good master, what good
thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"--See _Matt._, xix, 16.
"His best known works, however, are 'anecdotes of the earl of Chatham,' 2
vols. 4to., 3 vols. 8vo., and 'biographical, literary, and political
anecdotes of several of the most eminent persons of the present age; never
before printed,' 3 vols. 8vo. 1797."--_Univ. Biog. Dict., n. Almon_. "O
gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee?"--_Merchant's
School Gram._, p. 172. "O sleep, O gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse,"
&c.--SINGER'S SHAK. _Sec. Part of Hen. IV_, Act iii. "Sleep, gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse," &c.--_Dodd's Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 129.

   "And Peace, O, Virtue! Peace is all thy own."--_Pope's Works_, p. 379.
    "And peace, O virtue! peace is all thy own."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, 16.


LESSON III.--MIXED.

"Fenelon united the characters of a nobleman and a Christian pastor. His
book entitled 'An explication of the Maxims of the Saints concerning the
interior life,' gave considerable offence to the guardians of
orthodoxy."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 321. "When natural religion, who before
was only a spectator, is introduced as speaking by the centurion's
voice."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 157. "You cannot deny, that the great mover
and author of nature constantly explaineth himself to the eyes of men, by
the sensible intervention of arbitrary signs, which have no similitude, or
connexion, with the things signified."--_Berkley's Minute Philosopher_, p.
169. "The name of this letter is double U, its form, that of a double
V."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 19. "Murray, in his spelling book, wrote
'Charles-Town' with a Hyphen and two Capitals."--See p. 101. "He also wrote
'european' without a capital."--See p. 86. "They profess themselves to be
pharisees, who are to be heard and not imitated."--_Calvin's Institutes,
Ded._, p. 55. "Dr. Webster wrote both 'Newhaven' and 'Newyork' with single
capitals."--See his _American Spelling-Book_, p. 111. "Gayhead, the west
point of Martha's Vineyard."--_Williams's Univ. Gaz._ Write "Craborchard,
Eggharbor, Longisland, Perthamboy, Westhampton, Littlecompton, Newpaltz,
Crownpoint, Fellspoint, Sandyhook, Portpenn, Portroyal. Portobello, and
Portorico."--_Webster's American Spelling-Book_, 127-140. Write the names
of the months: "january, february, march, april, may, june, july, august,
september, october, november, december."--_Cobb's Standard Spelling-Book_,
21-40. Write the following names and words properly: "tuesday, wednesday,
thursday, friday, saturday, saturn;--christ, christian, christmas,
christendom, michaelmas, indian, bacchanals;--Easthampton, omega, johannes,
aonian, levitical, deuteronomy, european."--_Cobb's Standard Spelling-Book,
sundry places_.

   "Eight Letters in some Syllables we find,
    And no more Syllables in Words are joined."
                        _Brightland's Gram._, p. 61.




CHAPTER II.--OF SYLLABLES.

A _Syllable_ is one or more letters pronounced in one sound; and is either
a word, as, _a, an, ant_; or a part of a word, as _di_ in _dial_.

In every word there are as many syllables as there are distinct sounds, or
separate impulses of the voice; as, _gram-ma-ri-an_.

A word of one syllable is called a _monosyllable_; a word of two syllables,
a _dissyllable_; a word of three syllables, a _trissyllable_; and a word of
four or more syllables, a _polysyllable_.

Every vowel, except _w_, may form a syllable of itself; but the consonants
belong to the vowels or diphthongs; and without a vowel no syllable can be
formed.

DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS.

A _diphthong_ is two vowels joined in one syllable; as, _ea_ in _beat, ou_
in _sound_. In _oe_ or _æ_, old or foreign, the characters often unite.

A _proper diphthong_ is a diphthong in which both the vowels are sounded;
as, _oi_ in _voice, ow_ in _vow_.

An _improper diphthong_ is a diphthong in which only one of the vowels is
sounded; as, _oa_ in _loaf, eo_ in _people_.

A _triphthong_ is three vowels joined in one syllable; as, _eau_ in beau,
_iew_ in _view, oeu_ in _manoeuvre_.

A _proper triphthong_ is a triphthong in which all the vowels are sounded;
as, _uoy_ in _buoy_.

An _improper triphthong_ is a triphthong in which only one or two of the
vowels are sounded; as, _eau_ in _beauty, iou_ in _anxious_. The diphthongs
in English are twenty-nine; embracing all but six of the thirty-five
possible combinations of two vowels: _aa, ae, ai, ao, au, aw, ay,--ea, ee,
ei, eo, eu, ew, ey,--ia, ie_, (_ii_,) _io_, (_iu, iw, iy_,)--_oa, oe, oi,
oo, ou, ow, oy,--ua, ue, ui, uo_, (_uu, uw_,) _uy_.

Ten of these diphthongs, being variously sounded, may be either proper or
improper; to wit, _ay,--ie,--oi, ou, ow,--ua, ue, ui, uo, uy_.

The proper diphthongs appear to be thirteen; _ay,--ia, ie, io,--oi, ou, ow,
oy,--ua, ue, ui, uo, uy_: of which combinations, only three, _ia, io_, and
_oy_, are invariably of this class.

The improper diphthongs are twenty-six; _aa, ae, ai, ao, au, aw, ay,--ea,
ee, ei, eo, eu, ew, ey,--ie,--oa, oe, oi, oo, ou, ow,--ua, ue, ui, uo, uy_.

The only proper triphthong in English is _uoy_, as in _buoy, buoyant,
buoyancy_; unless _uoi_ in _quoit_ may be considered a parallel instance.

The improper triphthongs are sixteen; _awe, aye,--eau, eou, ewe, eye,--ieu,
iew, iou,--oeu, owe,--uai, uaw, uay, uea, uee_.


SYLLABICATION.

In dividing words into syllables, we are to be directed chiefly by the ear;
it may however be proper to observe, as far as practicable, the following
rules.


RULE I.--CONSONANTS.

Consonants should generally be joined to the vowels or diphthongs which
they modify in utterance; as, _An-ax-ag'-o-ras, ap-os-tol'-i-cal_.[110]

RULE II.--VOWELS.

Two vowels, coming together, if they make not a diphthong, must be parted
in dividing the syllables; as, _A-cka'-i-a, A-o'-ni-an, a-e'-ri-al_.

RULE III.--TERMINATIONS.

Derivative and grammatical terminations should generally be separated from
the radical words to which they have been added; as, _harm-less, great-ly,
connect-ed_: thus _count-er_ and _coun-ter_ are different words.

RULE IV.--PREFIXES.

Prefixes, in general, form separate syllables; as, _mis-place, out-ride,
up-lift_: but if their own primitive meaning be disregarded, the case may
be otherwise; thus, _re-create_, and _rec'-reate, re-formation_, and
_ref-ormation_, are words of different import.

RULE V.--COMPOUNDS.

Compounds, when divided, should be divided into the simple words which
compose them; as, _boat-swain, foot-hold, never-the-less_.

RULE VI.--LINES FULL.

At the end of a line, a word may be divided, if necessary; but a syllable
must never be broken.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The doctrine of English syllabication is attended with some
difficulties; because its purposes are various, and its principles, often
contradictory. The old rules, borrowed chiefly from grammars of other
languages, and still retained in some of our own, are liable to very strong
objections.[111] By aiming to divide on the vowels, and to force the
consonants, as much as possible, into the beginning of syllables, they
often pervert or misrepresent our pronunciation. Thus Murray, in his
Spelling-Book, has "_gra-vel, fi-nish, me-lon, bro-ther, bo-dy, wi-dow,
pri-son, a-va-rice, e-ve-ry, o-ran-ges, e-ne-my, me-di-cine, re-pre-sent,
re-so-lu-tion_," and a multitude of other words, divided upon a principle
by which the young learner can scarcely fail to be led into error
respecting their sounds. This method of division is therefore particularly
reprehensible in such books as are designed to teach the true pronunciation
of words; for which reason, it has been generally abandoned in our modern
spelling-books and dictionaries: the authors of which have severally aimed
at some sort of compromise between etymology and pronunciation; but they
disagree so much, as to the manner of effecting it, that no two of them
will be found alike, and very few, if any, entirely consistent with
themselves.

OBS. 2.--The object of syllabication may be any one of the following four;
1. To enable a child to read unfamiliar words by spelling them; 2. To show
the derivation or composition of words; 3. To exhibit the exact
pronunciation of words; 4. To divide words properly, when it is necessary
to break them at the ends of lines. With respect to the first of these
objects, Walker observes, "When a child has made certain advances in
reading, but is ignorant of the sound of many of the longer words, it may
not be improper to lay down the common general rule to him, that a
consonant between two vowels must go to the latter, and that two consonants
coming together must be divided. _Farther than this it would be absurd to
go with a child_."--_Walker's Principles_, No. 539. Yet, as a caution be it
recorded, that, in 1833, an itinerant lecturer from the South, who made it
his business to teach what he calls in his title-page, "An _Abridgment_ of
Walker's Rules on the Sounds of the Letters,"--an _Abridgement_, which, he
says in his preface, "will be found to contain, it is believed, all the
important rules that are established by Walker, and to carry his principles
_farther_ than he himself has _done_"--befooled the Legislature of
Massachusetts, the School Committee and Common Council of Boston, the
professor of elocution at Harvard University, and many other equally wise
men of the east, into the notion that English pronunciation could be
conveniently taught to children, in "four or five days," by means of some
three or four hundred rules of which the following is a specimen: "RULE
282. When a single consonant is preceded by a vowel under the
preantepenultimate accent, and is followed by a vowel that is succeeded by
a consonant, it belongs to the accented vowel."--_Mulkey's Abridgement of
Walker's Rules_, p. 34.

OBS. 3.--A grosser specimen of literary quackery, than is the publication
which I have just quoted, can scarcely be found in the world of letters. It
censures "the principles laid down and illustrated by Walker," as "so
elaborate and so verbose as to be wearisome to the scholar and useless to
the child;" and yet declares them to be, "for the most part, the true rules
of pronunciation, according to the analogy of the language."--_Mulkey's
Preface_, p. 3. It professes to be an abridgement and simplification of
those principles, especially adapted to the wants and capacities of
children; and, at the same time, imposes upon the memory of the young
learner twenty-nine rules for syllabication, similar to that which I have
quoted above; whereas Walker himself, with all his verbosity, expressly
declares it "_absurd_," to offer more than one or two, and those of the
very simplest character. It is to be observed that the author teaches
nothing but the elements of reading; nothing but the sounds of letters and
syllables; nothing but a few simple fractions of the great science of
grammar: and, for this purpose, he would conduct the learner through the
following particulars, and have him remember them all: 1. _Fifteen
distinctions_ respecting the "classification and organic formation of the
letters." 2. _Sixty-three rules_ for "the sounds of the vowels, according
to their relative positions." 3. _Sixty-four explanations_ of "the
different sounds of the diphthongs." 4. _Eighty-nine rules_ for "the sounds
of the consonants, according to position." 5. _Twenty-three heads_,
embracing a hundred and fifty-six principles of accent. 6. _Twenty-nine_
"_rules_ for dividing words into syllables." 7. _Thirty-three "additional
principles;"_ which are thrown together promiscuously, because he could not
class them. 8. _Fifty-two pages_ of "irregular Words," forming particular
exceptions to the foregoing rules. 9. _Twenty-eight pages_ of notes
extracted from Walker's Dictionary, and very prettily called "The Beauties
of Walker." All this is Walker simplified for children!

OBS. 4.--Such is a brief sketch of Mulkey's system of orthoëpy; a work in
which "he claims to have devised what has heretofore been a
_desideratum_--a mode by which children in our common schools may be taught
_the rules_ for the pronunciation of their mother tongue."--_Preface_, p.
4. The faults of the book are so exceedingly numerous, that to point them
out, would be more toil, than to write an accurate volume of twice the
size. And is it possible, that a system like this could find patronage in
the metropolis of New England, in that proud centre of arts and sciences,
and in the proudest halls of learning and of legislation? Examine the
gentleman's credentials, and take your choice between the adoption of his
plan, as a great improvement in the management of syllables, and the
certain conclusion that great men may be greatly duped respecting them.
Unless the public has been imposed upon by a worse fraud than mere literary
quackery, the authorities I have mentioned did extensively patronize the
scheme; and the Common Council of that learned city did order, November
14th, 1833, "That the School Committee be and they are hereby authorized to
employ Mr. William Mulkey to give a course of Lectures on Orthoëpy _to the
several instructors of the public schools_, and that the sum of five
hundred dollars is hereby appropriated for that purpose, and that the same
amount be withdrawn from the reserved fund."--See _Mulkey's Circular_.

OBS. 5.--Pronunciation is best taught to children by means of a good
spelling-book; a book in which the words are arranged according to their
analogies, and divided according to their proper sounds. Vocabularies,
dictionaries, and glossaries, may also be serviceable to those who are
sufficiently advanced to learn how to use them. With regard to the first of
the abovenamed purposes of syllabication, I am almost ready to dissent even
from the modest opinion of Walker himself; for ignorance can only guess at
the pronunciation of words, till positive instruction comes in to give
assurance; and it may be doubted whether even the simple rule or rules
suggested by Walker would not about as often mislead the young reader as
correct him. With regard to the second purpose, that of showing the
derivation or composition of words, it is plain, that etymology, and not
pronunciation, must here govern the division; and that it should go no
further than to separate the constituent parts of each word; as,
_ortho-graphy, theo-logy_. But when we divide for the third purpose, and
intend to show what is the pronunciation of a word, we must, if possible,
divide into such syllabic sounds as will exactly recompose the word, when
put together again; as, _or-thog-ra-phy, the-ol-o-gy_. This being the most
common purpose of syllabication, perhaps it would be well to give it a
general preference; and adopt it whenever we can, not only in the composing
of spelling-books and dictionaries, but also in the dividing of words at
the ends of lines.

OBS. 6.--Dr. Lowth says, "The best and easiest rule, for dividing the
syllables in spelling, is, to divide them as they are naturally divided in
a right pronunciation; without regard to the derivation of words, or the
possible combination of consonants at the beginning of a
syllable."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 5. And Walker approves of the principle,
with respect to the third purpose mentioned above: "This," says that
celebrated orthoëpist, "is the method adopted by those who would convey the
whole sound, by giving distinctly every part; and, when this is the object
of syllabication, Dr. Lowth's rule is certainly to be followed."--_Walker's
Principles_,--No. 541. But this rule, which no one can apply till he has
found out the pronunciation, will not always be practicable where that is
known, and perhaps not always expedient where it is practicable. For
example: the words _colonel, venison, transition, propitious_, cannot be so
divided as to exhibit their pronunciation; and, in such as _acid, magic,
pacify, legible, liquidate_, it may not be best to follow the rule, because
there is some reasonable objection to terminating the first syllables of
these words with _c, g_, and _q_, especially at the end of a line. The rule
for terminations may also interfere with this, called "Lowth's;" as in
_sizable, rising, dronish_.

OBS. 7.--For the dividing of words into syllables, I have given six rules,
which are perhaps as many as will be useful. They are to be understood as
general principles; and, as to the exceptions to be made in their
application, or the settling of their conflicting claims to attention,
these may be left to the judgement of each writer. The old principle of
dividing by the eye, and not by the ear, I have rejected; and, with it, all
but one of the five rules which the old grammarians gave for the purpose.
"The divisions of the letters into syllables, should, unquestionably, be
the same in written, as in spoken language; otherwise the learner is
misguided, and seduced by false representations into injurious
errors."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 37. Through the influence of books
in which the words are divided according to their sounds, the pronunciation
of the language is daily becoming more and more uniform; and it may perhaps
be reasonably hoped, that the general adoption of this method of
syllabication, and a proper exposition of the occasional errors of
ignorance, will one day obviate entirely the objection arising from the
instability of the principle. For the old grammarians urged, that the
scholar who had learned their rules should "strictly conform to them; and
that he should industriously avoid _that random Method of dividing by the
Ear_, which is subject to mere jumble, as it must be continually
fluctuating according to the various Dialects of different
Countries."--_British Grammar_, p. 47.

OBS. 8.--The important exercise of oral spelling is often very absurdly
conducted. In many of our schools, it may be observed that the teacher, in
giving out the words to be spelled, is not always careful to utter them
with what he knows to be their true sounds, but frequently accommodates his
pronunciation to the known or supposed ignorance of the scholar; and the
latter is still more frequently allowed to hurry through the process,
without putting the syllables together as he proceeds; and, sometimes,
without forming or distinguishing the syllables at all. Merely to pronounce
a word and then name its letters, is an exceedingly imperfect mode of
spelling; a mode in which far more is lost in respect to accuracy of
speech, than is gained in respect to time. The syllables should not only be
distinctly formed and pronounced, but pronounced as they are heard in the
whole word; and each should be successively added to the preceding
syllables, till the whole sound is formed by the reunion of all its parts.
For example: _divisibility_. The scholar should say, "Dee I, de; Vee I Ess,
viz, de-viz; I, de-viz-e; Bee I Ell, bil, de-viz-e-bil; I, de-viz-e-bil-e;
Tee Wy, te, de-viz-e-bil-e-te." Again: _chicanery_. "Cee Aitch I, she; Cee
A, ka, she-ka; En E Ar, nur, she-ka-nur; Wy, she-ka-nur-e." One of the
chief advantages of oral spelling, is its tendency to promote accuracy of
pronunciation; and this end it will reach, in proportion to the care and
skill with which it is conducted. But oral spelling should not be relied on
as the sole means of teaching orthography. It will not be found sufficient.
The method of giving out words for practical spelling on slates or paper,
or of reading something which is to be written again by the learner, is
much to be commended, as a means of exercising those scholars who are so
far advanced as to write legibly. This is called, in the schools,
_dictation_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS IN SYLLABICATION.

LESSON I.--CONSONANTS.

1. Correct the division of the following words of two syllables: "ci-vil,
co-lour, co-py, da-mask, do-zen, e-ver, fea-ther, ga-ther, hea-ven, hea-vy,
ho-ney, le-mon, li-nen, mea-dow, mo-ney, ne-ver, o-live, o-range, o-ther,
phea-sant, plea-sant, pu-nish, ra-ther, rea-dy, ri-ver, ro-bin, scho-lar,
sho-vel, sto-mach, ti-mid, whe-ther."--_Murray's Spelling-Book_, N. Y.,
1819, p. 43-50.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the _v_ in _ci-vil_, the _l_ in _co-lour_,
the _p_ in _co-py_, &c., are written with the following vowel, but spoken
with that which precedes. But, according to Rule 1st, "Consonants should
generally be joined to the vowels or diphthongs which they modify in
utterance." Therefore, these words should be divided thus: _civ-il,
col-our, cop-y_, &c.]

2. Correct the division of the following words of three syllables:
"be-ne-fit, ca-bi-net, ca-nis-ter, ca-ta-logue, cha-rac-ter, cha-ri-ty,
co-vet-ous, di-li-gence, di-mi-ty, e-le-phant, e-vi-dent, e-ver-green,
fri-vo-lous, ga-ther-ing, ge-ne-rous, go-vern-ess, go-vern-or, ho-nes-ty,
ka-len-dar, la-ven-der, le-ve-ret, li-be-ral, me-mo-ry, mi-nis-ter,
mo-dest-ly, no-vel-ty, no-bo-dy, pa-ra-dise, po-ver-ty, pre-sent-ly,
pro-vi-dence, pro-per-ly, pri-son-er, ra-ven-ous, sa-tis-fy, se-ve-ral,
se-pa-rate, tra-vel-ler, va-ga-bond;--con-si-der, con-ti-nue, de-li-ver,
dis-co-ver, dis-fi-gure, dis-ho-nest, dis-tri-bute, in-ha-bit, me-cha-nic,
what-e-ver;--re-com-mend, re-fu-gee, re-pri-mand."--_Murray: ib._, p.
67-83.

3. Correct the division of the following words of four syllables:
"ca-ter-pil-lar, cha-ri-ta-ble, di-li-gent-ly, mi-se-ra-ble,
pro-fit-a-ble, to-le-ra-ble;--be-ne-vo-lent, con-si-der-ate, di-mi-nu-tive,
ex-pe-ri-ment, ex-tra-va-gant, in-ha-bi-tant, no-bi-li-ty, par-ti-cu-lar,
pros-pe-ri-ty, ri-di-cu-lous, sin-ce-ri-ty;--de-mon-stra-tion,
e-du-ca-tion, e-mu-la-tion, e-pi-de-mic, ma-le-fac-tor, ma-nu-fac-ture,
me-mo-ran-dum, mo-de-ra-tor, pa-ra-ly-tic, pe-ni-ten-tial, re-sig-na-tion,
sa-tis-fac-tion, se-mi-co-lon."--_Murray: ib._, p. 84-87.

4. Correct the division of the following words of five syllables:
"a-bo-mi-na-ble, a-po-the-ca-ry, con-sid-e-ra-ble, ex-pla-na-to-ry,
pre-pa-ra-to-ry;--a-ca-de-mi-cal, cu-ri-o-si-ty, ge-o-gra-phi-cal,
ma-nu-fac-to-ry, sa-tis-fac-to-ry, me-ri-to-ri-ous;--cha-rac-te-ris-tic,
e-pi-gram-ma-tic, ex-pe-ri-ment-al, po-ly-syl-la-ble, con-sid-e-ra-tion."
--_Murray: ib._, p. 87-89.

5. Correct the division of the following proper names: "He-len, Leo-nard,
Phi-lip, Ro-bert, Ho-race, Tho-mas;--Ca-ro-line, Ca-tha-rine, Da-ni-el,
De-bo-rah, Do-ro-thy, Fre-de-rick, I-sa-bel, Jo-na-than, Ly-di-a,
Ni-cho-las, O-li-ver, Sa-mu-el, Si-me-on, So-lo-mon, Ti-mo-thy,
Va-len-tine;--A-me-ri-ca, Bar-tho-lo-mew, E-li-za-beth, Na-tha-ni-el,
Pe-ne-lo-pe, The-o-phi-lus."--_Murray: ib._, p. 98-101.


LESSON II.--MIXED.

1. Correct the division of the following words, by Rule 1st: "cap-rice,
es-teem, dis-es-teem, ob-lige;--az-ure, mat-ron, pat-ron, phal-anx, sir-en,
trait-or, trench-er, barb-er, burn-ish, garn-ish, tarn-ish, varn-ish,
mark-et, musk-et, pamph-let;--brave-ry, knave-ry, siave-ry, eve-ning,
scene-ry, bribe-ry, nice-ty, chi-cane-ry, ma-chine-ry, im-age-ry;--
as-y-lum, hor-i-zon,--fi-nan-cier, he-ro-ism,--sar-don-yx, scur-ril-ous,--
com-e-di-an, post-e-ri-or."--_Webster's Spelling-Books_.

2. Correct the division of the following words by Rule 2d: "oy-er, fol-io,
gen-ial, gen-ius, jun-ior, sa-tiate, vi-tiate;--am-bro-sia, cha-mel-ion,
par-hel-ion, con-ven-ient, in-gen-ious, om-nis-cience, pe-cul-iar,
so-cia-ble, par-tial-i-ty, pe-cun-ia-ry;--an-nun-ciate, e-nun-ciate,
ap-pre-ciate, as-so-ciate, ex-pa-tiate, in-gra-tiate, in-i-tiate,
li-cen-tiate, ne-go-tiate, no-vi-ciate, of-fi-ciate, pro-pi-tiate,
sub-stan-tiate."--_Webster: Old Spelling-Book_, 86-91; _New_, 121-128.

3. Correct the division of the following words by Rule 3d: "dres-ser,
has-ty, pas-try, sei-zure, rol-ler, jes-ter, wea-ver, vam-per, han-dy,
dros-sy, glos-sy, mo-ver, mo-ving, oo-zy, ful-ler, trus-ty, weigh-ty,
noi-sy, drow-sy, swar-thy."--_Cobb's Standard Spelling-Book_. Again:
"eas-tern, full-y, pull-et, rill-et, scan-ty, nee-dy."--_Webster_.

4. Correct the division of the following words by Rule 4th:
"aw-ry,"--_Webster's Old Book_, 52; "ath-wart,"--_Ib._, 93;
"pros-pect-ive,"--_Ib._, 66; "pa-renth-e-sis,"--_Ib._, 93;
"res-ist-i-bil-ity,"--_Webster's New Book_, 93; "hem-is-pher-ic,"--_Ib._,
130; "mo-nos-tich, he-mis-tick," [112]--_Walker's Dict._, 8vo; _Cobb_, 33;
"tow-ards,"--_Cobb_, 48.

5. Correct the division of the following words by Rule 5th:
"E'n-gland,"--_Murray's Spelling-Book_, p. 100; "a-no-ther,"--_Ib._, 71;
"a-noth-er,"--_Emerson_, 76; "Be-thes-da, Beth-a-ba-ra,"--_Webster_, 141;
_Cobb_, 159.


LESSON III.--MIXED.

1. Correct the division of the following words, according to their
derivation: "ben-der, bles-sing, bras-sy, chaf-fy, chan-ter, clas-per,
craf-ty, cur-dy, fen-der, fil-my, fus-ty, glas-sy, graf-ter, gras-sy,
gus-ty, ban-ded, mas-sy, mus-ky, rus-ty, swel-ling, tel-ler, tes-ted,
thrif-ty, ves-ture."--_Cobb's Standard Spelling-Book_.

2. Correct the division of the following words, so as to give no wrong
notion of their derivation and meaning: "barb-er, burn-ish, brisk-et,
cank-er, chart-er, cuck-oo, furn-ish, garn-ish, guil-ty, hank-er, lust-y,
port-al, tarn-ish, test-ate, test-y, trait-or, treat-y, varn-ish, vest-al,
di-urn-al, e-tern-al, in-fern-al, in-tern-al, ma-tern-al, noc-turn-al,
pa-tern-al."--_Webster's Elementary Spelling-Book_.

3. Correct the division of the following words, so as to convey no wrong
idea of their pronunciation: "ar-mo-ry, ar-te-ry, butch-er-y, cook-e-ry,
eb-o-ny, em-e-ry, ev-e-ry, fel-o-ny, fop-pe-ry, flip-pe-ry, gal-le-ry,
his-to-ry, liv-e-ry. lot-te-ry, mock-e-ry, mys-te-ry, nun-ne-ry, or-re-ry,
pil-lo-ry, quack-e-ry, sor-ce-ry, witch-e-ry."--_Ib._, 41-42.

4. Correct the division of the following words, and give to _n_ before _k_
the sound of _ng_: "ank-le, bask-et, blank-et, buck-le, cack-le, crank-le,
crink-le, east-er, fick-le, freck-le, knuck-le, mark-et, monk-ey,
port-ress, pick-le, poult-ice, punch-eon, qua-drant, qua-drate, squa-dron,
rank-le, shack-le, sprink-le, tink-le, twink-le, wrink-le."--_Cobb's
Standard Spelling-Book_.

5. Correct the division of the following words, with a proper regard to
Rules 1st and 3d: "a-scribe, bland-ish, bran-chy, clou-dy, dus-ty, drea-ry,
eve-ning, faul-ty, fil-thy, fros-ty, gau-dy, gloo-my, heal-thy, hear-ken,
hear-ty, hoa-ry, lea-ky, loung-er, mar-shy, migh-ty, mil-ky, naugh-ty,
pas-sing, pit-cher, rea-dy, roc-ky, spee-dy, stea-dy, stor-my, thirs-ty,
thor-ny, trus-ty, ves-try, wes-tern, weal-thy."--_Emerson's Spelling-Book_,
17-44.




CHAPTER III.--OF WORDS.

A _Word_ is one or more syllables spoken or written as the sign of some
idea, or of some manner of thought. Words are distinguished as _primitive_
or _derivative_, and as _simple_ or _compound_. The former division is
called their _species_; the latter, their _figure_.

A _primitive_ word is one that is not formed from any simpler word in the
language; as, _harm, great, connect_.

A _derivative_ word is one that is formed from some simpler word in the
language; as, _harmless, greatly, connected, disconnect, unconnected_.

A _simple_ word is one that is not compounded, not composed of other
words; as, _watch, man, house, tower, never, the, less_.

A _compound_ word is one that is composed of two or more simple words; as,
_watchman, watchhouse, watchtower, nevertheless_.

Permanent compounds are consolidated; as, _bookseller, schoolmaster_:
others, which may be called temporary compounds, are formed by the hyphen;
as, _good-natured, negro-merchant_.


_RULES FOR THE FIGURE OF WORDS_.

RULE I.--COMPOUNDS.

Words regularly or analogically united, and commonly known as forming a
compound, should never be needlessly broken apart. Thus, _steamboat,
railroad, red-hot, well-being, new-coined_, are preferable to the phrases,
_steam boat, rail road, red hot, well being, new coined_; and _toward us_
is better than the old phrase, _to us ward_.

RULE II.--SIMPLES.

When the simple words would only form a regular phrase, of the same
meaning, the compounding of any of them ought to be avoided. Thus, the
compound _instead_ is not to be commended, because the simple phrase, _in
stead of_, is exactly like the other phrases, _in lieu of, in place of, in
room of_, in which we write no compound.

RULE III.--THE SENSE.

Words otherwise liable to be misunderstood, must be joined together or
written separately, as the sense and construction may happen to require.
Thus, a _glass house_ is a house made of glass, but a _glasshouse_ is a
house in which glass is made; so a _negro merchant_ is a coloured trader,
but a _negro-merchant_ is a man who buys and sells negroes.

RULE IV.--ELLIPSES.

When two or more compounds are connected in one sentence, none of them
should be split to make an ellipsis of half a word. Thus, "_six or
seventeen_" should not be said for "_sixteen or seventeen_;" nor ought we
to say, "_calf, goat, and sheepskins_" for "_calfskins, goatskins, and
sheepskins_" In the latter instance, however, it might be right to separate
all the words; as in the phrase, "_soup, coffee_, and _tea_
houses."--_Liberator_, x, 40.

RULE V.--THE HYPHEN.

When the parts of a compound do not fully coalesce, as _to-day, to-night,
to-morrow_; or when each retains its original accent, so that the compound
has more than one, or one that is movable, as _first-born, hanger-on,
laughter-loving, garlic-eater, butterfly-shell_, the hyphen should be
inserted between them.

RULE VI.--NO HYPHEN.

When a compound has but one accented syllable in pronunciation, as
_watchword, statesman, gentleman_, and the parts are such as admit of a
complete coalescence, no hyphen should be inserted between them. Churchill,
after much attention to this subject, writes thus: "The practical
instruction of the _countinghouse_ imparts a more thorough knowledge of
_bookkeeping_, than all the fictitious transactions of a mere _schoolbook_,
however carefully constructed to suit particular purposes."--_New Gram._,
p. vii. But _counting-house_, having more stress on the last syllable than
on the middle one, is usually written with the hyphen; and _book-keeping_
and _school-book_, though they may not need it, are oftener so formed than
otherwise.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Words are the least parts of significant language; that is, of
language significant in each part; for, to syllables, taken merely as
syllables, no meaning belongs. But, to a word, signification of some sort
or other, is essential; there can be no word without it; for a sign or
symbol must needs represent or signify something. And as I cannot suppose
words to represent external things, I have said "A _Word_ is one or more
syllables spoken or written as the sign of some _idea_." But of _what_
ideas are the words of our language significant? Are we to say, "Of _all_
ideas;" and to recognize as an English word every syllable, or combination
of syllables, to which we know a meaning is attached? No. For this, in the
first place, would confound one language with an other; and destroy a
distinction which must ever be practically recognized, till all men shall
again speak one language. In the next place, it would compel us to embrace
among our words an infinitude of terms that are significant only of _local_
ideas, such as men any where or at any time may have had concerning any of
the individuals they have known, whether persons, places, or things. But,
however important they may be in the eyes of men, the names of particular
persons, places, or things, because they convey only particular ideas, do
not properly belong to what we call _our language_. Lexicographers do not
collect and define proper names, because they are beyond the limits of
their art, and can be explained only from history. I do not say that proper
names are to be excluded from grammar; but I would show wherein consists
the superiority of general terms over these. For if our common words did
not differ essentially from proper names, we could demonstrate nothing in
science: we could not frame from them any general or affirmative
proposition at all; because all our terms would be particular, and not
general; and because every individual thing in nature must necessarily be
for ever itself only, and not an other.

OBS. 2.--Our common words, then, are the symbols neither of external
particulars, nor merely of the sensible ideas which external particulars
excite in our minds, but mainly of those general or universal ideas which
belong rather to the intellect than to the senses. For intellection differs
from sensation, somewhat as the understanding of a man differs from the
perceptive faculty of a brute; and language, being framed for the
reciprocal commerce of human minds, whose perceptions include both, is made
to consist of signs of ideas both general and particular, yet without
placing them on equal ground. Our general ideas--that is, our ideas
conceived as common to many individuals, existing in any part of time,
past, present, or future--such, for example, as belong to the words _man,
horse, tree, cedar, wave, motion, strength, resist_--such ideas, I say,
constitute that most excellent significance which belongs to words
primarily, essentially, and immediately; whereas, our particular ideas,
such as are conceived only of individual objects, which arc infinite in
number and ever fleeting, constitute a significance which belongs to
language only secondarily, accidentally, and mediately. If we express the
latter at all, we do it either by proper names, of which but very few ever
become generally known, or by means of certain changeable limitations which
are added to our general terms; whereby language, as Harris observes,
"without wandering into infinitude, contrives how to denote things
infinite."--_Hermes_, p. 345. The particular manner in which this is done,
I shall show hereafter, in Etymology, when I come to treat of articles and
definitives.

OBS. 3.--If we examine the structure of proper names, we shall find that
most of them are compounds, the parts of which have, in very many
instances, some general signification. Now a complete phrase commonly
conveys some particular notion or conception of the mind; but, in this
case, the signification of the general terms is restricted by the other
words which are added to them. Thus _smith_ is a more general term than
_goldsmith_; and _goldsmith_ is more general than a _goldsmith_; _a
goldsmith_, than _the goldsmith_; _the goldsmith_, than _one Goldsmith_;
_one Goldsmith_, than _Mr. Goldsmith_; _Mr. Goldsmith_, than _Oliver
Goldsmith_. Thus we see that the simplest mode of designating particular
persons or objects, is that of giving them _proper names_; but proper names
must needs be so written, that they may be known as proper names, and not
be mistaken for common terms. I have before observed, that we have some
names which are both proper and common; and that these should be written
with capitals, and should form the plural regularly. It is surprising that
_the Friends_, who are in some respects particularly scrupulous about
language, should so generally have overlooked the necessity there is, of
_compounding_ their numerical names of the months and days, and writing
them uniformly with capitals, as proper names. For proper names they
certainly are, in every thing but the form, whenever they are used without
the article, and without those other terms which render their general idea
particular. And the compound form with a capital, is as necessary for
_Firstday, Secondday, Thirdday_, &c., as for _Sunday, Monday, Tuesday_, &c.
"The first day of the week,"--"The seventh day of the month,"--"The second
month of summer,"--"The second month in the year," &c., are good English
phrases, in which any compounding of the terms, or any additional use of
capitals, would be improper; but, for common use, these phrases are found
too long and too artificial. We must have a less cumbersome mode of
specifying the months of the year and the days of the week. What then?
Shall we merely throw away the terms of particularity, and, without
substituting in their place the form of proper names, apply general terms
to particular thoughts, and insist on it that this is right? And is not
this precisely what is done by those who reject as heathenish the ordinary
names of the months and days, and write "_first day_," for _Sunday_, in
stead of "the first day of the week;" or "_second month_," for _February_,
in stead of "the second month in the year;" and so forth? This phraseology
may perhaps be well understood by those to whom it is familiar, but still
it is an abuse of language, because it is inconsistent with the common
acceptation of the terms. Example: "The departure of a ship will take place
_every sixth day_ with punctuality."--_Philadelphia Weekly Messenger_. The
writer of this did not mean, "_every Friday_;" and it is absurd for the
Friends so to understand it, or so to write, when that is what they mean.

OBS. 4.--In the ordinary business of life, it is generally desirable to
express our meaning as briefly as possible; but legal phraseology is always
full to the letter, and often redundant. Hence a merchant will write, "Nov.
24, 1837," or, "11 mo. 24th, 1837;" but a conveyancer will have it, "On the
twenty-fourth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-seven;"--or, perhaps, "On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh
month, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-seven." Accordingly we find that, in common daily use, all the names
of the months, except _March, May, June_, and _July_, are abbreviated;
thus, _Jan., Feb., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec_. And sometimes even
the Arabic number of the year is made yet shorter; as '37 for 1837; or
1835-6-7, for 1835, 1836, and 1837. In like manner, in constructing tables
of time, we sometimes denote the days of the week by the simple initials of
their names; as, S. for Sunday, M. for Monday, &c. But, for facility of
abbreviation, the numerical names, whether of the months or of the days,
are perhaps still more convenient. For, if we please, we may put the simple
Arabic figures for them; though it is better to add _d_. for _day_, and
_mo._ for _month_: as, 1 d., 2 d., 3 d., &c.;--1 mo., 2 mo., 3 mo.,
&c.:--or more compactly thus: 1d., 2d., 3d., &c.;--1mo., 2mo., 3mo., &c.
But, take which mode of naming we will, our ordinary expression of these
things should be in neither extreme, but should avoid alike too great
brevity and too great prolixity; and, therefore, it is best to make it a
general rule in our literary compositions, to use the full form of proper
names for the months and days, and to denote the years by Arabic figures
written in full.

OBS. 5.--In considering the nature of words, I was once a little puzzled
with a curious speculation, if I may not term it an important inquiry,
concerning the _principle of their identity_. We often speak of "_the same
words_," and of "_different words_;" but wherein does the sameness or the
difference of words consist? Not in their pronunciation; for the same word
may be differently pronounced; as, _p=at'ron_ or _p=a'tron, m=at'ron_ or
_m=a'tron_. Not in their orthography; for the same word may be differently
spelled; as, _favour_ or _favor, music_ or _musick, connexion_ or
_connection_. Not in their form of presentation; for the same word may be
either spoken or written; and speech and writing present what we call _the
same words_, in two ways totally different. Not in their meaning; for the
same word may have different meanings, and different words may signify
precisely the same thing. This sameness of words, then, must consist in
something which is to be reconciled with great diversity. Yet every word is
itself, and not an other: and every word must necessarily have some
property peculiar to itself, by which it may be easily distinguished from
every other. Were it not so, language would be unintelligible. But it _is_
so; and, therefore, to mistake one word for an other, is universally
thought to betray great ignorance or great negligence, though such mistakes
are by no means of uncommon occurrence. But that the question about the
identity of words is not a very easy one, may appear from the fact, that
the learned often disagree about it in practice; as when one grammarian
will have _an_ and _a_ to be two words, and an other will affirm them to be
only different forms of one and the same word.

OBS. 6.--Let us see, then, if amidst all this diversity we can find that
principle of sameness, by which a dispute of this kind ought to be settled.
Now, although different words do generally differ in orthography, in
pronunciation, and in meaning, so that an entire sameness implies one
orthography, one pronunciation, and one meaning; yet some diversity is
allowed in each of these respects, so that a sign differing from an other
only in one, is not therefore a different word, or a sign agreeing with an
other only in one, is not therefore the same word. It follows thence, that
the principle of verbal identity, the principle which distinguishes every
word from every other, lies in neither extreme: it lies in a narrower
compass than in all three, and yet not singly in any one, but jointly in
any two. So that signs differing in any two of these characteristics of a
word, are different words; and signs agreeing in any two, are the same
word. Consequently, if to any difference either of spelling or of sound we
add a difference of signification everybody will immediately say, that we
speak or write different words, and not the same: thus _dear_, beloved, and
_deer_, an animal, are two such words as no one would think to be the same;
and, in like manner, _use_, advantage, and _use_, to employ, will readily
be called different words. Upon this principle, _an_ and _a_ are different
words; yet, in conformity to old usage, and because the latter is in fact
but an abridgement of the former, I have always treated them as one and the
same article, though I have nowhere expressly called them the same word.
But, to establish the principle above named, which appears to me the only
one on which any such question can be resolved, or the identity of words be
fixed at all, we must assume that every word has one right pronunciation,
and only one; one just orthography, and only one; and some proper
signification, which, though perhaps not always the same, is always a part
of its essence. For when two words of different meaning are spelled or
pronounced alike, not to maintain the second point of difference, against
the double orthography or the double pronunciation of either, is to
confound their identity at once, and to prove by the rule that two
different words are one and the same, by first absurdly making them so.

OBS. 7.--In no part of grammar is usage more unsettled and variable than in
that which relates to the _figure of words_. It is a point of which modern
writers have taken but very little notice. Lily, and other ancient Latin
grammarians, reckoned both species and figure among the grammatical
accidents of nearly all the different parts of speech; and accordingly
noticed them, in their Etymology, as things worthy to be thus made distinct
topics, like numbers, genders, cases, moods, tenses, &c. But the manner of
compounding words in Latin, and also in Greek, is always by consolidation.
No use appears to have been made of the _hyphen_, in joining the words of
those languages, though the name of the mark is a Greek compound, meaning
"_under one_." The compounding of words is one principal means of
increasing their number; and the arbitrariness with which that is done or
neglected in English, is sufficient of itself to make the number of our
words a matter of great uncertainty. Such terms, however, having the
advantage of explaining themselves in a much greater degree than others,
have little need of definition; and when new things are formed, it is very
natural and proper to give them new names of this sort: as, _steamboat,
railroad_. The propriety or impropriety of these additions to the language,
is not to be determined by dictionaries; for that must be settled by usage
before any lexicographer will insert them. And so numerous, after all, are
the discrepancies found in our best dictionaries, that many a word may have
its day and grow obsolete, before a nation can learn from them the right
way of spelling it; and many a fashionable thing may go entirely out of
use, before a man can thus determine how to name it. _Railroads_ are of so
recent invention that I find the word in only one dictionary; and that one
is wrong, in giving the word a hyphen, while half our printers are wrong,
in keeping the words separate because _Johnson_ did not compound them. But
is it not more important, to know whether we ought to write _railroad_, or
_rail-road_, or _rail road_, which we cannot learn from any of our
dictionaries, than to find out whether we ought to write _rocklo_, or
_roquelo_, or _roquelaur_, or _roquelaure_, which, in some form or other,
is found in them all? The duke of Roquelaure is now forgotten, and his
cloak is out of fashion.

OBS. 8.--No regular phrase, as I have taught in the second rule above,
should be needlessly converted into a compound word, either by tacking its
parts together with the hyphen, or by uniting them without a hyphen; for,
in general, a phrase is one thing, and a word is an other: and they ought
to be kept as distinct as possible.[113] But, when a whole phrase takes the
relation of an _adjective_, the words must be compounded, and the hyphen
becomes necessary; as, "An inexpressibly apt _bottle-of-small-beer_
comparison."--_Peter Pindar_. The occasions for the compounding of words,
are in general sufficiently plain, to any one who knows what is intended to
be said; but, as we compound words, sometimes with the hyphen, and
sometimes without, there is no small difficulty in ascertaining when to use
this mark, and when to omit it. "Some settled rule for the use of the
hyphen on these occasions, is much wanted. Modern printers have a strange
predilection for it; using it on almost every possible occasion. Mr. L.
Murray, who has only three lines on the subject, seems inclined to
countenance this practice; which is, no doubt, convenient enough for those
who do not like trouble. His words are: 'A Hyphen, marked thus - is
employed in connecting compounded words: as, Lap-dog, tea-pot,
pre-existence, self-love, to-morrow, mother-in-law.' Of his six examples,
Johnson, our only acknowledged standard, gives the first and third without
any separation between the syllables, _lapdog, preexistence_; his second
and fifth as two distinct words each, _tea pot, to morrow_; and his sixth
as three words, _mother in law_: so that only his fourth has the sanction
of the lexicographer. There certainly can be no more reason for putting a
hyphen after the common prefixes, than before the common affixes, _ness,
ly_, and the rest."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 374.

OBS. 9.--Again: "While it would be absurd, to sacrifice the established
practice of all good authors to the ignorance of such readers [as could
possibly mistake for a diphthong the two contiguous vowels in such words as
_preexistence, cooperate_, and _reenter_]; it would unquestionably be
advantageous, to have some principle to guide us in that labyrinth of
words, in which the hyphen appears to have been admitted or rejected
arbitrarily, or at hap-hazard. Thus, though we find in Johnson,
_alms-basket, alms-giver_, with the hyphen; we have _almsdeed, almshouse,
almsman_, without: and many similar examples of an unsettled practice might
be adduced, sufficient to fill several pages. In this perplexity, is not
the pronunciation of the words the best guide? In the English language,
every word of more than one syllable is marked by an accent on some
particular syllable. Some very long words indeed admit a secondary accent
on _another_ syllable; but still this is much inferior, and leaves one
leading accent prominent: as in _expos'tulatory_. Accordingly, when a
compound has but one accented syllable in pronunciation, as _night'cap,
bed'stead, broad'sword_, the two words have coalesced completely into one,
and no hyphen should be admitted. On the other hand, when each of the
radical words has an accent, as _Chris'tian-name', broad'-shoul'dered_, I
think the hyphen should be used. _Good'-na'tured_ is a compound epithet
with two accents, and therefore requires the hyphen: in _good nature, good
will_, and similar expressions, _good_ is used simply as an adjective, and
of course should remain distinct from the noun. Thus, too, when a noun is
used adjectively, it should remain separate from the noun it modifies; as,
a _gold ring_, a _silver buckle_. When two numerals are employed to express
a number, without a conjunction between them, it is usual to connect them
by a hyphen; as, _twenty-five, eighty-four_: but when the conjunction is
inserted, the hyphen is as improper as it would be between other words
connected by the conjunction. This, however, is a common abuse; and we
often meet with _five-&-twenty, six-&-thirty_, and the like."--_Ib._, p.
376. Thus far Churchill: who appears to me, however, too hasty about the
hyphen in compound numerals. For we write _one hundred, two hundred, three
thousand_, &c., without either hyphen or conjunction; and as
_five-and-twenty_ is equivalent to _twenty-five_, and virtually but one
word, the hyphen, if not absolutely necessary to the sense, is certainly
not so very improper as he alleges. "_Christian name_" is as often written
without the hyphen as with it, and perhaps as accurately.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS IN THE FIGURE, OR FORM, OF WORDS.

UNDER RULE I.--OF COMPOUNDS.

"Professing to imitate Timon, the man hater."--_Goldsmith's Rome_, p. 161.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the compound term _manhater_ is here made
two words. But, according to Rule 1st, "Words regularly or analogically
united, and commonly known as forming a compound, should never be
needlessly broken apart." Therefore, _manhater_ should be written as one
word.]

"Men load hay with a pitch fork."--_Webster's New Spelling-Book_, p. 40. "A
pear tree grows from the seed of a pear."--_Ib._, p. 33. "A tooth brush is
good to brush your teeth."--_Ib._, p. 85. "The mail is opened at the post
office."--_Ib._, p. 151. "The error seems to me two fold."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 230. "To pre-engage means to engage before hand."--_Webster's
New Spelling-Book_, p. 82. "It is a mean act to deface the figures on a
mile stone."--_Ib._, p. 88. "A grange is a farm and farm house."--_Ib._, p.
118. "It is no more right to steal apples or water melons, than
money."--_Ib._, p. 118. "The awl is a tool used by shoemakers, and harness
makers."--_Ib._, p. 150. "Twenty five cents are equal to one quarter of a
dollar."--_Ib._, p. 107. "The blowing up of the Fulton at New York was a
terrible disaster."--_Ib._, p. 54. "The elders also, and the bringers up of
the children, sent to Jehu."--SCOTT: 2 _Kings_, x, 5. "Not with eye
service, as men pleasers."--_Bickersteth, on Prayer_, p. 64. "A good
natured and equitable construction of cases."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 138. "And
purify your hearts, ye double minded."--_Gurney's Portable Evidences_, p.
115. "It is a mean spirited action to steal; i. e. to steal is a mean
spirited action."--_Grammar of Alex. Murray, the schoolmaster_, p. 124.
"There is, indeed, one form of orthography which is a kin to the
subjunctive mood of the Latin tongue."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, p. 71.
"To bring him into nearer connexion with real and everyday
life."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 459. "The common place, stale
declamation of its revilers would be silenced."--_Ib._, i, 494. "She formed
a very singular and unheard of project."--_Goldsmith's Rome_, p. 160. "He
had many vigilant, though feeble talented, and mean spirited
enemies."--ROBERTS VAUX: _The Friend_, Vol. vii, p. 74. "These old
fashioned people would level our psalmody," &c.--_Music of Nature_, p. 292.
"This slow shifting scenery in the theatre of harmony."--_Ib._, p. 398. "So
we are assured from Scripture it self."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 300. "The
mind, being disheartened, then betakes its self to trifling."--_R.
Johnson's Pref. to Gram. Com._ "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are
remitted unto them."--_Beacon_, p. 115: SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS: _John_, xx,
23. "Tarry we our selves how we will."--_Walker's English Particles_, p.
161. "Manage your credit so, that you need neither swear your self, nor
want a voucher."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 33. "Whereas song never conveys
any of the above named sentiments."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 424. "I go on
horse back."--_Guy's Gram._, p. 54. "This requires _purity_, in opposition
to barbarous, obsolete, or new coined words."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 242;
_Gould's_, 234. "May the Plough share shine."--_White's Eng. Verb_, p. 161.
"Which way ever we consider it."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 83.

   "Where e'er the silent (e) a Place obtains,
    The Voice foregoing, Length and softness gains."
        --_Brightland's Gr._, p. 15.


UNDER RULE II.--OF SIMPLES.

"It qualifies any of the four parts of speech abovenamed."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 83.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because _abovenamed_ is here unnecessarily made a
compound. But, according to Rule 2d, "When the simple words would only form
a regular phrase, of the same meaning, the compounding of any of them ought
to be avoided." Therefore, _above_ and _named_ should here have been
written as two words.]

"After awhile they put us out among the rude multitude."--_Fox's Journal_.
Vol. i, p. 169. "It would be ashame, if your mind should falter and give
in."--_Collier's Meditations of Antoninus_, p. 94. "They stared awhile in
silence one upon another."--_Rasselas_, p. 73. "After passion has for
awhile exercised its tyrannical sway."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, 135 and 267.
"Though set within the same general-frame of intonation."--_Rush, on the
Voice_, p. 339. "Which do not carry any of the natural vocal-signs of
expression."--_Ib._, p. 329. "The measurable constructive-powers of a few
associable constituents."--_Ib._, p. 343. "Before each accented syllable or
emphatic monosyllabic-word."--_Ib._, p. 364. "One should not think too
favourably of oneself."--See _Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 154. "Know ye not
your ownselves, how that Jesus Christ is in you."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol.
i, p. 355. "I judge not my ownself, for I know nothing of my ownself."--
_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 84. "Though they were in such a rage, I
desired them to tarry awhile."--_Josephus_, Vol. v, p. 179. "_A_ instead of
_an_ is now used before words beginning with _a_ long."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 31. "John will have earned his wages the next new-year's
day."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 82. "A new-year's-gift is a present made on the
first day of the year."--See _Johnson, Walker, Webster, et al._ "When he
sat on the throne, distributing new-year's-gifts."--STILLINGFLEET, _in
Johnson's Dict._ "St. Paul admonishes Timothy to refuse old-wives'-
fables."--_Author_. "The world, take it altogether, is but one."--
_Collier's Antoninus_, B. vii, Sec. 9. "In writings of this stamp we must
accept of sound instead of sense."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 298. "A
male-child, A female-child, Male-descendants, Female-descendants."--
_Goldsbury's C. S. Gram._, p. 13; _Rev. T. Smith's Gram._, p. 15.
"Male-servants, Female-servants. Male-relations, Female-relations."--
_Felton's Gram._, p. 15.

   "Reserved and cautious, with no partial aim,
    My muse e'er sought to blast another's fame."--_Lloyd_, p. 162.


UNDER RULE III.--THE SENSE.

"Our discriminations of this matter have been but four footed
instincts."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 291.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the term _four footed_ is made two words, as
if the instincts were four and footed. But, according to Rule 3d, "Words
otherwise liable to be misunderstood, must be joined together, or written
separately, as the sense and construction may happen to require."
Therefore, _four-footed_, as it here means _quadruped_, or _having four
feet_, should be one word.]

"He is in the right, (says Clytus,) not to bear free born men at his
table."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. ii, p. 128. "To the short seeing eye of
man, the progress may appear little."--_The Friend_, Vol. ix, p. 377.
"Knowledge and virtue are, emphatically, the stepping stone to individual
distinction."--_Town's Analysis_, p. 5. "A tin peddler will sell tin
vessels as he travels."--_Webster's New Spelling-Book_, p. 44. "The beams
of a wood-house are held up by the posts and joists."--_Ib._, p. 39. "What
you mean by _future tense adjective_, I can easily understand."--_Tooke's
Diversions_, Vol. ii, p. 450. "The town has been for several days very well
behaved."--_Spectator_, No. 532. "A _rounce_ is the handle of a printing
press."--_Webster's' Dict._; also _El. Spelling-Book_, p. 118. "The
phraseology we call _thee and thouing_ is not in so common use with us, as
the _tutoyant_ among the French."--_Walker's Dict., w. Thy._ "Hunting, and
other out door sports, are generally pursued."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 227.
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden."--SCOTT, ALGER,
FRIENDS: _Matt._, xi, 28. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son to save it."--_Barclay's Works_, i, p. 71. See SCOTT'S BIBLE:
_John_, iii, 16. "Jehovah is a prayer hearing God: Nineveh repented, and
was spared."--_N. Y. Observer_, Vol. x, p. 90. "These are well pleasing to
God, in all ranks and relations."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 73.
"Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle."--_Numb._, xvii, 13.
"The words coalesce, when they have a long established association."--
_Murray's Gram._, p. 169. "Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go
in to them."--OLD BIBLE: _Ps._, cxviii, 19. "He saw an angel of God coming
into him."--See _Acts_, x, 3. "The consequences of any action are to be
considered in a two fold light."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 108. "We
commonly write two fold, three fold, four fold, and so on up to ten fold,
without a hyphen; and, after that, we use one."--_Author._ See _Matt._,
xiii, 8. "When the first mark is going off, he cries _turn!_ the glass
holder answers _done!_"--_Bowditch's Nav._, p. 128. "It is a kind of
familiar shaking hands with all the vices."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 170.
"She is a good natured woman;" "James is self opinionated;" "He is broken
hearted."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 147. "These three examples apply to the
_present tense_ construction only."--_Ib._, p. 65. "So that it was like a
game of hide and go seek."--_Edward's First Lessons in Grammar_, p. 90.

   "That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
    Whereto the climber upward turns his face."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 97.


UNDER RULE IV.--OF ELLIPSES.

"This building serves yet for a school and a meeting-house."

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the compound word _schoolhouse_ is here
divided to avoid a repetition of the last half. But, according to Rule 4th,
"When two or more compounds are connected in one sentence, none of them
should be split to make an ellipsis of half a word." Therefore, "_school_"
should be "_schoolhouse_;" thus, "This building serves yet for a
_schoolhouse_ and a meeting-house."]

"Schoolmasters and mistresses of honest friends [are] to be
encouraged."--_N. E. Discipline_, p. xv. "We never assumed to ourselves a
faith or worship-making-power."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 83. "Pot and
pearl ashes are made from common ashes."--_Webster's New Spelling-Book_, p.
69. "Both the ten and eight syllable verses are iambics."--_Blair's Gram._,
p. 121. "I say to myself, thou, he says to thy, to his self; &c."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist. of Europ. Lang._, Vol. ii p. 121. "Or those who have
esteemed themselves skilful, have tried for the mastery in two or four
horse chariots."--_Zenobia_, Vol. i, p. 152. "I remember him barefooted and
headed, running through the streets."--_Castle Rackrent_, p. 68. "Friends
have the entire control of the school and dwelling-houses."--_The Friend_,
Vol. vii, p. 231. "The meeting is held at the first mentioned place in the
first month, at the last in the second, and so on."--_Ib._, p. 167.
"Meetings for worship are held at the same hour on first and fourth
days."--_Ib._, p. 230. "Every part of it, inside and out, is covered with
gold leaf."--_Ib._, p. 404. "The Eastern Quarterly Meeting is held on the
last seventh day in second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh month."--_Ib._, p.
87. "Trenton Preparative Meeting is held on the third fifth day in each
month, at ten o'clock; meetings for worship at the same hour on first and
fifth days."--_Ib._, p. 231. "Ketch, a vessel with two masts, a main and
mizzen-mast."--_Webster's Dict._, "I only mean to suggest a doubt, whether
nature has enlisted herself as a Cis or Trans-Atlantic partisan?"--
_Jefferson's Notes_, p. 97. "By large hammers, like those used for paper
and fullingmills, they beat their hemp."--MORTIMER: _in Johnson's Dict._
"Ant-hill, or Hillock, _n. s._ The small protuberances of earth, in which
ants make their nests."--_Ib._ "It became necessary to substitute simple
indicative terms called _pro-names_ or _nouns._"--_Enclytica_, p. 16.

   "Obscur'd, where highest woods, impenetrable
    To star or sun-light, spread their umbrage broad."--_Milton._


UNDER RULE V.--THE HYPHEN.

"_Evilthinking_; a noun, compounded of the noun _evil_ and the imperfect
participle _thinking_; singular number;" &c.--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 180.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the word _evilthinking_, which has more than
one accented syllable, is here compounded without the hyphen. But,
according to Rule 5th, "When the parts of a compound do not fully coalesce,
or when each retains its original accent, so that the compound has more
than one, or one that is movable, the hyphen should be inserted between
them." Therefore, the hyphen should be used in this word; thus,
_evil-thinking._]

"_Evilspeaking_; a noun, compounded of the noun _evil_ and the imperfect
participle _speaking._"--_Ib._ "I am a tall, broadshouldered, impudent,
black fellow."--SPECTATOR: _in Johnson's Dict._ "Ingratitude! thou
marblehearted fiend."--SHAK.: _ib._ "A popular licence is indeed the
manyheaded tyranny."--SIDNEY: _ib._ "He from the manypeopled city
flies."--SANDYS: _ib._ "He manylanguaged nations has surveyed."--POPE:
_ib._ "The horsecucumber is the large green cucumber, and the best for the
table."--MORTIMER: _ib._ "The bird of night did sit, even at noonday, upon
the market-place."--SHAK.: _ib._ "These make a general gaoldelivery of
souls, not for punishment."--SOUTH: _ib._ "Thy air, thou other goldbound
brow, is like the first."--SHAK.: _ib._ "His person was deformed to the
highest degree; flatnosed, and blobberlipped."--L'ESTRANGE: _ib._ "He that
defraudeth the labourer of his hire, is a bloodshedder."--ECCLUS., xxxiv,
22: _ib._ "Bloodyminded, _adj._ from _bloody_ and _mind._ Cruel; inclined
to blood-shed."--See _Johnson's Dict._ "Bluntwitted lord, ignoble in
demeanour."--SHAK.: _ib._ "A young fellow with a bobwig and a black silken
bag tied to it."--SPECTATOR: _ib._ "I have seen enough to confute all the
boldfaced atheists of this age."--BRAMHALL: _ib._ "Before milkwhite, now
purple with love's wound."--SHAK: _ib._ "For what else is a redhot iron
than fire? and what else is a burning coal than redhot wood?"--NEWTON:
_ib._ "Pollevil is a large swelling, inflammation, or imposthume in the
horse's poll, or nape of the neck just between the ears."--FARRIER: _ib._

   "Quick-witted, brazenfac'd, with fluent tongues,
    Patient of labours, and dissembling wrongs."--DRYDEN: _ib._


UNDER RULE VI.--NO HYPHEN.

"From his fond parent's eye a tear-drop fell."--_Snelling's Gift for
Scribblers_, p. 43.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the word _tear-drop_, which has never any
other than a full accent on the first syllable, is here compounded with the
hyphen. But, according to Rule 6th, "When a compound has but one accented
syllable in pronunciation, and the parts are such as admit of a complete
coalescence, no hyphen should be inserted between them." Therefore,
_teardrop_ should be made a close compound.]

"How great, poor jack-daw, would thy sufferings be!"--_Ib._, p. 29. "Placed
like a scare-crow in a field of corn."--_Ib._, p. 39. "Soup for the
alms-house at a cent a quart."--_Ib._, p. 23. "Up into the watch-tower get,
and see all things despoiled of fallacies."--DONNE: _Johnson's Dict., w.
Lattice._ "In the day-time she sitteth in a watchtower, and flieth most by
night."--BACON: _ib., w. Watchtower._ "In the daytime Fame sitteth in a
watch-tower, and flieth most by night."--ID.: _ib., w. Daytime._ "The moral
is the first business of the poet, as being the ground-work of his
instruction."--DRYDEN: _ib., w. Moral._ "Madam's own hand the mouse-trap
baited."--PRIOR: _ib., w. Mouse-trap._ "By the sinking of the air-shaft the
air hath liberty to circulate."--RAY: _ib., w. Airshaft._ "The multiform
and amazing operations of the air-pump and the loadstone."--WATTS: _ib., w.
Multiform._ "Many of the fire-arms are named from animals."--_Ib., w.
Musket._ "You might have trussed him and all his apparel into an
eel-skin."--SHAK.: _ib., w. Truss._ "They may serve as land-marks to shew
what lies in the direct way of truth."--LOCKE: _ib., w. Landmark._ "A
pack-horse is driven constantly in a narrow lane and dirty road."--_Id.
ib., w. Lane._ "A mill-horse, still bound to go in one circle."--SIDNEY:
_ib., w. Mill-horse._ "Of singing birds they have linnets, goldfinches,
ruddocks, Canary-birds, black-birds, thrushes, and divers others."--CAREW:
_ib., w. Goldfinch._ "Of singing birds, they have linnets, gold-finches,
blackbirds, thrushes, and divers others."--ID.: _ib., w. Blackbird._ "Of
singing birds, they have linnets, gold-finches, ruddocks, canary birds,
blackbirds, thrushes, and divers other."--ID.: _ib., w. Canary bird._
"Cartrage, or Cartridge, a case of paper or parchment filled with
gun-powder."--_Johnson's Dict._, 4to.

   "Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night,
    The time of night when Troy was set on fire,
    The tune when screech-owls cry, and ban-dogs howl."
             SHAKSPEARE: _ib., w. Silent._

    "The time when screech-owls cry, and bandogs howl."
             IDEM.: _ib., w. Bandog._


PROMISCUOUS ERRORS IN THE FIGURE OF WORDS.

LESSON I.--MIXED.

"They that live in glass-houses, should not throw stones."--_Old Adage._
"If a man profess Christianity in any manner or form soever."--_Watts_, p.
5. "For Cassius is a weary of the world."--SHAKSPEARE: _in Kirkham's
Elocution_, p. 67. "By the coming together of more, the chains were
fastened on."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 223. "Unto the carrying away of
Jerusalem captive in the fifth month."--_Jer._, i, 3. "And the goings forth
of the border shall be to Zedad."--_Numbers_, xxxiv, 8. "And the goings out
of it shall be at Hazar-enan."--_Ib._, ver. 9. "For the taking place of
effects, in a certain particular series."--_Dr. West, on Agency_, p. 39.
"The letting go of which was the occasion of all that corruption."--_Dr. J.
Owen._ "A falling off at the end always hurts greatly."--_Blair's Lect._,
p. 126. "A falling off at the end is always injurious."--_Jamieson's
Rhetoric_, p. 127. "As all holdings forth were courteously supposed to be
trains of reasoning."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of Europ. Lang._, Vol. i, p.
333. "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."--
_Micah_, v, 2. "Some times the adjective becomes a substantive."--
_Bradley's Gram._, p. 104. "It is very plain, I consider man as visited a
new."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 331. "Nor do I any where say, as he
falsely insinuates."--_Ib._, p. 331. "Every where, any where, some where,
no where."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 55. "The world hurries off a pace,
and time is like a rapid river."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 58. "But to now
model the paradoxes of ancient skepticism."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. i, p.
102. "The south east winds from the ocean invariably produce
rain."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 369. "North west winds from the high lands
produce cold clear weather."--_Ib._ "The greatest part of such tables would
be of little use to English men."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 155. "The ground
floor of the east wing of Mulberry street meeting house was filled."--_The
Friend_, vii, 232. "Prince Rupert's Drop. This singular production is made
at the glass houses."--_Red Book_, p. 131.

   "The lights and shades, whose well accorded strife
    Gives all the strength and colour of our life."
        --_Murray's Gram._, p. 54; _Fisk's_, 65.


LESSON II.--MIXED.

"In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven
days in Tirzah."--_1 Kings_, xvi, 15. "In the thirty and first year of Asa
king of Judah, began Omri to reign over Israel."--_Ib._, xvi, 23. "He
cannot so deceive himself as to fancy that he is able to do a rule of three
sum."--_Foreign Quarterly Review_. "The best cod are those known under the
name of Isle of Shoals dun fish."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 26. "The soldiers,
with down cast eyes, seemed to beg for mercy."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol.
ii, p. 142. "His head was covered with a coarse worn out piece of
cloth."--_Ib._, p. 124. "Though they had lately received a reinforcement of
a thousand heavy armed Spartans."--_Ib._, p. 38. "But he laid them by
unopened; and, with a smile, said, 'Business to morrow.'"--_Ib._, p. 7.
"Chester monthly meeting is held at Moore's town, the third day following
the second second day."--_The Friend_, Vol. vii, p. 124. "Eggharbour
monthly meeting is held the first second day."--_Ib._, p. 124. "Little Egg
Harbour Monthly Meeting is held at Tuckerton on the second fifth day in
each month."--_Ib._, p. 231. "At three o'clock, on first day morning the
24th of eleventh month, 1834," &c.--_Ib._, p. 64. "In less than one-fourth
part of the time usually devoted."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 4. "The pupil
will not have occasion to use it one-tenth part as much."--_Ib._, p. 11.
"The painter dips his paint brush in paint, to paint the
carriage."--_Ib._, p. 28. "In an ancient English version of the
New-Testament."--_Ib._, p. 74. "The little boy was bare headed."--_Red
Book_, p. 36. "The man, being a little short sighted, did not immediately
know him."--_Ib._, p. 40. "Picture frames are gilt with gold."--_Ib._, p.
44. "The park keeper killed one of the deer."--_Ib._, p. 44. "The fox was
killed near the brick kiln."--_Ib._, p. 46. "Here comes Esther, with her
milk pail."--_Ib._, p. 50. "The cabinet maker would not tell us."--_Ib._,
p. 60. "A fine thorn hedge extended along the edge of the hill."--_Ib._, p.
65. "If their private interests should be ever so little affected."--_Ib._,
p. 73. "Unios are fresh water shells, vulgarly called fresh water
clams."--_Ib._, p. 102.

   "Did not each poet mourn his luckless doom,
    Jostled by pedants out of elbow room."--_Lloyd_, p. 163.


LESSON III.--MIXED.

"The captive hovers a-while upon the sad remains."--PRIOR: _in Johnson's
Dict., w. Hover._ "Constantia saw that the hand writing agreed with the
contents of the letter."--ADDISON: _ib., w. Hand_. "They have put me in a
silk night-gown, and a gaudy fool's cap."--ID.: _ib., w. Nightgown_. "Have
you no more manners than to rail at Hocus, that has saved that clod-pated,
numskull'd ninnyhammer of yours from ruin, and all his family?"--ARBUTHNOT:
_ib., w. Ninnyhammer_. "A noble, that is, six, shillings and eightpence,
is, and usually hath been paid."--BACON: _ib., w. Noble_. "The king of
birds thick feather'd and with full-summed wings, fastened his talons east
and west."--HOWELL: _ib., w. Full-summed_. "To morrow. This is an idiom of
the same kind, supposing _morrow_ to mean originally _morning_: as, _to
night, to day_."--_Johnson's Dict._, 4to. "To-day goes away and to-morrow
comes."--_Id., ib., w. Go_, No. 70. "Young children, who are try'd in Go
carts, to keep their steps from sliding."--PRIOR: _ib., w. Go-cart_.
"Which, followed well, would demonstrate them but goers backward."--SHAK.:
_ ib., w. Goer_. "Heaven's golden winged herald late he saw, to a poor
Galilean virgin sent."--CRASHAW: _ib., w. Golden_. "My penthouse eye-brows
and my shaggy beard offend your sight."--DRYDEN: _ib., w. Penthouse_. "The
hungry lion would fain have been dealing with good horse-flesh."--
L'ESTRANGE: _ib., w. Nag_. "A broad brimmed hat ensconced each careful
head."--_Snelling's Gift_, p. 63. "With harsh vibrations of his three
stringed lute."--_Ib._, p. 42. "They magnify a hundred fold an author's
merit."--_Ib._, p. 14. "I'll nail them fast to some oft opened
door."--_Ib._, p. 10. "Glossed over only with a saint-like show, still thou
art bound to vice."--DRYDEN: in _Johnson's Dict., w. Gloss_. "Take of
aqua-fortis two ounces, of quick-silver two drachms."--BACON: _ib., w.
Charge_. "This rainbow never appears but when it rains in the
sun-shine."--NEWTON: _ib., w. Rainbow_.

   "Not but there are, who merit other palms;
    Hopkins and Stern hold glad the heart with Psalms."
                       _British Poets_, Lond., 1800, Vol. vi, p. 405.




CHAPTER IV.--OF SPELLING.

_Spelling_ is the art of expressing words by their proper letters. This
important art is to be acquired rather by means of the spelling-book or
dictionary, and by observation in reading, than by the study of written
rules; because what is proper or improper, depends chiefly upon usage.

The orthography of our language is attended with much uncertainty and
perplexity: many words are variously spelled by the best scholars, and many
others are not usually written according to the analogy of similar words.
But to be ignorant of the orthography of such words as are spelled with
uniformity, and frequently used, is justly considered disgraceful.

The following rules may prevent some embarrassment, and thus be of service
to those who wish to be accurate.


_RULES FOR SPELLING._

RULE I.--FINAL F, L, OR S.

Monosyllables ending in _f, l_, or _s_, preceded by a single vowel, double
the final consonant; as _staff, mill, pass--muff, knell, gloss--off, hiss,
puss_.

EXCEPTIONS.--The words _clef, if_, and _of_, are written with single _f_;
and _as, gas, has, was, yes, his, is, this, us, pus_, and _thus_, with
single _s_. So _bul_, for the flounder; _nul_, for _no_, in law; _sol_, for
_sou_ or _sun_; and _sal_, for _salt_, in chemistry, have but the single
_l_.

OBS.--Because _sal, salis_, in Latin, doubles not the _l_, the chemists
write _salify, salifiable, salification, saliferous, saline, salinous,
saliniform, salifying_, &c., with single _l_, contrary to Rule 3d. But in
_gas_ they ought to double the _s_; for this is a word of their own
inventing. Neither have they any plea for allowing it to form _gases_ and
_gaseous_ with the _s_ still single; for so they make it violate two
general rules at once. If the singular cannot now be written _gass_, the
plural should nevertheless be _gasses_, and the adjective should be
_gasseous_, according to Rule 3d.

RULE II.--OTHER FINALS.

Words ending in any other consonant than _f, l_, or _s_, do not double the
final letter; as, _mob, nod, dog, sum, sun, cup, cur, cut, fix, whiz_.

EXCEPTIONS.--We double the consonant in _abb, ebb, add, odd, egg, jagg,
ragg, inn, err, burr, purr, butt, buzz, fuzz, yarr_, and some proper names.
But we have also _ab_ (_from_) and _ad_ (_to_) for prefixes; and _jag, rag,
in, bur_, and _but_, are other words that conform to the rule.

RULE III.--DOUBLING.

Monosyllables, and words accented on the last syllable, when they end with
a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, or by a vowel after _qu_,
double their final consonant before an additional syllable that begins with
a vowel: as, _rob, robbed, robber; fop, foppish, foppery; squat, squatter,
squatting; thin, thinner, thinnest; swim, swimmer, swimming; commit,
committeth, committing, committed, committer, committees; acquit,
acquittal, acquittance, acquitted, acquitting, acquitteth_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. X final, being equivalent to _ks_, is never doubled: thus,
from _mix_, we have _mixed, mixing_, and _mixer_. 2. When the derivative
retains not the accent of the root, the final consonant is not always
doubled: as, _prefer', pref'erence, pref'erable; refer', ref'erence,
ref'erable_, or _refer'rible; infer', in'ference, in'ferable_, or
_infer'rible; transfer'_, a _trans'fer, trans'ferable_, or
_transfer'rible_. 3. But letters doubled in Latin, are usually doubled in
English, without regard to accent, or to any other principle: as, Britain,
_Britan'nic, Britannia_; appeal, _appel'lant_; argil, _argil'laus,
argilla'ceous_; cavil, _cav'illous, cavilla'tion_; excel', _ex'cellent,
ex'cellence_; inflame', _inflam'mable, inflamma'tion_. See Observations 13
and 14, p. 199.

RULE IV.--NO DOUBLING.

A final consonant, when it is not preceded by a single vowel, or when the
accent is not on the last syllable, should remain single before an
additional syllable: as, _toil, toiling; oil, oily; visit, visited; differ,
differing; peril, perilous; viol, violist; real, realize, realist; dial,
dialing, dialist; equal, equalize, equality; vitriol, vitriolic,
vitriolate_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. The final _l_ of words ending in _el_, must be doubled
before an other vowel, lest the power of the _e_ be mistaken, and a
syllable be lost: as, _travel, traveller; duel, duellist; revel, revelling;
gravel, gravelly; marvel, marvellous_. Yet the word _parallel_, having
three Ells already, conforms to the rule in forming its derivatives; as,
_paralleling, paralleled_, and _unparalleled_. 2. Contrary to the preceding
rule, the preterits, participles, and derivative nouns, of the few verbs
ending in _al, il_, or _ol_, unaccented,--namely, _equal, rival, vial,
marshal, victual, cavil, pencil, carol, gambol_, and _pistol_,--are usually
allowed to double the _l_, though some dissent from the practice: as,
_equalled, equalling; rivalled, rivalling; cavilled, cavilling, caviller;
carolled, carolling, caroller_. 3. When _ly_ follows _l_, we have two Ells
of course, but in fact no doubling: as, _real, really; oral, orally; cruel,
cruelly; civil, civilly; cool, coolly; wool, woolly_. 4. Compounds, though
they often remove the principal accent from the point of duplication,
always retain the double letter: as, _wit'snapper, kid'napper,[114]
grass'hopper, duck'-legged, spur'galled, hot'spurred, broad'-brimmed,
hare'-lipped, half-witted_. So, _compromitted_ and _manumitted_; but
_benefited_ is different.

RULE V.--FINAL CK.

Monosyllables and English verbs end not with _c_, but take _ck_ for double
_c_; as, _rack, wreck, rock, attack_: but, in general, words derived from
the learned languages need not the _k_, and common use discards it; as,
_Italic, maniac, music, public_.

EXCEPTIONS.--The words _arc_, part of a circle; _orc_, the name of a fish;
_lac_, a gum or resin; and _sac_, or _soc_, a privilege, in old English
law, are ended with _c_ only. _Zinc_ is, perhaps, better spelled _zink_;
_marc, mark_; _disc, disk_; and _talc, talck_.

RULE VI.--RETAINING.

Words ending with any double letter, preserve it double before any
additional termination, not beginning with the same letter;[115] as in the
following derivatives: _wooer, seeing, blissful, oddly, gruffly, equally,
shelly, hilly, stiffness, illness, stillness, shrillness, fellness,
smallness, drollness, freeness, grassless, passless, carelessness,
recklessness, embarrassment, enfeoffment, agreement, agreeable_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. Certain irregular derivatives in _d_ or _t_, from verbs
ending in _ee, ll_, or _ss_, (as _fled_ from _flee, sold_ from _sell, told_
from _tell, dwelt_ from _dwell, spelt_ from _spell, spilt_ from _spill,
shalt_ from _shall, wilt_ from _will, blest_ from _bless, past_ from
_pass_,) are exceptions to the foregoing rule. 2. If the word _pontiff_ is
properly spelled with two Effs, its eight derivatives are also exceptions
to this rule; for they are severally spelled with one; as, _pontific,
pontifical, pontificate_, &c. 3. The words _skillful, skillfully, willful,
willfully, chillness, tallness, dullness_, and _fullness_, have generally
been allowed to drop the second _l_, though all of them might well be made
to conform to the general rule, agreeably to the orthography of Webster.

RULE VII.--RETAINING.

Words ending with any double letter, preserve it double in all derivatives
formed from them by means of prefixes: as, _see, foresee_; _feoff,
enfeoff_; _pass, repass_; _press, depress_; _miss, amiss_; _call, recall_;
_stall, forestall_; _thrall, inthrall_; _spell, misspell_; _tell,
foretell_; _sell, undersell_; _add, superadd_; _snuff, besnuff_; _swell,
overswell_.

OBSERVATION.--The words _enroll, unroll, miscall, befall, befell, bethrall,
reinstall, disinthrall, fulfill_, and _twibill_, are very commonly written
with one _l_, and made exceptions to this rule; but those authors are in
the right who retain the double letter.

RULE VIII.--FINAL LL.

Final _ll_ is peculiar to monosyllables and their compounds, with the few
derivatives formed from such roots by prefixes; consequently, all other
words that end in _l_, must be terminated with a single _l_: as, _cabal,
logical, appal, excel, rebel, refel, dispel, extol, control, mogul, jackal,
rascal, damsel, handsel, tinsel, tendril, tranquil, gambol, consul_.

OBSERVATION.--The words _annul, until, distil, extil_, and _instil_, are
also properly spelled with one _l_; for the monosyllables _null, till_, and
_still_ are not really their roots, but rather derivatives, or contractions
of later growth. Webster, however, prefers _distill, extill_, and _instill_
with _ll_; and some have been disposed to add the other two.

RULE IX.--FINAL E.

The final _e_ of a primitive word, when this letter is mute or obscure, is
generally omitted before an additional termination beginning with a vowel:
as, _remove, removal_; _rate, ratable_; _force, forcible_; _true, truism_;
_rave, raving_; _sue, suing_; _eye, eying_; _idle, idling_; _centre,
centring_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. Words ending in _ce_ or _ge_, retain the _e_ before _able_
or _ous_, to preserve the soft sounds of _c_ and _g_: as, _trace,
traceable_; _change, changeable_; _outrage, outrageous_. 2. So, from
_shoe_, we write _shoeing_, to preserve the sound of the root; from _hoe,
hoeing_, by apparent analogy; and, from _singe, singeing_; from _swinge,
swingeing_; from _tinge, tingeing_; that they may not be confounded with
_singing, swinging_, and _tinging_. 3. To compounds and prefixes, as
_firearms, forearm, anteact, viceagent_, the rule does not apply; and final
_ee_ remains double, by Rule 6th, as in _disagreeable, disagreeing_.

RULE X.--FINAL E.

The final _e_ of a primitive word is generally retained before an
additional termination beginning with a consonant: as, _pale, paleness_;
_edge, edgeless_; _judge, judgeship_; _lodge, lodgement_; _change,
changeful_; _infringe, infringement_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. When the _e_ is preceded by a vowel, it is sometimes
omitted; as in _duly, truly, awful, argument_; but much more frequently
retained; as in _dueness, trueness, blueness, bluely, rueful, dueful,
shoeless, eyeless_. 2. The word _wholly_ is also an exception to the rule,
for nobody writes it _wholely_. 3. Some will have _judgment, abridgment_,
and _acknowledgment_, to be irreclaimable exceptions; but I write them with
the _e_, upon the authority of Lowth, Beattie, Ainsworth, Walker, Cobb,
Chalmers, and others: the French "_jugement_," _judgement_, always retains
the _e_.

RULE XI--FINAL Y.

The final _y_ of a primitive word, when preceded by a consonant, is
generally changed into _i_ before an additional termination: as, _merry,
merrier, merriest, merrily, merriment_; _pity, pitied, pities, pitiest,
pitiless, pitiful, pitiable_; _contrary, contrariness, contrarily_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. This rule applies to derivatives, but not to compounds:
thus, we write _merciful_, and _mercy-seat_; _penniless_, and _pennyworth_;
_scurviness_, and _scurvy-grass_; &c. But _ladyship_ and _goodyship_, being
unlike _secretariship_ and _suretiship_; _handicraft_ and _handiwork_,[116]
unlike _handygripe_ and _handystroke_; _babyship_ and _babyhood_, unlike
_stateliness_ and _likelihood_; the distinction between derivatives and
compounds, we see, is too nice a point to have been always accurately
observed. 2. Before _ing_ or _ish_, the _y_ is retained to prevent the
doubling of _i_: as, _pity, pitying_; _baby, babyish_. 3. Words ending in
_ie_, dropping the _e_ by Rule 9th, change the _i_ into _y_, for the same
reason: as, _die, dying_; _vie, vying_; _lie, lying_.

RULE XII--FINAL Y.

The final _y_ of a primitive word, when preceded by a vowel, should not be
changed into _i_ before any additional termination: as, _day, days_; _key,
keys_; _guy, guys_; _valley, valleys_; _coy, coyly_; _cloy, cloys, cloyed_;
_boy, boyish, boyhood_; _annoy, annoyer, annoyance_; _joy, joyless,
joyful_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. From _lay, pay, say_, and _stay_, are formed _laid, paid,
said_, and _staid_; but the regular words, _layed, payed, stayed_, are
sometimes used. 2. _Raiment_, contracted from _arrayment_, is never written
with the _y_. 3. _Daily_ is more common than the regular form _dayly_; but
_gayly, gayety_, and _gayness_, are justly superseding _gaily_ and
_gaiety_.

RULE XIII.--IZE AND ISE.

Words ending in _ize_ or _ise_ sounded alike, as in _wise_ and _size_,
generally take the _z_ in all such as are essentially formed by means of
the termination; and the _s_ in monosyllables, and all such as are
essentially formed by means of prefixes: as, _gormandise, apologize,
brutalize, canonize, pilgrimize, philosophize, cauterize, anathematize,
sympathize, disorganize_, with _z_;[117] _rise, arise, disguise, advise,
devise, supervise, circumcise, despise, surmise, surprise, comprise,
compromise, enterprise, presurmise_, with _s_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. _Advertise, catechise, chastise, criticise_,[118]
_exercise, exorcise_, and _merchandise_, are most commonly written with _s_
and _size, assize, capsize, analyze, overprize, detonize_, and _recognize_,
with _z_. How many of them are real exceptions to the rule, it is difficult
to say. 2. _Prise_, a thing taken, and _prize_, to esteem; _apprise_, to
inform, and _apprize_, to _value_, or _appraise_, are often written either
way, without this distinction of meaning, which some wish to establish. 3.
The want of the foregoing rule has also made many words _variable_, which
ought, unquestionably, to conform to the general principle.

RULE XIV.--COMPOUNDS.

Compounds generally retain the orthography of the simple words which
compose them: as, _wherein, horseman, uphill, shellfish, knee-deep,
kneedgrass, kneading-trough, innkeeper, skylight, plumtree, mandrill_.

EXCEPTIONS.--1. In permanent compounds, or in any derivatives of which,
they are not the _roots_, the words _full_ and _all_ drop one _l_; as,
_handful, careful, fulfil, always, although, withal_; in temporary
compounds, they retain both; as, _full-eyed, chock-full_,[119] _all-wise,
save-all_. 2. So the prefix _mis_, (if from _miss_, to err,) drops one _s_;
but it is wrong to drop them both, as in Johnson's "_mispell_" and
"_mispend_," for _misspell_ and _misspend_. 3. In the names of days, the
word _mass_ also drops one _s_; as, _Christmas, Candlemas, Lammas_. 4. The
possessive case often drops the apostrophe; as in _herdsman, kitesfoot_. 5.
One letter is dropped, if three of the same kind come together: as,
_Rosshire, chaffinch_; or else a hyphen is used: as, _Ross-shire,
ill-looking, still-life_. 6. _Chilblain, welcome_, and _welfare_, drop one
_l_. 7. _Pastime_ drops an _s_. 8. _Shepherd, wherever_, and _whosever_,
drop an _e_; and _wherefore_ and _therefore_ assume one.

RULE XV.--USAGE.

Any word for the spelling of which we have no rule but usage, is written
wrong if not spelled according to the usage which is most common among the
learned: as, "The brewer grinds his malt before he _brues_ his beer."--_Red
Book_, p. 38.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The foregoing rules aim at no wild and impracticable reformation
of our orthography; but, if carefully applied, they will do much to obviate
its chief difficulties. Being made variable by the ignorance of some
writers and the caprice of others, our spelling is now, and always has
been, exceedingly irregular and unsettled. Uniformity and consistency can
be attained in no other way, than by the steady application of rules and
principles; and these must be made as few and as general as the case will
admit, that the memory of the learner may not be overmatched by their
number or complexity. Rules founded on the analogy of similar words, and
sanctioned by the usage of careful writers, must be taken as our guides;
because common practice is often found to be capricious, contradictory, and
uncertain. That errors and inconsistencies abound, even in the books which
are proposed to the world as _standards_ of English orthography, is a
position which scarcely needs proof. It is true, to a greater or less
extent, of all the spelling-books and dictionaries that I have seen, and
probably of all that have ever been published. And as all authors are
liable to mistakes, which others may copy, general rules should have more
weight than particular examples to the contrary. "The right spelling of a
word may be said to be that which agrees the best with its pronunciation,
its etymology, and with the analogy of the particular class of words to
which it belongs."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 647.

OBS. 2.--I do not deny that great respect is due to the authority of our
lexicographers, or that great improvement was made in the orthography of
our language when Dr. Johnson put his hand to the work. But sometimes one
man's authority may offset an other's; and he that is inconsistent with
himself, destroys his own: for, surely, his example cannot be paramount to
his principles. Much has been idly said, both for and against the adoption
of Johnson's Dictionary, or Webster's, as _the criterion_ of what is right
or wrong in spelling; but it would seem that no one man's learning is
sufficiently extensive, or his memory sufficiently accurate, to be solely
relied on to furnish _a standard_ by which we may in all cases be governed.
Johnson was generally right; but, like other men, he was sometimes wrong.
He erred sometimes in his _principles_, or in their application; as when he
adopted the _k_ in such words as _rhetorick_, and _demoniack_; or when he
inserted the _u_ in such words as _governour, warriour, superiour_. Neither
of these modes of spelling was ever generally adopted, in any thing like
the number of words to which he applied them; or ever will be; though some
indiscreet compilers are still zealously endeavouring to impose them upon
the public, as the true way of spelling. He also erred sometimes _by
accident_, or _oversight_; as when he spelled thus: "_recall_ and _miscal,
inthrall_ and _bethral, windfall_ and _downfal, laystall_ and _thumbstal,
waterfall_ and _overfal, molehill_ and _dunghil, windmill_ and _twibil,
uphill_ and _downhil_." This occasional excision of the letter _l_ is
reprehensible, because it is contrary to general analogy, and because both
letters are necessary to preserve the sound, and show the derivation of the
compound. Walker censures it as a "ridiculous irregularity," and lays the
blame of it on the "_printers_," and yet does not venture to correct it!
See Johnson's Dictionary, first American edition, quarto; Walker's
Pronouncing Dictionary, under the word _Dunghil_; and his Rhyming
Dictionary, Introd., p. xv.

OBS. 3.--"Dr. Johnson's Dictionary" has been represented by some as having
"nearly fixed the external form of our language." But Murray, who quotes
this from Dr. Nares, admits, at the same time, that, "The orthography of a
great number of English words, is far from being uniform, even amongst
writers of distinction."--_Gram._, p. 25. And, after commending this work
of Johnson's, as A STANDARD, from which, "it is earnestly to be hoped, that
no author will henceforth, on light grounds, be tempted to innovate," he
adds, "This Dictionary, however, contains some orthographical
inconsistencies which ought to be rectified: such as, _immovable, moveable;
chastely, chastness; fertileness, fertily; sliness, slyly; fearlessly,
fearlesness; needlessness, needlesly_."--_Ib._ In respect to the final _ck_
and _our_, he also _intentionally departs from_ THE STANDARD _which he thus
commends_; preferring, in that, the authority of _Walker's Rhyming
Dictionary_, from which he borrowed his rules for spelling. For, against
the use of _k_ at the end of words from the learned languages, and against
the _u_ in many words in which Johnson used it, we have the authority, not
only of general usage now, but of many grammarians who were contemporary
with Johnson, and of more than a dozen lexicographers, ancient or modern,
among whom is Walker himself. In this, therefore, Murray's practice is
right, and his commended standard dictionary, wrong.

OBS. 4.--Of words ending in _or_ or _our_, we have about three hundred and
twenty; of which not more than forty can now with any propriety be written
with the latter termination. Aiming to write according to the best usage of
the present day, I insert the _u_ in so many of these words as now seem
most familiar to the eye when so written; but I have no partiality for any
letters that can well be spared; and if this book should ever, by any good
fortune, happen to be reprinted, after _honour, labour, favour, behaviour_,
and _endeavour_, shall have become as unfashionable as _authour, errour,
terrour_, and _emperour_, are now, let the proof-reader strike out the
useless letter not only from these words, but from all others which shall
bear an equally antiquated appearance.

OBS. 5.--I have suggested the above-mentioned imperfections in _Dr.
Johnson's_ orthography, merely to justify the liberty which I take of
spelling otherwise; and not with any view to give a preference to that of
_Dr. Webster_, who is now contending for the honour of having furnished a
more correct _standard_. For the latter author, though right in some things
in which the former was wrong, is, on the whole, still more erroneous and
inconsistent. In his various attempts at reformation in our orthography, he
has spelled many hundreds of words in such a variety of ways, that he knows
not at last which of them is right, and which are wrong. But in respect to
_definitions_, he has done good service to our literature; nor have his
critics been sufficiently just respecting what they call his "innovations."
See Cobb's Critical Review of the Orthography of Webster. To omit the _k_
from such words as _publick_, or the _u_ from such as _superiour_, is
certainly _no innovation_; it is but ignorance that censures the general
practice, under that name. The advocates for Johnson and opponents of
Webster, who are now so zealously stickling for the _k_ and the _u_ in
these cases, ought to know that they are contending for what was obsolete,
or obsolescent, when Dr. Johnson was a boy.

OBS. 6.--I have before observed that some of the grammarians who were
contemporary with Johnson, did not adopt his practice respecting the _k_ or
the _u_, in _publick, critick, errour, superiour_, &c. And indeed I am not
sure there were any who did. Dr. Johnson was born in 1709, and he died in
1784. But Brightland's Grammar, which was written during the reign of Queen
Anne, who died in 1714, in treating of the letter C, says, "If in any Word
the harder Sound precedes (_e_), (_i_), or (_y_), (_k_) is either added or
put in its Place; as, _Skill, Skin, Publick_: And tho' the additional (_k_)
in the foregoing Word be an _old Way_ of Spelling, yet it is now very
justly left off, as being a superfluous Letter; for (_c_) at the End is
always hard."--Seventh Edition, Lond., 1746, p. 37.

OBS. 7.--The three
grammars of Ash, Priestley, and Lowth, all appeared, in their first
editions, about one time; all, if I mistake not, in the year 1763; and none
of these learned doctors, it would seem, used the mode of spelling now in
question. In Ash, of 1799, we have such orthography as this: "Italics,
public, domestic, our traffic, music, quick; error, superior, warrior,
authors, honour, humour, favour, behaviour." In Priestley, of 1772:
"Iambics, dactyls, dactylic, anapæstic, monosyllabic, electric, public,
critic; author, emperor's, superior; favour, labours, neighbours, laboured,
vigour, endeavour; meagre, hillock, bailiwick, bishoprick, control,
travelling." In Lowth, of 1799: "Comic, critic, characteristic, domestic;
author, _favor, favored, endeavored, alledging_, foretells." Now all these
are words in the spelling of which Johnson and Webster contradict each
other; and if they are not all right, surely they would not, on the whole,
be made more nearly right, by being conformed to either of these
authorities exclusively. For THE BEST USAGE is the ultimate rule of
grammar.

OBS. 8.--The old British Grammar, written before the American Revolution,
and even before "_the learned Mr. Samuel Johnson_" was doctorated, though
it thus respectfully quotes that great scholar, does not follow him in the
spelling of which I am treating. On the contrary, it abounds with examples
of words ending in _ic_ and _or_, and not in _ick_ and _our_, as he wrote
them; and I am confident, that, from that time to this, the former
orthography has continued to be _more common than his_. Walker, the
orthoëpist, who died in 1807, yielded the point respecting the _k_, and
ended about four hundred and fifty words with _c_ in his Rhyming
Dictionary; but he thought it more of an innovation than it really was. In
his Pronouncing Dictionary, he says, "It has been a custom, _within these
twenty years_, to omit the _k_ at the end of words, when preceded by _c_.
This has introduced a _novelty_ into the language, which is that of ending
a word with an unusual letter," &c. "This omission of _k_ is, however, too
general to be counteracted, even by the authority of Johnson; but it is to
be hoped it will be confined to words from the learned languages."--
_Walker's Principles of Pronunciation_, No. 400. The tenth edition of
Burn's Grammar, dated 1810, says, "It has become customary to omit _k_
after _c_ at the end of dissyllables and trisyllables, &c. as _music,
arithmetic, logic_; but the _k_ is retained in monosyllables; as, _back,
deck, rick_, &c."--P. 25. James Buchanan, of whose English Syntax there had
been five American editions in 1792, added no _k_ to such words as
_didactic, critic, classic_, of which he made frequent use; and though he
wrote _honour, labour_, and the like, with _u_, as they are perhaps most
generally written now, he inserted no _u_ in _error, author_, or any of
those words in which that letter would now be inconsistent with good taste.

OBS. 9.--Bicknell's Grammar, of 1790, treating of the letter _k_, says,
"And for the same reason we have _dropt_ it at the end of words after _c_,
which is there always hard; as in _publick, logick_, &c. which are more
elegantly written _public, logic_."--Part ii, p. 13. Again: "It has
heretofore joined with _c_ at the end of words; as _publick, logick_; but,
as before observed, being there quite superfluous, it is now left
out"--_Ib._, p. 16. Horne Tooke's orthography was also agreeable to the
rule which I have given on this subject. So is the usage of David Booth:
"Formerly a _k_ was added, as, _rustick, politick, Arithmetick_, &c. but
this is now in disuse."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, Lond., 1814, p. 80.

OBS. 10.--As the authors of many recent spelling-books--Cobb, Emerson,
Burhans, Bolles, Sears, Marshall, Mott, and others--are now contending for
this "_superfluous letter_," in spite of all the authority against it, it
seems proper briefly to notice their argument, lest the student be misled
by it. It is summed up by one of them in the following words: "In regard to
_k_ after _c_ at the end of words, it may be sufficient to say, that its
omission has never been attempted, except in a _small portion_ of the cases
_where_ it occurs; and that _it_ tends to an erroneous pronunciation of
derivatives, as in _mimick, mimicking_, where, if the _k_ were omitted,
_it_ would read mimicing; and as _c_ before _i_ is always sounded like _s,
it_ must be pronounced _mimising_. Now, since _it_ is never omitted in
monosyllables, _where it_ most frequently occurs, as in _block, clock_,
&c., and _can be in a part only_ of polysyllables, it is thought better to
preserve it in all cases, by _which_ we have one general rule, in place of
several irregularities and exceptions that must follow its partial
omission."--_Bolles's Spelling-Book_, p. 2. I need not tell the reader that
these two sentences evince great want of care or skill in the art of
grammar. But it is proper to inform him, that we have in our language
eighty-six monosyllables which end with _ck_, and from them about fifty
compounds or derivatives, which of course keep the same termination. To
these may be added a dozen or more which seem to be of doubtful formation,
such as _huckaback, pickapack, gimcrack, ticktack, picknick, barrack,
knapsack, hollyhock, shamrock, hammock, hillock, hammock, bullock,
roebuck_. But the verbs on which this argument is founded are only six;
_attack, ransack, traffick, frolick, mimick_, and _physick_; and these,
unquestionably, must either be spelled with the k, or must assume it in
their derivatives. Now that useful class of words which are generally and
properly written with final _c_, are about _four hundred and fifty_ in
number, and are all of them either adjectives or nouns of regular
derivation from the learned languages, being words of more than one
syllable, which have come to us from Greek or Latin roots. But what has the
doubling of _c_ by _k_, in our native monosyllables and their derivatives,
to do with all these words of foreign origin? For the reason of the matter,
we might as well double the _l_, as our ancestors did, in _naturall,
temporall, spirituall_, &c.

OBS. 11.--The learner should observe that some letters incline much to a
duplication, while gome others are doubled but seldom, and some, never.
Thus, among the vowels, _ee_ and _oo_ occur frequently; _aa_ is used
sometimes; _ii_, never--except in certain Latin words, (wherein the vowels
are separately uttered,) such as _Horatii, Veii, iidem, genii_. Again, the
doubling of _u_ is precluded by the fact that we have a distinct letter
called _Double-u_, which was made by joining two Vees, or two Ues, when the
form for _u_ was _v_. So, among the consonants, _f, l, and s_, incline more
to duplication, than any others. These letters are double, not only at the
end of those monosyllables which have but one vowel, as _staff, mill,
pass_; but also under some other circumstances. According to general
usage, final _f_ is doubled after a single vowel, in almost all cases; as
in _bailiff, caitiff, plaintiff, midriff, sheriff, tariff, mastiff_: yet
not in _calif_, which is perhaps better written _caliph_. Final _l_, as may
be seen by Rule 8th, admits not now of a duplication like this; but, by the
exceptions to Rule 4th, it is frequently doubled when no other consonant
would be; as in _travelling, grovelling_; unless, (contrary to the opinion
of Lowth, Walker, and Webster,) we will have _fillipping, gossipping_, and
_worshipping_, to be needful exceptions also.

OBS. 12.--Final _s_ sometimes occurs single, as in _alas, atlas, bias_; and
especially in Latin words, as _virus, impetus_; and when it is added to
form plurals, as _verse, verses_: but this letter, too, is generally
doubled at the end of primitive words of more than one syllable; as in
_carcass, compass, cuirass, harass, trespass, embarrass_. On the contrary,
the other consonants are seldom doubled, except when they come under Rule
3d. The letter _p_, however, is commonly doubled, in some words, even when
it forms a needless exception to Rule 4th; as in the derivatives from
_fillip, gossip_, and perhaps also _worship_. This letter, too, was very
frequently doubled in Greek; whence we have, from the name of Philip of
Macedon, the words _Philippic_ and _Philippize_, which, if spelled
according to our rule for such derivatives, would, like _galloped_ and
_galloper, siruped_ and _sirupy_, have but one _p_. We find them so written
in some late dictionaries. But if _fillipped, gossipped_, and _worshipped_,
with the other derivatives from the same roots, are just and necessary
exceptions to Rule 4th, (which I do not admit,) so are these; and for a
much stronger reason, as the classical scholar will think. In our language,
or in words purely English, the letters _h, i, j, k, q, v, w, x_, and _y_,
are, properly speaking, never doubled. Yet, in the forming of _compounds_,
it may possibly happen, that two Aitches, two Kays, or even two Double-ues
or Wies, shall come together; as in _withhold, brickkiln, slowwoorm,
bayyarn_.

OBS. 13.--There are some words--as those which come from _metal, medal,
coral, crystal, argil, axil, cavil, tranquil, pupil, papil_--in which the
classical scholar is apt to violate the analogy of English derivation, by
doubling the letter _l_, because he remembers the _ll_ of their foreign
roots, or their foreign correspondents. But let him also remember, that, if
a knowledge of etymology may be shown by spelling metallic, metalliferous,
metallography, metallurgic, metallurgist, metallurgy, medallic, medallion,
crystallize, crystalline, argillous, argillaceous, axillar, axillary,
cavillous, cavillation, papillate, papillous, papillary, tranquillity, and
pupillary, with double _l_, ignorance of it must needs be implied in
spelling metaline, metalist, metaloid, metaloidal, medalist, coralaceous,
coraline, coralite, coralinite, coraloid, coraloidal, crystalite, argilite,
argilitic, tranquilize, and pupilage, in like manner. But we cannot well
double the _l_ in the former, and not in the latter words. Here is a choice
of difficulties. Etymology must govern orthography. But what etymology? our
own, or that which is foreign? If we say, both, they disagree; and the mere
English scholar cannot know when, or how far, to be guided by the latter.
If a Latin diminutive, as _papilla_ from _papula_ or _papa, pupillus_ from
_pupus_, or _tranquillus_ from _trans_ and _quietus_, happen to double an
_l_, must we forever cling to the reduplication, and that, in spite of our
own rules to the contrary? Why is it more objectionable to change
_pupillaris_ to _pupilary_, than _pupillus_ to _pupil_? or, to change
_tranquillitas_ to _tranquility_, than _tranquillus_ to _tranquil_? And
since _papilous, pupilage_, and _tranquilize_ are formed from the English
words, and not directly from the Latin, why is it not as improper to write
them with double _l_, as to write _perilous, vassalage_, and _civilize_, in
the same manner?

OBS. 14.--If the practice of the learned would allow us to follow the
English rule here, I should incline to the opinion, that all the words
which I have mentioned above, ought to be written with single _l_.
Ainsworth exhibits the Latin word for _coral_ in four forms, and the Greek
word in three. Two of the Latin and two of the Greek have the _l_ single;
the others double it. He also spells "_coraliticus_" with one _l_, and
defines it "A sort of white marble, called _coraline_." [120] The
Spaniards, from whose _medalla_, we have _medal_; whose _argil_[121] is
_arcilla_, from the Latin _argilla_; and to whose _cavilar_, Webster traces
_cavil_; in all their derivatives from these Latin roots, _metallum_,
metal--_coralium, corallium, curalium_, or _corallum_, coral--_crystallus_
or _crystallum_, crystal--_pupillus_, pupil--and _tranquillus_,
tranquil--follow their own rules, and write mostly with single _l_: as,
_pupilero_, a teacher; _metalico_, metalic; _corolina_ (_fem_.) coraline;
_cristalino_, crystaline; _crystalizar_, crystalize; _traquilizar_,
tranquilize; and _tranquilidad_, tranquility. And if we follow not ours,
when or how shall the English scholar ever know why we spell as we do? For
example, what can he make of the orthography of the following words, which
I copy from our best dictionaries: equip', eq'uipage; wor'ship,
wor'shipper;--peril, perilous; cavil, cavillous;[122]--libel, libellous;
quarrel, quarrelous;--opal, opaline; metal, metalline;[123]--coral,
coralliform; crystal, crystalform;--dial, dialist; medal,
medallist;--rascal, rascalion; medal, medallion;--moral, moralist,
morality; metal, metallist, metallurgy;--civil, civilize, civility;
tranquil, tranquillize, tranquillity;--novel, novelism, novelist, novelize;
grovel, grovelling, grovelled, groveller?

OBS. 15.--The second clause of Murray's or Walker's 5th Rule for spelling,
gives only a single _l_ to each of the derivatives above named.[124] But it
also treats in like manner many hundreds of words in which the _l_ must
certainly be doubled. And, as neither "the Compiler," nor any of his
copiers, have paid any regard to their own principle, neither their
doctrine nor their practice can be of much weight either way. Yet it is
important to know to what words the rule is, or is not, applicable. In
considering this vexatious question about the duplication of _l_, I was at
first inclined to admit that, whenever final _l_ has become single in
English by dropping the second _l_ of a foreign root, the word shall
resume the _ll_ in all derivatives formed from it by adding a termination
beginning with a vowel; as, _beryllus, beryl, berylline_. This would, of
course, double the _l_ in nearly all the derivatives from _metal, medal_,
&c. But what says Custom? She constantly doubles the _l_ in most of them;
but wavers in respect to some, and in a few will have it single. Hence the
difficulty of drawing a line by which we may abide without censure.
_Pu'pillage_ and _pu'pillary_, with _ll_, are according to _Walker's
Rhyming Dictionary_; but Johnson spells them _pu'pilage_ and _pu'pilary_,
with single _l_; and Walker, in his Pronouncing Dictionary, has _pupilage_
with one _l_, and _pupillary_ with two. Again: both Johnson's and the
Pronouncing Dictionary, give us _medallist_ and _metallist_ with _ll_, and
are sustained by Webster and others; but Walker, in his Rhyming Dictionary,
writes them _medalist_ and _metalist_, with single _l_, like _dialist,
formalist, cabalist, herbalist_, and twenty other such words. Further:
Webster doubles the _l_ in all the derivatives of _metal, medal, coral,
axil, argil_, and _papil_; but writes it single in all those of _crystal,
cavil, pupil_, and _tranquil_--except _tranquillity_.

OBS. 16.--Dr. Webster also attempts, or pretends, to put in practice the
hasty proposition of Walker, to spell with single _l_ all derivatives from
words ending in _l_ not under the accent. "No letter," says Walker, "seems
to be more frequently doubled improperly than _l_. Why we should write
_libelling, levelling, revelling_, and yet _offering, suffering,
reasoning_, I am totally at a loss to determine; and, unless _l_ can give a
better plea than any other letter in the alphabet, for being doubled in
this situation, I must, in the style of Lucian, in his trial of the letter
_T_, declare for an expulsion."--_Rhyming Dict._, p. x. This rash
conception, being adopted by some men of still less caution, has wrought
great mischief in our orthography. With respect to words ending in _el_, it
is a good and sufficient reason for doubling the _l_, that the _e_ may
otherwise be supposed servile and silent. I have therefore made this
termination a general exception to the rule against doubling. Besides, a
large number of these words, being derived from foreign words in which the
_l_ was doubled, have a second reason for the duplication, as strong as
that which has often induced these same authors to double that letter, as
noticed above. Such are bordel, chapel, duel, fardel, gabel, gospel,
gravel, lamel, label, libel, marvel, model, novel, parcel, quarrel, and
spinel. Accordingly we find, that, in his work of expulsion, Dr. Webster
has not unfrequently contradicted himself, and conformed to usage, by
doubling the _l_ where he probably intended to write it single. Thus, in
the words bordeller, chapellany, chapelling, gospellary, gospeller,
gravelly, lamellate, lamellar, lamellarly, lamelliform, and spinellane, he
has written the _l_ double, while he has grossly corrupted many other
similar words by forbearing the reduplication; as, _traveler, groveling,
duelist, marvelous_, and the like. In cases of such difficulty, we can
never arrive at uniformity and consistency of practice, unless we resort to
_principles_, and such principles as can be made intelligible to the
_English_ scholar. If any one is dissatisfied with the rules and exceptions
which I have laid down, let him study the subject till he can furnish the
schools with better.

OBS. 17.--We have in our language a very numerous class of adjectives
ending in _able_ or _ible_, as _affable, arable, tolerable, admissible,
credible, infallible_, to the number of nine hundred or more. In respect to
the proper form and signification of some of these, there occurs no small
difficulty. _Able_ is a common English word, the meaning of which is much
better understood than its origin. Horne Tooke supposes it to have come
from the Gothic noun _abal_, signifying _strength_; and consequently avers,
that it "has nothing to do with the Latin adjective _habilis, fit_, or
_able_, from which our etymologists erroneously derive it."--_Diversions of
Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 450. This I suppose the etymologists will dispute with
him. But whatever may be its true derivation, no one can well deny that
_able_, as a suffix, belongs most properly, if not exclusively, to _verbs_;
for most of the words formed by it, are plainly a sort of verbal
adjectives. And it is evident that this author is right in supposing that
English words of this termination, like the Latin verbals in _bilis_, have,
or ought to have, such a signification as may justify the name which he
gives them, of "_potential passive adjectives_;" a signification in which
the English and the Latin derivatives exactly correspond. Thus
_dis'soluble_ or _dissolv'able_ does not mean _able to dissolve_, but
_capable of being dissolved_; and _divisible_ or _dividable_ does not mean
_able to divide_, but _capable of being divided_.

OBS. 18.--As to the application of this suffix to nouns, when we consider
the signification of the words thus formed, its propriety may well be
doubted. It is true, however, that nouns do sometimes assume something of
the nature of verbs, so as to give rise to adjectives that are of a
participial character; such, for instance, as _sainted, bigoted, conceited,
gifted, tufted_. Again, of such as _hard-hearted, good-natured,
cold-blooded_, we have an indefinite number. And perhaps, upon the same
principle, the formation of such words as _actionable, companionable,
exceptionable, marketable, merchantable, pasturable, treasonable_, and so
forth, may be justified, if care be taken to use them in a sense analogous
to that of the real verbals. But, surely, the meaning which is commonly
attached to the words _amicable, changeable, fashionable, favourable,
peaceable, reasonable, pleasurable, seasonable, suitable_, and some others,
would never be guessed from their formation. Thus, _suitable_ means
_fitting_ or _suiting_, and not _able to suit_, or _capable of being
suited_.

OBS. 19.--Though all words that terminate in _able_, used as a suffix, are
properly reckoned derivatives, rather than compounds, and in the former
class the separate meaning of the parts united is much less regarded than
in the latter; yet, in the use of words of this formation, it would be well
to have some respect to the general analogy of their signification as
stated above; and not to make derivatives of the same fashion convey
meanings so very different as do some of these. Perhaps it is from some
general notion of their impropriety, that several words of this doubtful
character have already become obsolete, or are gradually falling into
disuse: as, _accustomable, chanceable, concordable, conusable, customable,
behoovable, leisurable, medicinable, personable, powerable, razorable,
shapable, semblable, vengeable, veritable_. Still, there are several
others, yet currently employed, which might better perhaps, for the same
reason, give place to more regular terms: as, _amicable_, for _friendly_ or
_kind_; _charitable_, for _benevolent_ or _liberal_; _colourable_, for
_apparent_ or _specious_; _peaceable_, for _peaceful_ or _unhostile_;
_pleasurable_, for _pleasing_ or _delightful_; _profitable_, for _gainful_
or _lucrative_; _sociable_, for _social_ or _affable_; _reasonable_, for
_rational_ or _just_.

OBS. 20.--In respect to the orthography of words ending in _able_ or
_ible_, it is sometimes difficult to determine which of these endings ought
to be preferred; as whether we ought to write _tenable_ or _tenible,
reversable_ or _reversible, addable_ or _addible_. In Latin, the
termination is _bilis_, and the preceding vowel is determined by the
_conjugation_ to which the verb belongs. Thus, for verbs of the first
conjugation, it is _a_; as, from _arare_, to plough, _arabilis, arable_,
tillable. For the second conjugation, it is _i_; as, from _doc=ere_, to
teach, _docibilis_, or _docilis, docible_ or _docile_, teachable. For the
third conjugation, it is _i_; as, from _vend=ere_, to sell, _vendibilis,
vendible_, salable. And, for the fourth conjugation, it is _i_; as, from
_sepelire_, to bury, _sepelib~ilis, sep'elible_,[125] buriable. But from
_solvo_ and _volvo_, of the third conjugation, we have _ubilis, uble_; as,
_solubilis, sol'uble_, solvible or solvable; _volubilis, vol'uble_,
rollable. Hence the English words, _rev'oluble, res'oluble, irres'oluble,
dis'soluble, indis'soluble_, and _insol'uble_. Thus the Latin verbals in
_bilis_, are a sufficient guide to the orthography of all such words as are
traceable to them; but the mere English scholar cannot avail himself of
this aid; and of this sort of words we have a much greater number than were
ever known in Latin. A few we have borrowed from the French: as, _tenable,
capable, preferable, convertible_; and these we write as they are written
in French. But the difficulty lies chiefly in those which are of English
growth. For some of them are formed according to the model of the Latin
verbals in _ibilis_; as _forcible, coercible, reducible, discernible_; and
others are made by simply adding the suffix _able_; as _traceable,
pronounceable, manageable, advisable, returnable_. The last are purely
English; and yet they correspond in form with such as come from Latin
verbals in _abilis_.

OBS. 21.--From these different modes of formation, with the choice of
different roots, we have sometimes two or three words, differing in
orthography and pronunciation, but conveying the same meaning; as,
_divis'ible_ and _divi'dable, des'picable_ and _despi'sable, ref'erable_
and _refer'rible, mis'cible_ and _mix'able, dis'soluble, dissol'vible_, and
_dissol'vable_. Hence, too, we have some words which seem to the mere
English scholar to be spelled in a very contradictory manner, though each,
perhaps, obeys the law of its own derivation; as, _peaceable_ and
_forcible, impierceable_ and _coercible, marriageable_ and _corrigible,
damageable_ and _eligible, changeable_ and _tangible, chargeable_ and
_frangible, fencible_ and _defensible, pref'erable_ and _referrible,
conversable_ and _reversible, defendable_ and _descendible, amendable_ and
_extendible, bendable_ and _vendible, dividable_ and _corrodible,
returnable_ and _discernible, indispensable_ and _responsible, advisable_
and _fusible, respectable_ and _compatible, delectable_ and _collectible,
taxable_ and _flexible_.

OBS. 22.--The American editor of the _Red Book_, to whom all these apparent
inconsistencies seemed real blunders, has greatly exaggerated this
difficulty in our orthography, and charged Johnson and Walker with having
written all these words and many more, in this contradictory manner,
"_without any apparent reason_!" He boldly avers, that, "The perpetual
contradictions of the same or like words, _in all the books_, show that the
authors had no distinct ideas of what is right, and what is wrong;" and
ignorantly imagines, that, "The use of _ible_ rather than _able, in any
case_, originated in the necessity of keeping the soft sound of _c_ and
_g_, in the derivatives; and if _ible was confined_ to that use, it would
be an easy and simple rule."--_Red Book_, p. 170. Hence, he proposes to
write _peacible_ for _peaceable, tracible_ for _traceable, changible_ for
_changeable, managible_ for _manageable_; and so for all the rest that come
from words ending in _ce_ or _ge_. But, whatever advantage there might be
in this, his "easy and simple rule" would work a revolution for which the
world is not yet prepared. It would make _audible audable, fallible
fallable, feasible feasable, terrible terrable, horrible horrable_, &c. No
tyro can spell in a worse manner than this, even if he have no rule at all.
And those who do not know enough of Latin grammar to profit by what I have
said in the preceding observation, may console themselves with the
reflection, that, in spelling these difficult words entirely by guess, they
will not miss the way more than some have done who pretended to be critics.
The rule given by John Burn, for _able_ and _ible_, is less objectionable;
but it is rendered useless by the great number of its exceptions.

OBS. 23.--As most of the rules for spelling refer to the final letters of
our primitive words, it may be proper for the learner to know and remember,
that not all the letters of the alphabet can assume that situation, and
that some of them terminate words much more frequently than others. Thus,
in Walker's Rhyming Dictionary, the letter _a_ ends about 220 words; _b_,
160; _c_, 450; _d_, 1550; _e_, 7000; _f_, 140; _g_, 280; _h_, 400; _i_, 29;
_j_, none; _k_, 550; _l_, 1900; _m_, 550; _n_, 3300; _o_, 200; _p_, 450;
_q_, none; _r_, 2750; _s_, 3250; _t_, 3100; _u_, 14; _v_, none; _w_, 200;
_x_, 100; _y_, 5000; _z_, 5. We have, then, three consonants, _j, q_, and
_v_, which never end a word. And why not? With respect to _j_ and _v_, the
reason is plain from their history. These letters were formerly identified
with _i_ and _u_, which are not terminational letters. The vowel _i_ ends
no pure English word, except that which is formed of its own capital _I_;
and the few words which end with _u_ are all foreign, except _thou_ and
_you_. And not only so, the letter _j_ is what was formerly called _i
consonant_; and _v_ is what was called _u consonant_. But it was the
initial _i_ and _u_, or the _i_ and _u_ which preceded an other vowel, and
not those which followed one, that were converted into the consonants _j_
and _v_. Hence, neither of these letters ever ends any English word, or is
ever doubled. Nor do they unite with other consonants before or after a
vowel: except that _v_ is joined with _r_ in a few words of French origin,
as _livre, manoeuvre_; or with _l_ in some Dutch names, as _Watervleit. Q_
ends no English word, because it is always followed by _u_. The French
termination _que_, which is commonly retained in _pique, antique, critique,
opaque, oblique, burlesque_, and _grotesque_, is equivalent to _k_; hence
we write _packet, lackey, checker, risk, mask_, and _mosk_, rather than
_paquet, laquey, chequer, risque, masque_, and _mosque_. And some authors
write _burlesk_ and _grotesk_, preferring _k_ to _que_.

OBS. 24.--Thus we see that _j, q_, and _v_, are, for the most part, initial
consonants only. Hence there is a harshness, if not an impropriety, in that
syllabication which some have recently adopted, wherein they accommodate to
the ear the division of such words as _maj-es-ty, proj-ect,
traj-ect,--eq-ui-ty, liq-ui-date, ex-cheq-uer_. But _v_, in a similar
situation, has now become familiar; as in _ev-er-y, ev-i-dence_: and it may
also stand with _l_ or _r_, in the division of such words as _solv-ing_ and
_serv-ing_. Of words ending in _ive_, Walker exhibits four hundred and
fifty--exactly the same number that he spells with _ic_. And Horne Tooke,
who derives _ive_ from the Latin _ivus_, (q. d. _vis_,) and _ic_ from the
Greek [Greek: _ikos_], (q. d. [Greek: _ischus_]) both implying _power_, has
well observed that there is a general correspondence of meaning between
these two classes of adjectives--both being of "a potential active
signification; as _purgative, vomitive, operative_, &c.; _cathartic,
emetic, energetic_, &c."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 445. I have
before observed, that Tooke spelled all this latter class of words without
the final _k_; but he left it to Dr. Webster to suggest the reformation of
striking the final _e_ from the former.

OBS. 25.--In Dr. Webster's "Collection of Essays and _Fugitiv Peeces_,"
published in 1790, we find, among other equally ingenious improvements of
our orthography, a general omission of the final _e_ in all words ending in
_ive_, or rather of all words ending in _ve_, preceded by a short vowel;
as, "_primitiv, derivativ, extensiv, positiv, deserv, twelv, proov, luv,
hav, giv, liv_." This mode of spelling, had it been adopted by other
learned men, would not only have made _v_ a very frequent final consonant,
but would have placed it in an other new and strange predicament, as being
subject to reduplication. For he that will write _hav, giv_, and _liv_,
must also, by a general rule of grammar, write _havving, givving_, and
_livving_. And not only so, there will follow also, in the solemn style of
the Bible, a change of _givest, livest, giveth_, and _liveth_, into
_givvest, livvest, givveth_, and _livveth_. From all this it may appear,
that a silent final _e_ is not always quite so useless a thing as some may
imagine. With a levity no less remarkable, does the author of the _Red
Book_ propose at once two different ways of reforming the orthography of
such words as _pierceable, manageable_, and so forth; in one of which, the
letter _j_ would be brought into a new position, and subjected sometimes to
reduplication. "It would be a useful improvement to change this _c_ into
_s_, and _g_ into _j_;" as, _piersable, manajable_, &c. "Or they might
assume _i_;" as, _piercibe, managible_, &c.--_Red Book_, p. 170. Now would
not this "useful improvement" give us such a word as _allejjable_? and
would not one such monster be more offensive than all our present
exceptions to Rule 9th? Out upon all such tampering with orthography!

OBS. 26.--If any thing could arrest the folly of innovators and dabbling
reformers, it would be the history of former attempts to effect
improvements similar to theirs. With this sort of history every one would
do well to acquaint himself, before he proceeds to disfigure words by
placing their written elements in any new predicament. If the orthography
of the English language is ever reduced to greater regularity than it now
exhibits, the reformation must be wrought by those who have no disposition
either to exaggerate its present defects, or to undertake too much. Regard
must be had to the origin, as well as to the sounds, of words. To many
people, all silent letters seem superfluous; and all indirect modes of
spelling, absurd. Hence, as the learner may perceive, a very large
proportion of the variations and disputed points in spelling, are such as
refer to the silent letters, which are retained by some writers and omitted
by others. It is desirable that such as are useless and irregular should be
always omitted; and such as are useful and regular always retained. The
rules which I have laid down as principles of discrimination, are such as
almost every reader will know to be generally true, and agreeable to
present usage, though several of them have never before been printed in any
grammar. Their application will strike out some letters which are often
written, and retain some which are often omitted; but, if they err on
either hand, I am confident they err less than any other set of rules ever
yet formed for the same purpose. Walker, from whom Murray borrowed his
rules for spelling, declares for an expulsion of the second _l_ from
_traveller, gambolled, grovelling, equalling, cavilling_, and all similar
words; seems more willing to drop an _l_ from _illness, stillness,
shrillness, fellness_, and _drollness_, than to retain both in _smallness,
tallness, chillness, dullness_, and _fullness_; makes it one of his
orthographical aphorisms, that, "Words taken into composition often drop
those letters which were superfluous in their simples; as, _Christmas,
dunghil, handful_;" and, at the same time, chooses rather to restore the
silent _e_ to the ten derivatives from _move_ and _prove_, from which
Johnson dropped it, than to drop it from the ten similar words in which
that author retained it! And not only so, he argues against the principle
of his own aphorism; and says, "It is certainly to be feared that, if this
pruning of our words of all the superfluous letters, as they are called,
should be much farther indulged, we shall quickly antiquate our most
respectable authors, and irreparably maim our language."--_Walker's Rhyming
Dict._, p. xvii.

OBS. 27.--No attempt to subject our orthography to a system of phonetics,
seems likely to meet with general favour, or to be free from objection, if
it should. For words are not mere sounds, and in their _orthography_ more
is implied than in _phonetics_, or _phonography_. Ideographic forms have,
in general, the advantage of preserving the identity, history, and lineage
of words; and these are important matters in respect to which phonetic
writing is very liable to be deficient. Dr. Johnson, about a century ago,
observed, "There have been many schemes offered for the emendation and
settlement of our orthography, which, like that of other nations, being
formed by chance, or according to the fancy of the earliest writers in rude
ages, was at first very various and uncertain, and [is] as yet sufficiently
irregular. Of these reformers some have endeavoured to accommodate
orthography better to the pronunciation, without considering that this is
to measure by a shadow, to take that for a model or standard which is
changing while they apply it. Others, less absurdly indeed, but with equal
unlikelihood of success, have endeavoured to proportion the number of
letters to that of sounds, that every sound may have its own character, and
every character a single sound. Such would be the orthography of a new
language to be formed by a synod of grammarians upon principles of science.
But who can hope to prevail on nations to change their practice, and make
all their old books useless? or what advantage would a new orthography
procure equivalent to the confusion and perplexity of such an
alteration?"--_Johnson's Grammar before Quarto Dict._, p. 4.

OBS. 28.--Among these reformers of our alphabet and orthography, of whose
schemes he gives examples, the Doctor mentions, first, "_Sir Thomas Smith_,
secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth, a man of real learning, and much
practised in grammatical disquisitions;" who died in 1597;--next, "_Dr.
Gill_, the celebrated master of St. Paul's School in London;" who died in
1635;--then, "_Charles Butler_, a man who did not want an understanding
which might have qualified him for better employment;" who died in
1647;--and, lastly, "_Bishop Wilkins_, of Chester, a learned and ingenious
critic, who is said to have proposed his scheme, without expecting to be
followed;" he died in 1672.

OBS. 29.--From this time, there was, so far as I know, no noticeable
renewal of such efforts, till about the year 1790, when, as it is shown
above on page 134 of my Introduction, _Dr. Webster_, (who was then only
"_Noah Webster, Jun._, attorney at law,") attempted to spell all words as
they are spoken, without revising the alphabet--a scheme which his
subsequent experience before many years led him to abandon. Such a
reformation was again attempted, about forty years after, by an other young
lawyer, the late lamented _Thomas S. Grimke_, of South Carolina, but with
no more success. More recently, phonography, or phonetic writing, has been
revived, and to some extent spread, by the publications of _Isaac Pitman_,
of Bath, England, and of _Dr. Andrew Comstock_, of Philadelphia. The system
of the former has been made known in America chiefly by the lectures and
other efforts of _Andrews and Boyle_, of _Dr. Stone_, a citizen of Boston,
and of _E. Webster_, a publisher in Philadelphia.

OBS. 30.--The
pronunciation of words being evidently as deficient in regularity, in
uniformity, and in stability, as is their orthography, if not more so,
cannot be conveniently made the measure of their written expression.
Concerning the principle of writing and printing by sounds alone, a recent
writer delivers his opinion thus: "Let me here observe, as something not
remote from our subject, but, on the contrary, directly bearing upon it,
that I can conceive no [other] method of so effectually defacing and
barbarizing our English tongue, no [other] scheme that would go so far to
empty it, practically at least and for us, of all the hoarded wit, wisdom,
imagination, and history which it contains, to cut the vital nerve which
connects its present with the past, as the introduction of the scheme of
'phonetic spelling,' which some have lately been zealously advocating among
us; the principle of which is, that all words should be spelt according as
they are sounded, that the writing should be, in every case, subordinated
to the speaking. The tacit assumption that it ought so to be, is the
pervading error running through the whole system."--_R. C. Trench, on the
Study of Words_, p. 177.

OBS. 31.--The phonographic system of stenography, tachygraphy, or
short-hand writing, is, I incline to believe, a very great improvement upon
the earlier methods. It is perhaps the most reliable mode of taking down
speeches, sermons, or arguments, during their delivery, and reporting them
for the press; though I cannot pronounce upon this from any experience of
my own in the _practice_ of the art. And it seems highly probable, if it
has not been fully proved, that children may at first be taught to read
more readily, and with better articulation, from phonetic print, or
_phonotypy_, as it has been called, than from books that exhibit words in
their current or established orthography. But still it is questionable
whether it is not best for them to learn each word at first by its peculiar
or ideographic form--the form in which they must ultimately learn to read
it, and which indeed constitutes its only _orthography_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS IN SPELLING.

UNDER RULE I.--OF FINAL F, L, OR S.

"He wil observe the moral law, in hiz conduct."--_Webster's Essays_, p.
320.

[FORMULES--1. Not proper, because the word "_wil_" is here spelled with one
_l_. But, according to Rule 1st, "Monosyllables ending in _f, l_, or _s_,
preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant." Therefore, this
_l_ should be doubled; thus, _will_.

2. Not proper again, because the word "_hiz_" is here spelled with _z_.
But, according to the exceptions to Rule 1st, "The words _as, gas, has,
was, yes, his_, &c., are written with single _s_." Therefore, this _z_
should be _s_; thus, _his_.]

"A clif is a steep bank, or a precipitous rock."--See _Rhyming Dict._ "A
needy man's budget is ful of schemes."--_Old Adage_. "Few large
publications in this country wil pay a printer."--_Noah Webster's Essays_,
p. x. "I shal, with cheerfulness, resign my other papers to
oblivion."--_Ib._, p. x. "The proposition waz suspended til the next
session of the legislature."--_Ib._, p. 362. "Tenants for life wil make the
most of lands for themselves."--_Ib._, p. 366. "While every thing iz left
to lazy negroes, a state wil never be wel cultivated."--_Ib._, p. 367. "The
heirs of the original proprietors stil hold the soil."--_Ib._, p. 349. "Say
my annual profit on money loaned shal be six per cent."--_Ib._, p. 308. "No
man would submit to the drudgery of business, if he could make money az
fast by lying stil."--_Ib._, p. 310. "A man may az wel feed himself with a
bodkin, az with a knife of the present fashion."--_Ib._, p. 400. "The
clothes wil be ill washed, the food wil be badly cooked; and you wil be
ashamed of your wife, if she iz not ashamed of herself."--_Ib._, p. 404.
"He wil submit to the laws of the state, while he iz a member of
it."--_Ib._, p. 320. "But wil our sage writers on law forever think by
tradition?"--_Ib._, p. 318. "Some stil retain a sovereign power in their
territories."--_Ib._, p. 298. "They sel images, prayers, the sound of bels,
remission of sins, &c."--_Perkins's Theology_, p. 401. "And the law had
sacrifices offered every day for the sins of al the people."--_Ib._, p.
406. "Then it may please the Lord, they shal find it to be a
restorative."--_Ib._, p. 420. "Perdition is repentance put of til a future
day."--_Old Maxim_. "The angels of God, which wil good and cannot wil evil,
have nevertheless perfect liberty of wil."--_Perkins's Theology_, p. 716.
"Secondly, this doctrine cuts off the excuse of al sin."--_Ib._, p. 717.
"Knel, the sound of a bell rung at a funeral."--_Johnson_ and _Walker_.

   "If gold with dros or grain with chaf you find,
    Select--and leave the chaf and dros behind."--_Author_.


UNDER RULE II.--OF OTHER FINALS.

"The mobb hath many heads, but no brains."--_Old Maxim_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_mobb_" is here spelled with
double _b_. But, according to Rule 2d, "Words ending in any other consonant
than _f, l_, or _s_, do not double the final letter." Therefore, this _b_
should be single: thus, _mob_.]

"Clamm, to clog with any glutinous or viscous matter."--_Johnson's Dict._
"Whurr, to pronounce the letter _r_ with too much force."--_Ib._ "Flipp, a
mixed liquor, consisting of beer and spirits sweetened."--_Ib._ "Glynn, a
hollow between two mountains, a glen."--_Churchill's Grammar_, p. 22.
"Lamm, to beat soundly with a cudgel or bludgeon."--_Walker's Dict._ "Bunn,
a small cake, a simnel, a kind of sweet bread."--See _ib._ "Brunett, a
woman with a brown complexion."--_Ib._ and _Johnson's Dict._ "Wad'sett, an
ancient tenure or lease of land in the Highlands of Scotland."--_Webster's
Dict._ "To _dodd_ sheep, is to cut the wool away about their tails."--_Ib._
"_In aliquem arietare_, CIC. To run full but at one."--_Walker's
Particles_, p. 95. "Neither your policy nor your temper would permitt you
to kill me."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 427. "And admitt none but
his own offspring to fulfill them."--_Ib._, i, 437. "The summ of all this
Dispute is, that some make them Participles," &c.--_Johnson's Gram._
_Com._, p. 352. "As, the _whistling_ of winds, the _buz_ and _hum_ of
insects, the _hiss_ of serpents, the _crash_ of falling timber."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 129; _Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 247; _Gould's_, 238. "Vann, to
winnow, or a fan for winnowing."--_Walker's Rhyming Dict._ "Creatures that
buz, are very commonly such as will sting."--_Author_ "Begg, buy, or
borrow; butt beware how you find."--_Id._ "It is better to have a house to
lett, than a house to gett."--_Id._ "Let not your tongue cutt your
throat."--_Old Precept_. "A little witt will save a fortunate man."--_Old
Adage_. "There is many a slipp 'twixt the cup and the lipp."--_Id._
"Mothers' darlings make but milksopp heroes."--_Id._ "One eye-witness is
worth tenn hearsays."--_Id._

   "The judge shall jobb, the bishop bite the town,
    And mighty dukes pack cards for half a crown."--POPE:
       _in Joh. Dict., w. Pack._


UNDER RULE III.--OF DOUBLING.

"Friz, to curl; frized, curled; frizing, curling."--_Webster's Dict._, 8vo.
Ed. of 1829.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the words "_frized_" and "_frizing_" are here
spelled with the single _z_, of their primitive _friz_. But, according to
Rule 3d, "Monosyllables, and words accented on the last syllable, when they
end with a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, double their final
consonant before an additional syllable that begins with a vowel."
Therefore, this _z_ should be doubled; thus, _frizzed, frizzing_.]

"The commercial interests served to foster the principles of
Whigism."--_Payne's Geog._, Vol. ii, p. 511. "Their extreme indolence
shuned every species of labour."--_Robertson's Amer._, Vol. i, p. 341. "In
poverty and stripedness they attend their little meetings."--_The Friend_,
Vol. vii, p. 256. "In guiding and controling[126] the power you have thus
obtained."--_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 15. "I began, Thou beganest, He began;
We began, You began, They began."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 92. "Why does
_began_ change its ending; as, I began, Thou beganest?"--_Ib._, p. 93.
"Truth and conscience cannot be controled by any methods of
coercion."--_Hints on Toleration_, p. xvi. "Dr. Webster noded, when he
wrote 'knit, kniter, and knitingneedle' without doubling the _t_."--See
_El. Spelling-Book_, 1st Ed., p. 136. "A wag should have wit enough to know
when other wags are quizing him."--_G. Brown_. "Bon'y, handsome, beautiful,
merry."--_Walker's Rhyming Dict._ "Coquetish, practicing coquetry; after
the manner of a jilt."--_Webster's Dict._ "Potage, a species of food, made
of meat and vegetables boiled to softness in water."--See _ib._ "Potager,
from potage, a porringer, a small vessel for children's food."--See _ib._,
and _Worcester's_. "Compromit, compromited, compromiting; manumit,
manumitted, manumitting."--_Webster_. "Inferible; that may be inferred or
deduced from premises."--_Red Book_, p. 228. "Acids are either solid,
liquid, or gaseous."--_Gregory's Dict., art. Chemistry_. "The spark will
pass through the interrupted space between the two wires, and explode the
gases."--_Ib._ "Do we sound _gases_ and _gaseous_ like _cases_ and
_caseous?_ No: they are more like _glasses_ and _osseous_."--_G. Brown_. "I
shall not need here to mention _Swiming_, when he is of an age able to
learn."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 12. "Why do lexicographers spell _thinnish_
and _mannish_ with two Ens, and _dimish_ and _ramish_ with one Em,
each?"--See _Johnson_ and _Webster_. "_Gas_ forms the plural regularly,
_gases_."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 38. "Singular, Gas; Plural,
Gases."--_S. W. Clark's Gram._, p. 47. "These are contractions from
_sheded, bursted_."--_Hiley's Grammar_, p. 45. "The Present Tense denotes
what is occuring at the present time."--_Day's Gram._, p. 36, and p. 61.
"The verb ending in _eth_ is of the solemn or antiquated style; as, he
loveth, he walketh, he runeth."--_P. Davis's Gram._, p. 34.

   "Thro' freedom's sons no more remonstrance rings,
    Degrading nobles and controling kings."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 292.


UNDER RULE IV.--NO DOUBLING.

"A bigotted and tyrannical clergy will be feared."--_Brown's Estimate_,
Vol. ii, p. 78.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the final _t_ of _bigot_ is here doubled in
"_bigotted_." But, according to Rule 4th, "A final consonant, when it is
not preceded by a single vowel, or when the accent is not on the last
syllable, should remain single before an additional syllable." Therefore,
this _t_ should be single; thus, _bigoted_.]

"Jacob worshipped his Creator, leaning on the top of his staff."--_Key in
Merchant's Gram._, p. 185. "For it is all marvelously destitute of
interest."--_Merchant's Criticisms_. "As, box, boxes; church, churches;
lash, lashes; kiss, kisses; rebus, rebusses."--_Murray's Gram._, 12mo, p.
42. "Gossipping and lying go hand in hand."--_Old Maxim_. "The substance of
the Criticisms on the Diversions of Purley was, with singular industry,
gossipped by the present precious secretary of war, in Payne the
bookseller's shop."--See _Key_. "Worship makes worshipped, worshipper,
worshipping; gossip, gossipped, gossipper, gossipping; fillip, fillipped,
fillipper, fillipping."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 72. "I became as fidgetty as
a fly in a milk-jug."--_Blackwood's Mag._, Vol. xl, p. 674. "That enormous
error seems to be rivetted in popular opinion."--_Webster's Essays_, p.
364. "Whose mind iz not biassed by personal attachments to a
sovereign."--_Ib._, p. 318. "Laws against usury originated in a bigotted
prejudice against the Jews."--_Ib._, p. 315. "The most criticcal period of
life iz usually between thirteen and seventeen."--_Ib._, p. 388.
"Generallissimo, the chief commander of an army or military force."--See
_El. Spelling-Book_, p. 93. "Tranquillize, to quiet, to make calm and
peaceful."--_Ib._, p. 133. "Pommeled, beaten, bruised; having pommels, as a
sword or dagger."--_Webster_ and _Chalmers_. "From what a height does the
jeweler look down upon his shoemaker!"--_Red Book_, p. 108. "You will have
a verbal account from my friend and fellow traveler."--_Ib._, p. 155. "I
observe that you have written the word _counseled_ with one _l_
only."--_Ib._, p. 173. "They were offended at such as combatted these
notions."--_Robertson's America_, Vol. ii, p. 437. "From libel, come
libeled, libeler, libeling, libelous; from grovel, groveled, groveler,
groveling; from gravel, graveled and graveling."--See _Webster's Dict._
"Wooliness, the state of being woolly."--_Ib._ "Yet he has spelled
chappelling, bordeller, medallist, metalline, metallist, metallize,
clavellated, &c. with _ll_, contrary to his rule."--_Cobb's Review of
Webster_, p. 11. "Again, he has spelled cancelation and snively with single
_l_, and cupellation, pannellation, wittolly, with _ll_."--_Ib._ "Oilly,
fatty, greasy, containing oil, glib."--_Rhyming Dict._ "Medallist, one
curious in medals; Metallist, one skilled in metals."--_Johnson, Webster,
Worcester, Cobb, et al._ "He is benefitted."--_Town's Spelling-Book_, p. 5.
"They traveled for pleasure."--_S. W. Clark's Gram._, p. 101.

   "Without you, what were man? A groveling herd,
    In darkness, wretchedness, and want enchain'd."
        --_Beattie's Minstrel_, p. 40.


UNDER RULE V.--OF FINAL CK.

"He hopes, therefore, to be pardoned by the critick."--_Kirkham's Gram._,
p. 10.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_critick_" is here spelled with a
final _k_. But, according to Rule 5th, "Monosyllables and English verbs end
not with _c_, but take _ck_ for double _c_; as, rack, wreck, rock, attack:
but, in general, words derived from the learned languages need not the _k_,
and common use discards it." Therefore, this _k_ should be omitted; thus,
_critic_.]

"The leading object of every publick speaker should be to
persuade."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 153. "May not four feet be as poetick
as five; or fifteen feet, as poetick as fifty?"--_Ib._, p. 146. "Avoid all
theatrical trick and mimickry, and especially all scholastick
stiffness."--_Ib._, p. 154. "No one thinks of becoming skilled in dancing,
or in musick, or in mathematicks, or logick, without long and close
application to the subject."--_Ib._, p. 152. "Caspar's sense of feeling,
and susceptibility of metallick and magnetick excitement were also very
extraordinary."--_Ib._, p. 238. "Authorship has become a mania, or, perhaps
I should say, an epidemick."--_Ib._, p. 6. "What can prevent this republick
from soon raising a literary standard?"--_Ib._, p. 10. "Courteous reader,
you may think me garrulous upon topicks quite foreign to the subject before
me."--_Ib._, p. 11. "Of the Tonick, Subtonick, and Atoniek
elements."--_Ib._, p. 15. "The subtonick elements are inferiour to the
tonicks in all the emphatick and elegant purposes of speech."--_Ib._, p.
32. "The nine atonicks, and the three abrupt subtonicks cause an
interruption to the continuity of the syllabick impulse."--_Ib._, p. 37.
"On scientifick principles, conjunctions and prepositions are but one part
of speech."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 120. "That some inferior animals should
be able to mimic human articulation, will not seem wonderful."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, Vol. i, p. 2.

   "When young, you led a life monastick,
    And wore a vest ecelesiastick;
    Now, in your age, you grow fantastick."--_Johnson's Dict._


UNDER RULE VI.--OF RETAINING.

"Fearlesness, exemption from fear, intrepidity."--_Johnson's Dict._

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_fearlesness_" is here allowed to
drop one _s_ of _fearless_. But, according to Rule 6th, "Words ending with
any double letter, preserve it double before any additional termination not
beginning with the same letter." Therefore, the other _s_ should be
inserted; thus, _fearlessness_.]

"Dreadlesness; fearlesness, intrepidity, undauntedness."--_Johnson's Dict._
"Regardlesly, without heed; Regardlesness, heedlessness,
inattention."--_Ib._ "Blamelesly, innocently; Blamlesness,
innocence."--_Ib._ "That is better than to be flattered into pride and
carelesness."--TAYLOR: _Joh. Dict._ "Good fortunes began to breed a proud
recklesness in them."--SIDNEY: _ib._ "See whether he lazily and listlesly
dreams away his time."--LOCKE: _ib._ "It may be, the palate of the soul is
indisposed by listlesness or sorrow."--TAYLOR: _ib._ "Pitilesly, without
mercy; Pitilesness, unmercifulness."--_Johnson_. "What say you to such as
these? abominable, accordable, agreable, &c."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol.
ii, p. 432. "Artlesly; naturally, sincerely, without craft."--_Johnson_. "A
chilness, or shivering of the body, generally precedes a fever."--_Murray's
Key_, p. 167. "Smalness; littleness, minuteness, weakness."--_Rhyming
Dict._ "Gall-less, a. free from gall or bitterness."--_Webster's Dict._
"Talness; height of stature, upright length with comparative
slenderness."--See _Johnson et al_. "Wilful; stubborn, contumacious,
perverse, inflexible."--_Id._ "He guided them by the skilfulness of his
hands."--_Psal._ lxxviii, 72. "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness
thereof."--_Murray's Key_, p. 172. "What is now, is but an amasment of
imaginary conceptions."--GLANVILLE: _Joh. Dict._ "Embarrasment; perplexity,
entanglement."--See _Littleton's Dict._ "The second is slothfulness,
whereby they are performed slackly and carelesly."--_Perkins's Theology_,
p. 729. "Instalment; induction into office; part of a large sum of money,
to be paid at a particular time."--See _Johnson's Dict._ "Inthralment;
servitude, slavery."--_Ib._

   "I, who at some times spend, at others spare,
    Divided between carelesness and care."--_Pope_.


UNDER RULE VII.--OF RETAINING.

"Shall, on the contrary, in the first person, simply foretels."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 88; _Ingersoll's_, 136; _Fisk's_, 78; _Jaudon's_, 59; _A.
Flint's_, 42; _Wright's_, 90; _Bullions's_, 32.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_foretels_" does not here retain
the double _l_ of _tell_. But, according to Rule 7th, "Words ending with
any double letter, preserve it double in all derivatives formed from them
by means of prefixes." Therefore, the other _l_ should be inserted; thus,
_foretells_.]

"There are a few compound irregular verbs, as _befal, bespeak_,
&c."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 46. "That we might frequently recal it to our
memory."--_Calvin's Institutes_, p. 112. "The angels exercise a constant
solicitude that no evil befal us."--_Ib._, p. 107. "Inthral; to enslave, to
shackle, to reduce to servitude."--_Walker's Dict._ "He makes resolutions,
and fulfils them by new ones."--_Red Book_, p. 138. "To enrol my humble
name upon the list of authors on Elocution."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 12.
"Forestal; to anticipate, to take up beforehand."--_Walker's Rhym. Dict._
"Miscal; to call wrong, to name improperly."--_Johnson_. "Bethral; to
enslave, to reduce to bondage."--See _id._ "Befal; to happen to, to come to
pass."--_Rhym. Dict._ "Unrol; to open what is rolled or
convolved."--_Johnson_. "Counterrol; to keep copies of accounts to prevent
frauds."--See _id._ "As Sisyphus uprols a rock, which constantly overpowers
him at the summit."--_Author_. "Unwel; not well, indisposed, not in good
health."--See _Red Book_, p. 336. "Undersel; to defeat by selling for less,
to sell cheaper than an other."--See _id._, p. 332. "Inwal; to enclose or
fortify with a wall."--See _id._, p. 295. "Twibil; an instrument with two
bills, or with a point and a blade; a pickaxe, a mattock, a halberd, a
battle-axe."--See _Dict._ "What you miscal their folly, is their
care."--_Dryden_. "My heart will sigh when I miscal it so."--_Shakspeare_.
"But if the arrangement recal one set of ideas more readily than
another."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 130.

   "'Tis done; and since 'tis done, 'tis past recal;
    And since 'tis past recal, must be forgotten."--_Dryden_.


UNDER RULE VIII.--OF FINAL LL.

"The righteous is taken away from the evill to come."--_Perkins's Works_,
p. 417.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_evill_" is here written with
final _ll_. But, according to Rule 8th, "Final _ll_ is peculiar to
monosyllables and their compounds, with the few derivatives formed from
such roots by prefixes; consequently, all other words that end in _l_, must
be terminated with a single _l_." Therefore, one _l_ should be here
omitted; thus, _evil_.]

"Patroll; to go the rounds in a camp or garrison, to march about and
observe what passes."--_Webster's Amer. Dict._, 8vo. "Marshall; the chief
officer of arms, one who regulates rank and order."--See _Bailey's Dict._
"Weevill; a destructive grub that gets among corn."--See _Rhym. Dict._ "It
much excells all other studies and arts."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 217.
"It is essentiall to all magnitudes, to be in one place."--_Perkins's
Works_, p. 403. "By nature I was thy vassall, but Christ hath redeemed
me."--_Ib._, p. 404. "Some, being in want, pray for temporall
blessings."--_Ib._, p. 412. "And this the Lord doth, either in temporall or
spirituall benefits."--_Ib._, p. 415. "He makes an idoll of them, by
setting his heart on them."--_Ib._, p. 416. "This triall by desertion
serveth for two purposes."--_Ib._, p. 420. "Moreover, this destruction is
both perpetuall and terrible."--_Ib._, p. 726. "Giving to severall men
several gifts, according to his good pleasure."--_Ib._, p. 731. "Untill; to
some time, place, or degree, mentioned."--See _Red Book_, p. 330. "Annull;
to make void, to nullify, to abrogate, to abolish." "Nitric acid combined
with argill, forms the nitrate of argill."--_Gregory's Dict., art.
Chemistry_.

   "Let modest Foster, if he will, excell
    Ten Metropolitans in preaching well."--_Pope_, p. 414.


UNDER RULE IX.--OF FINAL E.

"Adjectives ending in _able_ signify capacity; as, _comfortable, tenable,
improvable_."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 33.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_improveable_" here retains the
final _e_ of _improve_. But, according to Rule 9th, "The final _e_ of a
primitive word is generally omitted before an additional termination
beginning with a vowel." Therefore, this _e_ should be omitted; thus,
_improvable_.]

"Their mildness and hospitality are ascribeable to a general administration
of religious ordinances."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 336. "Retrench as much as
possible without obscureing the sense."--_James Brown's Amer. Gram._, 1821,
p. 11. "Changable, subject to change; Unchangeable, immutable."--_Walker's
Rhym. Dict._ "Tameable, susceptive of taming; Untameable, not to be
tamed."--_Ib._ "Reconcileable, Unreconcileable, Reconcileableness;
Irreconcilable, Irreconcilably, Irreconcilableness."--_Johnson's Dict._ "We
have thought it most adviseable to pay him some little attention."--
_Merchants Criticisms_. "Proveable, that may be proved; Reprovable.
blameable, worthy of reprehension."--_Walker's Dict._ "Moveable and
Immovable, Moveably and Immovably, Moveables and Removal, Moveableness and
Improvableness, Unremoveable and Unimprovable, Unremoveably and Removable,
Proveable and Approvable, Irreproveable and Reprovable, Unreproveable and
Improvable, Unimproveableness and Improvably."--_Johnson's Dict._ "And with
this cruelty you are chargable in some measure yourself."--_Collier's
Antoninus_, p. 94. "Mothers would certainly resent it, as judgeing it
proceeded from a low opinion of the genius of their sex."--_British Gram.,
Pref._, p. xxv. "Titheable, subject to the payment of tithes; Saleable,
vendible, fit for sale; Loseable, possible to be lost; Sizeable, of
reasonable bulk or size."--_Walker's Rhyming Dict._ "When he began this
custom, he was puleing and very tender."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 8.

   "The plate, coin, revenues, and moveables,
    Whereof our uncle Gaunt did stand possess'd."--_Shak._


UNDER RULE X.--OF FINAL E.

"Diversly; in different ways, differently, variously."--_Rhym. Dict._, and
_Webster's_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_Diversly_" here omits the final
_e_ of its primitive word, _diverse_. But, according to Rule 10th, "The
final _e_ of a primitive word is generally retained before an additional
termination beginning with a consonant." Therefore, this _e_ should be
retained; thus, _Diversely_.]

"The event thereof contains a wholsome instruction."--_Bacon's Wisdom of
the Ancients_, p. 17. "Whence Scaliger falsly concluded that articles were
useless."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 94. "The child that we have just seen
is wholesomly fed."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 187. "Indeed, falshood and
legerdemain sink the character of a prince."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 5.
"In earnest, at this rate of managment, thou usest thyself very
coarsly."--_Ib._, p. 19. "To give them an arrangment and diversity, as
agreeable as the nature of the subject would admit"--_Murray's Pref. to
Ex._, p. vi. "Alger's Grammar is only a trifling enlargment of Murray's
little Abridgment."--_Author_. "You ask whether you are to retain or omit
the mute _e_ in the word judgment, abridgment, acknowledgment, lodgment,
adjudgment, and prejudgment."--_Red Book_, p. 172. "Fertileness,
fruitfulness; Fertily, fruitfully, abundantly."--_Johnson's Dict._
"Chastly, purely, without contamination; Chastness, chastity,
purity."--_Ib._, and _Walker's_. "Rhymster, _n._ One who makes rhymes; a
versifier; a mean poet."--_Johnson_ and _Webster_. "It is therefore an
heroical achievment to dispossess this imaginary monarch."--_Berkley's
Minute Philos._, p. 151. "Whereby, is not meant the Present Time, as he
imagins, but the Time Past."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 344 "So far is
this word from affecting the noun, in regard to its definitness, that its
own character of definitness or indefinitness, depends upon the name to
which it is prefixed."--_Webster's Philosophical Gram._, p. 20.

   "Satire, by wholsome Lessons, wou'd reclaim,
    And heal their Vices to secure their Fame."
        --_Brightland's Gr._, p. 171.


UNDER RULE XI.--OF FINAL Y.

"Solon's the veryest fool in all the play."--_Dryden, from Persius_, p.
475.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_veryest_" here retains the final
_y_ of its primitive _very_. But, according to Rule 13th, "The final _y_ of
a primitive word, when preceded by a consonant, is generally changed into
_i_ before an additional termination." Therefore, this _y_ should be
changed to _i_; thus, _veriest_.]

"Our author prides himself upon his great slyness and
shrewdness."--_Merchant's Criticisms_. "This tense, then, implys also the
signification of _Debeo_."--_B. Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 300. "That may be
apply'd to a Subject, with respect to something accidental."--_Ib._, p.
133. "This latter accompanys his Note with a distinction."--_Ib._, p. 196.
"This Rule is defective, and none of the Annotators have sufficiently
supply'd it."--_Ib._, p. 204. "Though the fancy'd Supplement of Sanctius,
Scioppius, Vossius, and Mariangelus, may take place."--_Ib._, p. 276. "Yet
as to the commutableness of these two Tenses, which is deny'd likewise,
they are all one."--_Ib._, p. 311. "Both these Tenses may represent a
Futurity implyed by the dependence of the Clause."--_Ib._, p. 332. "Cry,
cries, crying, cried, crier, decrial; Shy, shyer, shyest, shyly, shyness;
Fly, flies, flying, flier, high-flier; Sly, slyer, slyest, slyly, slyness;
Spy, spies, spying, spied, espial; Dry, drier, driest, dryly,
dryness."--_Cobb's Dict._ "Cry, cried, crying, crier, cryer, decried,
decrier, decrial; Shy, shyly, shily, shyness, shiness; Fly, flier, flyer,
high-flyer; Sly, slily, slyly, sliness, slyness; Ply, plyer, plying,
pliers, complied, compiler; Dry, drier, dryer, dryly, dryness."--_Webster's
Dict._, 8vo. "Cry, crier, decrier, decrial; Shy, shily, shyly, shiness,
shyness; Fly, flier, flyer, high-flier; Sly, slily, slyly, sliness,
slyness; Ply, pliers, plyers, plying, complier; Dry, drier, dryer, dryly,
dryness."--_Chalmers's Abridgement of Todd's Johnson_. "I would sooner
listen to the thrumming of a dandyzette at her piano."--_Kirkham's
Elocution_, p. 24. "Send her away; for she cryeth after us."--_Felton's
Gram._, p. 140. "IVYED, _a._ Overgrown with ivy."--_Todd's Dict._, and
_Webster's_.

   "Some dryly plain, without invention's aid,
    Write dull receipts how poems may be made."--_Pope_.


UNDER RULE XII.--OF FINAL Y.

"The gaiety of youth should be tempered by the precepts of age."--_Mur.
Key_, p. 175.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_gaiety_" does not here retain the
final _y_ of the primitive word _gay_. But, according to Rule 12th, "The
final _y_ of a primitive word, when preceded by a vowel, should not be
changed into _i_ before an additional termination." Therefore, this _y_
should be retained; thus, _gayety_.]

"In the storm of 1703, two thousand stacks of chimnies were blown down, in
and about London."--See _Red Book_, p. 112. "And the vexation was not
abated by the hacknied plea of haste."--_Ib._, p. 142. "The fourth sin of
our daies is lukewarmness."--_Perkins's Works_, p. 725. "God hates the
workers of iniquity, and destroies them that speak lies."--_Ib._, p. 723.
"For, when he laies his hand upon us, we may not fret."--_Ib._, p. 726.
"Care not for it; but if thou maiest be free, choose it rather."--_Ib._, p.
736. "Alexander Severus saith, 'He that buieth, must sell: I will not
suffer buyers and sellers of offices.'"--_Ib._, p. 737. "With these
measures fell in all monied men."--SWIFT: _Johnson's Dict._ "But rattling
nonsense in full vollies breaks."--POPE: _ib., w. Volley_. "Vallies are the
intervals betwixt mountains."--WOODWARD: _ib._ "The Hebrews had fifty-two
journies or marches."--_Wood's Dict._ "It was not possible to manage or
steer the gallies thus fastened together."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. ii,
p. 106. "Turkies were not known to naturalists till after the discovery of
America."--_See Gregory's Dict._ "I would not have given it for a
wilderness of monkies."--See _Key_. "Men worked at embroidery, especially
in abbies."--_Constable's Miscellany_, Vol. xxi, p. 101. "By which all
purchasers or mortgagees may be secured of all monies they lay
out."--TEMPLE: _Johnson's Dict._ "He would fly to the mines and the gallies
for his recreation."--SOUTH: _Ib._

   "Here pullies make the pond'rous oak ascend."--GAY: _ib._

    ------------"You need my help, and you say,
    Shylock, we would have monies."--SHAKSPEARE: _ib._


UNDER RULE XIII.--OF IZE AND ISE.

"Will any able writer authorise other men to revise his works?"--_Author._

[FORMULES.--1. Not proper, because the word "_authorise_" is here written
with _s_ in the last syllable, in stead of _z_. But, according to Rule
13th, "Words ending in _ize_ or _ise_ sounded alike, as in _wise_ and
_size_, generally take the _z_ in all such as are essentially formed by
means of the termination." Therefore, this _s_ should be _z_; thus,
_authorize_.

2. Not proper again, because the word "_revize_" is here written with _z_
in the last syllable, in lieu of _s_. But, according to Rule 13th, "Words
ending in _ize_ or _ise_ sounded alike, as in _wise_ and _size_, generally
take the _s_, in monosyllables, and all such as are essentially formed by
means of prefixes." Therefore, this _z_ should be _s_; thus, _revise_.]

"It can be made as strong and expressive as this Latinised
English."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 295. "Governed by the success or the
failure of an enterprize."--_Ib._, Vol. ii, pp. 128 and 259. "Who have
patronised the cause of justice against powerful oppressors."--_Ib._, pp.
94 and 228; _Merchant_, p. 199. "Yet custom authorises this use of
it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 148. "They surprize myself, * * * and I even
think the writers themselves will be surprized."--_Ib._, Pref., p. xi. "Let
the interest rize to any sum which can be obtained."--_Webster's Essays_,
p. 310. "To determin what interest shall arize on the use of
money."--_Ib._, p. 313. "To direct the popular councils and check a rizing
opposition."--_Ib._, p. 335. "Five were appointed to the immediate exercize
of the office."--_Ib._, p. 340. "No man ever offers himself [as] a
candidate by advertizing."--_Ib._, p. 344. "They are honest and economical,
but indolent, and destitute of enterprize."--_Ib._, p. 347. "I would
however advize you to be cautious."--_Ib._, p. 404. "We are accountable for
whatever we patronise in others."--_Murray's Key_, p. 175. "After he was
baptised, and was solemnly admitted into the office."--_Perkins's Works_,
p. 732. "He will find all, or most of them, comprized in the
Exercises."--_British Gram._, Pref., p. v. "A quick and ready habit of
methodising and regulating their thoughts."--_Ib._, p. xviii. "To tyrannise
over the time and patience of his reader."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. iii.
"Writers of dull books, however, if patronised at all, are rewarded beyond
their deserts."--_Ib._, p. v. "A little reflection, will show the reader
the propriety and the _reason_ for emphasising the words marked."--_Ib._,
p. 163. "The English Chronicle contains an account of a surprizing
cure."--_Red Book_, p. 61. "Dogmatise, to assert positively; Dogmatizer, an
asserter, a magisterial teacher."--_Chalmers's Dict._ "And their
inflections might now have been easily analysed."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo,
Vol. i, p. 113. "Authorize, disauthorise, and unauthorized; Temporize,
contemporise, and extemporize."--_Walkers Dict._ "Legalize, equalise,
methodise, sluggardize, womanise, humanize, patronise, cantonize,
gluttonise, epitomise, anatomize, phlebotomise, sanctuarise, characterize,
synonymise, recognise, detonize, colonise."--_Ibid._

   "This BEAUTY Sweetness always must comprize,
    Which from the Subject, well express'd will rise."
        --_Brightland's Gr._, p. 164.


UNDER RULE XIV.--OF COMPOUNDS.

"The glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward."--COMMON BIBLES: _Isa._,
lviii, 8.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the compound word "_rereward_" has not here
the orthography of the two simple words _rear_ and _ward_, which compose
it. But, according to Rule 14th, "Compounds generally retain the
orthography of the simple words which compose them." And, the accent being
here unfixed, a hyphen is proper. Therefore, this word should be spelled
thus, _rear-ward_.]

"A mere vaunt-courier to announce the coming of his master."--_Tooke's
Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 49. "The parti-coloured shutter appeared to come
close up before him."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 233. "When the day broke
upon this handfull of forlorn but dauntless spirits."--_Ib._, p. 245. "If,
upon a plumbtree, peaches and apricots are ingrafted, no body will say they
are the natural growth of the plumbtree."--_Berkley's Minute Philos._, p.
45. "The channel between Newfoundland and Labrador is called the Straits of
Bellisle."--_Worcester's Gaz._ "There being nothing that more exposes to
Headach." [127]--_Locke, on Education_, p. 6. "And, by a sleep, to say we
end the heartach."--SHAK.: _in Joh. Dict._ "He that sleeps, feels not the
toothach."--ID., _ibid._ "That the shoe must fit him, because it fitted his
father and granfather."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 431. "A single
word, mispelt, in a letter, is sufficient to show, that you have received a
defective education."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 3. "Which mistatement the
committee attributed to a failure of memory."--_Professors' Reasons_, p.
14. "Then he went through the Banquetting-House to the scaffold."--
_Smollett's England_, Vol. iii, p. 345. "For the purpose of maintaining a
clergyman and skoolmaster."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 355. "They however knew
that the lands were claimed by Pensylvania."--_Ib._, p. 357. "But if you
ask a reason, they immediately bid farewel to argument."--_Red Book_, p.
80. "Whom resist stedfast in the faith."--SCOTT: 1 _Peter_, v, 9. "And they
continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine."--_Acts_, ii, 42. "Beware
lest ye also fall from your own stedfastness."--_2 Peter_, iii, 17.
"_Galiot_, or _galliott_, a Dutch vessel, carrying a main-mast and a
mizen-mast."--_Web. Dict._ "Infinitive, to overflow; Preterit, overflowed;
Participle, overflown."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, (1818,) p. 61. "After they
have mispent so much precious Time."--_British Gram._, p. xv. "Some say,
two _handsfull_; some, two _handfulls_; and others, two _handfull_."--
_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 106. "Lapfull, as much as the lap can
contain."--_Webster's Octavo Dict._ "Darefull, full of defiance."--
_Walker's Rhym. Dict._ "The road to the blissfull regions, is as open to
the peasant as to the king."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 167. "Mis-spel is
_mis-spell_ in every Dictionary which I have seen."--_Barnes's Red Book_.
p. 303. "Downfal; ruin, calamity, fall from rank or state."--_Johnson's
Dict._ "The whole legislature likewize acts az a court."--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 340. "It were better a milstone were hanged about his
neck."--_Perkins's Works_, p. 731. "Plum-tree, a tree that produces plums;
Hog-plumbtree, a tree."--_Webster's Dict._ "Trisyllables ending in _re_ or
_le_, accent the first syllable."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 238.

   "It happen'd on a summer's holiday,
    That to the greenwood shade he took his way."
        --_Churchill's Gr._, p. 135.


UNDER RULE XV.--OF USAGE.

"Nor are the modes of the Greek tongue more uniform."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
112.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_modes_" is here written for
_moods_, which is more common among the learned, and usually preferred by
Murray himself. But, according to Rule 15th, "Any word for the spelling of
which we have no rule but usage, is written wrong if not spelled according
to the usage which is most common among the learned." Therefore, the latter
form should be preferred; thus, _moods_, and not _modes_.]

"If we analize a conjunctive preterite, the rule will not appear to
hold."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 118. "No landholder would have been at that
expence."--_Ib._, p. 116. "I went to see the child whilst they were putting
on its cloaths."--_Ib._, p. 125. "This stile is ostentatious, and doth not
suit grave writing."--_Ib._, p. 82. "The king of Israel, and Jehosophat the
king of Judah, sat each on his throne."--_Mur. Gram._, p. 165, _twice_;
_Merchant's_, 89; _Churchill's_, 300. "The king of Israel, and Jehosaphat
the king of Judah, sat each on his throne."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 90;
_Harrison's_, 99; _Churchill's_, 138; _Wright's_, 148. "Lisias, speaking of
his friends, promised to his father, never to abandon them."--_Murray's
Gram._, Vol. ii, pp. 121 and 253. "Some, to avoid this errour, run into
it's opposite."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 199. "Hope, the balm of life,
sooths us under every misfortune."--_Merchants Key_, p. 204. "Any judgement
or decree might be heerd and reversed by the legislature."--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 340. "A pathetic harang wil skreen from punishment any
knave."--_Ib._, p. 341. "For the same reezon, the wimen would be improper
judges."--_Ibid._ "Every person iz indulged in worshiping az he
pleezes."--_Ib._, p. 345. "Most or all teechers are excluded from genteel
company."--_Ib._, p. 362. "The Kristian religion, in its purity, iz the
best institution on erth."--_Ib._, p. 364. "Neether clergymen nor human
laws hav the leest authority over the conscience."--_Ib._, p. 363. "A gild
is a society, fraternity, or corporation."--_Red Book_, p. 83. "Phillis was
not able to unty the knot, and so she cut it."--_Ib._, p. 46. "An aker of
land is the quantity of one hundred and sixty perches."--_Ib._, p. 93.
"Oker is a fossil earth combined with the oxid of some metal."--_Ib._, p.
96. "_Genii_, when denoting ærial spirits: _Geniuses_, when signifying
persons of genius."--_Mur.'s Gram._, i, p. 42. "_Genii_, when denoting
æriel spirits; _Geniuses_, when signifying persons of genius."--_Frost's
Gram._, p. 9. "_Genius_, Plu. _geniuses_, men of wit; but _genii_, ærial
beings."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 18. "Aerisius, king of Argos, had a
beautiful daughter, whose name was Danæ."--_Classic Tales_, p. 109. "Phæton
was the son of Apollo and Clymene."--_Ib._, p. 152. "But, after all, I may
not have reached the intended Gaol."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, Pref., p. xxvii.
"'Pitticus was offered a large sum.' Better: 'A large sum was offered to
Pitticus.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 187. "King Missipsi charged his sons to
respect the senate and people of Rome."--See _ib._, p. 161. "For example:
Gallileo invented the telescope."--_Ib._, pp. 54 and 67. "Cathmor's
warriours sleep in death."--_Ib._, p. 54. "For parsing will enable you to
detect and correct errours in composition."--_Ib._, p. 50.

   "O'er barren mountains, o'er the flow'ry plain,
    Extends thy uncontroul'd and boundless reign."--_Dryden_.


PROMISCUOUS ERRORS IN SPELLING.

LESSON I.--MIXED.

"A bad author deserves better usage than a bad critick."--POPE: _Johnson's
Dict., w. Former_. "Produce a single passage superiour to the speech of
Logan, a Mingo chief, delivered to Lord Dunmore, when governour of
Virginia."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 247. "We have none synonimous to
supply its place."--_Jamieson's Rhetoric_, p. 48. "There is a probability
that the effect will be accellerated."--_Ib._, p. 48. "Nay, a regard to
sound hath controuled the public choice."--_Ib._, p. 46. "Though learnt
from the uninterrupted use of gutterel sounds."--_Ib._, p. 5. "It is by
carefully filing off all roughness and inequaleties, that languages, like
metals, must be polished."--_Ib._, p. 48. "That I have not mispent my time
in the service of the community."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, Pref., p. xxviii.
"The leaves of maiz are also called blades."--_Webster's El.
Spelling-Book_, p. 43. "Who boast that they know what is past, and can
foretel what is to come."--_Robertson's Amer._, Vol. i, p. 360. "Its
tasteless dullness is interrupted by nothing but its perplexities."--
_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 18. "Sentences constructed with the Johnsonian
fullness and swell."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 130. "The privilege of
escaping from his prefatory dullness and prolixity."--_Kirkham's
Elocution_, p. iv. "But in poetry this characteristick of dulness attains
its full growth."--_Ib._, p. 72. "The leading characteristick consists in
an increase of the force and fullness."--_Ib._, p. 71. "The character of
this opening fulness and feebler vanish."--_Ib._, p. 31. "Who, in the
fullness of unequalled power, would not believe himself the favourite of
heaven?"--_Ib._, p. 181. "They marr one another, and distract
him."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 433. "Let a deaf worshipper of
antiquity and an English prosodist settle this."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p.
140. "This phillipic gave rise to my satirical reply in self-defence."--
_Merchant's Criticisms_. "We here saw no inuendoes, no new sophistry, no
falsehoods."--_Ib._ "A witty and humourous vein has often produced
enemies."--_Murray's Key_, p. 173. "Cry holla! to thy tongue, I pr'ythee:
it curvetts unseasonably."--_Shak._ "I said, in my slyest manner, 'Your
health, sir.'"--_Blackwood's Mag._, Vol. xl, p. 679. "And attornies also
travel the circuit in pursute of business."--_Red Book_, p. 83. "Some whole
counties in Virginia would hardly sel for the valu of the dets du from the
inhabitants."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 301. "They were called the court of
assistants, and exercized all powers legislativ and judicial."--_Ib._, p.
340. "Arithmetic is excellent for the guaging of liquors."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 288. "Most of the inflections may be analysed in a way
somewhat similar."--_Ib._, p. 112.

   "To epithets allots emphatic state,
    Whilst principals, ungrac'd, like lacquies wait."
        --_C. Churchill's Ros._, p. 8.


LESSON II.--MIXED.

"Hence it [less] is a privative word, denoting destitution; as, fatherless,
faithless, pennyless."--_Webster's Dict., w. Less._ "_Bay_; red, or
reddish, inclining to a chesnut color."--_Same._ "_To mimick_, to imitate
or ape for sport; _a mimic_, one who imitates or mimics."--_Ib._
"Counterroil, a counterpart or copy of the rolls; Counterrolment, a counter
account."--_Ib._ "Millenium, the thousand years during which Satan shall be
bound."--_Ib._ "Millenial, pertaining to the millenium, or to a thousand
years."--_Ib._ "Thraldom; slavery, bondage, a state of servitude."--See
_Johnson's Dict._ "Brier, a prickly bush; Briery, rough, prickly, full of
briers; Sweetbriar, a fragrant shrub."--See _Johnson, Walker, Chalmers,
Webster, and others_. "_Will_, in the second and third Persons, barely
foretels."--_British Gram._, p. 132. "And therefor there is no Word false,
but what is distinguished by Italics."--_Ib._, Pref., p. v. "What should be
repeted is left to their Discretion."--_Ib._, p. iv. "Because they are
abstracted or seperated from material Substances."--_Ib._, p. ix. "All
Motion is in Time, and therefor, where-ever it exists, implies Time as its
Concommitant."--_Ib._, p. 140. "And illiterate grown persons are guilty of
blameable spelling."--_Ib._, Pref., p. xiv. "They wil always be ignorant,
and of ruf uncivil manners."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 346. "This fact wil
hardly be beleeved in the northern states."--_Ib._, p. 367. "The province
however waz harrassed with disputes."--_Ib._, p. 352. "So little concern
haz the legislature for the interest of lerning."--_Ib._, p. 349. "The
gentlemen wil not admit that a skoolmaster can be a gentleman."--_Ib._, p.
362. "Such absurd qui-pro-quoes cannot be too strenuously
avoided."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 205. "When we say, 'a man looks
_slyly_;' we signify, that he assumes a _sly look_."--_Ib._, p. 339.
"_Peep_; to look through a crevice; to look narrowly, closely, or
slyly."--_Webster's Dict._ "Hence the confession has become a hacknied
proverb."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 110. "Not to mention the more
ornamental parts of guilding, varnish, &c."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i,
p. 20. "After this system of self-interest had been rivetted."--_Brown's
Estimate_, Vol. ii, p. 136. "Prejudice might have prevented the cordial
approbation of a bigotted Jew."--SCOTT: _on Luke_, x.

   "All twinkling with the dew-drop sheen,
    The briar-rose fell in streamers green."--_Lady of the Lake_, p. 16.


LESSON III.--MIXED.

"The infinitive mode has commonly the sign _to_ before it."--_Harrison's
Gram._, p. 25. "Thus, it is adviseable to write _singeing_, from the verb
to _singe_, by way of distinction from _singing_, the participle of the
verb to _sing_."--_Ib._, p. 27. "Many verbs form both the preterite tense
and the preterite participle irregularly."--_Ib._, p. 28. "Much must be
left to every one's taste and judgment."--_Ib._, p. 67. "Verses of
different lengths intermixed form a Pindarick poem."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 44. "He'll surprize you."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 88. "Unequalled
archer! why was this concealed?"--KNOWLES: _ib._, p. 102. "So gaily curl
the waves before each dashing prow."--BYRON: _ib._, p. 104. "When is a
dipthong called a proper dipthong?"--_Infant School Gram._, p. 11. "How
many _ss_ would goodness then end with? Three."--_Ib._, p. 33. "_Q._ What
is a tripthong? _A._ A tripthong is the union of three vowels, pronounced
in like manner."--_Bacon's Gram._, p. 7. "The verb, noun, or pronoun, is
referred to the preceding terms taken seperately."--_Ib._, p. 47. "The
cubic foot of matter which occupies the center of the globe."--_Cardell's
Gram._, 18mo, p. 47. "The wine imbibes oxigen, or the acidifying principle,
from the air."--_Ib._, p. 62. "Charcoal, sulphur, and niter, make gun
powder."--_Ib._, p. 90. "It would be readily understood, that the thing so
labeled, was a bottle of Madeira wine."--_Ib._, p. 99. "They went their
ways, one to his farm, an other to his merchandize."--_Ib._, p. 130. "A
dipthong is the union of two vowels, sounded by a single impulse of the
voice."--_Russell's Gram._, p. 7. "The professors of the Mahommedan
religion are called Mussulmans."--_Maltby's Gram._, p. 73. "This shews that
_let_ is not a sign of the imperative mood, but a real verb."--_Ib._, p.
51. "Those preterites and participles, which are first mentioned in the
list, seem to be the most eligible."--_Ib._, p. 47. "Monosyllables, for the
most part, are compared by _er_ and _est_; and dyssyllables by _more_ and
_most_."--_Ib._, p. 19. "This termination, added to a noun, or adjective,
changes it into a verb: as _modern_, to _modernise_; a _symbol_, to
_symbolize_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 24. "An Abridgment of Murray's
Grammar, with additions from Webster, Ash, Tooke, and others."--_Maltby's
title-page_. "For the sake of occupying the room more advantagously, the
subject of Orthography is merely glanced at."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 5. "So
contended the accusers of Gallileo."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, 12mo, 1839,
p. 380. "Murray says, 'They were _traveling past_ when _we_ met
them.'"--_Peirce, ib._, p. 361. "They fulfil the only purposes for which
they are designed."--_Ib._, p. 359. "On the fulfillment of the
event."--_Ib._, p. 175. "Fullness consists in expressing every
idea."--_Ib._, p. 291. "Consistently with fulness and perspicuity."--_Ib._,
p. 337. "The word _verriest_ is a gross corruption; as, 'He is the
_verriest_ fool on earth.'"--_Wright's Gram._, p. 202. "The sound will
recal the idea of the object."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 142. "Formed for great
enterprizes."--_Bullions's Prin. of E. Gram._, p. 153. "The most important
rules and definitions are printed in large type, _italicised_."--_Hart's
Gram._, p. 3. "HAMLETTED, _a._ Accustomed to a hamlet; countrified."--
_Bolles's Dict._, and _Chalmers's_. "Singular, _spoonful, cup-full,
coach-full, handful_; plural, _spoonfuls, cup-fulls, coach-fulls,
handfuls_."--_Bullions's Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, p. 27.

   "Between Superlatives and following Names,
    OF, by Grammatick Right, a Station claims."
        --_Brightland's Gram._, p. 146.




CHAPTER V.--QUESTIONS.

ORDER OF REHEARSAL, AND METHOD OF EXAMINATION.

[Fist][The student ought to be able to answer with readiness, and in the
words of the book, all the following questions on grammar. And if he has
but lately commenced the study, it may be well to require of him a general
rehearsal of this kind, before he proceeds to the correction of any part of
the false grammar quoted in the foregoing chapters. At any rate, he should
be master of so many of the definitions and rules as precede the part which
he attempts to correct; because this knowledge is necessary to a creditable
performance of the exercise. But those who are very quick at reading, may
perform it _tolerably_, by consulting the book at the time, for what they
do not remember. The answers to these questions will embrace all the main
text of the work; and, if any further examination be thought necessary,
extemporaneous questions may be framed for the purpose.]

LESSON I.--GRAMMAR.

1. What is the name, or title, of this book? 2. What is Grammar? 3. What is
an English Grammar? 4. What is English Grammar, in itself? and what
knowledge does it imply? 5. If grammar is the art of reading, writing, and
speaking, define these actions. What is it, _to read_? 6. What is it, _to
write_? 7. What is it, _to speak_? 8. How is grammar to be taught, and by
what means are its principles to be made known? 9. What is a perfect
definition? 10. What is an example, as used in teaching? 11. What is a rule
of grammar? 12. What is an exercise? 13. What was language at first, and
what is it now? 14. Of what two kinds does the composition of language
consist? and how do they differ? 15. What are the least parts of language?
16. What has discourse to do with sentences? or sentences, with points? 17.
In extended compositions, what is the order of the parts, upwards from a
sentence? 18. What, then, is the common order of literary division,
downwards, throughout? 19. Are all literary works divided exactly in this
way? 20. How is Grammar divided? 21. Of what does Orthography treat? 22. Of
what does Etymology treat? 23. Of what does Syntax treat? 24. Of what does
Prosody treat?

PART FIRST, ORTHOGRAPHY.

LESSON II.--LETTERS.

1. Of what does Orthography treat? 2. What is a letter? 3. What is an
elementary sound of human voice, or speech? 4. What name is given to the
sound of a letter? and what epithet, to a letter not sounded? 5. How many
letters are there in English? and how many sounds do they represent? 6. In
what does a knowledge of the letters consist? 7. What variety is there in
the letters? and how are they always the same? 8. What different sorts of
types, or styles of letters, are used in English? 9. What are the names of
the letters in English? 10. What are their names in both numbers, singular
and plural? 11. Into what general classes are the letters divided? 12. What
is a vowel? 13. What is a consonant? 14. What letters are vowels? and what,
consonants? 15. When are _w_ and _y_ consonants? and when, vowels? 16. How
are the consonants divided? 17. What is a semivowel? 18. What is a mute?
19. What letters are reckoned semivowels? and how many of these are
aspirates? 20. What letters are called liquids? and why? 21. What letters
are reckoned mutes? and which of them are imperfect mutes?

LESSON III.--SOUNDS.

1. What is meant, when we speak of the powers of the letters? 2. Are the
sounds of a language fewer than its words? 3. How are different vowel
sounds produced? 4. What are the vowel sounds in English? 5. How may these
sounds be modified in the formation of syllables? 6. Can you form a word
upon each by means of an _f_? 7. Will you try the series again with a _p_?
8. How may the vowel sounds be written? and how uttered when they are not
words? 9. Which of the vowel sounds form words? and what of the rest? 10.
How many and what are the consonant sounds in English? 11. In what series
of words may all these sounds be heard? 12. In what series of words may
each of them be heard two or three times? 13. What is said of the sounds of
_j_ and _x_? 14. What is said of the sounds of _c_ and _g_? 15. What is
said of _sc_, or _s_ before _c_? 16. What, of _ce, ci_, and _ch_? 17. What
sounds has the consonant _g_? 18. In how many different ways can the
letters of the alphabet be combined? 19. What do we derive from these
combinations of sounds and characters?

LESSON IV.--CAPITALS.

1. What characters are employed in English? 2. Why should the different
sorts of letters be kept distinct? 3. What is said of the slanting strokes
in Roman letters? 4. For what purpose are _Italics_ chiefly used? 5. In
preparing a manuscript, how do we mark these things for the printer? 6.
What distinction of form belongs to each of the letters? 7. What is said of
small letters? and why are capitals used? 8. What things are commonly
exhibited wholly in capitals? 9. How many rules for capitals are given in
this book? and what are their titles? 10. What says Rule 1st of _books_?
11. What says Rule 2d of _first words_? 12. What says Rule 3d of _names of
Deity_? 13. What says Rule 4th of _proper names_? 14. What says Rule 5th of
_titles_? 15. What says Rule 6th of _one capital_? 16. What says Rule 7th
of _two capitals_? 17. What says Rule 8th of _compounds_? 18. What says
Rule 9th of _apposition_? 19. What says Rule 10th of _personifications_?
20. What says Rule 11th of _derivatives_? 21. What says Rule 12th of _I and
O_? 22. What says Rule 13th of _poetry_? 23. What says Rule 14th of
_examples_? 24. What says Rule 15th of _chief words_? 25. What says Rule
16th of _needless capitals_?

[Now turn to the first chapter of Orthography, and correct the
improprieties there quoted for the practical application of these rules.]

LESSON V.--SYLLABLES.

1. What is a syllable? 2. Can the syllables of a word be perceived by the
ear? 3. Under what names are words classed according to the number of their
syllables? 4. Which of the letters can form syllables of themselves? and
which cannot? 5. What is a diphthong? 6. What is a proper diphthong? 7.
What is an improper diphthong? 8. What is a triphthong? 9. What is a proper
triphthong? 10. What is an improper triphthong? 11. How many and what are
the diphthongs in English? 12. How many and which of these are so variable
in sound that they may be either proper or improper diphthongs? 13. How
many and what are the proper diphthongs? 14. How many and what are the
improper diphthongs? 15. Are proper triphthongs numerous in our language?
16. How many and what are the improper triphthongs? 17. What guide have we
for dividing words into syllables? 18. How many special rules of
syllabication are given in this book? and what are their titles, or
subjects? 19. What says Rule 1st of _consonants_? 20. What says Rule 2d of
_vowels_? 21. What says Rule 3d of _terminations_? 22. What says Rule 4th
of _prefixes_? 23. What says Rule 5th of _compounds_? 24. What says Rule
6th of _lines full_?

[Now turn to the second chapter of Orthography, and correct the
improprieties there quoted for the practical application of these rules.]

LESSON VI.--WORDS.

1. What is a word? 2. How are words distinguished in regard to _species_
and _figure_? 3. What is a primitive word? 4. What is a derivative word? 5.
What is a simple word? 6. What is a compound word? 7. How do permanent
compounds differ from others? 8. How many rules for the figure of words are
given in this book? and what are their titles, or subjects? 9. What says
Rule 1st of _compounds_? 10. What says Rule 2d of _simples_? 11. What says
Rule 3d of _the sense_? 12. What says Rule 4th of _ellipses_? 13. What says
Rule 5th of _the hyphen_? 14. What says Rule 6th of _no hyphen_?

[Now turn to the third chapter of Orthography, and correct the
improprieties there quoted for the practical application of these rules.]

LESSON VII.--SPELLING.

1. What is spelling? 2. How is this art to be acquired? and why so? 3. Why
is it difficult to learn to spell accurately? 4. Is it then any disgrace to
spell words erroneously? 5. What benefit may be expected from the rules for
spelling? 6. How many rules for spelling are given in this book? and what
are their titles, or subjects? 7. What says Rule 1st of _final f, l_, or
_s_? 8. Can you mention the principal exceptions to this rule? 9. What says
Rule 2d of _other finals_? 10. Are there any exceptions to this rule? 11.
What says Rule 3d of the _doubling_ of consonants? 12. Under what three
heads are the exceptions to this rule noticed? 13. What says Rule 4th
_against the doubling_ of consonants? 14. Under what four heads are the
apparent exceptions to this Rule noticed? 15. What says Rule 5th of _final
ck_? 16. What monosyllables, contrary to this rule, end with _c_ only? 17.
What says Rule 6th of the _retaining_ of double letters before affixes? 18.
Under what three heads are the exceptions to this rule noticed? 19. What
says Rule 7th of the _retaining_ of double letters after prefixes? 20. What
observation is made respecting exceptions to this rule?

LESSON VIII.--SPELLING.

21. What says Rule 8th of _final ll_, and of _final l single_? 22. What
words does this rule claim, which might seem to come under Rule 7th? and
why? 23. What says Rule 9th of _final e omitted_? 24. Under what three
heads are the exceptions, real or apparent, here noticed? 25. What says
Rule 10th of _final e retained?_ 26. Under what three heads are the
exceptions to this rule noticed? 27. What says Rule 11th of _final y
changed?_ 28. Under what three heads are the limits and exceptions to this
rule noticed? 29. What says Rule 12th of _final y unchanged?_ 30. Under
what three heads are the exceptions to this rule noticed? 31. What says
Rule 13th of the terminations _ize_ and _ise?_ 32. Under what three heads
are the apparent exceptions to this rule noticed? 33. What says Rule 14th
of _compounds?_ 34. Under what seven heads are the exceptions to this rule
noticed? 35. What says Rule 15th of _usage_, as a law of spelling?

[Now turn to the fourth chapter of Orthography, and correct the
improprieties there quoted for the practical application of these rules and
their exceptions.]




CHAPTER VI.--FOR WRITING.

EXERCISES IN ORTHOGRAPHY.

[Fist] [The following examples of false orthography are inserted here, and
not explained in the general Key, that they may he corrected by the pupil
_in writing_. Some of the examples here quoted are less inaccurate than
others, but all of them, except a few shown in contrast, are, in some
respect or other, erroneous. It is supposed, that every student who can
answer the questions contained in the preceding chapter, will readily
discern wherein the errors lie, and be able to make the necessary
corrections.]

EXERCISE I.--CAPITALS.

"Alexander the great killed his friend Clitus."--_Harrison's Gram._, p. 68.
"The words in italics are parsed in the same manner."--_Maltby's Gram._, p.
69. "It may be read by those who do not understand latin."--_Barclay's
Works_, Vol. iii, p. 262. "A roman _s_ being added to a word in italics or
small capitals."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 215. "This is not simply a
gallicism, but a corruption of the French _on_; itself a corruption."--
_Ib._, p. 228. "The Gallicism, '_it is me_,' is perpetually striking the
ear in London."--_Ib._, p. 316. "'Almost nothing,' is a common Scotticism,
equally improper: it should be, 'scarcely any thing.'"--_Ib._, p. 333. "To
use _learn_ for _teach_, is a common Scotticism, that ought to be carefully
avoided."--See _ib._, p. 261. "A few observations on the subjunctive mood
as it appears in our English bible."--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 40. "The
translators of the bible, have confounded two tenses, which in the original
are uniformly kept distinct."--_Ib._, p. 40. "More like heaven on earth,
than the holy land would have been."--_Anti-Slavery Mag._, Vol. i, p. 72.
"There is now extant a poetical composition, called the golden verses of
Pythagoras."-- _Lempriere's Dict._ "Exercise of the Mind upon Theorems of
Science, like generous and manly Exercise of the Body, tends to call forth
and strengthen Nature's original Vigour."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 295. "O
that I could prevail on Christians to melt down, under the warm influence
of brotherly love, all the distinctions of methodists, independents,
baptists, anabaptists, arians, trinitarians, unitarians, in the glorious
name of christians."--KNOX: _Churchill's Gram._, p. 173. "Pythagoras long
ago remarked, 'that ability and necessity dwell near each
other.'"--_Student's Manual_, p. 285.

   "The Latin Writers Decency neglect,
    But modern Readers challenge more Respect."
        --_Brightland's Gram._, p. 172.

EXERCISE II.--SYLLABLES.

1. Correct _Bolles_, in the division of the following words: "Del-ia,
Jul-ia, Lyd-ia, heigh-ten, pat-ron, ad-roit, worth-y, fath-er, fath-er-ly,
mar-chi-o-ness, i-dent-ic-al, out-ra-ge-ous, ob-nox-i-ous, pro-di-gi-ous,
tre-mend-ous, ob-liv-i-on, pe-cul-i-ar."--_Revised Spelling-Book_: New
London, 1831.

2. Correct _Sears_, in the division of the following words: "A-quil-a,
hear-ty, drea-ry, wor-my, hai-ry, thor-ny, phil-os-o-phy, dis-cov-e-ry,
re-cov-e-ry, ad-diti-on, am-biti-on, au-spici-ous, fac-titi-ous,
fla-giti-ous, fru-iti-on, sol-stiti-al, ab-o-liti-on."--_Standard
Spelling-Book_: "New Haven," 1826.

3. Correct _Bradley_, in the division of the following words: "Jes-ter,
rai-ny, forg-e-ry, fin-e-ry, spic-e-ry, brib-e-ry, groc-e-ry, chi-can-e-ry,
fer-riage, line-age, cri-ed, tri-ed, sù-ed, slic-ed, forc-ed, pledg-ed,
sav-ed, dup-ed, strip-ed, touch-ed, trounc-ed."--_Improved Spelling-Book_:
Windsor, 1815.

4. Correct _Burhans_, in the division of the following words: "Boar-der,
brigh-ten, cei-ling, frigh-ten, glea-ner, lea-kage, suc-ker, mos-sy,
fros-ty, twop-ence, pu-pill-ar-y, crit-i-call-y, gen-er-all-y,
lit-er-all-y, log-i-call-y, trag-i-call-y, ar-ti-fici-al, po-liti-call-y,
sloth-full-y, spite-full-y, re-all-y, sui-ta-ble, ta-mea-ble, flumm-er-y,
nesc-i-ence, shep-her-dess, trav-ell-er, re-pea-ter, re-pressi-on,
suc-cessi-on, un-lear-ned."--_Critical Pronouncing Spelling-Book_:[128]
Philadelphia, 1823.

5. Correct _Marshall_, in the division of the following words: "Trench-er,
trunch-eon, dros-sy, glos-sy, glas-sy, gras-sy, dres-ses, pres-ses,
cal-ling, chan-ging, en-chan-ging, con-ver-sing, mois-ture, join-ture,
qua-drant, qua-drate, trans-gres-sor, dis-es-teem."--_New Spelling-Book_:
New York, 1836.

6. Correct _Emerson_, in the division of the following words: "Dus-ty
mis-ty, mar-shy, mil-ky, wes-tern, stor-my, nee-dy, spee-dy, drea-ry,
fros-ty, pas-sing, roc-ky, bran-chy, bland-ish, pru-dish, eve-ning,
a-noth-er."--_National Spelling-Book_: Boston, 1828.

   "Two Vowels meeting, each with its full Sound,
    Always to make Two Syllables are bound."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 64.


EXERCISE III.--FIGURE OF WORDS.

"I was surprised by the return of my long lost brother."--_Parker's
Exercises in English Composition_, p. 5. "Such singular and unheard of
clemency cannot be passed over by me in silence."--_Ib._, p. 10. "I
perceive my whole system excited by the potent stimulus of
sun-shine."--_Ib._, p. 11. "To preserve the unity of a sentence, it is
sometimes necessary to employ the case absolute, instead of the verb and
conjunction."--_Ib._, p. 17. "Severity and hard hearted opinions accord
with the temper of the times."--_Ib._, p. 18. "That poor man was put into
the mad house."--_Ib._, p. 22. "This fellow must be put into the poor
house."--_Ib._ p. 22. "I have seen the breast works and other defences of
earth, that were thrown up."--_Ib._, p. 24. "Cloven footed animals are
enabled to walk more easily on uneven ground."--_Ib._, p. 25. "Self conceit
blasts the prospects of many a youth."--_Ib._, p. 26. "Not a moment should
elapse without bringing some thing to pass."--_Ib._, p. 36. "A school
master decoyed the children of the principal citizens into the Roman
camp."--_Ib._, p. 39. "The pupil may now write a description of the
following objects. A school room. A steam boat. A writing desk. A dwelling
house. A meeting house. A paper mill. A grist mill. A wind mill."--_Ib._,
p. 45. "Every metaphor should be founded on a resemblance which is clear
and striking; not far fetched, nor difficult to be discovered."--_Ib._, p.
49. "I was reclining in an arbour overhung with honey suckle and jessamine
of the most exquisite fragrance."--_Ib._, p. 51. "The author of the
following extract is speaking of the slave trade."--_Ib._, p. 60. "The all
wise and benevolent Author of nature has so framed the soul of man, that he
cannot but approve of virtue."--_Ib._, p. 74. "There is something of self
denial in the very idea of it."--_Ib._, p. 75. "Age therefore requires a
well spent youth to render it happy."--_Ib._, p. 76. "Pearl-ash requires
much labour in its extraction from ashes."--_Ib._, p. 91. "_Club_, or
_crump, footed_, Loripes; _Rough_, or _leather, footed_,
Plumipes."--_Ainsworth's Dict._

   "The honey-bags steal from the humble bees,
    And for night-tapers crop their waxen thighs."
        --SHAK.: _Joh.'s Dict., w. Glowworm._

   "The honeybags steal from the bumblebees,
    And for night tapers crop their waxen thighs."
        --SHAK.: _Joh.'s Dict., w. Humblebee._

   "The honey bags steal from the humble-bees,
    And, for night tapers crop their waxen thighs."
        --_Dodd's Beauties of Shak._, p. 51.


EXERCISE IV.--SPELLING.

"His antichamber, and room of audience, are little square chambers
wainscoted."--ADDISON: _Johnson's Dict., w. Antechamber_. "Nobody will deem
the quicksighted amongst them to have very enlarged views of
ethicks."--LOCKE: _Ib., w. Quicksighted_. "At the rate of this
thick-skulled blunderhead, every plow-jobber shall take upon him to read
upon divinity."--L'ESTRANGE: _Ib., m. Blunderhead_. "On the topmast, the
yards, and boltsprit would I flame distinctly."--SHAK.: _Ib., w. Bowsprit_.
"This is the tune of our catch plaid by the picture of nobody."--ID.: _Ib.,
w. Nobody_. "Thy fall hath left a kind of blot to mark the fulfraught
man."--ID.: _Ib., w. Fulfraught_. "Till blinded by some Jack o'Lanthorn
sprite."--_Snelling's Gift_, p. 62. "The beauties you would have me
eulogise."--_Ib._, p. 14. "They rail at me--I gaily laugh at them."--_Ib._,
p. 13. "Which the king and his sister had intrusted to him
withall."--_Josephus_, Vol. v, p. 143. "The terms of these emotions are by
no means synonimous."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 336. "Lillied, _adj._
Embellished with lilies."--_Chalmers's Dict._ "They seize the compendious
blessing without exertion and without reflexion."--_Philological Museum_,
Vol. i, p. 428. "The first cry that rouses them from their torpour, is the
cry that demands their blood."--_Ib._, p. 433. "It meets the wants of
elementary schools and deserves to be patronised."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p.
5. "Whose attempts were paralysed by the hallowed sound."--_Music of
Nature_, p. 270. "It would be an amusing investigation to analyse their
language."--_Ib._, p. 200. "It is my father's will that I should take on me
the hostess-ship of the day."--SHAK.: _in Johnson's Dict._ "To retain the
full apprehension of them undiminisht."--_Phil. Museum._, Vol. i, p. 458.
"The ayes and noes were taken in the House of Commons."--_Anti-Slavery
Mag._, Vol. i, p. 11. "Derivative words are formed by adding letters or
syllables to primatives."--_Davenport's Gram._, p. 7. "The minister never
was thus harrassed himself."--_Nelson, on Infidelity_, p. 6. "The most
vehement politician thinks himself unbiassed in his judgment."--_Ib._, p.
17. "Mistress-ship, _n._ Female rule or dominion."--_Webster's Dict._

   "Thus forced to kneel, thus groveling to embrace,
    The scourge and ruin of my realm and race."
        --POPE: _Ash's Gram._, p. 83.


EXERCISE V.--MIXED ERRORS.

"The quince tree is of a low stature; the branches are diffused and
crooked."--MILLER: _Johnson's Dict._ "The greater slow worm, called also
the blindworm, is commonly thought to be blind, because of the littleness
of his eyes."--GREW: _ib._ "Oh Hocus! where art thou? It used to go in
another guess manner in thy time."--ARBUTHNOT: _ib._ "One would not make a
hotheaded crackbrained coxcomb forward for a scheme of moderation."--ID.:
_ib._ "As for you, colonel huff-cap, we shall try before a civil magistrate
who's the greatest plotter."--DRYDEN: _ib., w. Huff._ "In like manner,
Actions co-alesce with their Agents, and Passions with their
Patients."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 263. "These Sentiments are not unusual
even with the Philosopher now a days."--_Ib._, p. 350. "As if the Marble
were to fashion the Chizzle, and not the Chizzle the Marble."--_Ib._, p.
353. "I would not be understood, in what I have said, to undervalue
Experiment."--_Ib._, p. 352. "How therefore is it that they approach nearly
to Non-Entity's?"--_Ib._, p. 431. "Gluttonise, modernise, epitomise,
barbarise, tyranise."--_Churchill's Gram._, pp. 31 and 42. "Now fair befal
thee and thy noble house!"--SHAK.: _ib._, p. 241. "Nor do I think the error
above-mentioned would have been so long indulged," &c.--_Ash's Gram._, p.
4. "The editor of the two editions above mentioned was pleased to give this
little manuel to the public," &c.--_Ib._, p. 7. "A Note of Admiration
denotes a modelation of the voice suited to the expression."--_Ib._, p. 16.
"It always has some respect to the power of the agent; and is therefore
properly stiled the potential mode."--_Ib._, p. 29. "Both these are
supposed to be synonomous expressions."--_Ib._, p. 105. "An expence beyond
what my circumstances admit."--DODDRIDGE: _ib._, p. 138. "There are four of
them: the _Full-Point_, or _Period_; the _Colon_; the _Semi-Colon_; the
_Comma_."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, N. Y., 1818, p. 77. "There are many men,
who have been at Latin-Schools for years, and who, at last, cannot write
six sentences in English correctly."--_Ib._, p. 39. "But, figures of
rhetorick are edge tools, and two edge tools too."--_Ib._, p. 182. "The
horse-chesnut grows into a goodly standard."--MORTIMER: _Johnson's Dict._
"Whereever _if_ is to be used."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 175.

   "Peel'd, patch'd, and pyebald, linsey-woolsey brothers."
        --POPE: _Joh. Dict., w., Mummer_.

   "Peel'd, patch'd, and piebald, linsey-woolsey brothers."
        --_ID.: ib., w. Piebald_.


EXERCISE VI.--MIXED ERRORS.

"Pied, _adj._ [from _pie._] Variegated; partycoloured."--_Johnson's Dict._
"Pie, [_pica_, Lat.] A magpie; a party-coloured bird."--_Ib._ "Gluy, _adj._
[from _glue._] Viscous; tenacious; glutinous."--_Ib._ "Gluey, _a._ Viscous,
glutinous. Glueyness. _n._ The quality of being gluey."--_Webster's Dict._
"Old Euclio, seeing a crow-scrat[129] upon the muck-hill, returned in all
haste, taking it for an ill sign."--BURTON: _Johnson's Dict._ "Wars are
begun by hairbrained[130] dissolute captains."--ID.: _ib._ "A carot is a
well known garden root."--_Red Book_, p. 60. "Natural philosophy,
metaphysicks, ethicks, history, theology, and politicks, were familiar to
him."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 209. "The words in Italicks and capitals,
are emphatick."--_Ib._, p. 210. "It is still more exceptionable; Candles,
Cherrys, Figs, and other sorts of Plumbs, being sold by Weight, and being
Plurals."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 135. "If the End of Grammar be not to
save that Trouble, and Expence of Time, I know not what it is good
for."--_Ib._, p. 161. "_Caulce_, Sheep Penns, or the like, has no Singular,
according to Charisius."--_Ib._, p. 194. "These busibodies are like to such
as reade bookes with intent onely to spie out the faults
thereof"--_Perkins's Works_, p. 741. "I think it every man's indispensible
duty, to do all the service he can to his country."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 4.
"Either fretting it self into a troublesome Excess, or flaging into a
downright want of Appetite."--_Ib._, p. 23. "And nobody would have a child
cramed at breakfast."--_Ib._, p. 23. "Judgeship and judgment, lodgable and
alledgeable, alledgement and abridgment, lodgment and infringement,
enlargement and acknowledgment."--_Webster's Dict._, 8vo. "Huckster, _n.
s._ One who sells goods by retail, or in small quantities; a
pedler."--_Johnson's Dict._

   "He seeks bye-streets, and saves th' expensive coach."
        --GAY: _ib., w. Mortgage._

   "He seeks by-streets, and saves th' expensive coach."
        --GAY: _ib., w. By-street._


EXERCISE VII.--MIXED ERRORS.

"Boys like a warm fire in a wintry day."--_Webster's El. Spelling-Book_, p.
62. "The lilly is a very pretty flower."--_Ib._, p. 62. "The potatoe is a
native plant of America."--_Ib._, p. 60. "An anglicism is a peculiar mode
of speech among the English."--_Ib._, p. 136. "Black berries and
raspberries grow on briars."--_Ib._, p. 150. "You can broil a beef steak
over the coals of fire."--_Ib._, p. 38. "Beef'-steak, _n._ A steak or slice
of beef for broiling."--_Webster's Dict._ "Beef'steak, _s._ a slice of beef
for broiling."--_Treasury of Knowledge._ "As he must suffer in case of the
fall of merchandize, he is entitled to the corresponding gain if
merchandize rises."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 258. "He is the
worshipper of an hour, but the worldling for life."--_Maturin's Sermons_,
p. 424. "Slyly hinting something to the disadvantage of great and honest
men."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 329. "'Tis by this therefore that I Define
the Verb; namely, that it is a Part of Speech, by which something is
apply'd to another, as to its Subject."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 255.
"It may sometimes throw a passing cloud over the bright hour of
gaiety."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 178. "To criticize, is to discover
errors; and to crystalize implies to freeze or congele."--_Red Book_, p.
68. "The affectation of using the preterite instead of the participle, is
peculiarly aukward; as, he has came."--_Priestley's Grammar_, p. 125. "They
are moraly responsible for their individual conduct."--_Cardell's El.
Gram._, p. 21. "An engine of sixty horse power, is deemed of equal force
with a team of sixty horses."--_Red Book_, p. 113. "This, at fourpence per
ounce, is two shillings and fourpence a week, or six pounds, one shining
and four pence a year."--_Ib._, p. 122. "The tru meening of _parliament_ iz
a meeting of barons or peers."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 276. "Several
authorities seem at leest to favor this opinion."--_Ib._, p. 277. "That iz,
az I hav explained the tru primitiv meening of the word."--_Ib._, p. 276.
"The lords are peers of the relm; that iz, the ancient prescriptiv judges
or barons."--_Ib._, p. 274.

   "Falshood is folly, and 'tis just to own
    The fault committed; this was mine alone."
        --_Pope, Odys._, B. xxii, l. 168.

EXERCISE VIII--MIXED ERRORS.

"A second verb so nearly synonimous with the first, is at best
superfluous."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 332. "Indicate it, by some mark
opposite [to] the word misspelt."--_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 74. "And
succesfully controling the tendencies of mind."--_Ib._, p. 24. "It [the
Monastick Life] looks very like what we call Childrens-Play."--[LESLIE'S]
_Right of Tythes_, p. 236. "It seems rather lik Playing of Booty, to Please
those Fools and Knaves."--_Ib._, Pref., p. vi. "And first I Name Milton,
only for his Name, lest the Party should say, that I had not Cousider'd his
Performance against Tythes."--_Ib._, p. iv. "His Fancy was too Predominant
for his Judgment. His Talent lay so much in Satyr that he hated
Reasoning."--_Ib._, p. iv. "He has thrown away some of his Railery against
Tythes, and the Church then underfoot."--_Ib._, p. v. "They Vey'd with one
another in these things."--_Ib._, p. 220. "Epamanondas was far the most
accomplished of the Thebans."--_Cooper's New Gram._, p. 27. "_Whoever_ and
_Whichever_, are thus declined. Sing. and Plur. _nom._ whoever, _poss._
whoseever, _obj._ whomever. Sing. and Plu. _nom._ whichever, _poss._
whoseever, _obj._ whichever."--_Ib._, p. 38. "WHEREEVER, _adv._ [_where_
and _ever_.] At whatever place."--_Webster's Dict._ "They at length took
possession of all the country south of the Welch mountains."--_Dobson's
Comp. Gram._, p. 7. "Those Britains, who refused to submit to the foreign
yoke, retired into Wales."--_Ib._, p. 6. "Religion is the most chearful
thing in the world."--_Ib._, p. 43. "_Two_ means the number two compleatly,
whereas _second_ means only the last of two, and so of all the
rest."--_Ib._, p. 44. "Now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose
sirname is Peter."--_Ib._, p. 96. (See _Acts_, x, 5.) "In French words, we
use _enter_ instead of _inter_; as, entertain, enterlace,
enterprize."--_Ib._, p. 101. "Amphiology, i. e. a speech of uncertain or
doubtful meaning."--_Ib._, p. 103. "Surprize; as, hah! hey day! what!
strange!"--_Ib._, p. 109. "Names of the letters: ai bee see dee ee ef jee
aitch eye jay kay el em en o pee cue ar ess tee you voe double u eks wi
zed."--_Rev. W. Allen's Gram._, p. 3.

   "I, O, and U, at th' End of Words require,
    The silent (e), the same do's (va) desire."
        --_Brightland's Gram._, p. 15.


EXERCISE IX.--MIXED ERRORS.

"_And_ is written for _eacend_, adding, ekeing."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of
Europ. Lang._, Vol. i, p. 222. "The Hindus have changed _ai_ into _e_,
sounded like _e_ in _where_."--_Ib._, Vol. ii, p. 121. "And therefor I
would rather see the cruelest usurper than the mildest despot."--
_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 430. "Sufficiently distinct to prevent
our marveling."--_Ib._, i, 477. "Possessed of this preheminence he
disregarded the clamours of the people."--_Smollett's England_, Vol. iii,
p. 222. "He himself, having communicated, administered the sacrament to
some of the bye-standers."--_Ib._, p. 222. "The high fed astrology which it
nurtured, is reduced to a skeleton on the leaf of an almanac."--_Cardell's
Gram._, p. 6. "Fulton was an eminent engineer: he invented steam
boats."--_Ib._, p. 30. "Then, in comes the benign latitude of the doctrine
of goodwill."--SOUTH: _in Johnson's Dict._ "Being very lucky in a pair of
long lanthorn-jaws, he wrung his face into a hideous grimace."--SPECTATOR:
_ib._ "Who had lived almost four-and-twenty years under so politick a king
as his father."--BACON: _ib., w. Lowness_. "The children will answer;
John's, or William's, or whose ever it may be."--_Infant School Gram._, p.
32. "It is found tolerably easy to apply them, by practising a little guess
work."--_Cardell's Gram._, p. 91. "For between which two links could speech
makers draw the division line?"--_Ib._, p. 50. "The wonderful activity of
the rope dancer who stands on his head."--_Ib._, p. 56. "The brilliancy
which the sun displays on its own disk, is sun shine."--_Ib._, p. 63. "A
word of three syllables is termed a trisyllable."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 23;
_Coar's_, 17; _Jaudon's_, 13; _Comly's_, 8; _Cooper's, New Gr._, 8;
_Kirkham's_, 20; _Picket's_, 10; _Alger's_, 12; _Blair's_, 1; _Guy's_, 2;
_Bolles's Spelling-Book_, 161. See _Johnson's Dict._ "A word of three
syllables is termed a trissyllable."--_British Gram._, p. 33;
_Comprehensive Gram._, 23; _Bicknell's_, 17; _Allen's_, 31; _John
Peirce's_, 149; _Lennie's_, 5; _Maltby's_, 8; _Ingersoll's_, 7;
_Bradley's_, 66; _Davenport's_, 7; _Bucke's_, 16; _Bolles's Spelling-Book_,
91. See _Littleton's Lat. Dict._ (1.) "_Will_, in the first Persons,
promises or threatens: But in the second and third Persons, it barely
foretells."--_British Gram._, p. 132. (2.) "_Will_, in the first Persons,
promises or threatens; but in the second and third Persons, it barely
foretells."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 41. (3.) "_Will_, in the first person,
promises, engages, or threatens. In the second and third persons, it merely
foretels."--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 59. (4.) "_Will_, in the first person
singular and plural, promises or threatens; in the second and third
persons, only foretells."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 41. (5.) "_Will_, in the
first person singular and plural, intimates resolution and promising; in
the second and third person, only foretels."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 88;
_Ingersoll's_, 136; _Fisk's_, 78; _A. Flint's_, 42; _Bullions's_, 32;
_Hamlin's_, 41; _Cooper's Murray_, 50. [Fist] _Murray's Second Edition_ has
it "_foretells_." (6.) "_Will_, in the first person singular and plural,
expresses resolution and promising. In the second and third persons it only
foretells."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 38; _E. Devis's_, 51; _Lennie's_, 22. (7.)
"_Will_, in the first person, promises. In the second and third persons, it
simply foretels."--_Maltby's Gram._, p. 24. (8.) "_Will_, in the first
person implies resolution and promising; in the second and third, it
foretells."--_Cooper's New Gram._, p. 51. (9.) "_Will_, in the first person
singular and plural, promises or threatens; in the second and third
persons, only foretels: _shall_, on the contrary, in the first person,
simply foretels; in the second and third persons, promises, commands, or
threatens."--_Adam's Lat. and Eng. Gram._, p. 83. (10.) "In the first
person shall _foretels_, and will _promises_ or _threatens_; but in the
second and third persons _will_ foretels, and _shall_ promises or
threatens."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 65.

   "If Mævius scribble in Apollo's spight,
    There are who judge still worse than he can write."--_Pope_.


EXERCISE X.--MIXED ERRORS.

"I am liable to be charged that I latinize too much."--DRYDEN: in
_Johnson's Dict._ "To mould him platonically to his own idea."--WOTTON:
_ib._ "I will marry a wife as beautiful as the houries, and as wise as
Zobeide."--_Murray's E. Reader_, p. 148. "I will marry a wife, beautiful as
the Houries."--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 65. "The words in italics are all in
the imperative mood."--_Maltby's Gram._, p. 71. "Words Italicised, are
emphatick, in various degrees."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 173. "Wherever
two gg's come together, they are both hard."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 5.
"But these are rather silent (_o_)'s than obscure (_u_)'s."--_Brightland's
Gram._, p. 19. "That can be Guest at by us, only from the
Consequences."--_Right of Tythes_, p. viii. "He says he was glad that he
had Baptized so few; And asks them, Were ye Baptised in the Name of
Paul?"--_Ib._, p. ix. "Therefor he Charg'd the Clergy with the Name of
Hirelings."--_Ib._, p. viii. "On the fourth day before the first second day
in each month."--_The Friend_, Vol. vii, p. 230. "We are not bound to
adhere for ever to the terms, or to the meaning of terms, which were
established by our ancestors."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 140. "O! learn from
him to station quick eyed Prudence at the helm."--_Frosts El. of Gram._, p.
104. "It pourtrays the serene landscape of a retired village."--_Music of
Nature_, p. 421. "By stating the fact, in a circumlocutary
manner."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, p. 33. "Time as an abstract being is
a non-entity."--_Ib._, p. 29. "From the difficulty of analysing the
multiplied combinations of words."--_Ib._, p. 19. "Drop those letters that
are superfluous, as: handful, foretel."--_Cooper's Plain & Pract. Gram._,
p. 10. "_Shall_, in the first person, simply foretells."--_Ib._, p. 51.
"And the latter must evidently be so too, or, at least, cotemporary, with
the act."--_Ib._, p. 60. "The man has been traveling for five
years."--_Ib._, p. 77. "I shall not take up time in combatting their
scruples."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 320. "In several of the chorusses of
Euripides and Sophocles, we have the same kind of lyric poetry as in
Pindar."--_Ib._, p. 398. "Until the Statesman and Divine shall unite their
efforts in _forming_ the human mind, rather than in loping its
excressences, after it has been neglected."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 26.
"Where conviction could be followed only by a bigotted persistence in
error."--_Ib._, p. 78. "All the barons were entitled to a seet in the
national council, in right of their baronys."--_Ib._, p. 260. "Some
knowledge of arithmetic is necessary for every lady."--_Ib._, p. 29. "Upon
this, [the system of chivalry,] were founded those romances of
night-errantry."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 374. "The subject is, the
atchievements of Charlemagne and his Peers, or Paladins."--_Ib._, p. 374.
"Aye, aye; this slice to be sure outweighs the other."--_Blair's Reader_,
p. 31. "In the common phrase, _good-bye, bye_ signifies _passing, going_.
The phrase signifies, a good going, a prosperous passage, and is equivalent
to _farewell_."--_Webster's Dict._ "Good-by, _adv_.--a contraction of _good
be with you_--a familiar way of bidding farewell."--See _Chalmers's Dict._
"Off he sprung, and did not so much as stop to say good bye to
you."--_Blair's Reader_, p. 16. "It no longer recals the notion of the
action."--_Barnard's Gram._, p. 69.

   "Good-nature and good-sense must ever join;
    To err, is human; to forgive, divine."--_Pope, Ess. on Crit._


EXERCISE XI.--MIXED ERRORS.

"The practices in the art of carpentry are called planeing, sawing,
mortising, scribing, moulding, &c."--_Blair's Reader_, p. 118. "With her
left hand, she guides the thread round the spindle, or rather round a spole
which goes on the spindle."--_Ib._, p. 134. "Much suff'ring heroes next
their honours claim."--POPE: _Johnson's Dict., w. Much_. "Vein healing
verven, and head purging dill."--SPENSER: _ib., w. Head_. "An, in old
English, signifies _if_; as, '_an_ it please your honor.'"--_Webster's
Dict._ "What, then, was the moral worth of these renouned
leaders?"--_M'Ilvaine's Lect._, p. 460. "Behold how every form of human
misery is met by the self denying diligence of the benevolent."--_Ib._, p.
411. "Reptiles, bats, and doleful creatures--jackalls, hyenas, and
lions--inhabit the holes, and caverns, and marshes of the desolate
city."--_Ib._, p. 270. "ADAYS, _adv_. On or in days; as, in the phrase, now
_adays_."--_Webster's Dict._ "REFEREE, one to whom a thing is referred;
TRANSFERREE, the person to whom a transfer is made."--_Ib._ "The
Hospitallers were an order of knights who built a hospital at Jerusalem for
pilgrims."--_Ib._ "GERARD, Tom, or Tung, was the institutor and first grand
master of the knights hospitalers: he died in 1120."--_Biog. Dict._ "I had
a purpose now to lead our many to the holy land."--SHAK.: _in Johnson's
Dict._ "He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his
servants."--_Psalms_, cv, 25. "In Dryden's ode of Alexander's Feast, the
line, '_Faln, faln, faln, faln_,' represents a gradual sinking of the
mind."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 71. "The first of these lines is
marvelously nonsensical."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 117. "We have the nicely
chiseled forms of an Apollo and a Venus, but it is the same cold marble
still."--_Christian Spect._, Vol. viii, p. 201. "Death waves his mighty
wand and paralyses all."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 35. "Fear God. Honor the
patriot. Respect virtue."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 216. "Pontius Pilate being
Governour of Judea, and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee."--_Ib._, p. 189.
See _Luke_, iii, 1. "AUCTIONEER, _n. s_. The person that manages an
auction."--_Johnson's Dict._ "The earth put forth her primroses and
days-eyes, to behold him."--HOWEL: _ib._ "_Musselman_, not being a compound
of _man_, is _musselmans_ in the plural."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 9. "The
absurdity of fatigueing them with a needless heap of grammar
rules."--_Burgh's Dignity_, Vol. i, p. 147. "John was forced to sit with
his arms a kimbo, to keep them asunder."--ARBUTHNOT: _Joh. Dict._ "To set
the arms a kimbo, is to set the hands on the hips, with the elbows
projecting outward."--_Webster's Dict._ "We almost uniformly confine the
inflexion to the last or the latter noun."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 2. "This
is all souls day, fellows! Is it not?"--SHAK.: _in Joh. Dict._ "The english
physicians make use of troy-weight."--_Johnson's Dict._ "There is a certain
number of ranks allowed to dukes, marquisses, and earls."--PEACHAM: _ib.,
w. Marquis_.

   "How could you chide the young good natur'd prince,
    And drive him from you with so stern an air."
             --ADDISON: _ib., w. Good_, 25.


EXERCISE XII.--MIXED ERRORS.

"In reading, every appearance of sing-song should be avoided."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 75. "If you are thoroughly acquainted with the inflexions of the
verb."--_Ib._, p. 53. "The preterite of _read_ is pronounced
_red_."--_Ib._, p. 48. "Humility opens a high way to dignity."--_Ib._, p.
15. "What is intricate must be unraveled."--_Ib._, p. 275. "Roger Bacon
invented gun powder, A. D. 1280."--_Ib._, p. 277. "On which ever word we
lay the emphasis."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 243; 12mo, p. 195. "Each of
the leaders was apprized of the Roman invasion."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 123.
"If I say, 'I _gallopped_ from Islington to Holloway;' the verb is
intransitive: if, 'I _gallopped_ my _horse_ from Islington to Holloway;' it
is transitive."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 238. "The reasonableness of
setting a part one day in seven."--_The Friend_, Vol. iv, p. 240. "The
promoters of paper money making reprobated this act."--_Webster's Essays_,
p. 196. "There are five compound personal pronouns, which are derived from
the five simple personal pronouns by adding to some of their cases the
syllable _self_; as, my-self, thy-self, him-self, her-self,
it-self."--_Perley's Gram._, p. 16. "Possessives, my-own, thy-own, his-own,
her-own, its-own, our-own, your-own, their-own."--_Ib., Declensions_. "Thy
man servant and thy maid servant may rest, as well as thou."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 160. "How many right angles has an acute angled
triangle?"--_Ib._, p. 220. "In the days of Jorum, king of Israel,
flourished the prophet Elisha."--_Ib._, p. 148. "In the days of Jorum, king
of Israel, Elisha, the prophet flourished."--_Ib._, p. 133. "Lodgable, _a_.
Capable of affording a temporary abode."--_Webster's Octavo Dict._--"Win me
into the easy hearted man."--_Johnson's Quarto Dict._ "And then to end
life, is the same as to dye."--_Milnes's Greek Gram._, p. 176. "Those
usurping hectors who pretend to honour without religion, think the charge
of a lie a blot not to be washed out but by blood."--SOUTH: _Joh. Dict._
"His gallies attending him, he pursues the unfortunate."--_Nixon's Parser_,
p. 91. "This cannot fail to make us shyer of yielding our
assent."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 117. "When he comes to the Italicised
word, he should give it such a definition as its connection with the
sentence may require."--_Claggett's Expositor_, p. vii. "Learn to distil
from your lips all the honies of persuasion."--_Adams's Rhetoric_, Vol. i,
p. 31. "To instill ideas of disgust and abhorrence against the
Americans."--_Ib._, ii, 300. "Where prejudice has not acquired an
uncontroled ascendency."--_Ib._, i, 31. "The uncontrolable propensity of
his mind was undoubtedly to oratory."--_Ib._, i, 100. "The Brutus is a
practical commentary upon the dialogues and the orator."--_Ib._, i, 120.
"The oratorical partitions are a short elementary compendium."--_Ib._, i,
130. "You shall find hundreds of persons able to produce a crowd of good
ideas upon any subject, for one that can marshall them to the best
advantage."--_Ib._, i, 169. "In this lecture, you have the outline of all
that the whole course will comprize."--_Ib._, i, 182. "He would have been
stopped by a hint from the bench, that he was traveling out of the
record."--_Ib._, i, 289. "To tell them that which should befal them in the
last days."--_Ib._, ii, 308. "Where all is present, there is nothing past
to recal."--_Ib._, ii, 358. "Whose due it is to drink the brimfull cup of
God's eternal vengeance."--_Law and Grace_, p. 36.

   "There, from the dead, centurions see him rise,
    See, but struck down with horrible surprize!"--_Savage_.

    "With seed of woes my heart brimful is charged."--SIDNEY: _Joh. Dict._

    "Our legions are brimful, our cause is ripe."--SHAKSPEARE: _ib._




PART II.

ETYMOLOGY.


ETYMOLOGY treats of the different parts of speech, with their classes and
modifications.

The _Parts of Speech_ are the several kinds, or principal classes, into
which words are divided by grammarians.

_Classes_, under the parts of speech, are the particular sorts into which
the several kinds of words are subdivided.

_Modifications_ are inflections, or changes, in the terminations, forms, or
senses, of some kinds of words.




CHAPTER I.--PARTS OF SPEECH.

The Parts of Speech, or sorts of words, in English, are ten; namely, the
Article, the Noun, the Adjective, the Pronoun, the Verb, the Participle,
the Adverb, the Conjunction, the Preposition, and the Interjection.

1. THE ARTICLE.

An Article is the word _the, an_, or _a_, which we put before nouns to
limit their signification: as, _The_ air, _the_ stars; _an_ island, _a_
ship.

2. THE NOUN.

A Noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or
mentioned: as, _George, York, man, apple, truth_.

3. THE ADJECTIVE.

An Adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses
quality: as, A _wise_ man; a _new_ book. You _two_ are _diligent_.

4. THE PRONOUN.

A Pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun: as, The boy loves _his_ book;
_he_ has long lessons, and _he_ learns _them_ well.

5. THE VERB.

A Verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_: as,
I _am_, I _rule_, I _am ruled_; I _love_, thou _lovest_, he _loves_.

6. THE PARTICIPLE.

A Participle is a word derived from a verb, participating the properties of
a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding
_ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb: thus, from the verb _rule_, are formed
three participles, two simple and one compound; as, 1. _ruling_, 2.
_ruled_, 3. _having ruled_.

7. THE ADVERB.

An Adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an
other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner: as,
They are _now here_, studying _very diligently_.

8. THE CONJUNCTION.

A Conjunction is a word used to connect words or sentences in construction,
and to show the dependence of the terms so connected: as, "Thou _and_ he
are happy, _because_ you are good."--_L. Murray_.

9. THE PREPOSITION.

A Preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things
or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a
pronoun; as, The paper lies _before_ me _on_ the desk.

10. THE INTERJECTION.

An Interjection is a word that is uttered merely to indicate some strong or
sudden emotion of the mind: as, _Oh! alas! ah! poh! pshaw! avaunt! aha!
hurrah!_


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The first thing to be learned in the study of this the second part
of grammar, is the distribution of the words of the language into those
principal sorts, or classes, which are denominated _the Parts of Speech_.
This is a matter of some difficulty. And as no scheme which can be adopted,
will be in all cases so plain that young beginners will not occasionally
falter in its application, the teacher may sometimes find it expedient to
refer his pupils to the following simple explanations, which are designed
to aid their first and most difficult steps.

How can we know to what class, or part of speech, any word belongs? By
learning the definitions of the ten parts of speech, and then observing how
the word is written, and in what sense it is used. It is necessary also to
observe, so far as we can, with what other words each particular one is
capable of making sense.

1. Is it easy to distinguish an ARTICLE? If not always easy, it is
generally so: _the, an_, and _a_, are the only English words called
articles, and these are rarely any thing else. Because _an_ and _a_ have
the same import, and are supposed to have the same origin, the articles are
commonly reckoned two, but some count them as three.

2. How can we distinguish a NOUN? By means of the article before it, if
there is one; as, _the house, an apple, a book_; or, by adding it to the
phrase, "_I mentioned_;" as, "I mentioned _peace_;"--"I mentioned
_war_;"--"I mentioned _slumber_." Any word which thus makes complete sense,
is, in that sense, a noun; because a noun is the _name_ of any thing which
can thus be mentioned _by a name_. Of English nouns, there are said to be
as many as twenty-five or thirty thousand.

3. How can we distinguish an ADJECTIVE? By putting a noun after it, to see
if the phrase will be sense. The noun _thing_, or its plural _things_, will
suit almost any adjective; as, A _good_ thing--A _bad_ thing--A _little_
thing--A _great_ thing--_Few_ things--_Many_ things--_Some_ things--_Fifty_
things. Of adjectives, there are perhaps nine or ten thousand.

4. How can we distinguish a PRONOUN? By observing that its noun repeated
makes the same sense. Thus, the example of the pronoun above, "The boy
loves _his_ book; _he_ has long lessons, and _he_ learns _them_
well,"--very clearly means, "The boy loves _the boy's_ book; _the boy_ has
long lessons, and _the boy_ learns _those lessons_ well." Here then, by a
disagreeable repetition of two nouns, we have the same sense without any
pronoun; but it is obvious that the pronouns form a better mode of
expression, because they prevent this awkward repetition. The different
pronouns in English are twenty-four; and their variations in declension are
thirty-two: so that the number of _words_ of this class, is fifty-six.

5. How can we distinguish a VERB? By observing that it is usually the
principal word in the sentence, and that without it there would be no
assertion. It is the word which expresses what is affirmed or said of the
person or thing mentioned; as, "Jesus _wept_."--"Felix _trembled_."--"The
just _shall live_ by faith." It will make sense when inflected with the
pronouns; as, I _write_, thou _writ'st_, he _writes_; we _write_, you
_write_, they _write_.--I _walk_, thou _walkst_, he _walks_; we _walk_, you
_walk_, they _walk_. Of English verbs, some recent grammarians compute the
number at eight thousand; others formerly reckoned them to be no more than
four thousand three hundred.[131]

6. How can we distinguish a PARTICIPLE? By observing its derivation from
the verb, and then placing it after _to be_ or _having_; as, To be
_writing_, Having _written_--To be _walking_, Having _walked_--To be
_weeping_, Having _wept_--To be _studying_, Having _studied_. Of simple
participles, there are twice as many as there are of simple or radical
verbs; and the possible compounds are not less numerous than the simples,
but they are much less frequently used.

7. How can we distinguish an ADVERB? By observing that it answers to the
question, _When? Where? How much?_ or _How_?--or serves to ask it; as, "He
spoke fluently." _How_ did he speak? _Fluently_. This word _fluently_ is
therefore an adverb: it tells _how_ he spoke. Of adverbs, there are about
two thousand six hundred; and four fifths of them end in _ly_.

8. How can we distinguish a CONJUNCTION? By observing what words or terms
it joins together, or to what other conjunction it corresponds; as,
"_Neither_ wealth _nor_ honor can heal a wounded conscience."--_Dillwyn's
Ref._, p. 16. Or, it may be well to learn the whole list at once: _And, as,
both, because, even, for, if, that, then, since, seeing, so: Or, nor,
either, neither, than, though, although, yet, but, except, whether, lest,
unless, save, provided, notwithstanding, whereas._ Of conjunctions, there
are these twenty-nine in common use, and a few others now obsolete.

9. How can we distinguish a PREPOSITION? By observing that it will govern
the pronoun _them_, and is not a verb or a participle; as, _About_
them--_above_ them--_across_ them--_after_ them--_against_ them--_amidst_
them--_among_ them--_around_ them--_at_ them--_Before_ them--_behind_
them--_below_ them--_beneath_ them--_beside_ them--_between_ them--_beyond_
them--_by_ them--_For_ them--_from_ them--_In_ them--_into_ them, &c. Of
the prepositions, there are about sixty now in common use.

10. How can we distinguish an INTERJECTION? By observing that it is an
independent word or sound, uttered earnestly, and very often written with
the note of exclamation; as _Lo! behold! look! see! hark! hush! hist! mum!_
Of interjections, there are sixty or seventy in common use, some of which
are seldom found in books.

OBS. 2.--An accurate knowledge of words, and of their changes, is
indispensable to a clear discernment of their proper combinations in
sentences, according to the usage of the learned. Etymology, therefore,
should be taught before syntax; but it should be chiefly taught by a direct
analysis of entire sentences, and those so plainly written that the
particular effect of every word may be clearly distinguished, and the
meaning, whether intrinsic or relative, be discovered with precision. The
parts of speech are usually named and defined with reference to the use of
words _in sentences_; and, as the same word not unfrequently stands for
several different parts of speech, the learner should be early taught to
make for himself the proper application of the foregoing distribution,
without recurrence to a dictionary, and without aid from his teacher. He
who is endeavouring to acquaint himself with the grammar of a language
which he can already read and understand, is placed in circumstances very
different from those which attend the school-boy who is just beginning to
construe some sentences of a foreign tongue. A frequent use of the
dictionary may facilitate the progress of the one, while it delays that of
the other. English grammar, it is hoped, may be learned directly from this
book alone, with better success than can be expected when the attention of
the learner is divided among several or many different works.

OBS. 3.--Dr. James P. Wilson, in speaking of the classification of words,
observes, "The _names_ of the distributive parts should either express,
distinctly, the influence, which each class produces on sentences; or some
other characteristic trait, by which the respective species of words may be
distinguished, without danger of confusion. It is at least probable, that
no distribution, sufficiently minute, can ever be made, of the parts of
speech, which shall be wholly free from all objection. Hasty innovations,
therefore, and crude conjectures, should not be permitted to disturb that
course of grammatical instruction, which has been advancing in melioration,
by the unremitting labours of thousands, through a series of
ages."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 66. Again: "The _number_ of the parts
of speech may be reduced, or enlarged, at pleasure; and the rules of
syntax may be accommodated to such new arrangement. The best grammarians
find it difficult, in practice, to distinguish, in some instances, adverbs,
prepositions, and conjunctions; yet their effects are generally distinct.
This inconvenience should be submitted to, since a less comprehensive
distribution would be very unfavourable to a rational investigation of the
meaning of English sentences."--_Ib._, p. 68. Again: "_As_ and _so_ have
been also deemed substitutes, and resolved into other words. But if all
abbreviations are to be restored to their primitive parts of speech, there
will be a general revolution in the present systems of grammar; and the
various improvements, which have sprung from convenience, or necessity, and
been sanctioned by the usage of ancient times, must be retrenched, and
anarchy in letters universally prevail."--_Ib._, p. 114.

OBS. 4.--I have elsewhere sufficiently shown why _ten_ parts of speech are
to be preferred to any other number, in English; and whatever diversity of
opinion there may be, respecting the class to which some particular words
ought to be referred, I trust to make it obvious to good sense, that I have
seldom erred from the course which is most expedient. 1. _Articles_ are
used with appellative nouns, sometimes to denote emphatically the species,
but generally to designate individuals. 2. _Nouns_ stand in discourse for
persons, things, or abstract qualities. 3. _Adjectives_ commonly express
the concrete qualities of persons or things; but sometimes, their situation
or number. 4. _Pronouns_ are substitutes for names, or nouns; but they
sometimes represent sentences. 5. _Verbs_ assert, ask, or say something;
and, for the most part, express action or motion. 6. _Participles_ contain
the essential meaning of their verbs, and commonly denote action, and imply
time; but, apart from auxiliaries, they express that meaning either
adjectively or substantively, and not with assertion. 7. _Adverbs_ express
the circumstances of time, of place, of degree, and of manner; the _when_,
the _where_, the _how much_, and the _how_. 8. _Conjunctions_ connect,
sometimes words, and sometimes sentences, rarely phrases; and always show,
either the manner in which one sentence or one phrase depends upon an
other, or what connexion there is between two words that refer to a third.
9. _Prepositions_ express the correspondent relations of things to things,
of thoughts to thoughts, or of words to words; for these, if we speak
truly, must be all the same in expression. 10. _Interjections_ are either
natural sounds or exclamatory words, used independently, and serving
briefly to indicate the wishes or feelings of the speaker.

OBS. 5.--In the following passage, all the parts of speech are exemplified,
and each is pointed out by the figure placed over the word:--

  1    2   9    2    5  1    2      3      9   2   1    2      6
"The power of speech is a faculty peculiar to man; a faculty bestowed
9   4  9   4      3         2      9   1     3      8   7       3
on him by his beneficent Creator, for the greatest and most excellent
 2     8    10    7    7    5 4     5    4  9   1   3    9
uses; but, alas! how often do we pervert it to the worst of
   2
purposes!"--See _Lowth's Gram._, p. 1.

In this sentence, which has been adopted by Murray, Churchill, and others,
we have the following parts of speech: 1. The words _the, a_, and _an_, are
articles. 2. The words _power, speech, faculty, man, faculty, Creator,
uses_, and _purposes_, are nouns. 3. The words _peculiar, beneficent,
greatest, excellent_, and _worst_, are adjectives. 4. The words _him, his,
we_, and _it_, are pronouns. 5. The words _is, do_, and _pervert_, are
verbs. 6. The word _bestowed_ is a participle. 7. The words _most, how_,
and _often_, are adverbs. 8. The words _and_ and _but_ are conjunctions. 9.
The words _of, on, to, by, for, to_, and _of_, are prepositions. 10. The
word _alas!_ is an interjection.

OBS. 6.--In speaking or writing, we of course bring together the different
parts of speech just as they happen to be needed. Though a sentence of
ordinary length usually embraces more than one half of them, it is not
often that we find them _all_ in so small a compass. Sentences sometimes
abound in words of a particular kind, and are quite destitute of those of
some other sort. The following examples will illustrate these remarks. (1)
ARTICLES: "_A_ square is less beautiful than _a_ circle; and _the_ reason
seems to be, that _the_ attention is divided among _the_ sides and angles
of _a_ square, whereas _the_ circumference of _a_ circle, being _a_ single
object, makes one entire impression."--_Kames, Elements of Criticism_, Vol.
i, p. 175. (2.) NOUNS: "A _number_ of _things_ destined for the same _use_,
such as _windows, chairs, spoons, buttons_, cannot be too uniform; for,
supposing their _figure_ to be good, _utility_ requires
_uniformity_."--_Ib._, i, 176. (3.) ADJECTIVES: "Hence nothing _just,
proper, decent, beautiful, proportioned_, or _grand_, is
_risible_."--_Ib._, i, 229. (4.) PRONOUNS: "_I_ must entreat the courteous
reader to suspend _his_ curiosity, and rather to consider _what_ is written
than _who they_ are _that_ write it."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 556. (5.)
VERBS: "The least consideration _will inform_ us how easy it _is_ to _put_
an ill-natured construction upon a word; and what perverse turns and
expressions _spring_ from an evil temper. Nothing _can be explained_ to him
who _will_ not _understand_, nor _will_ any thing _appear_ right to the
unreasonable."--_Cecil_. (6.) PARTICIPLES: "The Scriptures are an
authoritative voice, _reproving, instructing_, and _warning_ the world; and
_declaring_ the only means _ordained_ and _provided for escaping_ the awful
penalties of sin."--_G. B._ (7.) ADVERBS: "The light of Scripture shines
_steadily, purely, benignly, certainly, superlatively_."--_Dr. S. H. Cox._
(8.) CONJUNCTIONS: "Quietness and silence _both_ become _and_ befriend
religious exercises. Clamour _and_ violence often hinder, _but_ never
further, the work of God."--_Henry's Exposition._ (9.) PREPOSITIONS: "He
has kept _among us_, in times of peace, standing armies, _without_ the
consent of our legislatures."--_Dec. of Indep._ (10.) INTERJECTIONS: "_Oh_,
my dear strong-box! _Oh_, my lost guineas! _Oh_, poor, ruined, beggared old
man! _Boo! hoo! hoo!_"--MOLIERE: _Burgh's Art of Speaking_, p. 266.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

_Parsing_ is the resolving or explaining of a sentence, or of some related
word or words, according to the definitions and rules of grammar. Parsing
is to grammar what ciphering is to arithmetic.

A _Praxis_ is a method of exercise, or a form of grammatical resolution,
showing the learner how to proceed. The word is Greek, and literally
signifies action, doing, practice, or formal use.


PRAXIS I--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the first Praxis, it is required of the pupil--merely to distinguish
and define the different parts of speech.

The definitions to be given in the First Praxis, are one, and only one, for
each word, or part of speech. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"The patient ox submits to the yoke, and meekly performs the labour
required of him."

_The_ is an article. 1.[132] An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification.

_Patient_ is an adjective. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality.

_Ox_ is a noun. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that
can be known or mentioned.

_Submits_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or
_to be acted upon._

_To_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_The_ is an article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_, which we
put before nouns to limit their signification.

_Yoke_ is a noun. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing,
that can be known or mentioned.

_And_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or
sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so
connected.

_Meekly_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree, or manner.

_Performs_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_,
or _to be acted upon._

_The_ is an article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_, which we
put before nouns to limit their signification.

_Labour_ is a noun. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing,
that can be known or mentioned.

_Required_ is a participle. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb,
participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and
is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb.

_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Him_ is a pronoun. 1. A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"A nimble tongue often trips. The rule of the tongue is a great attainment.
The language of truth is direct and plain. Truth is never evasive. Flattery
is the food of vanity. A virtuous mind loathes flattery. Vain persons are
an easy prey to parasites. Vanity easily mistakes sneers for smiles. The
smiles of the world are deceitful. True friendship hath eternal views. A
faithful friend is invaluable. Constancy in friendship denotes a generous
mind. Adversity is the criterion of friendship. Love and fidelity are
inseparable. Few know the value of a friend till they lose him. Justice is
the first of all moral virtues. Let justice hold, and mercy turn, the
scale. A judge is guilty who connives at guilt. Justice delayed is little
better than justice denied. Vice is the deformity of man. Virtue is a
source of constant cheerfulness. One vice is more expensive than many
virtues. Wisdom, though serious, is never sullen. Youth is the season of
improvement."--_Dillwyn's Reflections_, pp. 4-27.

   "Oh! my ill-chang'd condition! oh, my fate!
    Did I lose heaven for this?"--_Cowley's Davideis._


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"So prone is man to society, and so happy in it, that, to relish perpetual
solitude, one must be an angel or a brute. In a solitary state, no creature
is more timid than man; in society, none more bold. The number of offenders
lessens the disgrace of the crime; for a common reproach is no reproach. A
man is more unhappy in reproaching himself when guilty, than in being
reproached by others when innocent. The pains of the mind are harder to
bear than those of the body. Hope, in this mixed state of good and ill, is
a blessing from heaven: the gift of prescience would be a curse. The first
step towards vice, is to make a mystery of what is innocent: whoever loves
to hide, will soon or late have reason to hide. A man who gives his
children a habit of industry, provides for them better than by giving them
a stock of money. Our good and evil proceed from ourselves: death appeared
terrible to Cicero, indifferent to Socrates, desirable to Cato."--Home's
Art of Thinking, pp. 26-53.

   "O thou most high transcendent gift of age!
    Youth from its folly thus to disengage."--_Denham's Age_.


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"Calm was the day, and the scene, delightful. We may expect a calm after a
storm. To prevent passion is easier than to calm it."--_Murray's Ex._, p.
5. "Better is a little with content, than a great deal with anxiety. A
little attention will rectify some errors. Unthinking persons care little
for the future."--See _ib._ "Still waters are commonly deepest. He laboured
to still the tumult. Though he is out of danger, he is still
afraid."--_Ib._ "Damp air is unwholesome. Guilt often casts a damp over our
sprightliest hours. Soft bodies damp the sound much more than hard
ones."--_Ib._ "The hail was very destructive. Hail, virtue! source of every
good. We hail you as friends."--_Ib._, p. 6. "Much money makes no man
happy. Think much, and speak little. He has seen much of the world."--See
_ib._ "Every being loves its like. We must make a like space between the
lines. Behave like men. We are apt to like pernicious company."--_Ib._
"Give me more love, or more disdain."--_Carew_. "He loved Rachel more than
Leah."--_Genesis_. "But how much that more is; he hath no distinct
notion."--_Locke_.

   "And my more having would be as a sauce
    To make me hunger more."--_Shakspeare_.




CHAPTER II.--ARTICLES.

An Article is the word _the, an_, or _a_, which we put before nouns to
limit their signification: as, _The_ air, _the_ stars; _an_ island, _a_
ship.

_An_ and _a_, being equivalent in meaning, are commonly reckoned _one and
the same_ article. _An_ is used in preference to _a_, whenever the
following word begins with a vowel sound; as, _An_ art, _an_ end, _an_
heir, _an_ inch, _an_ ounce, _an_ hour, _an_ urn. _A_ is used in preference
to _an_, whenever the following word begins with a consonant sound; as, _A_
man, _a_ house, _a_ wonder, _a_ one, _a_ yew, _a_ use, _a_ ewer. Thus the
consonant sounds of _w_ and _y_, even when expressed by other letters,
require _a_ and not _an_ before them.

A common noun, when taken in its _widest sense_, usually admits no article:
as, "A candid temper is proper for _man_; that is, for _all
mankind_."--_Murray_.

In English, nouns without any article, or other definitive, are often used
in a sense _indefinitely partitive_: as, "He took _bread_, and gave
thanks."--_Acts_. That is, "_some bread_." "To buy _food_ are thy servants
come."--_Genesis_. That is, "_some food_." "There are _fishes_ that have
wings, and are not strangers to the airy region."--_Locke's Essay_, p.
322. That is, "_some fishes_."

"Words in which nothing but the _mere being_ of any thing is implied, are
used without articles: as, 'This is not _beer_, but _water_;' 'This is not
_brass_, but _steel_.'"--See _Dr. Johnson's Gram._, p. 5.

_An_ or _a_ before the genus, may refer to _a whole species_; and _the_
before the species, may denote that whole species emphatically: as, "_A
certain bird_ is termed _the cuckoo_, from _the sound_ which it
emits."--_Blair_.

But _an_ or _a_ is commonly used to denote individuals as _unknown_, or as
not specially distinguished from others: as, "I see _an object_ pass by,
which I never saw till now; and I say, 'There goes _a beggar_ with _a long
beard_.'"--_Harris_.

And _the_ is commonly used to denote individuals as _known_, or as
specially distinguished from others: as, "_The man_ departs, and returns a
week after; and I say, 'There goes _the beggar_ with _the long
beard_.'"--_Id._

The article _the_ is applied to nouns of cither number: as, "_The_ man,
_the_ men;" "_The_ good boy, _the_ good boys."

_The_ is commonly required before adjectives that are used by ellipsis as
nouns: as, "_The young_ are slaves to novelty; _the old_, to custom."--_Ld.
Kames._

The article _an_ or _a_ implies _unity_, or _one_, and of course belongs to
nouns of the singular number only; as, _A_ man,--_An_ old man,--_A_ good
boy.

_An_ or _a_, like _one_, sometimes gives a collective meaning to an
adjective of number, when the noun following is plural; as, _A few days,--A
hundred men,--One hundred pounds sterling_.

Articles should be _inserted_ as often as the sense requires them; as,
"Repeat the preterit and [_the_] perfect participle of the verb _to
abide_."--Error in _Merchant's American School Grammar_, p. 66.

_Needless articles_ should be omitted; they seldom fail to pervert the
sense: as, "_The_ Rhine, _the_ Danube, _the_ Tanais, _the_ Po, _the_ Wolga,
_the_ Ganges, like many hundreds of similar _names_, rose not from any
obscure jargon or irrational dialect."--Error in _Dr. Murray's Hist. of
Europ. Lang._, Vol. i, p. 327.

The articles can seldom be put _one for the other_, without gross
impropriety; and of course either is to be preferred to the other, as it
better suits the sense: as, "_The_ violation of this rule never fails to
hurt and displease _a_ reader."--Error in _Blair's Lectures_, p. 107. Say,
"_A_ violation of this rule never fails to displease _the_ reader."

CLASSES.

The articles are distinguished as the _definite_ and the _indefinite_.

I. The _definite article_ is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or
things; as, _The_ boy, _the_ oranges.

II. The _indefinite article_ is _an_ or _a_, which denotes one thing of a
kind, but not any particular one; as, _A_ boy, _an_ orange.


MODIFICATIONS.[133]

The English articles have no modifications, except that _an_ is shortened
into _a_ before the sound of a consonant; as, "In _an_ epic poem, or _a_
poem upon _an_ elevated subject, _a_ writer ought to avoid raising _a_
simile on _a_ low image."--_Ld. Kames._


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--No other words are so often employed as the articles. And, by
reason of the various and very frequent occasions on which these
definitives are required, no words are oftener misapplied; none, oftener
omitted or inserted erroneously. I shall therefore copiously illustrate
both their _uses_ and their _abuses_; with the hope that every reader of
this volume will think it worth his while to gain that knowledge which is
requisite to the true use of these small but important words. Some parts of
the explanation, however, must be deferred till we come to Syntax.

OBS. 2.--With the attempts of Tooke, Dalton, Webster, Cardell, Fowle,
Wells,[134] Weld, Butler Frazee, Perley, Mulligan, Pinneo, S. S. Greene,
and other writers, to _degrade_ the article from its ancient rank among the
parts of speech, no judicious reader, duly acquainted with the subject,
can, I think, be well pleased. An article is not properly an "_adjective_,"
as they would have it to be; but it is a word of a peculiar sort--a
_customary index_ to the sense of nouns. It serves not merely to show the
extent of signification, in which nouns are to be taken, but is often the
principal, and sometimes the only mark, by which a word is known to have
the sense and construction of a noun. There is just as much reason to deny
and degrade the Greek or French article, (or that of any other language,)
as the English; and, if those who are so zealous to reform our _the, an_,
and _a_ into _adjectives_, cared at all to appear consistent in the view of
Comparative or General Grammar, they would either set about a wider
reformation or back out soon from the pettiness of this.

OBS. 3.--First let it be understood, that _an_ or _a_ is nearly equivalent
in meaning to the numeral adjective _one_, but less emphatic; and that
_the_ is nearly equivalent in meaning to the pronominal adjective _that_ or
_those_, but less emphatic. On _some_ occasions, these adjectives may well
be substituted for the articles; but _not generally_. If the articles were
generally equivalent to adjectives, or even if they were generally _like_
them, they would _be_ adjectives; but, that adjectives may occasionally
supply their places, is no argument at all for confounding the two parts of
speech. Distinctions must be made, where differences exist; and, that _a,
an_, and _the_, do differ considerably from the other words which they most
resemble, is shown even by some who judge "the distinctive name of
_article_ to be useless." See _Crombie's Treatise_, Chap. 2. The articles
therefore must be distinguished, not only from adjectives, but from each
other. For, though both are _articles_, each is an index _sui generis_; the
one definite, the other indefinite. And as the words _that_ and _one_
cannot often be interchanged without a difference of meaning, so the
definite article and the indefinite are seldom, if ever, interchangeable.
To put one for the other, is therefore, in general, to put one _meaning_
for an other: "_A_ daughter of _a_ poor man"--"_The_ daughter of _the_ poor
man"--"_A_ daughter of _the_ poor man"--and, "_The_ daughter of _a_ poor
man," are four phrases which certainly have four different and distinct
significations. This difference between the two articles may be further
illustrated by the following example: "That Jesus was _a_ prophet sent from
God, is one proposition; that Jesus was _the_ prophet, _the_ Messiah, is an
other; and, though he certainly was both _a_ prophet and _the_ prophet, yet
_the_ foundations of _the_ proof of these propositions are separate and
distinct."--_Watson's Apology_, p. 105.

OBS. 4.--Common nouns are, for the most part, names of large classes of
objects; and, though what really constitutes the species must always be
found entire in every individual, the several objects thus arranged under
one general name or idea, are in most instances susceptible of such a
numerical distribution as gives rise to an other form of the noun,
expressive of plurality; as, _horse, horses_. Proper nouns in their
ordinary application, are, for the most part, names of particular
individuals; and as there is no plurality to a particular idea, or to an
individual person or thing as distinguished from all others, so there is in
general none to this class of nouns; and no room for _further restriction
by articles_. But we sometimes divert such nouns from their usual
signification, and consequently employ them with articles or in the plural
form; as, "I endeavoured to retain it nakedly in my mind, without regarding
whether I had it from _an Aristotle_ or _a Zoilus, a Newton_ or _a
Descartes_."--_Churchill's Gram._, Pref., p. 8. "It is not enough to have
_Vitruviuses_, we must also have _Augustuses_ to employ them."--_Bicknell's
Gram._, Part ii, p. 61.

   "_A Daniel_ come to judgment! yea, _a Daniel_!"
        --SHAK. _Shylock_.

   "Great Homer, in _th' Achilles_, whom he drew,
    Sets not that one sole Person in our View."
        --_Brightland's Gram._, p. 183.

OBS. 5.--The article _an_ or _a_ usually denotes one out of several or
many; one of a sort of which there are more; any one of that name, no
matter which. Hence its effect upon a particular name, or proper noun, is
_directly the reverse_ of that which it has upon a common noun. It varies
and fixes the meaning of both; but while it restricts that of the latter,
it enlarges that of the former. It reduces the general idea of the common
noun to any one individual of the class: as, "_A man_;" that is, "_One
man_, or _any man_." On the contrary, it extends the particular idea of the
proper noun, and makes the word significant of a class, by supposing others
to whom it will apply: as, "_A Nero_;" that is, "_Any Nero_, or _any cruel
tyrant_." Sometimes, however, this article before a proper name, seems to
leave the idea still particular; but, if it really does so, the propriety
of using it may be doubted: as, "No, not by _a John the Baptist_ risen from
the dead."--_Henry's Expos., Mark_, vi. "It was not solely owing to the
madness and depravity of _a Tiberius, a Caligula, a Nero_, or _a
Caracalla_, that a cruel and sanguinary spirit, in their day, was so
universal."--_M'Ilvaine's Evid._, p. 398.

OBS. 6.--With the definite article, the noun is applied, sometimes
specifically, sometimes individually, but always _definitely_, always
distinctively. This article is demonstrative. It marks either the
particular individual, or the particular species,--or, (if the noun be
plural,) some particular individuals of the species,--as being
distinguished from all others. It sometimes refers to a thing as having
been previously mentioned; sometimes presumes upon the hearer's familiarity
with the thing; and sometimes indicates a limitation which is made by
subsequent words connected with the noun. Such is the import of this
article, that with it the singular number of the noun is often more
comprehensive, and at the same time more specific, than the plural. Thus,
if I say, "_The horse_ is a noble animal," without otherwise intimating
that I speak of some particular horse, the sentence will be understood to
embrace collectively _that species_ of animal; and I shall be thought to
mean, "Horses are noble animals." But if I say, "_The horses_ are noble
animals," I use an expression so much more limited, as to include only a
few; it must mean some particular horses, which I distinguish from all the
rest of the species. Such limitations should be made, whenever there is
occasion for them; but needless restrictions displease the imagination, and
ought to be avoided; because the mind naturally delights in terms as
comprehensive as they may be, if also specific. Lindley Murray, though not
uniform in his practice respecting this, seems to have thought it necessary
to use the plural in many sentences in which I should decidedly prefer the
singular; as, "That _the learners_ may have no doubts."--_Murray's Octavo
Gram._, Vol. i, p. 81. "The business will not be tedious to _the
scholars_."--_Ib._, 81. "For the information of _the learners_."--_Ib._,
81. "It may afford instruction to _the learners_."--_Ib._, 110. "That this
is the case, _the learners_ will perceive by the following
examples."--_Ib._, 326. "Some knowledge of it appears to be indispensable
to _the scholars_."--_Ib._, 335.

OBS. 7.--Proper names of a plural form and signification, are almost always
preceded by the definite article; as, "_The Wesleys_,"--"_The twelve
Cæsars_,"--"_All the Howards_." So the names of particular nations, tribes,
and sects; as, _The Romans, the Jews, the Levites, the Stoics_. Likewise
the plural names of mountains; as, _The Alps, the Apennines, the Pyrenees,
the Andes_. Of plural names like these, and especially of such as designate
tribes and sects, there is a very great number. Like other proper names,
they must be distinguished from the ordinary words of the language, and
accordingly they are always written with capitals; but they partake so
largely of the nature of common nouns, that it seems doubtful to which
class they most properly belong. Hence they not only admit, but require the
article; while most other proper names are so definite in themselves, that
the article, if put before them, would be needless, and therefore improper.

   "_Nash, Rutledge, Jefferson_, in council great,
    And _Jay_, and _Laurens_ oped the rolls of fate;
    _The Livingstons_, fair freedoms generous band,
    _The Lees, the Houstons_, fathers of the land."--_Barlow_.

OBS. 8.--In prose, the definite article is always used before names of
rivers, unless the word _river_, be added; as, _The Delaware, the Hudson,
the Connecticut_. But if the word _river_ be added, the article becomes
needless; as, _Delaware river, Hudson river, Connecticut river_. Yet there
seems to be no impropriety in using both; as, _The Delaware river, the
Hudson river, the Connecticut river_. And if the common noun be placed
before the proper name, the article is again necessary; as, _The river
Delaware, the river Hudson, the river Connecticut_. In the first form of
expression, however, the article has not usually been resolved by
grammarians as relating to the proper name; but these examples, and others
of a similar character, have been supposed elliptical: as, "_The_ [river]
_Potomac_"--"_The_ [ship] _Constitution_,"--"_The_ [steamboat] _Fulton_."
Upon this supposition, the words in the first and fourth forms are to be
parsed alike; the article relating to the common noun, expressed or
understood, and the proper noun being in apposition with the appellative.
But in the second form, the apposition is reversed; and, in the third, the
proper name appears to be taken adjectively. Without the article, some
names of rivers could not be understood; as,

   "No more _the Varus_ and _the Atax_ feel
    The lordly burden of the Latian keel."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. i. l. 722.

OBS. 9.--The definite article is often used by way of eminence, to
distinguish some particular individual emphatically, or to apply to him
some characteristic name or quality: as, "_The Stagirite_,"--that is,
Aristotle; "_The Psalmist_," that is, David; "_Alexander the Great_,"--that
is, (perhaps,) Alexander the Great _Monarch_, or Great _Hero_. So,
sometimes, when the phrase relates to a collective body of men: as, "_The
Honourable, the Legislature_,"--"_The Honourable, the Senate_;"--that is,
"The Honourable _Body_, the Legislature," &c. A similar application of the
article in the following sentences, makes a most beautiful and expressive
form of compliment: "These are the sacred feelings of thy heart, O
Lyttleton, _the friend_."--_Thomson_. "The pride of swains Palemon was,
_the generous_ and _the rich_."--_Id._ In this last example, the noun _man_
is understood after "_generous_," and again after "_rich_;" for, the
article being an index to the noun, I conceive it to be improper ever to
construe two articles as having reference to one unrepeated word. Dr.
Priestley says, "We sometimes _repeat the article_, when the epithet
precedes the substantive; as He was met by _the_ worshipful _the_
magistrates."--_Gram._, p. 148. It is true, we occasionally meet with such
fulsome phraseology as this; but the question is, how is it to be
explained? I imagine that the word _personages_, or something equivalent,
must be understood after _worshipful_, and that the Doctor ought to have
inserted a comma there.

OBS. 10.--In Greek, there is no article corresponding to our _an_ or _a_,
consequently _man_ and _a man_ are rendered alike; the word, [Greek:
anthropos] may mean either. See, in the original, these texts: "There was
_a man_ sent from God," (_John_, i, 6,) and, "What is _man_, that thou art
mindful of him?"--_Heb._, ii, 6. So of other nouns. But the _definite_
article of that language, which is exactly equivalent to our _the_, is a
declinable word, making no small figure in grammar. It is varied by
numbers, genders, and cases; so that it assumes more than twenty different
forms, and becomes susceptible of six and thirty different ways of
_agreement_. But this article in English is perfectly simple, being
entirely destitute of grammatical modifications, and consequently incapable
of any form of grammatical agreement or disagreement--a circumstance of
which many of our grammarians seem to be ignorant; since they prescribe a
rule, wherein they say, it "_agrees_," "_may agree_," or "_must agree_,"
with its noun. Nor has the indefinite article any variation of form, except
the change from _an_ to _a_, which has been made for the sake of brevity or
euphony.

OBS. 11.--As _an_ or _a_ conveys the idea of unity, of course it applies to
no other than nouns of the singular number. _An eagle_ is one eagle, and
the plural word _eagles_ denotes more than one; but what could possibly be
meant by "_ans eagles_," if such a phrase were invented? Harris very
strangely says, "The Greeks have no article correspondent to _an_ or _a_,
but _supply its place by a NEGATION of their article_. And even in English,
_where_ the article _a_ cannot be used, as _in_ plurals, _its force is
exprest by the same_ NEGATION."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 218. What a sample
of grammar is this! Besides several minor faults, we have here a
_nonentity_, a NEGATION _of the Greek article_, made to occupy a place in
language, and to express _force!_ The force of what? Of a plural _an_ or
_a,!_ of such a word as _ans_ or _aes!_ The error of the first of these
sentences, Dr. Blair has copied entire into his eighth lecture.

OBS. 12.--The following rules of agreement, though found in many English
grammars, are not only objectionable with respect to the sense intended,
but so badly written as to be scarcely intelligible in any sense: 1. "The
article _a_ or _an agrees_ with nouns _in_ the singular number _only,
individually, or collectively_: as, A Christian, an infidel, a score, a
thousand." 2. "The definite article _the_ may _agree_ with nouns _in the
singular_ AND[135] _plural number_: as, The garden, the houses, the
stars."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 170; 12mo, 139; _Fish's Murray_, 98; _a
Teacher's_, 45. For the purpose of preventing any erroneous construction of
the articles, these rules are utterly useless; and for the purpose of
syntactical parsing, or the grammatical resolution of this part of speech,
they are awkward and inconvenient. The syntax of the articles may be much
better expressed in this manner: "_Articles relate to the nouns which they
limit_," for, in English, the bearing of the articles upon other words is
properly that of simple _relation_, or dependence, according to the sense,
and not that of _agreement_, not a similarity of distinctive modifications.

OBS. 13.--Among all the works of earlier grammarians, I have never yet
found a book which taught correctly the _application_ of the two forms of
the indefinite article _an_ or _a_. Murray, contrary to Johnson and
Webster, considers _a_ to be the original word, and _an_ the euphonic
derivative. He says: "_A_ becomes _an_ before a vowel, and before a silent
_h_. But if _the h be_ sounded, _the a only_ is to be used."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 31. To this he adds, in a marginal note, "_A instead of an_ is
_now_ used before words beginning with _u_ long. It is used before _one.
An_ must be used before _words_ WHERE _the h_ is not silent, if the accent
is on the second syllable; as, _an heroic action, an historical
account_."--_Ib._ This explanation, clumsy as it is, in the whole
conception; broken, prolix, deficient, and inaccurate as it is, both in
style and doctrine; has been copied and copied from grammar to grammar, as
if no one could possibly better it. Besides several other faults, it
contains a palpable misuse of the article itself: "_the h_" which is
specified in the second and fifth sentences, is the "_silent h_" of the
first sentence; and this inaccurate specification gives us the two obvious
solecisms of supposing, "_if the [silent] h be sounded_," and of _locating
"words WHERE the [silent] h is not silent!_" In the word _humour_, and its
derivatives, the _h_ is silent, by all authority except Webster's; and yet
these words require _a_ and not _an_ before them.

OBS. 14.--It is the _sound_ only, that governs the form of the article, and
not the _letter_ itself; as, "Those which admit of the regular form, are
marked with _an_ R."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 101. "_A_ heroic poem, written
by Virgil."--_Webster's Dict._ "Every poem of the kind has no doubt _a_
historical groundwork."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 457. "A poet
must be _a_ naturalist and _a_ historian."--_Coleridge's Introduction_, p.
111. Before _h_ in an unaccented syllable, either form of the article may
be used without offence to the ear; and either may be made to appear
preferable to the other, by merely aspirating the letter in a greater or
less degree. But as the _h_, though ever so feebly aspirated has
_something_ of a consonant sound, I incline to think the article in this
case ought to conform to the general principle: as, "_A historical_
introduction has, generally, _a happy_ effect to rouse attention."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 311. "He who would write heroic poems, should make his
whole life _a heroic_ poem."--See _Life of Schiller_, p. 56. Within two
lines of this quotation, the biographer speaks of "_an_ heroic multitude!"
The suppression of the sound of _h_ being with Englishmen a very common
fault in pronunciation, it is not desirable to increase the error, by using
a form of the article which naturally leads to it. "How often do we hear
_an air_ metamorphosed into _a hair_, a _hat_ into a _gnat_, and a _hero_
into _a Nero!_"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 205. Thus: "Neither of them had
that bold and adventurous ambition which makes a conqueror _an
hero._"--_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 174.

OBS. 15.--Some later grammarians are still more faulty than Murray, in
their rules for the application of _an_ or _a_. Thus Sanborn: "The vowels
are _a, e, i, o_, and _u_. _An_ should be used before words beginning with
_any of these letters_, or with a silent _h._"--_Analytical Gram._, p. 11.
"_An_ is used before words beginning with _u_ long or with _h not silent_,
when the accent is on the second syllable; as, _an united_ people, _an
historical_ account, _an heroic_ action."--_Ib._, p. 85. "_A_ is used when
the next word begins with a _consonant; an_, when it begins with a _vowel_
or silent _h_."--_lb._, p. 129. If these rules were believed and followed,
they would greatly multiply errors.

OBS. 16.--Whether the word _a_ has been formed from _an_, or _an_ from _a_,
is a disputed point--or rather, a point on which our grammarians dogmatize
differently. This, if it be worth the search, must be settled by consulting
some genuine writings of the twelfth century. In the pure Saxon of an
earlier date, the words _seldom occur_; and in that ancient dialect _an_, I
believe, is used only as a declinable numerical adjective, and _a_ only as
a preposition. In the thirteenth century, both forms were in common use, in
the sense now given them, as may be seen in the writings of Robert of
Gloucester; though some writers of a much later date--or, at any rate,
_one_, the celebrated Gawin Douglas, a Scottish bishop, who died of the
plague in London, in 1522--constantly wrote _ane_ for both _an_ and _a_:
as,

   "Be not ouer studyous to spy _ane_ mote in myn E,
    That in gour awin _ane_ ferrye bot can not se."
        --_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 124.

   "_Ane_ uthir mache to him was socht and sperit;
    Bot thare was _nane_ of all the rout that sterit."
        --_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 160.

OBS. 17.--This, however, was a _Scotticism_; as is also the use of _ae_ for
_a_: Gower and Chaucer used _an_ and _a_ as we now use them. The Rev. J. M.
M'Culloch, in an English grammar published lately in Edinburgh, says, "_A_
and _an_ were originally _ae_ and _ane_, and were probably used at first
simply to convey the idea of unity; as, _ae_ man, _ane_ ox."--_Manual of E.
Gram._, p. 30. For this idea, and indeed for a great part of his book, he
is indebted to Dr. Crombie; who says, "To signify unity, or one of a class,
our forefathers employed _ae_ or _ane_; as, _ae_ man, _ane_ ox."--_Treatise
on Etym. and Synt._, p. 53. These authors, like Webster, will have _a_ and
_an_ to be _adjectives_. Dr. Johnson says, "_A_, an _article_ set before
nouns of the singular number; as, _a_ man, _a_ tree. This article has no
plural signification. Before a word beginning with a vowel, it is written
_an_; as, _an_ ox, _an_ egg; of which _a_ is the contraction."--_Quarto
Dict., w. A_.

OBS. 18.--Dr. Webster says, "_A_ is also an abbreviation of the Saxon _an_
or _ane, one_, used before words beginning with an articulation; as, _a_
table, _instead_ of _an_ table, or one table. _This is a modern change_;
for, in Saxon, _an_ was used before articulations as well as vowels; as,
_an tid, a_ time, _an gear_, a year."--_Webster's Octavo Dict., w. A_. A
modern change, indeed! By his own showing in other works, it was made long
before the English language existed! He says, "_An_, therefore, is the
original English adjective or ordinal number _one_; and was never written
_a_ until after the Conquest."--_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 20; _Improved
Gram._, 14. "_The Conquest_," means the Norman Conquest, in 1066; but
English was not written till the thirteenth century. This author has long
been idly contending, that _an_ or _a_ is not an _article_, but an
_adjective_; and that it is not properly distinguished by the term
"_indefinite_." Murray has answered him well enough, but he will not be
convinced.[136] See _Murray's Gram._, pp. 34 and 35. If _a_ and _one_ were
equal, we could not say, "_Such a one_,"--"_What a one_,"--"_Many a
one_,"--"_This one thing_;" and surely these are all good English, though
_a_ and _one_ here admit no interchange. Nay, _a_ is sometimes found before
_one_ when the latter is used adjectively; as, "There is no record in Holy
Writ of the institution of _a one_ all-controlling monarchy."--_Supremacy
of the Pope Disproved_, p. 9. "If not to _a one_ Sole Arbiter."--_Ib._, p.
19.

OBS. 19.--_An_ is sometimes a _conjunction_, signifying _if_; as, "Nay,
_an_ thou'lt mouthe, I'll rant as well as thou."--_Shak._ "_An_ I have not
ballads made on you all, and sung to fifty tunes, may a cup of sack be my
poison."--_Id., Falstaff_. "But, _an_ it were to do again, I should write
again."--_Lord Byron's Letters_. "But _an_ it be a long part, I can't
remember it."--SHAKSPEARE: _Burgh's Speaker_, p. 136.

OBS. 20.--In the New Testament, we meet with several such expressions as
the following: "And his disciples were _an hungred_."--SCOTT'S BIBLE:
_Matt_, xii, 1. "When he was _an hungred._"--_Ib._ xii, 3. "When he had
need and was _an hungered._"--_Ib. Mark_, ii, 25. Alger, the improver of
Murray's Grammar, and editor of the Pronouncing Bible, taking this _an_ to
be the indefinite article, and perceiving that the _h_ is sounded in
_hungered_, changed the particle to _a_ in all these passages; as, "And his
disciples were _a hungered_." But what sense he thought he had made of the
sacred record, I know not. The Greek text, rendered word for word, is
simply this: "_And his disciples hungered_." And that the sentences above,
taken either way, are _not good English_, must be obvious to every
intelligent reader. _An_, as I apprehend, is here a mere _prefix_, which
has somehow been mistaken in form, and erroneously disjoined from the
following word. If so, the correction ought to be made after the fashion of
the following passage from Bishop M'Ilvaine: "On a certain occasion, our
Saviour was followed by five thousand men, into a desert place, where they
were _enhungered_."--_Lectures on Christianity_, p. 210.

OBS. 21.--The word _a_, when it does not denote one thing of a kind, is not
an article, but a genuine _preposition_; being probably the same as the
French à, signifying _to, at, on, in_, or _of_: as, "Who hath it? He that
died _a_ Wednesday."--_Shak_. That is, _on_ Wednesday. So sometimes before
plurals; as, "He carves _a_ Sundays."--_Swift_. That is, _on_ Sundays. "He
is let out _a_ nights."--_Id._ That is, _on_ nights--like the following
example: "A pack of rascals that walk the streets _on_ nights."--_Id._ "He
will knap the spears _a_ pieces with his teeth."--_More's Antid._ That is,
_in_ pieces, or _to_ pieces. So in the compound word _now-a-days_, where it
means _on_; and in the proper names, Thomas _à_ Becket, Thomas _à_ Kempis,
Anthony _à_ Wood, where it means _at_ or _of_.

   "Bot certainly the daisit blude _now on dayis_
    Waxis dolf and dull throw myne unwieldy age."--_Douglas._

OBS. 22.--As a preposition, _a_ has now most generally become a _prefix_,
or what the grammarians call an inseparable preposition; as in _abed_, in
bed; _aboard_, on board; _abroad_, at large; _afire_, on fire; _afore_, in
front; _afoul_, in contact; _aloft_, on high; _aloud_, with loudness;
_amain_, at main strength; _amidst_, in the midst; _akin_, of kin; _ajar_,
unfastened; _ahead_, onward; _afield_, to the field; _alee_, to the
leeward; _anew_, of new, with renewal. "_A-nights_, he was in the practice
of sleeping, &c.; but _a-days_ he kept looking on the barren ocean,
shedding tears."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of Europ. Lang._, Vol. ii, p. 162.
Compounds of this kind, in most instances, follow verbs, and are
consequently reckoned adverbs; as, _To go astray,--To turn aside,--To soar
aloft,--To fall asleep_. But sometimes the antecedent term is a noun or a
pronoun, and then they are as clearly adjectives; as, "Imagination is like
to work better upon sleeping men, than _men awake_."--_Lord Bacon._ "_Man
alive_, did you ever make a _hornet afraid_, or catch a _weasel asleep?_"
And sometimes the compound governs a noun or a pronoun after it, and then
it is a preposition; as, "A bridge is laid _across_ a river."--_Webster's
Dict._, "To break his bridge _athwart_ the Hellespont."--_Bacon's Essays._

   "Where Ufens glides _along_ the lowly lands,
    Or the black water of Pomptina stands."--_Dryden._

OBS. 23.--In several phrases, not yet to be accounted obsolete, this old
preposition _à_ still retains its place as a separate word; and none have
been more perplexing to superficial grammarians, than those which are
formed by using it before participles in _ing_; in which instances, the
participles are in fact governed by it: for nothing is more common in our
language, than for participles of this form to be governed by
prepositions. For example, "You have set the cask _a_ leaking," and, "You
have set the cask _to_ leaking," are exactly equivalent, both in meaning
and construction. "Forty and six years was this temple _in_
building."--_John, ii, 20._ _Building_ is not here a noun, but a
participle; and _in_ is here better than _a_, only because the phrase, _a
building_, might be taken for an article and a noun, meaning _an
edifice_.[137] Yet, in almost all cases, other prepositions are, I think,
to be preferred to _à_, if others equivalent to it can be found. Examples:
"Lastly, they go about to apologize for the long time their book hath been
_a coming_ out:" i.e., _in_ coming out.--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p.
179. "And, for want of reason, he falls _a railing_::" i.e., _to_
railing.--_Ib._, iii, 357. "That the soul should be this moment busy _a
thinking_:" i.e., _at_ or _in_ thinking.--_Locke's Essay_, p. 78. "Which,
once set _a going_, continue in the same steps:" i.e., _to_ going.--_Ib._,
p. 284. "Those who contend for four per cent, have set men's mouths _a
watering_ for money:" i.e., _to_ watering.--LOCKE: _in Johnson's Dict._ "An
other falls _a ringing_ a Pescennius Niger:" i.e., _to_ ringing.--ADDISON:
_ib._ "At least to set others _a thinking_ upon the subject:" i.e., _to_
thinking.--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 300. "Every one that could reach it,
cut off a piece, and fell _a eating_:" i.e., _to_ eating.--_Newspaper._ "To
go _a mothering_,[138] is to visit parents on Midlent Sunday."--_Webster's
Dict., w. Mothering._ "Which we may find when we come _a fishing_
here."--_Wotton._ "They go _a begging_ to a bankrupt's door."--_Dryden._
"_A hunting_ Chloë went."--_Prior._ "They burst out _a laughing_."--_M.
Edgeworth._ In the last six sentences, _a_ seems more suitable than any
other preposition would be: all it needs, is an accent to distinguish it
from the article; as, _à_.

OBS. 24.--Dr. Alexander Murray says, "To be _a_-seeking, is the relic of
the Saxon to be _on_ or _an_ seeking. What are you a-seeking? is
_different_ from, What are you seeking? It means more fully _the going on_
with the process."--_Hist. Europ. Lang_,, Vol. ii, p. 149. I disapprove of
the hyphen in such terms as "_à_ seeking," because it converts the
preposition and participle into I know not what; and it may be observed, in
passing, that the want of it, in such as "_the going on_," leaves us a
loose and questionable word, which, by the conversion of the participle
into a noun, becomes a nondescript in grammar. I dissent also from Dr.
Murray, concerning the use of the preposition or prefix _a_, in examples
like that which he has here chosen. After a _neuter verb_, this particle is
unnecessary to the sense, and, I think, injurious to the construction.
Except in poetry, which is measured by syllables, it may be omitted without
any substitute; as, "I am _a walking_."--_Johnson's Dict., w. A_. "He had
one only daughter, and she lay _a_ dying."--_Luke_, viii, 42. "In the days
of Noah, while the ark was _a_ preparing."--_1 Pet._, iii, 20. "Though his
unattentive thoughts be elsewhere _a_ wandering."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 284.
Say--"be wandering elsewhere;" and omit the _a_, in all such cases.

   "And--when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
    His greatness is _a_ ripening--nips his root."--_Shak_.

OBS. 25.--"_A_ has a peculiar signification, denoting the proportion of one
thing to an other. Thus we say, The landlord hath a hundred _a_ year; the
ship's crew gained a thousand pounds _a_ man."--_Johnson's Dict._ "After
the rate of twenty leagues _a_ day."--_Addison_. "And corn was at two
sesterces _a_ bushel."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 82. Whether _a_ in this
construction is the article or the preposition, seems to be questionable.
Merchants are very much in the habit of supplying its place by the Latin
preposition _per_, by; as, "Board, at $2 _per_ week."--_Preston's
Book-Keeping_, p. 44. "Long lawn, at $12 _per_ piece."--_Dilworth's_, p.
63. "Cotton, at 2s. 6d. _per_ pound."--_Morrison's_, p. 75. "Exchange, at
12d. _per_ livre."--_Jackson's_, p. 73. It is to be observed that _an_, as
well as _a_, is used in this manner; as, "The price is one dollar _an_
ounce." Hence, I think, we may infer, that this is not the old preposition
_a_, but the article _an_ or _a_, used in the distributive sense of _each_
or _every_, and that the noun is governed by a preposition understood; as,
"He demands a dollar _an_ hour;" i. e., a dollar _for each_ hour.--"He
comes twice _a_ year:" i. e., twice _in every_ year.--"He sent them to
Lebanon, ten thousand _a_ month by courses:" (_1 Kings_, v, 14:) i. e., ten
thousand, _monthly_; or, as our merchants say, "_per month_." Some
grammarians have also remarked, that, "In mercantile accounts, we
frequently see _a_ put for _to_, in a very odd sort of way; as, 'Six bales
marked 1 _a_ 6.' The merchant means, 'marked _from_ 1 to 6.' This is taken
to be a relic of the Norman French, which was once the law and mercantile
language of England; for, in French, _a_, with an accent, signifies _to_ or
_at_."--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 73. Modern merchants, in stead of accenting
the _a_, commonly turn the end of it back; as, @.

OBS. 26.--Sometimes a numeral word with the indefinite article--as _a few,
a great many, a dozen, a hundred, a thousand_--denotes an aggregate of
several or many taken collectively, and yet is followed by a plural noun,
denoting the sort or species of which this particular aggregate is a part:
as, "A few small fishes,"--"A great many mistakes,"--"A dozen bottles of
wine,"--"A hundred lighted candles,"--"A thousand miles off." Respecting
the proper manner of explaining these phrases, grammarians differ in
opinion. That the article relates not to the plural noun, but to the
numerical word only, is very evident; but whether, in these instances, the
words _few, many, dozen, hundred_, and _thousand_, are to be called nouns
or adjectives, is matter of dispute. Lowth, Murray, and many others, call
them _adjectives_, and suppose a peculiarity of construction in the
article;--like that of the singular adjectives _every_ and _one_ in the
phrases, "_Every_ ten days,"--"_One_ seven times more."--_Dan._, iii, 19.
Churchill and others call them _nouns_, and suppose the plurals which
follow, to be always in the objective case governed by _of_, understood:
as, "A few [of] years,"--"A thousand [of] doors;"--like the phrases, "A
_couple of_ fowls,"--"A _score of_ fat bullocks."--_Churchill's Gram._, p.
279. Neither solution is free from difficulty. For example: "There are a
great many adjectives."--_Dr. Adam_. Now, if _many_ is here a singular
nominative, and the only subject of the verb, what shall we do with _are_?
and if it is a plural adjective, what shall we do with _a_ and _great?_
Taken in either of these ways, the construction is anomalous. One can
hardly think the word "_adjectives_" to be here in the objective case,
because the supposed ellipsis of the word _of_ cannot be proved; and if
_many_ is a noun, the two words are perhaps in apposition, in the
nominative. If I say, "_A thousand men_ are on their way," the men _are the
thousand_, and the thousand _is nothing but the men_; so that I see not why
the relation of the terms may not be that of _apposition_. But if
_authorities_ are to decide the question, doubtless we must yield it to
those who suppose the whole numeral phrase to be taken _adjectively_; as,
"Most young Christians have, in the course of _half a dozen_ years, time to
read _a great many_ pages."--_Young Christian_, p. 6.

   "For harbour at _a thousand doors_ they knock'd;
    Not one of all _the thousand_ but was lock'd."--_Dryden_.

OBS. 27.--The numeral words considered above, seem to have been originally
adjectives, and such may be their most proper construction now; but all of
them are susceptible of being construed as nouns, even if they are not such
in the examples which have been cited. _Dozen_, or _hundred_, or
_thousand_, when taken abstractly, is unquestionably a noun; for we often
speak of _dozens, hundreds_, and _thousands_. _Few_ and _many_ never assume
the plural form, because they have naturally a plural signification; and _a
few_ or _a great many_ is not a collection so definite that we can well
conceive of _fews_ and _manies_; but both are sometimes construed
substantively, though in modern English[139] it seems to be mostly by
ellipsis of the noun. Example: "The praise of _the judicious few_ is an
ample compensation for the neglect of _the illiterate many_."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 278. Dr. Johnson says, the word _many_ is remarkable in Saxon
for its frequent use. The following are some of the examples in which he
calls it a substantive, or noun: "After him the rascal _many_
ran."--_Spenser_. "O thou fond _many_."--_Shakspeare_. "A care-craz'd
mother of a _many_ children."--_Id._ "And for thy sake have I shed _many_ a
tear."--_Id._ "The vulgar and the _many_ are fit only to be led or
driven."--_South_. "He is liable to a great _many_ inconveniences every
moment of his life."--_Tillotson_. "Seeing a great _many_ in rich gowns, he
was amazed."--_Addison_.

   "There parting from the king, the chiefs divide,
    And wheeling east and west, before their _many_ ride."--_Dryden_.

OBS. 28.--"On the principle here laid down, we may account for a peculiar
use of the article with the adjective _few_, and some other diminutives. In
saying, 'A _few_ of his adherents remained with him;' we insinuate, that
they constituted a number sufficiently important to be formed into an
aggregate: while, if the article be omitted, as, '_Few_ of his adherents
remained with him;' this implies, that he was nearly deserted, by
representing them as individuals not worth reckoning up. A similar
difference occurs between the phrases: 'He exhibited _a little_ regard for
his character;' and 'He exhibited _little_ regard for his
character.'"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 279. The word _little_, in its most
proper construction, is an adjective, signifying _small_; as, "He was
_little_ of stature."--_Luke_. "Is it not a _little_ one?"--_Genesis_. And
in sentences like the following, it is also reckoned an adjective, though
the article seems to relate to it, rather than to the subsequent noun; or
perhaps it may be taken as relating to them both: "Yet _a little_ sleep, _a
little_ slumber, _a little_ folding of the hands to sleep."--_Prov._, vi,
10; xxiv, 33. But by a common ellipsis, it is used as a noun, both with and
without the article; as, "_A little_ that a righteous man hath, is better
than the riches of many wicked."--_Psalms_, xxxvii, 16. "Better is _little_
with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble
therewith."--_Prov._, xv, 16. "He that despiseth little things, shall
perish by _little_ and _little_."--_Ecclesiasticus_. It is also used
adverbially, both alone and with the article _a_; as, "The poor sleep
_little_."--_Otway_. "Though they are _a little_ astringent."--_Arbuthnot_.
"When he had gone _a little_ farther thence."--_Mark_, i, 19. "Let us vary
the phrase [in] _a very little_" [degree].--_Kames_, Vol. ii, p. 163.

OBS. 29.--"As it is the nature of the articles to limit the signification
of a word, they are applicable only to words expressing ideas capable of
being individualized, or conceived of as single things or acts; and nouns
implying a general state, condition, or habit, must be used without the
article. It is not vaguely therefore, but on fixed principles, that the
article is omitted, or inserted, in such phrases as the following: 'in
terror, in fear, in dread, in haste, in sickness, in pain, in trouble; in
_a_ fright, in _a_ hurry, in _a_ consumption; _the_ pain of his wound was
great; her son's dissipated life was _a_ great trouble to
her."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 127.

OBS. 30.--Though _the, an_, and _a_, are the only articles in our language,
they are far from being the only definitives. Hence, while some have
objected to the peculiar distinction bestowed upon these little words,
firmly insisting on throwing them in among the common mass of adjectives;
others have taught, that the definitive adjectives--I know not how
many--such as, _this, that, these, those, any, other, some, all, both,
each, every, either, neither_--"are much more properly articles than any
thing else."--_Hermes_, p. 234. But, in spite of this opinion, it has
somehow happened, that these definitive adjectives have very generally, and
very absurdly, acquired the name of _pronouns_. Hence, we find Booth, who
certainly excelled most other grammarians in learning and acuteness,
marvelling that the _articles_ "were ever separated from the class of
_pronouns_." To all this I reply, that _the, an_, and _a_, are worthy to be
distinguished as _the only articles_, because they are not only used with
much greater _frequency_ than any other definitives, but are specially
restricted to the limiting of the signification of nouns. Whereas the other
definitives above mentioned are very often used to supply the place of
their nouns; that is, to represent them understood. For, in general, it is
only by ellipsis of the noun after it, and not as the representative of a
noun going before, that any one of these words assumes the appearance of a
pronoun. Hence, they are not pronouns, but adjectives. Nor are they "more
properly articles than any thing else;" for, "if the essence of an article
be to define and ascertain" the meaning of a noun, this very conception of
the thing necessarily supposes the noun to be used with it.

OBS. 31.--The following example, or explanation, may show what is meant by
definitives. Let the general term be _man_, the plural of which is _men: A
man_--one unknown or indefinite; _The man_--one known or particular; _The
men_--some particular ones; _Any man_--one indefinitely; _A certain
man_--one definitely; _This man_--one near; _That man_--one distant; _These
men_--several near; _Those men_--several distant; _Such a man_--one like
some other; _Such men_--some like others; _Many a man_--a multitude taken
singly; _Many men_--an indefinite multitude taken plurally; _A thousand
men_--a definite multitude; _Every man_--all or each without exception;
_Each man_--both or all taken separately; _Some man_--one, as opposed to
none; _Some men_--an indefinite number or part; _All men_--the whole taken
plurally; _No men_--none of the sex; _No man_--never one of the race.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS II--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Second Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and to explain the_ ARTICLES _as
definite or indefinite.

The definitions to be given in the Second Praxis, are two for an article,
and one for a noun, an adjective, a pronoun, a verb, a participle, an
adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"The task of a schoolmaster laboriously prompting and urging an indolent
class, is worse than his who drives lazy horses along a sandy road."--_G.
Brown_.

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite
article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Task_ is a noun. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing,
that can be known or mentioned.

_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_A_ is the indefinite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The indefinite
article is _an_ or _a_, which denotes one thing of a kind, but not any
particular one.

_Schoolmaster_ is a noun. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned.

_Laboriously_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree, or manner.

_Prompting_ is a participle. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb,
participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and
is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb.

_And_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or
sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so
connected.

_Urging_ is a participle. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb,
participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and
is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb.

_An_ is the indefinite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or
_a_, which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The
indefinite article is _an_ or _a_, which denotes one thing of a kind, but
not any particular one.

_Indolent_ is an adjective. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality.

_Class_ is a noun. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing,
that can be known or mentioned.

_Is_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to
be acted upon_.

_Worse_ is an adjective. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality.

_Than_ is a conjunction. 1, A conjunction is a word used to connect words
or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so
connected.

_He_ is a pronoun. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.

_Who_ is a pronoun. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.

_Drives_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or
_to be acted upon_.

_Lazy_ is an adjective. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality.

_Horses_ is a noun. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing,
that can be known or mentioned.

_Along_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_A_ is the indefinite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The indefinite
article is _an_ or _a_, which denotes one thing of a kind, but not any
particular one.

_Sandy_ is an adjective. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality.

_Road_ is a noun. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing,
that can be known or mentioned.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"The Honourable, the Corporation of the city, granted the use of the common
council chamber, for holding the Convention; generously adding the
privilege of occupying the rotunda, or the new court-room, if either would
better suit the wishes of the committee."--_Journal of Literary
Convention_, N. Y., 1830.

"When the whole is put for a part, or a part for the whole; the genus for a
species, or a species for the genus; the singular number for the plural, or
the plural for the singular; and, in general, when any thing less, or any
thing more, is put for the precise object meant; the figure is called a
Synecdoche."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 141.

"The truth is, a representative, as an individual, is on a footing with
other people; but, as a representative of a State, he is invested with a
share of the sovereign authority, and is so far a governor of the
people."--See _Webster's Essays_, p. 50.

"Knowledge is the fruit of mental labour--the food and the feast of the
mind. In the pursuit of knowledge, the greater the excellence of the
subject of inquiry, the deeper ought to be the interest, the more ardent
the investigation, and the dearer to the mind the acquisition of the
truth."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 15.

   "Canst thou, O partial Sleep! give thy repose
    To the wet seaboy in an hour so rude?"--_Shakspeare_.


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"Every family has a master; (or a mistress--I beg the ladies' pardon;) a
ship has a master; when a house is to be built, there is a master; when the
highways are repairing, there is a master; every little school has a
master: the continent is a great school; the boys are numerous, and full of
roguish tricks; and there is no master. The boys in this great school play
truant, and there is no person to chastise them."--See _Webster's Essays_,
p. 128.

"A man who purposely rushes down a precipice and breaks his arm, has no
right to say, that surgeons are an evil in society. A legislature may
unjustly limit the surgeon's fee; but the broken arm must be healed, and a
surgeon is the only man to restore it."--See _ib._, p. 135.

"But what new sympathies sprung up immediately where the gospel prevailed!
It was made the duty of the whole Christian community to provide for the
stranger, the poor, the sick, the aged, the widow, and the
orphan."--_M'Ilvaine's Evi._, p. 408.

"In the English language, the same word is often employed both as a noun
and as a verb; and sometimes as an adjective, and even as an adverb and a
preposition also. Of this, _round_ is an example."--See _Churchill's
Gram._, p. 24.

   "The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
    The moss-covered bucket, arose from the well."--_Woodworth_.


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"Most of the objects in a natural landscape are beautiful, and some of them
are grand: a flowing river, a spreading oak, a round hill, an extended
plain, are delightful; and even a rugged rock, and a barren heath, though
in themselves disagreeable, contribute by contrast to the beauty of the
whole."--See _Kames's El. of Crit._, i, 185.

"An animal body is still more admirable, in the disposition of its several
parts, and in their order and symmetry: there is not a bone, a muscle, a
blood-vessel, a nerve, that hath not one corresponding to it on the
opposite side; and the same order is carried through the most minute
parts."--See _ib._, i, 271. "The constituent parts of a plant, the roots,
the stem, the branches, the leaves, the fruit, are really different
systems, united by a mutual dependence on each other."--_Ib._, i, 272.

"With respect to the form of this ornament, I observe, that a circle is a
more agreeable figure than a square, a globe than a cube, and a cylinder
than a parallelopipedon. A column is a more agreeable figure than a
pilaster; and, for that reason, it ought to be preferred, all other
circumstances being equal. An other reason concurs, that a column connected
with a wall, which is a plain surface, makes a greater variety than a
pilaster."--See _ib._, ii, 352.

   "But ah! what myriads claim the bended knee!
    Go, count the busy drops that swell the sea."--_Rogers_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS RESPECTING ARTICLES.

LESSON I.--ADAPT THE ARTICLES.

"Honour is an useful distinction in life."--_Milnes's Greek Grammar_, p.
vii.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the article _an_ is used before _useful_,
which begins with the sound of _yu_. But, according to a principle
expressed on page 225th, "_A_ is to be used whenever the following word
begins with a consonant sound." Therefore, _an_ should here be changed to
_a_; thus, "Honour is _a_ useful distinction in life."]

"No writer, therefore, ought to foment an humour of
innovation."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 55. "Conjunctions require a situation
between the things of which they form an union."--_Ib._, p. 83. "Nothing is
more easy than to mistake an _u_ for an _a_."--_Tooke's Diversions_, i,
130. "From making so ill an use of our innocent expressions."--_Wm. Penn_.
"To grant thee an heavenly and incorruptible crown of glory."--_Sewel's
Hist., Ded._, p. iv. "It in no wise follows, that such an one was able to
predict."--_Ib._, p. viii. "With an harmless patience they have borne most
heavy oppressions,"--_Ib._, p. x. "My attendance was to make me an happier
man."--_Spect._, No. 480. "On the wonderful nature of an human
mind."--_Ib._, 554. "I have got an hussy of a maid, who is most craftily
given to this."--_Ib._, No. 534. "Argus is said to have had an hundred
eyes, some of which were always awake."--_Classic Stories_, p. 148.
"Centiped, an hundred feet; centennial, consisting of a hundred
years."--_Town's Analysis_, p. 19. "No good man, he thought, could be an
heretic."--_Gilpin's Lives_, p. 72. "As, a Christian, an infidel, an
heathen."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 50. "Of two or more words, usually joined by
an hyphen."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 7. "We may consider the whole space of an
hundred years as time present."--BEATTIE: _Murray's Gram._, p. 69. "In
guarding against such an use of meats and drinks."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 138.
"Worship is an homage due from man to his Creator."--_Annual Monitor for_
1836. "Then, an eulogium on the deceased was pronounced."--_Grimshaw's U.
S._, p. 92. "But for Adam there was not found an help meet for
him."--_Gen._, ii, 20. "My days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are
burned as an hearth."--_Psalms_, cii, 3. "A foreigner and an hired servant
shall not eat thereof"--_Exod._, xii, 45. "The hill of God is as the hill
of Bashan; an high hill, as the hill of Bashan."--_Psalms_, lxviii, 15.
"But I do declare it to have been an holy offering, and such an one too as
was to be once for all."--_Wm. Penn_. "An hope that does not make ashamed
those that have it."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 15. "Where there is not
an unity, we may exercise true charity."--_Ib._, i, 96. "Tell me, if in any
of these such an union can be found?"--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 16.

   "Such holy drops her tresses steeped,
    Though 'twas an hero's eye that weeped."--_Sir W. Scott_.


LESSON II.--INSERT ARTICLES.

"This veil of flesh parts the visible and invisible world."--_Sherlock_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the article _the_ is omitted before
_invisible_, where the sense requires it. But, according to a suggestion on
page 225th, "Articles should be inserted as often as the sense requires
them." Therefore, _the_ should be here supplied; thus, "This veil of flesh
parts the visible and the invisible world."]

"The copulative and disjunctive conjunctions operate differently on the
verb."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 286. "Every combination of a
preposition and article with the noun."--_Ib._, i, 44. "_Either_ signifies,
'the one or the other;' _neither_ imports _not either_, that is, 'not one
nor the other.'"--_Ib._, i, 56. "A noun of multitude may have a pronoun, or
verb, agreeing with it, either of the singular or plural number."--_Bucke's
Gram._, p. 90. "Copulative conjunctions are, principally, and, as, both,
because, for, if, that, then, since, &c."--See _ib._, 28. "The two real
genders are the masculine and feminine."--_Ib._, 34. "In which a mute and
liquid are represented by the same character, _th_."--_Music of Nature_, p.
481. "They said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee."--_Luke_, vii, 20.
"They indeed remember the names of abundance of places."--_Spect._, No.
474. "Which created a great dispute between the young and old
men."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. ii, p. 127. "Then shall be read the
Apostles' or Nicene Creed."--_Com. Prayer_, p. 119. "The rules concerning
the perfect tenses and supines of verbs are Lily's."--_King Henry's Gram._,
p. iv. "It was read by the high and the low, the learned and
illiterate."--_Johnson's Life of Swift_. "Most commonly, both the pronoun
and verb are understood."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. viii. "To signify the
thick and slender enunciation of tone."--_Knight, on the Greek Alph._, p.
9. "The difference between a palatial and guttural aspirate is very
small."--_Ib._, p. 12. "Leaving it to waver between the figurative and
literal sense."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 154. "Whatever verb will not admit
of both an active and passive signification."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p.
31. "_The_ is often set before adverbs in the comparative or superlative
degree."--_Ib._, p. 15; _Kirkham's Gram._, 66. "Lest any should fear the
effect of such a change upon the present or succeeding age of
writers."--_Fowle's Common School Gram._, p. 5. "In all these measures, the
accents are to be placed on even syllables; and every line is, in general,
more melodious, as this rule is more strictly observed."--_L. Murray's
Octavo Gram_, p. 256; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 307. "How many numbers do nouns
appear to have? Two, the singular and plural."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 8.
"How many persons? Three persons--the first, second, and third."--_Ib._, p.
10. "How many cases? Three--the nominative, possessive and
objective."--_Ib._, p. 12.

   "Ah! what avails it me, the flocks to keep,
    Who lost my heart while I preserv'd sheep."
        POPE'S WORKS: _British Poets_, Vol. vi, p. 309: Lond., 1800.


LESSON III.--OMIT ARTICLES.

"The negroes are all the descendants of Africans."--_Morse's Geog_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the article _the_ before _descendants_, is
useless to the construction, and injurious to the sense. But, according to
a principle on page 225th, "Needless articles should be omitted; they
seldom fail to pervert the sense." Therefore, _the_ should be here omitted;
thus, "The negroes are all _descendants_ of Africans."]

"A Sybarite was applied as a term of reproach to a man of dissolute
manners."--_Morse's Ancient Geog._, p. 4. "The original signification of
knave was a boy."--_Webster's El. Spell._, p. 136. "The meaning of these
will be explained, for the greater clearness and precision."--_Bucke's
Gram._, p. 58. "What Sort of a Noun is Man? A Noun Substantive
common."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 166. "Is _what_ ever used as three kinds
of a pronoun?"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 117. "They delighted in the having
done it, as well as in the doing of it."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 344.
"Both the parts of this rule are exemplified in the following
sentences."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 174. "He has taught them to hope for
another and a better world."--_S. L. Knapp_. "It was itself only
preparatory to a future, a better, and perfect revelation."--_Keith's
Evid._, p. 23. "_Es_ then makes another and a distinct syllable."--
_Brightland's Gram._, p. 17. "The eternal clamours of a selfish and a
factious people."--_Brown's Estimate_, i, 74. "To those whose taste in
Elocution is but a little cultivated."--_Kirkham's Eloc._, p. 65. "They
considered they had but a Sort of a Gourd to rejoice in."--_Bennet's
Memorial_, p. 333. "Now there was but one only such a bough, in a spacious
and shady grove."--_Bacon's Wisdom_, p. 75. "Now the absurdity of this
latter supposition will go a great way towards the making a man
easy."--_Collier's Antoninus_ p. 131. "This is true of the mathematics,
where the taste has but little to do."--_Todd's Student's Manual_, p. 331.
"To stand prompter to a pausing, yet a ready comprehension."--_Rush, on the
Voice_, p. 251. "Such an obedience as the yoked and the tortured negro is
compelled to yield to the whip of the overseer."--_Chalmers's Serm._, p.
90. "For the gratification of a momentary and an unholy
desire."--_Wayland's Mor. Sci._, p. 288. "The body is slenderly put
together; the mind a rambling sort of a thing."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p.
26. "The only nominative to the verb, is, _the officer_."--_Murray's
Gram._, ii, 22. "And though in the general it ought to be admitted,
&c."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 376. "Philosophical writing admits of a polished,
a neat, and elegant style."--_Ib._, p. 367. "But notwithstanding this
defect, Thomson is a strong and a beautiful describer."--_Ib._, p. 405. "So
should he be sure to be ransomed, and a many poor men's lives
saved."--SHAK.: _Hen._ v.

   "Who felt the wrong, or fear'd it, took the alarm,
    Appeal'd to Law, and Justice lent her arm."--_Pope_, p. 406.


LESSON IV.--CHANGE ARTICLES.

"To enable us to avoid the too frequent repetition of the same
word."--_Bucke's Gr._, p, 52.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the article _the_ is used to limit the
meaning of "repetition," or "too frequent repetition," where _a_ would
better suit the sense. But, according to a principle on page 225th, "The
articles can seldom be put one for the other, without gross impropriety;
and either is of course to be preferred to the other, as it better suits
the sense." Therefore, "_the_" should be _a_, which, in this instance,
ought to be placed after the adjective; thus, "To enable us to avoid _too
frequent a repetition_ of the same word."]

"The former is commonly acquired in the third part of the time."--_Burn's
Gram._, p. xi. "Sometimes the adjective becomes a substantive, and has
another adjective joined to it: as, 'The chief good.'"--_L. Murray's
Gram._, i, 169. "An articulate sound is the sound of the human voice,
formed by the organs of speech."--_Ib._, i, 2; _Lowth's Gram._, 2; _T.
Smith's_, 5. "Tense is the distinction of time: there are six
tenses."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 6. "In this case, the ellipsis of the last
article would be improper."--_L. Murray's Gram._, i, p. 218. "Contrast has
always the effect to make each of the contrasted objects appear in the
stronger light."--_Ib._, i, 349; _Blair's Rhet._, p. 167. "These remarks
may serve to shew the great importance of the proper use of the
article."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 12; _Murray's_, i, 171. "'Archbishop
Tillotson,' says an author of the History of England, 'died in this
year.'"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 107. "Pronouns are used instead of
substantives, to prevent the too frequent repetition of them."--_Alex.
Murray's Gram._, p. 22. "_That_, as a relative, seems to be introduced to
save the too frequent repetition of _who_ and _which_."--_Ib._, p. 23. "A
pronoun is a word used instead of a noun to avoid the too frequent
repetition of the same word."--_L. Murray's Gram._, i, p. 28. "_That_ is
often used as a relative, to prevent the too frequent repetition of _who_
and _which_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 109; _L. Murray's_, i, 53; _Hiley's_,
84. "His knees smote one against an other."--_Logan's Sermons_. "They stand
now on one foot, then on another."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 259. "The Lord
watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another."--_Gen._,
xxxi, 49. "Some have enumerated ten [parts of speech], making a participle
a distinct part."--_L. Murray's Gram_, i, p. 29. "Nemesis rides upon an
Hart, because a Hart was a most lively Creature."--_Bacon's Wisdom_, p. 50.
"The transition of the voice from one vowel of the diphthong to
another."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 29. "So difficult it is to
separate these two things from one another."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 92.
"Without the material breach of any rule."--_Ib._, p. 101. "The great
source of a loose style, in opposition to precision, is the injudicious use
of those words termed synonymous."--_Ib._, p. 97. "The great source of a
loose style, in opposition to precision, is the injudicious use of the
words termed _synonymous_."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 302. "Sometimes one
article is improperly used for another."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 197.

   "Satire of sense, alas! can Sporus feel?
    Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?"--_Pope_, p. 396.


LESSON V.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"He hath no delight in the strength of an horse."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p.
311. "The head of it would be an universal monarch."--_Butler's Analogy_,
p. 98. "Here they confound the material and formal object of
faith."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 57. "The Irish and Scotish Celtic
are one language; the Welsh, Cornish, and Armorican, are another."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist._, Vol. ii, p. 316. "In an uniform and perspicuous
manner."--_Ib._, i, 49. "SCRIPTURE, _n._ Appropriately, and by way of
distinction, the books of the Old and New Testament; the
Bible."--_Webster's Dict._ "In two separate volumes, entitled the Old and
the New Testaments."--_Wayland's Mor. Sci._, p. 139. "The Scriptures of the
Old and New Testament contain a revelation."--_Ib._ "Q has ever an u after
it; which is not sounded in words derived from the French."--_Wilson's
Essay_, p. 32. "What should we say of such an one? That he is regenerate?
No."--_Hopkins's Prim. Ch._, p. 22. "Some grammarians subdivide vowels into
the simple and the compound."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 8. "Emphasis has
been further distinguished into the weaker and stronger emphasis."--_Ib._,
i, 244. "Emphasis has also been divided into superior and the inferior
emphasis."--_Ib._, i, 245, "Pronouns must agree with their antecedents, or
nouns which they represent, in gender, number, and person."--_Merchant's
Gram._, pp. 86, 111, and 130. "The adverb _where_, is often improperly
used, for the relative pronoun and preposition."--_Ib._, 94. "The
termination _ish_ imports diminution, or lessening the quality."--_Ib._,
79. "In this train all their verses proceed: the one half of the line
always answering to the other."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 384. "To an height of
prosperity and glory, unknown to any former age."--_Murray's Sequel_, p.
352. "HWILC, who, which, such as, such an one, is declined as
follows."--_Gwilt's Saxon Gram._, p. 15. "When a vowel precedes _y_, an _s_
only is required to form a plural."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 40. "He is asked
what sort of a word each is, whether a primitive, derivative, or
compound."--_British Gram._, p. vii. "It is obvious, that neither the 2d,
3d, nor 4th chapter of Matthew is the first; consequently, there are not
_four first_ chapters."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 306. "Some thought, which
a writer wants art to introduce in its proper place."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
109. "Groves and meadows are most pleasing in the spring."--_Ib._, p. 207.
"The conflict between the carnal and spiritual mind, is often
long."--_Gurney's Port. Ev._, p. 146. "A Philosophical Inquiry into the
Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful."--_Burke's Title-page_.

   "Silence, my muse! make not these jewels cheap,
    Exposing to the world too large an heap."--_Waller_, p. 113.




CHAPTER III.--NOUNS.

A Noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or
mentioned: as, _George, York, man, apple, truth_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--All words and signs taken _technically_, (that is, independently
of their meaning, and merely as things spoken of,) are _nouns_; or, rather,
are _things_ read and construed _as nouns_; because, in such a use, they
temporarily assume the _syntax_ of nouns: as, "For this reason, I prefer
_contemporary_ to _cotemporary_."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 175; _Murray's
Gram._, i, p. 368. "I and J were formerly expressed by the same character;
as were U and V."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 3. "_Us_ is a personal
pronoun."--_Murray_. "_Th_ has two sounds."--_Ib._ "The _'s_ cannot be a
contraction of _his_, because _'s_ is put to _female_ [feminine] nouns; as,
_Woman's beauty, the Virgin's delicacy_."--_Dr. Johnson's Gram._ "_Their_
and _theirs_ are the possessives likewise of _they_, when _they_ is the
plural of _it_."--_Ib._ "Let B be a _now_ or instant."--_Harris's Hermes_,
p. 103. "In such case, I say that the instant B is the end of the time A
B."--_Ib._, 103. "_A_ is sometimes a noun: as, a great _A_."--_Todd's
Johnson_. "Formerly _sp_ was cast in a piece, as _st's_ are now."--_Hist.
of Printing_, 1770. "I write to others than he will perhaps include in his
_we_."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 455. "Here are no fewer than eight
_ands_ in one sentence."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 112; _Murray's Gram._, Vol.
i, p. 319. "Within this wooden _O_;" i. e., circle.--_Shak._

OBS. 2.--In parsing, the learner must observe the sense and use of each
word, and class it accordingly. Many words commonly belonging to other
parts of speech are occasionally used as nouns; and, since it is the manner
of its use, that determines any word to be of one part of speech rather
than of an other, whatever word is used directly as a noun, must of course
be parsed as such.

1. Adjectives made nouns: "The _Ancient_ of days did sit."--_Bible_. "Of
the _ancients_."--_Swift_. "For such _impertinents_."--_Steele_. "He is an
_ignorant_ in it."--_Id._ "In the luxuriance of an unbounded
_picturesque_."--_Jamieson_. "A source of _the sublime_;" i. e., of
sublimity.--_Burke_. "The vast _immense_ of space:" i. e.,
immensity.--_Murray_. "There is none his _like._"--_Job_, xli, 33. "A
_little_ more than a _little_, is by _much_ too _much_."--_Shakspeare_.
"And gladly make _much_ of that entertainment."--_Sidney_. "A covetous man
makes _the most_ of what he has."--_L'Estrange_. "It has done _enough_ for
me."--_Pope_. "He had _enough_ to do."--_Bacon_.

   "_All_ withers here; who _most_ possess, are losers by their gain,
    Stung by full proof, that bad at best, life's idle _all_ is vain."
        --_Young_.

   "Nor grudge I thee _the much_ the Grecians give,
    Nor murm'ring take _the little_ I receive."
        --_Dryden_.

2. Pronouns made nouns: "A love of seeing the _what_ and _how_ of all about
him."--STORY'S LIFE OF FLAXMAN: _Pioneer_, Vol. i, p. 133. "The nameless
HE, whose nod is Nature's birth."--_Young_, Night iv. "I was wont to load
my _she_ with knacks."--_Shak. Winter's Tale_. "Or any _he_, the proudest
of thy sort."--_Shak_. "I am the happiest _she_ in Kent."--_Steele_. "The
_shes_ of Italy."--_Shak_. "The _hes_ in birds."--_Bacon_. "We should soon
have as many _hes_ and _shes_ as the French."--_Cobbet's E. Gram._, Para.
42. "If, for instance, we call a nation a _she_, or the sun a
_he_."--_Ib._, Para. 198. "When I see many _its_ in a page, I always
tremble for the writer."--_Ib._, Para. 196. "Let those two questionary
petitioners try to do this with their _whos_ and their _whiches_."--SPECT:
_Ash's Gr._, p. 131.

   "Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua's law
    Is death to any _he_ that utters them."--_Shak_.

3. Verbs made nouns: "Avaunt all attitude, and _stare_, and _start_
theatric."--_Cowper_. "A _may-be_ of mercy is sufficient."--_Bridge_.
"Which _cuts_ are reckoned among the fractures."--_Wiseman_. "The officer
erred in granting a _permit_."--"Feel darts and charms, _attracts_ and
flames."--_Hudibras_. "You may know by the falling off of the _come_, or
sprout."--_Mortimer_. "And thou hast talk'd of _sallies_ and
_retires_."--_Shak_.

   "For all that else did come, were sure to fail;
    Yet would he further none, but for _avail_."--_Spenser_.

4. Participles made nouns: "For the _producing_ of real
happiness."--_Crabb_. "For the _crying_ of the poor and the _sighing_ of
the needy, I will arise."--_Bible_. "Surely the _churning_ of milk bringeth
forth butter, and the _wringing_ of the nose bringeth forth blood; so the
_forcing_ of wrath bringeth forth strife."--_Prov._, xxx, 33. "_Reading,
writing_, and _ciphering_, are indispensable to civilized man."--"Hence was
invented the distinction between _doing_ and _permitting_."--_Calvin's
Inst._, p. 131. "Knowledge of the _past_ comes next."--_Hermes_, p. 113. "I
am my _beloved's_, and his desire is toward me."--_Sol. Song_, vii, 10.
"Here's--a simple _coming-in_ for one man."--_Shak_.

   "What are thy rents? What are thy _comings-in_?
    O Ceremony, show me but thy worth."--_Id._

5. Adverbs made nouns: "In these cases we examine the _why_, the _what_,
and the _how_ of things."--_L'Estrange_. "If a point or _now_ were
extended, each of them would contain within itself infinite other points or
_nows_."--_Hermes_, p. 101. "The _why_ is plain as way to parish
church."--_Shak_. "'Tis Heaven itself that points out _an
hereafter_."--_Addison_. "The dread of _a hereafter_."--_Fuller_. "The
murmur of the deep _amen_."--_Sir W. Scott_. "For their _whereabouts_ lieth
in a mystery."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 14. Better: "Their _whereabout_
lieth," or, "Their _whereabouts lie_," &c.

   "Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind;
    Thou losest _here_, a better _where_ to find."--_Shak_.

6. Conjunctions made nouns: "The _if_, which is here employed, converts the
sentence into a supposition."--_Blair's Rhet._ "Your _if_ is the only
peacemaker; much virtue is in _if_."--_Shak_.

   "So his Lordship decreed with a grave solemn tone,
      Decisive and clear, without one _if_ or _but_--
    That whenever the Nose put his spectacles on,
      By daylight or candlelight--Eyes should be shut."--_Cowper_.

7. Prepositions made nouns: "O, not like me; for mine's beyond
_beyond_."--_Shakspeare: Cymb._, iii, 2. "I. e., her longing is _further
than beyond_; beyond any thing that desire can be said to be
beyond."--_Singer's Notes_. "You whirled them to the back of _beyont_ to
look at the auld Roman camp."--_Antiquary_, i. 37.

8. Interjections or phrases made nouns: "Come away from all the _lo-heres_!
and _lo-theres_!"--_Sermon_. "Will cuts him short with a '_What
then_?'"--_Addison_. "With _hark_ and _whoop_, and wild
_halloo_."--_Scott_. "And made a _pish_ at chance and sufferance."--_Shak_.

   "A single look more marks th' internal wo,
    Than all the windings of the lengthen'd _oh_."--_Lloyd_.


CLASSES.

Nouns are divided into two general classes; _proper_ and _common_. I. A
_proper noun_ is the name of some particular individual, or people, or
group; as, _Adam, Boston_, the _Hudson_, the _Romans_, the _Azores_, the
_Alps_.

II. A _common noun_ is the name of a sort, kind, or class, of beings or
things; as, _Beast, bird, fish, insect,--creatures, persons, children_.

The particular classes, _collective, abstract_, and _verbal_, or
_participial_, are usually included among common nouns. The name of a thing
_sui generis_ is also called common.

1. A _collective noun_, or _noun of multitude_, is the name of many
individuals together; as, _Council, meeting, committee, flock_.

2. An _abstract noun_ is the name of some particular quality considered
apart from its substance; as, _Goodness, hardness, pride, frailty_.

3. A _verbal_ or _participial noun_ is the name of some action, or state of
being; and is formed from a verb, like a participle, but employed as a
noun: as, "The _triumphing_ of the wicked is short."--_Job_, xx, 5.

4. A thing _sui generis_, (i. e., _of its own peculiar kind_,) is something
which is distinguished, not as an individual of a species, but as a sort by
itself, without plurality in either the noun or the sort of thing; as,
_Galvanism, music, geometry_.

OBS. 1.--Through the influence of an article, a proper name sometimes
acquires the import of a common noun: as, "He is _the Cicero_ of his age;"
that is, _the great orator_. "Many _a fiery Alp_;" that is, _high volcanic
mountain_. "Such is the following application of famous names; a Solomon
for a wise man, a Croesus for a rich man, a Judas for a traitor, a
Demosthenes for an orator, and a Homer for a poet."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p.
326.

   "Consideration, like an angel, came,
    And whipp'd _th' offending Adam_ out of him."--_Shak_.

OBS. 2.--A common noun, with the definite article before it, sometimes
becomes proper: as, _The Park; the Strand; the Gharmel; the Downs; the
United States_.

OBS. 3.--The common name of a thing or quality personified, often becomes
proper; our conception of the object being changed by the figure of speech:
as, "My power," said _Reason_, "is to advise, not to compel."--_Johnson_.
"Fair _Peace_ her olive branch extends." For such a word, the form of
parsing should be like this: "_Peace_ is a _common noun, personified
proper_; of the third person, singular number, feminine gender, and
nominative case." Here the construction of the word as a proper noun, and
of the _feminine gender_, is the result of the personification, and
contrary to the literal usage.


MODIFICATIONS.

Nouns have modifications of four kinds; namely, _Persons, Numbers,
Genders_, and _Cases_.


PERSONS.

Persons, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish the speaker, the
hearer, and the person or thing merely spoken of.

There are three persons; the _first_, the _second_, and the _third_.

The _first person_ is that which denotes the speaker or writer; as, "_I
Paul_ have written it."

The second person is that which denotes the hearer, or the person
addressed; as, "_Robert_, who did this?"

The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken
of; as, "_James_ loves his book."


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The distinction of persons is founded on the different relations
which the objects mentioned in any discourse may bear to the discourse
itself. The speaker or writer, being the mover and maker of the
communication, of course stands in the nearest or _first_ of these
relations. The hearer or hearers, being personally present and directly
addressed, evidently sustain the next or _second_ of these relations; this
relation is also that of the reader, when he peruses what is addressed to
himself in print or writing. Lastly, whatsoever or whosoever is merely
mentioned in the discourse, bears to it that more remote relation which
constitutes the _third_ person. The distinction of persons belongs to
nouns, pronouns, and finite verbs; and to these it is always applied,
either by peculiarity of form or construction, or by inference from the
principles of concord. Pronouns are like their antecedents, and verbs are
like their subjects, in person.

OBS. 2.--Of the persons, numbers, genders, cases, and some other
grammatical modifications of words, it should be observed that they belong
not exclusively to any one part of speech, but jointly and equally, to two
or three. Hence, it is necessary that our _definitions_ of these things be
such as will apply to each of them in full, or under all circumstances; for
the definitions ought to be as general in their application as are the
things or properties defined. Any person, number, gender, case, or other
grammatical modification, is really but one and the same thing, in whatever
part of speech it may be found. This is plainly implied in the very nature
of every form of syntactical agreement; and as plainly contradicted in one
half, and probably more, of the definitions usually given of these things.

OBS. 3.--Let it be understood, that _persons, in grammar_, are not _words_,
but mere forms, relations, or modifications of words; that they are things,
thus named by a _figure_; _things_ of the neuter gender, and not living
souls. But persons, in common parlance, or in ordinary life, are
_intelligent beings_, of one or the other sex. These objects, different as
they are in their nature, are continually confounded by the makers of
English grammars: as, "The _first_ person is _the person who
speaks_."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 17. So Bicknell, of London: "The _first
person_ speaks of _himself_; as, _I John take thee Elizabeth_. The _second_
person has the speech directed to _him_, and is supposed to be present; as,
_Thou Harry art a wicked fellow_. The _third_ person is spoken of, or
described, and supposed to be _absent_; as, _That Thomas is a good man_.
And in the same manner the plural pronouns are used, when more than one are
spoken of."--_Bicknell's Grammatical Wreath_, p. 50. "The person speaking
is the first person; the person spoken to, the second; and the person
spoken of, the third."--_Russell's Gram._, p. 16. "The first person is the
speaker."--_Parker & Fox's Gram._, Part i, p. 6. "Person is that, which
distinguishes a noun, that speaks, one spoken to, or one spoken
about."--_S. B. Hall's Gram._, p. 6. "A noun that speaks!" A noun "spoken
to!" If ever one of Father Hall's nouns shall speak for itself, or answer
when "spoken to," will it not reprove him? And how can the _first person_
be "the _person_ WHO _speaks_," when every word of this phrase is of the
_third_ person? Most certainly, _it is not_ HE, nor any one of his sort. If
any body can boast of being "_the first person in grammar_," I pray, _Who_
is it? Is it not _I_, even _I_? Many grammarians say so. But nay: such
authors know not what the first person in grammar is. The Rev. Charles
Adams, with infinite absurdity, makes the three persons in grammar to be
never any thing but _three nouns_, which hold a confabulation thus: "Person
is defined to be _that_ which distinguishes a _noun that speaks, one spoken
to, or one spoken of_. The _noun_ that speaks [,] is the first person; as,
_I, James_, was present. The _noun_ that is spoken to, is the second
person; as, _James_, were you present? The _noun_ that is spoken of is the
third person; as, _James_ was present."--_Adams's System of English Gram._,
p. 9. What can be a greater blunder, than to call the first person of a
verb, of a pronoun, or even of a noun, "_the noun that speaks?_" What can
be more absurd than are the following assertions? "_Nouns_ are _in_ the
first person when _speaking_. Nouns are _of_ the second person when
_addressed_ or _spoken to_."--_O. C. Felton's Gram._, p. 9.

OBS. 4.--An other error, scarcely less gross than that which has just been
noticed, is the very common one of identifying the three grammatical
persons with certain _words_, called personal pronouns: as, "_I_ is the
first person, _thou_ the second, _he, she_ or _it_, the third."--_Smith's
Productive Gram._, p. 53. "_I_ is the first person, singular. _Thou_ is the
second person, singular. _He, she_, or _it_, is the third person, singular.
_We_ is the first person, plural. _Ye_ or _you_ is the second person,
plural. _They_ is the third person, plural."--_L. Murray's Grammar_, p. 51;
_Ingersoll's_, 54; _D. Adams's_, 37; _A. Flint's_, 18; _Kirkham's_, 98;
_Cooper's_, 34; _T. H. Miller's_, 26; _Hull's_, 21; _Frost's_, 13;
_Wilcox's_, 18; _Bacon's_, 19; _Alger's_, 22; _Maltby's_, 19; _Perley's_,
15; _S. Putnam's_, 22. Now there is no more propriety in affirming, that
"_I is the first person_," than in declaring that _me, we, us, am,
ourselves, we think, I write_, or any other word or phrase _of_ the first
person, _is_ the first person. Yet Murray has given us no other definitions
or explanations of the persons than the foregoing erroneous assertions;
and, if I mistake not, all the rest who are here named, have been content
to define them only as he did. Some others, however, have done still worse:
as, "There are _three_ personal pronouns; so called, because they denote
the three persons, _who_ are the subjects of a discourse, viz. 1st. _I, who
is_ the person _speaking_; 2d _thou, who is_ spoken to; 3d _he, she_, or
_it, who_ is spoken of, and their plurals, _we, ye_ or _you,
they_."--_Bingham's Accidence_, 20th Ed., p. 7. Here the two kinds of error
which I have just pointed out, are jumbled together. It is impossible to
write _worse English_ than this! Nor is the following much better: "Of the
personal pronouns there are five, viz. _I_, in the first person, speaking;
_Thou_, in the second person, spoken to; and _He, she, it_, in the third
person, spoken of."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 25.

OBS. 5.--In _written_ language, the _first person_ denotes the writer or
author; and the _second_, the reader or person addressed: except when the
writer describes not himself, but some one else, as uttering to an other
the words which he records. This exception takes place more particularly in
the writing of dialogues and dramas; in which the first and second persons
are abundantly used, not as the representatives of the author and his
reader, but as denoting the fictitious speakers and hearers that figure in
each scene. But, in discourse, the grammatical persons may be changed
without a change of the living subject. In the following sentence, the
three grammatical persons are all of them used with reference to one and
the same individual: "Say ye of _Him whom_ the Father hath sanctified and
sent into the world, _Thou blasphemest_, because _I said I am_ the _Son_ of
_God?_"--_John_, x, 36.

OBS. 6.-The speaker seldom refers to himself _by name_, as the speaker;
and, of the objects which there is occasion to name in discourse, but
comparatively few are such as can ever be supposed to speak. Consequently,
_nouns_ are rarely used in the first person; and when they do assume this
relation, a pronoun is commonly associated with them: as, "_I John_,"--"_We
Britons_." These words I conceive to agree throughout, in person, number,
gender, and case; though it must be confessed, that agreement like this is
not always required between words in apposition. But some grammarians deny
the first person to nouns altogether; others, with much more consistency,
ascribe it;[140] while very many are entirely silent on the subject. Yet it
is plain that both the doctrine of concords, and the analogy of general
grammar, require its admission. The reason of this may be seen in the
following examples: "_Themistocles ad te veni_." "I Themistocles have come
to you."--_Grant's Latin Gram._, p. 72. "_Adsum Troius Æneas_."--_Virgil_.
"_Romulus Rex regia arma offero_."--Livy. "_Annibal peto pacem_."--Id.
"_Callopius recensui._"--See _Terence's Comedies, at the end_. "_Paul_, an
apostle, &c., unto Timothy, _my_ own son in the faith."--_1 Tim._, i, 2.
Again, if the word _God_ is of the second person, in the text, "_Thou,
God_, seest me," why should any one deny that _Paul_ is of the first
person, in this one? "_I Paul_ have written it."--_Philemon_, 19. Or this?
"The salutation by the hand of _me Paul_."--_Col._, iv, 18. And so of the
plural: "Of _you builders_."--_Acts_, iv, 11. "Of _us the apostles_."--_2
Pet._, iii, 2. How can it be pretended, that, in the phrase, "_I Paul_,"
_I_ is of the first person, as denoting the speaker, and _Paul_, of some
other person, as denoting something or somebody that is _not_ the speaker?
Let the admirers of Murray, Kirkham, Ingersoll, R. C. Smith, Comly,
Greenleaf, Parkhurst, or of any others who teach this absurdity, answer.

OBS. 7.--As, in the direct application of what are called Christian names,
there is a kind of familiarity, which on many occasions would seem to
indicate a lack of proper respect; so in a frequent and familiar use of the
second person, as it is the placing of an other in the more intimate
relation of the hearer, and one's self in that of the speaker, there is a
sort of assumption which may seem less modest and respectful than to use
the third person. In the following example, the patriarch Jacob uses both
forms; applying the term _servant_ to himself, and to his brother Esau the
term _lord_: "Let _my lord, I_ pray _thee_, pass over before _his servant_:
and _I_ will lead on softly."--_Gen._, xxxiii, 14. For when a speaker or
writer does not choose to declare himself in the _first_ person, or to
address his hearer or reader in the _second_, he speaks of both or either
in the _third_. Thus Moses relates what _Moses_ did, and Cæsar records the
achievements of _Cæsar_. So Judah humbly beseeches Joseph: "Let _thy
servant_ abide in stead of the lad a bondman to _my lord_."--_Gen._, xliv,
33. And Abraham reverently intercedes with God: "Oh! let not _the Lord_ be
angry, and I will speak."--_Gen._, xviii, 30. And the Psalmist prays:
"_God_ be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause _his_ face to shine
upon us."--_Ps._, lxvii, 1. So, on more common occasions:--

   "As will the rest, so _willeth Winchester_."--_Shak_.

    "Richard of York, how _fares_ our dearest _brother_?"--_Id._[141]

OBS. 8.--When inanimate things are spoken to, they are _personified_; and
their names are put in the second person, because by the figure the objects
are _supposed_ to be capable of hearing: as, "What ailed thee, _O thou
sea_, that thou fleddest? _thou Jordan_, that thou wast driven back? _Ye
mountains_, that ye skipped like rams; and _ye little hills_, like lambs?
Tremble, _thou earth_, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the
God of Jacob."--_Psalms_, cxiv, 5-7.


NUMBERS.

Numbers, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish unity and
plurality.

There are two numbers; the _singular_ and the _plural_.

The _singular number_ is that which denotes but one; as, "The _boy
learns_."

The _plural number_ is that which denotes more than one; as, "The _boys
learn_."

The plural number _of nouns_ is regularly formed by adding _s_ or _es_ to
the singular: as, _book, books; box, boxes; sofa, sofas; hero, heroes_.

When the singular ends in a sound which will unite with that of _s_, the
plural is generally formed by adding _s only_, and the number of syllables
is not increased: as, _pen, pens; grape, grapes_.

But when the sound of _s_ cannot be united with that of the primitive word,
the regular plural adds _s_ to final _e_, and _es_ to other terminations,
and forms a separate syllable: as, _page, pages; fox, foxes_.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The distinction of numbers serves merely to show whether we speak
of one object, or of more. In some languages, as the Greek and the Arabic,
there is a _dual_ number, which denotes _two_, or a _pair_; but in ours,
this property of words, or class of modifications, extends no farther than
to distinguish unity from plurality, and plurality from unity. It belongs
to nouns, pronouns, and finite verbs; and to these it is always applied,
either by peculiarity of form, or by inference from the principles of
concord. Pronouns are like their antecedents, and verbs are like their
subjects, in number.

OBS. 2.--The most common way of forming the plural of English nouns, is
that of simply adding to them an _s_; which, when it unites with a sharp
consonant, is always sharp, or hissing; and when it follows a vowel or a
flat mute, is generally flat, like _z_: thus, in the words, _ships, skiffs,
pits, rocks, depths, lakes, gulfs_, it is sharp; but in _seas, lays,
rivers, hills, ponds, paths, rows, webs, flags_, it is flat. The
terminations which always make the regular plural in _es_, with increase of
syllables, are twelve; namely, _ce, ge, ch_ soft, _che_ soft, _sh, ss, s,
se, x, xe, z_, and _ze_: as in _face, faces; age, ages; torch, torches;
niche, niches; dish, dishes; kiss, kisses; rebus, rebuses; lens, lenses;
chaise, chaises; corpse, corpses; nurse, nurses; box, boxes; axe, axes;
phiz, phizzes; maze, mazes._ All other endings readily unite in sound
either with the sharp or with the flat _s_, as they themselves are sharp or
flat; and, to avoid an increase of syllables, we allow the final _e_ mute
to remain mute after that letter is added: thus, we always pronounce as
monosyllables the words _babes, blades, strifes, tithes, yokes, scales,
names, canes, ropes, shores, plates, doves_, and the like.

OBS. 3.--Though the irregular plurals of our language appear considerably
numerous when brought together, they are in fact very few in comparison
with the many thousands that are perfectly simple and regular. In some
instances, however, usage is various in writing, though uniform in speech;
an unsettlement peculiar to certain words that terminate in vowels: as,
_Rabbis_, or _rabbies; octavos_, or _octavoes; attornies_, or _attorneys_.
There are also some other difficulties respecting the plurals of nouns, and
especially respecting those of foreign words; of compound terms; of names
and titles; and of words redundant or deficient in regard to the numbers.
What is most worthy of notice, respecting all these puzzling points of
English grammar, is briefly contained in the following observations.

OBS. 4.--It is a general rule of English grammar, that all singular nouns
ending with a vowel preceded by an other vowel, shall form the plural by
simply assuming an _s_: as, _Plea, pleas; idea, ideas; hernia, hernias;
bee, bees; lie, lies; foe, foes; shoe, shoes; cue, cues; eye, eyes; folio,
folios; bamboo, bamboos; cuckoo, cuckoos; embryo, embryos; bureau, bureaus;
purlieu, purlieus; sou, sous; view, views; straw, straws; play, plays; key,
keys; medley, medleys; viceroy, viceroys; guy, guys._ To this rule, the
plurals of words ending in _quy_, as _alloquies, colloquies, obloquies,
soliloquies_, are commonly made exceptions; because many have conceived
that the _u_, in such instances, is a mere appendage to the _q_, or is a
consonant having the power of _w_, and not a vowel forming a diphthong with
the _y_. All other deviations from the rule, as _monies_ for _moneys,
allies_ for _alleys, vallies_ for _valleys, chimnies_ for _chimneys_, &c.,
are now usually condemned as errors. See Rule 12th for Spelling.

OBS. 5.--It is also a general principle, that nouns ending in _y_ preceded
by a consonant, change the _y_ into _i_, and add _es_ for the plural,
without increase of syllables: as, _fly, flies; ally, allies; city, cities;
colony, colonies_. So nouns in _i_, (so far as we have any that are
susceptible of a change of number,) form the plural regularly by assuming
_es_: as, _alkali, alkalies; salmagundi, salinagundies._ Common nouns
ending in _y_ preceded by a consonant, are numerous; and none of them
deviate from the foregoing rule of forming the plural: thus, _duty,
duties_. The termination added is _es_, and the _y_ is changed into _i_,
according to the general principle expressed in Rule 11th for Spelling.
But, to this principle, or rule, some writers have supposed that _proper
nouns_ were to be accounted exceptions. And accordingly we sometimes find
such names made plural by the mere addition of an _s_; as, "How come the
_Pythagoras'_, [it should be, _the Pythagorases_,] the _Aristotles_, the
_Tullys_, the _Livys_, to appear, even to us at this distance, as stars of
the first magnitude in the vast fields of ether?"--_Burgh's Dignity_, Vol.
i, p. 131. This doctrine, adopted from some of our older grammars, I was
myself, at one period, inclined to countenance; (see _Institutes of English
Grammar_, p. 33, at the bottom;) but further observation having led me to
suspect, there is more _authority_ for changing the _y_ than for retaining
it, I shall by-and-by exhibit some examples of this change, and leave the
reader to take his choice of the two forms, or principles.

OBS. 6.--The vowel _a_, at the end of a word, (except in the questionable
term _huzza_, or when silent, as in _guinea_,) has always its Italian or
middle sound, as heard in the interjection _aha!_ a sound which readily
unites with that of _s_ flat, and which ought, in deliberate speech, to be
carefully preserved in plurals from this ending: as, _Canada, the Canadas;
cupola, cupolas; comma, commas; anathema, anathemas_. To pronounce the
final _a_ flat, as _Africay_ for _Africa_, is a mark of vulgar ignorance.

OBS. 7.--The vowel _e_ at the end of a word, is generally silent; and, even
when otherwise, it remains single in plurals from this ending; the _es_,
whenever the _e_ is vocal, being sounded _eez_, or like the word _ease_:
as, _apostrophe, apostrophes; epitome, epitomes; simile, similes_. This
class of words being anomalous in respect to pronunciation, some authors
have attempted to reform them, by changing the _e_ to _y_ in the singular,
and writing _ies_ for the plural: as, _apostrophy, apostrophies; epitomy,
epitomies; simily, similies_. A reformation of some sort seems desirable
here, and this has the advantage of being first proposed; but it is not
extensively adopted, and perhaps never will be; for the vowel sound in
question, is not exactly that of the terminations _y_ and _ies_, but one
which seems to require _ee_--a stronger sound than that of _y_, though
similar to it.

OBS. 8.--For nouns ending in open _o_ preceded by a consonant, the regular
method of forming the plural seems to be that of adding _es_; as in
_bilboes, umboes, buboes, calicoes, moriscoes, gambadoes, barricadoes,
fumadoes, carbonadoes, tornadoes, bravadoes, torpedoes, innuendoes,
viragoes, mangoes, embargoes, cargoes, potargoes, echoes, buffaloes,
volcanoes, heroes, negroes, potatoes, manifestoes, mulattoes, stilettoes,
woes_. In words of this class, the _e_ appears to be useful as a means of
preserving the right sound of the _o_; consequently, such of them as are
the most frequently used, have become the most firmly fixed in this
orthography. In practice, however, we find many similar nouns very
frequently, if not uniformly, written with _s_ only; as, _cantos, juntos,
grottos, solos, quartos, octavos, duodecimos, tyros_. So that even the best
scholars seem to have frequently doubted which termination they ought to
regard as the _regular_ one. The whole class includes more than one hundred
words. Some, however, are seldom used in the plural; and others, never.
_Wo_ and _potato_ are sometimes written _woe_ and _potatoe_. This may have
sprung from a notion, that such as have the _e_ in the plural, should have
it also in the singular. But this principle has never been carried out;
and, being repugnant to derivation, it probably never will be. The only
English appellatives that are established in _oe_, are the following
fourteen: seven monosyllables, _doe, foe, roe, shoe, sloe, soe, toe_; and
seven longer words, _rockdoe, aloe, felloe, canoe, misletoe, tiptoe,
diploe_. The last is pronounced _dip'-lo-e_ by Worcester; but Webster,
Bolles, and some others, give it as a word of two syllables only.[142]


OBS. 9.--Established exceptions ought to be enumerated and treated as
exceptions; but it is impossible to remember how to write some scores of
words, so nearly alike as _fumadoes_ and _grenados, stilettoes_ and
_palmettos_, if they are allowed to differ in termination, as these
examples do in Johnson's Dictionary. Nay, for lack of a rule to guide his
pen, even Johnson himself could not remember the orthography of the common
word _mangoes_ well enough to _copy_ it twice without inconsistency. This
may be seen by his example from King, under the words _mango_ and
_potargo_. Since, therefore, either termination is preferable to the
uncertainty which must attend a division of this class of words between the
two; and since _es_ has some claim to the preference, as being a better
index to the sound; I shall make no exceptions to the principle, that
common nouns ending in _o_ preceded by a consonant take _es_ for the
plural. Murray says, "_Nouns which_ end in _o_ have sometimes _es_ added,
to form the plural; as, cargo, echo, hero, negro, manifesto, potato,
volcano, wo: and sometimes only _s_; as, folio, nuncio, punctilio,
seraglio."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 40. This amounts to nothing, unless it is to
be inferred from his _examples_, that others like them in form are to take
_s_ or _es_ accordingly; and this is what I teach, though it cannot be said
that Murray maintains the principle.

OBS. 10.--Proper names of _individuals_, strictly used as such, have no
plural. But when several persons of the same name are spoken of, the noun
becomes in some degree common, and admits of the plural form and an
article; as, "_The Stuarts, the Cæsars_."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 41.
These, however, may still be called _proper nouns_, in parsing; because
they are only inflections, peculiarly applied, of certain names which are
indisputably such. So likewise when such nouns are used to denote
character: as, "_Solomons_, for wise men; _Neros_, for tyrants."--_Ib._
"Here we see it becomes a doubt which of the two _Herculeses_, was the
monster-queller."--_Notes to Pope's Dunciad_, iv, 492. The proper names of
_nations, tribes_, and _societies_, are generally plural; and, except in a
direct address, they are usually construed with the definite article: as,
"_The Greeks, the Athenians, the Jews, the Jesuits_." But such words may
take the singular form with the indefinite article, as often as we have
occasion to speak of an individual of such a people; as, "_A Greek, an
Athenian, a Jew, a Jesuit_." These, too, may be called _proper nouns_;
because they are national, patrial, or tribal names, each referring to some
place or people, and are not appellatives, which refer to actual sorts or
kinds, not considered local.

OBS. 11.--Proper names, when they form the plural, for the most part form
it regularly, by assuming _s_ or _es_ according to the termination: as,
_Carolina_, the _Carolinas_; _James_, the _Jameses_. And those which are
only or chiefly plural, have, or ought to have, such terminations as are
proper to distinguish them as plurals, so that the form for the singular
may be inferred: as, "The _Tungooses_ occupy nearly a third of
Siberia."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 379. Here the singular must certainly be _a
Tungoose_. "The principal tribes are the _Pawnees_, the _Arrapahoes_, and
the _Cumanches_, who roam through the regions of the Platte, the Arkansaw,
and the Norte."--_Ib._, p. 179. Here the singulars may be supposed to be a
_Pawnee_, an _Arrapaho_, and a _Cumanche_. "The Southern or Floridian
family comprised the _Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Seminoles_,
and _Natchez_."--_Ib._, p. 179. Here all are regular plurals, except the
last; and this probably ought to be _Natchezes_, but Jefferson spells it
_Natches_, the singular of which I do not know. Sometimes foreign words or
foreign terminations have been improperly preferred to our own; which last
are more intelligible, and therefore better: as, _Esquimaux_, to
_Esquimaus_; _Knistenaux_, to _Knistenaus_, or _Crees; Sioux_, to _Sious_,
or _Dahcotahs; Iroquois_, to _Iroquoys_, or _Hurons_.

OBS. 12.--Respecting the plural of nouns ending in _i, o, u_, or _y_,
preceded by a consonant, there is in present usage much uncertainty. As any
vowel sound may be uttered with an _s_, many writers suppose these letters
to require for plurals strictly regular, the _s_ only; and to take _es_
occasionally, by way of exception. Others, (perhaps with more reason,)
assume, that the most usual, regular, and proper endings for the plural, in
these instances, are _ies, oes, and ues_: as, _alkali, alkalies; halo,
haloes; gnu, gnues; enemy, enemies_. This, I think, is right for common
nouns. How far proper names are to be made exceptions, because they are
proper names, is an other question. It is certain that some of them are not
to be excepted: as, for instance, _Alleghany_, the _Alleghanies_; _Sicily_,
the Two _Sicilies_; _Ptolemy_, the _Ptolemies_; _Jehu_, the _Jehues_. So
the names of tribes; as, The _Missouries_, the _Otoes_, the _Winnebagoes_.
Likewise, the _houries_ and the _harpies_; which words, though not strictly
proper names, are often written with a capital as such. Like these are
_rabbies, cadies, mufties, sophies_, from which some writers omit the _e_.
Johnson, Walker, and others, write _gipsy_ and _gipsies_; Webster, now
writes _Gipsey_ and _Gipseys_; Worcester prefers _Gypsy_, and probably
_Gypsies_: Webster once wrote the plural _gypsies_; (see his _Essays_, p.
333;) and Johnson cites the following line:--

   "I, near yon stile, three sallow _gypsies_ met."--_Gay_.

OBS. 13.--Proper names in _o_ are commonly made plural by _s_ only. Yet
there seems to be the same reason for inserting the _e_ in these, as in
other nouns of the same ending; namely, to prevent the _o_ from acquiring a
short sound. "I apprehend," says Churchill, "it has been from an erroneous
notion of proper names being unchangeable, that some, feeling the necessity
of obviating this mispronunciation, have put an apostrophe between the _o_
and the _s_ in the plural, _in stead of an e_; writing _Cato's, Nero's_;
and on a similar principle, _Ajax's, Venus's_; thus using the possessive
case singular for the nominative or objective plural. Harris says very
properly, 'We have our _Marks_ and our _Antonies_: _Hermes_, B. 2, Ch. 4;
for which those would have given us _Mark's_ and _Antony's_."--_New Gram._,
p. 206. Whatever may have been the motive for it, such a use of the
apostrophe is a gross impropriety. "In this quotation, ['From the
Socrates's, the Plato's, and the Confucius's of the age,'] the proper names
should have been pluralized like common nouns; thus, From the _Socrateses_,
the _Platoes_, and the _Confuciuses_ of the age."--_Lennie's Gram._, p.
126; _Bullions's_, 142.

OBS. 14.--The following are some examples of the plurals of proper names,
which I submit to the judgement of the reader, in connexion with the
foregoing observations: "The Romans had their plurals _Marci_ and
_Antonii_, as we in later days have our _Marks_ and our
_Anthonies_."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 40. "There seems to be more reason for
such plurals, as the _Ptolemies, Scipios, Catos_: or, to instance in more
modern names, the _Howards, Pelhams, and Montagues_."--_Ib._, 40. "Near the
family seat of the _Montgomeries_ of Coil's-field."--_Burns's Poems_, Note,
p. 7. "Tryphon, a surname of one of the _Ptolemies_."--_Lempriere's Dict._
"Sixteen of the _Tuberos_, with their wives and children, lived in a small
house."--_Ib._ "What are the _Jupiters_ and _Junos_ of the heathens to such
a God?"--_Burgh's Dignity_, i, 234. "Also when we speak of more than one
person of the same name; as, the _Henries_, the _Edwards_."--_Cobbetts E.
Gram._, ¶ 40. "She was descended from the _Percies_ and the
_Stanleys_."--_Loves of the Poets_, ii, 102. "Naples, or the _Two
Sicilies_."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 273. The word _India_, commonly makes the
plural _Indies_, not _Indias_; and, for _Ajaxes_, the poets write _Ajaces_.
But Richard Hiley says, "Proper nouns, when pluralized, follow the same
rules as common nouns; as, Venus, the _Venuses_; Ajax, the _Ajaxes_; Cato,
the _Catoes_; Henry, the _Henries_."--_Hiley's E. Gram._, p. 18.

   "He ev'ry day from King to King can walk,
    Of all our _Harries_, all our Edwards talk."--_Pope's Satires_, iv.

OBS. 15.--When a name and a title are to be used together in a plural
sense, many persons are puzzled to determine whether the name, or the
title, or both, should be in the plural form. For example--in speaking of
two young ladies whose family name is Bell--whether to call them the _Miss
Bells_, the _Misses Bell_, or the _Misses Bells_. To an inquiry on this
point, a learned editor, who prefers the last, lately gave his answer thus:
"There are two young ladies; of course they are 'the Misses.' Their name is
Bell; of course there are two 'Bells.' Ergo, the correct phrase, in
speaking of them, is--'the Misses Bells.'"--_N. Y. Com. Adv_. This puts the
words in apposition; and there is no question, that it is _formally_
correct. But still it is less agreeable to the ear, less frequently heard,
and less approved by grammarians, than the first phrase; which, if we may
be allowed to assume that the two words may be taken together as a sort of
compound, is correct also. Dr. Priestley says, "When a name has a title
prefixed to it, as _Doctor, Miss, Master_, &c., the plural termination
affects only the latter of the two words; as, 'The two _Doctor
Nettletons_'--'The two _Miss Thomsons_;' though a strict analogy would
plead for the alteration of the former word, and lead us to say, 'The two
_Doctors Nettleton_'--'The two _Misses Thomson_.'"--_Priestley's Gram._, p.
59. The following quotations show the opinions of some other grammarians:
"Two or more nouns in concordance, and forming one complex name, or a name
and a title, have the plural termination annexed to the last only; as, 'The
_Miss Smiths_'--'The three _Doctor Simpsons_'--'The two _Master
Wigginses_.' With a few exceptions, and those not parallel to the examples
just given, we almost uniformly, in complex names, confine the inflection
to the last or the latter noun."--_Dr. Crombie_. The foregoing opinion from
Crombie, is quoted and seconded by Maunder, who adds the following
examples: "Thus, Dr. Watts: 'May there not be _Sir Isaac Newtons_ in every
science?'--'You must not suppose that the world is made up of _Lady Aurora
Granvilles_.'"--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 2.

OBS. 16.--These writers do not seem to accord with W. L. Stone, the editor
above quoted, nor would his reasoning apply well to several of their
examples. Yet both opinions are right, if neither be carried too far. For
when the words are in apposition, rather than in composition, the first
name or title must be made plural, if it refers to more than one: as, "The
_Misses Bell and Brown_,"--"_Messrs. Lambert and Son_,"--"The _Lords
Calthorpe and Erskine_,"--"The _Lords Bishops_ of Durham and St.
David's,"--"The _Knights Hospitalers_,"--"The _Knights Templars_,"--"The
_Knights Baronets_." But this does not prove the other construction, which
varies the last word only, to be irregular; and, if it did, there is
abundant authority for it. Nor is that which varies the first only, to be
altogether condemned, though Dr. Priestley is unquestionably wrong
respecting the "_strict analogy_" of which he speaks. The joining of a
plural title to one singular noun, as, "_Misses Roy_,"--"_The Misses
Bell_,"--"_The two Misses Thomson_," produces a phrase which is in itself
the _least analogous_ of the three; but, "_The Misses Jane and Eliza
Bell_," is a phrase which nobody perhaps will undertake to amend. It
appears, then, that each of these forms of expression may be right in some
cases; and each of them may be wrong, if improperly substituted for either
of the others.

OBS. 17.--The following statements, though erroneous in several
particulars, will show the opinions of some other grammarians, upon the
foregoing point: "Proper nouns have the plural only when they refer to a
race or family; as, _The Campbells_; or to several persons of the same
name; as, _The eight Henrys; the two Mr. Sells; the two Miss Browns_; or,
without the numeral, _the Miss Roys._ But in addressing letters in which
both or all are equally concerned, and also when the names are different,
we pluralize the _title_, (Mr. or Miss,) and write, _Misses_ Brown;
_Misses_ Roy; _Messrs_, (for Messieurs, Fr.) Guthrie and Tait."_--Lennie's
Gram._, p. 7. "If we wish to distinguish the _unmarried_ from the _married_
Howards, we call them _the Miss Howards._ If we wish to distinguish these
Misses from other Misses, we call them the _Misses Howard_."--_Fowle's
Gram._ "To distinguish several persons of the same name and family from
others of a different name and family, the _title_, and not the _proper
name_, is varied to express the distinction; as, the _Misses_ Story, the
_Messrs._ Story. The elliptical meaning is, the Misses and Messrs, _who are
named_ Story. To distinguish _unmarried_ from _married_ ladies, _the proper
name_, and not the _title_, should be varied; as, the _Miss_ Clarks. When
we mention more than one person of different names, the title should be
expressed before each; as, _Miss_ Burns, _Miss_ Parker, and _Miss_
Hopkinson, were present."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 79. In the following
examples from Pope's Works, the last word only is varied: "He paragons
himself to two _Lord Chancellors_ for law."--Vol. iii, p. 61. "Yearly
panegyrics upon the _Lord Mayors_."--_Ib._, p. 83.

   "Whence hapless Monsieur much complains at Paris
    Of wrongs from Duchesses and _Lady Maries_."_--Dunciad_, B. ii, L 135.

OBS. 18.--The following eleven nouns in _f_, change the _f_ into _v_ and
assume _es_ for the plural: _sheaf, sheaves; leaf, leaves; loaf, loaves;
leaf, beeves; thief, thieves; calf, calves; half, halves; elf, elves;
shelf, shelves; self, selves; wolf, wolves_. Three others in _fe_ are
similar: _life, lives; knife, knives; wife, wives._ These are specific
exceptions to the general rule for plurals, and not a series of examples
coming under a particular rule; for, contrary to the instructions of nearly
all our grammarians, there are more than twice as many words of the same
endings, which take _s_ only: as, _chiefs, kerchiefs, handkerchiefs,
mischiefs, beliefs, misbeliefs, reliefs, bassreliefs, briefs, feifs,
griefs, clefs, semibrefs, oafs, waifs, coifs, gulfs, hoofs, roofs, proofs,
reproofs, woofs, califs, turfs, scarfs, dwarfs, wharfs, fifes, strifes,
safes._ The plural of _wharf_ is sometimes written _wharves_; but perhaps
as frequently, and, if so, more accurately, _wharfs_. Examples and
authorities: "_Wharf, wharfs_."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 80; _Ward's_, 24;
_Goar's_, 26; _Lennie's_, 7; _Bucke's_, 39. "There were not in London so
many _wharfs_, or _keys_, for the landing of merchants' goods."--CHILD: _in
Johnson's Dict._ "The _wharfs_ of Boston are also worthy of
notice."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 37. "Between banks thickly clad with
dwelling-houses, manufactories, and _wharfs_."_--London Morn. Chronicle_,
1833. Nouns in _ff_ take _s_ only; as, _skiffs, stuffs, gaffs_. But the
plural of _staff_ has hitherto been generally written _staves_; a puzzling
and useless anomaly, both in form and sound: for all the compounds of
_staff_ are regular; as, _distaffs, whipstaffs, tipstaffs, flagstaffs,
quarterstaffs_; and _staves_ is the regular plural of _stave_, a word now
in very common use with a different meaning, as every cooper and every
musician knows. _Staffs_ is now sometimes used; as, "I saw the husbandmen
bending over their _staffs_."--_Lord Carnarvon_. "With their _staffs_ in
their hands for very age."--_Hope of Israel_, p. 16. "To distinguish
between the two _staffs_."--_Comstock's Elocution_, p. 43. In one instance,
I observe, a very excellent scholar has written _selfs_ for _selves_, but
the latter is the established plural of _self_:

   "Self-love would cease, or be dilated, when
    We should behold as many _selfs_ as men."_--Waller's Poems_, p. 55.

OBS. 19.--Of nouns purely English, the following thirteen are the only
simple words that form distinct plurals not ending in _s_ or _es_, and four
of these are often regular: _man, men; woman, women; child, children;
brother, brethren_ or _brothers; ox, oxen; goose, geese; foot, feet; tooth,
teeth; louse, lice; mouse, mice; die, dice_ or _dies; penny, pence_ or
_pennies; pea, pease_ or _peas_. The word _brethren_ is now applied only to
fellow-members of the same church or fraternity; for sons of the same
parents we always use _brothers_; and this form is sometimes employed in
the other sense. _Dice_ are spotted cubes for gaming; _dies_ are stamps for
coining money, or for impressing metals. _Pence_, as _six pence_, refers to
the amount of money in value; _pennies_ denotes the corns themselves. "We
write _peas_, for two or more individual seeds; but _pease_, for an
indefinite number in quantity or bulk."_--Webster's Dict._ This last
anomaly, I think, might well enough "be spared; the sound of the word being
the same, and the distinction to the eye not always regarded." Why is it
not as proper, to write an order for "a bushel of _peas_," as for "a bushel
of _beans_?" "_Peas_ and _beans_ may be severed from the ground before they
be quite dry."_--Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 31.

OBS. 20.--When a compound, ending with any of the foregoing irregular
words, is made plural, it follows the fashion of the word with which it
ends: as, _Gentleman, gentlemen; bondwoman, bondwomen; foster-child,
foster-children; solan-goose, solan-geese; eyetooth, eyeteeth; woodlouse,
woodlice_;[143] _dormouse, dormice; half-penny, halfpence, half-pennies_.
In this way, these irregularities extend to many words; though some of the
metaphorical class, as _kite's-foot, colts-foot, bear's-foot, lion's-foot_,
being names of plants, have no plural. The word _man_, which is used the
most frequently in this way, makes more than seventy such compounds. But
there are some words of this ending, which, not being compounds of _man_,
are regular: as, _German, Germans; Turcoman, Turcomans; Mussulman,
Mussulmans; talisman, talismans; leman, lemans; caiman, caimans_.

OBS. 21.--Compounds, in general, admit but one variation to form the
plural, and that must be made in the principal word, rather than in the
adjunct; but where the terms differ little in importance, the genius of the
language obviously inclines to a variation of the last only. Thus we write
_fathers-in-law, sons-in-law, knights-errant, courts-martial,
cousins-german, hangers-on, comings-in, goings-out, goings-forth_, varying
the first; and _manhaters, manstealers, manslayers, maneaters, mandrills,
handfuls, spoonfuls, mouthfuls, pailfuls, outpourings, ingatherings,
downsittings, overflowings_, varying the last. So, in many instances, when
there is a less intimate connexion of the parts, and the words are written
with a hyphen, if not separately, we choose to vary the latter or last: as,
_fellow-servants, queen-consorts, three-per-cents, he-goats, she-bears,
jack-a-dandies, jack-a-lanterns, piano-fortes_. The following mode of
writing is irregular in two respects; first, because the words are
separated, and secondly, because both are varied: "Is it unreasonable to
say with John Wesley, that '_men buyers_ are exactly on a level with _men
stealers_?"--GOODELL'S LECT. II: _Liberator_, ix, 65. According to analogy,
it ought to be: "_Manbuyers_ are exactly on a level with _manstealers_." J.
W. Wright alleges, that, "The phrase, 'I want two _spoonfuls_ or
_handfuls_,' though common, is improperly constructed;" and that, "we
should say, 'Two _spoons_ or _hands full_.'"--_Philos. Gram._, p. 222. From
this opinion, I dissent: both authority and analogy favour the former mode
of expressing the plural of such quantities.

OBS. 22.--There is neither difficulty nor uncertainty respecting the proper
forms for the plurals of compound nouns in general; but the two irregular
words _man_ and _woman_ are often varied at the beginning of the looser
kind of compounds, contrary to what appears to be the general analogy of
similar words. Of the propriety of this, the reader may judge, when I shall
have quoted a few examples: "Besides their _man-servants_ and their
_maid-servants_."--_Nehemiah_, vii, 67. "And I have oxen and asses, flocks,
and _men-servants_, and _women-servants_."--_Gen._, xxxii, 5. "I gat me
_men-singers_, and _women-singers_, and the delights of the sons of
men."--_Ecclesiastes_, ii, 8. "And she brought forth a _man-child_, who was
to rule all nations with a rod of iron."--_Rev._, xii, 5.--"Why have ye
done this, and saved the _men-children_ alive?"--_Exod._, i, 18. Such terms
as these, if thought objectionable, may easily be avoided, by substituting
for the former part of the compound the separate adjective _male_ or
_female_; as, _male child, male children_. Or, for those of the third
example, one might say, "_singing men_ and _singing women_," as in
_Nehemiah_, vii, 67; for, in the ancient languages, the words are the same.
Alger compounds "_singing-men_ and _singing-women_."

OBS. 23.--Some foreign compound terms, consisting of what are usually, in
the language from which they come, distinct words and different parts of
speech, are made plural in English, by the addition of _e_ or _es_ at the
end. But, in all such cases, I think the hyphen should be inserted in the
compound, though it is the practice of many to omit it. Of this odd sort of
words, I quote the following examples from Churchill; taking the liberty to
insert the hyphen, which he omits: "_Ave-Maries, Te-Deums, camera-obscuras,
agnus-castuses, habeas-corpuses, scire-faciases, hiccius-docciuses,
hocus-pocuses, ignis-fatuuses, chef-d'oeuvres, congé-d'élires,
flower-de-luces, louis-d'-ores, tête-à-têtes_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p.
62.

OBS. 24.--Some nouns, from the nature of the things meant, have no plural.
For, as there ought to be no word, or inflection of a word, for which we
cannot conceive an appropriate meaning or use, it follows that whatever is
of such a species that it cannot be taken in any plural sense, must
naturally be named by a word which is singular only: as, _perry, cider,
coffee, flax, hemp, fennel, tallow, pitch, gold, sloth, pride, meekness,
eloquence_. But there are some things, which have in fact neither a
comprehensible unity, nor any distinguishable plurality, and which may
therefore be spoken of in either number; for the distinction of unity and
plurality is, in such instances, merely verbal; and, whichever number we
take, the word will be apt to want the other: as, _dregs_, or _sediment;
riches_, or _wealth; pains_, or _toil; ethics_, or _moral philosophy;
politics_, or _the science of government; belles-lettres_, or _polite
literature_. So _darkness_, which in English appears to have no plural, is
expressed in Latin by _tenebræ_, in French by _ténèbres_, which have no
singular. It is necessary that every noun should be understood to be of one
number or the other; for, in connecting it with a verb, or in supplying its
place by a pronoun, we must assume it to be either singular or plural. And
it is desirable that singulars and plurals should always abide by their
appropriate forms, so that they may be thereby distinguished with
readiness. But custom, which regulates this, as every thing else of the
like nature, does not always adjust it well; or, at least, not always upon
principles uniform in themselves and obvious to every intellect.

OBS. 25.--Nouns of multitude, when taken collectively, generally admit the
regular plural form; which of course is understood with reference to the
individuality of the whole collection, considered as one thing: but, when
taken distributively, they have a plural signification without the form;
and, in this case, their plurality refers to the individuals that compose
the assemblage. Thus, a _council_, a _committee_, a _jury_, a _meeting_, a
_society_, a _flock_, or a _herd_, is singular; and the regular plurals are
_councils, committees, juries, meetings, societies, flocks, herds_. But
these, and many similar words, may be taken plurally without the _s_,
because a collective noun is the name of many individuals together. Hence
we may say, "The _council were_ unanimous."--"The _committee are_ in
consultation."--"The _jury were_ unable to agree."--"The _meeting have
shown their_ discretion."--"The _society have settled their_
dispute."--"The _flock are_ widely scattered."--"The whole _herd were
drowned_ in the sea." The propriety of the last example seems questionable;
because _whole_ implies unity, and _were drowned_ is plural. Where a purer
concord can be effected, it may be well to avoid such a construction,
though examples like it are not uncommon: as, "Clodius was acquitted by _a
corrupt jury_, that had palpably taken shares of money before _they gave
their_ verdict."--_Bacon_. "And the _whole multitude_ of the people _were
praying_ without, at the time of incense."--_Luke_, i, 10.

OBS. 26.--Nouns have, in some instances, a unity or plurality of meaning,
which seems to be directly at variance with their form. Thus, _cattle_, for
beasts of pasture, and _pulse_, for peas and beans, though in appearance
singulars only, are generally, if not always, plural; and _summons,
gallows, chintz, series, superficies, molasses, suds, hunks, jakes,
trapes_, and _corps_, with the appearance of plurals, are generally, if not
always, singular. Dr. Webster says that _cattle_ is of both numbers; but
wherein the oneness of cattle can consist, I know not. The Bible says, "God
made--_cattle after their kind_."--_Gen._, i, 25. Here _kind_ is indeed
singular, as if _cattle_ were a natural genus of which one must be _a
cattle_; as _sheep_ are a natural genus of which one is _a sheep_: but
whether properly expressed so or not, is questionable; perhaps it ought to
be, "and cattle after their _kinds_." Dr. Gillies says, in his History of
Greece, "_cattle was regarded_ as the most convenient _measure_ of value."
This seems to me to be more inaccurate and unintelligible, than to say,
"_Sheep was regarded_ as the most convenient _measure_ of value." And what
would this mean? _Sheep_ is not singular, unless limited to that number by
some definitive word; and _cattle_ I conceive to be incapable of any such
limitation.

OBS. 27.--Of the last class of words above cited, some may assume an
additional _es_, when taken plurally; as, _summonses, gallowses, chintses_:
the rest either want the plural, or have it seldom and without change of
form. _Corps_, a body of troops, is a French word, which, when singular, is
pronounced _c=ore_, and when plural, _c=ores_. But _corpse_, a dead body,
is an English word, pronounced _k~orps_, and making the plural in two
syllables, _corpses_. _Summonses_ is given in Cobb's Dictionary as the
plural of _summons_; but some authors have used the latter with a plural
verb: as, "But Love's first _summons_ seldom _are_ obey'd."--_Waller's
Poems_, p. 8. Dr. Johnson says this noun is from the verb _to summon_; and,
if this is its origin, the singular ought to be _a summon_, and then
_summons_ would be a regular plural. But this "singular noun with a plural
termination," as Webster describes it, more probably originated from the
Latin verb _submoneas_, used in the writ, and came to us through the jargon
of law, in which we sometimes hear men talk of "_summonsing_ witnesses."
The authorities for it, however, are good enough; as, "_This_ present
_summons_."--SHAK.: _Joh. Dict._ "_This summons_ he resolved to
disobey."--FELL: _ib._ _Chints_ is called by Cobb a "substantive _plural_"
and defined as "cotton _cloths_, made in India;" but other lexicographers
define it as singular, and Worcester (perhaps more properly) writes it
_chintz_. Johnson cites Pope as speaking of "_a charming chints_," and I
have somewhere seen the plural formed by adding es. "Of the Construction of
single Words, or _Serieses_ of Words."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 114. Walker, in
his Elements of Elocution, makes frequent use of the word "_serieses_," and
of the phrase "_series of serieses_." But most writers, I suppose, would
doubt the propriety of this practice; because, in Latin, all nouns of the
fifth declension, such as _caries, congeries, series, species,
superficies_, make their nominative and vocative cases alike in both
numbers. This, however, is no rule for writing English. Dr. Blair has used
the word _species_ in a plural sense; though I think he ought rather to
have preferred the regular English word _kinds_: "The higher _species_ of
poetry seldom _admit_ it."--_Rhet._, p. 403. _Specie_, meaning hard money,
though derived or corrupted from _species_, is not the singular of that
word; nor has it any occasion for a plural form, because we never speak of
_a specie_. The plural of _gallows_, according to Dr. Webster, is
_gallowses_; nor is that form without other authority, though some say,
_gallows_ is of both numbers and not to be varied: "_Gallowses_ were
occasionally put in order by the side of my windows."--_Leigh Hunt's
Byron_, p. 369.

   "Who would not guess there might be hopes,
    The fear of _gallowses_ and ropes,
    Before their eyes, might reconcile
    Their animosities a while?"--_Hudibras_, p. 90.

OBS. 28.--Though the plural number is generally derived from the singular,
and of course must as generally imply its existence, we have examples, and
those not a few, in which the case is otherwise. Some nouns, because they
signify such things as nature or art has made plural or double; some,
because they have been formed from other parts of speech by means of the
plural ending which belongs to nouns; and some, because they are compounds
in which a plural word is principal, and put last, are commonly used in the
plural number only, and have, in strict propriety, no singular. Though
these three classes of plurals may not be perfectly separable, I shall
endeavour to exhibit them in the order of this explanation.

1. Plurals in meaning and form: _analects, annals,[144] archives, ashes,
assets, billiards, bowels, breeches, calends, cates, chops, clothes,
compasses, crants, eaves, embers, estovers, forceps, giblets, goggles,
greaves, hards_ or _hurds, hemorrhoids, ides, matins, nippers, nones,
obsequies, orgies,[145] piles, pincers_ or _pinchers, pliers, reins,
scissors, shears, skittles, snuffers, spectacles, teens, tongs, trowsers,
tweezers, umbles, vespers, victuals_.

2. Plurals by formation, derived chiefly from adjectives: _acoustics,
aeronautics, analytics, bitters, catoptrics, commons, conics, credentials,
delicates, dioptrics, economics, ethics, extraordinaries, filings, fives,
freshes, glanders, gnomonics, goods, hermeneutics, hustings, hydrodynamics,
hydrostatics, hydraulics, hysterics, inwards, leavings, magnetics,
mathematics, measles, mechanics, mnemonics, merils, metaphysics, middlings,
movables, mumps, nuptials, optics, phonics, phonetics, physics,[146]
pneumatics, poetics, politics, riches, rickets, settlings, shatters,
skimmings, spherics, staggers, statics, statistics, stays, strangles,
sundries, sweepings, tactics, thanks, tidings, trappings, vives, vitals,
wages,[147] withers, yellows_.

3. Plurals by composition: _backstairs, cocklestairs, firearms,[148]
headquarters, hotcockles, spatterdashes, self-affairs_. To these may be
added the Latin words, _aborigines, antipodes, antes, antoeci, amphiscii,
anthropophagi, antiscii, ascii, literati, fauces, regalia_, and _credenda_,
with the Italian _vermicelli_, and the French _belles-lettres_ and
_entremets_.

OBS. 29.--There are several nouns which are set down by some writers as
wanting the singular, and by others as having it. Of this class are the
following: _amends,[149] ancients, awns, bots, catacombs, chives, cloves,
cresses, dogsears, downs, dregs,[150] entrails, fetters, fireworks, greens,
gyves, hatches, intestines, lees,[151] lungs, malanders, mallows, moderns,
oats, orts, pleiads, premises, relics, remains, shackles, shambles,[152]
stilts, stairs, tares, vetches_. The fact is, that these words have, or
ought to have, the singular, as often as there is any occasion to use it;
and the same may, in general terms, be said of other nouns, respecting the
formation of _the plural_.[153] For where the idea of unity or plurality
comes clearly before the mind, we are very apt to shape the word
accordingly, without thinking much about the authorities we can quote for
it.

OBS. 30.--In general, where both numbers exist in common use, there is some
palpable oneness or individuality, to which the article _a_ or _an_ is
applicable; the nature of the species is found entire in every individual
of it; and a multiplication of the individuals gives rise to plurality in
the name. But the nature of a mass, or of an indefinite multitude taken
collectively, is not found in individuals as such; nor is the name, whether
singular, as _gold_, or plural, as _ashes_, so understood. Hence, though
every noun must be of one number or the other, there are many which have
little or no need of both. Thus we commonly speak of _wheat, barley, or
oats_, collectively; and very seldom find occasion for any other forms of
these words. But chafferers at the corn-market, in spite of Cobbett,[154]
will talk about _wheats_ and _barleys_, meaning different kinds[155] or
qualities; and a gardener, if he pleases, will tell of an _oat_, (as does
Milton, in his Lycidas,) meaning a single seed or plant. But, because
_wheat_ or _barley_ generally means that sort of grain in mass, if he will
mention a single kernel, he must call it a _grain of wheat_ or a
_barleycorn_. And these he may readily make plural, to specify any
particular number; as, _five grains of wheat_, or _three barleycorns_.

OBS. 31.--My chief concern is with general principles, but the illustration
of these requires many particular examples--even far more than I have room
to quote. The word _amends_ is represented by Murray and others, as being
singular as well as plural; but Webster's late dictionaries exhibit
_amend_ as singular, and _amends_ as plural, with definitions that
needlessly differ, though not much. I judge "_an amends_" to be bad
English; and prefer the regular singular, _an amend_. The word is of French
origin, and is sometimes written in English with a needless final _e_; as,
"But only to make a kind of honourable _amende_ to God."--_Rollin's Ancient
Hist._, Vol. ii, p. 24. The word _remains_ Dr. Webster puts down as plural
only, and yet uses it himself in the singular: "The creation of a Dictator,
even for a few months, would have buried every _remain_ of
freedom."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 70. There are also other authorities for
this usage, and also for some other nouns that are commonly thought to have
no singular; as, "But Duelling is unlawful and murderous, a _remain_ of the
ancient Gothic barbarity."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. 26. "I grieve with the
old, for so many additional inconveniences, more than their small _remain_
of life seemed destined to undergo."--POPE: _in Joh. Dict._ "A disjunctive
syllogism is one whose major _premise_ is disjunctive."--_Hedge's Logic_.
"Where should he have this gold? It is some poor fragment, some slender
_ort_ of his remainder."--SHAK.: _Timon of Athens_.

OBS. 32.--There are
several nouns which are usually alike in both numbers. Thus, _deer, folk,
fry, gentry, grouse, hose, neat, sheep, swine, vermin_, and _rest_, (i. e.
_the rest_, the others, the residue,) are regular singulars, but they are
used also as plurals, and that more frequently. Again, _alms, aloes,
bellows, means, news, odds, shambles_, and _species_, are proper plurals,
but most of them are oftener construed as singulars. _Folk_ and _fry_ are
collective nouns. _Folk_ means _people_; _a folk, a people_: as, "The ants
are _a people_ not strong;"--"The conies are but _a feeble
folk_."--_Prov._, xxx, 25, 26. "He laid his hands on a few sick _folk_, and
healed _them_."--_Mark_, vi, 5. _Folks_, which ought to be the plural of
_folk_, and equivalent to _peoples_, is now used with reference to a
plurality of individuals, and the collective word seems liable to be
entirely superseded by it. A _fry_ is a swarm of young fishes, or of any
other little creatures living in water: so called, perhaps, because their
motions often make the surface _fry_. Several such swarms might properly be
called _fries_; but this form can never be applied to the individuals,
without interfering with the other. "So numerous _was the fry_."--_Cowper_.
"The _fry betake themselves_ to the neighbouring pools."--_Quarterly
Review_. "You cannot think more contemptuously of _these gentry_ than
_they_ were thought of by the true prophets."--_Watson's Apology_, p. 93.
"_Grouse_, a heathcock."--_Johnson_.

   "The 'squires in scorn will fly the house
    For better game, and look for _grouse_."--_Swift_.

"Here's an English tailor, come hither for stealing out of _a_ French
_hose_."--_Shak_. "He, being in love, could not see to garter his
_hose_."--_Id._ Formerly, the plural was _hosen_: "Then these men were
bound, in their coats, their _hosen_, and their hats."--_Dan._, iii, 21. Of
_sheep_, Shakspeare has used the regular plural: "Two hot _sheeps_,
marry!"--_Love's Labour Lost_, Act ii, Sc. 1.

   "Who both by his calf and his lamb will be known,
    May well kill _a neat_ and _a sheep_ of his own."--_Tusser_.

    "His droves of asses, camels, herds of _neat_,
    And flocks of _sheep_, grew shortly twice as great."--_Sandys_.

"As a jewel of gold in _a swine's_ snout."--_Prov._, xi, 22. "A herd of
_many swine_, feeding."--_Matt._, viii, 30. "An idle person only lives to
spend his time, and eat the fruits of the earth, like a _vermin_ or a
wolf."--_Taylor_. "The head of a wolf, dried and hanged up, will scare away
_vermin_."--_Bacon_. "Cheslip, _a small vermin_ that lies under stones or
tiles."--SKINNER: in _Joh. and in Web. Dict._ "This is flour, the _rest is_
bran."--"And the _rest were_ blinded."--_Rom._, xi, 7. "The poor beggar
hath a just demand of _an alms_."--_Swift_. "Thine _alms are_ come up for a
memorial before God."--_Acts_, x, 4. "The draught of air performed the
function of _a bellows_."--_Robertson's Amer._, ii, 223. "As the _bellows
do_."--_Bicknell's Gram._, ii, 11. "The _bellows are_ burned."--_Jer._, vi,
29. "Let _a gallows_ be made."--_Esther_, v, 14. "_Mallows are_ very useful
in medicine."--_Wood's Dict._ "_News_," says Johnson, "is without the
singular, unless it be considered as singular."--_Dict._ "So _is_ good
_news_ from a far country."--_Prov._, xxv, 25. "Evil _news rides_ fast,
while good _news baits_."--_Milton_. "When Rhea heard _these news_, she
fled."--_Raleigh_. "_News were brought_ to the queen."--_Hume's Hist._, iv,
426. "The _news_ I bring _are_ afflicting, but the consolation with which
_they_ are attended, ought to moderate your grief."--_Gil Blas_, Vol. ii,
p. 20. "Between these two cases there _are_ great _odds_."--_Hooker_.
"Where the _odds is_ considerable."--_Campbell_. "Determining on which side
the _odds lie_."--_Locke_. "The greater _are the odds_ that he mistakes his
author."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 1. "Though thus _an odds_ unequally
they meet."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. iv, l. 789. "Preëminent by so _much
odds_."--_Milton_. "To make a _shambles_ of the parliament house."--_Shak_.
"The earth has been, from the beginning, a great Aceldama, _a shambles_ of
blood."--_Christian's Vade-Mecum_, p. 6. "_A shambles_" sounds so
inconsistent, I should rather say, "_A shamble_." Johnson says, the
etymology of the word is _uncertain_; Webster refers it to the Saxon
_scamel_: it means _a butcher's stall, a meat-market_; and there would seem
to be no good reason for the _s_, unless more than one such place is
intended. "Who sells his subjects to the _shambles_ of a foreign
power."--_Pitt_. "A special idea is called by the schools _a
species_."--_Watts_. "He intendeth the care of _species_, or common
natures."--_Brown_. "ALOE, (al~o) _n.; plu._ ALOES."--_Webster's Dict._,
and _Worcester's_. "But it was _aloe_ itself to lose the reward."--
_Tupper's Crock of Gold_, p. 16.

   "But high in amphitheatre above,
    _His_ arms the everlasting _aloes_ threw."
        --_Campbell_, G. of W., ii, 10.

OBS. 33.--There are some nouns, which, though really regular in respect to
possessing the two forms for the two numbers, are not free from
irregularity in the manner of their application. Thus _means_ is the
regular plural of _mean_; and, when the word is put for mediocrity, middle
point, place, or degree, it takes both forms, each in its proper sense; but
when it signifies things instrumental, or that which is used to effect an
object, most writers use _means_ for the singular as well as for the
plural:[156] as, "By _this means_"--"By _those means_," with reference to
one mediating cause; and, "By _these means_,"--"By _those means_," with
reference to more than one. Dr. Johnson says the use of _means_ for _mean_
is not very grammatical; and, among his examples for the true use of the
word, he has the following: "Pamela's noble heart would needs gratefully
make known the valiant _mean_ of her safety."--_Sidney._ "Their virtuous
conversation was a _mean_ to work the heathens' conversion."--_Hooker._
"Whether his wits should by that _mean_ have been taken from him."--_Id._
"I'll devise a _mean_ to draw the Moor out of the way."--_Shak._ "No place
will please me so, no _mean_ of death."--_Id._ "Nature is made better by no
_mean_, but nature makes that _mean._"--_Id._ Dr. Lowth also questioned the
propriety of construing _means_ as singular, and referred to these same
authors as authorities for preferring the regular form. Buchanan insists
that _means_ is right in the plural only; and that, "The singular should be
used as perfectly analogous; by this _mean_, by that _mean_."--_English
Syntax_, p. 103. Lord Kames, likewise, appears by his practice to have been
of the same opinion: "Of this the child must be sensible intuitively, for
it has no other _mean_ of knowledge."--_Elements of Criticism_, Vol. i, p.
357. "And in both the same _mean_ is employed."--_Ib._ ii, 271. Caleb
Alexander, too, declares "_this means_," "_that means_." and "_a means_,"
to be "ungrammatical."--_Gram._, p. 58. But common usage has gone against
the suggestions of these critics, and later grammarians have rather
confirmed the irregularity, than attempted to reform it.

OBS. 34.--Murray quotes sixteen good authorities to prove that means may be
singular; but whether it _ought_ to be so or not, is still a disputable
point. Principle is for the regular word _mean_, and good practice favours
the irregularity, but is still divided. Cobbett, to the disgrace of
grammar, says, "_Mean_, as a noun, is _never used in the singular_. It,
like some other words, has broken loose from all principle and rule. By
universal consent, it _is become always a plural_, whether used with
_singular or plural_ pronouns and articles, _or not_."--_E. Gram._, p. 144.
This is as ungrammatical, as it is untrue. Both mean and means are
sufficiently authorized in the singular: "The prospect which by this mean
is opened to you."--_Melmoth's Cicero_. "Faith in this doctrine never
terminates in itself, but is _a mean_, to holiness as an end."--_Dr.
Chalmers, Sermons_, p. v. "The _mean_ of basely affronting him."--_Brown's
Divinity_, p. 19. "They used every _mean_ to prevent the re-establishment
of their religion."--_Dr Jamieson's Sacred Hist._, i, p. 20. "As a
necessary _mean_ to prepare men for the discharge of that duty."--
_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 153. "Greatest is the power of a _mean_, when
its power is least suspected."--_Tupper's Book of Thoughts_, p. 37. "To the
deliberative orator the reputation of unsullied virtue is not only useful,
as a _mean_ of promoting his general influence, it is also among his most
efficient engines of persuasion, upon every individual occasion."--_J. Q.
Adams's Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory_, i, 352. "I would urge it upon
you, as the most effectual _mean_ of extending your respectability and
usefulness in the world."--_Ib._, ii, 395. "Exercise will be admitted to be
a necessary _mean_ of improvement."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 343. "And by _that
means_ we have now an early prepossession in their favour."--_Ib._, p. 348.
"To abolish all sacrifice by revealing a better _mean_ of reconciliation."
--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 46. "As a _mean_ of destroying the distinction."
--_Ib._, p. 3. "Which however is by no _mean_ universally the case."--
_Religious World Displayed_, Vol. iii, p. 155.

OBS. 35.--Again, there are some nouns, which, though they do not lack the
regular plural form, are sometimes used in a plural sense without the
plural termination. Thus _manner_ makes the plural _manners_, which last is
now generally used in the peculiar sense of behaviour, or deportment, but
not always: it sometimes means methods, modes, or ways; as, "At sundry
times and in divers _manners_."--_Heb._, i, 1. "In the _manners_ above
mentioned."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 100. "There be three _manners_ of
trials in England."--COWELL: _Joh. Dict., w. Jury_. "These two _manners_ of
representation."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 15. "These are the three primary
modes, or _manners_, of expression."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 83. "In
arrangement, too, various _manners_ suit various styles."--_Campbell's
Phil. of Rhet._, p. 172. "Between the two _manners_."--_Bolingbroke, on
Hist._, p. 35. "Here are three different _manners_ of asserting."--
_Barnard's Gram._, p. 59. But _manner_ has often been put for _sorts_,
without the _s_; as, "The tree of life, which bare _twelve manner_ of
fruits."--_Rev._, xxii, 2. "All _manner_ of men assembled here in
arms."--_Shak_. "_All manner_ of outward advantages."--_Atterbury_. Milton
used _kind_ in the same way, but not very properly; as, "_All kind_ of
living creatures."--_P. Lost_, B. iv, l. 286. This irregularity it would be
well to avoid. _Manners_ may still, perhaps, be proper for modes or ways;
and _all manner_, if allowed, must be taken in the sense of a collective
noun; but for sorts, kinds, classes, or species, I would use neither the
plural nor the singular of this word. The word _heathen_, too, makes the
regular plural _heathens_, and yet is often used in a plural sense without
the _s_; as, "Why do the _heathen_ rage?"--_Psalms_, ii, 1. "Christianity
was formerly propagated among the _heathens_."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p.
217. The word _youth_, likewise, has the same peculiarities.

OBS. 36.--Under the present head come names of fishes, birds, or other
things, when the application of the singular is extended from the
individual to the species, so as to supersede the plural by assuming its
construction: as, Sing. "A great _fish_."--_Jonah_, i, 17. Plur. "For the
multitude of _fishes_'."--_John_, xxi, 6. "A very great multitude of
_fish_."--_Ezekiel_, xlvii, 9.[157] The name of the genus being liable to
this last construction, men seem to have thought that the species should
follow; consequently, the regular plurals of some very common names of
fishes are scarcely known at all. Hence some grammarians affirm, that
_salmon, mackerel, herring, perch, tench_, and several others, are alike in
both numbers, and ought never to be used in the plural form. I am not so
fond of honouring these anomalies. Usage is here as unsettled, as it is
arbitrary; and, if the expression of plurality is to be limited to either
form exclusively, the regular plural ought certainly to be preferred. But,
_for fish taken in bulk_, the singular form seems more appropriate; as,
"These vessels take from thirty-eight to forty-five quintals of _cod_ and
_pollock_, and six thousand barrels of _mackerel_, yearly."--_Balbi's
Geog._, p. 28.

OBS. 37.--The following examples will illustrate the unsettled usage just
mentioned, and from them the reader may judge for himself what is right. In
quoting, at second-hand, I generally think it proper to make double
references; and especially in citing authorities after Johnson, because he
so often gives the same passages variously. But he himself is reckoned good
authority in things literary. Be it so. I regret the many proofs of his
fallibility. "Hear you this Triton of the _minnows?_"--_Shak_. "The shoal
of _herrings_ was of an immense extent."--_Murray's Key_, p. 185. "Buy my
_herring_ fresh."--SWIFT: _in Joh. Dict._ "In the fisheries of Maine, _cod,
herring, mackerel alewives, salmon_, and other _fish_, are
taken."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 23. "MEASE, _n._ The quantity of 500; as, a
_mease_ of _herrings_."--_Webster's Dict._ "We shall have plenty of
_mackerel_ this season."--ADDISON: _in Joh. Dict._ "_Mackarel_ is the same
in both numbers. Gay has improperly _mackarels_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p.
208. "They take _salmon_ and _trouts_ by groping and tickling them under
the bellies."--CAREW: _in Joh. Dict._ "The pond will keep _trout_ and
_salmon_ in their seasonable plight."--_Id., ib., w. Trout_. "Some _fish_
are preserved fresh in vinegar, as _turbot_."--_Id., ib., w. Turbot_. "Some
_fish_ are boiled and preserved fresh in vinegar, as _tunny_ and
_turbot_."--_Id., ib., w. Tunny_. "Of round _fish_, there are _brit, sprat,
barn, smelts_."--_Id., ib., w. Smelt._ "For _sprats_ and _spurlings_ for
your house."--TUSSEE: _ib., w. Spurling_. "The coast is plentifully stored
with _pilchards, herrings_, and _haddock_."--CAREW: _ib., w. Haddock_. "The
coast is plentifully stored with round _fish, pilchard, herring, mackerel_,
and _cod_"--_Id., ib., w. Herring_. "The coast is plentifully stored with
_shellfish, sea-hedgehogs, scallops, pilcherd, herring_, and
_pollock_."--_Id., ib., w. Pollock_. "A _roach_ is _a fish_ of no great
reputation for his dainty taste. It is noted that _roaches_ recover
strength and grow a fortnight after spawning."--WALTON: _ib., w. Roach_. "A
friend of mine stored a pond of three or four acres with _carps_ and
_tench_."--HALE: _ib., w. Carp_. "Having stored a very great pond with
_carps, tench_, and other _pond-fish_, and only put in two small _pikes_,
this pair of tyrants in seven years devoured the whole."--_Id., ib., w.
Tench_. "Singular, _tench_; plural, _tenches_."--_Brightland's Gram._, p.
78. "The polar bear preys upon _seals, fish_, and the carcasses of
_whales_."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 172. "_Trouts_ and _salmons_ swim against
the stream."--BACON: _Ward's Gram._, p. 130.

   "'Tis true no _turbots_ dignify my boards,
    But _gudgeons, flounders_, what my Thames affords."--_Pope_.

OBS. 38.--Prom the foregoing examples it would seem, if fish or fishes are
often spoken of without a regular distinction of the grammatical numbers,
it is not because the words are not susceptible of the inflection, but
because there is some difference of meaning between the mere name of the
sort and the distinct modification in regard to number. There are also
other nouns in which a like difference may be observed. Some names of
building materials, as _brick, stone, plank, joist_, though not destitute
of regular plurals, as _bricks, stones, planks, joists_, and not unadapted
to ideas distinctly singular, as _a brick, a stone, a plank, a joist_, are
nevertheless sometimes used in a plural sense without the _s_, and
sometimes in a sense which seems hardly to embrace the idea of either
number; as, "Let us make _brick_, and burn _them_ thoroughly."--_Gen._, xi,
3. "And they had _brick_ for _stone_."--_Ib._ "The tale of
_bricks_."--_Exod._, v, 8 and 18. "Make _brick_."--_Ib._, v, 16. "From your
_bricks_."--_Ib._, v, 19. "Upon altars of _brick_."--_Isaiah_. lxv, 3. "The
_bricks_ are fallen down."--_Ib._, ix, 10. The same variety of usage occurs
in respect to a few other words, and sometimes perhaps without good reason;
as, "Vast numbers of sea _fowl_ frequent the rocky cliffs."--_Balbi's
Geog._, p. 231. "Bullocks, sheep, and _fowls_."--_Ib._, p. 439. "_Cannon_
is used alike in both numbers."--_Everest's Gram._, p. 48. "_Cannon_ and
_shot_ may be used in the singular or plural sense."--_O. B. Peirce's
Gram._, p. 37. "The column in the Place Vendome is one hundred and
thirty-four feet high, and is made of the brass of the _cannons_ taken from
the Austrians and Prussians."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 249. "As his _cannons_
roar."--_Dryden's Poems_, p. 81. "Twenty _shot_ of his greatest
cannon."--CLARENDON: _Joh. Dict._ "Twenty _shots_" would here, I think, be
more proper, though the word is not made plural when it means _little balls
of lead_. "And _cannons_ conquer armies."--_Hudibras_, Part III, Canto iii,
l. 249.

   "Healths to both kings, attended with the roar
    Of _cannons_ echoed from th' affrighted shore."--_Waller_, p. 7.

OBS. 39.--Of foreign nouns, many retain their original plural; a few are
defective; and some are redundant, because the English form is also in use.
Our writers have laid many languages under contribution, and thus furnished
an abundance of irregular words, necessary to be explained, but never to be
acknowledged as English till they conform to our own rules.

1. Of nouns in _a, saliva_, spittle, and _scoria_, dross, have no occasion
for the plural; _lamina_, a thin plate, makes _laminæ_; _macula_, a spot,
_maculæ_; _minutia_, a little thing, _minutiæ_; _nebula_, a mist, _nebulæ_;
_siliqua_, a pod, _siliqiuæ_. _Dogma_ makes _dogmas_ or _dogmata_;
_exanthema, exanthemas_ or _exanthemata_; _miasm_ or _miasma, miasms_ or
_miasmata_; _stigma, stigmas_ or _stigmata_.

2. Of nouns in _um_, some have no need of the plural; as, _bdellium,
decorum, elysium, equilibrium, guaiacum, laudanum, odium, opium, petroleum,
serum, viaticum_. Some form it regularly; as, _asylums, compendiums,
craniums, emporiums, encomiums, forums, frustums, lustrums, mausoleums,
museums, pendulums, nostrums, rostrums, residuums, vacuums_. Others take
either the English or the Latin plural; as, _desideratums_ or _desiderata,
mediums_ or _media, menstruums_ or _menstrua, memorandums_ or _memoranda,
spectrums_ or _spectra, speculums_ or _specula, stratums_ or _strata,
succedaneums_ or _succedanea, trapeziums_ or _trapezia, vinculums_ or
_vincula_. A few seem to have the Latin plural only: as, _arcanum, arcana;
datum, data; effluvium, effluvia; erratum, errata; scholium, scholia_.

3. Of nouns in _us_, a few have no plural; as, _asparagus, calamus, mucus_.
Some have only the Latin plural, which usually changes _us_ to _i_; as,
_alumnus, alumni; androgynus, androgyni; calculus, calculi; dracunculus,
dracunculi; echinus, echini; magus, magi_. But such as have properly become
English words, may form the plural regularly in _es_; as, _chorus,
choruses_: so, _apparatus, bolus, callus, circus, fetus, focus, fucus,
fungus, hiatus, ignoramus, impetus, incubus, isthmus, nautilus, nucleus,
prospectus, rebus, sinus, surplus_. Five of these make the Latin plural
like the singular; but the mere English scholar has no occasion to be told
which they are. _Radius_ makes the plural _radii_ or _radiuses_. _Genius_
has _genii_, for imaginary spirits, and _geniuses_, for men of wit.
_Genus_, a sort, becomes _genera_ in Latin, and _genuses_ in English.
_Denarius_ makes, in the plural, _denarii_ or _denariuses_.

4. Of nouns in _is_, some are regular; as, _trellis, trellises_: so,
_annolis, butteris, caddis, dervis, iris, marquis, metropolis, portcullis,
proboscis_. Some seem to have no need of the plural; as, _ambergris,
aqua-fortis, arthritis, brewis, crasis, elephantiasis, genesis, orris,
siriasis, tennis_. But most nouns of this ending follow the Greek or Latin
form, which simply changes _is_ to _=es_: as, _amanuensis, amanuenses;
analysis, analyses; antithesis, antitheses; axis, axes; basis, bases;
crisis, crises; diæresis, diæreses; diesis, dieses; ellipsis, ellipses;
emphasis, emphases; fascis, fasces; hypothesis, hypotheses; metamorphosis,
metamorphoses; oasis, oases; parenthesis, parentheses; phasis, phases;
praxis, praxes; synopsis, synopses; synthesis, syntheses; syrtis, syrtes;
thesis, theses_. In some, however, the original plural is not so formed;
but is made by changing _is_ to _~ides_; as, _aphis, aphides; apsis,
apsides; ascaris, ascarides; bolis, bolides; cantharis, cantharides;
chrysalis, chrysalides; ephemeris, ephemerides; epidermis, epidermides_. So
_iris_ and _proboscis_, which we make regular; and perhaps some of the
foregoing may be made so too. Fisher writes _Praxises_ for _praxes_, though
not very properly. See his _Gram_, p. v. _Eques_, a Roman knight, makes
_equites_ in the plural.

5. Of nouns in _x_, there are few, if any, which ought not to form the
plural regularly, when used as English words; though the Latins changed _x_
to _ces_, and _ex_ to _ices_, making the _i_ sometimes long and sometimes
short: as, _apex, apices_, for _apexes; appendix, appendices_, for
_appendixes; calix, calices_, for _calixes_; _calx, calces_, for _calxes;
calyx, calyces_, for _calyxes; caudex, caudices_, for _caudexes; cicatrix,
cicatrices_, for _cicatrixes; helix, helices_, for _helixes; index,
indices_, for _indexes; matrix, matrices_, for _matrixes; quincunx,
quincunces_, for _quincunxes; radix, radices_, for _radixes; varix,
varices_, for _varixes; vertex, vertices_, for _vertexes; vortex,
vortices_, for _vortexes_. Some Greek words in _x_ change that letter to
_ges_; as, _larynx, larynges_, for _larinxes; phalanx, phalanges_, for
_phalanxes_. _Billet-doux_, from the French, is _billets-doux_ in the
plural.

6. Of nouns in _on_, derived from Greek, the greater part always form the
plural regularly; as, _etymons, gnomons, ichneumons, myrmidons, phlegmons,
trigons, tetragons, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, octagons, enneagons,
decagons, hendecagons, dodecagons, polygons_. So _trihedrons, tetrahedrons,
pentahedrons_, &c., though some say, these last may end in _dra_, which I
think improper. For a few words of this class, however, there are double
plurals in use; as, _automata_ or _atomatons, criteria_ or _criterions,
parhelia_ or _parhelions_; and the plural of _phenomenon_ appears to be
always _phenomena_.

7. The plural of _legumen_ is _legumens_ or _legumina_; of _stamen,
stamens_ or _stamina_: of _cherub, cherubs_ or _cherubim_; of _seraph,
seraphs_ or _seraphim_; of _beau, beaus_ or _beaux_; of _bandit, bandits_
or _banditti_. The regular forms are in general preferable. The Hebrew
plurals _cherubim_ and _seraphim_, being sometimes mistaken for singulars,
other plurals have been formed from them; as, "And over it the _cherubims_
of glory."--_Heb_. ix, 5. "Then flow one of the _seraphims_ unto
me."--_Isaiah_, vi, 6. Dr. Campbell remarks: "We are authorized, both by
use and by analogy, to say either _cherubs_ and _seraphs_, according to the
English idiom, or _cherubim_ and _seraphim_, according to the oriental. The
former suits better the familiar, the latter the solemn style. I shall add
to this remark," says he, "that, as the words _cherubim_ and _seraphim_ are
plural, the terms _cherubims_ and _seraphims_, as expressing the plural,
are quite improper."--_Phil. of Rhet._, p. 201.

OBS. 40.--When other parts of speech become nouns, they either want the
plural, or form it regularly,[158] like common nouns of the same endings;
as, "His affairs went on at _sixes_ and _sevens_."--_Arbuthnot_. "Some
mathematicians have proposed to compute by _twoes_; _others_, by _fours_;
_others_, by _twelves_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 81. "Three _fourths_,
nine _tenths_."--_Ib._, p. 230. "Time's _takings_ and _leavings_."--
_Barton_. "The _yeas_ and _nays_."--_Newspaper_. "The _ays_ and
_noes_."--_Ib._ "_Oes_ and _spangles_."--_Bacon_. "The _ins_ and the
_outs_."--_Newspaper_."--We find it more safe against _outs_ and
_doubles_."--_Printer's Gram._ "His _ands_ and his _ors_."--_Mott_. "One of
the _buts_."--_Fowle_. "In raising the mirth of _stupids_."--_Steele_.
"_Eatings, drinkings, wakings, sleepings, walkings, talkings, sayings,
doings_--all were for the good of the public; there was not such a things
as a secret in the town."--LANDON: _Keepsake_, 1833. "Her innocent
_forsooths_ and _yesses_."--_Spect._, No. 266.

   "Henceforth my wooing mind shall be expressed
    In russet _yeas_ and honest kersey _noes_."
        --SHAK. See _Johnson's Dict., w. Kersey_.


GENDERS.


Genders, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish objects in regard
to sex.

There are three genders; the _masculine_, the _feminine_, and the _neuter_.

The _masculine gender_ is that which denotes persons or animals of the male
kind; as, _man, father, king_.

The _feminine gender_ is that which denotes persons or animals of the
female kind; as, _woman, mother, queen_.

The _neuter gender_ is that which denotes things that are neither male nor
female; as, _pen, ink, paper_.

Hence, names of males are masculine; names of females, feminine; and names
of things inanimate, literally, neuter.

Masculine nouns make regular feminines, when their termination is changed
to _ess_: as, _hunter, huntress_; _prince, princess_; _lion, lioness_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The different genders in grammar are founded on the natural
distinction of sex in animals, and on the absence of sex in other things.
In English, they belong only to nouns and pronouns; and to these they are
usually applied, not arbitrarily, as in some other languages, but agreeably
to the order of nature. From this we derive a very striking advantage over
those who use the gender differently, or without such rule; which is, that
our pronouns are easy of application, and have a fine effect when objects
are personified. Pronouns are of the same gender as the nouns for which
they stand.

OBS. 2.--Many nouns are equally applicable to both sexes; as, _cousin,
friend, neighbour, parent, person, servant_. The gender of these is usually
determined by the context; and they are to be called masculine or feminine
accordingly. To such words, some grammarians have applied the unnecessary
and improper term _common gender_. Murray justly observes, "There is no
such gender belonging to the language. The business of parsing can be
effectually performed, without having recourse to a _common
gender_."--_Gram._, 8vo. p. 39. The term is more useful, and less liable to
objection, as applied to the learned languages; but with us, whose genders
_distinguish objects in regard to sex_, it is plainly a solecism.

OBS. 3.--A great many of our grammars define gender to be "_the distinction
of sex_," and then speak of a _common gender_, in which the two sexes are
left _undistinguished_; and of the _neuter gender_, in which objects are
treated as being of _neither sex_. These views of the matter are obviously
inconsistent. Not genders, or a gender, do the writers undertake to define,
but "gender" as a whole; and absurdly enough, too; because this whole of
gender they immediately distribute into certain _other genders_, into
genders of gender, or kinds of gender, and these not compatible with their
definition. Thus Wells: "Gender is _the distinction_ of objects, with
regard to sex. There are four genders;--the _masculine_, the _feminine_,
the _common_, and the _neuter_."--_School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 49. [Those]
"Nouns which are applicable _alike to both sexes_, are of the _common_
gender."--_Ib._ This then is manifestly no gender under the foregoing
definition, and the term _neuter_ is made somewhat less appropriate by the
adoption of a third denomination before it. Nor is there less absurdity in
the phraseology with which Murray proposes to avoid the recognition of the
_common gender_: "Thus we may say, _Parents_ is a noun of the _masculine
and feminine_ gender; _Parent_, if doubtful, is of the _masculine or
feminine_ gender; and _Parent_, if the gender is known by the construction,
is of the gender so ascertained."--_Gram._, 8vo, p. 39. According to this,
we must have _five genders_, exclusive of that which is called _common_;
namely, the _masculine_, the _feminine_, the _neuter_, the _androgynal_,
and the _doubtful_.

OBS. 4.--It is plain that many writers on grammar have had but a confused
notion of what a gender really is. Some of them, confounding gender with
sex, deny that there are more than two genders, because there are only two
sexes. Others, under a like mistake, resort occasionally, (as in the
foregoing instance,) to an _androgynal_, and also to a _doubtful_ gender:
both of which are more objectionable than the _common gender_ of the old
grammarians; though this _common_ "distinction with regard to sex," is, in
our language, confessedly, no distinction at all. I assume, that there are
in English the three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter, and no more;
and that every noun and every pronoun must needs be of some gender;
consequently, of some one of these three. A gender is, literally, a sort, a
kind, a sex. But genders, _in grammar_, are attributes of words, rather
than of persons, or animals, or things; whereas sexes are attributes, not
of words, but of living creatures. He who understands this, will perceive
that the absence of sex in some things, is as good a basis for a
grammatical distinction, as the presence or the difference of it in others;
nor can it be denied, that the neuter, according to my definition, is a
gender, is a distinction "in _regard_ to sex," though it does not embrace
either of the sexes. There are therefore three genders, and only three.

OBS. 5.--Generic names, even when construed as masculine or feminine, often
virtually include both sexes; as, "Hast thou given _the horse_ strength?
hast thou clothed _his_ neck with thunder? Canst thou make _him_ afraid as
a grasshopper? the glory of _his_ nostrils is terrible."--_Job_, xxxix, 19.
"Doth _the hawk_ fly by thy wisdom, and stretch _her_ wings toward the
south? Doth _the eagle_ mount up at thy command, and make _her_ nest on
high?"--_Ib._, ver. 26. These were called, by the old grammarians,
_epicene_ nouns--that is, _supercommon_; but they are to be parsed each
according to the gender of the pronoun which is put for it.

OBS. 6.--The gender of words, in many instances, is to be determined by the
following principle of universal grammar. Those terms which are equally
applicable to both sexes, (if they are not expressly applied to females,)
and those plurals which are known to include both sexes, should be called
masculine in parsing; for, in all languages, the masculine gender is
considered the most worthy,[159] and is generally employed when both sexes
are included under one common term. Thus _parents_ is always masculine, and
must be represented by a masculine pronoun, for the gender of a word is a
property indivisible, and that which refers to the male sex, always takes
the lead in such cases. If one say, "Joseph took _the young child and his
mother_ by night, and fled with _them_ into Egypt," the pronoun _them_ will
be masculine; but let "_his_" be changed to _its_, and the plural pronoun
that follows, will be feminine. For the feminine gender takes precedence of
the neuter, but not of the masculine; and it is not improper to speak of a
young child without designating the sex. As for such singulars as _parent,
friend, neighbour, thief, slave_, and many others, they are feminine when
expressly applied to any of the female sex; but otherwise, masculine.

OBS. 7.--Nouns of multitude, when they convey the idea of unity or take the
plural form, are of the neuter gender; but when they convey the idea of
plurality without the form, they follow the gender of the individuals which
compose the assemblage. Thus a _congress_, a _council_, a _committee_, a
_jury_, a _sort_, or a _sex_, if taken collectively, is neuter; being
represented in discourse by the neuter pronoun _it_: and the formal
plurals, _congresses, councils, committees, juries, sorts, sexes_, of
course, are neuter also. But, if I say, "The committee disgraced
_themselves_," the noun and pronoun are presumed to be masculine, unless it
be known that I am speaking of a committee of females. Again: "The _fair
sex, whose_ task is not to mingle in the labours of public life, have
_their_ own part assigned _them_ to act."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 132. Here
_sex_, and the three pronouns which have that word for their antecedent,
are all feminine. Again: "_Each sex_, dressing _themselves_ in the clothes
of the other."--_Wood's Dictionary_, v. _Feast of Purim_. Here _sex_, and
the pronoun which follows, are masculine; because, the male sex, as well as
the female, is here spoken of plurally.

OBS. 8.--To _persons_, of every description, known or unknown, real or
imaginary, we uniformly ascribe sex.[160] But, as personality implies
intelligence, and sex supposes some obvious difference, a _young child_ may
be spoken of with distinction of sex or without, according to the notion of
the speaker; as, "I went to see the _child_ whilst they were putting on
_its cloaths_."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 125. "Because the _child_ has no
idea of any nurse besides _his_ own."--_Ib._, p. 153. To _brute animals_
also, the same distinction is generally applied, though with less
uniformity. Some that are very small, have a gender which seems to be
merely occasional and figurative; as, "Go to the _ant_, thou sluggard;
consider _her_ ways, and be wise."--_Prov._, vi, 6. "The _spider_ taketh
hold with _her_ hands, and is in kings' palaces."--_Prov._, xxx, 28. So the
_bee_ is usually made feminine, being a little creature of admirable
industry and economy. But, in general, irrational creatures whose sex is
unknown, or unnecessary to be regarded, are spoken of as neuter; as, "And
it became a _serpent_; and Moses fled from before _it_. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take _it_ by the tail. And he put
forth his hand and caught _it_, and _it_ became a rod in his
hand."--_Exod._, iv, 3, 4. Here, although the word _serpent_ is sometimes
masculine, the neuter pronoun seems to be more proper. So of some imaginary
creatures: as, "_Phenix_, the fowl which is said to exist single, and to
rise again from _its_ own ashes."--_Webster's Dict._ "So shall the
_Phoenix_ escape, with no stain on _its_ plumage."--_Dr. Bartlett's Lect._,
p. 10.

OBS. 9.--But this liberty of representing animals as of no sex, is often
carried to a very questionable extent; as, "The _hare_ sleeps with _its_
eyes open."--_Barbauld_. "The _hedgehog_, as soon as _it_ perceives
_itself_ attacked, rolls _itself_ into a kind of ball, and presents nothing
but _its_ prickles to the foe."--_Blair's Reader_, p. 138. "The _panther_
is a ferocious creature: like the tiger _it_ seizes _its_ prey by
surprise."--_Ib._, p. 102. "The _leopard_, in _its_ chace of prey, spares
neither man nor beast."--_Ib._, p. 103. "If a man shall steal an _ox_, or a
_sheep_, and kill _it_, or sell _it_."--_Exod._, xxii, 1. "A _dog_ resists
_its_ instinct to run after a hare, because _it_ recollects the beating
_it_ has previously received on that account. The _horse_ avoids the stone
at which _it_ once has stumbled."--_Spurzheim, on Education_, p. 3. "The
_racehorse_ is looked upon with pleasure; but it is the _warhorse_, that
carries grandeur in _its_ idea."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 30.

OBS. 10.--The sexes are distinguished _by words_, in four different ways.
First, by the use of different terminations: as, _Jew, Jewess; Julius,
Julia; hero, heroine_. Secondly, by the use of entirely different names:
as, _Henry, Mary; king, queen_. Thirdly, by compounds or phrases including
some distinctive term: as, _Mr. Murray, Mrs. Murray; Englishman,
Englishwoman; grandfather, grandmother; landlord, landlady; merman,
mermaid; servingman, servingmaid; man-servant, maid-servant; schoolmaster,
schoolmistress; school-boy, school-girl; peacock, peahen; cock-sparrow,
hen-sparrow; he-goat, she-goat; buck-rabbit, doe-rabbit; male elephant,
female elephant; male convicts, female convicts_. Fourthly, by the pronouns
_he, his, him_, put for nouns masculine; and _she, her, hers_, for nouns
feminine: as, "Ask _him_ that fleeth, and _her_ that escapeth, and say,
What is done?"--_Jer._, xlviii, 19.

   "O happy _peasant!_ Oh unhappy _bard!_
    _His_ the mere tinsel, _hers_ the rich reward."--_Cowper_.

OBS. 11.--For feminine nouns formed by inflection, the regular termination
is _ess_; but the manner in which this ending is applied to the original or
masculine noun, is not uniform:--

1. In some instances the syllable _ess_ is simply added: as, _accuser,
accuseress; advocate, advocatess; archer, archeress; author, authoress;
avenger, avengeress; barber, barberess; baron, baroness; canon, canoness;
cit, cittess;[161] coheir, coheiress; count, countess; deacon, deaconess;
demon, demoness; diviner, divineress; doctor, doctoress; giant, giantess;
god, goddess; guardian, guardianess; Hebrew, Hebrewess; heir, heiress;
herd, herdess; hermit, hermitess; host, hostess; Jesuit, Jesuitess; Jew,
Jewess; mayor, mayoress; Moabite, Moabitess; monarch, monarchess; pape,
papess_; or, _pope, popess; patron, patroness; peer, peeress; poet,
poetess; priest, priestess; prior, prioress; prophet, prophetess; regent,
regentess; saint, saintess; shepherd, shepherdess; soldier, soldieress;
tailor, tailoress; viscount, viscountess; warrior, warrioress_.

2. In other instances, the termination is changed, and there is no increase
of syllables: as, _abbot, abbess; actor, actress; adulator, adulatress;
adulterer, adulteress; adventurer, adventuress; advoutrer, advoutress;
ambassador, ambassadress; anchorite, anchoress_; or, _anachoret,
anachoress; arbiter, arbitress; auditor, auditress; benefactor,
benefactress; caterer, cateress; chanter, chantress; cloisterer,
cloisteress; commander, commandress; conductor, conductress; creator,
creatress; demander, demandress; detractor, detractress; eagle, eagless;
editor, editress; elector, electress; emperor, emperess_, or _empress;
emulator, emulatress; enchanter, enchantress; exactor, exactress; fautor,
fautress; fornicator, fornicatress; fosterer, fosteress_, or _fostress;
founder, foundress; governor, governess; huckster, huckstress_; or,
_hucksterer, hucksteress; idolater, idolatress; inhabiter, inhabitress;
instructor, instructress; inventor, inventress; launderer, launderess_, or
_laundress; minister, ministress; monitor, monitress; murderer, murderess;
negro, negress; offender, offendress; ogre, ogress; porter, portress;
progenitor, progenitress; protector, protectress; proprietor, proprietress;
pythonist, pythoness; seamster, seamstress; solicitor, solicitress;
songster, songstress; sorcerer, sorceress; suitor, suitress; tiger,
tigress; traitor, traitress; victor, victress; votary, votaress_.

3. In a few instances the feminine is formed as in Latin, by changing _or_
to _rix_; but some of these have also the regular form, which ought to be
preferred: as, _adjutor, adjutrix; administrator, administratrix;
arbitrator, arbitratrix; coadjutor, coadjutrix; competitor, competitress_,
or _competitrix; creditor, creditrix; director, directress_, or _directrix;
executor, executress_, or _executrix; inheritor, inheritress_, or
_inheritrix; mediator, mediatress_, or _mediatrix; orator, oratress_, or
_oratrix; rector, rectress_, or _rectrix; spectator, spectatress_, or
_spectatrix; testator, testatrix; tutor, tutoress_, or _tutress_, or
_tutrix; deserter, desertress_, or _desertrice_, or _desertrix_.

4. The following are irregular words, in which the distinction of sex is
chiefly made by the termination: _amoroso, amorosa: archduke, archduchess;
chamberlain, chambermaid; duke, duchess; gaffer, gammer; goodman, goody;
hero, heroine; landgrave, landgravine; margrave, margravine; marquis,
marchioness; palsgrave, palsgravine; sakeret, sakerhawk; sewer, sewster;
sultan, sultana; tzar, tzarina; tyrant, tyranness; widower, widow_.

OBS. 12.--The proper names of persons almost always designate their sex;
for it has been found convenient to make the names of women different from
those of men. We have also some appellatives which correspond to each
other, distinguishing the sexes by their distinct application to each: as,
_bachelor, maid; beau, belle; boy, girl; bridegroom, bride; brother,
sister; buck, doe; boar, sow; bull, cow; cock, hen; colt, filly; dog,
bitch; drake, duck; earl, countess; father, mother; friar, nun; gander,
goose; grandsire, grandam; hart, roe; horse, mare; husband, wife; king,
queen; lad, lass; lord, lady; male, female; man, woman; master, mistress_;
Mister, Missis; (Mr., Mrs.;) _milter, spawner; monk, nun; nephew, niece;
papa, mamma; rake, jilt; ram, ewe; ruff, reeve; sire, dam; sir, madam;
sloven, slut; son, daughter; stag, hind; steer, heifer; swain, nymph;
uncle, aunt; wizard, witch; youth, damsel; young man, maiden_.

OBS. 13.--The people of a particular country are commonly distinguished by
some name derived from that of their country; as, _Americans, Africans,
Egyptians, Russians, Turks_. Such words are sometimes called _gentile
names_. There are also adjectives, of the same origin, if not the same
form, which correspond with them. "Gentile names are for the most part
considered as masculine, and the feminine is denoted by the gentile
adjective and the noun _woman_: as, a _Spaniard_, a _Spanish woman_; a
_Pole_, or _Polander_, a _Polish woman_. But, in a few instances, we always
use a compound of the adjective with _man_ or _woman_: as, an _Englishman_,
an _Englishwoman_; a _Welshman_, a _Welshwoman_; an _Irishman_, an
_Irishwoman_; a _Frenchman_, a _Frenchwoman_; a _Dutchman_, a _Dutchwoman_:
and in these cases the adjective is employed as the collective noun; as,
_the Dutch, the French_, &c. A _Scotchman_, and a _Scot_, are both in use;
but the latter is not common in prose writers: though some employ it, and
these generally adopt the plural, _Scots_, with the definite article, as
the collective term."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 70.

OBS. 14.--The names of things without life, used literally, are always of
the neuter gender: as, "When Cleopatra fled, Antony pursued her in a
five-oared galley; and, coming along side of her _ship_, entered _it_
without being seen by her."--_Goldsmith's Rome_, p. 160. "The _sun_, high
as _it_ is, has _its_ business assigned; and so have the
stars."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 138. But inanimate objects are often
represented figuratively as having sex. Things remarkable for power,
greatness, or sublimity, are spoken of as masculine; as, the _sun, time,
death, sleep, fear, anger, winter, war_. Things beautiful, amiable, or
prolific, are spoken of as feminine; as, a _ship_, the _moon_, the _earth,
nature, fortune, knowledge, hope, spring, peace_. Figurative gender is
indicated only by the personal pronouns of the singular number: as, "When
we say of the _sun, He_ is setting; or of a _ship, She_ sails well."--_L.
Murray_. For these two objects, the _sun_ and a _ship_, this phraseology is
so common, that the literal construction quoted above is rarely met with.

OBS. 15.--When any inanimate object or abstract quality is distinctly
personified, and presented to the imagination in the character of a living
and intelligent being, there is necessarily a change of the gender of the
word; for, whenever personality is thus ascribed to what is literally
neuter, there must be an assumption of one or the other sex: as, "_The
Genius of Liberty_ is awakened, and springs up; _she_ sheds her divine
light and creative powers upon the two hemispheres. A great _nation_,
astonished at seeing _herself_ free, stretches _her_ arms from one
extremity of the earth to the other, and embraces the first nation that
became so."--_Abbé Fauchet_. But there is an inferior kind of
personification, or of what is called such, in which, so far as appears,
the gender remains neuter: as, "The following is an instance of
personification and apostrophe united: 'O _thou sword_ of the Lord! how
long will it be ere _thou_ be quiet? put _thyself_ up into _thy_ scabbard,
rest, and be still! How can _it_ be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given _it_
a charge against Askelon, and against the sea-shore? there hath he
appointed _it_.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 348. See _Jer._, xlvii, 6.

OBS. 16.--If what is called personification, does not always imply a change
of gender and an ascription of sex, neither does a mere ascription of sex
to what is literally of no sex, necessarily imply a personification; for
there may be sex without personality, as we see in brute animals. Hence the
gender of a brute animal personified in a fable, may be taken literally as
before; and the gender which is figuratively ascribed to the _sun_, the
_moon_, or a _ship_, is merely metaphorical. In the following sentence,
_nature_ is animated and made feminine by a metaphor, while a lifeless
object bearing the name of _Venus_, is spoken of as neuter: "Like that
conceit of old, which declared that the _Venus of Gnidos_ was not the work
of Praxiteles, since _nature herself_ had concreted the boundary surface of
_its_ beauty."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. xxv.

OBS. 17.--"In personifications regard must be had to propriety in
determining the gender. Of most of the passions and moral qualities of man
the ancients formed deities, as they did of various other things: and, when
these are personified, they are usually made male or female, according as
they were gods or goddesses in the pagan mythology. The same rule applies
in other cases: and thus the planet Jupiter will be masculine; Venus,
feminine: the ocean, _Oce=anus_, masculine: rivers, months, and winds, the
same: the names of places, countries, and islands, feminine."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 71.

OBS. 18.--These suggestions are worthy of consideration, but, for the
gender which ought to be adopted in personifications, there seems to be no
absolute general rule, or none which English writers have observed with
much uniformity. It is well, however, to consider what is most common in
each particular case, and abide by it. In the following examples, the sex
ascribed is not that under which these several objects are commonly
figured; for which reason, the sentences are perhaps erroneous:--

   "_Knowledge_ is proud that _he_ has learn'd so much;
    _Wisdom_ is humble that _he_ knows no more."--_Cowper_.

    "But hoary _Winter_, unadorned and bare,
    Dwells in the dire retreat, and freezes there;
    There _she_ assembles all her blackest storms,
    And the rude hail in rattling tempests forms."--_Addison_.

    "_Her_ pow'r extends o'er all things that have breath,
    A cruel tyrant, and _her_ name is _Death_."--_Sheffield_.


CASES.

Cases, in grammar, are modifications that distinguish the relations of
nouns or pronouns to other words.

There are three cases; the _nominative_, the _possessive_, and the
_objective_.

The _nominative case_ is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which
usually denotes the subject of a finite verb: as, The _boy_ runs; _I_ run.

The subject of a finite verb is that which answers to _who_ or _what_
before it; as, "The boy runs."--_Who_ runs? "The _boy_." Boy is therefore
here in the _nominative_ case.

The _possessive case_ is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which
usually denotes the relation of property: as, The _boy's_ hat; _my_ hat.

The possessive case of nouns is formed, in the singular number, by adding
to the nominative _s preceded by an apostrophe_; and, in the plural, when
the nominative ends in _s_, by adding _an apostrophe only_: as, singular,
_boy's_; plural, _boys'_;--sounded alike, but written differently.

The _objective case_ is that form or state of a noun or pronoun which
usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition: as, I
know the _boy_, having seen _him_ at _school_; and he knows _me_.

The object of a verb, participle, or preposition, is that which answers to
_whom_ or _what_ after it; as, "I know the boy."--I know _whom_? "The boy."
_Boy_ is therefore here in the _objective_ case.

The nominative and the objective of nouns, are always alike in form, being
distinguishable from each other only by their place in a sentence, or by
their simple dependence according to the sense.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The cases, in grammar, are founded on the different relations
under which things are represented in discourse; and from which the words
acquire correspondent relations; or connexions and dependences according to
the sense. In Latin, there are six cases; and in Greek, five. Consequently,
the nouns and pronouns of those languages, and also their adjectives and
participles, (which last are still farther inflected by the three genders,)
are varied by many different terminations unknown to our tongue. In
English, those modifications or relations which we call cases, belong only
to nouns and pronouns; nor are there ever more than three. Pronouns are not
necessarily like their antecedents in case.

OBS. 2.--Because the infinitive mood, a phrase, or a sentence, may in some
instances be made the subject of a verb, so as to stand in that relation in
which the nominative case is most commonly found; very many of our
grammarians have deliberately represented all terms used in this manner, as
being "_in the nominative case_:" as if, to sustain any one of the
relations which are usually distinguished by a particular case, must
necessarily constitute that modification itself. Many also will have
participles, infinitives, phrases, and sentences, to be occasionally "_in
the objective case_:" whereas it must be plain to every reader, that they
are, all of them, _indeclinable_ terms; and that, if used in any relation
common to nouns or pronouns, they assume that office, as participles, as
infinitives, as phrases, or as sentences, and not as _cases_. They no more
take the nature of cases, than they become nouns or pronouns. Yet Nixon, by
assuming that _of_, with the word governed by it, constitutes a _possessive
case_, contrives to give to participles, and even to the infinitive mood,
_all three of the cases_. Of the infinitive, he says, "An examination of
the first and second methods of parsing this mood, must naturally lead to
the inference that _it is a substantive_; and that, if it has the
nominative case, it must also have the possessive and objective cases of a
substantive. The fourth method proves its [capacity of] being in the
possessive case: thus, 'A desire _to learn_;' that is, '_of learning_.'
When it follows a participle, or a verb, as by the fifth or [the] seventh
method, it is in the objective case. Method sixth is analogous to the Case
Absolute of a substantive."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 83. If the infinitive
mood is really a _declinable substantive_, none of our grammarians have
placed it in the right chapter; except that bold contemner of all
grammatical and literary authority, Oliver B. Peirce. When will the cause
of learning cease to have assailants and underminers among those who
profess to serve it? Thus every new grammatist, has some grand absurdity or
other, peculiar to himself; and what can be more gross, than to talk of
English infinitives and participles as being in the _possessive case_?

OBS. 3.--It was long a subject of dispute among the grammarians, what
number of cases an English noun should be supposed to have. Some, taking
the Latin language for their model, and turning certain phrases into cases
to fill up the deficits, were for having _six_ in each number; namely, the
nominative, the genitive, the dative, the accusative, the vocative, and the
ablative. Others, contending that a case in grammar could be nothing else
than a terminational inflection, and observing that English nouns have but
one case that differs from the nominative in form, denied that there were
more than two, the nominative and the possessive. This was certainly an
important question, touching a fundamental principle of our grammar; and
any erroneous opinion concerning it, might well go far to condemn the book
that avouched it. Every intelligent teacher must see this. For what sense
could be made of parsing, without supposing an objective case to nouns? or
what propriety could there be in making the words, _of_, and _to_, and
_from_, govern or compose three different cases? Again, with what truth can
it be said, that nouns have _no cases_ in English? or what reason can be
assigned for making more than three?

OBS. 4.--Public opinion is now clear in the decision, that it is
_expedient_ to assign to English nouns three cases, and no more; and, in a
matter of this kind, what is expedient for the purpose of instruction, is
right. Yet, from the works of our grammarians, may be quoted every
conceivable notion, right or wrong, upon this point. Cardell, with Tooke
and Gilchrist on his side, contends that English nouns have _no cases_.
Brightland averred that they have neither cases nor genders.[162] Buchanan,
and the author of the old British Grammar, assigned to them _one_ case
only, the possessive, or genitive. Dr. Adam also says, "In English, nouns
have _only one case_, namely, the genitive, or possessive case."--_Latin
and Eng. Gram._, p. 7. W. B. Fowle has two cases, but rejects the word
_case_: "We use the simple term _agent_ for a _noun that acts_, and
_object_ for the object of an action."--_Fowle's True Eng. Gram._, Part II,
p. 68. Spencer too discards the word _case_, preferring "_form_," that he
may merge in one the nominative and the objective, giving to nouns _two_
cases, but neither of these. "Nouns have _two Forms_, called the _Simple_
and [the] _Possessive_."--_Spencer's E. Gram._, p. 30. Webber's Grammar,
published at Cambridge in 1832, recognizes but _two_ cases of nouns,
declaring the objective to be "altogether superfluous."--P. 22. "Our
substantives have no more cases than two."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 14. "A
Substantive doth not properly admit of more than two cases: the Nominative,
and the Genitive."--_Ellen Devis's Gram._, p. 19. Dr. Webster, in his
Philosophical Grammar, of 1807, and in his Improved Grammar, of 1831,
teaches the same doctrine, but less positively. This assumption has also
had the support of Lowth, Johnson, Priestley, Ash, Bicknell, Fisher,
Dalton, and our celebrated Lindley Murray.[163] In Child's or Latham's
English Grammar, 1852, it is said, "The cases in the present English are
three:--1. Nominative; 2. Objective; 3. Possessive." But this seems to be
meant of pronouns only; for the next section affirms, "The _substantives_
in English _have only two_ out of the three cases."--See pp. 79 and 80.
Reckless of the current usage of grammarians, and even of self-consistency,
both author and reviser will have no objective case of nouns, because this
is like the nominative; yet, finding an objective set after "the adjective
_like_," they will recognize it as "_a dative_ still existing in
English!"--See p. 156. Thus do they forsake their own enumeration of cases,
as they had before, in all their declensions, forsaken the new order in
which they had at first so carefully set them!

OBS. 5.--For the _true_ doctrine of _three_ cases, we have the authority of
Murray, in his later editions; of Webster, in his "Plain and Comp. Grammar,
grounded on _True Principles_," 1790; also in his "Rudiments of English
Grammar," 1811; together with the united authority of Adams, Ainsworth,
Alden, Alger, Bacon, Barnard, Bingham, Burr, Bullions, Butler, Churchill,
Chandler, Cobbett, Cobbin, Comly, Cooper, Crombie, Davenport, Davis, Fisk,
A. Flint, Frost, Guy, Hart, Hiley, Hull, Ingersoll, Jaudon, Kirkham,
Lennie, Mack, M'Culloch, Maunder, Merchant, Nixon, Nutting, John Peirce,
Perley, Picket, Russell, Smart, R. C. Smith, Rev. T. Smith, Wilcox, and I
know not how many others.

OBS. 6.--Dearborn, in 1795, recognized _four_ cases: "the nominative, the
possessive, the objective, and the absolute."--_Columbian Gram._, pp. 16
and 20. Charles Bucke, in his work misnamed "A Classical Grammar of the
English Language," published in London in 1829, asserts, that,
"Substantives in English do not vary their terminations;" yet he gives them
_four_ cases; "the nominative, the genitive, the accusative, and the
vocative." So did Allen, in a grammar much more classical, dated, London,
1813. Hazen, in 1842, adopted "four cases; namely, the nominative, the
possessive, the objective, and the independent."--_Hazen's Practical
Gram._, p. 35. Mulligan, since, has chosen these four: "Nominative,
Genitive, Dative, Accusative."--_Structure of E. Lang._, p. 185. And yet
his case after _to_ or _for_ is _not_ "_dative_," but "_accusative!_"--
_Ib._, p. 239. So too, Goodenow, of Maine, makes the cases four: "the
_subjective_,[164] the _possessive_, the _objective_, and the
_absolute_."--_Text-Book_, p. 31. Goldsbury, of Cambridge, has also four:
"the Nominative, the Possessive, the Objective, and the Vocative."--_Com.
S. Gram._, p. 13. Three other recent grammarians,--Wells, of Andover,--
Weld, of Portland,--and Clark, of Bloomfield, N. Y.,--also adopt "_four_
cases;--the _nominative_, the _possessive_, the _objective_, and the
_independent_."--_Wells's Gram._, p. 57; _Weld's_, 60; _Clark's_, 49. The
first of these gentlemen argues, that, "Since a noun or pronoun, used
_independently_, cannot at the same time be employed as 'the subject of a
verb,' there is a manifest impropriety in regarding it as a _nominative_."
It might as well be urged, that a nominative after a verb, or in apposition
with an other, is, for this reason, not a _nominative_. He also cites this
argument: "'Is there not as much difference between the _nominative_ and
[the] _independent_ case, as there is between the _nominative_ and [the]
_objective?_ If so, why class them together as _one_ case?'--_S. R.
Hall_."--_Wells's School Gram._, p. 51. To this I answer, No. "The
nominative is that case which _primely denotes the name_ of any person or
thing;" (_Burn's Gram._, p. 36;) and _this only_ it is, that can be
absolute, or independent, in English. This scheme of four cases is, in
fact, a grave innovation. As authority for it, Wells cites Felton; and bids
his readers, "See also Kennion, Parkhurst, Fowle, Flint, Goodenow, Buck,
Hazen, Goldsbury, Chapin, S. Alexander, and P. Smith."--Page 57. But is the
fourth case of these authors _the same_ as his? Is it a case which "has
usually the nominative form," but admits occasionally of "_me_" and
"_him_," and embraces objective nouns of "_time, measure, distance,
direction_, or _place_?" No. Certainly one half of them, and probably more,
give little or no countenance to _such_ an independent case as he has
adopted. Parkhurst admitted but three cases; though he thought _two others_
"might be an improvement." What Fowle has said in support of Wells's four
cases, I have sought with diligence, and not found. Felton's "independent
case" is only what he absurdly calls, "_The noun or pronoun addressed_."--
Page 91. Bucke and Goldsbury acknowledge "_the nominative case absolute_;"
and none of the twelve, so far as I know, admit any objective word, or what
others call objective, to be independent or absolute, except perhaps
Goldsbury.

OBS. 7.--S. R. Hall, formerly principal of the Seminary for Teachers at
Andover, (but no great grammarian,) in 1832, published a manual, called
"The Grammatical Assistant;" in which he says, "There are _at least five
cases_, belonging to English nouns, differing as much from _each_ other, as
the cases of Latin and Greek nouns. They may be called Nominative,
Possessive, Objective, Independent and Absolute."--P. 7. O. B. Peirce will
have both nouns and pronouns to be used in _five cases_, which he thus
enumerates: "Four simple cases; the Subjective, Possessive, Objective, and
the Independent; and the Twofold case."--_Gram._, p. 42. But, on page 56th,
he speaks of a "twofold _subjective_ case," "the twofold _objective_ case,"
and shows how the _possessive_ may be twofold also; so that, without taking
any of the Latin cases, or even all of Hall's, he really recognizes as many
as seven, if not eight. Among the English grammars which assume all the
_six cases_ of the Latin Language, are Burn's, Coar's, Dilworth's,
Mackintosh's, Mennye's, Wm. Ward's, and the "Comprehensive Grammar," a
respectable little book, published by Dobson of Philadelphia, in 1789, but
written by somebody in England.

OBS. 8.--Of the English grammars which can properly be said to be _now in
use_, a very great majority agree in ascribing to nouns three cases, and
three only. This, I am persuaded, is the best number, and susceptible of
the best defence, whether we appeal to authority, or to other argument. The
disputes of grammarians make no small part of the _history of grammar_; and
in submitting to be guided by their decisions, it is proper for us to
consider what _degree of certainty_ there is in the rule, and what
difference or concurrence there is among them: for, the teaching of any
other than the best opinions, is not the teaching of science, come from
what quarter it may. On the question respecting the objective case of
nouns, Murray and Webster _changed sides with each other_; and that, long
after they first appeared as grammarians. Nor was this the only, or the
most important instance, in which the different editions of the works of
these two gentlemen, present them in opposition, both to themselves and to
each other. "What cases are there in English? The _nominative_, which
usually stands before a verb; as, the _boy_ writes: The _possessive_, which
takes an _s_ with a _comma_, and denotes property; as, _John's_ hat: The
_objective_, which follows a verb or preposition; as, he honors _virtue_,
or it is an honor to _him_."--_Webster's Plain and Comp. Gram., Sixth
Edition_, 1800, p. 9. "But for convenience, the two positions of nouns, one
_before_, the other _after_ the verb, are called _cases_. There are then
three cases, the _nominative, possessive_, and _objective_."--_Webster's
Rudiments of Gram._, 1811, p. 12. "In English therefore names have two
cases only, the _nominative_ or simple name, and the _possessive_."--
_Webster's Philosoph. Gram._, 1807, p. 32: also his _Improved Gram._, 1831,
p. 24.

OBS. 9.--Murray altered his opinion after the tenth or eleventh edition of
his duodecimo Grammar. His instructions stand thus: "In English,
substantives have but two cases, the nominative, and [the] possessive or
genitive."--_Murray's Gram. 12mo, Second Edition_, 1796, p. 35. "For the
assertion, that there are in English but two cases of nouns, and three of
pronouns, we have the authority of Lowth, Johnson, Priestley, &c. _names
which are sufficient_ to decide this point."--_Ib._, p. 36. "In English,
substantives have three cases, the nominative, the possessive, and the
objective."--_Murray's Gram., 12mo, Twenty-third Edition_, 1816, p. 44.
"The author of this work _long doubted_ the propriety of assigning to
English substantives an _objective case_: but a renewed critical
examination of the subject; an examination to which he was prompted by the
extensive and increasing demand for the grammar, has produced in his mind
_a full persuasion_, that the nouns of our language are entitled to this
comprehensive objective case."--_Ib._, p. 46. If there is any credit in
changing one's opinions, it is, doubtless, in changing them for the better;
but, of all authors, a grammarian has the most need critically to examine
his subject before he goes to the printer. "This case was adopted in the
_twelfth edition_ of the Grammar."--_Murray's Exercises_, 12mo, N. Y.,
1818, p. viii.

OBS. 10.--The _possessive case_ has occasioned no less dispute than the
objective. On this vexed article of our grammar, custom has now become much
more uniform than it was a century ago; and public opinion may be said to
have settled most of the questions which have been agitated about it. Some
individuals, however, are still dissatisfied. In the first place, against
those who have thought otherwise, it is determined, by infinite odds of
authority, that there _is such a case_, both of nouns and of pronouns. Many
a common reader will wonder, who can have been ignorant enough to deny it.
"The learned and sagacious Wallis, to whom every English grammarian owes a
tribute of reverence, calls this modification of the noun an _adjective
possessive_; I think, with no more propriety than he might have applied the
same to the Latin genitive."--_Dr. Johnson's Gram._, p. 5. Brightland also,
who gave to _adjectives_ the name of _qualities_, included all possessives
among them, calling them "_Possessive Qualities_, or _Qualities of
Possession_."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 90.

OBS. 11.--This exploded error, William S. Cardell, a few years ago,
republished as a novelty; for which, among other pretended improvements of
a like sort, he received the ephemeral praise of some of our modern
literati. William B. Fowle also teaches the same thing. See his _Common
School Gram._, Part II, p. 104. In Felch's Grammar, too, published in
Boston in 1837, an attempt is made, to revive this old doctrine; but the
author takes no notice of any of the above-named authorities, being
probably ignorant of them all. His _reasoning_ upon the point, does not
appear to me to be worthy of a detailed answer.[165] That the possessive
case of nouns is not an adjective, is demonstrable; because it may have
adjectives of various kinds, relating to it: as, "_This old man's_
daughter."--_Shak._ It may also govern an other possessive; as, "_Peter's
wife's_ mother."--_Bible_. Here the former possessive is governed by the
latter; but, if both were adjectives, they would both relate to the noun
_mother_, and so produce a confusion of ideas. Again, nouns of the
possessive case have a distinction of number, which adjectives have not. In
gender also, there lies a difference. Adjectives, whenever they are varied
by gender or number, _agree with their nouns_ in these respects. Not so
with possessives; as, "In the _Jews'_ religion."--_Gal._, i. 13. "The
_children's_ bread."--_Mark_, vii, 27. "Some _men's_ sins."--_1 Tim._, v,
24. "Other _men's_ sins."--_Ib._, ver. 22.

OBS. 12.--Secondly, general custom has clearly determined that the
possessive case of _nouns_ is always to be written _with an apostrophe_:
except in those few instances in which it is not governed singly by the
noun following, but so connected with an other that both are governed
jointly; as, "_Cato the Censor's_ doctrine,"--"_Sir Walter Scott's_
Works,"--"_Beaumont_ and _Fletcher's Plays._" This custom of using the
apostrophe, however, has been opposed by many. Brightland, and Buchanan,
and the author of the British Grammar, and some late writers in the
Philological Museum, are among those who have successively taught, that the
possessive case should be formed _like the nominative plural_, by adding
_s_ when the pronunciation admits the sound, and _es_ when the word
acquires an additional syllable. Some of these approve of the apostrophe,
and others do not. Thus Brightland gives some examples, which are contrary
to his rule, adopting that strange custom of putting the _s_ in Roman, and
the name in Italic; "as, King _Charles_'s _Court_, and St. _James_'s
_Park._"--_Gram. of the English Tongue_, p. 91.

OBS. 13.--"The genitive case, in my opinion," says Dr. Ash, "might be much
more properly formed by adding _s_, or when the pronunciation requires it,
_es_, without an Apostrophe: as, _men, mens; Ox, Oxes; Horse, Horses; Ass,
Asses._"--_Ash's Gram._, p. 23. "To write _Ox's, Ass's, Fox's_, and at the
same time pronounce it _Oxes, Asses, Foxes_, is such a departure from the
original formation, at least in writing, and such an inconsistent use of
the Apostrophe, as cannot be equalled perhaps in any other
language."--_Ib._ Lowth, too, gives some countenance to this objection: "It
[i.e., _'God's grace'_] was formerly written _'Godis grace;'_ we now always
shorten it with an apostrophe; often _very improperly_, when we are obliged
to pronounce it fully; as, _'Thomas's_ book,' that is, '_Thomasis_ book,'
not '_Thomas his_ book,' as it is commonly supposed."--_Lowth's Gram._, p.
17. Whatever weight there may be in this argument, the objection has been
overruled by general custom. The convenience of distinguishing, even to the
eye alone, the numbers and cases of the noun, is found too great to be
relinquished. If the declension of English nouns is ever to be amended, it
cannot be done in this way. It is understood by every reader, that the
_apostrophic s_ adds a syllable to the noun, whenever it will not unite
with the sound in which the nominative ends; as, _torch's_, pronounced
_torchiz_.

   "Yet time ennobles or degrades each line;
    It brightened _Craggs's_, and may darken thine."--_Pope._

OBS. 14.--The English possessive case unquestionably originated in that
form of the Saxon genitive which terminates in _es_, examples of which may
be found in almost any specimen of the Saxon tongue: as, "On _Herodes_
dagum,"--"In _Herod's_ days;"--"Of _Aarones_ dohtrum,"--"Of _Aaron's_
daughters."--_Luke_, i, 5. This ending was sometimes the same as that of
the plural; and both were changed to _is_ or _ys_, before they became what
we now find them. This termination added a syllable to the word; and Lowth
suggests, in the quotation above, that the apostrophe was introduced to
shorten it. But some contend, that the use of this mark originated in a
mistake. It appears from the testimony of Brightland, Johnson, Lowth,
Priestley, and others, who have noticed the error in order to correct it,
that an opinion was long entertained, that the termination _'s_ was a
contraction of the word _his_. It is certain that Addison thought so; for
he expressly says it, in the 135th number of the Spectator. Accordingly he
wrote, in lieu of the regular possessive, "My paper is _Ulysses his_
bow."--_Guardian_, No. 98. "Of _Socrates his_ rules of prayer."--_Spect._,
No. 207. So Lowth quotes Pope: "By _young Telemachus his_ blooming
years."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 17.[166] There is also one late author who
says, "The _'s_ is a contraction of _his_, and was formerly written in
full; as, William Russell _his_ book."--_Goodenow's Gram._, p. 32. This is
undoubtedly bad English; and always was so, however common may have been
the erroneous notion which gave rise to it. But the apostrophe, whatever
may have been its origin, is now the acknowledged distinctive mark of the
possessive case of English nouns. The application of the _'s_, frequently
to feminines, and sometimes to plurals, is proof positive that it is _not a
contraction_ of the pronoun _his_; as,

   "Now Jove suspends his golden scales in air,
    Weighs the _men's_ wits against the _Lady's_ hair."
        --_Pope_, R. of L., C. v, l. 72.

OBS. 15.--Many of the old grammarians, and Guy, Pinneo, and Spencer, among
the moderns, represent the regular formation of the possessive case as
being the same in both numbers, supposing generally in the plural an
abbreviation of the word by the omission of the second or syllabic _s_.
That is, they suppose that such terms as _eagles' wings, angels' visits_,
were written for _eagles's wings, angels's visits_, &c. This odd view of
the matter accounts well enough for the fashion of such plurals as _men's,
women's, children's_, and makes them regular. But I find no evidence at all
of the fact on which these authors presume; nor do I believe that the
regular possessive plural was ever, in general, a syllable longer than the
nominative. If it ever had been so, it would still be easy to prove the
point, by citations from ancient books. The general principle then is, that
_the apostrophe forms the possessive case, with an s in the singular, and
without it in the plural_; but there are some exceptions to this rule, on
either hand; and these must be duly noticed.

OBS. 16.--The chief exceptions, or irregularities, in the formation of the
possessive _singular_, are, I think, to be accounted mere poetic licenses;
and seldom, if ever, to be allowed in prose. Churchill, (closely copying
Lowth,) speaks of them thus: "In poetry the _s_ is frequently omitted after
proper names ending in _s_ or _x_ as, 'The wrath of _Peleus'_ son.' _Pope._
This is scarcely allowable in prose, though instances of it occur: as,
'_Moses'_ minister.' _Josh._, i, 1. _'Phinehas'_ wife.' _1 Sam._, iv, 19.
'Festus came into _Felix'_ room.' _Acts_, xxiv, 27. It was done in prose
evidently to avoid the recurrence of a sibilant sound at the end of two
following syllables; but this may as readily be obviated by using the
preposition _of_, which is now commonly substituted for the possessive case
in most instances."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 215. In Scott's Bible,
Philadelphia, 1814, the texts here quoted are all of them corrected, thus:
"_Moses's_ minister,"--"_Phinehas's_ wife,"--"_Felix's_ room." But the
phrase, "for _conscience_ sake," (_Rom._, xiii, 5,) is there given without
the apostrophe. Alger prints it, "for _conscience'_ sake," which is better;
and though not regular, it is a common form for this particular expression.
Our common Bibles have this text: "And the weaned child shall put his hand
on the _cockatrice'_ den."--_Isaiah_, xi, 8. Alger, seeing this to be
wrong, wrote it, "on the _cockatrice-den_."--_Pronouncing Bible._ Dr.
Scott, in his Reference Bible, makes this possessive regular, "on the
_cockatrice's_ den." This is right. The Vulgate has it, "_in caverna
reguli_;" which, however, is not classic Latin. After _z_ also, the poets
sometimes drop the _s_: as,

   "Sad was the hour, and luckless was the day,
    When first from _Shiraz'_ walls I bent my way."--_Collins._

OBS. 17.--A recent critic, who, I think, has not yet learned to speak or
write the possessive case of _his own name_ properly, assumes that the
foregoing occasional or poetical forms are the only true ones for the
possessive singular of such words. He says, "When the name _does end_ with
the sound of _s_ or _z_, (no matter what letter represents the sound,) the
possessive form _is made_ by annexing only an apostrophe."--_O. B. Peirce's
Gram._, p. 44. Agreeably to this rule, he letters his work, "_Peirce'
Grammar_," and condemns, as bad English, the following examples and all
others like them: "James _Otis's_ letters, General _Gates's_ command,
General _Knox's_ appointment, Gov. _Meigs's_ promptness, Mr. _Williams's_
oration, The _witness's_ deposition."--_Ib._, p. 60. It is obvious that
this gentleman's doctrine and criticism are as contrary to the common
practice of all good authors, as they are to the common grammars, which he
ridicules. Surely, such expressions as, "_Harris's_ Hermes, _Philips's_
Poems, _Prince's_ Bay, _Prince's_ Island, _Fox's_ Journal, King _James's_
edict, a _justice's_ warrant, _Sphinx's_ riddle, the _lynx's_ beam, the
_lass's_ beauty," have authority enough to refute the cavil of this writer;
who, being himself wrong, falsely charges the older grammarians, that,"
their theories vary from the principles of the language correctly spoken or
written."--_Ib._, p. 60. A much more judicious author treats this point of
grammar as follows: "When the possessive noun is singular, and terminates
with an _s_, another _s_ is requisite after it, and the apostrophe must be
placed between the two; as, '_Dickens's_ works,'--'_Harris's_
wit.'"--_Day's Punctuation, Third London Edition_, p. 136. The following
example, too, is right: "I would not yield to be your _house's_
guest."--_Shakespeare_.

OBS. 18.--All _plural_ nouns that differ from the singular without ending
in _s_, form the possessive case in the same manner as the singular: as,
_man's, men's; woman's, women's j child's, children's; brother's, brothers'
or brethren's; ox's, oxen's; goose, geese's_. In two or three words which
are otherwise alike in both numbers, the apostrophe ought to follow the _s_
in the plural, to distinguish it from the singular: as, the _sheep's_
fleece, the _sheeps'_ fleeces; a _neat's_ tongue, _neats'_ tongues; a
_deer's_ horns, a load of _deers'_ horns.

OBS. 19.--Dr. Ash says, "Nouns of the plural number that end in _s_, will
not very properly admit of the genitive case."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 54. And
Dr. Priestley appears to have been of the same opinion. See his _Gram._, p.
69. Lowth too avers, that the sign of the possessive case is "never added
to the plural number ending in _s_."--_Gram._, p. 18. Perhaps he thought
the plural sign must involve an other _s_, like the singular. This however
is not true, neither is Dr. Ash's assertion true; for the New Testament
speaks as properly of "the _soldiers'_ counsel," as of the "_centurion's_
servant;" of "the scribes that were of the _Pharisees'_ part," as of
"_Paul's sister's_ son." It would appear, however, that the possessive
plural is less frequently used than the possessive singular; its place
being much oftener supplied by the preposition _of_ and the objective. We
cannot say that either of them is absolutely necessary to the language; but
they are both worthy to be commended, as furnishing an agreeable variety of
expression.

   "Then shall _man's_ pride and dulness comprehend
    His _actions', passions', being's_ use and end."--_Pope_.

OBS. 20.--The apostrophe was introduced into the possessive case, at least
for the singular number, in some part of the seventeenth century. Its
adoption for the plural, appears to have been later: it is not much used in
books a hundred years old. In Buchanan's "Regular English Syntax," which
was written, I know not exactly when, but near the middle of the eighteenth
century, I find the following paragraph: "We have certainly a Genitive
Plural, though there has been no Mark to distinguish it. The Warriors Arms,
i. e. the Arms of the Warriors, is as much a Genitive Plural, as the
Warrior's Arms, for the Arms of the Warrior is a Genitive Singular. To
distinguish this Genitive Plural, especially to Foreigners, we might use
the Apostrophe reversed, thus, the Warrior`s Arms, the Stone`s End, for the
End of the Stones, the Grocer`s, Taylor`s, Haberdasher`s, &c. Company; for
the Company of Grocers, Taylors, &c. The Surgeon`s Hall, for the Hall of
the Surgeons; the Rider`s Names, for the Names of the Riders; and so of all
Plural Possessives."--See _Buchan. Synt._, p. 111. Our present form of the
possessive plural, being unknown to this grammarian, must have had a later
origin; nor can it have been, as some imagine it was, an abbreviation of a
longer and more ancient form.

OBS. 21.--The apostrophic _s_ has often been added to nouns _improperly_;
the words formed by it not being intended for the possessive singular, but
for the nominative or objective plural. Thus we find such authors as
Addison and Swift, writing _Jacobus's_ and _genius's_, for _Jacobuses_ and
_geniuses_; _idea's, toga's_, and _tunica's_, for _ideas, togas_, and
_tunicas_; _enamorato's_ and _virtuoso's_, for _enamoratoes_ and
_virtuosoes_. Errors of this kind, should be carefully avoided.

OBS. 22.--The apostrophe and _s_ are sometimes added to mere characters, to
denote plurality, and not the possessive case; as, two _a_'s, three _b_'s,
four 9's. These we cannot avoid, except by using the _names_ of the things:
as, two _Aes_, three _Bees_, four _Nines_. "Laced down the sides with
little _c_'s."--_Steele_. "Whenever two _gg_'s come together, they are both
hard."--_Buchanan_. The names of _c_ and _g_, plural, are _Cees_ and
_Gees_. Did these authors _know_ the words, or did they not? To have
learned the _names_ of the letters, will be found on many occasions a great
convenience, especially to critics. For example: "The pronunciation of
these two consecutive _s's_ is hard."--_Webber's Gram._, p. 21. Better:
"_Esses_." "_S_ and _x_, however, are exceptions. They are pluralyzed by
adding _es_ preceded by a hyphen [-], as the _s-es_; the _x-es_."--_O. B.
Peirce's Gram._, p. 40. Better, use the _names, Ess_ and _Ex_, and
pluralize thus: "the _Esses_; the _Exes_."

   "Make Q's of answers, to waylay
    What th' other party's like to say."
        --_Hudibras_, P. III, C. ii, l. 951.

Here the cipher is to be read _Kues_, but it has not the meaning of this
name merely. It is put either for the plural of _Q._, a _Question_, like D.
D.'s, (read _Dee-Dees_,) for _Doctors of Divinity_; or else, more
erroneously, for _cues_, the plural of _cue_, a turn which the next speaker
catches.

OBS. 23.--In the following example, the apostrophe and _s_ are used to give
the sound of a _verb's_ termination, to words which the writer supposed
were not properly verbs: "When a man in a soliloquy reasons with himself,
and _pro's_ and _con's_, and weighs all his designs."--_Congreve_. But
here, "_proes_ and _cons_," would have been more accurate. "We put the
ordered number of _m's_ into our composing-stick."--_Printer's Gram._ Here
"_Ems_" would have done as well. "All measures for _folio's_ and
_quarto's_, should be made to _m's_ of the English body; all measures for
_octavo's_, to Pica _m's_."--_Ibid._ Here regularity requires, "_folios,
quartoes, octavoes_," and "_pica Ems_." The verb _is_, when contracted,
sometimes gives to its nominative the same form as that of the possessive
case, it not being always spaced off for distinction, as it may be; as,

   "A _wit's_ a feather, and a chief a rod;
    An honest _man's_ the noblest work of God."
        --_Pope, on Man_, Ep. iv, l. 247.

OBS. 24.--As the _objective case of nouns_ is to be distinguished from the
nominative, only by the sense, relation, and position, of words in a
sentence, the learner must acquire a habit of attending to these several
things. Nor ought it to be a hardship to any reader to understand that
which he thinks worth reading. It is seldom possible to mistake one of
these cases for the other, without a total misconception of the author's
meaning. The nominative denotes the agent, actor, or doer; the person or
thing that is made the subject of an affirmation, negation, question, or
supposition: its place, except in a question, is commonly _before_ the
verb. The objective, when governed by a verb or a participle, denotes the
person on whom, or the thing on which, the action falls and terminates: it
is commonly placed _after_ the verb, participle, or preposition, which
governs it. Nouns, then, by changing places, may change cases: as,
"_Jonathan_ loved _David_;" "_David_ loved _Jonathan_." Yet the case
depends not entirely upon position; for any order in which the words cannot
be misunderstood, is allowable: as, "Such tricks hath strong
imagination."--_Shak._ Here the cases are known, because the meaning is
plainly this: "Strong imagination hath such tricks." "To him give all the
prophets witness."--_Acts_, x, 43. This is intelligible enough, and more
forcible than the same meaning expressed thus: "All the prophets give
witness to him." The _order_ of the words never can affect the explanation
to be given of them in parsing, unless it change the sense, and form them
into a different sentence.




THE DECLENSION OF NOUNS.

The declension of a noun is a regular arrangement of its numbers and cases.
Thus:--

EXAMPLE I.--FRIEND.

 Sing. Nom.   friend,      Plur. Nom.   friends,
       Poss.  friend's,          Poss.  friends',
       Obj.   friend;            Obj.   friends.

EXAMPLE II.--MAN.

 Sing. Nom.   man,         Plur. Nom.   men,
       Poss.  man's,             Poss.  men's,
       Obj.   man;               Obj.   men.

EXAMPLE III.--FOX.

 Sing. Nom.   fox,         Plur. Nom.   foxes,
       Poss.  fox's,             Poss.  foxes',
       Obj.   fox;               Obj.   foxes.

EXAMPLE IV.--FLY.

 Sing. Nom.   fly,         Plur. Nom.   flies,
       Poss.  fly's,             Poss.  flies',
       Obj.   fly;               Obj.   flies.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS III.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Third Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of
the ARTICLES and NOUNS.

The definitions to be given in the Third Praxis, are two for an article,
six for a noun, and one for an adjective, a pronoun, a verb, a participle,
an adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"The writings of Hannah More appear to me more praiseworthy than Scott's."

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite
article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Writings_ is a common noun, of the third person, plural number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The plural number is
that which denotes more than one. 5. The neuter gender is that which
denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is
that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject
of a finite verb.

_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Hannah More_ is a proper noun, of the third person, singular number,
feminine gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person,
place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A proper noun is the
name of some particular individual, or people, or group. 3. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The
singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The feminine gender is
that which denotes persons or animals of the female kind. 6. The objective
case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the
object of a verb, participle, or preposition.

_Appear_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or
_to be acted upon_.

_To_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Me_ is a pronoun. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.

_More_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle,
an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place,
degree, or manner.

_Praiseworthy_ is an adjective. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun
or pronoun, and generally expresses quality.

_Than_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words
or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so
connected.

_Scott's_ is a proper noun, of the third person, singular number, masculine
gender, and possessive case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A proper noun is the name of some
particular individual, or people, or group. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The masculine gender is that which
denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The possessive case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the relation of
property.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"The virtue of Alexander appears to me less vigorous than that of Socrates.
Socrates in Alexander's place I can readily conceive: Alexander in that of
Socrates I cannot. Alexander will tell you, he can subdue the world: it was
a greater work in Socrates to fulfill the duties of life. Worth consists
most, not in great, but in good actions."--_Kames's Art of Thinking_, p.
70.

"No one should ever rise to speak in public, without forming to himself a
just and strict idea of what suits his own age and character; what suits
the subject, the hearers, the place, the occasion."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, p.
260.

"In the short space of little more than a century, the Greeks became such
statesmen, warriors, orators, historians, physicians, poets, critics,
painters, sculptors, architects, and, last of all, philosophers, that one
can hardly help considering that golden period, as a providential event in
honour of human nature, to show to what perfection the species might
ascend."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 417.

   "Is genius yours? Be yours a glorious end,
    Be your king's, country's, truth's, religion's friend."--_Young_.


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"He that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman:
likewise also, he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant."--_1
Cor._, vii, 22.

"What will remain to the Alexanders, and the Cæsars, and the Jenghizes, and
the Louises, and the Charleses, and the Napoleons, with whose 'glories' the
idle voice of fame is filled?"--_J. Dymond_. "Good sense, clear ideas,
perspicuity of language, and proper arrangement of words and thoughts, will
always command attention."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 174.

"A mother's tenderness and a father's care are nature's gifts for man's
advantage.--Wisdom's precepts form the good man's interest and
happiness."--_Murray's Key_, p. 194.

"A dancing-school among the Tuscaroras, is not a greater absurdity than a
masquerade in America. A theatre, under the best regulations, is not
essential to our happiness. It may afford entertainment to individuals; but
it is at the expense of private taste and public morals."--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 86.

   "Where dancing sunbeams on the waters played,
    And verdant alders form'd a quivering shade."--_Pope_.


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"I have ever thought that advice to the young, unaccompanied by the routine
of honest employments, is like an attempt to make a shrub grow in a certain
direction, by blowing it with a bellows."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 247.

"The Arabic characters for the writing of numbers, were introduced into
Europe by Pope Sylvester II, in the eleventh century."--_Constable's
Miscellany_.

"Emotions raised by inanimate objects, trees, rivers, buildings, pictures,
arrive at perfection almost instantaneously; and they have a long
endurance, a second view producing nearly the same pleasure with the
first."--_Kames's Elements_, i, 108.

"There is great variety in the same plant, by the different appearances of
its stem, branches, leaves, blossoms, fruit, size, and colour; and yet,
when we trace that variety through different plants, especially of the same
kind, there is discovered a surprising uniformity."--_Ib._, i, 273.

   "Attitude, action, air, pause, start, sigh, groan,
    He borrow'd, and made use of as his own."--_Churchill_.

    "I dread thee, fate, relentless and severe,
    With all a poet's, husband's, father's fear!"--_Burns_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS OF NOUNS.

LESSON I.--NUMBERS.

"All the ablest of the Jewish Rabbis acknowledge it."--_Wilson's Heb.
Gram._, p. 7.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _Rabbi_ is here made plural by the
addition of _s_ only. But, according to Observation 12th on the Numbers,
nouns in _i_ ought rather to form the plural in _ies_. The capital _R_,
too, is not necessary. Therefore, _Rabbis_ should be _rabbies_, with _ies_
and a small _r_.]

"Who has thoroughly imbibed the system of one or other of our Christian
rabbis."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 378. "The seeming singularitys of reason
soon wear off."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 47. "The chiefs and arikis or
priests have the power of declaring a place or object taboo."--_Balbi's
Geog._, p. 460. "Among the various tribes of this family, are the
Pottawatomies, the Sacs and Foxes, or Saukis and Ottogamis."--_Ib._, p.
178. "The Shawnees, Kickapoos, Menomonies, Miamis and Delawares, are of the
same region."--_Ib._, p. 178. "The Mohegans and Abenaquis belonged also to
this family."--_Ib._, p. 178. "One tribe of this family, the Winnebagos,
formerly resided near lake Michigan."--_Ib._, p. 179. "The other tribes are
the Ioways, the Otoes, the Missouris, the Quapaws."--_Ib._, p. 179. "The
great Mexican family comprises the Aztecs, Toltecs, and Tarascos."--_Ib._,
p. 179. "The Mulattoes are born of negro and white parents; the Zambos, of
Indians and negroes."--_Ib._, p. 165. "To have a place among the
Alexanders, the Cæsars, the Lewis', or the Charles', the scourges and
butchers of their fellow-creatures."--_Burgh's Dignity_, i, 132. "Which was
the notion of the Platonic Philosophers and Jewish rabbii."--_Ib._, p. 248.
"That they should relate to the whole body of virtuosos."--_Gobbett's E.
Gram._, ¶ 212. "What thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love
them."--_Luke_, vi, 32. "There are five ranks of nobility; dukes,
marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 228. "Acts,
which were so well known to the two Charles's."--_Payne's Geog._, ii, 511.
"Court Martials are held in all parts, for the trial of the
blacks."--_Observer_, No. 458. "It becomes a common noun, and may have a
plural number; as, the two _Davids_; the two _Scipios_, the two
_Pompies_."--_Staniford's Gram._, p. 8. "The food of the rattlesnake is
birds, squirrels, hare, rats, and reptiles."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 177. "And
let fowl multiply in the earth."--_Genesis_, i, 22. "Then we reached the
hill-side where eight buffalo were grazing."--_Martineau's Amer._, i, 202.
"_Corset, n._ a pair of bodice for a woman."--_Worcester's Dict._, 12mo.
"As the _be's_; the _ce's_, the _doubleyu's_."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p.
40. "Simplicity is the means between ostentation and rusticity."--_Pope's
Pref. to Homer_. "You have disguised yourselves like tipstaves."--_Gil
Blas_, i, 111. "But who, that hath any taste, can endure the incessant
quick returns of the _also_'s, and the _likewise_'s, and the _moreover_'s,
and the _however_'s, and the _notwithstanding_'s?"--_Campbell's Rhet._, p.
439.

   "Sometimes, in mutual sly disguise,
    Let Aye's seem No's, and No's seem Aye's."--_Gay_, p. 431.


LESSON II.--CASES.

"For whose name sake, I have been made willing."--_Wm. Penn_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the noun _name_, which is here meant for the
possessive case singular, has not the true form of that case. But,
according to a principle on page 258th, "The possessive case of nouns is
formed, in the singular number, by adding to the nominative _s preceded by
an apostrophe_; and, in the plural, when the nominative ends in _s_, by
adding _an apostrophe only_." Therefore, name should be _name's_; thus,
"For whose _name's_ sake, I have been made willing."]

"Be governed by your conscience, and never ask anybodies leave to be
honest."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 105. "To overlook nobodies merit or
misbehaviour."--_Ib._, p. 9. "And Hector at last fights his way to the
stern of Ajax' ship."--_Coleridge's Introd._, p. 91. "Nothing is lazier,
than to keep ones eye upon words without heeding their meaning."--
_Philological Museum_, i, 645. "Sir William Joneses division of the
day."--_Ib., Contents_. "I need only refer here to Vosses excellent account
of it."--_Ib._, i, 465. "The beginning of Stesichoruses palinode has been
preserved."--_Ib._, i, 442. "Though we have Tibulluses elegies, there is
not a word in them about Glycera."--_Ib._, p. 446. "That Horace was at
Thaliarchuses country-house."--_Ib._, i, 451. "That Sisyphuses foot-tub
should have been still in existence."--_Ib._, i, 468. "How every thing went
on in Horace's closet, and in Mecenases antechamber."--_Ib._, i, 458. "Who,
for elegant brevities sake, put a participle for a verb."--_Walker's
Particles_, p. 42. "The countries liberty being oppressed, we have no more
to hope."--_Ib._, p. 73. "A brief but true account of this peoples'
principles."--_Barclay's Pref._ "As, the Churche's Peace, or the Peace of
the Church; Virgil's Eneid, or the Eneid of Virgil"--_British Gram._, p.
93. "As, Virgil's Æneid, for the Æneid of Virgil; the Church'es Peace, for
the Peace of the Church."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 18. "Which, with
Hubner's Compend, and Wells' Geographia Classica, will be sufficient."--
_Burgh's Dignity_, i, 155. "Witness Homer's speaking horses, scolding
goddesses, and Jupiter enchanted with Venus' girdle."--_Ib._, i, 184. "Dr.
Watts' Logic may with success be read and commented on to them."--_Ib._, p.
156. "Potter's Greek, and Kennet's Roman Antiquities, Strauchius' and
Helvicus' Chronology."--_Ib._, p. 161. "_Sing_. Alice' friends, Felix'
property; _Plur._ The Alices' friends, The Felixes' property."--_O. B.
Peirce's Gram._, p. 46. "Such as Bacchus'es company,"--"at Bacchus'es
festivals."--_Ainsworth's Dict., w. Thyrsus._ "Burn's inimitable _Tam
o'Shanter_ turns entirely upon such a circumstance."--_Scott's Lay, Notes_,
p. 201. "Nominative, Men. Genitive, Mens. Objective, Men."--_Cutler's
Gram._, p. 20. "Mens Happiness or Misery is most part of their own
making."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 1. "That your Sons Cloths be never made
strait, especially about the Breast."--_Ib._, p. 15. "Childrens Minds are
narrow and weak."--_Ib._, p. 297. "I would not have little Children much
tormented about Punctilio's, or Niceties of Breeding."--_Ib._, p. 90. "To
fill his Head with suitable Idea's."--_Ib._, p. 113. "The Burgusdiscius's
and the Scheiblers did not swarm in those Days, as they do now."--_Ib._, p.
163. "To see the various ways of dressing--a calve's head!"--_Shenstone_,
Brit. Poets, Vol. vii, p. 143.

   "He puts it on, and for decorum sake
    Can wear it e'en as gracefully as she."--_Cowper's Task_.


LESSON III.--MIXED.

"Simon the witch was of this religion too."--_Bunyan's P. P._, p. 123.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the feminine name _witch_ is here applied to
a man. But, according to the doctrine of genders, on page 254th, "Names of
males are masculine; names of females, feminine;" &c. Therefore, _witch_
should be _wizard_; thus, "Simon the _wizard_," &c.]

"Mammodis, n. Coarse, plain India muslins."--_Webster's Dict._ "Go on from
single persons to families, that of the Pompeyes for instance."--_Collier's
Antoninus_, p. 142. "By which the ancients were not able to account for
phænomenas."--_Bailey's Ovid_, p. vi. "After this I married a wife who had
lived at Crete, but a Jew by birth."--_Josephus's Life_, p. 194. "The very
heathen are inexcusable for not worshipping him."--_Student's Manual_, p.
328. "Such poems as Camoen's Lusiad, Voltaire's Henriade, &c."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 422. "My learned correspondent writes a word in defence of large
scarves."--SPECT.: in _Joh. Dict._ "The forerunners of an apoplexy are
dulness, vertigos, tremblings."--ARBUTHNOT: _ib._ "_Vertigo_ changes the
_o_ into _~in=es_, making the plural _vertig~in=es_."--_Churchill's Gram._,
p. 59. "_Noctambulo_ changes the _o_ into _=on=es_, making the plural
_noctambul=on=es_."--_Ib._, p. 59. "What shall we say of
noctambulos?"--ARBUTHNOT: _in Joh. Dict._ "In the curious fretwork of rocks
and grottos."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 220. "_Wharf_ makes the plural
_wharves_."--_Smith's Gram._, p. 45; _Merchant's_, 29; _Picket's_, 21;
_Frost's_, 8. "A few cent's worth of maccaroni supplies all their
wants."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 275. "C sounds hard, like _k_, at the end of a
word or syllables."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 4. "By which the virtuosi try The
magnitude of every lie."--_Hudibras_. "Quartos, octavos, shape the
lessening pyre."--_Pope's Dunciad_, B. i, l. 162. "Perching within square
royal rooves."--SIDNEY: _in Joh. Dict._ "Similies should, even in poetry,
be used with moderation."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 166. "Similies should never
be taken from low or mean objects."--_Ib._, p. 167. "It were certainly
better to say, 'The house of lords,' than 'the Lord's house.'"--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 177. "Read your answers. Unit figure? 'Five.' Ten's? 'Six.'
Hundreds? 'Seven.'"--_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 79. "Alexander conquered
Darius' army."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 58. "Three days time was requisite,
to prepare matters."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 156. "So we say that Ciceros
stile and Sallusts, were not one, nor Cesars and Livies, nor Homers and
Hesiodus, nor Herodotus and Theucidides, nor Euripides and Aristophanes,
nor Erasmus and Budeus stiles."--_Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie_, iii,
5. "_Lex_ (i.e. _legs_) is no other than our ancestors past participle
_læg, laid down_."--_Tooke's Diversions_, ii, 7. "Achaia's sons at Ilium
slain for the Atridæ' sake."--_Cowper's Iliad_. "The corpse[167] of half
her senate manure the fields of Thessaly."--_Addison's Cato_.

   "Poisoning, without regard of fame or fear:
    And spotted corpse are frequent on the bier."--_Dryden_.




CHAPTER IV.--ADJECTIVES.

An Adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses
quality: as, A _wise_ man; a _new_ book. You _two_ are _diligent_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Adjectives have been otherwise called attributes, attributives,
qualities, adnouns; but none of these names is any better than the common
one. Some writers have classed adjectives with verbs; because, with a
neuter verb for the copula, they often form logical predicates: as, "Vices
_are contagious_." The Latin grammarians usually class them with nouns;
consequently their nouns are divided into nouns substantive and nouns
adjective. With us, substantives are nouns; and adjectives form a part of
speech by themselves. This is generally acknowledged to be a much better
distribution. Adjectives cannot with propriety be called _nouns_, in any
language; because they are not _the names_ of the qualities which they
signify. They must be _added_ to nouns or pronouns in order to make sense.
But if, in a just distribution of words, the term "_adjective nouns_" is
needless and improper, the term "_adjective pronouns_" is, certainly, not
less so: most of the words which Murray and others call by this name, are
not pronouns, but adjectives.

OBS. 2.--The noun, or substantive, is a _name_, which makes sense of
itself. The adjective is an adjunct to the noun or pronoun. It is a word
added to denote quality, situation, quantity, number, form, tendency, or
whatever else may characterize and distinguish the thing or things spoken
of. Adjectives, therefore, are distinguished _from_ nouns by their
_relation to_ them; a relation corresponding to that which qualities bear
to things: so that no part of speech is more easily discriminated than the
adjective. Again: English adjectives, as such, are all indeclinable. When,
therefore, any words usually belonging to this class, are found to take
either the plural or the possessive form, like substantive nouns, they are
to be parsed as nouns. To abbreviate expression, we not unfrequently, in
this manner, convert adjectives into nouns. Thus, in grammar, we often
speak of _nominatives, possessives_, or _objectives_, meaning nouns or
pronouns of the nominative, the possessive, or the objective case; of
_positives, comparatives_, or _superlatives_, meaning adjectives of the
positive, the comparative, or the superlative degree; of _infinitives,
subjunctives_, or _imperatives_, meaning verbs of the infinitive, the
subjunctive, or the imperative mood; and of _singulars, plurals_, and many
other such things, in the same way. So a man's _superiors_ or _inferiors_
are persons superior or inferior to himself. His _betters_ are persons
better than he. _Others_ are any persons or things distinguished from some
that are named or referred to; as, "If you want enemies, excel _others_; if
you want friends, let _others_ excel you."--_Lacon_. All adjectives thus
taken substantively, become _nouns_, and ought to be parsed as such, unless
this word _others_ is to be made an exception, and called a "_pronoun_."

   "Th' event is fear'd; should we again provoke
    Our _stronger_, some worse way his wrath may find."
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. ii, l. 82.

OBS. 3.--Murray says, "Perhaps the words _former_ and _latter_ may be
properly ranked amongst the demonstrative pronouns, _especially in many of
their applications_. The following sentence may serve as an example: 'It
was happy for the state, that Fabius continued in the command with
Minutius: the _former's_ phlegm was a check upon the _latter's_
vivacity.'"--_Gram._, 8vo, p. 57. This I take to be bad English. _Former_
and _latter_ ought to be adjectives only; except when _former_ means
_maker_. And, if not so, it is too easy a way of multiplying pronouns, to
manufacture two out of one single anonymous sentence. If it were said, "The
deliberation of _the former_ was a seasonable chock upon the fiery temper
of _the latter_" the words _former_ and _latter_ would seem to me not to be
pronouns, but adjectives, each relating to the noun _commander_ understood
after it.

OBS. 4.--The sense and relation of words in sentences, as well as their
particular form and meaning, must be considered in parsing, before the
learner can say, with certainty, to what class they belong. Other parts of
speech, and especially nouns and participles, by a change in their
construction, may become adjectives. Thus, to denote the material of which
a thing is formed, we very commonly make the name of the substantive an
adjective to that of the thing: as, A _gold chain_, a _silver spoon_, a
_glass pitcher_, a _tin basin_, an _oak plank_, a _basswood slab_, a
_whalebone rod_. This construction is in general correct, whenever the
former word may be predicated of the latter; as, "The chain is gold."--"The
spoon is silver." But we do not write _gold beater_ for _goldbeater_, or
_silver smith_ for _silversmith_; because the beater is not gold, nor is
the smith silver. This principle, however, is not universally observed; for
we write _snowball, whitewash_, and many similar compounds, though the ball
is snow and the wash is white; and _linseed oil_, or _Newark cider_, may be
a good phrase, though the former word cannot well be predicated of the
latter. So in the following examples: "Let these _conversation_ tones be
the foundation of public pronunciation."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 334. "A
_muslin_ flounce, made very full, would give a very agreeable _flirtation_
air."--POPE: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 79.

   "Come, calm Content, serene and sweet,
    O gently guide my _pilgrim_ feet
    To find thy _hermit_ cell."--_Barbauld_.

OBS. 5.--Murray says, "Various nouns placed before other nouns assume the
nature of adjectives: as, sea fish, wine vessel, corn field, meadow ground,
&c."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 48. This is, certainly, very lame instruction. If
there is not palpable error in all his examples, the propriety of them all
is at least questionable; and, to adopt and follow out their principle,
would be, to tear apart some thousands of our most familiar compounds.
"_Meadow ground_" may perhaps be a correct phrase, since the ground is
meadow; it seems therefore preferable to the compound word meadow-ground.
What he meant by "_wine vessel_" is doubtful: that is, whether a ship or a
cask, a flagon or a decanter. If we turn to our dictionaries, Webster has
_sea-fish_ and _wine-cask_ with a hyphen, and _cornfield_ without; while
Johnson and others have _corn-field_ with a hyphen, and _seafish_ without.
According to the rules for the figure of words, we ought to write them
_seafish, winecask, cornfield_. What then becomes of the thousands of
"adjectives" embraced in the "&c." quoted above?

OBS. 6.--The pronouns _he_ and _she_, when placed before or prefixed to
nouns merely to denote their gender, appear to be used adjectively; as,
"The male or _he_ animals offered in sacrifice."--_Wood's Dict., w. Males_.
"The most usual term is _he_ or _she, male_ or _female_, employed as an
adjective: as, a _he bear_, a _she bear_; a _male elephant_, a _female
elephant_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 69. Most writers, however, think
proper to insert a hyphen in the terms here referred to: as, _he-bear,
she-bear_, the plurals of which are _he-bears_ and _she-bears_. And,
judging by the foregoing rule of predication, we must assume that this
practice only is right. In the first example, the word _he_ is useless; for
the term "_male animals_" is sufficiently clear without it. It has been
shown in the third chapter, that _he_ and _she_ are sometimes used as
nouns; and that, as such, they may take the regular declension of nouns,
making the plurals _hes_ and _shes_. But whenever these words are used
adjectively to denote gender, whether we choose to insert the hyphen or
not, they are, without question, indeclinable, like other adjectives. In
the following example, Sanborn will have _he_ to be a noun in the
_objective_ case; but I consider it rather, to be an adjective, signifying
_masculine_:

   "(_Philosophy_, I say, and call _it He_;
    For, whatsoe'er the painter's fancy be,
    It a male-virtue seems to me.")--_Cowley_, Brit. Poets, Vol. ii, p. 54.

OBS. 7.--Though verbs give rise to many adjectives, they seldom, if ever,
become such by a mere change of construction. It is mostly by assuming an
additional termination, that any verb is formed into an adjective: as in
_teachable, moveable, oppressive, diffusive, prohibitory_. There are,
however, about forty words ending in _ate_, which, without difference of
form, are either verbs or adjectives; as, _aggregate, animate, appropriate,
articulate, aspirate, associate, complicate, confederate, consummate,
deliberate, desolate, effeminate, elate, incarnate, intimate, legitimate,
moderate, ordinate, precipitate, prostrate, regenerate, reprobate,
separate, sophisticate, subordinate_. This class of adjectives seems to be
lessening. The participials in _ed_, are superseding some of them, at least
in popular practice: as, _contaminated_, for _contaminate_, defiled;
_reiterated_, for _reiterate_, repeated; _situated_, for _situate_, placed;
_attenuated_, for _attenuate_, made thin or slender. _Devote, exhaust_, and
some other verbal forms, are occasionally used by the poets, in lieu of the
participial forms, _devoted, exhausted_, &c.

OBS. 8.--Participles, which have naturally much resemblance to this part
of speech, often drop their distinctive character, and become adjectives.
This is usually the case whenever they stand immediately _before_ the nouns
to which they relate; as, A _pleasing_ countenance, a _piercing_ eye, an
_accomplished_ scholar, an _exalted_ station. Many participial adjectives
are derivatives formed from participles by the negative prefix _un_, which
reverses the meaning of the primitive word; as, _undisturbed, undivided,
unenlightened_. Most words of this kind differ of course from participles,
because there are no such verbs as _to undisturb, to undivide_, &c. Yet
they may be called participial adjectives, because they have the
termination, and embrace the form, of participles. Nor should any
participial adjective be needlessly varied from the true orthography of the
participle: a distinction is, however, observed by some writers, between
_past_ and _passed, staid_ and _stayed_; and some old words, as _drunken,
stricken, shotten, rotten_, now obsolete as participles, are still retained
as adjectives. This sort of words will be further noticed in the chapter on
participles.

OBS. 9.--Adverbs are generally distinguished from adjectives, by the form,
as well as by the construction, of the words. Yet, in instances not a few,
the same word is capable of being used both adjectively and adverbially. In
these cases, the scholar must determine the part of speech, by the
construction alone; remembering that adjectives belong to nouns or pronouns
only; and adverbs, to verbs, participles, adjectives, or other adverbs,
only. The following examples from Scripture, will partially illustrate this
point, which will be noticed again under the head of syntax: "Is your
father well?"--_Gen._, xliii, 27. "Thou hast well said."--_John_, iv, 17.
"He separateth very friends."--_Prov._, xvii, 9. "Esaias is _very_
bold."--_Rom._, x, 20. "For a pretence, ye make _long_ prayer."--_Matt._,
xxiii, 14. "They that tarry _long_ at the wine."--_Prov._, xxiii, 30. "It
had not _much_ earth."--_Mark_, iv, 5. "For she loved _much_."--_Luke_,
vii, 47.

OBS. 10.--Prepositions, in regard to their _construction_, differ from
adjectives, almost exactly as active-transitive participles differ
syntactically from adjectives: that is, in stead of being mere adjuncts to
the words which follow them, they govern those words, and refer back to
some other term; which, in the usual order of speech, stands before them.
Thus, if I say, "A spreading oak," _spreading_ is an adjective relating to
oak; if, "A boy spreading hay," _spreading_ is a participle, governing
_hay_, and relating to _boy_, because the boy is the agent of the action.
So, when Dr. Webster says, "The _off_ horse in a team," _off_ is an
adjective, relating to the noun _horse_; but, in the phrase, "A man _off_
his guard," _off_ is a preposition, showing the relation between _man_ and
_guard_, and governing the latter. The following are other examples: "From
the _above_ speculations."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 194. "An _after_ period
of life."--MARSHALL: _in Web. Dict._ "With some other of the _after_
Judaical rites."--_Right of Tythes_, p. 86. "Whom this _beneath_ world doth
embrace and hug."--_Shak._ "Especially is _over_ exertion made."--_Journal
of Lit. Conv._, p. 119. "To both the _under_ worlds."--_Hudibras_. "Please
to pay to A. B. the amount of the _within_ bill." Whether properly used or
not, the words _above, after, beneath, over, under, and within_, are here
unquestionably made _adjectives_; yet every scholar knows, that they are
generally prepositions, though sometimes adverbs.


CLASSES.

Adjectives may be divided into six classes; namely, _common, proper,
numeral, pronominal, participial_, and _compound_.

I. A _common adjective_ is any ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting
quality or situation; as, _Good, bad, peaceful, warlike--eastern, western,
outer, inner_.

II. A _proper adjective_ is an adjective formed from a proper name; as,
_American, English, Platonic, Genoese_.

III. A _numeral adjective_ is an adjective that expresses a definite
number; as, _One, two, three, four, five, six_, &c.

IV. A _pronominal adjective_ is a definitive word which may either
accompany its noun, or represent it understood; as, "_All_ join to guard
what _each_ desires to gain."--_Pope_. That is, "_All men_ join to guard
what _each man_ desires to gain."

V. A _participial adjective_ is one that has the form of a participle, but
differs from it by rejecting the idea of time; as, "An _amusing_
story,"--"A _lying_ divination."

VI. A _compound adjective_ is one that consists of two or more words joined
together, either by the hyphen or solidly: as, _Nut-brown, laughter-loving,
four-footed; threefold, lordlike, lovesick_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--This distribution of the adjectives is no less easy to be applied,
than necessary to a proper explanation in parsing. How many adjectives
there are in the language, it is difficult to say; none of our
dictionaries profess to exhibit all that are embraced in some of the
foregoing classes. Of the Common Adjectives, there are probably not fewer
than six thousand, exclusive of the common nouns which we refer to this
class when they are used adjectively. Walker's Rhyming Dictionary contains
five thousand or more, the greater part of which may be readily
distinguished by their peculiar endings. Of those which end in _ous_, as
_generous_, there are about 850. Of those in _y_ or _ly_, as _shaggy,
homely_, there are about 550. Of those in _ive_, as _deceptive_, there are
about 400. Of those in _al_, as _autumnal_, there are about 550. Of those
in _ical_, as _mechanical_, there are about 350. Of those in _able_, as
_valuable_, there are about 600. Of those in _ible_, as _credible_, there
are about 200. Of those in _ent_, as _different_, there are about 300. Of
those in _ant_, as _abundant_, there are about 170. Of those in _less_, as
_ceaseless_, there are about 220. Of those in _ful_, as _useful_, there are
about 130. Of those in _ory_, as _explanatory_, there are about 200. Of
those in _ish_, as _childish_, there are about 100. Of those in _ine_, as
_masculine_, there are about 70. Of those in _en_, as _wooden_, there are
about 50. Of those in _some_, as _quarrelsome_, there are about 30. These
sixteen numbers added together, make 4770.

OBS. 2.--The Proper Adjectives are, in many instances, capable of being
converted into declinable nouns: as, _European, a European, the Europeans;
Greek, a Greek, the Greeks; Asiatic, an Asiatic, the Asiatics_. But with
the words _English, French, Dutch, Scotch, Welsh, Irish_, and in general
all such as would acquire an additional syllable in their declension, the
case is otherwise. The gentile noun has frequently fewer syllables than the
adjective, but seldom more, unless derived from some different root.
Examples: _Arabic, an Arab, the Arabs; Gallic, a Gaul, the Gauls; Danish, a
Dane, the Danes; Moorish, a Moor, the Moors; Polish, a Pole_, or _Polander,
the Poles; Swedish, a Swede, the Swedes; Turkish, a Turk, the Turks_. When
we say, _the English, the French, the Dutch, the Scotch, the Welsh, the
Irish_,--meaning, _the English people, the French people_, &c., many
grammarians conceive that _English, French_, &c., are _indeclinable nouns_.
But in my opinion, it is better to reckon them _adjectives_, relating to
the noun _men_ or _people_ understood. For if these words are nouns, so are
a thousand others, after which there is the same ellipsis; as when we say,
_the good, the great, the wise, the learned_.[168] The principle would
involve the inconvenience of multiplying our nouns of the singular form and
a plural meaning, indefinitely. If they are nouns, they are, in this sense,
plural only; and, in an other, they are singular only. For we can no more
say, _an English, an Irish_, or _a French_, for _an Englishman, an
Irishman_, or _a Frenchman_; than we can say, _an old, a selfish_, or _a
rich_, for _an old man, a selfish man_, or _a rich man_. Yet, in
distinguishing the _languages_, we call them _English, French, Dutch,
Scotch, Welsh, Irish_; using the words, certainly, in no plural sense; and
preferring always the line of adjectives, where the gentile noun is
different: as, _Arabic_, and not _Arab_; _Danish_, and not _Dane_;
_Swedish_, and not _Swede_. In this sense, as well as in the former,
Webster, Chalmers, and other modern lexicographers, call the words _nouns_;
and the reader will perceive, that the objections offered before do not
apply here. But Johnson, in his two quarto volumes, gives only two words of
this sort, _English_ and _Latin_; and both of these he calls _adjectives_:
"ENGLISH, _adj._ Belonging to England; hence English[169] is the language
of England." The word _Latin_, however, he makes a noun, when it means a
schoolboy's exercise; for which usage he quotes, the following inaccurate
example from Ascham: "He shall not use the common order in schools for
making of _Latins_."

OBS. 3.--Dr. Webster gives us explanations like these: "CHINESE, _n. sing._
and _plu._ A native of China; also the language of China."--"JAPANESE, _n._
A native of Japan; or the language of the inhabitants."--"GENOESE, _n. pl._
the people of Genoa in Italy. _Addison_."--"DANISH, _n._ The language of
the Danes."--"IRISH, _n._ 1. A native of Ireland. 2. The language of the
Irish; the Hiberno-Celtic." According to him, then, it is proper to say, _a
Chinese, a Japanese_, or _an Irish_; but not, _a Genoese_, because he will
have this word to be plural only! Again, if with him we call a native of
Ireland _an Irish_, will not more than one be _Irishes?_[170] If a native
of Japan be _a Japanese_, will not more than one be _Japaneses?_ In short,
is it not plain, that the words, _Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Maltese,
Genoese, Milanese_, and all others of like formation, should follow one and
the same rule? And if so, what is that rule? Is it not this;--that, like
_English, French_, &c., they are always _adjectives_; except, perhaps, when
they denote _languages_? There may possibly be some real authority from
usage, for calling a native of China _a Chinese_,--of Japan _a
Japanese_,--&c.; as there is also for the regular plurals, _Chineses,
Japaneses_, &c.; but is it, in either case, good and sufficient authority?
The like forms, it is acknowledged, are, on some occasions, mere
adjectives; and, in modern usage, we do not find these words inflected, as
they were formerly. Examples: "The _Chinese_ are by no means a cleanly
people, either in person or dress."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 415. "The
_Japanese_ excel in working in copper, iron, and steel."--_Ib._, p. 419.
"The _Portuguese_ are of the same origin with the Spaniards."--_Ib._, p.
272. "By whom the undaunted _Tyrolese_ are led."--_Wordsworth's Poems_, p.
122. Again: "Amongst the _Portugueses_, 'tis so much a Fashion, and
Emulation, amongst their Children, to _learn_ to _Read_, and Write, that
they cannot hinder them from it."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 271. "The
_Malteses_ do so, who harden the Bodies of their Children, and reconcile
them to the Heat, by making them go stark Naked."--_Idem, Edition of_ 1669,
p. 5. "CHINESE, _n. s_. Used elliptically for the language and people of
China: plural, _Chineses. Sir T. Herbert_."--_Abridgement of Todd's
Johnson_. This is certainly absurd. For if _Chinese_ is used _elliptically_
for the people of China, it is an _adjective_, and does not form the
plural, _Chineses_: which is precisely what I urge concerning the whole
class. These plural forms ought not to be imitated. Horne Tooke quotes some
friend of his, as saying, "No, I will never descend with him beneath even
_a Japanese_: and I remember what Voltaire remarks of _that
country_."--_Diversions of Purley_, i, 187. In this case, he ought,
unquestionably, to have said--"beneath even _a native of Japan_;" because,
whether _Japanese_ be a noun or not, it is absurd to call _a Japanese_,
"_that country_." Butler, in his Hudibras, somewhere uses the word
_Chineses_; and it was, perhaps, in his day, common; but still, I say, it
is contrary to analogy, and therefore wrong. Milton, too, has it:

   "But in his way lights on the barren plains
    Of Sericana, where Chineses[171]  drive
    With sails and wind their cany _waggons_ light."
        --_Paradise Lost_, B. iii, l. 437.

OBS. 4.--The Numeral Adjectives are of three kinds, namely, _cardinal,
ordinal_, and _multiplicative_: each kind running on in a series
indefinitely. Thus:--

1. _Cardinal_; One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen,
nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, &c.

2. _Ordinal_; First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth,
ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth,
sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first,
twenty-second, &c.

3. _Multiplicative_; Single or alone, double or twofold, triple or
threefold, quadruple or fourfold, quintuple or fivefold, sextuple or
sixfold, septuple or sevenfold, octuple or eightfold, &c. But high terms of
this series are seldom used. All that occur above decuple or tenfold, are
written with a hyphen, and are usually of round numbers only; as,
thirty-fold, sixty-fold, hundred-fold.

OBS. 5.--A cardinal numeral denotes the whole number, but the corresponding
ordinal denotes only the last one of that number, or, at the beginning of a
series, the first of several or many. Thus: "_One_ denotes simply the
number _one_, without any regard to more; but _first_ has respect to more,
and so denotes only the first one of a greater number; and _two_ means the
number _two_ completely; but _second_, the last one of _two_: and so of all
the rest."--_Burn's Gram._, p. 54. A cardinal number answers to the
question, "_How many_?" An ordinal number answers to the question, "_Which
one_?" or, "_What one_?" All the ordinal numbers, except _first, second,
third_, and the compounds of these, as _twenty-first, twenty-second,
twenty-third_, are formed directly from the cardinal numbers by means of
the termination _th_. And as the primitives, in this case, are many of them
either compound words, or phrases consisting of several words, it is to be
observed, that the addition is made to the last term only. That is, of
every compound ordinal number, the last term only is ordinal in form. Thus
we say, _forty-ninth_, and not _fortieth-ninth_; nor could the meaning of
the phrase, _four hundred and fiftieth_, be expressed by saying, _fourth
hundredth and fiftieth_; for this, if it means any thing, speaks of three
different numbers.

OBS. 6.--Some of the numerals are often used as _nouns_; and, as such, are
regularly declined: as, _Ones, twoes, threes, fours, fives_, &c. So,
_Fifths, sixths, sevenths, eighths, ninths, tenths_, &c. "The _seventy's_
translation."--_Wilson's Hebrew Gram._, p. 32. "I will not do it for
_forty's_ sake."--_Gen._, xviii, 29. "I will not destroy it for _twenty's_
sake."--_Ib._, ver. 31. "For _ten's_ sake."--_Ib._, ver. 32. "They sat down
in ranks, by _hundreds_, and by _fifties_."--_Mark_, vi, 40. "There are
_millions_ of truths that a man is not concerned to know."--_Locke_. With
the compound numerals, such a construction is less common; yet the
denominator of a fraction may be a number of this sort: as, seven
_twenty-fifths_. And here it may be observed, that, in stead of the ancient
phraseology, as in 1 Chron., xxiv, 17th, "The _one and twentieth_ to
Jachin, the _two and twentieth_ to Gamul, the _three and twentieth_ to
Delaiah, the _four and twentieth_ to Maaziah," we now generally say, _the
twenty-first, the twenty-second_, &c.; using the hyphen in all compounds
till we arrive at _one hundred_, or _one hundredth_, and then first
introducing the word _and_; as, _one hundred and one_, or _one hundred and
first_, &c.

OBS. 7.--The Pronominal Adjectives are comparatively very few; but
frequency of use gives them great importance in grammar. The following
words are perhaps all that properly belong to this class, and several of
these are much oftener something else: _All, any, both, certain, divers,
each, either, else, enough, every, few, fewer, fewest, former, first,
latter, last, little, less, least, many, more, most, much, neither, no_ or
_none, one, other, own, only, same, several, some, such, sundry, that,
this, these, those, what, whatever, whatsoever, which, whichever,
whichsoever_.[172] Of these forty-six words, seven are always singular, if
the word _one_ is not an exception; namely, _each, either, every, neither,
one, that, this_: and nine or ten others are always plural, if the word
_many_ is not an exception; namely, _both, divers, few, fewer, fewest,
many, several, sundry, these, those_. All the rest, like our common
adjectives, are applicable to nouns of either number. _Else, every, only,
no_, and _none_, are definitive words, which I have thought proper to call
pronominal adjectives, though only the last can now with propriety be made
to represent its noun understood. "Nor has Vossius, or _any else_ that I
know of, observed it."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 279. Say, "or any _one_
else." Dr. Webster explains this word _else_ thus: "ELSE, _a._ or _pron._
[Sax. _elles_] Other; one or something _beside_; as, Who _else_ is
coming?"--_Octavo Dict._ "Each and _every_ of them," is an old phrase in
which _every_ is used pronominally, or with ellipsis of the word to which
it refers; but, in common discourse, we now say, _every one, every man_,
&c., never using the word _every_ alone to suggest its noun. _Only_ is
perhaps most commonly an adverb; but it is still in frequent use as an
adjective; and in old books we sometimes find an ellipsis of the noun to
which it belongs; as, "Neither are they the _only_ [verbs] in which it is
read."--_Johnson's Grammatical Commentaries_, p. 373. "But I think he is
the _only_ [one] of these Authors."--_Ib._, p. 193. _No_ and _none_ seem to
be only different forms of the same adjective; the former being used before
a noun expressed, and the latter when the noun is understood, or not placed
after the adjective; as, "For _none_ of us liveth to himself, and _no_ man
dieth to himself."--_Romans_, xiv, 7. _None_ was anciently used for _no_
before all words beginning with a vowel sound; as, "They are sottish
children; and they have _none_ understanding."--_Jeremiah_, iv, 22. This
practice is now obsolete. _None_ is still used, when its noun precedes it;
as,

   "Fools! who from hence into the notion fall,
    That _vice_ or _virtue_ there is _none_ at all."--_Pope_.

OBS. 8.--Of the words given in the foregoing list as pronominal adjectives,
about one third are sometimes used _adverbially_. They are the following:
_All_, when it means _totally; any_, for _in any degree; else_, meaning
_otherwise; enough_, signifying _sufficiently; first_, for _in the first
place; last_, for _in the last place; little_, for _in a small degree;
less_, for _in a smaller degree; least_, for _in the smallest degree;
much_, for _in a great degree; more_, for _in a greater degree; most_, for
_in the greatest degree; no_, or _none_, for _in no degree; only_, for
_singly, merely, barely; what_, for _in what degree_, or _in how great a
degree_.[173] To these may perhaps be added the word _other_, when used as
an alternative to _somehow_; as, "_Somehow_ or _other_ he will be
favoured."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 89. Here _other_ seems to be put for
_otherwise_; and yet the latter word would not be agreeable in such a
sentence. "_Somewhere or other_," is a kindred phrase equally common, and
equally good; or, rather, equally irregular and puzzling. Would it not be
better, always to avoid both, by saying, in their stead, "_In some way or
other_,"--"_In someplace or other?_" In the following examples, however,
_other_ seems to be used for _otherwise_, without such a connection: "How
is THAT used, _other_ than as a Conjunction?"--_Ainsworth's Gram._, p. 88.

   "Will it not be receiv'd that they have done 't?
    --Who dares receive it _other?_"--SHAK.: _Joh. Dict., w. Other_.

OBS. 9.--_All_ and _enough, little_ and _much, more_ and _less_, sometimes
suggest the idea of quantity so abstractly, that we can hardly consider
them as adjuncts to any other words; for which reason, they are, in this
absolute sense, put down in our dictionaries as _nouns_. If nouns, however,
they are never inflected by cases or numbers; nor do they in general admit
the usual adjuncts or definitives of nouns.[174] Thus, we can neither say,
_the all_, for _the whole_, nor _an enough_, for _a sufficiency_. And
though _a little, the more_, and _the less_, are common phrases, the
article does not here prove the following word to be a noun; because the
expression may either be elliptical, or have the construction of an adverb:
as, "Though _the more_ abundantly I love you, _the less_ I be loved."--_2
Cor._, xii, 15. Dr. Johnson seems to suppose that the partitive use of
these words makes them nouns; as, "They have _much of the poetry_ of
Mecænas, but _little of his liberality_."--DRYDEN: _in Joh. Dict._ Upon
this principle, however, adjectives innumerable would be made nouns; for we
can just as well say, "_Some of the poetry_,"--"_Any of the
poetry_,"--"_The best of Poetry_," &c. In all such expressions, the name of
the thing divided, is understood in the partitive word; for a part of any
thing must needs be of the same species as the whole. Nor was this great
grammarian sufficiently attentive to adjuncts, in determining the parts of
speech. _Nearly all, quite enough, so little, too much, vastly more, rather
less_, and an abundance of similar phrases, are familiar to every body; in
none of which, can any of these words of quantity, however abstract, be
very properly reckoned nouns; because the preceding word is an adverb, and
adverbs do not relate to any words that are literally nouns. All these may
also be used partitively; as, "_Nearly all of us_."

OBS. 10.--The following are some of Dr. Johnson's "_nouns_;" which, in
connexion with the foregoing remarks, I would submit to the judgement of
the reader: "'Then shall we be news-crammed.'--'_All_ the better; we shall
be the more remarkable.'"--SHAK.: _in Joh. Dict._ "_All_ the fitter,
Lentulus; our coming is not for salutation; we have business."--BEN JONSON:
_ib._ "'Tis _enough_ for me to have endeavoured the union of my
country."--TEMPLE: _ib._ "Ye take too _much_ upon you."--NUMBERS: _ib._
"The fate of love is such, that still it sees too _little_ or too
_much_."--DRYDEN: _ib._ "He thought not _much_ to clothe his
enemies."--MILTON: _ib._ "There remained not so _much_ as one of
them."--_Ib., Exod._, xiv, 28. "We will cut wood out of Lebanon, as _much_
as thou shalt need."--_Ib._, _2 Chronicles_. "The matter of the universe
was created before the flood; if any _more_ was created, then there must be
as _much_ annihilated to make room for it."--BURNET: _ib._ "The Lord do so,
and much _more_, to Jonathan."--1 SAMUEL: _ib._ "They that would have
_more_ and _more_, can never have _enough_; no, not if a miracle should
interpose to gratify their avarice."--L'ESTRANGE: _ib._ "They gathered some
_more_, some _less_."--EXODUS: _ib._ "Thy servant knew nothing of this,
_less_ or _more_."--1 SAMUEL: _ib._ The first two examples above, Johnson
explains thus: "That is, '_Every thing is the better_.'--_Every thing is
the fitter_."--_Quarto Dict._ The propriety of this solution may well be
doubted; because the similar phrases, "_So much_ the better,"--"_None_ the
fitter," would certainly be perverted, if resolved in the same way: _much_
and _none_ are here, very clearly, adverbs.

OBS. 11.--Whatever disposition may be made of the terms cited above, there
are instances in which some of the same words can hardly be any thing else
than nouns. Thus _all_, when it signifies _the whole_, or _every thing_,
may be reckoned a noun; as, "Our _all_ is at stake, and irretrievably lost,
if we fail of success."--_Addison_. "A torch, snuff and _all_, goes out in
a moment, when dipped in the vapour."--_Id._ "The first blast of wind laid
it flat on the ground; nest, eagles, and _all_."--_L'Estrange_.

   "Finding, the wretched _all_ they here can have,
    But present food, and but a future grave."--_Prior_.

    "And will she yet debase her eyes on me;
    On me, whose _all_ not equals Edward's moiety?"--_Shak_.

    "Thou shalt be _all_ in _all_, and I in thee,
    Forever; and in me all whom thou lov'st."--_Milton_.

OBS. 12.--There are yet some other words, which, by their construction
alone, are to be distinguished from the pronominal adjectives. _Both_, when
it stands as a correspondent to _and_, is reckoned a conjunction; as, "For
_both_ he that sanctifieth, _and_ they who are sanctified, are all of
one."--_Heb._, ii, 11. But, in sentences like the following, it seems to be
an adjective, referring to the nouns which precede: "Language and manners
are _both_ established by the usage of people of fashion."--_Amer.
Chesterfield_, p. 83. So _either_, corresponding to _or_, and _neither_,
referring to _nor_, are conjunctions, and not adjectives. _Which_ and
_what_, with their compounds, _whichever_ or _whichsoever, whatever_ or
_whatsoever_, though sometimes put before nouns as adjectives, are, for the
most part, relative or interrogative pronouns. When the noun is used after
them, they are adjectives; when it is omitted, they are pronouns: as,
"There is a witness of God, _which witness_ gives true judgement."--_I.
Penington_. Here the word _witness_ might be omitted, and _which_ would
become a relative pronoun. Dr. Lowth says, "_Thy, my, her, our, your,
their_, are pronominal adjectives."--_Gram._, p. 23. This I deny; and the
reader may see my reasons, in the observations upon the declension of
pronouns.

OBS. 13.--The words _one_ and _other_, besides their primitive uses as
adjectives, in which they still remain without inflection, are frequently
employed as nouns, or as substitutes for nouns; and, in this substantive or
pronominal character, they commonly have the regular declension of nouns,
and are reckoned such by some grammarians; though others call them
indefinite pronouns, and some, (among whom are Lowth and Comly,) leave them
with the pronominal adjectives, even when they are declined in both
numbers. Each of them may be preceded by either of the articles; and so
general is the signification of the former, that almost any adjective may
likewise come before it: as, _Any one, some one, such a one, many a one, a
new one, an old one, an other one, the same one, the young ones, the little
ones, the mighty ones, the wicked one, the Holy One, the Everlasting One_.
So, like the French _on_, or _l'on_, the word _one_, without any adjective,
is now very frequently used as a general or indefinite term for any man, or
any person. In this sense, it is sometimes, unquestionably, to be preferred
to a personal pronoun applied indefinitely: as, "Pure religion, and
undefiled before God and the Father, is this, To visit the fatherless and
widows in their affliction, and to keep _himself_ [better, _one's self_]
unspotted from the world."--_James_, i, 27. But, as its generality of
meaning seems to afford a sort of covering for egotism, some writers are
tempted to make too frequent a use of it. Churchill ridicules this
practice, by framing, or anonymously citing, the following sentence: "If
_one_ did but dare to abide by _one's_ own judgement, _one's_ language
would be much more refined; but _one_ fancies _one's_ self obliged to
follow, whereever the many choose to lead _one_."--See _Churchill's Gram._,
p. 229. Here every scholar will concur with the critic in thinking, it
would be better to say: "If _we_ did but dare to abide by _our_ own
judgement, _our_ language would be much more refined; but _we_ fancy
_ourselves_ obliged to follow wherever the many choose to lead _us_."--See
_ib._

OBS. 14.--Of the pronominal adjectives the following distribution has been
made: "_Each, every_, and _either_, are called _distributives_; because,
though they imply all the persons or things that make up a number, they
consider them, not as one whole, but as taken separately. _This, that,
former, latter, both, neither_, are termed _demonstratives_; because they
point out precisely the subjects to which they relate. _This_ has _these_
for its plural; _that_ has _those_. _This_ and _that_ are frequently put in
opposition to each other; _this_, to express what is nearer in place or
time; _that_, what is more remote. _All, any, one, other, some, such_, are
termed _indefinite_. _Another_ is merely _other_ in the singular, with the
indefinite article not kept separate from it.[175] _Other_, when not joined
with a noun, is occasionally used both in the possessive case, and in the
plural number: as,

    'Teach me to feel _an other's_ wo, to hide the fault I see;
    That mercy I to _others_ show, that mercy show to me.'--_Pope_.

_Each other_ and _one another_, when used in conjunction, may be termed
_reciprocals_; as they are employed to express a reciprocal action; the
former, between two persons or things; the latter, _between_[176] more than
two. The possessive cases of the personal pronouns have been also ranked
under the head of pronominal adjectives, and styled possessives; but for
this I see no good reason."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 76.

OBS. 15.--The reciprocal terms _each other_ and _one an other_ divide,
according to some mutual act or interchangeable relation, the persons or
things spoken of, and are commonly of the singular number only. _Each
other_, if rightly used, supposes two, and only two, to be acting and acted
upon reciprocally; _one an other_, if not misapplied, supposes more than
two, under like circumstances, and has an indefinite reference to all taken
distributively: as, "Brutus and Aruns killed _each other_." That is, _Each
combatant_ killed _the other_. "The disciples were commanded to love _one
an other_, and to be willing to wash _one an other's_ feet." That is, _All_
the disciples were commanded to love _mutually_; for both terms, _one_ and
_other_, or _one disciple_ and _an other disciple_, must be here understood
as taken indefinitely. The reader will observe, that the two terms thus
brought together, if taken substantively or pronominally in parsing, must
be represented as being of _different cases_; or, if we take them
adjectively the noun, which is twice to be supplied, will necessarily be
so.

OBS. 16.--Misapplications of the foregoing reciprocal terms are very
frequent in books, though it is strange that phrases so very common should
not be rightly understood. Dr. Webster, among his explanations of the word
_other_, has the following: "Correlative to _each_, and applicable to _any
number_ of individuals."--_Octavo Dict._ "_Other_ is used as a substitute
for a noun, and in this use has the plural number and the sign of the
possessive case."--_Ib._ Now it is plain, that the word _other_, as a
"correlative to _each_," may be so far "a substitute for a noun" as to take
the form of the possessive case singular, and perhaps also the plural; as,
"Lock'd in _each other's_ arms they lay." But, that the objective _other_,
in any such relation, can convey a plural idea, or be so loosely
applicable--"to _any number_ of individuals," I must here deny. If it were
so, there would be occasion, by the foregoing rule, to make it plural in
form; as, "The ambitious strive to excel _each others_." But this is not
English. Nor can it be correct to say of more than two, "They all strive to
excel _each other_." Because the explanation must be, "_Each_ strives to
excel _other_;" and such a construction of the word _other_ is not
agreeable to modern usage. _Each other_ is therefore not equivalent to _one
an other_, but nearer perhaps to _the one the other_: as, "The two generals
are independent _the one of the other_."--_Voltaire's Charles XII_, p. 67.
"And these are contrary _the one to the other_."--_Gal._, v, 17. "The
necessary connexion _of the one with the other_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 304.
The latter phraseology, being definite and formal, is now seldom used,
except the terms be separated by a verb or a preposition. It is a literal
version of the French _l'un l'autre_, and in some instances to be preferred
to _each other_; as,

   "So fellest foes, whose plots have broke their sleep,
    To take _the one the other_, by some chance."--_Shak_.

OBS. 17.--The Greek term for the reciprocals _each other_ and _one an
other_, is a certain plural derivative from [Greek: allos], _other_; and is
used in three cases, the genitive, [Greek: allælon], the dative, [Greek:
allælois], the accusative, [Greek: allælous]: these being all the cases
which the nature of the expression admits; and for all these we commonly
use the _objective_;--that is, we put _each_ or _one_ before the objective
_other_. Now these English terms, taken in a reciprocal sense, seldom, if
ever, have any plural form; because the article in _one an other_ admits of
none; and _each other_, when applied to two persons or things, (as it
almost always is,) does not require any. I have indeed seen, in some
narrative, such an example as this: "The two men were ready to cut _each
others' throats_." But the meaning could not be, that each was ready to cut
"_others' throats_;" and since, between the two, there was but one throat
for _each_ to cut, it would doubtless be more correct to say, "_each
other's throat_." So Burns, in touching a gentler passion, has an
inaccurate elliptical expression:

   "'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair,
    In _others'_ arms, breathe out the tender tale."
        --_Cotter's Sat. Night_.

He meant, "In _each other's_ arms;" the apostrophe being misplaced, and the
metre improperly allowed to exclude a word which the sense requires. Now,
as to the plural of _each other_, although we do not use the objective, and
say of many, "They love _each others_," there appear to be some instances
in which the possessive plural, _each others'_, would not be improper; as,
"Sixteen ministers, who meet weekly at _each other's_ houses."--_Johnson's
Life of Swift_. Here the singular is wrong, because the governing noun
implies a plurality of owners. "The citizens of different states should
know _each others characters_."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 35. This also is
wrong, because no possessive sign is used. Either write, "_each others'
characters_," or say, "_one an other's character_."

OBS. 18.--_One_ and _other_ are, in many instances, terms relative and
partitive, rather than reciprocal; and, in this use, there seems to be an
occasional demand for the plural form. In French, two parties are
contrasted by _les uns--les autres_; a mode of expression seldom, if ever
imitated in English. Thus: "Il les séparera _les uns_ d'avec _les autres_."
That is, "He shall separate them _some_ from _others_;"--or, literally,
"_the ones_ from _the others_." Our version is: "He shall separate them
_one from an other_."--_Matt._, xxv, 32. Beza has it: "Separabit eos
_alteros ab alteris_." The Vulgate: "Separabit eos _ab invicem_." The
Greek: "[Greek: Aphoriei autous ap allælon]." To separate many "_one from
an other_," seems, literally, to leave none of them together; and this is
not, "as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." To express such an
idea with perfect propriety, in our language, therefore, we must resort to
some other phraseology. In Campbell's version, we read: "And _out of them_
he will separate _the good from the bad_, as a shepherd separateth _the_
sheep from the goats." Better, perhaps, thus: "And he shall separate them,
_the righteous from the wicked_, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats."

OBS. 19.--Dr. Bullions says, "_One_ and _other_ refer to _the singular
only_."--_Eng. Gram._, p. 98. Of _ones_ and _others_ he takes no notice;
nor is he sufficiently attentive to usage in respect to the roots. If there
is any absurdity in giving a _plural_ meaning to the singulars _one_ and
_other_, the following sentences need amendment: "_The one_ preach Christ
of contention; but _the other_, of love."--_Philippians_, i, 16. Here "_the
one_" is put for "the one _class_," and "_the other_" for "the other
_class_;" the ellipsis in the first instance not being a very proper one.
"The confusion arises, when _the one_ will put _their_ sickle into _the
other's_ harvest."--LESLEY: _in Joh. Dict._ This may be corrected by
saying, "_the one party_," or, "_the one nation_," in stead of "_the one_."
"It is clear from Scripture, that Antichrist shall be permitted to work
false miracles, and that they shall so counterfeit the true, that it will
be hard to discern _the one_ from _the other_."--_Barclay's Works_, iii,
93. If in any ease we may adopt the French construction above, "_the ones_
from the _others_," it will be proper here. Again: "I have seen _children_
at a table, who, whatever was there, never asked for any thing, but
contentedly took what was given them: and, at an other place, I have seen
_others_ cry for every thing they saw; they must be served out of every
dish, and that first too. What made this vast difference, but this: That
_one was_ accustomed to have what _they_ called or cried for; _the other_
to go without it?"--_Locke, on Education_, p. 55. Here, (with _were_ for
_was_,) the terms of contrast ought rather to have been, _the ones--the
others_; _the latter--the former_; or, _the importunate--the modest_.
"Those nice shades, by which _virtues and vices_ approach _each one
another_."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 350. This expression should be any
thing, rather than what it is. Say, "By which _virtue_ and _vice_ approach
_each other_." Or: "By which certain virtues and vices _approximate--
blend--become difficult of distinction_."

OBS. 20.--"Most authors have given the name of _pronoun adjectives_,
['pronouns adjective,' or 'pronominal adjectives,'] to _my, mine; our,
ours; thy, thine; your, yours; his, her, hers; their, theirs_: perhaps
because they are followed by, or refer to, some substantive [expressed or
understood after them]. But, were they adjectives, they must either express
the quality of their substantive, or limit its extent: adjectives properly
so called, do the first; definitive pronouns do the last. All adjectives
[that are either singular or plural,] agree with their substantives in
_number_; but I can say, 'They are _my books_:' _my_ is singular, and
_books_ plural; therefore _my_ is not an adjective. Besides, _my_ does not
express the _quality_ of the books, but only ascertains the possessor, the
same as the genitive or substantive does, to which it is similar. Examples:
'They are _my_ books;'--'They are _John's_ books;' &c."--_Alex. Murray's
Gram._, p. 108.

OBS. 21.--To the class of Participial Adjectives, should be referred all
such words as the following: (1.) The simple participles made adjectives by
position; as. "A _roaring_ lion,"--"A _raging_ bear,"--"A _brawling_
woman,"--"A _flattering_ mouth,"--"An _understanding_ heart,"--"_Burning_
coals,"--"The _hearing_ ear, and the _seeing_ eye."--_Bible_. "A _troubled_
fountain,"--"A _wounded_ spirit,"--"An _appointed_ time."--_Ib._ (2.) Words
of a participial appearance, formed from nouns by adding _ed_; as, "The eve
thy _sainted_ mother died."--_W. Scott_. "What you write of me, would make
me more _conceited_, than what I scribble myself."--_Pope_. (3.)
Participles, or participial adjectives, reversed in sense by the prefix
_un_; as, _unaspiring, unavailing, unbelieving, unbattered, uninjured,
unbefriended_. (4.) Words of a participial form construed elliptically, as
if they were nouns; as, "Among the _dying_ and the dead."--"The _called_ of
Jesus Christ."--_Rom._, i, 6. "Dearly _beloved_, I beseech you."--_1 Pet._,
ii, 11. "The _redeemed_ of the Lord shall return."--_Isaiah_, li, 11. "They
talk, to the grief of thy _wounded_."--_Psalms_, lxix, 26: _Margin_.

OBS. 22.--In the text, Prov., vii, 26, "She hath cast down many wounded,"
_wounded_ is a participle; because the meaning is, "_many men wounded_,"
and not, "_many wounded men_." Our Participial Adjectives are exceedingly
numerous. It is not easy to ascertain how many there are of them; because
almost any simple participle may be set before a noun, and thus become an
adjective: as,

   "Where _smiling_ spring its earliest visit paid,
    And _parting_ summer's _ling'ring_ blooms delay'd."--_Goldsmith_.

OBS. 23.--Compound Adjectives, being formed at pleasure, are both numerous
and various. In their formation, however, certain analogies may be traced:
(1.) Many of them are formed by joining an adjective to its noun, and
giving to the latter the participial termination _ed_; as, _able-bodied,
sharp-sighted, left-handed, full-faced, flat-nosed, thick-lipped,
cloven-footed, high-heeled_. (2.) In some, two nouns are joined, the latter
assuming _ed_, as above; as, _bell-shaped, hawk-nosed, eagle-sighted,
lion-hearted, web-footed_. (3.) In some, the object of an active participle
is placed before it; as, _money-getting, time-serving, self-consuming,
cloud-compelling, fortune-hunting, sleep-disturbing_. (4.) Some, embracing
numerals, form a series, though it is seldom carried far; as, _one-legged,
two-legged, three-legged, four-legged_. So, _one-leaved, two-leaved,
three-leaved, four-leaved_: or, perhaps better as Webster will have them,
_one-leafed, two-leafed, &c_. But, upon the same principle, _short-lived_,
should be _short-lifed_, and _long-lived, long-lifed_. (5.) In some, there
is a combination of an adjective and a participle; as, _noble-looking,
high-sounding, slow-moving, thorough-going, hard-finished, free-born,
heavy-laden, only-begotten_. (6.) In some, we find an adverb and a
participle united; as, _ever-living, ill-judging, well-pleasing,
far-shooting, forth-issuing, back-sliding, ill-trained, down-trodden,
above-mentioned_. (7.) Some consist of a noun and a participle which might
be reversed with a preposition between them; as, _church-going,
care-crazed, travel-soiled, blood-bespotted, dew-sprinkled_. (8.) A few,
and those inelegant, terminate with a preposition; as, _unlooked-for,
long-looked-for, unthought-of, unheard-of_. (9.) Some are phrases of many
words, converted into one part of speech by the hyphen; as, "Where is the
_ever-to-be-honoured_ Chaucer?"--_Wordsworth_.

   "And, with _God-only-knows-how-gotten_ light,
    Informs the nation what is wrong or right."
        --_Snelling's Gift for Scribblers_, p. 49.

OBS. 24.--Nouns derived from compound adjectives, are generally disapproved
by good writers; yet we sometimes meet with them: as, _hard-heartedness_,
for hardness of heart, or cruelty; _quick-sightedness_, for quickness of
sight, or perspicacity; _worldly-mindedness_, for devotion to the world, or
love of gain; _heavenly-mindedness_, for the love of God, or true piety. In
speaking of ancestors or descendants, we take the noun, _father, mother,
son, daughter_, or _child_; prefix the adjective _grand_; for the second
generation; _great_, for the, third; and then, sometimes, repeat the same,
for degrees more remote: as, _father, grandfather, great-grandfather,
great-great-grandfather_. "What would my _great-grandmother_ say, thought
I, could she know that thou art to be chopped up for fuel to warm the
frigid fingers of her _great-great-great-granddaughters_!"--_T. H.
Bayley_.


MODIFICATIONS.

Adjectives have, commonly, no modifications but the forms of _comparison_.
Comparison is a variation of the adjective, to express quality in different
degrees: as, _hard, harder, hardest; soft, softer, softest._

There are three degrees of comparison; the _positive_, the _comparative_,
and the _superlative_.

The _positive degree_ is that which is expressed by the adjective in its
simple form: as, "An elephant is _large_; a mouse, _small_; a lion,
_fierce, active, bold_, and _strong_."

The _comparative degree_ is that which is _more_ or _less_ than something
contrasted with it: as, "A whale is _larger_ than an elephant; a mouse is a
much _smaller_ animal than a rat."

The _superlative degree_ is that which is _most_ or _least_ of all included
with it: as, "The whale is the _largest_ of the animals that inhabit this
globe; the mouse is the _smallest_ of all beasts."--_Dr. Johnson._

Those adjectives whose signification does not admit of different degrees,
cannot be compared; as, _two, second, all, every, immortal, infinite._

Those adjectives which may be varied in sense, but not in form, are
compared by means of adverbs; as, fruitful, _more_ fruitful, _most_
fruitful--fruitful, _less_ fruitful, _least_ fruitful.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--"Some scruple to call the positive a degree of comparison; on the
ground, that it does not imply either comparison, or degree. But no quality
can exist, without existing in some degree: and, though the positive is
very frequently used without reference to any other degree; as it is _the
standard_, with which other degrees of the quality are compared, it is
certainly an essential object of the comparison. While these critics allow
only two degrees, we might in fact with more propriety say, that there are
five: 1, the quality in its standard state, or positive degree; as _wise_:
2, in a higher state, or the comparative ascending; _more wise_: 3, in a
lower, or the comparative descending; _less wise_: 4, in the highest state,
or superlative ascending; _most wise_: 5, in the lowest state, or
superlative descending; _least wise._ All grammarians, however, agree about
the things themselves, and the forms used to express them; though they
differ about the names, by which these forms should be called: and as those
names are practically best, which tend least to perplex the learner, I see
no good reason here for deviating from what has been established by long
custom."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 231.

OBS. 2.--Churchill here writes plausibly enough, but it will be seen, both
from his explanation, and from the foregoing definitions of the degrees of
comparison, that there are but three. The comparative and the superlative
may each be distinguishable into the ascending and the descending, as often
as we prefer the adverbial form to the regular variation of the adjective
itself; but this imposes no necessity of classing and defining them
otherwise than simply as the comparative and the superlative. The
assumption of two comparatives and two superlatives, is not only contrary
to the universal practice of the teachers of grammar; but there is this
conclusive argument against it--that the regular method of comparison has
no degrees of diminution, and the form which has such degrees, is _no
inflection_ of the adjective. If there is any exception, it is in the
words, _small, smaller, smallest_, and _little, less, least_. But of the
smallness or littleness, considered abstractly, these, like all others, are
degrees of increase, and not of diminution. _Smaller_ is as completely
opposite to _less small_, as _wiser_ is to _less wise_. _Less_ itself is a
comparative descending, only when it diminishes some _other_ quality: _less
little_, if the phrase were proper, must needs be nearly equivalent to
_greater_ or _more_. Churchill, however, may be quite right in the
following remark: "The comparative ascending of an adjective, and the
comparative descending of an adjective expressing the opposite quality, are
often considered synonymous, by those who do not discriminate nicely
between ideas. But _less imprudent_ does not imply precisely the same thing
as _more prudent_; or _more brave_, the same as _less cowardly_."--_New
Gram._, p. 231.

OBS. 3.--The definitions which I have given of the three degrees of
comparison, are new. In short, I know not whether any other grammarian has
ever given what may justly be called a _definition_, of any one of them.
Here, as in most other parts of grammar, loose _remarks_, ill-written and
untrue assertions, have sufficed. The explanations found in many English
grammars are the following: "The positive state expresses the quality of an
object, without any increase or diminution; as, good, wise, great. The
comparative degree increases or lessens the positive in signification; as,
wiser, greater, less wise. The superlative degree increases or lessens the
positive to the highest or [the] lowest degree; as, wisest, greatest, least
wise. The simple word, or positive, becomes [the] comparative by adding _r_
or _er_; and the superlative by adding _st_ or _est_, to the end of it.
And the adverbs _more_ and _most_, placed before the adjective, have the
same effect; as, wise, _more_ wise, _most_ wise."--_Murray's Grammar_, 2d
Ed., 1796, p. 47. If a man wished to select some striking example of bad
writing--of thoughts ill conceived, and not well expressed--he could not do
better than take the foregoing: provided his auditors knew enough of
grammar to answer the four simple questions here involved; namely, What is
the positive degree? What is the comparative degree? What is the
superlative degree? How are adjectives regularly compared? To these
questions I shall furnish _direct answers_, which the reader may compare
with such as he can derive from the foregoing citation: the last two
sentences of which Murray ought to have credited to Dr. Lowth; for he
copied them literally, except that he says, "the adverbs _more_ AND
_most_," for the Doctor's phrase, "the adverbs _more_ OR _most_." See the
whole also in _Kirkham's Grammar_, p. 72; in _Ingersoll's_, p. 35; in
_Alger's_, p. 21; in _Bacon's_, p. 18; in _Russell's_, p. 14; in
_Hamlin's_, p. 22; in _J. M. Putnam's_, p. 33; in _S. Putnam's_, p. 20; in
_R. C. Smith's_, p. 51; in _Rev. T. Smith's_, p. 20.

OBS. 4.--In the five short sentences quoted above, there are more errors,
than can possibly be enumerated in ten times the space. For example: (1.)
If one should say of a piece of iron, "It grows cold or hot very rapidly,"
_cold_ and _hot_ could not be in the "_positive state_," as they define it:
because, either the "quality" or the "object," (I know not which,) is
represented by them as "without any increase or diminution;" and this would
not, in the present case, be true of either; for iron changes in bulk, by a
change of temperature. (2.) What, in the first sentence, is erroneously
called "the positive _state_," in the second and the third, is called, "the
positive _degree_;" and this again, in the fourth, is falsely identified
with "the simple _word_." Now, if we suppose the meaning to be, that "the
positive state," "the positive degree," or "the simple word," is "without
any increase or diminution;" this is expressly contradicted by three
sentences out of the five, and implicitly, by one of the others. (3.) Not
one of these sentences is _true_, in the most obvious sense of the words,
if in any other; and yet the doctrines they were designed to teach, may
have been, in general, correctly gathered from the examples. (4.) The
phrase, "_positive in signification_," is not intelligible in the sense
intended, without a comma after _positive_; and yet, in an armful of
different English grammars which contain the passage, I find not one that
has a point in that place. (5.) It is not more correct to say, that the
comparative or the superlative degree, "increases or lessens the positive,"
than it would be to aver, that the plural number increases or lessens the
singular, or the feminine gender, the masculine. Nor does the superlative
mean, what a certain learned Doctor understands by it--namely, "_the
greatest or least possible degree_." If it did, "the _thickest_ parts of
his skull," for example, would imply small room for brains; "the
_thinnest_," protect them ill, if there were any. (6.) It is improper to
say, "_The simple word becomes_ [the] _comparative by adding r or er_; and
_the superlative by adding st or est_." The thought is wrong; and nearly
all the words are misapplied; as, _simple_ for _primitive, adding_ for
_assuming_, &c. (7.) Nor is it very wise to say, "the adverbs _more_ and
_most_, placed before the adjective, _have the same effect_:" because it
ought to be known, that the effect of the one is very different from that
of the other! "_The same effect_," cannot here be taken for any effect
previously described; unless we will have it to be, that these words,
_more_ and _most_, "become comparative by adding _r_ or _er_; and the
superlative by adding _st_ or _est_, to the end of them:" all of which is
grossly absurd. (8.) The repetition of the word _degree_, in saying, "The
superlative _degree_ increases or lessens the positive to the highest or
lowest _degree_," is a disagreeable tautology. Besides, unless it involves
the additional error of presenting the same word in different senses, it
makes one degree swell or diminish an other _to itself_; whereas, in the
very next sentence, this singular agency is forgotten, and a second equally
strange takes its place: "The positive _becomes_ the superlative by adding
_st_ or _est_, to the end of it;" i. e., to the end of _itself_. Nothing
can be more ungrammatical, than is much of the language by which grammar
itself is now professedly taught!

OBS. 5.--It has been almost universally assumed by grammarians, that the
positive degree is _the only standard_ to which the other degrees can
refer; though many seem to think, that the superlative always implies or
includes the comparative, and is consequently inapplicable when only two
things are spoken of. Neither of these positions is involved in any of the
definitions which I have given above. The reader may think what he will
about these points, after observing the several ways in which each form may
be used. In the phrases, "_greater_ than Solomon,"--"_more_ than a
bushel,"--"_later_ than one o'clock," it is not immediately obvious that
the positives _great, much_, and _late_, are the real terms of contrast.
And how is it in the Latin phrases, "_Dulcior melle_, sweeter than
honey,"--"_Præstantior auro_, better than gold?" These authors will resolve
all such phrases thus: "_greater_, than Solomon _was great_,"--"_more_,
than a bushel _is much_," &c. As the conjunction _than_ never governs the
objective case, it seems necessary to suppose an ellipsis of some verb
after the noun which follows it as above; and possibly the foregoing
solution, uncouth as it seems, may, for the English idiom, be the true one:
as, "My Father is _greater than I_."--_John_, xiv, 28. That is, "My Father
is greater _than I am_;"--or, perhaps, "than I am _great_." But if it
appear that _some_ degree of the same quality must always be contrasted
with the comparative, there is still room to question whether this degree
must always be that which we call the positive. Cicero, in exile, wrote to
his wife: "Ego autem hoc _miserior_ sum, quam tu, quæ es _miserrima_, quod
ipsa calamitas communis est utriusque nostrùm, sed culpa mea propria
est."--_Epist. ad Fam._, xiv, 3. "But in this I am _more wretched_, than
thou, who art _most wretched_, that the calamity itself is common to us
both, but the fault is all my own."

OBS. 6.--In my Institutes and First Lines of English Grammar, I used the
following brief definitions: "The _comparative degree_ is that which
exceeds the positive; as, _harder, softer, better_." "The _superlative
degree_ is that which is not exceeded; as, _hardest, softest, best_." And
it is rather for the sake of suggesting to the learner the peculiar
_application_ of each of these degrees, than from any decided
dissatisfaction with these expressions, that I now present others. The
first, however, proceeds upon the common supposition, that the comparative
degree of a quality, ascribed to any object, must needs be contrasted with
the positive in some other, or with the positive in the same at an other
time. This idea may be plausibly maintained, though it is certain that the
positive term referred to, is seldom, if ever, allowed to appear. Besides,
the comparative or the superlative _may_ appear, and in such a manner as to
be, or seem to be, in the point of contrast. Thus: "Objects near our view
are apt to be thought _greater than those of a larger size_, that are more
remote."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 186. Upon the principle above, the
explanation here must be, that the meaning is--"_greater_ than those of a
larger size _are thought great._" "The _poor_ man that loveth Christ, is
_richer than the richest man_ in the world, that hates him."--_Bunyan's
Pilgrim's Progress_, p. 86. This must be "_richer_ than the richest man _is
rich_." The riches contemplated here, are of different sorts; and the
comparative or the superlative of one sort, may be exceeded by either of
these degrees of an other sort, though the same epithet be used for both.
So in the following instances: "He that is _higher than the highest_
regardeth; and there be _higher than they_."--_Eccl._, v, 8. That is, "He
that is higher than the highest _earthly dignitaries_, regardeth; and there
are higher _authorities_ than _these._" "_Fairer_ than aught imagined else
_fairest_."--_Pollok_. "_Sadder than saddest_ night."--_Byron_. It is
evident that the superlative degree is not, in general, that which _cannot
be_ exceeded, but that which, in the actual state of the things included,
"_is_ not exceeded." Again, as soon as any given comparative or superlative
is, by a further elevation or intension of the quality, surpassed and
exceeded, that particular degree, whatever it was, becomes merely positive;
for the positive degree of a quality, though it commonly includes the very
lowest measure, and is understood to exceed nothing, may at any time
_equal_ the very highest. There is no paradox in all this, which is not
also in the following simple examples: "_Easier_, indeed, I was, but far
from _easy_."--_Cowper's Life_, p. 50.

   "Who canst the _wisest wiser_ make,
    And babes _as wise_ as they."--_Cowper's Poems_.

OBS. 7.--The relative nature of these degrees deserves to be further
illustrated. (1.) It is plain, that the greatest degree of a quality in one
thing, may be less than the least in an other; and, consequently, that the
least degree in one thing, may be greater than the greatest in an other.
Thus, the _heaviest_ wood is _less heavy_ than the _lightest_ of the
metals; and the _least valuable_ of the metals is perhaps of _more value_
than the _choicest_ wood. (2.) The comparative degree may increase upon
itself, and be repeated to show the gradation. Thus, a man may ascend into
the air with a balloon, and rise _higher_, and _higher_, and _higher_, and
_higher_, till he is out of sight. This is no uncommon form of expression,
and the intension is from comparative to comparative. (3.) If a ladder be
set up for use, one of its rounds will be _the highest_, and one other will
be _the lowest_, or _least high._ And as that which is _highest_, is
_higher_ than all the rest, so every one will be _higher_ than all below
it. _The higher rounds_, if spoken of generally, and without definite
contrast, will be those in the upper half; _the lower rounds_, referred to
in like manner, will be those in the lower half, or those not far from the
ground. _The highest rounds_, or _the lowest_, if we indulge such latitude
of speech, will be those near the top or the bottom; there being,
absolutely, or in _strictness_ of language, but _one_ of each. (4.) If _the
highest_ round be removed, or left uncounted, the next becomes the
_highest_, though not _so high_ as the former. For every one is _the
highest_ of the number which it completes. All admit this, till we come to
_three_. And, as the third is _the highest of the three_, I see not why the
second is not properly _the highest of the two_. Yet nearly all our
grammarians condemn this phrase, and prefer "_the higher of the two_." But
can they give a _reason_ for their preference? That the comparative degree
is implied between the positive and the superlative, so that there must
needs be three terms before the latter is applicable, is a doctrine which I
deny. And if the second is _the higher of the two_, because it is _higher
than the first_; is it not also _the highest of the two_, because it
_completes the number?_ (5.) It is to be observed, too, that as our ordinal
numeral _first_, denoting the one which begins a series, and having
reference of course to more, is an adjective of the superlative degree,
equivalent to _foremost_, of which it is perhaps a contraction; so _last_
likewise, though no numeral, is a superlative also. (6.) These, like other
superlatives, admit of a looser application, and may possibly include more
than one thing at the beginning or at the end of a series: as, "_The last
years_ of man are often helpless, like _the first_." (7.) With undoubted
propriety, we may speak of _the first two, the last two, the first three,
the last three_, &c.; but to say, _the two first, the two last_, &c., with
this meaning, is obviously and needlessly inaccurate. "_The two first men_
in the nation," may, I admit, be good English; but it can properly be meant
only of _the two most eminent._ In specifying any part of a _series_, we
ought rather to place the cardinal number after the ordinal. (8.) Many of
the foregoing positions apply generally, to almost all adjectives that are
susceptible of comparison. Thus, it is a common saying, "Take _the best
first_, and _all_ will be _best_." That is, remove that degree which is now
superlative, and the epithet will descend to an other, "_the next best._"

OBS. 8.--It is a common assumption, maintained by almost all our
grammarians, that the degrees which add to the adjective the terminations
_er_ and _est_, as well as those which are expressed by _more_ and _most_,
indicate an _increase_, or heightening, of the quality expressed by the
positive. If such must needs be their import, it is certainly very
improper, to apply them, as many do, to what can be only an approximation
to the positive. Thus Dr. Blair: "Nothing that belongs to human nature, is
_more universal_ than the relish of beauty of one kind or
other."--_Lectures_, p. 16. "In architecture, the Grecian models were long
esteemed _the most perfect_."--_Ib._, p. 20. Again: In his reprehension of
Capernaum, the Saviour said, "It shall be _more tolerable_ for the land of
Sodom, in the day of judgement, than for thee."--_Matt._, xi, 24. Now,
although [Greek: anektoteron], _more tolerable_, is in itself a good
comparative, who would dare infer from this text, that in the day of
judgement Capernaum shall fare _tolerably_, and Sodom, _still better_?
There is much reason to think, that the essential nature of these
grammatical degrees has not been well understood by those who have
heretofore pretended to explain them. If we except those few approximations
to sensible qualities, which are signified by such words as _whitish,
greenish, &c._, there will be found no actual measure, or inherent degree
of any quality, to which the simple form of the adjective is not
applicable; or which, by the help of intensive adverbs of a positive
character, it may not be made to express; and that, too, without becoming
either comparative or superlative, in the technical sense of those terms.
Thus _very white, exceedingly white, perfectly white_, are terms quite as
significant as _whiter_ and _whitest_, if not more so. Some grammarians,
observing this, and knowing that the Romans often used their superlative in
a sense merely intensive, as _altissimus_ for _very high_, have needlessly
divided our English superlative into two, "_the definite_, and the
_indefinite_;" giving the latter name to that degree which we mark by the
adverb _very_, and the former to that which alone is properly called the
superlative. Churchill does this: while, (as we have seen above,) in naming
the degrees, he pretends to prefer "what has been established by long
custom."--_New Gram._, p. 231. By a strange oversight also, he failed to
notice, that this doctrine interferes with his scheme of _five_ degrees,
and would clearly furnish him with _six_: to which if he had chosen to add
the "_imperfect degree_" of Dr. Webster, (as _whitish, greenish, &c._,)
which is recognized by Johnson, Murray, and others, he might have had
_seven_. But I hope my readers will by-and-by believe there is _no need_ of
more than _three_.

OBS. 9.--The true nature of the Comparative degree is this: it denotes
either some _excess_ or some _relative deficiency_ of the quality, when one
thing or party is compared with an other, in respect to what is in both:
as, "Because the foolishness of God is _wiser_ than men; and the weakness
of God is _stronger_ than men."--_1 Cor._, i, 25. "Few languages are, in
fact, _more copious_ than the English."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 87. "Our style
is _less compact_ than that of the ancients."--_Ib._, p. 88. "They are
counted to him _less_ than nothing and vanity."--_Isaiah_, xl, 17. As the
comparatives in a long _series_ are necessarily many, and some of them
_higher_ than others, it may be asked, "How can the comparative degree, in
this case, be merely 'that which exceeds the positive?'" Or, as our common
grammarians prompt me here to say, "May not the comparative degree increase
or lessen _the comparative_, in signification?" The latter form of the
question they may answer for themselves; remembering that the comparative
_may advance from the comparative_, step by step, from the second article
in the series to the utmost. Thus, three is a higher or greater number than
two; but four is higher than three; five, than four; and so on, _ad
infinitum_. My own form of the question I answer thus: "The _highest_ of
the _higher_ is not _higher_ than the rest are _higher_, but simply
_higher_ than they are _high_."

OBS. 10.--The true nature of the Superlative degree is this: it denotes, in
a quality, _some extreme_ or _unsurpassed extent_. It may be used either
absolutely, as being without bounds; or relatively, as being confined
within any limits we choose to give it. It is equally applicable to that
which is naturally unsurpassable, and to that which stands within the
narrowest limits of comparison. The _heaviest_ of _three feathers_ would
scarcely be thought a _heavy_ thing, and yet the expression is proper;
because the weight, whatever it is, is relatively _the greatest_. The
_youngest_ of three persons, may not be _very young_; nor need we suppose
the _oldest_ in a whole college to have arrived at _the greatest
conceivable age_. What then shall be thought of the explanations which our
grammarians have given of this degree of comparison? That of Murray I have
already criticised. It is ascribed to him, not upon the supposition that he
invented it; but because common sense continues to give place to the
authority of his name in support of it. Comly, Russell, Alger, Ingersoll,
Greenleaf, Fisk, Merchant, Kirkham, T. Smith, R. C. Smith, Hall, Hiley, and
many others, have copied it into their grammars, as being better than any
definition they could devise. Murray himself unquestionably took it from
some obscure pedagogue among the old grammarians. Buchanan, who long
preceded him, has nearly the same words: "The Superlative increases or
diminishes the Positive in Signification, to the highest or [the] lowest
Degree of all."--_English Syntax_, p. 28. If this is to be taken for a
grammatical definition, what definition shall grammar itself bear?

OBS. 11.--Let us see whether our later authors have done better. "The
_superlative_ expresses a quality in the greatest or [the] least _possible_
degree; as, _wisest, coldest, least wise_."--_Webster's Old Gram._, p. 13.
In his later speculations, this author conceives that the termination _ish_
forms the _first_ degree of comparison; as, "Imperfect, _dankish_," Pos.
_dank_, Comp. _danker_, Superl. _dankest_. "There are therefore _four_
degrees of comparison."--_Webster's Philosophical Gram._ p. 65. "The
_fourth_ denotes the utmost or [the] least degree of a quality; as,
_bravest, wisest, poorest, smallest_. This is called the _superlative_
degree."--_Ib._; also his _Improved Gram._, 1831, p. 47. "This degree is
called the Superlative degree, from its raising the amount of the quality
above that of all others."--_Webber's Gram._, 1832, p. 26. It is not easy
to quote, from any source, a worse sentence than this; if, indeed, so
strange a jumble of words can be called a sentence. "_From its raising the
amount_," is in itself a vicious and untranslatable phrase, here put for
"_because it raises the amount_;" and who can conceive of the superlative
degree, as "_raising the amount of the quality_ above that of _all other
qualities_?" Or, if it be supposed to mean, "above the amount of all other
_degrees_," what is this amount? Is it that of one and one, the _positive_
and the _comparative_ added numerically? or is it the sum of all the
quantities which these may indicate? Perhaps the author meant, "above the
amount of all other _amounts_." If none of these absurdities is here
taught, nothing is taught, and the words are nonsense. Again: "The
_superlative degree_ increases or diminishes the positive to the highest or
[the] lowest degree _of which it is susceptible_."--_Bucke's Classical
Gram._, p. 49. "The superlative degree is generally formed by adding _st_
or _est_ to the positive; and denotes _the greatest excess_."--_Nutting's
Gram._, p. 33. "The Superlative increases or diminishes the Signification
of the Positive or Adjective, to a _very high_ or a _very low_
Degree."--_British Gram._, p. 97. What _excess_ of skill, or what _very
high degree_ of acuteness, have the _brightest_ and _best_ of these
grammarians exhibited? There must be some, if their definitions are _true_.

OBS. 12.--The common assertion of the grammarians, that the superlative
degree is not applicable to two _objects_,[177] is not only unsupported by
any reason in the nature of things, but it is contradicted in practice by
almost every man who affirms it. Thus Maunder: "When only two persons or
things are spoken of comparatively, to use the superlative is improper: as,
'Deborah, my dear, give those two boys a lump of sugar each; and let Dick's
be the largest, because he spoke first.' This," says the critic, "should
have been 'larger.'"--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 4. It is true, the comparative
_might_ here have been used; but the superlative is clearer, and more
agreeable to custom. And how can "_largest_" be wrong, if "_first_" is
right? "Let Dick's be the _larger_, because he spoke _sooner_," borders too
much upon a different idea, that of _proportion_; as when we say, "_The
sooner the better_,"--"_The more the merrier_." So Blair: "When only two
things are compared, the comparative degree should be used, and not the
superlative."--_Practical Gram._, p. 81. "A Trochee has the _first_
syllable accented, and the _last_ unaccented."--_Ib._, p. 118. "An Iambus
has the first syllable unaccented, and the _last_ accented."--_Ibid._ These
two examples are found also in _Jamieson's Rhetoric_, p. 305; _Murray's
Gram._, p. 253; _Kirkham's_, 219; _Bullions's_, 169; _Guy's_, 120;
_Merchant's_, 166. So Hiley: "When _two_ persons or things are compared,
the _comparative_ degree must be employed. When _three or more_ persons or
things are compared, the _superlative_ must be used."--_Treatise on English
Gram._, p. 78. Contradiction in practice: "Thomas is _wiser_ than his
brothers."--_Ib._, p. 79. Are not "_three or more persons_" here compared
by "the comparative" _wiser_? "In an _Iambus_ the _first_ syllable is
unaccented."--_Ib._, p. 123. An iambus has but _two_ syllables; and this
author expressly teaches that "_first_" is "superlative."--_Ib._, p. 21. So
Sanborn: "The _positive_ degree denotes the _simple_ form of an adjective
_without_ any variation of meaning. The _comparative_ degree increases or
lessens the meaning _of the positive_, and denotes a comparison _between
two_ persons or things. The _superlative_ degree increases or lessens the
positive _to the greatest extent_, and denotes a comparison _between more
than two_ persons or things."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 30 and p. 86. These
pretended definitions of the degrees of comparison embrace not only the
absurdities which I have already censured in those of our common grammars,
but several new ones peculiar to this author. Of the inconsistency of his
doctrine and practice, take the following examples: "Which of two bodies,
that move with the same velocity, will exercise the _greatest_
power?"--_Ib._, p. 93; and again, p. 203, "'I was offered a _dollar_;'--'A
_dollar_ was offered (to) _me_.' The _first_ form should always be
avoided."--_Ib._, p. 127. "Nouns in apposition generally annex the sign of
the possessive case to the _last_; as, 'For David my _servant's_
sake.'--'John the _Baptist's_ head.' _Bible_."--_Ib._, p. 197.

OBS. 13.--So Murray: "We commonly say, 'This is the _weaker of the two_;'
or, 'The _weakest_ of the two;'[178] but the former is the regular mode of
expression, because there are _only two_ things compared."--_Octavo Gram._,
i, 167. What then of the following example: "Which of _those two persons_
has _most_ distinguished himself?"--_Ib., Key_, ii, 187. Again, in treating
of the adjectives _this_ and _that_, the same hand writes thus: "_This_
refers to the _nearest_ person or thing, and _that_ to the _most distant_:
as, '_This_ man is _more intelligent_ than _that_.' _This_ indicates the
_latter_, or _last_ mentioned; _that_, the _former_, or _first_ mentioned:
as, 'Both wealth and poverty are temptations; _that_ tends to excite pride,
_this_, discontent.'"--_Murray's Gram._, i, 56. In the former part of this
example, the superlative is twice applied where only two things are spoken
of; and, in the latter, it is twice made equivalent to the comparative,
with a like reference. The following example shows the same equivalence:
"_This_ refers to the _last_ mentioned or _nearer_ thing, _that_ to the
_first_ mentioned or _more_ distant thing."--_Webber's Gram._, p. 31. So
Churchill: "The superlative should not be used, when only two persons or
things are compared."--_New Gram._, p. 80. "In the _first_ of these two
sentences."--_Ib._, p. 162; _Lowth_, p. 120. According to the rule, it
should have been, "In the _former_ of these two sentences;" but this would
be here ambiguous, because _former_ might mean _maker_. "When our
sentence consists of two members, the _longest_ should, generally, be the
concluding one."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 117: and _Jamieson's_, p. 99. "The
_shortest_ member being placed _first_, we carry it _more readily_ in our
memory as we proceed to the second."--_Ib._, & _Ib._ "Pray consider us, in
this respect, as the _weakest_ sex."--_Spect._, No. 533. In this last
sentence, the comparative, _weaker_, would perhaps have been better;
because, not an absolute, but merely a comparative weakness is meant. So
Latham and Child: "It is better, in speaking of only two objects, to use
the comparative degree rather than the superlative, even, where we use the
article _the_. _This is the better of the two_, is preferable to _this is
the best of the two_."--_Elementary Gram._, p. 155. Such is their rule; but
very soon they forget it, and write thus: "In this case the relative refers
to the _last_ of the two."--_Ib._, p. 163.

OBS. 14.--Hyperboles are very commonly expressed by comparatives or
superlatives; as, "My _little finger_ shall be _thicker_ than my _father's
loins_."--_1 Kings_, xii, 10. "Unto me, who am _less than the least_ of all
saints, is this grace given."--_Ephesians_, iii, 8. Sometimes, in thus
heightening or lowering the object of his conception, the writer falls into
a catachresis, solecism, or abuse of the grammatical degrees; as,
"Mustard-seed--which is _less than all the seeds_ that be in the
earth."--_Mark_, iv, 31. This expression is objectionable, because
mustard-seed is a seed, and cannot be less than itself; though that which
is here spoken of, may perhaps have been "_the least of all seeds_:" and it
is the same Greek phrase, that is thus rendered in Matt, xiii, 32. Murray
has inserted in his Exercises, among "unintelligible and inconsistent words
and phrases," the following example from Milton:

   "And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep
    Still threat'ning to devour me, opens wide."--_Exercises_, p. 122.

For this supposed inconsistency, ho proposes in his Key the following
amendment:

   "And, in the _lower_ deep, _another_ deep
    Still threat'ning to devour me, opens wide."--_Key_, p. 254.

But, in an other part of his book, he copies from Dr. Blair the same
passage, with commendation: saying, "The following sentiments of _Satan in
Milton_, as strongly as they are described, _contain nothing_ but what is
_natural and proper_:

    'Me miserable! which way shall I fly
    Infinite wrath, and infinite despair?
    Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell;
    And in the lowest _depth_, a lower deep,
    Still threat'ning to devour me, opens wide,
    To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heaven.' _P. Lost_, B. iv, l. 73."
         _Blair's Lectures_, p. 153; _Murray's Grammar_, p. 352.

OBS. 15.--Milton's word, in the fourth line above, is _deep_, and not
_depth_, as these authors here give it: nor was it very polite in them, to
use a phraseology which comes so near to saying, the devil was in the poet.
Alas for grammar! accuracy in its teachers has become the most rare of all
qualifications. As for Murray's correction above, I see not how it can
please any one who chooses to think Hell a place of great depth. A descent
into his "_lower_ deep" and "_other_ deep," might be a plunge less horrible
than two or three successive slides in one of our western caverns! But
Milton supposes the arch-fiend might descend to the lowest _imaginable_
depth of Hell, and there be liable to a still further fall of more
tremendous extent. Fall whither? Into the horrid and inconceivable
profundity of the _bottomless pit_! What signifies it, to object to his
language as "_unintelligible_" if it conveys his idea better than any other
could? In no human conception of what is infinite, can there be any real
exaggeration. To amplify beyond the truth, is here impossible. Nor is there
any superlation which can fix a limit to the idea of more and more in
infinitude. Whatever literal absurdity there may be in it, the duplication
seems greatly to augment what was even our greatest conception of the
thing. Homer, with a like figure, though expressed in the positive degree,
makes Jupiter threaten any rebel god, that he shall be thrown down from
Olympus, to suffer the burning pains of the Tartarean gulf; not in the
centre, but,

   "As _deep_ beneath th' infernal centre hurl'd,
    As from that centre to th' ethereal world."
        --_Pope's Iliad_, B. viii, l. 19.


REGULAR COMPARISON.

Adjectives are regularly compared, when the comparative degree is expressed
by adding _er_, and the superlative, by adding _est_ to them: as, Pos.,
_great_, Comp., _greater_, Superl., _greatest_; Pos., _mild_, Comp.,
_milder_, Superl., _mildest_.

In the variation of adjectives, final consonants are doubled, final _e_ is
omitted, and final _y_ is changed to _i_, agreeably to the rules for
spelling: as, _hot, hotter, hottest; wide, wider, widest; happy, happier,
happiest_.

The regular method of comparison belongs almost exclusively to
monosyllables, with dissyllables ending in _w_ or _y_, and such others as
receive it and still have but one syllable after the accent: as, _fierce,
fiercer, fiercest; narrow, narrower, narrowest; gloomy, gloomier,
gloomiest; serene, serener, serenest; noble, nobler, noblest; gentle,
gentler, gentlest_.


COMPARISON BY ADVERBS.

The two degrees of superiority may also be expressed with precisely the
same import as above, by prefixing to the adjective the adverbs _more_ and
_most_: as, _wise, more wise, most wise; famous, more famous, most famous;
amiable, more amiable, most amiable_.

The degrees of inferiority are expressed, in like manner, by the adverbs
_less_ and _least_: as, _wise, less wise, least wise; famous, less famous,
least famous; amiable, less amiable, least amiable_. The regular method of
comparison has, properly speaking, no degrees of this kind.

Nearly all adjectives that admit of different degrees, may be compared by
means of the adverbs; but, for short words, the regular method is generally
preferable: as, _quick, quicker, quickest_; rather than, _quick, more
quick, most quick_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The genius of our language is particularly averse to the
lengthening of long words by additional syllables; and, in the comparison
of adjectives, _er_ and _est_ always add a syllable to the word, except it
end in _le_ after a mute. Thus, _free, freer, freest_, increases
syllabically; but _ample, ampler, amplest_, does not. Whether any
particular adjective admits of comparison or not, is a matter of reasoning
from the sense of the term; by which method it shall be compared, is in
some degree a matter of taste; though custom has decided that long words
shall not be inflected, and for the shorter, there is generally an obvious
bias in favour of one form rather than the other. Dr. Johnson says, "The
comparison of adjectives is very uncertain; and being much regulated by
commodiousness of utterance, or agreeableness of sound, is not easily
reduced to rules. Monosyllables are commonly compared. Polysyllables, or
words of more than two syllables, are seldom compared otherwise than by
_more_ and _most_. Dissyllables are seldom compared if they terminate in
_full, less, ing, ous, ed, id, at, ent, ain, or ive_."--_Gram. of the
English Tongue_, p. 6. "When the positive contains but one syllable, the
degrees are usually formed by adding _er_ or _est_. When the positive
contains two syllables, it is matter of taste which method you shall use in
forming the degrees. The ear is, in this case, the best guide. But, when
the positive contains more than two syllables, the degrees must be formed
by the use of _more_ and _most_. We may say, _tenderer_ and _tenderest,
pleasanter_ and _pleasantest, prettier_ and _prettiest_; but who could
endure _delicater_ and _delicatest_?"--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, p. 81. _Quiet,
bitter, clever, sober_, and perhaps some others like them, are still
regularly compared; but such words as _secretest, famousest, virtuousest,
powerfullest_, which were used by Milton, have gone out of fashion. The
following, though not very commonly used, are perhaps allowable. "Yet these
are the two _commonest_ occupations of mankind."--_Philological Museum_, i,
431. "Their _pleasantest_ walks throughout life must be guarded by armed
men."--_Ib._, i, 437. "Franklin possessed the rare talent of drawing useful
lessons from the _commonest_ occurrences."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 323.
"Unbidden guests are often _welcomest_ when they are gone."--SHAK.: _in
Joh. Dict._

   "There was a lad, th' _unluckiest_ of his crew,
    Was still contriving something bad, but new."--KING: _ib._

OBS. 2.--I make a distinction between the regular comparison by _er_ and
_est_, and the comparison by adverbs; because, in a grammatical point of
view, these two methods are totally different: the meaning, though the
same, being expressed in the one case, by an inflection of the adjective;
and in the other, by a phrase consisting of two different parts of speech.
If the placing of an adverb before an adjective is to be called a
grammatical modification or variation of the latter word, we shall have
many other degrees than those which are enumerated above. The words may
with much more propriety be parsed separately, the degree being ascribed to
the adverb--or, if you please, to both words, for both are varied in sense
by the inflection of the former. The degrees in which qualities may exist
in nature, are infinitely various; but the only degrees with which the
grammarian is concerned, are those which our variation of the adjective or
adverb enables us to express--including, as of course we must, the state or
sense of the primitive word, as one. The reasoning which would make the
positive degree to be no degree, would also make the nominative case, or
the _casus rectus_ of the Latins, to be no case.

OBS. 3.--Whenever the adjective itself denotes these degrees, and is duly
varied in form to express them, they properly belong to it; as, _worthy,
worthier, worthiest_. (Though no apology can be made for the frequent error
of confounding the _degree of a quality_, with the _verbal sign_ which
expresses it.) If an adverb is employed for this purpose, that also is
compared, and the two degrees thus formed or expressed, are properly its
own; as, worthy, _more_ worthy, _most_ worthy. But these same degrees may
be yet otherwise expressed; as, worthy, _in a higher degree_ worthy, _in
the highest degree_ worthy. Here also the adjective _worthy_ is virtually
compared, as before; but only the adjective _high_ is grammatically
modified. Again, we may form three degrees with several adverbs to each,
thus: Pos., _very truly_ worthy; Comp., _much more truly_ worthy; Sup.,
_much the most truly_ worthy. There are also other adverbs, which, though
not varied in themselves like _much, more, most_, may nevertheless have
nearly the same effect upon the adjective; as, worthy, _comparatively_
worthy, _superlatively_ worthy. I make these remarks, because many
grammarians have erroneously parsed the adverbs _more_ and _most, less_ and
_least_, as parts of the adjective.

OBS. 4.--Harris, in his Hermes, or Philosophical Inquiry concerning
Universal Grammar, has very unceremoniously pronounced the doctrine of
three degrees of comparison, to be _absurd_; and the author of the British
Grammar, as he emotes the whole passage without offering any defence of
that doctrine, seems to second the allegation. "Mr. Harris observes, that,
'There cannot well be more than two degrees; one to denote simple excess,
and one to denote superlative. Were we indeed to introduce more degrees, we
ought perhaps to introduce infinite, which is absurd. For why stop at a
limited number, when in all subjects, susceptible of intension, the
intermediate excesses are in a manner infinite? There are infinite degrees
of _more white_ between the first simple _white_ and the superlative
_whitest_; the same may be said of _more great, more strong, more minute_,
&c. The doctrine of grammarians about _three_ such degrees, which they call
the Positive, the Comparative, and the Superlative, must needs be absurd;
both because in their Positive there is no comparison at all, and because
their Superlative is a Comparative as much as their Comparative itself.'
_Hermes_, p. 197."--_Brit. Gram._, p. 98. This objection is rashly urged.
No comparison can be imagined without bringing together as many as two
terms, and if the positive is one of these, it is a degree of comparison;
though neither this nor the superlative is, for that reason, "_a
Comparative_." Why we stop at three degrees, I have already shown: we have
three _forms_, and only three.

OBS. 5.--"The termination _ish_ may be accounted in some sort a degree of
comparison, by which the signification is diminished below the positive, as
_black, blackish_, or tending to blackness; _salt, saltish_, or having a
little taste of salt:[179] they therefore admit of no comparison. This
termination is seldom added but to words expressing sensible qualities, nor
often to words of above one syllable, and is scarcely used in the solemn or
sublime style."--_Dr. Johnson's Gram._ "The _first_ [degree] denotes a
slight degree of the quality, and is expressed by the termination _ish_;
as, _reddish, brownish, yellowish_. This may be denominated the _imperfect_
degree of the attribute."--_Dr. Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 47. I doubt
the correctness of the view taken above by Johnson, and dissent entirely
from Webster, about his "_first degree_ of comparison." Of adjectives in
_ish_ we have perhaps a hundred; but nine out of ten of them are derived
clearly from _nouns_, as, _boyish, girlish_; and who can prove that
_blackish, saltish, reddish, brownish_, and _yellowish_, are not also from
the _nouns, black, salt, red, brown_, and _yellow_? or that "a _more
reddish_ tinge,"--"a _more saltish_ taste," are not correct phrases? There
is, I am persuaded, no good reason for noticing this termination as
constituting a degree of comparison. All "double comparisons" are said to
be ungrammatical; but, if _ish_ forms a degree, it is such a degree as may
be compared again: as,

   "And seem _more learnedish_ than those
    That at a greater charge compose."--_Butler_.

OBS. 6.--Among the degrees of comparison, some have enumerated that of
_equality_; as when we say, "It is _as sweet as_ honey." Here is indeed a
comparison, but it is altogether in the _positive_ degree, and needs no
other name. This again refutes Harris; who says, that in the positive there
is no comparison at all. But further: it is plain, that in this degree
there may be comparisons of _inequality_ also; as, "Molasses is _not so
sweet_ as honey."--"Civility is _not so slight_ a matter as it is commonly
thought."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 92. Nay, such comparisons may equal any
superlative. Thus it is said, I think, in the Life of Robert Hall:
"Probably no human being ever before suffered _so much_ bodily pain." What
a preëminence is here! and yet the form of the adjective is only that of
the positive degree. "Nothing _so uncertain_ as general reputation."--_Art
of Thinking_, p. 50. "Nothing _so nauseous_ as undistinguishing
civility."--_Ib._, p. 88. These, likewise, would be strong expressions, if
they were correct English. But, to my apprehension, every such comparison
of equality involves a solecism, when, as it here happens, the former term
includes the latter. The word _nothing_ is a general negative, and
_reputation_ is a particular affirmative. The comparison of equality
between them, is therefore certainly improper: because _nothing_ cannot be
equal to _something_; and, reputation being something, and of course equal
to itself, the proposition is evidently untrue. It ought to be, "Nothing
_is more uncertain than_ general reputation." This is the same as to say,
"General reputation is _as uncertain as any thing_ that can be named." Or
else the former term should exempt the latter; as. "_Nothing else_"--or,
"No _other_ thing, is _so uncertain_ as" _this popular honour, public
esteem_, or "_general reputation_." And so of all similar examples.

OBS. 7.--In all comparisons, care must be taken to adapt the terms to the
degree which is expressed by the adjective or adverb. The superlative
degree requires that the object to which it relates, be one of those with
which it is compared; as, "_Eve_ was _the fairest_ of women." The
comparative degree, on the contrary, requires that the object spoken of be
not included among those with which it is compared; as, "_Eve_ was _fairer_
than any of _her daughters_." To take the inclusive term here, and say,
"_Eve_ was _fairer_ than any _woman_," would be no less absurd, than
Milton's assertion, that "Eve was _the fairest_ of _her daughters_:" the
former supposes that she was _not a woman_; the latter, that she was _one
of her own daughters_. But Milton's solecism is double; he makes Adam _one
of his own sons_:--

   "Adam the goodliest man of men since born
    His sons, the fairest of her daughters Eve."--_P. Lost_, B. iv, l. 324.

OBS. 8.--"Such adjectives," says Churchill, "as have in themselves a
superlative signification, or express qualities not susceptible of degrees,
do not properly admit either the comparative or [the] superlative form.
Under this rule may be included _all adjectives with a negative
prefix_."--_New Gram._, p. 80. Again: "As _immediate_ signifies instant,
present with regard to time, Prior should not have written '_more_
immediate.' _Dr. Johnson_."--_Ib._, p. 233. "Hooker has _unaptest_; Locke,
_more uncorrupted_; Holder, _more undeceivable_: for these the proper
expressions would have been the opposite signs without the negation: _least
apt, less corrupted, less deceivable_. Watts speaks of 'a _most unpassable_
barrier.' If he had simply said 'an unpassable barrier,' we should have
understood it at once in the strongest sense, as a barrier impossible to be
surmounted: but, by attempting to express something more, he gives an idea
of something less; we perceive, that his _unpassable_ means _difficult to
pass_. This is the mischief of the propensity to exaggeration; which,
striving after strength, sinks into weakness."--_Ib._, p. 234.

OBS. 9.--The foregoing remarks from Churchill appear _in general_ to have
been dictated by good sense; but, if his own practice is right, there must
be some exceptions to his rule respecting the comparison of adjectives with
a negative prefix; for, in the phrase "_less imprudent_," which, according
to a passage quoted before, he will have to be different from "_more
prudent_," he himself furnishes an example of such comparison. In fact,
very many words of that class are compared by good writers: as, "Nothing is
_more unnecessary_."--_Lowth's Gram., Pref._, p. v. "What is yet _more
unaccountable_."--ROGERS: _in Joh. Dict._ "It is hard to determine which is
_most uneligible_."--_Id., ib._ "Where it appears the _most unbecoming_ and
_unnatural_."--ADDISON: _ib._ "Men of the best sense and of the _most
unblemished_ lives."--_Id., ib._ "March and September are the _most
unsettled_ and _unequable_ of seasons."--BENTLEY: _ib._ "Barcelona was
taken by a _most unexpected_ accident."--SWIFT: _ib._ "The _most barren_
and _unpleasant_."--WOODWARD: _ib._ "O good, but _most unwise_
patricians!"--SHAK.: _ib._ "_More unconstant_ than the wind."--_Id., ib._
"We may say _more_ or _less imperfect_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 168. "Some
of those [passions] which act with the _most irresistible_ energy upon the
hearts of mankind, are altogether omitted in the catalogue of
Aristotle."--_Adams's Rhet._, i, 380. "The wrong of him who presumes to
talk of owning me, is _too unmeasured_ to be softened by
kindness."--_Channing, on Emancipation_, p. 52. "Which, we are sensible,
are _more inconclusive_ than the rest."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 319.

   "Ere yet the salt of _most unrighteous_ tears
    Had left the flushing in her galled eyes."--_Shak._

OBS. 10.--Comparison must not be considered a general property of
adjectives. It belongs chiefly to the class which I call common adjectives,
and is by no means applicable to all of these. _Common adjectives_, or
epithets denoting quality, are perhaps more numerous than all the other
classes put together. Many of these, and a few that are pronominal, may be
varied by comparison; and some _participial_ adjectives may be compared by
means of the adverbs. But adjectives formed from _proper names_, all the
numerals, and most of the compounds, are in no way susceptible of
comparison. All nouns used adjectively, as an _iron_ bar, an _evening_
school, a _mahogany_ chair, a _South-Sea_ dream, are also incapable of
comparison. In the title of "His _Most Christian_ Majesty," the superlative
adverb is applied to a _proper adjective_; but who will pretend that we
ought to understand by it "_the highest degree_" of Christian attainment?
It might seem uncourtly to suggest that this is "an abuse of the king's
English," I shall therefore say no such thing. Pope compares the word
Christian, in the following couplet:--

   "Go, purified by flames ascend the sky,
    My better and _more Christian_ progeny."--_Dunciad_, B. i, l. 227.


IRREGULAR COMPARISON.

The following adjectives are compared irregularly: _good, better, best;
bad, evil_, or _ill, worse, worst; little, less, least; much, more, most;
many, more, most_.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--In _English_, and also in _Latin_, most adjectives that denote
_place_ or _situation_, not only form the superlative irregularly, but are
also either defective or redundant in comparison. Thus:

I. The following nine have more than one superlative: _far, farther,
farthest, farmost_, or _farthermost; near, nearer, nearest_ or _next; fore,
former, foremost_ or _first; hind, hinder, hindmost_ or _hindermost; in,
inner, inmost_ or _innermost; out, outer_, or _utter, outmost_ or _utmost,
outermost_ or _uttermost; up, upper, upmost_ or _uppermost; low, lower,
lowest_ or _lowermost; late, later_ or _latter, latest_ or _last_.

II. The following five want the positive: [_aft_, adv.,] _after, aftmost_
or _aftermost_; [_forth_, adv., formerly _furth_,[180]] _further, furthest_
or _furthermost; hither, hithermost; nether, nethermost; under, undermost_.

III. The following want the comparative: _front, frontmost; rear, rearmost;
head, headmost; end, endmost; top, topmost; bottom, bottommost; mid_ or
_middle, midst,[181] midmost_ or _middlemost; north, northmost; south,
southmost; east, eastmost; west, westmost; northern, northernmost;
southern, southernmost; eastern, easternmost; western, westernmost_.

OBS. 2.--Many of these irregular words are not always used as adjectives,
but oftener as nouns, adverbs, or prepositions. The sense in which they are
employed, will show to what class they belong. The terms _fore_ and _hind,
front_ and _rear, right_ and _left, in_ and _out, high_ and _low, top_ and
_bottom, up_ and _down, upper_ and _under, mid_ and _after_, all but the
last pair, are in direct contrast with each other. Many of them are often
joined in composition with other words; and some, when used as adjectives
of place, are rarely separated from their nouns: as, _in_land, _out_house,
_mid_-sea, _after_-ages. Practice is here so capricious, I find it
difficult to determine whether the compounding of these terms is proper or
not. It is a case about which he that inquires most, may perhaps be most in
doubt. If the joining of the words prevents the possibility of mistaking
the adjective for a preposition, it prevents also the separate
classification of the adjective and the noun, and thus in some sense
destroys the former by making the whole a noun. Dr. Webster writes thus:
"FRONTROOM, _n._ A room or apartment in the _forepart_ of a house.
BACKROOM, _n._ A room behind the _front room_, or in the _back part_ of the
house."--_Octavo Dict._ So of many phrases by which people tell of turning
things, or changing the position of their parts; as, _in_side out,
_out_side _in; up_side _down, down_side _up_; _wrong_ end _foremost,
but_-end _foremost_; _fore_-part _back, fore_-end _aft_; _hind_ side
_before, back_side _before_. Here all these contrasted particles seem to be
adjectives of place or situation. What grammarians in general would choose
to call them, it is hard to say; probably, many would satisfy themselves
with calling the whole "_an adverbial phrase_,"--the common way of
disposing of every thing which it is difficult to analyze. These, and the
following examples from Scott, are a fair specimen of the uncertainty of
present usage:

   "The herds without a keeper strayed,
    The plough was in _mid-furrow_ staid."--_Lady of the Lake_.

    "The eager huntsman knew his bound,
    And in _mid chase_ called off his hound."--_Ibidem_.

OBS. 3.--For the chief points of the compass, we have so many adjectives,
and so many modes of varying or comparing them, that it is difficult to
tell their number, or to know which to choose in practice. (1.) _North,
south, east_, and _west_, are familiarly used both as nouns and as
adjectives. From these it seems not improper to form superlatives, as
above, by adding _most_; as, "From Aroar to Nebo, and the wild of
_southmost_ Abarim."--_Milton_. "There are no rivulets or springs in the
island of Feror, the _westmost_ of the Canaries."--_White's Nat. Hist._
(2.) These primitive terms may also be compared, in all three of the
degrees, by the adverbs _farther_ and _farthest_, or _further_ and
_furthest_; as, "Which is yet _farther west_."--_Bacon_. (3.) Though we
never employ as separate words the comparatives _norther, souther, easter,
wester_, we have _northerly, southerly, easterly_, and _westerly_, which
seem to have been formed from such comparatives, by adding _ly_; and these
four may be compared by the adverbs _more_ and _most_, or _less_ and
_least_: as, "These hills give us a view of the _most easterly, southerly_,
and _westerly_ parts of England."--GRAUNT: _in Joh. Dict._ (4.) From these
supposed comparatives likewise, some authors form the superlatives
_northermost, southermost, eastermost_, and _westermost_; as, "From the
_westermost_ part of Oyster bay."--_Dr. Webster's Hist. U. S._, p. 126.
"And three miles southward of the _southermost_ part of said
bay."--_Trumbull's Hist. of Amer._, Vol. i, p. 88. "Pockanocket was on the
_westermost_ line of Plymouth Colony."--_Ib._, p. 44. "As far as the
_northermost_ branch of the said bay or river."--_Ib._, p. 127. The
propriety of these is at least questionable; and, as they are neither very
necessary to the language, nor recognized by any of our lexicographers, I
forbear to approve them. (5.) From the four primitives we have also a third
series of positives, ending in _ern_; as, _northern, southern, eastern,
western_. These, though they have no comparatives of their own, not only
form superlatives by assuming the termination _most_, but are sometimes
compared, perhaps in both degrees, by a separate use of the adverbs: as,
"_Southernmost, a_. Furthest towards the south."--_Webster's Dict._ "Until
it shall intersect the _northernmost_ part of the thirty-first degree of
north latitude."--_Articles of Peace_. "To the _north-westernmost_ head of
Connecticut river."--_Ib._ "Thence through the said lake to the _most
north-western_ point thereof."--_Ib._

OBS. 4.--It may be remarked of the comparatives _former_ and _latter_ or
_hinder, upper_ and _under_ or _nether, inner_ and _outer_ or _utter,
after_ and _hither_; as well as of the Latin _superior_ and _inferior,
anterior_ and _posterior, interior_ and _exterior, prior_ and _ulterior,
senior_ and _junior, major_ and _minor_; that they cannot, like other
comparatives, be construed with the conjunction _than_. After all genuine
English comparatives, this conjunction may occur, because it is the only
fit word for introducing the latter term of comparison; but we never say
one thing is _former_ or _latter, superior_ or _inferior, than_ an other.
And so of all the rest here named. Again, no real comparative or
superlative can ever need an other superadded to it; but _inferior_ and
_superior_ convey ideas that do not always preclude the additional
conception of _more_ or _less_: as, "With respect to high and low notes,
pronunciation is still _more inferior_ to singing."--_Kames, Elements of
Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 73. "The mistakes which the _most superior_
understanding is apt to fall into."--_West's Letters to a Young Lady_, p.
117.

OBS. 5.--Double comparatives and double superlatives, being in general
awkward and unfashionable, as well as tautological, ought to be avoided.
Examples: "The Duke of Milan, and his _more braver_ daughter, could control
thee."--_Shak., Tempest_. Say, "his _more gallant_ daughter." "What in me
was purchased, falls upon thee in a _more fairer_ sort."--_Id., Henry IV_.
Say, "_fairer_," or, "_more honest_;" for "_purchased_" here means
_stolen_. "Changed to a _worser_ shape thou canst not be."--_Id., Hen. VI_.
Say, "a _worse_ shape"--or, "an _uglier_ shape." "After the _most
straitest_ sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee."--_Acts_, xxvi, 5.
Say, "the _strictest_ sect." "Some say he's mad; others, that _lesser_ hate
him, do call it valiant fury."--_Shak_. Say, "others, that hate him
_less_." In this last example, _lesser_ is used adverbially; in which
construction it is certainly incorrect. But against _lesser_ as an
adjective, some grammarians have spoken with more severity, than comports
with a proper respect for authority. Dr. Johnson says, "LESSER, _adj_. A
barbarous corruption of _less_, formed by the vulgar from the habit of
terminating comparatives in _er; afterward adopted by poets, and then by
writers of prose, till it has all the authority which a mode originally
erroneous can derive from custom_."--_Quarto Dict._ With no great fairness,
Churchill quotes this passage as far as the semicolon, and there stops. The
position thus taken, he further endeavours to strengthen, by saying,
"_Worser_, though _not more barbarous_, offends the ear in a much greater
degree, because it has not been so frequently used."--_New Gram._, p. 232.
Example: "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day,
and the _lesser_ light to rule the night."--_Gen._, i, 16. Kirkham, after
making an _imitation_ of this passage, remarks upon it: "_Lesser_ is _as
incorrect_ as _badder, gooder, worser_."--_Gram._, p. 77. The judgement of
any critic who is ignorant enough to say this, is worthy only of contempt.
_Lesser_ is still frequently used by the most tasteful authors, both in
verse and prose: as, "It is the glowing style of a man who is negligent of
_lesser_ graces."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 189.

   "Athos, Olympus, Ætna, Atlas, made
    These hills seem things of _lesser_ dignity."--_Byron_.

OBS. 6.--The adjective _little_ is used in different senses; for it
contrasts sometimes with _great_, and sometimes with _much_. _Lesser_
appears to refer only to size. Hence _less_ and _lesser_ are not always
equivalent terms. _Lesser_ means _smaller_, and contrasts only with
_greater_. _Less_ contrasts sometimes with _greater_, but oftener with
_more_, the comparative of _much_; for, though it may mean _not so large_,
its most common meaning is _not so much_. It ought to be observed,
likewise, that _less_ is not an adjective of _number_,[182] though not
unfrequently used as such. It does not mean _fewer_, and is therefore not
properly employed in sentences like the following: "In all verbs, there are
no _less_ than three things implied at once."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 81.
"_Smaller_ things than three," is nonsense; and so, in reality, is what the
Doctor here says. _Less_ is not the proper opposite to _more_, when _more_
is the comparative of _many: few, fewer, fewest_, are the only words which
contrast regularly with _many, more, most_. In the following text, these
comparatives are rightly employed: "And to the _more_ ye shall give the
_more_ inheritance, and to the _fewer_ ye shall give the _less_
inheritance."--_Numbers_, xxxiii, 54. But if writers will continue to use
_less_ for _fewer_, so that "_less cattle_," for instance, may mean "_fewer
cattle_;" we shall be under a sort of _necessity_ to retain _lesser_, in
order to speak intelligibly: as, "It shall be for the sending-forth of
oxen, and for the treading of _lesser_ cattle."--_Isaiah_, vii, 25. I have
no partiality for the word _lesser_, neither will I make myself ridiculous
by flouting at its rudeness. "This word," says Webster, "is a corruption,
but [it is] too well established to be discarded. Authors always write the
_Lesser_ Asia."--_Octavo Dict._ "By the same reason, may a man punish the
_lesser_ breaches of that law."--_Locke_. "When we speak of the _lesser_
differences among the tastes of men."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 20. "In greater
or _lesser_ degrees of complexity."--_Burke, on Sublime_, p. 94. "The
greater ought not to succumb to the _lesser_."--_Dillwyn's Reflections_, p.
128. "To such productions, _lesser_ composers must resort for
ideas."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p. 413.

   "The larger here, and there the _lesser_ lambs,
    The new-fall'n young herd bleating for their dams."--_Pope_.

OBS. 7.--Our grammarians deny the comparison of many adjectives, from a
false notion that they are already superlatives. Thus W. Allen: "Adjectives
compounded with the Latin preposition _per_, are already superlative: as,
_perfect, perennial, permanent_, &c."--_Elements of E. Gram._, p. 52. In
reply to this, I would say, that nothing is really superlative, in English,
but what has the form and construction of the superlative; as, "The _most
permanent_ of all dyes." No word beginning with _per_, is superlative by
virtue of this Latin prefix. "Separate spirits, which are beings that have
_perfecter_ knowledge and greater happiness than we, must needs have also a
_perfecter_ way of communicating their thoughts than we have."--_Locke's
Essay_, B. ii, Ch. 24, §36, This mode of comparison is not now good, but it
shows that _perfect_ is no superlative. Thus Kirkham: "The _following_
adjectives, and _many others_, are _always in the superlative degree_;
because, by expressing a quality _in the highest degree_, they carry in
themselves a superlative signification: _chief, extreme, perfect, right,
wrong, honest, just, true, correct, sincere, vast, immense, ceaseless,
infinite, endless, unparalleled, universal, supreme, unlimited, omnipotent,
all-wise, eternal_." [183]--_Gram._, p. 73. So the Rev. David Blair: "The
words _perfect, certain, infinite, universal, chief, supreme, right, true,
extreme, superior_, and some others, which express a perfect and
superlative sense in themselves, do not admit of comparison."--_English
Gram._, p. 81. Now, according to Murray's definition, which Kirkham adopts,
none of these words can be at all in the superlative degree. On the
contrary, there are several among them, from which true superlatives are
frequently and correctly formed. Where are the positives which are here
supposed to be "_increased to the highest degree_?" Every real superlative
in our language, except _best_ and _worst, most_ and _least, first_ and
_last_, with the still more irregular word _next_, is a derivative, formed
from some other English word, by adding _est_ or _most_; as, _truest,
hindmost_. The propriety or impropriety of comparing the foregoing words,
or any of the "_many others_" of which this author speaks, is to be
determined according to their meaning, and according to the usage of good
writers, and not by the dictation of a feeble pedant, or upon the
supposition that if compared they would form "_double superlatives_."

OBS. 8.--_Chief_ is from the French word _chef_, the _head: chiefest_ is
therefore no more a double superlative than _headmost_: "But when the
_headmost_ foes appeared."--_Scott_. Nor are _chief_ and _chiefest_
equivalent terms: "Doeg an Edomite, the _chiefest_ of the herdsmen."--_1
Samuel_, xxi, 7. "The _chief_ of the herdsmen," would convey a different
meaning; it would be either the _leader_ of the herdsmen, or the _principal
part_ of them. _Chiefest_, however, has often been used where _chief_ would
have been better; as, "He sometimes denied admission to the _chiefest_
officers of the army."--_Clarendon_, let us look further at Kirkham's list
of _absolute_ "_superlatives_."

OBS. 9.--_Extreme_ is from the Latin superlative _extremus_, and of course
its literal signification is not really susceptible of increase. Yet
_extremest_ has been used, and is still used, by some of the very best
writers; as, "They thought it the _extremest_ of evils."--_Bacon_. "That on
the sea's _extremest_ border stood."--_Addison_. "How, to _extremest_
thrill of agony."--_Pollok_, B. viii, l. 270. "I go th' _extremest_ remedy
to prove."--_Dryden_. "In _extremest_ poverty."--_Swift_. "The hairy fool
stood on th' _extremest_ verge of the swift brook, augmenting it with
tears."--_Shak_. "While the _extremest_ parts of the earth were meditating
submission."--_Atterbury_. "His writings are poetical to the _extremest_
boundaries of poetry."--_Adams's Rhetoric_, i, 87. In prose, this
superlative is not now very common; but the poets still occasionally use
it, for the sake of their measure; and it ought to be noticed that the
simple adjective is _not partitive_. If we say, for the first example, "the
_extreme_ of evils;" we make the word a _noun_, and do not convey exactly
the same idea that is there expressed.

OBS. 10.--_Perfect_, if taken in its
strictest sense, must not be compared; but this word, like many others
which mean most in the positive, is often used with a certain latitude of
meaning, which renders its comparison by the adverbs not altogether
inadmissible; nor is it destitute of authority, as I have already shown.
(See Obs. 8th, p. 280.) "From the first rough sketches, to the _more
perfect_ draughts."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 152. "The _most
perfect_."--_Adams's Lect. on Rhet._, i, 99 and 136; ii, 17 and 57:
_Blair's Lect._, pp. 20 and 399. "The most _beautiful and perfect_ example
of analysis."--_Lowth's Gram., Pref._, p. 10. "The plainest, _most
perfect_, and most useful manual."--_Bullions's E. Gram., Rev._, p. 7. "Our
sight is the _most perfect_, and the most delightful, of all our
senses."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 411; _Blair's Lect._, pp. 115 and 194;
_Murray's Gram._, i, 322. Here Murray anonymously copied Blair. "And to
render natives _more perfect_ in the knowledge of it."--_Campbell's Rhet._,
p. 171; _Murray's Gram._, p. 366. Here Murray copied Campbell, the most
accurate of all his masters. Whom did he copy when he said, "The phrases,
_more perfect_, and _most perfect_, are improper?"--_Octavo Gram._, p. 168.
But if these are wrong, so is the following sentence: "No poet has ever
attained a _greater perfection_ than Horace."--_Blair's Lect._, p. 398. And
also this: "Why are we brought into the world _less perfect_ in respect to
our nature?"--_West's Letters to a Young Lady_, p. 220.

OBS. 11.--_Right_ and _wrong_ are not often compared by good writers;
though we sometimes see such phrases as _more right_ and _more wrong_, and
such words as _rightest_ and _wrongest_: "'Tis always in the _wrongest_
sense."--_Butler_. "A method of attaining the _rightest_ and greatest
happiness."--PRICE: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 78. "It is no _more right_ to
steal apples, than it is to steal money."--_Webster's New Spelling-Book_,
p. 118. There are equivalent expressions which seem preferable; as, _more
proper, more erroneous, most proper, most erroneous_.

OBS. 12.--_Honest, just, true, correct, sincere_, and _vast_, may all be
compared at pleasure. Pope's Essay on Criticism is _more correct_ than any
thing this modest pretender can write; and in it, he may find the
comparative _juster_, the superlatives _justest, truest, sincerest_, and
the phrases, "_So vast_ a throng,"--"_So vast_ is art:" all of which are
contrary to his teaching. "_Unjuster_ dealing is used in buying than in
selling."--_Butler's Poems_, p. 163. "_Iniquissimam_ pacem _justissimo_
bello antefero."--_Cicero_. "I prefer the _unjustest_ peace before the
_justest_ war."--_Walker's English Particles_, p. 68. The poet Cowley used
the word _honestest_; which is not now very common. So Swift: "What
_honester_ folks never durst for their ears."--_The Yahoo's Overthrow_. So
Jucius: "The _honestest_ and ablest men."--_Letter XVIII_. "The sentence
would be _more correct_ in the following form."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p.
223. "Elegance is chiefly gained by studying the _correctest_
writers."--_Holmes's Rhetoric_, p. 27. _Honest_ and _correct_, for the sake
of euphony, require the adverbs; as, _more honest_, "_most
correct_."--_Lowth's Gram., Pref._, p. iv. _Vast, vaster, vastest_, are
words as smooth, as _fast, faster, fastest_; and _more vast_ is certainly
as good English as _more just_: "Shall mortal man be _more just_ than
God?"--_Job_, iv, 17. "Wilt thou condemn him that is _most just_?"--_Ib._,
xxxiv, 17. "More wise, more learn'd, _more just_, more-everything."--_Pope.
Universal_ is often compared by the adverbs, but certainly with no
reënforcement of meaning: as, "One of the _most universal_ precepts, is,
that the orator himself should feel the passion."--_Adams's Rhet._, i, 379.
"Though not _so universal_."--_Ib._, ii, 311. "This experience is general,
though not _so universal_, as the absence of memory in childhood."--_Ib._,
ii, 362. "We can suppose no motive which would _more universally_
operate."--_Dr. Blair's Rhet._, p. 55. "Music is known to have been _more
universally_ studied."--_Ib._, p. 123. "We shall not wonder, that his
grammar has been _so universally_ applauded."--_Walker's Recommendation in
Murray's Gram._, ii, 306. "The pronoun _it_ is the _most universal_ of all
the pronouns."--_Cutler's Gram._, p. 66. Thus much for one half of this
critic's twenty-two "_superlatives_." The rest are simply adjectives that
are not susceptible of comparison: they are not "superlatives" at all. A
man might just as well teach, that _good_ is a superlative, and not
susceptible of comparison, because "_there is none good but one_."

OBS. 13.--Pronominal adjectives, when their nouns are expressed, simply
relate to them, and have no modifications: except _this_ and _that_, which
form the plurals _these_ and _those_; and _much, many_, and a few others,
which are compared. Examples: "Whence hath _this_ man _this_ wisdom, and
_these_ mighty works?"--_Matt._, xiii, 54. "But _some_ man will say, How
are the dead raised up? and with _what_ body do they come?"--_1 Cor._, xv,
35. "The _first_ man Adam was made a living soul; the _last_ Adam was made
a quickening spirit."--_Ib._, 45. So, when one pronominal adjective
"precedes an other, the former _must be taken_ simply as an adjective;" as,

   "Those suns are set. O rise _some other_ such!"
        --_Cowper's Task_, B. ii, l. 252.

OBS. 14.--Pronominal adjectives, when their nouns are not expressed, may be
parsed as representing them in _person, number, gender_, and _case_; but
those who prefer it, may supply the ellipsis, and parse the adjective,
_simply as an adjective_. Example: "He threatens _many_, who injures
_one_."--_Kames_. Here it may be said, "_Many_ is a pronominal adjective,
meaning _many persons_; of the third person, plural number, masculine
gender, and objective case." Or those who will take the word simply as an
adjective, may say, "_Many_ is a pronominal adjective, of the positive
degree, compared _many, more, most_, and relating to _persons_ understood."
And so of "_one_," which represents, or relates to, _person_ understood.
Either say, "_One_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared," and give the
_three definitions_ accordingly; or else say, "One is a pronominal
adjective, relating to _person_ understood; of the third person, singular
number, masculine gender, and objective case," and give the _six
definitions_ accordingly.

OBS. 15.--_Elder_ for _older_, and _eldest_ for _oldest_, are still
frequently used; though the ancient positive, _eld_ for _old_, is now
obsolete. Hence some have represented _old_ as having a two-fold
comparison; and have placed it, not very properly, among the irregular
adjectives. The comparatives _elder_ and _better_, are often used as
_nouns_; so are the Latin comparatives _superior_ and _inferior, interior_
and _exterior, senior_ and _junior, major_ and _minor_: as, The _elder's_
advice,--One of the _elders_,--His _betters_,--Our _superiors_,--The
_interior_ of the country,--A handsome _exterior_,--Your _seniors_,--My
_juniors_,--A _major_ in the army,--He is yet a _minor_. The word _other_,
which has something of the nature of a comparative, likewise takes the form
of a noun, as before suggested; and, in that form, the reader, if he will,
may call it a noun: as, "What do ye more than _others_?"--_Bible_. "God in
thus much is bounded, that the evil hath he left unto _an other_; and _that
Dark Other_ hath usurped the evil which Omnipotence laid down."--_Tupper's
Book of Thoughts_, p. 45. Some call it a pronoun. But it seems to be
pronominal, merely by ellipsis of the noun after it; although, unlike a
mere adjective, it assumes the ending of the noun, to mark that ellipsis.
Perhaps therefore, the best explanation of it would be this: "'_Others_ is
a pronominal adjective, having the form of a noun, and put for _other men_;
in the third person, plural number, masculine gender, and nominative case."
The gender of this word varies, according to that of the contrasted term;
and the case, according to the relation it bears to other words. In the
following example, it is neuter and objective: "The fibres of this muscle
act as those of _others_."--_Cheyne_. Here, "as _those of others_," means,
"as _the fibres_ of _other muscles_."

OBS. 16.--"Comparatives and superlatives seem sometimes to part with their
relative nature, and only to retain their _intensive_, especially those
which are formed by the superlative adverb _most_; as, 'A _most learned_
man,'--'A _most brave_ man:' i. e. not the bravest or the most learned man
that ever was, but a man possessing bravery or learning in a very eminent
degree."--See _Alexander Murray's Gram._, p. 110. This use of the terms of
comparison is thought by some not to be very grammatical.

OBS. 17.--Contractions of the superlative termination _est_, as _high'st_
for _highest, bigg'st for biggest_, though sometimes used by the poets, are
always inelegant, and may justly be considered grammatically improper. They
occur most frequently in doggerel verse, like that of _Hudibras_; the
author of which work, wrote, in his droll fashion, not only the foregoing
monosyllables, but _learned'st_ for _most learned, activ'st_ for _most
active, desperat'st_ for _most desperate, epidemical'st_ for _most
epidemical_, &c.

   "And _th' activ'st_ fancies share as loose alloys,
    For want of equal weight to counterpoise."--_Butler's Poems_.

    "Who therefore finds the _artificial'st_ fools
    Have not been chang'd _i th'_ cradle, but the schools."--_Ib._, p. 143.

OBS. 18.--Nouns used adjectively are not varied in number to agree with the
nouns to which they relate, but what is singular or plural when used
substantively, is without number when taken as an adjective: as, "One of
the nine _sister_ goddesses."--_Webster's Dict., w. Muse_. "He has money in
a _savings_ bank." The latter mode of expression is uncommon, and the term
_savings-bank_ is sometimes compounded, but the hyphen does not really
affect the nature of the former word. It is doubtful, however, whether a
plural noun can ever properly assume the character of an adjective;
because, if it is not then really the same as the possessive case, it will
always be liable to be thought a false form of that case. What Johnson
wrote "_fullers earth_" and "_fullers thistle_;" Chalmers has "_fullers
earth_" and "_fuller's thistle_;" Webster, "_fuller's-earth_" and
"_fuller's-thistle_;" Ainsworth, "_fuller's earth_" and "_fuller's
thistle_;" Walker has only "_fullers-earth_;" Worcester,
"_fuller's-earth_;" Cobb, "_fullers earth_;" the Treasury of Knowledge,
"_fullers'-earth_." So unsettled is this part of our grammar, that in many
such cases it is difficult cult to say whether we ought to use the
apostrophe, or the hyphen, or both, or neither. To insert neither, unless
we make a close compound, is to use a plural noun adjectively; which form,
I think, is the most objectionable of all. See "_All souls
day_,"--"_All-fools-day_,"--"_All-saints'-day_," &c., in the dictionaries.
These may well be written "_All Souls' Day_" &c.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS IV.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Fourth Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of
the_ ARTICLES, NOUNS, _and_ ADJECTIVES.

_The definitions to be given in the Fourth Praxis, are two for an article,
six for a noun, three for an adjective, and one for a pronoun, a verb, a
participle, an adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection.
Thus_:--


EXAMPLE PARSED.

"The best and most effectual method of teaching grammar, is precisely that
of which the careless are least fond: teach learnedly, rebuking whatsoever
is false, blundering, or unmannerly."--_G. Brown_.

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite
article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Best_ is a common adjective, of the superlative degree; compared
irregularly, _good, better, best_. 1. An adjective is a word added to a
noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is
any ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. The
superlative degree is that which is _most_ or _least_ of all included with
it.

_And_, is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words
or sentences in constructing, and to show the dependence of the terms so
connected.

_Most_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle,
an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place,
degree, or manner.

_Effectual_ is a common adjective, compared by means of the adverbs;
_effectual, more effectual, most effectual_; or, _effectual, less
effectual, least effectual_. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is any
ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. Those
adjectives which may be varied in sense, but not in form, are compared by
means of adverbs.

_Method_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person, is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a
finite verb.

_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Teaching_ is a participle. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb,
participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and
is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb.

_Grammar_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form
or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb,
participle, or preposition.

_Is_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to
be acted upon_.

_Precisely_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree, or manner.

_That_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared; standing for _that method_,
in the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case.
[See OBS. 14th,] 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and
generally expresses quality. 2. A pronominal adjective is a definitive word
which may either accompany its noun or represent it understood. 3. The
third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4.
The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is
that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The
nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually
denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Which_ is a pronoun. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite
article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Careless_ is a common adjective, compared by means of the adverbs;
_careless, more careless, most careless_; or, _careless, less careless,
least careless_. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and
generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is any ordinary epithet,
or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. Those adjectives which may
be varied in sense, but not in form, are compared by means of adverbs.

_Are_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to
be acted upon_.

_Least_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle,
an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place,
degree, or manner.

_Fond_ is a common adjective, compared regularly, _fond, fonder, fondest_;
but here made superlative by the adverb _least_. 1. An adjective is a word
added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A common
adjective is any ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or
situation. 8. The superlative degree is that which is _most_ or _least_ of
all included with it.

_Teach_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or
_to be acted upon_.

_Learnedly_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree, or manner.

_Rebuking_ is a participle. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb,
participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and
is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb.

_Whatsoever_ is a pronoun. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.

_Is_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to
be acted upon_.

_False_ is a common adjective, of the positive degree; compared regularly,
_false, falser, falsest_. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is any
ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. The
positive degree is that which is expressed by the adjective in its simple
form.

_Blundering_ is a participial adjective, compared by means of the adverbs;
_blundering, more blundering, most blundering_; or, _blundering, less
blundering, least blundering_. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A participial adjective is one
that has the form of a participle, but differs from it by rejecting the
idea of time. 3. Those adjectives which may be varied in sense, but not in
form, are compared by means of adverbs.

_Or_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or
sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so
connected.

_Unmannerly_ is a common adjective, compared by means of the adverbs;
_unmannerly, more unmannerly, most unmannerly_; or, _unmannerly, less
unmannerly, least unmannerly_. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is any
ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. Those
adjectives which may be varied in sense, but not in form, are compared by
means of adverbs.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"The noblest and most beneficial invention of which human ingenuity can
boast, is that of writing."--_Robertson's America_, Vol. II, p. 193.

"Charlemagne was the tallest, the handsomest, and the strongest man of his
time; his appearance was truly majestic, and he had surprising agility in
all sorts of manly exercises."--_Stories of France_, p. 19.

"Money, like other things, is more or less valuable, as it is less or more
plentiful."--_Beanie's Moral Science_, p. 378.

"The right way of acting, is, in a moral sense, as much a reality, in the
mind of an ordinary man, as the straight or the right road."--_Dr. Murray's
Hist. Lang._, i, 118.

"The full period of several members possesses most dignity and modulation,
and conveys also the greatest degree of force, by admitting the closest
compression of thought."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 79.

"His great master, Demosthenes, in addressing popular audiences, never had
recourse to a similar expedient. He avoided redundancies, as equivocal and
feeble. He aimed only to make the deepest and most efficient impression;
and he employed for this purpose, the plainest, the fewest, and the most
emphatic words."--_Ib._, p. 68.

"The high eloquence which I have last mentioned, is always the offspring of
passion. A man actuated by a strong passion, becomes much greater than he
is at other times. He is conscious of more strength and force; he utters
greater sentiments, conceives higher designs, and executes them with a
boldness and felicity, of which, on other occasions, he could not think
himself capable."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 236.

   "His words bore sterling weight, nervous and strong,
    In manly tides of sense they roll'd along."--_Churchill_.

    "To make the humble proud, the proud submiss,
    Wiser the wisest, and the brave more brave."--_W. S. Landor_.


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"I am satisfied that in this, as in all cases, it is best, safest, as well
as most right and honorable, to speak freely and plainly."--_Channing's
Letter to Clay_, p. 4.

"The gospel, when preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
through the wonder-working power of God, can make the proud humble, the
selfish disinterested, the worldly heavenly, the sensual pure."--_Christian
Experience_, p. 399.

"I am so much the better, as I am the liker[184] the best; and so much the
holier, as I am more conformable to the holiest, or rather to Him who is
holiness itself."--_Bp. Beneridge_.

"Whether any thing in Christianity appears to them probable, or improbable;
consistent, or inconsistent; agreeable to what they should have expected,
or the contrary; wise and good, or ridiculous and useless; is perfectly
irrelevant."--_M'Ilvaine's Evidences_, p. 523.

"God's providence is higher, and deeper, and larger, and stronger, than all
the skill of his adversaries; and his pleasure shall be accomplished in
their overthrow, except they repent and become his friends."--_Cox, on
Christianity_, p. 445.

"A just relish of what is beautiful, proper, elegant, and ornamental, in
writing or painting, in architecture or gardening, is a fine preparation
for the same just relish of these qualities in character and behaviour. To
the man who has acquired a taste so acute and accomplished, every action
wrong or improper must be highly disgustful: if, in any instance, the
overbearing power of passion sway him from his duty, he returns to it with
redoubled resolution never to be swayed a second time."--_Kames, Elements
of Criticism_, Vol. i, p. 25.

   "In grave Quintilian's copious work, we find
    The justest rules and clearest method join'd."--_Pope, on Crit._


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"There are several sorts of scandalous tempers; some malicious, and some
effeminate; others obstinate, brutish, and savage. Some humours are
childish and silly; some, false, and others, scurrilous; some, mercenary,
and some, tyrannical."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 52.

"Words are obviously voluntary signs: and they are also arbitrary;
excepting a few simple sounds expressive of certain internal emotions,
which sounds being the same in all languages, must be the work of nature:
thus the unpremeditated tones of admiration are the same in all
men."--_Kames, Elements of Crit._, i, 347.

"A stately and majestic air requires sumptuous apparel, which ought not to
be gaudy, nor crowded with little ornaments. A woman of consummate beauty
can bear to be highly adorned, and yet shows best in a plain
dress."--_Ib._, p. 279. "Of all external objects a graceful person is the
most agreeable. But in vain will a person attempt to be graceful, who is
deficient in amiable qualities."--_Ib._, p. 299.

"The faults of a writer of acknowledged excellence are more dangerous,
because the influence of his example is more extensive; and the interest of
learning requires that they should be discovered and stigmatized, before
they have the sanction of antiquity bestowed upon them, and become
precedents of indisputable authority."--_Dr. Johnson, Rambler_, Vol. ii,
No. 93.

"Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverend than plausible,
and more advised than confident; above all things, integrity is their
portion and proper virtue."--_Bacon's Essays_, p. 145.

"The wisest nations, having the most and best ideas, will consequently have
the best and most copious languages."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 408.

"Here we trace the operation of powerful causes, while we remain ignorant
of their nature; but everything goes on with such regularity and harmony,
as to give a striking and convincing proof of a combining directing
intelligence."--_Life of W. Allen_, Vol. i, p. 170.

   "The wisest, unexperienced, will be ever
    Timorous and loth, with novice modesty,
    Irresolute, unhardy, unadventurous."--_Milton_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS OF ADJECTIVES.

LESSON I.--DEGREES.

"I have the real excuse of the honestest sort of bankrupts."--_Cowley's
Preface_, p. viii.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the adjective _honestest_ is harshly
compared by _est_. But, according to a principle stated on page 283d
concerning the regular degrees, "This method of comparison is to be applied
only to monosyllables, and to dissyllables of a smooth termination, or such
as receive it and still have but one syllable after the accent." Therefore,
_honestest_ should be _most honest_; thus, "I have real excuse of the _most
honest_ sort of bankrupts."]

"The honourablest part of talk, is, to give the occasion."--_Bacon's
Essays_, p. 90. "To give him one of his own modestest proverbs."--
_Barclay's Works_, iii, 340. "Our language is now certainly properer and
more natural, than it was formerly."--_Bp. Burnet_. "Which will be of most
and frequentest use to him in the world."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 163.
"The same is notified in the notablest places in the diocese."--_Whitgift_.
"But it was the dreadfullest sight that ever I saw."--_Pilgrim's Progress_,
p. 70. "Four of the ancientest, soberest, and discreetest of the brethren,
chosen for the occasion, shall regulate it."--_Locke, on Church Gov_. "Nor
can there be any clear understanding of any Roman author, especially of
ancienter time, without this skill."--_Walker's Particles_, p. x. "Far the
learnedest of the Greeks."--_Ib._, p. 120. "The learneder thou art, the
humbler be thou."--_Ib._, p. 228. "He is none of the best or honestest."--
_Ib._, p. 274. "The properest methods of communicating it to others."--
_Burn's Gram._, Prof, p. viii. "What heaven's great King hath powerfullest
to send against us."--_Paradise Lost_. "Benedict is not the unhopefullest
husband that I know."--SHAK.: _in Joh. Dict._ "That he should immediately
do all the meanest and triflingest things himself."--RAY: _in Johnson's
Gram._, p. 6. "I shall be named among the famousest of women."--MILTON'S
_Samson Agonistes: ib._ "Those have the inventivest heads for all
purposes."--ASCHAM: _ib._ "The wretcheder are the contemners of all
helps."--BEN JONSON: _ib._ "I will now deliver a few of the properest and
naturallest considerations that belong to this piece."--WOTTON: _ib._ "The
mortalest poisons practised by the West Indians, have some mixture of the
blood, fat, or flesh of man."--BACON: _ib._ "He so won upon him, that he
rendered him one of the faithfulest and most affectionate allies the Medes
ever had."--_Rollin_, ii, 71. "'You see before you,' says he to him, 'the
most devoted servant, and the faithfullest ally, you ever had.'"--_Ib._,
ii, 79. "I chose the flourishing'st tree in all the park."--_Cowley_.
"Which he placed, I think, some centuries backwarder than Julius Africanus
thought fit to place it afterwards."--_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 53.
"The Tiber, the notedest river of Italy."--_Littleton's Dict._

   "To fartherest shores the ambrosial spirit flies."
        --_Cutler's Gram._, p. 140.

    ----"That what she wills to do or say,
    Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best."
        --_Milton_, B. viii, l. 550.


LESSON II.--MIXED.

"During the three or four first years of its
existence."--_Taylor's District School_, p. 27.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the cardinal numbers, _three_ and _four_ are
put before the ordinal _first_. But, according to the 7th part of Obs. 7th,
page 280th, "In specifying any part of a series, we ought to place the
cardinal number after the ordinal." Therefore the words _three_ and _four_
should be placed after _first_; thus, "During the _first three_ or _four_
years of its existence."]

"To the first of these divisions, my ten last lectures have been
devoted."--_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i, p. 391. "There are in the twenty-four
states not less than sixty thousand common schools."--_Taylor's District
School_, p. 38. "I know of nothing which gives teachers so much trouble as
this want of firmness."--_Ib._, p. 57. "I know of nothing that throws such
darkness over the line which separates right from wrong."--_Ib._, p. 58.
"None need this purity and simplicity of language and thought so much as
the common school instructor."--_Ib._, p. 64. "I know of no periodical that
is so valuable to the teacher as the Annals of Education."--_Ib._, p. 67.
"Are not these schools of the highest importance? Should not every
individual feel the deepest interest in their character and
condition?"--_Ib._, p. 78. "If instruction were made a profession, teachers
would feel a sympathy for each other."--_Ib._, p. 93. "Nothing is so likely
to interest children as novelty and change."--_Ib._, p. 131. "I know of no
labour which affords so much happiness as that of the teacher's."--_Ib._,
p. 136. "Their school exercises are the most pleasant and agreeable of any
that they engage in."--_Ib._, p. 136. "I know of no exercise so beneficial
to the pupil as that of drawing maps."--_Ib._, p. 176. "I know of nothing
in which our district schools are so defective as they are in the art of
teaching grammar."--_Ib._, p. 196. "I know of nothing so easily acquired as
history."--_Ib._ p. 206. "I know of nothing for which scholars usually have
such an abhorrence, as composition."--_Ib._, p. 210. "There is nothing in
our fellow-men that we should respect with so much sacredness as their good
name."--_Ib._, p. 307. "Sure never any thing was so unbred as that odious
man."--CONGREVE: _in Joh. Dict._ "In the dialogue between the mariner and
the shade of the deceast."--_Philological Museum_, i, 466. "These
master-works would still be less excellent and finisht"--_Ib._, i, 469.
"Every attempt to staylace the language of polisht conversation, renders
our phraseology inelegant and clumsy."--_Ib._, i, 678. "Here are a few of
the unpleasant'st words that ever blotted paper."--SHAK.: _in Joh. Dict._
"With the most easy, undisobliging transitions."--BROOME: _ib._ "Fear is,
of all affections, the unaptest to admit any conference with
reason."--HOOKER: _ib._ "Most chymists think glass a body more
undestroyable than gold itself."--BOYLE: _ib._ "To part with unhackt edges,
and bear back our barge undinted."--SHAK.: _ib._ "Erasmus, who was an
unbigotted Roman Catholic, was transported with this passage."--ADDISON:
_ib._ "There are no less than five words, with any of which the sentence
might have terminated."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 397. "The one preach Christ
of contention; but the other, of love."--_Philippians_, i, 16. "Hence we
find less discontent and heart-burnings, than where the subjects are
unequally burdened."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 56.

   "The serpent, subtil'st beast of all the field,
    I knew; but not with human voice indu'd."
        --MILTON: _Joh. Dict., w. Human._

   "How much more grievous would our lives appear,
    To reach th' eighth hundred, than the eightieth year?"
        --DENHAM: B. P., ii, 244.


LESSON III.--MIXED.

"Brutus engaged with Aruns; and so fierce was the attack, that they pierced
one another at the same time."--_Lempriere's Dict._

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrase _one another_ is here applied to
two persons only, the words _an_ and _other_ being needlessly compounded.
But, according to Observation 15th, on the Classes of Adjectives, _each
other_ must be applied to two persons or things, and _one an other_ to more
than two. Therefore _one another_ should here be _each other_; thus,
"Brutus engaged with Aruns; and so fierce was the attack, that they pierced
_each other_ at the same time."]

"Her two brothers were one after another turned into stone."--_Art of
Thinking_, p. 194. "Nouns are often used as adjectives; as, A _gold_-ring,
a _silver_-cup."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 14. "Fire and water destroy one
another."--_Wanostrocht's Gram._, p. 82. "Two negatives in English destroy
one another, or are equivalent to an affirmative."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 94;
_E. Devis's_, 111; _Mack's_, 147; _Murray's_, 198; _Churchill's_, 148;
_Putnam's_, 135; _C. Adams's_, 102; _Hamlin's_, 79; _Alger's_, 66;
_Fisk's_, 140; _Ingersoll's_, 207; and _many others_. "Two negatives
destroy one another, and are generally equivalent to an
affirmative."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 191; _Felton's_, 85. "Two negatives
destroy one another and make an affirmative."--_J. Flint's Gram._, p. 79.
"Two negatives destroy one another, being equivalent to an
affirmative."--_Frost's El. of E. Gram._, p. 48. "Two objects, resembling
one another, are presented to the imagination."--_Parker's Exercises in
Comp._, p. 47. "Mankind, in order to hold converse with each other, found
it necessary to give names to objects."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 42. "Words
are derived from each other[185] in various ways."--_Cooper's Gram._, p.
108. "There are many other ways of deriving words from one
another."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 131. "When several verbs connected by
conjunctions, succeed each other in a sentence, the auxiliary is usually
omitted except with the first."--_Frost's Gram._, p. 91. "Two or more
verbs, having the same nominative case, and immediately following one
another, are also separated by commas." [186]--_Murray's Gram._, p. 270;
_C. Adams's_, 126; _Russell's_, 113; and others. "Two or more adverbs
immediately succeeding each other, must be separated by commas."--_Same
Grammars_. "If, however, the members succeeding each other, are very
closely connected, the comma is unnecessary."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 273;
_Comly's_, 152; _and others_. "Gratitude, when exerted towards one another,
naturally produces a very pleasing sensation in the mind of a grateful
man."--_Mur._, p. 287. "Several verbs in the infinitive mood, having a
common dependence, and succeeding one another, are also divided by
commas."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 153. "The several words of which it consists,
have so near a relation to each other."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 268;
_Comly's_, 144; _Russell's_, 111; _and others_. "When two or more verbs
have the same nominative, and immediately follow one another, or two or
more adverbs immediately succeed one another, they must be separated by
commas."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 145. "Nouns frequently succeed each other,
meaning the same thing."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 63. "And these two tenses
may thus answer one another."--_Johnson's Gram._ _Com._, p. 322. "Or some
other relation which two objects bear to one another."--_Jamieson's Rhet._,
p. 149. "That the heathens tolerated each other, is allowed."--_Gospel its
own Witness_, p. 76. "And yet these two persons love one another
tenderly."--_Murray's E. Reader_, p. 112. "In the six hundredth and first
year."--_Gen._, viii, 13. "Nor is this arguing of his but a reiterate
clamour."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 250. "In severals of them the inward life
of Christianity is to be found."--_Ib._, iii, 272. "Though Alvarez,
Despauterius, and other, allow it not to be Plural."--_Johnson's Gram.
Com._, p. 169. "Even the most dissipate and shameless blushed at the
sight."--_Lemp. Dict., w. Antiochus_. "We feel a superior satisfaction in
surveying the life of animals, than that of vegetables."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, 172. "But this man is so full fraughted with malice."--_Barclay's
Works_, i11, 205. "That I suggest some things concerning the properest
means."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 337.

   "So hand in hand they pass'd, the loveliest pair
    That ever since in love's embraces met."
        --_Milton_, P. L., B., iv, l. 321.

   "Aim at the high'est, without the high'est attain'd
    Will be for thee no sitting, or not long."
        --_Id._, P. R., B. iv, l. 106.




CHAPTER V.--PRONOUNS.

A Pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun: as, The boy loves _his_ book;
_he_ has long lessons, and _he_ learns _them_ well.

The pronouns in our language are twenty-four; and their variations are
thirty-two: so that the number of _words_ of this class, is fifty-six.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The word for which a pronoun stands, is called its _antecedent_,
because it usually precedes the pronoun. But some have limited the term
_antecedent_ to the word represented by a _relative_ pronoun. There can be
no propriety in this, unless we will have every pronoun to be a relative,
when it stands for a noun which precedes it; and, if so, it should be
called something else, when the noun is to be found elsewhere. In the
example above, _his_ and _he_ represent _boy_, and _them_ represents
_lessons_; and these nouns are as truly the antecedents to the pronouns, as
any can be. Yet _his, he_, and _them_, in our most approved grammars, are
not called relative pronouns, but personal.

OBS. 2.--Every pronoun may be explained as standing for the _name_ of
something, for the _thing itself_ unnamed, or for a _former pronoun_; and,
with the noun, pronoun, or thing, for which it stands, every pronoun must
agree in person, number, and gender. The exceptions to this, whether
apparent or real, are very few; and, as their occurrence is unfrequent,
there will be little occasion to notice them till we come to syntax. But if
the student will observe the use and import of pronouns, he may easily see,
that some of them are put _substantively_, for nouns not previously
introduced; some, _relatively_, for nouns or pronouns going before; some,
_adjectively_, for nouns that must follow them in any explanation which can
be made of the sense. These three modes of substitution, are very
different, each from the others. Yet they do not serve for an accurate
division of the pronouns; because it often happens, that a substitute which
commonly represents the noun in one of these ways, will sometimes represent
it in an other.

OBS. 3.--The pronouns _I_ and _thou_, in their different modifications,
stand immediately for persons that are, in general, sufficiently known
without being named; (_I_ meaning _the speaker_, and _thou, the hearer_;)
their antecedents, or nouns, are therefore generally _understood_. The
other personal pronouns, also, are sometimes taken in a general and
demonstrative sense, to denote persons or things not previously mentioned;
as, "_He_ that hath knowledge, spareth his words."--_Bible_. Here _he_ is
equivalent to _the man_, or _the person_. "The care of posterity is most in
_them_ that have no posterity."--_Bacon_. Here _them_ is equivalent to
_those persons_. "How far do you call _it_ to such a place?"--_Priestley's
Gram._, p. 85. Here _it_, according to Priestley, is put for _the
distance_. "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and _they_ should
seek the law at his mouth."--_Malachi_, ii, 7. Here _they_ is put
indefinitely for _men_ or _people_. So _who_ and _which_, though called
relatives, do not always relate to a noun or pronoun going before them; for
_who_ may be a direct substitute for _what person_; and _which_ may mean
_which person_, or _which thing_: as, "And he that was healed, wist not
_who_ it was."--_John_, v, 13. That is, "_The man who_ was healed, knew not
_what person_ it was." "I care not _which_ you take; they are so much
alike, one cannot tell _which_ is _which_."

OBS. 4.--A pronoun with which a question is asked, usually stands for some
person or thing unknown to the speaker; the noun, therefore, cannot occur
before it, but may be used after it or in place of it. Examples: "In the
grave, _who_ shall give thee thanks?"--_Ps._, vi, 5. Here the word _who_ is
equivalent to _what person_, taken interrogatively. "Which of you
convinceth me of sin?"--_John_, viii, 46. That is, "_Which man_ of you?"
"Master, _what_ shall we do?"--_Luke_, iii, 12. That is, "_What act_, or
_thing_?" These solutions, however, convert _which_ and _what_ into
_adjectives_: and, in fact, as they have no inflections for the numbers and
cases, there is reason to think them at all times essentially such. We call
them pronouns, to avoid the inconvenience of supposing and supplying an
infinite multitude of ellipses. But _who_, though often equivalent (as
above) to an adjective and a noun, is never itself used adjectively; it is
always a pronoun.

OBS. 5.--In respect to _who_ or _whom_, it sometimes makes little or no
difference to the sense, whether we take it as a demonstrative pronoun
equivalent to _what person_, or suppose it to relate to an antecedent
understood before it: as, "Even so the Son quickeneth _whom_ he
will."--_John_, v, 21. That is--"_what persons_ he will," or, "_those
persons_ whom he will;" for the Greek word for _whom_, is, in this
instance, plural. The former is a shorter explanation of the meaning, but
the latter I take to be the true account of the construction; for, by the
other, we make _whom_ a double relative, and the object of two governing
words at once. So, perhaps, of the following example, which Dr. Johnson
cites under the word _who_, to show what he calls its "_disjunctive_
sense:"--

   "There thou tellst _of_ kings, and _who_ aspire;
    _Who_ fall, _who_ rise, _who_ triumph, _who_ do moan."--_Daniel_.

OBS. 6.--It sometimes happens that the real antecedent, or the term which
in the order of the sense must stand before the pronoun, is not placed
antecedently to it, in the order given to the words: as, "It is written, To
_whom_ he was not spoken of, _they_ shall see; and they that have not
heard, shall understand."--_Romans_, xv, 21. Here the sense is, "_They_ to
_whom_ he was not spoken of, shall see." Whoever takes the passage
otherwise, totally misunderstands it. And yet the same order of the words
might be used to signify, "They shall see _to whom_ (that is, _to what
persons_) he was not spoken of." Transpositions of this kind, as well as of
every other, occur most frequently in poetry. The following example is from
an Essay on Satire, printed with Pope's Works, but written by one of his
friends:--

   "_Whose_ is the crime, the scandal too be _theirs_;
    The knave and fool are their own libellers."--_J. Brown._

OBS. 7.--The personal and the interrogative pronouns often stand in
construction as the antecedents to other pronouns: as, "_He_ also _that_ is
slothful in his work, is brother to _him that_ is a great
waster."--_Prov._, xviii. 9. Here _he_ and _him_ are each equivalent to
_the man_, and each is taken as the antecedent to the relative which
follows it. "For both _he that_ sanctifieth, and _they who_ are sanctified,
are all of one: for which cause, _he_ is not ashamed to call _them_
brethren."--_Heb._, ii, 11. Here _he_ and _they_ may be considered the
antecedents to _that_ and _who_, of the first clause, and also to _he_ and
_them_, of the second. So the interrogative _who_ may be the antecedent to
the relative _that_; as, "_Who that_ has any moral sense, dares tell lies?"
Here _who_, being equivalent to _what person_, is the term with which the
other pronoun agrees. Nay, an interrogative pronoun, (or the noun which is
implied in it,) may be the antecedent to a _personal_ pronoun; as, "_Who_
hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed to _him_
again?"--_Romans_, xi, 35. Here the idea is, "_What person_ hath first
given _any thing_ to _the Lord_, so that it ought to be repaid _him_?" that
is, "so that _the gift_ ought to be recompensed from Heaven to _the
giver_?" In the following example, the first pronoun is the antecedent to
all the rest:--

   "And _he that_ never doubted of _his_ state,
    _He_ may perhaps--perhaps _he_ may--too late."--_Cowper_.

OBS. 8.--So the personal pronouns of the _possessive_ case, (which some
call adjectives,) are sometimes represented by relatives, though less
frequently than their primitives: as, "How different, O Ortogrul, is _thy_
condition, _who_ art doomed to the perpetual torments of unsatisfied
desire!"--_Dr. Johnson_. Here _who_ is of the second person, singular,
masculine; and represents the antecedent pronoun _thy_: for _thy_ is a
pronoun, and not (as some writers will have it) an adjective. Examples like
this, disprove the doctrine of those grammarians who say that _my, thy,
his, her, its_, and their plurals, _our, your, their_, are adjectives. For,
if they were mere adjectives, they could not thus be made antecedents.
Examples of this construction are sufficiently common, and sufficiently
clear, to settle that point, unless they can be better explained in some
other way. Take an instance or two more: "And they are written for _our_
admonition, upon _whom_ the ends of the world are come."--_1 Cor._, x, 11.

   "Be thou the first true merit to befriend;
    _His_ praise is lost, _who_ stays till all commend."--_Pope_.


CLASSES.

Pronouns are divided into three classes; _personal, relative_, and
_interrogative_.

I. A _personal pronoun_ is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what
person it is; as, "Whether _it_[187] were _I_ or _they_, so _we_ preach,
and so _ye_ believed."--_1 Cor._, xv, 11.

The simple personal pronouns are five: namely, _I_, of the first person;
_thou_, of the second person; _he, she_, and _it_, of the third person.

The compound personal pronouns are also five: namely, _myself_, of the
first person; _thyself_, of the second person; _himself, herself_, and
_itself_, of the third person.

II. A _relative pronoun_ is a pronoun that represents an antecedent word or
phrase, and connects different clauses of a sentence; as, "No people can be
great, _who_ have ceased to be virtuous."--_Dr. Johnson._

The relative pronouns are _who, which, what, that, as_, and the compounds
_whoever_ or _whosoever, whichever_ or _whichsoever, whatever_ or
_whatsoever_.[188]

_What_ is a kind of _double relative_, equivalent to _that which_ or _those
which_; and is to be parsed, first as antecedent, and then as relative: as,
"This is _what_ I wanted; that is to say, _the thing which_ I wanted."--_L.
Murray_. III. An _interrogative pronoun_ is a pronoun with which a question
is asked; as, "_Who_ touched my clothes?"--_Mark_, v, 30.

The interrogative pronouns are _who, which_, and _what_; being the same in
form as relatives.

_Who_ demands a person's name; _which_, that a person or thing be
distinguished from others; _what_, the name of a thing, or a person's
occupation and character.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The pronouns _I_ and _myself, thou_ and _thyself_, with their
inflections, are literally applicable to persons only; but, _figuratively_,
they represent brutes, or whatever else the human imagination invests with
speech and reason. The latter use of them, though literal perhaps in every
thing _but person_, constitutes the purest kind of personification. For
example: "The _trees_ went forth on a time to anoint a king over them: and
they said unto the _olive-tree_, 'Reign _thou_ over _us_.' But the
_olive-tree_ said unto them, 'Should _I_ leave _my_ fatness, wherewith by
_me_ they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?'" See
_Judges_, ix, from 8 to 16.

OBS. 2.--The pronouns _he_ and _himself, she_ and _herself_, with their
inflections, are literally applicable to persons and to brutes, and to
these only; if applied to lifeless objects, they animate them, and are
figurative _in gender_, though literal perhaps in every other respect. For
example: "A _diamond_ of beauty and lustre, observing at _his_ side in the
same cabinet, not only many other gems, but even a _loadstone_, began to
question the latter how _he_ came there--_he, who_ appeared to be no better
than a mere flint, a sorry rusty-looking pebble, without the least shining
quality to advance _him_ to such honour; and concluded with desiring _him_
to keep _his_ distance, and to pay a proper respect to _his_
superiors."--_Kames's Art of Thinking_, p. 226.

OBS. 3.--The pronoun _it_, as it carries in itself no such idea as that of
personality, or sex, or life, is chiefly used with reference to things
inanimate; yet the word is, in a certain way, applicable to animals, or
even to persons; though it does not, in itself, present them as such. Thus
we say, "_It_ is _I_;"--"_It_ was _they_;"--"_It_ was _you_;"--"_It_ was
your _agent_;"--"_It_ is your _bull_ that has killed one of my oxen." In
examples of this kind, the word _it_ is simply demonstrative; meaning, _the
thing or subject spoken of_. That subject, whatever it be in itself, may be
introduced again after the verb, in any person, number, or gender, that
suits it. But, as the verb agrees with the pronoun _it_, the word which
follows, can in no sense be made, as Dr. Priestley will have it to be, the
_antecedent_ to that pronoun. Besides, it is contrary to the nature of what
is primarily demonstrative, to represent a preceding word of any kind. The
Doctor absurdly says, "Not only things, but persons, may be the
_antecedent_ to this pronoun; as, _Who is it_? _Is it not Thomas_? i. e.
_Who is the person_? _Is not he Thomas?_"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 85. In
these examples, the terms are transposed by interrogation; but that
circumstance, though it may have helped to deceive this author and his
copiers, affects not my assertion.

OBS. 4.--The pronoun _who_ is usually applied only to persons. Its
application to brutes or to things is improper, unless we mean to personify
them. But _whose_, the possessive case of this relative, is sometimes used
to supply the place of the possessive case, otherwise wanting, to the
relative _which_. Examples: "The mutes are those consonants _whose_ sounds
cannot be protracted."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 9. "Philosophy, _whose_ end
is, to instruct us in the knowledge of nature."--_Ib._, p. 54; _Campbell's
Rhet._, 421. "Those adverbs are compared _whose_ primitives are
obsolete."--_Adam's Latin Gram._, p. 150. "After a sentence _whose_ sense
is complete in itself, a period is used."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 124. "We
remember best those things _whose_ parts are methodically disposed, and
mutually connected."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, i, 59. "Is there any other
doctrine _whose_ followers are punished?"--ADDISON: _Murray's Gram._, p.
54; _Lowth's_, p. 25.

   "The question, _whose_ solution I require,
    Is, what the sex of women most desire."--DRYDEN: _Lowth_, p. 25.

OBS. 5.--Buchanan, as well as Lowth, condemns the foregoing use of _whose_,
except in grave poetry: saying, "This manner of _personification_ adds an
air of dignity to the higher and more solemn kind of poetry, but it is
highly improper in the lower kind, or in prose."--_Buchanan's English
Syntax_, p. 73. And, of the last two examples above quoted, he says, "It
ought to be _of which_, in both places: i. e. The followers _of which_; the
solution _of which_."--_Ib._, p. 73. The truth is, that no personification
is here intended. Hence it may be better to avoid, if we can, this use of
_whose_, as seeming to imply what we do not mean. But Buchanan himself
(stealing the text of an older author) has furnished at least one example
as objectionable as any of the foregoing: "Prepositions are naturally
placed betwixt the Words _whose_ Relation and Dependence each of them is to
express."--_English Syntax_, p. 90; _British Gram._, p. 201. I dislike this
construction, and yet sometimes adopt it, for want of another as good. It
is too much, to say with Churchill, that "this practice is now
discountenanced by all correct writers."--_New Gram._, p. 226. Grammarians
would perhaps differ less, if they would read more. Dr. Campbell commends
the use of _whose_ for _of which_, as an improvement suggested by good
taste, and established by abundant authority. See _Philosophy of Rhetoric_,
p. 420. "WHOSE, the possessive or genitive case of _who_ or _which_;
applied to persons or things."--_Webster's Octavo Dict._ "_Whose_ is well
authorized by good usage, as the possessive of _which_."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 69. "Nor is any language complete, _whose_ verbs have not
tenses."--_Harris's Hermes_.

   "--------'Past and future, are the wings
    On _whose_ support, harmoniously conjoined,
    Moves the great spirit of human knowledge.'--MS."
           _Wordsworth's Preface to his Poems_, p. xviii.

OBS. 6.--The relative _which_, though formerly applied to persons and made
equivalent to _who_, is now confined to brute animals and inanimate things.
Thus, "Our Father _which_ art in heaven," is not now reckoned good English;
it should be, "Our Father _who_ art in heaven." In this, as well as in many
other things, the custom of speech has changed; so that what was once
right, is now ungrammatical. The use of _which_ for _who_ is very common in
the Bible, and in other books of the seventeenth century; but all good
writers now avoid the construction. It occurs seventy-five times in the
third chapter of Luke; as, "Joseph, _which_ was the son of Heli, _which_
was the son of Matthat," etc. etc. After a personal term taken by metonymy
for a thing, _which_ is not improper; as, "Of the particular _author which_
he is studying."--_Gallaudet_. And as an interrogative or a demonstrative
pronoun or adjective, the word _which_ is still applicable to persons, as
formerly; as, "_Which_ of you all?"--"_Which_ man of you all?"--"There
arose a reasoning among them, _which_ of them should be the
greatest."--_Luke_, ix, 46. "Two fair twins--the puzzled Strangers, _which_
is _which_, inquire."--_Tickell_.

OBS. 7.--If _which_, as a direct relative, is inapplicable to persons,
_who_ ought to be preferred to it in all personifications: as,

   "The seal is set. Now welcome thou dread power,
    Nameless, yet thus omnipotent, _which_ here
    Walk'st in the shadow of the midnight hour."
        BYRON: _Childe Harold's Pilgrimage_, Cant, iv, st. 138.

What sort of personage is here imagined and addressed, I will not pretend
to say; but it should seem, that _who_ would be more proper than _which_,
though less agreeable in sound before the word _here_. In one of his notes
on this word, Churchill has fallen into a strange error. He will have _who_
to represent a _horse!_ and that, in such a sense, as would require _which_
and not _who_, even for a person. As he prints the masculine pronoun in
Italics, perhaps he thought, with Murray and Webster, that _which_ must
needs be "of the _neuter gender_." [189] He says, "In the following
passage, _which_ seems to be used _instead_ of _who_:--

    'Between two horses, _which_ doth bear him best;
    I have, perhaps, some shallow spirit of judgment'
                   SHAKS., 1 Hen. VI."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 226.

OBS. 8.--The pronoun _what_ is usually applied to things only. It has a
twofold relation, and is often used (by ellipsis of the noun) both as
antecedent and as relative, in the form of a single word; being equivalent
to _that which_, or _the thing which,--those which_, or _the things which_.
In this double relation, _what_ represents two cases at the same time: as,
"He is ashamed of _what_ he has done;" that is, "of what [_thing_ or
_action_] he has done;"--or, "of _that_ [thing or action] _which_ he has
done." Here are two objectives. The two cases are sometimes alike,
sometimes different; for either of them may be the nominative, and either,
the objective. Examples: "The dread of censure ought not to prevail _over
what is_ proper."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 252. "The public ear
will not easily _bear what is_ slovenly and incorrect."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 12. "He who buys _what_ he does not need, will often need _what_ he
cannot buy."--_Student's Manual_, p. 290. "_What_ is just, is honest; and
again, _what_ is honest, is just."--_Cicero_. "He that hath an ear, let him
hear _what_ the Spirit saith unto the churches."--_Rev._, ii, 7, 11, 17,
29; iii, 6, 13, 22.

OBS. 9.--This pronoun, _what_, is usually of the singular number, though
sometimes plural: as, "I must turn to the faults, or _what appear_ such to
me."--_Byron_. "All distortions and mimicries, as such, are _what raise_
aversion instead of pleasure."--_Steele_. "Purified indeed from _what
appear_ to be its real defects."--_Wordsworth's Pref._, p. xix. "Every
single impression, made even by the same object, is distinguishable from
_what_ have gone before, and from _what_ succeed."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
Vol. i, p. 107. "Sensible people express no thoughts but _what_ make some
figure."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 399. The following example, which makes _what_
both singular and plural at once, is a manifest solecism: "_What has_ since
followed _are_ but natural consequences."--J. C. CALHOUN, _Speech in U. S.
Senate_, March 4, 1850. Here _has_ should be _have_; or else the form
should be this: "What has since followed, _is_ but _a_ natural
_consequence_."

OBS. 10.--The common import of this remarkable pronoun, _what_, is, as we
see in the foregoing examples, twofold; but some instances occur, in which
it does not appear to have this double construction, but to be simply
declaratory; and many, in which the word is simply an adjective: as,
"_What_ a strange run of luck I have had to-day!"--_Columbian Orator_, p.
293. Here _what_ is a mere adjective; and, in the following examples, a
pronoun indefinite:--

   "I tell thee _what_, corporal, I could tear her."--_Shak._

    "He knows _what's what_, and that's as high
    As metaphysic wit can fly."--_Hudibras_.

OBS. 11.--_What_ is sometimes used both as an adjective and as a relative
at the same time, and is placed before the noun which it represents; being
equivalent to the adjective _any_ or _all_, and the simple relative _who,
which_[190] or _that_: as, "_What_ money we had, was taken away." That is,
"_All the_ money _that_ we had, was taken away." "_What_ man but enters,
dies." That is, "_Any_ man _who_ enters, dies." "It was agreed that _what_
goods were aboard his vessels, should be landed."--_Mickle's India_, p. 89.
"_What_ appearances of worth afterwards succeeded, were drawn from
thence."--_Internal Policy of Great Britain_, p. 196. That is, "_All the_
appearances of worth, _which_ afterwards succeeded."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 93. Indeed, this pronoun does not admit of being construed after a noun,
as a simple relative: none but the most illiterate ever seriously use it
so. _What_ put for _who_ or _which_, is therefore a ludicrous vulgarism;
as, "The aspiring youth _what_ fired the Ephesian dome."--_Jester_. The
word used as above, however, does not always preclude the introduction of a
personal pronoun before the subsequent verb; as,[191]

   "_What_ god but enters yon forbidden field,
    Who yields assistance, or but wills to yield,
    Back to the skies with shame _he_ shall be driven,
    Gash'd with dishonest wounds, the scorn of heaven."--_Pope's Homer_.

OBS. 12.--The compound _whatever_ or _whatsoever_ has the same
peculiarities of construction as has the simpler word _what_: as, "Whatever
word expresses an affirmation, or assertion, is a verb; or thus, _Whatever_
word, with a noun or pronoun before or after it, makes full sense, is a
verb."--_Adam's Latin Gram._, p. 78. That is, "_Any_ word _which_
expresses," &c. "We will certainly do _whatsoever_ thing goeth forth out of
our own mouth."--_Jeremiah_, xliv, 17. That is--"_any_ thing, or _every_
thing, _which_." "_Whatever_ sounds are difficult in pronunciation, are, in
the same proportion, harsh and painful to the ear."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
121; _Murray's Gram._, p. 325. "_Whatsoever_ things were written aforetime,
were written for our learning."--_Romans_, xv, 4. In all these examples,
the word _whatever_ or _whatsoever_ appears to be used both adjectively and
relatively. There are instances, however, in which the relation of this
term is not twofold, but simple: as, "_Whatever_ useful or engaging
endowments we possess, virtue is requisite in order to their shining with
proper lustre."--_English Reader_, p. 23. Here _whatever_ is simply an
adjective. "The declarations contained in them [the Scriptures] rest on the
authority of God _himself_; and there can be no appeal from them to any
other authority _whatsoever_."--_London Epistle_, 1836. Here _whatsoever_
may be parsed either as an adjective relating to _authority_, or as an
emphatic pronoun in apposition with its noun, like _himself_ in the
preceding clause. In this general explanatory sense, _whatsoever_ may be
applied to persons as well as to things; as, "I should be sorry if it
entered into the imagination _of any person whatsoever_, that I was
preferred to all other patrons."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 11. Here the word
_whomsoever_ might have been used.

OBS. 13.--But there is an other construction to be here explained, in which
_whatever_ or _whatsoever_ appears to be a _double relative_, or a term
which includes both antecedent and relative; as, "_Whatever_ purifies,
fortifies also the heart."--_English Reader_, p. 23. That is. "_All that
purifies_--or, _Everything which_ purifies--fortifies also the heart."
"_Whatsoever_ he doeth, shall prosper."--_Psal._, i, 3. That is, "_All
that_ he doeth--or, _All the things which he doeth_--shall prosper." This
construction, however, may be supposed elliptical. The Latin expression is,
"_Omnia quæcumque faciet prosperabuntur_."--_Vulgate_. The Greek is
similar: [Greek: "Kai panta hosa an poiæi kateuodothæsetai."]--
_Septuagint_. It is doubtless by some sort of ellipsis which familiarity of
use inclines us to overlook, that _what, whatever_, and _whatsoever_, which
are essentially adjectives, have become susceptible of this double
construction as pronouns. But it is questionable what particular ellipsis
we ought here to suppose, or whether any; and certainly, we ought always to
avoid the supposing of an ellipsis, if we can.[192] Now if we say the
meaning is, "Whatsoever _things_ he doeth, shall prosper;" this, though
analogous to other expressions, does not simplify the construction. If we
will have it to be, "Whatsoever _things_ he doeth, _they_ shall prosper;"
the pronoun _they_ appears to be pleonastic. So is the word _it_, in the
text, "_Whatsoever_ he saith unto you, do _it_."--_John_, ii, 5. If we say
the full phrase is, "_All things_ whatsoever he doeth, shall prosper;" this
presents, to an English ear, a still more obvious pleonasm. It may be, too,
_a borrowed idiom_, found nowhere but in translations; as, "_All things
whatsoever_ ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."--_Matt._,
xxi, 22. From these views, there seems to be some objection to any and
every method of parsing the above-mentioned construction as _elliptical_.
The learner may therefore say, in such instances, that _whatever_ or
_whatsoever_ is a double relative, including both antecedent and relative;
and parse it, first as antecedent, in connexion with the latter verb, and
then as relative, in connexion with the former. But let him observe that
the order of the verbs may be the reverse of the foregoing; as, "Ye are my
friends, if ye _do_ whatsoever I _command_ you."--_John_, xv, 14. That is,
according to the Greek, "If ye do whatsoever I command _to_ you;" Though it
would be better English to say, "If ye do whatsoever I command you _to
do_." In the following example, however, it seems proper to recognize an
ellipsis; nay, the omissions in the construction of the last line, are as
many as three or four;--

   "Expatiate with glad step, and choose at will
    Whate'er bright spoils the florid earth contains,
    Whate'er the waters, or the liquid air."--_Akenside_.

OBS. 14.--As the simple word _who_ differs from _which_ and _what_, in
being always a declinable pronoun; so its compounds differ from theirs, in
being incapable of either of the double constructions above described. Yet
_whoever_ and _whoso_ or _whosoever_, as well as _whichever_ and
_whichsoever, whatever_ and _whatsoever_, derive, from the affix which is
added, or from the peculiarity of their syntax, an unlimited
signification--or a signification which is limited only by the following
verb; and, as some general term, such as _any person_, or _all persons_, is
implied as the antecedent, they are commonly connected with other words as
if they stood for two cases at once: as, "_Whoever_ seeks, shall find."
That is, "_Any person who_ seeks, shall find." But as the case of this
compound, like that of the simple word _who, whose_, or _whom_, is known
and determined by its form, it is necessary, in parsing, to treat this
phraseology as being elliptical. The compounds of _who_ do not, therefore,
actually stand for two cases, though some grammarians affirm that they
do.[193] Example: "The soldiers made proclamation, that they would sell the
empire to _whoever_ would purchase it at the highest price."--_Goldsmith's
Rome_, p. 231. That is--"to _any man who_ would purchase it." The affix
_ever_ or _soever_ becomes unnecessary when the ellipsis is supplied; and
this fact, it must be confessed, is a plausible argument against the
supposition of an ellipsis. But the supposing of an antecedent understood,
is here unavoidable; because the preposition _to_ cannot govern the
nominative case, and the word _whoever_ cannot be an objective. And so in
all other instances in which the two cases are different: as, "He bids
_whoever_ is athirst, to come."--_Jenks's Devotions_, p. 151. "Elizabeth
publicly threatened, that she would have the head of _whoever_ had advised
it."--HUME: _in Priestley's Gram._, p. 104.

OBS. 15.--If it is necessary in parsing to supply the antecedent to
_whoever_ or _whosoever_, when two _different_ cases are represented, it is
but analogous and reasonable to supply it also when two similar cases
occur: as, "_Whoever_ borrows money, _is bound_ in conscience to repay
it."--_Paley_. "_Whoever_ is eager to find excuses for vice and folly,
_will find_ his own backwardness to practise them much diminished."--
_Chapone_. "_Whoever_ examines his own imperfections, _will cease_ to be
fastidious; _whoever_ restrains humour and caprice, _will cease_ to be
squeamish."--_Crabb's Synonymes_. In all these examples, we have the word
in the third person, singular number, masculine gender, and nominative
case. And here it is most commonly found. It is always of the third person;
and, though its number _may_ be plural; its gender, feminine; its case,
possessive or objective; we do not often use it in any of these ways. In
some instances, the latter verb is attended with an other pronoun, which
represents the same person or persons; as, "And _whosoever_ will, let _him_
take of the water of life freely."--_Rev._, xxii, 17. The case of this
compound relative always depends upon what follows it, and not upon what
precedes; as, "Or ask of _whomsoever_ he has taught."--_Cowper_. That
is--"of _any person whom_ he has taught." In the following text, we have
the possessive plural: "_Whosesoever_ sins ye remit, they are remitted unto
_them_."--_John_, xx, 23. That is, "_Whatever persons'_ sins."

OBS. 16.--In such phraseology as the following, there is a stiffness which
ought to be avoided: "For _whomever_ God loves, he loves _them_ in Christ,
and no otherways."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 215. Better: "For _all
whom_ God loves, he loves in Christ, and no _otherwise_." "When the Father
draws, _whomever_ he draws, may come."--_Penington_. Better: "When the
Father draws, _all whom_ he draws, (or, _every one whom_ he draws.) may
come." A modern critic of immense promise cites the following clause as
being found in the Bible: "But he loveth _whomsoever_ followeth after
righteousness."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 72. It is lamentable to see the
unfaithfulness of this gentleman's quotations. About half of them are
spurious; and I am confident that this one is neither Scripture nor good
English. The compound relative, being the subject of _followeth_, should be
in the nominative case; for the object of the verb _loveth_ is the
antecedent _every one_, understood. But the idea may be better expressed,
without any ellipsis, thus: "He loveth _every one who_ followeth after
righteousness." The following example from the same hand is also wrong, and
the author's rule and reasoning connected with it, are utterly fallacious:
"I will give the reward to _whomsoever_ will apprehend the rogue."--_Ib._,
p. 256. Much better say, "_to any one who_;" but, if you choose the
compound word, by all analogy, and all good authority, it must here be
_whoever_ or _whosoever_. The shorter compound _whoso_, which occurs very
frequently in the Bible, is now almost obsolete in prose, but still
sometimes used by the poets. It has the same meaning as _whosoever_, but
appears to have been confined to the nominative singular; and _whatso_ is
still more rare: as, "_Whoso_ diggeth a pit, shall fall therein."--_Prov._,
xxvi, 27.

   "Which _whoso_ tastes, can be enslaved no more."--_Cowper_.

    "On their intended journey to proceed,
    And over night _whatso_ thereto did need."--_Hubbard_.

OBS. 17.--The relative _that_ is applied indifferently to persons, to brute
animals, and to inanimate things. But the word _that_ is not always a
relative pronoun. It is sometimes a pronoun, sometimes an adjective, and
sometimes a conjunction. I call it not a demonstrative pronoun and also a
relative; because, in the sense in which Murray and others have styled it a
"demonstrative adjective _pronoun_," it is a pronominal _adjective_, and it
is better to call it so. (1.) It is a _relative pronoun_ whenever it is
equivalent to _who, whom_, or _which_: as, "There is not a _just man_ upon
earth, _that_ doeth good, and sinneth not"--_Eccl._, vii, 20. "It was
diverse from all the _beasts that_ were before it."--_Dan._, vii, 7. "And
he had a _name_ written, _that_ no man knew but he himself."--_Rev._, xix,
12. (2.) It is a _pronominal adjective_ whenever it relates to a noun
expressed or understood after it: as, "Thus with violence shall _that_
great _city_, Babylon, be thrown down."--_Rev._, xviii, 21. "Behold _that_
[thing] which I have seen."--_Eccl._, v, 18. "And they said, 'What is
_that_[194] [matter] to us? See thou to _that_' [matter]."--_Matt._, xxvii,
4. (3.) In its other uses, it is a _conjunction_, and, as such, it most
commonly makes what follows it, the purpose, object, or final cause, of
what precedes it: as, "I read _that_ I may learn."--_Dr. Adam._ "Ye men of
Athens, I perceive _that_ in all things ye are too superstitious."--_St.
Paul._ "Live well, _that_ you may die well."--_Anon._ "Take heed _that_
thou speak not to Jacob."--_Genesis._ "Judge not, _that_ ye be not
judged."--_Matthew._

OBS. 18.--The word _that_, or indeed any other word, should never be so
used as to leave the part of speech uncertain; as, "For in the day _that_
thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."--_Gen._, ii, 17. Here _that_
seems to be a relative _pronoun_, representing _day_, in the third person,
singular, neuter; yet, in other respects, it seems to be a _conjunction_,
because there is nothing to determine its case. Better: "For in the day _on
which_ thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." This mongrel
construction of the word _that_, were its justification possible, is common
enough in our language to be made good English. But it must needs be
condemned, because it renders the character of the term ambiguous, and is
such a grammatical difficulty as puts the parser at a dead nonplus.
Examples: (1.) "But _at the same time_ THAT men are giving their orders,
God on his part is likewise giving his."--_Rollin's Hist._, ii, 106. Here
the phrase, "_at the same time that_," is only equivalent to the adverb
_while_; and yet it is incomplete, because it means, "_at the same time at
which_," or, "_at the very time at which._" (2.) "The author of this work,
_at the same time_ THAT he has endeavoured to avoid a plan, _which may be_
too concise or too extensive, defective in its parts or irregular in the
disposition of them, has studied to render his _subject_ sufficiently easy,
intelligible, and _comprehensive._"--_Murray's Gram., Introd._, p. 1. This
sentence, which is no unfair specimen of its author's original style, needs
three corrections: 1. For "_at the same time that_," say _while_: 2. Drop
the phrase, "_which may be_," because it is at least useless: 3. For
"_subject_," read _treatise_, or _compilation._ You will thus have
tolerable diction. Again: (3.) "The participles of active verbs _act upon
objects_ and govern them in the objective case, in the same manner _that_
the verbs _do_, from which they are derived. _A participle_ in the nature
of an adjective, belongs or refers to _nouns_ or _pronouns_ in the same
manner _that_ adjectives do; and _when it will admit_ the degrees of
comparison, _it is called_ a participial _adjective_."--_Sanborn's Gram._,
p. 38. This is the style of a gentleman of no ordinary pretensions, one who
thinks he has produced the best grammar that has ever appeared in our
language. To me, however, his work suggests an abundance of questions like
these; each of which would palpably involve him in a dilemma: What is here
meant by "_objects_," the _words_, or the _things?_ if the former, how are
they acted upon? if the latter, how are they governed? If "a _participle_
is called an _adjective_," which is it, an adjective, or a participle? If
"_a_ participle refers to _nouns_ or _pronouns_," _how many_ of these are
required by the relation? When does a _participle_ "admit the degrees of
comparison?" How shall we parse the word _that_ in the foregoing sentences?

OBS. 19.--The word _as_, though usually a conjunction or an adverb, has
sometimes the construction of a relative pronoun, especially after _such,
so many_, or _as many_; and, whatever the antecedent _noun_ may be, this is
the _only fit relative_ to follow any of these terms in a restrictive
sense. Examples: "We have been accustomed to repose on its veracity with
_such_ humble confidence _as_ suppresses curiosity."--_Johnson's Life of
Cowley._ "The malcontents made _such_ demands _as_ none but a tyrant could
refuse."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, Let. 7. "The Lord added to the church
daily _such_ [persons] _as_ should be saved."--_Acts_, ii, 47. "And _as
many as_ were ordained to eternal life, believed."--_Acts_, xiii, 48. "_As
many as_ I love, I rebuke and chasten."--_Rev._, iii, 19. "Know ye not,
that _so many_ of us _as_ were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized
into his death?"--_Rom._, vi, 3. "For _as many_ of you _as_ have been
baptized into Christ, have put on Christ."--_Gal._, iii, 27. "A syllable is
_so many_ letters _as_ are spoken with one motion of the voice."--_Perley's
Gram._, p. 8. "The compound tenses are _such as_ cannot be formed without
an auxiliary verb."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 91. "Send him _such_ books _as_
will please him."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 37. "In referring to
_such_ a division of the day _as_ is past, we use the imperfect."--
_Murray's Gram._, p. 70. "Participles have _the same_ government _as_ the
verbs from which they are derived."--_Ib._, Rule xiv. "Participles have
_the same_ government _as_ the verbs _have_ from which they are derived."--
_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 94. In some of these examples, _as_ is in the
nominative case, and in others, in the objective; in some, it is of the
masculine gender, and in others, it is neuter; in some, it is of the plural
number, and in others, it is singular: but in all, it is of the third
person; and in all, its person, number, gender, and case, are as obvious as
those of any invariable pronoun can be.

OBS. 20.--Some
writers--(the most popular are Webster, Bullions, Wells, and Chandler--)
imagine that _as_, in such sentences as the foregoing, can be made a
conjunction, and not a pronoun, if we will allow them to consider the
phraseology elliptical. Of the example for which I am indebted to him, Dr.
Webster says, "_As_ must be considered as the nominative to _will please_,
or we must suppose an ellipsis of several words: as, 'Send him such books
as _the books which_ will please him, or as _those which_ will please
him.'"--_Improved Gram._, p. 37. This pretended explanation must be
rejected as an absurdity. In either form of it, _two_ nominatives are idly
imagined between _as_ and its verb; and, I ask, of what is the first one
the subject? If you say, "Of _are_ understood," making the phrase, "such
books _as the books are_;" does not _as_ bear the same relation to this new
verb _are_, that is found in the pronoun _who_, when one says, "Tell him
_who_ you _are?_" If so, _as_ is a pronoun still; so that, thus far, you
gain nothing. And if you will have the whole explanation to be, "Send him
such books _as the books are books which_ will please him;" you multiply
words, and finally arrive at nothing, but tautology and nonsense. Wells,
not condescending to show his pupils what he would supply after this _as_,
thinks it sufficient to say, the word is "followed by an ellipsis of one or
more words required to complete the construction; as, 'He was the father of
all such as [] handle the harp and organ.'--_Gen._ 4: 21."--_Wells's School
Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 164; 3d Ed., p. 172.

OBS. 21.--Chandler exhibits the sentence, "_These are not such as are
worn_;" and, in parsing it, expounds the words _as_ and _are_, thus; the
crotchets being his, not mine: "_as_.... is an _adverb, connecting_ the two
sentences in comparing them, [_It is a fault_ of some, that they make _as_
a pronoun, when, in a comparative sentence, it corresponds with _such_, and
is immediately followed by a verb, as in the sentence now given. This is
probably done _from an ignorance_ of the real nominative to the verb. The
sentence _should stand thus_: 'These (_perhaps_ bonnets) are not such
(bonnets) _as_ (those bonnets) are (which are) worn.' Then] _are_ .... is
the substantive verb, third person, plural number, indicative mood, present
tense, and agrees with the noun _bonnets_, understood."--_Chandler's Common
School Gram._, p. 162. All this bears the marks of shallow flippancy. No
part of it is accurate. "_Are worn_," which the critic unwarrantably
divides by his misplaced curves and uncouth impletions, is a passive verb,
agreeing with the pronoun _as_. But the text itself is faulty, being
unintelligible through lack of a noun; for, of things that _may be_
"_worn_," there are a thousand different sorts. Is it not ridiculous, for a
great grammarian to offer, as a model for parsing, what he himself, "_from
an ignorance_ of the real nominative," can only interpret with a
"_perhaps?_" But the noun which this author supplies, the meaning which he
guesses that he had, he here very improperly stows away within a pair of
_crotchets_. Nor is it true, that "the sentence _should stand_" as above
exhibited; for the tautological correction not only has the very extreme of
awkwardness, but still makes _as_ a pronoun, a nominative, belonging after
_are_: so that the phrase, "_as are worn_," is only encumbered and
perverted by the verbose addition made. So of an other example given by
this expounder, in which _as_ is an objective: "He is exactly such a man
_as_ I saw."--_Chandler's Com. Sch. Gram._, p. 163. Here _as_ is the object
of _saw_. But the author says, "The sentence, however, _should stand_ thus:
'He is exactly such a man _as_ that person _was_ whom I saw.'"--_Ibid._
This inelegant alteration makes _as_ a nominative dependent on _was._

OBS. 22.--The use of _as_ for a relative pronoun, is almost entirely
confined to those connexions in which no other relative would be proper;
hence few instances occur, of its absolute equivalence to _who, which_, or
_that_, by which to establish its claim to the same rank. Examples like the
following, however, go far to prove it, if proof be necessary; because
_who_ and _which_ are here employed, where _as_ is certainly now required
by all good usage: "It is not only convenient, but absolutely needful, that
there be certain meetings at certain places and times, _as_ may best suit
the convenience of _such, who_ may be most particularly concerned in
them."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 495. "Which, no doubt, will be found
obligatory upon all _such, who_ have a sense and feeling of the mind of the
Spirit."--_Ib._, i, p. 578. "Condemning or removing _such_ things, _which_
in themselves are evil."--_Ib._, i, p. 511. In these citations, not only
are _who_ and _which_ improperly used for _as_, but the _commas_ before
them are also improper, because the relatives are intended to be taken in a
restrictive sense. "If there be _such that_ walk disorderly now."--_Ib._,
i, p. 488. Here _that_ ought to be _as_; or else _such_ ought to be
_persons_, or _those._ "When such virtues, _as which_ still accompany the
truth, are necessarily supposed to be wanting."--_Ib._, i, p. 502. Here
_which_, and the comma before _as_, should both be expunged. "I shall raise
in their minds the same course of thought _as_ has taken possession of my
own."--_Duncan's Logic_, p. 61. "The pronoun must be in the same case _as_
the antecedent would be _in_, if substituted for it."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
181. "The verb must therefore have the same construction _as_ it has in the
following sentence."--_Murray's Key_, p. 190. Here _as_ is exactly
equivalent to the relative _that_, and either may be used with equal
propriety. We cannot avoid the conclusion, therefore, that, as the latter
word is sometimes a conjunction and sometimes a pronoun, so is the former.

OBS. 23.--The relatives _that_ and _as_ have this peculiarity; that, unlike
_whom_ and _which_, they never follow the word on which their case depends;
nor indeed can any simple relative be so placed, except it be governed by a
preposition or an infinitive. Thus, it is said, (John, xiii, 29th,) "Buy
those things _that_ we have need _of_;" so we may say, "Buy such things
_as_ we have need of." But we cannot say, "Buy those things _of that_ we
have need;" or, "Buy such things _of as_ we have need." Though we may say,
"Buy those things _of which_ we have need," as well as, "Buy those things
_which_ we have need _of_;" or, "Admit those persons of whom we have need,"
as well as, "Admit those persons _whom_ we have need _of._" By this it
appears that _that_ and _as_ have a closer connexion with their antecedents
than the other relatives require: a circumstance worthy to have been better
remembered by some critics. "Again, _that_ and _as_ are used rather
differently. When _that_ is used, the verb must be repeated; as,
'Participles _require_ the same government, _that_ their verbs
_require_.'--'James _showed_ the same credulity, _that_ his minister
_showed_.' But when _as_ is used, the verb generally may, or may not be
repeated; as, 'Participles _require_ the same government _as_ their verbs;'
or, '_as_ their verbs _require_.'--'James _showed_ the same credulity as
his minister;' or, '_as_ his minister _showed_:' the second nominative
_minister_ being parsed as the nominative to the same verb _showed_
understood."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 140.[195]

OBS. 24.--The terminating of a sentence with a preposition, or other small
particle, is in general undignified, though perhaps not otherwise improper.
Hence the above-named inflexibility in the construction of _that_ and _as_,
sometimes induces an ellipsis of the governing word designed; and is
occasionally attended with some difficulty respecting the choice of our
terms. Examples: "The answer is always in the same case _that_ the
interrogative word _is_."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 70. Here is a faulty
termination; and with it a more faulty ellipsis. In stead of ending the
sentence with _is in_, say, "The answer always _agrees in case with_ the
interrogative word." Again: "The relative is of the same person _with_ the
antecedent."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 101. This sentence is wrong, because the
person of the relative is not really _identical with_ the antecedent. "The
relative is of the same person _as_ the antecedent."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
154. Here the writer means--"_as_ the antecedent _is of_." "A neuter verb
becomes active, when followed by a noun of the same signification _with_
its own."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 127. Here same is wrong, or else the last
three words are useless. It would therefore be improper to say--"of _the
same_ signification _as_ its own." The expression ought to be--"of a
signification _similar to_ its own." "Ode is, _in Greek_, the same _with_
song or hymn."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 396. _Song_ being no Greek word, I
cannot think the foregoing expression accurate, though one might say, "Ode
is _identical with_ song or hymn." Would it not be better to say, "Ode is
the same _as_ song or hymn?" That is, "Ode is, _literally_, the same _thing
that_ song or hymn _is_?" "Treatises of philosophy, ought not to be
composed in the same style _with_ orations."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 175. Here
neither _with_ nor _as_ can be proper; because _orations_ are not _a
style_. Expunge _same_; and say--"in the style _of_ orations."

OBS. 25.--Few writers are sufficiently careful in their choice and
management of relatives. In the following instance, Murray and others
violate a special rule of their own grammars, by using _whom_ for _that_
"after an adjective of the superlative degree:" "Modifying them according
to the genius of that tongue, and the established practice of _the best_
speakers and writers _by whom_ it is used."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 1;
_Fisk's_, p. 11; _et al._ According to Priestley and himself, the great
Compiler is here in an error. The rule is perhaps too stringent; but
whoever teaches it, should keep it. If he did not like to say, "_the best_
speakers and writers _that_ it is used _by_;" he ought to have said, "_the
best_ speakers and writers _that use it_." Or, rather, he ought to have
said _nothing_ after the word "writers;" because the whole relative clause
is here weak and useless. Yet how many of the amenders of this grammar have
not had perspicacity enough, either to omit the expression, or to correct
it according to the author's own rule!

OBS. 26.--Relative pronouns are capable of being taken in two very
different senses: the one, restrictive of the general idea suggested by the
antecedent; the other, _resumptive_ of that idea, in the full import of the
term--or, in whatever extent the previous definitives allow. The
distinction between these two senses, important as it is, is frequently
made to depend solely upon the insertion or the omission of _a comma_.
Thus, if I say, "Men who grasp after riches, are never satisfied;" the
relative _who_ is taken restrictively, and I am understood to speak _only
of the avaricious_. But, if I say, "Men, who grasp after riches, are never
satisfied;" by separating the terms _men_ and _who_, I declare _all men_ to
be covetous and unsatisfied. For the former sense, the relative _that_ is
preferable to _who_; and I shall presently show why. This example, in the
latter form, is found in Sanborn's Grammar, page 142d; but whether the
author meant what he says, or not, I doubt. Like many other unskillful
writers, he has paid little regard to the above-mentioned distinction; and,
in some instances, his meaning cannot have been what his words declare: as,
"A prism is a solid, whose sides are all parallelograms."--_Analytical
Gram._, p. 142. This, as it stands, is no definition of a prism, but an
assertion of two things; that a prism is a solid, and that all the sides of
a solid are parallelograms. Erase the comma, and the words will describe
the prism as a peculiar kind of solid; because _whose_ will then be taken
in the restrictive sense. This sense, however, may be conveyed even with a
comma before the relative; as, "Some fictitious histories yet remain,
_that_ were composed during the decline of the Roman empire."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 374. This does not suggest that there are no other fictitious
histories now extant, than such as were composed during the decline of the
Roman empire; but I submit it to the reader, whether the word _which_, if
here put for _that_, would not convey this idea.

OBS. 27.--Upon this point, many philologists are open to criticism; and
none more so, than the recent author above cited. By his own plain showing,
this grammarian has no conception of the difference of meaning, upon which
the foregoing distinction is founded. What marvel, then, that he falls into
errors, both of doctrine and of practice? But, if no such difference
exists, or none that is worthy of a critic's notice; then the error is
mine, and it is vain to distinguish between the restrictive and the
resumptive sense of relative pronouns. For example: "The boy that desires
to assist his companions, deserves respect."--_G. Brown._ "That boy, who
desires to assist his companions, deserves respect."--_D. H. Sanborn._
According to my notion, these two sentences clearly convey two very
different meanings; the relative, in the former, being restrictive, but, in
the latter, resumptive of the sense of the antecedent. But of the latter
example this author says, "The clause, 'who desires to assist his
companions,' with the relative who at its head, _explains or tells what boy
deserves respect_; and, like a conjunction, connects this clause to the
noun _boy_."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 69. He therefore takes it in a
restrictive sense, as if this sentence were exactly equivalent to the
former. But he adds, "A relative pronoun is resolvable into a personal
pronoun and a conjunction. The sentence would then read, 'That boy desires
to assist his companions, _and_ he deserves respect.' The relative pronoun
governs the nearer verb, and the antecedent the more distant one."--_Ib._,
p. 69. Now, concerning the restrictive relative, this doctrine of
equivalence does not hold good; and, besides, the explanation here given,
not only contradicts his former declaration of the sense he intended, but,
with other seeming contradiction, joins the antecedent to the nearer verb,
and the substituted pronoun to the more distant.

OBS. 28.--Again, the following principles of this author's punctuation are
no less indicative of his false views of this matter: "RULE xiv.--Relative
pronouns in the nominative or [_the_] objective case, are preceded by
commas, when the clause which the relative _connects_ [,] ends a sentence;
as, 'Sweetness of temper is a quality, which reflects a lustre on every
accomplishment'--B. Greenleaf.' Self [-] denial is the sacrifice [,] which
virtue must make.' [_--L. Murray._] The comma is omitted before the
relative, when the verb which the antecedent governs, follows the relative
clause; as, 'He that suffers by imposture, has too often his virtue more
impaired than his fortune.'--_Johnson_." See _Sanborn's Analytical Gram._,
p. 269. Such are some of our author's principles--"the essence of modern
improvements." His practice, though often wrong, is none the worse for
contradicting these doctrines. Nay, his proudest boast is ungrammatical,
though peradventure not the less believed: "_No_ [other] _grammar in the
language_ probably contains so great a quantity of _condensed and_ useful
matter with so little superfluity."--_Sanborn's Preface_, p. v.

OBS. 29.--Murray's rule for the punctuation of relatives, (a rule which he
chiefly copied from Lowth,) recognizes virtually the distinction which I
have made above; but, in assuming that relatives "_generally_" require a
comma before them, it erroneously suggests that the resumptive sense is
more common than the restrictive. Churchill, on the contrary, as wrongly
makes it an essential characteristic of _all_ relatives, "to limit or
explain the words to which they refer." See his _New Gram._, p. 74. The
fact is, that relatives are so generally restrictive, that not one half of
them are thus pointed; though some that do restrict their antecedent,
nevertheless admit the point. This may be seen by the first example given
us by Murray: "Relative pronouns are connective words, and _generally
admit_ a comma before them: as, 'He preaches sublimely, who lives a sober,
righteous, and pious life.' But when two members, or _phrases_, [say
_clauses_,] are closely connected by a relative, restraining the general
notion of the antecedent to a particular sense, _the comma should be
omitted_: as, '_Self-denial_ is the _sacrifice which_ virtue must make;' 'A
_man who_ is of a detracting spirit, will misconstrue the most innocent
_words that_ can be put together.' In the latter example, the assertion is
not of 'a man in general,' but of 'a man who is of a detracting spirit;'
and therefore _they_ [say _the pronoun and its antecedent_] should not be
separated."--_Murray's Gram., Octavo_, p. 273; _Ingersoll's_, 285;
_Comly's_, 152. This reasoning, strictly applied, would exclude the comma
before _who_ in the first example above; but, as the pronoun does not
"closely" or immediately follow its antecedent, the comma is allowed,
though it is not much needed. Not so, when the sense is resumptive: as,
"The _additions, which_ are very considerable, are chiefly _such as_ are
calculated to obviate objections." See _Murray's Gram._, p. ix. Here the
comma is essential to the meaning. Without it, _which_ would be equivalent
to _that_; with it, which is equivalent to _and they_. But this latter
meaning, as I imagine, cannot be expressed by the relative _that_.

OBS. 30.--Into the unfortunate example which Sanborn took from Murray, I
have inserted the comma for him; not because it is necessary or right, but
because his rule requires it: "_Self-denial_ is the _sacrifice_," &c. The
author of "a complete system of grammar," might better contradict even
Murray, than himself. But why was this text admired? and why have _Greene,
Bullions, Hiley, Hart_, and others, also copied it? A _sacrifice_ is
something devoted and lost, for the sake of a greater good; and, _if Virtue
sacrifice self-denial_, what will she do, but run into indulgence? The
great sacrifice which she demands of men, is rather that of their
_self-love_. Wm. E. Russell has it, "_Self defence_ is the sacrifice which
virtue must make!"--_Russell's Abridgement of Murray's Gram._, p. 116.
Bishop Butler tells us, "It is indeed _ridiculous_ to assert, that
_self-denial is essential to virtue and piety_; but it would have been
nearer the truth, though not strictly the truth itself, to have said, that
it is essential to discipline and improvement."--_Analogy of Religion_, p.
123.

OBS. 31.--The relative _that_, though usually reckoned equivalent to _who_
or _which_, evidently differs from both, in being more generally, and
perhaps more appropriately, taken in the restrictive sense. It ought
therefore, for distinction's sake, to be preferred to _who_ or _which_,
whenever an antecedent not otherwise limited, is to be restricted by the
relative clause; as, "_Men that_ grasp after riches, are never
satisfied."--"I love _wisdom that_ is gay and civilized."--_Art of
Thinking_, p. 34. This phraseology leaves not the limitation of the meaning
to depend solely upon the absence of a pause after the antecedent; because
the relative _that_ is seldom, if ever, used by good writers in any other
than a restrictive sense. Again: "A man of a polite imagination is let into
a great many pleasures _that_ the vulgar are not capable of
receiving."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 411. Here, too, according to my notion,
_that_ is obviously preferable to _which_; though a great critic, very
widely known, has taken some pains to establish a different opinion. The
"many pleasures" here spoken of, are no otherwise defined, than as being
such as "the vulgar are not capable of receiving." The writer did not mean
to deny that the vulgar are capable of receiving a great many pleasures;
but, certainly, if _that_ were changed to _which_, this would be the
meaning conveyed, unless the reader were very careful to avoid a pause
where he would be apt to make one. I therefore prefer Addison's expression
to that which Dr. Blair would substitute.

OBS. 32.--The style of Addison is more than once censured by Dr. Blair, for
the frequency with which the relative _that_ occurs in it, where the
learned lecturer would have used which. The reasons assigned by the critic
are these: "_Which_ is a much more definitive word than that, being never
employed in any other way than as a relative; whereas _that_ is a word of
many senses; sometimes a demonstrative pronoun, often a conjunction. In
some cases we are indeed obliged to use _that_ for a relative, in order to
avoid the ungraceful repetition of _which_ in the same sentence. But when
we are laid under no necessity of this kind, _which_ is always the
preferable word, and certainly was so in this sentence: '_Pleasures which_
the vulgar are not capable of receiving,' is much better than '_pleasures
that_ the vulgar are not capable of receiving.'"--_Blair's Rhetoric_, Lect.
xx, p. 200. Now the facts are these: (1.) That _that_ is the more
definitive or restrictive word of the two. (2.) That the word _which_ has
as many different senses and uses as the word _that_. (3.) That not the
repetition of _which_ or _who_ in a series of clauses, but a _needless
change_ of the relative, is ungraceful. (4.) That the necessity of using
_that_ rather than _which_ or _who_, depends, not upon what is here
supposed, but upon the different senses which these words usually convey.
(5.) That as there is always some reason of choice, _that_ is sometimes to
be preferred; _which_, sometimes; and _who_, sometimes: as, "It is not the
man _who_ has merely taught, or _who_ has taught long, or _who_ is able to
point out defects in authors, _that_ is capable of enlightening the world
in the respective sciences _which_ have engaged his attention; but the man
_who_ has taught well."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 7.

OBS. 33.--Blair's Rhetoric consists of forty-seven lectures; four of which
are devoted to a critical examination of the style of Addison, as exhibited
in four successive papers of the Spectator. The remarks of the professor
are in general judicious; but, seeing his work is made a common textbook
for students of "Belles Lettres," it is a pity to find it so liable to
reprehension on the score of inaccuracy. Among the passages which are
criticised in the twenty-first lecture, there is one in which the essayist
speaks of the effects of _novelty_ as follows:

'It is this _which_ bestows charms on a monster, and makes even the
imperfections of nature please us. It is this _that_ recommends variety,
where the mind is every instant called off to something new, and the
attention not suffered to dwell too long and waste itself on any particular
object. It is this, likewise, _that_ improves what is great or beautiful,
and makes it afford the mind a double entertainment.'--_Spectator_, No.
412.

This passage is deservedly praised by the critic, for its "perspicuity,
grace, and harmony;" but, in using different relatives under like
circumstances, the writer has hardly done justice to his own good taste.
Blair's remark is this: "His frequent use of _that_, instead of _which_, is
another peculiarity of his style; but, on this occasion in particular, [it]
cannot be much commended, as, 'It is this _which_,' seems, in every view,
to be better than, 'It is this _that_,' three times repeated."--_Lect._
xxi, p. 207. What is here meant by "_every view_," may, I suppose, be seen
in the corresponding criticism which is noticed in my last observation
above; and I am greatly deceived, if, in this instance also, the relative
_that_ is not better than _which_, and more agreeable to polite usage. The
direct relative which corresponds to the introductory pronoun _it_ and _an
other antecedent_, should, I think, be _that_, and not _who_ or _which_:
as, "It is not ye _that_ speak."--_Matt._, x, 20. "It is thou, Lord, _who_
hast the hearts of all men in thy hands, _that_ turnest the hearts of any
to show me favour."--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 278. Here _who_ has reference to
_thou_ or _Lord_ only; but _that_ has some respect to the pronoun _it_,
though it agrees in person and gender with _thou_. A similar example is
cited at the close of the preceding observation; and I submit it to the
reader, whether the word _that_, as it there occurs, is not the _only fit_
word for the place it occupies. So in the following examples: "There are
_Words, which_ are _not Verbs, that_ signify actions and passions, and even
things transient."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 100. "It is the universal
taste of mankind, which is subject to no such changing modes, _that_ alone
is entitled to possess any authority."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, p. 286.

OBS. 34.--Sometimes the broad import of an antecedent is _doubly
restricted_, first by one relative clause, and then by an other; as, "And
all _that dwell upon the earth_, shall worship him, _whose names are not
written in the book of life_."--_Rev._, xiii, 8. "And then, like true
Thames-Watermen, they abuse every man _that_ passes by, _who_ is better
dressed than themselves."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. ii, p. 10. Here _and_,
or _if he_, would be as good as "_who_;" for the connective only serves to
carry the restriction into narrower limits. Sometimes the limit fixed by
one clause is _extended_ by an other; as, "There is no evil _that you may
suffer_, or _that you may expect to suffer, which_ prayer is not the
appointed means to alleviate."--_Bickersteth, on Prayer_, p. 16. Here
_which_ resumes the idea of "_evil_," in the extent last determined; or
rather, in that which is fixed by either clause, since the limits of both
are embraced in the assertion. And, in the two limiting clauses, the same
pronoun was requisite, on account of their joint relation; but the clause
which assumes a different relation, is rightly introduced by a different
pronoun. This is also the case in the following examples: "For there is no
condemnation to those _that_ are in Christ Jesus, _who_ walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 432. "I will
tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast _that_ carrieth her,
_which_ hath the seven heads and ten horns."--_Rev._, xvii, 7. Here the
restrictive sense is well expressed by one relative, and the resumptive by
an other. When neither of these senses is intended by the writer, _any_
form of the relative must needs be improper: as, "The greatest genius
_which runs_ through the arts and sciences, takes a kind of tincture from
them, and falls unavoidably into imitation."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 160.
Here, as I suppose, _which runs_ should be _in running_. What else can the
author have meant?

OBS. 35.--Having now, as I imagine, clearly shown the difference between
the restrictive and the resumptive sense of a relative pronoun, and the
absolute necessity of making such a choice of words as will express that
sense only which we intend; I hope the learner will see, by these
observations, not merely that clearness requires the occasional use of each
of our five relatives, _who, which, what, that_, and _as_; but that this
distinction in the meaning, is a very common principle by which to
determine what is, and what is not, good English. Thus _that_ and _as_ are
appropriately our _restrictive_ relatives, though _who_ and _which_ are
sometimes used restrictively; but, in a _resumptive_ sense, _who_ or
_which_ is required, and required even after those terms which usually
demand _that_ or _as_: thus, "We are vexed at the unlucky chance, and go
away dissatisfied. _Such_ impressions, _which_ ought not to be cherished,
are a sufficient reason for excluding stories of that kind from the
theatre."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 279. Here _which_ is proper to the
sense intended; but _such_ requires _as_, when the latter term limits the
meaning of the former. In sentences like the following, _who_ or _which_
may be used in lieu of _that_; whether with any advantage or not, the
reader may judge: "You seize the critical moment _that_ is favorable to
emotion."--_Bair's Rhet._, p. 321. "_An_ historian _that_ would instruct
us, must know when to be concise."--_Ib._, p. 359. "Seneca has been
censured for the affectation _that_ appears in his style."--_Ib._, p. 367.
"Such as the prodigies _that_ attended the death of Julius Cæsar."--_Ib._,
p. 401. "By unfolding those principles _that_ ought to govern the taste of
every individual."--_Kames's Dedication to El. of Crit._ "But I am sure he
has that _that_ is better than an estate."--_Spect._, No. 475. "There are
two properties, _that_ characterize and essentially distinguish relative
pronouns."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 74. By these examples, it may be seen,
that Dr. Blair often forgot or disregarded his own doctrine respecting the
use of this relative; though he was oftener led, by the error of that
doctrine, to substitute _which_ for _that_ improperly.

OBS. 36.--_Whether_ was formerly used as an interrogative pronoun, in which
sense it always referred to one of two things; as, "Ye fools and blind! for
_whether_ is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the
gold?"--_Matt._, xxiii, 17. This usage is now obsolete; and, in stead of
it, we say, "_Which_ is greater?" But as a disjunctive conjunction,
corresponding to _or_, the word _whether_ is still in good repute; as,
"Resolve _whether_ you will go _or_ not."--_Webster's Dict._ In this sense
of the term, some choose to call _whether_ an _adverb_.

OBS. 37.--In the view of some writers, interrogative pronouns differ from
relatives chiefly in this; that, as the subject referred to is unknown to
the speaker, they do not relate to a _preceding_ noun, but to something
which is to be expressed in the answer to the question. It is certain that
their _person, number_, and _gender_, are not regulated by an antecedent
noun; but by what the speaker supposes or knows of a subject which may, or
may not, agree with them in these respects: as, "_What_ lies there?"
Answer, "Two _men_ asleep." Here _what_, standing for _what thing_, is of
the third person, singular number, and neuter gender; but _men_, which is
the term that answers to it, is of the third person, plural, masculine.
There is therefore no necessary agreement between the question and the
answer, in any of those properties in which a pronoun usually agrees with
its noun. Yet some grammarians will have interrogatives to agree with these
"_subsequents_," as relatives agree with their _antecedents_. The answer,
it must be granted, commonly contains a noun, corresponding in some
respects to the interrogative pronoun, and agreeing with it _in case_; but
this noun cannot be supposed to control the interrogation, nor is it, in
any sense, the word for which the pronoun stands. For every pronoun must
needs stand for something that is uttered or conceived by the same speaker;
nor can any question be answered, until its meaning is understood.
Interrogative pronouns must therefore be explained as direct substitutes
for such other terms as one might use in stead of them. Thus _who_ means
_what person_?

   "_Who_ taught that heav'n-directed spire to rise?
    _The Man of Ross_, each lisping babe replies."--_Pope_.

OBS. 38.--In the classification of the pronouns, and indeed in the whole
treatment of them, almost all our English grammars are miserably faulty, as
well as greatly at variance. In some forty or fifty, which I have examined
on this point, the few words which constitute this part of speech, have
more than twenty different modes of distribution. (1.) Cardell says, "There
is but one kind of pronouns"--_Elements of Gram._, p. 30. (2.) D. Adam's,
Greenleaf, Nutting, and Weld, will have two kinds; "_personal_ and
_relative_." (3.) Dr. Webster's "Substitutes, or pronouns, are of two
kinds:" the one, "called _personal_;" the other, without name or number.
See his _Improved Gram._, p. 24. (4.) Many have fixed upon three sorts;
"_personal, relative_, and _adjective_;" with a subdivision of the last. Of
these is Lindley Murray, in his late editions, with his amenders,
Ainsworth, Alger, Bacon, Bullions, Fisk, A. Flint, Frost, Guy, Hall,
Kirkham, Lennie, Merchant, Picket, Pond, and S. Putnam. (5.) Kirkham,
however, changes the order of the classes; thus, "_personal, adjective_,
and _relative_;" and, with ridiculous absurdity, makes _mine, thine, hers,
ours, yours_, and _theirs_ to be "_compounds_." (6.) Churchill adopts the
plan of "_personal, relative_, and _adjective_ pronouns;" and then destroys
it by a valid argument. (7.) Comly, Wilcox, Wells, and Perley, have these
three classes; "_personal, relative_, and _interrogative_:" and this
division is right. (8.) Sanborn makes the following bull: "The _general_
divisions of pronouns are _into personal, relative, interrogative_, and
_several sub-divisions_."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 91. (9.) Jaudon has these
three kinds; "_personal, relative_, and _distributive_." (10.) Robbins,
these; "_simple, conjunctive_, and _interrogative_." (11.) Lindley Murray,
in his early editions, had these four; "_personal, possessive, relative_,
and _adjective_." (12.) Bucke has these; "_personal, relative,
interrogative_, and _adjective_." (13.) Ingersoll, these; "_personal,
adjective, relative_, and _interrogative_." (14.) Buchanan; "_personal,
demonstrative, relative_, and _interrogative_." (15.) Coar; "_personal,
possessive_ or _pronominal adjectives, demonstrative_, and _relative_."
(16.) Bicknell; "_personal, possessive, relative_, and _demonstrative_."
(17.) Cobbett; "_personal, relative, demonstrative_, and _indefinite_."
(18) M'Culloch; "_personal, possessive, relative_, and _reciprocal_." (19.)
Staniford has five; "_personal, relative, interrogative, definitive_, and
_distributive_." (20.) Alexander, six; "_personal, relative, demonstrative,
interrogative, definitive_, and _adjective_." (21.) Cooper, in 1828, had
five; "_personal, relative, possessive, definite_, and _indefinite_." (22.)
Cooper, in 1831, six; "_personal, relative, definite, indefinite,
possessive_, and _possessive pronominal adjectives_." (23.) Dr. Crombie
says: "Pronouns may be divided into _Substantive_, and _Adjective;
Personal_, and _Impersonal; Relative_, and _Interrogative_." (24.) Alden
has seven sorts; "_personal, possessive, relative, interrogative,
distributive, demonstrative_, and _indefinite_." (25.) R. C. Smith has many
kinds, and treats them so badly that nobody can count them. In respect to
definitions, too, most of these writers are shamefully inaccurate, or
deficient. Hence the filling up of their classes is often as bad as the
arrangement. For instance, four and twenty of them will have interrogative
pronouns to be relatives; but who that knows what a relative pronoun is,
can coincide with them in opinion? Dr. Crombie thinks, "that interrogatives
are strictly relatives;" and yet divides the two classes with his own hand!


MODIFICATIONS.

Pronouns have the same modifications as nouns; namely, _Persons, Numbers,
Genders_, and _Cases_. Definitions universally applicable have already been
given of all these things; it is therefore unnecessary to define them again
in this place.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--In the personal pronouns, most of these properties are
distinguished by the words themselves; in the relative and the
interrogative pronouns, they are ascertained chiefly by means of the
antecedent and the verb. Interrogative pronouns, however, as well as the
relatives _which, what, as_, and all the compounds of _who, which_, and
_what_, are always of the third person. Even in etymological parsing, some
regard must be had to the syntactical relations of words. By
_modifications_, we commonly mean actual changes in the forms of words, by
which their grammatical properties are inherently distinguished; but, in
all languages, the distinguishable properties of words are somewhat more
numerous than their actual variations of form; there being certain
principles of universal grammar, which cause the person, number, gender, or
case, of some words, to be inferred from their relation to others; or, what
is nearly the same thing, from the sense which is conveyed by the sentence.
Hence, if in a particular instance it happen, that some, or even all, of
these properties, are without any index in the form of the pronoun itself,
they are still to be ascribed in parsing, because they may be easily and
certainly discovered from the construction. For example: in the following
text, it is just as easy to discern the _genders_ of the pronouns, as the
_cases_ of the nouns; and both are known and asserted to be what they are,
upon principles of mere inference: "For what knowest _thou_, O _wife_,
whether _thou_ shalt save _thy husband_? or how knowest _thou_, O _man_,
whether _thou_ shalt save _thy wife_?"--_1 Cor._, vii, 16. Again: "_Who_
betrayed _her_ companion? Not _I_."--_Murray's Key_, p. 211. Here _her_
being of the feminine gender, it is the inference of every reader, that
_who_ and _I_ are so too; but whether the word _companion_ is masculine or
feminine, is not so obvious.

OBS. 2.--The personal pronouns of the first and second persons, are equally
applicable to both sexes; and should be considered masculine or feminine,
according to the known application of them. [See _Levizac's French Gram._,
p. 73.] The speaker and the hearer, being present to each other, of course
know the sex to which they respectively belong; and, whenever they appear
in narrative or dialogue, we are told who they are. In _Latin_, an
adjective or a participle relating to these pronouns, is varied _to agree_
with them in _number, gender_, and _case_. This is a sufficient proof that
_ego, I_, and _tu, thou_, are not destitute of gender, though neither the
Latin words nor the English are themselves varied to express it:--

          "_Miseræ_ hoc tamen unum
    Exequere, Anna, _mihi: solam_ nam perfidus ille
    _Te_ colere, arcanos etiam tibi credere sensus;
    _Sola_ viri molles aditus et tempora nôras."--_Virgil_.

OBS. 3.--Many English grammarians, and Murray at their head, deny the first
person of nouns, and the gender of pronouns of the first and second
persons; and at the same time teach, that, "Pronouns must always agree with
their antecedents, _and_ the nouns for which they stand, in _gender,
number_, and _person_:" (_Murray's Gr., 2d Ed._, p. 111; _Rev. T. Smith's_,
p. 60:) and further, with redundance of expression, that, "The relative is
of the same person _with_ the antecedent, and the verb agrees with it
accordingly."--_Same_. These quotations form Murray's fifth rule of syntax,
as it stands in his early editions.[196] In some of his revisings, the
author erased the word _person_ from the former sentence, and changed
_with_ to _as_ in the latter. But other pronouns than relatives, agree with
their nouns in person; so that his first alteration was not for the better,
though Ingersoll, Kirkham, Alger, Bacon, J. Greenleaf, and some others,
have been very careful to follow him in it. And why did he never discern,
that the above-named principles of his etymology are both of them
contradicted by this rule of his syntax, and one of them by his rule as it
now stands? It is manifest, that no two words can possibly _agree_ in any
property which belongs not to both. Else what _is_ agreement? Nay, no two
things in nature, can in any wise agree, accord, or be alike, but by having
some quality or accident in common. How strange a contradiction then is
this! And what a compliment to learning, that it is still found in
well-nigh all our grammars!

OBS. 4.--If there were truth in what Murray and others affirm, that "Gender
has respect only to the third person singular of the pronouns, _he, she,
it_," [197] no two words could ever agree in gender; because there can be
no such agreement between any two of the words here mentioned, and the
assertion is, that gender has respect to no others. But, admitting that
neither the author nor the numerous copiers of this false sentence ever
meant to deny that gender has respect to _nouns_, they do deny that it has
respect to any other _pronouns_ than these; whereas I affirm that it ought
to be recognized as a property of _all_ pronouns, as well as of all nouns.
Not that the gender of either is in all instances invariably fixed by the
_forms_ of the particular words; but there is in general, if not in every
possible case, some principle of grammar, on which the gender of any noun
or pronoun in a sentence may be readily ascertained. Is it not plain, that
if we know who speaks or writes, who hears or is addressed, we know also
the gender of the pronouns which are applied to these persons? The poet of
The Task looked upon his mother's picture, and expressed his tender
recollections of a deceased parent by way of _address_; and will any one
pretend, that the pronouns which he applied to himself and to her, are
either of the same gender, or of no gender? If we take neither of these
assumptions, must we not say, they are of different genders? In this
instance, then, let the parser call those of the first person, masculine;
and those of the second, feminine:--

   "_My_ mother! when _I_ learned that _thou_ wast dead,
    Say, wast _thou_ conscious of the tears _I_ shed?"--_Cowper_.

OBS. 5.--That the pronouns of the first and second persons are sometimes
masculine and sometimes feminine, is perfectly certain; but whether they
can or cannot be neuter, is a question difficult to be decided. To things
inanimate they are applied only _figuratively_; and the question is,
whether the figure always necessarily changes the gender of the antecedent
noun. We assume the general principle, that the noun and its pronoun are
always of the same gender; and we know that when inanimate objects are
personified in the third person, they are usually represented as masculine
or feminine, the gender being changed by the figure. But when a lifeless
object is spoken to in the second person, or represented as speaking in the
first, as the pronouns here employed are in themselves without distinction
of gender, no such change can be proved by the mere words; and, if we allow
that it would be needless to _imagine_ it where the words do not prove it,
the gender of these pronouns must in such cases be neuter, because we have
no ground to think it otherwise. Examples: "And Jesus answered and said
unto _it_, [the barren _figtree_,] No man eat fruit of _thee_ hereafter
forever."--_Mark_, xi, 14. "O _earth_, cover not _thou_ my blood."--_Job_,
xvi, 18. "O _thou sword_ of the Lord, how long will it be ere _thou_ be
quiet?"--_Jeremiah_, xlvii, 6. In these instances, the objects addressed do
not appear to be figuratively invested with the attribute of sex. So
likewise with respect to the first person. If, in the following example,
_gold_ and _diamond_ are neuter, so is the pronoun _me_; and, if not
neuter, of what gender are they? The personification indicates or
discriminates no other.

   "Where thy true treasure? Gold says, 'Not in _me_;
    And, 'Not in _me_,' the diamond. Gold is poor."--_Young_.


THE DECLENSION OF PRONOUNS.

The declension of a pronoun is a regular arrangement of its numbers and
cases.

I. SIMPLE PERSONALS.

The simple personal pronouns are thus declined:--

I, _of the_ FIRST PERSON, _any of the genders_.[198]

Sing. Nom.  I,                   Plur. Nom.  we,
      Poss. my, _or_ mine,[199]        Poss. our, _or_ ours,
      Obj.  me;                        Obj.  us.

THOU, _of the_ SECOND PERSON, _any of the genders_.

Sing. Nom.  thou,[200]           Plur. Nom.  ye, or you,
      Poss. thy, _or_ thine,           Poss. your, _or_ yours,
      Obj.  thee;                      Obj.  you, or ye.[201]

HE, _of the_ THIRD PERSON, _masculine gender_.

Sing. Nom.  he,                  Plur. Nom.  they,
      Poss. his,                       Poss. their, _or_ theirs,
      Obj.  him;                       Obj.  them.

SHE, _of the_ THIRD PERSON, _feminine gender_.

Sing. Nom.  she,                 Plur. Nom.  they,
      Poss. her, _or_ hers,            Poss. their, _or_ theirs,
      Obj.  her;                       Obj.  them.

IT, _of the_ THIRD PERSON, _neuter gender_.

Sing. Nom,  it,                  Plur. Nom.  they,
      Poss. its,                       Poss. their, _or_ theirs,
      Obj.  it;                        Obj.  them.

II. COMPOUND PERSONALS.

The word _self_, added to the simple personal pronouns, forms the class of
_compound personal pronouns_; which are used when an action reverts upon
the agent, and also when some persons are to be distinguished from others:
as, sing, _myself_, plur. _ourselves_; sing, _thyself_, plur. _yourselves_;
sing, _himself_, plur. _themselves_; sing, _herself_, plur. _themselves_;
sing, _itself_, plur. _themselves_. They all want the possessive case, and
are alike in the nominative and objective. Thus:--

MYSELF, _of the_ FIRST PERSON,[202] _any of the genders_.

Sing. Nom.  myself,              Plur. Nom.  ourselves,
      Poss. ------,                    Poss. ---------,
      Obj.  myself;                    Obj.  ourselves.

THYSELF, _of the_ SECOND PERSON, _any of the genders_.

Sing. Nom.  thyself,[203]        Plur. Nom.  yourselves,
      Poss. -------,                   Poss. ----------,
      Obj.  thyself;                   Obj.  yourselves.

HIMSELF, _of the_ THIRD PERSON, _masculine gender_.

Sing. Nom.  himself,             Plur. Nom.  themselves,
      Poss. -------,                   Poss. ----------,
      Obj.   himself;                   Obj. themselves.

HERSELF, _of the_ THIRD PERSON, _feminine gender_.

Sing. Nom.  herself,             Plur. Nom.  themselves,
      Poss. -------,                   Poss. ----------,
      Obj.  herself;                   Obj.  themselves.

ITSELF, _of the_ THIRD PERSON, _neuter gender_.

Sing. Nom.  itself,              Plur. Nom.  themselves,
      Poss. ------,                    Poss. ----------,
      Obj.  itself;                    Obj.  themselves.


III. RELATIVES AND INTERROGATIVES.

The relative and the interrogative pronouns are thus declined:--

WHO, _literally applied to persons only_.

Sing. Nom.  who,                 Plur. Nom.  who,
      Poss. whose,                     Poss. whose,
      Obj.  whom;                      Obj.  whom.

WHICH, _applied to animals and things_.

Sing. Nom.  which,               Plur. Nom.  which,
      Poss. [204]--,                   Poss. -----,
      Obj.  which;                     Obj.  which.

WHAT, _applied ordinarily to things only_.[205]

Sing. Nom.  what,                Plur. Nom.  what,
      Poss. ----,                      Poss. ----,
      Obj.  what;                      Obj.  what.

THAT, _applied to persons, animals, and things_.

Sing. Nom.  that,                Plur. Nom.  that,
      Poss. ----,                      Poss. ----,
      Obj.  that;                      Obj.  that.

AS, _applied to persons, animals, and things_.

Sing. Nom.     as,               Plur. Nom.  as,
      Poss.    ----,                   Poss. ----,
      Obj.     as;                     Obj.  as.


IV. COMPOUND RELATIVES.

The compound relative pronouns, _whoever_ or _whosoever, whichever_ or
_whichsoever_, and _whatever_ or _whatsoever_[206] are declined in the same
manner as the simples, _who which, what_. Thus:--

WHOEVER or WHOSOEVER, _applied only to persons_.

Sing. Nom.  whoever,             Plur. Nom.  whoever,
      Poss. whosever,                  Poss. whosever,
      Obj.  whomever;                  Obj.  whomever.

Sing. Nom.  whosoever,           Plur. Nom.  whosoever,
      Poss. whosesoever,               Poss. whosesoever,
      Obj.  whomsoever;                Obj.  whomsoever.

WHICHEVER or WHICHSOEVER, _applied to persons, animals, and things_.

Sing. Nom.  whichever,           Plur. Nom.  whichever,
      Poss. ---------,                 Poss. --------,
      Obj.  whichever;                 Obj.  whichever.

Sing. Nom.  whichsoever,         Plur. Nom.  whichsoever,
      Poss. ---------,                 Poss. --------,
      Obj.  whichsoever;               Obj.  whichsoever.

WHATEVER or WHATSOEVER, _applied ordinarily to things only_.

Sing. Nom.  whatever,            Plur. Nom.  whatever,
      Poss. --------,                  Poss. --------,
      Obj.  whatever;                  Obj.  whatever.

Sing. Nom.  whatsoever,          Plur. Nom.  whatsoever,
      Poss. ---------,                 Poss. --------,
      Obj.  whatsoever;                Obj.  whatsoever.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Most of the personal pronouns have two forms of the possessive
case, in each number: as, _my_ or _mine, our_ or _ours_; _thy_ or _thine,
your_ or _yours_; _her_ or _hers, their_ or _theirs_. The former is used
before a noun expressed, or when nothing but an adjective intervenes; the
latter, when the governing noun is understood, or is so placed that a
repetition of it is implied in or after the pronoun: as, "_My_ powers are
_thine_; be _thine_ alone The glory of my song."--_Montgomery_. "State what
_mine_ and _your_ principles are."--_Legh Richmond, to his Daughters_.
Better, perhaps: "State what _my_ principles and _yours_ are;"--"State what
_your_ principles and _mine_ are;"--or, "State what are _my_ principles and
_your own_."

   "Resign'd he fell; superior to the dart
    That quench'd its rage in _yours_ and _Britain's_ heart."--_J. Brown_.

    "Behold! to _yours_ and _my_ surprise,
    These trifles to a volume rise."--_Lloyd_, p. 186.

OBS. 2.--Possibly, when the same persons or things stand in a joint
relation of this kind to different individuals or parties, it may be proper
to connect two of the simple possessives to express it; though this
construction can seldom, if ever, be necessary, because any such expression
as _thy and her sister, my and his duty_, if not erroneous, can mean
nothing but _your sister, our duty, &c_. But some examples occur, the
propriety of which it is worth while to consider: as, "I am sure it will be
a pleasure to you to hear that she proves worthy of her father, worthy of
you, and of _your and her_ ancestors."--_Spectator_, No. 525. This sentence
is from a version of Pliny's letter to his wife's aunt; and, as the
ancestors of the two individuals are here the same, the phraseology may be
allowable. But had the aunt commended her niece to Pliny, she should have
said, "worthy of you and of _your_ ancestors and _hers_." "Is it _her_ or
_his_ honour that is tarnished? It is not _hers_, but _his_."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 175. This question I take to be bad English. It ought to be, "Is
it _her_ honour or _his_, that is tarnished?" Her honour and his honour
cannot be one and the same thing. This example was framed by Murray to
illustrate that idle and puzzling distinction which he and some others make
between "possessive adjective pronouns" and "the genitive case of the
personal pronouns;" and, if I understand him, the author will here have
_her_ and _his_ to be of the former class, and _hers_ and _his_ of the
latter. It were a better use of time, to learn how to employ such words
correctly. Unquestionably, they are of the same class and the same case,
and would be every way equivalent, if the first form were fit to be used
elliptically. For example: "The same phrenzy had hindered the Dutch from
improving to _their_ and to the common advantage the public misfortunes of
France."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 309. Here the possessive case _their_
appears to be governed by _advantage_ understood, and therefore it would
perhaps be better to say, _theirs_, or _their own_. But in the following
instance, _our_ may be proper, because both possessives appear to be
governed by one and the same noun:--

   "Although 'twas _our_ and _their_ opinion
    Each other's church was but a Rimmon."--_Hudibras_.

OBS. 3.--_Mine_ and _thine_ were formerly preferred to _my_ and _thy_,
before all words beginning with a vowel sound; or rather, _mine_ and
_thine_ were the original forms,[207] and _my_ and _thy_ were first
substituted for them before consonants, and afterwards before vowels: as,
"But it was thou, a man _mine_ equal, _my_ guide, and _mine_
acquaintance."--_Psalms_, lv, 13. "_Thy_ prayers and _thine_ alms are come
up for a memorial before God."--_Acts_, x, 4. When the Bible was
translated, either form appears to have been used before the letter _h_;
as, "Hath not _my hand_ made all these things?"--_Acts_, vii, 50. "By
stretching forth _thine hand_ to heal."--_Acts_, iv, 30. According to
present practice, _my_ and _thy_ are in general to be preferred before all
nouns, without regard to the sounds of letters. The use of the other forms,
in the manner here noticed, has now become obsolete; or, at least,
antiquated, and peculiar to the poets. We occasionally meet with it in
modern verse, though not very frequently, and only where the melody of the
line seems to require it: as,

   "Time writes no wrinkle on _thine_ azure brow."--_Byron_.

    "Deign on the passing world to turn _thine_ eyes."--_Johnson_.

    "_Mine_ eyes beheld the messenger divine."--_Lusiad_.

    "_Thine_ ardent symphony sublime and high."--_Sir W. Scott_.

OBS. 4.--The possessives _mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, theirs_, usually
denote possession, or the relation of property, with an _ellipsis_ of the
name of the thing possessed; as, "My sword and _yours_ are
kin."--_Shakspeare_. Here _yours_ means _your sword_. "You may imagine what
kind of faith _theirs_ was."--_Bacon_. Here _theirs_ means _their faith_.
"He ran headlong into his own ruin whilst he endeavoured to precipitate
_ours_."--_Bolingbroke_. Here _ours_ means _our ruin_. "Every one that
heareth these saying of _mine_."--_Matt._, vii, 26. Here _mine_ means _my
sayings_. "Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of _his_."--_Psalms_, xxx, 4.
Here _his_ means _his saints_. The noun which governs the possessive, is
here _understood_ after it, being inferred from that which precedes, as it
is in all the foregoing instances. "And the man of _thine_, whom I shall
not cut off from _mine_ altar, shall be to consume _thine_ eyes, and to
grieve _thine_ heart."--_1 Samuel_, ii, 33. Here _thine_, in the first
phrase, means _thy men_; but, in the subsequent parts of the sentence, both
_mine and thine_ mean neither more nor less than _thy_ and _my_, because
there is no ellipsis. _Of_ before the possessive case, governs the noun
which is understood after this case; and is always taken in a _partitive_
sense, and not as the sign of the possessive relation: as, "When we say, 'a
soldier _of the king's_', we mean, '_one of_ the king's
_soldiers_.'"--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 29. There is therefore an
ellipsis of the word _soldiers_, in the former phrase. So, in the following
example, _mine_ is used elliptically for _my feet_; or rather, _feet_ is
understood after _mine_, though _mine feet_ is no longer good English, for
reasons before stated:--

   "Ere I absolve thee, stoop I that on thy neck
    Levelled with earth tins _foot of mine_ may tread."--_Wordsworth_.

OBS. 5.--Respecting the _possessive case_ of the simple personal pronouns,
there appears among our grammarians a strange diversity of sentiment. Yet
is there but one view of the matter, that has in it either truth or reason,
consistency or plausibility. And, in the opinion of any judicious teacher,
an erroneous classification of words so common and so important as these,
may well go far to condemn any system of grammar in which it is found. A
pronoun agrees in person, number, and gender, with the noun _for which it
is a substitute_; and, if it is in the possessive case, it is usually
governed by _an other noun_ expressed or implied after it. That is, if it
denotes possession, it stands for the name of the possessor, and is
governed by the name of the thing possessed. Now do not _my, thy, his, her,
our, your, their_, and _mine, thine, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs_, all
equally denote possession? and do they not severally show by their forms
the person, the number, and sometimes also the gender, of whomever or
whatever they make to be the possessor? If they do, they are all of them
_pronouns_, and nothing else; all found in the _possessive case_, and
nowhere else. It is true, that in Latin, Greek, and some other languages,
there are not only genitive cases corresponding to these possessives, but
also certain declinable adjectives which we render in English by these same
words: that is, by _my_ or _mine, our_ or _ours; thy_ or _thine, your_ or
_yours_; &c. But this circumstance affords no valid argument for
considering any of these English terms to be mere adjectives; and, say what
we will, it is plain that they have not the signification of adjectives,
nor can we ascribe to them the construction of adjectives, without making
their grammatical agreement to be what it very manifestly is not. They
never agree, in any respect, with the nouns which _follow_ them, unless it
be by mere accident. This view of the matter is sustained by the authority
of many of our English grammars; as may be seen by the declensions given by
Ash, C. Adams, Ainsworth, R. W. Bailey, Barnard, Buchanan, Bicknell, Blair,
Burn, Butler, Comly, Churchill, Cobbett, Dalton, Davenport, Dearborn,
Farnum, A. Flint, Fowler, Frost, Gilbert, S. S. Green, Greenleaf, Hamlin,
Hiley, Kirkham, Merchant, Murray the schoolmaster, Parkhurst, Picket,
Russell, Sanborn, Sanders, R. C. Smith, Wilcox.

OBS. 6.--In opposition to the classification and doctrine adopted above,
many of our grammarians teach, that _my, thy, this, her, our, your, their_,
are adjectives or "adjective pronouns;" and that _mine, thine, hers, its,
ours, yours, theirs_, are personal pronouns in the possessive case. Among
the supporters of this notion, are D. Adams, Alden, Alger, Allen, Bacon,
Barrett, Bingham, Bucke, Bullions, Cutler, Fisk, Frost, (in his small
Grammar,) Guy, Hall, Hart, Harrison, Ingersoll, Jaudon, Lennie, Lowth,
Miller, L. Murray, Pond, T. Smith, Spear, Spencer, Staniford, Webber,
Woodworth. The authority of all these names, however, amounts to little
more than that of one man; for Murray pretended to follow Lowth, and nearly
all the rest copied Murray. Dr. Lowth says, "_Thy, my, her, our, your,
their_, are pronominal adjectives; but _his_, (that is, _he's_,) _her's,
our's, your's, their's_, have evidently the form of the possessive case:
And, by analogy, _mine, thine_, may be esteemed of the same
rank."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 23.[208] But why did he not see, that by the
same analogy, and also by the sense and meaning of the words, as well as by
their distinctions of person, number, and gender, all the other six are
entitled to "the same rank?" Are not the forms of _my, thy, her, our, your,
their_, as fit to denote the relation of property, and to be called the
possessive case, as _mine, thine, his_, or any others? In grammar, all
needless distinctions are reprehensible. And where shall we find a more
blamable one than this? It seems to have been based merely upon the false
notion, that the possessive case of pronouns ought to be formed like that
of nouns; whereas custom has clearly decided that they shall always be
different: the former must never be written with an apostrophe; and the
latter, never without it. Contrary to all good usage, however, the Doctor
here writes "_her's, our's, your's, their's_," each with a needless
apostrophe. Perhaps he thought it would serve to strengthen his position;
and help to refute what some affirmed, that all these words are adjectives.

OBS. 7.--Respecting _mine, thine_, and _his_, Lowth and L. Murray disagree.
The latter will have them to be sometimes "_possessive pronouns_," and
sometimes "_possessive cases_." An admirable distinction this for a great
author to make! too slippery for even the inventor's own hold, and utterly
unintelligible to those who do not know its history! In short, these
authors disagree also concerning _my, thy, her, our, your, their_; and
where two leaders of a party are at odds with each other, and each is in
the wrong, what is to be expected from their followers? Perceiving that
Lowth was wrong in calling these words "_pronominal adjectives_," Murray
changed the term to "_possessive pronouns_," still retaining the class
entire; and accordingly taught, in his early editions, that, "There are
_four kinds_ of pronouns, viz., the personal, _the possessive, the_
relative, and _the_ adjective pronouns."--_Murray's Gram._, 2d Edition, p.
37. "The Possessive Pronouns are such as principally relate to possession
or property. There are seven of them; viz. _my, thy, his, her, our, your,
their_. The possessives _his, mine, thine_, may be accounted either
_possessive pronouns_, or the _possessive cases_ of their respective
personal pronouns."--_Ib._, p. 40. He next idly demonstrates that these
seven words may come before nouns of any number or case, without variation;
then, forgetting his own distinction, adds, "When they are separated from
the noun, all of them, except _his_, vary _their terminations_; as, this
hat is _mine_, and the other is _thine_; those trinkets are _hers_; this
house is _ours_, and that is _yours; theirs_ is more commodious than
_ours_"--_Ib._, p. 40. Thus all his personal pronouns of the possessive
case, he then made to be inflections of pronouns of _a different class!_
What are they now? Seek the answer under the head of that gross solecism,
"_Adjective Pronouns_." You may find it in one half of our English
grammars.

OBS. 8.--Any considerable error in the classing of words, does not stand
alone; it naturally brings others in its train. Murray's "_Adjective
Pronouns_," (which he now subdivides into four little classes, _possessive,
distributive, demonstrative_, and _indefinite_,) being all of them misnamed
and misplaced in his etymology, have led both him and many others into
strange errors in syntax. The _possessives only_ are "pronouns;" and
these are pronouns of the possessive _case_. As such, they agree with the
_antecedent_ nouns for which they stand, in _person, number_, and _gender_;
and are governed, like all other possessives, by the nouns which follow
them. The rest are _not pronouns_, but pronominal _adjectives_; and, as
such, they relate to nouns expressed or understood _after them_.
Accordingly, they have none of the above-mentioned qualities, except that
the words _this_ and _that_ form the plurals _these_ and _those_. Or, if we
choose to ascribe to a pronominal adjective all the properties of the noun
understood, it is merely for the sake of brevity in parsing. The
difference, then, between a "pronominal adjective" and an "adjective
pronoun," should seem to be this; that the one is _an adjective_, and the
other _a pronoun_: it is like the difference between a _horserace_ and a
_racehorse_. What can be hoped from the grammarian who cannot discern it?
And what can be made of rules and examples like the following? "Adjective
_pronouns_ must agree, in number, with _their substantives_: as, '_This_
book, _these_ books; _that_ sort, _those_ sorts; _another_ road, _other_
roads.'"--_Murray's Gram._, Rule viii, _Late Editions; Alger's Murray_, p.
56; _Alden's, 85; Bacon's, 48; Maltby's, 59; Miller's, 66; Merchant's, 81;
S. Putnam's, 10; and others_. "Pronominal _adjectives_ must agree with
_their nouns_ in gender, number, and person; thus, '_My son_, hear the
instructions of _thy_ father.' 'Call the _labourers_, and give them _their_
hire.'"--_Maunder's Gram._, Rule xvii. Here Murray gives a rule for
_pronouns_, and illustrates it by _adjectives_; and Maunder, as ingeniously
blunders in reverse: he gives a rule for _adjectives_, and illustrates it
by _pronouns_. But what do they mean by "_their substantives_," or "_their
nouns_?" As applicable to _pronouns_, the phrase should mean _nouns
antecedent_; as applicable to _adjectives_, it should mean _nouns
subsequent_. Both these rules are therefore false, and fit only to
bewilder; and the examples to both are totally inapplicable. Murray's was
once essentially right, but he afterwards corrupted it, and a multitude of
his admirers have since copied the perversion. It formerly stood thus: "The
pronominal adjectives _this_ and _that, &c_. and the numbers[209] _one,
two_, &c., must agree in number with their substantives: as, 'This book,
these books; that sort, those sorts; one girl, ten girls; another road,
other roads.' "--_Murray's Gram._, Rule viii, 2d Ed., 1796.

OBS. 9.--Among our grammarians, some of considerable note have contended,
that the personal pronouns have but _two cases_, the nominative and the
objective. Of this class, may be reckoned Brightland, Dr. Johnson, Fisher,
Mennye, Cardell, Cooper, Dr. Jas. P. Wilson, W. B. Fowle. and, according to
his late grammars, Dr. Webster. But, in contriving what to make of _my_ or
_mine, our_ or _ours, thy_ or _thine, your_ or _yours, his, her_ or _hers,
its_, and _their_ or _theirs_, they are as far from any agreement, or even
from self-consistency, as the cleverest of them could ever imagine. To the
person, the number, the gender, and the case, of each of these words, they
either profess themselves to be total strangers, or else prove themselves
so, by the absurdities they teach. Brightland calls them "Possessive
Qualities, or Qualities of Possession;" in which class he also embraces all
_nouns_ of the possessive case. Johnson calls them pronouns; and then says
of them, "The possessive _pronouns_, like _other adjectives_, are without
_cases_ or change of termination."--_Gram._, p. 6. Fisher calls them
"Personal Possessive Qualities;" admits the person of _my, our_, &c.; but
supposes _mine, ours_, &c. to supply the place of the _nouns which govern
them!_ Mennye makes them one of his three classes of pronouns, "_personal,
possessive_, and _relative_;" giving to both forms the rank which Murray
once gave, and which Allen now gives, to the first form only. Cardell
places them among his "defining adjectives." With Fowle, these, and all
other possessives, are "possessive adjectives." Cooper, in his grammar of
1828. copies the last scheme of Murray: in that of 1831, he avers that the
personal pronouns "want the possessive case." Now, like Webster and Wilson,
he will have _mine, thine, hers, ours, yours_, and _theirs_, to be pronouns
of the nominative or the objective case. Dividing the pronouns into six
general classes, he makes these the fifth; calling them "Possessive
Pronouns," but preferring in a note the monstrous name, "_Possessive
Pronouns Substitute_." His sixth class are what he calls, "The Possessive
Pronominal _Adjectives_;" namely, "_my, thy, his, her, our, your, their,
its, own_, and sometimes _mine_ and _thine_."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr.
Gram._, p. 43. But all these he has, unquestionably, either misplaced or
misnamed; while he tells us, that, "Simplicity of arrangement should be the
object of every compiler."--_Ib._, p. 33. Dr. Perley, (in whose scheme of
grammar all the pronouns are _nouns_,) will have _my, thy, his, her, its,
our, your_, and _their_, to be in the possessive case; but of _mine, thine,
hers, ours, yours_, and _theirs_, he says, "These may be called
_Desiderative Personal Pronouns_."--_Perley's Gram._, p. 15.

OBS. 10.--Kirkham, though he professes to follow Murray, declines the
simple personal pronouns as I have declined them; and argues admirably,
that _my, thy, his, &c._, are pronouns of the possessive case, because,
"They always _stand for nouns in the possessive case_." But he afterwards
contradicts both himself and the common opinion of all former grammarians,
in referring _mine, thine, hers_, &c., to the class of "_Compound Personal
Pronouns._" Nay, as if to outdo even himself in absurdity, he first makes
_mine, thine, hers, ours_, &c., to be compounds, by assuming that, "These
_pluralizing adjuncts, ne_ and _s_, were, no doubt, formerly detached from
the pronouns with which they now coalesce;" and then, because he finds in
each of his supposed compounds the signification of a pronoun and its
governing noun, reassumes, in parsing them, the very principle of error, on
which he condemns their common classification. He says, "They should be
parsed _as two words_." He also supposes them to represent the nouns _which
govern them_--nouns with which they do not agree in any respect! Thus is he
wrong in almost every thing he says about them. See _Kirkham's Gram._, p.
99, p. 101, and p. 104. Goodenow, too, a still later writer, adopts the
major part of all this absurdity. He will have _my, thy, his, her, its,
our, your, their_, for the possessive case of his personal pronouns; but
_mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, theirs_, he calls "_compound possessive
pronouns_, in the subjective or [the] objective case."--_Text-Book of E.
Gram._, p. 33. Thus he introduces a new class, unknown to his primary
division of the pronouns, and not included in his scheme of their
declension. Fuller, too, in a grammar produced at Plymouth, Mass., in 1822,
did nearly the same thing. He called _I, thou, he, she_, and _it_, with
their plurals, "_antecedent_ pronouns;" took _my, thy, his, her_, &c., for
their _only_ possessive forms in his declension; and, having passed from
them by the space of just half his book, added: "Sometimes, to prevent the
repetition of the same word, an _antecedent pronoun in the possessive
case_, is made to represent, both the pronoun and a noun; as, 'That book is
_mine_'--i. e. '_my book_.' MINE is a _compound antecedent pronoun_, and is
equivalent to _my_ book. Then parse _my_, and _book_, as though they were
both expressed."--_Fuller's Gram._, p. 71.

OBS. 11.--Amidst all this diversity of doctrine at the very centre of
grammar, who shall so fix its principles that our schoolmasters and
schoolmistresses may know _what to believe and teach_? Not he that
speculates without regard to other men's views; nor yet he that makes it a
merit to follow implicitly "the footsteps of" _one only_. The true
principles of grammar are with the learned; and that man is in the wrong,
with whom the _most_ learned will not, in general, coincide. Contradiction
of falsities, is necessary to the maintenance of truth; correction of
errors, to the success of science. But not every man's errors can be so
considerable as to deserve correction from other hands than his own.
Misinstruction in grammar has for this reason generally escaped censure. I
do not wish any one to coincide with me merely through ignorance of what
others inculcate. If doctors of divinity and doctors of laws will
contradict themselves in teaching grammar, so far as they do so, the lovers
of consistency will find it necessary to deviate from their track.
Respecting these pronouns, I learned in childhood, from Webster, a doctrine
which he now declares to be false. This was nearly the same as Lowth's,
which is quoted in the sixth observation above. But, in stead of correcting
its faults, this zealous reformer has but run into others still greater.
Now, with equal reproach to his etymology, his syntax, and his logic, he
denies that our pronouns have any form of the possessive case at all. But
grant the obvious fact, that _substitution_ is one thing, and _ellipsis_ an
other, and his whole argument is easily overthrown; for it is only by
confounding these, that he reaches his absurd conclusion.

OBS. 12.--Dr. Webster's doctrine now is, that none of the English pronouns
have more than two cases. He says, "_mine, thine, his, hers, yours_, and
_theirs_, are _usually considered_ as [being of] the possessive case. But
the _three first_ are either attributes, and used with nouns, or they are
substitutes. The _three last_ are always substitutes, used in the place of
names WHICH ARE UNDERSTOOD."--"That _mine, thine, his_, [_ours_,] _yours,
hers_, and _theirs_, do not constitute a possessive case, is demonstrable;
for they are constantly used as the nominatives to verbs and as the
objectives after verbs and prepositions, as in the following passages.
'Whether it could perform its operations of thinking and memory out of a
body organized as _ours is_.'--_Locke_. 'The reason is, that his subject is
generally things; _theirs_, on the contrary, _is_ persons.'--_Camp. Rhet._
'Therefore leave your forest of beasts for _ours_ of brutes, called
men.'--_Wycherley to Pope_. It is needless to multiply proofs. We observe
these _pretended possessives_ uniformly used as nominatives or
objectives.[210] Should it be said that _a noun is understood_; I reply,
_this cannot be true_," &c.--_Philosophical Gram._, p. 35; _Improved
Gram._, p. 26. Now, whether it be true or not, this very position is
expressly affirmed by the Doctor himself, in the citation above; though he
is, unquestionably, wrong in suggesting that the pronouns are "used _in the
place_ of [those] names WHICH ARE UNDERSTOOD." They are used in the place
of other names--the names of _the possessors_; and are governed by those
which he here both admits and denies to be "understood."

OBS. 13.--The other arguments of Dr. Webster against the possessive case of
pronouns, may perhaps be more easily answered than some readers imagine.
The first is drawn from the fact that conjunctions connect like cases.
"Besides, in three passages just quoted, the word _yours_ is joined by a
connective _to a name_ in the same case; 'To ensure _yours_ and _their
immortality_.' 'The easiest part of _yours_ and _my design_.' '_My sword_
and _yours_ are kin.' Will any person pretend that the connective here
joins different cases?"--_Improved Gram._, p. 28; _Philosophical Gram._, p.
36. I answer, No. But it is falsely assumed that _yours_ is here connected
by _and_ to _immortality_, to _design_, or to _sword_; because these words
are again severally understood after _yours_: or, if otherwise, the two
pronouns alone are connected by _and_, so that the proof is rather, that
_their_ and _my_ are in the possessive case. The second argument is drawn
from the use of the preposition _of_ before the possessive. "For we say
correctly, 'an acquaintance _of yours, ours_, or _theirs_'--_of_ being the
sign of the possessive; but if the words in themselves are possessives,
then there must be two signs of the same case, which is absurd."--_Improved
Gram._, p. 28; _Phil. Gr._, 36. I deny that _of_ is here the sign of the
possessive, and affirm that it is taken partitively, in all examples of
this sort. "I know my sheep, and am known _of mine_," is not of this kind;
because _of_ here means _by_--a sense in which the word is antiquated. In
recurring afterwards to this argument, the Doctor misquotes the following
texts, and avers that they "are evidently meant to include the _whole
number_: 'Sing _to_ the Lord, _all_ ye saints of _his_.'--_Ps._ 30, 4.
'_He_ that heareth these sayings _of mine_.'--_Matt._ 7."--_Improved
Gram._, p. 29; _Phil. Gr._, 38. If he is right about the meaning, however,
the passages are mistranslated, as well as misquoted: they ought to be,
"Sing _unto_ the Lord, _O ye his Saints_."--"_Every one_ that heareth
_these my sayings_." But when a definitive particle precedes the noun, it
is very common with us, to introduce the possessive elliptically after it;
and what Dr. Wilson means by suggesting that it is erroneous, I know not:
"When the preposition _of_ precedes _mine, ours, yours_, &c. the _errour_
lies, not in this, that there are double possessive cases, but in forming
an implication of a noun, which the substitute already denotes, together
with the persons."--_Essay on Gram._, p. 110.

OBS. 14.--In his Syllabus of English Grammar, Dr. Wilson teaches thus:
"_My, our, thy, your, his, her, its, their, whose_, and _whosesoever_ are
possessive pronominal _adjectives. Ours, yours, hers_, and _theirs_ are
_pronoun substantives_, used either as subjects, or [as] objects; as
singulars, or [as] plurals; and are substituted both for [the names of] the
possessors, and [for those of the] things possessed. _His, its, whose,
mine_, and _thine_, are sometimes used as _such substantives_; but also are
at other times _pronominal possessive_ adjectives."--_Wilson's Syllabus_,
p. X. Now compare with these three positions, the following three from the
same learned author. "In Hebrew, the _adjective_ generally agrees with its
noun in gender and number, but _pronouns_ follow the gender of their
antecedents, and not of the nouns with which they stand. So in English,
_my, thy, his, her, its, our, your_, and _their_, agree with the nouns they
represent, in number, gender, and person. But _adjectives_, having no
change expressive of number, gender, or case, cannot accord with their
nouns."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 192. "_Ours, yours, hers_, and
_theirs_, are most usually considered possessive cases of personal
pronouns; but they are, more probably, possessive substitutes, not
adjectives, but _nouns_."--_Ib._, p. 109. "Nor can _mine_ or _thine_, with
any more propriety than _ours, yours_, &c. be joined to any noun, as
possessive adjectives and possessive cases may."--_Ib._, p. 110. Whoever
understands these instructions, cannot but see their inconsistency.

OBS. 15.--Murray argues at some length, without naming his opponents, that
the words which he assumes to be such, are really personal pronouns
standing rightfully in the possessive case; and that, "they should not, on
the slight pretence of their differing from nouns, be dispossessed of the
right and privilege, which, from time immemorial they have
enjoyed."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 53. Churchill as ably shows, that the
corresponding terms, which Lowth calls _pronominal adjectives_, and which
Murray and others will have to be _pronouns of no case_, are justly
entitled to the same rank. "If _mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, theirs_, be
the possessive case; _my, thy, her, our, your, their_, must be the same.
Whether we say, 'It is _John's_ book,' or, 'The book is _John's_;' _John's_
is not less the possessive case in one instance, than it is in the other.
If we say, 'It is _his_ book,' or, 'The book is _his_;' 'It is _her_ book,'
or, 'The book is _hers_;' 'It is _my_ book,' or, 'The book is _mine_;' 'It
is _your_ book,' or, 'The book is _yours_;' are not these parallel
instances? Custom has established it as a law, that this case of the
pronoun shall drop its original termination, for the sake of euphony, when
it precedes the noun that governs it; retaining it only where the noun is
understood: but this certainly makes no alteration in the nature of the
word; so that either _my_ is as much a possessive case as _mine_; or _mine_
and _my_ are equally pronominal adjectives."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p.
221. "Mr. Murray considers the phrases, '_our desire_,' '_your
intention_,' '_their resignation_,' as instances of plural adjectives
_agreeing_ with singular nouns; and consequently exceptions to the general
(may we not say _universal_?) rule: but if they [the words _our, your,
their_,] be, as is attempted to be proved above, the possessive cases of
pronouns, no rule is here violated."--_Ib._, p. 224.

OBS. 16.--One strong argument, touching this much-disputed point of
grammar, was incidentally noticed in the observations upon antecedents: an
adjective cannot give person, number, and gender, to a relative pronoun;
because, in our language, adjectives do not possess these qualities; nor
indeed in any other, except as they take them by immediate agreement with
nouns or pronouns in the same clause. But it is undeniable, that _my, thy,
his, her, our, your, their_, do sometimes stand as antecedents, and give
person, number, and gender to relatives, which head other clauses. For the
learner should remember, that, "When a relative pronoun is used, the
sentence is divided into two parts; viz. the _antecedent_ sentence, or that
which contains the _antecedent_; and the _relative_ sentence, containing
the _relative_."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 123. We need not here deny, that
Terence's Latin, as quoted in the grammars, "Omnes laudare fortunas _meas,
qui_ haberem gnatum tali ingeuio præditum," is quite as intelligible
syntax, as can literally be made of it in English--"That all would praise
_my_ fortunes, _who had_ a son endued with such a genius." For, whether the
Latin be good or not, it affords no argument against us, except that of a
supposed analogy; nor does the literality of the version prove, at all
points, either the accuracy or the sameness of the construction.

OBS. 17.--Surely, without some imperative reason, we ought not, in English,
to resort to such an assumption as is contained in the following Rule:
"Sometimes the relative agrees in person with that pronoun substantive,
from which the possessive pronoun adjective is derived; as, Pity _my_
condition, _who am_ so destitute. I rejoice at _thy_ lot, _who art_ so
fortunate. We lament _his_ fate, _who is_ so unwary. Beware of _her_
cunning, _who is_ so deceitful. Commiserate _our_ condition, _who are_ so
poor. Tremble at _your_ negligence, _who are_ so careless. It shall be
_their_ property, _who are_ so diligent. We are rejoicing at _thy_ lot,
_who hast_ been so fortunate."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 142. In his
explanation of the last of these sentences, the author says, "_Who_ is a
relative pronoun; in the masculine gender, singular number, second person,
and agrees with _thee_, implied in the adjective _thy_. RULE.--Sometimes
the relative agrees in person, &c. And it is the nominative to the verb
_hast been_. RULE.--When no nominative comes between the relative and the
verb, the relative is the nominative to the verb."--_Ib._, p. 143. A pupil
of G. Brown's would have said, "_Who_ is a relative pronoun, representing
'_thy_,' or the person addressed, in the second person, singular number,
and masculine gender; according to the rule which says, 'A pronoun must
agree with its antecedent, or the noun or pronoun which it represents, in
person, number, and gender:' and is in the nominative case, being the
subject of _hast been_; according to the rule which says, 'A noun or a
pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the nominative
case.' Because the meaning is--_who hast been_; that is, _thy lot_, or the
lot _of thee, who hast been_."

OBS. 18.--Because the possessive case of a noun or pronoun is usually
equivalent in meaning to the preposition _of_ and the objective case, some
grammarians, mistaking this equivalence of meaning for sameness of case,
have asserted that all our possessives have a double form. Thus Nixon:
"When the particle _of_ comes between two substantives signifying different
things, it is not to be considered a preposition, but _the sign of the
substantive's being in the possessive case_, equally as if the apostrophic
_s_ had been affixed to it; as, 'The skill _of Cæsar_,' or _Cæsar's_
skill.'"--_English Parser_, p. 38. "When the apostrophic _s_ is used, the
genitive is the former of the two substantives; as, '_John's_ house:' but
when the particle _of_ is used, it is the latter; as, 'The house _of
John_.'"--_Ib._, p. 46. The work here quoted is adapted to two different
grammars; namely, Murray's and Allen's. These the author doubtless
conceived to be the best English grammars extant. And it is not a little
remarkable, that both of these authors, as well as many others, teach in
such a faulty manner, that their intentions upon this point may be matter
of dispute. "When Murray, Allen, and others, say, 'we make use of the
particle _of_ to express the _relation_ of the genitive,' the ambiguity of
their assertion leaves it in doubt whether or not they considered the
substantive which is preceded by _of_ and an other substantive, as in the
_genitive_ case."--_Nixon's English Parser_, p. 38. Resolving this doubt
according to his own fancy, Nixon makes the possessive case of our personal
pronouns to be as follows: "_mine_ or _of me, ours_ or _of us; thine_ or
_of thee, yours_ or _of you; his_ or _of him, theirs_ or _of them; hers_ or
_of her, theirs_ or _of them; its_ or _of it, theirs_ or _of
them_."--_English Parser_, p. 43. This doctrine gives us a form of
declension that is both complex and deficient. It is therefore more
objectionable than almost any of those which are criticised above. The
arguments and authorities on which the author rests his position, are not
thought likely to gain many converts; for which reason, I dismiss the
subject, without citing or answering them.

OBS. 19.--In old books, we sometimes find the word _I_ written for the
adverb _ay_, yes: as, "To dye, to sleepe; To sleepe, perchance to dreame;
_I_, there's the rub."--_Shakspeare, Old Copies_. The British Grammar,
printed in 1784, and the Grammar of Murray the schoolmaster, published some
years earlier than Lindley Murray's, say: "We use _I_ as an Answer, in a
familiar, careless, or merry Way; as, 'I, I, Sir, I, I;' but to use _ay_,
is accounted rude, especially to our Betters." See _Brit. Gram._, p. 198.
The age of this rudeness, or incivility, if it ever existed, has long
passed away; and the fashion seems to be so changed, that to write or utter
_I_ for _ay_, would now in its turn be "accounted _rude_"--the rudeness of
ignorance--a false orthography, or a false pronunciation. In the word _ay_,
the two sounds of _ah-ee_ are plainly heard; in the sound of _I_, the same
elements are more quickly blended. (See a note at the foot of page 162.)
When this sound is suddenly repeated, some writers make a new word of it,
which must be called an _interjection_: as, "'Pray, answer me a question or
two.' '_Ey, ey_, as many as you please, cousin Bridget, an they be not too
hard.'"--_Burgh's Speaker_, p. 99. "_Ey, ey_, 'tis so; she's out of her
head, poor thing."--_Ib._, p. 100. This is probably a corruption of _ay_,
which is often doubled in the same manner: thus,

   "_Ay, ay_, Antipholus, look strange, and frown."--_Shakspeare_.

OBS. 20.--The common fashion of address being nowadays altogether in the
plural form, the pronouns _thou, thy, thine, thee_, and _thyself_, have
become unfamiliar to most people, especially to the vulgar and uneducated.
These words are now confined almost exclusively to the writings of the
poets, to the language of the Friends, to the Holy Scriptures, and to the
solemn services of religion. They are, however, the _only genuine_
representatives of the second person singular, in English; and to displace
them from that rank in grammar, or to present _you, your_, and _yours_, as
being literally singular, though countenanced by several late writers, is a
useless and pernicious innovation. It is sufficient for the information of
the learner, and far more consistent with learning and taste, to say, that
the plural is fashionably used _for the singular_, by a figure of syntax;
for, in all correct usage of this sort, the _verb_ is plural, as well as
the pronoun--Dr. Webster's fourteen authorities to the contrary
notwithstanding. For, surely, "_You was_" cannot be considered good
English, merely because that number of respectable writers have happened,
on some particular occasions, to adopt the phrase; and even if we must
needs concede this point, and grant to the Doctor and his converts, that
"_You was_ is _primitive_ and _correct_," the example no more proves that
_you_ is singular, than that _was_ is plural. And what is one singular
irregular preterit, compared with all the verbs in the language?

OBS. 21.--In our present authorized version of the Bible, the numbers and
cases of the second person are kept remarkably distinct,[211] the pronouns
being always used in the following manner: _thou_ for the nominative, _thy_
or _thine_ for the possessive, and _thee_ for the objective, singular; _ye_
for the nominative, _your_ or _yours_ for the possessive, and _you_ for the
objective, plural. Yet, before that version was made, fashionable usage had
commonly substituted _you_ for _ye_, making the former word nominative as
well as objective, and applying it to one hearer as well as to more. And
subsequently, as it appears, the religious sect that entertained a scruple
about applying _you_ to an individual, fell for the most part into an
ungrammatical practice of putting _thee_ for _thou_; making, in like
manner, the objective pronoun to be both nominative and objective; or, at
least, using it very commonly so in their conversation. Their manner of
speaking, however, was not--or, certainly, with the present generation of
their successors, _is_ not--as some grammarians represent it to be, that
formal and antique phraseology which we call _the solemn style_.[212] They
make no more use of the pronoun _ye_, or of the verbal termination _eth_,
than do people of fashion; nor do they, in using the pronoun _thou_, or
their improper nominative _thee_, ordinarily inflect with _st_ or _est_ the
preterits or the auxiliaries of the accompanying verbs, as is done in the
solemn style. Indeed, to use the solemn style familiarly, would be, to turn
it into burlesque; as when Peter Pindar "_telleth what he troweth._" [213]
And let those who think with Murray, that our present version of the
Scriptures _is the best standard_ of English grammar,[214] remember that in
it they have no warrant for substituting _s_ or _es_ for the old
termination _eth_, any more than for ceasing to use the solemn style of the
second person familiarly. That version was good in its day, yet it shows
but very imperfectly what the English language now is. Can we consistently
take for our present standard, a style which does not allow us to use _you_
in the nominative case, or _its_ for the possessive? And again, is not a
simplification of the verb as necessary and proper in the familiar use of
the second person singular, as in that of the third? This latter question I
shall discuss in a future chapter.

OBS. 22.--The use of the pronoun _ye_ in the nominative case, is now mostly
confined to the solemn style;[215] but the use of it in the objective,
which is disallowed in the solemn style, and nowhere approved by our
grammarians, is nevertheless _common_ when no emphasis falls upon the
word: as,

   "When you're unmarried, never load _ye_
    With jewels; they may incommode _ye_."--_Dr. King_, p. 384.

Upon this point, Dr. Lowth observes, "Some writers have used _ye_ as the
objective case plural of the pronoun of the second person, very improperly
and ungrammatically; [as,]

    'The more shame for _ye_; holy men I thought _ye_.' Shak. Hen. VIII.

    'But tyrants dread _ye_, lest your just decree
    Transfer the pow'r, and set the people free.' Prior.

    'His wrath, which one day will destroy _ye_ both.' Milt. P. L. ii. 734.

Milton uses the same manner of expression in a few other places of his
Paradise Lost, and more frequently in his [smaller] poems, _It may,
perhaps, be allowed in the comic and burlesque style_, which often imitates
a vulgar and incorrect pronunciation; but in the serious and solemn style,
_no authority is sufficient_ to justify so manifest a solecism."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 22. Churchill copies this remark, and adds; "Dryden has _you_ as
the nominative, and _ye_ as the objective, in the same passage:[216]

    'What gain _you_, by forbidding it to tease _ye_?
    It now can neither trouble _ye_, nor please _ye_.'

Was this from a notion, that _you_ and _ye_, thus employed, were more
analogous to _thou_ and _thee_ in the singular number?"--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 25. I answer, No; but, more probably, from a notion, that the
two words, being now confessedly equivalent in the one case, might as well
be made so in the other: just as the Friends, in using _thee_ for _you_,
are carelessly converting the former word into a nominative, to the
exclusion of _thou_; because the latter has generally been made so, to the
exclusion of _ye_. When the confounding of such distinctions is begun, who
knows where it will end? With like ignorance, some writers suppose, that
the fashion of using the plural for the singular is a sufficient warrant
for putting the singular for the plural: as,

   "The joys of love, are they not doubly _thine,
    Ye poor!_ whose health, whose spirits ne'er decline?"
        --_Southwick's Pleas. of Poverty._

    "But, _Neatherds_, go look to the kine,
      Their cribs with fresh fodder supply;
    The task of compassion be _thine_,
      For herbage the pastures deny."--_Perfect's Poems_, p. 5.

OBS. 23.--When used in a burlesque or ludicrous manner, the pronoun _ye_ is
sometimes a mere expletive; or, perhaps, intended rather as an objective
governed by a preposition understood. But, in such a construction, I see no
reason to prefer it to the regular objective _you_; as,

   "He'll laugh _ye_, dance _ye_, sing _ye_, vault, look gay,
    And ruffle all the ladies in his play."--_King_, p. 574.

Some grammarians, who will have _you_ to be singular as well as plural,
ignorantly tell us, that "_ye_ always means more than one." But the fact
is, that when _ye_ was in common use, it was as frequently applied to one
person as _you_: thus,

   "Farewell my doughter lady Margarete,
    God wotte full oft it grieued hath my mynde,
    That _ye_ should go where we should seldome mete:
    Now am I gone, and haue left _you_ behynde."--_Sir T. More_, 1503.

In the following example, _ye_ is used for _thee_, the objective singular;
and that by one whose knowledge of the English language, is said to have
been unsurpassed:--

   "Proud Baronet of Nova Scotia!
    The Dean and Spaniard must reproach _ye_."--_Swift_.

So in the story of the Chameleon:--

   "'Tis green, 'tis green, Sir, I assure _ye_."--_Merrick_.

Thus we have _ye_ not only for the nominative in both numbers, but at
length for the objective in both; _ye_ and _you_ being made everywhere
equivalent, by very many writers. Indeed this pronoun has been so
frequently used for the objective case, that one may well doubt any
grammarian's authority to condemn it in that construction. Yet I cannot but
think it ill-chosen in the third line below, though right in the first:--

   "_Ye_! who have traced the Pilgrim to the scene
    Which is his last, if in your memories dwell
    A thought which once was his, if on _ye_ swell
    A single recollection, not in vain
    He wore his sandal-shoon, and scallop-shell."--_Byron_.

OBS. 24.--The three pronouns of the third person, _he, she_, and _it_, have
always formed their plural number after one and the same manner, _they,
their_ or _theirs, them_. Or, rather, these plural words, which appear not
to be regular derivatives from any of the singulars, have ever been applied
alike to them all. But _it_, the neuter pronoun singular, had formerly no
variation of cases, and is still alike in the nominative and the objective.
The possessive _its_ is of comparatively recent origin. In our common
Bible, the word is not found, except by misprint; nor do other writings of
the same age contain it. The phrase, _of it_, was often used as an
equivalent; as, "And it had three ribs in the mouth _of it_ between the
teeth _of it_."--_Dan._, vii, 5. That is--"in _its_ mouth, between _its_
teeth." But, as a possessive case was sometimes necessary, our ancestors
used to borrow one; commonly from the masculine, though sometimes from the
feminine. This produced what now appears a strange confusion of the
genders: as, "_Learning_ hath _his_ infancy, when _it_ is but beginning,
and almost childish; then _his_ youth, when _it_ is luxuriant and juvenile;
then _his_ strength of years, when _it_ is solid and reduced; and lastly
_his_ old age, when _it_ waxeth dry and exhaust."--_Bacon's Essays_, p. 58.
"Of beaten work shall the _candlestick_ be made: _his_ shaft, and _his_
branches, _his_ bowls, _his_ knops, and _his_ flowers, shall be of the
same."--_Exodus_, xxv, 31. "They came and emptied the _chest_, and took
_it_ and carried _it_ to _his_ place again."--_2 Chron._, xxiv, 11. "Look
not thou upon the _wine, when_ it is red, when _it_ giveth _his_ colour in
the cup, when _it_ moveth _itself_ aright."--_Prov._, xxiii, 31. "The
_tree_ is known by _his_ fruit."--_Matt._, xii, 33. "When thou tillest the
ground, _it_ shall not henceforth yield unto thee _her_ strength."--_Gen._,
iv, 12. "He that pricketh the heart, maketh _it_ to show _her_
knowledge."--_Eccl._, xxii, 19. Shakspeare rarely, if ever, used _its_; and
his style is sometimes obscure for the want of it: as,

   "There is no _vice_ so simple, but assumes
    Some mark of virtue on _his_ outward parts."
        --_Merch. of Venice_.

    "The name of Cassius honours this corruption,
    And _chastisement_ doth therefore hide _his_ head."
        --_Jul. Cæs._, Act iv.

OBS. 25.--The possessive case of pronouns should never be written with an
apostrophe. A few pronominal adjectives taken substantively receive it; but
the construction which it gives them, seems to make them nouns: as, _one's,
other's_, and, according to Murray, _former's_ and _latter's_. The real
pronouns that end in _s_, as _his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs_, though
true possessives after their kind, have no occasion for this mark, nor does
good usage admit it. Churchill, with equal disregard of consistency and
authority, gives it to one of them, and denies it to the rest. Referring to
the classification of these words as possessives, and of _my, thy, her,
our, your, their_, as adjectives, he says: "It seems as if the termination
in _s_ had led to the distinction: but no one will contend, that _ours_ is
the possessive case of _our_, or _theirs_ of _their_; though _ours, yours,
hers_, and _theirs_, are often very improperly spelt with an apostrophe, a
fault not always imputable to the printer; while in _it's_, which is
unquestionably the possessive case of _it_, the apostrophe, by a strange
perverseness, is almost always omitted."--_Churchill Gram._, p. 222. The
charge of strange perverseness may, in this instance, I think, be retorted
upon the critic; and that, to the fair exculpation of those who choose to
conform to the general usage which offends him.

OBS. 26.--Of the compound personal pronouns, this author gives the
following account: "_Self_, in the plural _selves_, a noun, is often
combined with the personal pronouns, in order to express emphasis, or
opposition, or the identity of the subject and [the] object of a verb; and
thus forms a pronoun _relative_: as, 'I did it _myself_;' 'he was not
_himself_, when he said so;' 'the envious torment _themselves_ more than
others.' Formerly _self_ and _selves_ were used simply as nouns, and
governed the pronoun, which was kept distinct from _it_ [them] in the
possessive case: but since _they_ [the pronoun and the noun] have coalesced
into one word, _they_ [the compounds] are used only in the following forms:
for the first person, _myself, ourselves_; for the second, _thyself_, or
_yourself, yourselves_; for the third, _himself, herself, itself,
themselves_: except in the regal style, in which, as generally in the
second person, the singular noun is added to the plural pronoun, [making]
_ourself_. Each of these is _the same in all three cases._"--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 75. In a note referring to the close of this explanation, he
adds: "_Own_ also is often employed with the possessive cases of the
personal pronouns by way of emphasis, or opposition; but separately, as an
adjective, and not combining with them to form _a relative_: as, 'I did it
of _my own_ free will:' 'Did he do it with _his own_ hand?'"--_Ib._, p.
227.

OBS. 27.--The preceding instructions, faulty and ungrammatical as they are,
seem to be the best that our writers have furnished upon this point. To
detect falsities and blunders, is half the grammarian's duty. The pronouns
of which the term _self_ or _selves_ forms a part, are used, not for the
connecting of different clauses of a sentence, but for the purpose of
emphatic distinction in the sense. In calling them "_relatives_," Churchill
is wrong, even by his own showing. They have not the characteristics which
he himself ascribes to relatives; but are compound personal pronouns, and
nothing else. He is also manifestly wrong in asserting, that they are
severally "the same in all three cases." From the very nature of their
composition, the possessive case is alike impossible to them all. To
express ownership with emphasis or distinction, we employ neither these
compounds nor any others; but always use the simple possessives with the
separate adjective _own_: as, "With _my own_ eyes,"--"By _thy own_
confession,"--"To _his own_ house,"--"For _her own_ father,"--"By _its own_
weight,"--"To save _our own_ lives,"--"For _your own_ sake,"--"In _their
own_ cause."

OBS. 28.--The phrases, _my own, thy own, his own_, and so forth, Dr.
Perley, in his little Grammar, has improperly converted by the hyphen into
compound words: calling them the possessive forms of _myself, thyself,
himself_, and so forth; as if one set of compounds could constitute the
possessive case of an other! And again, as if the making of eight new
pronouns for two great nations, were as slight a feat, as the inserting of
so many hyphens! The word _own_, anciently written _owen_, is an
_adjective_; from an old form of the perfect participle of the verb _to
owe_; which verb, according to Lowth and others, once signified _to
possess_. It is equivalent to _due, proper_, or _peculiar_; and, in its
present use as an adjective, it stands nowhere else than between the
possessive case and the name of the thing possessed; as, "The Boy's _Own_
Book,"--"Christ's _own_ words,"--"Solomon's _own_ and only son." Dr.
Johnson, while he acknowledges the abovementioned derivation, very
strangely calls own a noun substantive; and, with not more accuracy, says:
"This is a word of no other use than as it is added to the possessive
pronouns, _my, thy, his, our, your, their_."--_Quarto Dict., w. Own_. O. B.
Peirce, with obvious untruth, says, "_Own_ is used in combination with a
name or substitute, and as a part of it, to constitute it
emphatic."--_Gram._, p. 63. He writes it separately, but parses it as a
part of the possessive noun or pronoun which precedes it!

OBS. 29.--The word _self_ was originally _an adjective_, signifying _same,
very_, or _particular_; but, when used alone, it is now generally _a noun_.
This may have occasioned the diversity which appears in the formation of
the compound personal pronouns. Dr. Johnson, in his great Dictionary, calls
_self_ a pronoun; but he explains it as being both adjective and
substantive, admitting that, "Its primary signification seems to be that of
an adjective."--Again he observes, "_Myself, himself, themselves_, and the
rest, may, contrary to the analogy of _my, him, them_, be used as
nominatives." _Hisself, itsself_, and _theirselves_, would be more
analogical than _himself, itself, themselves_; but custom has rejected the
former, and established the latter. When an adjective qualifies the term
_self_, the pronouns are written separately in the possessive case; as, _My
single self,--My own self,--His own self,--Their own selves_. So,
anciently, without an adjective: as, "A man shall have diffused his life,
_his self_, and his whole concernments so far, that he can weep his sorrows
with an other's eyes."--_South_. "Something valuable for _its self_ without
view to anything farther."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 293. "That they would
willingly, and of _their selves_ endeavour to keep a perpetual
chastity."--_Stat. Ed. VI. in Lowth's Gram._, p. 26. "Why I should either
_imploy my self_ in that study or put others upon it."--_Walker's English
Particles_, p. xiv. "It is no matter whether you do it by your proctor, or
by _your self_."--_Ib._, p. 96. The compound _oneself_ is sometimes written
in stead of the phrase _one's self_; but the latter is preferable, and more
common. Even _his self_, when written as two words, may possibly be right
in some instances; as,

   "Scorn'd be the wretch that quits his genial bowl,
     His loves, his friendships, ev'n _his self_, resigns;
    Perverts the sacred instinct of his soul,
     And to a ducat's dirty sphere confines."
        --SHENSTONE: _Brit. Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 107.

OBS. 30.--In poetry, and even in some compositions not woven into regular
numbers, the simple personal pronouns are not unfrequently used, for
brevity's sake, in a reciprocal sense; that is, in stead of the compound
personal pronouns, which are the proper reciprocals: as, "Wash _you_, make
_you_ clean."--_Isaiah_, i, 16. "I made me great works; I builded _me_
houses; I planted _me_ vineyards; I made _me_ gardens and
orchards."--_Ecclesiastes_, ii, 4. "Thou shalt surely clothe _thee_ with
them all as with an ornament, and bind them on _thee_ as a bride
doeth."--_Isaiah_, xlix, 18. Compare with these the more regular
expression: "As a bridegroom decketh _himself_ with ornaments, and as a
bride adorneth _herself_ with jewels."--_Isaiah_, lxi, 10. This phraseology
is almost always preferable in prose; the other is a poetical license, or
peculiarity: as,

   "I turn _me_ from the martial roar."--_Scott's L. L._, p. 97.

    "Hush _thee_, poor maiden, and be still."--_Ib._, p. 110.

    "Firmer he roots _him_ the ruder it blow."--_Ib._, p. 49.

OBS. 31.--To accommodate the writers of verse, the word _ever_ is
frequently contracted into _e'er_, pronounced like the monosyllable _air_.
An easy extension of this license, gives us similar contractions of all the
compound relative pronouns; as, _whoe'er_ or _whosoe'er, whose'er_ or
_whosesoe'er, whome'er_ or _whomsoe'er, whiche'er_ or _whichsoe'er,
whate'er_ or _whatsoe'er_. The character and properties of these compounds
are explained, perhaps sufficiently, in the observations upon the _classes_
of pronouns. Some of them are commonly parsed as representing two cases at
once; there being, in fact, an ellipsis of the noun, before or after them:
as,

   "Each art he prompts, each charm he can create,
    _Whate'er_ he gives, _are given_ for you to hate."--_Pope's Dunciad_.

OBS. 32.--For a form of parsing the double relative _what_, or its
compound _whatever_ or _whatsoever_, it is the custom of some teachers, to
suggest equivalent words, and then proceed to explain these, in lieu of the
word in question. This is the method of _Russell's Gram._, p. 99; of
_Merchants_, p. 110; of _Kirkham's_, p. 111; of _Gilbert's_, p. 92. But it
should be remembered that equivalence of meaning is not sameness of
grammatical construction; and, even if the construction be the same, to
parse other equivalent words, is not really to parse the text that is
given. A good parser, with the liberty to supply obvious ellipses, should
know how to explain all good English _as it stands_; and for a teacher to
pervert good English into false doctrine, must needs seem the very worst
kind of ignorance. What can be more fantastical than the following
etymology, or more absurd than the following directions for parsing?
"_What_ is compounded of _which that_. These words have been contracted and
made to coalesce, a part of the orthography of both being still retained:
_what--wh[ich--t]hat_; (_which-that_.) Anciently it appeared in the varying
forms, _tha qua, qua tha, qu'tha, quthat, quhat, hwat_, and finally
_what_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 111. This bald pedantry of "_tha qua, qua
tha_," was secretly borrowed from the grammatical speculations of William
S. Cardell:[217] the "_which-that_" notion contradicts it, and is partly of
the borrower's own invention. If _what_ is a compound, it was compounded
more than a thousand years ago; and, of course, long before any part of the
English language existed as such. King Alfred used it, as he found it, in
the Saxon form of _hwæt_. The Scotch afterwards spelled it _quhat_. Our
English grammarians have _improperly_ called it a compound; and _Kirkham_,
still more absurdly, calls the word _others_ a compound, and _mine, thine,
ours, yours_, &e. compounds.[218]

OBS. 33.--According to this gentleman's notion of things, there is, within
the little circle of the word _what_, a very curious play of antecedent
parts and parts relative--a dodging contra-dance of _which that_ and _that
which_, with _things which_, and so forth. Thus: "When _what_ is a
_compound relative_ you must always parse it as _two words_; that is, you
must parse the antecedent part _as a noun_, and give it case; the relative
part you may _analyze_ like any other relative, giving it a case likewise.
Example: 'I will try _what_ (that which) can be found in female delicacy.'
Here _that_, the antecedent part of _what_, is in the obj. case, governed
by the verb 'will try;' _which_, the relative part, is in the nom. case to
'can be found.' 'I have heard _what_ (i.e. _that which_, or _the thing
which_) has been alleged.' "--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 111. Here, we sec, the
author's "_which-that_" becomes _that which_, or something else. But this
is not a full view of his method. The following vile rigmarole is a further
sample of that "_New Systematick Order of Parsing_," by virtue of which he
so very complacently and successfully sets himself above all other
grammarians: "'From _what_ is recorded, he appears, &c.' _What_ is a comp.
rel. pron. including both the antecedent and the relative, and is
equivalent to _that which_, or the _thing which.--Thing_, the antecedent
part of _what_, is a noun, the name of a thing--com. the name of a
species--neuter gender, it has no sex--third person, spoken of--sing.
number, it implies but one--and in the obj. case, it is the object of the
relation expressed by the prep. 'from,' and gov. by it: RULE 31. (Repeat
the Rule, and _every other Rule_ to which I refer.) _Which_, the relative
part of _what_, is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun--relative, it
relates to 'thing' for its antecedent--neut. gender, third person, sing,
number, because the antecedent is with which it agrees, according to RULE
14. _Rel. pron_. &c. _Which_ is _in_ the nom. case to the verb 'is
recorded,' agreeably to RULE 15. _The relative is the nominative case to
the verb, when no nominative comes between it and the verb._"--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 113.

OBS. 34.--The distinction which has been made by Murray and others, between
etymological parsing and syntactical--or, between that exercise which
simply classifies and describes the words of a sentence, and that which
adds to this the principles of their construction--is rejected by Kirkham,
and also by Ingersoll, Fuller, Smith, Sanborn, Mack, and some others, it
being altogether irreconcilable with their several modes of confounding the
two main parts of grammar. If such a distinction is serviceable, the want
of it is one of the inherent faults of the schemes which they have adopted.
But, since "grammar is the art of speaking and writing with _propriety_"
who that really values clearness and accuracy of expression, can think the
want of them excusable in _models_ prescribed for the exercise of parsing?
And is it not better to maintain the distinction above named, than to
interlace our syntactical parsing with broken allusions to the definitions
which pertain to etymology? If it is, this new mode of parsing, which
Kirkham claims to have invented, and Smith pretends to have got from
Germany, whatever boast may be made of it, is essentially defective and
very immethodical.[219] This remark applies not merely to the forms above
cited, respecting the pronoun _what_, but to the whole method of parsing
adopted by the author of "_English Grammar in Familiar Lectures_."

OBS. 35.--The forms of etymological parsing which I have adopted, being
designed to train the pupil, in the first place, by a succession of easy
steps, to a rapid and accurate description of the several species of words,
and a ready habit of fully defining the technical terms employed in such
descriptions, will be found to differ more from the forms of syntactical
parsing, than do those of perhaps any other grammarian. The definitions,
which constitute so large a portion of the former, being omitted as soon as
they are thoroughly learned, give place in the latter, to the facts and
principles of syntax. Thus have we fullness in the one part, conciseness in
the other, order and distinctness in both. The separation of etymology from
syntax, however, though judiciously adopted by almost all grammarians, is
in itself a mere matter of convenience. No one will pretend that these two
parts of grammar are in their nature _totally_ distinct and independent.
Hence, though a due regard to method demands the maintenance of this
ancient and still usual division of the subject, we not unfrequently, in
treating of the classes and modifications of words, exhibit contingently
some of the principles of their construction. This, however, is very
different from a purposed blending of the two parts, than which nothing can
be more unwise.

OBS. 36.--The great peculiarity of the pronoun _what_, or of its compound
_whatever_ or _whatsoever_, is a peculiarity of construction, rather than
of etymology. Hence, in etymological parsing, it may be sufficient to
notice it only as a relative, though the construction be double. It is in
fact a relative; but it is one that reverses the order of the antecedent,
whenever the noun is inserted with it. But as the noun is usually
suppressed, and as the supplying of it is attended with an obvious
difficulty, arising from the transposition, we cut the matter short, by
declaring the word to have, as it appears to have, a double syntactical
relation. Of the foregoing example, therefore--viz., "From _what_ is
recorded," &c.,--a pupil of mine, in parsing _etymologically_, would say
thus: "_What_ is a relative pronoun, of the third person, singular number,
neuter gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of
a noun. 2. A relative pronoun is a pronoun that represents an antecedent
word or phrase, and connects different clauses of a sentence. 3. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The
singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that
which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative
case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which denotes the subject
of a verb." In parsing _syntactically_, he would say thus: "_What_ is a
double relative, including both antecedent and relative, being equivalent
to _that which_. As _antecedent_, it is of the third person, singular
number, neuter gender, and objective case; being governed by _from_;
according to the rule which says, 'A Noun or a Pronoun made the object of a
preposition, is goverved [sic--KTH] by it in the objective case.' Because
the meaning is--_from what_. As _relative_, it is of the third person,
singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case; being the subject of
_is recorded_; according to the rule which says, 'A Noun or a Pronoun which
is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the nominative case.' Because
the meaning is--_what is recorded_."

OBS. 37.--The word _what_, when uttered independently as a mark of
surprise, or as the prelude to an emphatic question which it does not ask,
becomes an interjection; and, as such, is to be parsed merely as other
interjections are parsed: as, "_What!_ came the word of God out from you?
or came it unto you only?"--_1 Cor._, xiv, 36. "_What!_ know ye not that
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of
God?"--_1 Cor._, vi, 19. "But _what!_ is thy servant a dog, that he should
do this great thing?"--_2 Kings_, viii, 13. "_What!_ are you so ambitious
of a man's good word, who perhaps in an hour's time shall curse himself to
the pit of hell?"--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 152.

   "_What!_ up and down, carv'd like an apple-tart?"--_Shakspeare_.

    "_What!_ can you lull the winged winds asleep?"--_Campbell_.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS V.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Fifth Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of
the_ ARTICLES, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, and PRONOUNS.

_The definitions to be given in the Fifth Praxis, are two for an article,
six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, and one for a
verb, a participle, an adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, or an
interjection. Thus_:--


EXAMPLE PARSED.

"Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus."--_Rom._, ix,
20.

_Nay_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle,
an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place,
degree, or manner.

_But_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or
sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so
connected.

_O_ is an interjection. 1. An interjection is a word that is uttered merely
to indicate some strong or sudden emotion of the mind.

_Man_ is a common noun, of the second person, singular number, masculine
gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The second person is that
which denotes the hearer, or the person addressed. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The masculine gender is that which
denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The nominative case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a
finite verb.

_Who_ is an interrogative pronoun, of the third person, singular number,
masculine gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead
of a noun. 2. An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun with which a question
is asked. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing
merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5.
The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the male
kind. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun
which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_Art_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to
be acted upon_.

_Thou_ is a personal pronoun, of the second person, singular number,
masculine gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead
of a noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of
what person it is. 3. The second person is that which denotes the hearer,
or the person addressed. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but
one. 5. The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of
the male kind. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or
pronoun which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_That_ is a relative pronoun, of the second person, singular number,
masculine gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead
of a noun. 2. A relative pronoun is a pronoun that represents an antecedent
word or phrase, and connects different clauses of a sentence. 3. The second
person is that which denotes the hearer, or the person addressed. 4. The
singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The masculine gender is
that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The nominative
case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the
subject of a finite verb.

_Repliest_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_,
or _to be acted upon_.

_Against_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_God_ is a proper noun, of the third person, singular number, masculine
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known, or mentioned. 2. A proper noun is the name of
some particular individual, or people, or group. 3. The third person is
that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular
number is that which denotes but one. 5. The masculine gender is that which
denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The objective case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a
verb, participle, or preposition.

_Shall_ is a verb, auxiliary to _say_, and may be taken with it.

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite
article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Thing_ is a common noun of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a
finite verb.

_Formed_ is a participle. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb,
participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and
is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb.

_Say_, or _shall say_, is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to
be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_.

_To_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Him_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person, singular number,
masculine gender, and objective case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead
of a noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of
what person it is. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or
thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but
one. 5. The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of
the male kind. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a noun or
pronoun which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or
preposition.

_That_ is a relative pronoun, of the third person, singular number,
masculine gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead
of a noun. 2. A relative pronoun is a pronoun that represents an antecedent
word or phrase, and connects different clauses of a sentence. 3. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The
singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The masculine gender is
that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The nominative
case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the
subject of a finite verb.

_Formed_ is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or
_to be acted upon_. _It_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person,
singular number, neuter gender, and objective case. 1. A pronoun is a word
used in stead of a noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by
its form, of what person it is. 3. The third person is that which denotes
the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which
denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are
neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a
noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or
preposition.

_Why_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle,
an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place,
degree, or manner.

_Hast_ is a verb, auxiliary to _made_, and may be taken with it.

_Thou_ is a personal pronoun, of the second person, singular number,
masculine gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead
of a noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of
what person it is. 3. The second person is that which denotes the hearer,
or the person addressed. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but
one. 5. The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of
the male kind. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or
pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_Made_, or _hast made_, is a verb. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to
be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_.

_Me_ is a personal pronoun, of the first person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.
2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what person
it is. 3. The first person is that which denotes the speaker or writer. 4.
The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is
that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The
objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun which usually
denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition.

_Thus_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle,
an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place,
degree, or manner.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"Every man has undoubtedly an inward perception of the celestial goodness
by which he is quickened. But, if to obtain some ideas of God, it be not
necessary for us to go beyond ourselves, what an unpardonable indolence it
is in those who will not descend into themselves that they may find
him?"--_Calvin's Institutes_, B. i, Ch. 5.

"Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father
that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: yet ye have not
known him; but I know him."--_John_, viii, 54.

"What! have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church
of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I
praise you in this? I praise you not."--_1 Cor._, xi, 22.

"We know not what we ought to wish for, but He who made us,
knows."--_Burgh's Dignity_, Vol. ii, p. 20.

"And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is
good?"--_1 Peter_, iii, 13.

"For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with
some that commend themselves: but they, measuring themselves by themselves,
and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."--_2 Cor._, x, 12.

"Whatever is humane, is wise; whatever is wise, is just; whatever is wise,
just, and humane, will be found the true interest of states."--_Dr. Rush,
on Punishments_, p. 19.

"But, methinks, we cannot answer it to ourselves, as-well-as to our Maker,
that we should live and die ignorant of ourselves, and thereby of him, and
of the obligations which we are under to him for ourselves."--_William
Penn_.

"But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
The depth saith, 'It is not in me;' and the sea saith, 'It is not with me.'
Destruction and death say, 'We have heard the fame thereof with our
ears.'"--See _Job_, xxviii, 12, 14, 22; and _Blair's Lect._, p. 417.

   "I still had hopes, my latest hours to crown,
    Amidst these humble bow'rs to lay me down."--_Goldsmith_.

    "Why dost thou then suggest to me distrust,
    Knowing who I am, as I know who thou art?"--_Milton_, P. R.

LESSON II.--PARSING.

"I would, methinks, have so much to say for myself, that if I fell into the
hands of him who treated me ill, he should be sensible when he did so: his
conscience should be on my side, whatever became of his
inclination."--_Steele, Spect._, No. 522.

"A boy should understand his mother tongue well before he enters upon the
study of a dead language; or, at any rate, he should be made perfect master
of the meaning of all the words which are necessary to furnish him with a
translation of the particular author which he is studying."--_Gallaudet,
Lit. Conv._, p. 206.

"No discipline is more suitable to man, or more congruous to the dignity of
his nature, than that which refines his taste, and leads him to
distinguish, in every subject, what is regular, what is orderly, what is
suitable, and what is fit and proper."--_Kames's El. of Crit._, i, 275.

"Simple thoughts are what arise naturally; what the occasion or the subject
suggests unsought; and what, when once suggested, are easily apprehended by
all. Refinement in writing, expresses a less natural and [less] obvious
train of thought."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 184.

"Where the story of an epic poem is founded on truth, no circumstances must
be added, but such as connect naturally with what are known to be true:
history may be supplied, but it must not be contradicted."--See _Kames's
El. of Crit._, ii, 280.

"Others, I am told, pretend to have been once his friends. Surely they are
their enemies, who say so; for nothing can be more odious than to treat a
friend as they have treated him. But of this I cannot persuade myself, when
I consider the constant and eternal aversion of all bad writers to a good
one."--_Cleland, in Defence of Pope_.

   "From side to side, he struts, he smiles, he prates,
    And seems to wonder what's become of Yates."--_Churchill_.

    "Alas! what sorrows gloom'd that parting day,
    That call'd them from their native walks away!"--_Goldsmith_.


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"It is involved in the nature of man, that he cannot be indifferent to an
event that concerns him or any of his connexions: if it be fortunate, it
gives him joy; if unfortunate, it gives him sorrow."--_Kames's El. of
Crit._, i, 62.

"I knew a man who had relinquished the sea for a country life: in the
corner of his garden he reared an artificial mount with a level summit,
resembling most accurately a quarter-deck, not only in shape, but in size;
and here he generally walked."--_Ib._, p. 328.

"I mean, when we are angry with our Maker. For against whom else is it that
our displeasure is pointed, when we murmur at the distribution of things
here, either because our own condition is less agreeable than we would have
it, or because that of others is more prosperous than we imagine they
deserve?"--_Archbishop Seeker_.

"Things cannot charge into the soul, or force us upon any opinions about
them; they stand aloof and are quiet. It is our fancy that makes them
operate and gall us; it is we that rate them, and give them their bulk and
value."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 212.

"What is your opinion of truth, good-nature, and sobriety? Do any of these
virtues stand in need of a good word; or are they the worse for a bad one?
I hope a diamond will shine ne'er the less for a man's silence about the
worth of it."--_Ib._, p. 49.

"Those words which were formerly current and proper, have now become
obsolete and barbarous. Alas! this is not all: fame tarnishes in time too;
and men grow out of fashion, as well as languages."--_Ib._, p. 55.

   "O Luxury! thou curs'd by Heaven's decree,
    How ill exchang'd are things like these for thee."--_Goldsmith_.

    "O, then, how blind to all that truth requires,
    Who think it freedom when a part aspires!"--_Id._


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS OF PRONOUNS.

LESSON I.--RELATIVES.

"At the same time that we attend to this pause, every appearance of
sing-song and tone must be carefully guarded against."--_Murray's English
Reader_, p. xx.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _that_ had not clearly the
construction either of a pronoun or of a conjunction. But, according to
Observation 18th, on the Classes of Pronouns, "The word _that_, or indeed
any other word, should never be so used as to leave the part of speech
uncertain." Therefore, the expression should be altered: thus, "_While_ we
attend to this pause, every appearance of _singsong_ must be carefully
_avoided_."]

"For thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee."--_Jeremiah_, i, 7;
_Gurney's Obs._, p. 223. "Ah! how happy would it have been for me, had I
spent in retirement these twenty-three years that I have possessed my
kingdom."--See _Sanborn's Gram._, p. 242. "In the same manner that relative
pronouns and their antecedents are usually parsed."--_Ib._, p. 71. "Parse
or mention all the other nouns in the parsing examples, in the same manner
that you do the word in the form of parsing."--_Ib._, p. 8. "The passive
verb will always be of the person and number that the verb _be_ is, of
which it is in part composed."--_Ib._, p. 53. "You have been taught that a
verb must always be of the same person and number that its nominative
is."--_Ib._, p. 68. "A relative pronoun, also, must always be of the same
person, number, and even gender that its antecedent is."--_Ib._, p. 68.
"The subsequent is always in the same case that the word is, which asks the
question."--_Ib._, p. 95. "_One_ sometimes represents an antecedent noun in
the same definite manner that personal pronouns do."--_Ib._, p. 98. "The
mind being carried forward to the time that an event happens, easily
conceives it to be present."--_Ib._, p. 107. "_Save_ and _saving_ are
parsed in the same manner that _except_ and _excepting_ are."--_Ib._, p.
123. "Adverbs describe, qualify, or modify the meaning of a verb in the
same manner that adjectives do nouns."--_Ib._, p. 16. "The third person
singular of verbs, is formed in the same manner, that the plural number of
nouns is."--_Ib._, p. 41. "He saith further: 'that the apostles did not
anew baptize such persons, that had been baptized with the baptism of
John.'"--_Barclay's Works_, i, 292. "For we which live, are always
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake."--_2 Cor._, iv, 11. "For they, which
believe in God, must be careful to maintain good works."--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 431. "Nor yet of those which teach things which they ought not,
for filthy lucre's sake."--_Ib._, i, 435. "So as to hold such bound in
heaven, whom they bind on earth, and such loosed in heaven, whom they loose
on earth."--_Ib._, i, 478. "Now, if it be an evil to do any thing out of
strife; then such things that are seen so to be done, are they not to be
avoided and forsaken?"--_Ib._, i, 522. "All such who satisfy themselves not
with the superficies of religion."--_Ib._, ii, 23. "And he is the same in
substance, what he was upon earth, both in spirit, soul and body."--_Ib._,
iii, 98. "And those that do not thus, are such, to whom the Church of Rome
can have no charity."--_Ib._, iii, 204. "Before his book he placeth a great
list of that he accounts the blasphemous assertions of the
Quakers."--_Ib._, iii, 257. "And this is that he should have
proved."--_Ib._, iii, 322. "Three of which were at that time actual
students of philosophy in the university."--_Ib._, iii, 180. "Therefore it
is not lawful for any whatsoever * * * to force the consciences of
others."--_Ib._, ii, 13. "What is the cause that the former days were
better than these?"--_Eccl._, vii, 10. "In the same manner that the term
_my_ depends on the name _books_."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 54. "In the
same manner as the term _house_ depends on the relative _near_."--_Ib._, p.
58. "James died on the day that Henry returned."--_Ib._, p. 177.


LESSON II.--DECLENSIONS.

"_Other_ makes the plural _others_, when it is found without it's
substantive."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 12.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _it's_ is written with an
apostrophe. But, according to Observation 25th, on the Declensions of
Pronouns, "The possessive case of pronouns should never be written with an
apostrophe." Therefore, this apostrophe should be omitted; thus, "_Other_
makes the plural _others_, when it is found without its substantive."]

"But _his, her's, our's, your's, their's_, have evidently the form of the
possessive case."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 23. "To the Saxon possessive cases,
_hire, ure, eower, hira_, (that is, _her's, our's, your's, their's_,) we
have added the _s_, the characteristic of the possessive case of
nouns."--_Ib._, p. 23. "Upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both
their's and our's."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _1 Cor._, i, 2. "In this Place _His_
Hand is clearly preferable either to Her's or It's." [220]--_Harris's
Hermes_, p. 59. "That roguish leer of your's makes a pretty woman's heart
ake."--ADDISON: _in Joh. Dict._ "Lest by any means this liberty of your's
become a stumbling-block."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _1 Cor._, viii, 9. "First
person: Sing. I, mine, me; Plur. we, our's, us."--_Wilbur and Livingston's
Gram._, p. 16. "Second person: Sing. thou, thine, thee; Plur. ye or you,
your's, you."--_Ib._ "Third person: Sing. she, her's, her; Plur. they,
their's, them."--_Ib._ "So shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not
your's."--SCOTT ET AL.: _Jer._, v, 19. "Second person, Singular: Nom. thou
or you, Poss. thine or yours, Obj. thee or you."--_Frost's El. of E.
Gram._, p. 13. "Second person, Dual: Nom. Gyt, ye two; Gen. Incer, of ye
two; Dat. Inc, incrum, to ye two; Acc. Inc, ye two; Voc. Eala inc, O ye
two; Abl. Inc, incrum, from ye two."--_Gwill's Saxon Gram._, p. 12. "Second
person, Plural; Nom. Ge, ye; Gen. Eower, of ye; Dat. Eow, to ye; Acc. Eow,
ye; Voc. Eala ge, O ye; Abl. Eow, from ye."--_Ib._ (_written in_ 1829.)
"These words are, _mine, thine, his, her's, our's, your's, their's_, and
_whose_."--_Cardell's Essay_, p. 88. "This house is _our's_, and that is
_your's. Their's_ is very commodious."--_Ib._, p. 90. "And they shall eat
up thine harvest, and thy bread: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine
herds."--_Jeremiah_, v, 17. "_Whoever_ and _Whichever_ are thus declined.
_Sing._ and _Plu. nom._ whoever, _poss._ whoseever, _obj._ whomever.
_Sing._ and _Plu. nom._ whichever, _poss._ whoseever, _obj._
whichever."--_Cooper's Plain and Practical Gram._, p. 38. "The compound
personal pronouns are thus declined; _Sing. N._ Myself, _P._ my-own, _O._
myself; _Plur. N._ ourselves, _P._ our-own, _O._ ourselves. _Sing. N._
Thyself or yourself, _P._ thy-own or your-own, _O._ thyself or yourself;"
&c.--_Perley's Gram._, p. 16. "Every one of us, each for hisself, laboured
how to recover him."--SIDNEY: _in Priestley's Gram._, p. 96. "Unless when
ideas of their opposites manifestly suggest their selves."--_Wright's
Gram._, p. 49. "It not only exists in time, but is time its self."--_Ib._,
p. 75. "A position which the action its self will palpably deny."--_Ib._,
p. 102. "A difficulty sometimes presents its self."--_Ib._, p. 165. "They
are sometimes explanations in their selves."--_Ib._, p. 249. "Our's,
Your's, Their's, Her's, It's."--_S. Barrett's Gram._, p. 24.

   "Their's the wild chace of false felicities:
    His, the compos'd possession of the true."
        --_Murray's E. Reader_, p. 216.


LESSON III.--MIXED.

"It is the boast of Americans, without distinction of parties, that their
government is the most free and perfect, which exists on the earth."--_Dr.
Allen's Lectures_, p. 18.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the relative _which_ is here intended to be
taken in a restrictive sense. But, according to Observation 26th, on the
Classes of Pronouns, (and others that follow it,) the word _who_ or
_which_, with a comma before it, does not usually limit the preceding term.
Therefore, _which_ should be _that_, and the comma should be omitted;
thus,--"that their government is the most free and perfect _that_ exists on
the earth."]

"Children, who are dutiful to their parents, enjoy great
prosperity."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 69. "The scholar, who improves his
time, sets an example worthy of imitation."--_Ib._, p. 69. "Nouns and
pronouns, which signify the same person, place, or thing, agree in
case."--_Cooper's Gram._, p. 115. "An interrogative sentence is one, which
asks a question."--_Ib._, p. 114. "In the use of words and phrases, which
in point of time relate to each other, a _due regard_ to _that relation_
should be _observed_."--_Ib._, p. 146; see _L. Murray_'s Rule xiii. "The
same observations, which have been made respecting the effect of the
article and participle, appear to be applicable to the pronoun and
participle."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 193. "The reason that they have not the
same use of them in reading, may be traced to the very defective and
erroneous method, in which the art of reading is taught."--_Ib._, p. 252.
"Since the time that reason began to exert her powers, thought, during our
waking hours, has been active in every breast, without a moment's
suspension or pause."--_Murray's Key_, p. 271; _Merchant's Gram._, p. 212.
"In speaking of such who greatly delight in the same."--_Notes to Dunciad_,
177. "Except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that
he may live."--_Esther_, iv, 11.--"But the same day that Lot went out of
Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them
all."--_Luke_, xvii, 29. "In the next place I will explain several cases of
nouns and pronouns which have not yet come under our notice."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 129. "Three natural distinctions of time are all which can
exist."--_Rail's Gram._, p. 15. "We have exhibited such only as are
obviously distinct; and which seem to be sufficient, and not more than
sufficient."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 68; _Hall's_, 14. "This point encloses a
part of a sentence which may be omitted without materially injuring the
connexion of the other members."--_Hall's Gram._, p. 39. "Consonants are
letters, which cannot be sounded without the aid of a Vowel."--_Bucke's
Gram._, p. 9. "Words are not simple sounds, but sounds, which convey a
meaning to the mind."--_Ib._, p. 16. "Nature's postures are always easy;
and which is more, nothing but your own will can put you out of
them."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 197. "Therefore ought we to examine our
ownselves, and prove our ownselves."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 426. "Certainly
it had been much more natural, to have divided Active Verbs into
_Immanent_, or such whose Action is terminated in it self, and _Transient_,
or such whose Action is terminated in something without it
self."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 273. "This is such an advantage which no
other lexicon will afford."--DR. TAYLOR: _in Pike's Lex._, p. iv. "For
these reasons, such liberties are taken in the Hebrew tongue with those
words as are of the most general and frequent use."--_Pike's Heb. Lexicon_,
p. 184. "At the same time that we object to the laws, which the antiquarian
in language would impose upon us, we must enter our protest against those
authors, who are too fond of innovations."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p.
136.




CHAPTER VI.--VERBS.

A Verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_: as,
I _am_, I _rule_, I _am ruled_; I _love_, thou _lovest_, he _loves_. VERBS
are so called, from the Latin _Verbum_, a _Word_; because the verb is that
word which most essentially contains what is said in any clause or
sentence.

An English verb has four CHIEF TERMS, or PRINCIPAL PARTS, ever needful to
be ascertained in the first place; namely, the _Present_, the _Preterit_,
the _Imperfect Participle_, and the _Perfect Participle_. The _Present_ is
that form of the verb, which is the root of all the rest; the verb itself;
or that simple term which we should look for in a dictionary: as, _be, act,
rule, love, defend, terminate_.

The _Preterit_ is that simple form of the verb, which denotes time past;
and which is always connected with some noun or pronoun, denoting the
subject of the assertion: as, _I was, I acted, I ruled, I loved, I
defended_.

The _Imperfect Participle_ is that which ends commonly[221] in _ing_, and
implies a _continuance_ of the being, action, or passion: as, _being,
acting, ruling, loving, defending, terminating_.

The _Perfect Participle_ is that which ends commonly in _ed_ or _en_, and
implies a _completion_ of the being, action, or passion: as, _been, acted,
ruled, loved_.

CLASSES.

Verbs are divided, with respect to their _form_, into four classes;
_regular_ and _irregular, redundant_ and _defective_.

I. A _regular verb_ is a verb that forms the preterit and the perfect
participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_; as, _love, loved, loving, loved_.

II. An _irregular verb_ is a verb that does not form the preterit and the
perfect participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_; as, _see, saw, seeing, seen_.

III. A _redundant verb_ is a verb that forms the preterit or the perfect
participle in two or more ways, and so as to be both regular and irregular;
as, _thrive, thrived_ or _throve, thriving, thrived_ or _thriven_.

IV. A _defective verb_ is a verb that forms no participles, and is used in
but few of the moods and tenses; as, _beware, ought, quoth_.

Verbs are divided again, with respect to their _signification_, into four
classes; _active-transitive, active-intransitive, passive_, and _neuter_.

I. An _active-transitive_ verb is a verb that expresses an action which has
some person or thing for its object; as, "Cain _slew Abel_."--"Cassius
_loved Brutus_."

II. An _active-intransitive_ verb is a verb that expresses an action which
has no person or thing for its object; as, "John _walks_."--"Jesus _wept_."

III. A. _passive verb_ is a verb that represents its subject, or what the
nominative expresses, as being acted upon; as, "I _am compelled_."--"Cæsar
_was slain_."

IV. A _neuter verb_ is a verb that expresses neither action nor passion,
but simply being, or a state of being; as, "There _was_ light."--"The babe
_sleeps_."


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--So various have been the views of our grammarians, respecting this
complex and most important part of speech, that almost every thing that is
contained in any theory or distribution of the English verbs, may be
considered a matter of opinion and of dispute. Nay, the essential nature of
a verb, in Universal Grammar, has never yet been determined by any received
definition that can be considered unobjectionable. The greatest and most
acute philologists confess that a faultless definition of this part of
speech, is difficult, if not impossible, to be formed. Horne Tooke, at the
close of his Diversions of Purley, cites with contempt nearly a dozen
different attempts at a definition, some Latin, some English, some French;
then, with the abruptness of affected disgust, breaks off the catalogue and
the conversation together, leaving his readers to guess, if they can, what
he conceived a verb to be. He might have added some scores of others, and
probably would have been as little satisfied with any one of them. A
definition like that which is given above, may answer in some degree the
purpose of distinction; but, after all, we must judge what is, and what is
not a verb, chiefly from our own observation of the sense and use of
words.[222]

OBS. 2.--Whether _participles_ ought to be called verbs or not, is a
question that has been much disputed, and is still variously decided; nor
is it possible to settle it in any way not liable to some serious
objections. The same may perhaps be said of all the forms called
_infinitives_. If the essence of a verb be made to consist in affirmation,
predication, or assertion, (as it is in many grammars,) neither infinitives
nor participles can be reckoned verbs, without a manifest breach of the
definition. Yet are the former almost universally treated as verbs, and by
some as the only pure verbs; nor do all deny them this rank, who say that
affirmation is _essential_ to a verb. Participles, when unconnected with
auxiliaries, are most commonly considered a separate part of speech; but in
the formation of many of our moods and tenses, we take them as _constituent
parts of the verb_. If there is absurdity in this, there is more in
undertaking to avoid it; and the inconvenience should be submitted to,
since it amounts to little or nothing in practice. With auxiliaries, then,
participles _are verbs_: without auxiliaries, they are _not verbs_, but
form a separate part of speech.

OBS. 3.--The number of verbs in our language, amounts unquestionably to
four or five thousand; some say, (perhaps truly,) to eight thousand. All
these, whatever be the number, are confessedly _regular_ in their
formation, except about two hundred. For, though the catalogues in our
grammars give the number somewhat variously, all the irregular, redundant,
and defective verbs, put together, are _commonly_ reckoned fewer than two
hundred. I admit, in all, two hundred and nineteen. The regular verbs,
therefore, are vastly more numerous than those which deviate from the
stated form. But, since many of the latter are words of very frequent
occurrence, the irregular verbs appear exceedingly numerous in practice,
and consequently require a great deal of attention. The defective verbs
being very few, and most of these few being mere auxiliaries, which are
never parsed separately, there is little occasion to treat them as a
distinct class; though Murray and others have ranked them so, and perhaps
it is best to follow their example. The redundant verbs, which are regular
in one form and irregular in an other, being of course always found written
either one way or the other, as each author chooses, may be, and commonly
have been, referred in parsing to the class of regular or irregular verbs
accordingly. But, as their number is considerable, and their character
peculiar, there may be some advantage in making them a separate class.
Besides, the definition of an irregular verb, as given in any of our
grammars, seems to exclude all such as _may_ form the preterit and the
perfect participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_.

OBS. 4.--In most grammars and dictionaries, verbs are divided, with respect
to their signification, into three classes only; _active, passive_, and
_neuter_. In such a division, the class of _active_ verbs includes those
only which are _active-transitive_, and all the _active-intransitive_ verbs
are called _neuter_. But, in the division adopted above,
_active-intransitive_ verbs are made a distinct class; and those only are
regarded as neuter, which imply a state of existence without action. When,
therefore, we speak of verbs without reference to their regimen, we may, if
we please, apply the simple term active to all those which express
_action_, whether _transitive_ or _intransitive_. "We _act_ whenever we
_do_ any thing; but we _may act_ without _doing_ any thing."--_Crabb's
Synonymes_.

OBS. 5.--Among the many English grammars in which verbs are divided, as
above mentioned, into _active, passive_, and _neuter_, only, are those of
the following writers: Lowth, Murray, Ainsworth, Alden, Allen, Alger,
Bacon, Bicknell, Blair, Bullions, (at first,) Charles Adams, Bucke,
Cobbett, Cobbin, Dilworth, A. Flint, Frost, (at first,) Greenleaf, Hall,
Johnson,[223] Lennie, Picket, Pond, Sanborn, R. C. Smith, Rev. T. Smith,
and Wright. These authors, and many more, agree, that, "A _verb neuter_
expresses neither action nor passion, but being, or a state of being."--_L.
Murray_. Yet, according to their scheme, such words as _walk, run, fly,
strive, struggle, wrestle, contend_, are verbs _neuter_. In view of this
palpable absurdity, I cannot but think it was a useful improvement upon the
once popular scheme of English grammar, to make active-intransitive verbs a
distinct class, and to apply the term _neuter_ to those few only which
accord with the foregoing definition. This had been done before the days of
Lindley Murray, as may be seen in Buchanan's English Syntax, p. 56, and in
the old British Grammar, p. 153, each published many years before the
appearance of his work;[224] and it has often been done since, and is
preferred even by many of the professed admirers and followers of Murray;
as may be seen in the grammars of Comly, Fisk, Merchant, Kirkham, and
others.

OBS. 6.--Murray himself quotes this improved distribution, and with
some appearance of approbation; but strangely imagines it must needs be
_inconvenient_ in practice. Had he been a schoolmaster, he could hardly
have so judged. He says, "Verbs have been distinguished by some writers,
into the following kinds:--

"1st. _Active-transitive_, or those which denote an action that passes from
the agent to some object: as, Cæsar conquered Pompey.

"2d. _Active-intransitive_, or those which express that kind of action,
which has no effect upon any thing beyond itself: as, Cæsar walked.

"3d. _Passive_, or those which express, not action, but passion, whether
pleasing or painful: as, Portia was loved; Pompey was conquered.

"4th. _Neuter_, or those which express an attribute that consists neither
in action nor passion: as, Cæsar stood.

"This appears to be an orderly arrangement. But if the class of
_active-intransitive_ verbs were admitted, _it would rather perplex_ than
assist the learner: for the difference between verbs active and neuter, as
transitive and intransitive is easy and obvious: but the difference between
verbs absolutely neuter and [those which are] intransitively active, is not
always clear. It is, indeed, often _very difficult_, if not impossible to
be ascertained."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 60.[225]

OBS. 7.--The following note, from a book written on purpose to apply the
principles of Murray's Grammar, and of Allen's, (the two best of the
foregoing two dozen,) may serve as an offset to the reason above assigned
for rejecting the class of active-intransitive verbs: "It is possible that
some teachers may look upon the nice distinction here made, between the
active _transitive_ and the active _intransitive verbs_, as totally
unnecessary. They may, perhaps, rank the latter with the neuter verbs. The
author had his choice of difficulties: on the one hand, he was aware that
his arrangement might not suit the views of the above-mentioned persons;
and, on the other, he was so sensible of the inaccuracy of their system,
and of its clashing with the definitions, as well as rules, laid down in
almost every grammar, that he was unwilling to bring before the public a
work containing so well-known and manifest an error. Of what use can
Murray's definition of the _active_ verb be, to one who endeavours to prove
the propriety of thus assigning an epithet to the various parts of speech,
in the course of parsing? He says, 'A verb active expresses an action, and
necessarily implies an agent, and an object acted upon.' In the sentence,
'William hastens away,' the active intransitive verb _hastens_ has indeed
an _agent_, 'William,' but where is the _object_? Again, he says, 'Active
verbs govern the objective case;' although it is clear it is not the
_active_ meaning of the verb which requires the objective case, but the
_transitive_, and that only. He adds, 'A verb neuter expresses _neither
action, nor passion_, but being, or a state of being;' and the accuracy of
this definition is borne out by the assent of perhaps every other
grammarian. If, with this clear and forcible definition before our eyes, we
proceed to class _active_ intransitive verbs with neuter verbs, and direct
our pupils to prove such a classification by reciting Murray's definition
of the _neuter_ verb, we may indeed expect from a thinking pupil the
remonstrance which was actually made to a teacher on that system, while
parsing the verb '_to run_.' 'Sir,' asks the boy, 'does not _to run_ imply
action, for it always makes me perspire?'"--_Nixon's English Parser_, p. 9.

OBS. 8.--For the consideration of those classical scholars who may think we
are bound by the authority of _general usage_, to adhere to the old
division of verbs into active, passive, and neuter, it may be proper to
say, that the distribution of the verbs in Latin, has been as much a matter
of dispute among the great grammarians of that language, as has the
distribution of English verbs, more recently, among ourselves; and often
the points at issue were precisely the same.[226] To explain here the
different views of the very old grammarians, as Charisius, Donatus,
Servius, Priscian; or even to notice the opinions of later critics, as
Sanctius, Scioppius, Vossius, Perizonius; might seem perhaps a needless
departure from what the student of mere English grammar is concerned to
know. The curious, however, may find interesting citations from all these
authors, under the corresponding head, in some of our Latin grammars. See
_Prat's Grammatica Latina_, 8vo, London, 1722. It is certain that the
division of _active_ verbs, into _transitive_ and _intransitive_--or, (what
is the same thing,) into "_absolute_ and _transitive_"--or, into
"_immanent_ and _transient_"--is of a very ancient date. The notion of
calling _passive_ verbs _transitive_, when used in their ordinary and
proper construction, as some now do, is, I think, a _modern_ one, and no
small error.

OBS. 9.--Dr. Adam's distribution of verbs, is apparently the same as the
first part of Murray's; and his definitions are also in nearly the same
words. But he adds, "The verb _Active_ is also called _Transitive_, when
the action _passeth over_ to the object, or hath an effect on some other
thing; as, _scribo literas_, I write letters: but when the action is
confined within the agent, and _passeth not over_ to any object, it is
called _Intransitive_; as, _ambulo_, I walk; _curro_, I run: [fist] which
are likewise called _Neuter Verbs_."--_Adam's Latin and English Gram._, p.
79. But he had just before said, "A _Neuter_ verb properly expresses
neither action nor passion, but _simply the being, state, or condition_ of
things; as, _dormio_, I sleep; _sedeo_, I sit."--_Ibid._ Verbs of motion or
action, then, must needs be as improperly called neuter, in Latin, as in
English. Nor is this author's arrangement orderly in other respects; for he
treats of "_Deponent_ and _Common_ Verbs," of "_Irregular_ Verbs," of
"_Defective_ Verbs," and of "_Impersonal_ Verbs," none of which had he
mentioned in his distribution. Nor are the late revisers of his grammar any
more methodical.

OBS. 10.--The division of our verbs into _active-transitive,
active-intransitive, passive_, and _neuter_, must be understood to have
reference not only to their _signification_ as of themselves, but also to
their _construction_ with respect to the government of an objective word
after them. The latter is in fact their most important distinction, though
made _with reference_ to a different part of speech. The classical scholar,
too, being familiar with the forms of Latin and Greek verbs, will doubtless
think it a convenience, to have the arrangement as nearly correspondent to
those ancient forms, as the nature of our language will admit. This is
perhaps the strongest argument for the recognition of the class of _passive
verbs_ in English. Some grammarians, choosing to parse the passive
participle separately, reject this class of verbs altogether; and, forming
their division of the rest with reference to the construction alone, make
but two classes, _transitive_ and _intransitive_. Such is the distribution
adopted by C. Alexander, D. Adams, Bingham, Chandler, E. Cobb, Harrison,
Nutting, and John Peirce; and supported also by some British writers, among
whom are McCulloch and Grant. Such too was the distribution of Webster, in
his Plain and Comprehensive Grammar, as published in 1800. He then taught:
"We have no _passive_ verb in the language; and those which are called
_neuter_ are mostly _active_."--Page 14. But subsequently, in his
Philosophical, Abridged, and Improved Grammars, he recognized "a more
natural and comprehensive division" of verbs, "_transitive, intransitive,
and passive_."--_Webster's Rudiments_, p. 20. This, in reality, differs but
little from the old division into _active, passive_, and _neuter_. In some
grammars of recent date, as Churchill's, R. W. Bailey's, J. R. Brown's,
Butler's, S. W. Clark's, Frazee's, Hart's, Hendrick's, Perley's, Pinneo's,
Weld's, Wells's, Mulligan's, and the _improved_ treatises of Bullions and
Frost, verbs are said to be of _two_ kinds only, _transitive_ and
_intransitive_; but these authors allow to transitive verbs a "passive
form," or "passive voice,"--absurdly making all passive verbs transitive,
and all neuters intransitive, as if _action_ were expressed by both. For
this most faulty classification, Dr. Bullions pretends the authority of
"Mr. Webster;" and Frazee, that of "Webster, Bullions, and
others."--_Frazee's Gram._, Ster. Ed., p. 30. But if Dr. Webster ever
taught the absurd doctrine _that passive verbs are transitive_, he has
contradicted it far too much to have any weight in its favour.

OBS. 11.--Dalton makes only two classes; and these he will have to be
_active_ and _passive_: an arrangement for which he might have quoted
Scaliger, Sanctius, and Scioppius. Ash and Coar recognize but two, which
they call _active_ and _neuter_. This was also the scheme of Bullions, in
his Principles of E. Gram., 4th Edition, 1842. Priestley and Maunder have
two, which they call _transitive_ and _neuter_; but Maunder, like some
named above, will have transitive verbs to be susceptible of an active and
a passive voice, and Priestley virtually asserts the same. Cooper, Day,
Davis, Hazen, Hiley, Webster, Wells, (in his 1st Edition,) and Wilcox. have
three classes; _transitive, intransitive_, and _passive_. Sanders's Grammar
has _three_; "_Transitive, Intransitive_, and _Neuter_;" and two voices,
both _transitive!_ Jaudon has four: _transitive, intransitive, auxiliary_,
and _passive_. Burn has four; _active, passive, neuter_, and _substantive_.
Cardell labours hard to prove that all verbs are _both active and
transitive_; and for this, had he desired their aid, he might have cited
several ancient authorities.[227] Cutler avers, "_All verbs are active_;"
yet he divides them "into _active transitive, active intransitive_, and
_participial verbs_."--_Grammar and Parser_, p. 31. Some grammarians,
appearing to think all the foregoing modes of division useless, attempt
nothing of the kind. William Ward, in 1765, rejected all such
classification, but recognized three voices; "Active, Passive, and Middle;
as, _I call, I am called, I am calling_." Farnum, in 1842, acknowledged the
first two of these voices, but made no division of verbs into classes.

OBS. 12.--If we admit the class of _active-intransitive_ verbs, that of
verbs _neuter_ will unquestionably be very small. And this refutes Murray's
objection, that the learner will "_often_" be puzzled to know which is
which. Nor can it be of any consequence, if he happen in some instances to
decide wrong. To _be_, to _exist_, to _remain_, to _seem_, to _lie_, to
_sleep_, to _rest_, to _belong_, to _appertain_, and perhaps a few more,
may best be called _neuter_; though some grammarians, as may be inferred
from what is said above, deny that there are any neuter verbs in any
language. "Verba Neutra, ait Sanctius, nullo pacto esse possunt; quia,
teste Aristotele, omnis motus, actio, vel passio, nihil medium
est."--_Prat's Latin Gram._, p. 117. John Grant, in his Institutes of Latin
Grammar, recognizes in the verbs of that language the distinction which
Murray supposes to be so "very difficult" in those of our own; and, without
falling into the error of Sanctius, or of Lily,[228] respecting neuter
verbs, judiciously confines the term to such as are neuter in reality.

OBS. 13.--Active-transitive verbs, in English, generally require, that the
agent or doer of the action be expressed _before_ them in the nominative
case, and the object or receiver of the action, _after_ them in the
objective; as, "Cæsar _conquered_ Pompey." Passive verbs, which are never
primitives, but always derived from active-transitive verbs, (in order to
form sentences of like import from natural opposites in voice and sense,)
reverse this order, change the cases of the nouns, and denote that the
subject, named before them, is affected by the action; while the agent
follows, being introduced by the preposition _by_: as, "Pompey _was
conquered_ by Cæsar." But, as our passive verb always consists of two or
more separable parts, this order is liable to be varied, especially in
poetry; as,

   "How many things _by season seasoned are_
    To their right praise and true perfection!"--_Shakspeare_.

    "Experience _is by industry achieved_,
    And _perfected by_ the swift _course_ of time."--_Id._

OBS. 14.--Most active verbs may be used either transitively or
intransitively. Active verbs are transitive whenever there is any person or
thing expressed or clearly implied on which the action terminates; as, "I
_knew_ him well, and every truant _knew_."--_Goldsmith_. When they do not
govern such an object, they are intransitive, whatever may be their power
on other occasions; as, "The grand elementary principles of pleasure, by
which he _knows_, and _feels_, and _lives_, and _moves_."--_Wordsworth's
Pref._, p. xxiii. "The Father _originates_ and _elects_. The Son _mediates_
and _atones_. The Holy Spirit _regenerates_ and _sanctifies_."--_Gurney's
Portable Evidences_, p. 66. "Spectators _remark_, judges _decide_, parties
_watch_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 271. "In a sermon, a preacher _may explain,
demonstrate, infer, exhort, admonish, comfort_."--_Alexander's E. Gram._,
p. 91.

OBS. 15.--Some verbs may be used in either an active or a neuter sense. In
the sentence, "Here I rest," _rest_ is a neuter verb; but in the sentence,
"Here I rest my hopes," _rest_ is an active-transitive verb, and governs
_hopes_. And a few that are always active in a grammatical sense, as
necessarily requiring an object after them, do not always indicate such an
exertion of force as we commonly call _action_. Such perhaps are the verbs
to _have_, to _possess_, to _owe_, to _cost_; as, "They _have_ no
wine."--"The house _has_ a portico."--"The man _possesses_ no real
estate."--"A son _owes_ help and honour to his father."--_Holyday_. "The
picture _cost_ a crown."--_Wright_, p. 181. Yet possibly even these may be
sometimes rather active-intransitive; as, "I can bear my part; 'tis my
occupation: _have_ at it with you."--_Shakspeare_. "Kings _have_ to deal
with their neighbours."--_Bacon_. "She will let her instructions enter
where folly now _possesses_."--_Shakspeare._

   "Thou hast deserv'd more love than I can show;
    But 'tis thy fate to give, and mine to _owe_."--_Dryden_.

OBS. 16.--An active-intransitive verb, followed by a preposition and its
object, will sometimes admit of being put into the passive form: the object
of the preposition being assumed for the nominative, and the preposition
itself being retained with the verb, as an adverb: as, (_Active_,) "They
_laughed_ at him."--(_Passive_,) "He _was laughed at_." "For some time the
nonconformists _were connived at_."--_Robertson's America_, Vol. ii, p.
414. "Every man _shall be dealt_ equitably with."--_Butler's Analogy_, p.
212. "If a church _would be looked up to_, it must stand high."--_Parker's
Idea_, p. 15.

OBS. 17.--In some instances, what is commonly considered the active form of
the verb, is used in a passive sense; and, still oftener, as we have no
other passive form that so well denotes continuance, we employ the
participle in _ing_ in that sense also: as, "I'll teach you all what's
_owing_ to your Queen."--_Dryden_. That is--what is _due_, or _owed_. "The
books continue _selling_; i.e. _upon the sale_, or _to be
sold_."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 111. "So we say the brass is _forging_;
i.e. _at the forging_, or _in_ [_being forged_."]--_Ib._ "They are to
_blame_; i.e. to _be blamed._"--_Ib._ Hence some grammarians seem to think,
that in our language the distinction between active and passive verbs is of
little consequence: "Mr. Grant, however, observes, p. 65, 'The component
parts of the English verb, or name of action, are few, simple, and natural;
they, consist of three words, as _plough, ploughing, ploughed_. Now these
words, and their inflections, may be employed either actively or passively.
Actively, 'They _plough_ the fields; they _are ploughing_ the fields; they
_ploughed_, or _have ploughed_, the fields.' Passively, 'The fields
_plough_ well; the fields _are ploughing_; the fields _are ploughed_.' This
passive use of the present tense and participle is, however, restricted to
what he denominates 'verbs of _external, material_, or _mechanical
action_;' and not to be extended to verbs of _sensation_ and _perception_;
e.g. _love, feel, see, &c_."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 40.


MODIFICATIONS.

Verbs have modifications of four kinds; namely, _Moods, Tenses, Persons_
and _Numbers_.



MOODS.

Moods [229] are different forms of the verb, each of which expresses the
being, action, or passion, in some particular manner.

There are five moods; the _Infinitive_, the _Indicative_, the _Potential_,
the _Subjunctive_, and the _Imperative_.

The _Infinitive mood_ is that form of the verb, which expresses the being,
action, or passion, in an unlimited manner, and without person or number:
as, "To _die_,--to _sleep_;--To _sleep_!--perchance, to _dream!_"

The _Indicative mood_ is that form of the verb, which simply indicates or
declares a thing: as, I _write_; you _know_: or asks a question; as, "Do
you _know?_"--"_Know_ ye not?"

The _Potential mood_ is that form of the verb which expresses the power,
liberty, possibility, or necessity, of the being, action, or passion: as,
"I _can walk_; he _may ride_; we _must go_."

The _Subjunctive mood_ is that form of the verb, which represents the
being, action, or passion, as conditional, doubtful, and contingent: as,
"If thou _go_, see that thou _offend_ not."--"See thou _do_ it
not."--_Rev._, xix, 10.

The _Imperative mood_ is that form of the verb which is used in commanding,
exhorting, entreating, or permitting: as, "_Depart_ thou."--"Be
_comforted_."--"_Forgive_ me."--"_Go_ in peace."


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The _Infinitive_ mood is so called in opposition to the other
moods, in which the verb is said to be _finite_. In all the other moods,
the verb has a strict connexion, and necessary agreement in person and
number, with some subject or nominative, expressed or understood; but the
infinitive is the mere verb, without any such agreement, and has no power
of completing sense with a noun. In the nature of things, however, all
being, action, or passion, not contemplated abstractly as a _thing_,
belongs to something that is, or acts, or is acted upon. Accordingly
infinitives have, in most instances, a _reference_ to some subject of this
kind; though their grammatical dependence connects them more frequently
with some other term. The infinitive mood, in English, is distinguished by
the preposition to; which, with a few exceptions, immediately precedes it,
and may be said to govern it. In dictionaries, and grammars, _to_ is often
used as a mere _index_, to distinguish verbs from the other parts of
speech. But this little word has no more claim to be ranked as a part of
the verb, than has the conjunction _if_, which is the sign of the
subjunctive. It is the nature of a preposition, to show the relation of
different things, thoughts, or words, to each other; and this "sign of the
infinitive" may well be pursued separately as a preposition, since in most
instances it manifestly shows the relation between the infinitive verb and
some other term. Besides, by most of our grammarians, the present tense of
the infinitive mood is declared to be the _radical form_ of the verb; but
this doctrine must be plainly untrue, upon the supposition that this tense
is a compound.

OBS. 2.--The _Indicative_ mood is so called because its chief use is, to
_indicate_, or declare positively, whatever one wishes to say. It is that
form of the verb, which we always employ when we affirm or deny any thing
in a direct and independent manner. It is more frequently used, and has a
greater number of tenses, than any other mood; and is also, in our
language, the only one in which the principal verb is varied in
termination. It is not, however, on all occasions, confined to its primary
use; else it would be simply and only declarative. But we use it sometimes
interrogatively, sometimes conditionally; and each of these uses is
different from a simple declaration. Indeed, the difference between a
question and an assertion is practically very great. Hence some of the old
grammarians made the form of inquiry a separate mood, which they called the
_Interrogative Mood_. But, as these different expressions are
distinguished, not by any difference of form in the verb itself, but merely
by a different order, choice, or delivery of the words, it has been found
most convenient in practice, to treat them as one mood susceptible of
different senses. So, in every conditional sentence, the _prot'asis_, or
condition, differs considerably from the _apod'osis_, or principal clause,
even where both are expressed as facts. Hence some of our modern
grammarians, by the help of a few connectives, absurdly merge a great
multitude of Indicative or Potential expressions in what they call the
_Subjunctive Mood_. But here again it is better to refer still to the
Indicative or Potential mood whatsoever has any proper sign of such mood,
even though it occur in a dependent clause.

OBS. 3.--The _Potential_ mood is so called because the leading idea
expressed by it, is that of the _power_ of performing some action. This
mood is known by the signs _may, can, must, might, could, would_, and
_should_. Some of these auxiliaries convey other ideas than that of power
in the agent; but there is no occasion to explain them severally here. The
potential mood, like the indicative, may be used in asking a question; as,
"_Must_ I _budge_? _must_ I _observe_ you? _must_ I _stand_ and _crouch_
under your testy humour?"--_Shakspeare_. No question can be asked in any
other mood than these two. By some grammarians, the potential mood has been
included in the subjunctive, because its meaning is often expressed in
Latin by what in that language is called the subjunctive. By others, it has
been entirely rejected, because all its tenses are compound, and it has
been thought the words could as well be parsed separately. Neither of these
opinions is sufficiently prevalent, or sufficiently plausible, to deserve a
laboured refutation. On the other hand, James White, in his Essay on the
English Verb, (London, 1761,) divided this mood into the following five:
"the _Elective_," denoted by _may_ or _might_; "the _Potential_," by _can_
or _could_; "the _Determinative_" by _would_; "the _Obligative_," by
_should_; and "the _Compulsive_," by _must_. Such a distribution is
needlessly minute. Most of these can as well be spared as those other
"moods, _Interrogative, Optative, Promissive, Hortative, Precative_, &c.",
which Murray mentions only to reject. See his _Octavo Gram._, p. 68.

OBS. 4.--The _Subjunctive_ mood is so called because it is always
_subjoined_ to an other verb. It usually denotes some doubtful contingency,
or some supposition contrary to fact. The manner of its dependence is
commonly denoted by one of the following conjunctions; _if, that, though,
lest, unless_. The indicative and potential moods, in all their tenses, may
be used in the same dependent manner, to express any positive or potential
condition; but this seems not to be a sufficient reason for considering
them as parts of the subjunctive mood. In short, the idea of a "subjunctive
mood in the indicative form," (which is adopted by Chandler, Frazee, Fisk,
S. S. Greene, Comly, Ingersoll, R. C. Smith, Sanborn, Mack, Butler, Hart,
Weld, Pinneo, and others,) is utterly inconsistent with any just notion of
what a mood is; and the suggestion, which we frequently meet with, that the
regular indicative or potential mood may be _thrown into the subjunctive_
by merely prefixing a conjunction, is something worse than nonsense.
Indeed, no mood can ever be made _a part of an other_, without the grossest
confusion and absurdity. Yet, strange as it is, some celebrated authors,
misled by an _if_, have tangled together three of them, producing such a
snarl of tenses as never yet can have been understood without being thought
ridiculous. See _Murray's Grammar_, and others that agree with his late
editions.

OBS. 5.--In regard to the number and form of the tenses which should
constitute the _subjunctive mood_ in English, our grammarians are greatly
at variance; and some, supposing its distinctive parts to be but elliptical
forms of the indicative or the potential,[230] even deny the existence of
such a mood altogether. On this point, the instructions published by
Lindley Murray, however commended and copied, are most remarkably vague and
inconsistent.[231] The early editions of his Grammar gave to this mood _six
tenses_, none of which had any of the personal inflections; consequently
there was, in all the tenses, _some difference_ between it and the
indicative. His later editions, on the contrary, make the subjunctive
exactly like the indicative, except in the present tense, and in the choice
of auxiliaries for the second-future. Both ways, he goes too far. And while
at last he restricts the _distinctive form_ of the subjunctive to narrower
bounds than he ought, and argues against, "If thou _loved_, If thou
_knew_," &c., he gives to this mood not only the last five tenses of the
indicative, but also all those of the potential, with its multiplied
auxiliaries; alleging, "that as the indicative mood _is converted_ into the
subjunctive, by the expression of a condition, motive, wish, supposition,
&c.[232] being superadded to it, so the potential mood may, in like manner,
_be turned into_ the subjunctive."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 82. According to
this, the subjunctive mood of every regular verb embraces, in one voice, as
many as one hundred and thirty-eight different expressions; and it may
happen, that in one single tense a verb shall have no fewer than fifteen
different forms in each person and number. Six times fifteen are ninety;
and so many are the several phrases which now compose Murray's pluperfect
tense of the subjunctive mood of the verb _to strow_--a tense which most
grammarians very properly reject as needless! But this is not all. The
scheme not only confounds the moods, and utterly overwhelms the learner
with its multiplicity, but condemns as bad English what the author himself
once adopted and taught for the imperfect tense of the subjunctive mood,
"If thou _loved_, If thou _knew_," &c., wherein he was sustained by Dr.
Priestley, by Harrison, by Caleb Alexander, by John Burn, by Alexander
Murray, the schoolmaster, and by others of high authority. Dr. Johnson,
indeed, made the preterit subjunctive like the indicative; and this may
have induced the author to change his plan, and inflect this part of the
verb with _st_. But Dr. Alexander Murray, a greater linguist than either of
them, very positively declares this to be wrong: "When such words as _if,
though, unless, except, whether_, and the like, are used before verbs, they
lose their terminations of _est, eth_, and _s_, in those persons which
commonly have them. No speaker of good English, expressing himself
conditionally, says, Though thou _fallest_, or Though he _falls_, but,
Though thou _fall_, and Though he _fall_; nor, Though thou _camest_, but,
Though, or although, thou _came_."--_History of European Languages_, Vol.
i, p. 55.

OBS. 6.--Nothing is more important in the grammar of any language, than a
knowledge of the _true forms_ of its verbs. Nothing is more difficult in
the grammar of our own, than to learn, in this instance and some others,
what forms we ought to prefer. Yet some authors tell us, and Dr. Lowth
among the rest, that our language is wonderfully simple and easy. Perhaps
it is so. But do not its "simplicity and facility" appear greatest to those
who know least about it?--i.e., least of its grammar, and least of its
history? In citing a passage from the eighteenth chapter of Ezekiel, Lord
Kames has taken the liberty to change the word _hath_ to _have_ seven times
in one sentence. This he did, upon the supposition that the subjunctive
mood has a perfect tense which differs from that of the indicative; and for
such an idea he had the authority of Dr. Johnson's Grammar, and others. The
sentence is this: "But if he _be_ a robber, a shedder of blood; if he
_have_ eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife; if he
_have_ oppressed the poor and needy, _have_ spoiled by violence, _have_ not
restored the pledge, _have lift_ up his eyes to idols, _have_ given forth
upon usury, and _have_ taken increase: shall he live? he shall not
live."--_Elements of Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 261. Now, is this good
English, or is it not? One might cite about half of our grammarians in
favour of this reading, and the other half against it; with Murray, the
most noted of all, first on one side, and then on the other. Similar
puzzles may be presented concerning three or four other tenses, which are
sometimes ascribed, and sometimes denied, to this mood. It seems to me,
after much examination, that the subjunctive mood in English should have
_two tenses_, and no more; the _present_ and the _imperfect_. The present
tense of this mood naturally implies contingency and futurity, while the
imperfect here becomes an _aorist_, and serves to suppose a case as a mere
supposition, a case contrary to fact. Consequently the foregoing sentence,
if expressed by the subjunctive at all, ought to be written thus: "But if
he _be_ a robber, a shedder of blood; if he _eat_ upon the mountains, and
_defile_ his neighbour's wife; if he _oppress_ the poor and needy, _spoil_
by violence, _restore_ not the pledge, _lift_ up his eyes to idols, _give_
forth upon usury, and _take_ increase; shall he live? he shall not live."

OBS. 7.--"Grammarians _generally_ make a present and a past time under the
subjunctive mode."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 100. These are the tenses which
are given to the subjunctive by _Blair_, in his "_Practical Grammar_." If
any one will give to this mood _more_ tenses than these, the five which are
adopted by _Staniford_, are perhaps the least objectionable: namely,
"_Present_, If thou love, or do love; _Imperfect_, If thou loved, or did
love; _Perfect_, If thou have loved; _Pluperfect_, If thou had loved;
_Future_, If thou should or would love."--_Staniford's Gram._, p. 22. But
there are no sufficient reasons for even this extension of its
tenses.--Fisk, speaking of this mood, says: "Lowth restricts it entirely to
the present tense."--"Uniformity on this point is highly desirable."--"On
this subject, we adopt the opinion of Dr. Lowth."--_English Grammar
Simplified_, p. 70. His desire of uniformity he has both heralded and
backed by a palpable misstatement. The learned Doctor's subjunctive mood,
in the second person singular, is this: "_Present time_. Thou love; AND,
Thou _mayest_ love. _Past time_. Thou _mightest_ love; AND, Thou _couldst_,
&c. love; and have loved."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 38. But Fisk's subjunctive
runs thus: "_Indic. form_, If thou lovest; _varied form_, If thou love."
And again: "_Present tense_, If thou art, If thou be; _Imperfect tense_, If
thou wast, If thou wert."--_Fisk's Grammar Simplified_, p. 70. His very
definition of the subjunctive mood is illustrated _only by the indicative_;
as, "If thou _walkest_."--"I will perform the operation, if he _desires_
it."--_Ib._, p. 69. Comly's subjunctive mood, except in some of his early
editions, stands thus: "_Present tense_, If thou lovest; _Imperfect tense_,
If thou lovedst or loved; _First future tense_, If thou (shalt)
love."--_Eleventh Ed._, p. 41. This author teaches, that the indicative or
potential, when preceded by an _if_, "should be _parsed_ in the subjunctive
mood."--_Ib._, p. 42. Of what is in fact the true subjunctive, he says:
"_Some writers_ use the singular number in the present tense of the
subjunctive mood, without any variation; as, 'if I _love_, if thou _love_,
if he _love_.' But this usage _must be ranked amongst the anomalies_ of our
language."--_Ib._, p. 41. Cooper, in his pretended "_Abridgment of Murray's
Grammar, Philad._, 1828," gave to the subjunctive mood the following form,
which contains all six of the tenses: "2d pers. If thou love, If thou do
love, If thou loved, If thou did love, If thou have loved, If thou had
loved, If thou shall (or will) love, If thou shall (or will) have loved."
This is almost exactly what Murray at first adopted, and afterwards
rejected; though it is probable, from the abridger's preface, that the
latter was ignorant of this fact. Soon afterwards, a perusal of Dr.
Wilson's Essay on Grammar dashed from the reverend gentleman's mind the
whole of this fabric; and in his "Plain and Practical Grammar, Philad.,
1831," he acknowledges but four moods, and concludes some pages of argument
thus: "From the above considerations, it will appear _to every sound
grammarian_, that our language does not admit a subjunctive mode, at least,
separate and distinct from the indicative and potential."--_Cooper's New
Gram._, p. 63.

OBS. 8.--The true _Subjunctive_ mood, in English, is virtually rejected by
some later grammarians, who nevertheless acknowledge under that name a
greater number and variety of forms than have ever been claimed for it in
any other tongue. All that is peculiar to the Subjunctive, all that should
constitute it a distinct mood, they represent as an archaism, an obsolete
or antiquated mode of expression, while they willingly give to it every
form of both the indicative and the potential, the two other moods which
sometimes follow an _if_. Thus Wells, in his strange entanglement of the
moods, not only gives to the subjunctive, as well as to the indicative, a
"Simple" or "Common Form," and a "Potential Form;" not only recognizes in
each an "Auxiliary Form," and a "Progressive Form;" but encumbers the whole
with distinctions of style,--with what he calls the "Common Style," and the
"Ancient Style;" or the "Solemn Style," and the "Familiar Style:" yet,
after all, his own example of the Subjunctive, "Take heed, lest any man
_deceive_ you," is obviously different from all these, and not explainable
under any of his paradigms! Nor is it truly consonant with any part of his
theory, which is this: "The subjunctive of all verbs except _be_, takes
_the same form as the indicative_. Good writers were formerly much
accustomed to _drop_ the personal termination in the _subjunctive present_,
and write 'If he _have_,' 'If he _deny_,' etc., for 'If he _has_,' 'If he
_denies_,' etc.; but this termination is now _generally retained_, unless
_an auxiliary is understood_. Thus, 'If he _hear_,' may properly be used
for 'If he _shall hear_' or 'If he _should hear_,' but not for 'If he
_hears_.'"--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 83; 3d Ed., p. 87. Now
every position here taken is demonstrably absurd. How could "good writers"
indite "much" bad English by _dropping_ from the subjunctive an indicative
ending which never belonged to it? And how can a needless "auxiliary" be
"_understood_," on the principle of equivalence, where, by awkwardly
changing a mood or tense, it only helps some grammatical theorist to
convert good English into bad, or to pervert a text? The phrases above may
all be right, or all be wrong, according to the correctness or
incorrectness of their application: when each is used as best it may be,
there is no exact equivalence. And this is true of half a dozen more of the
same sort; as, "If he _does hear_,"--"If he _do hear_,"--"If he is
_hearing_,"--"If he _be hearing_,"--"If he _shall be hearing_,"--"If he
_should be hearing_."

OBS. 9.--Similar to Wells's, are the subjunctive forms of Allen H. Weld.
Mistaking _annex_ to signify _prefix_, this author teaches thus: "ANNEX
_if, though, unless, suppose, admit, grant, allow_, or any word implying a
_condition_, to each tense of the _Indicative and Potential modes_, to form
the subjunctive; as, If thou lovest or love. If he loves, or love. Formerly
it was customary to _omit the terminations_ in the second and third persons
of the present tense of the Subjunctive mode. But now the terminations are
_generally retained_, except when the ellipsis of _shall_ or _should_ is
implied; as, If he obey, i. e., if he _shall_, or _should_ obey."--_Weld's
Grammar, Abridged Edition_, p. 71. Again: "_In general_, the form of the
verb in the Subjunctive, _is the same as that of the Indicative_; but an
_elliptical form_ in the second and third _person_ [persona] singular, is
used in the following instances: (1.) _Future contingency_ is expressed by
the _omission of the Indicative termination_; as, If he go, for, if he
_shall_ go. Though he slay me, i.e., though he _should_ slay me. (2.)
_Lest_ and _that_ annexed to a command are followed by the _elliptical
form_ of the Subjunctive; as, Love not sleep [,] lest thou _come_ to
poverty. (3.) _If_ with _but_ following it, when futurity is denoted,
requires the _elliptical form_; as, If he _do_ but _touch_ the hills, they
shall smoke."--_Ib._, p. 126. As for this scheme, errors and
inconsistencies mark every part of it. First, the rule for forming the
subjunctive is false, and is plainly contradicted _by all that is true_ in
the examples: "_If thou love_," or, "_If he love_" contains not the form of
the indicative. Secondly, no terminations have ever been "generally"
omitted from, or retained in, the form of the subjunctive present; because
that part of the mood, as commonly exhibited, is well known to be made of
the _radical verb_, without inflection. One might as well talk of suffixes
for the imperative, "_Love_ thou," or "_Do_ thou love." Thirdly, _shall_ or
_should_ can never be really implied in the subjunctive present; because
the supposed ellipsis, needless and unexampled, would change the tense, the
mood, and commonly also the meaning. "If he _shall_," properly implies a
condition of _future certainty_; "If he _should_," a supposition of _duty_:
the true subjunctive suggests neither of these. Fourthly, "the ellipsis of
_shall_, or _should_," is most absurdly called above, "the omission of the
_Indicative termination_." Fifthly, it is very strangely supposed, that to
omit what pertains to the _indicative_ or the _potential_ mood, will
produce an "elliptical form of _the Subjunctive_." Sixthly, such examples
as the last, "If he _do_ but _touch_ the hills," having the auxiliary _do_
not inflected as in the indicative, disprove the whole theory.

OBS. 10.--In J. B. Chandler's grammars, are taken nearly the same views of
the "Subjunctive or Conditional Mood," that have just been noticed. "This
mood," we are told, "is _only_ the indicative _or_ potential mood, with the
word _if_ placed before the nominative case."--_Gram. of_ 1821, p. 48;
_Gram. of_ 1847, p. 73. Yet, of even _this_, the author has said, in the
former edition, "It would, perhaps, be _better to abolish the use_ of the
subjunctive mood entirely. _Its use_ is a continual source of dispute among
grammarians, and of perplexity to scholars."--Page 33. The suppositive verb
_were_,--(as, "_Were_ I a king,"--"If I _were_ a king,"--) which this
author formerly rejected, preferring _was_, is now, after six and twenty
years, replaced in his own examples; and yet he still attempts to _disgrace
it_, by falsely representing it as being only "the indicative _plural_"
very grossly misapplied! See _Chandler's Common School Gram._, p. 77.

OBS. 11.--The _Imperative_ mood is so called because it is chiefly used in
_commanding_. It is that brief form of the verb, by which we directly urge
upon others our claims and wishes. But the nature of this urging varies
according to the relation of the parties. We command inferiors; exhort
equals; entreat superiors; permit whom we will;--and all by this same
imperative form of the verb. In answer to a request, the imperative implies
nothing more than permission. The will of a superior may also be urged
imperatively by the indicative, future. This form is particularly common in
solemn prohibitions; as, "Thou _shalt not kill_. * * * Thou _shalt not
steal_."--_Exodus_, xx, 13 and 15. Of the ten commandments, eight are
negative, and all these are indicative in form. The other two are in the
imperative mood: "_Remember_ the sabbath day to keep it holy. _Honour_ thy
father and thy mother."--_Ib._ But the imperative form may also be
negative: as, "_Touch not; taste not; handle not_."--_Colossians_, ii, 21.


TENSES.

Tenses are those modifications of the verb, which distinguish time. There
are six tenses; the _Present_, the _Imperfect_, the _Perfect_, the
_Pluperfect_, the _First-future_, and the _Second-future_.

The _Present tense_ is that which expresses what _now exists_, or _is
taking_ place: as, "I _hear_ a noise; somebody _is coming_."

The _Imperfect tense_ is that which expresses what _took place_, or _was
occurring_, in time fully past: as, "I _saw_ him yesterday, and _hailed_
him as he _was passing_."

The _Perfect tense_ is that which expresses what _has taken_ place, within
some period of time not yet fully past: as, "I _have seen_ him to-day;
something _must have detained_ him."

The _Pluperfect tense_ is that which expresses what _had taken_ place, at
some past time mentioned: as, "I _had seen_ him, when I met you."

The _First-future tense_ is that which expresses what _will take_ place
hereafter: as, "I _shall see_ him again, and I _will inform_ him."

The _Second-future tense_ is that which expresses what _will have taken_
place, at some future time mentioned: as, "I _shall have seen_ him by
tomorrow noon."

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The terms here defined are the names usually given to those parts
of the verb to which they are in this work applied; and though some of them
are not so strictly appropriate as scientific names ought to be, it is
thought inexpedient to change them. In many old grammars, and even in the
early editions of Murray, the three past tenses are called the
_Preterimperfect, Preterperfect_, and _Preterpluperfect_. From these names,
the term _Preter_, (which is from the Latin preposition _præter_, meaning
_beside, beyond_, or _past_,) has been well dropped for the sake of
brevity.[233]

OBS. 2.--The distinctive epithet _Imperfect_, or _Preterimperfect_, appears
to have been much less accurately employed by the explainers of our
language, than it was by the Latin grammarians from whom it was borrowed.
That tense which passes in our schools for the _Imperfect_, (as, I _slept,
did sleep_, or _was sleeping_,) is in fact, so far as the indicative mood
is concerned, _more completely past_, than that which we call the
_Perfect_. Murray indeed has attempted to show that the name is right; and,
for the sake of consistency, one could wish he had succeeded. But every
scholar must observe, that the simple preterit, which is the first form of
this tense, and is never found in any other, as often as the sentence is
declarative, tells what _happened_ within some period of time _fully past_,
as _last week, last year_; whereas the perfect tense is used to express
what _has happened_ within some period of time _not yet fully past_, as
_this week, this year_. As to the completeness of the action, there is no
difference; for what _has been done_ to-day, is as _completely done_, as
what _was achieved_ a year ago. Hence it is obvious that the term
_Imperfect_ has no other applicability to the English tense so called, than
what it may have derived from the participle in _ing_, which we use in
translating the Latin imperfect tense: as, _Dormiebam, I was sleeping;
Legebam, I was reading; Docebam, I was teaching_. And if for this reason
the whole English tense, with all its variety of forms in the different
moods, "may, with propriety, be denominated _imperfect_;" surely, the
participle itself should be so denominated _a fortiori_: for it always
conveys this same idea, of "_action not finished_," be the tense of its
accompanying auxiliary what it may.

OBS. 3.--The tenses do not all express time with equal precision; nor can
the whole number in any language supersede the necessity of adverbs of
time, much less of dates, and of nouns that express periods of duration.
The tenses of the indicative mood, are the most definite; and, for this
reason, as well as for some others, the explanations of all these
modifications of the verb, are made with particular reference to that mood.
Some suppose the compound or participial form, as _I am writing_, to be
more definite in time, than the simple form, as _I write_, or the emphatic
form, as _I do write_; and accordingly they divide all the tenses into
_Indefinite_ and _Definite_. Of this division Dr. Webster seems to claim
the invention; for he gravely accuses Murray of copying it unjustly from
him, though the latter acknowledges in a note upon his text, it "is, _in
part_, taken from Webster's Grammar."--_Murray's Octavo Gram._, p. 73. The
distribution, as it stands in either work, is not worth quarrelling about:
it is evidently more cumbersome than useful. Nor, after all, is it true
that the compound form is more definite in time than the other. For
example; "Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, _was always betraying_ his
unhappiness."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 123. Now, if _was betraying_ were a
more definite tense than _betrayed_, surely the adverb "_always_" would
require the latter, rather than the former.

OBS. 4.--The present tense, of the indicative mood, expresses not only what
is now actually going on, but general truths, and customary actions: as,
"Vice _produces_ misery."--"He _hastens_ to repent, who _gives_ sentence
quickly."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p. 71. "Among the Parthians, the signal
_is given_ by the drum, and not by the trumpet."--_Justin_. Deceased
authors may be spoken of in the present tense, because they seem to live
in their works; as, "Seneca _reasons_ and _moralizes_ well."--_Murray_.
"Women _talk_ better than men, from the superior shape of their tongues: an
ancient writer _speaks_ of their loquacity three thousand years
ago."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p. 27.

OBS. 5.--The text, John, viii, 58, "Before Abraham _was_, I _am_," is a
literal Grecism, and not to be cited as an example of pure English: our
idiom would seem to require, "Before Abraham _was_, I _existed_." In
animated narrative, however, the present tense is often substituted for the
past, by the figure _enallage_. In such cases, past tenses and present may
occur together; because the latter are used merely to bring past events
more vividly before us: as, "Ulysses _wakes_, not knowing where he
_was_."--_Pope_. "The dictator _flies_ forward to the cavalry, beseeching
them to dismount from their horses. They _obeyed_; they _dismount, rush_
onward, and for vancouriers _show_ their bucklers."--_Livy_. On this
principle, perhaps, the following couplet, which Murray condemns as bad
English, may be justified:--

   "Him portion'd maids, apprentic'd orphans blest,
    The young who _labour_, and the old who _rest_."
        See _Murray's Key_, R. 13.

OBS. 6.--The present tense of the subjunctive mood, and that of the
indicative when preceded by _as soon as, after, before, till_, or _when_,
is generally used with reference to future time; as, "If he _ask_ a fish,
will he give him a serpent?"--_Matt._, vii, 10. "If I _will_ that he
_tarry_ till I _come_, what is that to thee? Follow thou me."--_John_, xxi,
22. "When he _arrives_, I will send for you." The imperative mood has but
one tense, and that is always present with regard to the giving of the
command; though what is commanded, must be done in the future, if done at
all. So the subjunctive may convey a present supposition of what the will
of an other may make uncertain: as, "If thou _count_ me therefore a
partner, _receive_ him as myself."--_St. Paul to Philemon_, 17. The perfect
indicative, like the present, is sometimes used with reference to time that
is relatively future; as, "He will be fatigued before he _has walked_ a
mile."--"My lips shall utter praise, when thou _hast taught_ me thy
statutes."--_Psalms_, cxix, 171. "Marvel not at this: for the hour is
coming, in the which all that _are_ in the graves, shall hear his voice,
and shall come forth; they that _have done_ good, unto the resurrection of
life; and they that _have done_ evil, unto the resurrection of
damnation."--_John_, v, 28.

OBS. 7.--What is called the _present_ infinitive, can scarcely be said to
express any particular time.[234] It is usually dependent on an other verb,
and therefore relative in time. It may be connected with any tense of any
mood: as, "I _intend to do_ it; I _intended to do_ it; I _have intended to
do_ it; I _had intended to do_ it;" &c. For want of a better mode of
expression, we often use the infinitive to denote futurity, especially when
it seems to be taken adjectively; as, "The time _to come_,"--"The world _to
come_,"--"Rapture yet _to be_." This, sometimes with the awkward addition
of _about_, is the only substitute we have for the Latin future participle
in _rus_, as _venturus, to come_, or _about to come_. This phraseology,
according to Horne Tooke, (see _Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 457,) is
no fitter than that of our ancestors, who for this purpose used the same
preposition, but put the participle in _ing_ after it, in lieu of the
radical verb, which we choose to employ: as, "Generacions of eddris, who
shewide to you to fle fro wraththe _to comynge?_"--_Matt._, iii, 7. Common
Version: "O generation of vipers! who hath warned you to flee from the
wrath _to come_?" "Art thou that art _to comynge_, ether abiden we
another?"--_Matt._, xi, 3. Common Version: "Art thou he that _should come_,
or do we look for another?" "Sotheli there the ship was _to puttyng out_
the charge."--_Dedis_, xxi, 3. Common Version: "For there the ship was _to
unlade_ her burden."--_Acts_, xxi, 3. Churchill, after changing the names
of the two infinitive tenses to "_Future imperfect_" and "_Future
perfect_," adds the following note: "The tenses of the infinitive mood are
usually termed _present_ and _preterperfect_: but this is certainly
improper; for they are so completely future, that what is called the
present tense of the infinitive mood is often employed simply to express
futurity; as, 'The life _to come_.'"--_New Gram._, p. 249.

OBS. 8.--The pluperfect tense, when used conditionally, in stead of
expressing what actually _had taken place_ at a past time, almost always
implies that the action thus supposed _never was performed_; on the
contrary, if the supposition be made in a _negative form_, it suggests that
the event _had occurred_: as, "Lord, if thou _hadst been here_, my brother
_had not died_."--_John_, xi, 32. "If I _had not come_ and spoken unto
them, they _had not had_ sin; but now they have no cloak for their
sin."--_John_, xv, 22. "If thou _hadst known_, even thou, at least in this
thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from
thine eyes."--_Luke_, xix, 42. The supposition is sometimes indicated by a
mere transposition of the verb and its subject; in which case, the
conjunction _if_ is omitted; as, "_Had ye believed_ Moses, ye would have
believed me."--_John_, v, 46.

   "_Had I but fought_ as wont, one thrust
    _Had laid_ De Wilton in the dust."--_Scott_

OBS. 9.--In the language of prophecy we find the past tenses very often
substituted for the future, especially when the prediction is remarkably
clear and specific. Man is a creature of present knowledge only; but it is
certain, that He who sees the end from the beginning, has sometimes
revealed to him, and by him, things deep in futurity. Thus the sacred seer
who is esteemed the most eloquent of the ancient prophets, more than _seven
hundred years_ before the events occurred, spoke of the vicarious
sufferings of Christ as of things already past, and even then described
them in the phraseology of historical facts: "Surely he _hath borne_ our
griefs, _and carried_ our sorrows: yet we _did esteem_ him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he _was wounded_ for our transgressions;
he _was bruised_ for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace _was_
upon him; and by his stripes we are healed."--_Isaiah_, liii, 4 and 5.
Multiplied instances of a similar application of the past tenses to future
events, occur in the Bible, especially in the writings of this prophet.




PERSONS AND NUMBERS.


The person and number of a verb are those modifications in which it agrees
with its subject or nominative.

In each number, there are three persons; and in each person, two numbers:
thus,

_Singular._          _Plural._
1st per. I love,        1st per. We love,
2d per.  Thou lovest,   2d per.  You love,
3d per.  He loves;      3d per.  They love.

Definitions universally applicable have already been given of all these
things; it is therefore unnecessary to define them again in this place.

Where the verb is varied, the second person singular is regularly formed by
adding _st_ or _est_ to the first person; and the third person singular, in
like manner, by adding _s_ or _es_: as, I _see_, thou _seest_, he _sees_; I
_give_, thou _givest_, he _gives_; I _go_, thou _goest_, he _goes_; I
_fly_, thou _fliest_, he _flies_; I _vex_, thou _vexest_, he _vexes_; I
_lose_, thou _losest_, he _loses._

Where the verb is not varied to denote its person and number, these
properties are inferred from its subject or nominative: as, If I _love_, if
thou _love_, if he _love_; if we _love_, if you _love_, if they _love_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--It is considered a principle of Universal Grammar, that a finite
verb must agree with its subject or nominative in person and number. Upon
this principle, we ascribe to every such verb the person and number of the
nominative word, whether the verb itself be literally modified by the
relation or not. The doctrine must be constantly taught and observed, in
every language in which the verbs have _any variations_ of this kind. But
suppose an instance, of a language in which all the verbs were entirely
destitute of such inflections; the principle, as regards that language,
must drop. Finite verbs, in such a case, would still relate to their
subjects, or nominatives, agreeably to the sense; but they would certainly
be rendered incapable of adding to this relation any agreement or
disagreement. So the concords which belong to adjectives and participles in
Latin and Greek, are rejected in English, and there remains to these parts
of speech nothing but a simple relation to their nouns according to the
sense. And by the fashionable substitution of _you_ for _thou_, the concord
of English verbs with their nominatives, is made to depend, in common
practice, on little more than one single terminational _s_, which is used
to mark one person of one number of one tense of one mood of each verb. So
near does this practice bring us to the dropping of what is yet called a
universal principle of grammar.[235]

OBS. 2.--In most languages, there are in each tense, through all the moods
of every verb, six different terminations to distinguish the different
persons and numbers. This will be well understood by every one who has ever
glanced at the verbs as exhibited in any Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, or
Italian grammar. To explain it to others, a brief example shall be given:
(with the remark, that the Latin pronouns, here inserted, are seldom
expressed, except for emphasis:) "_Ego amo_, I love; _Tu amas_, Thou
lovest; _Ille amat_, He loves; _Nos amamus_, We love; _Vos amatis_, You
love; _Illi amant_, They love." Hence it may be perceived, that the paucity
of variations in the English verb, is a very striking peculiarity of our
language. Whether we are gainers or losers by this simplicity, is a
question for learned idleness to discuss. The common people who speak
English, have far less inclination to add new endings to our verbs, than to
drop or avoid all the remains of the old. Lowth and Murray tell us, "This
scanty provision of terminations _is sufficient_ for all the purposes of
discourse;" and that, "_For this reason_, the plural termination _en_,
(they _loven_, they _weren_,) formerly in use, was laid aside as
_unnecessary_, and has long been obsolete."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 31;
_Murray's_, 63.

OBS. 3.--Though modern usage, especially in common conversation, evidently
inclines to drop or shun all unnecessary suffixes and inflections, still it
is true, that the English verb in some of its parts, varies its
termination, to distinguish, or agree with, the different persons and
numbers. The change is, however, principally confined to the second and
third persons singular of the present tense of the indicative mood, and to
the auxiliaries _hast_ and _has_ of the perfect. In the ancient biblical
style, now used only on solemn occasions, the second person singular is
distinguished through all the tenses of the indicative and potential moods.
And as the use of the pronoun _thou_ is now mostly confined to the solemn
style, the terminations of that style are retained in connexion with it,
through all the following examples of the conjugation of verbs. In the
plural number, there is no variation of ending, to denote the different
persons; and the verb in the three persons plural, (with the two exceptions
_are_ and _were_, from _am_ and _was_,) is the same as in the first person
singular. Nor does the use of _you_ for the singular, warrant its connexion
with any other than the plural form of the verb. This strange and needless
confusion of the numbers, is, in all languages that indulge it, a practical
inconvenience. It would doubtless have been much better, had _thou_ and
_you_ still kept their respective places--the one, nominative singular--the
other, objective plural--as they appear in the Bible. But as the English
verb is always attended by a noun or a pronoun, expressing the subject of
the affirmation, no ambiguity arises from the want of particular
terminations in the verb, to distinguish the different persons and numbers.

OBS. 4.--Although our language, in its ordinary use, exhibits the verbs in
such forms only, as will make, when put together, but a very simple
conjugation; there is probably no other language on earth, in which it
would be so difficult for a learned grammarian to fix, settle, and exhibit,
to the satisfaction of himself and others, the principles, paradigms,
rules, and exceptions, which are necessary for a full and just exhibition
of this part of speech. This difficulty is owing, partly to
incompatibilities or unsettled boundaries between the solemn and the
familiar style; partly to differences in the same style between ancient
usage and modern; partly to interfering claims of new and old forms of the
preterit and the perfect participle; partly to the conflicting notions of
different grammarians respecting the subjunctive mood; and partly to the
blind tenacity with which many writers adhere to rugged derivatives, and
prefer unutterable contractions to smooth and easy abbreviations. For
example: a clergyman says to a lucky gamester, (1.) "_You dwell_ in a house
which _you_ neither _planned_ nor _built_." A member of the Society of
Friends would say, (2.) "_Thou dwellst_ in a house which _thou_ neither
_planned_ nor _built_." Or, if not a scholar, as likely as not, (3.) "_Thee
dwells_ in a house which _thee_ neither _planned_ nor _built_." The old or
solemn style would b3, (4.) "_Thou dwellest_ in a house which _thou_
neither _plannedst_ nor _buildedst_." Some untasteful and overgrammatical
poet will have it, (5.) "_Thou dwell'st_ in halls _thou_ neither
_plann'dst_ nor _build'dst_." The doctrine of Murray's Grammar, and of most
others, would require, (6.) "_Thou dwellest_ in a house which _thou_
neither _plannedst_ nor _builtest_." Or, (according to this author's method
of avoiding unpleasant sounds,) the more complex form, (7.) "_Thou dost
dwell_ in a house which _thou_ neither _didst plan_ nor _didst build_." Out
of these an other poet will make the line, (8.) "_Dost dwell_ in halls
which _thou_ nor _plann'dst_ nor _built'st_." An other, more tastefully,
would drop the _st_ of the preterit, and contract the present, as in the
second instance above: thus,

    (9.) "_Thou dwellst_ in halls _thou_ neither _planned_ nor _built_,
         And _revelst_ there in riches won by guilt."

OBS. 5.--Now let all these nine different forms of saying the same thing,
by the same verbs, in the same mood, and the same two tenses, be
considered. Let it also be noticed, that for these same verbs within these
limits, there are yet other forms, of a complex kind; as, "_You do dwell_,"
or, "_You are dwelling_;" used in lieu of, "_Thou dost dwell_," or, "_Thou
art dwelling_:" so, "_You did plan_," or, "_You were planning_;" used in
lieu of, "_Thou didst plan_," or, "_Thou wast planning_." Take into the
account the opinion of Dr. Webster and others, that, "_You was planning_,"
or, "_You was building_," is a still better form for the singular number;
and well "established by national usage, both here and in
England."--_Improved Gram._, p. 25. Add the less inaccurate practice of
some, who use _was_ and _did_ familiarly with _thou_; as, "_Thou was
planning, did thou build?_" Multiply all this variety tenfold, with a view
to the other moods and tenses of these three verbs, _dwell, plan_, and
_build_; then extend the product, whatever it is, from these three common
words, to _all_ the verbs in the English language. You will thus begin to
have some idea of the difficulty mentioned in the preceding observation.
But this is only a part of it; for all these things relate only to the
second person singular of the verb. The double question is, Which of these
forms ought to be approved and taught for that person and number? and which
of them ought to be censured and rejected as bad English? This question is
perhaps as important, as any that can arise in English grammar. With a few
candid observations by way of illustration, it will be left to the
judgement of the reader.

OBS. 6.--The history of _youyouing_ and _thoutheeing_ appears to be this.
Persons in high stations, being usually surrounded by attendants, it
became, many centuries ago, a species of court flattery, to address
individuals of this class, in the plural number, as if a great man were
something more than one person. In this way, the notion of greatness was
agreeably _multiplied_, and those who laid claim to such honour, soon began
to think themselves insulted whenever they were addressed with any other
than the plural pronoun.[236] Humbler people yielded through fear of
offence; and the practice extended, in time, to all ranks of society: so
that at present the customary mode of familiar as well as complimentary
address, is altogether plural; both the verb and the pronoun being used in
that form.[237] This practice, which confounds one of the most important
distinctions of the language, affords a striking instance of the power of
fashion. It has made propriety itself _seem_ improper. But shall it be
allowed, in the present state of things, to confound our conjugations and
overturn our grammar? Is it right to introduce it into our paradigms, as
the only form of the second person singular, that modern usage
acknowledges? Or is it expedient to augment by it that multiplicity of
other forms, which must either take this same place or be utterly rejected?
With due deference to those grammarians who have adopted one or the other
of these methods, the author of this work answers all these questions
decidedly in the negative. It is not to be denied, that the use of the
plural _for the singular_ is now so common as to form the _customary mode_
of address to individuals of every rank. The Society of Friends, or
Quakers, however, continue to employ the singular number in familiar
discourse; and custom, which has now destroyed the compliment of the
plural, has removed also the supposed opprobrium of the singular, and
placed it on an equality with the plural in point of respect. The singular
is universally employed in reference to the Supreme Being; and is generally
preferred in poetry. It is the language of Scripture, and of the
Prayer-Book; and is consistently retained in nearly all our grammars;
though not always, perhaps, consistently treated.

OBS. 7.--Whatever is fashionable in speech, the mere disciples of fashion
will always approve; and, probably, they will think it justifiable to
despise or neglect all that is otherwise. These may be contented with the
sole use of such forms of address as, "_You, you, sir_;"--"_You, you,
madam_." But the literati who so neglect all the services of religion, as
to forget that these are yet conducted in English independently of all this
fashionable youyouing, must needs be poor judges of what belongs to their
own justification, either as grammarians or as moral agents. A fashion by
virtue of which millions of youths are now growing up in ignorance of that
form of address which, in their own tongue, is most appropriate to poetry,
and alone adapted to prayer, is perhaps not quite so light a matter as some
people imagine. It is at least so far from being a good reason for
displacing that form from the paradigms of our verbs in a grammar, that
indeed no better needs be offered for tenaciously retaining it. Many
children may thus learn at school what all should know, and what there is
little chance for them to learn elsewhere. Not all that presume to minister
in religion, are well acquainted with what is called the solemn style. Not
all that presume to explain it in grammars, do know what it is. A late
work, which boasted the patronage of De Witt Clinton, and through the
influence of false praise came nigh to be imposed by a law of New York on
all the common schools of that State; and which, being subsequently sold in
Philadelphia for a great price, was there republished under the name of the
"National School Manual;" gives the following account of this part of
grammar: "In the solemn and poetic styles, the second person singular, in
both the above tenses, is thou; and the second person plural, is ye, _or
you_. The verb, to agree with the second person singular, changes its
termination. Thus: 2d person, sing. Pres. Tense, Thou walkest, _or Thou
walketh_. Imperfect Tense, Thou walkedst. In the third person singular, _in
the above styles_, the verb has sometimes _a different_ termination; as,
Present Tense, He, she, or _it walks_ or walketh. The _above form of
inflection_ may be applied _to all verbs_ used in the solemn _or_ poetic
_styles_; but for ordinary purposes, I have supposed it proper to employ
the form of the verb, adopted in common conversation, as least perplexing
to young minds."--_Bartlett's Common School Manual_, Part ii, p. 114. What
can be hoped from an author who is ignorant enough to think "_Thou
walketh_" is good English? or from one who tells us, that "_It walks_" is
of the solemn style? or from one who does not know that _you_ is never a
_nominative_ in the style of the Bible?

OBS. 8.--Nowhere on earth is fashion more completely mistress of all the
tastes and usages of society, than in France. Though the common French
Bible still retains the form of the second person singular, which in that
language is shorter and perhaps smoother than the plural; yet even that
sacred book, or at least the New Testament, and that by different persons,
has been translated into more fashionable French, and printed at Paris, and
also at New York, with the form of address everywhere plural; as, "Jesus
anticipated him, saying, 'What _do you think_, Simon? of whom do the kings
of the earth take taxes and tribute?'"--_Matt._, xvii, 24. "And, going to
prayers, they said, '0 Lord, _you who know_ the hearts of all men, show
which of these two _you have chosen_.'"--_Acts_, i, 24. This is one step
further in the progress of politeness, than has yet been taken in English.
The French grammarians, however, as far as I can perceive, have never yet
disturbed the ancient order of their conjugations and declensions, by
inserting the plural verb and pronoun in place of the singular; and, in the
familiarity of friendship, or of domestic life, the practice which is
denominated _tutoyant_, or _thoutheeing_, is far more prevalent in France
than in England. Also, in the prayers of the French, the second person
singular appears to be yet generally preserved, as it is in those of the
English and the Americans. The less frequent use of it in the familiar
conversation of the latter, is very probably owing to the general
impression, that it cannot be used with propriety, except in the solemn
style. Of this matter, those who have laid it aside themselves, cannot with
much modesty pretend to judge for those who have not; or, if they may,
there is still a question how far it is right to lay it aside. The
following lines are a sort of translation from Horace; and I submit it to
the reader, whether it is comely for a Christian divine to be less reverent
toward God, than a heathen poet; and whether the plural language here used,
does not lack the reverence of the original, which is singular:--

   "Preserve, Almighty Providence!
    Just what _you gave_ me, competence."--_Swift_.

OBS. 9.--The terms, _solemn style, familiar style, modern style, ancient
style, legal style, regal style, nautic style, common style_, and the like,
as used in grammar, imply no certain divisions of the language; but are
designed merely to distinguish, in a general way, the _occasions_ on which
some particular forms of expression may be considered proper, or the
_times_ to which they belong. For what is grammatical sometimes, may not be
so always. It would not be easy to tell, definitely, in what any one of
these styles consists; because they all belong to one language, and the
number or nature of the peculiarities of each is not precisely fixed. But
whatever is acknowledged to be peculiar to any one, is consequently
understood to be improper for any other: or, at least, the same phraseology
cannot belong to styles of an opposite character; and words of general use
belong to no particular style.[238] For example: "So then it is not of him
that _willeth_, nor of him that _runneth_, but of God that _showeth_
mercy."--_Rom._, ix, 16. If the termination _eth_ is not obsolete, as some
say it is, all verbs to which this ending is added, are of the solemn
style; for the common or familiar expression would here be this; "So then
it is not of him that _wills_, nor of him that _runs_, but of God that
_shows_ mercy." Ben Jonson, in his grammar, endeavoured to arrest this
change of _eth_ to _s_; and, according to Lindley Murray, (_Octavo Gram._,
p. 90,) Addison also injudiciously disapproved it. In spite of all such
objections, however, some future grammarian will probably have to say of
the singular ending _eth_, as Lowth and Murray have already said of the
plural _en_: "It was laid aside as unnecessary."

OBS. 10.--Of the origin of the personal terminations of English verbs, that
eminent etymologist Dr. Alexander Murray, gives the following account: "The
readers of our modern tongue may be reminded, that the terminations, _est,
eth_, and _s_, in our verbs, as in _layest, layeth_, and _laid'st_, or
_laidest_; are the faded _remains of the pronouns_ which were formerly
joined to the verb itself, and placed the language, in respect of concise
expression, on a level with the Greek, Latin, and Sanscrit, its sister
dialects."--_History of European Languages_, Vol. i, p. 52. According to
this, since other signs of the persons and numbers are now employed with
the verb, it is not strange that there should appear a tendency to lay
aside such of these endings as are least agreeable and least necessary. Any
change of this kind will of course occur first in the familiar style. For
example: "Thou _wentest_ in to men uncircumcised, and _didst eat_ with
them."--_Acts_, xi, 3. "These things write I unto thee, that thou _mayst_
know how thou _oughtest_ to behave thyself in the house of God."--_1 Tim._,
iii, 15. These forms, by universal consent, are now of the solemn style;
and, consequently, are really good English in no other. For nobody, I
suppose, will yet pretend that the inflection of our preterits and
auxiliaries by _st_ or _est_, is entirely _obsolete_;[239] and surely no
person of any literary taste ever uses the foregoing forms familiarly. The
termination _est_, however, has _in some instances_ become obsolete; or has
faded into _st_ or _t_, even in the solemn style. Thus, (if indeed, such
forms ever were in good use,) _diddest_ has become _didst; havest, hast;
haddest, hadst; shallest, shalt; willest, wilt_; and _cannest, canst.
Mayest, mightest, couldest, wouldest_, and _shouldest_, are occasionally
found in books not ancient; but _mayst, mightst, couldst, wouldst_, and
_shouldst_, are abundantly more common, and all are peculiar to the solemn
style. _Must, burst, durst, thrust, blest, curst, past, lost, list, crept,
kept, girt, built, felt, dwelt, left, bereft_, and many other verbs of
similar endings, are seldom, if ever, found encumbered with an additional
_est_. For the rule which requires this ending, has always had many
exceptions that have not been noticed by grammarians.[240] Thus Shakspeare
wrote even in the present tense, "Do as thou _list_," and not "Do as thou
_listest_." Possibly, however, _list_ may here be reckoned of the
subjunctive mood; but the following example from Byron is certainly in the
indicative:--

   "And thou, who never yet of human wrong
    _Lost_ the unbalanced scale, great Nemesis!"--_Harold_, C. iv, st. 132.

OBS. 11.--Any phraseology that is really obsolete, is no longer fit to be
imitated even in the solemn style; and what was never good English, is no
more to be respected in that style, than in any other. Thus: "Art not thou
that Egyptian, _which_ before these days _madest_ an uproar, and _leddest_
out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?"--_Acts_,
xxi, 38. Here, (I think,) the version ought to be, "Art not thou that
Egyptian, _who_ a while ago _made_ an uproar, and _led_ out into the
wilderness four thousand men, that were murderers?" If so, there is in this
no occasion to make a difference between the solemn and the familiar style.
But what is the familiar form of expression for the texts cited before? The
fashionable will say, it is this: "_You went_ in to men uncircumcised, and
_did eat_ with them."--"I write these things to _you_, that _you may know_
how _you ought_ to behave _yourself_ in the house of God." But this is not
_literally_ of the singular number: it is no more singular, than _vos_ in
Latin, or _vous_ in French, or _we_ used for _I_ in English, is singular.
And if there remains to us any other form, that is both singular and
grammatical, it is unquestionably the following: "_Thou went_ in to men
uncircumcised, and _did eat_ with them."--"I write these things to _thee_,
that thou _may know_ how _thou ought_ to behave _thyself_ in the house of
God." The acknowledged doctrine of all the teachers of English grammar,
that the inflection of our auxiliaries and preterits by _st_ or _est_ is
peculiar to "the solemn style," leaves us no other alternative, than either
to grant the propriety of here dropping the suffix for the familiar style,
or to rob our language of any familiar use of the pronoun _thou_ forever.
Who, then, are here the neologists, the innovators, the impairers of the
language? And which is the greater _innovation_, merely to drop, on
familiar occasions, or _when it suits our style_, one obsolescent verbal
termination,--a termination often dropped _of old_ as well as now,--or to
strike from the conjugations of all our verbs one sixth part of their
entire scheme?[241]

   "O mother myn, that cleaped _were_ Argyue,
    Wo worth that day that thou me _bare_ on lyue."--_Chaucer_.

OBS. 12.--The grammatical propriety of distinguishing from the solemn style
both of the forms presented above, must be evident to every one who
considers with candour the reasons, analogies, and authorities, for this
distinction. The support of the latter is very far from resting solely on
the practice of a particular sect; though this, if they would forbear to
corrupt the pronoun while they simplify the verb, would deserve much more
consideration than has ever been allowed it. Which of these modes of
address is the more grammatical, it is useless to dispute; since fashion
rules the one, and a scruple of conscience is sometimes alleged for the
other. A candid critic will consequently allow all to take their choice. It
is enough for him, if he can demonstrate to the candid inquirer, what
phraseology is in any view allowable, and what is for any good reason
reprehensible. That the use of the plural for the singular is
ungrammatical, it is neither discreet nor available to affirm; yet,
surely, it did not originate in any regard to grammar rules. Murray the
schoolmaster, whose English Grammar appeared some years before that of
Lindley Murray, speaks of it as follows: "_Thou_, the second person
singular, though _strictly grammatical_, is seldom used, except in
addresses to God, in poetry, and by the people called Quakers. In all other
cases, a _fondness for foreign manners_,[242] and the power of custom, have
given a sanction to the use of _you_, for the second person singular,
though _contrary to grammar_,[243] and attended with this particular
inconveniency, that a plural verb must be used to agree with the pronoun in
number, and both applied to a _single person_; as, _you are_, or _you
were_,--not _you wast_, or _you was_."--_Third Edition_, Lond., 1793, p.
34. This author everywhere exhibits the auxiliaries, _mayst, mightst,
couldst, wouldst_, and _shouldst_, as words of one syllable; and also
observes, in a marginal note, "Some writers begin to say, '_Thou may, thou
might_,' &c."--_Ib._, p. 36. Examples of this are not very uncommon: "Thou
_shall_ want ere I want."--_Old Motto; Scott's Lay_, Note 1st to Canto 3.
"Thyself the mournful tale _shall_ tell."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 20.

   "One sole condition would I dare suggest,
    That _thou would save_ me from my own request."--_Jane Taylor_.

OBS. 13.--In respect to the second person singular, the grammar of Lindley
Murray makes no distinction between the solemn and the familiar style;
recognizes in no way the fashionable substitution of _you_ for _thou_; and,
so far as I perceive, takes it for granted, that every one who pretends to
speak or write grammatically, must always, in addressing an individual,
employ the singular pronoun, and inflect the verb with _st_ or _est_,
except in the imperative mood and the subjunctive present. This is the more
remarkable, because the author was a valued member of the Society of
Friends; and doubtless his own daily practice contradicted his doctrine, as
palpably as does that of every other member of the Society. And many a
schoolmaster, taking that work for his text-book, or some other as faulty,
is now doing precisely the same thing. But what a teacher is he, who dares
not justify as a grammarian that which he constantly practices as a man!
What a scholar is he, who can be led by a false criticism or a false
custom, to condemn his own usage and that of every body else! What a
casuist is he, who dares pretend conscience for practising that which he
knows and acknowledges to be wrong! If to speak in the second person
singular without inflecting our preterits and auxiliaries, is a censurable
corruption of the language, the Friends have no alternative but to
relinquish their scruple about the application of _you_ to one person; for
none but the adult and learned can ever speak after the manner of ancient
books: children and common people can no more be brought to speak agreeably
to any antiquated forms of the English language, than according to the
imperishable models of Greek and Latin. He who traces the history of our
vernacular tongue, will find it has either simplified or entirely dropped
several of its ancient terminations; and that the _st_ or _est_ of the
second person singular, _never was adopted_ in any thing like the extent to
which our modern grammarians have attempted to impose it. "Thus becoming
unused to inflections, we lost the perception of their meaning and
nature."--_Philological Museum_, i, 669. "You cannot make a whole people
all at once talk in a different tongue from that which it has been used to
talk in: you cannot force it to unlearn the words it has learnt from its
fathers, in order to learn a set of newfangled words out of [a grammar or]
a dictionary."--_Ib._, i, 650. Nor can you, in this instance, restrain our
poets from transgressing the doctrine of Lowth and Murray:--

   "Come, thou pure Light,--which first in Eden _glowed._
    And _threw_ thy splendor round man's calm abode."--_Alonzo Lewis_.

OBS. 14.--That which has passed away from familiar practice, may still be
right in the solemn style, and may there remain till it becomes obsolete.
But no obsolescent termination has ever yet been recalled into the popular
service. This is as true in other languages as in our own: "In almost every
word of the Greek," says a learned author, "we meet with contractions and
abbreviations; but, I believe, the flexions of no language allow of
extension or amplification. In our own we may write _sleeped_ or _slept_,
as the metre of a line or the rhythm of a period may require; but by no
license may we write _sleepeed._"--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, 4to, p.
107. But, if after contracting _sleeped_ into _slept_, we add an _est_ and
make _sleptest_, is there not here an extension of the word from one
syllable to two? Is there not an amplification that is at once novel,
disagreeable, unauthorized, and unnecessary? Nay, even in the regular and
established change, as of _loved_ to _lovedst_, is there not a syllabic
increase, which is unpleasant to the ear, and unsuited to familiar speech?
Now, to what extent do these questions apply to the verbs in our language?
Lindley Murray, it is presumed, had no conception of that extent; or of the
weight of the objection which is implied in the second. With respect to a
vast number of our most common verbs, he himself never knew, nor does the
greatest grammarian now living know, in what way he ought to form the
simple past tense in the second person singular, otherwise than by the mere
uninflected preterit with the pronoun _thou_. Is _thou sleepedst_ or _thou
sleptest, thou leavedst_ or _thou leftest, thou feeledst_ or _thou feltest,
thou dealedst_ or _thou dealtest, thou tossedst_ or _thou tostest, thou
losedst_ or _thou lostest, thou payedst_ or _thou paidest, thou layedst_ or
_thou laidest_, better English than _thou slept, thou left, thou felt, thou
dealt, thou tossed, thou lost, thou paid, thou laid?_ And, if so, of the
two forms in each instance, which is the right one? and why? The Bible has
"_saidst_" and "_layedst_;" Dr. Alexander Murray, "_laid'st_" and
"_laidest!_" Since the inflection of our preterits has never been orderly,
and is now decaying and waxing old, shall we labour to recall what is so
nearly ready to vanish away?

   "Tremendous Sea! what time _thou lifted_ up
    Thy waves on high, and with thy winds and storms
    Strange pastime _took_, and _shook_ thy mighty sides
    Indignantly, the pride of navies fell."--_Pollok_, B. vii, l. 611.

OBS. 15.--Whatever difficulty there is in ascertaining the true form of the
preterit itself, not only remains, but is augmented, when _st_ or _est_ is
to be added for the second person of it. For, since we use sometimes one
and sometimes the other of these endings; (as, said_st_, saw_est_, bid_st_,
knew_est_, loved_st_, went_est_;) there is yet need of some rule to show
which we ought to prefer. The variable formation or orthography of verbs in
the simple past tense, has always been one of the greatest difficulties
that the learners of our language have had to encounter. At present, there
is a strong tendency to terminate as many as we can of them in _ed_, which
is the only regular ending. The pronunciation of this ending, however, is
at least threefold; as in _remembered, repented, relinquished._ Here the
added sounds are, first _d_, then _ed_, then _t_; and the effect of adding
_st_, whenever the _ed_ is sounded like _t_, will certainly be a perversion
of what is established as the true pronunciation of the language. For the
solemn and the familiar pronunciation of _ed_ unquestionably differ. The
present tendency to a regular orthography, ought rather to be encouraged
than thwarted; but the preferring of _mixed_ to _mixt, whipped_ to _whipt,
worked_ to _wrought, kneeled_ to _knelt_, and so forth, does not make
_mixedst, whippedst, workedst, kneeledst_, and the like, any more fit for
modern English, than are _mixtest, whiptest, wroughtest, kneltest,
burntest, dweltest, heldest, giltest_, and many more of the like stamp. And
what can be more absurd than for a grammarian to insist upon forming a
great parcel of these strange and crabbed words for which he can quote no
good authority? Nothing; except it be for a poet or a rhetorician to huddle
together great parcels of consonants which no mortal man can utter,[244]
(as _lov'dst, lurk'dst, shrugg'dst_,) and call them "_words_." Example:
"The clump of _subtonick_ and _atonick_ elements at the termination of
_such words_ as the following, is frequently, to the no small injury of
articulation, particularly slighted: couldst, wouldst, hadst, prob'st,
_prob'dst_, hurl'st, _hurl'dst_, arm'st, _arm'dst_, want'st, _want'dst_,
burn'st, _burn'dst_, bark'st, _bark'dst_, bubbl'st, _bubbl'dst, troubbl'st,
troubbl'dst._"--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 42. The word _trouble_ may
receive the additional sound of _st_, but this gentleman does not here
_spell_ so accurately as a great author should. Nor did they who penned the
following lines, write here as poets should:--

   "Of old thou _build'st_ thy throne on righteousness."
        --_Pollok's C. of T._, B. vi, l. 638.

    "For though thou _work'dst_ my mother's ill."
        --_Byron's Parasina_.

    "Thou thyself _doat'dst_ on womankind, admiring."
        --_Milton's P. R._, B. ii, l. 175.

    "But he, the sev'nth from thee, whom thou _beheldst_."
        --_Id., P. L._, B. xi, l. 700.

    "Shall build a wondrous ark, as thou _beheldst_."
        --_Id., ib._, B. xi, l. 819.

    "Thou, who _inform'd'st_ this clay with active fire!"
        --_Savage's Poems_, p. 247.

    "Thy valiantness was mine, thou _suck'dst_ it from me."
        --_Shak., Coriol._, Act iii.

    "This cloth thou _dipp'dst_ in blood of my sweet boy."
        --_Id., Henry VI_, P. i.

    "Great Queen of arms, whose favour Tydeus won;
    As thou _defend'st_ the sire, defend the son."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. x, l. 337.

OBS. 16.--Dr. Lowth, whose popular little Grammar was written in or about
1758, made no scruple to hem up both the poets and the Friends at once, by
a criticism which I must needs consider more dogmatical than true; and
which, from the suppression of what is least objectionable in it, has
become, her hands, the source of still greater errors: "_Thou_ in the
polite, and even _in the familiar style, is disused_, and the plural _you_
is employed instead of it; we say, _you have_, not _thou hast._ Though in
this case, we apply _you_ to a single person, yet the verb too _must agree
with it in the plural number_; it must necessarily be, _you have_, not _you
hast._ _You was_ is an enormous solecism,[245] and yet authors of the first
rank have inadvertently fallen into it. * * * On the contrary, the solemn
style admits not of you for a single person. This _hath led_ Mr. Pope into
_a great impropriety_ in the beginning of his Messiah:--

   'O thou my voice inspire,
    Who _touch'd_ Isaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!'

The solemnity of the style would not admit of _you_ for _thou_, in the
pronoun; nor the measure of the verse _touchedst_, or _didst touch_, in the
verb, as it _indispensably ought to be_, in the one or the other of those
two forms; _you_, who _touched_, or _thou_, who _touchedst_, or _didst
touch._

   'Just of _thy_ word, in every thought sincere;
    Who _knew_ no wish, but what the world might hear.'--Pope.

It ought to be _your_ in the first line, or _knewest_ in the second. In
order to avoid this _grammatical inconvenience_, the two distinct forms of
_thou_ and _you_, are often used promiscuously by our modern poets, in the
same paragraph, and even in the same sentence, very inelegantly and
improperly:--

   'Now, now, I seize, I clasp _thy_ charms;
    And now _you burst_, ah cruel! from my arms.'--Pope."
        --_Lowth's English Gram._, p. 34.

OBS. 17.--The points of Dr. Lowth's doctrine which are not sufficiently
true, are the following: First, it is not true, that _thou_, in the
familiar style, is _totally disused_, and the plural _you_ employed
universally in its stead; though Churchill, and others, besides the good
bishop, seem to represent it so. It is now nearly two hundred years since
the rise of the Society of Friends: and, whatever may have been the
practice of others before or since, it is certain, that from their rise to
the present day, there have been, at every point of time, many thousands
who made no use of _you_ for _thou_; and, but for the clumsy forms which
most grammarians hold to be indispensable to verbs of the second person
singular, the beautiful, distinctive, and poetical words, _thou, thyself,
thy, thine_, and _thee_, would certainly be in no danger yet of becoming
obsolete. Nor can they, indeed, at any rate, become so, till the fairest
branches of the Christian Church shall wither; or, what should seem no
gracious omen, her bishops and clergy learn to _pray in the plural number_,
for fashion's sake. Secondly, it is not true, that, "_thou_, who
_touch'd_," ought _indispensably_ to be, "_thou_, who _touchedst_, or
_didst touch_." It is far better to dispense with the inflection, in such a
case, than either to impose it, or to resort to the plural pronoun. The
"grammatical inconvenience" of dropping the _st_ or _est_ of a preterit,
even in the solemn style, cannot be great, and may be altogether imaginary;
that of imposing it, except in solemn prose, is not only real, but is often
insuperable. It is not very agreeable, however, to see it added to some
verbs, and dropped from others, in the same sentence: as,

   "Thou, who _didst call_ the Furies from the abyss,
    And round Orestes _bade_ them howl and hiss."
        --_Byron's Childe Harold_, Canto iv, st. 132.

   "Thou _satt'st_ from age to age insatiate,
    And _drank_ the blood of men, and _gorged_ their flesh."
        --_Pollok's Course of Time_, B. vii, l. 700.

OBS. 18.--We see then, that, according to Dr. Lowth and others, _the only
good English_ in which one can address an individual on any ordinary
occasion, is _you_ with a plural verb; and that, according to Lindley
Murray and others, _the only good English_ for the same purpose, is _thou_
with a verb inflected with _st_ or _est_. Both parties to this pointed
contradiction, are more or less in the wrong. The respect of the Friends
for those systems of grammar which deny them the familiar use of the
pronoun _thou_, is certainly not more remarkable, than the respect of the
world for those which condemn the substitution of the plural _you_. Let
grammar be a true record of existing facts, and all such contradictions
must vanish. And, certainly, these great masters here contradict each
other, in what every one who reads English, ought to know. They agree,
however, in requiring, as indispensable to grammar, what is not only
inconvenient, but absolutely impossible. For what "the measure of verse
_will not admit_," cannot be used in poetry; and what may possibly be
crowded into it, will often be far from ornamental. Yet our youth have been
taught to spoil the versification of Pope and others, after the following
manner: "Who _touch'd_ Isaiah's hallow'd lips with fire." Say, "Who
_touchedst_ or _didst touch_."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 180. "For thee that
ever _felt_ another's wo." Say, "_Didst feel_."--_Ib._ "Who _knew_ no wish
but what the world might hear." Say, "Who _knewest_ or _didst
know_."--_Ib._ "Who all my sense _confin'd_." Say, "_Confinedst_ or _didst
confine_."--_Ib._, p. 186. "Yet _gave_ me in this dark estate." Say,
"_Gavedst_ or _didst give_."--_Ib._ "_Left_ free the human will."--_Pope_.
Murray's criticism extends not to this line, but by the analogy we must
say, "_Leavedst_ or _leftest_." Now it would be easier to fill a volume
with such quotations, and such corrections, than to find sufficient
authority to prove one such word as _gavedst, leavedst_, or _leftest_, to
be really good English. If Lord Byron is authority for "_work'dst_," he is
authority also for dropping the _st_, even where it might be added:--

    ----"Thou, who with thy frown
    _Annihilated_ senates."
        --_Childe Harold's Pilgrimage_, Canto iv, st. 83.

OBS. 19.--According to Dr. Lowth, as well as Coar and some others, those
preterits in which _ed_ is sounded like _t_, "admit the change of _ed_ into
_t_; as, _snacht, checkt, snapt, mixt_, dropping also one of the double
letters, _dwelt, past_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 46. If this principle were
generally adopted, the number of our regular verbs would be greatly
diminished, and irregularities would be indefinitely increased. What
confusion the practice must make in the language, especially when we come
to inflect this part of the verb with _st_ or _est_, has already been
suggested. Yet an ingenious and learned writer, an able contributor to the
Philological Museum, published at Cambridge, England, in 1832; tracing the
history of this class of derivatives, and finding that after the _ed_ was
contracted in pronunciation, several eminent writers, as Spenser, Milton,
and others, adopted in most instances a contracted form of orthography; has
seriously endeavoured to bring us back to their practice. From these
authors, he cites an abundance of such contractions as the following: 1.
"Stowd, hewd, subdewd, joyd, cald, expeld, compeld, spoild, kild, seemd,
benumbd, armd, redeemd, staind, shund, paynd, stird, appeard, perceivd,
resolvd, obeyd, equald, foyld, hurld, ruind, joynd, scatterd, witherd," and
others ending in _d_. 2. "Clapt, whipt, worshipt, lopt, stopt, stampt,
pickt, knockt, linkt, puft, stuft, hist, kist, abasht, brusht, astonisht,
vanquisht, confest, talkt, twicht," and many others ending in _t_. This
scheme divides our regular verbs into three classes; leaving but very few
of them to be written as they now are. It proceeds upon the principle of
accommodating our orthography to the familiar, rather than to the solemn
pronunciation of the language. "This," as Dr. Johnson observes, "is to
measure by a shadow." It is, whatever show of learning or authority may
support it, a pernicious innovation. The critic says, "I have not ventured
to follow the example of Spenser and Milton throughout, but have merely
attempted to revive the old form of the preterit in _t_."--_Phil. Museum_,
Vol. i, p. 663. "We ought not however to stop here," he thinks; and
suggests that it would be no small improvement, "to write _leveld_ for
_levelled, enameld_ for _enamelled, reformd_ for _reformed_," &c.

OBS. 20.--If the multiplication of irregular preterits, as above described,
is a grammatical error of great magnitude; the forcing of our old and
well-known irregular verbs into regular forms that are seldom if ever used,
is an opposite error nearly as great. And, in either case, there is the
same embarrassment respecting the formation of the second person. Thus
_Cobbett_, in his English Grammar in a Series of Letters, has dogmatically
given us a list of _seventy_ verbs, which, he says, are, "by some persons,
_erroneously deemed irregular_;" and has included in it the words, _blow,
build, cast, cling, creep, freeze, draw, throw_, and the like, to the
number of _sixty_; so that he is really right in no more than one seventh
part of his catalogue. And, what is more strange, for several of the
irregularities which he censures, his own authority may be quoted from the
early editions of this very book: as, "For you could have _thrown_ about
seeds."--Edition of 1818, p. 13. "For you could have _throwed_ about
seeds."--Edition of 1832, p. 13. "A tree is _blown_ down."--Ed. of 1818, p.
27. "A tree is _blowed_ down."--Ed. of 1832, p. 25. "It _froze_ hard last
night. Now, what was it that _froze_ so hard?"--Ed. of 1818, p. 38. "It
_freezed_ hard last night. Now, what was it that _freezed_ so hard?"--Ed.
of 1832, p. 35. A whole page of such contradictions may be quoted from this
one grammarian, showing that _he did not know_ what form of the preterit he
ought to prefer. From such an instructor, who can find out what is good
English, and what is not? Respecting the inflections of the verb, this
author says, "There are three persons; _but, our verbs have no variation in
their spelling, except for the third person singular_."--_Cobbett's E.
Gram._, ¶ 88. Again: "Observe, however, that, in our language, there is no
very great use in this distinction of modes; because, for the most part,
our little _signs_ do the business, and _they never vary in the letters of
which they are composed_."--_Ib._, ¶ 95. One would suppose, from these
remarks, that Cobbett meant to dismiss the pronoun _thou_ entirely from his
conjugations. Not so at all. In direct contradiction to himself, he
proceeds to inflect the verb as follows: "I work, _Thou workest_, He works;
&c. I worked, _Thou workedst_, He worked; &c. I shall or will work, _Thou
shalt or wilt work_, He shall or will work;" &c.--_Ib._, ¶ 98. All the
_compound_ tenses, except the future, he rejects, as things which "can only
serve to fill up a book."

OBS. 21.--It is a common but erroneous opinion of our grammarians, that the
unsyllabic suffix _st_, wherever found, is a modern contraction of the
syllable _est_. No writer, however, thinks it always necessary to remind
his readers of this, by inserting the sign of contraction; though English
books are not a little disfigured by questionable apostrophes inserted for
no other reason. Dr. Lowth says, "The nature of our language, the accent
and pronunciation of it, inclines [incline] us to contract even all our
regular verbs: thus _loved, turned_, are commonly pronounced in one
syllable _lov'd, turn'd_: and the second person, which was originally in
three syllables, _lovedest, turnedest_, is [say _has_] now become a
dissyllable, _lovedst, turnedst_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 45; _Hiley's_, 45;
_Churchill's_, 104. See also _Priestley's Gram._, p. 114; and _Coar's_, p.
102. This latter doctrine, with all its vouchers, still needs confirmation.
What is it but an idle conjecture? If it were _true_, a few quotations
might easily prove it; but when, and by whom, have any such words as
_lovedest, turnedest_, ever been used? For aught I see, the simple _st_ is
as complete and as old a termination for the second person singular of an
English verb, as _est_; indeed, it appears to be _older_: and, for the
preterit, it is, and (I believe) _always has been_, the _most_ regular, if
not the _only_ regular, addition. If _sufferedest, woundedest_, and
_killedest_, are words more regular than _sufferedst, woundedst, killedst_,
then are _heardest, knewest, slewest, sawest, rannest, metest, swammest_,
and the like, more regular than _heardst, knewst, slewst, sawst, ranst,
metst, swamst, satst, saidst, ledst, fledst, toldst_, and so forth; but not
otherwise.[246] So, in the solemn style, we write _seemest, deemest,
swimmest_, like _seemeth, deemeth, swimmeth_, and so forth; but, when we
use the form which has no increase of syllables, why is an apostrophe more
necessary in the second person, than in the third?--in _seemst, deemst,
swimst_, than in _seems, deems, swims_? When final _e_ is dropped from the
verb, the case is different; as,

   "Thou _cutst_ my head off with a golden axe,
    And _smil'st_ upon the stroke that murders me."--_Shakspeare_.

OBS. 22.--Dr. Lowth supposes the verbal termination _s_ or _es_ to have
come from a contraction of _eth_. He says, "Sometimes, by the rapidity of
our pronunciation, the vowels are shortened or lost; and the consonants,
which are thrown together, do not coalesce with one another, and are
therefore changed into others of the same organ, or of a kindred species.
This occasions a farther deviation from _the regular form_: thus, _loveth,
turneth_, are contracted into _lov'th, turn'th_, and these, for easier
pronunciation, _immediately_ become _loves, turns_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p.
46; _Hiley's_, 45. This etymology may possibly be just, but certainly such
contractions as are here spoken of, were not very common in Lowth's age, or
even in that of Ben Jonson, who resisted the _s_. Nor is the sound of sharp
_th_ very obviously akin to flat _s_. The change would have been less
violent, if _lov'st_ and _turnst_ had become _loves_ and _turns_; as some
people nowadays are apt to change them, though doubtless this is a
grammatical error: as,

   "And wheresoe'er thou _casts_ thy view."
        --_Cowley_.

    "Nor thou that _flings_ me floundering from thy back."
        --_Bat. of Frogs and Mice_, 1,123.

    "Thou _sitt'st_ on high, and _measures_ destinies."
        --_Pollok, Course of Time_, B. vi, 1, 668.

OBS. 23.--Possibly, those personal terminations of the verb which do not
form syllables, are mere contractions or relics of _est_ and _eth_, which
are syllables; but it is perhaps not quite so easy to prove them so, as
some authors imagine. In the oldest specimens given by Dr. Johnson in his
History of the English Language,--specimens bearing a much earlier date
than the English language can claim,--even in what he calls "Saxon in its
highest state of purity," both _st_ and _th_ are often added to verbs,
without forming additional syllables, and without any sign of contraction.
Nor were verbs of the second person singular always inflected of old, in
those parts to which _est_ was afterwards very commonly added. Examples:
"Buton ic wat thæt thu _hoefst_ thara wæpna."--_King Alfred_. "But I know
that thou _hast_ those weapons." "Thæt thu _oncnawe_ thara worda
sothfæstnesse. of tham the thu _geloered eart_."--_Lucæ_, i, 4. "That thou
_mightest know_ the certainty of those things wherein thou _hast been
instructed_."--_Luke_, i, 4. "And thu _nemst_ his naman Johannes."--_Lucæ_,
i, 13. "And his name _schal be clepid_ Jon."--_Wickliffe's Version_. "And
thou _shalt call_ his name John."--_Luke_, i, 13. "And he ne _drincth_ win
ne beor."--_Lucæ_, i, 15. "He _schal_ not _drinke_ wyn ne
sydyr."--_Wickliffe_. "And _shall drink_ neither wine nor strong
drink."--_Luke_, i, 15. "And nu thu _bist_ suwigende. and thu _sprecan_ ne
_miht_ oth thone dæg the thas thing _gewurthath_. fortham thu minum wordum
ne _gelyfdest_. tha _beoth_ on hyra timan _gefyllede_."--_Lucæ_, i, 20.
"And lo, thou _schalt_ be doumbe, and thou _schalt_ not mowe _speke_, til
into the day in which these thingis _schulen be don_, for thou _hast_ not
_beleved_ to my wordis, whiche _schulen be fulfild_ in her
tyme."--_Wickliffe_. "And, behold, thou _shalt_ be dumb, and not able to
speak, until the day _that_[247] these things _shall be performed_, because
thou _believest_ not my words, which _shall be fulfilled_ in their
season."--_Luke_, i, 20.

   "In chaungyng of her course, the chaunge _shewth_ this,
    Vp _startth_ a knaue, and downe there _falth_ a knight."
        --_Sir Thomas More_.

OBS. 24.--The corollary towards which the foregoing observations are
directed, is this. As most of the peculiar terminations by which the second
person singular is properly distinguished in the solemn style, are not only
difficult of utterance, but are quaint and formal in conversation; the
preterits and auxiliaries of our verbs are seldom varied in familiar
discourse, and the present is generally simplified by contraction, or by
the adding of _st_ without increase of syllables. A distinction between the
solemn and the familiar style has long been admitted, in the pronunciation
of the termination _ed_, and in the ending of the verb in the third person
singular; and it is evidently according to good taste and the best usage,
to admit such a distinction in the second person singular. In the familiar
use of the second person singular, the verb is usually varied only in the
present tense of the indicative mood, and in the auxiliary _hast_ of the
perfect. This method of varying the verb renders the second person singular
analogous to the third, and accords with the practice of the most
intelligent of those who retain the common use of this distinctive and
consistent mode of address. It disencumbers their familiar dialect of a
multitude of harsh and useless terminations, which serve only, when
uttered, to give an uncouth prominency to words not often emphatic; and,
without impairing the strength or perspicuity of the language, increases
its harmony, and reduces the form of the verb in the second person singular
nearly to the same simplicity as in the other persons and numbers. It may
serve also, in some instances, to justify the poets, in those abbreviations
for which they have been so unreasonably censured by Lowth, Murray, and
some other grammarians: as,

   "And thou their natures _knowst_, and _gave_ them names,
    Needless to thee repeated."--_Milton_, P. L., Book vii, line 494.

OBS. 25.--The writings of the Friends, being mostly of a grave cast, afford
but few examples of their customary manner of forming the verb in connexion
with the pronoun _thou_, in familiar discourse. The following may serve to
illustrate it: "Suitable to the office thou _layst_ claim to."--R.
BARCLAY'S _Works_, Vol. i, p. 27. "Notwithstanding thou _may have_
sentiments opposite to mine."--THOMAS STORY. "To devote all thou _had_ to
his service;"--"If thou _should come_;"--"What thou _said_;"--"Thou kindly
_contributed_;"--"The epistle which thou _sent_ me;"--"Thou _would_ perhaps
_allow_;"--"If thou _submitted_;"--"Since thou _left_;"--"_Should_ thou
_act_;"--"Thou _may be_ ready;"--"That thou _had met_;"--"That thou _had
intimated_;"--"Before thou _puts_" [putst];--"What thou _meets_"
[meetst];--"If thou _had made_;"--"I observed thou _was_;"--"That thou
_might put_ thy trust;"--"Thou _had been_ at my house."--JOHN KENDALL.
"Thou _may be plundered_;"--"That thou _may feel_;"--"Though thou _waited_
long, and _sought_ him;"--"I hope thou _will bear_ my style;"--"Thou also
_knows_" [knowst];--"Thou _grew_ up;"--"I wish thou _would_ yet _take_ my
counsel."--STEPHEN CRISP. "Thou _manifested_ thy tender regard, _stretched_
forth thy delivering hand, and _fed_ and _sustained_ us."--SAMUEL
FOTHERGILL. The writer has met with thousands that used the second person
singular in conversation, but never with any one that employed, on ordinary
occasions, all the regular endings of the solemn style. The simplification
of the second person singular, which, to a greater or less extent, is
everywhere adopted by the Friends, and which is here defined and explained,
removes from each verb eighteen of these peculiar terminations; and, (if
the number of English verbs be, as stated by several grammarians, 8000,)
disburdens their familiar dialect of 144,000 of these awkward and useless
appendages.[248] This simplification is supported by usage as extensive as
the familiar use of the pronoun _thou_; and is also in accordance with the
canons of criticism: "The _first_ canon on this subject is, All words and
phrases which are remarkably harsh and unharmonious, and not absolutely
necessary, should be rejected." See _Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric_, B.
ii, Ch. ii, Sec. 2, Canon Sixth, p. 181. See also, in the same work, (B.
hi, Ch. iv, Sec. 2d,) an _express defence_ of "those elisions whereby the
sound is improved;" especially of the suppression of the "feeble vowel in
the last syllable of the preterits of our regular verbs;" and of "such
abbreviations" as "the eagerness of conveying one's sentiments, the
rapidity and ease of utterance, necessarily produce, in the dialect of
conversation."--Pages 426 and 427. Lord Kames says, "That the English
tongue, originally harsh, is at present much softened by dropping many
_redundant consonants_, is undoubtedly true; that it is not capable of
being further mellowed without suffering in its force and energy, will
scarce be thought by any one who possesses an ear."--_Elements of
Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 12.

OBS. 26.--The following examples are from a letter of an African Prince,
translated by Dr. Desaguillier of Cambridge, England, in 1743, and
published in a London newspaper: "I lie there too upon the bed _thou
presented_ me;"--"After _thou_ left me, in thy swimming house;"--"Those
good things _thou presented_ me;"--"When _thou spake_ to the Great Spirit
and his Son." If it is desirable that our language should retain this power
of a simple literal version of what in others may be familiarly expressed
by the second person singular, it is clear that our grammarians must not
continue to dogmatize according to the letter of some authors hitherto
popular. But not every popular grammar condemns such phraseology as the
foregoing. "I improved, Thou _improvedst_, &c. This termination of the
second person preterit, on account of its harshness, _is seldom used_, and
especially in the irregular verbs."--_Harrison's Gram._, p. 26. "The
termination _est_, annexed to the preter tenses of verbs, is, at best, a
very harsh one, when it is contracted, according to our general custom of
throwing out the _e_; as _learnedst_, for _learnedest_; and especially, if
it be again contracted into one syllable, _as it is commonly pronounced_,
and made _learndst._ * * * I believe a writer or speaker would have
recourse to any periphrasis rather than say _keptest_, or _keptst_. * * *
Indeed this harsh termination _est_ is _generally quite dropped in common
conversation_, and sometimes by the poets, in writing."--_Priestley's
Gram._, p. 115. The fact is, it never was added with much uniformity.
Examples: "But like the hell hounde _thou waxed_ fall furious, expressing
thy malice when _thou_ to honour _stied_."--FABIAN'S CHRONICLE, V. ii, p.
522: in _Tooke's Divers._, T. ii, p. 232.

   "Thou from the arctic regions came. Perhaps
    Thou noticed on thy way a little orb,
    Attended by one moon--her lamp by night."
        --_Pollok_, B. ii, l. 5.

    "'So I believ'd.'--No, Abel! to thy grief,
    So thou _relinquish'd_ all that was belief."
        --_Crabbe, Borough_, p. 279.

OBS. 27.--L. Murray, and his numerous copyists, Ingersoll, Greenleaf,
Kirkham, Fisk, Flint, Comly, Alger, and the rest; though they insist on it,
that the _st_ of the second person can never be dispensed with, except in
the imperative mood and some parts of the subjunctive; are not altogether
insensible of that monstrous harshness which their doctrine imposes upon
the language. Some of them tell us to avoid this by preferring the
auxiliaries _dost_ and _didst_: as _dost burst_, for _burstest; didst
check_, for _checkedst._ This recommendation proceeds on the supposition
that _dost_ and _didst_ are smoother syllables than _est_ and _edst_; which
is not true: _didst learn_ is harsher than either _learnedst_ or
_learntest_; and all three of them are intolerable in common discourse. Nor
is the "_energy_, or _positiveness_," which grammarians ascribe to these
auxiliaries, always appropriate. Except in a question, _dost_ and _didst_,
like _do, does_, and _did_, are usually signs of _emphasis_; and therefore
unfit to be substituted for the _st, est_, or _edst_, of an unemphatic
verb. Kirkham, who, as we have seen, graces his Elocution with such
unutterable things, as "_prob'dst, hurl'dst, arm'dst, want'dst, burn'dst,
bark'dst, bubbl'dst, troubbl'dst_," attributes the use of the plural for
the singular, to a design of avoiding the raggedness of the latter. "In
order to avoid the disagreeable harshness of sound, occasioned by the
frequent recurrence of the termination _est, edst_, in the adaptation of
our verbs to the nominative _thou_, a _modern innovation_ which substitutes
_you_ for _thou_, in familiar style, has generally been adopted. This
innovation contributes greatly to the harmony of our colloquial style.
_You_ was formerly restricted to the plural number; but now it is employed
to represent either a singular or a plural noun."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p.
99. A modern innovation, forsooth! Does not every body know it was current
four hundred years ago, or more? Certainly, both _ye_ and _you_ were
applied in this manner, to the great, as early as the fourteenth century.
Chaucer sometimes used them so, and he died in 1400. Sir T. More uses them
so, in a piece dated 1503.

   "O dere cosyn, Dan Johan, she sayde,
    What eyleth _you_ so rathe to aryse?"--_Chaucer_.

Shakspeare most commonly uses _thou_, but he sometimes has _you_ in stead
of it. Thus, he makes Portia say to Brutus:

   "_You_ suddenly arose, and walk'd about,
    Musing, and sighing, with _your_ arms across;
    And when I ask'd _you_ what the matter was,
    _You_ star'd upon me with ungentle looks."--_J. Cæsar_, Act ii, Sc. 2.

OBS. 28.--"There is a natural tendency in all languages to throw out the
rugged parts which improper consonants produce, and to preserve those which
are melodious and agreeable to the ear."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p.
29. "The English tongue, so remarkable for its grammatical simplicity, is
loaded with a great variety of dull unmeaning terminations. Mr. Sheridan
attributes this defect, to an utter inattention to what is easy to the
organs of speech and agreeable to the ear; and further adds, that, 'the
French having been adopted as the language of the court, no notice was
taken, of the spelling or pronunciation of our words, until the reign of
queen Anne.' So little was spelling attended to in the time of Elizabeth,
that Dr. Johnson informs us, that on referring to Shakspeare's will, to
determine how his name was spelt, he was found to have written it himself
[in] no _less_ [fewer] than three different ways."--_Ib._, p. 477. In old
books, our participial or verbal termination _ed_, is found written in
about a dozen different ways; as, _ed, de, d, t, id, it, yd, yt, ede, od,
ud_. For _est_ and _eth_, we find sometimes the consonants only; sometimes,
_ist_ or _yst, ith_ or _yth_; sometimes, for the latter, _oth_ or _ath_;
and sometimes the ending was omitted altogether. In early times also the
_th_ was an ending for verbs of the third person plural, as well as for
those of the third person singular;[249] and, in the imperative mood, it
was applied to the second person, both singular and plural: as,

   "_Demith_ thyself, that demist other's dede;
    And trouthe the shall deliver, it's no drede."--_Chaucer_.

OBS. 29.--It must be obvious to every one who has much acquaintance with
the history of our language, that this part of its grammar has always been
quite as unsettled as it is now; and, however we may wish to establish its
principles, it is idle to teach for absolute certainty that which every
man's knowledge may confute. Let those who desire to see our forms of
conjugation as sure as those of other tongues, study to exemplify in their
own practice what tends to uniformity. The best that can be done by the
author of a grammar, is, to exhibit usage, as it has been, and as it is;
pointing out to the learner what is most fashionable, as well as what is
most orderly and agreeable. If by these means the usage of writers and
speakers cannot be fixed to what is fittest for their occasions, and
therefore most grammatical, there is in grammar no remedy for their
inaccuracies; as there is none for the blunders of dull opinionists, none
for the absurdities of Ignorance stalled in the seats of Learning. Some
grammarians say, that, whenever the preterit of an irregular verb is like
the present, it should take _edst_ for the second person singular. This
rule, (which is adopted by Walker, in his Principles, No. 372,) gives us
such words as _cast-edst, cost-edst, bid-dedst, burst-edst, cut-tedst,
hit-tedst, let-tedst, put-tedst, hurt-edst, rid-dedst, shed-dedst_, &c. But
the rule is groundless. The few examples which may be adduced from ancient
writings, in support of this principle, are undoubtedly formed in the usual
manner from regular preterits now obsolete; and if this were not the case,
no person of taste could think of employing, on any occasion, derivatives
so uncouth. Dr. Johnson has justly remarked, that "the chief defect of our
language, is ruggedness and asperity." And this defect, as some of the
foregoing remarks have shown, is peculiarly obvious, when even the regular
termination of the second person singular is added to our preterits.
Accordingly, we find numerous instances among the poets, both ancient and
modern, in which that termination is omitted. See Percy's Reliques of
Ancient Poetry, everywhere.

   "Thou, who of old the prophet's eye _unsealed_."--_Pollok_.

    "Thou _saw_ the fields laid bare and waste."--_Burns_.[250]

OBS. 30.--With the familiar form of the second person singular, those who
constantly put _you_ for _thou_ can have no concern; and many may think it
unworthy of notice, because Murray has said nothing about it: others will
hastily pronounce it bad English, because they have learned at school some
scheme of the verb, which implies that this must needs be wrong. It is this
partial learning which makes so much explanation here necessary. The
formation of this part of speech, form it as you will, is _central to
grammar_, and cannot but be very important. Our language can never entirely
drop the pronoun _thou_, and its derivatives, _thy, thine, thee, thyself_,
without great injury, especially to its poetry. Nor can the distinct
syllabic utterance of the termination _ed_ be now generally practised,
except in solemn prose. It is therefore better, not to insist on those old
verbal forms against which there are so many objections, than to exclude
the pronoun of the second person singular from all such usage, whether
familiar or poetical, as will not admit them. It is true that on most
occasions _you_ may be substituted for _thou_, without much inconvenience;
and so may _we_ be substituted for _I_, with just as much propriety; though
Dr. Perley thinks the latter usage "is not to be encouraged."--_Gram._, p.
28. Our authors and editors, like kings and emperors, are making _we_ for
_I_ their most common mode of expression. They renounce their individuality
to avoid egotism. And when all men shall have adopted this enallage, the
fault indeed will be banished, or metamorphosed, but with it will go an
other sixth part of every English conjugation. The pronouns in the
following couplet are put for the first person singular, the second person
singular, and the second person plural; yet nobody will understand them so,
but by their antecedents:

   "Right trusty, and so forth--_we_ let _you_ to know
    _We_ are very ill used by _you mortals_ below."--_Swift._

OBS. 31.--It is remarkable that some, who forbear to use the plural for the
singular in the second person, adopt it without scruple, in the first. The
figure is the same in both; and in both, sufficiently common. Neither
practice is worthy to be made more general than it now is. If _thou_ should
not be totally sacrificed to what was once a vain compliment, neither
should _I_, to what is now an occasional, and perhaps a vain assumption.
Lindley Murray, who does not appear to have used _you_ for _thou_, and who
was sometimes singularly careful to periphrase [sic--KTH] and avoid the
latter, nowhere in his grammar speaks of himself in the first person
singular. He is often "the _Compiler_;" rarely, "the _Author_;" generally,
"We:" as, "_We_ have distributed these parts of grammar, in the mode which
_we_ think most correct and intelligible."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 58. "_We_
shall not pursue this subject any further."--_Ib._, p. 62. "_We_ shall
close these remarks on the tenses."--_Ib._, p. 76. "_We_ presume no solid
objection can be made."--_Ib._, p. 78. "The observations which _we_ have
made."--_Ib._, p. 100. "_We_ shall produce a remarkable example of this
beauty from Milton."--_Ib._, p. 331. "_We_ have now given sufficient
openings into this subject."--_Ib._, p. 334. This usage has authority
enough; for it was not uncommon even among the old Latin grammarians; but
he must be a slender scholar, who thinks the pronoun _we_ thereby becomes
_singular._ What advantage or fitness there is in thus putting _we_ for
_I_, the reader may judge. Dr. Blair did not hesitate to use _I_, as often
as ho had occasion; neither did Lowth, or Johnson, or Walker, or Webster:
as, "_I_ shall produce a remarkable example of this beauty from
Milton."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 129. "_I_ have now given sufficient openings
into this subject."--_Ib._, p. 131. So in Lowth's Preface: "_I_
believe,"--"_I_ am persuaded,"--"_I_ am sure,"--"_I_ think,"--"_I_ am
afraid,"--"_I_ will not take upon _me_ to say."

OBS. 32.--Intending to be critical without hostility, and explicit without
partiality, I write not for or against any sect, or any man; but to teach
all who desire to know _the grammar_ of our tongue. The student must
distinctly understand, that it is necessary to speak and write differently,
according to the different circumstances or occasions of writing. Who is he
that will pretend that the solemn style of the Bible may be used in
familiar discourse, without a mouthing affectation? In preaching, or in
praying, the ancient terminations of _est_ for the second person singular
and _eth_ for the third, as well as _ed_ pronounced as a separate syllable
for the preterit, are admitted to be generally in better taste than the
smoother forms of the familiar style: because the latter, though now
frequently heard in religious assemblies, are not so well suited to the
dignity and gravity of a sermon or a prayer. In grave poetry also,
especially when it treats of scriptural subjects, to which _you_ put for
_thou_ is obviously unsuitable, the personal terminations of the verb,
though from the earliest times to the present day they have usually been
contracted and often omitted by the poets, ought still perhaps to be
considered grammatically necessary, whenever they can be uttered, agreeably
to the notion of our tuneless critics. The critical objection to their
elision, however, can have no very firm foundation while it is admitted by
some of the objectors themselves, that, "Writers _generally_ have recourse
to this mode of expression, that they may avoid harsh terminations."--
_Irving's Elements of English Composition_, p. 12. But if writers of good
authority, such as Pope, Byron, and Pollok, have sometimes had recourse to
this method of simplifying the verb, even in compositions of a grave cast,
the elision may, with tenfold stronger reason, be admitted in familiar
writing or discourse, on the authority of general custom among those who
choose to employ the pronoun _thou_ in conversation.

   "But thou, false Arcite, never _shall_ obtain," &c.
        --_Dryden, Fables_.

    "These goods _thyself can_ on thyself bestow."
        --_Id., in Joh. Dict._

    "What I show, _thy self may_ freely on thyself bestow."
        --_Id., Lowth's Gram._, p. 26.

    "That thou _might_ Fortune to thy side engage."
        --_Prior_.

    "Of all thou ever _conquered_, none was left."
        --_Pollok_, B. vii, l. 760.

    "And touch me trembling, as thou _touched_ the man," &c.
        --_Id._, B. x, l. 60.

OBS. 33.--Some of the Friends (perhaps from an idea that it is less formal)
misemploy _thee_ for _thou_; and often join it to the third person of the
verb in stead of the second. Such expressions as, _thee does, thee is, thee
has, thee thinks_, &c., are double solecisms; they set all grammar at
defiance. Again, many persons who are not ignorant of grammar, and who
employ the pronoun aright, sometimes improperly sacrifice concord to a
slight improvement in sound, and give to the verb the ending of the third
person, for that of the second. Three or four instances of this, occur in
the examples which have been already quoted. See also the following, and
many more, in the works of the poet Burns; who says of himself, "Though it
cost the schoolmaster some thrashings, I made an excellent English scholar;
and, by the time I was ten or eleven years of age, I was a critic in
substantives, VERBS, and particles:"--"But when thou _pours_;"--"There thou
_shines_ chief;"--"Thou _clears_ the head;"--"Thou _strings_ the
nerves;"--"Thou _brightens_ black despair;"--"Thou _comes_;"--"Thou
_travels_ far;"--"Now _thou's turned_ out;"--"Unseen thou _lurks_;"--"O
thou pale orb that silent _shines_." This mode of simplifying the verb,
confounds the persons; and, as it has little advantage in sound, over the
regular contracted form of the second person, it ought to be avoided. With
this author it may be, perhaps, a Scotticism: as,

   "Thou _paints_ auld nature to the nines,
    In thy sweet Caledonian lines."--_Burns to Ramsay_.

"Thou _paintst old_ nature," would be about as smooth poetry, and certainly
much better English. This confounding of the persons of the verb, however,
is no modern peculiarity. It appears to be about as old as the use of _s_
for _th_ or _eth_. Spenser, the great English poet of the sixteenth
century, may be cited in proof: as,

   "Siker, _thou's_ but a lazy loord,
    And _rekes_ much of thy swinke."--_Joh. Dict., w. Loord_.

OBS. 34.--In the solemn style, (except in poetry, which usually contracts
these forms,) the second person singular of the present indicative, and
that of the irregular preterits, commonly end in _est_, pronounced as a
separate syllable, and requiring the duplication of the final consonant,
according to Rule 3d for Spelling: as, I _run_, thou _runnest_; I _ran_,
thou _rannest_. But as the termination _ed_, in solemn discourse,
constitutes a syllable, the regular preterits form the second person
singular by assuming _st_, without further increase of syllables: as, I
_loved_, thou _lovedst_; not, "_lovedest_," as Chandler made it in his
English Grammar, p. 41, Edition of 1821; and as Wells's rule, above cited,
if literally taken, would make it. _Dost_ and _hast_, and the three
irregular preterits, _wast, didst_, and _hadst_, are permanently
contracted; though _doest_ and _diddest_ are sometimes seen in old books.
_Saidst_ is more common, and perhaps more regular, than _saidest. Werest_
has long been contracted into _wert_: "I would thou _werest_ either cold or
hot."--_W. Perkins_, 1608.[251] The auxiliaries _shall_ and _will_ change
the final _l_ to _t_, and become _shalt_ and _wilt_. To the auxiliaries,
_may, can, might, could, would_, and _should_, the termination _est_ was
formerly added; but they are now generally written with _st_ only, and
pronounced as monosyllables, even in solemn discourse. Murray, in quoting
the Scriptures, very often charges _mayest_ to _mayst, mightest_ to
_mightst_, &c. Some other permanent contractions are occasionally met with,
in what many grammarians call the solemn style; as _bidst_ for _biddest,
fledst_ for _fleddest, satst_ for _sattest_:

   "Riding sublime, thou _bidst_ the world adore,
    And humblest nature with thy northern blast."
        --_Thomson_.

    "Fly thither whence thou _fledst_."
         --_Milton, P. L._, B. iv, l. 963.

    "Unspeakable, who _sitst_ above these heavens."
        --_Id., ib._, B. v, l. 156.

    "Why _satst_ thou like an enemy in wait?"
        --_Id., ib._, B. iv, l. 825.

OBS. 35.--The formation of the third person singular of verbs, is _now_
precisely the same as that of the plural number of nouns: as, _love, loves;
show, shows; boast, boasts; fly, flies; reach, reaches_. This form began to
be used about the beginning of the sixteenth century. The ending seems once
to have been _es_, sounded as _s_ or _z_: as,

   "And thus I see among these pleasant thynges
    Eche care _decayes_, and yet my sorrow _sprynges_."--_Earl of Surry_.

    "With throte yrent, he _roares_, he _lyeth_ along."--_Sir T. Wyat_.

    "He _dyeth_, he is all dead, he _pantes_, he _restes_."--_Id._, 1540.

In all these instances, the _e_ before the _s_ has become improper. The
_es_ does not here form a syllable; neither does the _eth_, in "_lyeth_"
and "_dyeth_." In very ancient times, the third person singular appears to
have been formed by adding _th_ or _eth_ nearly as we now add _s_ or
_es_[252] Afterwards, as in our common Bible, it was formed by adding _th_
to verbs ending in _e_, and _eth_ to all others; as, "For he that _eateth_
and _drinketh_ unworthily, _eateth_ and _drinketh_ damnation to
himself."--_1 Cor._, xi, 29. "He _quickeneth_ man, who is dead in
trespasses and sins; he _keepeth_ alive the quickened soul, and _leadeth_
it in the paths of life; he _scattereth, subdueth_, and _conquereth_ the
enemies of the soul."--_I. Penington_. This method of inflection, as now
pronounced, always adds a syllable to the verb. It is entirely confined to
the solemn style, and is little used. _Doth, hath_, and _saith_, appear to
be permanent contractions of verbs thus formed. In the days of Shakspeare,
both terminations were common, and he often mixed them, in a way which is
not very proper now: as,

   "The quality of mercy is not strained;
    It _droppeth_, as the gentle rain from heaven
    Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
    It _blesseth_ him that _gives_, and him that _takes_."
        --_Merchant of Venice_.

OBS. 36.--When the second person singular is employed in familiar
discourse, with any regard to correctness, it is usually formed in a manner
strictly analogous to that which is now adopted in the third person
singular. When the verb ends with a sound which will unite with that of
_st_ or _s_, the second person singular is formed by adding _s_ only, and
the third, by adding _s_ only; and the number of syllables is not
increased: as, I _read_, thou _readst_, he _reads_; I _know_, thou
_knowst_, he _knows_; I _take_, thou _takest_, he _takes_; I _free_, thou
_freest_, he _frees_. For, when the verb ends in mute _a_, no termination
renders this _a_ vocal in the familiar style, if a synæresis can take
place. To prevent their readers from ignorantly assuming the pronunciation
of the solemn style, the poets have generally marked such words with an
apostrophe: as,

   "Look what thy soul holds dear, imagine it
    To lie the way thou _go'st_, not whence thou _com'st_."--_Shak_.

OBS. 37.--But when the verb ends in a sound which will not unite with that
of _st_ or _s_, the second and third persons are formed by adding _est_ and
_es_; or, if the first person end in mute _e_, the _st_ and _s_ render that
_e_ vocal; so that the verb acquires an additional syllable: as, I _trace_,
thou _tracest_, he _traces_; I _pass_, thou _passest_, he _passes_; I
_fix_, thou _fixest_, he _fixes_; I _preach_, thou _preachest_, he
_preaches_; I _blush_, thou _blushest_, he _blushes_; I _judge_, thou
_judgest_, he _judges_. But verbs ending in _o_ or _y_ preceded by a
consonant, do not exactly follow either of the foregoing rules. In these,
_y_ is changed into _i_; and, to both _o_ and _i, est_ and _es_ are added
without increase of syllables: as, I _go_, thou _goest_, he _goes_; I
_undo_, thou _undoest_,[253] he _undoes_; I _fly_, thou _fliest_, he
_flies_; I _pity_, thou _pitiest_, he _pities_. Thus, in the following
lines, _goest_ must be pronounced like _ghost_; otherwise, we spoil the
measure of the verse:

   "Thou _goest_ not now with battle, and the voice
    Of war, as once against the rebel hosts;
    Thou _goest_ a Judge, and _findst_ the guilty bound;
    Thou _goest_ to prove, condemn, acquit, reward."--_Pollok_, B. x.

In solemn prose, however, the termination is here made a separate syllable:
as, I _go_, thou _goëst_, he _goëth_; I _undo_, thou _undoëst_, he
_undoëth_; I _fly_, thou _fliëst_, he _fliëth_; I _pity_, thou _pitiëst_,
he _pitiëth_.

OBS. 38.--The auxiliaries _do, dost, does_,--(pronounced _doo, dust, duz_;
and not as the words _dough, dosed, doze_,--) _am, art, is,--have, hast,
has_,--being also in frequent use as principal verbs of the present tense,
retain their peculiar forms, with distinction of person and number, when
they help to form the compound tenses of other verbs. The other auxiliaries
are not varied, or ought not to be varied, except in the solemn style.
Example of the familiar use: "That thou _may_ be found truly owning
it."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 234.

OBS. 39.--The only regular terminations that are added to English verbs,
are _ing, d_ or _e, st_ or _est, s_ or _es, th_ or _eth_[254] _Ing_, and
_th_ or _eth_, always add a syllable to the verb; except in _doth, hath,
saith_.[255] The rest, whenever their sound will unite with that of the
final syllable of the verb, are usually added without increasing the number
of syllables; otherwise, they are separately pronounced. In solemn
discourse, however, _ed_ and _est_ are by most speakers uttered distinctly
in all cases; except sometimes when a vowel precedes: as in _sanctified,
glorified_, which are pronounced as three syllables only. Yet, in spite of
this analogy, many readers will have _sanctifiest_ and _glorifiest_ to be
words of four syllables. If this pronunciation is proper, it is only so in
solemn prose. The prosody of verse will show how many syllables the poets
make: as,

   "Thou _diedst_, a most rare boy, of melancholy!"
        --_Shak., Cymb._, Act iv, sc. 2.

    "Had not a voice thus warn'd me: What thou _seest_,
    What there thou _seest_, fair creature, is thyself."
        --_Milton_, B. iv, l. 467.

    "By those thou _wooedst_ from death to endless life."
        --_Pollok_, B. ix, l. 7.

    "Attend: that thou art happy, owe to God;
    That thou _continuest_ such, owe to thyself"
        --_Milton_, B. v, l. 520.

OBS. 40.--If the grave and full form of the second person singular must
needs be supposed to end rather with the syllable _est_ than with _st_
only, it is certain that this form may be _contracted_, whenever the verb
ends in a sound which will unite with that of _st_. The poets generally
employ the briefer or contracted forms; but they seem not to have adopted a
uniform and consistent method of writing them. Some usually insert the
apostrophe, and, after a single vowel, double the final consonant before
_st_; as, _hold'st, bidd'st, said'st, ledd'st, wedd'st, trimm'st, may'st,
might'st_, and so forth: others, in numerous instances, add _st_ only, and
form permanent contractions; as, _holdst, bidst, saidst, ledst, wedst,
trimst, mayst, mightst_, and so forth. Some retain the vowel _e_, in the
termination of certain words, and suppress a preceding one; as,
_quick'nest, happ'nest, scatt'rest, rend'rest, rend'redst, slumb'rest,
slumb'redst_: others contract the termination of such words, and insert the
apostrophe; as, _quicken'st, happen'st, scatter'st, render'st, render'dst,
slumber'st, slumber'dst_. The nature and idiom of our language, "the accent
and pronunciation of it," incline us to abbreviate or "contract even all
our regular verbs;" so as to avoid, if possible, an increase of syllables
in the inflection of them. Accordingly, several terminations which formerly
constituted distinct syllables, have been either wholly dropped, or blended
with the final syllables of the verbs to which they are added. Thus the
plural termination _en_ has become entirely obsolete; _th_ or _eth_ is no
longer in common use; _ed_ is contracted in pronunciation; the ancient _ys_
or _is_, of the third person singular, is changed to _s_ or _es_, and is
usually added without increase of syllables; and _st_ or _est_ has, in
part, adopted the analogy. So that the proper mode of forming these
contractions of the second person singular, seems to be, to add _st_ only;
and to insert no apostrophe, unless a vowel is suppressed from the verb to
which this termination is added: as, _thinkst, sayst, bidst, sitst, satst,
lov'st, lov'dst, slumberst, slumber'dst_.

   "And know, for that thou _slumberst_ on the guard,
    Thou shalt be made to answer at the bar."--_Cotton_.

OBS. 41.--Ho man deserves more praise for his attention to English
pronunciation, than John Walker. His Pronouncing Dictionary was, for a long
period, the best standard of orthoëpy, that our schools possessed. But he
seems to me to have missed a figure, in preferring such words as
_quick'nest, strength'nest_, to the smoother and more regular forms,
_quickenst, strengthenst_. It is true that these are rough words, in any
form you can give them; but let us remember, that needless apostrophes are
as rough to the eye, as needless _st_'s to the ear. Our common grammarians
are disposed to encumber the language with as many of both as they can find
any excuse for, and vastly more than can be sustained by any good argument.
In words that are well understood to be contracted in pronunciation, the
apostrophe is now less frequently used than it was formerly. Walker says,
"This contraction of the participial _ed_, and the verbal _en_, is so fixed
an idiom of our pronunciation, that to alter it, would be to alter the
sound of the whole language. It must, however, be regretted that it
subjects our tongue to some of the most hissing, snapping, clashing,
grinding sounds that ever grated the ears of a Vandal; thus, _rasped,
scratched, wrenched, bridled, fangled, birchen, hardened, strengthened,
quickened_, &c. almost frighten us when written as they are actually
pronounced, as _rapt, scratcht, wrencht, bridl'd, fangl'd, birch'n,
strength'n'd, quick'n'd_, &c.; they become still more formidable when used
contractedly in the solemn style, which never ought to be the case; for
here instead of _thou strength'n'st_ or _strength'n'd'st, thou quick'n'st_
or _quick'n'd'st_, we ought to pronounce _thou strength'nest_ or
_strength'nedst, thou quick'nest_ or _quick'nedst_, which are sufficiently
harsh of all conscience."--_Principles_, No. 359. Here are too many
apostrophes; for it does not appear that such words as _strengthenedest_
and _quickenedest_ ever existed, except in the imagination of certain
grammarians. In solemn prose one may write, _thou quickenest, thou
strengthenest_, or _thou quickenedst, thou strengthenedst_; but, in the
familiar style, or in poetry, it is better to write, _thou quickenst, thou
strengthenst, thou quickened, thou strengthened_. This is language which it
is possible to utter; and it is foolish to strangle ourselves with strings
of rough consonants, merely because they are insisted on by some
superficial grammarians. Is it not strange, is it not incredible, that the
same hand should have written the two following lines, in the same
sentence? Surely, the printer has been at fault.

   "With noiseless foot, thou _walkedst_ the vales of earth"--
    "Most honourable thou _appeared_, and most
    To be desired."--_Pollok's Course of Time_, B. ix, l. 18, and l. 24.

OBS. 42.--It was once a very common practice, to retain the final _y_, in
contractions of the preterit or of the second person of most verbs that end
in _y_, and to add the consonant terminations _d, st_, and _dst_, with an
apostrophe before each; as, _try'd_ for _tried, reply'd_ for _replied,
try'st_ for _triest, try'dst_ for _triedst_. Thus Milton:--

   "Thou following _cry'dst_ aloud, Return, fair Eve;
    Whom _fly'st_ thou? whom thou _fly'st_, of him thou art."
        --_P. L._, B. iv, l. 481.

This usage, though it may have been of some advantage as an index to the
pronunciation of the words, is a palpable departure from the common rule
for spelling such derivatives. That rule is, "The final _y_ of a primitive
word, when preceded by a consonant, is changed into _i_ before an
additional termination." The works of the British poets, except those of
the present century, abound with contractions like the foregoing; but late
authors, or their printers, have returned to the rule; and the former
practice is wearing out and becoming obsolete. Of regular verbs that end in
_ay, ey_, or _oy_, we have more than half a hundred; all of which usually
retain the _y_ in their derivatives, agreeably to an other of the rules for
spelling. The preterits of these we form by adding _ed_ without increase of
syllables; as, _display, displayed; survey, surveyed; enjoy, enjoyed_.
These also, in both tenses, may take _st_ without increase of syllables;
as, _display'st, display'dst_; _survey'st, survey'dst; enjoy'st,
enjoy'dst_. All these forms, and such as these, are still commonly
considered contractions, and therefore written with the apostrophe; but if
the termination _st_ is sufficient of itself to mark the second person
singular, as it certainly is considered to be as regards one half of them,
and as it certainly was in the Saxon tongue still more generally, then for
the other half there is no need of the apostrophe, because nothing is
omitted. _Est_, like _es_, is generally a syllabic termination; but _st_,
like _s_, is not. As signs of the third person, the _s_ and the _es_ are
always considered equivalent; and, as signs of the second person, the _st_
and the _est_ are sometimes, and ought to be always, considered so too. To
all verbs that admit the sound, we add the _s_ without marking it as a
contraction for _es_; and there seems to be no reason at all against adding
the _st_ in like manner, whenever we choose to form the second person
without adding a syllable to the verb. The foregoing observations I commend
to the particular attention of all those who hope to write such English as
shall do them honour--to every one who, from a spark of literary ambition,
may say of himself,

                  ---------"I twine
    My hopes of being remembered in my line
    With my land's language."--_Byron's Childe Harold_, Canto iv, st. 9.


THE CONJUGATION OF VERBS.

The conjugation of a verb is a regular arrangement of its moods, tenses,
persons, numbers, and participles.

There are four PRINCIPAL PARTS in the conjugation of every simple and
complete verb; namely, the _Present_, the _Preterit_, the _Imperfect
Participle_, and the _Perfect Participle_.[256] A verb which wants any of
these parts, is called _defective_; such are most of the auxiliaries.

An _auxiliary_ is a short verb prefixed to one of the principal parts of an
other verb, to express some particular mode and time of the being, action,
or passion. The auxiliaries are _do, be, have, shall, will, may, can_, and
_must_, with their variations.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The _present_, or the verb in the present tense, is radically the
same in all the moods, and is the part from which all the rest are formed.
The present infinitive is commonly considered _the root_, or _simplest
form_, of the English verb. We usually place the _preposition_ TO _before_
it; but never when with an auxiliary it forms a compound tense that is not
infinitive: there are also some other exceptions, which plainly show, that
the word _to_ is neither a part of the verb, as Cobbett, R. C. Smith, S.
Kirkham, and Wells, say it is; nor a part of the infinitive mood, as Hart
and many others will have it to be, but a distinct _preposition_. (See, in
the _Syntax_ of this work, Observations on Rule 18th.) The preterit and the
perfect participle are regularly formed by adding _d_ or _ed_, and the
imperfect participle, by adding _ing_, to the present.

OBS. 2.--The moods and tenses, in English, are formed partly by
inflections, or changes made in the verb itself, and partly by the
combination of the verb or its participle, with a few short verbs, called
_auxiliaries_, or _helping verbs_. This view of the subject, though
disputed by some, is sustained by such a preponderance both of authority
and of reason, that I shall not trouble the reader with any refutation of
those who object to it. Murray the schoolmaster observes, "In the English
language, the times and modes of verbs are expressed in a perfect, easy,
and beautiful manner, by the aid of a few little words called
_auxiliaries_, or _helping verbs_. The possibility of a thing is expressed
by _can_ or _could_; the liberty to do a thing, by _may_ or _might_; the
inclination of the will, by _will_ or _would_; the necessity of a thing, by
_must_ or _ought, shall_ or _should_. The preposition _to_ is never
expressed after the helping verbs, except after _ought_."--_Alex. Murray's
Gram._, p. 112. See nearly the same words in _Buchanan's English Syntax_,
p. 36; and in _the British Gram._, p. 125.

OBS. 3.--These authors are wrong in calling _ought_ a helping verb, and so
is Oliver B. Peirce, in calling "_ought to_," and "_ought to have_"
auxiliaries; for no auxiliary ever admits the preposition _to_ after it or
into it: and Murray of Holdgate is no less in fault, for calling _let_ an
auxiliary; because no mere auxiliary ever governs the objective case. The
sentences, "He _ought_ to _help_ you," and, "_Let_ him _help_ you,"
severally involve two different moods: they are equivalent to, "It _is his
duty_ to _help_ you;"--"_Permit_ him _to help_ you." Hence _ought_ and
_let_ are not auxiliaries, but principal verbs.

OBS. 4.--Though most of the auxiliaries are defective, when compared with
other verbs; yet these three, _do, be_, and _have_, being also principal
verbs, are complete: but the participles of _do_ and _have_ are not used as
auxiliaries; unless _having_, which helps to form the third or "compound
perfect" participle, (as _having loved_,) may be considered such. The other
auxiliaries have no participles.

OBS. 5.--English verbs are principally conjugated by means of auxiliaries;
the only tenses which can be formed by the simple verb, being the present
and the imperfect; as, I _love_, I _loved_. And even here an auxiliary is
usually preferred in questions and negations; as, "_Do_ you love?"--"You
_do_ not _love_." "_Did_ he _love_?"--"He _did_ not _love_." "_Do_ I not
yet _grieve_?"--"_Did_ she not _die_?" All the other tenses, even in their
simplest form, are compounds.

OBS. 6.--Dr. Johnson says, "_Do_ is sometimes used superfluously, as _I_ do
_love, I_ did _love_; simply for _I love_, or _I loved_; but this is
considered as a _vitious_ mode of speech."--_Gram., in 4to Dict._, p. 8. He
also somewhere tells us, that these auxiliaries "are not proper before _be_
and _have_;" as, "_I do be_," for _I am_; "_I did have_," for _I had_. The
latter remark is generally true, and it ought to be remembered;[257] but,
in the _imperative mood, be_ and _have_ will perhaps admit the emphatic
word _do_ before them, in a colloquial style: as, "Now _do be_
careful;"--"_Do have_ a little discretion." Sanborn repeatedly puts _do_
before _be_, in this mood: as, "_Do_ you _be. Do_ you _be_ guarded. _Do_
thou _be. Do_ thou _be_ guarded."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 150. "_Do_ thou
_be_ watchful."--_Ib._, p. 155. In these instances, he must have forgotten
that he had elsewhere said positively, that, "_Do_, as an auxiliary, _is
never used_ with the verb _be_ or _am_."--_Ib._, p. 112. In the other
moods, it is seldom, if ever, proper before _be_; but it is sometimes used
before _have_, especially with a negative: as, "Those modes of charity
which _do not have_ in view the cultivation of moral excellence, are
essentially defective."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 428. "Surely, the
law of God, whether natural or revealed, _does not have_ respect merely to
the external conduct of men."--_Stuart's Commentary on Romans_, p. 158.
"And each day of our lives _do we have_ occasion to see and lament
it."--_Dr. Bartlett's Lecture on Health_, p. 5. "Verbs, in themselves
considered, _do not have_ person and number."--_R. C. Smith's New Gram._,
p. 21. [This notion of Smith's is absurd. Kirkham taught the same as
regards "person."] In the following example, _does he_ is used for
_is_,--the auxiliary _is_,--and perhaps allowably: "It is certain from
scripture, that the same person _does_ in the course of life many times
offend and _be_ forgiven."--_West's Letters to a Young Lady_, p. 182.

OBS. 7.--In the compound tenses, there is never any variation of ending for
the different persons and numbers, except in the _first auxiliary_: as,
"Thou _wilt have finished_ it;" not, "Thou _wilt hast finishedst_ it;" for
this is nonsense. And even for the former, it is better to say, in the
familiar style, "Thou _will have finished_ it;" for it is characteristic of
many of the auxiliaries, that, unlike other verbs, they are not varied by
_s_ or _eth_, in the third person singular, and never by _st_ or _est_, in
the second person singular, except in the solemn style. Thus all the
auxiliaries of the potential mood, as well as _shall_ and _will_ of the
indicative, are without inflection in the third person singular, though
_will_, as a principal verb, makes _wills_ or _willeth_, as well as
_willest_, in the indicative present. Hence there appears a tendency in the
language, to confine the inflection of its verbs to _this tense only_; and
to the auxiliary _have, hast, has_, which is essentially present, though
used with a participle to form the perfect. _Do, dost, does_, and _am, art,
is_, whether used as auxiliaries or as principal verbs, are always of the
indicative present.

OBS. 8.--The word _need_,--(though, as a principal verb and transitive, it
is unquestionably both regular and complete,--having all the requisite
parts, _need, needed, needing, needed_,--and being necessarily inflected in
the indicative present, as, I _need_, thou _needst_ or _needest_, he
_needs_ or _needeth_,--) is so frequently used without inflection, when
placed before an other verb to express a necessity of the being, action, or
passion, that one may well question whether it has not become, under these
circumstances, an _auxiliary_ of the potential mood; and therefore proper
to be used, like all the other auxiliaries of this mood, without change of
termination. I have not yet knowingly used it so myself, nor does it appear
to have been classed with the auxiliaries, by any of our grammarians,
except Webster.[258] I shall therefore not presume to say now, with
positiveness, that it deserves this rank; (though I incline to think it
does;) but rather quote such instances as have occurred to me in reading,
and leave the student to take his choice, whether to condemn as bad English
the uninflected examples, or to justify them in this manner. "He that can
swim, _need_ not despair to fly."--_Johnson's Rasselas_, p. 29. "One
therefore _needs_ not expect to do it."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 155. "In
so doing I should only record some vain opinions of this age, which a
future one _need_ not know."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 345. "That a boy
_needs_ not be kept at school."--LISDSEY: _in Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 164.
"No man _need_ promise, unless he please."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p.
312. "What better reason _needs_ be given?"--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 51. "He
_need_ assign no other reason for his conduct."--_Wayland, ib._, p. 214.
"Sow there is nothing that a man _needs_ be ashamed of in all
this."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 45. "No notice _need_ be taken of the
advantages."--_Walker's Rhyming Dict._, Vol. ii, p. 304. "Yet it _needs_
not be repeated."--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 51. "He _need_ not be
anxious."--_Greenleaf's Gram. Simplified_, p. 38. "He _needs_ not be
afraid."--_Fisk's Gram. Simplified_, p. 124. "He who will not learn to
spell, _needs_ not learn to write."--_Red Book_, p. 22. "The heeder _need_
be under no fear."--_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 38.[259] "More _need_ not be
said about it."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 272. "The object _needs_ not be
expressed."--_Booth's Introduct. to Dict._, p. 37. "Indeed, there _need_ be
no such thing."--_Fosdick's De Sacy_, p. 71. "This _needs_ to be
illustrated."--_Ib._, p. 81. "And no part of the sentence _need_ be
omitted."--_Parkhurst's Grammar for Beginners_, p. 114. "The learner
_needs_ to know what sort of words are called verbs."--_Ib._, p. 6. "No one
_need_ be apprehensive of suffering by faults of this kind."--_Sheridan's
Elocution_, p. 171. "The student who has bought any of the former copies
_needs_ not repent."--_Dr. Johnson, Adv. to Dict._ "He _need_ not enumerate
their names."--_Edward's First Lessons in Grammar_, p. 38. "A quotation
consisting of a word or two only _need_ not begin with a
capital."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 383. "Their sex is commonly known, and
_needs_ not to be marked."--_Ib._, p. 72; _Murray's Octavo Gram._, 51. "One
_need_ only open Lord Clarendon's history, to find examples every
where."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 108. "Their sex is commonly known, and _needs_
not be marked."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 21; _Murray's Duodecimo Gram._, p. 51.
"Nobody _need_ be afraid he shall not have scope enough."--LOCKE: _in
Sanborn's Gram._, p. 168. "No part of the science of language, _needs to be
ever_ uninteresting to the pursuer."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. vii. "The exact
amount of knowledge is not, and _need_ not be, great."--_Todd's Student's
Manual_, p. 44. "He _needs to_ act under a motive which is
all-pervading."--_Ib._, p. 375. "What _need_ be said, will not occupy a
long space."--_Ib._, p. 244. "The sign TO _needs_ not always be
used."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 96. "Such as he _need_ not be ashamed
of."--_Snelling's Gift for Scribblers_, p. 23.

   "_Needst_ thou--_need_ any one on earth--despair?"--_Ib._, p. 32.

    "Take timely counsel; if your dire disease
    Admits no cure, it _needs_ not to displease."--_Ib._, p. 14.

OBS. 9.--If _need_ is to be recognized as an auxiliary of the potential
mood, it must be understood to belong to two tenses; the present and the
perfect; like _may, can_, and _must_: as, "He _need_ not _go_, he _need_
not _have gone_; Thou _need_ not _go, Thou need_ not _have gone_;" or, in
the solemn style, "Thou _needst_ not go, Thou _needst_ not _have gone_."
If, on the contrary, we will have it to be always a principal verb, the
distinction of time should belong to itself, and also the distinction of
person and number, in the parts which require it: as, "He _needs_ not go.
He _needed_ not go; Thou _needst_ not go, Thou _needed_ not go;" or, in the
solemn style, "Thou _needest_ not go, Thou _neededst_ not go." Whether it
can be right to say, "He _needed_ not _have gone_," is at least
questionable. From the observations of Murray, upon relative tenses, under
his thirteenth rule of syntax, it seems fair to infer that he would have
judged this phraseology erroneous. Again, "He _needs_ not _have gone_,"
appears to be yet more objectionable, though for the same reason. And if,
"He _need_ not _have gone_," is a correct expression, _need_ is clearly
proved to be an _auxiliary_, and the three words taken together must form
the potential perfect. And so of the plural; for the argument is from the
connexion of the tenses, and not merely from the tendency of auxiliaries to
reject inflection: as, "They need not _have been_ under great concern about
their public affairs."--_Hutchinson's History_, i, 194, From these
examples, it may be seen that an auxiliary and a principal verb have some
essential difference; though these who dislike the doctrine of compound
tenses, pretend not to discern any. Take some further citations; a few of
which are erroneous in respect to time. And observe also that the regular
verb sometimes admits the preposition _to_ after it: "' There is great
dignity in being waited for,' said one who had the habit of tardiness, and
who _had_ not much else of which he _need_ be vain."--_Students Manual_, p.
64. "But he _needed_ not _have gone_ so far for more instances."--
_Johnson's Gram._ _Com._, p. 143. "He _need_ not _have said_, 'perhaps the
virtue.'"--_Sedgwick's Economy_, p. 196. "I _needed_ not _to ask_ how she
felt."--_Abbott's Young Christian_, p. 84. "It _need_ not _have been_
so."--_Ib._, p. 111. "The most unaccommodating politician _need_ not
absolutely _want_ friends."--_Hunts Feast of the Poets_, p. iii. "Which
therefore _needs_ not be introduced with much precaution."--_Campbell's
Rhet._, p. 326. "When an obscurer term _needs_ to be explained by one that
is clearer."--_Ib._, p. 367. "Though, if she had died younger, she _need_
not _have known it_."--_West's Letters_, p. 120. "Nothing _need_ be said,
but that they were the _most perfect_ barbarisms."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
470. "He _need_ not go."--_Goodenow's Gram._, p. 36. "He _needed_ but use
the word _body_."--LOCKE: _in Joh. Dict._ "He _need_ not be required to use
them."--_Parker's Eng. Composition_, p. 50. "The last consonant of _appear_
need not be doubled."--_Dr. Webster_. "It _needs_ the less _to be
inforced_."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 158. "Of these pieces of his, we
_shall not need to give_ any particular account."--_Seneca's Morals_, p. vi
"And therefore I _shall need say_ the less of them."--_Scougal_, p. 1101.
"This compounding of words _need_ occasion no surprise."--_Cardell's Essay
on Language_, p. 87.

   "Therefore stay, thou _needst_ not to be gone."--_Shakspeare_.

    "Thou _need_ na _start_ awa sae hasty."--_Burns, Poems_, p. 15.

    "Thou _need_ na _jouk_ behint the hallan."--_Id., ib._, p. 67.

OBS. 10.--The auxiliaries, except _must_, which is invariable, have
severally two forms in respect to tense, or time; and when inflected in the
second and third persons singular, are usually varied in the following
manner:--

TO DO.

PRESENT TENSE; AND SIGN OF THE INDICATIVE PRESENT.

_Sing_. I do, thou dost, he does;
_Plur_. We do, you do, they do.

IMPERFECT TENSE; AND SIGN of THE INDICATIVE IMPERFECT.

_Sing_. I did, thou didst, he did;
_Plur_. We did, you did, they did.


TO BE.

PRESENT TENSE; AND SIGN OF THE INDICATIVE PRESENT.

_Sing_. I am, thou art, he is;
_Plur_. We are, you are, they are.

IMPERFECT TENSE; AND SIGN OF THE INDICATIVE IMPERFECT.

_Sing_. I was, thou wast, he was;
_Plur_. We were, you were; they were.


TO HAVE.

PRESENT TENSE; BUT SIGN OF THE INDICATIVE PERFECT.

_Sing_. I have, thou hast, he has;
_Plur_. We have, you have, they have.

IMPERFECT TENSE; BUT SIGN OF THE INDICATIVE PLUPERFECT.

_Sing_. I had, thou hadst, he had;
_Plur_. We had, you had, they had.


SHALL AND WILL.

These auxiliaries have distinct meanings, and, as signs of the future, they
are interchanged thus:

PRESENT TENSE; BUT SIGNS OF THE INDICATIVE FIRST-FUTURE.

1. Simply to express a future action or event:--

_Sing_. I shall, thou wilt, he will;
_Plur_. We shall, you will, they will.

2. To express a promise, command, or threat:--

_Sing_.: I will, thou shalt, he shall;
_Plur_. We will, you shall, they shall.

IMPERFECT TENSE; BUT, AS SIGNS, AORIST, OR INDEFINITE.

1. Used with reference to duty or expediency:--

_Sing._ I should, thou shouldst, he should;
_Plur._ We should, you should, they should.

2. Used with reference to volition or desire:--

_Sing._ I would, thou wouldst, he would;
_Plur._ We would, you would, they would.


MAY.

PRESENT TENSE; AND SIGN OF THE POTENTIAL PRESENT.

_Sing._ I may, thou mayst, he may;
_Plur._ We may, you may, they may.

IMPERFECT TENSE; AND SIGN OF THE POTENTIAL IMPERFECT.

_Sing._ I might, thou mightst, he might;
_Plur._ We might, you might, they might.


CAN.

PRESENT TENSE; AND SIGN OF THE POTENTIAL PRESENT.

_Sing._ I can, thou canst, he can;
_Plur._ We can, you can, they can.

IMPERFECT TENSE; AND SIGN OF THE POTENTIAL IMPERFECT.

_Sing._ I could, thou couldst, he could;
_Plur._ We could, you could, they could.


MUST.

PRESENT TENSE; AND SIGN OF THE POTENTIAL PRESENT.

_Sing._ I must, thou must, he must;
_Plur._ We must, you must, they must.

If must is ever used in the sense of the Imperfect tense, or Preterit, the
form is the same as that of the Present: this word is entirely invariable.

OBS. 11.--Several of the auxiliaries are occasionally used as mere
expletives, being quite unnecessary to the sense: as, 1. DO and DID: "And
it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest _do_ creep
forth."--_Psalms_, civ, 20. "And ye, that on the sands with printless foot
_do_ chase the ebbing Neptune, and _do_ fly him when he comes
back."--_Shak._ "And if a man _did_ need a poison now."--_Id._ This
needless use of do and did is now avoided by good writers. 2. SHALL,
SHOULD, and COULD: "'Men _shall_ deal unadvisedly sometimes, which
after-hours give leisure to repent of.' I _should_ advise you to proceed. I
_should_ think it would succeed. He, it _should_ seem, thinks
otherwise."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 65. "I _could_ wish you to go."--_Ib._,
p. 71. 3. WILL, &c. The following are nearly of the same character, but not
exactly: "The isle is full of noises; sometimes a thousand twanging
instruments _will_ hum about mine ears."--_Shak._ "In their evening sports
she _would_ steal in amongst them."--_Barbauld_.

   "His listless length at noontide _would_ he stretch."--_Gray_.

OBS. 12.--As our old writers often formed the infinitive in _en_, so they
sometimes dropped the termination of the perfect participle. Hence we find,
in the infancy of the language, _done_ used for _do_, and _do_ for _done_;
and that by the same hand, with like changes in other verbs: as, "Thou
canst nothing _done_."--_Chaucer_. "As he was wont to _done_."--_Id._ "The
treson that to women hath be _do_."--_Id._ "For to _ben_ honourable and
free."--_Id._ "I am sworn to _holden_ it secre."--_Id._ "Our nature God
hath to him _unyte_."--_Douglas_. "None otherwise negligent than I you saie
haue I not _bee_."--_Id._ See _W. Allen's E. Gram._, p. 97.

   "But netheless the thynge is _do_,
    That fals god was soone _go_."--GOWER: _H. Tooke_, Vol. i, p. 376.

OBS. 13.--"_May_ is from the Anglo-Saxon, _mægan_, to be able. In the
parent language also, it is used as an auxiliary. It is exhibited by
Fortescue, as a principal verb; 'They shall _may_ do it:' i. e. they shall
be able (to) do it."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 70. "_May not_, was formerly
used for _must not_; as, 'Graces for which we _may not_ cease to sue.'
Hooker."--_Ib._, p. 91. "_May_ frequently expresses doubt of the fact; as,
'I _may_ have the book in my library, but I think I have not.' It is used
also, to express doubt, or a consequence, with a future signification; as,
'I _may_ recover the use of my limbs, but I see little probability of
it.'--'That they _may_ receive me into their houses.' _Luke_, xvi,
4."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 247. In these latter instances, the potential
present is akin to the subjunctive. Hence Lowth and others improperly call
"I _may love_," &c. the subjunctive mood. Others, for the same reason, and
with as little propriety, deny that we have any subjunctive mood; alleging
an ellipsis in every thing that bears that name: as, "'If it (_may_) _be_
possible, live peaceably with all men.' Scriptures."--_W. Allen's Gram._,
p. 61. _May_ is also a sign of wishing, and consequently occurs often in
prayer: as, "_May_ it be thy good pleasure;"--"O that it _may_ please
thee;"--"_Mayst_ thou be pleased." Hence the potential is akin also to the
imperative: the phrases, "Thy will be done,"--"_May_ thy will be
done,"--"Be thy will done,"--"_Let_ thy will be done,"--are alike in
meaning, but not in mood or construction.

OBS. 14.--_Can_, to be able, is etymologically the same as the regular
verbs _ken_, to see, and _con_, to learn; all of them being derived from
the Saxon _connan_ or _cunnan_, to know: whence also the adjective cunning,
which was formerly a participle. In the following example _will_ and _can_
are principal verbs: "In evil, the best condition is, not to _will_; the
second, not to _can_."--_Ld. Bacon_. "That a verb which signifies
knowledge, may also signify power, appears from these examples: _Je ne
saurois, I should not know how_, (i. e. _could_ not.) [Greek: Asphalisasthe
hos oidate], Strengthen it as you _know how_, (i. e. as you _can_.)
_Nescio_ mentiri, I _know not how to_ (i.e. _I cannot_) lie."--_W. Allen's
Gram._, p. 71. _Shall_, Saxon _sceal_, originally signified to _owe_; for
which reason _should_ literally means _ought_. In the following example
from Chaucer, _shall_ is a principal verb, with its original meaning:

   "For, by the faith I _shall_ to God, I wene,
    Was neuer straungir none in hir degre."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 64.

OBS. 15.--_Do_ and _did_ are auxiliary only to the present infinitive, or
the radical verb; as, _do throw, did throw_: thus the mood of _do throw_ or
_to throw_ is marked by _do_ or _to_. _Be_, in all its parts, is auxiliary
to either of the simple participles; as, _to be throwing, to be thrown; I
am throwing, I am thrown_: and so, through the whole conjugation. _Have_
and _had_, in their literal use, are auxiliary to the perfect participle
only; as, _have thrown, had thrown. Have_ is from the Saxon _habban_, to
possess; and, from the nature of the perfect participle, the tenses thus
formed, suggest in general a completion of the action. The French idiom is
similar to this: as, _J'ai vu_, I have seen. _Shall_ and _should, will_ and
_would, may_ and _might, can_ and _could, must_, and also _need, (if we
call the last a helping verb,) are severally auxiliary to both forms of the
infinitive, and to these only: as, shall throw, shall have thrown; should
throw, should have thrown_; and so of all the rest.

OBS. 16.--The form of the indicative pluperfect is sometimes used in lieu
of the potential pluperfect; as, "If all the world could have seen it, the
wo _had been_ universal."--_Shakspeare_. That is,--"_would have been_
universal." "I _had been drowned_, but that the shore was shelvy and
shallow."--_Id._ That is,--"I _should have been drowned_." This mode of
expression may be referred to the figure _enallage_, in which one word or
one modification is used for an other. Similar to this is the use of _were_
for _would be_: "It _were_ injustice to deny the execution of the law to
any individual;" that is, "it _would_ be injustice."--_Murray's Grammar_,
p. 89. In some instances, _were_ and _had been_ seem to have the same
import; as, "Good _were_ it for that man if he had never been
born."--_Mark_, xiv, 21. "It _had been_ good for that man if he had not
been born."--_Matt._, xxvi, 24. In prose, all these licenses are needless,
if not absolutely improper. In poetry, their brevity may commend them to
preference; but to this style, I think, they ought to be confined: as,

   "That _had been_ just, replied the reverend bard;
    But done, fair youth, thou ne'er _hadst met_ me here."--_Pollok_.

    "The keystones of the arch!--though all were o'er,
    For us repeopled _were_ the solitary shore."--_Byron_.

OBS. 17.--With an adverb of comparison or preference, as _better, rather,
best, as lief_, or _as lieve_, the auxiliary _had_ seems sometimes to be
used before the infinitive to form the potential imperfect or pluperfect:
as, "He that loses by getting, _had better lose_ than get."--_Penn's
Maxims_. "Other prepositions _had better have been substituted_."--
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 166. "I had as lief say."--LOWTH: _ib._, p. 110.
"It compels me to think of that which I _had rather forget_."--
_Bickersteth, on Prayer_, p. 25. "You _had much better say_ nothing upon
the subject."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 147. "I _had much rather show_ thee
what hopes thou hast before thee."--_Baxter_. "I _had rather speak_ five
words with my understanding, than ten thousand words in an unknown
tongue."--_1 Cor._, xiv, 19. "I knew a gentleman in America who told me
_how much rather he had be_ a woman than the man he is."--_Martineau's
Society in America_, Vol. i, p. 153. "I _had as lief go_ as not."--
_Webster's Dict., w. Lief_. "I _had as lieve_ the town crier spoke my
lines."--SHAK.: _Hamlet_. "We _had best leave_ nature to her own
operations."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 310. "What method _had he
best take_?"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. ix. These are equivalent to the
phrases, _might better lose--might_ better have been substituted--_would_
as lief say--_would_ rather forget--_might_ much better say--_would_ much
rather show--_would_ rather speak--how much rather he _would_ be--_would_
as lief go--_should_ best leave--_might_ he best take; and, for the sake of
regularity, these latter forms ought to be preferred, as they sometimes
are: thus, "For my own part, I _would rather look_ upon a tree in all its
luxuriancy."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 414; _Blair's Rhet._, p. 223. The
following construction is different: "Augustus _had like to_ have been
slain."--_S. Butler_. Here _had_ is a principal verb of the indicative
imperfect. The following examples appear to be positively erroneous: "Much
that was said, _had better remained_ unsaid."--_N. Y. Observer_. Say,
"_might better have remained_." "A man that is lifting a weight, if he put
not sufficient strength to it, _had as good_ put none at all."--_Baxter_.
Say, "_might as well put_." "You _were better pour_ off the first infusion,
and use the latter."--_Bacon_. Say, "_might better pour_;" or, if you
prefer it, "_had better pour._" Shakspeare has an expression which is still
worse:--

   "Or, by the worth of mine eternal soul,
    Thou _hadst been better have been born_ a dog."--_Beauties_, p. 295.

OBS. 18.--The form of conjugating the active verb, is often called the
_Active Voice_, and that of the passive verb, the _Passive Voice_. These
terms are borrowed from the Latin and Greek grammars, and, except as
serving to diversify expression, are of little or no use in English
grammar. Some grammarians deny that there is any propriety in them, with
respect to any language. De Sacy, after showing that the import of the verb
does not always follow its form of voice, adds: "We must, therefore,
carefully distinguish the Voice of a Verb from its signification. To
facilitate the distinction, I denominate that an _Active_ Verb which
contains an Attribute in which the action is considered as performed by the
Subject; and that a _Passive_ Verb which contains an Attribute in which the
action is considered as suffered by the Subject, and performed upon it by
some agent. I call that voice a _Subjective_ Voice which is generally
appropriated to the Active Verb, and that an _Objective_ Voice which is
generally appropriated to the Passive Verb. As to the Neuter Verbs, if they
possess a peculiar form, I call it a Neuter Voice."--_Fosdick's
Translation_, p. 99.

OBS. 19.--A recognition of the difference between actives and passives, in
our original classification of verbs with respect to their signification,--
a principle of division very properly adopted in a great majority of our
grammars and dictionaries, but opinionately rejected by Webster, Bolles,
and sundry late grammarians,--renders it unnecessary, if not improper, to
place Voices, the Active Voice and the Passive, among the _modifications_
of our verbs, or to speak of them as such in the conjugations. So must it
be in respect to "a Neuter Voice," or any other distinction which the
classification involves. The significant characteristic is not overlooked;
the distinction is not neglected as nonessential; but it is transferred to
a different category. Hence I cannot exactly approve of the following
remark, which "the Rev. W. Allen" appears to cite with approbation: "'The
distinction of active or passive,' says the accurate Mr. Jones, '_is not
essential_ to verbs. In the infancy of language, it was, in all
probability, not known. In Hebrew, the difference but imperfectly exists,
and, in the early periods of it, probably did not exist at all. In Arabic,
the only distinction which obtains, arises from the vowel points, a late
invention compared with the antiquity of that language. And in our own
tongue, the names of _active_ and _passive_ would have remained unknown, if
they had not been learnt in Latin.'"--_Allen's Elements of English Gram._,
p. 96.

OBS. 20.--By _the conjugation_ of a verb, some teachers choose to
understand nothing more than the naming of its principal parts; giving to
the arrangement of its numbers and persons, through all the moods and
tenses, the name of _declension._ This is a misapplication of terms, and
the distinction is as needless, as it is contrary to general usage. Dr.
Bullions, long silent concerning principal parts, seems now to make a
singular distinction between "_conjugating_" and "_conjugation._" His
_conjugations_ include the moods, tenses, and inflections of verbs; but he
teaches also, with some inaccuracy, as follows: "The principal parts of the
verb are the _Present indicative_, the _Past indicative_ and the _Past
participle._ The mentioning of these parts is called CONJUGATING THE
VERB."--_Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, 1849, p. 80.

OBS. 21.--English verbs having but very few inflections to indicate to what
part of the scheme of moods and tenses they pertain, it is found convenient
to insert in our conjugations the preposition _to_, to mark the infinitive;
personal _pronouns_, to distinguish the persons and numbers; the
conjunction _if_, to denote the subjunctive mood; and the adverb _not_, to
show the form of negation. With these additions, or indexes, a verb may be
conjugated in _four ways_:--

1. Affirmatively; as, I write, I do write, or, I am writing; and so on.

2. Negatively; as, I write not, I do not write, or, I am not writing.

3. Interrogatively; as, Write I? Do I write? or, Am I writing?

4. Interrogatively and negatively; as, Write I not? Do I not write? or, Am
I not writing?

1. SIMPLE FORM, ACTIVE OR NEUTER.

The simplest form of an English conjugation, is that which makes the
present and imperfect tenses without auxiliaries; but, even in these,
auxiliaries are required for the potential mood, and are often preferred
for the indicative.

FIRST EXAMPLE.

_The regular active verb LOVE, conjugated affirmatively_.

PRINCIPAL PARTS.

_Present.  Preterit.  Imperfect Participle.  Perfect Participle._
    Love.     Loved.          Loving.                Loved.


INFINITIVE MOOD.[260]

The infinitive mood is that form of the verb, which expresses the being,
action, or passion, in an unlimited manner, and without person or number.
It is used only in the present and perfect tenses.

PRESENT TENSE.

This tense is the _root_, or _radical verb_; and is usually preceded by the
preposition _to_, which shows its relation to some other word: thus,

To love.

PERFECT TENSE.

This tense prefixes the auxiliary _have_ to the perfect participle; and,
like the infinitive present, is usually preceded by the preposition _to_:
thus,

To have loved.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply indicates or
declares a thing, or asks a question. It is used in all the tenses.

PRESENT TENSE.

The present indicative, in its simple form, is essentially the same as the
present infinitive, or radical verb; except that the verb _be_ has _am_ in
the indicative.

1. The simple form of the present tense is varied thus:--

  _Singular_.         _Plural_.
1st person, I love,      1st person. We love,
2d person, Thou lovest,  2d person, You love,
3d person, He loves;     3d person, They love.

2. This tense may also be formed by prefixing the auxiliary _do_ to the
verb: thus,

  _Singular_.        _Plural_.
1. I do love,           1. We do love,
2. Thou dost love,      2. You do love,
3. He does love;        3. They do love.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

This tense, in its simple form is _the preterit_; which, in all regular
verbs, adds _d_ or _ed_ to the present, but in others is formed variously.

1. The simple form of the imperfect tense is varied thus:--

    _Singular_.   _Plural_.
1. I loved,            1. We loved,
2. Thou lovedst,       2. You loved,
3. He loved;           3. They loved.

2. This tense may also be formed by prefixing the auxiliary _did_ to the
present: thus,

    _Singular_.   _Plural_.
1. I did love,         1. We did love,
2. Thou didst love,    2. You did love,
3. He did love;        3. They did love.

PERFECT TENSE.

This tense prefixes the auxiliary _have_ to the perfect participle: thus,

    _Singular_.     _Plural_.
1. I have loved,       1. We have loved,
2. Thou hast loved,    2. You have loved,
3. He has loved;       3. They have loved.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

This tense prefixes the auxiliary _had_ to the perfect participle: thus,

    _Singular_.       _Plural_.
1. I had loved,        1. We had loved,
2. Thou hadst loved,   2. You had loved,
3. He had loved;       3. They had loved.

FIRST-FUTURE TENSE.

This tense prefixes the auxiliary _shall_ or _will_ to the present: thus,

1. Simply to express a future action or event:--

    _Singular_.        _Plural_.
1. I shall love,       1. We shall love,
2. Thou wilt love,     2. You will love,
3. He will love;       3. They will love;

2. To express a promise, volition, command, or threat:--

    _Singular_.      _Plural_.
1. I will love,        1. We will love,
2. Thou shalt love,    2. You shall love,
3. He shall love;      3. They shall love.

SECOND-FUTURE TENSE.

This tense prefixes the auxiliaries _shall have_ or _will have_ to the
perfect participle: thus,

   _Singular_.          _Plural_.
1. I shall have loved,    1. We shall have loved,
2. Thou wilt have loved,  2. You will have loved,
3. He will have loved;    3. They will have loved.

OBS.--The auxiliary _shall_ may also be used in the second and third
persons of this tense, when preceded by a conjunction expressing condition
or contingency; as, "_If_ he _shall have completed_ the work by
midsummer."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 80. So, with the conjunctive adverb
_when_; as, "Then cometh the end, _when_ he _shall have delivered_ up the
kingdom to God, even the Father; _when_ he _shall have put_ down all rule
and all authority and power."--_1 Cor._, xv, 24. And perhaps _will_ may
here be used in the first person to express a promise, though such usage, I
think, seldom occurs. Professor Fowler has given to this tense, first, the
"_Predictive_" form, as exhibited above, and then a form which he calls
"_Promissive_," and in which the auxiliaries are varied thus: "Singular. 1.
I _will_ have taken. 2. Thou _shalt_ have taken, you _shall_ have taken. 3.
He _shall_ have taken. Plural. 1. We _will_ have taken. 2. Ye _or_ you
_shall_ have taken. 3. He [say _They_,] _shall_ have taken."--_Fowler's E.
Gram._, 8vo., N. Y., 1850, p. 281. But the other instances just cited show
that such a form is not always promissory.


POTENTIAL MOOD.

The potential mood is that form of the verb, which expresses the power,
liberty, possibility, or necessity of the being, action, or passion. It is
used in the first four tenses; but the potential _imperfect_ is properly an
_aorist_: its time is very indeterminate; as, "He _would be_ devoid of
sensibility were he not greatly satisfied."--_Lord Kames, El. of Crit._,
Vol. i, p. 11.


PRESENT TENSE.

This tense prefixes the auxiliary _may, can_, or _must_, to the radical
verb: thus,

    _Singular_.                _Plural_.
1. I may love,                 1. We may love,
2. Thou mayst love,            2. You may love,
3. He may love;                3. They may love.


IMPERFECT TENSE.

This tense prefixes the auxiliary _might, could, would_, or _should_, to
the radical verb: thus,

    _Singular_.                _Plural_.
1. I might love,               1. We might love,
2. Thou mightst love,          2. You might love,
3. He might love;              3. They might love.


PERFECT TENSE.

This tense prefixes the auxiliaries, _may have, can have_, or _must have_,
to the perfect participle: thus,

    _Singular_.                _Plural_.
1. I may have loved,           1. We may have loved,
2. Thou mayst have loved,      2. You may have loved,
3. He may have loved;          3. They may have loved.


PLUPERFECT TENSE.

This tense prefixes the auxiliaries, _might have, could have, would have_,
or _should have_, to the perfect participle: thus,

    _Singular_.               _Plural_.
1. I might have loved,         1. We might have loved,
2. Thou mightst have loved,    2. You might have loved,
3. He might have loved;        3. They might have loved.


SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

The subjunctive mood is that form of the verb, which represents the being,
action, or passion, as conditional, doubtful, or contingent. This mood is
generally preceded by a conjunction; as, _if, that, though, lest, unless,
except_. But sometimes, especially in poetry, it is formed by a mere
placing of the verb before the nominative; as, "_Were I_," for, "_If I
were_;"--"_Had he_," for, "_If he had_;"--"_Fall we_" for, "_If we
fall_;"--"_Knew they_," for, "_If they knew_." It does not vary its
termination at all, in the different persons.[261] It is used in the
present, and sometimes in the imperfect tense; rarely--and perhaps never
_properly_--in any other. As this mood can be used only in a dependent
clause, the _time_ implied in its tenses is always relative, and generally
indefinite; as,

   "It shall be in eternal restless change,
    Self-fed, and self-consum'd: _if this fail_,
    The pillar'd firmament is rottenness."--_Milton, Comus_, l. 596.

PRESENT TENSE.

This tense is generally used to express some condition on which a future
action or event is affirmed. It is therefore erroneously considered by some
grammarians, as an elliptical form of the future.

_Singular_.        _Plural_.
1. If I love,      1. If we love,
2. If Thou love,   2. If you love,
3. If He love;     3. If they love.

OBS.--In this tense, the auxiliary _do_ is sometimes employed; as, "If thou
_do prosper_ my way."--_Genesis_, xxiv, 42. "If he _do_ not _utter_
it."--_Leviticus_, v, 1. "If he _do_ but _intimate_ his desire."--_Murray's
Key_, p. 207. "If he _do promise_, he will certainly perform."--_Ib._, p.
208. "An event which, if it ever _do occur_, must occur in some future
period."--_Hiley's Gram._, (3d Ed., Lond.,) p. 89. "If he _do_ but
_promise_, thou art safe."--_Ib._, 89.

   "Till old experience _do attain_
    To something like prophetic strain."--MILTON: _Il Penseroso_.

These examples, if they are right, prove the tense to be _present_, and not
_future_, as Hiley and some others suppose it to be.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

This tense, like the imperfect of the potential mood, with which it is
frequently connected, is properly an aorist, or indefinite tense; for it
may refer to time past, present, or future: as, "If therefore perfection
_were_ by the Levitical priesthood, what further need _was_ there that an
other priest _should rise_?"--_Heb._, vii, 11. "They must be viewed
_exactly_ in the same light, as if the intention to purchase _now
existed_."--_Murray's Parsing Exercises_, p. 24. "If it _were_ possible,
they _shall deceive_ the very elect."--_Matt._, xxiv, 24. "If the whole
body _were_ an eye, where _were_ the hearing?"--_1 Corinthians_, xii, 17.
"If the thankful _refrained_, it _would be_ pain and grief to
them."--_Atterbury_.

_Singular_.        _Plural_.
1. If I loved,     1. If we loved,
2. If thou loved,  2. If you loved,
3. If he loved;    3. If they loved.

OBS.--In this tense, the auxiliary _did_ is sometimes employed. The
subjunctive may here be distinguished from the indicative, by these
circumstances; namely, that the time is indefinite, and that the
supposition is always contrary to the fact: as, "Great is the number of
those who might attain to true wisdom, if they _did not already think_
themselves wise."--_Dillwyn's Reflections_, p. 36. This implies that they
_do think_ themselves wise; but an indicative supposition or
concession--(as, "Though they _did not think_ themselves wise, they were
so--") accords with the fact, and with the literal time of the tense,--here
time past. The subjunctive imperfect, suggesting the idea of what is not,
and known by the sense, is sometimes introduced without any of the _usual
signs_; as, "In a society of perfect men, _where all understood_ what was
morally right, and _were determined_ to act accordingly, it is obvious,
that human laws, or even human organization to enforce God's laws, would be
altogether unnecessary, and could serve no valuable purpose."--PRES.
SHANNON: _Examiner_, No. 78.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

The imperative mood is that form of the verb, which is used in commanding,
exhorting, entreating, or permitting. It is commonly used only in the
second person of the present tense.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular._ 2. Love [thou,] _or_ Do thou love;

_Plural._ 2. Love [ye _or_ you,] _or_ Do you love.

OBS.--In the Greek language, which has three numbers, the imperative mood
is used in the second and third persons of them all; and has also several
different tenses, some of which cannot be clearly rendered in English. In
Latin, this mood has a distinct form for the third person, both singular
and plural. In Italian, Spanish, and French, the first person plural is
also given it. Imitations of some of these forms are occasionally employed
in English, particularly by the poets. Such imitations must be referred to
this mood, unless by ellipsis and transposition we make them out to be
something else; and against this there are strong objections. Again, as
imprecation on one's self is not impossible, the first person singular may
be added; so that this mood _may possibly have_ all the persons and
numbers. Examples: "_Come we_ now to his translation of the
Iliad."--_Pope's Pref. to Dunciad_. "_Proceed we_ therefore in our
subject."--_Ib._ "_Blessed be he_ that blesseth thee."--_Gen._, xxvii, 29.
"Thy _kingdom come_."--_Matt._, vi, 10. "But _pass we_ that."--_W. Scott_.
"Third person: _Be he, Be they_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 92.

   "My soul, _turn_ from them--_turn we_ to survey," &c.--_Goldsmith_.

    "Then _turn we_ to her latest tribune's name."--_Byron_.

    "Where'er the eye could light these words you read:
    'Who _comes_ this way--_behold_, and _fear_ to sin!'"--_Pollok_.

    "_Fall he_ that must, beneath his rival's arms,
    And _live the rest_, secure of future harms."--_Pope_.

    "_Cursed be I_ that did so!--All the _charms_
    Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, _light_ on you!"--_Shakspeare_.

    "_Have done_ thy charms, thou hateful wither'd hag!"--_Idem_.

PARTICIPLES.

1. _The Imperfect_.  2. _The Perfect_.  3. _The Preperfect_.
   Loving.    Loved.      Having loved.

SYNOPSIS OF THE FIRST EXAMPLE.

FIRST PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. I love _or_ do love, I loved _or_ did love, I have loved. I had loved,
I shall _or_ will love, I shall _or_ will have loved. POT. I may, can, _or_
must love; I might, could, would, _or_ should love; I may, can, _or_ must
have loved; I might, could, would, _or_ should have loved. SUBJ. If I love,
If I loved.

SECOND PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. Thou lovest _or_ dost love, Thou lovedst _or_ didst love, Thou hast
loved, Thou hadst loved, Thou shalt _or_ wilt love, Thou shalt _or_ wilt
have loved. POT. Thou mayst, canst, _or_ must love; Thou mightst, couldst,
wouldst, _or_ shouldst love; Thou mayst, canst, _or_ must have loved; Thou
mightst, couldst, wouldst _or_ shouldst have loved. SUBJ. If thou love, If
thou loved. IMP. Love [thou,] _or_ Do thou love.

THIRD PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. He loves _or_ does love, He loved _or_ did love, He has loved, He had
loved, He shall _or_ will love, He shall _or_ will have loved. POT. He may,
can, _or_ must love; He might, could, would, _or_ should love; He may, can,
_or_ must have loved; He might, could, would, _or_ should have loved. SUBJ.
If he love, If he loved.

FIRST PERSON PLURAL.

IND. We love _or_ do love, We loved _or_ did loved, We have loved, We had
loved, We shall _or_ will love, We shall _or_ will have loved. POT. We may,
can, _or_ must love, We might, could, would, _or_ should love; We may, can,
_or_ must have loved; We might, could, would, _or_ should have loved. SUBJ.
If we love, If we loved.

SECOND PERSON PLURAL.

IND. You love _or_ do love, You loved _or_ did love, You have loved, You
had loved, You shall _or_ will love, You shall _or_ will have loved. POT.
You may, can, _or_ must love; You might, could, would, _or_ should love;
You may, can, _or_ must have loved; You might, could, would, _or_ should
have loved. SUBJ. If you love, If you loved. IMP. Love [ye _or_ you,] _or_
Do you love.

THIRD PERSON PLURAL.

IND. They love _or_ do love, They loved _or_ did love, They have loved,
They had loved, They shall _or_ will love, They shall _or_ will have loved.
POT. They may, can, _or_ must love; They might, could, would, _or_ should
love; They may, can, _or_ must have loved; They might, could, would, _or_
should have loved. SUBJ. If they love, If they loved.

FAMILIAR FORM WITH 'THOU.'

NOTE.--In the familiar style, the second person singular of this verb, is
usually and more properly formed thus:

IND. Thou lov'st _or_ dost love, Thou loved _or_ did love, Thou hast loved,
Thou had loved, Thou shall _or_ will love, Thou shall _or_ will have loved.
POT. Thou may, can, _or_ must love; Thou might, could, would, _or_ should
love; Thou may, can, _or_ must have loved; Thou might, could, would, _or_
should have loved. SUBJ. If thou love, If thou loved. IMP. Love [thou,]
_or_ Do thou love.

SECOND EXAMPLE.

_The irregular active verb SEE, conjugated affirmatively._

PRINCIPAL PARTS.

_Present_. _Preterit_. _Imp. Participle_. _Perf. Participle_.
See. Saw. Seeing. Seen.

INFINITIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE. To See.

PERFECT TENSE. To have seen.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I see, 2. Thou seest, 3. He sees;

_Plural_. 1. We see, 2. You see, 3. They see.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I saw, 2. Thou sawest, 3. He saw;

_Plural_. 1. We saw, 2. You saw, 3. They saw.

PERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I have seen, 2. Thou hast seen, 3. He has seen;

_Plural_. 1. We have seen, 2. You have seen, 3. They have seen.

PLUPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I had seen, 2. Thou hadst seen, He had seen;

_Plural_. 1. We had seen, 2. You had seen, 3. They had seen.

FIRST-FUTURE TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I shall see, 2. Thou wilt see, He will see;

_Plural_. 1. We shall see, 2. You will see, 3. They will see.

SECOND-FUTURE TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I shall have seen, 2. Thou wilt have seen, 3. He will have
seen;

_Plural_. 1. We shall have seen, 2. You will have seen, 3. They will have
seen.

POTENTIAL MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I may see, 2. Thou mayst see, 3. He may see;

_Plural_. 1. We may see, 2. You may see, 3. They may see.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I might see, 2. Thou mightst see, 3. He might see;

_Plural_. 1. We might see, 2. You might see, 3. They might see.

PERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I may have seen, 2. Thou mayst have seen, 3. He may have
seen;

_Plural._ 1. We may have seen, 2. You may have seen, 3. They may have seen.

PLUPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. I might have seen, 2. Thou mightst have seen, 3. He might
have seen;

_Plural_. 1. We might have seen, 2. You might have seen, 3. They might have
seen.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. If I see, 2. If thou see, 3. If he see;

_Plural_. 1. If we see, 2. If you see, 3. If they see.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_. 1. If I saw, 2. If thou saw, 3. If he saw;

_Plural_. 1. If we saw, 2. If you saw, 3. If they saw.


IMPERATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular._ 2. See [thou,] _or_ Do thou see; _Plural._ 2. See [ye _or_
you,] _or_ Do you see.

PARTICIPLES.

1. _The Imperfect_. 2. _The Perfect_. 3. _The Preperfect_.

Seeing.        Seen.          Having seen.

NOTES.

NOTE I--The student ought to be able to rehearse the form of a verb, not
only according to the order of the entire conjugation, but also according
to the synopsis of the several persons and numbers. One sixth part of the
paradigm, thus recited, gives in general a fair sample of the whole: and,
in class recitations, this mode of rehearsal will save much time: as, IND.
I see _or_ do see, I saw _or_ did see, I have seen, I had seen, I shall
_or_ will see, I shall _or_ will have seen. POT. I may, can, _or_ must see;
I might, could, would, _or_ should see; I may, can, _or_ must have seen; I
might, could, would, _or_ should have seen. SUBJ. If I see, If I saw.

NOTE II.--In the familiar style, the second person singular of this verb is
usually and more properly formed thus: IND. Thou seest _or_ dost see, Thou
saw _or_ did see, Thou hast seen, Thou had seen, Thou shall _or_ will see,
Thou shall _or_ will have seen. POT. Thou may, can, _or_ must see; Thou
might, could, would, _or_ should see; Thou may, can, _or_ must have seen;
Thou might, could, would, _or_ should have seen. SUBJ. If thou see, If thou
saw. IMP. See [thou,] _or_ Do thou see.


THIRD EXAMPLE.

_The irregular neuter verb BE, conjugated affirmatively_.

PRINCIPAL PARTS.

_Present._  _Preterit._  _Imp. Participle._  _Perf. Participle._
    Be.        Was.            Being.               Been.

INFINITIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.
To be.

PERFECT TENSE.
To have been.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

    _Singular._                       _Plural._
1. I    am,                        1. We   are,
2. Thou art,                       2. You  are,
3. He   is;                        3. They are.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

    _Singular._                       _Plural._
1. I    was,                       1. We   were,
2. Thou wast, (_or_ wert,)[262]      2. You  were,
3. He   was;                    3. They were.



PERFECT TENSE.

    _Singular._                       _Plural._
1. I    have been,                 1. We   have been,
2. Thou hast been,                 2. You  have been,
3. He   has been;                  3. They have been.

PLUPERFECT TENSE.

    _Singular._                       _Plural._
1. I    had   been,                1. We   had been,
2. Thou hadst been,                2. You  had been,
3. He   had   been;                3. They had been.

FIRST-FUTURE TENSE.

    _Singular._                       _Plural._
1. I    shall be,                  1. We   shall be,
2. Thou wilt  be,                  2. You  will  be,
3. He   will  be;                  3. They will  be.

SECOND-FUTURE TENSE.

    _Singular._                       _Plural._
1. I    shall have been,           1. We   shall have been,
2. Thou wilt  have been,           2. You  will  have been,
3. He   will  have been;           3. They will  have been.

POTENTIAL MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

    _Singular._                       _Plural._
1. I    may   be,                  1. We   may be,
2. Thou mayst be,                  2. You  may be,
3. He   may   be,                  3. They may be.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

    _Singular_.                      _Plural_.
1. I    might   be,               1. We   might be,
2. Thou mightst be,               2. You  might be,
3. He   might   be;               3. They might be.

PERFECT TENSE.

    _Singular_.                      _Plural_.
1. I    may   have been,          1. We   may have been,
2. Thou mayst have been,          2. You  may have been,
3. He   may   have been;          3. They may have been.

PLUPERFECT TENSE.

    _Singular_.                      _Plural_.
1. I    might   have been,        1. We   might have been,
2. Thou mightst have been,        2. You  might have been,
3. He   might   have been;        3. They might have been.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

    _Singular_.                      _Plural_.
1. If I    be,                    1. If we   be,
2. If thou be,                    2. If you  be,
3. If he   be;                    3. If they be.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

    _Singular_.                      _Plural_.
1. If I    were,[263]               1. If we   were,
2. If thou were, _or_ wert,[264]   2. If you  were,
3. If he   were;                  If they were.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular_. 2. Be [thou,]         _or_ Do thou be;
_Plural_.   2. Be [ye _or_ you,]  _or_ Do you be.

PARTICIPLES.

1. _The Imperfect_.  2. _The Perfect_.  3. _The Preperfect_.
    Being.                Been.            Having been.

FAMILIAR FORM WITH 'THOU.'

NOTE.--In the familiar style, the second person singular of this verb, is
usually and more properly formed thus: IND. Thou art, Thou was, Thou hast
been, Thou had been, Thou shall _or_ will be, Thou shall _or_ will have
been. POT. Thou may, can, _or_ must be; Thou might, could, would, _or_
should be; Thou may, can, _or_ must have been; Thou might, could, would,
_or_ should have been. SUBJ. If thou be, If thou were. IMP. Be [thou,] _or_
Do thou be.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--It appears that _be_, as well as _am_, was formerly used for the
indicative present: as, "I be, Thou beest, He be; We be, Ye be, They be."
See _Brightland's Gram._, p. 114. Dr. Lowth, whose Grammar is still
preferred at Harvard University, gives both forms, thus: "I am, Thou art,
He is; We are, Ye are, They are. Or, I be, Thou beest, He _is_; We be, Ye
be, They be." To the third person singular, he subjoins the following
example and remark: "'I think it _be_ thine indeed, for thou liest in it.'
Shak. Hamlet. _Be_, in the singular number of this time and mode,
especially in the third person, is obsolete; and _is become_ somewhat
antiquated _in the plural_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 36. Dr. Johnson gives
this tense thus: "_Sing_. I am; thou art; he is; _Plur_. We are, _or_ be;
ye are, _or_ be; they are, _or_ be." And adds, "The plural _be_ is now
little in use."--_Gram. in Johnson's Dict._, p. 8. The Bible commonly has
_am, art, is_, and _are_, but not always; the indicative _be_ occurs in
some places: as, "We _be_ twelve brethren."--_Gen._, xlii, 32. "What _be_
these two olive branches?"--_Zech._, iv, 12. Some traces of this usage
still occur in poetry: as,

   "There _be_ more things to greet the heart and eyes
    In Arno's dome of Art's most princely shrine,
    Where Sculpture with her rainbow sister vies;
    There _be_ more marvels yet--but not for mine."
        --_Byron's Childe Harold_, Canto iv, st. 61.

OBS. 2.--Respecting the verb _wert_, it is not easy to determine whether it
is most properly of the indicative mood only, or of the subjunctive mood
only, or of both, or of neither. The _regular_ and _analogical_ form for
the indicative, is "Thou _wast_;" and for the subjunctive, "If thou
_were_." Brightland exhibits, "I _was_ or _were_, Thou _wast_ or _wert_, He
_was_ or _were_," without distinction of mood, for the three persons
singular; and, for the plural, _were_ only. Dr. Johnson gives us, for the
indicative, "Thou wast, _or_ wert;" with the remark, "_Wert_ is properly of
the _conjunctive_ mood, and ought not to be used in the
indicative."--_Johnson's Gram._, p. 8. In his conjunctive (or subjunctive)
mood, he has, "Thou _beest_," and "Thou _wert_." So Milton wrote, "If thou
_beest_ he."--_P. Lost_, B. i, l. 84. Likewise Shakspeare: "If thou _beest_
Stephano."--_Tempest_. This inflection of _be_ is obsolete: all now say,
"If thou _be_." But _wert_ is still in use, to some extent, _for both
moods_; being generally placed by the grammarians in the subjunctive only,
but much oftener written for the indicative: as, "Whate'er thou art or
_wert_."--_Byron's Harold_, Canto iv, st. 115. "O thou that _wert_ so
happy!"--_Ib._, st. 109. "Vainly _wert_ thou wed."--_Ib._, st. 169.

OBS. 3.--Dr. Lowth gave to this verb, BE, that form of the subjunctive
mood, which it now has in most of our grammars; appending to it the
following examples and questions: "'Before the sun, Before the Heavens,
thou _wert_.'--_Milton_. 'Remember what thou _wert_.'--_Dryden_. 'I knew
thou _wert_ not slow to hear.'--_Addison_. 'Thou who of old _wert_ sent to
Israel's court.'--_Prior_. 'All this thou _wert_.'--_Pope_. 'Thou, Stella,
_wert_ no longer young.'--_Swift_. Shall we, in deference to these great
authorities," asks the Doctor, "allow _wert_ to be the same with _wast_,
and common to the indicative and [the] subjunctive mood? or rather abide by
the practice of our best ancient writers; the propriety of the language,
which requires, as far as may be, distinct forms, for different moods; and
the analogy of formation in each mood; I _was_, thou _wast_; I _were_, thou
_wert_? all which conspire to make _wert_ peculiar to the subjunctive
mood."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 37; _Churchill's_, p. 251. I have before shown,
that several of the "best ancient writers" _did not inflect_ the verb
_were_, but wrote "_thou were_;" and, surely, "the analogy of formation,"
requires that the subjunctive _be not inflected_. Hence "the propriety
which requires distinct forms," requires not _wert_, in either mood. Why
then should we make this contraction of the old indicative form _werest_, a
_solitary exception_, by fixing it in the subjunctive only, and that in
opposition to the best authorities that ever used it? It is worthier to
take rank with its kindred _beest_, and be called an _archaism_.

OBS. 4.--The chief characteristical difference between the indicative and
the subjunctive mood, is, that in the latter the verb is _not inflected at
all_, in the different persons: IND. "Thou _magnifiest_ his work." SUBJ.
"Remember that thou _magnify_ his work."--_Job_, xxxvi, 24. IND. "He _cuts_
off, _shuts_ up, and _gathers_ together." SUBJ. "If he _cut_ off, and
_shut_ up, or _gather_ together, then who can hinder him?"--_Job_, xl, 10.
There is also a difference of meaning. The Indicative, "If he _was_,"
admits the fact; the Subjunctive, "If he _were_," supposes that he was
not. These moods may therefore be distinguished by the sense, even when
their forms are alike: as, "Though _it thundered_, it did not
rain."--"Though _it thundered_, he would not hear it." The indicative
assumption here is, "Though it _did thunder_," or, "Though there _was
thunder_;" the subjunctive, "Though it _should thunder_," or, "Though there
_were_ thunder." These senses are clearly different. Writers however are
continually confounding these moods; some in one way, some in an other.
Thus S. R. Hall, the teacher of a _Seminary for Teachers_: "SUBJ. _Present
Tense_. 1. If I be, _or_ am, 2. If thou be, _or_ art, 3. If he be, _or_ is;
1. If we be, _or_ are, 2. If ye _or_ you be, _or_ are, 3. If they be, _or_
are. _Imperfect Tense_. 1. If I were, _or_ was, 2. If thou wert, _or_ wast,
3. If he were, _or_ was; 1. If we were, 2. If ye _or_ you were, 3. If they
were."--_Hall's Grammatical Assistant_, p. 11. Again: "SUBJ. _Present
Tense_. 1. If I love, 2. If thou _lovest_, 3. If he love," &c. "The
remaining tenses of this _mode_, are, _in general_, similar to the
correspondent tenses of the Indicative _mode, only_ with the conjunction
prefixed."--_Ib._, p. 20. Dr. Johnson observes, "The indicative and
conjunctive moods are by modern writers frequently confounded; or rather
the conjunctive is wholly neglected, when some convenience of versification
does not invite its revival. It is used among the purer writers of former
times; as, 'Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham _be_ ignorant of
us, and Israel _acknowledge_ us not.'"--_Gram. in Joh. Dict._, p. 9. To
neglect the subjunctive mood, or to confound it with the indicative, is to
augment several of the worst faults of the language.


II. COMPOUND OR PROGRESSIVE FORM.

Active and neuter verbs may also be conjugated, by adding the Imperfect
Participle to the auxiliary verb BE, through all its changes; as, "I _am
writing_ a letter."--"He _is sitting_ idle."--"They _are going_." This form
of the verb denotes a _continuance_ of the action or state of being, and
is, on many occasions, preferable to the simple form of the verb.

FOURTH EXAMPLE.

_The irregular active verb READ, conjugated affirmatively, in the Compound
Form._

PRINCIPAL PARTS OF THE SIMPLE VERB.

_Present._ _Preterit._ _Imp. Participle._ _Perf. Participle._
R=ead.          R~ead.           R=eading.               R~ead.

INFINITIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.
To be reading.

PERFECT TENSE.
To have been reading.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular._                _Plural._
1. I am reading,                1. We are reading,
2. Thou art reading,            2. You are reading,
3. He is reading;               3. They are reading.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular._                _Plural._
1. I was reading,               1. We were reading,
2. Thou wast reading,           2. You were reading,
3. He was reading;              3. They were reading.

PERFECT TENSE.

_Singular._                _Plural._
1. I have been reading,         1. We have been reading,
2. Thou hast been reading,      2. You have been reading,
3. He has been reading;         3. They have been reading.

PLUPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular._                _Plural._
1. I had been reading,          1. We had been reading,
2. Thou hadst been reading,     2. You had been reading,
3. He had been reading;         3. They had been reading.

FIRST-FUTURE TENSE.

_Singular._                _Plural._
1. I shall be reading,          1. We shall be reading,
2. Thou wilt be reading,        2. You will be reading,
3. He will be reading;          3. They will be reading.

SECOND-FUTURE TENSE.

_Singular._                _Plural._
1. I shall have been reading,   1. We shall have been reading,
2. Thou wilt have been reading, 2. You will have been reading,
3. He will have been reading;   3. They will have been reading.

POTENTIAL MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular_.                      _Plural_.
1. I may be reading,             1. We may be reading,
2. Thou mayst be reading,        2. You may be reading,
3. He may be reading;            3. They may be reading.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_.                      _Plural_.
1. I might be reading,           1. We might be reading,
2. Thou mightst be reading,      2. You might be reading,
3. He might be reading;          3. They might be reading.

PERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_.                      _Plural_.
1. I may have been reading,      1. We may have been reading,
2. Thou mayst have been reading, 2. You may have been reading,
3. He may have been reading;     3. They may have been reading.

PLUPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_.                       _Plural_.
1. I might have been reading,      1. We might have been reading,
2. Thou mightst have been reading, 2. You might have been reading,
3. He might have been reading;     3. They might have been reading.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular_.                       _Plural_.
1. If I be reading,               1. If we be reading,
2. If thou be reading,            2. If you be reading,
3. If he be reading;              3. If they be reading.


IMPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_.                       _Plural_.
1. If I were reading,             1. If we were reading,
2. If thou were reading,          2. If you were reading,
3. If he were reading;            3. If they were reading.


IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Sing. 2. Be [thou]      reading,  _or_ Do thou be reading;
Plur. 2. Be [ye or you] reading,  _or_ Do you be reading.

PARTICIPLES.

1. _The Imperfect_.  2. _The Perfect_.  3. _The Preperfect_.
   Being reading.       ---------          Having been reading.


FAMILIAR FORM WITH 'THOU.'

NOTE.--In the familiar style, the second person singular of this verb, is
usually and more properly formed thus: IND. Thou art reading, Thou was
reading, Thou hast been reading, Thou had been reading, Thou shall _or_
will be reading, Thou shall _or_ will have been reading. POT. Thou may,
can, _or_ must be reading; Thou might, could, would, _or_ should be
reading; Thou may, can, _or_ must have been reading; Thou might, could,
would, _or_ should have been reading. SUBJ. If thou be reading, If thou
were reading. IMP. Be [thou,] reading, _or_ Do thou be reading.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Those verbs which, in their simple form, imply continuance, do not
admit the compound form: thus we say, "I _respect_ him;" but not, "I _am
respecting_ him." This compound form seems to imply that kind of action,
which is susceptible of intermissions and renewals. Affections of the mind
or heart are supposed to last; or, rather, actions of this kind are
complete as soon as they exist. Hence, _to love, to hate, to desire, to
fear, to forget, to remember_, and many other such verbs, are _incapable_
of this method of conjugation.[265] It is true, we often find in grammars
such models, as, "I _was loving_, Thou _wast loving_, He _was loving_," &c.
But this language, to express what the authors intend by it, is not
English. "He _was loving_," can only mean, "He was _affectionate_:" in
which sense, loving is an adjective, and susceptible of comparison. Who, in
common parlance, has ever said, "He _was loving me_," or any thing like it?
Yet some have improperly published various examples, or even whole
conjugations, of this spurious sort. See such in _Adam's Gram._, p. 91;
_Gould's Adam_, 83; _Bullions's English Gram._, 52; _his Analyt. and Pract.
Gram._, 92; _Chandler's New Gram._, 85 and 86; _Clark's_, 80; _Cooper's
Plain and Practical_, 70; _Frazee's Improved_, 66 and 69; _S. S. Greene's_,
234; _Guy's_, 25; _Hallock's_, 103; _Hart's_, 88; _Hendrick's_, 38;
_Lennie's_, 31; _Lowth's_, 40; _Harrison's_, 34; _Perley's_, 36; _Pinneo's
Primary_, 101.

OBS. 2.--Verbs of this form have sometimes a passive signification; as,
"The books _are now selling_."--_Allen's Gram._, p. 82. "As the money _was
paying_ down."--_Ainsworth's Dict., w._ As. "It requires no motion in the
organs whilst it _is forming_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 8. "Those works _are
long forming_ which must always last."--_Dr. Chetwood_. "While the work of
the temple _was carrying_ on."--_Dr. J. Owen_. "The designs of Providence
_are carrying on_."--_Bp. Butler_. "A scheme, which _has been carrying_ on,
and _is_ still _carrying_ on."--_Id., Analogy_, p. 188. "We are permitted
to know nothing of what _is transacting_ in the regions above us."--_Dr.
Blair_. "While these things _were transacting_ in Germany."--_Russell's
Modern Europe_, Part First, Let. 59. "As he _was carrying_ to execution, he
demanded to be heard."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. i, p. 163. "To declare
that the action _was doing_ or done."--_Booth's Introd._, p. 28. "It _is
doing_ by thousands now."--_Abbott's Young Christian_, p. 121. "While the
experiment _was making_, he was watching every movement."--_Ib._, p. 309.
"A series of communications from heaven, which _had been making_ for
fifteen hundred years."--_Ib._, p. 166. "Plutarch's Lives _are
re-printing_."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 64. "My Lives _are
reprinting_."--DR. JOHNSON: _Worcester's Univ. and Crit. Dict._, p. xlvi.
"All this _has been transacting_ within 130 miles of London."--BYRON:
_Perley's Gram._, p. 37. "When the heart _is corroding_ by
vexations."--_Student's Manual_, p. 336. "The padlocks for our lips _are
forging_."--WHITTIER: _Liberator_, No. 993. "When his throat _is
cutting_."--_Collier's Antoninus_. "While your story _is
telling_."--_Adams's Rhet._, i, 425. "But the seeds of it _were sowing_
some time before."--_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 168. "As soon as it was
formed, nay even whilst it _was forming_."--_Ib._, p. 163. "Strange schemes
of private ambition _were formed and forming_ there."--_Ib._, p. 291. "Even
when it _was making and made_."--_Ib._, 299. "Which have been made and _are
making_."--HENRY CLAY: _Liberator_, ix, p. 141. "And they are in measure
_sanctified_, or _sanctifying_, by the power thereof."--_Barclay's Works_,
i, 537. "Which _is_ now _accomplishing_ amongst the uncivilized countries
of the earth."--_Chalmers, Sermons_, p. 281. "Who _are ruining_, or
_ruined_, [in] this way."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 155. "Whilst they _were
undoing_."--_Ibid._ "Whether he was employing fire to consume [something,]
or _was_ himself _consuming_ by fire."--_Crombie, on Etym. and Syntax_, p.
148. "At home, the greatest exertions _are making_ to promote its
progress."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. iv. "With those [sounds] which _are
uttering_."--_Ib._, p. 125. "Orders _are now concerting_ for the dismissal
of all officers of the Revenue marine."--_Providence Journal_, Feb. 1,
1850. Expressions of this kind are condemned by some critics, under the
notion that the participle in _ing_ must never be passive; but the usage is
unquestionably of far better authority, and, according to my apprehension,
in far better taste, than the more complex phraseology which some late
writers adopt in its stead; as, "The books _are_ now _being sold_."--"In
all the towns about Cork, the whiskey shops _are being closed_, and soup,
coffee, and tea houses [are] _establishing_ generally."--_Dublin Evening
Post_, 1840.

OBS. 3.--The question here is, Which is the most correct expression, "While
the bridge _was building_,"--"While the bridge was _a_ building,"--or,
"While the bridge _was being built_?" And again, Are they all wrong? If
none of these is right, we must reject them all, and say, "While _they were
building_ the bridge;"--"While the bridge _was in process of
erection_;"--or resort to some other equivalent phrase. Dr. Johnson, after
noticing the compound form of active-intransitives, as, "I _am
going_"--"She _is dying_,"--"The tempest _is raging_,"--"I _have been
walking_," and so forth, adds: "There is another manner of using the active
participle, which gives it a _passive_ signification:[266] as, The grammar
is now printing, _Grammatica jam nunc chartis imprimitur_. The brass is
forging, _Æra excuduntur_. This is, in my opinion," says he, "a _vitious_
expression, probably corrupted from a phrase more pure, but now somewhat
obsolete: The book is _a_ printing, The brass is _a_ forging; _a_ being
properly _at_, and _printing_ and _forging_ verbal nouns signifying action,
according to the analogy of this language."--_Gram. in Joh. Dict._, p. 9.

OBS. 4.--_A_ is certainly sometimes a _preposition_; and, as such, it may
govern a participle, and that without converting it into a "_verbal noun_."
But that such phraseology ought to be preferred to what is exhibited with
so many authorities, in a preceding paragraph, and with an example from
Johnson among the rest, I am not prepared to concede. As to the notion of
introducing a new and more complex passive form of conjugation, as, "The
bridge is _being built_," "The bridge _was being built_," and so forth, it
is one of the most absurd and monstrous innovations ever thought of. Yet
some two or three men, who seem to delight in huge absurdities, declare
that this "modern _innovation_ is _likely to supersede_" the simpler mode
of expression. Thus, in stead of, "The work _is now publishing_," they
choose to say, "The work is _now being published_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p.
82. This is certainly no better English than, "The work _was being
published, has been being published, had been being published, shall or
will be being published, shall or will have been being published_;" and so
on, through all the moods and tenses. What a language shall we have when
our verbs are thus conjugated!

OBS. 5.--A certain _Irish_ critic, who even outdoes in rashness the
above-cited American, having recently arrived in New York, has republished
a grammar, in which he not only repudiates the passive use of the
participle in _ing_, but denies the usual passive form of the present
tense, "_I am loved, I am smitten_" &c., as taught by Murray and others, to
be good English; and tells us that the true form is, "_I am being loved, I
am being smitten_," &c. See the 98th and 103d pages of _Joseph W. Wright's
Philosophical Grammar_, (_Edition of_ 1838,) _dedicated_ "TO COMMON
SENSE!" [267] But both are offset, if not refuted, by the following
observations from a source decidedly better: "It has lately become common
to use the present participle passive [,] to express the suffering of an
action as _continuing_, instead of the participle in _-ing_ in the passive
sense; thus, instead of, 'The house _is building_,' we now very frequently
hear, 'The house _is being built_.' This mode of expression, besides being
awkward, is incorrect, and _does not express the idea intended_. This will
be obvious, I think, from the following considerations.

"1. The expression, '_is being_,' is equivalent to '_is_,' and expresses no
more; just as, '_is loving_,' is equivalent to, '_loves_.' Hence, '_is
being built_,' is precisely equivalent to, '_is built_.'

"2. '_Built_,' is a perfect participle; and therefore cannot, in any
connexion, express an action, or the suffering of an action, _now in
progress_. The verb _to be_, signifies _to exist_; '_being_,' therefore, is
equivalent to '_existing_.' If then we substitute the synonyme, the nature
of the expression will be obvious; thus, 'the house is _being built_,' is,
in other words, 'the house is _existing built_,' or more simply as before,
'the house _is built_;' plainly importing an action not progressing, but
now _existing in a finished state_.

"3. If the expression, '_is being built_,' be a correct form of the present
indicative passive, then it must be equally correct to say in the perfect,
'_has been being built_;' in the past perfect, '_had been being built_;' in
the present infinitive,'_to be being built_;' in the perfect
infinitive,'_to have been being built_;' and in the present participle,
'_being being built_;' which all will admit to be expressions as incorrect
as they are inelegant, but precisely analogous to that which now begins to
prevail."--_Bullions's Principles of English Gram._, p. 58.

OBS. 6.--It may be replied, that the verbs _to be_ and _to exist_ are not
always synonymous; because the former is often a mere auxiliary, or a mere
copula, whereas the latter always means something positive, as _to be in
being, to be extant_. Thus we may speak of a thing as _being destroyed_, or
may say, it _is annihilated_; but we can by no means speak of it as
_existing destroyed_, or say, it _exists annihilated_. The first argument
above is also nugatory. These drawbacks, however, do not wholly destroy the
force of the foregoing criticism, or at all extenuate the obvious tautology
and impropriety of such phrases as, _is being, was being_, &c. The
gentlemen who affirm that this new form of conjugation "_is being
introduced_ into the language," (since they allow participles to follow
possessive pronouns) may very fairly be asked, "What evidence have you of
_its being being introduced_?" Nor can they, on their own principles,
either object to the monstrous phraseology of this question, or tell how to
better it![268]

OBS. 7.--D. H. Sanborn, an other recent writer, has very emphatically
censured this innovation, as follows: "English and American writers have of
late introduced a new kind of phraseology, which has become quite prevalent
in the periodical and popular publications of the day. Their intention,
doubtless, is, to supersede the use of the verb in the _definite form_,
when it has a passive signification. They say, 'The ship is _being_
built,'--'time is _being wasted_,"--'the work is _being advanced_,' instead
of, 'the ship is _building_, time is _wasting_, the work is _advancing_.'
Such a phraseology is a solecism too palpable to receive any favor; it is
at war with the practice of the most distinguished writers in the English
language, such as Dr. Johnson and Addison. "When an individual says, 'a
house is being burned,' he declares that a house is _existing, burned_,
which is impossible; for _being_ means existing, and _burned, consumed by
fire_. The house ceases to exist as such, after it is consumed by fire. But
when he says, 'a house _is burning_,' we understand that it is _consuming
by fire_; instead of inaccuracy, doubt, and ambiguity, we have a form of
expression perfectly intelligible, beautiful, definite, and
appropriate."--_Sanborn's Analytical Gram._, p. 102.

OBS. 8.--Dr. Perley speaks of this usage thus: "An attempt has been made of
late to introduce a kind of passive participial voice; as, 'The temple is
being built.' This ought not to be encouraged. For, besides being an
innovation, it is less convenient than the use of the present participle in
the passive sense. _Being built_ signifies action _finished_; and how can,
_Is being built_, signify an _action unfinished?"--Perley's Gram._, p. 37.

OBS. 9.--The question now before us has drawn forth, on either side, a deal
of ill scholarship and false logic, of which it would be tedious to give
even a synopsis. Concerning the import of some of our most common words and
phrases, these ingenious masters,--Bullions, Sanborn, and
Perley,--severally assert some things which seem not to be exactly true. It
is remarkable that critics can err in expounding terms so central to the
language, and so familiar to all ears, as "_be, being, being built, burned,
being burned, is, is burned, to be burned_," and the like. _That to be_ and
_to exist_, or their like derivatives, such as _being_ and _existing, is_
and _exists_, cannot always explain each other, is sufficiently shown
above; and thereby is refuted Sanborn's chief argument, that, "_is being
burned_," involves the contradiction of "_existing, burned_," or "_consumed
by fire_." According to his reasoning, as well as that of Bullions, _is
burned_ must mean _exists consumed; was burned, existed consumed_; and thus
our whole passive conjugation would often be found made up of bald
absurdities! That this new _unco-passive_ form conflicts with the older and
better usage of taking the progressive form sometimes passively, is
doubtless a good argument against the innovation; but that "Johnson and
Addison" are fit representatives of the older "practice" in this case, may
be doubted. I know not that the latter has anywhere made use of such
phraseology; and one or two examples from the former are scarcely an offset
to his positive verdict against the usage. See OBS. 3rd, above.

OBS. 10.--As to what is called "_the present_ or _the imperfect participle
passive_,"--as, "_being burned_," or "_being burnt_,"--if it is rightly
interpreted in _any_ of the foregoing citations, it is, beyond question,
very improperly _thus_ named. In participles, _ing_ denotes _continuance_:
thus _being_ usually means _continuing to be; loving, continuing to love;
building, continuing to build_,--or (as taken passively) _continuing to be
built_: i. e., (in words which express the sense more precisely and
certainly,) _continuing to be in process of construction_. What then is
"being built," but "_continuing to be built_," the same, or nearly the
same, as "_building_" taken passively? True it is, that _built_, when
alone, being a perfect participle, does not mean "_in process of
construction_," but rather, "_constructed_" which intimates _completion_;
yet, in the foregoing passive phrases, and others like them, as well as in
all examples of this unco-passive voice, continuance of the passive state
being first suggested, and cessation of the act being either regarded as
future or disregarded, the imperfect participle passive is for the most
part received as equivalent to the simple imperfect used in a passive
sense. But Dr. Bullions, who, after making "_is being built_ precisely
equivalent to _is built_," classes the two participles differently, and
both erroneously,--the one as a "_present_ participle," and the other, of
late, as a "_past_,"--has also said above, "'_Built_,' is a _perfect_
participle: and THEREFORE cannot, in _any connexion_, express an action, or
the suffering of an action, _now in progress_." And Dr. Perley, who also
calls the compound of _being_ a "_present_ participle," argues thus:
"_Being built_ signifies an _action, finished_; and how can _Is being
built_, signify an _action unfinished_?" To expound a _passive_ term
_actively_, or as "signifying _action_," is, at any rate, a near approach
to absurdity; and I shall presently show that the fore-cited notion of "a
perfect participle," now half abandoned by Bullions himself, has been the
seed of the very worst form of that ridiculous neology which the good
Doctor was opposing.

OBS. 11.--These criticisms being based upon the _meaning_ of certain
participles, either alone or in phrases, and the particular terms spoken of
being chiefly meant to represent _classes_, what is said of them may be
understood of their _kinds_. Hence the appropriate _naming_ of the kinds,
so as to convey no false idea of any participle's import, is justly brought
into view; and I may be allowed to say here, that, for the first participle
passive, which begins with "_being_," the epithet "_Imperfect_" is better
than "_Present_," because this compound participle denotes, not always
what is _present_, but always _the state_ of something by which an action
is, _or was, or will be, undergone or undergoing--a state continuing_, or
so regarded, though perhaps the action causative may be ended--or sometimes
perhaps imagined only, and not yet really begun. With a marvellous
instability of doctrine, for the professed systematizer of different
languages and grammars, Dr. Bullions has recently changed his names of the
second and third participles, in both voices, from "_Perfect_" and
"_Compound Perfect_," to "_Past_" and "_Perfect_." His notion now is, that,
"_The Perfect_ participle is always compound; as, _Having finished, Having
been finished_."--_Bullions's Analyt. and Pract. Grammar_, 1849, p. 77. And
what was the "_Perfect_" before, in his several books, is now called the
"_Past_;" though, with this change, he has deliberately made an other which
is repugnant to it: this participle, being the basis of three tenses
always, and of all the tenses sometimes, is now allowed by the Doctor to
lend the term "_perfect_" to the three,--"_Present-perfect, Past-perfect,
Future-perfect,"_--even when itself is named otherwise!

OBS. 12.--From the erroneous conception, that a perfect participle must, in
every connexion, express "_action finished_," _action past_,--or perhaps
from only a moiety of this great error,--the notion that such a participle
cannot, in connexion with an auxiliary, constitute a passive verb of the
_present tense_,--J. W. Wright, above-mentioned, has not very unnaturally
reasoned, that, "The expression, '_I am loved_,' which Mr. Murray has
employed to exhibit the passive conjugation of the _present tense_, may
much more _feasibly_ represent _past_ than _present_ time."--See _Wright's
Philosophical Gram._, p. 99. Accordingly, in his own paradigm of the
passive verb, he has formed _this_ tense solely from what he calls the
participle _present_, thus: "I _am being smitten_, Thou _art being
smitten_," &c.--_Ib._, p. 98. His "_Passed Tense_," too, for some reason
which I do not discover, he distinguishes above the rest by a _double
form_, thus: "I _was smitten, or being smitten_; Thou _wast smitten, or
being smitten_;" &c.--P. 99. In his opinion, "Few will object to _the
propriety of_ the more familiar phraseology, '_I am in the_ ACT,--or,
_suffering_ the ACTION _of_ BEING SMITTEN;' and yet," says he, "in
substance and effect, it is wholly the same as, '_I am being smitten_,'
which is THE TRUE FORM of the verb in the _present_ tense of the _passive
voice!_"--_Ibid._ Had we not met with some similar expressions of English
or American blunderers, "the _act_ or _action of being smitten_," would be
accounted a downright Irish bull; and as to this ultra notion of
neologizing all our passive verbs, by the addition of "_being_,"--with the
author's cool talk of "_the presentation of this theory, and_ [_the_]
_consequent suppression of that hitherto employed_,"--there is a
transcendency in it, worthy of the most sublime aspirant among grammatical
newfanglers.

OBS. 13.--But, with all its boldness of innovation, Wright's Philosophical
Grammar is not a little _self-contradictory_ in its treatment of the
passive verb. The entire "suppression" of the usual form of its present
tense, did not always appear, even to this author, quite so easy and
reasonable a matter, as the foregoing citations would seem to represent it.
The passive use of the participle in _ing_, he has easily disposed of:
despite innumerable authorities for it, one false assertion, of seven
syllables, suffices to make it quite impossible.[269] But the usual passive
form, which, with some show of truth, is accused of not having always
precisely the same meaning as the progressive used passively,--that is, of
not always denoting _continuance in the state of receiving continued
action_,--and which is, for that remarkable reason, judged worthy of
_rejection_, is nevertheless admitted to have, in very many instances, a
conformity to this idea, and therefore to "belong [thus far] to the present
tense."--P. 103. This contradicts to an indefinite extent, the proposition
for its rejection. It is observable also, that the same examples, '_I am
loved_' and 'I _am smitten_,'--the same "_tolerated, but erroneous forms_,"
(so called on page 103,) that are given as specimens of what he would
reject,--though at first pronounced "_equivalent_ in grammatical
construction," censured for the same pretended error, and proposed to be
changed alike to "_the true form_" by the insertion of "_being_,"--are
subsequently declared to "belong to" different classes and different
tenses. "_I am loved_," is referred to that "numerous" class of verbs,
which "_detail_ ACTION _of prior, but retained, endured, and continued
existence_; and therefore, in this sense, _belong to the present tense_."
But "_I am smitten_," is idly reckoned of an opposite class, (said by Dr.
Bullions to be "perhaps the greater number,") whose "ACTIONS described are
neither _continuous_ in their nature, nor _progressive_ in their duration;
but, on the contrary, _completed_ and _perfected_; and [which] are
consequently descriptive of _passed_ time and ACTION."--_Wright's Gram._,
p. 103. Again: "In what instance soever this latter form and signification
_can_ be introduced, _their import should be, and, indeed, ought to be,
supplied by the perfect tense construction_:--for example, '_I am
smitten_,' [should] be, '_I have been smitten_.'"--_Ib._ Here is
self-contradiction indefinitely extended _in an other way_. Many a good
phrase, if not every one, that the author's first suggestion would turn to
the unco-passive form, his present "_remedy_" would about as absurdly
convert into "the perfect tense."

OBS. 14.--But Wright's inconsistency, about this matter, ends not here: it
runs through all he says of it; for, in this instance, error and
inconsistency constitute his whole story. In one place, he anticipates and
answers a question thus: "To what tense do the constructions, 'I am
pleased;' 'He is expected;' '_I am smitten_;' 'He is bound;' belong?" "We
answer:--_So far as_ these and like constructions are applicable to the
delineation of _continuous_ and _retained_ ACTION, they express _present_
time; and must be treated accordingly."--P. 103. This seems to intimate
that even, "_I am smitten_," and its likes, as they stand, may have some
good claim to be of the present tense; which suggestion is contrary to
several others made by the author. To expound this, or any other passive
term, _passively_, never enters his mind: with him, as with sundry others,
"ACTION," "_finished_ ACTION," or "_progressive_ ACTION," is all any
_passive_ verb or participle ever means! No marvel, that awkward
perversions of the forms of utterance and the principles of grammar should
follow such interpretation. In Wright's syntax a very queer distinction is
apparently made between a passive verb, and the participle chiefly
constituting it; and here, too, through a fancied ellipsis of "_being_"
before the latter, most, if not all, of his other positions concerning
passives, are again disastrously overthrown by something worse--a word
"_imperceptibly understood_." "'_I am smitten_;' '_I was smitten_;' &c.,
are," he says, "the _universally acknowledged forms_ of the VERBS in these
tenses, in the passive voice:--not of the _PARTICIPLE_. In all verbal
constructions of the character of which we have hitherto treated, (see page
103) _and, where_ the ACTIONS described are _continuous_ in their
_operations_,--the participle BEING is _imperceptibly omitted, by
ellipsis_."--P. 144.

OBS. 15.--Dr. Bullions has stated, that, "The present participle active,
and the present participle passive, are _not counterparts_ to each other in
signification; [,] the one signifying the present doing, and the other the
present suffering of an action, [;] for the latter _always intimates the
present being of an_ ACT, _not in progress, but completed_."--_Prin. of
Eng. Gram._, p. 58. In this, he errs no less grossly than in his idea of
the "_action_ or the suffering" expressed by "a _perfect_ participle," as
cited in OBS. 5th above; namely, that it must have _ceased_. Worse
interpretation, or balder absurdity, is scarcely to be met with; and yet
the reverend Doctor, great linguist as he should be, was here only trying
to think and tell the common import of a very common sort of _English_
participles; such as, "_being loved_" and "_being seen_." In grammar, "_an
act_," that has "_present being_," can be nothing else than an act now
doing, or "_in progress_;" and if, "_the present being of an_ ACT _not in
progress_," were here a possible thought, it surely could not be intimated
by any _such_ participle. In Acts, i, 3 and 4, it is stated, that our
Saviour showed himself to the apostles, "alive after his passion, by many
infallible proofs, _being seen_ of them forty days, and _speaking_ of the
things _pertaining_ to the kingdom of God; and, _being assembled_ together
with them commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem." Now,
of these misnamed "_present_ participles," we have here one "_active_," one
"_passive_," and two others--(one in each form--) that are _neuter_; but
_no present time_, except what is in the indefinite date of "_pertaining_."
The events are past, and were so in the days of St. Luke. Yet each of the
participles denotes _continuance_: not, indeed, in or to the _present
time_, but _for a time_. "_Being seen_" means _continuing to be seen_; and,
in this instance, the period of the continuance was "forty days" of time
past. But, according to the above-cited "_principle of English Grammar_,"
so long and so widely inculcated by "the Rev. Peter Bullions, D. D.,
Professor of Languages," &c.,--a central principle of interpretation,
presumed by him to hold "_always_"--this participle must intimate "_the
present being of an act, not in progress, but completed_;"--that is, "_the
present being of" the apostles' act in formerly seeing the risen Saviour_!

OBS. 16.--This grammarian has lately taken a deal of needless pains to
sustain, by a studied division of verbs into two classes, similar to those
which are mentioned in OBS. 13th above, a part of the philosophy of J. W.
Wright, concerning our usual form of passives in the present tense. But, as
he now will have it, that the two voices sometimes tally as counterparts,
it is plain that he adheres but partially to his former erroneous
conception of a perfect or "past" participle, and the terms which hold it
"in any connexion." The awkward substitutes proposed by the Irish critic,
he does not indeed countenance; but argues against them still, and, in some
respects, very justly. The doctrine now common to these authors, on this
point, is the highly important one, that, in respect to half our verbs,
what we commonly take for the passive present, _is not such_--that, in "the
_second_ class, (perhaps the greater number,) the _present-passive_ implies
that _the act expressed by the active voice has ceased_. Thus, 'The house
is built.' * * * Strictly speaking, then," says the Doctor, "the PAST
PARTICIPLE with the verb TO BE _is not the present tense in the passive
voice of verbs thus used_; that is, this form does not express passively
the _doing_ of the act."--_Bullions's Analyt. and Pract. Grammar_, Ed. of
1849, p. 235. Thus far these two authors agree; except that Wright seems to
have avoided the incongruity of _calling_ that "_the present-passive_"
which he _denies_ to be such. But the Doctor, approving none of this
practitioner's "remedies," and being less solicitous to provide other
treatment than expulsion for the thousands of present passives which both
deem spurious, adds, as from the chair, this verdict: "These verbs either
_have no present-passive_, or it is made by annexing the participle in
_ing_, in its passive sense, to the verb _to be_; as, 'The house _is
building_.'"--_Ib._, p. 236.

OBS. 17.--It would seem, that Dr. Bullions thinks, and in reality Wright
also, that nothing can be a present passive, but what "_expresses passively
the_ DOING _of the act_." This is about as wise, as to try to imagine every
active verb to _express actively the receiving of an act_! It borders
exceedingly hard upon absurdity; it very much resembles the nonsense of
"_expressing receptively the giving of something_!" Besides, the word
"DOING," being used substantively, does not determine well what is here
meant; which is, I suppose, _continuance_, or an _unfinished state_ of the
act received--an idea which seems adapted to the participle in _ing_, but
which it is certainly no fault of a participle ending in _d, t_, or _n_,
not to suggest. To "_express passively the doing of the act_," if the
language means any thing rational, may be, simply to say, that the act _is_
or _was done_. For "_doings_" are, as often as any-wise, "_things done_,"
as _buildings_ are _fabrics built_; and "_is built_," and "_am smitten_,"
the gentlemen's choice examples of _false passives_, and of "_actions
finished_,"--though neither of them necessarily intimates either
continuance or cessation of the act suffered, or, if it did, would be the
less or the more passive or present,--may, in such a sense, "express _the
doing_ of the act," if any passives can:--nay, the "finished act" has such
completion as may be stated with degrees of progress or of frequency; as,
"The house _is partly built_."--"I _am oftener smitten_." There is,
undoubtedly, some difference between the assertions, "The house _is
building_,"--and, "The house _is partly built_;" though, for practical
purposes, perhaps, we need not always be very nice in choosing between
them. For the sake of variety, however, if for nothing else, it is to be
hoped, the doctrine above-cited, which limits half our passive verbs of the
present tense, _to the progressive form only_, will not soon be generally
approved. It impairs the language more than unco-passives are likely ever
to corrupt it.

OBS. 18.--"No _startling novelties_ have been introduced," says the preface
to the "Analytical and Practical Grammar of the English Language." To have
shunned all shocking innovations, is only to have exercised common
prudence. It is not pretended, that any of the Doctor's errors here
remarked upon, or elsewhere in this treatise, will _startle_ any body; but,
if errors exist, even in plausible guise, it may not be amiss, if I tell of
them. To suppose every verb or participle to be either "_transitive_" or
"_intransitive_," setting all _passives_ with the former sort, all
_neuters_ with the latter; (p. 59;)--to define the _transitive_ verb or
participle as expressing always "_an act_ DONE _by one person or thing to
another_;" (p. 60;)--to say, after making passive verbs transitive, "The
object of a transitive verb is in the _objective case_," and, "A verb that
does not make sense with an objective after it, is intransitive;" (p.
60;)--to insist upon a precise and almost universal _identity of "meaning_"
in terms so obviously _contrasted_ as are the two voices, "active" and
"passive;" (pp. 95 and 235;)--to allege, as a general principle, "that
whether we use the active, or the passive voice, _the meaning is the same_,
except in some cases in the present tense;" (p. 67;)--to attribute to the
forms naturally opposite in voice and sense, that sameness of meaning which
is observable only in certain _whole sentences_ formed from them; (pp. 67,
95, and 235;)--to assume that each "VOICE is a particular _form of the
verb_," yet make it include _two cases_, and often a preposition before one
of them; (pp. 66, 67, and 95;)--to pretend from the words, "The PASSIVE
VOICE represents the subject of the verb as _acted upon_," (p. 67,) that,
"_According to the_ DEFINITION, the passive voice expresses, passively,
_the same thing_ that the active does actively;" (p. 235;)--to affirm that,
"'Cæsar _conquered_ Gaul,' and 'Gaul _was conquered_ by Cæsar,' express
_precisely the same idea_,"--and then say, "It will be felt at once that
the expressions, 'Cæsar _conquers_ Gaul,' and 'Gaul _is conquered_ by
Cæsar,' _do not express the same thing_;" (p. 235;)--to deny that passive
verbs or neuter are worthy to constitute a distinct class, yet profess to
find, in one single tense of the former, such a difference of meaning as
warrants a general division of verbs in respect to it; (_ib._;)--to
announce, in bad English, that, "_In regard to this matter_ [,] there are
evidently Two CLASSES of verbs; namely, those _whose_ present-passive
expresses precisely the same thing, passively, as the active voice does
actively, and those _in which it_ does not:" (_ib._;)--to do these several
things, as they have been done, is, to set forth, not "novelties" only, but
errors and inconsistencies.

OBS. 19.--Dr. Bullions still adheres to his old argument, that _being_
after its own verb must be devoid of meaning; or, in his own words, "that
_is being built_, if it mean anything, can mean nothing more than _is
built_, which is not the idea intended to be expressed."--_Analyt. and
Pract. Gram._, p. 237. He had said, (as cited in OBS. 5th above,) "The
expression, '_is being_,' is equivalent to _is_, and expresses _no more_;
just as, '_is loving_,' is equivalent to '_loves_.' Hence, '_is being
built_,' is precisely equivalent to '_is built_.'"--_Principles of E.
Gram._, p. 58. He has now discovered "that _there is no progressive form_
of the verb _to be_, and no need of it:" and that, "hence, _there is no
such expression_ in English as _is being_."--_Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, p.
236. He should have noticed also, that "_is loving_" is not an authorized
"equivalent to _loves_;" and, further, that the error of saying "_is being
built_," is only in the relation of the _first two words_ to each other. If
"_is being_," and "_is loving_," are left unused for the same reason, the
truth may be, that _is_ itself, like _loves_, commonly denotes
"_continuance_;" and that _being_ after it, in stead of being necessary or
proper, can only be awkwardly tautologous. This is, in fact, THE GRAND
OBJECTION to the new phraseology--"_is being practised_"--"_am being
smitten_"--and the like. Were there no danger that petty writers would one
day seize upon it with like avidity, an other innovation, exactly similar
to this in every thing but tense--similar in awkwardness, in tautology, in
unmistakeableness--might here be uttered for the sake of illustration. Some
men conceive, that "The _perfect_ participle is always compound; as,
_having seen, having written_;"--and that the simple word, _seen_ or
_written_, had originally, and still ought to have, only a passive
construction. For such views, they find authorities. Hence, in lieu of the
common phrases, "_had we seen_," "_we have written_," they adopt such
English as this; "_Had we having seen_ you, we should have stopped."--"_We
have having written_ but just now, to our correspondent." Now, "_We are
being smitten_," is no better grammar than this;--and no worse: "The idea
intended" is in no great jeopardy in either case.

OBS. 20.--J. R. Chandler, of Philadelphia, in his Common School Grammar of
1847, has earnestly undertaken the _defence_ of this new and much-mooted
passive expression: which he calls "_the Definite Passive Voice_," or "_the
Passive Voice of the Definite Form_." He admits it, however, to be a form
that "does not _sound well_,"--a "_novelty_ that strikes the ear
unpleasantly;" but he will have the defect to be, not in the tautologous
conceit of "_is being_," "_was being_," "_has been being_," and the like,
but in everybody's organ of hearing,--supposing all ears corrupted, "from
infancy," to a distaste for correct speech, by "the habit of _hearing_ and
using words _ungrammatically_!"--See p. 89. Claiming this new form as "_the
true passive_," in just contrast with the progressive active, he not only
rebukes all attempts "to evade" the use of it, "by some real or supposed
_equivalent_," but also declares, that, "The attempt to deprive the
transitive definite verb of [this] _its passive voice_, is _to strike at
the foundation of the language_, and _to strip it of one of its most
important qualities_; that of making both actor and sufferer, each in turn
and at pleasure, the subject of conversation."--_Ibid._ Concerning
_equivalents_, he evidently argues fallaciously; for he urges, that the
using of them "_does not dispense with the necessity of the definite
passive voice_."--P. 88. But it is plain, that, of the many fair
substitutes which may in most cases be found, if any one is preferred, this
form, and all the rest, are of course rejected for the time.

OBS. 21.--By Chandler, as well as others, this new passive form is
justified only on the supposition, that the simple participle in _ing_ can
never with propriety be used passively. No plausible argument, indeed, can
be framed for it, without the assumption, that the simpler form, when used
in the same sense, _is ungrammatical_. But this is, in fact, a begging of
the main question; and that, in opposition to abundant authority for the
usage condemned. (See OBS. 3d, above.) This author pretends that, "_The
RULE of all grammarians_ declares the verb _is_, and a _present participle_
(_is building_, or _is writing_), to be in the active voice" only.--P. 88.
(I add the word "_only_," but this is what he means, else he merely
quibbles.) Now in this idea he is wrong, and so are the several grammarians
who support the principle of this imaginary "_RULE_." The opinion of
critics in general would be better represented by the following suggestions
of the Rev. W. Allen: "When the English verb does not signify _mental
affection_, the distinction of voice is often disregarded: thus we say,
_actively_, they _were selling_ fruit; and, _passively_, the books _are_
now _selling_. The same remark applies to the participle used as a noun:
as, actively, _drawing_ is an elegant amusement, _building_ is expensive;
and, passively, his _drawings_ are good, this is a fine
_building_."--_Allen's Elements of E. Gram._, p. 82.

OBS. 22.--Chandler admits, that, "When it is said, 'The house is
_building_,' the meaning is easily obtained; though," he strangely insists,
"_it is exactly opposite to the assertion_."--P. 89. He endeavours to show,
moreover, by a fictitious example made for the purpose, that the
progressive form, if used in both voices, will be liable to ambiguity. It
may, perhaps, be so in some instances; but, were there weight enough in the
objection to condemn the passive usage altogether, one would suppose there
might be found, somewhere, _an actual example or two_ of the abuse. Not
concurring with Dr. Bullions in the notion that the active voice and the
passive usually "express precisely the same thing," this critic concludes
his argument with the following sentence: "There is an _important
difference_ between _doing_ and _suffering_; and that _difference is
grammatically shown_ by the appropriate use of the active and passive
voices of a verb."--_Chandler's Common School Gram._, p. 89.

OBS. 23.--The opinion given at the close of OBS. 2d above, was first
published in 1833. An opposite doctrine, with the suggestion that it is
"_improper_ to say, '_the house is building_,' instead of 'the house _is
being built_,'"--is found on page 64th of the Rev. David Blair's Grammar,
of 1815,--"Seventh Edition," with a preface dated, "_October 20th_, 1814."
To any grammarian who wrote at a period much earlier than that, the
question about _unco-passives_ never occurred. Many critics have passed
judgement upon them since, and so generally with reprobation, that the man
must have more hardihood than sense, who will yet disgust his readers or
hearers with them.[270] That "This new form has been used by _some
respectable writers_," we need not deny; but let us look at the given
"_instances of it_: 'For those who _are being educated_ in our seminaries.'
R. SOUTHEY.--'It _was being uttered_.' COLERIDGE.--'The foundation _was
being laid_.' BRIT. CRITIC."--_English Grammar with Worcester's Univ. and
Crit. Dict._, p. xlvi. Here, for the first example, it would be much better
to say, "For those who _are educated_," [271]--or, "who _are receiving
their education_;" for the others, "It _was uttering_,"--"_was
uttered_,"--or, "_was in uttering_."--"The foundation _was laying_,"--"_was
laid_,"--or, "_was about being laid_." Worcester's opinion of the "new
form" is to be inferred from his manner of naming it in the following
sentence: "Within a few years, a _strange and awkward_ neologism has been
introduced, by which the _present passive participle_ is substituted, in
such cases as the above, for the participle in _ing_."--_Ibid._ He has two
instances more, in each of which the phrase is linked with an expression of
disapprobation; "' It [[Greek: tetymmenos]] signifies properly, though _in
uncouth English_, one who _is being beaten_.' ABP. WHATELY.--'The bridge
_is being built_, and other phrases of the like kind, _have_ pained the
eye.' D. BOOTH."--_Ibid._[272]

OBS. 24.--Richard Hiley, in the third edition of his Grammar, published in
London, in 1840, after showing the passive use of the participle in _ing_,
proceeds thus: "No ambiguity arises, we presume, from the use of the
participle in this manner. To avoid, however, affixing a passive
signification to the participle in _ing_, an attempt has lately been made
to substitute the passive participle in its place. Thus instead of 'The
house was _building_,' 'The work _imprinting_,' we sometimes hear, 'The
house was _being built_,' 'The work is _being printed_.' But this mode is
_contrary to the English idiom_, and has not yet obtained the sanction of
reputable authority."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 30.

OBS. 25.--Professor Hart, of Philadelphia, whose English Grammar was first
published in 1845, justly prefers the usage which takes the progressive
form occasionally in a passive sense; but, in arguing against the new
substitute, he evidently remoulds the early reasoning of Dr. Bullions,
errors and all; a part of which he introduces thus: "I know the correctness
of this mode of expression has lately been very much assailed, and an
attempt, to some extent successful, has been made [,] to introduce the form
[,] _'is being built.'_ But, in the first place, the old mode of expression
is a well established usage of the language, being found in our best and
most correct writers. Secondly, _is being built_ does not convey the idea
intended, [;] namely [,] that of _progressive action. Is being_, taken
together, means simply _is_, just as _is writing_ means _writes_;
therefore, _is being built_ means _is built_, a perfect and not a
progressive ACTION. Or, if _being_ [and] _built_ be taken together, _they
signify an_ ACTION COMPLETE, and the phrase means, as before, _the house
is_ (EXISTS) _being built_."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 76. The last three
sentences here are liable to many objections, some of which are suggested
above.

OBS. 26.--It is important, that the central phraseology of our language be
so understood, as not to be _misinterpreted with credit_, or falsely
expounded by popular critics and teachers. Hence errors of _exposition_ are
the more particularly noticed in these observations. In "_being built_,"
Prof. Hart, like sundry authors named above, finds nothing but "ACTION
COMPLETE." Without doubt, Butler interprets better, when he says, "'The
house _is built_,' denotes an _existing state_, rather than a _completed
action_." But this author, too, in his next three sentences, utters as many
errors; for he adds: "The name of the agent _cannot be expressed_ in
phrases of this kind. We _cannot say_, 'The house is built _by John_.' When
we say, 'The house is built by mechanics,' we _do not express an existing
state_."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. 80. Unquestionably, "_is built by
mechanics_," expresses _nothing else_ than the "_existing state_" of being
"built by mechanics," together with an affirmation:--that is, the "existing
state" of receiving the action of mechanics, is affirmed of "the house."
And, in my judgement, one may very well say, "_The house is built by
John_;" meaning, "_John is building the house._" St. Paul says, "Every
house _is builded by_ SOME MAN."--_Heb._, iii, 4. In this text, the common
"name of the agent" is "expressed."

OBS. 27.--Wells and Weld, whose grammars date from 1846, being remarkably
chary of finding anything wrong in "respectable writers," hazard no opinion
of their own, concerning the correctness or incorrectness of either of the
usages under discussion. They do not always see absurdity in the
approbation of opposites; yet one should here, perhaps, count them with the
majorities they allow. The latter says, "The participle in _ing_ is
sometimes used passively; as, forty and six years was this temple in
_building_; not in _being built_."--_Weld's English Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 170.
Here, if he means to suggest, that "_in being built_" would "not" be good
English, he teaches very erroneously; if his thought is, that this phrase
would "not" express the sense of the former one, "_in building_," he
palpably contradicts his own position! But he proceeds, in a note, thus:
"The form of expression, _is being built, is being committed_, &c., is
almost universally condemned by grammarians; but it is _sometimes_ met with
in respectable writers. It occurs most frequently in newspaper paragraphs,
and in hasty compositions."--_Ibid._ Wells comments thus: "Different
opinions have long existed among critics respecting this passive use of
the imperfect participle. Many respectable writers substitute the compound
passive participle; as, 'The house is _being built_;' 'The book is _being
printed_.' But the prevailing practice of the best authors is in favor of
the _simple form_; as, 'The house _is building_.'"--_Wells's School Gram._,
1st Ed., p. 148; 113th Ed., p. 161.[273]

OBS. 28.--S. W. Clark, in the second edition of his Practical Grammar,
stereotyped and published in New York in 1848, appears to favour the
insertion of "_being_" into passive verbs; but his instructions are so
obscure, so often inaccurate, and so incompatible one with an other, that
it is hard to say, with certainty, what he approves. In one place, he has
this position: "The Passive Voice of a verb is formed by adding the
_Passive Participle_ of that verb, to the verb _be_. EXAMPLES--To _be_
loved. I _am_ feared. They _are_ worshipped."--Page 69. In an other, he has
this: "When the Subject is to be represented as receiving the action, _the
Passive Participle_ should be used. EXAMPLE--Henry's _lesson_ is BEING
RECITED."--P. 132. Now these two positions utterly confound each other; for
they are equally general, and "_the Passive Participle_" is first one
thing, and then an other. Again, he has the following assertions, both
false: "The Present (or First) Participle _always_ ends in _ing_, and is
_limited to the Active Voice_. The Past (or Second) Participle of Regular
Verbs ends in _d_ or _ed_, and is _limited to the Passive Voice_."--P. 131.
Afterwards, in spite of the fancied limitation, he acknowledges the passive
use of the participle in _ing_, and that there is "_authority_" for it;
but, at the same time, most absurdly supposes the word to predicate
"_action_," and also to be _wrong_: saying, "_Action_ is _sometimes_
predicated of a _passive_ subject. EXAMPLE--'The _house is building_,..
for.. 'The _house is being built_,'.. which means.. The house _is becoming
built_." On this, he remarks thus: "This is one of the instances in which
_Authority_ is against _Philosophy_. For an _act_ cannot _properly_ be
predicated of a _passive agent_. Many good writers _properly reject_ this
idiom. 'Mansfield's prophecy _is being realized_.'--MICHELET'S
LUTHER."--_Clark's Practical Gram._, p. 133. It may require some study to
learn from this _which idiom it is_. that these "many good writers reject:"
but the grammarian who can talk of "_a passive agent_," without perceiving
that the phrase is self-contradictory and absurd, may well be expected to
entertain a "Philosophy" which is against "Authority," and likewise to
prefer a ridiculous innovation to good and established usage.

OBS. 29.--As
most verbs are susceptible of both forms, the simple active and the
compound or progressive, and likewise of a transitive and an intransitive
sense in each; and as many, when taken intransitively, may have a meaning
which is scarcely distinguishable from that of the passive form; it often
happens that this substitution of the imperfect participle passive for the
simple imperfect in _ing_, is quite needless, even when the latter is not
considered passive. For example: "See by the following paragraph, how
widely the bane _is being circulated!_"--_Liberator_, No. 999, p. 34. Here
_is circulating_ would be better; and so would _is circulated_. Nor would
either of these much vary the sense, if at all; for "_circulate_" may mean,
according to Webster, "_to be diffused_," or, as Johnson and Worcester have
it, "_to be dispersed_." See the second marginal note on p. 378.

OBS. 30.--R. G. Parker appears to have formed a just opinion of the "modern
innovation," the arguments for which are so largely examined in the
foregoing observations; but the "principle" which he adduces as
"conclusive" against it, if _principle_ it can be called, has scarcely any
bearing on the question; certainly no more than has the simple assertion of
one reputable critic, that our participle in _ing_ may occasionally be used
passively. "Such expressions as the following," says he, "have recently
become very common, not only in the periodical publications of the day, but
are likewise finding favor with popular writers; as, 'The house _is being
built_.' 'The street _is being paved_.' 'The actions that _are_ now _being
performed_,' &c. 'The patents _are being prepared_.' The usage of the best
writers does not sanction these expressions; and Mr. Pickbourn lays down
the following principle, which is conclusive upon the subject. '_Whenever
the participle_ in _ing_ is joined by an auxiliary verb to a nominative
capable of the action, it is taken actively; but, when joined to one
incapable of the action, it becomes passive. If we say, _The man are
building a house_, the participle _building_ is evidently used in an active
sense; _because_ the men are capable of the action. But when we say, _The
house is building_, or, _Patents are preparing_, the participles _building_
and _preparing_ must necessarily be understood in a passive sense; because
neither the house nor the patents are capable of action.'--See Pickbourn on
the English Verb, pp. 78-80."--_Parker's Aids to English Composition_, p.
105. Pickbourn wrote his Dissertation before the question arose which he is
here supposed to decide. Nor is he right in assuming that the common
Progressive Form, of which he speaks, must be either _active-transitive_ or
_passive_: I have shown above that it may be _active-intransitive_, and
perhaps, in a few instances, _neuter_. The class of the verb is determined
by something else than the mere _capableness_ of the "_nominative_."



III. FORM OF PASSIVE VERBS.

Passive verbs, in English, are always of a
compound form; being made from active-transitive verbs, by adding the
Perfect Participle to the auxiliary verb BE, through all its changes: thus
from the active-transitive verb _love_, is formed the passive verb _be
loved_.


FIFTH EXAMPLE.

The regular passive verb BE LOVED, conjugated affirmatively.

PRINCIPAL PARTS or THE ACTIVE VERB.

_Present_. _Preterit_. _Imp. Participle_. _Perf. Participle_.

Love. Loved. Loving. Loved.

INFINITIVE MOOD.
PRESENT TENSE.
To be loved.

PERFECT TENSE.
To have been loved.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.
_Singular_.                         _Plural_.
1. I    am  loved,                1. We   are loved,
2. Thou art loved,                2. You  are loved,
3. He   is  loved;                3. They are loved.

IMPERFECT TENSE.
_Singular_.                         _Plural_.
1. I    was  loved,               1. We   were loved,
2. Thou wast loved,               2. You  were loved,
3. He   was  loved;               3. They were loved.

PERFECT TENSE.
_Singular_.                         _Plural_.
1. I    have been loved,          1. We   have been loved,
2. Thou hast been loved,          2. You  have been loved,
3. He   has  been loved;          3. They have been loved.

PLUPERFECT TENSE.
_Singular_.                         _Plural_.
1. I    had   been loved,         1. We   had been loved,
2. Thou hadst been loved,         2. You  had been loved,
3. He   had   been loved;         3. They had been loved.

FIRST-FUTURE TENSE.
_Singular_.                         _Plural_.
1. I    shall be loved,           1. We   shall be loved,
2. Thou wilt  be loved,           2. You  will  be loved,
3. He   will  be loved;           3. They will  be loved.

SECOND-FUTURE TENSE.
_Singular_.                         _Plural_.
1. I    shall have been loved,    1. We   shall have been loved,
2. Thou wilt  have been loved,    2. You  will  have been loved,
3. He   will  have been loved;    3. They will  have been loved.

POTENTIAL MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.
_Singular_.                         _Plural_.
1. I    may   be loved,           1. We   may be loved,
2. Thou mayst be loved,           2. You  may be loved,
3. He   may   be loved;           3. They may be loved.

IMPERFECT TENSE.
_Singular_.                         _Plural_.
1. I    might   be loved,         1. We   might be loved,
2. Thou mightst be loved,         2. You  might be loved,
3. He   might   be loved;         3. They might be loved.

PERFECT TENSE.
_Singular_.                         _Plural_.
1. I    may   have been loved,    1. We   may have been loved,
2. Thou mayst have been loved,    2. You  may have been loved,
3. He   may   have been loved;    3. They may have been loved.

PLUPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_.                       _Plural_.
1. I    might   have been loved,  1. We   might have been loved,
2. Thou mightst have been loved,  2. You  might have been loved,
3. He   might   have been loved;  3. They might have been loved.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular_.                       _Plural_.
1. If I    be loved,              1. If we be loved,
2. If thou be loved,              2. If you be loved,
3. If he   be loved;              3. If they be loved.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_.                       _Plural_.
1. If I    were loved,            1. If we  were loved,
2. If thou were loved,            2. If you  were loved,
3. If he   were loved;            3. If they were loved.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular_. 2. Be   [thou]    loved,  _or_ Do thou be loved;
_Plural_.   2. Be [ye or you] loved,  _or_ Do you be loved.

PARTICIPLES.

1. _The Imperfect_.  2. _The Perfect_.  3. _The Preperfect_.
Being loved.           Loved.           Having been loved.

FAMILIAR FORM WITH 'THOU.' NOTE.--In the familiar style, the second person
singular of this verb, is usually and more properly formed thus: IND. Thou
art loved, Thou was loved, Thou hast been loved, Thou had been loved, Thou
shall or will be loved, Thou shall or will have been loved. POT. Thou may,
can, _or_ must be loved; Thou might, could, would, _or_ should be loved;
Thou may, can, _or_ must have been loved; Thou might, could, would, _or_
should have been loved. SUBJ. If thou be loved, If thou were loved. IMP. Be
[thou] loved, or Do thou be loved.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--A few active-intransitive verbs, that signify mere motion, change
of place, or change of condition, may be put into this form, with a
_neuter_ signification; making not _passive_ but _neuter_ verbs, which
express nothing more than the state which results from the change: as, "_I
am come_."--"She _is gone_."--"He _is risen_."--"They _are fallen_." These
are what Dr. Johnson and some others call "_neuter_ passives;" a name which
never was very proper, and for which we have no frequent use.

OBS. 2.--Most neuter verbs of the passive form, such as, "_am grown, art
become, is lain, are flown, are vanished, are departed, was sat, were
arrived_," may now be considered errors of conjugation, or perhaps of
syntax. In the verb, _to be mistaken_, there is an irregularity which ought
to be particularly noticed. When applied to _persons_, this verb is
commonly taken in a _neuter_ sense, and signifies, _to be in error, to be
wrong_; as, "I _am mistaken_, thou _art mistaken_, he _is mistake_." But,
when used of _things_, it is a proper passive verb, and signifies, _to be
misunderstood_, or _to be taken wrong_; as, "The sense of the passage _is
mistaken_; that is, not rightly understood." See _Webster's Dict., w.
Mistaken_. "I have known a shadow across a brook _to be mistaken_ for a
footbridge."

OBS. 3.--Passive verbs may be easily distinguished from neuter verbs of the
same form, by a reference to the agent or instrument, common to the former
class, but not to the latter. This frequently is, and always may be,
expressed after _passive_ verbs; but never is, and never can be, expressed
after _neuter_ verbs: as, "The thief has been caught _by the officer_."--
"Pens are made _with a knife_." Here the verbs are passive; but, "_I am not
yet ascended_," (John, xx, 17,) is not passive, because it does not convey
the idea of being ascended _by_ some one's agency.

OBS. 4.--Our ancient writers, after the manner of the French, very
frequently employed this mode of conjugation in a neuter sense; but, with a
very few exceptions, present usage is clearly in favour of the auxiliary
_have_ in preference to _be_, whenever the verb formed with the perfect
participle is not passive; as, "They _have_ arrived,"--not, "They _are_
arrived." Hence such examples as the following, are not now good English:
"All these reasons _are_ now ceased."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 157. Say,
"_have now_ ceased." "Whether he _were_ not got beyond the reach of his
faculties."--_Ib._, p. 158. Say, "_had_ not got." "Which _is_ now grown
wholly obsolete."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 330. Say, "_has_ now grown."
"And when he _was_ entered into a ship."--_Bible_. Say, "_had_ entered."--
"What _is_ become of decency and virtue?"--_Murray's Key_, p. 196. Say,
"_has_ become."

OBS. 5.--Dr. Priestley says, "It seems _not to have been determined_ by the
English grammarians, whether the _passive_ participles of verbs neuter
require the auxiliary _am_ or _have_ before them. The French, in this case,
confine themselves strictly to the former. 'What _has become_ of national
liberty?' Hume's History, Vol. 6. p. 254. The French would say, _what is
become_; and, in this instance, perhaps, with more propriety."--
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 128. It is no marvel that those writers who have
not rightly made up their minds upon this point of English grammar, should
consequently fall into many mistakes. The perfect participle of a neuter
verb is not "_passive_," as the doctor seems to suppose it to be; and the
mode of conjugation which he here inclines to prefer, is a mere
_Gallicism_, which is fast wearing out from our language, and is even now
but little countenanced by good writers.

OBS. 6.--There are a few verbs of the passive form which seem to imply that
a person's own mind is the agent that actuates him; as, "The editor _is
rejoiced_ to think," &c.--_Juvenile Keepsake_. "I _am resolved_ what to
do."--_Luke_, xvi, 4. "He _was resolved_ on going to the city to
reside."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 114. "James _was resolved_ not to indulge
himself."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 220. "He _is inclined_ to go."--"He _is
determined_ to go."--"He _is bent_ on going." These are properly passive
verbs, notwithstanding there are active forms which are nearly equivalent
to most of them; as, "The editor _rejoices_ to think."--"I _know_ what to
do."--"He _had resolved_ on going."--"James _resolved_ not to indulge
himself." So in the phrase, "I _am ashamed_ to beg," we seem to have a
passive verb of this sort; but, the verb _to ashame_ being now obsolete,
_ashamed_ is commonly reckoned an _adjective_. Yet we cannot put it before
a noun, after the usual manner of adjectives. _To be indebted_, is an other
expression of the same kind. In the following example, "_am remember'd_" is
used for _do remember_, and, in my opinion, _inaccurately_:

   "He said mine eyes were black, and my hair black;
    And, now I _am remember'd_, scorn'd at me."--_Shakspeare_.


IV. FORM OF NEGATION.

A verb is conjugated _negatively_, by placing the adverb _not_ after it, or
after the first auxiliary; but the infinitive and participles take the
negative first: as, Not to love, Not to have loved; Not loving, Not loved,
Not having loved.

FIRST PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. I love not, _or_ I do not love; I loved not, _or_ I did not love; I
have not loved; I had not loved; I shall not, _or_ will not, love; I shall
not, _or_ will not, have loved. POT. I may, can, _or_ must not love; I
might, could, would, _or_ should not love; I may, can, _or_ must not have
loved; I might, could, would, _or_ should not have loved, SUBJ. If I love
not, If I loved not.

SECOND PERSON SINGULAR.

SOLEMN STYLE:--IND. Thou lovest not, _or_ Thou dost not love; Thou lovedst
not, _or_ Thou didst not love; Thou hast not loved; Thou hadst not loved;
Thou shalt not, _or_ wilt not, love; Thou shalt not, _or_ wilt not, have
loved. POT. Thou mayst, canst, _or_ must not love; Thou mightst, couldst,
wouldst, _or_ shouldst not love; Thou mayst, canst, _or_ must not have
loved; Thou mightst, couldst, wouldst, _or_ shouldst not have loved. SUBJ.
If thou love not, If thou loved not. IMP. Love [thou] not, _or_ Do thou not
love.

FAMILIAR STYLE:--IND. Thou lov'st not, _or_ Thou dost not love; Thou loved
not, _or_ Thou did not love; Thou hast not loved; Thou had not loved; Thou
shall not, _or_ will not, love; Thou shall not, _or_ will not, have loved.
POT. Thou may, can, _or_ must not love; Thou might, could, would, _or_
should not love; Thou may, can, _or_ must not have loved; Thou might,
could, would, _or_ should not have loved. SUBJ. If thou love not, If thou
loved not. IMP. Love [thou] not, _or_ Do [thou] not love.

THIRD PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. He loves not, _or_ He does not love; He loved not, _or_ He did not
love; He has not loved; He had not loved; He shall not, _or_ will not,
love; He shall not, _or_ will not, have loved. POT. He may, can, _or_ must
not love; He might, could, would, _or_ should not love; He may, can, _or_
must not have loved; He might, could, would, _or_ should not have loved.
SUBJ. If he love not, If he loved not.

V. FORM OF QUESTION.

A verb is conjugated _interrogatively_, in the indicative and potential
moods, by placing the nominative after it, or after the first auxiliary:
as,

FIRST PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. Love I? _or_ Do I love? Loved I? _or_ Did I love? Have I loved? Had I
loved? Shall I love? Shall I have loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must I love?
Might, could, would, _or_ should I love? May, can, _or_ must I have loved?
Might, could, would, _or_ should I have loved?

SECOND PERSON SINGULAR.

SOLEMN STYLE:--IND. Lovest thou? _or_ Dost thou love? Lovedst thou? _or_
Didst thou love? Hast thou loved? Hadst thou loved? Wilt thou love? Wilt
thou have loved? POT. Mayst, canst, _or_ must thou love? Mightst, couldst,
wouldst, _or_ shouldst thou love? Mayst, canst, _or_ must thou have loved?
Mightst, couldst, wouldst, _or_ shouldst thou have loved?

FAMILIAR STYLE:--IND. Lov'st thou? _or_ Dost thou love? Loved thou? _or_
Did thou love? Hast thou loved? Had thou loved? Will thou love? Will thou
have loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must thou love? Might, could, would, _or_
should thou love? May, can, _or_ must thou have loved? Might, could, would,
_or_ should thou have loved?

THIRD PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. Loves he? _or_ Does he love? Loved he? _or_ Did he love? Has he loved?
Had he loved? Shall _or_ will he love? Will he have loved? POT. May, can,
_or_ must he love? Might, could, would, _or_ should he love? May, can, _or_
must he have loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should he have loved?

VI. FORM OF QUESTION WITH NEGATION.

A verb is conjugated _interrogatively and negatively_, in the indicative
and potential moods, by placing the nominative and the adverb _not_ after
the verb, or after the first auxiliary: as,

FIRST PERSON PLURAL.

IND. Love we not? _or_ Do we not love? Loved we not? _or_ Did we not love?
Have we not loved? Had we not loved? Shall we not love? Shall we not have
loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must we not love? Might, could, would, _or_
should we not love? May, can, _or_ must we not have loved? Might, could,
would, _or_ should we not have loved?

SECOND PERSON PLURAL.

IND. See ye not? _or_ Do you not see? Saw ye not? _or_ Did you not see?
Have you not seen? Had you not seen? Will you not see? Will you not have
seen? POT. May, can, _or_ must you not see? Might, could, would, _or_
should you not see? May, can, _or_ must you not have seen? Might, could,
would, _or_ should you not have seen?

THIRD PERSON PLURAL.

IND. Are they not loved? Were they not loved? Have they not been loved? Had
they not been loved? Shall _or_ will they not be loved? Will they not have
been loved? May, can, _or_ must they not be loved? Might, could, would,
_or_ should they not be loved? May, can, _or_ must they not have been
loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should they not have been loved?


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--In a familiar question or negation, the compound or auxiliary form
of the verb is, in general, preferable to the simple: as, "No man lives to
purpose, who _does not live_ for posterity."--_Dr. Wayland_. It is indeed
so much more common, as to seem the only proper mode of expression: as,
"_Do I say_ these things as a man?"--"_Do you think_ that we excuse
ourselves?"--"_Do you not know_ that a little leaven _leavens_ the whole
lump?"--"_Dost thou revile?_" &c. But in the solemn or the poetic style,
though either may be used, the simple form is more dignified, and perhaps
more graceful: as, "_Say I_ these things as a man?"--_1 Cor._, ix, 8.
"_Think ye_ that we excuse ourselves?"--_2 Cor._, xii, 19. "_Know ye not_
that a little leaven _leaveneth_ the whole lump?"--_1 Cor._, v, 6.
"_Revilest thou_ God's high priest?"--_Acts_. "King Agrippa, _believest
thou_ the prophets?"--_Ib._ "_Understandest thou_ what thou
readest?"--_Ib._ "Of whom _speaketh_ the prophet this?"--_Id._ "And the man
of God said, Where _fell it?_"--_2 Kings_, vi, 6.

   "What! _heard ye not_ of lowland war?"--_Sir W. Scott, L. L._

    "_Seems he not_, Malise, like a ghost?"--_Id., L. of Lake_.

    "Where _thinkst thou_ he is now? _Stands he_, or _sits he?_
    Or _does he walk?_ or _is he_ on his horse?"--_Shak., Ant. and Cleop._

OBS. 2.--In interrogative sentences, the auxiliaries _shall_ and _will_ are
not always capable of being applied to the different persons agreeably to
their use in simple declarations: thus, "_Will_ I go?" is a question which
there never can be any occasion to ask in its literal sense; because none
knows better than I, what my will or wish is. But "_Shall_ I go?" may
properly be asked; because _shall_ here refers to _duty_, and asks to know
what is agreeable to the will of an other. In questions, the first person
generally requires _shall_; the second, _will_; the third admits of both:
but, in the second-future, the third, used interrogatively, seems to
require _will_ only. Yet, in that figurative kind of interrogation which is
sometimes used to declare a negative, there may be occasional exceptions to
these principles; as, "_Will I eat_ the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood
of goats?"--_Psalms_, 1, 13. That is, _I will not eat_, &c.

OBS. 3.--_Cannot_ is not properly one word, but two: in parsing, the adverb
must be taken separately, and the auxiliary be explained with its
principal. When power is denied, _can_ and _not_ are now _generally
united_--perhaps in order to prevent ambiguity; as, "I _cannot_ go." But
when the power is affirmed, and something else is denied, the words are
written separately; as, "The Christian apologist _can not merely_ expose
the utter baseness of the infidel assertion, but he has positive ground for
erecting an opposite and confronting assertion in its place."--_Dr.
Chalmers._ The junction of these terms, however, is not of much importance
to the sense; and, as it is plainly contrary to analogy, some writers,--(as
Dr. Webster, in his late or "improved" works; Dr. Bullions, in his; Prof.
W. C. Fowler, in his new "English Grammar," 8vo; R. C. Trench, in his
"Study of Words;" T. S. Pinneo, in his "revised" grammars; J. R. Chandler,
W. S. Cardell, O. B. Peirce,--) always separate them. And, indeed, why
should we write, "I _cannot_ go, Thou _canst not_ go, He _cannot_ go?"
Apart from the custom, we have just as good reason to join _not_ to _canst_
as to _can_; and sometimes its union with the latter is a gross error: as,
"He _cannot only_ make a way to escape, but with the injunction to duty can
infuse the power to perform."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 287. The fear of
ambiguity never prevents us from disjoining _can_ and _not_ whenever we
wish to put a word between them: as, "Though the waves thereof toss
themselves, yet _can_ they _not_ prevail; though they roar, yet _can_ they
_not_ pass over it."--_Jeremiah_, v, 22. "Which then I _can_ resist
_not_."--_Byron's Manfred_, p. 1.

   "_Can_ I _not_ mountain maiden spy,
    But she must bear the Douglas eye?"--_Scott_.

OBS. 4.--In negative questions, the adverb _not_ is sometimes placed before
the nominative, and sometimes after it: as, "Told _not I_ thee?"--_Numb._,
xxiii, 26. "Spake _I not_ also to thy messengers?"--_Ib._, xxiv, 12.
"_Cannot I_ do with you as this potter?"--_Jer._, xviii, 6. "Art _not thou_
a seer?"--_2 Sam._, xv, 27. "Did _not Israel_ know?"--_Rom._, x, 19. "Have
_they not_ heard?"--_Ib._, 18. "Do _not they_ blaspheme that worthy
name?"--_James_, ii, 7. This adverb, like every other, should be placed
where it will sound most agreeably, and best suit the sense. Dr. Priestley
imagined that it could not properly come before the nominative. He says,
"When the nominative case is put after the verb, on account of _an_
interrogation, _no other word_ should be interposed between them.
[EXAMPLES:] 'May _not we_ here say with Lucretius?'--Addison on Medals, p.
29. May _we not_ say? 'Is _not it_ he.' [?] Smollett's Voltaire, Vol 18, p.
152. Is _it not_ he. [?]"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 177.

OBS. 5.--In grave discourse, or in oratory, the adverb _not_ is spoken as
distinctly as other words; but, _ordinarily_, when placed before the
nominative, it is rapidly slurred over in utterance and the _o_ is not
heard. In fact, it is _generally_ (though inelegantly) contracted in
familiar conversation, and joined to the auxiliary: as, IND. Don't they do
it? Didn't they do it? Haven't they done it? Hadn't they done it? Shan't,
_or_ won't they do it? Won't they have done it? POT. Mayn't, can't, _or_
mustn't they do it? Mightn't, couldn't, wouldn't, _or_ shouldn't they do
it? Mayn't, can't, _or_ mustn't they have done it? Mightn't, couldn't,
wouldn't, _or_ shouldn't they have done it?

OBS. 6.--Well-educated people commonly utter their words with more
distinctness and fullness than the vulgar, yet without adopting ordinarily
the long-drawn syllables of poets and orators, or the solemn phraseology of
preachers and prophets. Whatever may be thought of the grammatical
propriety of such contractions as the foregoing, no one who has ever
observed how the English language is usually spoken, will doubt their
commonness, or their antiquity. And it may be observed, that, in the use of
these forms, the distinction of persons and numbers in the verb, is almost,
if not entirely, dropped. Thus _don't_ is used for _dost not_ or _does
not_, as properly as for _do not_; and, "_Thou can't_ do it, or _shan't_ do
it," is as good English as, "_He can't_ do it, or _shan't_ do it." _Will_,
according to Webster, was anciently written _woll_: hence _won't_ acquired
the _o_, which is long in Walker's orthoëpy. _Haven't_, which cannot be
used for _has not_ or _hast not_, is still further contracted by the
vulgar, and spoken _ha'nt_, which serves for all three. These forms are
sometimes found in books; as, "WONT, a contraction of _woll not_, that is,
_will not_."--_Webster's Dict._ "HA'NT, a contraction of _have not_ or _has
not_."--_Id._ "WONT, (w=ont _or_ w~unt,) A contraction of _would not_:--
used for _will_ not."--_Worcester's Dict._ "HAN'T, (hänt or h=ant,) A
vulgar contraction for _has not_, or _have not_."--_Id._ In the writing of
such contractions, the apostrophe is not always used; though some think it
necessary for distinction's sake: as, "Which is equivalent, because what
_can't_ be done _won't_ be done."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 312.



IRREGULAR VERBS.

An _irregular verb_ is a verb that does not form the preterit and the
perfect participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_; as, _see, saw, seeing, seen_.
Of this class of verbs there are about one hundred and ten, beside their
several derivatives and compounds.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Regular verbs form their preterits and perfect participles, by
adding _d_ to final _e_, and _ed_ to all other terminations; the final
consonant of the verb being sometimes doubled, (as in _dropped_,) and final
_y_ sometimes changed into _i_, (as in _cried_,) agreeably to the rules for
spelling in such cases. The verb _hear, heard, hearing, heard_, adds _d_ to
_r_, and is therefore irregular. _Heard_ is pronounced _h~erd_ by all our
lexicographers, except _Webster_: who formerly wrote it _heerd_, and still
pronounces it so; alleging, in despite of universal usage against him, that
it is written "more correctly _heared_."--_Octavo Dict._, 1829. Such
pronunciation would doubtless require this last orthography, "_heared_;"
but both are, in fact, about as fanciful as his former mode of spelling,
which ran thus: "_Az_ I had _heerd_ suggested by _frends_ or indifferent
_reeders_."--_Dr. Webster's Essays, Preface_, p. 10.

OBS. 2.--When a verb ends in a sharp consonant, _t_ is sometimes improperly
substituted for _ed_, making the preterit and the perfect participle
irregular in spelling, when they are not so in sound; as, _distrest_ for
_distressed, tost_ for _tossed, mixt_ for _mixed, cract_ for _cracked_.
These contractions are now generally treated as _errors_ in writing; and
the verbs are accordingly (with a few exceptions) accounted regular. Lord
Kames commends Dean Swift for having done "all in his power to restore the
syllable _ed_;" says, he "possessed, if any man ever did, the true genius
of the English tongue;" and thinks that in rejecting these ugly
contractions, "he well deserves to be imitated."--_Elements of Criticism_,
Vol. ii, p. 12. The regular orthography is indeed to be preferred in all
such cases; but the writing of _ed_ restores no syllable, except in solemn
discourse; and, after all, the poems of Swift have so very many of these
irregular contractions in _t_, that one can hardly believe his lordship had
ever read them. Since the days of these critics still more has been done
towards the restoration of the _ed_, in orthography, though not in sound;
but, even at this present time, our poets not unfrequently write, _est_ for
_essed_ or _ess'd_, in forming the preterits or participles of verbs that
end in the syllable _ess_. This is an ill practice, which needlessly
multiplies our redundant verbs, and greatly embarrasses what it seems at
first to simplify: as,

   "O friend! I know not which way I must look
    For comfort, being, as I am, _opprest_,
    To think that now our life is only _drest_
    For show."--_Wordsworth's Poetical Works_, 8vo, p. 119.

OBS. 3.--When the verb ends with a smooth consonant, the substitution of
_t_ for _ed_ produces an irregularity in sound as well as in writing. In
some such irregularities, the poets are indulged for the sake of rhyme; but
the best speakers and writers of prose prefer the regular form, wherever
good use has sanctioned it: thus _learned_ is better than _learnt; burned_,
than _burnt; penned_, than _pent; absorbed_, than _absorbt; spelled_, than
_spelt; smelled_, than _smelt_. So many of this sort of words as are
allowably contracted, belong to the class of redundant verbs, among which
they may be seen in a subsequent table.

OBS. 4.--Several of the irregular verbs are variously used by the best
authors; redundant forms are occasionally given to some verbs, without
sufficient authority; and many preterits and participles which were
formerly in good use, are now obsolete, or becoming so. The _simple_
irregular verbs in English are about one hundred and ten, and they are
nearly all monosyllables. They are derived from the Saxon, in which
language they are also, for the most part, irregular.

OBS. 5.--The following alphabetical list exhibits the simple irregular
verbs, as they are _now generally_ used. In this list, those preterits and
participles which are supposed to be preferable, and best supported by
authorities, are placed first. Nearly all compounds that follow the form of
their simple verbs, or derivatives that follow their primitives, are here
purposely omitted. _Welcome_ and _behave_ are always regular, and therefore
belong not here. Some words which are obsolete, have also been omitted,
that the learner might not mistake them for words in present use. Some of
those which are placed last, are now little used.


LIST OF THE IRREGULAR VERBS.

                                    _Imperfect     Perfect_
_Present.    Preterit.               Participle.    Participle_.
Arise,        arose,                  arising,      arisen.
Be,           was,                    being,        been.
Bear,         bore _or_ bare,         bearing,      borne _or_ born.[274]
Beat,         beat,                   beating,      beaten _or_ beat.
Begin,        began _or_ begun,[275]  beginning,    begun.
Behold,       beheld,                 beholding,    beheld.
Beset,        beset,                  besetting,    beset.
Bestead,      bestead,                besteading,   bestead.[276]
Bid,          bid _or_ bade,          bidding,      bidden _or_ bid.
Bind,         bound,                  bing,         bound.
Bite,         bit,                    biting,       bitten _or_ bit.
Bleed,        bled,                   bleeding,     bled.
Break,        broke,[277]             breaking,     broken.
Breed,        bred,                   breeding,     bred.
Bring,        brought,                bringing,     brought.
Buy,          bought,                 buying,       bought.
Cast,         cast,                   casting,      cast.
Chide,        chid,                   chiding,      chidden _or_ chid.
Choose,       chose,                  choosing,     chosen.
Cleave,[278]  cleft _or_ clove,       cleaving,     cleft _or_ cloven.
Cling,        clung,                  clinging,     clung.
Come,         came,                   coming,       come.
Cost,         cost,                   costing,      cost.
Cut,          cut,                    cutting,      cut.
Do,           did,                    doing,        done.
Draw,         drew,                   drawing,      drawn.
Drink,        drank,                  drinking,     drunk, _or_ drank.[279]
Drive,        drove,                  driving,      driven.
Eat,          ate _or_ ~eat,          eating,       eaten _or_ eat.
Fall,         fell,                   falling,      fallen.
Feed,         fed,                    feeding,      fed.
Feel,         felt,                   feeling,      felt.
Fight,        fought,                 fighting,     fought.
Find,         found,                  finding,      found.
Flee,         fled,                   fleeing,      fled.
Fling,        flung,                  flinging,     flung.
Fly,          flew,                   flying,       flown.
Forbear,      forbore,                forbearing,   forborne.
Forsake,      forsook,                forsaking,    forsaken.
Get,          got,                    getting,      got _or_ gotten.
Give,         gave,                   giving,       given.
Go,           went,                   going,        gone.
Grow,         grew,                   growing,      grown.
Have,         had,                    having,       had.
Hear,         heard,                  hearing,      heard.
Hide,         hid,                    hiding,       hidden _or_ hid.
Hit,          hit,                    hitting,      hit.
Hold,         held,                   holding,      held _or_ holden.[280]
Hurt,         hurt,                   hurting,      hurt.[281]
Keep,         kept,[282]              keeping,      kept.
Know,         knew,                   knowing,      known.
Lead,         led,                    leading,      led.
Leave,        left,                   leaving,      left.
Lend,         lent,                   lending,      lent.
Let,          let,                    letting,      let
Lie,[283]     lay,                    lying,        lain.
Lose,         lost,                   losing,       lost.
Make,         made,                   making,       made.
Meet,         met,                    meeting,      met.
Outdo,        outdid,                 outdoing,     outdone.
Put,          put,                    putting,      put.
Read,         r~ead,                  reading,      r~ead.
Rend,         rent,                   rending,      rent.[284]
Rid,          rid,                    ridding,      rid.
Ride,         rode,                   riding,       ridden _or_ rode.
Ring,         rung _or_ rang,         ringing,      rung.
Rise,         rose,                   rising,       risen.
Run,          ran _or_ run,           running,      run.
Say,          said,                   saying,       said.[285]
See,          saw,                    seeing,       seen.
Seek,         sought,                 seeking,      sought.
Sell,         sold,                   selling,      sold.
Send,         sent,                   sending,      sent.
Set,          set,                    setting,      set.
Shed,         shed,                   shedding,     shed.
Shoe,         shod,                   shoeing,      shod.[286]
Shoot,        shot,                   shooting,     shot.
Shut,         shut,                   shutting,     shut.
Shred,        shred,                  shredding,    shred.
Shrink,       shrunk _or_ shrank,     shrinking,    shrunk _or_ shrunken.
Sing,         sung _or_ sang,[287]    singing,      sung.
Sink,         sunk _or_ sank,         sinking,      sunk.
Sit,          sat,                    sitting,      sat.[288]
Slay,         slew,                   slaying,      slain.
Sling,        slung,                  slinging,     slung.
Slink,        slunk _or_ slank,       slinking,     slunk.
Smite,        smote,                  smiting,      smitten _or_ smit.
Speak,        spoke,                  speaking,     spoken.
Spend,        spent,                  spending,     spent.
Spin,         spun,                   spinning,     spun.
Spit,         spit _or_ spat,         spitting,     spit _or_ spitten.
Spread,       spread,                 spreading,    spread.
Spring,       sprung _or_ sprang,     springing,    sprung.
Stand,        stood,                  standing,     stood.
Steal,        stole,                  stealing,     stolen.
Stick,        stuck,                  sticking,     stuck.
Sting,        stung,                  stinging,     stung.
Stink,        stunk _or_ stank,       stinking,     stunk.
Stride,       strode _or_ strid,      striding,     stridden
                                                      _or_ strid.[289]
Strike,       struck,                 striking,     struck _or_ stricken.
Swear,        swore,                  swearing,     sworn.
Swim,         swum _or_ swam,         swimming,     swum.
Swing,        swung _or_ swang,       swinging,     swung.
Take,         took,                   taking,       taken.
Teach,        taught,                 teaching,     taught.
Tear,         tore,                   tearing,      torn.
Tell,         told,                   telling,      told.
Think,        thought,                thinking,     thought.
Thrust,       thrust,                 thrusting,    thrust.
Tread,        trod,                   treading,     trodden _or_ trod.
Wear,         wore,                   wearing,      worn.
Win,          won,                    winning,      won.
Write,        wrote,                  writing,      written.[290]


REDUNDANT VERBS.

A _redundant verb_ is a verb that forms the preterit or
the perfect participle in two or more ways, and so as to be both regular
and irregular; as, _thrive, thrived_ or _throve, thriving, thrived_ or
_thriven_. Of this class of verbs, there are about ninety-five, beside
sundry derivatives and compounds.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Those irregular verbs which have more than one form for the
preterit or for the perfect participle, are in some sense redundant; but,
as there is no occasion to make a distinct class of such as have double
forms that are never regular, these redundancies are either included in the
preceding list of the simple irregular verbs, or omitted as being improper
to be now recognized for good English. Several examples of the latter kind,
including both innovations and archaisms, will appear among the
improprieties for correction, at the end of this chapter. A few old
preterits or participles may perhaps be accounted good English in the
solemn style, which are not so in the familiar: as, "And none _spake_ a
word unto him."--_Job_, ii, 13. "When I _brake_ the five loaves."--_Mark_,
viii, 19. "And he _drave_ them from the judgement-seat."--_Acts_, xviii,
16. "Serve me till I have eaten and _drunken_."--_Luke_, xvii, 8. "It was
not possible that he should be _holden_ of it."--_Acts_, ii, 24. "Thou
_castedst_ them down into destruction."--_Psal._, lxxiii, 18. "Behold, I
was _shapen_ in iniquity."--_Ib._, li, 5. "A meat-offering _baken_ in the
oven."--_Leviticus_, ii, 4.

   "With _casted_ slough, and fresh celerity."--SHAK., _Henry V_.

    "Thy dreadful vow, _loaden_ with death."--ADDISON: _in Joh. Dict._

OBS. 2.--The verb _bet_ is given in Worcester's Dictionary, as being always
regular: "BET, _v. a._ [_i_. BETTED; _pp_. BETTING, BETTED.] To wager; to
lay a wager or bet. SHAK."--_Octavo Dict._ In Ainsworth's Grammar, it is
given as being always irregular: "_Present_, Bet; _Imperfect_, Bet;
_Participle_, Bet."--Page 36. On the authority of these, and of some others
cited in OBS. 6th below, I have put it with the redundant verbs. The verb
_prove_ is redundant, if _proven_, which is noticed by Webster, Bolles, and
Worcester, is an admissible word. "The participle _proven_ is used in
Scotland and in some parts of the United States, and sometimes, though
rarely, in England.--'There is a mighty difference between _not proven_ and
_disproven_.' DR. TH. CHALMERS. 'Not _proven_.' QU. REV."--_Worcester's
Universal and Critical Dict._ The verbs _bless_ and _dress_ are to be
considered redundant, according to the authority of Worcester, Webster,
Bolles, and others. Cobbett will have the verbs, _cast, chide, cling, draw,
grow, shred, sling, slink, spring, sting, stride, swim, swing_, and
_thrust_, to be always regular; but I find no sufficient authority for
allowing to any of them a regular form; and therefore leave them, where
they always have been, in the list of simple irregulars. These fourteen
verbs are a part of the long list of _seventy_ which this author says,
"are, by some persons, _erroneously_ deemed irregular." Of the following
_nine_ only, is his assertion true; namely, _dip, help, load, overflow,
slip, snow, stamp, strip, whip_. These nine ought always to be formed
regularly; for all their irregularities may well be reckoned obsolete.
After these deductions from this most erroneous catalogue, there remain
forty-five other very common verbs, to be disposed of contrary to this
author's instructions. All but two of these I shall place in the list of
_redundant_ verbs; though for the use of _throwed_ I find no written
authority but his and William B. Fowle's. The two which I do not consider
redundant are _spit_ and _strew_, of which it may be proper to take more
particular notice.

OBS. 3.--_Spit_, to stab, or to put upon a spit, is regular; as, "I
_spitted frogs_, I crushed a heap of emmets."--_Dryden. Spit_, to throw out
saliva, is irregular, and most properly formed thus: _spit, spit, spitting,
spit. "Spat_ is obsolete."--_Webster's Dict._ It is used in the Bible; as,
"He _spat_ on the ground, and made clay of the spittle."--_John_, ix, 6. L.
Murray gives this verb thus: "Pres. _Spit_; Imp. _spit, spat_; Perf. Part.
_spit, spitten_." NOTE: "_Spitten_ is nearly obsolete."--_Octavo Gram._, p.
106. Sanborn has it thus: "Pres. _Spit_; Imp. _spit_; Pres. Part.
_spitting_; Perf. Part. _spit, spat_."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 48. Cobbett,
at first, taking it in the form, "to _spit_, I _spat, spitten_," placed it
among the seventy which he so erroneously thought should be made regular;
afterwards he left it only in his list of irregulars, thus: "to _spit_, I
_spit, spitten_."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, of 1832, p. 54. Churchill, in
1823, preferring the older forms, gave it thus: "_Spit, spat_ or _spit,
spitten_ or _spit_."--_New Gram._, p. 111. NOTE:--"Johnson gives _spat_ as
the preterimperfect, and _spit_ or _spitted_ as the participle of this
verb, when it means to pierce through with a pointed instrument: but in
this sense, I believe, it is always regular; while, on the other hand, the
regular form is now never used, when it signifies to eject from the mouth;
though we find in _Luke_, xviii, 32, 'He shall be _spitted_
on.'"--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 264. This text ought to have been, "He
shall be _spit_ upon."

OBS. 4.--_To strew_ is in fact nothing else than an other mode of spelling
the verb _to strow_; as _shew_ is an obsolete form for _show_; but if we
pronounce the two forms differently, we make them different words. Walker,
and some others, pronounce them alike, _stro_; Sheridan, Jones, Jameson,
and Webster, distinguish them in utterance, _stroo_ and _stro_. This is
convenient for the sake of rhyme, and perhaps therefore preferable. But
_strew_, I incline to think, is properly a regular verb only, though Wells
and Worcester give it otherwise: if _strewn_ has ever been proper, it seems
now to be obsolete. EXAMPLES: "Others cut down branches from the trees, and
_strewed_ them in the way."--_Matt._, xxi, 8. "Gathering where thou hast
not _strewed_."--_Matt._, xxv, 24.

   "Their name, their years, _spelt_ by th' unletter'd _muse_,
    The place of fame and elegy supply;
    And many _a holy text_ around she _strews_,
    _That teach_ the rustic moralist to die."--_Gray_.

OBS. 5.--The list which I give below, prepared with great care, exhibits
the redundant verbs, as they are now generally used, or as they may be used
without grammatical impropriety.[291] Those forms which are supposed to be
preferable, and best supported by authorities, are placed first. No words
are inserted here, but such as some modern authors countenance. L. Murray
recognizes _bereaved, catched, dealed, digged, dwelled, hanged, knitted,
shined, spilled_; and, in his early editions, he approved of _bended,
builded, creeped, weaved, worked, wringed_. His two larger books now tell
us, "The Compiler _has not inserted_ such verbs as _learnt, spelt, spilt_,
&c. which are improperly terminated by _t_, instead of _ed_."--_Octavo
Gram._, p. 107; _Duodecimo_, p. 97. But if he did not, in all his grammars,
insert, "_Spill, spilt_, R. _spilt_, R.," (pp. 106, 96,) preferring the
irregular form to the regular, somebody else has done it for him. And, what
is remarkable, many of his _amenders_, as if misled by some evil genius,
have contradicted themselves in precisely the same way! Ingersoll, Fisk,
Merchant, and Hart, republish exactly the foregoing words, and severally
become "_The Compiler_" of the same erroneous catalogue! Kirkham prefers
_spilt_ to _spilled_, and then declares the word to be "_improperly_
terminated by _t_ instead of _ed_."--_Gram._, p. 151. Greenleaf, who
condemns _learnt_ and _spelt_, thinks _dwelt_ and _spilt_ are "the _only
established_ forms;" yet he will have _dwell_ and _spill_ to be "_regular_"
verbs, as well as "_irregular!_"--_Gram. Simp._, p. 29. Webber prefers
_spilled_ to _spilt_; but Picket admits only the latter. Cobbett and
Sanborn prefer _bereaved, builded, dealed, digged, dreamed, hanged_, and
_knitted_, to _bereft, built, dealt, dug, dreamt, hung_, and _knit_. The
former prefers _creeped_ to _crept_, and _freezed_ to _froze_; the latter,
_slitted_ to _slit, wringed_ to _wrung_; and both consider, "_I bended_,"
"_I bursted_" and "_I blowed_," to be good modern English. W. Allen
acknowledges _freezed_ and _slided_; and, like Webster, prefers _hove_ to
_hoven_: but the latter justly prefers _heaved_ to both. EXAMP.: "The
supple kinsman _slided_ to the helm."--_New Timon_. "The rogues _slided_ me
into the river."--_Shak_. "And the sand _slided_ from beneath my feet."--
DR. JOHNSON: _in Murray's Sequel_, p. 179. "Wherewith she _freez'd_ her
foes to congeal'd stone."--_Milton's Comus_, l. 449. "It _freezed_ hard
last night. Now, what was it that _freezed_ so hard?"--_Emmons's Gram._, p.
25. "Far hence lies, ever _freez'd_, the northern main."--_Savage's
Wanderer_, l. 57. "Has he not taught, _beseeched_, and shed abroad the
Spirit unconfined?"--_Pollok's Course of Time_, B. x, l. 275.

OBS. 6.--D. Blair supposes _catched_ to be an "erroneous" word and
unauthorized: "I _catch'd_ it," for "I _caught_ it," he sets down for a
"_vulgarism_."--_E. Gram._, p. 111. But _catched_ is used by some of the
most celebrated authors. Dearborn prefers the regular form of _creep_:
"creep, creeped _or_ crept, creeped _or_ crept."--_Columbian Gram._, p. 38.
I adopt no man's opinions implicitly; copy nothing without examination;
but, _to prove all my decisions to be right_, would be an endless task. I
shall do as much as ought to be expected, toward showing that they are so.
It is to be remembered, that the _poets_, as well as the _vulgar_, use some
forms which a _gentleman_ would be likely to avoid, unless he meant to
quote or imitate; as,

   "So _clomb_ the first grand thief into God's fold;
    So since into his church lewd hirelings climb."
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. iv, l. 192.

   "He _shore_ his sheep, and, having packed the wool,
    Sent them unguarded to the hill of wolves."
        --_Pollok, C. of T._, B. vi, l. 306.

                      ------"The King of heav'n
    Bar'd his red arm, and launching from the sky
    His _writhen_ bolt, not shaking empty smoke,
    Down to the deep abyss the flaming felon _strook_."
        --_Dryden_.

OBS. 7.--The following are examples in proof of some of the forms
acknowledged below: "Where etiquette and precedence _abided_ far
away."--_Paulding's Westward-Ho!_ p. 6. "But there were no secrets where
Mrs. Judith Paddock _abided_."--_Ib._, p. 8. "They _abided_ by the forms of
government established by the charters."--_John Quincy Adams, Oration_,
1831. "I have _abode_ consequences often enough in the course of my
life."--_Id., Speech_, 1839. "Present, _bide_, or _abide_; Past, _bode, or
abode_."--_Coar's Gram._, p. 104. "I _awaked_ up last of all."--_Ecclus._,
xxxiii, 16. "For this are my knees _bended_ before the God of the spirits
of all flesh."--_Wm. Penn_. "There was never a prince _bereaved_ of his
dependencies," &c.--_Bacon_. "Madam, you have _bereft_ me of all
words."--_Shakspeare_. "Reave, _reaved or reft_, reaving, _reaved or reft_.
_Bereave_ is similar."--_Ward's Practical Gram._, p. 65. "And let them tell
their tales of woful ages, long ago _betid_."--_Shak_. "Of every nation
_blent_, and every age."--_Pollok, C. of T._, B vii, p. 153. "Rider and
horse,--friend, foe,--in one red burial _blent!_"--_Byron, Harold_, C. iii,
st. 28. "I _builded_ me houses."--_Ecclesiastes_, ii, 4. "For every house
is _builded_ by some man; but he that _built_ all things is God."--_Heb_.
iii, 4. "What thy hands _builded_ not, thy wisdom gained."--_Milton's P.
L._, X, 373. "Present, _bet_; Past, _bet_; Participle, _bet_."--
_Mackintosh's Gram._, p. 197; _Alexander's_, 38. "John of Gaunt loved him
well, and _betted_ much upon his head."--SHAKSPEARE: _Joh. Dict, w. Bet_.
"He lost every earthly thing he _betted_."--PRIOR: _ib._ "A seraph
_kneeled_."--_Pollok, C. T._, p. 95.

   "At first, he declared he himself would be _blowed_,
    Ere his conscience with such a foul crime he would load."
        --_J. R. Lowell_.

"They are _catched_ without art or industry."--_Robertson's Amer._,-Vol. i,
p. 302. "Apt to be _catched_ and dazzled."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 26. "The
lion being _catched_ in a net."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 232. "In their
self-will they _digged_ down a wall."--_Gen._, xlix, 6. "The royal mother
instantly _dove_ to the bottom and brought up her babe unharmed."--
_Trumbull's America_, i, 144. "The learned have _diven_ into the secrets of
nature."--CARNOT: _Columbian Orator_, p. 82. "They have _awoke_ from that
ignorance in which they had slept."--_London Encyclopedia_. "And he _slept_
and _dreamed_ the second time."--_Gen._, xli, 5. "So I _awoke_."--_Ib._,
21. "But he _hanged_ the chief baker."--_Gen._, xl, 22. "Make as if you
_hanged_ yourself."--ARBUTHNOT: _in Joh. Dict._ "_Graven_ by art and man's
device."--_Acts_, xvii, 29. "_Grav'd_ on the stone beneath yon aged
thorn."--_Gray_. "That the tooth of usury may be _grinded_."--_Lord Bacon_.
"MILN-EE, The hole from which the _grinded_ corn falls into the chest
below."--_Glossary of Craven_, London, 1828. "UNGRUND, Not _grinded_."--
_Ibid._ "And he _built_ the inner court with three rows of _hewed_
stone."--_1 Kings_, vi, 36. "A thing by which matter is _hewed_."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist. of Europ. Lang._, Vol. i, p. 378. "SCAGD or SCAD _meaned_
distinction, dividing."--_Ib._, i, 114. "He only _meaned_ to acknowledge
him to be an extraordinary person."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 12. "_The_
determines what particular thing is _meaned_."--_Ib._, p. 11. "If Hermia
_mean'd_ to say Lysander lied."--_Shak_. "As if I _meaned_ not the first
but the second creation."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 289. "From some stones
have rivers _bursted_ forth."--_Sale's Koran_, Vol. i, p. 14.

   "So move we on; I only _meant_
    To show the reed on which you _leant_."--_Scott, L. L._, C. v, st. 11.

OBS. 8.--_Layed, payed_, and _stayed_, are now less common than _laid,
paid_, and _staid_; but perhaps not less correct, since they are the same
words in a more regular and not uncommon orthography: "Thou takest up that
[which] thou _layedst_ not down."--FRIENDS' BIBLE, SMITH'S, BRUCE'S:
_Luke_, xix, 21. Scott's Bible, in this place, has "_layest_," which is
wrong in tense. "Thou _layedst_ affliction upon our loins."--FRIENDS'
BIBLE: _Psalms_, lxvi, 11. "Thou _laidest_ affliction upon our
loins."--SCOTT'S BIBLE, _and_ BRUCE'S. "Thou _laidst_ affliction upon our
loins."--SMITH'S BIBLE, Stereotyped by J. Howe. "Which gently _lay'd_ my
knighthood on my shoulder."--SINGER'S SHAKSPEARE: _Richard II_, Act i, Sc.
1. "But no regard was _payed_ to his remonstrance."--_Smollett's England_,
Vol. iii, p. 212. "Therefore the heaven over you is _stayed_ from dew, and
the earth is _stayed_ from her fruit."--_Haggai_, i, 10. "STAY, _i_. STAYED
_or_ STAID; _pp_. STAYING, STAYED _or_ STAID."--_Worcester's Univ. and
Crit. Dict._ "Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz _stayed_ by En-rogel."--_2 Sam._,
xvii, 17. "This day have I _payed_ my vows."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Prov_, vii,
14. Scott's Bible has "_paid_." "They not only _stayed_ for their resort,
but discharged divers."--HAYWARD: _in Joh. Dict._ "I _stayed_ till the
latest grapes were ripe."--_Waller's Dedication_. "_To lay_ is regular, and
has in the past time and participle _layed_ or _laid_."--_Lowth's Gram._,
p. 54. "To the flood, that _stay'd_ her flight."--_Milton's Comus_, l. 832.
"All rude, all waste, and desolate is _lay'd_."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. ix, l.
1636. "And he smote thrice, and _stayed_."--_2 Kings_, xiii, 18.

   "When Cobham, generous as the noble peer
    That wears his honours, _pay'd_ the fatal price
    Of virtue blooming, ere the storms were _laid_."--_Shenstone_, p. 167.

OBS. 9.--By the foregoing citations, _lay, pay_, and _stay_, are clearly
proved to be redundant. But, in nearly all our English grammars, _lay_ and
_pay_ are represented as being always irregular; and _stay_ is as often,
and as improperly, supposed to be always regular. Other examples in proof
of the list: "I _lit_ my pipe with the paper."--_Addison_.

   "While he whom learning, habits, all prevent,
    Is largely _mulct_ for each impediment."--_Crabbe, Bor._, p. 102.
    "And then the chapel--night and morn to pray,
    Or _mulct_ and threaten'd if he kept away."--_Ib._, p. 162.

"A small space is formed, in which the breath is _pent_ up."--_Gardiner's
Music of Nature_, p. 493. "_Pen_, when it means to write, is always
regular. Boyle has _penned_ in the sense of confined."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 261. "So far as it was now _pled_."--ANDERSON: _Annals of the
Bible_, p. 25. "_Rapped_ with admiration."--HOOKER: _Joh. Dict._ "And being
_rapt_ with the love of his beauty."--_Id., ib._ "And _rapt_ in secret
studies."--SHAK.: _ib._ "I'm _rapt_ with joy."--ADDISON: _ib._ "_Roast_
with fire."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Exod._, xii, 8 and 9. "_Roasted_ with
fire."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Exod._, xii, 8 and 9. "Upon them hath the light
_shined_."--_Isaiah_, ix, 2. "The earth _shined_ with his
glory."--_Ezekiel_, xliii, 2. "After that he had _showed_
wonders."--_Acts_, vii, 36. "Those things which God before had
_showed_."--_Acts_, iii, 18. "As shall be _shewed_ in Syntax."--_Johnson's
Gram. Com._, p. 28. "I have _shown_ you, that the _two first_ may be
dismissed."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 10. "And in this struggle were _sowed_
the seeds of the revolution."--_Everett's Address_, p. 16. "Your favour
_showed_ to the performance, has given me boldness."--_Jenks's Prayers,
Ded_. "Yea, so have I _strived_ to preach the gospel."--_Rom._, xv, 20.
"Art thou, like the adder, _waxen_ deaf?"--_Shakspeare. "Hamstring'd_
behind, unhappy Gyges died."--_Dryden_. "In Syracusa was I born and
_wed_."--_Shakspeare_. "And thou art _wedded_ to calamity."--_Id._ "I saw
thee first, and _wedded_ thee."--_Milton_. "Sprung the rank weed, and
_thrived_ with large increase."--_Pope_. "Some errors never would have
_thriven_, had it not been for learned refutation."--_Book of Thoughts_, p.
34. "Under your care they have _thriven_."--_Junius_, p. 5. "Fixed by being
rolled closely, compacted, _knitted_."--_Dr. Murray's Hist._, Vol. i, p.
374. "With kind converse and skill has _weaved_."--_Prior_. "Though I shall
be _wetted_ to the skin."--_Sandford and Merton_, p. 64. "I _speeded_
hither with the very extremest inch of possibility."--_Shakspeare_. "And
pure grief _shore_ his old thread in twain."--_Id._ "And must I ravel out
my _weaved-up_ follies?"--_Id., Rich. II_. "Tells how the drudging Goblin
_swet_."--_Milton's L'Allegro_. "Weave, wove or _weaved_, weaving, wove,
_weaved_, or woven."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 67.

   "Thou who beneath the frown of fate hast stood,
    And in thy dreadful agony _sweat_ blood."--_Young_, p. 238.

OBS. 10.--The verb to _shake_ is now seldom used in any other than the
irregular form, _shake, shook, shaking, shaken_; and, in this form only, is
it recognized by our principal grammarians and lexicographers, except that
Johnson improperly acknowledges _shook_ as well as _shaken_ for the perfect
participle: as, "I've _shook_ it off."--DRYDEN: _Joh. Dict._ But the
regular form, _shake, shaked, shaking, shaked_, appears to have been used
by some writers of high reputation; and, if the verb is not now properly
redundant, it formerly was so. Examples regular: "The frame and huge
foundation of the earth _shak'd_ like a coward."--SHAKSPEARE: _Hen. IV_. "I
am he that is so _love-shaked_."--ID.: _As You Like it_. "A sly and
constant knave, not to be _shak'd_."--ID.: _Cymbeline: Joh. Dict._ "I
thought he would have _shaked_ it off."--TATTLER: _ib._ "To the very point
I _shaked_ my head at."--_Spectator_, No. 4. "From the ruin'd roof of
_shak'd_ Olympus."--_Milton's Poems_. "None hath _shak'd_ it
off."--_Walker's English Particles_, p. 89. "They _shaked_ their
heads."--_Psalms_, cix, 25. Dr. Crombie says, "Story, in his Grammar, has,
_most unwarrantably_, asserted, that the Participle of this Verb should be
_shaked_."--ON ETYMOLOGY AND SYNTAX, p. 198. Fowle, on the contrary,
pronounces _shaked_ to be right. See _True English Gram._, p. 46.

OBS. 11.--All former lists of our irregular and redundant verbs are, in
many respects, defective and erroneous; nor is it claimed for those which
are here presented, that they are absolutely perfect. I trust, however,
they are much nearer to perfection, than are any earlier ones. Among the
many individuals who have published schemes of these verbs, none have been
more respected and followed than Lowth, Murray, and Crombie; yet are these
authors' lists severally faulty in respect to as many as sixty or seventy
of the words in question, though the whole number but little exceeds two
hundred, and is commonly reckoned less than one hundred and eighty. By
Lowth, eight verbs are made redundant, which I think are now regular only:
namely, _bake, climb, fold, help, load, owe, wash_. By Crombie, as many:
to wit, _bake, climb, freight, help, lift, load, shape, writhe_. By Murray,
two: _load_ and _shape_. With Crombie, and in general with the others too,
twenty-seven verbs are always irregular, which I think are sometimes
regular, and therefore redundant: _abide, beseech, blow, burst, creep,
freeze, grind, lade, lay, pay, rive, seethe, shake, show, sleep, slide,
speed, string, strive, strow, sweat, thrive, throw, weave, weep, wind,
wring_. Again, there are, I think, more than twenty redundant verbs which
are treated by Crombie,--and, with one or two exceptions, by Lowth and
Murray also,--as if they were always regular: namely, _betide, blend,
bless, burn, dive, dream, dress, geld, kneel, lean, leap, learn, mean,
mulct, pass, pen, plead, prove, reave, smell, spell, stave, stay, sweep,
wake, whet, wont_. Crombie's list contains the auxiliaries, which properly
belong to a different table. Erroneous as it is, in all these things, and
more, it is introduced by the author with the following praise, in bad
English: "_Verbs, which_ depart from this rule, are called Irregular, _of
which_ I believe the subsequent enumeration to be _nearly
complete_."--TREATISE ON ETYM. AND SYNT., p. 192.

OBS. 12.--Dr. Johnson, in his Grammar of the English Tongue, recognizes two
forms which would make _teach_ and _reach_ redundant. But _teached_ is now
"obsolete," and _rought_ is "old," according to his own Dictionary. Of
_loaded_ and _loaden_, which he gives as participles of _load_, the regular
form only appears to be now in good use. For the redundant forms of many
words in the foregoing list, as of _abode_ or _abided, awaked_ or _awoke,
besought_ or _beseeched, caught_ or _catched, hewed_ or _hewn, mowed_ or
_mown, laded_ or _laden, seethed_ or _sod, sheared_ or _shore, sowed_ or
_sown, waked_ or _woke, wove_ or _weaved_, his authority may be added to
that of others already cited. In Dearborn's Columbian Grammar, published in
Boston in 1795, the year in which Lindley Murray's Grammar first appeared
in York, no fewer than thirty verbs are made redundant, which are not so
represented by Murray. Of these I have retained nineteen in the following
list, and left the other eleven to be now considered always regular. The
thirty are these: "bake, _bend, build, burn_, climb, _creep, dream_, fold,
freight, _geld, heat, heave_, help, _lay, leap_, lift, _light_, melt, owe,
_quit_, rent, rot, _seethe, spell, split, strive_, wash, _weave, wet,
work_." See _Dearborn's Gram._, p. 37-45.


LIST OF THE REDUNDANT VERBS.

                                    _Imperfect_
_Present.   Preterit.                Participle.  Perfect Participle_.

Abide,      abode _or_ abided,        abiding,     abode _or_ abided.
Awake,      awaked _or_ awoke,        awaking,     awaked _or_ awoke.
Belay,      belayed _or_ belaid,      belaying,    belayed _or_ belaid.
Bend,       bent _or_ bended,         bending,     bent _or_ bended.
Bereave,    bereft _or_ bereaved,     bereaving,   bereft _or_ bereaved.
Beseech,    besought _or_ beseeched,  beseeching,  besought _or_ beseeched.
Bet,        betted _or_ bet,          betting,     betted _or_ bet.
Betide,     betided _or_ betid,       betiding,    betided _or_ betid.
Bide,       bode _or_ bided,          biding,      bode _or_ bided.
Blend,      blended _or_ blent,       blending,    blended _or_ blent.
Bless,      blessed _or_ blest,       blessing,    blessed _or_ blest.
Blow,       blew _or_ blowed,         blowing,     blown _or_ blowed.
Build,      built _or_ builded,       building,    built _or_ builded.
Burn,       burned _or_ burnt,        burning,     burned _or_ burnt.
Burst,      burst _or_ bursted,       bursting,    burst _or_ bursted.
Catch,      caught _or_ catched,      catching,    caught _or_ catched.
Clothe,     clothed _or_ clad,        clothing,    clothed _or_ clad.
Creep,      crept _or_ creeped,       creeping,    crept _or_ creeped.
Crow,       crowed _or_ crew,         crowing,     crowed.
Curse,      cursed _or_ curst,        cursing,     cursed _or_ curst.
Dare,       dared _or_ durst,         daring,      dared.
Deal,       dealt _or_ dealed,        dealing,     dealt _or_ dealed.
Dig,        dug _or_ digged,          digging,     dug _or_ digged.
Dive,       dived _or_ dove,          diving,      dived _or_ diven.
Dream,      dreamed _or_ dreamt,      dreaming,    dreamed _or_ dreamt.
Dress,      dressed _or_ drest,       dressing,    dressed _or_ drest.
Dwell,      dwelt _or_ dwelled,       dwelling,    dwelt _or_ dwelled.
Freeze,     froze _or_ freezed,       freezing,    frozen _or_ freezed.
Geld,       gelded _or_ gelt,         gelding,     gelded _or_ gelt.
Gild,       gilded _or_ gilt,         gilding,     gilded _or_ gilt.
Gird,       girded _or_ girt,         girding,     girded _or_ girt.
Grave,      graved,                   graving,     graved _or_ graven.
Grind,      ground _or_ grinded,      grinding,    ground _or_ grinded.
Hang,       hung _or_ hanged,         hanging,     hung _or_ hanged.
Heat,       heated _or_ het,          heating,     heated _or_ het.
Heave,      heaved _or_ hove,         heaving,     heaved _or_ hoven.
Hew,        hewed,                    hewing,      hewed _or_ hewn.
Kneel,      kneeled _or_ knelt,       kneeling,    kneeled _or_ knelt.
Knit,       knit _or_ knitted,        knitting,    knit _or_ knitted.
Lade,       laded,                    lading,      laded _or_ laden.
Lay,        laid _or_ layed,          laying,      laid _or_ layed.
Lean,       leaned _or_ leant,        leaning,     leaned _or_ leant.
Leap,       leaped _or_ leapt,        leaping,     leaped _or_ leapt.[292]
Learn,      learned _or_ learnt,      learning,    learned _or_ learnt.
Light,      lighted _or_ lit,         lighting,    lighted _or_ lit.
Mean,       meant _or_ meaned,        meaning,     meant _or_ meaned.
Mow,        mowed,                    mowing,      mowed _or_ mown.
Mulct,      mulcted _or_ mulct,       mulcting,    mulcted _or_ mulct.
Pass,       passed _or_ past,         passing,     passed _or_ past.
Pay,        paid _or_ payed,          paying,      paid _or_ payed.
Pen,        penned _or_ pent,         penning,     penned _or_ pent.
 (to coop,)
Plead,      pleaded _or_ pled,        pleading,    pleaded _or_ pled.
Prove,      proved,                   proving,     proved _or_ proven.
Quit,       quitted _or_ quit,        quitting,    quitted _or_ quit.[293]
Rap,        rapped _or_ rapt,         rapping,     rapped _or_ rapt.
Reave,      reft _or_ reaved,         reaving,     reft _or_ reaved.
Rive,       rived,                    riving,      riven _or_ rived.
Roast,      roasted _or_ roast,       roasting,    roasted _or_ roast.
Saw,        sawed,                    sawing,      sawed _or_ sawn.
Seethe,     seethed _or_ sod,         seething,    seethed _or_ sodden.
Shake,      shook _or_ shaked,        shaking,     shaken _or_ shaked.
Shape,      shaped,                   shaping,     shaped _or_ shapen.
Shave,      shaved,                   shaving,     shaved _or_ shaven.
Shear,      sheared _or_ shore,       shearing,    sheared _or_ shorn.
Shine,      shined _or_ shone,        shining,     shined _or_ shone.
Show,       showed,                   showing,     showed _or_ shown.
Sleep,      slept _or_ sleeped,       sleeping,    slept _or_ sleeped.
Slide,      slid _or_ slided,         sliding,     slidden, slid,
                                                    _or_ slided.
Slit,       slitted _or_ slit,        slitting,    slitted _or_ slit.
Smell,      smelled _or_ smelt,       smelling,    smelled _or_ smelt.
Sow,        sowed,                    sowing,      sowed _or_ sown.
Speed,      sped _or_ speeded,        speeding,    sped _or_ speeded.
Spell,      spelled _or_ spelt,       spelling,    spelled _or_ spelt.
Spill,      spilled _or_ spilt,       spilling,    spilled _or_ spilt.
Split,      split _or_ splitted,      splitting,   split
                                                     _or_ splitted.[294]
Spoil,      spoiled _or_ spoilt,      spoiling,    spoiled _or_ spoilt.
Stave,      stove _or_ staved,        staving,     stove _or_ staved.
Stay,       staid _or_ stayed,        staying,     staid _or_ stayed.
String,     strung _or_ stringed,     stringing,   strung _or_ stringed.
Strive,     strived _or_ strove,      striving,    strived _or_ striven.
Strow,      strowed,                  strowing,    strowed _or_ strown.
Sweat,      sweated _or_ sweat,       sweating,    sweated _or_ sweat.
Sweep,      swept _or_ sweeped,       sweeping,    swept _or_ sweeped.
Swell,      swelled,                  swelling,    swelled _or_ swollen.
Thrive,     thrived _or_ throve,      thriving,    thrived _or_ thriven.
Throw,      threw _or_ throwed,       throwing,    thrown _or_ throwed.
Wake,       waked _or_ woke,          waking,      waked _or_ woke.
Wax,        waxed,                    waxing,      waxed _or_ waxen.
Weave,      wove _or_ weaved,         weaving,     woven _or_ weaved.
Wed,        wedded _or_ wed,          wedding,     wedded _or_ wed.
Weep,       wept _or_ weeped,         weeping,     wept _or_ weeped.
Wet,        wet _or_ wetted,          wetting,     wet _or_ wetted.
Whet,       whetted _or_ whet,        whetting,    whetted _or_ whet.[295]
Wind,       wound _or_ winded,        winding,     wound _or_ winded.
Wont,       wont _or_ wonted,         wonting,     wont _or_ wonted.
Work,       worked _or_ wrought,      working,     worked _or_ wrought.
Wring,      wringed _or_ wrung,       wringing,    wringed _or_ wrung.[296]


DEFECTIVE VERBS.

A _defective verb_ is a verb that forms no participles, and is used in but
few of the moods and tenses; as, _beware, ought, quoth_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1. When any of the principal parts of a verb are wanting, the tenses
usually derived from those parts are also, of course, wanting. All the
auxiliaries, except _do, be_, and _have_, if we compare them with other
verbs, are defective; but, _as auxiliaries_, they lack nothing; for no
complete verb is used throughout as an auxiliary, except _be_. And since an
auxiliary differs essentially from a principal verb, the propriety of
referring _may, can, must_, and _shall_, to the class of defective verbs,
is at least questionable. In parsing there is never any occasion to _call_
them defective verbs, because they are always taken together with their
principals. And though we may technically say, that their participles are
"_wanting_," it is manifest that none are _needed_.

OBS. 2. _Will_ is sometimes used as a principal verb, and as such it is
regular and complete; _will, willed, willing, willed_: as, "His Majesty
_willed_ that they should attend."--_Clarendon_. "He _wills_ for them a
happiness of a far more exalted and enduring nature."--_Gurney_. "Whether
thou _willest_ it to be a minister to our pleasure."--_Harris_. "I _will_;
be thou clean."--_Luke_, v, 13. "Nevertheless, not as I _will_, but as thou
_will_."--_Matt._, xxvi, 39. "To _will_ is present with me."--_Rom._, vii,
18. But _would_ is sometimes also a principal verb; as, "What _would_ this
man?"--_Pope_. "Would God that all the Lord's people were
prophets."--_Numb._, xi, 29. "And Israel _would_ none of me."--_Psalm_,
lxxxi, 11. If we refer this indefinite preterit to the same root, _will_
becomes redundant; _will, willed_ or _would, willing, willed_. In respect
to time, _would_ is less definite than _willed_, though both are called
preterits. It is common, and perhaps best, to consider them distinct verbs.
The latter only can be a participle: as,

   "How rarely does it meet with this time's guise,
    When man was _will'd_ to love his enemies!"--_Shakspeare_.

OBS. 3. The remaining defective verbs are only five or six questionable
terms, which our grammarians know not well how else to explain; some of
them being now nearly obsolete, and others never having been very proper.
_Begone_ is a needless coalition of _be_ and _gone_, better written
separately, unless Dr. Johnson is right in calling the compound an
_interjection_: as,

   "Begone! the goddess cries with stern disdain,
    Begone! nor dare the hallow'd stream to stain!"--_Addison_.

_Beware_ also seems to be a needless compound of _be_ and the old adjective
_ware_, wary, aware, cautious. Both these are, of course, used only in
those forms of expression in which _be_ is proper; as, "_Beware_ of dogs,
_beware_ of evil workers, _beware_ of the concision."--_Philippians_, iii,
2. "But we _must beware_[297] of carrying our attention to this beauty too
far."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 119. These words were formerly separated: as,
"Of whom _be_ thou _ware_ also."--_1 Tim._, iv, 15. "They _were ware_ of
it."--FRIENDS' BIBLE, and ALGER'S: _Acts_, xiii, 6. "They were _aware_ of
it."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: ib. "And in an hour _that_ he is not _ware_ of
him."--_Johnson's Dict., w. Ware_. "And in an hour that he is not _aware_
of."--COMMON BIBLES: _Matt._, xxiv, 50. "Bid her well _be ware_ and still
erect."--MILTON: _in Johnson's Dict._ "That even Silence _was took_ ere she
_was ware_."--_Id., Comus_, line 558. The adjective _ware_ is now said to
be "_obsolete_;" but the propriety of this assertion depends upon that of
forming such a defective verb. What is the use of doing so?

   "This to disclose is all thy guardian can;
    _Beware_ of all, but most _beware_ of man."--_Pope_.

The words written separately will always have the same meaning, unless we
omit the preposition _of_, and suppose the compound to be a _transitive_
verb. In this case, the argument for compounding the terms appears to be
valid; as,

   "_Beware_ the public _laughter_ of the town;
    Thou springst a-leak already in thy crown."--_Dryden_.

OBS. 4. The words _ought_ and _own_, without question, were originally
parts of the redundant verb _to owe_; thus: _owe, owed_ or _ought, owing,
owed_ or _own_. But both have long been disjoined from this connexion, and
hence _owe_ has become regular. _Own_, as now used, is either a pronominal
adjective, as, "my _own_ hand," or a regular verb thence derived, as, "to
_own_ a house." _Ought_, under the name of a _defective verb_, is now
generally thought to be properly used, in this one form, in all the persons
and numbers of the present and the imperfect tense of the indicative and
subjunctive moods. Or, if it is really of one tense only, it is plainly an
aorist; and hence the time must be specified by the infinitive that
follows: as, "He _ought_ to _go_; He _ought_ to _have gone_." "If thou
_ought_ to _go_; If thou _ought_ to _have gone_." Being originally a
preterit, it never occurs in the infinitive mood, and is entirely
invariable, except in the solemn style, where we find _oughtest_ in both
tenses; as, "How thou _oughtest_ to _behave_ thyself."--_1 Tim._, iii, 15.
"Thou _oughtest_ therefore to _have put_ my money to the
exchangers."--_Matt._, xxiv, 27. We never say, or have said, "He, she, or
it, _oughts_ or _oughteth_." Yet we manifestly use this verb in the present
tense, and in the third person singular; as, "Discourse _ought always to
begin_ with a clear proposition."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 217. I have already
observed that some grammarians improperly call _ought_ an auxiliary. The
learned authors of Brightland's Grammar, (which is dedicated to Queen
Anne,) did so; and also affirmed that _must_ and _ought_ "have only the
_present time_," and are alike _invariable_. "It is _now_ quite obsolete to
say, _thou oughtest_; for _ought_ now changes its ending no more than
_must_."--_Brightland's Gram._, (approved by _Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq._,) p.
112.

   "_Do, will_, and _shall, must_, OUGHT, and _may_,
    _Have, am_, or _be_, this Doctrine will display."--_Ib._, p. 107.

OBS. 5.--_Wis_, preterit _wist_, to know, to think, to suppose, to imagine,
appears to be now nearly or quite obsolete; but it may be proper to explain
it, because it is found in the Bible: as, "I _wist_ not, brethren, that he
was the high priest."--_Acts_, xxiii, 5. "He himself '_wist_ not that his
face shone.'"--_Life of Schiller_, p. iv. _Wit_, to know, and _wot_, knew,
are also obsolete, except in the phrase _to wit_; which, being taken
abstractly, is equivalent to the adverb _namely_, or to the phrase, _that
is to say_. The phrase, "_we do you to wit_," (in 2 Cor., viii, 1st,)
means, "we _inform_ you." Churchill gives the present tense of this verb
three forms, _weet, wit_, and _wot_; and there seems to have been some
authority for them all: as, "He was, _to weet_, a little roguish
page."--_Thomson_. "But little _wotteth_ he the might of the means his
folly despiseth."--_Tupper's Book of Thoughts_, p. 35. _To wit_, used
alone, to indicate a thing spoken of, (as the French use their infinitive,
_savoir, à savoir_, or the phrase, _c'est à savoir_,) is undoubtedly an
elliptical expression: probably for, "_I give you to wit_;" i. e., "I give
you _to know_." _Trow_, to think, occurs in the Bible; as, "I _trow_
not."--_N. Test_. And Coar gives it as a defective verb; and only in the
first person singular of the present indicative, "_I trow_." Webster and
Worcester mark the words as obsolete; but Sir W. Scott, in the Lady of the
Lake, has this line:

   "Thinkst thou _he trow'd_ thine omen ought?"--_Canto_ iv, stanza 10.

_Quoth_ and _quod_, for _say, saith_, or _said_, are obsolete, or used only
in ludicrous language. Webster supposes these words to be equivalent, and
each confined to the first and third persons of the present and imperfect
tenses of the indicative mood. Johnson says, that, "_quoth you_," as used
by Sidney, is irregular; but Tooke assures us, that "The _th_ in _quoth_,
does not designate the third person."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p.
323. They are each invariable, and always placed before the nominative: as,
_quoth I, quoth he_.

   "Yea, so sayst thou, (_quod_ Tröylus,) alas!"--_Chaucer_.

    "I feare, _quod_ he, it wyll not be."--_Sir T. More_.

    "Stranger, go! Heaven be thy guide!
    _Quod_ the beadsman of Nith-side."--_Burns_.

OBS. 6.--_Methinks_, (i. e., _to_ me _it_ thinks,) for I think, or, it
seems to me, with its preterit _methought_, (i. e., _to_ me _it_
thought,) is called by Dr. Johnson an "ungrammatical word." He imagined it
to be "a Norman corruption, the French being apt to confound _me_ and
_I_."--_Joh. Dict._ It is indeed a puzzling anomaly in our language, though
not without some Anglo-Saxon or Latin parallels; and, like its kindred, "me
_seemeth_," or "_meseems_," is little worthy to be countenanced, though
often used by Dryden, Pope, Addison, and other good writers. Our
lexicographers call it an _impersonal verb_, because, being compounded with
an objective, it cannot have a nominative expressed. It is nearly
equivalent to the adverb _apparently_; and if impersonal, it is also
defective; for it has no participles, no "_methinking_," and no participial
construction of "_methought_;" though Webster's American Dictionary,
whether quarto or octavo, absurdly suggests that the latter word may be
used as a participle. In the Bible, we find the following text: "_Me
thinketh_ the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz."--_2
Sam._, xviii, 27. And Milton improperly makes _thought_ an impersonal verb,
apparently governing the separate objective pronoun _him_; as,

   "_Him thought_ he by the brook of Cherith stood."
        --_P. R._, B. ii, l. 264.

OBS. 7.--Some verbs from the nature of the subjects to which they refer,
are chiefly confined to the third person singular; as, "It _rains_; it
_snows_; it _freezes_; it _hails_; it _lightens_; it _thunders_." These
have been called _impersonal verbs_; because the neuter pronoun it, which
is commonly used before them, does not seem to represent any noun, but, in
connexion with the verb, merely to express a state of things. They are
however, in fact, neither impersonal nor defective. Some, or all of them,
may possibly take some other nominative, if not a different person; as,
"The _Lord rained_ upon Sodom, and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and
fire."--_Gen._, xix, 24. "The _God_ of glory _thundereth_."--_Psalms_,
xxix, 3. "_Canst thou thunder_ with a voice like him?"--_Job_, xl, 9. In
short, as Harris observes, "The doctrine of Impersonal Verbs has been
justly rejected by the best grammarians, both ancient and
modern."--_Hermes_, p. 175.

OBS. 8.--By some writers, words of this kind are called _Monopersonal
Verbs_; that is, verbs of _one person_. This name, though not very properly
compounded, is perhaps more fit than the other; but we have little occasion
to speak of these verbs as a distinct class in our language. Dr. Murray
says, "What is called an impersonal verb, is not so; for _lic-et, juv-at_,
and _oport-et_, have _Tha, that thing_, or _it_, in their
composition."--_History of European Languages_, Vol. ii, p. 146. _Ail,
irk_, and _behoove_, are regular verbs and transitive; but they are used
only in the third person singular: as, "What _ails_ you?"--"It _irks_
me."--"It _behooves_ you." The last two are obsolescent, or at least not in
very common use. In Latin, _passive_ verbs, or neuters of the passive form,
are often used impersonally, or without an obvious nominative; and this
elliptical construction is sometimes imitated in English, especially by the
poets: as,

   "Meanwhile, ere thus _was sinn'd_ and _judg'd_ on earth,
    Within the gates of Hell sat Sin and Death."
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. x, l. 230.

   "Forthwith on all sides to his aid _was run_
    By angels many and strong, who interpos'd."
        --_Id._, B. vi, l. 335.


LIST OF THE DEFECTIVE VERBS.

_Present.    Preterit._
Beware,        ------
Can,           could.
May,           might.
Methinks,      methought.
Must,          must.[298]
Ought,         ought.[298]
Shall,         should,
Will[299]      would.
Quoth,         quoth.
Wis,           wist.[300]
Wit,           wot.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS VI--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Sixth Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of
the_ ARTICLES, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, PRONOUNS, _and_ VERBS.

_The definitions to be given in the Sixth Praxis, are two for an article,
six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, seven for a verb
finite, five for an infinitive, and one for a participle, an adverb, a
conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"The freedom of choice seems essential to happiness; because, properly
speaking, that is riot our own which is imposed upon us."--_Dillwyn's
Reflections_, p. 109.

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or
_a_, which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The
definite article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Freedom_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a
finite verb.

_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Choice_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is; the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can he known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form
or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb,
participle, or preposition.

_Seems_ is a regular neuter verb, from _seem, seemed, seeming, seemed_;
found in the indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular
number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted
upon. 2. A regular verb is a verb that forms the preterit and the perfect
participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. A neuter verb is a verb that
expresses neither action nor passion, but simply being, or a state of
being. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply
indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5. The present tense is
that which expresses what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The
singular number is that which denotes but one. _Essential_ is a common
adjective, compared by means of the adverbs; _essential, more essential,
most essential_; or, _essential, less essential, least essential_. 1. An
adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses
quality. 2. A common adjective is any ordinary epithet, or adjective
denoting quality or situation. 3. Those adjectives which may be varied in
sense, but not in form, are compared by means of adverbs.

_To_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Happiness_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form
or state of a noun or pronoun which usually denotes the object of a verb,
participle, or preposition.

_Because_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect
words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms
so connected.

_Properly_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree, or manner.

_Speaking_ is a participle. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb,
participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and
is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb.

_That_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared; standing for _that thing_,
in the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case.
[See OBS. 14th, p. 290.] 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A pronominal adjective is a
definitive word which may either accompany its noun, or represent it
understood. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing
merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5.
The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor
female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun,
which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_Is_ is an irregular neuter verb, from _be, was, being, been_; found in the
indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular number. 1. A
verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon._ 2. An
irregular verb is a verb that does not form the preterit and the perfect
participle by assuming _d_ or _ed._ 3. A neuter verb is a verb that
expresses neither action nor passion, but simply being, or a state of
being. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply
indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5. The present tense is
that which expresses what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The
singular number is that which denotes but one.

_Not_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle,
an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place,
degree, or manner.

_Our_ is a personal pronoun, of the first person, plural number, masculine
gender, and possessive case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a
noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what
person it is. 3. The first person is that which denotes the speaker or
writer. 4. The plural number is that which denotes more than one. 5. The
masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind.
6. The possessive case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which
usually denotes the relation of property.

_Own_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared. 1. An adjective is a word
added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A
pronominal adjective is a definitive word which may either accompany its
noun, or represent it understood. 3. Those adjectives whose signification
does not admit of different degrees cannot be compared.

_Which_ is a relative pronoun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a
noun. 2. A relative pronoun is a pronoun that represents an antecedent word
or phrase, and connects different clauses of a sentence. 3. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The
singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that
which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative
case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun which usually denotes the
subject of a finite verb.

_Is imposed_ is a regular passive verb, from the active verb, _impose,
imposed, imposing, imposed_,--passive, _to be imposed_; found in the
indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular number. 1. A
verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_. 2. A
regular verb is a verb that forms the preterit and the perfect participle
by assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. A passive verb is a verb that represents the
subject, or what the nominative expresses, as being acted upon. 4. The
indicative mood is that form of the verb which simply indicates or declares
a thing, or asks a question. 5. The present tense is that which expresses
what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third person is that which
denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The singular number is
that which denotes but one.

_Upon_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Us_ is a personal pronoun, of the first person, plural number, masculine
gender, and objective case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.
2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what person
it is. 3. The first person is that which denotes the speaker or writer. 4.
The plural number is that which denotes more than one. 5. The masculine
gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The
objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually
denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"He has desires after the kingdom, and mates no question but it shall be
his; he wills, runs, strives, believes, hopes, prays, reads scriptures,
observes duties, and regards ordinances."--_Penington_, ii, 124.

"Wo unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye
enter not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye
hindered."--_Luke_, xi, 52.

"Above all other liberties, give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to
argue freely, according to my conscience."--_Milton_.

"Eloquence is to be looked for only in free states. Longinus illustrates
this observation with a great deal of beauty. 'Liberty,' he remarks, 'is
the nurse of true genius; it animates the spirit, and invigorates the
hopes, of men; it excites honourable emulation, and a desire of excelling
in every art.'"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 237.

"None of the faculties common to man and the lower animals, conceive the
idea of civil liberty, any more than that of religion."--_Spurzheim, on
Education_, p. 259. "Whoever is not able, or does not dare, to think, or
does not feel contradictions and absurdities, is unfit for a refined
religion and civil liberty."--_Ib._, p. 258.

"The too great number of journals, and the extreme partiality of their
authors, have much discredited them. A man must have great talents to
please all sorts of readers; and it is impossible to please all authors,
who, generally speaking, cannot bear with the most judicious and most
decent criticisms."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 170.

"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it
shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it
strong to hold the sword."--_Ezekiel_, xxx, 21.

   "Yet he was humble, kind, forgiving, meek,
    Easy to be entreated, gracious, mild;
    And, with all patience and affection, taught,
    Rebuked, persuaded, solaced, counselled, warned."--_Pollok_, B. ix.


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"What is coming, will come; what is proceeding onward, verges towards
completion."--_Dr. Murray's Europ. Lang._, i, 324. "Sir, if it had not been
for the art of printing, we should now have had no learning at all; for
books would have perished faster than they could have been
transcribed."--_Dr. Johnson's Life_, iii, 400.

"Passionate reproofs are like medicines given scalding hot: the patient
cannot take them. If we wish to do good to those whom we rebuke, we should
labour for meekness of wisdom, and use soft words and hard
arguments."--_Dodd_.

"My prayer for you is, that God may guide you by his counsel, and in the
end bring you to glory: to this purpose, attend diligently to the dictates
of his good spirit, which you may hear within you; for Christ saith, 'He
that dwelleth with you, shall be in you.' And, as you hear and obey him,
he will conduct you through this troublous world, in ways of truth and
righteousness, and land you at last in the habitations of everlasting rest
and peace with the Lord, to praise him for ever and ever."--_T. Gwin_.

"By matter, we mean, that which is tangible, extended, and divisible; by
mind, that which perceives, reflects, wills, and reasons. These properties
are wholly dissimilar and admit of no comparison. To pretend that mind is
matter, is to propose a contradiction in terms; and is just as absurd, as
to pretend that matter is mind."--_Gurney's Portable Evidence_, p. 78.

"If any one should think all this to be of little importance, I desire him
to consider what he would think, if vice had, essentially, and in its
nature, these advantageous tendencies, or if virtue had essentially the
direct contrary ones."--_Butler_, p. 99.

"No man can write simpler and stronger English than the celebrated Boz, and
this renders us the more annoyed at those manifold vulgarities and slipshod
errors, which unhappily have of late years disfigured his
productions."--LIVING AUTHORS OF ENGLAND: _The Examiner_, No. 119.

   "Here Havard, all serene, in the same strains,
    Loves, hates, and rages, triumphs, and complains."--_Churchill_, p. 3.

    "Let Satire, then, her proper object know,
    And ere she strike, be sure she strike a foe."--_John Brown_.


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"The Author of nature has as truly directed that vicious actions,
considered as mischievous to society, should be punished, and has as
clearly put mankind under a necessity of thus punishing them, as he has
directed and necessitated us to preserve our lives by food."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 88. "An author may injure his works by altering, and even
amending, the successive editions: the first impression sinks the deepest,
and with the credulous it can rarely be effaced; nay, he will be vainly
employed who endeavours to eradicate it."--_Werter_, p. 82.

"It is well ordered, that even the most innocent blunder is not committed
with impunity; because, were errors licensed where they do no hurt,
inattention would grow into habit, and be the occasion of much
hurt."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 285.

"The force of language consists in raising complete images; which have the
effect to transport the reader, as by magic, into the very place of the
important action, and to convert him as it were into a spectator, beholding
every thing that passes."--_Id., ib._, ii, 241.

"An orator should not put forth all his strength at the beginning, but
should rise and grow upon us, as his discourse advances."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 309.

"When a talent is given to any one, an account is open with the giver of
it, who appoints a day in which he will arrive and 'redemand his own with
usury.'"--_West's Letters to a Young Lady_, p. 74.

"Go, and reclaim the sinner, instruct the ignorant, soften the obdurate,
and (as occasion shall demand) cheer, depress, repel, allure, disturb,
assuage, console, or terrify."--_Jerningham's Essay on Eloquence_, p. 97.

   "If all the year were playing holydays,
    To sport would be as tedious as to work:
    But when they seldom come, they wish'd-for come,
    And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents."
        --_Shak., Hen. V_.

   "The man that once did sell the lion's skin
    While the beast liv'd, was kill'd with hunting him."
        --_Id., Joh. Dict., w. Beast_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS OF VERBS.

LESSON I.--PRETERITS.

"In speaking on a matter which toucht their hearts."--_Philological
Museum_, Vol. i, p. 441.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _toucht_ is terminated in _t_. But,
according to Observation 2nd, on the irregular verbs, _touch_ is regular.
Therefore, this _t_ should be changed to _ed_; thus, "In speaking on a
matter which _touched_ their hearts."]

"Though Horace publisht it some time after."--_Ib._, i, 444. "The best
subjects with which the Greek models furnisht him."--_Ib._, i, 444. "Since
he attacht no thought to it."--_Ib._, i, 645. "By what slow steps the Greek
alphabet reacht its perfection."--_Ib._, i, 651. "Because Goethe wisht to
erect an affectionate memorial."--_Ib._, i, 469. "But the Saxon forms soon
dropt away."--_Ib._, i, 668. "It speaks of all the towns that perisht in
the age of Philip."--_Ib._, i, 252. "This enricht the written language with
new words."--_Ib._, i, 668. "He merely furnisht his friend with matter for
laughter."--_Ib._, i, 479. "A cloud arose and stopt the light."--_Swift's
Poems_, p. 313. "She slipt _zpadillo_ in her breast."--_Ib._, p. 371. "I
guest the hand."--_Ib._, p. 372. "The tyrant stript me to the skin: My skin
he flay'd, my hair he cropt; At head and foot my body lopt."--_Ib., On a
Pen_, p. 338. "I see the greatest owls in you, That ever screecht or ever
flew."--_Ib._, p. 403. "I sate with delight, from morning till
night."--_Ib._, p. 367. "Dick nimbly skipt the gutter."--_Ib._, p. 375. "In
at the pantry door this morn I slipt."--_Ib._, p. 369. "Nobody living ever
toucht me but you."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 92. "_Present_, I ship;
_Past_, I shipped or shipt; _Participle_, shipped or shipt."--_Murray the
schoolmaster. Gram._, p. 31. "Then the king arose, and tare his
garments."--_2 Sam._, xiii, 31. "When he lift up his foot, he knew not
where he should set it next."--_Bunyan_. "He lift up his spear against
eight hundred, whom he slew at one time."--2 SAM.: _in Joh. Dict._ "Upon
this chaos rid the distressed ark."--BURNET: _ib._ "On whose foolish
honesty, my practices rid easy."--SHAK.: _ib._ "That form of the first or
primogenial Earth, which rise immediately out of chaos."--BURNET: _ib._
"Sir, how come it you have holp to make this rescue?"--SHAK.: _in Joh.
Dict._ "He sware he had rather lose all his father's images than that
table."--PEACHAM: _ib._ "When our language dropt its ancient
terminations."--_Dr. Murray's Hist._, ii, 5. "When themselves they
vilify'd."--_Milton_, P. L., xi, 515. "But I choosed rather to do
thus."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 456. "When he plead against the parsons."--
_School History_, p. 168. "And he that saw it, bear record."--_Cutler's
Gram._, p. 72. "An irregular verb has one more variation, as drive,
drivest, drives, drivedst, drove, driving, driven."--REV. MATT. HARRISON,
_on the English Language_, p. 260. "Beside that village Hannibal pitcht his
camp."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 79. "He fetcht it even from Tmolus."--
_Ib._, p. 114. "He supt with his morning gown on."--_Ib._, p. 285. "There
stampt her sacred name."--_Barlow's Columbiad_, B. i, l. 233.

   "Fixt on the view the great discoverer stood,
    And thus addrest the messenger of good."--_Barlow_, B, i, l. 658.


LESSON II.--MIXED.

"Three freemen were being tried at the date of our last
information."--_Newspaper_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the participle _being_ is used after its own
verb _were_. But, according to Observation 4th, on the compound form of the
conjugation, this complex passive form is an absurd innovation. Therefore,
the expression should be changed; thus, "Three freemen _were on
trial_"--or, "_were receiving their trial_--at the date of our last
information."]

"While the house was being built, many of the tribe arrived."--_Ross Cox's
Travels_, p. 102. "But a foundation has been laid in Zion, and the church
is being built upon it."--_The Friend_, ix, 377. "And one fourth of the
people are being educated."--_East India Magazine_. "The present, or that
which is now being done."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 13. "A new church, called the
Pantheon, is just being completed in an expensive style."--_G. A.
Thompson's Guatemala_, p. 467. "When I last saw him, he was grown
considerably."--_Murray's Key_, p. 223; _Merchants_, 198. "I know what a
rugged and dangerous path I am got into."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 83. "You
were as good preach case to one on the rack."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 285.
"Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation."--_Psal._, cxviii, 21.
"While the Elementary Spelling-Book was being prepared for the press."--_L.
Cobb's Review_, p. vi. "Language is become, in modern times, more correct
and accurate."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 16. "If the plan have been executed
in any measure answerable to the author's wishes."--_Robbins's Hist._, p.
3. "The vial of wrath is still being poured out on the seat of the
beast."--_Christian Experience_, p. 409. "Christianity was become the
generally adopted and established religion of the whole Roman
Empire."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 35. "Who wrote before the first century was
elapsed."--_Ib._, p. 13. "The original and analogical form is grown quite
obsolete."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 56. "Their love, and their hatred, and
their envy, are perished."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 149. "The poems were got
abroad and in a great many hands."--_Pref. to Waller_. "It is more
harmonious, as well as more correct, to say, 'the bubble is almost
bursted.'"--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 109. "I drave my suitor from his mad
humour of love."--_Shak_. "Se viriliter expedivit. (_Cicero_.) He hath
plaid the man."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 214. "Wilt thou kill me, as thou
diddest the Egyptian yesterday."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Acts_, vii, 28. "And we,
methoughts, look'd up t'him from our hill."--_Cowley's Davideis_, B. iii,
l. 386. "I fear thou doest not think as much of best things as thou
oughtest."--_Memoir of M. C. Thomas_, p. 34. "When this work was being
commenced."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 10. "Exercises and Key to this work are
being prepared."--_Ib._, p. 12. "James is loved, or being loved by
John."--_Ib._, p. 64. "Or that which is being exhibited."--_Ib._, p. 77.
"He was being smitten."--_Ib._, p. 78. "In the passive state we say, 'I am
being loved.'"--_Ib._, p. 80. "Subjunctive Mood: If I am being smitten, If
thou art being smitten, If he is being smitten."--_Ib._, p. 100. "I will
not be able to convince you how superficial the reformation
is."--_Chalmers's Sermons_, p. 88. "I said to myself, I will be obliged to
expose the folly."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 3. "When Clodius, had he meant
to return that day to Rome, must have been arrived."--_Adams's Rhetoric_,
i, 418. "That the fact has been done, is being done, or shall or will be
done."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, pp. 347 and 356. "Am I being
instructed?"--_Wright's Gram._, p. 70. "I am choosing him."--_Ib._, p. 112.
"John, who was respecting his father, was obedient to his
commands."--_Barrett's Revised Gram._, p. 69. "The region echos to the
clash of arms."--_Beattie's Poems_, p. 63.

   "And sitt'st on high, and mak'st creation's top
    Thy footstool; and behold'st below thee, all."
        --_Pollok_, B. vi, l. 663.

    "And see if thou can'st punish sin, and let
    Mankind go free. Thou fail'st--be not surprised."
        --_Id._, B. ii, l. 118.


LESSON III.--MIXED.

"What follows, had better been wanting altogether."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
201.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrase _had better been_, is used in the
sense of the potential pluperfect. But, according to Observation 17th, on
the conjugations, this substitution of one form for another is of
questionable propriety. Therefore, the regular form should here be
preferred; thus, "What follows, _might better have been_ wanting
altogether."]

"This member of the sentence had much better have been omitted
altogether."--_Ib._, p. 212. "One or [the] other of them, therefore, had
better have been omitted."--_Ib._, p. 212. "The whole of this last member
of the sentence had better have been dropped."--_Ib._, p. 112. "In this
case, they had much better be omitted."--_Ib._, p. 173. "He had better have
said, 'the _productions_'"--_Ib._, p. 220. "The Greeks have ascribed the
origin of poetry to Orpheus, Linus, and Musæus."--_Ib._, p. 377. "It has
been noticed long ago, that all these fictitious names have the same number
of syllables."--_Phil. Museum_, i, 471. "When I found that he had committed
nothing worthy of death, I have determined to send him."--_Acts_, xxv, 25.
"I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God."--_Ps._, lxxxiv, 10.
"As for such, I wish the Lord open their eyes."--_Barclay's Works_, iii.
263. "It would a made our passidge over the river very difficult."--
_Walley, in_ 1692. "We should not a been able to have carried our great
guns."--_Id._ "Others would a questioned our prudence, if wee had."--_Id._
See _Hutchinson's Hist. of Mass._, i, 478. "Beware thou bee'st not
BECÆSAR'D; i.e. Beware that thou dost not dwindle into a mere
Cæsar."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 183. "Thou raisedest thy voice to record the
stratagems of needy heroes."--ARBUTHNOT: _in Joh. Dict., w. Scalade_. "Life
hurrys off apace: thine is almost up already."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p.
19. "'How unfortunate has this accident made me!' crys such a one."--_Ib._,
p. 60. "The muse that soft and sickly wooes the ear."--_Pollok_, i, 13. "A
man were better relate himself to a statue."--_Bacon._ "I heard thee say
but now, thou lik'dst not that."--_Shak._ "In my whole course of wooing,
thou cried'st, _Indeed!_"--_Id._ "But our ears are grown familiar with _I
have wrote, I have drank_, &c., which are altogether as ungrammatical."--
_Lowth's Gram._, p. 63; _Churchill's_, 114. "The court was sat before Sir
Roger came."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 122. "She need be no more with the
jaundice possest."--_Swift's Poems_, p. 346. "Besides, you found fault with
our victuals one day that you was here."--_Ib._, p. 333. "If spirit of
other sort, So minded, have o'erleap'd these earthy bounds."--_Milton, P.
L._, B. iv, l. 582. "It should have been more rational to have forborn
this."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 265. "A student is not master of it
till he have seen all these."--_Dr. Murray's Life_, p. 55. "The said
justice shall summons the party."--_Brevard's Digest._ "Now what is become
of thy former wit and humour?"--_Spect._, No. 532. "Young stranger, whither
wand'rest thou?"--_Burns_, p. 29. "SUBJ.: _Pres._ If I love, If thou
lovest, If he love. _Imp._ If I loved, If thou lovedst, If he
loved."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 51. "SUBJ.: If I do not love, If thou dost
not love, If he does not love;" &c.--_Ib._, p. 56. "If he have committed
sins, they shall be forgiven him."--_James_, v, 15. "Subjunctive Mood of
the verb _to call_, second person singular: If Thou callest. If Thou
calledst. If Thou hast called. If Thou hadst called. If Thou call. If Thou
shalt or wilt have called."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 41. "Subjunctive Mood of
the verb _to love_, second person singular: If thou love. If thou do love.
If thou lovedst. If thou didst love. If thou hast loved. If thou hadst
loved. If thou shalt or wilt love. If thou shalt or wilt have
loved."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 46. "I was; thou wast, or you was; he,
she, or it was: We, you or ye, they, were."--_White, on the English Verb_,
p. 51. "I taught, thou taughtedst, he taught."--_Coar's English Gram._, p.
66. "We say, _if it rains, suppose it rains_, lest _it should rain_, unless
_it rains_. This manner of speaking is called the SUBJUNCTIVE
mode."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 72; Abridged Ed., 59. "He is arrived at
what is deemed the age of manhood."--_Priestley's Gram._, 163. "He had much
better have let it alone."--_Tooke's Diversions_, i, 43. "He were better be
without it."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 105. "Hadest not thou been
by."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 107. "I learned geography. Thou learnedest
arithmetick. He learned grammar."--_Fuller's Gram._, p. 34. "Till the sound
is ceased."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 126. "Present, die; Preterit, died;
Perf. Participle, dead."--_British Gram._, p. 158; _Buchanan's_, 58;
_Priestley's_, 48; _Ash's_, 45; _Fisher's_, 71; _Bicknell's_, 73.

   "Thou bowed'st thy glorious head to none, feared'st none."
        --_Pollok_, B. viii, l. 603.

   "Thou look'st upon thy boy as though thou guessedst it."
        --_N. A. Reader_, p. 320.

   "As once thou slept'st, while she to life was form'd"
        --_Milt., P. L._, B. xi, l. 369.

   "Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest,
    But may imagine how the bird was dead?"
        --SHAK.: _Joh. Dict._

   "Which might have well becom'd the best of men."
        --_Id., Ant. and Cleop._




CHAPTER VII.--PARTICIPLES.

A Participle is a word derived from a verb, participating the properties of
a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding
_ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb: thus, from the verb _rule_, are formed
three participles, two simple and one compound; as, 1. _ruling_, 2.
_ruled_, 3. _having ruled_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Almost all verbs and participles seem to have their very essence
in _motion_, or _the privation of motion_--in _acting_, or _ceasing to
act_. And to all motion and rest, _time_ and _place_ are necessary
concomitants; nor are the ideas of _degree_ and _manner_ often irrelevant.
Hence the use of _tenses_ and of _adverbs_. For whatsoever comes to pass,
must come to pass _sometime_ and _somewhere_; and, in every event,
something must be affected _somewhat_ and _somehow_. Hence it is evident
that those grammarians are right, who say, that "_all participles imply
time_." But it does not follow, that the _English_ participles _divide_
time, like the tenses of a verb, and _specify_ the period of action; on the
contrary, it is certain and manifest, that they do not. The phrase, "_men
labouring_," conveys no other idea than that of _labourers at work_; it no
more suggests the _time_, than the _place, degree_, or _manner_, of their
work. All these circumstances require _other words_ to express them; as,
"Men _now here awkwardly_ labouring _much_ to little purpose." Again:
"_Thenceforward_ will men, _there_ labouring _hard_ and _honourably_, be
looked down upon by dronish lordlings."

OBS. 2.--Participles retain the _essential meaning_ of their verbs; and,
_like verbs_, are either _active-transitive, active-intransitive, passive_,
or _neuter_, in their signification. For this reason, many have classed
them with the verbs. But their _formal meaning_ is obviously different.
They convey no affirmation, but usually relate to nouns or pronouns, _like
adjectives_, except when they are joined with auxiliaries to form the
compound tenses of their verbs; or when they have in part the nature of
substantives, like the Latin gerunds. Hence some have injudiciously ranked
them with the adjectives. The most discreet writers have commonly assigned
them a separate place among the parts of speech; because, in spite of all
opposite usages, experience has shown that it is expedient to do so.

OBS. 3.--According to the doctrine of Harris, all words denoting the
_attributes_ of things, are either verbs, or participles, or adjectives.
Some attributes have their essence in motion: as, _to walk, to run, to fly,
to strike, to live_; or, _walking, running, flying, striking, living_.
Others have it in the privation of motion: as, _to stop, to rest, to cease,
to die_; or, _stopping, resting, ceasing, dying_. And there are others
which have nothing to do with either motion or its privation; but have
their essence in the quantity, quality, or situation of things; as, _great_
and _small, white_ and _black, wise_ and _foolish, eastern_ and _western_.
These last terms are adjectives; and those which denote motion or its
privation, are either verbs or participles, according to their formal
meaning; that is, according to their manner of attribution. See _Hermes_,
p. 95. Verbs commonly say or affirm something of their subjects; as, "_The
babe wept_." Participles suggest the action or attribute without
affirmation; as, "_A babe weeping_,"--"_An act regretted_."

OBS. 4.--A verb, then, being expressive of some attribute, which it
ascribes to the thing or person named as its subject; of time, which it
divides and specifies by the tenses; and also, (with the exception of the
infinitive,) of an assertion or affirmation; if we take away the
affirmation and the distinction of tenses, there will remain the attribute
and the general notion of time; and these form the essence of an English
participle. So that a participle is something less than a verb, though
derived immediately from it; and something more than an adjective, or mere
attribute, though its manner of attribution is commonly the same. Hence,
though the participle by rejecting the idea of time may pass almost
insensibly into an adjective, and become truly a participial adjective; yet
the participle and the adjective are by no means one and the same part of
speech, as some will have them to be. There is always an essential
difference in their meaning. For instance: there is a difference between _a
thinking man_ and _a man thinking_; between _a bragging fellow_ and _a
fellow bragging_; between _a fast-sailing ship_ and _a ship sailing fast_.
A thinking man, a bragging fellow, or a fast-sailing ship, is contemplated
as being habitually or permanently such; a man thinking, a fellow bragging,
or a ship sailing fast, is contemplated as performing a particular act; and
this must embrace a period of _time_, whether that time be specified or
not. John Locke was a _thinking man_; but we should directly contradict his
own doctrine, to suppose him _always thinking_.

OBS. 5.--The English participles are all derived from the _roots_ of their
respective verbs, and do not, like those of some other languages, take
their names from the _tenses_. On the contrary, they are reckoned among the
principal parts in the conjugation of their verbs, and many of the tenses
are formed from them. In the compound forms of conjugation, they are found
alike _in all the tenses_. They do not therefore, of themselves, express
any particular time; but they denote the state of the being, action, or
passion, in regard to its progress or completion. This I conceive to be
their principal distinction. Respecting the participles in _Latin_, it has
been matter of dispute, whether those which are called the _present_ and
the _perfect_, are really so in respect to time or not. Sanctius denies it.
In _Greek_, the distinction of tenses in the participles is more apparent,
yet even here the time to which they refer, does not always correspond to
their names. See remarks on the Participles in the _Port Royal Latin and
Greek Grammars_.

OBS. 6.--Horne Tooke supposes our participles in _ed_ to express time past,
and those in _ing_ to have no signification of time. He says, "I did not
mean to deny the adsignification of time to _all_ the participles; though I
continue to withhold it from that which is called the _participle
present_."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 415. Upon the same point,
he afterwards adds, "I am neither new nor singular; for Sanctius both
asserted and proved it by numerous instances in the Latin. Such as, 'Et
_abfui proficiscens_ in Græciam.' _Cicero_. 'Sed postquam amans _accessit_
pretium _pollicens_.' _Terent_. 'Ultro ad cam _venies indicans_ te amare.'
_Terent_. 'Turnum _fugientem_ hæc terra videbit.' _Virg_."--_Tooke's Div._,
ii, 420. Again: "And thus I have given you my opinion concerning what is
called the _present participle_. Which I think improperly so called;
because I take it to be merely the simple verb _adjectived_, without any
adsignification of _manner_ or _time_."--_Tooke's Div._, Vol. ii, p. 423.

OBS. 7.--I do not agree with this author, either in limiting participles in
_ed_ to time past, or in denying all signification of time to those in
_ing_; but I admit that what is commonly called the _present participle_,
is not very properly so denominated, either in English or in Latin, or
perhaps in any language. With us, however, this participle is certainly, in
very many instances, something else than "merely the simple verb
_adjectived_." For, in the first place, it is often of a complex character,
as _being loved, being seen_, in which two verbs are "_adjectived_"
together, and that by different terminations. Yet do these words as
perfectly coalesce in respect to time, as to everything else; and _being
loved_ or _being seen_ is confessedly as much a "_present_" participle, as
_being_, or _loving_, or _seeing_--neither form being solely confined to
what now is. Again, our participle in _ing_ stands not only for the present
participle of the Latin or Greek grammarians, but also for the Latin
gerund, and often for the Greek infinitive used substantively; so that by
this ending, the English verb is not only _adjectived_, but also
_substantived_, if one may so speak. For the participle when governed by a
preposition, partakes not of the qualities "of a verb and an _adjective_,"
but rather of those of a verb and a _noun_.



CLASSES.

English verbs, not defective, have severally three participles;[301] which
have been very variously denominated, perhaps the most accurately thus: the
_Imperfect_, the _Perfect_, and the _Preperfect_. Or, as their order is
undisputed, they may he conveniently called the _First_, the _Second_, and
the _Third_.

I. The _Imperfect participle_ is that which ends commonly in _ing_, and
implies a continuance of the being, action, or passion: as, _being, acting,
ruling, loving, defending, terminating_.

II. The _Perfect participle_ is that which ends commonly in _ed_ or _en_,
and implies a _completion_ of the being, action, or passion: as, _been,
acted, ruled, loved, defended, terminated_.

III. The _Preperfect participle_ is that which takes the sign _having_, and
implies a _previous completion_ of the being, action, or passion: as,
_having loved, having seen, having written; having been loved, having been
writing, having been written_.

The _First_ or _Imperfect_ Participle, when simple, is always formed by
adding _ing_ to the radical verb; as, _look, looking_: when compound, it is
formed by prefixing _being_ to some other simple participle; as, _being
reading, being read, being completed_.

The _Second_ or _Perfect_ Participle is always simple, and is regularly
formed by adding _d_ or _ed_ to the radical verb: those verbs from which it
is formed otherwise, are either irregular or redundant.

The _Third_ or _Preperfect_ Participle is always compound, and is formed by
prefixing _having_ to the perfect, when the compound is double, and _having
been_ to the perfect or the imperfect, when the compound is triple: as,
_having spoken, having been spoken, having been speaking_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Some have supposed that both the simple participles denote present
_time_; some have supposed that the one denotes present, and the other,
past time; some have supposed that the first denotes no time, and the
second time past; some have supposed that neither has any regard to time;
and some have supposed that both are of _all_ times. In regard to the
distinction of _voice_, or the manner of their signification, some have
supposed the one to be active, and the other to be passive; some have
supposed the participle in _ing_ to be active or neuter, and the other
active or passive; and some have supposed that either of them may be
active, passive, or neuter. Nor is there any more unanimity among
grammarians, in respect to the compounds. Hence several different names
have been loosely given to each of the participles: and sometimes with
manifest impropriety; as when Buchanan, in his conjugations, calls _being_,
"Active,"--and _been, having been, having had_, "Passive." Learned men may
differ in opinion respecting the nature of words, but grammar can never
well deserve the name of _science_, till at least an ordinary share of
reason and knowledge appears in the language of those who teach it.

OBS. 2.--The FIRST participle has been called the Present, the Progressive,
the Imperfect, the Simple Imperfect, the Indefinite, the Active, the
Present Active, the Present Passive, the Present Neuter, and, in the
passive voice, the Preterimperfcct, the Compound Imperfect, the Compound
Passive, the Passive. The SECOND, which, though it is always but _one
word_, some authors treat as being _two participles_, or _three_, has been
called the Perfect, the Preter, the Preterperfect, the Imperfect, the
Simple Perfect, the Past, the Simple Past, the First Past, the Preterit,
the Passive, the Present Passive, the Perfect Active, the Past Active, the
Auxiliary Perfect, the Perfect Passive, the Perfect Neuter, the Simple
Perfect Active, the Simple Perfect Passive. The THIRD has been called the
Compound, the Compound Active, the Compound Passive, the Compound Perfect,
the Compound Perfect Active, the Compound Perfect Passive, the Compound
Preter, the Present, the Present Perfect, the Past, the Second Past, the
Past Compound, the Compound Past, the Prior-perfect, the Prior-present, the
Perfect, the Pluperfect, the Preterperfect, the Preperfect.[302]

In teaching others to speak and write well, it becomes us to express our
doctrines in the most suitable terms; but the application of a name is of
no great consequence, so that the thing itself be rightly understood by the
learner. Grammar should be taught in a style at once neat and plain, clear
and brief. Upon the choice of his terms, the writer of this work has
bestowed much reflection; yet he finds it impossible either to please
everybody, or to explain, without intolerable prolixity, all the reasons
for preference.

OBS. 3.--The participle in _ing_ represents the action or state as
_continuing_ and ever _incomplete_; it is therefore rightly termed the
IMPERFECT participle: whereas the participle in _ed_ always, or at least
usually, has reference to the action as _done_ and _complete_; and is, by
proper contradistinction, called the PERFECT participle. It is hardly
necessary to add, that the terms _perfect_ and _imperfect_, as thus applied
to the English participles, have no reference to _time_, or to those
_tenses_ of the verb which are usually (but not very accurately) named by
these epithets. The terms _present_ and _past_, which some still prefer to
_imperfect_ and _perfect_, do denote _time_, and are in a kind of oblique
contradistinction; but how well they apply to the participles, may be seen
by the following texts: "God _was_ in Christ, _reconciling_ the world unto
himself."--"We pray you in Christ's stead, _be_ ye _reconciled_ to
God."--ST. PAUL: _2 Cor._, v, 19, 20. Here _reconciling_ refers to the
death of Christ, and _reconciled_, to the desired conversion of the
Corinthians; and if we call the former a _present_ participle, and the
latter a _past_, (as do Bullions, Burn, Clark, Felton, S. S. Greene,
Lennie, Pinneo, and perhaps others,) we nominally reverse the order of time
in respect to the events, and egregiously misapply both terms.

OBS. 4.--Though the participle in _ing_ has, by many, been called the
_Present_ participle, it is as applicable to past or future, as to present
time; otherwise, such expressions as, "I _had been writing_,"--"I _shall be
writing_," would be solecisms. It has also been called, almost as
frequently, the _Active_ participle. But it is not always active, even when
derived from an active verb; for such expressions as, "The goods are
_selling_,"--"The ships are now _building_," are in use, and not without
good authority: as, "And hope to allay, by rational discourse, the pains of
his joints _tearing_ asunder."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 285. "Insensible of the
designs now _forming_ by Philip."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, ii, 48. "The
improved edition now _publishing_."--BP. HALIFAX: _Pref. to Butler_. "The
present tense expresses an action now _doing_."--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 40.
The distinguishing characteristic of this participle is, that it denotes an
unfinished and progressive state of the being, action, or passion; it is
therefore properly denominated the IMPERFECT participle. If the term were
applied with reference to _time_, it would be no more objectionable than
the word _present_, and would be equally supported by the usage of the
_Greek_ linguists. I am no more inclined to "_innovation_," than are the
pedants who, for the choice here made, have ignorantly brought the false
charge against me. This name, authorized by Beattie and Pickbourn, is
approved by Lindley Murray,[303] and adopted by several of the more recent
grammarians. See the works of Dr. Crombie, J. Grant, T. O. Churchill, R.
Hiley, B. H. Smart, M. Harrison, and W. G. Lewis, published in London; and
J. M. M'Culloch's Grammar, published in Edinburgh; also some American
grammars, as E. Hazen's, N. Butler's, D. B. Tower's, W. H. Wells's, the
Sanderses'.

OBS. 5.--The participle in _ed_, as is mentioned above, usually denotes a
_completion_ of the being, action, or passion, and should therefore be
denominated the PERFECT participle. But this completion may be spoken of as
present, past, or future; for the participle itself has no tenses, and
makes no distinction of time, nor should the name be supposed to refer to
the perfect tense. The conjugation of any passive verb, is a sufficient
proof of all this: nor is the proof invalidated by resolving verbs of this
kind into their component parts. Of the participles in _ed_ applied to
_present_ time, the following is an example: "Such a course would be less
likely to produce injury to health, than the _present course pursued_ at
our colleges."--_Literary Convention_, p. 118. Tooke's notion of
grammatical time, appears to have been in several respects a strange one:
he accords with those who call this a _past_ participle, and denies to the
other not only the name and notion of _a tense_, but even the _general
idea_ of time. In speaking of the old participial termination _and_ or
_ende_,[304] which our Anglo-Saxon ancestors used where we write _ing_, he
says, "I do not allow that there are any _present_ participles, or any
_present tense_ of the verb." [305]--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p.
41.

OBS. 6.--The _Perfect_ participle of transitive verbs, being used in the
formation of passive verbs, is sometimes called the _Passive_ participle.
It usually has in itself a passive signification, except when it is used in
forming the compound tenses of the active verb. Hence the difference
between the sentences, "I have written a letter," and, "I have a letter
written;" the former being equivalent to _Scripsi literas_, and the latter
to _Sunt mihi literæ scriptæ_. But there are many perfect participles which
cannot with any propriety be called passive. Such are all those which come
from intransitive or neuter verbs; and also those which so often occur in
the tenses of verbs not passive. I have already noticed some instances of
this misnomer; and it is better to preclude it altogether, by adhering to
the true name of this Participle, THE PERFECT. Nor is that entirely true
which some assert, "that this participle in the _active_ is only found in
combination;" that, "Whenever it stands alone to be parsed as a participle,
it is passive."--_Hart's English Gram._, p. 75. See also _Bullions's
Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, p. 77; and _Greene's Analysis, or Gram._, p.
225. "Rebelled," in the following examples, cannot with any propriety be
called a _passive_ participle:

   "_Rebelled_, did I not send them terms of peace,
    Which not my justice, but my mercy asked?"--_Pollok_, x, 253.

    "Arm'd with thy might, rid Heav'n of these _rebell'd_,
    To their prepar'd ill mansion driven down."--_Milton_, vi, 737.

OBS. 7.--The third participle has most generally been called the
_Compound_, or the _Compound perfect_. The latter of these terms seems to
be rather objectionable on account of its length; and against the former it
may be urged that, in the compound forms of conjugation, the first or
imperfect participle is a compound: as, _being writing, being seen_. Dr.
Adam calls _having loved_ the _perfect_ participle _active_, which he says
must be rendered in Latin by the _pluperfect_ of the subjunctive; as, he
having loved, _quum amavisset_; (_Lat. and Eng. Gram._, p. 140;) but it is
manifest that the perfect participle of the verb _to love_, whether active
or passive, is the simple word _loved_, and not this compound. Dr. Adam, in
fact, if he denies this, only contradicts himself; for, in his paradigms of
the English Active Voice, he gives the participles as two only, and both
simple, thus: "_Present_, Loving; _Perfect_, Loved:"--"_Present_, Having;
_Perfect_, Had." So of the Neuter Verb: "_Present_, Being; _Perfect_,
Been."--_Ib._, pp. 81 and 82. His scheme of either names or forms is no
model of accuracy. On the very next page, unless there is a misprint in
several editions, he calls the _Second_ participle the "_imperfect_;"
saying, "The whole of the passive voice in English is formed by the
auxiliary verb _to be_, and the participle _imperfect_; as, _I am loved, I
was loved, &c_." Further: "In many verbs," he adds, "the _present_
participle also is used in a passive sense; as, _These things are doing,
were doing_, &c.; _The house is building, was building_, &c."--_Ib._, p.
83. N. Butler, in his Practical Grammar, of 1845, names, and counts, and
orders, the participles very oddly: "Every verb," he says, "has _two_
participles--the _imperfect_ and the _perfect_."--P. 78. Yet, for the verb
_love_, he finds these six: two "IMPERFECT, _Loving_ and _Being loved_;"
two "PERFECT, _Having loved_, and _Having been loved_;" one "AUXILIARY
PERFECT, _Loved_," of the "_Active Voice_;" and one "PASSIVE, _Loved_," of
the "_Passive Voice_." Many old writers erroneously represent the
participle in _ing_ as always active, and the participle in _ed_ or _en_ as
always passive; and some, among whom is Buchanan, making no distinction
between the simple perfect _loved_ and the compound _having loved_, place
the latter with the former, and call it passive also. The absurdity of this
is manifest: for _having loved_ or _having seen_ is active; _having been_
or _having sat_ is neuter; and _having been loved_ or _having been seen_ is
passive. Again, the triple compound, _having been writing_, is active; and
_having been sitting_ is neuter; but if one speak of goods as _having been
selling_ low, a similar compound is passive.

OBS. 8.--Now all the compound participles which begin with _having_ are
essentially alike; and, as a class of terms, they ought to have a name
adapted to their nature, and expressive of their leading characteristic.
_Having loved_ differs from the simple participle _loved_, in signification
as well as in form; and, if this participle is to be named with reference
to its _meaning_, there is no more suitable term for it than the epithet
PREPERFECT,--a word which explains itself, like _prepaid_ or
_prerequisite_. Of the many other names, the most correct one is
PLUPERFECT,--which is a term of very nearly the same meaning. Not because
this compound is really of the pluperfect _tense_, but because it always
denotes being, action, or passion, that is, or was, or will be, _completed
before_ the doing or being of something else; and, of course, when the
latter thing is represented as past, the participle must correspond to the
pluperfect tense of its verb; as, "_Having explained_ her views, it was
necessary she should expatiate on the vanity and futility of the enjoyments
promised by Pleasure."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 181. Here _having explained_
is exactly equivalent to _when she had explained_. Again: "I may say, _He
had commanded_, and we obeyed; or, _He having commanded_, we
obeyed."--_Fetch's Comprehensive Gram._, p. ix. Here the two phrases in
Italics correspond in import, though not in construction.

OBS. 9.--_Pluperfect_ is a derivative contracted from the Latin
_plusquam-perfectum_, and literally signifies _more than complete_, or
_beyond the perfect_; i. e., (as confirmed by use,) _antecedently
finished_, or _completed before_. It is the usual name of our fourth tense;
is likewise applicable to a corresponding tense in other tongues; and is a
word familiar to every scholar. Yet several grammarians,--too ready,
perhaps, for innovation,--have shown their willingness to discard it
altogether. Bullions, Butler, Hiley, Perley, Wells, and some others, call
the English _pluperfect tense_, the _past-perfect_, and understand either
epithet to mean--"_completed at or before_ a certain _past_ time;"
(_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 39;) that is--"_finished or past, at_ some
_past_ time."--_Butler's Pract. Gram._, p. 72. The relation of the _tense_
is _before the past_, but the epithet _pluperfect_ is not necessarily
limited to this relation, any more than what is _perfect_ is necessarily
past. Butler has urged, that, "_Pluperfect_ does not mean _completed
before_," but is only "a technical name of a particular tense;" and,
arguing from this erroneous assumption, has convinced himself, "It would be
as correct to call this the _second future_ participle, as the
_pluperfect_."--_Ib._, p. 79. The technical name, as limited to the past,
is _preterpluperfect_, from the older term _præteritum plusquam perfectum_;
so _preterperfect_, from _præteritum perfectum_, i. e. _past perfect_, is
the name of an _other_ tense, now called the _perfect_: wherefore the
substitution of _past-perfect_ for _pluperfect_ is the less to be
commended. There may be a convenience in having the name of the tense to
differ from that of the participle, and this alone induces me to prefer
_preperfect_ to _pluperfect_ for the name of the latter.

OBS. 10.--From the participle in _ed_ or _en_, we form three tenses, which
the above-named authors call _perfect_;--"the _present-perfect_, the
_past-perfect_, and the _future-perfect_;"--as, _have seen, had seen, will
have seen_. Now it is, doubtless, the _participle_, that gives to these
their _perfectness_; while diversity in the auxiliaries makes their
difference of time. Yet it is assumed by Butler, that, in general, the
simple participle in _ed_ or _en_, "does not denote an action _done_ and
_completed_," and is not to be called _perfect_; (p. 80;)--that, "If we
wish to express by a participle, an action _completed at any time_, we use
the compound form, and _this is_ THE _perfect participle_;" (p. 79;)--that,
"_The characteristic_ of the participle in _ed_ is, that it implies the
_reception_ of an action;" (p. 79;)--that, hence, it should be called _the
passive_, though it "is _usually_ called the _perfect_ participle;" (p.
79;)--that, "The use of _this participle_ in the _perfect tenses_ of the
active voice should not be taken into consideration in giving it a name or
a definition;" (p. 80;)--that its _active, neuter_, or _intransitive_ use
is not a primitive idiom of the language, but the result of a gradual
_change_ of the term from the passive to the active voice; (p. 80;)--that,
"the participle _has changed_ its mode of signification, so that, instead
of being passive, it is now active in sense;" (p. 105;)--that, "having
changed its original meaning so entirely, it should not be considered _the
same_ participle;" (p. 78;)--that, "in such cases, it is a _perfect_
participle," and, "for the sake of distinction [,] this may be called the
_auxiliary perfect_ participle."--_Ib._ These speculations I briefly throw
before the reader, without designing much comment upon them. It will be
perceived that they are, in several respects, contradictory one to an
other. The author himself names the participle in reference to a usage
which he says, "should not be taken into consideration;" and names it
absurdly too; for he calls that "the _auxiliary_," which is manifestly the
_principal_ term. He also identifies as one what he professes to
distinguish as two.

OBS. 11.--Participles often become _adjectives_, and are construed before
nouns to denote quality. The terms so converted form the class of
_participial adjectives_. Words of a participial form may be regarded as
adjectives, under the following circumstances: 1. When they reject the idea
of time, and denote something customary or habitual, rather than a
transient act or state; as, "A _lying_ rogue,"--i.e., one that is addicted
to lying. 2. When they admit adverbs of comparison; as, "A _more learned_
man." 3. When they are compounded with something that does not belong to
the verb; as, "_unfeeling, unfelt_:" there is no verb _to unfeel_,
therefore these words cannot be participles. Adjectives are generally
placed before their nouns; participles, after them. The words beginning
with _un_, in the following lines may be classed with participial
adjectives:

   "No king, no subject was; unscutcheoned all;
    Uncrowned, unplumed, unhelmed, unpedigreed;
    Unlaced, uncoroneted, unbestarred."
        --_Pollok, C. of T._, B. viii, l. 89.

OBS. 12.--Participles in _ing_ often become _nouns_. When preceded by an
article, an adjective or a noun or pronoun of the possessive case, they are
construed as nouns; and, if wholly such, have neither adverbs nor active
regimen: as, "He laugheth at the _shaking_ of a spear."--_Job_, xli, 29.
"There is _no searching_ of _his understanding_."--_Isaiah_, xl, 28. "In
_their setting_ of their threshold by ray threshold."--_Ezekiel_, xliii, 8.
"That any man should make _my glorying_ void."--_1 Cor._, ix, 15. The terms
so converted form the class of _verbal_ or _participial_ nouns. But some
late authors--(J. S. Hart, S. S. Greene, W. H. Wells, and others--) have
given the name of participial nouns to many _participles_,--such
participles, often, as retain all their verbal properties and adjuncts, and
merely partake of some syntactical resemblance to nouns. Now, since the
chief characteristics of such words are from the verb, and are incompatible
with the specific nature of a noun, it is clearly improper to call them
_nouns_. There are, in the popular use of participles, certain mixed
constructions which are reprehensible; yet it is the peculiar nature of a
_participle_, to participate the properties of other parts of speech,--of
the verb and adjective,--of the verb and noun,--or sometimes, perhaps, of
all three. A participle immediately preceded by a preposition, is not
converted into a noun, but remains a participle, and therefore retains its
adverb, and also its government of the objective case; as, "I thank you
_for helping him so seasonably_." Participles in this construction
correspond with the Latin gerund, and are sometimes called _gerundives_.

OBS. 13.--To distinguish the participle from the participial noun, the
learner should observe the following four things: 1. Nouns take articles
and adjectives before them; participles, as such, do not. 2. Nouns may
govern the possessive case before them, but not the objective after them;
participles may govern the objective case, but not so properly the
possessive. 3. Nouns, if they have adverbs, require the hyphen; participles
take adverbs separately, as do their verbs. 4. Participial nouns express
actions as things, and are sometimes declined like other nouns; participles
usually refer actions to their agents or recipients, and have in English no
grammatical modifications of any kind.

OBS. 14.--To distinguish the perfect participle from the preterit of the
same form, observe _the sense_, and see which of the auxiliary forms will
express it: thus, _loved_ for _being loved_, is a participle; but _loved_
for _did love_, is a preterit verb. So _held_ for _did hold, stung_ for
_did sting, taught_ for _did teach_, and the like, are irregular verbs; but
_held_ for _being held, stung_ for _being stung, taught_ for _being
taught_, and the like, are perfect participles.

OBS. 15.--Though the English participles have no inflections, and are
consequently incapable of any grammatical agreement or disagreement, those
which are simple, are sometimes elegantly taken in a plural sense, with the
apparent construction of _nouns_; but, under these circumstances, they are
in reality neither nouns nor participles, but participial adjectives
construed elliptically, as other adjectives often are, and relating to
plural nouns understood. The ellipsis is sometimes of a singular noun,
though very rarely, and much less properly. Examples: "To them who are _the
called_ according to his purpose."--_Rom._, x, 28. That is--"the called
_ones_ or _persons_." "God is not the God of _the dead_, but of _the
living_."--_Matt._, xxii, 32. "Neither is it found in the land of _the
living_."--_Job_, xxviii, 13. "_The living, the living, he_ shall praise
thee, as I do this day."--_Isaiah_, xxxviii, 19. "Till we are made fit to
live and reign with him and _all his redeemed_, in the heavenly glory
forever."--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 18.

   "_Ye blessed_ of my Father, come, _ye just_,
    Enter the joy eternal of your Lord."--_Pollok_, B. x, l. 591.

    "Depart from me, _ye cursed_, into the fire
    Prepared eternal in the gulf of Hell."--_Id._, B. x, l. 449.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS VII.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Seventh Praxis it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of
the_ ARTICLES, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, PRONOUNS, VERBS, and PARTICIPLES.

_The definitions to be given in the Seventh Praxis, are two for an article,
six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, seven for a verb
finite, five for an infinitive, two for a participle,--and one for an
adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"Religion, rightly understood and practised, has the purest of all joys
attending it."

_Religion_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a
finite verb.

_Rightly_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree, or manner.

_Understood_ is a perfect participle, from the irregular active-transitive
verb, _understand, understood, understanding, understood_. 1. A participle
is a word derived from a verb, participating the properties of a verb, and
of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or
_ed_, to the verb. 2. The perfect participle is that which ends commonly in
_ed_ or _en_, and implies a completion of the being, action, or passion.

_And_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction, is a word used to connect words
or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so
connected.

_Practised_ is a perfect participle, from the regular active-transitive
verb, _practise, practised, practising, practised_. 1. A participle is a
word derived from a verb, participating the properties of a verb, and of an
adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_,
to the verb. 2. The perfect participle is that which ends commonly in _ed_
or _en_, and implies a completion of the being, action, or passion.

_Has_ is an irregular active-transitive verb, from _have, had, having,
had_; found in the indicative mood, present tense, third person, and
singular number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to
be acted upon_. 2. An irregular verb is a verb that does not form the
preterit and the perfect participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. An
active-transitive verb is a verb that expresses an action which has some
person or thing for its object. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the
verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5.
The present tense is that which expresses what now exists, or is taking
place. 6. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely
spoken of. 7. The singular number is that which denotes but one.

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite
article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Purest_ is a common adjective, of the superlative degree; compared
regularly, _pure, purer, purest_. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun
or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is any
ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. The
superlative degree is that which is _most_ or _least_ of all included with
it.

_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_All_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared. 1. An adjective is a word
added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A
pronominal adjective is a definitive word which may either accompany its
noun or represent it understood. 3. Those adjectives whose signification
does not admit of different degrees, cannot be compared.

_Joys_ is a common noun, of the third person, plural number, neuter gender,
and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing,
that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a sort,
kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that which
denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The plural number is that
which denotes more than one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form
or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb,
participle, or preposition.

_Attending_ is an imperfect participle, from the regular active-transitive
verb, _attend, attended, attending, attended_. 1. A participle is a word
derived from a verb, participating the properties of a verb, and of an
adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_,
to the verb. 2. The imperfect participle is that which ends commonly in
_ing_, and implies a continuance of the being, action, or passion.

_It_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.
2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what person
it is. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely
spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The
neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor
female. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun,
which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"A Verb is a word whereby something or other is represented as existing,
possessing, acting, or being acted upon, at some particular time, past,
present, or future; and this in various manners."--_White, on the English
Verb_, p. 1.

"Error is a savage, lurking about on the twilight borders of the circle
illuminated by truth, ready to rush in and take possession, the moment her
lamp grows dim."--_Beecher_.

"The science of criticism may be considered as a middle link, connecting
the different parts of education into a regular chain."--_Ld. Kames, El. of
Crit._, p. xxii.

"When I see a man walking, a tree growing, or cattle grazing, I cannot
doubt but that these objects are really what they appear to be. Nature
determines us to rely on the veracity of our senses; for otherwise they
could not in any degree answer their end, that of laying open things
existing and passing around us."--_Id., ib._, i, 85.

"But, advancing farther in life, and inured by degrees to the crooked ways
of men; pressing through the crowd, and the bustle of the world; obliged to
contend with this man's craft, and that man's scorn; accustomed, sometimes,
to conceal their sentiments, and often to stifle their feelings; they
become at last hardened in heart, and familiar with corruption."--BLAIR:
_Murray's Sequel_, p. 140.

   "Laugh'd at, he laughs again; and stricken hard,
    Turns to his stroke his adamantine scales,
    That fear no discipline of human hands."--_Cowper's Task_, p. 47.


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"Thus shame and remorse united in the ungrateful person, and indignation
united with hatred in the hearts of others, are the punishments provided by
nature for injustice."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 288.

"Viewing man as under the influence of novelty, would one suspect that
custom also should influence him?--Human nature, diversified with many and
various springs of action, is wonderfully, and, indulging the expression,
intricately constructed."--_Id., ib._, i, 325.

"Dryden frequently introduces three or four persons speaking upon the same
subject, each throwing out his own notions separately, without regarding
what is said by the rest."--_Id., ib._, ii, 294.

"Nothing is more studied in Chinese gardens, than to raise wonder and
surprise. Sometimes one is led insensibly into a dark cavern, terminating
unexpectedly in a landscape enriched with all that nature affords the most
delicious."--_Id., ib._, ii, 334.

"The answer to the objection here implied, is obvious, even on the
supposition of the questions put being answered in the
affirmative."--_Prof. Vethake._

"As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending
also, he will deliver it; and, passing over, he will preserve
it."--_Isaiah_, xxxi, 5.

   "Here, by the bonds of nature feebly held,
    Minds combat minds, repelling and repell'd."--_Goldsmith._

    "Suffolk first died, and York, all haggled over,
    Comes to him where in gore he lay insteeped."--_Shakspeare._


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"Every change in the state of things is considered as an effect, indicating
the agency, characterizing the kind, and measuring the degree, of its
cause."--_Dr. Murray, Hist. of En. L._, i, 179.

"Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
And supper being ended, (the devil having now put it into the heart of
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,) Jesus, knowing that the Father
had given all things into his hand, and that he had come from God and was
going to God, arose from supper, and laid aside his coat, and, taking a
towel, girded himself: then he poured some water into a basin, and began to
wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was
girded."--See _John_, xiii.

"Spiritual desertion is naturally and judicially incurred by sin. It is the
withdrawal of that divine unction which enriches the acquiescent soul with
moral power and pleasure. The subtraction leaves the mind enervated,
obscured, confused, degraded, and distracted."--HOMO: _N. Y. Observer._

"Giving no offence in any thing, but in all things approving ourselves as
the ministers of God: as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and,
behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet
possessing all things."--_2 Cor._, vi.

   "O may th' indulgence of a father's love,
    Pour'd forth on me, be doubled from above."--_Young_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS OF PARTICIPLES.

[Fist] [As the principles upon which our participles ought to be formed,
were necessarily anticipated in the preceding chapter on verbs, the reader
must recur to that chapter for the doctrines by which the following errors
are to be corrected. The great length of that chapter seemed a good reason
for separating these examples from it, and it was also thought, that such
words as are erroneously written for participles, should, for the sake of
order, be chiefly noticed in this place. In many of these examples,
however, the participle is not really a separate part of speech, but is in
fact taken with an auxiliary to form some compound tense of its verb.]


LESSON I.--IRREGULARS.

"Many of your readers have mistook that passage."--_Steele, Spect._, No.
544.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the preterit verb _mistook_ is here used for
the perfect participle. But, according to the table of irregular verbs, we
ought to say, _mistake, mistook, mistaking, mistaken_; after the form of
the simple verb, _take, took, taking, taken_. Therefore, the sentence
should be amended thus: "Many of your readers have _mistaken_ that
passage."]

"Had not my dog of a steward ran away."--_Addison, Spect._ "None should be
admitted, except he had broke his collar-bone thrice."--_Spect._, No. 474.
"We could not know what was wrote at twenty."--_Pref. to Waller_. "I have
wrote, thou hast wrote, he has wrote; we have wrote, ye have wrote, they
have wrote."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 62. "As if God had spoke his last words
there to his people."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 462. "I had like to have came
in that ship myself."--_N. Y. Observer_, No. 453. "Our ships and vessels
being drove out of the harbour by a storm."--_Hutchinson's Hist. of Mass._,
i, 470. "He will endeavour to write as the ancient author would have wrote,
had he writ in the same language."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, i, 68. "When
his doctrines grew too strong to be shook by his enemies."--_Atterbury_.
"The immortal mind that hath forsook Her mansion."--_Milton_. "Grease
that's sweaten from the murderer's gibbet, throw into the flame."--_Shak.,
Macbeth_. "The court also was chided for allowing such questions to be
put."--_Col. Stone, on Freemasonry_, p. 470. "He would have spoke."--
_Milton, P. L._, B. x, 1. 517. "Words interwove with sighs found out their
way."--_Id., ib._, i, 621. "Those kings and potentates who have
strove."--_Id., Eiconoclast_, xvii. "That even Silence was took."--_Id.,
Comus_, l. 557. "And envious Darkness, ere they could return, had stole
them from me."--_Id., Comus_, 1. 195. "I have chose this perfect
man."--_Id., P. R._, B. i, l. 165. "I will scarce think you have swam in a
gondola."--_Shak., As You Like It_. "The fragrant brier was wove
between."--_Dryden, Fables_. "Then finish what you have began."--_Id.,
Poems_, ii, 172. "But now the years a numerous train have ran."--_Pope's
Odyssey_, B. xi, l. 555. "Repeats your verses wrote on glasses."--_Prior_.
"Who by turns have rose."--_Id._ "Which from great authors I have
took."--_Id., Alma_. "Ev'n there he should have fell."--_Id., Solomon._

   "The sun has rose, and gone to bed,
    Just as if Partridge were not dead."--_Swift_.

    "And though no marriage words are spoke,
    They part not till the ring is broke."--_Id., Riddles_.


LESSON II.--REGULARS.

"When the word is stript of all the terminations."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of
En. L._, i, 319.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the participle _stript_ is terminated in
_t_. But, according to Observation 2d, on the irregular verbs, _stript_ is
regular. Therefore, this _t_ should be changed to _ed_; and the final _p_
should be doubled, according to Rule 3d for Spelling: thus, "When the word
is _stripped_ of all the terminations."]

"Forgive him, Tom; his head is crackt."--_Swift's Poems_, p. 397. "For 'tis
the sport, to have the engineer hoist with his own petar."--_Hamlet_, Act
3. "As great as they are, I was nurst by their mother."--_Swift's Poems_,
p. 310. "If he should now be cry'd down since his change."--_Ib._, p. 306.
"Dipt over head and ears--in debt."--_Ib._, p. 312. "We see the nation's
credit crackt."--_Ib._, p. 312. "Because they find their pockets
pickt."--_Ib._, p. 338. "O what a pleasure mixt with pain!"--_Ib._, p. 373.
"And only with her Brother linkt."--_Ib._, p. 387. "Because he ne'er a
thought allow'd, That might not be confest."--_Ib._, p. 361. "My love to
Sheelah is more firmly fixt."--_Ib._, p. 369. "The observations annext to
them will be intelligible."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 457. "Those
eyes are always fixt on the general principles."--_Ib._, i, 458. "Laborious
conjectures will be banisht from our commentaries."--_Ib._, i, 459.
"Tiridates was dethroned, and Phraates was reestablisht in his
stead."--_Ib._, i, 462. "A Roman who was attacht to Augustus."--_Ib._, i,
466. "Nor should I have spoken of it, unless Baxter had talkt about two
such."--_Ib._, i, 467. "And the reformers of language have generally rusht
on."--_Ib._, i, 649. "Three centuries and a half had then elapst since the
date."--_Ib._, i, 249. "Of such criteria, as has been remarkt already,
there is an abundance."--_Ib._, i, 261. "The English have surpast every
other nation in their services."--_Ib._, i, 306. "The party addrest is next
in dignity to the speaker."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 66. "To which we are
many times helpt."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 13. "But for him, I should
have lookt well enough to myself."--_Ib._, p. 88. "Why are you vext, Lady?
why do frown?"--_Milton, Comus_, l. 667. "Obtruding false rules prankt in
reason's garb."--_Ib._, l. 759. "But, like David equipt in Saul's armour,
it is encumbered and oppressed."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 378.

   "And when their merchants are blown up, and crackt,
    Whole towns are cast away in storms, and wreckt."
        --_Butler_, p. 163.


LESSON III.--MIXED.

   "The lands are holden in free and common soccage."
        --_Trumbull's Hist_, i, 133.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the participle _holden_ is not in that form
which present usage authorizes. But, according to the table of irregular
verbs, the four parts of the verb _to hold_, as now used, are _hold, held,
holding, held_. Therefore, _holden_ should be _held_; thus, "The lands are
_held_ in free and common soccage."]

"A stroke is drawed under such words."--_Cobbett's E. Grammar_, Edition of
1832, ¶ 154. "It is striked even, with a strickle."--_Walkers Particles_,
p. 115. "Whilst I was wandring, without any care, beyond my
bounds."--_Ib._, p. 83. "When one would do something, unless hindred by
something present."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 311. "It is used
potentially, but not so as to be rendred by these signs."--_Ib._, p. 320.
"Now who would dote upon things hurryed down the stream thus
fast?"--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 89. "Heaven hath timely try'd their
growth."--_Milton, Comus_, l. 970. "O! ye mistook, ye should have snatcht
his wand."--_Ib._, p. 815. "Of true virgin here distrest."--_Ib._, p. 905.
"So that they have at last come to be substitute in the stead of
it."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 339. "Though ye have lien among the
pots."--_Psal._, lxviii, 13. "And, lo, in her mouth was an olive-leaf
pluckt off."--FRIENDS' BIBLE, and BRUCE'S: _Gen._, viii, 11. "Brutus and
Cassius Are rid like madmen, through the gates of Rome."--_Shak_. "He shall
be spitted on."--_Luke_, xviii, 32. "And are not the countries so overflown
still situate between the tropics?"--_Bentley's Sermons_. "Not trickt and
frounc't as she was wont, But kercheft in a comely cloud."--_Milton, Il
Penseroso_, l. 123. "To satisfy his rigor, Satisfy'd never."--_Id., P. L._,
B. x, l. 804. "With him there crucify'd."--_Id., P. L._, B. xii, l. 417.
"Th' earth cumber'd, and the wing'd air darkt with plumes."--_Id., Comus_,
l. 730. "And now their way to Earth they had descry'd."--_Id., P. L._, B.
x, l. 325. "Not so thick swarm'd once the soil Bedropt with blood of
Gorgon."--_Ib._, B. x, l. 527. "And in a troubled sea of passion
tost."--_Ib._, B. x, l. 718. "The cause, alas, is quickly guest."--_Swift's
Poems_, p. 404. "The kettle to the top was hoist"--_Ib._, p. 274. "In
chains thy syllables are linkt."--_Ib._, p. 318. "Rather than thus be
overtopt, Would you not wish their laurels cropt?"--_Ib._, p. 415. "The
hyphen, or conjoiner, is a little line, drawed to connect words, or parts
of words."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, 1832, ¶ 150. "In the other manners of
dependence, this general rule is sometimes broke."--_Joh. Gram. Com._, p.
334. "Some intransitive verbs may be rendered transitive by means of a
preposition prefixt to them."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p. 66. "Whoever now
should place the accent on the first syllable of _Valerius_, would set
every body a-laughing."--_Walker's Dict._ "Being mocked, scourged, spitted
on, and crucified."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 40.

   "For rhyme in Greece or Rome was never known,
    Till by barbarian deluges o'erflown."--_Roscommon_.

    "In my own Thames may I be drownded,
    If e'er I stoop beneath a crown'd-head."--_Swift_.




CHAPTER VIII.--ADVERBS.

An Adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an
other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner: as,
They are _now here_, studying _very diligently_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Adverbs briefly express what would otherwise require several
words: as _Now_, for _at this time_;--_Here_, for _in this place_;--_Very_,
for _in a high degree_;--_Diligently_, for _in an industrious manner_. Thus
the meaning of almost any adverb, may be explained by some phrase beginning
with a preposition and ending with a noun.

OBS. 2.--There are several
customary combinations of short words, which are used adverbially, and
which some grammarians do not analyze in parsing; _as, not at all, at
length, in fine, in full, at least, at present, at once, this once, in
vain, no doubt, on board_. But all words that convey distinct ideas, and
rightly retain their individuality, ought to be taken separately in
parsing. With the liberty of supposing a few ellipses, an ingenious parser
will seldom find occasion to speak of "adverbial phrases." In these
instances, _length, doubt, fine_, and _board_, are unquestionably nouns;
_once_, too, is used as a noun; _full_ and _all_ may be parsed either as
nouns, or as adjectives whose nouns are understood; _at least_, is, _at the
least measure; at present_, is, _at the present time_; and _in vain_, is,
_in a vain course, or manner._

OBS. 3.--A phrase is a combination of two or more separable parts of
speech, the _parsing_ of which of course implies their separation. And
though the division of our language into words, and the division of its
words into parts of speech, have never yet been made exactly to correspond,
it is certainly desirable to bring them as near together as possible. Hence
such terms as _everywhere, anywhere, nowadays, forever, everso, to-day,
to-morrow, by-and-by, inside-out, upside-down_, if they are to be parsed
simply as adverbs, ought to be compounded, and not written as phrases.

OBS. 4--Under nearly all the different classes of words, some particular
instances may be quoted, in which other parts of speech seem to take the
nature of adverbs, so as either to become such, or to be apparently used
_for_ them. (1.) ARTICLES: "This may appear incredible, but it is not _the_
less true."--_Dr. Murray's Hist._, i, 337. "The other party was _a_ little
coy."--_D. Webster._ (2.) NOUNS: "And scrutiny became _stone_[306]
blind."--_Cowper._ "He will come _home to-morrow._"--_Clark._ "They were
travelling _post_ when he met them."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 69. "And with a
vengeance sent from Media _post_ to Egypt."--_Milton, P. L._, B. iv, l.
170. "That I should care _a groat_ whether he likes the work or
not."--_Kirkham._ "It has snowed terribly all night, and is _vengeance_
cold."--_Swift._ (3.) ADJECTIVES: "Drink _deep_, or taste not."--_Pope._ "A
place _wondrous_ deep."--_Webster's Dict._ "That fools should be so _deep_
contemplative."--_Shak._ "A man may speak _louder_ or _softer_ in the same
key; when he speaks _higher_ or _lower_, he changes his key."--_Sheridan's
Elocution_, p. 116. (4.) PRONOUNS: "_What_ am I eased?"--_Job._ "_What_
have I offended thee?"--_Gen._, xx, 9. "He is _somewhat_
arrogant."--_Dryden._ (5.) VERBS: "_Smack_ went the whip, round went the
wheels."--_Cowper._ "For then the farmers came _jog, jog_, along the miry
road."--_Id._ "_Crack!_ went something on deck."--_Robinson Crusoe._ "Then
straight went the yard _slap_ over their noddle."--Arbuthnot. (6.)
PARTICIPLES: "Like medicines given _scalding_ hot."--_Dodd._ "My clothes
are almost _dripping_ wet."--"In came Squire South, stark, _staring_
mad."--_Arbuthnot._ "An _exceeding_ high mountain."--_Matt._, iv, 8. "How
sweet, how _passing_ sweet, the hour to me!"--_Ch. Observer._ "When we act
_according_ to our duty."--_Dr. Johnson._ "A man was famous _according_ as
he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees."--_Psal._, lxxiv, 5. (7.)
CONJUNCTIONS: "Look, _as_ I blow this feather from my face."--_Shak._ "Not
at all, or _but_ very gently."--_Locke._ "He was _but_ born to try the lot
of man."--_Pope._ (8.) PREPOSITIONS: "They shall go _in_ and
_out._"--_Bible._ "From going _to_ and _fro_ in the earth, and walking _up_
and _down_ in it."--_Ib._ These are actually _adverbs_, and not
prepositions, because they govern nothing. (9.) INTERJECTIONS are never
used as adverbs, though the Greek grammarians refer them nearly all to this
class. The using of other words for adverbs, (i. e., the adverbial use of
any words that we do not actually call adverbs,) may be referred to the
figure _enallage_:[307] as,

   "_Tramp, tramp_, across the land they speed,
    _Splash, splash_, across the sea."--_Burger._

OBS. 5.--As other parts of speech seem sometimes to take the nature of
adverbs, so adverbs sometimes, either really or apparently, assume the
nature of other parts of speech. (1.) Of NOUNS: as, "A committee is not
needed merely to say _Yes_ or _No_; that will do very little good; _the
yes_ or _the no_ must be accompanied and supported by reasons."--_Dr.
M'Cartee._ "Shall I tell you _why?_ Ay, sir, and _wherefore_; for, they
say, every _why_ hath a _wherefore._"--_Shak._ (2.) Of ADJECTIVES: as,
"Nebuchadnezzar invaded the country, and reduced it to an _almost_
desert."--_Wood's Dict., w. Moab._ "The _then_ bishop of London, Dr. Laud,
attended on his Majesty."--_Clarendon._ "With _upward_ speed his agile
wings he spread."--_Prior._ "She lights the _downward_ heaven, and rises
there."--_Dryden._ (3.) Of PRONOUNS: as, "He liked the ground _whereon_ she
trod."--_Milton._ "_Wherein_ have you been galled by the king?"--_Shak._ "O
how unlike the place from _whence_ they fell!"--_Par. Lost_, B. i, l. 75.
Here _whereon_ is exactly equivalent in sense to _on which; wherein_, to
_in what_; and _whence_, to _which_: but none of them are actually reckoned
pronouns. (4.) Of VERBS: as, "If he be hungry, more than wanton, bread
alone will _down._"--_Locke._ "To _down_ proud hearts that would not
willing die."--_Sidney._ "She never could _away_ with me."--_Shak._
"_Away_, and glister like the god of war."--_Id._ "_Up_, get ye out of this
place."--_Gen._, xix, 14. (5.) Of CONJUNCTIONS: as, "I, _even_ I, am
he."--_Isaiah_, xliii, 25. "If I will that he tarry _till_ I
come."--_John_, xxi, 22. "I will go and see him _before_ I die."--_Gen._,
xlv, 28. "Before I go _whence_ I shall not return."--_Job_, x, 21. (6) Of
PREPOSITIONS: as, "Superior to any that are dug _out_ the
ground."--_Eames's Lect._, p. 28. "Who act _so counter_ heavenly mercy's
plan."--_Burns._ Better perhaps, "_out of_" and "_counter to._" (7.) Of
INTERJECTIONS: as, "_Up, up_, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho!"--_Scott._
"_Down, down_, cried Mar, your lances _down!_"--_Id._ "_Off!_ or I fly for
ever from thy sight."--_Smith._

OBS. 6.--In these last examples, _up_, and _down_, and _off_, have perhaps
as much resemblance to imperative verbs, as to interjections; but they need
not be referred to either of these classes, because by supplying a verb we
may easily parse them as adverbs. I neither adopt the notion of Horne
Tooke, that the same word cannot belong to different parts of speech, nor
refer every word to that class to which it may at first sight appear to
belong; for both of these methods are impracticable and absurd. The
essential nature of each part of speech, and every important peculiarity of
its individual terms, it is hoped, will be sufficiently explained in some
part or other of this work; but, as the classification of words often
depends upon their _construction_, some explanations that go to determine
the parts of speech, must be looked for under the head of Syntax.

OBS. 7.--The proper classification, or subdivision, of adverbs, though it
does not appear to have been discovered by any of our earlier grammarians,
is certainly very clearly indicated by the meaning and nature of the words
themselves. The four important circumstances of any event or assertion, are
the _when_, the _where_, the _how-much_, and the _how_; or the _time_, the
_place_, the _degree_, and the _manner_. These four are the things which we
usually express by adverbs. And seldom, if ever, do we find any adverb the
notion of which does not correspond to that of _sometime, somewhere,
somewhat_, or _somehow_. Hence, the general classes of this sort of words
ought to be formed under these four heads. The classification heretofore
most commonly adopted in English grammar, has every fault which the spirit
of awkwardness could possibly give it. The head of it is this: "Adverbs,
_though very numerous_, may be reduced to _certain_ classes, the _chief_ of
which are _those of_ Number, Order, Place, Time, Quantity, Manner or
Quality, Doubt, Affirmation, Negation, Interrogation, and
Comparison."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 115; _Comly's_, 66; _Kirkham's_, 86; _R.
C. Smith's_, 34; _Hall's_, 26; _and others_.



CLASSES.

Adverbs may be reduced to four general classes; namely, adverbs of _time_,
of _place_, of _degree_, and of _manner_. Besides these, it is proper to
distinguish the particular class of _conjunctive_ adverbs.

I. Adverbs of _time_ are those which answer to the question, _When? How
long? How soon?_ or, _How often?_ including these which ask.

OBS.--Adverbs of time may be subdivided as follows:--

1. Of time present; as, _Now, yet, to-day, nowadays, presently, instantly,
immediately, straightway, directly, forthwith_.

2. Of time past; as, _Already, just now, lately, recently, yesterday,
formerly, anciently, once, heretofore, hitherto, since, till now, long ago,
erewhile, erst_.

3. Of time to come; as, _To-morrow, hereafter, henceforth, henceforward,
by-and-by, soon, erelong, shortly_.

4. Of time relative; as, _When, then, first, just, before, after, while,
whilst, meanwhile, as, till, until, seasonably, betimes, early, late,
whenever, afterward, afterwards, otherwhile, otherwhiles_.

5. Of time absolute; as, _Always, ever, never, aye, eternally, forever,
perpetually, continually, incessantly, endlessly, evermore, everlastingly_.

6. Of time repeated; as, _Often, oft, again, occasionally, frequently,
sometimes, seldom, rarely, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, annually, once,
twice, thrice_, or _three times_. Above this, we use only the phrases
_four times, five times, six times, &c_. Whether these ought to be reckoned
adverbs, or not, is questionable: _times_, for _repetitions_, or
_instances_, may be supposed a noun; but such phrases often appear to be
used adverbially.


II. Adverbs of _place_ are those which answer to the question, _Where?
Whither? Whence?_ or, _Whereabout?_ including these which ask.

OBS.--Adverbs of place may be subdivided as follows:--

1. Of place in which; as, _Where, here, there, yonder, above, below, about,
around, somewhere, anywhere, elsewhere, otherwhere, everywhere, nowhere,
wherever, wheresoever, within, without, whereabout, whereabouts, hereabout,
hereabouts, thereabout, thereabouts_.

2. Of place to which; as, _Whither, hither, thither, in, up, down, back,
forth, aside, ashore, abroad, aloft, home, homewards, inwards, upwards,
downwards, backwards, forwards_. _Inward, homeward, upward, downward,
backward_, and _forward_, are also adverbs, as well as adjectives; but some
critics, for distinction's sake, choose to use these only as adjectives.

3. Of place from which; as, _Whence, hence, thence, away, out, off, far,
remotely_.

4. Of the order of place; as, _First, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, &c_.
Thus, _secondly_ means _in the second place_; _thirdly, in the third
place_; &c. For order, or rank, implies place, though it may consist of
relative degrees.


III. Adverbs of _degree_ are those which answer to the question, _How much?
How little?_ or, to the idea of _more or less_.

OBS.--Adverbs of degree may be subdivided as follows:--

1. Of excess or abundance; as, _Much, more, most, too, very, greatly, far,
besides; chiefly, principally, mainly, mostly, generally; entirely, full,
fully, completely, perfectly, wholly, totally, altogether, all, quite,
clear, stark; exceedingly, excessively, extravagantly, intolerably;
immeasurably, inconceivably, infinitely_.

2. Of equality or sufficiency; as, _Enough, sufficiently, competently,
adequately, proportionally, equally, so, as, even, just, exactly,
precisely_.

3. Of deficiency or abatement; as, _Little, less, least, scarcely, hardly,
scantly, scantily merely, barely, only, but, partly, partially, nearly,
almost, well-nigh, not quite_.

4. Of quantity in the abstract; as, _How_, (meaning, _in what degree_,)
_however, howsoever, everso, something, anything, nothing, a groat, a
sixpence, a sou-markee_, and other nouns of quantity used adverbially.


IV. Adverbs of _manner_ are those which answer to the question, _How?_ or,
by affirming, denying, or doubting, show _how_ a subject is regarded.

OBS.--Adverbs of manner may be subdivided as follows:--

1. Of manner from quality; as, _Well, ill, wisely, foolishly, justly,
wickedly_, and many others formed by adding _ly_ to adjectives of quality.
_Ly_ is a contraction of _like_; and is the most common termination of
English adverbs. When added to nouns, it forms adjectives; but some few of
these are also used adverbially; as, _daily, weekly, monthly_, which denote
time.

2. Of affirmation or assent; as, _Yes, yea, ay, verily, truly, indeed,
surely, certainly, doubtless, undoubtedly, assuredly, certes,
forsooth,[308] amen_.

3. Of negation; as, _No, nay, not, nowise, noway, noways, nohow_.

4. Of doubt or uncertainty; as, _Perhaps, haply, possibly, perchance,
peradventure, may-be_.

5. Of mode or way; as, _Thus, so, how, somehow, nohow, anyhow, however,
howsoever, like, else, otherwise, across, together, apart, asunder, namely,
particularly, necessarily, hesitatingly, trippingly, extempore, headlong,
lengthwise_.


V. _Conjunctive adverbs_ are those which perform the office of
conjunctions, and serve to connect sentences, as well as to express some
circumstance of time, place, degree, or the like. This class embraces a few
words not strictly belonging to any of the others: as, (1.) The adverbs of
cause; _why, wherefore, therefore_; but the last two of these are often
called conjunctions. (2.) The pronominal compounds; _herein, therein,
wherein_, &c.; in which the former term is a substitute, and virtually
governed by the enclitic particle.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Conjunctive adverbs often relate equally to two verbs in different
clauses, on which account it is the more necessary to distinguish them from
others; as, "And they feared _when_ they heard that they were
Romans,"--_Acts_, xvi, 38. Here _when_ is a conjunctive adverb of time, and
relates equally to _feared_ and to _heard_. "The right of coming on the
shore for their purposes in general, _as_ and _when_ they
please."--_Holroyd_. Here _as_ is a conjunctive adverb of manner, and
_when_, of time; both relating equally to _coming_ and to _please_.

OBS. 2.--The following words are the most frequently used as conjunctive
adverbs: _after, again, also, as, before, besides, consequently, else, ere,
even, furthermore, hence, how, however, moreover, nevertheless, otherwise,
since, so, still, till, then, thence, therefore, too, until, when, where,
wherefore, whither_, and _while_, or _whilst_.

OBS. 3.--Adverbs of _time, place_, and _manner_, are generally connected
with verbs or participles; those of _degree_ are more frequently placed
before adjectives or adverbs: the latter, however, sometimes denote the
measure of actions or effects; as, "And I wept _much_"--_Rev._, v, 4. "And
Isaac trembled _very exceedingly_"--_Gen._, xxvii, 33. "Writers who had
felt _less_, would have said _more_"--_Fuller_.

   "Victors and vanquished, in the various field,
    Nor _wholly_ overcome, nor _wholly_ yield."--_Dryden_.

OBS. 4.--The adverbs _here, there_, and _where_, when compounded with
prepositions, have the force of pronouns, or of pronominal adjectives: as,
_Hereby_, for _by this; thereby_, for _by that_; _whereby_, for _by which_,
or _by what_. The prepositions which may be subjoined in this manner, are
only the short words, _at, by, for, from, in, into, of, on, to, unto,
under, upon_, and _with_. Compounds of this kind, although they partake of
the nature of pronouns with respect to the nouns going before, are still
properly reckoned adverbs, because they relate as such to the verbs which
follow them; as, "You take my life, when you do take the means _whereby_ I
live."--_Shak_. Here _whereby_ is a conjunctive adverb, representing
_means_, and relating to the verb _live_.[309] This mode of expression is
now somewhat antiquated, though still frequently used by good authors, and
especially by the poets.

OBS. 5--The adverbs, _when, where, whither, whence, how, why, wherefore,
wherein, whereof, whereby_, and other like compounds of _where_, are
sometimes used as _interrogatives_; but, as such, they still severally
belong to the classes under which they are placed in the foregoing
distribution, except that words of interrogation are not at the same time
connectives. These adverbs, and the three pronouns, _who, which_, and
_what_, are the only interrogative words in the language; but questions may
be asked without any of them, and all have other uses than to ask
questions.

OBS. 6.--The conjunctive adverbs, _when, where, whither, whence, how_, and
_why_, are sometimes so employed as to partake of the nature of _pronouns_,
being used as a sort of _special relatives_, which refer back to antecedent
nouns of _time, place, manner_, or _cause_, according to their own
respective meanings; yet being adverbs, because they relate as such, to the
verbs which follow them: as, "In the _day when_ God shall judge the secrets
of men."--_Rom._, ii, 16. "In a _time when_ thou mayest be
found."--_Psal._, xxxii, 6. "I sought for some time what I at length found
here, a _place where_ all real wants might be easily supplied."--_Dr.
Johnson_. "To that _part_ of the mountain _where_ the declivity began to
grow craggy."--_Id._ "At _Canterbury, whither_ some voice had run
before."--_Wotton_. "Look unto the _rock whence_ ye are hewn, and to the
hole of the _pit whence_ ye are digged."--_Isaiah_, li, 1. "We may remark
three different _sources whence_ it arises."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 163.
"I'll tell you a _way how_ you may live your time over again."--_Collier's
Antoninus_, p. 108. "A crude account of the _method how_ they perceive
truth."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 404. "The _order how_ the Psalter is
appointed to be read."--_Common Prayer_. "In the same reasoning we see the
_cause, why_ no substantive is susceptible of these comparative
degrees."--_Hermes_, p. 201. "There seems no _reason why_ it should not
work prosperously."--_Society in America_, p. 68. "There are strong
_reasons why_ an extension of her territory would be injurious to
her."--_Ib._ "An other _reason why_ it deserved to be more
studied."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 123. "The _end why_ God hath ordained faith,
is, that his free grace might be glorified."--_Goodwin_.

OBS. 7.--The direct use of adverbs for pronouns, is often, if not
generally, inelegant; and, except the expression may be thereby agreeably
shortened, it ought to be considered ungrammatical. The following examples,
and perhaps also some of the foregoing, are susceptible of improvement:
"Youth is _the time, when_ we are young."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 120. Say
rather, "Youth is _that part of life which_ succeeds to childhood." "The
boy gave a satisfactory _reason why_ he was tardy."--_Ibid._ Say rather,
"The boy gave a satisfactory reason _for his tardiness_." "The several
_sources from whence_ these pleasures are derived."--_Murray's Key_, p.
258. Say rather--"sources from _which_" "In _cases where_ it is only said,
that a question has been asked."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 117. Say, "In
_those_ cases _in which_." "To the false rhetoric of the _age when_ he
lived."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 415. Say rather--"of the age _in which_ he
lived."

OBS. 8.--When a conjunctive adverb is equivalent to both an
antecedent and a relative, the construction seems to be less objectionable,
and the brevity of the expression affords an additional reason for
preferring it, especially in poetry: as, "But the Son of man hath not
_where_ to lay his head."--_Matt._, viii, 20. "There might they see
_whence_ Po and Ister came."--_Hoole's Tasso._ "Tell _how_ he formed your
shining frame."--_Ogilvie._ "The wind bloweth _where_ it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell _whence_ it cometh, and
_whither_ it goeth."--_John_, iii, 8. In this construction, the adverb is
sometimes preceded by a preposition; the noun being, in fact, _understood_:
as,

   "Sinks, like a sea-weed, _into whence_ she rose."--_Byron._

    "Here Machiavelli's earth return'd _to whence_ it rose."--_Id._

OBS. 9.--The conjunctive adverb _so_, very often expresses the sense of
some word or phrase going before; as, "Wheresoever the speech is corrupted,
_so_ is the mind."--_Seneca's Morals_, p. 267. That is, the mind is _also
corrupted_. "I consider grandeur and sublimity, as terms synonymous, or
nearly _so_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 29. The following sentence is grossly
wrong, because the import of this adverb was not well observed by the
writer: "We have now come to _far the most complicated_ part of speech; and
one which is sometimes rendered _still more so_, than the nature of our
language requires."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 38. _So_, in some instances,
repeats the import of a preceding _noun_, and consequently partakes the
nature of a _pronoun_; as,

   "We think our fathers _fools_, so wise we grow;
    Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us _so_."--_Pope, on Crit._

OBS. 10.--"_Since_ is often improperly used for _ago_: as, 'When were you
in France?--Twenty years _since_.' It ought to be, 'Twenty years _ago_.'
_Since_ may be admitted to supply the place of _ago that_: it being equally
correct to say, 'It is twenty years _since_ I was in France;' and, 'It is
twenty years _ago, that_ I was in France.'"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 337.
The difference between _since_ and _ago_ is clearly this: the former, being
either a preposition or a conjunctive adverb, cannot with strict propriety
be used _adjectively_; the latter, being in reality an old participle,
naturally comes after a noun, in the sense of an adjective; as, _a year
ago, a month ago, a week ago_. "_Go, ago, ygo, gon, agon, gone, agone_, are
all used indiscriminately by our old English writers as the past participle
of the verb _to go_."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 376. "Three days
_agone_, I fell sick."--_1 Samuel_, xxx, 13.


MODIFICATIONS.

Adverbs have no modifications, except that a few are compared, after the
manner of adjectives: as, _soon, sooner, soonest; often, oftener,
oftenest;[310] long, longer, longest; fast, faster, fastest_.

The following are irregularly compared: _well, better, best; badly_ or
_ill, worse, worst; little less, least; much, more, most; far, farther,
farthest; forth, further, furthest. Rath, rather, rathest_, is now used
only in the comparative.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Most adverbs that are formed from adjectives by the addition of
_ly_, will admit the comparative adverbs _more and most, less_ and _least_,
before them:, as, _wisely, more wisely, most wisely; culpably, less
culpably, least culpably_. This is virtually a comparison of the latter
adverb, but the grammatical inflection, or degree, belongs only to the
former; and the words being written separately, it is certainly most proper
to parse them separately, ascribing the degree of comparison to the word
which expresses it. As comparison does not belong to adverbs in general, it
should not be mentioned in parsing, except in the case of those few which
are varied by it.

OBS. 2.--In the works of Milton, and occasionally in those of some other
poets of his age,[311] adverbs of two syllables, ending in _ly_, are not
only compared regularly like adjectives of the same ending, but are used in
the measure of iambic verse as if they still formed only two syllables.
Examples:--

   "But God hath _wiselier_ arm'd his vengeful ire."
        --_P. Lost_, B. x, l. 1022.

   "Destroyers _rightlier_ call'd and plagues of men."
        --_Ib._, B. xi, l. 699.

   "And on his quest, where _likeliest_ he might find."
        --_Ib._, B. ix, l. 414.

   "Now _amplier_ known thy Saviour and thy Lord."
        --_Ib._, B. xii, l. 544.

   "Though thou wert _firmlier_ fasten'd than a rock."
        --_Sam. Agon._, l. 1398.

   "Not rustic, as before, but _seemlier_ clad."
        --_P. Reg._, B. ii, l. 299.

    -------------------------"Whereof to thee anon
    _Plainlier_ shall be reveal'd."
        --_Paradise Lost_, B. xii, l. 150.

    ------------"To show what coast thy sluggish erare
    Might _easiliest_ harbour in."
        --_Shakspeare, Cymb._, Act IV.

   "Shall not myself be _kindlier_ mov'd than thou art?"
        --_Id., Tempest_, Act V.

   "But _earthlier_ happy is the rose distill'd."
        --_Id., M. S. N. Dream_, Act I.

OBS. 3.--The usage just cited is clearly analogical, and has the obvious
advantage of adding to the flexibility of the language, while it also
multiplies its distinctive forms. If carried out as it might be, it would
furnish to poets and orators an ampler choice of phraseology, and at the
same time, obviate in a great measure the necessity of using the same words
both adjectively and adverbially. The words which are now commonly used in
this twofold character, are principally monosyllables; and, of adjectives,
monosyllables are the class which we oftenest compare by _er_ and _est_:
next to which come dissyllables ending in _y_; as, _holy, happy, lovely_.
But if to any monosyllable we add _ly_ to form an adverb, we have of course
a dissyllable ending in _y_; and if adverbs of this class may be compared
regularly, after the manner of adjectives, there can be little or no
occasion to use the primitive word otherwise than as an adjective. But,
according to present usage, few adverbs are ever compared by inflection,
except such words as may also be used adjectively. For example: _cleanly,
comely, deadly, early, kindly, kingly, likely, lively, princely, seemly,
weakly_, may all be thus compared; and, according to Johnson and Webster,
they may all be used either adjectively or adverbially. Again: _late,
later, latest_, is commonly contrasted in both senses, with _early,
earlier, earliest_; but if _lately, latelier, lateliest_, were adopted in
the adverbial contrast, _early_ and _late, earlier_ and _later, earliest_
and _latest_, might be contrasted as adjectives only.

OBS. 4.--The using of adjectives for adverbs, is _in general_ a plain
violation of grammar. Example: "_To_ is a preposition, governing the verb
_sell_, in the infinitive mood, _agreeable_ to Rule 18, which says, The
preposition TO governs the infinitive mood."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 137. Here
_agreeable_ ought to be _agreeably_; an adverb, relating to the participle
_governing_. Again, the using of adverbs for adjectives, is a fault as
gross. Example: "Apprehending the nominative to be put _absolutely._"--
_Murray's Gram._, p. 155. Here _absolutely_ ought to be _absolute_; an
adjective, relating to the word _nominative_. But, _in poetry_, there is
not only a frequent substitution of quality for manner, in such a way that
the adjective may still be parsed adjectively; but sometimes also what
_appears_ to be (whether right or wrong) a direct use of adjectives for
adverbs, especially in the higher degrees of comparison: as,

   "_Firmer_ he roots him the _ruder_ it blow."
        --_Scott, L. of L._, C. ii, st. 19.

    "True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
    As those move _easiest_ who have learn'd to dance."
        --_Pope, Ess. on Crit._

    "And also now the sluggard _soundest_ slept."
        --_Pollok, C. of T._, B. vi, l. 257.

    "In them is _plainest_ taught, and _easiest_ learnt,
    What makes a nation happy, and keeps it so."
        --_Milton, P. R._, B. iv, l. 361.

OBS. 5.--No use of words can be _right_, that actually confounds the parts
of speech; but in many instances, according to present practice, the same
words may be used either adjectively or adverbially. _Firmer_ and _ruder_
are not adverbs, but adjectives. In the example above, they may, I think,
be ranked with the instances in which quality is poetically substituted for
manner, and be parsed as relating to the pronouns which follow them. A
similar usage occurs in Latin, and is considered elegant. _Easiest_, as
used above by Pope, may perhaps be parsed upon the same principle; that is,
as relating to _those_, or to _persons_ understood before the verb _move_.
But _soundest, plainest_, and _easiest_, as in the latter quotations,
cannot be otherwise explained than as being adverbs. _Plain_ and _sound_,
according to our dictionaries, are used both adjectively and adverbially;
and, if their superlatives are not misapplied in these instances, it is
because the words are adverbs, and regularly compared as such. _Easy_,
though sometimes used adverbially by reputable writers, is presented by our
lexicographers as an adjective only; and if the latter are right, Milton's
use of _easiest_ in the sense and construction of _most easily_, must be
considered an error in grammar. And besides, according to his own practice,
he ought to have preferred _plainliest_ to _plainest_, in the adverbial
sense of _most plainly_.

OBS. 6.--Beside the instances already mentioned, of words used both
adjectively and adverbially, our dictionaries exhibit many primitive terms
which are to be referred to the one class or the other, according to their
construction; as, _soon, late, high, low, quick, slack, hard, soft, wide,
close, clear, thick, full, scant, long, short, clean, near, scarce, sure,
fast_; to which may as well be added, _slow, loud_, and _deep_; all
susceptible of the regular form of comparison, and all regularly
convertible into adverbs in _ly_; though _soonly_ and _longly_ are now
obsolete, and _fastly_, which means _firmly_, is seldom used. In short, it
is, probably, from an idea, that no adverbs are to be compared by _er_ and
_est_ unless the same words may also be used adjectively, that we do not
thus compare _lately, highly, quickly, loudly_, &c., after the example of
Milton. But, however custom may sanction the adverbial construction of the
foregoing simple terms, the distinctive form of the adverb is in general to
be preferred, especially in prose. For example: "The more it was complained
of, the _louder_ it was praised."--_Daniel Webster, in Congress_, 1837. If
it would seem quaint to say, "The _loudlier_ it was praised," it would
perhaps be better to say, "The _more loudly_ it was praised;" for our
critics have not acknowledged _loud_ or _louder_ to be an adverb. Nor have
_slow_ and _deep_ been so called. Dr. Johnson cites the following line to
illustrate the latter as an _adjective_:

   "Drink hellebore, my boy! drink _deep_, and scour thy brain. DRYDEN."
        --_Joh. Dict., w. Deep_.

    "Drink hellebore, my boy! drink deep, and _purge_ thy brain."
        --_Dryd. IV. Sat. of Persius_.

OBS. 7.--In some instances, even in prose, it makes little or no difference
to the sense, whether we use adjectives referring to the nouns, or adverbs
of like import, having reference to the verbs: as, "The whole conception is
conveyed _clear_ and _strong_ to the mind."--_Blair's Rhet._, p, 138. Here
_clear_ and _strong_ are adjectives, referring to _conception_; but we
might as well say, "The whole conception is conveyed _clearly_ and
_strongly_ to the mind." "Against a power that exists _independent_ of
their own choice."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 46. Here we might as well say,
"exists _independently_;" for the independence of the power, in whichever
way it is expressed, is nothing but _the manner_ of its _existence_. "This
work goeth _fast_ on and prospereth."--_Ezra_. "Skill comes so _slow_, and
life so _fast_ doth fly."--_Davies_. Dr. Johnson here takes _fast_ and
_slow_ to be adjectives, but he might as well have called them adverbs, so
far as their meaning or construction is concerned. For what here qualifies
the things spoken of, is nothing but _the manner_ of their _motion_; and
this might as well be expressed by the words, _rapidly, slowly, swiftly_.
Yet it ought to be observed, that this does not prove the equivalent words
to be adverbs, and not adjectives. Our philologists have often been led
into errors by the argument of equivalence.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS VIII.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Eighth Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of
the_ ARTICLES, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, PRONOUNS, VERBS, PARTICIPLES, _and_
ADVERBS.

_The definitions to be given in the Eighth Praxis, are two for an article,
six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, seven for a verb
finite, five for an infinitive, two for a participle, two (and sometimes
three) for an adverb,--and one for a conjunction, a preposition, or an
interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"When was it that Rome attracted most strongly the admiration of
mankind?"--_R. G. Harper._

_When_ is an adverb of time. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree or manner. 2. Adverbs of time are those which answer to the
question, _When? How long? How soon?_ or, _How often?_ including these
which ask.

_Was_ is an irregular neuter verb, from _be, was, being, been_; found in
the indicative mood, imperfect tense, third person, and singular number. 1.
A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_. 2.
An irregular verb is a verb that does not form the preterit and the perfect
participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. A neuter verb is a verb that
expresses neither action nor passion, but simply being, or a state of
being. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply
indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5. The imperfect tense
is that which expresses what took place, or was occurring, in time fully
past. 6. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely
spoken of. 7. The singular number is that which denotes but one.

_It_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a
noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what
person it is. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing
merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5.
The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor
female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun,
which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_That_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words
or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so
connected.

_Rome_ is a proper noun, of the third person, singular number, personified
feminine, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place,
or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A proper noun is the name of
some particular individual, or people, or group. 3. The third person is
that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular
number is that which denotes but one. 5. The feminine gender is that which
denotes persons or animals of the female kind. 6. The nominative case is
that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject
of a finite verb.

_Attracted_ is a regular active-transitive verb, from _attract, attracted,
attracting, attracted_; found in the indicative mood, imperfect tense,
third person, and singular number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to
be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_. 2. A regular verb is a verb that forms
the preterit and the perfect participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. An
active-transitive verb is a verb that expresses an action which has some
person or thing for its object. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the
verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5.
The imperfect tense is that which expresses what took place, or was
occurring, in time fully past. 6. The third person is that which denotes
the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The singular number is that which
denotes but one.

_Most_ is an a adverb of degree, compared, _much, more, most_, and found in
the superlative. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an
adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree,
or manner. 2. Adverbs of degree are those which answer to the question,
_How much? How little?_ or to the idea of _more or less_. 3. The
superlative degree is that which is _most_ or _least_ of all included with
it.

_Strongly_ is an adverb of manner. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb,
a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses
time, place, degree, or manner. 2. Adverbs of manner are those which answer
to the question, _How?_ or, by affirming, denying, or doubting, show _how_
a subject is regarded.

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite
article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Admiration_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a
verb, participle, or preposition.

_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Mankind_ is a common noun, collective, of the third person, conveying the
idea of plurality, masculine gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the
name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A
collective noun, or noun of multitude, is the name of many individuals
together. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing
merely spoken of. 4. The plural number is that which denotes more than one.
5. The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the
male kind. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a noun or
pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or
preposition.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"Wisely, therefore, is it ordered, and agreeably to the system of
Providence, that we should have nature for our instructor."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, i, 358.

"It is surprising, how quickly, and for the most part how correctly, we
judge of character from external appearance."--_Id., ib._, i, 359.

"The members of a period connected by proper copulatives, glide smoothly
and gently along, and are a proof of sedateness and leisure in the
speaker."--_Id., ib._, ii, 33.

"Antithesis ought only to be occasionally studied, when it is naturally
demanded by the comparison or opposition of objects."--_Jamieson's Rhet._,
p. 102.

"Did men always think clearly, and were they at the same time fully masters
of the language in which they write, there would be occasion for few
rules."--_Ib._, 102. "Rhetoric, or oratory, is the art of speaking justly,
methodically, floridly, and copiously, upon any subject, in order to touch
the passions, and to persuade."--_Bradley's Literary Guide_, p. 155.

"The more closely we follow the natural order of any subject we may be
investigating, the more satisfactorily and explicitly will that subject be
opened to our understanding."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 160.

   "Why should we doubt of that, whereof our sense
    Finds demonstration from experience?
    Our minds are here, and there, below, above;
    Nothing that's mortal, can so swiftly move."--_Denham_.


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"If we can discern particularly and precisely what it is, which is most
directly obedience or disobedience to the will and commands of God; what is
truly morally beautiful, or really and absolutely deformed; the question
concerning liberty, as far as it respects ethics, or morality, will be
sufficiently decided."--_West, on Agency_, p. xiii.

"Thus it was true, historically, individually, philosophically, and
universally, that they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge."--_Cox, on Christianity_, p. 327.

"We refer to Jeremiah Evarts and Gordon Hall. They had their imperfections,
and against them they struggled discreetly, constantly, successfully, until
they were fitted to ascend to their rest."--_N. Y. Observer_, Feb. 2d,
1833.

"Seek not proud riches; but such as thou mayst get justly, use soberly,
distribute cheerfully and leave contentedly."--_Ld. Bacon._

"There are also some particularly grievous sins, of which conscience justly
accuses us; sins committed more or less presumptuously and willingly,
deliberately and repeatedly."--_Bickersteth, on Prayer_, p. 59.

"And herein I apprehend myself now to suffer wrongfully, being slanderously
reported, falsely accused, shamefully and despitefully used, and hated
without a cause."--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 173.

   "Of perfect knowledge, see, the dawning light
    Foretells a noon most exquisitely bright!
    Here, springs of endless joy are breaking forth!
    There, buds the promise of celestial worth!"--_Young._


LESSON III--PARSING.

"A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures
boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend
unchangeably."--_Penn's Maxims._

"That mind must be wonderfully narrow, that is wholly wrapped up in itself;
but this is too visibly the character of most human minds."--_Burgh's
Dignity_, ii, 35.

"There is not a man living, who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a
plan adopted for the abolition of slavery; but there is only one proper and
effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is, by legislative
authority."--_Geo. Washington_, 1786.

"Sloth has frequently and justly been denominated the rust of the soul. The
habit is easily acquired; or, rather, it is a part of our very nature to be
indolent."--_Student's Manual_, p. 176.

"I am aware how improper it is to talk much of my wife; never reflecting
how much more improper it is to talk much of myself."--_Home's Art of
Thinking_, p. 89.

"Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.
Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed
of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool,) I
am more."--_2 Cor._, xi.

   "Oh, speak the wondrous man! how mild, how calm,
    How greatly humble, how divinely good,
    How firm establish'd on eternal truth."--_Thomson_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS RESPECTING ADVERBS.

"We can much easier form the conception of a fierce combat."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 167.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the adjective _easier_ is used as an adverb,
to qualify the verb _can form._ But, according to Observation 4th on the
Modifications of Adverbs, "The using of adjectives for adverbs, is in
general a plain violation of grammar." Therefore, _easier_ should be _more
easily_; thus, "We can much _more easily_ form the conception of a fierce
combat."]

"When he was restored, agreeable to the treaty, he was a perfect
savage."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 235. "How I shall acquit myself suitable
to the importance of the trial."--_Duncan's Cic._, p. 85. "Can any thing
show your holiness how unworthy you treat mankind?"--_Spect._, No. 497. "In
what other [language,] consistent with reason and common sense, can you go
about to explain it to him?"--_Lowth's Gram., Pref._, p. viii. "Agreeable
to this rule, the short vowel Sheva has two characters."--_Wilson's Hebrew
Gram._, p. 46. "We shall give a remarkable fine example of this
figure."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 347. "All of which is most abominable
false."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 431. "He heaped up great riches, but
passed his time miserable."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, ii, 202. "He is never
satisfied with expressing any thing clearly and simple."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 96. "Attentive only to exhibit his ideas clear and exact, he appears
dry."--_Ib._, p. 100. "Such words as have the most liquids and vowels,
glide the softest."--_Ib._, p. 129. "The simplest points, such as are
easiest apprehended."--_Ib._, p. 312. "Too historical, to be accounted a
perfect regular epic poem."--_Ib._, p. 441. "Putting after them the oblique
case, agreeable to the French construction."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 108.
"Where the train proceeds with an extreme slow pace."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, i, 151. "So as scarce to give an appearance of succession."--_Ib._,
i, 152. "That concord between sound and sense, which is perceived in some
expressions independent of artful pronunciation."--_Ib._, ii, 63. "Cornaro
had become very corpulent, previous to the adoption of his temperate
habits."--_Hitchcock, on Dysp._, p. 396. "Bread, which is a solid and
tolerable hard substance."--_Sandford and Merton_, p. 38. "To command every
body that was not dressed as fine as himself."--_Ib._, p, 19. "Many of them
have scarce outlived their authors."--_Pref. to Lily's Gram._, p. ix.
"Their labour, indeed, did not penetrate very deep."--_Wilson's Heb.
Gram._, p. 30. "The people are miserable poor, and subsist on
fish."--_Hume's Hist._, ii, 433. "A scale, which I took great pains, some
years since, to make."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 81. "There is no truth on earth
so well established as the truth of the Bible."--_Taylor's District
School_, p. 288. "I know of no work so much wanted as the one Mr. Taylor
has now furnished."--DR. NOTT: _ib._, p. ii. "And therefore their requests
are seldom and reasonable."--_Taylor_: _ib._, p. 58. "Questions are easier
proposed than rightly answered."--_Dillwyn's Reflections_, p. 19. "Often
reflect on the advantages you possess, and on the source from whence they
are all derived."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 374. "If there be no special Rule
which requires it to be put forwarder."--_Milnes's Greek Gram._, p. 234.
"The Masculine and Neuter have the same Dialect in all Numbers, especially
when they end the same."--_Ib._, p. 259.

   "And children are more busy in their play
    Than those that wisely'st pass their time away."--_Butler_, p. 163.




CHAPTER IX.--CONJUNCTIONS.

A Conjunction is a word used to connect words or sentences in construction,
and to show the dependence of the terms so connected: as, "Thou _and_ he
are happy, _because_ you are good."--_Murray_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Our connective words are of four kinds; namely, relative pronouns,
conjunctive adverbs,[312] conjunctions, and prepositions. These have a
certain resemblance to one another, so far as they are all of them
_connectives_; yet there are also characteristical differences by which
they may in general be easily distinguished. Relative pronouns represent
antecedents, and stand in those relations which we call cases; conjunctive
adverbs assume the connective power in addition to their adverbial
character, and consequently sustain a double relation; conjunctions,
(except the introductory correspondents,) join words or sentences together,
showing their relation either to each other or to something else;
prepositions, though naturally subject themselves to something going
before, assume the government of the terms which follow them, and in this
they differ from all the rest.

OBS. 2.--Conjunctions do not express any of the real objects of the
understanding, whether things, qualities, or actions, but rather the
several modes of connexion or contrast under which these objects are
contemplated. Hence conjunctions were said by Aristotle and his followers
to be in themselves "devoid of signification;" a notion which Harris, with
no great propriety, has adopted in his faulty definition[313] of this part
of speech. It is the office of this class of particles, to link together
words, phrases, or sentences, that would otherwise appear as loose shreds,
or unconnected aphorisms; and thus, by various forms of dependence, to give
to discourse such continuity as may fit it to convey a connected train of
thought or reasoning. The skill or inability of a writer may as strikingly
appear in his management of these little connectives, as in that of the
longest and most significant words in the language.

   "The current is often evinced by the straws,
    And the course of the wind by the flight of a feather;
    So a speaker is known by his _ands_ and his _ors_,
    Those stitches that fasten his patchwork together."--_Robert F. Mott_.

OBS. 3.--Conjunctions sometimes connect entire sentences, and sometimes
particular words or phrases only. When one whole sentence is closely linked
with an other, both become clauses or members of a more complex sentence;
and when one word or phrase is coupled with an other, both have in general
a common dependence upon some other word in the same sentence. In
etymological parsing, it may be sufficient to name the conjunction as such,
and repeat the definition above; but, in syntactical parsing, the learner
should always specify the terms connected. In many instances, however, he
may conveniently abbreviate his explanation, by parsing the conjunction as
connecting "what precedes and what follows;" or, if the terms are
transposed, as connecting its own clause to the second, to the third, or to
some other clause in the context.

OBS. 4.--However easy it may appear, for even the young parser to _name the
terms_ which in any given instance are connected by the conjunction, and of
course to know for himself _what these terms are_,--that is, to know what
the conjunction does or does not, connect,--it is certain that a multitude
of grammarians and philosophers, great and small, from Aristotle down to
the latest modifier of Murray, or borrower from his text, have been
constantly contradicting one an other, if not themselves, in relation to
this matter. Harris avers, that "the Conjunction connects, _not Words, but
Sentences_;" and frames his definition accordingly. See _Hermes_, p. 237.
This doctrine is true of some of the conjunctions, but it is by no means
true of them all. He adds, in a note, "Grammarians have usually considered
the Conjunction as connecting rather single Parts of Speech, than whole
Sentences, and that too with the addition of like with like, Tense with
Tense, Number with Number, Case with Case, &c. This _Sanctius_ justly
explodes."--_Ib._, p. 238. If such has been the usual doctrine of the
grammarians, they have erred on the one side, as much as our philosopher,
and his learned authorities, on the other. For, in this instance, Harris's
quotations of Latin and Greek writers, prove only that Sanctius, Scaliger,
Apollonius, and Aristotle, held the same error that he himself had
adopted;--the error which Latham and others now inculcate, that, "There are
always _two propositions_ where there is one Conjunction."--_Fowler's E.
Gram._, 8vo, 1850, p. 557.

OBS. 5.--The common doctrine of L. Murray and others, that, "Conjunctions
connect the same moods and tenses of verbs, and cases of nouns and
pronouns," is not only badly expressed, but is pointedly at variance with
their previous doctrine, that, "Conjunctions very often unite sentences,
when they appear to unite only words; as in the following instances: 'Duty
_and_ interest forbid vicious indulgences;' 'Wisdom _or_ folly governs us.'
Each of these forms of expression," they absurdly say, "contains two
sentences."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 124; _Smith's_, 95; _Fisk's_, 84;
_Ingersoll's_, 81. By "_the same moods, tenses_, or _cases_," we must needs
here understand some _one mood, tense_, or _case_, in which the connected
words _agree_; and, if the conjunction has any thing to do with this
agreement, or sameness of mood, tense, or case, it must be because words
only, and not sentences, are connected by it. Now, _if, that, though, lest,
unless_, or any other conjunction that introduces the subjunctive, will
almost always be found to connect different moods, or rather to subjoin one
sentence to another in which there is a different mood. On the contrary,
_and, as, even, than, or_, and _nor_, though they may be used to connect
sentences, do, in very many instances, connect words only; as, "The _king
and queen_ are an amiable pair."--_Murray._ "And a being of _more than
human_ dignity stood before me."--_Dr. Johnson._ It cannot be plausibly
pretended, that _and_ and _than_, in these two examples, connect clauses or
sentences. So _and_ and _or_, in the examples above, connect the nouns
only, and not "sentences:" else our common rules for the agreement of verbs
or pronouns with words connected, are nothing but bald absurdities. It is
idle to say, that the construction and meaning are not _what they appear to
be_; and it is certainly absurd to contend, that conjunctions always
connect sentences; or always, words only. One author very strangely
conceives, that, "Conjunctions may be said either always to connect words
only, or always to connect sentences, _according to the view which may be
taken of them_ in analyzing."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 77.

OBS. 6.--"Several words belonging to other parts of speech, are
occasionally used as conjunctions. Such are the following: _provided,
except_, verbs; _both_, an adjective; _either, neither, that_, pronouns;
_being, seeing_, participles; _before, since, for_, prepositions. I will do
it, _provided_ you lend some help. Here _provided_ is a conjunction, that
connects the two sentences. 'Paul said, _Except_ these abide in the ship,
ye cannot be saved.' Here _except_ is a conjunction. _Excepting_ is also
used as a participle and conjunction. '_Being_ this reception of the gospel
was so anciently foretold.'--_Bishop Pearson._ '_Seeing_ all the
congregation are holy.'--_Bible_. Here _being_ and _seeing_ are used as
conjunctions."--_Alexander's Gram_:, p. 50. 'The foregoing remark, though
worthy of some attention, is not altogether accurate. _Before_, when it
connects sentences, is not a conjunction, but a conjunctive adverb.
_Provided_, as cited above, resembles not the verb, but the perfect
participle. _Either_ and _neither_, when they are not conjunctions, are
pronominal adjectives, rather than pronouns. And, to say, that, "words
_belonging to other parts of speech_, are used as _conjunctions_," is a
sort of solecism, which leaves the learner in doubt to what class they
_really_ belong. _Being_, and _being that_, were formerly used in the sense
of _because, since, or seeing that_; (Lat. _cum, quoniam_, or _quando_;)
but this usage is now obsolete. So there is an uncommon or obsolete use of
_without_, in the sense of _unless_, or _except_; (Lat. _nisi_;) as, "He
cannot rise _without_ he be helped." _Walker's Particles_, p. 425. "Non
potest _nisi_ adjutus exsurgere."--_Seneca._


CLASSES.

Conjunctions are divided into two general classes, _copulative_ and
_disjunctive_; and a few of each class are particularly distinguished from
the rest, as being _corresponsive_.

I. A _copulative conjunction_ is a conjunction that denotes an addition, a
cause, a consequence, or a supposition: as, "He _and_ I shall not dispute;
_for, if_ he has any choice, I shall readily grant it."

II. A _disjunctive conjunction_ is a conjunction that denotes opposition of
meaning: as, "_Though_ he were dead, _yet_ shall he live."--_St. John's
Gospel_. "Be not faithless, _but_ believing."--_Id._

III. The _corresponsive conjunctions_ are those which are used in pairs, so
that one refers or answers to the other: as, "John came _neither_ eating
_nor_ drinking."--_Matt._, xi, 18. "But _if_ I cast out devils by the
Spirit of God, _then_ the kingdom of God is come unto you."--_Ib._, xii,
28.

OBS.--Not all terms which stand in the relation of correspondents, or
corresponsives, are therefore to be reckoned _conjunctions_; nor are both
words in each pair always of the same part of speech: some are adverbs; one
or two are adjectives; and sometimes a conjunction answers to a preceding
adverb. But, if a word is seen to be the mere precursor, index,
introductory sign, or counterpart, of a conjunction, and has no relation or
import which should fix it in any other of the ten classes called parts of
speech, it is, clearly, a conjunction,--a _corresponding_ or
_corresponsive_ conjunction. It is a word used _preparatively_, "to connect
words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms
so connected."


LIST OF THE CONJUNCTIONS.

1. The Copulatives; _And, as, both, because, even, for, if, that, then,
since, seeing, so_.

2. The Disjunctives; _Or, nor, either, neither, than, though, although,
yet, but, except, whether, lest, unless, save, provided, notwithstanding,
whereas_.

3. The Corresponsives; _Both--and; as--as; as--so; if--then; either--or_;
_neither--nor; whether--or; though_, or _although--yet_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--By some writers, the words, _also, since, too, then, therefore_,
and _wherefore_, are placed among the copulative conjunctions; and _as, so,
still, however_, and _albeit_, among the disjunctive; but Johnson and
Webster have marked most of these terms as _adverbs_ only. It is perhaps of
little moment, by which name they are called; for, in some instances,
conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs do not differ very essentially. _As,
so, even, then, yet_, and _but_, seem to belong sometimes to the one part
of speech, and sometimes to the other. I call them adverbs when they
chiefly express time, manner, or degree; and conjunctions when they appear
to be mere connectives. _As, yet_, and _but_, are generally conjunctions;
but _so, even_, and _then_, are almost always adverbs. _Seeing_ and
_provided_, when used as connectives, are more properly conjunctions than
any thing else; though Johnson ranks them with the adverbs, and Webster, by
supposing many awkward ellipses, keeps them with the participles. Examples:
"For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, _seeing_ it is but the third
hour of the day."--_Acts_, ii, 15. "The senate shall have power to adjourn
themselves, _provided_ such adjournment shall not exceed two days at a
time."--_Constitution of New Hampshire_.

OBS. 2.--_Since_, when it governs
a noun after it, is a preposition: as, "Hast thou commanded the morning
_since thy days_?"--_Job_. _Albeit_ is equivalent in sense to _although_,
and is properly a conjunction; but this old compound is now nearly or quite
obsolete. _As_ is sometimes a relative pronoun, sometimes a conjunctive
adverb, and sometimes a copulative conjunction. Example of the last: "We
present ourselves _as_ petitioners." If _as_ is ever disjunctive, it is not
so here; nor can we parse it as an adverb, because it comes between two
words that are essentially in apposition. The equivalent Latin term _quasi_
is called an adverb, but, in such a case, not very properly: as, "Et colles
_quasi_ pulverem pones;"--"And thou shalt make the hills _as_
chaff."--_Isaiah_, xli, 15. So _even_, which in English is frequently a
sign of emphatic repetition, seems sometimes to be rather a conjunction
than an adverb: as, "I, _even_ I, am the Lord."--_Isaiah_, xliii, 11.

OBS. 3.--_Save_ and _saving_, when they denote exception, are not adverbs,
as Johnson denominates them, or a verb and a participle, as Webster
supposes them to be, or prepositions, as Covell esteems them, but
disjunctive conjunctions; and, as such, they take the same case after as
before them; as, "All the conspirators, _save_ only _he_, did that they
did, in envy of great Cæsar."--_Shak._ "All this world's glory seemeth
vain, and all their shows but shadows, _saving she_."--_Spenser_. "Israel
burned none of them, _save Hazor_ only."--_Joshua_. xi, 13. "And none of
them was cleansed, _saving Naaman_ the Syrian."--_Luke_, iv, 27. _Save_ is
not here a transitive verb, for Hazor was not _saved_ in any sense, but
utterly destroyed; nor is Naaman here spoken of as _being saved by an other
leper_, but as being cleansed when others were not. These two conjunctions
are now little used; and therefore the propriety of setting the nominative
after them and treating them as conjunctions, is the more apt to be
doubted. The Rev. Matt. Harrison, after citing five examples, four of which
have the nominative with _save_, adds, without naming the part of speech,
or assigning any reason, this decision, which I think erroneous: "In all
these passages, _save_ requires after it the objective case." His five
examples are these: "All, _save_ I, were at rest, and enjoyment."--
_Frankenstein_. "There was no stranger with us, in the house, _save we_
two."--_1 Kings_, iii, 18.

   "And nothing wanting is, _save she_, alas!"
        --DRUMMOND _of Hawthornden_.

    "When all slept sound, _save she_, who bore them both."
        --ROGERS, _Italy_, p. 108.

    "And all were gone, _save him_, who now kept guard."
        --_Ibid._, p. 185.

OBS. 4.--The conjunction _if_ is sometimes used in the Bible to express,
not a supposition of what follows it, but an emphatic negation: as, "I have
sworn in my wrath, _if_ they shall enter into my rest."--_Heb._, iv, 3.
That is, _that they shall not enter_. The same peculiarity is found in the
Greek text, and also in the Latin, and other versions. _Or_, in the
obsolete phrase, "_or ever_," is not properly a conjunction, but a
conjunctive adverb of time, meaning _before_. It is supposed to be a
corruption of _ere_: as, "I was set up from everlasting, from the
beginning, _or ever_ the earth was."--_Prov._, viii, 23. "And we, _or ever_
he come near, are ready to kill him."--_Acts_, xxiii, 15. This term derives
no support from the original text.

OBS. 5.--There are some peculiar phrases, or combinations of words, which
have the force of conjunctions, and which it is not very easy to analyze
satisfactorily in parsing: as, "And _for all_ there were so many, yet was
not the net broken."--_John_, xxi, 11. Here _for all_ is equivalent to
_although_, or _notwithstanding_; either of which words would have been
more elegant. _Nevertheless_ is composed of three words, and is usually
reckoned a conjunctive adverb; but it might as well be called a disjunctive
conjunction, for it is obviously equivalent to _yet, but_, or
_notwithstanding_; as, "I am crucified with Christ: _nevertheless_ I live;
_yet not_ I, _but_ Christ liveth in me."--_Gal._, ii, 20. Here, for
_nevertheless_ and _but_, we have in the Greek the same particle [Greek:
de]. "Each man's mind has some peculiarity, _as well as_ his
face."--_Locke_. "Relative pronouns, _as well as_ conjunctions, serve to
connect sentences."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 124. Here the first _as_
corresponds to the second, but _well_ not being used in the literal sense
of an adverb, some judicious grammarians take the whole phrase as a
conjunction. It is, however, susceptible of division: as, "It is adorned
with admirable pieces of sculpture, _as well_ modern _as_
ancient."--_Addison_.

OBS. 6.--So the phrases, _for as much as, in as much as, in so much that_,
if taken collectively, have the nature of conjunctions; yet they contain
within themselves correspondent terms and several different parts of
speech. The words are sometimes printed separately, and sometimes partly
together. Of late years, _forasmuch, inasmuch, insomuch_, have been usually
compounded, and called adverbs. They might as well, perhaps, be called
conjunctions, as they were by some of our old grammarians; for two
conjunctions sometimes come together: as, "Answering their questions, _as
if_[314] it were a matter that needed it."--_Locke_. "These should be at
first gently treated, _as though_ we expected an imposthumation,"--_Sharp_.
"But there are many things which we must acknowledge to be true,
_notwithstanding that_ we cannot comprehend them."--_Beattie's Moral
Science_, p. 211. "There is no difference, _except that_ some are heavier
than others."--"We may be playful, _and yet_ innocent; grave, _and yet_
corrupt."--_Murray's Key_, p. 166.

OBS. 7.--Conjunctions have no grammatical modifications, and are
consequently incapable of any formal agreement or disagreement with other
words; yet their import as connectives, copulative or disjunctive, must be
carefully observed, lest we write or speak them improperly. Example of
error: "Prepositions are _generally set before_ nouns _and_
pronouns."--_Wilbur's Gram._, p. 20. Here _and_ should be _or_; because,
although a preposition usually governs a noun _or_ a pronoun, it seldom
governs both at once. And besides, the assertion above seems very naturally
to mean, that nouns and pronouns _are generally preceded_ by
prepositions--as gross an error as dullness could invent! L. Murray also
says of prepositions: "They are, _for the most_ part, put before nouns
_and_ pronouns."--_Gram._, p. 117. So Felton: "They generally stand before
nouns _and_ pronouns."--_Analytic and Prac. Gram._, p. 61. The blunder
however came originally from Lowth, and out of the following admirable
enigma: "Prepositions, _standing by themselves in construction_, are put
before nouns _and_ pronouns; _and_ sometimes after verbs; but _in this sort
of composition_ they are _chiefly prefixed_ to verbs: as, _to outgo, to
overcome_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 66.



OBS. 8.--The opposition suggested by the disjunctive particle _or_, is
sometimes merely nominal, or verbal: as, "That object is a triangle, _or_
figure contained under three right lines."--_Harris_. "So if we say, that
figure is a sphere, _or_ a globe, _or_ a ball."--_Id., Hermes_, p. 258. In
these cases, the disjunction consists in nothing but an alternative of
words; for the terms connected describe or name the same thing. For this
sense of _or_, the Latins had a peculiar particle, _sive_, which they
called _Subdisjunctiva_, a _Subdisjunctive_: as, "Alexander _sive_ Paris;
Mars _sive_ Mavors."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 258. In English, the
conjunction _or_ is very frequently equivocal: as, "They were both more
ancient than Zoroaster _or_ Zerdusht."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 250;
_Murray's Gram._, p. 297. Here, if the reader does not happen to know that
_Zoroaster_ and _Zerdusht_ mean the same person, he will be very likely to
mistake the sense. To avoid this ambiguity, we substitute, (in judicial
proceedings,) the Latin adverb _alias, otherwise_; using it as a
conjunction subdisjunctive, in lieu of _or_, or the Latin _sive_: as,
"Alexander, _alias_ Ellick."--"Simson, _alias_ Smith, _alias_
Baker."--_Johnson's Dict._


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS IX.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Ninth Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of
the_ ARTICLES, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, PRONOUNS, VERBS, PARTICIPLES, ADVERBS,
_and_ CONJUNCTIONS.

_The definitions to be given in the Ninth Praxis, are two for an article,
six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, seven for a verb
finite, five for an infinitive, two for a participle, two (and sometimes
three) for an adverb, two for a conjunction,--and one for a preposition, or
an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

   "If thou hast done a good deed, boast not of it."--_Maxims_.

_If_ is a copulative conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to
connect words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of
the terms so connected. 2. A copulative conjunction is a conjunction that
denotes an addition, a cause, a consequence, or a supposition.

_Thou_ is a personal pronoun, of the second person, singular number,
masculine gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead
of a noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of
what person it is. 3. The second person is that which denotes the hearer,
or the person addressed. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but
one. 5. The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of
the male kind. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or
pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

_Hast done_ is an irregular active-transitive verb, from _do, did, doing,
done_; found in the indicative mood, perfect tense, second person, and
singular number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_ or _to
be acted upon_. 2. An irregular verb is a verb that does not form the
preterit and the perfect participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. An
active-transitive verb is a verb that expresses an action which has some
person or thing for its object. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the
verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5.
The perfect tense is that which expresses what has taken place, within some
period of time not yet fully past. 6. The second person is that which
denotes the hearer, or the person addressed. 7. The singular number is that
which denotes but one.

_A_ is the indefinite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The indefinite
article is _an_ or _a_, which denotes one thing of a kind, but not any
particular one.

_Good_ is a common adjective, of the positive degree; compared irregularly,
_good, better, best_. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun,
and generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is any ordinary
epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. The positive degree
is that which is expressed by the adjective in its simple form.

_Deed_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form
or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb,
participle or preposition.

_Boast_ is a regular active-intransitive verb, from _boast, boasted,
boasting, boasted_; found in the imperative mood, present tense, second
person, and singular number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies _to be, to
act_ or _to be acted upon_. 2. A regular verb is a verb that forms the
preterit and the perfect participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. An
active-intransitive verb is a verb that expresses an action which has no
person or thing for its object. 4. The imperative mood is that form of the
verb, which is used in commanding, exhorting, entreating, or permitting. 5.
The present tense is that which expresses what now exists, or is taking
place. 6. The second person is that which denotes the hearer, or the person
addressed. 7. The singular number is that which denotes but one.

_Not_ is an adverb or manner, expressing negation. 1. An adverb is a word
added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and
generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner. 2. Adverbs of manner
are those which answer to the question, _How?_ or, by affirming, denying,
or doubting, show _how_ a subject is regarded. _Of_ is a preposition. 1. A
preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or
thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_It_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.
2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what person
it is. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely
spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The
neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor
female. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun
which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"In all gratifications, disgust ever lies nearest to the highest pleasures;
and therefore let us not marvel, if this is peculiarly the case in
eloquence. By glancing at either poets or orators, we may easily satisfy
ourselves, that neither a poem nor an oration which aims continually at
what is fine, showy, and sparkling, can please us long. Wherefore, though
we may wish for the frequent praise of having expressed ourselves well and
properly, we should not covet repeated applause for being bright and
splendid."--CICERO, _de Oratore_.

"The foundation of eloquence, as well as of every other high attainment, is
practical wisdom. For it happens in oratory, as in life, that nothing is
more difficult, than to discern what is proper and becoming. Through lack
of such discernment, gross faults are very often committed. For neither to
all ranks, fortunes, and ages, nor to every time, place, and auditory, can
the same style either of language or of sentiment be adapted. In every part
of a discourse, as in every part of life, we must consider what is suitable
and decent; and this must be determined with reference both to the matter
in question, and to the personal character of those who speak and those who
hear."--CICERO, _Orator ad Brutum_.

   "So spake th' Omnipotent, and with his words
    All seem'd well pleas'd; all seem'd, but were not all."--_Milton_.


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"A square, though not more regular than a hexagon or an octagon, is more
beautiful than either: for what reason, but that a square is more simple,
and the attention is less divided?"--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 175.

"We see the material universe in motion; but matter is inert; and, so far
as we know, nothing can move it but mind: therefore God is a spirit. We do
not mean that his nature is the same as that of our soul; for it is
infinitely more excellent. But we mean, that he possesses intelligence and
active power in supreme perfection; and, as these qualities do not belong
to matter, which is neither active nor intelligent, we must refer them to
that which is not matter, but mind."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, p. 210.

"Men are generally permitted to publish books, and contradict others, and
even themselves, as they please, with as little danger of being confuted,
as of being understood."--_Boyle_.

"Common reports, if ridiculous rather than dangerous, are best refuted by
neglect."--_Kames's Thinking_, p. 76. "No man is so foolish, but that he
may give good counsel at a time; no man so wise, but he may err, if he take
no counsel but his own."--_Ib._, p. 97.

   "Young heads are giddy, and young hearts are warm,
    And make mistakes for manhood to reform."--_Cowper_.


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"The Nouns denote substances, and those either natural, artificial, or
abstract. They moreover denote things either general, or special, or
particular. The Pronouns, their substitutes, are either prepositive, or
subjunctive."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 85.

"In a thought, generally speaking, there is at least one capital object
considered as acting or as suffering. This object is expressed by a
substantive noun: its action is expressed by an active verb; and the thing
affected by the action is expressed by an other substantive noun: its
suffering, or passive state, is expressed by a passive verb; and the thing
that acts upon it, by a substantive noun. Beside these, which are the
capital parts of a sentence, or period, there are generally underparts;
each of the substantives, as well as the verb, may be qualified: time,
place, purpose, motive, means, instrument, and a thousand other
circumstances, may be necessary to complete the thought."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, ii, 34.

   "Yet those whom pride and dullness join to blind,
    To narrow cares and narrow space confined,
    Though with big titles each his fellow greets,
    Are but to wits, as scavengers to streets."--_Mallet_.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS RESPECTING CONJUNCTIONS.

"A Verb is so called from the Latin _verbum_, or _word._"--_Bucke's
Classical Gram._, p. 56.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the conjunction _or_, connecting _verbum_
and _word_, supposes the latter to be _Latin_. But, according to
Observation 7th, on the Classes of Conjunctions, "The import of
connectives, copulative or disjunctive, must be carefully observed, lest we
write or speak them improperly." In this instance, _or_ should be changed
to _a_; thus, "A _Verb_ is so called from the Latin _verbum, a word_" that
is, "which means, _a word_."]

"References are often marked by letters and figures."--_Gould's Adam's
Gram._, p. 283. (1.) "A Conjunction is a word which joins words and
sentences together."--_Lennie's E. Gram._, p. 51; _Bullions's_, 70;
_Brace's_, 57. (2.) "A conjunction is used to connect words and sentences
together."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 37. (3.) "A conjunction is used to
connect words and sentences."--_Maunders Gram._, p. 1. (4.) "Conjunctions
are words used to join words and sentences."--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 3. (5.)
"A Conjunction is a word used to connect words and sentences."--
_M'Culloch's Gram._, p. 36; _Hart's_, 92; _Day's_, 10. (6.) "A Conjunction
joins words and sentences together."--_Mackintosh's Gram._, p. 115;
_Hiley's_, 10 and 53. (7.) "The Conjunction joins words and sentences
together."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 2d Edition, p. 28. (8.) "Conjunctions
connect words and sentences to each other."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 35. (9.)
"Conjunctions connect words and sentences."--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 80;
_Wells's_, 1st Ed., 159 and 168. (10.) "The conjunction is a part of speech
used to connect words and sentences."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 49. (11.)
"A conjunction is a word used to connect words and sentences together."--
_Fowler's E. Gram._, §329. (12.) "Connectives are words which unite words
and sentences in construction."--_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 123;
_Improved Gram._, 81. "English Grammar is miserably taught in our district
schools; the teachers know but little or nothing about it."--_Taylor's
District School_, p. 48. "Least, instead of preventing, you draw on
Diseases."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 40. "The definite article _the_ is
frequently applied to adverbs in the comparative and superlative
degree."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 33; _Ingersoll's_, 33; _Lennie's_, 6;
_Bullions's_, 8; _Fisk's_, 53, and others. "When nouns naturally neuter are
converted into masculine and feminine."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 38.
"This form of the perfect tense represents an action completely past, and
often at no great distance, but not specified."--_Ib._, p. 74. "The
Conjunction Copulative serves to connect or to continue a sentence, by
expressing an addition, a supposition, a cause, &c."--_Ib._, p. 123. "The
Conjunction Disjunctive serves, not only to connect and continue the
sentence, but also to express opposition of meaning in different
degrees."--_Ib._, p. 123. "Whether we open the volumes of our divines,
philosophers, historians, or artists, we shall find that they abound with
all the terms necessary to communicate their observations and
discoveries."--_Ib._, p. 138. "When a disjunctive occurs between a singular
noun, or pronoun, and a plural one, the verb is made to agree with the
plural noun and pronoun."--_Ib._, p. 152: _R. G. Smith, Alger, Gomly,
Merchant, Picket, et al._ "Pronouns must always agree with their
antecedents, and the nouns for which they stand, in gender and
number."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 154. "Verbs neuter do not act upon, or
govern, nouns and pronouns."--_Ib._, p. 179. "And the auxiliary both of the
present and past imperfect times."--_Ib._, p. 72. "If this rule should not
appear to apply to every example, which has been produced, nor to others
which might be adduced."--_Ib._, p. 216. "An emphatical pause is made,
after something has been said of peculiar moment, and on which we desire to
fix the hearer's attention."--_Ib._, p. 248; _Hart's Gram._, 175. "An
imperfect phrase contains no assertion, or does not amount to a proposition
or sentence."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 267. "The word was in the mouth of
every one, but for all that, the subject may still be a secret."--_Ib._, p.
213. "A word it was in the mouth of every one, but for all that, as to its
precise and definite idea, this may still be a secret."--_Harris's Three
Treatises_, p. 5. "It cannot be otherwise, in regard that the French
prosody differs from that of every other country in Europe."--_Smollett's
Voltaire_, ix, 306. "So gradually as to allow its being engrafted on a
subtonic."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 255. "Where the Chelsea or Maiden
bridges now are."--_Judge Parker_. "Adverbs are words joined to verbs,
participles, adjectives, and other adverbs."--_Smith's Productive Gram._,
p. 92. "I could not have told you, who the hermit was, nor on what mountain
he lived."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 32. "_Am_, or _be_ (for they are
the same) naturally, or in themselves signify _being_."--_Brightland's
Gram._, p. 113. "Words are distinct sounds, by which we express our
thoughts and ideas."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 13. "His fears will detect
him, but he shall not escape."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 64. "_Whose_ is equally
applicable to persons or things."--WEBSTER _in Sanborn's Gram._, p. 95.
"One negative destroys another, or is equivalent to an affirmative."--
_Bullions, Eng. Gram._, p. 118.

   "No sooner does he peep into
    The world, but he has done his do."--_Hudibras_.




CHAPTER X.--PREPOSITIONS.

A Preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things
or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a
pronoun: as, "The paper lies _before_ me _on_ the desk."


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The relations of things to things in nature, or of words to words
in discourse, are infinite in number, if not also in variety. But just
classification may make even infinites the subjects of sure science. Every
_relation_ of course implies more objects, and more terms, than one; for
any one thing, considered merely in itself, is taken independently,
abstractly, irrelatively, as if it had no relation or dependence. In all
correct language, the grammatical relation of the _words_ corresponds
exactly to the relation of the _things_ or _ideas_ expressed; for the
relation of words, is their dependence, or connexion, _according to the
sense._ This relation is oftentimes immediate, as of one word to an other,
without the intervention of a preposition; but it is seldom, if ever,
reciprocally equal; because dependence implies subordination; and mere
adjunction is a sort of inferiority.

OBS. 2.--To a preposition, the _prior_ or _antecedent_ term may be a noun,
an adjective, a pronoun, a verb, a participle, or an adverb; and the
_subsequent_ or _governed_ term may be a noun, a pronoun, a pronominal
adjective, an infinitive verb, or a participle. In some instances, also, as
in the phrases, _in vain, on high, at once, till now, for ever, by how
much, until then, from thence, from above_, we find adjectives used
elliptically, and adverbs substantively, after the preposition. But, in
phrases of an adverbial character, what is elsewhere a preposition often
becomes an adverb. Now, if prepositions are concerned in expressing the
various relations of so many of the different parts of speech, multiplied,
as these relations must be, by that endless variety of combinations which
may be given to the terms; and if the sense of the writer or speaker is
necessarily mistaken, as often as any of these relations are misunderstood,
or their terms misconceived; how shall we estimate the importance of a
right explanation, and a right use, of this part of speech?

OBS. 3.--The grammarian whom Lowth compliments, as excelling all others, in
"acuteness of investigation, perspicuity of explication, and elegance of
method;" and as surpassing all but Aristotle, in the beauty and perfectness
of his philological analysis; commences his chapter on conjunctions in the
following manner: "Connectives are the subject of what follows; which,
_according_ as they connect _either Sentences or Words_, are called by the
different _Names_ of _Conjunctions_ OR _Prepositions._ Of these Names, that
of the Preposition is taken from a _mere accident_, as _it_ commonly stands
in connection before _the Part, which it connects._ The name of the
Conjunction, as is evident, has reference to its essential character. Of
these two we shall consider the Conjunction _first_, because it connects,
_not Words_, but Sentences."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 237.

OBS. 4.--In point of order, it is not amiss to treat conjunctions before
prepositions; though this is not the method of Lowth, or of Murray. But, to
any one who is well acquainted with these two parts of speech, the
foregoing passage cannot but appear, in three sentences out of the four,
both defective in style and erroneous in doctrine. It is true, that
conjunctions generally connect sentences, and that prepositions as
generally express relations between particular words: but it is true also,
that conjunctions _often_ connect words only; and that prepositions, by
governing antecedents, relatives, or even personal pronouns, may serve to
subjoin sentences to sentences, as well as to determine the relation and
construction of the particular words which they govern. Example: "The path
seems now plain and even, _but_ there are asperities and pitfalls, _over
which_ Religion only can conduct you."--_Dr. Johnson._ Here are three
simple sentences, which are made members of one compound sentence, by means
of _but_ and _over which_; while two of these members, clauses, or
subdivisions, contain particular words connected by _and._

OBS. 5.--In one respect, the preposition is the _simplest_ of all the parts
of speech: in our common schemes of grammar, it has neither classes nor
modifications. Every connective word that governs an object after it, is
called a preposition, _because it does so_; and in etymological parsing, to
name the preposition as such, and define the name, is, perhaps, all that is
necessary. But in syntactical parsing, in which we are to omit the
definitions, and state the construction, we ought to explain what terms the
preposition connects, and to give a rule adapted to this office of the
particle. It is a palpable defect in nearly all our grammars, that their
syntax contains NO SUCH RULE. "Prepositions govern the objective case," is
a rule for _the objective case_, and not for the syntax of _prepositions._
"Prepositions show the relations of words, and of the things or thoughts
expressed by them," is the principle for the latter; a principle which we
cannot neglect, without a shameful lameness in our interpretation;--that
is, when we pretend to parse syntactically.

OBS. 6.--Prepositions and their
objects very often precede the words on which they depend, and sometimes at
a great distance. Of this we have an example, at the opening of Milton's
Paradise Lost; where "_Of_," the first word, depends upon "_Sing_," in the
sixth line below; for the meaning is--"_Sing of man's first disobedience_,"
&c. To find the terms of the relation, is to find the _meaning_ of the
passage; a very useful exercise, provided the words have a meaning which is
worth knowing. The following text has for centuries afforded ground of
dispute, because it is doubtful in the original, as well as in many of the
versions, whether the preposition _in_ (i. e., "_in the regeneration_")
refers back to _have followed_, or forward to the last verb _shall sit_:
"Verily I say unto you that ye who have followed me, _in_ the regeneration,
when the Son of man shall sit _in_ the throne of his glory, ye also shall
sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."--_Matt._,
xix, 28. The second _in_ is manifestly wrong: the Greek word is [Greek:
epi], _on_ or _upon_; i. e., "_upon_ the throne of his glory."

OBS. 7.--The prepositions have, from their own nature, or from custom, such
an _adaptation_ to particular terms and relations, that they can seldom be
used one for an other without manifest impropriety. Example of error:
"Proper seasons should be allotted _for_ retirement."--_Murray's Key_, p.
173. We do not say "_allotted for_," but "_allotted to_:" hence _for_ is
either wrong in itself or misplaced. Such errors always vex an intelligent
reader. He sees the terms mismatched, the intended connection doubtful, the
sense obscured, and wishes the author could have valued his own meaning
enough to have made it intelligible;--that is, (to speak technically,)
enough to have made it a certain clew to his syntax. We can neither parse
nor correct what we do not understand. Did the writer mean, "Proper seasons
should be _allotted to_ retirement?"--or, "Proper _seasons for_ retirement
should be allotted?"--or, "Seasons _proper for_ retirement should be
alloted?" [sic--KTH] Every expression is incorrigibly bad, the meaning of
which cannot be known. Expression? Nay, expression it is not, but only a
mock utterance or an abortive attempt at expression.

OBS. 8.--Harris observes, in substance, though in other words, that almost
all the prepositions were originally formed to denote relations of place;
that this class of relations is primary, being that which natural bodies
maintain at all times one to an other; that in the continuity of place
these bodies form the universe, or visible whole; that we have some
prepositions to denote the _contiguous_ relation of bodies, and others for
the _detached_ relation; and that both have, by _degrees_, been extended
from local relations, to the relations of subjects incorporeal. He appears
also to assume, that, in such examples as the following,--"Caius _walketh
with_ a staff; "--"The statue _stood upon_ a pedestal;"--"The river _ran
over_ a sand;"--"He _is going_ to Turkey;"--"The sun _is risen_ above the
hills;"--"These figs _came from_ Turkey;"--the antecedent term of the
relation is not the verb, but the noun or pronoun before it. See _Hermes_,
pp. 266 and 267. Now the true antecedent is, unquestionably, that word
which, in the order of the sense, the preposition should immediately
follow: and a verb, a participle, or an adjective, may sustain this
relation, just as well as a substantive. "_The man spoke of colour_," does
not mean, "_The man of colour spoke_;" nor does, "_The member from Delaware
replied_," mean, "_The member replied from Delaware_"

OBS. 9.--To make this matter more clear, it may be proper to observe
further, that what I call the order of the sense, is not always that order
of the words which is fittest to express the sense of a whole period; and
that the true antecedent is that word to which the preposition, and its
object would naturally be subjoined, were there nothing to interfere with
such an arrangement. In practice it often happens, that the preposition and
its object cannot be placed immediately after the word on which they
depend, and which they would naturally follow. For example: "She hates the
means _by which_ she lives." That is, "She hates the means which she _lives
by_." Here we cannot say, "She hates the means she _lives by which_;" and
yet, in regard to the preposition _by_, this is really the order of the
sense. Again: "Though thou shouldest bray a fool _in a mortar among wheat
with a pestle_, yet will not his foolishness depart from him."--_Prov._,
xxvii, 23. Here is no transposition to affect our understanding of the
prepositions, yet there is a liability to error, because the words which
immediately precede some of them, are not their true antecedents: the text
does not really speak of "_a mortar among wheat_" or of "_wheat with a
pestle_." To what then are the _mortar_, the _wheat_, and the _pestle_, to
be mentally subjoined? If all of them, to any one thing, it must be to the
_action_ suggested by the verb _bray_, and not to its object _fool_; for
the text does not speak of "_a fool with a pestle_," though it does _seem_
to speak of "_a fool in a mortar_, and _among wheat_." Indeed, in this
instance, as in many others, the verb and its object are so closely
associated that it makes but little difference in regard to the sense,
whether you take both of them together, or either of them separately, as
the antecedent to the preposition. But, as the instrument of an action is
with the agent rather than with the object, if you will have the
substantives alone for antecedents, the natural order of the sense must be
supposed to be this: "Though _thou with_ a pestle shouldest bray a, _fool
in_ a mortar [and] _among_ wheat, yet will not his _foolishness from_ him
depart." This gives to each of the prepositions an antecedent different
from that which I should assign. Sanborn observes, "There seem to be _two
kinds_ of relation expressed by prepositions,--an _existing_ and a
_connecting_ relation."--_Analyt. Gram._, p. 225. The latter, he adds, "_is
the most important_."--_Ib._, p. 226. But it is the former that admits
nothing but _nouns_ for antecedents. Others besides Harris may have adopted
this notion, but I have never been one of the number, though a certain
author scruples not to charge the error upon me. See _O. B Peirce's Gram._,
p. 165.

OBS. 10.--It is a very common error among grammarians, and the source of
innumerable discrepancies in doctrine, as well as one of the chief means of
maintaining their interminable disputes, that they suppose _ellipses_ at
their own pleasure, and supply in every given instance just what words
their fancies may suggest. In this work, I adopt for myself, and also
recommend to others, the contrary course of avoiding on all occasions the
supposition of any _needless_ ellipses. Not only may the same preposition
govern more than one object, but there may also be more than one antecedent
word, bearing a joint relation to that which is governed by the
preposition. (1.) Examples of joint objects: "There is an inseparable
connection BETWEEN _piety and virtue_."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 171. "In
the conduct of Parmenio, a mixture OF _wisdom and folly_ was very
conspicuous."--_Ib._, p. 178. "True happiness is an enemy TO _pomp and
noise_"--_Ib._, p. 171. (2.) Examples of joint antecedents: "In unity
consist the _welfare and security_ OF every society."--_Ib._, p. 182. "It
is our duty to be _just and kind_ TO our fellow--creatures, and to be
_pious and faithful_ TO Him that made us."--_Ib._, p. 181. If the author
did not mean to speak of being _pious to God_ as well as _faithful to Him_,
he has written incorrectly: a comma after _pious_, would alter both the
sense and the construction. So the text, "For I am meek, and lowly in
heart," is commonly perverted in our Bibles, for want of a comma after
_meek_. The Saviour did not say, he was _meek in heart_: the Greek may be
_very literally_ rendered thus: "For gentle am I, and humble in heart."

OBS. 11.--Many writers seem to suppose, that no preposition can govern more
than one object. Thus L. Murray, and his followers: "The ellipsis of the
_preposition_, as well as of the verb, is seen in the following instances:
'He went into the abbeys, halls, and public buildings;' that is, 'He went
into the abbeys, he went into the halls, and he went into the public
buildings.'--'He also went through all the streets, and lanes of the city;'
that is, 'Through all the streets, and through all the lanes,'
&c."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 219. See the same interpretations in
_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 155; _Merchant's_, 100; _Picket's_, 211; _Alger's_,
73; _Fish's_, 147; _Guy's_, 91; _Adams's_, 82; _R. C. Smith's_, 183;
_Hamlin's_, 105; _Putnam's_, 139; _Weld's_, 292. Now it is plain, that in
neither of these examples is there any such ellipsis at all. Of the three
prepositions, the first governs three nouns; the second, two; and the
third, one only. But the last, (which is _of_,) has two antecedents,
_streets_ and _lanes_, the comma after _streets_ being wrong; for the
author does not speak of all the streets in the world, but of _all the
streets and lanes_ of a particular city. Dr. Ash has the same example
without the comma, and supposes it only an ellipsis of the preposition
_through_, and even that supposition is absurd. He also furnished the
former example, to show an ellipsis, not of the verb _went_, but only of
the preposition _into_; and in this too he was utterly wrong. See _Ash's
Gram._, p. 100. Bicknell also, whose grammar appeared five years before
Murray's, confessedly copied the same examples from Ash; and repeated, not
the verb and its nominative, but only the prepositions _through_ and
_into_, agreeably to Ash's erroneous notion. See his _Grammatical Wreath_,
Part i, p. 124. Again the principles of Murray's supposed ellipses, are as
inconsistent with each other, as they are severally absurd. Had the author
explained the second example according to his notion of the first, he
should have made it to mean, '_He also went_ through all the streets _of
the city_, and _he also went_ through all the lanes _of the city_.' What a
pretty idea is this for a principle of grammar! And what a multitude of
admirers are pretending to carry it out in parsing! One of the latest
writers on grammar says, that, "_Between him and me_" signifies, "_Between
him, and between me_!"--_Wright's Philosophical Gram._, p. 206. And an
other absurdly resolves a simple sentence into a compound one, thus:
"'There was a difficulty between John, and his brother.' That is, there was
a difficulty between John, and _there was a difficulty between_ his
brother."--_James Brown's English Syntax_, p. 127; and again, p. 130.

OBS. 12.--Two prepositions are not unfrequently connected by a conjunction,
and that for different purposes, thus: (1.) To express two different
relations at once; as, "The picture of my travels _in and around_
Michigan."--_Society in America_, i, 231. (2.) To suggest an alternative in
the relation affirmed; as, "The action will be fully accomplished _at or
before_ the time."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 72. Again: "The First Future Tense
represents the action as yet to come, _either with or without_ respect to
the precise time."--_Ib._; and _Felton's Gram._, p. 23. _With_ and
_without_ being direct opposites, this alternative is a thing of course,
and the phrase is an idle truism. (3.) To express two relations so as to
affirm the one and deny the other; as, "Captain, yourself are the fittest
to live and reign not _over_, but next and immediately _under_ the
people."--_Dryden_. Here, perhaps, "_the people_" may be understood after
_over_. (4.) To suggest a mere alternative of words; as, "NEGATIVELY, adv.
_With or by_ denial."--_Webster's Dict._ (5.) To add a similar word, for
aid or force; as, "Hence adverbs of time were necessary, _over and above_
the tenses."--See _Murray's Gram._, p. 116. "To take effect _from and
after_ the first day of May."--_Newspaper_.

OBS. 13.--In some instances, two prepositions come directly together, so as
jointly to express a sort of compound relation between what precedes the
one and what follows the other: as, "And they shall sever the wicked _from
among_ the just."--_Matt._, xiii, 49. "Moses brought out all the rods _from
before_ the Lord."--_Numb._, xvii, 9. "Come out _from among_ them."--_2
Cor._, vi, 17. "From Judea, and _from beyond_ Jordan."--_Matt_. iv, 25.
"Nor a lawgiver _from between_ his feet."--_Gen._, xlix, 10. Thus the
preposition _from_, being itself adapted to the ideas of motion and
separation, easily coincides with any preposition of place, to express this
sort of relation; the terms however have a limited application, being used
only between _a verb_ and _a noun_, because the relation itself is between
_motion_ and _the place_ of its beginning: as, "The sand _slided from
beneath_ my feet."--_Dr. Johnson_. In this manner, we may form _complex
prepositions_ beginning with _from_, to the number _of about_ thirty; as,
_from amidst, from around, from before, from behind_, &c. Besides these,
there are several others, of a more questionable character, which are
sometimes referred to the same class; as, _according to, as to, as for,
because of, instead of, off of, out of, over against_, and _round about_.
Most or all of these are sometimes resolved in a different way, upon the
assumption that the former word is an adverb; yet we occasionally find some
of them compounded by the hyphen: as, "Pompey's lieutenants, Afranius and
Petreius, who lay _over-against_ him, decamp suddenly."--_Rowe's Lucan_,
Argument to B. iv. But the common fashion is, to write them separately; as,
"One thing is set _over against_ an other."--_Bible_.

OBS. 14.--It is not easy to fix a principle by which prepositions may in
all cases be distinguished from adverbs. The latter, we say, do not govern
the objective case; and if we add, that the former do _severally_ require
some object after them, it is clear that any word which precedes a
preposition, must needs be something else than a preposition. But this
destroys all the doctrine of the preceding paragraph, and admits of no such
thing as a _complex preposition_; whereas that doctrine is acknowledged, to
some extent or other, by every one of our grammarians, not excepting even
those whose counter-assertions leave no room for it. Under these
circumstances, I see no better way, than to refer the student to the
definitions of these parts of speech, to exhibit examples in all needful
variety, and then let him judge for himself what disposition ought to be
made of those words which different grammarians parse differently.

OBS. 15.--If our prepositions were to be divided into classes, the most
useful distinction would be, to divide them into _Single_ and _Double_. The
distinction which some writers make, who divide them into "_Separable_ and
_Inseparable_," is of no use at all in parsing, because the latter are mere
syllables; and the idea of S. R. Hall, who divides them into "_Possessive_
and _Relative_," is positively absurd; for he can show us only _one_ of the
former kind, and that one, (the word _of_,) is not always such. A _Double
Preposition_, if such a thing is admissible, is one that consists of two
words which in syntactical parsing must be taken together, because they
jointly express the relation between two other terms; as, "The waters were
dried up _from off_ the earth."--_Gen._, viii, 13. "The clergy kept this
charge _from off_ us."--_Leslie, on Tithes_, p. 221. "Confidence in an
unfaithful man in time of trouble, is like a broken tooth, and a foot _out
of_ joint."--_Prov._, xxv, 19. "The beam _out of_ the timber shall answer
it."--_Hab._, ii, 11. _Off_ and _out_ are most commonly adverbs, but
neither of them can be called an adverb here.

OBS. 16.--Again, if _according to_ or _as to_ is a preposition, then is
_according_ or _as_ a preposition also, although it does not of itself
govern the objective case. _As_, thus used, is called a conjunction by
some, an adverb by others. Dr. Webster considers _according_ to be always a
participle, and expressly says, "It is never a preposition."--_Octavo
Dict._ The following is an instance in which, if it is not a preposition,
it is a participle: "This is a construction _not according_ to the rules of
grammar."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 22. But _according to_ and
_contrary to_ are expressed in Latin and Greek by single prepositions; and
if _to_ alone is the preposition in English, then both _according_ and
_contrary_ must, in many instances, be _adverbs_. Example: "For dost thou
sit as judging me _according to_ the law, and _contrary_ to law command me
to be smitten?" (See the Greek of Acts, xxiii, 3.) _Contrary_, though
literally an adjective, is often made either an adverb, or a part of a
complex preposition, unless the grammarians are generally in error
respecting it: as, "Ha dares not act _contrary to_ his instructions."--
_Murray's Key_, p. 179.

OBS. 17.--J. W. Wright, with some appearance of analogy on his side, but
none of usage, everywhere adds _ly_ to the questionable word _according_;
as, "We are usually estimated _accordingly to_ our company."--
_Philosophical Gram._, p. 127. "_Accordingly to_ the forms in which they
are employed."--_Ib._, p. 137. "_Accordingly to_ the above principles, the
_adjective_ ACCORDING (or _agreeable_) is frequently, but improperly,
substituted for the adverb ACCORDINGLY (or _agreeably_.)"--_Ib._, p. 145.
The word _contrary_ he does not notice; but, on the same principle, he
would doubtless say, "He dares not act _contrarily_ to his instructions."
We say indeed, "He acted _agreeably_ to his instructions;"--and not, "He
acted _agreeable_ to his instructions." It must also be admitted, that the
adverbs _accordingly_ and _contrarily_ are both of them good English words.
If these were adopted, where the character of _according_ and _contrary_ is
disputable, there would indeed be no longer any occasion to call these
latter either adverbs or prepositions. But the fact is, that _no good
writers have yet preferred them_, in such phrases; and the adverbial ending
_ly_ gives an additional syllable to a word that seems already quite too
long.

OBS. 18.--_Instead_ is reckoned an adverb by some, a preposition by others;
and a few write _instead-of_ with a needless hyphen. The best way of
settling the grammatical question respecting this term, is, to write the
noun _stead_ as a separate word, governed by _in_. Bating the respect that
is due to anomalous usage, there would be more propriety in compounding _in
quest of, in lieu of_, and many similar phrases. For _stead_ is not always
followed by _of_, nor always preceded by _in_, nor always made part of a
compound. We say, _in our stead, in your stead, in their stead_, &c.; but
_lieu_, which has the same meaning as _stead_, is much more limited in
construction. Examples: "In _the stead_ of sinners, He, a divine and human
person, suffered."--_Barnes's Notes_. "Christ suffered in _the place_ and
_stead_ of sinners."--_Ib._ "_For_, in its primary sense, is _pro, loco
alterius_, in _the stead_ or _place_ of _another_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p.
65.

   "If it may stand him more in _stead_ to lie."
        --_Milt., P. L._, B. i, l. 473.

    "But here thy sword can do thee little _stead_."
        --_Id., Comus_, l. 611.

OBS. 19.--_From forth_ and _from out_ are two poetical phrases, apparently
synonymous, in which there is a fanciful transposition of the terms, and
perhaps a change of _forth_ and _out_ from adverbs to prepositions. Each
phrase is equivalent in meaning to _out of_ or _out from. Forth_, under
other circumstances, is never a preposition; though _out_, perhaps, may be.
We speak as familiarly of going _out doors_, as of going _up stairs_, or
_down cellar_. Hence _from out_ may be parsed as a complex preposition,
though the other phrase should seem to be a mere example of hyperbaton:

   "I saw _from out_ the wave her structures rise."--_Byron_.

    "Peeping _from forth_ their alleys green."--_Collins_.

OBS. 20.--"_Out of_ and _as to_," says one grammarian, "are properly
prepositions, although they are double words. They may be called _compound_
prepositions."--_Cooper's Gram._, p. 103. I have called the _complex_
prepositions _double_ rather than _compound_, because several of the single
prepositions are compound words; as, _into, notwithstanding, overthwart,
throughout, upon, within, without_. And even some of these may follow the
preposition _from_; as, "If he shall have removed _from within_ the limits
of this state." But _in_ and _to, up_ and _on, with_ and _in_, are not
always compounded when they come together, because the sense may positively
demand that the former be taken as an adverb, and the latter only as a
preposition: as, "I will come _in to_ him, and will sup with him."--_Rev._,
iii, 20. "A statue of Venus was set _up on_ Mount Calvary."--_M'Ilvaine's
Lectures_, p. 332. "The troubles which we meet _with in_ the
world."--_Blair_. And even two prepositions may be brought together without
union or coalescence; because the object of the first one may be expressed
or understood _before_ it: as, "The man whom you spoke _within_ the
street;"--"The treatment you complain _of on_ this occasion;"--"The house
that you live _in in_ the summer;"--"Such a dress as she had _on in_ the
evening."

OBS. 21.--Some grammarians assume, that, "Two prepositions in immediate
succession require a noun to be _understood_ between them; as, 'Hard by, a
cottage chimney smokes, _From betwixt_ two aged oaks.'--'The mingling notes
came softened _from below_.'"--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 105. This author would
probably understand here--"From _the space_ betwixt two aged oaks;"--"came
softened from _the region_ below _us_." But he did not consider all the
examples that are included in his proposition; nor did he rightly regard
even those which he cites. The doctrine will be found a very awkward one in
practice; and an other objection to it is, that most of the ellipses which
it supposes, are entirely imaginary. If there were truth in his assumption,
the compounding of prepositions would be positively precluded. The terms
_over-against_ and _round-about_ are sometimes written with the hyphen, and
perhaps it would be well if all the complex prepositions were regularly
compounded; but, as I before suggested, such is not the present fashion of
writing them, and the general usage is not to be controlled by what any
individual may think.

OBS. 22.--Instances may, doubtless, occur, in which the object of a
preposition is suppressed by ellipsis, when an other preposition follows,
so as to bring together two that do not denote a compound relation, and do
not, in any wise, form one complex preposition. Of such suppression, the
following is an example; and, I think, a double one: "They take pronouns
_after instead of before_ them."--_Fowler, E. Gram._, §521. This may be
interpreted to mean, and probably does mean--"They take pronouns after
_them_ in _stead_ of _taking them_ before them."

OBS. 23.--In some instances, the words _in, on, of, for, to, with_, and
others commonly reckoned prepositions, are used after infinitives or
participles, in a sort of _adverbial_ construction, because they do not
govern any objective; yet not exactly in the usual sense of adverbs,
because they evidently express the relation between the verb or participle
and a nominative or objective going before. Examples: "Houses are built to
live _in_, and not to look _on_; therefore let use be preferred before
uniformity, except where both may be had."--_Ld. Kames_. "These are not
mysteries for ordinary readers to be let _into_."--ADDISON: _Joh. Dict., w.
Let._ "Heaven is worth dying _for_, though earth is not worth living
_for_."--_R. Hall_. "What! have ye not houses to eat and to drink
_in_?"--_1 Cor._, xi, 22. This is a very peculiar idiom of our language;
and if we say, "Have ye not houses _in which_ to eat and to drink?" we form
_an other_ which is not much less so. Greek: "[Greek: Mæ gar oikias ouk
echete eis to esthiein kai pinein];" Latin: "Num enim domos non habetis ad
manducandum et bibendum?"--_Leusden_. "N'avez vous pas des maisons pour
manger et pour boire?"--_French Bible_.[315]

OBS. 24.--In OBS. 10th, of Chapter Fourth, on Adjectives, it was shown that
words of _place_, (such as, _above, below, beneath, under_, and the like,)
are sometimes set before nouns in the character of adjectives, and not of
prepositions: as, "In the _above_ list,"--"From the _above_
list."--_Bullions', E. Gram._, p. 70. To the class of adjectives also,
rather than to that of adverbs, may some such words be referred, when,
without governing the objective case, they are put _after_ nouns to signify
place: as, "The _way_ of life is _above_ to the wise, that he may depart
from _hell beneath_."--_Prov._, xv, 24. "Of any thing that is in _heaven
above_, or that is in the _earth beneath_."--_Exod._, xx, 4.

   "Say first, of _God above_ or _man below_,
    What can we reason but from what we know?"--_Pope_.


LIST OF THE PREPOSITIONS.

The following are the principal prepositions,
arranged alphabetically: _Aboard, about, above, across, after, against,
along, amid_ or _amidst, among_ or _amongst, around, at, athwart;--Bating,
before, behind, below, beneath, beside or besides, between_ or _betwixt,
beyond, by;--Concerning;--Down, during;--Ere, except, excepting;--For,
from;--In, into;--Mid_ or _midst;--Notwithstanding;--Of, off,[316] on, out,
over, overthwart;--Past, pending;--Regarding, respecting,
round;--Since;--Through, throughout, till, to, touching, toward_ or
_towards;--Under, underneath, until, unto, up, upon;--With, within,
without_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Grammarians differ considerably in their tables of the English
prepositions. Nor are they all of one opinion, concerning either the
characteristics of this part of speech, or the particular instances in
which the acknowledged properties of a preposition are to be found. Some
teach that, "Every preposition requires an _objective case_ after
it."--_Lennie_, p. 50; _Bullions, Prin. of E. Gram._, p. 69. In opposition
to this, I suppose that the preposition _to_ may take an _infinitive verb_
after it; that _about_ also may be a preposition, in the phrase, "_about to
write_;" that _about, above, after, against, by, for, from, in, of_, and
some other prepositions, may govern _participles_, as such; (i. e. without
making them nouns, or cases;) and, lastly, that after a preposition an
_adverb_ is sometimes construed substantively, and yet is indeclinable; as,
_for once, from afar, from above, at unawares_.

OBS. 2.--The writers just quoted, proceed to say: "When a _preposition does
not govern_ an objective case, it becomes an adverb; as, 'He rides
_about_.' But in such phrases as, _cast up, hold out, fall on_, the words
_up, out_, and _on_, must be considered as _a part_ of the _verb_, rather
than as prepositions or adverbs."--_Lennie's Prin. of E. Gram._, p. 50;
_Bullions's_, p. 59; _his Analyt. and P. Gram._, p. 109. Both these
sentences are erroneous: the one, more particularly so, in expression; the
other, in doctrine. As the preposition is chiefly distinguished by its
regimen, it is absurd to speak of it as governing nothing; yet it does not
always govern the objective case, for participles and infinitives have no
cases. _About, up, out_, and _on_, as here cited, are all of them
_adverbs_; and so are all other particles that thus qualify verbs, without
governing any thing. L. Murray grossly errs when ha assumes that, "The
distinct component parts of such phrases as, _to cast up, to fall on, to
bear oat, to give over, &c._, are _no guide_ to the sense of the whole."
Surely, "to cast _up_" is to cast _somehow_, though the meaning of the
phrase may be "_to compute_." By this author, and some others, all _such
adverbs_ are absurdly called _prepositions_, and are also as absurdly
declared to be _parts_ of the preceding verbs! See _Murray's Gram._, p.
117; _W. Allen's_, 179; _Kirkham's_, 95; _R. G. Smith's_, 93; _Fisk's_, 86;
_Butler's_, 63; _Wells's_, 146.

OBS. 3--In comparing the different English grammars now in use, we often
find the primary distinction of the parts of speech, and every thing that
depends upon it, greatly perplexed by the _fancied ellipses_, and _forced
constructions_, to which their authors resort. Thus Kirkham: "Prepositions
are sometimes erroneously called adverbs, when their nouns are understood.
'He rides _about_;' that is, about the _town, country_, or _something_
else. 'She was _near_ [the _act_ or _misfortune_ of] falling;' 'But do not
_after_ [that _time_ or _event_] lay the blame on me.' 'He came _down_ [the
_ascent_] from the hill;' 'They lifted him _up_ [the _ascent_] out of the
pit.' 'The angels _above_;'--above _us_--'Above these lower _heavens_, to
us invisible, or dimly seen.'"--_Gram._, p. 89. The errors of this passage
are almost as numerous as the words; and those to which the doctrine leads
are absolutely innumerable. That _up_ and _down_, with verbs of motion,
imply ascent and descent, as _wisely_ and _foolishly_ imply wisdom and
folly, is not to be denied; but the grammatical bathos of coming "_down
[the ascent] from the hill" of science_, should startle those whose faces
are directed upward! _Downward ascent_ is a movement worthy only of
Kirkham, and his Irish rival, Joseph W. Wright. The _brackets_ here used
are Kirkham's, not mine.

OBS. 4.--"Some of the _prepositions_," says L. Murray, "have the
_appearance and effect_ of conjunctions: as, '_After_ their prisons were
thrown open,' &c. '_Before_ I die;' 'They made haste to be prepared
_against_ their friends arrived:' but if the noun _time_, which is
_understood_, be added, they will lose their _conjunctive form_: as, 'After
[_the time when_] their prisons,' &c."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 119. Here,
_after, before_, and _against_, are neither conjunctions nor prepositions,
but conjunctive _adverbs of time_, referring to the verbs which follow
them, and also, when the sentences are completed, to others antecedent. The
awkward addition of "_the time when_," is a sheer perversion. If _after,
before_, and the like, can ever be adverbs, they are so here, and not
conjunctions, or prepositions.

OBS. 5.--But the great Compiler proceeds: "The _prepositions, after,
before, above, beneath_, and several others, sometimes _appear to be
adverbs_, and may be _so considered_: as, 'They had their reward soon
_after_;' 'He died not long _before_;' 'He dwells _above_;' but if the
nouns _time_ and _place_ be added, they will lose their adverbial form: as,
'He died not long _before that time_,' &c."--_Ib._ Now, I say, when any of
the foregoing words "_appear_ to be adverbs," they _are_ adverbs, and, if
adverbs, then not prepositions. But to consider prepositions to be adverbs,
as Murray here does, or seems to do; and to suppose "the NOUNS _time_ AND
_place_" to be understood in the several examples here cited, as he also
does, or seems to do; are singly such absurdities as no grammarian should
fail to detect, and together such a knot of blunders, as ought to be
wondered at, even in the Compiler's humblest copyist. In the following
text, there is neither preposition nor ellipsis:

   "Above, below, without, within, around,
    Confus'd, unnumber'd multitudes are found."--_Pope, on Fame_.

OBS. 6.--It comports with the name and design of this work, which is a
broad synopsis of grammatical criticism, to notice here one other
absurdity; namely, the doctrine of "_sentential nouns_." There is something
of this in several late grammars: as, "The prepositions, after, before,
ere, since, till, and until, frequently govern _sentential_ nouns; and
after, before, since, notwithstanding, and some others, frequently govern a
noun or pronoun _understood_. A preposition governing a sentential noun,
is, by Murray and others, considered a _conjunction_; and a preposition
governing a noun understood, an _adverb_."--J. L. PARKHURST: _in Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 123. "Example: 'He will, _before he dies_, sway the sceptre.'
_He dies_ is a sentential noun, third person, singular number; and is
governed by _before_; _before he dies_, being equivalent in meaning to
_before his death_."--_Sanborn, Gram._, p. 176. "'_After they had waited_ a
long time, they departed.' After _waiting_."--_Ib._ This last solution
supposes the phrase, "_waiting a long time_," or at least the participle
_waiting_, to be a _noun_; for, upon the author's principle of equivalence,
"_they had waited_," will otherwise be a "_sentential_" _participle_--a
thing however as good and as classical as the other!

OBS. 7.--If a preposition can ever be justly said to take a sentence for
its object, it is chiefly in certain ancient expressions, like the
following: "For _in that_ he died, he died unto sin once; but _in that_ he
liveth, he liveth unto God."--_Rom._, vi, 10. "My Spirit shall not always
strive with man, _for that_ he also is flesh."--_Gen._, vi, 3. "For, _after
that_, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."--_1 Cor._,
i, 21. Here, _in, for_, and _after_, are all followed by the word _that_;
which Tooke, Webster, Frazee, and some others, will have to be "a
substitute," or "pronoun," representing the sentence which follows it, and
governed by the preposition. But _that_, in this sense, is usually, and
perhaps more properly, reckoned a conjunction. And if we take it so, _in,
for_, and _after_, (unless the latter be an adverb,) must either be
reckoned conjunctions also, or be supposed to govern sentences. The
expressions however are little used; because "_in that_" is nearly
equivalent to _as_; "_for that_" can be better expressed by _because_; and
"_after that_," which is equivalent to [Greek: epeide], _postquam_, may
well be rendered by the term, _seeing that_, or _since_. "_Before that_
Philip called thee," is a similar example; but "_that_" is here needless,
and "_before_" may be parsed as a conjunctive adverb of time. I have one
example more: "But, _besides that_ he attempted it formerly with no
success, it is certain the Venetians keep too watchful an eye,"
&c.--_Addison_. This is good English, but the word "_besides_" if it be not
a conjunction, may as well be called an adverb, as a preposition.

OBS. 8.--There are but few words in the list of prepositions, that are not
sometimes used as being of some other part of speech. Thus _bating,
excepting, concerning, touching, respecting, during, pending_, and a part
of the compound _notwithstanding_, are literally participles; and some
writers, in opposition to general custom, refer them always to their
original class. Unlike most other prepositions, they do not refer to
_place_, but rather to _action, state_, or _duration_; for, even as
prepositions, they are still allied to participles. Yet to suppose them
always participles, as would Dr. Webster and some others, is impracticable.
Examples: "They speak _concerning_ virtue."--_Bullions, Prin. of E. Gram._,
p. 69. Here _concerning_ cannot be a participle, because its antecedent
term is a _verb_, and the meaning is, "they _speak_ of virtue." "They are
bound _during life_." that is, _durante vitâ_, life continuing, or, as long
as life lasts. So, "_Notwithstanding this_," i.e., "_hoc non obstante_,"
this not hindering. Here the nature of the construction seems to depend on
the order of the words. "Since he had succeeded, _notwithstanding them_,
peaceably to the throne."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 31. "This is a
correct English idiom, Dr. Lowth's _criticism_, to the contrary
_notwithstanding_."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 85. In the phrase,
"_notwithstanding them_," the former word is clearly a preposition
governing the latter; but Dr. Webster doubtless supposed the word
"_criticism_" to be in the nominative case, put absolute with the
participle: and so it would have been, had he written _not withstanding_ as
two words, like "_non obstante_;" but the compound word _notwithstanding_
is not a participle, because there is no verb _to notwithstand_. But
_notwithstanding_, when placed before a nominative, or before the
conjunction _that_, is a conjunction, and, as such, must be rendered in
Latin by _tamen_, yet, _quamvis_, although, or _nihilominus_, nevertheless.

OBS. 9.--_For_, when it signifies _because_, is a conjunction: as, "Boast
not thyself of to-morrow; _for_ thou knowest not what a day may bring
forth."--_Prov._, xxvii, 1. _For_ has this meaning, and, according to Dr.
Johnson, is a conjunction, when it precedes _that_; as, "Yet _for that_ the
worst men are most ready to remove, I would wish them chosen by discretion
of wise men."--_Spenser._ The phrase, as I have before suggested, is almost
obsolete; but Murray, in one place, adopts it from Dr. Beattie: "For _that_
those parts of the verb are not properly called tenses."--_Octavo Gram._,
p. 75. How he would have parsed it, does not appear. But both words are
connectives. And, from the analogy of those terms which serve as links to
other terms, I should incline to take _for that, in that, after that_, and
_besides that_, (in which a known conjunction is put last,) as complex
conjunctions; and also, to take _as for, as to_, and _because of_, (in
which a known preposition is put last,) as complex prepositions. But there
are other regular and equivalent expressions that ought in general to be
preferred to any or all of these.

OBS. 10.--Several words besides those contained in the list above, are (or
have been) occasionally employed in English as prepositions: as, _A_,
(chiefly used before participles,) _abaft, adown, afore, aloft, aloof,
alongside, anear, aneath, anent, aslant, aslope, astride, atween, atwixt,
besouth, bywest, cross, dehors, despite, inside, left-hand, maugre, minus,
onto, opposite, outside, per, plus, sans, spite, thorough, traverse,
versus, via, withal, withinside_.

OBS. 11.--Dr. Lowth says, "The particle _a_ before participles, in the
phrases _a_ coming, _a_ going, _a_ walking, _a_ shooting, &c. and before
nouns, as _a_-bed, _a_-board, _a_-shore, _a_-foot, &c. seems to be _a true
and genuine preposition_, a little disguised by familiar use and quick
pronunciation. Dr. Wallis supposes it to be the preposition _at_. I rather
think it is the preposition _on_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 65; _Churchill's_,
268. There is no need of supposing it to be either. It is not from _on_;
for in Saxon it sometimes accompanied _on_: as in the phrase, "_on á
weoruld_;" that is, "_on to ages_;" or, as Wickliffe rendered it, "_into
worldis_;" or, as our version has it, "_for ever_." See _Luke_, i, 55. This
preposition was in use long before either _a_ or _an_, as an article,
appeared in its present form in the language; and, for ought I can
discover, it may be as old as either _on_ or _at_. _An_, too, is found to
have had at times the sense and construction of _in_ or _on_; and this
usage is, beyond doubt, older than that which makes it an article. _On_,
however, was an exceedingly common preposition in Saxon, being used almost
always where we now put _on, in, into, upon_, or _among_, and sometimes,
for _with_ or _by_; so, sometimes, where _a_ was afterwards used: thus,
"What in the Saxon Gospel of John, is, 'Ic wylle gan _on_ fixoth,' is, in
the English version, 'I go _a_ fishing.' Chap, xxi, ver. 3." See _Lowth's
Gram._, p. 65; _Churchill's_, 269. And _a_ is now sometimes equivalent to
_on_; as, "He would have a learned University make Barbarisms a
purpose."--_Bentley, Diss. on Phalaris_, p. 223. That is,--"_on_ purpose."
How absurdly then do some grammarians interpret the foregoing text!--"I go
_on_ a fishing."--_Alden's Gram._, p. 117. "I go _on_ a fishing voyage or
business."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 221; _Merchant's_, 101. "It may not be
improper," says Churchill in another place, "to observe here, that the
preposition _on_, is too frequently pronounced as if it were the vowel _a_,
in ordinary conversation; and this corruption _is_ [has] become so
prevalent, that I have even met with 'laid it _a oneside_' in a periodical
publication. It should have been '_on one side_,' if the expression were
meant to be particular; '_aside_,' if general."--_New Gram._, p. 345. By
these writers, _a_ is also supposed to be sometimes a corruption of _of_:
as, "Much in the same manner, Thomas _of_ Becket, by very frequent and
familiar use, became Thomas _à_ Becket; and one _of the_ clock, or perhaps
_on the_ clock, is written one o'clock, but pronounced one _a_ clock. The
phrases with _a_ before a participle are out of use in the solemn style;
but still prevail in familiar discourse. They are established by long
usage, and good authority; and there seems to be no reason, why they should
be utterly rejected."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 66. "Much in the same manner,
John _of_ Nokes, and John _of_ Styles, become John _a_ Nokes, and John _a_
Styles: and one _of the_ clock, or rather _on the_ clock, is written one
_o_'clock, but pronounced one _a_ clock. The phrases with a before
participles, are out of use in the solemn style; but still prevail in
familiar discourse."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 269.

OBS. 12.--The following are _examples_ of the less usual prepositions, _a_,
and others that begin with _a_: "And he set--three thousand and six hundred
overseers to set the people a work."--_2 Chron._, ii, 18. "Who goeth _a_
warfare any time at his own charges?"--_1 Cor._, ix, 7. "And the mixed
multitude that was among them fell _a_ lusting."--_Num._, xi, 4.

   "And sweet Billy Dimond, _a_ patting his hair up."
        --_Feast of the Poets_, p. 17.

    "The god fell _a_ laughing to see his mistake."
        --_Ib._, p. 18.

    "You'd have thought 'twas the bishops or judges _a_ coming."
        --_Ib._, p. 22.

"A place on the lower deck, _abaft_ the mainmast."--_Gregory's Dict._ "A
moment gazed _adown_ the dale."--_Scott, L. L._, p. 10. "_Adown_
Strath-Gartney's valley broad."--_Ib._, p. 84. "For _afore_ the harvest,
when the bud is perfect," &c.--_Isaiah_, xviii, 5. "Where the great
luminary _aloof_ the vulgar constellations thick,"--See _Milton's Paradise
Lost_, B. iii, l. 576. "The great luminary _aloft_ the vulgar
constellations thick."--_Johnson's Dict., w. Aloft_. "Captain Falconer
having previously gone _alongside_, the Constitution."--_Newspaper_.
"Seventeen ships sailed for New England, and _aboard_ these above fifteen
hundred persons."--_Robertson's Amer._, ii, 429. "There is a willow grows
_askant_ the brook:" Or, as in some editions: "There is a willow grows
_aslant_ the brook."--SHAK., _Hamlet_, Act iv, 7. "_Aslant_ the dew-bright
earth."--_Thomson_. "Swift as meteors glide _aslope_ a summer
eve."--_Fenton_. "_Aneath_ the heavy rain."--_James Hogg_, "With his magic
spectacles _astride_ his nose."--_Merchant's Criticisms_.

   "_Atween_ his downy wings be furnished, there."
        --_Wordsworth's Poems_, p. 147.

    "And there a season _atween_ June and May."
        --_Castle of Indolence_, C. i, st. 2.

OBS. 13.--The following are examples of rather unusual prepositions
beginning with _b, c_, or _d_; "Or where wild-meeting oceans boil _besouth_
Magellan."--_Burns_. "Whereupon grew that _by-word_, used by the Irish,
that they dwelt _by-west_ the law, _which_ dwelt beyond the river _of the_
Barrow."--DAVIES: in _Joh. Dict._ Here Johnson calls _by-west_ a noun
substantive, and Webster, as improperly, marks it for an adverb. No hyphen
is needed in _byword_ or _bywest_. The first syllable of the latter is
pronounced _be_, and ought to be written so, if "_besouth_" is right.

   "From Cephalonia _cross_ the surgy main
    Philætius late arrived, a faithful swain."
        --_Pope, Odys._, B. xx, l. 234.

    "And _cross_ their limits cut a sloping way,
    Which the twelve signs in beauteous order sway."
        --_Dryden's Virgil_.

"A fox was taking a walk one night _cross_ a village."--_L'Estrange_. "The
enemy had cut down great trees _cross_ the ways."--_Knolles_. "DEHORS,
prep. [Fr.] Without: as, '_dehors_ the land.' Blackstone."--_Worcester's
Dict._, 8vo. "You have believed, _despite_ too our physical
conformation."--_Bulwer_.

   "And Roderick shall his welcome make,
    _Despite_ old spleen, for Douglas' sake."
        --_Scott, L. L._, C. ii, st. 26.

OBS. 14.--The following quotations illustrate further the list of unusual
prepositions: "And she would be often weeping _inside_ the room while
George was amusing himself without."--_Anna Ross_, p. 81. "Several nuts
grow closely together, _inside_ this prickly covering."--_Jacob Abbot_. "An
other boy asked why the peachstone was not _outside_ the peach."--_Id._ "As
if listening to the sounds _withinside_ it."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_,
p. 214. "Sir Knight, you well might mark the mound, _Left hand_ the
town."--_Scott's Marmion_. "Thus Butler, _maugre_ his wicked intention,
sent them home again."--_Sewel's Hist._, p. 256. "And, _maugre_ all that
can be said in its favour."--_Stone, on Freemasonry_, p. 121. "And,
_maugre_ the authority of Sterne, I even doubt its benevolence."--_West's
Letters_, p. 29.

   "I through the ample air in triumph high
    Shall lead Hell captive _maugre_ Hell."
        --_Milton's P. L._, B. iii, l. 255.

"When Mr. Seaman arose in the morning, he found himself _minus_ his coat,
vest, pocket-handkerchief, and tobacco-box."--_Newspaper_. "Throw some
coals _onto_ the fire."--FORBY: _Worcester's Dict., w. Onto_. "Flour, at $4
_per_ barrel."--_Preston's Book-Keeping_. "Which amount, _per_ invoice, to
$4000."--_Ib._ "_To Smiths_ is the substantive _Smiths, plus_ the
preposition _to_."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, §33. "The Mayor of Lynn _versus_
Turner."--_Cowper's Reports_, p. 86. "Slaves were imported from Africa,
_via_ Cuba."--_Society in America_, i, 327. "_Pending_ the discussion of
this subject, a memorial was presented."--_Gov. Everett_.

   "Darts his experienced eye and soon _traverse_
    The whole battalion views their order due."--_Milton_.

    "Because, when _thorough_ deserts vast
    And regions desolate they past."--_Hudibras_.


OBS. 15.--_Minus_, less, _plus_, more, _per_, by, _versus_, towards, or
against, and _viâ_, by the way of, are Latin words; and it is not very
consistent with the _purity_ of our tongue, to use them as above. _Sans_,
without, is French, and not now heard with us. _Afore_ for _before, atween_
for _between, traverse_ for _across, thorough_ for _through_, and _withal_
for _with_, are obsolete. _Withal_ was never placed before its object, but
was once very common at the end of a sentence. I think it not properly a
preposition, but rather an adverb. It occurs in Shakspeare, and so does
_sans_; as,

   "I did laugh, _sans_ intermission, an hour by his dial."
        --_As You Like It_.

    "I pr'ythee, _whom_ doth he trot _withal_?"
        --_Ib._

    "_Sans_ teeth, _sans_ eyes, _sans_ taste, _sans_ every thing."
        --_Ib._


OBS. 16.--Of the propriety and the nature of such expressions as the
following, the reader may now judge for himself: "In consideration of what
passes sometimes _within-side of_ those vehicles."--_Spectator_, No. 533.
"Watch over yourself, and let nothing throw you _off from_ your
guard."--_District School_, p. 54. "The windows broken, the door _off from_
the hinges, the roof open and leaky."--_Ib._, p. 71. "He was always a
shrewd observer of men, _in and out of_ power."--_Knapp's Life of Burr_, p.
viii. "Who had never been broken _in to_ the experience of sea
voyages."--_Timothy Flint_. "And there came a fire _out from before_ the
Lord."--_Leviticus_, ix, 24. "Because eight readers _out of_ ten, it is
believed, forget it."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 32. "Fifty days after the
_Passover_, and _their coming out of_ Egypt."--_Watts's Script. Hist._, p.
57. "As the mountains are _round about_ Jerusalem, so the Lord is _round
about_ his people."--_Psal._, cxxv, 2. "Literally, 'I proceeded _forth from
out of_ God and am come.'"--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 161. "But he that came
_down from_ (or _from out of_) heaven."--_Ibid._

   "Here none the last funereal rights receive;
    To be cast _forth the camp_, is all their friends can give."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, vi, 166.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS X.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Tenth Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of
the_ ARTICLES, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, PRONOUNS, VERBS, PARTICIPLES, ADVERBS,
CONJUNCTIONS, _and_ PREPOSITIONS.

_The definitions to be given in the Tenth Praxis, are, two for an article,
six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, seven for a verb
finite, five for an infinitive, two for a participle, two (and sometimes
three) for an adverb, two for a conjunction, one for a preposition, and one
for an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"Never adventure on too near an approach to what is evil."--_Maxims_.

_Never_ is an adverb of time. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree, or manner. 2. Adverbs of time are those which answer to the
question, _When? How long? How soon?_ or, _How often?_ including these
which ask.

_Adventure_ is a regular active-intransitive verb, from _adventure,
adventured, adventuring, adventured_; found in the imperative mood, present
tense, second person, singular (or it may be plural) number. 1. A verb is a
word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_. 2. A regular
verb is a verb that forms the preterit and the perfect participle by
assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. An active-intransitive verb is a verb that
expresses an action that has no person or thing for its object. 4. The
imperative mood is that form of the verb which is used in commanding,
exhorting, entreating, or permitting. 5. The present tense is that which
expresses what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The second person is that
which denotes the hearer, or the person addressed. 7. The singular number
is that which denotes but one.

_On_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Too_ is an adverb of degree. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree, or manner. 2. Adverbs of decree are those which answer to
the question, _How much? How little?_ or to the idea of _more or less_.

_Near_ is a common adjective, of the positive degree; compared, _near,
nearer, 2.[sic--KTH] nearest_ or _next_. 1. An adjective is a word added
to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. A common adjective
is any ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. The
positive degree is that which is expressed by the adjective in its simple
form.

_An_ is the indefinite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or
_a_, which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The
indefinite article is _an_ or _a_, which denotes one thing of a kind, but
not any particular one.

_Approach_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form
or state of a noun or pronoun which usually denotes the object of a verb,
participle, or preposition.

_To_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_What_ is a relative pronoun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a
noun. 2. A relative pronoun is a pronoun that represents an antecedent word
or phrase, and connects different clauses of a sentence. 3. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The
singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that
which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative
case is that form or stats of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the
subject of a finite verb.

_Is_ is an irregular neuter verb, from be, was, being, been; found in the
indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular number. 1. A
verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted upon. 2. An
irregular verb is a verb that does not form the preterit and the perfect
participle by assuming d or ed. 3. A neuter verb is a verb that expresses
neither action nor passion, but simply being, or a state of being. 4. The
indicative mood is that form of a verb, which simply indicates or declares
a thing, or asks a question. 5. The present tense is that which expresses
what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third person is that which
denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The singular number is
that which denotes but one.

_Evil_ is a common adjective, of the positive degree; compared irregularly,
bad, evil, or ill, worse, worst. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun
or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is any
ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. The
positive degree is that which is expressed by the adjective in its simple
form.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"My Lord, I do here, in the name of all the learned and polite persons of
the nation, complain to your Lordship, as first minister, that our language
is imperfect; that its daily improvements are by no means in proportion to
its daily corruptions; that the pretenders to polish and refine it, have
chiefly multiplied abuses and absurdities; and that, in many instances, it
offends against every part of grammar."--_Dean Swift, to the Earl of
Oxford_.

"Swift must be allowed to have been a good judge of this matter; to which
he was himself very attentive, both in his own writings, and in his remarks
upon those of his friends: He is one of the most correct, and perhaps [he
is] the best, of our prose writers. Indeed the justness of this complaint,
_as_ far as I can find, _hath_ never yet been questioned; and yet no
effectual method _hath_ hitherto been taken to redress the grievance which
was the object of it."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. iv.

"The only proper use to be made of the blemishes which occur in the
writings of such authors, [as Addison and Swift--authors whose 'faults are
overbalanced by high beauties'--] is, to point out to those who apply
themselves to the study of composition, some of the rules which they ought
to observe for avoiding such errors; and to render them sensible of the
necessity of strict attention to language and style."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
233.

   "Thee, therefore, and with thee myself I weep,
    For thee and me I mourn in anguish deep."--_Pope's Homer_.


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"The southern corner of Europe, comprehended between the thirty-sixth and
fortieth degrees of latitude, bordering on Epirus and Macedonia towards the
north, and on other sides surrounded by the sea, was inhabited, above
eighteen centuries before the Christian era, by many small tribes of
hunters and shepherds, among whom the Pelasgi and Hellenes were the most
numerous and powerful."--_Gillies, Gr._, p. 12.

"In a vigorous exertion of memory, ideal presence is exceedingly distinct:
thus, when a man, entirely occupied with some event that made a deep
impression, forgets himself, he perceives every thing as passing before
him, and has a consciousness of presence, similar to that of a
spectator."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 88.

"Each planet revolves about its own axis in a given time; and each moves
round the sun, in an orbit nearly circular, and in a time proportioned to
its distance. Their velocities, directed by an established law, are
perpetually changing by regular accelerations and retardations."--_Ib._, i,
271.

"You may as well go about to turn the sun to ice by fanning in his face
with a peacock's feather."--_Shak_.

"_Ch. Justice_. I sent for you, when there were matters against you for
your life, to come speak with me. _Falstaff_. As I was then advised by my
learned counsel in the laws of this land-service, I did not come."--_Id._,
2. Hen. IV, Act i, Sc. 2.

"It is surprising to see the images of the mind stamped upon the aspect; to
see the cheeks take the die of the passions and appear in all the colors of
thought."--_Collier_.

    ----------"Even from out thy slime
    The monsters of the deep are made."--_Byron_.


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"With a mind weary of conjecture, fatigued by doubt, sick of disputation,
eager for knowledge, anxious for certainty, and unable to attain it by the
best use of my reason in matters of the utmost importance, I _have_ long
ago turned my thoughts to an impartial examination of the proofs on which
revealed religion is grounded, and I am convinced of its truth."--_Bp.
Watson's Apology_, p. 69.

"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people
be."--_Gen._, xlix, 10.

"Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, thou
shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.
But I say unto you, Swear not at all: neither by heaven; for it is God's
throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem;
for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head;
because thou canst not make one hair white or black."--_Matt._, v, 33--36.

"Refined manners, and polite behaviour, must not be deemed altogether
artificial: men who, inured to the sweets of society, cultivate humanity,
find an elegant pleasure in preferring others, and making them happy, of
which the proud, the selfish, scarcely have a conception."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, i, 105.

   "Bacchus, that first from out the purple grape
    Crush'd the sweet poison of misused wine."--_Milton_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS RESPECTING PREPOSITIONS.

"Nouns are often formed by participles."--_L. Murray's Index, Octavo
Gram._, ii, 290.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the relation here intended, between _are
formed_ and _participles_, is not well signified by the preposition by.
But, according to Observation 7th, on this part of speech, "The
prepositions have, from their own nature, or from custom, such an
adaptation to particular terms and relations, that they can seldom be used
one for an other without manifest impropriety." This relation would be
better expressed by _from_; thus, "Nouns are often formed _from_
participles."]

"What tenses are formed on the perfect participle?"--_Ingersoll's Gram._,
p. 104. "Which tense is formed on the present?"--_Ibid._ "When a noun or
pronoun is placed before a participle, independently on the rest of the
sentence," &c.--_Ib._, p. 150; _Murray_, 145; and others. "If the addition
consists in two or more words."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 176; _Ingersoll's_,
177. "The infinitive mood is often made absolute, or used independently on
the rest of the sentence."--_Mur._, p. 184; _Ing._, 244; and others. "For
the great satisfaction of the reader, we shall present him with a variety
of false constructions."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 189. "For your satisfaction,
I shall present you with a variety of false constructions."--_Ingersoll's
Gram._, p. 258. "I shall here present you with a scale of
derivation."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 81. "These two manners of representation
in respect of number."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 15; _Churchill's_, 57; "There
are certain adjectives, which seem to be derived without any variation from
verbs."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 89. "Or disqualify us for receiving
instruction or reproof of others."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 253. "For being
more studious than any other pupil of the school."--_Ib._, p. 226. "From
misunderstanding the directions, we lost our way."--_Ib._, p. 201. "These
people reduced the greater part of the island to their own power."--_Ib._,
p. 261.[317] "The principal accent distinguishes one syllable in a word
from the rest."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 236. "Just numbers are in unison to
the human mind."--_Ib._, p. 298. "We must accept of sound instead of
sense."--_Ib._, p. 298. "Also, instead for _consultation_, he uses
_consult_."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 143. "This ablative seems to be
governed of a preposition understood."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 268. "That
my father may not hear on't by some means or other."--_Ib._, p. 257. "And
besides, my wife would hear on't by some means."--_Ib._, p. 81. "For
insisting in a requisition is so odious to them."--_Robertson's Amer._, i,
206. "Based in the great self-evident truths of liberty and
equality."--_Scholar's Manual_. "Very little knowledge of their nature is
acquired by the spelling book."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 21. "They do not cut
it off: except in a few words; as, _due, duly_, &c."--_Ib._, p. 24.
"Whether passing in such time, or then finished."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 31.
"It hath disgusted hundreds of that confession."--_Barclay's Works_, iii,
269. "But they have egregiously fallen in that inconveniency."--_Ib._, iii,
73. "For is not this to set nature a work?"--_Ib._, i, 270. "And surely
that which should set all its springs a-work, is God."--ATTERBURY: _in
Blair's Rhet._, p. 298. "He could not end his treatise without a panegyric
of modern learning."--TEMPLE: _ib._, p. 110. "These are entirely
independent on the modulation of the voice."--_Walker's Elocution_, p. 308.
"It is dear of a penny. It is cheap of twenty pounds."--_Walker's
Particles_, p. 274. "It will be despatched, in most occasions, without
resting."--_Locke_. "'0, the pain the bliss in dying.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._,
p. 129. "When [he is] presented with the objects or the facts."--_Smith's
Productive Gram._, p. 5. "I will now present you with a synopsis."--_Ib._,
p. 25. "The conjunction disjunctive connects sentences, by expressing
opposition of meaning in various degrees."--_Ib._, p. 38. "I shall now
present you with a few lines."--_Bucke's Classical Gram_, p. 13. "Common
names of Substantives are those, which stand for things generally."--_Ib._,
p. 31. "Adjectives in the English language admit no variety in gender,
number, or case whatever, except that of the degrees of
comparison."--_Ib._, p. 48. "Participles are adjectives formed of
verbs."--_Ib._, p. 63. "I do love to walk out of a fine summer's
evening."--_Ib._, p. 97. "An _Ellipsis_, when applied to grammar, is the
elegant omission of one or more words in a sentence."--_Merchant's Gram._,
p. 99. "The prefix _to_ is generally placed before verbs in the infinitive
mood, but before the following verbs it is properly omitted; (viz.) _bid,
make, see, dare, need, hear, feel_, and _let_; as, He _bid_ me _do_ it; He
_made_ me _learn_; &c."--_Ib., Stereotype Edition_, p. 91; _Old Edition_,
85. "The infinitive sometimes follows _than_, after a comparison; as, I
wish nothing more, _than to know_ his fate."--_Ib._, p. 92. See _Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, i, 184. "Or by prefixing the adverbs _more_ or _less_, in the
comparative, and _most_ or _least_, in the superlative."--_Merchant's
Gram._, p. 36. "A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun."--_Ib._, p. 17;
_Comly_, 15. "In monosyllables the Comparative is regularly formed by
adding _r_ or _er_."--_Perley's Gram._, p. 21. "He has particularly named
these, in distinction to others."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. vi. "To revive the
decaying taste of antient Literature."--_Ib._, p. xv. "He found the
greatest difficulty of writing."--HUME: _in Priestley's Gram._, p. 159.

   "And the tear that is wip'd with a little address
    May be followed perhaps with a smile."
        _Webster's American Spelling-Book_, p. 78;
          and _Murray's E. Reader_, p. 212.




CHAPTER XI--INTERJECTIONS.

An Interjection is a word that is uttered merely to indicate some strong or
sudden emotion of the mind: as, _Oh! alas! ah! poh! pshaw! avaunt! aha!
hurrah!_


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Of pure interjections but few are admitted into books.
Unimpassioned writings reject this part of speech altogether. As words or
sounds of this kind serve rather to indicate feeling than to express
thought, they seldom have any definable signification. Their use also is so
variable, that there can be no very accurate classification of them. Some
significant words, perhaps more properly belonging to other classes, are
sometimes ranked with interjections, when uttered with emotion and in an
unconnected manner; as, _strange! prodigious! indeed!_ Wells says, "_Other
parts of speech_, used by way of exclamation, are _properly regarded as
interjections_; as, _hark! surprising! mercy!_"--_School Gram._, 1846, p.
110. This is an evident absurdity; because it directly confounds the
classes which it speaks of as being different. Nor is it right to say,
"_Other parts of speech_ are frequently used _to perform the office_ of
interjections."--_Wells_, 1850, p. 120.

OBS. 2.--The word _interjection_ comes to us from the Latin name
_interjectio_, the root of which is the verb _interjicio_, to throw
between, to interject. Interjections are so called because they are usually
thrown in between _the parts of discourse_, without any syntactical
connexion with other words. Dr. Lowth, in his haste, happened to describe
them as a kind of natural sounds "thrown in between the parts _of a
sentence_;" and this strange blunder has been copied into almost every
definition that has been given of the Interjection since. See Murray's
Grammar and others. Webster's Dictionary defines it as, "A word thrown in
between _words connected in construction_;" but of all the parts of speech
none are less frequently found in this situation.

OBS. 3.--The following is a fair sample of "Smith's _New Grammar_,"--i.e.,
of "English Grammar on the _Productive System_,"--a new effort of quackery
to scarf up with cobwebs the eyes of common sense: "Q. When I exclaim, 'Oh!
I have ruined my friend,' 'Alas! I fear for life,' _which words_ here
appear to be thrown in _between the sentences_, to express passion or
feeling? Ans. _Oh! Alas!_ Q. What does _interjection_ mean? Ans. _Thrown
between_. Q. What name, then, shall we give such words as _oh! alas! &c._?
Ans. INTERJECTIONS. Q. What, then, are interjections? Ans. Interjections
are words thrown in _between the parts of sentences_, to express the
passions or sudden feelings of the speaker. Q. How may an interjection
generally be known? Ans. By _its taking_ an exclamation _point_ after it:
[as,] '_Oh!_ I have alienated my friend.'"--_R. C. Smith's New Gram._, p.
39. Of the interjection, this author gives, in his examples for parsing,
_fifteen_ other instances; but nothing can be more obvious, than that not
more than one of the whole fifteen stands either "between sentences" or
between the parts of any sentence! (See _New Gram._, pp. 40 and 96.) Can he
be a competent grammarian, who does not know the meaning of _between_; or
who, knowing it, misapplies so very plain a word?

OBS. 4.--The Interjection, which is idly claimed by sundry writers to have
been the first of words at the origin of language, is now very constantly
set down, among the parts of speech, as the last of the series. But, for
the name of this the last of the ten sorts of words, some of our
grammarians have adopted the term _exclamation_. Of the old and usual term
_interjection_, a recent writer justly says, "This name is preferable to
that of _exclamation_, for some exclamations are not interjections, and
some interjections are not exclamations."--GIBBS: _Fowler's E. Gram._,
§333.


LIST OF THE INTERJECTIONS.

The following are the principal interjections, arranged according to the
emotions which they are generally intended to indicate:--1. Of joy; _eigh!
hey! io!_--2. Of sorrow; _oh! ah! hoo! alas! alack! lackaday! welladay!_ or
_welaway!_--3. Of wonder; _heigh! ha! strange! indeed!_--4. Of wishing,
earnestness, or vocative address; (often with a noun or pronoun in the
nominative absolute;) _O!_--5. Of praise; _well-done! good! bravo!_--6. Of
surprise with disapproval; _whew! hoity-toity! hoida! zounds! what!_--7. Of
pain or fear; _oh! ooh! ah! eh! O dear!_--8. Of contempt; _fudge! pugh!
poh! pshaw! pish! tush! tut! humph!_--9. Of aversion; _foh! faugh! fie! fy!
foy!_[318]--10. Of expulsion; _out! off! shoo! whew! begone! avaunt!
aroynt!_--11. Of calling aloud; _ho! soho! what-ho! hollo! holla! hallo!
halloo! hoy! ahoy!_--12. Of exultation; _ah! aha! huzza! hey! heyday!
hurrah!_--13. Of laughter; _ha, ha, ha; he, he, he; te-hee, te-hee._--14.
Of salutation; _welcome! hail! all-hail!_--15. Of calling to attention;
_ho! lo! la! law![319] look! see! behold! hark!_--16. Of calling to
silence; _hush! hist! whist! 'st! aw! mum!_--17. Of dread or horror; _oh!
ha! hah! what!_--18. Of languor or weariness; _heigh-ho!
heigh-ho-hum!_--19. Of stopping; _hold! soft! avast! whoh!_--20. Of
parting; _farewell! adieu! good-by! good-day!_--21. Of knowing or
detecting; _oho! ahah! ay-ay!_--22. Of interrogating; _eh? ha? hey?_[320]


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--With the interjections, may perhaps be reckoned _hau_ and _gee_,
the imperative words of teamsters driving cattle; and other similar sounds,
useful under certain circumstances, but seldom found in books. Besides
these, and all the foregoing, there are several others, too often heard,
which are unworthy to be considered parts of a cultivated language. The
frequent use of interjections savours more of thoughtlessness than of
sensibility. Philosophical writing and dispassionate discourse exclude them
altogether. Yet are there several words of this kind, which in earnest
utterance, animated poetry, or impassioned declamation, are not only
natural, but exceedingly expressive: as, "Lift up thy voice, _O_ daughter
of Gallim; cause it to be heard unto Laish, _O_ poor Anathoth."--_Isaiah_,
x, 30. "_Alas, alas_, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one
hour is thy judgement come."--_Rev._, xviii, 10.

   "_Ah me!_ forbear, returns the queen, forbear;
    _Oh!_ talk not, talk not of vain beauty's care."
        --_Odyssey_, B. xviii, l. 310.

OBS. 2.--Interjections, being in general little else than mere natural
voices or cries, must of course be adapted to the sentiments which are
uttered with them, and never carelessly confounded one with an other when
we express them on paper. The adverb _ay_ is sometimes improperly written
for the interjection _ah_; as, _ay me!_ for _ah me!_ and still oftener we
find _oh_, an interjection of sorrow, pain, or surprise,[321] written in
stead of _O_, the proper sign of wishing, earnestness, or vocative address:
as,

   "_Oh_ Happiness! our being's end and aim!"
        --_Pope, Ess. Ep._ iv, l. 1.

    "And peace, _oh_ Virtue! peace is all thy own."
        --_Id., ib., Ep._ iv, l. 82.

    "_Oh_ stay, O pride of Greece! Ulysses, stay!
    O cease thy course, and listen to our lay!"
        --_Odys._, B. xii, 1 222.

OBS. 3.--The chief characteristics of the interjection are independence,
exclamation, and the want of any definable signification. Yet not all the
words or signs which we refer to this class, will be found to coincide in
all these marks of an interjection. Indeed the last, (the want of a
rational meaning,) would seem to exclude them from the language; for
_words_ must needs be significant of something. Hence many grammarians deny
that mere sounds of the voice have any more claim to be reckoned among the
parts of speech, than the neighing of a horse, or the lowing of a cow.
There is some reason in this; but in fact the reference which these sounds
have to the feelings of those who utter them, is to some extent
instinctively understood; and does constitute a sort of significance,
though we cannot really define it. And, as their use in language, or in
connexion with language, makes it necessary to assign them a place in
grammar, it is certainly more proper to treat them as above, than to follow
the plan of the Greek grammarians, most of whom throw all the interjections
into the class of _adverbs_.

OBS. 4.--Significant words uttered independently, after the manner of
interjections, ought in general, perhaps, to be referred to their original
classes; for all such expressions may be supposed elliptical: as, "_Order!_
gentlemen, _order!_" i.e., "Come to order,"--or, "Keep order." "_Silence!_"
i.e., "Preserve silence." "_Out! out!_" i.e., "Get out,"--or, "Clear out!"
(See Obs. 5th and 6th, upon Adverbs.)

   "Charge, Chester, charge! _On_, Stanley, _on_!
    Were the last words of Marmion."--_Scott_.

OBS. 5.--In some instances, interjections seem to be taken substantively
and made nouns; as,

   "I may sit in a corner, and cry _hey-ho_ for a husband."--_Shak_.

So, according to James White, in his Essay on the Verb, is the word _fie_,
in the following example:

   "If you deny me, _fie_ upon your law."--SHAK.: _White's Verb_, p. 163.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS XI.--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_In the Eleventh Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and_ ALL _their classes and
modifications.

The definitions to be given in the Eleventh Praxis, are, two for an
article, six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, seven
for a verb finite, five for an infinitive, two for a participle, two (and
sometimes three) for an adverb, two for a conjunction, one for a
preposition, and two for an interjection. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"O! sooner shall the earth and stars fall into chaos!"--_Brown's Inst._, p.
92.

_O_ is an interjection, indicating earnestness. 1. An interjection is a
word that is uttered merely to indicate some strong or sudden emotion of
the mind. 2. The interjection of wishing, earnestness, or vocative address,
is _O_.

_Sooner_ is an adverb of time, of the comparative degree; compared, _soon,
sooner, soonest_. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an
adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree,
or manner. 2. Adverbs of time are those which answer to the question,
_When? How long? How soon?_ or, _How often?_ including these which ask. 3.
The comparative degree is that which is more or less than something
contrasted with it.

_Shall_ is an auxiliary to _fall_. 1. An auxiliary is a short verb prefixed
to one of the principal parts of an other verb, to express some particular
mode and time of the being, action, or passion.

_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or _a_,
which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite
article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.

_Earth_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a
finite verb.

_And_ is a copulative conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to
connect words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of
the terms so connected. 2. A copulative conjunction is a conjunction that
denotes an addition, a cause, a consequence, or a supposition.

_Stars_ is a common noun, of the third person, plural number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The plural number is
that which denotes more than one. 5. The neuter gender is that which
denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is
that form or state of a noun or pronoun which usually denotes the subject
of a finite verb.

_Fall_, or _Shall fall_, is an irregular active-intransitive verb, from
_fall, fell, falling, fallen_; found in the indicative mood, first-future
tense, third person, and plural number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies
_to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_. 2. An irregular verb is a verb that
does not form the preterit and the perfect participle by assuming _d_ or
_ed_. 3. An active-intransitive verb is a verb that expresses an action
which has no person or thing for its object. 4. The indicative mood is that
form of the verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a
question. 5. The first-future tense is that which expresses what will take
place hereafter. 6. The third person is that which denotes the person or
thing merely spoken of. 7. The plural number is that which denotes more
than one.

_Into_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.

_Chaos_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form
or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb,
participle, or preposition.


LESSON I.--PARSING.

"Ah! St. Anthony preserve me!--Ah--ah--eh--eh!--Why--why--after all, your
hand is not so co-o-o-old, neither. Of the two, it is rather warmer than my
own. Can it be, though, that you are not dead?" "Not I."--MOLIERE: _in
Burgh's Speaker_, p. 232.

"I'll make you change your cuckoo note, you old philosophical humdrum,
you--[_Beats him_]--I will--[_Beats him_]. I'll make you say somewhat else
than, 'All things are doubtful; all things are uncertain;'--[_Beats
him_]--I will, you old fusty pedant." "Ah!--oh!--ehl--What, beat a
philosopher!--Ah!--oh!--eh!"--MOLIERE: _ib._, p. 247.

"What! will these hands never be clean?--No more of that, my lord; no more
of that. You mar all with this starting." * * * "Here is the smell of blood
still.--All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh!
oh! oh!"--_Shak., Macbeth_, Act V, Sc. 1.

   "Ha! at the gates what grisly forms appear!
    What dismal shrieks of laughter wound the ear!"--_Merry._


LESSON II.--PARSING.

"Yet this may be the situation of some now known to us.--O frightful
thought! O horrible image! Forbid it, O Father of mercy! If it be possible,
let no creature of thine ever be the object of that wrath, against which
the strength of thy whole creation united, would stand but as the moth
against the thunderbolt!"--_Burgh's Speaker_, p. 289.

"If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the
burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods,
nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."--_Daniel_, iii, 17
and 18.

"Grant me patience, just Heaven!--Of all the cants which are canted in this
canting world--though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst--the cant of
criticism is the most tormenting!"--_Sterne_.

   "Ah, no! Achilles meets a shameful fate,
    Oh! how unworthy of the brave and great."--_Pope_.


LESSON III.--PARSING.

"O let not thy heart despise me! thou whom experience has not taught that
it is misery to lose that which it is not happiness to possess."--_Dr.
Johnson_.

"Disguise thyself as thou wilt, still, Slavery! still thou art a bitter
draught; and though thousands in all ages have been made to drink of thee,
thou art no less bitter on that account."--_Sterne_.

"Put it out of the power of truth to give you an ill character; and if any
body reports you not to be an honest or a good man, let your practice give
him the lie. This is all very feasible."--_Antoninus_.

"Oh that men should put an enemy into their mouths to steal away their
brains! that we should, with joy, pleasance, revel, and applause, transform
ourselves into beasts!"--_Shakspeare_.

   "All these afar off stood, crying, Alas!
    Alas! and wept, and gnashed their teeth, and groaned;
    And with the owl, that on her ruins sat,
    Made dolorous concert in the ear of Night."--_Pollok_.

    "Snatch'd in thy prime! alas, the stroke were mild,
    Had my frail form obey'd the fate's decree!
    Blest were my lot, O Cynthio! O my child!
    Had Heaven so pleas'd, and I had died for thee!"--_Shenstone_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS RESPECTING INTERJECTIONS.

"Of chance or change, oh let not man complain."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._,
p. 85.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the interjection _oh_, a sign of sorrow,
pain, or surprise, is here used to indicate mere earnestness. But,
according to the list of interjections, or OBS. 2d under it, the
interjection of wishing, earnestness, or vocative address, is _O_, and not
_oh_. Therefore, _oh_ should here be _O_; thus, "Of chance or change, _O_
let not man complain."--_Beattie's Minstrel_, B. ii, l. 1.]

"O thou persecutor! Oh ye hypocrites."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 99; _et al_.
"Oh! thou, who touchedst Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire."--_Ib._,
(_Key_,) p. 197. "Oh! happy we, surrounded by so many blessings."--_Ib._,
(_Exercises_,) p. 138. "Oh! thou, who art so unmindful of thy
duty."--_Ib._, (_Key_,) p. 196. "If I am wrong, oh teach my heart To find
that better way."--_Pope's Works_. "Heus! evocate hue Davum. _Ter_. Hoe!
call Davus out hither."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 155. "It was represented
by an analogy, (Oh, how inadequate!) which was borrowed from the religion
of paganism."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 281. "Oh that Ishmael might live before
thee!"--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Gen._, xvii, 18. "And he said unto him, Oh let not
the Lord be angry, and I will speak."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Gen._, xviii, 30.
"And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry."--ID., and SCOTT'S: _ib._, ver.
32. "Oh, my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word."--FRIENDS'
BIBLE, and ALGER'S: _Gen._, xliv, 18. "Oh, Virtue! how amiable thou art! I
fear, alas! for my life."--_Fisk's Gram._, p. 89. "Ay me, they little know
How dearly I abide that boast so vain."--_Milton's P. L._, B. iv, l. 86.
"Oh! that I had digged myself a cave."--FLETCHER: _in Bucke's Gram._, p.
78. "O, my good lord! thy comfort comes too late."--SHAK.: _ib._, p. 78.
"The vocative takes no article; it is distinguished thus: _O Pedro_, Oh
Peter! _O Dios_, Oh God!"--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 43. "Oh, o! But, the
relative is always the same."--_Cobbett's Eng. Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 127.
"Oh, oh! But, the relative is always the same."--_Id._, Edition of 1832, p.
116. "Ah hail, ye happy men!"--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 116. "Oh that I had
wings like a dove!"--FRIENDS' BIBLE, and ALGER'S: _Ps._, lv, 6. "Oh
Glorious hope! O Blessed abode!"--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 183. "Alas,
Friends, how joyous is your presence."--_Rev. T. Smith's Gram._, p. 87.
"Oh, blissful days! Ah me! how soon ye pass!"--_Parker and Fox's Gram._,
Part I, p. 16; Part III, p. 29.

   "Oh golden days! oh bright unvalued hours!
    What bliss (did ye but know that bliss) were yours!"--_Barbauld_.

    "Ay me! what perils do eviron
    The man that meddles with cold iron."--_Hudibras_.




CHAPTER XII.--QUESTIONS.


ORDER OF REHEARSAL, AND METHOD OF EXAMINATION.

PART SECOND, ETYMOLOGY.

[Fist] [The following questions refer almost wholly to the main text of the
Etymology of this work, and are such as every student should be able to
answer with readiness and accuracy, before he proceeds to any subsequent
part of the study or the exercises of English grammar.]

LESSON I.--PARTS OF SPEECH.

1. Of what does Etymology treat? 2. What is meant by the term, "_Parts of
Speech?_" 3. What are _Classes_, under the parts of speech? 4. What are
_Modifications?_ 5. How many and what are the parts of speech? 6. What is
an article? 7. What is a noun? 8. What is an adjective? 9. What is a
pronoun? 10. What is a verb? 11. What is a participle? 12. What is an
adverb? 13. What is a conjunction? 14. What is a preposition? 15. What is
an interjection?

LESSON II.--PARSING.

1. What is _Parsing?_ and what relation does it bear to grammar? 2. What is
a _Praxis?_ and what is said of the word? 3. What is required of the pupil
in the FIRST PRAXIS? 4. How many definitions are here to be given for each
part of speech? 5. How is the following example parsed? "The patient ox
submits to the yoke, and meekly performs the labour required of him."

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _First Chapter_, or
the _First Praxis_.]

LESSON III.--ARTICLES.

1. What is an ARTICLE? 2. Are _an_ and _a_ different articles, or the same?
3. When ought _an_ to be used, and what are the examples? 4. When should
_a_ be used, and what are the examples? 5. What form of the article do the
sounds of _w_ and _y_ require? 6. Can you repeat the alphabet, with _an_ or
_a_ before the name of each letter? 7. Will you name the ten parts of
speech, with _an_ or _a_ before each name? 8. When does a common noun not
admit an article? 9. How is the sense of nouns commonly made indefinitely
partitive? 10. Does the mere being of a thing demand the use of articles?
11. Can articles ever be used when we mean to speak of a whole species? 12.
But how does _an_ or _a_ commonly limit the sense? 13. And how does _the_
commonly limit the sense? 14. Which number does _the_ limit, the singular
or the plural? 15. When is _the_ required before adjectives? 16. Why is
_an_ or _a_ not applicable to plurals? 17. What is said of _an_ or _a_
before an adjective of number? 18. When, or how often, should articles be
inserted? 19. What is said of needless articles? 20. What is the effect of
putting one article for the other, and how shall we know which to choose?
21. How are the two articles distinguished in grammar? 22. Which is the
definite article, and what does it denote? 23. Which is the indefinite
article, and what does it denote? 24. What modifications have the articles?

LESSON IV.--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the SECOND PRAXIS? 2. How many
definitions are here to be given for each part of speech? 3. How is the
following example parsed? "The task of a schoolmaster laboriously prompting
and urging an indolent class, is worse than his who drives lazy horses
along a sandy road."

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Second Chapter_, or
the _Second Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
five lessons of _bad English_, with which the Second Chapter concludes.]

LESSON V.--NOUNS.

1. What is a NOUN, and what are the examples given? 2. Into what general
classes are nouns divided? 3. What is a proper noun? 4. What is a common
noun? 5. What particular classes are included among common nouns? 6. What
is a collective noun? 7. What is an abstract noun? 8. What is a verbal or
participial noun? 9. What modifications have nouns? 10. What are _Persons_,
in grammar? 11. How many persons are there, and what are they called? 12.
What is the first person? 13. What is the second person? 14. What is the
third person? 15. What are _Numbers_, in grammar? 16. How many numbers are
there, and what are they called? 17. What is the singular number? 18. What
is the plural number? 19. How is the plural number of nouns regularly
formed? 20. How is the regular plural formed without increase of syllables?
21. How is the regular plural formed when the word gains a syllable? LESSON
VI--NOUNS.

1. What are _Genders_, in grammar? 2. How many genders are there, and what
are they called? 3. What is the masculine gender? 4. What is the feminine
gender? 5. What is the neuter gender? 6. What nouns, then, are masculine?
what, feminine? and what, neuter? 7. What inflection of English nouns
regularly changes their gender? 8. On what are the different genders
founded, and to what parts of speech do they belong? 9. When the noun is
such as may be applied to either sex, how is the gender usually determined?
10. What principle of universal grammar determines the gender when both
sexes are taken together? 11. What is said of the gender of nouns of
multitude? 12. Under what circumstances is it common to disregard the
distinction of sex? 13. In how many ways are the sexes distinguished in
grammar? 14. When the gender is figurative, how is it indicated? 15. What
are _Cases_, in grammar? 16. How many cases are there, and what are they
called? 17. What is the nominative case? 18. What is the subject of a verb?
19. What is the possessive case? 20. How is the possessive case of nouns
formed? 21. What is the objective case? 22. What is the object of a verb,
participle, or preposition? 23. What two cases of nouns are alike in form,
and how are they distinguished? 24. What is the declension of a noun? 25.
How do you decline the nouns, _friend, man, fox_, and _fly?_

LESSON VII--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the THIRD PRAXIS? 2. How many
definitions are here to be given for each part of speech? 3. How is the
following example to be parsed? "The writings of Hannah More appear to me
more praise-worthy than Scott's."

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Third Chapter_, or
the _Third Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
three lessons of _bad English_, with which the Third Chapter concludes.]

LESSON VIII.--ADJECTIVES.

1. What is an ADJECTIVE, and what are the examples given? 2. Into what
classes may adjectives be divided? 3. What is a common adjective? 4. What
is a proper adjective? 5. What is a numeral adjective? 6. What is a
pronominal adjective? 7. What is a participial adjective? 8. What is a
compound adjective? 9. What modifications have adjectives? 10. What is
comparison, in grammar? 11. How many and what are the degrees of
comparison? 12. What is the positive degree? 13. What is the comparative
degree? 14. What is the superlative degree? 15. What adjectives cannot be
compared? 16. What adjectives are compared by means of adverbs? 17. How are
adjectives regularly compared? 18. What principles of spelling must be
observed in the comparing of adjectives? 19. To what adjectives is the
regular method of comparison, by _er_ and _est_, applicable? 20. Is there
any other method of expressing the degrees of comparison? 21. How are the
degrees of diminution, or inferiority, expressed? 22. Has the regular
method of comparison any degrees of this kind? 23. Do we ever compare by
adverbs those adjectives which can be compared by _er_ and _est_? 24. How
do you compare _good? bad, evil_, or _ill? little? much? many?_ 25. How do
you compare _far? near? fore? hind? in? out? up? low? late?_ 26. What words
want the positive? 27. What words want the comparative?

LESSON IX.--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the FOURTH PRAXIS? 2. How many
definitions are here to be given for each part of speech? 3. How is the
following example parsed? "The best and most effectual method of teaching
grammar, is precisely that of which the careless are least fond: teach
learnedly, rebuking whatsoever is false, blundering, or unmannerly."

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Fourth Chapter_, or
the _Fourth Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
three lesons of _bad English_, with which the Fourth Chapter concludes.]

LESSON X.--PRONOUNS.

1. What is a PRONOUN, and what is the example given? 2. How many pronouns
are there? 3. How are pronouns divided? 4. What is a personal pronoun? 5.
How many and what are the simple personal pronouns? 6. How many and what
are the compound personal pronouns? 7. What is a relative pronoun? 8. Which
are the relative pronouns? 9. What peculiarity has the relative _what_? 10.
What is an interrogative pronoun? 11. Which are the interrogative pronouns?
12. Do _who, which_, and _what_, all ask the same question? 13. What
modifications have pronouns? 14. Why are not these things defined under the
head of pronouns? 15. What is the declension of a pronoun? 16. How do you
decline the pronoun _I? Thou? He? She? It?_ 17. What is said of the
compound personal pronouns? 18. How do you decline the pronoun _Myself?
Thyself? Himself? Herself? Itself?_ 19. Are the interrogative pronouns
declined like the simple relatives? 20. How do you decline _Who? Which?
What? That? As?_ 21. Have the compound relative pronouns any declension?
22. How do you decline _Whoever? Whosoever? Whichever? Whichsoever?
Whatever? Whatsoever?_

LESSON XI.--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the FIFTH PRAXIS? 2. How many
definitions are here to be given for each part of speech? 3. How is the
following example parsed? "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest
against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast
thou made me thus?"

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Fifth Chapter_, or
the _Fifth Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
three lessons of _bad English_, with which the Fifth Chapter concludes.]

LESSON XII.--VERBS.

1. What is a VERB, and what are the examples given? 2. Why are verbs called
by that name? 3. Respecting an English verb, what things are to be sought
in the first place? 4. What is _the Present_? 5. What is _the Preterit_? 6.
What is _the Imperfect Participle_? 7. What is the _Perfect Participle_? 8.
How are verbs divided, with respect to their form? 9. What is a regular
verb? 10. What is an irregular verb? 11. What is a redundant verb? 12. What
is a defective verb? 13. How are verbs divided, with respect to their
signification? 14. What is an active-transitive verb? 15. What is an
active-intransitive verb? 16. What is a passive verb? 17. What is a neuter
verb? 18. What modifications have verbs? 19. What are _Moods_, in grammar?
20. How many moods are there, and what are they called? 21. What is the
infinitive mood? 22. What is the indicative mood? 23. What is the potential
mood? 24. What is the subjunctive mood? 25. What is the imperative mood?

LESSON XIII.--VERBS.

1. What are _Tenses_, in grammar? 2. How many tenses are there, and what
are they called? 3. What is the present tense? 4. What is the imperfect
tense? 5. What is the perfect tense? 6. What is the pluperfect tense? 7.
What is the first-future tense? 8. What is the second-future tense? 9. What
are the _Person_ and _Number_ of a verb? 10. How many persons and numbers
belong to verbs? 11. Why are not these things defined under the head of
verbs? 12. How are the second and third persons singular distinctively
formed? 13. How are the person and number of a verb ascertained, where no
peculiar ending is employed to mark them? 14. What is the conjugation of a
verb? 15. What are the PRINCIPAL PARTS in the conjugation of a verb? 16.
What is a verb called which wants some of these parts? 17. What is an
auxiliary, in grammar? 18. What verbs are used as auxiliaries? 19. What are
the inflections of the verb _do_, in its simple tenses? 20. What are the
inflections of the verb _be_, in its simple tenses? 21. What are the
inflections of the verb _have_, in its simple tenses? 22. What are the
inflections and uses of _shall_ and _will_? 23. What are the inflections
and uses of _may_? 24. What are the inflections and uses of _can_? 25. What
are the uses of _must_, which is uninflected? 26. To what style is the
inflecting of _shall, will, may, can, should, would, might_, and _could_,
now restricted?

LESSON XIV.--VERBS.

1. What is the simplest form of an English conjugation? 2. What is the
first example of conjugation? 3. What are the principal parts of the verb
LOVE? 4. How many and what tenses has the _infinitive_ mood?--the
_indicative_?--the _potential_?--the _subjunctive_?--the _imperative_? 9.
What is the verb LOVE in the _Infinitive_, present?--perfect?--
_Indicative_, present?--imperfect?--perfect?--pluperfect?--first-future?--
second-future?--_Potential_, present?--imperfect?--perfect?--pluperfect?--
_Subjunctive_, present?--imperfect?--_Imperative_, present? 24. What are
its participles?

LESSON XV.--VERBS.

1. What is the synopsis of the verb LOVE, in the first person
singular?--second person singular, solemn style?--third person
singular?--first person plural?--second person plural?--third person
plural? 7. If the second person singular of this verb be used familiarly,
how should it be formed?

LESSON XVI.--VERBS.

1. What is the second example of conjugation? 2. What are the principal
parts? 3. How is the verb SEE conjugated throughout? 4. How do you form a
synopsis of the verb _see_, with the pronoun _I? thou? he? we? you? they?_

LESSON XVII.--VERBS.

1. What is the third example of conjugation? 2. What are the principal
parts? 3. How is the verb BE conjugated? 4. How do you form a synopsis of
the verb _be_, with the nominative _I? thou? he? we? you? they? the man?
the men?_

LESSON XVIII.--VERBS.

1. What is the compound form of conjugating active or neuter verbs? 2. What
peculiar meaning does this form convey? 3. What is the fourth example of
conjugation? 4. What are the principal parts of the simple verb READ? 5.
How is the verb READ conjugated in the compound form? 6. How do you form a
synopsis of the verb BE READING, with the nominative _I? thou? he? we? you?
they? the boy? the boys?_

LESSON XIX.--VERBS.

1. How are passive verbs formed? 2. What is the fifth example of
conjugation? 3. How is the passive verb BE LOVED conjugated throughout? 4.
How do you form a synopsis of the verb BE LOVED, with the nominative _I?
thou? he? we? you? they? the child? the children?_

LESSON XX.--VERBS.

1. How is a verb conjugated negatively? 2. How is the form of negation
exemplified by the verb _love_ in the first person singular? 3. What is the
form of negation for the solemn style, second person singular? 4. What is
the form for the familiar style? 5. What is the negative form of the verb
_love_ with the pronoun _he_? 6. How is the verb conjugated
interrogatively? 7. What is the interrogative form of the verb _love_ with
the pronoun _I_? 8. What is the form of question in the solemn style, with
this verb in the second person singular? 9. How are such questions asked in
the familiar style? 10. What is the interrogative form of the verb _love_
with the pronoun _he_? 11. How is a verb conjugated interrogatively and
negatively? 12. How is the negative question exemplified in the first
person plural? 13. How is the negative question exemplified in the second
person plural? 14. How is the like synopsis formed in the third person
plural?

LESSON XXI.--VERBS.

1. What is an irregular verb? 2. How many simple irregular verbs are there?
3. What are the principal parts of the following verbs: Arise, be, bear,
beat, begin, behold, beset, bestead, bid, bind, bite, bleed, break, breed,
bring, buy, cast, chide, choose, cleave, cling, come, cost, cut, do, draw,
drink, drive, eat, fall, feed, feel, fight, find, flee, fling, fly,
forbear, forsake, get, give, go, grow, have, hear, hide, hit, hold, hurt,
keep, know, lead, leave, lend, let, lie, lose, make, meet, outdo, put,
read, rend, rid, ride, ring, rise, run, say, see, seek, sell, send, set,
shed, shoe, shoot, shut, shred, shrink, sing, sink, sit, slay, sling,
slink, smite, speak, spend, spin, spit, spread, spring, stand, steal,
stick, sting, stink, stride, strike, swear, swim, swing, take, teach, tear,
tell, think, thrust, tread, wear, win, write?

LESSON XXII.--VERBS.

1. What is a redundant verb? 2. How many redundant verbs are there? 3. What
are the principal parts of the following verbs: Abide, awake, belay, bend,
bereave, beseech, bet, betide, blend, bless, blow, build, burn, burst,
catch, clothe, creep, crow, curse, dare, deal, dig, dive, dream, dress,
dwell, freeze, geld, gild, gird, grave, grind, hang, heave, hew, kneel,
knit, lade, lay, lean, leap, learn, light, mean, mow, mulet, pass, pay,
pen, plead, prove, quit, rap, reave, rive, roast, saw, seethe, shake,
shape, shave, shear, shine, show, sleep, slide, slit, smell, sow, speed,
spell, spill, split, spoil, stave, stay, string, strive, strow, sweat,
sweep, swell, thrive, throw, wake, wax, weave, wed, weep, wet, whet, wind,
wont, work, wring? 4. What is a defective verb? 5. What verbs are
defective?

LESSON XXIII.--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the SIXTH PRAXIS? 2. How many
definitions are here to be given for each part of speech? 3. How is the
following example parsed? "The freedom of choice seems essential to
happiness; because, properly speaking, that is not our own which is imposed
upon us."

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Sixth Chapter_, or
the _Sixth Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
three lessons of _bad English_, with which the Sixth Chapter concludes.]

LESSON XXIV.--PARTICIPLES.

1. What is a PARTICIPLE, and how is it generally formed? 2. How many kinds
of participles are there, and what are they called? 3. What is the
imperfect participle? 4. What is the perfect participle? 5. What is the
preperfect participle? 6. How is the first or imperfect participle formed?
7. How is the second or perfect participle formed? 8. How is the third or
preperfect participle formed? 9. What are the participles of the following
verbs, according to the simplest form of conjugation: Repeat, study,
return, mourn, seem, rejoice, appear, approach, suppose, think, set, come,
rain, stand, know, deceive?

LESSON XXV.--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the SEVENTH PRAXIS? 2. How many
definitions are here to be given for each part of speech? 3. How is the
following example parsed: "Religion, rightly understood and practised, has
the purest of all joys attending it."

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Seventh Chapter_, or
the _Seventh Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
three lessons of _bad English_, with which the Seventh Chapter concludes.]

LESSON XXVI.--ADVERBS.

1. What is an ADVERB, and what is the example given? 2. To what general
classes may adverbs be reduced? 3. What are adverbs of time? 4. What are
adverbs of place? 5. What are adverbs of degree? 6. What are adverbs of
manner? 1. What are conjunctive adverbs? 8. Are all the conjunctive adverbs
included in the first four classes? 9. How may the adverbs of time be
subdivided? 10. How may the adverbs of place be subdivided? 11. How may the
adverbs of degree be subdivided? 12. How may the adverbs of manner be
subdivided? 13. What modifications have adverbs? 14. How do we compare
_well, badly_ or _ill, little, much, far_, and _forth_? 15. Of what degree
is the adverb _rather_? 16. What is said of the comparison of adverbs by
_more_ and _most, less_ and _least_?

LESSON XXVII.--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the EIGHTH PRAXIS? 2. How many
definitions are here to be given for each part of speech? 3. How is the
following example parsed? "When was it that Rome attracted most strongly
the admiration of mankind?"

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Eighth Chapter_, or
the _Eighth Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
lesson of _bad English_, with which the Eighth Chapter concludes.]

LESSON XXVIII.--CONJUNCTIONS.

1. What is a CONJUNCTION, and what is the example given? 2. Have we any
connective words besides the conjunctions? 3. How do relative pronouns
differ from other connectives? 4. How do conjunctive adverbs differ from
other connectives? 5. How do conjunctions differ from other connectives? 6.
How do prepositions differ from other connectives? 7. How are the
conjunctions divided? 8. What is a copulative conjunction? 9. What is a
disjunctive conjunction? 10. What are corresponsive conjunctions? 11. Which
are the copulative conjunctions? 12. Which are the disjunctive
conjunctions? 13. Which are the corresponsive conjunctions?

LESSON XXIX.--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the NINTH PRAXIS? 2. How many
definitions are here to be given for each part of speech? 3. How is the
following example parsed? "If thou hast done a good deed, boast not of it."

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Ninth Chapter_, or
the _Ninth Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
lesson of _bad English_, with which the Ninth Chapter concludes.]

LESSON XXX.--PREPOSITIONS.

1. What is a PREPOSITION, and what is the example given? 2. Are the
prepositions divided into classes? 3. Have prepositions any grammatical
modifications? 4. How are the prepositions arranged in the list? 5. What
are the prepositions beginning with _a_?--with _b_?--with _c_?--with
_d_?--with _e_?--with _f_?--with _i_?--with _m_?--with _n_?--with
_o_?--with _p_?--with _r_?--with _s_?--with _t_?--with _u_?--with _w_? 21.
Does this list contain all the words that are ever used in English as
prepositions?

LESSON XXXI.--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the TENTH PRAXIS? 2. How many
definitions are here to be given for each part of speech? 3. How is the
following example parsed? "Never adventure on too near an approach to what
is evil?"

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Tenth Chapter_, or
the _Tenth Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
lesson of _bad English_, with which the Tenth Chapter concludes.]

LESSON XXXII.--INTERJECTIONS.

1. What is an INTERJECTION, and what are the examples given? 2. Why are
interjections so called? 3. How are the interjections arranged in the list?
4. What are the interjections of joy?--of praise?--of sorrow?--of
wonder?--of wishing or earnestness?--of pain or fear?--of contempt?--of
aversion?--of calling aloud?--of exultation?--of laughter?--of
salutation?--of calling to attention?--of calling to silence?--of surprise
or horror?--of languor?--of stopping?--of parting?--of knowing or
detecting?--of interrogating?

LESSON XXXIII.--PARSING.

1. What is required of the pupil in the ELEVENTH PRAXIS? How many
definitions are here given for each part of speech? 3. How is the following
example parsed? "O! sooner shall the earth and stars fall into chaos!"

[Now parse, in like manner, the three lessons of the _Eleventh Chapter_, or
the _Eleventh Praxis_; and then, if you please, you may correct orally the
lesson of _bad English_, with which the Eleventh Chapter concludes.]




CHAPTER XIII.--FOR WRITING.

EXERCISES IN ETYMOLOGY.

[When the pupil has become familiar with the different parts of speech, and
their classes and modifications, and has been sufficiently exercised in
etymological parsing and correcting, he should write out the following
exercises; for speech and writing afford us different modes of testing the
proficiency of students, and exercises in both are necessary to a complete
course of English Grammar.]

EXERCISE I.--ARTICLES.

1. Prefix the definite article to each of the following nouns: path, paths;
loss, losses; name, names; page, pages; want, wants; doubt, doubts; votary,
votaries.

2. Prefix the indefinite article to each of the following nouns: age,
error, idea, omen, urn, arch, bird, cage, dream, empire, farm, grain,
horse, idol, jay, king, lady, man, novice, opinion, pony, quail, raven,
sample, trade, uncle, vessel, window, youth, zone, whirlwind, union, onion,
unit, eagle, house, honour, hour, herald, habitation, hospital, harper,
harpoon, ewer, eye, humour.

3. Insert the definite article rightly in the following phrases: George
Second--fair appearance--part first--reasons most obvious--good man--wide
circle--man of honour--man of world--old books--common people--same
person--smaller piece--rich and poor--first and last--all time--great
excess--nine muses--how rich reward--so small number--all ancient
writers--in nature of things--much better course.

4. Insert the indefinite article rightly in each of the following phrases:
new name--very quick motion--other sheep--such power--what instance--great
weight--such worthy cause--to great difference--high honour--humble
station--universal law--what strange event--so deep interest--as firm
hope--so great wit--humorous story--such person--few dollars--little
reflection.


EXERCISE II.--NOUNS.

1. Write the plurals of the following nouns: town, country, case, pin,
needle, harp, pen, sex, rush, arch, marsh, monarch, blemish, distich,
princess, gas, bias, stigma, wo, grotto, folio, punctilio, ally, duty, toy,
money, entry, valley, volley, half, dwarf, strife, knife, roof, muff,
staff, chief, sheaf, mouse, penny, ox, foot, erratum, axis, thesis,
criterion, bolus, rebus, son-in-law, pailful, man-servant, fellow-citizen.

2. Write the feminines corresponding to the following nouns: earl, friar,
stag, lord, duke, marquis, hero, executor, nephew, heir, actor, enchanter,
hunter, prince, traitor, lion, arbiter, tutor, songster, abbot, master,
uncle, widower, son, landgrave.

3. Write the possessive case singular, of the following nouns: table, leaf,
boy, torch, park, porch, portico, lynx, calf, sheep, wolf, echo, folly,
cavern, father-in-law, court-martial, precipice, countess, lordship.

4. Write the possessive case plural, of the following nouns: priest, tutor,
scholar, mountain, city, courtier, judge, citizen, woman, servant, writer,
grandmother.

5. Write the possessive case, both singular and plural, of the following
nouns: body, fancy, lady, attorney, negro, nuncio, life, brother, deer,
child, wife, goose, beau, envoy, distaff, hero, thief, wretch.


EXERCISE III.--ADJECTIVES.

1. Annex a suitable noun to each of the following adjectives, without
repeating any word: good, great, tall, wise, strong, dark, dangerous,
dismal, drowsy, twenty, true, difficult, pale, livid, ripe, delicious,
stormy, rainy, convenient, heavy, disastrous, terrible, necessary.
Thus--good _manners_, &c.

2. Place a suitable adjective before each of the following nouns, without
repeating any word: man, son, merchant, work, fence, fear, poverty,
picture, prince, delay, suspense, devices, follies, actions. Thus--_wise_
man, &c.

3. Write the forms in which the following adjectives are compared by
inflection, or change of form: black, bright, short, white, old, high, wet,
big, few, lovely, dry, fat, good, bad, little, much, many, far, true, just,
vast.

4. Write the forms in which the following adjectives are compared, using
the adverbs of increase: delightful, comfortable, agreeable, pleasant,
fortunate, valuable, wretched, vivid, timid, poignant, excellent, sincere,
honest, correct.

5. Write the forms in which the following adjectives are compared, using
the comparative adverbs of inferiority or diminution: objectionable,
formidable, forcible, comely, pleasing, obvious, censurable, prudent,
imprudent, imperfect, pleasant, unpleasant.


EXERCISE IV.--PRONOUNS.

1. Write the nominative plural of the following pronouns: I, thou, he, she,
it, who, which, what, that, as.

2. Write the objective singular of the following pronouns: I, thou, he,
she, it, who, which, what, that, as.

3. Write the following words in their customary and proper forms: he's,
her's, it's, our's, your's, their's, who's, myself, hisself, theirselves.

4. Write together in declension the following pronouns, according to the
agreement of each two: I myself, thou thyself, he himself, she herself it
itself.

5. Rewrite the following sentences, and make them good English: "Nor is the
criminal binding any thing: but was, his self, being bound."--_Wrights
Gram._, p. 193. "The writer surely did not mean, that the work was
preparing its self."--_Ib._ "_May_, or _can_, in its self, denotes
possibility."--_Ib._, p. 216. "Consequently those in connection with the
remaining pronouns respectively, should be written,--he, _his self_;--she,
_her self_;--ye or you, _your selves_; they, _their selves_."--_Ib._, p.
154. "Lest their beacons be lost to the view, and their selves wrecked on
the shoals of destruction."--_Ib._, p. 155. "In the regal style, as
generally in the second person, the singular noun is added to the plural
pronoun, _ourself_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 78. "Each has it's peculiar
advantages."--_Ib._, p. 283. "Who his ownself bare our sins in his own body
on the tree."--_The Friend_, iv, 302. "It is difficult to look inwardly on
oneself."--_Journal of N. Y. Lit. Convention_. p. 287.


EXERCISE V.--VERBS.

1. Write the four principal parts of each of the following verbs: slip,
thrill, caress, force, release, crop, try, die, obey, delay, destroy, deny,
buy, come, do, feed, lie, say, huzza, pretend, deliver, arrest.

2. Write the following preterits, each in its appropriate form: exprest,
stript, dropt, jumpt, prest, topt, whipt, linkt, propt, fixt, crost, stept,
distrest, gusht, confest, snapt, skipt, kist, discust, tackt.

3. Write the following verbs in the indicative mood, present tense, second
person singular: move, strive, please, reach, confess, fix, deny, survive,
know, go, outdo, close, lose, pursue, defend, surpass, conquer, deliver,
enlighten, protect, polish.

4. Write the following verbs in the indicative mood, present tense, third
person singular: leave, seem, search, impeach, fear, redress, comply,
bestow, do, woo, sue, view, allure, rely, beset, release, be, bias, compel,
degrade, efface, garnish, handle, induce.

5. Write the following verbs in the subjunctive mood, present tense, in the
three persons singular: serve, shun, turn, learn, find, wish, throw, dream,
possess, detest, disarm, allow, pretend, expose, alarm, deprive,
transgress.


EXERCISE VI.--VERBS.

1. Write a synopsis of the first person singular of the active verb
_amuse_, conjugated affirmatively.

2. Write a synopsis of the second person singular of the neuter verb _sit_,
conjugated affirmatively in the solemn style.

3. Write a synopsis of the third person singular of the active verb
_speak_, conjugated affirmatively in the compound form.

4. Write a synopsis of the first person plural of the passive verb _be
reduced_, conjugated affirmatively.

5. Write a synopsis of the second person plural of the active verb _lose_,
conjugated negatively.

6. Write a synopsis of the third person plural of the neuter verb _stand_,
conjugated interrogatively.

7. Write a synopsis of the first person singular of the active verb
_derive_, conjugated interrogatively and negatively.


EXERCISE VII.--PARTICIPLES.

1. Write the simple imperfect participles of the following verbs: belong,
provoke, degrade, impress, fly, do, survey, vie, coo, let, hit, put, defer,
differ, remember.

2. Write the perfect participles of the following verbs: turn, burn, learn,
deem, crowd, choose, draw, hear, lend, sweep, tear, thrust, steal, write,
delay, imply, exist.

3. Write the preperfect participles of the following verbs: depend, dare,
deny, value, forsake, bear, set, sit, lay, mix, speak, sleep, allot.

4. Write the following participles each in its appropriate form: dipt,
deckt, markt, equipt, ingulft, embarrast, astonisht, tost, embost, absorpt,
attackt, gasht, soakt, hackt.

5. Write the regular participles which are now generally preferred to the
following irregular ones: blent, blest, clad, curst, diven, drest, graven,
hoven, hewn, knelt, leant, leapt, learnt, lit, mown, mulct, past, pent,
quit, riven, roast, sawn, sodden, shaven, shorn, sown, striven, strown,
sweat, swollen, thriven, waxen.

6. Write the irregular participles which are commonly preferred to the
following regular ones: abided, bended, builded, bursted, catched, creeped,
dealed, digged, dwelled, freezed, grinded, knitted, layed, meaned, payed,
reaved, slided, speeded, splitted, stringed, sweeped, throwed, weaved,
weeped, winded.


EXERCISE VIII.--ADVERBS, &c.

1. Compare the following adverbs: soon, often, long, fast, near, early,
well, badly _or_ ill, little, much, far, forth.

2. Place the comparative adverbs of increase before each of the following
adverbs: purely, fairly, sweetly, earnestly, patiently, completely,
fortunately, profitably, easily.

3. Place the comparative adverbs of diminution before each of the following
adverbs: secretly, slily, liberally, favourably, powerfully, solemnly.

4. Insert suitable conjunctions in place of the following dashes:
Love--fidelity are inseparable. Be shy of parties--factions. Do well--boast
not. Improve time--it flies. There would be few paupers--no time were lost.
Be not proud--thou art human. I saw--it was necessary. Wisdom is
better--wealth. Neither he--I can do it. Wisdom--folly governs us. Take
care--thou fall. Though I should boast--am I nothing.

5. Insert suitable prepositions in place of the following dashes:
Plead--the dumb. Qualify thyself--action--study. Think often--the
worth--time. Live--peace--all men. Keep--compass. Jest not--serious
subjects. Take no part--slander. Guilt starts--its own shadow. Grudge
not--giving. Go not--sleep--malice. Debate not--temptation. Depend not--the
stores--others. Contend not--trifles. Many fall--grasping--things--their
reach. Be deaf--detraction.

6. Correct the following sentences, and adapt the interjections to the
emotions expressed by the other words: Aha! aha! I am undone. Hey! io! I am
tired. Ho! be still. Avaunt! this way. Ah! what nonsense. Heigh-ho! I am
delighted. Hist! it is contemptible. Oh! for that sympathetic glow! Ah!
what withering phantoms glare!




PART III.


SYNTAX.

Syntax treats of the relation, agreement, government, and arrangement, of
words in sentences. The _relation_ of words is their reference to other
words, or their dependence according to the sense.

The _agreement_ of words is their similarity in person, number, gender,
case, mood, tense, or form.

The _government_ of words is that power which one word has over an other,
to cause it to assume some particular modification.

The _arrangement_ of words is their collocation, or relative position, in a
sentence.




CHAPTER I.--SENTENCES.

A _Sentence_ is an assemblage of words, making complete sense, and always
containing a nominative and a verb; as, "Reward sweetens labour."

The _principal parts_ of a sentence are usually three; namely, the SUBJECT,
or nominative,--the attribute, or finite VERB,--and the case put after, or
the OBJECT[322] governed by the verb: as, "_Crimes deserve punishment_."

The _other_ or _subordinate parts_ depend upon these, either as primary or
as secondary _adjuncts_; as, "_High_ crimes _justly_ deserve _very severe_
punishments."

Sentences are usually said to be of two kinds, _simple_ and
_compound_.[323]

A _simple sentence_ is a sentence which consists of one single assertion,
supposition, command, question, or exclamation; as, "David and Jonathan
loved each other."--"If thine enemy hunger."--"Do violence to no man."--"Am
I not an apostle?"--_1 Cor._, ix, 1. "What immortal glory shall I have
acquired!"--HOOKE: _Mur. Seq._, p. 71.

A _compound sentence_ is a sentence which consists of two or more simple
ones either expressly or tacitly connected; as, "Send men to Joppa, _and_
call for Simon, _whose_ surname is Peter; _who_ shall tell thee words,
_whereby_ thou and all thy house shall be saved."--_Acts_, xi, 13. "The
more the works of Cowper are read, the more his readers will find reason to
admire the variety and the extent, the graces and the energy, of his
literary talents."--HAYLEY: _Mur. Seq._, p. 250.

A _clause_, or _member_, is a subdivision of a compound sentence; and is
itself a sentence, either simple or compound: as, "If thine enemy be
hungry, give him bread to eat; if he be thirsty, give him water to
drink."--_Prov._, xxv, 21.[324]

A _phrase_ is two or more words which express some relation of different
ideas, but no entire proposition; as, "By the means appointed."--"To be
plain with you."--"Having loved his own."

Words that are omitted by _ellipsis_, and that are necessarily understood
in order to complete the construction, (and only such,) must be supplied in
parsing.

The _leading principles_ to be observed in the construction of sentences,
are embraced in the following twenty-four rules, which are arranged, as
nearly as possible, in the order of the parts of speech.



THE RULES OF SYNTAX.


RULE I.--ARTICLES.

Articles relate to the nouns which they limit.


RULE II.--NOMINATIVES.

A Noun or a Pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the
nominative case.


RULE III.--APPOSITION.  A Noun or a personal Pronoun used to explain a
preceding noun or pronoun, is put, by apposition, in the same case.


RULE IV.--POSSESSIVES.

A Noun or a Pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the name of the
thing possessed.


RULE V.--OBJECTIVES.

A Noun or a Pronoun made the object of an active-transitive verb or
participle, is governed by it in the objective case.


RULE VI.--SAME CASES.

A Noun or a Pronoun put after a verb or participle not transitive, agrees
in case with a preceding noun or pronoun referring to the same thing.


RULE VII.--OBJECTIVES.

A Noun or a Pronoun made the object of a preposition, is governed by it in
the objective case.


RULE VIII.--NOM. ABSOLUTE.

A Noun or a Pronoun is put absolute in the nominative, when its case
depends on no other word.


RULE IX.--ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives relate to nouns or pronouns.


RULE X.--PRONOUNS.

A Pronoun must agree with its antecedent, or the noun or pronoun which it
represents, in person, number, and gender.


RULE XI--PRONOUNS.

When the antecedent is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality,
the Pronoun must agree with it in the plural number.


RULE XII.--PRONOUNS.

When a Pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _and_, it must
agree with them jointly in the plural, because they are taken together.


RULE XIII.--PRONOUNS.

When a Pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _or_ or _nor_, it
must agree with them singly, and not as if taken together.


RULE XIV.--FINITE VERBS.

Every finite Verb must agree with its subject, or nominative, in person and
number.


RULE XV.--FINITE VERBS.

When the nominative is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality,
the Verb must agree with it in the plural number.


RULE XVI.--FINITE VERBS.

When a Verb has two or more nominatives connected by _and_, it must agree
with them jointly in the plural, because they are taken together.


RULE XVII.--FINITE VERBS.

When a Verb has two or more nominatives connected by _or_ or _nor_, it must
agree with them singly, and not as if taken together.


RULE XVIII.--INFINITIVES.

The Infinitive Mood is governed in general by the preposition TO, which
commonly connects it to a finite verb.


RULE XIX.--INFINITIVES.

The active verbs, _bid, dare, feel, hear, let, make, need, see_, and their
participles, usually take the Infinitive after them without the preposition
TO.


RULE XX.--PARTICIPLES.

Participles relate to nouns or pronouns, or else are governed by
prepositions.


RULE XXI.--ADVERBS.

Adverbs relate to verbs, participles, adjectives, or other adverbs.


RULE XXII.--CONJUNCTIONS.

Conjunctions connect words, sentences, or parts of sentences.


RULE XXIII.--PREPOSITIONS.

Prepositions show the relations of words, and of the things or thoughts
expressed by them.


RULE XXIV.--INTERJECTIONS.

Interjections have no dependent construction; they are put absolute, either
alone, or with other words.


GENERAL OR CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS ON SYNTAX.

OBS. 1.--An explanation of the relation, agreement, government, and
arrangement, of words in sentences, constitutes that part of grammar which
we call _Syntax_. But many grammarians, representing this branch of their
subject as consisting of two parts only, "_concord_ and _government_" say
little or nothing of the _relation_ and _arrangement_ of words, except as
these are involved in the others. The four things are essentially different
in their nature, as may be seen by the definitions given above, yet not so
distinct in practice that they can well be made the basis of any perfect
division of the rules of syntax. I have therefore, on this occasion,
preferred the order of the parts of speech; each of which will form a
chapter in the Syntax of this work, as each forms a chapter in the
Etymology.

OBS. 2.--_Agreement_ and _concord_ are one and the same thing. _Relation_
and _agreement_, though different, may yet coincide, and be taken together.
The latter is moreover naturally allied to the former. Seven of the ten
parts of speech are, with a few exceptions, incapable of any agreement; of
these the _relation_ and _use_ must be explained in parsing; and all
_requisite agreement_ between any of the rest, is confined to words that
_relate_ to each other. For one word may _relate_ to an other and not
_agree_ with it; but there is never any _necessary agreement_ between words
that have not a _relation_ one to the other, or a connexion according to
the sense. Any similarity happening between unconnected words, is no
syntactical concord, though it may rank the terms in the same class
etymologically.

OBS. 3.--From these observations it may be seen, that the most important
and most comprehensive principle of English syntax, is the simple
_Relation_ of words, according to the sense. To this head alone, ought to
be referred all the rules of construction by which our articles, our
nominatives, our adjectives, our participles, our adverbs, our
conjunctions, our prepositions, and our interjections, are to be parsed. To
the ordinary syntactical use of any of these, no rules of concord,
government, or position, can at all apply. Yet so defective and erroneous
are the schemes of syntax which are commonly found in our English grammars,
that _no rules_ of simple relation, none by which any of the above-named
parts of speech can be consistently parsed, are in general to be found in
them. If there are any exceptions to this censure, they are very few, and
in treatises still marked with glaring defects in regard to the syntax of
some of these parts of speech.

OBS. 4.--Grammarians, of course, do not utter falsehoods intentionally; but
it is lamentable to see how often they pervert doctrine by untruths uttered
ignorantly. It is the design of this pandect, to make every one who reads
it, an intelligent judge of the _perversions_, as well as of the true
doctrines, of English grammar. The following citations will show him the
scope and parts which have commonly been assigned to our syntax: "The
construction of sentences depends principally upon the _concord_ or
_agreement_, and the _regimen_ or _government_, of words."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 68; _Churchill's_, 120. "Words in sentences have a _twofold
relation_ to one another; namely, that of _Concord_ or Agreement; and that
of _Government_ or Influence."--_Dr. Adam's Latin and English Grammar_, p.
151. "The third part of Grammar is SYNTAX, which treats of the _agreement
and construction_ of words in a sentence."--_E. G. Greene's Grammatical
Text-Book_, p. 15. "Syntax principally consists of two parts, _Concord_ and
_Government_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 142; _Ingersoll's_, 170; _Alger's_,
51; _R. C. Smith's_, 119; and many others. "Syntax consists of two parts,
_Concord_ and _Government_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 175; _Wright's_, 124.
"The Rules of Syntax may all be included under three heads, _Concord,
Government_, and _Position_."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 87. "_Position_
means the _place_ which a word occupies in a sentence."--_Ib._ "These rules
may be mostly ranked under the two heads of _agreement_ and _government_;
the remainder may be termed _miscellaneous_."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 92.
"Syntax treats of the agreement, government and proper arrangement of words
in _a sentence_."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 43. This last-named author,
in touching the text of my books, has often _corrupted_ it, as he does
here; but my definitions of _the tenses_ he copied without marring them
much. The borrowing occurred as early as 1828, and I add this notice now,
lest any should suppose _me_ the plagiarist.

OBS. 5.--Most of our English grammars have _more_ rules of syntax than are
needed, and yet are very deficient in _such_ as are needed. To say, as some
do, that articles, adjectives, and participles, _agree_ with nouns, is to
teach Greek or Latin syntax, and not English. To throw, as Nutting does,
the whole syntax of adverbs into a remark on _such a rule of agreement_, is
to choose disorder for its own sake. To say, with Frost, Hall, Smith,
Perley, Kirkham, Sanborn, Rand, and others, "The nominative case _governs_
the verb in number and person," and again, "A verb must _agree_ with its
nominative case in number and person," is to confound the meaning of
_government_ and _agreement_, to say the same thing in different words, and
to leave the subject of a verb still without a rule: for rules of
government are applicable only to the words governed, and nothing ever
agrees with that which governs it.[325] To say, with Murray and others,
"Participles have the same government as the verbs from which they are
derived," is to say nothing by which either verbs or participles may be
parsed, or any of their errors corrected: those many grammarians,
therefore, who make this their only rule for participles, leave them all
without any syntax. To say, with Murray, Alger, and others, "Adverbs,
_though they have no government of case, tense, &c._, require an
appropriate _situation_ in the sentence," is to squander words at random,
and leave the important question unanswered, "To what do adverbs relate?"
To say again, with the same gentlemen, "Conjunctions connect _the same
moods and tenses of verbs, and cases_ of nouns and pronouns," is to put an
ungrammatical, obscure, and useless assertion, in the place of an important
rule. To say merely, "Prepositions govern the objective case," is to rest
all the syntax of prepositions on a rule that never applies to them, but
which is meant only for one of the constructions of the objective case. To
say, as many do, "Interjections _require_ the objective case of a pronoun
of the first person after them, and the nominative case of the second," is
to tell what is utterly false as the words stand, and by no means true in
the sense which the authors intend. Finally, to suppose, with Murray, that,
"the Interjection _does not require a distinct, appropriate rule_," is in
admirable keeping with all the foregoing quotations, and especially with
his notion of what it _does_ require; namely, "the _objective case_ of the
first person:" but who dares deny that the following exclamation is good
English?

   "_O_ wretched _we!_ why were we hurried down
    This lubric and adulterate age!"--_Dryden_.

OBS. 6.--The _truth_ of any doctrine in science, can be nothing else than
its conformity to facts, or to the nature of things; and chiefly by what he
knows of the things themselves, must any one judge of what others say
concerning them. Erroneous or inadequate views, confused or inconsistent
statements, are the peculiar property of those who advance them; they have,
in reality, no relationship to science itself, because they originate in
ignorance; but all science is knowledge--it is knowledge methodized. What
general rules are requisite for the syntactical parsing of the several
parts of speech in English, may be seen at once by any one who will
consider for a moment the usual construction of each. The correction of
false syntax, in its various forms, will require more--yes, five times as
many; but such of these as answer only the latter purpose, are, I think,
better reserved for notes under the principal rules. The doctrines which I
conceive most worthy to form the leading canons of our syntax, are those
which are expressed in the twenty-four rules above. If other authors
prefer more, or fewer, or different principles for their chief rules, I
must suppose, it is because they have studied the subject less. Biased, as
we may be, both by our knowledge and by our ignorance, it is easy for men
to differ respecting matters of _expediency_; but that clearness, order,
and consistency, are both _expedient_, and _requisite_, in didactic
compositions, is what none can doubt.

OBS. 7.--Those English grammarians who tell us, as above, that syntax is
divided into _parts_, or included under a certain number of _heads_, have
almost universally contradicted themselves by treating the subject without
any regard to such a division; and, at the same time, not a few have
somehow been led into the gross error of supposing broad principles of
concord or government where no such things exist. For example, they have
invented general RULES like these: "The adjective _agrees_ with its noun in
number, case, and gender."--_Bingham's English Gram._, p. 40.
"Interjections _govern_ the nominative case, and sometimes the objective:
as, '_O thou! alas me!_'"--_Ib._, p. 43. "Adjectives _agree_ with their
nouns in number."--_Wilbur and Livingston's Gram._, p. 22. "Participles
_agree_ with their nouns in number."--_Ib._, p. 23. "Every adjective
_agrees in number_ with some substantive expressed or understood."--
_Hiley's Gram._, Rule 8th, p. 77. "The article THE _agrees_ with nouns in
either number: as, _The wood, the woods_."--_Bucke's Classical Grammar of
the English Language_, p. 84. "O! oh! ah! _require_ the accusative case of
a pronoun in the first person after them: as '_Ah me!_' But when the second
person is used, _it requires_ a nominative case: as, '_O thou!_'"--_Ib._,
p. 87. "Two or more Nominatives in the singular number, connected by the
Conjunction _or, nor_, EITHER, NEITHER, _govern_ a singular Verb. But
Pronouns singular, of different persons, joined by _or_, EITHER, _nor_,
NEITHER, _govern_ a plural Verb."--_Ib._, p. 94. "One Nominative frequently
_governs_ many Verbs."--_Ib._, p. 95. "Participles are sometimes _governed_
by the article."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 192. "An adverb, an adjective,
or a participle, may involve in itself the force of _a preposition, and
govern_ the objective case."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 99. "The nominative
case _governs_ the verb." [326]--_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 32; _Kirkham's_,
176; and others. "The nominative case _comes before_ the verb."--_Bingham's
Gram._, p. 38; _Wilbur and Livingston's_, 23. "The Verb TO BE, _always
governs_ a Nominative, _unless it be_ of the Infinitive Mood."--_Buchanan's
Syntax_, p. 94. "A verb in the infinitive mood _may be governed_ by a verb,
noun, adjective, participle, or pronoun."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 187. Or,
(as a substitute for the foregoing rule,) say, according to this author: "A
verb in the infinitive mood, _refers_ to some noun or pronoun, as its
subject or actor."--_Ib._, p. 188. Now what does he know of English
grammar, who supposes any of these rules to be worthy of the place which
they hold, or have held, in the halls of instruction?

OBS. 8.--It is a very common fault with the compilers of English grammars,
to join together in the same rule the syntax of different parts of speech,
uniting laws that must ever be applied separately in parsing. For example:
"RULE XI. Articles and adjectives _relate to nouns_ expressed or
understood; and the adjectives _this, that, one, two_, must agree in number
with the nouns to which they relate."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 87. Now, in
parsing an _article_, why should the learner have to tell all this story
about _adjectives_? Such a mode of expressing the rule, is certainly in bad
taste; and, after all, the syntax of adjectives is not here comprised, for
they often relate to pronouns. "RULE III. Every adjective and participle
_belongs_ to some noun or pronoun expressed or understood."--_Frost's El.
of Gram._, p. 44. Here a compiler who in his etymology supposes participles
to be _verbs_, allows them no other construction than that of _adjectives_.
His rule implicitly denies that they can either be parts of their verbs in
the formation of _tenses_, or be governed by prepositions in the character
of _gerunds_. To suppose that a _noun_ may govern the objective case, is
both absurd in itself, and contrary to all authority; yet, among his
forty-nine rules, this author has the following: "RULE XXV. A participial
_noun_ is sometimes governed by a preposition, and _may govern an objective
case_; as, 'George is too fond of _wasting time_ in trifles.'"--_Frost's
El. of Gram._, p. 47. Here again is the fault of which I am speaking, two
rules in one; and this fault is combined with an other still worse.
_Wasting_ is a participle, governed by _of_; and _time_ is a _noun_,
governed by _wasting_. The latter is a declinable word, and found in the
objective case; the former is indeclinable, and found in no case. It is an
error to suppose that cases are the only things which are susceptible of
being governed; nor is the brief rule, "Prepositions govern the objective
case," so very clear a maxim as never to be misapprehended. If the learner
infer from it, that _all_ prepositions must necessarily govern the
objective case, or that the objective case _is always_ governed by a
preposition, he will be led into a great mistake.

OBS. 9.--This error of crowding things together, is still more conspicuous
in the following examples: "RULE IV. Every article, adjective, and
participle, _must qualify_ some noun, or pronoun, either expressed or
understood."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 94. "RULE IX. The objective case is
governed by a transitive verb or a preposition, usually coming before
it."--_Ib._, p. 98. Here an author who separates participles from verbs,
has attempted first to compress the entire syntax of three different parts
of speech into one short rule; and, secondly, to embrace all the forms of
dependence, incident to objective nouns and pronouns, in an other as short.
This brevity is a poor exchange for the order and distribution which it
prevents--especially as none of its objects are here reached. Articles do
not relate to pronouns, unless the obsolete phrase _the which_ is to be
revived;[327] participles have other constructions than those which
adjectives admit; there are exceptions to the rules which tie articles to
nouns, and adjectives to nouns or pronouns; and the objective case may not
only be governed by a participle, but may be put in apposition with an
other objective. The objective case in English usually stands for the Latin
genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative; hence any rule that shall
embrace the whole construction of this one case, will be the sole
counterpart to four fifths of all the rules in any code of Latin syntax.
For I imagine the construction of these four oblique cases, will be found
to occupy at least that proportion of the syntactical rules and notes in
any Latin grammar that can be found. Such rules, however, are often placed
under false or equivocal titles;[328] as if they contained the construction
of the _governing_ words, rather than that of the _governed_. And this
latter error, again, has been transferred to most of our English grammars,
to the exclusion of any rule for the proper construction of participles, of
adverbs, of conjunctions, of prepositions, or of interjections. See the
syntax of Murray and his copyists, whose treatment of these parts of speech
is noticed in the fifth observation above.

OBS. 10.--It is doubtless most convenient, that, in all rules for the
construction of _cases_, nouns and pronouns be taken together; because the
very same doctrines apply equally well to both, and a case is as distinct a
thing in the mind, as a part of speech. This method, therefore, I have
myself pursued; and it has indeed the authority of all grammarians--not
excepting those who violate its principles by adopting two special rules
for the relative pronoun, which are not needed. These special rules, which
I shall notice again hereafter, may be seen in Murray's Rule 6th, which is
double, and contains them both. The most complex rule that I have admitted,
is that which embraces the government of objectives by verbs and
participles. The regimen by verbs, and the regimen by participles, may not
improperly be reckoned distinct principles; but the near alliance of
participles to their verbs, seems to be a sufficient reason for preferring
one rule to two, in this instance.

OBS. 11.--An other common fault in the treatment of this part of grammar,
is the practice of making many of the rules _double_, or even _triple_, in
their form. Of L. Murray's twenty-two rules, for instance, there are six
which severally consist of two distinct paragraphs; and one is composed of
three such parts, with examples under each. Five others, though simple in
their form, are complex in their doctrine, and liable to the objections
which have been urged above against this characteristic. These twelve,
therefore, I either reject entirely from my catalogue, or divide and
simplify to fit them for their purpose. In short, by comparing the
twenty-two rules which were adopted by this popular grammarian, with the
twenty-four which are given in this work, the reader may see, that twelve
of the former have pleased me too little to have any place at all among the
latter, and that none of the remaining ten have been thought worthy to be
copied without considerable alteration. Nor are the rules which I adopt,
more nearly coincident with those of any other writer. I do not proffer to
the schools the second-hand instructions of a mere compiler. In his
twenty-two rules, independently of their examples, Hurray has used six
hundred and seventeen words, thus giving an average of twenty-eight to each
rule; whereas in the twenty-four rules which are presented above, the words
are but four hundred and thirty-six, making the average less than nineteen.
And yet I have not only divided some of his propositions and extended
others, but, by rejecting what was useless or erroneous, and filling up the
deficiencies which mark his code, I have delivered twice the amount of
doctrine in two thirds of the space, and furnished eleven important rules
which are not contained in his grammar. Thus much, in this place, to those
who so frequently ask, "Wherein does your book differ from Murray's?"

OBS. 12.--Of all the systems of syntax, or of grammar, which it has been my
fortune to examine, a book which was first published by Robinson and
Franklin of New York in 1839, a fair-looking duodecimo volume of 384 pages,
under the brief but rather ostentatious title, "THE GRAMMAR _of the English
Language_" is, I think, the most faulty,--the most remarkable for the
magnitude, multitude, and variety, of its strange errors, inconsistencies,
and defects. This singular performance is the work of _Oliver B. Peirce_,
an itinerant lecturer on grammar, who dates his preface at "Rome, N. Y.,
December 29th, 1838." Its leading characteristic is boastful innovation; it
being fall of acknowledged "contempt for the works of other writers."--P.
379. It lays "claim to _singularity_" as a merit, and boasts of a new thing
under the sun--"in a theory RADICALLY NEW, a Grammar of the English
Language; something which I believe," says the author, "has NEVER BEFORE
BEEN FOUND."--P. 9. The old scholastic notion, that because Custom is the
arbitress of speech, novelty is excluded from grammar, this hopeful
reformer thoroughly condemns; "repudiating this sentiment to the full
extent of it," (_ib._) and "writing his theory as though he had never seen
a book, entitled an English Grammar."--_Ib._ And, for all the ends of good
learning, it would have been as well or better, if he never had. His
passion for novelty has led him not only to abandon or misapply, in an
unprecedented degree, the usual terms of the art, but to disregard in many
instances its most unquestionable principles, universal as well as
particular. His parts of speech are the following ten: "Names, Substitutes,
_Asserters_, Adnames, Modifiers, Relatives, Connectives, Interrogatives,
Repliers, and Exclamations."--_The Gram._, p. 20. His _names_ are nouns;
his _substitutes_ are pronouns, and any adjectives whose nouns are not
expressed; his _asserters_ are verbs and participles, though the latter
assert nothing; his _adnames_ are articles, adjectives whose nouns or
pronouns are expressed, and adverbs that relate to adjectives; his
_modifiers_ are such adverbs as "modify the sense or sound of a whole
sentence;" his _relatives_ are prepositions, some of which _govern no
object_; his _connectives_ are conjunctions, with certain adverbs and
phrases; his _interrogatives_ and _repliers_ are new parts of speech, very
lamely explained; his _exclamations_ are interjections, and "_phrases used
independently_; as, O hapless choice!"--_The Gram._, p. 22. In parsing, he
finds a world of "_accommodatives_;" as, "John is _more than five years_
older than William."--_Ib._ p. 202. Here he calls the whole phrase "_more
than five years_" "a secondary _adname_" i. e., _adjective_. But, in the
phrase, "_more than five years_ afterwards," he would call the same words
"a secondary _modifier_;" i. e., _adverb_.--_Ib._, p. 203. And, in the
phrase, "_more than five years_ before the war," he would call them "a
secondary _relative_;" i. e., _preposition_.--_Ib._, p. 204. And so of
other phrases innumerable. His cases are five, two of which are new, "the
_Independent_" and "the _Twofold_ case." His "_independent_ case" is
sometimes the nominative in form, as "_thou_" and "_she_;" (p. 62;)
sometimes the objective, as, "_me_" and "_him_;" (p. 62 and p. 199;)
sometimes erroneously supposed to be the subject of a finite verb; while
_his nominative_ is sometimes as erroneously said to have _no_ verb. His
code of syntax has two sorts of rules, Analytical and Synthetical. The
former are professedly seventeen in number; but, many of them consisting of
two, three, or four distinct parts, their real number is more properly
thirty-four. The latter are reckoned forty-five; but if we count their
separate parts, they are fifty-six: and these with the others make
_ninety_. I shall not particularize their faults. All of them are
whimsically conceived and badly written. In short, had the author artfully
designed to turn English grammar into a subject of contempt and ridicule,
by as ugly a caricature of it as he could possibly invent, he could never
have hit the mark more exactly than he has done in this "_new
theory_"--this rash production, on which he so sincerely prides himself.
Alone as he is, in well-nigh all his opinions, behold how prettily he talks
of "COMMON SENSE, the only sure foundation of any theory!" and says, "On
this imperishable foundation--this rock of eternal endurance--I rear my
superstructure, _the edifice of scientific truth_, the temple of
Grammatical consistency!"--_Peirce's Preface_, p. 7.

OBS. 13.--For the teaching of different languages, it has been thought very
desirable to have "a Series of grammars, Greek, Latin, English, &c., all,
so far as general principles are concerned, upon the same plan, and as
nearly in the same words as the genius of the languages would permit."--See
_Bullions's Principles of E. Gram._, 2d Ed., pp. iv and vi. This scheme
necessarily demands a minute comparison not only of the several languages
themselves, but also of the various grammars in which their principles,
whether general or particular, are developed. For by no other means can it
be ascertained to what extent uniformity of this kind will be either
profitable to the learner, or consistent with truth. Some books have been
published, which, it is pretended, are thus accommodated to one an other,
and to the languages of which they treat. But, in view of the fact, that
the Latin or the Greek grammars now extant, (to say nothing of the French,
Spanish, and others,) are almost as various and as faulty as the English, I
am apprehensive that this is a desideratum not soon to be realized,--a
design more plausible in the prospectus, than feasible in the attempt. At
any rate, the grammars of different languages must needs differ as much as
do the languages themselves, otherwise some of their principles will of
course be false; and we have already seen that the nonobservance of this
has been a fruitful source of error in respect to English syntax. The
achievement, however, is not altogether impossible, if a man of competent
learning will devote to it a sufficient degree of labour. But the mere
revising or altering of some one grammar in each language, can scarcely
amount to any thing more than a pretence of improvement. Waiving the
pettiness of compiling upon the basis of an other man's compilation, the
foundation of a good grammar for any language, must be both deeper and
broader than all the works which Professor Bullions has selected to build
upon: for the Greek, than Dr. Moor's "_Elementa Linguæ, Græcæ_;" for the
Latin, than Dr. Adam's "_Rudiments of Latin and English Grammar_;" for the
English, than Murray's "_English Grammar_," or Lennie's "_Principles of
English Grammar_;" which last work, in fact, the learned gentleman
preferred, though he pretends to have mended the code of Murray. But,
certainly, Lennie never supposed himself a copyist of Murray; nor was he
to much extent an imitator of him, either in method or in style.

OBS. 14.--We have, then, in this new American form of "_The Principles of
English Grammar_," Lennie's very compact little book, altered, enlarged,
and bearing on its title-page (which is otherwise in the very words of
Lennie) an other author's name, and, in its early editions, the false and
self-accusing inscription, "(ON THE PLAN OF MURRAY'S GRAMMAR.)" And this
work, claiming to have been approved "by the most competent judges," now
challenges the praise not only of being "better adapted to the use of
academies and schools _than any yet published_" but of so presenting "_the
rules and principles of general grammar_, as that they may apply to, and be
in perfect harmony with, _the grammars of the dead languages_"--
_Recommendations_, p. iv. These are admirable professions for a critical
author to publish; especially, as every rule or principle of General
Grammar, condemning as it must whoever violates it, cannot but "be in
_perfect harmony_ with" every thing that is true. In this model for all
grammars, Latin, Greek, &c., the doctrines of punctuation, of
abbreviations, and of capital letters, and also sections on the rhetorical
divisions of a discourse, the different kinds of composition, the different
kinds of prose composition, and the different kinds of poetry, are made
_parts of the Syntax_; while his hints for correct and elegant writing, and
his section on the composition of letters and themes, which other writers
suppose to belong rather to syntax, are here subjoined as _parts of
Prosody_. In the exercises for parsing appended to his _Etymology_, the
Doctor furnishes _twenty-five Rules of Syntax_, which, he says, "are not
intended to be committed to memory, but to be used as directions to the
beginner in parsing the exercises under them."--_E. Gram._, p. 75. Then,
for his syntax proper, he copies from Lennie, with some alterations,
_thirty-four other rules_, nine of which are double, and all are jumbled
together by both authors, without any regard to the distinction of concord
and government, so common in the grammars of the dead languages, and even,
so far as I can discover, without any principle of arrangement whatever.
They profess indeed to have placed those rules first, which are eaisest
[sic--KTH] to learn, and oftenest to be applied; but the syntax of
_articles_, which even on this principle should have formed the first of
the series, is placed by Lennie as the thirty-fourth rule, and by his
amender as the thirty-second. To all this complexity the latter adds
_twenty-two Special Rules_, with an abundance of "_Notes_" "_Observations_"
and "_Remarks_" distinguished by these titles, on some principle which no
one but the author can understand. Lastly, his _method of syntactical
parsing_ is not only mixed up with etymological questions and answers, but
his _directions_ for it, with their _exemplification_, are perplexingly at
variance with his own _specimen_ of the performance. See his book, pages
131 and 133. So much for this grand scheme.

OBS. 15.--Strictures like the foregoing, did they not involve the defence
of grammar itself, so as to bear upon interests more important than the
success or failure of an elementary book, might well be withheld through
motives of charity, economy, and peace. There is many a grammar now extant,
concerning which a truly critical reader may know more at first sight, than
ever did he that made it. What such a reader will be inclined to rate
beneath criticism, an other perhaps will confidently pronounce above it. If
my remarks are just, let the one approve them for the other's sake. For
what becomes of the teaching of grammar, when that which is received as the
most excellent method, must be exempted from censure by reason of its utter
worthlessness? And what becomes of Universal Syntax, when the imperfect
systems of the Latin and Greek grammars, in stead of being amended, are
modelled to the grossest faults of what is worthless in our own?[329]

OBS. 16.--What arrangement of Latin or Greek syntax may be best in itself,
I am not now concerned to show. Lily did not divide his, as others have
divided the subject since; but first stated briefly his _three concords_,
and then proceeded to what he called _the construction_ of the several
parts of speech, taking them in their order. The three concords of Lily are
the following: (1.) Of the _Nominative and Verb_; to which the accusative
before an infinitive, and the collective noun with a plural verb, are
reckoned exceptions; while the agreement of a verb or pronoun with two or
more nouns, is referred to the figure _syllepsis_. (2.) Of the _Substantive
and Adjective_; under which the agreement of participles, and of some
pronouns, is placed in the form of a note. (3.) Of the _Relative and
Antecedent_; after which the two special rules for the _cases_ of relatives
are given as underparts. Dr. Adam divided his syntax into two parts; of
Simple Sentences, and of Compound Sentences. His three concords are the
following: (1.) Of one _Substantive with an Other_; which construction is
placed by Lily and many others among the figures of syntax, and is called
_apposition_. (2.) Of an _Adjective with a Substantive_; under which
principle, we are told to take adjective pronouns and participles. (3.) Of
a _Verb with a Nominative_; under which, the collective noun with a verb of
either number, is noticed in an observation. The construction of relatives,
of conjunctions, of comparatives, and of words put absolute, this author
reserves for the second part of his syntax; and the agreement of plural
verbs or pronouns with joint nominatives or antecedents, which Ruddiman
places in an observation on his _four concords_, is here absurdly reckoned
a part of the construction of conjunctions. Various divisions and
subdivisions of the Latin syntax, with special dispositions of some
particular principles of it, may be seen in the elaborate grammars of
Despauter, Prat, Ruddiman, Grant, and other writers. And here it may be
proper to observe, that, the mixing of syntax with etymology, after the
manner of Ingersoll, Kirkham, R. W. Green, R. C. Smith, Sanborn, Felton,
Hazen, Parkhurst, Parker and Fox, Weld, and others, is a modern innovation,
pernicious to both; either topic being sufficiently comprehensive, and
sufficiently difficult, when they are treated separately; and each having,
in some instances, employed the pens of able writers almost to the
exclusion of the other.

OBS. 17.--The syntax of any language must needs conform to the
peculiarities of its etymology, and also be consistent with itself; for all
will expect better things of a scholar, than to lay down positions in one
part of his grammar, that are irreconcilable with what he has stated in an
other. The English language, having few inflections, has also few concords
or agreements, and still fewer governments. Articles, adjectives, and
participles, which in many other languages agree with their nouns in
gender, number, and case, have usually, in English, no modifications in
which they _can agree_ with their nouns. Yet _Lowth_ says, "The adjective
in English, having no variation of gender and number, _cannot but agree_
with the substantive in these respects."--_Short Introd. to Gram._, p. 86.
What then is the _agreement_ of words? Can it be anything else than their
_similarity_ in some common property or modification? And is it not
obvious, that no two things in nature can at all _agree_, or _be alike_,
except in some quality or accident which belongs to each of them? Yet how
often have _Murray_ and others, as well as _Lowth_, forgotten this! To give
one instance out of many: "_Gender_ has respect only to the third person
singular of the pronouns, _he, she, it_."--_Murray, J. Peirce, Flint, Lyon,
Bacon, Russell, Fisk, Maltby, Alger, Miller, Merchant, Kirkham_, and other
careless copyists. Yet, according to these same gentlemen, "Gender is _the
distinction of nouns_, with regard to sex;" and, "Pronouns _must always
agree_ with their antecedents, _and the nouns_ for which they stand, in
gender." Now, not one of these three careless assertions can possibly be
reconciled with either of the others!

OBS. 18.--_Government_ has respect only to nouns, pronouns, verbs,
participles, and prepositions; the other five parts of speech neither
govern nor are governed. The _governing_ words may be either nouns, or
verbs, or participles, or prepositions; the words _governed_ are either
nouns, or pronouns, or verbs, or participles. In parsing, the learner must
remember that the rules of government are not to be applied to the
_governing_ words, but to those which _are governed_; and which, for the
sake of brevity, are often technically named after the particular form or
modification assumed; as, _possessives, objectives, infinitives,
gerundives_. These are the only things in English, that can properly be
said to be subject to government; and these are always so, in their own
names; unless we except such infinitives as stand in the place of
nominatives. _Gerundives_ are participles governed by prepositions; but,
there being little or no occasion to distinguish these from other
participles, we seldom use this name. The Latin _Gerund_ differs from a
participle, and the English _Gerundive_ differs from a participial noun.
The participial noun may be the subject or the object of a verb, or may
govern the possessive case before it, like any other noun; but the true
English gerundive, being essentially a participle, and governing an object
after it, like any other participle, is itself governed only by a
preposition. At least, this is its usual and allowed construction, and no
other is acknowledged to be indisputably right.

OBS. 19.--The simple _Relations_ of words in English, (or those several
_uses_ of the parts of speech which we may refer to this head,) are the
following nine: (1.) Of Articles to nouns, by Rule 1st; (2.) Of Nominatives
to verbs, by Rule 2d; (3.) Of Nominatives absolute or independent, by Rule
8th; (4.) Of Adjectives to nouns or pronouns, by Rule 9th; (5.) Of
Participles to nouns or pronouns, by Rule 20th; (6.) Of Adverbs to verbs,
participles, &c., by Rule 21st; (7.) Of Conjunctions as connecting words,
phrases, or sentences, by Rule 22nd; (8.) Of Prepositions as showing the
relations of things, by Rule 23d; (9.) Of Interjections as being used
independently, by Rule 24th.

OBS. 20.--The syntactical _Agreements_ in English, though actually much
fewer than those which occur in Latin, Greek, or French, may easily be so
reckoned as to amount to double, or even triple, the number usually spoken
of by the old grammarians. The twenty-four rules above, embrace the
following ten heads, which may not improperly be taken for so many distinct
concords: (1.) Of a Noun or Pronoun in direct apposition with another, by
Rule 3d; (2.) Of a Noun or Pronoun after a verb or participle not
transitive, by Rule 6th; (3.) Of a Pronoun with its antecedent, by Rule
10th; (4.) Of a Pronoun with a collective noun, by Rule 11th; (5.) Of a
Pronoun with joint antecedents, by Rule 12th; (6.) Of a Pronoun with
disjunct antecedents, by Rule 13th; (7.) Of a Verb with its nominative, by
Rule 14th; (8.) Of a Verb with a collective noun, by Rule 15th; (9.) Of a
Verb with joint nominatives, by Rule 16th; (10.) Of a Verb with disjunct
nominatives, by Rule 17th. To these may be added two other _special_
concords, less common and less important, which will be explained in
_notes_ under the rules: (11.) Of one Verb with an other, in mood, tense,
and form, when two are connected so as to agree with the same nominative;
(12.) Of Adjectives that imply unity or plurality, with their nouns, in
number.

OBS. 21.--Again, by a different mode of reckoning them, the
concords or the _general principles_ of agreement, in our language, may be
made to be only three or four; and some of these much _less general_, than
they are in other languages: (1.) _Words in apposition agree in case_,
according to Rule 3d; of which principle, Rule 6th may be considered a
modification. (2.) _Pronouns agree, with their nouns, in person, number,
and gender_, according to Rule 10th; of which principle, Rules 11th, 12th,
and 13th, may be reckoned modifications. (3.) _Verbs agree with their
nominatives, in person and number_, according to Rule 14th; of which
principle Rules 15th, 16th, and 17th, and the occasional agreement of one
verb with an other, may be esteemed mere modifications. (4.) _Some
adjectives agree with their nouns in number_. These make up the twelve
concords above enumerated.

OBS. 22.--The rules of _Government_ in the best Latin grammars are about
sixty; and these are usually distributed (though not very properly) under
three heads; "1. Of Nouns. 2. Of Verbs. 3. Of Words indeclinable."--
_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p. 170. "Regimen est triplex: 1. Nominum. 2.
Verborum. 3. Vocum indeclinabilium."--_Ruddiman's Gram._, p. 138. This
division of the subject brings all the _titles_ of the rules wrong. For
example, if the rule be, "Active verbs govern the accusative case," this is
not properly "the government of _verbs_" but rather the government _of the
accusative_ by verbs. At least, such titles are _equivocal_, and likely to
mislead the learner. The governments in English are only seven, and these
are expressed, perhaps with sufficient distinctness, in six of the
foregoing rules: (1.) Of Possessives by nouns, in Rule 4th; (2.) Of
Objectives by verbs, in Rule 5th; (3.) Of Objectives by participles, in
Rule 5th; (4.) Of Objectives by prepositions, in Rule 7th; (5.) Of
Infinitives by the preposition _to_, in Rule 18th; (6.) Of Infinitives by
the verbs _bid, dare_, &c., in Rule 19th; (7.) Of Participles by
prepositions, in Rule 20th.

OBS. 23.--The _Arrangement_ of words, (which will be sufficiently treated
of in the observations hereafter to be made on the several rules of
construction,) is an important part of syntax, in which not only the beauty
but the propriety of language is intimately concerned, and to which
particular attention should therefore be paid in composition. But it is to
be remembered, that the mere collocation of words in a sentence never
affects the method of parsing them: on the contrary, the same words,
however placed, are always to be parsed in precisely the same way, so long
as they express precisely the same meaning. In order to show that we have
parsed any part of an inverted or difficult sentence rightly, we are at
liberty to declare the meaning by any arrangement which will make the
construction more obvious, provided we retain both the sense and all the
words unaltered; but to drop or alter any word, is to pervert the text
under pretence of resolving it, and to make a mockery of parsing. Grammar
rightly learned, enables one to understand both the sense and the
construction of whatsoever is rightly written; and he who reads what he
does not understand, reads to little purpose. With great indignity to the
muses, several pretenders to grammar have foolishly taught, that, "In
parsing poetry, in order to _come at the meaning_ of the author, the
learner will find it necessary to transpose his language."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 166. See also the books of _Merchant, Wilcox, O. B. Peirce,
Hull, Smith, Felton_, and others, to the same effect. To what purpose can
he _transpose_ the words of a sentence, who does not first see what they
mean, and how to explain or parse them as they stand?

OBS. 24.--Errors innumerable have been introduced into the common modes of
parsing, through a false notion of what constitutes a _simple sentence_.
Lowth, Adam, Murray, Gould, Smith, Ingersoll, Comly, Lennie, Hiley,
Bullions, Wells, and many others, say, "A simple sentence has in it _but
one subject_, and _one finite verb_: as, 'Life is short.'"--_L. Murray's
Gram._, p. 141. In accordance with this assertion, some assume, that,
"Every nominative _has its own verb_ expressed or understood;" and that,
"Every verb (except in the infinitive mood and participle) _has its own
nominative_ expressed or understood."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 87. The
adopters of these dogmas, of course think it right to _supply_ a nominative
whenever they do not find a separate one expressed for every finite verb,
and a verb whenever they do not find a separate one expressed for every
nominative. This mode of interpretation not only precludes the agreement of
a verb with two or more nominatives, so as to render nugatory two of the
most important rules of these very gentlemen's syntax; but, what is worse,
it perverts many a plain, simple, and perfect sentence, to a form which its
author did not choose, and a meaning which he never intended. Suppose, for
example, the text to be, "A good constitution and good laws make good
subjects."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 152. Does not the verb _make_ agree with
_constitution_ and _laws_, taken conjointly? and is it not a _perversion_
of the sentence to interpret it otherwise? Away then with all this
_needless subaudition!_ But while we thus deny that there can be a true
ellipsis of what is not necessary to the construction, it is not to be
denied that there _are_ true ellipses, and in some men's style very many.
The assumption of O. B. Peirce, that no correct sentence is elliptical, and
his impracticable project of a grammar founded on this principle, are among
the grossest of possible absurdities.

OBS. 25.--Dr. Wilson says, "There may be several subjects to the same verb,
several verbs to the same subject, or several objects to the same verb, and
the sentence be simple. But when the sentence remains simple, the same verb
must be differently affected by its several adjuncts, or the sense liable
to be altered by a separation. If the verb or the subject _be_ affected in
the same manner, or the sentence _is_ resolvable into more, it is
compounded. Thus, 'Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red,
mixed in due proportion, produce white,' is a simple sentence, for the
subject is indivisible. But, 'Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange,
and red, are refrangible rays of light,' is a compound sentence, and may be
separated into seven."--_Essay on Gram._, p. 186. The propriety of the
distinction here made, is at least questionable; and I incline to consider
the second example a simple sentence, as well as the first; because what
the writer calls a separation into seven, involves a change of _are_ to
_is_, and of _rays_ to _ray_, as well as a sevenfold repetition of this
altered predicate, "_is a refrangible ray of light_." But the parser, in
interpreting the words of others, and expounding the construction of what
is written, has no right to alter anything in this manner. Nor do I admit
that he has a right to insert or repeat anything _needlessly_; for the
nature of a sentence, or the syntax of some of its words, may often be
altered without change of the sense, or of any word for an other: as, "'A
wall seven feet high;' that is, 'A wall _which is_ seven feet
high.'"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 109. "'He spoke and acted prudently;' that is,
'He spoke _prudently_, and _he_ acted prudently.'"--_Ibid._ '"He spoke and
acted wisely;' that is, 'He spoke _wisely_, and _he_ acted
wisely.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 219; _Alger's_, 70: _R. C. Smith's_, 183;
_Weld's_, 192; and others. By this notion of ellipsis, the connexion or
joint relation of words is destroyed.

OBS. 26.--Dr. Adam, who thought the division of sentences into simple and
compound, of sufficient importance to be made the basis of a general
division of syntax into two parts, has defined a simple sentence to be,
"that which has but one nominative, and one finite verb;" and a compound
sentence, "that which has more than one nominative, or one finite verb."
And of the latter he gives the following erroneous and self-contradictory
account: "A compound sentence is made up of two or more simple sentences or
_phrases_, and is commonly called a _Period_. The parts of which a compound
sentence consists, are called _Members_ or _Clauses_. In every compound
sentence there are either several subjects and one attribute, or several
attributes and one subject, or both several subjects and several
attributes; that is, there are either several nominatives applied to the
same verb, or several verbs applied to the same nominative, or both. Every
verb marks a judgment or attribute, and every attribute must have a
subject. There must, therefore, be in every sentence or period, as many
propositions as there are verbs of a finite mode. Sentences are compounded
by means of relatives and conjunctions; as, Happy is the man _who_ loveth
religion, and practiseth virtue."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 202; _Gould's_, 199;
and others.

OBS. 27.--Now if every compound sentence consists of such
parts, members, or clauses, as are in themselves sentences, either simple
or compound, either elliptical or complete; it is plain, in the first
place, that the term "phrases" is misapplied above, because a phrase is
properly only a part of some simple sentence. And if "a simple sentence is
that which has but one nominative and one finite verb," and "a compound
sentence is made up of two or more simple sentences," it follows, since
"all sentences are either simple or compound," that, _in no sentence, can
there be_ "either several nominatives applied to the same verb, or several
verbs applied to the same nominative." What, therefore, this author
regarded as _the characteristic_ of all compound sentences, is, according
to his own previous positions, utterly impossible to any sentence. Nor is
it less repugnant to his subsequent doctrine, that, "Sentences are
compounded by means of _relatives_ and _conjunctions_;" for, according to
his notion, "A conjunction is an indeclinable word, which serves to join
_sentences_ together."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 149. It is assumed, that, "In
every _sentence_ there must be a verb and a nominative expressed or
understood."--_Ib._, p. 151. Now if there happen to be two nominatives to
one verb, as when it was said, "Even the _winds_ and the _sea_ obey him;"
this cannot be anything more than a simple sentence; because one single
verb is a thing indivisible, and how can we suppose it to form the most
essential part of two different sentences at once?

OBS. 28.--The distinction, or real difference, between those simple
sentences in which two or more nominatives or verbs are taken conjointly,
and those compound sentences in which there is an ellipsis of some of the
nominatives or verbs, is not always easy to be known or fixed; because in
many instances, a supposed _ellipsis_, without at all affecting the sense,
may obviously change the construction, and consequently the nature of the
sentence. For example: "And they all forsook him, and [they all]
fled."--_Mark_, xiv, 50. Some will say, that the words in brackets are here
_understood_. I may deny it, because they are needless; and nothing
needless can form a true ellipsis. To the supplying of useless words, if we
admit the principle, there may be no end; and the notion that conjunctions
join sentences only, opens a wide door for it. For example: "And that man
was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed
evil."--_Job_, i, 1. No additional words will make this clause any plainer,
and none are really necessary to the construction; yet some grammarians
will parse it with the following impletions, or more: "And that man was _a_
perfect _man_, and _he was an_ upright _man_, and _he was_ one _man_ that
feared God, and _that_ eschewed evil _things_." It is easy to see how this
liberty of interpretation, or of interpolation, will change simple
sentences to compound sentences, as well as alter the nature and relation
of many particular words; and at the same time, it takes away totally those
peculiarities of construction by which Dr. Adam and others would recognize
a sentence as being compound. What then? are there not two kinds of
sentences? Yes, truly; but these authors are wrong in their notions and
definitions of both. Joint nominatives or joint verbs may occur in either;
but they belong primarily to some simple sentences, and only for that
reason are found in any that are compound. A sentence, too, may possibly be
made compound, when a simple one would express the whole meaning as well or
better; as, "And [David] smote the Philistines from Geba _until thou come_
to Gazer."--_2 Sam._, v, 25. Here, if we omit the words in Italics, the
sentence will become simple, not elliptical.



THE ANALYZING OF SENTENCES.

To analyze a sentence, is, to resolve it into some species of constituent
parts, but most properly into words, its first significant elements, and to
point out their several relations and powers in the given connexion.

The component parts of a sentence are _members, clauses, phrases_, or
_words_. Some sentences, which are short and simple, can only be divided
into their words; others, which are long and complex, may be resolved into
parts again and again divisible.

Of analysis applicable to sentences, there are several different methods;
and, so far as their difference may compatibly aid the application of
different principles of the science of grammar, there may be an advantage
in the occasional use of each.


FIRST METHOD OF ANALYSIS.

_Sentences not simple may be reduced to their constituent members, clauses,
or simple sentences; and the means by which these are united, may be shown.
Thus_:--

EXAMPLE ANALYZED.

"Even the Atheist, who tells us that the universe is self-existent and
indestructible--even he, who, instead of seeing the traces of a manifold
wisdom in its manifold varieties, sees nothing in them all but the
exquisite structures and the lofty dimensions of materialism--even he, who
would despoil creation of its God, cannot look upon its golden suns, and
their accompanying systems, without the solemn impression of a magnificence
that fixes and overpowers him."--DR. CHALMERS, _Discourses on Revelation
and Astronomy_, p. 231.

ANALYSIS.--This is a compound sentence, consisting of three complex
members, which are separated by the two dashes. The three members are
united in one sentence, by a suspension of the sense at each dash, and by
two virtual repetitions of the subject, "_Atheist_" through the pronoun
"_he_," put in the same case, and representing this noun. The sense mainly
intended is not brought out till the period ends. Each of the three members
is complex, because each has not only a relative clause, commencing with
"_who_," but also an antecedent word which makes sense with "_cannot
look_," &c. The first of these relative clauses involves also a
subordinate, supplementary clause,--"_the universe is self-existent and
indestructible_"--introduced after the verb "_tells_" by the conjunction
"_that_." The last phrase, "_without the solemn impression_," &c., which is
subjoined by "_without_" to "_cannot look_," embraces likewise a
subordinate, relative clause,--"_that fixes and overpowers him_,"--which
has two verbs; the whole, antecedent and all, being but an adjunct of an
adjunct, yet an essential element of the sentence.


SECOND METHOD OF ANALYSIS.

_Simple sentences, or the simple members of compound sentences, may be
resolved into their PRINCIPAL and their SUBORDINATE PARTS; the subject, the
verb, and the case put after or governed by the verb, being first pointed
out as THE PRINCIPAL PARTS; and the other words being then detailed as
ADJUNCTS to these, according to THE SENSE, or as adjuncts to adjuncts.
Thus_:--

EXAMPLE ANALYZED.

"Fear naturally quickens the flight of guilt. Rasselas could not catch the
fugitive, with his utmost efforts; but, resolving to weary, by
perseverance, him whom he could not surpass in speed, he pressed on till
the foot of the mountain stopped his course."--DR. JOHNSON, _Rasselas_, p.
23.

ANALYSIS.--The first period here is a simple sentence. Its principal parts
are--_Fear, quickens, flight_; _Fear_ being the subject, _quickens_ the
verb, and _flight_ the object. _Fear_ has no adjunct; _naturally_ is an
adjunct of _quickens_; _the_ and _of guilt_ are adjuncts of _flight_. The
second period is composed of several clauses, or simple members, united.
The first of these is also a simple sentence, having, three principal
parts--_Rasselas, could catch_, and _fugitive_; the subject, the verb, and
its object, in their order. _Not_ is added to _could catch_, reversing the
meaning; _the_ is an adjunct to _fugitive_; _with_ joins its phrase to
_could not catch_; but _his_ and _utmost_ are adjuncts of _efforts_. The
word _but_ connects the two chief members as parts of one sentence.
"_Resolving to weary_" is an adjunct to the pronoun _he_, which stands
before _pressed_. "_By perseverance_," is an adjunct to _weary_. _Him_ is
governed by _weary_, and is the antecedent to _whom_. "_Whom he could not
surpass in speed_," is a relative clause, or subordinate simple member,
having three principal parts--_he, could surpass_, and _whom. Not_ and _in
speed_ are adjuncts to the verb _could surpass_. "_He pressed on_" is an
other simple member, or sentence, and the chief clause here used, the
others being subjoined to this. Its principal parts are two, _he_ and
_pressed_; the latter taking the particle _on_ as an adjunct, and being
intransitive. The words dependent on the nominative _he_, (to wit,
_resolving_, &c.,) have already been mentioned. _Till_ is a conjunctive
adverb of time, connecting the concluding clause to _pressed on_. "_The
foot of the mountain stopped his course_," is a subordinate clause and
simple member, whose principal parts are--the subject _foot_, the verb
_stopped_, and the object _course_. The adjuncts of _foot_ are _the_ and
_of the mountain_; the verb in this sentence has no adjunct but _course_,
which is better reckoned a principal word; lastly, _his_ is an adjunct to
_course_, and governed by it.


THIRD METHOD OF ANALYSIS.

_Sentences may be partially analyzed by a resolution into their SUBJECTS
and their PREDICATES, a method which some late grammarians have borrowed
from the logicians; the grammatical subject with its adjuncts, being taken
for the logical subject; and the finite verb, which some call the
grammatical predicate[330] being, with its subsequent case and the adjuncts
of both, denominated the predicate, or the logical predicate. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE ANALYZED.

"Such is the emptiness of human enjoyment, that we are always impatient of
the present. Attainment is followed by neglect, and possession, by disgust.
Few moments are more pleasing than those in which the mind is concerting
measures for a new undertaking. From the first hint that wakens the fancy,
to the hour of actual execution, all is improvement and progress, triumph
and felicity."--DR. JOHNSON, _Rambler_.

ANALYSIS.--Here the first period is a compound sentence, containing two
clauses,--which are connected by _that_. In the first clause, _emptiness_
is the grammatical subject, and "_the emptiness of human enjoyment_" is the
logical. _Is_ some would call the grammatical predicate, and "Such is," or
_is such_, the logical; but the latter consists, as the majority teach, of
"the copula" _is_, and "the attribute," or "predicate," _such_. In the
second clause, (which explains the import of "_Such_,") the subject is
_we_; which is unmodified, and in which therefore the logical form and the
grammatical coincide and are the same. _Are_ may here be called the
grammatical predicate; and "_are always impatient of the present_," the
logical. The second period, too, is a compound sentence, having two
clauses, which are connected by _and_. _Attainment_ is the subject of the
former; and, "_is followed by neglect_" is the predicate. In the latter,
_possession_ alone is the subject; and, "[_is followed_] _by disgust_," is
the predicate; the verb _is followed_ being understood at the comma. The
third period, likewise, is a compound, having three parts, with the two
connectives _than_ and _which_. Here we have _moments_ for the first
grammatical subject, and _Few moments_ for the logical; then, _are_ for the
grammatical predicate, and _are more pleasing_ for the logical: or, if we
choose to say so, for "the copula and the attribute." "_Than those_," is an
elliptical member, meaning, "than _are_ those _moments_," or, "than those
_moments are pleasing_;" both subject and predicate are wholly suppressed,
except that _those_ is reckoned a part of the logical subject. _In which_
is an adjunct of _is concerting_, and serves well to connect the members,
because _which_ represents _those_, i.e. _those moments._ _Mind_, or _the
mind_, is the next subject of affirmation; and _is concerting_, or, "_is
concerting measures for a new undertaking_," is the predicate or matter
affirmed. Lastly, the fourth period, like the rest, is compound. The
phrases commencing with _From_ and _to_, describe a period of time, and are
adjuncts of the verb _is._ The former contains a subordinate relative
clause, of which _that_ (representing _hint_) is the subject, and _wakens_,
or _wakens the fancy_, the predicate. Of the principal clause, the word
_all_, taken as a noun, is the subject, whether grammatical or logical; and
"the copula," or "grammatical predicate," _is_, becomes, with its adjuncts
and the nominatives following, the logical predicate.


FOURTH METHOD OF ANALYSIS.

_All syntax is founded on the_ RELATION _of words one to an other, and the_
CONNEXION _of clauses and phrases, according to_ THE SENSE. _Hence
sentences may be, in some sort, analyzed, and perhaps profitably, by the
tracing of such relation or connexion, from link to link, through a series
of words, beginning and ending with such as are somewhat remote from each
other, yet within the period. Thus_:--

EXAMPLES ANALYZED.

1. "Swift would say, 'The thing has not life enough in it to keep it
sweet;' Johnson, 'The creature possesses not vitality sufficient to
preserve it from putrefaction.'"--MATT. HARRISON, _on the English
Language_, p. 102.  ANALYSIS.--What is the general sense of this passage?
and what, the chain of connexion between the words _Swift_ and
_putrefaction_? The period is designed to show, that Swift preferred words
of Saxon origin; and Johnson, of Latin. It has in contrast two coördinate
members, tacitly connected: the verb _would say_ being understood after
_Johnson_, and perhaps also the particle _but_, after the semicolon.
_Swift_ is the subject of _would say_; and _would say_ introduces the
clause after it, as what would be said. _The_ relates to _thing_; _thing_
is the subject of _has_; _has_, which is qualified by _not_, governs
_life_; _life_ is qualified by the adjective _enough_, and by the phrase,
_in it_; _enough_ is the prior term of _to_; _to_ governs _keep_; _keep_
governs _it_, which stands for _the thing_; and _it_, in lieu of _the
thing_, is qualified by _sweet_. The chief members are connected either by
standing in contrast as members, or by _but_, understood before _Johnson._
_Johnson_ is the subject of _would say_, understood: and this _would say_,
again introduces a clause, as what would be said. _The_ relates to
_creature_; _creature_ is the subject of _possesses_; _possesses_, which is
qualified by _not_, governs _vitality_; _vitality_ is qualified by
_sufficient_; _sufficient_ is the prior term of _to_; _to_ governs
_preserve_; _preserve_ governs _it_, and is the prior term of _from_; and
_from_ governs _putrefaction._

2. "There is one Being to whom we can look with a perfect conviction of
finding that security, which nothing about us can give, and which nothing
about us can take away."--GREENWOOD; _Wells's School Gram._, p. 192.[331]

ANALYSIS.--What is the general structure of this passage? and what, the
chain of connexion "between the words _away_ and _is?"_ The period is a
complex sentence, having four clauses, all connected together by relatives;
the second, by _whom_, to the first and chief clause, _"There is one
Being;"_ the third and the fourth, to the second, by _which_ and _which_;
but the last two, having the same antecedent, _security_, and being
coördinate, are also connected one to the other by _and._ As to "the chain
of connexion," _Away_ relates to _can take_; _can take_ agrees with its
nominative _nothing_, and governs _which_; _which_ represents _security_;
_security_ is governed by _finding_; _finding_ is governed by _of_; _of_
refers back to _conviction_; _conviction_ is governed by _with_; _with_
refers back to _can look_; _can look_ agrees with _we_, and is, in sense,
the antecedent of _to_; _to_ governs _whom_; _whom_ represents _Being_; and
_Being_ is the subject of _is._


FIFTH METHOD OF ANALYSIS.

_The best and most thorough method of analysis is that of_ COMPLETE
SYNTACTICAL PARSING; _a method which, for the sake of order and brevity,
should ever be kept free from all mixture of etymological definitions or
reasons, but which may be preceded or followed by any of the foregoing
schemes of resolution, if the teacher choose to require any such
preliminary or subsidiary exposition. This method is fully illustrated in
the Twelfth Praxis below._


OBSERVATIONS ON METHODS OF ANALYSIS.

OBS. 1.--The almost infinite variety in the forms of sentences, will
sometimes throw difficulty in the way of the analyzer, be his scheme or his
skill what it may. The last four or five observations of the preceding
series have shown, that the distinction of sentences as _simple_ or
_compound_, which constitutes the chief point of the First Method of
Analysis above, is not always plain, even to the learned. The definitions
and examples which I have given, will make it _generally_ so; and, where it
is otherwise, the question or puzzle, it is presumed, cannot often be of
much practical importance. If the difference be not obvious, it can hardly
be a momentous error, to mistake a phrase for an elliptical clause, or to
call such a clause a phrase.

OBS. 2.--The Second Method above is, I think, easier of application than
any of the rest; and, if other analysis than the regular method of parsing
seem desirable, this will probably be found as useful as any. There is, in
many of our popular grammars, some recognition of the principles of this
analysis--some mention of "the _principal parts_ of a sentence," in
accordance with what are so called above,--and also, in a few, some
succinct account of the parts called "_adjuncts_;" but there seems to have
been no prevalent practice of applying these principles, in any stated or
well-digested manner. Lowth, Murray, Alger, W. Allen, Hart, Hiley,
Ingersoll, Wells, and others, tell of these "PRINCIPAL PARTS;"--Lowth
calling them, "the _agent_, the _attribute_, and the _object_;" (_Gram._,
p. 72;)--Murray, and his copyists, Alger, Ingersoll, and others, calling
them, "the _subject_, the _attribute_, and the _object_;"--Hiley and Hart
calling them, "the _subject_ or _nominative_, the _attribute_ or _verb_,
and the _object_;"--Allen calling them, "the _nominative_, the _verb_, and
(if the verb is active,) the _accusative_ governed by the verb;" and also
saying, "The nominative is sometimes called the _subject_; the verb, the
_attribute_; and the accusative, the _object_;"--Wells calling them, "the
_subject_ or _nominative_, the _verb_, and the _object_;" and also
recognizing the "_adjuncts_," as a species which "embraces all the words of
a simple sentence [,] except the _principal parts_;"--yet not more than two
of them all appearing to have taken any thought, and they but little, about
the formal _application_ of their common doctrine. In Allen's English
Grammar, which is one of the best, and likewise in Wells's, which is
equally prized, this reduction of all connected words, or parts of speech,
into "the principal parts" and "the adjuncts," is fully recognized; the
adjuncts, too, are discriminated by Allen, as "either primary or
secondary," nor are their more particular species or relations overlooked;
but I find no method prescribed for the analysis intended, except what
Wells adopted in his early editions but has since changed to an other or
abandoned, and no other allusion to it by, Allen, than this Note, which,
with some appearance of intrusion, is appended to his "Method of Parsing
the Infinitive Mood:"--"The pupil _may now begin_ to analyse [_analyze_]
the sentences, by distinguishing the principal words and their
adjuncts."--_W. Allen's E. Gram._, p. 258.

OBS. 3.--These authors in general, and many more, tell us, with some
variation of words, that the agent, subject, or nominative, is that of
which something is said, affirmed, or denied; that the attribute, verb, or
predicate, is that which is said, affirmed, or denied, of the subject; and
that the object, accusative, or case sequent, is that which is introduced
by the finite verb, or affected by the action affirmed. Lowth says, "In
English the nominative case, denoting the agent, usually goes before the
verb, or attribution; and the objective case, denoting the object, follows
the verb active."--_Short Introd._, p. 72. Murray copies, but not
literally, thus: "The nominative denotes the subject, and usually goes
before the verb [,] or attribute; and the word _or phrase_, denoting the
object, follows the verb: as, 'A wise man governs his passions.' Here, a
_wise man_ is the subject; _governs_, the attribute, or thing affirmed; and
_his passions_, the object."--_Murray's Octavo_, p. 142; _Duodecimo_, 116.
To include thus the adjuncts with their principals, as the logicians do, is
_here_ manifestly improper; because it unites what the grammatical analyzer
is chiefly concerned to separate, and tends to defeat the main purpose for
which "THE PRINCIPAL PARTS" are so named and distinguished.

OBS. 4.--The Third Method of Analysis, described above, is an attempt very
briefly to epitomize the chief elements of a great scheme,--to give, in a
nutshell, the substance of what our grammarians have borrowed from the
logicians, then mixed with something of their own, next amplified with
small details, and, in some instances, branched out and extended to
enormous bulk and length. Of course, they have not failed to set forth the
comparative merits of this scheme in a sufficiently favourable light. The
two ingenious gentlemen who seem to have been chiefly instrumental in
making it popular, say in their preface, "The rules of syntax contained in
this work result directly from the analysis of propositions, and of
compound sentences; and for this reason the student should make himself
perfectly familiar with the sections relating to _subject_ and _predicate_,
and should be able readily to analyze sentences, whether simple or
compound, and to explain their structure and connection. * * * This
exercise _should always precede_ the more minute and subsidiary labor of
parsing. If the latter be conducted, as it often is, independently of
previous analysis, the _principal advantage_ to be derived from the study
of language, as an intellectual exercise, will inevitably be lost."--_Latin
Grammar of Andrews and Stoddard_, p. vi. N. Butler, who bestows upon this
subject about a dozen duodecimo pages, says in his preface, "The rules for
the analysis of sentences, which is a _very useful and interesting_
exercise, have been taken from Andrews' and Stoddard's Latin Grammar, some
changes and additions being made."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. iv.[332]

OBS. 5.--Wells, in the early copies of his School Grammar, as has been
hinted, adopted a method of analysis similar to the _Second_ one prescribed
above; yet referred, even from the first, to "Andrews and Stoddard's Latin
Grammar," and to "De Sacy's General Grammar," as if these were authorities
for what he then inculcated. Subsequently, _he changed his scheme_, from
that of _Parts Principal_ and _Adjuncts_, to one of _Subjects_ and
_Predicates_, "either grammatical or logical," also "either simple or
compound;"--to one resembling Andrews and Stoddard's, yet differing from
it, often, as to what constitutes a "grammatical predicate;"--to one
resenbling [sic--KTH] the _Third Method_ above, yet differing from it, (as
does Andrews and Stoddard's,) in taking the logical subject and predicate
before the grammatical. "The chapter on Analysis," said he then, "has been
Revised and enlarged with great care, and will be found to embody all the
most important principles on this subject [.] _which_ are contained in the
works of De Sacy, Andrews and Stoddard, Kühner, Crosby, and Crane. It is
gratifying to observe that the attention of teachers is now so generally
directed _to this important mode_ of investigating the structure of our
language, _in connection with_ the ordinary exercises of _etymological_ and
syntactical parsing."--_Wells's School Gram._, New Ed., 1850, p. iv.

OBS. 6.--In view of the fact, that Wells's chief mode of sentential
analysis had just undergone an almost total metamorphosis, a change
plausible perhaps, but of doubtful utility,--that, up to the date of the
words just cited, and afterwards, so far and so long as any copies of his
early "Thousands" remain in use, the author himself has earnestly directed
attention to a method which he now means henceforth to abandon,--in this
view, the praise and gratulation expressed above seem singular. If it has
been found practicable, to slide "the attention of teachers," and their
approbation too, adroitly over from one "important mode of investigating
the structure of our language," to an other;--if "it is gratifying to
observe," that the direction thus given to public opinion sustains itself
so well, and "is so generally" acquiesced in;--if it is proved, that the
stereotyped praise of one system of analysis may, without alteration, be so
transferred to an other, as to answer the double purpose of commending and
superseding;--it is not improbable that the author's next new plates will
bear the stamp of yet _other_ "most important principles" of analysis. This
process is here recommended to be used "_in connection with_ the ordinary
exercises of _etymological_ and syntactical parsing,"--exercises, which,
in Wells's Grammar, are generally, and very improperly, commingled; and if,
to these, may be profitably conjoined either his present or his former
scheme of analysis, it were well, had he somewhere put them together and
shown how.

OBS. 7.--But there are other passages of the School Grammar, so little
suited to this notion of "_connection_" that one can hardly believe the
word ought to be taken in what seems its only sense. "Advanced classes
should attend less to the common _Order of Parsing_, and more to the
_Analysis_ of language."--_Wells's Grammar_, "3d Thousand," p. 125; "113th
Thousand," p. 132. This implies, what is probably true of the etymological
exercise, that parsing is more rudimental than the other forms of analysis.
It also intimates, what is not so clear, that pupils rightly instructed
must advance from the former to the latter, as to something more worthy of
their intellectual powers. The passage is used with reference to either
form of analysis adopted by the author. So the following comparison, in
which Parsing is plainly disparaged, stands permanently at the head of "the
chapter on Analysis," to commend first one mode, and then an other: "It is
particularly desirable that pupils _should pass as early as practicable
from the formalities_ of common PARSING, to the _more important_ exercise
of ANALYZING critically the structure of language. The mechanical routine
of technical parsing is peculiarly liable to become monotonous and dull,
while the _practice of explaining the various relations and offices of
words in a sentence_, is adapted to call the mind of the learner into
constant and vigorous action, and can hardly fail of exciting the deepest
interest,"--_Wells's Gram._, 3d Th., p. 181; 113th Th., p. 184.

OBS. 8.--An ill scheme of _parsing_, or an ill use of a good one, is almost
as unlucky in grammar, as an ill method of _ciphering_, or an ill use of a
good one, would be in arithmetic. From the strong contrast cited above, one
might suspect that, in selecting, devising, or using, a technical process
for the exercising of learners in the principles of etymology and syntax,
this author had been less fortunate than the generality of his fellows. Not
only is it implied, that parsing is no critical analysis, but even what is
set _in opposition_ to the "mechanical routine," may very well serve for _a
definition_ of Syntactical Parsing--"_the practice of explaining the
various relations and offices of words in a sentence_!" If this "practice,"
well ordered, can be at once interesting and profitable to the learner, so
may parsing. Nor, after all, is even this author's mode of parsing,
defective though it is in several respects, less "important" to the users
of his book, or less valued by teachers, than the analysis which he sets
above it.

OBS. 9.--S. S. Greene, a public teacher in Boston, who, in answer to a
supposed "demand for a _more philosophical plan_ of teaching the English
language," has entered in earnest upon the "Analysis of Sentences," having
devoted to one method of it more than the space of two hundred duodecimo
pages, speaks of analysis and of parsing, thus: "The resolving of a
sentence into its elements, or of any complex element into the parts which
compose it, is called _analysis_."--_Greene's Analysis_, p. 14. "Parsing
consists in naming a part of speech, giving its modifications, relation,
agreement or dependence, and the rule for its construction. _Analysis_
consists in pointing out the words or groups of words which constitute the
elements of a sentence. Analysis _should precede_ parsing."--_Ib._, p. 26.
"A large proportion of the elements of sentences are not single words, but
combinations or groups of words. These groups perform the office of the
_substantive_, the _adjective_, or the _adverb_, and, in some one of these
relations, enter in as the component parts of a sentence. The pupil who
learns to determine the elements of a sentence, _must, therefore, learn the
force of these combinations before_ he separates them into the single words
which compose them. _This advantage_ is wholly lost in the ordinary methods
of parsing."--_Ib._, p. 3.

OBS. 10.--On these passages, it may be remarked in the first place, that
the distinction attempted between analysis and parsing is by no means
clear, or well drawn. Nor indeed could it be; because parsing is a species
of analysis. The first assertion would be just as true as it is now, were
the former word substituted for the latter: thus, "The resolving of a
sentence into its elements, or of any complex element into the _parts_
which compose it, is called _parsing_." Next, the "_Parsing_" spoken of in
the second sentence, is _Syntactical_ Parsing only; and, without a
limitation of the species, neither this assertion nor the one concerning
precedence is sufficiently true. Again, the suggestion, that, "_Analysis_
consists in _pointing out_ the words or groups of words which _constitute
the elements_ of a sentence," has nothing distinctive in it; and, without
some idea of the author's peculiar system of "elements," previously
impressed upon the mind, is scarcely, if at all, intelligible. Lastly, that
a pupil must _understand_ a sentence,--or, what is the same thing, "_learn
the force of the words combined_,"--before he can be sure of parsing each
word rightly, is a very plain and certain truth; but what "advantage" over
parsing this truth gives to the lesser analysis, which deals with "groups,"
it is not easy to discover. If the author had any clear idea of "_this
advantage_," he has conveyed no such conception to his readers.

OBS. 11.--Greene's Analysis is the most expanded form of the Third Method
above.[333] Its nucleus, or germinating kernel, was the old partition of
_subject_ and _predicate_, derived from the art of logic. Its chief
principles may be briefly stated thus: Sentences, which are simple, or
complex, or compound, are made up of _words, phrases_, and _clauses_--three
grand classes of elements, called the _first_, the _second_, and the
_third_ class. From these, each sentence must have two elements; the
_Subject_, or Substantive element, and the _Predicate_, or Predicative
element, which are principal; and a sentence _may_ have five, the
subordinates being the Adjective element, the Objective element, and the
Adverbial element. The five elements have sundry modifications and
subdivisions. Each of the five may, like a sentence, be simple, or complex,
or compound; and each may be of any of the three grand classes. The
development of this scheme forms a volume, not small. The system is
plausible, ingenious, methodical, mostly true, and somewhat elaborate; but
it is neither very useful nor very accurate. It seems too much like a great
tree, beautiful, symmetrical, and full of leaves, but raised or desired
only for fruit, yet bearing little, and some of that little not of good
quality, but knurly or bitter. The chief end of a grammar, designed for our
tongue, is, to show what is, and what is not, good English. To this end,
the system in question does not appear to be well adapted.

OBS. 12.--Dr. Bullions, the projector of the "Series of Grammars, English,
Latin, and Greek, all _on the same plan_," inserted in his Latin Grammar,
of 1841, a short sketch of the new analysis by "subjects and predicates,"
"grammatical and logical," the scheme used by Andrews and Stoddard; but his
English Grammar, which appeared in 1834, was too early for this "new and
improved method of investigating" language. In his later English Grammar,
of 1849, however, paying little regard to _sameness of "plan_" or
conformity of definitions, he carefully devoted to this matter the space of
fifteen pages, placing the topic, not injudiciously, in the first part of
his syntax, and referring to it thus in his Preface: "The subject of
ANALYSIS, wholly omitted in the former work, is here introduced in its
proper place; and to an extent in accordance with its importance."--
_Bullions, Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, p. 3.

OBS. 13.--In applying any of the different methods of analysis, as a school
exercise, it will in general perhaps be best to use each _separately_; the
teacher directing which one is to be applied, and to what examples. The
selections prepared for the stated praxes of this work, will be found as
suitable as any. Analysis of sentences is a central and essential matter in
the teaching or the study of grammar; but the truest and the most important
of the sentential analyses is _parsing_; which, because it is a method
distinguished by a technical name of its own, is not commonly denominated
analysis. The relation which other methods should bear to _parsing_, is, as
we have seen, variously stated by different authors. _Etymological_ parsing
and _Syntactical_ are, or ought to be, distinct exercises. The former,
being the most simple, the most elementary, and also requisite to be used
before the pupil is prepared for the latter, should, without doubt, take
precedence of all the rest, and be made familiar in the first place. Those
who say, "_Analysis should precede parsing_," will scarcely find the
application of other analysis practicable, till this is somewhat known. But
_Syntactical Parsing_ being, when complete in form, the most thorough
process of grammatical resolution, it seems proper to have introduced the
other methods before it, as above. It can hardly be said that any of these
are _necessary_ to this exercise, or to one an other; yet in a full course
of grammatical instruction, each may at times be usefully employed.

OBS. 14.--Dr. Bullions suggests, that, "_Analysis_ should precede
_Syntactical parsing_, because, till we know the parts and elements of a
sentence, we can not understand their relations, nor intelligently combine
them into one consistent whole."--_Analytical and Pract. Gram._, p. 114.
This reason is entirely fictitious and truthless; for the _words_ of a
sentence are intuitively known to be its "parts and elements;" and, to
"_understand_ their relations," is as necessary to one form of analysis as
to another; but, "intelligently to _combine_ them," is no part of the
parser's duty: this belongs to the _writer_; and where he has not done it,
he must be criticised and censured, as one that knows not well what he
says. In W. Allen's Grammar, as in Wells's, Syntactical parsing and
Etymological are not divided. Wells intersperses his "Exercises in
Parsing," at seven points of his Syntax, and places "the chapter on
Analysis," at the end of it. Allen treats first of the several parts of
grammar, didactically; then presents a series of exercises adapted to the
various heads of the whole. At the beginning of these, are fourteen
"Methods of Parsing," which show, successively, the properties and
construction of his nine parts of speech; and, _at the ninth method_, which
resolves _infinitives_, it is proposed that the pupil begin to apply a
method of analysis similar to the Second one above.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING. PRAXIS XII.--SYNTACTICAL.

_The grand clew to all syntactical parsing is THE SENSE; and as any
composition is faulty which does not rightly deliver the authors meaning,
so every solution of a word or sentence is necessarily erroneous, in which
that meaning is not carefully noticed and literally preserved.

In all complete syntactical parsing, it is required of the pupil--to
distinguish the different parts of speech and their classes; to mention
their modifications in order; to point out their relation, agreement, or
government; and to apply the Rules of Syntax. Thus_:--

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"A young man studious to know his duty, and honestly bent on doing it, will
find himself led away from the sin or folly in which the multitude
thoughtlessly indulge themselves; but, ah! poor fallen human nature! what
conflicts are thy portion, when inclination and habit--a rebel and a
traitor--exert their sway against our only saving principle!"--_G. Brown_.

_A_ is the indefinite article: and relates to _man_, or _young man_;
according to Rule 1st, which says, "Articles relate to the nouns which they
limit." Because the meaning is--_a man--a young man_.

_Young_ is a common adjective, of the positive degree, compared regularly,
_young, younger, youngest_: and relates to _man_; according to Rule 9th,
which says, "Adjectives relate to nouns or pronouns." Because the meaning
is--_young man_.

_Man_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, masculine
gender, and nominative case: and is the subject of _will find_; according
to Rule 2d, which says, "A noun or a pronoun which is the subject of a
finite verb, must be in the nominative case." Because the meaning is--_man
will find_.

_Studious_ is a common adjective, compared by means of the adverbs;
_studious, more studious, most studious_; or, _studious, less studious,
least studious_: and relates to _man_; according to Rule 9th, which says,
"Adjectives relate to nouns or pronouns." Because the meaning is--_man
studious_.

_To_ is a preposition: and shows the relation between _studious_ and
_know_; according to Rule 23d, which says, "Prepositions show the relations
of words, and of the things or thoughts expressed by them." Because the
meaning is--_studious to know_.

_Know_ is an irregular active-transitive verb, from _know, knew, knowing,
known_; found in the infinitive mood, present tense--no person, or number:
and is governed by _to_; according to Rule 18th, which says, "The
infinitive mood is governed in general by the preposition TO, which
commonly connects it to a finite verb." Because the meaning is--_to know_.

_His_ is a personal pronoun, representing _man_, in the third person,
singular number, and masculine gender; according to Rule 10th, which says,
"A pronoun must agree with its antecedent, or the noun or pronoun which it
represents, in person, number, and gender:" and is in the possessive case,
being governed by _duty_; according to Rule 4th, which says, "A noun or a
pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the name of the thing
possessed." Because the meaning is--_his duty_;--i. e., the young _man's
duty_.

_Duty_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case: and is governed by _know_; according to Rule
5th, which says, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of an
active-transitive verb or participle, is governed by it in the objective
case." Because the meaning is--to _know_ his _duty_.

_And_ is a copulative conjunction: and connects the phrase which follows
it, to that which precedes; according to Rule 22d, which says,
"Conjunctions connect words, sentences, or parts of sentences." Because the
meaning is--studious to know his duty, _and_ honestly bent, &c.

_Honestly_ is an adverb of manner: and relates to _bent_; according to Rule
21st, which says, "Adverbs relate to verbs, participles, adjectives, or
other adverbs." Because the meaning is--_honestly bent_.

_Bent_ is a perfect participle, from the redundant active-transitive verb,
_bend, bent_ or _bended, bending, bent_ or _bended_: and relates to _man_;
according to Rule 20th, which says, "Participles relate to nouns or
pronouns, or else are governed by prepositions." Because the meaning
is--_man bent_. _On_ is a preposition: and shows the relation between
_bent_ and _doing_; according to Rule 23d, which says, "Prepositions show
the relations of words, and of the things or thoughts expressed by them."
Because the meaning is--_bent on doing_.

_Doing_ is an imperfect participle, from the irregular active-transitive
verb, _do, did, doing, done_: and is governed by on; according to Rule
20th, which says, "Participles relate to nouns or pronouns, or else are
governed by prepositions." Because the meaning is--_on doing_.

_It_ is a personal pronoun, representing _duty_, in the third person,
singular number, and neuter gender; according to Rule 10th, which says, "A
pronoun must agree with its antecedent, or the noun or pronoun which it
represents, in person, number, and gender:" and is in the objective case,
being governed by _doing_; according to Rule 5th, which says, "A noun or a
pronoun made the object of an active-transitive verb or participle, is
governed by it in the objective case." Because the meaning is--_doing
it_;--i. e., doing _his duty_.

_Will find_ is an irregular active-transitive verb, from _find, found,
finding, found_; found in the indicative mood, first-future tense, third
person, and singular number: and agrees with its nominative _man_;
according to Rule 14th, which says, "Every finite verb must agree with its
subject, or nominative, in person and number." Because the meaning is--_man
will find_.

_Himself_ is a compound personal pronoun, representing man, in the third
person, singular number, and masculine gender; according to Rule 10th,
which says, "A pronoun must agree with its antecedent, or the noun or
pronoun which it represents, in person, number, and gender;" and is in the
objective case, being governed by _will find_; according to Rule 5th, which
says, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of an active-transitive verb or
participle, is governed by it in the objective case." Because the meaning
is--_will find himself_;--i. e., his own mind or person.

_Led_ is a perfect participle, from the irregular active-transitive verb,
_lead, led, leading, led_: and relates to _himself_; according to Rule
20th, which says, "Participles relate to nouns or pronouns, or else are
governed by prepositions." Because the meaning is--_himself led_.

_Away_ is an adverb of place: and relates to _led_; according to Rule 21st,
which says, "Adverbs relate to verbs, participles, adjectives, or other
adverbs." Because the meaning is--_led away_.

_From_ is a preposition: and shows the relation between _led_ and _sin or
folly_; according to Rule 23d, which says, "Prepositions show the relations
of words, and of the things or thoughts expressed by them." Because the
meaning is--_led from sin or folly_.

_The_ is the definite article: and relates to _sin_ and _folly_; according
to Rule 1st, which says, "Articles relate to the nouns which they limit."
Because the meaning is--_the sin or folly_.

_Sin_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case: and is governed by _from_; according to Rule
7th, which says, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of a preposition, is
governed by it in the objective case." Because the meaning is--_from sin_.

_Or_ is a disjunctive conjunction: and connects _sin_ and _folly_;
according to Rule 22d, which says, "Conjunctions connect words, sentences,
or parts of sentences." Because the meaning is--_sin or folly_.

_Folly_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case; and is connected by _or_ to _sin_, and governed
by the same preposition _from_; according to Rule 7th, which says, "A noun
or a pronoun made the object of a preposition, is governed by it in the
objective case." Because the meaning is--_from sin or folly_.

_In_ is a preposition: and shows the relation between _indulge_ and
_which_; according to Rule 23d, which says, "Prepositions show the
relations of words, and of the things or thoughts expressed by them."
Because the meaning is--_indulge in which_--or, _which they indulge in_.

_Which_ is a relative pronoun, representing _sin or folly_, in the third
person, singular number, and neuter gender; according to Rule 13th, which
says, "When a pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _or_ or
_nor_, it must agree with them singly, and not as if taken together:" and
is in the objective case, being governed by _in_; according to Rule 7th,
which says, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of a preposition, is
governed by it in the objective case." Because the meaning is--_in
which_;--i. e., _in which sin or folly_.

_The_ is the definite article: and relates to _multitude_; according to
Rule 1st, which says, "Articles relate to the nouns which they limit."
Because the meaning is--_the multitude_.

_Multitude_ is a common noun, collective, of the third person, conveying
the idea of plurality, masculine gender, and nominative case: and is the
subject of _indulge_; according to Rule 2d, which says, "A noun or a
pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the nominative
case." Because the meaning is--_multitude indulge_.

_Thoughtlessly_ is an adverb of manner: and relates to _indulge_; according
to Rule 21st, which says, "Adverbs relate to verbs, participles,
adjectives, or other adverbs." Because the meaning is--_thoughtlessly
indulge_.

_Indulge_ is a regular active-transitive verb, from _indulge, indulged,
indulging, indulged_; found in the indicative mood, present tense, third
person, and plural number: and agrees with its nominative multitude;
according to Rule 15th, which says, "When the nominative is a collective
noun conveying the idea of plurality, the verb must agree with it in the
plural number." Because the meaning is--_multitude indulge_.

_Themselves_ is a compound personal pronoun, representing _multitude_, in
the third person, plural number, and masculine gender; according to Rule
11th, which says, "When the antecedent is a collective noun conveying the
idea of plurality, the pronoun must agree with it in the plural number:"
and is in the objective case, being governed by _indulge_; according to
Rule 5th, which says, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of an
active-transitive verb or participle, is governed by it in the objective
case." Because the meaning is--_indulge themselves_;--i. e., the
individuals of the multitude indulge themselves.

_But_ is a disjunctive conjunction: and connects what precedes and what
follows; according to Rule 22d, which says, "Conjunctions connect words,
sentences, or parts of sentences." Because the meaning is--A young man,
&c., _but_, ah! &c.

_Ah_ is an interjection, indicating sorrow: and is used independently;
according to Rule 24th, which says, "Interjections have no dependent
construction; they are put absolute, either alone, or with other words."
Because the meaning is--_ah!_--unconnected with the rest of the sentence.

_Poor_ is a common adjective, of the positive degree, compared regularly,
_poor, poorer, poorest_: and relates to _nature_; according to Rule 9th,
which says, "Adjectives relate to nouns or pronouns." Because the meaning
is--_poor human nature_.

_Fallen_ is a participial adjective, compared (perhaps) by adverbs: and
relates to _nature_; according to Rule 9th, which says, "Adjectives relate
to nouns or pronouns." Because the meaning is--_fallen nature_.

_Human_ is a common adjective, not compared: and relates to _nature_;
according to Rule 9th, which says, "Adjectives relate to nouns or
pronouns." Because the meaning is--_human nature_.

_Nature_ is a common noun, of the second person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case: and is put absolute by direct address;
according to Rule 8th, which says, "A noun or a pronoun is put absolute in
the nominative, when its case depends on no other word." Because the
meaning is--_poor fallen human nature!_--the noun being unconnected with
any verb.

_What_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared: and relates to _conflicts_;
according to Rule 9th, which says, "Adjectives relate to nouns or
pronouns." Because the meaning is--_what conflicts_.

_Conflicts_ is a common noun, of the third person, plural number, neuter
gender, and nominative case: and is the subject of _are_; according to Rule
2d, which says, "A noun or a pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb,
must be in the nominative case." Because the meaning is--_conflicts are_.

_Are_ is an irregular neuter verb, from _be, was, being, been_; found in
the indicative mood, present tense, third person, and plural number: and
agrees with its nominative _conflicts_; according to Rule 14th, which says,
"Every finite verb must agree with its subject, or nominative, in person
and number." Because the meaning is--_conflicts are_.

_Thy_ is a personal pronoun, representing _nature_, in the second person,
singular number, and neuter gender; according to Rule 10th, which says, "A
pronoun must agree with its antecedent, or the noun or pronoun which it
represents, in person, number, and gender:" and is in the possessive case,
being governed by _portion_; according to Rule 4th, which says, "A noun or
a pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the name of the thing
possessed." Because the meaning is--_thy portion_.

_Portion_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case: and is put after _are_, in agreement with
_conflicts_; according to Rule 6th, which says, "A noun or a pronoun put
after a verb or participle not transitive, agrees in case with a preceding
noun or pronoun referring to the same thing." Because the meaning
is--_conflicts are thy portion_.

_When_ is a conjunctive adverb of time: and relates to the two verbs, _are_
and _exert_; according to Rule 21st, which says, "Adverbs relate to verbs,
participles, adjectives, or other adverbs." Because the meaning is--what
conflicts _are_ thy portion, _when_ inclination and habit _exert_, &c.

_Inclination_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number,
neuter gender, and nominative case: and is one of the subjects of _exert_;
according to Rule 2d, which says, "A noun or a pronoun which is the subject
of a finite verb, must be in the nominative case." Because the meaning
is--_inclination and habit exert_.

_And_ is a copulative conjunction: and connects _inclination_ and _habit_;
according to Rule 22d, which says, "Conjunctions connect words, sentences,
or parts of sentences." Because the meaning is--_inclination and habit_.

_Habit_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case: and is one of the subjects of _exert_;
according to Rule 2d, which says, "A noun or a pronoun which is the subject
of a finite verb, must be in the nominative case." Because the meaning
is--_inclination and habit exert_.

_A_ is the indefinite article: and relates to _rebel_; according to Rule
1st, which says, "Articles relate to the nouns which they limit." Because
the meaning is--_a rebel_.

_Rebel_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, masculine
gender, and nominative case: and is put in apposition with _inclination_;
according to Rule 3d, which says, "A noun or a personal pronoun used to
explain a preceding noun or pronoun, is put, by apposition, in the same
case." Because the meaning is--_inclination, a rebel_.

_And_ is a copulative conjunction: and connects _rebel_ and _traitor_;
according to Rule 22d, which says, "Conjunctions connect words, sentences,
or parts of sentences." Because the meaning is--_a rebel and a traitor_.

_A_ is the indefinite article: and relates to _traitor_; according to Rule
1st, which says, "Articles relate to the nouns which they limit." Because
the meaning is--_a traitor_.

_Traitor_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, masculine
gender, and nominative case: and is put in apposition with _habit_;
according to Rule 3d, which says, "A noun or a personal pronoun used to
explain a preceding noun or pronoun, is put, by apposition, in the same
case." Because the meaning is--_habit, a traitor_.

_Exert_ is a regular active-transitive verb, from _exert, exerted,
exerting, exerted_; found in the indicative mood, present tense, third
person, and plural number: and agrees with its two nominatives _inclination
and habit_; according to Rule 16th, which says, "When a verb has two or
more nominatives connected by _and_, it must agree with them jointly in the
plural, because they are taken together." Because the meaning
is--_inclination and habit exert_.

_Their_ is a personal pronoun, representing _inclination and habit_, in the
third person, plural number, and neuter gender; according to Rule 12th,
which says, "When a pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _and_,
it must agree with them jointly in the plural, because they are taken
together:" and is in the possessive case, being governed by _sway_;
according to Rule 4th, which says, "A noun or a pronoun in the possessive
case, is governed by the name of the thing possessed." Because the meaning
is--_their sway_;--i. e., the sway of inclination and habit.

_Sway_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case; and is governed by _exert_; according to Rule
5th, which says, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of an
active-transitive verb or participle, is governed by it in the objective
case." Because the meaning is--_exert sway_.

_Against_ is a preposition: and shows the relation between _exert_ and
_principle_; according to Rule 23d, which says, "Prepositions show the
relations of words, and of the things or thoughts expressed by them."
Because the meaning is--_exert against principle_.

_Our_ is a personal pronoun, representing _the speakers_, in the first
person, plural number, and masculine gender; according to Rule 10th, which
says, "A pronoun must agree with its antecedent, or the noun or pronoun
which it represents, in person, number, and gender:" and is in the
possessive case, being governed by _principle_; according to Rule 4th,
which says, "A noun or a pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the
name of the thing possessed." Because the meaning is--_our principle_;--i.
e., the _speakers_' principle.

_Only_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared: and relates to _principle_;
according to Rule 9th, which says, "Adjectives relate to nouns or
pronouns." Because the meaning is--_only principle_.

_Saving_ is a participial adjective, compared by adverbs when it means
_frugal_, but not compared in the sense here intended: and relates to
_principle_; according to Rule 9th, which says, "Adjectives relate to nouns
or pronouns." Because the meaning is--_saving principle_.

_Principle_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case: and is governed by _against_; according to Rule
7th, which says, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of a preposition, is
governed by it in the objective case." Because the meaning is--_against
principle_.


LESSON I.--ARTICLES.

"In English heroic verse, the capital pause of every line, is determined by
the sense to be after the fourth, the fifth, the sixth or the seventh
syllable."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 105.

"When, in considering the structure of a tree or a plant, we observe how
all the parts, the roots, the stem, the bark, and the leaves, are suited to
the growth and nutriment of the whole; when we survey all the parts and
members of a living animal; or when we examine any of the curious works of
art--such as a clock, a ship, or any nice machine; the pleasure which we
have in the survey, is wholly founded on this sense of beauty."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 49.

"It never can proceed from a good taste, to make a teaspoon resemble the
leaf of a tree; for such a form is inconsistent with the destination of a
teaspoon."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 351.

"In an epic poem, a history, an oration, or any work of genius, we always
require a fitness, or an adjustment of means to the end which the author is
supposed to have in view."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 50.

"Rhetoric, Logic, and Grammar, are three arts that should always walk hand
in hand. The first is the art of speaking eloquently; the second, that of
thinking well; and the third, that of speaking with propriety."--_Formey's
Belles-Lettres_, p. 114.

   "Spring hangs her infant blossoms on the trees,
    Rock'd in the cradle of the western breeze."--_Cowper_.


LESSON II.--NOUNS.

"There goes a rumour that I am to be banished. And let the sentence come,
if God so will. The other side of the sea is my Father's ground, as well as
this side."--_Rutherford_.

"Gentlemen, there is something on earth greater than arbitrary or despotic
power. The lightning has its power, and the whirlwind has its power, and
the earthquake has its power. But there is something among men more capable
of shaking despotic power than lightning, whirlwind, or earthquake; that
is--the threatened indignation of the whole civilized world."--_Daniel
Webster_.

"And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Padan Aram, unto Laban, son of
Bethuel the Syrian, and brother of Rebecca, Jacob's and Esau's
mother."--See _Gen._, xxviii, 5.

"The purpose you undertake is dangerous." "Why that is certain: it is
dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink; but I tell you, my Lord fool,
out of this nettle danger, we pluck this flower safety."--_Shakespeare_.

"And towards the Jews alone, one of the noblest charters of liberty on
earth--_Magna Charta_, the Briton's boast--legalized an act of
injustice."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 74.

"Were Demosthenes's Philippics spoken in a British assembly, in a similar
conjuncture of affairs, they would convince and persuade at this day. The
rapid style, the vehement reasoning, the disdain, anger, boldness, freedom,
which perpetually animate them, would render their success infallible over
any modern assembly. I question whether the same can be said of Cicero's
orations; whose eloquence, however beautiful, and however well suited to
the Roman taste, yet borders oftener on declamation, and is more remote
from the manner in which we now expect to hear real business and causes of
importance treated."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 248.

"In fact, every attempt to present on paper the splendid effects of
impassioned eloquence, is like gathering up dewdrops, which appear jewels
and pearls on the grass, but run to water in the hand; the essence and the
elements remain, but the grace, the sparkle, and the form, are
gone."--_Montgomery's Life of Spencer_.

"As in life true dignity must be founded on character, not on dress and
appearance; so in language the dignity of composition must arise from
sentiment and thought, not from ornament."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 144.

   "And man, whose heaven-erected face the smiles of love adorn,
    Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn."
        --_Burns_.

    "Ah wretched man! unmindful of thy end!
    A moment's glory! and what fates attend."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. xvii, l. 231.


LESSON III.--ADJECTIVES.

"Embarrassed, obscure, and feeble sentences, are generally, if not always,
the result of embarrassed, obscure, and feeble thought."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 120.

"Upon this ground, we prefer a simple and natural, to an artificial and
affected style; a regular and well-connected story, to loose and scattered
narratives; a catastrophe which is tender and pathetic, to one which leaves
us unmoved."--_Ib._, p. 23.

"A thorough good taste may well be considered as a power compounded of
natural sensibility to beauty, and of improved understanding."--_Ib._, p.
18.

"Of all writings, ancient or modern, the sacred Scriptures afford us the
highest instances of the sublime. The descriptions of the Deity, in them,
are wonderfully noble; both from the grandeur of the object, and the manner
of representing it."--_Ib._, p. 36.

"It is not the authority of any one person, or of a few, be they ever so
eminent, that can establish one form of speech in preference to another.
Nothing but the general practice of good writers and good speakers can do
it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 107.

"What other means are there to attract love and esteem so effectual as a
virtuous course of life? If a man be just and beneficent, if he be
temperate, modest, and prudent, he will infallibly gain the esteem and love
of all who know him."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 167.

"But there are likewise, it must be owned, people in the world, whom it is
easy to make worse by rough usage, and not easy to make better by any
other."--_Abp. Seeker_.

"The great comprehensive truth written in letters of living light on every
page of our history--the language addressed by every past age of New
England to all future ages, is this: Human happiness has no perfect
security but freedom;--freedom, none but virtue;--virtue, none but
knowledge: and neither freedom, nor virtue, nor knowledge, has any vigour
or immortal hope, except in the principles of the Christian faith, and in
the sanctions of the Christian religion."--_President Quincy_.

   "For bliss, as thou hast part, to me is bliss;
    Tedious, unshared with thee, and odious soon."
        --_P. Lost_, B. ix, l. 880.


LESSON IV.--PRONOUNS.

"There is but one governor whose sight we cannot escape, whose power we
cannot resist: a sense of His presence and of duty to Him, will accomplish
more than all the laws and penalties which can be devised without
it."--_Woodbridge, Lit. C._, p. 154.

"Every voluntary society must judge who shall be members of their body, and
enjoy fellowship with them in their peculiar privileges."--_Watts_.

"Poetry and impassioned eloquence are the only sources from which the
living growth of a language springs; and even if in their vehemence they
bring down some mountain rubbish along with them, this sinks to the bottom,
and the pure stream flows along over it."--_Philological Museum_, i, 645.
"This use is bounded by the province, county, or district, which gives name
to the dialect, and beyond which its peculiarities are sometimes
unintelligible, and always ridiculous."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 163.

"Every thing that happens, is both a cause and an effect; being the effect
of what goes before, and the cause of what follows."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, ii, 297.

"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of
thine hand to do it."--_Prov._, iii, 27.

"Yet there is no difficulty at all in ascertaining the idea. * * * By
reflecting upon that which is myself now, and that which was myself twenty
years ago, I discern they are not two, but one and the same
self."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 271.

"If you will replace what has been long expunged from the language, and
extirpate what is firmly rooted, undoubtedly you yourself become an
innovator."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 167; _Murray's Gram._, 364.

"To speak as others speak, is one of those tacit obligations, annexed to
the condition of living in society, which we are bound in conscience to
fulfill, though we have never ratified them by any express promise;
because, if they were disregarded, society would be impossible, and human
happiness at an end."--See _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 139.

"In England _thou_ was in current use until, perhaps, near the commencement
of the seventeenth century, though it was getting to be regarded as
somewhat disrespectful. At Walter Raleigh's trial, Coke, when argument and
evidence failed him, insulted the defendant by applying to him the term
_thou_. 'All that Lord Cobham did,' he cried, 'was at _thy_ instigation,
_thou_ viper! for I _thou_ thee, _thou_ traitor!'"--_Fowler's E. Gram._,
§220.

   "Th' Egyptian crown I to your hands remit;
    And with it take his heart who offers it."--_Shakspeare_.


LESSON V.--VERBS.

"Sensuality contaminates the body, depresses the understanding, deadens the
moral feelings of the heart, and degrades man from his rank in the
creation."--_Murray's Key_, ii, p. 231.

"When a writer reasons, we look only for perspicuity; when he describes, we
expect embellishment; when he divides, or relates, we desire plainness and
simplicity."--_Blair's_ _Rhet._, p. 144.

"Livy and Herodotus are diffuse; Thucydides and Sallust are succinct; yet
all of them are agreeable."--_Ib._, p. 178.

"Whenever petulant ignorance, pride, malice, malignity, or envy, interposes
to cloud or sully his fame, I will take upon me to pronounce that the
eclipse will not last long."--_Dr. Delany_.

"She said she had nothing to say, for she was resigned, and I knew all she
knew that concerned us in this world; but she desired to be alone, that in
the presence of God only, she might without interruption do her last duty
to me."--_Spect._, No. 520.

"Wisdom and truth, the offspring of the sky, are immortal; while cunning
and deception, the meteors of the earth, after glittering for a moment,
must pass away."--_Robert Hall_. "See, I have this day set thee over the
nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to
destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."--_Jeremiah_, i, 10.

"God might command the stones to be made bread, or the clouds to rain it;
but he chooses rather to leave mankind to till, to sow, to reap, to gather
into barns, to grind, to knead, to bake, and then to eat."--_London
Quarterly Review_.

"Eloquence is no invention of the schools. Nature teaches every man to be
eloquent, when he is much in earnest. Place him in some critical situation,
let him have some great interest at stake, and you will see him lay hold of
the most effectual means of persuasion."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 235.

"It is difficult to possess great fame and great ease at the same time.
Fame, like fire, is with difficulty kindled, is easily increased, but dies
away if not continually fed. To preserve fame alive, every enterprise ought
to be a pledge of others, so as to keep mankind in constant
expectation."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 50.  "Pope, finding little advantage
from external help, resolved thenceforward to direct himself, and at twelve
formed a plan of study which he completed with little other incitement than
the desire of excellence."--_Johnson's Lives of Poets_, p. 498.

   "Loose, then, from earth the grasp of fond desire,
    Weigh anchor, and some happier clime explore."--_Young_.


LESSON VI.--PARTICIPLES.

"The child, affrighted with the view of his father's helmet and crest, and
clinging to the nurse; Hector, putting off his helmet, taking the child
into his arms, and offering up a prayer for him; Andromache, receiving back
the child with a smile of pleasure, and at the same instant bursting into
tears; form the most natural and affecting picture that can possibly be
imagined."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 435.

"The truth of being, and the truth of knowing are one; differing no more
than the direct beam and the beam reflected."--_Ld. Bacon_. "Verbs denote
states of being, considered as beginning, continuing, ending, being
renewed, destroyed, and again repeated, so as to suit any
occasion."--_William Ward's Gram._, p. 41.

"We take it for granted, that we have a competent knowledge and skill, and
that we are able to acquit ourselves properly, in our own native tongue; a
faculty, solely acquired by use, conducted by habit, and tried by the ear,
carries us on without reflection."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. vi.

"I mean the teacher himself; who, stunned with the hum, and suffocated with
the closeness of his school-room, has spent the whole day in controlling
petulance, exciting indifference to action, striving to enlighten
stupidity, and labouring to soften obstinacy."--_Sir W. Scott_.

"The inquisitive mind, beginning with criticism, the most agreeable of all
amusements, and finding no obstruction in its progress, advances far into
the sensitive part of our nature; and gains imperceptibly a thorough
knowledge of the human heart, of its desires, and of every motive to
action."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 42.

   "They please, are pleased; they give to get esteem;
    Till, seeming blest, they grow to what they seem."--_Goldsmith_.


LESSON VII.--ADVERBS.

"How cheerfully, how freely, how regularly, how constantly, how
unweariedly, how powerfully, how extensively, he communicateth his
convincing, his enlightening, his heart-penetrating, warming, and melting;
his soul-quickening, healing, refreshing, directing, and fructifying
influence!"--_Brown's Metaphors_, p. 96.

"The passage, I grant, requires to be well and naturally read, in order to
be promptly comprehended; but surely there are very few passages worth
comprehending, either of verse or prose, that can be promptly understood,
when they are read unnaturally and ill."--_Thelwall's Lect_. "They waste
life in what are called good resolutions--partial efforts at reformation,
feebly commenced, heartlessly conducted, and hopelessly
concluded."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 262.

"A man may, in respect of grammatical purity, speak unexceptionably, and
yet speak obscurely and ambiguously; and though we cannot say, that a man
may speak properly, and at the same time speak unintelligibly, yet this
last case falls more naturally to be considered as an offence against
perspicuity, than as a violation of propriety."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p.
104.

"Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblamably we
behaved ourselves among you that believe."--_1 Thes._, ii, 10.

"The question is not, whether they know what is said of Christ in the
Scriptures; but whether they know it savingly, truly, livingly,
powerfully."--_Penington's Works_, iii, 28.

   "How gladly would the man recall to life
    The boy's neglected sire! a mother too,
    That softer friend, perhaps more gladly still,
    Might he demand them at the gates of death!"--_Cowper_.


LESSON VIII.--CONJUNCTIONS.

"Every person's safety requires that he should submit to be governed; for
if one man may do harm without suffering punishment, every man has the same
right, and no person can be safe."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 38.

"When it becomes a practice to collect debts by law, it is a proof of
corruption and degeneracy among the people. Laws and courts are necessary,
to settle controverted points between man and man; but a man should pay an
acknowledged debt, not because there is a law to oblige him, but because it
is just and honest, and because he has promised to pay it."--_Ib._, p. 42.

"The liar, and only the liar, is invariably and universally despised,
abandoned, and disowned. It is therefore natural to expect, that a crime
thus generally detested, should be generally avoided."--_Hawkesworth_.

"When a man swears to the truth of his tale, he tacitly acknowledges that
his bare word does not deserve credit. A swearer will lie, and a liar is
not to be believed even upon his oath; nor is he believed, when he happens
to speak the truth."--_Red Book_, p. 108.

"John Adams replied, 'I know Great Britain has determined on her system,
and that very determination determines me on mine. You know I have been
constant and uniform in opposition to her measures. The die is now cast. I
have passed the Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish with
my country, is my unalterable determination.'"--SEWARD'S _Life of John
Quincy Adams_, p. 26.

"I returned, and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor
the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to
men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance
happen to them all."--_Ecclesiastes_, ix, 11.

   "Little, alas! is all the good I can;
    A man oppress'd, dependent, yet a man."--_Pope, Odys._, B. xiv, p. 70.


LESSON IX.--PREPOSITIONS.

"He who legislates only for a party, is engraving his name on the
adamantine pillar of his country's history, to be gazed on forever as an
object of universal detestation."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 401.

"The Greek language, in the hands of the orator, the poet, and the
historian, must be allowed to bear away the palm from every other known in
the world; but to that only, in my opinion, need our own yield the
precedence."--_Barrow's Essays_, p. 91.

"For my part, I am convinced that the method of teaching which approaches
most nearly to the method of investigation, is incomparably the best;
since, not content with serving up a few barren and lifeless truths, it
leads to the stock on which they grew."--_Burke, on Taste_, p. 37.
Better--"on which _truths grow_."

"All that I have done in this difficult part of grammar, concerning the
proper use of prepositions, has been to make a few general remarks upon the
subject; and then to give a collection of instances, that have occurred to
me, of the improper use of some of them."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 155.

"This is not an age of encouragement for works of elaborate research and
real utility. The genius of the trade of literature is necessarily
unfriendly to such productions."--_Thelwall's Lect._, p. 102.

"At length, at the end of a range of trees, I saw three figures seated on a
bank of moss, with a silent brook creeping at their feet."--_Steele_.

   "Thou rather, with thy sharp and sulph'rous bolt,
    Splitst the unwedgeable and gnarled oak."--_Shakspeare_.


LESSON X.--INTERJECTIONS.

"Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne
of David; thou, and thy servants, and thy people, that enter in by these
gates: thus saith the Lord, Execute ye judgement and righteousness, and
deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor."--_Jeremiah_, xxii,
2, 3.

"Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king
of Judah, They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah
sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond
the gates of Jerusalem."--_Jer._, xxii, 18, 19.

"O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will
lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with
sapphires."--_Isaiah_, liv, 11.

   "O prince! O friend! lo! here thy Medon stands;
    Ah! stop the hero's unresisted hands."
        --_Pope, Odys._, B. xxii, l. 417.

    "When, lo! descending to our hero's aid,
    Jove's daughter Pallas, war's triumphant maid!"
        --_Ib._, B. xxii, l. 222.

    "O friends! oh ever exercised in care!
    Hear Heaven's commands, and reverence what ye hear!"
        --_Ib._, B. xii, l. 324.

    "Too daring prince! ah, whither dost thou run?
    Ah, too forgetful of thy wife and you!"
        --_Pope's Iliad_, B. vi, l. 510.




CHAPTER II.--ARTICLES.

In this chapter, and those which follow it, the
Rules of Syntax are again exhibited, in the order of the parts of speech,
with Examples, Exceptions, Observations, Notes, and False Syntax. The Notes
are all of them, in form and character, subordinate rules of syntax,
designed for the detection of errors. The correction of the False Syntax
placed under the rules and notes, will form an _oral exercise_, similar to
that of parsing, and perhaps more useful.[334]


RULE I.--ARTICLES.

Articles relate to the nouns which they limit:[335] as, "At _a_ little
distance from _the_ ruins of _the_ abbey, stands _an_ aged elm."

   "See _the_ blind beggar dance, _the_ cripple sing,
    _The_ sot _a_ hero, lunatic _a_ king."--_Pope's Essay_, Ep. ii, l. 268.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

The definite article used _intensively_, may relate to an _adjective_ or
_adverb_ of the comparative or the superlative degree; as, "A land which
was _the mightiest_."--_Byron_. "_The farther_ they proceeded, _the
greater_ appeared their alacrity."--_Dr. Johnson_. "He chooses it _the
rather_"--_Cowper_. See Obs. 10th, below.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

The indefinite article is sometimes used to give a collective meaning to
what seems a _plural adjective of number_; as, "Thou hast _a few_ names
even in Sardis."--_Rev._, iii, 4. "There are _a thousand_ things which
crowd into my memory."--_Spectator_, No. 468. "The centurion commanded _a
hundred_ men."--_Webster_. See Etymology, Articles, Obs. 26.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE I.

OBS. 1.--The article is a kind of _index_, usually pointing to some noun;
and it is a general, if not a universal, principle, that no one noun admits
of more than one article. Hence, two or more articles in a sentence are
signs of two or more nouns; and hence too, by a very convenient ellipsis,
an article before an adjective is often made to relate to a noun
understood; as, "_The_ grave [_people_] rebuke _the_ gay [_people_], and
_the_ gay [_people_] mock _the_ grave" [_people_].--_Maturin's Sermons_,
p. 103. "_The_ wise [_persons_] shall inherit glory."--_Prov._, iii, 35.
"_The_ vile [_person_] will talk villainy."--_Coleridge's Lay Sermons_, p.
105: see _Isaiah_, xxxii, 6. "The testimony of the Lord is sure, making
wise _the_ simple" [_ones_].--_Psal._, xix, 7. "_The_ Old [_Testament_] and
the New Testament are alike authentic."--"_The_ animal [_world_] and the
vegetable world are adapted to each other."--"_An_ epic [_poem_] and a
dramatic poem are the same in substance."--_Ld. Kames, El. of Crit._, ii,
274. "The neuter verb is conjugated like _the_ active" [_verb_].--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 99. "Each section is supposed to contain _a_ heavy [_portion_]
and a light portion; _the_ heavy [_portion_] being the accented syllable,
and _the_ light [_portion_] _the_ unaccented" [_syllable_].--_Rush, on the
Voice_, p. 364.

OBS. 2.--Our language does not, like the French, _require a repetition_ of
the article before every noun in a series; because the same article may
serve to limit the signification of several nouns, provided they all stand
in the same construction. Hence the following sentence is bad English: "The
understanding and language have a strict connexion."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
p. 356. The sense of the former noun only was meant to be limited. The
expression therefore should have been, "_Language and the understanding_
have a strict connexion," or, "The understanding _has_ a strict connexion
_with language_." In some instances, one article _seems_ to limit the sense
of several nouns that are not all in the same construction, thus: "As it
proves a greater or smaller obstruction to _the speaker's_ or _writer's
aim_."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 200. That is--"to _the_ aim of _the_ speaker
or _the_ writer." It is, in fact, the possessive, that limits the other
nouns; for, "_a man's foes_" means, "_the_ foes of _a_ man;" and, "_man's
wisdom_," means, "_the_ wisdom of man." The governing noun cannot have an
article immediately before it. Yet the omission of articles, when it
occurs, is not properly _by ellipsis_, as some grammarians declare it to
be; for there never can be a proper ellipsis of an article, when there is
not also an ellipsis of its noun. Ellipsis supposes the omitted words to be
necessary to the construction, when they are not so to the sense; and this,
it would seem, cannot be the case with a mere article. If such a sign be in
any wise necessary, it ought to be used; and if not needed in any respect,
it cannot be said to be _understood_. The definite article being generally
required before adjectives that are used by ellipsis as nouns, we in this
case repeat it before every term in a series; as, "They are singled out
from among their fellows, as _the_ kind, _the_ amiable, _the_
sweet-tempered, _the_ upright."--_Dr. Chalmers_.

   "_The_ great, _the_ gay, shall they partake
    The heav'n that thou alone canst make?"--_Cowper_.

OBS. 3.--The article precedes its noun, and is never, by itself, placed
after it; as, "Passion is _the_ drunkenness of _the_ mind."--_Southey_.
When an _adjective_ likewise precedes the noun, the article is usually
placed before the adjective, that its power of limitation may extend over
that also; as, "_A concise_ writer compresses his thoughts into _the
fewest_ possible words."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 176.

   "_The private_ path, _the secret_ acts of men,
    If noble, far _the noblest_ of their lives."--_Young_.

OBS. 4.--The relative position of the article and the adjective is seldom a
matter of indifference. Thus, it is good English to say, "_both the men_,"
or, "_the two men_;" but we can by no means say, "_the both men_" or, "_two
the men_." Again, the two phrases, "_half a dollar_," and "_a half
dollar_," though both good, are by no means equivalent. Of the pronominal
adjectives, some exclude the article; some precede it; and some follow it,
like other adjectives. The word _same_ is seldom, if ever used without the
definite article or some stronger definitive before it; as, "On _the same_
day,"--"in _that same_ hour,"--"_These same_ gentlemen." After the
adjective _both_, the definite article _may_ be used, but it is generally
_unnecessary_, and this is a sufficient reason for omitting it: as, "The
following sentences will fully exemplify, to the young grammarian, _both
the parts_ of this rule."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 192. Say, "_both
parts_." The adjective _few_ may be used either with or without an article,
but not with the same import: as, "_The few_ who were present, were in the
secret;" i. e., All then present knew the thing. "_Few_ that were present,
were in the secret;" i.e., Not many then present knew the thing. "When I
say, 'There were _few_ men with him,' I speak diminutively, and mean to
represent them as inconsiderable; whereas, when I say, 'There were _a few_
men with him,' I evidently intend to make the most of them."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 171. See Etymology, Articles, Obs. 28.

OBS. 5.--The pronominal adjectives which exclude the article, are _any,
each, either, every, much, neither, no_, or _none, some, this, that, these,
those_. The pronominal adjectives which precede the article, are _all,
both, many, such_, and _what_; as, "_All the_ world,"--"_Both the_
judges,"--"_Many a_[336] mile,"--"_Such a_ chasm,"--"_What a_ freak." In
like manner, any adjective of quality, when its meaning is limited by the
adverb _too, so, as_, or _how_, is put before the article; as, "_Too great
a_ study of strength, is found to betray writers into a harsh
manner."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 179. "Like _many an_ other poor wretch, I now
suffer _all the_ ill consequences of _so foolish an_ indulgence." "_Such a_
gift is _too small a_ reward for _so great a_ labour."--_Brightland's
Gram._, p. 95. "Here flows _as clear a_ stream as any in Greece. _How
beautiful a_ prospect is here!"--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 52. The
pronominal adjectives which follow the article, are _few, former, first,
latter, last, little, one, other_, and _same_; as, "An author might lean
either to _the one [style]_ or to _the other_, and yet be
beautiful."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 179. _Many_, like _few_, sometimes follows
the article; as, "_The many_ favours which we have received."--"In
conversation, for _many a man_, they say, _a many men_."--_Johnson's
Dict._ In this order of the words, _a_ seems awkward and needless; as,

   "Told of _a many_ thousand warlike French."--_Shak._

OBS. 6.--When the adjective is preceded by any other adverb than _too, so,
as_, or _how_, the article is almost always placed before the adverb: as,
"One of _the_ most complete models;"--"_An_ equally important
question;"--"_An_ exceedingly rough passage;"--"_A_ very important
difference." The adverb _quite_, however, may be placed either before or
after the article, though perhaps with a difference of construction: as,
"This is _quite a_ different thing;"--or, "This is _a quite different_
thing." "Finding it _quite an_ other thing;"--or, "Finding it _a quite
other_ thing."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 153. Sometimes _two adverbs_ intervene
between the article and the adjective; as, "We had a _rather more_ explicit
account of the Novii."--_Philol. Museum_, i, 458. But when an other adverb
follows _too, so, as_, or _how_, the three words should be placed either
before the article or after the noun; as, "Who stands there in _so purely
poetical_ a light."--_Ib._, i, 449. Better, perhaps: "_In a light so purely
poetical_."

OBS. 7.--The definitives _this, that_, and some others, though they
supersede the article _an_ or _a_, may be followed by the adjective _one_;
for we say, "_this one thing_," but not, "_this a thing_." Yet, in the
following sentence, _this_ and _a_ being separated by other words, appear
to relate to the same noun: "For who is able to judge _this_ thy so great
_a_ people?"--_1 Kings_, iii, 9. But we may suppose the noun _people_ to be
understood after _this_. Again, the following example, if it is not wrong,
has an ellipsis of the word _use_ after the first _a_:

   "For highest cordials all their virtue lose,
    By _a_ too frequent and too bold _a_ use."--_Pomfret_.

OBS. 8.--When the adjective is placed _after_ the noun, the article
generally retains its place before the noun, and is not repeated before the
adjective: as, "_A_ man _ignorant_ of astronomy;"--"_The_ primrose _pale_."
In _Greek_, when an adjective is placed after its noun, if the article is
applied to the noun, it is repeated before the adjective; as, "[Greek: Hæ
polis hæ megalæ,]"--"_The_ city _the_ great;" i.e., "The great city." [337]

OBS. 9.--Articles, according to their own definition and nature, come
_before_ their nouns; but the definite article and an adjective seem
sometimes to be placed after the noun to which they both relate: as,
"Section _the Fourth_;"--"Henry _the Eighth_." Such examples, however, may
possibly be supposed elliptical; as, "Section, _the fourth division_ of the
chapter;"--"Henry, _the eighth king_ of that name:" and, if they are so,
the article, in _English_, can never be placed after its noun, nor can two
articles ever properly relate to one noun, in any particular construction
of it. Priestley observes, "Some writers affect to _transpose_ these words,
and place the numeral adjective first; [as,] '_The first Henry_.' Hume's
History, Vol. i, p. 497. This construction is common with this writer, but
there seems to be a _want of dignity_ in it."--_Rudiments of E. Gram._, p.
150. Dr. Webster cites the word _Great_, in "_Alexander the Great_" as a
_name_, or _part_ of a name; that is, he gives it as an instance of
"_cognomination_." See his _American Dict._, 8vo. And if this is right, the
article may be said to relate to the epithet only, as it appears to do.
For, if the word is taken substantively, there is certainly no ellipsis;
neither is there any transposition in putting it last, but rather, as
Priestley suggests, in putting it first.

OBS. 10.--The definite article is often prefixed to _comparatives_ and
_superlatives_; and its effect is, as Murray observes, (in the words of
Lowth,) "to mark the degree _the more_ strongly, and to define it _the
more_ precisely: as, '_The more_ I examine it, _the better_ I like it.' 'I
like this _the least_ of any.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 33; _Lowth's_, 14.
"For neither if we eat, are we _the better_; neither if we eat not, are we
_the worse_."--_1 Cor._, viii, 8. "One is not _the more_ agreeable to me
for loving beef, as I do; nor _the less_ agreeable for preferring
mutton."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 365. "They are not the men in
the nation, _the most_ difficult to be replaced."--_Priestley's Gram._, p.
148. In these instances, the article seems to be used _adverbially_, and to
relate only to the _adjective_ or _adverb_ following it. (See observation
fourth, on the Etymology of Adverbs.) Yet none of our grammarians have
actually reckoned _the_ an adverb. After the _adjective_, the noun might
perhaps be supplied; but when the word _the_ is added to an _adverb_, we
must either call it an adverb, or make an exception to Rule 1st above: and
if an exception is to be made, the brief form which I have given, cannot
well be improved. For even if a noun be understood, it may not appear that
the article relates to it, rather than to the degree of the quality. Thus:
"_The_ deeper the well, _the_ clearer the water." This Dr. Ash supposes to
mean, "The deeper _well_ the well _is_, the clearer _water_ the water
_is_."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 107. But does the text specify a _particular_
"deeper well" or "clearer water?" I think not. To what then does _the_
refer, but to the proportionate degree of _deeper_ and _clearer_?

OBS. 11.--The article the is sometimes elegantly used, after an idiom
common in the French language, in lieu of a possessive pronoun; as, "He
looked him full in _the_ face; i. e. in _his_ face."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 150. "Men who have not bowed _the knee_ to the image of Baal."--_Rom._,
xi, 4. That is, _their knees_.

OBS. 12.--The article _an_ or _a_, because it implies unity, is applicable
to nouns of the singular number only; yet a collective noun, being singular
in form, is sometimes preceded by this article even when it conveys the
idea of plurality and takes a plural verb: as, "There _are_ a very great
_number_ [of adverbs] ending in _ly_."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 63. "A
_plurality_ of them _are_ sometimes felt at the same instant."--_Kames, El.
of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 114. In support of this construction, it would be
easy to adduce a great multitude of examples from the most reputable
writers; but still, as it seems not very consistent, to take any word
plurally after restricting it to the singular, we ought rather to avoid
this if we can, and prefer words that literally agree in number: as, "Of
adverbs there _are_ very _many_ ending in _ly_"--"_More than one_ of them
_are_ sometimes felt at the same instant." The word _plurality_, like other
collective nouns, is literally singular: as, "To produce the latter, a
_plurality_ of objects _is_ necessary."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p.
224.

OBS. 13.--Respecting the form of the indefinite article, present practice
differs a little from that of our ancient writers. _An_ was formerly used
before all words beginning with _h_, and before several other words which
are now pronounced in such a manner as to require _a_: thus, we read in the
Bible, "_An_ help,"--"_an_ house,"--"_an_ hundred,"--"_an_ one,"--"_an_
ewer,"--"_an_ usurer;" whereas we now say, "_A_ help,"--"_a_ house,"--"_a_
hundred,"--"_a_ one,"--"_a_ ewer,"--"_a_ usurer."

OBS. 14.--Before the word _humble_, with its compounds and derivatives,
some use _an_, and others, _a_; according to their practice, in this
instance, of sounding or suppressing the aspiration. Webster and Jameson
sound the _h_, and consequently prefer _a_; as, "But _a humbling_ image is
not always necessary to produce that effect."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i,
205. "O what a blessing is _a humble_ mind!"--_Christian Experience_, p.
342. But Sheridan, Walker, Perry, Jones, and perhaps a majority of
fashionable speakers, leave the _h_ silent, and would consequently say,
"_An humbling_ image,"--"_an humble_ mind,"--&c.

OBS. 15.--An observance of the principles on which the article is to be
repeated or not repeated in a sentence, is of very great moment in respect
to accuracy of composition. These principles are briefly stated in the
notes below, but it is proper that the learner should know the reasons of
the distinctions which are there made. By a repetition of the article
before several adjectives in the same construction, a repetition of the
noun is implied; but without a repetition of the article, the adjectives,
in all fairness of interpretation, are confined to one and the same noun:
as, "No figures will render _a cold_ or _an empty_ composition
interesting."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 134. Here the author speaks of a cold
composition and an empty composition as different things. "_The_
metaphorical and _the_ literal meaning _are_ improperly mixed."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 339. Here the verb are has two nominatives, one of which is
expressed, and the other understood. "But _the_ third and _the_ last of
these [forms] are seldom used."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 186. Here the verb
"_are used_" has two nominatives, both of which are understood; namely,
"the third _form_," and "the last _form_." Again: "_The original and
present_ signification _is_ always retained."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of
Lang._, Vol. ii, p. 149. Here _one signification_ is characterized as being
both original and present. "_A loose and verbose manner_ never _fails_ to
create disgust."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 261. That is, _one manner_, loose and
verbose. "To give _a_ short and yet clear and plain answer to this
proposition."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 533. That is, _one answer,
short, clear, and plain_; for the conjunctions in the text connect nothing
but the adjectives.

OBS. 16.--To avoid repetition, even of the little word _the_, we sometimes,
with one article, join _inconsistent_ qualities to a _plural noun_;--that
is, when the adjectives so differ as to individualize the things, we
sometimes make the noun plural, in stead of repeating the article: as,
"_The_ north and south _poles_;" in stead of, "_The_ north and _the_ south
_pole_."--"_The_ indicative and potential _moods_;" in stead of "_The_
indicative and _the_ potential _mood_."--"_The_ Old and New _Testaments_;"
in stead of, "_The_ Old and _the_ New _Testament_." But, in any such case,
to repeat the article when the noun is made plural, is a huge blunder;
because it implies a repetition of the plural noun. And again, not to
repeat the article when the noun is singular, is also wrong; because it
forces the adjectives to coalesce in describing one and the same thing.
Thus, to say, "_The_ north and south _pole_" is certainly wrong, unless we
mean by it, _one pole_, or _slender stick of wood_, pointing north and
south; and again, to say, "_The_ north and _the_ south _poles_," is also
wrong, unless we mean by it, _several poles at the north_ and _others at
the south_. So the phrase, "_The_ Old and New _Testament_" is wrong,
because we have not _one Testament that is both Old and New_; and again,
"_The_ Old and _the_ New _Testaments_," is wrong, because we have not
several _Old Testaments and several New ones_: at least we have them not in
the Bible.

OBS. 17.--Sometimes a noun that _admits no article_, is preceded by
adjectives that do not describe the same thing; as, "Never to jumble
_metaphorical and plain language_ together."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 146. This
means, "_metaphorical language_ and _plain language_;" and, for the sake of
perfect clearness, it would perhaps be better to express it so. "For as
_intrinsic and relative beauty_ must often be blended in the same building,
it becomes a difficult task to attain _both_ in any perfection."--_Karnes,
El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 330. That is, "_intrinsic beauty_ and _relative
beauty_" must often be blended; and this phraseology would be better. "In
correspondence to that distinction of _male and female sex_."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 74. This may be expressed as well or better, in half a dozen
other ways; for the article may be added, or the noun may be made plural,
with or without the article, and before or after the adjectives. "They make
no distinction between causes of civil and criminal jurisdiction."--
_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i, p. 302. This means--"between causes of civil and
_causes_ of criminal jurisdiction;" and, for the sake of perspicuity, it
ought to have been so written,--or, still better, _thus_: "They make no
distinction between civil causes and criminal."


NOTES TO RULE I.

NOTE I.--When the indefinite article is required, _a_ should always be used
before the sound of a consonant, and _an_, before that of a vowel; as,
"With the talents of _an_ angel, a man may be _a_ fool."--_Young_.

NOTE II.--The article _an_ or _a_ must never be so used as to relate, or
even seem to relate, to a plural noun. The following sentence is therefore
faulty: "I invited her to spend a day in viewing _a seat and
gardens._"--_Rambler_, No. 34. Say, "a seat and _its_ gardens."

NOTE III.--When nouns are joined in construction, with different adjuncts,
different dependence, or positive contrast, the article, if it belong at
all to the latter, must be repeated. The following sentence is therefore
inaccurate: "She never considered the quality, but merit of her
visitors."--_Wm. Penn_. Say, "_the_ merit." So the article in brackets is
absolutely necessary to the sense and propriety of the following phrase,
though not inserted by the learned author: "The Latin introduced between
the Conquest and [_the_] reign of Henry the Eighth."--_Fowler's E. Gram._,
8vo, 1850, p. 42.

NOTE IV.--When adjectives are connected, and the qualities belong to things
individually different, though of the same name, the article should be
repeated: as, "_A_ black and _a_ white horse;"--i. e., _two horses_, one
black and the other white. "_The_ north and _the_ south line;"--i. e., _two
lines_, running east and west.

NOTE V.--When adjectives are connected, and the qualities all belong to the
same thing or things, the article should not be repeated: as, "_A_ black
and white horse;"--i. e., _one_ horse, _piebald_. "_The_ north and south
line;"--i. e., _one line_, running north and south, like a meridian. NOTE
VI.--When two or more individual things of the same name are distinguished
by adjectives that cannot unite to describe the same thing, the article
must be added to each if the noun be singular, and to the first only if the
noun follow them in the plural: as, "_The_ nominative and _the_ objective
_case_;" or, "_The_ nominative and objective _cases_."--"_The_ third, _the_
fifth, _the_ seventh, and _the_ eighth _chapter_;" or, "_The_ third, fifth,
seventh, and eighth _chapters_." [338]

NOTE VII.--When two phrases of the same sentence have any special
correspondence with each other, the article, if used in the former, is in
general required also in the latter: as, "For ye know neither _the_ day nor
_the_ hour."--_Matt._, xxv, 13. "Neither _the_ cold nor _the_ fervid are
formed for friendship."--_Murray's Key_, p. 209. "The vail of the temple
was rent in twain, from _the_ top to _the_ bottom."--_Matt._, xxvii, 51.

NOTE VIII.--When a special correspondence is formed between individual
epithets, the noun which follows must not be made plural; because the
article, in such a case, cannot be repeated as the construction of
correspondents requires. Thus, it is improper to say, "Both _the_ first and
second _editions_" or, "Both _the_ first and _the_ second _editions_" for
the accurate phrase, "Both _the_ first and _the_ second _edition_;" and
still worse to say, "Neither _the_ Old nor New _Testaments_" or, "Neither
_the_ Old nor _the_ New _Testaments_" for the just expression, "Neither
_the_ Old nor _the_ New _Testament_." Yet we may say, "Neither _the old_
nor _the new statutes_" or, "Both _the early_ and _the late editions_;" for
here the epithets severally apply to more than one thing.

NOTE IX.--In a series of three or more terms, if the article is used with
any, it should in general be added either to every one, or else to the
first only. The following phrase is therefore inaccurate: "Through their
attention to the helm, the sails, or rigging."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. i,
p. 11. Say, "_the_ rigging."

NOTE X.--As the article _an_ or _a_ denotes "_one thing of a kind_," it
should not be used as we use _the_, to denote emphatically a _whole kind_;
and again, when the species is said to be _of the genus_, no article should
be used to limit the latter. Thus some will say, "_A jay_ is a sort of _a
bird_;" whereas they ought to say, "_The jay_ is a sort _of bird_." Because
it is absurd to suggest, that _one jay_ is _a sort_ of _one bird_. Yet we
may say, "_The jay_ is _a bird_," or, "_A jay_ is _a bird_;" because, as
every species is one under the genus, so every individual is one under
both.

NOTE XI.--The article should not be used before the names of virtues,
vices, passions, arts, or sciences, in their general sense; before terms
that are strictly limited by other definitives; or before any noun whose
signification is sufficiently definite without it: as, "_Falsehood_ is
odious."--"_Iron_ is useful."--"_Beauty_ is vain."--"_Admiration_ is
useless, when it is not supported by _domestic worth_"--_Webster's Essays_,
p. 30.

NOTE XII.--When titles are mentioned merely as titles; or names of things,
merely as names or words; the article should not be used before them: as,
"He is styled _Marquis_;" not, "_the_ Marquis," or, "_a_ Marquis,"--"Ought
a teacher to call his pupil _Master_?"--"_Thames_ is derived from the Latin
name _Tam~esis_."

NOTE XIII.--When a comparison or an alternative is made with two nouns, if
both of them refer to the same subject, the article should not be inserted
before the latter; if to different subjects, it should not be omitted:
thus, if we say, "He is a better teacher than poet," we compare different
qualifications of the same man; but if we say, "He is a better teacher than
_a_ poet," we speak of different men, in regard to the same qualification.

NOTE XIV.--The definite article, or some other definitive, (as _this, that,
these, those_,) is generally required before the antecedent to the pronoun
_who_ or _which_ in a restrictive clause; as, "All _the men who_ were
present, agreed to it."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 145. "The _thoughts which_
passion suggests are always plain and obvious ones."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
468. "The _things which_ are impossible with men, are possible with
God."--_Luke_, xviii, 27. See Etymology, Chap. V, Obs. 26th, &c., on
Classes of Pronouns.

NOTE XV.--The article is generally required in that construction which
converts a participle into a verbal or participial noun; as, "_The
completing of_ this, by _the working-out of_ sin inherent, must be by the
power and spirit of Christ in the heart."--_Wm. Penn_. "They shall be _an
abhorring_ unto all flesh."--_Isaiah_, lxvi, 24. "For _the dedicating of_
the altar."--_Numb._, vii, 11.

NOTE XVI.--The article should not be added to any participle that is not
taken in all other respects as a noun; as, "For _the_ dedicating the
altar."--"He made a mistake in _the_ giving out the text." Expunge _the_,
and let _dedicating_ and _giving_ here stand as participles only; for in
the construction of nouns, they must have not only a definitive before
them, but the preposition _of_ after them.

NOTE XVII.--The false syntax of articles properly includes every passage in
which there is any faulty insertion, omission, choice, or position, of this
part of speech. For example: "When the verb is _a_ passive, the agent and
object change places."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 73. Better: "When the verb is
_passive_, the agent and _the_ object change places." "Comparisons used by
the sacred poets, are generally short."--_Russell's Gram._, p. 87. Better:
"_The_ comparisons," &c. "Pronoun means _for noun_, and _is used_ to _avoid
the_ too frequent repetition of _the_ noun."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 89.
Say rather: "_The_ pronoun _is put_ for _a_ noun, and is used to _prevent_
too frequent a repetition of the noun." Or: "_The word_ PRONOUN means _for
noun_; and _a pronoun_ is used to prevent too frequent a repetition of
_some_ noun."


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE I.

[Fist][The examples of False Syntax placed under the rules and notes, are
to be corrected _orally_ by the pupil, according to the formules given, or
according to others framed in like manner, and adapted to the several
notes.]


EXAMPLES UNDER NOTE I.--AN OR A.

"I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel."--_Hosea_, vi, 10.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the article _an_ is used before _horrible_,
which begins with the sound of the consonant _h_. But, according to Note
1st, under Rule 1st, "When the indefinite article is required, _a_ should
always be used before the sound of a consonant, and _an_, before that of a
vowel." Therefore, _an_ should be _a_; thus, "I have seen _a_ horrible
thing in the house of Israel."]

"There is an harshness in the following sentences."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 188. "Indeed, such an one is not to be looked for."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
27. "If each of you will be disposed to approve himself an useful
citizen."--_Ib._, p. 263. "Land with them had acquired almost an European
value."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 325. "He endeavoured to find out an
wholesome remedy."--_Neef's Method of Ed._, p. 3. "At no time have we
attended an Yearly Meeting more to our own satisfaction."--_The Friend_, v,
224. "Addison was not an humourist in character."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
i, 303. "Ah me! what an one was he?"--_Lily's Gram._, p. 49. "He was such
an one as I never saw."--_Ib._ "No man can be a good preacher, who is not
an useful one."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 283. "An usage which is too frequent
with Mr. Addison."--_Ib._, p. 200. "Nobody joins the voice of a sheep with
the shape of an horse."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 298. "An universality seems to
be aimed at by the omission of the article."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 154.
"Architecture is an useful as well as a fine art."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 335. "Because the same individual conjunctions do not preserve an
uniform signification."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 78. "Such a work required
the patience and assiduity of an hermit."--_Johnson's Life of Morin_.
"Resentment is an union of sorrow with malignity."--_Rambler_, No. 185.
"His bravery, we know, was an high courage of blasphemy."--_Pope_. "Hyssop;
a herb of bitter taste."--_Pike's Heb. Lex._, p. 3.

   "On each enervate string they taught the note
    To pant, or tremble through an Eunuch's throat."--_Pope_.


UNDER NOTE II.--AN OR A WITH PLURALS.

"At a sessions of the court in March, it was moved," &c.--_Hutchinson's
Hist. of Mass._, i, 61. "I shall relate my conversations, of which I kept a
memoranda."--_Duchess D'Abrantes_, p. 26. "I took another dictionary, and
with a scissors cut out, for instance, the word ABACUS."--_A. B. Johnson's
Plan of a Dict._, p. 12. "A person very meet seemed he for the purpose, of
a forty-five years old."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p. 338. "And it
came to pass about an eight days after these sayings."--_Luke_, ix, 28."
There were slain of them upon a three thousand men."--_1 Mac._, iv, 15."
Until I had gained the top of these white mountains, which seemed another
Alps of snow."--_Addison, Tat._, No. 161. "To make them a satisfactory
amends for all the losses they had sustained."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, p.
187. "As a first fruits of many more that shall be gathered."--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 506. "It makes indeed a little amends, by inciting us to oblige
people."--_Sheffield's Works_, ii, 229. "A large and lightsome backstairs
leads up to an entry above."--_Ib._, p. 260. "Peace of mind is an
honourable amends for the sacrifices of interest."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
162; _Smith's_, 138. "With such a spirit and sentiments were hostilities
carried on."--_Robertson's America_, i, 166. "In the midst of a thick
woods, he had long lived a voluntary recluse."--_G. B_. "The flats look
almost like a young woods."--_Morning Chronicle_. "As we went on, the
country for a little ways improved, but scantily."--_Essex County Freeman_,
Vol. ii, No. 11. "Whereby the Jews were permitted to return into their own
country, after a seventy years captivity at Babylon."--_Rollin's An.
Hist._, Vol. ii, p. 20. "He did riot go a great ways into the
country."--_Gilbert's Gram._, p. 85.

   "A large amends by fortune's hand is made,
    And the lost Punic blood is well repay'd."--_Rowe's Lucan_, iv, 1241.


UNDER NOTE III.--NOUNS CONNECTED.

"As where a landscape is conjoined with the music of birds and odour of
flowers."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 117. "The last order resembles the
second in the mildness of its accent, and softness of its pause."--_Ib._,
ii, 113. "Before the use of the loadstone or knowledge of the
compass."--_Dryden_. "The perfect participle and imperfect tense ought not
to be confounded."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, 292. "In proportion as the taste
of a poet, or orator, becomes more refined."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 27. "A
situation can never be intricate, as long as there is an angel, devil, or
musician, to lend a helping hand."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 285. "Avoid
rude sports: an eye is soon lost, or bone broken."--"Not a word was
uttered, nor sign given."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 125. "I despise not the
doer, but deed."--_Ibid._ "For the sake of an easier pronunciation and more
agreeable sound."--_Lowth_. "The levity as well as loquacity of the Greeks
made them incapable of keeping up the true standard of history."--
_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 115.


UNDER NOTE IV.--ADJECTIVES CONNECTED.

"It is proper that the vowels be a long and short one."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 327. "Whether the person mentioned was seen by the speaker a long or
short time before."--_Ib._, p. 70; _Fisk's_, 72. "There are three genders,
Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 8. "The numbers
are two; Singular and Plural."--_Ib._, p. 80; _Gould's_, 77. "The persons
are three; First, Second, [and] Third."--_Adam, et al_. "Nouns and pronouns
have three cases; the nominative, possessive, and objective."--_Comly's
Gram._, p. 19; _Ingersoll's_, 21. "Verbs have five moods; namely, the
Indicative, Potential, Subjunctive, Imperative, and Infinitive."--
_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 35; _Lennie's_, 20. "How many numbers have
pronouns? Two, the singular and plural."--_Bradley's Gram._, p. 82. "To
distinguish between an interrogative and exclamatory sentence."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 280; _Comly's_, 163; _Ingersoll's_, 292. "The first and last of
which are compounded members."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 123. "In the last
lecture, I treated of the concise and diffuse, the nervous and feeble
manner."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 183. "The passive and neuter verbs, I shall
reserve for some future conversation."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 69. "There
are two voices; the Active and Passive."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 59; _Gould's_,
87. "Whose is rather the poetical than regular genitive of _which_."--_Dr.
Johnson's Gram._, p. 7. "To feel the force of a compound, or derivative
word."--_Town's Analysis_, p. 4. "To preserve the distinctive uses of the
copulative and disjunctive conjunctions."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 150;
_Ingersoll's_, 233. "E has a long and short sound in most languages."--
_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 13. "When the figurative and literal sense
are mixed and jumbled together."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 151. "The Hebrew,
with which the Canaanitish and Phoenician stand in connection."--CONANT:
_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, p. 28. "The languages of Scandinavia
proper, the Norwegian and Swedish."--_Fowler, ib._, p. 31.


UNDER NOTE V.--ADJECTIVES CONNECTED.

"The path of truth is a plain and a safe path"--_Murray's Key_, p. 236.
"Directions for acquiring a just and a happy elocution."--_Kirkham's
Elocution_, p. 144. "Its leading object is to adopt a correct and an easy
method."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 9. "How can it choose but wither in a long
and a sharp winter."--_Cowley's Pref._, p. vi. "Into a dark and a distant
unknown."--_Chalmers, on Astronomy_, p. 230. "When the bold and the strong
enslaved his fellow man."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 21. "We now proceed to
consider the things most essential to an accurate and a perfect sentence."
--_Murray's Gram._, p. 306. "And hence arises a second and a very
considerable source of the improvement of taste."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 18.
"Novelty produces in the mind a vivid and an agreeable emotion."--_Ib._, p.
50. "The deepest and the bitterest feeling still is, the separation."--
_Dr. M'Rie_. "A great and a good man looks beyond time."--_Brown's
Institutes_, p. 125. "They made but a weak and an ineffectual resistance."
--_Ib._ "The light and the worthless kernels will float."--_Ib._ "I rejoice
that there is an other and a better world."--_Ib._ "For he is determined to
_revise_ his work, and present to the publick another and a better
edition."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 7. "He hoped that this title would secure
him an ample and an independent authority."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 172: see
_Priestley's_, 147. "There is however another and a more limited
sense."--_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. ii, p. 232.


UNDER NOTE VI.--ARTICLES OR PLURALS.

"This distinction forms, what are called the diffuse and the concise
styles."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 176. "Two different modes of speaking,
distinguished at first by the denominations of the Attic and the Asiatic
manners."--_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i, p. 83. "But the great design of uniting
the Spanish and the French monarchies under the former was laid."--
_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 180. "In the solemn and the poetic styles, it
[_do_ or _did_] is often rejected."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 68. "They
cannot be at the same time in the objective and the nominative
cases."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 151; _Ingersoll's_, 239; _R. G.
Smith's_, 127. "They are named the POSITIVE, the COMPARATIVE, and the
SUPERLATIVE degrees."--_Smart's Accidence_, p. 27. "Certain Adverbs are
capable of taking an Inflection, namely, that of the comparative and the
superlative degrees."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, §321. "In the
subjunctive mood, the present and the imperfect tenses often carry with
them a future sense."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 187; _Fisk's_, 131. "The
imperfect, the perfect, the pluperfect, and the first future tenses of this
mood, are conjugated like the same tenses of the indicative."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 145. "What rules apply in parsing personal pronouns of the
second and third person?"--_Ib._, p. 116. "Nouns are sometimes in the
nominative or objective case after the neuter verb to be, or after an
active-intransitive or passive verb."--_Ib._, p. 55. "The verb varies its
endings in the singular in order to agree in form with the first, second,
and third person of its nominative."--_Ib._, p. 47. "They are identical in
effect, with the radical and the vanishing stresses."--_Rush, on the
Voice_, p. 339. "In a sonnet the first, fourth, fifth, and eighth line
rhyme to each other: so do the second, third, sixth, and seventh line; the
ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth line; and the tenth, twelfth, and
fourteenth line."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 311. "The iron and the golden
ages are run; youth and manhood are departed."--_Wright's Athens_, p. 74.
"If, as you say, the iron and the golden ages are past, the youth and the
manhood of the world."--_Ib._ "An Exposition of the Old and New
Testament."--_Matthew Henry's Title-page_. "The names and order of the
books of the Old and New Testament."--_Friends' Bible_, p. 2; _Bruce's_, p.
2; et al. "In the second and third person of that tense."--_L. Murray's
Gram._, p. 81. "And who still unites in himself the human and the divine
natures."--_Gurney's Evidences_, p. 59. "Among whom arose the Italian, the
Spanish, the French, and the English languages."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo,
p. 111. "Whence arise these two, the singular and the plural
Numbers."--_Burn's Gram._, p. 32.


UNDER NOTE VII.--CORRESPONDENT TERMS.

"Neither the definitions, nor examples, are entirely the same with
his."--_Ward's Pref. to Lily's Gram._, p. vi. "Because it makes a
discordance between the thought and expression."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 24. "Between the adjective and following substantive."--_Ib._ ii, 104.
"Thus, Athens became both the repository and nursery of
learning."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 28. "But the French pilfered from both
the Greek and Latin."--_Ib._, p. 102. "He shows that Christ is both the
power and wisdom of God."--_The Friend_, x, 414. "That he might be Lord
both of the dead and living."--_Rom._, xiv, 9. "This is neither the obvious
nor grammatical meaning of his words."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 209. "Sometimes
both the accusative and infinitive are understood."--_Adam's Gram._, p.
155; _Gould's_, 158. "In some cases we can use either the nominative or
accusative promiscuously."--_Adam_, p. 156; _Gould_, 159. "Both the former
and latter substantive are sometimes to be understood."--_Adam_, p. 157;
_Gould_, 160. "Many whereof have escaped both the commentator and poet
himself."--_Pope_. "The verbs must and ought have both a present and past
signification."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 108. "How shall we distinguish
between the friends and enemies of the government?"--_Webster's Essays_, p.
352. "Both the ecclesiastical and secular powers concurred in those
measures."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 260. "As the period has a beginning and
end within itself it implies an inflexion."--_Adams's Rhet._, ii, 245.
"Such as ought to subsist between a principal and accessory."--_Kames, on
Crit._, ii, 39.


UNDER NOTE VIII.--CORRESPONDENCE PECULIAR.

"When both the upward and the downward slides occur in pronouncing a
syllable, they are called a _Circumflex_ or _Wave_."--_Kirkham's
Elocution_, pp. 75 and 104. "The word _that_ is used both in the nominative
and objective cases."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 69. "But all the other moods
and tenses of the verbs, both in the active and passive voices, are
conjugated at large."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 81. "Some writers on
Grammar object to the propriety of admitting the second future, in both the
indicative and subjunctive moods."--_Ib._, p. 82. "The same conjunction
governing both the indicative and the subjunctive moods, in the same
sentence, and in the same circumstances, seems to be a great
impropriety."--_Ib._, p. 207. "The true distinction between the subjunctive
and the indicative moods in this tense."--_Ib._, p. 208. "I doubt of his
capacity to teach either the French or English languages."--_Chazotte's
Essay_, p. 7. "It is as necessary to make a distinction between the active
transitive and the active intransitive forms of the verb, as between the
active and passive forms."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 13.


UNDER NOTE IX.--A SERIES OF TERMS.

"As comprehending the terms uttered by the artist, the mechanic, and
husbandman."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 24. "They may be divided into four
classes--the Humanists, Philanthropists, Pestalozzian and the Productive
Schools."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. iii. "Verbs have six tenses, the
Present, the Imperfect, the Perfect, the Pluperfect, and the First and
Second Future tenses."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 138; _L. Murray's_, 68; _R.
C. Smith's_, 27; _Alger's_, 28. "_Is_ is an irregular verb neuter,
indicative mood, present tense, and the third person singular."--_Murray's
Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 2. "_Should give_ is an irregular verb active, in the
potential mood, the imperfect tense, and the first person plural."--_Ibid._
"_Us_ is a personal pronoun, first person plural, and in the objective
case."--_Ibid._ "_Them_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person, the
plural number, and in the objective case."--_Ibid._ "It is surprising that
the Jewish critics, with all their skill in dots, points, and accents,
never had the ingenuity to invent a point of interrogation, of admiration,
or a parenthesis."--_Wilson's Hebrew Gram._, p. 47. "The fifth, sixth,
seventh, and the eighth verse."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 263.
"Substitutes have three persons; the First, Second, and the Third."--_Ib._,
p. 34. "_John's_ is a proper noun, of the masculine gender, the third
person, singular number, possessive case, and governed by _wife_, by Rule
I."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 48. "Nouns in the English language have three
cases; the nominative, the possessive, and objective."--_Barrett's Gram._,
p. 13; _Alexander's_, 11. "The Potential [mood] has four [tenses], viz. the
Present, the Imperfect, the Perfect, and Pluperfect."--_Ingersoll's Gram._,
p. 96.

   "Where Science, Law, and Liberty depend,
    And own the patron, patriot, and the friend."--_Savage, to Walpole_.


UNDER NOTE X.--SPECIES AND GENUS.

"A pronoun is a part of speech put for a noun."--_Paul's Accidence_, p. 11.
"A verb is a part of speech declined with mood and tense."--_Ib._, p. 15.
"A participle is a part of speech derived of a verb."--_Ib._, p. 38. "An
adverb is a part of speech joined to verbs to declare their
signification."--_Ib._, p. 40. "A conjunction is a part of speech that
joineth sentences together."--_Ib._, p. 41. "A preposition is a part of
speech most commonly set before other parts."--_Ib._, p. 42. "An
interjection is a part of speech which betokeneth a sudden motion or
passion of the mind."--_Ib._, p. 44. "An enigma or riddle is also a species
of allegory."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 151; _Murray's Gram._, 343. "We may take
from the Scriptures a very fine example of an allegory."--_Ib._: _Blair_,
151; _Mur._, 341. "And thus have you exhibited a sort of a sketch of
art."--HARRIS: _in Priestley's Gram._, p. 176. "We may 'imagine a subtle
kind of a reasoning,' as Mr. Harris acutely observes."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 71. "But, before entering on these, I shall give one instance of
a very beautiful metaphor, that I may show the figure to full
advantage."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 143. "Aristotle, in his Poetics, uses
metaphor in this extended sense, for any figurative meaning imposed upon a
word; as a whole put for the part, or a part for a whole; the species for
the genus, or a genus for the species."--_Ib._, p. 142. "It shows what kind
of an apple it is of which we are speaking."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 69.
"Cleon was another sort of a man."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. i, p. 124.
"To keep off his right wing, as a kind of a reserved body."--_Ib._, ii, 12.
"This part of speech is called a verb."--_Mack's Gram._, p. 70. "What sort
of a thing is it?"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 20. "What sort of a charm do they
possess?"--_Bullions's Principles of E. Gram._, p. 73.

   "Dear Welsted, mark, in dirty hole,
    That painful animal, a Mole."--_Note to Dunciad_, B. ii, l. 207.


UNDER NOTE XI.--ARTICLES NOT REQUISITE.

"Either thou or the boys were in the fault."--_Comly's Key, in Gram._, p.
174. "It may, at the first view, appear to be too general."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 222; _Ingersoll's_, 275. "When the verb has a reference to
future time."--_Ib.: M._, p. 207; _Ing._, 264. "No; they are the language
of imagination rather than of a passion."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 165. "The
dislike of the English Grammar, which has so generally prevailed, can only
be attributed to the intricacy of syntax."--_Russell's Gram._, p. iv. "Is
that ornament in a good taste?"--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 326. "There are
not many fountains in a good taste."--_Ib._, ii, 329. "And I persecuted
this way unto the death."--_Acts_, xxii, 4. "The sense of the feeling can,
indeed, give us the idea of extension."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 196. "The
distributive adjective pronouns, _each, every, either_, agree with the
nouns, pronouns, and verbs, of the singular number only."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 165; _Lowth's_, 89. "Expressing by one word, what might, by a
circumlocution, be resolved into two or more words belonging to the other
parts of speech."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 84. "By the certain muscles which
operate all at the same time."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 19. "It is sufficient
here to have observed thus much in the general concerning
them."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 112. "Nothing disgusts us sooner than the
empty pomp of language."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 319.


UNDER NOTE XII.--TITLES AND NAMES.

"He is entitled to the appellation of a gentleman."--_Brown's Inst._, p.
126. "Cromwell assumed the title of a Protector."--_Ib._ "Her father is
honoured with the title of an Earl."--_Ib._ "The chief magistrate is styled
a President."--_Ib._ "The highest title in the state is that of the
Governor."--_Ib._ "That boy is known by the name of the Idler."--_Murray's
Key_, 8vo, p. 205. "The one styled the Mufti, is the head of the ministers
of law and religion."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 360. "Banging all that possessed
them under one class, he called that whole class _a tree_."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 73. "For the oak, the pine, and the ash, were names of whole
classes of objects."--_Ib._, p. 73. "It is of little importance whether we
give to some particular mode of expression the name of a trope, or of a
figure."--_Ib._, p. 133. "The collision of a vowel with itself is the most
ungracious of all combinations, and has been doomed to peculiar reprobation
under the name of an hiatus."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, Vol. ii, p. 217. "We
hesitate to determine, whether the _Tyrant_ alone, is the nominative, or
whether the nominative includes the spy."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 246.
"Hence originated the customary abbreviation of _twelve months_ into a
_twelve-month_; _seven nights_ into _se'night_; _fourteen nights_ into a
_fortnight_."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 105.


UNDER NOTE XIII.--COMPARISONS AND ALTERNATIVES.

"He is a better writer than a reader."--_W. Allen's False Syntax, Gram._,
p. 332. "He was an abler mathematician than a linguist."--_Ib._ "I should
rather have an orange than apple."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 126. "He was no
less able a negotiator, than a courageous warrior."--_Smollett's Voltaire_,
Vol. i, p. 181. "In an epic poem we pardon many negligences that would not
be permitted in a sonnet or epigram."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p.
186. "That figure is a sphere, or a globe, or a ball."--_Harris's Hermes_,
p. 258.


UNDER NOTE XIV.--ANTECEDENTS TO WHO OR WHICH.

"Carriages which were formerly in use, were very clumsy."--_Inst._, p. 126.
"The place is not mentioned by geographers who wrote at that time."--_Ib._
"Questions which a person asks himself in contemplation, ought to be
terminated by points of interrogation."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 279;
_Comly's_, 162; _Ingersoll's_, 291. "The work is designed for the use of
persons, who may think it merits a place in their Libraries."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo., p. iii. "That persons who think confusedly, should express
themselves obscurely, is not to be wondered at."--_Ib._, p. 298.
"Grammarians who limit the number to two, or at most to three, do not
reflect."--_Ib._, p. 75. "Substantives which end in _ian_, are those that
signify profession."--_Ib._, p. 132. "To these may be added verbs, which
chiefly among the poets govern the dative."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 170;
_Gould's_, 171. "Consonants are letters, which cannot be sounded without
the aid of a vowel."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 9. "To employ the curiosity of
persons who are skilled in grammar."--_Murray's Gram., Pref._, p. iii.
"This rule refers only to nouns and pronouns, which have the same bearing
or relation."--_Ib._, i, p. 204. "So that things which are seen, were not
made of things which do appear."--_Heb._, xi, 3. "Man is an imitative
creature; he may utter sounds, which he has heard."--_Wilson's Essay on
Gram._, p. 21. "But men, whose business is wholly domestic, have little or
no use for any language but their own."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 5.


UNDER NOTE XV.--PARTICIPIAL NOUNS.

"Great benefit may be reaped from reading of histories."--_Sewel's Hist._,
p. iii. "And some attempts were made towards writing of
history."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 110. "It is Invading of the Priest's
Office for any other to Offer it."--_Right of Tythes_, p. 200. "And thus
far of forming of verbs."--_Walker's Art of Teaching_, p. 35. "And without
shedding of blood is no remission."--_Heb._, ix, 22. "For making of
measures we have the best method here in England."--_Printer's Gram._ "This
is really both admitting and denying, at once."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 72.
"And hence the origin of making of parliaments."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol.
i, p. 71. "Next thou objectest, that having of saving light and grace
presupposes conversion. But that I deny: for, on the contrary, conversion
presupposeth having light and grace."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 143.
"They cried down wearing of rings and other superfluities as we
do."--_Ib._, i, 236. "Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning
of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of
apparel."--_1 Peter_, iii, 3. "In spelling of derivative Words, the
Primitive must be kept whole."--_British Gram._, p. 50; _Buchanan's
Syntax_, 9. "And the princes offered for dedicating of the
altar."--_Numbers_, vii, 10. "Boasting is not only telling of lies, but
also many unseemly truths."--_Sheffield's Works_, ii, 244. "We freely
confess that forbearing of prayer in the wicked is sinful."--_Barclay_, i,
316. "For revealing of a secret, there is no remedy."--_Inst. E. Gram._, p.
126. "He turned all his thoughts to composing of laws for the good of the
state."--_Rollin's Ancient Hist._, Vol. ii, p. 38.

UNDER NOTE XVI.--PARTICIPLES, NOT NOUNS.  "It is salvation to be kept from
falling into a pit, as truly as to be taken out of it after the falling
in."--_Barclay_, i, 210. "For in the receiving and embracing the testimony
of truth, they felt eased."--_Ib._, i, 469. "True regularity does not
consist in the having but a single rule, and forcing every thing to conform
to it."--_Philol. Museum_, i, 664. "To the man of the world, this sound of
glad tidings appears only an idle tale, and not worth the attending
to."--_Life of Tho. Say_, p. 144. "To be the deliverer of the captive Jews,
by the ordering their temple to be re-built," &c.--_Rollin_, ii, 124. "And
for the preserving them from being defiled."--_N. E. Discipline_, p. 133.
"A wise man will avoid the showing any excellence in trifles."--_Art of
Thinking_, p. 80. "Hirsutus had no other reason for the valuing a
book."--_Rambler_, No. 177; _Wright's Gram._, p. 190. "To the being heard
with satisfaction, it is necessary that the speaker should deliver himself
with ease."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 114. "And to the being well heard,
and clearly understood, a good and distinct articulation contributes more,
than power of voice."--_Ib._, p. 117.

   "_Potential_ means the having power or will;
    As, If you _would_ improve, you _should_ be still."
        --_Tobitt's Gram._, p. 31.


UNDER NOTE XVII.--VARIOUS ERRORS.

"For the same reason, a neuter verb cannot become a passive."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 74. "The period is the whole sentence complete in
itself."--_Ib._, p. 115. "The colon or member is a chief constructive part,
or greater division of a sentence."--_Ib._ "The semicolon or half member,
is a less constructive part or subdivision, of a sentence or
member."--_Ib._ "A sentence or member is again subdivided into commas or
segments."--_Ib._, p. 116. "The first error that I would mention, is, a too
general attention to the dead languages, with a neglect of our
own."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 3. "One third of the importations would
supply the demands of people."--_Ib._, p. 119. "And especially in grave
stile."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 72. "By too eager pursuit, he ran a great
risk of being disappointed."--_Murray's Key, Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p.
201. "Letters are divided into vowels and consonants."--_Murray's Gram._,
i, p. 7; _and others_. "Consonants are divided into mutes and
semi-vowels."--_Ib._, i, 8; _and others_. "The first of these forms is most
agreeable to the English idiom."--_Ib._, i, 176. "If they gain, it is a too
dear rate."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 504. "A pronoun is a word used instead
of a noun, to prevent a too frequent repetition of it."--_Maunder's Gram._,
p. 1. "This vulgar error might perhaps arise from a too partial fondness
for the Latin."--_Dr. Ash's Gram., Pref._, p. iv. "The groans which a too
heavy load extorts from her."--_Hitchcock, on Dyspepsy_, p. 50. "The
numbers [of a verb] are, of course, singular and plural."--_Bucke's Gram._
p. 58. "To brook no meanness, and to stoop to no dissimulation, are the
indications of a great mind."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 236. "This mode of
expression rather suits familiar than grave style."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
198. "This use of the word rather suits familiar and low
style."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 134. "According to the nature of the
composition the one or other may be predominant."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 102.
"Yet the commonness of such sentences prevents in a great measure a too
early expectation of the end."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 411. "An eulogy or a
philippie may be pronounced by an individual of one nation upon the subject
of another."--_Adams's Rhet._, i, 298. "A French sermon, is for most part,
a warm animated exhortation."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 288. "I do not envy
those who think slavery no very pitiable a lot."--_Channing, on
Emancipation_, p. 52. "The auxiliary and principal united, constitute a
tense."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 75. "There are some verbs which are defective
with respect to persons."--_Ib._, i, 109. "In youth, the habits of industry
are most easily acquired."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 235. "Apostrophe (') is
used in place of a letter left out."--_Bullions's Eng. Gram._, p. 156.




CHAPTER III.--CASES, OR NOUNS.

The rules for the construction of Nouns, or Cases, are seven; hence this
chapter, according to the order adopted above, reviews the series of rules
from the second rule to the eighth, inclusively. Though _Nouns_ are here
the topic, all these seven rules apply alike to _Nouns and to Pronouns_;
that is, to all the words of our language which are susceptible of _Cases_.


RULE II.--NOMINATIVES.

A Noun or a Pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the
nominative case: as, "The _Pharisees_ also, _who_ were covetous, heard all
these things; and _they_ derided him."--_Luke_, xvi, 14. "But where the
_meekness_ of self-knowledge veileth the front of self-respect, there look
_thou_ for the man whom _none_ can know but _they_ will honour."--_Book of
Thoughts_, p. 66.

   "Dost _thou_ mourn Philander's fate?
    _I_ know _thou_ sayst it: says thy _life_ the same?"
        --_Young_, N. ii, l. 22.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE II.

OBS. 1.--To this rule, there are _no exceptions_; and nearly all
nominatives, or far the greater part, are to be parsed by it. There are
however _four_ different ways of disposing of the nominative case. _First_,
it is generally _the subject of a verb_, according to Rule 2d. _Secondly_,
it may be put _in apposition_ with an other nominative, according to Rule
3d. _Thirdly_, it may be put after a verb or a participle _not transitive_,
according to Rule 6th. _Fourthly_, it may be put _absolute_, or may help to
form a _phrase that_ is _independent_ of the rest of the sentence,
according to Rule 8th.

OBS. 2.--The subject, or nominative, is generally placed _before_ the verb;
as, "_Peace dawned_ upon his mind."--_Johnson_. "_What is written_ in the
law?"--_Bible_. But, in the following nine cases, the subject of the verb
is usually placed _after_ it, or after the first auxiliary: 1. When a
question is asked without an interrogative pronoun in the nominative case;
as, "_Shall mortals be_ implacable?"--_Hooke_. "What _art thou
doing_?"--_Id._ "How many loaves _have ye_?"--_Bible_. "_Are they_
Israelites? so _am I_."--_Ib._

2. When the verb is in the imperative mood; as, "_Go thou_"--"_Come ye_"
But, with this mood, the pronoun is very often omitted and understood; as,
"Philip saith unto him, _Come_ and _see_"--_John_, i, 46. "And he saith
unto them, _Be_ not _affrighted_."--_Mark_, xvi, 5.

3. When an earnest wish, or other strong feeling, is expressed; as, "_May
she be_ happy!"--"How _were we struck_!"--_Young_. "Not as the world
giveth, _give I_ unto you."--_Bible_.

4. When a supposition is made without the conjunction _if_; as, "_Had they
known_ it;" for, "_If_ they had known it."--"_Were it_ true;" for, "_If_ it
were true."--"_Could we draw_ by the covering of the grave;" for, "_If_ we
could draw," &c.

5. When _neither_ or _nor_, signifying _and not_, precedes the verb; as,
"This was his fear; _nor was his apprehension_ groundless."--"Ye shall not
eat of it, _neither shall ye touch_ it."--_Gen._, iii, 3.

6. When, for the sake of emphasis, some word or words are placed before the
verb, which more naturally come after it; as, "Here _am I_."--"Narrow _is_
the _way_."--"Silver and gold _have I_ none; but such as I have, _give I_
thee."--_Bible_.

7. When the verb has no regimen, and is itself emphatical; as, "_Echo_ the
_mountains_ round."--_Thomson_. "After the Light Infantry _marched_ the
_Grenadiers_, then _followed_ the _Horse_."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 71.

8. When the verbs, _say, answer, reply_, and the like, introduce the parts
of a dialogue; as, "'Son of affliction,' _said Omar_, 'who art thou?' 'My
name,' _replied_ the _stranger_, 'is Hassan.'"--_Dr. Johnson_.

9. When the adverb _there_ precedes the verb; as, "There _lived_ a
_man_."--_Montgomery_. "In all worldly joys, there _is_ a secret
_wound_."--_Owen_. This use of _there_, the general introductory adverb of
place, is idiomatic, and somewhat different from the use of the same word
in reference to a particular locality; as, "Because _there_ was not much
water _there_."--_John_, iii, 23.

OBS. 3.--In exclamations, and some other forms of expression, a few verbs
are liable to be suppressed, the ellipsis being obvious; as, "How different
[is] this from the philosophy of Greece and Rome!"--DR. BEATTIE: _Murray's
Sequel_, p. 127. "What a lively picture [is here] of the most disinterested
and active benevolence!"--HERVEY: _ib._, p. 94. "When Adam [spake] thus to
Eve."--MILTON: _Paradise Lost_, B. iv, l. 610.

OBS. 4.--Though we often use nouns in the nominative case to show whom we
address, yet the imperative verb takes no other nominative of the second
person, than the simple personal pronoun, _thou, ye_, or _you_, expressed
or understood. It would seem that some, who ought to know better, are
liable to mistake for the subject of such a verb, the noun which we put
absolute in the nominative by direct address. Of this gross error, the
following is an example: "_Study boys_. In this sentence," (says its
author,) "_study_ is a verb of the second person, plural number, and agrees
with its nominative case, _boys_--according to the rule: A verb must agree
with its nominative case in number and person. _Boys_ is a noun _of_ the
second person, plural number, masculine gender, in the nominative case to
the verb study."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 17.[339] Now the fact is, that
this laconic address, of three syllables, is written wrong; being made bad
English for want of a comma between the two words. Without this mark,
_boys_ must be an objective, governed by _study_; and with it, a
nominative, put absolute by direct address. But, in either case, _study_
agrees with _ye_ or _you_ understood, and has not the noun for its subject,
or nominative.

OBS. 5.--Some authors say, and if the first person be no exception, say
truly: "The nominative case to a verb, unless it be a pronoun, is always of
the _third_ person."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 141. But W. B. Fowle will
have all pronouns to be _adjectives_. Consequently all his verbs, of every
sort, agree with nouns "expressed or understood." This, and every other
absurd theory of language, can easily be made out, by means of a few
perversions, which may be called corrections, and a sufficient number of
interpolations, made under pretence of filling up ellipses. Thus, according
to this author, "They fear," means, "They _things spoken of_ fear."--_True
Eng. Gram._, p, 33. And, "_John, open_ the door," or, "_Boys, stop_ your
noise," admits no comma. And, "Be grateful, ye children," and, "Be ye
grateful children," are, in his view, every way equivalent: the comma in
the former being, in his opinion, needless. See _ib._, p. 39.

OBS. 6.--Though the nominative and objective cases of nouns do not differ
in form, it is nevertheless, in the opinion of many of our grammarians,
improper to place any noun in both relations at once, because this produces
a confusion in the syntax of the word. Examples: "He then goes on to
declare that there _are_, and distinguish _of_, four _manners_ of saying
_Per se_."--_Walker's Treatise of Particles_, p. xii. Better: "He then
proceeds to show, that _per se_ is susceptible of four different senses."
"In just allegory _and_ similitude there is always a propriety, or, if you
choose to call it, _congruity_, in the literal sense, as well as a distinct
meaning or sentiment suggested, which is called the figurative
sense."--_Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric_, p. 291. Better: "In just
allegory _or_ similitude, there is always a propriety--or, if you choose to
call it _so, a congruity_--in the literal sense," &c. "It must then be
meant of his sins who _makes_, not of his who _becomes_, the
convert."--_Atterbury's Sermons_, i, 2. Better: "It must then be meant of
his sins who _makes the convert_, not of his who _becomes converted_." "Eye
_hath_ not _seen_, nor ear _heard_, neither _have entered_ into the heart
of man, _the things_ which God hath prepared for them that love him."--_1
Cor._, ii, 9. A more regular construction would be: "Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither _hath it_ entered into the heart of man to _conceive_,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." The following
example, from Pope, may perhaps be conceded to the poet, as an allowable
ellipsis of the words "_a friend_," after _is_:

   "In who obtain defence, or who defend;
    In him who _is_, or him who _finds, a friend_."
        --_Essay on Man_, Ep. iv, l. 60.

Dr. Lowth cites the last three examples, without suggesting any forms of
correction; and says of them, "There seems to be an impropriety in these
sentences, in which the same noun stands in a double capacity, performing
at the same time the offices _both of the_ nominative and objective
case."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 73. He should have said--"_of both the_
nominative and _the_ objective case." Dr. Webster, citing the line, "In him
who is, and him who finds, a friend," adds, "Lowth condemns this use of the
noun in the nominative and objective at the same time; but _without
reason_, as the cases are not distinguished in English."--_Improved Gram._,
p. 175.

OBS. 7.--In Latin and Greek, the accusative before the infinitive, is often
reckoned _the subject_ of the latter verb; and is accordingly parsed by a
sort of exception to the foregoing rule--or rather, to that general rule of
concord which the grammarians apply to the verb and its nominative. This
construction is translated into English, and other modern tongues,
sometimes literally, or nearly so, but much oftener, by a nominative and a
finite verb. Example: "_[Greek: Eipen auton phonæthænai]_."--_Mark_, x, 49.
"Ait illum vocari."--_Leusden_. "Jussit eum vocari."--_Beza_. "Præcepit
illum vocari."--_Vulgate_. "He commanded him to be called."--_English
Bible_. "He commanded that he should be called."--_Milnes's Gr. Gram._, p.
143. "Il dit qu'on l'appelât."--_French Bible_. "He bid that somebody
should call him." "Il commanda qu'on le fît venir."--_Nouveau Test._,
Paris, 1812. "He commanded that they should _make him come_;" that is,
"_lead him_, or _bring him_." "Il commanda qu'on l'appelât."--_De Sacy's N.
Test_.

OBS. 8.--In English, the objective case before the infinitive mood,
although it may truly denote the agent of the infinitive action, or the
subject of the infinitive passion, is nevertheless taken as the object of
the preceding verb, participle, or preposition. Accordingly our language
does not admit a literal translation of the above-mentioned construction,
except the preceding verb be such as can be interpreted transitively.
"_Gaudeo te val=ere_," "I am glad that thou art well," cannot be translated
more literally; because, "I am glad thee to be well," would not be good
English. "_Aiunt regem advent=are_," "They say the king is coming," may be
otherwise rendered "They _declare_ the king to be coming;" but neither
version is entirely literal; the objective being retained only by a change
of _aiunt, say_, into such a verb as will govern the noun.

OBS. 9.--The following sentence is a literal imitation of the Latin
accusative before the infinitive, and for that reason it is not good
English: "But experience teacheth us, _both these opinions to be_ alike
ridiculous."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 262. It should be, "But
experience _teaches us, that both these opinions are_ alike ridiculous."
The verbs _believe, think, imagine_, and others expressing _mental action_,
I suppose to be capable of governing nouns or pronouns in the objective
case, and consequently of being interpreted transitively. Hence I deny the
correctness of the following explanation: "RULE XXIV. The objective case
precedes the infinitive mode; [as,] 'I _believe_ your _brother to be_ a
good man.' Here _believe_ does not govern brother, in the objective case,
because it is not the object after it. _Brother_, in the objective case,
third person singular, precedes the neuter verb _to be_, in the infinitive
mode, present time, third person singular."--_S. Barrett's Gram._, p. 135.
This author teaches that, "The _infinitive mode agrees_ with the objective
case in number and person."--_Ibid._ Which doctrine is denied; because
the infinitive has no number or person, in any language. Nor do I see why
the noun _brother_, in the foregoing example, may not be both the object of
the active verb _believe_, and the subject of the neuter infinitive _to
be_, at the same time; for the subject of the infinitive, if the infinitive
can be said to have a subject, is not necessarily in the nominative case,
or necessarily independent of what precedes.

OBS. 10.--There are many teachers of English grammar, who still adhere to
the principle of the Latin and Greek grammarians, which refers the
accusative or objective to the latter verb, and supposes the former to be
intransitive, or to govern only the infinitive. Thus Nixon: "The objective
case is frequently put before the infinitive mood, as its subject; as,
'Suffer _me_ to depart.'" [340]--_English Parser_, p. 34. "When an
objective case stands before an infinitive mood, as 'I understood _it_ to
be him,' 'Suffer _me_ to depart,' such objective should be parsed, not as
governed by the preceding verb, but as the objective case before the
infinitive; that is, _the subject_ of it. The reason of this is--the former
verb can govern one object only, and that is (in such sentences) the
infinitive mood; the intervening objective being the subject of the
infinitive following, and not governed by the former verb; as, in that
instance, it _would be governing_ two objects."--_Ib., Note._[341]

OBS. 11.--The notion that one verb governs an other in the infinitive, just
as a transitive verb governs a noun, and so that it cannot also govern an
objective case, is not only contradictory to my scheme of parsing the
infinitive mood, but is also false in itself, and repugnant to the
principles of General Grammar. In Greek and Latin, it is certainly no
uncommon thing for a verb to govern two cases at once; and even the
accusative before the infinitive is sometimes governed by the preceding
verb, as the objective before the infinitive naturally is in English. But,
in regard to construction, every language differs more or less from every
other; hence each must have its own syntax, and abide by its own rules. In
regard to the point here in question, the reader may compare the following
examples: "[Greek: Echo anagkæn exelthein]."--_Luke_, xiv, 18. "Habeo
necesse exire."--_Leusden_. English: "I have _occasion to go_ away." Again:
"[Greek: O echon hota akouein, akoueto]."--_Luke_, xiv, 35. "Habens aures
audiendi, audiat."--_Leusden_. "Qui habet aures ad audiendum,
audiat."--_Beza_. English: "He that hath _ears to hear_, let _him hear_."
But our most frequent use of the infinitive after the objective, is in
sentences that must not be similarly constructed in Latin or Greek;[342]
as, "And he commanded the _porter to watch_."--_Mark_, xiii, 34. "And he
delivered _Jesus to be crucified_."--_Mark_, xv, 15. "And they led _him_
out _to crucify him_."--_Mark_, xv, 20. "We heard _him say_."--_Mark_, xiv,
58. "That I might make _thee know_."--_Prov._, xxii, 21.

OBS. 12.--If our language does really admit any thing like the accusative
before the infinitive, in the sense of a positive subject at the head of a
clause, it is only in some prospective descriptions like the following:
"Let certain studies be prescribed to be pursued during the freshman year;
_some_ of these to be attended to by the whole class; with regard to
others, a _choice_ to be allowed; _which_, when made by the student, (the
parent or guardian sanctioning it,) to be binding during the freshman year:
the same _plan_ to be adopted with regard to the studies of the succeeding
years."--GALLAUDET: _Journal of the N. Y. Literary Convention_, p. 118.
Here the four words, _some, choice, which_, and _plan_, may appear to a
Latinist to be so many objectives, or accusatives, placed before
infinitives, and used to describe that state of things which the author
would promote. If objectives they are, we may still suppose them to be
governed by _let, would have_, or something of the kind, understood: as,
"_Let_ some of these be attended to;" or, "Some of these _I would have_ to
be attended to," &c. The relative _which_ might with more propriety be
made nominative, by changing "_to_ be binding" to "_shall_ be binding;" and
as to the rest, it is very doubtful whether they are not now nominatives,
rather than objectives. The infinitive, as used above, is a mere substitute
for the Latin future participle; and any English noun or pronoun put
absolute with a participle, is in the nominative case. English relatives
are rarely, if ever, put absolute in this manner: and this may be the
reason why the construction of _which_, in the sentence above, seems
awkward. Besides, it is certain that the other pronouns are sometimes put
absolute with the infinitive; and that, in the nominative case, not the
objective: as,

   "And _I to be_ a corporal in his field,
    And wear his colours like a tumbler's hoop!
    What? _I! I love! I sue! I seek_ a wife!"--_Shak., Love's Labour Lost_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE II.

THE SUBJECT OF A FINITE VERB.

"The whole need not a physician, but them that are sick."--_Bunyan's Law
and Gr._, p. iv.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the objective pronoun _them_ is here made
the subject of the verb _need_, understood. But, according to Rule 2d, "A
noun or a pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the
nominative case." Therefore, _them_ should be _they_; thus, "The whole need
not a physician, but they that are sick."]

"He will in no wise cast out whomsoever cometh unto him."--_Robert Hall_
"He feared the enemy might fall upon his men, whom he saw were off their
guard."--_Hutchinson's Massachusetts_, ii, 133. "Whomsoever shall compel
thee to go a mile, go with him twain."--_Dymond's Essays_, p. 48. "The
idea's of the author have been conversant with the faults of other
writers."--_Swift's T. T._, p. 55. "You are a much greater loser than me by
his death."--_Swift to Pope_, l. 63. "Such peccadillo's pass with him for
pious frauds."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 279. "In whom I am nearly
concerned, and whom I know would be very apt to justify my whole
procedure."--_Ib._, i, 560. "Do not think such a man as me contemptible for
my garb."--_Addison._ "His wealth and him bid adieu to each
other."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 107. "So that, 'He is greater than _me_,'
will be more grammatical than, 'He is greater than _I_.'"--_Ib._, p. 106.
"The Jesuits had more interests at court than him."--SMOLLETT: in _Pr.
Gram._, p. 106.[343] "Tell the Cardinal that I understand poetry better
than him."--_Id., ib._ "An inhabitant of Crim Tartary was far more happy
than him."--_Id., ib._ "My father and him have been very intimate
since."--_Fair American_, ii, 53. "Who was the agent, and whom the object
struck or kissed?"--_Infant School Gram._, p. 32. "To find the person whom
he imagined was concealed there."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 225. "He
offered a great recompense to whomsoever would help him."--HUME: in _Pr.
Gram._, p. 104. "They would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited,
of whomsoever might exercise the right of judgement."--_Gov. Haynes's
Speech_, in 1832. "They had promised to accept whomsoever should be born in
Wales."--_Stories by Croker_. "We sorrow not as them that have no
hope."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 27. "If he suffers, he suffers as them that
have no hope."--_Ib._, p. 32. "We acknowledge that he, and him only, hath
been our peacemaker."--_Gratton_. "And what can be better than him that
made it?"--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 329. "None of his school-fellows is more
beloved than him."--_Cooper's Gram._, p. 42. "Solomon, who was wiser than
them all."--_Watson's Apology_, p. 76. "Those whom the Jews thought were
the last to be saved, first entered the kingdom of God."--_Eleventh Hour,
Tract_, No. 4. "A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath
is heavier than them both."--_Prov._, xxvii, 3. "A man of business, in good
company, is hardly more insupportable than her they call a notable
woman."--_Steele, Sped_. "The king of the Sarmatians, whom we may imagine
was no small prince, restored him a hundred thousand Roman
prisoners."--_Life of Antoninus_, p. 83. "Such notions would be avowed at
this time by none but rosicrucians, and fanatics as mad as
them."--_Bolingbroke's Ph. Tr._, p. 24. "Unless, as I said, Messieurs, you
are the masters, and not me."--BASIL HALL: _Harrison's E. Lang._, p. 173.
"We had drawn up against peaceable travellers, who must have been as glad
as us to escape."--BURNES'S TRAVELS: _ibid._ "Stimulated, in turn, by their
approbation, and that of better judges than them, she turned to their
literature with redoubled energy."--QUARTERLY REVIEW: _Life of H. More:
ibid._ "I know not whom else are expected."--SCOTT'S PIRATE: _ibid._ "He is
great, but truth is greater than us all."--_Horace Mann, in Congress_,
1850. "Him I accuse has entered."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, §482: see
_Shakspeare's Coriolanus_, Act V, sc. 5.

   "Scotland and thee did each in other live."
        --_Dryden's Po._, Vol. ii, p. 220.

    "We are alone; here's none but thee and I."
        --_Shak._, 2 Hen. VI.

    "Me rather had, my heart might feel your love,
    Than my unpleas'd eye see your courtesy."
        --_Idem: Joh. Dict._

    "Tell me, in sadness, whom is she you love?"
        --_Id., Romeo and Juliet_, A. I, sc. 1.

    "Better leave undone, than by our deeds acquire
    Too high a fame, when him we serve's away."
        --_Shak., Ant. and Cleop._


RULE III.--APPOSITION.

A Noun or a personal Pronoun used to explain a preceding noun or pronoun,
is put, by apposition, in the same case: as, "But it is really _I_, your
old _friend and neighbour., Piso_, late a _dweller_ upon the Coelian hill,
who am now basking in the warm skies of Palmyra."--_Zenobia._

   "But _he_, our gracious _Master_, kind as just,
    Knowing our frame, remembers we are dust."--_Barbauld_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE III.

OBS. 1--_Apposition_ is that peculiar relation which one noun or pronoun
bears to an other, when two or more are placed together in the same case,
and used to designate the same person or thing: as, "_Cicero_ the
_orator_;"--"The _prophet Joel_;"--"_He_ of Gath, _Goliah_;"--"Which _ye
yourselves_ do know;"--"To make _him king_;"--"To give his _life_ a
_ransom_ for many;"--"I made the _ground_ my _bed_;"--"_I_, thy
_schoolmaster_;"--"_We_ the _People_ of the United States." This
placing-together of nouns and pronouns in the same case, was reckoned by
the old grammarians a _figure of syntax_; and from them it received, in
their elaborate detail of the grammatical and rhetorical figures, its
present name of _apposition_. They reckoned it a species of _ellipsis_, and
supplied between the words, the participle _being_, the infinitive _to be_,
or some other part of their "_substantive verb_:" as, "Cicero _being_ the
orator;"--"To make him _to be_ king;"--"I _who am_ thy schoolmaster." But
the later Latin grammarians have usually placed it among their regular
concords; some calling it the first concord, while others make it the last,
in the series; and some, with no great regard to consistency, treating it
both as a figure and as a regular concord, at the same time.

OBS. 2.--Some English grammarians teach, "that the words in the cases
preceding and following the verb _to be_, may be said to be _in apposition_
to each other."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 181; _R. C. Smith's_, 155;
_Fisk's_, 126; _Ingersoll's_, 146; _Merchant's_, 91. But this is entirely
repugnant to the doctrine, that apposition is a _figure_; nor is it at all
consistent with the original meaning of the word _apposition_; because it
assumes that the literal reading, when the supposed ellipsis is supplied,
is _apposition_ still. The old distinction, however, between apposition and
same cases, is _generally_ preserved in our grammars, and is worthy ever to
be so. The rule for _same cases_ applies to all nouns or pronouns that are
put after verbs or participles not transitive, and that are made to agree
in case with other nouns or pronouns going before, and meaning the same
thing. But some teachers who observe this distinction with reference to the
neuter verb _be_, and to certain passive verbs of _naming, appointing_, and
the like, absurdly break it down in relation to other verbs, neuter or
active-intransitive. Thus Nixon: "Nouns in apposition are in the same case;
as, '_Hortensius_ died a _martyr_;' '_Sydney_ lived the shepherd's
_friend_.'"--_English Parser_, p. 55. It is remarkable that _all_ this
author's examples of "_nominatives in apposition_," (and he gives eighteen
in the exercise,) are precisely of this sort, in which there is really _no
apposition at all_.

OBS. 3.--In the exercise of parsing, rule third should be applied only to
the _explanatory term_; because the case of the _principal term_ depends on
its relation to the rest of the sentence, and comes under some other rule.
In certain instances, too, it is better to waive the analysis which _might_
be made under rule third, and to take both or all the terms together, under
the rule for the main relation. Thus, the several proper names which
distinguish an individual, are always in apposition, and should be taken
together in parsing; as, _William Pitt--Marcus Tullius Cicero_. It may, I
think, be proper to include with the personal names, some titles also; as,
_Lord Bacon--Sir Isaac Newton_. William E. Russell and Jonathan Ware, (two
American authors of no great note,) in parsing the name of "_George
Washington_," absurdly take the former word as an _adjective_ belonging to
the latter. See _Russell's Gram._, p. 100; and _Ware's_, 17. R. C. Smith
does the same, both with honorary titles, and with baptismal or Christian
names. See his _New Gram._, p. 97. And one English writer, in explaining
the phrases, "_John Wickliffe's influence_," "_Robert Bruce's exertions_,"
and the like, will have the first nouns to be governed by the last, and the
intermediate ones to be distinct possessives _in apposition_ with the
former. See _Nixon's English Parser_, p. 59. Wm. B. Fowle, in his "True
English Grammar," takes all titles, all given names, all possessives, and
all pronouns, to be adjectives. According to him, this class embraces more
than half the words in the language. A later writer than any of these says,
"The proper noun is _philosophically_ an adjective. Nouns common or proper,
of similar or dissimilar import, _may be parsed as adjectives_, when they
become qualifying or distinguishing words; as, _President_
Madison,--_Doctor_ Johnson,--_Mr_. Webster,--_Esq_. Carleton,--_Miss_
Gould,--_Professor_ Ware,--_lake_ Erie,--the _Pacific_ ocean,--_Franklin_
House,--_Union_ street."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 134. I dissent from all
these views, at least so far as not to divide a _man's name_ in parsing it.
A person will sometimes have such a multitude of names, that it would be a
flagrant waste of time, to parse them all separately: for example, that
wonderful doctor, _Paracelsus_, who called himself, "_Aureolus Philippus
Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus de Hoenheim_."--_Univ. Biog. Dict._

OBS. 4.--A very common rule for apposition in Latin, is this: "Substantives
signifying the same thing, agree in case."--_Adam's Latin Gram._, p. 156.
The same has also been applied to our language: "Substantives denoting the
same person or thing, agree in case."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 102. This
rule is, for two reasons, very faulty: first, because the apposition of
_pronouns_ seems not to be included it; secondly, because two nouns that
are not in the same case, do sometimes "signify" or "denote" the same
thing. Thus, "_the city of London_," means only _the city London_; "_the
land of Egypt_," is only Egypt; and "_the person of Richard_" is _Richard
himself_. Dr. Webster defines _apposition_ to be, "The placing of two nouns
in the same case, without a connecting word between them."--_Octavo Dict._
This, too, excludes the pronouns, and has exceptions, both various and
numerous. In the first place, the apposition may be of more than two nouns,
without any connective; as, "_Ezra_ the _priest_, the _scribe_ of the
law."--_Ezra_, vii, 21. Secondly, two nouns connected by a conjunction, may
both be put in apposition with a preceding noun or pronoun; as, "God hath
made that same _Jesus_, whom ye have crucified, both _Lord_ and
_Christ_."--_Acts_, ii, 36. "Who made _me_ a _judge_ or a _divider_ over
you."--_Luke_, xii, 14. Thirdly, the apposition may be of two nouns
immediately connected by _and_, provided the two words denote but one
person or thing; as, "This great _philosopher and statesman_ was bred a
printer." Fourthly, it may be of two words connected by _as_, expressing
the idea of a partial or assumed identity; as, "Yet count _him_ not _as_ an
_enemy_, but admonish _him as_ a _brother_."--_2 Thess._, iii, 15. "So that
_he, as God_, sitteth in the temple of God."--_Ib._, ii, 4. Fifthly, it may
perhaps be of two words connected by _than_; as, "He left _them_ no more
_than_ dead _men_."--_Law and Grace_, p. 28. Lastly, there is a near
resemblance to apposition, when two equivalent nouns are connected by _or_;
as, "The back of the hedgehog is covered with _prickles, or
spines_."--_Webster's Dict._

OBS. 5.--To the rule for apposition, as I have expressed it, there are
properly _no exceptions_. But there are many puzzling examples of
construction under it, some of which are but little short of exceptions;
and upon such of these as are most likely to embarrass the learner, some
further observations shall be made. The rule supposes the first word to be
the principal term, with which the other word, or subsequent noun or
pronoun, is in apposition; and it generally is so: but the explanatory word
is sometimes placed first, especially among the poets; as,

   "From bright'ning fields of ether fair disclos'd,
    _Child_ of the sun, refulgent _Summer_ comes."--_Thomson_.

OBS. 6.--The pronouns of the _first_ and _second_ persons are often placed
before nouns merely to distinguish their person; as, "_I John_ saw these
things."--_Bible_. "But what is this to _you receivers?_"--_Clarkson's
Essay on Slavery_, p. 108. "His praise, _ye brooks_, attune."--_Thomson_.
In this case of apposition, the words are in general closely united, and
either of them may be taken as the explanatory term. The learner will find
it easier to parse _the noun_ by rule third; or _both nouns_, if there be
two: as, "_I_ thy _father-in-law Jethro_ am come unto thee."--_Exod._,
xviii, 6. There are many other examples, in which it is of no moment, which
of the terms we take for the principal; and to all such the rule may be
applied literally: as, "Thy _son Benhadad king_ of Syria hath sent me to
thee."--_2 Kings_, viii, 9.

OBS. 7.--When two or more nouns of the _possessive case_ are put in
apposition, the possessive termination added to one, denotes the case of
both or all; as, "For _Herodias_' sake, his _brother Philip's
wife_"--_Matt._, xiv, 3; Mark, vi, 17. Here _wife_ is in apposition with
_Herodias_', and _brother_ with _Philip's_; consequently all these words
are reckoned to be in the possessive case. The Greek text, which is better,
stands essentially thus: "For the sake of Herodias, the wife of Philip his
brother." "For _Jacob_ my _servant's_ sake, and _Israel_ mine
_elect_."--_Isaiah_, xlv, 4. Here, as _Jacob_ and _Israel_ are only
different names for the same person or nation, the four nouns in Italics
are, according to the rule, all made possessives by the one sign used; but
the construction is not to be commended: it would be better to say, "For
_the_ sake _of_ Jacob my servant, and Israel mine elect." "With _Hyrcanus_
the high _priest's_ consent."--_Wood's Dict., w. Herod_. "I called at
_Smith's_, the _bookseller_; or, at _Smith_ the _bookseller's_."--
_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 105. Two words, each having the possessive sign,
can never be in apposition one with the other; because that sign has
immediate reference to the governing noun expressed or understood after it;
and if it be repeated, separate governing nouns will be implied, and the
apposition will be destroyed.[344]

OBS. 8.--If the foregoing remark is just, the apposition of two nouns in
the possessive case, requires the possessive sign to be added to that noun
which immediately precedes the governing word, whether expressed or
understood, and positively excludes it from the other. The sign of the case
is added, sometimes to the former, and sometimes to the latter noun, but
never to both: or, if added to both, the two words are no longer in
apposition. Example: "And for that reason they ascribe to him a great part
of his _father Nimrod's_, or _Belus's_ actions."--_Rollin's An. Hist._,
Vol. ii, p. 6. Here _father_ and _Nimrod's_ are in strict apposition; but
if _actions_ governs _Belus's_, the same word is implied to govern
_Nimrod's_, and the two names are not in apposition, though they are in the
same case and mean the same person.

OBS. 9.--Dr. Priestley says, "Some would say, 'I left the parcel at _Mr.
Smith's_, the _bookseller_;' others, 'at _Mr. Smith_ the _bookseller's_;'
and perhaps others, at '_Mr. Smith's_ the _bookseller's_.' The last of
these forms is most agreeable to the Latin idiom, but the first seems to be
more natural in ours; and if the addition consist [_consists_, says
Murray,] of two or more words, _the case seems to be very clear_; as, 'I
left the parcel at _Mr. Smith's_ the _bookseller_ and _stationer_;' i. e.
at Mr. Smith's, _who is a_ bookseller and stationer."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 70. Here the examples, if rightly pointed, _would all be right_; but the
ellipsis supposed, not only destroys the apposition, but converts the
explanatory noun into a nominative. And in the phrase, "_at Mr. Smiths, the
bookseller's_," there is no apposition, except that of _Mr_. with
_Smith's_; for the governing noun _house_ or _store_ is understood as
clearly after the one possessive sign as after the other. Churchill
imagines that in Murray's example, "I reside at _Lord Stormont's_, my old
_patron_ and _benefactor_," the last two nouns are in the nominative after
"_who was_" understood; and also erroneously suggests, that their joint
apposition with _Stormont's_ might be secured, by saying, less elegantly,
"I reside at Lord _Stormont's_, my old patron and _benefactor's_."--
_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 285. Lindley Murray, who tacitly takes from
Priestley all that is quoted above, except the term "_Mr._," and the notion
of an ellipsis of "_who is_," assumes each of the three forms as an
instance of apposition, but pronounces the first only to be "correct and
proper." If, then, the first is elliptical, as Priestley suggests, and the
others are ungrammatical, as Murray pretends to prove, we cannot have in
reality any such construction as the apposition of two possessives; for the
sign of the case cannot possibly be added in more than these three ways.
But Murray does not adhere at all to his own decision, as may be seen by
his subsequent remarks and examples, on the same page; as, "The _emperor
Leopold's_;"--"_Dionysius_ the _tyrant's_;"--"For _David_ my _servant's_
sake;"--"Give me here _John_ the _Baptist's_ head;"--"_Paul_ the
_apostle's_ advice." See _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 176; _Smith's New
Gram._, p. 150; and others.

OBS. 10.--An explanatory noun without the possessive sign, seems sometimes
to be put in apposition with a _pronoun of the possessive case_; and, if
introduced by the conjunction _as_, it may either precede or follow the
pronoun: thus, "I rejoice in _your_ success _as_ an _instructer_."--
_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 244. "_As_ an _author_, his 'Adventurer' is _his_
capital work."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 329.

   "Thus shall mankind _his_ guardian care engage,
    The promised _father_ of a future age."--_Pope_.

But possibly such examples may be otherwise explained on the principle of
ellipsis; as, [_He being_] "the promised _father_," &c. "As [_he was_] an
_author_," &c. "As [_you are_] an _instructer_."

OBS. 11.--When a noun or pronoun _is repeated_ for the sake of emphasis, or
for the adding of an epithet, the word which is repeated may properly be
said to be in apposition with that which is first introduced; or, if not,
the repetition itself implies sameness of case: as, "They have forsaken
_me_, the _fountain_ of living waters, and hewed them out _cisterns_,
broken _cisterns_, that can hold no water."--_Jer._, ii, 13.

   "I find the total of their hopes and fears
    _Dreams_, empty _dreams_."--_Cowper's Task_, p. 71.

OBS. 12.--A noun is sometimes put, as it were, in apposition to a
_sentence_; being used (perhaps elliptically) to sum up the whole idea in
one emphatic word, or short phrase. But, in such instances, the noun can
seldom be said to have any positive relation that may determine its case;
and, if alone, it will of course be in the nominative, by reason of its
independence. Examples: "He permitted me to consult his library--a
_kindness_ which I shall not forget."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 148. "I have
offended reputation--a most unnoble _swerving_."--_Shakspeare_. "I want a
hero,--an uncommon _want_."--_Byron_. "Lopez took up the sonnet, and after
reading it several times, frankly acknowledged that he did not understand
it himself; a _discovery_ which the poet probably never made
before."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 280.

   "In Christian hearts O for a pagan zeal!
    A needful, but opprobrious _prayer!_"--_Young_, N. ix, l. 995.

    "Great standing _miracle_, that Heav'n assign'd
    Its only thinking thing this turn of mind."--_Pope_.

OBS. 13.--A _distributive term_ in the singular number, is frequently
construed in apposition with a comprehensive plural; as, "_They_ reap
vanity, _every one_ with his neighbour."--_Bible_. "Go _ye every man_ unto
his city."--_Ibid._ So likewise with two or more singular nouns which are
taken conjointly; as, "The _Son and Spirit_ have _each_ his proper
office."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 163. And sometimes a _plural_ word is
emphatically put after a series of particulars comprehended under it; as,
"Ambition, interest, glory, _all_ concurred."--_Letters on Chivalry_, p.
11. "Royalists, republicans, churchmen, sectaries, courtiers, patriots,
_all parties_ concurred in the illusion."--_Hume's History_, Vol. viii, p.
73. The foregoing examples are plain, but similar expressions sometimes
require care, lest the distributive or collective term be so placed that
its construction and meaning may be misapprehended. Examples: "We have
_turned every one_ to his own way."--_Isaiah_, liii, 6. Better: "_We have
every one_ turned to his own way." "For in many things we _offend
all_."--_James_, iii, 2. Better: "For in many things _we all_ offend." The
latter readings doubtless convey the _true sense_ of these texts. To the
relation of apposition, it may be proper also to refer the construction of
a singular noun taken in a distributive sense and repeated after _by_ to
denote order; as, "_They_ went out _one_ by one."--_Bible_. "Our whole
_company, man_ by man, ventured in."--_Goldsmith_. "To examine a _book,
page_ by page; to search a _place, house_ by house."--_Ward's Gram._, p.
106. So too, perhaps, when the parts of a thing explain the whole; as,

   "But those that sleep, and think not on their sins,
    Pinch _them, arms, legs, backs, shoulders, sides_, and _shins_."
        --_Shak_.

OBS. 14.--To express a reciprocal action or relation, the pronominal
adjectives _each other_ and _one an other_ are employed: as, "They love
_each other_;"--"They love _one an other_." The words, separately
considered, are singular; but, taken together, they imply plurality; and
they can be properly construed only after plurals, or singulars taken
conjointly. _Each other_ is usually applied to two persons or things; and
_one an other_, to more than two. The impropriety of applying them
otherwise, is noticed elsewhere; (see, in Part II, Obs. 15th, on the
Classes of Adjectives;) so that we have here to examine only their
relations of case. The terms, though reciprocal and closely united, are
seldom or never in the same construction. If such expressions be analyzed,
_each_ and _one_ will generally appear to be in the nominative case, and
_other_ in the objective; as, "They love _each other_;" i. e. _each_ loves
_the other_. "They love _one an other_;" i. e. any or every _one_ loves any
or every _other_. _Each_ and _one_ (--if the words be taken as cases, and
not adjectively--) are properly in agreement or apposition with _they_, and
_other_ is governed by the verb. The terms, however, admit of other
constructions; as, "Be ye helpers _one_ of an _other_."--_Bible_. Here
_one_ is in apposition with _ye_, and _other_ is governed by _of_. "Ye are
_one_ an _other's_ joy."--_Ib._ Here _one_ is in apposition with _ye_, and
_other's_ is in the possessive case, being governed by _joy_. "Love will
make you _one_ an _other's_ joy." Here _one_ is in the objective case,
being in apposition with _you_, and _other's_ is governed as before.
"_Men's_ confidence in _one an other_;"--"_Their_ dependence _one_ upon _an
other_." Here the word _one_ appears to be in apposition with the
possessive going before; for it has already been shown, that words standing
in that relation _never take the possessive sign_. But if its location
after the preposition must make it objective, the whole object is the
complex term, "_one an other_." "Grudge not _one_ against _an
other_."--_James_, v, 9. "Ne vous plaignez point _les uns des
autres_."--_French Bible_. "Ne suspirate _alius_ adversus
_alium_."--_Beza_. "Ne ingemiscite adversus _alii alios."--Leusden_.
"[Greek: Mæ stenazete kat hallælon]."--_Greek New Testament_.

OBS. 15.--The construction of the Latin terms _alius alium, alii alios_,
&c., with that of the French _l'un l'autre, l'un de l'autre_, &c., appears,
at first view, sufficiently to confirm the doctrine of the preceding
observation; but, besides the frequent use, in Latin and Greek, of a
reciprocal adverb to express the meaning of one an other or each other,
there are, from each of these languages, some analogical arguments for
taking the English terms together as compounds. The most common term in
Greek for _one an other_, ([Greek: Hallælon], dat. [Greek: hallælois, ais,
ois], acc. [Greek: hallælous]: ab [Greek: hallos], _alius_,) is a single
derivative word, the case of which is known by its termination; and _each
other_ is sometimes expressed in Latin by a compound: as, "Et osculantes se
_alterutrum_, fleverunt pariter."--_Vulgate_. That is: "And kissing _each
other_, they wept together." As this text speaks of but two persons, our
translators have not expressed it well in the common version: "And they
kissed _one an other_, and wept _one_ with _an other_"--_1 Sam._, xx, 41.
_Alter-utrum_ is composed of a nominative and an accusative, like
_each-other_; and, in the nature of things, there is no reason why the
former should be compounded, and the latter not. Ordinarily, there seems to
be no need of compounding either of them. But some examples occur, in which
it is not easy to parse _each other_ and _one an other_ otherwise than as
compounds: as, "He only recommended this, and not the washing of _one
another's_ feet."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 143.

   "The Temple late two brother sergeants saw,
    Who deem'd _each other oracles_ of law."--_Pope_, B. ii, Ep. 2.[345]

OBS. 16.--The _common_ and the _proper_ name of an object are very often
associated, and put in apposition; as, "_The river Thames_,"--"_The ship
Albion_,"--"_The poet Cowper_"--"_Lake Erie_,"--"_Cape May_"--"_Mount
Atlas_." But, in English, the proper name of a place, when accompanied by
the common name, is generally put in the objective case, and preceded by
_of_; as, "The city _of_ New York,"--"The land _of_ Canaan,"--"The island
_of_ Cuba,"--"The peninsula _of_ Yucatan." Yet in some instances, even of
this kind, the immediate apposition is preferred; as, "That the _city
Sepphoris_ should be subordinate to the _city Tiberias_."--_Life of
Josephus_, p. 142. In the following sentence, the preposition _of_ is at
least needless: "The law delighteth herself in the number _of_ twelve; and
the number _of_ twelve is much respected in holy writ."--_Coke, on Juries_.
Two or three late grammarians, supposing _of_ always to indicate a
possessive relation between one thing and an other, contend that it is no
less improper, to say, "The city _of_ London, the city _of_ New Haven, the
month _of_ March, the islands _of_ Cuba and Hispaniola, the towns _of_
Exeter and Dover," than to say, "King _of_ Solomon, Titus _of_ the Roman
Emperor, Paul _of_ the apostle, or, Cicero _of_ the orator."--See
_Barrett's Gram._, p. 101; _Emmons's_, 16. I cannot but think there is some
mistake in their mode of finding out what is proper or improper in grammar.
Emmons scarcely achieved two pages more, before he forgot his criticism,
and adopted the phrase, "in the city _of_ New Haven."--_Gram._, p. 19.

OBS. 17.--When an object acquires a new name or character from the action
of a verb, the new appellation is put in apposition with the object of the
active verb, and in the nominative after the passive: as, "They named the
_child John_;"--"The child was named _John_."--"They elected _him
president_;"--"He was elected _president_." After the active verb, the
acquired name must be parsed by Rule 3d; after the passive, by Rule 6th. In
the following example, the pronominal adjective _some_, or the noun _men_
understood after it, is the direct object of the verb _gave_, and the nouns
expressed are in apposition with it: "And he gave _some, apostles_; and
_some, prophets_; and _some, evangelists_; and _some, pastors_ and
_teachers_"--_Ephesians_, iv, 11. That is, "He _bestowed some_ [men] as
_apostles_; and _some_ as _prophets_; and _some_ as _evangelists_; and
_some_ as _pastors_ and _teachers_." The common reader might easily mistake
the meaning and construction of this text in two different ways; for he
might take _some_ to be either a _dative case_, meaning _to some persons_,
or an adjective to the nouns which are here expressed. The punctuation,
however, is calculated to show that the nouns are in apposition with
_some_, or _some men_, in what the Latins call the _accusative, case_. But
the version ought to be amended by the insertion of _as_, which would here
be an express sign of the apposition intended.

OBS. 18.--Some authors teach that words in apposition must agree in person,
number, and gender, as well as in case; but such agreement the following
examples show not to be always necessary: "The _Franks, a people_ of
Germany."--_W. Allen's Gram._ "The Kenite _tribe_, the _descendants_ of
Hobab."--_Milman's Hist. of the Jews_. "But how can _you_ a _soul_, still
either hunger or thirst?"--_Lucian's Dialogues_, p. 14. "Who seized the
wife of _me_ his _host_, and fled."--_Ib._, p. 16.

   "Thy gloomy _grandeurs_ (Nature's most august.
    Inspiring _aspect_!) claim a grateful verse."--_Young_, N. ix, l. 566.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE III.

ERRORS OF WORDS IN APPOSITION.

"Now, therefore, come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou."--_Gen._,
xxxi, 44.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronouns I and thou, of the nominative
case, are here put in apposition with the preceding pronoun _us_, which is
objective. But, according to Rule 3d, "A noun or a personal pronoun, used
to explain a preceding noun or pronoun, is put, by apposition, in the same
case." Therefore, _I_ and _thou_ should be _thee_ and _me_; (the first
person, in our idiom, being usually put last;) thus, "Now, therefore, come
thou, let us make a covenant, thee and me."]

"Now, therefore, come thou, we will make a covenant, thee and
me."--_Variation of Gen._ "The word came not to Esau, the hunter, that
stayed not at home; but to Jacob, the plain man, he that dwelt in
tents."--_Wm. Penn_. "Not to every man, but to the man of God, (i. e.) he
that is led by the spirit of God."--_Barclays Works_, i, 266. "For,
admitting God to be a creditor, or he to whom the debt should be paid, and
Christ he that satisfies or pays it on behalf of man the debtor, this
question will arise, whether he paid that debt as God, or man, or
both?"--_Wm. Penn._ "This Lord Jesus Christ, the heavenly Man, the
Emmanuel, God with us, we own and believe in: he whom the high priests
raged against," &c.--_George Fox_. "Christ, and Him crucified, was the
Alpha and Omega of all his addresses, the fountain and foundation of his
hope and trust."--_Experience of Paul_, p. 399. "'Christ and Him crucified'
is the head, and only head, of the church."--_Denison's Sermon_. "But if
'Christ and Him crucified' are the burden of the ministry, such disastrous
results are all avoided."--_Ib._ "He never let fall the least intimation,
that himself, or any other person, whomsoever, was the object of
worship."--_Hannah Adams's View_, p. 250. "Let the elders that rule well,
be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word
and doctrine."--_1 Tim._, v, 17. "Our Shepherd, him who is styled King of
saints, will assuredly give his saints the victory."--_Sermon_. "It may
seem odd to talk of _we subscribers_"--_Fowlers True Eng. Gram._, p. 20.
"And they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons,
nor their daughters; for I will pour their wickedness upon
them."--_Jeremiah_, xiv, 16. "Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you
Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, but
your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants."--_Philippians_, ii,
25.

   "Amidst the tumult of the routed train,
    The sons of false Antimachus were slain;
    He, who for bribes his faithless counsels sold,
    And voted Helen's stay for Paris' gold."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. xi. l. 161.

    "See the vile King his iron sceptre bear--
    His only praise attends the pious Heir;
    He, in whose soul the virtues all conspire,
    The best good son, from the worst wicked sire."
        --DR. LOWTH: _Union Poems_, p. 19.

    "Then from thy lips poured forth a joyful song
    To thy Redeemer!--yea, it poured along
    In most melodious energy of praise,
    To God, the Saviour, he of ancient days."
        --_Arm Chair_, p. 15.


RULE IV.--POSSESSIVES.

A Noun or a Pronoun in the possessive case, is
governed by the name of the thing possessed: as, "_God's_ mercy prolongs
_man's_ life."--_Allen_.

   "_Theirs_ is the vanity, the learning _thine_;
    Touched by _thy_ hand, again _Rome's_ glories shine."--_Pope_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE IV.

OBS. 1.--Though the _ordinary_ syntax of the possessive case is
sufficiently plain and easy, there is perhaps, among all the puzzling and
disputable points of grammar, nothing more difficult of decision, than are
some questions that occur respecting the right management of this case.
That its usual construction is both clearly and properly stated in the
foregoing rule, is what none will doubt or deny. But how many and what
exceptions to this rule ought to be allowed, or whether any are justly
demanded or not, are matters about which there may be much diversity of
opinion. Having heretofore published the rule without any express
exceptions, I am not now convinced that it is best to add any; yet are
there three different modes of expression which might be plausibly
exhibited in that character. Two of these would concern only the parser;
and, for that reason, they seem not to be very important. The other
involves the approval or reprehension of a great multitude of very common
expressions, concerning which our ablest grammarians differ in opinion, and
our most popular digest plainly contradicts itself. These points are;
_first_, the apposition of possessives, and the supposed ellipses which may
affect that construction; _secondly_, the government of the possessive case
after _is, was_, &c., when the ownership of a thing is simply affirmed or
denied; _thirdly_, the government of the possessive by a participle, as
such--that is, while it retains the government and adjuncts of a
participle.

OBS. 2.--The apposition of one possessive with an other, (as, "For _David_
my _servant's_ sake,") might doubtless be consistently made a formal
exception to the direct government of the possessive by its controlling
noun. But this apposition is only a sameness of construction, so that what
governs the one, virtually governs the other. And if the case of any noun
or pronoun is known and determined by the rule or relation of apposition,
there can be no need of an exception to the foregoing rule for the purpose
of parsing it, since that purpose is already answered by rule third. If the
reader, by supposing an ellipsis which I should not, will resolve any given
instance of this kind into something else than apposition, I have already
shown him that some great grammarians have differed in the same way before.
Useless ellipses, however, should never be supposed; and such _perhaps_ is
the following: "At Mr. Smith's [_who is_] the bookseller."--See _Dr.
Priestley's Gram._, p. 71.

OBS. 3.--In all our Latin grammars, the verb _sum, fui, esse_, to be, is
said (though not with strict propriety) sometimes to _signify_ possession,
property, or duty, and in that sense to govern the genitive case: as, "_Est
regis_;"--"It is the king's."--"_Hominis est errare_;"--"It is man's to
err."--"_Pecus est Melib&oelig;i_;"--"The flock is Meliboeus's." And
sometimes, with like import, this verb, expressed or understood, may govern
the dative; as, "_Ego_ [sum] _dilecto meo, et dilectus meus_ [est]
_mihi_."--_Vulgate_. "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is
mine."--_Solomon's Song_, vi, 3. Here, as both the genitive and the dative
are expressed in English by the possessive, if the former are governed by
the verb, there seems to be precisely the same reason from the nature of
the expression, and an additional one from analogy, for considering the
latter to be so too. But all the annotators upon the Latin syntax suggest,
that the genitive thus put after _sum_ or _est_, is really governed, not by
the verb, but by some _noun understood_; and with this idea, of an ellipsis
in the construction, all our English grammarians appear to unite. They
might not, however, find it very easy to tell by what noun the word
_beloved's_ or _mine_ is governed, in the last example above; and so of
many others, which are used in the same way: as, "There shall nothing die
of all that is the _children's_ of Israel."--_Exod._, ix, 4. The Latin here
is, "Ut nihil omnino pereat ex his _quæ pertinent ad_ filios
Israel."--_Vulgate_. That is,--"of all those _which belong to_ the
children of Israel."

   "For thou art _Freedom's_ now--and _Fame's_,
    One of the few, the immortal names,
    That were not born to die."--HALLECK: _Marco Bozzaris_.

OBS. 4.--Although the possessive case is always intrinsically an _adjunct_
and therefore incapable of being used or comprehended in any sense that is
positively abstract; yet we see that there are instances in which it is
used with a certain degree of abstraction,--that is, with an actual
separation from the name of the thing possessed; and that accordingly
there are, in the simple personal pronouns, (where such a distinction is
most needed,) two different forms of the case; the one adapted to the
concrete, and the other to the abstract construction. That form of the
pronoun, however, which is equivalent in sense to the concrete and the
noun, is still the possessive case, and nothing more; as, "All _mine_ are
_thine_, and _thine_ are _mine_."--_John_, xvii, 10. For if we suppose this
equivalence to prove such a pronoun to be something more than the
possessive case, as do some grammarians, we must suppose the same thing
respecting the possessive case of a noun, whenever the relation of
ownership or possession is simply affirmed or denied with such a noun put
last: as, "For all things are _yours_; and ye are _Christ's_; and Christ is
_God's_."--_1 Cor._, iii, 21. By the second example placed under the rule,
I meant to suggest, that the possessive case, when placed before or after
this verb, (_be_,) _might_ be parsed as being governed by the nominative;
as we may suppose "_theirs_" to be governed by "_vanity_," and "_thine_" by
"_learning_," these nouns being the names of the things possessed. But then
we encounter a difficulty, whenever a _pronoun_ happens to be the
nominative; as, "Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
_which are God's_"--_1 Cor._, vi, 20. Here the common resort would be to
some ellipsis; and yet it must be confessed, that this mode of
interpretation cannot but make some difference in the sense: as, "_If ye be
Christ's_, then are ye Abraham's seed."--_Gal._, iii, 29. Here some may
think the meaning to be, "_If ye be Christ's seed_, or _children_." But a
truer version of the text would be, "If ye _are of Christ_, then are ye
Abraham's seed."--"Que si vous _êtes à Christ_, vous êtes done la posterité
d'Abraham."--_French Bible_.

OBS. 5.--Possession is the having of something, and if the possessive case
is always an adjunct, referring either directly or indirectly to that which
constitutes it a possessive, it would seem but reasonable, to limit the
government of this case to that part of speech which is understood
_substantively_--that is, to "the _name_ of the thing possessed." Yet, in
violation of this restriction, many grammarians admit, that a _participle_,
with the regimen and adjuncts of a participle, may govern the possessive
case; and some of them, at the same time, with astonishing inconsistency,
aver, that the possessive case before a participle converts the latter into
a noun, and necessarily deprives it of its regimen. Whether participles are
worthy to form an exception to my rule or not, this palpable contradiction
is one of the gravest faults of L. Murray's code of syntax. After copying
from Lowth the doctrine that a participle with an _article_ before it
becomes a noun, and must drop the government and adjuncts of a participle,
this author informs us, that the same principles are applicable to the
_pronoun_ and participle: as, "Much depends on _their observing of_ the
rule, and error will be the consequence of _their neglecting of_ it;" in
stead of, "_their observing the rule_," and "_their neglecting it_." And
this doctrine he applies, with yet more positiveness, to the _noun_ and
participle; as if the error were still more glaring, to make an active
participle govern a possessive _noun_; saying, "We shall perceive this
_more clearly_, if we substitute a noun for the pronoun: as, 'Much depends
upon _Tyro's observing of_ the rule,' &c.; which is the same as, 'Much
depends on Tyro's _observance_ of the rule.' But, as this construction
sounds rather _harshly_, it would, in general, be better to express the
sentiment in the following, or some other form: 'Much depends on the
_rule's being observed_; and error will be the consequence of _its being
neglected_? or--'_on observing the rule_; and--_of neglecting
it_.'"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 193; _Ingersoll's_, 199; and others.

OBS. 6.--Here it is assumed, that "_their observing the rule_," or "_Tyro's
observing the rule_," is an ungrammatical phrase; and, several different
methods being suggested for its correction, a preference is at length given
to what is perhaps not less objectionable than the original phrase itself.
The last form offered, "_on observing the rule_," &c., is indeed correct
enough in itself; but, as a substitute for the other, it is both inaccurate
and insufficient. It merely omits the possessive case, and leaves the
action of the participle undetermined in respect to the agent. For the
possessive case before a real participle, denotes not the possessor of
something, as in other instances, but the agent of the action, or the
subject of the being or passion; and the simple question here is, whether
this extraordinary use of the possessive case is, or is not, such an idiom
of our language as ought to be justified. Participles may become nouns, if
we choose to use them substantively; but can they govern the possessive
case before them, while they govern also the objective after them, or while
they have a participial meaning which is qualified by adverbs? If they can,
Lowth, Murray, and others, are wrong in supposing the foregoing phrases to
be ungrammatical, and in teaching that the possessive case before a
participle converts it into a noun; and if they cannot, Priestley, Murray,
Hiley, Wells, Weld, and others, are wrong in supposing that a participle,
or a phrase beginning with a participle, may properly govern the possessive
case. Compare Murray's seventh note under his Rule 10th, with the second
under his Rule 14th. The same contradiction is taught by many other
compilers. See _Smith's New Grammar_, pp. 152 and 162; _Comly's Gram._, 91
and 108; _Ingersoll's_, 180 and 199.

OBS. 7.--Concerning one of the forms of expression which Murray approves
and prefers, among his corrections above, the learned doctors Lowth and
Campbell appear to have formed very different opinions. The latter, in the
chapter which, in his Philosophy of Rhetoric, he devotes to disputed points
in syntax, says: "There is only one other observation of Dr. Lowth, on
which, before I conclude this article, I must beg leave to offer some
remarks. 'Phrases like the following, though very common, are improper:
Much depends upon the _rule's being observed_; and error will be the
consequence of _its being neglected_. For here _is_ a noun _and_ a pronoun
representing it, each in the possessive case, that is, under the government
of another noun, but without other noun to govern it: for _being observed_,
and _being neglected_, are not nouns: nor can you supply the place of the
possessive case by the preposition _of_ before the noun or pronoun.'[346]
For my part," continues Campbell, "notwithstanding what is here very
speciously urged, I am not satisfied that there is any fault in the phrases
censured. They appear to me to be perfectly in the idiom of our tongue, and
such as on some occasions could not easily be avoided, unless by recurring
to circumlocution, an expedient which invariably tends to enervate the
expression."--_Philosophy of Rhetoric_, B. ii, Ch. iv, p. 234.

OBS. 8.--Dr. Campbell, if I understand his argument, defends the foregoing
expressions against the objections of Dr. Lowth, not on the ground that
participles as such may govern the possessive case, but on the supposition
that as the simple active participle may become a noun, and in that
character govern the possessive case, so may the passive participle, and
with equal propriety, notwithstanding it consists of two or more words,
which must in this construction be considered as forming "one compound
noun." I am not sure that he means to confine himself strictly to this
latter ground, but if he does, his position cannot be said in any respect
to contravene my rule for the possessive case. I do not, however, agree
with him, either in the opinion which he offers, or in the negative which
he attempts to prove. In view of the two examples, "Much depends upon the
_rule's being observed_," and, "Much depends upon _their observing of the
rule_," he says: "Now, although I allow both _the_ modes of expression to
be good, I think the first _simpler and better_ than the second." Then,
denying all faults, he proceeds: "Let us consider whether the former be
liable to _any objections_, which do not equally affect the latter." But in
his argument, he considers only the objections offered by Lowth, which
indeed he sufficiently refutes. Now to me there appear to be other
objections, which are better founded. In the first place, the two sentences
are not equivalent in meaning; hence the preference suggested by this
critic and others, is absurd. Secondly, a compound noun formed of two or
three words without any hyphen, is at best such an anomaly, as we ought
rather to avoid than to prefer. If these considerations do not positively
condemn the former construction, they ought at least to prevent it from
displacing the latter; and seldom is either to be preferred to the regular
noun, which we can limit by the article or the possessive at pleasure: as,
"Much depends on _an observance_ of the rule."--"Much depends on _their
observance_ of the rule." Now these two sentences are equivalent to the two
former, but not to each other; and, _vice versa_: that is, the two former
are equivalent to these, but not to each other.[347]

OBS. 9.--From Dr. Campbell's commendation of Lowth, as having "given some
excellent directions for preserving a proper distinction between the noun
and the gerund,"--that is, between the participial noun and the
participle,--it is fair to infer that he meant to preserve it himself; and
yet, in the argument above mentioned, he appears to have carelessly framed
one ambiguous or very erroneous sentence, from which, as I imagine, his
views of this matter have been misconceived, and by which Murray and all
his modifiers have been furnished with an example wherewith to confound
this distinction, and also to contradict themselves. The sentence is this:
"Much will depend on _your pupil's composing_, but more on _his reading_
frequently."--_Philos. of Rhet._, p. 235. Volumes innumerable have gone
abroad, into our schools and elsewhere, which pronounce this sentence to be
"correct and proper." But after all, what does it mean? Does the adverb
"_frequently_" qualify the verb "_will depend_" expressed in the sentence?
or "_will depend_" understood after _more_? or both? or neither? Or does
this adverb qualify the action of "_reading_?" or the action of
"_composing_?" or both? or neither? But _composing_ and _reading_, if they
are mere _nouns_, cannot properly be qualified by any adverb; and, if they
are called participles, the question recurs respecting the possessives.
Besides, _composing_, as a participle, is commonly _transitive_; nor is it
very fit for a noun, without some adjunct. And, when participles become
nouns, their government (it is said) falls upon _of_, and their adverbs are
usually converted into adjectives; as, "Much will depend on your _pupil's
composing of themes_; but more, on _his frequent reading_." This may not be
the author's meaning, for the example was originally composed as a mere
mock sentence, or by way of "_experiment_;" and one may doubt whether its
meaning was ever at all thought of by the philosopher. But, to make it a
respectable example, some correction there must be; for, surely, no man can
have any clear idea to communicate, which he cannot better express, than by
imitating this loose phraseology. It is scarcely more correct, than to say,
"Much will depend on _an author's using_, but more on _his learning_
frequently." Yet is it commended as a _model_, either entire or in part, by
Murray, Ingersoll, Fisk, R. C. Smith, Cooper, Lennie, Hiley, Bullions, C.
Adams, A. H. Weld, and I know not how many other school critics.

OBS. 10.--That singular notion, so common in our grammars, that a
participle and its adjuncts may form "_one name_" or "_substantive
phrase_," and so govern the possessive case, where it is presumed the
participle itself could not, is an invention worthy to have been always
ascribed to its true author. For this doctrine, as I suppose, our
grammarians are indebted to Dr. Priestley. In his grammar it stands thus:
"When an _entire clause_ of a sentence, beginning with a participle of the
present tense, is used as one name, or to express one idea, or
circumstance, the noun on which it depends may be put in the genitive case.
Thus, instead of saying, _What is the meaning of this lady holding up her
train_, i. e. _what is the meaning of the lady in holding up her train_, we
may say, _What is the meaning of this_ lady's _holding up her train_; just
as we say, _What is the meaning of this lady's dress_, &c. So we may either
say, _I remember_ it being _reckoned a great exploit_; or, perhaps more
elegantly, _I remember_ its being _reckoned_, &c."--_Priestley's Gram._, p.
69. Now, to say nothing of errors in punctuation, capitals, &c., there is
scarcely any thing in all this passage, that is either conceived or worded
properly. Yet, coining from a Doctor of Laws, and Fellow of the Royal
Society, it is readily adopted by Murray, and for his sake by others; and
so, with all its blunders, the vain gloss passes uncensured into the
schools, as a rule and model for elegant composition. Dr. Priestley
pretends to appreciate the difference between participles and participial
nouns, but he rather contrives a fanciful distinction in the sense, than a
real one in the construction. His only note on this point,--a note about
the "_horse running to-day_," and the "_horse's running_ to-day,"--I shall
leave till we come to the syntax of participles.

OBS. 11.--Having prepared the reader to understand the origin of what is to
follow, I now cite from L. Murray's code a paragraph which appears to be
contradictory to his own doctrine, as suggested in the fifth observation
above; and not only so, it is irreconcilable with any proper distinction
between the participle and the participial noun. "When an _entire clause_
of a sentence, beginning with a participle of the present tense, is used as
_one name_, or to express one idea or circumstance, the _noun on which it
depends_ may be put in the _genitive_ case; thus, _instead_ of saying,
'What is the reason of this _person dismissing_ his servant so hastily?'
_that is_, 'What is the reason of this person, _in_ dismissing his servant
so hastily?' we _may_ say, and _perhaps_ ought to say, 'What is the reason
of this _person's_ dismissing of his servant _so hastily?_' Just as we say,
'What is the reason of this person's _hasty dismission_ of his servant?' So
also, we say, 'I remember it being reckoned a great exploit;' or more
properly, 'I remember _its_ being reckoned,' &c. The following sentence is
_correct and proper_: 'Much will depend on _the pupil's composing_, but
more on _his reading_ frequently.' It would not be accurate to say, 'Much
will depend on the _pupil composing_.' &c. We also properly say; 'This will
be the effect _of the pupil's composing_ frequently;' instead of, '_Of the
pupil composing_ frequently.' The _participle_, in such constructions,
_does the office_ of a substantive; and it should therefore have a
CORRESPONDENT REGIMEN."--_Murray's Gram._, Rule 10th, Note 7;
_Ingersoll's_, p. 180; _Fisk's_, 108; _R. C. Smith's_, 152; _Alger's_, 61;
_Merchant's_, 84. See also _Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 150; "Abridged Ed.,"
117.[348]

OBS. 12.--Now, if it were as easy to prove that a participle, as such, or
(what amounts to the same thing) a phrase beginning with a participle,
ought never to govern the possessive case, as it is to show that every part
and parcel of the foregoing citations from Priestley, Murray, and others,
is both weakly conceived and badly written, I should neither have detained
the reader so long on this topic, nor ever have placed it among the most
puzzling points of grammar. Let it be observed, that what these writers
absurdly call "_an entire_ CLAUSE _of a sentence_," is found on examination
to be some _short_ PHRASE, the participle with its adjuncts, or even the
participle alone, or with a single adverb only; as, "holding up her
train,"--"dismissing his servant so hastily,"--"composing,"--"reading
frequently,"--"composing frequently." And each of these, with an opposite
error as great, they will have to be "_one name_," and to convey but "_one
idea_;" supposing that by virtue of this imaginary oneness, it may govern
the possessive case, and signify something which a "lady," or a "person,"
or a "pupil," may consistently _possess_. And then, to be wrong in every
thing, they suggest that any noun on which such a participle, with its
adjuncts, "depends, _may be put_ in the _genitive case_;" whereas, such a
change is seldom, if ever, admissible, and in our language, no participle
_ever can depend_ on any other than the nominative or the objective case.
Every participle so depending is an adjunct to the noun; and every
possessive, in its turn, is an adjunct to the word which governs it. In
respect to construction, no terms differ more than a participle which
governs the possessive case, and a participle which does not. These
different constructions the contrivers of the foregoing rule, here take to
be equivalent in meaning; whereas they elsewhere pretend to find in them
quite different significations. The meaning is sometimes very different,
and sometimes very similar; but seldom, if ever, are the terms convertible.
And even if they were so, and the difference were nothing, would it not be
better to adhere, where we can, to the analogy of General Grammar? In Greek
and Latin, a participle may agree with a noun in the genitive case; but, if
we regard analogy, that genitive must be Englished, not by the possessive
case, but by _of_ and the objective; as, "[Greek: 'Epeì dokim`æn zæteîte
toû 'en 'emoì laloûntos Christoû.]"--"Quandoquidem experimentum quæritis in
me loquentis Christi."--_Beza_. "Since ye seek a proof of _Christ speaking_
in me."--_2 Cor._, xiii, 3. We might here, perhaps, say, "of _Christ's
speaking_ in me," but is not the other form better? The French version is,
"Puisque vous cherchez une preuve _que Christ parle_ par moi;" and this,
too, might be imitated in English: "Since ye seek a proof _that Christ
speaks_ by me."

OBS. 13.--As prepositions very naturally govern any of our participles
except the simple perfect, it undoubtedly seems agreeable to our idiom not
to disturb this government, when we would express the subject or agent of
the being, action, or passion, between the preposition and the participle.
Hence we find that the doer or the sufferer of the action is usually made
its possessor, whenever the sense does not positively demand a different
reading. Against this construction there is seldom any objection, if the
participle be taken entirely as a noun, so that it may be called a
participial noun; as, "Much depends _on their observing of_ the
rule."--_Lowth, Campbell_, and _L. Murray_. On the other hand, the
participle after the objective is unobjectionable, if the noun or pronoun
be the leading word in sense; as, "It would be idle to profess an
apprehension of serious _evil resulting_ in any respect from the utmost
_publicity being given_ to its contents."--_London Eclectic Review_, 1816.
"The following is a beautiful instance of the _sound_ of words
_corresponding_ to motion."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 333. "We shall
discover many _things partaking_ of both those characters."--_West's
Letters_, p. 182. "To a _person following_ the vulgar mode of omitting the
comma."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 365. But, in comparing the different
constructions above noticed, writers are frequently puzzled to determine,
and frequently too do they err in determining, which word shall be made the
adjunct, and which the leading term. Now, wherever there is much doubt
which of the two forms ought to be preferred, I think we may well conclude
that both are wrong; especially, if there can easily be found for the idea
an other expression that is undoubtedly clear and correct. Examples: "These
appear to be instances of the present _participle being used_
passively."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 64. "These are examples of the past
_participle being applied_ in an active sense."--_Ib._, 64. "We have some
examples of _adverbs being used_ for substantives."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 134; _Murray's_, 198; _Ingersoll's_, 206; _Fisk's_, 140; _Smith's_, 165.
"By a _noun, pronoun_, or _adjective, being prefixed_ to the
substantive."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 39; also _Ingersoll's, Fisk's, Alger's,
Maltby's, Merchant's, Bacon's_, and others. Here, if their own rule is good
for any thing, these authors ought rather to have preferred the possessive
case; but strike out the word _being_, which is not necessary to the sense,
and all question about the construction vanishes. Or if any body will
justify these examples as they stand, let him observe that there are
others, without number, to be justified on the same principle; as, "Much
depends _on the rule being observed_."--"Much will depend _on the pupil
composing frequently_." Again: "Cyrus did not wait for the _Babylonians
coming_ to attack him."--_Rollin_, ii, 86. "Cyrus did not wait for the
_Babylonians' coming_ to attack him." That is--"for _their_ coming," and
not, "for _them_ coming;" but much better than either: "Cyrus did not wait
for the Babylonians _to come and_ attack him." Again: "To prevent his
_army's being_ enclosed and hemmed in."--_Rollin_, ii, 89. "To prevent his
_army being_ enclosed and hemmed in." Both are wrong. Say, "To prevent his
_army from being_ enclosed and hemmed in." Again: "As a sign of _God's
fulfilling_ the promise."--_Rollin_, ii, 23. "As a sign of _God
fulfilling_ the promise." Both are objectionable. Say, "As a sign _that God
would fulfill_ the promise." Again: "There is affirmative evidence for
_Moses's being_ the author of these books."--_Bp. Watson's Apology_, p. 28.
"The first argument you produce against _Moses being_ the author of these
books."--_Ib._, p. 29. Both are bad. Say,--"for _Moses as being_ the
author,"--"against _Moses as being_ the author," &c.

OBS. 14.--Now, although thousands of sentences might easily be quoted, in
which the possessive case is _actually_ governed by a participle, and that
participle not taken in every respect as a noun; yet I imagine, there are,
of this kind, few examples, if any, the meaning of which might not be
_better expressed_ in some other way. There are surely none among all the
examples which are presented by Priestley, Murray, and others, under their
rule above. Nor would a thousand such as are there given, amount to any
proof of the rule. They are all of them _unreal_ or _feigned_ sentences,
made up for the occasion, and, like most others that are produced in the
same way, made up badly--made up after some ungrammatical model. If a
gentleman could possibly demand a _lady's meaning_ in such an act as _the
holding-up of her train_, he certainly would use none of Priestley's three
questions, which, with such ridiculous and uninstructive pedantry, are
repeated and expounded by Latham, in his Hand-Book, §481; but would
probably say, "Madam, _what do you mean_ by holding up your train?" It was
folly for the doctor to ask _an other person_, as if an other could _guess_
her meaning better than he. The text with the possessive is therefore not
to be corrected by inserting a hyphen and an _of_, after Murray's doctrine
before cited; as, "What is the meaning of this _lady's holding-up of_ her
train?" Murray did well to reject this example, but as a specimen of
English, his own is no better. The question which he asks, ought to have
been, "_Why did this person dismiss_ his servant so hastily?" Fisk has it
in the following form: "What is the reason of this _person's dismissing his
servant_ so hastily?"--_English Grammar Simplified_, p. 108. This amender
of grammars omits the _of_ which Murray and others scrupulously insert to
govern the noun _servant_, and boldly avows at once, what their rule
implies, that, "Participles are sometimes used both as verbs and as nouns
at the same time; as, 'By the _mind's changing the object_,' &c."--_Ib._,
p. 134; so _Emmons's Gram._, p. 64. But he errs as much as they, and
contradicts both himself and them. For one ought rather to say, "By the
_mind's changing of_ the object;" else _changing_, which "does the office
of a noun," has not truly "a correspondent regimen." Yet _of_ is useless
after _dismissing_, unless we take away the _adverb_ by which the
participle is prevented from becoming a noun. "Dismissing _of_ his servant
so _hastily_," is in itself an ungrammatical phrase; and nothing but to
omit either the preposition, or the two adverbs, can possibly make it
right. Without the latter, it may follow the possessive; but without the
former, our most approved grammars say it cannot. Some critics, however,
object to the _of_, because _the dismissing_ is not _the servant's_ act;
but this, as I shall hereafter show, is no valid objection: they stickle
for a false rule.

OBS. 15.--Thus these authors, differing from one an other as they do, and
each contradicting himself and some of the rest, are, as it would seem, all
wrong in respect to the whole matter at issue. For whether the phrase in
question be like Priestley's, or like Murray's, or like Fisk's, it is
still, according to the best authorities, unfit to govern the possessive
case; because, in stead of being a substantive, it is something more than a
participle, and yet they take it substantively. They form this phrase in
many different fashions, and yet each man of them pretends that what he
approves, is just like the construction of a regular noun: "_Just as we
say_, 'What is the reason of this person's _hasty dismission of_ his
servant.'"--_Murray, Fisk, and others. "Just as we say_, 'What is the
meaning of this lady's _dress_,' &c."--_Priestley_. The meaning of a
_lady's dress_, forsooth! The illustration is worthy of the doctrine
taught. "_An entire clause of a sentence_" substantively possessed, is
sufficiently like "_the meaning of a lady's dress, &c._" Cobbett despised
_andsoforths_, for their lack of meaning; and I find none in this one,
unless it be, "_of tinsel and of fustian_." This gloss therefore I wholly
disapprove, judging the position more tenable, to deny, if we consequently
must, that either a phrase or a participle, as such, can consistently
govern the possessive case. For whatever word or term gives rise to the
direct relation of property, and is rightly made to govern the possessive
case, ought in reason to be a _noun_--ought to be the name of some
substance, quality, state, action, passion, being, or thing. When therefore
other parts of speech assume this relation, they naturally _become nouns_;
as, "Against the day of _my burying_."--_John_, xii, 7. "Till the day of
_his showing_ unto Israel."--_Luke_, i, 80. "By _my own
showing_."--_Cowper, Life_, p. 22. "By a fortune of _my own
getting_."--_Ib._ "Let _your yea_ be yea, and _your nay_ nay."--_James_, v,
12. "Prate of _my whereabout_."--_Shah_.

OBS. 16.--The government of possessives by "_entire clauses_" or
"_substantive phrases_," as they are sometimes called, I am persuaded, may
best be disposed of, in almost every instance, by charging the construction
with impropriety or awkwardness, and substituting for it some better
phraseology. For example, our grammars abound with sentences like the
following, and call them good English: (1.) "So we may either say, 'I
remember _it being_ reckoned a great exploit;' or perhaps more elegantly,
'I remember _its being_ reckoned a great exploit.'"--_Priestley, Murray,
and others_. Here both modes are wrong; the latter, especially; because it
violates a general rule of syntax, in regard to the case of the noun
_exploit_. Say, "I remember _it_ was reckoned a great exploit." Again: (2.)
"We also properly say, 'This will be the effect of the _pupil's composing_
frequently.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 179; _and others_. Better, "This will
be the effect, _if the pupil compose_ frequently." But this sentence is
_fictitious_, and one may doubt whether good authors can be found who use
_compose_ or _composing_ as being intransitive. (3.) "What can be the
reason of the _committee's having delayed_ this business?"--_Murray's Key_,
p. 223. Say, "_Why have the committee_ delayed this business?" (4.) "What
can be the cause of the _parliament's neglecting_ so important a
business?"--_Ib._, p. 195. Say, "_Why does the parliament neglect_ so
important a business?" (5.) "The time of _William's making_ the experiment,
at length arrived."--_Ib._, p. 195. Say, "The time _for William to make_
the experiment, at length arrived." (6.) "I hope this is the last time of
_my acting_ so imprudently."--_Ib._, p. 263. Say, "I hope _I shall never
again act_ so imprudently." (7.) "If I were to give a reason for _their
looking so well_, it would be, that they rise early."--_Ib._, p. 263. Say,
"I should attribute _their healthful appearance_ to their early rising."
(8.) "The tutor said, that diligence and application to study were
necessary to _our becoming_ good scholars."--_Cooper's Gram._, p. 145. Here
is an anomaly in the construction of the noun _scholars_. Say, "The tutor
said, that _diligent application_ to study was necessary to our _success in
learning_." (9.) "The reason of _his having acted_ in the manner he did,
was not fully explained."--_Murray's Key_, p. 263. This author has a very
singular mode of giving "STRENGTH" to weak sentences. The faulty text here
was. "The reason why he _acted_ in the manner he did, was not fully
explained."--_Murray's Exercises_, p. 131. This is much better than the
other, but I should choose to say. "The reason of _his conduct_ was not
fully explained." For, surely, the "one idea or circumstance" of his
"having acted in the manner in _which_ he did act," may be quite as
forcibly named by the one word _conduct_, as by all this verbiage, this
"substantive phrase," or "entire clause," of such cumbrous length.

OBS. 17.--The foregoing observations tend to show, that the government of
possessives by participles, is in general a construction little to be
commended, if at all allowed. I thus narrow down the application of the
principle, but do not hereby determine it to be altogether wrong. There are
other arguments, both for and against the doctrine, which must be taken
into the account, before we can fully decide the question. The double
construction which may be given to infinitive verbs; the Greek idiom which
allows to such verbs an article before them and an objective after them;
the mixed character of the Latin gerund, part noun, part verb; the use or
substitution of the participle in English for the gerund in Latin;--all
these afford so many reasons by analogy, for allowing that our
participle--except it be the perfect--since it participates the properties
of a verb and a noun, as well as those of a verb and an adjective, may
unite in itself a double construction, and be taken substantively in one
relation, and participially in an other. Accordingly some grammarians so
define it; and many writers so use it; both parties disregarding the
distinction between the participle and the participial noun, and justifying
the construction of the former, not only as a proper participle after its
noun, and as a gerundive after its preposition; not only as a participial
adjective before its noun, and as a participial noun, in the regular syntax
of a noun; but also as a mixed term, in the double character of noun and
participle at once. Nor are these its only uses; for, after an auxiliary,
it is the main verb; and in a few instances, it passes into a preposition,
an adverb, or something else. Thus have we from the verb a single
derivative, which fairly ranks with about half the different parts of
speech, and takes distinct constructions even more numerous; and yet these
authors scruple not to make of it a hybridous thing, neither participle nor
noun, but constructively both. "But this," says Lowth, "is inconsistent;
let it be either the one or the other, and abide by its proper
construction."--_Gram._, p. 82. And so say I--as asserting the general
principle, and leaving the reader to judge of its exceptions. Because,
without this mongrel character, the participle in our language has a
multiplicity of uses unparalleled in any other; and because it seldom
happens that the idea intended by this double construction may not be
otherwise expressed more elegantly. But if it sometimes seem proper that
the gerundive participle should be allowed to govern the possessive case,
no exception to my rule is needed for the _parsing_ of such possessive;
because whatever is invested with such government, whether rightly or
wrongly, is assumed as "the name of something possessed."

OBS. 18.--The reader may have observed, that in the use of participial
nouns, the distinction of _voice_ in the participle is sometimes
disregarded. Thus, "Against the day of my _burying_," means, "Against the
day of my _being buried._" But in this instance the usual noun _burial_ or
_funeral_ would have been better than either: "Against the day of _my
burial_." I. e., "In diem _funerationis meæ._"--_Beza_. "In diem _sepulturæ
meæ_."--_Leusden_. "[Greek: 'Eis t`æn hæméran toû entaphiasmoû
mou.]"--_John_, xii, 7. In an other text, this noun is very properly used
for the Greek infinitive, and the Latin gerund; as, "_For my
burial._"--_Matt._, xxvi, 12. "Ad _funerandum_ me."--_Beza_. "Ad
_sepeliendum_ me."--_Leusden_. Literally: "_For burying me._" "[Greek: Pròs
tò entaphiásai me.]" Nearly: "_For to have me buried._" Not all that is
allowable, is commendable; and if either of the uncompounded terms be found
a fit substitute for the compound participial noun, it is better to
dispense with the latter, on account of its dissimilarity to other nouns:
as, "Which only proceed upon the _question's being begged._"--_Barclay's
Works_, Vol. iii, p. 361. Better, "Which only proceed upon _a begging of
the question._" "The _king's having conquered_ in the battle, established
his throne."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 128. Better, "The king's _conquering_ in
the battle;" for, in the participial noun, the distinction of _tense_, or
of previous _completion_, is as needless as that of voice. "The _fleet's
having sailed_ prevented mutiny."--_Ib._, p. 78. Better, "The _sailing of
the fleet_,"--or, "The _fleet's sailing_" &c. "The _prince's being
murdered_ excited their pity."--_Ibid._ Better, "The _prince's murder_
excited their _indignation_."

OBS. 19.--In some instances, as it appears, not a little difficulty is
experienced by our grammarians, respecting the addition or the omission of
the possessive sign, the terminational apostrophic _s_, which in nouns is
the ordinary index of the possessive case. Let it be remembered that every
possessive is governed, or ought to be governed, by some noun expressed or
understood, except such as (without the possessive sign) are put in
apposition with others so governed; and for every possessive termination
there must be a separate governing word, which, if it is not expressed, is
shown by the possessive sign to be understood. The possessive sign itself
_may_ and _must_ be omitted in certain cases; but, because it can never be
inserted or discarded without suggesting or discarding a governing noun, it
is never omitted _by ellipsis_, as Buchanan, Murray, Nixon, and many
others, erroneously teach. The four lines of Note 2d below, are sufficient
to show, in every instance, when it must be used, and when omitted; but
Murray, after as many octavo pages on the point, still leaves it perplexed
and undetermined. If a person knows what he means to say, let him express
it according to the Note, and he will not fail to use just as many
apostrophes and Esses as he ought. How absurd then is that common doctrine
of ignorance, which Nixon has gathered from Allen and Murray, his chief
oracles! "If _several_ nouns in the _genitive_ case, are immediately
connected by a _conjunction_, the apostrophic _s_ is annexed _to the last_,
but _understood to the rest_; as, Neither _John_ (i. e. John's) nor
_Eliza's_ books."--_English Parser_, p. 115. The author gives fifteen other
examples like this, all of them bad English, or at any rate, not adapted to
the sense which he intends!

OBS. 20.--The possessive case generally comes _immediately before_ the
governing noun, expressed or understood; as, "All _nature's_ difference
keeps all _nature's_ peace."--_Pope_. "Lady! be _thine_ (i. e., _thy walk_)
the _Christian's_ walk."--_Chr. Observer._ "Some of _Æschylus's_ [plays]
and _Euripides's_ plays are opened in this manner."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
459. And in this order one possessive sometimes governs an other: as,
"_Peter's wife's mother_;"--"_Paul's sister's son_."--_Bible_. But, to this
general principle of arrangement, there are some exceptions: as,

1. When the governing noun has an adjective, this may intervene; as,
"_Flora's_ earliest _smells_."--_Milton_. "Of _man's_ first
disobedience."--_Id._ In the following phrase from the Spectator, "Of
_Will's_ last _night's_ lecture," it is not very clear, whether _Will's_ is
governed by _night's_ or by _lecture_; yet it violates a general principle
of our grammar, to suppose the latter; because, on this supposition, two
possessives, each having the sign, will be governed by one noun.

2. When the possessive is affirmed or denied; as, "The book is _mine_, and
not _John's_." But here the governing noun _may be supplied_ in its proper
place; and, in some such instances, it _must_ be, else a pronoun or the
verb will be the only governing word: as, "Ye are _Christ's_ [disciples, or
people]; and Christ is _God's_" [son].--_St. Paul_. Whether this
phraseology is thus elliptical or not, is questionable. See Obs. 4th, in
this series.

3. When the case occurs without the sign, either by apposition or by
connexion; as, "In her _brother Absalom's_ house."--_Bible_. "_David_ and
_Jonathan's_ friendship."--_Allen_. "_Adam_ and _Eve's_ morning
hymn."--_Dr. Ash_. "Behold the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, is the
_Lord's_ thy _God_."--_Deut._,, x, 14. "For _peace_ and _quiet's_
sake."--_Cowper_. "To the beginning of _King James_ the _First's_
reign."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 32.

OBS. 21--The possessive case is in general (though not always) equivalent
to the preposition _of_ and _the objective_; as, "_Of_ Judas Iscariot,
_Simon's_ son."--_John_, xiii, 2. "_To_ Judas Iscariot, the son _of
Simon_."--_Ib._, xiii, 26. On account of this one-sided equivalence, many
grammarians erroneously reckon the latter to be a "_genitive case_" as well
as the former. But they ought to remember, that the preposition is used
more frequently than the possessive, and in a variety of senses that cannot
be interpreted by this case; as, "_Of_ some _of_ the books _of_ each _of_
these classes _of_ literature, a catalogue will be given at the end _of_
the work."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 178. Murray calls this a "laborious
mode of expression," and doubtless it might be a little improved by
substituting _in_ for the third _of_; but my argument is, that the meaning
conveyed cannot be expressed by possessives. The notion that _of_ forms a
genitive case, led Priestley to suggest, that our language admits a
"_double genitive_;" as, "This book _of_ my _friend's_."--_Priestley's
Gram._, p. 71. "It is a discovery _of Sir Isaac Newton's_."--_Ib._, p. 72.
"This exactness _of his_."--STERNE: _ib._ The doctrine has since passed
into nearly all our grammars; yet is there no double case here, as I shall
presently show.

OBS. 22.--Where the governing noun cannot be easily mistaken, it is often
omitted by ellipsis: as, "At the alderman's" [_house_];--"St. Paul's"
[_church_];--"A book of my brother's" [_books_];--"A subject of the
emperor's" [_subjects_];--"A friend of mine;" i. e., _one of my friends_.
"Shall we say that Sacrificing was a pure invention of _Adam's_, or of
_Cain_ or _Abel's?_"--_Leslie, on Tythes_, p. 93. That is--of Adam's
_inventions_, or of Cain or Abel's _inventions_. The Rev. David Blair,
unable to resolve this phraseology to his own satisfaction, absurdly sets
it down among what he calls "ERRONEOUS OR VULGAR PHRASES." His examples are
these: "A poem of Pope's;"--"A soldier of the king's;"--"That is a horse of
my father's."--_Blair's Practical Gram._, p. 110, 111. He ought to have
supplied the plural nouns, _poems, soldiers, horses_. This is the true
explanation of all the "double genitives" which our grammarians discover;
for when the first noun is _partitive_, it naturally suggests more or other
things of the same kind, belonging to this possessor; and when such is not
the meaning, this construction is improper. In the following example, the
noun _eyes_ is understood after _his_:

   "Ev'n _his_, the _warrior's eyes_, were forced to yield,
    That saw, without a tear, Pharsalia's field."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. viii, l. 144.

OBS. 23.--When two or more nouns of the possessive form are in any way
connected, they usually refer to things individually different but of the
same name; and when such is the meaning, the governing noun, which we
always suppress somewhere to avoid tautology, is _understood_ wherever the
sign is added without it; as, "A _father's_ or _mother's sister_ is an
aunt."--_Dr. Webster_. That is, "A _father's sister_ or a mother's sister
is an aunt." "In the same commemorative acts of the senate, _were thy
name_, thy _father's_, thy _brother's_, and the _emperor's_."--_Zenobia_,
Vol. i, p. 231.

   "From Stiles's pocket into _Nokes's_" [pocket].
        --_Hudibras_, B. iii, C. iii, l. 715.

    "Add _Nature's, Custom's, Reason's_, Passion's strife."
        --_Pope, Brit. Poets_, Vol. vi, p. 383.

It will be observed that in all these examples the governing noun is
singular; and, certainly, it must be so, if, with more than one possessive
sign, we mean to represent each possessor as having or possessing but one
object. If the noun be made plural where it is expressed, it will also be
plural where it is implied. It is good English to say, "A _father's_ or
_mother's sisters_ are aunts;" but the meaning is, "A father's _sisters_ or
a mother's sisters are aunts." But a recent school critic teaches
differently, thus: "When different things of the same name belong to
different possessors, the sign should be annexed to each; as, _Adams's,
Davies's_, and _Perkins'_ Arithmetics; i. e., _three different
books_."--_Spencer's Gram._, p. 47. Here the example is fictitious, and has
almost as many errors as words. It would be much better English to say,
"_Adams's, Davies's, and Perkins's Arithmetic_;" though the objective form
with _of_ would, perhaps, be still more agreeable for these peculiar names.
Spencer, whose Grammar abounds with useless repetitions, repeats his note
elsewhere, with the following illustrations: "E. g. _Olmstead's_ and
_Comstock's_ Philosophies. _Gould's Adam's_ Latin Grammar."--_Ib._, p. 106.
The latter example is no better suited to his text, than "_Peter's wife's
mother_;" and the former is fit only to mean, "Olmstead's _Philosophies_
and Comstock's Philosophies." To speak of the two books only, say,"
Olmstead's _Philosophy_ and Comstock's."

OBS. 24.--The possessive sign is sometimes annexed to that part of a
compound name, which is, of itself, in the objective case; as, "At his
_father-in-law's_ residence." Here, "_At the residence of his
father-in-law_," would be quite as agreeable; and, as for the plural, one
would hardly think of saying, "Men's wedding parties are usually held at
their _fathers-in-law's_ houses." When the compound is formed with _of_, to
prevent a repetition of this particle, the possessive sign is sometimes
added as above; and yet the hyphen is not commonly inserted in the phrase,
as I think it ought to be. Examples: "The duke of Bridgewater's
canal;"--"The bishop of Landaff's excellent book;"--"The Lord mayor of
London's authority;"--"The captain of the guard's house."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 176. "The Bishop of Cambray's writings on eloquence."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 345. "The bard of Lomond's lay is done."--_Queen's Wake_, p. 99.
"For the kingdom of God's sake."--_Luke_, xviii, 29. "Of the children of
Israel's half."--_Numbers_, xxxi, 30. From these examples it would seem,
that the possessive sign has a less intimate alliance with the possessive
case, than with the governing noun; or, at any rate, a dependence less
close than that of the objective noun which here assumes it. And since the
two nouns here so intimately joined by _of_, cannot be explained separately
as forming two cases, but must be parsed together as _one name_ governed in
the usual way, I should either adopt some other phraseology, or write the
compound terms with hyphens, thus: "The _Duke-of-Bridgewater's_
canal;"--"The _Bishop-of-Landaff's_ excellent book;"--"The _Bard-of-
Lomond's_ lay is done." But there is commonly some better mode of
correcting such phrases. With deference to Murray and others, "_The King of
Great Britain's prerogative_," [349] is but an untoward way of saying,
"_The prerogative of the British King_;" and, "_The Lord mayor of London's
authority_," may quite as well be written, "_The authority of London's Lord
Mayor_." Blair, who for brevity robs the _Arch_bishop of half his title,
might as well have said, "_Fenelon's_ writings on eloquence." "_Propter
regnum Dei_," might have been rendered, "For the kingdom _of God_;"--"For
_the sake of_ the kingdom of God;"--or, "For the sake of _God's_ kingdom."
And in lieu of the other text, we might say, "Of the _Israelites'_ half."

OBS. 25.--"Little explanatory circumstances," says Priestley, "are
particularly awkward between the _genitive case_, and the word which
usually follows it; as, 'She began to extol the farmer's, _as she called
him_, excellent understanding.' Harriet Watson, Vol. i, p.
27."--_Priestley's Gram._, p 174. Murray assumes this remark, and adds
respecting the example, "It ought to be, 'the excellent understanding of
the farmer, as she called him.' "--_Murray's Gram._, p. 175. Intersertions
of this kind are as uncommon as they are uncouth. Murray, it seems, found
none for his Exercises, but made up a couple to suit his purpose. The
following might have answered as well for an other: "Monsieur D'acier
observes, that Zeno's (the Founder of the Sect,) opinion was Fair and
Defensible in these Points."--_Colliers Antoninus_, p. ii.

OBS. 26.--It is so usual a practice in our language, to put the possessive
sign always and only where the two terms of the possessive relation meet,
that this ending is liable to be added to any adjunct which can be taken as
a part of the former noun or name; as, (1.) "The _court-martial's_ violent
proceedings." Here the plural would be _courts-martial_; but the possessive
sign must be at the end. (2.) "In _Henry the Eighth's_ time."--_Walker's
Key, Introd._, p. 11. This phrase can be justified only by supposing the
adjective a part of the name. Better, "In the time of Henry the Eighth."
(3.) "And strengthened with a _year or two's age_."--_Locke, on Education_,
p. 6. Here _two's_ is put for _two years_; and, I think, improperly;
because the sign is such as suits the former noun, and not the plural.
Better, "And strengthened with _a year's age or more_." The word _two_
however is declinable as a noun, and possibly it may be so taken in
Locke's phrase. (4.) "This rule is often infringed, by the _case absolute's
not being properly distinguished_ from certain forms of expression
apparently _similar_ to it."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 155; _Fisk's_, 113;
_Ingersoll's_, 210. Here the possessive sign, being appended to a distinct
adjective, and followed by nothing that can be called a noun, is employed
as absurdly as it well can be. Say, "This rule is often infringed by an
improper use of the nominative absolute;" for this is precisely what these
authors mean. (5.) "The participle is distinguished from the adjective by
the _former's expressing the idea of time_, and the _latter's denoting only
a quality_"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 65; _Fisk's_, 82; _Ingersoll's_, 45;
_Emmons's_, 64; _Alger's_, 28. This is liable to nearly the same
objections. Say, "The participle differs from an adjective by expressing
the idea of time, whereas the adjective denotes only a quality." (6.) "The
relatives _that_ and _as_ differ from _who_ and _which_ in the _former's
not being immediately joined_ to the governing word."--_Nixon's Parser_, p.
140. This is still worse, because _former's_, which is like a singular
noun, has here a plural meaning; namely, "in _the former terms' not
being_," &c. Say--"in _that the former never follow_ the governing word."

OBS. 27.--The possessive termination is so far from being liable to
suppression _by ellipsis_, agreeably to the nonsense of those interpreters
who will have it to be "_understood_" wherever the case occurs without it,
that on the contrary it is sometimes retained where there is an actual
suppression of the noun to which it belongs. This appears to be the case
whenever the pronominal adjectives _former_ and _latter_ are inflected, as
above. The inflection of these, however, seems to be needless, and may well
be reckoned improper. But, in the following line, the adjective elegantly
takes the sign; because there is an ellipsis of both nouns; _poor's_ being
put for _poor man's_, and the governing noun _joys_ being understood after
it: "The _rich man's joys_ increase, the _poor's decay_."--_Goldsmith_. So,
in the following example, _guilty's_ is put for _guilty person's_:

   "Yet, wise and righteous ever, scorns to hear
    The fool's fond wishes, or the _guilty's_ prayer."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. v, l. 155.

This is a poetical license; and others of a like nature are sometimes met
with. Our poets use the possessive case much more frequently than prose
writers, and occasionally inflect words that are altogether invariable in
prose; as,

   "Eager that last great chance of war he waits,
    Where _either's_ fall determines _both their_ fates."
        --_Ibid._, B. vi, l. 13.

OBS. 28.--To avoid a concurrence of hissing sounds, the _s_ of the
possessive singular is sometimes omitted, and the apostrophe alone retained
to mark the case: as, "For _conscience'_ sake."--_Bible_. "_Moses'_
minister."--_Ib._ "_Felix'_ room."--_Ib._ "_Achilles'_ wrath."--_Pope_.
"_Shiraz'_ walls."--_Collins_. "_Epicurus'_ sty."--_Beattie_. "_Douglas'_
daughter."--_Scott_. "For _Douglas'_ sake."--_Ib._ "To his _mistress'_
eyebrow."--_Shak_. This is a sort of poetic license, as is suggested in the
16th Observation upon the Cases of Nouns, in the Etymology. But in prose
the elision should be very sparingly indulged; it is in general less
agreeable, as well as less proper, than the regular form. Where is the
propriety of saying, _Hicks' Sermons, Barnes' Notes, Kames' Elements,
Adams' Lectures, Josephus' Works_, while we so uniformly say, in _Charles's
reign, St. James's Palace_, and the like? The following examples are right:
"At Westminster and _Hicks's Hall_."--_Hudibras_. "Lord _Kames's_ Elements
of Criticism."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 331. "Of _Rubens's_ allegorical
pictures."--_Hazlitt_. "With respect to _Burns's_ early
education."--_Dugald Stewart_. "_Isocrates's_ pomp;"--"_Demosthenes's_
life."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 242. "The repose of _Epicurus's_
gods."--_Wilson's Heb. Gram._, p. 93.

   "To _Douglas's_ obscure abode."--_Scott, L. L._, C. iii, st. 28.

   "Such was the _Douglas's_ command."--_Id., ib._, C. ii, st. 36.

OBS. 29.--Some of our grammarians, drawing broad conclusions from a few
particular examples, falsely teach as follows: "When a singular noun ends
in _ss_, the apostrophe only is added; as, 'For _goodness'_ sake:' except
the word _witness_; as, 'The _witness's_ testimony.' When a noun in the
possessive case ends in _ence_, the _s_ is omitted, but the apostrophe is
retained; as, 'For _conscience'_ sake.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 49;
_Hamlin's_, 16; _Smith's New Gram._, 47.[350] Of principles or inferences
very much like these, is the whole system of "_Inductive Grammar_"
essentially made up. But is it not plain that _heiress's, abbess's,
peeress's, countess's_, and many other words of the same form, are as good
English as _witness's_? Did not Jane West write justly, "She made an
attempt to look in at the dear _dutchess's_?"--_Letters to a Lady_, p. 95.
Does not the Bible speak correctly of "_an ass's head_," sold at a great
price?--_2 Kings_, vi, 25. Is Burns also wrong, about "_miss's fine
lunardi_," and "_miss's bonnet?_"--_Poems_, p. 44. Or did Scott write
inaccurately, whose guide "Led slowly through the _pass's_ jaws?"--_Lady of
the Lake_, p. 121. So much for the _ss_; nor is the rule for the
termination _ence_, or (as Smith has it) _nce_, more true. _Prince's_ and
_dunce's_ are as good possessives as any; and so are the following:

   "That vice should triumph, virtue vice obey;
    This sprung some doubt of _Providence's_ sway."--_Parnell_.

    "And sweet _Benevolence's_ mild command."--_Lord Lyttleton_.

    "I heard the _lance's_ shivering crash,
    As when the whirlwind rends the ash."--_Sir Walter Scott_.

OBS. 30.--The most common rule now in use for the construction of the
possessive case, is a shred from the old code of Latin grammar: "One
substantive governs _another_, signifying a different thing, _in_ the
possessive or genitive case."--_L. Murray's Rule X_. This canon not only
leaves occasion for an additional one respecting pronouns of the possessive
case, but it is also obscure in its phraseology, and too negligent of the
various modes in which nouns may come together in English. All nouns used
adjectively, and many that are compounded together, seem to form exceptions
to it. But who can limit or enumerate these _exceptions?_ Different
combinations of nouns have so often little or no difference of meaning, or
of relation to each other, and so frequently is the very same vocal
expression written variously by our best scholars, and ablest
lexicographers, that in many ordinary instances it seems scarcely possible
to determine who or what is right. Thus, on the authority of Johnson, one
might write, _a stone's cast_, or _stone's throw_; but Webster has it,
_stones-cast_, or _stones-throw_; Maunder, _stonecast, stonethrow_;
Chalmers, _stonescast_; Worcester, _stone's-cast_. So Johnson and Chalmers
write _stonesmickle_, a bird; Webster has it, _stone's-mickle_; yet, all
three refer to Ainsworth as their authority, and his word is
_stone-smickle_: Littleton has it _stone-smich_. Johnson and Chalmers
write, _popeseye_ and _sheep's eye_; Walker, Maunder, and Worcester,
_popeseye_ and _sheep's-eye_; Scott has _pope's-eye_ and _sheepseye_;
Webster, _pope's-eye_ and _sheep's-eye, bird-eye_, and _birds-eye._
Ainsworth has _goats beard_, for the name of a plant; Johnson, _goatbeard_;
Webster, _goat-beard_ and _goats-beard._ Ainsworth has _prince's feather_,
for the amaranth; Johnson, Chalmers, Walker, and Maunder, write it
_princes-feather_; Webster and Worcester, _princes'-feather_; Bolles has it
_princesfeather_: and here they are all wrong, for the word should be
_prince's-feather._ There are hundreds more of such terms; all as uncertain
in their orthography as these.

OBS. 31.--While discrepances like the foregoing abound in our best
dictionaries, none of our grammars supply any hints tending to show which
of these various forms we ought to prefer. Perhaps the following
suggestions, together with the six Rules for the Figure of Words, in Part
First, may enable the reader to decide these questions with sufficient
accuracy. (1.) Two short radical nouns are apt to unite in a permanent
compound, when the former, taking the sole accent, expresses the main
purpose or chief characteristic of the thing named by the latter; as,
_teacup, sunbeam, daystar, horseman, sheepfold, houndfish, hourglass._ (2.)
Temporary compounds of a like nature may be formed with the hyphen, when
there remain two accented syllables; as, _castle-wall, bosom-friend,
fellow-servant, horse-chestnut, goat-marjoram, marsh-marigold._ (3.) The
former of two nouns, if it be not plural, may be taken adjectively, in any
relation that differs from apposition and from possession; as, "The
_silver_ cup,"--"The _parent_ birds,"--"My _pilgrim_ feet,"--"Thy _hermit_
cell,"--"Two _brother_ sergeants." (4.) The possessive case and its
governing noun, combining to form a literal name, may be joined together
without either hyphen or apostrophe: as, _tradesman, ratsbane, doomsday,
kinswoman, craftsmaster._ (5.) The possessive case and its governing noun,
combining to form a _metaphorical_ name, should be written with both
apostrophe and hyphen; as, _Job's-tears, Jew's-ear, bear's-foot,
colts-tooth, sheep's-head, crane's-bill, crab's-eyes, hound's-tongue,
king's-spear, lady's-slipper, lady's-bedstraw_, &c. (6.) The possessive
case and its governing noun, combining to form an adjective, whether
literal or metaphorical, should generally be written with both apostrophe
and hyphen; as, "_Neats-foot_ oil,"--"_Calfs-foot_ jelly,"--"A
_carp's-tongue_ drill,"--"A _bird's-eye_ view,"--"The _states'-rights'_
party,"--"A _camel's-hair_ shawl." But a triple compound noun may be formed
with one hyphen only: as, "In doomsday-book;" (--_Joh. Dict._;) "An
_armsend-lift._" Cardell, who will have all possessives to be adjectives,
writes an example thus: "John's camel's hair girdle."--_Elements of Eng.
Gram._, p. 39. That is as if John's camel had a hair girdle! (7.) When the
possessive case and its governing noun merely help to form a regular
phrase, the compounding of them in any fashion may be reckoned improper;
thus the phrases, _a day's work, at death's door, on New Year's Day, a new
year's gift, All Souls' Day, All Saints' Day, All Fools' Day, the saints'
bell, the heart's blood, for dog's meat_, though often written otherwise,
may best stand as they do here.

OBS. 32.--The existence of a permanent compound of any two words, does not
necessarily preclude the use of the possessive relation between the same
words. Thus, we may speak of _a horse's shoe_ or _a goat's skin_,
notwithstanding there are such words as horseshoe and goatskin. E.g., "That
preach ye upon the _housetops._"--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Matt._, x, 27. "Unpeg the
basket on the _house's top._"--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 238. Webster defines
_frostnail_, (which, under the word _cork_, he erroneously writes _frost
nail_,) "A nail driven into a _horse-shoe_, to prevent _the horse_ from
slipping on ice." Worcester has it, "A nail driven into a _horse's shoe_,
to prevent _his slipping on the ice._" Johnson, "A nail with a _prominent
head driven_ into the _horse's shoes_, that it may pierce the ice."
Maunder, "A nail with a _sharp head driven_ into the _horses' shoes_ in
frosty weather." None of these descriptions is very well written. Say
rather, "A _spur-headed_ nail driven into a _horse's shoe_ to prevent _him
from_ slipping." There is commonly some difference, and sometimes a very
great one, between the compound noun and the possessive relation, and also
between the radical compound and that of the possessive. Thus a _harelip_
is not a _hare's lip_, nor is a _headman_ a _headsman_, or _heart-ease
heart's-ease._ So, according to the books, a _cat-head_, a _cat's-head_,
and a _cat's head_, are three very different things; yet what Webster
writes, _cat-tail_, Johnson, _cats-tail_, Walker and others, _cats-tail_,
means but the same thing, though not a _cat's tail._ Johnson's
"_kingspear, Jews-ear, lady-mantle, and lady-bedstraw_," are no more
proper, than Webster's "_bear's-wort, lion's foot, lady's mantle, and
lady's bed-straw._" All these are wrong.

OBS. 33.--Particular examples, both of proper distinction, and of blind
irregularity, under all the heads above suggested, may be quoted and
multiplied indefinitely, even from our highest literary authorities; but,
since nothing can be settled but by the force of _principles_, he who would
be accurate, must resort to rules,--must consider what is analogical, and,
in all doubtful cases, give this the preference. But, in grammar,
particular analogies are to be respected, as well as those which are more
general. For example, the noun _side_, in that relation which should seem
to require the preceding noun to be in the possessive case, is usually
compounded with it, the hyphen being used where the compound has more than
two syllables, but not with two only; as, _bedside, hillside, roadside,
wayside, seaside, river-side, water-side, mountain-side._ Some instances of
the separate construction occur, but they are rare: as, "And her maidens
walked along by the _river's side._"--_Exodus_, ii, 5. After this noun
also, the possessive preposition _of_ is sometimes omitted; as, "On this
_side_ the river;"(--_Bible_;) "On this _side_ Trent."--_Cowell_. Better,
"On this _side of_ the river," &c. "Blind Bartimeus sat by the _highway
side_, begging."--_Mark_, x, 46. Here Alger more properly writes
"_highway-side._" In Rev., xiv, 20th, we have the unusual compound,
"_horse-bridles._" The text ought to have been rendered, "even unto the
_horses' bridles._" Latin, "usque ad frænos equorum." Greek, "[Greek: achri
ton chalinon ton hippon]."

OBS. 34.--Correlatives, as father and son, husband and wife, naturally
possess each other; hence such combinations as _father's son_, and _son's
father_, though correct enough in thought, are redundant in expression. The
whole and a part are a sort of correlatives, but the whole seems to possess
its parts, more properly than any of the parts, the whole. Yet we seldom
put the whole in the possessive case before its part, or parts, but rather
express the relation by _of_; as, "a quarter _of_ a dollar," rather than,
"a _dollar's_ quarter." After the noun _half_, we usually suppress this
preposition, if an article intervene; as, "_half a dollar_," rather than,
"half _of_ a dollar," or "a _dollar's_ half." So we may say, "_half the
way_," for "half _of_ the way;" but we cannot say, "_half us_" for "half
_of_ us." In the phrase, "_a half dollar_," the word _half_ is an
adjective, and a very different meaning is conveyed. Yet the compounds
_half-pint_ and _half-penny_ are sometimes used to signify, the _quantity_
of _half a pint_, the _value_ of _half a penny_. In weight, measure, or
time, the part is sometimes made possessive of the whole; as, "a _pound's_
weight, a _yard's_ length, an _hour's_ time." On the contrary, we do not
say, "_weight's_ pound, _length's_ yard, or _time's_ hour;" nor yet, "a
pound _of_ weight, a yard _of_ length;" and rarely do we say, "an hour _of_
time." _Pound_ and _yard_ having other uses, we sometimes say, "a pound
_in_ weight, a yard _in_ length;" though scarcely, "an hour _in_ time."

OBS. 35.--Between a portion of time and its correlative action, passion, or
being, the possessive relation is interchangeable; so that either term may
be the principal, and either, the adjunct: as, "_Three years'_ hard work,"
or, "Three years _of hard work_." Sometimes we may even put either term in
either form; as, "During the _ten years'_ war,"--"During the ten years _of
war_,"--"During the war _of ten years_,"--"During the _war's_ ten years."
Hence some writers, not perceiving why either word should make the other
its governed adjunct, place both upon a par, as if they were in apposition;
as, "Three _days time_."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. ii, p. 156. "By a few
_years preparation_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 341. "Of forty _years
planting_."--_Wm. Penn_. "An account, of five _years standing_." If these
phrases were correct, it would also be correct to say, "_one day
time_,"--"_one year preparation_,"--"_one year planting_,"--"_of one year
standing_;" but all these are manifestly bad English; and, by analogy, so
are the others.

OBS. 36.--Any noun of weight, measure, or time, put immediately before an
other, if it be not in the possessive case, will naturally be understood
_adjectively_; as, "No person can, by words only, give to an other an
adequate idea of a _pound weight_, or [a] _foot rule_."--_Gregory's Dict._
This phraseology can, with propriety, refer only to the weight or the rule
with which we weigh or measure; it cannot signify _a pound in weight_, or
_a foot in length_, though it is very probable that the author intended the
latter. When the noun _times_ is used before an other noun by way of
multiplication, there may be supposed an ellipsis of the preposition _of_
between the two, just as when we divide by the word _half_; as, "An hour is
sixty _times the length_ of a minute."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 48. "Thirty
seconds are _half the length_ of a minute." That is,--"half _of_ the
length,"--"sixty times _of_ the length."


NOTES TO RULE IV.

NOTE I.--In the syntax of the possessive case, its appropriate form,
singular or plural, should be observed, agreeably to the sense and
declension of the word. Thus, write _John's, men's, hers, its, ours, yours,
theirs_; and not, _Johns, mens', her's, it's, our's, your's, their's_.

NOTE II.--When nouns of the possessive case are connected by conjunctions
or put in apposition, the sign of possession must always be annexed to
such, and such only, as immediately precede the governing noun, expressed
or understood; as, "_John_ and _Eliza's_ teacher is a man of more learning
than _James's_ or _Andrew's_"--"For _David_ my _servant's_ sake."--_Bible_.
"For my sake and the _gospel's_."--_Ib._ "Lost in _love's_ and
_friendship's_ smile."--_Scott_.

NOTE III.--The relation of property may also be expressed by the
preposition _of_ and the objective; as, "_The will of man_," for "_man's
will_." Of these forms, we should adopt that which will render the sentence
the most perspicuous and agreeable; and, by the use of both, avoid an
unpleasant repetition of either.

NOTE IV.--A noun governing the possessive plural, should not, by a forced
agreement, be made plural, when its own sense does not require it; as, "For
_our parts_,"--"Were I in _your places_:" for we may with propriety say,
"_Our part, your place_, or _your condition_;" as well as, "_Our desire,
your intention, their resignation_."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 169. A noun
taken figuratively may also be singular, when the literal meaning would
require the plural: such expressions as, "_their face_,"--"_their
neck_,"--"_their hand_,"--"_their head_,"--"_their heart_,"--"_our
mouth_,"--"_our life_,"--are frequent in the Scriptures, and not improper.

NOTE V.--The possessive case should not be needlessly used before a
participle that is not taken in other respects as a noun. The following
phrase is therefore wrong: "Adopted by the Goths in _their_ pronouncing the
Greek."--_Walker's Key_, p. 17. Expunge _their_. Again: "Here we speak of
_their_ becoming both in form and signification passive."--_Campbell's
Rhet._, p. 226. Say rather, "Here we speak of _them as becoming passive_,
both in form and signification."


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE IV.

EXAMPLES UNDER NOTE I.--THE POSSESSIVE FORM.

"Mans chief good is an upright mind." See _Brown's Institutes of E. Gram._,
p. 179.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the noun _mans_, which is intended for the
possessive singular of _man_, has _not_ the appropriate form of that case
and number. But, according to Note 1st under Rule 4th, "In the syntax ef
the possessive case, its appropriate form, singular or plural, should be
observed, agreeably to the sense and declension of the word." Therefore,
_mans_ should be maris, with the apostrophe before the _s_; thus, "_Man's_
chief good is an upright mind."]

"The translator of Mallets History has the following note,"--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 263. "The act, while it gave five years full pay to the
officers, allowed but one year's pay to the privates."--_Ib._, p. 184. "For
the study of English is preceded by several years attention to Latin and
Greek."--_Ib._, p. 7. "The first, the Court Baron, is the freeholders or
freemens court."--_Coke, Litt._, p. 74. "I affirm, that Vaugelas'
definition labours under an essential defect."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 163.
"I affirm, that Vangelas's definition labours under an essential
defect."--_Murray's Octavo Gram._, Fourth Amer. Ed., Vol. ii, p. 360.[351]
"There is a chorus in Aristophane's plays."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 480. "It
denotes the same perception in my mind as in their's."--_Duncan's Logic_,
p. 65. "This afterwards enabled him to read Hicke's Saxon Grammar."--_Life
of Dr. Murray_, p. 76. "I will not do it for tens sake."--_Dr. Ash's
Gram._, p. 56. "I arose, and asked if those charming infants were
her's."--_Werter_, p. 21. "They divide their time between milliners shops
and taverns."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. i, p. 65. "The angels adoring of
Adam is also mentioned in the Talmud."--_Sale's Koran_, p. 6. "Quarrels
arose from the winners insulting of those who lost."--_Ib._, p. 171. "The
vacancy, occasioned by Mr. Adams' resignation."--_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i,
p. vii. "Read for instance Junius' address, commonly called his letter to
the king."--_Ib._, i, 225. "A perpetual struggle against the tide of
Hortensius' influence."--_Ib._, ii, 23. "Which, for distinction sake, I
shall put down severally."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 302. "The fifth case
is in a clause signifying the matter of ones fear."--_Ib._, p. 312. "And
they took counsel, and bought with them the potters' field."--ALGER'S
BIBLE: _Matt._, xxvii, 7. "Arise for thy servant's help, and redeem them
for thy mercy's sake."--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 265. "Shall not their cattle,
and their substance, and every beast of their's be ours?"--SCOTT'S BIBLE:
_Gen._, xxxiv, 23. "And every beast of their's, be our's?"--FRIENDS' BIBLE:
_ib._ "It's regular plural, _bullaces_, is used by Bacon."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 213. "Mordecai walked every day before the court of the womens
house."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Esther_, ii, 11. "Behold, they that wear soft
clothing are in king's houses."--IB. and FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Matt._, xi, 8:
also _Webster's Imp. Gram._, p. 173. "Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law,
took Zipporah, Moses' wife, and her two sons; and Jethro, Moses'
father-in-law, came, with his sons and his wife, unto Moses."--ALGER'S
BIBLE, and THE FRIENDS': _Exod._, xviii, 2--6. "King James' translators
merely revised former translations."--_Rev. B. Frazee's Gram._, p. 137.
"May they be like corn on houses tops."--_White, on the English Verb._, p.
160.

   "And for his Maker's image sake exempt."
        --_Par. Lost_, B. xi, l. 514.

    "By all the fame acquir'd in ten years war."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. i, l. 674.

    "Nor glad vile poets with true critics gore."
        --_Pope's Dunicad_, [sic--KTH] p. 175.

    "Man only of a softer mold is made,
    Not for his fellow's ruin, but their aid."
        --_Dryden's Poems_, p. 92.


UNDER NOTE II.--POSSESSIVES CONNECTED.

"It was necessary to have both the physician, and the surgeon's
advice."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._, p. 140. "This out-side
fashionableness of the Taylor on Tire-woman's making."--_Locke, on
Education_, p. 49. "Some pretending to be of Paul's party, others of
Apollos, others of Cephas, and others, pretending yet higher, to be of
Christ's."--_Woods Dict., w. Apollos_. "Nor is it less certain that
Spenser's and Milton's spelling agrees better with our pronunciation."--
_Philol. Museum_, i, 661. "Law's, Edwards', and Watts' surveys of the
Divine Dispensations."--_Burgh's Dignity_, Vol. i, p. 193. "And who was
Enoch's Saviour, and the Prophets?"--_Bayly's Works_, p. 600. "Without any
impediment but his own, or his parents or guardians will."--_Literary
Convention_, p. 145. "James relieves neither the boy[352] nor the girl's
distress."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 116. "John regards neither the master nor
the pupil's advantage."--_Ib._, p. 117. "You reward neither the man nor the
woman's labours."--_Ib._ "She examines neither James nor John's conduct."--
_Ib._ "Thou pitiest neither the servant nor the master's injuries."--_Ib._
"We promote England or Ireland's happiness."--_Ib._ "Were Cain and Abel's
occupation the same?"--_Brown's Inst._, p. 179. "Were Cain's and Abel's
occupations the same?"--_Ib._ "What was Simon's and Andrew's employment?"--
_Author_. "Till he can read himself Sanctii Minerva with Scioppius and
Perizonius's Notes."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 295.

   "And love's and friendship's finely--pointed dart
    Falls blunted from each indurated heart."--_Goldsmith_.


UNDER NOTE III.--CHOICE OF FORMS.

"But some degree of trouble is all men's portion."--_Murray's Key_, p. 218;
_Merchant's_, 197. "With his father's and mother's names upon the blank
leaf."--_Corner-Stone_, p. 144. "The general, in the army's name, published
a declaration."--HUME: in _Priestley's Gram._, p. 69. "The Commons'
vote."--_Id, ib._ "The Lords' house."--_Id., ib._ "A collection of writers
faults."--SWIFT: _ib._, p. 68. "After ten years wars."--_Id., ib._
"Professing his detestation of such practices as his predecessors."--_Notes
to the Dunciad_. "By that time I shall have ended my years
office."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 104. "For Herodias' sake, his brother
Philip's wife."--_Mark_, vi, 17. "For Herodias's sake, his brother Philip's
wife."--_Murray's Key_, p. 194. "I endure all things for the elect's sakes,
that they may also obtain salvation."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _2 Tim._, ii, 10.
"For the elects' sakes."--SCOTT'S BIBLE. "For the elect's sake."--ALGER'S
BIBLE, and BRUCE'S. "He was Louis the Sixteenth's son's heir."--_W. Allen's
Exercises, Gram._, p. 329. "The throne we honour is the choice of the
people."--"An account of the proceedings of the court of Alexander."--"An
excellent tutor of a person of fashion's child!"--_Gil Bias_, Vol. 1, p.
20. "It is curious enough, that this sentence of the Bishop is, itself,
ungrammatical!"--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 201. "The troops broke into
Leopold the emperor's palace."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 59. "The meeting was
called by Eldon the judge's desire."--_Ibid._ "Peter's, John's, and
Andrew's occupation was that of fishermen."--_Brace's Gram._, p. 79. "The
venerable president of the Royal Academy's debility has lately
increased."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 12.


UNDER NOTE IV.--NOUNS WITH POSSESSIVES PLURAL.

"God hath not given us our reasons to no purpose."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol.
i, p. 496. "For our sakes, no doubt, this is written."--_1 Cor._, ix, 10.
"Are not health and strength of body desirable for their own
sakes?"--_Hermes_, p. 296; _Murray's Gram._, 289. "Some sailors who were
boiling their dinners upon the shore."--_Day's Sandford and Merton_, p. 99.
"And they in their turns were subdued by others."--_Pinnock's Geography_,
p. 12. "Industry on our parts is not superseded by God's
grace."--_Arrowsmith_. "Their Healths perhaps may be pretty well
secur'd."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 51. "Though he was rich, yet for our
sakes he became poor."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 211. "It were to be wished,
his correctors had been as wise on their parbs."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 60.
"The Arabs are commended by the ancients for being most exact to their
words, and respectful to their kindred."--_Sale's Koran_. "That is, as a
reward of some exertion on our parts."--_Gurney's Evidences_, p. 86. "So
that it went ill with Moses for their sakes."--_Psalms_, cvi, 32. "All
liars shall have their parts in the burning lake."--_Watts_, p. 33. "For
our own sakes as well as for thine."--_Pref. to Waller's Poems_, p. 3. "By
discover- ing their abilities to detect and amend errors."--_Murray's
Gram._, Vol. 11, p. iv.


"This world I do renounce; and, in your sights, Shake patiently my great
affliction off."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 286 "If your relenting angers
yield to treat, Pompey and thou, in safety, here may meet."--_Rowe's
Lucan_, B. iii, l. 500.


UNDER NOTE Y.--POSSESSIVES WITH PARTICIPLES.

"This will encourage him to proceed without his acquiring the
prejudice."--_Smith's Gram._, p. 5. "And the notice which they give of an
action's being completed or not completed."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 72;
_Alger's_, 30. "Some obstacle or impediment that prevents its taking
place."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 38; _Alex. Murray's_, 37. "They have
apostolical authority for their so frequently urging the seeking of the
Spirit."--_The Friend_, Vol. xii, p. 54. "Here then is a wide field for
reason's exerting its powers in relation to the objects of taste."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 18. "Now this they derive altogether from their having
a greater capacity of imitation and description."--_Ib._, p. 51. "This is
one clear reason of their paying a greater attention to that construction."
--_Ib._, p. 123. "The dialogue part had also a modulation of its own, which
was capable of its being set to notes."--_Ib._, p. 471. "What is the reason
of our being often so frigid and unpersuasive in public discourse?"--_Ib._,
p. 334. "Which is only a preparation for his leading his forces directly
upon us."--_Ib._, p. 264. "The nonsense about _which's_ relating to things
only, and having no declension, needs no refutation."--_Fowle's True E.
Gram._, p. 18. "Who, upon his breaking it open, found nothing but the
following inscription."--_Rollin_, Vol. ii, p. 33. "A prince will quickly
have reason to repent his having exalted one person so high."--_Id._, ii,
116. "Notwithstanding it's being the immediate subject of his discourse."--
_Churchill's Gram._, p. 294. "With our definition of its being synonymous
with time."--_Booth's Introd._, p. 29. "It will considerably increase the
danger of our being deceived."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 293. "His beauties
can never be mentioned without their suggesting his blemishes also."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 442. "No example has ever been adduced of a man's
conscientiously approving of an action, because of its badness."--_Gurney's
Evidences_, p. 90. "The last episode of the angel's shewing Adam the fate
of his posterity, is happily imagined."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 452. "And the
news came to my son, of his and the bride being in Dublin."--_Castle
Rackrent_, p. 44. "There is no room for the mind's exerting any great
effort."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 32. "One would imagine, that these criticks
never so much as heard of Homer's having written first."--_Pope's Preface
to Homer_. "Condemn the book, for its not being a geography."--_O. B.
Peirce's Gram._, p. 317. "There will be in many words a transition from
their being the figurative to their being the proper signs of certain
ideas."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 322. "The doctrine of the Pope's being the
only source of ecclesiastical power."--_Religious World_, ii, 290. "This
has been the more expedient from the work's being designed for the benefit
of private learners."--_Murray's Exercises, Introd._, p. v. "This was
occasioned by the Grammar's having been _set up_, and not admitting of
enlargement."--_Ib., Advertisement_, p. ix.


RULE V.--OBJECTIVES.

A Noun or a Pronoun made the object of an active-transitive verb or
participle, is governed by it in the objective case: as, "I found _her_
assisting _him_"--"Having finished the _work_, I submit _it_."

   "Preventing _fame_, misfortune lends him _wings_,
    And Pompey's self his own sad _story_ brings."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. viii, l. 66.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE V.

OBS. 1.--To this rule there are no exceptions; but to the old one adopted
by Murray and others, "Active verbs govern the objective case," there are
more than any writer will ever think it worth his while to enumerate. In
point of brevity, the latter has the advantage, but in nothing else; for,
as a general rule for NOUNS AND PRONOUNS, this old brief assertion is very
defective; and, as a rule for "THE SYNTAX OF VERBS," under which head it
has been oftener ranked, it is entirely useless and inapplicable. As there
are four different constructions to which the nominative case is liable, so
there are four in which the objective may be found; and two of these are
common to both; namely, _apposition_, and _sameness of_ case. Every
objective is governed by some _verb_ or _participle_, according to Rule
5th, or by some _preposition_, according to Rule 7th; except such as are
put in _apposition_ with others, according to Rule 3d, or after an
infinitive or a participle _not transitive_, according to Rule 6th: as,
"Mistaking _one_ for the _other_, they took _him_, a sturdy _fellow_,
called _Red Billy_, to be _me_." Here is every construction which the
objective case can have; except, perhaps, that in which, as an expression
of time, place, measure, or manner, it is taken after the fashion of an
_adverb_, the governing preposition being suppressed, or, as some say, no
governing word being needed. Of this exception, the following quotations
may serve for examples: "It holds on by a single button round my neck,
_cloak-fashion_"--EDGEWORTH'S _Castle Rackrent_. p. 17. A man quite at
leisure to parse all his words, would have said, "_in the fashion of a
cloak_." Again: "He does not care the _rind of a lemon_ for her all the
while."--_Ib._, p. 108. "We turn our eyes _this way or that
way_."--_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 172; _Frazee's Gram._, 157. Among his
instances of "_the objective case restrictive_," or of the noun "used in
the objective, without a governing word," Dr. Bullions gives this: "Let us
go _home_" But, according to the better opinion of Worcester, _home_ is
here an _adverb_, and not a noun. See Obs. 6th on Rule 7th.

OBS. 2.--The objective case _generally follows_ the governing word: as,
"And Joseph knew his _brethren_, but they knew not him"--_Gen._, xlii, 8.
But when it is emphatic, it often precedes the nominative; as, "_Me_ he
restored to mine office, and _him_ he hanged."--_Gen._, xli, 13. "_John_
have I beheaded."--_Luke_, ix, 9. "But _me_ ye have not always."--_Matt._,
xxvi, 11. "_Him_ walking on a sunny hill he found."--_Milton_. In poetry,
the objective is sometimes placed between the nominative and the verb; as,

   "His daring foe securely _him_ defied."--_Milton_.

    "Much he the _place_ admired, the person more."--_Id._

    "The broom its yellow _leaf_ shed."--_Langhorne_.

If the nominative be a pronoun which cannot be mistaken for an objective,
the words may possibly change places; as, "_Silver_ and _gold_ have I
none."--_Acts_, iii, 6. "Created _thing_ nought valued _he_ nor
shunn'd."--_Milton_, B. ii, l. 679. But such a transposition of _two nouns_
can scarcely fail to render the meaning doubtful or obscure; as,

   "This _pow'r_ has praise, that virtue scarce can warm,
    Till fame supplies the universal charm."--_Dr. Johnson_.

A relative or an interrogative pronoun is commonly placed at the head of
its clause, and of course it precedes the verb which governs it; as, "I am
Jesus, _whom_ thou persecutest."--_Acts_, ix, 5. "_Which_ of the prophets
have not your fathers persecuted?"--_Ib._, vii, 52.

   "Before their Clauses plac'd, by settled use,
    The Relatives these Clauses introduce."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 86.

OBS. 3.--Every active-transitive verb or participle has some _noun_ or
_pronoun_ for its object, or some _pronominal adjective_ which assumes the
relation of the objective case. Though verbs are often followed by the
infinitive mood, or a dependent clause, forming a part of the logical
predicate; yet these terms, being commonly introduced by a connecting
particle, do not form _such an object_ as is contemplated in our definition
of a transitive verb. Its government of the _objective_, is the only proper
criterion of this sort of verb. If, in the sentence, "Boys _love_ to play,"
the former verb is transitive, as several respectable grammarians affirm;
why not also in a thousand others; as, "Boys _like_ to play;"--"Boys
_delight_ to play;"--"Boys _long_ to play;"--"The boys _seem_ to
play;"--"The boys _cease_ to play;"--"The boys _ought_ to play;"--"The boys
_go out_ to play;"--"The boys _are gone out_ to play;"--"The boys _are
allowed_ to play;" and the like? The construction in all is precisely the
same, and the infinitive may follow one kind of verb just as well as an
other. How then can the mere addition of this mood make _any_ verb
transitive? or where, on such a principle, can the line of distinction for
transitive verbs be drawn? The infinitive, _in fact_, is governed by the
preposition _to_; and the preceding verb, if it has no other object, is
intransitive. It must, however, be confessed that some verbs which thus
take the infinitive after them, cannot otherwise be intransitive; as, "A
great mind _disdains to hold_ any thing by courtesy."--_Johnson's Life of
Swift_. "They _require to be distinguished_ by a comma."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 272.

OBS. 4.--A transitive verb, as I have elsewhere shown, may both govern the
objective case, and be followed by an infinitive also; as, "_What_ have I
_to do_ with thee?"--_John_, ii, 4. This question, as one would naturally
take it, implies, "I have _nothing to do_ with thee;" and, by analogy,
_what_ is governed by _have_, and not by _do_; so that the latter verb,
though not commonly intransitive, appears to be so here. Indeed the
infinitive mood is often used without an objective, when every other part
of the same verb would require one. Maunder's rule is, "Transitive verbs
and participles govern _either_ the objective case _or_ the infinitive
_mode_."--_Comprehensive Gram._, p. 14. Murray teaches, not only that, "The
_infinitive mood_ does the office of a substantive in the objective case;
as, 'Boys love _to play_;'" but that, "The _participle_ with its adjuncts,
may be considered as a substantive phrase _in the objective case_, governed
by the preposition or verb; as, 'He studied to avoid _expressing himself
too severely_.'"--See his _Octavo Gram._, pp. 184 and 194. And again:
"_Part of a sentence_, as well as a noun or pronoun, may be said to be _in
the objective case_, or to be put objectively, _governed_ by the active
verb; as, 'We sometimes see _virtue in distress_, but we should consider
_how great will be her ultimate reward_.' Sentences or phrases under this
circumstance, may be termed _objective sentences_ or _phrases_."--_Ib._, p.
180.

OBS. 5.--If we admit that sentences, parts of sentences, infinitives,
participles with their adjuncts, and other phrases, as well as nouns and
pronouns, may be _"in the objective case;"_ it will be no easy matter,
either to define this case, or to determine what words do, or do not,
govern it.[353] The construction of infinitives and participles will be
noticed hereafter. But on one of Murray's examples, I would here observe,
that the direct use of the infinitive for an objective noun is a manifest
_Grecism_; as, "For to will is present with me; but _to perform_ that which
is good, I find not."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 184. That is, "_the performance
of_ that which is good, I find not." Or perhaps we may supply a noun after
the verb, and take this text to mean, "But to perform that which is good,
I find not _the ability_." Our Bible has it, "But _how_ to perform that
which is good. I find not;" as if _the manner_ in which he might do good,
was what the apostle found not: but Murray cites it differently, omitting
the word _how_, as we see above. All active verbs to which something is
subjoined by _when, where, whence, how_, or _why_, must be accounted
intransitive, unless we suppose them to govern such nouns of time, place,
degree, manner, or cause, as correspond to these connectives; as, "I _know
why_ she blushed." Here we might supply the noun _reason_, as, "I know the
_reason why_ she blushed;" but the word is needless, and I should rather
parse _know_ as being intransitive. As for "_virtue in distress_," if this
is an "_objective phrase_," and not to be analyzed, we have millions of the
same sort; but, if one should say, "_Virtue in distress_ excites pity," the
same phrase would demonstrate the absurdity of Murray's doctrine, because
the two nouns here take _two different cases_.

OBS. 6.--The word _that_, which is often employed to introduce a dependent
clause, is, by some grammarians, considered as a _pronoun_, representing
the clause which follows it; as, "I know _that_ Messias cometh."--_John_,
iv, 25. This text they would explain to mean, "_Messias cometh_, I know
_that_;" and their opinion seems to be warranted both by the origin and by
the usual import of the particle. But, in conformity to general custom, and
to his own views of the practical purposes of grammatical analysis, the
author has ranked it with the conjunctions. And he thinks it better, to
call those verbs intransitive, which are followed by _that_ and a dependent
clause, than to supply the very frequent ellipses which the other
explanation supposes. To explain it as a conjunction, connecting an
active-transitive verb and its object, as several respectable grammarians
do, appears to involve some inconsistency. If _that_ is a conjunction, it
connects what precedes and what follows; but a transitive verb should
exercise a direct government, without the intervention of a conjunction. On
the other hand, the word _that_ has not, in any such sentence, the
inherent nature of a pronoun. The transposition above, makes it only a
_pronominal adjective_; as, "Messias cometh, I know _that fact_." And in
many instances such a solution is impracticable; as, "The people sought
him, and came unto him, and stayed him, _that_ he should not depart from
them."--_Luke_, iv, 42. Here, to prove _that_ to be a pronoun, the
disciples of Tooke and Webster must resort to more than one imaginary
ellipsis, and to such inversion as will scarcely leave the sense in sight.

OBS. 7.--In some instances the action of a transitive verb gives to its
direct object an additional name, which is also in the objective case, the
two words being in apposition; as, "Thy saints proclaim _thee
king_."--_Cowper_. "And God called the _firmament Heaven_."--_Bible_.
"Ordering them to make _themselves masters_ of a certain steep
eminence."--_Rollin_, ii, 67. And, in such a construction, the direct
object is sometimes placed before the verb; though the name which results
from the action, cannot be so placed: as, "And _Simon_ he surnamed
_Peter_."--_Mark_, iii, 15. "_Him_ that overcometh will I make a _pillar_
in the temple of my God."--_Rev._, iii, 12. Some grammarians seem not to
have considered this phraseology as coming within the rule of apposition.
Thus Webster: "We have some verbs which govern two words in the objective
case; as,

    'Did I request thee, maker, from my clay
    To mold _me man_?'--_Milton_, 10, 744.

'God seems to have made _him what_ he was.'--_Life of
Cowper_."[354]--_Philosophical Gram._, p. 170. _Improved Gram._, p. 120.
See also _Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 154; "Abridged Ed.," p. 119; and
_Fowler's E. Gram._, §450. So Murray: "Some of our verbs _appear to govern
two words_ in the objective case; as, 'The Author of my being formed _me
man_.'--'They desired me to call _them brethren_.'--'He seems to have made
_him what_ he was.' "--_Octavo Gram._, p. 183. Yet this latter writer says,
that in the sentence, "They appointed _me executor_," and others like it,"
the verb _to be_ is _understood_."--_Ib._, p. 182. These then, according to
his own showing, are instances of apposition; but I pronounce then such,
without either confounding same cases with apposition, or making the latter
a species of ellipsis. See Obs. 1st and 2d, under Rule 3d.

OBS. 8.--In
general, if not always, when a verb is followed by two objectives which are
neither in apposition nor connected by a conjunction, one of them is
governed by a preposition understood; as, "I paid [to] _him_ the
_money_"--"They offered [to] _me_ a _seat_"--"He asked [of] _them_ the
_question_"--"I yielded, and unlock'd [to] _her_ all my
_heart_."--_Milton_. In expressing such sentences passively, the object of
the preposition is sometimes erroneously assumed for the nominative; as,
"_He_ was paid _the money_," in stead of, "The _money_ was paid [to]
_him_."--"_I_ was offered _a seat_," in stead of, "_A seat_ was offered
[to] _me_." This kind of error is censured by Murray more than once, and
yet he himself has, in very many instances, fallen into it. His first
criticism on it, is in the following words: "We sometimes meet with such
expressions as these: 'They were asked a question;' 'They were offered a
pardon;' 'He hath been left a great estate by his father.' In these
_phrases_, verbs passive are made to govern the objective case. This
license _is not to be approved_. The expressions should be: 'A question was
put to them;' 'A pardon was offered to them;' 'His father left him a great
estate.'"--_L. Murray's Octavo Gram._, p. 183. See Obs. 12, below.

OBS. 9.--In the Latin syntax, verbs of _asking_ and _teaching_ are said to
govern two accusatives; as, "_Posce Deum veniam_, Beg pardon of
God."--_Grant's Latin Gram._, p. 207. "_Docuit me grammaticam_, He taught
me grammar."--_Grant, Adam, and others_. And again: "When a verb in the
active voice governs two cases, in the passive it retains the latter case;
as, _Doceor grammaticam_, I am taught grammar."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 177.
These writers however suggest, that in reality the _latter_ accusative is
governed, not by the verb, but by a preposition understood. "'_Poscere deos
veniam_ is 'to ask the gods _for_ pardon.'"--_Barnes's Philological Gram._,
p. 116. In general the English idiom _does not coincide_ with what occurs
in Latin under these rules. We commonly insert a preposition to govern one
or the other of the terms. But we sometimes leave to the verb the objective
of the person, and sometimes that of the thing; and after the two verbs
_ask_ and _teach_, we sometimes _seem_ to leave both: as, "When thou dost
_ask me blessing_, I'll kneel down, and _ask of thee forgiveness_."--
_Shakspeare_. "In long journeys, _ask_ your _master leave_ to give ale to
the horses."--_Swift_. "And he _asked them of_ their _welfare_."--_Gen._,
xliii, 27. "They _asked of him_ the parable."--_Mark_, iv, 10.
("_Interrogârunt eum de parabolâ_."--_Beza_.) "And asking _them
questions_"--_Luke_, ii, 46. "But _teach them_ thy _sons_."--_Deut._, iv,
9. "_Teach them_ diligently _unto_ thy _children_"--_Ib._, vi, 7. '"Ye
shall _teach them_ your _children_."--_Ib._, xi, 19. "Shall any _teach God
knowledge_?"--_Job_, xxi, 22. "I will _teach you_ the _fear_ of the
Lord."--_Psal_, xxxiv, 11. "He will _teach us of_ his ways."--_Isaiah_, ii,
3; _Micah_, iv, 2. "Let him that _is taught in_ the _word_,
communicate."--_Gal._, vi, 6.

OBS. 10.--After a careful review of the various instances in which more
than one noun or pronoun may possibly be supposed to be under the
government of a single active verb in English, I incline to the opinion
that none of our verbs ought to be parsed as actually governing two cases,
except such as are followed by two objectives connected by a conjunction.
Consequently I do not admit, that any passive verb can properly govern an
objective noun or pronoun. Of the ancient Saxon dative case, and of what
was once considered the government of two cases, there yet appear some
evident remains in our language; as, "Give _him bread_ to eat."--"Bread
shall be given _him_"--_Bible_. But here, by almost universal consent, the
indirect object is referred to the government of a "preposition
understood;" and in many instances this sort of ellipsis is certainly no
elegance: as, "Give [_to_] truth and virtue the _same arms which_ you give
[_to_] vice and falsehood, and the former are likely to prevail."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 235. The questionable expression, "_Ask me blessing_," if
interpreted analogically, must mean, "Ask _for_ me _a_ blessing," which is
more correct and explicit; or, if _me_ be not supposed a dative, (and it
does not appear to be so, above,) the sentence is still wrong, and the
correction must be, "Ask _of_ me _a_ blessing," or, "Ask _my_ blessing."
So, "Ask your _master leave_," ought rather to be, "Ask _of_ your master
leave," "Ask your master _for_ leave," or, "Ask your _master's_ leave." The
example from Mark ought to be, "They asked _him about_ the parable." Again,
the elliptical sentence, "Teach them thy sons," is less perspicuous, and
therefore less accurate, than the full expression, "Teach them _to_ thy
sons." _To teach_ is to tell things _to_ persons, or to instruct persons
_in_ things; _to ask_ is to request or demand things _of_ or _from_
persons, or to interrogate or solicit persons _about_ or _for_ things.
These verbs cannot be proved to govern two cases in English, because it is
more analogical and more reasonable to supply a preposition, (if the author
omits it,) to govern one or the other of the objects.

OBS. 11.--Some writers erroneously allow passive verbs to govern the
objective in English, not only where they imagine our idiom to coincide
with the Latin, but even where they know that it does not. Thus Dr.
Crombie: "Whatever is put in the accusative case after the verb, must be
the nominative to it in the passive voice, while the other case is retained
under the government of the verb, and cannot become its nominative. Thus,
'I persuade you _to_ this or _of_ this, '_Persuadeo hoc tibi_. Here, the
person persuaded is expressed in the dative case, and cannot, therefore, be
the nominative to the passive verb. We must, therefore, say, _Hoc tibi
persuadetur_, 'You are persuaded _of_ this;' not, _Tu persuaderis_. 'He
trusted me _with_ this affair,' or 'He believed me _in_ this,' _Hoc mihi
credidit_.--Passively, _Hoc mihi creditum est_. 'I told you this,' _Hoc
tibi dixi_. 'YOU WERE TOLD THIS,' _Hoc tibi dictum est_; not, _Tu dictus
es_." [No, surely: for, '_Tu dictus es_,' means, 'You were called,' or,
'Thou art reputed;'--and, if followed by any case, it must be the
_nominative_.'] "It is the more necessary to attend to this rule, and to
these distinctions, as the idioms of the two languages do not always
concur. Thus, _Hoc tibi dictum est_, means not only 'This was told _to_
you,' but 'YOU WERE TOLD THIS.' _Liber mihi apatre promissus est_, means
both 'A book was promised (_to_) me by my father,' and 'I WAS PROMISED A
BOOK.' _Is primum rogatua est sententiam_, 'He was first asked _for_ his
opinion,' and 'An opinion was first asked _of_ him;' in which last the
accusative of the person becomes, in Latin, the nominative in the passive
voice." See _Grants Latin Gram._, p. 210.

OBS. 12.--Murray's _second_ censure upon passive government, is this: "The
following sentences, which give [to] the passive voice the regimen of an
active verb, _are very irregular, and by no means to be imitated_. 'The
bishops and abbots _were allowed their seats_ in the house of lords.'
'Thrasea _was forbidden the presence_ of the emperor.' 'He _was shown_ that
very _story_ in one of his own books.'[355] These sentences should have
been: 'The bishops and abbots were allowed _to have_ (or _to take_) their
seats in the house of lords;' or, 'Seats in the house of lords were allowed
_to_ the bishops and abbots:' 'Thrasea was forbidden _to approach_ the
presence of the emperor;' or, 'The presence of the emperor was forbidden
_to_ Thrasea:' 'That very story was shown _to_ him in one of his own
books.'"--_Octavo Gram._, p. 223. See Obs. 8, above. One late grammarian,
whose style is on the whole highly commendable for its purity and accuracy,
forbears to condemn the phraseology here spoken of; and, though he does not
expressly defend and justify it, he seems disposed to let it pass, with the
license of the following canon. "For convenience, it may be well to state
it as a rule, that--_Passive verbs govern an objective, when the nominative
to the passive verb is not the proper object of the active
voice_."--_Barnard's Analytic Gram._, p. 134. An other asserts the
government of two cases by very many of our active verbs, and the
government of one by almost any passive verb, according to the following
rules: "Verbs of teaching, giving, and some others of a similar nature,
govern two objectives, the one of a person and the other of a thing; as, He
taught _me grammar_: His tutor gave _him a lesson_: He promised _me a
reward_. A passive verb may govern an objective, when the words immediately
preceding and following it, do not refer to the same thing; as, Henry _was
offered a dollar_ by his father to induce him to remain."--_J. M. Putnam's
Gram._, pp. 110 and 112.

OBS. 13.--The common dogmas, that an active verb must govern an object, and
that a neuter or intransitive verb must not, amount to nothing as
directions to the composer; because the classification of verbs depends
upon this very matter, whether they have, or have not, an object after
them; and no general principle has been, or can be, furnished beforehand,
by which their fitness or unfitness for taking such government can be
determined. This must depend upon usage, and usage must conform to the
sense intended. Very many verbs--probably a vast majority--govern an object
sometimes, but not always: many that are commonly intransitive or neuter,
are not in all their uses so; and many that are commonly transitive, have
sometimes no apparent regimen. The distinction, then, in our dictionaries,
of verbs active and neuter, or transitive and intransitive, serves scarcely
any other purpose, than to show how the presence or absence of the
objective case, affects the meaning of the word. In some instances the
signification of the verb seems almost merged in that of its object; _as,
to lay hold, to make use, to take care_. In others, the transitive
character of the word is partial; as, "He _paid_ my _board_; I _told you
so_." Some verbs will govern any objective whatever; as, _to name, to
mention_. What is there that _cannot be named or mentioned?_ Others again
are restricted to one noun, or to a few; as, _to transgress a law, or
rule_. What can be transgressed, but a law, a limit, or _something_
equivalent? Some verbs will govern a kindred noun, or its pronoun, but
scarcely any other; as, "He _lived_ a virtuous _life_."--"Hear, I pray you,
this _dream which I have dreamed_"--_Gen._, xxxvii, 6. "I will also command
the clouds that they _rain_ no _rain_ upon it."--_Isaiah_, v, 6.

OBS. 14.--Our grammarians, when they come to determine what verbs are
properly transitive, and what are not so, do not in all instances agree in
opinion. In short, plain as they think the matter, they are much at odds.
Many of them say, that, "In the phrases, 'To dream a dream,' 'To live a
virtuous life,' 'To run a race,' 'To walk a horse,' 'To dance a child,' the
verbs assume a transitive character, and in these cases may be denominated
active."--See _Guy's Gram._, p. 21; _Murray's_, 180; _Ingersoll's_, 183;
_Fisk's_, 123; _Smith's_, 153. This decision is undoubtedly just; yet a
late writer has taken a deal of pains to find fault with it, and to
persuade his readers, that, "No verb is active in _any sense_, or under
_any construction_, that will not, in _every sense_, permit the objective
case of a personal pronoun after it."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 174. Wells
absurdly supposes, "An _intransitive_ verb may be used to govern an
objective."--_Gram._, p. 145. Some imagine that verbs of mental action,
such as _conceive, think, believe_, &c., are not properly transitive; and,
if they find an object after such a verb, they choose to supply a
preposition to govern it: as, "I conceived it (_of_ it) in that
light."--_Guy's Gram._, p. 21. "Did you conceive (of) him to be
me?"--_Ib._, p. 28. With this idea, few will probably concur.

OBS. 15.--We sometimes find the pronoun _me_ needlessly thrown in after a
verb that either governs some other object or is not properly transitive,
at least, in respect to this word; as, "It ascends _me_ into the brain;
dries _me_ there all the foolish, dull, and crudy vapours."--_Shakspeare's
Falstaff_. "Then the vital commoners and inland petty spirits muster _me_
all to their captain, the heart."--_Id._ This is a faulty relic of our old
Saxon dative case. So of the second person; "Fare _you_ well,
Falstaff."--_Shak_. Here _you_ was written for the objective case, but it
seems now to have become the nominative to the verb _fare_. "Fare thee
well."--_W. Scott_. "Farewell _to_ thee."--_Id._ These expressions were
once equivalent in syntax; but they are hardly so now; and, in lieu of the
former, it would seem better English to say, "Fare _thou_ well." Again:
"Turn _thee_ aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay _thee hold_ on
one of the young men, and take _thee_ his armour."--_2 Sam._, ii, 21. If
any modern author had written this, our critics would have guessed he had
learned from some of the Quakers to misemploy _thee_ for _thou_. The
construction is an imitation of the French reciprocal or reflected verbs.
It ought to be thus: "Turn _thou_ aside to thy right hand or to thy left,
and _lay hold_ on one of the young men, and take _to thyself_ his armour."
So of the third person: "The king soon found reason to repent _him_ of his
provoking such dangerous enemies."--HUME: _Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 180.
Here both of the pronouns are worse than useless, though Murray discerned
but one error.

   "Good Margaret, _run thee_ into the parlour;
    There thou shalt find my cousin Beatrice."--SHAK.: _Much Ado_.


NOTES TO RULE V.

NOTE I.--Those verbs or participles which require a regimen, or which
signify action that must terminate transitively, should not be used without
an object; as, "She _affects_ [kindness,] in order to _ingratiate_
[herself] with you."--"I _must caution_ [you], at the same time, against a
servile imitation of any author whatever."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 192.

NOTE II.--Those verbs and participles which do not admit an object, or
which express action that terminates in themselves, or with the doer,
should not be used transitively; as, "The planters _grow_ cotton." Say
_raise, produce, or cultivate_. "Dare you speak lightly of the law, or move
that, in a criminal trial, judges should advance one step beyond _what_ it
permits them _to go_?"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 278. Say,--"beyond _the point
to which_ it permits them to go."

NOTE III.--No transitive verb or participle should assume a government to
which its own meaning is not adapted; as, "_Thou_ is a pronoun, a word used
_instead_ of a noun--personal, it _personates_ 'man.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._,
p. 131. Say, "It _represents man_." "Where _a string_ of such sentences
_succeed each other_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 168. Say, "Where _many_ such
sentences _come in succession_."

NOTE IV.--The passive verb should always take for its subject or nominative
the direct object of the active-transitive verb from which it is derived;
as, (Active,) "They denied me this privilege." (Passive,) "This _privilege_
was denied _me_;" not, "_I_ was denied this _privilege_:" for _me_ may be
governed by _to_ understood, but _privilege_ cannot, nor can any other
regimen be found for it.

NOTE V.--Passive verbs should never be made to govern the objective case,
because the receiving of an action supposes it to terminate on the subject
or nominative.[356] Errors: "Sometimes it _is made use of_ to give a small
degree of emphasis."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 197. Say, "Sometimes it
_is used_," &c. "His female characters _have been found fault with_ as
insipid."--_Hazlitt's Lect._, p. 111. Say,--"have been _censured_;"
or,--"have been _blamed, decried, dispraised_, or _condemned_."

NOTE VI.--The perfect participle, as such, should never be made to govern
any objective term; because, without an active auxiliary, its signification
is almost always passive: as, "We shall set down the characters _made use
of_ to represent all the elementary sounds."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 5;
_Fisk's_, 34. Say,--"the characters _employed_, or _used_."

NOTE VII.--As the different cases in English are not always distinguished
by their form, care must be taken lest their construction be found
equivocal, or ambiguous; as, "And we shall always _find our sentences
acquire_ more vigour and energy when thus retrenched."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
111. Say, "We shall always find _that_ our sentences acquire more vigour,"
&c.; or, "We shall always find our sentences _to_ acquire more vigour and
energy when thus retrenched."

NOTE VIII.--In the language of our Bible, rightly quoted or printed, _ye_
is not found in the objective case, nor _you_ in the nominative; scriptural
texts that preserve not this distinction of cases, are consequently to be
considered inaccurate.



IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE V.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE OBJECTIVE FORM.

"Who should I meet the other day but my old friend!"--_Spectator_, No. 32.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _who_ is in the nominative case,
and is used as the object of the active-transitive verb _should meet_. But,
according to Rule 5th, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of an
active-transitive verb or participle, is governed by it in the objective
case." Therefore, _who_ should be _whom_; thus, "_Whom_ should I meet,"
&c.]

"Let not him boast that puts on his armour, but he that takes it
off."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 262. "Let none touch it, but they who are
clean."--_Sale's Koran_, 95. "Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof;
the world, and they that dwell therein."--_Psalms_, xcviii, 7. "Pray be
private, and careful who you trust."--_Mrs. Goffe's Letter_. "How shall the
people know who to entrust with their property and their liberties?"--
_District School_, p. 301. "The chaplain entreated my comrade and I to
dress as well as possible."--_World Displayed_, i, 163. "He that cometh
unto me, I will in no wise cast out."--_Tract_, No. 3, p. 6. "Who, during
this preparation, they constantly and solemnly invoke."--_Hope of Israel_,
p. 84. "Whoever or whatever owes us, is Debtor; whoever or whatever we owe,
is Creditor."--_Marsh's Book-Keeping_, p. 23. "Declaring the curricle was
his, and he should have who he chose in it."--_Anna Ross_, p. 147. "The
fact is, Burke is the only one of all the host of brilliant contemporaries
who we can rank as a first-rate orator."--_The Knickerbocker, May_, 1833.
"Thus you see, how naturally the Fribbles and the Daffodils have produced
the Messalina's of our time:"--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 53. "They would find
in the Roman list both the Scipio's."--_Ib._, ii, 76. "He found his wife's
clothes on fire, and she just expiring."--_New-York Observer_. "To present
ye holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight."--_Barclay's Works_,
i, 353. "Let the distributer do his duty with simplicity; the
superintendent, with diligence; he who performs offices of compassion, with
cheerfulness."--_Stuart's Romans_, xii, 9. "If the crew rail at the master
of the vessel, who will they mind?"--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 106. "He
having none but them, they having none but hee."--DRAYTON'S _Polyolbion_.

"Thou, nature, partial nature, I arraign! Of thy caprice maternal I
complain!"--_Burns's Poems_, p. 50. "Nor knows he who it is his arms pursue
With eager clasps, but loves he knows not who."--_Addison's_, p. 218.


UNDER NOTE I.--OF VERBS TRANSITIVE.

"When it gives that sense, and also connects, it is a conjunction."--_L.
Murray's Gram._, p. 116. "Though thou wilt not acknowledge, thou canst not
deny the fact."--_Murray's Key_, p. 209. "They _specify_, like many other
adjectives, and _connect_ sentences."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 114. "The
violation of this rule tends so much to perplex and obscure, that it is
safer to err by too many short sentences."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 312. "A
few _Exercises_ are subjoined to each important definition, for him to
_practice_ upon as he proceeds in committing."--_Nutting's Gram._, 3d Ed.,
p. vii. "A verb signifying actively governs the accusative."--_Adam's
Gram._, p. 171; _Gould's_, 172; _Grant's_, 199; and others. "Or, any word
that will _conjugate_, is a verb."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 44. "In these two
concluding sentences, the author, hastening to finish, appears to write
rather carelessly."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 216. "He simply reasons on one
side of the question, and then finishes."--_Ib._, p. 306. "Praise to God
teaches to be humble and lowly ourselves."--ATTERBURY: _ib._, p. 304. "This
author has endeavored to surpass."--_Green's Inductive Gram._, p. 54.
"Idleness and plezure fateeg az soon az bizziness."--_Noah Webster's
Essays_, p. 402. "And, in conjugating, you must pay particular attention to
the manner in which these signs are applied."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 140.
"He said Virginia would have emancipated long ago."--_The Liberator_, ix,
33. "And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience."--_2 Cor._, x,
6. "However, in these cases, custom generally determines."--_Wright's
Gram._, p. 50. "In proof, let the following cases demonstrate."--_Ib._, p.
46. "We must surprise, that he should so speedily have forgotten his first
principles."--_Ib._, p. 147. "How should we surprise at the expression,
'This is a _soft_ question!'"--_Ib._, p. 219. "And such as prefer, can
parse it as a possessive adjective."--_Goodenow's Gram._, p. 89. "To assign
all the reasons, that induced to deviate from other grammarians, would lead
to a needless prolixity."--_Alexander's Gram._, p. 4. "The Indicative mood
simply indicates or declares."--_Farnum's Gram._, p. 33.


UNDER NOTE II.--OF VERBS INTRANSITIVE.

"In his seventh chapter he expatiateth himself at great
length."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 350. "He quarrelleth my bringing some
testimonies of antiquity, agreeing with what I say."--_Ib._, iii, 373.
"Repenting him of his design."--_Hume's Hist._, ii, 56. "Henry knew, that
an excommunication could not fail of operating the most dangerous
effects."--_Ib._, ii, 165. "The popular lords did not fail to enlarge
themselves on the subject."--_Mrs. Macaulay's Hist._, iii, 177. "He is
always master of his subject; and seems to play himself with it."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 445. "But as soon as it comes the length of disease, all his
secret infirmities shew themselves."--_Ib._, p. 256. "No man repented him
of his wickedness."--_Jeremiah_, viii, 6. "Go thee one way or other, either
on the right hand, or on the left."--_Ezekiel_, xxi, 16. "He lies him down
by the rivers side."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 99. "My desire has been for
some years past, to retire myself to some of our American
plantations."--_Cowley's Pref. to his Poems_, p. vii. "I fear me thou wilt
shrink from the payment of it."--_Zenobia_, i, 76. "We never recur an idea,
without acquiring some combination."--_Rippingham's Art of Speaking_, p.
xxxii.

   "Yet more; the stroke of death he must abide,
    Then lies him meekly down fast by his brethren's side."--_Milton_.


UNDER NOTE III.--OF VERBS MISAPPLIED.

"A parliament forfeited all those who had borne arms against the
king."--_Hume's Hist._, ii, 223. "The practice of forfeiting ships which
had been wrecked."--_Ib._, i, 500. "The nearer his military successes
approached him to the throne."--_Ib._, v, 383. "In the next example, _you_
personifies _ladies_, therefore it is plural."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 103.
"The first _its_ personates vale; the second _its_ represents
stream."--_Ib._, p. 103. "Pronouns do not always avoid the repetition of
nouns."--_Ib._, p. 96. "_Very_ is an adverb of comparison, it compares the
adjective _good_."--_Ib._, p. 88. "You will please to commit the following
paragraph."--_Ib._, p. 140. "Even the Greek and Latin passive verbs require
an auxiliary to conjugate some of their tenses."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 100.
"The deponent verbs, in Latin, require also an auxiliary to conjugate
several of their tenses."--_Ib._, p. 100. "I have no doubt he made as wise
and true proverbs, as any body has done since."--_Ib._, p. 145. "A uniform
variety assumes as many set forms as Proteus had shapes."--_Kirkham's
Elocution_, p. 72. "When words in apposition follow each other in quick
succession."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 57. "Where such sentences frequently
succeed each other."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 349. "Wisdom leads us to
speak and act what is most proper."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 99; _Murray's
Gram._, i, 303.

   "_Jul_. Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
    _Rom_. Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike."--_Shak_.


UNDER NOTE IV.--OF PASSIVE VERBS.

"We too must be allowed the privilege of forming our own laws."--_L.
Murray's Gram._, p. 134. "For we are not only allowed the use of all the
ancient poetic feet," &c.--_Ib._, p. 259; _Kirkham's Elocution_, 143;
_Jamieson's Rhet._, 310. "By what code of morals am I denied the right and
privilege?"--_Dr. Bartlett's Lect._, p. 4. "The children of Israel have
alone been denied the possession of it."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 68. "At
York fifteen hundred Jews were refused all quarter."--_Ib._, p. 73. "He
would teach the French language in three lessons, provided he was paid
fifty-five dollars in advance."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 4. "And when he was
demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come."--_Luke_,
xvii, 20. "I have been shown a book."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 392. "John
Horne Tooke was refused admission only because he had been in holy
orders."--_Diversions of Purley_, i, 60. "Mr. Horne Tooke having taken
orders, he was refused admission to the bar."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 145.
"Its reference to place is lost sight of."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 116.
"What striking lesson are we taught by the tenor of this history?"--_Bush's
Questions_, p. 71. "He had been left, by a friend, no less than eighty
thousand pounds."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 112. "Where there are many
things to be done, each must be allowed its share of time and
labour."--_Johnson's Pref. to Dict._, p. xiii. "Presenting the subject in a
far more practical form than it has been heretofore given."--_Kirkham's
Phrenology_, p. v. "If a being of entire impartiality should be shown the
two companies."--_Scott's Pref. to Bible_, p. vii. "He was offered the
command of the British army."--_Grimshaw's Hist._, p. 81. "Who had been
unexpectedly left a considerable sum."--_Johnson's Life of Goldsmith_.
"Whether a maid or a widow may be granted such a privilege."--_Spectator_,
No. 536. "Happily all these affected terms have been denied the public
suffrage."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 199. "Let him next be shewn the parsing
table."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. viii. "Thence, he may be shown the use of
the Analyzing Table."--_Ib._, p. ix. "Pittacus was offered a great sum of
money."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 228. "He had been allowed more time for
study."--_Ib._, p. 229. "If the walks were a little taken care of that lie
between them."--_Addison's Spect._, No. 414. "Suppose I am offered an
office or a bribe."--_Pierpont's Discourse_, Jan. 27, 1839.

   "Am I one chaste, one last embrace deny'd?
    Shall I not lay me by his clay-cold side?"
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. ix, l. 103.


UNDER NOTE V.--PASSIVE VERBS TRANSITIVE.

"The preposition _to_ is made use of before nouns of place, when they
follow verbs and participles of motion."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 203;
_Ingersoll's_, 231; _Greenlef's_, 35; _Fisk's_, 143; _Smith's_, 170;
_Guy's_, 90; _Fowler's_, 555. "They were refused entrance into the
house."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 204. "Their separate signification has been
lost sight of."--_Horne Tooke_, ii, 422. "But, whenever _ye_ is made use
of, it must be in the nominative, and never in the objective,
case."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, 58. "It is said, that more persons than one
are paid handsome salaries, for taking care to see acts of parliament
properly worded."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 334. "The following Rudiments of
English Grammar, have been made use of in the University of
Pennsylvania."--DR. ROGERS: _in Harrison's Gram._, p. 2. "It never should
be lost sight of."--_Newman's Rhetoric_, p. 19. "A very curious fact hath
been taken notice of by those expert metaphysicians."--_Campbell's Rhet._,
p. 281. "The archbishop interfered that Michelet's lectures might be put a
stop to."--_The Friend_, ix, 378. "The disturbances in Gottengen have been
entirely put an end to."--_Daily Advertiser_. "Besides those that are taken
notice of in these exceptions."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 6. "As one, two,
or three auxiliary verbs are made use of."--_Ib._, p. 24. "The arguments
which have been made use of."--_Addison's Evidences_, p. 32. "The
circumstance is properly taken notice of by the author."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 217. "Patagonia has never been taken possession of by any European
nation."--_Cumming's Geog._, p. 62. "He will be found fault withal no more,
i. e. not hereafter."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 226. "The thing was to be
put an end to somehow."--_Leigh Hunt's Byron_, p. 15. "In 1798, the Papal
Territory was taken possession of by the French."--_Pinnock's Geog._, p.
223. "The idea has not for a moment been lost sight of by the
Board."--_Common School Journal_, i, 37. "I shall easily be excused the
labour of more transcription."--_Johnson's Life of Dryden_. "If I may be
allowed that expression."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 259, and 288. "If without
offence I may be indulged the observation."--_Ib._, p. 295. "There are
other characters, which are frequently made use of in composition."--
_Murray's Gram._, p. 280; _Ingersoll's_, 293. "Such unaccountable
infirmities might be in many, perhaps in most, cases got the better
of."--_Seattle's Moral Science_, i, 153. "Which ought never to be had
recourse to."--_Ib._, i, 186. "That the widows may be taken care
of."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 499. "Other cavils will yet be taken notice
of."--_Pope's Pref. to Homer_. "Which implies, that all Christians are
offered eternal salvation."--_West's Letters_, p. 149. "Yet even the dogs
are allowed the crumbs which fall from their master's table."--_Campbell's
Gospels, Matt._, xv. 27. "For we say the light within must be taken heed
unto."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 148. "This sound of a is taken notice of in
Steele's Grammar."--_Walker's Dict._, p. 22. "One came to be paid ten
guineas for a pair of silver buckles."--_Castle Rackrent_, p. 104. "Let
him, therefore, be carefully shewn the application of the several questions
in the table."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 8, "After a few times, it is no
longer taken notice of by the hearers."--_Sheridan's Lect._, p. 182. "It
will not admit of the same excuse, nor be allowed the same indulgence, by
people of any discernment."--_Ibid._ "Inanimate things may be made property
of."--_Beanie's M. Sci._, p. 355.

   "And, when he's bid a liberaller price,
    Will not be sluggish in the work, nor nice."--_Butler's Poems_, p. 162.


UNDER NOTE VI.--OF PERFECT PARTICIPLES.

"All the words made use of to denote spiritual and intellectual things, are
in their origin metaphors."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 380. "A reply to an
argument commonly made use of by unbelievers."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 293.
"It was heretofore the only form made use of in the preter tenses."--_Dr.
Ash's Gram._, p. 47. "Of the points, and other characters made use of in
writing."--_Ib._, p. xv. "If _thy_ be the personal pronoun made use
of."--_Walker's Dict._ "The Conjunction is a word made use of to connect
sentences."--_Burn's Gram._, p. 28. "The points made use of to answer these
purposes are the four following."--_Harrison's Gram._, p. 67. "_Incense_
signifies perfumes exhaled by fire, and made use of in religious
ceremonies."--_Murray's Key_, p. 171. "In most of his orations, there is
too much art; even carried the length of ostentation."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
246. "To illustrate the great truth, so often lost sight of in our
times."--_Common School Journal_, I, 88. "The principal figures, made use
of to affect the heart, are Exclamation, Confession, Deprecation,
Commination, and Imprecation."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 133.
"Disgusted at the odious artifices made use of by the Judge."--_Junius_, p.
13. "The whole reasons of our being allotted a condition, out of which so
much wickedness and misery would in fact arise."--_Butler's Analogy_ p.
109. "Some characteristieal circumstance being generally invented or laid
hold of."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 246.

   "And _by_ is likewise us'd with Names that shew
    The Means made use of, or the Method how."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 105.


UNDER NOTE VII.--CONSTRUCTIONS AMBIGUOUS.

"Many adverbs admit of degrees of comparison as well as
adjectives."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 133. "But the author, who, by the
number and reputation of his works, formed our language more than any one,
into its present state, is Dryden."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 180. "In some
States, Courts of Admiralty have no juries, nor Courts of Chancery at
all."--_Webster's Essays_, p, 146. "I feel myself grateful to my
friend."--_Murray's Key_, p. 276. "This requires a writer to have, himself,
a very clear apprehension of the object he means to present to
us."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 94. "Sense has its own harmony, as well as
sound."--_lb._, p. 127. "The apostrophe denotes the omission of an _i_
which was formerly inserted, and made an addition of a syllable to the
word."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 67. "There are few, whom I can refer to,
with more advantage than Mr. Addison."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 139. "DEATH, in
_theology_, [is a] perpetual separation from God, and eternal
torments."--_Webster's Dict._ "That could inform the _traveler_ as well as
the old man himself!"--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 345.


UNDER NOTE VIII.--YE AND YOU IN SCRIPTURE.

"Ye daughters of Rabbah, gird ye with sackcloth."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Jer._,
xlix, 3. "Wash ye, make you clean."--_Brown's Concordance, w. Wash_. "Strip
ye, and make ye bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins."--ALGER'S BIBLE:
_Isaiah_, xxxii, 11. "You are not ashamed that you make yourselves strange
to me."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Job_, xix, 3. "You are not ashamed that ye make
yourselves strange to me."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _ib._ "If you knew the gift of
God."--_Brown's Concordance, w. Knew_. "Depart from me, ye workers of
iniquity, I know ye not."--_Penington's Works_, ii, 122.


RULE VI.--SAME CASES.

A Noun or a Pronoun put after a verb or participle not transitive, agrees
in case with a preceding noun or pronoun referring to the same thing: as,
"_It_ is _I_."--"_These_ are _they_."--"The _child_ was named
_John_."--"_It_ could not be _he_."--"The _Lord_ sitteth _King_
forever."--_Psalms_, xxix, 10.

   "What war could ravish, commerce could bestow,
    And _he_ return'd a _friend, who_ came a _foe_."
        --_Pope_, Ep. iii, l. 206.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE VI.

OBS. 1.--Active-transitive verbs, and their
imperfect and preperfect participles, always govern the objective case; but
active-intransitive, passive, and neuter verbs, and their participles, take
the same case after as before them, when both words refer to the same
thing. The latter are rightly supposed _not to govern_[357] any case; nor
are they in general followed by any noun or pronoun. But, because they are
not transitive, some of them become connectives to such words as are in the
same case and signify the same thing. That is, their finite tenses may be
followed by a nominative, and their infinitives and participles by a
nominative or an objective, _agreeing_ with a noun or a pronoun which
precedes them. The cases are the same, because the person or thing is one;
as, "_I_ am _he_."--"_Thou_ art _Peter_."--"Civil _government_ being the
sole _object_ of forming societies, its administration must be conducted by
common consent."--_Jefferson's Notes_, p. 129. Identity is both the
foundation and the characteristic of this construction. We chiefly use it
to affirm or deny, to suggest or question, the _sameness_ of things; but
sometimes _figuratively_, to illustrate the relations of persons or things
by comparison:[358] as, "_I_ am the true _vine_, and my _Father_ is the
_husbandman_."--_John_, xv, 1. "_I_ am the _vine, ye_ are the
_branches_."--_John_, xv, 5. Even the names of direct opposites, are
sometimes put in the same case, under this rule; as,

   "By such a change thy _darkness_ is made _light_,
    Thy _chaos order_, and thy _weakness might_."--_Cowper_, Vol. i, p. 88.

OBS. 2.--In this rule, the terms _after_ and _preceding_ refer rather to
the order of the sense and construction, than to the mere _placing_ of the
words; for the words in fact admit of various positions. The proper subject
of the verb is the nominative _to_ it, or _before_ it, by Rule 2d; and the
other nominative, however placed, is understood to be that which comes
_after_ it, by Rule 6th. In general, however, the proper subject _precedes_
the verb, and the other word _follows_ it, agreeably to the literal sense
of the rule. But when the proper subject is placed after the verb, as in
certain instances specified in the second observation under Rule 2d, the
explanatory nominative is commonly introduced still later; as, "But be
_thou_ an _example_ of the believers."--_1 Tim_. iv, 12. "But what! is thy
_servant_ a _dog_?"--_2 Kings_, viii, 13. "And so would I, were _I
Parmenio_."--_Goldsmith_. "O Conloch's daughter! is _it thou_?"--_Ossian_.
But in the following example, on the contrary, there is a transposition of
the entire lines, and the verb agrees with the two nominatives in the
latter:

   "To thee _were_ solemn _toys_ or empty _show_,
    The _robes_ of pleasure and the _veils_ of wo."--_Dr. Johnson_.

OBS. 3.--In interrogative sentences, the terms are usually transposed,[359]
or both are placed after the verb; as, "Am _I_ a _Jew_?"--_John_, xviii,
35. "Art _thou_ a _king_ then?"--_Ib._, ver. 37. "_What_ is
_truth_?"--_Ib._, ver. 38. "_Who_ art _thou_?"--_Ib._, i, 19. "Art _thou
Elias_?"--_Ib._, i, 21. "Tell me, Alciphron, is not _distance_ a _line_
turned endwise to the eye?"--_Berkley's Dialogues_, p. 161.

   "Whence, and _what_ art _thou_, execrable shape?"--_Milton_.

    "Art _thou_ that traitor _angel_? art _thou he_?"--_Idem_.

OBS. 4.--In a declarative sentence also, there may be a rhetorical or
poetical transposition of one or both of the terms: as, "And I _thy victim_
now remain."--_Francis's Horace_, ii, 45. "To thy own dogs a _prey_ thou
shalt be made."--_Pope's Homer_, "I was eyes to the blind, and _feet_ was
_I_ to the lame."--_Job_, xxix, 15. "Far other _scene_ is _Thrasymenè_
now."--_Byron_. In the following sentence, the latter term is palpably
misplaced: "It does not clearly appear at first _what the antecedent is_ to
_they_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 218. Say rather: "It does not clearly appear
at first, _what is the antecedent_ to [the pronoun] _they_." In examples
transposed like the following, there is an elegant ellipsis of the verb to
which the pronoun is nominative; as, _am, art_, &c.

   "When pain and anguish wring the brow,
    A ministering _angel thou_."--_Scott's Marmion._

    "The forum's champion, and the people's chief,
    Her new-born _Numa thou_--with reign, alas! too brief."--_Byron_.

    "For this commission'd, I forsook the sky--
    Nay, cease to kneel--thy _fellow-servant I_."--_Parnell._

OBS. 5.--In some peculiar constructions, both words naturally come _before_
the verb; as, "I know not _who she_ is."--"_Who_ did you say _it_ was?"--"I
know not how to tell thee _who I_ am."--_Romeo_. "Inquire thou whose _son_
the _stripling_ is."--_1 Sam._, xvii, 56. "Man would not be the creature
_which he_ now is."--_Blair_. "I could not guess _who it_ should
be."--_Addison_. And they are sometimes placed in this manner by
_hyberbaton_ [sic--KTH], or transposition; as, "Yet _he it_ is."--_Young_.
"No contemptible _orator he_ was."--_Dr. Blair_. "_He it_ is to whom I
shall give a sop."--_John_, xiii, 26. "And a very noble _personage Cato_
is."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 457. "_Clouds they_ are without water."--_Jude_,
12.

   "Of worm or serpent kind _it something_ looked,
    But monstrous, with a thousand snaky heads."--_Pollok_, B. i, l. 183.

OBS. 6.--As infinitives and participles have no nominatives of their own,
such of them as are not transitive in their nature, may take _different_
cases after them; and, in order to determine what _case_ it is that follows
them, the learner must carefully observe what preceding word denotes the
same person or thing, and apply the principle of the rule accordingly. This
word being often remote, and sometimes understood, the _sense_ is the only
clew to the construction. Examples: "_Who_ then can bear the thought of
being an _outcast_ from his presence?"--_Addison_. Here _outcast_ agrees
with _who_, and not with _thought_. "_I_ cannot help being so passionate an
_admirer_ as I am."--_Steele_. Here _admirer_ agrees with _I_. "To
recommend _what_ the soberer part of mankind look upon to be a
_trifle_."--_Steele_. Here _trifle_ agrees with _what_ as relative, the
objective governed by _upon_. "_It_ would be a romantic _madness_, for a
_man_ to be a _lord_ in his closet."--_Id._ Here _madness_ is in the
nominative case, agreeing with _it_; and _lord_, in the objective, agreeing
with _man_. "To _affect_ to be a _lord_ in one's closet, would be a
romantic _madness_." In this sentence also, _lord_ is in the objective,
after _to be_; and _madness_, in the nominative, after _would be._

   "'My dear _Tibullus!_' If that will not do,
    Let _me_ be _Horace_, and be _Ovid you_."--_Pope_, B. ii, Ep. ii, 143.

OBS. 7.--An active-intransitive or a neuter participle in _ing_, when
governed by a preposition, is often followed by a noun or a pronoun the
case of which depends not on the preposition, but on the case which goes
before. Example: "The _Jews_ were in a particular manner ridiculed _for
being_ a credulous _people_."--_Addison's Evidences_, p. 28. Here _people_
is in the nominative case, agreeing with _Jews_. Again: "The learned pagans
ridiculed the _Jews_ for _being_ a credulous _people_." Here _people_ is in
the objective case, because the preceding noun _Jews_ is so. In both
instances the preposition _for_ governs the participle _being_, and nothing
else. "The atrocious crime of _being_ a young _man_, I shall neither
attempt to palliate _or_ deny."--PITT: _Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 82; _S. S.
Greene's_, 174. Sanborn has this text, with "_nor_" for
"_or_."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 190. This example has been erroneously
cited, as one in which the case of the noun after the participle is _not
determined_ by its relation to any other word. Sanborn absurdly supposes it
to be "in the _nominative independent_." Bullions as strangely tells us,
"it may correctly be called the _objective indefinite_"--like _me_ in the
following example: "He was not sure of _its being me_."--_Bullions's E.
Gram._, p. 82. This latter text I take to be _bad English_. It should be,
"He was not sure _of it as being me_;" or, "He was not sure _that it was
I."_ But, in the text above, there is an evident transposition. The
syntactical order is this: "_I_ shall neither deny _nor_ attempt to
palliate the atrocious crime of being a young _man_." The words _man_ and
_I_ refer to the same person, and are therefore in the same case, according
to the rule which I have given above.

OBS. 8.--S. S. Greene, in his late Grammar, improperly denominates this
case after the participle _being_, "the _predicate-nominative_," and
imagines that it necessarily remains a nominative even when the possessive
case precedes the participle. If he were right in this, there would be an
important exception to Rule 6th above. But so singularly absurd is his
doctrine about "_abridged predicates_," that in general the _abridging_
shows an _increase_ of syllables, and often a conversion of good English
into bad. For example: "_It_ [the predicate] remains _unchanged in the
nominative_, when, with the participle of the copula, _it_ becomes _a
verbal noun_, limited by the possessive case of the subject; as, 'That he
was a foreigner prevented his election,'='_His_ being a _foreigner_
prevented his election.'"--_Greene's Analysis_, p. 169. Here the number of
syllables is unaltered; but _foreigner_ is very improperly called "a verbal
noun," and an example which only lacks a comma, is changed to what Wells
rightly calls an "_anomalous expression_," and one wherein that author
supposes _foreigner_ and _his_ to be necessarily in the same case. But
Greene varies this example into other "_abridged forms_," thus: "I knew
_that he was a foreigner_," = "I knew _his being_, or _of his being a
foreigner_." "The fact _that he was a foreigner_, = _of his being a
foreigner_, was undeniable." "_When he was first called a foreigner_, = _on
his being first called a foreigner_, his anger was excited."--_Ib._, p.
171. All these changes _enlarge_, rather than abridge, the expression; and,
at the same time, make it questionable English, to say the least of it.

OBS. 9.--In some examples, the adverb _there_ precedes the participle, and
we evidently have nothing by which to determine the case that follows; as,
"These judges were twelve in number. Was this _owing to there being_
twelve primary _deities_ among the Gothic nations?"--_Webster's Essays_, p.
263. Say rather: "Was this _because there were_ twelve primary deities
among the Gothic nations?" "How many are injured by Adam's fall, that know
nothing of _there ever being_ such a man in the world!"--_Barclay's
Apology_, p. 185. Say rather,--"_who know not that there ever was_ such a
man in the world!"

OBS. 10.--In some other examples, we find a possessive before the
participle, and a doubtful case after it; as, "This our Saviour himself was
pleased to make use of as the strongest argument of _his_ being the
promised _Messiah_"--_Addison's Evidences_, p. 81. "But my chief affliction
consisted in _my_ being singled out from all the other boys, by a lad about
fifteen years of age, as a proper _object_ upon whom he might let loose the
cruelty of his temper."--_Cowper's Memoir_, p. 13. "[Greek: Tou patros
[ontos] onou euthus hypemnæsthæ]. He had some sort of recollection of his
_father's_ being an ass"--_Collectanea Græca Minora, Notæ_, p. 7. This
construction, though not uncommon, is anomalous in more respects than one.
Whether or not it is worthy to form an exception to the rule of _same
cases_, or even to that of _possessives_, the reader may judge from the
observations made on it under the latter. I should rather devise some way
to avoid it, if any can be found--and I believe there can; as, "This our
Saviour himself was pleased to _advance_ as the strongest _proof that he
was_ the promised Messiah."--"But my chief affliction consisted in _this,
that I was_ singled out," &c. The story of the mule is, "_He seemed to
recollect on a sudden that his father was an ass_." This is the proper
meaning of the Greek text above; but the construction is different, the
Greek nouns being genitives in apposition.

OBS. 11.--A noun in the nominative case sometimes follows a finite verb,
when the equivalent subject that stands before the verb, is not a noun or
pronoun, but a phrase or a sentence which supplies the place of a
nominative; as, "That the barons and freeholders derived their authority
from kings, is wholly a _mistake_."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 277. "To speak
of a slave as a member of civil society, may, by some, be regarded a
_solecism_."--_Stroud's Sketch_, p. 65. Here _mistake_ and _solecism_ are
as plainly nominatives, as if the preceding subjects had been declinable
words.

OBS. 12.--When a noun is put after an abstract infinitive that is not
transitive, it appears necessarily to be in the objective case,[360] though
not governed by the verb; for if we supply any noun to which such
infinitive may be supposed to refer, it must be introduced before the verb
by the preposition _for_: as, "To be an _Englishman_ in London, a
_Frenchman_ in Paris, a _Spaniard_ in Madrid, is no easy matter; and yet it
is necessary."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, p. 89. That is, "_For a
traveller_ to be an _Englishman_ in London," &c. "It is certainly as easy
to be a _scholar_, as a _gamester_."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 425. That is,
"It is as easy _for a young man_ to be a _scholar, as it is for him to be a
gamester_." "To be an eloquent _speaker_, in the proper sense of the
_word_, is far from being a common or easy _attainment._"--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 337. Here _attainment_ is in the nominative, after _is_--or, rather
after _being_, for it follows both; and _speaker_, in the objective after
_to be_. "It is almost as hard a thing [for a _man_] to be a poet in
despite of fortune, as it is [for _one_ to be a _poet_] in despite of
nature."--_Cowley's Preface to his Poems_, p. vii.

OBS. 13.--Where precision is necessary, loose or abstract infinitives are
improper; as, "But _to be precise_, signifies, that _they_ express _that
idea_, and _no more_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 94; _Murray's Gram._, 301;
_Jamieson's Rhet._, 64. Say rather: "But, _for an author's words to be
precise_, signifies, that they express _his exact_ idea, and _nothing_ more
_or less_."

OBS. 14.--The principal verbs that take the same case after as before them,
except those which are passive, are the following: to be, to stand, to sit,
to lie, to live, to grow, to become, to turn, to commence, to die, to
expire, to come, to go, to range, to wander, to return, to seem, to appear,
to remain, to continue, to reign. There are doubtless some others, which
admit of such a construction; and of some of these, it is to be observed,
that they are sometimes transitive, and govern the objective: as, "To
_commence_ a suit."--_Johnson_. "O _continue_ thy loving kindness unto
them."--_Psalms_, xxxvi, 10. "A feather will _turn_ the scale."--_Shak._
"_Return_ him a trespass offering."--_1 Samuel_. "For it _becomes_ me so to
speak."--_Dryden_. But their construction with like cases is easily
distinguished by the sense; as, "When _I_ commenced _author_, my aim was to
amuse."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 286. "_Men_ continue men's
_destroyers_."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 56. "'Tis most just, that thou turn
rascal"--_Shak., Timon of Athens_. "He went out _mate_, but _he_ returned
_captain_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 182. "After this event _he_ became
_physician_ to the king."--_Ib._ That is, "When I _began to be_ an author,"
&c.

   "Ev'n mean _self-love_ becomes, by force divine,
    The _scale_ to measure others' wants by thine."--_Pope_.

OBS. 15.--The common instructions of our English grammars, in relation to
the subject of the preceding rule, are exceedingly erroneous and defective.
For example: "The verb TO BE, has _always_ a nominative case after it,
_unless it be_ in the infinitive mode."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 77. "The verb
TO BE _requires_ the same case after it as before it."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 142. "The verb TO BE, through all its variations, _has_ the same
case after it, _expressed or understood_, as _that_ which _next_ precedes
it."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 181; _Alger's_, 62; _Merchant's_, 91;
_Putnam's_, 116; _Smith's_, 97; and many others. "The verb TO BE has
_usually_ the same case after it, as that which _immediately_ precedes
it."--_Hall's Gram._, p. 31. "_Neuter verbs have_ the same case after them,
as that which _next_ precedes them."--_Folker's Gram._, p. 14. "Passive
verbs _which signify naming_, and others of a _similar nature_, have the
same case _before and after_ them."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 182. "A Noun or
Pronoun used in predication with a verb, is in the Independent Case.
EXAMPLES--'Thou art a _scholar_.' 'It is _I_.' 'God is _love_.'"--_S. W.
Clark's Pract. Gram._, p. 149. So many and monstrous are the faults of
these rules, that nothing but very learned and reverend authority, could
possibly impose such teaching anywhere. The first, though written by Lowth,
is not a whit wiser than to say, "The preposition _to_ has _always_ an
infinitive mood after it, _unless it be_ a preposition." And this latter
absurdity is even a better rule for all infinitives, than the former for
all predicated nominatives. Nor is there much more fitness in any of the
rest. "The verb TO BE, _through all_," or even _in any_, of its parts, has
neither "_always_" nor _usually_ a case "_expressed_ or _understood_" after
it; and, even when there is a noun or a pronoun put after it, the case is,
in very many instances, not to be determined by that which "_next_" or
"_immediately_" precedes the verb. Examples: "A _sect of freethinkers_ is a
_sum_ of ciphers."--_Bentley_. "And _I_ am this _day_ weak, though anointed
_king_."--_2 Sam._, iii, 39. "_What_ made _Luther_ a great _man_, was _his_
unshaken _reliance_ on God."--_Kortz's Life of Luther_, p. 13. "The devil
offers his service; _He_ is sent with a positive _commission_ to be a lying
_spirit_ in the mouth of all the prophets."--_Calvin's Institutes_, p. 131.
It is perfectly certain that in these four texts, the words _sum, king,
reliance_, and _spirit_, are _nominatives_, after the verb or participle;
and not _objectives_, as they must be, if there were any truth in the
common assertion, "that the two cases, which, in the construction of the
sentence, are _the next_ before and after it, must always be
alike."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 98. Not only may the nominative before the
verb be followed by an objective, but the nominative after it may be
preceded by a possessive; as, "Amos, the herdsman of _Tekoa_, was not a
_prophet's_ son."--"It is the _king's_ chapel, and it is the _king's_
court."--_Amos_, vii, 13. How ignorant then must that person be, who cannot
see the falsity of the instructions above cited! How careless the reader
who overlooks it!


NOTES TO RULE VI.

NOTE I.--The putting of a noun in an unknown case after a participle or a
participial noun, produces an anomaly which it seems better to avoid; for
the cases ought to be _clear_, even in exceptions to the common rules of
construction. Examples: (1.) "WIDOWHOOD, _n._ The state _of being a
widow_."--_Webster's Dict._ Say rather, "WIDOWHOOD, _n._ The state of a
widow."--_Johnson, Walker, Worcester_. (2.) "I had a suspicion of the
_fellow's_ being a _swindler_/" Say rather, "I had a suspicion _that the
fellow was a swindler_." (3.) "To prevent _its_ being a dry _detail_ of
terms."--_Buck_. Better, "To prevent it _from_ being a dry detail of
terms." [361]

NOTE II.--The nominative which follows a verb or participle, ought to
accord in signification, either literally or figuratively, with the
preceding term which is taken for a sign of the same thing. Errors: (1.)
"_To be convicted_ of bribery, was then a crime altogether
unpardonable."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 265. To be convicted of a crime, is not
the crime itself; say, therefore, "_Bribery_ was then a _crime_ altogether
unpardonable." (2.) "The second person is the _object_ of the
Imperative."--_Murray's Gram., Index_, ii, 292. Say rather, "The second
person is the _subject_ of the imperative;" for the _object_ of a verb is
the word governed by it, and not its nominative.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE VI.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--OF PROPER IDENTITY.

"Who would not say, 'If it be _me_,' rather than, If it be
_I_?"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 105.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the
pronoun _me_,--which comes after the neuter verb _be_, is in the objective
case, and does not agree with the pronoun _it_, the verb's nominative,[362]
which refers to the same thing. But, according to Rule 6th, "A noun or a
pronoun put after a verb or participle not transitive, agrees in case with
a preceding noun or pronoun referring to the same thing." Therefore, _me_
should be _I_; thus, "Who would not say, 'If it be _I_,' rather than, 'If
it be _me_?'"]

"Who is there? It is me."--_Priestley, ib._, p. 104. "It is him."--_Id.,
ib._, 104. "Are these the houses you were speaking of? Yes, they are
them."--_Id., ib._, 104. "It is not me you are in love with."--_Addison's
Spect._, No. 290; _Priestley's Gram._, p. 104; and _Campbell's Rhet._, p.
203. "It cannot be me."--SWIFT: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 104. "To that which
once was thee."--PRIOR: _ib._, 104. "There is but one man that she can
have, and that is me."--CLARISSA: _ib._, 104. "We enter, as it were, into
his body, and become, in some measure, him."--ADAM SMITH: _ib._, p. 105.
"Art thou proud yet? Ay, that I am not thee."--_Shak., Timon_. "He knew not
whom they were."--_Milnes, Greek Gram._, p. 234. "Who do you think me to
be?"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 108. "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man,
am?"--_Matt._, xvi, 13. "But whom say ye that I am?"--_Ib._, xvi,
15.--"Whom think ye that I am? I am not he."--_Acts_, xiii, 25. "No; I am
mistaken; I perceive it is not the person whom I supposed it was."--_Winter
in London_, ii, 66. "And while it is Him I serve, life is not without
value."--_Zenobia_, i, 76. "Without ever dreaming it was him."--_Life of
Charles XII_, p. 271. "Or he was not the illiterate personage whom he
affected to be."--_Montgomery's Lect._ "Yet was he him, who was to be the
greatest apostle of the Gentiles."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 540. "Sweet was
the thrilling ecstacy; I know not if 'twas love, or thee."--_Queen's
Wake_, p. 14. "Time was, when none would cry, that oaf was me."--_Dryden,
Prol._ "No matter where the vanquish'd be, nor whom."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B.
i, l. 676. "No, I little thought it had been him."--_Life of Oration_.
"That reverence and godly fear, whose object is 'Him who can destroy both
body and soul in hell.'"--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 312. "It is us that they
seek to please, or rather to astonish."--_West's Letters_, p. 28. "Let the
same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac."--_Gen._, xxiv,
14. "Although I knew it to be he."--_Dickens's Notes_, p. 9. "Dear gentle
youth, is't none but thee?"--_Dorset's Poems_, p. 4. "Whom do they say it
is?"--_Fowler's E. Gram._, §493.

   "These are her garb, not her; they but express
    Her form, her semblance, her appropriate dress."--_Hannah More_.


UNDER NOTE I.--THE CASE DOUBTFUL.

"I had no knowledge of there being any connexion between them."--_Stone, on
Freemasonry_, p. 25. "To promote iniquity in others, is nearly the same as
being the actors of it ourselves."--_Murray's Key_, p. 170. "It must arise
from feeling delicately ourselves."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 330; _Murray's
Gram._, 248. "By reason of there not having been exercised a competent
physical power for their enforcement."--_Mass. Legislature_, 1839.
"PUPILAGE, _n._ The state of being a scholar."--_Johnson, Walker, Webster,
Worcester_. "Then the other part's being the definition would make it
include all verbs of every description."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 343.
"John's being my friend,[363] saved me from inconvenience."--_Ib._, p. 201.
"William's having become a judge, changed his whole demeanor."--_Ib._, p.
201. "William's having been a teacher, was the cause of the interest which
he felt."--_Ib._, p. 216. "The being but one among many stifleth the
chidings of conscience."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 131. "As for its being
esteemed a close translalation [sic--KTH], I doubt not many have been led
into that error by the shortness of it."--_Pope's Pref. to Homer_. "All
presumption of death's being the destruction of living beings, must go upon
supposition that they are compounded, and so discerptible."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 63. "This argues rather their being proper
names."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 382. "But may it not be retorted, that its
being a gratification is that which excites our resentment?"--_Campbell's
Rhet._, p. 145. "Under the common notion, of its being a system of the
whole poetical art."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 401. "Whose time or other
circumstances forbid their becoming classical scholars."--_Literary
Convention_, p. 113. "It would preclude the notion of his being a merely
fictitious personage."--_Philological Museum_, i, 446. "For, or under
pretence of their being heretics or infidels."--_The Catholic Oath_; Geo.
III, 31st. "We may here add Dr. Home's sermon on Christ's being the Object
of religious Adoration."--_Relig. World_, Vol. ii, p. 200. "To say nothing
of Dr. Priestley's being a strenuous advocate," &c.--_Ib._, ii, 207. "By
virtue of Adam's being their public head."--_Ib._, ii, 233. "Objections
against there being any such moral plan as this."--_Butler's Analogy_, p.
57. "A greater instance of a man's being a blockhead."--_Spect._, No. 520.
"We may insure or promote its being a happy state of existence to
ourselves."--_Gurney's Evidences_, p. 86. "By its often falling a victim to
the same kind of unnatural treatment."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 41.
"Their appearing foolishness is no presumption against this."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 189. "But what arises from their being offences; _i. e_. from
their being liable to be perverted."--_Ib._, p. 185. "And he entered into a
certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God."--_Acts_,
xviii, 7.


UNDER NOTE II.--OF FALSE IDENTIFICATION.

"But to be popular, he observes, is an ambiguous word."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 307. "The infinitive mood, or part of a sentence, is often the
nominative case to a verb."--_L. Murray's Index, Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p.
290. "When any person, in speaking, introduces his own name, it is the
first person; as, 'I, James, of the city of Boston.'"--_R. C. Smith's New
Gram._, p. 43. "The name of the person spoken to, is the second person; as,
'James, come to me.'"--_Ibid._ "The name of the person or thing spoken of,
or about, is the third person; as, 'James has come.'"--_Ibid._ "The object
[of a passive verb] is always its subject or nominative case."--_Ib._, p.
62. "When a noun is in the nominative case to an active verb, it is the
actor."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 44. "And the person commanded, is its
nominative."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 120. "The first person is that who
speaks."--_Pasquier's Lévizac_, p. 91. "The Conjugation of a Verb is its
different variations or inflections throughout the Moods and
Tenses."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 80. "The first person is the speaker. The
second person is the one spoken to. The third person is the one spoken
of."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part i, p. 6; _Hiley's_, 18. "The first
person is the one that speaks, or the speaker."--_Sanborn's Gram._, pp. 23
and 75. "The second person is the one that is spoken to, or
addressed."--_Ibid._ "The third person is the one that is spoken of, or
that is the topic of conversation."--_Ibid._ "_I_, is the first person
Singular. _We_, is the first person Plural."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 51;
_Alger's, Ingersoll's_, and _many others_. "_Thou_, is the second person
Singular. _Ye_ or _you_, is the second person Plural."--_Ibid._ "_He, she_,
or _it_, is the third person Singular. _They_, is the third person
Plural."--_Ibid._ "The nominative case is the actor, or subject of the
verb."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 43. "The noun _John_ is the actor, therefore
John is in the nominative case."--_Ibid._ "The actor is always the
nominative case."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 62. "The nominative case is
always the agent or actor."--_Mack's Gram._, p. 67. "Tell the part of
speech each name is."--_J. Flint's Gram._, p. 6. "What number is _boy_?
Why? What number is _pens_? Why?"--_Ib._, p. 27. "The speaker is the first
person, the person spoken to, the second person, and the person or thing
spoken of, is the third person."--_Ib._, p. 26. "What nouns are masculine
gender? All males are masculine gender."--_Ib._, p. 28. "An interjection is
a sudden emotion of the mind."--_Barrett's Gram._, p. 62.


RULE VII.--OBJECTIVES.

A Noun or a Pronoun made the object of a preposition, is governed by it in
the objective case: as, "The temple of _fame_ stands upon the _grave_: the
flame that burns upon its _altars_, is kindled from the _ashes_ of great
_men_"--_Hazlitt_.

"Life is His gift, from _whom_ whate'er life needs, With ev'ry good and
perfect _gift_, proceeds."--_Cowper_, Vol. i, p. 95.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE VII.

OBS. 1.--To this rule there are no exceptions; for prepositions, in
English, govern no other case than the objective.[364] But the learner
should observe that most of our prepositions may take the _imperfect
participle_ for their object, and some, the _pluperfect_, or _preperfect_;
as, "_On opening_ the trial they accused him _of having defrauded_
them."--"A quick wit, a nice judgment, &c., could not raise this man _above
being received_ only upon the foot _of contributing_ to mirth and
diversion."--_Steele_. And the preposition _to_ is often followed by an
_infinitive verb_; as, "When one sort of wind is said _to whistle_, and an
other _to roar_; when a serpent is said _to hiss_, a fly _to buzz_, and
falling timber _to crash_; when a stream is said _to flow_, and hail _to
rattle_; the analogy between the word and the thing signified, is plainly
discernible."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 55. But let it not be supposed that
participles or infinitives, when they are governed by prepositions, are
therefore in the _objective case_; for case is no attribute of either of
these classes of words: they are indeclinable in English, whatever be the
relations they assume. They are governed _as participles_, or _as
infinitives_, and not _as cases_. The mere fact of government is so far
from _creating_ the modification governed, that it necessarily presupposes
it to exist, and that it is something cognizable in etymology.

OBS. 2.--The brief assertion, that, "Prepositions govern the objective
case," which till very lately our grammarians have universally adopted as
their sole rule for both terms, the governing and the governed,--the
preposition and its object,--is, in respect to both, somewhat
exceptionable, being but partially and lamely applicable to either. It
neither explains the connecting nature of the preposition, nor applies to
all objectives, nor embraces all the terms which a preposition may govern.
It is true, that prepositions, when they introduce declinable words, or
words that have cases, always govern the objective; but the rule is liable
to be misunderstood, and is in fact often misapplied, as if it meant
something more than this. Besides, in no other instance do grammarians
attempt to parse both the governing word and the governed, by one and the
same rule. I have therefore placed the _objects_ of this government here,
where they belong in the order of the parts of speech, expressing the rule
in such terms as cannot be mistaken; and have also given, in its proper
place, a distinct rule for the construction of the preposition itself. See
Rule 23d.

OBS. 3.--Prepositions are sometimes _elliptically_ construed with
_adjectives_, the real object of the relation being thought to be some
objective noun understood: as, _in vain, in secret, at first, on high_; i.
e. _in a vain manner, in secret places, at the first time, on high places_.
Such phrases usually imply time, place, degree, or manner, and are
equivalent to adverbs. In parsing, the learner may supply the ellipsis.

OBS. 4.--In some phrases, a preposition seems to govern a _perfect
participle_; but these expressions are perhaps rather to be explained as
being elliptical: as, "To give it up _for lost_;"--"To take that _for
granted_ which is disputed."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 109. That is,
perhaps, "To give it up for _a thing_ lost;"--"To take that for _a thing_
granted," &c. In the following passage the words _ought_ and _should_ are
employed in such a manner that it is difficult to say to what part of
speech they belong: "It is that very character of _ought_ and _should_
which makes justice a law to us; and the same character is applicable to
propriety, though perhaps more faintly than to justice."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, Vol. i, p. 286. The meaning seems to be, "It is that very character
of _being owed_ and _required, that_ makes justice a law to us;" and this
mode of expression, as it is more easy to be _parsed_, is perhaps more
grammatical than his Lordship's. But, as preterits are sometimes put by
_enallage_ for participles, a reference of them to this figure may afford a
mode of explanation in parsing, whenever they are introduced by a
preposition, and not by a nominative: as, "A kind of conquest Cæsar made
here; but made not here his brag Of, _came_, and _saw_, and
_overcame_"--_Shak., Cymb._, iii, 1. That is,--"of _having come_, and
_seen_, and _overcome_." Here, however, by assuming that a _sentence_ is
the object of the preposition, we may suppose the pronoun _I_ to be
understood, as _ego_ is in the bulletin referred to, "_Veni, vidi, vici_."
For, as a short sentence is sometimes made the subject of a verb, so is it
sometimes made the object of a preposition; as,

   "Earth's highest station ends _in, 'here he lies;'_
    And '_dust to dust_,' concludes her noblest song."--_Young_.

OBS. 5.--In some instances, prepositions precede _adverbs_; as, _at once,
at unawares, from thence, from above, till now, till very lately, for once,
for ever_. Here the adverb, though an indeclinable word, appears to be made
_the object_ of the preposition. It is in fact used substantively, and
governed by the preposition. The term _forever_ is often written as one
word, and, as such, is obviously an adverb. The rest are what some writers
would call _adverbial phrases_; a term not very consistent with itself, or
with the true idea of _parsing_. If different parts of speech are to be
taken together as having the nature of an adverb, they ought rather to
coalesce and be united; for the verb to _parse_, being derived from the
Latin _pars_, a _part_, implies in general a distinct recognition of the
elements or words of every phrase or sentence.

OBS. 6.--Nouns of _time, measure, distance_, or _value_, have often so
direct a relation to verbs or adjectives, that the prepositions which are
supposed to govern them, are usually suppressed; as, "We rode _sixty miles_
that day." That is,--"_through_ sixty miles _on_ that day." "The country is
not a _farthing_ richer."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 122. That is,--"richer
_by_ a farthing." "The error has been copied _times_ without
number."--_Ib._, p. 281. That is,--"_on_ or _at_ times _innumerable_." "A
row of columns _ten feet_ high, and a row _twice that height_, require
different proportions." _Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 344. That is,--"high
_to_ ten feet," and, "a row _of_ twice that height." "_Altus sex pedes_,
High _on_ or _at_ six feet."--_Dr. Murray's Hist of Europ. Lang._, ii, 150.
All such nouns are in the _objective case_, and, in parsing them, the
learner may supply the ellipsis;[365] or, perhaps it might be as well, to
say, as do B. H. Smart and some others, that the noun is an objective of
time, measure, or value, taken _adverbially_, and relating directly to the
verb or adjective qualified by it. Such expressions as, "A board of six
feet _long_,"--"A boy _of_ twelve years _old_," are wrong. Either strike
out the _of_, or say, "A board of six feet _in length_,"--"A boy of twelve
years _of age_;" because this preposition is not suited to the adjective,
nor is the adjective fit to qualify the time or measure.

OBS. 7.--After the adjectives _like, near_, and _nigh_, the preposition
_to_ or _unto_ is often understood;[366] as, "It is _like_ [_to_ or _unto_]
silver."--_Allen_. "How _like_ the former."--_Dryden_. "_Near_ yonder
copse."--_Goldsmith_. "_Nigh_ this recess."--_Garth_. As similarity and
proximity are _relations_, and not _qualities_, it might seem proper to
call _like, near_, and _nigh_, prepositions; and some grammarians have so
classed the last two. Dr. Johnson seems to be inconsistent in calling
_near_ a preposition, in the phrase, "_So near_ thy heart," and an
adjective, in the phrase, "Being _near_ their master." See his _Quarto
Dict._ I have not placed them with the prepositions, for the following four
reasons: (1.) Because they are sometimes _compared_; (2.) Because they
sometimes have _adverbs_ evidently relating to them; (3.) Because the
preposition _to_ or _unto_ is sometimes expressed after them; and (4.)
Because the words which _usually_ stand for them in the learned languages,
are clearly _adjectives_.[367] But _like_, when it expresses similarity of
_manner_, and _near_ and _nigh_, when they express proximity of _degree_,
are _adverbs_.

OBS. 8.--The word _worth_ is often followed by an objective, or a
participle, which it appears to govern; as, "If your arguments produce no
conviction, they are _worth_ nothing to me."--_Beattie_. "To reign is
_worth_ ambition."--_Milton_. "This is life indeed, life _worth_
preserving."--_Addison_. It is not easy to determine to what part of speech
_worth_ here belongs. Dr. Johnson calls it an _adjective_, but says nothing
of the _object_ after it, which some suppose to be governed by _of_
understood. In this supposition, it is gratuitously assumed, that _worth_
is equivalent to _worthy_, after which _of_ should be expressed; as,
"Whatsoever is _worthy of_ their love, is _worth_ their anger."--_Denham_.
But as _worth_ appears to have no certain characteristic of an adjective,
some call it a _noun_, and suppose a double ellipsis; as, "'My knife is
worth a shilling;' i. e. 'My knife is _of the_ worth of a
shilling.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 163. "'The book is worth that sum;' that
is, 'The book is (_the_) worth (_of_) that _sum_;' 'It is worth _while_;'
that is, 'It is (_the_) worth (_of the_) while.'"--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 54.
This is still less satisfactory;[368] and as the whole appears to be mere
guess-work, I see no good reason why _worth_ is not a _preposition_,
governing the noun or participle.[369] If an _adverb_ precede _worth_, it
may as well be referred to the foregoing verb, as when it occurs before any
other preposition: as, "It _is richly worth_ the money."--"It _lies
directly before_ your door." Or if we admit that an adverb sometimes
relates to this word, the same thing may be as true of other prepositions;
as, "And this is a lesson which, to the greatest part of mankind, is, I
think, _very well worth_ learning."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 303. "He sees let
down from the ceiling, _exactly over_ his head, a glittering sword, hung by
a single hair."--_Murray's E. Reader_, p. 33. See Exception 3d to Rule
21st.

OBS. 9.--Both Dr. Johnson and Horne Tooke, (who never agreed if they could
help it,) unite in saying that _worth_, in the phrases, "Wo _worth_ the
man,"--"Wo _worth_ the day," and the like, is from the imperative of the
Saxon verb _wyrthan_ or _weorthan_, to _be_; i. e., "Wo _be_ [_to_] the
man," or, "Wo _betide_ the man," &c. And the latter affirms, that, as the
preposition _by_ is from the imperative of _beon_, to _be_, so _with_,
(though admitted to be sometimes from _withan_, to join,) is often no other
than this same imperative verb _wyrth_ or _worth_: if so, the three words,
_by, with_, and _worth_, were originally synonymous, and should now be
referred at least to one and the same class. The _dative case_, or oblique
object, which they governed as _Saxon verbs_, becomes their proper object,
when taken as _English prepositions_; and in this also they appear to be
alike. _Worth_, then, when it signifies _value_, is a common noun; but when
it signifies _equal in value to_, it governs an objective, and has the
usual characteristics of a preposition. Instances may perhaps be found in
which _worth_ is an adjective, meaning _valuable_ or _useful_, as in the
following lines:

   "They glow'd, and grew more intimate with God,
    _More worth to_ men, more joyous to themselves."
        --_Young_, N. ix, l. 988.

In one instance, the poet Campbell appears to have used the word
_worthless_ as a preposition:

   "Eyes a mutual soul confessing,
    Soon you'll make them grow
    Dim, and _worthless your possessing_,
    Not with age, but woe!"

OBS. 10.--After verbs of _giving, paying, procuring_, and some others,
there is usually an ellipsis of _to_ or _for_ before the objective of the
person; as, "Give [_to_] _him_ water to drink."--"Buy [_for_] _me_ a
knife."--"Pay [_to_] _them_ their wages." So in the exclamation, "Wo is
_me_!" meaning, "Wo is _to_ me!" This ellipsis occurs chiefly before the
personal pronouns, and before such nouns as come between the verb and its
direct object; as, "Whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth [_to_]
_God_ service."--_John_, xvi, 2. "Who brought [_to_] her _masters_ much
gain by soothsaying."--_Acts_, xvi, 16. "Because he gave not [_to_] _God_
the glory."--_Ib._, xii, 23. "Give [_to_] _me_ leave to allow [_to_]
_myself_ no respite from labour."--_Spect._, No. 454. "And the sons of
Joseph, which were born [_to_] _him_ in Egypt, were two souls."--_Gen._,
xlvi, 27. This elliptical construction of a few objectives, is what remains
to us of the ancient Saxon dative case. If the order of the words be
changed, the preposition must be inserted; as, "Pray do my service _to_ his
majesty."--_Shak_. The doctrine inculcated by several of our grammarians,
that, "Verbs of _asking, giving, teaching_, and _some others_, are often
employed to govern two objectives," (_Wells_, §215,) I have, under a
preceding rule, discountenanced; preferring the supposition, which appears
to have greater weight of authority, as well as stronger support from
reason, that, in the instances cited in proof of such government, a
preposition is, in fact, understood. Upon this question of ellipsis,
depends, in all such instances, our manner of parsing one of the objective
words.

OBS. 11.--In _dates_, as they are usually written, there is much
abbreviation; and several nouns of place and time are set down in the
objective case, without the prepositions which govern them: as, "New York,
Wednesday, 20th October, 1830."--_Journal of Literary Convention_. That is,
"_At_ New York, _on_ Wednesday, _the_ 20th _day of_ October, _in the year_
1830."


NOTE TO RULE VII.

An objective noun of time or measure, if it qualifies a subsequent
adjective, must not also be made an adjunct to a preceding noun; as, "To an
infant _of_ only two or three years _old_."--_Dr. Wayland_. Expunge _of_,
or for _old_ write _of age_. The following is right: "The vast army of the
Canaanites, _nine hundred chariots strong_, covered the level plain of
Esdraelon."--_Milman's Jews_, Vol. i, p. 159. See Obs. 6th above.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE VII. UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--OF THE OBJECTIVE IN
FORM.

"But I do not remember who they were for."--_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 265.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _who_ is in the nominative case,
and is made the object of the preposition _for_. But, according to Rule
7th, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of a preposition, is governed by
it in the objective case." Therefore, _who_ should be _whom_; thus, "But I
do not remember _whom_ they were for."]

"But if you can't help it, who do you complain of?"--_Collier's Antoninus_,
p. 137. "Who was it from? and what was it about?"--_Edgeworth's Frank_, p.
72. "I have plenty of victuals, and, between you and I, something in a
corner."--_Day's Sandford and Merton_. "The upper one, who I am now about
to speak of."--_Hunt's Byron_, p. 311. "And to poor we, thine enmity's most
capital."--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 201. "Which thou dost confess, were
fit for thee to use, as they to claim."--_Ib._, p. 196. "To beg of thee, it
is my more dishonour, than thou of them."--_Ib._, p. 197. "There are still
a few who, like thou and I, drink nothing but water."--_Gil Blas_, Vol. i,
p. 104. "Thus, I _shall_ fall; Thou _shalt_ love thy neighbour; He _shall_
be rewarded, express no resolution on the part of _I, thou,
he_."--_Lennie's E. Gram._, p. 22; _Bullions's_, 32. "So saucy with the
hand of she here--What's her name?"--_Shak., Ant. and Cleop._, Act iii, Sc.
11. "All debts are cleared between you and I."--_Id., Merchant of Venice_,
Act iii, Sc. 2. "Her price is paid, and she is sold like thou."--_Milman's
Fall of Jerusalem_. "Search through all the most flourishing era's of
Greece."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 16. "The family of the Rudolph's had been
long distinguished."--_The Friend_, Vol. v, p. 54. "It will do well enough
for you and I."--_Castle Rackrent_, p. 120. "The public will soon
discriminate between him who is the sycophant, and he who is the
teacher."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 10. "We are still much at a loss who
civil power belongs to."--_Locke_. "What do you call it? and who does it
belong to?"--_Collier's Cebes_. "He had received no lessons from the
Socrates's, the Plato's, and the Confucius's of the age."--_Hatter's
Letters_. "I cannot tell who to compare them to."--_Bunyan's P. P._, p.
128. "I see there was some resemblance betwixt this good man and
I."--_Pilgrim's Progress_, p. 298. "They by that means have brought
themselves into the hands and house of I do not know who."--_Ib._, p. 196.
"But at length she said there was a great deal of difference between Mr.
Cotton and we."--_Hutchinson's Mass._, ii, 430. "So you must ride on
horseback after we." [370]--MRS. GILPIN: _Cowper_, i, 275. "A separation
must soon take place between our minister and I."--_Werter_, p. 109. "When
she exclaimed on Hastings, you, and I."--_Shakspeare_. "To who? to thee?
What art thou?"--_Id._ "That they should always bear the certain marks who
they came from."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 221.

   "This life has joys for you and I,
    And joys that riches ne'er could buy."--_Burns_.


UNDER THE NOTE--OF TIME OR MEASURE.

"Such as almost every child of ten years old knows."--_Town's Analysis_, p.
4. "One winter's school of four months, will carry any industrious scholar,
of ten or twelve years old, completely through this book."--_Ib._, p. 12.
"A boy of six years old may be taught to speak as correctly, as Cicero did
before the Roman Senate."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 27. "A lad of about
twelve years old, who was taken captive by the Indians."--_Ib._, p. 235.
"Of nothing else but that individual white figure of five inches long which
is before him."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 288. "Where lies the fault, that
boys of eight or ten years old, are with great difficulty made to
understand any of its principles."--_Guy's Gram._, p. v. "Where language of
three centuries old is employed."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, p. 21. "Let
a gallows be made of fifty cubits high."--_Esther_, v. 14. "I say to this
child of nine years old bring me that hat, he hastens and brings it
me."--_Osborn's Key_, p. 3. "He laid a floor twelve feet long, and nine
feet wide; that is, over the extent _of_ twelve feet long, and _of_ nine
feet wide."--_Merchants School Gram._, p. 95. "The Goulah people are a
tribe of about fifty thousand strong."--_Examiner_, No. 71. RULE
VIII.--NOM. ABSOLUTE.

A Noun or a Pronoun is put absolute in the nominative, when its case
depends on no other word: as, _"He failing, who shall meet
success?"_--"Your _fathers_, where are they? and the _prophets_, do they
live forever?"--_Zech._, i, 5. "Or _I_ only and _Barnabas_, have not we
power to forbear working?"--_1 Cor._, ix, 6. "Nay but, O man, who art thou
that repliest against God?"--_Rom._, ix, 20. "O rare _we!_"--_Cowper_.
"Miserable _they!_"--_Thomson_.

"The _hour_ conceal'd, and so remote the _fear_, Death still draws nearer,
never seeming near."--_Pope_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE VIII.

OBS. 1.--Many grammarians make an idle distinction between the nominative
_absolute_ and the nominative _independent_, as if these epithets were not
synonymous; and, at the same time, they are miserably deficient in
directions for disposing of the words so employed. Their two rules do not
embrace more than one half of those _frequent_ examples in which the case
of the noun or pronoun depends on no other word. Of course, the remaining
half cannot be parsed by any of the rules which they give. The lack of a
comprehensive rule, like the one above, is a great and glaring defect in
all the English grammars that the author has seen, except his own, and such
as are indebted to him for such a rule. It is proper, however, that the
different forms of expression which are embraced in this general rule,
should be discriminated, one from an other, by the scholar: let him
therefore, in parsing any nominative absolute, tell _how it is put so_;
whether with a _participle_, by direct _address_, by _pleonasm_, or by
_exclamation_. For, in discourse, a noun or a pronoun is put absolute in
the nominative, after _four modes_, or under the following _four
circumstances_: (of which Murray's "case absolute," or "nominative
absolute," contains only the first:)

I. When, _with a participle_, it is used to express a cause, or a
concomitant fact; as, "I say, _this being so_, the _law being broken_,
justice takes place."--_Law and Grace_, p. 27. _"Pontius Pilate being_
governor of Judea, and _Herod being_ tetrarch of Galilee, and his _brother_
Philip tetrarch of Iturea." &c.--_Luke_, iii, 1. "I _being_ in the way, the
Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren."--_Gen._, xxiv, 27.

    ---------"While shame, _thou looking on_,
    Shame to be overcome or overreach'd,
    Would utmost vigor raise."--_Milton, P. L._, B. ix, 1, 312.

II. When, _by direct address_, it is put in the second person, and set off
from the verb, by a comma or an exclamation point; as, "At length, _Seged_,
reflect and be wise."--_Dr. Johnson._ "It may be, _drunkard, swearer, liar,
thief_, thou dost not think of this."--_Law and Grace_, p. 27.

   "_This said_, he form'd thee, _Adam!_ thee, O _man!_
    _Dust_ of the ground, and in thy nostrils breath'd
    The breath of life."--_Milton's Paradise Lost_, B. vii, l. 524.

III. When, by _pleonasm_, it is introduced abruptly for the sake of
emphasis, and is not made the subject or the object of any verb; as, "_He_
that hath, to him shall be given."--_Mark_, iv, 25. "_He_ that is holy, let
him be holy still."--_Rev._, xxii, 11. "_Gad_, a troop shall overcome
him."--_Gen._, xlix, 19. "The _north_ and the _south_, thou hast created
them."--_Psalms_, lxxxix, 12. "And _they_ that have believing masters, let
them not despise them."--_1 Tim._, vi, 2. "And the _leper_ in whom the
plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare."--_Levit._, xiii,
45. "_They_ who serve me with adoration,--I am in them, and they [are] in
me."--R. W. EMERSON: _Liberator_, No. 996.

    -------------------------"What may this mean,
    That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel,
    Revisitst thus the glimpses of the moon,
    Making night hideous; and, we fools of nature,[371]
    So horribly to shake our disposition
    With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?"--_Shak. Hamlet._

IV. When, _by mere exclamation_, it is used without address, and without
other words expressed or implied to give it construction; as, "And the Lord
passed by before him, and proclaimed, _the Lord, the Lord God_, merciful
and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth."
_Exodus_, xxxiv, 6. "O _the depth_ of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God!"--_Rom._, xi, 33. "I should not like to see her limping
back, Poor _beast_!"--_Southey_.

   "Oh! deep enchanting prelude to repose,
    The dawn of bliss, the _twilight_ of our woes!"--_Campbell_.

OBS. 2.--The nominative put absolute with a participle, is often equivalent
to a dependent clause commencing with _when, while, if, since_, or
_because_. Thus, "I being a child," may be equal to, "When I was a child,"
or, "Because I was a child." Here, in lieu of the nominative, the Greeks
used the genitive case, and the Latins, the ablative. Thus, the phrase,
"[Greek: Kai hysteræsantos oinou]," "_And the wine failing_," is rendered
by Montanus, "_Et deficiente vino_;" but by Beza, "_Et cum defecisset
vinum_;" and in our Bible, "_And when they wanted wine_."--_John_, ii, 3.
After a noun or a pronoun thus put absolute, the participle _being_ is
frequently understood, especially if an adjective or a like case come after
the participle; as,

   "They left their bones beneath unfriendly skies,
    His worthless absolution [_being_] all the prize."
        --_Cowper_, Vol. i, p. 84.

    "Alike in ignorance, _his reason_ [------] _such_,
    Whether he thinks too little or too much."--_Pope, on Man_.

OBS. 3.--The case which is put absolute in addresses or invocations, is
what in the Latin and Greek grammars is called _the Vocative_. Richard
Johnson says, "The only use of the Vocative Case, is, to call upon a
Person, or a thing put Personally, which we speak to, to give notice to
what we direct our Speech; and this is therefore, properly speaking, the
_only Case absolute or independent_ which we may make use of without
respect to any other Word."--_Gram. Commentaries_, p. 131. This remark,
however, applies not justly to our language; for, with us, the vocative
case, is unknown, or not distinguished from the nominative. In English, all
nouns of the second person are either put absolute in the nominative,
according to Rule 8th, or in apposition with their own pronouns placed
before them, according to Rule 3d: as, "This is the stone which was set at
nought of _you builders_."--_Acts_, iv, 11. "How much rather ought _you
receivers_ to be considered as abandoned and execrable!"--_Clarkson's
Essay_, p. 114.

   "Peace! _minion_, peace! it boots not me to hear
    The selfish counsel of _you hangers-on_."
        --_Brown's Inst._, p. 189.

    "Ye _Sylphs_ and _Sylphids_, to your chief give ear;
    _Fays, Faries, Genii, Elves_, and Dæmons, hear!"
        --_Pope, R. L._, ii, 74.

OBS. 4.--The case of nouns used in exclamations, or in mottoes and
abbreviated sayings, often depends, or may be conceived to depend, on
something _understood_; and, when their construction can be satisfactorily
explained on the principle of ellipsis, they are _not put absolute_, unless
the ellipsis be that of the participle. The following examples may perhaps
be resolved in this manner, though the expressions will lose much of their
vivacity: "A _horse_! a _horse_! my _kingdom_ for a horse!"--_Shak._ "And
he said unto his father, My _head_! my _head_!"--_2 Kings_, iv, 19. "And
Samson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass, _heaps_ upon heaps, with the jaw
of an ass, have I slain a thousand men."--_Judges_, xv, 16. "Ye have heard
that it hath been said, An _eye_ for an eye, and a _tooth_ for a
tooth."--_Matt._, v, 38. "_Peace_, be still."--_Mark_, iv, 39. "One God,
_world_ without end. Amen."--_Com. Prayer_.

   "_My fan_, let others say, who laugh at toil;
    _Fan! hood! glove! scarf!_ is her laconic style."--_Young_.

OBS. 5.--"Such Expressions as, _Hand to Hand, Face to Face, Foot to Foot_,
are of the nature of Adverbs, and are of elliptical Construction: For the
Meaning is, _Hand_ OPPOSED _to Hand_, &c."--_W. Ward's Gram._, p. 100. This
learned and ingenious author seems to suppose the former noun to be here
put absolute with a participle understood; and this is probably the best
way of explaining the construction both of that word and of the preposition
that follows it. So Samson's phrase, "_heaps upon heaps_," may mean, "heaps
_being piled_ upon heaps;" and Scott's, "_man to man_, and _steel to
steel_," may be interpreted, "_man being opposed_ to man, and _steel being
opposed_ to steel:"

   "Now, man to man, and steel to steel,
    A chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel."--_Lady of the Lake_.

OBS. 6.--Cobbett, after his own hasty and dogmatical manner, rejects the
whole theory of nominatives absolute, and teaches his "soldiers, sailors,
apprentices, and ploughboys," that, "The supposition, that there can be a
noun, or pronoun, which has reference to _no_ verb, and _no preposition_,
is certainly a mistake."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 201. To sustain his
position, he lays violent hands upon the plain truth, and even trips
himself up in the act. Thus: "For want of a little thought, as to the
matter immediately before us, some grammarians have found out '_an absolute
case_,' as they call it; and Mr. Lindley Murray gives an instance of it in
these words: '_Shame being lost_, all virtue is lost.' The full meaning of
this sentence is this: '_It being_, or _the state of things being such,
that_ shame _is_ lost, all virtue is lost.'"--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 191.
Again: "There must, you will bear in mind, always be a verb expressed or
understood. One would think, that this was not the case in [some instances:
as,] '_Sir_, I beg you to give me a bit of bread.' The sentence which
follows the _Sir_, is complete; but the _Sir_ appears to stand wholly
without connexion. However, the full meaning is this: 'I beg you, _who are
a Sir_, to give me a bit of bread.' Now, if you take time to reflect a
little on this matter, you will never be puzzled for a moment by those
detached words, to suit which grammarians have invented _vocative cases_
and _cases absolute_, and a great many other appellations, with which they
puzzle themselves, and confuse and bewilder and torment those who read
their books."--_Ib._, Let. xix, ¶¶ 225 and 226. All this is just like
Cobbett. But, let his admirers reflect on the matter as long as they
please, the two _independent_ nominatives _it_ and _state_, in the text,
"_It being_, or the state of things _being_ such," will forever stand a
glaring confutation both of his doctrine and of his censure: "the _case
absolute_" is there still! He has, in fact, only converted the single
example into a double one!

OBS. 7.--The Irish philologer, J. W. Wright, is even more confident than
Cobbett, in denouncing "_the case absolute_;" and more severe in his
reprehension of "Grammarians in general, and Lowth and Murray in
particular," for entertaining the idea of such a case. "Surprise must
cease," says he, "on an acquaintance with the fact, that persons who imbibe
such fantastical doctrine _should be destitute of sterling information_ on
the subject of English grammar.--The English language is a stranger to this
case. We speak thus, with confidence, conscious of the justness of _our_
opinion:--an opinion, not precipitately formed, but one which is the result
of mature and deliberate inquiry. '_Shame being lost_, all virtue is lost:'
The meaning of this is,--'_When_ shame _is being lost_, all virtue is
lost.' Here, the words _is being lost_ form _the true present tense_ of the
passive voice; in which voice, all verbs, thus expressed, are
_unsuspectedly_ situated: thus, agreeing with the noun _shame_, as the
nominative of the first member of the sentence."--_Wright's Philosophical
Gram._, p. 192. With all his deliberation, this gentleman has committed one
oversight here, which, as it goes to contradict his scheme of the passive
verb, some of his sixty venerable commenders ought to have pointed out to
him. My old friend, the "Professor of _Elocution_ in Columbia College," who
finds by this work of "superior excellence," that "the nature of the
_verb_, the most difficult part of grammar, has been, at length,
_satisfactorily explained_," ought by no means, after his "very attentive
examination" of the book, to have left this service to me. In the clause,
"all virtue _is lost_," the passive verb "_is lost_" has the form which
Murray gave it--the form which, till within a year or two, _all men_
supposed to be the only right one; but, according to this new philosophy of
the language, all men have been as much in error in this matter, as in
their notion of the nominative absolute. If Wright's theory of the verb is
correct, the only just form of the foregoing expression is, "all virtue _is
being lost_." If this central position is untenable, his management of the
nominative absolute falls of course. To me, the inserting of the word
_being_ into all our passive verbs, seems the most monstrous absurdity ever
broached in the name of grammar. The threescore certifiers to the accuracy
of that theory, have, I trow, only recorded themselves as so many
_ignoramuses_; for there are more than threescore myriads of better
judgements against them.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE VIII.

NOUNS OR PRONOUNS PUT ABSOLUTE.

"Him having ended his discourse, the assembly dispersed."--_Brown's Inst._,
p. 190.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _him_, whose case depends on no
other word, is in the objective case. But, according to Rule 8th, "A noun
or a pronoun is put absolute in the nominative, when its case depends on no
other word." Therefore, _him_ should be _he_; thus, "_He_ having ended his
discourse, the assembly dispersed."]

"Me being young, they deceived
me."--_Inst. E. Gram._, p. 190. "Them refusing to comply, I
withdrew."--_Ib._ "Thee being present, he would not tell what he
knew."--_Ib._ "The child is lost; and me, whither shall I go?"--_Ib._ "Oh!
happy us, surrounded with so many blessings."--_Murray's Key_, p. 187;
_Merchant's_, 197; _Smith's New Gram._, 96; _Farnum's_, 63. "'Thee, too!
Brutus, my son!' cried Cæsar, overcome."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 190. "Thee!
Maria! and so late! and who is thy companion?"--_New-York Mirror_, Vol. x,
p. 353. "How swiftly our time passes away! and ah! us, how little concerned
to improve it!"--_Comly's Gram., Key_, p. 192.

   "There all thy gifts and graces we display,
    Thee, only thee, directing all our way."




CHAPTER IV.--ADJECTIVES.

The syntax of the English Adjective is fully embraced in the following
brief rule, together with the exceptions, observations, and notes, which
are, in due order, subjoined.


RULE IX.--ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives relate to nouns or pronouns: as, "_Miserable_ comforters are ye
_all_"--_Job_, xvi, 2. "_No worldly_ enjoyments are _adequate_ to the
_high_ desires and powers of an _immortal_ spirit."--_Blair_.

   "Whatever faction's _partial_ notions are,
    _No_ hand is wholly _innocent_ in war."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. vii, l. 191.


EXCEPTION FIRST.

An adjective sometimes relates to a _phrase_ or _sentence_ which is made
the subject of an intervening verb; as, "_To insult the afflicted_, is
_impious_"--_Dillwyn_. "_That he should refuse_, is not _strange_"--"_To
err_ is _human_." _Murray_ says, "_Human_ belongs to its substantive
'nature' understood."--_Gram._, p. 233. From this I dissent.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

In combined arithmetical numbers, one adjective often relates _to an
other_, and the whole phrase, to a subsequent noun; as, "_One thousand four
hundred and fifty-six_ men."--"Six dollars and _eighty-seven and a half_
cents for _every five_ days' service."--"In the _one hundred and
twenty-second_ year."--"_One seven_ times more than it was wont to be
heated."--_Daniel_, iii, 19.

EXCEPTION THIRD.

With an infinitive or a participle denoting being or action in the
abstract, an adjective is sometimes also taken _abstractly_; (that is,
without reference to any particular noun, pronoun, or other subject;) as,
"To be _sincere_, is to be _wise, innocent_, and _safe_."--_Hawkesworth_.
"_Capacity_ marks the abstract quality of being _able_ to receive or
hold."--_Crabb's Synonymes_. "Indeed, the main secret of being _sublime_,
is to say great things in few and plain words."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 215.
"Concerning being _free_ from sin in heaven, there is no
question."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 437. Better: "Concerning _freedom_ from
sin," &c.

EXCEPTION FOURTH.

Adjectives are sometimes substituted for their corresponding abstract
nouns; (perhaps, in most instances, _elliptically_, like Greek neuters;)
as, "The sensations of _sublime_ and _beautiful_ are not always
distinguished by very distant boundaries."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 47. That
is, "of _sublimity_ and _beauty_." "The faults opposite to _the sublime_
are chiefly two: _the frigid_, and _the bombast_"--_Ib._, p. 44. Better:
"The faults opposite to _sublimity_, are chiefly two; _frigidity_ and
_bombast_." "Yet the ruling character of the nation was that of _barbarous_
and _cruel_."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 26. That is, "of _barbarity_ and
_cruelty_." "In a word, _agreeable_ and _disagreeable_ are qualities of the
objects we perceive," &c.--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 99. "_Polished_, or
_refined_, was the idea which the author had in view."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
219.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE IX.

OBS. 1.--Adjectives often relate to nouns or pronouns _understood_; as, "A
new sorrow recalls _all_ the _former_" [sorrows].--_Art of Thinking_, p.
31. [The place] "_Farthest_ from him is best."--_Milton, P. L._ "To whom
they all gave heed, from the _least_ [person] to the _greatest_"
[person].--_Acts_, viii, 10. "The Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of
lords, a great God, a _mighty_ [God], and a _terrible_" [God].--_Deut._, x,
17. "Every one can distinguish an _angry_ from a _placid_, a _cheerful_
from a _melancholy_, a _thoughtful_ from a _thoughtless_, and a _dull_ from
a penetrating, countenance."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, p. 192. Here the
word _countenance_ is understood seven times; for eight different
countenances are spoken of. "He came unto his _own_ [possessions], and his
_own_ [men] received him not."--_John_, i, 11. The _Rev. J. G. Cooper_, has
it: "He came unto his own (_creatures_,) and his own (_creatures_) received
him not."--_Pl. and Pract. Gram._, p. 44. This ambitious editor of Virgil,
abridger of Murray, expounder of the Bible, and author of several "new and
improved" grammars, (of different languages,) should have understood this
text, notwithstanding the obscurity of our version. "[Greek: Eis ta idia
ælthe. kai oi idioi auton ou parelabon]."--"In _propria_ venit, et
_proprii_ eum non receperunt."--_Montanus_. "Ad _sua_ venit, et sui eum non
exceperunt."--_Beza_. "Il est venu _chez soi_; et _les siens_ ne l'ont
point reçu."--_French Bible_. Sometimes the construction of the adjective
involves an ellipsis of _several words_, and those perhaps the principal
parts of the clause; as, "The sea appeared to be agitated more than [in
that degree _which_ is] _usual_."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 217. "During the
course of the sentence, the scene should be changed as little as [in the
least] _possible_" [degree].--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 107; _Murray's Gram._,
8vo, p. 312.

   "Presumptuous man! the reason wouldst thou find,
    Why [_thou art_] form'd so _weak_, so _little_, and so _blind_"
        --_Pope_.


OBS. 2.--Because _qualities_ belong only to _things_, most grammarians
teach, that, "_Adjectives_ are capable of being added _to nouns
only_."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 26. Or, as Murray expresses the doctrine:
"Every adjective, and every adjective pronoun, _belongs to a substantive_,
expressed or understood."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 161. "The adjective _always_
relates to a _substantive_."--_Ib._, p. 169. This teaching, which is alike
repugnant to the true _definition_ of an adjective, to the true _rule_ for
its construction, and to _all the exceptions_ to this rule, is but a sample
of that hasty sort of induction, which is ever jumping to false conclusions
for want of a fair comprehension of the facts in point. The position would
not be tenable, even if all our _pronouns_ were admitted to be _nouns_, or
"_substantives_;" and, if these two parts of speech are to be
distinguished, the consequence must be, that Murray supposes a countless
number of unnecessary and absurd _ellipses._ It is sufficiently evident,
that in the construction of sentences, adjectives often relate immediately
to _pronouns_, and only through them to the nouns which they represent.
Examples: "I should like to know who has been carried off, except _poor
dear me_."--_Byron_. "To _poor us_ there is not much hope
remaining."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p 204. "It is the final pause _which
alone_, on many occasions, marks the difference between prose and
verse."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 260. "And sometimes after _them
both_."--_Ib._, p. 196. "All men hail'd _me happy_."--_Milton_. "To receive
_unhappy me_."--_Dryden_. "Superior to _them all_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
419. "_They_ returned to their own country, _full_ of the discoveries which
they had made."--_Ib._, p. 350. "_All ye_ are brethren."--_Matt._, xxiii,
8. "And _him only_ shalt thou serve."--_Matt._, iv, 10.

   "Go _wiser thou_, and in thy scale of sense
    Weigh thy opinion against Providence."--_Pope_.

OBS. 3.--When an adjective follows a finite verb, and is not followed by a
noun, it generally relates to the subject of the verb; as, "_I_ am _glad_
that the _door_ is made _wide_."--"An unbounded _prospect_ doth not long
continue _agreeable_."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 244. "Every thing which
is _false, vicious_, or _unworthy_, is _despicable_ to him, though all the
world should approve it."--_Spectator_, No. 520. Here _false, vicious_, and
_unworthy_, relate to _which_; and _despicable_ relates to _thing_. The
practice of Murray and his followers, of supplying a "substantive" in all
such cases, is absurd. "When the Adjective forms the _Attribute_ of a
Proposition, it belongs to the noun [or pronoun] which serves as the
_Subject_ of the Proposition, and cannot be joined to any other noun, since
it is of the Subject that we affirm the quality expressed by this
Adjective."--_De Sacy, on General Gram._, p. 37. In some peculiar phrases,
however, such as, _to fall short of, to make bold with, to set light by_,
the adjective has such a connexion with the verb, that it may seem
questionable how it ought to be explained in parsing. Examples: (1.) "This
latter mode of expression falls _short_ of the force and vehemence of the
former."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 353. Some will suppose the word _short_
to be here used _adverbially_, or to qualify _falls_ only; but perhaps it
may as well be parsed as an adjective, forming a predicate with "_falls_,"
and relating to "_mode_," the nominative. (2.) "And that I have made so
_bold_ with thy glorious Majesty."--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 156. This
expression is perhaps elliptical: it may mean, "that I have made _myself_
so bold," &c. (3.) "Cursed be he that _setteth light_ by his father or his
mother: and all the people shall say, Amen."--_Deut._, xxvii, 16. This may
mean, "that setteth light _esteem_ or _estimation_," &c.

OBS. 4.--When an adjective follows an infinitive or a participle, the noun
or pronoun to which it relates, is sometimes before it, and sometimes after
it, and often considerably remote; as, "A real gentleman cannot but
practice those virtues _which_, by an intimate knowledge of mankind, he has
found to be _useful_ to them."--"He [a melancholy enthusiast] thinks
_himself_ obliged in duty to be _sad_ and _disconsolate_."--_Addison_. "He
is scandalized at _youth_ for being _lively_, and at _childhood_ for being
playful."--_Id._ "But growing _weary_ of one who almost walked him out of
breath, _he_ left him for Horace and Anacreon."--_Steele._

OBS. 5.--Adjectives preceded by the definite article, are often used, by
_ellipsis_, as _nouns_; as, _the learned_, for _learned men_. Such phrases
usually designate those classes of persons or things, which are
characterized by the qualities they express; and this, the reader must
observe, is a use quite different from that _substitution_ of adjectives
for nouns, which is noticed in the fourth exception above. In _our_
language, the several senses in which adjectives may thus be taken, are not
distinguished with that clearness which the inflections of other tongues
secure. Thus, _the noble, the vile, the excellent_, or _the beautiful_, may
be put for three extra constructions: first, for _noble persons, vile
persons_, &c.; secondly, for _the noble man, the vile man_, &c.; thirdly,
for the abstract qualities, _nobility, vileness, excellence, beauty_. The
last-named usage forms an exception to the rule; in the other two the noun
is understood, and should be supplied by the parser. Such terms, if
elliptical, are most commonly of the plural number, and refer to the word
_persons_ or _things_ understood; as, "_The careless_ and _the imprudent,
the giddy_ and _the fickle, the ungrateful_ and _the interested_,
everywhere meet us."--_Blair_. Here the noun _persons_ is to be six times
supplied. "Wherever there is taste, _the witty_ and _the humorous_ make
themselves perceived."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 21. Here the author meant,
simply, the qualities _wit_ and _humour_, and he ought to have used these
words, because the others are equivocal, and are more naturally conceived
to refer to persons. In the following couplet, the noun _places_ or
_things_ is understood after "_open_," and again after "_covert_," which
last word is sometimes misprinted "_coverts_:"

   "Together let us beat this ample field,
    Try what _the open_, what _the covert_, yield."--_Pope, on Man._

OBS. 6.--The adjective, in English, is generally placed immediately _before
its noun_; as, "_Vain_ man! is grandeur given to _gay_ attire?"--_Beattie_.
Those adjectives which relate to _pronouns_, most commonly follow them; as,
"They left _me weary_ on a grassy turf."--_Milton._ But to both these
general rules there are many exceptions; for the position of an adjective
may be varied by a variety of circumstances, not excepting the mere
convenience of emphasis: as, "And Jehu said, Unto _which_ of _all us_?"--_2
Kings_, ix, 5. In the following instances the adjective is placed _after
the word_ to which it relates:

1. When other words depend on the adjective, or stand before it to qualify
it; as, "A mind _conscious of right_,"--"A wall _three feet thick_,"--"A
body of troops _fifty thousand strong_."

2. When the quality results from an action, or receives its application
through a verb or participle; as, "Virtue renders _life happy_."--"He was
in Tirzah, drinking _himself drunk_ in the house of Arza."--_1 Kings_, xvi,
9. "All men agree to call _vinegar sour, honey sweet_, and _aloes
bitter_."--_Burke, on Taste_, p. 38. "God made _thee perfect_, not
_immutable_."--_Milton_.

3. When the quality excites admiration, and the adjective would thus be
more clearly distinctive; as, "Goodness _infinite_,"--"Wisdom
_unsearchable_."--_Murray_.

4. When a verb comes between the adjective and the noun; as, "Truth stands
_independent_ of all external things."--_Burgh_. "Honour is not _seemly_
for a fool."--_Solomon_.

5. When the adjective is formed by means of the prefix _a_; as, _afraid,
alert, alike, alive, alone, asleep, awake, aware, averse, ashamed, askew_.
To these may be added a few other words; as, _else, enough, extant,
extinct, fraught, pursuant_.

6. When the adjective has the nature, but not the form, of a participle;
as, "A queen _regnant_,"--"The prince _regent_,"--"The heir
_apparent_,"--"A lion, not _rampant_, but _couchant_ or _dormant_"--"For
the time then _present_."

OBS. 7.--In some instances, the adjective may
_either precede or follow_ its noun; and the writer may take his choice, in
respect to its position: as, 1. In _poetry_--provided the sense be obvious;
as,

    ------------------"Wilt thou to the _isles
    Atlantic_, to the _rich Hesperian clime_,
    Fly in the train of Autumn?"
        --_Akenside, P. of I._, Book i, p. 27.

    -----------------------------"Wilt thou fly
    With laughing Autumn to _the Atlantic isles_,
    And range with him th' _Hesperian field_?"
        --_Id. Bucke's Gram._, p. 120.

2. When technical usage favours one order, and common usage an other; as,
"A notary _public_," or, "A _public_ notary;"--"The heir _presumptive_,"
or, "The _presumptive_ heir."--See _Johnson's Dict._, and _Webster's_.

3. When an adverb precedes the adjective; as, "A Being _infinitely_ wise,"
or, "An _infinitely wise_ Being." Murray, Comly, and others, here approve
only the former order; but the latter is certainly not ungrammatical.

4. When several adjectives belong to the same noun; as, "A woman, _modest,
sensible_, and _virtuous_," or, "A _modest, sensible_, and _virtuous_
woman." Here again, Murray, Comly, and others, approve only the former
order; but I judge the latter to be quite as good.

5. When the adjective is emphatic, it may be _foremost_ in the sentence,
though the natural order of the words would bring it last; as, "_Weighty_
is the anger of the righteous."--_Bible_. "_Blessed_ are the pure in
heart."--_Ib._ "_Great_ is the earth, _high_ is the heaven, _swift_ is the
sun in his course."--_1 Esdras_, iv, 34. "_The more laborious_ the life is,
_the less populous_ is the country."--_Goldsmith's Essays_, p. 151.

6. When the adjective and its noun both follow a verb as parts of the
predicate, either may possibly come before the other, yet the arrangement
is _fixed by the sense intended_: thus there is a great difference between
the assertions, "We call the _boy good_," and, "We call the _good boy_"

OBS. 8.--By an ellipsis of the noun, an adjective with a preposition before
it, is sometimes equivalent to an adverb; as, _"In particular;"_ that is,
_"In a particular manner;"_ equivalent to _particularly_. So _"in general"_
is equivalent to _generally_. It has already been suggested, that, in
parsing, the scholar should here supply the ellipsis. See Obs. 3d, under
Rule vii.

OBS. 9.--Though English adjectives are, for the most part, incapable of any
_agreement_, yet such of them as denote unity or plurality, ought in
general to have nouns of the same number: as, _this man, one man, two men,
many men_.[372] In phrases of this form, the rule is well observed; but in
some peculiar ways of numbering things, it is commonly disregarded; for
certain nouns are taken in a plural sense without assuming the plural
termination. Thus people talk of many _stone_ of cheese,--many _sail_ of
vessels,--many _stand_ of arms,--many _head_ of cattle,--many _dozen_ of
eggs,--many _brace_ of partridges,--many _pair_ of shoes. So we read in
the Bible of "two hundred _pennyworth_ of bread," and "twelve _manner_ of
fruits." In all such phraseology, there is, in regard to the _form_ of the
latter word, an evident disagreement of the adjective with its immediate
noun; but sometimes, (where the preposition _of_ does not occur,)
expressions that seem somewhat like these, may be elliptical: as when
historians tell of _many thousand foot_ (soldiers), or _many hundred horse_
(troops). To denote a collective number, a singular adjective may precede a
plural one; as, "_One_ hundred men,"--"_Every_ six weeks." And to denote
plurality, the adjective many may, in like manner, precede _an_ or _a_ with
a singular noun; as, "The Odyssey entertains us with _many a wonderful
adventure_, and _many a landscape_ of nature."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 436."
There _starts up many_ a writer."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 306.

   "Full _many a flower is born_ to blush unseen,
    And waste its sweetness on the desert air."--_Gray_.

OBS. 10.--Though _this_ and _that_ cannot relate to plurals, many writers
do not hesitate to place them before singulars taken conjointly, which are
equivalent to plurals; as, "_This power and will_ do necessarily produce
that which man is empowered to do."--_Sale's Koran_, i, 229. "_That
sobriety and self-denial_ which are essential to the support of
virtue."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 218. "_This modesty and decency_ were
looked upon by them as a law of nature."--_Rollin's Hist._, ii, 45. Here
the plural forms, _these_ and _those_, cannot be substituted; but the
singular may be repeated, if the repetition be thought necessary. Yet, when
these same pronominal adjectives are placed _after_ the nouns to suggest
the things again, they must be made plural; as, "_Modesty and decency_ were
thus carefully guarded, for _these_ were looked upon as being enjoined by
the law of nature."

OBS. 11.--In prose, the use of adjectives for adverbs is improper; but, in
poetry, an adjective relating to the noun or pronoun, is sometimes
elegantly used in stead of an adverb qualifying the verb or participle; as;
"_Gradual_ sinks the breeze Into a perfect calm."--_Thomson's Seasons_, p.
34. "To Thee I bend the knee; to Thee my thoughts _Continual_
climb."--_Ib._, p. 48. "As on he walks _Graceful_, and crows
defiance."--_Ib._, p. 56. "As through the falling glooms _Pensive_ I
stray."--_Ib._, p. 80. "They, _sportive_, wheel; or, sailing down the
stream, Are snatch'd _immediate_ by the quick-eyed trout."--_Ib._, p. 82.
"_Incessant_ still you flow."--_Ib._, p. 91. "The shatter'd clouds
_Tumultuous_ rove, the interminable sky _Sublimer_ swells."--_Ib._, p. 116.
In order to determine, in difficult cases, whether an adjective or an
adverb is required, the learner should carefully attend to the definitions
of these parts of speech, and consider whether, in the case in question,
_quality_ is to be expressed, or _manner_: if the former, an adjective is
always proper; if the latter, an adverb. That is, in this case, the adverb,
though not always required in poetry, is specially requisite in prose. The
following examples will illustrate this point: "She looks _cold_;"--"She
looks _coldly_ on him."--"I sat _silent_;"--"I sat _silently_
musing."--"Stand _firm_; maintain your cause _firmly_." See _Etymology_,
Chap, viii, Obs. 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th, on the Modifications of Adverbs.

OBS. 12.--In English, an adjective and its noun are often taken as a sort
of compound term, to which other adjectives may be added; as, "An _old
man_; a _good_ old man; a very _learned, judicious_, good old man."--_L.
Murray's Gram._, p. 169; _Brit. Gram._, 195; _Buchanan's_, 79. "Of an
_other determinate positive new_ birth, subsequent to baptism, we know
nothing."--_West's Letters_, p. 183. When adjectives are thus accumulated,
the subsequent ones should convey such ideas as the former may consistently
qualify, otherwise the expression will be objectionable. Thus the ordinal
adjectives, _first, second, third, next_, and _last_, may qualify the
cardinal numbers, but they cannot very properly be qualified by them. When,
therefore, we specify any part of a series, the cardinal adjective ought,
by good right, to follow the ordinal, and not, as in the following phrase,
be placed before it: "In reading the _nine last chapters_ of
John."--_Fuller_. Properly speaking, there is but one last chapter in any
book. Say, therefore, "the _last nine_ chapters;" for, out of the
twenty-one chapters in John, a man may select several different nines. (See
_Etymology_, Chap, iv, Obs. 7th, on the Degrees of Comparison.) When one of
the adjectives merely qualifies the other, they should be joined together
by a hyphen; as, "A _red-hot_ iron."--"A _dead-ripe_ melon." And when both
or all refer equally and solely to the noun, they ought either to be
connected by a conjunction, or to be separated by a comma. The following
example is therefore faulty: "It is the business of an epic poet, to form a
_probable interesting_ tale."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 427. Say, "probable
_and_ interesting;" or else insert a comma in lieu of the conjunction.

   "Around him wide a sable army stand,
    A _low-born, cell-bred, selfish, servile band_."
        --_Dunciad_, B. ii, l. 355.

OBS. 13.--Dr. Priestley has observed: "There is a remarkable ambiguity in
the use of the negative adjective _no_; and I do not see," says he, "how it
can be remedied in any language. If I say, '_No laws are better than the
English_,' it is only my known sentiments that can inform a person whether
I mean to praise, or dispraise _them_."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 136. It
may not be possible to remove the ambiguity from the phraseology here
cited, but it is easy enough to avoid the form, and say in stead of it,
"_The English laws are worse than none_," or, "_The English laws are as
good as any_;" and, in neither of these expressions, is there any
ambiguity, though the other may doubtless be taken in either of these
senses. Such an ambiguity is sometimes used on purpose: as when one man
says of an other, "He is no small knave;" or, "He is no small fool."

   "There liv'd in primo Georgii (they record)
    A worthy member, _no small fool, a lord_."--_Pope_, p. 409.


NOTES TO RULE IX.

NOTE I.--Adjectives that imply unity or plurality, must agree with their
nouns in number: as, "_That sort, those sorts_;"--"_This hand, these
hands_." [373]

NOTE II.--When the adjective is necessarily plural, or necessarily
singular, the noun should be made so too: as, "_Twenty pounds_" not,
"Twenty _pound_;"--"_Four feet_ long," not, "_Four foot_ long;"--"_One
session_" not, "One _sessions_."

NOTE III.--The reciprocal expression, _one an other_, should not be applied
to two objects, nor _each other_, or _one the other_, to more than two; as,
"Verse and prose, on some occasions, run into _one another_, like light and
shade."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 377; _Jamieson's_, 298. Say, "into _each
other_" "For mankind have always been butchering _each other_"--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 151. Say, "_one an other_" See _Etymology_, Chap, iv, Obs.
15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th, on the Classes of Adjectives.

NOTE IV.--When the comparative degree is employed with _than_, the latter
term of comparison should _never include_ the former; nor the former the
latter: as, "_Iron is more useful_ than _all the metals_"--"_All the metals
are less useful_ than _iron_." In either case, it should be, "all the other
metals,"

NOTE V.--When the superlative degree is employed, the latter term of
comparison, which is introduced by _of_, should _never exclude_ the former;
as, "A fondness for show, is, of all _other_ follies, the most vain." Here
the word _other_ should be expunged; for this latter term must _include_
the former: that is, the fondness for show must be one of the follies of
which it is the vainest.

NOTE VI.--When equality is denied, or inequality affirmed, neither term of
the comparison should _ever include_ the other; because every thing must
needs be equal to itself, and it is absurd to suggest that a part surpasses
the whole: as, "_No writings whatever_ abound _so much_ with the bold and
animated figures, _as the sacred books_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 414. Say,
"No _other_ writings whatever;" because the sacred books are "_writings_"
See _Etymology_, Chap, iv, Obs. 6th, on Regular Comparison.

NOTE VII.--Comparative terminations, and adverbs of degree, should not be
applied to adjectives that are not susceptible of comparison; and all
double comparatives and double superlatives should be avoided: as, "_So
universal_ a complaint:" say rather, "_So general_."--"Some _less nobler_
plunder:" say, "_less noble_"--"The _most straitest_ sect:" expunge _most_.
See _Etymology_, Chap, iv, from Obs. 5th to Obs. 13th, on Irregular
Comparison.[374]

NOTE VIII.--When adjectives are connected by _and, or_, or _nor_, the
shortest and simplest should in general be placed first; as, "He is _older_
and _more respectable_ than his brother." To say, "_more respectable_ and
_older_" would be obviously inelegant, as possibly involving the inaccuracy
of "_more older_."

NOTE IX.--When one adjective is superadded to an other without a
conjunction expressed or understood, the most distinguishing quality must
be expressed next to the noun, and the latter must be such as the former
may consistently qualify; as, "An _agreeable young_ man," not, "A _young
agreeable_ man."--"The art of speaking, like _all other practical_ arts,
may be facilitated by rules,"--_Enfield's Speaker_, p. 10. Example of
error: "The Anglo-Saxon language possessed, for the _two first_ persons, a
_Dual_ number."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 1850, p. 59. Say, "the _first two_
persons;" for the _second_ of three can hardly be one of the _first_; and
"_two first_" with the _second_ and _third_ added, will clearly make _more_
than three. See Obs. 12th, above.

NOTE X.--In prose, the use of adjectives for adverbs, is a vulgar error;
the adverb alone being proper, when _manner_ or _degree_ is to be
expressed, and not _quality_; as, "He writes _elegant_;" say,
"_elegantly_."--"It is a _remarkable_ good likeness;" say, "_remarkably
good_."

NOTE XI.--The pronoun _them_ should never be used as an adjective, in lieu
of _those_: say, "I bought _those_ books;" not, "_them_ books." This also
is a vulgar error, and chiefly confined to the conversation of the
unlearned.[375]

NOTE XII.--When the pronominal adjectives, _this_ and _that_, or _these_
and _those_, are contrasted; _this_ or _these_ should represent the latter
of the antecedent terms, and _that_ or _those_ the former: as,

   "And, reason raise o'er instinct as you can,
    In _this_ 'tis God directs, in _that_ 'tis man."--_Pope_.

    "Farewell my friends! farewell my foes!
    My peace with _these_, my love with _those_!"--_Burns_.

NOTE XIII.--The pronominal adjectives _either_ and _neither_, in strict
propriety of syntax, relate to two things only; when more are referred to,
_any_ and _none_, or _any one_ and _no one_, should be used in stead of
them: as, "_Any_ of the three," or, "_Any one_ of the three;" not,
"_Either_ of the three."--"_None_ of the four," or, "_No one_ of the four;"
not, "_Neither_ of the four." [376]

NOTE XIV.--The adjective _whole_ must not be used in a plural sense, for
_all_; nor _less_, in the sense of _fewer_; nor _more_ or _most_, in any
ambiguous construction, where it may be either an adverb of degree, or an
adjective of number or quantity: as, "Almost the _whole_ inhabitants were
present."--HUME: see _Priestley's Gram._, p. 190.[377] Say, "Almost _all_
the inhabitants." "No _less_ than three dictionaries have been published to
correct it."--_Dr. Webster_. Say, "No _fewer_." "This trade enriched some
_people more_ than them."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 215. This passage
is not clear in its import: it may have either of two meanings. Say, "This
trade enriched some _other_ people, _besides_ them." Or, "This trade
enriched some _others_ more than _it did them_."

NOTE XV.--Participial adjectives retain the termination, but not the
government of participles; when, therefore, they are followed by the
objective case, a preposition must be inserted to govern it: as, "The man
who is most _sparing of_ his words, is generally most _deserving of_
attention."

NOTE XVI.--When the figure of any adjective affects the syntax and sense of
the sentence, care must be taken to give to the word or words that form,
simple or compound, which suits the true meaning and construction.
Examples: "He is _forehead bald_, yet he is clean."--FRIENDS' BIBLE:
_Lev._, xiii, 41. Say, "_forehead-bald._,"--ALGER'S BIBLE, and SCOTT'S.
"From such phrases as, '_New England scenery_,' convenience requires the
_omission_ of the hyphen."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 89. This is a false
notion. Without the hyphen, the phrase properly means, "_New scenery in
England_;" but _New-England scenery_ is scenery in New England. "'_Many
coloured wings_,' means _many wings which are coloured_; but
'_many-coloured wings_' means _wings of many colours_."--_Blair's Gram._,
p. 116.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE IX.

EXAMPLES UNDER NOTE I.--AGREEMENT OF ADJECTIVES.

"I am not recommending these kind of sufferings to your liking."--BP.
SHERLOCK: _Lowth's Gram._, p. 87.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the adjective _these_ is plural, and does
not agree with its noun _kind_, which is singular. But, according to Note
1st under Rule 9th: "Adjectives that imply unity or plurality, must agree
with their nouns in number." Therefore, _these_ should be _this_; thus, "I
am not recommending _this_ kind of sufferings."]

"I have not been to London this five years."--_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p.
152. "These kind of verbs are more expressive than their radicals."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist. of Lang._, Vol. ii, p. 163. "Few of us would be less
corrupted than kings are, were we, like them, beset with flatterers, and
poisoned with that vermin."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 66. "But it seems this
literati had been very ill rewarded for their ingenious
labours."--_Roderick Random_, Vol. ii, p. 87. "If I had not left off
troubling myself about those kind of things."--_Swift_. "For these sort of
things are usually join'd to the most noted fortune."--_Bacon's Essays_, p.
101. "The nature of that riches and long-suffering is, to lead to
repentance."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 380. "I fancy they are these kind of
gods, which Horace mentions."--_Addison, on Medals_, p. 74. "During that
eight days they are prohibited from touching the skin."--_Hope of Israel_,
p. 78. "Besides, he had not much provisions left for his
army."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 86. "Are you not ashamed to have no other
thoughts than that of amassing wealth, and of acquiring glory, credit, and
dignities?"--_Ib._, p. 192. "It distinguisheth still more remarkably the
feelings of the former from that of the latter."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
Vol. i, p. xvii. "And this good tidings of the reign shall be published
through all the world."--_Campbell's Gospels, Matt._, xxiv, 14. "This
twenty years have I been with thee."--_Gen._, xxxi, 38. "In these kind of
expressions some words seem to be understood."--_Walker's Particles_, p.
179. "He thought these kind of excesses indicative of greatness."--_Hunt's
Byron_, p. 117. "These sort of fellows are very numerous."--_Spect._, No.
486. "Whereas these sort of men cannot give account of their
faith."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 444. "But the question is, whether that be
the words."--_Ib._, iii, 321. "So that these sort of Expressions are not
properly Optative."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 276. "Many things are not
that which they appear to be."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 176. "So that every
possible means are used."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. iv.

   "We have strict statutes, and most biting laws,
    Which for this nineteen years we have let sleep."--_Shak_.

    "They could not speak; and so I left them both,
    To bear this tidings to the bloody king."--_Id., Richard III_.


UNDER NOTE II.--OF FIXED NUMBERS.

"Why, I think she cannot be above six foot two inches high."--_Spect._, No.
533. "The world is pretty regular for about forty rod east and ten
west."--_Ib._, No. 535. "The standard being more than two foot above
it."--BACON: _Joh. Dict., w. Standard_. "Supposing (among other Things) he
saw two Suns, and two Thebes."--_Bacon's Wisdom_, p. 25. "On the right hand
we go into a parlour thirty three foot by thirty nine."--_Sheffield's
Works_, ii, 258. "Three pound of gold went to one shield."--_1 Kings_, x,
17. "Such an assemblage of men as there appears to have been at that
sessions."--_The Friend_, x, 389. "And, truly, he hath saved me this
pains."--_Barclay's Works_, ii, 266. "Within this three mile may you see it
coming."--SHAK.: _Joh. Dict., w. Mile_. "Most of the churches, not all, had
one or more ruling elder."--_Hutchinson's Hist. of Mass._, i, 375. "While a
Minute Philosopher, not six foot high, attempts to dethrone the Monarch of
the universe."--_Berkley's Alciphron_, p. 151. "The wall is ten foot
high."--_Harrison's Gram._, p. 50. "The stalls must be ten foot
broad."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 201. "A close prisoner in a room twenty
foot square, being at the north side of his chamber, is at liberty to walk
twenty foot southward, not to walk twenty foot northward."--LOCKE: _Joh.
Dict., w. Northward_. "Nor, after all this pains and industry, did they
think themselves qualified."--_Columbian Orator_, p. 13. "No less than
thirteen _gypsies_ were condemned at one Suffolk assizes, and
executed."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 333. "The king was petitioned to appoint
one, or more, person, or persons."--MACAULAY: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 194.
"He carries weight! he rides a race! 'Tis for a thousand pound!"--_Cowper's
Poems_, i, 279. "They carry three tire of guns at the head, and at the
stern there are two tire of guns."--_Joh. Dict., w. Galleass_. "The verses
consist of two sort of rhymes."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 112. "A
present of 40 camel's load of the most precious things of Syria."--_Wood's
Dict._, Vol. i, p. 162. "A large grammar, that shall extend to every
minutiæ."--_S. Barrett's Gram._, Tenth Ed., Pref., p. iii.

   "So many spots, like næves on Venus' soil,
    One jewel set off with so many foil."--_Dryden_.

    "For, of the lower end, two handful
    It had devour'd, it was so manful."--_Hudibras_, i, 365.


UNDER NOTE III.--OF RECIPROCALS.

"That _shall_ and _will_ might be substituted for one
another."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 131. "We use not _shall_ and _will_
promiscuously for one another."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 110. "But I wish
to distinguish the three high ones from each other also."--_Fowle's True
Eng. Gram._, p. 13. "Or on some other relation, which two objects bear to
one another."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 142. "Yet the two words lie so near to
one another in meaning, that in the present case, any one of them, perhaps,
would have been sufficient."--_Ib._, p. 203. "Both orators use great
liberties with one another."--_Ib._, p. 244. "That greater separation of
the two sexes from one another."--_Ib._, p. 466. "Most of whom live remote
from each other."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 39. "Teachers like to see their
pupils polite to each other."--_Webster's El. Spelling-Book_, p. 28. "In a
little time, he and I must keep company with one another only."--_Spect._,
No. 474. "Thoughts and circumstances crowd upon each other."--_Kames, El.
of Crit._, i, 32. "They cannot see how the ancient Greeks could understand
each other."--_Literary Convention_, p. 96. "The spirit of the poet, the
patriot, and the prophet, vied with each other in his breast."--_Hazlitt's
Lect._, p. 112. "Athamas and Ino loved one another."--_Classic Tales_, p.
91. "Where two things are compared or contrasted to one another."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 119. "Where two things are compared, or contrasted, with one
another."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 324. "In the classification of
words, almost all writers differ from each other."--_Bullions, E. Gram._,
p. iv.

   "I will not trouble thee, my child. Farewell;
    We'll no more meet; no more see one another."--_Shak. Lear_.


UNDER NOTE IV.--OF COMPARATIVES.

"Errours in Education should be less indulged than any."--_Locke, on Ed._,
p. iv. "This was less his case than any man's that ever wrote."--_Pref. to
Waller_. "This trade enriched some people more than it enriched
them." [378]--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 215. "The Chaldee alphabet, in
which the Old Testament has reached us, is more beautiful than any ancient
character known."--_Wilson's Essay_, p. 5. "The Christian religion gives a
more lovely character of God, than any religion ever did."--_Murray's Key_,
p. 169. "The temple of Cholula was deemed more holy than any in New
Spain."--_Robertson's America_, ii, 477. "Cibber grants it to be a better
poem of its kind than ever was writ."--_Pope_. "Shakspeare is more faithful
to the true language of nature, than any writer."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 468.
"One son I had--one, more than all my sons, the strength of
Troy."--_Cowper's Homer_. "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his
children, because he was the son of his old age."--_Gen._, xxxvii, 3.


UNDER NOTE V.--OF SUPERLATIVES.

"Of all other simpletons, he was the greatest."--_Nutting's English
Idioms_. "Of all other beings, man has certainly the greatest reason for
gratitude."--_Ibid., Gram._, p. 110. "This lady is the prettiest of all her
sisters."--_Peyton's Elements of Eng. Lang._, p. 39. "The relation which,
of all others, is by far the most fruitful of tropes, I have not yet
mentioned."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 141. "He studied Greek the most of any
nobleman."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 231. "And indeed that was the
qualification of all others most wanted at that time."--_Goldsmith's
Greece_, ii, 35. "Yet we deny that the knowledge of him, as outwardly
crucified, is the best of all other knowledge of him."--_Barclay's Works_,
i, 144. "Our ideas of numbers are of all others the most accurate and
distinct."--_Duncan's Logic_, p. 35. "This indeed is of all others the case
when it can be least necessary to name the agent."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._,
i, 231. "The period, to which you have arrived, is perhaps the most
critical and important of any moment of your lives."--_Ib._, i, 394.
"Perry's royal octavo is esteemed the best of any pronouncing Dictionary
yet known."--_Red Book_, p. x. "This is the tenth persecution, and of all
the foregoing, the most bloody."--_Sammes's Antiquities_, Chap. xiii. "The
English tongue is the most susceptible of sublime imagery, of any language
in the world."--See _Bucke's Gram._, p. 141. "Homer is universally allowed
to have had the greatest Invention of any writer whatever."--_Pope's
Preface to Homer_. "In a version of this particular work, which most of any
other seems to require a venerable antique cast."--_Ib._ "Because I think
him the best informed of any naturalist who has ever written."--
_Jefferson's Notes_, p. 82. "Man is capable of being the most social of any
animal."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 145. "It is of all others that which
most moves us."--_Ib._, p. 158. "Which of all others, is the most necessary
article."--_Ib._, p. 166.

   "Quoth he 'this gambol thou advisest,
    Is, of all others, the unwisest.'"--_Hudibras_, iii, 316.


UNDER NOTE VI.--INCLUSIVE TERMS.  "Noah and his family outlived all the
people who lived before the flood."--_Webster's El. Spelling-Book_, p. 101.
"I think it superior to any work of that nature we have yet had."--_Dr.
Blair's Rec. in Murray's Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 300. "We have had no
grammarian who has employed so much labour and judgment upon our native
language, as the author of these volumes."--_British Critic, ib._, ii, 299.
"No persons feel so much the distresses of others, as they who have
experienced distress themselves."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo., p. 227. "Never was
any people so much infatuated as the Jewish nation."--_Ib._, p. 185;
_Frazee's Gram._, p. 135. "No tongue is so full of connective particles as
the Greek."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 85. "Never sovereign was so much beloved
by the people."--_Murray's Exercises_, R. xv, p. 68. "No sovereign was ever
so much beloved by the people."--_Murray's Key_, p. 202. "Nothing ever
affected her so much as this misconduct of her child."--_Ib._, p. 203;
_Merchant's_, 195. "Of all the figures of speech, none comes so near to
painting as metaphor."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 142; _Jamieson's_, 149. "I know
none so happy in his metaphors as Mr. Addison."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 150.
"Of all the English authors, none is so happy in his metaphors as
Addison."--_Jamieson's, Rhet._, p. 157. "Perhaps no writer in the world was
ever so frugal of his words as Aristotle."--_Blair_, p. 177; _Jamieson_,
251. "Never was any writer so happy in that concise spirited style as Mr.
Pope."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 403. "In the harmonious structure and
disposition of periods, no writer whatever, ancient or modern, equals
Cicero."--_Blair_, 121; _Jamieson_, 123. "Nothing delights me so much as
the works of nature."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 150. "No person was
ever so perplexed as he has been to-day."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 216. "In no
case are writers so apt to err as in the position of the word
_only_."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 15. "For nothing is so tiresome as
perpetual uniformity."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 102.

   "No writing lifts exalted man so high,
    As sacred and soul-moving poesy."--_Sheffield_.


UNDER NOTE VII.--EXTRA COMPARISONS.

"How much more are ye better than the fowls!"--_Luke_, xii, 24. "Do not
thou hasten above the Most Highest."--_2 Esdras_, iv, 34. "This word _peer_
is most principally used for the nobility of the realm."--_Cowell_.
"Because the same is not only most universally received," &c.--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 447. "This is, I say, not the best and most principal
evidence."--_Ib._, iii, 41. "Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows
unto the Most Highest."--_The Psalter_, Ps. 1, 14. "The holy place of the
tabernacle of the Most Highest."--_Ib._, Ps. xlvi, 4. "As boys should be
educated with temperance, so the first greatest lesson that should be
taught them is to admire frugality."--_Goldsmith's Essays_, p. 152. "More
universal terms are put for such as are more restricted."--_Brown's
Metaphors_, p. 11. "This was the most unkindest cut of all."--_Dodd's
Beauties of Shak._, p. 251; _Singer's Shak._, ii, 264. "To take the basest
and most poorest shape."--_Dodd's Shak._, p. 261. "I'll forbear: and am
fallen out with my more headier will."--_Ib._, p. 262. "The power of the
Most Highest guard thee from sin."--_Percival, on Apostolic Succession_, p.
90. "Which title had been more truer, if the dictionary had been in Latin
and Welch."--VERSTEGAN: _Harrison's E. Lang._, p. 254. "The waters are more
sooner and harder frozen, than more further upward, within the
inlands."--_Id., ib._ "At every descent, the worst may become more
worse."--H. MANN: _Louisville Examiner_, 8vo, Vol. i, p. 149.

   "Or as a moat defensive to a house
    Against the envy of less happier lands."--_Shakspeare_.

    "A dreadful quiet felt, and worser far
    Than arms, a sullen interval of war."--_Dryden_.


UNDER NOTE VIII.--ADJECTIVES CONNECTED.

"It breaks forth in its most energetick, impassioned, and highest
strain."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 66. "He has fallen into the most gross
and vilest sort of railing."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 261. "To receive that
more general and higher instruction which the public affords."--_District
School_, p. 281. "If the best things have the perfectest and best
operations."--HOOKER: _Joh. Dict._ "It became the plainest and most
elegant, the most splendid and richest, of all languages."--See _Bucke's
Gram._, p. 140. "But the most frequent and the principal use of pauses, is,
to mark the divisions of the sense."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 331; _Murray's
Gram._, 248. "That every thing belonging to ourselves is the perfectest and
the best."--_Clarkson's Prize Essay_, p. 189. "And to instruct their pupils
in the most thorough and best manner."--_Report of a School Committee_.


UNDER NOTE IX.--ADJECTIVES SUPERADDED.

"The Father is figured out as an old venerable man."--_Dr. Brownlee's
Controversy_. "There never was exhibited such another masterpiece of
ghostly assurance."--_Id._ "After the three first sentences, the question
is entirely lost."--_Spect._, No, 476. "The four last parts of speech are
commonly called particles."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 14. "The two last
chapters will not be found deficient in this respect."--_Student's Manual_,
p. 6. "Write upon your slates a list of the ten first nouns."--_Abbott's
Teacher_, p. 85. "We have a few remains of other two Greek poets in the
pastoral style, Moschus and Bion."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 393. "The nine
first chapters of the book of Proverbs are highly poetical."--_Ib._, p.
417. "For of these five heads, only the two first have any particular
relation to the sublime."--_Ib._, p. 35. "The resembling sounds of the two
last syllables give a ludicrous air to the whole."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 69. "The three last are arbitrary."--_Ib._, p. 72. "But in the phrase
'She hangs the curtains,' the verb _hangs_ is a transitive active
verb."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 30. "If our definition of a verb, and the
arrangement of transitive or intransitive active, passive, and neuter
verbs, are properly understood."--_Ib._, 15th Ed., p. 30. "These two last
lines have an embarrassing construction."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 160.
"God was provoked to drown them all, but Noah and other seven
persons."--_Wood's Dict._, ii, 129. "The _six first_ books of the Æneid are
extremely beautiful."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 27. "A few more
instances only can be given here."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 131. "A few more
years will obliterate every vestige of a subjunctive form."--_Nutting's
Gram._, p. 46. "Some define them to be verbs devoid of the two first
persons."--_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 205. "In such another Essay-tract as
this."--_White's English Verb_, p. 302. "But we fear that not such another
man is to be found."--REV. ED. IRVING: _on Horne's Psalms_, p. xxiii.

   "Oh such another sleep, that I might see
    But such another man!"--SHAK., _Antony and Cleopatra_.


UNDER NOTE X.--ADJECTIVES FOR ADVERBS.

"_The_ is an article, relating to the noun _balm_, agreeable to Rule
11."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 133. "_Wise_ is an adjective relating to the noun
_man's_, agreeable to Rule 11th."--_Ibid._, 12th Ed., often. "To whom I
observed, that the beer was extreme good."--_Goldsmith's Essays_, p. 127.
"He writes remarkably elegant."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 152. "John
behaves truly civil to all men."--_Ib._, p. 153. "All the sorts of words
hitherto considered have each of them some meaning, even when taken
separate."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, i, 44. "He behaved himself
conformable to that blessed example."--_Sprat's Sermons_, p. 80.
"Marvellous graceful."--_Clarendon, Life_, p. 18. "The Queen having changed
her ministry suitable to her wisdom."--_Swift, Exam._, No. 21. "The
assertions of this author are easier detected."--_Swift_: censured in
_Lowth's Gram._, p. 93. "The characteristic of his sect allowed him to
affirm no stronger than that."--_Bentley: ibid._ "If one author had spoken
nobler and loftier than an other."--_Id., ib._ "Xenophon says
express."--_Id., ib._ "I can never think so very mean of him."--_Id., ib._
"To convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds,
which they have ungodly committed."--_Jude_, 15th: _ib._ "I think it very
masterly written."--_Swift to Pope_, Let. 74: _ib._ "The whole design must
refer to the golden age, which it lively represents."--_Addison, on Medals:
ib._ "Agreeable to this, we read of names being blotted out of God's
book."--BURDER: approved in _Webster's Impr. Gram._, p. 107; _Frazee's_,
140; _Maltby's_, 93. "Agreeable to the law of nature, children are bound to
support their indigent parents."--_Webster's Impr. Gram._, p. 109. "Words
taken independent of their meaning are parsed as nouns of the neuter
gender."--_Maltby's Gr._, 96.

   "Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works."--_Beaut. of Shak._, p. 236.


UNDER NOTE XI.--THEM FOR THOSE.

"Though he was not known by them letters, or the name Christ."--_Wm.
Bayly's Works_, p. 94. "In a gig, or some of them things."--_Edgeworth's
Castle Rackrent_, p. 35. "When cross-examined by them lawyers."--_Ib._, p.
98. "As the custom in them cases is."--_Ib._, p. 101. "If you'd have
listened to them slanders."--_Ib._, p. 115. "The old people were telling
stories about them fairies, but to the best of my judgment there's nothing
in it."--_Ib._, p. 188. "And is it not a pity that the Quakers have no
better authority to substantiate their principles than the testimony of
them old Pharisees?"--_Hibbard's Errors of the Quakers_, p. 107.


UNDER NOTE XII.--THIS AND THAT.

"Hope is as strong an incentive to action, as fear: this is the
anticipation of good, that of evil."--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 135. "The
poor want some advantages which the rich enjoy; but we should not therefore
account those happy, and these miserable."--_Ib._

   "Ellen and Margaret fearfully,
    Sought comfort in each other's eye;
    Then turned their ghastly look each one,
    This to her sire, that to her son."
        _Scott's Lady of the Lake_, Canto ii, Stanza 29.

    "Six youthful sons, as many blooming maids,
    In one sad day beheld the Stygian shades;
    These by Apollo's silver bow were slain,
    Those Cynthia's arrows stretched upon the plain."
        --_Pope, Il._, xxiv, 760.

    "Memory and forecast just returns engage,
    This pointing back to youth, that on to age."
        --See _Key_.


UNDER NOTE XIII.--EITHER AND NEITHER.

"These make the three great subjects of discussion among mankind; truth,
duty, and interest. But the arguments directed towards either of them are
generically distinct."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 318. "A thousand other
deviations may be made, and still either of them may be correct in
principle. For these divisions and their technical terms, are all
arbitrary."--_R. W. Green's Inductive Gram._, p. vi. "Thus it appears, that
our alphabet is deficient, as it has but seven vowels to represent thirteen
different sounds; and has no letter to represent either of five simple
consonant sounds."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 19. "Then neither of these
[five] verbs can be neuter."--_Oliver B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 343. "And the
_asserter_ is in neither of the four already mentioned."--_Ib._, p. 356.
"As it is not in either of these four."--_Ib._, p. 356. "See whether or not
the word comes within the definition of either of the other three simple
cases."--_Ib._, p. 51. "Neither of the ten was there."--_Frazee's Gram._,
p. 108. "Here are ten oranges, take either of them."--_Ib._, p. 102. "There
are three modes, by either of which recollection will generally be
supplied; inclination, practice, and association."--_Rippingham's Art of
Speaking_, p. xxix. "Words not reducible to either of the three preceding
heads."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, pp. 335 and 340. "Now a sentence
may be analyzed in reference to either of these [four] classes."--_Ib._, p.
577.


UNDER NOTE XIV.--WHOLE, LESS, MORE, AND MOST.

"Does not all proceed from the law, which regulates the whole departments
of the state?"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 278. "A messenger relates to Theseus
the whole particulars."--_Kames. El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 313. "There are
no less than twenty dipthhongs [sic--KTH] in the English language."--_Dr.
Ash's Gram._, p. xii. "The Redcross Knight runs through the whole steps of
the Christian life."--_Spectator_ No. 540. "There were not less than fifty
or sixty persons present."--_Teachers' Report._ "Greater experience, and
more cultivated society, abate the warmth of imagination, and chasten the
manner of expression."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 152; _Murray's Gram._, i, 351.
"By which means knowledge, much more than oratory, is become the principal
requisite."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 254. "No less than seven illustrious
cities disputed the right of having given birth to the greatest of
poets."--_Lemp. Dict., n. Homer._ "Temperance, more than medicines, is the
proper means of curing many diseases."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 222. "I do
not suppose, that we Britons want genius, more than our
neighbours."--_Ib._, p. 215. "In which he saith, he has found no less than
twelve untruths."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 460. "The several places of
rendezvous were concerted, and the whole operations fixed."--HUME: see
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 190. "In these rigid opinions the whole sectaries
concurred."--_Id., ib._ "Out of whose modifications have been made most
complex modes."--LOCKE: _Sanborn's Gram._, p. 148. "The Chinese vary each
of their words on no less than five different tones."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
58. "These people, though they possess more shining qualities, are not so
proud as he is, nor so vain as she."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 211. "'Tis
certain, we believe ourselves more, after we have made a thorough Inquiry
into the Thing."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 244. "As well as the whole
Course and Reasons of the Operation."--_Ib._ "Those rules and principles
which are of most practical advantage."--_Newman's Rhet._, p. 4. "And there
shall be no more curse."--_Rev._, xxii, 3. "And there shall be no more
death."--_Rev._, xxi, 4. "But in recompense, we have more pleasing pictures
of ancient manners."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 436. "Our language has suffered
more injurious changes in America, since the British army landed on our
shores, than it had suffered before, in the period of three
centuries."--_Webster's Essays_, Ed. of 1790, p. 96. "The whole
conveniences of life are derived from mutual aid and support in
society."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 166.


UNDER NOTE XV.--PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVES.

"To such as think the nature of it deserving their attention."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 84. "In all points, more deserving the approbation of their
readers."--_Keepsake_, 1830. "But to give way to childish sensations was
unbecoming our nature."--_Lempriere's Dict., n. Zeno._ "The following
extracts are deserving the serious perusal of all."--_The Friend_, Vol. v,
p. 135. "No inquiry into wisdom, however superficial, is undeserving
attention."--_Bulwer's Disowned_, ii, 95. "The opinions of illustrious men
are deserving great consideration."--_Porter's Family Journal_, p. 3. "And
resolutely keeps its laws, Uncaring consequences."--_Burns's Works_, ii,
43. "This is an item that is deserving more attention."--_Goodell's
Lectures._

"Leave then thy joys, unsuiting such an age, To a fresh comer, and resign
the stage."--_Dryden._


UNDER NOTE XVI.--FIGURE OF ADJECTIVES.

"The tall dark mountains and the deep toned seas."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p.
278. "O! learn from him To station quick eyed Prudence at the
helm."--ANON.: _Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 104. "He went in a one horse
chaise."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 113. "It ought to be, 'in a one horse
chaise.'"--_Dr. Crombie's Treatise_, p. 334. "These are marked with the
above mentioned letters."--_Folker's Gram._, p. 4. "A many headed
faction."--_Ware's Gram._, p. 18. "Lest there should be no authority in any
popular grammar for the perhaps heaven inspired effort."--_Fowle's True
English Gram._, Part 2d, p. 25. "Common metre stanzas consist of four
Iambic lines; one of eight, and the next of six syllables. They were
formerly written in two fourteen syllable lines."--_Goodenow's Gram._, p.
69. "Short metre stanzas consist of four Iambic lines; the third of eight,
and the rest of six syllables."--_Ibid._ "Particular metre stanzas consist
of six Iambic lines; the third and sixth of six syllables, the rest of
eight."--_Ibid._ "Hallelujah metre stanzas consist of six Iambic lines; the
last two of eight syllables, and the rest of six."--_Ibid._ "Long metre
stanzas are merely the union of four Iambic lines, of ten syllables
each."--_Ibid._ "A majesty more commanding than is to be found among the
rest of the Old Testament poets."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 418.

"You sulphurous and thought executed fires, Vaunt couriers to oak cleaving
thunderbolts, Singe my white head! And thou, all shaking thunder Strike
flat the thick rotundity o' the world!"--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 264.




CHAPTER V.--PRONOUNS.

The rules for the agreement of Pronouns with their antecedents are four;
hence this chapter extends from the tenth rule to the thirteenth,
inclusively. The _cases_ of Pronouns are embraced with those of nouns, in
the seven rules of the third chapter.


RULE X.--PRONOUNS.

A Pronoun must agree with its antecedent, or the noun or pronoun which it
represents, in person, number, and gender:[379] as, "This is the friend _of
whom I spoke_; he has just arrived."--"This is the book _which I_ bought;
it is an excellent work."--"_Ye_, therefore, _who_ love mercy, teach _your_
sons to love _it_ too."--_Cowper._

   "Speak _thou, whose_ thoughts at humble peace repine,
    Shall Wolsey's wealth with Wolsey's end be _thine_?"--_Dr. Johnson_.


EXCEPTION FIRST.

When a pronoun stands for some person or thing _indefinite_, or _unknown to
the speaker_, this rule is not _strictly_ applicable; because the person,
number, and gender, are rather assumed in the pronoun, than regulated by an
antecedent: as, "I do not care _who_ knows it."--_Steele_. "_Who_ touched
me? Tell me _who_ it was."--"We have no knowledge how, or by _whom_, it is
inhabited."--ABBOT: _Joh. Dict._

EXCEPTION SECOND.

The neuter pronoun _it_ may be applied to a young child, or to other
creatures masculine or feminine by nature, when they are not obviously
distinguishable with regard to sex; as, "Which is the real friend to the
_child_, the person who gives _it_ the sweetmeats, or the person who,
considering only _its_ health, resists _its_ importunities?"--_Opis._ "He
loads the _animal_ he is showing me, with so many trappings and collars,
that I cannot distinctly view _it_"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 301. "The
_nightingale_ sings most sweetly when _it_ sings in the night."--_Bucke's
Gram._, p. 52.

EXCEPTION THIRD.

The pronoun _it_ is often used without a definite reference to any
antecedent, and is sometimes a mere expletive, and sometimes the
representative of an action expressed afterwards by a verb; as, "Whether
she grapple _it_ with the pride of philosophy."--_Chalmers._ "Seeking to
lord _it_ over God's heritage."--_The Friend_, vii, 253. "_It_ is not for
kings, O Lemuel, _it_ is not for kings _to drink_ wine, nor for princes
strong drink."--_Prov._, xxxi, 4. "Having no temptation to _it_, God cannot
_act unjustly_ without defiling his nature."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. 11.

   "Come, and trip _it_ as you go, On the light fantastic toe."--_Milton._

EXCEPTION FOURTH.

A singular antecedent with the adjective _many_, sometimes admits a plural
pronoun, but never in the same clause; as, "Hard has been the fate of
_many_ a great _genius_, that while _they_ have conferred immortality on
others, _they_ have wanted themselves some friend to embalm their names to
posterity."--_Welwood's Pref. to Rowe's Lucan._

   "In Hawick twinkled _many a light_,
    Behind him soon _they_ set in night."--_W. Scott._

EXCEPTION FIFTH.

When a plural pronoun is put by enallagè for the singular, it does not
agree with its noun in number, because it still requires a plural verb; as,
"_We_ [Lindley Murray] _have followed_ those authors, who appear to have
given them the most natural and intelligible distribution."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 29. "_We shall close our_ remarks on this subject, by
introducing the sentiments of Dr. Johnson respecting it."--_Ib._ "My lord,
_you know_ I love _you_"--_Shakspeare._

EXCEPTION SIXTH.

The pronoun sometimes disagrees with its antecedent in one sense, because
it takes it in an other; as, "I have perused Mr. Johnson's _Grammatical
Commentaries_, and find _it_[380] a very laborious, learned, and useful
Work."--_Tho. Knipe_, D. D. "_Lamps_ is of the plural number, because _it_
means more than one."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 8. "_Man_ is of the
masculine gender, because _it_ is the name of a male."--_Ib._ "The _Utica
Sentinel_ says _it_ has not heard whether the wounds are
dangerous."--_Evening Post_. (Better: "The _editor_ of the Utica Sentinel
says, _he_ has not heard," &c.) "There is little _Benjamin_ with _their_
ruler."--_Psalms_, lxviii, 27.

   "_Her_ end when _emulation_ misses,
    _She_ turns to envy, stings, and hisses."--_Swift's Poems_, p. 415.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE X.

OBS. 1.--Respecting a pronoun, the main thing is, that the reader perceive
clearly _for what it stands_; and next, that he do not misapprehend _its
relation of case_. For the sake of completeness and uniformity in parsing,
it is, I think, expedient to apply the foregoing rule not only to those
pronouns which have obvious antecedents expressed, but also to such as are
not accompanied by the nouns for which they stand. Even those which are put
for persons or things unknown or indefinite, may be said to agree with
whatever is meant by them; that is, with such nouns as their own properties
indicate. For the reader will naturally understand something by every
pronoun, unless it be a mere expletive, and without any antecedent. For
example: "It would depend upon _who_ the forty were."--_Trial at
Steubenville_, p. 50. Here _who_ is an indefinite relative, equivalent to
_what persons_; of the third person, plural, masculine; and is in the
nominative case after were, by Rule 6th. For the full construction seems to
be this: "It would depend upon _the persons who_ the forty were." So
_which_, for _which person_, or _which thing_, (if we call it a pronoun
rather than an adjective,) may be said to have the properties of the noun
_person_ or _thing_ understood; as,

   "His notions fitted things so well,
    That _which_ was _which_ he could not tell."--_Hudibras_.

OBS. 2.--The pronoun _we_ is used by the speaker or writer to represent
himself and others, and is therefore plural. But it is sometimes used, by a
sort of fiction, in stead of the singular, to intimate that the speaker or
writer is not alone in his opinions; or, perhaps more frequently, to evade
the charge of egotism; for this modest assumption of plurality seems most
common with those who have something else to assume: as, "And so lately as
1809, Pope Pius VII, in excommunicating his 'own dear son,' Napoleon, whom
he crowned and blessed, says: '_We_, unworthy as _we_ are, represent the
God of peace.'"--_Dr. Brownlee_. "The coat fits _us_ as well as if _we_ had
been melted and poured into it."--_Prentice_. Monarchs sometimes prefer
_we_ to _I_, in immediate connexion with a singular noun; as, "_We
Alexander_, Autocrat of all the Russias."--"_We the Emperor_ of China,"
&c.--_Economy of Human Life_, p. vi. They also employ the anomalous
compound _ourself_, which is not often used by other people; as, "Witness
_ourself_ at Westminster, 28 day of April, in the tenth year of _our_
reign. CHARLES."

   "_Cæs._ What touches _us ourself_, shall be last serv'd."
        --_Shak., J. C._, Act iii, Sc. 1.

    "_Ourself_ to hoary Nestor will repair."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. x, l. 65.

OBS. 3.--The pronoun _you_, though originally and properly plural, is now
generally applied alike to one person or to more. Several observations upon
this fashionable substitution of the plural number for the singular, will
be found in the fifth and sixth chapters of Etymology. This usage, however
it may seem to involve a solecism, is established by that authority against
which the mere grammarian has scarcely a right to remonstrate. Alexander
Murray, the schoolmaster, observes, "When language was plain and simple,
the English always said _thou_, when speaking to a single person. But when
an affected politeness, and a fondness for continental manners and customs
began to take place, persons of rank and fashion said _you_ in stead of
_thou_. The innovation gained ground, and custom gave sanction to the
change, and stamped it with the authority of law."--_English Gram._, Third
Edition, 1793, p. 107. This respectable grammarian acknowledged both _thou_
and _you_ to be of the second person singular. I do not, however, think it
necessary or advisable to do this, or to encumber the conjugations, as some
have done, by introducing the latter pronoun, and the corresponding form of
the verb, as singular.[381] It is manifestly better to say, that the plural
is used _for the singular_, by the figure _Enallagè_. For if _you_ has
literally become singular by virtue of this substitution, _we_ also is
singular for the same reason, as often as it is substituted for _I_; else
the authority of innumerable authors, editors, compilers, and crowned,
heads, is insufficient to make it so. And again, if _you_ and the
corresponding form of the verb are _literally of the second person
singular_, (as Wells contends, with an array of more than sixty names of
English grammarians to prove it,) then, by their own rule of concord, since
_thou_ and its verb are still generally retained in the same place by these
grammarians, a verb that agrees with one of these nominatives, must also
agree with the other; so that _you hast_ and _thou have, you seest_ and
_thou see_, may be, so far as appears from _their_ instructions, as good a
concord as can be made of these words!

OBS. 4.--The putting of you for thou has introduced the anomalous compound
_yourself_, which is now very generally used in stead of _thyself_. In this
instance, as in the less frequent adoption of _ourself_ for _myself_,
Fashion so tramples upon the laws of grammar, that it is scarcely possible
to frame an intelligible exception in her favour. These pronouns are
essentially singular, both in form and meaning; and yet they cannot be used
with _I_ or _thou_, with _me_ or _thee_, or with any verb that is literally
singular; as, "_I ourself am._" but, on the contrary, they must be
connected only with such plural terms as are put for the singular; as, "_We
ourself are_ king."--"Undoubtedly _you yourself become_ an innovator."--_L.
Murray's Gram._, p. 364; _Campbell's Rhet._, 167.

   "Try touch, or sight, or smell; try what you will,
    _You_ strangely _find_ nought but _yourself_ alone."
        --_Pollok, C. of T._, B. i, l. 162.

OBS. 5.--Such terms of address, as _your Majesty, your Highness, your
Lordship, your Honour_, are sometimes followed by verbs and pronouns of the
second person plural, substituted for the singular; and sometimes by words
literally singular, and of the third person, with no other figure than a
substitution of _who_ for _which_: as, "Wherein _your Lordship, who shines_
with so much distinction in the noblest assembly in the world, peculiarly
_excels_"--_Dedication of Sale's Koran_. "We have good cause to give _your
Highness_ the first place; _who_, by a continued series of favours _have
obliged_ us, not only while _you moved_ in a lower orb, but since the Lord
hath called _your Highness_ to supreme authority."--_Massachusetts to
Cromwell_, in 1654.

OBS. 6.--The general usage of the French is like that of the English, _you_
for _thou_; but Spanish, Portuguese, or German politeness requires that the
third person be substituted for the second. And when they would be very
courteous, the Germans use also the plural for the singular, as _they_ for
_thou_. Thus they have a fourfold method of addressing a person: as,
_they_, denoting the highest degree of respect; _he_, a less degree; _you_,
a degree still less; and _thou_, none at all, or absolute reproach. Yet,
even among them, the last is used as a term of endearment to children, and
of veneration to God! _Thou_, in English, still retains its place firmly,
and without dispute, in all addresses to the Supreme Being; but in respect
to the _first person_, an observant clergyman has suggested the following
dilemma: "Some men will be pained, if a minister says _we_ in the pulpit;
and others will quarrel with him, if he says _I_."--_Abbott's Young
Christian_, p. 268.

OBS. 7.--Any extensive perversion of the common words of a language from
their original and proper use, is doubtless a matter of considerable
moment. These changes in the use of the pronouns, being some of them
evidently a sort of complimentary fictions, some religious people have made
it a matter of conscience to abstain from them, and have published their
reasons for so doing. But the _moral objections_ which may lie against such
or any other applications of words, do not come within the grammarian's
province. Let every one consider for himself the moral bearing of what he
utters: not forgetting the text, "But I say unto you, that _every idle
word_ that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgement: for _by thy words_ thou shalt be justified, and _by thy words_
thou shalt be condemned."--_Matt._, xii, 36 and 37. What scruples this
declaration _ought to_ raise, it is not my business to define. But if such
be God's law, what shall be the reckoning of those who make no conscience
of uttering continually, or when they will, not idle words only, but
expressions the most absurd, insignificant, false, exaggerated, vulgar,
indecent, injurious, wicked, sophistical, unprincipled, ungentle, and
perhaps blasphemous, or profane?

OBS. 8.--The agreement of pronouns with their antecedents, it is necessary
to observe, is liable to be controlled or affected by several of the
figures of rhetoric. A noun used figuratively often suggests two different
senses, the one literal, and the other tropical; and the agreement of the
pronoun must be sometimes with this, and sometimes with that, according to
the nature of the trope. If the reader be unacquainted with tropes and
figures, he should turn to the explanation of them in Part Fourth of this
work; but almost every one knows something about them, and such as must
here be named, will perhaps be made sufficiently intelligible by the
examples. There seems to be no occasion to introduce under this head more
than four; namely, personification, metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche.

OBS. 9.--When a pronoun represents the name of an inanimate object
_personified_, it agrees with its antecedent in the figurative, and not in
the literal sense; as, "There were others whose crime it was rather to
neglect _Reason_ than to disobey _her_."--_Dr. Johnson_. "_Penance_ dreams
her life away."--_Rogers_. "Grim _Darkness_ furls _his_ leaden
shroud."--_Id._ Here if the pronoun were made neuter, the personification
would be destroyed; as, "By the progress which _England_ had already made
in navigation and commerce, _it_ was now prepared for advancing
farther."--_Robertson's America_, Vol. ii, p. 341. If the pronoun _it_ was
here intended to represent England, the feminine _she_ would have been much
better; and, if such was not the author's meaning, the sentence has some
worse fault than the agreement of a pronoun with its noun in a wrong sense.

OBS. 10.--When the antecedent is applied _metaphorically_, the pronoun
usually agrees with it in its literal, and not in its figurative sense; as,
"Pitt was the _pillar which_ upheld the state."--"The _monarch_ of
mountains rears _his_ snowy head."--"The _stone which_ the builders
rejected."--_Matt._, xxi, 42. According to this rule, _which_ would be
better than _whom_, in the following text: "I considered the horns, and,
behold, there came up among them an other _little horn_, before _whom_
there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots."--_Daniel_,
vii, 8. In _Rom._, ix, 33, there is something similar: "Behold, I lay in
Sion a _stumbling-stone_ and _rock_ of offence: and whosoever believeth _on
him_ shall not be ashamed." Here the _stone_ or _rock_ is a metaphor for
_Christ_, and the pronoun _him_ may be referred to the sixth exception
above; but the construction is not agreeable, because it is not regular: it
would be more grammatical, to change _on him_ to _thereon_. In the
following example, the noun "_wolves_," which literally requires _which_,
and not _who_, is used metaphorically for _selfish priests_; and, in the
relative, the figurative or personal sense is allowed to prevail:

   "_Wolves_ shall succeed for teachers, grievous _wolves_,
    _Who_ all the sacred mysteries of Heaven
    To their own vile advantages shall turn."
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. xii, l. 508.

This seems to me somewhat forced and catachrestical. So too, and worse, the
following; which makes a _star_ rise and _speak_:

   "So _spake_ our _Morning Star_ then in _his rise_,
    And _looking_ round on every side _beheld_
    A pathless desert, dusk with horrid shades."
        --_Id., P. R._, B. i, l. 294.

OBS. 11.--When the antecedent is put by _metonymy_ for a noun of different
properties, the pronoun sometimes agrees with it in the figurative, and
sometimes in the literal sense; as, "When _Israel_ was a child, then I
loved _him_, and called my son out of Egypt. As they called _them_, so
_they_ went from them: [i. e., When Moses and the prophets called the
_Israelites_, they often refused to hear:] _they_ sacrificed unto Baalim,
and burnt incense to graven images. I taught _Ephraim_ also to go, taking
_them_ by _their_ arms; but _they_ knew not that I healed
_them_."--_Hosea_, xi, 1, 2, 3. The mixture and obscurity which are here,
ought not to be imitated. The name of a man, put for the nation or tribe of
his descendants, may have a pronoun of either number, and a nation may be
figuratively represented as feminine; but a mingling of different genders
or numbers ought to be avoided: as, "_Moab_ is spoiled, and gone up out of
_her_ cities, and _his_ chosen young men are gone down to the
slaughter."--_Jeremiah_, xlviii, 15.

   "The wolf, who [say _that_] from the nightly fold,
    Fierce drags the bleating _prey_, ne'er drunk _her_ milk,
    Nor wore _her_ warming fleece."--_Thomson's Seasons_.

    "That each may fill the circle mark'd by _Heaven_,
    _Who_ sees with equal eye, as God of all,
    A hero perish or a sparrow fall."--_Pope's Essay on Man_.

    "And _heaven_ behold _its_ image in his breast."--_Ib._

    "Such fate to suffering _worth_ is given,
    _Who_ long with wants and woes has striven."--_Burns_.

OBS. 12.--When the antecedent is put by _synecdoche_ for more or less than
it literally signifies, the pronoun agrees with it in the figurative, and
not in the literal sense; as,

   "A dauntless _soul_ erect, _who_ smiled on death."--_Thomson_

    "But to the generous still improving _mind_,
    _That_ gives the hopeless heart to sing for joy,
    To _him_ the long review of ordered life
    Is inward rapture only to be felt."--_Id. Seasons_.

OBS. 13.--Pronouns usually _follow_ the words which they represent; but
this order is sometimes reversed: as, "_Whom_ the cap fits, let _him_ put
it on."--"Hark! _they_ whisper; angels say," &c.--_Pope_. "_Thou, O Lord_,
art a God full of compassion."--_Old Test_. And in some cases of
apposition, the pronoun naturally comes first; as, "_I Tertius_"--"_Ye
lawyers_." The pronoun _it_, likewise, very often precedes the clause or
phrase which it represents; as, "Is _it_ not manifest, that the generality
of people speak and write very badly?"--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 160;
_Murray's Gram._, i, 358. This arrangement is too natural to be called a
transposition. The most common form of the real inversion is that of the
antecedent and relative in poetry; as,

   "_Who_ stops to plunder at this signal hour,
    The birds shall tear _him_, and the dogs devour."
        --POPE: _Iliad_, xv, 400.

OBS. 14.--A pronoun sometimes represents a _phrase_ or a _sentence_; and in
this case the pronoun is always in the third person singular neuter: as,
"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew _it_ not."--_Gen._, xxviii,
10. "Yet men can go on to vilify or disregard Christianity; _which_ is to
talk and act as if they had a demonstration of its falsehood."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 269. "When _it_ is asked wherein personal identity consists,
the answer should be the same as if _it_ were asked, wherein consists
similitude or equality."--_Ib._, p. 270. "Also, that the soul be without
knowledge, _it_ is not good."--_Prov._, xix, 2. In this last example, the
pronoun is not really necessary. "That the soul be without knowledge, _is_
not good."--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 144. Sometimes an infinitive verb is
taken as an antecedent; as, "He will not be able _to think_, without _which
it_ is impertinent _to read_; nor _to act_, without _which it_ is
impertinent _to think_."--_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 103.

OBS. 15.--When a pronoun follows two words, having a neuter verb between
them, and both referring to the same thing, it may represent either of
them, but not often with the same meaning: as, 1. "I am the man, who
command." Here, _who command_ belongs to the subject _I_, and the meaning
is, "I who command, am the man." (The latter expression places the relative
nearer to its antecedent, and is therefore preferable.) 2. "I am the man
who commands." Here, _who commands_ belongs to the predicate _man_, and the
meaning is, "I am the commander." Again: "I perceive thou art a pupil, _who
possessest_ good talents."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pract. Gram._, p. 136. Here
the construction corresponds not to the perception, which is, of the
pupil's talents. Say, therefore, "I perceive thou art a _pupil possessing_
(or, _who possesses_) good talents."

OBS. 16.--After the expletive _it_, which may be employed to introduce a
noun or a pronoun of any person, number, or gender, the above-mentioned
distinction is generally disregarded; and the relative is most commonly
made to agree with the latter word, especially if this word be of the first
or the second person: as, "_It_ is no more _I that do it_."--_Rom._, vii,
20. "For _it_ is not _ye that speak_."--_Matt._, x, 20. The propriety of
this construction is questionable. In the following examples, the relative
agrees with the _it_, and not with the subsequent nouns: "_It_ is the
combined _excellencies_ of all the denominations _that_ gives to her her
winning beauty and her powerful charms."--_Bible Society's Report_, 1838,
p. 89. "_It_ is _purity and neatness_ of expression _which is_ chiefly to
be studied."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 271. "_It_ is _not the difficulty_ of the
language, but on the contrary the _simplicity and facility_ of it, _that
occasions_ this neglect."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. vi. "_It_ is _a wise head
and a good heart that constitutes_ a great man."--_Child's Instructor_, p.
22.

OBS. 17.--The pronoun _it_ very frequently refers to something mentioned
subsequently in the sentence; as, "_It_ is useless _to complain_ of what is
irremediable." This pronoun is a necessary expletive at the commencement of
any sentence in which the verb is followed by a phrase or a clause which,
by transposition, might be made the subject of the verb; as, "_It is
impossible_ _to please every one_."--_W. Allen's Gram._ "_It_ was requisite
_that the papers should be_ sent."--_Ib._ The following example is censured
by the Rev. Matt. Harrison: "_It is really curious, the course_ which balls
will sometimes take."--_Abernethy's Lectures_. "This awkward expression,"
says the critic, "might have been avoided by saying, 'The course which
balls will sometimes take is really curious.'"--_Harrison, on the English
Language_, p. 147. If the construction is objectionable, it may, in this
instance, be altered thus: "It is really curious, _to observe_ the course
which balls will sometimes take!" So, it appears, we may avoid a _pleonasm_
by an _addition_. But he finds a worse example: saying, "Again, in an
article _from_ the 'New Monthly,' No. 103, we meet with the same form of
expression, _but with an aggravated aspect_:--'It is incredible, the number
of apothecaries' shops, presenting themselves.' It would be quite as easy
to say, 'The number of apothecaries' shops, presenting themselves, is
incredible.' "--_Ib._, p. 147. This, too, may take an infinitive, "_to
tell_," or "_to behold_;" for there is no more extravagance in doubting
one's eyes, than in declaring one's own statement "incredible." But I am
not sure that the original form is not allowable. In the following line, we
seem to have something like it:

   "It curled not Tweed alone, that breeze."--_Sir W. Scott_.

OBS. 18.--_Relative_ and _interrogative_ pronouns are placed at or near the
beginning of their own clauses; and the learner must observe that, through
all their cases, they almost invariably retain this situation in the
sentence, and are found before their verbs even when the order of the
construction would reverse this arrangement: as, "He _who_ preserves me, to
_whom_ I owe my being, _whose_ I am, and _whom_ I serve, is
eternal."--_Murray_, p. 159. "He _whom_ you seek."--_Lowth_.

   "The good must merit God's peculiar care;
    But _who_, but God, can tell us _who_ they are?"--_Pope_.

OBS. 19.--A _relative_ pronoun, being the representative of some antecedent
word or phrase, derives from this relation its person, number, and gender,
but not its case. By taking an other relation of case, it helps to form an
other clause; and, by retaining the essential meaning of its antecedent,
serves to connect this clause to that in which the antecedent is found. No
relative, therefore, can ever be used in an independent simple sentence, or
be made the subject of a subjunctive verb, or be put in apposition with any
noun or pronoun; but, like other connectives, this pronoun belongs at the
head of a clause in a compound sentence, and excludes conjunctions, except
when two such clauses are to be joined together, as in the following
example: "I should be glad, at least, of an easy companion, _who_ may tell
me his thoughts, _and_ to _whom_ I may communicate mine."--_Goldsmith's
Essays_, p. 196.

OBS. 20.--The two _special_ rules commonly given by the grammarians, for
the construction of relatives, are not only unnecessary,[382] but faulty. I
shall notice them only to show my reasons for discarding them. With whom
they originated, it is difficult to say. Paul's Accidence has them, and if
Dean Colet, the supposed writer, did not take them from some earlier
author, they must have been first taught by _him_, about the year 1510; and
it is certain that they have been copied into almost every grammar
published since. The first one is faulty, because, "_When there cometh no
nominative case between the relative and the verb, the relative shall_ [not
always] _be the nominative case to the verb_;" as may be seen by the
following examples: "Many are the works of human industry, _which_ to begin
and finish are [say _is_] hardly granted to the same man."--_Dr. Johnson's
Adv. to Dict._ "They aim at his removal; _which_ there is reason to fear
they will effect."--"_Which_ to avoid, I cut them off."--_Shak., Hen. IV_.
The second rule is faulty, because, "_When there cometh a nominative case
between the relative and the verb, the relative shall_ [not always] _be
such case as the verb will have after it_;" as may be seen by the following
examples: "The author has not advanced any instances, _which_ he does not
think _are_ pertinent."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 192. "_Which_ we have reason
to think _was_ the case with the Greek and Latin."--_Ib._, 112. "Is this
your son, _who_ ye say _was born_ blind?"--_John_, ix, 19. The case of the
relative cannot be accurately determined by any rules of mere location. It
may be nominative to a verb afar off, or it may be objective with a verb
immediately following; as, "_Which_ I do not find that there ever
_was_."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 31. "And our chief reason for
believing _which_ is that our ancestors did so before us."--_Philological
Museum_, i, 641. Both these particular rules are useless, because the
general rules for the cases, as given in chapter third above, are
applicable to relatives, sufficient to all the purpose, and not liable to
any exceptions.

OBS. 21.--In syntactical parsing, each word, in general, is to be resolved
by some _one_ rule; but the parsing of a pronoun commonly requires _two_;
one for its agreement with the noun or nouns for which it stands, and an
other for its case. The rule of agreement will be one of the four which are
embraced in this present chapter; and the rule for the case will be one of
the seven which compose chapter third. So that the whole syntax of pronouns
requires the application of eleven different rules, while that of nouns or
verbs is embraced in six or seven, and that of any other part of speech, in
one only. In respect to their cases, relatives and interrogatives admit of
every construction common to nouns, or to the personal pronouns, except
apposition. This is proved by the following examples:

1. Nominatives by Rule 2d: "I _who_ write;--Thou _who_ writest;--He _who_
writes;--The animal _which_ runs."--_Dr. Adam_. "He _that spareth_ his rod,
hateth his son."--_Solomon_. "He _who_ does any thing _which_ he knows is
wrong, ventures on dangerous ground."--"_What_ will become of us without
religion?"--_Blair_. "Here I determined to wait the hand of death; _which_,
I hope, when at last it comes, _will fall_ lightly upon me."--_Dr.
Johnson_. "_What is_ sudden and unaccountable, _serves_ to
confound."--_Crabb_. "They only are wise, _who are_ wise to
salvation."--_Goodwin_.

2. Nominatives by Rule 6th: (i.e., words parsed as nominatives after the
verbs, though mostly transposed:) "_Who_ art thou?"--_Bible_. "_What_ were
we?"--_Ib._ "Do not tell them _who_ I am."--"Let him be _who_ he may, he is
not the honest fellow _that_ he seemed."--"The general conduct of mankind
is neither _what_ it was designed, nor _what_ it ought to be."

3. Nominatives absolute by Rule 8th: "There are certain bounds to
imprudence, _which being transgressed_, there remains no place for
repentance in the natural course of things."--_Bp. Butler_. "_Which being
so_, it need not be any wonder, why I should."--_Walker's Particles,
Pref._, p. xiv. "He offered an apology, _which not being admitted_, he
became submissive."--_Murray's Key_, p. 202. This construction of the
relative is a Latinism, and very seldom used by the best _English_ writers.

4. Possessives by Rule 4th: "The chief man of the island, _whose_ name was
Publius."--_Acts_. "Despair, a cruel tyrant, from _whose_ prisons none can
escape."--_Dr. Johnson_. "To contemplate on Him _whose_ yoke is easy and
_whose_ burden is light."--_Steele_.

5. Objectives by Rule 5th: "Those _whom_ she persuaded."--_Dr. Johnson_.
"The cloak _that_ I left at Troas."--_St. Paul_. "By the things _which_ he
suffered."--_Id._ "A man _whom_ there is reason to suspect."--"_What_ are
we to do?"--_Burke_. "Love refuses nothing _that_ love sends."--_Gurnall_.
"The first thing, says he, is, to choose some maxim or point of morality;
to inculcate _which_, is to be the design of his work."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 421. "_Whomsoever_ you please to appoint."--_Lowth_. "_Whatsover_
[sic--KTH] he doeth, shall prosper."--_Bible_. "_What_ we are afraid to do
before men, we should be afraid to think before God."--_Sibs_. "Shall I
hide from Abraham that thing _which_ I do?"--_Gen._, xviii, 32. "Shall I
hide from Abraham _what_ I am going to do?"--"Call imperfection _what_ thou
fanciest such."--_Pope_.

6. Objectives by Rule 6th: (i.e., pronouns parsed as objectives after
neuter verbs, though they stand before them:) "He is not the man _that_ I
took him to be."--"_Whom_ did you suppose me to be?"--"If the lad ever
become _what_ you wish him to be."

7. Objectives by Rule 7th: "To _whom_ shall we go?"--_Bible_. "The laws by
_which_ the world is governed, are general."--_Bp. Butler_. "_Whom_ he
looks upon as his defender."--_Addison_. "That secret heaviness of heart
_which_ unthinking men are subject to."--_Id._ "I cannot but think the loss
of such talents as the man of _whom_ I am speaking was master of, a more
melancholy instance."--_Steele_. "Grammar is the solid foundation upon
_which_ all other science rests."--_Buchanan's Eng. Synt._, p. xx.

OBS. 22.--In familiar language, the relative of the objective case is
frequently understood; as, "The man [_whom_] I trust."--_Cowper_. "Here is
the letter [_which_] I received." So in the following sentences: "This is
the man they hate. These are the goods they bought. Are these the Gods they
worship? Is this the woman you saw?"--_Ash's Gram._, p. 96. This ellipsis
seems allowable only in the familiar style. In grave writing, or deliberate
discourse, it is much better to express this relative. The omission of it
is often attended with some obscurity; as, "The next error [_that_] I shall
mention [,] is a capital one."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 157. "It is
little [_that_] we know of the divine perfections."--_Scougal_, p. 94. "The
faith [_which_] we give to memory, may be thought, on a superficial view,
to be resolvable into consciousness, as well as that [_which_] we give to
the immediate impressions of sense."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 53. "We speak
that [_which_] we do know, and testify that [_which_] we have
seen."--_John_, iii, 11. The omission of a relative in the nominative case,
is almost always inelegant; as, "This is the worst thing [_that_] could
happen."--"There were several things [_which_] brought it upon
me."--_Pilgrim's Progress_, p. 162. The latter ellipsis may occur after
_but_ or _than_, and it is also sometimes allowed in poetry; as, [There is]
"No person of reflection but [who] must be sensible, that an incident makes
a stronger impression on an eye-witness, than when heard at second
hand."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 257.

   "In this 'tis God directs, in that 'tis man."--_Pope, on Man_.

    "Abuse on all he lov'd, or lov'd him, spread."--_Id., to Arbuthnot_.

    "There's nothing blackens like the ink of fools."--_Id., to Augustus_.

OBS. 23.--The _antecedent_ is sometimes suppressed, especially in poetry;
as, "Who will, may be a judge."--_Churchill_. "How shall I curse [_him_ or
_them_] whom God hath not cursed?"--_Numbers_, xxiii, 8. "There are,
indeed, [some persons] who seem disposed to extend her authority much
farther."--_Campbell's Philosophy of Rhet._, p. 187.

    [He] "Who lives to nature, rarely can be poor;
    [He] Who lives to fancy, never can be rich."--_Young_.

    "Serious should be an author's final views;
    [They] Who write for pure amusement, ne'er amuse."--_Id._

OBS. 24.--_Which_, as well as _who_, was formerly applied to persons; as,
"Our _Father which_ art in heaven."--_Bible_. "Pray for _them which_
despitefully use you."--_Luke_, vi, 28. And, as to the former example here
cited, some British critics, still preferring the archaism, have accused
"The Americans" of "poor criticism," in that they "have changed _which_
into _who_, as being more consonant to the rules of Grammar." Falsely
imagining, that _which_ and _who_, with the same antecedent, can be of
different _genders_, they allege, that, "The use of the _neuter_ pronoun
carried with it a certain vagueness and sublimity, not inappropriate in
reminding us that our worship is addressed to a Being, infinite, and
superior to all distinctions applicable to material objects."--_Men and
Manners in America_: quoted and endorsed by the REV. MATT. HARRISON, in his
treatise on the English Language, p. 191. This is all fancy; and, in my
opinion, absurd. It is just like the religious prejudice which could
discern "a singular propriety" in "the double superlative _most
highest_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 28. But _which_ may still be applied to a
young child, if sex and intelligence be disregarded; as, "The _child which_
died." Or even to adults, when they are spoken of without regard to a
distinct personality or identity; as, "_Which_ of you will go?"--"Crabb
knoweth not _which_ is _which_, himself or his parodist."--_Leigh Hunt_.

OBS. 25.--A proper name taken merely as a name, or an appellative taken in
any sense not strictly personal, must be represented by _which_, and not by
_who_; as, "Herod--_which_ is but an other name for cruelty."--"In every
prescription of duty, God proposeth himself as a rewarder; _which_ he is
only to those that please him."--_Dr. J. Owen_. _Which_ would perhaps be
more proper than _whom_, in the following passage: "They did not destroy
the _nations_, concerning _whom_ the Lord commanded them."--_Psalms_, cvi,
34. Dr. Blair has preferred it in the following instance: "My lion and my
pillar are sufficiently interpreted by the mention of _Achilles_ and the
_minister, which_ I join to them."--_Lectures_, p. 151. He meant, "_whose
names I connect with theirs_;" and not, that he joined the _person_ of
Achilles to a lion, or that of a minister to a pillar.

OBS. 26.--When two or more relative clauses pertain to the same antecedent,
if they are connected by a conjunction, the same relative ought to be
employed in each, agreeably to the doctrine of the seventh note below; but
if no conjunction is expressed or understood between them, the pronouns
ought rather to be different; as, "There are many things _that_ you can
speak of, _which_ cannot be seen."--_R W. Green's Gram._, p. 11. This
distinction is noticed in the fifth chapter of Etymology, Obs. 29th, on the
Classes of Pronouns. Dr. Priestley says, "Whatever relative _be_ used, in a
_series_ of clauses, relating to the same antecedent, the same ought to be
used in them all. 'It is remarkable, that _Holland_, against _which_ the
war was undertaken, _and that_, in the very beginning, was reduced to the
brink of destruction, lost nothing.'--_Universal History_, Vol. 25, p. 117.
It ought to have been, _and which in the very beginning_."--_Priestley's
Gram._, p. 102. L. Murray, (as I have shown in the Introduction, Ch. x, ¶
22,) assumes all this, without references; adding as a salvo the word
"_generally_," which merely impairs the certainty of the rule:--"the same
relative ought _generally_ to be used in them all."--_Octavo Gram._, p.
155. And, of _who_ and _that_, Cobbett says: "Either may do; but both
_never_ ought to be relatives of the same antecedent in the same
sentence."--_Gram._, ¶ 202. The inaccuracy of these rules is as great as
that of the phraseology which is corrected under them. In the following
sentence, the first relative only is restrictive, and consequently the
other may be different: "These were the officers _that_ were called
_Homotimoi_, and _who_ signalized themselves afterwards so gloriously upon
all occasions."--_Rollin's Hist._, ii, 62. See also in _Rev._, x, 6th, a
similar example without the conjunction.

OBS. 27.--In conversation, the possessive pronoun _your_ is sometimes used
in a droll way, being shortened into _your_ in pronunciation, and nothing
more being meant by it, than might be expressed by the article _an_ or _a_:
as, "Rich honesty dwells, like _your_ miser, sir, in a poor house; as,
_your_ pearl in _your_ foul oyster."--_Shakspeare_.


NOTES TO RULE X.

NOTE 1.--A pronoun should not be introduced in connexion with words that
belong more properly to the antecedent, or to an other pronoun; as, "And
then there is good use for _Pallas her_ glass."--_Bacon's Wisdom_, p. 22.
Say--"for _Pallas's_ glass."

   "My _banks they_ are furnish'd with bees,
    Whose murmur invites one to sleep."--_Shenstone_, p. 284.

This last instance, however, is only an example of _pleonasm_; which is
allowable and frequent in _animated discourse_, but inelegant in any other.
Our grammarians have condemned it too positively. It occurs sundry times in
the Bible; as, "Know ye that the LORD _he_ is God."--_Psalms_, c, 3.

NOTE II.--A change of number in the second person, or even a promiscuous
use of _ye_ and _you_ in the same case and the same style, is inelegant,
and ought to be avoided; as, "_You_ wept, and I for _thee_"--"Harry, said
my lord, don't cry; I'll give _you_ something towards _thy_
loss."--_Swift's Poems_, p. 267. "_Ye_ sons of sloth, _you_ offspring of
darkness, awake from your sleep."--_Brown's Metaphors_, p. 96. Our poets
have very often adopted the former solecism, to accommodate their measure,
or to avoid the harshness of the old verb in the second person singular:
as, "_Thy_ heart is yet blameless, O fly while _you may_!"--_Queen's Wake_,
p. 46.

   "Oh! Peggy, Peggy, when _thou_ goest to brew,
    Consider well what _you're_ about to do."--_King's Poems_, p. 594.

    "As in that lov'd Athenian bower,
    You _learn'd_ an all-commanding power,
    Thy mimic soul, O nymph endear'd!
    Can well recall what then it heard."--_Collins, Ode to Music._

NOTE III.--The relative _who_ is applied only to persons, and to animals or
things personified; and _which_, to brute animals and inanimate things
spoken of literally: as, "The _judge who_ presided;"--"The old _crab who_
advised the young one;"--"The _horse which_ ran away;"--"The _book which_
was given me."

NOTE IV.--Nouns of multitude, unless they express persons directly as such,
should not be represented by the relative _who_: to say, "The _family whom_
I visited," would hardly be proper; _that_ would here be better. When such
nouns are strictly of the neuter gender, _which_ may represent them; as,
"The _committees which_ were appointed." But where the idea of rationality
is predominant, _who_ or _whom_ seems not to be improper; as, "The
conclusion of the Iliad is like the exit of a great man out of _company
whom_ he has entertained magnificently."--_Cowper._ "A law is only the
expression of the desire of a _multitude who_ have power to
punish."--_Brown's Philosophy of the Mind._

NOTE V.--In general, the pronoun must so agree with its antecedent as to
present the same idea, and never in such a manner as to confound the name
with the thing signified, or any two things with each other. Examples:
"_Jane_ is in the nominative case, because _it_ leads the
sentence."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 30. Here _it_ represents _the word
"Jane"_ and not _the person Jane._ "What mark or sign is put after _master_
to show that _he_ is in the possessive case? Spell _it_"--_Ib._, p. 32.
Here _the word "master"_ is most absurdly confounded with _the man_; and
that to accommodate grammar to a child's comprehension!

NOTE VI.--The relative _that_ may be applied either to persons or to
things. In the following cases, it is more appropriate than _who, whom_, or
_which_; and ought to be preferred, unless it be necessary to use a
preposition before the relative:--(1.) After an adjective of the
superlative degree, when the relative clause is restrictive;[383] as, "He
was the _first that_ came."--"He was the _fittest_ person _that_ could then
be found."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 422. "The Greeks were the _greatest_
reasoners _that_ ever appeared in the world."--BEATTIE: _Murray's Gram._,
p. 127. (2.) After the adjective _same_, when the relative clause is
restrictive; as, "He is the _same_ man _that_ you saw before."--
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 101; _Murray's_, 156; _Campbell's Rhet._, 422. (3.)
After the antecedent _who_; as, "Who that is a sincere friend to it, can
look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the
fabric?"--_Washington._ (4.) After two or more antecedents that demand a
relative adapted both to persons and to things; as, "He spoke largely of
the _men and things that_ he had seen."--"When some particular _person_ or
_thing_ is spoken of, _that_ ought to be more distinctly marked."--
_Murray's Gram._, p. 51. (5.) After an unlimited antecedent which the
relative clause is designed to restrict; as, "_Thoughts that_ breathe, and
_words that_ burn."--_Gray_. "Music _that accords_ with the present tone of
mind, is, on that account, doubly agreeable."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii,
311. "For Theocritus descends sometimes into _ideas that_ are gross and
mean."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 393. (6.) After any antecedent introduced by
the expletive _it_; as, "_It_ is _you that_ suffer."--"It was I, and not
he, _that_ did it."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 142. "It was not he[384]
_that_ they were so angry with."--_Murray's Exercises_, R. 17. "_It_ was
not _Gavius_ alone _that_ Verres meant to insult."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
325. (7.) And, in general, wherever the propriety of _who_ or _which_ is
doubtful; as, "The little _child that_ was placed in the midst."

NOTE VII.--When two or more relative clauses connected by a conjunction
have a similar dependence in respect to the antecedent, the same pronoun
must be employed in each; as, "O thou, _who_ art, and _who_ wast, and _who_
art to come!"--"And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon,
and all the host of heaven, _whom_ they have loved, and _whom_ they have
served, and after _whom_ they have walked, and _whom_ they have sought, and
_whom_ they have worshiped."--_Jer._, viii, 2. NOTE VIII.--The relative,
and the preposition governing it, should not be omitted, when they are
necessary to the sense intended, or to a proper connexion of the parts of
the sentence; as, "He is still in the situation you saw him." Better thus:
"He is still in the situation in _which_ you saw him."

NOTE IX.--After certain nouns, of time, place, manner, or cause, the
conjunctive adverbs _when, where, whither, whence, how_, and _why_, are a
sort of special relatives; but no such adverb should be used where a
preposition and a relative pronoun would better express the relation of the
terms: as, "A cause _where_ justice is so much concerned." Say, "A cause
_in which_." See Etymology, Obs. 6th, 7th, and 8th, on the Classes of
Adverbs.

NOTE X.--Where a pronoun or a pronominal adjective will not express the
meaning clearly, the noun must be repeated, or inserted in stead of it: as,
"We see the beautiful variety of colour in the rainbow, and are led to
consider the cause of _it_." Say,--"the cause of _that variety_;" because
the _it_ may mean _the variety, the colour_, or _the rainbow_.

NOTE XI.--To prevent ambiguity or obscurity, the relative should, in
general, be placed as near as possible to the antecedent. The following
sentence is therefore faulty: "He is like a beast of prey, that is void of
compassion." Better thus: "He that is void of compassion, is like a beast
of prey."

NOTE XII.--The pronoun _what_ should never be used in stead of the
conjunction _that_; as, "Think no man so perfect but _what_ he may err."
This is a vulgar fault. Say,--"but _that_ he may err."

NOTE XIII.--A pronoun should never be used to represent an
_adjective_,--except the pronominal adjectives, and others taken
substantively; because a pronoun can neither express a concrete quality as
such, nor convert it properly into an abstract: as, "Be _attentive_;
without _which_ you will learn nothing." Better thus: "Be attentive; _for
without attention_ you will learn nothing."

NOTE XIV.--Though the relative which may in some instances stand for a
phrase or a sentence, it is seldom, if ever, a fit representative of an
indicative assertion; as, "The man opposed me, _which_ was anticipated."--
_Nixon's Parser_, p. 127. Say,--"_but his opposition_ was anticipated."
Or: "The man opposed me, _as_ was anticipated." Or:--"_as I expected he
would_." Again: "The captain disobeys orders, _which_ is punished."--_Ib._,
p. 128. This is an other factitious sentence, formed after the same model,
and too erroneous for correction: none but a conceited grammatist could
ever have framed such a construction.

NOTE XV.--The possessive pronouns, _my, thy, his, her, its_, &c., should be
inserted or repeated as often as the sense or construction of the sentence
requires them; their omission, like that of the articles, can scarcely in
any instance constitute a proper ellipsis: as, "Of Princeton and
vicinity."--Say, "Of Princeton and _its_ vicinity." "The man and
wife."--Say, "The man and _his_ wife." "Many verbs vary both their
signification and construction."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 170; _Gould's_, 171.
Say,--"and _their_ construction."

NOTE XVI.--In the correcting of any discord between the antecedent and its
pronoun, if the latter for any sufficient reason is most proper as it
stands, the former must be changed to accord with it: as, "Let us discuss
what relates to _each particular_ in _their_ order:--_its_ order."--
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 193. Better thus: "Let us discuss what relates to
_the several particulars_, in _their_ order." For the order of things
implies plurality.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE X. UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--OF AGREEMENT

"The subject is to be joined with his predicate."--BP. WILKINS: _Lowth's
Gram._, p. 42.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _his_ is of the masculine
gender, and does not correctly represent its antecedent noun _subject_,
which is of the third person, singular, _neuter_. But, according to Rule
10th, "A pronoun must agree with its antecedent, or the noun or pronoun
which it represents, in person, number, and gender." Therefore, _his_
should be _its_; thus, "The subject is to be joined with _its_ predicate."]

"Every one must judge of their own feelings."--_Byron's Letters_. "Every
one in the family should know their duty."--_Wm. Penn_. "To introduce its
possessor into 'that way in which it should go.'"--_Infant School Gram._,
p. v. "Do not they say, every true believer has the Spirit of God in
them?"--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 388. "There is none in their natural state
righteous, no not one."--_Wood's Dict. of Bible_, ii, 129. "If ye were of
the world, the world would love his own."--_John_, xv, 19. "His form had
not yet lost all her original brightness."--_Milton_. "No one will answer
as if I were their friend or companion."--_Steele_, Spect., No. 534. "But
in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."--
_Philippians_, ii, 3. "And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts
against his neighbour."--_Zechariah_, viii, 17. "For every tree is known by
his own fruit."--_Luke_, vi, 44. "But she fell to laughing, like one out of
their right mind."--_Castle Rackrent_, p. 51. "Now these systems, so far
from having any tendency to make men better, have a manifest tendency to
make him worse."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 128. "And nobody else would
make that city their refuge any more."--_Josephus's Life_, p. 158. "What is
quantity, as it respects syllables or words? It is that time which is
occupied in pronouncing it."--_Bradley's Gram._, p. 108. "In such
expressions the adjective so much resembles an adverb in its meaning, that
they are usually parsed as such."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 103. "The
tongue is like a race-horse; which runs the faster the less weight it
carries."--ADDISON: _Joh. Dict.; Murray's Key_, Rule 8. "As two thoughtless
boys were trying to see which could lift the greatest weight with their
jaws, one of them had several of his firm-set teeth wrenched from their
sockets."--_Newspaper_. "Everybody nowadays publishes memoirs; everybody
has recollections which they think worthy of recording."--_Duchess
D'Abrantes_, p. 25. "Every body trembled for themselves or their
friends."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 171.

   "A steed comes at morning: no rider is there;
    But its bridle is red with the sign of despair."--_Campbell_.


UNDER NOTE I.--PRONOUNS WRONG OR NEEDLESS.

"Charles loves to study; but John, alas! he is very idle."--_Merchant's
School Gram._, p. 22. "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask
bread, will he give him a stone?"--_Matt._, vii, 9. "Who, in stead of going
about doing good, they are perpetually intent upon doing mischief."--
_Tillotson_. "Whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of
Pontius Pilate."--_Acts_, iii, 13. "Whom, when they had washed, they laid
her in an upper chamber."--_Acts_, ix, 37. "Then Manasseh knew that the
Lord he was God."--_2 Chron._, xxxiii, 13. "Whatever a man conceives
clearly, he may, if he will be at the trouble, put it into distinct
propositions, and express it clearly to others."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
293. "But to that point of time which he has chosen, the painter being
entirely confined, he cannot exhibit various stages of the same
action."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 52. "It is without any proof at all what he
subjoins."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 301. "George Fox his Testimony concerning
Robert Barclay."--_Ib._, i, 111. "According to the author of the Postscript
his advice."--_Ib._, iii, 263. "These things seem as ugly to the Eye of
their Meditations, as those Æthiopians pictur'd in Nemesis her
Pitcher."--_Bacon's Wisdom of the Ancients_, p. 49. "Moreover, there is
always a twofold Condition propounded with Sphynx her Ænigma's."--_Ib._, p.
73. "Whoever believeth not therein, they shall perish."--_Sale's Koran_, p.
20. "When, at Sestius his entreaty, I had been at his house."--_Walker's
Particles_, p. 59.

   "There high on Sipylus his shaggy brow,
    She stands, her own sad monument of woe."
        --_Pope's Homer_, B. xxiv, l. 777.


UNDER NOTE II.--CHANGE OF NUMBER.

"So will I send upon you famine, and evil beasts, and they shall bereave
thee."--_Ezekiel_, v, 17. "Why do you plead so much for it? why do ye
preach it up?"--_Barclay's Works_, i, 180. "Since thou hast decreed that I
shall bear man, your darling."--_Edward's First Lesson in Gram._, p. 106.
"You have my book and I have thine; i.e. thy book."--_Chandler's Gram._,
1821, p. 22. "Neither art thou such a one as to be ignorant of what you
are."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, p. 70. "Return, thou backsliding Israel,
saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon
you."--_Jeremiah_, iii, 12. "The Almighty, unwilling to cut thee off in the
fullness of iniquity, has sent me to give you warning."--_Art of Thinking_,
p. 278. "Wert thou born only for pleasure? were you never to do any
thing?"--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 63. "Thou shalt be required to go to
God, to die, and give up your account."--BARNES'S NOTES: _on Luke_, xii,
20. "And canst thou expect to behold the resplendent glory of the Creator?
would not such a sight annihilate you?"--_Milton_. "If the prophet had
commanded thee to do some great thing, would you have refused?"--_Common
School Journal_, i, 80. "Art thou a penitent? Evince your sincerity by
bringing forth fruits meet for repentance."--_Christian's Vade-Mecum_, p.
117. "I will call thee my dear son: I remember all your tenderness."--
_Classic Tales_, p. 8. "So do thou, my son: open your ears, and your
eyes."--_Wright's Athens_, p. 33. "I promise you, this was enough to
discourage thee."--_Pilgrim's Progress_, p. 446. "Ere you remark an other's
sin, Bid thy own conscience look within."--_Gay_. "Permit that I share in
thy woe, The privilege can you refuse?"--_Perfect's Poems_, p. 6. "Ah!
Strephon, how can you despise Her who without thy pity dies?"--_Swift's
Poems_, p. 340.

   "Thy verses, friend, are Kidderminster stuff,
    And I must own, you've measur'd out enough."--_Shenstone._

    "This day, dear Bee, is thy nativity;
    Had Fate a luckier one, she'd give it ye."--_Swift._


UNDER NOTE III.--WHO AND WHICH.

"Exactly like so many puppets, who are moved by wires."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 462. "They are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of
Egypt."--_Leviticus_, xxv, 42. "Behold I and the children which God hath
given me."--_Heb._, ii, 13; _Webster's Bible, and others._ "And he sent
Eliakim which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe."--_2 Kings_,
xix, 2. "In a short time the streets were cleared of the corpses who filled
them."--_M'Ilvaine's Led._, p. 411. "They are not of those which teach
things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake."--_Barclay's Works_,
i, 435. "As a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among
the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth
in pieces."--_Micah_, v, 8. "Frequented by every fowl whom nature has
taught to dip the wing in water."--_Rasselas_, p. 10. "He had two sons, one
of which was adopted by the family of Maximus."--_Lempriere, w. Æmytius_.
"And the ants, who are collected by the smell, are burned by fire."--_The
Friend_, xii, 49. "They being the agents, to which this thing was
trusted."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 139. "A packhorse who is driven constantly
forwards and backwards to market."--LOCKE: _Joh. Dict._ "By instructing
children, the affection of which will be increased."--_Nixon's Parser_, p.
136. "He had a comely young woman which travelled with him."--_Hutchinson's
Hist._, i, 29. "A butterfly, which thought himself an accomplished
traveller, happened to light upon a beehive."--_Inst._, p. 143. "It is an
enormous elephant of stone, who disgorges from his uplifted trunk a vast
but graceful shower."--_Zenobia_, i, 150. "He was met by a dolphin, who
sometimes swam before him, and sometimes behind him."--_Edward's First
Lessons in Gram._, p. 34.

   "That Cæsar's horse, who, as fame goes,
    Had corns upon his feet and toes,
    Was not by half so tender-hooft,
    Nor trod upon the ground so soft."--_Hudibras_, p. 6.


UNDER NOTE IV.--NOUNS OF MULTITUDE.

"He instructed and fed the crowds who surrounded him."--_Murray's
Exercises_, p. 52. "The court, who gives currency to manners, ought to be
exemplary."--_Ibid._ "Nor does he describe classes of sinners who do not
exist."--_Anti-Slavery Magazine_, i, 27. "Because the nations among whom
they took their rise, were not savage."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 113. "Among
nations who are in the first and rude periods of society."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 60. "The martial spirit of those nations, among whom the feudal
government prevailed."--_Ib._, p. 374. "France who was in alliance with
Sweden."--_Smollett's Voltaire_, vi, 187. "That faction in England who most
powerfully opposed his arbitrary pretensions."--_Mrs. Macaulay's Hist._,
iii, 21. "We may say, the crowd, _who_ was going up the
street.'"--_Cobbett's Gram._, ¶ 204. "Such members of the Convention who
formed this Lyceum, as have subscribed this Constitution."--_New-York
Lyceum._


UNDER NOTE V.--CONFUSION OF SENSES.

"The possessor shall take a particular form to show its case."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 53. "Of which reasons the principal one is, that no Noun,
properly so called, implies its own Presence."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 76.
"Boston is a proper noun, which distinguishes it from other
cities."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 22. "Conjunction means union, or joining
together. It is used to join or unite either words or sentences."--_Ib._,
p. 20. "The word _interjection_ means _thrown among_. It is interspersed
among other words to express sudden or strong emotion."--_Ib._, p. 21. "_In
deed_, or in very deed, may better be written separately, as they formerly
were."--_Cardell's Gram._, 12mo, p. 89. "_Alexander_, on the contrary, is a
particular name, and is restricted to distinguish him alone."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 25. "As an indication that nature itself had changed her
course."--_Hist. of America_, p. 9. "Of removing from the United States and
her territories the free people of colour."--_Jenifer_. "So that _gh_ may
be said not to have their proper sound."--_Webster's El. Spelling-Book_, p.
10. "Are we to welcome the loathsome harlot, and introduce it to our
children?"--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 167. "The first question is this, 'Is
reputable, national, and present use, which, for brevity's sake, I shall
hereafter simply denominate good use, always uniform in her
decisions?"--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 171. "Time is always masculine, on
account of its mighty efficacy. Virtue is feminine from its beauty, and its
being the object of love."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 37; _Blair's_, 125;
_Sanborn's_, 189; _Emmons's_, 13; _Putnam's_, 25; _Fisk's_, 57;
_Ingersoll's_, 26; _Greenleaf's_, 21. See also _Blair's Rhet._, p. 76.
"When you speak to a person or thing, it is in the second
person."--_Bartlett's Manual_, Part ii, p. 27. "You now know the noun, for
it means name."--_Ibid._ "_T_. What do you see? _P_. A book. _T_. Spell
it."--_R. W. Green's Gram._, p. 12. "_T_. What do you see now? _P_. Two
books. _T_. Spell them."--_Ibid._ "If the United States lose her rights as
a nation."--_Liberator_, Vol. ix, p. 24. "When a person or thing is
addressed or spoken to, it is in the second person."--_Frost's El. of
Gram._, p. 7. "When a person or thing is spoken of, it is in the third
person."--_Ibid._ "The ox, that ploughs the ground, has the same plural
termination also, _oxen_."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 40.

   "Hail, happy States! thine is the blissful seat,
    Where nature's gifts and art's improvements meet."
             EVERETT: _Columbian Orator_, p. 239.


UNDER NOTE VI.--THE RELATIVE THAT.

(1.) "This is the most useful art which men possess."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo,
p. 275. "The earliest accounts which history gives us concerning all
nations, bear testimony to these facts."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 379;
_Jamieson's_, 300. "Mr. Addison was the first who attempted a regular
inquiry" [into the pleasures of taste.]--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 28. "One of
the first who introduced it was Montesquieu."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 125.
"Massillon is perhaps the most eloquent writer of sermons which modern
times have produced."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 289. "The greatest barber who
ever lived, is our guiding star and prototype."--_Hart's Figaro_, No. 6.

(2.) "When prepositions are subjoined to nouns, they are generally the same
which are subjoined to the verbs, from which the nouns are
derived."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 157. "The same proportions which are
agreeable in a model, are not agreeable in a large building."--_Kames, EL
of Crit._, ii, 343. "The same ornaments, which we admire in a private
apartment, are unseemly in a temple."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 128. "The same
whom John saw also in the sun."--_Milton. P. L._, B. iii, l. 623.

(3.) "Who can ever be easy, who is reproached with his own ill
conduct?"--_Thomas à Kempis_, p. 72. "Who is she who comes clothed in a
robe of green?"--_Inst._, p. 143. "Who who has either sense or civility,
does not perceive the vileness of profanity?"

(4.) "The second person denotes the person or thing which is spoken
to."--_Compendium in Kirkham's Gram._ "The third person denotes the person
or thing which is spoken of."--_Ibid._ "A passive verb denotes action
received or endured by the person or thing which is its
nominative."--_Ibid, and Gram._, p. 157. "The princes and states who had
neglected or favoured the growth of this power."--_Bolingbroke, on
History_, p. 222. "The nominative expresses the name of the person, or
thing which acts, or which is the subject of discourse."--_Hiley's Gram._,
p. 19. (5.) "Authors who deal in long sentences, are very apt to be
faulty."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 108. "Writers who deal in long sentences, are
very apt to be faulty."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 313. "The neuter gender
denotes objects which are neither male nor female."--_Merchant's Gram._, p.
26. "The neuter gender denotes things which have no sex."--_Kirkham's
Compendium_. "Nouns which denote objects neither male nor female, are of
the neuter gender."--_Wells's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 49. "Objects and ideas
which have been long familiar, make too faint an impression to give an
agreeable exercise to our faculties."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 50. "Cases which
custom has left dubious, are certainly within the grammarian's
province."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 164. "Substantives which end in _ery_,
signify action or habit."--_Ib._, p. 132. "After all which can be done to
render the definitions and rules of grammar accurate," &c.--_Ib._, p. 36.
"Possibly, all which I have said, is known and taught."--_A. B. Johnson's
Plan of a Dict._, p. 15.

(6.) "It is a strong and manly style which should chiefly be
studied."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 261. "It is this which chiefly makes a
division appear neat and elegant."--_Ib._, p. 313. "I hope it is not I with
whom he is displeased."--_Murray's Key_, R. 17. "When it is this alone
which renders the sentence obscure."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 242. "This
sort of full and ample assertion, _'it is this which_,' is fit to be used
when a proposition of importance is laid down."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 197.
"She is the person whom I understood it to have been." _See Murray's
Gram._, p. 181. "Was it thou, or the wind, who shut the door?"--_Inst._, p.
143. "It was not I who shut it."--_Ib._

(7.) "He is not the person who it seemed he was."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
181; _Ingersoll's_, p. 147. "He is really the person who he appeared to
be."--_Same_. "She is not now the woman whom they represented her to have
been."--_Same_. "An only child, is one who has neither brother nor sister;
a child alone, is one who is left by itself"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 98;
_Jamieson's_, 71; _Murray's Gram._ 303.


UNDER NOTE VII.--RELATIVE CLAUSES CONNECTED.

(1.) "A Substantive, or Noun, is the name of a thing; of whatever we
conceive in any way to subsist, or of which we have any notion."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 14. (2.) "A Substantive or noun is the name of any thing that
exists, or of which we have any notion."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 27;
_Alger's_, 15; _Bacon's_, 9; _E. Dean's_, 8; _A. Flint's_, 10; _Folker's_,
5; _Hamlin's_, 9; _Ingersoll's_, 14; _Merchant's_, 25; _Pond's_, 15; _S.
Putnam's_, 10; _Rand's_, 9; _Russell's_, 9; _T. Smith's_, 12; and others.
(3.) "A substantive or noun is the name of any person, place, or thing that
exists, or of which we can have an idea."--_Frost's El. of E. Gram._, p. 6.
(4.) "A noun is the name of anything that exists, or of which we form an
idea."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 37. (5.) "A Noun is the name of any person,
place, object, or thing, that exists, or which we may conceive to
exist."--_D. C. Allen's Grammatic Guide_, p. 19. (6.) "The name of every
thing that exists, or of which we can form any notion, is a noun."--_Fisk's
Murray's Gram._, p. 56. (7.) "An allegory is the representation of some one
thing by an other that resembles it, and which is made to stand for
it."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 341. (8.) "Had he exhibited such sentences as
contained ideas inapplicable to young minds, or which were of a trivial or
injurious nature."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. ii, p. v. (9.) "Man would have
others obey him, even his own kind; but he will not obey God, that is so
much above him, and who made him."--_Penn's Maxims_. (10.) "But what we may
consider here, and which few Persons have taken Notice of, is,"
&c.--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 117. (11.) "The Compiler has not inserted
such verbs as are irregular only in familiar writing or discourse, and
which are improperly terminated by _t_, instead of _ed_."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 107; _Fisk's_, 81; _Hart's_, 68; _Ingersoll's_, 104;
_Merchant's_, 63. (12.) "The remaining parts of speech, which are called
the indeclinable parts, or that admit of no variations, will not detain us
long."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 84.


UNDER NOTE VIII.--THE RELATIVE AND PREPOSITION.

"In the temper of mind he was then."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 54. "To bring
them into the condition I am at present."--_Spect._, No. 520. "In the
posture I lay."--_Swift's Gulliver_. "In the sense it is sometimes
taken."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 527. "Tools and utensils are said to be
_right_, when they serve for the uses they were made."--_Collier's
Antoninus_, p. 99. "If, in the extreme danger I now am, I do not imitate
the behaviour of those," &c.--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 193. "News was
brought, that Darius was but twenty miles from the place they then
were."--_Ib._, ii, 113. "Alexander, upon hearing this news, continued four
days in the place he then was."--_Ib._, ii, 113. "To read, in the best
manner it is now taught."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 246. "It may be
expedient to give a few directions as to the manner it should be
studied."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 9. "Participles are words derived from
verbs, and convey an idea of the acting of an agent, or the suffering of an
object, with the time it happens."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 50.

   "Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal
    I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age
    Have left me naked to mine enemies."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 173.


UNDER NOTE IX.--ADVERBS FOR RELATIVES.

"In compositions where pronunciation has no place."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
101. "They framed a protestation, where they repeated their
claims."--_Hume's Hist_. "Which have reference to Substances, where Sex
never had existence."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 43. "Which denote substances
where sex never had existence."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 38; _Fisk's_, 57.
"There is no rule given how truth may be found out."--_Walker's Particles_,
p. 160. "The nature of the objects whence they are taken."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 165. "That darkness of character, where we can see no
heart."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 236. "The states where they
negotiated."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 159. "Till the motives whence
men act be known."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, p. 262. "He assigns the
principles whence their power of pleasing flows."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 19.
"But I went on, and so finished this History in that form as it now
appears."--_Sewel's Preface_, p. v. "By prepositions we express the cause
why, the instrument by which, wherewith, or the manner how a thing is
done."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 128; _John Burn's_, 121. "They are not
such in the language whence they are derived."--_Town's Analysis_, p. 13.
"I find it very hard to persuade several, that their passions are affected
by words from whence they have no ideas."--_Burke, on the Sublime_, p. 95.
"The known end, then, why we are placed in a state of so much affliction,
hazard, and difficulty, is our improvement in virtue and piety."--_Butler's
Anal._, p. 109.

   "Yet such his acts, as Greeks unborn shall tell,
    And curse the battle where their fathers fell."
        --_Pope, Il._, B. x, I. 61.


UNDER NOTE X.--REPEAT THE NOUN.

"Youth may be thoughtful, but it is not very common."--_Webster's El.
Spelling-Book_, p. 85. "A proper name is that given to one person or
thing."--_Bartlett's School Manual_, ii, 27. "A common name is that given
to many things of the same sort."--_Ibid._ "This rule is often violated;
some instances of which are annexed."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 149;
_Ingersoll's_, 237. "This is altogether careless writing. It renders style
often obscure, always embarrassed and inelegant."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 106.
"Every inversion which is not governed by this rule, will be disrelished by
every one of taste."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 62. "A proper diphthong is
that in which both the vowels are sounded."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 9;
_Alger's_, 11; _Bacon's_, 8; _Merchant's_, 9; _Hiley's_, 3; and others. "An
improper Diphthong is one in which only one of the two Vowels is
sounded."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 5. "Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his
descendants, are called Hebrews."--_Wood's Dict._ "Every word in our
language, of more than one syllable, has one of them distinguished from the
rest in this manner."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 236. "Two consonants proper to
begin a word must not be separated; as, fa-ble, sti-fle. But when they come
between two vowels, and are such as cannot begin a word, they must be
divided; as, ut-most, un-der."--_Ib._, p. 22. "Shall the intellect alone
feel no pleasures in its energy, when we allow them to the grossest
energies of appetite and sense?"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 298; _Murray's
Gram._, 289. "No man hath a propensity to vice as such: on the contrary, a
wicked deed disgusts him, and makes him abhor the author."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, i, 66. "The same that belong to nouns, belong also to
pronouns."--_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 8. "What is Language? It is the means
of communicating thoughts from one to another."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p.
15. "A simple word is that which is not made up of more than one."--_Adam's
Gram._, p. 4; _Gould's_, p. 4. "A compound word is that which is made up of
two or more words."--_Ib._ "When a conjunction is to be supplied, it is
called Asyndeton."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 235.


UNDER NOTE XI.--PLACE OF THE RELATIVE.

"It gives a meaning to words, which they would not have."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 244. "There are many words in the English language, that are
sometimes used as adjectives, and sometimes as adverbs."--_Ib._, p. 114.
"Which do not more effectually show the varied intentions of the mind, than
the auxiliaries do which are used to form the potential mood."--_Ib._, p.
67. "These accents make different impressions on the mind, which will be
the subject of a following speculation."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 108.
"And others very much differed from the writer's words, to whom they were
ascribed."--_Pref. to Lily's Gram._, p. xii. "Where there is nothing in the
sense which requires the last sound to be elevated, an easy fall will be
proper."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 250; _Bullions's E. Gram._, 167.
"There is an ellipsis of the verb in the last clause, which, when you
supply, you find it necessary to use the adverb not."--_Campbell's Rhet._,
p. 176; _Murray's Gram._, 368. "_Study_ is singular number, because its
nominative _I_ is, with which it agrees."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 22.
"John is the person, or, thou art who is in error."--_Wright's Gram._, p.
136. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin."--_2 Cor._,
v, 21.

   "Take that of me, my friend, who have the power
    To seal the accuser's lips."--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 268.


UNDER NOTE XII.--WHAT FOR THAT.

"I had no idea but what the story was true."--_Browns Inst._, p. 144. "The
post-boy is not so weary but what he can whistle."--_Ib._ "He had no
intimation but what the men were honest."--_Ib._ "Neither Lady Haversham
nor Miss Mildmay will ever believe, but what I have been entirely to
blame."--See _Priestley's Gram._, p. 93. "I am not satisfied, but what the
integrity of our friends is more essential to our welfare than their
knowledge of the world."--_Ibid._ "There is, indeed, nothing in poetry, so
entertaining or descriptive, but what a didactic writer of genius may be
allowed to introduce in some part of his work."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 401.
"Brasidas, being bit by a mouse he had catched, let it slip out of his
fingers: 'No creature, (says he,) is so contemptible but what may provide
for its own safety, if it have courage.'"--PLUTARCH: _Kames, El. of Crit._,
Vol. i, p. 81.


UNDER NOTE XIII.--ADJECTIVES FOR ANTECEDENTS.

"In narration, Homer is, at all times, remarkably concise, which renders
him lively and agreeable."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 435. "It is usual to talk
of a nervous, a feeble, or a spirited style; which are plainly the
characters of a writer's manner of thinking."--_Ib._, p. 92. "It is too
violent an alteration, if any alteration were necessary, which none
is."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 134. "Some men are too ignorant
to be humble, without which, there can be no docility."--_Berkley's
Alciphron_, p. 385. "Judas declared him innocent; which he could not be,
had he in any respect deceived the disciples."--_Porteus_. "They supposed
him to be innocent, which he certainly was not."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i,
p. 50; _Emmons's_, 25. "They accounted him honest, which he certainly was
not."--_Fetch's Comp. Gram._, p. 89. "Be accurate in all you say or do; for
it is important in all the concerns of life."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 145.
"Every law supposes the transgressor to be wicked; which indeed he is, if
the law is just."--_Ib._ "To be pure in heart, pious, and benevolent, which
all may be, constitutes human happiness."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 232. "To be
dexterous in danger, is a virtue; but to court danger to show it, is
weakness."--_Penn's Maxims_.


UNDER NOTE XIV.--SENTENCES FOR ANTECEDENTS.

"This seems not so allowable in prose; which the following erroneous
examples will demonstrate."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 175. "The accent is laid
upon the last syllable of a word; which is favourable to the
melody."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 86. "Every line consists of ten
syllables, five short and five long; from which there are but two
exceptions, both of them rare."--_Ib._, ii, 89. "The soldiers refused
obedience, which has been explained."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 128. "Cæsar
overcame Pompey, which was lamented."--_Ib._ "The crowd hailed William,
which was expected."--_Ib._ "The tribunes resisted Scipio, which was
anticipated."--_Ib._ "The censors reproved vice, which was admired."--_Ib._
"The generals neglected discipline, which has been proved."--_Ib._ "There
would be two nominatives to the verb was, which is improper."--_Adam's Lat.
Gram._, p. 205; _Gould's_, 202. "His friend bore the abuse very patiently;
which served to increase his rudeness: it produced, at length, contempt and
insolence."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 50; _Emmons's_, 25. "Almost all
compounded sentences, are more or less elliptical; some examples of which
may be seen under the different parts of speech."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
217; _Guy's_, 90; _R G. Smith's_, 180; _Ingersoll's_, 153; _Fisk's_, 144;
_J. M. Putnam's_, 137; _Weld's_, 190, _Weld's Imp. Ed._, 214.


UNDER NOTE XV.--REPEAT THE PRONOUN.

"In things of Nature's workmanship, whether we regard their internal or
external structure, beauty and design are equally conspicuous."--_Kames,
El. of Crit._, i, 269. "It puzzles the reader, by making him doubt whether
the word ought to be taken in its proper or figurative sense."--_Ib._, ii,
231. "Neither my obligations to the muses, nor expectations from them, are
so great."--_Cowley's Preface_. "The Fifth Annual Report of the
Anti-Slavery Society of Ferrisburgh and vicinity."--_Liberator_, ix, 69.
"Meaning taste in its figurative as well as proper sense."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, ii, 360. "Every measure in which either your personal or political
character is concerned."--_Junius_, Let. ix. "A jealous, righteous God has
often punished such in themselves or offspring."--_Extracts_, p. 179.
"Hence their civil and religious history are inseparable."--_Milman's
Jews_, i, 7. "Esau thus carelessly threw away both his civil and religious
inheritance."--_Ib._, i, 24. "This intelligence excited not only our hopes,
but fears likewise."--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 170. "In what manner our defect
of principle and ruling manners have completed the ruin of the national
spirit of union."--_Brown's Estimate_, i, 77. "Considering her descent, her
connexion, and present intercourse."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 85. "His own
and wife's wardrobe are packed up in a firkin."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._,
Part i, p. 73.


UNDER NOTE XVI.--CHANGE THE ANTECEDENT.

"The sound of _e_ and _o_ long, in their due degrees, will be preserved,
and clearly distinguished."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 242. "If any person
should be inclined to think," &c., "the author takes the liberty to suggest
to them," &c.--_Ib., Pref._, p. iv. "And he walked in all the ways of Asa
his father; he turned not aside from it."--_1 Kings_, xxii, 43. "If ye from
your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."--_Matt._,
xviii, 35. "Nobody ever fancied they were slighted by him, or had the
courage to think themselves his betters."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 8.
"And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with
her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son."--_Gen._, xxvii,
15. "Where all the attention of man is given to their own indulgence."--
_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 181. "The idea of a _father_ is a notion
superinduced to the substance, or man--let man be what it will."--_Locke's
Essay_, i, 219. "Leaving every one to do as they list."--_Barclay's Works_,
i, 460. "Each body performed his part handsomely."--_J. Flint's Gram._, p.
15. "This block of marble rests on two layers of stone, bound together with
lead, which, however, has not prevented the Arabs from forcing out several
of them."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part i, p. 72.

   "Love gives to every power a double power,
    Above their functions and their offices."--_Shakspeare_.


RULE XI.--PRONOUNS.

When the antecedent is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality,
the Pronoun must agree with it in the plural number: as, "The _council_
were divided in _their_ sentiments."--"The Christian _world_ are beginning
to awake out of _their_ slumber."--_C. Simeon_. "Whatever Adam's
_posterity_ lost through him, that and more _they_ gain in
Christ."--_J. Phipps_.

   "To this, one pathway gently-winding leads,
    Where march a train with baskets on their heads."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. xviii, l. 657.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XI.

OBS. 1.--The collective noun, or noun of multitude, being a name that
signifies many, may in general be taken in either of two ways, according to
the intention of the user: that is, either with reference to the
_aggregate_ as one thing, in which sense it will accord with the neuter
pronoun _it_ or _which_; or with reference to the _individuals_, so as to
accord with a plural pronoun _they, their, them_, or _who_, masculine, or
feminine, as the individuals of the assemblage may happen to be. The noun
itself, being literally singular both in form and in fact, has not
unfrequently some article or adjective before it that implies unity; so
that the interpretation of it in a plural sense by the pronoun or verb, was
perhaps not improperly regarded by the old grammarians as an example of the
figure _syllepsis_:.as, "Liberty should reach every individual of _a
people_, as _they_ all share one common nature."--_Spectator_, No. 287.

   "Thus urg'd the chief; _a generous troop appears_,
    _Who spread their_ bucklers and _advance their_ spears."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. xi, l. 720.

OBS. 2.--Many of our grammarians say, "When a noun of multitude is preceded
by a definitive word, which clearly limits the sense to an aggregate with
an idea of unity, it requires a verb and pronoun to agree with it in the
singular number."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 153; _Ingersoll's_, 249; Fisk's,
122; _Fowler's_, 528. But this principle, I apprehend, cannot be sustained
by an appeal to general usage. The instances in practice are not few, in
which both these senses are clearly indicated with regard to the same noun;
as, "_Each House_ shall keep a journal of _its_ proceedings, and from time
to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in _their_ judgement
require secrecy."--_Constitution of the United States_, Art. i, Sec. 5. "I
mean _that part_ of mankind _who are known_ by the name of women's men, or
beaux."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 536. "A _set_ of men _who are_ common
enough in the world."--_Ibid._ "It is vain for _a people_ to expect to be
free, unless _they_ are first willing to be virtuous."--_Wayland's Moral
Science_, p. 397. "For _this people's_ heart is waxed gross, and _their_
ears are dull of hearing, and _their_ eyes _they_ have closed."--_Matt._,
xiii, 15. "_This enemy_ had now enlarged _their_ confederacy, and made
_themselves_ more formidable than before."--_Life of Antoninus_, p. 62.

   "Thus from the tents the fervent _legion swarms_;
    So loud _their_ clamour, and so keen _their_ arms."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. xvi, l. 320.

OBS. 3.--Most collective nouns of the neuter gender, may take the regular
plural form, and be represented by a pronoun in the third person, plural,
neuter; as, "The _nations_ will enforce _their_ laws." This construction
comes under Rule 10th, as does also the singular, "The _nations_ will
enforce _its_ laws;" for, in either case, the agreement is entirely
literal. Half of Murray's Rule 4th is therefore needless. To Rule 11th
above, there are properly no exceptions; because the number of the pronoun
is itself the index to the sense in which the antecedent is therein taken.
It does not follow, however, but that there may be violations of the rule,
or of the notes under it, by the adoption of one number when the other
would be more correct, or in better taste. A collection of things
inanimate, as a fleet, a heap, a row, a tier, a bundle, is seldom, if ever,
taken distributively, with a plural pronoun. For a further elucidation of
the construction of collective nouns, see Rule 15th, and the observations
under it.


NOTES TO RULE XI.

NOTE I.--A collective noun conveying the idea of unity, requires a pronoun
in the third person, singular, neuter; as, "When a legislative _body_ makes
laws, _it_ acts for _itself_ only; but when _it_ makes grants or contracts,
_it_ acts as a party."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 40. "A civilized _people_
has no right to violate _its_ solemn obligations, because the other party
is uncivilized."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 314.

NOTE II.--When a collective noun is followed by two or more words which
must each in some sense agree with it, uniformity of number is commonly
preferable to diversity, and especially to such a mixture as puts the
singular both before and after the plural; as, "_That_ ingenious nation
_who have done_ so much honour to modern literature, _possesses_, in an
eminent degree, the talent of narration."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 364. Better:
_"which has done."_


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XI.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE IDEA OF PLURALITY.

"The jury will be confined
till it agrees on a verdict."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 145.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _it_ is of the singular number,
and does not correctly represent its antecedent _jury_, which is a
collective noun conveying rather the idea of plurality. But, according to
Rule 11th, "When the antecedent is a collective noun conveying the idea of
plurality, the pronoun must agree with it in the plural number." Therefore,
it should be _they_; thus, "The jury will be confined till _they_ agree on
a verdict."]

"And mankind directed its first cares towards the needful."--_Formey's
Belles-Lettres_, p. 114. "It is difficult to deceive a free people
respecting its true interest."--_Life of Charles XII_, p. 67. "All the
virtues of mankind are to be counted upon a few fingers, but his follies
and vices are innumerable."--_Swift_. "Every sect saith, 'Give me liberty:'
but give it him, and to his power, he will not yield it to any body
else."--_Oliver Cromwell_. "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great
lion, and lift up himself as a young lion."--_Numbers, xxiii_, 24. "For all
flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."--_Gen._, vi, 12. "There
happened to the army a very strange accident, which put it in great
consternation."--_Goldsmith_.

UNDER NOTE I.--THE IDEA OF UNITY.

"The meeting went on in their business as a united body."--_Foster's
Report_, i, 69. "Every religious association has an undoubted right to
adopt a creed for themselves."--_Gould's Advocate_, iii, 405. "It would
therefore be extremely difficult to raise an insurrection in that State
against their own government."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 104. "The mode in
which a Lyceum can apply themselves in effecting a reform in common
schools."--_New York Lyceum_. "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are
yet no gods?"--_Jeremiah_, ii, 11. "In the holy scriptures each of the
twelve tribes of Israel is often called by the name of the patriarch, from
whom they descended."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, ii, 331.

UNDER NOTE II.--UNIFORMITY OF NUMBER.

"A nation, by the reparation of their own wrongs, achieves a triumph more
glorious than any field of blood can ever give."--_J. Q. Adams_. "The
English nation, from which we descended, have been gaining their liberties
inch by inch."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 45. "If a Yearly Meeting should
undertake to alter its fundamental doctrines, is there any power in the
society to prevent their doing so?"--_Foster's Report_, i, 96. "There is a
generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their
mother."--_Proverbs_, xxx, 11. "There is a generation that are pure in
their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness."--_Ib._, xxx,
12. "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen
perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a
king is among them."--_Numb._, xxiii, 21. "My people hath forgotten me,
they have burnt incense to vanity."--_Jer._, xviii, 15. "When a quarterly
meeting hath come to a judgment respecting any difference, relative to any
monthly meeting belonging to them," &c.--_Extracts_, p. 195; _N. E.
Discip._, p. 118. "The number of such compositions is every day increasing,
and appear to be limited only by the pleasure or conveniency of the
writer."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, p. 37. "The church of Christ hath the
same power now as ever, and are led by the same Spirit into the same
practices."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 477. "The army, whom the chief had thus
abandoned, pursued meanwhile their miserable march."--_Lockhart's
Napoleon_, ii, 165.


RULE XII.--PRONOUNS.

When a Pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _and_, it must
agree with them jointly in the plural, because they are taken together: as,
"_Minos_ and _Thales_ sung to the lyre the laws which _they_
composed."--STRABO: _Blair's Rhet._, p. 379. "_Saul_ and _Jonathan_ were
lovely and pleasant in _their_ lives, and in _their_ death _they_ were not
divided."--_2 Sam._, i, 23.

   "_Rhesus_ and _Rhodius_ then unite their rills,
    Caresus roaring down the stony hills."--_Pope, Il._, B. xii, l. 17.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

When two or more antecedents connected by and serve merely to describe one
person or thing, they are either in apposition or equivalent to one name,
and do not require a plural pronoun; as, "This great _philosopher_ and
_statesman_ continued in public life till _his_ eighty-second year."--"The
same _Spirit, light_, and _life, which enlighteneth_, also sanctifieth, and
there is not an other."--_Penington_. "My _Constantius and Philetus_
confesseth me two years older when I writ _it_."--_Cowley's Preface_.
"Remember these, O _Jacob_ and _Israel_! for _thou_ art my
servant."--_Isaiah_, xliv, 21. "In that _strength_ and _cogency which
renders_ eloquence powerful."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 252.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

When two antecedents connected by _and_ are emphatically distinguished,
they belong to different propositions, and, if singular, do not require a
plural pronoun; as, "The _butler_, and not the _baker_, was restored to
_his_ office."--"The _good man_, and the _sinner too_, shall have _his_
reward."--"_Truth_, and _truth only_, is worth seeking for _its_ own
sake."--"It is _the sense_ in which the word is used, and _not the letters_
of which it is composed, _that determines_ what is the part of speech to
which it belongs."--_Cobbett's Gram._, ¶ 130.

EXCEPTION THIRD.

When two or more antecedents connected by _and_ are preceded by the
adjective _each, every_, or _no_, they are taken separately, and do not
require a plural pronoun; as, "_Every plant_ and _every tree_ produces
others after _its_ own kind."--"It is the cause of _every reproach_ and
_distress_ which _has attended_ your government."--_Junius_, Let. xxxv. But
if the latter be a collective noun, the pronoun may be plural; as, "_Each
minister_ and _each church_ act according to _their_ own
impressions."--_Dr. M'Cartee_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XII.

OBS. 1.--When the antecedents are of _different persons_, the first person
is preferred to the second, and the second to the third; as, "_John_, and
_thou_, and _I_, are attached to _our_ country."--"_John_ and _thou_ are
attached to _your_ country."--"The Lord open some light, and show both
_you_ and _me our_ inheritance!"--_Baxter_. "_Thou_ and thy _sons_ with
thee _shall bear_ the iniquity of _your_ priesthood."--_Numbers_, xviii, 1.

   "For all are friends in heaven; all faithful friends;
    And many friendships in the days of Time
    Begun, are lasting here, and growing still:
    So grows _ours_ evermore, both _theirs and mine_."
        --_Pollok, C. of T._, B. v, l. 335.

OBS 2.--The _gender_ of pronouns, except in the third person singular, is
distinguished only by their antecedents. In expressing that of a pronoun
which has antecedents of _different_ genders, the masculine should be
preferred to the feminine, and the feminine to the neuter. The parser of
English should remember, that this is a principle of General Grammar.

OBS 3.--When two words are taken separately as nominatives, they ought not
to be united in the same sentence as antecedents. In the following example,
therefore, _them_ should be _it_: "The first has a lenis, and the other an
asper over _them_."--_Printer's Gram._, p. 246. Better thus: "The first has
a lenis _over it_, and the other an asper."

OBS. 4.--Nouns that stand as nominatives or antecedents, are sometimes
taken conjointly when there is no conjunction expressed; as, "The
historian, the orator, the philosopher, _address themselves_ primarily to
the understanding: _their_ direct aim is, to inform, to persuade, to
instruct."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 377. The copulative _and_ may here be said
to be understood, because the verb and the pronouns are plural; but it
seems better _in general_, either to introduce the connective word, or to
take the nouns disjunctively: as, "They have all the copiousness, the
fervour, the inculcating method, that _is_ allowable and graceful in an
orator; perhaps too much of it for a writer."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 343. To
this, however, there may be exceptions,--cases in which the plural form is
to be preferred,--especially in poetry; as,

   "Faith, justice, heaven itself, now quit their hold,
    When to false fame the captive heart is sold."--_Brown, on Satire_.

OBS. 5.--When two or more antecedents connected by _and_ are nominally
alike, one or more of them may be _understood_; and, in such a case, the
pronoun must still be plural, as agreeing with all the nouns, whether
expressed or implied: as, "But intellectual and moral culture ought to go
hand in hand; _they_ will greatly help each other."--_Dr. Weeks_. Here
_they_ stands for _intellectual culture_ and _moral culture_. The following
example is incorrect: "The Commanding and Unlimited _mode_ may be used in
an absolute sense, or without a name or substitute on which _it_ can
depend."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 80. Change _it_ to _they_, or _and_ to
_or_. See Note 6th to Rule 16th.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XII.

PRONOUNS WITH ANTECEDENTS CONNECTED BY AND.

"Discontent and sorrow manifested itself in his countenance."--_Brown's
Inst._, p. 146.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the pronoun _itself_ is of the singular
number, and does not correctly represent its two antecedents _discontent_
and _sorrow_, which are connected by _and_, and taken conjointly. But,
according to Rule 12th, "When a pronoun has two or more antecedents
connected by _and_, it must agree with then, jointly in the plural, because
they are taken together." Therefore, _itself_ should be _themselves_; thus,
"Discontent and sorrow manifested _themselves_ in his countenance."]

"Both conversation and public speaking became more simple and plain, such
as we now find it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 59. "Idleness and ignorance, if it
be suffered to proceed, &c."--JOHNSON: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 186. "Avoid
questions and strife; it shows a busy and contentious disposition."--_Wm.
Penn_. "To receive the gifts and benefits of God with thanksgiving, and
witness it blessed and sanctified to us by the word and prayer, is owned by
us."--_Barclays Works_, i, 213. "Both minister and magistrate are compelled
to choose between his duty and his reputation."--_Junius_, p. 9. "All the
sincerity, truth, and faithfulness, or disposition of heart or conscience
to approve it, found among rational creatures, necessarily originate from
God."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. 12. "Your levity and heedlessness, if it
continue, will prevent all substantial improvement."--_Brown's Inst._, p.
147. "Poverty and obscurity will oppress him only who esteems it
oppressive."--_Ib._ "Good sense and refined policy are obvious to few,
because it cannot be discovered but by a train of reflection."--_Ib._
"Avoid haughtiness of behaviour, and affectation, of manners: it implies a
want of solid merit."--_Ib._ "If love and unity continue, it will make you
partakers of one an other's joy."--_Ib._ "Suffer not jealousy and distrust
to enter: it will destroy, like a canker, every germ of friendship."--_Ib._
"Hatred and animosity are inconsistent with Christian charity; guard,
therefore, against the slightest indulgence of it."--_Ib._ "Every man is
entitled to liberty of conscience, and freedom of opinion, if he does not
pervert it to the injury of others."--_Ib._

   "With the azure and vermilion
    Which is mix'd for my pavilion."--_Byron's Manfred_, p. 9.


RULE XIII.--PRONOUNS.

When a Pronoun has two or more antecedents connected by _or_ or _nor_, it
must agree with them singly, and not as if taken together: as; "_James_ or
_John_ will favour us with _his_ company."--"Neither _wealth_ nor _honour_
can secure the happiness of _its_ votaries."

   "What _virtue_ or what mental _grace_,
    But men unqualified and base
        Will boast _it_ their possession?"--_Cowper, on Friendship_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XIII.

OBS. 1.--When two or more singular antecedents are connected by _or_ or
_nor_, the pronoun which represents them, ought in general to be singular,
because _or_ and _nor_ are disjunctives; and, to form a complete concord,
the nouns ought also to be of the same person and gender, that the pronoun
may agree in all respects with each of them. But when _plural_ nouns are
connected in this manner, the pronoun will of course be plural, though it
still agrees with the antecedents singly; as, "Neither _riches_ nor
_honours_ ever satisfy _their_ pursuers." Sometimes, when different numbers
occur together, we find the plural noun put last, and the pronoun made
plural after both, especially if this noun is a mere substitute for the
other; as,

   "What's justice to a man, or laws,
    That never comes within _their_ claws."--_Hudibras_.

OBS. 2.--When antecedents of different persons, numbers, or genders, are
connected by _or_ or _nor_, they cannot very properly be represented by any
pronoun that is not applicable to each of them. The following sentences are
therefore inaccurate; or at least they contradict the teachings of their
own authors: "Either _thou or I_ am greatly mistaken, in _our_ judgment on
this subject."--_Murray's Key_, p. 184 "Your character, which _I, or any
other writer_, may now value _ourselves_ by (upon) drawing."--SWIFT:
_Lowth's Gram._, p. 96. "Either _you or I_ will be in _our_ place in due
time."--_Coopers Gram._, p. 127. But different pronouns may be so connected
as to refer to such antecedents taken separately; as, "By requiring greater
labour from such _slave or slaves_, than _he or she or they_ are able to
perform."--_Prince's Digest_. Or, if the gender only be different, the
masculine may involve the feminine by implication; as, "If a man smite the
eye of his _servant_, or the eye of his _maid_, that it perish, he shall
let _him_ go free for _his_ eye's sake."--_Exodus_, xxi, 26.

OBS. 3.--It is however very common to resort to the plural number in such
instances as the foregoing, because our plural pronouns are alike in all
the genders; as, "When either _man or woman_ shall separate _themselves_ to
vow a vow of a Nazarite."--_Numbers_, vi, 2. "Then shalt thou bring forth
_that man or that woman_ unto thy gates, and shalt stone them with stones,
till _they_ die."--_Deut._, xvii, 5. "Not on outward charms could _he or
she_ build _their_ pretensions to please."--_Opie, on Lying_, p. 148.
"Complimenting either _man or woman_ on agreeable qualities which _they_ do
not possess, in hopes of imposing on _their_ credulity."--_Ib._, p. 108.
"_Avidien_, or his _wife_, (no matter which,) _sell their_ presented
partridges and fruits."--_Pope_, Sat. ii, l. 50. "Beginning with Latin _or_
Greek hexameter, _which are_ the same."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 79.

   "Did ever _Proteus, Merlin_, any _witch_,
    Transform _themselves_ so strangely as the rich?"
        --_Pope_, Ep. i, l. 152.

OBS. 4.--From the observations and examples above, it may be perceived,
that whenever there is a difference of person, number, or gender, in
antecedents connected disjunctively, there is an inherent difficulty
respecting the form of the pronoun personal. The best mode of meeting this
inconvenience, or of avoiding it by a change of the phraseology, may be
different on different occasions. The disjunctive connexion of explicit
pronouns is the most correct, but it savours too much of legal precision
and wordiness to be always eligible. Commonly an ingenious mind may invent
some better expression, and yet avoid any syntactical anomaly. In Latin,
when nouns are connected by the conjunctions which correspond to _or_ or
_nor_, the pronoun or verb is so often made plural, that no such principle
as that of the foregoing Rule, or of Rule 17th, is taught by the common
grammars of that language. How such usage can be logically right, however,
it is difficult to imagine. Lowth, Murray, Webster, and most other English
grammarians, teach, that, "The conjunction disjunctive has an effect
contrary to that of the copulative; and, as the verb, noun, or pronoun, is
referred to the preceding terms taken separately, it must be in the
singular number."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 75; _L. Murray's_, 151;
_Churchill's_, 142; _W. Allen's_, 133; _Lennie's_, 83; _and many others_.
If there is any allowable exception to this principle, it is for the
adoption of the plural when the concord cannot be made by any one pronoun
singular; as, "If I value my friend's _wife or son_ upon account of _their_
connexion with him."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 73. "Do not drink wine nor
strong drink, _thou nor thy sons_ with thee, when _ye_ go into the
tabernacle of the congregation."--_Levit._, x, 8. These examples, though
they do not accord with the preceding rule, seem not to be susceptible of
any change for the better. There are also some other modes of expression,
in which nouns that are connected disjunctively, may afterwards be
represented together; as "_Foppery_ is a sort of folly much more contagious
THAN _pedantry_; but as _they_ result alike from affectation, _they_
deserve alike to be proscribed."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 217.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XIII.

PRONOUNS WITH ANTECEDENTS CONNECTED BY OR OR NOR.

"Neither prelate nor priest can give their flocks any decisive evidence
that you are lawful pastors."--_Dr. Brownlee_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _their_ is of the plural number,
and does not correctly represent its two antecedents _prelate_ and
_priest_, which are connected by _nor_, and taken disjunctively. But,
according to Rule 13th, "When a pronoun has two or more antecedents
connected by _or_ or _nor_, it must agree with them singly, and not as if
taken together." Therefore, _their_ should be _his_; thus, "Neither prelate
nor priest can give _his_ flocks any decisive evidence that you are lawful
pastors."]

"And is there a heart of parent or of child, that does not beat and burn
within them?"--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 367. "This is just as if an eye or a
foot should demand a salary for their service to the body."--_Collier's
Antoninus_, p. 178. "If thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and
cast them from thee."--_Matt._, xviii, 8. "The same might as well be said
of Virgil, or any great author, whose general character will infallibly
raise many casual additions to their reputation."--_Pope's Pref. to Homer_.
"Either James or John, one of them, will come."--_Smith's New Gram._, p.
37. "Even a rugged rock or barren heath, though in themselves disagreeable,
contribute by contrast to the beauty of the whole."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
i, 185. "That neither Count Rechteren nor Monsieur Mesnager had behaved
themselves right in this affair."--_Spect._, No. 481. "If an Aristotle, a
Pythagoras, or a Galileo, suffer for their opinions, they are
'martyrs.'"--_Gospel its own Witness_, p. 80. "If an ox gore a man or a
woman, that they die; then the ox shall be surely stoned."--_Exodus_, xxi,
28. "She was calling out to one or an other, at every step, that a Habit
was ensnaring them."--DR. JOHNSON: _Murray's Sequel_, 181. "Here is a Task
put upon Children, that neither this Author, nor any other have yet
undergone themselves."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 162. "Hence, if an
adjective or participle be subjoined to the verb, when of the singular
number, they will agree both in gender and number with the collective
noun."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 154; _Gould's_, 158. "And if you can find a
diphthong, or a triphthong, be pleased to point them out too."--_Bucke's
Classical Gram._, p. 16. "And if you can find a diphthong, or a triphthong,
a trissyllable, or a polysyllable, point them respectively out."--_Ib._, p.
25. "The false refuges in which the atheist or the sceptic have intrenched
themselves."--_Christian Spect._, viii, 185. "While the man or woman thus
assisted by art expects their charms will be imputed to nature
alone."--_Opie_, 141. "When you press a watch, or pull a clock, they answer
your question with precision; for they repeat exactly the hour of the day,
and tell you neither more nor less than you desire to know."--_Bolingbroke,
on History_, p. 102.

   "Not the Mogul, or Czar of Muscovy,
    Not Prester John, or Cham of Tartary,
    Are in their houses Monarch more than I."
        --KING: _Brit. Poets_, Vol. iii, p. 613.




CHAPTER VI.--VERBS.

In this work, the syntax of Verbs is embraced in six consecutive rules,
with the necessary exceptions, notes, and observations, under them; hence
this chapter extends from the fourteenth to the twentieth rule in the
series.


RULE XIV.--FINITE VERBS.

Every finite Verb must agree with its subject, or nominative, in person and
number: as, "I _know_; thou _knowst_, or _knowest_; he _knows_, or
_knoweth_"--"The bird _flies_; the birds _fly_."

   "Our fathers' fertile _fields_ by slaves _are till'd_,
    And _Rome_ with dregs of foreign lands _is fill'd_."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. vii, l. 600.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XIV.

OBS. 1.--To this general rule for the verb, there are properly _no
exceptions_;[385] and all the special rules that follow, which prescribe
the concord of verbs in particular instances, virtually accord with it.
Every _finite verb_, (that is, every verb _not in the infinitive mood_,)
must have some noun, pronoun, or phrase equivalent, known as the _subject_
of the being, action, or passion;[386] and with this subject, whether
expressed or understood, the verb must agree in person and number. The
infinitive mood, as it does not unite with a nominative to form an
assertion, is of course exempt from any such agreement. These may be
considered principles of Universal Grammar. The Greeks, however, had a
strange custom of using a plural noun of the neuter gender, with a verb of
the third person singular; and in both Greek and Latin, the infinitive mood
with an accusative before it was often equivalent to a finite verb with its
nominative. In English we have _neither of these usages_; and plural nouns,
even when they denote no absolute plurality, (as _shears, scissors,
trowsers, pantaloons, tongs_,) require plural verbs or pronouns: as, "Your
_shears come_ too late, to clip the bird's wings."--SIDNEY: _Churchill's
Gram._, p. 30.

OBS. 2.--When a book that bears a plural title, is spoken of as one thing,
there is sometimes presented an _apparent exception_ to the foregoing rule;
as, "The _Pleasures_ of Memory _was published_ in the year 1792, and became
at once popular."--_Allan Cunningham_. "The '_Sentiments_ of a
Church-of-England Man' _is written_ with great coolness, moderation, ease,
and perspicuity."--_Johnson's Life of Swift_. "The '_Pleasures_ of Hope'
_is_ a splendid poem; _it_ was written for perpetuity."--_Samuel L. Knapp_.
In these instances, there is, I apprehend, either an agreement of the verb,
by the figure _syllepsis_, with the mental conception of the thing spoken
of; or an improper ellipsis of the common noun, with which each sentence
ought to commence; as, "The _poem_ entitled,"--"The _work_ entitled," &c.
But the plural title sometimes controls the form of the verb; as, "My Lives
are reprinting."--_Dr. Johnson_.

OBS. 3.--In the figurative use of the present tense for the past or
imperfect, the vulgar have a habit of putting the third person singular
with the pronoun _I_; as, "_Thinks I_ to myself."--_Rev. J. Marriott_. "O,
_says I_, Jacky, are you at that work?"--_Day's Sandford and Merton_.
"Huzza! huzza! Sir Condy Rackrent forever, was the first thing _I hears_ in
the morning."--_Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent_, p. 97. This vulgarism is to
be avoided, not by a simple omission of the terminational _s_, but rather
by the use of the literal preterit: as, "_Thought_ I to myself;"--"O,
_said_ I;"--"The first thing I _heard_." The same mode of correction is
also proper, when, under like circumstances, there occurs a disagreement in
number; as, "After the election was over, there _comes shoals_ of people
from all parts."--_Castle Rackrent_, p. 103. "Didn't ye hear it? _says
they_ that were looking on."--_Ib._, p. 147. Write, "there _came_,"--"_said
they_."

OBS. 4.--It has already been noticed, that the article _a_, or a singular
adjective, sometimes precedes an arithmetical number with a plural noun;
as, "_A thousand years_ in thy sight _are_ but as yesterday."--_Psalms_,
xc, 4. So we might say, "_One_ thousand years _are_,"--"_Each_ thousand
years _are_"--"_Every_ thousand years _are_," &c. But it would not be
proper to say, "A thousand years _is_," or, "Every thousand years _is_;"
because the noun _years_ is plainly plural, and the anomaly of putting a
singular verb after it, is both needless and unauthorized. Yet, to this
general rule for the verb, the author of a certain "English Grammar _on the
Productive System_," (a strange perversion of Murray's compilation, and a
mere catch-penny work, now extensively used in New England,) is
endeavouring to establish, by his own bare word, the following exception:
"_Every_ is sometimes associated with a plural noun, in which case the verb
must be singular; as, 'Every hundred years _constitutes_ a
century.'"--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 103. His _reason_ is this; that the
phrase containing the nominative, "_signifies a single period of time_, and
is, therefore, _in reality_ singular."--_Ib._ Cutler also, a more recent
writer, seems to have imbibed the same notion; for he gives the following
sentence as an example of "false construction: Every hundred years _are_
called a century."--_Cutler's Grammar and Parser_, p. 145. But, according
to this argument, no plural verb could ever be used with any _definite
number_ of the parts of time; for any three years, forty years, or
threescore years and ten, are as single a period of time, as "every hundred
years," "every four years," or "every twenty-four hours." Nor is it true,
that, "_Every_ is sometimes associated with a plural noun;" for "_every
years_" or "_every hours_," would be worse than nonsense. I, therefore,
acknowledge no such exception; but, discarding the principle of the note,
put this author's pretended _corrections_ among my quotations of _false
syntax_.

OBS. 5.--Different verbs always have different subjects, expressed or
understood; except when two or more verbs are connected in the same
construction, or when the same word is repeated for the sake of emphasis.
But let not the reader believe the common doctrine of our grammarians,
respecting either the ellipsis of nominatives or the ellipsis of verbs. In
the text, "The man was old and crafty," Murray sees no connexion of the
ideas of age and craftiness, but thinks the text a _compound sentence_,
containing two nominatives and two verbs; i.e., "The man was old, and _the
man was_ crafty." [387] And all his other instances of "the ellipsis of the
verb" are equally fanciful! See his _Octavo Gram._, p. 219; _Duodecimo_,
175. In the text, "God loves, protects, supports, and rewards the rights,"
there are four verbs in _the same construction_, agreeing with the same
nominative, and governing the same object; but Buchanan and others expound
it, "God loves, and God protects, and God supports, and God rewards the
righteous."--_English Syntax_, p. 76; _British Gram._, 192. This also is
fanciful and inconsistent. If the nominative is here "_elegantly
understood_ to each verb," so is the objective, which they do not repeat.
"And again," they immediately add, "the _verb_ is often understood to its
noun or nouns; as, He dreams of gibbets, halters, racks, daggers, &c. i.e.
He dreams of gibbets, and he dreams of halters, &c."--_Same works and
places_. In none of these examples is there any occasion to suppose an
ellipsis, if we admit that two or more words _can_ be connected in the same
construction!

OBS. 6.--Verbs in the imperative mood commonly agree with the pronoun
_thou, ye_, or _you_, understood after them; as, "_Heal [ye_] the sick,
_cleanse [ye_] the lepers, _raise [ye_] the dead, _cast [ye_] out
devils."--_Matt._, x, 8. "_Trust_ God and _be doing_, and _leave_ the rest
with him."--_Dr. Sibs_. When the doer of a thing must first proceed to the
place of action, we sometimes use _go_ or _come_ before an other verb,
without any conjunction between the two; as, "Son, _go work_ to-day in my
vineyard."--_Matt._, xxi, 28. "_Come see_ a man who [has] told me all
things that ever I did."--_John_, iv, 29. "He ordered his soldiers to _go
murder_ every child about Bethlehem, or near it."--_Wood's Dict. of Bible,
w. Herod_. "Take a present in thine hand, and _go meet_ the man of
God."--_2 Kings_, viii, 8. "I will _go see_ if he be at home."--_Walker's
Particles_, p. 169.

OBS. 7.--The _place_ of the verb has reference mainly to that of the
subject with which it agrees, and that of the object which it governs; and
as the arrangement of these, with the instances in which they come before
or after the verb, has already been noticed, the position of the latter
seems to require no further explanation. See Obs. 2d under Rule 2d, and
Obs. 2d under Rule 5th.

OBS. 8.--The infinitive mood, a phrase, or a sentence, (and, according to
some authors, the participle in _ing_, or a phrase beginning with this
participle,) is sometimes the proper subject of a verb, being equivalent to
a nominative of the third person singular; as, "To play _is_
pleasant."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 80. "To write well, _is_ difficult; to
speak eloquently, _is_ still more difficult."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 81. "To
take men off from prayer, _tends_ to irreligiousness, _is
granted_."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 214. "To educate a child perfectly,
_requires_ profounder thought, greater wisdom, than to govern a
state."--_Channing's Self-Culture_, p. 30. "To determine these points,
_belongs_ to good sense."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 321. "How far the change
would contribute to his welfare, _comes_ to be considered."--_Id.,
Sermons_. "That too much care does hurt in any of our tasks, _is_ a
doctrine so flattering to indolence, that we ought to receive it with
extreme caution."--_Life of Schiller_, p. 148. "That there is no disputing
about taste, _is_ a saying so generally received as to have become a
proverb."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 360. "For what purpose they embarked,
_is_ not yet known."--"To live in sin and yet to believe the forgiveness of
sin, _is_ utterly impossible."--_Dr. J. Owen_.

   "There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
    But drinking largely _sobers_ us again."--_Pope_.

OBS. 9.--The same meaning will be expressed, if the pronoun _it_ be placed
before the verb, and the infinitive, phrase, or santance, after it; as,
"_It_ is pleasant _to play_,"--"_It_ is difficult _to write well_;" &c. The
construction of the following sentences is rendered defective by the
omission of this pronoun: "Why do ye that which [_it_] is not lawful to do
on the sabbath days?"--_Luke_, vi, 2. "The show-bread, which [_it_] is not
lawful to eat, but for the priests only."--_Ib._, vi, 4. "We have done that
which [_it_] was our duty to do."--_Ib._, xvii, 10. Here the relative
_which_ ought to be in the objective case, governed by the infinitives; but
the omission of the word _it_ makes this relative the nominative to _is_ or
_was_, and leaves _to do_ and _to eat_ without any regimen. This is not
ellipsis, but error. It is an accidental gap into which a side piece falls,
and leaves a breach elsewhere. The following is somewhat like it, though
what falls in, appears to leave no chasm: "From this deduction, [_it_] _may
be easily seen_ how it comes to pass, that personification makes so great a
figure."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 155. "Whether the author had any meaning in
this expression, or what it was, [_it_] _is not easy_ to
determine."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 298. "That warm climates should
accelerate the growth of the human body, and shorten its duration, [_it_]
_is very reasonable_ to believe."--_Ib._, p. 144. These also need the
pronoun, though Murray thought them complete without it.

OBS. 10.--When the infinitive mood is made the subject of a finite verb, it
is most commonly used to express action or state in the abstract; as, "_To
be_ contents his natural desire."--_Pope_. Here _to be_ stands for simple
_existence_; or if for the existence _of the Indian_, of whom the author
speaks, that relation is merely implied. "_To define ridicule_, has puzzled
and vexed every critic."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 300. Here "_to define_"
expresses an action quite as distinct from any agent, as would the
participial noun; as, "The _defining of_ ridicule," &c. In connexion with
the infinitive, a concrete quality may also be taken as an abstract; as,
"_To be good_ is _to be happy_." Here _good_ and _happy_ express the
quality of _goodness_ and the state of _happiness_ considered abstractly;
and therefore these adjectives do not relate to any particular noun. So
also the passive infinitive, or a perfect participle taken in a passive
sense; as, "_To be satisfied with a little_, is the greatest wisdom."--"_To
appear discouraged_, is the way to become so." Here the _satisfaction_ and
the _discouragement_ are considered abstractly, and without reference to
any particular person. (See Obs. 12th and 13th on Rule 6th.) So too,
apparently, the participles _doing_ and _suffering_, as well as the
adjective _weak_, in the following example:

   "Fallen Cherub, to be _weak_ is miserable,
    _Doing_ or _suffering_."--_Milton's Paradise Lost_.

OBS. 11.--When the action or state is to be expressly limited to one class
of beings, or to a particular person or thing, without making the verb
finite; the noun or pronoun may be introduced before the infinitive by the
preposition _for_: as, "_For men to search_ their own glory, is not
glory."--_Prov._, xxv, 27. "_For a prince to be reduced_ by villany
[sic--KTH] to my distressful circumstances, is calamity
enough."--_Translation of Sallust_. "_For holy persons to be humble_, is as
hard, as _for a prince to submit_ himself to be guided by tutors."--TAYLOR:
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 132; _Murray's_, 184. But such a limitation is
sometimes implied, when the expression itself is general; as, "_Not to know
me_, argues thyself unknown."--_Milton_. That is, "_For thee_ not to know
me." The phrase is put far, "_Thy ignorance of me_;" for an other's
ignorance would be no argument in regard to the individual addressed. "_I,
to bear this_, that never knew but better, _is_ some burden."--_Beauties of
Shak._, p. 327. Here the infinitive _to bear_, which is the subject of the
verb _is_, is limited in sense by the pronoun _I_, which is put absolute in
the nominative, though perhaps _improperly_; because, "_For me to bear
this_," &c., will convey the same meaning, in a form much more common, and
perhaps more grammatical. In the following couplet, there is an ellipsis of
the infinitive; for the phrase, "fool with fool," means, "_for_ fool _to
contend_ with fool," or, "for one fool to contend with an other:"

   "Blockheads with reason wicked wits abhor,
    But _fool with fool_ is barb'rous civil war."
        --_Pope, Dunciad_, B. iii, l. 175.

OBS. 12.--The objective noun or pronoun thus introduced by _for_ before the
infinitive, was erroneously called by Priestley, "_the subject of the
affirmation_;" (_Gram._, p. 132;) and Murray, Ingersoll, and others, have
blindly copied the blunder. See _Murray's Gram._, p. 184; _Ingersoll's_,
244. Again, Ingersoll says, "The infinitive mood, or part of a sentence, is
sometimes the subject of a verb, _and is, therefore, its_
NOMINATIVE."--_Conversations on English Gram._, p. 246. To this erroneous
deduction, the phraseology used by Murray and others too plainly gives
countenance: "The infinitive mood, or part of a sentence, is sometimes put
_as the nominative case_ to the verb."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 144; _Fisk's_,
123; _Kirkham's_, 188; _Lennie's_, 99; _Bullions's_, 89; and many more. Now
the objective before the infinitive may not improperly be called _the
subject_ of this form of the verb, as the nominative is, of the finite; but
to call it "the subject _of the affirmation_," is plainly absurd; because
no infinitive, in English, ever expresses an affirmation. And again, if a
whole phrase or sentence is made the subject of a _finite_ verb, or of an
affirmation, no one word contained in it, can singly claim this title. Nor
can the whole, by virtue of this relation, be said to be "in the
_nominative case_;" because, in the nature of things, neither phrases nor
sentences are capable of being declined by cases.

OBS. 13.--Any phrase or sentence which is made the subject of a finite
verb, must be taken in the sense of _one thing_, and be spoken of as _a
whole_; so that the verb's agreement with it, in the third person singular,
is not an exception to Rule 14th, but a construction in which the verb may
be parsed by that rule. For any one thing merely spoken of, is of the third
person singular, whatever may be the nature of its parts. Not every phrase
or sentence, however, is fit to be made the subject of a verb;--that is, if
its own import, and not the mere expression, is the thing whereof we
affirm. Thus Dr. Ash's example for this very construction, "a _sentence_
made the subject of a verb," is, I think, a palpable solecism: "The King
and Queen appearing in public _was_ the cause of my going."--_Ash's Gram._,
p. 52. What is here before the verb _was_, is _no_ "_sentence_;" but a mere
phrase, and such a one as we should expect to see used independently, if
any regard were had to its own import. The Doctor would tell us what "was
_the cause_ of his going:" and here he has two nominatives, which are
equivalent to the plural _they_; q.d., "_They_ appearing in public _was_
the cause." But such a construction is not English. It is an other sample
of the false illustration which grammar receives from those who _invent_
the proof-texts which they ought to _quote_.

OBS. 14.--One of Murray's examples of what he erroneously terms
"_nominative sentences_," i.e., "sentences or clauses constituting the
subject of an affirmation," is the following: "A desire to excel others in
learning and virtue [,] _is_ commendable."--_Gram._, 8vo, p. 144. Here the
verb _is_ agrees regularly with the noun _desire_, and with that only; the
whole text being merely a simple sentence, and totally irrelevant to the
doctrine which it accompanies.[388] But the great "Compiler" supposes the
adjuncts of this noun to be parts of the nominative, and imagines the verb
to agree with all that precedes it. Yet, soon after, he expends upon the
ninth rule of Webster's Philosophical Grammar a whole page of useless
criticism, to show that the adjuncts of a noun are not to be taken as parts
of the nominative; and that, when objectives are thus subjoined, "the
assertion grammatically respects the first nouns only."--_Ib._, p. 148. I
say _useless_, because the truth of the doctrine is so very plain. Some,
however, may imagine an example like the following to be an exception to
it; but I do not, because I think the true nominative suppressed:

   "By force they could not introduce these gods;
    For _ten to one_ in former days _was_ odds."--_Dryden's Poems_, p. 38.

OBS. 15.--Dr. Webster's ninth rule is this: "When the nominative consists
of several words, and the last of the names is in the plural number, the
verb is commonly in the plural also; as, 'A part of the exports _consist_
of raw silk.' 'The number of oysters _increase_.' GOLDSMITH. 'Such as the
train of our ideas _have lodged_ in our memories.' LOCKE. 'The greater part
of philosophers _have acknowledged_ the excellence of this government.'
ANACHARSIS."--_Philos. Gram._, p. 146; _Impr. Gram._, 100. The last of
these examples Murray omits; the second he changes thus: "A number of men
and women _were_ present." But all of them his reasoning condemns as
ungrammatical. He thinks them wrong, upon the principle, that the verbs,
being plural, do not agree with the first nouns only. Webster, on the
contrary, judges them all to be right; and, upon this same principle,
conceives that his rule must be so too. He did not retract or alter the
doctrine after he saw the criticism, but republished it verbatim, in his
"Improved Grammar," of 1831. Both err, and neither convinces the other.

OBS. 16.--In this instance, as Webster and Murray both teach erroneously,
whoever follows either, will be led into many mistakes. The fact is, that
some of the foregoing examples, though perhaps not all, are perfectly
right; and hundreds more, of a similar character, might be quoted, which no
true grammarian would presume to condemn. But what have these to do with
the monstrous absurdity of supposing objective adjuncts to be "parts of the
actual nominative?" The words, "_part," "number," "train_" and the like,
are _collective nouns_; and, as such, they often have plural verbs in
agreement with them. To say, "A _number_ of men and women _were_ present,"
is as correct as to say, "A very great _number_ of our words _are_ plainly
derived from the Latin."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 86. Murray's criticism,
therefore, since it does not exempt these examples from the censure justly
laid upon Webster's rule, will certainly mislead the learner. And again the
rule, being utterly wrong in principle, will justify blunders like these:
"The truth of the narratives _have_ never been disputed;"--"The virtue of
these men and women _are_ indeed exemplary."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 148. In
one of his notes, Murray suggests, that the article _an_ or _a_ before a
collective noun must confine the verb to the singular number; as, "_A great
number_ of men and women _was_ collected."--_Ib._, p. 153. But this
doctrine he sometimes forgot or disregarded; as, "But if _a number_ of
interrogative or exclamatory sentences _are thrown_ into one general
group."--_Ib._, p. 284; _Comly_, 166; _Fisk_, 160; _Ingersoll_, 295.

OBS. 17.--Cobbett, in a long paragraph, (the 245th of his English Grammar,)
stoutly denies that any _relative pronoun_ can ever be the nominative to a
verb; and, to maintain this absurdity, he will have the relative and its
antecedent to be always alike in _case_, the only thing in which they are
always independent of each other. To prove his point, he first frames these
examples: "The men _who are_ here, the man _who is_ here; the cocks _that
crow_, the cock _that crows_;" and then asks, "Now, if the relative be the
nominative, why do the verbs _change_, seeing that here is no change in the
relative?" He seems ignorant of the axiom, that two things severally equal
to a third, are also equal to each other: and accordingly, to answer his
own question, resorts to a new principle: "The verb is continually varying.
Why does it vary? Because it _disregards the relative_ and goes and finds
the antecedent, and accommodates its number to that."--_Ibid._ To this wild
doctrine, one erratic Irishman yields a full assent; and, in one American
grammatist, we find a partial and unintentional concurrence with it.[389]
But the fact is, the relative agrees with the antecedent, and the verb
agrees with the relative: hence all three of the words are alike in person
and number. But between the case of the relative and that of the antededent
[sic--KTH], there never is, or can be, in our language, any sort of
connexion or interference. The words belong to different clauses; and, if
both be nominatives, they must be the subjects of different verbs: or, if
the noun be sometimes put absolute in the nominative, the pronoun is still
left to its own verb. But Cobbett concludes his observation thus: "You will
observe, therefore, that, when I, in the etymology and syntax as relating
to relative pronouns, speak of relatives as being in the nominative case, I
mean, that they relate to nouns or to personal pronouns, _which are in that
case_. The same observation applies _to the other cases_."--_Ib._, ¶ 245.
This suggestion betrays in the critic an unaccountable ignorance of his
subject.

OBS. 18.--Nothing is more certain, than that the relatives, _who, which,
what, that_, and _as_, are often nominatives, and the only subjects of the
verbs which follow them: as, "The Lord will show _who are_ his, and _who
is_ holy."--_Numbers_, xvi, 5. "Hardly is there any person, but _who_, on
such occasions, _is disposed_ to be serious."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 469.
"Much of the merit of Mr. Addison's Cato depends upon that moral turn of
thought _which distinguishes_ it."--_Ib._, 469. "Admit not a single word
but _what is_ necessary."--_Ib._, p. 313. "The pleader must say nothing but
_what is_ true; and, at the same time, he must avoid saying any thing _that
will hurt_ his cause."--_Ib._, 313. "I proceed to mention such _as appear_
to me most material."--_Ib._, p. 125. After _but_ or _than_, there is
sometimes an ellipsis of the relative, and perhaps also of the antecedent;
as, "There is no heart _but must feel_ them."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 469.
"There is no one _but must be_ sensible of the extravagance."--_Ib._, p.
479. "Since we may date from it a more general and a more concerted
opposition to France _than there had been_ before."--_Bolingbroke, on
Hist._, p. 213. That is, "than _what_ there had been before;"--or, "than
_any opposition which_ there had been before." "John has more fruit _than
can be gathered_ in a week."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, pp. 196 and 331. I
suppose this sentence to mean, "John has more fruit than _what_ can be
gathered in a week." But the author of it denies that it is elliptical, and
seems to suppose that _can be gathered_ agrees with _John_. Part of his
comment stands thus: "The above sentence--'John has more fruit than can be
gathered in a week'--in every respect full and _perfect_--must, to be
_grammatical_! according to _all_ the 'old theories,' stand, John has more
fruit than _that fruit is which, or which fruit_ can be gathered in a
week!!!"--_Ib._, 331. What shall be done with the headlong critic who thus
mistakes exclamation points for arguments, and multiplies his confidence in
proportion to his fallacies and errors?

OBS. 19.--In a question, the nominative _I_ or _thou_ put after the verb,
controls the agreement, in preference to the interrogative _who, which_, or
_what_, put before it; as, "_Who am I? What am I? Who art thou? What art
thou?_" And, by analogy, this seems to be the case with all plurals; as,
"_Who are we? Who are you? Who are they? What are these_?" But sometimes
the interrogative pronoun is the only nominative used; and then the verb,
whether singular or plural, must agree with this nominative, in the third
person, and not, as Cobbett avers, with an antecedent understood: as, "_Who
is_ in the house? _Who are_ in the house? _Who strikes_ the iron? _Who
strike_ the iron? _Who was_ in the street? _Who were_ in the
street?"--_Cobbett's Gram._, ¶ 245. All the interrogative pronouns may be
used in either number, but, in examples like the following, I imagine the
singular to be more proper than the plural: "_What have become_ of our
previous customs?"--_Hunt's Byron_, p. 121. "And _what have become_ of my
resolutions to return to God?"--_Young Christian_, 2d Ed., p. 91. When two
nominatives of different properties come after the verb, the first controls
the agreement, and neither the plural number nor the most worthy person is
always preferred; as, "_Is it I? Is it thou? Is it they_?"

OBS. 20.--The verb after a relative sometimes has the appearance of
disagreeing with its nominative, because the writer and his reader disagree
in their conceptions of its mood. When a relative clause is subjoined to
what is itself subjunctive or conditional, some writers suppose that the
latter verb should be put in the subjunctive mood; as, "If there be any
intrigue _which stand_ separate and independent."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 457.
"The man also would be of considerable use, who should vigilantly attend to
every illegal practice _that were beginning_ to prevail."--_Campbell's
Rhet._, p. 171. But I have elsewhere shown, that relatives, in English, are
not compatible with the subjunctive mood; and it is certain, that no other
mood than the indicative or the potential is commonly used after them. Say
therefore, "If there be any intrigue _which stands_," &c. In assuming to
himself the other text, Murray's says, "_That_ man also would be of
considerable use, who should vigilantly attend to every illegal practice
that _was_ beginning to prevail."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 366. But this seems
too positive. The potential imperfect would be better: viz., "that _might
begin_ to prevail."

OBS. 21.--The termination _st_ or _est_, with which the second person
singular of the verb is formed in the indicative present, and, for the
solemn style, in the imperfect also; and the termination _s_ or _es_, with
which the third person singular is formed in the indicative present, and
only there; are signs of the mood and tense, as well as of the person and
number, of the verb. They are not applicable to a future uncertainty, or to
any mere supposition in which we would leave the time indefinite and make
the action hypothetical; because they are commonly understood to fix the
time of the verb to the present or the past, and to assume the action as
either doing or done. For this reason, our best writers have always omitted
those terminations, when they intended to represent the action as being
doubtful and contingent as well as conditional. And this omission
constitutes the whole _formal_ difference between the indicative and the
subjunctive mood. The _essential_ difference has, by almost all
grammarians, been conceived to extend somewhat further; for, if it were
confined strictly within the limits of the literal variation, the
subjunctive mood would embrace only two or three words in the whole
formation of each verb. After the example of Priestley, Dr. Murray, A.
Murray, Harrison, Alexander, and others, I have given to it all the persons
of the two simple tenses, singular and plural; and, for various reasons, I
am decidedly of the opinion, that these are its most proper limits. The
perfect and pluperfect tenses, being past, cannot express what is really
contingent or uncertain; and since, in expressing conditionally what may or
may not happen, we use the subjunctive present as embracing the future
indefinitely, there is no need of any formal futures for this mood. The
comprehensive brevity of this form of the verb, is what chiefly commends
it. It is not an elliptical form of the future, as some affirm it to be;
nor equivalent to the indicative present, as others will have it; but a
_true subjunctive_, though its distinctive parts are chiefly confined to
the second and third persons singular of the simple verb: as, "Though _thou
wash_ thee with nitre."--_Jer._, ii, 22. "It is just, O great king! that a
_murderer perish_."--_Corneille_. "This single _crime_, in my judgment,
_were_ sufficient to condemn him."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 82. "Beware that
_thou bring_ not my son thither."--BIBLE: _Ward's Gram._, p. 128. "See
[that] _thou tell_ no man."--_Id., ib._ These examples can hardly be
resolved into any thing else than the subjunctive mood.


NOTES TO RULE XIV.

NOTE I.--When the nominative is a relative pronoun, the verb must agree
with it in person and number, according to the pronoun's agreement with its
true antecedent or antecedents. Example of error: "The second book [of the
Æneid] is one of the greatest masterpieces _that ever was executed_ by any
hand."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 439. Here the true antecedent is
_masterpieces_, and not the word _one_; but _was executed_ is singular, and
"by any _hand_" implies but one agent. Either say, "It is one of the
greatest _masterpieces that_ ever _were executed_;" or else, "It is _the
greatest masterpiece that ever was executed by any hand_." But these
assertions differ much in their import.

NOTE II.--"The adjuncts of the nominative do not control its agreement with
the verb; as, Six months' _interest was_ due. The _progress_ of his forces
_was_ impeded."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 131. "The _ship_, with all her
furniture, was destroyed."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 150. "All _appearances_ of
modesty _are_ favourable and prepossessing."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 308. "The
_power_ of relishing natural enjoyments _is_ soon gone."--_Fuller, on the
Gospel_, p. 135. "_I_, your master, _command_ you (not _commands_)"--
_Latham's Hand-Book_, p. 330.[390]

NOTE III.--Any phrase, sentence, mere word, or other sign, taken as one
whole, and made the subject of an assertion, requires a verb in the third
person singular; as, "To lie _is_ base."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 154. "When, to
read and write, _was_ of itself an honorary distinction."--_Hazlitt's
Lect._, p. 40. "To admit a God and then refuse to worship him, _is_ a
modern and inconsistent practice."--_Fuller, on the Gospel_, p. 30. "_We
is_ a personal pronoun."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 227. "_Th has_ two
sounds."--_Ib._, p. 161. "The _'s is annexed_ to each."--_Bucke's Gram._,
p. 89. "_Ld. stands_ for _lord_."--_Webster's American Dict._, 8vo.

NOTE IV.--The pronominal adjectives, _each, one,[391] either_, and
_neither_, are always in the third person singular; and, when they are the
leading words in their clauses, they require verbs and pronouns to agree
with them accordingly: as, "_Each_ of you _is_ entitled to _his_
share."--"Let no _one_ deceive _himself_."

NOTE V.--A neuter or a passive verb between two nominatives should be made
to agree with that which precedes it;[392] as, "Words _are_ wind:" except
when the terms are transposed, and the proper subject is put after the verb
by _question_ or _hyperbaton_; as, "His pavilion _were_ dark _waters_ and
thick _clouds_ of the sky."--_Bible_. "Who _art thou_?"--_Ib._ "The wages
of sin _is death_."--_Ib. Murray, Comly_, and others. But, of this last
example, Churchill says, "_Wages are_ the subject, of which it is affirmed,
that _they are_ death."--_New Gram._, p. 314. If so, _is_ ought to be
_are_; unless Dr. Webster is right, who imagines _wages_ to be _singular_,
and cites this example to prove it so. See his _Improved Gram._, p. 21.

NOTE VI.--When the verb cannot well be made singular, the nominative should
be made plural, that they may agree: or, if the verb cannot be plural, let
the nominative be singular. Example of error: "For _every one_ of them
_know_ their several duties."--_Hope of Israel_, p. 72. Say, "For _all_ of
them know their several duties."

NOTE VII.--When the verb has different forms, that form should be adopted,
which is the most consistent with present and reputable usage in the style
employed: thus, to say familiarly, "The clock _hath stricken_;"--"Thou
_laughedst_ and _talkedst_, when thou _oughtest_ to have been silent;"--"He
_readeth_ and _writeth_, but he _doth_ not cipher," would be no better,
than to use _don't, won't, can't, shan't_, and _didn't_, in preaching.

NOTE VIII.--Every finite verb not in the imperative mood, should have a
separate nominative expressed; as, "_I came, I saw, I conquered_:" except
when the verb is repeated for the sake of emphasis, or connected to an
other in the same construction, or put after _but_ or _than_; as, "Not an
eminent orator has lived _but is_ an example of it."--_Ware_. "Where more
is meant _than meets_ the ear."--_Milton's Allegro_. (See Obs. 5th and Obs.
18th above.)

   "They _bud, blow, wither, fall_, and _die_."--_Watts_.

    "That evermore his teeth they _chatter,
    Chatter, chatter, chatter_ still."--_Wordsworth_.

NOTE IX.--A future contingency is best expressed by a verb in the
subjunctive present; and a mere supposition, with indefinite time, by a
verb in the subjunctive imperfect; but a conditional circumstance assumed
as a fact, requires the indicative mood:[393] as, "If thou _forsake_ him,
he will cast thee off forever."--_Bible_. "If it _were_ not so, I would
have told you."--_Ib._ "If thou _went_, nothing would be gained."--"Though
he _is_ poor, he is contented."--"Though he _was_ rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor."--_2 Cor._, viii, 9.

NOTE X.--In general, every such use or extension of the subjunctive mood,
as the reader will be likely to mistake for a discord between the verb and
its nominative, ought to be avoided as an impropriety: as, "We are not
sensible of disproportion, till the difference between the quantities
compared _become_ the most striking circumstance."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 341. Say rather, "_becomes_;" which is indicative. "Till the general
preference of certain forms _have been declared_."--_Priestley's Gram.,
Pref._, p. xvii. Say, "_has been declared_;" for "_preference_" is here the
nominative, and Dr. Priestley himself recognizes no other subjunctive
tenses than the present and the imperfect; as, "If thou _love_, If thou
_loved_."--_Ib._, p. 16.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XIV.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--VERB AFTER THE NOMINATIVE.

"Before you left Sicily, you was reconciled to Verres."--_Duncan's Cicero_,
p. 19.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the passive verb _was reconciled_ is of the
singular number, and does not agree with its nominative _you_, which is of
the second person plural. But, according to Rule 14th, "Every finite verb
must agree with its subject, or nominative, in person and number."
Therefore, _was reconciled_ should be _were reconciled_; thus, "Before you
left Sicily, you _were reconciled_ to Verres."]

"Knowing that you was my old master's good friend."--_Spect._, No. 517.
"When the judge dare not act, where is the loser's remedy?"--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 131. "Which extends it no farther than the variation of the
verb extend."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. i, p. 211. "They presently dry
without hurt, as myself hath often proved."--_Roger Williams_. "Whose
goings forth hath been from of old, from everlasting."--_Keith's
Evidences_. "You was paid to fight against Alexander, not to rail at
him."--_Porter's Analysis_, p. 70. "Where more than one part of speech is
almost always concerned."--_Churchill's Gram., Pref._, p. viii. "Nothing
less than murders, rapines, and conflagrations, employ their
thoughts."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 175. "I wondered where you was, my
dear."--_Lloyd's Poems_, p. 185. "When thou most sweetly sings."--_Drummond
of Hawthornden_. "Who dare, at the present day, avow himself equal to the
task?"--_Music of Nature_, p. 11. "Every body are very kind to her, and not
discourteous to me."--_Byron's Letters_. "As to what thou says respecting
the diversity of opinions."--_The Friend_, Vol. ix, p. 45. "Thy nature,
immortality, who knowest?"--_Everest's Gram._, p. 38. "The natural
distinction of sex in animals gives rise to what, in grammar, is called
genders."--_Ib._, p. 51. "Some pains has likewise been taken."--_Scott's
Pref. to Bible_. "And many a steed in his stables were seen."--_Penwarne's
Poems_, p. 108. "They was forced to eat what never was esteemed
food."--_Josephus's Jewish War_, B. i, Ch. i, §7. "This that yourself hath
spoken, I desire that they may take their oaths upon."--_Hutchinson's
Mass._, ii, 435. "By men whose experience best qualify them to
judge."--_Committee on Literature, N. Y. Legislature_. "He dare venture to
kill and destroy several other kinds of fish."--_Johnson's Dict, w. Perch_.
"If a gudgeon meet a roach, He dare not venture to approach."--SWIFT: _Ib.,
w. Roach_. "Which thou endeavours to establish unto thyself."--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 164. "But they pray together much oftener than thou
insinuates."--_Ib._, i, 215. "Of people of all denominations, over whom
thou presideth."--_The Friend_, Vol. v, p. 198. "I can produce ladies and
gentlemen whose progress have been astonishing."--_Chazotte, on Teaching
Lang._, p. 62. "Which of these two kinds of vice are more
criminal?"--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 115. "Every twenty-four hours affords
to us the vicissitudes of day and night."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 103.
"Every four years adds another day."--_Ib._ "Every error I could find, Have
my busy muse employed."--_Swift's Poems_, p. 335. "A studious scholar
deserve the approbation of his teacher."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 226.
"Perfect submission to the rules of a school indicate good
breeding."--_Ib._, p. 37. "A comparison in which more than two is
concerned."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 114. "By the facilities which
artificial language afford them."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 16. "Now
thyself hath lost both lop and top."--SPENSER: _Joh. Dict., w. Lop._ "Glad
tidings is brought to the poor."--_Campbell's Gospels: Luke_, vii, 23.
"Upon which, all that is pleasurable, or affecting in elocution, chiefly
depend."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 129. "No pains has been spared to
render this work complete."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram., Pref._, p. iv. "The
United States contains more than a twentieth part of the land of this
globe."--DE WITT CLINTON: _Cobb's N. Amer. Reader_, p. 173. "I am mindful
that myself is (or am) strong."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, § 500. "Myself _is_
(not _am_) weak; thyself _is_ (not _art_) weak."--_Ib._, §479.

   "How pale each worshipful and reverend guest
    Rise from a clergy or a city feast!"--_Pope_, Sat. ii, l. 75.


UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--VERB BEFORE THE NOMINATIVE.

"Where was you born? In London."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 133. "There is
frequent occasions for commas."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 281. "There
necessarily follows from thence, these plain and unquestionable
consequences."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 191. "And to this impression
contribute the redoubled effort."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 112. "Or if
he was, was there no spiritual men then?"--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 86. "So
by these two also is signified their contrary principles."--_Ib._, iii,
200. "In the motions made with the hands, consist the chief part of gesture
in speaking."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 336. "Dare he assume the name of a
popular magistrate?"--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 140. "There was no damages as
in England, and so Scott lost his wager."--_Byron_. "In fact there exists
such resemblances."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 64. "To him giveth all the
prophets witness."--_Crewdson's Beacon_, p. 79. "That there was so many
witnesses and actors."--_Addison's Evidences_, p. 37. "How does this man's
definitions stand affected?"--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 136. "Whence comes
all the powers and prerogatives of rational beings?"--_Ib._, p. 144. "Nor
does the Scriptures cited by thee prove thy intent."--_Barclay's Works_, i,
155. "Nor do the Scripture cited by thee prove the contrary."--_Ib._, i,
211. "Why then cite thou a Scripture which is so plain and clear for
it?"--_Ib._, i, 163. "But what saith the Scriptures as to respect of
persons among Christians?"--_Ib._, i, 404. "But in the mind of man, while
in the savage state, there seems to be hardly any ideas but what enter by
the senses."--_Robertson's America_, i, 289. "What sounds have each of the
vowels?"--_Griscom's Questions_. "Out of this has grown up aristocracies,
monarchies, despotisms, tyrannies."--_Brownson's Elwood_, p. 222. "And
there was taken up, of fragments that remained to them, twelve baskets."--
_Luke_, ix, 17. "There seems to be but two general classes."--_Day's
Gram._, p. 3. "Hence arises the six forms of expressing time."--_Ib._, p.
37. "There seems to be no other words required."--_Chandler's Gram._, p.
28. "If there is two, the second increment is the syllable next the
last."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, 12th Ed., p. 281. "Hence arises the
following advantages."--_Id., Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, 1849, p. 67.
"There is no data by which it can be estimated."--_J. C. Calhoun's Speech_,
March 4, 1850. "To this class belong the Chinese [language], in which we
have nothing but naked roots."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, p. 27.
"There was several other grotesque figures that presented themselves."--
_Spect._, No. 173. "In these consist that sovereign good which ancient
sages so much extol."--_Percival's Tales_, ii, 221. "Here comes those I
have done good to against my will."--_Shak., Shrew_. "Where there is more
than one auxiliary."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 80.

   "On me to cast those eyes where shine nobility."
        --SIDNEY: _Joh. Dict._

    "Here's half-pence in plenty, for one you'll have twenty."
        --_Swift's Poems_, p. 347.

    "Ah, Jockey, ill advises thou, I wis,
    To think of songs at such a time as this."
        --_Churchill_, p. 18.


UNDER NOTE I.--THE RELATIVE AND VERB.

"Thou who loves us, wilt protect us still."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 67.
"To use that endearing language, Our Father, who is in heaven"--_Bates's
Doctrines_, p. 103. "Resembling the passions that produceth these
actions."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 157. "Except _dwarf, grief, hoof,
muff_, &c. which takes _s_ to make the plural."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 19. "As
the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure."--
_Gen._ xxxiii, 14 "Where is the man who dare affirm that such an action is
mad?"--_Werter_. "The ninth book of Livy affords one of the most beautiful
exemplifications of historical painting, that is any where to be met
with."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 360. "In some studies too, that relate to taste
and fine writing, which is our object," &c.--_Ib._, p. 349. "Of those
affecting situations, which makes man's heart feel for man."--_Ib._, p.
464. "We see very plainly, that it is neither Osmyn, nor Jane Shore, that
speak."--_Ib._, p. 468. "It should assume that briskness and ease, which is
suited to the freedom of dialogue."--_Ib._, p. 469. "Yet they grant, that
none ought to be admitted into the ministry, but such as is truly
pious."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 147. "This letter is one of the best that
has been written about Lord Byron."--_Hunt's Byron_, p. 119. "Thus, besides
what was sunk, the Athenians took above two hundred ships."--_Goldsmith's
Greece_, i, 102. "To have made and declared such orders as was
necessary."--_Hutchinson's Hist._, i, 470. "The idea of such a collection
of men as make an army."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 217. "I'm not the first that
have been wretched."--_Southern's In. Ad._, Act 2. "And the faint sparks of
it, which is in the angels, are concealed from our view."--_Calvin's
Institutes_, B. i, Ch. 11. "The subjects are of such a nature, as allow
room for much diversity of taste and sentiment."--_Blair's Rhet., Pref._,
p. 5. "It is in order to propose examples of such perfection, as are not to
be found in the real examples of society."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p.
16. "I do not believe that he would amuse himself with such fooleries as
has been attributed to him."--_Ib._, p. 218. "That shepherd, who first
taughtst the chosen seed."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 238. "With respect
to the vehemence and warmth which is allowed in popular eloquence."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 261. "Ambition is one of those passions that is never
to be satisfied."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, p. 36. "Thou wast he that
leddest out and broughtest in Israel."--_2 Samuel_, v, 2; and _1 Chron._,
xi, 2. "Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah?"--_1 Kings_, xiii,
14.

   "How beauty is excell'd by manly grace
    And wisdom, which alone is truly fair."--_Milton_, B. iv, l. 490.

    "What art thou, speak, that on designs unknown,
    While others sleep, thus range the camp alone?"--_Pope, Il._, x, 90.


UNDER NOTE II.--NOMINATIVE WITH ADJUNCTS.

"The literal sense of the words are, that the action had been done."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist. of Lang._, i, 65. "The rapidity of his movements were beyond
example."--_Wells's Hist._, p. 161. "Murray's Grammar, together with his
Exercises and Key, have nearly superseded every thing else of the
kind."--EVAN'S REC.: _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, ii, 305. "The mechanism of
clocks and watches were totally unknown."--HUME: _Priestley's Gram._, p.
193. "The _it_, together with the verb _to be_, express states of
being."--_Cobbett's Eng. Gram._, ¶ 190. "Hence it is, that the profuse
variety of objects in some natural landscapes, neither breed confusion nor
fatigue."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 266. "Such a clatter of sounds
indicate rage and ferocity."--_Music of Nature_, p. 195. "One of the fields
make threescore square yards, and the other only fifty-five."--_Duncan's
Logic_, p. 8. "The happy effects of this fable is worth attending
to."--_Bailey's Ovid_, p. x. "Yet the glorious serenity of its parting rays
still linger with us."--_Gould's Advocate_. "Enough of its form and force
are retained to render them uneasy."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 261. "The
works of nature, in this respect, is extremely regular."--_Dr. Pratt's
Werter_. "No small addition of exotic and foreign words and phrases have
been made by commerce."--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 10. "The dialect
of some nouns are taken notice of in the notes."--_Milnes, Greek Gram._, p.
255. "It has been said, that a discovery of the full resources of the arts,
afford the means of debasement, or of perversion."--_Rush, on the Voice_,
p. xxvii. "By which means the Order of the Words are disturbed."--_Holmes's
Rhet._, B. i, p. 57. "The twofold influence of these and the others require
the asserter to be in the plural form."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 251.
"And each of these afford employment."--_Percival's Tales_, Vol. ii, p.
175. "The pronunciation of the vowels are best explained under the rules
relative to the consonants."--_Coar's Gram._, p. 7. "The judicial power of
these courts extend to all cases in law and equity."--_Hall and Baker's
School Hist._, p. 286. "One of you have stolen my money."--_Rational
Humorist_, p. 45. "Such redundancy of epithets, instead of pleasing,
produce satiety and disgust."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 256. "It has been
alleged, that a compliance with the rules of Rhetoric, tend to cramp the
mind."--_Hiley's Gram._, 3d Ed., p. 187. "Each of these are presented to us
in different relations"--_Hendrick's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 34. "The past
tense of these verbs, _should, would, might, could_, are very indefinite
with respect to time."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 33; 5th Ed., p.
31. "The power of the words, which are said to govern this mood, are
distinctly understood."--_Chandler's Gram._, Ed. of 1821, p. 33.

   "And now, at length, the fated term of years
    The world's desire have brought, and lo! the God appears."
        --_Dr. Lowth, on "the Genealogy of Christ."_

    "Variety of Numbers still belong
    To the soft Melody of Ode or Song."
        --_Brightland's Gram._, p. 170.


UNDER NOTE III.--COMPOSITE OR CONVERTED SUBJECTS.

"Many are the works of human industry, which to begin and finish are hardly
granted to the same man."--_Johnson, Adv. to Dict._ "To lay down rules for
these are as inefficacious."--_Dr. Pratt's Werter_, p. 19. "To profess
regard, and to act _differently_, discover a base mind."--_Murray's Key_,
ii, p. 206. See also _Bullions's E. Gram._, 82 and 112; _Lennie's_, 58. "To
magnify to the height of wonder things great, new, and admirable, extremely
please the mind of man."--_Fisher's Gram._, p. 152. "In this passage,
_according as_ are used in a manner which is very common."--_Webster's
Philosophical Gram._, p. 183. "A _cause de_ are called a preposition; _a
cause que_, a conjunction."--DR. WEBSTER: _Knickerbocker_, 1836. "To these
are given to speak in the name of the Lord."--_The Friend_, vii, 256.
"While _wheat_ has no plural, _oats_ have seldom any singular."--_Cobbett's
E. Gram._ ¶ 41. "He cannot assert that _ll_ are inserted in _fullness_ to
denote the sound of _u_."--_Cobb's Review of Webster_, p. 11. "_ch_ have
the power of _k_."--_Gould's Adam's Gram._, p. 2. "_ti_, before a vowel,
and unaccented, have the sound of _si_ or _ci_."--_Ibid._ "In words derived
from the French, as _chagrin, chicanery_, and _chaise, ch_ are sounded like
_sh_."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 10. "But in the word _schism, schismatic_, &c.,
the _ch_ are silent."--_Ibid._ "_Ph_ are always sounded like _f_, at the
beginning of words."--_Bucke's Gram._ "_Ph_ have the sound of _f_ as in
_philosophy_."--_Webster's El. Spelling-Book_, p. 11. "_Sh_ have one sound
only as in _shall_."--_Ib._ "_Th_ have two sounds."--_Ib._ "_Sc_ have the
sound of _sk_, before _a, o, u_, and _r_."--_Ib._ "Aw, have the sound of
_a_ in hall."--_Bolles's Spelling-Book_, p. vi. "Ew, sound like
_u_."--_Ib._ "Ow, when both sounded, have the sound of _ou_."--_Ib._ "Ui,
when both pronounced in one syllable sound like _wi_ in _languid_."--_Ib._

   "_Ui_ three several Sorts of Sound express,
    As _Guile, rebuild, Bruise_ and _Recruit_ confess."
        --_Brightland's Gram._, p. 34.


UNDER NOTE IV.--EACH, ONE, EITHER, AND NEITHER.

"When each of the letters which compose this word, have been
learned."--_Dr. Weeks, on Orthog._, p. 22. "As neither of us deny that both
Homer and Virgil have great beauties."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 21. "Yet
neither of them are remarkable for precision."--_Ib._, p. 95. "How far each
of the three great epic poets have distinguished themselves."--_Ib._, p.
427. "Each of these produce a separate agreeable sensation."--_Ib._, p. 48.
"On the Lord's day every one of us Christians keep the sabbath."--_Tr. of
Irenæus_. "And each of them bear the image of purity and holiness."--_Hope
of Israel_, p. 81. "Were either of these meetings ever acknowledged or
recognized?"--_Foster's Report_, i, 96. "Whilst neither of these letters
exist in the Eugubian inscription."--_Knight, on Greek Alph._, p. 122. "And
neither of them are properly termed indefinite."--_Wilson's Essay on
Gram._, p. 88. "As likewise of the several subjects, which have in effect
each their verb."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 120. "Sometimes when the word ends
in _s_, neither of the signs are used."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 21.
"And as neither of these manners offend the ear."--_Walker's Dict., Pref._,
p. 5. "Neither of these two Tenses are confined to this signification
only."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 339. "But neither of these circumstances
are intended here."--_Tooke's Diversions_, ii, 237. "So that all are
indebted to each, and each are dependent upon all."--_Am. Bible Society's
Rep._, 1838, p. 89. "And yet neither of them express any more action in
this case than they did in the other."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 201. "Each
of these expressions denote action."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 74. "Neither of
these moods seem to be defined by distinct boundaries."--_Butler's
Practical Gram._, p. 66. "Neither of these solutions are correct."--
_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, p. 236. "Neither bear any sign of case at
all."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, §217.

   "Each in their turn like Banquo's monarchs stalk."--_Byron_.

    "And tell what each of them by th'other lose."--_Shak., Cori._, iii, 2.


UNDER NOTE V.--VERB BETWEEN TWO NOMINATIVES.

"The quarrels of lovers is a renewal of love."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p.
156; _Alexander's_, 49; _Gould's_, 159; _Bullions's_, 206. "Two dots, one
placed above the other, is called _Sheva_."--_Dr. Wilson's Heb. Gram._, p.
43. "A few centuries, more or less, is a matter of small
consequence."--_Ib._ p. 31. "Pictures were the first step towards the art
of writing. Hieroglyphicks was the second step."--_Parker's English
Composition_, p. 27. "The comeliness of youth are modesty and frankness; of
age, condescension and dignity."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 166. "Merit and
good works is the end of man's motion."--_Lord Bacon_. "Divers
philosophers hold that the lips is parcel of the mind."--_Shakspeare_. "The
clothing of the natives were the skins of wild beasts."--_Indian Wars_, p.
92. "Prepossessions in favor of our nativ town, is not a matter of
surprise."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 217. "Two shillings and six pence is
half a crown, but not a half crown."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 150;
_Bicknell's_, ii, 53. "Two vowels, pronounced by a single impulse of the
voice, and uniting in one sound, is called a dipthong."--_Cooper's Pl. and
Pr. Gram._, p. 1. "Two or more sentences united together is called a
Compound Sentence."--_P. E. Day's District School Gram._, p. 10. "Two or
more words rightly put together, but not completing an entire proposition,
is called a Phrase."--_Ibid._ "But the common Number of Times are
five."--_The British Grammar_, p. 122. "Technical terms, injudiciously
introduced, is another source of darkness in composition."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 107. "The United States is the great middle division of North
America."--_Morse's Geog._, p. 44. "A great cause of the low state of
industry were the restraints put upon it."--HUME: _Murray's Gram._, p. 145;
_Ingersoll's_, 172; _Sanborn's_, 192; _Smith's_, 123; and others. "Here two
tall ships becomes the victor's prey."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. ii, l. 1098.
"The expenses incident to an outfit is surely no object."--_The Friend_,
Vol. iii., p. 200.

   "Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep,
    Was all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep."--_Milton_.


UNDER NOTE VI.--CHANGE THE NOMINATIVE.

"Much pains has been taken to explain all the kinds of words."--_Infant
School Gram._ p. 128. "Not less [_time_] than three years are spent in
attaining this faculty."--_Music of Nature_, p. 28. "Where this night are
met in state Many a friend to gratulate His wish'd presence."--_Milton's
Comus_. l. 948. "Peace! my darling, here's no danger, Here's no oxen near
thy bed."--_Watts._ "But every one of these are mere conjectures, and some
of them very unhappy ones."--_Coleridge's Introduction_, p. 61. "The old
theorists, calling the Interrogatives and Repliers, _adverbs_, is only a
part of their regular system of naming words."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p.
374. "Where a series of sentences occur, place them in the order in which
the facts occur."--_Ib._, p. 264. "And that the whole in conjunction make a
regular chain of causes and effects."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 275. "The
origin of the Grecian, and Roman republics, though equally involved in the
obscurities and uncertainties of fabulous events, present one remarkable
distinction."--_Adam's Rhet._, i, 95. "In these respects, mankind is left
by nature an unformed, unfinished creature."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 144.
"The scripture are the oracles of God himself."--HOOKER: _Joh. Dict., w.
Oracle_. "And at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits."--_Solomon's
Song_, vii, 13. "The preterit of _pluck, look_, and _toss_ are, in speech,
pronounced _pluckt, lookt, tosst_."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 1850, §68.

   "Severe the doom that length of days impose,
    To stand sad witness of unnumber'd woes!"--_Melmoth_.


UNDER NOTE VII.--ADAPT FORM TO STYLE.

1. _Forms not proper for the Common or Familiar Style_.

"Was it thou that buildedst that house?"--_Inst._, p. 151. "That boy
writeth very elegantly."--_Ib._ "Couldest not thou write without blotting
thy book?"--_Ib._ "Thinkest thou not it will rain to-day?"--_Ib._ "Doth not
your cousin intend to visit you?"--_Ib._ "That boy hath torn my
book."--_Ib._ "Was it thou that spreadest the hay?"--_Ib._ "Was it James,
or thou, that didst let him in?"--_Ib._ "He dareth not say a word."--_Ib._
"Thou stoodest in my way and hinderedst me."--_Ib._

"Whom see I?--Whom seest thou now?--Whom sees he?--Whom lovest thou
most?--What dost thou to-day?--What person seest thou teaching that
boy?--He hath two new knives.--Which road takest thou?--What child teaches
he?"--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 66. "Thou, who makest my shoes, sellest many
more."--_Ib._, p. 67.

"The English language hath been much cultivated during the last two hundred
years. It hath been considerably polished and refined."--_Lowth's Gram.,
Pref._, p. iii. "This _stile_ is ostentatious, and doth not suit grave
writing."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 82. "But custom hath now appropriated
_who_ to persons, and _which_ to things."--_Ib._, p. 97. "The indicative
mood sheweth or declareth; as, _Ego amo_, I love: or else asketh a
question; as, _Amas tu_? Dost thou love?"--_Paul's Accidence_, Ed. of 1793,
p. 16. "Though thou canst not do much for the cause, thou mayst and
shouldst do something."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 143. "The support of so many
of his relations, was a heavy task; but thou knowest he paid it
cheerfully."--_Murray's Key_, R. 1, p. 180. "It may, and often doth, come
short of it."--_Campbell's Rhetoric_, p. 160.

   "'Twas thou, who, while thou seem'dst to chide,
    To give me all thy pittance tried."--_Mitford's Blanch_, p. 78.

2. _Forms not proper for the Solemn or Biblical Style_.

"The Lord has prepaid his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom rules over
all."--See _Key_. "Thou answer'd them, O Lord our God: thou was a God that
forgave them, though thou took vengeance of their inventions."--See _Key_.
"Then thou spoke in vision to thy Holy One, and said, I have laid help upon
one that is mighty."--See _Key_. "So then, it is not of him that wills, nor
of him that rules, but of God that shows mercy; who dispenses his
blessings, whether temporal or spiritual, as seems good in his sight."--See
_Key_.

   "Thou, the mean while, was blending with my thought;
    Yea, with my life, and life's own secret joy."--_Coleridge_.


UNDER NOTE VIII.--EXPRESS THE NOMINATIVE.

"Who is here so base, that would be a bondman?"--_Beauties of Shakspeare_,
p. 249. "Who is here so rude, that would not be a Roman?"--_Ib._ "There is
not a sparrow falls to the ground without his notice."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 300. "In order to adjust them so, as shall consist equally with the
perspicuity and the strength of the period."--_Ib._, p. 324; _Blair's
Rhet._, 118. "But, sometimes, there is a verb comest in."--_Cobbett's
English Gram._, ¶248. "Mr. Prince has a genius would prompt him to better
things."--_Spectator_, No. 466. "It is this removes that impenetrable
mist."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 362. "By the praise is given him for his
courage."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 214. "There is no man would be more
welcome here."--_Steele, Spect._, No. 544. "Between an antecedent and a
consequent, or what goes before, and immediately follows."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 141. "And as connected with what goes before and follows."--
_Ib._, p. 354. "There is no man doth a wrong for the wrong's sake."--_Lord
Bacon_. "All the various miseries of life, which people bring upon
themselves by negligence and folly, and might have been avoided by proper
care, are instances of this."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 108. "Ancient
philosophers have taught many things in favour of morality, so far at least
as respect justice and goodness towards our fellow-creatures."--_Gospel its
own Witness_, p. 56. "Indeed, if there be any such, have been, or appear to
be of us, as suppose, there is not a wise man among us all, nor an honest
man, that is able to judge betwixt his brethren; we shall not covet to
meddle in their matter."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 504. "There were that drew
back; there were that made shipwreck of faith: yea, there were that brought
in damnable heresies."--_Ib._, i, 466. "The nature of the cause rendered
this plan altogether proper, and in similar situations is fit to be
imitated."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 274. "This is an idiom to which our
language is strongly inclined, and was formerly very prevalent."--
_Churchill's Gram._, p. 150. "His roots are wrapped about the heap, and
seeth the place of stones."--_Job_, viii, 17.

    "New York, Fifthmonth 3d, 1823.

    "Dear friend, Am sorry to hear of thy loss; but hope it may be
    retrieved. Should be happy to render thee any assistance in my power.
    Shall call to see thee to-morrow morning. Accept assurances of my
    regard. A. B."

    "New York, May 3d, P. M., 1823.

    "Dear Sir, Have just received the kind note favoured me with this
    morning; and cannot forbear to express my gratitude to you. On further
    information, find have not lost so much as at first supposed; and
    believe shall still be able to meet all my engagements. Should,
    however, be happy to see you. Accept, dear sir, my most cordial thanks.
    C. D."--See _Brown's Institutes_, p. 151.

   "Will martial flames forever fire thy mind,
    And never, never be to Heaven resign'd?"--_Pope, Odys._, xii, 145.


UNDER NOTE IX.--APPLICATION OF MOODS.

_First Clause of the Note.--For the Subjunctive Present._

"He will not be pardoned, unless he repents."--_Brown's Institutes_, p.
191.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _repents_, which is here used to
express a future contingency, is in the indicative mood. But, according to
the first clause of Note 9th to Rule 14th, "A future contingency is best
expressed by a verb in the subjunctive present." Therefore, _repents_
should be _repent_; thus, "He will not be pardoned, unless he _repent_."]

"If thou findest any kernelwort in this marshy meadow, bring it to
me."--_Neef's Method of Teaching_, p. 258. "If thou leavest the room, do
not forget to shut that drawer."--_Ib._, p. 246. "If thou graspest it
stoutly, thou wilt not be hurt."--_Ib._, p. 196. "On condition that he
comes, I will consent to stay."--_Murray's Exerc._, p. 74. "If he is but
discreet, he will succeed."--_Inst._, p. 191. "Take heed that thou speakest
not to Jacob."--_Ib._ "If thou castest me off, I shall be miserable."--
_Ib._ "Send them to me, if thou pleasest."--_Ib._ "Watch the door of thy
lips, lest thou utterest folly."--_Ib._ "Though a liar speaks the truth, he
will hardly be believed."--_Common School Manual_, ii, 124. "I will go
unless I should be ill."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 300. "If the word or words
understood are supplied, the true construction will be apparent."--
_Murray's Exercises in Parsing_, p. 21. "Unless thou shalt see the
propriety of the measure, we shall not desire thy support."--_Murray's
Key_, p. 209. "Unless thou shouldst make a timely retreat, the danger will
be unavoidable."--_Ib._, p. 209. "We may live happily, though our
possessions are small."--_Ib._, p. 202. "If they are carefully studied,
they will enable the student to parse all the exercises."--_Ib., Note_, p.
165. "If the accent is fairly preserved on the proper syllable, this
drawling sound will never be heard."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 242. "One phrase
may, in point of sense, be equivalent to another, though its grammatical
nature is essentially different."--_Ib._, p. 108. "If any man obeyeth not
our word by this epistle, note that man."--_Dr. Webster's Bible_. "Thy
skill will be the greater, if thou hittest it."--_Putnam's Analytical
Reader_, p. 204. "Thy skill will be the greater if thou hit'st
it."--_Cobb's N. A. Reader_, p. 321. "We shall overtake him though he
should run."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 113; _Murray's_, 207; _Smith's_, 173.
"We shall be disgusted if he gives us too much."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 388.

   "What is't to thee, if he neglect thy urn,
    Or without spices lets thy body burn?"--DRYDEN: _Joh. Dict., w. What._

_Second Clause of Note IX.--For the Subjunctive Imperfect._

"And so would I, if I was he."--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 191.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _was_, which is here used to
express a mere supposition, with indefinite time, is in the indicative
mood. But, according to the second clause of Note 9th to Rule 14th, "A mere
supposition, with indefinite time, is best expressed by a verb in the
subjunctive imperfect." Therefore, _was_ should be _were_; thus, "And so
would I, if I _were_ he."]

"If I was a Greek, I should resist Turkish despotism."--_Cardell's Elements
of Gram._, p. 80. "If he was to go, he would attend to your
business."--_Ib._, p. 81. "If thou feltest as I do, we should soon
decide."--_Inst._, p. 191. "Though thou sheddest thy blood in the cause, it
would but prove thee sincerely a fool."--_Ib._ "If thou lovedst him, there
would be more evidence of it."--_Ib._ "If thou couldst convince him, he
would not act accordingly."--_Murray's Key_, p. 209. "If there was no
liberty, there would be no real crime."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 118.
"If the house was burnt down, the case would be the same."--_Foster's
Report_, i, 89. "As if the mind was not always in action, when it prefers
any thing!"--_West, on Agency_, p. 38. "Suppose I was to say, 'Light is a
body.'"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 78. "If either oxygen or azote was omitted,
life would be destroyed."--_Gurney's Evidences_, p. 155. "The verb _dare_
is sometimes used as if it was an auxiliary."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 132.
"A certain lady, whom I could name, if it was necessary."--_Spectator_, No.
536. "If the _e_ was dropped, _c_ and _g_ would assume their hard
sounds."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 10. "He would no more comprehend it, than
if it was the speech of a Hottentot."--_Neef's Sketch_, p. 112. "If thou
knewest the gift of God," &c.--_John_, iv, 10. "I wish I was at home."--_O.
B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 260. "Fact alone does not constitute right; if it
does, general warrants were lawful."--_Junius_, Let. xliv, p. 205. "Thou
look'st upon thy boy as though thou guessest it."--_Putnam's Analytical
Reader_, p. 202. "Thou look'st upon thy boy as though thou guessedst
it."--_Cobb's N. A. Reader_, p. 320. "He fought as if he had contended for
life."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 92. "He fought as if he had been contending for
his life."--_Ib._, 92.

   "The dewdrop glistens on thy leaf,
      As if thou seem'st to shed a tear;
    As if thou knew'st my tale of grief,
      Felt all my sufferings severe."--_Alex. Letham_.

_Last Clause of Note IX.--For the Indicative Mood._

"If he know the way, he does not need a guide."--_Brown's Institutes_, p.
191.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _know_, which is used to express a
conditional circumstance assumed as a fact, is in the subjunctive mood.
But, according to the last clause of Note 9th to Rule 14th, "A conditional
circumstance assumed as a fact, requires the indicative mood." Therefore,
_know_ should be _knows_; thus, "If he _knows_ the way, he does not need a
guide."]

"And if there be no difference, one of them must be superfluous, and ought
to be rejected."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 149. "I cannot say that I admire
this construction, though it be much used."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 172.
"We are disappointed, if the verb do not immediately follow it."--_Ib._, p.
177. "If it were they who acted so ungratefully, they are doubly in
fault."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 223. "If art become apparent, it disgusts
the reader."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 80. "Though perspicuity be more
properly a rhetorical than a grammatical quality, I thought it better to
include it in this book."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 238. "Although the
efficient cause be obscure, the final cause of those sensations lies
open."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 29. "Although the barrenness of language, and
the want of words be doubtless one cause of the invention of
tropes."--_Ib._, p. 135. "Though it enforce not its instructions, yet it
furnishes us with a greater variety."--_Ib._, p. 353. "In other cases,
though the idea be one, the words remain quite separate"--_Priestley's
Gram._, p. 140. "Though the Form of our language be more simple, and has
that peculiar Beauty."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. v. "Human works are of no
significancy till they be completed."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 245. "Our
disgust lessens gradually till it vanish altogether."--_Ib._, i, 338. "And
our relish improves by use, till it arrive at perfection."--_Ib._, i, 338.
"So long as he keep himself in his own proper element."--COKE: _ib._, i,
233. "Whether this translation were ever published or not I am wholly
ignorant."--_Sale's Koran_, i, 13. "It is false to affirm, 'As it is day,
it is light,' unless it actually be day."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 246. "But
we may at midnight affirm, 'If it be day, it is light.'"--_Ibid._ "If the
Bible be true, it is a volume of unspeakable interest."--_Dickinson_.
"Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he
suffered."--_Heb._, v, 8. "If David then call him Lord, how is he his
son?"--_Matt._, xxii, 45.

   "'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill
    Appear in writing or in judging ill."--_Pope, Ess. on Crit._


UNDER NOTE X.--FALSE SUBJUNCTIVES.

"If a man have built a house, the house is his."--_Wayland's Moral
Science_, p. 286.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _have built_, which extends the
subjunctive mood into the perfect tense, has the appearance of disagreeing
with its nominative _man_. But, according to Note 10th to Rule 14th, "Every
such use or extension of the subjunctive mood, as the reader will be likely
to mistake for a discord between the verb and its nominative, ought to be
avoided as an impropriety." Therefore, _have built_ should be _has built_;
thus, "If a man _has built_ a house, the house is his."]

"If God have required them of him, as is the fact, he has time."--_Ib._, p.
351. "Unless a previous understanding to the contrary have been had with
the Principal."--_Berrian's Circular_, p. 5. "O if thou have Hid them in
some flowery cave."--_Milton's Comus_, l. 239. "O if Jove's will Have
linked that amorous power to thy soft lay."--_Milton, Sonnet_ 1.
"SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD: If thou love, If thou loved, If thou have loved, If thou
had loved, If thou shall or will love, If thou shall or will have
loved."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 71; _Cooper's Murray_, 58; _D.
Adams's Gram._, 48; and others. "Till religion, the pilot of the soul, have
lent thee her unfathomable coil."--_Tupper's Thoughts_, p. 170. "Whether
nature or art contribute most to form an orator, is a trifling
inquiry."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 338. "Year after year steals something from
us; till the decaying fabric totter of itself, and crumble at length into
dust."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 225. "If spiritual pride have not entirely
vanquished humility."--_West's Letters_, p. 184. "Whether he have gored a
son, or have gored a daughter."--_Exodus_, xxi, 31. "It is doubtful whether
the object introduced by way of simile, relate to what goes before, or to
what follows."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 45.

   "And bridle in thy headlong wave,
    Till thou our summons answer'd have."--_Milt., Comus_, l. 887.


RULE XV.--FINITE VERBS.

When the nominative is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality,
the Verb must agree with it in the plural number: as, "The _council were
divided_."--"The _college_ of cardinals _are_ the electors of the
pope."--_Murray's Key_, p. 176. "Quintus Curtius relates, that a _number_
of them _were drowned_ in the river Lycus."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, p.
125.

   "Yon _host come_ learn'd in academic rules."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, vii, 401.

    "While heaven's high _host_ on hallelujahs _live_."
        --_Young's N. Th._, iv, 378.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XV.

OBS. 1.--To this rule there are _no exceptions_; because, the collective
noun being a name which even in the singular number "signifies _many_," the
verb which agrees with it, can never properly be singular, unless the
collection be taken literally as one aggregate, and not as "conveying the
idea of plurality." Thus, the collective noun singular being in general
susceptible of two senses, and consequently admitting two modes of concord,
the form of the verb, whether singular or plural, becomes the principal
index to the particular sense in which the nominative is taken. After such
a noun, we can use either a singular verb, agreeing with it literally,
strictly, formally, according to Rule 14th; as, "The whole _number_ WAS two
thousand and six hundred;" or a plural one, agreeing with it figuratively,
virtually, ideally, according to Rule 15th; as, "The whole _number_ WERE
two thousand and six hundred."--_2 Chron._, xxvi, 12. So, when the
collective noun is an antecedent, the relative having in itself no
distinction of the numbers, its verb becomes the index to the sense of all
three; as, "Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the _remnant that_ IS
_left._"--_Isaiah_, xxxvii, 4. "Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the
_remnant that_ ARE _left_."--_2 Kings_, xix, 4. Ordinarily the word
_remnant_ conveys no idea of plurality; but, it being here applied to
persons, and having a meaning to which the mere singular neuter noun is not
well adapted, the latter construction is preferable to the former. The
Greek version varies more in the two places here cited; being plural in
Isaiah, and singular in Kings. The Latin Vulgate, in both, is, "_pro
reliquiis quæ repertæ sunt_:" i.e., "for the _remains_, or _remnants_, that
are found."

OBS. 2.--Dr. Adam's rule is this: "A collective noun may be joined with a
verb either of the singular or of the plural number; as, _Multitudo stat_,
or _stant_; the multitude stands, or stand."--_Latin and English Gram._ To
this doctrine, Lowth, Murray, and others, add: "Yet not without regard to
the _import of the word_, as conveying _unity or plurality of
idea_."--_Lowth_, p. 74; _Murray_, 152. If these latter authors mean, that
collective nouns are permanently divided in import, so that some are
invariably determined to the idea of unity, and others to that of
plurality, they are wrong in principle; for, as Dr. Adam remarks, "A
collective noun, when joined with a verb singular, expresses many
considered as one whole; but when joined with a verb plural, it signifies
many separately, or as individuals."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 154. And if this
alone is what their addition means, it is entirely useless; and so, for all
the purposes of parsing, is the singular half of the rule itself. Kirkham
divides this rule into two, one for "unity of idea," and the other for
"plurality of idea," shows how each is to be applied in parsing, according
to his "_systematick order_;" and then, turning round with a gallant tilt
at his own work, condemns both, as idle fabrications, which it were better
to reject than to retain; alleging that, "The existence of such a thing as
'unity or plurality of idea,' as applicable to nouns of this class, is
_doubtful_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 59.[394] How then shall a plural verb
or pronoun, after a collective noun, be parsed, seeing it does not agree
with the noun by the ordinary rule of agreement? Will any one say, that
every such construction is _bad English_? If this cannot be maintained,
rules eleventh and fifteenth of this series are necessary. But when the
noun conveys the idea of unity or takes the plural form, the verb or
pronoun has no other than a literal agreement by the common rule; as,

   "A _priesthood_, such _as_ Baal's _was_ of old,
    A _people_, such _as_ never _was_ till now."--_Cowper_.

OBS. 3.--Of the construction of the verb and collective noun, a late
British author gives the following account: "Collective nouns are
substantives _which_ signify _many in the singular number_. Collective
nouns are of two sorts: 1. Those which cannot become plural like other
substantives; as, nobility, mankind, &c. 2. Those which can be made plural
by the usual rules for a substantive; as, 'A multitude, multitudes; a
crowd, crowds;' &c. Substantives which imply plurality in the singular
number, and consequently have no other plural, generally require a plural
verb. They are cattle, cavalry, clergy, commonalty, gentry, laity, mankind,
nobility, peasantry people, populace, public, rabble, &c. [;] as, 'The
public _are_ informed.' Collective nouns which form a regular plural, such
as, number, numbers; multitude, multitudes; have, like all other
substantives, a singular verb, when they are in the singular number; and a
plural verb, when they are in the plural number; as, 'A number of people
_is_ assembled; Numbers _are_ assembled.'--'The fleet _was_ dispersed; a
_part_ of it _was_ injured; the several _parts are_ now collected.'"--
_Nixon's Parser_, p. 120. To this, his main text, the author appends a
note, from which the following passages are extracted: "There are few
persons acquainted with Grammar, who may not have noticed, in many authors
as well as speakers, an irregularity in supposing collective nouns to have,
at one time, a singular meaning, and consequently to require a singular
verb; and, at an other time, to have a plural meaning, and therefore to
require a plural verb. This irregularity appears to have arisen from the
want of a clear idea of the nature of a collective noun. This defect the
author has endeavoured to supply; and, upon his definition, he has founded
the two rules above. It is allowed on all sides that, hitherto, no
satisfactory rules have been produced to enable the pupil to ascertain,
with any degree of certainty, when a collective noun should have a singular
verb, and when a plural one. A rule that simply tells its examiner, that
when a collective noun in the nominative case conveys the idea of unity,
its verb should be singular; and when it implies plurality, its verb should
be plural, is of very little value; for such a rule will prove the _pupil's
being in the right_, whether he _should_ put the verb in the singular or
the plural."--_Ibid._

OBS. 4.--The foregoing explanation has many faults; and whoever trusts to
it, or to any thing like it, will certainly be very much misled. In the
first place, it is remarkable that an author who could suspect in others
"the _want of a clear idea_ of the nature of a collective noun," should
have hoped to supply the defect by a definition so ambiguous and
ill-written as is the one above. Secondly, his subdivision of this class of
nouns into two sorts, is both baseless and nugatory; for that plurality
which has reference to the individuals of an assemblage, has no manner of
connexion or affinity with that which refers to more than one such
aggregate; nor is there any interference of the one with the other, or any
ground at all for supposing that the absence of the latter is, has been, or
ought to be, the occasion for adopting the former. Hence, thirdly, his two
rules, (though, so far as they go, they seem not untrue in themselves,) by
their limitation under this false division, exclude and deny the true
construction of the verb with the greater part of our collective nouns.
For, fourthly, the first of these rules rashly presumes that any collective
noun which in the singular number implies a plurality of individuals, is
consequently destitute of any other plural; and the second accordingly
supposes that no such nouns as, council, committee, jury, meeting, society,
assembly, court, college, company, army, host, band, retinue, train,
multitude, number, part, half, portion, majority, minority, remainder, set,
sort, kind, class, nation, tribe, family, race, and a hundred more, can
ever be properly used with a plural verb, except when they assume the
plural form. To prove the falsity of this supposition, is needless. And,
finally, the objection which this author advances against the common rules,
is very far from proving them useless, or not greatly preferable to his
own. If they do not in every instance enable the student to ascertain with
certainty which form of concord he ought to prefer, it is only because no
rules can possibly tell a man precisely when he ought to entertain the idea
of unity, and when that of plurality. In some instances, these ideas are
unavoidably mixed or associated, so that it is of little or no consequence
which form of the verb we prefer; as, "Behold, the _people_ IS _one_, and
_they have all_ one language."--_Gen._, xi, 6.

   "Well, if a king's a lion, at the least
    The _people_ ARE a many-headed _beast_."--_Pope_, Epist. i, l. 120.

OBS. 5.--Lindley Murray says, "On many occasions, _where_ a noun of
multitude is used, it is very difficult to decide, whether the verb should
be in the singular, or in the plural number; and this difficulty has
induced some grammarians to cut the knot at once, and to assert that every
noun of multitude must always be considered as conveying the idea of
unity."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 153. What these occasions, or who these
grammarians, are, I know not; but it is certain that the difficulty here
imagined does not concern the application of such rules as require the verb
and pronoun to conform to the sense intended; and, where there is no
apparent impropriety in adopting either number, there is no occasion to
raise a scruple as to which is right. To cut knots by dogmatism, and to tie
them by sophistry, are employments equally vain. It cannot be denied that
there are in every multitude both a unity and a plurality, one or the other
of which must be preferred as the principle of concord for the verb or the
pronoun, or for both. Nor is the number of nouns small, or their use
unfrequent, which, according to our best authors, admit of either
construction: though Kirkham assails and repudiates _his own rules_,
because, "Their application is quite limited."--_Grammar in Familiar
Lectures_, p. 59.

OBS. 6.--Murray's doctrine seems to be, not that collective nouns are
generally susceptible of two senses in respect to number, but that some
naturally convey the idea of unity, others, that of plurality, and a few,
either of these senses. The last, which are probably ten times more
numerous than all the rest, he somehow merges or forgets, so as to speak of
_two classes_ only: saying, "Some nouns of multitude certainly convey to
the mind an idea of plurality, others, that of a whole as one thing, and
others again, sometimes that of unity, and sometimes that of plurality. On
this ground, it is warrantable, and consistent with the nature of things,
to apply a plural verb and pronoun _to the one class_, and a singular verb
and pronoun _to the other_. We shall immediately perceive the _impropriety_
of the following constructions: 'The clergy _has_ withdrawn _itself_ from
the temporal courts;' 'The assembly _was_ divided in _its_ opinion;'
&c."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 153. The simple fact is, that _clergy, assembly_,
and perhaps every other collective noun, may sometimes convey the idea of
unity, and sometimes that of plurality; but an "_opinion_" or a voluntary
"_withdrawing_" is a _personal_ act or quality; _wherefore_ it is here more
consistent to adopt the plural sense and construction, in which alone we
take the collection as individuals, or persons.

OBS. 7.--Although a uniformity of number is generally preferable to
diversity, in the construction of words that refer to the same collective
noun: and although many grammarians deny that any departure from such
uniformity is allowable; yet, if the singular be put first, a plural
pronoun may sometimes follow without obvious impropriety: as, "So Judah
_was_ carried away out of _their_ land."--_2 Kings_, xxv, 21. "Israel is
reproved and threatened for _their_ impiety and idolatry."--_Friends'
Bible, Hosea_, x. "There _is_ the enemy _who wait_ to give us
battle."--_Murray's Introductory Reader_, p. 36. When the idea of plurality
predominates in the author's mind, a plural verb is sometimes used _before_
a collective noun that has the singular article _an_ or _a_; as, "There
_are a sort_ of authors, _who seem_ to take up with appearances."--
_Addison_. "Here _are a number_ of facts or incidents leading to the end in
view."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 296. "There _are a great number_ of
exceedingly good writers among the French."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 11.

   "There in the forum _swarm a numerous train_,
    The subject of debate a townsman slain."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. xviii, l. 578.

OBS. 8.--Collective nouns, when they are merely _partitive_ of the plural,
like the words _sort_ and _number_ above, are usually connected with a
plural verb, even though they have a singular definitive; as, "And _this
sort of_ adverbs commonly _admit_ of Comparison."--_Buchanan's English
Syntax_, p. 64. Here, perhaps, it would be better to say, "_Adverbs of this
sort_ commonly admit of comparison." "_A part_ of the exports _consist_ of
raw silk."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 100. This construction is
censured by Murray, in his octavo Gram., p. 148; where we are told, that
the verb should agree with the first noun only. Dr. Webster alludes to this
circumstance, in _improving_ his grammar, and admits that, "A part of the
exports _consists_, seems to be more correct."--_Improved Gram._, p. 100.
Yet he retains his original text, and obviously thinks it a light thing,
that, "in some cases," his rules or examples "may not be vindicable." (See
Obs. 14th, 15th, and 16th, on Rule 14th, of this code.) It would, I think,
be better to say, "The exports consist _partly_ of raw silk." Again: "_A
multitude_ of Latin words _have_, of late, been poured in upon
us."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 94. Better, perhaps: "_Latin words, in great
multitude_, have, of late, been poured in upon us." So: "For _the bulk_ of
_writers_ are very apt to confound them with each other."--_Ib._, p. 97.
Better: "For _most writers_ are very apt to confound them with each other."
In the following example, (here cited as _Kames_ has it, _El. of Crit._,
ii, 247,) either the verb _is_, or the phrase, "_There are some moveless
men_" might as well have been used:

   "There _are a sort_ of men, whose visages
    Do cream and mantle like a standing pond."--_Shak._

OBS. 9.--Collections of _things_ are much less frequently and less properly
regarded as individuals, or under the idea of plurality, than collections
of _persons_. This distinction may account for the difference of
construction in the two clauses of the following example; though I rather
doubt whether a plural verb ought to be used in the former: "The _number_
of commissioned _officers_ in the guards _are_ to the marching regiments as
one to eleven: the _number_ of _regiments_ given to the guards, compared
with those given to the line, _is_ about three to one."--_Junius_, p. 147.
Whenever the multitude is spoken of with reference to a personal act or
quality, the verb ought, as I before suggested, to be in the plural number;
as, "The public _are informed_."--"The plaintiff's counsel _have assumed_ a
difficult task."--"The committee _were instructed_ to prepare a
remonstrance." "The English nation _declare_ they are grossly injured by
_their_ representatives."--_Junius_, p. 147. "One particular class of men
_are_ permitted to call _themselves_ the King's friends."--_Id._, p. 176.
"The Ministry _have_ realized the compendious ideas of Caligula."--_Id._,
p. 177. It is in accordance with this principle, that the following
sentences have plural verbs and pronouns, though their definitives are
singular, and perhaps ought to be singular: "So depraved _were that people_
whom in their history we so much admire."--HUME: _M'Ilvaine's Lect._, p.
400. "Oh, _this people have sinned_ a great sin, and have made them gods of
gold."--_Exodus_, xxxii, 31. "_This people_ thus gathered _have_ not wanted
those trials."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 460. The following examples, among
others, are censured by Priestley, Murray, and the copyists of the latter,
without sufficient discrimination, and for a reason which I think
fallacious; namely, "because the ideas they represent seem not to be
sufficiently divided in the mind:"--"The court of Rome _were_ not without
solicitude."--_Hume_. "The house of Lords _were_ so much influenced by
these reasons."--_Id._ See _Priestley's Gram._, p. 188; _Murray's_, 152;
_R. C. Smith's_, 129; _Ingersoll's_, 248; and others.

OBS. 10.--In general, a collective noun, unless it be made plural in form,
no more admits a plural adjective before it, than any other singular noun.
Hence the impropriety of putting _these_ or _those_ before _kind_ or
_sort_; as, "_These kind_ of knaves I know."--_Shakspeare_. Hence, too, I
infer that _cattle_ is not a collective noun, as Nixon would have it to be,
but an irregular plural which has no singular; because we can say _these
cattle_ or _those cattle_, but neither a bullock nor a herd is ever called
_a cattle, this cattle_, or _that cattle_. And if "_cavalry, clergy,
commonalty_," &c., were like this word, they would all be plurals also, and
not "substantives which imply plurality in the singular number, and
consequently have no other plural." Whence it appears, that the writer who
most broadly charges others with not understanding the nature of a
collective noun, has most of all misconceived it himself. If there are not
_many clergies_, it is because _the clergy_ is one body, with one Head, and
not because it is in a particular sense many. And, since the forms of words
are not necessarily confined to things that exist, who shall say that the
plural word _clergies_, as I have just used it, is not good English?

OBS. 11.--If we say, "_these people_," "_these gentry_," "_these folk_," we
make _people, gentry_, and _folk_, not only irregular plurals, but plurals
to which there are no correspondent singulars; but by these phrases, we
must mean certain individuals, and not more than one people, gentry, or
folk. But these names are sometimes collective nouns singular; and, as
such, they may have verbs of either number, according to the sense; and may
also form regular plurals, as _peoples_, and _folks_; though we seldom, if
ever, speak of _gentries_; and _folks_ is now often irregularly applied to
persons, as if one person were _a folk_. So _troops_ is sometimes
irregularly, if not improperly, put for _soldiers_, as if a soldier were _a
troop_; as, "While those gallant _troops_, by _whom_ every hazardous, every
laborious service is performed, are left to perish."--_Junius_, p. 147. In
Genesis, xxvii, 29th, we read, "Let _people_ serve thee, and nations bow
down to thee." But, according to the Vulgate, it ought to be, "Let
_peoples_ serve thee, and nations bow down to thee;" according to the
Septuagint, "Let _nations_ serve thee, and _rulers_ bow down to thee."
Among Murray's "instances of false syntax," we find the text, "This people
draweth near to me with their mouth," &c.--_Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 49.
This is corrected in his Key, thus: "_These_ people _draw_ near to me with
their mouth."--_Ib._, ii, 185. The Bible has it: "This people _draw near
me_ with their mouth."--_Isaiah_, xxix, 13. And again: "This people
_draweth nigh unto_ me with their mouth.,"--_Matt._, xv, 8. Dr. Priestley
thought it ought to be, "This people _draws_ nigh unto me with their
_mouths_."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 63. The second evangelist omits some
words: "This people _honoureth_ me with their lips, but _their heart_ is
far from me."--_Mark_, vii, 6. In my opinion, the plural verb is here to be
preferred; because the pronoun _their_ is plural, and the worship spoken of
was a personal rather than a national act. Yet the adjective _this_ must be
retained, if the text specify the Jews as a people. As to the words _mouth_
and _heart_, they are to be understood figuratively of _speech_ and _love_;
and I agree not with Priestley, that the plural number must necessarily be
used. See Note 4th to Rule 4th.

OBS. 12.--In making an assertion concerning a number or quantity with some
indefinite excess or allowance, we seem sometimes to take for the subject
of the verb what is really the object of a preposition; as, "In a sermon,
there _may be_ from three to five, or six heads."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 313.
"In those of Germany, there _are_ from eight to twelve professors."--
_Dwight, Lit. Convention_, p. 138. "About a million and a half _was
subscribed_ in a few days."--_N. Y. Daily Advertiser_. "About one hundred
feet of the Muncy dam _has been swept off_."--_N. Y. Observer_. "Upwards of
one hundred thousand dollars _have been appropriated_."--_Newspaper_. "But
I fear there _are_ between twenty and thirty of them."--_Tooke's
Diversions_, ii, 441. "Besides which, there _are_ upwards of fifty smaller
islands."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 30. "On board of which _embarked_ upwards of
three hundred passengers."--_Robertson's Amer._, ii, 419. The propriety of
using _above_ or _upwards of_ for _more than_, is questionable, but the
practice is not uncommon. When there is a preposition before what seems at
first to be the subject of the verb, as in the foregoing instances, I
imagine there is an ellipsis of the word _number, amount, sum_ or
_quantity_; the first of which words is a collective noun and may have a
verb either singular or plural: as, "In a sermon, there may be _any number_
from three to five or six heads." This is awkward, to be sure; but what
does the Doctor's sentence _mean_, unless it is, that there _may be an
optional number_ of heads, varying from three to six?

OBS. 13.--Dr. Webster says, "When an aggregate amount is expressed by the
plural names of the particulars composing that amount, the verb may be in
the singular number; as, 'There _was_ more than a hundred and fifty
thousand pounds sterling.' _Mavor's Voyages_." To this he adds, "However
repugnant to the principles of grammar this may seem at first view, the
practice is correct; for the affirmation is not made of the individual
parts or divisions named, the _pounds_, but of the entire sum or
amount."--_Philosophical Gram._, p. 146; _Improved Gram._, p. 100. The fact
is, that the Doctor here, as in some other instances, deduces a false rule
from a correct usage. It is plain that either the word _more_, taken
substantively, or the noun to which it relates as an adjective, is the only
nominative to the verb _was_. Mavor does not affirm that there _were_ a
hundred and fitly thousand pounds; but that there _was more_--i.e., more
_money_ than so many pounds _are_, or _amount to_. Oliver B. Peirce, too.
falls into a multitude of strange errors respecting the nature of _more
than_, and the construction of other words that accompany these. See his
"Analytical Rules," and the manner in which he applies them, in "_The
Grammar_," p. 195 _et seq._

OBS. 14.--Among certain educationists,--grammarians, arithmeticians,
schoolmasters, and others,--there has been of late not a little dispute
concerning the syntax of the phraseology which we use, or should use, in
expressing _multiplication_, or in speaking of _abstract numbers_. For
example: is it better to say, "Twice one _is_ two," or, "Twice one _are_
two?"--"Two times one _is_ two," or, "Two times one _are_ two?"--"Twice two
_is_ four," or, "Twice two _are_ four?"--"Thrice one _is_ or _are_,
three?"--"Three times one _is_, or _are_, three?"--"Three times naught
_is_, or _are_, naught?"--"Thrice three _is_, or _are_, nine?"--"Three
times four _is_, or _are_, twelve?"--"Seven times three _make_, or _makes_,
twenty-one?"--"Three times his age _do_ not, or _does_ not, equal
mine?"--"Three times the quantity _is_ not, or _are_ not,
sufficient?"--"Three quarters of the men were discharged; and three
quarters of the money _was_, or _were_, sent back?"--"As 2 _is_ to 4, so
_is_ 6 to 12;" or, "As two _are_ to four, so _are_ six to twelve?"

OBS. 15.--Most of the foregoing expressions, though all are perhaps
intelligible enough in common practice, are, in some respect, difficult of
analysis, or grammatical resolution. I think it possible, however, to frame
an argument of some plausibility in favour of every one of them. Yet it is
hardly to be supposed, that any _teacher_ will judge them all to be alike
justifiable, or feel no interest in the questions which have been raised
about them. That the language of arithmetic is often defective or
questionable in respect to grammar, may be seen not only in many an ill
choice between the foregoing variant and contrasted modes of expression,
but in sundry other examples, of a somewhat similar character, for which it
may be less easy to find advocates and published arguments. What critic
will not judge the following phraseology to be faulty? "4 times two units
_is_ 8 units, and 4 times 5 tens _is_ twenty tens."--_Chase's Common School
Arithmetic_, 1848, p. 42. Or this? "1 time 1 is l. 2 times 1 are 2; 1 time
4 is 4, 2 times 4 are 8."--_Ray's Arithmetic_, 1853. Or this? "8 and 7 _is_
15, 9's out leaves 6; 3 and 8 _is_ 11, 9's out leaves 2."--_Babcock's
Practical Arithmetic_, 1829, p. 22. Or this again? "3 times 3 _is_ 9, and 2
we had to carry _is_ 11."--_Ib._, p. 20.

OBS. 16.--There are several different opinions as to what constitutes the
grammatical subject of the verb in any ordinary English expression of
multiplication. Besides this, we have some variety in the phraseology which
precedes the verb; so that it is by no means certain, either that the
multiplying terms are always of the same part of speech, or that the true
nominative to the verb is not essentially different in different examples.
Some absurdly teach, that an abstract number is necessarily expressed by
"_a singular noun_," with only a singular meaning; that such a number, when
multiplied, is always, of itself the subject of the assertion; and,
consequently, that the verb must be singular, as agreeing only with this
"singular noun." Others, not knowing how to parse separately the
multiplying word or words and the number multiplied, take them both or all
together as "the grammatical subject" with which the verb must agree. But,
among these latter expounders, there are two opposite opinions on the very
essential point, whether this "_entire expression_" requires a singular
verb or a plural one:--as, whether we ought to say, "Twice one _is_ two,"
or, "Twice one _are_ two;"--"Twice two _is_ four," or, "Twice two _are_
four;"--"Three times one _is_ three," or, "Three times one _are_
three;"--"Three times three _is_ nine," or, "Three times three _are_ nine."
Others, again, according to Dr. Bullions, and possibly according to their
own notion, find the grammatical subject, sometimes, if not generally, in
the multiplying term only; as, perhaps, is the case with those who write or
speak as follows: "If we say, 'Three times one _are_ three,' we make
'_times_' the subject of the verb."--_Bullions, Analyt. and Pract. Gram._,
1849, p. 39. "Thus, 2 times 1 _are_ 2; 2 times 2 _are_ four; 2 times 3
_are_ 6."--_Chase's C. S. Arith._, p. 43. "Say, 2 times O _are_ O; 2 times
1 _are_ 2."--_Robinson's American Arith._, 1825, p. 24.

OBS. 17.--Dr. Bullions, with a strange blunder of some sort in almost every
sentence, propounds and defends his opinion on this subject thus: "Numeral
_adjectives_, being _also names_ of numbers, are often used as nouns, and
so have the inflection and construction of nouns: thus, by _twos_, by
_tens_, by _fifties_. _Two_ is an even number. Twice _two_ is four. Four
_is_ equal to twice two. In some arithmetics the language employed in the
operation of multiplying--such as 'Twice two _are_ four, twice three _are_
six'--is incorrect. It should be, 'Twice two _is_ four,' &c.; for the word
_two_ is used as a singular noun--the name of a number. The adverb
'_twice_' is _not in construction with it_, and consequently does not make
it plural. The meaning is, 'The number two taken twice is equal to four.'
For the same reason we should say, 'Three times _two_ is six,' because the
meaning is, 'Two taken three times _is_ six.' If we say, 'Three times one
_are_ three,' we make '_times_' the subject of the verb, whereas the
subject of the verb really is '_one_,' and '_times_' is in the _objective
of number_ (§828). 2:4:: 6:12, should be read, 'As 2 _is_ to 4, so _is_ 6
to 12;' not 'As two _are_ to four, so _are_ six to twelve.' But when
numerals denoting more than one, are used as adjectives, with a substantive
expressed or understood, they must have a plural construction."--_Bullions,
Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, 1849, p. 39.

OBS. 18.--Since nouns and adjectives are different parts of speech, the
suggestion, that, "Numeral _adjectives_ are _also names_, or _nouns_," is,
upon the very face of it, a flat absurdity; and the notion that "the name
of a number" above unity, conveys only and always the idea of unity, like
an ordinary "singular noun," is an other. A number in arithmetic is most
commonly an _adjective_ in grammar; and it is always, in form, an
expression that tells _how many_, or--"denotes _how many things_ are spoken
of."--_Chase_, p. 11. But the _name_ of a number is also a number, whenever
it is _not made plural_ in form. Thus _four_ is a number, but _fours_ is
not; so _ten_ is a number, but _tens_ is not. Arithmetical numbers, which
run on to infinity, severally _consist_ of a _definite idea of how many_;
each is a _precise count_ by the unit; _one_ being the beginning of the
series, and the measure of every successive step. Grammatical numbers are
only the verbal forms which distinguish one thing from more of the same
sort. Thus the word _fours_ or _tens_, unless some arithmetical number be
prefixed to it, signifies nothing but a mere plurality which repeats
indefinitely the collective idea of _four_ or _ten_.

OBS. 19.--All actual _names_ of numbers calculative, except _one_, (for
_naught_, though it fills a place among numbers, is, in itself, a mere
negation of number; and such terms as _oneness, unity, duality_, are not
used in calculation,) are _collective nouns_--a circumstance which seems to
make the discussion of the present topic appropriate to the location which
is here given it under Rule 15th. Each of them denotes a particular
aggregate _of units_. And if each, as signifying one whole, may convey the
idea of unity, and take a singular verb; each, again, as denoting so many
units, may quite as naturally take a plural verb, and be made to convey the
idea of plurality. For the mere abstractness of numbers, or their
separation from all "_particular objects_," by no means obliges us to limit
them always to the construction with verbs singular. If it is right to say,
"Two _is_ an even number;" it is certainly no error to say, "Two _are_ an
even number." If it is allowable to say, "As 2 _is_ to 4, so _is_ 6 to 12;"
it is as well, if not better, to say, "As two _are_ to four, so _are_ six
to twelve." If it is correct to say, "Four _is_ equal to twice two;" it is
quite as grammatical to say, "Four _are_ equal to twice two." Bullions bids
say, "Twice two _is_ four," and, "Three times two _is_ six;" but I very
much prefer to say, "Twice two _are_ four," and, "Three times two _are_
six." The Doctor's reasoning, whereby he condemns the latter phraseology,
is founded only upon false assumptions. This I expect to show; and
more--that the word which he prefers, is wrong.

OBS. 20.--As to what constitutes the subject of the verb in multiplication,
I have already noticed _three different opinions_. There are yet three or
four more, which must not be overlooked in a general examination of this
grammatical dispute. Dr. Bullions's notion on this point, is stated with so
little consistency, that one can hardly say what it is. At first, he seems
to find his nominative in the multiplicand, "used as a singular noun;" but,
when he ponders a little on the text, "_Twice two is four_," he finds the
leading term not to be the word "_two_," but the word "_number_,"
understood. He resolves, indeed, that no one of the four words used, "is in
construction with" any of the rest; for he thinks, "The meaning is, '_The
number_ two _taken_ twice is _equal to_ four.'" Here, then, is a _fourth
opinion_ in relation to the subject of the verb: it must be "_number_"
understood. Again, it is conceded by the same hand, that, "When numerals
denoting more than one, are used as adjectives, with a substantive
expressed or understood, they must have a plural construction." Now who can
show that this is not the case in general with the numerals of
multiplication? To explain the syntax of "_Twice two are four_," what can
be more rational than to say, "The sense is, 'Twice two _units_, or
_things_, are four?'" Is it not plain, that twice two things, of any sort,
are four things of that same sort, and only so? Twice two duads are how
many? Answer: _Four duads_, or _eight units_. Here, then, is a _fifth
opinion_,--and a very fair one too,--according to which we have for the
subject of the verb, not "_two_" nor "_twice_" nor "_twice two_," nor
"_number_," understood before "_two_," but the plural noun "_units_" or
"_things"_ implied in or after the multiplicand.

OBS. 21.--It is a doctrine taught by sundry grammarians, and to some extent
true, that a neuter verb between two nominatives "may agree with either of
them." (See Note 5th to Rule 14th, and the footnote.) When, therefore, a
person who knows this, meets with such examples as, "Twice one _are_
two;"--"Twice one unit _are_ two units;"--"Thrice one _are_ three;"--he
will of course be apt to refer the verb to the nominative which follows it,
rather than to that which precedes it; taking the meaning to be, "_Two are_
twice one;"--"_Two units are_ twice one unit;"--"_Three are_ thrice one."
Now, if such is the sense, the construction in each of these instances is
right, because it accords with such sense; the interpretation is right
also, because it is the only one adapted to such a construction; and we
have, concerning the subject of the verb, a _sixth opinion_,--a very proper
one too,--that it is found, not where it is most natural to look for it, in
the expression of the _factors_, but in a noun which is either uttered or
implied in the _product_. But, no doubt, it is better to avoid this
construction, by using such a verb as may be said to agree with the number
multiplied. Again, and lastly, there may be, touching all such cases as,
"Twice _one are_ two," a _seventh opinion_, that the subject of the verb is
the product taken _substantively_, and not as a numeral _adjective_. This
idea, or the more comprehensive one, that all abstract numbers are nouns
substantive, settles nothing concerning the main question, What form of the
verb is required by an abstract number above unity? If the number be
supposed an adjective, referring to the implied term _units_, or _things_,
the verb must of course be plural; but if it be called a _collective noun_,
the verb only follows and fixes "the idea of plurality," or "the idea of
unity," as the writer or speaker chooses to adopt the one or the other.

OBS. 22.--It is marvellous, that four or five monosyllables, uttered
together in a common simple sentence, could give rise to all this diversity
of opinion concerning the subject of the verb; but, after all, the chief
difficulty presented by the phraseology of multiplication, is that of
ascertaining, not "the grammatical subject of the verb," but the
grammatical relation between the multiplier and the multiplicand--the true
way of parsing the terms _once, twice, three times_, &c., but especially
the word _times_. That there must be some such relation, is obvious; but
what is it? and how is it to be known? To most persons, undoubtedly,
"_Twice two_," and, "_Three times two_," seem to be _regular phrases_, in
which the words cannot lack syntactical connexion; yet Dr. Bullions, who is
great authority with some thinkers, denies all immediate or direct relation
between the word "_two_," and the term before it, preferring to parse both
"_twice_" and "_three times_" as adjuncts to the participle "_taken_,"
understood. He says, "The adverb '_twice_' is not in construction with
'_two_,' and consequently does not make it plural." His first assertion
here is, in my opinion, untrue; and the second implies the very erroneous
doctrine, that the word _twice_, if it relate to a singular term, _will
"make it plural_." From a misconception like this, it probably is, that
some who ought to be very accurate in speech, are afraid to say, "Twice one
_is_ two," or, "Thrice one _is_ three," judging the singular verb to be
wrong; and some there are who think, that "_usage_ will not permit" a
careful scholar so to speak. Now, analysis favours the singular form here;
and it is contrary to a plain principle of General Grammar, to suppose that
a _plural_ verb can be demanded by any phrase which is made _collectively_
the subject of the assertion. (See Note 3d, and Obs. 13th, 14th, 15th, and
16th, under Rule 14th.) _Are_ is, therefore, _not required here_; and, if
allowable, it is so only on the supposition that the leading nominative is
put after it.

OBS. 23.--In Blanchard's small Arithmetic, published in 1854, the following
inculcations occur: "When we say, 3 times 4 trees are 12 trees, we have
reference to the _objects_ counted; but in saying 3 times 4 _is_ twelve, we
mean, that 3 times the _number_ 4, _is the number_ 12. Here we use 4 and
12, not as numeral _adjectives_, but as _nouns_, the _names_ of particular
_numbers_, and as such, each conveys the idea of _unity_, and _the entire
expression_ is the subject of _is_, and conveys the _idea of unity_."--P.
iv. Here we have, with an additional error concerning "the entire
expression," a repetition of Dr. Bullions's erroneous assumption, that the
name of a particular number, as being "a singular noun," must "convey the
idea of unity," though the number itself be a distinct plurality. These men
talk as if there were an absurdity in affirming that "the number 4" is
_plural_! But, if _four_ be taken as only one thing, how can _three_
multiply this one thing into _twelve_? It is by no means proper to affirm,
that, "_Every_ four, taken three times, _is_, or _are_, twelve;" for three
instances, or "_times_," of the _figure_ 4, or of the _word four_, are only
three 4's, or three verbal _fours_. And is it not _because_ "_the number_
4" _is plural--is in itself four units_--and because the word _four_, or
the figure 4, conveys explicitly the _idea of this plurality_, that the
multiplication table is true, where it says, "3 times 4 _are_ 12?" It is
not right to say, "Three times one quaternion is twelve;" nor is it quite
unobjectionable to say, with Blanchard "3 _times the number_ 4, _is the
number_ 12." Besides, this pretended interpretation explains nothing. The
syntax of the shorter text, "3 times 4 _is_ 12," is in no way justified or
illustrated by it. Who does not perceive that _the four_ here spoken of
must be four _units_, or four _things_ of some sort; and that no _such_
"four," multiplied by 3, or _till_ "3 _times_," can "convey the idea of
unity," or match a singular verb? Dr. Webster did not so conceive of this
"abstract number," or of "the entire expression" in which it is multiplied;
for he says, "Four times four _amount_ to sixteen."--_American Dict., w.
Time._

OBS. 24.--In fact no phrase of multiplication is of such a nature that it
can, with any plausibility be reckoned a composite subject of the verb.
_Once, twice_, and _thrice_, are adverbs; and each of them may, in general,
be parsed as relating directly to the multiplicand. Their construction, as
well as that of the plural verb, is agreeable to the Latin norm; as, when
Cicero says of somebody, "Si, _bis bina_ quot _essent_, didicisset,"--"If
he had learned how many _twice two are_."--See _Ainsworth's Dict., w.
Binus._ The phrases, "_one time_," for _once_, and "_two times_" for
_twice_, seem puerile expressions: they are not often used by competent
teachers. _Thrice_ is a good word, but more elegant than popular. Above
_twice_, we use the phrases, _three times, four times_, and the like, which
are severally composed of a numeral adjective and the noun _times_. If
these words were united, as some think they ought to be, the compounds
would be _adverbs_ of _time repeated_; as, _threetimes, fourtimes_, &c.,
analogous to _sometimes_. Each word would answer, as each phrase now does,
to the question, _How often?_ These expressions are taken by some as having
a direct adverbial relation to the terms which they qualify; but they are
perhaps most commonly explained as being dependent on some preposition
understood. See Obs. 1st on Rule 5th, and Obs. 6th on Rule 7th.

OBS. 25.--In multiplying one only, it is evidently best to use a singular
verb: as, "Twice _naught_ is naught;"--"Three times _one is_ three." And,
in multiplying any number above _one_, I judge a plural verb to be
necessary: as, "Twice _two are_ four;"--"Three times _two are six_;"
because this number must be just _so many_ in order to give the product.
Dr. Bullions says, "We should say, 'Three times two _is_ six,' because the
meaning is, 'Two _taken_ three times _is_ six.'" This is neither reasoning,
nor explanation, nor good grammar. The relation between "_two_" and
"_three_," or the syntax of the word "_times_," or the propriety of the
_singular verb_, is no more apparent in the latter expression than in the
former. It would be better logic to affirm, "We should say, 'Three times
two _are_ six;' because the meaning is, 'Two (_units_), taken _for, to_, or
_till_ three times, are six.'" The preposition _till_, or _until_, is
sometimes found in use before an expression of _times numbered_; as, "How
oft shall I forgive? _till_ seven times? I say not unto thee, _Until_ seven
times; but, _Until_ seventy times seven."--_Matt._, xviii, 21. But here is
still a difficulty with repect to the _multiplying_ term, or the word
"_times_." For, unless, by an unallowable ellipsis, "_seventy times
seven_," is presumed to mean, "seventy times _of_ seven," the preposition
_Until_ must govern, not this noun "_times._" expressed, but an other,
understood after "_seven_;" and the meaning must be, "Thou shalt forgive
him until _seventy-times_ seven times;" or--"until seven _times taken for,
to_, or _till_, seventy times."

OBS. 26.--With too little regard to consistency. Dr. Bullions suggests that
when "we make '_times_' the subject of the verb," it is not "really" such,
but "is in _the objective of number_." He is, doubtless, right in
preferring to parse this word as an objective case, rather than as a
nominative, in the construction to which he alludes; but to call it an
"objective of _number_," is an uncouth error, a very strange mistake for so
great a grammarian to utter: there being in grammar no such thing as "_the
objective of number_:" nothing of the sort, even under his own "Special
Rule," to which he refers us for it! And, if such a thing there were, so
that a _number_ could be "_put in the objective case without a governing
word_," (see his §828,) the plural word _times_, since it denotes no
particular aggregate of units, could never be an example of it. It is true
that _times_, like _days, weeks_, and other nouns of _time_, may be, and
often is, in the objective case without a governing word _expressed_; and,
in such instances, it may be called the objective of _repetition_, or of
_time repeated_. But the construction of the word appears to be such as is
common to many nouns of time, of value, or of measure; which, in their
relation to other words, seem to resemble adverbs, but which are usually
said to be governed by prepositions understood: as, "Three _days_ later;"
i.e., "Later _by_ three days."--"Three _shillings_ cheaper;" i.e., "Cheaper
_by_ three shillings."--"Seven _times_ hotter;" i.e., "Hotter _by_ seven
times."--"Four _feet_ high;" i.e., "High _to_ four feet."--"Ten _years_
old;" i.e., "Old _to_ ten years."--"Five _times_ ten;" i.e., "Ten _by_ five
times;" or, perhaps, "Ten _taken till_ five times."


NOTE TO RULE XV.

A collective noun conveying the idea of unity, requires a verb in the third
person, singular; and generally admits also the regular plural
construction: as, "His _army was_ defeated."--"His _armies were_ defeated."


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XV.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE IDEA OF PLURALITY.

"The gentry is punctilious in their etiquette."

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _is_ is of the singular number, and
does not correctly agree with its nominative _gentry_, which is a
collective noun conveying rather the idea of plurality. But, according to
Rule 15th, "When the nominative is a collective noun conveying the idea of
plurality, the verb must agree with it in the plural number." Therefore,
_is_ should be _are_; thus, "The gentry _are_ punctilious in their
etiquette."]

"In France the peasantry goes barefoot, and the middle sort makes use of
wooden shoes."--HARVEY: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 188. "The people rejoices
in that which should cause sorrow."--See _Murray's Exercises_, p. 49. "My
people is foolish, they have not known me."--_Jer._, iv, 22; _Lowth's
Gram._, p. 75. "For the people speaks, but does not write."--_Philological
Museum_, i, 646. "So that all the people that was in the camp,
trembled."--_Exodus_, xix, 16. "No company likes to confess that they are
ignorant."--_Student's Manual_, p. 217. "Far the greater part of their
captives was anciently sacrificed."--_Robertson's America_, i, 339. "Above
one half of them was cut off before the return of spring."--_Ib._, ii, 419.
"The other class, termed Figures of Thought, supposes the words to be used
in their proper and literal meaning."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 133; _Murray's
Gram._, 337. "A multitude of words in their dialect approaches to the
Teutonic form, and therefore afford excellent assistance."--_Dr. Murray's
Hist of Lang._, i, 148. "A great majority of our authors is defective in
manner."--_James Brown's Crit._ "The greater part of these new-coined words
has been rejected."--_Tooke's Diversions_, ii, 445. "The greater part of
the words it contains is subject to certain modifications and
inflections."--_The Friend_, ii, 123. "While all our youth prefers her to
the rest."--_Waller's Poems_, p. 17. "Mankind is appointed to live in a
future state."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 57. "The greater part of human kind
speaks and acts wholly by imitation."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 169. "The
greatest part of human gratifications approaches so nearly to
vice."--_Ibid._

   "While still the busy world is treading o'er
    The paths they trod five thousand years before."--_Young._


UNDER THE NOTE.--THE IDEA OF UNITY.

"In old English this species of words were numerous."--_Dr. Murray's Hist.
of Lang._, ii, 6. "And a series of exercises in false grammar are
introduced towards the end."--_Frost's El. of E. Gram._, p. iv. "And a
jury, in conformity with the same idea, were anciently called _homagium_,
the homage, or manhood."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 296. "With respect to the
former, there are indeed plenty of means."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 319.
"The number of school districts have increased since the last
year."--_Governor Throop_, 1832. "The Yearly Meeting have purchased with
its funds these publications."--_Foster's Reports_, i, 76. "Have the
legislature power to prohibit assemblies?"--_Wm. Sullivan_. "So that the
whole number of the streets were fifty."--_Rollin's Ancient Hist._, ii, 8.
"The number of inhabitants were not more than four millions."--SMOLLETT:
see _Priestley's Gram._, p. 193. "The House of Commons were of small
weight."--HUME: _Ib._, p. 188. "The assembly of the wicked have enclosed
me."--_Psal._ xxii, 16; _Lowth's Gram._, p. 75. "Every kind of convenience
and comfort are provided."--_Com. School Journal_, i, 24. "Amidst the great
decrease of the inhabitants of Spain, the body of the clergy have suffered
no diminution; but has rather been gradually increasing."--_Payne's Geog._,
ii, 418. "Small as the number of inhabitants are, yet their poverty is
extreme."--_Ib._, ii, 417. "The number of the names were about one hundred
and twenty."--_Ware's Gram._, p. 12; see _Acts_, i, 15.



RULE XVI.--FINITE VERBS.

When a Verb has two or more nominatives connected by _and_, it must agree
with them jointly in the plural, because they are taken together: as, "True
rhetoric _and_ sound logic _are_ very nearly allied."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
11. "Aggression and injury in no case _justify_ retaliation."--_Wayland's
Moral Science_, p. 406.

   "Judges and senates _have been bought_ for gold,
    Esteem _and_ love _were_ never to be sold."--_Pope_.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

When two nominatives connected by _and_ serve merely to describe one person
or thing, they are either in apposition or equivalent to one name, and do
not require a plural verb; as, "Immediately _comes a hue and cry_ after a
gang of thieves."--_L'Estrange_. "The _hue and cry_ of the country
_pursues_ him."--_Junius_, Letter xxiii. "Flesh and blood [i. e. man, or
man's nature,] _hath not revealed_ it unto thee."--_Matt._, xvi, 17."
Descent and fall to us _is_ adverse."--_Milton, P. L._, ii, 76. "This
_philosopher_ and _poet was banished_ from his country."--"Such a _Saviour_
and _Redeemer is_ actually _provided_ for us."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 386.
"Let us then declare what great things our _God and Saviour has done_ for
us."--_Dr. Scott_, on Luke viii. "_Toll, tribute_, and _custom, was paid_
unto them."--_Ezra_, iv, 20.

   "Whose icy _current_ and compulsive _course_
    Ne'er _feels_ retiring ebb, but _keeps_ due on."--_Shakspeare_.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

When two nominatives connected by _and_, are emphatically distinguished,
they belong to different propositions, and, if singular, do not require a
plural verb; as, "_Ambition_, and not the _safety_ of the state, _was
concerned_."--_Goldsmith_. "_Consanguinity_, and not _affinity, is_ the
ground of the prohibition."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 324. "But a
_modification_, and oftentimes a total _change, takes_ place."--_Maunder.
"Somewhat_, and, in many circumstances, a great _deal_ too, _is put_ upon
us."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 108. "_Disgrace_, and perhaps _ruin, was_ the
certain consequence of attempting the latter."--_Robertson's America_, i,
434.

   "_Ay_, and _no_ too, _was_ no good divinity."--_Shakespeare.

    "Love_, and _love only_, is the loan for love."--_Young_.

EXCEPTION THIRD.

When two or more nominatives connected by _and_ are preceded by the
adjective _each, every, or no_, they are taken separately, and do not
require a plural verb; as, "When _no part_ of their substance, and _no one_
of their properties, _is_ the same."--_Bp. Butler_. "Every limb and feature
_appears_ with its respective grace."--_Steele_. "Every person, and every
occurrence, _is beheld_ in the most favourable light."--_Murray's Key_, p.
190. "Each worm, and each insect, _is_ a marvel of creative power."

   "Whose every look and gesture _was_ a joke
    To clapping theatres and shouting crowds."--_Young_.

EXCEPTION FOURTH.

When the verb separates its nominatives, it agrees with that which precedes
it, and is understood to the rest; as, "The _earth is_ the Lord's, and the
_fullness_ thereof."--_Murray's Exercises_, p. 36.

   "_Disdain forbids_ me, and my _dread_ of shame."--_Milton_.

    "------Forth in the pleasing spring,
    Thy _beauty walks_, thy _tenderness_, and _love_."--_Thomson_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XVI.

OBS. 1.--According to Lindley Murray, (who, in all his compilation, from
whatever learned authorities, refers us to _no places_ in any book but his
own.) "Dr. Blair observes, that 'two or more substantives, joined by a
copulative, _must always require_ the verb or pronoun to which they refer,
to be _placed_ in the plural number:' and this," continues the great
Compiler, "is the _general sentiment_ of English grammarians."--_Murray's
Gram._, Vol. i, p. 150. The same thing is stated in many other grammars:
thus, _Ingersoll_ has the very same words, on the 238th page of his book;
and _R. C. Smith_ says, "Dr. Blair _very justly_ observes,"
&c.--_Productive Gram._, p. 126. I therefore doubt not, the learned
rhetorician has somewhere made some such remark: though I can neither
supply the reference which these gentlemen omit, nor vouch for the accuracy
of their quotation. But I trust to make it very clear, that so many
grammarians as hold this sentiment, are no great readers, to say the least
of them. Murray himself acknowledges _one_ exception to this principle, and
unconsciously furnishes examples of one or two more; but, in stead of
placing the former in his Grammar, and under the rule, where the learner
would be likely to notice it, he makes it an obscure and almost
unintelligible note, in the _margin of his Key_, referring by an asterisk
to the following correction: "Every man and every woman _was_
numbered."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. ii. p. 190. To justify this
phraseology, he talks thus: "_Whatever number_ of nouns may be connected
_by a conjunction with the pronoun_ EVERY, this _pronoun_ is as applicable
to _the whole mass_ of them, as to any _one of the nouns_; and _therefore_
the verb is correctly put in the singular number, and _refers to the whole_
separately and individually considered."--_Ib._ So much, then, for "_the
pronoun_ EVERY!" But, without other exceptions, what shall be done with the
following texts from Murray himself? "The flock, _and_ not the fleece,
_is_, or _ought_ to be the object of the shepherd's care."--_Ib._, ii, 184.
"This prodigy of learning, this scholar, critic, _and_ antiquary, _was_
entirely destitute of breeding and civility."--_Ib._, ii, 217. And, in the
following line, what conjunction appears, or what is the difference between
"horror" and "black despair." that the verb should be made plural?

   "What black despair, what horror, _fill_ his _mind_!"--_Ib._, ii, 183.

    "What black despair, what horror _fills_ his _heart_!"--_Thomson_.[395]

OBS. 2.--Besides the many examples which may justly come under the four
exceptions above specified, there are several questionable but customary
expressions, which have some appearance of being deviations from this rule,
but which may perhaps be reasonably explained on the principle of ellipsis:
as, "All work and no play, _makes_ Jack a dull boy."--"Slow and steady
often _outtravels_ haste."--_Dillwyn's Reflections_, p. 23. "Little and
often _fills_ the purse."--_Treasury of Knowledge_, Part i, p. 446. "Fair
and softly _goes_ far." These maxims, by universal custom, lay claim to a
singular verb; and, for my part, I know not how they can well be considered
either real exceptions to the foregoing rule, or real inaccuracies under
it; for, in most of them, the words connected are not _nouns_; and those
which are so, may not be nominatives. And it is clear, that every exception
must have some specific character by which it may be distinguished; else it
destroys the rule, in stead of confirming it, as known exceptions are said
to do. Murray appears to have thought the singular verb _wrong_; for, among
his examples for parsing, he has, "Fair and softly _go_ far," which
instance is no more entitled to a plural verb than the rest. See his
_Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 5. Why not suppose them all to be elliptical?
Their meaning may be as follows: "_To have_ all work and no play, _makes_
Jack a dull boy."--"_What is_ slow and steady, often _outtravels_
haste."--"To _put in_ little and often, _fills_ the purse."--"_What
proceeds_ fair and softly, _goes_ far." The following line from Shakspeare
appears to be still more elliptical:

   "Poor and content _is_ rich, and rich enough."--_Othello_.

This may be supposed to mean, "_He who is_ poor and content," &c. In the
following sentence again, we may suppose an ellipsis of the phrase _To
have_, at the beginning; though here, perhaps, to have pluralized the verb,
would have been as well:

   "One eye on death and one full fix'd on heaven,
    _Becomes_ a mortal and immortal man."--_Young_.

OBS. 3.--The names of two persons are not unfrequently used jointly as the
name of their story; in which sense, they must have a singular verb, if
they have any; as, "Prior's _Henry and Emma contains_ an other beautiful
example."--_Jamieson's Rhetoric_, p. 179. I somewhat hesitate to call this
an exception to the foregoing rule, because here too the phraseology may be
supposed elliptical. The meaning is, "Prior's _little poem, entitled_,
'Henry and Emma,' contains," &c.;--or, "Prior's _story of_ Henry and Emma
contains," &c. And, if the first expression is only an abbreviation of one
of these, the construction of the verb _contains_ may be referred to Rule
14th. See Exception 1st to Rule 12th, and Obs. 2d on Rule 14th.

OBS. 4.--The conjunction _and_, by which alone we can with propriety
connect different words to make them joint nominatives or joint
antecedents, is sometimes suppressed and _understood_; but then its
effect is the same, as if it were inserted; though a singular verb might
sometimes be quite as proper in the same sentences, because it would merely
imply a disjunctive conjunction or none at all: as, "The high breach of
trust, the notorious corruption, _are stated_ in the strongest
terms."--_Junius_, Let. xx. "Envy, self-will, jealousy, pride, often
_reign_ there."--_Abbott's Corner Stone_, p. 111. (See Obs. 4th on Rule
12th.)

   "Art, empire, earth itself, to change _are_ doomed."--_Beattie_.

    "Her heart, her mind, her love, _is_ his alone."--_Cowley_.

In all the foregoing examples, a singular verb might have been used without
impropriety; or the last, which is singular, might have been plural. But
the following couplet evidently requires a plural verb, and is therefore
correct as the poet wrote it; both because the latter noun is plural, and
because the conjunction _and_ is understood between the two. Yet a late
grammarian, perceiving no difference between the joys of sense and the
pleasure of reason, not only changes "_lie_" to "_lies_," but uses the
perversion for a _proof text_, under a rule which refers the verb to the
first noun only, and requires it to be singular. See _Oliver B. Peirce's
Gram._, p. 250.

   "Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense.
    _Lie_ in three words--health, peace, and competence."
        --_Pope's Ess._, Ep. iv, l. 80.

OBS. 5.--When the speaker changes his nominative to take a stronger
expression, he commonly uses no conjunction; but, putting the verb in
agreement with the noun which is next to it, he leaves the other to an
implied concord with its proper form of the same verb: as, "The man whose
_designs_, whose _whole conduct, tends_ to reduce me to subjection, that
man is at war with me, though not a blow has yet been given, nor a sword
drawn."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 265. "All _Greece_, all the barbarian _world,
is_ too narrow for this man's ambition."--_Ibid._ "This _self-command_,
this _exertion_ of reason in the midst of passion, _has_ a wonderful effect
both to please and to persuade."--_Ib._, p. 260. "In the mutual influence
of body and soul, there _is a wisdom_, a _wonderful wisdom_, which we
cannot fathom."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 150. If the principle here
stated is just, Murray has written the following models erroneously:
"Virtue, honour, nay, even self-interest, _conspire_ to recommend the
measure."--_Ib._, p. 150. "Patriotism, morality, every public and private
consideration, _demand_ our submission to just and lawful
government."--_Ibid._ In this latter instance, I should prefer the singular
verb _demands_; and in the former, the expression ought to be otherwise
altered, thus. "Virtue, honour, _and_ interest, all _conspire_ to recommend
the measure." Or thus: "Virtue, honour--nay, even self-interest,
_recommends_ the measure." On this principle, too, Thomson was right, and
this critic wrong, in the example cited at the close of the first
observation above. This construction is again recurred to by Murray, in the
second chapter of his Exercises; where he explicitly condemns the following
sentence because the verb is singular: "Prudence, policy, nay, his own true
interest, strongly _recommends_ the line of conduct proposed to
him."--_Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 22.

OBS. 6.--When two or more nominatives are in apposition with a preceding
one which they explain, the verb must agree with the first word only,
because the others are adjuncts to this, and not joint subjects to the
verb; as, "Loudd, the ancient Lydda and Diospolis, _appears_ like a place
lately ravaged by fire and sword."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 93. "Beattie,
James,--a philosopher and poet,--_was born_ in Scotland, in the year
1735."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 306. "For, the quantity, the length, and
shortness of our syllables, _is_ not, by any means, so fixed."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 124. This principle, like the preceding one, persuades me again
to dissent from Murray, who corrects or _perverts_ the following sentence,
by changing _originates_ to _originate_: "All that makes a figure on the
great theatre of the world; the employments of the busy, the enterprises of
the ambitious, and the exploits of the warlike; the virtues which form the
happiness, and the crimes which occasion the misery of mankind;
_originates_ in that silent and secret recess of thought, which is hidden
from every human eye."--See _Murray's Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 181; or
his _Duodecimo Key_, p. 21. The true subject of this proposition is the
noun _all_, which is singular; and the other nominatives are subordinate to
this, and merely explanatory of it.

OBS. 7.--Dr. Webster says, "_Enumeration_ and addition of numbers are
_usually_ expressed in the singular _number_; [as,] two and two _is_ four;
seven and nine _is_ sixteen; that is, _the sum of_ seven and nine _is_
sixteen. But modern usage inclines to reject the use of the verb in the
singular number, in these and similar phrases."--_Improved Gram._, p. 106.
Among its many faults, this passage exhibits a virtual contradiction. For
what "_modern usage_ inclines to reject," can hardly be the fashion in
which any ideas "_are usually expressed_." Besides, I may safely aver, that
this is a kind of phraseology which all correct usage always did reject. It
is not only a gross vulgarism, but a plain and palpable violation of the
foregoing rule of syntax; and, as such it must be reputed, if the rule has
any propriety at all. What "_enumeration_" has to do with it, is more than
I can tell. But Dr. Webster once admired and commended this mode of speech,
as one of the "wonderful proofs of ingenuity in the _framers_ of language;"
and laboured to defend it as being "correct upon principle;" that is, upon
the principle that "_the sum of_" is understood to be the subject of the
affirmation, when one says, "Two _and_ two _is_ four," in stead of, "Two
and two _are_ four."--See _Webster's Philosophical Gram._, p. 153. This
seems to me a "wonderful proof" of _ignorance_ in a very learned man.
OBS. 8.--In Greek and Latin, the verb frequently agrees with the nearest
nominative, and is understood to the rest; and this construction is
sometimes imitated in English, especially if the nouns follow the verb: as,
"[Greek: Nuni do MENEI pistis, elpis agape, ta tria tanta]."--"Nunc vero
_manet_ fides, spes, charitas; tria hæc."--"Now _abideth_ faith, hope,
charity; these three."--_1 Cor._, xiii, 13. "And now _abideth_ confession,
prayer, and praise, these three; but the greatest of these is
praise."--ATTERBURY: _Blair's Rhet._, p. 300. The propriety of this usage,
so far as our language is concerned, I doubt. It seems to open a door for
numerous deviations from the foregoing rule, and deviations of such a sort,
that if they are to be considered exceptions, one can hardly tell why. The
practice, however, is not uncommon, especially if there are more nouns than
two, and each is emphatic; as, "Wonderful _was_ the patience, fortitude,
self-denial, _and_ bravery of our ancestors."--_Webster's Hist. of U. S._,
p. 118. "It is the very thing I would have you make out: for therein
_consists_ the form, and use, and nature of language."--_Berkley's
Alciphron_, p. 161. "There _is_ the proper noun, and the common noun. There
_is_ the singular noun, and the plural noun."--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 11.
"From him _proceeds_ power, sanctification, truth, grace, and every other
blessing we can conceive."--_Calvin's Institutes_, B. i, Ch. 13. "To what
purpose _cometh_ there to me incense from Sheba, _and_ the sweet cane from
a far country?"--_Jer._, vi, 20. "For thine _is_ the kingdom, _and_ the
power, _and_ the glory, forever."--_Matt._, vi, 13. In all these instances,
the plural verb might have been used; and yet perhaps the singular may be
justified on the ground that there is a distinct and emphatic enumeration
of the nouns. Thus, it would be proper to say, "Thine _are_ the kingdom,
the power, and the glory;" but this construction seems less emphatic than
the preceding, which means, "For thine is the kingdom, _thine is_ the
power, and _thine is_ the glory, forever;" and this repetition is still
more emphatic, and perhaps more proper, than the elliptical form. The
repetition of the conjunction "_and_," in the original text as above, adds
time and emphasis to the reading, and makes the singular verb more proper
than it would otherwise be; for which reason, the following form, in which
the Rev. Dr. Bullions has set the sentence down for bad English, is in some
sort a _perversion_ of the Scripture: "Thine is the kingdom, the power, and
the glory."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 141.

OBS. 9.--When the nominatives are of different _persons_, the verb agrees
with the first person in preference to the second, and with the second in
preference to the third; for _thou_ and _I_, or _he, thou_, and _I_, are
equivalent to _we_; and _thou_ and _he_ are equivalent to you: as, "Why
speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, _thou and Ziba divide_
the land."--_2 Sam._, xix. 29. That is, "divide _ye_ the land." "And _live
thou_ and thy _children_ of the rest."--_2 Kings_, iv, 7. "That _I_ and thy
_people have found_ grace in thy sight."--_Exodus_, xxxiii, 16. "_I_ and my
_kingdom are_ guiltless."--_2 Sam._, iii, 28. "_I_, and _you_, and _Piso_
perhaps too, _are_ in a state of dissatisfaction."--_Zenobia_, i, 114.

   "Then _I_, and _you_, and _all_ of us, _fell_ down,
    Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over _us_."--_Shak., J. Cæsar_.

OBS. 10.--When two or more nominatives connected by _and_ are of the same
form but distinguished by adjectives or possessives, one or more of them
may be omitted by ellipsis, but the verb must be plural, and agree with
them all; as, "A literary, a scientific, a wealthy, and a poor man, _were
assembled_ in one room."--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 263. Here four different men
are clearly spoken of. "Else the rising and the falling emphasis _are_ the
same."--_Knowles's Elocutionist_, p. 33. Here the noun _emphasis_ is
understood after _rising_. "The singular and [the] plural form _seem_ to be
confounded."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 22. Here the noun _form_ is presented to
the mind twice; and therefore the article should have been repeated. See
Obs. 15th on Rule 1st. "My farm and William's _are_ adjacent to each
other."--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 220. Here the noun _farm_ is understood after
the possessive _William's_, though the author of the sentence foolishly
attempts to explain it otherwise. "Seth's, Richard's and Edmund's _farms_
are those which their fathers left them."--_Ib._, p. 257. Here the noun
_farms_ is understood after _Seth's_, and again after _Richard's_; so that
the sentence is written wrong, unless each man has more than one farm.
"_Was_ not Demosthenes's style, and his master Plato's, perfectly Attic;
and yet none more lofty?"--_Milnes's Greek Gram._, p. 241. Here _style_ is
understood after _Plato's_; wherefore _was_ should rather be _were_, or
else _and_ should be changed to _as well as_. But the text, as it stands,
is not much unlike some of the exceptions noticed above. "The character of
a fop, and of a rough warrior, _are_ no where more successfully
contrasted."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 236. Here the ellipsis is
not very proper. Say, "the character of a fop, and _that_ of a rough
warrior," &c. Again: "We may observe, that the eloquence of the bar, of the
legislature, and of public assemblies, _are_ seldom _or ever_ found united
_to high perfection in_ the same person."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i,
p. 256. Here the ellipsis cannot so well be avoided by means of the
pronominal adjective _that_, and therefore it may be thought more
excusable; but I should prefer a repetition of the nominative: as, "We may
observe, that the eloquence of the bar, _the eloquence_ of the legislature,
and _the eloquence_ of public assemblies, are seldom _if ever_ found
united, _in any high degree_, in the same person."

OBS. 11.--The conjunction _as_, when it connects nominatives that are in
_apposition_, or significant of the same person or thing, is commonly
placed at the beginning of a sentence, so that the verb agrees with its
proper nominative following the explanatory word: thus, "_As a poet, he
holds_ a high rank."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 355. "_As a poet, Addison
claims_ a high praise."--_Ib._, p. 304. "_As a model_ of English prose, his
_writings merit_ the greatest praise."--_Ib._, p. 305. But when this
conjunction denotes a _comparison_ between different persons or things
signified by two nominatives, there must be two verbs expressed or
understood, each agreeing with its own subject; as, "Such _writers_ as _he
[is,] have_ no reputation worth any man's envy." [396]

   "Such _men_ as _he [is] be_ never at heart's ease
    Whiles they behold a greater than themselves."--_Shakspeare_.

OBS. 12.--When two nominatives are connected by _as well as, but_, or
_save_, they must in fact have two verbs, though in most instances only one
is expressed; as, "Such is the mutual dependence of words in sentences,
that several _others_, as well as [is] the _adjective, are_ not to be used
alone."--_Dr. Wilson's Essay_, p. 99. "The Constitution was to be the one
fundamental law of the land, to which _all_, as well _States_ as _people_,
should submit."--W. I. BOWDITCH: _Liberator_, No. 984. "As well those which
history, as those which experience _offers_ to our reflection."--
_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 85. Here the words "_offers to our
reflection_" are understood after "_history_." "_None_ but _He_ who
discerns futurity, _could have foretold_ and described all these
things."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 62. "That there _was_ in those times no
other _writer_, of any degree of eminence, save _he_ himself."--_Pope's
Works_, Vol. iii, p. 43.

   "I do entreat you not a man depart,
    Save _I_ alone, till Antony have spoke."--_Shak., J. Cæsar_.

OBS. 13.--Some grammarians say, that _but_ and _save_, when they denote
exception, should govern the objective case as _prepositions_. But this
idea is, without doubt, contrary to the current usage of the best authors,
either ancient or modern. Wherefore I think it evident that these
grammarians err. The objective case of _nouns_ being like the nominative,
the point can be proved only by the _pronouns_; as, "There is none _but he_
alone."--_Perkins's Theology_, 1608. "There is none other _but
he_."--_Mark_, xii, 32. (This text is good authority as regards the _case_,
though it is incorrect in an other respect: it should have been, "There is
_none but_ he," or else, "There is _no other than he_.") "No man hath
ascended up to heaven, _but he_ that came down from heaven."--_John_, iii,
13. "Not that any man hath seen the father, _save he_ which is of
God."--_John_, vi, 46. "Few can, _save he_ and _I_."--_Byron's Werner_.
"There is none justified, _but he_ that is in measure sanctified."--_Isaac
Penington_. _Save_, as a conjunction, is nearly obsolete.

OBS. 14.--In Rev., ii, 17th, we read, "Which no man knoweth, _saving he_
that receiveth it;" and again, xiii, 17th, "That no man might buy or sell,
_save he_ that had the mark." The following text is inaccurate, but not in
the construction of the nominative _they_: "All men cannot receive this
saying, _save they_ to whom it is given."--_Matt._, xix, 11. The version
ought to have been, "_Not all_ men can receive this saying, _but they only_
to whom it is given:" i.e., "they only _can receive it_, to whom _there is
given power to receive it_." Of _but_ with a nominative, examples may be
multiplied indefinitely. The following are as good as any: "There is no God
_but He_."--_Sale's Koran_, p. 27. "The former none _but He_ could
execute."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 317. "There was nobody at home _but
I_."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 95. "A fact, of which as none _but he_ could
be conscious, [so] none _but he_ could be the publisher of it."--_Pope's
Works_, Vol. iii, p. 117. "Few _but they_ who are involved in the vices,
are involved in the irreligion of the times."--_Brown's Estimate_, i, 101.

   "I claim my right. No Grecian prince but _I_
    Has power this bow to grant, or to deny."
        --_Pope, Odys._, B. xxi, l. 272.

    "Thus she, and none _but she_, the insulting rage
    Of heretics oppos'd from age to age."
        --_Dryden's Poems_, p. 98.

In opposition to all these authorities, and many more that might be added,
we have, with now and then a text of false syntax, the absurd opinion of
perhaps _a score or two_ of our grammarians; one of whom imagines he has
found in the following couplet from Swift, an example to the purpose; but
he forgets that the verb _let_ governs the _objective_ case:

   "Let _none but him_ who rules the thunder,
    Attempt to part these twain asunder."
        --_Perley's Gram._, p. 62.

OBS. 15.--It is truly a wonder, that so many professed critics should not
see the absurdity of taking _but_ and _save_ for "_prepositions_," when
this can be done only by condemning the current usage of nearly all good
authors, as well as the common opinion of most grammarians; and the greater
is the wonder, because they seem to do it innocently, or to teach it
childishly, as not knowing that they cannot justify both sides, when the
question lies between opposite and contradictory principles. By this sort
of simplicity, which approves of errors, if much practised, and of
opposites, or essential contraries, when authorities may be found for them,
no work, perhaps, is more strikingly characterized, than the popular School
Grammar of W. H. Wells. This author says, "The use of _but_ as a
preposition is _approved_ by J. E. Worcester, John Walker, R. C. Smith,
Picket, Hiley, Angus, Lynde, Hull, Powers, Spear, Farnum, Fowle, Goldsbury,
Perley, Cobb, Badgley, Cooper, Jones, Davis, Beall, Hendrick, Hazen, and
Goodenow."--_School Gram._, 1850, p. 178. But what if all these authors do
prefer, "_but him_," and "_save him_," where ten times as many would say,
"_but he_," "_save he_?" Is it therefore difficult to determine which
party is right? Or is it proper for a grammarian to name sundry authorities
on both sides, excite doubt in the mind of his reader, and leave the matter
_unsettled_? "The use of _but_ as a preposition," he also states, "is
_discountenanced_ by G. Brown, Sanborn, Murray, S. Oliver, and several
other grammarians. (See also an able article in the Mass. Common School
Journal, Vol. ii, p. 19.)"--_School Gram._, p. 178.

OBS. 16.--Wells passes no censure on the use of nominatives after _but_ and
_save_; does not intimate which case is fittest to follow these words;
gives no false syntax under his rule for the regimen of prepositions; but
inserts there the following brief remarks and examples:

"REM. 3.--The word _save_ is frequently used to perform the office of a
preposition; as, 'And all desisted, all _save him_ alone.'--_Wordsworth_."

"REM. 4.--_But_ is sometimes employed as a preposition, in the sense of
_except_; as, 'The boy stood on the burning deck, Whence all _but him_ had
fled.'--_Hemans_."--_Ib._, p. 167.

Now, "BUT," says Worcester, as well as Tooke and others, was "originally
_bot_, contracted from _be out_;" and, if this notion of its etymology is
just, it must certainly be followed by the nominative case, rather than by
the objective; for the imperative _be_ or _be out_ governs no case, admits
no additional term but a nominative--an obvious and important fact, quite
overlooked by those who call _but_ a preposition. According to Allen H.
Weld, _but_ and _save_ "are _commonly_ considered _prepositions_," but "are
_more commonly_ termed _conjunctions_!" This author repeats Wells's
examples of "_save him_," and "_but him_," as being _right_; and mixes them
with opposite examples of "_save he_," "_but he_," "_save I_," which he
thinks to be _more right_!--_Weld's Gram._, p. 187.

OBS. 17.--Professor Fowler, too, an other author remarkable for a facility
of embracing incompatibles, contraries, or dubieties, not only condemns as
"false syntax" the use of _save_ for an exceptive conjunction. (§587. ¶28,)
but cites approvingly from Latham the following very strange absurdity:
"One and the same word, in one and the same sentence, may be a Conjunction
or [a] Preposition, as the case may be: [as] All fled _but_
John."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, § 555. This is equivalent to
saying, that "one and the same sentence" _may be two different sentences_;
may, without error, be understood in two different senses; may be rightly
taken, resolved, and parsed in two different ways! Nay, it is equivalent to
a denial of the old logical position, that "It is impossible for a thing
_to be_ and _not be_ at the same time;" for it supposes "_but_," in the
instance given, to be at once both a conjunction and _not_ a conjunction,
both a preposition and _not_ a preposition, "_as the case may be_!" It is
true, that "one and the same word" may sometimes be differently parsed _by
different grammarians_, and possibly even an adept may doubt who or what is
right. But what ambiguity of construction, or what diversity of
interpretation, proceeding from the same hand, can these admissions be
supposed to warrant? The foregoing citation is a boyish attempt to justify
different modes of parsing the same expression, on the ground that the
expression itself is equivocal. "All fled _but John_," is thought to mean
equally well, "All fled _but he_," and, "All fled _but him_;" while these
latter expressions are erroneously presumed to be alike good English, and
to have a difference of meaning corresponding to their difference of
construction. Now, what is equivocal, or ambiguous, being therefore
erroneous, is to be _corrected_, rather than parsed in any way. But I deny
both the ambiguity and the difference of meaning which these critics
profess to find among the said phrases. "_John fled not, but all the rest
fled_," is virtually what is told us in each of them; but, in the form,
"All fled but _him_," it is told ungrammatically; in the other two,
correctly.

OBS. 18.--In Latin, _cum_ with an ablative, sometimes has, or is supposed
to have, the force of the conjunction _et_ with a nominative; as, "Dux
_cum_ aliquot principibus capiuntur."--LIVY: _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 131. In
imitation of this construction, some English writers have substituted
_with_ for _and_, and varied the verb accordingly; as, "A long course of
time, _with_ a variety of accidents and circumstances, _are_ requisite to
produce those revolutions."--HUME: _Allen's Gram._, p. 131; _Ware's_, 12;
_Priestley's_, 186. This phraseology, though censured by Allen, was
expressly approved by Priestley, who introduced the present example, as his
proof text under the following observation: "It is not necessary that the
two _subjects of an affirmation_ should stand in the very same
construction, to require the verb to be in the plural number. If one of
them be made to depend upon the other _by a connecting particle_, it may,
_in some cases_, have the same force, as if it were independent of
it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 186. Lindley Murray, on the contrary,
condemns this doctrine, and after citing the same example with others,
says: "It is however, proper to observe that these modes of expression do
not appear to be warranted by _the just principles_ of construction."--
_Octavo Gram._, p. 150. He then proceeds to prove his point, by alleging
that the preposition governs the objective case in English, and the
ablative in Latin, and that what is so governed, cannot be the nominative,
or any part of it. All this is true enough, but still some men who know it
perfectly well, will now and then write as if they did not believe it. And
so it was with the writers of Latin and Greek. They sometimes wrote bad
syntax; and the grammarians have not always seen and censured their errors
as they ought. Since the preposition makes its object only an adjunct of
the preceding noun, or of something else, I imagine that any construction
which thus assumes two different cases as joint nominatives or joint
antecedents, must needs be inherently faulty.

OBS. 19.--Dr. Adam simply remarks, "The plural is sometimes used after the
preposition _cum_ put for _et_; as, _Remo cum fratre Quirinus jura dabunt_.
Virg."--_Latin and English Gram._, p. 207; _Gould's Adam's Latin Gram._, p.
204; _W. Allen's English Gram._, 131. This example is not fairly cited;
though many have adopted the perversion, as if they knew no better.
Alexander has it in a worse form still: "Quirinus, cum fratre, jura
dabunt."--_Latin Gram._, p. 47. Virgil's words are, "_Cana_ FIDES, _et_
VESTA, _Remo cum fratre Quirinus, Jura dabunt_."--_Æneid_, B. i, l. 296.
Nor is _cum_ here "put for _et_," unless we suppose also an antiptosis of
_Remo fratre_ for _Remus frater_; and then what shall the literal meaning
be, and how shall the rules of syntax be accommodated to such changes? Fair
examples, that bear upon the point, may, however, be adduced from good
authors, and in various languages; but the question is, are they _correct_
in syntax? Thus Dr. Robertson: "The palace of Pizarro, _together with_ the
houses of several of his adherents, _were_ pillaged by the soldiers."--
_Hist. of Amer._, Vol. ii, p. 133. To me, this appears plainly
ungrammatical; and, certainly, there are ways enough in which it may be
corrected. First, with the present connective retained, "_were_" ought to
be _was_. Secondly, if _were_ be retained, "_together with_" ought to be
changed to _and_, or _and also_. Thirdly, we may well change both, and say,
"The palace of Pizarro, _as well as_ the houses of several of his
adherents, _was_ pillaged by the soldiers." Again, in Mark, ix, 4th, we
read: "And there appeared _unto them_ Elias, _with_ Moses; and _they_ were
talking with Jesus." If this text meant that _the three disciples_ were
talking with Jesus, it would be right as it stands; but St. Matthew has it,
"And, behold, there appeared unto them _Moses and Elias, talking_ with
him;" and our version in Luke is, "And, behold, there talked with him two
men, which were Moses and Elias."--Chap. ix, 30. By these corresponding
texts, then, we learn, that the pronoun _they_, which our translators
inserted, was meant for "_Elias with Moses_;" but the Greek verb for
"_appeared_," as used by Mark, is _singular_, and agrees only with Elias.
"[Greek: _Kai ophthæ autois Aelias sun Mosei, kai hæsan syllalountes to
Iæsoy_.]"--"Et _apparuit_ illis Elias cum Mose, et erant colloquentes
Jesu."--_Montanus_. "Et _visus est_ eis Elias cum Mose, qui colloquebantur
cum Jesu."--_Beza_. This is as discrepant as our version, though not so
ambiguous. The French Bible avoids the incongruity: "Et iis virent paroître
_Moyse et Elie_, qui s'entretenoient avec Jésus." That is, "And there
appeared to them _Moses and Elias_, who were talking with Jesus." Perhaps
the closest and best version of the Greek would be, "And there appeared to
them Elias, with Moses;[397] and _these two_ were talking with Jesus."
There is, in our Bible, an other instance of the construction now in
question; but it has no support from the Septuagint, the Vulgate, or the
French: to wit, "The second [lot came forth] to Gedaliah, _who with_ his
brethren and sons _were_ twelve."--_1 Chron._, xxv, 9. Better: "_and he_,
his brethren, and _his_ sons, were twelve."

OBS. 20.--Cobbett, who, though he wrote several grammars, was but a very
superficial grammarian, seems never to have doubted the propriety of
putting _with_ for _and_; and yet he was confessedly not a little puzzled
to find out when to use a singular, and when a plural verb, after a
nominative with such "a sort of addition made to it." The 246th paragraph
of his English Grammar is a long and fruitless attempt to fix a rule for
the guidance of the learner in this matter. After dashing off a culpable
example, "Sidmouth, _with_ Oliver the _spye_, have brought Brandreth to the
block;" or, as his late editions have it, "The _Tyrant, with_ the _Spy,
have_ brought _Peter_ to the block." He adds: "We hesitate which to employ,
the singular or the plural verb; that is to say, _has_ or _have_. The
meaning must be our guide. If we mean, that the act has been done by the
Tyrant himself, and that the spy has been a mere involuntary agent, then we
ought to use the singular; but if we believe that the spy has been a
co-operator, an associate, an accomplice, then we must use the plural
verb." Ay, truly; but must we not also, in the latter case, use _and_, and
not _with_? After some further illustrations, he says: "When _with_ means
_along with, together with, in Company with_, and the like, it is nearly
the same as _and_; and then the plural verb must be used: [as,] 'He, with
his brothers, _are_ able to do much.' Not, '_is_ able to do much.' If the
pronoun be used instead of _brothers_, it will be in the objective case:
'He, _with_ them, _are_ able to do much.' But this is _no impediment_ to
the including of the noun (represented by _them_) in the nominative." I
wonder what would be an impediment to the absurdities of such a dogmatist!
The following is his last example: "'Zeal, with discretion, _do_ much;' and
not '_does_ much;' for we mean, on the contrary, that it _does nothing_. It
is the meaning that must determine which of the numbers we ought to
employ." This author's examples are all fictions of his own, and such of
them as here have a plural verb, are wrong. His rule is also wrong, and
contrary to the best authority. St. Paul says to Timothy, "Godliness _with_
contentment _is_ great gain:"--_1 Tim._, vi, 6. This text is right; but
Cobbett's principle would go to prove it erroneous. Is he the only man who
has ever had a right notion of its _meaning_? or is he not rather at fault
in his interpretations?

OBS. 21.--There is one other apparent exception to Rule 16th, (or perhaps a
real one,) in which there is either an ellipsis of the preposition _with_,
or else the verb is made singular because the first noun only is its true
subject, and the others are explanatory nominatives to which the same verb
must be understood in the plural number; as, "_A torch_, snuff and all,
_goes out_ in a moment, when dipped in the vapour."--ADDISON: _in Johnson's
Dict., w. All_. "Down _comes_ the _tree_, nest, eagles, and all."--See
_All, ibidem_. Here _goes_ and _comes_ are necessarily made singular, the
former agreeing with _torch_ and the latter with _tree_; and, if the other
nouns, which are like an explanatory parenthesis, are nominatives, as they
appear to me to be, they must be subjects of _go_ and _come_ understood.
Cobbett teaches us to say, "The bag, _with_ the guineas and dollars in it,
_were_ stolen," and not, _was_ stolen. "For," says he, "if we say _was_
stolen, it is possible for us to mean, that the _bag only_ was
stolen,"--_English Gram._, ¶ 246. And I suppose he would say, "The bag,
guineas, dollars, and all, _were_ stolen," and not, "_was_ stolen;" for
here a rule of syntax might be urged, in addition to his false argument
from the sense. But the meaning of the former sentence is, "The bag was
stolen, with the guineas and dollars in it;" and the meaning of the latter
is, "The bag was stolen, guineas, dollars, and all." Nor can there be any
doubt about the meaning, place the words which way you will; and whatever,
in either case, may be the true construction of the words in the
parenthetical or explanatory phrase, they should not, I think, prevent the
verb from agreeing with the first noun only. But if the other nouns
intervene without affecting this concord, and without a preposition to
govern them, it may be well to distinguish them in the punctuation; as,
"The bag, (guineas, dollars, and all,) was stolen."


NOTES TO RULE XVI.

NOTE I.--When the conjunction _and_ between two nominatives appears to
require a plural verb, but such form of the verb is not agreeable, it is
better to reject or change the connective, that the verb may stand
correctly in the singular number; as, "There _is_ a peculiar force _and_
beauty in this figure."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 224. Better: "There is
a peculiar force, _as well as a peculiar_ beauty, in this figure." "What
_means_ this restless stir and commotion of mind?"--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p.
242. Better: "What means this restless stir, _this_ commotion of mind?"

NOTE II.--When two subjects or antecedents are connected, one of which is
taken affirmatively, and the other negatively, they belong to different
propositions; and the verb or pronoun must agree with the affirmative
subject, and be understood to the other: as "Diligent _industry_, and not
mean savings, _produces_ honourable competence."--"Not a loud _voice_ but
strong _proofs bring_ conviction."--"My _poverty_, but not my will,
_consents_."--_Shakespeare_.

NOTE III.--When two subjects or antecedents are connected by _as well as,
but_, or _save_, they belong to different propositions; and, (unless one of
them is preceded by the adverb _not_,) the verb and pronoun must agree with
the former and be understood to the latter: as, "_Veracity_, as well as
justice, _is_ to be our rule of life."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 283. "The
lowest _mechanic_, as well as the richest citizen, _may boast_ that
thousands of _his_ fellow-creatures are employed for _him_."--_Percival's
Tales_, ii, 177. "These _principles_, as well as every just rule of
criticism, _are founded_ upon the sensitive part of our nature."--_Kames,
El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. xxvi. "_Nothing_ but wailings _was_
heard."--"_None_ but thou _can aid_ us."--"No mortal _man_, save he," &c.,
"_had e'er survived_ to say _he_ saw."--_Sir W. Scott_.

NOTE IV.--When two or more subjects or antecedents are preceded by the
adjective _each, every_, or _no_, they are taken separately; and, (except
_no_ be followed by a plural noun,) they require the verb and pronoun to be
in the singular number: as, "No rank, no honour, no fortune, no condition
in life, _makes_ the guilty mind happy."--"Every phrase and every figure
_which_ he uses, _tends_ to render the picture more lively and
complete."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 179.

   "And every sense, and every heart, _is_ joy."--_Thomson_.

    "Each beast, each insect, happy in _its_ own."--_Pope_.

NOTE V.--When any words or terms are to be taken conjointly as subjects or
antecedents, the conjunction _and_, (in preference to _with, or, nor_, or
any thing else,) must connect them. The following sentence is therefore
inaccurate; _with_ should be _and_; or else _were_ should be _was_: "One of
them, [the] wife of Thomas Cole, _with_ her husband, _were_ shot down, the
others escaped."--_Hutchinson's Hist._, Vol. ii, p. 86. So, in the
following couplet, _or_ should be _and_, or else _engines_ should be
_engine_:

   "What if the head, the eye, _or_ ear repined,
    To serve mere _engines_ to the ruling mind?"--_Pope_.

NOTE VI.--Improper omissions must be supplied; but when there occurs a true
ellipsis in the construction of joint nominatives or joint antecedents, the
verb or pronoun must agree with them in the plural, just as if all the
words were expressed: as, "The _second_ and the _third Epistle_ of John
_are_ each but one short chapter."--"The metaphorical and the literal
meaning _are_ improperly mixed."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 339. "The Doctrine
of Words, separately consider'd, and in a Sentence, _are_ Things distinct
enough."--_Brightland's Gram._, Pref., p. iv. Better perhaps: "The doctrine
of words separately considered, and _that of words_ in a sentence, _are_
things distinct enough."

   "The _Curii's_ and the _Camilli's_ little _field_,
    To vast extended territories _yield_."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. i, l. 320.

NOTE VII.--Two or more distinct subject phrases connected by _and_, require
a plural verb, and generally a plural noun too, if a nominative follow the
verb; as, "_To be wise in our own eyes, to be wise in the opinion of the
world_, and _to be wise in the sight of our Creator_, are three things so
very different, as rarely to coincide."--_Blair_. "'_This picture of my
friend_,' and '_This picture of my friend's_,' suggest very different
ideas."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 71; _Murray's_, i, 178.

   "Read of this burgess--on the stone _appear_,
    How worthy he! how virtuous! and how dear!"--_Crabbe_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XVI.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE VERB AFTER JOINT NOMINATIVES.

"So much ability and merit is seldom found."--_Murray's Key_, 12mo, p. 18;
_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 190.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _is_ is in the singular number, and
does not correctly agree with its two nominatives, _ability_ and _merit_,
which are connected by _and_, and taken conjointly. But, according to Rule
16th, "When a verb has two or more nominatives connected by _and_, it must
agree with them jointly in the plural, because they are taken together."
Therefore, _is_ should be _are_; thus, "So much ability and merit _are_
seldom found." Or: "So much ability and _so much_ merit _are_ seldom
found."]

"The syntax and etymology of the language is thus spread before
the learner."--_Bullions's English Gram._, 2d Edition, Rec., p. iii. "Dr.
Johnson tells us, that in English poetry the accent and the quantity of
syllables is the same thing."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, ii, 213. "Their
general scope and tendency, having never been clearly apprehended, is not
remembered at all."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 126. "The soil and sovereignty
was not purchased of the natives."--_Knapp's Lect. on Amer. Lit._, p. 55.
"The boldness, freedom, and variety of our blank verse, is infinitely more
favourable than rhyme, to all kinds of sublime poetry."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 40. "The vivacity and sensibility of the Greeks seems to have been much
greater than ours."--_Ib._, p. 253. "For sometimes the Mood and Tense is
signified by the Verb, sometimes they are signified of the Verb by
something else.'"--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 254. "The Verb and the Noun
making a complete Sense, which the Participle and the Noun does
not."--_Ib._, p. 255. "The growth and decay of passions and emotions,
traced through all their mazes, is a subject too extensive for an
undertaking like the present."--_Kames El. of Crit._, i, 108. "The true
meaning and etymology of some of his words was lost."--_Knight, on the
Greek Alph._, p. 37. "When the force and direction of personal satire is no
longer understood."--_Junius_, p. 5. "The frame and condition of man admits
of no other principle."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 54. "Some considerable
time and care was necessary."--_Ib._, ii 150. "In consequence of this idea,
much ridicule and censure has been thrown upon Milton."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 428. "With rational beings, nature and reason is the same
thing."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 111. "And the flax and the barley was
smitten."--_Exod._, ix, 31. "The colon, and semicolon, divides a period,
this with, and that without a connective."--_J. Ware's Gram._, p. 27.
"Consequently wherever space and time is found, there God must also
be."--_Sir Isaac Newton_. "As the past tense and perfect participle of
_love_ ends in _ed_, it is regular."--_Chandler's Gram._, p. 40; New
Edition, p. 66. "But the usual arrangement and nomenclature prevents this
from being readily seen."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. 3. "_Do_ and
_did_ simply implies opposition or emphasis."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p.
41. "_I_ and _another_ make _we_, plural: _Thou_ and _another_ is as much
as _ye_: _He, she_, or _it_ and _another_ make _they_"--_Ib._, p. 124. "I
and another, is as much as (we) the first Person Plural; Thou and another,
is as much as (ye) the second Person Plural; He, she, or it, and another,
is as much as (they) the third Person Plural."--_British Gram._, p. 193;
_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 76. "God and thou art two, and thou and thy
neighbour are two."--_The Love Conquest_, p. 25. "Just as _an_ and _a_ has
arisen out of the numeral _one_."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo. 1850, §200.
"The tone and style of each of them, particularly the first and the last,
is very different."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 246. "Even as the roebuck and the
hart is eaten."--_Deut._, xiii, 22. "Then I may conclude that two and three
makes not five."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 354. "Which at sundry times thou
and thy brethren hast received from us."--_Ib._, i, 165. "Two and two is
four, and one is five."--POPE: _Lives of the Poets_, p. 490. "Humility and
knowledge with poor apparel, excels pride and ignorance under costly
array."--_Day's Gram., Parsing Lesson_, p. 100. "A page and a half has been
added to the section on composition."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, 5th Ed.,
Pref., p. vii. "Accuracy and expertness in this exercise is an important
acquisition."--_Ib._, p. 71.

   "Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
    Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing."--_Milton's Poems_, p. 139.


UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE VERB BEFORE JOINT NOMINATIVES.

"There is a good and a bad, a right and a wrong in taste, as in other
things."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 21. "Whence has arisen much stiffness and
affectation."--_Ib._, p. 133. "To this error is owing, in a great measure,
that intricacy and harshness, in his figurative language, which I before
remarked."--_Ib._, p. 150; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 157. "Hence, in his Night
Thoughts, there prevails an obscurity and hardness in his style."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 150. "There is, however, in that work much good sense, and
excellent criticism."--_Ib._, p. 401. "There is too much low wit and
scurrility in Plautus."--_Ib._, p. 481. "There is too much reasoning and
refinement; too much pomp and studied beauty in them."--_Ib._, p. 468.
"Hence arises the structure and characteristic expression of
exclamation."--_Rush on the Voice_, p. 229. "And such pilots is he and his
brethren, according to their own confession."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 314.
"Of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus: who concerning the truth have
erred."--_2 Tim._, ii, 17. "Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander; whom I have
delivered unto Satan."--_1 Tim._, i, 20. "And so was James and John, the
sons of Zebedee."--_Luke_, v, 10. "Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing."--_James_, iii, 10. "Out of the mouth of the Most
High proceedeth not evil and good."--_Lam._, iii, 38. "In which there is
most plainly a right and a wrong."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 215. "In this
sentence there is both an actor and an object."--_Smith's Inductive Gram._,
p. 14. "In the breast-plate was placed the mysterious Urim and
Thummim."--_Milman's Jews_, i, 88. "What is the gender, number, and person
of those in the first?"--_Smith's Productive Gram._, p. 19. "There seems to
be a familiarity and want of dignity in it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 150.
"It has been often asked, what is Latin and Greek?"--_Literary Convention_,
p. 209. "For where does beauty and high wit But in your constellation
meet?"--_Hudibras_, p. 134. "Thence to the land where flows Ganges and
Indus."--_Paradise Lost_, B. ix, l. 81. "On these foundations seems to rest
the midnight riot and dissipation of modern assemblies."--_Brown's
Estimate_, ii, 46. "But what has disease, deformity, and filth, upon which
the thoughts can be allured to dwell?"--_Johnson's Life of Swift_, p. 492.
"How is the gender and number of the relative known?"--_Bullions, Practical
Lessons_, p. 32.

   "High rides the sun, thick rolls the dust,
    And feebler speeds the blow and thrust."--_Sir W. Scott_.


UNDER NOTE I.--CHANGE THE CONNECTIVE.

"In every language there prevails a certain structure and analogy of parts,
which is understood to give foundation to the most reputable
usage."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 90. "There runs through his whole manner, a
stiffness and affectation, which renders him very unfit to be considered a
general model."--_Ib._, p. 102. "But where declamation and improvement in
speech is the sole aim"--_Ib._, p. 257. "For it is by these chiefly, that
the train of thought, the course of reasoning, and the whole progress of
the mind, in continued discourse of all kinds, is laid open."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 103. "In all writing and discourse, the proper composition and
structure of sentnences is of the highest importance."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
101. "Here the wishful look and expectation of the beggar naturally leads
to a vivid conception of that which was the object of his
thoughts."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 386. "Who say, that the outward naming
of Christ, and signing of the cross, puts away devils."--_Barclay's Works_,
i, 146. "By which an oath and penalty was to be imposed upon the
members."--_Junius_, p. 6. "Light and knowledge, in what manner soever
afforded us, is equally from God."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 264. "For
instance, sickness and untimely death is the consequence of
intemperance."--_Ib._, p. 78. "When grief, and blood ill-tempered vexeth
him."--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 256. "Does continuity and connexion
create sympathy and relation in the parts of the body?"--_Collier's
Antoninus_, p. 111. "His greatest concern, and highest enjoyment, was to be
approved in the sight of his Creator."--_Murray's Key_, p. 224. "Know ye
not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?"--_2
Sam_, iii, 38. "What is vice and wickedness? No rarity, you may depend on
it."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 107. "There is also the fear and
apprehension of it."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 87. "The apostrophe and _s_,
('s,) is an abbreviation for _is_, the termination of the old English
genitive."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 17. "_Ti, ce_, and _ci_, when followed
by a vowel, usually has the sound of _sh_; as in _partial, special,
ocean_."--_Weld's Gram._, p. 15.

   "Bitter constraint and sad occasion dear
    Compels me to disturb your season due."--_Milton's Lycidas_.

    "Debauches and excess, though with less noise,
    As great a portion of mankind destroys."--_Waller_, p. 55.


UNDER NOTE II.--AFFIRMATION WITH NEGATION.

"Wisdom, and not wealth, procure esteem."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 156.
"Prudence, and not pomp, are the basis of his fame."--_Ib._ "Not fear, but
labour have overcome him."--_Ib._ "The decency, and not the abstinence,
make the difference."--_Ib._ "Not her beauty, but her talents attracts
attention."--_Ib._ "It is her talents, and not her beauty, that attracts
attention."--_Ib._ "It is her beauty, and not her talents that attract
attention."--_Ib._

   "His belly, not his brains, this impulse give:
    He'll grow immortal; for he cannot live."--_Young, to Pope_.


UNDER NOTE III.--AS WELL AS, BUT, OR SAVE.

"Common sense as well as piety tell us these are proper."--_Family
Commentary_, p. 64. "For without it the critic, as well as the undertaker,
ignorant of any rule, have nothing left but to abandon themselves to
chance."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 42. "And accordingly hatred as well as
love are extinguished by long absence."--_Ib._, i, 113. "But at every turn
the richest melody as well as the sublimest sentiments are
conspicuous."--_Ib._, ii, 121. "But it, as well as the lines immediately
subsequent, defy all translation."--_Coleridge's Introduction_, p. 96. "But
their religion, as well as their customs, and manners, were strangely
misrepresented."--BOLINGBROKE, ON HISTORY, p. 123; _Priestley's Gram._, p.
192; _Murray's Exercises_, p. 47. "But his jealous policy, as well as the
fatal antipathy of Fonseca, were conspicuous."--_Robertson's America_, i,
191. "When their extent as well as their value were unknown."--_Ib._, ii,
138. "The Etymology, as well as the Syntax, of the more difficult parts of
speech are reserved for his attention [at a later period]."--_Parker and
Fox's E. Gram._, Part i, p. 3. "What I myself owe to him, no one but myself
know."--See _Wright's Athens_, p. 96. "None, but thou, O mighty prince!
canst avert the blow."--_Inst._, p. 156. "Nothing, but frivolous
amusements, please the indolent."--_Ib._

   "Nought, save the gurglings of the rill, were heard."--_G. B._

    "All songsters, save the hooting owl, was mute."--_G. B._


UNDER NOTE IV.--EACH, EVERY, OR NO.

"Give every word, and every member, their due weight and force."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 110. "And to one of these belong every noun, and every third
person of every verb."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 74. "No law, no
restraint, no regulation, are required to keep him in bounds."--_Literary
Convention_, p. 260. "By that time, every window and every door in the
street were full of heads."--_N. Y. Observer_, No. 503. "Every system of
religion, and every school of philosophy, stand back from this field, and
leave Jesus Christ alone, the solitary example"--_The Corner Stone_, p. 17.
"Each day, and each hour, bring their portion of duty."--_Inst._, p. 156.
"And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and
every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him."--_1 Sam._,
xxii, 2. "Every private Christian and member of the church ought to read
and peruse the Scriptures, that they may know their faith and belief
founded upon them."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 340. "And every mountain and
island were moved out of their places."--_Rev._, vi, 14.

   "No bandit fierce, no tyrant mad with pride,
    No cavern'd hermit rest self-satisfied."


UNDER NOTE V.--WITH, OR, &c. FOR AND.

"The side A, with the sides B and C, compose the triangle."--_Tobitt's
Gram._, p. 48; _Felch's_, 69; _Ware's_, 12. "The stream, the rock, or the
tree, must each of them stand forth, so as to make a figure in the
imagination."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 390. "While this, with euphony,
constitute, finally, the whole."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 293. "The bag,
with the guineas and dollars in it, were stolen."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._,
¶246. "Sobriety, with great industry and talent, enable a man to perform
great deeds."--_Ib._, ¶245. "The _it_, together with the verb _to be_,
express states of being."--_Ib._, ¶190. "Where Leonidas the Spartan king,
with his chosen band, fighting for their country, were cut off to the last
man."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 203. "And Leah also, with her
children, came near and bowed themselves."--_Gen._, xxxiii, 7. "The First
or Second will, either of them, by themselves coalesce with the Third, but
not with each other."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 74. "The whole must centre in
the query, whether Tragedy or Comedy are hurtful and dangerous
representations?"--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 215. "Grief as well as joy
are infectious: the emotions they raise in the spectator resemble them
perfectly."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 157. "But in all other words the
_Qu_ are both sounded."--_Ensell's Gram._, p. 16. "_Qu_ (which are always
together) have the sound of _ku_ or _k_, as in _queen, opaque_."--
_Goodenow's Gram._, p. 45. "In this selection the _ai_ form distinct
syllables."--_Walker's Key_, p. 290. "And a considerable village, with
gardens, fields, &c., extend around on each side of the square."--
_Liberator_, Vol. ix, p. 140. "Affection, or interest, guide our notions
and behaviour in the affairs of life; imagination and passion affect the
sentiments that we entertain in matters of taste."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p.
171. "She heard none of those intimations of her defects, which envy,
petulance, or anger, produce among children."--_Rambler_, No. 189. "The
King, with the Lords and Commons, constitute an excellent form of
government."--_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 242. "If we say, 'I am the man, who
commands you,' the relative clause, with the antecedent _man_, form the
predicate."--_Ib._, p. 266.

   "The spacious firmament on high,
    With all the blue ethereal sky,
    And spangled heav'ns, a shining frame,
    Their great Original proclaim."
        --ADDISON. _Murray's Key_, p. 174; _Day's Gram._, p. 92;
           _Farnum's_, 106.


UNDER NOTE VI.--ELLIPTICAL CONSTRUCTIONS.

"There is a reputable and a disreputable practice."--_Adams's Rhet._, Vol.
i, p. 350. "This and this man was born in her."--_Milton's Psalms_,
lxxxvii. "This and that man was born in her."--_Psal._ lxxxvii, 5. "This
and that man was born there."--_Hendrick's Gram._, p. 94. "Thus _le_ in
_l~ego_ and _l~egi_ seem to be sounded equally long."--_Adam's Gram._, p.
253; _Gould's_, 243. "A distinct and an accurate articulation forms the
groundwork of good delivery."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 25. "How is vocal
and written language understood?"--_C. W. Sanders, Spelling-Book_, p. 7.
"The good, the wise, and the learned man is an ornament to human
society."--_Bartlett's Reader_. "On some points, the expression of song and
speech is identical."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 425. "To every room there
was an open and secret passage."--_Johnson's Rasselas_, p. 13. "There iz
such a thing az tru and false taste, and the latter az often directs
fashion, az the former."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 401. "There is such a
thing as a prudent and imprudent institution of life, with regard to our
health and our affairs"--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 210. "The lot of the
outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah, however different in one
respect, have in another corresponded with wonderful exactness."--_Hope of
Israel_, p. 301. "On these final syllables the radical and vanishing
movement is performed."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 64. "To be young or old,
good, just, or the contrary, are physical or moral events."--SPURZHEIM:
_Felch's Comp. Gram._, p. 29. "The eloquence of George Whitfield and of
John Wesley was of a very different character each from the other."--_Dr.
Sharp_. "The affinity of _m_ for the series _b_, and of _n_ for the series
_t_, give occasion for other Euphonic changes."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, §77.

   "Pylades' soul and mad Orestes', was
    In these, if we believe Pythagoras"--_Cowley's Poems_, p. 3.


UNDER NOTE VII.--DISTINCT SUBJECT PHRASES.

"To be moderate in our views, and to proceed temperately in the pursuit of
them, is the best way to ensure success."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 206. "To
be of any species, and to have a right to the name of that species, is all
one."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 300. "With whom to will and to do is the
same."--_Jamieson's Sacred History_, Vol. ii, p. 22. "To profess, and to
possess, is very different things."--_Inst._, p. 156. "To do justly, to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with God, is duties of universal
obligation."--_Ib._ "To be round or square, to be solid or fluid, to be
large or small, and to be moved swiftly or slowly, is all equally alien
from the nature of thought."--_Ib._ "The resolving of a sentence into its
elements or parts of speech and stating the Accidents which belong to
these, is called PARSING."--_Bullion's Pract. Lessons_, p. 9. "To spin and
to weave, to knit and to sew, was once a girl's employment; but now to
dress and catch a beau, is all she calls enjoyment."--_Lynn News_, Vol. 8,
No. 1.



RULE XVII.--FINITE VERBS.

When a Verb has two or more nominatives connected by _or_ or _nor_, it must
agree with them singly, and not as if taken together: as, "Fear _or_
jealousy _affects_ him."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 133. "Nor eye, _nor_
listening ear, an object _finds_: creation sleeps."--_Young_. "Neither
character _nor_ dialogue _was_ yet understood."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p.
151.

   "The wife, where danger _or_ dishonour _lurks_,
    Safest and seemliest by her husband stays."--_Milton, P. L._, ix, 267.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XVII.

OBS. 1.--To this rule, so far as its application is practicable, there are
properly no exceptions; for, _or_ and _nor_ being disjunctive conjunctions,
the nominatives are of course to assume the verb separately, and as
agreeing with each. Such agreement seems to be positively required by the
alternativeness of the expression. Yet the ancient grammarians seldom, if
at all, insisted on it. In Latin and Greek, a plural verb is often employed
with singular nominatives thus connected; as,

   "Tunc nec mens mini, nec color
    Certa sede _manent_."--HORACE. See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 133.

[Greek: "Ean de adelphos æ adelphæ lumnoi huparchosi, kai leipomenoi osi
tæs ephæmerou trophæs."]--_James_, ii. 15. And the best scholars have
sometimes _improperly_ imitated this construction in English; as, "Neither
Virgil nor Homer _were_ deficient in any of the former beauties."--DRYDEN'S
PREFACE: _Brit. Poets_, Vol. iii, p. 168. "Neither Saxon nor Roman _have
availed_ to add any idea to his [Plato's] categories."--R. W. EMERSON:
_Liberator_, No. 996.

   "He comes--nor want _nor_ cold his course _delay_:
    Hide, blushing Glory! hide Pultowa's day."--_Dr. Johnson_.

    "No monstrous height, _or_ breadth, _or_ length, _appear_;
    The whole at once is bold and regular."--_Pope, on Crit._, l. 250.

OBS. 2.--When two collective nouns of the singular form are connected by
_or_ or _nor_, the verb may agree with them in the plural number, because
such agreement is adapted to each of them, according to Rule 15th; as, "Why
_mankind_, or such a _part_ of mankind, are placed in this
condition."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 213. "But neither the _Board_ of
Control nor the _Court_ of Directors _have_ any scruples about sanctioning
the abuses of which I have spoken."--_Glory and Shame of England_, Vol. ii,
p. 70.

OBS. 3.--When a verb has nominatives of different persons or numbers,
connected by _or_ or _nor_, an explicit concord with each is impossible;
because the verb cannot be of different persons or numbers at the same
time; nor is it so, even when its form is made the same in all the persons
and numbers: thus, "I, thou, [or] he, _may affirm_; we, ye, or they, _may
affirm_."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, p. 36. Respecting the proper
management of the verb when its nominatives thus disagree, the views of our
grammarians are not exactly coincident. Few however are ignorant enough, or
rash enough, to deny that there may be an implicit or implied concord in
such cases,--a _zeugma_ of the verb in English, as well as of the verb or
of the adjective in Latin or Greek. Of this, the following is a brief
example: "But _he nor I feel_ more."--_Dr. Young_, Night iii, p. 35. And I
shall by-and-by add others--enough, I hope, to confute those false critics
who condemn all such phraseology.

OBS. 4.--W. Allen's rule is this: "If the nominatives are of different
numbers or persons, the verb agrees with _the last_; as, he _or_ his
_brothers were_ there; neither _you nor I am_ concerned."--_English Gram._,
p. 133. Lindley Murray, and others, say: (1.) "When singular pronouns, or a
noun and pronoun, of different _persons_, are disjunctively connected, the
verb must agree with that person which is placed _nearest to it_: as, 'I or
thou _art_ to blame;' 'Thou or I _am_ in fault;' 'I, or thou, or he, _is_
the author of it;' 'George or I _am_ the person.' But it would be better to
say; 'Either I am to blame, or thou art,' &c. (2.) When a disjunctive
occurs between a singular noun, _or_ pronoun, and a plural one, the verb is
made to agree with the _plural_ noun _and_ pronoun: as, 'Neither poverty
nor riches _were_ injurious to him;' 'I or they _were_ offended by it.' But
in this case, the plural noun _or_ pronoun, when _it_ can conveniently be
_done_, should be placed next to the verb."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 151;
_Smith's New Gram._, 128; _Alger's Gram._, 54; _Comly's_, 78 and 79;
_Merchant's_, 86; _Picket's_, 175; and many more. There are other
grammarians who teach, that the verb must agree with the nominative which
is placed next to it, whether this be singular or plural; as, "Neither the
servants nor the master _is_ respected;"--"Neither the master nor the
servants _are_ respected."--_Alexander Murray's Gram._, p. 65. "But if
neither the writings nor the author _is_ in existence, the Imperfect should
be used."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 107.

OBS. 5.--On this point, a new author has just given us the following
precept and criticism: "Never connect by _or_, or _nor_, two or more names
or substitutes that have the same _asserter_ [i.e. _verb_] depending on
them for sense, if when taken separately, they require different forms of
the _asserters_. Examples. 'Neither you nor I _am concerned_. Either he
_or_ thou _wast_ there. Either they _or_ he is faulty.' These examples are
as erroneous as it would be to say, 'Neither _you am_ concerned, nor am I.'
'Either he _wast_ there, or thou wast.' 'Either _they is_ faulty, or he
is.' The sentences should stand thus--'Neither of us _is_ concerned,' or,
'neither _are you_ concerned, nor _am I_.' 'Either _he was_ there, or _thou
wast_.' 'Either _they are_ faulty, or _he is_. They are, however, in all
their impropriety, writen [sic--KTH] according to the principles of Goold
Brown's _grammar!_ and the theories of most of the former
writers."--_Oliver B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 252. We shall see by-and-by who
is right.

OBS. 6.--Cobbett also--while he approves of such English as, "_He, with
them, are_ able to do much," for, "_He and they are_ able to do
much"--condemns expressly every possible example in which the verb has not
a full and explicit concord with each of its nominatives, if they are
connected by _or_ or _nor_. His doctrine is this: "If nominatives of
different _numbers_ present themselves, we must not give them a verb which
_disagrees_ with either the one or the other. We must not say: 'Neither the
halter _nor_ the bayonets _are_ sufficient to prevent us from obtaining our
rights.' We must avoid this bad grammar by using a different form of words:
as, 'We are to be prevented from obtaining our rights by neither the halter
nor the bayonets.' And, why should we _wish_ to write bad grammar, if we
can express our meaning in good grammar?"--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 242.
This question would have more force, if the correction here offered did not
convey a meaning _widely different_ from that of the sentence corrected.
But he goes on: "We cannot say, 'They or I _am_ in fault; I, or they, or
he, _is_ the author of it; George or I _am_ the person.' Mr. Lindley Murray
says, that we _may_ use these phrases; and that we have only to take care
that the verb agree with that person which is _placed nearest_ to it; but,
he says also, that it would be _better_ to avoid such phrases by giving a
different turn to our words. I do not like to leave any thing to chance or
to discretion, when we have a _clear principle_ for our guide."--_Ib._, ¶
243. This author's "clear principle" is merely his own confident
assumption, that every form of figurative or implied agreement, every thing
which the old grammarians denominated _zeugma_, is at once to be condemned
as a solecism. He is however supported by an other late writer of much
greater merit. See _Churchill's New Gram._, pp. 142 and 312.

OBS. 7.--If, in lieu of their fictitious examples, our grammarians would
give us actual quotations from reputable authors, their instructions would
doubtless gain something in accuracy, and still more in authority. "_I or
they were offended by it_," and, "_I, or thou, or he, is the author of
it_," are expressions that I shall not defend. They imply an _egotistical_
speaker, who either does not know, or will not tell, whether he is
_offended_ or not,--whether he _is the author_ or not! Again, there are
expressions that are unobjectionable, and yet not conformable to any of the
rules just quoted. That nominatives may be correctly connected by _or_ or
_nor_ without an express agreement of the verb with each of them, is a
point which can be proved to as full certainty as almost any other in
grammar; Churchill, Cobbett, and Peirce to the contrary notwithstanding.
But with which of the nominatives the verb shall expressly agree, or to
which of them it may most properly be understood, is a matter not easy to
be settled by any _sure_ general rule. Nor is the lack of such a rule a
very important defect, though the inculcation of a false or imperfect one
may be. So judged at least the ancient grammarians, who noticed and named
almost every possible form of the zeugma, without censuring any as being
ungrammatical. In the Institutes of English Grammar, I noted first the
usual form of this concord, and then the allowable exceptions; but a few
late writers, we see, denounce every form of it, exceptions and all: and,
standing alone in their notions of the figure, value their own authority
more than that of all other critics together.

OBS. 8.--In English, as in other languages, when a verb has discordant
nominatives connected disjunctively, it most commonly agrees expressly with
that which is nearest, and only by implication, with the more remote; as,
"When some word or words _are_ dependent on the attribute."--_Webster's
Philos. Gram._, p. 153. "To the first of these qualities, dulness or
refinements _are_ dangerous enemies."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. ii, p. 15.
"He hazards his own life with that of his enemy, and one or both _are_ very
_honorably_ murdered."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 235. "The consequence is,
that they frown upon everyone whose faults or negligence _interrupts_ or
_retards_ their lessons."--_W. C. Woodbridge: Lit. Conv._, p. 114. "Good
intentions, or at least sincerity of purpose, _was_ never denied
her."--_West's Letters_, p. 43. "Yet this proves not that either he or we
_judge_ them to be the rule."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 157. "First clear
yourselves of popery before you or thou _dost throw_ it upon us."--_Ib._,
i, 169. "_Is_ the gospel or glad tidings of this salvation brought nigh
unto all?"--_Ib._, i, 362. "Being persuaded, that either they, or their
cause, _is_ naught."--_Ib._, i, 504. "And the reader may judge whether he
or I _do_ most fully acknowledge man's fall."--_Ib._, iii, 332. "To do
justice to the Ministry, they have not yet pretended that any one, or any
two, of the three Estates, _have_ power to make a new law, without the
concurrence of the third."--_Junius_, Letter xvii. "The forest, or
hunting-grounds, _are_ deemed the property of the tribe."--_Robertson's
America_, i, 313. "Birth or titles _confer_ no preëminence."--_Ib._, ii,
184. "Neither tobacco nor hides _were_ imported from Caraccas into
Spain."--_Ib._, ii, 507. "The keys or seed-vessel of the maple _has_ two
large side-wings."--_The Friend_, vii, 97. "An example or two _are_
sufficient to illustrate the general observation."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of
Lang._, i, 58.

   "Not thou, nor those thy factious arts engage,
    _Shall_ reap that harvest of rebellious rage."--_Dryden_, p. 60.

OBS. 9.--But when the remoter nominative is the principal word, and the
nearer one is expressed parenthetically, the verb agrees literally with the
former, and only by implication, with the latter; as, "One example, (or
ten,) _says_ nothing against it."--_Leigh Hunt_. "And we, (or future ages,)
_may_ possibly _have_ a proof of it."--_Bp. Butler_. So, when the
alternative is merely in the _words_, not in the _thought_, the former term
is sometimes considered the principal one, and is therefore allowed to
control the verb; but there is always a harshness in this mixture of
different numbers, and, to render such a construction tolerable, it is
necessary to read the latter term like a parenthesis, and make the former
emphatic: as, "A _parenthesis_, or brackets, _consists_ of two angular
strokes, or hooks, enclosing one or more words."--_Whiting's Reader_, p.
28. "To show us that our own _schemes_, or prudence, _have_ no share in our
advancements."--_Addison_. "The Mexican _figures_, or picture-writing,
_represent_ things, not words; _they_ exhibit images to the eye, not ideas
to the understanding."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 243; _English Reader_, p.
xiii. "At Travancore, _Koprah_, or dried cocoa-nut kernels, _is_
monopolized by government."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 12. "The _Scriptures_,
or Bible, _are_ the only authentic source."--_Bp. Tomline's Evidences_.

   "Nor foes nor fortune _take_ this power away;
    And is my Abelard less kind than _they_?"--_Pope_, p. 334.

OBS. 10.--The English adjective being indeclinable, we have no examples of
some of the forms of zeugma which occur in Latin and Greek. But adjectives
differing in _number_, are sometimes connected without a repetition of the
noun; and, in the agreement of the verb, the noun which is understood, is
less apt to be regarded than that which is expressed, though the latter be
more remote; as, "There _are one or two_ small _irregularities_ to be
noted."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 63. "There _are one or two persons_, and but
one or two."--_Hazlitt's Lectures_. "There _are one or two_
others."--_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 206. "There _are one or two_."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 319. "There _are one or more_ seminaries in every
province."--_H. E. Dwight: Lit. Conv._, p. 133. "Whether _one or more_ of
the clauses _are_ to be considered the nominative case."--_Murray's Gram._,
Vol. i, p. 150. "So that, I believe, there _is_ not _more_ than _one_
genuine example extant."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 10. "There
_is_, properly, no _more_ than _one_ pause or rest in the
sentence."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 329; _Blair's Rhet._, p. 125.
"Sometimes a small _letter or two is_ added to the capital."--_Adam's Lat.
Gram._, p. 223; _Gould's_, 283. Among the examples in the seventh paragraph
above, there is one like this last, but with a plural verb; and if either
is objectionable, _is_ should here be _are_. The preceding example, too, is
such as I would not imitate. To L. Murray, the following sentence seemed
false syntax, because _one_ does not agree with _persons_: "He saw _one or
more persons_ enter the garden."--_Murray's Exercises_, Rule 8th, p. 54. In
his Key, he has it thus: "He saw one _person_, or _more than one_, enter
the garden."--_Oct. Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 189. To me, this stiff
_correction_, which many later grammarians have copied, seems worse than
none. And the effect of the principle may be noticed in Murray's style
elsewhere; as, "When a _semicolon, or more than one_, have
preceded."--_Octavo Gram._, i, p. 277; _Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 288. Here a
ready writer would be very apt to prefer one of the following phrases:
"When a semicolon _or two_ have preceded,"--"When _one or two semicolons_
have preceded,"--"When _one or more semicolons_ have preceded." It is
better to write by guess, than to become systematically awkward in
expression.

OBS. 11.--In Greek and Latin, the pronoun of the first person, according to
our critics, is _generally_[398] placed first; as, "[Greek: Ego kai su ta
dikaia poiæsomen]. Xen."--_Milnes's Gr. Gram._, p. 120. That is, "_Ego et
tu justa faciemus_." Again: "_Ego et Cicero valemus_. Cic."--_Buchanan's
Pref._, p. x; _Adam's Gram._, 206; _Gould's_, 203. "I and Cicero are
well."--_Ib._ But, in English, a modest speaker usually gives to others the
precedence, and mentions himself last; as, "He, or thou, or I, must
go."--"Thou and I will do what is right."--"Cicero and I are well."--_Dr.
Adam_.[399] Yet, in speaking of himself and his _dependants_, a person most
commonly takes rank before them; as, "Your inestimable letters supported
_myself, my wife_, and _children_, in adversity."--_Lucien Bonaparte,
Charlemagne_, p. v. "And I shall be destroyed, _I_ and _my
house_."--_Gen._, xxxiv, 30. And in acknowledging a fault, misfortune, or
censure, any speaker may assume the first place; as, "Both _I and thou_ are
in the fault."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 207. "Both _I and you_ are in
fault."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. ix. "Trusty did not do it; _I and Robert_
did it."--_Edgeworth's Stories_.

   "With critic scales, weighs out the partial wit,
    What _I_, or _you_, or _he_, or _no one_ writ."
        --_Lloyd's Poems_, p. 162.

OBS. 12.--According to the theory of this work, verbs themselves are not
unfrequently connected, one to an other, by _and, or_, or _nor_; so that
two or more of them, being properly in the same construction, may be parsed
as agreeing with the same nominative: as, "So that the blind and dumb
[_man_] both _spake_ and _saw_."--_Matt._, xii, 22. "That no one _might
buy_ or _sell_."--_Rev._, xiii, 17. "Which _see_ not, nor _hear_, nor
_know_."--_Dan._, v, 23. We have certainly very many examples like these,
in which it is neither convenient nor necessary to suppose an ellipsis of
the nominative before the latter verb, or before all but the first, as most
of our grammarians do, whenever they find two or more finite verbs
connected in this manner. It is true, the nominative may, in most
instances, be repeated without injury to the sense; but this fact is no
proof of such an ellipsis; because many a sentence which is not incomplete,
may possibly take additional words without change of meaning. But these
authors, (as I have already suggested under the head of conjunctions,) have
not been very careful of their own consistency. If they teach, that, "Every
finite verb has its own separate nominative, either expressed or implied,"
which idea Murray and others seem to have gathered from Lowth; or if they
say, that, "Conjunctions really unite sentences, when they appear to unite
only words," which notion they may have acquired from Harris; what room is
there for that common assertion, that, "Conjunctions connect the same moods
and tenses of verbs," which is a part of Murray's eighteenth rule, and
found in most of our grammars? For no agreement is usually required between
verbs that have separate nominatives; and if we supply a nominative
wherever we do not find one for each verb, then in fact no two verbs will
ever be connected by any conjunction.

OBS. 13.--What agreement there must be, between verbs that are in the same
construction, it is not easy to determine with certainty. Some of the Latin
grammarians tell us, that certain conjunctions connect "sometimes similar
moods and tenses, and sometimes similar moods but different tenses." See
_Prat's Grammatica Latina, Octavo_, Part ii, p. 95. Ruddiman, Adam, and
Grant, omit the concord of tenses, and enumerate certain conjunctions which
"couple like cases and moods." But all of them acknowledge some exceptions
to their rules. The instructions of Lindley Murray and others, on this
point, may be summed up in the following canon: "When verbs are connected
by a conjunction, they must either agree in mood, tense, and form, or have
separate nominatives expressed." This rule, (with a considerable exception
to it, which other authors had not noticed.) was adopted by myself in the
Institutes of English Grammar, and also retained in the Brief Abstract of
that work, entitled, The First Lines of English Grammar. It there stands as
the thirteenth in the series of principal rules; but, as there is no
occasion to refer to it in the exercise of parsing, I now think, a less
prominent place may suit it as well or better. The principle may be
considered as being less certain and less important than most of the usual
rules of syntax: I shall therefore both modify the expression of it, and
place it among the notes of the present code. See Notes 5th and 6th below.

OBS. 14.--By the agreement of verbs with each other in _form_, it is meant,
that the simple form and the compound, the familiar form and the solemn,
the affirmative form and the negative, or the active form and the passive,
are not to be connected without a repetition of the nominative. With
respect to _our_ language, this part of the rule is doubtless as important,
and as true, as any other. A thorough agreement, then, in mood, tense, and
form, is _generally_ required, when verbs are connected by _and, or_, or
_nor_; and, under each part of this concord, there may be cited certain
errors which ought to be avoided, as will by-and-by be shown. But, at the
same time, there seem to be many allowable violations of the rule, some or
other of which may perhaps form exceptions to every part of it. For
example, the _tense_ may be varied, as it often is in Latin; thus, "As the
general state of religion _has been, is_, or _shall be_, affected by
them."--_Butlers Analogy_, p. 241. "Thou art righteous, O Lord, which
_art_, and _wast_, and _shall be_, because thou hast judged thus."--_Rev._,
xvi, 5. In the former of these examples, a repetition of the nominative
would not be agreeable; in the latter, it would perhaps be an improvement:
as, "_who_ art, and _who_ wast, and _who_ shalt be." (I here change the
pronoun, because the relative _which_ is not now applied as above.) "This
dedication may serve for almost any book, that _has been_, or _shall be_
published."--_Campbell's Rhet._ p. 207; _Murray's Gram._, p. 222. "It ought
to be, '_has been, is_, or _shall be_, published.'"--_Crombie's Treatise_,
p. 383. "Truth and good sense _are_ firm, and _will establish_
themselves."--_Blair's Rhet._ p. 286. "Whereas Milton _followed_ a
different plan, and _has given_ a tragic conclusion to a poem otherwise
epic in its form."--_Ib._, p. 428. "I am certain, that such _are not_, nor
ever _were_, the tenets of the church of England."--_West's Letters_, p.
148. "They _deserve_, and _will meet with_, no regard."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 109.

   "Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,
    Thinks what ne'er _was_, nor _is_, nor e'er _shall be_."
        --_Pope, on Crit._

OBS. 15.--So verbs differing in _mood_ or _form_ may sometimes agree with
the same nominative, if the simplest verb be placed first--rarely, I think,
if the words stand in any other order: as, "One _may be_ free from
affectation and _not have_ merit"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 189. "There _is_,
and _can be_, no other person."--_Murray's Key_. 8vo. p. 224. "To see what
_is_, and _is allowed_ to be, the plain natural rule."--_Butler's Analogy_,
p. 284. "This great experiment _has worked_, and _is working_, well, every
way well"--BRADBURN: _Liberator_, ix. 162. "This edition of Mr. Murray's
works on English Grammar, _deserves_ a place in Libraries, and _will not
fail_ to obtain it."--BRITISH CRITIC: _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, ii, 299.

   "What nothing earthly _gives_, or _can destroy_."--_Pope_.

    "Some _are_, and _must be_, greater than the rest."--_Id._

OBS. 16.--Since most of the tenses of an English verb are composed of two
or more words, to prevent a needless or disagreeable repetition of
auxiliaries, participles, and principal verbs, those parts which are common
to two or more verbs in the same sentence, are generally expressed to the
first, and understood to the rest; or reserved, and put last, as the common
supplement of each; as, "To which they _do_ or _can extend_."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 77. "He _may_, as any one _may_, if he _will, incur_ an
infamous execution from the hands of civil justice."--_Ib._, p. 82. "All
that has usurped the name of virtue, and [_has_] deceived us by its
semblance, must be a mockery and a delusion."--_Dr. Chalmers_. "Human
praise, and human eloquence, may acknowledge it, but the Discerner of the
heart never will" [_acknowledge it_].--_Id._ "We use thee not so hardly, as
prouder livers do" [_use thee_].--_Shak._ "Which they might have foreseen
and [_might have_] avoided."--_Butler_. "Every sincere endeavour to amend,
shall be assisted, [_shall be_] accepted, and [_shall be_]
rewarded."--_Carter_. "Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me,
and [_will_] stand and [_will_] call on the name of the Lord his God, and
[_will_] strike his hand over the place, and [_will_] recover the
leper."--_2 Kings_, v, 11. "They mean to, and will, hear
patiently."--_Salem Register_. That is, "They mean to _hear patiently_, and
_they_ will hear patiently." "He can create, and he destroy."--_Bible_.
That is,--"and he _can_ destroy."

   "Virtue _may be assail'd_, but never _hurt_,
    _Surpris'd_ by unjust force, but not _inthrall'd_."--_Milton_.

    "Mortals whose pleasures are their only care,
    First wish to be _imposed on_, and then _are_."--_Cowper_.

OBS. 17.--From the foregoing examples, it may be seen, that the complex and
divisible structure of the English moods and tenses, produces, when verbs
are connected together, a striking peculiarity of construction in our
language, as compared with the nearest corresponding construction in Latin
or Greek. For we can connect different auxiliaries, participles, or
principal verbs, without repeating, and apparently without connecting, the
other parts of the mood or tense. And although it is commonly supposed that
these parts are necessarily understood wherever they are not repeated,
there are sentences, and those not a few, in which we cannot express them,
without inserting also an additional nominative, and producing distinct
clauses; as, "_Should_ it not _be taken_ up and _pursued_?"--_Dr.
Chalmers_. "Where thieves _do_ not _break_ through nor _steal_."--_Matt._,
vi, 20. "None present _could_ either _read_ or _explain_ the
writing-."--_Wood's Dict._, Vol. i, p. 159. Thus we sometimes make a single
auxiliary an index to the mood and tense of more than one verb.

OBS. 18.--The verb _do_, which is sometimes an auxiliary and sometimes a
principal verb, is thought by some grammarians to be also fitly made a
_substitute_ for other verbs, as a pronoun is for nouns; but this doctrine
has not been taught with accuracy, and the practice under it will in many
instances be found to involve a solecism. In this kind of substitution,
there must either be a true ellipsis of the principal verb, so that _do_ is
only an auxiliary; or else the verb _do_, with its _object_ or _adverb_, if
it need one, must exactly correspond to an action described before; so that
to speak of _doing this_ or _thus_, is merely the shortest way of repeating
the idea: as, "He _loves_ not plays, as thou _dost_. Antony."--_Shak._ That
is, "as thou _dost love plays._" "This fellow is wise enough _to play the
fool_; and, _to do that_ well, craves a kind of wit."--_Id._ Here, "_to do
that_," is, "_to play the fool_." "I will not _do it_, if I find thirty
there."--_Gen._, xviii, 30. Do what? Destroy the city, as had been
threatened. Where _do_ is an auxiliary, there is no real substitution; and,
in the other instances, it is not properly the verb _do_, that is the
substitute, but rather the word that follows it--or perhaps, both. For,
since every action consists in _doing something_ or in _doing somehow_,
this general verb _do_, with _this, that, it, thus_, or _so_, to identify
the action, may assume the import of many a longer phrase. But care must be
taken not to substitute this verb for any term to which it is not
equivalent; as, "The _a_ is certainly to be sounded as the English
_do_."--_Walker's Dict., w. A_. Say, "as the English _sound it_;" for _do_
is here absurd, and grossly solecistical. "The duke had not behaved with
that loyalty with which he ought to have _done_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 111;
_Murray's_, i, 212; _Churchill's_, 355; _Fisk's_, 137; _Ingersoll's_, 269.
Say, "with which he ought to have _behaved_;" for, to have _done_ with
loyalty is not what was meant--far from it. Clarendon wrote the text thus:
"The Duke had not behaved with that loyalty, _as_ he ought to have done."
This should have been corrected, not by changing _"as"_ to _"with which"_,
but by saying--"with that loyalty _which_ he ought to have _observed;"_ or,
"_which would have become him"_.

OBS. 19.--It is little to the credit of our grammarians, to find so many of
them thus concurring in the same obvious error, and even making bad English
worse. The very examples which have hitherto been given to prove that _do_
may be a substitute for other verbs, are _none of them in point_, and all
of them have been constantly and shamefully _misinterpreted._ Thus: "They
[_do_ and _did_] sometimes also supply the place of _another verb_, and
make the repetition of it, in the same or a subsequent sentence,
unnecessary: as, 'You attend not to your studies as he _does_;' (i. e. as
he _attends_, &c.) 'I shall come if I can; but if I _do not_, please to
excuse me;' (i. e. if I _come_ not.)"--_L. Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 88;
_R. C. Smith's_, 88; _Ingersoll's_, 135; _Fisk's_, 78; _A. Flint's_, 41;
_Hiley's_, 30. This remark, but not the examples, was taken from _Lowths
Gram._, p. 41. Churchill varies it thus, and retains Lowth's example: "It
[i. e., _do_] is used also, to supply the _place of another verb_, in order
to avoid the repetition of it: as, 'He _loves_ not plays, As thou _dost_,
Antony.' SHAKS."--_New Gram._, p. 96. Greenleaf says, "To prevent the
repetition of _one or more verbs_, in the same, or [a] following sentence,
we frequently make use of _do_ AND _did_; as, 'Jack learns the English
language as fast as Henry _does_;' that is, 'as fast as Henry _learns_.' 'I
shall come if I can; but if I _do_ not, please to excuse me;' that is, 'if
I _come_ not.'"--_Gram. Simplified_, p. 27. Sanborn says, "_Do_ is also
used _instead of another verb_, and not unfrequently instead of both _the
verb and its object_; as, 'he _loves work_ as well as you _do_;' that is,
as well as you _love work_."--_Analyt. Gram._, p. 112. Now all these
interpretations are wrong; the word _do, dost_, or _does_, being simply an
auxiliary, after which the principal verb (with its object where it has
one) is _understood_. But the first example is _bad English_, and its
explanation is still worse. For, "_As he attends_, &c.," means, "As _he_
attends _to your studies!_" And what good sense is there in this? The
sentence ought to have been, "You do not attend to your studies, as he does
_to his_." That is--"as he does _attend_ to his _studies_." This plainly
shows that there is, in the text, no real substitution of _does_ for
_attends_. So of all other examples exhibited in our grammars, under this
head: there is nothing to the purpose, in any of them; the common principle
of _ellipsis_ resolves them all. Yet, strange to say, in the latest and
most learned of this sort of text-books, we find the same sham example,
fictitious and solecistical as it is, still blindly repeated, to show that
"_does_" is not in its own place, as an auxiliary, but "supplies the place
of another verb."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo. 1850. p. 265.


NOTES TO RULE XVII.

NOTE I.--When a verb has nominatives of different persons or numbers,[400]
connected by _or_ or _nor_, it must agree with the nearest, (unless an
other be the principal term,) and must be understood to the rest, in the
person and number required; as, "Neither you nor I _am_ concerned."--_W.
Allen_. "That neither they nor ye also _die_."--_Numb._, xviii, 3.

   "But neither god, nor shrine, nor mystic rite,
    Their city, nor her walls, his soul _delight_."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. x, l. 26.

NOTE II.--But, since all nominatives that require different forms of the
verb, virtually produce separate clauses or propositions, it is better to
complete the concord whenever we conveniently can, by expressing the verb
or its auxiliary in connexion with each of them; as, "Either thou _art_ to
blame, or I _am_."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 78. "Neither _were_ their numbers,
nor _was_ their destination, known."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 134. So in
clauses connected by _and_: as, "But declamation _is_ idle, and _murmurs_
fruitless."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 82. Say,--"and murmurs _are_
fruitless."

NOTE III.--In English, the speaker should always mention himself last;
unless his own superior dignity, or the confessional nature of the
expression, warrant him in taking the precedence: as, "_Thou or I_ must
go."--"He then addressed his discourse to _my father and me_."--"_Ellen and
I_ will seek, apart, the refuge of some forest cell."--_Scott_. See Obs.
11th above.

NOTE IV.--Two or more distinct subject phrases connected by _or_ or _nor_,
require a singular verb; and, if a nominative come after the verb, that
must be singular also: as, "That a drunkard should be poor, _or_ that a fop
should be ignorant, _is_ not strange."--"To give an affront, or to take one
tamely, _is_ no _mark_ of a great mind." So, when the phrases are
unconnected: as, "To spread suspicion, to invent calumnies, to propagate
scandal, _requires_ neither labour nor courage."--_Rambler_, No. 183.

NOTE V.--In general, when _verbs_ are connected by _and, or_, or _nor_,
they must either agree in mood, tense, and form, or the simplest in form
must be placed first; as, "So Sennacherib king of Assyria _departed_, and
_went_ and _returned_, and _dwelt_ at Nineveh."--_Isaiah_, xxxvii, 37. "For
if I _be_ an offender, or _have committed_ any thing worthy of death, I
refuse not to die."--_Acts_, xxv, 11.

NOTE VI.--In stead of conjoining discordant verbs, it is in general better
to repeat the nominative or insert a new one; as, "He was greatly heated,
and [_he] drank_ with avidity."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 201. "A person may
be great or rich by chance; but _cannot be_ wise or good, without taking
pains for it."--_Ib._, p. 200. Say,--"but _no one can be_ wise or good,
without taking pains for it."

NOTE VII.--A mixture of the forms of the solemn style and the familiar, is
inelegant, whether the verbs refer to the same nominative or have different
ones expressed; as, "What _appears_ tottering and in hazard of tumbling,
_produceth_ in the spectator the painful emotion of fear."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, ii, 356. "And the milkmaid _singeth_ blithe, And the mower _whets_
his sithe."--_Milton's Allegro_, l. 65 and 66.

NOTE VIII.--To use different moods under precisely the same circumstances,
is improper, even if the verbs have separate nominatives; as, "Bating that
one _speak_ and an other _answers_, it is quite the same."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 368. Say,--"that one _speaks_;" for both the speaking and the
answering are assumed as facts.

NOTE IX.--When two terms are connected, which involve different forms of
the same verb, such parts of the compound tenses as are not common to both
forms, should be inserted in full: except sometimes after the auxiliary
_do_; as, "And then he _falls_, as I _do_."--_Shak_. That is, "as I _do
fall_." The following sentences are therefore faulty: "I think myself
highly obliged _to make_ his fortune, as he _has_ mine."--_Spect._, No.
474. Say,--"as he _has made_ mine." "Every attempt to remove them, _has_,
and likely _will prove_ unsuccessful."--_Gay's Prosodical Gram._, p. 4.
Say,--"_has proved_, and likely _will prove_, unsuccessful."

NOTE X.--The verb _do_ must never be substituted for any term to which its
own meaning is not adapted; nor is there any use in putting it for a
preceding verb that is equally short: as, "When we see how confidently men
rest on groundless surmises in reference to their own souls, we cannot
wonder that they _do it_ in reference to others."--_Simeon_. Better:--"that
they _so rest_ in reference to _the souls of_ others;" for this repeats the
idea with more exactness.  NOTE XI.--The preterit should not be employed
to form the compound tenses of the verb; nor should the perfect participle
be used for the preterit or confounded with the present. Thus: say, "To
have _gone_," not, "To have _went_;" and, "I _did_ so," not, "I _done_ so;"
or, "He _saw_ them," not, "He _seen_ them." Again: say not, "It was _lift_
or _hoist_ up;" but, "It was _lifted_ or _hoisted_ up."

NOTE XII.--Care should be taken, to give every verb or participle its
appropriate form, and not to confound those which resemble each other; as,
_to flee_ and _to fly, to lay_ and _to lie, to sit_ and _to set, to fall_
and _to fell_, &c. Thus: say, "He _lay_ by the fire;" not, "He _laid_ by
the fire;"--"He _has become_ rich;" not, "He _is become_ rich;"--"I _would_
rather _stay_;" not, "I _had_ rather _stay_."

NOTE XIII.--In the syntax of words that express time, whether they be
verbs, adverbs, or nouns, the order and fitness of time should be observed,
that the tenses may be used according to their import. Thus: in stead of,
"I _have seen_ him _last week_;" say, "I _saw_ him _last week_;"--and, in
stead of, "I _saw_ him _this week_;" say, "I _have seen_ him _this week_."
So, in stead of, "I _told_ you _already_;" or, "I _have told_ you
_before_;" say, "I _have told_ you _already_;"--"I _told_ you _before_."

NOTE XIV.--Verbs of commanding, desiring, expecting, hoping, intending,
permitting, and some others, in all their tenses, refer to actions or
events, relatively present or future: one should therefore say, "I hoped
you _would come_;" not, "I hoped you _would have come_;"--and, "I intended
_to do_ it;" not, "I intended _to have done_ it;"--&c.

NOTE XV.--Propositions that are as true now as they ever were or will be,
should generally be expressed in the present tense: as, "He seemed hardly
to know, that two and two _make_ four;" not, "_made_."--_Blair's Gram._, p.
65. "He will tell you, that whatever _is, is_ right." Sometimes the present
tense is improper with the conjunction _that_, though it would be quite
proper without it; as, "Others said, _That_ it _is_ Elias. And others said,
_That_ it _is_ a prophet."--_Mark_, vi, 15. Here _That_ should be omitted,
or else _is_ should be _was_. The capital _T_ is also improper.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XVII.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--NOMINATIVES CONNECTED BY OR.

"We do not know in what either reason or instinct consist."--_Rambler_, No.
41.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _consist_ is of the plural number,
and does not correctly agree with its two nominatives, _reason_ and
_instinct_, which are connected by _or_, and taken disjunctively. But,
according to Rule 17th, "When a verb has two or more nominatives connected
by _or_ or _nor_, it must agree with them singly, and not as if taken
together." Therefore, _consist_ should be _consists_; thus, "We do not know
in what either reason or instinct _consists_."]

"A noun or a pronoun joined with a participle, constitute a nominative case
absolute."--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 50. "The relative will be of
that case, which the verb or noun following, or the preposition going
before, use to govern."--_Dr. Adam's Gram._, p. 203. "Which the verb or
noun following, or the preposition going before, usually govern."--_Gould's
Adam's Gram._, p. 200.[401] "In the different modes of pronunciation which
habit or caprice give rise to."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 14.
"By which he, or his deputy, were authorized to cut down any trees in
Whittlebury forest."--_Junius_, p. 251. "Wherever objects were to be named,
in which sound, noise, or motion were concerned, the imitation by words was
abundantly obvious."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 55. "The pleasure or pain
resulting from a train of perceptions in different circumstances, are a
beautiful contrivance of nature for valuable purposes."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, i, 262. "Because their foolish vanity or their criminal ambition
represent the principles by which they are influenced, as absolutely
perfect."--_Life of Madame De Stael_, p. 2. "Hence naturally arise
indifference or aversion between the parties."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 37.
"A penitent unbeliever, or an impenitent believer, are characters no where
to be found."--_Tract_, No. 183. "Copying whatever is peculiar in the talk
of all those whose birth or fortune entitle them to imitation."--_Rambler_,
No. 194. "Where love, hatred, fear, or contempt, are often of decisive
influence."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 119. "A lucky anecdote, or an enlivening
tale relieve the folio page."--_D'Israeli's Curiosities_, Vol. i, p. 15.
"For outward matter or event, fashion not the character within."--_Book of
Thoughts_, p. 37. "Yet sometimes we have seen that wine, or chance, have
warmed cold brains."--_Dryden's Poems_, p. 76. "Motion is a Genus; Flight,
a Species; this Flight or that Flight are Individuals."--_Harris's Hermes_,
p. 38. "When _et, aut, vel, sine_, or _nec_, are joined to different
members of the same sentence."--_Adam's Lat. and Eng. Gram._, p. 206;
_Gould's Lat. Gram._, 203; _Grant's_, 266. "Wisdom or folly govern
us."--_Fisk's English Gram._, 84. "_A_ or _an_ are styled indefinite
articles."--_Folker's Gram._, p. 4. "A rusty nail, or a crooked pin, shoot
up into prodigies."--_Spectator_, No. 7. "Are either the subject or the
predicate in the second sentence modified?"--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo,
1850, p. 578, §589.

   "Praise from a friend, or censure from a foe,
    Are lost on hearers that our merits know."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. x, l. 293.


UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--NOMINATIVES CONNECTED BY NOR.

"Neither he nor she have spoken to him."--_Perrin's Gram._, p. 237. "For
want of a process of events, neither knowledge nor elegance preserve the
reader from weariness."--JOHNSON: _in Crabb's Syn._, p. 511. "Neither
history nor tradition furnish such information."--_Robertson's Amer._, Vol.
i, p. 2. "Neither the form nor power of the liquids have varied
materially."--_Knight, on the Greek Alph._, p. 16. "Where neither noise nor
motion are concerned."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 55. "Neither Charles nor his
brother were qualified to support such a system."--_Junius_, p. 250. "When,
therefore, neither the liveliness of representation, nor the warmth of
passion, serve, as it were, to cover the trespass, it is not safe to leave
the beaten track."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 381. "In many countries called
Christian, neither Christianity, nor its evidence, are fairly laid before
men."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 269. "Neither the intellect nor the heart are
capable of being driven."--_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 20. "Throughout this
hymn, neither Apollo nor Diana are in any way connected with the Sun or
Moon."--_Coleridge's Introd._, p. 199. "Of which, neither he, nor this
Grammar, take any notice."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 346. "Neither their
solicitude nor their foresight extend so far."--_Robertson's Amer._, Vol.
i, p. 287. "Neither Gomara, nor Oviedo, nor Herrera, consider Ojeda, or his
companion Vespucci, as the first discoverers of the continent of
America."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 471. "Neither the general situation of our
colonies, nor that particular distress which forced the inhabitants of
Boston to take up arms, have been thought worthy of a moment's
consideration."--_Junius_, p. 174.

   "Nor War nor Wisdom yield our Jews delight,
    They will not study, and they dare not fight."
        --_Crabbe's Borough_, p. 50.

    "Nor time nor chance breed such confusions yet,
    Nor are the mean so rais'd, nor sunk the great."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. iii, l. 213.


UNDER NOTE I.--NOMINATIVES THAT DISAGREE.

"The definite article _the_, designates what particular thing or things is
meant."--_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 23 and p. 33. "Sometimes a word or
words necessary to complete the grammatical construction of a sentence, is
not expressed, but omitted by ellipsis."--_Burr's Gram._, p. 26. "Ellipsis,
or abbreviations, is the wheels of language."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 12.
"The conditions or tenor of none of them appear at this
day."--_Hutchinson's Hist. of Mass._, Vol. i, p. 16. "Neither men nor money
were wanting for the service."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 279. "Either our own
feelings, or the representation of those of others, require frequent
emphatic distinction."--_Barber's Exercises_, p. 13. "Either Atoms and
Chance, or Nature are uppermost: now I am for the latter part of the
disjunction,"--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 181. "Their riches or poverty are
generally proportioned to their activity or indolence."--_Ross Cox's
Narrative_. "Concerning the other part of him, neither you nor he seem to
have entertained an idea."--_Bp. Horne_. "Whose earnings or income are so
small."--_N. E. Discipline_, p. 130. "Neither riches nor fame render a man
happy."--_Day's Gram._, p. 71. "The references to the pages, always point
to the first volume, unless the Exercises or Key are mentioned."--_Murray's
Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 283.


UNDER NOTE II.--COMPLETE THE CONCORD.

"My lord, you wrong my father; nor he nor I are capable of harbouring a
thought against your peace."--_Walpole_. "There was no division of acts; no
pauses or interval between them; but the stage was continually full;
occupied either by the actors, or the chorus."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 463.
"Every word ending in B, P, F, as also many in V, are of this order."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist. of Lang._, i, 73. "As proud as we are of human reason,
nothing can be more absurd than the general system of human life and human
knowledge."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 347. "By which the body of sin and
death is done away, and we cleansed."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 165. "And
those were already converted, and regeneration begun in them."--_Ib._, iii,
433. "For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years."--_Luke_, i,
18. "Who is my mother, or my brethren?"--_Mark_, iii, 33. "Lebanon is not
sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a
burnt-offering."--_Isaiah_, xl, 16. "Information has been obtained, and
some trials made."--_Society in America_, i, 308. "It is as obvious, and
its causes more easily understood."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 84. "All
languages furnish examples of this kind, and the English as many as any
other."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 157. "The winters are long, and the cold
intense."--_Morse's Geog._, p. 39. "How have I hated instruction, and my
heart despised reproof!"--_Prov._, v, 12. "The vestals were abolished by
Theodosius the Great, and the fire of Vesta extinguished."--_Lempriere, w.
Vestales_. "Riches beget pride; pride, impatience."--_Bullions's Practical
Lessons_, p. 89. "Grammar is not reasoning, any more than organization is
thought, or letters sounds."--_Enclytica_, p. 90. "Words are implements,
and grammar a machine."--_Ib._, p. 91.


UNDER NOTE III.--PLACE OF THE FIRST PERSON.

"I or thou art the person who must undertake the business
proposed."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 184. "I and he were there."--_Dr. Ash's
Gram._, p. 51. "And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he."--_Gen._,
xli, 11. "If my views remain the same as mine and his were in
1833."--GOODELL: _Liberator_, ix, 148. "I and my father were riding
out."--_Inst._, p. 158. "The premiums were given to me and George."--_Ib._
"I and Jane are invited."--_Ib._ "They ought to invite me and my
sister."--_Ib._ "I and you intend going."--_Guy's Gram._, p. 55. "I and
John are going to Town."--_British Gram._, p. 193. "I, and he are sick. I,
and thou are well."--_James Brown's American Gram._, Boston Edition of
1841, p. 123. "I, and he is. I, and thou art. I, and he writes."--_Ib._, p.
126. "I, and they are well. I, thou, and she were walking."--_Ib._, p.
127.


UNDER NOTE IV.--DISTINCT SUBJECT PHRASES.

"To practise tale-bearing, or even to countenance it, are great
injustice."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 159. "To reveal secrets, or to betray
one's friends, are contemptible perfidy."--_Ib._ "To write all substantives
with capital letters, or to exclude them from adjectives derived from
proper names, may perhaps be thought offences too small for animadversion;
but the evil of innovation is always something."--_Dr. Barrow's Essays_, p.
88. "To live in such families, or to have such servants, are blessings from
God."--_Family Commentary_, p. 64. "How they portioned out the country,
what revolutions they experienced, or what wars they maintained, are
utterly unknown."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. i, p. 4. "To speak or to
write perspicuously and agreeably, are attainments of the utmost
consequence to all who purpose, either by speech or writing, to address the
public."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 11.


UNDER NOTE V.--MAKE THE VERBS AGREE.

"Doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and
seeketh that which is gone astray?"--_Matt._, xviii, 12. "Did he not fear
the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented him of the evil
which he had pronounced?"--_Jer._, xxvi, 19. "And dost thou open thine eyes
upon such an one, and bringest me into judgement with thee?"--_Job_, xiv,
3. "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue,
but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain."--_James_, i, 26.
"If thou sell aught unto thy neighbour, or buyest aught of thy neighbour's
hand, ye shall not oppress one an other."--_Leviticus_, xxv, 14. "And if
thy brother that dwelleth by thee, shall have become poor, and be sold to
thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant."--WEBSTER'S
BIBLE: _Lev._, xxv, 39. "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there
rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee," &c.--_Matt._, v, 23.
"Anthea was content to call a coach, and crossed the brook."--_Rambler_,
No. 34. "It is either totally suppressed, or appears in its lowest and most
imperfect form."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 23. "But if any man be a worshiper of
God, and doeth his will, him he heareth."--_John_, ix, 31. "Whereby his
righteousness and obedience, death and sufferings without, become
profitable unto us, and is made ours."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 164. "Who
ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had aught against
me."--_Acts_, xxiv, 19.

   "Yes! thy proud lords, unpitied land, shall see
    That man hath yet a soul, and dare be free."--_Campbell_.


UNDER NOTE VI.--USE SEPARATE NOMINATIVES.

"_H_ is only an aspiration or breathing; and sometimes at the beginning of
a word is not sounded at all."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 4. "Man was made for
society, and ought to extend his good will to all men."--_Ib._, p. 12;
_Murray's_, i, 170. "There is, and must be, a supreme being, of infinite
goodness, power, and wisdom, who created and supports them."--_Beattie's
Moral Science_, p. 201. "Were you not affrighted, and mistook a spirit for
a body?"--_Watson's Apology_, p. 122. "The latter noun or pronoun is not
governed by the conjunction _than_ or _as_, but agrees with the verb, or is
governed by the verb or the preposition, expressed or understood."--
_Murray's Gram._, p. 214; _Russell's_, 103; _Bacon's_, 51; _Alger's_, 71;
_R. C. Smith's_, 179. "He had mistaken his true interests, and found
himself forsaken."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 201. "The amputation was
exceedingly well performed, and saved the patient's life."--_Ib._, p. 191.
"The intentions of some of these philosophers, nay, of many [,] might have
been, and probably were good."--_Ib._, p. 216. "This may be true, and yet
will not justify the practice."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 33. "From the
practice of those who have had a liberal education, and are therefore
presumed to be best acquainted with men and things."--_Campbell's Rhet._,
p. 161. "For those energies and bounties which created and preserve the
universe."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, i, 327. "I shall make it once for all
and hope it will be afterwards remembered."--_Blair's Lect._, p. 45. "This
consequence is drawn too abruptly, and needed more explanation."--_Ib._, p.
229. "They must be used with more caution, and require more preparation."--
_Ib._, p. 153. "The apostrophe denotes the omission of an _i_, which was
formerly inserted, and made an addition of a syllable to the word."--
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 67. "The succession may be rendered more various or
more uniform, but in one shape or an other is unavoidable."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, i. 253. "It excites neither terror nor compassion, nor is agreeable
in any respect."--_Ib._, ii, 277.

   "Cheap vulgar arts, whose narrowness affords
    No flight for thoughts, but poorly stick at words."--_Denham_.


UNDER NOTE VII.--MIXTURE OF DIFFERENT STYLES.

"Let us read the living page, whose every character delighteth and
instructs us."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 5. "For if it be in any degree
obscure, it puzzles, and doth not please."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 357.
"When a speaker addresseth himself to the understanding, he proposes the
instruction of his hearers."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 13. "As the wine which
strengthens and refresheth the heart."--_H. Adams's View_, p. 221. "This
truth he wrappeth in an allegory, and feigns that one of the goddesses had
taken up her abode with the other."--_Pope's Works_, iii, 46. "God
searcheth and understands the heart."--_Thomas à Kempis_. "The grace of
God, that brings salvation hath appeared to all men."--_Barclays Works_, i,
366. "Also we speak not in the words, which man's wisdom teaches; but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth."--_Ib._, i, 388. "But he hath an objection, which
he urgeth, and by which he thinks to overturn all."--_Ib._, iii, 327. "In
that it gives them not that comfort and joy which it giveth unto them who
love it."--_Ib._, i, 142. "Thou here misunderstood the place and
misappliedst it."--_Ib._, iii, 38. "Like the barren heath in the desert,
which knoweth not when good comes."--_Friends' Extracts_, p. 128; _N. E.
Discip._, p. 75. "It speaketh of the time past, but shews that something
was then doing, but not quite finished."--_E. Devis's Gram._, p. 42. "It
subsists in spite of them; it advanceth unobserved."--PASCAL: _Addison's
Evidences_, p. 17.

   "But where is he, the Pilgrim of my song?--
    Methinks he cometh late and tarries long."--_Byron_, Cant. iv, St. 164.


UNDER NOTE VII.--CONFUSION OF MOODS.

"If a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them is gone astray,
&c."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 227 with 197. "As a speaker advances in his
discourse, especially if it be somewhat impassioned, and increases in
energy and earnestness, a higher and louder tone will naturally steal upon
him."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 68. "If one man esteem a day above
another, and another esteemeth every day alike; let every man be fully
persuaded in his own mind."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 439. "If there be but
one body of legislators, it is no better than a tyranny; if there are only
two, there will want a casting voice."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 287. "Should
you come up this way, and I am still here, you need not be assured how glad
I shall be to see you."--_Ld. Byron_. "If he repent and becomes holy, let
him enjoy God and heaven."--_Brownson's Elwood_, p. 248. "If thy fellow
approach thee, naked and destitute, and thou shouldst say unto him, 'Depart
in peace; be you warmed and filled;' and yet shouldst give him not those
things that are needful to him, what benevolence is there in thy
conduct?"--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 108.

   "Get on your nightgown, lost occasion calls us.
    And show us to be watchers."
        --_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 278.

    "But if it climb, with your assisting hands,
    The Trojan walls, and in the city stands."
        --_Dryden's Virgil_, ii, 145.

    --------------------------"Though Heaven's king
    Ride on thy wings, and thou with thy compeers,
    Us'd to the yoke, draw'st his triumphant wheels."
        --_Milton, P. L._, iv, l. 973.

    "Us'd to the yoke, _draw'dst_ his triumphant wheels."
        --_Lowth's Gram._, p. 106.


UNDER NOTE IX.--IMPROPER ELLIPSES.

"Indeed we have seriously wondered that Murray should leave some things as
he has."--_Education Reporter_. "Which they neither have nor can
do."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 73. "The Lord hath, and doth, and will reveal
his will to his people, and hath and doth raise up members of his body,"
&c.--_Ib._, i, 484. "We see then, that the Lord hath, and doth give
such."--_Ib._, i, 484. "Towards those that have or do declare themselves
members."--_Ib._, i, 494. "For which we can, and have given our sufficient
reasons."--_Ib._, i, 507. "When we mention the several properties of the
different words in sentences, in the same manner as we have those of
_William's_, above, what is the exercise called?"--_Smith's New Gram._, p.
12. "It is, however to be doubted whether this peculiarity of the Greek
idiom, ever has or will obtain extensively in the English."--_Nutting's
Gram._, p. 47. "Why did not the Greeks and Romans abound in auxiliary words
as much as we?"--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 111. "Who delivers his
sentiments in earnest, as they ought to be in order to move and
persuade."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 151.


UNDER NOTE X.--DO, USED AS A SUBSTITUTE.

"And I would avoid it altogether, if it could be done."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, i, 36. "Such a sentiment from a man expiring of his wounds, is
truly heroic, and must elevate the mind to the greatest height that can be
done by a single expression."--_Ib._, i, 204. "Successive images making
thus deeper and deeper impressions, must elevate more than any single image
can do."--_Ib._, i, 205. "Besides making a deeper impression than can be
done by cool reasoning."--_Ib._, ii, 273. "Yet a poet, by the force of
genius alone, can rise higher than a public speaker can do."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 338. "And the very same reason that has induced several
grammarians to go so far as they have done, should have induced them to go
farther."--_Priestley's Gram., Pref._, p. vii. "The pupil should commit the
first section perfectly, before he does the second part of grammar."--
_Bradley's Gram._, p. 77. "The Greek _ch_ was pronounced hard, as we now do
in _chord_."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, p. 61. "They pronounce the
syllables in a different manner from what they do at other times."--
_Murray's Eng. Reader_, p. xi. "And give him the formal cool reception that
Simon had done."--_Dr. Scott, on Luke_, vii. "I do not say, as some have
done."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 271. "If he suppose the first, he may
do the last."--_Barclay's Works_, ii, 406. "Who are now despising Christ in
his inward appearance, as the Jews of old did him in his outward."--_Ib._,
i, 506. "That text of Revelations must not be understood, as he doth it."--
_Ib._, iii, 309. "Till the mode of parsing the noun is so familiar to him,
that he can do it readily."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 13. "Perhaps it is
running the same course which Rome had done before."--_Middleton's Life of
Cicero_. "It ought even on this ground to be avoided; which may easily be
done by a different construction."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 312. "These two
languages are now pronounced in England as no other nation in Europe does
besides."--_Creighton's Dict._, p. xi. "Germany ran the same risk that
Italy had done."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 211: see _Priestley's Gram._, p.
196.


UNDER NOTE XI.--PRETERITS AND PARTICIPLES.

"The Beggars themselves will be broke in a trice."--_Swift's Poems_, p.
347. "The hoop is hoist above his nose."--_Ib._, p. 404. "My heart was lift
up in the ways of the Lord. 2 CHRON."--_Joh. Dict., w. Lift_. "Who sin so
oft have mourned, Yet to temptation ran."--_Burns_. "Who would not have let
them appeared."--_Steele_. "He would have had you sought for ease at the
hands of Mr. Legality."--_Pilgrim's Progress_, p. 31. "From me his madding
mind is start, And wooes the widow's daughter of the glen."--SPENSER: _Joh.
Dict., w. Glen_. "The man has spoke, and still speaks."--_Ash's Gram._, p.
54. "For you have but mistook me all this while."--_Beauties of Shak._, p.
114. "And will you rent our ancient love asunder."--_Ib._, p. 52. "Mr.
Birney has plead the inexpediency of passing such resolutions."--
_Liberator_, Vol. xiii, p. 194. "Who have wore out their years in such most
painful Labours."--_Littleton's Dict., Pref_. "And in the conclusion you
were chose probationer."--_Spectator_, No. 32.

   "How she was lost, took captive, made a slave;
    And how against him set that should her save."--_Bunyan_.


UNDER NOTE XII.--VERBS CONFOUNDED.

"But Moses preferred to wile away his time."--_Parker's English
Composition_, p. 15. "His face shown with the rays of the sun."--_Calvin's
Inst._, 4to, p. 76. "Whom they had sat at defiance so lately."--
_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 320. "And when he was set, his disciples came
unto him."--_Matt._, v, 1. "When he was set down on the judgement-seat."--
_Ib._, xxvii, 19. "And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the
hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them."--_Luke_,
xxii, 55. "So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments,
and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to
you?"--_John_, xiii, 12. "Even as I also overcame, and am set down with my
Father in his throne."--_Rev._, iii, 21. "We have such an high priest, who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens."--
_Heb._, viii, 1. "And is set down at the right hand of the throne of
God."--_Ib._, xii, 2.[402] "He sat on foot a furious persecution."--
_Payne's Geog._, ii, 418. "There layeth an obligation upon the saints, to
help such."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 389. "There let him lay."--_Byron's
Pilgrimage_, C. iv, st. 180. "Nothing but moss, and shrubs, and stinted
trees, can grow upon it."--_Morse's Geog._, p. 43. "Who had lain out
considerable sums purely to distinguish themselves."--_Goldsmith's Greece_,
i, 132. "Whereunto the righteous fly and are safe."--_Barclay's Works_, i,
146. "He raiseth from supper, and laid aside his garments."--_Ib._, i, 438.
"Whither--Oh! whither shall I fly?"--_Murray's English Reader_, p. 123.
"Flying from an adopted murderer."--_Ib._, p. 122. "To you I fly for
refuge."--_Ib._, p. 124. "The sign that should warn his disciples to fly
from approaching ruin."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 62. "In one she sets as a
prototype for exact imitation."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. xxiii. "In which
some only bleat, bark, mew, winnow, and bray, a little better than
others."--_Ib._, p. 90. "Who represented to him the unreasonableness of
being effected with such unmanly fears."--_Rollin's Hist._, ii, 106. "Thou
sawedst every action."--_Guy's School Gram._, p. 46. "I taught, thou
taughtedst, he or she taught."--_Coar's Gram._, p. 79. "Valerian is taken
by Sapor and flead alive, A. D. 260."--_Lempriere's Chron. Table, Dict._,
p. xix. "What a fine vehicle is it now become for all conceptions of the
mind!"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 139. "What are become of so many productions?"
--_Volney's Ruins_, p. 8. "What are become of those ages of abundance and
of life?"--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 107. "The Spartan admiral was sailed to
the Hellespont."--_Goldsmiths Greece_, i, 150. "As soon as he was landed,
the multitude thronged about him."--_Ib._, i, 160. "Cyrus was arrived at
Sardis."--_Ib._, i, 161. "Whose year was expired."--_Ib._, i, 162. "It had
better have been, 'that faction which.'"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 97. "This
people is become a great nation."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 153; _Ingersoll's_,
249. "And here we are got into the region of ornament."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 181. "The ungraceful parenthesis which follows, had far better have been
avoided."--_Ib._, p. 215. "Who forced him under water, and there held him
until drounded."--_Indian Wars_, p. 55.

   "I had much rather be myself the slave,
    And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him."--_Cowper_.


UNDER NOTE XIII.--WORDS THAT EXPRESS TIME.

"I had finished my letter before my brother arrived."--_Kirkham's Gram._,
p. 139. "I had written before I received his letter."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
82. "From what has been formerly delivered."--_Ib._, p. 182. "Arts were of
late introduced among them."--_Ib._, p. 245. "I am not of opinion that such
rules can be of much use, unless persons saw them exemplified."--_Ib._, p.
336. "If we use the noun itself, we should say, 'This composition is
John's.' "--_Murray's Gram._, p. 174. "But if the assertion referred to
something, that is not always the same, or supposed to be so, the past
tense must be applied."--_Ib._, p. 191. "They told him, that Jesus of
Nazareth passeth by."--_Luke_, xviii, 37. "There is no particular
intimation but that I continued to work, even to the present moment."--_R.
W. Green's Gram._, p. 39. "Generally, as was observed already, it is but
hinted in a single word or phrase."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 36. "The
wittiness of the passage was already illustrated."--_Ib._, p. 36. "As was
observed already."--_Ib._, p. 56. "It was said already in general."--_Ib._,
p. 95. "As I hinted already."--_Ib._, p. 134. "What I believe was hinted
once already."--_Ib._, p. 148. "It is obvious, as hath been hinted
formerly, that this is but an artificial and arbitrary connexion."--_Ib._,
p. 282. "They have done anciently a great deal of hurt."--_Bolingbroke, on
Hist._, p. 109. "Then said Paul, I knew not, brethren, that he is the High
Priest."--_Dr. Webster's Bible_: Acts, xxiii, 5. "Most prepositions
originally denote the relation of place, and have been thence transferred
to denote by similitude other relations."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 65;
_Churchill's_, 116. "His gift was but a poor offering, when we consider his
estate."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 194. "If he should succeed, and should
obtain his end, he will not be the happier for it."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
p. 207. "These are torrents that swell to-day, and have spent themselves by
to-morrow."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 286. "Who have called that wheat to-day,
which they have called tares to-morrow."--_Barclay's Works_, iii. 168. "He
thought it had been one of his tenants."--_Ib._, i, 11. "But if one went
unto them from the dead, they will repent."--_Luke_, xvi, 30. "Neither will
they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."--_Ib., verse_ 31. "But
it is while men slept that the archenemy has always sown his tares."--_The
Friend_, x, 351. "Crescens would not fail to have exposed him."--_Addison's
Evidences_, p. 30.

   "Bent was his bow, the Grecian hearts to wound;
    Fierce as he mov'd, his silver shafts resound."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. i, l. 64.


UNDER NOTE XIV.--VERBS OF COMMANDING, &c.

"Had I commanded you to have done this, you would have thought hard of
it."--_G. B._ "I found him better than I expected to have found
him."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 126. "There are several smaller faults,
which I at first intended to have enumerated."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 246.
"Antithesis, therefore, may, on many occasions, be employed to advantage,
in order to strengthen the impression which we intend that any object
should make."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 168. "The girl said, if her master would
but have let her had money, she might have been well long ago."--See
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 127. "Nor is there the least ground to fear, that
we should be cramped here within too narrow limits."--_Campbell's Rhet._,
p. 163; _Murray's Gram._, i, 360. "The Romans, flushed with success,
expected to have retaken it."--_Hooke's Hist._, p. 37. "I would not have
let fallen an unseasonable pleasantry in the venerable presence of Misery,
to be entitled to all the wit that ever Rabelais scattered."--STERNE:
_Enfield's Speaker_, p. 54. "We expected that he would have arrived last
night."--_Inst._ p. 192. "Our friends intended to have met us."--_Ib._ "We
hoped to have seen you."--_Ib._ "He would not have been allowed to have
entered."--_Ib._


UNDER NOTE XV.--PERMANENT PROPOSITIONS.

"Cicero maintained that whatsoever was useful was good."--"I observed that
love constituted the whole moral character of God."--_Dwight_. "Thinking
that one gained nothing by being a good man."--_Voltaire_. "I have already
told you that I was a gentleman."--_Fontaine_. "If I should ask, whether
ice and water were two distinct species of things."--_Locke_. "A stranger
to the poem would not easily discover that this was verse."--_Murray's
Gram._, 12mo, p. 260. "The doctor affirmed, that fever always produced
thirst."--_Inst._, p. 192. "The ancients asserted, that virtue was its own
reward."--_Ib._ "They should not have repeated the error, of insisting that
the infinitive was a mere noun."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 288.
"It was observed in Chap. III. that the distinctive _or_ had a double
use."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 154. "Two young gentlemen, who have made a
discovery that there was no God."--_Swift_.


RULE XVIII.--INFINITIVES.

The Infinitive Mood is governed in general by the preposition TO, which
commonly connects it to a finite verb: as, "I desire TO _learn_."--_Dr.
Adam_. "Of me the Roman people have many pledges, which I must strive, with
my utmost endeavours, TO _preserve_, TO _defend_, TO _confirm_, and TO
_redeem_."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 41.

   "What if the foot, ordain'd the dust TO _tread_,
    Or hand TO _toil_, aspir'd TO _be_ the head?"--_Pope_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XVIII.

OBS. 1.--No word is more variously explained by grammarians, than this word
TO, which is put before the verb in the infinitive mood. Johnson, Walker,
Scott, Todd, and some other lexicographers, call it an _adverb_; but, in
explaining its use, they say it denotes certain _relations_, which it is
not the office of an adverb to express. (See the word in _Johnson's Quarto
Dictionary_.) D. St. Quentin, in his Rudiments of General Grammar, says,
"_To_, before a verb, is an _adverb_;" and yet his "Adverbs are words that
are joined to verbs or adjectives, and express some _circumstance_ or
_quality_." See pp. 33 and 39. Lowth, Priestley, Fisher, L. Murray,
Webster, Wilson, S. W. Clark, Coar, Comly, Blair, Felch, Fisk, Greenleaf,
Hart, Weld, Webber, and others, call it a _preposition_; and some of these
ascribe to it the government of the verb, while others do not. Lowth says,
"The _preposition_ TO, placed before the verb, _makes_ the infinitive
mood."--_Short Gram._, p. 42. "Now this," says Horne Tooke, "is manifestly
not so: for TO placed before the verb _loveth_, will not make the
infinitive mood. He would have said more truly, that TO placed before some
_nouns_, makes _verbs_."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 287.

OBS. 2.--Skinner, in his _Canones Etymologici_, calls this TO "an
_equivocal article_,"--_Tooke_, ib., i, 288. Nutting, a late American
grammarian, says: "The _sign_ TO is no other than the Greek article _to_;
as, _to agapan_ [, to love]; or, as some say, it is the Saxon
_do_"--_Practical Gram._, p. 66. Thus, by suggesting two false and
inconsistent derivations, though he uses not the name _equivocal article_,
he first makes the word an _article_, and then _equivocal_--equivocal in
etymology, and of course in meaning.[403] Nixon, in his English Parser,
supposes it to be, _unequivocally_, the Greek article [Greek: to], _the_.
See the work, p. 83. D. Booth says, "_To_ is, by us, applied to Verbs; but
it was the neuter Article (_the_) among the Greeks."--_Introd. to Analyt.
Dict._, p. 60. According to Horne Tooke, "Minshew also distinguishes
between the preposition TO, and the _sign_ of the infinitive TO. Of the
former he is silent, and of the latter he says: 'To, as _to_ make, _to_
walk, _to_ do, a Græco articulo [Greek: to].' But Dr. Gregory Sharpe is
persuaded, that our language has taken it from the _Hebrew_. And Vossius
derives the correspondent Latin preposition AD from the same
source."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 293.

OBS. 3.--Tooke also says, "I observe, that Junius and Skinner and Johnson,
have not chosen to give the slightest hint concerning the derivation of
TO."--_Ibid._ But, certainly, of his _adverb_ TO, Johnson gives this hint:
"TO, Saxon; _te_, Dutch." And Webster, who calls it not an adverb, but a
preposition, gives the same hint of the source from which it comes to us.
This is as much as to say, it is etymologically the old Saxon preposition
_to_--which, truly, it is--the very same word that, for a thousand years or
more, has been used before nouns and pronouns to govern the objective case.
Tooke himself does not deny this; but, conceiving that almost all
particles, whether English or any other, can be traced back to ancient
verbs or nouns, he hunts for the root of this, in a remoter region, where
he pretends to find that _to_ has the same origin as _do_; and though he
detects the former in a _Gothic noun_, he scruples not to identify it with
an _auxiliary verb_! Yet he elsewhere expressly denies, "that _any_ words
change their nature by use, so as to belong sometimes to one part of
speech, and sometimes to another."--_Div. of Pur._, Vol. i, p. 68.

OBS 4.--From this, the fair inference is, that he will have both _to_ and
_do_ to be "_nouns substantive_" still! "Do (the _auxiliary_ verb, as it
has been called) is derived from the same root, and is indeed the same word
as TO."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 290. "Since FROM means _commencement_ or
_beginning_, TO must mean _end_ or _termination_."--_Ib._, i, 283. "The
preposition TO (in Dutch written TOE and TOT, a little nearer to the
original) is the Gothic substantive [Gothic: taui] or [Gothic: tauhts], i.
e. _act, effect, result, consummation._ Which Gothic substantive is indeed
itself no other than the past participle of the verb [Gothic: taujan],
_agere_. And what is _done_, is _terminated, ended, finished_."--_Ib._, i,
285. No wonder that Johnson, Skinner, and Junius, gave no hint of _this_
derivation: it is not worth the ink it takes, if it cannot be made more
sure. But in showing its bearing on the verb, the author not unjustly
complains of our grammarians, that: "Of all the points which they endeavour
to _shuffle over_, there is none in which they do it more grossly than in
this of the infinitive."--_Ib._, i, 287.

OBS. 5.--Many are content to call the word TO a _prefix_, a _particle_, a
_little word_, a _sign of the infinitive_, a _part of the infinitive_, a
_part of the verb_, and the like, without telling us whence it comes, how
it differs from the preposition _to_, or to what part of speech it belongs.
It certainly is not what we usually call a _prefix_, because we never _join
it to_ the verb; yet there are three instances in which it becomes such,
before a noun: viz., _to-day, to-night, to-morrow_. If it is a
"_particle_," so is any other preposition, as well as every small and
invariable word. If it is a "_little word_," the whole bigness of a
preposition is unquestionably found in it; and no "_word_" is so small but
that it must belong to some one of the ten classes called parts of speech.
If it is a "_sign of the infinitive_," because it is used before no other
mood; so is it a _sign of the objective case_, or of what in Latin is
called the dative, because it precedes no other case. If we suppose it to
be a "_part of the infinitive_," or a "_part of the verb_," it is certainly
no _necessary_ part of either; because there is no verb which may not, in
several different ways, be properly used in the infinitive without it. But
if it be a part of the infinitive, it must be a _verb_, and ought to be
classed with the _auxiliaries_. Dr. Ash accordingly placed it among the
auxiliaries; but he says, (inaccurately, however,) "The auxiliary _sign
seems_ to have the nature of _adverbs._"--_Grammatical Institutes_, p. 33.
"The auxiliary [signs] _are, to, do, did, have, had, shall, will, may, can,
must, might_," &c.--_Ib._, p. 31.

OBS. 6.--It is clear, as I have already shown, that the word _to_ may be a
_sign_ of the infinitive, and yet not be a _part_ of it. Dr. Ash supposes,
it may even be a part of the _mood_, and yet not be a part of the _verb_.
How this can be, I see not, unless the mood consists in something else than
either the form or the parts of the verb. This grammarian says, "In
parsing, every word should be considered as a _distinct part of speech_:
for though two or more words may be united to form a mode, a tense, or a
comparison; yet it seems quite improper to unite two or more words to make
a noun, a verb, an adjective, &c."--_Gram. Inst._, p. 28. All the
auxiliaries, therefore, and the particle _to_ among them, he parses
separately; but he follows not his own advice, to make them distinct parts
of speech; for he calls them all _signs_ only, and signs are not one of his
ten parts of speech. And the participle too, which is one of the ten, and
which he declares to be "no part of the verb," he parses separately;
calling it a verb, and not a participle, as often as it accompanies any of
his auxiliary signs. This is certainly a greater impropriety than there can
be in supposing an auxiliary and a participle to constitute a verb; for the
mood and tense are the properties of the compound, and ought not to be
ascribed to the principal term only. Not so with the preposition _to_
before the infinitive, any more than with the conjunction _if_ before the
subjunctive. These may well be parsed as separate parts of speech; for
these moods are sometimes formed, and are completely distinguished in each
of their tenses, without the adding of these signs.

OBS. 7.--After a careful examination of what others have taught respecting
this disputed point in grammar, I have given, in the preceding rule, that
explanation which I consider to be the most correct and the most simple,
and also as well authorized as any. Who first parsed the infinitive in this
manner, I know not; probably those who first called the _to_ a
_preposition_; among whom were Lowth and the author of the old British
Grammar. The doctrine did not originate with me, or with Comly, or with any
American author. In Coar's English Grammar, published in London in 1796.
the phrase _to trample_ is parsed thus: "_To_--A preposition, serving for a
sign of the infinitive mood to the verb _Trample_--A verb neuter,
infinitive mood, present tense, _governed by the preposition_ TO before it.
RULE. The preposition _to_ before a verb, is the sign of the infinitive
mood." See the work, p. 263. This was written by a gentleman who speaks of
his "long habit of teaching the Latin Tongue," and who was certainly
partial enough to the principles of Latin grammar, since he adopts in
English the whole detail of Latin cases.

OBS 8.--In Fisher's English Grammar, London, 1800, (of which there had been
many earlier editions,) we find the following rule of syntax: "When two
principal _Verbs_ come together, the latter of them expresses an unlimited
Sense, with the Preposition _to_ before it; as _he loved to learn; I chose
to dance_: and is called the _infinitive Verb_, which may also follow a
Name or Quality; as, _a Time to sing; a Book delightful to read_." That
this author supposed the infinitive to be _governed_ by _to_, and not by
the preceding verb, noun, or adjective, is plain from the following note,
which he gives in his margin: "The Scholar will best understand this, by
being told that _infinite_ or _invariable Verbs_, having neither Number,
Person, nor Nominative Word belonging to them, are known or _governed by
the Preposition_ TO coming before them. The Sign _to_ is often understood;
as, Bid Robert and his company (_to_) tarry."--_Fisher's New Gram._, p. 95.

OBS. 9.--The forms of parsing, and also the rules, which are given in the
early English grammars, are so very defective, that it is often impossible
to say positively, what their authors did, or did not, intend to teach. Dr.
Lowth's specimen of "grammatical resolution" contains four infinitives. In
his explanation of the first, the preposition and the verb are parsed
separately, as above; except that he says nothing about government. In his
account of the other three, the two words are taken together, and called a
"_verb_, in the infinitive _mode_." But as he elsewhere calls the particle
_to_ a preposition, and nowhere speaks of any thing else as governing the
infinitive, it seems fair to infer, that he conceived the verb to be the
regimen of this preposition.[404] If such was his idea, we have the learned
Doctor's authority in opposition to that of his professed admirers and
copyists. Of these, Lindley Murray is doubtless the most famous. But
Murray's twelfth rule of syntax, while it expressly calls _to_ before the
infinitive a _preposition_, absurdly takes away from it this regimen, and
leaves us a preposition that _governs nothing_, and has apparently nothing
to do with the _relation_ of the terms between which it occurs.

OBS. 10.--Many later grammarians, perceiving the absurdity of calling _to_
before the infinitive a _preposition_ without supposing it to govern the
verb, have studiously avoided this name; and have either made the "_little
word_" a supernumerary part of speech, or treated it as no part of speech
at all. Among these, if I mistake not, are Allen, Lennie, Bullions, Alger,
Guy, Churchill, Hiley, Nutting, Mulligan, Spencer, and Wells. Except Comly,
the numerous modifiers of Murray's Grammar are none of them more
consistent, on this point, than was Murray himself. Such of them as do not
follow him literally, either deny, or forbear to affirm, that _to_ before a
verb is a _preposition_; and consequently either tell us not what it is, or
tell us falsely; some calling it "_a part of the verb_," while they neither
join it to the verb as a prefix, nor include it among the auxiliaries. Thus
Kirkham: "_To_ is not a preposition when _joined to_ a verb in this mood;
thus, _to_ ride, _to_ rule; but it should be parsed _with the verb_, and
_as a part_ of it."--_Gram. in Familiar Lect._, p. 137. So R. C. Smith:
"This little word _to_ when _used before_ verbs in this manner, is not a
preposition, but forms a part of the verb, and, in parsing, should be so
considered."--_Productive Gram._, p. 65. How can that be "_a part_ of the
verb," which is _a word_ used _before_ it? or how is _to_ "joined to the
verb," or made a part of it, in the phrase, "_to_ ride?" But Smith does not
abide by his own doctrine; for, in an other part of his book, he adopts the
phraseology of Murray, and makes _to_ a preposition: saying, "The
_preposition_ TO, though generally used before the latter verb, is
sometimes properly omitted; as, 'I heard him say it;' instead of '_to_ say
it.'"--_Productive Gram._, p. 156. See _Murray's Rule_ 12th.

OBS. 11.--Most English grammarians have considered the word _to_ as a part
of the infinitive, a part _of the verb_; and, like the teachers of Latin,
have referred the government of this mood to a preceding verb. But the rule
which they give, is partial, and often inapplicable; and their exceptions
to it, or the heterogeneous parts into which some of them divide it, are
both numerous and puzzling. They teach that at least half of the ten
different parts of speech "_frequently_ govern the infinitive:" if so,
there should be a distinct rule for each; for why should the government of
one part of speech be made an exception to that of an other? and, if this
be done, with respect to the infinitive, why not also with respect to the
objective case? In all instances to which their rule is applicable, the
rule which I have given, amounts to the same thing; and it obviates the
necessity for their numerous exceptions, and the embarrassment arising from
other constructions of the infinitive not noticed in them. Why then is the
simplest solution imaginable still so frequently rejected for so much
complexity and inconsistency? Or how can the more common rule in question
be suitable for a child, if its applicability depends on a relation between
the two verbs, which the preposition _to_ sometimes expresses, and
sometimes does not?

OBS. 12.--All authors admit that in some instances, the sign _to_ is
"superfluous and improper," the construction and government appearing
complete without it; and the "Rev. Peter Bullions, D. D., Professor of
Languages in the Albany Academy," has recently published a grammar, in
which he adopts the common rule, "One verb governs _another_ in the
infinitive mood; as, _I desire to learn_;" and then remarks, "The
infinitive after a verb is governed by it _only when the attribute
expressed by the infinitive is either the subject or_ [the] _object of the
other verb_. In such expressions as '_I read to learn_,' the infinitive is
_not governed_ by 'I read,' but depends on the phrase '_in order to_'
understood."--_Bullions's Prin. of E. Gram._, p. 110. But, "_I read 'in
order to' to learn_," is not English; though it might be, if either _to_
were any thing else than a preposition: as, "Now _set to to learn_ your
lesson." This broad exception, therefore, which embraces well-nigh half the
infinitives in the language, though it contains some obvious truth, is both
carelessly stated, and badly resolved. The single particle _to_ is quite
sufficient, both to govern the infinitive, and to connect it to any
antecedent term which can make sense with such an adjunct. But, in fact,
the reverend author must have meant to use the "_little word_" but once;
and also to deny that it is a preposition; for he elsewhere says expressly,
though, beyond question, erroneously, "A preposition should never be used
before the infinitive."--_Ib._, p. 92. And he also says, "The _Infinitive_
mood expresses _a thing_ in a general manner, without distinction of
number, person, _or time_, and commonly has TO _before_ it."--_Ib._, Second
Edition, p. 35. Now if TO is "_before_" the mood, it is certainly not _a
part_ of it. And again, if this mood had no distinction of "_time_," our
author's two tenses of it, and his own two special rules for their
application, would be as absurd as is his notion of its government. See his
_Obs. 6 and 7, ib._, p. 124.

OBS. 13.--Richard Hiley, too, a grammarian of perhaps more merit, is
equally faulty in his explanation of the infinitive mood. In the first
place, he absurdly says, "TO _before the infinitive mood_, is considered as
forming _part of the verb_; but in _every other_ situation it is a
preposition."--_Hiley's Gram._, Third Edition, p. 28. To teach that a
"_part of the verb_" stands "_before the mood_," is an absurdity manifestly
greater, than the very opposite notion of Dr. Ash, that what is _not a part
of the verb_, may yet be included _in the mood_. There is no need of either
of these false suppositions; or of the suggestion, doubly false, that _to_
"in _every other_ situation, is a preposition." What does _preposition_
mean? Is _to_ a preposition when it is placed _after_ a verb, and _not_ a
preposition when it is placed _before_ it? For example: "I rise _to shut
to_ the door."--See _Luke_, xiii, 25.

OBS. 14.--In his syntax, this author further says, "When two verbs come
together, the latter _must be in the infinitive mood, when it denotes the
object_ of the former; as, 'Study _to improve_.'" This is his _Rule_. Now
look at his _Notes_. "1. When the latter verb _does not express_ the
object, _but the end_, or something remote, the word _for_, or the words
_in order to_, are understood; as, 'I read _to learn_;' that is, 'I read
_for_ to learn,' or, '_in order_ [TO] _to_ learn.' The word _for_, however,
is never, in such instances, expressed in good language. 2. The infinitive
is _frequently governed_ by adjectives, substantives, and participles; but
in _this instance_ also, a preposition is understood, though _never
expressed_; as, 'Eager _to learn_;' that is, 'eager _for_ to learn;' or,
'_for_ learning;' 'A desire _to improve_;' that is, '_for to
improve_.'"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 89. Here we see the origin of some of
Bullions's blunders. _To_ is so small a word, it slips through the fingers
of these gentlemen. Words utterly needless, and worse than needless, they
foist into our language, in instances beyond number, to explain infinitives
that occur at almost every breath. Their students must see that, "_I read
to learn_," and, "_I study to improve_," with countless other examples of
either sort, are very _different constructions_, and not to be parsed by
the same rule! And here the only government of the infinitive which Hiley
affirms, is immediately contradicted by the supposition of a needless _for_
"understood."

OBS. 15.--In all such examples as, "I _read_ to _learn_,"--"I _strive_ to
_learn_"--"Some _eat_ to _live_,"--"Some _live_ to _eat_,"--"She _sings_ to
_cheer_ him,"--"I _come_ to _aid_ you,"--"I _go_ to _prepare_ a place for
you,"--_the action_ and _its purpose_ are connected by the word _to_; and
if, in the countless instances of this kind, the former verbs _do not
govern_ the latter, it is not because the phraseology is elliptical, or
ever was elliptical,[405] but because in no case is there any such
government, except in the construction of those verbs which take the
infinitive after them without the preposition _to_. Professor Bullions will
have the infinitive to be governed by a finite verb, "when the _attribute
expressed by the infinitive is the subject_ of the other verb." An
infinitive may be made _the subject_ of a finite verb; but this grammarian
has mistaken the established meaning of _subject_, as well as of
_attribute_, and therefore written nonsense. Dr. Johnson defines his
_adverb_ TO, "A particle coming between two verbs, and noting the second as
the _object_ of the first." But of all the words which, according to my
opponents and their oracles, govern the infinitive, probably not more than
a quarter are such verbs as usually _have an object_ after them. Where then
is the propriety of their notion of infinitive government? And what
advantage has it, even where it is least objectionable?

OBS. 16.--Take for an example of this contrast the terms, "Strive to enter
in--many will seek to enter in."--_Luke_, xiii, 24. Why should it be
thought more eligible to say, that the verb _strive_ or _will seek_ governs
the infinitive verb _to enter_; than to say, that _to_ is a preposition,
showing the relation between _strive_ and _enter_, or between _will seek_
and _enter_, and governing the latter verb? (See the exact and only needful
form for parsing any such term, in the _Twelfth Praxis_ of this work.)
None, I presume, will deny, that in the Greek or the Latin of these
phrases, the finite verbs govern the infinitive; or that, in the French,
the infinitive _entrer_ is governed first by one preposition, and then by
an other. "_Contendite intrare--multi quærent intrare_."--_Montanus_.
"Efforcez-vous _d'_entrer--plusieurs chercheront _à_ y entrer."--_French
Bible_. In my opinion, _to_ before a verb is as fairly a preposition as the
French _de_ or _à_; and it is the main design of these observations, while
they candidly show the reader what others teach, _to prove it so_. The only
construction which makes it any thing else, is that which puts it after a
verb or a participle, in the sense of an adverbial supplement; as, "The
infernal idol is bowed down _to_."--_Herald of Freedom_. "Going _to_ and
_fro_."--_Bible_. "At length he came _to_."--"Tell him to heave _to_."--"He
was ready to set _to_." With singular absurdness of opinion, some
grammarians call _to_ a preposition, when it thus _follows_ a verb and
governs nothing, who resolutely deny it that name, when it _precedes_ the
verb, and _requires it to be in the infinitive mood_, as in the last two
examples. Now, if this is not _government_, what is? And if _to_, without
government, is not an _adverb_, what is? See Obs. 2d on the List of
Prepositions.

OBS. 17.--The infinitive thus admits a simpler solution in English, than in
most other languages; because we less frequently use it without a
preposition, and seldom, if ever, allow any variety in this connecting and
governing particle. And yet in no other language has its construction given
rise to a tenth part of that variety of absurd opinions, which the defender
of its true syntax must refute in ours. In French, the infinitive, though
frequently placed in immediate dependence on an other verb, may also be
governed by several different prepositions, (as, _à, de, pour, sans,
après_,) according to the sense.[406] In Spanish and Italian, the
construction is similar. In Latin and Greek, the infinitive is, for the
most part, immediately dependent on an other verb. But, according to the
grammars, it may stand for a noun, in all the six cases; and many have
called it an _indeclinable noun_. See the Port-Royal Latin and Greek
grammars; in which several peculiar constructions of the infinitive are
referred to the government of a _preposition_--constructions that occur
frequently in Greek, and sometimes even in Latin.

OBS. 18.--It is from an improper extension of the principles of these
"learned languages" to ours, that much of the false teaching which has so
greatly and so long embarrassed this part of English grammar, has been, and
continues to be, derived. A late author, who supposes every infinitive to
be virtually _a noun_, and who thinks he finds in ours _all the cases_ of
an English noun, not excepting the possessive, gives the following account
of its origin and nature: "This mood, with almost all its properties and
uses, has been adopted into our language from the ancient Greek and Latin
tongues. * * * The definite article [Greek: tò] [,] _the_, which they [the
Greeks] used before the infinitive, to mark, in an especial manner, its
nature of a substantive, _is evidently the same word_ that we use before
our infinitive; thus, '_to_ write,' signifies _the_ writing; that is, the
action of writing;--and when a verb governs an infinitive, it only governs
it _as in the objective case_."--_Nixon's English Parser_, p. 83. But who
will believe, that our old Saxon ancestors borrowed from Greek or Latin
what is now our construction of the very _root_ of the English verb, when,
in all likelihood, they could not read a word in either of those languages,
or scarcely knew the letters in their own, and while it is plain that they
took not thence even the inflection of a _single branch_ of any verb
whatever?

OBS. 19.--The particle _to_, being a very common preposition in the Saxon
tongue, has been generally used before the English infinitive, ever since
the English language, or any thing like it, existed. And it has always
_governed the verb_, not indeed "as in the _objective case_," for no verb
is ever declined by cases, but simply as the _infinitive mood_. In the
Anglo-Saxon version of the Gospels, which was made as early as the eleventh
century, the infinitive mood is sometimes expressed in this manner, and
sometimes by the termination _on_ without the preposition. Dr. Johnson's
History of the English Language, prefixed to his large Dictionary,
contains, of this version, and of Wickliffe's, the whole of the first
chapter of Luke; except that the latter omits the first four verses, so
that the numbers for reference do not correspond. Putting, for convenience,
English characters for the Saxon, I shall cite here three examples from
each; and these, if he will, the reader may compare with the 19th, the
77th, and the 79th verse, in our common Bible. SAXON: "And ic eom asend
with the _sprecan_. and the this _bodian_."--_Lucæ_, i, 19. WICKLIFFE:
"And Y am sent to thee _to speke_ and _to evangelise_ to thee these
thingis."--_Luk_, i, 15. SAXON: "_To syllene_ his folce hæle gewit on hyra
synna forgyfnesse."--_Lucæ_, i, 77. WICKLIFFE: "_To geve_ science of heelth
to his puple into remissioun of her synnes."--_Luk_, i, 73. SAXON:
"_Onlyhtan_ tham the on thystrum and on deathes sceade sittath. ure fet _to
gereccenne_ on sibbe weg."--_Lucæ_, i, 79. WICKLIFFE: "_To geve_ light to
them that sitten in derknessis, and in schadowe of deeth, _to dresse_ oure
feet into the weye of pees."--_Luk_, i, 75. "In Anglo-Saxon," says Dr.
Latham, "the dative of the infinitive verb ended in _-nne_, and was
preceded by the preposition _to_: as, To lufienne = _ad amandum_ [= _to
loving_, or _to love_]; To bærnenne = _ad urendum_ [= _to burning_, or _to
burn_]; To syllanne = _ad dandum_ [= _to giving_, or _to
give_]."--_Hand-Book_, p. 205.

OBS. 20.--Such, then, has ever been the usual construction of the _English_
infinitive mood; and a wilder interpretation than that which supposes _to_
an _article_, and says, "_to write_ signifies _the writing_," cannot
possibly be put upon it. On this supposition, "I am going _to write_ a
letter," is a pure Grecism; meaning, "I am going _the writing_ a letter,"
which is utter nonsense. And further, the infinitive in Greek and Latin, as
well as in Saxon and English, is always in fact governed as a _mood_,
rather than as a _case_, notwithstanding that the Greek article in any of
its four different cases may, in some instances, be put before it; for even
with an article before it, the Greek infinitive usually retains its regimen
as a verb, and is therefore not "a _substantive_," or noun. I am well aware
that some learned critics, conceiving that the essence of the verb consists
in predication, have plainly denied that the infinitive is a verb; and,
because it may be made the subject of a finite verb, or may be governed by
a verb or a preposition, have chosen to call it "a mere noun substantive."
Among these is the erudite Richard Johnson, who, with so much ability and
lost labour, exposed, in his Commentaries, the errors and defects of Lily's
Grammar and others. This author adduces several reasons for his opinion;
one of which is the following: "Thirdly, it is found to have a Preposition
set before it, an other _sure sign of a Substantive_; as, '_Ille nihil
præter loqui, et ipsum maledicè et malignè, didicit_.' Liv. l. 45, p. 888.
[That is, "He learned nothing _but to speak_, and that slanderously and
maliciously."] '_At si quis sibi beneficium dat, nihil interest inter dare
et accipere_.' Seneca, de Ben. l. 5, c. 10." [That is, "If any one bestows
a benefit on himself, there is no difference _between give and
take_;" [407]--or, "_between bestowing_ and _receiving_."]--See _Johnson's
Gram. Com._, p. 342. But I deny that a preposition is a "sure sign of a
substantive." (See Obs. 2d on the Prepositions, and also Obs. 1st on the
List of Prepositions, in the tenth chapter of Etymology.) And if we appeal
to philological authorities, to determine whether infinitives are nouns or
verbs, there will certainly be found more for the latter name, than the
former; that is, more in number, if not in weight; though it must be
confessed, that many of the old Latin grammarians did, as Priscian tells
us, consider the infinitive a noun, calling it _Nomen Verbi_, the Name of
the Verb.[408] If we appeal to reasons, there are more also of these;--or
at least as many, and most of them better: as, 1. That the infinitive is
often transitive; 2. That it has tenses; 3. That it is qualified by
adverbs, rather than by adjectives; 4. That it is never declined like a
noun; 5. That the action or state expressed by it, is not commonly
abstract, though it may be so sometimes; 6. That in some languages it is
_the root_ from which all other parts of the verb are derived, as it is in
English.

OBS. 21.--So far as I know, it has not yet been denied, that _to_ before a
_participle_ is a preposition, or that a preposition before a participle
_governs_ it; though there are not a few who erroneously suppose that
participles, by virtue of such government, are necessarily converted into
_nouns_. Against this latter idea, there are many sufficient reasons; but
let them now pass, because they belong not here. I am only going to prove,
in this place, that _to_ before the infinitive is _just such a word_ as it
is before the participle; and this can be done, call either of them what
you will. It is plain, that if the infinitive and the participle are ever
_equivalent to each other_, the same word _to_ before them both must needs
be equivalent _to itself_. Now I imagine there are some examples of each
equivalence; as, "When we are habituated _to doing_ [or _to do_] any thing
wrong, we become blinded by it."--_Young Christian_, p. 326. "The lyre, or
harp, was best adapted _to accompanying_ [or _to accompany_] their
declamations."--_Music of Nature_, p. 336. "The new beginner should be
accustomed _to giving_ [or _to give_] all the reasons for each part of
speech."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 88. "Which, from infecting our religion and
morals, fell _to corrupt_ [say, _to corrupting_] our language."--SWIFT:
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 108. Besides these instances of _sameness in the
particle_, there are some cases of _constructional ambiguity_, the noun and
the verb having the same form, and the _to_ not determining which is meant:
as, "He was inclined _to sleep_."--"It must be a bitter experience, to be
more accustomed _to hate_ than _to love_." Here are _double_ doubts for the
discriminators: their "_sign of the infinitive_" fails, or becomes
uncertain; _because they do not know it from a preposition_. Cannot my
opponents see in these examples an argument against the distinction which
they attempt to draw between _to_ and _to_? An other argument as good, is
also afforded by the fact, that our ancestors often used the participle
after _to_, in the very same texts in which we have since adopted the
infinitive in its stead; as, "And if yee wolen resceyue, he is Elie that is
_to comynge_."--_Matt._, xi, 14. "Ihesu that delyueride us fro wraththe _to
comynge_."--_1 Thes._, i, 10. These, and seventeen other examples of the
same kind, may be seen in _Tooke's Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii. pp. 457
and 458.

OBS. 22.--Dr. James P. Wilson, speaking of the English infinitive,
says:--"But if the appellation of _mode_ be denied it, it is then a _verbal
noun_. This is indeed _its truest character_, because _its idea ever
represents_ an _object of approach_. _To_ supplies the defect of a
termination characteristic of the infinitive, precedes it, and marks it
either as _that, towards which_ the preceding verb is directed;[409] or it
signifies _act_, and shows the word to import an action. When the
infinitive is the expression of an _immediate_ action, which it must be,
after the verbs, _bid, can, dare, do, feel, hear, let, make, may, must,
need, see, shall_, and _will_, the _preposition_ TO is omitted."--_Essay on
Grammar_, p. 129. That the truest character of the infinitive is that of a
verbal noun, is not to be conceded, in weak abandonment of all the reasons
for a contrary opinion, until it can be shown that the action or being
expressed by it, must needs assume a _substantive_ character, in order to
be "that _towards which_ the preceding verb is directed." But this
character is manifestly not supposable of any of those infinitives which,
according to the foregoing quotation, must follow other verbs without the
intervention of the preposition _to_: as, "Bid him _come_;"--"He can
_walk_." And I see no reason to suppose it, where the relation of the
infinitive to an other word is _not_ "_immediate_" but marked by the
preposition, as above described. For example: "And he laboured till the
going-down of the sun TO _deliver_ him."--_Dan._, vi, 14. Here _deliver_ is
governed by _to_, and connected by it to the finite verb _laboured_; but to
tell us, it is to be understood _substantively_ rather than _actively_, is
an assumption as false, as it is needless.

OBS. 23.--To deny to the infinitive the appellation of _mood_, no more
makes it a _verbal noun_, than does the Doctor's solecism about what "ITS
IDEA _ever represents_." "The infinitive therefore," as Horne Tooke
observes, "appears plainly to be what the Stoics called it, _the very verb
itself_, pure and uncompounded."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 286.
Not indeed as including the particle _to_, or as it stands in the English
perfect tense, but as it occurs in the _simple root_. But I cited Dr.
Wilson, as above, not so much with a design of animadverting again on this
point, as with reference to the _import_ of the particle _to_; of which he
furnishes a twofold explanation, leaving the reader to take which part he
will of the contradiction. He at first conceives it to convey in general
the idea of "_towards_," and to mark the infinitive as a term "_towards
which_" something else "_is directed_." If this interpretation is the true
one, it is plain that _to_ before a verb is no other than the common
preposition _to_; and this idea is confirmed by its ancient usage, and by
all that is certainly known of its derivation. But if we take the second
solution, and say, "it signifies _act_," we make it not a preposition, but
either a noun or a verb; and then the question arises, _Which of these is
it_? Besides, what sense can there be, in supposing _to go_ to mean _act
go_, or to be equivalent to _do go_.[410]

OBS. 24.--Though the infinitive is commonly made an adjunct to some finite
verb, yet it may be connected to almost all the other parts of speech, or
even to an other infinitive. The preposition _to_ being its only and almost
universal index, we seldom find any other preposition put before this;
unless the word _about_, in such a situation, is a preposition, as I
incline to think it is.[411] Anciently, the infinitive was sometimes
preceded by _for_ as well as _to_; as, "I went up to Jerusalem _for to_
worship."--_Acts_, xxiv, 11. "What went ye out _for to_ see?"--_Luke_, vii,
26. "And stood up _for to_ read."--_Luke_, iv, 16. Here modern usage
rejects the former preposition: the idiom is left to the uneducated. But it
seems practicable to subjoin the infinitive to every one of the ten parts
of speech, except the article: as,

1. To a noun; as, "If there is any _precept to obtain_
felicity."--_Hawkesworth_. "It is high _time to awake_ out of
sleep."--_Rom._, xiii, 11. "To flee from the _wrath to come_."--_Matt._,
iii, 7.

2. To an adjective; as, "He seemed _desirous to speak_, yet _unwilling to
offend_."--_Hawkesworth_. "He who is the _slowest to promise_, is _the
quickest to perform_."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 35.

3. To a pronoun; as, "I discovered _him to be_ a scholar."--_W. Allen's
Gram._, p. 166. "Is it lawful for _us to give_ tribute to Cæsar?"--_Luke_,
xx, 22. "Let me desire _you to reflect_ impartially."--BLAIR: _Murray's
Eng. Reader_, p. 77. "Whom hast thou then or _what t' accuse_?"--_Milton_,
P. L., iv, 67.

4. To a finite verb; as, "Then Peter _began to rebuke_ him."--_Matt._, xvi,
22. "The Son of man _is come to seek and to save_ that which was
lost."--_Luke_, xix, 10.

5. To an other infinitive; as, "_To go to enter_ into Egypt."--_Jer._, xli,
17. "We are not often willing _to wait to consider_."--_J. Abbott_. "For
what had he _to do to chide_ at me?"--_Shak._

6. To a participle; as, "Still _threatening to devour_ me."--_Milton_. "Or
as a thief _bent to unhoard_ the cash of some rich burgher."--_Id._

7. To an adverb; as, "She is old _enough to go_ to school."--"I know not
_how to act_."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 106. "Tell me _when to come_, and
_where to meet_ you."--"He hath not _where to lay_ his head."

8. To a conjunction; as, "He knows better _than to trust_ you."--"It was so
hot _as to melt_ these ornaments."--"Many who praise virtue, do no more
_than praise_ it."--_Dr. Johnson_.

9. To a preposition; as, "I was _about to write_."--_Rev._, x, 4. "Not _for
to hide_ it in a hedge."--_Burns's Poems_, p. 42. "Amatum iri, To be _about
to be loved_."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 95.[412]

10. To an interjection; as, "_O to forget_ her!"--_Young's Night Thoughts_.

OBS. 25.--The infinitive is the mere verb, without affirmation, without
person or number, and therefore without the agreement peculiar to a finite
verb. (See Obs. 8th on Rule 2d.) But, in most instances, it is not without
_limitation_ of the being, action, or passion, to some particular person or
persons, thing or things, that are said, supposed, or denied, to be, to
act, or to be acted upon. Whenever it is not thus limited, it is taken
_abstractly_, and has some resemblance to a noun: because it then suggests
the being, action, or passion alone: though, even then, the active
infinitive may still govern the objective case; and it may also be easy to
_imagine_ to whom or to what the being, action, or passion, naturally
pertains. The uses of the infinitive are so many and various, that it is no
easy matter to classify them accurately. The following are unquestionably
_the chief_ of the things for which it may stand:

1. For the _supplement_ to an other verb, to complete the sense; as, "Loose
him, and _let_ him _go_."--_John_, xi, 44. "They that _go to seek_ mixed
wine."--_Prov._, xxiii, 30. "His hands _refuse_ to _labour_."--_Ib._, xxi,
25. "If you _choose to have_ those terms."--_Tooke's D. P._, ii, 374. "How
our old translators first _struggled to express_ this."--_Ib._, ii, 456.
"To any one who _will please to examine_ our language."--_Ib._, ii, 444.
"They _are forced to give up_ at last."--_Ib._, ii, 375. "Which _ought to
be done_."--_Ib._, ii, 451. "Which _came to pass_."--_Acts_, xi, 28. "I
_dare engage to make_ it out."--_Swift_.

2. For the _purpose_, or _end_, of that to which it is added; as, "Each has
employed his time and pains _to establish_ a criterion."--_Tooke's D. P._,
ii, 374. "I shall not stop now, _to assist_ in their elucidation."--_Ib._,
ii, 75. "Our purposes are not endowed with words _to make_ them
known."--_Ib._, ii, 74. [A] "TOOL is some instrument taken up _to work_
with."--_Ib._, ii, 145. "Labour not _to be_ rich."--_Prov._, xxiii, 4. "I
flee unto thee _to hide_ me."--_Ps._, cxliii, 9. "Evil shall hunt the
violent man _to overthrow_ him."--_Ib._, cxl, 11.

3. For the _object_ of an affection or passion; as, "He _loves to
ride_."--"I _desire to hear_ her _speak_ again."--_Shale._ "If we _wish to
avoid_ important error."--_Tooke's D. P._, ii, 3. "Who _rejoice to do_
evil."--_Prov._, ii, 14. "All agreeing in _earnestness to see_
him."--_Shak_. "Our _curiosity_ is raised _to know_ what lies
beyond."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 335.

4. For the _cause_ of an affection or passion; as, "I rejoice _to hear_
it."--"By which I hope _to have laid_ a foundation," &c.--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 34. "For he made me mad, _to see_ him _shine_ so brisk, and _smell_ so
sweet."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 118. "Thou didst eat strange flesh, which
some did die _to look_ on."--_Ib._, p. 182. "They grieved _to see_ their
best allies at variance."--_Rev. W. Allen's Gram._, p. 165.

5. For the _subject_ of a proposition, or the chief term in such subject;
as, "_To steal_ is sinful."--"_To do_ justice and judgement, is more
acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice."--_Prov._, xxi, 3. "_To do_ RIGHT,
is, to do that which is ordered to be done."--_Tooke's D. P._, ii, 7. "_To
go_ to law to plague a neighbour, has in it more of malice, than of love to
justice."--_Seattle's Mor. Sci._, i, 177.

6. For the _predicate_ of a proposition, or the chief term in such
predicate; as, "To enjoy is _to obey_."--_Pope_. "The property of rain is
_to wet_, and fire, _to burn_."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 15. "To die is _to
be banished_ from myself."--_Ib._, p. 82. "The best way is, _to slander_
Valentine."--_Ib._, p. 83. "The highway of the upright is _to depart_ from
evil."--_Prov._, xvi, 17.

7. For a _coming event_, or what _will_ be; as, "A mutilated structure soon
_to fall_."--_Cowper._ "He being dead, and I speedily _to follow_
him."--_Tooke's D. P._, ii, 111. "She shall rejoice in time _to
come_."--_Prov._, xxxi, 25. "Things present, or things _to come_."--_1
Cor._, iii, 22.

8. For a _necessary event_, or what _ought_ to be; as, "It is _to be
remembered_."--"It is never _to be forgotten_."--_Tooke's D. P._, ii, 2.
"An oversight much _to be deplored_."--_Ib._, ii, 460. "The sign is not _to
be used_ by itself, or _to stand_ alone; but is _to be joined_ to some
other term."--_Ib._, ii, 372. "The Lord's name is _to be praised_."--_Ps._,
cxiii, 3.

9. For what is _previously suggested_ by another word; as, "I have _faith
to believe_."--"The glossarist _did well_ here _not to yield_ to his
inclination."--_Tooke's D. P._, ii, 329. "It is a good _thing to give_
thanks unto the Lord."--_Ps._, xcii, 1. "_It_ is _as sport_ to a fool _to
do_ mischief."--_Prov._, x, 23. "They have the _gift to know_ it."--_Shak._
"We have no remaining _occupation_ but _to take_ care of the public."--_Art
of Thinking_, p. 52.

10. For a term of _comparison_ or _measure_; as, "He was so much affected
as _to weep_."--"Who could do no less than _furnish_ him."--_Tooke's D.
P._, ii, 408. "I shall venture no farther than _to explain_ the nature and
convenience of these abbreviations."--_Ib._, ii, 439. "I have already said
enough _to show_ what sort of operation that is."--_Ib._, ii, 358.

OBS. 26.--After dismissing all the examples which may fairly be referred to
one or other of the ten heads above enumerated, an observant reader may yet
find _other uses_ of the infinitive, and those so dissimilar that they can
hardly be reduced to any one head or rule; except that all are governed by
the preposition to, which points towards or to the verb; as, "A great altar
_to see to_."--_Joshua_, xxii, 10. "[Greek: Bomon megan tou
idein]."--_Septuagint_. That is, "An altar _great to behold_." "Altare
infinitæ magnitudinis."--_Vulgate_. "Un fort grand autel."--_French Bible_.
"Easy _to be entreated_."--_Jos._, iii, 17. "There was none _to
help_."--_Ps._, cvii, 12. "He had rained down manna upon them _to
eat_."--_Ps._, lxxviii, 24. "Remember his commandments _to do_
them."--_Ps._, viii, 18. "Preserve thou those that are appointed _to
die_."--_Ps._, lxxix, 11. "As coals to burning coals, and as wood to fire;
so is a contentious man _to kindle_ strife."--_Prov._, xxvi, 21. "These are
far beyond the reach and power of any kings _to do_ away."--_Tooke's D.
P._, ii, 126. "I know not indeed what _to do_ with those words."--_Ib._,
ii, 441. "They will be as little able _to justify_ their
innovation."--_Ib._, ii, 448. "I leave you _to compare_ them."--_Ib._, ii,
458. "There is no occasion _to attribute_ it."--_Ib._, ii, 375. "There is
no day for me _to look_ upon."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 82. "Having no
external thing _to lose._"--_Ib._, p. 100. "I'll never be a gosling _to
obey_ instinct."--_Ib._, p. 200. "Whereto serves mercy, but _to confront_
the visage of offence?"--_Ib._, p. 233. "If things do not go _to suit_
him."--_Liberator_, ix, 182. "And, _to be_ plain, I think there is not half
a kiss _to choose_, who loves an other best."--_Shak._, p. 91. "But _to
return_ to R. Johnson's instance of _good man_."--_Tooke's D. P._, ii, 370.
Our common Bibles have this text: "And a certain woman cast a piece of a
millstone upon Abimelech's head, and _all to break_ his skull."--_Judges_,
ix, 53. Perhaps the interpretation of this may be, "and _so as completely
to break_ his skull." The octavo edition stereotyped by "the Bible
Association of Friends in America," has it, "and _all-to brake_ his skull."
This, most probably, was supposed by the editors to mean, "and _completely
broke_ his skull;" but _all-to_ is no proper compound word, and therefore
the change is a perversion. The Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the common
French version, all accord with the simple indicative construction, "and
_broke_ his skull."

OBS. 27.--According to Lindley Murray, "The infinitive mood is often _made
absolute_, or used independently _on_ [say _of_] the rest of the sentence,
supplying the place of the conjunction _that_ with the potential mood: as,
'_To confess_ the truth, I was in fault;' '_To begin_ with the first;' '_To
proceed_;' '_To conclude_;' that is, 'That I may confess,' &c."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 184; _Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 244. Some other compilers have
adopted the same doctrine. But on what ground the _substitution_ of one
mood for the other is imagined, I see not. The reader will observe that
this potential mood is here just as much "_made absolute_," as is the
infinitive; for there is nothing expressed to which the conjunction _that_
connects the one phrase, or the preposition _to_ the other. But possibly,
in either case, there may be an ellipsis of some antecedent term; and
surely, if we imagine the construction to be complete without any such
term, we make the conjunction the more anomalous word of the two.
Confession of the truth, is here the aim of speaking, but not of what is
spoken. The whole sentence may be, "_In order_ to confess the truth, _I
admit that_ I was in fault." Or, "_In order_ that I may confess the truth,
_I admit that_ I was in fault." I do not deny, that the infinitive, or a
phrase of which the infinitive is a part, is sometimes put _absolute_; for,
if it is not so in any of the foregoing examples, it appears to be so in
the following: "For every object has several faces, _so to speak_, by which
it may be presented to us."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 41. "_To declare_ a thing
shall be, long before it is in being, and then _to bring about_ the
accomplishment of that very thing, according to the same declaration; this,
or nothing, is the work of God."--_Justin Martyr_.

   "_To be_, or _not to be_;--that is the question."--_Shakspeare_.

   "_To die;--to sleep;--To sleep_! perchance, _to dream_!"--_Id., Hamlet_.

OBS. 28.--The infinitive usually _follows_ the word on which it depends, or
to which the particle _to_ connects it; but this order is sometimes
reversed: as, "To beg I am ashamed."--_Luke_, xvi, 3. "To keep them no
longer in suspense, [I say plainly,] Sir Roger de Coverly is
dead."--_Addison_. "To suffer, as to do, Our strength is equal."--_Milton_.

   "To catch your vivid scenes, too gross her hand."--_Thomson_.

OBS. 29.--Though, in respect to its syntax, the infinitive is oftener
connected with a verb, a participle, or an adjective, than with a noun or a
pronoun, it should never be so placed that the reader will be liable to
mistake the _person_ to whom, or the _thing_ to which, the being, action,
or passion, pertains. Examples of error: "This system will require a long
time to be executed as it should be."--_Journal of N. Y. Lit. Convention_,
1830, p. 91. It is not the _time_, that is to be executed; therefore say,
"This system, to be executed as it should be, will require a long time."
"He spoke in a _manner distinct enough to be heard_ by the whole
assembly."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 192. This implies that the orator's
_manner_ was _heard_! But the grammarian interprets his own meaning, by the
following alternative: "Or--_He spoke distinctly enough to be heard_ by the
whole assembly."--_Ibid._ This suggests that the man himself was heard.
"When they hit upon a figure that pleases them, they are loth to part with
it, and frequently continue it so long, as to become tedious and
intricate."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 341. Is it the _authors_, or their
_figure_, that becomes tedious and intricate? If the latter, strike out,
"_so long, as to become_," and say, "_till it becomes_." "Facts are always
of the greatest consequence _to be remembered_ during the course of the
pleading."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 272. The rhetorician here meant: "The facts
stated in an argument, are always those parts of it, which it is most
important that the hearers should be made to remember."

OBS. 30.--According to some grammarians, "The Infinitive of the verb _to
be_, is often _understood_; as, 'I considered it [_to be_] necessary to
send the dispatches.'"--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 166. In this example, as in
thousands more, of various forms, the verb _to be_ may be inserted without
affecting the sense; but I doubt the necessity of supposing an ellipsis in
such sentences. The adjective or participle that follows, always relates to
the preceding objective; and if a noun is used, it is but an other
objective in apposition with the former: as, "I considered _it_ an
_imposition_." The verb _to be_, with the perfect participle, forms the
passive infinitive; and the supposition of such an ellipsis, extensively
affects one's mode of parsing. Thus, "He considered himself _insulted_," "I
will suppose the work _accomplished_," and many similar sentences, might be
supposed to contain passive infinitives. Allen says, "In the following
construction, the words in _italics_ are (elliptically) passive
infinitives; I saw the bird _caught_, and the hare _killed_; we heard the
letters _read_."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 168. Dr. Priestley observes,
"There is a remarkable ambiguity in the use of the participle _preterite_,
as the same word may express a thing either doing, or done; as, I went to
see the child _dressed_."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 125. If the Doctor's
participle is ambiguous, I imagine that Allen's infinitives are just as
much so. "The _participle_ which we denominate _past_, often means an
action _whilst performing_: thus, I saw the _battle fought_, and the
_standard lowered_."--_Wilson's Essay_, p. 158. Sometimes, especially in
familiar conversation, an infinitive verb is suppressed, and the sign of it
retained; as, "They might have aided us; they ought _to_" [have aided
us].--_Herald of Freedom_. "We have tried to like it, but it's hard
_to_."--_Lynn News_.

OBS. 31.--After the verb _make_, some writers insert the verb _be_, and
suppress the preposition _to_; as, "He _must make_ every syllable, and even
every letter, in the word which he pronounces, _be heard_
distinctly."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 329; _Murray's E. Reader_, p. 9. "You
_must make_ yourself _be heard_ with pleasure and attention."--_Duncan's
Cicero_, p. 84. "To _make_ himself _be heard_ by all."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
328. "To _make_ ourselves _be heard_ by one."--_Ibid._ "Clear enough to
_make_ me _be_ understood."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 198. In my opinion, it
would be better, either to insert the _to_, or to use the participle only;
as, "The information which he possessed, _made_ his company _to be_
courted."--_Dr. M'Rie_. "Which will both show the importance of this rule,
and _make_ the application of it _to be_ understood."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
103. Or, as in these brief forms: "To _make_ himself _heard_ by
all."--"Clear enough to _make_ me _understood_."

OBS. 32.--In those languages in which the infinitive is distinguished as
such by its termination, this part of the verb may be used alone as the
subject of a finite verb; but in English it is always necessary to retain
the sign _to_ before an abstract infinitive, because there is nothing else
to distinguish the verb from a noun. Here we may see a difference between
our language and the French, although it has been shown, that in their
government of the infinitive they are in some degree analogous:--"HAÏR est
un tourment; AIMER est un besoin de l'âme."--_M. de Ségur. "To hate_ is a
torment; _to love_ is a requisite of the soul." If from this any will argue
that _to_ is not here a preposition, the same argument will be as good, to
prove that _for_ is not a preposition when it governs the objective case;
because that also may be used without any antecedent term of relation: as,
"They are by no means points of equal importance, _for me to be deprived_
of your affections, and _for him to be defeated_ in his
prosecution."--_Anon., in W. Allen's Gram._, p. 166. I said, the sign _to_
must _always_ be put before an abstract infinitive: but possibly a
_repetition_ of this sign may not always be necessary, when several such
infinitives occur in the same construction: as, "But, _to fill_ a heart
with joy, _restore_ content to the afflicted, or _relieve_ the necessitous,
these fall not within the reach of their five senses."--_Art of Thinking_,
p. 66. It may be too much to affirm, that this is positively ungrammatical;
yet it would be as well or better, to express it thus: "But _to relieve_
the necessitous, _to restore_ content to the afflicted, _and to fill_ a
heart with joy, these full not within the reach of their five senses."

OBS. 33.--In the use of the English infinitive, as well as of the
participle in _ing_, the distinction of _voice_ is often disregarded; the
active form being used in what, with respect to the noun before it, is a
passive sense: as, "There's no time _to waste_."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p.
82. "You are _to blame_."--_Ib._ "The humming-bird is delightful _to look_
upon."--_Ib._ "What pain it was _to drown_."--_Shak._ "The thing's _to
do_."--_Id._ "When deed of danger was _to do_."--_Scott_. "The evil I bring
upon myself, is the hardest _to bear_."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, p. 27.
"Pride is worse _to bear_ than cruelty."--_Ib._, p. 37. These are in fact
active verbs, and not passive. We may suggest agents for them, if we
please; as, "There is no time _for us_ to waste." That the simple
participle in _ing_ may be used passively, has been proved elsewhere. It
seems sometimes to have no distinction of voice; as, "What is worth
_doing_, is worth _doing well_."--_Com. Maxim._ This is certainly much more
agreeable, than to say, "What is worth _being done_, is worth _being done
well_." In respect to the voice of the infinitive, and of this participle,
many of our grammarians are obviously hypercritical. For example: "The
active voice should not be used for the passive; as, I have work _to do_: a
house _to sell, to let_, instead of _to be done, to be sold, to be
let_."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 220. "Active verbs are often used improperly
with a passive signification, as, 'the house is _building_, lodgings to
_let_, he has a house to _sell_, nothing is _wanting_;' in stead of 'the
house is _being built_, lodgings to _be lett_, he has a house to _be_ sold,
nothing is _wanted_.'"--_Blair's Gram._, p. 64. In punctuation,
orthography, and the use of capitals, here are more errors than it is worth
while to particularize. With regard to such phraseology as, "The house _is
being built_," see, in Part II, sundry Observations on the Compound Form of
Conjugation. To say, "I have work _to do_,"--"He has a house _to
sell_,"--or, "We have lodgings _to let_," is just as good English, as to
say, "I have meat _to eat_."--_John_, iv, 32. And who, but some sciolist in
grammar, would, in all such instances, prefer the passive voice?



IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XVIII.

INFINITIVES DEMANDING THE PARTICLE TO.

"William, please hand me that pencil."--_R. C. Smith's New Gram._, p. 12.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the infinitive verb _hand_ is not preceded by
the preposition _to_. But, according to Rule 18th, "The preposition _to_
governs the infinitive mood, and commonly connects it to a finite verb."
Therefore, _to_ should be here inserted; thus, "William, please _to_ hand
me that pencil."]

"Please insert points so as to make sense."--_Davis's Gram._, p. 123. "I
have known Lords abbreviate almost the half of their words."--_Cobbett's
English Gram._, ¶ 153. "We shall find the practice perfectly accord with
the theory."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 23. "But it would tend to
obscure, rather than elucidate the subject."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 95.
"Please divide it for them as it should be."--_Willett's Arith._, p. 193.
"So as neither to embarrass, nor weaken the sentence."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
116; _Murray's Gram._, 322. "Carry her to his table, to view his poor
fare,[413] and hear his heavenly discourse."--SHERLOCK: _Blair's Rhet._, p.
157; _Murray's Gram._, 347. "That we need not be surprised to find this
hold in eloquence."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 174. "Where he has no occasion
either to divide or explain."--_Ib._, p. 305. "And they will find their
pupils improve by hasty and pleasant steps."--_Russell's Gram._, Pref., p.
4. "The teacher however will please observe," &c.--_Infant School Gram._,
p. 8. "Please attend to a few rules in what is called syntax."--_Ib._, p.
128. "They may dispense with the laws to favor their friends, or secure
their office."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 39. "To take back a gift, or break a
contract, is a wanton abuse."--_Ib._, p. 41. "The legislature has nothing
to do, but let it bear its own price."--_Ib._, p. 315. "He is not to form,
but copy characters."--_Rambler_, No. 122. "I have known a woman make use
of a shoeing-horn."--_Spect._, No. 536. "Finding this experiment answer, in
every respect, their wishes."--_Sandford and Merton_, p. 51. "In fine let
him cause his argument conclude in the term of the question."--_Barclay's
Works_, Vol. iii, p. 443.

   "That he permitted not the winds of heaven
    Visit her face too roughly."--_Shakspeare, Hamlet_.


RULE XIX.--INFINITIVES.  The active verbs, _bid, dare, feel, hear, let,
make, need, see_, and their participles, usually take the Infinitive after
them without the preposition _to_: as, "If he _bade_ thee _depart_, how
_darest_ thou _stay_?"--"I _dare_ not _let_ my mind _be_ idle as I walk in
the streets."--_Cotton Mather_.

   "Thy Hector, wrapt in everlasting sleep,
    Shall neither _hear_ thee _sigh_, nor _see_ thee _weep_."
        --_Pope's Homer_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XIX.

OBS. 1.--Respecting the syntax of the infinitive mood when the particle
_to_ is not expressed before it, our grammarians are almost as much at
variance, as I have shown them to be, when they find the particle employed.
Concerning _verbs governed by verbs_, Lindley Murray, and some others, are
the most clear and positive, where their doctrine is the most obviously
wrong; and, where they might have affirmed with truth, that the former verb
_governs the latter_, they only tell us that "the preposition TO _is
sometimes properly omitted_,"--or that such and such verbs "_have commonly
other verbs following them_ without the sign TO."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
183; _Alger's_, 63; _W. Allen's_, 167, and others. If these authors meant,
that the preposition _to_ is omitted _by ellipsis_, they ought to have said
so. Then the many admirers and remodellers of Murray's Grammar might at
least have understood him alike. Then, too, any proper definition of
_ellipsis_ must have proved both them and him to be clearly wrong about
this construction also. If the word _to_ is really "understood," whenever
it is omitted after _bid, dare, feel_, &c., as some authors, affirm, then
is it here the governing word, if anywhere; and this nineteenth rule,
however common, is useless to the parser.[414] Then, too, does no English
verb ever govern the infinitive without governing also a _preposition_,
"expressed or understood." Whatever is omitted by ellipsis, and truly
"_understood_," really belongs to the grammatical construction; and
therefore, if inserted, it cannot be actually _improper_, though it may be
unnecessary. But all our grammarians admit, that _to_ before the infinitive
is sometimes "superfluous _and improper_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 183. I
imagine, there cannot be any proper ellipsis of _to_ before the infinitive,
except in some forms of comparison; because, wherever else it is necessary,
either to the sense or to the construction, it ought to be inserted. And
wherever the _to_ is rightly used, it is properly the governing word; but
where it cannot be inserted without _impropriety_, it is absurd to say,
that it is "_understood_." The infinitive that is put after such a verb or
participle as excludes the preposition _to_, is governed by this verb or
participle, if it is governed by any thing: as,

   "To make them _do, undo, eat, drink, stand, move,
    Talk, think_, and _feel_, exactly as he chose."--_Pollok_, p. 69.

OBS. 2.--Ingersoll, who converted Murray's Grammar into "_Conversations_,"
says, "I will just remark to you that the verbs in the infinitive mood,
that follow _make, need, see, bid, dare, feel, hear, let_, and their
participles, are _always_ GOVERNED by them."--_Conv. on Eng. Gram._, p.
120. Kirkham, who pretended to turn the same book into "_Familiar
Lectures_," says, "_To_, the sign of the infinitive mood, is _often
understood_ before the verb; as, 'Let me proceed;' that is, Let me _to_
proceed."--_Gram. in Fam. Lect._, p. 137. The lecturer, however, does not
suppose the infinitive to be here governed by the preposition _to_, or the
verb _let_, but rather by the pronoun _me_. For, in an other place, he
avers, that the infinitive may be governed by a noun or a pronoun; as, "Let
_him do_ it."--_Ib._, p. 187. Now if the government of the infinitive is to
be referred to the objective noun or pronoun that intervenes, none of those
verbs that take the infinitive after them without the preposition, will
usually be found to govern it, except _dare_ and _need_; and if _need_, in
such a case, is an _auxiliary_, no government pertains to that. R. C.
Smith, an other modifier of Murray, having the same false notion of
ellipsis, says, "_To_, the usual sign of this mood, is _sometimes
understood_; as, 'Let me go,' instead of, 'Let me _to_ go.'"--_Smith's New
Gram._, p. 65. According to Murray, whom these men profess to follow,
_let_, in all these examples, is _an auxiliary_, and the verb that follows
it, is not in the _infinitive_ mood, but in the _imperative_. So they
severally contradict their oracle, and all are wrong, both he and they! The
disciples pretend to correct their master, by supposing "_Let me to go_,"
and "_Let me to proceed_," good English!

OBS. 3.--It is often impossible to say _by what_ the infinitive is
governed, according to the instructions of Murray, or according to any
author who does not parse it as I do. Nutting says, "The infinitive _mode_
sometimes follows the comparative conjunctions, _as, than_, and _how_,
WITHOUT GOVERNMENT."--_Practical Gram._, p. 106. Murray's uncertainty[415]
may have led to some part of this notion, but the idea that _how_ is a
"comparative conjunction," is a blunder entirely new. Kirkham is so puzzled
by "the language of that eminent philologist," that he bolts outright from
the course of his guide, and runs he knows not whither; feigning that other
able writers have well contended, "that this mood IS NOT GOVERNED by any
particular word." Accordingly he leaves his pupils at liberty to "_reject
the idea of government_, as applied to the verb in this mood;" and even
frames a rule which refers it always "To some noun or pronoun, as its
subject or actor."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 188. Murray teaches that the
object of the active verb sometimes governs the infinitive that follows it:
as, "They have a _desire_ to improve."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 184. To what
extent, in practice, he would carry this doctrine, nobody can tell;
probably to every sentence in which this object is the antecedent term to
the preposition _to_, and perhaps further: as, "I _have_ a _house_ to
_sell_"--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 106. "I _feel_ a _desire_ to _excel_." "I
_felt_ my _heart_ within me _die_."--_Merrick_.

OBS. 4.--Nutting supposes that the objective case before the infinitive
always governs it wherever it denotes the agent of the infinitive action;
as, "He commands _me_ to _write_ a letter."--_Practical Gram._, p. 96.
Nixon, on the contrary, contends, that the finite verb, in such a sentence,
can govern only one object, and that this object is the infinitive. "The
objective case preceding it," he says, "is the subject or agent of that
infinitive, and not governed by the preceding verb." His example is, "Let
_them_ go."--_English Parser_, p. 97. "In the examples, 'He is endeavouring
_to persuade_ them _to learn_,'--'It is pleasant _to see_ the sun,'--the
pronoun _them_, the adjective _pleasant_, and the participle
_endeavouring_, I consider as _governing_ the following verb in the
infinitive mode."--_Cooper's Plain and Pract. Gram._, p. 144. "Some
erroneously say that pronouns govern the infinitive mode in such examples
as this: 'I expected _him_ to be present.' We will change the expression:
'He was expected to be present.' _All will admit_ that _to be_ is governed
by _was expected_. The same verb that governs it in the passive voice,
governs it in the active."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 144. So do our _professed
grammarians_ differ about the government of the infinitive, even in _the
most common_ constructions of it! Often, however, it makes but little
difference in regard to the sense, which of the two words is considered the
governing or antecedent term; but where the preposition is excluded, the
construction seems to imply some immediate influence of the finite verb
upon the infinitive.

OBS. 5.--The _extent_ of this influence, or of such government, has never
yet been clearly determined. "This _irregularity_," says _Murray_, "extends
only to _active or neuter_ verbs: ['active _and_ neuter verbs,' says
_Fisk_:] for all the verbs above mentioned, when made _passive_, require
the preposition _to_ before the following verb: as, 'He was seen _to_ go;'
'He was heard _to_ speak;' 'They were bidden _to_ be upon their
guard.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 183. Fisk adds with no great accuracy "In
the _past_ and _future_ tenses of the active voice also, these verbs
generally require the sign _to_, to be prefixed to the following verbs; as,
'You _have dared to proceed_ without authority;' 'They _will_ not _dare to
attack_ you.'"--_Gram. Simplified_, p. 125. What these gentlemen here call
"_neuter verbs_," are only the two words _dare_ and _need_, which are, in
most cases, active, though not always transitive; unless the infinitive
itself can make them so--an inconsistent doctrine of theirs which I have
elsewhere refuted. (See Obs. 3rd on Rule 5th.) These two verbs take the
infinitive after them without the preposition, only when they are
intransitive; while all the rest seem to have this power, only when they
are transitive. If there are any exceptions, they shall presently be
considered. A more particular examination of the construction proper for
the infinitive after each of these eight verbs, seems necessary for a right
understanding of the rule.

OBS. 6.--Of the verb BID. This verb, in any of its tenses, when it commands
an action, usually governs an object and also an infinitive, which come
together; as, "Thou _bidst_ the _world adore_."--_Thomson_. "If the prophet
_had bid thee do_ some great thing."--_2 Kings_, v, 13. But when it means,
_to promise_ or _offer_, the infinitive that follows, must be introduced by
the preposition _to_; as, "He _bids_ fair _to excel_ them all"--"Perhaps no
person under heaven _bids_ more unlikely _to_ be saved."--_Brown's
Divinity_, p. vii. "And each _bade_ high _to_ win him."--GRANVILLE: _Joh.
Dict._ After the compound _forbid_, the preposition is also necessary; as,
"Where honeysuckles _forbid_ the sun _to_ enter."--_Beauties of Shak._. p.
57. In poetry, if the measure happens to require it, the word _to_ is
sometimes allowed after the simple verb _bid_, denoting a command; as,

   "_Bid_ me _to_ strike my dearest brother dead,
    _To_ bring my aged father's hoary head."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. i, l. 677.

OBS. 7.--Of the verb DARE. This verb, when used intransitively, and its
irregular preterit _durst_, which is never transitive, usually take the
infinitive after them without _to_; as, "I _dare do_ all that may become a
man: Who _dares do_ more, is none."--_Shakspeare_. "If he _durst steal_ any
thing adventurously."--_Id._ "Who _durst defy_ th' Omnipotent to
arms."--_Milton_. "Like one who _durst_ his destiny _control_."--_Dryden_.
In these examples, the former verbs have some resemblance to auxiliaries,
and the insertion of the preposition _to_ would be improper. But when we
take away this resemblance, by giving _dare_ or _dared_, an objective case,
the preposition is requisite before the infinitive; as, "Time! I _dare
thee to_ discover Such a youth or such a lover."--_Dryden_. "He _dares me
to_ enter the lists."--_Fisk's Gram._, p. 125. So when _dare_ itself is in
the infinitive mood, or is put after an auxiliary, the preposition is not
improper; as, "And _let_ a private man _dare to say_ that it
will."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 147. "_Would_ its compiler _dare to
affront_ the Deity?"--_West's Letters_, p. 151. "What power so great, _to
dare to disobey?_"--_Pope's Homer_. "Some _would_ even _dare_ to
die."--_Bible_. "What _would dare to molest_ him?"--_Dr. Johnson_. "_Do_
you _dare to prosecute_ such a creature as Vaughan?"--_Junius_, Let.
xxxiii. Perhaps these examples might be considered good English, either
with or without the _to_; but the last one would be still better thus:
"_Dare_ you _prosecute_ such a creature as Vaughan?" Dr. Priestley thinks
the following sentence would have been better with the preposition
inserted: "Who _have dared defy_ the worst."--HARRIS: _Priestley's Gram._,
p. 132. _To_ is sometimes used after the simple verb, in the present tense;
as, "Those whose words no one _dares to_ repeat."--_Opie, on Lying_, p.
147.

   "_Dare_ I _to_ leave of humble prose the shore?"
        --_Young_, p. 377.

   "Against heaven's endless mercies pour'd, how _dar'st_ thou _to_ rebel?"
        --_Id._, p. 380.

   "The man who _dares to_ be a wretch, deserves still greater pain."
        --_Id._, p. 381.

OBS. 8.--Of the verb FEEL. This verb, in any of its tenses, may govern the
infinitive without the sign _to_; but it does this, only when it is used
transitively, and that in regard to a bodily perception: as, "I _feel_ it
_move_."--"I _felt_ something _sting_ me." If we speak of feeling any
mental affection, or if we use the verb intransitively, the infinitive that
follows, requires the preposition; as, "I _feel_ it _to_ be my duty."--"I
_felt_ ashamed _to_ ask."--"I _feel_ afraid _to_ go alone."--"I _felt_
about, _to_ find the door." One may say of what is painful to the body, "I
_feel_ it _to_ be severe."

OBS. 9.--Of the verb HEAR. This verb is often intransitive, but it is
usually followed by an objective case when it governs the infinitive; as.
"To _hear_ a _bird sing_."--_Webster_. "You have never _heard me say_ so."
For this reason, I am inclined to think that those sentences in which it
appears to govern the infinitive alone, are elliptical; as, "I _have heard
tell_ of such things."--"And I _have heard say_ of thee, that thou canst
understand a dream to interpret it."--_Gen_, xli, 15. Such examples may be
the same as. "I have heard _people_ tell,"--"I have heard _men_ say," &c.

OBS. 10.--Of the verb LET. By many grammarians this verb has been
erroneously called an _auxiliary_ of the optative mood; or, as Dr. Johnson
terms it, "a _sign_ of the _optative_ mood:" though none deny, that it is
sometimes also a principal verb. It is, in fact, always a principal verb;
because, as we now apply it, it is always transitive. It commonly governs
an objective noun or pronoun, and also an infinitive without the sign _to_;
as, "Rise up, _let us go_."--_Mark_. "Thou _shalt let it rest_."--_Exodus_.
But sometimes the infinitive coalesces with it more nearly than the
objective, so that the latter is placed after both verbs; as, "The solution
_lets go_ the _mercury_."--_Newton_. "One _lets slip_ out of his account a
good _part_ of that duration."--_Locke_. "Back! on _your_ lives; _let_ be,
said he, my _prey_."--_Dryden_. The phrase, _let go_, is sometimes spoken
for, _let go your hold_; and _let be_, for _let him be, let it be_, &c. In
such instances, therefore, the verb _let_ is not really intransitive. This
verb, even in the passive form, may have the infinitive after it without
the preposition to; as, "Nothing _is let slip_."--_Walker's English
Particles_, p. 165. "They _were let go_ in peace."--_Acts_, xv, 33. "The
stage was never empty, nor the curtain _let fall_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
459. "The pye's question was wisely _let fall_ without a
reply."--_L'Estrange_. With respect to other passives, Murray and Fisk
appear to be right; and sometimes the preposition is used after this one:
as, "There's a letter for you, sir, if your name be Horatio, as I _am let
to know_ it is."--_Shakspeare_. _Let_, when used intransitively, required
the preposition _to_ before the following infinitive; as, "He would not
_let_ [i. e. _forbear_] _to counsel_ the king."--_Bacon_. But this use of
_let_ is now obsolete.

OBS. 11.--Of the verb MAKE. This verb, like most of the others, never
immediately governs an infinitive, unless it also governs a noun or a
pronoun which is the immediate _subject_ of such infinitive; as, "You _make
me blush_."--"This only _made_ the _youngster laugh_"--_Webster's
Spelling-Book_. "Which soon _made_ the young _chap hasten_ down."--_Ib._
But in very many instances it is quite proper to insert the preposition
where this verb is transitive; as, "He _maketh_ both the deaf _to_ hear,
and the dumb _to_ speak."--_Mark_, vii, 37. "He _makes_ the excellency of a
sentence _to_ consist in four things."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 122;
_Jamieson's_, 124. "It is this that _makes_ the observance of the dramatic
unities _to_ be of consequence."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 464. "In _making_
some tenses of the English verb _to_ consist of principal and
auxiliary."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 76. "When _make_ is intransitive, it has
some qualifying word after it, besides the sign of the infinitive; as,--I
think he _will make out_ to pay his debts." Formerly, the preposition _to_
was almost always inserted to govern the infinitive after _make_ or _made_;
as, "Lest I _make_ my brother _to_ offend."--_1 Cor._, viii, 13. "He _made_
many _to_ fall."--_Jer._, xlvi, 16. Yet, in the following text, it is
omitted, even where the verb is meant to be _passive_: "And it was lifted
up from the earth, and _made stand_ upon the feet as a man."--_Dan._, vii,
4. This construction is improper, and not free from ambiguity; because
_stand_ may be a noun, and _made_, an active verb governing it. There may
also be uncertainty in the meaning, where the insertion of the preposition
leaves none in the construction; for _made_ may signify either _created_ or
_compelled_, and the infinitive after it, may denote either the _purpose_
of creation, or the _effect_ of any temporary compulsion: as, "We are _made
to be serviceable_ to others."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 167. "Man _was
made to mourn_."--_Burns_. "Taste _was never made to cater_ for
vanity."--_Blair_. The primitive word _make_ seldom, if ever, produces a
construction that is thus equivocal. The infinitive following it without
_to_, always denotes the effect of the making, and not the purpose of the
maker; as, "He _made_ his son Skjöld _be received_ there as king."--_North.
Antiq._, p. 81. But the same meaning may be conveyed when the _to_ is used;
as,

   "The fear of God is freedom, joy, and peace;
    And _makes_ all ills that vex us here _to_ cease."--_Waller_, p. 56.

OBS. 12.--Of the verb NEED. I incline to think, that the word _need_,
whenever it is rightly followed by the infinitive without _to_, is, in
reality an _auxiliary_ of the potential mood; and that, like _may, can_,
and _must_, it may properly be used, in both the present and the perfect
tense, without personal inflection: as, "He _need_ not _go_, He _need_ not
_have gone_;" where, if _need_ is a principal verb, and governs the
infinitive without _to_, the expressions must be, "He _needs_ not _go_, He
_needed_ not _go_, or, He _has_ not _needed go_." But none of these three
forms is agreeable; and the last two are never used. Wherefore, in stead of
placing in my code of false syntax the numerous examples of the former
kind, with which the style of our grammarians and critics has furnished me,
I have exhibited many of them, in contrast with others, in the eighth and
ninth observations on the Conjugation of Verbs; in which observations, the
reader may see what reasons there are for supposing the word _need_ to be
sometimes an auxiliary and sometimes a principal verb. Because no other
author has yet intentionally recognized the propriety of this distinction,
I have gone no farther than to show on what grounds, and with what
authority from usage, it might be acknowledged. If we adopt this
distinction, perhaps it will be found that the regular or principal verb
_need_ always requires, or, at least, always admits, the preposition _to_
before the following infinitive; as, "They _need_ not _to_ be specially
indicated."--_Adams's Rhet._, i, 302. "We _need_ only _to_ remark."--_Ib._,
ii, 224. "A young man _needed_ only _to_ ask himself," &c.--_Ib._, i, 117.
"Nor is it conceivable to me, that the lightning of a Demosthenes _could
need to_ be sped upon the wings of a semiquaver."--_Ib._, ii, 226. "But
these people _need to_ be informed."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 220. "No man
_needed_ less _to_ be informed."--_Ib._, p. 175. "We _need_ only _to_
mention the difficulty that arises."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 362.
"_Can_ there _need to_ be argument to prove so plain a point?"--_Graham's
Lect_. "Moral instruction _needs to_ have a more prominent place."--_Dr.
Weeks_. "Pride, ambition, and selfishness, _need to_ be restrained."--_Id._
"Articles are sometimes omitted, where they _need to_ be used."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 197. "Whose power _needs_ not _to_ be dreaded."--_Wilson's
Hebrew Gram._, p. 93. "A workman that _needeth_ not _to_ be ashamed."--_2
Tim._, ii, 15. "The small boys _may have needed to_ be managed according to
the school system."--_T. D. Woolsey_. "The difficulty of making variety
consistent, _needs_ not _to_ disturb him."--_Rambler_, No. 122. "A more
cogent proof _needs_ not _to_ be introduced."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 66. "No
person _needs to_ be informed, that _you_ is used in addressing a single
person."--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 19. "I hope I _need_ not _to_ advise you
further."--_Shak., All's Well_.

   "Nor me, nor other god, thou _needst to_ fear,
    For thou to all the heavenly host art dear."--_Congreve_.

OBS. 13.--If _need_ is ever an auxiliary, the essential difference between
an auxiliary and a principal verb, will very well account for the otherwise
puzzling fact, that good writers sometimes inflect this verb, and sometimes
do not; and that they sometimes use _to_ after it, and sometimes do not.
Nor do I see in what other way a grammarian can treat it, without
condemning as bad English a great number of very common phrases which he
cannot change for the better. On this principle, such examples as, "He
_need_ not _proceed_," and "He _needs_ not _to_ proceed," may be perfectly
right in either form; though Murray, Crombie,[416] Fisk, Ingersoll, Smith,
C. Adams, and many others, pronounce both these forms to be wrong; and
unanimously, (though contrary to what is perhaps the best usage,) prefer,
"He _needs_ not _proceed_."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 180.

OBS. 14.--On questions of grammar, the _practice of authors_ ought to be of
more weight, than the _dogmatism of grammarians_; but it is often difficult
to decide well by either; because errors and contradictions abound in both.
For example: Dr. Blair says, (in speaking of the persons represented by _I_
and _thou_,) "Their sex _needs_ not _be_ marked."--_Rhet._, p. 79. Jamieson
abridges the work, and says, "_needs_ not _to_ be marked."--_Gram. of
Rhet._, p. 28. Dr. Lowth also says, "_needs_ not _be_ marked."--_Gram._, p.
21. Churchill enlarges the work, and says, "_needs_ not _to_ be
marked."--_New Gram._, p. 72. Lindley Murray copies Lowth, and says,
"_needs_ not _be_ marked."--_Gram._, 12mo, 2d Ed., p. 39; 23d Ed., p. 51;
and perhaps all other editions. He afterwards enlarges his own work, and
says, "_needs_ not _to_ be marked."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 51. But, according
to Greenleaf they all express the idea ungrammatically; the only true form
being, "Their sex _need_ not _be marked_." See _Gram. Simplified_, p. 48.
In the two places in which the etymology and the syntax of this verb are
examined, I have cited from proper sources more than twenty examples in
which _to_ is used after it, and more than twenty others in which the verb
is not inflected in the third person singular. In the latter, _need_ is
treated as an auxiliary; in the former, it is a principal verb, of the
regular construction. If the principal verb _need_ can also govern the
infinitive without _to_, as all our grammarians have supposed, then there
is a third form which is unobjectionable, and my pupils may take their
choice of the three. But still there is a fourth form which nobody
approves, though the hands of some great men have furnished us with
examples of it: as, "A figure of thought _need_ not _to_ detort the words
from their literal sense."--_J. Q. Adams's Lectures_, Vol. ii, p. 254.
"Which a man _need_ only _to_ appeal to his own feelings immediately to
evince."--_Clarkson's Prize-Essay on Slavery_, p. 106.

OBS. 15.--Webster and Greenleaf seem inclined to justify the use of _dare_,
as well as of _need_, for the third person singular. Their doctrine is
this: "In _popular practice_ it is used in the third person, without the
personal termination. Thus, instead of saying, 'He _dares_ not do it;' WE
_generally_ say, 'He _dare_ not do it.' In like manner, _need_, when an
active verb, is regular in its inflections; as, 'A man _needs_ more
prudence.' But _when intransitive_, it drops the personal terminations in
the present tense, and is followed by a verb without the prefix _to_; as,
'A man _need_ not _be_ uneasy.'"--_Greenleaf s Grammar Simplified_, p. 38;
_Webster's Philosophical Gram._, p. 178; _Improved Gram._, 127. Each part
of this explanation appears to me erroneous. In _popular practice_, one
shall oftener hear, "He _dares n't_ do it," or even, "_You dares n't_ do
it," than, "_He dare not_ do it." But it is only in the trained practice of
the schools, that he shall ever hear, "He _needs n't_ do it," or, "He
_needs not_ do it." If _need_ is sometimes used without inflection, this
peculiarity, or the disuse of _to_ before the subsequent infinitive, is not
a necessary result of its "_intransitive_" character. And as to their
latent _nominative_, "whereof there _is_ no _account_," or, "whereof there
_needs_ no _account_;" their _fact_, of which "there _is_ no _evidence_,"
or of which "there _needs_ no _evidence_;" I judge it a remarkable
phenomenon, that authors of so high pretensions, could find, in these
_transpositions_, a nominative to "_is_," but none to "_needs_!" See a
marginal note under Rule 14th, at p. 570.

OBS. 16.--Of the verb SEE. This verb, whenever it governs the infinitive
without _to_, governs also an objective noun or pronoun; as, "_See me do_
it."--"I _saw him do_ it."--_Murray_. Whenever it is intransitive, the
following infinitive must be governed by _to_; as, "I _will see to have_ it
done."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 98; _Greenleaf's_, 38. "How _could_ he _see to
do_ them?"--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 43. In the following text, _see_ is
transitive, and governs the infinitive; but the two verbs are put so far
apart, that it requires some skill in the reader to make their relation
apparent: "When ye therefore _shall see_ the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, _stand_ in the holy place," &c.--_Matt._,
xxiv, 15. An other scripturist uses the _participle_, and says--"_standing_
where it ought not," &c.--_Mark_, xiii, 14. The Greek word is the same in
both; it is a participle, agreeing with the noun for _abomination_.
Sometimes the preposition _to_ seems to be admitted on purpose to protract
the expression: as,

   "Tranio, I _saw_ her coral lips _to move_,
    And with her breath she did perfume the air."--_Shak_.

OBS 17.--A few other verbs, besides the eight which are mentioned in the
foregoing rule and remarks, sometimes have the infinitive after them
without _to_. W. Allen teaches, that, "The sign _to_ is _generally_
omitted," not only after these eight, but also after eight others; namely,
"_find, have, help, mark, observe, perceive, watch_, and the old preterit
_gan_, for _began_; and _sometimes_ after _behold_ and _know_."--_Elements
of Gram._, p. 167. Perhaps he may have found _some instances_ of the
omission of the preposition after all these, but in my opinion his rule
gives a very unwarrantable extension to this "irregularity," as Murray
calls it. The usage belongs only to particular verbs, and to them not in
all their applications. Other verbs of the same import do not in general
admit the same idiom. But, by a license for the most part peculiar to the
poets, the preposition _to_ is occasionally omitted, especially after verbs
equivalent to those which exclude it; as, "And _force_ them
_sit_."--_Cowper's Task_, p. 46. That is, "And _make_ them _sit_."
According to Churchill, "To use _ought_ or _cause_ in this manner, is a
Scotticism: [as,] 'Won't you _cause_ them _remove_ the hares?'--'You
_ought_ not _walk_.' SHAK."--_New Gram._, p. 317. The verbs, _behold, view,
observe, mark, watch_, and _spy_, are only other words for _see_; as,
"There might you _behold_ one joy _crown_ an other."--_Shak_. "There I sat,
_viewing_ the silver stream _glide_ silently towards the tempestuous
sea."--_Walton_. "I _beheld_ Satan as lightning _fall_ from
heaven."--_Luke_, x, 18.

   "Thy drowsy nurse hath sworn she did them _spy
    Come_ tripping to the room where thou didst lie."--_Milton_.

    ------"Nor with less dread the loud
    Ethereal trumpet from on high '_gan blow_."--_Id., P. L._, vi, 60.

OBS. 18.--After _have, help_, and _find_, the infinitive sometimes occurs
without the preposition _to_, but much oftener with it; as, "When
enumerating objects which we wish to _have appear_ distinct."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 222. "Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, to _have_ a man's mind
_move_ in charity, _rest_ in Providence, and _turn_ upon the poles of
truth."--_Ld. Bacon_. "What wilt thou _have_ me _to_ do?"--_Acts_, ix, 6.
"He will _have_ us _to_ acknowledge him."--_Scougal_, p. 102. "I _had to
walk_ all the way."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 85. "Would you _have_ them _let
go_ then? No."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 248. According to Allen's rule,
this question is ambiguous; but the learned author explains it in Latin
thus: "Placet igitur eos _dimitti_? Minimé." That is, "Would you have them
_dismissed_ then? No." Had he meant, "Would you have them _to_ let go
then?" he would doubtless have said so. Kirkham, by adding _help_ to
Murray's list, enumerates nine verbs which he will have to exclude the sign
of the infinitive; as, "_Help_ me _do_ it."--_Gram._, p. 188. But good
writers sometimes use the particle _to_ after this verb; as, "And Danby's
matchless impudence _helped to_ support the knave."--DRYDEN: _Joh. Dict.,
w. Help_. Dr. Priestley says, "It must, I suppose, be according to the
_Scotch_ idiom that Mrs. Macaulay omits it after the verb _help_: 'To _help
carry_ on the new measures of the court.' _History_, Vol. iv, p.
150."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 133. "You will _find_ the difficulty
_disappear_ in a short time."--_Cobbett's English Gram._, ¶ 16. "We shall
always _find_ this distinction _obtain_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 245. Here
the preposition _to_ might have been inserted with propriety. Without it, a
plural noun will render the construction equivocal. The sentence, "You will
find the _difficulties disappear_ in a short time," will probably be
understood to mean, "You will find _that_ the difficulties disappear in a
short time." "I do not _find_ him _reject_ his authority."--_Johnson's
Gram. Com._, p. 167. Here too the preposition might as well have been
inserted. But, as this use of the infinitive is a sort of Latinism, some
critics would choose to say, "I do not find _that he rejects_ his
authority." "Cyrus was extremely glad to find _them have_ such sentiments
of religion."--_Rollin_, ii, 117. Here the infinitive may be varied either
by the participle or by the indicative; as, "to find _them having_," or,
"to find _they had_." Of the three expressions, the last, I think, is
rather the best.

OBS. 19.--When two or more infinitives are connected in the same
construction, one preposition sometimes governs them both or all; a
repetition of the particle not being always necessary, unless we mean to
make the terms severally emphatical. This fact is one evidence that _to_ is
not a necessary part of each infinitive verb, as some will have it to be.
Examples: "Lord, suffer me first TO _go_ and _bury_ my father."--_Matt._,
viii, 21. "To _shut_ the door, means, TO _throw_ or _cast_ the door
to."--_Tooke's D. P._, ii, 105. "Most authors expect the printer TO _spell,
point_, and _digest_ their copy, that it may be intelligible to the
reader."--_Printer's Grammar_.

   "I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool,
    To _shake_ the head, _relent_, and _sigh_, and _yield_."--_Shak_.

OBS. 20.--An infinitive that explains an other, may sometimes be introduced
without the preposition _to_; because, the former having it, the
construction of the latter is made the same by this kind of apposition: as,
"The most accomplished way of using books at present is, TO _serve_ them as
some do lords; _learn_ their _titles_, and, then _brag_ of their
acquaintance."--SWIFT: _Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 166.

OBS. 21.--After _than_ or _as_, the sign of the infinitive is sometimes
required, and sometimes excluded; and in some instances we can either
insert it or not, as we please. The latter term of a comparison is almost
always more or less elliptical; and as the nature of its ellipsis depends
on the structure of the former term, so does the necessity of inserting or
of omitting the sign of the infinitive. Examples: "No desire is more
universal than [_is the desire_] to be exalted and honoured."--_Kames, El.
of Crit._, i, 197. "The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend, as
[_is the difficulty_] to find a friend worth dying for."--_Id., Art of
Thinking_, p. 42. "It is no more in one's power to love or not to love,
than [_it is in one's power_] to be in health or out of order."--_Ib._, p.
45. "Men are more likely to be praised into virtue, than [_they are
likely_] to be railed out of vice."--_Ib._, p. 48. "It is more tolerable to
be always alone, than [_it is tolerable_] never to be so."--_Ib._, p. 26.
"Nothing [_is_] more easy than to do mischief [_is easy_]: nothing [is]
more difficult than to suffer without complaining" [_is
difficult_].--_Ib._, p. 46. Or: "than [_it is easy_] to do mischief:" &c.,
"than [_it is difficult_] to suffer," &c. "It is more agreeable to the
nature of most men to follow than [_it is agreeable to their nature_] to
lead."--_Ib._, p. 55. In all these examples, the preposition _to_ is very
properly inserted; but what excludes it from the former term of a
comparison, will exclude it from the latter, if such governing verb be
understood there: as, "You no more heard me _say_ those words, than [_you
heard me_] _talk_ Greek." It may be equally proper to say, "We choose
rather to lead than _follow_," or, "We choose rather to lead than _to_
follow."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 37. The meaning in either case is, "We
choose to lead rather than _we choose to_ follow." In the following
example, there is perhaps an ellipsis of _to_ before _cite_: "I need do
nothing more than _simply cite_ the explicit declarations," &c.--_Gurney's
Peculiarities_, p. 4. So in these: "Nature did no more than _furnish_ the
power and means."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 147.

   "To beg, than _work_, he better understands;
    Or we perhaps might take him off thy hands."
        --_Pope's Odyssey_, xvii, 260.

OBS. 22.--It has been stated, in Obs. 16th on Rule 17th, that good writers
are apt to shun a repetition of any part common to two or more verbs in the
same sentence; and among the examples there cited is this: "They mean _to_,
and will, hear patiently."--_Salem Register_. So one might say, "Can a man
arrive at excellence, who has no desire _to_?"--"I do not wish to go, nor
expect _to_."--"Open the door, if you are going _to_." Answer: "We want
_to_, and try _to_, but can't." Such ellipses of the infinitive after _to_,
are by no means uncommon, especially in conversation; nor do they appear to
me to be always reprehensible, since they prevent repetition, and may
contribute to brevity without obscurity. But Dr. Bullions has lately
thought proper to _condemn_ them; for such is presumed to have been the
design of the following note: "_To_, the sign of the infinitive, should
never be used for the infinitive itself. Thus, 'I have not written, and I
do not intend _to_,' is a colloquial vulgarism for, 'I have not written,
and I do not intend _to write_.'"--_Bullions's Analyt. and Pract. Gram._,
p. 179. His "Exercises to be corrected," here, are these: "Be sure to write
yourself and tell him to. And live as God designed me to."--_Ib._, 1st Ed.,
p. 180. It being manifest, that _to_ cannot "be used _for_"--(that is, _in
place of_--)what is implied _after_ it, this is certainly a very awkward
way of hinting "there should never be an ellipsis of the infinitive after
_to_." But, from the false syntax furnished, this appears to have been the
meaning intended. The examples are severally faulty, but not for the reason
suggested--not because "_to_" is used for "_write_" or "_live_"--not,
indeed, for any one reason common to the three--but because, in the first,
"_to write_" and "_have not written_," have nothing in common which we can
omit; in the second, the mood of "_tell_" is doubtful, and, without a comma
after "yourself," we cannot precisely know the meaning; in the third, the
mood, the person, and the number of "_live_," are all unknown. See Note 9th
to Rule 17th, above; and Note 2d to the General Rule, below.

OBS. 23.--Of some infinitives, it is hard to say whether they are
transitive or intransitive; as, "Well, then, let us proceed; we have other
forced marches to _make_; other enemies to _subdue_; more laurels to
_acquire_; and more injuries to _avenge_."--BONAPARTE: _Columbian Orator_,
p. 136. These, without ellipsis, are intransitive; but relatives may be
inserted.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XIX.

INFINITIVES AFTER BID, DARE, FEEL, HEAR, LET, &c.

"I dare not to proceed so hastily, lest I should give offence."--_Murray's
Exercises_, p. 63.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the preposition _to_ is inserted before
_proceed_, which follows the active verb _dare_. But, according to Rule
19th, "The active verbs, _bid, dare, feel, hear, let, make, need, see_, and
their participles, usually take the infinitive after them without the
preposition _to_;" and this is an instance in which the finite verb should
immediately govern the infinitive. Therefore, the _to_ should be omitted;
thus, "I _dare_ not _proceed_ so hastily," &c.]

"Their character is formed, and made appear."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 115.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the preposition _to_ is not inserted between
_made_ and _appear_, the verb _is made_ being passive. But, according to
Obs. 5th and 10th on Rule 19th, those verbs which in the active form govern
the infinitive without _to_, do not so govern it when they are made
passive, except the verb _let_. Therefore, _to_ should be here inserted;
thus, "Their character is formed, and made _to_ appear."]

"Let there be but matter and opportunity offered, and you shall see them
quickly to revive again."--_Wisdom of the Ancients_, p. 53. "It has been
made appear, that there is no presumption against a revelation."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 252. "MANIFEST, _v. t_. To reveal; to make to appear; to show
plainly."--_Webster's American Dict._ "Let him to reign like unto good
Aurelius, or let him to bleed like unto Socrates."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p.
169. "To sing I could not; to complain I durst not."--_S. Fothergill_. "If
T. M. be not so frequently heard pray by them."--_Barclay's Works_, iii,
132. "How many of your own church members were never heard pray?"--_Ib._,
iii, 133. "Yea, we are bidden pray one for another."--_Ib._, iii, 145. "He
was made believe that neither the king's death, nor imprisonment would help
him."--_Sheffield's Works_, ii, 281. "I felt a chilling sensation to creep
over me."--_Inst._, p. 188. "I dare to say he has not got home yet."--_Ib._
"We sometimes see bad men to be honoured."--_Ib._ "I saw him to
move."--_Felch's Comprehensive Gram._, p. 62. "For see thou, ah! see thou a
hostile world to raise its terrours."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 167. "But that
he make him to rehearse so."--_Lily's Gram._, p. xv. "Let us to
rise."--_Fowle's True Eng. Gram._, p. 41.

   "Scripture, you know, exhorts us to it;
    Bids us to 'seek peace, and ensue it.'"--_Swift's Poems_, p. 336.

    "Who bade the mud from Dives' wheel
    To spurn the rags of Lazarus?
    Come, brother, in that dust we'll kneel,
    Confessing Heaven that ruled it thus."--_Christmas Book_.




CHAPTER VII--PARTICIPLES.


The true or regular syntax of the English Participle, as a part of speech
distinct from the verb, and not converted into a noun or an adjective, is
twofold; being sometimes that of simple _relation_ to a noun or a pronoun
that precedes it, and sometimes that of _government_, or the state of
_being governed_ by a preposition. In the former construction, the
participle resembles an adjective; in the latter, it is more like a noun,
or like the infinitive mood: for the participle after a preposition is
governed _as a participle_, and not as a case.[417] To these two
constructions, some add three others less regular, using the participle
sometimes as the _subject_ of a finite verb, sometimes as the _object_ of a
transitive verb, and sometimes as a _nominative_ after a neuter verb. Of
these five constructions, the first two, are the legitimate uses of this
part of speech; the others are occasional, modern, and of doubtful
propriety.


RULE XX.--PARTICIPLES.

Participles relate to nouns or pronouns, or else are governed by
prepositions: as, "Elizabeth's tutor, at one time _paying_ her a visit,
found her _employed_ in _reading_ Plato."--_Hume_. "I have no more pleasure
in _hearing_ a man _attempting_ wit and _failing_, than in _seeing_ a man
_trying_ to leap over a ditch and tumbling into it."--_Dr. Johnson_.

   "Now, _rais'd_ on Tyre's sad ruins, Pharaoh's pride
    Soar'd high, his legions _threat'ning_ far and wide."--_Dryden_.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

A participle sometimes relates to a preceding _phrase_ or _sentence_, of
which it forms no part; as, "I then quit the society; _to withdraw and
leave them to themselves_, APPEARING to me a duty."--"It is almost
exclusively on the ground we have mentioned, that we have heard _his being
continued in office_ DEFENDED."--_Professors' Reasons_, p. 23. (Better,
"_his continuance_ in office," or, "_the continuing of him_ in office." See
Obs. 18th on Rule 4th.)

   "But _ever to do ill_ our sole delight,
    As _being_ the contrary to his high will."--_Milton_.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

With an infinitive denoting being or action in the abstract, a participle
is sometimes also taken _abstractly_; (that is, without reference to any
particular noun, pronoun, or other subject;) as, "To seem _compelled_, is
disagreeable."--"To keep always _praying_ aloud, is plainly
impossible."--"It must be disagreeable to be left pausing[418] on a word
which does not, by itself, produce any idea."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
323.

   "To praise him is to serve him, and fulfill,
    _Doing_ and _suffering_, his unquestion'd will."
        --_Cowper_, Vol. i, p. 88.

EXCEPTION THIRD.

The participle is often used irregularly in English, as a substitute for
the infinitive mood, to which it is sometimes equivalent without
irregularity; as, "I saw him _enter_, or _entering_"--_Grant's Lat. Gram._,
p. 230. "He is afraid of _trying_, or _to try_."--_Ibid._ Examples
irregular: "Sir, said I, if the case stands thus, 'tis dangerous
_drinking_:" i.e., to drink.--_Collier's Tablet of Cebes_. "It will be but
ill _venturing_ thy soul upon that:" i.e., to venture.--_Bunyan's Law and
Grace_, p. 27. "_Describing_ a past event as present, has a fine effect in
language:" i.e., to describe.--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 93. "In English
likewise it deserves _remarking_:" i.e., to be remarked.--_Harris's
Hermes_, p. 232. "Bishop Atterbury deserves _being particularly
mentioned_:" i.e., to be particularly mentioned.--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 291.
"This, however, is in effect no more than _enjoying_ the sweet that
predominates:" i.e., to enjoy.--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 43.

   "Habits are soon assum'd; but when we strive
    To strip them off, 'tis being _flay'd_ alive."--_Cowper_, Vol. i, p. 44

EXCEPTION FOURTH.

An other frequent irregularity in the construction of participles, is the
practice of treating them essentially as nouns, without taking from them
the regimen and adjuncts of participles; as, "_Your having been well
educated will be_ a great recommendation."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 171.
(Better: "_Your excellent education_"--or, "_That you have been well
educated_, will be," &c.) "It arises from _sublimity's expressing grandeur_
in its highest degree."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 29. "Concerning _the
separating_ by a circumstance, _words_ intimately connected."--_Kames, El.
of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 104. "As long as there is any hope of _their keeping
pace_ with them."--_Literary Convention_, p. 114. "Which could only arise
from _his knowing the secrets_ of all hearts."--_West's Letters to a Young
Lady_, p. 180. "But this again is _talking_ quite at random."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 146.

   "_My being here_ it is, that holds thee hence."--_Shak._

    "Such, but by foils, the clearest lustre see,
    And deem _aspersing others, praising thee_."--_Savage, to Walpole_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XX.

OBS. 1.--To this rule, I incline to think, there are _properly_ no other
exceptions than the first two above; or, at least, that we ought to avoid,
when we can, any additional anomalies. Yet, not to condemn with unbecoming
positiveness what others receive for good English, I have subjoined two
items more, which include certain other irregularities now very common,
that, when examples of a like form occur, the reader may _parse them as
exceptions_, if he does not choose _to censure them as errors_. The mixed
construction in which participles are made to govern the possessive case,
has already been largely considered in the observations on Rule 4th.
Murray, Allen, Churchill, and many other grammarians, great and small,
admit that participles may be made the subjects or the objects of verbs,
while they retain the nature, government, and adjuncts, of participles; as,
"Not _attending_ to this rule, is the cause of a very common
error."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 200; _Comly's Gram._, 188; _Weld's Gram._,
2d Ed., 170. "_Polite_ is employed to signify their being _highly
civilized_.'"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 219. "One abhors _being_ in
debt."--_Ib._, p. 98; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 71; _Murray's Gram._, 144. "Who
affected _being_ a fine gentleman so unmercifully."--_Spect._, No. 496.
"The minister's _being attached_ to the project, prolonged their
debate."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 78. "It finds [i.e., _the mind_ finds,] that
_acting thus_ would gratify one passion; _not acting_, or _acting
otherwise_, would gratify another."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 109. "But
further, _cavilling_ and _objecting_ upon any subject _is_ much easier than
_clearing up_ difficulties."--_Bp. Butler's Charge to the Clergy of
Durham_, 1751.

OBS. 2.--W. Allen observes, "The use of the participle as a nominative, is
one of the _peculiarities_ of our language."--_Elements of Gram._, p. 171.
He might have added, that the use of the participle as an objective
governed by a verb, as a nominative after a verb neuter, or as a word
governing the possessive, is also one of the peculiarities of our language,
or at least an idiom adopted by no few of its recent writers. But whether
any one of these four modern departures from General Grammar ought to be
countenanced by us, as an idiom that is either elegant or advantageous, I
very much doubt. They are all however sufficiently common in the style of
reputable authors; and, however questionable their character, some of our
grammarians seem mightily attached to them all. It becomes me therefore to
object with submission. These mixed and irregular constructions of the
participle, ought, in my opinion, to be _generally_ condemned as false
syntax; and for this simple reason, that the ideas conveyed by them may
_generally_, if not always, be expressed more briefly, and more elegantly,
by other phraseology that is in no respect anomalous. Thus, for the
examples above: "_Inattention_ to this rule, is the cause of a very common
error."--"_Polite_ is employed to signify a _high degree of civilization_;"
or, "_that they are_ highly civilized."--"One abhors _debt_."--"Who
affected _the_ fine gentleman so unmercifully."--"The minister's
_partiality_ to the project, prolonged their debate."--"It finds [i.e.,
_the mind_ finds,] that _to act thus_, would gratify one passion; _and that
not to act_, or _to act otherwise_, would gratify another."--"But further,
_to cavil and object_, upon any subject, is much easier than _to clear up_
difficulties." Are not these expressions much better English than the
foregoing quotations? And if so, have we not reason to conclude that the
adoption of participles in such instances is erroneous and ungrammatical?

OBS. 3.--In Obs. 17th on Rule 4th, it was suggested, that in English the
participle, without governing the possessive case, is turned to a greater
number and variety of uses, than in any other language. This remark applies
mainly to the participle in _ing_. Whether it is expedient to make so much
of one sort of derivative, and endeavour to justify every possible use of
it which can be plausibly defended, is a question well worthy of
consideration. We have already converted this participle to such a
multiplicity of purposes, and into so many different parts of speech, that
one can well-nigh write a chapter in it, without any other words. This
practice may have added something to the copiousness and flexibility of the
language, but it certainly has a tendency to impair its strength and
clearness. Not every use of participles is good, for which there may be
found precedents in good authors. One may run to great excess in the
adoption of such derivatives, without becoming absolutely unintelligible,
and without violating any rule of our common grammars. For example, I may
say of somebody, "This very superficial grammatist, supposing empty
criticism about the adoption of proper phraseology to be a show of
extraordinary erudition, was displaying, in spite of ridicule, a very
boastful turgid argument concerning the correction of false syntax, and
about the detection of false logic in debate." Now, in what other language
than ours, can a string of words anything like the following, come so near
to a fair and literal translation of this long sentence? "This exceeding
trifling witling, considering ranting criticising concerning adopting
fitting wording being exhibiting transcending learning, was displaying,
notwithstanding ridiculing, surpassing boasting swelling reasoning,
respecting correcting erring writing, and touching detecting deceiving
arguing during debating." Here are _not all_ the uses to which our writers
apply the participle in _ing_, but there would seem to be enough, without
adding others that are less proper.

OBS. 4.--The active participles, _admitting, allowing, considering,
granting, speaking, supposing_, and the like, are frequently used in
discourse so independently, that they either relate to nothing, or to the
pronoun _I_ or _we_ understood; as, "_Granting_ this to be true, what is
to be inferred from it?"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 195. This may be supposed to
mean, "_I_, granting this to be true, _ask_ what is to be inferred from
it?" "The very chin was, _modestly speaking_, as long as my whole
face."--_Addison_. Here the meaning may be, "_I_, modestly speaking,
_say_." So of the following examples: "_Properly speaking_, there is no
such thing as chance."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 172. "Because, _generally
speaking_, the figurative sense of a word is derived from its proper
sense."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 190. "But, _admitting_ that two or three
of these offend less in their morals than in their writings, must poverty
make nonsense sacred?"--_Pope's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 7. Some grammarians
suppose such participles to be put absolute in themselves, so as to have no
reference to any noun or pronoun; others, among whom are L. Murray and Dr.
James P. Wilson, suppose them to be put absolute with a pronoun understood.
On the former supposition, they form an other exception to the foregoing
rule; on the latter, they do not: the participle relates to the pronoun,
though both be independent of the rest of the sentence. If we supply the
ellipsis as above, there is nothing put absolute.

OBS. 5.--Participles are almost always placed after the words on which
their construction depends, and are distinguished from adjectives by this
position; but when other words depend on the participle, or when several
participles have the same construction, the whole phrase may come before
the noun or pronoun: as, "_Leaning_ my head upon my hand, _I_ began to
figure to myself the miseries of confinement."--_Sterne_.

   "_Immured_ in cypress shades, a _sorcerer_ dwells."--_Milton_.

    "_Brib'd, bought, and bound_, they banish shame and fear;
    Tell you they're stanch, and have a soul sincere."--_Crabbe_.

OBS. 6.--When participles are compounded with something that does not
belong to the verb, they become _adjectives_; and, as such, they cannot
govern an object after them. The following construction is therefore
inaccurate: "When Caius did any thing _unbecoming_ his dignity."--_Jones's
Church History_, i, 87. "Costly and gaudy attire, _unbecoming_
godliness."--_Extracts_, p. 185. Such errors are to be corrected by Note
15th to Rule 9th, or by changing the particle _un_ to _not_: as,
"Unbecoming _to_ his dignity;" or, "_Not_ becoming his dignity."

OBS. 7.--An imperfect or a preperfect participle, preceded by an article,
an adjective, or a noun or pronoun of the possessive case, becomes a
_verbal_ or _participial noun_; and, as such, it cannot with strict
propriety, govern an object after it. A word which may be the object of the
participle in its proper construction, requires the preposition _of_, to
connect it with the verbal noun; as, 1. THE PARTICIPLE: "_Worshiping_
idols, the Jews sinned."--"_Thus worshiping_ idols,--_In worshiping_
idols,--or, _By worshiping_ idols, they sinned." 2. THE VERBAL NOUN: "_The
worshiping of_ idols,--_Such worshiping of_ idols,--or, _Their worshiping
of_ idols, was sinful."--"_In the worshiping of_ idols, there is sin."

OBS. 8.--It is commonly supposed that these two modes of expression are, in
very many instances, equivalent to each other in meaning, and consequently
interchangeable. How far they really are so, is a question to be
considered. Example: "But if candour be _a confounding of_ the distinctions
between sin and holiness, _a depreciating of_ the excellence of the latter,
and at the same time _a diminishing of_ the evil of the former; then it
must be something openly at variance with the letter and the spirit of
revelation."--_The Friend_, iv, 108. Here the nouns, _distinctions,
excellence_, and _evil_, though governed by _of_, represent the _objects_
of the forenamed actions; and therefore they might well be governed by
_confounding, depreciating_, and _diminishing_, if these were participles.
But if, to make them such, we remove the article and the preposition, the
construction forsakes our meaning; for _be confounding, (be) depreciating_,
and _(be) diminishing_, seem rather to be verbs of the compound form; and
our uncertain nominatives after _be_, thus disappear in the shadow of a
false sense. But some sensible critics tell us, that this preposition _of_
should refer rather to the _agent_ of the preceding action, than to its
_passive object_; so that such a phrase as, "_the teaching of boys_,"
should signify rather the instruction which boys give, than that which they
receive. If, for the sake of this principle, or for any other reason, we
wish to avoid the foregoing phraseology, the meaning may be expressed thus:
"But if _your_ candour _confound_ the distinctions between sin and
holiness; _if it depreciate_ the excellence of the latter, and at the same
time _diminish_ the evil of the former; then it must be something openly at
variance with the letter and the spirit of revelation."

OBS. 9.--When the use of the preposition produces ambiguity or harshness,
let a better expression be sought. Thus the sentence, "He mentions
_Newton's writing of_ a commentary," is not entirely free from either of
these faults. If the preposition be omitted, the word _writing_ will have a
double construction, which is inadmissible, or at least objectionable. Some
would say, "He mentions _Newton writing_ a commentary." This, though not
uncommon, is still more objectionable because it makes the leading word in
sense the adjunct in construction. The meaning may be correctly expressed
thus: "He mentions _that Newton wrote_ a commentary." "Mr. Dryden makes a
very handsome observation on _Ovid's writing a letter_ from Dido to
Æneas."--_Spect._, No. 62; _Campbell's Rhet._, p. 265; _Murray's Key_, ii,
253. Here the word _writing_ is partly a noun and partly a participle. If
we make it wholly a noun, by saying, "on _Ovid's writing of_ a letter," or
wholly a participle, by saying, "on _Ovid writing_ a letter;" it may be
doubted, whether we have effected any improvement. And again, if we adopt
Dr. Lowth's advice, "Let it be either the one or the other, and abide by
its proper construction;" we must make some change; and therefore ought
perhaps to say; "on _Ovid's conceit of writing_ a letter from Dido to
Æneas." This is apparently what Addison meant, and what Dryden remarked
upon; the latter did not speak of the letter itself, else the former would
have said, "on _Ovid's letter_ from Dido to Æneas."

OBS. 10.--When a needless possessive, or a needless article, is put before
the participle, the correction is to be made, not by inserting _of_, but by
expunging the article, according to Note 16th to Rule 1st, or the
possessive, according to Note 5th to Rule 4th. Example: "By _his_ studying
the Scriptures he became wise."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 91. Here _his_ serves
only to render the sentence incorrect; yet this spurious example is
presented by Lennie to _prove_ that a participle may take the possessive
case before it, when the preposition _of_ is not admissible after it. So,
in stead of expunging one useless word, our grammarians _often_ add an
other and call the twofold error a _correction_; as, "For _his_ avoiding
_of_ that precipice, he is indebted to his friend's care."--_Murray's Key_,
ii, 201. Or worse yet: "_It was from our_ misunderstanding _of_ the
directions _that_ we lost our way."--_Ibid._ Here, not _our_ and _of_ only,
but four other words, are worse than useless. Again: "By _the_ exercising
_of_ our judgment, it is improved. Or thus: By _exercising_ our judgment,
it is improved."--_Comly's Key in his Gram._, 12th Ed., p. 188. Each of
these pretended corrections is wrong in more respects than one. Say, "By
exercising our _judgement, we improve it_" Or, "Our _judgement_ is improved
by _being exercised_" Again: "_The loving of_ our enemies is a divine
_command_; Or, _loving our enemies_ [is a divine command]."--_Ibid._ Both
of these are also wrong. Say, "'_Love your enemies_,' is a divine command."
Or, "_We are divinely commanded to love_ our enemies." Some are apt to
jumble together the active voice and the passive, and thus destroy the
unity even of a short sentence; as, "By _exercising_ our memories, they
_are improved_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 226 and 195. "The error _might have
been avoided_ by _repeating_ the substantive."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 172.
"By _admitting_ such violations of established grammatical distinctions,
confusion _would be introduced_."--_Ib._, p. 187. In these instances, we
have an active participle without an agent; and this, by the preposition
_by_, is made an adjunct to a passive verb. Even the participial noun of
this form, though it actually drops the distinction of voice, is awkward
and apparently incongruous in such a relation.

OBS. 11.--When the verbal noun necessarily retains any adjunct of the verb
or participle, it seems proper that the two words be made a compound by
means of the hyphen: as, "Their hope shall be as the _giving-up_ of the
ghost."--_Job_, xi, 20. "For if the _casting-away_ of them be the
reconciling of the world."--_Rom._, xi, 15. "And the _gathering-together_
of the waters called he seas."--_Gen._, i, 10. "If he should offer to stop
the _runnings-out_ of his justice."--_Law and Grace_, p. 26. "The
_stopping-short_ before the usual pause in the melody, aids the impression
that is made by the description of the stone's _stopping-short_.'"--_Kames,
El. of Crit._, ii, 106. I do not find these words united in the places
referred to, but this is nevertheless their true figure. Our authors and
printers are lamentably careless, as well as ignorant, respecting _the
figure of words_: for which part of grammar, see the whole of the third
chapter, in Part First of this work; also observations on the fourth rule
of syntax, from the 30th to the 35th. As certain other compounds may
sometimes be broken by _tmesis_, so may some of these; as, "Not forsaking
the _assembling_ of ourselves _together_, as the manner of some
is."--_Heb._, x, 23. Adverbs may relate to participles, but nouns require
adjectives. The following phrase is therefore inaccurate: "For the more
_easily_ reading of large numbers." Yet if we say, "For reading large
numbers _the more easily_," the construction is different, and not
inaccurate. Some calculator, I think, has it, "For the more _easily_
reading large numbers." But Hutton says, "For the more _easy_ reading _of_
large numbers."--_Hutton's Arith._, p. 5; so _Babcock's_, p. 12. It would
be quite as well to say, "For the _greater ease in_ reading large numbers."

OBS. 12.--Many words of a participial form are used directly as nouns,
without any article, adjective, or possessive case before them, and without
any object or adjunct after them. Such is commonly the construction of the
words _spelling, reading, writing, ciphering, surveying, drawing, parsing_,
and many other such _names_ of actions or exercises. They are rightly put
by Johnson among "_nouns_ derived from _verbs_;" for, "The [name of the]
action is the same with the participle present, as _loving, frighting,
fighting, striking_."--_Dr. Johnson's Gram._, p. 10. Thus: "I like
_writing_."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 171. "He supposed, with them, that
_affirming_ and _denying_ were operations of the mind."--_Tooke's
Diversions_, i, 35. "'Not rendering,' said Polycarp the disciple of John,
'evil for evil, or _railing_ for _railing_, or _striking_ for _striking_,
or _cursing_ for _cursing_."--_Dymond, on War_. Against this practice,
there is seldom any objection; the words are wholly nouns, both in sense
and construction. We call them _participial_ nouns, only because they
resemble participles in their derivation; or if we call them _verbal_
nouns, it is because they are derived from verbs. But we too frequently
find those which retain the government and the adjuncts of participles,
used as nouns before or after verbs; or, more properly speaking, used as
mongrels and nondescripts, a doubtful species, for which there is seldom
any necessity, since the infinitive, the verbal or some other noun, or a
clause introduced by the conjunction _that_, will generally express the
idea in a better manner: as, "_Exciting_ such disturbances, is unlawful."
Say rather, "_To excite_ such disturbances,--_The exciting of_ such
disturbances,--_The excitation of_ such disturbances,--or, _That one should
excite_ such disturbances, is unlawful."

OBS. 13.--Murray says, "The word _the_, before the _active participle_, in
the following sentence, and in all others of a similar construction, is
improper, and should be omitted: '_The_ advising, or _the_ attempting, to
excite such disturbances, is unlawful.' It should be, '_Advising_ or
_attempting_ to excite disturbances.'"--_Octavo Gram._, p. 195. But, by his
own showing, "the present participle, with the definite article _the_
before it, becomes a _substantive_."--_Ib._, p. 192. And substantives, or
nouns, by an other of his notes, can govern the infinitive mood, just as
well as participles; or just as well as the verbs which he thinks would be
very proper here; namely, "To _advise_ or _attempt_ to excite such
disturbances."--_Ib._, p. 196. It would be right to say, "_Any advice_, or
_attempt_, to excite such disturbances, is unlawful." And I see not that he
has improved the text at all, by expunging the article. _Advising_ and
_attempting_, being disjunct nominatives to _is_, are nothing but nouns,
whether the article be used or not; though they are rather less obviously
such without it, and therefore the change is for the worse.

OBS. 14.--Lennie observes, "When _a preposition_"--(he should have said,
When _an other_ preposition--) "follows the participle, _of_ is
inadmissible; as, _His_ depending _on_ promises proved his ruin. _His_
neglecting _to_ study when young, rendered him ignorant all his
life."--_Prin. of E. Gram._, 5th Ed., p. 65; 13th Ed., 91. Here _on_ and
_to_, of course, exclude _of_; but the latter may be changed to _of_, which
will turn the infinitive into a noun: as, "_His_ neglecting _of study_,"
&c. "_Depending_" and "_neglecting_," being equivalent to _dependence_ and
_neglect_, are participial nouns, and not "participles." Professor
Bullions, too, has the same faulty remark, examples and all; (for his book,
of the same title, is little else than a gross plagiarism from Lennie's;)
though he here forgets his other erroneous doctrines, that, "A
_preposition_ should never be used before the infinitive," and that,
"Active verbs do not admit a preposition after them." See _Bullions's Prin.
of E. Gram._, pp. 91, 92, and 107.

OBS. 15.--The participle in _ing_ is, on many occasions, equivalent to the
infinitive verb, so that the speaker or writer may adopt either, just as he
pleases: as, "So their gerunds are sometimes found _having_ [or _to have_]
an absolute or apparently neuter signification."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p.
234. "With tears that ceas'd not _flowing_" [or _to flow_].--_Milton_. "I
would willingly have him _producing_ [_produce_, or _to produce_] his
credentials."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 273. There are also instances, and
according to my notion not a few, in which the one is put _improperly_ for
the other. The participle however is erroneously used for the infinitive
much oftener than the infinitive for the participle. The lawful uses of
both are exceedingly numerous; though the syntax of the participle,
strictly speaking, does not include its various _conversions_ into other
parts of speech. The principal instances of _regular_ equivalence between
infinitives and participles, may be reduced to the following heads:

1. After the verbs _see, hear_, and _feel_, the participle in _ing_,
relating to the objective, is often equivalent to the infinitive governed
by the verb; as, "I saw him _running_"--"I heard it _howling_."--_W.
Allen_. "I feel the wind _blowing_." Here the verbs, _run, howl_, and
_blow_, might be substituted. 2. After intransitive verbs signifying _to
begin_ or _to continue_, the participle in _ing_, relating to the
nominative, may be used in stead of the infinitive connected to the verb;
as, "The ass began _galloping_ with all his might."--_Sandford and Merton_.
"It commenced _raining_ very hard."--_Silliman_. "The steamboats commenced
_running_ on Saturday."--_Daily Advertiser_. "It is now above three years
since he began _printing_."--_Dr. Adam's Pref. to Rom. Antiq._ "So when
they continued _asking_ him."--_John_, viii, 7. Greek, "[Greek: Os epemenon
erotontes auton.]" Latin, "Cum ergo perseverarent _interrogantes_
eum."--_Vulgate_. "Cùm autem perseverarent eum _interrogare_."--_Beza_.
"Then shall ye continue _following_ the Lord your God."--_1 Sam._, xii, 14.
"Eritis _sequentes_ Dominum Deum vestrum."--_Vulgate_. "As she continued
_praying_ before the Lord."--_1 Sam._, i, 12. "Cùm ilia _multiplicaret
preces_ coram Domino."--_Vulgate_. "And they went on _beating down_ one an
other."--_2 Sam._, xiv, 16. "Make the members of them go on _rising_ and
_growing_ in their importance."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 116. "Why do you keep
_teasing_ me?"

3. After _for, in, of_, or _to_, and perhaps some other prepositions, the
participle may in most cases be varied by the infinitive, which is governed
by _to_ only; as, "We are better fitted _for receiving_ the tenets and
_obeying_ the precepts of that faith which will make us wise unto
salvation."--_West's Letters_, p. 51. That is--"_to receive_ the tenets and
_obey_ the precepts." "Men fit _for fighting_, practised _in fighting_,
proud _of fighting_, accustomed _to fighting_."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p.
172. That is, "fit _to fight_," &c. "What is the right path, few take the
trouble _of inquiring_."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo. ii, 235. Better,
perhaps:--"few take the trouble _to inquire_."

OBS. 16.--One of our best grammarians says, "The infinitive, in the
following sentences, _should be exchanged_ for the participle: 'I am weary
_to bear_ them.' Is. i, 14. 'Hast thou, spirit, perform'd _to point_ the
tempest?' Shak."--_Allen's Gram._, p. 172. This suggestion implies, that
the participle would be here not only equivalent to the infinitive in
sense, but better in expression. It is true, the preposition _to_ does not
well express the relation between _weary_ and _bear_; and, doubtless, some
regard should be had to the meaning of this particle, whenever it is any
thing more than an index of the mood. But the critic ought to have told us
how he would make these corrections. For in neither case does the
participle alone appear to be a fit substitute for the infinitive, either
with or without the _to_; and the latter text will scarcely bear the
participle at all, unless we change the former verb; as, "Hast thou,
spirit, _done pointing_ the tempest?" The true meaning of the other example
seems somewhat uncertain. The Vulgate has it, _"Laboravi sustinens_," "I
have laboured _bearing_ them;" the French Bible, "_Je suis las de les
souffrir_," "I am tired of _bearing_ them;" the Septuagint, "[Greek: Ouketi
anæso tas hamartias humon,]" "I will no more forgive your sins."

OBS. 17.--In the following text, the infinitive is used improperly, nor
would the participle in its stead make pure English: "I will not reprove
thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt-offerings, _to have been_ continually
before me."--_Ps. 1. 8._ According to the French version, _"to have been"_
should be _"which are;"_ but the Septuagint and the Vulgate take the
preceding noun for the nominative, thus: "I will not reprove thee for thy
sacrifices, _but thy burnt-offerings are_ continually before me."

OBS. 18.--As the preposition _to_ before the infinitive shows the latter to
be "_that towards which_ the preceding verb is directed," verbs of
_desisting, omitting, preventing_, and _avoiding_, are generally found to
take the participle after them, and not the infinitive; because, in such
instances, the direction of effort seems not to be so properly _to_, or
_towards_, as _from_ the action.[419] Where the preposition _from_ is
inserted, (as it most commonly is, after some of these verbs.) there is no
irregularity in the construction of the participle; but where the
participle immediately follows the verb, it is perhaps questionable whether
it ought to be considered the object of the verb, or a mere participle
relating to the nominative which precedes. If we suppose the latter, the
participle may be parsed by the common rule; if the former, it must be
referred to the third exception above. For example:

1. After verbs of DESISTING; as, "The Cryer used to proclaim, DIXERUNT, i.
e. They _have done speaking._"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 132. "A friend is
advised to _put off making_ love to Lalage."--_Philological Museum_, i,
446. "He _forbore doing_ so, on the ground of expediency."--_The Friend_,
iv, 35. "And yet architects never _give over attempting_ to reconcile these
two incompatibles."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 338. "Never to _give over
seeking_ and _praying_ for it."--_N. Y. Observer._ "Do not _leave off
seeking._"--_President Edwards._ "Then Satan _hath done flattering_ and
_comforting._"--_Baxter._ "The princes _refrained talking._"--_Job_, xxix,
9. "Principes _cessabant loqui._"--_Vulgate._ Here it would be better to
say, "The princes refrained _from_ talking." But Murray says, "_From_ seems
to be superfluous after _forbear_: as, 'He could not forbear from
appointing the pope,' &c."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 203. But _"forbear to
appoint"_ would be a better correction; for this verb is often followed by
the infinitive; as, _"Forbear to insinuate."_--_West's Letters_, p. 62.
"And he _forbare to go_ forth."--_1 Sam._, xxiii, 13. The reader will
observe, that, _"never to give over"_ or _"not to leave off,"_ is in fact
the same thing as to continue; and I have shown by the analogy of other
languages, that after verbs of continuing the participle is not an object
of government; though possibly it may be so, in these instances, which are
somewhat different. 2. After verbs of OMITTING; as, "He _omits giving_ an
account of them."--_Tooke's Diversions of Purley_, i, 251. I question the
propriety of this construction; and yet, _"omits to give"_ seems still more
objectionable. Better, "He _omits all account_ of them." Or, "He _neglects
to give_, or _forbears to give_, any account of them." L. Murray twice
speaks of apologizing, "for the use he has made of his predecessors'
labours, and for _omitting to insert_ their names."--_Octavo Gram., Pref._,
p. vii; and _Note_, p. 73. The phrase, _"omitting to insert,"_ appears to
me a downright solecism; and the pronoun _their_ is ambiguous, because
there are well-known names both for the _men_ and for their _labours_, and
he ought not to have omitted either species wholly, as he did. "Yet they
absolutely _refuse doing so_, one with another."--_Harris's Hermes_, p.
264. Better, _"refuse to do so."_ "I had as repeatedly _declined_
going."--_Leigh Hunt's Byron_, p. 15.

3. After verbs of PREVENTING; as, "Our sex are happily _prevented from
engaging_ in these turbulent scenes."--_West's Letters to a Lady_, p. 74.
"To prevent our frail natures _from deviating_ into bye paths [write
_by-paths_] of error."--_Ib._, p. 100. "Prudence, prevents our speaking or
acting improperly."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 99; _Murray's Gram._, p. 303;
_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 72. This construction, though very common, is
palpably wrong: because its most natural interpretation is, "Prudence
improperly prevents our speech or action." These critics ought to have
known enough to say, "Prudence prevents _us from_ speaking or acting
improperly." "This, however, doth not _hinder_ pronunciation _to borrow_
from singing."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 70. Here the infinitive is used,
merely because it does not sound well to say, _"from borrowing from
singing;"_ but the expression might very well be changed thus, _"from being
indebted to singing."_ "'This by no means _hinders_ the book _to be_ a
useful one.'--_Geddes._ It should be, _'from being.'_"--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 318.

4. After verbs of AVOIDING: as, "He might have _avoided treating_ of the
origin of ideas."--_Tooke's Diversions_, i, 28. "We may _avoid talking_
nonsense on these subjects."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 281. "But carefully
_avoid being_ at any time ostentatious and affected."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
233. "Here I cannot _avoid mentioning_[420] the assistance I have
received."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. iv. "It is our duty to _avoid leading_
others into temptation,"--_West's Letters_, p. 33. "Nay, such a garden
should in some measure _avoid imitating_ nature."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 251. "I can promise no entertainment to those who _shun
thinking_."--_Ib._, i, 36. "We cannot _help being_ of opinion."--ENCYC.
BRIT. _Murray's Gram._, p. 76. "I cannot _help being_ of
opinion."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 311. "I cannot _help mentioning_ here one
character more."--_Hughes. Spect._, No. 554. "These would sometimes very
narrowly _miss being catched_ away."--_Steele_. "Carleton very narrowly
_escaped being taken_."--_Grimshaw's Hist._, p. 111. Better, "escaped
_from_ being taken;"--or, "_escaped capture_."

OBS. 19.--In sentences like the following, the participle seems to be
improperly made _the object_ of the verb: "I intend _doing_ it."--"I
remember _meeting_ him." Better, "I intend _to do_ it."--"I remember _to
have met_ him." According to my notion, it is an error to suppose that
verbs in general may govern participles. If there are any proper instances
of such government, they would seem to be chiefly among verbs of _quitting_
or _avoiding_. And even here the analogy of General Grammar gives
countenance to a different solution; as, "They _left beating of_
Paul."--_Acts_, xxi, 32. Better, "They _left beating_ Paul;"--or, "They
_quit beating_ Paul." Greek, "[Greek: Epausanto tuptontes ton Paulon.]"
Latin, "Cessaverunt _percutientes_ Paulum."--_Montanus_. "Cessarunt
_coedere_ Paulum."--_Beza_. "Cessaverunt _percutere_ Paulum."--_Vulgate_.
It is true, the English participle in _ing_ differs in some respects from
that which usually corresponds to it in Latin or Greek; it has more of a
substantive character, and is commonly put for the Latin gerund. If this
difference does not destroy the argument from analogy, the opinion is still
just, that _left_ and _quit_ are here _intransitive_, and that the
participle _beating_ relates to the pronoun _they_. Such is unequivocally
the construction of the Greek text, and also of the literal Latin of Arias
Montanus. But, to the mere English grammarian, this method of parsing will
not be apt to suggest itself: because, at first sight, the verbs appear to
be transitive, and the participle in _ing_ has nothing to prove it an
adjunct of the nominative, and not the object of the verb--unless, indeed,
the mere fact that it is a participle, is proof of this.

OBS. 20.--Our great Compiler, Murray, not understanding this construction,
or not observing what verbs admit of it, or require it, has very
unskillfully laid it down as a rule, that, "The participle with its
adjuncts, may be considered as a _substantive phrase_ in the objective
case, governed by the preposition or verb, _expressed or understood_: as,
'By _promising much and performing but little_, we become despicable.' 'He
studied to avoid _expressing himself too severely_.'"--_Octavo Gram._, p.
194.[421] This very popular author seems never to have known that
participles, as such, may be governed in English by prepositions. And yet
he knew, and said, that "prepositions do not, _like articles and pronouns_,
convert the participle itself into the nature of a substantive."--_Ibid._
This he avouches in the same breath in which he gives that "nature" to a
participle and its adverb! For, by a false comma after _much_, he cuts his
first "_substantive phrase_" absurdly in two; and doubtless supposes a
false ellipsis of _by_ before the participle _performing_. Of his method of
resolving the second example, some notice has already been taken, in
Observations 4th and 5th on Rule 5th. Though he pretends that the whole
phrase is in the objective case, "the truth is, the assertion grammatically
affects the first word only;" which in one aspect he regards as a noun, and
in an other as a participle: whereas he himself, on the preceding page, had
adopted from Lowth a different doctrine, and cautioned the learner against
treating words in _ing_, "as if they were of an _amphibious_ species,
partly nouns and partly _verbs_;" that is, "partly nouns and partly
_participles_;" for, according to Murray, Lowth, and many others,
participles are verbs. The term, "_substantive phrase_," itself a solecism,
was invented merely to cloak this otherwise bald inconsistency. Copying
Lowth again, the great Compiler defines a phrase to be "two or more words
rightly put together;" and, surely, if we have a well-digested system of
grammar, whatsoever words are rightly put together, may be regularly parsed
by it. But how can one indivisible word be consistently made two different
parts of speech at once? And is not this the situation of every transitive
participle that is made either the _subject_ or the _object_ of a verb?
Adjuncts never alter either the nature or the construction of the words on
which they depend; and participial nouns differ from participles in both.
The former express actions _as things_; the latter generally attribute them
to their agents or recipients.

OBS. 21.--The Latin gerund is "a kind of verbal noun, partaking of the
nature of a participle."--_Webster's Dict._ "A gerund is a participial
noun, of the neuter gender, and singular-number, declinable like a
substantive, having no vocative, construed like a substantive, and
governing the case of its verb."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p. 70. In the Latin
gerund thus defined, there is an appearance of ancient classical authority
for that "amphibious species" of words of which so much notice has already
been taken. Our participle in _ing_, when governed by a preposition,
undoubtedly corresponds very nearly, both in sense and construction, to
this Latin gerund; the principal difference being, that the one is
declined, like a noun, and the other is not. The analogy, however, is but
lamely maintained, when we come to those irregular constructions in which
the participle is made a half-noun in English. It is true, the gerund of
the nominative case may be made the subject of a verb in Latin; but we do
not translate it by the English participle, but rather by the infinitive,
or still oftener by the verb with the auxiliary _must_: as, "_Vivendum est
mihi rectè_, I must live well."--_Grant's L. Gram._, p. 232. This is better
English than the nearer version, "Living correctly is necessary for me;"
and the exact imitation, "Living is to me correctly," is nonsense. Nor does
the Latin gerund often govern the genitive like a noun, or ever stand as
the direct object of a transitive verb, except in some few doubtful
instances about which the grammarians dispute. For, in fact, to explain
this species of words, has puzzled the Latin grammarians about as much as
the English; though the former do not appear to have fallen into those
palpable self-contradictions which embarrass the instructions of the
latter.

OBS. 22.--Dr. Adam says, "The gerund in English becomes a substantive, by
_prefixing_ the article to it, and then it is always to be construed with
the preposition _of_; as, 'He is employed _in writing_ letters,' or, 'in
_the writing of_ letters:' but it is improper to say, 'in _the writing_
letters,' or, 'in _writing of_ letters.'"--_Latin and English Gram._, p.
184. This doctrine is also taught by Lowth, Priestley, Murray, Comly,
Chandler, and many others; most of whom extend the principle to all
participles that govern the possessive case; and they might as well have
added all such as are made either the subjects or the objects of verbs, and
such as are put for nominatives after verbs neuter. But Crombie, Allen,
Churchill, S. S. Greene, Hiley, Wells, Weld, and some others, teach that
participles may perform these several offices of a substantive, without
dropping the regimen and adjuncts of participles. This doctrine, too,
Murray and his copyists absurdly endeavour to reconcile with the other, by
resorting to the idle fiction of "_substantive phrases_" endued with all
these powers: as, "_His being at enmity with Cæsar_ was the cause of
perpetual discord."--_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 237; _Churchill's Gram._, p.
141. "Another fault is _allowing it to supersede_ the use of a point."--
_Churchill's Gram._, p. 372. "To be sure there is a possibility of some
ignorant _reader's confounding the two vowels_ in pronunciation."--_Ib._,
p. 375. It is much better to avoid all such English as this. Say, rather,
"_His enmity with Cæsar_ was the cause of perpetual discord."--"An other
fault is _the allowing of_ it to _supersede_ the use of a point."--"To be
sure, there is a possibility _that_ some ignorant _reader may confound_ the
two vowels, in pronunciation."

OBS. 23.--In French, the infinitive is governed by several different
prepositions, and the gerundive by one only, the preposition _en_,--which,
however, is sometimes suppressed; as, "_en passant, en faisant,--il alloit
courant_."--_Traité des Participes_, p. 2. In English, the gerundive is
governed by several different prepositions, and the infinitive by one only,
the preposition _to_,--which, in like manner, is sometimes suppressed; as,
"_to pass, to do,--I saw him run_." The difficulties in the syntax of the
French participle in _ant_, which corresponds to ours in _ing_, are
apparently as great in themselves, as those which the syntax of the English
word presents; but they result from entirely different causes, and chiefly
from the liability there is of confounding the participle with the verbal
adjective, which is formed from it. The confounding of it with the
gerundive is now, in either language, of little or no consequence, since in
modern French, as well as in English, both are indeclinable. For this
reason, I have framed the syntactical rule for participles so as to include
under that name the gerund, or gerundive, which is a participle governed by
a preposition. The great difficulty with us, is, to determine whether the
participle ought, or ought not, to be allowed to assume _other_
characteristics of a noun, without dropping those of a participle, and
without becoming wholly a noun. The liability of confounding the English
participle with the verbal or participial adjective, amounts to nothing
more than the occasional misnaming of a word in parsing; or perhaps an
occasional ambiguity in the style of some writer, as in the following
citation: "I am resolved, 'let the newspapers say what they please of
_canvassing_ beauties, _haranguing_ toasts, and _mobbing_ demireps,' not to
believe one syllable."--_Jane West's Letters to a Young Lady_, p. 74. From
these words, it is scarcely possible to find out, even with the help of the
context whether these three sorts of ladies are spoken of as the
canvassers, haranguers, and mobbers, or as being canvassed, harangued, and
mobbed. If the prolixity and multiplicity of these observations transcend
the reader's patience, let him consider that the questions at issue cannot
be settled by the brief enunciation of loose individual opinions, but must
be examined in the light of _all the analogies and facts_ that bear upon
them. So considerable are the difficulties of properly distinguishing the
participle from the verbal adjective in French, that that indefatigable
grammarian, Girault Du Vivier, after completing his _Grammaire des
Grammaires_ in two large octavo volumes, thought proper to _enlarge_ his
instructions on this head, and to publish them in a separate book, (_Traité
des Participes_,) though we have it on his own authority, that the rule for
participles had already given rise to a greater number of dissertations and
particular treatises than any other point in French grammar.

OBS. 24.--A participle construed after the nominative or the objective
case, is not in general equivalent to a verbal noun governing the
possessive. There is sometimes a nice distinction to be observed in the
application of these two constructions. For the leading word in sense,
should not be made the adjunct in construction. The following sentences
exhibit a disregard to this principle, and are both inaccurate: "He felt
his _strength's_ declining."--"He was sensible of his _strength_
declining." In the former sentence, the noun _strength_ should be in the
objective case, governed by _felt_; and in the latter, it should rather be
in the possessive, governed by _declining_. Thus: "He felt his _strength_
declining;" i.e., "_felt it decline_."--"He was sensible of his
_strength's_ declining;" i.e., "_of its decline_." These two sentences
state the same fact, but, in construction, they are very different; nor
does it appear, that where there is no difference of meaning, the two
constructions are properly interchangeable. This point has already been
briefly noticed in Obs. 12th and 13th on Rule 4th. But the false and
discordant instructions which our grammarians deliver respecting
possessives before participles; their strange neglect of this plain
principle of reason, that the leading word in sense ought to be made the
leading or governing word in the construction; and the difficulties which
they and other writers are continually falling into, by talking their
choice between two errors, in stead of avoiding both: these, as well as
their suggestions of sameness or difference of import between the
participle and the participial noun, require some farther extension of my
observations in this place.

OBS. 25.--Upon the classification of words, as parts of speech,
distinguished according to their natures and uses, depends the whole scheme
of grammatical science. And it is plain, that a bad distribution, or a
confounding of such things as ought to be separated, must necessarily be
attended with inconveniences to the student, for which no skill or learning
in the expounder of such a system can ever compensate. The absurdity of
supposing with Horne Tooke, that the same word can never be used so
differently as to belong to different parts of speech, I have already
alluded to more than once. The absolute necessity of classing words, not
according to their derivation merely, but rather according to their sense
and construction, is too evident to require any proof. Yet, different as
are the natures and the uses of _verbs, participles_, and _nouns_, it is no
uncommon thing to find these three parts of speech confounded together; and
that too to a very great extent, and by some of our very best grammarians,
without even an attempt on their part to distinguish them. For instances of
this glaring fault and perplexing inconsistency, the reader may turn to the
books of W. Allen and T. O. Churchill, two of the best authors that have
ever written on English grammar. Of the participle the latter gives no
formal definition, but he represents it as "_a form_, in which _the action_
denoted by _the verb_ is capable of being joined _to a noun_ as _its
quality_, or accident."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 85. Again he says,
"That the participle is _a mere mode of the verb_ is manifest, if our
definition of a verb be admitted."--_Ib._, p. 242. While he thus identifies
the participle with the verb, this author scruples not to make what he
calls the imperfect participle perform all the offices of a _noun_: saying,
"Frequently too it is used as a noun, admits a preposition or an article
before it, becomes a plural by taking _s_ at the end, and governs a
possessive case: as, 'He who has _the comings_ in of a prince, may be
ruined _by his_ own _gaming_, or his _wife's squandering_.'"--_Ib._, p.
144. The plural here exhibited, if rightly written, would have the _s_, not
at the end, but in the middle; for _comings-in_, (an obsolete expression
for _revenues_,) is not two words, but one. Nor are _gaming_ and
_squandering_, to be here called participles, but nouns. Yet, among all his
rules and annotations, I do not find that Churchill any where teaches that
participles _become nouns_ when they are used substantively. The following
example he exhibits for the express purpose of showing that the nominatives
to "_is_" and "_may be_" are not nouns, but participles: "_Walking is_ the
best exercise, though riding _may be_ more pleasant."--_Ib._, p. 141. And,
what is far worse, though his book is professedly an amplification of
Lowth's brief grammar, he so completely annuls the advice of Lowth
concerning the distinguishing of participles from participial nouns, that
he not only misnames the latter when they are used correctly, but approves
and adopts well-nigh all the various forms of error, with which the mixed
and irregular construction of participles has filled our language: of these
forms, there are, I think, not fewer than a dozen.

OBS. 26.--Allen's account of the participle is no better than
Churchill's--and no worse than what the reader may find in many an English
Grammar now in use. This author's fault is not so much a lack of learning
or of comprehension, as of order and discrimination. We see in him, that it
is possible for a man to be well acquainted with English authors, ancient
as well as modern, and to read Greek and Latin, French and Saxon, and yet
to falter miserably in describing the nature and uses of the English
participle. Like many others, he does not acknowledge this sort of words to
be one of the parts of speech; but commences his account of it by the
following absurdity: "The participles _are adjectives_ derived from the
verb; as, _pursuing, pursued, having pursued_."--_Elements of E. Gram._, p.
62. This definition not only confounds the participle with the participial
adjective, but merges the whole of the former species in a part of speech
of which he had not even recognized the latter as a subdivision: "An
adjective shows the _quality_ of a thing. Adjectives may be reduced to five
classes: 1. Common--2. Proper--3. Numeral--4. Pronominal--5.
Compound."--_Ib._, p. 47. Now, if "participles are adjectives," to which of
these five classes do they belong? But there are participial or verbal
adjectives, very many; a sixth class, without which this distribution is
false and incomplete: as, "a _loving_ father; an _approved_ copy." The
participle differs from these, as much as it does from a noun. But says our
author, "Participles, as simple adjectives, belong to _a noun_; as, a
_loving_ father; an _approved_ copy;--as parts of the verb, they have the
same government _as_ their verbs have; as, his father, _recalling the
pleasures_ of past years, joined their party."--_Ib._, p. 170. What
confusion is this! a complete jumble of adjectives, participles, and "parts
of verbs!" Again: "Present participles are often construed as substantives;
as, early _rising_ is conducive to health; I like _writing_; we depend on
_seeing_ you."--_Ib._, p. 171. Here _rising_ and _writing_ are nouns; but
_seeing_ is a participle, because it is active and governs _you_, Compare
this second jumble with the definition above. Again he proceeds: "To
participles thus used, many of our best authors prefix the article; as,
'_The being chosen_ did not prevent disorderly behaviour.' Bp. Tomline.
'_The not knowing how to pass_ our vacant hours.' Seed."--_Ib._, p. 171.
These examples I take to be bad English. Say rather, "The _state of
election_ did not prevent disorderly behaviour."--"The _want of some
entertainment for_ our vacant hours." The author again proceeds: "If a noun
limits the meaning of a participle thus used, that noun is put in the
genitive; as, your _father's coming_ was unexected."--_Ib._, p. 171. Here
_coming_ is a noun, and no participle at all. But the author has a marginal
note, "A possessive pronoun is equivalent to a genitive;" (_ibid._;) and he
means to approve of possessives before active participles: as, "Some of
these irregularities arise from _our having received the words_ through a
French medium."--_Ib._, p. 116. This brings us again to that difficult and
apparently unresolvable problem, whether participles as such, by virtue of
their mixed gerundive character, can, or cannot, govern the possessive
case; a question, about which, the more a man examines it, the more he may
doubt.

OBS. 27.--But, before we say any thing more about the government of this
case, let us look at our author's next paragraph on participles: "An active
participle, preceded by _an article_ or by _a genitive_, is elegantly
followed by the preposition _of_, before the substantive which follows it;
as, _the_ compiling _of_ that book occupied several years; _his_ quitting
_of_ the army was unexpected."--_Allen's Gram._, p. 171. Here the
participial nouns _compiling_ and _quitting_ are improperly called active
participles, from which they are certainly as fairly distinguished by the
construction, as they can be by any means whatever. And this complete
distinction the author considers at least an elegance, if not an absolute
requisite, in English composition. And he immediately adds: "When this
construction produces _ambiguity_, the expression _must be
varied_."--_Ib._, p. 171. This suggestion is left without illustration; but
it doubtless refers to one of Murray's remarks, in which it is said: "A
phrase in which the article precedes the _present participle_ and the
possessive preposition follows it, will not, in every instance, convey the
same meaning as would be conveyed by the participle without the article and
preposition. 'He expressed the pleasure he had _in the hearing of_ the
philosopher,' is _capable of a different sense_ from, 'He expressed the
pleasure he had _in hearing_ the philosopher.'"--_Murray's Octavo Gram._,
p. 193; _R. C. Smith's Gram._, 161; _Ingersoll's_, 199; and others. Here
may be seen a manifest difference between the verbal or participial noun,
and the participle or gerund; but Murray, in both instances, absurdly calls
the word _hearing_ a "present participle;" and, having robbed the former
sentence of a needful comma, still more absurdly supposes it ambiguous:
whereas the phrase, "in the hearing _of the philosopher_," means only, "in
the _philosopher's_ hearing;" and not, "in hearing the philosopher," or,
"in hearing _of_ the philosopher." But the true question is, would it be
right to say, "He expressed the pleasure he had in the _philosopher's_
hearing _him_?" For here it would be _equivocal_ to say, "in the
philosopher's hearing _of_ him;" and some aver, that _of_ would be wrong,
in any such instance, even if the sense were clear. But let us recur to the
mixed example from Allen, and compare it with his own doctrines. To say,
"from _our_ having received _of_ the words through a French medium," would
certainly be no elegance; and if it be not an ambiguity, it is something
worse. The expression, then, "must be varied." But varied how? Is it right
without the _of_, though contrary to the author's rule for elegance?

OBS. 28.--The observations which have been made on this point, under the
rule for the possessive case, while they show, to some extent, the
inconsistencies in doctrine, and the improprieties of practice, into which
the difficulties of the mixed participle have betrayed some of our
principal grammarians, bring likewise the weight of much authority and
reason against the custom of blending without distinction the
characteristics of nouns and participles in the same word or words; but
still they may not be thought sufficient to prove this custom to be
altogether wrong; nor do they pretend to have fully established the dogma,
that such a construction is in no instance admissible. They show, however,
that possessives before participles are _seldom_ to be approved; and
perhaps, in the present instance, the meaning might be quite as well
expressed by a common substantive, or the regular participial noun: as,
"Some of these irregularities arise from _our reception of_ the words--or
_our receiving of_ the words--through a French medium." But there are some
examples which it is not easy to amend, either in this way, or in any
other; as, "The miscarriages of youth have very much proceeded from _their
being imprudently indulged_, or _left_ to themselves."--_Friends' N. E.
Discipline_, p. 13. And there are instances too, of a similar character, in
which the possessive case cannot be used. For example: "Nobody will doubt
of _this being_ a sufficient proof."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 66. "But
instead of _this being_ the fact of the case, &c."--_Butlers Analogy_, p.
137. "There is express historical or traditional evidence, as ancient as
history, of the _system_ of religion _being taught_ mankind by
revelation."--_Ibid._ "From _things_ in it _appearing_ to men
foolishness."--_Ib._, p. 175. "As to the consistency of the _members_ of
our society _joining_ themselves to those called free-masons."--_N. E.
Discip._, p. 51. "In _either of these cases happening_, the _person
charging_ is at liberty to bring the matter before the church, who are the
only _judges_ now _remaining_."--_Ib._, p. 36; _Extracts_, p. 57. "Deriving
its efficacy from the _power of God fulfilling_ his purpose."--_Religious
World_, Vol. ii, p. 235. "We have no idea of any certain _portion of time
intervening_ between the time of the action and the time of speaking of
it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 33: _Murray's_, i, 70; _Emmons's_, 41; and
others. The following example therefore, however the participle may seem to
be the leading word in sense, is unquestionably wrong; and that in more
respects than one: "The reason and time of the _Son of God's becoming_
man."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. xxii. Many writers would here be satisfied
with merely omitting the possessive sign; as does Churchill, in the
following example: "The chief cause of this appears to me to lie in
_grammarians having considered_ them solely as the signs of tense."--_New
Gram._, p. 243. But this sort of construction, too, whenever the noun
before the participle is not the leading word in sense, is ungrammatical.
In stead, therefore, of stickling for choice between two such errors, we
ought to adopt some better expression; as, "The reason and time of the
_Saviour's incarnation_."--"The chief cause of this appears to me to _be,
that_ grammarians _have_ considered them solely as signs of tense."

OBS. 29.--It is certain that the noun or pronoun which "limits the meaning
of a participle," cannot always be "put in the _genitive_" or _possessive_
case; for the sense intended sometimes positively forbids such a
construction, and requires the objective: as, "A syllable consists of one
or more _letters forming_ one sound."--_Allen's Gram._, p. 29. The word
_representing_ or _denoting_ would here be better than _forming_, because
the letters do not, strictly speaking, _form_ the sound. But chiefly let it
be noticed, that the word _letters_ could not with any propriety have been
put in the possessive case. Nor is it always necessary or proper, to prefer
that case, where the sense may be supposed to admit it; as, "'The example
which Mr. Seyer has adduced, of the _gerund governing_ the genitive of the
agent.' Dr. Crombie."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p. 237. "Which possibly might
have been prevented by _parents doing_ their duty."--_N. E. Discipline_, p.
187. "As to the seeming contradiction of _One being_ Three, and _Three_
One."--_Religious World_, Vol. ii, p. 113. "You have watched _them
climbing_ from chair to chair."--PIERPONT: _Liberator_, Vol. x, p. 22.
"Whether the world came into being as it is, by an intelligent _Agent
forming_ it thus, or not."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 129. "In the farther
supposition of necessary _agents being_ thus rewarded and
punished."--_Ib._, p. 140. "He grievously punished the _Israelites
murmuring_ for want of water."--_Leslie, on Tythes_, p. 21. Here too the
words, _gerund, parents, One, Three, them, Agent, agents_, and
_Israelites_, are rightly put in the objective case; yet doubtless some
will think, though I do not, that they might as well have been put in the
possessive. Respectable writers sometimes use the latter case, where the
former would convey the same meaning, and be more regular; as, "Which is
used, as active verbs often are, without its _regimen's_ being
expressed."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p. 302. Omit the apostrophe and _s_;
and, if you please, the word _being_ also. "The daily instances of _men's_
dying around us."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 113. Say rather,--"of _men_ dying
around us." "To prevent _our_ rashly engaging in arduous or dangerous
enterprises."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. 17. Say, "To prevent _us from_," &c.
The following example is manifestly inconsistent with itself; and, in my
opinion, the three possessives are all wrong: "The kitchen too now begins
to give 'dreadful note of preparation;' not from _armourers_ accomplishing
the knights, but from the _shop maid's_ chopping _force meat_, the
_apprentice's_ cleaning knives, and the _journeyman's_ receiving a
practical lesson in the art of waiting at table."--_West's Letters to a
Lady_, p. 66. It should be--"not from _armorers_ accomplishing the knights,
but from the _shopmaid_ chopping _forcemeat_, the _apprentice_ cleaning
knives, and the _journeyman_ receiving," &c. The nouns are the principal
words, and the participles are adjuncts. They might be separated by commas,
if semicolons were put where the commas now are.

OBS. 30.--Our authors, good and bad, critics and no critics, with few
exceptions, write sometimes the objective case before the participle, and
sometimes the possessive, under precisely the same circumstances; as, "We
should, presently, be sensible of the _melody_ suffering."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 122. "We should, presently, be sensible of the _melody's_
suffering."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 327. "We _shall_ presently be
sensible of the _melody_ suffering."--_Murray's Exercises_, 8vo, p. 60. "We
shall presently be sensible of the _melody's_ suffering."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 195. "And I explain what is meant by the nominative _case
governing_ the verb, and by the _verb agreeing_ with its nominative
case."--_Rand's Gram._, p. 31. "Take the verb _study_, and speak of _John's
studying_ his lesson, at different times."--_Ib._, p. 53. "The following
are examples of the nominative _case being used_ instead of the
objective."--_J. M. Putnam's Gram._, p. 112. "The following are examples of
an _adverb's qualifying_ a whole sentence."--_Ib._, p. 128. "Where the noun
is the name of a _person_, the cases may also be distinguished by the
_nominative's_ answering to WHO, and the _objective_ to WHOM."--_Hart's
Gram._, p. 46. "This depends chiefly on _their_ being more or less
emphatic; and on the vowel _sound_ being long or short."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 182. "When they speak of a _monosyllable_ having the grave or
the acute accent."--_Walker's Key_, p. 328. Here some would erroneously
prefer the possessive case before "_having_;" but, if any amendment can be
effected it is only by inserting _as_ there. "The _event of Maria's loving_
her brother."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 55. "Between that and the _man
being_ on it."--_Ib._, p. 59. "The fact of _James placing_
himself."--_Ib._, p. 166. "The event of the _persons' going_."--_Ib._, p.
165. Here _persons'_ is carelessly put for _person's_, i.e., _James's_: the
author was _parsing_ the puerile text, "James went into a store and placed
himself beside Horatio."--_Ib._, p. 164. And I may observe, in passing,
that Murray and Blair are both wrong in using commas with the adverb
_presently_ above.

OBS. 31.--It would be easy to fill a page with instances of these two
cases, the objective and the possessive, used, as I may say,
indiscriminately; nor is there any other principle by which we can
determine which of them is right, or which preferable, than that the
leading word in sense ought not to be made the adjunct in the construction,
and that the participle, if it remain such, ought rather to relate to its
noun, as being the adjunct, than to govern it in the possessive, as being
the principal term. To what extent either of these cases may properly be
used before the participle, or in what instances either of them may be
preferable to the other, it is not very easy to determine. Both are used a
great deal too often, filling with blemishes the style of many authors: the
possessive, because the participle is not the name of any thing that can be
possessed; the objective, because no construction can be right in which the
relation of the terms is not formed according to the sense. The former
usage I have already criticised to a great extent. Let one example suffice
here: "There can be no objection to a _syllable's being long_, on the
ground of _its not being so long_, or so much protracted, as some other
long syllables are."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 242. Some would here prefer
_syllable_ to _syllable's_, but none would be apt to put _it_ for _its_,
without some other change. The sentence may be amended thus: "There can be
no objection to a _syllable as being long_, on the ground _that it is not
so long_ as some other syllables."

OBS. 32.--It should be observed, that the use of _as_ between the
participle and the noun is _very often_ better than either the adoption of
the possessive sign, or the immediate connexion of the two words; as,
"Another point constantly brought into the investigation now, is that of
military _success as forming_ a claim to civil position."--_Boston Daily
Advertiser_. Concerning examples like the following, it may be questioned,
whether the objective is proper or not; whether the possessive would be
preferable or not; or whether a better construction than either may not be
found: "There is scarce an instance of any _one being chosen_ for a
pattern."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 338. "Instead of its
_authenticity being shaken_, it has been rendered more sure than ever."--
_West's Letters_, p. 197. "When there is no longer a possibility of a
proper _candidate being nominated_ by either party."--_Liberator_, Vol. x.
p. 9. "On the first _stone being thrown_, it was returned by a fire of
musketry."--_Ib._, p. 16. "To raise a cry about an innocent _person being
circumvented_ by bribery."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 276. "Whose principles
forbid _them taking_ part in the administration of the government."--
_Liberator_, Vol. x, p. 15. "It can have no other ground than some such
imagination, as that of our gross _bodies being_ ourselves."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 150. "In consequence of this _revelation being made_."--_Ib._,
p. 162. If such relations between the participle and the objective be
disapproved, the substitution of the possessive case is liable to still
stronger objections; but both may be avoided, by the use of the nominative
or otherwise: thus, "_Scarcely is_ any one _ever_ chosen for a pattern."--
"_Its authenticity, in stead of being shaken_, has been rendered more sure
than ever."--"When there is no longer a possibility _that_ a proper
candidate _will be_ nominated by either party."--"_As soon as_ the first
stone _was_ thrown, _there_ was returned a fire of musketry."--"To raise a
cry, _as if_ an innocent person _had been_ circumvented by bribery."--
"Whose principles forbid them _to take_ part in the administration of the
government."--"It can have no other ground than some such imagination, as
that our gross bodies _are_ ourselves."--"In consequence of this revelation
_which is_ made."

OBS. 33.--A recent grammarian quotes Dr. Crombie thus: "Some _late writers_
have discarded a phraseology which appears unobjectionable, and substituted
one that seems less correct; and instead of saying, 'Lady _Macbeth's_
walking in her sleep is an incident full of tragic horror,' would say,
'Lady _Macbeth_ walking in her sleep is an incident full of tragic horror.'
This seems to me an idle affectation of the Latin idiom, less precise than
the common mode of expression, and less consonant with the genius of our
language; for, ask what was an incident full of tragic horror, and,
according to this phraseology, the answer must be, _Lady Macbeth_; whereas
the meaning is, not that _Lady Macbeth_, but her _walking in her sleep_, is
an incident full of tragic horror. This phraseology also, in many
instances, conveys not the intended idea; for, as Priestley remarks, if it
is said, 'What think you of my _horse's running_ to-day?' it is implied
that the horse did actually run. If it is said, 'What think you of my
_horse running_ to-day?' it is intended to ask whether it be proper for my
horse to run to-day. This distinction, though frequently neglected,
deserves attention; for it is obvious that ambiguity may arise from using
the latter only of these phraseologies to express both meanings."--
_Maunder's Compendious Eng. Gram._, p. 15. (See _Crombie's Treatise_, p.
288-290.) To this, before any comment is offered, let me add an other
quotation: "RULE. _A noun before the present participle is put in the
possessive case_; as, Much will depend on the _pupil's composing_
frequently. Sometimes, however, the sense forbids it to be put in the
possessive case; thus, What do you think of my _horse running_ to-day?
means, Do you think I should let him run? but, What do you think of my
_horse's running_? means, he _has_ run, do you think he ran well?"--
_Lennie's Gram._, p. 91; _Brace's Gram._, 94. See _Bullions's Gram._, p.
107; _Hiley's_, 94; _Murray's_, 8vo. 195: _Ingersoll's_, 201: and many
others.

OBS. 34.--Any phraseology that conveys not the intended idea, or that
involves such an absurdity as that of calling a lady an "incident" is
doubtless sufficiently reprehensible; but, compared with a rule of grammar
so ill-devised as to mislead the learner nine times in ten, an occasional
ambiguity or solecism is a mere trifle. The word _walking_, preceded by a
possessive and followed by a preposition, as above, is clearly a _noun_,
and not a participle; but these authors probably intend to justify the use
of possessives before _participles_, and even to hold all phraseology of
this kind "unobjectionable." If such is not their design, they write as
badly as they reason; and if it is, their doctrine is both false and
inconsistent. That a verbal noun may govern the possessive case, is
certainly no proof that a participle may do so too; and, if these parts of
speech are to be kept distinct the latter position must be disallowed: each
must "abide by its own construction," as says Lowth. But the practice which
these authors speak of, as an innovation of "some late writers," and "an
idle affectation of the Latin idiom," is in fact a practice as different
from the blunder which they quote, or feign, as their just correction of
that blunder is different from the thousand errors or irregularities which
they intend to shelter under it. To call a lady an "incident," is just as
far from any Latin idiom, as it is from good English; whereas the very
thing which they thus object to at first, they afterwards approve in this
text: "What think you of my _horse running_ to-day?" This phraseology
corresponds with "_the Latin idiom_;" and it is this, that, in fact, they
begin with pronouncing to be "less correct" than, "What think you of my
_horse's running_ to-day?"

OBS. 35.--Between these expressions, too, they pretend to fix a distinction
of signification; as, if "the _horse's running_ to-day," must needs imply a
past action, though, (they suppose,) "the _pupil's composing_ frequently,"
or, "the _horse running_ to-day," signifies a _future_ one. This
distinction of time is altogether _imaginary_; and the notion, that to
prefer the possessive case before participles, is merely to withstand an
error of "_some late writers_," is altogether false. The instructions above
cited, therefore, determine nothing rightly, except the inaccuracy of one
very uncommon form of expression. For, according to our best grammarians,
the simple mode of correction there adopted will scarcely be found
applicable to any other text. It will not be right where the participle
happens to be transitive, or even where it is qualified by an adverb. From
their subsequent examples, it is plain that these gentlemen think
otherwise; but still, who can understand what they mean by "_the common
mode of expression_?" What, for instance, would they substitute for the
following very inaccurate expression from the critical belles-lettres of
Dr. Blair? "A _mother accusing_ her son, and _accusing_ him of such
actions, _as having_ first _bribed_ judges to condemn her husband, and
_having_ afterwards _poisoned_ him, _were circumstances_ that naturally
raised strong prejudices against Cicero's client."--_Blair's Lectures_, p.
274. Would they say. "A _mother's accusing her son_, &c., _were
circumstances_," &c.? Is this their "common mode of expression?" and if it
is, do they not make "common" what is no better English than the Doctor's?
If, to accuse a son, and to accuse him greatly, can be considered different
circumstances of the same prosecution, the sentence may be corrected thus:
"A _mother's_ accusing _of_ her son, and _her charging of_ him _with_ such
actions, as _those of_ having first bribed judges to condemn her husband,
and having afterwards poisoned him, were circumstances that naturally
raised strong prejudices against Cicero's client."

OBS. 36.--On several occasions, as in the tenth and twelfth observations on
Rule 4th, and in certain parts of the present series, some notice has been
taken of the equivalence or difference of meaning, real or supposed,
between the construction of the possessive, and that of an other case,
before the participle; or between the participial and the substantive use
of words in _ing_. Dr. Priestley, to whom, as well as to Dr. Lowth, most of
our grammarians are indebted for some of their doctrines respecting this
sort of derivatives, pretends to distinguish them, both as constituting
different parts of speech, and as conveying different meanings. In one
place, he says, "When a word ending in _ing_ is preceded by an article, it
seems to be used as a _noun_; and therefore _ought not to govern an other
word_, without the intervention of a preposition."--_Priestley's Gram._, p.
157. And in an other: "Many nouns are derived from verbs, and end in _ing_,
like participles of the present tense. The difference between these nouns
and participles is often overlooked, and the accurate distinction of the
two senses not attended to. If I say, What think you of my _horse's
running_ to-day, I use the NOUN _running_, and suppose the horse to have
actually run; for it is the same thing as if I had said, What think you of
_the running of_ my horse. But if I say, What think you of my _horse
running_ to-day, I use the PARTICIPLE, and I mean to ask, whether it be
proper that my horse should run or not: which, therefore, supposes that he
had not then run."--_Ib._, p. 122. Whatever our other critics say about the
_horse running_ or the _horse's running_, they have in general borrowed
from Priestley, with whom the remark originated, as it here stands. It
appears that Crombie, Murray, Maunder, Lennie, Bullions, Ingersoll,
Barnard, Hiley, and others, approve the doctrine thus taught, or at least
some part of it; though some of them, if not all, thereby contradict
themselves.

ODS. 37.--By the two examples here contrasted, Priestley designed to
establish a distinction, not for these texts only, but for _all similar
expressions_--a distinction both of the noun from the participle, and of
the different senses which he supposed these two constructions to exhibit.
In all this, there is a complete failure. Yet with what remarkable
ductility and implicitness do other professed critics take for granted what
this superficial philologer so hastily prescribes! By acknowledging with
reference to such an application of them, that the two constructions above
are both _good English_, our grammarians do but the more puzzle their
disciples respecting the choice between them; just as Priestley himself was
puzzled, when he said, "So we _may either say_, I remember _it being
reckoned_, a great exploit; or, _perhaps more elegantly_, I remember _its
being reckoned_, &c."--_Gram._, p. 70. Murray and others omit this
"_perhaps_," and while they allow both forms to be good, decidedly prefer
the latter; but neither Priestley, nor any of the rest, ever pretended to
discern in these a difference of signification, or even of parts of speech.
For my part, in stead of approving either of these readings about the
"_great exploit_," I have rejected both, for reasons which have already
been given; and now as to the first two forms of the _horserace question_,
so far as they may strictly be taken for models, I cannot but condemn them
also, and for the same reasons: to which reasons may be joined the
additional one, that neither expression is well adapted to the sense which
the author himself gives to it in his interpretation. If the Doctor
designed to ask, "Do you think my horse ran well to-day?" or, "Do you think
it proper for my horse to run to-day?" he ought to have used one or the
other of these unequivocal and unobjectionable expressions. There is in
fact between the others, no such difference of meaning as he imagines; nor
does he well distinguish "the NOUN _running_" from the PARTICIPLE
_runnning_; because he apparently allows the word, in both instances, to be
qualified by the adverb _to-day_.[422]

OBS. 38.--It is clear, that the participle in _ing_ partakes sometimes the
nature of its verb and _an adjective_; so that it relates to a noun, like
an adjective, and yet implies time, and, if transitive, governs an object,
like a verb: as, "Horses _running_ a race." Hence, by dropping what here
distinguishes it as a participle, the word may become an adjective, and
stand before its noun; as, "A _running_ brook." So, too, this participle
sometimes partakes the nature of its verb and _a noun_; so that it may be
governed by a preposition, like a noun, though in itself it has no cases or
numbers, but is indeclinable: as "In _running_ a race." Hence, again, by
dropping what distinguishes it as a participle, it may become a noun; as,
"_Running_ is a safer sport than _wrestling_." Now, if to a participle we
prefix something which makes it an adjective, we also take away its
regimen, by inserting a preposition; as, "A doctrine _un_deserving _of_
praise,"--"A man _un_compromising _in_ his principles." So, if we put
before it an article, an adjective, or a possessive, and thus give to the
participle a substantive character or relation, there is reason to think,
that we ought, in like manner, to take away its regimen, and its adverb
too, if it have any, and be careful also to distinguish this noun from the
participial adjective; as, "_The_ running _of_ a race,"--"_No_ racing _of_
horses,"--"_Your_ deserving _of_ praise."--"A _man's_ compromising _of_ his
principles." With respect to the articles, or any adjectives, it seems now
to be generally conceded, that these are signs of _substantives_; and that,
if added to participles, they must cause them to be taken, in all respects,
_substantively_. But with respect to possessives before participles, the
common practice of our writers very extensively indulges the mixed
construction of which I have said so much, and concerning the propriety of
which, the opinions of our grammarians are so various, so confused, and so
self-contradictory.

OBS. 39.--Though the participle with a nominative or an objective before
it, is not _in general_, equivalent to the verbal noun or the mixed
participle with a possessive before it; and though the significations of
the two phrases are often so widely different as to make it palpably absurd
to put either for the other; yet the instances are not few in which it
makes little or no difference _to the sense_, which of the two forms we
prefer, and therefore, in these instances, I would certainly choose the
more simple and regular construction; or, where a better than either can
readily be found, reject both. It is also proper to have some regard to the
structure of other languages, and to the analogy of General Grammar. If
there be "some late writers" who are chargeable with "an idle affectation
of the Latin idiom," there are perhaps more who as idly affect what they
suppose "consonant with the genius of our language." I allude to those who
would prefer the possessive case in a text like the following: "Wherefore
is this noise of the _city being_ in an uproar?"'--_1 Kings_, i, 41. "Quid
sibi vult clamor civitatis tumultuantis?"--_Vulgate_. "[Greek: _Gis hæ
phonæ tæs poleos æchousæs_];"--_Septuagint_. Literally: "What [_means_] the
clamour of the _city resounding_?" "Que veut dire ce bruit de la ville qui
est ainsi émue?"--_French Bible_. Literally: "What means this noise of the
_city which is so moved_?" Better English: "What means this noise _with
which the city rings_?" In the following example, there is a seeming
imitation of the foregoing Latin or Greek construction; but it may well be
doubted whether it would be any improvement to put the word "_disciples_"
in the possessive case; nor is it easy to find a third form which would be
better than these: "Their difficulties will not be increased by the
intended _disciples having ever resided_ in a Christian country."--_West's
Letters_, p. 119.

OBS. 40.--It may be observed of these different relations between
participles and other words, that _nouns_ are much more apt to be put in
the nominative or the objective case, than are _pronouns_. For example:
"There is no more of moral principle in the way of _abolitionists
nominating_ their own candidates, than in that of _their voting_ for those
nominated by others."--GERRIT SMITH: _Liberator_, Vol. X, p. 17. Indeed, a
pronoun of the nominative or the objective case is hardly ever used in such
a relation, unless it be so obviously the leading word in sense, as to
preclude all question about the construction.[423] And this fact seems to
make it the more doubtful, whether it be proper to use nouns in that
manner. But it may safely be held, that if the noun can well be considered
the leading word in sense, we are at least under no _necessity_ of
subjecting it to the government of a mere participle. If it be thought
desirable to vary the foregoing example, it may easily be done, thus:
"There is no more of moral principle _to prevent abolitionists_ from
nominating their own candidates, than _to prevent them from_ voting for
those nominated by others." The following example is much like the
preceding, but less justifiable: "We see comfort, security, strength,
pleasure, wealth, and prosperity, all flowing from _men combining
together_; and misery, weakness, and poverty, ensuing from _their acting
separately_ or in opposition to each other."--_West's Letters_, p. 133. Say
rather,--"from _men's combining-together_," or, "from _the just combination
of men in society_;" and,--"from their _separate action_, or _their_
opposition to _one an other_." Take an other example: "If _illorum_ be
governed here of _negotii_, it must be in this order, _gratia negotii
illorum videndi_; and this is, for the sake of their _business_ being seen,
and not, for the sake of _them_ being seen."--_Johnson's Grammatical
Commentaries_, p. 352. Here the learned critic, in disputing Perizonius's
resolution of the phrase, "_illorum videndi gratiâ_" has written disputable
English. But, had he _affected the Latin idiom_, a nearer imitation of it
would have been,--"for the sake of their _business's being seen_, and not
for the sake of _their being seen_." Or nearer still,--"for the sake of
_seeing of their business_, and not, for the sake of _seeing of them_." An
elegant writer would be apt to avoid all these forms, and say,--"for the
sake of _seeing their business_;" and,--"_for the sake of seeing them_;"
though the former phrase, being but a version of bad Latin, makes no very
good sense in any way.

OBS. 41.--Idioms, or peculiarities of expression, are never to be approved
or valued, but according to their convenience, utility, or elegance. By
this rule, some phrases that are not positively barbarous, may yet be
ungrammatical, and a construction that is sometimes allowable, may yet be
quite unworthy to be made or reckoned, "the common mode of expression."
Thus, in Latin, the infinitive verb is occasionally put for a noun, and
taken to signify a property possessed; as, "_Tuum scire_, [thy to know,]
the same as _tua scientia_, thy knowledge. Pers."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 153.
So, in English, the participle in _ing_ is often taken substantively, when
it does not actually become a substantive or noun; as, "Thy _knowing_
this,"--"Our _doing_ so."--_West_. Such forms of speech, because they are
idiomatical, seldom admit of any literal translation, and are never
naturalized by any transfer from one language or dialect into an other; nor
is it proper for grammarians to justify them, in vernacular speech, except
as figures or anomalies that ought not to be generally imitated. It cannot
be truly affirmed, that the genius of our language ever requires that
participles, as such, should assume the relations of a noun, or govern the
possessive case; nor, on the other hand, can it be truly denied, that very
excellent and learned writers do sometimes make use of such phraseology.
Without disrespect to the many users and approvers of these anomalies, I
set down for bad English every mixed construction of the participle, for
which the language can furnish an equivalent expression that is more simple
and more elegant. The extent to which these comparative barbarisms now
abound in English books, and the ridiculous fondness for them, which has
been shown by some writers on English grammar, in stead of amounting to any
argument in their favour, are in fact, plain proofs of the necessity of an
endeavour to arrest so obvious and so pernicious an innovation.

OBS. 42.--A late author observes as follows: "That the English gerund,
participle, or verbal noun, in _ing_, has both an active and a passive
signification, there can be little doubt.[424] Whether the Latin gerund has
precisely a similar import, or whether it is only active, it may be
difficult, and, indeed, after all, it is not of much moment, to
ascertain."--_Grant's Latin Gram._, p. 234. The gerund in Latin most
commonly governs the case of its own verb, as does the active participle,
both in Latin and English: as, "Efferor studio _patres vestros videndi_.
Cic. de sen. 23."--_Lily's Gram._, p. 96. That is, "I am transported, with
a desire of _seeing your fathers_." But sometimes we find the gerund taken
substantively and made to govern the genitive. Or,--to adopt the language
of an old grammarian:--"Interdum _non invenustè_ additur gerundiis in _di_
etiam genitivus pluralis: ut, 'Quum _illorum videndi_ gratiâ me in forum
contulissem.'--'_Novarum_ [qui] _spectandi_ faciunt copiam.' Ter. Heaut.
prol. 29."--_Lily's Gram._, p. 97. That is, "To gerunds in _di_ there is
sometimes _not inelegantly_ added a genitive plural: as, 'When, for the
sake _of seeing of them_, I went into the forum.'--'Who present an
opportunity of _attending of new ones_:' i.e., new comedies." Here the _of_
which is inserted after the participle to mark the genitive case which is
added, forms rather an error than an elegance, though some English writers
do now and then adopt this idiom. The gerund thus governing the genitive,
is not analogous to our participle governing the possessive; because this
genitive stands, not for _the subject_ of the being or action, but for what
would otherwise be _the object_ of the gerund, or of the participle, as may
be seen above. The objection to the participle as governing the possessive,
is, that it retains its object or its adverb; for when it does not, it
becomes fairly a noun, and the objection is removed. R. Johnson, like many
others, erroneously thinks it a noun, even when it governs an objective,
and has merely a preposition before it; as, "For the sake _of seeing them_.
Where _seeing_ (says he) is a Substantive."--_Gram. Com._, p. 353.

OBS. 43.--If the Latin gerund were made to govern the genitive of the
_agent_, and allowed at the same time to retain its government as a gerund,
it would then correspond in every thing but declension, to the English
participle when made to govern both the possessive case and the objective.
But I have before observed that no such analogy appears. The following
example has been quoted by Seyer, as a proof that the gerund may govern the
genitive of the agent: "_Cujus autem in dicendo aliquid reprehensum
est_--Cic."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p. 236. That is, (as I understand it,)
"But in _whose speaking_ something is reprehended." This seems to me a case
in point; though Crombie and Grant will not allow it to be so. But a single
example is not sufficient. If the doctrine is true, there must be others.
In this solitary instance, it would be easier to doubt the accuracy even of
Cicero, than to approve the notion of these two critics, that _cujus_ is
here governed by _aliquid_, and not by the gerund. "Here," says Grant, "I
am inclined to concur in opinion with Dr. Crombie, whose words I take the
liberty to use, 'That, _for the sake of euphony_, the gerund is sometimes
found governing the genitive of the patient, or _subject_ [say _object_] of
the action, is unquestionable: thus, _studio videndi patrum vestrorum_.
[That is, literally, _By a desire of seeing of your fathers_.] But I
recollect no example, where the gerund is joined with a possessive
adjective, or genitive of a noun substantive, where the person is not the
patient, but the agent; as, _dicendum meum, ejus dicendum, cujus dicendum_.
[That is, _my speaking, his speaking, whose speaking_.] In truth, these
phraseologies appear to me, not only repugnant to the idiom of the
language, but also unfavourable to precision and perspicuity.'"--_Grant's
Latin Gram._, 8vo, p. 236.

OBS. 44.--Of that particular distinction between the participle and the
participial noun, which depends on the insertion or omission of the article
and the preposition _of_, a recent grammarian of considerable merit adopts
the following views: "This double nature of the participle has led to much
irregularity in its use. Thus we find, 'indulging which,' 'indulging _of_
which,' '_the_ indulging which,' and '_the_ indulging _of_ which,' used
indiscriminately. Lowth very properly instructs us, either to use both the
article and the preposition with the participle; as, '_the_ indulging _of_
which:' or to reject both; as, 'indulging which:' thus keeping the verbal
and substantive forms distinct. But he is wrong, as Dr. Crombie justly
remarks, in considering these two modes of expression as perfectly similar.
Suppose I am told, 'Bloomfield spoke warmly of the pleasure he had _in
hearing_ Fawcet:' I understand at once, that the eloquence of Fawcet gave
Bloomfield great pleasure. But were it said, 'Bloomfield spoke warmly of
the pleasure he had _in the hearing of_ Fawcet:' I should be led to
conclude merely that the orator was within hearing, when the poet spoke of
the pleasure he felt from something, about which I have no information.
Accordingly Dr. Crombie suggests as a general rule, conducive at least to
perspicuity, and perhaps to elegance; that, when the noun connected with
the participle is active, or doing something, the article should be
inserted before the participle, and the preposition after it; and, when the
noun is passive, or represents the object of an action, both the article
and the preposition should be omitted:[425] agreeably to the examples just
adduced. It is true, that when the noun following the participle denotes
something incapable of the action the participle expresses, no mistake can
arise _from using_ either form: as, 'The middle condition seems to be the
most advantageously situate for _the gaining of_ wisdom. Poverty turns our
thoughts too much upon _the supplying of_ our wants; and riches, upon
_enjoying_ our superfluities.' _Addison, Spect._, 464. Yet I cannot think
it by any means a commendable practice, thus to jumble together different
forms; and indeed it is certainly better, as _the two modes of expression
have different significations_, to confine each to its distinct and proper
use, agreeably to Dr. Crombie's rule, even when no mistake could arise
_from interchanging_ them."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 319.

OBS. 45.--The two modes of expression which these grammarians would thus
apply constantly to different uses, on the supposition that they have
always different significations, _are the same_ that Lindley Murray and his
copyists suppose to be _generally equivalent_, and concerning which it is
merely admitted by the latter, that they do "_not in every instance_ convey
the same meaning." (See Obs. 27th above.) If Dr. Lowth considered them "as
_perfectly similar_," he was undoubtedly very wrong in this matter: though
not more so than these gentlemen, who resolve to interpret them as being
perfectly and constantly dissimilar. Dr. Adam says, "There are, both in
Latin and [in] English, substantives derived from the verb, which so much
resemble the Gerund in their signification, that _frequently_ they may be
substituted in its place. They are generally used, however, in a more
undetermined sense than the Gerund, and in English, have the article
_always_[426] prefixed to them. Thus, with the gerund, _Detector legendo
Ciceronem_, I am delighted _with reading_ Cicero. But with the substantive,
_Delector lectione Ciceronis_, I am delighted with _the reading of_
Cicero."--_Lat. and Eng. Gram._, p. 142. "Gerunds are so called because
they, as it were, signify the thing _in gerendo_, (anciently written
_gerundo_,) _in doing_; and, along with the action, convey an idea of the
agent."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p. 70; _Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 353. "_The
reading of Cicero_," does not necessarily signify an action of which Cicero
is the _agent_, as Crombie, Churchill, and Hiley choose to expound it; and,
since the gerundive construction of words in _ing_ ought to have a definite
reference to the agent or subject of the action or being, one may perhaps
amend even some of their own phraseology above, by preferring the
participial noun: as, "No mistake can arise _from the using of_ either
form."--"And riches [turn our thoughts too much] _upon the enjoying of_ our
superfluities."--"Even when no mistake could arise _from the interchanging
of_ them." Where the agent of the action plainly appears, the gerundive
form is to be preferred on account of its brevity; as, "By _the_ observing
_of_ truth, you will command respect;" or, "By _observing_ truth,
&c."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 189. Here the latter phraseology is greatly
preferable, though this author did not perceive it. "I thought nothing was
to be done by me before _the giving of_ you thanks."--_Walker's Particles_,
p. 63. Say,--"before _giving_ you thanks;" for otherwise the word _thanks_
has no proper construction, the pronoun alone being governed by _of_--and
here again is an error; for "_you_" ought to be the object of _to_.

OBS. 46.--In Hiley's Treatise, a work far more comprehensive than the
generality of grammars, "the _established principles_ and _best usages_ of
the English" Participle are so adroitly summed up, as to occupy only two
pages, one in Etymology, and an other in Syntax. The author shows how the
participle differs from a verb, and how from an adjective; yet he neither
makes it a separate part of speech, nor tells us with what other it ought
to be included. In lieu of a general rule for the parsing of _all
participles_, he presents the remark, "Active transitive participles, like
their verbs, govern the objective case; as, 'I am desirous of _hearing
him_;' '_Having praised them_, he sat down.'"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 93. This
is a rule by which one may parse the _few objectives_ which are governed by
participles; but, for the usual construction of _participles themselves_,
it is no rule at all; neither does the grammar, full as it is, contain any.
"_Hearing_" is here governed by _of_, and "_Having praised_" relates to
_he_; but this author teaches neither of these facts, and the former he
expressly contradicts by his false definition of a preposition. In his
first note, is exhibited, in two parts, the false and ill-written rule
which Churchill quotes from Crombie. (1.) "When the noun, _connected with
the participle_, is _active or doing_ something, the _participle must have_
an article before it, and the preposition _of_ after it; as, 'In _the
hearing of_ the philosopher;' or, 'In the philosopher's _hearing_;' 'By
_the preaching of_ Christ;' or, 'By Christ's _preaching_.' In these
instances," says Hiley, "the words _hearing_ and _preaching_ are
_substantives_." If so, he ought to have corrected this rule, which twice
calls them _participles_; but, in stead of doing that, he blindly adds, by
way of alternative, two examples which expressly contradict what the rule
asserts. (2.) "But when the noun represents the _object_ of an _action_,
the article and the preposition _of_ must be _omitted_; as, 'In _hearing_
the philosopher.'"--_Ib._, p. 94. If this principle is right, my second
note below, and most of the corrections under it, are wrong. But I am
persuaded that the adopters of this rule did not observe how common is the
phraseology which it condemns; as, "For if _the casting-away of them_ be
_the reconciling of the world_, what shall _the receiving of them_ be, but
life from the dead?"--_Rom._, xi, 15. Finally, this author rejects the _of_
which most critics insert when a possessive precedes the verbal noun;
justifies and prefers the mixed or double construction of the participle;
and, consequently, neither wishes nor attempts to distinguish the
participle from the verbal noun. Yet he does not fail to repeat, with some
additional inaccuracy, the notion, that, "What do you think of my _horse's
running_? is different _to_ [say _from_,] What do you think of my _horse
running_?"--_Ib._, p. 94.

OBS. 47.--That English books in general, and the style of even our best
writers, should seldom be found exempt from errors in the construction of
participles, will not be thought wonderful, when we consider the
multiplicity of uses to which words of this sort are put, and the strange
inconsistencies into which all our grammarians have fallen in treating this
part of syntax. It is useless, and worse than useless, to teach for grammar
any thing that is not true; and no doctrine can be true of which one part
palpably oversets an other. What has been taught on the present topic, has
led me into a multitude of critical remarks, designed both for the
refutation of the principles which I reject, and for the elucidation and
defence of those which are presently to be summed up in notes, or special
rules, for the correction of false syntax. If my decisions do not agree
with the teaching of our common grammarians, it is chiefly because these
authors contradict themselves. Of this sort of teaching I shall here offer
but one example more, and then bring these strictures to a close: "When
present participles are preceded by an article, or pronoun adjective, they
become nouns, and must not be followed by objective pronouns, or nouns
without a preposition; as, _the reading of many books wastes the health_.
But such nouns, like all others, may be used without an article, being
sufficiently discovered by the following preposition; as, _he was sent to
prepare the way, by preaching of repentance_. Also an article, or pronoun
adjective, may precede a clause, used as a noun, and commencing with a
participle; as, _his teaching children was necessary_."--_Dr. Wilson's
Syllabus of English Gram._, p. xxx. Here the last position of the learned
doctor, if it be true, completely annuls the first; or, if the first be
true, the last must needs be false, And, according to Lowth, L. Murray, and
many others, the second is as bad as either. The bishop says, concerning
this very example, that by the use of the preposition _of_ after the
participle _preaching_, "the phrase is rendered _obscure_ and _ambiguous_:
for the obvious meaning of it, in its present form, is, 'by preaching
_concerning_ repentance, or on that subject;' whereas the sense intended
is, 'by publishing the covenant of repentance, and declaring repentance to
be a condition of acceptance with God.'"--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 82. "It ought
to be, 'by _the_ preaching _of_ repentance;' or, by _preaching_
repentance."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 193.


NOTES TO RULE XX.

NOTE I.--Active participles have the same government as the verbs from
which they are derived; the preposition _of_, therefore, should never be
used after the participle, when the verb does not require it. Thus, in
phrases like the following, _of_ is improper: "Keeping _of_ one day in
seven;"--"By preaching _of_ repentance;"--"They left beating _of_ Paul."

NOTE II.--When a transitive participle is converted into a noun, _of_ must
be inserted to govern the object following; as, "So that there was _no
withstanding of_ him."--_Walker's Particles_. p. 252. "The cause of their
salvation doth not so much arise from _their embracing of_ mercy, as from
_God's exercising of_ it"--_Penington's Works_, Vol. ii, p. 91. "Faith is
_the receiving of_ Christ with the whole soul."--_Baxter_. "In _thy
pouring-out of_ thy fury upon Jerusalem."--_Ezekiel_, ix, 8.

NOTE III.--When the insertion of the word _of_, to complete the conversion
of the transitive participle into a noun, produces ambiguity or harshness,
some better phraseology must be chosen. Example: "Because the action took
_place prior to the taking place of_ the other past action."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 140. Here the words _prior_ and _place_ have no regular
construction; and if we say, "_prior_ to the taking _of place of_ the
other," we make the jumble still worse. Say therefore, "Because the action
took place _before_ the other past action;"--or, "Because the action took
place _previously_ to the other past action."

NOTE IV.--When participles become nouns, their adverbs should either become
adjectives, or be taken as parts of such nouns, written as compound words:
or, if neither of these methods be agreeable, a greater change should be
made. Examples of error: 1. "_Rightly_ understanding a sentence, depends
very much on a knowledge of its grammatical construction."--_Comly's
Gram._, 12th Ed., p. 8. Say, "_The right_ understanding _of_ a sentence,"
&c. 2. "Elopement is a running _away_, or private departure."--_Webster's
El. Spelling-Book_. p. 102. Write "_running-away_" as one word. 3. "If they
[Milton's descriptions] have any _faults_, it is their _alluding too
frequently_ to matters of learning, and to fables of antiquity."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 451. Say, "If they have any _fault_, it is _that they allude_
too frequently," &c.

NOTE V.--When the participle is followed by an adjective, its conversion
into a noun appears to be improper; because the construction of the
adjective becomes anomalous, and its relation doubtful: as, "When we speak
of _'ambition's being restless_' or, _'a disease's being
deceitful_.'"--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 346; _Kirkham's_, p. 224. This
ought to be, "When we speak of _ambition as_ being restless, or a _disease
as_ being deceitful;" but Dr. Blair, from whom the text originally came,
appears to have written it thus: "When we speak of _ambition's_ being
restless, or a _disease_ being deceitful."--LECT. xvi, p. 155. This is
_inconsistent with itself_; for one noun is possessive, and the other,
objective. NOTE VI.--When a compound participle is converted into a noun,
the hyphen seems to be necessary, to prevent ambiguity; but such compound
nouns are never elegant, and it is in general better to avoid them, by some
change in the expression. Example: "Even as _the being healed_ of a wound,
presupposeth the plaster or salve: but not, on the contrary; for the
application of the plaster presupposeth not _the being healed_."--_Barclays
Works_, Vol. i, p. 143. The phrase, "_the being healed_" ought to mean
only, _the creature healed_; and not, _the being-healed_, or _the healing
received_, which is what the writer intended. But the simple word _healing_
might have been used in the latter sense; for, in participial nouns, the
distinction of _voice_ and of _tense_ are commonly disregarded.

NOTE VII.--A participle should not be used where the infinitive mood, the
verbal noun, a common substantive, or a phrase equivalent, will better
express the meaning. Examples: 1. "But _placing_ an accent on the second
syllable of these words, would entirely derange them."--_Murray's Gram._,
Vol. i, p. 239. Say rather, "But, _to place_ an accent--But _the_ placing
_of_ an accent--or, But an _accent placed_ on the second syllable of these
words, would entirely derange them." 2. "To require _their being_ in that
case."--_Ib._, Vol. ii, p. 21. Say, "To require _them_ to be in that case."
3. "She regrets not having read it."--_West's Letters_, p. 216. Say, "She
regrets _that she has not_ read it." Or, "She _does not regret that she
has_ read it." For the text is equivocal, and admits either of these
senses.

NOTE VIII.--A participle used for a nominative after _be, is, was_, &c.,
produces a construction which is more naturally understood to be a compound
form of the verb; and which is therefore not well adapted to the sense
intended, when one tells what something is, was, or may be. Examples: 1.
"Whose business _is shoeing_ animals."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 365.
Say, "Whose business _it_ is, _to shoe_ animals;"--or, "Whose business is
_the_ shoeing _of_ animals." 2. "This _was in fact converting_ the deposite
to his own use."--_Murray's Key_, ii, p. 200. Say rather, "This was in fact
_a_ converting _of_ the deposite to his own use."--_Ib._

NOTE IX.--Verbs of _preventing_ should be made to govern, not the
participle in _ing_, nor what are called substantive phrases, but the
objective case of a noun or pronoun; and if a participle follow, it ought
to be governed by the preposition _from_: as, "But the admiration due to so
eminent a poet, must not _prevent us from remarking_ some other particulars
in which he has failed."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 438. Examples of error: 1. "I
endeavoured to prevent _letting him_ escape"--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 150.
Say,--"to prevent _his escape_." 2. "To prevent _its being connected_ with
the nearest noun."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 367. Say, "To prevent _it from_
being connected," &c. 3. "To prevent _it bursting_ out with open
violence."--_Robertson's America_, Vol. ii, p. 146. Say, "To prevent it
_from_ bursting out," &c. 4. "To prevent _their injuring or murdering of_
others."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. 26. Say rather, "To prevent _them from_
injuring or murdering _others_."

NOTE X.--In the use of participles and of verbal nouns, the leading word in
sense should always be made the leading or governing word in the
construction; and where there is reason to doubt whether the possessive
case or some other ought to come before the participle, it is better to
reject both, and vary the expression. Examples: "Any person may easily
convince himself of the truth of this, by listening to _foreigners
conversing_ in a language [which] he does not understand."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 361. "It is a relic of the ancient _style abounding_ with
negatives."--_Ib._, p. 367. These forms are right; though the latter might
be varied, by the insertion of "_which abounds_" for "_abounding_." But the
celebrated examples before cited, about the "_lady holding up_ her train,"
or the "_lady's holding up_ her train,"--the "_person dismissing_ his
servant," or the "_person's dismissing_ his servant,"--the "_horse running_
to-day," or the "_horse's running_ to-day,"--and many others which some
grammarians suppose to be interchangeable, are equally bad in both forms.

NOTE XI.--Participles, in general, however construed, should have a clear
reference to the proper subject of the being, action, or passion. The
following sentence is therefore faulty: "By _establishing_ good laws, our
_peace_ is secured."--_Russell's Gram._, p. 88; _Folker's_, p. 27. Peace
not being the _establisher_ of the laws, these authors should have said,
"By _establishing_ good laws, _we_ secure our peace." "_There will be no
danger_ of _spoiling_ their faces, or of _gaining_ converts."--_Murray's
Key_, ii, p. 201. This sentence is to me utterly unintelligible. If the
context were known, there might possibly be some sense in saying, "_They_
will be in no danger of spoiling their faces," &c. "The law is annulled, in
the very _act of its being made_."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 267. "The
_act of_ MAKING _a law_," is a phrase intelligible; but, "the _act of its_
BEING MADE," is a downright solecism--a positive absurdity.

NOTE XII.--A needless or indiscriminate use of participles for nouns, or of
nouns for participles, is inelegant, if not improper, and ought therefore
to be avoided. Examples: "_Of_ denotes possession or _belonging_."--
_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 118; _Ingersoll's_, 71. "The preposition _of_,
frequently implies possession, property, or _belonging to_."--_Cooper's Pl.
and Pr. Gram._, p. 137. Say, "_Of_ frequently denotes possession, or _the
relation of property_." "England perceives the folly _of the denying of_
such concessions."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 149. Expunge _the_ and the last
_of_, that _denying_ may stand as a participle.

NOTE XIII.--Perfect participles being variously formed, care should be
taken to express them agreeably to the best usage, and also to distinguish
them from the preterits of their verbs, where there is any difference of
form. Example: "It would be well, if all writers who endeavour to be
accurate, would be careful to avoid a corruption at present so prevalent,
of saying, _it was wrote_, for, _it was written; he was drove_, for, _he
was driven; I have went_, for, _I have gone_, &c., in all which instances a
verb is absurdly used to supply the proper participle, without any
necessity from the want of such word."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 186.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XX.

EXAMPLES UNDER NOTE I.--EXPUNGE OF.

"In forming of his sentences, he was very exact."--_Error noticed by
Murray_, Vol. i, p. 194.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the preposition _of_ is used after the
participle _forming_, whose verb does not require it. But, according to
Note 1st under Rule 20th, "Active participles have the same government as
the verbs from which they are derived; the preposition _of_, therefore,
should not be used after the participle, when the verb does not require
it." Therefore, _of_ should be omitted; thus, "In forming his sentences, he
was very exact."]

"For not believing of which I condemn them"--_Barclay's Works_, iii. 354.
"To prohibit his hearers from reading of that book."--_Ib._, i, 223. "You
will please them exceedingly, in crying down of ordinances."--MITCHELL:
_ib._, i, 219. "The war-wolf subsequently became an engine for casting of
stones,"--_Constable's Miscellany_, xxi, 117. "The art of dressing of hides
and working in leather was practised."--_Ib._, xxi, 101. "In the choice
they had made of him, for restoring of order."--_Rollin's Hist._, ii, 37.
"The Arabians exercised themselves by composing of orations and
poems."--_Sale's Koran_, p. 17. "Behold, the widow-woman was there
gathering of sticks."--_1 Kings_, xvii, 10. "The priests were busied in
offering of burnt-offerings."--_2 Chron._, xxxv, 14. "But Asahel would not
turn aside from following of him."--_2 Sam._, ii, 21. "He left off building
of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah."--_1 Kings_, xv, 21. "Those who accuse us of
denying of it, belie us."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 280. "And breaking of
bread from house to house."--_Ib._, i, 192. "Those that set about repairing
of the walls."--_Ib._, i, 459. "And secretly begetting of
divisions."--_Ib._, i, 521. "Whom he had made use of in gathering of his
church."--_Ib._, i, 535. "In defining and distinguishing of the acceptions
and uses of those particles."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 12.

   "In punishing of this, we overthrow
    The laws of nations, and of nature too."--_Dryden_, p. 92.


UNDER NOTE II.--ARTICLES REQUIRE OF.

"The mixing them makes a miserable jumble of truth and fiction."--_Kames,
El. of Crit._, ii, 357. "The same objection lies against the employing
statues."--_Ib._, ii, 358. "More efficacious than the venting opulence upon
the Fine Arts."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. viii. "It is the giving different names
to the same object."--_Ib._, ii, 19. "When we have in view the erecting a
column."--_Ib._, ii, 56. "The straining an elevated subject beyond due
bounds, is a vice not so frequent."--_Ib._, i, 206. "The cutting evergreens
in the shape of animals is very ancient."--_Ib._, ii, 327. "The keeping
juries, without meet, drink or fire, can be accounted for only on the same
idea."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 301. "The writing the verbs at length on his
slate, will be a very useful exercise."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 20. "The
avoiding them is not an object of any moment."--_Sheridan's Lect._, p. 180.
"Comparison is the increasing or decreasing the Signification of a Word by
degrees."--_British Gram._, p. 97. "Comparison is the Increasing or
Decreasing the Quality by Degrees."--_Buchanan's English Syntax_, p. 27.
"The placing a Circumstance before the Word with which it is connected, is
the easiest of all Inversion."--_Ib._, p. 140. "What is emphasis? It is the
emitting a stronger and fuller sound of voice," &c.--_Bradley's Gram._, p.
108. "Besides, the varying the terms will render the use of them more
familiar."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 25. "And yet the confining
themselves to this true principle, has misled them!"--_Horne Tooke's
Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 15. "What is here commanded, is merely the
relieving his misery."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 417. "The
accumulating too great a quantity of knowledge at random, overloads the
mind instead of adorning it."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 5. "For the
compassing his point."--_Rollin's Hist._, ii, 35. "To the introducing such
an inverted order of things."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 95. "Which require
only the doing an external action."--_Ib._, p. 185. "The imprisoning my
body is to satisfy your wills."--GEO. FOX: _Sewel's Hist._, p. 47. "Who
oppose the conferring such extensive command on one person."--_Duncan's
Cicero_, p. 130. "Luxury contributed not a little to the enervating their
forces."--_Sale's Koran_, p. 49. "The keeping one day of the week for a
sabbath."--_Barclay's Works_, i. 202. "The doing a thing is contrary to the
forbearing of it."--_Ib._, i, 527. "The doubling the Sigma is, however,
sometimes regular."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 29. "The inserting
the common aspirate too, is improper."--_Ib._, p. 134. "But in Spenser's
time the pronouncing the _ed_ seems already to have been something of an
archaism."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 656. "And to the reconciling
the effect of their verses on the eye."--_Ib._, i, 659. "When it was not in
their power to hinder the taking the whole."--_Brown's Estimate_, ii, 155.
"He had indeed given the orders himself for the shutting the
gates."--_Ibid._ "So his whole life was a doing the will of the
Father."--_Penington_, iv, 99. "It signifies the suffering or receiving the
action expressed."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 37. "The pretended crime
therefore was the declaring himself to be the Son of God."--_West's
Letters_, p. 210. "Parsing is the resolving a sentence into its different
parts of speech."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 26.


UNDER NOTE II.--ADJECTIVES REQUIRE OF.

"There is no expecting the admiration of beholders."--_Baxter_. "There is
no hiding you in the house."--_Shakspeare_. "For the better regulating
government in the province of Massachusetts."--_British Parliament_. "The
precise marking the shadowy boundaries of a complex government."--_J. Q.
Adams's Rhet._, Vol. ii, p. 6. "[This state of discipline] requires the
voluntary foregoing many things which we desire, and setting ourselves to
what we have no inclination to."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 115. "This amounts
to an active setting themselves against religion."--_Ib._, p. 264. "Which
engaged our ancient friends to the orderly establishing our Christian
discipline."--_N. E. Discip._, p. 117. "Some men are so unjust that there
is no securing our own property or life, but by opposing force to
force."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. 26. "An Act for the better securing the
Rights and Liberties of the Subject."--_Geo._ III, 31st. "Miraculous curing
the sick is discontinued."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 137. "It would have
been no transgressing the apostle's rule."--_Ib._, p. 146. "As far as
consistent with the proper conducting the business of the House."--_Elmore,
in Congress_, 1839. "Because he would have no quarrelling at the just
condemning them at that day."--_Law and Grace_, p. 42. "That transferring
this natural manner--will ensure propriety."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 372.
"If a man were porter of hell-gate, he should have old turning the
key."--_Macbeth_, Act ii, Sc. 3.


UNDER NOTE II.--POSSESSIVES REQUIRE OF.

"So very simple a thing as a man's wounding himself."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
97; _Murray's Gram._, p. 317. "Or with that man's avowing his
designs."--_Blair_, p. 104; _Murray_, p. 308; _Parker and Fox, Part III_,
p. 88. "On his putting the question."--_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. ii, p. 111.
"The importance of teachers' requiring their pupils to read each section
many times over."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 169. "Politeness is a kind of
forgetting one's self in order to be agreeable to others."--_Ramsay's
Cyrus_. "Much, therefore, of the merit, and the agreeableness of epistolary
writing, will depend on its introducing us into some acquaintance with the
writer."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 370; _Mack's Dissertation in his Gram._, p.
175. "Richard's restoration to respectability, depends on his paying his
debts."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 176. "Their supplying ellipses where
none ever existed; their parsing words of sentences already full and
perfect, as though depending on words understood."--_Ib._, p. 375. "Her
veiling herself and shedding tears," &c., "her upbraiding Paris for his
cowardice," &c.--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 433. "A preposition may be known by
its admitting after it a personal pronoun, in the objective
case."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 28; _Alger's_, 14; _Bacon's_, 10;
_Merchant's_, 18; and others. "But this forms no just objection to its
denoting time."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 65. "Of men's violating or
disregarding the relations which God has placed them in here."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 164. "Success, indeed, no more decides for the right, than a
man's killing his antagonist in a duel."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 295. "His
reminding them."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 123. "This mistake was
corrected by his preceptor's causing him to plant some beans."--_Ib._, p.
235. "Their neglecting this was ruinous."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 82.
"That he was serious, appears from his distinguishing the others as
'finite.'"--_Felch's Gram._, p. 10. "His hearers are not at all sensible of
his doing it."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 119.


UNDER NOTE III.--CHANGE THE EXPRESSION.

"An allegory is the saying one thing, and meaning another; a double-meaning
or dilogy is the saying only one thing, but having two in
view."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 461. "A verb may generally be
distinguished, by its making sense with any of the personal pronouns, or
the word _to_ before it."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 28; _Alger's_, 13;
_Bacon's_, 10; _Comly's_, and many others. "A noun may, in general, be
distinguished by its taking an article before it, or by its making sense of
itself."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 17; _Murray's_, 27; &c. "An Adjective may
usually be known by its making sense with the addition of the word _thing_:
as, a _good_ thing; a _bad_ thing."--_Same Authors_. "It is seen in the
objective case, from its denoting the object affected by the act of
leaving."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 44. "It is seen in the possessive
case, from its denoting the _possessor_ of something."--_Ibid._ "The name
man is caused by the adname _whatever_ to be twofold subjective case, from
its denoting, of itself, one person as the subject of the two
remarks."--_Ib._, p. 56. "_When_, as used in the last line, is a
connective, from its joining that line to the other part of the
sentence."--_Ib._, p. 59. "From their denoting reciprocation."--_Ib._, p.
64. "To allow them the making use of that liberty."--_Sale's Koran_, p.
116. "The worst effect of it is, the fixing on your mind a habit of
indecision."--_Todd's Student's Manual_, p. 60. "And you groan the more
deeply, as you reflect that there is no shaking it off."--_Ib._, p. 47. "I
know of nothing that can justify the having recourse to a Latin translation
of a Greek writer."--_Coleridge's Introduction_, p. 16. "Humour is the
making others act or talk absurdly."--_Hazlitt's Lectures_. "There are
remarkable instances of their not affecting each other."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 150. "The leaving Cæsar out of the commission was not from any
slight."--_Life of Cicero_, p. 44. "Of the receiving this toleration
thankfully I shall say no more."--_Dryden's Works_, p. 88. "Henrietta was
delighted with Julia's working lace so very well."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._,
p. 255. "And it is from their representing each two different words that
the confusion has arisen."--_Booth's Introd._, p. 42. "Æschylus died of a
fracture of his skull, caused by an eagle's letting fall a tortoise on his
head."--_Biog. Dict._ "He doubted their having it."--_Felch's Comp. Gram._,
p. 81. "The making ourselves clearly understood, is the chief end of
speech."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 68. "There is no discovering in their
countenances, any signs which are the natural concomitants of the feelings
of the heart."--_Ib._, p. 165. "Nothing can be more common or less proper
than to speak of a _river's emptying itself_."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 186.
"Our not using the former expression, is owing to this."--_Bullions's E.
Gram._, p. 59.


UNDER NOTE IV.--DISPOSAL OF ADVERBS.

"To this generally succeeds the division, or the laying down the method of
the discourse."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 311. "To the pulling down of strong
holds."--_2 Cor._, x, 4. "Can a mere buckling on a military weapon infuse
courage?"--_Brown's Estimate_, i, 62. "Living expensively and luxuriously
destroys health."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 234. "By living frugally and
temperately, health is preserved."--_Ibid._ "By living temperately, our
health is promoted."--_Ib._, p. 227. "By the doing away of the
necessity."--_The Friend_, xiii, 157. "He recommended to them, however, the
immediately calling of the whole community to the church."--_Gregory's
Dict., w. Ventriloquism_. "The separation of large numbers in this manner
certainly facilitates the reading them rightly."--_Churchill's Gram._, p.
303. "From their merely admitting of a twofold grammatical
construction."--_Philol. Museum_, i. 403. "His gravely lecturing his friend
about it."--_Ib._, i, 478. "For the blotting out of sin."--_Gurney's
Evidences_, p. 140. "From the not using of water."--_Barclay's Works_, i,
189. "By the gentle dropping in of a pebble."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p.
125. "To the carrying on a great part of that general course of
nature."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 127. "Then the not interposing is so far
from being a ground of complaint."--_Ib._, p. 147. "The bare omission, or
rather the not employing of what is used."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 180;
_Jamieson's_, 48. "Bringing together incongruous adverbs is a very common
fault."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 329. "This is a presumptive proof of its
not proceeding from them."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 186. "It represents him
in a character to which the acting unjustly is peculiarly
unsuitable."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 372. "They will aim at something
higher than merely the dealing out of harmonious sounds."--_Kirkham's
Elocution_, p. 65. "This is intelligible and sufficient; and going farther
seems beyond the reach of our faculties."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 147.
"Apostrophe is a turning off from the regular course of the
subject."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 348; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 185. "Even
Isabella was finally prevailed upon to assent to the sending out a
commission to investigate his conduct."--_Life of Columbus_. "For the
turning away of the simple shall slay them."--_Prov._, i, 32.

   "Thick fingers always should command
    Without the stretching out the hand."--_King's Poems_, p. 585.


UNDER NOTE V.--PARTICIPLES WITH ADJECTIVES.

"Is there any Scripture speaks of the light's being inward?"--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 367. "For I believe not the being positive therein essential to
salvation."--_Ib._, iii, 330. "Our not being able to act an uniform right
part without some thought and care."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 122. "Upon
supposition of its being reconcileable with the constitution of
nature."--_Ib._, p. 128. "Upon account of its not being discoverable by
reason or experience."--_Ib._, p. 170. "Upon account of their being unlike
the known course of nature."--_Ib._, p. 171. "Our being able to discern
reasons for them, gives a positive credibility to the history of
them."--_Ib._, p. 174. "From its not being universal."--_Ib._, p. 175.
"That they may be turned into the passive participle in _dus_ is no
decisive argument in favour of their being passive."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._,
p. 233. "With the implied idea of St. Paul's being then _absent_ from the
Corinthians."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 123. "On account of its becoming
gradually weaker, until it finally dies away into silence."--_Ib._, p. 32.
"Not without the author's being fully aware."--_Ib._, p. 84. "Being witty
out of season, is one sort of folly."--_Sheffield's Works_, ii. 172. "Its
being generally susceptible of a much stronger evidence."--_Campbell's
Rhet._, p. 102. "At least their being such rarely enhanceth our opinion,
either of their abilities or of their virtues."--_Ib._, p. 162. "Which were
the ground of our being one."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 513. "But they may be
distinguished from it by their being intransitive."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
60. "To distinguish the higher degree of our persuasion of a thing's being
possible."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 234.

   "His being idle, and dishonest too,
    Was that which caus'd his utter overthrow."--_Tobitt's Gram._, p. 61.


UNDER NOTE VI.--COMPOUND VERBAL NOUNS.

"When it denotes being subjected to the exertion of another."--_Booth's
Introd._, p. 37. "In a passive sense, it signifies being subjected to the
influence of the action."--_Felch's Comp. Gram._, p. 60. "The being
abandoned by our friends is very deplorable."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i,
181. "Without waiting for their being attacked by the Macedonians."--_Ib._,
ii, 97. "In progress of time, words were wanted to express men's being
connected with certain conditions of fortune."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 135.
"Our being made acquainted with pain and sorrow, has a tendency to bring us
to a settled moderation."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 121. "The chancellor's
being attached to the king secured his crown; The general's having failed
in this enterprise occasioned his disgrace; John's having been writing a
long time had wearied him."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 66; _Sanborn's_, 171;
_Cooper's_, 96; _Ingersoll's_, 46; _Fisk's_, 83; _and others_. "The
sentence should be, 'John's having been writing a long time has wearied
him.'"--_Wright's Gram._, p. 186. "Much depends on this rule's being
observed."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 195. "He mentioned a boy's having been
corrected for his faults; The boy's having been corrected is shameful to
him."--_Alger's Gram._, p. 65; _Merchant's_, 93. "The greater the
difficulty of remembrance is, and the more important the being remembered
is to the attainment of the ultimate end."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 90. "If
the parts in the composition of similar objects were always in equal
quantity, their being compounded would make no odds."--_Ib._, p. 65.
"Circumstances, not of such importance as that the scope of the relation is
affected by their being known."--_Ib._, p. 379. "A passive verb expresses
the receiving of an action or the being acted upon; as, 'John is
beaten'"--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 16. "So our Language has another great
Advantage, namely its not being diversified by Genders."--_Buchanan's
Gram._, p. 20. "The having been slandered is no fault of Peter."--_Frost's
El. of Gram._, p. 82. "Without being Christ's friends, there is no being
justified."--_William Penn_. "Being accustomed to danger, begets
intrepidity, i.e. lessens fear."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 112. "It is, not
being affected so and so, but acting, which forms those habits."--_Ib._, p.
113. "In order to our being satisfied of the truth of the apparent
paradox."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 164. "Tropes consist in a word's being
employed to signify something that is different from its original and
primitive meaning."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 132; _Jamieson's_, 140; _Murray's
Gram._, 337; _Kirkham's_, 222. "A _Trope_ consists in a word's being
employed," &c.--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 133. "The scriptural view of our being
saved from punishment."--_Gurney's Evidences_, p. 124. "To submit and obey,
is not a renouncing a being led by the Spirit."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 542.


UNDER NOTE VII.--PARTICIPLES FOR INFINITIVES, &C.

"Teaching little children is a pleasant employment."--_Bartlett's School
Manual_, ii, 68. "Denying or compromising principles of truth is virtually
denying their divine Author."--_Reformer_, i, 34. "A severe critic might
point out some expressions that would bear being retrenched."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 206. "Never attempt prolonging the pathetic too much."--_Ib._,
p. 323. "I now recollect having mentioned a report of that nature."--
_Whiting's Reader_, p. 132. "Nor of the necessity which there is for their
being restrained in them."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 116. "But doing what God
commands, because he commands it, is obedience, though it proceeds from
hope or fear."--_Ib._, p. 124. "Simply closing the nostrils does not so
entirely prevent resonance."--_Music of Nature_, p. 484. "Yet they
absolutely refuse doing so."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 264. "But Artaxerxes
could not refuse pardoning him."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 173. "Doing them
in the best manner is signified by the name of these arts."--_Rush, on the
Voice_, p. 360. "Behaving well for the time to come, may be insufficient."
--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 198. "The compiler proposed publishing that part
by itself."--_Dr. Adam, Rom. Antiq._, p. v. "To smile upon those we should
censure, is bringing guilt upon ourselves."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 108.
"But it would be doing great injustice to that illustrious orator to bring
his genius down to the same level."--_Ib._, p. 28. "Doubting things go ill,
often hurts more than to be sure they do."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 203.
"This is called straining a metaphor."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 150; _Murray's
Gram._, i, 341. "This is what Aristotle calls giving manners to the
poem."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 427. "The painter's being entirely confined to
that part of time which he has chosen, deprives him of the power of
exhibiting various stages of the same action."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 195.
"It imports retrenching all superfluities, and pruning the expression."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 94; _Jamieson's_, 64; _Murray's Gram._, p. 301;
_Kirkham's_, 220. "The necessity for our being thus exempted is further
apparent."--_West's Letters_, p. 40. "Her situation in life does not allow
of her being genteel in every thing."--_Ib._, p. 57. "Provided you do not
dislike being dirty when you are invisible."--_Ib._, p. 58. "There is now
an imperious necessity for her being acquainted with her title to
eternity."--_Ib._, p. 120. "Discarding the restraints of virtue, is
misnamed ingenuousness."--_Ib._, p. 105. "The legislature prohibits opening
shop of a Sunday."--_Ib._, p. 66. "To attempt proving that any thing is
right."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 256. "The comma directs making a pause
of a second in duration, or less."--_Ib._, p. 280. "The rule which directs
putting other words into the place of it, is wrong."--_Ib._, p. 326. "They
direct calling the specifying adjectives or adnames adjective pronouns."--
_Ib._, p. 338. "William dislikes attending court."--_Frost's El. of Gram._,
p. 82. "It may perhaps be worth while remarking that Milton makes a
distinction."--_Philological Museum_, i, 659. "Professing regard, and
acting differently, discover a base mind."--_Murray's Key_, p. 206;
_Bullions's E. Gram._, pp. 82 and 112; _Lennie's_, 58. "Professing regard
and acting indifferently, discover a base mind."--_Weld's Gram., Improved
Edition_, p. 59. "You have proved beyond contradiction, that acting thus is
the sure way to procure such an object."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 92.


UNDER NOTE VIII.--PARTICIPLES AFTER BE, IS, &C.

"Irony is expressing ourselves in a manner contrary to our
thoughts."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 353; _Kirkham's_, 225; _Goldsbury's_, 90.
"Irony is saying one thing and meaning the reverse of what that expression
would represent."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 303. "An Irony is dissembling
or changing the proper signification of a word or sentence to quite the
contrary."--_Fisher's Gram._, p. 151. "Irony is expressing ourselves
contrary to what we mean."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 280. "This is in a great
Measure delivering their own Compositions."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. xxvi.
"But purity is using rightly the words of the language."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 59. "But the most important object is settling the English
quantity."--_Walker's Key_. p. 17. "When there is no affinity, the
transition from one meaning to another is taking a very wide step."--
_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 293. "It would be losing time to attempt further to
illustrate it."--_Ib._, p. 79. "This is leaving the sentence too bare, and
making it to be, if not nonsense, hardly sense."--_Cobbett's Gram._, ¶220.
"This is requiring more labours from every private member."--_West's
Letters_, p. 120. "Is not this using one measure for our neighbours, and
another for ourselves?"--_Ib._, p. 200. "Is it not charging God foolishly,
when we give these dark colourings to human nature?"--_Ib._, p. 171. "This
is not enduring the cross as a disciple of Jesus Christ, but snatching at
it like a partizan of Swift's Jack."--_Ib._, p. 175. "What is Spelling? It
is combining letters to form syllables and words."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._,
p. 18. "It is choosing such letters to compose words," &c.--_Ibid._ "What
is Parsing? (1.) It is describing the nature, use, and powers of
words."--_Ib._, pp. 22 and 192. (2.) "For parsing is describing the words
of a sentence as they are used."--_Ib._, p. 10. (3.) "Parsing is only
describing the nature and relations of words as they are used."--_Ib._, p.
11. (4.) "Parsing, let the pupil understand and remember, is describing
facts concerning words; or representing them in their offices and relations
as they are."--_Ib._, p. 34. (5.) "Parsing is resolving and explaining
words according to the rules of grammar."--_Ib._, p. 326. (6.) "Parsing a
word, remember, is enumerating and describing its various relations and
qualities, and its grammatical relations to other words in the
sentence."--_Ib._, p. 325. (7.) "For parsing a word is enumerating and
describing its various properties and relations _to the_ sentence."--_Ib._,
p. 326. (8.) "Parsing a noun is telling of what person, number, gender, and
case, it is; and also telling all its grammatical relations in a sentence
with respect to other words."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 16. (9.) "Parsing
any part of speech is telling all its properties and relations."--_Ibid._
(10.) "Parsing is resolving a sentence into its elements."--_Fowler's E.
Gram._, 1850, §588. "The highway of the righteous is, departing from
evil."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 168. "Besides, the first step towards
exhibiting truth should be removing the veil of error."--_Ib._, p. 377.
"Punctuation is dividing sentences and the words of sentences, by
pauses."--_Ib._, p. 280. "Another fault is using the preterimperfect
_shook_ instead of the participle _shaken_"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 259.
"Her employment is drawing maps."--_Alger's Gram._, p. 65. "Going to the
play, according to his notion, is leading a sensual life, and exposing ones
self to the strongest temptations. This is begging the question, and
therefor requires no answer."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 217. "It is
overvaluing ourselves to reduce every thing to the narrow measure of our
capacities."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 193; _Ingersoll's_, 199. "What is vocal
language? It is speaking; or expressing ideas by the human
voice."--_Sanders, Spelling-Book_, p. 7.


UNDER NOTE IX.--VERBS OF PREVENTING.

"The annulling power of the constitution prevented that enactment's
becoming a law."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 267. "Which prevents the
manner's being brief."--_Ib._, p. 365. "This close prevents their bearing
forward as nominatives."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 153. "Because this
prevents its growing drowzy."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 5. "Yet this
does not prevent his being great."--_Ib._, p. 27. "To prevent its being
insipid."--_Ib._, p. 112. "Or whose interruptions did not prevent its being
continued."--_Ib._, p. 167. "This by no means prevents their being also
punishments."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 123. "This hinders not their
being also, in the strictest sense, punishments."--_Ibid._, "The noise made
by the rain and wind prevented their being heard."--_Goldsmith's Greece_,
Vol. i, p. 118. "He endeavoured to prevent its taking effect."--_Ib._, i,
128. "So sequestered as to prevent their being explored."--_West's
Letters_, p. 62. "Who prevented her making a more pleasant party."--_Ib._,
p. 65. "To prevent our being tossed about by every wind of
doctrine."--_Ib._, p. 123. "After the infirmities of age prevented his
bearing his part of official duty."--_Religious World_, ii, 193. "To
prevent splendid trifles passing for matters of importance."--_Kames, El.
of Crit._, i, 310. "Which prevents his exerting himself to any good
purpose."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, i, 146. "The want of the observance
of this rule, very frequently prevents our being punctual in our
duties."--_Student's Manual_, p. 65. "Nothing will prevent his being a
student, and his possessing the means of study."--_Ib._, p. 127. "Does the
present accident hinder your being honest and brave?"--_Collier's
Antoninus_, p. 51. "The e is omitted to prevent two es coming
together."--_Fowle's Gram._, p. 34. "A pronoun is used for or in place of a
noun.--to prevent repeating the noun."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 13.
"Diversity in the style relieves the ear, and prevents it being tired with
the too frequent recurrence of the rhymes."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 166.
"Diversity in the style relieves the ear, and prevents its being tired,"
&c.--_Murray's Gram._, i. p. 362. "Timidity and false shame prevent our
opposing vicious customs."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 236; _Sanborn's Gram._,
171; _Merchant's_, 205. "To prevent their being moved by such."--
_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 155. "Some obstacle or impediment, that prevents its
taking place."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 38. "Which prevents our making a
progress towards perfection."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 4. "This method
of distinguishing words, must prevent any regular proportion of time being
settled."--_Ib._, p. 67. "That nothing but affectation can prevent its
always taking place."--_Ib._, p. 78. "This did not prevent John's being
acknowledged and solemnly inaugurated Duke of Normandy."--HENRY: _Webster's
Philos. Gram._, p. 182; his _Improved Gram._, 130; _Sanborn's Gram._, 189;
_Fowler's_, 8vo, 1850, p. 541.


UNDER NOTE X.--THE LEADING WORD IN SENSE.

"This would preclude the possibility of a _nouns'_ or any other word's ever
being in the possessive case."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 338. "A great
part of our pleasure arises from the plan or story being well
conducted."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 18, "And we have no reason to wonder at
this being the case."--_Ib._, p. 249. "She objected only, as Cicero says,
to Oppianicus having two sons by his present wife."--_Ib._, p. 274. "The
Britons being subdued by the Saxons, was a necessary consequence of their
having called in these Saxons, to their assistance."--_Ib._, p. 329. "What
he had there said, concerning the Saxons expelling the Britons, and
changing the customs, the religion, and the language of the country, is a
clear and good reason for our present language being Saxon rather than
British."--_Ib._, p. 230. "The only material difference between them,
besides the one being short and the other being prolonged, is, that a
metaphor always explains itself by the words that are connected with
it."--_Ib._, p. 151; _Murray's Gram._, p. 342. "The description of Death's
advancing to meet Satan, on his arrival."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 156.
"Is not the bare fact of God being the witness of it, sufficient ground for
its credibility to rest upon?"--_Chalmers, Serm._, p. 288. "As in the case
of one entering upon a new study."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, i, 77. "The
manner of these affecting the copula is called the imperative mode."--BP.
WILKINS: _Lowth's Gram._, p. 43. "We are freed from the trouble, by our
nouns having no diversity of endings."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 20. "The
Verb is rather indicative of the actions being _doing_, or _done_, than
_the time when_, but indeed the ideas are undistinguishable."--_Booth's
Introd._, p. 69. "Nobody would doubt of this being a sufficient
proof."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 66. "Against the doctrine here maintained,
of conscience being, as well as reason, a natural faculty."--_Beattie's M.
Sci._, i, 263. "It is one cause of the Greek and English languages being
much more easy to learn, than the Latin."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p.
25. "I have not been able to make out a solitary instance of such being the
fact."--_Liberator_, x, 40. "An angel's forming the appearance of a hand,
and writing the king's condemnation on the wall, checked their mirth, and
filled them with terror."--_Wood's Dict., w. Belshazzar_. "The prisoners'
having attempted to escape, aroused the keepers."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._,
p. 357. "I doubt not, in the least, of this having been one cause of the
multiplication of divinities in the heathen world."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
155. "From the general rule he lays down, of the verbs being the parent
word of all language."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 227. "He was
accused of himself being idle."--_Felch's Comp. Gram._, p. 52. "Our meeting
is generally dissatisfied with him so removing."--_Wm. Edmondson_. "The
spectacle is too rare of men's deserving solid fame while not seeking
it."--_Prof. Bush's Lecture on Swedenborg_. "What further need was there of
an other priest rising?"--See _Key_.


UNDER NOTE XI.--REFERENCE OF PARTICIPLES.

"Viewing them separately, different emotions are produced."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, ii, 344. "But leaving this doubtful, another objection
occurs."--_Ib._, ii, 358. "Proceeding from one particular to another, the
subject grew under his hand."--_Ib._, i, 27. "But this is still an
interruption, and a link of the chain broken."--_Ib._, ii, 314. "After some
days hunting, Cyrus communicated his design to his officers."--_Rollin_,
ii, 66. "But it is made, without the appearance of making it in
form."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 358. "These would have had a better effect
disjoined thus."--_Ib._, p. 119; _Murray's Gram._, i, 309. "An improper
diphthong has but one of the vowels sounded."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 9;
_Alger's_, 12; _Merchant's_, 9; _Smith's_, 118; _Ingersoll's_, 4. "And
being led to think of both together, my view is rendered unsteady."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 95; _Murray's Gram._, 302; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 66. "By
often doing the same thing, it becomes habitual."--_Murray's Key_, p. 257.
"They remain with us in our dark and solitary hours, no less than when
surrounded with friends and cheerful society."--_Ib._, p. 238. "Besides
shewing what is right, the matter may be further explained by pointing out
what is wrong."--_Lowth's Gram., Pref._, p. viii. "The former teaches the
true pronunciation of words, comprising accent, quantity, emphasis, pause,
and tone."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol., i, p. 235. "Persons may be reproved for
their negligence, by saying; 'You have taken great care indeed.'"--_Ib._,
i, 354. "The words preceding and following it, are in apposition to each
other."--_Ib._, ii, p. 22. "Having finished his speech, the assembly
dispersed."--_Cooper's Pract. Gram._, p. 97. "Were the voice to fall at the
close of the last line, as many a reader is in the habit of doing."--
_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 101. "The misfortunes of his countrymen were but
negatively the effects of his wrath, by depriving them of his
assistance."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 299. "Taking them as nouns, this
construction may be explained thus."--_Grant's Latin Gram._, p. 233. "These
have an active signification, those which come from neuter verbs being
excepted."--_Ib._, p. 233. "From the evidence of it not being
universal."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 84. "And this faith will continually
grow, by acquainting ourselves with our own nature."--_Channing's
Self-Culture_, p. 33. "Monosyllables ending with any consonant but _f, l_,
or _s_, and preceded by a single vowel, never double the final consonant;
excepting add, ebb," &c.--_Murray's Gram._, p. 23; _Picket's_, 10;
_Merchant's_, 13; _Ingersoll's_, 8; _Fisk's_, 44; _Blair's_, 7. "The
relation of being the object of the action is expressed by the change of
the Noun _Maria_ to _Mariam_"--_Booth's Introd._, p. 38. "In analyzing a
proposition, it is first to be divided into its logical subject and
predicate."--_Andrews and Stoddard's Latin Gram._, p. 254. "In analyzing a
simple sentence, it should first be resolved into its logical subject and
logical predicate."--_Wells's School Gram._, 113th Ed., p. 189.


UNDER NOTE XII.--OF PARTICIPLES AND NOUNS.

"The discovering passions instantly at their birth, is essential to our
well being."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 352. "I am now to enter on
considering the sources of the pleasures of taste."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
28. "The varieties in using them are, indeed many."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
319. "Changing times and seasons, removing and setting up kings, belong to
Providence alone."--_Ib., Key_, ii, p. 200. "Adhering to the partitions
seemed the cause of France, accepting the will that of the house of
Bourbon."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 246. "Another source of darkness in
composing is, the injudicious introduction of technical words and
phrases."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 247. "These are the rules of grammar, by
the observing of which, you may avoid mistakes."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 192;
_Merchant's_, 93; _Fisk's_, 135; _Ingersoll's_, 198. "By the observing of
the rules you may avoid mistakes."--_Alger's Gram._, p. 65. "By the
observing of these rules he succeeded."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 82.
"Being praised was his ruin."--_Ibid._ "Deceiving is not convincing."--
_Ibid._ "He never feared losing a friend."--_Ibid._ "Making books is his
amusement."--_Alger's Gram._, p. 65. "We call it declining a noun."--
_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 22. "Washington, however, pursued the same policy
of neutrality, and opposed firmly, taking any part in the wars of
Europe."--_Hall and Baker's School Hist._, p. 294. "The following is a note
of Interrogation, or asking a question (?)."--_Infant School Gram._, p.
132. "The following is a note of Admiration, or expressing wonder
(!)."--_Ib._ "Omitting or using the article _a_ forms a nice distinction in
the sense."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, 284. "Placing the preposition before the
word it governs is more graceful."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 150.
"Assistance is absolutely necessary to their recovery, and retrieving their
affairs."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 197. "Which termination, [_ish_,] when
added to adjectives, imports diminution, or lessening the
quality."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 131; _Kirkham's_, 172. "After what is said,
will it be thought refining too much to suggest, that the different orders
are qualified for different purposes?"--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 114.
"Who has nothing to think of but killing time."--_West's Letters_, p. 58.
"It requires no nicety of ear, as in the distinguishing of tones, or
measuring time."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 65. "The _Possessive Case_
denotes possession, or belonging to."--_Hall's Gram._, p. 7.


UNDER NOTE XIII.--PERFECT PARTICIPLES.

"Garcilasso was master of the language spoke by the Incas."--_Robertson's
Amer._, ii, 459. "When an interesting story is broke off in the
middle."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 244. "Speaking of Hannibal's elephants
drove back by the enemy."--_Ib._, ii, 32. "If Du Ryer had not wrote for
bread, he would have equalled them."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 166.
"Pope describes a rock broke off from a mountain, and hurling to the
plain."--_Kames_, ii, 106. "I have wrote _or_ have written, Thou hast wrote
_or_ hast written. He hath or has wrote, _or_ hath or has written;"
&c.--_Dr. Ash's Gram._, p. 47; _Maltby's_, 47. "This was spoke by a
pagan."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 174. "But I have chose to follow
the common arrangement."--_Ib._, p. 10. "The language spoke in
Bengal."--_Ib._, p. 78. "And sound Sleep thus broke off, with suddain
Alarms, is apt enough to discompose any one."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 32.
"This is not only the Case of those Open Sinners, before spoke of."--_Right
of Tythes_, p. 26. "Some Grammarians have wrote a very perplexed and
difficult doctrine on Punctuation."--_Ensell's Gram._, p. 340. "There hath
a pity arose in me towards thee."--_Sewel's Hist., fol._, p. 324. "Abel is
the only man that has underwent the awful change of death."--_Juvenile
Theatre_, p. 4.

   "Meantime, on Afric's glowing sands,
    Smote with keen heat, the Trav'ler stands."--_Union Poems_, p. 88.




CHAPTER VIII.--ADVERBS.

The syntax of an Adverb consists in its simple relation to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or whatever else it qualifies; just as the syntax
of an English Adjective, (except in a few instances,) consists in its
simple relation to a noun or a pronoun.


RULE XXI.--ADVERBS.

Adverbs relate to verbs, participles, adjectives, or other adverbs: as,
"Any passion that _habitually_ discomposes our temper, or unfits us for
_properly_ discharging the duties of life, has _most certainly_ gained a
_very_ dangerous ascendency."--_Blair_.

   "_How_ bless'd this happy hour, should he appear,
    Dear to us all, to me _supremely_ dear!"--_Pope's Homer_.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

The adverbs _yes, ay_, and _yea_, expressing a simple affirmation, and the
adverbs _no_ and _nay_, expressing a simple negation, are always
independent. They generally answer a question, and are equivalent to a
whole sentence. Is it clear, that they ought to be called adverbs? _No_.
"Can honour set to a leg? _No_. Or an arm? _No_. Or take away the grief of
a wound? _No_. Honour hath no skill in surgery then? _No_."--SHAK.: _First
Part of Hen. IV_, Act v, 1.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

The word _amen_, which is commonly called an adverb, is often used
independently at the beginning or end of a declaration or a prayer; and is
itself a prayer, meaning, _So let it be_: as, "Surely, I come quickly.
_Amen_: Even so, come Lord Jesus."--_Rev._, xxii, 20. When it does not
stand thus alone, it seems in general to be used substantively; as, "The
strangers among them stood on Gerizim, and echoed _amen_ to the
blessings."--_Wood's Dict._ "These things saith the _Amen_."--_Rev._, iii,
14

EXCEPTION THIRD.

An adverb before a preposition seems sometimes to relate to the latter,
rather than to the verb or participle to which the preposition connects its
object; as, "This mode of pronunciation runs _considerably beyond_ ordinary
discourse."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 334. "Yea, _all along_ the times of the
apostasy, this was the thing that preserved the witnesses."--_Penington's
Works_, Vol. iv, p. 12. [See Obs. 8th on Rule 7th.]

   "_Right against_ the eastern gate,
    Where the great sun begins his state."--_Milton, L'Allegro_.

EXCEPTION FOURTH.

The words _much, little, far_, and _all_, being originally adjectives, are
sometimes preceded by the negative _not_, or (except the last) by such an
adverb as _too, how, thus, so_, or _as_, when they are taken substantively;
as, "_Not all_ that glitters, is gold."--"_Too much_ should not be offered
at once."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 140. "_Thus far_ is consistent."--_Ib._, p.
161. "_Thus far_ is right."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 101.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XXI.

OBS. 1.--On this rule of syntax, Dr. Adam remarks, "Adverbs sometimes
likewise qualify _substantives_;" and gives Latin examples of the following
import: "Homer _plainly_ an orator:"--"_Truly_ Metellus;"--"_To-morrow_
morning." But this doctrine is not well proved by such imperfect phrases,
nor can it ever be very consistently admitted, because it destroys the
characteristic difference between an adjective and an adverb. _To-morrow_
is here an adjective; and as for _truly_ and _plainly_, they are not such
words as can make sense with nouns. I therefore imagine the phrases to be
elliptical: "_Verè Metellus_," may mean, "_This is truly_ Metellus;" and
"_Homerus planè orator_," "Homer _was plainly_ an orator." So, in the
example, "Behold an Israelite _indeed_," the true construction seems to be,
"Behold, _here is indeed_ an Israelite;" for, in the Greek or Latin, the
word _Israelite_ is a nominative, thus: "_Ecce verè Israëlita_."--_Beza_;
also _Montanus_. "[Greek: Ide alæthos 'Israaelitæs.]"--_Greek Testament.
Behold_ appears to be here an interjection, like _Ecce_. If we make it a
transitive verb, the reading should be, "Behold a _true_ Israelite;" for
the text does not mean, "_Behold indeed_ an Israelite." At least, this is
not the meaning in our version. W. H. Wells, citing as authorities for the
doctrine, "Bullions, Allen and Cornwell, Brace, Butler, and Webber," has
the following remark: "There are, however, certain forms of expression in
which _adverbs_ bear a special relation to _nouns_ or _pronouns_; as,
'Behold I, _even I_, do bring a flood of waters.'--_Gen._ 6: 17. 'For our
gospel came not unto you in _word only_, but also in power.'--1 _Thes._ 1:
5."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 156; late Ed., 168. And again, in
his Punctuation, we find this: "When, however, the intervening word is an
_adverb_, the comma is more commonly omitted; as, 'It is _labor only_ which
gives a relish to pleasure.'"--_Ib._, p. 176. From all this, the doctrine
receives no better support than from Adam's suggestion above considered.
The word "_only_" is often an _adjective_, and wherever its "special
relation" is to a noun or a pronoun, it can be nothing else. "_Even_," when
it introduces a word repeated with emphasis, is a _conjunction_.

OBS. 2.--When participles become nouns, their adverbs are not unfrequently
left standing with them in their original relation; as, "For the fall and
_rising again_ of many in Israel."--_Luke_, ii, 34. "To denote the
_carrying forward_ of the action."--_Barnard's Gram._, p. 52. But in
instances like these, _the hyphen_ seems to be necessary. This mark would
make the terms _rising-again_ and _carrying-forward_ compound nouns, and
not participial nouns with adverbs relating to them.

   "There is no _flying hence_, nor _tarrying here_."--_Shak., Macbeth_.

    "What! in ill thoughts again? men must endure
    Their _going hence_, ev'n as their _coming hither_."--_Id._

OBS. 3.--Whenever any of those words which are commonly used adverbially,
are made to relate directly to nouns or pronouns, they must be reckoned
_adjectives_, and parsed by Rule 9th. Examples: "The _above_ verbs."--_Dr.
Adam_. "To the _above_ remarks."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 318. "The _above
instance_."--_Ib._, p. 442. "After the _above_ partial illustration."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist. of Lang._, ii, 62. "The _above explanation_."--_Cobbett's
Gram._, ¶ 22. "For _very_ age."--_Zech._, viii, 4. "From its _very_
greatness."--_Phil. Museum_, i, 431. "In his _then_ situation."--_Johnson's
Life of Goldsmith_. "This was the _then_ state of Popery."--_Id., Life of
Dryden_, p. 185. "The servant becomes the master of his _once_
master."--_Shillitoe_. "Time _when_ is put in the ablative, time how _long_
is put in the accusative."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 201; _Gould's_, 198.
"Nouns signifying the time _when_ or how _long_, may be put in the
objective case without a preposition."--_Wilbur and Livingston's Gram._, p.
24. "I hear the _far-off_ curfew sound."--_Milton_. "Far on the _thither_
side."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 58. "My _hither_ way."--"Since my _here_
remain in England."--_Shak._ "But short and _seldom_ truce."--_Fell_. "An
_exceeding_ knave."--_Pope_. "According to my _sometime_
promise."--_Zenobia_, i, 176. "Thine _often_ infirmities."--_Bible_. "A
_far_ country."--_Ib._ "_No_ wine,"--"_No_ new thing,"--"_No_ greater
joy."--_Ib._ "Nothing _else_."--_Blair_. "_Tomorrow_ noon."--_Scott_.
"Calamity _enough_."--_Tr. Sallust_. "For thou _only_ art holy."--_Rev._,
xv, 4.

OBS. 4.--It is not my design to justify any uncouth substitution of adverbs
for adjectives; nor do I affirm that all the foregoing examples are
indisputably good English, though most of them are so; but merely, that the
words, when they are thus used, _are adjectives_, and not adverbs. Lindley
Murray, and his copyists, strongly condemn some of these expressions, and,
by implication, most or all of them; but both he and they, as well as
others, have repeatedly employed at least one of the very models they
censure. They are too severe on all those which they specify. Their
objections stand thus; "_Such expressions_ as the following, though not
destitute of authority, _are very inelegant_, and do _not suit the idiom_
of our language; 'The _then_ ministry,' for, 'the ministry of that time;'
'The _above_ discourse,' for, 'the preceding discourse.'"--_Murray's
Gram._, i, p. 198; _Crombie's_, 294; _Ingersoll's_, 206. "The following
phrases are also exceptionable: 'The _then_ ministry;' 'The _above_
argument.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 190. "Adverbs used as adjectives, as,
'The _above_ statement;' 'The _then_ administration;' should be
avoided."--_Barnard's Gram._, p. 285. "_When_ and _then_ must not be used
for nouns _and pronouns_; thus, 'Since _when_,' 'since _then_,' 'the _then_
ministry,' ought to be, 'Since _which time_,' 'since _that time_,' 'the
ministry _of that period_.'"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 96. Dr. Priestley, from
whom Murray derived many of his critical remarks, noticed these
expressions; and, (as I suppose,) _approvingly_; thus, "Adverbs are often
put for adjectives, agreeably to the idiom of the Greek tongue: [as,] 'The
action was _amiss_.'--'The _then_ ministry.'--'The idea is _alike_ in
both.'--Addison. 'The _above_ discourse.'--Harris."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 135. Dr. Johnson, as may be seen above, thought it not amiss to use
_then_ as Priestley here cites it; and for such a use of _above_, we may
quote the objectors themselves: "To support the _above_
construction."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 149; _Ingersoll's_, p. 238. "In all
the _above_ instances."--_Mur._, p. 202; _Ing._, 230. "To the _above_
rule."--_Mur._, p. 270; _Ing._, 283. "The same as the _above_."--_Mur._, p.
66; _Ing._, 46. "In such instances as the _above_."--_Mur._, p. 24; _Ing._,
9; _Kirkham_, 23.[427]

OBS. 5.--When words of an adverbial character are used after the manner of
_nouns_, they must be parsed as nouns, and not as adverbs; as, "The Son of
God--was not _yea_ and _nay_, but in him was _yea_."--_Bible_. "For a great
_while_ to come."--_Ib._ "On this _perhaps_, this _peradventure_ infamous
for lies."--_Young_. "From the extremest _upward_ of thine head."--_Shak_.
"There are _upwards_ of fifteen millions of inhabitants."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 266. "Information has been derived from _upwards_ of two hundred
volumes."--_Worcester's Hist._, p. v. "An eternal _now_ does always
last"--_Cowley_. "Discourse requires an animated _no_."--_Cowper_. "Their
hearts no proud _hereafter_ swelled."--_Sprague_. An adverb after a
preposition is used substantively, and governed by the preposition; though
perhaps it is not necessary to call it a common noun: as, "For _upwards_ of
thirteen years."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. xvi. "That thou mayst curse me them
_from thence_."--_Numb._, xxiii, 27. "Yet _for once_ we'll try."--_Dr.
Franklin_. But many take such terms together, calling them "_adverbial
phrases_." Allen says, "Two adverbs sometimes come together; as, 'Thou hast
kept the good wine _until now_.'"--_Gram._, p. 174. But _until_ is here
more properly a preposition, governing _now_.

OBS. 6.--It is plain, that when words of an adverbial form are used either
adjectively or substantively, they cannot be parsed by the foregoing rule,
or explained as having the ordinary relation of _adverbs_; and if the
unusual relation or character which they thus assume, be not thought
sufficient to fix them in the rank of adjectives or nouns, the parser may
describe them as adverbs used adjectively, or substantively, and apply the
rule which their assumed construction requires. But let it be remembered,
that adverbs, as such, neither relate to nouns, nor assume the nature of
cases: but express the time, place, degree, or manner, of actions or
qualities. In some instances in which their construction may seem not to be
reconcilable with the common rule, there may be supposed an ellipsis of a
verb or a participle:[428] as, "From Monday to Saturday
_inclusively_."--_Webster's Dict._ Here, the Doctor ought to have used a
comma after _Saturday_; for the adverb relates, not to that noun, but to
the word _reckoned_, understood. "It was well said by Roscommon, '_too
faithfully is pedantically_.'"--_Com. Sch. Journal_, i, 167. This saying I
suppose to mean, "_To do a thing_ too faithfully, is, _to do it_
pedantically." "And, [_I say] truly_, if they had been mindful of that
country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have
returned."--_Heb._, xi, 15.

OBS 7.--To abbreviate expressions, and give them vivacity, verbs of
self-motion (such as _go, come, rise, get_, &c.) are sometimes suppressed,
being suggested to the mind by an emphatic adverb, which seems to be put
_for the verb_, but does in fact relate to it understood; as,

"I'll _hence_ to London, on a serious matter."--_Shak_. Supply "_go_."

"I'll _in_. I'll _in_. Follow your friend's counsel. I'll _in_"--_Id._
Supply "_get_."

"_Away_, old man; give me thy hand; _away_."--_Id._ Supply "_come_."

"Love hath wings, and will _away_"--_Waller_. Supply "_fly_."

"_Up, up_, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho!"--_Scott_. Supply "_spring_."

"Henry the Fifth is crowned; _up_, vanity!" Supply "_stand_."

"_Down_, royal state! all you sage counsellors, _hence_!"--_Shak._ Supply
"_fall_," and "_get you_."

"But _up_, and enter now into full bliss."--_Milton_. Supply "_rise_."

OBS. 8.--We have, on some occasions, a singular way of expressing a
transitive action imperatively, or emphatically, by adding the preposition
_with_ to an adverb of direction; as, _up with it, down with it, in with
it, out with it, over with it, away with it_, and the like; in which
construction, the adverb seems to be used elliptically as above, though the
insertion of the verb would totally enervate or greatly alter the
expression. Examples: "She _up with_ her fist, and took him on the
face."--_Sydney, in Joh. Dictionary_. "_Away with_ him!"--_Acts_, xxi, 36.
"_Away with_ such a fellow from the earth."--_Ib._, xxii, 22. "The calling
of assemblies I cannot _away with_"--_Isaiah_, i, 13. "_Hence with_ denial
vain, and coy excuse."--_Milton's Comus_. Ingersoll says, "Sometimes a
whole phrase is used as an interjection, and we call such _interjectional
phrases_: as, _out upon him!--away with him!--Alas, what wonder!_
&c."--_Conversations on Gram._, p. 79. This method of lumping together
several different parts of speech under the notion of one, and calling the
whole an "_adverbial phrase_," a "_substantive phrase_," or an
"_interjectional phrase_," is but a forced put, by which some grammarians
would dodge certain difficulties which they know not how to meet. It is
directly repugnant to the idea of _parsing_; for the parser ever deals with
the parts of speech as such, and not with whole phrases in the lump. The
foregoing adverbs when used imperatively, have some resemblance to
interjections; but, in some of the examples above cited, they certainly are
not used in this manner.

OBS. 9.--A _conjunctive adverb_ usually relates to two verbs at the same
time, and thus connects two clauses of a compound sentence; as, "And the
rest will I set in order _when_ I come,"--_1 Cor._, xi, 34. Here _when_ is
a conjunctive adverb of time, and relates to the two verbs _will set_ and
_come_; the meaning being, "And the rest will I set in order _at the time
at which_ I come." This adverb _when_ is often used erroneously in lieu of
a nominative after _is_, to which construction of the word, such an
interpretation as the foregoing would not be applicable; because the person
means to tell, not _when_, but _what_, the thing is, of which he speaks:
as, "Another cause of obscurity is _when_ the structure of the sentence is
too much complicated, or too artificial; or _when_ the sense is too long
suspended by parentheses."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 246. Here the
conjunction _that_ would be much better than _when_, but the sentence might
advantageously spare them both; thus, "An other cause of obscurity is too
much _complication_, too artificial _a structure_ of the sentence, or too
long _a suspension_ of the sense by _parenthesis_."

OBS. 10.--For the _placing_ of adverbs, no definite general rule can be
given; yet is there no other part of speech so liable to be misplaced.
Those which relate to adjectives, or to other adverbs, with very few
exceptions, immediately precede them; and those which belong to compound
verbs, are commonly placed after the first auxiliary; or, if they be
emphatical, after the whole verb. Those which relate to simple verbs, or to
simple participles, are placed sometimes before and sometimes after them.
Examples are so very common, I shall cite but one: "A man may, in respect
to grammatical purity, speak _unexceptionably_, and yet speak _obscurely_,
or _ambiguously_; and though we cannot say, that a man may speak
_properly_, and at the same time speak _unintelligibly_, yet this last case
falls _more naturally_ to be considered as an offence against perspicuity,
than as a violation of propriety."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 239.

OBS. 11.--Of the infinitive verb and its preposition _to_, some grammarians
say, that they must never be separated by an adverb. It is true, that the
adverb is, in general, more elegantly placed before the preposition than
after it; but, possibly, the latter position of it may sometimes contribute
to perspicuity, which is more essential than elegance: as, "If any man
refuse _so to implore_, and _to so receive_ pardon, let him die the
death."--_Fuller, on the Gospel_, p. 209. The latter word _so_, if placed
like the former, might possibly be understood in a different sense from
what it now bears. But perhaps it would be better to say. "If any man
refuse so to implore, and _on such terms_ to receive pardon, let him die
the death." "Honour teaches us _properly_ to respect ourselves."--_Murray's
Key_, ii, 252. Here it is not quite clear, to which verb the adverb
"_properly_" relates. Some change of the expression is therefore needful.
The right to place an adverb sometimes between _to_ and its verb, should, I
think, be conceded to the poets: as,

   "Who dared _to nobly stem_ tyrannic pride."--BURNS: _C. Sat. N._

OBS. 12.--The adverb _no_ is used independently, only when it is equivalent
to a whole sentence. This word is sometimes an adverb of _degree_; and as
such it has this peculiarity, that it can relate only to comparatives: as,
"_No_ more,"--"_No_ better,"--"_No_ greater,"--"_No_ sooner." When _no_ is
set before a noun, it is clearly an _adjective_, corresponding to the Latin
_nullus_; as, "_No_ clouds, _no_ vapours intervene."--_Dyer_. Dr. Johnson,
with no great accuracy, remarks, "It seems an _adjective_ in these phrases,
_no_ longer, _no_ more, _no_ where; though sometimes it may be so
commodiously changed to _not_, that it seems an adverb; as, 'The days are
yet _no_ shorter.'"--_Quarto Dict._ And his first example of what he calls
the "_adverb_ NO" is this: "'Our courteous Antony, Whom ne'er the word of
_no_ woman heard speak.' SHAKSPEARE."--_Ibid._ Dr. Webster says, "When it
precedes _where_, as in _no where_, it may be considered as adverbial,
though originally an adjective."--_Octavo Dict._ The truth is, that _no_ is
an adverb, whenever it relates to an adjective; an adjective, whenever it
relates to a noun; and a noun, whenever it takes the relation of a case.
Thus, in what Johnson cites from Shakspeare, it is a noun, and not an
adverb; for the meaning is, that a woman never heard Antony speak the word
_of no_--that is, _of negation_. And there ought to be a comma after this
word, to make the text intelligible. To read it thus: "_the word of no
woman_," makes _no_ an adjective. So, to say, "There are _no abler critics_
than these," is a very different thing from saying, "There are _critics no
abler_ than these;" because _no_ is an adjective in the former sentence,
and an adverb in the latter. _Somewhere, nowhere, anywhere, else-where_,
and _everywhere_, are adverbs of place, each of which is composed of the
noun _where_ and an _adjective_; and it is absurd to write a part of them
as compound words, and the rest as phrases, as many authors do.

OBS. 13.--In some languages, the more negatives one crowds into a sentence,
the stronger is the negation; and this appears to have been formerly the
case in English, or in what was anciently the language of Britain: as, "He
_never_ yet _no_ vilanie _ne_ sayde in alle his lif unto _no_ manere
wight."--_Chaucer_. "_Ne_ I _ne_ wol _non_ reherce, yef that I may."--_Id._
"Give _not_ me counsel; _nor_ let _no_ comforter delight mine
ear."--_Shakspeare_. "She _cannot_ love, _nor_ take _no_ shape _nor_
project of affection."--_Id._ Among people of education, this manner of
expression has now become wholly obsolete; though it still prevails, to
some extent, in the conversation of the vulgar. It is to be observed,
however, that the _repetition_ of an independent negative word or clause
yet strengthens the negation; as, "_No, no, no_."--"_No, never_."--"_No,
not_ for an hour."--_Gal._, ii, 5. "There is _none_ righteous, _no, not_
one."--_Rom._, iii, 10. But two negatives in the same clause, if they have
any bearing on each other, destroy the negation, and render the meaning
weakly affirmative; as, "_Nor_ did they _not_ perceive their evil
plight."--_Milton_. That is, they _did_ perceive it. "'His language, though
inelegant, is _not ungrammatical_;' that is, it _is_ grammatical."--
_Murray's Gram._, p. 198. The term _not only_, or _not merely_, being a
correspondent to _but_ or _but also_, may be followed by an other negative
without this effect, because the two negative words have no immediate
bearing on each other; as, "Your brother is _not only not_ present, and
_not_ assisting in prosecuting your injuries, _but_ is now actually with
Verres."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p, 19. "In the latter we have _not merely
nothing_, to denote what the point should be; _but no_ indication, that any
point at all is wanting."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 373. So the word
_nothing_, when taken positively for nonentity, or that which does not
exist, may be followed by an other negative; as,

   "First, seat him somewhere, and derive his race,
    Or else conclude that _nothing_ has _no_ place."--_Dryden_, p. 95.

OBS. 14.--The common rule of our grammars, "Two negatives, in English,
destroy each other, or are equivalent to an affirmative," is far from being
_true_ of all possible examples. A sort of informal exception to it, (which
is mostly confined to conversation,) is made by a familiar transfer of the
word _neither_ from the beginning of the clause to the end of it; as, "But
here is _no_ notice taken of that _neither_"--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p.
336. That is, "But _neither_ is _any_ notice here taken of that." Indeed a
negation may be repeated, by the same word or others, as often as we
please, if no two of the terms in particular contradict each other; as, "He
will _never_ consent, _not_ he, _no, never, nor_ I _neither_." "He will
_not_ have time, _no, nor_ capacity _neither_."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._,
p. 103. "Many terms and idioms may be common, which, nevertheless, have
_not_ the general sanction, _no, nor_ even the sanction of those that use
them."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 160; _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 358. And as
to the equivalence spoken of in the same rule, such an expression as, "He
did _not_ say _nothing_," is in fact only a vulgar solecism, take it as you
will; whether for, "He did _not_ say _anything_," or for, "He _did_ say
_something_." The latter indeed is what the contradiction amounts to; but
double negatives must be shunned, whenever they _seem_ like blunders. The
following examples have, for this reason, been thought objectionable;
though Allen says, "Two negatives destroy each other, or _elegantly_ form
an affirmation."--_Gram._, p. 174.

    ------------"_Nor_ knew I _not_
    To be both will and deed created free."
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. v., l. 548.

   "_Nor_ doth the moon _no_ nourishment exhale
    From her moist continent to higher orbs."
        --_Ib._, B. v, l. 421.

OBS. 15.--Under the head of _double negatives_, there appears in our
grammars a dispute of some importance, concerning the adoption of _or_ or
_nor_, when any other negative than _neither_ or _nor_ occurs in the
preceding clause or phrase: as, "We will _not_ serve thy gods, _nor_
worship the golden image."--_Dan._, iii., 18. "Ye have _no_ portion, _nor_
right, _nor_ memorial in Jerusalem."--_Neh._, ii, 20. "There is _no_
painsworthy difficulty _nor_ dispute about them."--_Horne Tooke, Div._,
Vol. i, p. 43. "So as _not_ to cloud that principal object, _nor_ to bury
it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 115; _Murray's Gram._, p. 322. "He did _not_
mention Leonora, _nor_ her father's death."--_Murray's Key_, p. 264. "Thou
canst _not_ tell whence it cometh, _nor_ whither it goeth."--_Ib._, p. 215.
The form of this text, in John iii, 8th. is--"But canst not tell whence it
cometh, _and_ whither it goeth;" which Murray inserted in his exercises as
bad English. I do not see that the copulative _and_ is here ungrammatical;
but if we prefer a disjunctive, ought it not to be _or_ rather than _nor_?
It appears to be the opinion of some, that in ail these examples, and in
similar instances innumerable, _nor_ only is proper. Others suppose, that
_or_ only is justifiable; and others again, that either _or_ or _nor_ is
perfectly correct. Thus grammar, or what should be grammar, differs in the
hands of different men! The principle to be settled here, must determine
the correctness or incorrectness of a vast number of very common
expressions. I imagine that none of these opinions is warrantable, if taken
in all that extent to which each of them has been, or may be, carried.

OBS. 16.--It was observed by Priestley, and after him by Lindley Murray,
from whom others again have copied the remark: "Sometimes the particles
_or_ and _nor_, may, either of them, be used with nearly equal propriety;
[as,] 'The king, whose character was not sufficiently vigorous, _nor_
decisive, assented to the measure.'--_Hume. Or_ would perhaps have been
better, but _nor_ seems to repeat the negation in the former part of the
sentence, and therefore gives more emphasis to the expression."--
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 138; _Murray's_, i, 212; _Ingersoll's_, 268; _R. C.
Smith's_, 177. The conjunction _or_ might doubtless have been used in this
sentence, but _not with the same meaning_ that is now conveyed; for, if
that connective had been employed, the adjective _decisive_ would have been
qualified by the adverb _sufficiently_, and would have seemed only an
alternative for the former epithet, _vigorous_. As the text now stands, it
not only implies a distinction between vigour of character and decision of
character, but denies the latter to the king absolutely, the former, with
qualification. If the author had meant to suggest such a distinction, and
also to qualify his denial of both, he ought to have said--"not
sufficiently vigorous, _nor sufficiently_ decisive." With this meaning,
however, he might have used _neither_ for _not_; or with the former, he
might have used _or_ for _nor_, had he transposed the terms--"was not
decisive, _or_ sufficiently vigorous."

OBS. 17.--In the tenth edition of John Burn's Practical Grammar, published
at Glasgow, in 1810, are the following suggestions: "It is not uncommon to
find the conjunctions _or_ and _nor_ used indiscriminately; but if there be
any real distinction in the proper application of them, it is to be wished
that it were settled. It is attempted thus:--Let the conjunction _or_ be
used simply to connect the members of a sentence, or to mark distribution,
opposition, or choice, without any preceding negative particle; and _nor_
to mark the subsequent part of a negative sentence, with some negative
particle in the preceding part of it. Examples of OR: 'Recreation of one
kind _or_ other is absolutely necessary to relieve the body _or_ mind from
too constant attention to labour or study.'--'After this life, succeeds a
state of rewards _or_ punishments.'--'Shall I come to you with a rod, _or_
in love?' Examples of NOR: 'Let no man be too confident, _nor_ too
diffident of his own abilities.'--'Never calumniate any man, _nor_ give the
least encouragement to calumniators.'--'There is _not_ a Christian duty to
which providence has not annexed a blessing, _nor_ any affliction for which
a remedy is not provided.' If the above distinction be just, the following
passage seems to be faulty:

    'Seasons return, but _not_ to me returns
    Day, _or_ the sweet approach of ev'n _or_ morn,
    _Or_ sight of vernal bloom, _or_ summer's rose,
    _Or_ flocks, _or_ herds, _or_ human face divine.'
       _Milton, P. L._, B. iii, l. 40.--"_Burn's Gr._, p. 108.

OBS. 18.--T. O. Churchill, whose Grammar first appeared in London in 1823,
treats this matter thus: "As _or_ answers to _either, nor_, a compound of
_not or [ne or_] by contraction, answers to _neither_, a similar compound
of _not either [ne either_]. The latter however does not constitute that
double use of the negative, in which one, agreeably to the principles of
philosophical grammar, destroys the other; for a part of the first word,
_neither_, cannot be understood before the second, _nor_: and for the same
reason a part of it could not be understood before _or_, which is sometimes
improperly used in the second clause; while the whole of it, _neither_,
would be obviously improper before _or_. On the other hand, when _not_ is
used in the first clause, _nor_ is improper in the second; since it would
involve the impropriety of understanding _not_ before a compound of _not_
[or _ne_] with _or_. 'I shall _not_ attempt to convince, _nor_ to persuade
you.--What will you _not_ attempt?--To convince, _nor_ to persuade you.'
The impropriety of _nor_ in this answer is clear: but the answer should
certainly repeat the words not heard, or not understood."--_Churchill's New
Gram._, p. 330.

OBS. 19.--"It is probable, that the use of _nor_ after _not_ has been
introduced, in consequence of such improprieties as the following: 'The
injustice of inflicting death for crimes, when _not_ of the most heinous
nature, _or_ attended with extenuating circumstances.' Here it is obviously
not the intention of the writer, to understand the negative in the last
clause: and, if this were good English, it would be not merely allowable to
employ _nor_ after _not_, to show the subsequent clause to be negative as
well as the preceding, but it would always be necessary. In fact, however,
the sentence quoted is faulty, in not repeating the adverb _when_ in the
last clause; 'or _when_ attended:' which would preclude the negative from
being understood in it; for, if an adverb, conjunction, or auxiliary verb,
preceding a negative, be understood in the succeeding clause, the negative
is understood also; if it be repeated, the negative must be repeated
likewise, or the clause becomes affirmative."--_Ib._, p. 330.

OBS. 20.--This author, proceeding with his remarks, suggests forms of
correction for several other common modes of expression, which he conceives
to be erroneous. For the information of the student, I shall briefly notice
a little further the chief points of his criticism, though he teaches some
principles which I have not thought it necessary always to observe in
writing. "'And seemed _not_ to understand ceremony, _or_ to despise it.'
_Goldsmith_. Here _either_ ought to be inserted before _not_. 'It is _not_
the business of virtue, to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to
regulate them.' _Addison_. The sentence ought to have been: 'It is the
business of virtue, _not_ to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to
regulate them.' 'I do _not_ think, that he was averse to the office; _nor_
do I believe, that it was unsuited to him.' How much better to say: 'I do
not think, that he was averse to the office, _or_ that it was unsuited to
him!' For the same reason _nor_ cannot follow _never_, the negative in the
first clause affecting all the rest."--_Ib._ p. 332. "_Nor_ is sometimes
used improperly after _no_: [as,] 'I humbly however trust in God, that I
have hazarded _no_ conjecture, _nor_ have given any explanation of obscure
points, inconsistent with the general sense of Scripture, which must be our
guide in all dubious passages.' _Gilpin_. It ought to be: '_and_ have given
_no_ explanation;' or, 'I have _neither_ hazarded any conjecture, _nor_
given any explanation.' The use of _or_ after _neither_ is as common, as
that of _nor_ after _no_ or _not_.[429] '_Neither_ the pencil _or_ poetry
are adequate.' _Coxe_. Properly, '_Neither_ the pencil _nor_ poetry _is_
adequate.' 'The vow of poverty _allowed_ the Jesuits individually, to have
_no_ idea of wealth.' _Dornford_. We cannot _allow_ a _nonentity_. It
should be: 'did _not_ allow, to have _any_ idea.'"--_Ib._, p. 333.

OBS. 21.--Thus we see that Churchill wholly and positively condemns _nor_
after _not, no_, or _never_; while Burn totally disapproves of _or_, under
the same circumstances. Both of these critics are wrong, because each
carries his point too far; and yet it may not be right, to suppose both
particles to be often equally good. Undoubtedly, a negation may be repeated
in English without impropriety, and that in several different ways: as,
"There is _no_ living, _none_, if Bertram be away."--_Beauties of Shak._,
p. 3. "Great men are _not_ always wise, _neither_ do the aged [always]
understand judgement."--_Job_, xxxii, 9. "Will he esteem thy riches? _no,
not_ gold, _nor_ all the forces of strength."--_Job_, xxxiv. 19. Some
sentences, too, require _or_, and others _nor_, even when a negative occurs
in a preceding clause; as, "There was _none_ of you that convinced Job,
_or_ that answered his words."--_Job_, xxxii, 12. "How much less to him
that accepteth _not_ the persons of princes _nor_ regardeth the rich more
than the poor."--_Job_, xxxiv, 19. "This day is holy unto the Lord your
God; mourn _not, nor_ weep."--_Neh._, viii, 9. "Men's behaviour should be
like their apparel, _not_ too straight _or_ point-de-vise, but free for
exercise."--_Ld. Bacon_. Again, the mere repetition of a simple negative
is, on some occasions, more agreeable than the insertion of any connective;
as, "There is _no_ darkness, _nor_ shadow of death, where the workers of
iniquity may hide themselves."--_Job_, xxxiv, 22. Better: "There is _no_
darkness, _no_ shadow of death, _wherein_ the workers of iniquity may hide
themselves." "_No_ place _nor any_ object appears to him void of
beauty."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 255. Better: "_No_ place, _no_ object,
appears to him void of beauty." That passage from Milton which Burn
supposes to be faulty, and that expression of Addison's which Churchill
dislikes, are, in my opinion, not incorrect as they stand; though,
doubtless, the latter admits of the variation proposed. In the former, too,
_or_ may twice be changed to _nor_, where the following nouns are
nominatives; but to change it throughout, would not be well, because the
other nouns are objectives governed by _of_:

   "Seasons return, but _not_ to me returns
    Day, _nor_ the sweet approach of ev'n _or_ morn,
    _Nor_ sight of vernal bloom, _or_ summer's rose,
    _Or_ flocks, _or_ herds, _or_ human face divine."

OBS. 22.--_Ever_ and _never_ are directly opposite to each other in sense,
and yet they are very frequently confounded and misapplied, and that by
highly respectable writers; as, "Seldom, or _never_ can we expect,"
&c.--_Blair's Lectures_, p. 305. "And seldom, or _ever_, did any one rise,
&c."--_Ib._, p. 272. "Seldom, or _never_, is[430] there more than one
accented syllable in any English word."--_Ib._, p. 329. "Which that of the
present seldom or _ever_ is understood to be."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of
Lang._, Vol. ii, p. 120. Here _never_ is right, and _ever_ is wrong. It is
_time_, that is here spoken of; and the affirmative _ever_, meaning
_always_, or _at any time_, in stead of being a fit alternative for
_seldom_, makes nonsense of the sentence, and violates the rule respecting
the order and fitness of time: unless we change _or_ to _if_, and say,
"seldom, _if_ ever." But in sentences like the following, the adverb
appears to express, not time, but _degree_; and for the latter sense _ever_
is preferable to _never_, because the degree ought to be possible, rather
than impossible: "_Ever so_ little of the spirit of martyrdom is always a
more favourable indication to civilization, than _ever so_ much dexterity
of party management, or _ever so_ turbulent protestation of immaculate
patriotism."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 411. "Now let man reflect but
_never so_ little on himself."--_Burlamaqui, on Law_, p. 29. "Which will
_not_ hearken to the voice of charmers, charming _never so_
wisely."--_Ps._, lviii, 5. The phrase _ever so_, (which ought, I think, to
be written as _one word_,) is now a very common expression to signify _in
whatsoever degree_; as, "_everso_ little,"--"_everso_ much,"--"_everso_
wise,"--"_everso_ wisely." And it is manifestly this, and not time, that is
intended by the false phraseology above;--"a form of speech handed down by
the best writers, but lately accused, I think with justice, of solecism. *
* * It can only be defended by supplying a very harsh and unprecedented
ellipsis."--_Johnson's Dict., w. Never_.

OBS. 23.--Dr. Lowth seconds this opinion of Johnson, respecting the phrase,
"_never so wisely_," and says, "It should be, '_ever_ so wisely;' that is,
'_how_ wisely _soever_.'" To which he adds an other example somewhat
different: "'Besides, a slave would _not_ have been admitted into that
society, had he had _never such_ opportunities.' Bentley."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 109. This should be, "had he had _everso excellent_
opportunities." But Churchill, mistaking the common explanation of the
meaning of _everso_ for the manner of parsing or resolving it, questions
the propriety of the term, and thinks it easier to defend the old phrase
_never so_; in which he supposes _never_ to be an adverb of time, and not
to relate to _so_, which is an adverb of degree; saying, "'Be it _never_ so
true,' is resolvable into, 'Be it so true, _as never any thing was_.'[431]
'I have had _never_ so much trouble on this occasion,' may be resolved
into, 'I _have never had_ so much trouble, _as_ on this occasion:' while,
'I have had _ever_ so much trouble on this occasion, cannot be resolved,
without supplying some very harsh and unprecedented ellipsis indeed."--_New
Gram._, p. 337, Why not? I see no occasion at all for supposing any
ellipsis. _Ever_ is here an adverb of degree, and relates to _so_; or, if
we take _everso_ as one word, this too is an adverb of degree, and relates
to _much_: because the meaning is--"_everso much_ trouble." But the other
phraseology, even as it stands in Churchill's explanations, is a solecism
still; nor can any resolution which supposes _never_ to be here an adverb
of time, be otherwise. We cannot call that a grammatical resolution, which
makes a different sense from that which the writer intended: as, "A slave
would not have been admitted into that society, had he _never_ had such
opportunities." This would be Churchill's interpretation, but it is very
unlike what Bentley says above. So, 'I have _never had so much_ trouble,'
and, 'I have had _everso much_ trouble,' are very different assertions.

OBS. 24.--On the word _never_, Dr. Johnson remarks thus: "It seems in some
phrases to have the sense of an _adjective_, [meaning,] _not any_; but in
reality it is _not ever_: [as,] 'He answered him to _never_ a word.'
MATTHEW, xxvii, 14."--_Quarto Dict._ This mode of expression was formerly
very common, and a contracted form of it is still frequently heard among
the vulgar: as, "Because he'd _ne'er_ an other tub."--_Hudibras_, p. 102.
That is, "Because he had _no_ other tub." "Letter nor line know I _never_ a
one."--_Scott's Lay of L. M._, p. 27. This is what the common people
pronounce "_ne'er a one_," and use in stead of _neither_ or _no one_. In
like manner they contract _ever a one_ into "_e'er a one_;" by which they
mean _either_ or _any one_. These phrases are the same that somebody--(I
believe it is _Smith_, in his Inductive Grammar--) has ignorantly written
"_ary one_" and "_nary one_" calling them vulgarisms.[432] Under this mode
of spelling, the critic had an undoubted right to think the terms
unauthorized! In the compounds of _whoever_ or _whoe'er, whichever_ or
_whiche'er, whatever_ or _whate'er_, the word _ever_ or _e'er_, which
formerly stood separate, appears to be an adjective, rather than an adverb;
though, by becoming part of the pronoun, it has now technically ceased to
be either.

OBS. 25.--The same may be said of _soever_ or _soe'er_, which is considered
as only a part of an other word even when it is written separately; as, "On
_which_ side _soever_ I cast my eyes." In Mark, iii, 28th,
_wherewithsoever_ is commonly printed as two words; but Alger, in his
Pronouncing Bible, more properly makes it one. Dr. Webster, in his
grammars, calls _soever_ a WORD; but, in his dictionaries, he does not
_define_ it as such. "The word _soever_ may be interposed between the
attribute and the name; 'how clear soever this idea of infinity,'--'how
remote soever it may seem.'--LOCKE."--_Webster's Philosophical Gram._, p.
154; _Improved Gram._, p. 107. "SOEVER, _so_ and _ever_, found in
compounds, as in _whosoever, whatsoever, wheresoever_. See these
words."--_Webster's Dict._, 8vo.

OBS. 26.--The word _only_, (i.e., _onely_, or _onelike_,) when it relates
to a noun or a pronoun, is a definitive adjective, meaning _single, alone,
exclusive of others_; as, "The _only_ man,"--"The _only_ men,"--"Man
_only_,"--"Men _only_,"--"He _only_,"--"They _only_." When it relates to a
verb or a participle, it is an adverb of manner, and means _simply, singly,
merely, barely_; as, "We fancy that we hate flattery, when we _only_ hate
the manner of it."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 38. "A disinterested love of
one's country can _only_ subsist in small republics."--_Ib._, p. 56. When
it stands at the head of a clause, it is commonly a connective word,
equivalent to _but_, or _except that_; in which sense, it must be called a
conjunction, or at least a conjunctive adverb, which is nearly the same
thing; as, "_Only_ they would that we should remember the poor."--_Gal._,
ii, 10. "For these signs are prepositions, _only_ they are of more constant
use than the rest."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 129.

OBS. 27.--Among our grammarians, the word "_only_" often passes for an
adverb, when it is in fact an adjective. Such a mistake in this single
word, has led Churchill to say of the adverb in general, "_It's_ place is
for the most part before adjectives, _after nouns_, and after verbs;"
&c.--_New Gram._, p. 147. But, properly, the placing of adverbs has nothing
to do with "nouns," because adverbs do not relate to nouns. In this
author's example, "His _arm only_ was bare," there is no adverb; and, where
he afterwards speaks of the latitude allowable in the placing of adverbs,
alleging, "It is indifferent whether we say, 'He bared his _arm only_;' or,
'He bared _only_ his arm,'" the word _only_ is an adjective, in one
instance, if not in both. With this writer, and some others, the syntax of
an adverb centres mainly in the suggestion, that, "_It's_ propriety and
force depend on _it's_ position."--_Ib._, p. 147. Illustration: "Thus
people commonly say; '_I only_ spoke three words:' which properly implies,
that _I_, and _no other person_, spoke three words: when the intention of
the speaker requires: 'I spoke _only three_ words; that is, _no more than
three_ words.'"--_Ib._, p. 327. One might just as well say, "I spoke three
words _only_." But the interpretation above is hypercritical, and contrary
to that which the author himself gives in his note on the other example,
thus: "Any other situation of the adverb would make a difference. 'He
_only_ bared his arm;' would imply, that he did _nothing more than_ bare
his arm. '_Only_ he bared his arm;' must refer to a preceding part of the
sentence, stating something, to which the act of baring his arm was an
exception; as, 'He did it in the same manner, _only_ he bared his arm.' If
_only_ were placed immediately before _arm_; as, '_He_ bared his _only
arm_;' it would be an adjective, and signify, that he had but one
arm."--_Ib._, p. 328. Now are not, "_I only spoke three words_," and, "_He
only bared his arm_," analogous expressions? Is not the former as good
English as the latter? _Only_, in both, is most naturally conceived to
belong to the verb; but either may be read in such a manner as to make it
an adjective belonging to the pronoun.

OBS. 28.--The term _not but_ is equivalent to two negatives that make an
affirmative; as, "_Not but_ that it is a wide place."--_Walker's
Particles_, p. 89. "_Non_ quo _non_ latus locus sit."--_Cic. Ac._, iv, 12.
It has already been stated, that _cannot but_ is equal to _must_; as, "It
is an affection which _cannot but_ be productive of some
distress."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 461. It seems questionable, whether _but_
is not here an adverb, rather than a conjunction. However this may be, by
the customary (but faulty) omission of the negative before _but_, in some
other sentences, that conjunction has acquired the adverbial sense of
_only_; and it may, when used with that signification, be called an
_adverb_. Thus, the text, "He hath _not_ grieved me _but_ in part." (_2
Cor._, ii, 5,) might drop the negative _not_, and still convey the same
meaning: "He hath grieved me _but_ in part;" i.e., "_only_ in part." In the
following examples, too, _but_ appears to be an adverb, like _only_:
"Things _but_ slightly connected should not be crowded into one
sentence."--_Murray's Octavo Gram., Index_. "The assertion, however, serves
_but_ to show their ignorance."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 96.

   "Reason itself _but_ gives it edge and power."--_Pope_.

    "Born _but_ to die, and reasoning _but_ to err."--_Id._

OBS. 29.--In some constructions of the word _but_, there is a remarkable
ambiguity; as, "There _cannot be but one_ capital musical pause in a
line."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 92. "A line _admits but one_ capital
pause."--_Ibid._ Thus does a great critic, in the same paragraph, palpably
contradict himself, and not perceive it. Both expressions are equivocal. He
ought rather to have said: "A line admits _no more than_ one capital
pause."--"There cannot be _more than_ one capital musical pause in a line."
Some would say--"admits _only_ one"--"there can be _only one_." But here,
too, is some ambiguity; because _only_ may relate either to _one_, or to
the preceding verb. The use of _only_ for _but_ or _except that_, is not
noticed by our lexicographers; nor is it, in my opinion, a practice much to
be commended, though often adopted by men that pretend to write
grammatically: as, "Interrogative pronouns are the same as _relative_, ONLY
their antecedents cannot be determined till the answer is _given to the
question_."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 16. "A diphthong is always long; as,
_Aurum, Cæsar_, &c. ONLY _præ_, in composition before a vowel is commonly
short."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 254; _Gould's_, 246.

OBS. 30.--It is said by some grammarians, that, "The adverb _there_ is
often used as an _expletive_, or as a word that adds nothing to the sense;
in which case, it precedes the verb and the nominative; as, '_There_ is a
person at the door.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 197; _Ingersoll's_, 205;
_Greenleaf's_, 33; _Nixon's Parser_, p. 53. It is true, that in our
language the word _there_ is thus used idiomatically, as an introductory
term, when we tell what is taking, or has taken, _place_; but still it is a
regular adverb _of place_, and relates to the verb agreeably to the common
rule for adverbs. In some instances it is even repeated in the same
sentence, because, in its introductory sense, it is always unemphatical;
as, "Because _there_ was pasture _there_ for their flocks."--_1 Chron._,
iv, 41. "If _there_ be indistinctness or disorder _there_, we can have no
success."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 271. "_There, there_ are schools adapted to
every age."--_Woodbridge, Lit. Conv._, p. 78. The import of the word is
more definite, when emphasis is laid upon it; but this is no good reason
for saying, with Dr. Webster, that it is "without signification," when it
is without emphasis; or, with Dr. Priestley, that it "seems to have no
meaning whatever, except it be thought to give a small degree of
emphasis."--_Rudiments of E. Gram._, p. 135.

OBS. 31.--The noun _place_ itself is just as loose and variable in its
meaning as the adverb _there_. For example; "_There_ is never any
difference;" i.e., "No difference ever takes _place_." Shall we say that
"_place_," in this sense, is not a noun of place? To _take place_, is, to
occur _somewhere_, or _anywhere_; and the unemphatic word _there_ is but as
indefinite in respect to place, as these other adverbs of place, or as the
noun itself. S. B. Goodenow accounts it a _great error_, to say that
_there_ is an adverb of place, when it is thus indefinite; and he chooses
to call it an "_indefinite pronoun_," as, "'What is _there_
here?'--'_There_ is no peace.'--'What need was _there_ of it?'" See his
_Gram._, p. 3 and p. 11. In treating of the various classes of adverbs, I
have admitted and shown, that _here, there_, and _where_, have sometimes
the nature of pronouns, especially in such compounds as _hereof, thereof,
whereof_; but in this instance, I see not what advantage there is in
calling _there_ a "pronoun:" we have just as much reason to call _here_ and
_where_ pronouns--and that, perhaps, on all occasions. Barnard says, "In
the sentence, '_There_ is one glory of the sun,' &c., the adverb _there_
qualifies the verb _is_, and seems to have the force of an affirmation,
like _truly_"--_Analytical Gram._, p. 234. But an adverb of the latter kind
may be used with the word _there_, and I perceive no particular similarity
between them: as, "_Verily there_ is a reward for the righteous."--_Psal._,
lviii, 11. "_Truly there_ is a glory of the sun."

OBS. 32.--There is a vulgar error of substituting the adverb _most_ for
_almost_, as in the phrases, "_most all_,"--"_most anywhere_,"--"_most
every day_,"--which we sometimes hear for "_almost all_,"--"_almost
anywhere_,"--"_almost every day_." The fault is gross, and chiefly
colloquial, but it is sometimes met with in books; as, "But thinking he had
replied _most_ too rashly, he said, 'I won't answer your
question.'"--_Wagstaff's History of Friends_, Vol. i, p. 207.


NOTES TO RULE XXI.

NOTE I.--Adverbs must be placed in that position which will render the
sentence the most perspicuous and agreeable. Example of error: "We are in
no hazard of mistaking the sense of the author, though every word which he
uses _be not precise_ and exact."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 95; _Jamieson's_,
66. Murray says,--"though every word which he uses _is not precise_ and
exact."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 302. Better:--"though _not every word_ which he
uses, _is precise_ and exact."

NOTE II.--Adverbs should not be needlessly used for adjectives; nor should
they be employed when quality is to be expressed, and not manner: as, "That
the _now_ copies of the original text are entire."--_S. Fisher_. Say, "the
_present_ copies," or, "the _existing_ copies." "The arrows of calumny fall
_harmlessly_ at the feet of virtue."--_Murray's Key_, p. 167; _Merchant's
Gram._, 186; _Ingersoll's_, 10; _Kirkham's_, 24. Say, "fall _harmless_;" as
in this example: "The impending black cloud, which is regarded with so much
dread, may pass by _harmless_."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 262.

NOTE III.--With a verb of motion, most grammarians prefer _hither,
thither_, and _whither_, to _here, there_, and _where_, which are in common
use, and perhaps allowable, though not so good; as, "Come _hither_,
Charles,"--or, "Come _here_."

NOTE IV.--"To the adverbs _hence, thence_, and _whence_, the preposition
_from_ is frequently (though not with strict propriety) prefixed; as, _from
hence, from whence_."--See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 174. Some critics,
however, think this construction allowable, notwithstanding the former word
is implied in the latter. See _Priestley's Gram._, p. 134; and _L.
Murray's_, p. 198. It is seldom elegant to use any word needlessly.

NOTE V.--The adverb _how_ should not be used before the conjunction _that_,
nor in stead of it; as, "He said _how_ he would go."--"Ye see _how that_
not many wise men are called." Expunge _how_. This is a vulgar error.
Somewhat similar is the use of _how_ for _lest_ or _that not_; as, "Be
cautious _how_ you offend him, i.e., _that_ you _do not_ offend him."--_W.
Allen's Gram._, p. 175.

NOTE VI.--The adverb _when, while_, or _where_, is not fit to follow the
verb _is_ in a definition, or to introduce a clause taken substantively;
because it expresses identity, not of being, but of time or place: as,
"_Concord_, is _when_ one word agrees with another in some
accidents."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 151; _Gould's_, 155. Say, "Concord is _the
agreement of_ one word with _an other_ in some _accident or_ accidents."

NOTE VII.--The adverb _no_ should not be used with reference to a _verb_ or
a _participle_. Such expressions as, "Tell me whether you will _go_ or
_no_," are therefore improper: _no_ should be _not_; because the verb _go_
is understood after it. The meaning is, "Tell me whether you will go or
_will not go_;" but nobody would think of saying, "Whether you will go or
_no go_."

NOTE VIII.--A negation, in English, admits but one negative word; because
two negatives in the same clause, usually contradict each other, and make
the meaning affirmative. The following example is therefore ungrammatical:
"For my part, I love him not, _nor_ hate him _not_."--_Beauties of
Shakspeare_, p. 16. Expunge the last _not_, or else change _nor_ to _and_.

NOTE IX.--The words _ever_ and _never_ should be carefully distinguished
according to their sense, and not confounded with each other in their
application. Example: "The Lord reigneth, be the earth _never so_
unquiet."--_Experience of St. Paul_, p. 195. Here, I suppose, the sense to
require _everso_, an adverb of degree: "Be the earth _everso_ unquiet."
That is,--"unquiet _in whatever degree_."

NOTE X.--Adverbs that end in _ly_, are in general preferable to those forms
which, for want of this distinction, may seem like adjectives misapplied.
Example: "There would be _scarce_ any such thing in nature as a
folio."--_Addison_. Better:--"_scarcely_."


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XXI.

EXAMPLES UNDER NOTE I.--THE PLACING OF ADVERBS.

"All that is favoured by good use, is not proper to be
retained."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, p. 296.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the adverb _not_ is not put in the most
suitable place. But, according to Note 1st under Rule 21st, "Adverbs must
be placed in that position which will render the sentence the most
perspicuous and agreeable." The sentence will be improved by placing _not_
before _all_; thus, "_Not all_ that is favoured by good use, is proper to
be retained."]

"Every thing favoured by good use, [is] not on that account worthy to be
retained."--_Ib._, i, 369; _Campbell's Rhet._, p. 179. "Most men dream, but
all do not."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, i, 72. "By hasty composition, we
shall acquire certainly a very bad style."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 191. "The
comparisons are short, touching on one point only of resemblance."--_Ib._,
p. 416. "Having had once some considerable object set before us."--_Ib._,
p. 116. "The positive seems improperly to be called a degree."--_Adam's
Gram._, p. 69; _Gould's_, 68. "In some phrases the genitive is only
used."--_Adam_, 159; _Gould_, 161. "This blunder is said actually to have
occurred."--_Smith's Inductive Gram._, p. 5. "But every man is not called
James, nor every woman Mary."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 15. "Crotchets are
employed for the same purpose nearly as the parenthesis."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 167. "There is still a greater impropriety in a double
comparative."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 78. "We have often occasion to speak
of time."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 39. "The following sentence cannot be
possibly understood."--_Ib._, p. 104. "The words must be generally
separated from the context."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 155. "Words ending in
_ator_ have the accent generally on the penultimate."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
239. "The learned languages, with respect to voices, moods, and tenses,
are, in general, differently constructed from the English tongue."--_Ib._,
i, 101. "Adverbs seem originally to have been contrived to express
compendiously in one word, what must otherwise have required two or
more."--_Ib._, i, 114. "But it is only so, when the expression can be
converted into the regular form of the possessive case."--_Ib._, i, 174.
"Enter, (says he) boldly, for here too there are gods."--_Harris's Hermes_,
p. 8. "For none work for ever so little a pittance that some cannot be
found to work for less."--_Sedgwick's Economy_, p. 190. "For sinners also
lend to sinners, to receive as much again."--_Luke_, vi, 34. "They must be
viewed exactly in the same light."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, 24. "If he does
but speak to display his abilities, he is unworthy of attention."--_Ib.,
Key_, ii, 207.


UNDER NOTE II.--ADVERBS FOR ADJECTIVES.

"Motion upwards is commonly more agreeable than motion
downwards."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 48. "There are but two ways possibly of
justification before God."--_Dr. Cox, on Quakerism_, p. 413. "This
construction sounds rather harshly."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 194;
_Ingersoll's_, 199. "A clear conception in the mind of the learner, of
regularly and well-formed letters."--_Com. School Journal_, i, 66. "He was
a great hearer of * * * Attalus, Sotion, Papirius, Fabianus, of whom he
makes often mention."--_Seneca's Morals_, p. 11. "It is only the Often
doing of a thing that makes it a Custom."--_Divine Right of Tythes_, p. 72.
"Because W. R. takes oft occasion to insinuate his jealousies of persons
and things."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 570. "Yet often touching will wear
gold."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 18. "Uneducated persons frequently use an
adjective, when they ought to use an adverb: as, 'The country looks
_beautiful_;' instead of _beautifully_."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 84. "The
adjective is put absolutely, or without its substantive."--_Ash's Gram._,
p. 57. "A noun or pronoun in the second person, may be put absolutely in
the nominative case."--_Harrison's Gram._, p. 45. "A noun or pronoun, when
put absolutely with a participle," &c.--_Ib._, p. 44; _Jaudon's Gram._,
108. "A verb in the infinitive mood absolute, stands independently of the
remaining part of the sentence."--_Wilbur and Livingston's Gram._, p. 24.
"At my return lately into England, I met a book intituled: 'The Iron
Age.'"--_Cowley's Preface_, p. v. "But he can discover no better foundation
for any of them, than the practice merely of Homer and Virgil."--_Kames,
El. of Criticism, Introd._, p. xxv.


UNDER NOTE III--HERE FOR HITHER, &c.

"It is reported that the governour will come here to-morrow."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 196. "It _has been_ reported that the governour will come here
to-morrow."--_Ib., Key_, p. 227. "To catch a prospect of that lovely land
where his steps are tending."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 244. "Plautus makes
one of his characters ask another where he is going with that Vulcan shut
up in a horn; that is, with a lanthorn in his hand."--_Adams's Rhet._ ii,
331. "When we left Cambridge, we intended to return there in a few
days."--_Anonym_. "Duncan comes here to-night."--_Shak., Macbeth_. "They
talked of returning here last week."--_J. M. Putnam's Gram._, p. 116.


UNDER NOTE IV.--FROM HENCE, &c.

"From hence he concludes that no inference can be drawn from the meaning of
the word, that a _constitution_ has a higher authority than a law or
statute."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 67. "From whence we may likewise date the
period of this event."--_Murray's Key_, ii, p. 202. "From hence it becomes
evident, that LANGUAGE, taken in the most comprehensive view, implies
certain Sounds, having certain Meanings."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 315. "They
returned to the city from whence they came out."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._,
p. 135. "Respecting ellipses, some grammarians differ strangely in their
ideas; and from thence has arisen a very whimsical diversity in their
systems of grammar."--_Author_. "What am I and from whence? i.e. what am I,
and from whence _am_ I?"--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 171.


UNDER NOTE V.--THE ADVERB HOW.

"It is strange how a writer, so accurate as Dean Swift, should have
stumbled on so improper an application of this particle."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 112. "Ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us,"
&c.--_Acts_, xv, 7. "Let us take care _how_ we sin; i.e. _that_ we _do not_
sin."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 135. "We see by these instances, how
prepositions may be necessary to connect those words, which in their
signification are not naturally connected."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 118.
"Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates?"--_2 Cor._, xiii, 5. "That thou mayest know how that the earth
is the Lord's."--_Exod._, ix, 29.


UNDER NOTE VI.--WHEN, WHILE, OR WHERE.

"Ellipsis is when one or more words are wanting, to complete the
sense."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 235; _Gould's_, p. 229; _B. F. Fisk's Greek
Gram._. 184. "Pleonasm is when a word more is added than is absolutely
necessary to express the sense."--_Same works_. "Hyst~eron prot~eron is
when that is put in the former part of the sentence, which, according to
the sense, should be in the latter."--_Adam_, p. 237; _Gould_, 230.
"Hysteron proteron, _n._ A rhetorical figure when that is said last which
was done first."--_Webster's Dict._ "A Barbarism is when a foreign or
strange word is _made use_ of."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 242; _Gould's_, 234. "A
Solecism is when the rules of Syntax are transgressed."--_Iidem, ib._ "An
Idiotism is when the manner of expression peculiar to one language is used
in another."--_Iid., ib._ "Tautology is when we either uselessly repeat the
same words, or repeat the same sense in different words."--_Adam_, p. 243;
_Gould_, 238. "Bombast is when high sounding words are used without
meaning, or upon a trifling occasion."--_Iid., ib._ "Amphibology is when,
by the ambiguity of the construction, the meaning may be taken in two
different senses."--_Iid., ib._ "Irony is when one means the contrary of
what is said."--_Adam_, p. 247; _Gould_, 237. "The Periphrasis, or
Circumlocution, is when several words are employed to express what might be
expressed in fewer."--_Iid., ib._ "Hyperbole is when a thing is magnified
above the truth,"--_Adam_, p. 249; _Gould_, 240. "Personification is when
we ascribe life, sentiments, or actions, to inanimate beings, or to
abstract qualities."--_Iid., ib._ "Apostrophe, or Address, is when the
speaker breaks off from the series of his discourse, and addresses himself
to some person present or absent, living or dead, or to inanimate nature,
as if endowed with sense and reason."--_Iid., ib._ "A Simile or Comparison
is when the resemblance between two objects, whether _real_ or _imaginary_,
is expressed in form."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 223. "Simile, or Comparison,
is when one thing is illustrated or heightened by comparing it to
another."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 250; _Gould's_, 240. "Antithesis, or
Opposition, is when things contrary or different are contrasted, to make
them appear in the more striking light."--_Iid., ib._ "Description, or
Imagery, [is] when any thing is painted in a lively manner, as if done
before our eyes."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 250. "Emphasis is when a particular
stress is laid on some word in a sentence."--_Ib._ "Epanorthosis, or
Correction, is when the speaker either recalls or corrects what he had last
said."--_Ib._ "Paralepsis, or Omission, is when one pretends to omit or
pass by, what he at the same time declares."--_Ib._ "Incrementum, or Climax
in sense, is when one member rises above another to the highest."--_Ib._,
p. 251. "A Metonymy is where the cause is put for the effect, or the effect
for the cause; the container for the thing contained; or the sign for the
thing signified."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 223. "Agreement is when one word
is like another in number, case, gender, or person."--_Frost's Gram._, p.
43; _Greenleaf's_, 32. "Government is when one word causes another to be in
some particular number, person, or case."--_Webster's Imp. Gram._, p. 89;
_Greenleaf's_, 32; _Frost's_, 43. "Fusion is while some solid substance is
converted into a fluid by heat."--_B._ "A Proper Diphthong is where both
the Vowels are sounded together; as, _oi_ in _Voice, ou_ in _House_."--
_Fisher's Gram._, p. 10. "An Improper Diphthong is where the Sound of but
one of the two Vowels is heard; as _e_ in _People_."--_Ib._, p. 11.


UNDER NOTE VII.--THE ADVERB NO FOR NOT.

"An adverb is joined to a verb to show how, or whether or no, or when, or
where one is, does, or suffers."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 62. "We must be
immortal, whether we will or no."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 33. "He cares
not whether the world was made for Cæsar or no."--_American Quarterly
Review_. "I do not know whether they are out or no."--_Byron's Letters_.
"Whether it can be proved or no, is not the thing."--_Butler's Analogy_, p.
84. "Whether or no he makes use of the means commanded by God."--_Ib._,, p.
164. "Whether it pleases the world or no, the care is taken."--
_L'Estrange's Seneca_, p. 5. "How comes this to be never heard of nor in
the least questioned, whether the Law was undoubtedly of Moses's writing or
no?"--_Bp. Tomline's Evidences_, p. 44. "Whether he be a sinner or no, I
know not."--_John_, ix, 25. "Can I make men live, whether they will or
no?"--_Shak._

   "Can hearts, not free, be try'd whether they serve
    Willing or no, who will but what they must?"--_Milton, P. L._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--OF DOUBLE NEGATIVES.

"We need not, nor do not, confine the purposes of God."--_Bentley_. "I
cannot by no means allow him that."--_Idem_. "We must try whether or no we
cannot increase the Attention by the Help of the Senses."--_Brightland's
Gram._, p. 263. "There is nothing more admirable nor more useful."--_Horne
Tooke_, Vol. i, p. 20. "And what in no time to come he can never be said to
have done, he can never be supposed to do."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p.
345. "No skill could obviate, nor no remedy dispel, the terrible
infection."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 114. "Prudery cannot be an indication
neither of sense nor of taste."--_Spurzheim, on Education_, p. 21. "But
that scripture, nor no other, speaks not of imperfect faith."--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 172. "But this scripture, nor none other, proves not that faith
was or is always accompanied with doubting."--_Ibid._ "The light of Christ
is not nor cannot be darkness."--_Ib._, p. 252. "Doth not the Scripture,
which cannot lie, give none of the saints this testimony?"--_Ib._, p. 379.
"Which do not continue, nor are not binding."--_Ib._, Vol. iii. p. 79. "It
not being perceived directly no more than the air."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p.
331. "Let's be no Stoics, nor no stocks, I pray."--_Shak., Shrew_. "Where
there is no marked nor peculiar character in the style."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 175. "There can be no rules laid down, nor no manner
recommended."--_Sheridan's Lect._, p. 163.

   "_Bates_. 'He hath not told his thought to the king?'
    _K. Henry_. 'No; nor it is not meet he should.'"--_Shak_.


UNDER NOTE IX.--EVER AND NEVER.

"The prayer of Christ is more than sufficient both to strengthen us, be we
never so weak; and to overthrow all adversary power, be it never so
strong."--_Hooker_. "He is like to have no share in it, or to be ever the
better for it."--_Law and Grace_, p. 23. "In some parts of Chili, it seldom
or ever rains."--_Willetts's Geog_. "If Pompey shall but never so little
seem to like it."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 346. "Latin: 'Si Pompeius
_paulum_ modò ostenderit sibi placere.' _Cic_. i, 5."--_Ib._ "Though never
such a power of dogs and hunters pursue him."--_Walker, ib._ "Latin:
'_Quamlibet_ magnâ canum et venantium urgente vi.' _Plin_. l. 18, c.
16."--_Ib._ "Though you be never so excellent."--_Walker, ib._ "Latin:
'_Quantumvis_ licet excellas.' _Cic. de Amic_."--_Ib._ "If you do amiss
never so little."--_Walker, ib._ "Latin: 'Si _tantillum_ peccâssis.'
_Plaut. Rud._ 4, 4"--_Ib._ "If we cast our eyes never so little
down."--_Walker, ib._ "Latin: 'Si _tantulum_ oculos dejecerimus.' _Cic. 7.
Ver_."--_Ib._ "A wise man scorneth nothing, be it never so small or
homely."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 37. "Because they have seldom or ever an
opportunity of learning them at all."--_Clarkson's Prize-Essay_, p. 170.
"We seldom or ever see those forsaken who trust in God."--_Atterbury_.

   "Where, playing with him at bo-peep,
    He solved all problems, ne'er so deep."--_Hudibras_.


UNDER NOTE X.--OF THE FORM OF ADVERBS.

"One can scarce think that Pope was capable of epic or tragic poetry; but
within a certain limited region, he has been outdone by no poet."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 403. "I, who now read, have near finished this
chapter."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 82. "And yet, to refine our taste with
respect to beauties of art or of nature, is scarce endeavoured in any
seminary of learning."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. viii. "By the
Numbers being confounded, and the Possessives wrong applied, the Passage is
neither English nor Grammar."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 123. "The letter G
is wrong named _jee_."--_Creighton's Dict._, p. viii. "Last; Remember that
in science, as in morals, authority cannot make right, what, in itself, is
wrong."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 194. "They regulate our taste even
where we are scarce sensible of them."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 96.
"Slow action, for example, is imitated by words pronounced slow."--_Ib._,
ii, 257. "Sure, if it be to profit withal, it must be in order to
save."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 366. "Which is scarce possible at
best."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 67. "Our wealth being near
finished."--HARRIS: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 80.




CHAPTER IX.--CONJUNCTIONS.

The syntax of Conjunctions consists, not (as L. Murray and others
erroneously teach) in "their power of determining the mood of verbs," or
the "cases of nouns and pronouns," but in the simple fact, that they link
together such and such terms, and thus "mark the connexions of human
thought."--_Beattie_.


RULE XXII.--CONJUNCTIONS.

Conjunctions connect words, sentences, or parts of sentences: as, "Let
there be no strife, I pray thee, between me _and_ thee, _and_ between my
herdmen _and_ thy herdmen; _for_ we are brethren."--_Gen._, xiii, 8.

   "Ah! _if_ she lend not arms _as well as_ rules.
    What can she more _than_ tell us we are fools?"--_Pope._

EXCEPTION FIRST.

The conjunction _that_ sometimes serves merely to introduce a sentence
which is made the subject or the object of a finite verb;[433] as, "_That_
mind is not matter, is certain."

   "_That_ you have wronged me, doth appear in this."--_Shak._

    "_That_ time is mine, O Mead! to thee, I owe."--_Young_.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

When two corresponding conjunctions occur, in their usual order, the former
should generally be parsed as referring to the latter, which is more
properly the connecting word; as, "_Neither_ sun _nor_ stars in many days
appeared."--_Acts_, xxvii, 20. "_Whether_ that evidence has been afforded
[_or_ not,] is a matter of investigation."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 18.

EXCEPTION THIRD.  _Either_, corresponding to _or_, and _neither_,
corresponding to _nor_ or _not_, are sometimes transposed, so as to repeat
the disjunction or negation at the end of the sentence; as, "Where then was
their capacity of standing, _or_ his _either_?"--_Barclay's Works_, iii,
359. "It is _not_ dangerous _neither_."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 135.
"He is very tall, but _not_ too tall _neither._"--_Spect._, No. 475.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XXII.

OBS. 1.--Conjunctions that connect particular _words_, generally join
similar parts of speech in a common dependence on some other term. Hence,
if the words connected be such as have _cases_, they will of course be in
the same case; as, "For _me_ and _thee_"--_Matt._, xvii, 27. "Honour thy
_father_ and thy _mother_."--_Ib._, xviii, 19. Here the latter noun or
pronoun is connected by _and_ to the former, and governed by the same
preposition or verb. Conjunctions themselves have no government, unless the
questionable phrase "_than whom_" may be reckoned an exception. See Obs.
17th below, and others that follow it.

OBS. 2.--Those conjunctions which connect _sentences_ or _clauses_,
commonly unite one sentence or clause to an other, either as an additional
assertion, or as a condition, a cause, or an end, of what is asserted. The
conjunction is placed _between_ the terms which it connects, except there
is a transposition, and then it stands before the dependent term, and
consequently at the beginning of the whole sentence: as, "He taketh away
the first, _that_ he may establish the second."--_Heb._, x, 9. "_That_ he
may establish the second, he taketh away the first."

OBS. 3.--The term that follows a conjunction, is in some instances a
_phrase_ of several words, yet not therefore a whole clause or member,
unless we suppose it elliptical, and supply what will make it such: as,
"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, AS _to the Lord_, AND _not unto
men_"--_Col._, iii, 23. If we say, this means, "as _doing it_ to the Lord,
and not _as doing it_ unto men," the terms are still mere phrases; but if
we say, the sense is, "as _if ye did it_ to the Lord, and not _as if ye did
it_ unto men," they are clauses, or sentences. Churchill says, "The office
of the conjunction is, to connect one _word_ with an other, or one _phrase_
with an other."--_New Gram._, p. 152. But he uses the term _phrase_ in a
more extended sense than I suppose it will strictly bear: he means by it, a
_clause_, or _member_; that is, a sentence which forms a part of a greater
sentence.

OBS. 4.--What is the office of this part of speech, according to Lennie,
Bullions, Brace, Hart, Hiley, Smith, M'Culloch, Webster, Wells, and others,
who say that it "joins _words_ and _sentences_ together," (see Errors on p.
434 of this work,) it is scarcely possible to conceive. If they imagine it
to connect "_words_" on the one side, to "_sentences_" on the other; this
is plainly absurd, and contrary to facts. If they suppose it to join
sentence to sentence, by merely connecting word to word, in a joint
relation; this also is absurd, and self-contradictory. Again, if they mean,
that the conjunction sometimes connects word with word, and sometimes,
sentence with sentence; _this sense they have not expressed_, but have
severally puzzled their readers by an ungrammatical use of the word
"_and_." One of the best among them says, "In _the sentence_, 'He _and_ I
must go,' the word _and_ unites _two sentences_, and thus _avoids_ an
unnecessary repetition; thus instead of saying, 'He must go,' 'I must go,'
we connect _the words He, I_, as the same thing is affirmed of _both_,
namely, _must go_."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 53. Here is the incongruous
suggestion, that _by connecting words only_, the conjunction in fact
_connects sentences_; and the stranger blunder concerning _those words_,
that "the same thing is affirmed of _both_, namely, [_that they_] _must
go_." Whereas it is plain, that nothing is affirmed of either: for "_He and
I must go_," only affirms of _him_ and _me_, that "_we must go_." And again
it is plain, that _and_ here connects nothing but the two pronouns; for no
one will say, that, "_He and I must go together_" is a compound sentence,
capable of being resolved into two simple sentences; and if, "_He and I
must go_," is compound because it is equivalent to, "He must go, and I must
go;" so is, "_We must go_," for the same reason, though it has but one
nominative and one verb. "_He and I_ were present," is rightly given by
Hiley as an example of _two pronouns_ connected together by _and_. (See
_his Gram._, p. 105.) But, of _verbs_ connected to each other, he absurdly
supposes the following to be examples: "He spake, _and_ it was done."--"I
know it, _and_ I can prove it."--"Do you say so, _and_ can you prove
it?"--_Ib._ Here _and_ connects _sentences_, and not particular _words_.

OBS. 5.--Two or three conjunctions sometimes come together; as, "What
rests, _but that_ the mortal sentence pass?"--_Milton_. "_Nor yet that_ he
should offer himself often."--_Heb._, ix, 25. These may be severally parsed
as "connecting what precedes and what follows," and the observant reader
will not fail to notice, that such combinations of connecting particles are
sometimes required by the sense; but, since nothing that is needless, is
really proper, conjunctions should not be unnecessarily accumulated: as,
"_But_ AND _if_ that evil servant say in his heart," &c.--_Matt._, xxiv,
48. Greek, "[Greek: Ean de eipæ o kakos donlos ekeinos,]" &c. Here is no
_and_. "_But_ AND _if_ she depart."--_1 Cor._, vii, 11. This is almost a
literal rendering of the Greek, "[Greek: Ean de kai choristhæ.]"--yet
either _but_ or _and_ is certainly useless. "In several cases," says
Priestley, "we content ourselves, now, with fewer conjunctive particles
than our ancestors _did_ [say _used_]. Example: '_So_ AS _that_ his
doctrines were embraced by great numbers.' _Universal Hist._, Vol. 29, p.
501. _So that_ would have been much easier, and better."--_Priestley's
Gram._, p. 139. Some of the poets have often used the word _that_ as an
expletive, to fill the measure of their verse; as,

   "When _that_ the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept."--_Shakspeare_.

    "If _that_ he be a dog, beware his fangs."--_Id._

    "That made him pine away and moulder,
    As though _that_ he had been no soldier."--_Butler's Poems_, p. 164.

OBS. 6.--W. Allen remarks, that, "_And_ is sometimes introduced to engage
our attention to a following word or phrase; as, 'Part pays, _and_ justly,
the deserving steer.' [_Pope._] 'I see thee fall, _and_ by Achilles' hand.'
[_Id._]"--_Allen's E. Gram._, p. 184. The like idiom, he says, occurs in
these passages of Latin: "'Forsan et hæc olim meminisse juvabit.' _Virg_.
'Mors _et_ fugacem persequitur virum.' _Hor_."--_Allen's Gram._, p. 184.
But it seems to me, that _and_ and _et_ are here regular connectives. The
former implies a repetition of the preceding verb: as, "Part pays, _and
justly pays_, the deserving steer."--"I see thee fall, _and fall by
Achilles' hand_." The latter refers back to what was said before: thus,
"Perhaps it will _also_ hereafter delight you to recount these
evils."--"_And_ death pursues the man that flees." In the following text,
the conjunction is more like an expletive; but even here it suggests an
extension of the discourse then in progress: "Lord, _and_ what shall this
man do?"--_John_, xxi, 21. "[Greek: Kurie, outos de ti;]"--"Domine, hic
_autem_ quid?"--_Beza_.

OBS. 7.--The conjunction _as_ often unites words that are in _apposition_,
or in _the same case_; as, "He offered _himself_ AS a _journeyman_."--"I
assume _it_ AS a _fact_."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 94. "In an other example
of the same kind, the _earth_, AS a common _mother_, is animated to give
refuge against a father's unkindness."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol ii, p.
168. "And then to offer _himself_ up AS a _sacrifice_ and _propitiation_
for them."--_Scougal_, p. 99. So, likewise, when an intransitive verb takes
the same case after as before it, by Rule 6th; as, "_Johnson_ soon after
engaged AS _usher_ in a school."--_L. Murray_. "_He_ was employed AS
_usher_." In all these examples, the case that follows _as_, is determined
by that which precedes. If after the verb "_engaged_" we supply _himself,
usher_ becomes objective, and is in apposition with the pronoun, and not in
agreement with _Johnson_: "He engaged _himself_ as _usher_." One late
writer, ignorant or regardless of the analogy of General Grammar, imagines
this case to be an "objective governed by the conjunction _as_," according
to the following rule: "The conjunction _as_, when it takes the meaning of
_for_, or _in the character of_, governs the objective case; as, Addison,
_as_ a _writer_ of prose, is highly distinguished."--_J. M. Putnam's
Gram._, p. 113. S. W. Clark, in his grammar published in 1848, sets _as_ in
his list of _prepositions_, with this example: "'That England can spare
from her service such men _as_ HIM.'--_Lord Brougham_."--_Clark's Practical
Gram._, p. 92. And again: "When the second term of a _Comparison of
equality_ is a Noun, or Pronoun, the _Preposition_ AS is commonly used.
Example--'He hath died to redeem such a rebel _as_ ME.'--_Wesley_."
Undoubtedly, Wesley and Brougham here erroneously supposed the _as_ to
connect _words only_, and consequently to require them to be in the same
case, agreeably to OBS. 1st, above; but a moment's reflection on the sense,
should convince any one, that the construction requires the nominative
forms _he_ and _I_, with the verbs _is_ and _am_ understood.

OBS. 8.--The conjunction _as_ may also be used between an adjective or a
participle and the noun to which the adjective or participle relates; as,
"It does not appear that brutes have the least reflex sense of _actions_ AS
_distinguished_ from events; or that will and design, which constitute the
very nature of _actions_ AS _such_, are at all an object of their
perception."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 277.

OBS. 9.--_As_ frequently has the force of a _relative pronoun_, and when it
evidently sustains the relation of a case, it ought to be called, and
generally _is_ called, a pronoun, rather than a conjunction; as, "Avoid
such _as are_ vicious,"--_Anon_. "But as many _as received_ him,"
&c.--_John_, i, 12. "We have reduced the terms into as small a number _as
was_ consistent with perspicuity and distinction."--_Brightland's Gram._,
p. ix. Here _as_ represents a noun, and while it serves to connect the two
parts of the sentence, it is also the subject of a verb. These being the
true characteristics of a relative pronoun, it is proper to refer the word
to that class. But when a clause or a sentence is the antecedent, it is
better to consider the _as_ a conjunction, and to supply the pronoun _it_,
if the writer has not used it; as, "He is angry, _as [it] appears_ by this
letter." Horne Tooke says, "The truth is, that AS is _also an article_; and
(however and whenever used in English) means the same as _It_, or _That_,
or _Which_."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 223. But what definition
he would give to _"an article_," does not appear.

OBS. 10.--In some examples, it seems questionable whether _as_ ought to be
reckoned a pronoun, or ought rather to be parsed as a conjunction after
which a nominative is understood; as, "He then read the conditions _as
follow_."--"The conditions are _as follow_."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 106.
"The principal evidences on which this assertion is grounded, are _as
follow_."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 166. "The Quiescent verbs are _as
follow_."--_Pike's Heb. Lex._, p. 184. "The other numbers are duplications
of these, and proceed _as follow_"--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of Lang._, Vol. ii,
p. 35. "The most eminent of the kennel are bloodhounds, which lead the van,
and are _as follow_."--_Steele, Tattler_, No. 62. "His words are _as
follow_."--_Spect._, No. 62. "The words are _as follow_."--_Addison,
Spect._, No. 513. "The objections that are raised against it as a tragedy,
are _as follow_."--_Gay, Pref. to What d' ye call it_. "The particulars are
_as follow_."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 93. "The principal interjections in
English are _as follow_."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 81. In all these instances,
one may suppose the final clause to mean, "as _they here_ follow;"--or,
supposing _as_ to be a pronoun, one may conceive it to mean, "_such_ as
follow." But some critical writers, it appears, prefer the singular verb,
"_as follows_" Hear Campbell: "When a verb is used _impersonally_, it ought
undoubtedly to be in the singular number, whether the neuter pronoun be
expressed or understood: and when no nominative in the sentence can
regularly be construed with the verb, it ought to be considered as
impersonal. For this reason, analogy as well as usage _favour_ [say
_favours_] this mode of expression, 'The conditions of the agreement
were _as follows_;' and not '_as follow_.' A few late writers have
inconsiderately adopted this last form through a mistake of the
construction. For the same reason we ought to say, 'I shall consider his
censures so far only as _concerns_ my friend's conduct;' and not 'so far as
_concern_.'"--_Philosophy of Rhet._, p. 229. It is too much to say, at
least of one of these sentences, that there is no nominative with which the
plural verb can be regularly construed. In the former, the word _as_ may be
said to be a plural nominative; or, if we will have this to be a
conjunction, the pronoun _they_, representing _conditions_, may be
regularly supplied, as above. In the latter, indeed, _as_ is not a pronoun;
because it refers to "_so far_," which is not a noun. But the sentence is
_bad English_; because the verb _concern_ or _concerns_ is improperly left
without a nominative. Say therefore, 'I shall consider his censures so far
only as _they concern_ my friend's conduct;'--or, 'so far only as _my
friend's conduct is concerned_.' The following is an other example which I
conceive to be wrong; because, with an adverb for its antecedent, _as_ is
made a nominative: "They ought therefore to be uttered _as quickly as is_
consistent with distinct articulation."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 76. Say
rather, "They ought therefore to be uttered _with as much rapidity_ as is
consistent with distinct articulation."

OBS. 11.--Lindley Murray was so much puzzled with Tooke's notion of _as_,
and Campbell's doctrine of the _impersonal verb_, that he has expressly
left his pupils to hesitate and doubt, like himself, whether one ought to
say "_as follows_" or "_as follow_," when the preceding noun is plural;
or--to furnish an alternative, (if they choose it,) he shows them at last
how they may _dodge the question_, by adopting some other phraseology. He
begins thus: "_Grammarians_ differ in opinion, respecting the propriety of
the following modes of expression: 'The arguments advanced were nearly _as
follows_;' 'the positions were, _as appears_, incontrovertible.'"--
_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 146. Then follows a detail of suggestions from
Campbell and others, all the quotations being anonymous, or at least
without definite references. Omitting these, I would here say of the two
examples given, that they are not parallel instances. For, "_as follows_,"
refers to what the arguments were,--to the things themselves, considered
plurally, and immediately to be exhibited; wherefore the expression ought
rather to have been, "_as follow_," or, "_as they here follow_." But, "_as
appears_" means "_as it appears_," or "_as the case now appears_;" and one
of these plain modes of expression would have been much preferable, because
the _as_ is here evidently nothing but a conjunction.

OBS. 12.--"The diversity of sentiment on this subject," says L. Murray,
"and the respectability of the different opponents, will naturally induce
_the readers_ to pause and reflect, before they decide."--_Octavo Gram._,
p. 147. The equivalent expressions by means of which he proposes to evade
at last the dilemma, are the following: "The arguments advanced were nearly
such as follow;"--"The arguments advanced were nearly of the following
nature;"--"The following are nearly the arguments which were advanced;"--
"The arguments advanced were nearly those which follow:"--"These, or nearly
these, were the arguments advanced;"--"The positions were such as appear
incontrovertible;"--"It appears that the positions were incontrovertible;"
--"That the positions were incontrovertible, is apparent;"--"The positions
were apparently incontrovertible;"--"In appearance, the positions were
incontrovertible."--_Ibid._ If to shun the expression will serve our turn,
surely here are ways enough! But to those who "pause and reflect" with the
intention _to decide_, I would commend the following example:
"Reconciliation was offered, on conditions as moderate as _were_ consistent
with a permanent union."--_Murray's Key_, under Rule 1. Here Murray
supposes "_was_" to be wrong, and accordingly changes it to "_were_," by
the Rule, "A verb must agree with its nominative case in number and
person." But the amendment is a pointed rejection of Campbell's "impersonal
verb," or verb which "has no nominative;" and if the singular is not right
here, the rhetorician's respectable authority vouches only for a catalogue
of errors. Again, if this verb must be _were_ in order to agree with its
nominative, it is still not clear that _as_, is, or ought to be, the
nominative; because the meaning may perhaps be better expressed thus:--"on
conditions as moderate _as any that were_ consistent with a permanent
union."

OBS. 13.--A late writer expresses his decision of the foregoing question
thus: "Of all the different opinions on a grammatical subject, which have
arisen in the literary world, there scarcely appears one more indefensible
than that of supposing _as follows_ to be an impersonal verb, and to be
correctly used in such sentences as this. 'The conditions were _as
follows_.' Nay, we are told that, "A few late writers have adopted this
form, 'The conditions were as follow,' _inconsiderately_;" and, to prove
this charge of inconsiderateness, the following sentence is brought
forward: 'I shall consider his censure [_censures_ is the word used by
Campbell and by Murray] so far only _as concern_ my friend's conduct.'
which should be, it is added, '_as concerns_, and not _as concern_.' If
analogy, simplicity, or syntactical authority, is of any value in our
resolution of the sentence, 'The conditions were as follows,' the word _as_
is as evident a relative as language can afford. It is undoubtedly
equivalent to _that_ or _which_, and relates to its antecedent _those_ or
_such_ understood, and should have been the nominative to the verb
_follow_; the sentence, in its present form, being inaccurate. The second
sentence is by no means a parallel one. The word _as_ is a conjunction; and
though it has, as a relative, a reference to its antecedent _so_, yet in
its capacity of a mere conjunction, it cannot possibly be the nominative
case to any verb. It should be, '_it concerns_.' Whenever _as_ relates to
an _adverbial_ antecedent; as in the sentence, '_So_ far _as_ it concerns
me,' it is merely a conjunction; but when it refers to an _adjective_
antecedent; as in the sentence, 'The business is _such as_ concerns me;' it
must be a relative, and susceptible of case, whether its antecedent is
expressed or understood; being, in fact, the nominative to the verb
_concerns_."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 145. It will be perceived by the
preceding remarks, that I do not cite what is here said, as believing it to
be in all respects well said, though it is mainly so. In regard to the
point at issue, I shall add but one critical authority more: "'The
circumstances were as _follows_.' Several grammarians and critics have
approved this phraseology: I am inclined, however, to concur with those who
prefer '_as follow_.'"--_Crombie, on Etym. and Synt._, p. 388.

OBS. 14.--The conjunction _that_ is frequently understood; as, "It is
seldom [_that_] their counsels are listened to."--_Robertson's Amer._, i,
316. "The truth is, [_that_] grammar is very much neglected among
us."--_Lowth's Gram., Pref._, p. vi. "The Sportsman believes [_that_] there
is Good in his Chace [chase.]"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 296.

   "Thou warnst me [_that_] I have done amiss;
    I should have earlier looked to this."--_Scott_.

OBS. 15.--After _than_ or _as_, connecting the terms of a comparison, there
is usually an ellipsis of some word or words. The construction of the words
employed may be seen, when the ellipsis is supplied; as, "They are stronger
_than we_" [are.]--_Numb._, xiii. 31. "Wisdom is better _than weapons_ of
war" [are.]--_Eccl._, ix, 18. "He does nothing who endeavours to do more
_than_ [what] _is allowed_ to humanity."--_Dr. Johnson_. "My punishment is
greater _than_ [what] _I can bear_."--_Gen._, iv, 13. "Ralph gave him more
_than I_" [gave him.]--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 351. "Ralph gave him more
_than_ [he gave] _me_."_--Ibid._ "Revelation, surely, was never intended
for such _as he_" [is.]--_Campbell's Four Gospels_, p. iv. "Let such as
_him_ sneer if they will."--_Liberator_, Vol. ix, p. 182. Here _him_ ought
to be _he_, according to Rule 2d, because the text speaks of such as _he
is_ or _was_. "'You were as innocent of it _as me_:' 'He did it _as well as
me_.' In both places it ought to be _I_: that is, _as I was, as I
did_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 352.

   "Rather let such poor souls _as you_ and _I_
    Say that the holidays are drawing nigh."--_Swift_.

OBS. 16.--The doctrine above stated, of ellipses after _than_ and _as_,
proceeds on the supposition that these words _are conjunctions_, and that
they connect, not particular words merely, but sentences, or clauses. It is
the common doctrine of nearly all our grammarians, and is doubtless liable
to fewer objections than any other theory that ever has been, or ever can
be, devised in lieu of it. Yet _as_ is not always a conjunction; nor, when
it is a conjunction, does it always connect sentences; nor, when it
connects sentences, is there always an ellipsis; nor, when there is an
ellipsis, is it always quite certain what that ellipsis is. All these facts
have been made plain, by observations that have already been bestowed on
the word: and, according to some grammarians, the same things may severally
be affirmed of the word _than_. But most authors consider _than_ to be
always a conjunction, and generally, if not always, to connect _sentences_.
Johnson and Webster, in their dictionaries, mark it for an _adverb_; and
the latter says of it, "This word signifies also _then_, both in English
and Dutch."--_Webster's Amer. Dict._, 8vo, _w. Than_. But what he means by
"_also_," I know not; and surely, in no English of this age, is _than_
equivalent to _then_, or _then_ to _than_. The ancient practice of putting
_then_ for _than_, is now entirely obsolete;[434] and, as we have no other
term of the same import, most of our expositors merely explain _than_ as "a
particle used in comparison."--_Johnson, Worcester, Maunder_. Some absurdly
define it thus: "THAN, _adv_. Placed in comparison."--_Walker_, (Rhym.
Dict.,) _Jones, Scott_. According to this definition, _than_ would be a
_participle_! But, since an express comparison necessarily implies a
connexion between different terms, it cannot well be denied that _than_ is
a connective word; wherefore, not to detain the reader with any profitless
controversy, I shall take it for granted that this word is always a
conjunction. That it always connects sentences, I do not affirm; because
there are instances in which it is difficult to suppose it to connect
anything more than particular words: as, "Less judgement _than_ wit is more
sail _than_ ballast."--_Penn's Maxims_. "With no less eloquence _than_
freedom. 'Pari eloquentiâ _ac_ libertate.' _Tacitus_."--_Walker's
Particles_, p. 200. "Any comparison between these two classes of writers,
cannot be other _than_ vague and loose."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 347. "This
_far more than_ compensates all those little negligences."--_Ib._, p. 200.

   "Remember Handel? Who that was not born
    Deaf as the dead to harmony, forgets,
    Or can, _the more than Homer_ of his age?"--_Cowper_.

OBS. 17.--When any two declinable words are connected by _than_ or _as_,
they are almost always, according to the true idiom of our language, to be
put in the _same case_, whether we suppose an ellipsis in the construction
of the latter, or not; as, "My _Father_ is greater than _I_."--_Bible_.
"What do _ye_ more than _others_?"--_Matt._, v, 47. "More _men_ than
_women_ were there."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 114. "Entreat _him_ as a
_father_, and the younger _men_ as _brethren_."--_1 Tim._, v, 1. "I would
that all _men_ were even as _I_ myself."--_1 Cor._, vii, 7. "Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?"--_John_, xxi, 15. This last text is
manifestly _ambiguous_; so that some readers will doubt whether it
means--"more than _thou lovest these_," or--"more than _these love me_." Is
not this because there is an _ellipsis_ in the sentence, and such a one as
may be variously conceived and supplied? The original too is ambiguous, but
not for the same reason: "[Greek: Simon Iona, agapas me pleion
touton];"--And so is the Latin of the Vulgate and of Montanus: "Simon Jona,
diligis me _plus his_?" Wherefore Beza expressed it differently: "Simon
_fili Jonæ_, diligis me plus _quâm hi_?" The French Bible has it: "Simon,
fils de Jona, m'aimes-tu plus que _ne font_ ceux-ci?" And the expression in
English should rather have been, "Lovest thou me more than _do_ these?"

OBS. 18.--The comparative degree, in Greek, is said to govern the genitive
case; in Latin, the ablative: that is, the genitive or the ablative is
sometimes put after this degree without any connecting particle
corresponding to _than_, and without producing a compound sentence. We have
examples in the phrases, "[Greek: pleion touton]" and "_plus his_," above.
Of such a construction our language admits no real example; that is, no
exact parallel. But we have an imitation of it in the phrase _than whom_,
as in this hackneyed example from Milton:

   "Which, when Beëlzebub perceived, _than whom_,
    Satan except, none higher sat," &c.--_Paradise Lost_, B. ii, l. 300.

The objective, _whom_, is here preferred to the nominative, _who_, because
the Latin ablative is commonly rendered by the former case, rather than by
the latter: but this phrase is no more explicable according to the usual
principles of English grammar, than the error of putting the objective case
for a version of the ablative absolute. If the imitation is to be judged
allowable, it is to us _a figure of syntax_--an obvious example of
_Enallagè_, and of that form of Enallagè, which is commonly called
_Antiptosis_, or the putting of one case for an other.

OBS. 19.--This use of _whom_ after _than_ has greatly puzzled and misled
our grammarians; many of whom have thence concluded that _than_ must needs
be, at least in this instance, a _preposition_,[435] and some have extended
the principle beyond this, so as to include _than which, than whose_ with
its following noun, and other nominatives which they will have to be
objectives; as, "I should seem guilty of ingratitude, _than which_ nothing
is more shameful." See _Russell's Gram._, p. 104. "Washington, _than whose
fame_ naught earthly can be purer."--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 204. "You have
given him more than _I_. You have sent her as much as _he_."--_Buchanan's
Eng. Syntax_, p. 116. These last two sentences are erroneously called by
their author, "_false syntax_;" not indeed with a notion that _than_ and
_as_ are prepositions, but on the false supposition that the preposition
_to_ must necessarily be understood between them and the pronouns, as it is
between the preceding verbs and the pronouns _him_ and _her_. But, in fact,
"You have given him more than _I_," is perfectly good English; the last
clause of which plainly means--"more than I _have given him_." And, "You
have sent her as much as _he_," will of course be understood to mean--"as
much as he _has sent her_;" but here, because the auxiliary implied is
different from the one expressed, it might have been as well to have
inserted it: thus, "_You have_ sent her as much as _he has_." "She reviles
you as much as _he_," is also good English, though found, with the
foregoing, among Buchanan's examples of "false syntax."

OBS. 20.--Murray's twentieth Rule of syntax avers, that, "When the
qualities of different things are compared, the latter noun or pronoun is
_not governed_ by the conjunction _than_ or _as_, but agrees with the
verb," &c.--_Octavo Gram._, p. 214; _Russell's Gram._, 103; _Bacon's_, 51;
_Alger's_, 71; _Smith's_, 179; _Fisk's_, 138. To this rule, the great
Compiler and most of his followers say, that _than whom_ "is an exception."
or "_seems to form_ an exception;" to which they add, that, "the phrase is,
however, avoided by the best modern writers."--_Murray_, i, 215. This
latter assertion Russell conceives to be untrue: the former he adopts; and,
calling _than whom_ "an exception to the general rule," says of it, (with
no great consistency,) "Here the conjunction _than_ has certainly the force
of a preposition, and supplies its place by governing the
relative."--_Russell's Abridgement of Murray's Gram._, p. 104. But this is
hardly an instance to which one would apply the maxim elsewhere adopted by
Murray: "_Exceptio probat regulam_."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 205. To ascribe
to a conjunction the governing power of a preposition, is a very wide step,
and quite too much like straddling the line which separates these parts of
speech one from the other.

OBS. 21.--Churchill says, "If there be no ellipsis to supply, as sometimes
happens when a pronoun relative occurs after _than_; the relative is to be
put in the _objective case absolute_: as, 'Alfred, _than whom_ a greater
king never reigned, deserves to be held up as a model to all future
sovereigns.'"--_New Gram._, p. 153. Among his Notes, he has one with
reference to this "_objective case absolute_," as follows: "It is not
governed by the conjunction, for on no other occasion does a conjunction
govern any case; or by any word understood, for we can insert no word, or
words, that will reconcile the phrase with any other rule of grammar: and
if we employ a pronoun personal instead of the relative, as _he_, which
will admit of being resolved elliptically, it must be put in the nominative
case."--_Ib._, p. 352. Against this gentleman's doctrine, one may very well
argue, as he himself does against that of Murray, Russell, and others; that
on no other occasion do we speak of putting "the objective case absolute;"
and if, agreeably to the analogy of our own tongue, our distinguished
authors would condescend to say _than who_,[436] surely nobody would think
of calling this an instance of the nominative case absolute,--except
perhaps one swaggering _new theorist_, that most pedantic of all scoffers,
Oliver B. Peirce.

OBS. 22.--The sum of the matter is this: the phrase, _than who_, is a more
regular and more analogical expression than _than whom_; but both are of
questionable propriety, and the former is seldom if ever found, except in
some few grammars; while the latter, which is in some sort a Latinism, may
be quoted from many of our most distinguished writers. And, since that
which is irregular cannot be parsed by rule, if out of respect to authority
we judge it allowable, it must be set down among the _figures_ of grammar;
which are, all of them, intentional deviations from the ordinary use of
words. One late author treats the point pretty well, in this short hint:
"After the conjunction _than_, contrary to analogy, _whom_ is used in stead
of _who_."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 106. An other gives his opinion in the
following note: "When _who_ immediately follows _than_, it is used
_improperly_ in the objective case; as, 'Alfred, _than whom_ a greater king
never reigned;'--_than whom_ is not grammatical. It ought to be, _than
who_; because _who_ is the nominative to _was_ understood.--_Than whom_ is
as bad a phrase as 'he is taller _than him_.' It is true that some of our
best writers have used _than whom_; but it is also true, that they have
used _other_ phrases which we have rejected as ungrammatical; then why not
reject this too?"--_Lennie's Grammar_, Edition of 1830, p. 105.

OBS. 23.--On this point. Bullions and Brace, two American copyists and
plagiarists of Lennie, adopt opposite notions. The latter copies the
foregoing note, without the last sentence; that is, without admitting that
"_than whom_" has ever been used by good writers. See _Brace's Gram._, p.
90. The former says, "The relative _usually_ follows _than_ in the
objective case, _even when the nominative goes before_; as, 'Alfred, than
whom a greater king never reigned.' This anomaly it is difficult to
explain. Most probably, _than_, at first had the force of a preposition,
which it now retains only when followed by the relative."--_Bullions, E.
Gram._, of 1843, p. 112. Again: "_A relative_ after _than_ is put in the
objective case; as, 'Satan, than _whom_ none higher sat.' This anomaly has
not been satisfactorily explained. In this case, some regard _than_ as a
preposition. _It_ is probably only a case of simple _enallagé_"--_Bullions,
Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, of 1849, p. 191. Prof. Fowler, in his great
publication, of 1850, says of this example, "The expression should be,
Satan, than _who_ None higher sat."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, §482, Note 2.
Thus, by one single form of _antiptosis_, have our grammarians been as much
divided and perplexed, as were the Latin grammarians by a vast number of
such changes; and, since there were some among the latter, who insisted on
a total rejection of the figure, there is no great presumption in
discarding, if we please, the very little that remains of it in English.

OBS. 24.--Peirce's _new theory_ of grammar rests mainly on the assumption,
that no correct sentence ever is, or can be, in any wise, _elliptical_.
This is one of the "Two GRAND PRINCIPLES" on which the author says his
"work is based."--_The Grammar_, p. 10. The other is, that grammar cannot
possibly be taught without a thorough reformation of its nomenclature, a
reformation involving a change of most of the names and technical terms
heretofore used for its elucidation. I do not give precisely his own words,
for one half of this author's system is expressed in such language as needs
to be translated _into English_ in order to be generally understood; but
this is precisely his meaning, and in words more intelligible. In what
estimation he holds these two positions, may be judged from the following
assertion: "_Without these grand points_, no work, whatever may be its
pretensions, can be A GRAMMAR of the LANGUAGE."--_Ib._ It follows that no
man who does not despise every other book that is called a grammar, can
entertain any favourable opinion of Peirce's. The author however is
tolerably consistent. He not only scorns to appeal, for the confirmation of
his own assertions and rules, to the judgement or practice of any other
writer, but counsels the learner to "spurn the idea of quoting, either as
proof or for defence, the authority of any man." See p. 13. The notable
results of these important premises are too numerous for detail even in
this general pandect. But it is to be mentioned here, that, according to
this theory, a nominative coming after _than_ or _as_, is in general to be
accounted a _nominative absolute_; that is, a nominative which is
independent of any verb; or, (as the ingenious author himself expresses
it,) "A word in the subjective case following another subjective, and
immediately preceded by _than, as_, or _not_, may be used _without an_
ASSERTER immediately depending on it for sense."--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 195.
See also his "_Grammatical Chart_, Rule I, Part 2."

OBS. 25.--"Lowth, Priestley, Murray, and most grammarians say, that
hypothetical, conditional, concessive, or exceptive conjunctions; as, _if,
lest, though, unless, except_; _require_, or _govern_ the subjunctive mood.
But in this they are certainly wrong: for, as Dr. Crombie rightly observes,
the verb is put in the subjunctive mood, because the mood expresses
contingency, _not because it follows the conjunction_: for these writers
themselves allow, that the same conjunctions are to be followed by the
indicative mood, when the verb is not intended to express a contingency. In
the following sentence: '_Though_ he _be_ displeased at it, I will bolt my
door; and _let_ him break it open _if_ he _dare_:' may we not as well
affirm, that _and_ governs the imperative mood, as that _though_ and _if_
govern the subjunctive?"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 321.

OBS. 26.--In the list of _correspondents_ contained in Note 7th below,
there are some words which ought not to be called _conjunctions_, by the
parser; for the relation of a word as the proper correspondent to an other
word, does not necessarily determine its part of speech. Thus, _such_ is to
be parsed as an adjective; _as_, sometimes as a pronoun; _so_, as a
conjunctive adverb. And _only, merely, also_, and _even_, are sometimes
conjunctive adverbs; as, "_Nor_ is this _only_ a matter of convenience to
the poet, it is _also_ a source of gratification to the reader."--
_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 166. _Murray's, Gram._, i, 362. Professor Bullions
will have it, that these adverbs may relate to _nouns_--a doctrine which I
disapprove. He says "_Only, solely, chiefly, merely, too, also_, and
perhaps _a few others_, are sometimes _joined to substantives_; as, 'Not
_only_ the men, but the women _also_ were present.'"--_English Gram._, p.
116. _Only_ and _also_ are here, I think, conjunctive adverbs; but it is
not the office of adverbs to qualify nouns; and, that these words are
adjuncts to the nouns _men_ and _women_, rather than the verb _were_, which
is once expressed and once understood, I see no sufficient reason to
suppose. Some teachers imagine, that an adverb of this kind qualifies the
_whole clause_ in which it stands. But it would seem, that the relation of
such words to verbs, participles, or adjectives, according to the common
rule for adverbs, is in general sufficiently obvious: as, "The perfect
tense not _only refers_ to what is past, but _also conveys_ an allusion to
the present time."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 70. Is there any question about
the true mode of parsing "_only_" and "_also_" here? and have they not in
the other sentence, a relation similar to what is seen here?


NOTES TO RULE XXII.

NOTE I.--When two terms connected are each to be extended and completed in
sense by a third, they must both be such as will make sense with it. Thus,
in stead of saying, "He has made alterations and additions to the work,"
say, "He has made alterations _in_ the work, and additions _to it_;"
because the relation between _alterations_ and _work_ is not well expressed
by _to_.

NOTE II.--In general, any two terms which we connect by a conjunction,
should be the same in kind or quality, rather than different or
heterogeneous. Example: "The assistance was welcome, and seasonably
afforded."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 249. Better: "The assistance was
welcome, and _it was_ seasonably afforded." Or: "The assistance was _both
seasonable and welcome_."

NOTE III.--The conjunctions, copulative or disjunctive, affirmative or
negative, must be used with a due regard to their own import, and to the
true idiom of the language. Thus, say, "The general bent _or_ turn of the
language _is_ towards the other form;" and not, with Lowth and Churchill,
"The general bent _and_ turn of the language _is_ towards the other
form."--_Short Introd._, p. 60; _New Gram._, p. 113. So, say, "I cannot
deny _that_ there are perverse jades;" and not, with Addison, "I cannot
deny _but_ there are perverse jades."--_Spect._, No. 457. Again, say, "I
feared _that_ I should be deserted;" not, "_lest_ I should be deserted."

NOTE IV.--After _else, other,[437] otherwise, rather_, and all English
_comparatives_, the latter term of an exclusive comparison should be
introduced by the conjunction _than_--a word which is appropriated to this
use solely: as, "Style is nothing _else than_ that sort of expression which
our thoughts most readily assume."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 92. "What we call
fables or parables are no _other than_ allegories."--_Ib._, p. 151;
_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 243. "We judge _otherwise_ of them _than_ of
ourselves."--_R. Ainsworth_. "The premeditation should be of things _rather
than_ of words."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 262. "Is not the life _more than_
meat?"--_Com. Bible_. "Is not life a _greater_ gift _than_
food?"--_Campbell's Gospels_.

NOTE V.--Relative pronouns, being themselves a species of connective words,
necessarily exclude conjunctions; except there be two or more relative
clauses to be connected together; that is, one to the other. Example of
error: "The principal and distinguishing excellence of Virgil, _and which_,
in my opinion, he possesses beyond _all poets_, is tenderness."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 439. Better: "The principal and distinguishing excellence of
Virgil, _an excellence_ which, in my opinion, he possesses beyond all
_other_ poets, is tenderness."

NOTE VI.--The word _that_, (as was shown in the fifth chapter of
Etymology,) is often made a pronoun in respect to what precedes it, and a
conjunction in respect to what follows it--a construction which, for its
anomaly, ought to be rejected. For example: "_In the mean time_ THAT the
Muscovites were complaining to St. Nicholas, Charles returned thanks to
God, and prepared for new victories."--_Life of Charles XII_. Better thus:
"_While_ the Muscovites were _thus_ complaining to St. Nicholas, Charles
returned thanks to God, and prepared for new victories."

NOTE VII.--The words in each of the following pairs, are the proper
_correspondents_ to each other; and care should be taken, to give them
their right place in the sentence:

1. To _though_, corresponds _yet_; as, "_Though_ he were dead, _yet_ shall
he live."--_John_, xi, 25. 2. To _whether_, corresponds _or_; as,
"_Whether_ it be greater _or_ less."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 77.

3. To _either_, corresponds _or_; as, "The constant indulgence of a
declamatory manner, is not favourable _either_ to good composition, _or_
[to] good delivery."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 334.

4. To _neither_, corresponds _nor_; as, "John the Baptist came _neither_
eating bread _nor_ drinking wine."--_Luke_, vii, 33. "Thou shalt _neither_
vex a stranger _nor_ oppress him."--_Exod._, xxii, 21.

5. To _both_, corresponds _and_; as, "I am debtor _both_ to the Greeks
_and_ to the Barbarians, _both_ to the wise _and_ to the unwise."--_Rom._,
i, 14.

6. To _such_, corresponds _as_; (the former being a pronominal adjective,
and the latter a relative pronoun;) as, "An assembly _such as_ earth saw
never."--_Cowper_.

7. To _such_, corresponds _that_; with, a finite verb following, to express
a consequence: as, "The difference is _such that_ all will perceive it."

8. To _as_, corresponds _as_; with an adjective or an adverb, to express
equality of degree: as, "And he went out from his presence a leper _as_
white _as_ snow."--_2 Kings_. v. 27.

9. To _as_, corresponds _so_; with two verbs, to express proportion or
sameness: as, "_As_ two are to four, _so_ are six to twelve."--"_As_ the
tree falls, _so_ it must lie."

10. _So_ is used before _as_; with an adjective or an adverb, to limit the
degree by comparison: as, "How can you descend to a thing _so_ base _as_
falsehood?"

11. _So_ is used before _as_; with a negative preceding, to deny equality
of degree: as, "No lamb was e'er _so_ mild _as_ he."--_Langhorne_.
"Relatives are not _so_ useful in language _as_ conjunctions."--BEATTIE:
_Murray's Gram._, p. 126.

12. To _so_, corresponds _as_; with an infinitive following, to express a
consequence: as, "We ought, certainly, to read blank verse _so as_ to make
every line sensible to the ear"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 332.

13. To _so_, corresponds _that_; with a finite verb following, to express a
consequence: as, "No man was _so_ poor _that_ he could not make
restitution."--_Milman's Jews_, i, 113. "_So_ run _that_ ye may
obtain."--_1 Cor._, ix, 24.

14. To _not only_, or _not merely_, corresponds _but, but also_, or _but
even_; as, "In heroic times, smuggling and piracy were deemed _not only_
not infamous, _but_ [even] absolutely honourable."--_Maunder's Gram._, p.
15. "These are questions, _not_ of prudence _merely, but_ of morals
_also_."--_Dymond's Essay_, p. 82.

NOTE VIII.--"When correspondent conjunctions are used, the verb, or phrase,
that precedes the first, applies [also] to the second; but no word
following the former, can [by virtue of this correspondence,] be understood
after the latter."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 353. Such ellipses as the
following ought therefore in general to be avoided: "Tones are different
both from emphasis and [_from_] pauses."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, i, 250.
"Though both the intention and [_the_] purchase are now past."--_Ib._, ii,
24.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XXII.

EXAMPLES UNDER NOTE I.--TWO TERMS WITH ONE.

"The first proposal was essentially different and inferior to the
second."--_Inst._, p. 171.

[FORMULE,--Not proper, because the preposition _to_ is used with joint
reference to the two adjectives _different_ and _inferior_, which require
different prepositions. But, according to Note 1st under Rule 22d, "When
two terms connected are each to be extended and completed in sense by a
third, they must both be such as will make sense with it." The sentence may
be corrected thus: "The first proposal was essentially different from the
second, and inferior _to it_."]

"A neuter verb implies the state a subject is in, without acting upon, or
being acted upon, by another."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 30. "I answer,
you may and ought to use stories and anecdotes."--_Student's Manual_, p.
220. "ORACLE, n. Any person or place where certain decisions are
obtained."--_Webster's Dict._ "Forms of government may, and must be
occasionally, changed."--_Ld. Lyttelton_. "I have, and pretend to be a
tolerable judge."--_Spect._, No. 555. "Are we not lazy in our duties, or
make a Christ of them?"--_Baxter's Saints' Rest_. "They may not express
that idea which the author intends, but some other which only resembles, or
is a-kin to it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 94. "We may, we ought therefore to
read them with a distinguishing eye."--_Ib._, p. 352. "Compare their
poverty, with what they might, and ought to possess."--_Sedgwick's Econ._,
p. 95. "He is a much better grammarian than they are."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 211. "He was more beloved, but not so much admired as
Cinthio."--ADDISON, ON MEDALS: _in Priestly's Gram._, p. 200. "Will it be
urged, that the four gospels are as old, or even older than
tradition?"--_Bolingb. Phil. Es._, iv, §19. "The court of Chancery
frequently mitigates, and breaks the teeth of the common
law."--_Spectator_, No. 564; _Ware's Gram._, p. 16. "Antony, coming along
side of her ship, entered it without seeing or being seen by
her."--_Goldsmith's Rome_, p. 160. "In candid minds, truth finds an
entrance, and a welcome too."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 168. "In many designs,
we may succeed and be miserable."--_lb._, p. 169. "In many pursuits, we
embark with pleasure, and land sorrowfully."--_Ib._, p. 170. "They are much
greater gainers than I am by this unexpected event."--_lb._, p. 211.


UNDER NOTE II.--HETEROGENEOUS TERMS.

"Athens saw them entering her gates and fill her academies."--_Chazotte's
Essay_, p. 30. "We have neither forgot his past, nor despair of his future
success."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 121. "Her monuments and temples had long
been shattered or crumbled into dust."--_Lit. Conv._, p. 15. "Competition
is excellent, and the vital principle in all these things."--DR. LIEBER:
_ib._, p. 64. "Whether provision should or not be made to meet this
exigency."--_Ib._, p. 128. "That our Saviour was divinely inspired, and
endued with supernatural powers, are positions that are here taken for
granted."--_Murray's Gram._, i. 206. "It would be much more eligible, to
contract or enlarge their extent, by explanatory notes and observations,
than by sweeping away our ancient landmarks, and setting up
others."--_Ib._, i. p. 30. "It is certainly much better, to supply the
defects and abridge superfluities, by occasional notes and observations,
than by disorganizing, or altering a system which has been so long
established."--_Ib._, i, 59. "To have only one tune, or measure, is not
much better than having none at all"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 126. "Facts too
well known and obvious to be insisted on."--_Ib._, p. 233. "In proportion
as all these circumstances are happily chosen, and of a sublime
kind."--_Ib._, p. 41. "If the description be too general, and divested of
circumstances."--_Ibid._ "He gained nothing further than to be
commended."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 210. "I cannot but think its application
somewhat strained, and out of place."--VETHAKE: _Lit. Conv._, p. 29. "Two
negatives in the same clause, or referring to the same thing, destroy each
other, and leave the sense affirmative."--_Maunders Gram._, p. 15. "Slates
are stone and used to cover roofs of houses."--_Webster's El.
Spelling-Book_, p. 47. "Every man of taste, and possessing an elevated
mind, ought to feel almost the necessity of apologizing for the power he
possesses."--_Influence of Literature_. Vol. ii, p, 122. "They very seldom
trouble themselves with Enquiries, or making useful observations of their
own."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 376.

   "We've both the field and honour won;
    The foe is profligate, and run."--_Hudibras_, p. 93.


UNDER NOTE III.--IMPORT OF CONJUNCTIONS.

"_The_ is sometimes used before adverbs in the comparative and superlative
degree."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 6; _Bullions's_, 8; _Brace's_, 9. "The
definite article _the_ is frequently applied to adverbs in the comparative
and superlative degree."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 33; _Ingersoll's_, 33;
_Lowth's_, 14; _Fisk's_, 53; _Merchant's_, 24; and others. "Conjunctions
usually connect verbs in the same mode or tense."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p.
137. "Conjunctions connect verbs in the same style, and usually in the same
mode, tense, or form."--_Ib._ "The ruins of Greece and Rome are but the
monuments of her former greatness."--_Day's Gram._, p. 88. "In many of
these cases, it is not improbable, but that the articles were used
originally."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 152. "I cannot doubt but that these
objects are really what they appear to be."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 85.
"I question not but my reader will be as much pleased with it."--_Spect._,
No. 535. "It is ten to one but my friend Peter is among them."--_Ib._, No.
457. "I doubt not but such objections as these will be made."--_Locke, on
Education_, p. 169. "I doubt not but it will appear in the perusal of the
following sheets."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. vi. "It is not improbable, but
that, in time, these different constructions may be appropriated to
different uses."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 156. "But to forget or to
remember at pleasure, are equally beyond the power of man."--_Idler_, No.
72. "The nominative case follows the verb, in interrogative and imperative
sentences."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. ii, p. 290. "Can the fig-tree, my
brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs?"--_James_, iii, 12.
"Whose characters are too profligate, that the managing of them should be
of any consequence."--_Swift, Examiner_, No. 24. "You that are a step
higher than a philosopher, a divine; yet have too much grace and wit than
to be a bishop."--_Pope, to Swift_, Let. 80. "The terms rich or poor enter
not into their language."--_Robertson's America_, Vol. i, p. 314. "This
pause is but seldom or ever sufficiently dwelt upon."--_Music of Nature_,
p. 181. "There would be no possibility of any such thing as human life and
human happiness."--_Butler's Anal._, p. 110. "The multitude rebuked them,
because they should hold their peace."--_Matt._, xx, 21.


UNDER NOTE IV.--OF THE CONJUNCTION THAN.

"A metaphor is nothing else but a short comparison."--_Adam's Gram._, p.
243; _Gould's_, 236. "There being no other dictator here but use."--
_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 167. "This Construction is no otherwise known in
English but by supplying the first or second Person Plural."--_Buchanan's
Syntax_, p. xi. "Cyaxares was no sooner in the throne, but he was engaged
in a terrible war."--_Rollin's Hist._, ii, 62. "Those classics contain
little else but histories of murders."--_Am. Museum_, v, 526. "Ye shall not
worship any other except God."--_Sale's Koran_, p. 15. "Their relation,
therefore, is not otherwise to be ascertained but by their place."--
_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 260. "For he no sooner accosted her, but he gained
his point."--_Burder's Hist._, i, 6. "And all the modern writers on this
subject have done little else but translate them."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
336. "One who had no other aim, but to talk copiously and plausibly."--
_Ib._, p. 317. "We can refer it to no other cause but the structure of the
eye."--_Ib._, p. 46. "No more is required but singly an act of vision."--
_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 171. "We find no more in its composition, but the
particulars now mentioned."--_ Ib._, i, 48. "He pretends not to say, that
it hath any other effect but to raise surprise."--_Ib._, ii, 61. "No sooner
was the princess dead, but he freed himself."--_Johnson's Sketch of Morin_.
"_Ought_ is an imperfect verb, for it has no other modification besides
this one."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 113. "The verb is palpably nothing else
but the tie."--_Neef's Sketch_, p. 66. "Does he mean that theism is capable
of nothing else except being opposed to polytheism or atheism?"--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 104. "Is it meant that theism is capable of nothing else besides
being opposed to polytheism, or atheism?"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 307.
"There is no other method of teaching that of which any one is ignorant,
but by means of something already known"--DR. JOHNSON: _Murray's Gram._, i,
163; _Ingersoll's_, 214. "O fairest flower, no sooner blown but blasted!"--
_Milton's Poems_, p, 132. "Architecture and gardening cannot otherwise
entertain the mind, but by raising certain agreeable emotions or
feelings."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 318. "Or, rather, they are nothing
else but nouns."--_British Gram._, p. 95.

   "As if religion were intended
    For nothing else but to be mended."--_Hudibras_, p. 11.


UNDER NOTE V.--RELATIVES EXCLUDE CONJUNCTIONS.

"To prepare the Jews for the reception of a prophet mightier than him, and
whose shoes he was not worthy to bear."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 214.
"Has this word which represents an action an object after it, and on which
it terminates?"--_Osborn's Key_, p. 3. "The stores of literature lie before
him, and from which he may collect, for use, many lessons of wisdom."--
_Knapp's Lectures_, p. 31. "Many and various great advantages of this
Grammar, and which are wanting in others, might be enumerated."--
_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 6. "About the time of Solon, the Athenian
legislator, the custom is said to have been introduced, and which still
prevails, of writing in lines from left to right."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p.
19. "The fundamental rule of the construction of sentences, and into which
all others might be resolved, undoubtedly is, to communicate, in the
clearest and most natural order, the ideas which we mean to transfuse into
the minds of others."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 120; _Jamieson's_, 102. "He left
a son of a singular character, and who behaved so ill that he was put in
prison."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 221. "He discovered some qualities in the
youth, of a disagreeable nature, and which to him were wholly
unaccountable."--_Ib._, p. 213. "An emphatical pause is made, after
something has been said of peculiar moment, and on which we want ['desire'
_M_.] to fix the hearer's attention."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 331; _Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 248. "But we have duplicates of each, agreeing in movement,
though differing in measure, and which make different impressions on the
ear."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 259.


UNDER NOTE VI.--OF THE WORD THAT.

"It will greatly facilitate the labours of the teacher, at the same time
that it will relieve the pupil of many difficulties."--_Frost's El. of E.
Gram._, p. 4. "At the same time that the pupil is engaged in the exercises
just mentioned, it will be a proper time to study the whole Grammar in
course."--_Bullions, Prin. of E. Gram._, Revised Ed., p. viii. "On the same
ground that a participle and auxiliary are allowed to form a
tense."--BEATTIE: _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 76. "On the same ground that
the voices, moods, and tenses, are admitted into the English
tongue."--_Ib._, p. 101. "The five examples last mentioned, are corrected
on the same principle that the preceding examples are corrected."--_Ib._,
p. 186; _Ingersoll's Gram._, 254. "The brazen age began at the death of
Trajan, and lasted till the time that Rome was taken by the
Goths."--_Gould's Lat. Gram._, p. 277. "The introduction to the Duodecimo
Edition, is retained in this volume, for the same reason that the original
introduction to the Grammar, is retained in the first volume."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, Vol. ii, p. iv. "The verb must also be of the same person that
the nominative case is."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 16. "The adjective
pronoun _their_, is plural for the same reason that _who_ is."--_Ib._, p.
84. "The Sabellians could not justly be called Patripassians, in the same
sense that the Noetians were so called."--_Religious World_, Vol. ii, p.
122. "This is one reason that we pass over such smooth language, without
suspecting that it contains little or no meaning."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo,
p. 298. "The first place that both armies came in sight of each other was
on the opposite banks of the river Apsus."--_Goldsmith's Rome_, p. 118. "At
the very time that the author gave him the first book for his
perusal."--_Campbell's Rhetoric, Preface_, p. iv. "Peter will sup at the
time that Paul will dine."--_Fosdick's De Sacy_, p. 81. "Peter will be
supping at the time that Paul will enter."--_Ibid._ "These, at the same
time that they may serve as models to those who may wish to imitate them,
will give me an opportunity to cast more light upon the principles of this
book."--_Ib._, p. 115.

   "Time was, like thee, they life possest,
    And time shall be, that thou shalt rest."
        --PARNELL; _Mur. Seq._, p. 241.


UNDER NOTE VII.--OF THE CORRESPONDENTS.

"Our manners should neither be gross, nor excessively
refined."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 11. "A neuter verb expresses neither
action or passion, but being, or a state of being."--_O. B. Peirce's
Gram._, p. 342. "The old books are neither _English_ grammars, or
_grammars_, in any sense of the English Language."--_Ib._, p. 378. "The
author is apprehensive that his work is not yet as accurate and as much
simplified as it may be."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 7. "The writer could not
treat some topicks as extensively as was desirable."--_Ib._, p. 10. "Which
would be a matter of such nicety, as no degree of human wisdom could
regulate."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 26. "No undertaking is so great or
difficult which he cannot direct."--_Duncan's Cic._, p. 126. "It is a good
which neither depends on the will of others, nor on the affluence of
external fortune."--_Harris's Hermes_, 299; _Murray's Gram._, i, 289. "Not
only his estate, his reputation too has suffered by his
misconduct."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 150; _Ingersoll's_, 238. "Neither do
they extend as far as might be imagined at first view."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 350. "There is no language so poor, but it hath two or three past
tenses."--_Ib._, p. 82. "As far as this system is founded in truth,
language appears to be not altogether arbitrary in its origin."--_Ib._, p.
56. "I have not that command of these convulsions as is
necessary."--_Spect._, No. 474. "Conversation with such who know no arts
which polish life."--_Ib._, No. 480. "And which can be neither very lively
or very forcible."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 78. "To that degree as to give
proper names to rivers."--_Dr. Murray's Hist of Lang._, i, 327. "In the
utter overthrow of such who hate to be reformed."--_Barclay's Works_, i,
443. "But still so much of it is retained, as greatly injures the
uniformity of the whole."--_Priestley's Gram., Pref._, p. vii. "Some of
them have gone to that height of extravagance, as to assert," &c.--_Ib._,
p. 91. "A teacher is confined--not more than a merchant, and probably not
as much."--_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 27. "It shall not be forgiven him,
neither in this world, neither in the world to come."--_Matt._, xii, 32.
"Which no body presumes, or is so sanguine to hope."--_Swift, Drap. Let._
v. "For the torrent of the voice, left neither time or power in the organs,
to shape the words properly."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 118. "That he may
neither unnecessarily waste his voice by throwing out too much, or diminish
his power by using too little."--_Ib._, p. 123. "I have retained only such
which appear most agreeable to the measures of Analogy."--_Littleton's
Dict., Pref._ "He is both a prudent and industrious man."--_Day's Gram._,
p. 70. "Conjunctions either connect words or sentences."--_Ib._, pp. 81 and
101.

   "Such silly girls who love to chat and play,
    Deserve no care, their time is thrown away."--_Tobitt's Gram._, p. 20.

    "Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
    As to be hated needs but to be seen."--POPE: _Mur. Gram._, ii, 17.

    "Justice must punish the rebellious deed:
    Yet punish so, as pity shall exceed."--DRYDEN: _in Joh. Dict._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--IMPROPER ELLIPSES.

"_That, whose_, and _as_ relate to either persons or things."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 93. "_Which_ and _what_, as adjectives, relate either to persons
or things."--_Ib._, p. 70. "Whether of a public or private nature."--
_Adam's Rhet._, i, 43. "Which are included both among the public and
private wrongs."--_Ib._, i, 308. "I might extract both from the old and new
testament numberless examples of induction."--_Ib._, ii, 66. "Many verbs
are used both in an active and neuter signification."--_Lowth's Gram._, p.
30; _Alger's_, 26; _Guy's_, 21; _Murray's_, 60. "Its influence is likely to
be considerable, both on the morals, and taste of a nation."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 373. "The subject afforded a variety of scenes, both of the
awful and tender kind."--_Ib._, p. 439. "Restlessness of mind disqualifies
us, both for the enjoyment of peace, and the performance of our
duty."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 166; _Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 10. "Adjective
Pronouns are of a mixed nature, participating the properties both of
pronouns and adjectives."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 55; _Merchant's_, 43;
_Flint's_, 22. "Adjective Pronouns have the nature both of the adjective
and the pronoun."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 15. "Pronominal adjectives
are a kind of compound part of speech, partaking the nature both of
pronouns and adjectives."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 36. "Nouns are used either
in the singular or plural number."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 11. "The question
is not, whether the nominative or accusative ought to follow the particles
_than_ and _as_; but, whether these particles are, in such particular
cases, to be regarded as conjunctions or prepositions."--_Campbell's
Rhet._, p. 204. "In English many verbs are used both as transitives and
intransitives."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 83. "He sendeth rain both on the
just and unjust."--_Guy's Gram._, p. 56. "A foot consists either of two or
three syllables."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 118. "Because they participate the
nature both of adverbs and conjunctions."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 116.
"Surely, Romans, what I am now about to say, ought neither to be omitted
nor pass without notice."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 196. "Their language
frequently amounts, not only to bad sense, but _non_-sense."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 14. "Hence arises the necessity of a social state to man both
for the unfolding, and exerting of his nobler faculties."--_Sheridan's
Elocution_, p. 147. "Whether the subject be of the real or feigned
kind."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 454. "Not only was liberty entirely
extinguished, but arbitrary power felt in its heaviest and most oppressive
weight."--_Ib._, p. 249. "This rule is applicable also both to verbal
Critics and Grammarians."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 144. "Both the rules and
exceptions of a language must have obtained the sanction of good
usage."--_Ib._, p. 143.




CHAPTER X.--PREPOSITIONS.

The syntax of Prepositions consists, not solely or mainly in their power of
governing the objective case, (though this alone is the scope which most
grammarians have given it,) but in their adaptation to the other terms
between which they express certain relations, such as appear by the sense
of the words uttered.


RULE XXIII.--PREPOSITIONS.

Prepositions show the relations of words, and of the things or thoughts
expressed by them: as; "He came _from_ Rome _to_ Paris, _in_ the company
_of_ many eminent men, and passed _with_ them _through_ many
cities"--_Analectic Magazine_.

   "Ah! who can tell the triumphs _of_ the mind,
    _By_ truth illumin'd, and _by_ taste refin'd?"--_Rogers_.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

The preposition _to_, before an abstract infinitive, and at the head of a
phrase which is made the subject of a verb, has no proper antecedent term
of relation; as, "_To_ learn to die, is the great business of
life."--_Dillwyn_. "Nevertheless, _to_ abide in the flesh, is more needful
for you."--ST. PAUL: _Phil._, i, 24. "_To_ be reduced to poverty, is a
great affliction."

   "Too much _to_ know, is, to know nought but fame;
    And every godfather can give a name."--_Shakspeare_.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

The preposition _for_, when it introduces its object before an infinitive,
and the whole phrase is made the subject of a verb, has properly no
antecedent term of relation; as, "_For_ us to learn to die, is the great
business of life."--"Nevertheless, _for_ me to abide in the flesh, is more
needful for you."--"_For_ an old man to be reduced to poverty is a very
great affliction."

   "_For_ man to tell how human life began,
    Is hard; for who himself beginning knew?"--_Milton_.


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XXIII.

OBS. 1.--In parsing any ordinary preposition, the learner should name the
_two terms_ of the relation, and apply the foregoing rule, after the manner
prescribed in Praxis 12th of this work. The principle is simple and
etymological, being implied in the very definition of a preposition, yet
not the less necessary to be given as a rule of syntax. Among tolerable
writers, the prepositions exhibit more errors than any other equal number
of words. This is probably owing to the careless manner in which they are
usually slurred over in parsing. But the parsers, in general, have at least
this excuse, that their text-books have taught them no better; they
therefore call the preposition _a preposition_, and leave its use and
meaning unexplained.

OBS. 2.--If the learner be at any loss to discover the true terms of
relation, let him ask and answer _two questions_: first, with the
interrogative _what_ before the preposition, to find the antecedent; and
then, with the same pronoun after the preposition, to find the subsequent
term. These questions answered according to the sense, will always give the
true terms. For example: "They dashed that rapid torrent
through."--_Scott_. Ques. _What_ through? Ans. "_Dashed through_." Ques.
Through _what?_ Ans. "_Through that torrent_." For the meaning is--"They
dashed through that rapid torrent." If one term is perfectly obvious, (as
it almost always is,) find the other in this way; as, "Day unto day
uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge."--_Psal._, xix, 2.
Ques. _What_ unto day? Ans. "_Uttereth unto day_." Ques. _What_ unto night?
Ans. "_Showeth unto night_" For the meaning is--"Day uttereth speech unto
day, and night showeth knowledge unto night." To parse rightly, is, to
understand rightly; and what is well expressed, it is a shame to
misunderstand or misinterpret. But sometimes the position of the two nouns
is such, that it may require some reflection to find either; as,

   "Or that choice plant, so grateful to the nose,
    Which _in_ I know not what far country grows."--_Churchill_, p. 18.

OBS. 3.--When a preposition _begins_ or _ends_ a sentence or clause, the
terms of relation, if both are given, are transposed; as, "To a studious
_man_, action is a relief."--_Burgh_. That is, "Action is a relief _to_ a
studious man." "_Science_ they [the ladies] do not _pretend_ TO."--_Id._
That is, "They do not pretend _to_ science." "Until I have done that
_which_ I _have spoken_ to thee OF."--_Gen._, xxviii, 15. The word governed
by the preposition is always the subsequent term of the relation, however
it may be placed; and if this be a relative pronoun, the transposition is
permanent. The preposition, however, may be put before any relative, except
_that_ and _as_; and this is commonly thought to be its most appropriate
place: as, "Until I have done that _of which_ I have spoken to thee," Of
the placing of it last, Lowth says, "This is an idiom _which_ our language
is strongly inclined _to_;" Murray and others, "This is an idiom _to which_
our language is strongly inclined:" while they all add, "it prevails in
common conversation, and suits very well with the familiar style in
writing; but the placing of the preposition before the relative, is more
graceful, as well as more perspicuous, and agrees much better with the
solemn and elevated style."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 95; _Murray's_, 8vo, p.
200; _Fisk's_, 141; _R. C. Smiths_, 167; _Ingersoll's_, 227; _Churchill's_.
150.

OBS. 4.--The terms of relation between which a preposition may be used, are
very various. The _former_ or _antecedent_ term may be a noun, an
adjective, a pronoun, a verb, a participle, or an adverb: and, in some
instances, we find not only one preposition put before an other, but even a
conjunction or an interjection used on this side; as, "_Because_ OF
offences."--"_Alas_ FOR him!"--The _latter_ or _subsequent_ term, which is
the word governed by the preposition, may be a noun, a pronoun, a
pronominal adjective, an infinitive verb, or an imperfect or preperfect
participle: and, in some instances, prepositions appear to govern adverbs,
or even whole phrases. See the observations in the tenth chapter of
Etymology.

OBS. 5.--Both terms of the relation are usually expressed; though either of
them may, in some instances, be left out, the other being given: as, (1.)
THE FORMER--"All shall know me, [_reckoning_] FROM the least to the
greatest."--_Heb._, viii, 11. [_I say_] "IN a word, it would entirely
defeat the purpose."--_Blair_. "When I speak of reputation, I mean not only
[_reputation_] IN regard to knowledge, but [_reputation_] IN regard to the
talent of communicating knowledge."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 163; _Murray's
Gram._, i, 360. (2.) THE LATTER--"Opinions and ceremonies [_which_] they
would die FOR."--_Locke_. "IN [_those_] who obtain defence, or [_in those_]
who defend."--_Pope_. "Others are more modest than [_what_] this comes
TO."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 66.

OBS. 6.--The only proper exceptions to the foregoing rule, are those which
are inserted above, unless the abstract infinitive used as a predicate is
also to be excepted; as, "In both, to reason right, is _to_
submit."--_Pope_. But here most if not all grammarians would say, the verb
"_is_" is the antecedent term, or what their syntax takes to govern the
infinitive. The relation, however, is not such as when we say, "He _is to
submit_;" that is, "He _must submit_, or _ought to submit_;" but, perhaps,
to insist on a different mode of parsing the more separable infinitive or
its preposition, would be a needless refinement. Yet some regard ought to
be paid to the different relations which the infinitive may bear to this
finite verb. For want of a due estimate of this difference, the following
sentence is, I think, very faulty: "The great business of this life _is to
prepare_, and _qualify us_, for the enjoyment of a better."--_Murray's
Gram._, Vol. i, p. 373. If the author meant to tell what our great business
in this life is, he should rather have said: "The great business of this
life is, to prepare and qualify _ourselves_ for the enjoyment of a better."

OBS. 7.--In relation to the infinitive, Dr. Adam remarks, that, "_To_ in
English is often taken _absolutely_; as, _To_ confess the truth; _To_
proceed; _To_ conclude."--_Latin and Eng. Gram._, p. 182. But the assertion
is not entirely true; nor are his examples appropriate; for what he and
many other grammarians call the _infinitive absolute_, evidently depends on
something _understood_; and the preposition is, surely, in no instance
independent of what follows it, and is therefore never entirely absolute.
Prepositions are not to be supposed to have no antecedent term, merely
because they stand at the head of a phrase or sentence which is made the
subject of a verb; for the phrase or sentence itself often contains that
term, as in the following example: "_In_ what way mind acts upon matter, is
unknown." Here _in_ shows the relation between _acts_ and _way_; because
the expression suggests, that mind _acts_ IN _some way_ upon matter.

OBS. 8.--The second exception above, wherever it is found applicable,
cancels the first; because it introduces an antecedent term before the
preposition _to_, as may be seen by the examples given. It is questionable
too, whether both of them may not also be cancelled in an other way; that
is, by transposition and the introduction of the pronoun _it_ for the
nominative: as, "_It_ is a great _affliction_, TO _be reduced_ to
poverty."--"_It_ is _hard_ FOR _man_ to tell how human life
began."--"Nevertheless _it_ is more needful for you, THAT _I should abide_
in the flesh." We cannot so well say, "It is more needful _for you_, FOR
_me to abide_ in the flesh;" but we may say, "It is, _on your account_,
more needful FOR _me to abide_ in the flesh." If these, and other similar
examples, are not to be accounted additional instances in which _to_ and
_for_, and also the conjunction that, are without any proper antecedent
terms, we must suppose these particles to show the relation between what
precedes and what follows them.

OBS. 9.--The preposition (as its name implies) _precedes_ the word which it
governs. Yet there are some exceptions. In the familiar style, a
preposition governing a relative or an interrogative pronoun, is often
separated from its object, and connected with the other term of relation;
as, "_Whom_ did he speak _to_?" But it is more dignified, and in general
more graceful, to place the preposition before the pronoun; as, "_To whom_
did he speak?" The relatives _that_ and _as_, if governed by a preposition,
must always precede it. In some instances, the pronoun must be supplied in
parsing; as, "To set off the banquet [_that_ or _which_] he gives notice
_of_."--_Philological Museum_, i, 454. Sometimes the objective word is put
first because it is emphatical; as, "_This_ the great understand, _this_
they pique themselves _upon_."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 66. Prepositions of
more than one syllable, are sometimes put immediately after their objects,
especially in poetry; as, "Known all the _world over_."--_Walker's
Particles_ p. 291. "The thing is known all _Lesbos over_."--_Ibid._

   "Wild Carron's lonely _woods among_."--_Langhorne_.

    "Thy deep _ravines_ and _dells along_."--_Sir W. Scott_.

OBS. 10.--Two prepositions sometimes come together; as, "Lambeth is _over
against_ Westminster abbey."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 118. "And _from before_
the lustre of her face, White break the clouds away."--_Thomson_. "And the
meagre fiend Blows mildew _from between_ his shrivell'd lips."--_Cowper_.
These, in most instances, though they are not usually written as compounds,
appear naturally to coalesce in their syntax, as was observed in the tenth
chapter of Etymology, and to express a sort of compound relation between
the other terms with which they are connected. When such is their
character, they ought to be taken together in parsing; for, if we parse
them separately, we must either call the first an adverb, or suppose some
very awkward ellipsis. Some instances however occur, in which an object may
easily be supplied to the former word, and perhaps ought to be; as, "He is
at liberty to sell it _at_ [a price] _above_ a fair remuneration."--
_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 258. "And I wish they had been at the bottom
of the ditch I pulled you out of, _instead of_ [being] _upon_ my
back."--_Sandford and Merton_, p. 29. In such examples as the following,
the first preposition, _of_, appears to me to govern the plural noun which
ends the sentence; and the intermediate ones, _from_ and _to_, to have both
terms of their relation _understood_: "Iambic verse consists _of from_ two
_to_ six feet; that is, _of from_ four _to_ twelve syllables."--_Blair's
Gram._, p. 119. "Trochaic verse consists _of from_ one to three
feet."--_Ibid._ The meaning is--"Iambic verse consists _of feet_ varying in
number from two to six; or (it consists) _of syllables_ varying from four
to twelve."--"Trochaic verse consists _of feet_ varying from one _foot_ to
three _feet_."

OBS. 11.--One antecedent term may have several prepositions depending on
it, with one object after each, or more than one after any, or only one
after both or all; as, "A declaration _for_ virtue and _against_
vice."--_Butler's Anal._, p. 157. "A positive law _against_ all fraud,
falsehood, _and_ violence, and _for_, or _in_ favour _of_, all justice
_and_ truth." "For _of_ him, and _through_ him, and _to_ him, are all
things."--_Bible_. In fact, not only may the relation be simple in regard
to all or any of the words, but it may also be complex in regard to all or
any of them. Hence several different prepositions, whether they have
different antecedent terms or only one and the same, may refer either
jointly or severally to one object or to more. This follows, because not
only may either antecedents or objects be connected by conjunctions, but
prepositions also admit of this construction, with or without a connecting
of their antecedents. Examples: "They are capable _of_, and placed _in_,
different stations in the society of mankind."--_Butler's Anal._, p. 115.
"Our perception _of_ vice _and_ ill desert arises _from_, and is the result
_of_, a comparison _of_ actions _with_ the nature _and_ capacities _of_ the
agent."--_Ib._, p. 279. "And the design _of_ this chapter is, _to_ inquire
how far this is the case; how far, _over and above_ the moral nature which
God has given us, _and_ our natural notion _of_ him, as righteous governor
_of_ those his creatures _to_ whom he has given this nature; I say, how
far, _besides_ this, the principles _and_ beginnings _of_ a moral
government _over_ the world may be discerned, _notwithstanding and amidst_
all the confusion _and_ disorder _of_ it."--_Ib._, p. 85.

OBS. 12.--The preposition _into_, expresses a relation produced by motion
or change; and _in_, the same relation, without reference to motion as
having produced it: hence, "to walk _into_ the garden," and, "to walk _in_
the garden," are very different in meaning. "It is disagreeable to find a
word split _into_ two by a pause."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 83. This
appears to be right in sense, but because brevity is desirable in
unemphatic particles, I suppose most persons would say, "split _in_ two."
In the Bible we have the phrases, "rent _in_ twain,"--"cut _in_
pieces,"--"brake _in_ pieces the rocks,"--"brake all their bones _in
pieces_,"--"brake them _to_ pieces,"--"broken _to_ pieces,"--"pulled _in_
pieces." In all these, except the first, _to_ may perhaps be considered
preferable to _in_; and _into_ would be objectionable only because it is
longer and less simple. "Half of them dare not shake the snow from off
their cassocks, lest they shake themselves _to_ pieces."--SHAK.: _Kames_,
ii, 246.

OBS. 13.--_Between_, or _betwixt_, is used in reference to two things or
parties; _among_, or _amongst, amid_, or _amidst_, in reference to a
greater number, or to something by which an other may be surrounded: as,
"Thou pendulum _betwixt_ a smile and tear."--_Byron_. "The host _between
the_ mountain and the shore."--_Id._ "To meditate _amongst_ decay, and
stand a ruin _amidst_ ruins."--_Id._ In the following examples, the import
of these prepositions is not very accurately regarded; "The Greeks wrote in
capitals, and left no spaces between their words."--_Wilson's Essay_, p. 6.
This construction may perhaps be allowed, because the spaces by which words
are now divided, occur severally _between_ one word and an other; but the
author might as well have said, "and left no spaces _to distinguish_ their
words." "There was a hunting match agreed upon _betwixt_ a lion, an ass,
and a fox."--_L'Estrange_. Here _by_ or _among_ would, I think, be better
than _betwixt_, because the partners were more than two. "_Between_ two _or
more_ authors, different readers will differ, exceedingly, as to the
preference in point of merit."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 162; _Jamieson's_,
40; _Murray's Gram._, i, 360. Say, "_Concerning_ two or more authors,"
because _between_ is not consistent with the word _more_. "Rising _one
among another_ in the greatest confusion and disorder."--_Spect._, No. 476.
Say, "Rising _promiscuously_," or, "Rising _all at once_;" for _among_ is
not consistent with the distributive term _one an other_.

OBS. 14.--Of two prepositions coming together between the same terms of
relation, and sometimes connected in the same construction, I have given
several plain examples in this chapter, and in the tenth chapter of
Etymology, a very great number, all from sources sufficiently respectable.
But, in many of our English grammars, there is a stereotyped remark on this
point, originally written by Priestley, which it is proper here to cite, as
an other specimen of the Doctor's hastiness, and of the blind confidence of
certain compilers and copyists: "Two different prepositions _must be
improper_ in the same construction, and in the same sentence: [as,] _The
combat_ between _thirty Britons_, against _twenty English_. Smollett's
Voltaire, Vol. 2, p. 292."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 156. Lindley Murray and
others have the same remark, with the example altered thus: "The combat
_between_ thirty _French against_ twenty English."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo,
p. 200; _Smith's New Gram._, 167: _Fisk's_, 142; _Ingersoll's_, 228. W.
Allen has it thus: "Two different prepositions in the _same construction_
are improper; as, a combat _between twenty_ French _against thirty_
English."--_Elements of E. Gram._, p. 179. He gives the odds to the latter
party. Hiley, with no expense of thought, first takes from Murray, as he
from Priestley, the useless remark, "Different relations, and different
senses, must be expressed by different prepositions;" and then adds, "_One
relation_ must not, _therefore_, be expressed by two different prepositions
in the same clause; thus, 'The combat _between thirty_ French _against
thirty_ English,' should be, 'The combat _between thirty_ French _and
thirty_ English.'"--_Hiley's E. Gram._, p 97. It is manifest that the error
of this example is not in the use of _two prepositions_, nor is there any
truth or fitness in the note or notes made on it by all these critics; for
had they said, "The combat _of_ thirty French _against_ twenty English,"
there would still be two prepositions, but where would be the impropriety,
or where the sameness of construction, which they speak of? _Between_ is
incompatible with _against_, only because it requires two parties or things
for its own regimen; as, "The combat _between_ thirty _Frenchmen and_
twenty _Englishmen_." This is what Smollett should have written, to make
sense with the word "_between_."

OBS. 15.--With like implicitness, Hiley excepted, these grammarians and
others have adopted from Lowth an observation in which the learned doctor
has censured quite too strongly the joint reference of different
prepositions to the same objective noun: to wit, "Some writers separate the
preposition from its noun, in order to connect different prepositions to
the same noun; as, 'To suppose the zodiac and planets to be efficient _of_,
and antecedent _to_, themselves.' Bentley, Serm. 6. This [construction],
whether in the familiar or the solemn style, is _always inelegant_; and
_should never be admitted_, but in forms of law, and the like; where
fullness and exactness of expression must take _place_ of every other
consideration."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 96; _Murray's_, i, 200; _Smith's_,
167; _Fisk's_, 141; _Ingersoll's_, 228; _Alger's_, 67; _Picket's_, 207.
Churchill even goes further, both strengthening the censure, and
disallowing the exception: thus, "This, whether in the solemn or in the
familiar style, is _always_ inelegant, and should _never be admitted_. It
is an _awkward shift_ for avoiding the repetition of a word, _which might
be accomplished without it_ by any person who has the least command of
language."--_New Gram._, p. 341. Yet, with all their command of language,
not one of these gentlemen has told us how the foregoing sentence from
Bentley may be _amended_; while many of their number not only venture to
use different prepositions before the same noun, but even to add a phrase
which puts that noun in the nominative case: as, "Thus, the time of the
infinitive may be _before, after_, or _the same as_, the time of the
governing verb, according as the _thing_ signified by the infinitive is
supposed to be _before, after_, or _present with_, the _thing_ denoted by
the governing verb."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 191; _Ingersoll's_, 260; _R. C.
Smith's_, 159.

OBS. 16.--The structure of this example not only contradicts palpably, and
twice over, the doctrine cited above, but one may say of the former part of
it, as Lowth, Murray, and others do, (in no very accurate English,) of the
text 1 Cor., ii, 9: "There seems to be an impropriety in this sentence, in
which the same noun serves in a double capacity, performing at the same
time the _offices both of the nominative and objective cases_."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 224. See also _Lowth's Gram._, p. 73; _Ingersoll's_, 277;
_Fisk's_, 149; _Smith's_, 185. Two other examples, exactly like that which
is so pointedly censured above, are placed by Murray under his thirteenth
rule for the comma; and these likewise, with all faithfulness, are copied
by Ingersoll, Smith, Alger, Kirkham, Comly, Russell, and I know not how
many more. In short, not only does this rule of their punctuation include
the construction in question; but the following exception to it, which is
remarkable for its various faults, or thorough faultiness, is applicable to
_no other_: "Sometimes, when the _word_ with which the _last_ preposition
_agrees_, is _single_, it is better to _omit_ the comma before it: as,
'Many states were in alliance _with_, and under the protection _of_
Rome.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 272; _Smith's_, 190; _Ingersoll's_, 284;
_Kirkham's_, 215; _Alger's_, 79; _Alden's_, 149; _Abel Flint's_, 103;
_Russell's_, 115. But the blunders and contradictions on this point, end
not here. Dr. Blair happened most unlearnedly to say, "What is called
splitting of particles, or separating a preposition from the noun which it
governs, is _always to be avoided_. As if I should say, 'Though virtue
borrows no assistance from, yet it may often be accompanied by, the
advantages of fortune.'"--_Lect. XII_, p. 112. This too, though the author
himself did not _always_ respect the rule, has been thought worthy to be
copied, or stolen, with all its faults! See _Jamieson's Rhetoric_, p. 93;
and _Murray's Octavo Gram._, p. 319.

OBS. 17.--Dr. Lowth says, "The noun _aversion_, (that is, a turning away,)
as likewise the adjective _averse_, seems to require the preposition _from_
after it; and not so properly to admit of _to_, or _for_, which are often
used with it."--_Gram._, p. 98. But this doctrine has not been adopted by
the later grammarians: "The words _averse_ and _aversion_ (says Dr.
Campbell) are more properly construed with _to_ than with _from_. The
examples in favour of the latter preposition, are beyond comparison
outnumbered by those in favour of the former."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 201;
_Fisk's_, 142; _Ingersoll's_, 229. This however must be understood only of
mental aversion. The expression of Milton, "On the coast _averse from_
entrance," would not be improved, if _from_ were changed to _to_. So the
noun _exception_, and the verb to _except_, are sometimes followed by
_from_, which has regard to the Latin particle _ex_, with which the word
commences; but the noun at least is much more frequently, and perhaps more
properly, followed by _to_. Examples: "Objects of horror must be _excepted
from_ the foregoing theory."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 268. "_From_ which
there are but two _exceptions_, both of them rare."--_Ib._, ii. 89. "_To_
the rule that fixes the pause after the fifth portion, there is one
_exception_, and no more."--_Ib._, ii, 84. "No _exception_ can be taken
_to_ the justness of the figure."--_Ib._, ii, 37. "Originally there was no
_exception_ from the rule."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 58. "_From_ this rule
there is mostly an _exception_."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 269. "But _to_ this
rule there are many _exceptions._"--_Ib._, i. 240. "They are not to be
regarded as exceptions _from_ the rule,"--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 363.

OBS. 18.--After correcting the example. "He _knows_ nothing _on_ [of] it,"
Churchill remarks, "There seems to be a strange perverseness among the
_London vulgar_ in perpetually substituting _on_ for _of_, and _of_ for
_on_."--_New Gram._, p. 345. And among the expressions which Campbell
censures under the name of _vulgarism_, are the following: "'Tis my humble
request you will be particular in speaking _to_ the following
points."--_Guardian_, No. 57. "The preposition ought to have been _on_.
Precisely of the same stamp is the _on't_ for _of it_, so much used by one
class of writers."--_Philosophy of Rhet._, p. 217. So far as I have
observed, the use of _of_ for _on_ has never been frequent; and that of
_on_ for _of_, or _on't_ for _of it_, though it may never have been a
polite custom, is now a manifest _archaism_, or imitation of ancient usage.
"And so my young Master, whatever comes _on't_, must have a Wife look'd out
for him."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 378. In Saxon, _on_ was put for more than
half a dozen of our present prepositions. The difference between _of_ and
_on_ or _upon_, appears in general to be obvious enough; and yet there are
some phrases in which it is not easy to determine which of these words
ought to be preferred: as, "Many things they cannot _lay hold on_ at
once."--HOOKER: _Joh. Dict._ "Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God,
and _took hold of_ it."--2 SAM.: _ib._ "Rather thou shouldst _lay hold
upon_ him."--BEN JONSON: _ib._ "Let them find courage to _lay hold on_ the
occasion."--MILTON: _ib._ "The hand is fitted to _lay hold of_
objects."--RAY: _ib._ "My soul _took hold on_ thee."--ADDISON: _ib._ "To
_lay hold of_ this safe, this only method of cure."--ATTERBURY: _ib._ "And
_give_ fortune no more _hold_ of him."--DRYDEN: _ib._ "And his laws _take_
the surest _hold of_ us."--TILLOTSON: _ib._ "It will then be impossible
you can _have_ any _hold upon_ him."--SWIFT: _ib._ "The court of Rome
gladly _laid hold on_ all the opportunities."--_Murray's Key_, ii, p. 198.
"Then did the officer _lay hold of_ him and execute him."--_Ib._, ii, 219.
"When one can _lay hold upon_ some noted fact."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 311.
"But when we would _lay_ firm _hold of_ them."--_Ib._, p. 28. "An advantage
which every one is glad to _lay hold of_."--_Ib._, p. 75. "To have _laid_
fast _hold of_ it in his mind."--_Ib._, p. 94. "I would advise them to lay
aside their common-places, and to _think_ closely _of_ their
subject."--_Ib._, p. 317. "Did they not _take hold of_ your
fathers?"--_Zech._, i, 6. "Ten men shall _take hold of_ the skirt of one
that is a Jew."--_Ib._, viii, 23. "It is wrong to say, either 'to _lay_
hold _of_ a thing,' or 'to _take_ hold _on_ it.'"--_Blair's Gram._, p. 101.
In the following couplet, _on_ seems to have been preferred only for a
rhyme:

   "Yet, lo! in me what authors have to _brag on_!
    Reduc'd at last to hiss in my own dragon."--_Pope_.

OBS. 19.--In the allowable uses of prepositions, there may perhaps be some
room for choice; so that what to the mind of a critic may not appear the
fittest word, may yet be judged not positively ungrammatical. In this light
I incline to view the following examples: "Homer's plan is still more
defective, _upon_ another account."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 299.
Say--"_on an other_ account." "It was almost eight _of the_ clock before I
could leave that variety of objects."--_Spectator_, No. 454. Present usage
requires--"eight _o_'clock." "The Greek and Latin writers had a
considerable advantage _above_ us."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 114. "The study of
oratory has this advantage _above_ that of poetry."--_Ib._, p. 338. "A
metaphor has frequently an advantage _above_ a formal comparison."--
_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 150. This use of _above_ seems to be a sort of
Scotticism: an Englishman, I think, would say--"advantage _over_ us," &c.
"Hundreds have all these crowding upon them from morning _to_ night."--
_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 33. Better--"from morning _till_ night." But Horne
Tooke observes, "We apply TO indifferently to _place_ or _time_; but TILL
to _time_ only, and never to _place_. Thus we may say, 'From morn TO night
th' eternal larum rang;' or, 'From morn TILL night.' &c."--_Diversions of
Purley_, i, 284.


NOTES TO RULE XXIII.

NOTE I.--Prepositions must be chosen and employed agreeably to the usage
and idiom of the language, so as rightly to express the relations intended.
Example of error: "By which we arrive _to_ the last division."--_Richard W.
Green's Gram._, p. vii. Say,--"arrive _at_." NOTE II.--Those prepositions
which are particularly adapted in meaning to _two objects_, or to _more_,
ought to be confined strictly to the government of such terms only as suit
them. Example of error: "What is _Person_? It is the _medium of_
distinction _between_ the _speaker_, the _object_ addressed or spoken _to_,
and the _object_ spoken _of_."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 34. "_Between
three_" is an incongruity; and the text here cited is bad in several other
respects.

NOTE III.--An _ellipsis_ or _omission_ of the preposition is inelegant,
except where long and general use has sanctioned it, and made the relation
sufficiently intelligible. In the following sentence, _of_ is needed: "I
will not flatter you, that all I see in you is _worthy love_."--
_Shakspeare_. The following requires _from_: "Ridicule _is banished
France_, and is losing ground in England."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 106.

NOTE IV.--The _insertion_ of a preposition is also inelegant, when the
particle is needless, or when it only robs a transitive verb of its proper
regimen; as, "The people of England may congratulate _to_
themselves."--DRYDEN: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 163. "His servants ye are,
_to_ whom ye obey."--_Rom._, vi, 16.

NOTE V.--The preposition and its object should have that position in
respect to other words, which will render the sentence the most perspicuous
and agreeable. Examples of error: "Gratitude is a forcible and active
principle in good and generous minds."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 169.
Better: "In good and generous minds, gratitude is a forcible and active
principle." "By a single stroke, he knows how to reach the heart."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 439. Better: "He knows how to reach the heart by a
single stroke."


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XXIII.

EXAMPLES UNDER NOTE I.--CHOICE OF PREPOSITIONS.

"You have bestowed your favours to the most deserving persons."--_Swift, on
E. Tongue_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper because the relation between _have bestowed_ and
_persons_ is not correctly expressed by the preposition _to_. But,
according to Note 1st under Rule 23d, "Prepositions must be chosen and
employed agreeably to the usage and idiom of the language, so as rightly to
express the relations intended." This relation would be better expressed by
_upon_; thus, "You have bestowed your favours _upon_ the most deserving
persons."]

"But to rise beyond that, and overtop the crowd, is given to
few."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 351. "This also is a good sentence, and gives
occasion to no material remark."--_Ib._, p. 201. "Though Cicero endeavours
to give some reputation of the elder Cato, and those who were his
cotemporaries."--_Ib._, p. 245. "The change that was produced on eloquence,
is beautifully described in the Dialogue."--_Ib._, p. 249. "Without
carefully attending to the variation which they make upon the
idea."--_Ib._, p. 367. "All of a sudden, you are transported into a lofty
palace."--_Hazlitt's Lect._, p. 70. "Alike independent on one
another."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 398. "You will not think of them as
distinct processes going on independently on each other,"--_Channing's
Self-Culture_, p. 15. "Though we say, to _depend on, dependent on_, and
_independent on_, we say, _independently of_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p.
348. "Independently on the rest of the sentence."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 78;
_Guy's_, 88; _Murray's_, i, 145 and 184; _Ingersoll's_, 150; _Frost's_, 46;
_Fisk's_, 125; _Smith's New Gram._, 156; _Gould's Lat. Gram._, 209;
_Nixon's Parser_, 65. "Because they stand independent on the rest of the
sentence."--_Fisk's Gram._, p. 111. "When a substantive is joined with a
participle in English independently in the rest of the sentence."--_Adam's
Lat. and Eng. Gram., Boston Ed. of 1803_, p. 213; _Albany Ed. of 1820_, p.
166. "Conjunction, comes of the two Latin words _con_, together, and
_jungo_, to join."--_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 19. "How different to
this is the life of Fulvia!"--_Addison's Spect._, No. 15. "_Loved_ is a
participle or adjective, derived of the word _love_."--_Dr. Ash's Gram._,
p. 27. "But I would inquire at him, what an office is?"--_Barclay's Works_,
iii, 463. "For the capacity is brought unto action."--_Ib._, iii, 420. "In
this period, language and taste arrive to purity."--_Webster's Essays_, p.
94. "And should you not aspire at distinction in the republick of
letters."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 13. "Delivering you up to the synagogues,
and in prisons."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 55. "One that is kept from
falling in a ditch, is as truly saved, as he that is taken out of
one."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 312. "The best on it is, they are but a sort
of French Hugonots."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 62. "These last Ten Examples
are indeed of a different Nature to the former."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._,
p. 333. "For the initiation of students in the principles of the English
language."--ANNUAL REVIEW: _Murray's Gram._, ii, 299. "Richelieu profited
of every circumstance which the conjuncture afforded,"--_Bolingbroke, on
Hist._, p. 177. "In the names of drugs and plants, the mistake in a word
may endanger life."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 165. "In order to the carrying on
its several parts into execution."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 192. "His
abhorrence to the superstitious figure."--HUME: _Priestley's Gram._, p.
164. "Thy prejudice to my cause."--DRYDEN: _ib._, p. 164. "Which is found
among every species of liberty."--HUME: _ib._, p. 169. "In a hilly region
to the north of Jericho."--_Milman's Jews_, Vol. i, p. 8. "Two or more
singular nouns, coupled with AND, require a verb and pronoun in the
plural."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 83.

   "Books should to one of these four ends conduce,
    For wisdom, piety, delight, or use."--_Denham_, p. 239.


UNDER NOTE II.--TWO OBJECTS OR MORE.

"The Anglo-Saxons, however, soon quarrelled between themselves for
precedence."--_Constable's Miscellany_, xx, p. 59. "The distinctions
between the principal parts of speech are founded in nature."--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 7. "I think I now understand the difference between the active,
passive, and neuter verbs."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 124. "Thus a figure
including a space between three lines, is the real as well as nominal
essence of a triangle."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 303. "We must distinguish
between an imperfect phrase, a simple sentence, and a compound
sentence."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 117; _Murray's_, i, 267; _Ingersoll's_,
280; _Guy's_, 97. "The Jews are strictly forbidden by their law, to
exercise usury among one another."--_Sale's Koran_, p. 177. "All the
writers have distinguished themselves among one another."--_Addison_. "This
expression also better secures the systematic uniformity between the three
cases."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 98. "When a disjunctive occurs between two
or more Infinitive Modes, or clauses, the verb must be singular."--
_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 95. "Several nouns or pronouns together in the same
case, not united by _and_, require a comma between each."--_Blair's Gram._,
p. 115. "The difference between the several vowels is produced by opening
the mouth differently, and placing the tongue in a different manner for
each."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 2. "Thus feet composed of syllables, being
pronounced with a sensible interval between each, make a more lively
impression than can be made by a continued sound."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
Vol. ii, p. 32. "The superlative degree implies a comparison between three
or more."--_Smith's Productive Gram._, p. 51. "They are used to mark a
distinction between several objects."--_Levizac's Gram._, p. 85.


UNDER NOTE III.--OMISSION OF PREPOSITIONS.

"This would have been less worthy notice."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 197.
"But I passed it, as a thing unworthy my notice."--_Werter_. "Which, in
compliment to me, perhaps, you may, one day, think worthy your
attention."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 81. "To think this small present worthy an
introduction to the young ladies of your very elegant establishment."--
_Ib._, p. iv. "There are but a few miles portage."--_Jefferson's Notes on
Virginia_, p. 17. "It is worthy notice, that our mountains are not
solitary."--_Ib._, p. 26. "It is of about one hundred feet diameter."--
_Ib._, 33. "Entering a hill a quarter or half a mile."--_Ib._, p. 47. "And
herself seems passing to that awful dissolution, whose issue is not given
human foresight to scan."--_Ib._, p. 100. "It was of a spheroidical form,
of about forty feet diameter at the base, and had been of about twelve feet
altitude."--_Ib._, p. 143. "Before this it was covered with trees of twelve
inches diameter, and round the base was an excavation of five feet depth
and width."--_Ibid._ "Then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own
pleasure."--_Deut._, xxiii, 24. "Then he brought me back the way of the
gate of the outward sanctuary."--_Ezekiel_, xliv, 1. "They will bless God
that he has peopled one half the world with a race of freemen."--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 94. "What use can these words be, till their meaning is
known?"--_Town's Analysis_, p. 7. "The tents of the Arabs now are black, or
a very dark colour."--_The Friend_, Vol. v, p. 265. "They may not be
unworthy the attention of young men."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 157. "The
pronoun that is frequently applied to persons, as well as things."--
_Merchant's Gram._, p. 87. "And _who_ is in the same case that _man_
is."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 148. "He saw a flaming stone, apparently about
four feet diameter."--_The Friend_, vii, 409. "Pliny informs us, that this
stone was the size of a cart."--_Ibid._ "Seneca was about twenty years of
age in the fifth year of Tiberius, when the Jews were expelled
Rome."--_Seneca's Morals_, p. 11. "I was prevented[438] reading a letter
which would have undeceived me."--_Hawkesworth, Adv._, No. 54. "If the
problem can be solved, we may be pardoned the inaccuracy of its
demonstration."--_Booth's Introd._, p. 25. "The army must of necessity be
the school, not of honour, but effeminacy."--_Brown's Estimate_, i. 65.
"Afraid of the virtue of a nation, in its opposing bad measures."--_Ib._,
i, 73. "The uniting them in various ways, so as to form words, would be
easy."--_Music of Nature_, p. 34. "I might be excused taking any more
notice of it."--_Watson's Apology_, p. 65. "Watch therefore; for ye know
not what hour your Lord doth come."--_Matt._, xxiv, 42. "Here, not even
infants were spared the sword."--_M'Ilvaine's Lectures_, p. 313. "To
prevent men turning aside to corrupt modes of worship."--_Calvin's
Institutes_, B. I, Ch. 12, Sec. 1. "God expelled them the Garden of
Eden."--_Burder's Hist._, Vol. i, p. 10. "Nor could he refrain expressing
to the senate the agonies of his mind"--_Art of Thinking_, p. 123. "Who now
so strenuously opposes the granting him any new powers."--_Duncan's
Cicero_, p. 127. "That the laws of the censors have banished him the
forum."--_Ib._, p. 140. "We read not that he was degraded his office any
other way."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 149. "To all whom these presents shall
come, Greeting."--_Hutchinson's Mass._, i, 459. "On the 1st, August,
1834."--_British Act for the Abolition of Slavery_.

   "Whether you had not some time in your life
    Err'd in this point which now you censure him."--_Shak_.


UNDER NOTE IV.--OF NEEDLESS PREPOSITIONS.

"And the apostles and elders came together to consider of this
matter."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 481. "And the apostles and elders came
together for to consider of this matter."--_Acts_, xv, 6. "Adjectives in
our Language have neither Case, Gender, nor Number; the only Variation they
have is by Comparison."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 27. "'It is to you, that I
am indebted for this privilege;' that is, 'to you am I indebted;' or, 'It
is to you to whom I am indebted.'"--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 232. "_Books_ is
a noun, of the third person, plural number, of neuter gender,"--
_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 15. "_Brother's_ is a common substantive, of the
masculine gender, the third person, the singular number, and in the
possessive case."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 229. "_Virtue's_ is a common
substantive, of the third person, the singular number, and in the
possessive case."--_Ib._, i, 228. "When the authorities on one side greatly
preponderate, it is in vain to oppose the prevailing usage."--_Campbell's
Rhet._, p. 173; _Murray's Gram._, i, 367. "A captain of a troop of
banditti, had a mind to be plundering of Rome."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p.
51. "And, notwithstanding of its Verbal power, we have added the _to_ and
other signs of exertion."--_Booth's Introd._, p. 28. "Some of these
situations are termed CASES, and are expressed by additions to the Noun
instead of by separate words."--_Ib._, p. 33. "Is it such a fast that I
have chosen, that a man should afflict his soul for a day, and to bow down
his head like a bulrush?"--_Bacon's Wisdom_, p. 65. "And this first emotion
comes at last to be awakened by the accidental, instead of, by the
necessary antecedent."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 17. "At about the
same time, the subjugation of the Moors was completed."--_Balbi's Geog._,
p. 269. "God divided between the light and between the darkness."--
_Burder's Hist._, i, 1. "Notwithstanding of this, we are not against
outward significations of honour."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 242. "Whether
these words and practices of Job's friends, be for to be our rule."--_Ib._,
i, 243. "Such verb cannot admit of an objective case after it."--_Lowth's
Gram._, "For which God is now visibly punishing of these Nations."--_Right
of Tythes_, "In this respect, Tasso yields to no poet, except to
Homer."--_Blair's Rhet._, "Notwithstanding of the numerous panegyrics on
the ancient English liberty."--HUME: _Priestley's Gram._, "Their efforts
seemed to anticipate on the spirit, which became so general
afterwards."--_Id., ib._, p. 167.

UNDER NOTE V.--THE PLACING OF THE WORDS.

"But how short are my expressions of its excellency!"--_Baxter_. "There is
a remarkable union in his style, of harmony with ease."--_Blair's Rhet._,
"It disposes in the most artificial manner, of the light and shade, for
viewing every thing to the best advantage."--"Aristotle too holds an
eminent rank among didactic writers for his brevity."--"In an introduction,
correctness should be carefully studied in the expression."--"Precision is
to be studied, above all things in laying down a method."--"Which shall
make the impression on the mind of something that is one, whole and
entire."--"At the same time, there are some defects which must be
acknowledged in the Odyssey."--"Beauties, however, there are, in the
concluding books, of the tragic kind."--"These forms of conversation by
degrees multiplied and grew troublesome."--_Spectator_, No. 119. "When she
has made her own choice, for form's sake, she sends a congé-d'-élire to her
friends."--"Let us endeavour to establish to ourselves an interest in him
who holds the reins of the whole creation in his hand."--"Let us endeavour
to establish to ourselves an interest in him, who, in his hand, holds the
reins of the whole creation."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 53. "The most
frequent measure next to this in English poetry is that of eight
syllables."--_Blair's Gram._, "To introduce as great a variety as possible
of cadences."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, "He addressed several exhortations to
them suitable to their circumstances."--_Murray's Key_, ii, "Habits must be
acquired of temperance and self-denial."--"In reducing the rules prescribed
to practice."--_Murray's Gram._, "But these parts must be so closely bound
together as to make the impression upon the mind, of one object, not of
many."--_Blair's Rhet._, "Errors are sometimes committed by the most
distinguished writer, with respect to the use of _shall_ and
_will_"--_Butler's Pract. Gram._,




CHAPTER XI--INTERJECTIONS.

Interjections, being seldom any thing more than natural sounds or short
words uttered independently, can hardly be said to have any _syntax_; but
since some rule is necessary to show the learner how to dispose of them in
parsing, a brief axiom for that purpose, is here added, which completes our
series of rules: and, after several remarks on this canon, and on the
common treatment of Interjections, this chapter is made to embrace
_Exercises_ upon all the other parts of speech, that the chapters in the
Key may correspond to those of the Grammar.


RULE XXIV.--INTERJECTIONS.

Interjections have no dependent construction; they are put absolute, either
alone, or with other words: as, "_O!_ let not thy heart despise me."--_Dr.
Johnson_. "_O_ cruel _thou_!"--_Pope, Odys._, B. xii, l. 333. "Ah wretched
_we_, poets of earth!"--_Cowley_,

   "_Ah Dennis! Gildon ah!_ what ill-starr'd rage
    Divides a friendship long confirm'd by age?"
        _Pope, Dunciad_, B. iii,


OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XXIV.

OBS. 1.--To this rule, there are properly _no exceptions_. Though
interjections are sometimes uttered in close connexion with other words,
yet, being mere signs of passion or of feeling, they seem not to have any
strict grammatical relation, or dependence according to the sense. Being
destitute alike of relation, agreement, and government, they must be used
independently, if used at all. Yet an emotion signified in this manner, not
being causeless, may be accompanied by some object, expressed either by a
nominative absolute, or by an adjective after _for_: as, "_Alas!_ poor
_Yorick!_"--_Shak_. Here the grief denoted by _alas_, is certainly _for
Yorick_; as much so, as if the expression were, "Alas _for_ poor Yorick!"
But, in either case, _alas_, I think, has no dependent construction;
neither has _Yorick_, in the former, unless we suppose an ellipsis of some
governing word.

OBS. 2.--The interjection _O_ is common to many languages, and is
frequently uttered, in token of earnestness, before nouns or pronouns put
absolute by direct address; as, "Arise, _O Lord; O God_, lift up thine
hand."--_Psalms_, x, 12. "_O ye_ of little faith!"--_Matt._, vi, 30. The
Latin and Greek grammarians, therefore, made this interjection the _sign_
of the _vocative case_; which case is the same as the nominative put
absolute by address in English. But this particle is no positive index of
the vocative; because an independent address may be made without that sign,
and the _O_ may be used where there is no address: as, "_O_ scandalous
want! _O_ shameful omission!"--"Pray, _Sir_, don't be uneasy."--_Burgh's
Speaker_, p. 86.

OBS. 3.--Some grammarians ascribe to two or three of our interjections the
power of governing sometimes the nominative case, and sometimes the
objective. First, NIXON; in an exercise entitled, "NOMINATIVE GOVERNED BY
AN INTERJECTION," thus: "The interjections O! Oh! and Ah! _require_ after
them the nominative case of a _substantive_ in the _second_ person; as, 'O
thou _persecutor!_'--'O Alexander! thou hast slain thy friend.' _O_ is an
interjection, _governing_ the nominative case _Alexander_."--_English
Parser_, Again, under the title, "OBJECTIVE CASE GOVERNED BY AN
INTERJECTION," he says: "The interjections O! Oh! and Ah! _require_ after
them the objective case of a _substantive_ in the _first_ or _third_
person; as, 'Oh _me!_' 'Oh the _humiliations_!' _Oh_ is an interjection,
_governing_ the objective case _humiliations_."--These two rules are in
fact contradictory, while each of them absurdly suggests that _O, oh_, and
_ah_, are used only with nouns. So J. M. PUTNAM: "Interjections sometimes
_govern_ an objective case; as, _Ah me! O_ the tender _ties! O_ the soft
_enmity! O me_ miserable! _O_ wretched _prince! O_ cruel _reverse_ of
fortune! When an address is made, the interjection does not perform the
office of government."--_Putnam's Gram._, So KIRKHAM; who, under a rule
quite different from these, extends the doctrine of government to _all_
interjections: "According to the genius of the English language, transitive
verbs and prepositions _require_ the objective case of a noun or pronoun
after them; and this requisition is all that is meant by _government_, when
we say that these parts of speech _govern the objective_ case. THE SAME
PRINCIPLE APPLIES TO THE INTERJECTION. 'Interjections _require_ the
objective case of a pronoun of the first person after them; but the
nominative of a noun or pronoun of the second or third person; as, Ah _me_!
Oh _thou_! O my _country!_' To say, then, that interjections _require_
particular cases after them, is synonymous with saying, that they _govern_
those cases; and this office of the interjection is in _perfect accordance_
with that which it performs in the Latin, and many other
languages."--_Kirkham's Gram._, According to this, every interjection has
as much need of an object after it, as has a transitive verb or a
preposition! The rule has, certainly, _no_ "accordance" with what occurs in
Latin, or in any other language; it is wholly a fabrication, though found,
in some shape or other, in well-nigh all English grammars.

OBS. 4.--L. MURRAY'S doctrine on this point is thus expressed: "The
interjections _O! Oh!_ and _Ah! require_ the objective case of a pronoun in
the first person after them, as, 'O me! oh me! Ah me!' But the nominative
case in the second person: as, 'O thou persecutor!' 'Oh ye hypocrites!' 'O
thou, who dwellest,' &c."--_Octavo Gram._, INGERSOLL copies this most
faulty note literally, adding these words to its abrupt end,--i. e., to its
inexplicable "&c." used by Murray; "because the first person _is governed
by a preposition_ understood: as, 'Ah _for_ me!' or, '_O what will become
of_ me!' &c., and the second person is in the _nominative independent_,
there being a direct address."--_Conversations on E. Gram._, So we see that
this grammarian and Kirkham, both modifiers of Murray, understand their
master's false verb "_require_" very differently. LENNIE too, in renouncing
a part of Murray's double or threefold error, "_Oh! happy us!_" for, "_O_
happy _we!_" teaches thus: "Interjections sometimes _require_ the objective
case after them, but they never _govern_ it. In the first edition of this
grammar," says he, "I followed Mr. Murray and others, in leaving _we_, in
the exercises to be turned into _us_; but that it should be _we_, and not
_us_, is obvious; because it is the nominative to _are_ understood; thus,
_Oh_ happy _are we_, or, _Oh we are_ happy, (being) surrounded with so many
blessings."--_Lennie's Gram., Fifth Edition, Twelfth_, Here is an other
solution of the construction of this pronoun of the first person,
contradictory alike to Ingersoll's, to Kirkham's, and to Murray's; while
_all are wrong_, and this among the rest. The word should indeed be _we_,
and not _us_; because we have both analogy and good authority for the
former case, and nothing but the false conceit of sundry grammatists for
the latter. But it is a _nominative absolute_, like any other nominative
which we use in the same exclamatory manner. For the first person may just
as well be put in the nominative absolute, by exclamation, as any other;
as, "Behold _I_ and the _children_ whom God hath given me!"--_Heb._, "Ecce
_ego_ et _pueri_ quos mihi dedit Deus!"--_Beza_. "O brave _we!_"--_Dr.
Johnson, often_. So Horace: "O _ego_ lævus," &c.--_Ep. ad Pi._, 301.

   "Ah! luckless _I!_ who purge in spring my spleen--
    Else sure the first of bards had Horace been."
        --_Francis's Hor._, ii, 209.

OBS. 5.--Whether Murray's remark above, on "_O! Oh!_ and _Ah!_" was
originally designed for a _rule of government_ or not, it is hardly worth
any one's while to inquire. It is too lame and inaccurate every way, to
deserve any notice, but that which should serve to explode it forever. Yet
no few, who have since made English grammars, have copied the text
literally; as they have, for the public benefit, stolen a thousand other
errors from the same quarter. The reader will find it, with little or no
change, in Smith's New Grammar, p. 96 and 134; Alger's, 56; Allen's, 117;
Russell's, 92; Blair's, 100, Guy's, 89; Abel Flint's, 59; A Teacher's, 43,
Picket's, 210; Cooper's[439] Murray, 136; Wilcox's, 95; Bucke's, 87;
Emmons's, 77; and probably in others. Lennie varies it _indefinitely_,
thus: "RULE. The interjections _Oh!_ and _Ah!_ &c. _generally_ require the
objective case of the first personal pronoun, _and_ the nominative of the
second; as, Ah _me!_ O _thou_ fool! O _ye_ hypocrites!"--_Lennie's Gram._,
p. 110; _Brace's_, 88. M'Culloch, after Crombie, thus: "RULE XX.
Interjections are joined with the objective case of the pronoun of the
first person, and with the nominative of the pronoun of the second; as, Ah
me! O ye hypocrites."--_Manual of E. Gram._, p. 145; and _Crombie's
Treatise_, p. 315; also _Fowler's E. Language_, p. 563. Hiley makes it a
note, thus: "The interjections. O! Oh! Ah! _are followed by_ the objective
case of a pronoun of the first person; as, _'Oh me!' 'Ah me!'_ but by the
nominative case of the pronoun in the second person; as, '_O thou_ who
dwellest.' "--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 82. This is what the same author
elsewhere calls "THE GOVERNMENT OF INTERJECTIONS;" though, like some
others, he had set it in the "Syntax of PRONOUNS." See _Ib._, p. 108.
Murray, in forming his own little "Abridgment," omitted it altogether. In
his other grammars, it is still a mere note, standing where he at first
absurdly put it, under his rule for the agreement of pronouns with their
antecedents. By many of his sage amenders, it has been placed in the
catalogue of principal rules. But, that it is no adequate rule for
interjections, is manifest; for, in its usual form, it is limited to
_three_, and none of these can ever, with any propriety, be parsed by it.
Murray himself has not used it in any of his forms of parsing. He
conceived, (as I hinted before in Chapter 1st,) that, "The syntax of the
Interjection is of _so very limited a nature_, that it _does not require_ a
distinct, appropriate rule."--_Octavo Gram._, i. 224.

OBS. 6.--Against this remark of Murray's, a good argument may be drawn from
the ridiculous use which has been made of his own suggestion in the other
place. For, though that suggestion never had in it the least shadow of
truth, and was never at all applicable either to the three interjections,
or to pronouns, or to cases, or to the persons, or to any thing else of
which it speaks, it has not only been often copied literally, and called a
"RULE" of syntax, but many have, yet more absurdly, made it a _general
canon_ which imposes on all interjections a syntax that belongs to none of
them. For example: "_An interjection must be followed_ by the objective
case of a pronoun in the first person; _and_ by a nominative of the second
person; as--_Oh me! ah me! oh thou! AH hail, ye_ happy men!"--_Jaudon's
Gram._, p. 116. This is as much as to say, that every interjection must
have a pronoun or two after it! Again: "_Interjections must be followed_ by
the objective case of the pronoun in the first person; as, O _me!_ Ah _me!_
and by the nominative case of the second person; as, O _thou_ persecutor!
Oh _ye_ hypocrites!"--_Merchant's Murray_, p. 80; _Merchant's School
Gram._, p. 99. I imagine there is a difference between O and _oh_,[440] and
that this author, as well as Murray, in the first and the last of these
examples, has misapplied them both. Again: "_Interjections require_ the
objective case of a pronoun of the first person, and the nominative case of
the second; as, _Ah me! O thou_"--_Frost's El. of E. Gram._, p. 48. This,
too, is general, but equivocal; as if one case or both were necessary to
each interjection!

OBS. 7.--Of _nouns_, or of the _third person_, the three rules last cited
say nothing;[441] though it appears from other evidence, that their authors
supposed them applicable at least to _some nouns_ of the _second person_.
The supposition however was quite needless, because each of their grammars
contains an other Rule, that, "When an address is made, the noun or pronoun
is in the nominative case _independent_;" which, by the by, is far from
being universally true, either of the noun or of the pronoun. Russell
imagines, "The words _depending_ upon interjections, have so near a
resemblance to those in a direct address, that they may very properly be
classed under the same general head," and be parsed as being, "in the
nominative case _independent_." See his "_Abridgment of Murray's Grammar_,"
p. 91. He does not perceive that _depending_ and _independent_ are words
that contradict each other. Into the same inconsistency, do nearly all
those gentlemen fall, who ascribe to interjections a control over cases.
Even Kirkham, who so earnestly contends that what any words _require_ after
them they must necessarily _govern_, forgets his whole argument, or justly
disbelieves it, whenever he parses any noun that is uttered with an
interjection. In short, he applies his principle to nothing but the word
_me_ in the phrases, "_Ah me!_" "_Oh me!_" and "_Me miserable!_" and even
these he parses falsely. The second person used in the vocative, or the
nominative put absolute by direct address, whether an interjection be used
or not, he rightly explains as being "in the nominative case independent;"
as, "O _Jerusalem, Jerusalem!_"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 130. "O _maid_ of
Inistore!"--_Ib._, p. 131. But he is wrong in saying that, "Whenever a noun
is of the second person, it is in the nominative case independent;" (_Ib._,
p. 130;) and still more so, in supposing that, "The principle contained in
the note" [which tells what interjections _require_,] "_proves_ that every
noun of the second person is in the nominative case."--_Ib._, p. 164. A
falsehood proves nothing but the ignorance or the wickedness of him who
utters it. He is wrong too, as well as many others, in supposing that this
nominative independent is not a nominative absolute; for, "The vocative is
[_generally_, if not _always_,] absolute."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 142. But
that nouns of the second person are not always absolute or independent, nor
always in the nominative case, or the vocative, appears, I think, by the
following example: "This is the stone which was set at nought _of you
builders_."--_Acts_, iv, II. See Obs. 3d on Rule 8th.

OBS. 8.--The third person, when uttered in exclamation, with an
interjection before it, is parsed by Kirkham, not as being governed by the
interjection, either in the nominative case, according to his own argument
and own rule above cited, or in the objective, according to Nixon's notion
of the construction; nor yet as being put absolute in the nominative, as I
believe it generally, if not always is; but as being "the nominative to a
verb understood; as, 'Lo,' _there is_ 'the poor _Indian_!' '0, the _pain_'
_there is!_ 'the _bliss_' _there is_ 'IN dying!'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p.
129. Pope's text is, "_Oh_ the pain, the bliss _of_ dying!" and, in all
that is here changed, the grammarian has perverted it, if not in all that
he has added. It is an other principle of Kirkham's Grammar, though a false
one, that, "Nouns have but two persons, the second and [the] third."--P.
37. So that, these two being disposed of agreeably to his own methods
above, which appear to include the second and third persons of pronouns
also, there remains to him nothing but the objective of the pronoun of the
first person to which he can suppose his other rule to apply; and I have
shown that there is no truth in it, even in regard to this. Yet, with the
strongest professions of adhering to the principles, and even to "the
language" of Lindley Murray, this gentleman, by copying somebody else in
preference to "that eminent philologist," has made himself one of those by
whom Murray's erroneous remark on _O, oh_, and _ah_, with pronouns of the
first and second persons, is not only stretched into a rule for all
interjections, but made to include nouns of the second person, and both
nouns and pronouns of the third person: as, "Interjections require the
objective case of a pronoun of the first person after them, but the
nominative of a noun or pronoun of the second or third person; as, 'Ah!
_me_; Oh! _thou_; O! _virtue_!'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 134;
Stereotype Ed., p. 177. See the same rule, with examples and punctuation
different, in his _Stereotype Edition_, p. 164; _Comly's Gram._, 116;
_Greenleaf's_, 36; and _Fisk's_, 144. All these authors, except Comly, who
comes much nearest to the thing, profess to present to us "_Murray's
Grammar Simplified_;" and this is a sample of their work of
_simplification_!--an ignorant piling of errors on errors!

   "O imitatores servum pecus! ut mihi sæpe
    Bilem, sæpe jocum vestri movêre tumultus!"--_Horace_.

OBS. 9.--Since so many of our grammarians conceive that interjections
require or govern cases, it may be proper to cite some who teach otherwise.
"Interjections, in English, have no government."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 111.
"Interjections have no government, or admit of no construction."--_Coar's
Gram._, p. 189. "Interjections have no connexion with other
word's."--_Fuller's Gram._, p. 71. "The interjection, in a grammatical
sense, is totally unconnected with every other word in a sentence. Its
arrangement, of course, is altogether arbitrary, and cannot admit of any
theory."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 83. "Interjections cannot properly have
either concord or government. They are only mere sounds excited by passion,
and have no just connexion with any other part of a sentence. Whatever
case, therefore, is joined with them, must depend on some other word
understood, except the vocative, which is always placed
absolutely."--_Adam's Latin Gram._, p. 196; _Gould's_, 193. If this is true
of the Latin language, a slight variation will make it as true of ours.
"Interjections, and phrases resembling them, are taken absolutely; as,
_Oh_, world, _thy slippery turns_! But the phrases Oh _me_! and Ah _me_!
frequently occur."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 188. This passage is, in several
respects, wrong; yet the leading idea is true. The author entitles it,
"SYNTAX OF INTERJECTIONS," yet absurdly includes in it I know not what
_phrases_! In the phrase, "_thy slippery turns!_" no word is absolute, or
"taken absolutely" but this noun "_turns_;" and this, without the least
hint of its _case_, the learned author will have us to understand to be
absolute, because the phrase _resembles an interjection!_ But the noun
"_world_" which is also absolute, and which still more resembles an
interjection, he will have to be so for a different reason--because it is
in what he chooses to call the _vocative case_. But, according to custom,
he should rather have put his interjection absolute _with_ the noun, and
written it, "_O world_," and not, "_Oh, world_." What he meant to do with
"_Oh me!_ and _Ah me!_" is doubtful. If any phrases come fairly under his
rule, these are the very ones; and yet he seems to introduce them as
exceptions! Of these, it can hardly be said, that they "_frequently_
occur." Lowth notices only the latter, which he supposes elliptical. The
former I do not remember to have met with more than three or four times;
except in grammars, which in this case are hardly to be called authorities:
"_Oh! me_, how fared it with me then?"--_Job Scott_. "_Oh me!_ all the
horse have got over the river, what shall we do?"--WALTON: _Joh. Dict._

   "But when he was first seen, _oh me!_
    What shrieking and what misery!"--_Wordsworth's Works_, p. 114.

OBS. 10.--When a declinable word not in the nominative absolute, follows an
interjection, as part of an imperfect exclamation, its construction (if the
phrase be good English) depends on something understood; as, "Ah
_me!_"--that is, "Ah! _pity_ me;" or, "Ah! _it grieves_ me;" or, as some
will have it, (because the expression in Latin is "_Hei mihi!_") "Ah _for_
me!"--_Ingersoll_. "Ah! _wo is to_ me."--_Lowth_. "Ah! _sorrow is to_
me."--_Coar_. So of "_oh me!_" for, in these expressions, if not generally,
_oh_ and _ah_ are exactly equivalent the one to the other. As for "_O me_"
it is now seldom met with, though Shakspeare has it a few times. From these
examples, O. B. Peirce erroneously imagines the "independent case" of the
pronoun _I_ to be _me_, and accordingly parses the word without supposing
an ellipsis; but in the plural he makes that case to be _we_, and not _us_.
So, having found an example of "Ah _Him!_" which, according to one half of
our grammarians, is bad English, he conceives the independent case of _he_
to be _him_; but in the plural, and in both numbers of the words _thou_ and
_she_, he makes it the nominative, or the same in form as the nominative.
So builds he "the temple of Grammatical consistency!"--P. 7. Nixon and
Cooper must of course approve of "_Ah him!_" because they assume that the
interjection _ah_ "_requires_" or "_governs_" the objective case of the
third person. Others must condemn the expression, because they teach that
_ah_ requires the nominative case of this person. Thus Greenleaf sets down
for false syntax, "O! happy _them_, surrounded with so many
blessings!"--_Gram. Simplified_, p. 47. Here, undoubtedly, the word should
be _they_; and, by analogy, (if indeed the instances are analogous,) it
would seem more proper to say, "Ah _he!_" the nominative being our only
case absolute. But if any will insist that "_Ah him!_" is good English,
they must suppose that _him_ is governed by something understood; as, "Ah!
I _lament_ him;" or, "Ah! _I mourn for_ him." And possibly, on this
principle, the example referred to may be most correct as it stands, with
the pronoun in the objective case: "_Ah Him!_ the first great martyr in
this great cause."--D. WEBSTER: _Peirce's Gram._, p. 199.

OBS. 11.--If we turn to the Latin syntax, to determine by analogy what case
is used, or ought to be used, after our English interjections, in stead of
finding a "perfect accordance" between that syntax and the rule for which
such accordance has been claimed, we see at once an utter repugnance, and
that the pretence of their agreement is only a sample of Kirkham's
unconscionable pedantry. The rule, in all its modifications, is based on
the principle, that the choice of _cases_ depends on the distinction of
_persons_--a principle plainly contrary to the usage of the Latin classics,
and altogether untrue. In Latin, some interjections are construed with the
nominative, the accusative, or the vocative; some, only with the dative;
some, only with the vocative. But, in English, these four cases are all
included in two, the nominative and the objective; and, the case
independent or absolute being necessarily the nominative, it follows that
the objective, if it occur after an interjection, must be the object of
something which is capable of governing it. If any disputant, by supposing
ellipses, will make objectives of what I call nominatives absolute, so be
it; but I insist that interjections, in fact, never "require" or "govern"
one case more than an other. So Peirce, and Kirkham, and Ingersoll, with
pointed self-contradiction, may continue to make "the independent case,"
whether vocative or merely exclamatory, the subject of a verb, expressed or
understood; but I will content myself with endeavouring to establish a
syntax not liable to this sort of objection. In doing this, it is proper to
look at all the facts which go to show what is right, or wrong. "_Lo, the
poor Indian!_" is in Latin, "_Ecce pauper Indus!_" or, "_Ecce pauperem
Indum!_" This use of either the nominative or the accusative after _ecce_,
if it proves any thing concerning the case of the word _Indian_, proves it
doubtful. Some, it seems, pronounce it an objective. Some, like Murray, say
nothing about it. Following the analogy of our own language, I refer it to
the nominative absolute, because there is nothing to determine it to be
otherwise. In the examples. "_Heu me miserum!_ Ah _wretch_ that I
am!"--(_Grant's Latin Gram._, p. 263.) and "_Miser ego homo!_ O wretched
_man_ that I am!"--(_Rom._, vii, 24,) if the word _that_ is a relative
pronoun, as I incline to think it is, the case of the nouns _wretch_ and
_man_ does not depend on any other words, either expressed or implied. They
are therefore nominatives absolute, according to Rule 8th, though the Latin
words may be most properly explained on the principle of ellipsis.

OBS. 12.--Of some impenetrable blockhead, Horace, telling how himself was
vexed, says: "_O te_, Bollane, cerebri Felicem! aiebam tacitus."--_Lib._ i,
_Sat._ ix, 11. Literally: "_O thee_, Bollanus, happy of brain! said I to
myself." That is, "O! _I envy_ thee," &c. This shows that _O_ does not
"require the nominative case of the second person" after it, at least, in
Latin. Neither does _oh_ or _ah_: for, if a governing word be suggested,
the objective may be proper; as, "Whom did he injure? Ah! _thee_, my
boy?"--or even the possessive; as, "Whose sobs do I hear? Oh! _thine_, my
child?" Kirkham tells us truly, (Gram., p. 126,) that the exclamation "_O
my_" is frequently heard in conversation. These last resemble Lucan's use
of the genitive, with an ellipsis of the governing noun: "_O miseræ
sortis!_" i.e., "_O_ [men] _of miserable lot!_" In short, all the Latin
cases as well as all the English, may possibly occur after one or other of
the interjections. I have instanced all but the ablative, and the following
is literally an example of that, though the word _quanto_ is construed
adverbially: "Ah, _quanto_ satius est!"--_Ter. And._, ii, 1. "Ah, _how
much_ better it is!" I have also shown, by good authorities, that the
nominative of the first person, both in English and in Latin, may be
properly used after those interjections which have been supposed to require
or govern the objective. But how far is analogy alone a justification? Is
"_O thee_" good English, because "_O te_" is good Latin? No: nor is it bad
for the reason which our grammarians assign, but because our best writers
never use it, and because _O_ is more properly the sign of the vocative.
The literal version above should therefore be changed; as, "O Bollanus,
_thou_ happy numskull! said I to myself."

OBS. 13--Allen Fisk, "author of Adam's Latin Grammar Simplified," and of
"Murray's English Grammar Simplified," sets down for "_False Syntax_" not
only that hackneyed example, "Oh! happy we," &c., but, "O! You, who love
iniquity," and, "Ah! you, who hate the light."--_Fisk's E. Gram._, p. 144.
But, to imagine that either _you_ or _we_ is wrong here, is certainly no
sing of a great linguist; and his punctuation is very inconsistent both
with his own rule of syntax and with common practice. An interjection set
off by a comma or an exclamation point, is of course put absolute _singly_,
or by itself. If it is to be read as being put absolute with something
else, the separation is improper. One might just as well divide a
preposition from its object, as an interjection from the case which it is
supposed to govern. Yet we find here not only such a division as Murray
sometimes improperly adopted, but in one instance a total separation, with
a capital following; as, "O! You, who love iniquity," for, "O you who love
iniquity!" or "O ye," &c. If a point be here set between the two pronouns,
the speaker accuses all his hearers of loving iniquity; if this point be
removed, he addresses only such as do love it. But an interjection and a
pronoun, each put absolute singly, one after the other, seem to me not to
constitute a very natural exclamation. The last example above should
therefore be, "Ah! you hate the light." The first should be written, "_O_
happy we!"

OBS. 14.--In other grammars, too, there are many instances of some of the
errors here pointed out. R. C. Smith knows no difference between _O_ and
_oh_; takes "_Oh!_ happy _us_" to be accurate English; sees no impropriety
in separating interjections from the pronouns which he supposes them to
"govern;" writes the same examples variously, even on the same page;
inserts or omits commas or exclamation points at random; yet makes the
latter the means by which interjections are to be known! See his _New
Gram._, pp. 40, 96 and 134. Kirkham, who lays claim to "a new system of
punctuation," and also stoutly asserts the governing power of
interjections, writes, and rewrites, and finally stereotypes, in one part
of his book. "Ah me! _Oh_ thou! O my country!" and in an other, "Ah! me;
_Oh!_ thou; O! virtue." See Obs. 3d and Obs. 8th above. From such hands,
any thing "_new_" should be received with caution: this last specimen of
his scholarship has more errors than words.

OBS. 15.--Some few of our interjections seem to admit of a connexion with
other words by means of a preposition or the conjunction _that_ as, "O _to_
forget her!"--_Young_. "O _for_ that warning voice!"--_Milton_. "O _that_
they were wise!"--_Deut._, xxxii, 29. "O _that_ my people had hearkened
unto me!"--_Ps._, lxxxi, 13, "Alas _for_ Sicily!"--_Cowper_. "O _for_ a
world in principle as chaste As this is gross and selfish!"--_Id._ "Hurrah
_for_ Jackson!"--_Newspaper_. "A bawd, sir, fy _upon_ him!"--SHAK.: _Joh.
Dict._ "And fy _on_ fortune, mine avowed foe!"--SPENCER: _ib._ This
connexion, however, even if we parse all the words just as they stand, does
not give to the interjection itself any dependent construction. It appears
indeed to refute Jamieson's assertion, that, "The interjection is _totally
unconnected_ with every other word in a sentence;" but I did not quote this
passage, with any averment of its accuracy; and, certainly, many nouns
which are put absolute themselves, have in like manner a connexion with
words that are not put absolute: as, "O _Lord_ God of hosts, hear my
prayer; give ear, O _God_ of Jacob. Selah."--_Ps._, lxxxiv, 8. But if any
will suppose, that in the foregoing examples something else than the
interjection must be the antecedent term to the preposition or the
conjunction, they may consider the expressions elliptical: though it must
be confessed, that much of their vivacity will be lost, when the supposed
ellipses are supplied: as, "O! _I desire_ to forget her."--"O! _how I long_
for that warning voice!"--"O! _how I wish_ that they were wise!"--"Alas! I
_wail_ for Sicily."--"Hurrah! _I shout_ for Jackson."--"Fy! _cry out_ upon
him." Lindley Murray has one example of this kind, and if his punctuation
of it is not bad in all his editions, there must be an ellipsis in the
expression: "O! _for_ better times."--_Octavo Gram._, ii, 6; _Duodecimo
Exercises_, p. 10. He also writes it thus: "O. _for_ better
times."--_Octavo Gram._, i, 120; _Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 47. According to
common usage, it should be, "O for better times!"

OBS. 16.--The interjection may be placed at the _beginning_ or the _end_ of
a simple sentence, and sometimes _between_ its less intimate parts; but
this part of speech is seldom, if ever, allowed to interrupt the connexion
of any words which are closely united in sense. Murray's definition of an
interjection, as I have elsewhere shown, is faulty, and directly
contradicted by his example: "O virtue! how amiable thou art!"--_Octavo
Gram._, i, 28 and 128; ii. 2. This was a favourite sentence with Murray,
and he appears to have written it uniformly in this fashion; which,
undoubtedly, is altogether right, except that the word _"virtue"_ should
have had a capital Vee, because the quality is here personified.

OBS. 17.--Misled by the false notion, that the term _interjection_ is
appropriate only to what is "thrown in between the parts of a _sentence_,"
and perceiving that this is in fact but rarely the situation of this part
of speech, a recent critic, (to whom I should owe some acknowledgements, if
he were not wrong in every thing in which he charges me with error,) not
only denounces this name as "_barbarous_," preferring Webster's loose term,
"_exclamation_;" but avers, that, "The words called _interjection_ should
_never_ be so used--should _always stand alone_; as, 'Oh! virtue, how
amiable thou art.' 'Oh? Absalom, my son.' G. Brown," continues he, "drags
one into the middle of a sentence, _where it never belonged_; thus, 'This
enterprise, _alas_! will never compensate us for the trouble and expense
with which it has been attended.' If G. B. meant the _enterprize_ of
studying grammar, in the old theories, his sentiment is very appropriate;
but his _alas_! he should have known enough to have put into the right
place:--before the sentence representing the fact that excites the emotion
expressed by _alas_! See on the Chart part 3, of RULE XVII. An
_exclamation_ must _always precede_ the phrase or sentence describing the
fact that excites the emotion to be expressed by the _exclamation_; as:
Alas! I have alienated my friend! _Oh!_ Glorious hope of bliss
secure!"--_Oliver B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 375. "O Glorious hope of bliss
secure!"--_Ib._, p. 184. "O _glorious_ hope!"--_Ib._, p. 304.

OBS. 18.--I see no reason to believe, that the class of words which have
always, and almost universally, been called _interjections_, can ever be
more conveniently explained under any other name; and, as for the term
_exclamation_, which is preferred also by Cutler, Felton, Spencer, and S.
W. Clark, it appears to me much less suitable than the old one, because it
is less specific. Any words uttered loudly in the same breath, are _an
exclamation_. This name therefore is too general; it includes other parts
of speech than interjections; and it was but a foolish whim in Dr. Webster,
to prefer it in his dictionaries. When David "cried _with a loud voice_, O
my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!" [442] he uttered _two_
exclamations, but they included all his words. He did not, like my critic
above, set off his first word with an interrogation point, or any other
point. But, says Peirce, "These words are _used in exclaiming_, and are
what all know them to be, _exclamations_; as I call them. May I not _call_
them what they _are_?"--_Ibid._ Yes, truly. But to _exclaim_ is to _cry
out_, and consequently every _outcry_ is an _exclamation_; though there are
two chances to one, that _no interjection_ at all be used by the bawler. As
good an argument, or better, may be framed against every one of this
gentleman's professed improvements in grammar; and as for his punctuation
and orthography, any reader may be presumed capable of seeing that they are
not fit to be proposed as models.

OBS. 19.--I like my position of the word "_alas_" better than that which
Peirce supposes to be its only right place; and, certainly, his rule for
the location of words of this sort, as well as his notion that they must
stand alone, is as false, as it is new. The obvious misstatement of Lowth,
Adam, Gould, Murray, Churchill, Alger, Smith, Guy, Ingersoll, and others,
that, "Interjections are words thrown in between the parts of _a
sentence_," I had not only excluded from my grammars, but expressly
censured in them. It was not, therefore, to prop any error of the old
theorists, that I happened to set one interjection "_where_" according to
this new oracle, "_it never belonged_." And if any body but he has been
practically misled by their mistake, it is not I, but more probably some of
the following authors, here cited for his refutation: "I fear, _alas!_ for
my life."--_Fisk's Gram._, p. 89. "I have been occupied, _alas_! with
trifles."--_Murray's Gr., Ex. for Parsing_, p. 5; _Guy's_, p. 56. "We
eagerly pursue pleasure, but, _alas!_ we often mistake the road."--_Smith's
New Gram._, p. 40, "To-morrow, _alas!_ thou _mayest_ be
comfortless!"--_Wright's Gram._, p. 35. "Time flies, _O!_ how
swiftly."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 226. "My friend, _alas!_ is dead."--_J.
Flint's Gram._, p. 21. "But _John, alas! he_ is very idle."--_Merchant's
Gram._, p. 22. "For pale and wan he was, _alas_ the while!"--SPENSER: _Joh.
Dict._ "But yet, _alas! O_ but yet, _alas!_ our haps be but hard
haps."--SYDNEY: _ib._ "Nay, (what's incredible,) _alack!_ I _hardly_ hear a
woman's clack."--SWIFT: _ib._ "Thus life is spent (_oh fie_ upon't!) In
being touch'd, and crying--Don't!"--_Cowper_, i, 231. "For whom, _alas!_
dost thou prepare The sweets that I was wont to share"--_Id._, i, 203. "But
here, _alas!_ the difference lies."--_Id._, i. 100. "Their names, _alas_!
in vain reproach an age," &c.--_Id._, i, 88. "What nature, _alas!_ has
denied," &c.--_Id._, i, 235. "A. _Hail_ Sternhold, then; and Hopkins,
_hail!_ B. Amen."--_Id._, i 25.

   "These Fate reserv'd to grace thy reign divine,
    Foreseen by me, but _ah!_ withheld from mine!"--_Pope, Dun._, iii, 215.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX PROMISCUOUS. [Fist] [The following examples of bad grammar,
being similar in their character to others already exhibited, are to be
corrected, by the pupil, according to formules previously given.]


LESSON I.--ANY PARTS OF SPEECH.

"Such an one I believe yours will be proved to be."--PEET: _Farnum's
Gram._, p. 1. "Of the distinction between the imperfect and the perfect
tenses, it may be observed," &c.--_Ainsworth's Gram._, p. 122. "The subject
is certainly worthy consideration."--_Ib._, p. 117. "By this means all
ambiguity and controversy is avoided on this point."--_Bullions, Principles
of Eng. Gram., 5th Ed., Pref._, p. vi. "The perfect participle in English
has both an active and passive signification."--_Ib._, p. 58. "The old
house is at length fallen down."--_Ib._, p. 78. "The king, with the lords
and commons, constitute the English form of government."--_Ib._, p. 93.
"The verb in the singular agrees with the person next it."--_Ib._, p. 95.
"Jane found Seth's gloves in James' hat."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 15.
"Charles' task is too great."--_Ibid._, 15. "The conjugation of a verb is
the naming, in regular order, its several modes tenses, numbers and
persons."--_Ib._, p. 24. "The long remembered beggar was his
guest."--_Ib._, 1st Ed., p. 65. "Participles refer to nouns and
pronouns."--_Ib._, p. 81. "F has an uniform sound in every position except
in _of_."--_Hallock's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 15. "There are three genders; the
masculine, the feminine and neuter."--_Ib._, p. 43. "When _so that_ occur
together, sometimes the particle _so_ is taken as an adverb."--_Ib._, p.
124. "The definition of the articles show that they modify the words to
which they belong."--_Ib._, p. 138. "The auxiliaries _shall, will_, or
_should_ is implied."--_Ib._, p. 192. "Single rhyme trochaic omits the
final short syllable."--_Ib._, p. 244. "Agreeable to this, we read of names
being blotted out of God's book,"--BURDER: _ib._, p. 156; _Webster's
Philos. Gram._, 155; _Improved Gram._, 107. "The first person is the person
speaking."--_Goldsbury's Common School Gram._, p. 10. "Accent is the laying
a peculiar stress of the voice on a certain letter or syllable in a
word."--_Ib._, Ed. of 1842, p. 75. "Thomas' horse was caught."--_Felton's
Gram._, p. 64. "You was loved."--_Ib._, p. 45. "The nominative and
objective end the same."--_Rev. T. Smith's Gram._, p. 18. "The number of
pronouns, like those of substantives, are two, the singular and the
plural."--_Ib._, p. 22. "_I_ is called the pronoun of the _first_ person,
which is the person speaking."--_Frost's Practical Gram._, p. 32. "The
essential elements of the phrase is an intransitive gerundive and an
adjective."--_Hazen's Practical Gram._, p. 141. "Being rich is no
justification for such impudence."--_Ib._, p. 141. "His having been a
soldier in the revolution is not doubted."--_Ib._, p. 143. "Catching fish
is the chief employment of the inhabitants. The chief employment of the
inhabitants is catching fish."--_Ib._, p. 144. "The cold weather did not
prevent the work's being finished at the time specified."--_Ib._, p. 145.
"The former viciousness of that man caused his being suspected of this
crime."--_Ib._, p. 145. "But person and number applied to verbs means,
certain terminations."--_Barrett's Gram._, p. 69. "Robert fell a
tree."--_Ib._, p. 64. "Charles raised up."--_Ib._, p. 64. "It might not be
an useless waste of time."--_Ib._, p. 42. "Neither will you have that
_implicit faith_ in the writings and works of others which characterise the
vulgar,"--_Ib._, p. 5. "_I_, is the first person, because it denotes the
speaker."--_Ib._, p. 46. "I would refer the student to Hedges' or Watts'
Logic."--_Ib._, p. 15. "Hedge's, Watt's, Kirwin's, and Collard's
Logic."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part III, p. 116. "Letters are called
vowels which make a full and perfect sound of themselves."--_Cutler's
Gram._, p. 10. "It has both a singular and plural construction."--_Ib._, p.
23. "For he beholdest thy beams no more."--_Ib._, p. 136. "To this
sentiment the Committee has the candour to incline, as it will appear by
their summing up."--_Macpherson's Ossian, Prelim. Disc._, p. xviii. "This
is reducing the point at issue to a narrow compass."--_Ib._, p. xxv. "Since
the English sat foot upon the soil."--_Exiles of Nova Scotia_, p. 12. "The
arrangement of its different parts are easily retained by the
memory."--_Hiley's Gram._, 3d Ed., p. 262. "The words employed are the most
appropriate which could have been selected."--_Ib._, p. 182. "To prevent it
launching!"--_Ib._, p. 135. "Webster has been followed in preference to
others, where it differs from them."--_Frazee's Gram._, p. 8. "Exclamation
and Interrogation are often mistaken for one another."--_Buchanan's E.
Syntax_, p. 160. "When all nature is hushed in sleep, and neither love nor
guilt keep their vigils."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 96.

   "When all nature's hushed asleep,
    Nor love, nor guilt, their vigils keep."--_Ib._, p. 95.


LESSON II.--ANY PARTS OF SPEECH.

"A VERSIFYER and POET are two different Things."--_Brightland's Gram._, p.
163. "Those Qualities will arise from the well expressing of the
Subject."--_Ib._, p. 165. "Therefore the explanation of _network_, is taken
no notice of here."--_Mason's Supplement_, p. vii. "When emphasis or pathos
are necessary to be expressed."--_Humphrey's Punctuation_, p. 38. "Whether
this mode of punctuation is correct, and whether it be proper to close the
sentence with the mark of admiration, may be made a question."--_Ib._, p.
39. "But not every writer in those days were thus correct."--_Ib._, p. 59.
"The sounds of A, in English orthoepy, are no less than four."--_Ib._, p.
69. "Our present code of rules are thought to be generally correct."--
_Ib._, p. 70. "To prevent its running into another."--_Humphrey's Prosody_,
p. 7. "Shakespeare, perhaps, the greatest poetical genius which England has
produced."--_Ib._, p. 93. "This I will illustrate by example; but prior to
which a few preliminary remarks may be necessary."--_Ib._, p. 107. "All
such are entitled to two accents each, and some of which to two accents
nearly equal."--_Ib._, p. 109. "But some cases of the kind are so plain
that no one need to exercise his judgment therein."--_Ib._, p. 122. "I have
forbore to use the word."--_Ib._, p. 127. "The propositions, 'He may
study,' 'He might study,' 'He could study,' affirms an ability or power to
study."--_Hallock's Gram. of_ 1842, p. 76. "The divisions of the tenses has
occasioned grammarians much trouble and perplexity."--_Ib._, p. 77. "By
adopting a familiar, inductive method of presenting this subject, it may be
rendered highly attractive to young learners."--_Wells's Sch. Gram._, 1st
Ed., p. 1; 3d, 9; 113th, 11. "The definitions and rules of different
grammarians were carefully compared with each other."--_Ib., Preface_, p.
iii. "So as not wholly to prevent some sounds issuing."--_Sheridan's
Elements of English_, p. 64. "Letters of the Alphabet not yet taken notice
of."--_Ib._, p. 11. "IT _is sad_, IT _is strange_, &c., seems to express
only that _the thing_ is sad, strange, &c."--_The Well-Wishers' Gram._, p.
68. "THE WINNING is easier than THE PRESERVING a conquest."--_Ib._, p. 65.
"The United States finds itself the owner of a vast region of country at
the West."--_Horace Mann in Congress_, 1848. "One or more letters placed
before a word is a Prefix."--_S. W. Clark's Pract. Gram._, p. 42. "One or
more letters added to a word is a Suffix."--_Ib._, p. 42. "Two-thirds of my
hair has fallen off."--_Ib._, p. 126. "'Suspecting,' describes 'we,' by
expressing, incidentally, an act of 'we.'"--_Ib._, p. 130. "Daniel's
predictions are now being fulfilled."--_Ib._, p. 136. "His being a scholar,
entitles him to respect."--_Ib._, p. 141. "I doubted his having been a
soldier."--_Ib._, p. 142. "Taking a madman's sword to prevent his doing
mischief, cannot be regarded as robbing him."--_Ib._, p. 129. "I thought it
to be him; but it was not him."--_Ib._, p. 149. "It was not me that you
saw."--_Ib._, p. 149. "Not to know what happened before you was born, is
always to be a boy."--_Ib._, p. 149. "How long was you going? Three
days."--_Ib._, 158. "The qualifying Adjective is placed next the
Noun."--_Ib._, p. 165. "All went but me."--_Ib._, p. 93. "This is parsing
their own language, and not the author's."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st
Ed., p. 73. "Nouns which denote males, are of the masculine
gender."--_Ib._, p. 49. "Nouns which denote females, are of the feminine
gender."--_Ib._, p. 49. "When a comparison is expressed between more than
two objects of the same class, the superlative degree is employed."--_Ib._,
p. 133. "Where _d_ or _t_ go before, the additional letter _d_ or _t_, in
this contracted form, coalesce into one letter with the radical _d_ or
_t_."--_Dr. Johnson's Gram._, p. 9. "Write words which will show what kind
of a house you live in--what kind of a book you hold in your hand--what
kind of a day it is."--_Weld's Gram._, p. 7. "One word or more is often
joined to nouns or pronouns to modify their meaning."--_Ib., 2d Ed._, p.
30. "_Good_ is an adjective; it explains the quality or character of every
person or thing to which it is applied."--_Ib._, p. 33; _Abridg._, 32. "A
great public as well as private advantage arises from every one's devoting
himself to that occupation which he prefers, and for which he is specially
fitted."--WAYLAND: _Wells's Gram._, p. 121; _Weld's_, 180. "There was a
chance of his recovering his senses. Not thus: 'There was a chance of him
recovering his senses.' MACAULEY."--See _Wells's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 121;
113th, 135. "This may be known by its not having any connecting word
immediately preceding it."--_Weld's Gram., 2d Edition_, p. 181. "There are
_irregular_ expressions occasionally to be met with, which usage or custom
rather than analogy, sanction."--_Ib._, p. 143. "He added an anecdote of
Quinn's relieving Thomson from prison."--_Ib._, p. 150. "The daily labor of
her hands procure for her all that is necessary."--_Ib._, p. 182. "Its
being _me_, need make no change in your determination."--_Hart's Gram._, p.
128. "The classification of words into what is called the Parts of
Speech."--_Weld's Gram._, p. 5. "Such licenses may be explained under what
is usually termed Figures."--_Ib._, p. 212.

   "Liberal, not lavish, is kind nature's hands."--_Ib._, p. 196.

    "They fall successive and successive live."--_Ib._, p. 213.


LESSON III.--ANY PARTS OF SPEECH.

"A figure of Etymology is the intentional deviation in the usual form of a
word."--_Weld's Gram., 2d Edition_, p. 213. "A figure of Syntax is the
intentional deviation in the usual construction of a word."--_Ib._, 213.
"Synecdoche is putting the name of the whole of anything for a part or a
part for the whole."--_Ib._, 215. "Apostrophe is turning off from the
regular course of the subject to address some person or thing."--_Ib._,
215. "Even young pupils will perform such exercises with surprising
interest and facility, and will unconsciously gain, in a little time, more
knowledge of the structure of Language than he can acquire by a drilling of
several years in the usual routine of parsing."--_Ib., Preface_, p. iv. "A
few Rules of construction are employed in this Part, to guide in the
exercise of parsing."--_Ibidem_. "The name of every person, object, or
thing, which can be thought of, or spoken of, is a noun."--_Ib._, p. 18;
_Abridged Ed._, 19. "A dot, resembling our period, is used between every
word, as well as at the close of the verses."--_W. Day's Punctuation_, p.
16; _London_, 1847. "Casting types in matrices was invented by Peter
Schoeffer, in 1452."--_Ib._, p. 23. "On perusing it, he said, that, so far
from it showing the prisoner's guilt, it positively established his
innocence."--_Ib._, p. 37. "By printing the _nominative_ and _verb_ in
_Italic_ letters, the reader will be able to distinguish them at a
glance."--_Ib._, p. 77. "It is well, no doubt, to avoid using unnecessary
words."--_Ib._, p. 99. "Meeting a friend the other day, he said to me,
'Where are you going?'"--_Ib._, p. 124. "John was first denied _apples_,
then he was promised _them_, then he was offered _them_."--_Lennie's
Gram._, 5th Ed., p. 62. "He was denied admission."--_Wells's School Gram._,
1st Ed., p. 146. "They were offered a pardon."--_Pond's Murray_, p. 118;
_Wells_, 146. "I was this day shown a new potatoe."--DARWIN: _Webster's
Philos. Gram._, p. 179; _Imp. Gram._, 128; _Frazee's Gram._, 153; _Weld's_,
153. "Nouns or pronouns which denote males are of the masculine
gender."--_S. S. Greene's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 211. "There are three degrees
of comparison--the positive, comparative, and superlative."--_Ib._, p. 216;
_First Les._, p. 49. "The first two refer to direction; the third, to
locality."--_Ib., Gr._, p. 103. "The following are some of the verbs which
take a direct and indirect object."--_Ib._, p. 62. "I was not aware of his
being the judge of the Supreme Court."--_Ib._, p. 86. "An indirect question
may refer to either of the five elements of a declarative
sentence."--_Ib._, p. 123. "I am not sure _that he will be present_ = _of
his being present_."--_Ib._, p. 169. "We left on Tuesday."--_Ib._, p. 103.
"He left, as he told me, before the arrival of the steamer."--_Ib._, p.
143. "We told him _that he must leave_ = We told him _to leave_."--_Ib._,
p. 168. "Because he was unable to persuade the multitude, he left in
disgust."--_Ib._, p. 172. "He _left_, and _took_ his brother with
him."--_Ib._, p. 254. "This stating, or declaring, or denying any thing, is
called the indicative mode, or manner of speaking."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d
Ed., p. 72; _Abr. Ed._, 59. "This took place at our friend Sir Joshua
Reynold's."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 150; _Imp. Ed._, 154. "The manner
of a young lady's employing herself usefully in reading will be the subject
of another paper."--_Ib._, 150; or 154. "Very little time is necessary for
Johnson's concluding a treaty with the bookseller."--_Ib._, 150; or 154.
"My father is not now sick, but if he _was_ your services would be
welcome."--_Chandler's Grammar_, 1821, p. 54. "When we begin to write or
speak, we ought previously to fix in our minds a clear conception of the
end to be aimed at."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, p. 193. "Length of days are in
her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor."--_Bullions's
Analytical and Practical Grammar_, 1849, p. 59. "The active and passive
present express different ideas."--_Ib._, p. 235. "An _Improper Diphthong_,
or Digraph, is a diphthong in which only one of the vowels are
sounded."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, §115. "The real origin of the
words are to be sought in the Latin."--_Ib._, §120. "What sort of an
alphabet the Gothic languages possess, we know; what sort of alphabet they
require, we can determine."--_Ib._, §127. "The Runic Alphabet whether
borrowed or invented by the early Goths, is of greater antiquity than
either the oldest Teutonic or the Moeso-Gothic Alphabets."--_Ib._, §129.
"Common to the Masculine and the Neuter Genders."--_Ib._, §222. "In the
Anglo-Saxon _his_ was common to both the Masculine and Neuter
Genders."--_Ib._, §222. "When time, number, or dimension are specified, the
adjective follows the substantive."--_Ib._, §459. "Nor pain, nor grief, nor
anxious fear Invade thy bounds."--_Ib._, §563. "To Brighton the Pavilion
lends a _lath and plaster_ grace."--_Ib._, §590. "From this consideration
nouns have been given but one person, the THIRD."--_D. C. Allen's Grammatic
Guide_, p. 10.

   "For it seems to guard and cherish
    Even the wayward dreamer--I."--_Home Journal_.


EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS XIII.--SYNTACTICAL.

_In the following Lessons, are exemplified most of the Exceptions, some of
the Notes, and many of the Observations, under the preceding Rules of
Syntax; to which Exceptions, Notes, or Observations, the learner may recur,
for an explanation of whatsoever is difficult in the parsing, or peculiar
in the construction, of these examples or others._


LESSON I.--PROSE.

"_The_ higher a bird flies, _the_ more out of danger he is; and _the_
higher a Christian soars above the world, _the_ safer are his
comforts."--_Sparke_.

"_In_ this point of view, and _with_ this explanation, _it_ is supposed by
some grammarians, that our language contains _a_ few Impersonal Verbs; that
is, _verbs_ which declare the existence of some action or state, but
_which_ do not refer to any animate being, or any determinate particluar
subject."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 109.

"Thus in England and France, a great landholder possesses _a_ hundred
_times_ the property that is necessary for the subsistence of a family; and
each landlord has perhaps _a_ hundred families dependent on him for
subsistence."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 87.

"_It_ is as possible to become _pedantick_ by fear of pedantry, as to be
_troublesome_ by ill timed civility."--_Johnson's Rambler_, No. 173.

"_To_ commence _author, is_ to claim praise; and no man can justly aspire
to honour, but at the hazard of disgrace."--_Ib._, No. 93.

"_For_ ministers to be silent in the cause of Christ, _is_ to renounce it;
and to fly _is_ to desert it."--SOUTH: _Crabb's Synonymes_, p. 7.

"Such instances shew how much _the sublime_ depends upon a just selection
of circumstances; and _with_ how great care every circumstance must be
avoided, which _by_ bordering _in the least_ upon _the mean_, or even upon
_the gay_ or _the trifling_, alters the tone of the emotion."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 43.

"This great poet and philosopher, _the_ more _he_ contemplated the nature
of the Deity, _found_ that _he_ waded _but the_ more out of his depth, and
that _he_ lost _himself_ in the thought _instead_ of finding an end to
it."--_Addison_. "_Odin, which_ in Anglo-Saxon was _Woden_, was the supreme
god of the Goths, answering to the Jupiter of the Greeks."--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 262.

"Because confidence, that _charm_ and _cement_ of intimacy, _is_ wholly
wanting in the intercourse."--_Opie, on Lying_, p. 146.

"Objects of hearing may be compared together, as also _of_ taste, _of_
smell, and _of_ touch: but the chief _fund_ of comparison _are objects_ of
sight."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 136.

"The various relations of the various Objects exhibited by this (I mean
relations of _near_ and _distant, present_ and _absent, same_ and
_different, definite_ and _indefinite_, &c.) made it necessary that _here
there_ should not be one, but many Pronouns, such as _He, This, That,
Other, Any, Some_, &c."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 72.

"Mr. Pope's Ethical Epistles _deserve_ to be mentioned with signal honour,
_as_ a _model_, next to _perfect, of_ this kind of poetry."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 402.

"The knowledge _of why_ they so exist, must be the last act of favour
_which_ time and toil will bestow."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 253.

"_It_ is unbelief, and _not faith, that_ sinks the sinner into
despondency.--Christianity disowns such characters."--_Fuller, on the
Gospel_, p. 141.

"That God created the universe, [and] that men are accountable for their
actions, _are frequently mentioned_ by logicians, as instances of the mind
judging."


LESSON II.--PROSE.

"_To_ censure works, _not men, is_ the just _prerogative_ of criticism, and
accordingly all personal censure is here avoided, unless _where necessary_
to illustrate some general proposition."--_Kames, El. of Crit.,
Introduction_, p. 27.

"_There remains_ to show by examples the manner of treating subjects, so as
to give them a ridiculous appearance."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 303.

"The making of poetry, _like_ any other _handicraft_, may be learned by
industry."--_Macpherson's Preface to Ossian_, p. xiv.

"Whatever is found more strange or beautiful than _was expected_, is judged
to be more strange or beautiful than it is in reality."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, Vol. i, p. 243.

"Thus the body of an animal, and of a plant, _are composed_ of certain
great vessels; these[,] of _smaller_; and these again[,] of still
_smaller_, without end, _as_ far as we can discover."--_Id., ib._, p. 270.

"This cause of beauty, is too extensive to be handled _as a branch_ of any
other subject: for _to_ ascertain with accuracy even the proper meaning of
words, _not to talk_ of their figurative power, _would require_ a large
volume; _an_ useful _work_ indeed, but not to be attempted without a large
stock of time, study, and reflection."--_Id._, Vol. ii, p. 16.

"O the hourly _dangers_ that we here walk _in_! Every sense, and member,
_is_ a snare; every creature, and every duty, _is_ a snare to
us."--_Baxter, Saints's Rest_.

"_For_ a man _to give_ his opinion of what he sees _but_ in part, _is_ an
unjustifiable _piece_ of rashness and folly."--_Addison_.

"_That_ the sentiments thus prevalent among the early Jews _respecting_ the
divine authority of the Old Testament were correct, _appears_ from the
testimony of Jesus Christ and his apostles."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 69.

"So in Society we are not our _own_, but Christ's, and the church's, to
good works and services, yet all in love."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p.
84.

"He [_Dr. Johnson_] sat up in his bed, _clapped_ his hands, _and cried, 'O
brave we_!'--a peculiar _exclamation_ of _his_ when he rejoices."--
_Boswell's Life of Johnson_, Vol. iii, p. 56.

"Single, double, and treble emphasis _are_ nothing but examples of
antithesis."--_Knowles's Elocutionist_, p. xxviii.

"The curious _thing, and what_, I would almost say, _settles_ the point,
_is_, that we do _Horace_ no service, even according to our view of the
matter, by rejecting the scholiast's explanation. No two eggs can be _more
like each other_ than Horace's _Malthinus_ and Seneca's _Mecenas_."--
_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 477. "_Acting, conduct, behaviour_,
abstracted from all regard to what is, in fact and event, the consequence
of _it, is itself_ the natural object of this moral discernment, as
speculative truth _and_ [say _or_] falsehood is _of_ speculative
reason."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 277.

"_To_ do what is _right_, with unperverted faculties, _is_ ten _times
easier_ than to undo what is wrong."--_Porter's Analysis_, p. 37.

"Some _natures the_ more _pains_ a man takes to reclaim them, _the_ worse
they are."--L'ESTRANGE: _Johnson's Dict., w. Pains_.

"Says _John Milton_, in that impassioned speech for the Liberty of
Unlicensed Printing, where every word leaps with intellectual life, '_Who_
kills a man, _kills_ a reasonable creature, God's image; but _who_ destroys
a good book, _kills_ reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were, in
the eye. Many a man lives a burden upon the earth; but a good book is the
precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on
purpose for a life beyond life!'"--_Louisville Examiner_, June, 1850.


LESSON III.--PROSE.

"The philosopher, the saint, or the hero--_the_ wise, _the_ good, or the
great man--very often lies hid and concealed in a plebeian, _which_ a
proper education might have disinterred and _brought_ to
light."--_Addison_.

"The _year before_, he had so used the matter, that _what_ by force, _what_
by policy, he had taken from the Christians _above_ thirty small
castles."--_Knolles_.

"_It_ is an important truth, that religion, vital _religion_, the
_religion_ of the heart, is the most powerful auxiliary of reason, in
waging war with the passions, and promoting that sweet composure which
constitutes the peace of God."--_Murray's Key_, p. 181.

"_Pray, sir, be pleased_ to take the part of _us beauties_ and _fortunes_
into your consideration, and do not let us _be flattered_ out of our
senses. _Tell_ people that _we_ fair _ones_ expect honest plain answers, as
well as other folks."--_Spectator_, No. 534.  "_Unhappy it_ would be _for_
us, _did_ not uniformity _prevail_ in morals: _that_ our actions should
uniformly be directed to what is _good_ and against what is _ill_, is the
greatest _blessing_ in society; and _in_ order to uniformity of action,
uniformity of sentiment is indispensable."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii,
p. 366.

"Thus the pleasure of all the senses is _the same_ in _all, high_ and _low,
learned_ and _unlearned_."--_Burke, on Taste_, p. 39.

"_Upwards_ of eight millions of acres _have_, I believe, been thus disposed
of."--_Society in America_, Vol. i, p. 333.

"The Latin Grammar comes _something_ nearer, but yet does not hit the mark
_neither_."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 281.

"_Of_ the like nature is the following inaccuracy of _Dean
Swift's_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 105. "Thus, Sir, I have given _you_ my own
opinion, relating to this weighty affair, as well as _that_ of a great
majority of both houses here."--_Ib._

"A foot is just _twelve_ times as long as an _inch_; and an hour is sixty
_times_ the _length_ of a minute."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 48.

"What can we expect, who come _a gleaning_, not after the first reapers,
but after the _very_ beggars?"--_Cowley's Pref. to Poems_, p. x.

"In our _Lord's being betrayed_ into the hands of the chief-priests and
scribes, by Judas Iscariot; in _his being_ by them _delivered_ to the
Gentiles; in _his being mocked, scourged, spitted on_, [say _spit upon_,]
and _crucified_; and in his _rising_ from the dead after three days; there
was much that was singular, complicated, and not to be easily calculated on
before hand."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 40.

"To be _morose, implacable, inexorable_, and _revengeful_, is one of the
greatest degeneracies of human nature."--_Dr. J. Owen_.

"Now, says _he_, if tragedy, which is in its nature _grand_ and _lofty_,
will not admit of this, _who can forbear laughing_ to hear the historian
Gorgias Leontinus styling Xerxes, that cowardly Persian king, _Jupiter_;
and vultures, living _sepulchres_?"--_Holmes's Rhetoric?_, Part II, p. 14.

"O let thy all-seeing eye, and not the eye of the world, be the star to
steer my course _by_; and let thy blessed favour, more than the liking of
any sinful men, be ever my study and delight."--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 156.


LESSON IV.--PROSE.

"O _the Hope_ of Israel, _the Saviour thereof_ in time of trouble, why
_shouldest thou_ be as a _stranger_ in the land, and as a way-faring _man_,
that turneth aside to tarry for a night?"--_Jeremiah_, xiv, 8.

"When once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the
ark was _a preparing, wherein_ few, _that_ is, eight souls, were
saved."--_1 Peter_, iii, 20.

"Mercy and truth _are_ met together; righteousness and peace have kissed
_each other_."--_Psalms_, lxxxv, 10.

"But _in vain_ they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men."--_Matt._, xv, 9.

"Knowest thou not this _of old_, since man was placed upon the earth, that
the _triumphing_ of the _wicked_ is short, and the joy of the hypocrite
_but_ for a moment?"--_Job_, xx, 4, 5.

"For now we _see_ through a glass darkly; but _then, face_ to _face_: now I
_know_ in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."--_1 Cor._,
xiii, 12.

"For then the _king of Babylon's_ army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the
_Prophet_ was shut up in the court of the prison which was in the _king of
Judah's_ house."--_Jer._, xxxii, 2.

"For Herod had laid hold on John, and _bound_ him, and _put_ him in prison,
for _Herodias'_ sake, his _brother_ Philip's _wife_."--_Matt._, xiv, 3.

"And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, _of Huram_
my _father's_, the _son_ of a woman of the daughters of Dan."--_2 Chron._,
ii, 13.

"Bring no _more_ vain oblations: incense is an abomination unto me; the new
moons and sabbaths, the _calling_ of assemblies, I _cannot away with: it_
is iniquity _even_ the solemn _meeting_."--_Isaiah_, i, 13.

"For I have heard the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth
herself, that spreadeth her hands, _saying_, Woe is _me_ now! for my soul
is wearied _because_ of murderers."--_Jer._, iv, 31.

"She saw men portrayed upon the wall, the _images_ of the Chaldeans
portrayed with vermilion, girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding
in dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes _to_ look _to, after_
the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the _land_ of their
nativity."--_Ezekiel_, xxiii, 15.

"And on them _was written_ according to all the words which the Lord spake
with you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the
assembly."--_Deut._, ix, 10.

"And he charged them that they _should tell no man_: but _the_ more he
charged them, so much _the_ more a great _deal_ they published
it."--_Mark_, vii, 36.

"The results which God has connected with actions, will inevitably occur,
all the created _power_ in the universe to the contrary
_notwithstanding_."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 5.

"Am _I_ not an _apostle_? am _I_ not _free_? have I not seen Jesus Christ
our Lord? are not _ye_ my _work_ in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto
others, yet doubtless I am _to_ you; for the _seal_ of _mine_ apostleship
are _ye_ in the Lord."--_1 Cor._, ix, 1, 2.

"Not _to insist_ upon this, _it_ is evident, that formality is a term of
general import. It implies, that in religious exercises of all kinds _the_
outward and [the] inward man _are_ at diametrical variance."--_Chapman's
Sermons to Presbyterians_, p. 354.


LESSON V.--VERSE.

   "_See_ the sole bliss Heaven _could_ on all _bestow_,
    Which _who but_ feels, can taste, _but_ thinks, can know;
    Yet, poor with fortune, and with learning blind,
    _The bad_ must miss, _the good_, untaught, will find."--_Pope_.

    "There _are, who, deaf_ to mad Ambition's call,
    Would shrink to hear th' obstreperous trump of fame;
    Supremely _blest_, if to their portion fall
    Health, competence, and peace."--_Beattie_.

    "High stations _tumult_, but _not bliss_, create;
    None think _the great_ unhappy, but _the great_.
    Fools gaze and _envy_: envy darts a sting,
    Which makes a swain as _wretched_ as a king."--_Young_.

    "Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies!
    _Sink_ down, _ye mountains_; and, _ye valleys, rise_;
    With heads declin'd, _ye cedars_, homage _pay_;
    _Be_ smooth, _ye rocks; ye_ rapid _floods, give_ way."--_Pope_.

    "Amid the forms which this full world presents
    _Like rivals to his_ choice, what human breast
    E'er doubts, before the _transient and minute_,
    To prize the _vast_, the _stable_, and _sublime_?"--_Akenside_.

    "Now fears in dire vicissitude invade;
    The rustling brake _alarms_, and quiv'ring _shade_:
    _Nor_ light nor darkness brings his _pain_ relief;
    One shows the plunder, and one hides the thief."--_Johnson_.

    "If Merab's choice could have complied with _mine_,
    Merab, my elder comfort, had been _thine_:
    And _hers_, at _last_, should have with _mine_ complied,
    Had I not _thine_ and Michael's heart descried."--_Cowley_.

    "The people have _as much_ a negative voice
    To hinder _making_ war without their choice,
    As kings of making laws in parliament:
    '_No money' is_ as _good_ as '_No assent_.'"--_Butler_.

    "Full _many a gem_ of purest ray serene
    The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear;
    Full _many a flower_ is born to blush unseen,
    And waste its sweetness on the desert air."--_Gray_.

    "_Oh fool_! to think God hates the worthy _mind_,
    The lover and the love of human kind,
    _Whose_ life is healthful, and _whose_ conscience clear,
    Because _he_ wants _a_ thousand pounds _a_ year."--_Pope_.

    "O _Freedom_! sovereign _boon_ of Heav'n,
    Great _charter_, with our being given;
    For _which_ the patriot and the sage
    Have plann'd, have bled thro' ev'ry age!"--_Mallet_.


LESSON VI.--VERSE.

   "Am I to set my life upon a throw,
    Because a bear is rude and surly? _No_."--_Cowper_.

    "_Poor, guiltless I_! and can I choose but _smile_,
    When every coxcomb knows me by my style?"--_Pope_.

    "Remote from man, with God he pass'd his days,
    _Prayer_ all his _business_, all his _pleasure praise_."--_Parnell_.

    "These are _thy_ blessings, _Industry_! rough power;
    _Whom_ labour still attends, and _sweat_, and _pain_."--_Thomson_.

    "_What ho! thou genius_ of the clime, _what ho_!
    Liest thou _asleep_ beneath these hills of snow?"--_Dryden_.

    "_What_! canst thou not forbear me _half an hour_?
    Then _get_ thee gone, and _dig_ my grave thyself."--_Shak_.

    "Then palaces and lofty domes arose;
    _These_ for devotion, and for pleasure _those_."--_Blackmore_.

    "'Tis very dangerous, _tampering_ with a muse;
    The profit's small, and you have much to lose."--_Roscommon_.

    "_Lucretius English'd_! 't was a work _might shake_
    The power of English verse to undertake."--_Otway_.

    "_The best_ may slip, and _the_ most _cautious fall_;
    He's _more_ than _mortal_, that ne'er err'd _at all_."--_Pomfret_.

    "_Poets_ large _souls_ heaven's noblest stamps do bear,
    _Poets_, the watchful angels' darling care."--_Stepney_.

    "Sorrow breaks reasons, and reposing hours;
    Makes the night _morning_, and the noon-tide _night_."--_Shak._

    "Nor then the solemn nightingale _ceas'd warbling_."--_Milton_.

    "And O, poor hapless _nightingale_, thought I,
    How _sweet_ thou singst, how _near_ the deadly _snare_!"--_Id._

    "He calls for _famine_, and the meagre fiend
    Blows mildew _from between his_ shrivell'd lips."--_Cowper_.

    "If o'er their lives a refluent _glance_ they cast,
    Theirs is _the present_ who can praise _the past_."--_Shenstone_.

    "Who wickedly is _wise_, or madly _brave,
    Is but the more_ a fool, the _more_ a knave."--_Pope_.

    "Great _eldest-born_ of Dullness, blind and bold!
    _Tyrant!_ more cruel than Procrustes old;
    Who, to his iron bed, by torture, fits,
    Their nobler _part_, the _souls_ of suffering wits."--_Mallet_.

    "Parthenia, _rise_.--What voice alarms my ear?
    _Away_. Approach not. Hah! _Alexis_ there!"--_Gay_.

    "Nor is it _harsh_ to make, nor _hard_ to find
    A country _with--ay_, or without mankind."--_Byron_.

    "A _frame_ of adamant, a _soul_ of fire,
    _No_ dangers fright him, and _no_ labours tire."--_Johnson_.

    "Now _pall_ the tasteless _meats_, and joyless _wines_,
    And _luxury_ with sighs _her slave resigns_."--_Id._

    "_Seems?_ madam; nay, it is: I know not _seems_--
    For I have that within which passes show."--_Hamlet_.

    "_Return? said_ Hector, fir'd with stern disdain:
    _What! coop_ whole armies in our walls again?"--_Pope_.

    "He whom the fortune of the field shall cast
    _From forth_ his chariot, _mount_ the next in haste."--_Id._

    "_Yet here, Laertes? aboard, aboard, for_ shame!"--_Shak_.

    "_Justice_, most gracious _Duke; O grant me_ justice!"--_Id._

    "But what a _vengeance_ makes thee _fly_
    From me too, as thine enemy?"--_Butler_.

    "Immortal _Peter_! first of monarchs! He
    His stubborn _country_ tam'd, _her_ rocks, _her_ fens,
    _Her_ floods, _her_ seas, _her_ ill-submitting sons."--_Thomson_.

    "O arrogance! Thou liest, thou thread, thou thimble,
    Thou yard, three-quarters, half-yard, quarter, nail,
    Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter-cricket, thou:--
    Brav'd in mine own house with a skein of thread!
    Away, thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant;
    Or I shall so be-mete thee with thy yard,
    As thou shalt think on prating whilst thou liv'st."
           SHAK.: _Taming of the Shrew_, Act IV, Sc 3.




CHAPTER XII.--GENERAL REVIEW.

This twelfth chapter of Syntax is devoted to a series of lessons,
methodically digested, wherein are reviewed and reapplied, mostly in the
order of the parts of speech, all those syntactical principles heretofore
given which are useful for the correction of errors.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX FOR A GENERAL REVIEW.

[Fist][The following examples of false syntax are arranged for a General
Review of the doctrines contained in the preceding Rules and Notes. Being
nearly all of them exact quotations, they are also a sort of syllabus of
verbal criticism on the various works from which they are taken. What
corrections they are supposed to need, may be seen by inspection of the
twelfth chapter of the Key. It is here expected, that by recurring to the
instructions before given, the learner who takes them as an oral exercise,
will ascertain for himself the proper form of correcting each example,
according to the particular Rule or Note under which it belongs. When two
or more errors occur in the same example, they ought to be corrected
successively, in their order. The erroneous sentence being read aloud as it
stands, the pupil should say, "_first_, Not proper, because, &c." And when
the first error has thus been duly corrected by a brief and regular
syllogism, either the same pupil or an other should immediately proceed,
and say, "_Secondly_, Not proper _again_, because," &c. And so of the third
error, and the fourth, if there be so many. In this manner, a class may be
taught to speak in succession without any waste of time, and, after some
practice, with a near approach to the PERFECT ACCURACY which is the great
end of grammatical instruction. When time cannot be allowed for this
regular exercise, these examples may still be profitably rehearsed by a
more rapid process, one pupil reading aloud the quoted false grammar, and
an other responding to each example, by reading the intended correction
from the Key.]


LESSON I.--ARTICLES.

"And they took stones, and made an heap."--_Com. Bibles; Gen._, xxxi, 46.
"And I do know a many fools, that stand in better place."--_Beauties of
Shak._, p. 44. "It is a strong antidote to the turbulence of passion, and
violence of pursuit."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. xxiii. "The word
_news_ may admit of either a singular or plural application."--_Wright's
Gram._, p. 39. "He has earned a fair and a honorable reputation."--_Ib._,
p. 140. "There are two general forms, called the solemn and familiar
style."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 109. "Neither the article nor preposition
may be omitted."--_Wright's Gram._, p 190. "A close union is also
observable between the Subjunctive and Potential Moods."--_Ib._, p. 72. "We
should render service, equally, to a friend, neighbour, and an
enemy."--_Ib._, p. 140. "Till an habit is obtained of aspirating
strongly."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 49. "There is an uniform, steady use
of the same signs."--_Ib._, p. 163. "A traveller remarks the most objects
he sees."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 72. "What is the name of the river on
which London stands? The Thames."--"We sometimes find the last line of a
couplet or triplet stretched out to twelve syllables."--_Adam's Lat. and
Eng. Gram._, p. 282. "Nouns which follow active verbs, are not in the
nominative case."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 14. "It is a solemn duty to speak
plainly of wrongs, which good men perpetrate."--_Channing's Emancip._, p.
71. "Gathering of riches is a pleasant torment."--_Treasury of Knowledge,
Dict._, p. 446. "It [the lamentation of Helen for Hector] is worth the
being quoted."--_Coleridge's Introd._, p. 100. "_Council_ is a noun which
admits of a singular and plural form."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 137. "To
exhibit the connexion between the Old and the New Testaments."--_Keith's
Evidences_, p. 25. "An apostrophe discovers the omission of a letter or
letters."--_Guy's Gram_, p. 95. "He is immediately ordained, or rather
acknowledged an hero."--_Pope, Preface to the Dunciad_. "Which is the same
in both the leading and following State."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 86.
"Pronouns, as will be seen hereafter, have a distinct nominative,
possessive, and objective case."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 15. "A word of many
syllables is called polysyllable."--_Beck's Outline of E. Gram._, p. 4.
"Nouns have two numbers, singular and plural."--_Ib._, p. 6. "They have
three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter."--_Ib._, p. 6. "They have
three cases, nominative, possessive, and objective."--_Ib._, p. 6.
"Personal Pronouns have, like Nouns, two numbers, singular and plural.
Three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter. Two cases, nominative and
objective."--_Ib._, p. 10. "He must be wise enough to know the singular
from plural."--_Ib._, p. 20. "Though they may be able to meet the every
reproach which any one of their fellows may prefer."--_Chalmers, Sermons_,
p. 104. "Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as
Paul the aged."--_Ep. to Philemon_, 9. "Being such one as Paul the
aged."--_Dr. Webster's Bible_. "A people that jeoparded their lives unto
the death."--_Judges_, v, 18. "By preventing the too great accumulation of
seed within a too narrow compass."--_The Friend_, Vol. vii, p. 97. "Who
fills up the middle space between the animal and intellectual nature, the
visible and invisible world."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 519. "The Psalms
abound with instances of an harmonious arrangement of the
words."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 339. "On another table were an ewer
and vase, likewise of gold."--_N. Y. Mirror_, xi, 307. "_Th_ is said to
have two sounds sharp, and flat."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 33.
"Section (§) is used in subdividing of a chapter into lesser
parts."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 152. "Try it in a Dog or an Horse or any
other Creature."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 46. "But particularly in learning of
Languages there is least occasion for poseing of Children."--_Ib._, p.
296. "What kind of a noun is _river_, and why?"--_Smith's New Gram._, p.
10. "Is _William's_ a proper or common noun?"--_Ib._, p. 12. "What kind of
an article, then, shall we call _the_?"--_Ib._, p. 13.

   "Each burns alike, who can, or cannot write,
    Or with a rival's or an eunuch's spite."--_Pope, on Crit._, l. 30.


LESSON II.--NOUNS, OR CASES.

"And there is stamped upon their Imaginations Idea's that follow them with
Terror and Affrightment."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 251. "There's not a wretch
that lives on common charity, but's happier than me."--VENICE PRESERVED:
_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 63. "But they overwhelm whomsoever is ignorant of
them."--_Common School Journal_, i,115. "I have received a letter from my
cousin, she that was here last week."--_Inst._, p. 129. "Gentlemens Houses
are seldom without Variety of Company."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 107. "Because
Fortune has laid them below the level of others, at their Masters
feet."--_Ib._, p. 221. "We blamed neither John nor Mary's delay."--_Nixon's
Parser_, p. 117. "The book was written by Luther the reformer's
order."--_Ib._, p. 59. "I saw on the table of the saloon Blair's Sermons,
and somebody else (I forget who's) sermons, and a set of noisy
children."--_Lord Byron's Letters_. "Or saith he it altogether for our
sakes?"--_1 Cor._, ix, 10. "He was not aware of the duke's being his
competitor."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 190. "It is no condition of a word's
being an adjective, that it must be placed before a noun."--FOWLE: _ib._,
p. 190. "Though their Reason corrected the wrong Idea's they had taken
in."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 251. "It was him, who taught me to hate
slavery."--_Morris, in Congress_, 1839. "It is him and his kindred, who
live upon the labour of others."--_Id., ib._ "Payment of Tribute is an
Acknowledgment of his being King to whom we think it Due."--_Right of
Tythes_, p. 161. "When we comprehend what we are taught."--_Ingersoll's
Gram._, p. 14. "The following words, and parts of words, must be taken
notice of."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 96. "Hence tears and commiseration are
so often made use of."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 269. "JOHN-A-NOKES, _n. s._ A
fictitious name, made use of in law proceedings."--_Chalmers, Eng. Dict._
"The construction of Matter, and Part taken hold of."--_B. F. Fisk's Greek
Gram._, p. x. "And such other names, as carry with them the Idea's of some
thing terrible and hurtful."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 250. "Every learner then
would surely be glad to be spared the trouble and fatigue"--_Pike's Hebrew
Lexicon_, p. iv. "'Tis not the owning ones Dissent from another, that I
speak against."--_Locke, on Ed._, p 265. "A man that cannot Fence will be
more careful to keep out of Bullies and Gamesters Company, and will not be
half so apt to stand upon Punctilio's."--_Ib._, p. 357. "From such Persons
it is, one may learn more in one Day, than in a Years rambling from one Inn
to another."--_Ib._, p. 377. "A long syllable is generally considered to be
twice the length of a short one."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 117. "_I_ is of the
first person, and singular number; _Thou_ is second per. sing.; _He, She_,
or _It_, is third per. sing.; _We_ is first per. plural; _Ye_ or _You_ is
second per. plural; _They_ is third per. plural."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p.
46. "This actor, doer, or producer of the action, is the
nominative."--_Ib._, p. 43. "No Body can think a Boy of Three or Seven
Years old, should be argued with, as a grown Man."--_Locke, on Ed._, p.
129. "This was in one of the Pharisees' houses, not, in Simon the
leper's."--_Hammond_. "Impossible! it can't be me."--_Swift_. "Whose grey
top shall tremble, Him descending."--_Dr. Bentley_. "What gender is
_woman_, and why?"--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 8. "What gender, then, is
_man_, and why?"--_Ibid._ "Who is _I_; who do you mean when you say
_I?"--R. W. Green's Gram._, p. 19. "It [Parnassus] is a pleasant air, but a
barren soil."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 311. "You may, in three days time, go
from Galilee to Jerusalem."--_Josephus_, Vol. 5, p. 174. "And that which is
left of the meat-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons."--SCOTT'S BIBLE,
and BRUCE'S: _Lev._, ii, 10. See also ii, 3.

   "For none in all the world, without a lie,
    Can say that this is mine, excepting I."--_Bunyan_.


LESSON III.--ADJECTIVES

"When he can be their Remembrancer and Advocate every Assises and
Sessions."--_Right of Tythes_, p. 244. "Doing, denotes all manner of
action; as, to dance, to play, to write, to read, to teach, to fight,
&c."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 33. "Seven foot long,"--"eight foot
long,"--"fifty foot long."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 205. "Nearly the whole
of this twenty-five millions of dollars is a dead loss to the
nation."--_Fowler, on Tobacco_, p. 16. "Two negatives destroy one
another."--_R. W. Green's Gram._, p. 92. "We are warned against excusing
sin in ourselves, or in each other."--_The Friend_, iv, 108. "The Russian
empire is more extensive than any government in the world."--_School Geog_.
"You will always have the Satisfaction to think it the Money of all other
the best laid out."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 145. "There is no one passion
which all mankind so naturally give into as pride."--_Steele, Spect._, No.
462. "O, throw away the worser part of it."--_Beauties of Shak._, p 237.
"He showed us a more agreeable and easier way."--_Inst._, p. 134. "And the
four last [are] to point out those further improvements."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 52; _Campbell's_, 187. "Where he has not distinct and, different
clear Idea's."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 353. "Oh, when shall we have such
another Rector of Laracor!"--_Hazlitt's Lect_. "Speech must have been
absolutely necessary previous to the formation of society."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 2. "Go and tell them boys to be still."--_Inst._, p. 135.
"Wrongs are engraved on marble; benefits, on sand: these are apt to be
requited; those, forgot."--_B_. "Neither of these several interpretations
is the true one."--_B_. "My friend indulged himself in some freaks
unbefitting the gravity of a clergyman."--_B_. "And their Pardon is All
that either of their Impropriators will have to plead."--_Right of Tythes_,
p. 196. "But the time usually chosen to send young Men abroad, is, I think,
of all other, that which renders them least capable of reaping those
Advantages."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 372. "It is a mere figment of the human
imagination, a rhapsody of the transcendent unintelligible."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 120. "It contains a greater assemblage of sublime ideas, of bold
and daring figures, than is perhaps any where to be met with."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 162. "The order in which the two last words are placed, should
have been reversed."--_Ib._, p. 204. "The _orders_ in which the two last
words are placed, should have been reversed."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
310. "In Demosthenes, eloquence _shown_ forth with higher splendour, than
perhaps in any that ever bore the name of an orator."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
242. "The circumstance of his being poor is decidedly favorable."--
_Student's Manual_, p. 286. "The temptations to dissipation are greatly
lessened by his being poor."--_Ib._, p. 287. "For with her death that
tidings came."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 257. "The next objection is, that
these sort of authors are poor."--_Cleland_. "Presenting Emma as Miss
Castlemain to these acquaintance."--_Opie's Temper_. "I doubt not but it
will please more than the opera."--_Spect._, No. 28. "The world knows only
two, that's Rome and I."--_Ben Jonson_. "I distinguish these two things
from one another."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 29. "And in this case, mankind
reciprocally claim, and allow indulgence to each other."--_Sheridan's
Lect._, p. 29. "The six last books are said not to have received the
finishing hand of the author."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 438. "The best executed
part of the work, is the first six books."--_Ib._, p. 447.

   "To reason how can we be said to rise?
    So many cares attend the being wise."--_Sheffield_.


LESSON IV.--PRONOUNS.

"Once upon a time a goose fed its young by a pond side."--_Goldsmith's
Essays_, p. 175. "If either [work] have a sufficient degree of merit to
recommend them to the attention of the public."--_Walker's Rhyming Dict._,
p. iii. "Now W. Mitchell his deceit is very remarkable."--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 264 "My brother, I did not put the question to thee, for that I
doubted of the truth of your belief."--_Bunyan's P. P._, p. 158. "I had two
elder brothers, one of which was a lieutenant-colonel."--_Robinson Crusoe_,
p. 2. "Though _James_ is here the object of the action, yet, he is in the
nominative case."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 64. "Here, _John_ is the actor; and
is known to be the nominative, by its answering to the question, 'Who
struck Richard?'"--_Ib._, p. 43. "One of the most distinguished privileges
which Providence has conferred on mankind, is the power of communicating
their thoughts to one another."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 9. "With some of the
most refined feelings which belong to our frame."--_Ib._, p. 13. "And the
same instructions which assist others in composing, will assist them in
judging of, and relishing, the beauties of composition."--_Ib._, p. 12. "To
overthrow all which had been yielded in favour of the army."--_Mrs.
Macaulay's Hist._, i, 335. "Let your faith stand in the Lord God who
changes not, and that created all, and gives the increase of
all."--_Friends' Advices_, 1676. "For it is, in truth, the sentiment or
passion, which lies under the figured expression, that gives it any
merit."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 133. "Verbs are words which affirm the being,
doing, or suffering of a thing, together with the time it happens."--_Al.
Murray's Gram._, p. 29. "The Byass will always hang on that side, that
nature first placed it."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 177. "They should be brought
to do the things are fit for them."--_Ib._, p. 178. "Various sources whence
the English language is derived."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 286. "This
attention to the several cases, when it is proper to omit and when to
redouble the copulative, is of considerable importance."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 113. "Cicero, for instance, speaking of the cases where killing another
is lawful in self defence, uses the following words."--_Ib._, p. 156. "But
there is no nation, hardly any person so phlegmatic, as not to accompany
their words with some actions and gesticulations, on all occasions, when
they are much in earnest."--_Ib._, p. 335. "_William's_ is said to be
governed by _coat_, because it follows _William's_"--_Smith's New Gram._,
p. 12. "There are many occasions in life, in which silence and simplicity
are true wisdom."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 197. "In choosing umpires, the
avarice of whom is excited."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 153. "The boroughs sent
representatives, which had been enacted."--_Ib._, p. 154. "No man believes
but what there is some order in the universe."--_Anon._ "The moon is
orderly in her changes, which she could not be by accident."--_Id._ "Of
Sphynx her riddles, they are generally two kinds."--_Bacons Wisdom_, p. 73.
"They must generally find either their Friends or Enemies in
Power."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. ii, p. 166. "For of old, every one took
upon them to write what happened in their own time."--_Josephus's Jewish
War, Pref._, p. 4. "The Almighty cut off the family of Eli the high priest,
for its transgressions."--See _Key_. "The convention then resolved
themselves into a committee of the whole."--_Inst._, p. 146. "The severity
with which this denomination was treated, appeared rather to invite than to
deter them from flocking to the colony."--_H. Adams's View_, p. 71. "Many
Christians abuse the Scriptures and the traditions of the apostles, to
uphold things quite contrary to it."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 461. "Thus, a
circle, a square, a triangle, or a hexagon, please the eye, by their
regularity, as beautiful figures."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 46. "Elba is
remakable [sic--KTH] for its being the place to which Bonaparte was
banished in 1814."--See _Sanborn's Gram._, p. 190. "The editor has the
reputation of his being a good linguist and critic."--See _ib._ "'Tis a
Pride should be cherished in them."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 129. "And to
restore us the Hopes of Fruits, to reward our Pains in its season."--_Ib._,
p. 136. "The comick representation of Death's victim relating its own
tale."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 103. "As for Scioppius his Grammar, that doth
wholly concern the Latin Tongue."--DR. WILKINS: _Tooke's D. P._, i, 7.

   "And chiefly thee, O Spirit, who dost prefer
    Before all temples the upright heart and pure,
    Instruct me, for thou knowest."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 45.


LESSON V.--VERBS.

"And there was in the same country shepherds, abiding in the
field."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Luke_, ii. 8. "Whereof every one bear
twins."--COM. BIBLE: _Sol. Song_, iv, 2. "Whereof every one bare
twins."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _ib._ "Whereof every one beareth twins."--SCOTT'S
BIBLE: _ib._ "He strikes out of his nature one of the most divine
principles, that is planted in it."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 181. "_Genii_,
denote ærial spirits."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 40. "In proportion as the long
and large prevalence of such corruptions have been obtained by force."--BP.
HALIFAX: _Brier's Analogy_, p. xvi. "Neither of these are fix'd to a Word
of a general Signification, or proper Name."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 95.
"Of which a few of the opening lines is all I shall give."--_Moore's Life
of Byron_. "The riches we had in England was the slow result of long
industry and wisdom."--DAVENANT: _Webster's Imp. Gram._, p. 21; _Phil.
Gram._, 29. "The following expression appears to be correct:--'Much publick
thanks _is_ due.'"--_Wright's Gram._, p. 201. "He hath been enabled to
correct many mistakes."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. x. "Which road takest thou
here?"--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 106. "Learnest thou thy lesson?"--_Ib._, p.
105. "Learned they their pieces perfectly?"--_Ibid._ "Thou learnedst thy
task well."--_Ibid._ "There are some can't relish the town, and others
can't away with the country."--WAY OF THE WORLD: _Kames, El. of Crit._, i,
304. "If thou meetest them, thou must put on an intrepid mien."--_Neef's
Method of Ed._, p. 201. "Struck with terror, as if Philip was something
more than human."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 265. "If the personification of the
form of Satan was admissible, it should certainly have been
masculine."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 176. "If only one follow, there seems
to be a defect in the sentence."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 104. "Sir, if
thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him."--_John_, xx,
15. "Blessed be the people that know the joyful sound."--_Psalms_, lxxxix,
15. "Every auditory take in good part those marks of respect and awe, which
are paid them by one who addresses them."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 308.
"Private causes were still pleaded [in the forum]: but the public was no
longer interested; nor any general attention drawn to what passed
there."--_Ib._, p. 249. "Nay, what evidence can be brought to show, that
the Inflection of the Classic tongues were not originally formed out of
obsolete auxiliary words?"--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 112. "If the student
reflects, that the principal and the auxiliary forms but one verb, he will
have little or no difficulty, in the proper application of the present
rule."--_Ib._, p. 183. "For the sword of the enemy and fear is on every
side."--_Jeremiah_, vi, 26. "Even the Stoics agree that nature and
certainty is very hard to come at."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 71. "His
politeness and obliging behaviour was changed."--_Priestley's Gram._, p.
186. "His politeness and obliging behaviour were changed."--_Hume's Hist._,
Vol. vi, p. 14. "War and its honours was their employment and
ambition."--_Goldsmith_. "Does _a_ and _an_ mean the same thing?"--_R. W.
Green's Gram._, p. 15. "When a number of words _come_ in between the
discordant parts, the ear does not detect the error."--_Cobbett's Gram._, ¶
185. "The sentence should be, 'When a number of words _comes_ in,'
&c."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 170. "The nature of our language, the accent and
pronunciation of it, inclines us to contract even all our regular
verbs."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 45. "The nature of our language, together with
the accent and pronunciation of it, incline us to contract even all our
Regular Verbs."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 45. "Prompt aid, and not promises, are
what we ought to give."--_Author_. "The position of the several organs
therefore, as well as their functions are ascertained."--_Medical
Magazine_, 1833, p. 5. "Every private company, and almost every public
assembly, afford opportunities of remarking the difference between a just
and graceful, and a faulty and unnatural elocution."--_Enfield's Speaker_,
p. 9. "Such submission, together with the active principle of obedience,
make up the temper and character in us which answers to his sovereignty."--
_Butler's Analogy_, p. 126. "In happiness, as in other things, there is a
false and a true, an imaginary and a real."--_Fuller, on the Gospel_, p.
134. "To confound things that differ, and to make a distinction where there
is no difference, is equally unphilosophical."--_Author_.

   "I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
    Where ox-lips and the nodding violet grows."--_Beaut. of Shak._, p. 51.


LESSON VI.--VERBS.

"Whose business or profession prevent their attendance in the
morning."--_Ogilby_. "And no church or officer have power over one
another."--LECHFORD: _in Hutchinson's Hist._, i, 373. "While neither reason
nor experience are sufficiently matured to protect them."--_Woodbridge_.
"Among the Greeks and Romans, every syllable, or the far greatest number at
least, was known to have a fixed and determined quantity."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 383. "Among the Greeks and Romans, every syllable, or at least
by far the greatest number of syllables, was known to have a fixed and
determined quantity."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 303. "Their vanity is
awakened and their passions exalted by the irritation, which their
self-love receives from contradiction."--_Influence of Literature_, Vol.
ii. p. 218. "I and he was neither of us any great swimmer."--_Anon_.
"Virtue, honour, nay, even self-interest, _conspire_ to recommend the
measure."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 150. "A correct plainness, and
elegant simplicity, is the proper character of an introduction."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 308. "In syntax there is what grammarians call concord or
agreement, and government."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 128. "People find
themselves able without much study to write and speak the English
intelligibly, and thus have been led to think rules of no utility."--
_Webster's Essays_, p. 6. "But the writer must be one who has studied to
inform himself well, who has pondered his subject with care, and addresses
himself to our judgment, rather than to our imagination."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 353. "But practice hath determined it otherwise; and has, in all the
languages with which we are much acquainted, supplied the place of an
interrogative mode, either by particles of interrogation, or by a peculiar
order of the words in the sentence."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 84. "If the Lord
have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering."--_1 Sam._,
xxvi, 19. "But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have
no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she
shall eat of her father's meat."--_Levit._, xxii, 13. "Since we never have,
nor ever shall study your sublime productions."--_Neef's Sketch_, p. 62.
"Enabling us to form more distinct images of objects, than can be done with
the utmost attention where these particulars are not found."--_Kames, El.
of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 174. "I hope you will consider what is spoke comes
from my love."--_Shak., Othello_. "We will then perceive how the designs of
emphasis may be marred,"--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 406. "I knew it was
Crab, and goes me to the fellow that whips the dogs."--SHAK: _Joh. Dict.,
w._ ALE. "The youth was being consumed by a slow malady."--_Wright's
Gram._, p. 192. "If all men thought, spoke, and wrote alike, something
resembling a perfect adjustment of these points may be accomplished."--
_Ib._, p. 240. "If you will replace what has been long since expunged from
the language."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 167; _Murray's Gram._, i, 364. "As
in all those faulty instances, I have now been giving."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 149. "This mood has also been improperly used in the following
places."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 184. "He [Milton] seems to have been well
acquainted with his own genius, and to know what it was that nature had
bestowed upon him."--_Johnson's Life of Milton_. "Of which I already gave
one instance, the worst, indeed, that occurs in all the poem."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 395. "It is strange he never commanded you to have done
it."--_Anon_. "History painters would have found it difficult, to have
invented such a species of beings."--ADDISON: see _Lowth's Gram._, p. 87.
"Universal Grammar cannot be taught abstractedly, it must be done with
reference to some language already known."--_Lowth's Preface_, p. viii.
"And we might imagine, that if verbs had been so contrived, as simply to
express these, no more was needful."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 82. "To a writer
of such a genius as Dean Swift, the plain style was most admirably
fitted."--_Ib._, p. 181. "Please excuse my son's absence."--_Inst._, p.
188. "Bid the boys to come in immediately."--_Ib._

   "Gives us the secrets of his Pagan hell,
    Where ghost with ghost in sad communion dwell."
        --_Crabbe's Bor._, p. 306.

    "Alas! nor faith, nor valour now remain;
    Sighs are but wind, and I must bear my chain."
        --_Walpole's Catal._, p. 11.


LESSON VII.--PARTICIPLES.

"Of which the Author considers himself, in compiling the present work, as
merely laying of the foundation-stone."--_Blair's Gram._, p. ix. "On the
raising such lively and distinct images as are here described."--_Kames,
El. of Crit._, i, 89. "They are necessary to the avoiding Ambiguities."--
_Brightland's Gram._, p. 95. "There is no neglecting it without falling
into a dangerous error."--_Burlamaqui, on Law_, p. 41. "The contest
resembles Don Quixote's fighting windmills."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 67.
"That these verbs associate with verbs in all the tenses, is no proof of
their having no particular time of their own."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 190.
"To justify my not following the tract of the ancient rhetoricians."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 122. "The putting letters together, so as to make
words, is called spelling."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 11. "What is the
putting vowels and consonants together called?"--_Ib._, p. 12. "Nobody
knows of their being charitable but themselves."--_Fuller, on the Gospel_,
p. 29. "Payment was at length made, but no reason assigned for its having
been so long postponed."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 186; _Kirkham's_, 194;
_Ingersoll's_, 254. "Which will bear being brought into comparison with any
composition of the kind."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 396. "To render vice
ridiculous, is doing real service to the world."--_Ib._, p. 476. "It is
copying directly from nature; giving a plain rehearsal of what passed, or
was supposed to pass, in conversation."--_Ib._, p. 433. "Propriety of
pronunciation is giving to every word that sound, which the most polite
usage of the language appropriates to it."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 200.
"To occupy the mind, and prevent our regretting the insipidity of an
uniform plain."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 329. "There are a
hundred ways of any thing happening."--_Steele_. "Tell me, signor, what was
the cause of Antonio's sending Claudio to Venice, yesterday."--_Bucke's
Gram._, p 90. "Looking about for an outlet, some rich prospect unexpectedly
opens to view."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 334. "A hundred volumes of
modern novels may be read, without acquiring a new idea"--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 29. "Poetry admits of greater latitude than prose, with respect
to coining, or, at least, new compounding words."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 93.
"When laws were wrote on brazen tablets enforced by the sword."--_Notes to
the Dunciad_. "A pronoun, which saves the naming a person or thing a second
time, ought to be placed as near as possible to the name of that person or
thing."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 49. "The using a preposition in this
case, is not always a matter of choice."--_Ib._, ii, 37. "To save
multiplying words, I would be understood to comprehend both
circumstances."--_Ib._, i, 219. "Immoderate grief is mute: complaining is
struggling for consolation."--_Ib._, i, 398. "On the other hand, the
accelerating or retarding the natural course, excites a pain."--_Ib._, i,
259. "Human affairs require the distributing our attention."--_Ib._, i,
264. "By neglecting this circumstance, the following example is defective
in neatness."--_Ib._, ii, 29. "And therefore the suppressing copulatives
must animate a description."--_Ib._, ii, 32. "If the laying aside
copulatives give force and liveliness, a redundancy of them must render the
period languid."--_Ib._, ii, 33. "It skills not asking my leave, said
Richard."--_Scott's Crusaders_. "To redeem his credit, he proposed being
sent once more to Sparta."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 129. "Dumas relates
his having given drink to a dog."--_Dr. Stone, on the Stomach_, p. 24.
"Both are, in a like way, instruments of our receiving such ideas from
external objects."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 66. "In order to your proper
handling such a subject."--_Spectator_, No. 533. "For I do not recollect
its being preceded by an open vowel."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p.
56. "Such is setting up the form above the power of godliness."--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 72. "I remember walking once with my young acquaintance."--
_Hunt's Byron_, p 27. "He [Lord Byron] did not like paying a debt."--_Ib._,
p. 74. "I do not remember seeing Coleridge when I was a child."--_Ib._, p.
318. "In consequence of the dry rot's having been discovered, the mansion
has undergone a thorough repair."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 17. "I would not
advise the following entirely the German system."--DR. LIEBER: _Lit.
Conv._, p. 66. "Would it not be making the students judges of the
professors?"--_Id., ib._, p. 4. "Little time should intervene between their
being proposed and decided upon."--PROF. VETHAKE: _ib._, p. 39. "It would
be nothing less than finding fault with the Creator."--_Ib._, p. 116.
"Having once been friends is a powerful reason, both of prudence and
conscience, to restrain us from ever becoming enemies."--_Secker_. "By
using the word as a conjunction, the ambiguity is prevented."--_Murray's
Gram._, i, 216.

   "He forms his schemes the flood of vice to stem,
    But preaching Jesus is not one of them."--_J. Taylor_.


LESSON VIII.--ADVERBS.

"Auxiliaries cannot only be inserted, but are really
understood,"--_Wright's Gram._, p 209. "He was since a hired Scribbler in
the Daily Courant."--_Notes to the Dunciad_, ii, 299. "In gardening,
luckily, relative beauty need never stand in opposition to intrinsic
beauty."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 330. "I doubt much of the propriety of
the following examples."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 44. "And [we see] how far
they have spread one of the worst Languages possibly in this part of the
world."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 341. "And in this manner to merely place him
on a level with the beast of the forest."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 5.
"Where, ah! where, has my darling fled?"--_Anon_. "As for this fellow, we
know not from whence he is."--_John_, ix, 29. "Ye see then how that by
works a man is justified, and not by faith only."--_James_, ii, 24. "The
_Mixt_ kind is where the poet speaks in his own person, and sometimes makes
other characters to speak."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 276; _Gould's_, 267.
"Interrogation is, when the writer or orator raises questions and returns
answers."--_Fisher's Gram._, p. 154. "Prevention is, when an author starts
an objection which he foresees may be made, and gives an answer to
it."--_Ib._, p. 154. "Will you let me alone, or no?"--_Walker's Particles_,
p. 184. "Neither man nor woman cannot resist an engaging exterior."--
_Chesterfield_, Let. lix. "Though the Cup be never so clean."--_Locke, on
Ed._, p. 65. "Seldom, or ever, did any one rise to eminence, by being a
witty lawyer."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 272. "The second rule, which I give,
respects the choice of subjects, from whence metaphors, and other figures,
are to be drawn."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 144. "In the figures which it uses,
it sets mirrors before us, where we may behold objects, a second time, in
their likeness."--_Ib._, p. 139. "Whose Business is to seek the true
measures of Right and Wrong, and not the Arts how to avoid doing the one,
and secure himself in doing the other."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 331. "The
occasions when you ought to personify things, and when you ought not,
cannot be stated in any precise rule."--_Cobbett's Eng. Gram._, ¶ 182.
"They reflect that they have been much diverted, but scarce can say about
what."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 151. "The eyebrows and shoulders should
seldom or ever be remarked by any perceptible motion."--_Adams's Rhet._,
ii, 389. "And the left hand or arm should seldom or never attempt any
motion by itself."--_Ib._, ii, 391. "Every speaker does not propose to
please the imagination."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 104. "And like Gallio,
they care little for none of these things."--_The Friend_, Vol. x, p. 351.
"They may inadvertently be imitated, in cases where the meaning would be
obscure."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 272. "Nor a man cannot make him
laugh."--_Shak_. "The Athenians, in their present distress, scarce knew
where to turn."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 156. "I do not remember where
ever God delivered his oracles by the multitude."--_Locke_. "The object of
this government is twofold, outwards and inwards."--_Barclay's Works_, i,
553. "In order to rightly understand what we read."--_Johnson's Gram.
Com._, p. 313. "That a design had been formed, to forcibly abduct or kidnap
Morgan."--_Stone, on Masonry_, p. 410. "But such imposture can never
maintain its ground long."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 10. "But sure it is equally
possible to apply the principles of reason and good sense to this art, as
to any other that is cultivated among men."--_Ibid._ "It would have been
better for you, to have remained illiterate, and to have been even hewers
of wood."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 374. "Dissyllables that have two vowels,
which are separated in the pronunciation, have always the accent on the
first syllable."--_Ib._, i, 238. "And they all turned their backs without
almost drawing a sword."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 224. "The principle of
duty takes naturally place of every other."--_Ib._, i, 342. "All that
glitters is not gold."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 13. "Whether now or never so
many myriads of ages hence."--_Pres. Edwards_.

   "England never did, nor never shall,
    Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror."--_Beaut. of Shak._, p. 109.


LESSON IX.--CONJUNCTIONS.

"He readily comprehends the rules of Syntax, and their use and
applicability in the examples before him."--_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 6. "The
works of Æschylus have suffered more by time, than any of the ancient
tragedians."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 470. "There is much more story, more
bustle, and action, than on the French theatre."--_Ib._, p. 478. "Such an
unremitted anxiety and perpetual application as engrosses our whole time
and thoughts, are forbidden."--SOAME JENYNS: _Tract_, p. 12. "It seems to
be nothing else but the simple form of the adjective."--_Wright's Gram._,
p. 49. "But when I talk of _Reasoning_, I do not intend any other, but such
as is suited to the Child's Capacity."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 129. "Pronouns
have no other use in language, but to represent nouns."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p 83. "The speculative relied no farther on their own judgment, but
to choose a leader, whom they implicitly followed."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
Vol. i, p. xxv. "Unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare,
forked animal as thou art."--_Beaut. of Shak._, p. 266. "A Parenthesis is a
clause introduced into the body of a sentence obliquely, and which may be
omitted without injuring the grammatical construction."--_Murray's Gram._,
i, 280; _Ingersoll's_, 292; _Smith's_, 192; _Alden's_, 162; _A. Flint's_,
114; _Fisk's_, 158; _Cooper's_, 187; _Comly's_, 163. "A Caret, marked thus
^ is placed where some word happens to be left _out in_ writing, and which
_is inserted over_ the line."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 282; _Ingersoll's_,
293; _and others_. "At the time that I visit them they shall be cast
down."--_Jer._, vi, 15. "Neither our virtues or vices are all our
own."--DR. JOHNSON: _Sanborn's Gram._, p. 167. "I could not give him an
answer as early as he had desired."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 200. "He is
not as tall as his brother."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 124. "It is difficult to
judge when Lord Byron is serious or not."--_Lady Blessington_. "Some nouns
are both of the second and third declension."--_Gould's Lat. Gram._, p. 48.
"He was discouraged neither by danger or misfortune."--_Wells's Hist._, p.
161. "This is consistent neither with logic nor history."--_The Dial_, i,
62. "Parts of Sentences are simple and compound."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 114.
"English verse is regulated rather by the number of syllables than of
feet."--_Ib._, p. 120. "I know not what more he can do, but pray for
him."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 140. "Whilst they are learning, and apply
themselves with Attention, they are to be kept in good Humour."--_Ib._, p.
295. "A man cannot have too much of it, nor too perfectly."--_Ib._, p. 322.
"That you may so run, as you may obtain; and so fight, as you may
overcome."--_Wm. Penn_. "It is the case of some, to contrive false periods
of business, because they may seem men of despatch."--_Lord Bacon_. "'A
tall man and a woman.' In this sentence there is no ellipsis; the adjective
or quality respect only the man."--_Dr. Ash's Gram._, p. 95. "An
abandonment of the policy is neither to be expected or desired."--_Pres.
Jackson's Message_, 1830. "Which can be acquired by no other means but
frequent exercise in speaking."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 344. "The chief and
fundamental rules of syntax are common to the English as well as the Latin
tongue."--_Ib._, p. 90. "Then I exclaim, that my antagonist either is void
of all taste, or that his taste is corrupted in a miserable degree."--
_Ib._, p. 21. "I cannot pity any one who is under no distress of body nor
of mind."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 44. "There was much genius in the
world, before there were learning or arts to refine it."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 391. "Such a Writer can have little else to do, but to new model the
Paradoxes of ancient Scepticism."--_Brown's Estimate_, i, 102. "Our ideas
of them being nothing else but a collection of the ordinary qualities
observed in them."--_Duncan's Logic_, p. 25. "A _non-ens_ or a negative can
neither give pleasure nor pain."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 63. "So as they
shall not justle and embarrass one another."--_Blair's Lectures_, p. 318.
"He firmly refused to make use of any other voice but his own."--
_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 190. "Your marching regiments, Sir, will not make
the guards their example, either as soldiers or subjects."--_Junius, Let_.
35. "Consequently, they had neither meaning, or beauty, to any but the
natives of each country."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 161.

   "The man of worth, and has not left his peer,
    Is in his narrow house for ever darkly laid."--_Burns_.


LESSON X.--PREPOSITIONS.

"These may be carried on progressively above any assignable
limits."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 296. "To crowd in a single member of a
period different subjects, is still worse than to crowd them into one
period."--_Ib._, ii, 27. "Nor do we rigidly insist for melodious
prose."--_Ib._, ii, 76. "The aversion we have at those who differ from
us."--_Ib._, ii, 365. "For we cannot bear his shifting the scene every
line."--LD. HALIFAX: _ib._, ii, 213. "We shall find that we come by it the
same way."--_Locke_. "To this he has no better defense than
that."--_Barnes's Bed Book_, p. 347. "Searching the person whom he suspects
for having stolen his casket."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 479. "Who are elected
as vacancies occur by the whole Board."--_Lit. Convention_, p. 81. "Almost
the only field of ambition of a German, is science."--DR. LIEBER: _ib._, p.
66. "The plan of education is very different to the one pursued in the
sister country."--DR. COLEY, _ib._, p. 197. "Some writers on grammar have
contended that adjectives relate to, and modify the action of
verbs."--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 61. "They are therefore of a mixed nature,
participating of the properties both of pronouns and adjectives."--
_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 57. "For there is no authority which can justify
the inserting the aspirate or doubling the vowel."--_Knight, on Greek
Alph._, p. 52. "The distinction and arrangement between active, passive,
and neuter verbs."--_Wright's Gram_, p. 176. "And see thou a hostile world
_to_ spread its delusive snares."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 167. "He may be
precaution'd, and be made see, how those joyn in the Contempt."--_Locke, on
Ed._, p. 155. "The contenting themselves now in the want of what they
wish'd for, is a vertue."--_Ib._, p. 185. "If the Complaint be of something
really worthy your notice."--_Ib._, p. 190. "True Fortitude I take to be
the quiet Possession of a Man's self, and an undisturb'd doing his
Duty."--_Ib._, p. 204. "For the custom of tormenting and killing of Beasts
will, by degrees, harden their Minds even towards Men."--_Ib._, p. 216.
"Children are whip'd to it, and made spend many Hours of their precious
time uneasily in Latin."--_Ib._, p. 289. "The ancient rhetoricians have
entered into a very minute and particular detail of this subject; more
particular, indeed, than any other that regards language."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 123. "But the one should not be omitted without the
other."--_Bullions's Eng. Gram._, p. 108. "In some of the common forms of
speech, the relative pronoun is usually omitted."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
218; _Weld's_, 191. "There are a great variety of causes, which disqualify
a witness from being received to testify in particular cases."--_J. Q.
Adams's Rhet._, ii, 75. "Aside of all regard to interest, we should expect
that," &c.--_Webster's Essays_, p. 82. "My opinion was given on a rather
cursory perusal of the book."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 202. "And the next day,
he was put on board his ship."--_Ib._, ii, 201. "Having the command of no
emotions but of what are raised by sight."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 318.
"Did these moral attributes exist in some other being beside
himself."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 161. "He did not behave in that
manner out of pride or contempt of the tribunal."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i,
190. "These prosecutions of William seem to have been the most iniquitous
measures pursued by the court."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 199; _Priestley's
Gram._, 126. "To restore myself into the good graces of my fair
critics."--_Dryden_. "Objects denominated beautiful, please not in virtue
of any one quality common to them all."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 46. "This
would have been less worthy notice, had not a writer or two of high rank
lately adopted it."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 197.

   "A Grecian youth, with talents rare,
    Whom Plato's philosophic care," &c.--_Felton's Gram._, p. 145.


LESSON XI.--PROMISCUOUS.

"To excel, is become a much less considerable object."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
351. "My robe, and my integrity to heaven, is all I now dare call mine
own."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 173. "So thou the garland wear'st
successively."--_Ib._, p. 134. "For thou the garland wears
successively."--_Enfield's Speaker_, p. 341. "If that thou need'st a
Roman's, take it forth."--_Ib._, p. 357. "If that thou be'st a Roman, take
it forth."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 256. "If thou provest this to be real,
thou must be a smart lad, indeed."--_Neef's Method of Teaching_, p. 210.
"And another Bridge of four hundred Foot in Length."--_Brightland's Gram._,
p. 242. "_Metonomy_ is putting one name for another on account of the near
relation there is between them."--_Fisher's Gram._, p. 151. "An
_Antonomasia_ is putting an appellative or common name for a proper
name."--_Ib._, p. 153. "Its being me needs make no difference in your
determination."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 89. "The first and second page
are torn."--_Ib._, p. 145. "John's being from home occasioned the
delay."--_Ib._, p. 81. "His having neglected opportunities of improvement,
was the cause of his disgrace."--_Ib._, p. 81. "He will regret his having
neglected opportunities of improvement when it may be too late."--_Ib._, p.
81. "His being an expert dancer does not entitle him to our
regard."--_Ib._, p. 82.[443] "Cæsar went back to Rome to take possession of
the public treasure, which his opponent, by a most unaccountable oversight,
had neglected taking with him."--_Goldsmith's Rome_, p. 116. "And Cæsar
took out of the treasury, to the amount of three thousand pound weight of
gold, besides an immense quantity of silver."--_Ibid._ "Rules and
definitions, which should always be clear and intelligible as possible, are
thus rendered obscure."--_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 5. "So much both of
ability and merit is seldom found."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 179. "If such
maxims, and such practices prevail, what is become of decency and
virtue?"--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 78. "Especially if the subject require
not so much pomp."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 117. "However, the proper mixture
of light and shade, in such compositions; the exact adjustment of all the
figurative circumstances with the literal sense; have ever been considered
as points of great nicety."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 343. "And adding to that
hissing in our language, which is taken so much notice of by
foreigners."--ADDISON: DR. COOTE: _ib._, i, 90. "Speaking impatiently to
servants, or any thing that betrays unkindness or ill-humour, is certainly
criminal."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 183; _Merchant's_, 190. "There is here a
fulness and grandeur of expression well suited to the subject."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 218. "I single Strada out among the moderns, because he had the
foolish presumption to censure Tacitus."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 262. "I
single him out among the moderns, because," &c.--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._,
p. 116. "This is a rule not always observed, even by good writers, as
strictly as it ought to be."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 103. "But this gravity
and assurance, which is beyond boyhood, being neither wisdom nor knowledge,
do never reach to manhood."--_Notes to the Dunciad_. "The regularity and
polish even of a turnpike-road has some influence upon the low people in
the neighbourhood."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 358. "They become fond of
regularity and neatness; which is displayed, first upon their yards and
little enclosures, and next within doors."--_Ibid._ "The phrase, _it is
impossible to exist_, gives us the idea of it's being impossible for men,
or any body to exist."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 85. "I'll give a thousand
pound to look upon him."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 151. "The reader's
knowledge, as Dr. Campbell observes, may prevent his mistaking
it."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 172; _Crombie's_, 253. "When two words are set
in contrast or in opposition to one another, they are both
emphatic."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 243. "The number of persons, men, women,
and children, who were lost in the sea, was very great."--_Ib._, ii, 20.
"Nor is the resemblance between the primary and resembling object pointed
out"--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 179. "I think it the best book of the kind
which I have met with."--DR. MATHEWS: _Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 2.

   "Why should not we their ancient rites restore,
    And be what Rome or Athens were before."--_Roscommon_, p. 22.


LESSON XII.--TWO ERRORS.

"It is labour only which gives the relish to pleasure."--_Murray's Key_,
ii, 234. "Groves are never as agreeable as in the opening of the
spring."--_Ib._, p. 216. "His 'Philosophical Inquiry into the origin of our
Ideas on the Sublime and Beautiful' soon made him known to the
literati."--_Biog. Rhet., n. Burke_. "An awful precipice or tower whence we
look down on the objects which lie below."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 30. "This
passage, though very poetical, is, however, harsh and obscure; owing to no
other cause but this, that three distinct metaphors are crowded
together."--_Ib._, p. 149. "I propose making some observations."--_Ib._, p.
280. "I shall follow the same method here which I have all along
pursued."--_Ib._, p. 346. "Mankind never resemble each other so much as
they do in the beginnings of society."--_Ib._, p. 380. "But no ear is
sensible of the termination of each foot, in reading an hexameter
line."--_Ib._, p. 383. "The first thing, says he, which either a writer of
fables, or of heroic poems, does, is, to choose some maxim or point of
morality."--_Ib._, p. 421. "The fourth book has been always most justly
admired, and abounds with beauties of the highest kind."--_Ib._, p. 439.
"There is no attempt towards painting characters in the poem."--_Ib._, p.
446. "But the artificial contrasting of characters, and the introducing
them always in pairs, and by opposites, gives too theatrical and affected
an air to the piece."--_Ib._, p. 479. "Neither of them are arbitrary nor
local."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, p. xxi. "If crowding figures be bad, it is
still worse to graft one figure upon another."--_Ib._, ii, 236. "The
crowding withal so many objects together, lessens the pleasure."--_Ib._,
ii, 324. "This therefore lies not in the putting off the Hat, nor making of
Compliments."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 149. "But the Samaritan Vau may have
been used, as the Jews did the Chaldaic, both for a vowel and
consonant."--_Wilson's Essay_, p. 19. "But if a solemn and familiar
pronunciation really exists in our language, is it not the business of a
grammarian to mark both?"--_Walker's Dict., Pref._, p. 4. "By making sounds
follow each other agreeable to certain laws."--_Music of Nature_, p. 406.
"If there was no drinking intoxicating draughts, there could be no
drunkards."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 178. "Socrates knew his own
defects, and if he was proud of any thing, it was in the being thought to
have none."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 188. "Lysander having brought his
army to Ephesus, erected an arsenal for building of gallies."--_Ib._, i,
161. "The use of these signs are worthy remark."--_Brightland's Gram._, p.
94. "He received me in the same manner that I would you."--_Smith's New
Gram._, p. 113. "Consisting both of the direct and collateral
evidence."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 224. "If any man or woman that believeth
have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged."--_1
Tim._, v, 16. "For mens sakes are beasts bred."--_Walker's Particles_, p.
131. "From three a clock there was drinking and gaming."--_Ib._, p. 141.
"Is this he that I am seeking of, or no?"--_Ib._, p. 248. "And for the
upholding every one his own opinion, there is so much ado."--_Sewel's
Hist._, p. 809. "Some of them however will be necessarily taken notice
of."--_Sale's Koran_, p. 71. "The boys conducted themselves exceedingly
indiscreet."--_Merchant's Key_, p. 195. "Their example, their influence,
their fortune, every talent they possess, dispense blessings on all around
them."--_Ib._, p. 197; _Murray's Key_, ii, 219. "The two _Reynolds_
reciprocally converted one another"--_Johnson's Lives_, p. 185. "The
destroying the two last Tacitus calls an attack upon virtue
itself."--_Goldsmith's Rome_, p. 194. "Monies is your suit."--_Beauties of
Shak._, p. 38. "_Ch_, is commonly sounded like _tch_; as in church; but in
words derived from the Greek, has the sound of _k_."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
11. "When one is obliged to make some utensil supply purposes to which they
were not originally destined."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 222. "But that a
being baptized with water, is a washing away of sin, thou canst not from
hence prove."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 190. "Being but spoke to one, it
infers no universal command."--_Ibid._ "For if the laying aside Copulatives
gives Force and Liveliness, a Redundancy of them must render the Period
languid."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 134. "James used to compare him to a
cat, who always fell upon her legs."--ADAM'S HIST. OF ENG.: _Crombie_, p.
384.

   "From the low earth aspiring genius springs,
    And sails triumphant born on eagles wings."--_Lloyd_, p. 162.


LESSON XIII.--TWO ERRORS.

"An ostentatious, a feeble, a harsh, or an obscure style, for instance, are
always faults."--_Blair's Rhet._ p. 190. "Yet in this we find the English
pronounce perfectly agreeable to rule."--_Walker's Dict._, p. 2. "But
neither the perception of ideas, nor knowledge of any sort, are habits,
though absolutely necessary to the forming of them."--_Butler's Analogy_,
p. 111. "They were cast: and an heavy fine imposed upon them."--_Goldsmiths
Greece_, ii, 30. "Without making this reflection, he cannot enter into the
spirit, nor relish the composition of the author."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
450. "The scholar should be instructed relative to finding his
words."--_Osborn's Key_, p. 4. "And therefore they could neither have
forged, or reversified them."--_Knight, on the Greek Alph._, p. 30. "A
dispensary is the place where medicines are dispensed."--_Murray's Key_,
ii, 172. "Both the connexion and number of words is determined by general
laws."--_Neef's Sketch_, p. 73. "An Anapsest has the two first syllables
unaccented, and the last accented: as, 'Contravene, acquiésce.'"--_Murray's
Gram._, i, 254. "An explicative sentence is, when a thing is said to be or
not to be, to do or not to do, to suffer or not to suffer, in a direct
manner."--_Ib._, i, 141; _Lowth's_, 84. "BUT is a _conjunction_, in all
cases when it is neither an adverb nor preposition."--_Smith's New Gram._,
p. 109. "He wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the
king's ring."--_Esther_, viii, 10. "Camm and Audland were departed the town
before this time."--_Sewel's Hist._, p. 100. "Previous to their
relinquishing the practice, they must be convinced."--_Dr. Webster, on
Slavery_, p. 5. "Which he had thrown up previous to his setting
out."--_Grimshaw's Hist. U. S._, p. 84. "He left him to the value of an
hundred drachmas in Persian money."--_Spect._, No. 535. "All which the mind
can ever contemplate concerning them, must be divided between the
three."--_Cardell's Philad. Gram._, p. 80. "Tom Puzzle is one of the most
eminent immethodical disputants of any that has fallen under my
observation."--_Spect._, No. 476. "When you have once got him to think
himself made amends for his suffering, by the praise is given him for his
courage."--_Locke, on Ed_. §115. "In all matters where simple reason, and
mere speculation is concerned."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 136. "And
therefore he should be spared the trouble of attending to any thing else,
but his meaning."--_Ib._, p. 105. "It is this kind of phraseology which is
distinguished by the epithet _idiomatical_, and hath been originally the
spawn, partly of ignorance, and partly of affectation."--_Campbell's Rhet._
p. 185. Murray has it--"and _which has_ been originally," &c.--_Octavo
Gram._ i, 370. "That neither the letters nor inflection are such as could
have been employed by the ancient inhabitants of Latium."--_Knight, Gr.
Alph_. p. 13, "In cases where the verb is intended to be applied to any one
of the terms."--_Murray's Gram._,, 150. "But this people which know not the
law, are accursed."--_John_, vii, 49. "And the magnitude of the chorusses
have weight and sublimity."--_Music of Nature_, p. 428. "Dare he deny but
there are some of his fraternity guilty?"--_Barclays Works_, i, 327.
"Giving an account of most, if not all the papers had passed betwixt
them."--_Ib._, i, 235. "In this manner, both as to parsing and correcting,
all the rules of syntax should be treated, proceeding regularly according
to their order."--_Murray's Exercises_, 12mo, p. x. "Ovando was allowed a
brilliant retinue and a body guard."--_Sketch of Columbus_. "Is it I or he
whom you requested to go?"--_Kirkham's Gram., Key_, p. 226. "Let thou and I
go on."--_Bunyan's P. P._, p. 158. "This I no-where affirmed; and do wholly
deny."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 454. "But that I deny; and remains for him
to prove."--_Ibid._ "Our country sinks beneath the yoke; It weeps, it
bleeds, and each new day a gash Is added to her wounds."--SHAKSPEARE: _Joh.
Dict., w. Beneath_. "Thou art the Lord who didst choose Abraham, and
broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 189.
"He is the exhaustless fountain, from which emanates all these attributes,
that exists throughout this wide creation."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, 1st
Ed., p. 155. "I am he who have communed with the son of Neocles; I am he
who have entered the gardens of pleasure."--_Wright's Athens_, p. 66.

   "Such was in ancient times the tales received,
    Such by our good forefathers was believed."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. ix, l. 605.


LESSON XIV.--TWO ERRORS.

"The noun or pronoun that stand before the active verb, may be called the
agent."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 121. "Such seems to be the musings of
our hero of the grammar-quill, when he penned the first part of his
grammar."--_Merchant's Criticisms_. "Two dots, the one placed above the
other [:], is called Sheva, and represents a very short _e_."--_Wilson's
Hebrew Gram._, p. 43. "Great has been, and is, the obscurity and
difficulty, in the nature and application of them."--_Butler's Analogy_, p.
184. "As two is to four, so is four to eight."--_Everest's Gram._, p. 231.
"The invention and use of it [arithmetic] reaches back to a period so
remote as is beyond the knowledge of history."--_Robertson's America_, i,
288. "What it presents as objects of contemplation or enjoyment, fills and
satisfies his mind."--_Ib._, i, 377. "If he dare not say they are, as I
know he dare not, how must I then distinguish?"--_Barclay's Works_, iii,
311. "He was now grown so fond of solitude that all company was become
uneasy to him."--_Life of Cicero_, p. 32. "Violence and spoil is heard in
her; before me continually is grief and wounds."--_Jeremiah_, vi, 7.
"Bayle's Intelligence from the Republic of Letters, which make eleven
volumes in duodecimo, are truly a model in this kind."--_Formey's
Belles-Lettres_, p. 68. "To render pauses pleasing and expressive, they
must not only be made in the right place, but also accompanied with a
proper tone of voice."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 249. "The opposing the
opinions, and rectifying the mistakes of others, is what truth and
sincerity sometimes require of us."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 211. "It is very
probable that this assembly was called, to clear some doubt which the king
had, about the lawfulness of the Hollanders' throwing off the monarchy of
Spain, and withdrawing, entirely, their allegiance to that
crown."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 195. "Naming the cases and numbers of a noun
in their order is called declining it."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 10.
"The embodying them is, therefore, only collecting such component parts of
words."--_Town's Analysis_, p. 4. "The one is the voice heard at Christ's
being baptized; the other, at his being transfigured."--_Barclays Works_,
i, 267. "Understanding the literal sense would not have prevented their
condemning the guiltless."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 168. "As if this were
taking the execution of justice out of the hand of God, and giving it to
nature."--_Ib._, p. 194. "They will say, you must conceal this good opinion
of yourself; which yet is allowing the thing, though not the showing
it."--_Sheffield's Works_, ii, 244. "So as to signify not only the doing an
action, but the causing it to be done."--_Pike's Hebrew Lexicon_, p. 180.
"This, certainly, was both dividing the unity of God, and limiting his
immensity."--_Calvin's Institutes_, B. i, Ch. 13. "Tones being infinite in
number, and varying in almost every individual, the arranging them under
distinct heads, and reducing them to any fixed and permanent rules, may be
considered as the last refinement in language."--_Knight, on Gr. Alph._, p.
16. "The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have done it,
and until he have performed the intents of his heart."--_Jeremiah_, xxx,
24. "We seek for more heroic and illustrious deeds, for more diversified
and surprising events."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 373. "We distinguish the
Genders, or the Male and Female Sex, four different Ways."--_Buchanan's
Gram._, p. 20. "Thus, ch and g, are ever hard. It is therefore proper to
retain these sounds in Hebrew names, which have not been modernised, or
changed by public use."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 24. "The Substantive
or noun is the name of any thing conceived to subsist, or of which we have
any notion."--_Lindley Murray's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 26. "The SUBSTANTIVE, or
NOUN; being the name of any thing conceived to subsist, or of which we have
any notion."--_Dr. Lowth's Gram._, p. 6. "The _Noun_ is the name of any
thing that exists, or of which we have, or can form, an idea."--_Maunders
Gram._, p. 1. "A noun is the name of any thing in existence, or of which we
can form an idea."--_Ib._, p. 1. (See False Syntax under Note 7th to Rule
10th.) "The next thing to be taken Care of, is to keep him exactly to
speaking of Truth."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 254. "The material, vegetable, and
animal world, receive this influence according to their several
capacities."--_The Dial_, i, 59. "And yet, it is fairly defensible on the
principles of the schoolmen; if that can be called principles which
consists merely in words."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 274.

   "Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness,
    And fears to die? famine is in thy cheeks,
    Need and oppression starveth in thy eyes."--_Beaut. of Shak._, p. 317.


LESSON XV.--THREE ERRORS.

"The silver age is reckoned to have commenced on the death of Augustus, and
continued to the end of Trajan's reign."--_Gould's Lat. Gram._, p. 277.
"Language is become, in modern times, more correct, indeed, and
accurate."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 65. "It is evident, that words are most
agreeable to the ear which are composed of smooth and liquid sounds, where
there is a proper intermixture of vowels and consonants."--_Ib._, p. 121.
See _Murray's Gram._, i, 325. "It would have had no other effect, but to
add a word unnecessarily to the sentence."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 194. "But
as rumours arose of the judges having been corrupted by money in this
cause, these gave occasions to much popular clamour, and had thrown a heavy
odium on Cluentius."--_Ib._, p. 273. "A Participle is derived of a verb,
and partakes of the nature both of the verb and the adjective."--_Dr. Ash's
Gram._, p. 39; _E. Devis's_, 9. "I will have learned my grammar before you
learn your's."--_Wilbur and Liv. Gram._, p. 14. "There is no earthly object
capable of making such various and such forcible impressions upon the human
mind as a complete speaker."--_Perry's Dict., Pref._ "It was not the
carrying the bag which made Judas a thief and an hireling."--_South_. "As
the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one
Christ."--_Athanasian Creed_. "And I will say to them which were not my
people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God."--_Hosea_,
ii, 23. "Where there is nothing in the sense which requires the last sound
to be elevated or emphatical, an easy fall, sufficient to show that the
sense is finished, will be proper."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 250. "Each party
produces words where the letter _a_ is sounded in the manner they contend
for."--_Walker's Dict._, p. 1. "To countenance persons who are guilty of
bad actions, is scarcely one remove from actually committing
them."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 233. "'To countenance persons who are guilty
of bad actions,' is part of a sentence, which is the nominative case to the
verb 'is.'"--_Ibid._ "What is called splitting of particles, or separating
a preposition from the noun which it governs, is always to be
avoided."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 112; _Jamieson's_, 93. See _Murray's Gram._,
i, 319. "There is, properly, no more than one pause or rest in the
sentence, falling betwixt the two members into which it is
divided."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 125; _Jamieson's_, 126; _Murray's Gram._, i,
329. "Going barefoot does not at all help on the way to heaven."--_Steele,
Spect._, No. 497. "There is no Body but condemns this in others, though
they overlook it in themselves."--_Locke, on Ed._, §145. "In the same
sentence, be careful not to use the same word too frequently, nor in
different senses."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 296. "Nothing could have made her
so unhappy, as marrying a man who possessed such principles."--_Murray's
Key_, ii, 200. "A warlike, various, and a tragical age is best to write of,
but worst to write in."--_Cowley's Pref._, p. vi. "When thou instances
Peter his baptizing Cornelius."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 188. "To introduce
two or more leading thoughts or agents, which have no natural relation to,
or dependence on one another."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 313. "Animals, again,
are fitted to one another, and to the elements where they live, and to
which they are as appendices."--_Ibid._ "This melody, or varying the sound
of each word so often, is a proof of nothing, however, but of the fine ear
of that people."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 5. "They can each in their turns
be made use of upon occasion."--_Duncan's Logic_, p. 191. "In this reign
lived the poet Chaucer, who, with Gower, are the first authors who can
properly be said to have written English."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 144. "In
the translating these kind of expressions, consider the IT IS, as if it
were _they_, or _they are_."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 179. "The chin has
an important office to perform; for upon its activity we either disclose a
polite or vulgar pronunciation."--_Music of Nature_, p. 27. "For no other
reason, but his being found in bad company."--_Webster's Amer.
Spelling-Book_, p. 96. "It is usual to compare them in the same manner as
Polisyllables."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 77. "The infinitive mood is
recognised easier than any others, because the preposition _to_ precedes
it."--_Bucke's Gram._, p, 95. "Prepositions, you recollect, connect words
as well as conjunctions: how, then, can you tell the one from the
other?"--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 38.

   "No kind of work requires so nice a touch,
    And if well finish'd, nothing shines so much"
        --_Sheffield, Duke of Buck._


LESSON XVI--THREE ERRORS.

"It is the final pause which alone, on many occasions, marks the difference
between prose and verse; which will be evident from the following
arrangement of a few poetical lines."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 260. "I shall
do all I can to persuade others to take the same measures for their cure
which I have."--GUARDIAN: see _Campbell's Rhet._, p. 207. "I shall do all I
can, to persuade others to take the same measures for their cure which I
have taken."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 215. "It is the nature of extreme
self-lovers, as they will set an house on fire, and [or _an_] it were but
to roast their eggs."--_Ld. Bacon_. "Did ever man struggle more earnestly
in a cause where both his honour and life are concerned?"--_Duncan's
Cicero_, p. 15. "So the rests and pauses, between sentences and their
parts, are marked by points."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 114. "Yet the case and
mode is not influenced by them, but determined by the nature of the
sentence."--_Ib._, p. 113. "By not attending to this rule, many errors have
been committed: a number of which is subjoined, as a further caution and
direction to the learner."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 114. "Though thou clothest
thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold,
though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself
fair."--_Jeremiah_, iv, 30. "But that the doing good to others will make us
happy, is not so evident; feeding the hungry, for example, or clothing the
naked."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 161. "There is no other God but him, no
other light but his."--_William Penn_. "How little reason to wonder, that a
perfect and accomplished orator, should be one of the characters that is
most rarely found?"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 337. "Because they neither express
doing nor receiving an action."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 53. "To find the
answers, will require an effort of mind, and when given, will be the result
of reflection, showing that the subject is understood."--_Ib._, p. vii. "To
say, that 'the sun rises,' is trite and common; but it becomes a
magnificent image when expressed as Mr. Thomson has done."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 137. "The declining a word is the giving it different
endings."--_Ware's Gram._, p. 7. "And so much are they for every one's
following their own mind."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 462. "More than one
overture for a peace was made, but Cleon prevented their taking
effect."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 121. "Neither in English or in any other
language is this word, and that which corresponds to it in other languages,
any more an article, than _two, three, four_."--DR. WEBSTER: _Knickerbocker
of 1836_. "But the most irksome conversation of all others I have met
within the neighbourhood, has been among two or three of your
travellers."--_Spect._, No. 474. "Set down the two first terms of
supposition under each other in the first place."--_Smiley's Arithmetic_,
p. 79. "It is an useful rule too, to fix our eye on some of the most
distant persons in the assembly."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 328. "He will
generally please most, when pleasing is not his sole nor chief
aim."--_Ib._, p. 336. "At length, the consuls return to the camp, and
inform them they could receive no other terms but that of surrendering
their arms, and passing under the yoke."--_Ib._, p. 360. "Nor is mankind so
much to blame, in his choice thus determining him."--SWIFT: _Crombie's
Treatise_, p 360. "These forms are what is called Number."--_Fosdick's De
Sacy_, p. 62. "In languages which admit but two Genders, all Nouns are
either Masculine or Feminine, even though they designate beings which are
neither male or female."--_Ib._, p. 66. "It is called a _Verb_ or _Word_ by
way of eminence, because it is the most essential word in a sentence,
without which the other parts of speech can form no complete
sense."--_Gould's Adam's Gram._, p. 76. "The sentence will consist of two
members, which are commonly separated from one another by a
comma."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 7. "Loud and soft in speaking, is like the
_fortè_ and _piano_ in music, it only refers to the different degrees of
force used in the same key; whereas high and low imply a change of
key."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 116. "They are chiefly three: the
acquisition of knowledge; the assisting the memory to treasure up this
knowledge; or the communicating it to others."--_Ib._, p. 11.

   "These kind of knaves I know, which in this plainness,
    Harbour more craft, and more corrupter ends,
    Than twenty silly ducking observants."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 261.


LESSON XVII.--MANY ERRORS.

"A man will be forgiven, even great errors, in a foreign language; but in
his own, even the least slips are justly laid hold of, and
ridiculed."--_American Chesterfield_, p 83. "_Let_ does not only express
permission; but praying, exhorting, commanding."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 41.
"_Let_, not only expresses permission, but entreating, exhorting,
commanding."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 88; _Ingersoll's_, 135. "That death
which is our leaving this world, is nothing else but putting off these
bodies."--_Sherlock_. "They differ from the saints recorded both in the Old
and New Testaments."--_Newton_. "The nature therefore of relation consists
in the referring or comparing two things one to another; from which
comparison, one or both comes to be denominated"--_Locke's Essay_, i, 220.
"It is not credible, that there hath been any one who through the whole
course of their lives will say, that they have kept themselves undefiled
with the least spot or stain of sin."--_Witsius_. "If acting conformably to
the will of our Creator;--if promoting the welfare of mankind around
us;--if securing our own happiness;--are objects of the highest
moment:--then we are loudly called upon to cultivate and extend the great
interests of religion and virtue"--_Murray's Gram._, i, 278; _Comly's_,
163; _Ingersoll's_, 291. "By the verb being in the plural number, it is
supposed that it has a plural nominative, which is not the case. The only
nominative to the verb, is, _the officer_: the expression _his guard_, are
in the objective case, governed by the preposition _with_; and they cannot
consequently form the nominative, or any part of it. The prominent subject,
and the true nominative of the verb, and to which the verb peculiarly
refers, is _the officer_."--_Murray's Parsing_, Cr. 8vo, ii, 22. "This is
another use, that, in my opinion, contributes rather to make a man learned
than wise; and is neither capable of pleasing the understanding, or
imagination."--ADDISON: _Churchill's Gram._, p. 353. "The work is a dull
performance; and is capable of pleasing neither the understanding, nor the
imagination."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 210. "I would recommend the Elements of
English Grammar, by Mr. Frost. Its plan is after Murray, but his
definitions and language is simplified as far as the nature of the subject
will admit, to meet the understanding of children. It also embraces more
copious examples and exercises in Parsing than is usual in elementary
treatises."--_Hall's Lectures on School-Keeping_, 1st Ed., p. 37. "More
rain falls in the first two summer months, than in the first two winter
ones: but it makes a much greater show upon the earth, in these than in
those; because there is a much slower evaporation."--_Murray's Key_, ii,
189. See _Priestley's Gram._, p. 90. "They often contribute also to the
rendering some persons prosperous though wicked: and, which is still worse,
to the rewarding some actions though vicious, and punishing other actions
though virtuous."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 92. "From hence, to such a man,
arises naturally a secret satisfaction and sense of security, and implicit
hope of somewhat further."--_Ib._, p. 93. "So much for the third and last
cause of illusion that was taken notice of, arising from the abuse of very
general and abstract terms, which is the principal source of all the
nonsense that hath been vented by metaphysicians, mystagogues, and
theologians."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 297. "As to those animals whose use
is less common, or who on account of the places which they inhabit, fall
less under our observation, as fishes and birds, or whom their diminutive
size removes still further from our observation, we generally, in English,
employ a single Noun to designate both Genders, Masculine and
Feminine."--_Fosdick's De Sacy_, p. 67. "Adjectives may always be
distinguished by their being the word, or words, made use of to describe
the quality, or condition, of whatever is mentioned."--_Emmons's Gram._, p.
20. "Adverb signifies a word added to a verb, participle, adjective, or
other adverb, to describe or qualify their qualities."--_Ib._, p. 64. "The
joining together two such grand objects, and the representing them both as
subject, at one moment, to the command of God, produces a noble
effect."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 37. "Twisted columns, for instance, are
undoubtedly ornamental; but as they have an appearance of weakness, they
always displease when they are made use of to support any part of a
building that is massy, and that seems to require a more substantial
prop."--_Ib._, p. 40. "Upon a vast number of inscriptions, some upon rocks,
some upon stones of a defined shape, is found an Alphabet different from
the Greeks, Latins, and Hebrews, and also unlike that of any modern
nation."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, p. 176.


LESSON XVIII--MANY ERRORS.

"'The empire of Blefuscu is an island situated to the northeast side of
Lilliput, from whence it is parted only by a channel of 800 yards wide.'
_Gulliver's Travels_. The ambiguity may be removed thus:--'from whence it
is parted by a channel of 800 yards wide only.'"--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 44. "The nominative case is usually the agent or doer, and always the
subject of the verb."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 47. "There is an
originality, richness, and variety in his [Spenser's] allegorical
personages, which almost vies with the splendor of the ancient
mythology."--_Hazlitt's Lect._, p. 68. "As neither the Jewish nor Christian
revelation have been universal, and as they have been afforded to a greater
or less part of the world at different times; so likewise, at different
times, both revelations have had different degrees of evidence."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 210. "Thus we see, that killing a man with a sword or a
hatchet, are looked upon as no distinct species of action: but if the point
of the sword first enter the body, it passes for a distinct species, called
_stabbing_."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 314. "If a soul sin, and commit a
trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was
delivered him to keep, or hath deceived his neighbour, or have found that
which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of
all these that a man doeth, sinning therein, then it shall be,"
&c.--_Lev._, vi, 2. "As the doing and teaching the commandments of God is
the great proof of virtue, so the breaking them, and the teaching others to
break them, is the great proof of vice."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p.
281. "In Pope's terrific maltreatment of the latter simile, it is neither
true to mind or eye."--_Coleridge's Introd._, p. 14. "And the two brothers
were seen, transported with rage and fury, endeavouring like Eteocles and
Polynices to plunge their swords into each other's hearts, and to assure
themselves of the throne by the death of their rival."--_Goldsmith's
Greece_, i, 176. "Is it not plain, therefore, that neither the castle, the
planet, nor the cloud, which you see here, are those real ones, which you
suppose exist at a distance?"--_Berkley's Alciphron_, p 166. "I have often
wondered how it comes to pass, that every Body should love themselves best,
and yet value their neighbours Opinion about themselves more than their
own."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 226. "VIRTUE ([Greek: Aretahe], Virtus) as
well as most of its Species, are all Feminine, perhaps from their Beauty
and amiable appearance."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 55. "Virtue, with most of
its Species, are all Feminine, from their Beauty and amiable Appearance;
and so Vice becomes Feminine of Course, as being Virtue's natural
opposite."--_British Gram._, p. 97. "Virtue, with most of its Species, is
Feminine, and so is Vice, for being Virtue's opposite."--_Buchanan's
Gram._, p. 22. "From this deduction, may be easily seen how it comes to
pass, that personification makes so great a figure in all compositions,
where imagination or passion have any concern."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 155.
"An Article is a word prefixed to a substantive to point them out, and to
show how far their signification extends."--_Folker's Gram._, p. 4. "All
men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rights--among which are,
the enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and
protecting property; and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining
happiness."--_Constitution of New Hampshire_. "From Grammarians who form
their ideas, and make their decisions, respecting this part of English
Grammar, on the principles and construction of languages, which, in these
points, do not suit the peculiar nature of our own, but differ considerably
from it, we may naturally expect grammatical schemes that are not very
perspicuous, or perfectly consistent, and which will tend more to perplex
than inform the learner."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 68; _Hall's_, 15. "There
are, indeed, very few who know how to be idle and innocent, or have a
relish of any pleasures that are not criminal; every diversion they take,
is at the expense of some one virtue or another, and their very first step
out of business is into vice or folly."--ADDISON: _Blair's Rhet._, p.
201.[444]

   "Hail, holy love! thou word that sums all bliss!
    Gives and receives all bliss: fullest when most
    Thou givest; spring-head of all felicity!"
        --_Pollok, C. of T._, B. v, 1, 193.




CHAPTER XIII.--GENERAL RULE.

The following comprehensive canon for the correction of all sorts of
nondescript errors in syntax, and the several critical or general notes
under it, seem necessary for the completion of my design; which is, to
furnish a thorough exposition of the various faults against which the
student of English grammar has occasion to be put upon his guard.


GENERAL RULE OF SYNTAX.

In the formation of sentences, the consistency and adaptation of all the
words should be carefully observed; and a regular, clear, and correspondent
construction should be preserved throughout.


CRITICAL NOTES TO THE GENERAL RULE.

CRITICAL NOTE I.--OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

Words that may constitute different parts of speech, must not be left
doubtful as to their classification, or to what part of speech they belong.

CRITICAL NOTE II.--OF DOUBTFUL REFERENCE.

The reference of words to other words, or their syntactical relation
according to the sense, should never be left doubtful, by any one who means
to be understood.

CRITICAL NOTE III.--OF DEFINITIONS.

A definition, in order to be perfect, must include the whole thing, or
class of things, which it pretends to define, and exclude every thing which
comes not under the name.

CRITICAL NOTE IV.--OF COMPARISONS.

A comparison is a form of speech which requires some similarity or common
property in the things compared; without which, it becomes a solecism.

CRITICAL NOTE V.--OF FALSITIES.

Sentences that convey a meaning manifestly false, should be changed,
rejected, or contradicted; because they distort language from its chief
end, or only worthy use; which is, to state facts, and to tell the truth.
CRITICAL NOTE VI.--OF ABSURDITIES.

Absurdities, of every kind, are contrary to grammar, because they are
contrary to reason, or good sense, which is the foundation of grammar.

CRITICAL NOTE VII.--OF SELF-CONTRADICTION.

Every writer or speaker should be careful not to contradict himself; for
what is self-contradictory, is both null in argument, and bad in style.

CRITICAL NOTE VIII.--OF SENSELESS JUMBLING.

To jumble together words without care for the sense, is an unpardonable
negligence, and an abuse of the human understanding.

CRITICAL NOTE IX.--OF WORDS NEEDLESS.

Words that are entirely needless, and especially such as injure or encumber
the expression, ought in general to be omitted.

CRITICAL NOTE X.--OF IMPROPER OMISSIONS.

Words necessary to the sense, or even to the melody or beauty of a
sentence, ought seldom, if ever, to be omitted.

CRITICAL NOTE XI.--OF LITERARY BLUNDERS.

Grave blunders made in the name of learning, are the strongest of all
certificates against the books which contain them unreproved.

CRITICAL NOTE XII.--OF PERVERSIONS.

Proof-texts in grammar, if not in all argument, should be quoted literally;
and even that which needs to be corrected, must never be perverted.

CRITICAL NOTE XIII.--OF AWKWARDNESS.

Awkwardness, or inelegance of expression, is a reprehensible defect in
style, whether it violate any of the common rules of syntax or not.

CRITICAL NOTE XIV.--OF IGNORANCE.

Any use of words that implies ignorance of their meaning, or of their
proper orthography, is particularly unscholarlike; and, in proportion to
the author's pretensions to learning, disgraceful.

CRITICAL NOTE XV.--OF SILLINESS. Silly remarks and idle truisms are traits
of a feeble style, and, when their weakness is positive, or inherent, they
ought to be entirely omitted. CRITICAL NOTE XVI.--OF THE INCORRIGIBLE.

Passages too erroneous for correction, may be criticised, orally or
otherwise, and then passed over without any attempt to amend them.[445]


GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE SYNTAX.

OBS. 1.--In the foregoing code of syntax, the author has taken the parts of
speech in their order, and comprised all the general principles of
relation, agreement, and government, in twenty-four leading Rules. Of these
rules, eight--(namely, the 1st, of _Articles_; the 4th, of _Possessives_;
the 9th, of _Adjectives_; the 20th, of _Participles_; the 21st, of
_Adverbs_; the 22d, of _Conjunctions_; the 23d, of _Prepositions_; and the
24th, of _Interjections_--) are used only in parsing. The remaining
sixteen, because they embrace principles that are sometimes violated in
practice, answer the double purpose of parsing and correcting. The
Exceptions, of which there are thirty-two, (all occasionally applicable in
parsing,) belong to nine different rules, and refer to all the parts of
speech, except nouns and interjections. The Notes, of which there are one
hundred and fifty-two, are subordinate rules of syntax, not designed to be
used in parsing, but formed for the exposition and correction of so many
different forms of false grammar. The Observations, of which there are, in
this part of the work, without the present series, four hundred and
ninety-seven, are designed not only to defend and confirm the doctrines
adopted by the author, but to explain the arrangement of words, and
whatever is difficult or peculiar in construction.

OBS. 2.--The rules in a system of syntax may be more or less comprehensive,
as well as more or less simple or complex; consequently they may, without
deficiency or redundance, be more or less numerous. But either complexity
or vagueness, as well as redundance or deficiency, is a fault; and, when
all these faults are properly avoided, and the two great ends of methodical
syntax, _parsing_ and _correcting_, are duly answered, perhaps the
requisite number of syntactical rules, or grammatical canons, will no
longer appear very indeterminate. In the preceding chapters, the essential
principles of English syntax are supposed to be pretty fully developed; but
there are yet to be exhibited some forms of error, which must be corrected
under other heads or maxims, and for the treatment of which the several
dogmas of this chapter are added. Completeness in the system, however, does
not imply that it must have shown the pupil how to correct every form of
language that is amiss: for there may be in composition many errors of such
a nature that no rule of grammar can show, either what should be
substituted for the faulty expression, or what fashion of amendment may be
the most eligible. The inaccuracy may be gross and obvious, but the
correction difficult or impossible. Because the sentence may require a
change throughout; and a total change is not properly a correction; it is a
substitution of something new, for what was, perhaps, in itself
incorrigible.

OBS. 3.--The notes which are above denominated _Critical_ or _General_, are
not all of them obviously different in kind from the other notes; but they
all are such as could not well have been placed in any of the earlier
chapters of the book. The _General Rule of Syntax_, since it is not a canon
to be used in parsing, but one that is to be applied only in the correcting
of false syntax, might seem perhaps to belong rather to this order of
notes; but I have chosen to treat it with some peculiar distinction,
because it is not only more comprehensive than any other rule or note, but
is in one respect more important; it is the rule which will be cited for
the correction of the greatest number and variety of errors. Being designed
to meet every possible form of inaccuracy in the mere construction of
sentences,--or, at least, every corrigible solecism by which any principle
of syntax can be violated,--it necessarily includes almost all the other
rules and notes. It is too broad to convey very definite instruction, and
therefore ought not in general to be applied where a more particular rule
or note is clearly applicable. A few examples, not properly fitting under
any other head, will serve to show its use and application: such examples
are given, in great abundance, in the false syntax below. If, in some of
the instances selected, this rule is applied to faults that might as well
have been corrected by some other, the choice, in such cases, is deemed of
little or no importance.

OBS. 4.--The imperfection of _ancient_ writing, especially in regard to
division and punctuation, has left the syntactical relation of words, and
also the sense of passages, in no few instances, uncertain; and has
consequently made, where the text has been thought worthy of it, an
abundance of difficult work for translators, critics, and commentators.
Rules of grammar, now made and observed, as they ought to be, may free the
compositions of this, or a future age, from similar embarrassments; and it
is both just and useful, to test our authors by them, criticising or
correcting their known blunders according to the present rules of accurate
writing. But the readers and expounders of what has come to us from remote
time, can be rightly guided only by such principles and facts as have the
stamp of creditable antiquity. Hence there are, undoubtedly, in books, some
errors and defects which have outlived the _time in which_, and the
_authority b which_, they might have been corrected. As we have no right to
make a man say that which he himself never said or intended to say, so we
have in fact none to fix a positive meaning upon his language, without
knowing for a certainty what he meant by it. Reason, or good sense, which,
as I have suggested, is the foundation of grammar and of all good writing,
is indeed a perpetual as well as a universal principle; but, since the
exercises of our reason must, from the very nature of the faculty, be
limited to what we know and understand, we are not competent to the
positive correction, or to the sure translation, of what is obscure and
disputable in the standard books of antiquity.

OBS. 5.--Let me cite an example: "For all this I considered in my heart,
even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their
works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred _by_
all _that is_ before them. All _things come_ alike to all."--
_Ecclesiastes_, ix, 1. Here is, doubtless, _one_ error which any English
scholar may point out or correct. The pronoun "_them_" should be _him_,
because its intended antecedent appears to be "_man_," and not "_the
righteous and the wise_," going before. But are there not _other_ faults in
the version? The common French Bible, in this place, has the following
import: "Surely I have applied my heart to all that, and to unfold all
this; _to wit_, that the righteous and the wise, and their actions, _are_
in the hand of God and love and hatred; _and that_ men know nothing of all
_that which is_ before them. All _happens_ equally to all." The Latin
Vulgate gives this sense: "All these things have I considered in my heart,
that I might understand them accurately: the righteous and the wise, and
their works, are in the hand of God; and yet man doth not know, whether by
love or by hatred lie may be worthy: but all things in the future are kept
uncertain, so that all may happen alike to the righteous man and to the
wicked." In the Greek of the Septuagint, the introductory members of this
passage are left at the end of the preceding chapter, and are literally
thus: "that all this I received into my heart, and my heart understood all
this." The rest, commencing a new chapter, is as follows: "For the
righteous and the wise and their works _are_ in the hand of God, and indeed
both love and hatred man knoweth not: all things before their face _are_
vanity to all." Now, which of these several readings is the nearest to what
Solomon meant by the original text, or which is the farthest from it, and
therefore the most faulty, I leave it to men more learned than myself to
decide; but, certainly, there is no _inspired authority_ in any of them,
but _in so far as they convey the sense which he really intended_. And if
his meaning had not been, by some imperfection in the oldest expression we
have of it, _obscured and partly lost_, there could be neither cause nor
excuse for these discrepancies. I say this with no willingness to
depreciate the general authority of the Holy Scriptures, which are for the
most part clear in their import, and very ably translated into English, as
well as into other languages.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER THE GENERAL RULE.

LESSON I.--ARTICLES.

(1.) "An article is a part of speech placed before
nouns."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 11.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the article _an_ is here inconsistent with
the term "_part of speech_;" for the text declares one thing of a kind to
be the whole kind. But, according to the General Rule of Syntax, "In the
formation of sentences, the consistency and adaptation of all the words
should be carefully observed; and a regular, clear, and correspondent
construction should be preserved throughout." The sentence may be corrected
in two ways, thus: "_The_ article is a part of speech placed before
nouns;"--or better, "_An_ article is a word placed before nouns." [446]]

(2.) "An article is a part of speech used to limit nouns."--_Gilbert's
Gram._, p. 19. (3.) "An article is a part of speech set before nouns to fix
their vague Signification."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 18. (4.) "An adjective is a
part of speech used to describe a noun."--_Gilbert's Gram._, p. 19. (5.) "A
pronoun is a part of speech used instead of a noun."--_Ibid._; and _Weld's
Gram._, pp. 30 and 50; _Abridg._, pp. 29 and 46. (6.) "A Pronoun is a Part
of Speech which is often used instead of a Noun Substantive common, and
supplies the Want of a Noun proper."--_British Gram._, p. 102; _Buchanan's
Gram._, p. 29. (7.) "A verb is a part of speech, which signifies _to be, to
do, or to be acted upon_"--_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 17. (8.) "A verb
is a part of speech, which signifies _to be, to act, or to receive an
action_."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 11. (9.) "A verb is a part of speech by
which any thing is asserted."--_Weld's Gram_, p. 50; _Abridg._, 46 and 58.
(10.) "A verb is a part of speech which expresses action, or existence, in
a direct manner."--_Gilbert's Gram._, p. 20. (11.) "A participle is a part
of speech derived from a verb, and expresses action or existence in an
indirect manner."--_Ibid._ (12.) "A Participle is a Part of Speech derived
from a Verb, and denotes being, doing, or suffering, and implies Time, as a
Verb does."--_British Gram._, p. 139; _Buchanan's_, p. 46. "An adverb is a
part of speech used to add to the meaning of verbs, adjectives, and
participles."--_Gilbert's Gram._, p. 20. (14.) "An adverb is an
indeclinable part of speech, added to a verb, adjective, or other adverb,
to express some circumstance, quality, or manner of their signification."--
_Adam's Gram._, p. 142; _Gould's_, 147. (15.) "An Adverb is a part of
speech joined to a verb, an Adjective, a Participle, and sometimes to
another Adverb, to express the quality or circumstance of it."--_Ash's
Gram._, p. 47, (16.) "An Adverb is a part of speech joined to a Verb,
Adjective, Participle, and sometimes to another Adverb, to express some
circumstances respecting it."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 23. (17.) "An Adverb is a
Part of Speech which is joined to a Verb, Adjective, Participle, or to
another Adverb to express some Modification, or Circumstance, Quality, or
Manner of their Signification."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 61. (18.) "An
Adverb is a part of speech added to a Verb (whence the name), and sometimes
even to another word."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 76. (19.) "A conjunction is a
part of speech used to connect words and sentences."--_Gilbert's Gram._, p.
20; _Weld's_, 51. (20.) "A Conjunction is a part of speech that joins words
or sentences together."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 43. (21.) "A Conjunction is that
part of speech which connect sentences, or parts of sentences or single
words."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 41. (22.) "A Conjunction is a part of speech,
that is used principally to connect sentences, so as, out of two, three, or
more, sentences, to make one."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 28. (23.) "A
Conjunction is a part of speech that is chiefly used to connect sentences,
joining two or more simple sentences into one compound sentence: it
sometimes connects only words."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 118. (24.) "A
Conjunction is a Part of Speech which joins Sentences together, and shews
the Manner of their Dependance upon one another."--_British Gram._, p. 163;
_Buchanan's_, p. 64; _E. Devis's_. 103. (25.) "A preposition is a part of
Speech used to show the relation between other words."--_Gilbert's Gram._,
p. 20. (26.) "A Preposition is a part of speech which serves to connect
words and show the relation between them."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 42.
(27.) "A _preposition_ is a part of speech used to connect words and show
their relation."--_Weld's Gram._, p. 51; _Abridg_. 47. (28.) "A preposition
is that part of speech which shows the position of persons or things, or
the relation that one noun or pronoun bears toward another."--_Blair's
Gram._, p. 40. (29.) "A Preposition is a Part of Speech, which being added
to any other Parts of Speech serves to shew their State, Relation or
Reference to each other."--_British Gram._, p. 165; _Buchanan's_, p. 65.
(30.) "An interjection is a part of speech used to express sudden passion
or emotion."--_Gilbert's Gram._, p. 20. (31.) "An interjection is a part of
speech used in giving utterance to some sudden feeling or emotion."--
_Weld's Gram._, pp. 49 and 51; _Abridg._, 44 and 47. (32.) "An Interjection
is that part of speech which denotes any sudden affection or emotion of the
mind."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 42. (33) "An Interjection is a Part of Speech
thrown into discourse, and denotes some sudden Passion or Emotion of the
Soul."--_British Gram._, p. 172; _Buchanan's_, p. 67.

(34.) "A scene might tempt some peaceful sage
       To rear him a lone hermitage."
        --_Union Poems_, p. 89.

(35.) "Not all the storms that shake the pole
       Can e'er disturb thy halcyon soul,
         And smooth th' unaltered brow."
        --_Day's Gram._, p. 78; _E. Reader_, 230.


LESSON II.--NOUNS. "The thrones of every monarchy felt the
shock."--_Frelinghuysen_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the plural noun _thrones_ has not a clear
and regular construction, adapted to the author's meaning. But, according
to the General Rule of Syntax, "In the formation of sentences the
consistency and adaptation of all the words should be carefully observed;
and a regular, clear, and correspondent construction should be preserved
throughout." The sentence may be corrected thus: "The _throne_ of every
monarchy felt the shock."]

"These principles ought to be deeply impressed upon the minds of every
American."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 44. "The word _church_ and _shire_ are
radically the same."--_Ib._, p. 256. "They may not, in their present form,
be readily accommodated to every circumstance belonging to the possessive
cases of nouns."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 53. "_Will_, in the second
and third person, only foretels."--_Ib._, p. 88. "Which seem to form the
true distinction between the subjunctive and the indicative moods."--_Ib._,
p. 208. "The very general approbation, which this performance of Walker has
received from the public."--_Ib._, p. 241. "Lest she carry her improvements
this way too far."--CAMPBELL: _ib._, p. 371. "Charles was extravagant, and
by this means became poor and despicable."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 189.
"We should entertain no prejudices against simple and rustic
persons."--_Ib._, p. 205. "These are indeed the foundations of all solid
merit."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 175. "And his embellishment, by means of
musical cadence, figures, or other parts of speech."--_Ib._, p. 175. "If he
is at no pains to engage us by the employment of figures, musical
arrangement, or any other art of writing."--_Ib._, p. 181. "The most
eminent of the sacred poets are, the Author of the book of Job, David and
Isaiah."--_Ib._, p. 418. "Nothing, in any poet, is more beautifully
described than the death of old Priam."--_Ib._, p. 439. "When two vowels
meet together, and are sounded at one breath, they are called
_diphthongs_."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 10. "How many _ss_ would goodness
then end with? Three."--_Ib._, p. 33. "_Birds_ is a noun, the name of a
thing or creature."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 53. "Adam gave names to every
living creature."--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 5. "The steps of a stair
ought to be accommodated to the human figure."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol.
ii, p. 337. "Nor ought an emblem more than a simile to be founded on low or
familiar objects."--_Ib._, Vol. ii. p. 357. "Whatever the Latin has not
from the Greek, it has from the Goth."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. ii, p.
450. "The mint and secretary of state's offices are neat buildings."--_The
Friend_, Vol. iv, p. 266. "The scenes of dead and still life are apt to
pall upon us."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 407. "And Thomas Aquinas and Duns
Scotus, the angelical and the subtle doctors, are the brightest stars in
the scholastic constellation."--_Literary Hist._, p. 244. "The English
language has three methods of distinguishing the sex."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 38; _Ingersoll's_, 27; _Alger's_, 16; _Bacon's_, 13; _Fisk's_, 58;
_Greenleaf's_, 21. "The English language has three methods of
distinguishing sex."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 44. "In English there are the
three following methods of distinguishing sex."--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 26.
"There are three ways of distinguishing the sex."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 10;
_Picket's_, 26; _Bullions's_, 10. "There are three ways of distinguishing
sex."--_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 26. "Gender is distinguished in three
ways."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 2. "Neither discourse in general, nor poetry
in particular, can be called altogether imitative arts."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 51.

   "Do we for this the gods and conscience brave,
    That one may rule and make the rest a slave?"
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. ii, l. 96.


LESSON III.--ADJECTIVES.

"There is a deal of more heads, than either heart or horns."--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 234.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the adjective _more_ has not a clear and
regular construction, adapted to the author's meaning. But, according to
the General Rule of Syntax, "In the formation of sentences, the consistency
and adaptation of all the words should be carefully observed; and a
regular, clear, and correspondent construction should be preserved
throughout." The sentence may be corrected thus: "There is a deal _more_ of
heads, than _of_ either heart or horns."]

"For, of all villains, I think he has the wrong name."--_Bunyan's P. P._,
p. 86. "Of all the men that I met in my pilgrimage, he, I think bears the
wrong name."--_Ib._, p. 84. "I am surprized to see so much of the
distribution, and technical terms of the Latin grammar, retained in the
grammar of our tongue."--_Priestley's Gram., Pref._, p. vi. "Nor did the
Duke of Burgundy bring him the smallest assistance."--HUME: _Priestley's
Gram._, p. 178. "Else he will find it difficult to make one obstinate
believe him."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 243. "Are there any adjectives
which form the degrees of comparison peculiar to themselves?"--_Infant
School Gram._, p. 46. "Yet the verbs are all of the indicative
mood."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 33. "The word _candidate_ is in the absolute
case."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 155. "An Iambus has the first syllable
unaccented, and the latter accented."--_Russell's Gram._, p. 108; _Smith's
New Gram._, 188. "A Dactyl has the first syllable accented, and the two
latter unaccented."--_L. Murray_, p. 253; _Bullions's E. Gram._, 170;
_Smith's_, 188; _Kirkham's_, 219; _Guy's_, 120; _Blair's_, 118;
_Merchant's_, 167; _Russell's_, 109. "It is proper to begin with a capital
the first word of every book, chapter, letter, note, or any other piece of
writing."--_L. Murray_, p. 284; _R. C. Smith's New Gram._, 192;
_Ingersoll's_, 295; _Comly's_, 166; _Merchant's_, 14; _Greenleaf's_, 42;
_D. C. Allen's_, 85; _Fisk's_, 159; _Bullions's_, 158; _Kirkham's_, 219;
_Hiley's_, 119; _Weld's Abridged_, 16; _Bullions's Analyt. and Pract._, 16;
_Fowler's E. Gr._, 674. "Five and seven make twelve, and one makes
thirteen."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 227. "I wish to cultivate a farther
acquaintance with you."--_Ib._, p. 272. "Let us consider the proper means
to effect our purpose."--_Ib._, p. 276. "Yet they are of such a similar
nature, as readily to mix and blend."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 48. "The Latin
is formed on the same model, but more imperfect."--_Ib._, p. 83. "I know
very well how much pains have been taken."--_Sir W. Temple_. "The
management of the breath requires a good deal of care."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 331. "Because the mind, during such a momentary stupefaction, is in a
good measure, if not totally, insensible."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i,
p. 222. "Motives alone of reason and interest are not sufficient."--_Ib._,
Vol. i, p. 232. "To render the composition distinct in its parts, and
striking on the whole,"--_Ib._, Vol. ii, p. 333. "_A_ and _an_ are named
indefinite because they denote some one thing of a kind."--_Maunder's
Gram._, p. 1. "_The_ is named definite, because it points out some
particular thing."--_Ibid._ "So much depends upon the proper construction
of sentences, that, in every sort of composition, we cannot be too strict
in our attention to it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 103. "All sort of declamation
and public speaking, was carried on by them."--_Ib._, p. 123. "The first
has on many occasions, a sublimity to which the latter never
attains."--_Ib._, p. 440. "When the words _therefore, consequently,
accordingly_, and the like are used in connexion with other conjunctions,
they are adverbs."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 88. "Rude nations make little or
no allusions to the productions of the arts."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 10.
"While two of her maids knelt on either side of her."--_Mirror_, xi, 307.
"The third personal pronouns differ from each other in meaning and use, as
follows."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, p. 65. "It was happy for the state, that
Fabius continued in the command with Minucius: the former's phlegm was a
check upon the latter's vivacity."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 57. "If it
should be objected that the words must and ought, in the preceding
sentences, are all in the present tense."--_Ib._, p. 108. "But it will be
well if you turn to them, every now and then."--_Buckets Classical Gram._,
p. 6. "That every part should have a dependence on, and mutually contribute
to support each other."--_Rollin's Hist._, ii, 115. "The phrase, '_Good, my
Lord_,' is not common, and low."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 110.

   "That brother should not war with brother,
    And worry and devour each other."--_Cowper_.


LESSON IV.--PRONOUNS.

"If I can contribute to your and my country's glory."--_Goldsmith_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _your_ has not a clear and
regular construction, adapted to the author's meaning. But, according to
the General Rule of Syntax, "In the formation of sentences, the consistency
and adaptation of all the words should be carefully observed; and a
regular, clear, and correspondent construction should be preserved
throughout." The sentence, having a doubtful or double meaning, may be
corrected in two ways, thus: "If I can contribute to our country's
glory;"--or, "If I can contribute to your _glory_ and _that of my
country_."]

"As likewise of the several subjects, which have in effect each their
verb."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 120. "He is likewise required to make examples
himself."--_J. Flint's Gram._, p. 3. "If the emphasis be placed wrong, we
shall pervert and confound the meaning wholly."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
242. "If the emphasis be placed wrong, we pervert and confound the meaning
wholly."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 330. "It was this that characterized the
great men of antiquity; it is this, which must distinguish moderns who
would tread in their steps."--_Ib._, p. 341. "I am a great enemy to
implicit faith, as well the Popish as Presbyterian, who in that are much
what alike."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 280. "Will he thence dare to say the
apostle held another Christ than he that died?"--_Ib._, iii, 414. "What
need you be anxious about this event?"--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 188. "If
a substantive can be placed after the verb, it is active."--_Alex. Murray's
Gram._, p. 31 "When we see bad men honoured and prosperous in the world, it
is some discouragement to virtue."--_L. Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 224. "It is
a happiness to young persons, when they are preserved from the snares of
the world, as in a garden enclosed."--_Ib._, p. 171. "The court of Queen
Elizabeth, which was but another name for prudence and economy."--
_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 24. "It is no wonder if such a man did not shine
at the court of Queen Elizabeth, who was but another name for prudence and
economy. Here which ought to be used, and not who."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 99; _Fowler's_, §488. "Better thus; Whose name was but another word for
prudence, &c."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 157; _Fish's_, 115; Ingersoll's, 221;
Smith's, 133; and others. "A Defective verb is one that wants some of its
parts. They are chiefly the Auxiliary and Impersonal verbs."--_Bullions, E.
Gram._, p. 31; _Old Editions_, 32. "Some writers have given our moods a
much greater extent than we have assigned to them."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo,
p. 67. "The Personal Pronouns give information which no other words are
capable of conveying."--_M'Culloch's Gram._, p. 37, "When the article _a,
an_, or _the_ precedes the participle, it also becomes a noun."--
_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 93. "There is a preference to be given to
some of these, which custom and judgment must determine."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 107. "Many writers affect to subjoin to any word the
preposition with which it is compounded, or the idea of which it
implies."--_Ib._, p. 200; _Priestley's Gram._, 157.

   "Say, dost thou know Tectidius?--Who, the wretch
    Whose lands beyond the Sabines largely stretch?"
        --_Dryden's IV Sat. of Pers._


LESSON V.--VERBS.

"We would naturally expect, that the word _depend_, would require _from_
after it."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 201. "A dish which they pretend to be
made of emerald."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 198. "For the very nature of a
sentence implies one proposition to be expressed."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
106. "Without a careful attention to the sense, we would be naturally led,
by the rules of syntax, to refer it to the rising and setting of the
sun."--_Ib._, p. 105. "For any rules that can be given, on this subject,
are very general."--_Ib._, p. 125. "He is in the right, if eloquence were
what he conceives it to be."--_Ib._, p. 234. "There I would prefer a more
free and diffuse manner."--_Ib._, p. 178. "Yet that they also agreed and
resembled one another, in certain qualities."--_Ib._, p. 73. "But since he
must restore her, he insists to have another in her place."--_Ib._, p. 431.
"But these are far from being so frequent or so common as has been
supposed."--_Ib._, p. 445. "We are not misled to assign a wrong place to
the pleasant or painful feelings." _Kames, El. of Crit._, Introd., p.
xviii. "Which are of greater importance than is commonly thought."--Vol.
ii, p. 92. "Since these qualities are both coarse and common, lets find out
the mark of a man of probity."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 40. "Cicero did
what no man had ever done before him, draw up a treatise of consolation for
himself."--_Life of Cicero_. "Then there can be no other Doubt remain of
the Truth."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 245. "I have observed some satirists
use the term."--_Bullions's Prin. of E. Gram._, p. 79. "Such men are ready
to despond, or commence enemies."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 83. "Common nouns
express names common to many things."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 18. "To
make ourselves be heard by one to whom we address ourselves."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 328. "That, in reading poetry, he may be the better able to
judge of its correctness, and relish its beauties."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
252. "On the stretch to comprehend, and keep pace with the author."--
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 150. "For it might have been sold for more than three
hundred pence, and have been given to the poor."--_Mark_, xiv, 5. "He is a
beam that is departed, and left no streak of light behind."--OSSIAN:
_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 262. "No part of this incident ought to have
been represented, but reserved for a narrative."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 294. "The rulers and people debauching themselves, brings ruin on a
country."--_Ware's Gram._, p. 9. "When _Doctor, Miss, Master, &c._, is
prefixed to a name, the last of the two words is commonly made plural; as,
the _Doctor Nettletons_--the two _Miss Hudsons_."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._,
p. 106. "Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this
day."--_Matt._, xxvii, 8. "To comprehend the situations of other countries,
which perhaps may be necessary for him to explore."--_Brown's Estimate_,
ii, 111. "We content ourselves, now, with fewer conjunctive particles than
our ancestors did."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 139. "And who will be chiefly
liable to make mistakes where others have been mistaken before
them."--_Ib._, p. 156. "The voice of nature and revelation
unites."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, 3d Ed., p. 307.

   "This adjective you see we can't admit,
    But changed to _worse_, will make it just and fit."
        --_Tobitt's Gram._, p. 63.


LESSON VI.--PARTICIPLES.

"Its application is not arbitrary, depending on the caprice of
readers."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. i, p. 246. "This is the more
expedient, from the work's being designed for the benefit of private
learners."--_Ib._, Vol. ii, p. 161. "A man, he tells us, ordered by his
will, to have erected for him a statue."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 106. "From
some likeness too remote, and laying too far out of the road of ordinary
thought."--_Ib._, p. 146. "Money is a fluid in the commercial world,
rolling from hand to hand."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 123. "He pays much
attention to learning and singing songs."--_Ib._ p. 246. "I would not be
understood to consider singing songs as criminal."--"It is a decided case
by the Great Master of writing."--_Preface to Waller_, p. 5. "Did they ever
bear a testimony against writing books?"--_Bates's Misc. Repository_.
"Exclamations are sometimes mistaking for interrogations."--_Hist. of
Printing_, 1770. "Which cannot fail proving of service."--_Smith's
Printer's Gram._ "Hewn into such figures as would make them easily and
firmly incorporated."--BEATTIE: _Murray's Gram._, i, 126. "Following the
rule and example are practical inductive questions."--_J. Flint's Gram._,
p. 3. "I think there will be an advantage in my having collected examples
from modern writings."--_Priestley's Gram._, Pref., p. xi. "He was eager of
recommending it to his fellow-citizens."--HUME: p. 160. "The good lady was
careful of serving me of every thing."--"No revelation would have been
given, had the light of nature been sufficient in such a sense, as to
render one not wanting and useless."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 155.
"Description, again is the raising in the mind the conception of an object
by means of some arbitrary or instituted symbols."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 52.
"Disappointing the expectation of the hearers, when they look for our being
done."--_Ib._ p. 326. "There is a distinction which, in the use of them, is
deserving of attention."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 15. "A model has been
contrived, which is not very expensive, and easily managed."--_Education
Reporter_. "The conspiracy was the more easily discovered, from its being
known to many."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 191. "That celebrated work had been
nearly ten years published, before its importance was at all
understood."--_Ib._ p. 220. "The sceptre's being ostensibly grasped by a
female hand, does not reverse the general order of Government."--_West's
Letters to a Lady_, p. 43. "I have hesitated signing the Declaration of
Sentiments."--_Liberator_, x, 16. "The prolonging of men's lives when the
world needed to be peopled, and now shortening them when that necessity
hath ceased to exist."--_Brown's Divinity_, p. 7. "Before the performance
commences, we have displayed the insipid formalities of the prelusive
scene."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 23. "It forbade the lending of money, or
sending goods, or in any way embarking capital in transactions connected
with that foreign traffic."--LORD BROUGHAM: _B. and F. Anti-Slavery
Reporter_, Vol. ii, p. 218. "Even abstract ideas have sometimes conferred
upon them the same important prerogative."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 171.
"Like other terminations, _ment_ changes _y_ into _i_, when preceded by a
consonant."--_Walker's Rhyming Dict._, p. xiii; _Murray's Gram._, p. 24:
_Ingersoll's_, 11. "The term _proper_ is from being _proper_, that is,
_peculiar_ to the individual bearing the name. The term _common_ is from
being _common_ to every individual comprised in the class."--_Fowler's E.
Gram._, 8vo, 1850, §139.

   "Thus oft by mariners are shown (Unless the men of Kent are liars)
    Earl Godwin's castles overflown, And palace-roofs, and steeple-spires."
        --_Swift_, p. 313.


LESSON VII.--ADVERBS.

"He spoke to every man and woman there."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 220;
_Fisk's_, 147. "Thought and language act and react upon each other
mutually."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 120; _Murray's Exercises_, 133. "Thought
and expression act upon each other mutually."--See _Murray's Key_, p. 264.
"They have neither the leisure nor the means of attaining scarcely any
knowledge, except what lies within the contracted circle of their several
professions."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 359. "Before they are capable of
understanding but little, or indeed any thing of many other branches of
education."--_Olney's Introd. to Geog._, p. 5. "There is not more beauty in
one of them than in another."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 275. "Which appear not
constructed according to any certain rule."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 47. "The
vehement manner of speaking became not so universal."--_Ib._, p. 61. "All
languages, however, do not agree in this mode of expression."--_Ib._, p.
77. "The great occasion of setting aside this particular day."--ATTERBURY:
p. 294. "He is much more promising now than formerly."--_Murray's Gram._,
Vol. ii, p. 4. "They are placed before a participle, independently on the
rest of the sentence."--_Ib._, Vol. ii, p. 21. "This opinion appears to be
not well considered."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 153; _Ingersoll's_, 249.
"Precision in language merits a full explication; and the more, because
distinct ideas are, perhaps, not commonly formed about it."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 94. "In the more sublime parts of poetry, he [Pope] is not so
distinguished."--_Ib._, p. 403. "How far the author was altogether happy in
the choice of his subject, may be questioned."--_Ib._, p. 450. "But here
also there is a great error in the common practice."--_Webster's Essays_,
p. 7. "This order is the very order of the human mind, which makes things
we are sensible of, a means to come at those that are not so."--_Formey's
Belles-Lettres, Foreman's Version_, p. 113. "Now, Who is not Discouraged,
and Fears Want, when he has no money?"--_Divine Right of Tythes_, p. 23.
"Which the Authors of this work, consider of but little or no
use."--_Wilbur and Livingston's Gram._, p. 6. "And here indeed the
distinction between these two classes begins not to be clear."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 152. "But this is a manner which deserves not to be
imitated."--_Ib._, p. 180. "And in this department a person never effects
so little, as when he attempts too much."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 173;
_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 367. "The verb that signifies merely being, is
neuter."--_Dr. Ash's Gram._, p. 27. "I hope not much to tire those whom I
shall not happen to please."--_Rambler_, No. 1. "Who were utterly unable to
pronounce some letters, and others very indistinctly."--_Sheridan's
Elocution_, p. 32. "The learner may point out the active, passive, and
neuter verbs in the following examples, and state the reasons why."--_C.
Adams's Gram._, p. 27. "These words are most always conjunctions."--_S.
Barrett's Revised Gram._, p. 73.

   "How fluent nonsense trickles from his tongue!
    How sweet the periods, neither said, nor sung!"--_Dunciad_.


LESSON VIII.--CONJUNCTIONS.

"Who at least either knew not, nor loved to make, a distinction."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist. of Europ. Lang._, i, 322. "It is childish in the last
degree, if this become the ground of estranged affection."--_L. Murray's
Key_, ii, 228. "When the regular or the irregular verb is to be preferred,
p. 107."--_Murray's Index, Gram._, ii, 296. "The books were to have been
sold, as this day."--_Priestley's E. Gram._, p. 138. "Do, an if you
will."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 195. "If a man had a positive idea of
infinite, either duration or space, he could add two infinites
together."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 174. "None shall more willingly agree
and advance the same nor I."--EARL OF MORTON: _Robertson's Scotland_, ii,
428. "That it cannot be but hurtful to continue it."--_Barclay's Works_, i,
192. "A conjunction joins words and sentences."--_Beck's Gram._, pp. 4 and
25. "The copulative conjunction connects words and sentences together and
continues the sense."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 42. "The Conjunction
Copulative serves to connect or continue a sentence, by expressing an
addition, a supposition, a cause, &c."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, i, 123. "All
Construction is either true or apparent; or in other Words just and
figurative."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 130; _British Gram._, 234. "But the
divine character is such that none but a divine hand could draw."--_The
Friend_, Vol. v, p. 72. "Who is so mad, that, on inspecting the heavens, is
insensible of a God?"--CICERO:--_Dr. Gibbons_. "It is now submitted to an
enlightened public, with little desire on the part of the Author, than its
general utility."--_Town's Analysis_, 9th Ed., p. 5. "This will
sufficiently explain the reason, that so many provincials have grown old in
the capital without making any change in their original
dialect."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 51. "Of these they had chiefly three
in general use, which were denominated accents, and the term used in the
plural number."--_Ib._, p. 56. "And this is one of the chief reasons, that
dramatic representations have ever held the first rank amongst the
diversions of mankind."--_Ib._, p. 95. "Which is the chief reason that
public reading is in general so disgusting."--_Ib._, p. 96. "At the same
time that they learn to read."--_Ib._, p. 96. "He is always to pronounce
his words exactly with the same accent that he speaks them."--_Ib._, p. 98.
"In order to know what another knows, and in the same manner that he knows
it."--_Ib._, p. 136. "For the same reason that it is in a more limited
state assigned to the several tribes of animals."--_Ib._, p. 145. "Were
there masters to teach this, in the same manner as other arts are
taught."--_Ib._, p. 169.

   "Whose own example strengthens all his laws;
    And is himself that great Sublime he draws."--_Pope, on Crit._, l. 680.


LESSON IX.--PREPOSITIONS.

"The word _so_ has, sometimes, the same meaning with _also, likewise, the
same_."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 137. "The verb _use_ relates not to
pleasures of the imagination, but to the terms of fancy and imagination,
which he was to employ as synonymous."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 197. "It never
can view, clearly and distinctly, above one object at a time."--_Ib._, p.
94. "This figure [Euphemism] is often the same with the
Periphrasis."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 247; _Gould's_, 238. "All the between
time of youth and old age."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 83. "When one thing
is said to act upon, or do something to another."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 70.
"Such a composition has as much of meaning in it, as a mummy has
life."--_Journal of Lit. Convention_, p. 81. "That young men of from
fourteen to eighteen were not the best judges."--_Ib._, p. 130. "This day
is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy."--_2 Kings_, xix, 3.
"Blank verse has the same pauses and accents with rhyme."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, ii, 119. "In prosody, long syllables are distinguished by ([=]),
and short ones by what is called _breve_ ([~])."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 22.
"Sometimes both articles are left out, especially in poetry."--_Ib._, p.
26. "In the following example, the pronoun and participle are omitted: [_He
being_] 'Conscious of his own weight and importance, the aid of others was
not solicited.'"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 221. "He was an excellent
person; a mirror of ancient faith in early youth."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p.
172. "The carrying on its several parts into execution."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 192. "Concord, is the agreement which one word has over
another, in gender, number, case, and person."--_Folker's Gram._, p. 3. "It
might perhaps have given me a greater taste of its antiquities."--ADDISON:
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 160. "To call of a person, and to wait of
him."--_Priestley, ib._, p. 161. "The great difficulty they found of fixing
just sentiments."--HUME: _ib._, p. 161. "Developing the difference between
the three."--_James Brown's first American Gram._, p. 12. "When the
substantive singular ends in _x, ch_ soft, _sh, ss_, or _s_, we add _es_ in
the plural."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 40. "We shall present him with a list or
specimen of them."--_Ib._, p. 132. "It is very common to hear of the evils
of pernicious reading, of how it enervates the mind, or how it depraves the
principles."--_Dymond's Essays_, p. 168. "In this example, the verb
'arises' is understood before 'curiosity' and 'knowledge.'"--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 274; _Ingersoll's_, 286; _Comly's_, 155; and others. "The
connective is frequently omitted between several words."--_Wilcox's Gram._,
p. 81. "He shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of
your sight."--_Joshua_, xxiii, 5. "Who makes his sun shine and his rain to
descend upon the just and the unjust."--_M'Ilvaine's Lectures_, p. 411.


LESSON X.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"This sentence violates the rules of grammar."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol.
ii, pp. 19 and 21. "The words _thou_ and _shalt_ are again reduced to short
quantities."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 246. "Have the greater men always been the
most popular? By no means."--DR. LIEBER: _Lit. Conv._, p. 64. "St. Paul
positively stated that, 'he who loves one another has fulfilled the
law.'"--_Spurzheim, on Education_, p. 248. "More than one organ is
concerned in the utterance of almost every consonant."--_M'Culloch's
Gram._, p. 18. "If the reader will pardon my descending so
low."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 20. "To adjust them so, as shall consist
equally with the perspicuity and the grace of the period."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 118: _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 324. "This class exhibits a
lamentable want of simplicity and inefficiency."--_Gardiner's Music of
Nature_, p. 481. "Whose style flows always like a limpid stream, where we
see to the very bottom."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 93. "Whose style flows always
like a limpid stream, through which we see to the very bottom."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 293. "We make use of the ellipsis." [447]--_Ib._, p. 217.
"The ellipsis of the article is thus used."--_Ib._, p. 217. "Sometimes the
ellipsis is improperly applied to nouns of different numbers: as, 'A
magnificent house and gardens.'"--_Ib._, p. 218. "In some very emphatic
expressions, the ellipsis should not be used."--_Ib._, 218. "The ellipsis
of the adjective is used in the following manner."--_Ib._, 218. "The
following is the ellipsis of the pronoun."--_Ib._, 218. "The ellipsis of
the verb is used in the following instances."--_Ib._, p. 219. "The ellipsis
of the adverb is used in the following manner."--_Ib._, 219. "The following
instances, though short, contain much of the ellipsis."--_Ib._, 220. "If no
emphasis be placed on any words, not only will discourse be rendered heavy
and lifeless, but the meaning often ambiguous."--_Ib._, 242. See _Hart's
Gram._, p. 172. "If no emphasis be placed on any words, not only is
discourse, rendered heavy and lifeless, but the meaning left often
ambiguous."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 330; _Murray's Eng. Reader_, p. xi. "He
regards his word, but thou dost not regard it."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p.
129; _his Analytical and Practical Gram._, p. 196. "He regards his word,
but thou dost not: i.e. dost not regard it."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
219; _Parker and Fox's_, p. 96; _Weld's_, 192. "I have learned my task, but
you have not; i.e. have not learned."--_Ib., Mur._, 219; &c. "When the
omission of words would obscure the sentence, weaken its force, or be
attended with an impropriety, they must be expressed."--_Ib._, p. 217;
_Weld's Gram._ 190. "And therefore the verb is correctly put in the
singular number, and refers to the whole separately and individually
considered."--_Murray's Gram._ 8vo, ii, 24 and 190. "I understood him the
best of all who spoke on the subject."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 192. "I
understood him better than any other who spoke on the subject."--_Ibid._,
"The roughness found on our entrance into the paths of virtue and learning,
grow smoother as we advance."--_Ib._, p. 171. "The roughnesses,"
&c.--_Murray's Key_, 12mo, p 8. "Nothing promotes knowledge more than
steady application, and a habit of observation."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p.
265. "Virtue confers supreme dignity on man: and should be his chief
desire."--_Ib._, p. 192; _and Merchant's_, 192. "The Supreme author of our
being has so formed the soul of man, that nothing but himself can be its
last, adequate, and proper happiness."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 413;
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 213. "The inhabitants of China laugh at the plantations
of our Europeans; because, they say, any one may place trees in equal rows
and uniform figures."--_Ad., Spect._, No. 414; _Blair's Rhet._, p. 222.
"The divine laws are not reversible by those of men."--_Murray's Key_, ii,
167. "In both of these examples, the relative and the verb _which was_, are
understood."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 273; _Comly's_, 152; _Ingersoll's_, 285.
"The Greek and Latin languages, though, for many reasons, they cannot be
called dialects of one another, are nevertheless closely connected."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist. of European Lang._, Vol. ii, p. 51. "To ascertain and settle
which, of a white rose or a red rose, breathes the sweetest
fragrance."--_J. Q. Adams, Orat._, 1831. "To which he can afford to devote
much less of his time and labour."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 254.

   "Avoid extremes; and shun the fault of such,
    Who still are pleas'd too little or too much."
        --_Pope, on Crit._, 1, 384.


LESSON XI.--BAD PHRASES.

"He had as good leave his vessel to the direction of the winds."--SOUTH:
_in Joh. Dict._ "Without good nature and gratitude, men had as good live in
a wilderness as in society."--L'ESTRANGE: _ib._ "And for this reason such
lines almost never occur together."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 385. "His being a
great man did not make him a happy man."--_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 288.
"Let that which tends to the making cold your love be judged in all."--_S.
Crisp_. "It is worthy the observing, that there is no passion in the mind
of man so weak but it mates and masters the fear of death."--_Bacon's
Essays_, p. 4. "Accent dignifies the syllable on which it is laid, and
makes it more distinguished by the ear than the rest."--_Sheridan's Lect._,
p. 80; _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 244. "Before he proceeds to argue either
on one side or other."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 313. "The change in general of
manners throughout all Europe."--_Ib._, p. 375. "The sweetness and beauty
of Virgil's numbers, throughout his whole works."--_Ib._, p. 440. "The
French writers of sermons study neatness and elegance in laying down their
heads."--_Ib._, p. 13. "This almost never fails to prove a refrigerant to
passion."--_Ib._, p. 321. "At least their fathers, brothers, and uncles,
cannot, as good relations and good citizens, dispense with their not
standing forth to demand vengeance."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. i, p. 191.
"Alleging, that their crying down the church of Rome, was a joining hand
with the Turks."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 239. "To which is added the
Assembly of Divines Catechism."--_New-England Primer_, p. 1. "This
treachery was always present in both their thoughts."--_Dr. Robertson_.
"Thus far both their words agree." ("_Convenient adhuo utriusqus verba_.
Plaut.")--_Walker's Particles_, p. 125. "Aparithmesis, or Enumeration, is
the branching out into several parts of what might be expressed in fewer
words."--_Gould's Gram_, p. 241. "Aparithmesis, or Enumeration, is when
what might be expressed in a few words, is branched out into several
parts."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 251. "Which may sit from time to time where you
dwell or in the neighbouring vicinity."--_Taylor's District School_, 1st
Ed., p. 281. "Place together a large and a small sized animal of the same
species."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 235. "The weight of the swimming body
is equal to that of the weight, of the quantity of fluid displaced by
it."--_Percival's Tales_, ii, 213. "The Subjunctive mood, in all its
tenses, is similar to that of the Optative."--_Gwilt's Saxon Gram._, p. 27.
"No other feeling of obligation remains, except that of
fidelity."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, 1st Ed., p. 82. "Who asked him,
'What could be the reason, that whole audiences should be moved to tears,
at the representation of some story on the stage.'"--_Sheridan's
Elocution_, p. 175. "Art not thou and you ashamed to affirm, that the best
works of the Spirit of Christ in his saints are as filthy
rags?"--_Barclay's Works_, i, 174. "A neuter verb becomes active, when
followed by a noun of the same signification with its own."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 127. "But he has judged better, in omitting to repeat the
article _the_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 194. "Many objects please us as highly
beautiful, which have almost no variety at all."--_Ib._, p. 46. "Yet
notwithstanding, they sometimes follow them."--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 21.
"For I know of nothing more material in all the whole Subject, than this
doctrine of Mood and Tense."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 292. "It is by no
means impossible for an errour to be got rid of or supprest."--
_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 642. "These are things of the highest
importance to the growing age."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 250. "He had
better have omitted the word _many_."--_Blair's Rhet._ p. 205. "Which had
better have been separated."--_Ib._, p. 225. "Figures and metaphors,
therefore, should, on no occasion be stuck on too profusely."--_Ib._, p.
144; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 150. "Metaphors, as well as other figures, should
on no occasion, be stuck on too profusely."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 338;
_Russell's_, 136. "Something like this has been reproached to
Tacitus."--BOLINGBROKE: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 164.

   "O thou, whom all mankind in vain withstand,
    Each of whose blood must one day stain thy hand!"
        --_Sheffield's Temple of Death_.


LESSON XII.--TWO ERRORS.[448]

"Pronouns are sometimes made to precede the things which they
represent."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 160. "Most prepositions originally denote
the relation of place."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 65. "_Which_ is applied to
inferior animals and things without life."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 24;
_Pract. Lessons_, 30. "What noun do they describe or tell the
kind?"--_Infant School Gram._, p. 41. "Iron cannon, as well as brass, is
now universally cast solid."--_Jamieson's Dict._ "We have philosophers,
eminent and conspicuous, perhaps, beyond any nation."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
251. "This is a question about words alone, and which common sense easily
determines."--_Ib._, p. 320. "The low [pitch of the voice] is, when he
approaches to a whisper."--_Ib._, p. 328. "Which, as to the effect, is just
the same with using no such distinctions at all."--_Ib._, p. 33. "These two
systems, therefore, differ in reality very little from one
another."--_Ib._, p. 23. "It were needless to give many instances, as they
occur so often."--_Ib._, p. 109. "There are many occasions when this is
neither requisite nor would be proper."--_Ib._, p. 311. "Dramatic poetry
divides itself into the two forms, of comedy or tragedy."--_Ib._, p. 452.
"No man ever rhymed truer and evener than he."--_Pref. to Waller_, p. 5.
"The Doctor did not reap a profit from his poetical labours equal to those
of his prose."--_Johnson's Life of Goldsmith_. "We will follow that which
we found our fathers practice."--_Sale's Koran_, i, 28. "And I would deeply
regret having published them."--_Infant School Gram._, p. vii. "Figures
exhibit ideas in a manner more vivid and impressive, than could be done by
plain language."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 222. "The allegory is finely drawn,
only the heads various."--_Spect._, No. 540. "I should not have thought it
worthy a place here."--_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 219. "In this style,
Tacitus excels all writers, ancient and modern."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 261. "No author, ancient or modern, possesses the art of dialogue equal
to Shakspeare."--_Ib._, ii, 294. "The names of every thing we hear, see,
smell, taste, and feel, are nouns."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 16. "What
number are these boys? these pictures? &c."--_Ib._, p. 23. "This sentence
is faulty, somewhat in the same manner with the last."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
230. "Besides perspicuity, he pursues propriety, purity, and precision, in
his language; which forms one degree, and no inconsiderable one, of
beauty."--_Ib._, p. 181. "Many critical terms have unfortunately been
employed in a sense too loose and vague; none more so, than that of the
sublime."--_Ib._, p. 35. "Hence, no word in the language is used in a more
vague signification than beauty."--_Ib._, p. 45. "But, still, he made use
only of general terms in speech."--_Ib._, p. 73. "These give life, body,
and colouring to the recital of facts, and enable us to behold them as
present, and passing before our eyes."--_Ib._, p. 360. "Which carried an
ideal chivalry to a still more extravagant height than it had risen in
fact."--_Ib._, p. 374. "We write much more supinely, and at our ease, than
the ancients."--_Ib._, p. 351. "This appears indeed to form the
characteristical difference between the ancient poets, orators, and
historians, compared with the modern."--_Ib._, p. 350. "To violate this
rule, as is too often done by the English, shews great incorrectness."--
_Ib._, p. 463. "It is impossible, by means of any study to avoid their
appearing stiff and forced."--_Ib._, p. 335. "Besides its giving the
speaker the disagreeable appearance of one who endeavours to compel
assent."--_Ib._, p. 328. "And, on occasions where a light or ludicrous
anecdote is proper to be recorded, it is generally better to throw it into
a note, than to hazard becoming too familiar."--_Ib._, p. 359. "The great
business of this life is to prepare, and qualify us, for the enjoyment of a
better."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 373. "In some dictionaries,
accordingly, it was omitted; and in others stigmatized as a barbarism."--
_Crombie's Treatise_, p. 322. "You cannot see, or think of, a thing, unless
it be a noun."--_Mack's Gram._, p. 65. "The fleet are all arrived and
moored in safety."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 185.


LESSON XIII.--TWO ERRORS.

"They have each their distinct and exactly-limited relation to
gravity."--_Hasler's Astronomy_, p 219. "But in cases which would give too
much of the hissing sound, the omission takes place even in
prose."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 175. "After _o_ it [the _w_] is
sometimes not sounded at all; sometimes like a single _u_."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 3. "It is situation chiefly which decides _of_ the fortunes and
characters of men."--HUME: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 159. "It is situation
chiefly which decides the fortune (or, _concerning_ the fortune) and
characters of men."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 201. "The vice of
covetousness is what enters deeper into the soul than any other."--_Ib._,
p. 167; _Ingersoll's_, 193; _Fisk's_, 103; _Campbell's Rhet._, 205.
"Covetousness, of all vices, enters the deepest into the soul."--_Murray_,
167; _and others_. "Covetousness is what of all vices enters the deepest
into the soul."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 205. "The vice of covetousness is
what enters deepest into the soul of any other."--_Guardian_, No. 19.
"_Would_ primarily denotes inclination of will; and _should_, obligation;
but they both vary their import, and are often used to express simple
event."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 43; _Murray's_, 89; _Fisk's_, 78;
_Greenleaf's_, 27. "But they both vary their import, and are often used to
express simple events."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 39; _Ingersoll's_, 137. "But
they vary their import, and are often used to express simple event."--_Abel
Flint's Gram._, p 42. "A double conjunctive, in two correspondent clauses
of a sentence, is sometimes made use of: as, '_Had_ he done this, he _had_
escaped.'"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 213; _Ingersoll's_, 269. "The
pleasures of the understanding are preferable to those of the imagination,
or of sense."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 191. "Claudian, in a fragment upon
the wars of the giants, has contrived to render this idea of their throwing
the mountains, which is in itself so grand, burlesque, and
ridiculous."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 42. "To which not only no other writings
are to be preferred, but even in divers respects not comparable."--
_Barclay's Works_, i, 53. "To distinguish them in the understanding, and
treat of their several natures, in the same cool manner as we do with
regard to other ideas."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 137. "For it has
nothing to do with parsing, or analyzing, language."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p.
19. Or: "For it has nothing to do with parsing, or analyzing,
language."--_Ib., Second Edition_, p. 16. "Neither was that language [the
Latin] ever so vulgar in Britain."--SWIFT: see _Blair's Rhet._, p. 228.
"All that I propose is to give some openings into the pleasures of
taste."--_Ib._, p. 28. "But it would have been better omitted in the
following sentences."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 210. "But I think it had
better be omitted in the following sentence."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 162.
"They appear, in this case, like excrescences jutting out from the body,
which had better have been wanted."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 326. "And
therefore, the fable of the Harpies, in the third book of the Æneid, and
the allegory of Sin and Death, in the second book of Paradise Lost, had
been better omitted in these celebrated poems."--_Ib._, p. 430. "Ellipsis
is an elegant Suppression (or the leaving out) of a Word, or Words in a
Sentence."--_British Gram._, p. 234; _Buchanan's_, p. 131. "The article _a_
or _an_ had better be omitted in this construction."--_Blair's Gram._, p.
67. "Now suppose the articles had not been left out in these
passages."--_Burke's Gram._, p. 27. "To give separate names to every one of
those trees, would have been an endless and impracticable
undertaking."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 72. "_Ei_, in general, sounds the same
as long and slender _a_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 12. "When a conjunction is
used apparently redundant it is called Polysyndeton."--_Adam's Gram._, p.
236; _Gould's_, 229. "_Each, every, either, neither_, denote the persons or
things which make up a number, as taken separately or distributively."--
_M'Culloch's Gram._, p. 31. "The Principal Sentence must be expressed by
verbs in the Indicative, Imperative, or Potential Modes."--_Clark's Pract.
Gram._, p. 133. "Hence he is diffuse, where he ought to have been
pressing."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 246. "All manner of subjects admit of
explaining comparisons."--_Ib._, p. 164; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 161. "The
present or imperfect participle denotes action or being continued, but not
perfected."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 78. "What are verbs? Those words which
express what the nouns do"--_Fowle's True Eng. Gram._, p. 29.

   "Of all those arts in which the wise excel,
    Nature's chief masterpiece is writing well."
        --_J. Sheffield, Duke of Buck_.

    "Such was that muse whose rules and practice tell
    Nature's chief masterpiece is writing well."
        --_Pope, on Criticism_.


LESSON XIV.--THREE ERRORS.

"In some words the metaphorical sense has justled out the original sense
altogether, so that in respect of it they are become obsolete."--
_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 323. "Sure never any mortal was so overwhelmed with
grief as I am at this present."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 138. "All
languages differ from each other in their mode of inflexion."--_Bullions,
E. Gram._, Pref., p. v. "Nouns and verbs are the only indispensable parts
of speech--the one to express the subject spoken of, and the other the
predicate or what is affirmed of it."--_M'Culloch's Gram._, p. 36. "The
words in italics of the three latter examples, perform the office of
substantives."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 66. "Such a structure of a
sentence is always the mark of careless writing."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 231.
"Nothing is frequently more hurtful to the grace or vivacity of a period,
than superfluous dragging words at the conclusion."--_Ib._, p. 205. "When
its substantive is not joined to it, but referred to, or understood."--
_Lowth's Gram._, p. 24. "Yet they have always some substantive belonging to
them, either referred to, or understood."--_Ib._, 24. "Because they define
and limit the extent of the common name, or general term, to which they
either refer, or are joined.'"--_Ib._, 24. "Every new object surprises,
terrifies, and makes a strong impression on their mind."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 136. "His argument required to have been more fully unfolded, in order
to make it be distinctly apprehended, and to give it its due
force."--_Ib._, p. 230. "Participles which are derived from active verbs,
will govern the objective case, the same as the verbs from which they are
derived"--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 61. "Where, contrary to the rule, the
nominative _I_ precedes, and the objective case _whom_ follows the
verb."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 181. "The same conjunction governing both
the indicative and the subjunctive moods, in the same sentence, and in the
same circumstances, seems to be a great impropriety."--_Ib._, p. 207;
_Smith's New Gram._, 173: see _Lowth's Gram._, p. 105; _Fisk's_, 128; and
_Ingersoll's_, 266. "A nice discernment, and accurate attention to the best
usage, are necessary to direct us, on these occasions."--_Murray's Gram._,
8vo, p. 170. "The Greeks and Romans, the former especially, were, in truth,
much more musical nations than we; their genius was more turned to delight
in the melody of speech."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 123. "When the sense admits
it, the sooner a circumstance is introduced, the better, that the more
important and significant words may possess the last place, quite
disencumbered."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, i, p. 309; _Parker and Fox's_, Part
III, p. 88. "When the sense admits it, the sooner they are despatched,
generally speaking, the better; that the more important and significant
words may possess the last place, quite disencumbered."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 118. See also _Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 101. "Thus we find it, both in the
Greek and Latin tongues."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 74. "A train of sentences,
constructed in the same manner, and with the same number of members, should
never be allowed to succeed one another."--_Ib._, p. 102; _Murray's Gram._,
8vo, Vol. i, p. 306; _Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part III, p. 86. "I proceed
to lay down the rules to be observed in the conduct of metaphors, and which
are much the same for tropes of every kind."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 143. "By
a proper choice of words, we may produce a resemblance of other sounds
which we mean to describe."--_Ib._, p. 129; _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. i,
p. 331. "The disguise can almost never be so perfect, but it is
discovered."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 259. "The sense admits of no other pause
than after the second syllable 'sit,' which therefore must be the only
pause made in the reading."--_Ib._, p. 333. "Not that I believe North
America to be peopled so late as the twelfth century, the period of Madoc's
migration."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 212. "Money and commodities will always
flow to that country, where they are most wanted and will command the most
profit."--_Ib._, p. 308. "That it contains no visible marks, of articles,
which are the most important of all others, to a just delivery."--
_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 13. "And of virtue, from its beauty, we call it
a fair and favourite maid."--_Mack's Gram._, p. 66. "The definite article
may agree with nouns in the singular and plural number."--_Infant School
Gram._, p. 130.


LESSON XV.--MANY ERRORS.

(1.) "A compound word is included under the head of derivative words."--
_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 23. (2.) "An Apostrophe, marked thus ' is used to
abbreviate or shorten a word. Its chief use is to show the genitive case of
nouns."--_Ib._, p. 281.[449] (3.) "A Hyphen, marked thus - is employed in
connecting compounded words. It is also used when a word is divided."--
_Ib._, p. 282. (4.) "The Acute Accent, marked thus ´: as, '_Fáncy_.' The
Grave thus ` as, '_Fàvour_'"--_Ib._, p. 282. (5.) "The stress is laid on
long and short syllables indiscriminately. In order to distinguish the one
from the other, some writers of dictionaries have placed the grave on the
former, and the acute on the latter."--_Ib._, 282. (6.) "A Diæresis, thus
marked ¨, consists of two points placed over one of the two vowels that
would otherwise make a diphthong, and parts them into syllables."--_Ib._,
282. (7.) "A Section marked thus §, is the division of a discourse, or
chapter, into less parts or portions."--_Ib._, 282. (8.) "A Paragraph ¶
denotes the beginning of a new subject, or a sentence not connected with
the foregoing. This character is chiefly used in the Old and in the New
Testaments."--_Ib._, 282. (9.) "A Quotation " ". Two inverted commas are
generally placed at the beginning of a phrase or a passage, which is quoted
or transcribed from the speaker or author in his own words; and two commas
in their direct position, are placed at the conclusion."--_Ib._, 282. (10.)
"A Brace is used in poetry at the end of a triplet or three lines, which
have the same rhyme. Braces are also used to connect a number of words with
one common term, and are introduced to prevent a repetition in writing or
printing."--_Ib._, p. 283. (11.) "Two or three asterisks generally denote
the omission of some letters in a word, or of some bold or indelicate
expression, or some defect in the manuscript."--_Ib._, 283. (12.) "An
Ellipsis ---- is also used, when some letters in a word, or some words in a
verse, are omitted."--_Ib._, 283. (13.) "An Obelisk, which is marked thus
[dagger], and Parallels thus ||, together with the letters of the
Alphabet, and figures, are used as references to the margin, or bottom of
the page."--_Ib._, 283. (14.) "A note of interrogation should not be
employed, in cases where it is only said a question has been asked, and
where the words are not used as a question. 'The Cyprians asked me why I
wept.'"--_Ib._, p. 279; _Comly_, 163; _Ingersoll_, 291; _Fisk_, 157;
_Flint_, 113. (15.) "A point of interrogation is improper after sentences
which are not questions, but only expressions of admiration, or of some
other emotion."--_Same authors and places_. (16.) "The parenthesis incloses
in the body of a sentence a member inserted into it, which is neither
necessary to the sense, nor at all affects the construction."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 124. (17.) "Simple members connected by relatives, and
comparatives, are for the most part distinguished by a comma."
[450]--_Ib._, p. 121. (18.) "Simple members of sentences connected by
comparatives, are, for the most part, distinguished by a comma."--_L.
Murray's Gram._, p 272; _Alden's_, 148; _Ingersoll's_, 284. See the same
words without the last two commas, in _Comly's Gram._, p. 149; _Alger's_,
79; _Merchant's Murray_, 143:--and this again, with a _different sense_,
made by a comma before "_connected_," in _Smith's New Gram._, 190; _Abel
Flint's_, 103. (19.) "Simple members of sentences connected by
comparatives, are for the most part distinguished by the
comma."--_Russell's Gram._, p. 115. (20.) "Simple members of sentences,
connected by comparatives, should generally be distinguished by a
comma."--_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 150. (21.) "Simple members of
sentences connected by _than_ or _so_, or that express contrast or
comparison, should, generally, be divided by a comma."--_Jaudon's Gram._,
p. 185. (22.) "Simple members of sentences, connected by comparatives, if
they be long, are separated by a comma."--_Cooper's New Gram._, p. 195. See
the same without the first comma, in _Cooper's Murray_, p. 183. (23.)
"Simple members of sentences connected by comparatives, and phrases placed
in opposition to, or in contrast with, each other, are separated by
commas."--_Bullions_, p. 153; _Hiley_, 113. (24.) "On which ever word we
lay the emphasis, whether on the first, second, third, or fourth, it
strikes out a different sense."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 243. (25.) "To
inform those who do not understand sea phrases, that, 'We tacked to the
larboard, and stood off to sea,' would be expressing ourselves very
obscurely."--_Ib._, p. 296; _and Hiley's Gram._, p. 151. (26.) "Of
dissyllables, which are at once nouns and verbs, the verb has commonly the
accent on the latter, and the noun, on the former syllable."--_Murray_, p.
237. (27.) "And this gives our language a superior advantage to most
others, in the poetical and rhetorical style."--_Id. ib._, p. 38;
_Ingersoll_, 27; _Fisk_, 57. (28.) "And this gives the English an advantage
above most other languages in the poetical and rhetorical style."--_Lowth's
Gram_, p. 19. (29.) "The second and third scholar may read the same
sentence; and as many, as it is necessary to learn it perfectly to the
whole."--_Osborn's Key_, p. 4.

(30.) "Bliss is the name in subject as a king,
       In who obtain defence, or who defend."
        --_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 178.


LESSON XVI.--MANY ERRORS.

"The Japanese, the Tonquinese, and the Corceans, speak different languages
from one another, and from the inhabitants of China, but use, with these
last people, the same written characters; a proof that the Chinese
characters are like hieroglyphics, independent of language."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 18. "The Japanese, the Tonquinese, and the Corceans, who speak
different languages from one another, and from the inhabitants of China,
use, however, the same written characters with them; and by this means
correspond intelligibly with each other in writing, though ignorant of the
language spoken in their several countries; a plain proof," &c.--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 67. "The curved line is made square instead of round, for the
reason beforementioned."--_Knight, on the Greek Alphabet_, p. 6. "Every one
should content himself with the use of those tones only that he is
habituated to in speech, and to give none other to emphasis, but what he
would do to the same words in discourse. Thus whatever he utters will be
done with ease, and appear natural."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 103.
"Stops, or pauses, are a total cessation of sound during a perceptible, and
in numerous compositions, a measurable space of time."--_Ib._, p. 104.
"Pauses or rests, in speaking and reading, are a total cessation of the
voice during a perceptible, and, in many cases, a measurable space of
time."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 248; _English Reader_, p. 13; _Goldsbury's
Gr._, 76; _Kirkham's_, 208; _Felton's_, 133; _et al._ "Nouns which express
a small one of the kind are called _Diminutive Nouns_; as, lambkin,
hillock, satchel, gosling, from lamb, hill, sack, goose."--_Bullions, E.
Gram._, 1837, p. 9. "What is the cause that nonsense so often escapes being
detected, both by the writer and by the reader?"--_Campbell's Rhet._, p.
xi, and 280. "An Interjection is a word used to express sudden emotion.
They are so called, because they are generally thrown in between the parts
of a sentence without reference to the structure of the other parts of
it."--_M'Culloch's Gram._, p. 36. "_Ought_ (in duty bound) _oughtest,
oughtedst_, are it's only inflections."--_Mackintosh's Gram._, p. 165. "But
the arrangment, government, agreement, and dependence of one word upon
another, are referred to our reason."--_Osborn's Key, Pref._, p. 3. "_Me_
is a personal pronoun, first person singular, and the accusative
case."--_Guy's Gram._, p. 20. "The substantive _self_ is added to a
pronoun; as, herself, himself, &c.; and when thus united, is called a
reciprocal pronoun."--_Ib._, p. 18. "One cannot avoid thinking that our
author had done better to have begun the first of these three sentences,
with saying, _it is novelty which bestows charms on a monster_,
&c."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 207. "The idea which they present to us of
nature's resembling art, of art's being considered as an original, and
nature as a copy,[451] seems not very distinct nor well brought out, nor
indeed very material to our author's purpose."--_Ib._, p. 220. "The present
construction of the sentence, has plainly been owing to hasty and careless
writing."--_Ib._, p. 220. "Adverbs serve to modify, or to denote some
circumstance of an action, or of a quality, relative to its time, place,
order, degree, and the other properties of it, which we have occasion to
specify."--_Ib._, p. 84. "The more that any nation is improved by science,
and the more perfect their language becomes, we may naturally expect that
it will abound more with connective particles."--_Ib._, p. 85. "Mr.
Greenleaf's book is by far the best adapted for learners of any that has
yet appeared on the subject."--DR. FELTUS and BP. ONDERDONK: _Greenleaf's
Gram._, p. 2. "Punctuation is the art of marking in writing the several
pauses, or rests, between sentences, and the parts of sentences, according
to their proper quantity or proportion, as they are expressed in a just and
accurate pronunciation."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 114. "A compound sentence
must be resolved into simple ones, and separated by commas."--_Greenleaf's
Gram._, p. 41; _Allen Fisk's_, 155.[452] "Simple sentences should be
separated from each other by commas, unless such sentences are connected by
a conjunction: as, 'Youth is passing away, age is approaching and death is
near.'"--_Hall's Gram._, p. 36. "_V_ has the sound of flat _f_, and bears
the same relation to it, as _b_ does to _p, d_ to _t_, hard _g_ to _k_, and
_z_ to _s_. It has one uniform sound."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 17; _Fisk's_,
42. "_V_ is flat _f_, and bears the same relation to it as _b_ does to _p,
d_ to _t_, hard _g_ to _k_, and _z_ to _s_. It is never
irregular."--_Walker's Dict._, p. 52. "_V_ has the sound of flat _f_; and
bears the same relation to it as _z_ does to _s_. It has one uniform
sound."--_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 20. "The author is explaining the
distinction, between the powers of sense and imagination in the human
mind."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. i, p. 343. [The author is endeavouring]
"to explain a very abstract point, the distinction between the powers of
sense and imagination in the human mind."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 164. "HE
(Anglo-Saxon _he_) is a Personal pronoun, of the Third Person, Masculine
Gender (Decline he), of the singular number, in the nominative
case."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, §589.


FALSE SYNTAX UNDER THE CRITICAL NOTES.

UNDER CRITICAL NOTE I.--OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

"The passive voice denotes a being acted upon."--_Maunders Gram._, p. 6.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the term "_being acted upon_" as here used,
suggests a doubt concerning its classification in parsing. But, according
to Critical Note 1st, "Words that may constitute different parts of speech,
must not be left doubtful as to their classification, or to what part of
speech they belong." Therefore, the phraseology should be altered; thus,
"The passive voice denotes _an action received_." Or; "The passive voice
denotes _the receiving of an_ action."]

"Milton, in some of his prose works, has very finely turned
periods."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 127; _Jamieson's_, 129. "These will be found
to be all, or chiefly, of that class."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 32. "All
appearances of an author's affecting harmony, are disagreeable."--_Ib._, p.
127; _Jamieson_, 128. "Some nouns have a double increase, that is, increase
by more syllables than one; as, _iter, itin~eris_."--_Adam's Gram._, p.
255; _Gould's_, 241. "The powers of man are enlarged by advancing
cultivation."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 62. "It is always important to begin
well; to make a favourable impression at first setting out."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 307. "For if one take a wrong method at first setting out, it
will lead him astray in all that follows."--_Ib._, 313. "His mind is full
of his subject, and his words are all expressive."--_Ib._, 179. "How
exquisitely is this all performed in Greek!"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 422.
"How little is all this to satisfy the ambition of an immortal soul!"--
_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 253. "So as to exhibit the object in its full and
most striking point of view."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 41. "And that the author
know how to descend with propriety to the plain, as well as how to rise to
the bold and figured style."--_Ib._, p. 401. "The heart can only answer to
the heart."--_Ib._, p. 259. "Upon its first being perceived."--_Harris's
Hermes_, p. 229. "Call for Samson, that he may make us sport."--_Judges_,
xvi, 25. "And he made them sport."--_Ibid._ "The term _suffer_ in this
definition is used in a technical sense, and means simply the receiving of
an action, or the being acted upon."--_Bullions_, p. 29. "The Text is what
is only meant to be taught in Schools."--_Brightland, Pref._, p. ix. "The
perfect participle denotes action or being perfected or finished."--
_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 78. "From the intricacy and confusion which are
produced by their being blended together."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 66.
"This very circumstance of a word's being employed antithetically, renders
it important in the sentence."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 121. "It [the
pronoun _that_] is applied to both persons and things."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 53. "Concerning us, as being every where evil spoken of."--_Barclay's
Works_, Vol. ii, p. vi. "Every thing beside was buried in a profound
silence."--_Steele_. "They raise more full conviction than any reasonings
produce."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 367. "It appears to me no more than a
fanciful refinement."--_Ib._, p. 436. "The regular resolution throughout of
a complete passage."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. vii. "The infinitive is known
by its being immediately preceded by the word _to_."--_Maunders Gram._, p.
6. "It will not be gaining much ground to urge that the basket, or vase, is
understood to be the capital."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 356.
"The disgust one has to drink ink in reality, is not to the purpose where
the subject is drinking ink figuratively."--_Ib._, ii, 231. "That we run
not into the extreme of pruning so very close."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 111.
"Being obliged to rest for a little on the preposition by itself."--_Ib._,
p. 112; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 93. "Being obliged to rest a little on the
preposition by itself."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 319. "Our days on the earth
are as a shadow, and there is none abiding."--_1 Chron._, xxix, 15. "There
maybe a more particular expression attempted, of certain objects, by means
of resembling sounds."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 129; _Jamieson's_, 130;
_Murray's Gram._, 331. "The right disposition of the shade, makes the light
and colouring strike the more."--_Blair's Rhet._, 144. "I observed that a
diffuse style inclines most to long periods."--_Ib._, p. 178. "Their poor
Arguments, which they only Pickt up and down the Highway "--_Divine Right
of Tythes_, p. iii. "Which must be little, but a transcribing out of their
writings."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 353. "That single impulse is a forcing
out of almost all the breath."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 254. "Picini
compares modulation to the turning off from a road."--_Gardiner's Music of
Nature_, p. 405. "So much has been written, on and off, of almost every
subject."--_The Friend_, ii, 117. "By reading books written by the best
authors, his mind became highly improved."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 201.
"For I never made the being richly provided a token of a spiritual
ministry."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 470.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE II.--OF DOUBTFUL REFERENCE.

"However disagreeable, we must resolutely perform our
duty."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 171.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the adjective _disagreeable_ appears to
relate to the pronoun _we_, though such a relation was probably not
intended by the author. But, according to Critical Note 2d, "The reference
of words to other words, or their syntactical relation according to the
sense, should never be left doubtful, by any one who means to be
understood." The sentence may be amended thus: "However disagreeable _the
task_, we must resolutely perform our duty."]

"The formation of verbs in English, both regular and irregular, is derived
from the Saxon."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 47. "Time and chance have an
influence on all things human, and on nothing more remarkably than on
language."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 180. "Time and chance have an influence
on all things human, and on nothing more remarkable than on
language."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 47. "Archytases being a virtuous man,
who happened to perish once upon a time, is with him a sufficient ground,"
&c.--_Philological Museum_, i, 466. "He will be the better qualified to
understand, with accuracy, the meaning of a numerous class of words, in
which they form a material part."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 120. "We
should continually have the goal in view, which would direct us in the
race."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 172. "But [Addison's figures] seem to rise
of their own accord from the subject, and constantly embellish
it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 150; _Jamieson's_, 157. "As far as persons and
other animals and things that we can see go, it is very easy to distinguish
Nouns."--_Cobbett's Gram._, ¶14. "Dissyllables ending in _y, e_ mute, or
accented on the last syllable, may be sometimes compared like
monosyllables."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 12. "Admitting the above
objection, it will not overrule the design."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 140.
"These philosophical innovators forget, that objects are like men, known
only by their actions."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of Lang._, i, 326. "The
connexion between words and ideas is arbitrary and conventional, owing to
the agreement of men among themselves."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 1. "The
connexion between words and ideas may, in general, be considered as
arbitrary and conventional, owing to the agreement of men among
themselves."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 53. "A man whose inclinations led him to
be corrupt, and had great abilities to manage and multiply and defend his
corruptions."--_Swift_. "They have no more control over him than any other
men."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, 1st Ed., p. 372. "His old words are all
true English, and numbers exquisite."--_Spectator_, No. 540. "It has been
said, that not only Jesuits can equivocate."--_Murray's Exercises_, 8vo, p.
121. "It has been said, that Jesuits can not only equivocate."--_Murray's
Key_, 8vo, p. 253. "The nominative of the first and second person in Latin
is seldom expressed."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 154; _Gould's_, 157. "Some words
are the same in both numbers."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 40;
_Ingersoll's_, 18; _Fisk's_, 59; _Kirkham's_, 39; _W. Allen's_, 42; et al.
"Some nouns are the same in both numbers."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 29;
_Smith's_, 45; et al. "Others are the same in both numbers; as, _deer,
swine_, &c."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 8. "The following list denotes the
sounds of the consonants, being in number twenty-two."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 6; _Fisk's_, 36. "And is the ignorance of these peasants a reason for
others to remain ignorant; or to render the subject a less becoming
inquiry?"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 293; _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 288. "He is
one of the most correct, and perhaps the best, of our prose
writers."--_Lowth's Gram., Pref._, p. iv., "The motions of a vortex and a
whirlwind are perfectly similar."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 131. "What I have
been saying throws light upon one important verse in the Bible, which I
should like to have read."--_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 182. "When there are any
circumstances of time, place, or other limitations, which the principal
object of our sentence requires to have connected with it."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 115; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 98; _Murray's Gram._, i, 322.
"Interjections are words used to express emotion, affection, or passion,
and imply suddenness."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 77. "But the genitive is only
used to express the measure of things in the plural number."--_Adam's
Gram._, p. 200; _Gould's_, 198. "The buildings of the institution have been
enlarged; the expense of which, added to the increased price of provisions,
renders it necessary to advance the terms of admission."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 183. "These sentences are far less difficult than complex."--_S. S.
Greene's Analysis, or Grammar_, 1st Ed., p. 179.

   "Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
    Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray."--_Gray's Elegy_.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE III.--OF DEFINITIONS.

(1.) "_Definition_ is such a description of things as exactly describes the
thing and that thing only."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 135.

[FORMULE.--Not
proper, because this definition of a _definition_ is not accurately adapted
to the thing. But, according to Critical Note 3d, "A definition, in order
to be perfect, must include the whole thing, or class of things, which it
pretends to define, and exclude every thing which comes not under the
name." [453] The example may be amended thus: "A definition is a _short and
lucid_ description of a _thing, or species, according to its nature and
properties._"]

(2.) "Language, in general, signifies the expression of our ideas by
certain articulate sounds, which are used as the signs of those
ideas."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 53. (3.) "A WORD is an articulate _sound_ used
by common consent as the sign of an idea,"--_Bullions, Analyt. and Pract.
Gr._, p. 17. (4.) "A word is a sound, or combination of sounds, which is
used in the expression of thought"--_Hazen's Gram._, p. 12. (5.) "_Words_
are articulate sounds, used as _signs_ to convey our ideas."--_Hiley's
Gram._, p. 5. (6.) "A _word_ is a number of letters used together to
represent some idea."--_Hart's E. Gram._, p. 28. (7.) "A _Word_ is a
combination of letters, used as the sign of an idea."--_S. W. Clark's
Practical Gram._, p. 9. (8.) "A _word_ is a letter or a combination of
letters, used as the sign of an idea."--_Wells's School Gram._, p. 41. (9.)
"Words are articulate sounds, by which ideas are communicated."--_Wright's
Gram._, p. 28. (10.) "Words are certain articulate sounds used by common
consent as signs of our ideas."--_Bullions, Principles of E. Gram._, p. 6;
_Lat. Gram._, 6; see _Lowth, Murray, Smith, et al._ (11.) "Words are sounds
used as signs of our ideas."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 30. (12.) "Orthography
means _word-making_ or _spelling_.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 19; _Smith's
New Gram._, p. 41. (13.) "A vowel is a letter, the name of which
constitutes a full, open sound."--_Hazen's Gram._, p. 10; _Lennie's, 5;
Brace's, 7._ (14.) "Spelling is the art of reading by naming the letters
singly, and rightly dividing words into their syllables. Or, in writing, it
is the expressing of a word by its proper letters."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 5;
_Churchill's_, 20. (15.) "Spelling is the art of rightly dividing words
into their syllables, or of expressing a word by its proper
letters."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 21; _Ingersoll's, 6; Merchant's, 10;
Alger's, 12; Greenleaf's, 20_; and others. (16) "Spelling is the art of
expressing words by their proper letters; or of rightly dividing words into
syllables."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 8. (17.) "Spelling is the art of
expressing a word by its proper letters, and rightly dividing it into
syllables."--_Bullions's Princ. of E. Gram._, p. 2. (18.) "Spelling is the
art of expressing a word by its proper letters."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 23;
_Sanborn's_, p. 259. (19.) "A syllable is a sound either simple or
compounded, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice, and constituting a
word or part of a word."--_Lowth_, p. 5; _Murray_, 21; _Ingersoll_, 6;
_Fisk_, 11; _Greenleaf_, 20: _Merchant_, 9; _Alger_, 12; _Bucke_, 15;
_Smith_, 118; _et al_. (20.) "A Syllable is a complete Sound uttered in one
Breath."--_British Gram._, p. 32; _Buchanan's_, 5. (21.) "A syllable is a
distinct sound, uttered by a single impulse of the voice."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 20. (22.) "A Syllable is a distinct sound forming the whole of a
word, or so much of it as can be sounded at once."--_Bullions, E. Gr._, p.
2. (23.) "A _syllable_ is a word, or part of a word, or as much as can be
sounded at once."--_Picket's Gram._, p. 10. (24.) "A diphthong is the union
of two Vowels, both of which are pronounced as one: as in bear and
beat."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 15. (25.) "A diphthong consists of two vowels,
forming one syllable; as, _ea_, in _beat_."--_Guy's Gram._, p. 2. (26.) "A
triphthong consists of three vowels forming one syllable; as, _eau_ in
_beauty_."--_Ib._ (27.) "But the Triphthong is the union of three Vowels,
pronounced as one."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 15. (28.) "What is a Noun
Substantive? A Noun Substantive is the thing itself; as, a Man, a
Boy."--_British Gram._, p. 85; _Buchanan's_, 26. (29.) "An adjective is a
word added to nouns to describe them."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 1. (30.) "An
adjective is a word joined to a noun, to describe or define it."--_Smith's
New Gram._, p. 51. (31.) "An adjective is a word used to describe or define
a noun."--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 2. (32.) "The adjective is added to the
noun, to express the quality of it"--_Murray's Gram._, 12mo, 2d Ed., p. 27;
_Lowth_, p. 6. (33.) "An adjective expresses the quality of the noun to
which it is applied; and may generally be known by its making sense in
connection with it; as, 'A _good_ man,' 'A _genteel_ woman.'"--_Wright's
Gram._, p. 34. (34.) "An adverb is a word used to modify the sense of other
words."--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 2. (35.) "An adverb is a word joined to a
verb, an adjective, or another adverb, to modify or denote some
circumstance respecting it."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 66; _Lat. Gram._,
185. (36.) "A Substantive or Noun is a name given to every object which the
senses can perceive; the understanding comprehend; or the imagination
entertain."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 34. (37.) "GENDER means the distinction
of nouns with regard to sex."--_Bullions, Prin. of E. Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 9.
(38.) "Gender is a distinction of nouns with regard to sex."--_Frost's
Gram._, p. 7. (39.) "Gender is a distinction of nouns in regard to
sex."--_Perley's Gram._, p. 10. (40.) "Gender is the distinction of nouns,
in regard to sex."--_Cooper's Murray_, 24; _Practical Gram._, 21. (41.)
"Gender is the distinction of nouns with regard to sex."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 37; _Alger's_, 16; _Bacon's_, 12; _R. G. Greene's_, 16; _Bullions,
Prin._, 5th Ed., 9; _his New Gr._, 22; _Fisk's_, 19; _Hull's_, 9;
_Ingersoll's_, 15. (42.) "Gender is the distinction of sex."--_Alden's
Gram._, p. 9; _Comly's_, 20; _Dalton's_, 11; _Davenport's_, 15; _J.
Flint's_, 28; A. _Flint's_, 11; _Greenleaf's_, 21; _Guy's_, 4; _Hart's_,
36; _Hiley's_, 12; _Kirkham's_, 34; _Lennie's_, 11; _Picket's_, 25;
_Smith's_, 43; _Sanborn's_, 25; _Wilcox's_, 8. (43.) "Gender is the
distinction of Sex, or the Difference betwixt Male and Female."--_British
Gram._, p. 94; _Buchanan's_, 18. (44.) "Why are nouns divided into genders?
To distinguish their sexes."--_Fowle's True Eng. Gram._, p. 10. (45.) "What
is meant by _Gender?_ The different sexes."--_Burn's Gram._, p. 34. (46)
"Gender, in grammar, is a difference of termination, to express distinction
of sex."--_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p 30; _Improved Gram._, 22. (47.)
"Gender signifies a distinction of nouns, according to the different sexes
of things they denote."--_Coar's Gram._, p. 2. (48.) "Gender is the
distinction occasioned by sex. Though there are but two sexes, still nouns
necessarily admit of four distinctions[454] of gender."--_Hall's Gram._, p.
6. (49.) "Gender is a term which is employed for the distinction of nouns
with regard to sex and species."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 41. (50.) "Gender is
a Distinction of Sex."--_Fisher's Gram._, p. 53. (51.) "GENDER marks the
distinction of Sex."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 37. (52.) "_Gender_ means the
kind, or sex. There are four genders."--_Parker and Fox's, Part I_, p. 7.
(53.) "Gender is a property of the noun which distinguishes sex."--_Weld's
Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 57. (54.) "Gender is a property of the noun or pronoun
by which it distinguishes sex."--_Weld's Grammar Abridged_, p. 49. (55.)
"Case is the state or condition of a noun with respect to the other words
in a sentence."--_Bullion's, E. Gram._, p. 16; _his Analyt. and Pract.
Gram._, p. 31. (56.) "_Case_ means the different state or situation of
nouns with regard to other words."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 55. (57.) "The
cases of substantives signify their different terminations, which serve to
express the relation of one thing to another."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 12mo,
2d Ed., p. 35. (58.) "Government is the power which one _part of speech_
has over _another_, when it causes it or requires it to be of some
particular person, number, gender, case, style, or mode."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 126; see _Murray's Gram._, 142; _Smith's_, 119; _Pond's_, 88;
_et al_. (59.) "A simple sentence is a sentence which contains only one
nominative case and one verb to agree with it."--_Sanborn, ib._; see
_Murray's Gram., et al_. (60.) "Declension means putting a noun through the
different cases."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 58. (61.) "Zeugma is when two or
more substantives have a verb in common, which is applicable only to one of
them."--_B. F. Fisk's Greek Gram._, p. 185. (62.) "An Irregular Verb is
that which has its passed tense and perfect participle terminating
differently; as, smite, smote, smitten."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 92. (63.)
"_Personal_ pronouns are employed as substitutes for nouns that denote
_persons_."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 23.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE IV.--OF COMPARISONS.

"We abound more in vowel and diphthong sounds, than most
languages."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 89.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the
terms _we_ and _languages_, which are here used to form a comparison,
express things which are totally unlike. But, according to Critical Note
4th, "A comparison is a form of speech which requires some similarity or
common property in the things compared; without which, it becomes a
solecism." Therefore, the expression ought to be changed; thus, "_Our
language abounds_ more in vowel and diphthong sounds, than most _other
tongues_." Or: "We abound more in vowel and _diphthongal_ sounds, than most
_nations_."]

"A line thus accented, has a more spirited air, than when the accent is
placed on any other syllable."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 86.
"Homer introduceth his deities with no greater ceremony than as mortals;
and Virgil has still less moderation."--_Ib._, Vol. ii, p. 287. "Which the
more refined taste of later writers, who had far inferior genius to them,
would have taught them to avoid."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 28. "The poetry,
however, of the Book of Job, is not only equal to that of any other of the
sacred writings, but is superior to them all, except those of Isaiah
alone."--_Ib._, p. 419. "On the whole, Paradise Lost is a poem that abounds
with beauties of every kind, and that justly entitles its author to a
degree of fame not inferior to any poet."--_Ib._, p. 452. "Most of the
French writers compose in short sentences; though their style in general,
is not concise; commonly less so than the bulk of English writers, whose
sentences are much longer."--_Ib._, p. 178. "The principles of the
Reformation were deeper in the prince's mind than to be easily
eradicated."--HUME: _Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶217. "Whether they do not create
jealousy and animosity more hurtful than the benefit derived from
them."--DR. J. LEO WOLF: _Lit. Conv._, p. 250. "The Scotch have preserved
the ancient character of their music more entire than any other
country."--_Music of Nature_, p. 461. "When the time or quantity of one
syllable exceeds the rest, that syllable readily receives the
accent."--_Rush, on the Voice_, p. 277. "What then can be more obviously
true than that it should be made as just as we can?"--_Dymond's Essays_, p.
198. "It was not likely that they would criminate themselves more than they
could avoid."--_Clarkson's Hist., Abridged_, p. 76. "Their understandings
were the most acute of any people who have ever lived."--_Knapp's
Lectures_, p32. "The patentees have printed it with neat types, and upon
better paper than was done formerly."--_Lily's Gram., Pref._, p. xiii. "In
reality, its relative use is not exactly like any other word."--_Felch's
Comprehensive Gram._, p. 62. "Thus, instead of two books, which are
required, (the grammar and the exercises,) the learner finds both in one,
for a price at least not greater than the others."--_Bullions's E. Gram._,
Recom., p. iii; _New Ed._, Recom., p. 6. "They are not improperly regarded
as pronouns, though in a sense less strict than the others"--_Ib._, p. 199.
"We have had the opportunity, as will readily be believed, of becoming
conversant with the case much more particularly, than the generality of our
readers can be supposed to have had."--_The British Friend_, 11mo, 29th,
1845.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE V.--OF FALSITIES.

"The long sound of _i_ is compounded of the sound of _a_, as heard in
_ball_, and that of _e_, as heard in _be_."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 3.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the sentence falsely teaches, that the long
sound of _i_ is that of the diphthong heard in _oil_ or _boy_. But,
according to Critical Note 5th, "Sentences that convey a meaning manifestly
false, should be changed, rejected, or contradicted; because they distort
language from its chief end, or only worthy use; which is, to state facts,
and to tell the truth." The error may be corrected thus: "The long sound of
_i_ is _like a very quick union_ of the sound of _a_, as heard in _bar_,
and that of _e_, as heard in _be_."]

"The omission of a word necessary to grammatical propriety, is called
ELLIPSIS."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 45. "Every substantive is of the third
person."--_Alexander Murray's Gram._, p. 91. "A noun, when the subject is
spoken _to_, is in the second person; and when spoken _of_, it is in the
third person; but never in the first."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 17. "With us,
no substantive nouns have gender, or are masculine and feminine, except the
proper names of male and female creatures."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 156.
"Apostrophe is a little mark signifying that something is shortened; as,
for William his hat, we say, William's hat."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 30.
"When a word beginning with a vowel is coupled with one beginning with a
consonant, the indefinite article must be repeated; thus, 'Sir Matthew Hale
was _a_ noble and _an_ impartial judge;' 'Pope was _an_ elegant and _a_
nervous writer.'"--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 11. "_W_ and _y_ are consonants,
when they begin a word or syllable; but in every other situation they are
vowels."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 7: _Bacon, Comly, Cooper, Fish, Ingersoll,
Kirkham, Smith, et al_. "_The_ is used before all adjectives and
substantives, let them begin as they will."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 26.
"Prepositions are also prefixed to words in such manner, as to coalesce
with them, and to become a part of them."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 66. "But _h_
is entirely silent at the beginning of syllables not accented, as
_historian_."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 5. "Any word that will make sense with
_to_ before it, is a verb."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 44. "Verbs do not, in
reality, express actions; but they are intrinsically the mere _names_ of
actions."--_Ib._, p. 37. "The nominative is the actor or subject, and the
active verb is the action performed by the nominative."--_Ib._, p. 45. "If,
therefore, only one creature or thing acts, only one action, at the same
instant, can be done; as, the _girl writes_."--_Ib._, 45. "The verb
_writes_ denotes but one action, which the girl performs; therefore the
verb _writes_ is of the singular number."--_Ib._, 45. "And when I say, Two
men _walk_, is it not equally apparent, that _walk_ is plural, because it
expresses _two_ actions?"--_Ib._, p. 47. "The subjunctive mood is formed by
adding a conjunction to the indicative mood."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 16. "The
possessive case should always be distinguished by the apostrophe."--
_Frost's El. of Gram._, Rule 44th, p. 49. "'At these proceedings of the
commons,'--Here _of_ is the sign of the genitive or possessive case, and
_commons_ is of that case, governed of proceedings."--_Alex. Murray's
Gram._, p. 95. "Here let it be observed again that, strictly speaking, no
verbs have numbers nor persons, neither have nouns nor pronouns persons,
when they refer to irrational creatures and inanimate things."--_S.
Barrett's Gram._, p. 136. "The noun or pronoun denoting the person or thing
addressed or spoken to, is in the nominative case independent."--_Frost's
El. of Gram._, Rule 8th, p. 44. "Every noun, when addressed, becomes of the
second person, and is in the nominative case absolute; as--'_Paul_, thou
art beside thyself.'"--_Jaudon's Gram._, Rule 19th, p. 108. "Does the
Conjunction join Words together? No; only Sentences."--_British Gram._, p.
103. "No; the Conjunction only joins sentences together."--_Buchanan's
Gram._, p. 64. "Every Genitive has a Noun to govern it, expressed or
understood; as, St. James's, _Palace_ is understood; therefore one Genitive
cannot govern another."--_Ib._, p. 111. "Every adjective, and every
adjective pronoun, belongs to a substantive, expressed or understood."--
_Murray's Gram._, p. 161; _Bacon's_, 48; _Alger's_, 57; _et al_. "Every
adjective qualifies a substantive expressed or understood."--_Bullions, E.
Gram._, p. 97. "Every adjective belongs to some noun expressed or
understood."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 36. "Adjectives belong to the nouns
which they describe."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 137. "Adjectives must agree
with the nouns, which they qualify."--_Fisk's Murray_, p. 101. "The
Adjective must agree with its Substantive in Number."--_Buchanan's Gram._,
p. 94. "Every adjective and participle belongs to some noun or pronoun
expressed or understood."--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 44. "Every Verb of
the Infinitive Mood, supposes a verb before it expressed or
understood."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 94. "Every Adverb has its Verb
expressed or understood."--_Ib._, p. 94. "Conjunctions which connect
Sentence to Sentence, are always placed betwixt the two Propositions or
Sentences which they unite."--_Ib._, p. 88. "The words _for all that_, seem
to be too low."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 213. "_For all that_ seems to be too
low and vulgar."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 139. "The reader, or hearer,
then, understands from _and_, that he is to add something."--_J. Brown's E.
Syntax_, p. 124. "But _and_ never, never connects one _thing_ with another
thing, nor one _word_ with another word."--_Ib._, p. 122. "'Six, and six
are twelve.' Here it is affirmed that, _six is twelve_!"--_Ib._, p. 120.
"'John, and his wife have six children.' This is an instance of gross
_catachresis_. It is here affirmed that John has six children, and that his
wife has six children."--_Ib._, p. 122. "Nothing which is not right can be
great."--_Murray's Exercises_, 8vo, p. 146: see _Rambler_, No. 185.
"Nothing can be great which is not right."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 277.
"The highest degree of reverence should be paid to youth."--_Ib._, p. 278.
"There is, in many minds, neither knowledge nor understanding."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 151; _Russell's_, 84; _Alger's_, 54; _Bacon's_, 47; _et
al_. "Formerly, what we call the objective cases of our pronouns, were
employed in the same manner as our present nominatives are."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 164. "As it respects a choice of words and expressions, no rules
of grammar can materially aid the learner."--_S. S. Greene's Gram._, 1st
Ed., p. 202. "Whatever exists, or is conceived to exist, is a
Noun."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, §137. "As all men are not brave,
_brave_ is itself comparative."--_Ib._, §190.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE VI.--OF ABSURDITIES.

(1.) "And sometimes two unaccented syllables follow each other."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 384.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrase, "_follow each other_," is here
an absurdity; it being impossible for two things to "follow each other,"
except they alternate, or whirl round. But, according to Critical Note 6th,
"Absurdities, of every kind, are contrary to grammar; because they are
contrary to reason, or good sense, which is the foundation of grammar."
Therefore, a different expression should here be chosen; thus: "And
sometimes two unaccented syllables _come together_." Or: "And sometimes
_one_ unaccented _syllable follows an_ other."]

(2.) "What nouns frequently succeed each other?"--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 65.
(3.) "Words are derived from one another in various ways."--_Ib._, p. 288;
_Merchant's Gram._, 78; _Weld's_, 2d Edition, 222. (4.) "Prepositions are
derived from the two Latin words _præ_ and _pono_, which signify before and
place."--_Mack's Gram._, p. 86. (5.) "He was sadly laughed at for such
conduct."--_Bullion's E. Gram._, p. 79. (6.) "Every adjective pronoun
belongs to some noun or pronoun expressed or understood."--_Ingersoll's
Gram._, p. 212. (7.) "If he [Addison] fails in anything, it is in want of
strength and precision, which renders his manner not altogether a proper
model."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 187. (8.) "Indeed, if Horace be deficient in
any thing, it is in this, of not being sufficiently attentive to juncture
and connexion of parts."--_Ib._, p. 401. (9.) "The pupil is now supposed to
be acquainted with the nine sorts of speech, and their most usual
modifications."--_Taylor's District School_, p. 204. (10.) "I could see,
hear, taste, and smell the rose."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 156. (11.) "The
triphthong _iou_ is sometimes pronounced distinctly in two syllables; as in
bilious, various, abstemious."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 13; _Walker's
Dict._, Prin. 292, p. 37. (12.) "The diphthong _aa_ generally sounds like a
short in proper names; as in Balaam, Canaan, Isaac; but not in Baal,
Gaal."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 10. (13.) "Participles are sometimes governed
by the article; for the present participle, with the definite article _the_
before it, becomes a substantive."--_Ib._, p. 192. (14.) "Words ending with
_y_, preceded by a consonant, form the plurals of nouns, the persons of
verbs, verbal nouns, past participles, comparatives and superlatives, by
changing _y_ into _i_."--_Walker's Rhyming Dict._, p. viii; _Murray's
Gram._, 23; _Merchant's Murray_, 13; _Fisk's_, 44; _Kirkham's_, 23;
_Greenleaf's_, 20; _Wright's Gram._, 28; _et al_. (15.) "But _y_ preceded
by a vowel, _in such instances as the above_, is not changed; as boy,
boys."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 24; _Merchant's, Fisk's, Kirkham's,
Greenleaf's, et al_. (16.) "But when _y_ is preceded by a vowel, it is very
rarely[455] changed in the additional syllable: as coy, coyly."--_Murray's
Gram. again_, p. 24; _Merchant's_, 14; _Fisk's_, 45; _Greenleaf's_, 20;
_Wright's_, 29; _et al_. (17.) "But when _y_ is preceded by a vowel, _in
such instances_, it is very rarely changed into _i_; as coy,
COYLESS."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 24. (18.) "Sentences are of a twofold
nature: Simple and Compound."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 123. (19.) "The neuter
pronoun _it_ is applied to all nouns and pronouns: as, _It_ is _he; it_ is
_she; it_ is _they; it_ is the _land_."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 92. (20.) "_It
is_ and _it was_, are often used in a plural construction; as, '_It was_
the heretics who first began to rail.'"--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 87. (21.)
"_It is_ and _it was_, are often, after the manner of the French, used in a
plural construction, and by some of our best writers: as, '_It was_ the
_heretics that_ first began to rail.' Smollett."--_Priestley's Gram._, p.
190; _Murray's_, 158; _Smith's_, 134; _Ingersoll's_, 210; _Fisk's_, 115;
_et al_. (22.) "_w_ and _y_, as consonants, have one sound."--_Town's
Spelling-Book_, p. 9. (23.) "The conjunction _as_ is frequently used as a
relative."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 93. (24.) "When several clauses succeed
each other, the conjunction may be omitted with propriety."--_Merchant's
Gram._, p. 97. (25.) "If, however, the members succeeding each other, are
very closely connected, the comma is unnecessary: as, 'Revelation tells us
how we may attain happiness.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 273; _Merchant's_,
151; _Russell's_, 115; _Comly's_, 152; _Alger's_, 80; _Smith's_, 190; _et
al_. (26.) "The mind has difficulty in passing readily through so many
different views given it, in quick succession, of the same
object."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 149. (27.) "The mind has difficulty in
passing readily through many different views of the same object, presented
in quick succession."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 341. (28.) "Adjective
pronouns are a kind of adjectives which point out nouns by some distinct
specification."--_Kirkham's Gram., the Compend, or Table_. (29.) "A noun of
multitude conveying plurality of idea[456], must have a verb or pronoun
agreeing with it in the plural."--_Ib._, pp. 59 and 181: see also _Lowth's
Gram._, p. 74; _L. Murray's_, 152; _Comly's_, 80; _Lennie's_, 87;
_Alger's_, 54; _Jaudon's_, 96; _Alden's_, 81; _Parker and Fox's_, I, 76;
II, 26; _and others_. (30.) "A noun or pronoun signifying possession, is
governed by the noun it possesses."--_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 35. (31.) "A
noun signifying possession, is governed by the noun which it
possesses."--_Wilbur and Livingston's Gram._, p. 24. (32.) "A noun or
pronoun in the possessive case is governed by the noun it
possesses."--_Goldsbury's Gram._, p. 68. (33.) "The possessive case is
governed by the person or thing possessed; as, 'this is _his_ book.'"--_P.
E. Day's Gram._, p. 81. (34.) "A noun or pronoun in the possessive case, is
governed by the noun which it possesses."--_Kirkham's Gram., Rule_ 12th,
pp. 52 and 181; _Frazer's Gram._, 1844, p. 25; _F. H. Miller's_, 21. (35.)
"Here the boy is represented as acting. He is, therefore, in the nominative
case."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 41. (36.) "Some of the auxiliaries are
themselves principal verbs, as: _have, do, will_, and _am_, or
_be_."--_Cooper's Grammars, both_, p. 50. (37.) "Nouns of the male kind are
masculine. Those of the female kind are feminine."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 6.
(38.) "'To-day's lesson is longer than yesterday's:' here _to-day_ and
_yesterday_ are substantives."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 114; _Ingersoll's_,
50; _et al._ (39.) "In this example, _to-day_ and _yesterday_ are nouns in
the possessive case."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 88. (40.) "An Indian in
Britain would be much surprised to stumble upon an elephant feeding at
large in the open fields."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 219. (41.)
"If we were to contrive a new language, we might make any articulate sound
the sign of any idea: there would be no impropriety in calling oxen _men_,
or rational beings by the name of _oxen_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 139. (42.)
"All the parts of a sentence should correspond to each other."--_Ib._, p.
222; _Kirkham's_, 193; _Ingersoll's_, 275; _Goldsbury's_, 74; _Hiley's_,
110; _Weld's_, 193; _Alger's_, 71; _Fisk's_, 148; _S. Putnam's_, 95;
_Merchant's_, 101; _Merchant's Murray_, 95.

(43.) "Full through his neck the weighty falchion sped,
          Along the pavement roll'd the mutt'ring head."
        --_Odyssey_, xxii, 365.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE VII.--OF SELF-CONTRADICTION.

(1.) "Though the construction will not admit of a _plural verb_, the
sentence would certainly stand better thus: 'The king, the lords, and the
commons, _form_ an excellent constitution.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 151;
_Ingersoll's_, 239.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the first clause here quoted is contradicted
by the last. But, according to Critical Note 7th, "Every writer or speaker
should be careful not to contradict himself; for what is
self-contradictory, is both null in argument, and bad in style." The
following change may remove the discrepance: "Though 'The king _with_ the
lords and commons,' _must have a singular rather than_ a plural verb, the
sentence would certainly stand better thus: 'The king, the lords, _and_ the
commons, _form_ an excellent constitution.'"]

(2.) "_L_ has always a soft liquid sound; as in love, billow, quarrel. It
is sometimes mute: as in half, talk, psalm."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 14;
_Fisk's_, 40. (3.) "_L_ has always a soft liquid sound; as in _love,
billow_. It is often silent; as in _half, talk, almond_."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 22. (4.) "The words _means_ and _amends_, though formerly used
in the singular, as well as in the plural number, are now, by polite
writers, restricted to the latter. Our most distinguished modern authors
say, 'by _this means_,' as well as, by _these means_.'"--_Wright's Gram._,
p. 150. (5.) "'A friend exaggerates a man's virtues: an enemy inflames his
crimes.' Better thus: 'A friend exaggerates a man's virtues: an enemy his
crimes.'"--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 325. "A friend exaggerates a man's
virtues, an enemy inflames his crimes"--_Key_, Vol. ii, p. 173. (6.) "The
auxiliary _have_, in the perfect tense of the subjunctive mood, should be
avoided."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 97. "Subjunctive Mood, Perfect Tense. If
I _have_ loved, If thou hast loved," &c.--p. 51. (7.) "There is also an
impropriety in governing both the indicative and subjunctive moods, with
the same conjunction; as, '_If_ a man _have_ a hundred sheep, and _if_ one
of them _be_ gone astray,' &c. It should be, and one of them _is_ gone
astray, &c."--_Ib._, p. 97. (8.) "The rising series of contrasts convey
inexpressible dignity and energy to the conclusion."--_Jamieson's Rhet._,
p. 79. (9.) "A groan or a shriek is instantly understood, as a language
extorted by distress, a language which no art can counterfeit, and which
conveys a meaning that words are utterly inadequate to express."--_Porter's
Analysis_, p. 127. "A groan or shriek speaks to the ear, as the language of
distress, with far more thrilling effect than words. Yet these may be
counterfeited by art."--_Ib._, p. 147. (10.) "These words [_book_ and
_pen_] cannot be put together in such a way as will constitute
plurality."--_James Brown's English Syntax_, p. 125. (11.) "Nor can the
real _pen_, and the real _book_ be expressed in two words in such a manner
as will constitute _plurality_ in _grammar._"--_Ibid._ (12.) "_Our_ is an
adjective pronoun of the possessive kind. Decline it."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 227. (13.) "_This_ and _that_, and likewise their Plurals, are always
opposed to each other in a Sentence."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 103. "When
_this_ or _that_ is used alone, i.e. not opposed to each other, _this_ is
written or spoken of Persons or Things immediately present, and as it were
before our Eyes, or nearest with relation to Place or Time. _That_ is
spoken or written of Persons or Things passed, absent and distant in
relation to Time and Place."--_Ibid._ (14.) "Active and neuter verbs may be
conjugated by adding their present participle to the auxiliary verb _to
be_, through all its variations."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 159. "_Be_ is an
auxiliary whenever it is placed before the perfect participle of another
verb, but in every other situation, it is a _principal_ verb."--_Ib._, p.
155. (15.) "A verb in the imperative mood, is always of the second
person."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 136. "The verbs, according to an idiom of
our language, or the poet's license, are used in the _imperative_, agreeing
with a nominative of the first or third person."--_Ib._, p. 164. (16.)
"Personal Pronouns are distinguished from the relative, by their denoting
the _person_ of the nouns for which they stand."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 97.
"Pronouns of the first person, do not agree in person with the nouns they
represent."--_Ib._, p. 98. (17.) "Nouns have three cases, nominative,
possessive, and objective."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 6. "Personal pronouns have,
like nouns, two cases, nominative and objective."--_Ib._, p. 10. (18.). "In
some instances the preposition suffers no change, but becomes an adverb
merely by its application: as, 'He was _near_ falling.'"--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 116. (19.) "Some nouns are used only in the plural; as, _ashes,
literati, minutiæ_, SHEEP, DEER."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 43. "Some nouns are
the same in both numbers, as, _alms, couple_, DEER, _series, species,
pair_, SHEEP."--_Ibid._ "Among the inferior parts of speech there are some
_pairs_ or _couples_"--_Ib._, p. 94. (20.) "Concerning the pronominal
_adjectives_, that _can_ and _can not, may_ and _may not_, represents _its_
noun."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 336. (21.) "The _article a_ is in a few
instances employed in the sense of a _preposition_; as, Simon Peter said I
go _a_ [to] fishing."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 177; Abridg., 128. "'To
go a fishing;' i.e. to go _on_ a fishing voyage or business."--_Weld's
Gram._, p. 192. (22.) "So also verbs, really transitive, are used
intransitively, when they have no object."--_Bullions's Analyt. and Pract.
Gram._, p. 60.

(23.) "When first young Maro, in his boundless mind,
       A work t' outlast immortal Rome design'd."
        --_Pope, on Crit._, l. 130.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE VIII.--OF SENSELESS JUMBLING.

"Number distinguishes them [viz., _nouns_], as one, or many, of the same
kind, called the singular and plural."--_Dr. Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric_,
p. 74.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the words of this text appear to be so
carelessly put together, as to make nothing but jargon, or a sort of
scholastic balderdash. But, according to Critical Note 8th, "To jumble
together words without care for the sense, is an unpardonable negligence,
and an abuse of the human understanding." I think the learned author should
rather have said: "_There are two numbers_ called the singular and _the_
plural, _which_ distinguish nouns as _signifying either_ one _thing_, or
many of the same kind."]

"Here the noun _James Munroe_ is addressed, he is spoken to, it is here a
noun of the second person."--_Mack's Gram._, p. 66. "The number and case of
a verb can never be ascertained until its nominative is known."--_Emmons's
Gram._, p. 36. "A noun of multitude, or signifying many, may have the verb
and pronoun agreeing with it either in the singular or plural number; yet
not without regard to the import of the word, as conveying unity or
plurality of idea."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 75; _Murray's_, 152; _Alger's_,
54; _Russell's_, 55; _Ingersoll's_, 248; _et al._ "To express the present
and past imperfect of the active and neuter verb, the auxiliary _do_ is
sometimes used: I _do_ (now) love; I _did_ (then) love."--_Lowth's Gram._,
p. 40. "If these are perfectly committed, they will be able to take twenty
lines for a lesson on the second day; and may be increased each
day."--_Osborn's Key_, p. 4. "When _c_ is joined with _h (ch)_, they are
generally sounded in the same manner: as in Charles, church, cheerfulness,
and cheese. But foreign words (except in those derived from the French, as
_chagrin, chicanery_, and _chaise_, in which _ch_ are sounded like _sh_)
are pronounced like _k_; as in Chaos, character, chorus, and
chimera."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 10. "Some substantives, naturally
neuter, are, by a figure of speech, converted into the masculine or
feminine gender."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 37; _Comly's_, 20; _Bacon's_, 13;
_A Teacher's_, 8; _Alger's_, 16; _Lennie's_, 11; _Fisk's_, 56;
_Merchant's_, 27; _Kirkham's_, 35; _et al._ "Words in the English language
may be classified under ten general heads, the names of which classes are
usually termed the ten parts of speech."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 14. "'Mercy
is the true badge of nobility.' _Nobility_ is a noun of multitude, mas. and
fem. gender, third person, sing. and in the obj. case, and governed by
'of:' RULE 31."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 161. "gh, are either silent, or have
the sound of f, as in laugh."--_Town's Spelling-Book_, p. 10. "As many
people as were destroyed, were as many languages or dialects lost and
blotted out from the general catalogue."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 25. "The
_grammars_ of some languages contain a greater number of _the_ moods, than
_others_, and exhibit _them_ in different forms."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo.
Vol. i, p. 95. "A COMPARISON OR SIMILE, is, _when_ the resemblance between
two objects _is expressed in form_, and _generally pursued_ more fully than
the nature of a metaphor admits."--_Ib._, p. 343. "In _some dialects_, the
word _what_ is improperly used for _that_, and sometimes we find it in
_this sense_ in writing."--_Ib._, p. 156; _Priestley's Gram._, 93;
_Smith's_, 132; _Merchant's_, 87; _Fisk's_, 114; _Ingersoll's_, 220; _et
al._ "Brown makes great ado concerning the adname principles of preceding
works, in relation to the _gender_ of pronouns."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._,
p. 323. "The nominative precedes and performs the action of the
verb."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 8. "The Primitive are those which cannot receive
more simple forms than those which they already possess."--_Wright's
Gram._, p. 28. "The long sound [of _i_] is always marked by the _e_ final
in monosyllables; as, thin, thine; except give, live."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 13; _Fisk's_, 39; _et al._ "But the third person or thing spoken of
being absent, and in many respects unknown, it is necessary that it should
be marked by a distinction of gender."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 21; _L.
Murray's_, 51; _et al._ "Each of the diphthongal letters was doubtless,
originally heard in pronouncing the words which contain them. Though this
is not the case at present, with respect to many of them, these
combinations still retain the name of diphthongs; but, to distinguish them,
they are marked by the term _improper_."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 9;
_Fisk's_, 37; _et al._ "A Mode is the form of, or manner of using a verb,
by which the being, action, or passion is expressed "--_Alex. Murray's
Gram._, p. 32. "The word _that_ is a demonstrative pronoun when it is
followed immediately by a substantive, to which it is either joined, or
refers, and which it limits or qualifies."--_Lindley Murray's Gram._, p.
54.

   "The guiltless woe of being past,
    Is future glory's deathless heir."--_Sumner L. Fairfield._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE IX.--OF WORDS NEEDLESS.

"A knowledge of grammar enables us to express ourselves better in
conversation and in writing composition."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 7.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _composition_ is here needless.
But, according to Critical Note 9th, "Words that are entirely needless, and
especially such as injure or encumber the expression, ought in general to
be omitted." The sentence would be better without this word, thus: "A
knowledge of grammar enables us to express ourselves better in conversation
and in writing."]

"And hence we infer, that there is no other dictator here but
use."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 42. "Whence little else is gained, except
correct spelling and pronunciation."--_Town's Spelling-Book_, p. 5. "The
man who is faithfully attached to religion, may be relied on, with humble
confidence."--_Merchants School Gram._, p. 76. "Shalt thou build me an
house for me to dwell in?"--_2 Sam._, vii, 5. "The house was deemed
polluted which was entered into by so abandoned a woman."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 279. "The farther that he searches, the firmer will be his
belief."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 4. "I deny not, but that religion
consists in these things."--_Barclays Works_, i, 321. "Except the king
delighted in her, and that she were called by name."--_Esther_, ii, 14.
"The proper method of reading these lines, is to read them according as the
sense dictates."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 386. "When any words become obsolete,
or at least are never used, except as constituting part of particular
phrases, it is better to dispense with their service entirely, and give up
the phrases."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 185; _Murray's Gram._, p. 370. "Those
savage people seemed to have no element but that of war."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 211. "_Man_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number,
masculine gender, and in the nominative case."--_J. Flint's Gram._, p. 33.
"The orator, according as circumstances require, will employ them
all."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 247. "By deferring our repentance, we accumulate
our sorrows."--_Murray's Key_, ii, p. 166. "There is no doubt but that
public speaking became early an engine of government."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
245. "The different meaning of these two first words may not at first
occur."--_Ib._, p. 225. "The sentiment is well expressed by Plato, but much
better by Solomon than him."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 214; _Ingersoll's_, 251;
_Smith's_, 179; _et al_. "They have had a greater privilege than we have
had."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 211. "Every thing should be so arranged, as
that what goes before may give light and force to what follows."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 311. "So as that his doctrines were embraced by great
numbers."--UNIV. HIST.: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 139. "They have taken
another and a shorter cut."--SOUTH: _Joh. Dict._ "The Imperfect Tense of a
regular verb is formed from the present by adding _d_ or _ed_ to the
present; as, 'I _loved_.'"--_Frost's El. of Gram._, p. 32. "The pronoun
_their_ does not agree in gender or number with the noun 'man,' for which
it stands."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 182. "This mark denotes any thing of
wonder, surprise, joy, grief, or sudden emotion."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 19.
"We are all accountable creatures, each for himself."--_Murray's Key_, p.
204; _Merchant's_, 195. "If he has commanded it, then I must
obey."--_Smith's New Gram._, pp. 110 and 112. "I now present him with a
form of the diatonic scale."--_Dr. John Barber's Elocution_, p. xi. "One
after another of their favourite rivers have been reluctantly
abandoned."--_Hodgson's Tour_. "_Particular_ and _peculiar_ are words of
different import from each other."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 196. "Some adverbs
admit rules of comparison: as Soon, sooner, soonest."--_Bucke's Gram._, p.
76. "From having exposed himself too freely in different climates, he
entirely lost his health."--_Murray's Key_. p. 200. "The Verb must agree
with its Nominative before it in Number and Person."--_Buchanan's Syntax_,
p. 93. "Write twenty short sentences containing only adjectives."--_Abbot's
Teacher_, p. 102. "This general inclination and tendency of the language
seems to have given occasion to the introducing of a very great
corruption."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 60. "The second requisite of a perfect
sentence, is its _Unity_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 311. "It is scarcely
necessary to apologize for omitting to insert their names."--_Ib._, p. vii.
"The letters of the English Language, called the English Alphabet, are
twenty-six in number."--_Ib._, p. 2; _T. Smith's_, 5; _Fisk's_, 10;
_Alger's_, 9; _et al_. "A writer who employs antiquated or novel
phraseology, must do it with design: he cannot err from inadvertence as he
may do it with respect to provincial or vulgar expressions."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 56. "The _Vocative_ case, in some Grammars, is wholly omitted;
why, if we must have cases, I could never understand the propriety
of."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 45. "Active verbs are conjugated with
the auxiliary verb _I have_; passive verbs are conjugated with the
auxiliary verb _I am_."--_Ib._, p. 57. "What word, then, may _and_ be
called? A Conjunction."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 37. "Have they ascertained
the person who gave the information?"--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 81.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE X.--OF IMPROPER OMISSIONS.

"All qualities of things are called adnouns, or adjectives."--_Blair's
Gram._, p. 10.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because this expression lacks two
or three words which are necessary to the sense intended. But according to
Critical Note 10th, "Words necessary to the sense, or even to the melody or
beauty of a sentence, ought seldom, if ever, to be omitted." The sentence
may be amended thus: "All _words signifying concrete_ qualities of things,
are called adnouns, or adjectives."]

"The--signifies the long or accented syllable, and the breve indicates a
short or unaccented syllable."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 118. "Whose duty is to
help young ministers."--_N. E. Discipline_, p. 78. "The passage is closely
connected with what precedes and follows."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i,
p. 255 "The work is not completed, but soon will be."--_Smith's Productive
Gram._, p. 113. "Of whom hast thou been afraid or feared?"--_Isaiah_, lvii,
11. "There is a God who made and governs the world."--_Butler's Analogy_,
p. 263. "It was this made them so haughty."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. ii,
p. 102. "How far the whole charge affected him is not easy to determine."--
_Ib._, i, p. 189. "They saw, and worshipped the God, that made them."--
_Bucke's Gram._, p. 157. "The errors frequent in the use of hyperboles,
arise either from overstraining, or introducing them on unsuitable
occasions."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 256. "The preposition _in_ is set
before countries, cities, and large towns; as, 'He lives _in_ France, _in_
London, or _in_ Birmingham.' But before villages, single houses, and cities
which are in distant countries, _at_ is used; as, 'He lives _at_
Hackney.'"--_Ib._, p. 204; _Dr. Ash's Gram._, 60; _Ingersoll's_, 232;
_Smith's_, 170; _Fisk's_, 143; _et al._ "And, in such recollection, the
thing is not figured as in our view, nor any image formed."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, Vol. i, p. 86. "Intrinsic and relative beauty must be handled
separately."--_Ib._, Vol. ii, p. 336. "He should be on his guard not to do
them injustice, by disguising, or placing them in a false light."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 272. "In that work, we are frequently interrupted by unnatural
thoughts."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 275. "To this point have tended all the
rules I have given."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 120. "To these points have tended
all the rules which have been given."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 356.
"Language, as written, or oral, is addressed to the eye, or to the
ear."--_Lit. Conv._, p. 181. "He will learn, Sir, that to accuse and prove
are very different."--_Walpole_. "They crowded around the door so as to
prevent others going out."--_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 17. "One person or thing
is singular number; more than one person or thing is plural number."--_John
Flint's Gram._, p. 27. "According to the sense or relation in which nouns
are used, they are in the NOMINATIVE or POSSESSIVE CASE, thus, _nom_. man;
_poss_. man's."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 11. "Nouns or pronouns in the
possessive case are placed before the nouns which govern them, to which
they belong."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 130. "A teacher is explaining the
difference between a noun and verb."--_Abbott's Teacher_, p. 72. "And
therefore the two ends, or extremities, must directly answer to the north
and south pole."--HARRIS: _Joh. Dict., w. Gnomon_. "_Walks_ or _walketh,
rides_ or _rideth, stands_ or _standeth_, are of the third person
singular."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 47. "I grew immediately roguish and
pleasant to a degree, in the same strain."--SWIFT: _Tattler_, 31. "An
Anapæst has the first syllables unaccented, and the last accented."--
_Blair's Gram._, p. 119. "An Anapæst has the first two syllables
unaccented, and the last accented."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 219; _Bullions's
Principles_, 170. "An Anapæst has the two first syllables unaccented, and
the last accented."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 254; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 305;
_Smith's New Gram._, 188; _Guy's Gram._, 120; _Merchant's_, 167;
_Russell's_, 109; _Picket's_, 226. "But hearing and vision differ not more
than words spoken and written."--_Wilson's Essay on Gram._, p. 21. "They
are considered by some prepositions."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._, p.
102. "When those powers have been deluded and gone astray."--_Philological
Museum_, i, 642. "They will soon understand this, and like it."--_Abbott's
Teacher_, p. 92. "They have been expelled their native country
Romagna."--_Leigh Hunt, on Byron_, p. 18. "Future time is expressed two
different ways."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 80; _Gould's_, 78. "Such as the
borrowing from history some noted event."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii,
p. 280. "Every Verb must agree with its Nominative in Number and
Person."--_Burke's Gram._, p. 94. "We are struck, we know not how, with the
symmetry of any thing we see."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 268. "Under this
head, I shall consider every thing necessary to a good delivery."--
_Sheridan's Lect._, p. 26. "A good ear is the gift of nature; it may be
much improved, but not acquired by art."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 298.
"'Truth,' A noun, neuter, singular, the nominative."--_Bullions, E. Gram._,
p. 73. "'Possess,' A verb transitive, present, indicative active,--third
person plural."--_Ibid._, 73. "_Fear_ is a noun, neuter, singular, and is
the nominative to (or subject of) _is_."--_Id., ib._, p. 133. "_Is_ is a
verb, intrans., irregular--am, was, been; it is in the present, indicative,
third person singular, and agrees with its nominative _fear_. Rule 1. 'A
verb agrees,' &c."--_Ibid._, 133. "_Ae_ in _Gælic_, has the sound of long
_a_."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 29.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XI.--OF LITERARY BLUNDERS.

"Repeat some [adverbs] that are composed of the article _a_ and
nouns."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 89.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the grammatist here mistakes for the article
_a_, the prefix or preposition _a_; as in "_aside, ashore, afoot, astray_,"
&c. But, according to Critical Note 11th, "Grave blunders made in the name
of learning, are the strongest of all certificates against the books which
contain them unreproved." The error should be corrected thus: "Repeat some
adverbs that are composed of the _prefix a, or preposition a_, and nouns."]

"Participles are so called, because derived from the Latin word
_participium_, which signifies _to partake_."--_Merchant's School Gram._,
p. 18. "The possessive _follows_ another noun, and is known by the sign of
'_s_ or _of_."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 8. "Reciprocal pronouns are formed by
adding _self_ or _selves_ to the possessive; as, _myself, yourselves_."--
_Ib._, p. 10. "The word _self_, and its plural _selves_, must be considered
nouns, as they occupy the places of nouns, and stand for the names of
them."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 61. "The Dactyl, _rolls round_, expresses
beautifully the majesty of the sun in his course."--_Webster's Philos.
Gram._, p. 231; _Webster's Imp. Gram._, p. 165; _Frazee's Imp. Gram._, p.
192. "Prepositions govern the objective case; as, John learned his
lesson."--_Frazee's Gram._, p. 153. "Prosody primarily signified
punctuation; and as the name implies, related to stopping _by the
way_."--_Hendrick's Gram._, p. 103. "On such a principle of forming modes,
there would be as many modes as verbs; and instead of four modes, we should
have forty-three thousand, which is the number of verbs in the English
language, according to Lowth."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 76. "The following
phrases are elliptical: 'To let _out_ blood.' 'To go a hunting:' that is,'
To go on a hunting excursion.'"--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 129. "In Rhyme,
the last syllable of every two lines has the same sound."--_Id., Practical
Lessons_, p. 129. "The possessive case plural, ending in _es_, has the
apostrophe, but omits the _s_; as, _Eagles'_ wings."--_Weld's Gram._, p.
62; _Abridg._, p. 54. "Horses (plural) -mane, [should be written] horses'
mane."--_Weld', ib._, pp. 62 and 54. "W takes its written form from the
union of two _v_'s, this being the form of the Roman capital letter which
we call _V_."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 1850, p. 157. "In the sentence, 'I saw
the lady who sings,' what _word_ do I say sings?"--_J. Flint's Gram._, p.
12. "In the sentence, 'this is the pen which John made,' what _word_ do I
say John made?"--_Ibid._ "'That we fall into _no_ sin:' _no_, an adverb
used idiomatically, instead of we do not fall into any sin."--_Blair's
Gram._, p. 54. "'That _all_ our doings may be ordered by thy governance:'
_all_, a pronoun used for _the whole_."--_Ibid._ "'Let him be made _to_
study.' What causes the sign _to_ to be expressed before _study?_ Its
being used in the passive voice after _be made_."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p.
145. "The following Verbs have neither Preter-Tense nor Passive-participle,
viz. Cast, cut, cost, shut, let, bid, shed, hurt, hit, put, &c."--
_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 60. "The agreement, which _every_ word has with
_the_ others in person, gender, _and_ case, is called CONCORD; and that
power which one _person of speech_ has over _another_, in respect to ruling
its case, mood, or _tense_, is called GOVERNMENT."--_Bucke's Classical
Gram._, p. 83. "The word _ticks_ tells what the noun _watch_ does."--
_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 15. "_Breve_ ([~]) _marks a short_ vowel or syllable,
and the dash (--) a long."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 157; _Lennie_, 137.
"Charles, you, by your diligence, make easy work of the task given you by
your preceptor.' The first _you_ is used in the nom. poss. and obj.
case."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 103. "_Ouy_ in _bouy_ is a proper tripthong.
_Eau_ in flambeau is an improper tripthong."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 255.
"'While I of things to come, As past rehearsing, sing.' POLLOK. That is,
'While I sing of things which are to come, as one sings of things which are
past rehearsing.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 169. "A simple sentence has in it
but one nominative, and one neuter verb."--_Folker's Gram._, p. 14. "An
Irregular Verb is that which has its passed tense and perfect participle
terminating differently; as, smite, smote, smitten."--_Wright's Gram._, p.
92. "But when the antecedent is used in a general sense, a comma is
properly inserted before the relative; as, 'There is no _charm_ in the
female sex, _which_ can supply the place of virtue.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._,
p. 213. "Two capitals in this way denote the plural number; L. D. _Legis
Doctor_; LL. D. _Legum Doctor_."--_Gould's Lat. Gram._, p. 274. "Was any
person besides the mercer present? Yes, both he and his clerk."--_Murray's
Key_, 8vo, p. 188. "_Adnoun_, or _Adjective_, comes from the Latin, _ad_
and _jicio_, to _add to_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 69. "Another figure of
speech, proper only to animated and warm composition, is what some critical
writers call vision; when, _in place_ of relating _some thing that is
past_, we use the _present tense_, and describe _it_ as actually _passing_
before our eyes. _Thus Cicero_, in his fourth oration against Cataline: 'I
seem to myself to behold this city, the ornament of the earth, and the
capital of all nations, suddenly involved in one conflagration. I see
before me the slaughtered heaps of citizens lying unburied in the midst of
their ruined country. The furious countenance of Cethegus rises to my view,
while with a savage joy he is triumphing in _your_ miseries.'"--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 171. "Vision is another figure of speech, which is proper only
in animated and warm composition. It is produced when, _instead_ of
relating _something that is past_, we use the present tense," &c.--
_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 352. "When several verbs follow one another,
having the same nominative, the auxiliary is frequently _omitted after the
first_ through an ellipsis, and understood _to the rest_; as, 'He has gone
and left me;' that is, 'He has gone, and _has_ left me.' "--_Comly's
Gram._, p. 94. "When I use the word _pillar_ as supporting an edifice, I
employ it literally."--_Hiley's Gram._, 3d Ed., p. 133. "The conjunction
_nor_ is often used for _neither_; as,

'Simois _nor_ Xanthus shall be wanting there.'"--_Ib._, p. 129.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XII.--OF PERVERSIONS.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, Vol. i, p. 330; _Hallock's Gram._, p. 179; _Melmoth, on
Scripture_, p. 16.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because this reading is false in relation to the
word "_heavens_;" nor is it usual to put a comma after the word
"_beginning_." But, according to Critical Note 12th, "Proof-tests in
grammar, if not in all argument, should be quoted literally; and even that
which needs to be corrected, must never be perverted." The authorized text
is this: "In the beginning God created the _heaven_ and the
earth."--_Gen._, i, 1.]

"Canst thou, by searching, find out the Lord?"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 335.
"Great is the Lord, just and true are thy ways, thou king of
saints."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 171; _L. Murray's_, 168; _Merchant's_,
90; _R. C. Smith's_, 145; _Ingersoll's_, 194; _Ensell's_, 330; _Fisk's_,
104; _et al_. "Every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 137. "Though he
was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 211;
_Bullions's_, 111 and 113; _Everest's_, 230; _Smith's_, 177; _et al_.
"Whose foundation was overflown with a flood."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Job_,
xxii, 16. "Take my yoke upon ye, for my yoke is easy."--_The Friend_, Vol.
iv, p. 150. "I will to prepare a place for you."--_Weld's E. Gram._, 2d
Ed., p. 67. "Ye who are dead hath he quickened."--_lb._, p. 189; Imp. Ed.,
195. "Go, flee thee away into the land of Judea."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 115.
"Hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 222.
"Thine is the day and night."--_Brown's Concordance_, p. 82. "Faith worketh
patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope."--_O. B. Peirce's
Gram._, p. 282. "Soon shall the dust return to dust, and the soul, to God
who gave it. BIBLE."--_Ib._, p. 166. "For, in the end, it biteth like a
serpent, and stingeth like an adder. It will lead thee into destruction,
and cause thee to utter perverse things. Thou wilt be like him who lieth
down in the midst of the sea. BIBLE."--_Ib._, p. 167. "The memory of the
just shall be honored: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
BIBLE."--_Ib._, p. 168. "He that is slow in anger, is better than the
mighty. He that ruleth his spirit, is better than he that taketh a city.
BIBLE."--_Ib._, p. 72. "The Lord loveth whomsoever he correcteth; as the
father correcteth the son in whom he delighteth. BIBLE."--_Ib._, p. 72.
"The first future tense represents what is to take place hereafter. G.
B."--_Ib._, p. 366. "Teach me to feel another's wo; [and] To hide what
faults I see."--_Ib._, p. 197. "Thy speech bewrayeth thee; for thou art a
Gallilean."--_Murray's Ex._, ii, p. 118. "Thy speech _betrays_ thee; for
thou art a Gallilean."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 250. "Strait is the gate,
and narrow the way, that leads to life eternal."--_Ib., Key_, p. 172.
"Straight is the gate," &c.--_Ib., Ex._, p. 36. "'Thou buildest the wall,
that thou _mayst_ be their king.' _Neh._, vi, 6."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo,
p. 210. "'There is forgiveness with thee, that thou _mayst_ be feared.'
_Psalms_, cxxx, 4."--_Ib._, p. 210. "But yesterday, the word, _Cesar_,
might Have stood against the world."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 316. "The
northeast spends its rage. THOMSON."--_Joh. Dict., w. Effusive._ "Tells how
the drudging goblet swet. MILTON."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 263. "And to
his faithful servant hath in place _Bore_ witness gloriously. SAM.
AGON."--_Ib._, p. 266. "Then, if thou fallest, O Cromwell, Thou fallest a
blessed martyr."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 190. "I see the dagger-crest of
Mar, I see the _Morays'_ silver star, _Waves_ o'er the cloud of Saxon war,
That up the lake _came_ winding far!--SCOTT."--_Merchant's School Gram._,
p. 143. "Each _bird, and_ each insect, _is_ happy in its _kind_."--_Ib._,
p. 85. "_They who are_ learning to _compose and_ arrange _their_ sentences
with accuracy and order, _are_ learning, at the same time, to think with
accuracy and order. BLAIR."--_Ib._, p. 176; _L. Murray's Gram._,
Title-page, 8vo and 12mo. "We, then, as workers together with _you_,
beseech you also, that ye receive not the grace of God in vain."--_James
Brown's Eng. Syntax_, p. 129. "And on the _bounty_ of thy goodness
calls."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 246. "Knowledge dwells In heads replete
with thoughts of other men; Wisdom, in minds _retentive_ to their own.
COWPER."--_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 172. "_Oh!_ let me listen to the
_word_ of life. THOMSON."--_Ib._, p. 155. "Save that from yonder
ivy-mantled _bower_, &c. GRAY'S ELEGY."--_Tooke's Div. of Purley_, Vol. i,
p. 116. "_Weigh_ the _mens_ wits against the _ladies hairs_. POPE."--_Dr.
Johnson's Gram._, p. 6. "_Weigh_ the men's wits against the _women's
hairs_. POPE."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 214. "_Prior_ to the publication of
Lowth's _excellent little grammar_, the grammatical study of our _own_
language, formed no part of the ordinary method of instruction. HILEY'S
PREFACE."--_Dr. Bullions's E. Gram._, 1843, p. 189. "Let there be no strife
betwixt me and thee."--_Weld's Gram._, p. 143.

   "What! canst thou not bear with me half an hour?--SHARP."
        --_Ib._, p. 185.

   "Till then who knew the force of those dire dreams.--MILTON."
        --_Ib._, p. 186.

   "In words, as fashions, the rule will hold,
    Alike fantastic, if too new or old:"
        --_Murray's Gram._, p. 136.

   "Be not the first, by whom the new _is_ tried,
    Nor yet the last, to lay the old aside."
        --_Bucke's Gram._, p. 104.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XIII.--OF AWKWARDNESS.

"They slew Varus, who was he that I mentioned before."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 194.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrase, "_who was he that_," is here
prolix and awkward. But, according to Critical Note 13th, "Awkwardness, or
inelegance of expression, is a reprehensible defect in style, whether it
violate any of the common rules of syntax or not." This example may be
improved thus: "They slew Varus, _whom_ I mentioned before."]

"Maria rejected Valerius, who was he that she had rejected
before."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 174. "The English in its substantives
has but two different terminations for cases."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 18.
"Socrates and Plato were wise; they were the most eminent philosophers of
Greece."--_Ib._, p. 175; _Murray's Gram._, 149; _et al._ "Whether one
person or more than one, were concerned in the business, does not yet
appear."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 184. "And that, consequently, the verb
and pronoun agreeing with it, cannot with propriety, be ever used in the
plural number."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 153; _Ingersoll's_, 249; _et al._ "A
second help may be the conversing frequently and freely with those of your
own sex who are like minded."--_John Wesley_. "Four of the semi-vowels,
namely, _l, m, n, r_, are also distinguished by the name of _liquids_, from
their readily uniting with other consonants, and flowing as it were into
their sounds."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 8; _Churchill's_, 5; _Alger's_, 11;
_et al._ "Some conjunctions have _their_ correspondent conjunctions
_belonging to them_: so that, _in_ the subsequent member of the sentence
the _latter answers_ to the former."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 109: _Adam's_,
209; _Gould's_, 205; _L. Murray's_, 211; _Ingersoll's_, 268; _Fisk's_, 137;
_Churchill's_, 153; _Fowler's_, 562; _et al._ "The mutes are those
consonants, whose sounds cannot be protracted. The _semi-vowels, such
whose_ sounds can be continued _at pleasure, partaking_ of the nature of
vowels, from _which_ they derive their name."--_Murray's Gram._, p 9; _et
al._ "The pronoun of the third person, of the masculine and feminine
gender, is sometimes used as a noun, and regularly declined: as, 'The
_hes_ in birds.' BACON. 'The _shes_ of Italy.' SHAK."--_Churchill's Gram._,
p. 73. "The following _examples_ also _of_ separation of a preposition from
the word which it governs, _is_ improper _in common writings_."--_C.
Adams's Gram._, p. 103. "The word _whose_ begins likewise to be restricted
to persons, but _it_ is not _done_ so generally but that good writers, and
even in prose, use it when speaking of things."--_Priestley's Gram._, p.
99; _L. Murray's_, 157; _Fisk's_, 115; _et al._ "There are new and
surpassing wonders present themselves to our views."--_Sherlock_.
"Inaccuracies are often found in the way wherein the degrees of comparison
are applied and construed."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 202. "Inaccuracies are
often found in the way in which the degrees of comparison are applied and
construed."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 167; _Smith's_, 144; _Ingersoll's_, 193;
_et al._ "The connecting circumstance is placed too remotely, to be either
perspicuous or agreeable."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 177. "Those tenses are
called simple tenses, which are formed of the principal without an
auxiliary verb."--_Ib._, p. 91. "The nearer _that_ men approach to _each
other_, the more numerous are their points of contact and the greater will
be their pleasures or their pains."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 275. "This is
the machine that he is the inventor of."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 124. "To
give this sentence the interrogative form, it should be expressed
thus."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 279. "Never employ those words which may
be susceptible of a sense different from the sense you intend to be
conveyed."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 152. "Sixty pages are occupied in
explaining what would not require more than ten or twelve to be explained
according to the ordinary method."--_Ib., Pref._, p. ix. "The present
participle in _-ing_ always expresses an action, or the suffering of an
action, or the being, state, or condition of a thing as _continuing_ and
_progressive_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 57. "The _Present participle of
all active verbs[457]_ has an active signification; as, James _is building_
the house. _In many of these_, however, _it has also_ a passive
_signification_; as, _the_ house _was building when the wall fell_."--_Id.,
ib._, 2d or 4th Ed., p. 57. "Previous to parsing this sentence, it may be
analyzed to the young pupil by such questions as the following,
viz."--_Id., ib._, p. 73. "Subsequent to that period, however, attention
has been paid to this important subject."--_Ib._, New Ed., p. 189; _Hiley's
Preface_, p. vi. "A definition of a word is an explanation in what sense
the word is used, or what idea or object we mean by it, and which may be
expressed by any one or more of the properties, effects, or circumstances
of that object, so as sufficiently to distinguish it from other
objects."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 245.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XIV.--OF IGNORANCE.

"What is an Asserter? It is _the part of speech_ which asserts."--_O. B.
Peirce's Gram._, p. 20.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the term "_Asserter_" which is here put for
_Verb_, is both ignorantly misspelled, and whimsically misapplied. But,
according to Critical Note 14th, "Any use of words that implies ignorance
of their meaning, or of their proper orthography, is particularly
unscholarlike; and, in proportion to the author's pretensions to learning,
disgraceful." The errors here committed might have been avoided thus: "What
is _a verb_? It is _a word_ which signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be
acted upon_." Or thus: "What is an _assertor_? Ans. 'One who affirms
positively; an affirmer, supporter, or vindicator.'--_Webster's Dict._"]

"Virgil wrote the Ænead."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 56. "Which, to a
supercilious or inconsiderate Japaner, would seem very idle and
impertinent."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 225. "Will not a look of disdain cast
upon you, throw you into a foment?"--_Life of Th. Say_, p. 146. "It may be
of use to the scholar, to remark in this place, that though only the
conjunction _if_ is affixed to the verb, any other conjunction proper for
the subjunctive mood, may, with equal propriety, be occasionally
annexed."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 93. "When proper names have an article
annexed to them, they are used as common names."--_Ib._, p. 36;
_Ingersoll's_, 25; _et al._ "When a proper noun has an article annexed to
it, it is used as a common noun."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 25. "Seeming to
disenthral the death-field of its terrors."--_Ib._, p. 109. "For the same
reason, we might, without any disparagement to the language, dispense with
the terminations of our verbs in the singular."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 50.
"It diminishes all possibility of being misunderstood."--_Abbott's
Teacher_, p. 175. "Approximation to excellence is all that we can
expect."--_Ib._, p. 42. "I have often joined in singing with musicianists
at Norwich."--_Music of Nature_, p. 274. "When not standing in regular
prosic order."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 281. "Disregardless of the
dogmas and edicts of the philosophical umpire."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 75.
"Others begin to talk before their mouths are open, affixing the
mouth-closing M to most of their words--as M-yes for Yes."--_Music of
Nature_, p. 28. "That noted close of his, _esse videatur_, exposed him to
censure among his cotemporaries."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 127. "OWN. Formerly,
a man's _own_ was what he _worked for, own_ being a past participle of a
verb signifying to _work_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 71. "As [requires] so:
expressing a comparison of quality: as, '_As_ the one dieth, _so_ dieth the
other.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 212; _R. C. Smith's_, 177; _and many
others_. "To obey our parents is a solemn duty."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._,
Part I, p. 67. "Most all the political papers of the kingdom have touched
upon these things."--H. C. WRIGHT: _Liberator_, Vol. xiv, p. 22. "I shall
take leave to make a few observations upon the subject."--_Hiley's Gram._,
p. iii. "His loss I have endeavoured to supply, as far as additional
vigilance and industry would allow."--_Ib._, p. xi. "That they should make
vegetation so exhuberant as to anticipate every want."--_Frazee's Gram._,
p. 43. "The quotors " " which denote that one or more words are extracted
from another author."--_Day's District School Gram._, p. 112. "Ninevah and
Assyria were two of the most noted cities of ancient history."--_Ib._, p.
32 and p. 88. "Ninevah, the capital of Assyria, _is_ a celebrated ancient
city."--_Ib._, p. 88. "It may, however, be rendered definite by introducing
some definition of time; as, yesterday, last week, &c."--_Bullions's E.
Gram._, p. 40. "The last is called heroic measure, and is the same that is
used by Milton, Young, Thompson, Pollock, &c."--_Id., Practical Lessons_,
p. 129. "Perrenial ones must be sought in the delightful regions
above."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 194. "Intransitive verbs are those which are
inseperable from the effect produced."--_Cutler's Gram._, p. 31. "Femenine
gender, belongs to women, and animals of the female kind."--_Ib._, p. 15.
"_Woe!_ unto you scribes and pharasees."--_Day's Gram._, p. 74. "A pyrrick,
which has both its syllables short."--_Ib._, p. 114. "What kind of
Jesamine? a Jesamine in flower, or a flowery Jesamine."--_Barrett's Gram._,
10th Ed., p. 53. "_Language_, derived from 'linguæ,' the tongue, is the
_faculty_ of communicating our thoughts to _each_ other, by proper words,
used by common consent, as signs of our ideas."--_Ib._, p. 9. "Say _none_,
not _nara_"--_Staniford's Gram._, p. 81. "ARY ONE, for either."--_Pond's
Larger Gram._, p. 194. (See Obs. 24th, on the Syntax of Adverbs, and the
Note at the bottom of the page.)

   "Earth loses thy _patron_ for ever and aye;
    O sailor boy! sailor boy! peace to thy soul."
        --_S. Barrett's Gram._, 1837, p. 116.

    "His brow was sad, his eye beneath,
    Flashed like a halcyon from its sheath."
        --_Liberator_, Vol. 12, p. 24.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XV.--OF SILLINESS AND TRUISMS.

"Such is the state of man, that he is never at rest."--_L. Murray's Gram._,
p. 57.

[FORMULE.--This is a remark of no wisdom or force, because it would be
nearer the truth, to say, "Such is the state of man, that he _must often_
rest," But, according to Critical Note 15th, "Silly remarks and idle
truisms are traits of a feeble style, and when their weakness is positive,
or inherent, they ought to be entirely omitted." It is useless to attempt a
correction of this example, for it is not susceptible of any form worth
preserving.]

"Participles belong to the nouns or pronouns to which they
relate."--_Wells's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 153. "Though the measure is
mysterious, it is worthy of attention."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 221.
"Though the measure is _mysterious_, it is not unworthy your
attention."--_Kirkham's Gram._, pp. 197 and 227. "The inquietude of his
mind made his station and wealth far from being enviable."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 250. "By rules so general and comprehensive as these are [,] the
clearest ideas are conveyed."--_Ib._, p. 273. "The mind of man cannot be
long without some food to nourish the activity of its thoughts."--_Ib._, p.
185. "Not having known, or not having considered, the measures proposed, he
failed of success."--_Ib._, p. 202. "Not having known or considered the
subject, he made a crude decision."--_Ib._, p. 275. "Not to exasperate him,
I spoke only a very few words."--_Ib._, p. 257. "These are points too
trivial, to be noticed. They are objects with which I am totally
unacquainted."--_Ib._, p. 275. "Before we close this section, it may afford
instruction to the learners, to be informed, more particularly than they
have been."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 110. "The articles are often properly
omitted: when used, they should be justly applied, according to their
distinct nature."--_Ib._, p. 170; _Alger's_, 60. "Any thing, which is done
now, is supposed to be done at the present time."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p.
34. "Any thing which was done yesterday is supposed to be done in past
time."--_Ib._, 34. "Any thing which may be done hereafter, is supposed to
be done in future time."--_Ib._, 34. "When the mind compares two things in
reference to each other, it performs the operation of comparing."--_Ib._,
p. 244. "The persons, with whom you dispute, are not of your
opinion."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._, p. 124. "But the preposition _at_
is _always used_ when it _follows the neuter Verb_ in the same Case: as, 'I
have been _at_ London.'"--_Dr. Ash's Gram._, p. 60. "But the preposition
_at_ is _generally used_ after the neuter verb _to be_: as, 'I have been
_at_ London.'"--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 203; _Ingersoll's_, 231; _Fisk's_,
143; _et al._ "The article _the_ has sometimes a _different_ effect, in
distinguishing a person by an epithet."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 172. "The
article _the_ has, sometimes, a fine effect, in distinguishing a person by
an epithet."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 151. "Some nouns have plurals
belonging only to themselves."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 26. "Sentences
are either simple or compound."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 68. "All sentences are
either simple or compound."--_Gould's Adam's Gram._, p. 155. "The definite
article _the_ belongs to nouns in the singular or plural
number."--_Kirkham's Gram._, Rule 2d, p. 156. "Where a riddle is not
intended, it is _always a fault_ in allegory to be _too dark_."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 151; _Murray's Gram._, 343. "There may be an _excess in too
many_ short sentences _also_; by _which_ the sense is split and
broken."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 101. "Are there any nouns you cannot see,
hear, or feel, but only think of? Name such a noun."--_Infant School
Gram._, p. 17. "_Flock_ is of the singular number, it denotes but one
flock--and in the nominative case, it is the _active agent_ of the
verb."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 58. "The article THE _agrees_ with nouns of
the _singular or plural_ number."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._, p. 8. "The
admiral bombarded Algiers, which has been continued."--_Nixon's Parser_, p.
128. "The world demanded freedom, which might have been expected."--_Ibid._
"The past tense represents an action as past and finished, either with or
without respect to the time when."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 22. "That boy rode
the _wicked_ horse."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. 42. "The snake
_swallowed itself_."--_Ib._, p. 57. "_Do_ is sometimes used when _shall or
should_ is omitted; as, 'if thou _do_ repent.'"--_Ib._, p. 85. "SUBJUNCTIVE
MOOD. This mood _has the tenses of the indicative_."--_Ib._, p. 87. "As
_nouns never speak_, they are never in the first person."--_Davis's
Practical Gram._, p. 148. "Nearly _all parts_ of speech are _used more or
less_ in an _elliptical sense_."--_Day's District School Gram._, p. 80.
"RULE. No word in a period can have any greater _extension_ than the
_other_ words _or sections_ in the same sentence _will give_
it."--_Barrett's Revised Gram._, p. 38 and p. 43. "Words used exclusively
as Adverbs, should not be used as adjectives."--_Clark's Practical Gram._,
p. 166. "Adjectives used in Predication, should not take the Adverbial
form."--_Ib._, pp. 167 and 173.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XVI.--OF THE INCORRIGIBLE.

"And this state of things belonging to the painter governs it in the
possessive case."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 195; _Ingersoll's_, 201; _et al._

[FORMULE.--This composition is incorrigibly bad. The participle
"_belonging_" which seems to relate to "_things_," is improperly meant to
qualify "_state_." And the "_state of things_," (which _state_ really
belongs _only to the things_,) is absurdly supposed to belong to a
_person_--i. e., "_to the painter_." Then this _man_, to whom the "state of
things" is said to belong, is forthwith called "_it_," and nonsensically
declared to be "in the possessive case." But, according to Critical Note
16th, "Passages too erroneous for correction, may be criticised, orally or
otherwise, and then passed over without any attempt to amend them."
Therefore, no correction is attempted here.]

"Nouns or pronouns, following the verb _to be_; or the words _than, but,
as_; or that answer the question _who?_ have the same case _after as
preceded_ them."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 29. "The common gender is _when_ the
noun may be either masculine or feminine."--_Frost's Gram._, p. 8. "The
possessive is generally pronounced the same as if the _s_ were
added."--_Alden's Gram._, p. 11. "For, assuredly, as soon as men _had got_
beyond simple interjections, and began to communicate _themselves_ by
discourse, they would be under a necessity of assigning names to the
objects they _saw around_ them, _which_ in grammatical language, _is called
the invention_ of substantive nouns."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 72. "Young
children will learn to form letters as _soon_, if not _readier, than they_
will when older."--_Taylor's District School_, p. 159. "This comparing
words with one another, constitutes what is called the _degrees_ of
comparison."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 29. "Whenever a noun is _immediately
annexed_ to a _preceding neuter_ verb, it _expresses either_ the same
notion _with_ the verb, or denotes only _the_ circumstance of the
_action."_--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 73. "Two or more nouns or pronouns joined
_singular_ together by the conjunction _and, must have verbs_ agreeing with
them in the plural number."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 129. "Possessive and
demonstrative pronouns agree with their nouns in number and case; as, 'my
brother,' 'this slate, 'these slates.'"--_Ib._, p. 130. "Participles which
have no relation to time are used either as adjectives or as
substantives."--_Maunder's Gram._, p. 1. "They are in use only in some of
their times and modes; and in some of them are a composition of times of
several defective verbs, having the same signification."--_Lowth's Gram._,
p. 59. "When _words_ of the possessive case _that are_ in apposition,
_follow one another_ in quick succession, the possessive sign should be
annexed to the _last only_, and _understood_ to the rest; as, 'For David,
my servant's sake.'"--_Comly's Gram._, p. 92. "_By this order_, the first
nine _rules_ accord with _those_ which respect the _rules_ of concord; and
the _remainder include_, though _they_ extend beyond the _rules_ of
government."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 143. "_Own_ and _self_, in the plural
_selves_, are _joined_ to the possessives, _my, our, thy, your, his, her,
their_; as, _my own_ hand, _myself, yourselves_; both of them expressing
emphasis or opposition, as, 'I did it _my own self_,' that is, _and_ no one
else; the latter also forming the reciprocal pronoun, as, 'he hurt
_himself_.'"--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 25. "A _flowing_ copious style,
therefore, is required _in_ all public speakers; _guarding_, at the _same
time_, against such a degree of _diffusion_, as renders _them_ languid and
tiresome; _which_ will always _prove the case_, when they _inculcate_ too
much, and present the _same thought_ under _too many_ different
views."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 177. "As sentences should be cleared of
redundant words, so also of redundant members. As every word ought to
present a new idea, so every member ought to contain a new thought. Opposed
to _this_, stands the fault we sometimes meet with, of the _last_ member of
a period _being_ no other than _the_ echo of the _former_, or _the_
repetition of it in _somewhat_ a different form." [458]--_Ib._, p. 111.
"_Which_ always refers grammatically to the substantive _immediately
preceding_: [as,] 'It is folly to pretend, by heaping up treasures, to arm
ourselves against the accidents of _life, which_ nothing can protect us
against, but the good providence of our heavenly Father.'"--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 311; _Maunder's_, p. 18; _Blair's Rhet._, p. 105. "The English
_adjectives_, having but a very limited syntax, _is classed_ with _its_
kindred _article_, the _adjective pronoun_, under the eighth rule."--_L.
Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 143. "When a _substantive_ is put _absolutely_,
and does _not agree_ with the following verb, it _remains independent on_
the participle, and _is called_ the _case_ absolute, or the _nominative_
absolute."--_Ib._, p. 195. "It will, doubtless, _sometimes_ happen, that,
on _this occasion_, as well as on many _other occasions_, a strict
adherence to grammatical rules, _would_ render _the_ language stiff and
formal: but when _cases of this sort_ occur, it is better to give the
expression a _different_ turn, than to violate _grammar_ for the sake of
_ease_, or even of _elegance_."--_Ib._, p. 208. "Number, which
distinguishes _objects_ as _singly_ or _collectively_, must have been
coeval with the very infancy of language"--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 25. "The
article _a_ or _an_ agrees with nouns _in_ the singular number _only,
individually_ or _collectively_."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 170; _and
others_. "No language is perfect _because it is_ a human
invention."--_Parker and Fox's Grammar_, Part III, p. 112. "The
_participles_, or as they may properly be termed, _forms_ of the verb in
the _second infinitive_, usually _precedes another_ verb, and _states_ some
fact, or event, from which an _inference_ is drawn _by that verb_; as, 'the
sun _having arisen_, they departed.'"--_Day's Grammar_, 2nd Ed., p. 36.
"They must describe _what has happened_ as having done so in the past _or
the present_ time, or as _likely to occur_ in the future."--_The
Well-Wishers' Grammar, Introd._, p. 5. "Nouns are either male, female, or
neither."--_Fowle's Common School Grammar_, Part Second, p. 12. "Possessive
_Adjectives_ express possession, and distinguish _nouns_ from _each_ other
by showing _to what_ they belong; as, _my hat, John's_ hat."--_Ib._, p. 31.


PROMISCUOUS EXAMPLES OF FALSE SYNTAX.

LESSON I.--VARIOUS RULES.

"What is the reason that our language is less refined than that of Italy,
Spain, or France?"--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 185. "What is the reason that
our language is less refined than that of France?"--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p.
152. "'I believe your Lordship will agree with me, in the reason why our
language is less refined than those of Italy, Spain, or France.' DEAN
SWIFT. Even in this short sentence, we may discern an inaccuracy--'why our
language is less refined than _those_ of Italy, Spain, or France;' putting
the pronoun _those_ in the plural, when the antecedent substantive to which
it refers is in the singular, _our language_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 228.
"The sentence might have been made to run much better in this way; 'why our
language is less refined than the Italian, Spanish, or French.'"--_Ibid._
"But when arranged in an entire sentence, which they must be to make a
complete sense, they show it still more evidently."--_L. Murray's Gram._,
p. 65. "This is a more artificial and refined construction than that, in
which the common connective is simply made use of."--_Ib._, p. 127. "We
shall present the reader with a list of Prepositions, which are derived
from the Latin and Greek languages."--_Ib._, p. 120. "Relatives comprehend
the meaning of a pronoun and conjunction copulative."--_Ib._, p. 126.
"Personal pronouns being used to supply the place of the noun, are not
employed in the same part of the sentence as the noun which they
represent."--_Ib._, p. 155; _R. C. Smith's Gram._, 131. "There is very
seldom any occasion for a substitute in the same part where the principal
word is present."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 155. "We hardly consider little
children as persons, because that term gives us the idea of reason and
reflection."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 98; _Murray's_, 157; _Smith's_, 133;
_and others_. "The occasion of exerting each of these qualities is
different."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 95; _Murray's Gram._, 302; _Jamieson's
Rhet._, 66. "I'll tell you who time ambles withal, who time trots withal,
who time gallops withal and who he stands still withal. I pray thee, who
doth he trot withal?"--_Shakspeare_. "By greatness, I do not only mean the
bulk of any single object, but the largeness of a whole view."--_Addison_.
"The question may then be put, What does he more than mean?"--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 103. "The question might be put, what more does he than only
mean?"--_Ib._, p. 204. "He is surprised to find himself got to so great a
distance, from the object with which he at first set out."--_Ib._, p. 108.
"He is surprised to find himself at so great a distance from the object
with which he sets out."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 313. "Few precise rules can
be given, which will hold without exception in all cases."--_Ib._, p. 267;
_Lowth's Gram._, p. 115. "Versification is the arrangement of a certain
number of syllables according to certain laws."--_Dr. Johnson's Gram._, p.
13. "Versification is the arrangement of a certain number and variety of
syllables, according to certain laws."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 252; R. C.
Smith's, 187; and others. "Charlotte, the friend of Amelia, to whom no one
imputed blame, was too prompt in her own vindication."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 273. "Mr. Pitt, joining the war party in 1793, the most striking
and the most fatal instance of this offence, is the one which at once
presents itself."--_Brougham's Sketches_, Vol. i, p. 57. "To the framing
such a sound constitution of mind."--_The American Lady_, p. 132. "'I
beseech you,' said St. Paul to his Ephesian converts, 'that ye walk worthy
the vocation wherewith ye are called.'"--_Ib._, p. 208. "So as to prevent
its being equal to that."--_Booth's Introd._, p. 88. "When speaking of an
action's being performed."--_Ib._, p. 89. "And, in all questions of an
action's being so performed, _est_ is added to the second person."--_Ib._,
p. 72. "No account can be given of this, than that custom has blinded their
eyes."--_Dymond's Essays_, p. 269.

   "Design, or chance, make other wive;
    But nature did this match contrive."--_Waller_, p. 24.


LESSON II.--VARIOUS RULES.

"I suppose each of you think it is your own nail."--_Abbott's Teacher_, p.
58. "They are useless, from their being apparently based upon this
supposition."--_Ib._, p. 71. "The form and manner, in which this plan may
be adopted, is various."--_Ib._, p. 83. "Making intellectual effort, and
acquiring knowledge, are always pleasant to the human mind."--_Ib._, p. 85.
"This will do more than the best lecture which ever was delivered."--_Ib._,
p. 90. "Doing easy things is generally dull work."--_Ib._, p. 92. "Such is
the tone and manner of some teachers."--_Ib._, p. 118. "Well, the fault is,
being disorderly at prayer time."--_Ib._, p. 153. "Do you remember speaking
on this subject in school?"--_Ib._, p. 154. "The course above recommended,
is not trying lax and inefficient measures."--_Ib._, p. 156. "Our community
is agreed that there is a God."--_Ib._, p. 163. "It prevents their being
interested in what is said."--_Ib._, p. 175. "We will also suppose that I
call another boy to me, who I have reason to believe to be a sincere
Christian."--_Ib._, p. 180. "Five minutes notice is given by the
bell."--_Ib._, p. 211. "The Annals of Education gives notice of
it."--_Ib._, p. 240. "Teacher's meetings will be interesting and
useful."--_Ib._, p. 243. "She thought an half hour's study would conquer
all the difficulties."--_Ib._, p. 257. "The difference between an honest
and an hypocritical confession."--_Ib._, p. 263. "There is no point of
attainment where we must stop."--_Ib._, p. 267. "Now six hours is as much
as is expected of teachers."--_Ib._, p. 268. "How much is seven times
nine?"--_Ib._, p. 292. "Then the reckoning proceeds till it come to _ten
hundred_."--_Frost's Practical Gram._, p. 170. "Your success will depend on
your own exertions; see, then, that you are diligent."--_Ib._, p. 142.
"Subjunctive Mood, Present Tense: If I am known, If thou art known. If he
is known: etc."--_Ib._, p. 91. "If I be loved, If thou be loved, If he be
loved;" &c.--_Ib._, p. 85. "An Interjection is a word used to express
sudden emotion. They are so called, because they are generally thrown in
between the parts of a sentence without any reference to the structure of
the other parts of it."--_Ib._, p. 35. "The Cardinals are those which
simplify or denote number; as one, two, three."--_Ib._, p. 31. "More than
one organ is concerned in the utterance of almost every consonant."--_Ib._,
p. 21. "To extract from them all the Terms we make use in our Divisions and
Subdivisions of the Art."--_Holmes's Rhetoric_, Pref. "And there was
written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe."--_Ezekiel_, ii, 10.
"If I were to be judged as to my behaviour, compared with that of
John's."--_Josephus_, Vol. 5, p. 172. "When the preposition _to_ signifies
_in order to_, it used to be preceded by _for_, which is now almost
obsolete; What went ye out _for to_ see."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 132.
"This makes the proper perfect tense, which, in English, is always
expressed by the help of the auxiliary verb, 'I have written.'"--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 82. "Indeed, in the formation of character, personal exertion is
the first, the second, and the third virtues."--_Sanders, Spelling-Book_,
p. 93. "The reducing them to the condition of the beasts that
perish."--_Dymond's Essays_, p. 67. "Yet this affords no reason to deny
that the nature of the gift is not the same, or that both are not
divine."--_Ib._, p. 68. "If God have made known his will."--_Ib._, p. 98.
"If Christ have prohibited them, [i.e., oaths,] nothing else can prove them
right."--_Ib._, p. 150 "That the taking them is wrong, every man who simply
consults his own heart, will know."--_Ib._, p. 163. "These evils would be
spared the world, if one did not write."--_Ib._, p. 168. "It is in a great
degree our own faults."--_Ib._, p. 200. "It is worthy observation that
lesson-learning is nearly excluded."--_Ib._, p. 212. "Who spares the
aggressor's life even to the endangering his own."--_Ib._, p. 227. "Who
advocates the taking the life of an aggressor."--_Ib._, p. 229. "And thence
up to the intentionally and voluntary fraudulent."--_Ib._, p. 318. "'And
the contention was so great among them, that they departed asunder, one
from _an_other.'--_Acts_, xv. 39."--_Rev. Matt. Harrison's English Lang._,
p. 235. "Here the man is John, and John is the man; so the words are _the
imagination and the fancy_, and _the imagination and the fancy_ are the
_words_."--_Harrison's E. Lang._, p. 227. "The article, which is here so
emphatic in the Greek, is lost sight of in our translation."--_Ib._, p.
223. "We have no less than thirty pronouns."--_Ib._, p. 166. "It will admit
of a pronoun being joined to it."--_Ib._, p. 137. "From intercourse and
from conquest, all the languages of Europe participate with each
other."--_Ib._, p. 104. "It is not always necessity, therefore, that has
been the cause of our introducing terms derived from the classical
languages."--_Ib._, p. 100. "The man of genius stamps upon it any
impression that he pleases."--_Ib._, p. 90. "The proportion of names ending
in _son_ preponderate greatly among the Dano-Saxon population of the
North."--_Ib._, p. 43. "As a proof of the strong similarity between the
English and the Danish languages."--_Ib._, p. 37. "A century from the time
that Hengist and Horsa landed on the Isle of Thanet."--_Ib._, p. 27.

   "I saw the colours waving in the wind,
    And they within, to mischief how combin'd."--_Bunyan_.


LESSON III.--VARIOUS RULES.

"A ship expected: of whom we say, _she_ sails well."--_Ben Jonson's Gram._,
Chap. 10. "Honesty is reckoned little worth."--_Paul's Accidence_, p. 58.
"Learn to esteem life as it ought."--_Economy of Human Life_, p. 118. "As
the soundest health is less perceived than the lightest malady, so the
highest joy toucheth us less deep than the smallest sorrow."--_Ib._, p.
152. "Being young is no apology for being frivolous."--_Whiting's
Elementary Reader_, p. 117. "The porch was the same width with the
temple."--_Milman's Jews_, Vol. i. p. 208. "The other tribes neither
contributed to his rise or downfall."--_Ib._, Vol. i. p. 165. "His whole
laws and religion would have been shaken to its foundation."--_Ib._, Vol.
i. p. 109. "The English has most commonly been neglected, and children
taught only the Latin syntax."--_Lily's Gram., Pref._, p. xi. "They are not
taken notice of in the notes."--_Ib._, p. x. "He walks in righteousness,
doing what he would be done to."--_S. Fisher's Works_, p. 14. "They stand
independently on the rest of the sentence."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 151.
"My uncle, with his son, were in town yesterday."--_Lennie's Gram._, p.
142. "She with her sisters are well."--_Ib._, p. 143. "His purse, with its
contents, were abstracted from his pocket."--_Ib._, p. 143. "The great
constitutional feature of this institution being, that directly the
acrimony of the last election is over, the acrimony of the next
begins."--_Dickens's Notes_, p. 27. "His disregarding his parents' advice
has brought him into disgrace."--_Farnum's Pract. Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 19.
"Error: Can you tell me the reason of his father making that
remark?--_Ib._, p. 93. Cor.: Can you tell me the reason of his father's
making that remark?"--See _Farnum's Gram._, Rule 12th. p. 76. "Error: What
is the reason of our teacher detaining us so long?--_Ib._, p. 76. Cor.:
What is the reason of our _teacher's_ detaining us so long?"--See _Ib._
"Error: I am certain of the boy having said so. Correction: I am certain of
the _boy's_ having said so."--_Exercises in Farnum's Gram._, p. 76.
"_Which_ means any thing or things before-named; and _that_ may represent
any person or persons, thing or things, which have been speaking, spoken to
or spoken of."--_Dr. Perley's Gram._, p. 9. "A certain number of syllables
connected, form a foot. They are called _feet_, because it is by their aid
that the voice, as it were, steps along."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 252; _C.
Adams's_, 121. "Asking questions with a principal verb--as, _Teach I? Burns
he_, &c. are barbarisms, and carefully to be avoided."--_Alex. Murray's
Gram._, p. 122. "Tell whether the 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22d, or 23d Rules
are to be used, and repeat the Rule."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part I, p.
4. "The resolution was adopted without much deliberation, which caused
great dissatisfaction."--_Ib._, p. 71. "The man is now taken much notice of
by the people thereabouts."--_Edward's First Lessons in Gram._, p. 42.
"The sand prevents their sticking to one another."--_Ib._, p. 84.
"Defective Verbs are those which are used only in some of their moods and
tenses."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 108; _Guy's_, 42; _Russell's_, 46;
_Bacon's_, 42; _Frost's_, 40; _Alger's_, 47; _S. Putnam's_, 47;
_Goldsbury's_, 54; _Felton's_, 59; and _others_. "Defective verbs are those
which want some of their moods and tenses."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 47;
_Bullions, E. Gram._, 65; _Practical Lessons_, 75. "Defective Verbs want
some of their parts."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, p. 78. "A Defective verb is
one that wants some of its parts."--_Bullions, Analyt. and Pract. Gram._,
1849, p. 101. "To the irregular verbs are to be added the defective; which
are not only for the most part irregular, but also wanting in some of their
parts."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 59. "To the irregular verbs are to be added
the defective; which are not only wanting in some of their parts, but are,
when inflected, irregular."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 112. "When two or more
nouns succeed each other in the possessive case."--_Farnum's Gram._, 2d
Ed., pp. 20 and 63. "When several short sentences succeed each
other."--_Ib._, p. 113. "Words are divided into ten Classes, and are called
PARTS OF SPEECH."--_Ainsworth's Gram._, p. 8. "A Passive Verb has its
_agent_ or _doer_ always in the objective case, and is governed by a
preposition."--_Ib._, p. 40. "I am surprised at your negligent attention."
_Ib._, p. 43. "SINGULAR: Thou lovest or you love. _You_ has always a plural
verb."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 43. "How do you know that _love_ is the
first person? _Ans_. Because _we_ is the first personal pronoun."--_Id.,
ib._, p. 47; _Lennie's Gram._, p. 26. "The lowing herd wind slowly round
the lea."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 96. "Iambic verses have every second,
fourth, and other even syllables accented."--_Ib._, p. 170. "Contractions
are often made in poetry, which are not allowable in prose."--_Ib._, p.
179. "Yet to their general's voice they all obeyed."--_Ib._, p. 179. "It
never presents to his mind but one new subject at the same
time."--_Felton's Gram._, 1st edition, p. 6. "When the name of a quality is
abstracted, that is separated from its substance, it is called an abstract
noun."--_Ib._, p. 9. "Nouns are in the _first_ person when
speaking."--_Ib._, p. 9. "Which of the two brothers are
graduates?"--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 59. "I am a linen draper bold, as you
and all the world doth know."--_Ib._, p. 60. "O the bliss, the pain of
dying!"--_Ib._, p. 127. "This do; take you censers, Korah, and all his
company."--_Numbers_, xvi, 6. "There are two participles,--the _present_
and _perfect_; as, _reading, having read_. Transitive verbs have an
_active_ and _passive_ participle. Examples: ACTIVE, _Present_, Loving;
_Perfect_, Having loved: PASSIVE, _Present_, Loved _or_ being loved;
_Perfect_, Having been loved."--_S. S. Greene's Analysis_, 1st Ed., p. 225.

   "O heav'n, in my connubial hour decree
    This man my spouse, or such a spouse as he."--_Pope_.


LESSON IV.--VARIOUS RULES.

"The _Past Tenses_ represent a conditional past fact or event, and of which
the speaker is uncertain."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 89. "Care also should be
taken that they are not introduced too abundantly."--_Ib._, p. 134. "Till
they are become familiar to the mind."--_Ib._, Pref., p. v. "When once a
particular arrangement and phraseology are become familiar to the
mind."--_Ib._, p. vii. "I have furnished the student with the plainest and
most practical directions which I could devise."--_Ib._, p. xiv. "When you
are become conversant with the Rules of Grammar, you will then be qualified
to commence the study of Style."--_Ib._, p. xxii. "_C_ has a soft sound
like _s_ before _e, i_, and _y_, generally."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 10. "_G_
before _e, i_, and _y_, is soft; as in genius, ginger, Egypt."--_Ib._, p.
12. "_C_ before _e, i_, and _y_, generally sounds soft like _s_."--_Hiley's
Gram._, p. 4. "_G_ is soft before _e, i_, and _y_, as in genius, ginger,
Egypt."--_Ib._, p. 4. "As a perfect Alphabet must always contain as many
letters as there are elementary sounds in the language, the English
Alphabet is therefore both defective and redundant."--_Hiley's Gram._, p.
5. "Common Nouns are the names given to a whole class or species, and are
applicable to every individual of that class."--_Ib._, p. 11. "Thus an
adjective has always a noun either expressed or understood."--_Ib._, p.
20. "First, let us consider emphasis; by _this_, is meant a _stronger_ and
_fuller_ sound of voice, by which we distinguish _the accented syllable_ of
some word, on _which_ we _design to lay_ particular stress, _and to shew_
how _it effects_ the rest of the sentence."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 330. "By
emphasis is meant a _stronger_ and _fuller_ sound of voice, by which we
distinguish some word or words on which we _design to lay_ particular
stress, _and to show_ how _they affect_ the rest of the
sentence."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 242. "Such a simple question as this: 'Do
you ride to town to-day,' is capable of _no fewer than_ four different
acceptations, _according as_ the emphasis is differently placed _on the
words_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 330; _Murray's Gram._, p. 242. "Thus,
_bravely_, or 'in a brave manner,' is derived from _brave-like_."--_Hiley's
Gram._, p. 51. "In the same manner, the different parts of speech are
formed from each other generally by means of some affix."--_Ib._, p. 60.
"Words derived from each other, are always, more or less, allied in
signification."--_Ib._, p. 60. "When a noun of multitude conveys unity of
idea the verb and pronoun should be singular. But when it conveys plurality
of idea, the verb and pronoun must be plural."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 71.
"They have spent their whole time to make the sacred chronology agree with
that of the profane."--_Ib._, p. 87. "'I have studied my lesson, but you
_have_ not;' that is, 'but you have not _studied_ it.'"--_Ib._, p. 109.
"When words follow each other in pairs, there is a comma between each
pair."--_Ib._, p. 112; _Bullions_, 152; _Lennie_, 132. "When words follow
each other in pairs, the pairs should be marked by the comma."--_Farnum's
Gram._, p. 111. "His 'Studies of Nature,' is deservedly a popular
work."--_Univ. Biog. Dict., n. St. Pierre_. "'Here lies _his_ head, a
_youth_ to fortune and to fame unknown.' 'Youth,' here is in the
_possessive_ (the sign being omitted), and is _in apposition_ with his.'
The meaning is, 'the head of him, a youth.' &c."--_Hart's E. Gram._, p.
124. "The pronoun I, and the interjection O, should be written with a
capital."--_Weld's E. Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 16. "The pronoun _I_ always should
be written with a capital letter."--_Ib._, p. 68. "He went from England to
York."--_Ib._, p. 41. "An adverb is a part of speech joined to verbs,
adjectives and other adverbs, to modify their meaning."--_Ib._, p. 51;
"_Abridged Ed._," 46. "_Singular_, signifies 'one person or thing.'
_Plural_, (Latin _plus_,) signifies 'more than one.'"--_Weld's Gram._, p.
55. "When the present ends in e, _d_ only is added to form the Imperfect
and Perfect participle."--_Ib._, p. 82. "SYNÆRESIS is the contraction of
two syllables into one; as, _Seest_ for _see-est, drowned_ for
_drown-ed_"--_Ib._, p. 213. "Words ending in _ee_ drop the final _e_ on
receiving an additional syllable beginning with _e_; as, _see, seest,
agree, agreed_."--_Ib._, p, 227. "Monosyllables in _f, l_, or _s_, preceded
by a single vowel are doubled; as, staff, grass, mill."--_Ib._, p. 226.
"Words ending _ie_ drop the _e_ and take _y_; as die, _dying_."--_Ib._, p.
226. "One number may be used for another; as, _we_ for _I, you_ for
_thou_."--_S. S. Greene's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 198. "STR~OB´ILE, _n._ A
pericarp made up of scales that lie over each other. SMART."--_Worcester's
Univ. and Crit. Dict._

   "Yet ever from the clearest source have ran
    Some gross allay, some tincture of the man."--_Dr. Lowth_.


LESSON V.--VARIOUS RULES.

"The possessive case is always followed by the noun which is the name of
the thing possessed, expressed or understood."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 61;
_Revised Edition_, pp. 64 and 86. "Hadmer of Aggstein was as pious, devout,
and praying a Christian, as were Nelson, Washington, or Jefferson; or as
are Wellington, Tyler, Clay, or Polk."--H. C. WRIGHT: _Liberator_, Vol. xv,
p. 21. "A word in the possessive case is not an independent noun, and
cannot stand by its self."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 130. "Mary is not
handsome, but she is good-natured, which is better than beauty."--_St.
Quentin's Gram._, p. 9. "After the practice of joining words together had
ceased, notes of distinction were placed at the end of every
word."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 267; _Hallock's_, 224. "Neither Henry nor
Charles dissipate his time."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 166. "'He had taken
from the Christians' abode thirty small castles.'--_Knowles._"--_Ib._, p.
61. "In _whatever_ character Butler was admitted, is unknown."--_Ib._, p.
62. "How is the agent of a passive, and the object of an active verb often
left?"--_Ib._, p. 88. "By _subject_ is meant the word of which something is
declared of its object."--_Chandler's Gram._, 1821, p. 103. "Care should
also be taken that an intransitive verb is not used instead of a
transitive: as, I lay, (the bricks) for, I lie down; I raise the house, for
I rise; I sit down, for, I set the chair down, &c."--_Ib._, p. 114. "On
them depend the duration of our Constitution and our country."--_J. C.
Calhoun at Memphis_. "In the present sentence neither the sense nor the
measure require _what_."--_Chandler's Gram._, 1821, p. 164. "The Irish
thought themselves oppress'd by the Law that forbid them to draw with their
Horses Tails."--_Brightland's Gram._, Pref., p. iii. "So _willingly_ are
adverbs, qualifying deceives."--_Cutler's Gram._, p. 90. "Epicurus for
experiment sake confined himself to a narrower diet than that of the
severest prisons."--_Ib._, p. 116. "Derivative words are such as are
compounded of other words, as common-wealth, good-ness,
false-hood."--_Ib._, p. 12. "The distinction here insisted on is as old as
Aristotle, and should not be lost sight of."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 61. "The
Tenses of the Subjunctive and the Potential Moods."--_Ib._, p. 80. "A
triphthong is a union of three vowels uttered in like manner: as, _uoy_ in
buoy."--_P. Davis's Practical Gram._, p. xvi. "Common nouns are the names
of a species or kind."--_Ib._, p. 8. "The superlative degree is a
comparison between three or more."--_Ib._, p. 14. "An adverb is a word or
phrase serving to give an additional idea of a verb, and adjective,
article, or another adverb."--_Ib._, p. 36. "When several nouns in the
possessive case succeed each other, each showing possession of the same
noun, it is only necessary to add the sign of the possessive to the last:
as, He sells men, women, and _children's_ shoes. Dog. cat, and _tiger's_
feet are digitated."--_Ib._, p. 72. "A rail-road is making _should be_ A
rail-road is _being made_. A school-house is building, _should be_ A
school-house is _being_ built."--_Ib._, p. 113. "Auxiliaries are not of
themselves verbs; they resemble in their character and use those
terminational or other inflections in other languages, _which we are
obliged to use in ours_ to express the action in the mode, tense, &c.,
desired."--_Ib._, p. 158. "Please hold my horse while I speak to my
friend."--_Ib._, p. 159. "If I say, 'Give me _the_ book,' I ask for some
_particular_ book."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. 39. "There are five men
here."--_Ib._, p. 134. "In the active the object may be omitted; in the
passive the name of the agent may be omitted."--_Ib._, p. 63. "The
Progressive and the Emphatic forms give in each case a different shade of
meaning to the verb."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 80. "_That_ is a Kind of a
Redditive Conjunction, when it answers to _so_ and _such._"--_W. Ward's
Gram._, p. 152. "He attributes to negligence your failing to succeed in
that business."--_Smart's Accidence_, p. 36. "Does _will_ and _go_ express
but _our_ action?"--_S. Barrett's Revised Gram._, p. 58. "Language is the
_principle_ vehicle of thought. G. BROWN."--_James Brown's English Syntax_,
p. 3. "_Much_ is applied to things weighed or measured; _many_, to those
that are numbered. _Elder_ and _eldest_, to persons only; _older_ and
_oldest_, either to persons or things."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 20;
_Pract. Les._, 25. "If there are any old maids still extant, while
mysogonists are so rare, the fault must be attributable to
themselves."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 286. "The second method used by the
Greeks, has never been the practice of any part of Europe."--_Sheridan's
Elocution_, p. 64. "Neither consonant, nor vowel, are to be dwelt upon
beyond their common quantity, when they close a sentence."--_Sheridan's
Rhetorical Gram._, p. 54. "IRONY is a mode of speech expressing a _sense
contrary_ to that which the speaker or writer intends to convey."--_Wells's
School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 196; 113th Ed., p. 212. "IRONY is _the
intentional_ use of words _in a sense contrary_ to that which the writer or
speaker _intends_ to convey."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 215; Imp. Ed.,
216. "The persons speaking, or spoken to, are supposed to be
present."--_Wells_, p. 68. "The persons speaking and spoken to are supposed
to be present."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 51. "A _Noun_ is a word used to
express the _name_ of an object."--_Wells's School Gram._, pp. 46 and 47.
"A _syllable_ is a word, or such a part of a word as is uttered by one
articulation."--_Weld's English Gram._, p. 15; "_Abridged Ed._," p. 16.

   "Thus wondrous fair; thyself how wondrous then!
    Unspeakable, who sits above these heavens."
        --_Cutler's Gram._, p. 131.

   "And feel thy sovereign vital lamp; but thou
    Revisitest not these eyes, that roll in vain."
        --_Felton's Gram._, p. 133.

   "Before all temples the upright and pure."
        --_Butler's Gram._, p. 195.

   "In forest wild, in thicket, break or den."
        --_Cutler's Gram._, p. 130.

   "The rogue and fool by fits is fair and wise;
    And e'en the best, by fits, what they despise."
        --_Pope's Ess._, iii, 233.




CHAPTER XIV.--QUESTIONS.

ORDER OF REHEARSAL, AND METHOD OF EXAMINATION.


PART THIRD, SYNTAX.

[Fist][The following questions, which embrace nearly all the important
particulars of the foregoing code of Syntax, are designed not only to
direct and facilitate class rehearsals, but also to develop the
acquirements of those who may answer them at examinations more public.]


LESSON I.--DEFINITIONS. 1. Of what does Syntax treat? 2. What is the
_relation_ of words? 3. What is the _agreement_ of words? 4. What is the
_government_ of words? 5. What is the _arrangement_ of words? 6. What is a
_sentence_? 7. How many and what are the _principal parts_ of a sentence?
8. What are the other parts called? 9. How many kinds of sentences are
there? 10. What is a _simple_ sentence? 11. What is a _compound sentence_?
12. What is a _clause_, or _member_? 13. What is a _phrase_? 14. What words
must be supplied in parsing? 15. How are the leading principles of syntax
presented? 16. In what order are the rules of syntax arranged in this work?


LESSON II.--THE RULES.

1. To what do articles relate? 2. What case is employed as the subject of a
finite verb? 3. What agreement is required between words in apposition? 4.
By what is the possessive case governed? 5. What case does an
active-transitive verb or participle govern? 6. What case is put after a
verb or participle not transitive? 7. What case do prepositions govern? 8.
When, and in what case, is a noun or pronoun put absolute in English? 9. To
what do adjectives relate? 10. How does a pronoun agree with its
antecedent? 11. How does a pronoun agree with a collective noun? 12. How
does a pronoun agree with joint antecedents? 13. How does a pronoun agree
with disjunct antecedents?


LESSON III.--THE RULES.

14. How does a finite verb agree with its subject, or nominative? 15. How
does a verb agree with a collective noun? 16. How does a verb agree with
joint nominatives? 17. How does a verb agree with disjunctive nominatives?
18. What governs the infinitive mood? 19. What verbs take the infinitive
after them without the preposition _to_? 20. What is the regular
construction of participles, as such? 21. To what do adverbs relate? 22.
What do conjunctions connect? 23. What is the use of prepositions? 24. What
is the syntax of interjections?


LESSON IV.--THE RULES.

1. What are the several titles, or subjects, of the twenty-four rules of
syntax? 2. What says Rule 1st of _Articles_? 3. What says Rule 2d of
_Nominatives_? 4. What says Rule 3d of _Apposition_? 5. What says Rule 4th
of _Possessives_? 6. What says Rule 5th of _Objectives_? 7. What says Rule
6th of _Same Cases_? 8. What says Rule 7th of _Objectives_? 9. What says
Rule 8th of the _Nominative Absolute_? 10. What says Rule 9th of
_Adjectives_? 11. What says Rule 10th of _Pronouns_? 12. What says Rule
11th of _Pronouns_? 13. What says Rule 12th of _Pronouns_? 14. What says
Rule 13th of _Pronouns_? 15. What says Rule 14th of _Finite Verbs_? 16.
What says Rule 15th of _Finite Verbs_? 17. What says Rule 16th of _Finite
Verbs_? 18. What says Rule 17th of _Finite Verbs_? 19. What says Rule 18th
of _Infinitives_? 20. What says Rule 19th of _Infinitives_? 21. What says
Rule 20th of _Participles_? 22. What says Rule 21st of _Adverbs_? 23. What
says Rule 22d of _Conjunctions_? 24. What says Rule 23d of _Prepositions_?
25. What says Rule 24th of _Interjections_?


LESSON V.--THE ANALYZING OF SENTENCES.

1. What is it, "to analyze a sentence?" 2. What are the component parts of
a sentence? 3. Can all sentences be divided into clauses? 4. Are there
different methods of analysis, which may be useful? 5. What is the first
method of analysis, according to this code of syntax? 6. How is the
following example analyzed by this method? "Even the Atheist, who tells us
that the universe is self-existent and indestructible--even he, who,
instead of seeing the traces of a manifold wisdom in its manifold
varieties, sees nothing in them all but the exquisite structures and the
lofty dimensions of materialism--even he, who would despoil creation of its
God, cannot look upon its golden suns, and their accompanying systems,
without the solemn impression of a magnificence that fixes and overpowers
him." 7. What is the second method of analysis? 8. How is the following
example analyzed by this method? "Fear naturally quickens the flight of
guilt. Rasselas could not catch the fugitive, with his utmost efforts; but,
resolving to weary, by perseverance, him whom he could not surpass in
speed, he pressed on till the foot of the mountain stopped his course." 9.
What is the third method of analysis? 10. How is the following example
analyzed by this method? "Such is the emptiness of human enjoyment, that we
are always impatient of the present. Attainment is followed by neglect, and
possession, by disgust. Few moments are more pleasing than those in which
the mind is concerting measures for a new undertaking. From the first hint
that wakens the fancy, to the hour of actual execution, all is improvement
and progress, triumph and felicity." 11. What is the fourth method of
analysis? 12. How are the following sentences analyzed by this method? (1.)
"Swift would say, 'The thing has not life enough in it to keep it sweet;'
Johnson, 'The creature possesses not vitality sufficient to preserve it
from putrefaction.'" (2.) "There is one Being to whom we can look with a
perfect conviction of finding that security, which nothing about us can
give, and which nothing about us can take away." 13. What is said of the
fifth method of analysis?

[Now, if the teacher choose to make use of any other method of analysis
than full syntactical parsing, he may direct his pupils to turn to the next
selection of examples, or to any other accurate sentences, and analyze them
according to the method chosen.]


LESSON VI.--OF PARSING.

1. Why is it necessary to observe _the sense_, or _meaning_, of what we
parse? 2. What is required of the pupil in syntactical parsing? 3. How is
the following long example parsed in Praxis XII? "A young man studious to
know his duty, and honestly bent on doing it, will find himself led away
from the sin or folly in which the multitude thoughtlessly indulge
themselves; but, ah! poor fallen human nature! what conflicts are thy
portion, when inclination and habit--a rebel and a traitor--exert their
sway against our only saving principle!"

[Now parse, in like manner, and with no needless deviations from the
prescribed forms, the ten lessons of the _Twelfth Praxis_; or such parts of
those lessons as the teacher may choose.]


LESSON VII.--THE RULES.

1. In what chapter are the rules of syntax first presented? 2. In what
praxis are these rules first applied in parsing? 3. Which of the ten parts
of speech is left without any rule of syntax? 4. How many and which of the
ten have but one rule apiece? 5. Then, of the twenty-four rules, how many
remain for the other three parts,--nouns, pronouns, and verbs? 6. How many
of these seventeen speak of _cases_, and therefore apply equally to nouns
and pronouns? 7. Which are these seven? 8. How many rules are there for the
agreement of pronouns with their antecedents, and which are they? 9. How
many rules are there for finite verbs, and which are they? 10. How many are
there for infinitives, and which are they? 11. What ten chapters of the
foregoing code of syntax treat of the ten parts of speech in their order?
12. Besides the rules and their examples, what sorts of matters are
introduced into these chapters? 13. How many of the twenty-four rules of
syntax are used both in parsing and in correcting? 14. Of what use are
those which cannot be violated in practice? 15. How many such rules are
there among the twenty-four? 16. How many and what parts of speech are
usually parsed by such rules only?


LESSON VIII.--THE NOTES.

1. What is the essential character of the _Notes_ which are placed under
the rules of syntax? 2. Are the different forms of false construction as
numerous as these notes? 3. Which exercise brings into use the greater
number of grammatical principles, parsing or correcting? 4. Are the
principles or doctrines which are applied in these different exercises
usually the same, or are they different? 5. In etymological parsing, we use
about seventy _definitions_; can these be used also in the correcting of
errors? 6. For the correcting of false syntax, we have a hundred and
fifty-two _notes_; can these be used also in parsing? 7. How many of the
rules have no such notes under them? 8. What order is observed in the
placing of these notes, if some rules have many, and others few or none? 9.
How many of them are under the rule for _articles_? 10. How many of them
refer to the construction of _nouns_? 11. How many of them belong to the
syntax of _adjectives_? 12. How many of them treat of _pronouns_? 13. How
many of them regard the use of _verbs_? 14. How many of them pertain to the
syntax of _participles_? 15. How many of them relate to the construction of
_adverbs_? 16. How many of them show the application of _conjunctions_? 17.
How many of them expose errors in the use of _prepositions_? 18. How many
of them speak of _interjections_?

[Now correct orally the examples of _False Syntax_ placed under the several
Rules and Notes; or so many texts under each head as the teacher may think
sufficient.]


LESSON IX.--THE EXCEPTIONS.

1. In what exercise can there be occasion to cite and apply the
_Exceptions_ to the rules of syntax? 2. Are there exceptions to all the
rules, or to how many? 3. Are there exceptions in reference to all the
parts of speech, or to how many of the ten? 4. Do articles always relate to
nouns? 5. Can the subject of a finite verb be in any other case than the
nominative? 6. Are words in apposition always supposed to be in the same
case? 7. Is the possessive case always governed by the name of the thing
possessed? 8. Can an active-transitive verb govern any other case than the
objective? 9. Can a verb or participle not transitive take any other case
after it than that which precedes it? 10. Can a preposition, in English,
govern any other case than the objective? 11. Can "the case absolute," in
English, be any other than the nominative? 12. Does every adjective "belong
to a substantive, expressed or understood," as Murray avers? 13. Can an
adjective ever relate to any thing else than a noun or pronoun? 14. Can an
adjective ever be used without relation to any noun, pronoun, or other
subject? 15. Can an adjective ever be substituted for its kindred abstract
noun? 16. Are the person, number, and gender of a pronoun always determined
by an antecedent? 17. What pronoun is sometimes applied to animals so as
not to distinguish their sex? 18. What pronoun is sometimes an expletive,
and sometimes used with reference to an infinitive following it?


LESSON X.--THE EXCEPTIONS.

19. Does a singular antecedent ever admit of a plural pronoun? 20. Can a
pronoun agree with its antecedent in one sense and not in an other? 21. If
the antecedent is a collective noun conveying the idea of plurality, must
the pronoun always be plural? 22. If there are two or more antecedents
connected by _and_, must the pronoun always be plural? 23. If there are
antecedents connected by _or_ or _nor_, is the pronoun always to take them
separately? 24. Must a finite verb always agree with its nominative in
number and person? 25. If the nominative is a collective noun conveying the
idea of plurality, must the verb always be plural? 26. If there are two or
more nominatives connected by _and_, must the verb always be plural? 21. If
there are nominatives connected by _or_ or _nor_, is the verb always to
refer to them separately? 28. Does the preposition _to_ before the
infinitive always govern the verb? 29. Can the preposition _to_ govern or
precede any other mood than the infinitive? 30. Is the preposition _to_
"understood" after _bid, dare, feel_, and so forth, where it is
"superfluous and improper?" 31. How many and what exceptions are there to
rule 20th, concerning participles? 32. How many and what exceptions are
there to the rule for adverbs? 33. How many and what exceptions are there
to the rule for conjunctions? 34. How many and what exceptions are there to
the rule for prepositions? 35. Is there any exception to the 24th rule,
concerning interjections?


LESSON XI.--THE OBSERVATIONS.

1. How many of the ten parts of speech in English are in general incapable
of any agreement? 2. Can there be a syntactical relation of words without
either agreement or government? 3. Is there ever any needful agreement
between unrelated words? 4. Is the mere relation of words according to the
sense an element of much importance in English syntax? 5. What parts of
speech have no other syntactical property than that of simple relation? 6.
What rules of relation are commonly found in grammars? 7. Of what parts is
syntax commonly said to consist? 8. Is it common to find in grammars, the
rules of syntax well adapted to their purpose? 9. Can you specify some that
appear to be faulty? 10. Wherein consists _the truth_ of grammatical
doctrine, and how can one judge of what others teach? 11. Do those who
speak of syntax as being divided into two parts, Concord and Government,
commonly adhere to such division? 12. What false concords and false
governments are cited in Obs. 7th of the first chapter? 13. Is it often
expedient to join in the same rule such principles as must always be
applied separately? 14. When one can condense several different principles
into one rule, is it not expedient to do so? 15. Is it ever convenient to
have one and the same rule applicable to different parts of speech? 16. Is
it ever convenient to have rules divided into parts, so as to be double or
triple in their form? 17. What instance of extravagant innovation is given
in Obs. 12th of the first chapter?


LESSON XII.--THE OBSERVATIONS.

18. Can a uniform series of good grammars, Latin, Greek, English, &c., be
produced by a mere revising of one defective book for each language? 19.
Whose are "The Principles of English Grammar" which Dr. Bullions has
republished with alterations, "on the plan of Murray's Grammar?" 20. Can
praise and success entitle to critical notice works in themselves unworthy
of it? 21. Do the Latin grammarians agree in their enumeration of the
concords in Latin? 22. What is said in Obs. 16th, of the plan of mixing
syntax with etymology? 23. Do not the principles of etymology affect those
of syntax? 24. Can any words agree, or disagree, except in something that
belongs to each of them? 25. How many and what parts of speech are
concerned in government? 26. Are rules of government to be applied to the
governing words, or to the governed? 27. What are gerundives? 28. How many
and what are the principles of syntax which belong to the head of simple
relation? 29. How many agreements, or concords, are there in English
syntax? 30. How many rules of government are there in the best Latin
grammars? 31. What fault is there in the usual distribution of these rules?
32. How many and what are the governments in English syntax? 33. Can the
parsing of words be varied by any transposition which does not change their
import? 34. Can the parsing of words be affected by the parser's notion of
what constitutes a simple sentence? 35. What explanation of simple and
compound sentences is cited from Dr. Wilson, in Obs. 25? 36. What notion
had Dr. Adam of simple and compound sentences? 37. Is this doctrine
consistent either with itself or with Wilson's? 38. How can one's notion of
_ellipsis_ affect his mode of parsing, and his distinction of sentences as
simple or compound?


LESSON XIII.--ARTICLES.

1. Can one noun have more than one article? 2. Can one article relate to
more than one noun? 3. Why cannot the omission of an article constitute a
proper ellipsis? 4. What is the position of the article with respect to its
noun? 5. What is the usual position of the article with respect to an
adjective and a noun? 6. Can the relative position of the article and
adjective be a matter of indifference? 7. What adjectives exclude, or
supersede, the article? 8. What adjectives precede the article? 9. What
four adverbs affect the position of the article and adjective? 10. Do other
adverbs come between the article and the adjective? 11. Can any of the
definitives which preclude _an_ or _a_, be used with the adjective _one_?
12. When the adjective follows its noun, where stands the article? 13. Can
the article in English, ever be placed after its noun? 14. What is the
effect of the word _the_ before comparatives and superlatives? 15. What
article may sometimes be used in lieu of a possessive pronoun? 16. Is the
article _an_ or _a_ always supposed to imply unity? 17. Respecting _an_ or
_a_, how does present usage differ from the usage of ancient writers? 18.
Can the insertion or omission of an article greatly affect the import of a
sentence? 19. By a repetition of the article before two or more adjectives,
what other repetition is implied? 20. How do we sometimes avoid such
repetition? 21. Can there ever be an implied repetition of the noun when no
article is used?


LESSON XIV.--NOUNS, OR CASES.

1. In how many different ways can the nominative case be used? 2. What is
the usual position of the nominative and verb, and when is it varied? 3.
With what nominatives of the second person, does the imperative verb agree?
4. Why is it thought improper to put a noun in two cases at once? 5. What
case in Latin and Greek is reckoned _the subject_ of the infinitive mood?
6. Can this, in general, be literally imitated in English? 7. Do any
English authors adopt the Latin doctrine of the accusative (or objective)
before the infinitive? 8. Is the objective, when it occurs before the
infinitive in English, usually governed by some verb, participle, or
preposition? 9. What is our nearest approach to the Latin construction of
the accusative before the infinitive? 10. What is _apposition_, and from
whom did it receive this name? 11. Is there a construction of like cases,
that is not apposition? 12. To which of the apposite terms is the rule for
apposition to be applied? 13. Are words in apposition always to be parsed
separately? 14. Wherein are the common rule and definition of apposition
faulty? 15. Can the explanatory word ever be placed first? 16. Is it ever
indifferent, which word be called the principal, and which the explanatory
term? 17. Why cannot two nouns, each having the possessive sign, be put in
apposition with each other? 18. Where must the sign of possession be put,
when two or more possessives are in apposition? 19. Is it compatible with
apposition to supply between the words a relative and a verb; as, "At Mr.
Smith's [_who is_] the bookseller?" 20. How can a noun be, or seem to be,
in apposition with a possessive pronoun? 21. What construction is produced
by the _repetition_ of a noun or pronoun? 22. What is the construction of a
noun, when it emphatically repeats the idea suggested by a preceding
sentence?


LESSON XV.--NOUNS, OR CASES.

23. Can words differing in number be in apposition with each other? 24.
What is the usual construction of _each other_ and _one an other_? 25. Is
there any argument from analogy for taking _each other_ and _one an other_
for compounds? 26. Do we often put proper nouns in apposition with
appellatives? 27. What preposition is often put between nouns that signify
the same thing? 28. When is an active verb followed by two words in
apposition? 29. Does apposition require any other agreement than that of
case? 30. What three modes of construction appear like exceptions to Rule
4th? 31. In the phrase, "For _David_ my servant's sake," which word is
governed by _sake_, and which is to be parsed by the rule of apposition?
32. In the sentence, "It is _man's_ to err," what is supposed to govern
_man's_? 33. Does the possessive case admit of any abstract sense or
construction? 34. Why is it reasonable to limit the government of the
possessive to nouns only, or to words taken substantive? 35. Does the
possessive case before a real participle denote the possessor of something?
36. What two great authors differ in regard to the correctness of the
phrases, "_upon the rule's being observed_," and "_of its being
neglected_?" 37. Is either of them right in his argument? 38. Is the
distinction between the participial noun and the participle well preserved
by Murray and his amenders? 39. Who invented the doctrine, that a
participle and its adjuncts may be used as "_one name_" and in that
capacity govern the possessive? 40. Have any popular authors adopted this
doctrine? 41. Is the doctrine well sustained by its adopters, or is it
consistent with the analogy of general grammar? 42. When one doubts whether
a participle ought to be the governing word or the adjunct,--that is,
whether he ought to use the possessive case before it or the
objective,--what shall he do? 43, What is objected to the sentences in
which participles govern the possessive case, and particularly to the
examples given by Priestley, Murray, and others, to prove such a
construction right? 44. Do the teachers of this doctrine agree among
themselves? 45. How does the author of this work generally dispose of such
government? 46. Does he positively determine, that the participle should
_never_ be allowed to govern the possessive case?


LESSON XVI.--NOUNS, OR CASES.

47. Are the distinctions of voice and of time as much regarded in
participial nouns as in participles? 48. Why cannot an omission of the
possessive sign be accounted a true _ellipsis_? 49. What is the usual
position of the possessive case, and what exceptions are there? 50. In what
other form can the meaning of the possessive case be expressed? 51. Is the
possessive often governed by what is not expressed? 52. Does every
possessive sign imply a separate governing noun? 53. How do compounds take
the sign of possession? 54. Do we put the sign of possession always and
only where the two terms of the possessive relation meet? 55. Can the
possessive sign be ever rightly added to a separate adjective? 56. What is
said of the omission of _s_ from the possessive singular on account of its
hissing sound? 57. What errors do Kirkham, Smith, and others, teach
concerning the possessive singular? 58. Why is Murray's rule for the
possessive case objectionable? 59. Do compounds embracing the possessive
case appear to be written with sufficient uniformity? 60. What rules for
nouns coming together are inserted in Obs. 31st on Rule 4th? 61. Does the
compounding of words necessarily preclude their separate use? 62. Is there
a difference worth notice, between such terms or things as _heart-ease_ and
_heart's-ease_; a _harelip_ and a _hare's lip_; a _headman_ and a
_headsman_; a _lady's-slipper_ and a _lady's slipper_? 63. Where usage is
utterly unsettled, what guidance should be sought? 64. What peculiarities
are noticed in regard to the noun _side_? 65. What peculiarities has the
possessive case in regard to correlatives? 66. What is remarked of the
possessive relation between time and action? 67. What is observed of nouns
of weight, measure, or time, coming immediately together?


LESSON XVII.--NOUNS, OR CASES.

68. Are there any exceptions or objections to the old rule, "Active verbs
govern the objective case?" 69. Of how many different constructions is the
objective case susceptible? 70. What is the usual position of the objective
case, and what exceptions are there? 71. Can any thing but the governing of
an objective noun or pronoun make an active verb transitive? 72. In the
sentence, "What _have_ I to _do_ with thee?" how are _have_ and _do_ to be
parsed? 73. Can infinitives, participles, phrases, sentences, and parts of
sentences, be really "in the objective case?" 74. In the sentence, "I _know
why_ she blushed," how is _know_ to be parsed? 75. In the sentence, "I
_know that_ Messias cometh," how are _know_ and _that_ to be parsed? 76. In
the sentence, "And _Simon_ he surnamed _Peter_", how are _Simon_ and
_Peter_ to be parsed? 77. In such sentences as, "I paid _him_ the
_money_,"--"He asked _them_ the _question_," how are the two objectives to
be parsed? 78. Does any verb in English ever govern two objectives that are
not coupled? 79. Are there any of our passive verbs that can properly
govern the objective case? 80. Is not our language like the Latin, in
respect to verbs governing two cases, and passives retaining the latter?
81. How do our grammarians now dispose of what remains to us of the old
Saxon dative case? 82. Do any reputable writers allow passive verbs to
govern the objective case? 83. What says Lindley Murray about this passive
government? 84. Why is the position, "Active verbs govern the objective
case," of no use to the composer? 85. On what is the construction of _same
cases_ founded? 86. Does this construction admit of any variety in the
position of the words? 87. Does an ellipsis of the verb or participle
change this construction into apposition? 88. Is it ever right to put both
terms before the verb? 89. What kinds of words can take different cases
after them? 90. Can a participle which is governed by a preposition, have a
case after it which is governed by neither? 91. How is the word _man_ to be
parsed in the following example? "The atrocious _crime of being_ a young
_man_, I shall neither attempt to palliate, nor deny."


LESSON XVIII.--NOUNS, OR CASES.

92. In what kinds of examples do we meet with a doubtful case after a
participle? 93. Is the case after the verb reckoned doubtful, when the
subject going before is a sentence, or something not declinable by cases?
94. In the sentence, "It is certainly as easy to be a _scholar_, as a
_gamester_," what is the case of _scholar_ and _gamester_, and why? 95. Are
there any verbs that sometimes connect like cases, and sometimes govern the
objective? 96. What faults are there in the rules given by _Lowth, Murray,
Smith_, and others, for the construction of _like cases_? 97. Can a
preposition ever govern any thing else than a noun or a pronoun? 98. Is
every thing that a preposition governs, necessarily supposed to have cases,
and to be in the objective? 99. Why or wherein is the common rule,
"Prepositions govern the objective case," defective or insufficient? 100.
In such phrases as _in vain, at first, in particular_, how is the adjective
to be parsed? 101. In such expressions as, "I give it up _for lost_,"--"I
take it _for granted_," how is the participle to be parsed? 102. In such
phrases as, _at once, from thence, till now_, how is the latter word to be
parsed? 103. What peculiarity is there in the construction of nouns of
time, measure, distance, or value? 104. What is observed of the words
_like, near_, and _nigh_? 105. What is observed of the word _worth_? 106.
According to Johnson and Tooke, what is _worth_, in such phrases as, "Wo
_worth_ the day?" 107. After verbs of _giving, paying_, and the like, what
ellipsis is apt to occur? 108. What is observed of the nouns used in dates?
109. What defect is observable in the common rules for "the case absolute,"
or "the nominative independent?" 110. In how many ways is the nominative
case put absolute? 111. What participle is often understood after nouns put
absolute? 112. In how many ways can nouns of the second person be employed?
113. What is said of nouns used in exclamations, or in mottoes and
abbreviated sayings? 114. What is observed of such phrases as, "_hand to
hand_,"--"_face to face_?" 115. What authors deny the existence of "the
case absolute?"


LESSON XIX.--ADJECTIVES.

1. Does the adjective frequently relate to what is not uttered with it? 2.
What is observed of those rules which suppose every adjective to relate to
some noun? 3. To what does the adjective usually relate, when it stands
alone after a finite verb? 4. Where is the noun or pronoun, when an
adjective follows an infinitive or a participle? 5. What is observed of
adjectives preceded by _the_ and used elliptically? 6. What is said of the
position of the adjective? 7. In what instances is the adjective placed
after its noun? 8. In what instances may the adjective either precede or
follow the noun? 9. What are the construction and import of the phrases,
_in particular, in general_, and the like? 10. What is said of adjectives
as agreeing or disagreeing with their nouns in number? 11. What is observed
of _this_ and _that_ as referring to two nouns connected? 12. What is
remarked of the use of adjectives for adverbs? 13. How can one determine
whether an adjective or an adverb is required? 14. What is remarked of the
placing of two or more adjectives before one noun? 15. How can one avoid
the ambiguity which Dr. Priestley notices in the use of the adjective _no_?


LESSON XX.--PRONOUNS.

1. Can such pronouns as stand for things not named, be said to agree with
the nouns for which they are substituted? 2. Is the pronoun _we_ singular
when it is used in lieu of _I_? 3. Is the pronoun _you_ singular when used
in lieu of _thou_ or _thee_? 4. What is there remarkable in the
construction of _ourself_ and _yourself_? 5. Of what person, number, and
gender, is the relative, when put after such terms of address as, _your
Majesty, your Highness, your Lordship, your Honour_? 6. How does the
English fashion of putting _you_ for _thou_, compare with the usage of the
French, and of other nations? 7. Do any imagine these fashionable
substitutions to be morally objectionable? 8. What figures of rhetoric are
liable to affect the agreement of pronouns with their antecedents? 9. How
does the pronoun agree with its noun in cases of personification? 10. How
does the pronoun agree with its noun in cases of metaphor? 11. How does the
pronoun agree with its noun in cases of metonymy? 12. How does the pronoun
agree with its noun in cases of synecdoche? 13. What is the usual position
of pronouns, and what exceptions are there? 14. When a pronoun represents a
phrase or sentence, of what person, number, and gender is it? 15. Under
what circumstances can a pronoun agree with either of two antecedents? 16.
With what does the relative agree when an other word is introduced by the
pronoun _it_? 17. In the sentence, "_It_ is useless to complain," what does
_it_ represent? 18. How are relative and interrogative pronouns placed? 19.
What are the chief constructional peculiarities of the relative pronouns?
20. Why does the author discard the two special rules commonly given for
the construction of relatives?


LESSON XXI.--PRONOUNS.

21. To what part of speech is the greatest number of rules applied in
parsing? 22. Of the twenty-four rules in this work, how many are applicable
to pronouns? 23. Of the seven rules for cases, how many are applicable to
relatives and interrogatives? 24. What is remarked of the ellipsis or
omission of the relative? 25. What is said of the suppression of the
antecedent? 26. What is noted of the word _which_, as applied to persons?
27. What relative is applied to a proper noun taken merely as a name? 28.
When do we employ the same relative in successive clauses? 29. What odd use
is sometimes made of the pronoun _your_? 30. Under what _figure_ of syntax
did the old grammarians rank the plural construction of a noun of
multitude? 31. Does a collective noun with a singular definitive before it
ever admit of a plural verb or pronoun? 32. Do collective nouns generally
admit of being made literally plural? 33. When joint antecedents are of
different persons, with which person does the pronoun agree? 34. When joint
antecedents differ in gender, of what gender is the pronoun? 35. Why is it
wrong to say, "The first has a lenis, _and_ the other an asper over
_them_?" 36. Can nouns without _and_ be taken jointly, as if they had it?
37. Can singular antecedents be so suggested as to require a plural
pronoun, when only one of them is uttered? 38. Why do singular antecedents
connected by _or_ or _nor_ appear to require a singular pronoun? 39. Can
different antecedents connected by _or_ be accurately represented by
differing pronouns connected in the same way? 40. Why are we apt to use a
plural pronoun after antecedents of different genders? 41. Do the Latin
grammars teach the same doctrine as the English, concerning nominatives or
antecedents connected disjunctively?


LESSON XXII.--VERBS.

1. What is necessary to every finite verb? 2. What is remarked of such
examples as this: "The _Pleasures_ of Memory _was_ published in 1702?" 3.
What is to be done with "_Thinks I_ to myself," and the like? 4. Is it
right to say with Smith, "Every hundred _years constitutes_ a century?" 5.
What needless ellipses both of nominatives and of verbs are commonly
supposed by our grammarians? 6. What actual ellipsis usually occurs with
the imperative mood? 7. What is observed concerning the place of the verb?
8. What besides a noun or a pronoun may be made the subject of a verb? 9.
What is remarked of the faulty omission of the pronoun _it_ before the
verb? 10 When an infinitive phrase is made the subject of a verb, do the
words remain adjuncts, or are they abstract? 11. How can we introduce a
noun or pronoun before the infinitive, and still make the whole phrase the
subject of a finite verb? 12. Can an objective before the infinitive become
"the subject of the affirmation?" 13. In making a phrase the subject of a
verb, do we produce an exception to Rule 14th? 14. Why is it wrong to say,
with Dr. Ash, "The king and queen appearing in public _was_ the cause of my
going?" 15. What inconsistency is found in Murray, with reference to his
"_nominative sentences_?" 16. What is Dr. Webster's ninth rule of syntax?
17. Why did Murray think all Webster's examples under this rule bad
English? 18. Why are both parties wrong in this instance? 19. What strange
error is taught by Cobbett, and by Wright, in regard to the relative and
its verb? 20. Is it demonstrable that verbs often agree with relatives? 21.
What is observed of the agreement of verbs in interrogative sentences? 22.
Do we ever find the subjunctive mood put after a relative pronoun? 23. What
is remarked of the difference between the indicative and the subjunctive
mood, and of the limits of the latter?


LESSON XXIII.--VERBS.

24. In respect to collective nouns, how is it generally determined, whether
they convey the idea of plurality or not? 25. What is stated of the rules
of Adam, Lowth, Murray, and Kirkham, concerning collective nouns? 26. What
is Nixon's notion of the construction of the verb and collective noun? 27.
Does this author appear to have gained "a _clear idea_ of the nature of a
collective noun?" 28. What great difficulty does Murray acknowledge
concerning "nouns of multitude?" 29. Does Murray's notion, that collective
nouns are of different sorts, appear to be consistent or warrantable? 30.
Can words that agree with the same collective noun, be of different
numbers? 31. What is observed of collective nouns used partitively? 32.
Which are the most apt to be taken plurally, collections of persons, or
collections of things? 33. Can a collective noun, as such, take a plural
adjective before it? 34. What is observed of the expressions, _these
people, these gentry, these folk_? 35. What is observed of sentences like
the following, in which there seems to be no nominative: "There _are_ from
eight to twelve professors?" 36. What rule does Dr. Webster give for such
examples as the following: "There _was_ more than a hundred and fifty
thousand pounds?" 37. What grammarians teach, that two or more nouns
connected by _and_, "always require the verb or pronoun to which they
refer, to be in the plural number?" 38. Does Murray acknowledge or furnish
any exceptions to this doctrine? 39. On what principle can one justify such
an example as this: "_All work and no play, makes_ Jack a dull boy?" 40.
What is remarked of instances like the following: "Prior's _Henry and Emma
contains_ an other beautiful example?" 41. What is said of the suppression
of the conjunction _and_? 42. When the speaker changes his nominative, to
take a stronger one, what concord has the verb? 43. When two or more
nominatives connected by _and_ explain a preceding one, what agreement has
the verb? 44. What grammarian approves of such expressions as, "Two and two
_is_ four?" 45. What is observed of verbs that agree with the nearest
nominative, and are understood to the rest? 46. When the nominatives
connected are of different persons, of what person is the verb?


LESSON XXIV.--VERBS.

47. What is the syntax of the verb, when one of its nominatives is
expressed, and an other or others implied? 48. What is the syntax of the
verb, when there are nominatives connected by _as_? 49. What is the
construction when two nominatives are connected by _as well as, but_, or
_save_? 50. Can words connected by _with_ be properly used as joint
nominatives? 51. Does the analogy of other languages with ours prove any
thing on this point? 52. What does Cobbett say about _with_ put for _and_?
53. What is the construction of such expressions as this: "A torch, _snuff_
and _all, goes_ out in a moment?" 54. Does our rule for the verb and
disjunct nominatives derive confirmation from the Latin and Greek syntax?
55. Why do collective nouns singular, when connected by _or_ or _nor_,
admit of a plural verb? 56. In the expression, "_I, thou, or he, may
affirm_," of what person and number is the verb? 57. Who says, "the verb
agrees with _the last nominative_?" 58. What authors prefer "_the nearest
person_," and "_the plural number_?" 59. What authors prefer "the _nearest
nominative_, whether singular or plural?" 60. What author declares it
improper ever to connect by _or_ or _nor_ any nominatives that require
different forms of the verb? 61. What is Cobbett's "_clear principle_" on
this head? 62. Can a zeugma of the verb be proved to be right, in spite of
these authorities? 63. When a verb has nominatives of different persons or
numbers, connected by _or_ or _nor_, with which of them does it _commonly_
agree? 64. When does it agree with the remoter nominative? 65. When a noun
is implied in an adjective of a different number, which word is regarded in
the formation of the verb? 66. What is remarked concerning the place of the
pronoun of the first person singular? 67. When verbs are connected by _and,
or_, or _nor_, do they necessarily agree with the same nominative? 68. Why
is the thirteenth rule of the author's Institutes and First Lines not
retained as a rule in this work? 69. Are verbs often connected without
agreeing in mood, tense, and form?


LESSON XXV.--VERBS.

70. What particular convenience do we find in having most of our tenses
composed of separable words? 71. Is the connecting of verbs elliptically,
or by parts, anything peculiar to our language? 72. What faults appear in
the teaching of our grammarians concerning _do_ used as a "substitute for
other verbs?" 73. What notions have been entertained concerning the word
_to_ as used before the infinitive verb? 74. How does Dr. Ash parse _to_
before the infinitive? 75. What grammarians have taught that the
preposition _to_ governs the infinitive mood? 76. Does Lowth agree with
Murray in the anomaly of supposing _to_ a preposition that governs nothing?
77. Why do those teach just as inconsistently, who forbear to call the _to_
a preposition? 78. What objections are there to the rule, with its
exceptions, "One verb governs an other in the infinitive mood?" 79. What
large exception to this rule has been recently discovered by Dr. Bullions?
80. Are the countless examples of this exception truly elliptical? 81. Is
the infinitive ever governed by a preposition in French, Spanish, or
Italian? 82. What whimsical account of the English infinitive is given by
Nixon? 83. How was the infinitive expressed in the Anglo-Saxon of the
eleventh century? 84. What does Richard Johnson infer from the fact that
the Latin infinitive is sometimes governed by a preposition? 85. What
reasons can be adduced to show that the infinitive is not a noun? 86. How
can it be proved that _to_ before the infinitive is a preposition? 87. What
does Dr. Wilson say of the character and _import_ of the infinitive? 88. To
what other terms can the infinitive be connected? 89. What is the
infinitive, and for what things may it stand? 90. Do these ten heads
embrace all the uses of the infinitive? 91. What is observed of Murray's
"_infinitive made absolute_?" 92. What is said of the position of the
infinitive? 93. Is the infinitive ever liable to be misplaced?


LESSON XXVI.--VERBS.

94. What is observed of the frequent ellipses of the verb _to be_, supposed
by Allen and others? 95. What is said of the suppression of _to_ and the
insertion of _be_; as, "To make himself _be_ heard?" 96. Why is it
necessary to use the sign _to_ before an abstract infinitive, where it
shows no relation? 97. What is observed concerning the distinction of
_voice_ in the simple infinitive and the first participle? 98. What do our
grammarians teach concerning the omission of _to_ before the infinitive,
after _bid, dare, feel_, &c.? 99. How do Ingersoll, Kirkham, and Smith,
agree with their master Murray, concerning such examples as, "_Let me go_?"
100. What is affirmed of the difficulties of parsing the infinitive
according to the code of Murray? 101. How do Nutting, Kirkham, Nixon,
Cooper, and Sanborn, agree with Murray, or with one an other, in pointing
out what governs the infinitive? 102. What do Murray and others mean by
"_neuter verbs_," when they tell us that the taking of the infinitive
without _to_ "extends only to active and neuter verbs?" 103. How is the
infinitive used after _bid_? 104. How, after _dare_? 105. How, after
_feel_? 106. How, after _hear_? 107. How, after _let_? 108. How, after
_make_? 109. How, after _need_? 110. Is _need_ ever an auxiliary? 111. What
errors are taught by Greenleaf concerning _dare_ and _need_ or _needs_?
112. What is said of _see_, as governing the infinitive? 113. Do any other
verbs, besides these eight, take the infinitive after them without _to_?
114. How is the infinitive used after _have, help_, and _find_? 115. When
two or more infinitives occur in the same construction, must _to_ be used
with each? 116. What is said of the sign _to_ after _than_ or _as_?


LESSON XXVII.--PARTICIPLES.

1. What questionable uses of participles are commonly admitted by
grammarians? 2. Why does the author incline to condemn these peculiarities?
3. What is observed of the multiplicity of uses to which the participle in
_ing_ may be turned? 4. What is said of the participles which some suppose
to be put absolute? 5. How are participles placed? 6. What is said of the
transitive use of such words as _unbecoming_? 7. What distinction, in
respect to government, is to be observed between a participle and a
participial noun? 8. What shall we do when _of_ after the participial noun
is objectionable? 9. What is said of the correction of those examples in
which a needless article or possessive is put before the participle? 10.
What is stated of the retaining of adverbs with participial nouns? 11. Can
words having the form of the first participle be nouns, and clearly known
to be such, when they have no adjuncts? 12. What strictures are made on
Murray, Lennie, and Bullions, with reference to examples in which an
infinitive follows the participial noun? 13. In what instances is the first
participle equivalent to the infinitive? 14. What is said of certain
infinitives supposed to be erroneously put for participles? 15. What verbs
take the participle after them, and not the infinitive? 16. What is said of
those examples in which participles seem to be made the objects of verbs?
17. What is said of the teaching of Murray and others, that, "The
participle with its adjuncts may be considered as a _substantive phrase_?"
18. How does the English participle compare with the Latin gerund? 19. How
do Dr. Adam and others suppose "the gerund in English" to become a
"substantive," or noun? 20. How does the French construction of participles
and infinitives compare with the English?


LESSON XXVIII.--PARTICIPLES.

21. What difference does it make, whether we use the possessive case before
words in _ing_, or not? 22. What is said of the distinguishing or
confounding of different parts of speech, such as verbs, participles, and
nouns? 23. With how many other parts of speech does W. Allen confound the
participle? 24. How is the distinguishing of the participle from the verbal
noun inculcated by Allen, and their difference of meaning by Murray? 25. Is
it pretended that the authorities and reasons which oppose the mixed
construction of participles, are sufficient to prove such usage altogether
inadmissible? 26. Is it proper to teach, in general terms, that the noun or
pronoun which limits the meaning of a participle should be put in the
possessive case? 27. What is remarked of different cases used
indiscriminately before the participle or verbal noun? 28. What say Crombie
and others about this disputable phraseology? 29. What says Brown of this
their teaching? 30. How do Priestley and others pretend to distinguish
between the participial and the substantive use of verbals in _ing_? 31.
What does Brown say of this doctrine? 32. If when a participle becomes an
adjective it drops its regimen, should it not also drop it on becoming a
noun? 33. Where the sense admits of a choice of construction in respect to
the participle, is not attention due to the analogy of general grammar? 34.
Does it appear that nouns before participles are less frequently subjected
to their government than pronouns? 35. Why must a grammarian discriminate
between idioms, or peculiarities, and the common mode of expression? 36. Is
the Latin gerund, like the verbal in _ing_, sometimes active, sometimes
passive; and when the former governs the genitive, do we imitate the idiom
in English? 37. Is it agreed among grammarians, that the Latin gerund may
govern the genitive of the agent? 38. What distinction between the
participial and the substantive use of verbals in _ing_ do Crombie and
others propose to make? 39. How does this accord with the views of Murray,
Lowth, Adam, and Brown?. 40. How does Hiley treat the English participle?
41. What further is remarked concerning false teaching in relation to
participles?


LESSON XXIX.--ADVERBS.

1. What is replied to Dr. Adam's suggestion, "Adverbs sometimes qualify
substantives?" 2. Do not adverbs sometimes relate to participial nouns? 3.
If an adverbial word relates directly to a noun or pronoun, does not that
fact constitute it an adjective? 4. Are such expressions as, "the _then_
ministry," "the _above_ discourse," good English, or bad--well authorized,
or not? 5. When words commonly used as adverbs assume the construction of
nouns, how are they to be parsed? 6. Must not the parser be careful to
distinguish adverbs used substantively or adjectively, from such as may be
better resolved by the supposing of an ellipsis? 7. How is an adverb to be
parsed, when it seems to be put for a verb? 8. How are adverbs to be parsed
in such expressions as, "_Away with him?_" 9. What is observed of the
relation of conjunctive adverbs, and of the misuse of _when_? 10. What is
said in regard to the placing of adverbs? 11. What suggestions are made
concerning the word _no_? 12. What is remarked of two or more negatives in
the same sentence? 13. Is that a correct rule which says, "Two negatives,
in English, destroy each other, or are equivalent to an affirmative?" 14.
What is the dispute among grammarians concerning the adoption of _or_ or
_nor_ after _not_ or _no_? 15. What fault is found with the opinion of
Priestley, Murray, Ingersoll, and Smith, that "either of them may be used
with nearly equal propriety?" 16. How does John Burn propose to settle this
dispute? 17. How does Churchill treat the matter? 18. What does he say of
the manner in which "the use of _nor_ after _not_ has been introduced?" 19.
What other common modes of expression are censured by this author under the
same head? 20. How does Brown review these criticisms, and attempt to
settle the question? 21. What critical remark is made on the misuse of
_ever_ and _never_? 22. How does Churchill differ from Lowth respecting the
phrase, "_ever so wisely_," or "_never so wisely?_" 23. What is observed of
_never_ and _ever_ as seeming to be adjectives, and being liable to
contraction? 24. What strictures are made on the classification and placing
of the word _only_? 25. What is observed of the term _not but_, and of the
adverbial use of _but_? 26. What is noted of the ambiguous use of _but_ or
_only_? 27. What notions are inculcated by different grammarians about the
introductory word _there_?


LESSON XXX.--CONJUNCTIONS.

1. When two declinable words are connected by a conjunction, why are they
of the same case? 2. What is the power, and what the position, of a
conjunction that connects sentences or clauses? 3. What further is added
concerning the terms which conjunctions connect? 4. What is remarked of two
or more conjunctions coming together? 5. What is said of _and_ as supposed
to be used to call attention? 6. What relation of case occurs between nouns
connected by _as_? 7. Between what other related terms can _as_ be
employed? 8. What is _as_ when it is made the subject or the object of a
verb? 9. What questions are raised among grammarians, about the
construction of _as follow_ or _as follows_, and other similar phrases? 10.
What is said of Murray's mode of treating this subject? 11. Has Murray
written any thing which goes to show whether _as follows_ can be right or
not, when the preceding noun is plural? 12. What is the opinion of Nixon,
and of Crombie? 13. What conjunction is frequently understood? 14. What is
said of ellipsis after _than_ or _as_? 15. What is suggested concerning the
character and import of _than_ and _as_? 16. Does _than_ as well as _as_
usually take the same case after it that occurs before it? 17. Is the Greek
or Latin construction of the latter term in a comparison usually such as
ours? 18. What inferences have our grammarians made from the phrase _than
whom_? 19. Is _than_ supposed by Murray to be capable of governing any
other objective than _whom_? 20. What grammarian supposes _whom_ after
_than_ to be "in the objective case _absolute_?" 21. How does the author of
this work dispose of the example? 22. What notice is taken of O. B.
Peirce's Grammar, with reference to his manner of parsing words after
_than_ or _as_? 23. What says Churchill about the notion that certain
conjunctions govern the subjunctive mood? 24. What is said of the different
parts of speech contained in the list of correspondents?


LESSON XXXI.--PREPOSITIONS.

1. What is said of the parsing of a preposition? 2. How can the terms of
relation which pertain to the preposition be ascertained? 3. What is said
of the transposition of the two terms? 4. Between what parts of speech, as
terms of the relation, can a preposition be used? 5. What is said of the
ellipsis of one or the other of the terms? 6. Is _to_ before the infinitive
to be parsed just as any other preposition? 7. What is said of Dr. Adam's
"_To_ taken _absolutely_?" 8. What is observed in relation to the
exceptions to Rule 23d? 9. What is said of the placing of prepositions? 10.
What is told of two prepositions coming together? 11. In how many and what
ways does the relation of prepositions admit of complexity? 12. What is the
difference between _in_ and _into_? 13. What notice is taken of the
application of _between, betwixt, among, amongst, amid, amidst_? 14. What
erroneous remark have Priestley, Murray, and others, about two prepositions
"in the same construction?" 15. What false doctrine have Lowth, Murray, and
others, about the separating of the preposition from its noun? 16. What is
said of the prepositions which follow _averse_ and _aversion, except_ and
_exception_? 17. What is remarked concerning the use of _of, to, on_, and
_upon_? 18. Can there be an inelegant use of prepositions which is not
positively ungrammatical?


LESSON XXXII.--INTERJECTIONS.

1. Are all interjections to be parsed as being put absolute? 2. What is
said of _O_ and the vocative case? 3. What do Nixon and Kirkham erroneously
teach about cases governed by interjections? 4. What say Murray, Ingersoll,
and Lennie, about interjections and cases? 5. What is shown of the later
teaching to which Murray's erroneous and unoriginal remark about "_O, oh_,
and _ah_," has given rise? 6. What notice is taken of the application of
the rule for "_O, oh_, and _ah_," to nouns of the second person? 7. What is
observed concerning the further extension of this rule to nouns and
pronouns of the third person? 8. What authors teach that interjections are
put absolute, and have no government? 9. What is the construction of the
pronoun in "_Ah me!_" "_Ah him!_" or any similar exclamation? 10. Is the
common rule for interjections, as requiring certain cases after them,
sustained by any analogy from the Latin syntax? 11. Can it be shown, on
good authority, that _O_ in Latin may be followed by the nominative of the
first person or the accusative of the second? 12. What errors in the
construction and punctuation of interjectional phrases are quoted from
Fisk, Smith, and Kirkham? 13. What is said of those sentences in which an
interjection is followed by a preposition or the conjunction _that_? 14.
What is said of the place of the interjection? 15. What says O. B. Peirce
about the name and place of the interjection? 16. What is offered in
refutation of Peirce's doctrine?

[Now parse the six lessons of the _Thirteenth Praxis_; taking, if the
teacher please, the Italic or difficult words only; and referring to the
exceptions or observations under the rules, as often as there is occasion.
Then proceed to the correction of the eighteen lessons of _False Syntax_
contained in Chapter Twelfth, or the General Review.]


LESSON XXXIII.--GENERAL RULE.

1. Why were the general rule and the general or critical notes added to the
foregoing code of syntax? 2. What is the general rule? 3. How many are
there of the general or critical notes? 4. What says Critical Note 1st of
_the parts of speech_? 5. What says Note 2d of _the doubtful reference_ of
words? 6. What says Note 3d of _definitions_? 7. What says Note 4th of
_comparisons_? 8. What says Note 5th of _falsities_? 9. What says Note 6th
of _absurdities_? 10. What says Note 7th of _self-contradiction_? 11. What
says Note 8th of _senseless jumbling_? 12. What says Note 9th of _words
needless_? 13. What says Note 10th of _improper omissions_? 14. What says
Note 11th of _literary blunders_? 15. What says Note 12th of _literary
perversions_? 16. What says Note 13th of _literary awkwardness_? 17. What
says Note 14th of _literary ignorance_? 18. What says Note 15th of
_literary silliness_? 19. What says Note 16th of _errors incorrigible_? 20.
In what place are the rules, exceptions, notes, and observations, in the
foregoing system of syntax, enumerated and described? 21. What suggestions
are made in relation to the number of rules or notes, and the completeness
of the system? 22. What is remarked on the place and character of the
critical notes and the general rule? 23. What is noted in relation to the
unamendable imperfections sometimes found in ancient writings?

[Now correct--(or at least read, and compare with the Key--) the sixteen
lessons of _False Syntax_, arranged under appropriate heads, for the
application of the General Rule; the sixteen others adapted to the Critical
Notes; and the five concluding ones, for which the rules are various.]




CHAPTER XV.--FOR WRITING.

EXERCISES IN SYNTAX.

[Fist][When the pupil has been sufficiently exercised in _syntactical
parsing_, and has corrected _orally_, according to the formulas given, all
the examples of false syntax designed for oral exercises, or so many of
them as may be deemed sufficient; he should write out the following
exercises, correcting them according to the principles of syntax given in
the rules, notes, and observations, contained in the preceding chapters;
but omitting or varying the references, because his corrections cannot be
ascribed to the books which contain these errors.]


EXERCISE I.--ARTICLES.

"They are institutions not merely of an useless, but of an hurtful
nature."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 344. "Quintilian prefers the full, the
copious, and the amplifying style."--_Ib._, p. 247. "The proper application
of rules respecting style, will always be best learned by the means of the
illustration which examples afford."--_Ib._, p. 224. "He was even tempted
to wish that he had such an one."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 41. "Every
limb of the human body has an agreeable and disagreeable motion."--_Kames,
El. of Crit._ i, 217. "To produce an uniformity of opinion in all
men."--_Ib._, ii. 365. "A writer that is really an humourist in character,
does this without design."--_Ib._, i. 303. "Addison was not an humourist in
character."--_Ib._, i. 303. "It merits not indeed the title of an universal
language."--_Ib._, i. 353. "It is unpleasant to find even a negative and
affirmative proposition connected."--_Ib._, ii. 25. "The sense is left
doubtful by wrong arrangement of members."--_Ib._, ii. 44. "As, for
example, between the adjective and following substantive."--_Ib._, ii. 104.
"Witness the following hyperbole, too bold even for an Hotspur."--_Ib._,
193. "It is disposed to carry along the good and bad properties of one to
another."--_Ib._, ii. 197. "What a kind of a man such an one is likely to
prove, is easy to foresee."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 47. "In propriety
there cannot be such a thing as an universal grammar, unless there were
such a thing as an universal language."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 47. "The
very same process by which he gets at the meaning of any ancient author,
carries him to a fair and a faithful rendering of the scriptures of the Old
and New Testament."--_Chalmers, Sermons_, p. 16. "But still a predominancy
of one or other quality in the minister is often visible."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 19. "Among the ancient critics, Longinus possessed most
delicacy; Aristotle, most correctness."--_Ib._, p. 20. "He then proceeded
to describe an hexameter and pentameter verse."--_Ward's Preface to Lily_,
p. vi. "And Alfred, who was no less able a negotiator than courageous a
warrior, was unanimously chosen King."--_Pinnock's Geog._, p. 271. "An
useless incident weakens the interest which we take in the
action."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 460. "This will lead into some detail; but I
hope an useful one."--_Ib._, p. 234. "When they understand how to write
English with due Connexion, Propriety, and Order, and are pretty well
Masters of a tolerable Narrative Stile, they may be advanced to writing of
Letters."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 337. "The Senate is divided into the Select
and Great Senate."--_Hewitt's Student-Life in Germany_, p. 28. "We see a
remains of this ceremonial yet in the public solemnities of the
universities."--_Ib._, p. 46.

   "Where an huge pollard on the winter fire,
    At an huge distance made them all retire."--_Crabbe, Borough_, p. 209.


EXERCISE II.--NOUNS, OR CASES.

"Childrens Minds are narrow, and weak, and usually susceptible but of one
Thought at once."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 297. "Rather for Example sake, than
that ther is any Great Matter in it."--_Right of Tythes_, p. xvii. "The
more that any mans worth is, the greater envy shall he be liable
to."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 461. "He who works only for the common
welfare is the most noble, and no one, but him, deserves the name."--
_Spurzheim, on Ed._, p. 182. "He then got into the carriage, to sit with
the man, whom he had been told was Morgan."--_Stone, on Masonry_, p. 480.
"But, for such footmen as thee and I are, let us never desire to meet with
an enemy."--_Bunyan's P. P._, p. 153. "One of them finds out that she is
Tibulluses Nemesis."--_Philological Museum_, Vol. i, p. 446. "He may be
employed in reading such easy books as Corderius, and some of Erasmus'
Colloques, with an English translation."--_Burgh's Dignity_, Vol. i, p.
150. "For my preface was to show the method of the priests of Aberdeen's
procedure against the Quakers."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 235. "They
signify no more against us, than Cochlæus' lies against Luther."--_Ib._, i,
236. "To justify Moses his doing obeisance to his father in law."--_Ib._,
i, 241. "Which sort of clauses are generally included between two
comma's."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 306. "Between you and I, she is but a
cutler's wife."--_Goldsmith's Essays_, p. 187. "In Edward the third, King
of England's time."--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 104. "The nominative case is the
agent or doer."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 11. "_Dog_ is in the nominative
case, because it is the agent, actor, or doer."--_Ib._ "The actor or doer
is considered the naming or leading noun."--_Ib._ "The radical form of the
principal verb is made use of."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 24. "They would
have the same right to be taken notice of by grammarians."--_Ib._, p. 30.
"I shall not quarrel with the friend of twelve years standing."--
_Liberator_, ix, 39. "If there were none living but him, John would be
against Lilburne, and Lilburne against John."--_Biog. Dict., w. Lilburne_.
"When a personal pronoun is made use of to relate to them."--_Cobbett's
Eng. Gram._, ¶ 179. "The town was taken in a few hours time."--_Goldsmith's
Rome_, p. 120. "You must not employ such considerations merely as those
upon which the author here rests, taken from gratitude's being the law of
my nature."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 296. "Our author's second illustration, is
taken from praise being the most disinterested act of homage."--_Ib._, p.
301. "The first subdivision concerning praise being the most pleasant part
of devotion, is very just and well expressed."--_Ib._ "It was a cold
thought to dwell upon its disburdening the mind of debt."--_Ib._ "The
thought which runs through all this passage, of man's being the priest of
nature, and of his existence being calculated chiefly for this end, that he
might offer up the praises of the mute part of the creation, is an
ingenious thought and well expressed."--_Ib._, p. 297. "The mayor of
Newyork's portrait."--_Ware's English Grammar_, p. 9.

   "Calm Temperance, whose blessings those partake
    Who hunger, and who thirst, for scribbling sake."
        --_Pope, Dunciad_, i, 50.


EXERCISE III.--ADJECTIVES.

"Plumb down he drops ten thousand fathom deep."--_Milton, P. L._, B. ii, 1,
933. "In his Night Thoughts, there is much energy of expression: in the
three first, there are several pathetic passages."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
403. "Learn to pray, to pray greatly and strong."--_The Dial_, Vol. ii, p.
215. "The good and the bad genius are struggling with one another."--
_Philological Museum_, i, 490. "The definitions of the parts of speech, and
application of syntax, should be given almost simultaneous."--_Wilbur and
Livingston's Gram._, p. 6. "I had studied grammar previous to his
instructing me."--_Ib._, p. 13. "So difficult it is to separate these two
things from one another."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 92. "New words should never
be ventured upon, except by such whose established reputation gives them
some degree of dictatorial power over language."--_Ib._, p. 94. "The verses
necessarily succeed each other."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 142. "They saw
that it would be practicable to express, in writing, the whole combinations
of sounds which our words require."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 68. "There are
some Events, the Truth of which cannot appear to any, but such whose Minds
are first qualify'd by some certain Knowledge."--_Brightland's Gram._, p.
242. "These Sort of Feet are in Latin called Iambics."--_Fisher's Gram._,
p. 134. "And the Words are mostly so disposed, that the Accents may fall on
every 2d, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th Syllables."--_Ib._, p. 135. "If the verse
does not sound well and harmonious to the ear."--_Ib._, p. 136. "I gat me
men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as
musical instruments, and that of all sorts."--_Ecclesiastes_, ii, 8. "No
people have so studiously avoided the collision of consonants as the
Italians."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 183. "And these two subjects must
destroy one another."--_Ib._, p. 42. "Duration and space are two things in
some respects the most like, and in some respects the most unlike to one
another."--_Ib._, p. 103. "Nothing ever affected him so much, as this
misconduct of his friend."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 155. "To see the bearing
of the several parts of speech on each other."--_Greenleaf's Gram._, p. 2.
"Two or more adjectives following each other, either with or without a
conjunction, qualify the same word."--_Bullion's E. Gram._, p. 75. "The two
chapters which now remain, are by far the most important of any."--
_Student's Manual_, p. 293. "That has been the subject of no less than six
negotiations."--_Pres. Jackson's Message_, 1830. "His gravity makes him
work cautious."--_Steele, Spect._, No. 534. "Grandeur, being an extreme
vivid emotion, is not readily produced in perfection but by reiterated
impressions."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 203. "Every object appears less
than when viewed separately and independent of the series."--_Ib._, ii, 14.
"An Organ is the best of all other musical instruments."--_Dilworth's
English Tongue_, p. 94.

   "Let such teach others who themselves excel,
    And censure freely who have written well."--_Pope, on Crit._, l. 15.


EXERCISE IV.--PRONOUNS.

"You had musty victuals, and he hath holp to eat it."--SHAK.: _Joh. Dict.,
w. Victuals_. "Sometime am I all wound with adders, who, with cloven
tongues, do hiss me into madness."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 68. "When a
letter or syllable is transposed, it is called METATHESIS."--_Adam's Lat.
Gram._, p. 275. "When a letter or syllable is added to the beginning of a
word, it is called PROSTHESIS."--_Ib._ "If a letter or syllable be taken
from the beginning of a word, it is called APHÆRESIS."--_Ib._ "We can
examine few, or rather no Substances, so far, as to assure ourselves that
we have a certain Knowledge of most of its Properties."--_Brightland's
Gram._, p. 244. "Who do you dine with?"--_Fisher's Gram._, p. 99. "Who do
you speak to?"--_Shakspeare_. "All the objects of prayer are calculated to
excite the most active and vivid sentiments, which can arise in the heart
of man."--_Adams's Rhet._, i, 328. "It has been my endeavour to furnish you
with the most useful materials, which contribute to the purposes of
eloquence."--_Ib._, ii, 28. "All paraphrases are vicious: it is not
translating, it is commenting."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 163. "Did
you never bear false witness against thy neighbour?"--SIR W. DRAPER:
_Junius_, p. 40. "And they shall eat up thine harvest and thy bread: they
shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds."--_Jer._, v, 17. "He was the
spiritual rock who miraculously supplied the wants of the Israelites."--
_Gurney's Evidences_, p. 53. "To cull from the mass of mankind those
individuals upon which the attention ought to be most employed."--
_Rambler_, No. 4. "His speech contains one of the grossest and most
infamous calumnies which ever was uttered."--_Merchant's Gram. Key_, p.
198. "STROMBUS, i. m. A shell-fish of the sea, that has a leader whom they
follow as their king. Plin."--_Ainsworth's Dict._, 4to. "Whomsoever will,
let him come"--MORNING STAR: _Lib._, xi, 13. "Thy own words have convinced
me (stand a little more out of the sun if you please) that thou hast not
the least notion of true honour."--_Fielding_. "Whither art going, pretty
Annette? Your little feet you'll surely wet."--_L. M. Child_. "Metellus,
who conquered Macedon, was carried to the funeral pile by his four sons,
one of which was the prætor."--_Kennett's Roman Ant._, p. 332. "That not a
soldier which they did not know, should mingle himself among them."--
_Josephus_, Vol. v, p. 170. "The Neuter Gender denotes objects which are
neither males nor females."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 37. "And hence it
is, that the most important precept, which a rhetorical teacher can
inculcate respecting this part of discourse, is negative."--_Adams's
Rhet._, ii, 97. "The meanest and most contemptible person whom we behold,
is the offspring of heaven, one of the children of the Most High."--
_Scougal_, p. 102. "He shall sit next to Darius, because of his wisdom, and
shall be called Darius his cousin."--_1 Esdras_, iii, 7. "In 1757, he
published his 'Fleece;' but he did not long survive it."--_L. Murray,
Seq._, p. 252.

   "The sun upon the calmest sea
    Appears not half so bright as thee."--_Prior_.


EXERCISE V.--VERBS.

"The want of connexion here, as well as in the description of the prodigies
that accompanied the death of Cæsar, are scarce pardonable."--_Kames, El.
of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 38. "The causes of the original beauty of language,
considered as significant, which is a branch of the present subject, will
be explained in their order."--_Ib._, Vol. ii, p. 6. "Neither of these two
Definitions do rightly adjust the Genuine signification of this
Tense."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 280. "In the earnest hope that they may
prove as beneficial to other teachers as they have to the author."--_John
Flint's Gram._, p. 3. "And then an example is given showing the manner in
which the pupil should be required to classify."--_Ib._, p. 3. "_Qu_ in
English words are equivalent to _kw_."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 258. "_Qu_
has the power of _kw_, therefore quit doubles the final consonant in
forming its preterite."--_Ib._, p. 103. "The word pronoun or substantive
can be substituted, should any teacher prefer to do it"--_Ib._, p. 132.
"The three angles of a right-angled triangle were equal to two right angles
in the days of Moses, as well as now."--GOODELL: _Liberator_, Vol. xi, p.
4. "But now two paces of the vilest earth is room enough."--_Beaut. of
Shak._, p. 126. "Latin and French, as the World now goes, is by every one
acknowledged to be necessary."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 351. "These things,
that he will thus learn by sight, and have by roat in his Memory, is not
all, I confess, that he is to learn upon the Globes."--_Ib._, p. 321.
"Henry: if John shall meet me, I will hand him your note."--_O. B. Peirce's
Gram._, p. 261. "They pronounce the syllables in a different manner from
what they do at other times."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 329. "Cato reminded him
of many warnings he had gave him."--_Goldsmith's Rome_, i, 114. "The Wages
is small. The Compasses is broken."--_Fisher's Gram._, p. 95. "Prepare thy
heart for prayer, lest thou temptest God."--_Life of Luther_, p. 83. "That
a soldier should fly is a shameful thing."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 155.
"When there is two verbs which are together."--_Woodworth's Gram._, p. 27.
"Interjections are words used to express some passion of the mind; and is
followed by a note of admiration!"--_Infant School Gram._, p. 126. "And the
king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth."--_2 Samuel_,
xviii, 25. "The opinions of the few must be overruled, and submit to the
opinions of the many."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 56. "One of the principal
difficulties which here occurs, has been already hinted."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 391. "With milky blood the heart is overflown."--_Thomson, Castle of
Ind_. "No man dare solicit for the votes of hiz nabors."--_Webster's
Essays_, p. 344. "Yet they cannot, and they have no right to exercise
it."--_Ib._, p. 56. "In order to make it be heard over their vast
theatres."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 471. "Sometimes, however, the relative and
its clause is placed before the antecedent and its clause."--_Bullions,
Lat. Gram._, p. 200.

   "Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey,
    Does sometimes counsel take--and sometimes tea."
        --_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 321.


EXERCISE VI.--PARTICIPLES.

"On the other hand, the degrading or vilifying an object, is done
successfully by ranking it with one that is really low."--_Kames, El. of
Crit._, ii, 50. "The magnifying or diminishing objects by means of
comparison, proceeds from the same cause."--_Ib._, i, 239. "Gratifying the
affection will also contribute to my own happiness."--_Ib._, i, 53. "The
pronouncing syllables in a high or a low tone."--_Ib._, ii, 77. "The
crowding into one period or thought different figures of speech, is not
less faulty than crowding metaphors in that manner."--_Ib._, ii, 234. "To
approve is acknowledging we ought to do a thing; and to condemn is owning
we ought not to do it."--_Burlamaqui, on Law_, p. 39. "To be provoked that
God suffers men to act thus, is claiming to govern the word in his
stead."--_Secker_. "Let every subject be well understood before passing on
to another."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 18. "Doubling the _t_ in _bigotted_
is apt to lead to an erroneous accentuation of the word on the second
syllable."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 22. "Their compelling the man to serve
was an act of tyranny."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 54. "One of the greatest
misfortunes of the French tragedy is, its being always written in
rhyme."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 469. "Horace entitles his satire 'Sermones,'
and seems not to have intended rising much higher than prose put into
numbers."--_Ib._, p. 402. "Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked,
comforting the afflicted, yield more pleasure than we receive from those
actions which respect only ourselves."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 238. "But
when we attempt to go a step beyond this, and inquire what is the cause of
regularity and variety producing in our minds the sensation of beauty, any
reason we can assign is extremely imperfect."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 29. "In
an author's writing with propriety, his being free of the two former faults
seems implied."--_Ib._, p. 94. "To prevent our being carried away by that
torrent of false and frivolous taste."--_Ib._, p. 12. "When we are unable
to assign the reasons of our being pleased."--_Ib._, p. 15. "An adjective
will not make good sense without joining it to a noun."--_Sanborn's Gram._,
p. 12. "What is said respecting sentences being inverted?"--_Ib._, p. 71.
"Though he admits of all the other cases, made use of by the
Latins."--_Bicknell's Gram._, p. viii. "This indeed, is accounting but
feebly for its use in this instance."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 148. "The
knowledge of what passes in the mind is necessary for the understanding the
Principles of Grammar."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 73. "By _than's_ being
used instead of as, it is not asserted that the former has as much fruit as
the latter."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 207. "Thus much for the Settling
your Authority over your Children."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 58.


EXERCISE VII.--ADVERBS.

"There can scarce be a greater Defect in a Gentleman, than not to express
himself well either in Writing or Speaking."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 335. "She
seldom or ever wore a thing twice in the same way."--_Castle Rackrent_, p.
84. "So can I give no reason, nor I will not."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 45.
"Nor I know not where I did lodge last night."--_Ib._, p. 270. "It is to be
presumed they would become soonest proficient in Latin."--_Burn's Gram._,
p. xi. "The difficulty of which has not been a little increased by that
variety."--_Ward's Pref. to Lily's Gram._, p. xi. "That full endeavours be
used in every monthly meeting to seasonably end all business or cases that
come before them."--_N. E. Discipline_, p. 44. "In minds where they had
scarce any footing before."--_Spectator_, No. 566. "The negative form is
when the adverb _not_ is used."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 61. "The
interrogative form is when a question is asked."--_Ibid._ "The finding out
the Truth ought to be his whole Aim."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 239.
"Mention the first instance when _that_ is used in preference to _who,
whom_, or _which_."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 96. "The plot was always
exceeding simple. It admitted of few incidents."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 470.
"Their best tragedies make not a deep enough impression on the
heart."--_Ib._, p. 472. "The greatest genius on earth, not even a Bacon,
can be a perfect master of every branch."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 13. "The
verb OUGHT is only used in the indicative [and subjunctive moods]."--_Dr.
Ash's Gram._, p. 70. "It is still a greater deviation from congruity, to
affect not only variety in the words, but also in the construction."--
_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 28. "It has besides been found that, generally,
students attend those lectures more carefully for which they pay."--_Dr.
Lieber, Lit. Conv._, p. 65. "This book I obtained through a friend, it
being not exposed for sale."--_Woolsey, ib._, p. 76. "Here there is no
manner of resemblance but in the word _drown_."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii,
163. "We have had often occasion to inculcate, that the mind passeth easily
and sweetly along a train of connected objects."--_Ib._, ii, 197. "Observe
the periods when the most illustrious persons flourished."--_Worcester's
Hist._, p. iv. "For every horse is not called Bucephalus, nor every dog
Turk."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 15. "One can scarce avoid smiling at the
blindness of a certain critic."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 257. "Provided
always, that we run not into the extreme of pruning so very close, so as to
give a hardness and dryness to style."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 92;
_Blair's_, 111. "Agreement is when one word is like another in number,
case, gender or person."--_Frost's Gram._, p. 43. "Government is when one
word causes another to be in some particular number, person or
case."--_Ibid._ "It seems to be nothing more than the simple form of the
adjective, and to imply not either comparison or degree."--_Murray's
Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 47.


EXERCISE VIII.--CONJUNCTIONS.

"The Indians had neither cows, horses, oxen, or sheep."--_Olney's Introd.
to Geog._, p. 46. "Who have no other object in view, but, to make a show of
their supposed talents."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 344. "No other but these,
could draw the attention of men in their rude uncivilized state."--_Ib._,
p. 379. "That he shall stick at nothing, nor nothing stick with
him."--_Pope_. "To enliven it into a passion, no more is required but the
real or ideal presence of the object."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 110. "I
see no more to be made of it but to-rest upon the final cause first
mentioned."--_Ib._, i, 175. "No quality nor circumstance contributes more
to grandeur than force."--_Ib._, i, 215. "It being a quotation, not from a
poet nor orator, but from a grave author, writing an institute of
law."--_Ib._, i, 233. "And our sympathy cannot be otherwise gratified but
by giving all the succour in our power."--_Ib._, i, 362. "And to no verse,
as far as I know, is a greater variety of time necessary."--_Ib._, ii, 79.
"English Heroic verse admits no more but four capital pauses."--_Ib._, ii,
105. "The former serves for no other purpose but to make harmony."--_Ib._,
231. "But the plan was not perhaps as new as some might think
it."--_Literary Conv._, p. 85. "The impression received would probably be
neither confirmed or corrected."--_Ib._, p. 183. "Right is nothing else but
what reason acknowledges."--_Burlamaqui, on Law_, p. 32. "Though it should
be of no other use but this."--BP. WILKINS: _Tooke's D. P._, ii, 27. "One
hope no sooner dies in us but another rises up."--_Spect._, No. 535. "This
rule implies nothing else but the agreement of an adjective with a
substantive."--_Adams Latin Gram._, p. 156; _Gould's_, 129. "There can be
no doubt but the plan of exercise pointed out at page 132, is the best that
can be adopted."--_Blair's Gram._, p. viii. "The exertions of this
gentleman have done more than any other writer on the subject."--DR.
ABERCROMBIE: _Rec. in Murray's Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 306. "No accidental nor
unaccountable event ought to be admitted."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 273.
"Wherever there was much fire and vivacity in the genius of
nations."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 5. "I aim at nothing else but your
safety."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 90. "There are pains inflicted upon man
for other purposes except warning."--_Wayland's Moral Sci._, p. 122. "Of
whom we have no more but a single letter remaining."--_Campbell's Pref. to
Matthew_. "The publisher meant no more but that W. Ames was the
author."--_Sewel's History, Preface_, p. xii. "Be neether bashful, nor
discuver uncommon solicitude."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 403. "They put Minos
to death, by detaining him so long in a bath, till he fainted."--
_Lempriere's Dict._ "For who could be so hard-hearted to be severe?"--
_Cowley_. "He must neither be a panegyrist nor a satirist."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 353. "No man unbiassed by philosophical opinions, thinks that
life, air, or motion, are precisely the same things."--_Dr. Murray's Hist.
of Lang._, i, 426. "Which I had no sooner drank, but I found a pimple
rising in my forehead."--ADDISON: _Sanborn's Gram._, p. 182. "This I view
very important, and ought to be well understood."--_Osborn's Key_, p. 5.
"So that neither emphases, tones, or cadences should be the
same."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 5.

   "You said no more but that yourselves must be
    The judges of the scripture sense, not we."--_Dryden_, p. 96.


EXERCISE IX.--PREPOSITIONS.

"To be entirely devoid of relish for eloquence, poetry, or any of the fine
arts, is justly construed to be an unpromising symptom of youth."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 14. "Well met, George, for I was looking of you."--_Walker's
Particles_, p. 441. "There is another fact worthy attention."--_Channing's
Emancip._, p. 49. "They did not gather of a Lord's-day, in costly
temples."--_The Dial_, No. ii, p. 209. "But certain ideas have, by
convention between those who speak the same language, been agreed to be
represented by certain articulate sounds."--_Adams's Rhet._, ii, 271. "A
careful study of the language is previously requisite, in all who aim at
writing it properly."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 91. "He received his reward in a
small place, which he enjoyed to his death."--_Notes to the Dunciad_, B.
ii, l. 283. "Gaddi, the pupil of Cimabue, was not unworthy his
master."--_Literary History_, p. 268. "It is a new, and picturesque, and
glowing image, altogether worthy the talents of the great poet who
conceived it."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 100. "If the right does exist, it
is paramount his title."--_Angell, on Tide Waters_, p. 237. "The most
appropriate adjective should be placed nearest the noun."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 194. "Is not Mr. Murray's octavo grammar more worthy the
dignified title of a 'Philosophical Grammar?'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 39.
"If it shall be found unworthy the approbation and patronage of the
literary public."--_Perley's Gram._, p. 3. "When the relative is preceded
by two words referring to the same thing, its proper antecedent is the one
next it."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 101. "The magistrates commanded them
to depart the city."--_Sewel's Hist._, p. 97. "Mankind act oftener from
caprice than reason."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 272. "It can never view,
clearly and distinctly, above one object at a time."--_Jamieson's Rhet._,
p. 65. "The theory of speech, or systematic grammar, was never regularly
treated as a science till under the Macedonian kings."--_Knight, on Greek
Alph._, p. 106. "I have been at London a year, and I saw the king last
summer."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 198. "This is a crucifying of Christ, and
a rebelling of Christ."--_Waldenfield_. "There is another advantage worthy
our observation."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 26. "Certain conjunctions
also require the subjunctive mood after them, independently on the
sense."--_Grant's Lat. Gram._, p. 77. "If the critical reader will think
proper to admit of it at all."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 191. "It is the
business of an epic poet to copy after nature."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 427.
"Good as the cause is, it is one from which numbers have deserted."--
_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 222. "In respect of the images it will receive from
matter."--_Spectator_, No. 413. "Instead of following on to whither
morality would conduct it."--_Dymond's Essays_, p. 85. "A variety of
questions upon subjects on which their feelings, and wishes, and interests,
are involved."--_Ib._, p. 147. "In the Greek, Latin, Saxon, and German
tongues, some of these situations are termed CASES, and are expressed by
additions to the Noun instead of by separate words and phrases."--_Booth's
Introd._, p. 33. "Every teacher is bound during three times each week, to
deliver a public lecture, gratis."--_Howitt's Student-Life in Germany_, p.
35. "But the professors of every political as well as religious creed move
amongst each other in manifold circles."--_Ib._, p. 113.


EXERCISE X.--PROMISCUOUS.

"The inseparable Prepositions making no Sense alone, they are used only in
Composition."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 66. "The English Scholar learns
little from the two last Rules."--_Ib., Pref._, p. xi. "To prevent the body
being stolen by the disciples."--_Watson's Apology_, p. 123. "To prevent
the Jews rejoicing at his death."--_Wood's Dict._, p. 584. "After he had
wrote the chronicles of the priesthood of John Hyrcanus."--_Whiston's
Josephus_, v, 195. "Such words are sometimes parsed as a direct address,
than which, nothing could be farther from the truth."--_Goodenow's Gram._,
p. 89. "The signs of the tenses in these modes are as follows."--_C.
Adams's Gram._, p. 33. "The signs of the tenses in the Potential mode are
as follows."--_Ibid._ "And, if more promiscuous examples be found
necessary, they may be taken from Mr. Murray's English Exercises."--
_Nesbit's Parsing_, p. xvi. "_One_ is a numeral adjective, the same as
_ten_."--_Ib._, p. 95. "Nothing so much distinguishes a little mind as to
stop at words."--MONTAGUE: _Letter-Writer_, p. 129. "But I say, again, What
signifies words?"--_Id., ib._ "Obedience to parents is a divine command,
given in both the Old and the New Testaments."--_Nesbit's Parsing_, p. 207.
"A Compound Subject is a union of several Subjects to all which belong the
same Attribute."--_Fosdick's De Sacy, on General Gram._, p. 22. "There are
other languages in which the Conjunctive does not prevent our expressing
the subject of the Conjunctive Proposition by a Pronoun."--_Ib._, p. 58.
"This distinction must necessarily be expressed by language, but there are
several different modes of doing it."--_Ib._, p. 64. "This action may be
considered with reference to the person or thing upon whom the action
falls."--_Ib._, p. 97. "There is nothing in the nature of things to prevent
our coining suitable words."--_Barnard's Gram._, p. 41. "What kind of a
book is this?"--_Ib._, p. 43. "Whence all but him had fled."--_Ib._, p. 58.
"Person is a distinction between individuals, as speaking, spoken to, or
spoken of."--_Ib._, p. 114. "He repented his having neglected his studies
at college."--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 19. "What avails the taking so much
medicine, when you are so careless about taking cold?"--_Ib._, p. 29.
"Active transitive verbs are those where the action passes from the agent
to the object."--_Ib._, p. 33. "Active intransitive verbs, are those where
the action is wholly confined to the agent or actor."--_Ibid._ "Passive
verbs express the receiving, or suffering, the action."--_Ib._, p. 34. "The
pluperfect tense expresses an action or event that passed prior or before
some other period of time specified in the sentence."--_Ib._, p. 42. "There
is no doubt of his being a great statesman."--_Ib._, p. 64. "Herschell is
the fartherest from the sun of any of the planets."--_Fuller's Gram._, p.
66. "There has not been introduced into the foregoing pages any reasons for
the classifications therein adopted."--_Ib._, p. 80. "There must be a comma
before the verb, as well as between each nominative case."--_Ib._, p. 98.
"_Yon_, with _former_ and _latter_, are also adjectives."--_Brace's Gram._,
p. 17. "You was."--_Ib._, p. 32. "If you was."--_Ib._, p. 39. "Two words
which end in _ly_ succeeding each other are indeed a little offensive to
the ear."--_Ib._, p. 85; _Lennie's Gram._, p. 102.

   "Is endless life and happiness despis'd?
    Or both wish'd here, where neither can be found?"--_Young_, p. 124.


EXERCISE XI.--PROMISCUOUS.

"Because any one of them is placed before a noun or pronoun, as you observe
I have done in every sentence."--_Rand's Gram._, p. 74. "_Might accompany_
is a transitive verb, because it expresses an action which effects the
object _me_."--_Gilbert's Gram._, p. 94. "_Intend_ is an intransitive verb
because it expresses an action which does not effect any object."--_Ib._,
p. 93. "Charles and Eliza were jealous of one another."--_J. M. Putnam's
Gram._, p. 44. "Thus _one another_ include both nouns."--_Ibid._ "When the
antecedent is a child, _that_ is elegantly used in preference to _who,
whom_, or _which_."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 94. "He can do no more in words,
but make out the expression of his will."--_Bp. Wilkins_. "The form of the
first person plural of the imperative, _love we_, is grown obsolete."--
_Lowth's Gram._, p. 38. "Excluding those verbs which are become
obsolete."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 47. "He who sighs for pleasure, the
voice of wisdom can never reach, nor the power of virtue touch."--_Wright's
Athens_, p. 64. "The other branch of wit in the thought, is that only which
is taken notice of by Addison."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 312. "When any
measure of the Chancellor was found fault with."--_Professors' Reasons_, p.
14. "_Whether_ was formerly made use of to signify interrogation."--
_Murray's Gram._, p. 54. "Under the article of _Pronouns_ the following
words must be taken notice of."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 95. "In a word, we
are afforded much pleasure, to be enabled to bestow our most unqualified
approbation on this excellent work."--_Wright's Gram., Rec._, p. 4. "For
Recreation is not being Idle, as every one may observe."--_Locke, on Ed._,
p. 365. "In the easier valuing and expressing that sum."--_Dilworth's
Arith._, p. 3. "Addition is putting together of two or more numbers."--
_Alexander's Arith._, p. 8. "The reigns of some of our British Queens may
fairly be urged in proof of woman being capable of discharging the most
arduous and complicated duties of government."--_West's Letters to Y. L._,
p. 43. "What is the import of that command to love such an one as
ourselves?"--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 206. "It should seem then the
grand question was, What is good?"--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 297. "The
rectifying bad habits depends upon our consciousness of them."--_Sheridan's
Elocution_, p. 32. "To prevent our being misled by a mere name."--
_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 168. "I was refused an opportunity of replying in
the latter review."--_Fowle's True English Gram._, p. 10. "But how rare is
such generosity and excellence as Howard displayed!"--_M'Culloch's Gram._,
p. 39. "The noun is in the Nominative case when it is the name of the
person or thing which acts or is spoken of."--_Ib._, p. 54. "The noun is in
the Objective case when it is the name of the person or thing which is the
object or end of an action or movement."--_Ib._, p. 54. "To prevent their
being erased from your memory."--_Mack's Gram._, p. 17. "Pleonasm, is when
a superfluous word is introduced abruptly."--_Ib._, p. 69.

   "Man feels his weakness, and to numbers run,
    Himself to strengthen, or himself to shun."--_Crabbe, Borough_, p. 137.


EXERCISE XII.--TWO ERRORS.

"Independent on the conjunction, the sense requires the subjunctive
mood."--_Grant's Latin Gram._, p. 77. "A Verb in past time without a sign
is Imperfect tense."--_C. Adams's Gram._, p. 33. "New modelling your
household and personal ornaments is, I grant, an indispensable
duty."--_West's Letters to Y. L._, p. 58. "For grown ladies and gentlemen
learning to dance, sing, draw, or even walk, is now too frequent to excite
ridicule."--_Ib._, p. 123. "It is recorded that a physician let his horse
bleed on one of the evil days, and it soon lay dead."--_Constable's
Miscellany_, xxi. 99. "As to the apostrophe, it was seldom used to
distinguish the genitive case till about the beginning of the present
century, and then seems to have been introduced by mistake."--_Dr. Ash's
Gram._, p. 23. "One of the relatives only varied to express the three
cases."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 24. "What! does every body take their morning
draught of this liquor?"--_Collier's Cebes_. "Here, all things comes round,
and bring the same appearances a long with them."--_Collier's Antoninus_,
p. 103. "Most commonly both the relative and verb are elegantly left out in
the second member."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. ix. "A fair receipt of water,
of some thirty or forty foot square."--_Bacon's Essays_, p. 127. "The old
know more indirect ways of outwiting others, than the young."--_Burgh's
Dignity_, i, 60. "The pronoun singular of the third person hath three
genders."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 21. "The preposition _to_ is made use of
before nouns of place, when they follow verbs and participles of
motion."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 203. "It is called, understanding human
nature, knowing the weak sides of men, &c."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p.
284. "Neither of which are taken notice of by this Grammar."--_Johnson's
Gram. Com._, p. 279. "But certainly no invention is entitled to such degree
of admiration as that of language."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 54. "The Indians,
the Persians, and Arabians, were all famous for their tales."--_Ib._, p.
374. "Such a leading word is the preposition and the conjunction."--
_Felch's Comp. Gram._, p. 21. "This, of all others, is the most encouraging
circumstance in these times."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 37. "The putting
any constraint on the organs of speech, or urging them to a more rapid
action than they can easily perform in their tender state, must be
productive of indistinctness in utterance."--_Ib._, p. 35. "Good
articulation is the foundation of a good delivery, in the same manner as
the sounding the simple notes in music, is the foundation of good
singing."--_Ib._, p. 33. "The offering praise and thanks to God, implies
our having a lively and devout sense of his excellencies and of his
benefits."--ATTERBURY: _Blair's Rhet._, p. 295. "The pause should not be
made till the fourth or sixth syllable."--_Blair, ib._, p. 333.
"Shenstone's pastoral ballad, in four parts, may justly be reckoned one of
the most elegant poems of this kind, which we have in English."--_Ib._, p.
394. "What need Christ to have died, if heaven could have contained
imperfect souls?"--_Baxter_. "Every person is not a man of genius, nor is
it necessary that he should."--_Seattle's Moral Science_, i, 69. "They were
alarmed from a quarter where they least expected."--_Goldsmith's Greece_,
ii, 6.

   "If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak,
    And peg thee in his knotty intrails."--SHAK.: _White's Verb_, p. 94.


EXERCISE XIII.--TWO ERRORS.

"In consequence of this, much time and labor are unprofitably expended, and
a confusion of ideas introduced into the mind, which, by never so wise a
method of subsequent instruction, it is very difficult completely to
remove."--_Grenville's Gram._, p. 3. "So that the restoring a natural
manner of delivery, would be bringing about an entire revolution, in its
most essential parts."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 170. "'Thou who loves
us, will protect us still:' here _who_ agrees with _thou_, and is
nominative to the verb loves."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 67. "The Active
voice signifies action; the Passive, suffering, or being the object of an
action."--_Adam's Latin Gram._, p. 80; _Gould's_, 77. "They sudden set upon
him, fearing no such thing."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 252. "_That_ may be
used as a pronoun, an adjective, and a conjunction, depending on the office
which it performs in the sentence."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 110. "This is
the distinguishing property of the church of Christ from all other
antichristian assemblies or churches."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 533. "My
lords, the course which the legislature formerly took with respect to the
slave-trade, appears to me to be well deserving the attention both of the
government and your lordships."--BROUGHAM: _Antislavery Reporter_, Vol. ii,
p. 218. "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen."--_John_,
iii, 11. "This is a consequence I deny, and remains for him to
prove."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 329. "To back this, He brings in the
Authority of Accursius, and Consensius Romanus, to the latter of which he
confesses himself beholding for this Doctrine."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p.
343. "The compound tenses of the second order, or those in which the
participle present is made use of."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 24. "To lay
the accent always on the same syllable, and the same letter of the
syllable, which they do in common discourse."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p.
78. "Though the converting the _w_ into a _v_ is not so common as the
changing the _v_ into a _w_."--_Ib._, p. 46. "Nor is this all; for by means
of accent, the times of pauses also are rendered quicker, and their
proportions more easily to be adjusted and observed."--_Ib._, p. 72. "By
mouthing, is meant, dwelling upon syllables that have no accent: or
prolonging the sounds of the accented syllables, beyond their due
proportion of time."--_Ib._, p. 76. "Taunt him with the license of ink; if
thou thou'st him thrice, it shall not be amiss."--SHAK.: _Joh. Dict., w.
Thou_. "The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his
mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles
shall eat it."--_Prov._, xxx, 17. "Copying, or merely imitating others, is
the death of arts and sciences."--_Spurzheim, on Ed._, p. 170. "He is
arrived at that degree of perfection, as to surprise all his
acquaintance."--_Ensell's Gram._, p. 296. "Neither the King _nor_ Queen are
gone."--_Buchanan's E. Syntax_, p. 155. "_Many_ is pronounced as if it were
wrote _manny_."--_Dr. Johnson's Gram., with Dict._, p. 2.

   "And as the music on the waters float,
    Some bolder shore returns the soften'd note."
        --_Crabbe, Borough_, p. 118.


EXERCISE XIV.--THREE ERRORS.

"It appears that the Temple was then a building, because these Tiles must
be supposed to be for the covering it."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 281.
"It was common for sheriffs to omit or excuse the not making returns for
several of the boroughs within their counties."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol.
ii, p. 132. "The conjunction _as_ when it is connected with the pronoun,
such, many, or same, is sometimes called a relative pronoun."--_Kirkham's
Gram., the Compend_. "Mr. Addison has also much harmony in his style; more
easy and smooth, but less varied than Lord Shaftesbury."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 127; _Jamieson's_, 129. "A number of uniform lines having all the same
pause, are extremely fatiguing; which is remarkable in French
versification."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 104. "Adjectives
qualify or distinguish one noun from another."--_Fowle's True Eng. Gram._,
p. 13. "The words _one, other_, and _none_, are used in both
numbers."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 107. "A compound word is made up of two or
more words, usually joined by an hyphen, as summer-house, spirit-less,
school-master."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 7. "There is an inconvenience in
introducing new words by composition which nearly resembles others in use
before; as, _disserve_, which is too much like _deserve_."--_Priestley's
Gram._, p. 145. "For even in that case, the trangressing the limits in the
least, will scarce be pardoned."--_Sheridan's Lect._, p. 119. "What other
are the foregoing instances but describing the passion another
feels."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 388. "'Two and three are five.' If each
_substantive_ is to be taken separately as a subject, then 'two _is_ five,'
and 'three _is_ five.'"--_Goodenow's Gram._, p. 87. "The article _a_ joined
to the simple _pronoun other_ makes _it_ the compound _another_."--
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 96. "The _word another_ is composed of the
indefinite _article prefixed_ to the _word other_."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
57; et al. "In relating things that were formerly expressed by another
person, we often meet with modes of expression similar to the
following."--_Ib._, p. 191. "Dropping one l prevents the recurrence of
three very near each other."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 202. "Sometimes two
or more genitive cases succeed each other; as, 'John's wife's
father.'"--_Dalton's Gram._, p. 14. "Sometimes, though rarely, two nouns in
the possessive case immediately succeed each other, in the following form:
'My friend's wife's sister.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 45.


EXERCISE XV.--MANY ERRORS.

"Number is of a two fold nature,--Singular and Plural: and comprehends,
accordingly to its application, the distinction between them."--_Wright's
Gram._, p. 37. "The former, Figures of Words, are commonly called Tropes,
and _consists_ in a word's being employed to signify something, _which_ is
different from its original and primitive meaning."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo,
p. 337. "The former, figures of words, are commonly called tropes, and
_consist_ in a word's being employed to signify something _that_ is
different from its original and primitive meaning."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
132. "A particular number of connected syllables are called feet, or
measured paces."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 118. "Many poems, and especially
songs, are written in the dactyl or anapæstic measure, some consisting of
eleven or twelve syllables, and some of less."--_Ib._, p. 121. "A Diphthong
makes always a long Syllable, unless one of the vowels be droped."--
_British Gram._, p. 34. "An Adverb is generally employed as an attributive,
to denote some peculiarity or manner of action, with respect to the time,
place, or order, of the noun or circumstance to which it is connected."--
_Wright's Definitions, Philos. Gram._, pp. 35 and 114. "A Verb expresses
the action, the suffering or enduring, or the existence or condition of a
noun."--_Ib._, pp. 35 and 64. "These three adjectives should be written
our's, your's, their's."--_Fowle's True Eng. Gram._, p. 22. "Never was man
so teized, or suffered half the uneasiness as I have done this evening."--
_Tattler_, No. 160; _Priestley's Gram._, p. 200; _Murray's_, i, 223. "There
may be reckoned in English four different cases, or relations of a
substantive, called the subjective, the possessive, the objective, and the
absolute cases."--_Goodenow's Gram._, p. 31. "To avoid the too often
repeating the Names of other Persons or Things of which we discourse, the
words _he, she, it, who, what_, were invented."--_Brightland's Gram._, p.
85. "Names which denote a number of the same things, are called nouns of
multitude."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 21. "But lest he should think, this
were too slightly a passing over his matter, I will propose to him to be
considered these things following."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 472.
"In the pronunciation of the letters of the Hebrew proper names, we find
nearly the same rules prevail as in those of Greek and Latin."--_Walker's
Key_, p. 223. "The distributive pronominal adjectives _each, every,
either_, agree with _the_ nouns, _pronouns, and_ verbs of the singular
number only."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 89. "_Having treated_ of the different
_sorts_ of _words_, and _their_ various modifications, _which is_ the first
part of Etymology, _it_ is now proper to explain the _methods_ by which
_one word_ is derived from another."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 130.


EXERCISE XVI.--MANY ERRORS.

"A Noun with its Adjectives (or any governing Word with its Attendants) is
one compound Word, whence the Noun and Adjective so joined, do often admit
another Adjective, and sometimes a third, and so on; as, a Man, an old Man,
a very good old Man, a very learned, judicious, sober Man."--_British
Gram._, p. 195; _Buchanan's_, 79. "A substantive _with_ its adjective _is_
reckoned as one _compounded_ word; whence _they_ often take _another_
adjective, and sometimes a third, and so on: as, 'An old man; a good old
man; a very learned, judicious, good old man.'"--_L. Murray's Gram._, p.
169; _Ingersoll's_, 195; _and others_. "But though this elliptical style
_be_ intelligible, and _is_ allowable in conversation _and_ epistolary
_writing_, yet in all _writings_ of a serious or dignified kind, _is_
ungraceful."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 112. "There is no talent _so useful_
towards rising in the world, _or which_ puts men more out of the reach of
fortune, than that quality generally possessed by the dullest sort of
people, and is, in common language, called discretion."--SWIFT: _Blair's
Rhet._, p. 113. "Which to allow, is just as reasonable as to own, that 'tis
the greatest ill of a body to be in the utmost _manner_ maimed or
distorted; but _that_ to lose the use _only_ of one limb, or to be impaired
in some single organ or member, is no ill worthy the least notice."--
SHAFTESBURY: _ib._, p. 115; _Murray's Gram._, p. 322. "If the singular
nouns _and_ pronouns, which _are joined_ together by a copulative
conjunction, _be_ of _several_ persons, in _making_ the plural pronoun
_agree_ with them in person, the second person takes _place of_ the third,
and the _first of_ both."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 151; _et al_. "'The painter
* * * cannot exhibit various stages of the same action.' _In_ this sentence
we see that _the_ painter _governs_, or agrees with, the verb _can_, as
_its nominative_ case."--_Ib._, p. 195. "It expresses _also_ facts _which_
exist _generally_, at _all times_, general truths, attributes _which_ are
permanent, habits, customary actions, and the like, without the reference
to a specific time."--_Ib._, p. 73; _Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 71. "The
different species of animals may therefore be considered, as so many
different nations speaking different languages, _that have_ no commerce
with _each_ other; each of _which_ consequently understands _none_ but
_their_ own."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 142. "It is also important to
_understand and_ apply the principles of grammar in our common
conversation; not only because _it_ enables us to make our language
_understood by educated_ persons, but because it furnishes the readiest
evidence _of our_ having received a good education _ourselves_."--_Frost's
Practical Gram._, p. 16.


EXERCISE XVII.--MANY ERRORS.

"This faulty Tumour in Stile is like an huge unpleasant Rock in a Champion
Country, that's difficult to be transcended."--_Holmes's Rhet._, Book ii,
p. 16. "For there are no Pelops's, nor Cadmus's, nor Danaus's dwell among
us."--_Ib._, p. 51. "None of these, except _will_, is ever used as a
principal verb, but as an auxiliary to some principal, either expressed or
understood."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 134. "Nouns which signify either the
male or female are common gender."--_Perley's Gram._, p. 11. "An Adjective
expresses the kind, number, or quality of a noun."--_Parker and Fox's
Gram._, Part I, p. 9. "There are six tenses; the Present, the Imperfect,
the Perfect, the Pluperfect, the Future, and the Future Perfect
tenses."--_Ib._, p. 18. "_My_ refers to the first person singular, either
gender. _Our_ refers to the first person plural, either gender. _Thy_
refers to the second person singular, either gender. _Your_ refers to the
second person plural, either gender. _Their_ refers to the third person
plural, either gender."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part II, p. 14. "Good
use, which for brevity's sake, shall hereafter include reputable, national,
and present use, is not always uniform in her decisions."--_Jamieson's
Rhet._, p. 44. "Nouns which denote but one object are considered in the
singular number."--_Edward's First Lessons in Gram._, p. 35. "If,
therefore, the example of Jesus should be plead to authorize accepting an
invitation to dine on the sabbath, it should be plead just as it
was."--_Barnes's Notes: on Luke_, xiv, 1. "The teacher will readily dictate
what part may be omitted, the first time going through it."--_Ainsworth's
Gram._, p. 4. "The contents of the following pages have been drawn chiefly,
with various modifications, from the same source which has supplied most
modern writers on this subject, viz. LINDLEY MURRAY'S GRAMMAR."--_Felton's
Gram._, p. 3. "The term _person_ in grammar distinguishes between the
speaker, the person or thing spoken to, and the person or thing spoken
of."--_Ib._, p. 9. "In my father's garden grow the Maiden's Blush and the
Prince' Feather."--_Felton, ib._, p. 15. "A preposition is a word used to
connect words with one another, and show the relation between them. They
generally stand before nouns and pronouns."--_Ib._, p. 60. "Nouns or
pronouns addressed are always either in the second person, singular or
plural."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 54. "The plural MEN not ending in s, is the
reason for adding the apostrophie's."--_T. Smith's Gram._, p. 19.
"_Pennies_ denote real coin; _pence_, their value in computation."--
_Hazen's Gram._, p. 24. "We commence, first, with _letters_, which is
termed _Orthography_; secondly, with _words_, denominated _Etymology_;
thirdly, with _sentences_, styled _Syntax_; fourthly, with _orations_ and
_poems_, called _Prosody_."--_Barrett's Gram._, p. 22. "Care must be taken,
that sentences of proper construction and obvious import be not rendered
obscure by the too free use of the ellipsis."--_Felton's Grammar,
Stereotype Edition_, p. 80.


EXERCISE XVIII.--PROMISCUOUS.

"Tropes and metaphors so closely resemble _each_ other that it is not
always easy, nor is it important to _be able_ to distinguish the _one_ from
the _other_."--_Parker and Fox, Part III_, p. 66. "With regard to
_relatives_, it may be further observed, that obscurity often arises from
_the_ too frequent repetition of them, particularly of the pronouns WHO,
and THEY, and THEM, and THEIRS. When we find _these personal pronouns_
crowding too fast upon us, we have often no method left, but to throw the
whole sentence into some other form."--_Ib._, p. 90; _Murray's Gram._, p.
311; _Blair's Rhet._, p. 106. "Do scholars acquire any valuable knowledge,
by learning to repeat long strings of words, without any definite ideas, or
_several jumbled_ together like rubbish in a corner, and apparently with no
application, _either for_ the improvement of mind _or of_ language?"--
_Cutler's Gram., Pref._, p. 5. "The being officiously good natured and
civil are things so uncommon in the world, that one cannot hear a man make
professions of them without being surprised, or at least, suspecting the
disinterestedness of his intentions."--FABLES: _Cutler's Gram._, p. 135.
"Irony is the intentional use of words to express a sense contrary to that
which the speaker or writer means to convey."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._,
Part III, p. 68. "The term _Substantive_ is derived from _substare_, to
_stand_, to _distinguish it_ from an adjective, which cannot, like the
noun, stand alone."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 11. "They have two numbers, _like
nouns_, the singular and plural; and three persons in each number, namely,
_I_, the first person, represents the speaker. _Thou_, the second person,
represents the person spoken to. _He, she, it_, the third person,
represents the person or thing spoken of."--_Ib._, p. 23. "_He, She, It_,
is the Third Person singular; but _he with others, she with others_, or _it
with others_, make each of them _they_, which is the Third Person
plural."--_White, on the English Verb_, p. 97. "The words _had I been_,
that is, the Third Past Tense of the Verb, marks the Supposition, as
referring itself, not to the Present, but to some former period of
time."--_Ib._, p. 88. "A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun, to avoid
a too frequent repetition of the same word."--_Frazee's Improved Gram._, p.
122.

   "That which he cannot use, and dare not show,
    And would not give--why longer should he owe?"--_Crabbe_.




PART IV.

PROSODY.


Prosody treats of punctuation, utterance, figures, and versification.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The word _prosody_, (from the Greek--[Greek: pros], _to_, and
[Greek: dæ], _song_,) is, with regard to its derivation, exactly equivalent
to _accent_, or the Latin _accentus_, which is formed from _ad, to_, and
_cantus, song_: both terms, perhaps, originally signifying a _singing
with_, or _sounding to_, some instrument or voice. PROSODIA, as a Latin
word, is defined by Littleton, "Pars Grammaticæ quæ docet _accentus, h. e._
rationem atollendi et depremendi syllabas, tum quantitatem carundem." And
in English, "_The art of_ ACCENTING, _or the rule of pronouncing syllables
truly_, LONG _or_ SHORT."--_Litt. Dict._, 4to. This is a little varied by
Ainsworth thus: "_The rule of_ ACCENTING, _or pronouncing syllables truly,
whether_ LONG _or_ SHORT."--_Ains. Dict._, 4to. Accent, in English, belongs
as much to prose as to poetry; but some deny that in Latin it belongs to
either. There is also much difficulty about the import of the word; since
some prosodists identify _accent_ with _tone_; some take it for the
_inflections_ of voice; some call it the _pitch_ of vocal sounds; and some,
like the authors just cited, seem to confound it with _quantity_,--"LONG
_or_ SHORT." [459]

OBS. 2.--"_Prosody_," says a late writer, "strictly denotes only that
_musical tone_ or _melody_ which accompanies speech. But the usage of
modern grammarians justifies an extremely general application of the
term."--_Frost's Practical Grammar_, p. 160. This remark is a note upon the
following definition: "PROSODY is that part of grammar which treats of the
structure of Poetical Composition."--_Ibid._ Agreeably to this definition,
Frost's Prosody, with all the generality the author claims for it, embraces
only a brief account of Versification, with a few remarks on "Poetical
License." Of Pronunciation and the Figures of Speech, he takes no notice;
and Punctuation, which some place with Orthography, and others distinguish
as one of the chief parts of grammar, he exhibits as a portion of Syntax.
Not more comprehensive is this part of grammar, as exhibited in the works
of several other authors; but, by Lindley Murray, R. C. Smith, and some
others, both Punctuation and Pronunciation are placed here; though no
mention is made of the former in their subdivision of Prosody, which, they
not very aptly say, "consists of _two_ parts, Pronunciation and
Versification." Dr. Bullions, no less deficient in method, begins with
saying, "PROSODY consists of two parts; Elocution and Versification;"
(_Principles of E. Gram._, p. 163;) and then absurdly proceeds to treat of
it under the following _six_ principal heads: viz., Elocution,
Versification, Figures of Speech, Poetic License, Hints for Correct and
Elegant Writing, and Composition.

OBS. 3.--If, in regard to the subjects which may be treated under the name
of _Prosody_, "the usage of _modern_ grammarians justifies an extremely
general application of the term," such an application is certainly not
_less_ warranted by the usage of _old_ authors. But, by the practice of
neither, can it be _easily_ determined how many and what things _ought_ to
be embraced under this head. Of the different kinds of verse, or "the
structure of Poetical Compostion," some of the old prosodists took little
or no notice; because they thought it their chief business, to treat of
syllables, and determine the orthoëpy of words. The Prosody of Smetius,
dated 1509, (my edition of which was published in Germany in 1691,) is in
fact a _pronouncing dictionary_ of the Latin language. After a brief
abstract of the old rules of George Fabricius concerning quantity and
accent, it exhibits, in alphabetic order, and with all their syllables
marked, about twenty-eight thousand words, with a poetic line quoted
against each, to prove the pronunciation just. The Prosody of John
Genuensis, an other immense work, concluded by its author in 1286, improved
by Badius in 1506, and printed at Lyons in 1514, is also mainly a _Latin
dictionary_, with derivations and definitions as in other dictionaries. It
is a folio volume of seven hundred and thirty closely-printed pages; six
hundred of which are devoted to the vocabulary, the rest to orthography,
accent, etymology, syntax, figures, points--almost everything _but
versification_. Yet this vast sum of grammar has been entitled
_Prosody_--"_Prosodia seu Catholicon_"--"_Catholicon seu Universale
Vocabularium ac Summa Grammatices_."--See pp. 1 and 5.




CHAPTER I--PUNCTUATION.

Punctuation is the art of dividing literary composition, by points, or
stops, for the purpose of showing more clearly the sense and relation of
the words; and of noting the different pauses and inflections required in
reading.

The following are the principal points, or marks; namely, the Comma [,],
the Semicolon [;], the Colon [:], the Period [.], the Dash [--], the
Eroteme, or Note of Interrogation [?], the Ecphoneme, or Note of
Exclamation [!], and the Curves, or Marks of Parenthesis, [()].

The Comma denotes the shortest pause; the Semicolon, a pause double that of
the comma; the Colon, a pause double that of the semicolon; and the Period,
or Full Stop, a pause double that of the colon. The pauses required by the
other four, vary according to the structure of the sentence, and their
place in it. They may be equal to any of the foregoing.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The pauses that are made in the natural flow of speech, have, in
reality, no definite and invariable proportions. Children are often told to
pause at a comma while they might count _one_; at a semicolon, _one, two_;
at a colon, _one, two, three_; at a period, _one, two, three, four_. This
may be of some use, as teaching them to observe the necessary stops, that
they may catch the sense; but the standard itself is variable, and so are
the times which good sense gives to the points. As a final stop, the period
is immeasurable; and so may be the pause after a question or an
exclamation.

OBS. 2.--The first four points take their names from the parts of
discourse, or of a sentence, which are distinguished by them. The _Period_,
or _circuit_, is a complete _round_ of words, often consisting of several
clauses or members, and always bringing out full sense at the close. The
_Colon_, or _member_, is the greatest division or _limb_ of a period, and
is the chief constructive part of a compound sentence. The _Semicolon, half
member_, or _half limb_, is the greatest division of a colon, and is
properly a smaller constructive part of a compound sentence. The _Comma_,
or _segment_, is a small part of a clause _cut off_, and is properly the
least constructive part of a compound sentence. A _simple sentence_ is
sometimes a whole period, sometimes a chief member, sometimes a half
member, sometimes a segment, and sometimes perhaps even less. Hence it may
require the period, the colon, the semicolon, the comma, or even no point,
according to the manner in which it is used. A sentence whose relatives and
adjuncts are all taken in a restrictive sense, may be considerably complex,
and yet require no division by points; as,

   "Thank him who puts me loath to this revenge
    On you who wrong me not for him who wrong'd."--_Milton_.

OBS. 3.--The system of punctuation now used in English, is, in its main
features, common to very many languages. It is used in Latin, French,
Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, German, and perhaps most of the
tongues in which books are now written or printed. The Germans, however,
make less frequent use of the comma than we; and the Spaniards usually mark
a question or an exclamation _doubly_, inverting the point at the beginning
of the sentence. In Greek, the difference is greater: the colon, expressed
by the upper dot alone, is the only point between the comma and the period;
the ecphoneme, or note of exclamation, is hardly recognized, though some
printers of the classics have occasionally introduced it; and the eroteme,
or note of interrogation, retains in that language its pristine form, which
is that of our semicolon. In Hebrew, a full stop is denoted by a heavy
colon, or something like it; and this is the only pointing adopted, when
the vowel points and the accents are not used.

OBS. 4.--Though the points in use, and the principles on which they ought
to be applied, are in general well fixed, and common to almost all sorts of
books; yet, through the negligence of editors, the imperfections of copy,
the carelessness of printers, or some other means, it happens, that
different editions and different versions of the same work are often found
pointed very variously. This circumstance, provided the sense is still
preserved, is commonly thought to be of little moment. But all _writers_
will do well to remember, that they owe it to their readers, to show them
at once how they mean to be read; and since the punctuation of the early
printers was unquestionably very _defective_, the republishers of ancient
books should not be over scrupulous about an exact imitation of it; they
may, with proper caution, correct obvious faults.

OBS. 5.--The precise origin of the points, it is not easy to trace in the
depth of antiquity. It appears probable, from ancient manuscripts and
inscriptions, that the period is the oldest of them; and it is said by
some, that the first system of punctuation consisted in the different
positions of this dot alone. But after the adoption of the small letters,
which improvement is referred to the ninth century, both the comma and the
colon came into use, and also the Greek note of interrogation. In old
books, however, the comma is often found, not in its present form, but in
that of a straight stroke, drawn up and down obliquely between the words.
Though the colon is of Greek origin, the practice of writing it with two
dots we owe to the Latin authors, or perhaps to the early printers of Latin
books. The semicolon was first used in Italy, and was not adopted in
England till about the year 1600. Our marks for questions and exclamations
were also derived from the same source, probably at a date somewhat
earlier. The curves of the parenthesis have likewise been in use for
several centuries. But the clash is a more recent invention: Lowth, Ash,
and Ward,--Buchanan, Bicknell, and Burn,--though they name all the rest,
make no mention of this mark; but it appears by their books, that they all
occasionally _used_ it.

OBS. 6--Of the _colon_ it may be observed, that it is now much less
frequently used than it was formerly; its place being usurped, sometimes by
the semicolon, and sometimes by the period. For this ill reason, some late
grammarians have discarded it altogether. Thus Felton: "The COLON is now so
seldom used by good writers, that rules for its use are
unnecessary."--_Concise Manual of English Gram._, p. 140. So Nutting: "It
will be noticed, that the _colon_ is omitted in this system; because it is
omitted by the majority of the writers of the present age; three points,
with the dash, being considered sufficient to mark the different lengths of
the pauses."--_Practical Grammar_, p. 120. These critics, whenever they
have occasion to copy such authors as Milton and Pope, do not scruple to
mutilate their punctuation by putting semicolons or periods for all the
colons they find. But who cannot perceive, that without the colon, the
semicolon becomes an absurdity? It can no longer be a _semicolon_, unless
the half can remain when the whole is taken away! The colon, being the
older point of the two, and once very fashionable, is doubtless on record
in more instances than the semicolon; and, if now, after both have been in
common use for some hundreds of years, it be found out that only one is
needed, perhaps it would be more reasonable to prefer the former. Should
public opinion ever be found to coincide with the suggestions of the two
authors last quoted, there will be reason to regret that Caxton, the old
English typographer of the fifteenth century, who for a while successfully
withstood, in his own country, the introduction of the semicolon, had not
the power to prevent it forever. In short, to leave no literary
extravagance unbroached, the latter point also has not lacked a modern
impugner. "One of the greatest improvements in punctuation," says Justin
Brenan, "is the rejection of the eternal semicolons of our ancestors. In
latter times, the semicolon has been gradually disappearing, not only from
the newspapers, but from books."--_Brenan's "Composition and Punctuation
familiarly Explained"_, p. 100; London, 1830. The colon and the semicolon
are both useful, and, not unfrequently, necessary; and all correct writers
will, I doubt not, continue to use both.

OBS. 7--Since Dr. Blair published his emphatic caution against too frequent
a use of _parentheses_, there has been, if not an abatement of the kind of
error which he intended to censure, at least a diminution in the use of the
_curves_, the sign of a parenthesis. These, too, some inconsiderate
grammarians now pronounce to be out of vogue. "The parenthesis is now
generally exploded as a deformity."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 362. "The
Parenthesis, () has become nearly obsolete, except in mere references, and
the like; its place, by modern writers, being usually supplied by the use
of the comma, and the dash."--_Nutting's Practical Gram._, p. 126;
_Frazee's Improved Grammar_, p. 187. More use may have been made of the
curves than was necessary, and more of the parenthesis itself than was
agreeable to good taste; but, the sign being well adapted to the
construction, and the construction being sometimes sprightly and elegant,
there are no good reasons for wishing to discard either of them; nor is it
true, that the former "has become nearly obsolete."

OBS. 8--The name _parenthesis_ is, which literally means a
_putting-in-between_, is usually applied both to the _curves_, and to the
incidental _clause_ which they enclose. This twofold application of the
term involves some inconvenience, if not impropriety. According to Dr.
Johnson, the enclosed "_sentence_" alone is the _parenthesis_; but
Worcester, agreeably to common usage, defines the word as meaning also "the
_mark_ thus ()." But, as this sign consists of two distinct parts, two
corresponding curves, it seems more natural to use a plural name: hence L.
Murray, when he would designate the sign only, adopted a plural expression;
as, "_the parenthetical characters_,"--"_the parenthetical marks_." So, in
another case, which is similar: "the _hooks_ in which words are included,"
are commonly called _crotchets_ or _brackets_; though Bucke, in his
Classical Grammar, I know not why, calls the two "[ ] a _Crotchet_;" (p.
23;) and Webster, in his octavo Dictionary, defines a "_Bracket_, in
printing," as Johnson does a "_Crotchet_" by a plural noun: "_hooks_; thus,
[ ]." Again, in his grammars, Dr. Webster rather confusedly says: "The
parenthesis () and hooks [] include a remark or clause, not essential to
the sentence in construction."--_Philosophical Gram._, p. 219; _Improved
Gram._, p. 154. But, in his Dictionary, he forgets both the hooks and the
parenthesis that are here spoken of; and, with still worse confusion or
inaccuracy, says: "The _parenthesis_ is usually included in _hooks_ or
curved lines, thus, ()." Here he either improperly calls these regular
little curves "_hooks_," or erroneously suggests that both the hooks and
the curves are usual and appropriate signs of "_the parenthesis_." In
Garner's quarto Dictionary, the French word _Crochet_, as used by printers,
is translated, "_A brace, a crotchet, a parenthesis_;" and the English word
_Crotchet_ is defined, "The _mark_ of a _parenthesis_, in printing, thus [
]." But Webster defines _Crotchet_, "In printing, a _hook_ including words,
a _sentence_ or a _passage_ distinguished from the rest, thus []." This
again is both ambiguous and otherwise inaccurate. It conveys no clear idea
of what a crotchet is. _One_ hook _includes_ nothing. Therefore Johnson
said: "_Hooks_ in which words are included [thus]." But if each of the
hooks is a crotchet, as Webster suggests, and almost every body supposes,
then both lexicographers are wrong in not making the whole expression
plural: thus, "_Crotchets_, in printing, are angular _hooks_ usually
including some explanatory words." But is this all that Webster meant? I
cannot tell. He may be understood as saying also, that a _Crotchet_ is "_a
sentence_ or _a passage_ distinguished from the rest, thus [];" and
doubtless it would be much better to call a hint thus marked, a _crotchet_,
than to call it _a parenthesis_, as some have done. In Parker and Fox's
Grammar, and also in Parker's Aids to English Composition, the term
_Brackets_ only is applied to these angular hooks; and, contrary to all
usage of other authors, so far as I know, the name of _Crotchets_ is there
given to the _Curves_. And then, as if this application of the word were
general, and its propriety indisputable, the pupil is simply told: "The
_curved lines_ between which a parenthesis is enclosed are called
_Crotchets_."--_Gram._, Part III, p. 30; _Aids_, p. 40. "Called
_Crotchets_" by whom? That not even Mr. Parker himself knows them by that
name, the following most inaccurate passage is a proof: "The _note_ of
admiration _and_ interrogation, as also the _parenthesis_, the _bracket_,
and the reference marks, [are noted in the margin] in the same manner as
the apostrophe."--_Aids_, p. 314. In some late grammars, (for example,
_Hazen's_ and _Day's_,) the parenthetic curves are called "_the
Parentheses_" From this the student must understand that it always takes
_two parentheses_ to make _one parenthesis!_ If then it is objectionable,
to call the two marks "_a parenthesis_," it is much more so, to call each
of them by that name, or both "_the parentheses_." And since Murray's
phrases are both entirely too long for common use, what better name can be
given them than this very simple one, _the Curves_?

OBS. 9.--The words _eroteme_ and _ecphoneme_, which, like _aposteme_ and
_philosopheme_, are orderly derivatives from Greek roots[460], I have
ventured to suggest as fitter names for the two marks to which they are
applied as above, than are any of the long catalogue which other
grammarians, each choosing for himself have presented. These marks have not
unfrequently been called "_the interrogation_ and the _exclamation_;" which
names are not very suitable, because they have other uses in grammar.
According to Dr. Blair, as well as L. Murray and others, interrogation and
exclamation are "passionate _figures_" of rhetoric, and oftentimes also
plain "unfigured" expressions. The former however are frequently and more
fitly called by their Greek names _erotesis_ and _ecphonesis_, terms to
which those above have a happy correspondence. By Dr. Webster and some
others, all _interjections_ are called "_exclamations_;" and, as each of
these is usually followed by the mark of emotion, it cannot but be
inconvenient to call both by the same name.

OBS. 10.--For things so common as the marks of asking and exclaiming, it is
desirable to have simple and appropriate _names_, or at least some settled
mode of denomination; but, it is remarkable, that Lindley Murray, in
mentioning these characters six times, uses six different modes of
expression, and all of them complex: (1.) "Notes of Interrogation and
Exclamation." (2.) "The point of Interrogation,?"--"The point of
Exclamation,!" (3.) "The Interrogatory Point."--"The Exclamatory Point."
(4.) "A note of interrogation,"--"The note of exclamation." (5.) "The
interrogation and exclamation points." (6.) "The points of Interrogation
and Exclamation."--_Murray, Flint, Ingersoll, Alden, Pond_. With much
better taste, some writers denote them uniformly thus: (7.) "The Note of
Interrogation,"--"The Note of Exclamation."--_Churchill, Hiley_. In
addition to these names, all of which are too long, there may be cited many
others, though none that are unobjectionable: (8.) "The Interrogative
sign,"--"The Exclamatory sign."--_Peirce, Hazen_. (9.) "The Mark of
Interrogation,"--"The Mark of Exclamation."--_Ward, Felton, Hendrick_.
(10.) "The Interrogative point,"--"The Exclamation point."--_T. Smith,
Alger_. (11.) "The interrogation point,"--"The exclamation
point."--_Webster, St. Quentin, S. Putnam_. (12.) "A Note of
Interrogation,"--"A Note of Admiration."--_Coar, Nutting_. (13.) "The
Interrogative point,"--"The Note of Admiration, or of vocation."--_Bucke_.
(14.) "Interrogation (?),"--"Admiration (!) or Exclamation."--_Lennie,
Bullions_. (15.) "A Point of Interrogation,"--"A Point of Admiration or
Exclamation."--_Buchanan_. (16.) "The Interrogation Point (?),"--"The
Admiration Point (!)."--_Perley_. (17.) "An interrogation (?),"--"An
exclamation (!)."--_Cutler_. (18.) "The interrogator?"--"The
exclaimor!"--_Day's Gram._, p. 112. [The putting of "_exclaimor_" for
_exclaimer_, like this author's changing of _quoters_ to "_quotors_," as a
name for the guillemets, is probably a mere sample of ignorance.] (19.)
"Question point,"--"Exclamation point."--_Sanborn_, p. 272.



SECTION I.--THE COMMA.

The Comma is used to separate those parts of a sentence, which are so
nearly connected in sense, as to be only one degree removed from that close
connexion which admits no point.


RULE I.--SIMPLE SENTENCES.

A simple sentence does not, in general, admit the comma; as, "The weakest
reasoners are the most positive."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 202. "Theology
has not hesitated to make or support a doctrine by the position of a
comma."--_Tract on Tone_, p. 4.

   "Then pain compels the impatient soul to seize
    On promis'd hopes of instantaneous ease."--_Crabbe_.

EXCEPTION.--LONG SIMPLE SENTENCES.

When the nominative in a long simple sentence is accompanied by
inseparable adjuncts, or when several words together are used in stead of a
nominative, a comma should be placed immediately before the verb; as,
"Confession of sin without amendment, obtains no pardon."--_Dillwyn's
Reflections_, p. 6. "To be totally indifferent to praise or censure, is a
real defect in character."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 268.

   "O that the tenor of my just complaint,[461]
    Were sculpt with steel in rocks of adamant!"--_Sandys_.


RULE II.--SIMPLE MEMBERS.

The simple members of a compound sentence, whether successive or involved,
elliptical or complete, are generally divided by the comma; as,

    1. "Here stand we both, and aim we at the best."--_Shak._

    2. "I, that did never weep, now melt in woe."--_Id._

    3. "Tide life, tide death, I come without delay."--_Id._

    4. "I am their mother, who shall bar me from them?"--_Id._

    5. "How wretched, were I mortal, were my state!"--_Pope_.

    6. "Go; while thou mayst, avoid the dreadful fate."--_Id._

    7. "Grief aids disease, remember'd folly stings,
       And his last sighs reproach the faith of kings."--_Johnson_.

EXCEPTION I.--RESTRICTIVE RELATIVES.

When a relative immediately follows its antecedent, and is taken in a
restrictive sense, the comma should not be introduced _before_ it; as, "For
the things _which_ are seen, are temporal; but the things _which_ are not
seen, are eternal."--_2 Cor._, iv, 18. "A letter is a character _that_
expresses a sound without any meaning."--_St. Quentin's General Gram._, p.
3.

EXCEPTION II.--SHORT TERMS CLOSELY CONNECTED.

When the simple members are short, and closely connected by a conjunction
or a conjunctive adverb, the comma is generally omitted; as, "Honest
poverty is better _than_ wealthy fraud."--_Dillwyn's Ref._, p. 11. "Let him
tell me _whether_ the number of the stars be even or odd."--TAYLOR: _Joh.
Dict., w. Even_. "It is impossible _that_ our knowledge of words should
outstrip our knowledge of things."--CAMPBELL: _Murray's Gram._, p 359.

EXCEPTION III.--ELLIPTICAL MEMBERS UNITED.

When two simple members are immediately united, through ellipsis of the
relative, the antecedent, or the conjunction _that_, the comma is not
inserted; as, "Make an experiment on the first man you meet."--_Berkley's
Alciphron_, p. 125. "Our philosophers do infinitely despise and pity
whoever shall propose or accept any other motive to virtue."--_Ib._, p.
126. "It is certain we imagine before we reflect."--_Ib._, p. 359.

   "The same good sense that makes a man excel,
    Still makes him doubt he ne'er has written well."--_Young_.


RULE III.--MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

When more than two words or terms are connected in the same construction,
or in a joint dependence on some other term, by conjunctions expressed or
understood, the comma should be inserted after every one of them but the
last; and, if they are nominatives before a verb, the comma should follow
the last also:[462] as,

    1. "Who, to the enraptur'd heart, and ear, and eye,
       Teach beauty, virtue, truth, and love, and melody."--_Beattie_.

    2. "Ah! what avails * * * * * * * * *
       All that art, fortune, enterprise, can bring,
       If envy, scorn, remorse, or pride, the bosom wring?"--_Id._.

    3. "Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible;
       Thou, stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless."--_Shak_.

    4. "She plans, provides, expatiates, triumphs there."--_Young_.

    5.  ----"So eagerly the Fiend
       O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare,
       With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
       And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies."--_Milton_.


RULE IV.--ONLY TWO WORDS.

When only two words or terms are connected by a conjunction, they should
not be separated by the comma; as, "It is a _stupid and barbarous_ way to
extend dominion by arms; for true power is to be got by _arts and
industry_"--_Spectator_, No. 2.

   "_Despair and anguish_ fled the struggling soul."--_Goldsmith._

EXCEPTION I.--TWO WORDS WITH ADJUNCTS.

When the two words connected have several adjuncts, or when one of them has
an adjunct that relates not to both, the comma is inserted; as, "I shall
spare no pains to make their instruction agreeable, and their diversion
useful."--_Spectator_, No. 10. "_Who_ is applied to persons, or things
personified."--_Bullions._

   "With listless eyes the dotard views the store,
    He views, and wonders that they please no more."--_Johnson_.

EXCEPTION II.--TWO TERMS CONTRASTED.

When two connected words or phrases are contrasted, or emphatically
distinguished, the comma is inserted; as, "The vain are easily obliged, and
easily disobliged."--_Kames_.

   "Liberal, not lavish, is kind Nature's hand."--_Beattie_.

    "'Tis certain he could write, and cipher too."--_Goldsmith_.

EXCEPTION III.--ALTERNATIVE OF WORDS.

When there is merely an alternative of names, or an explanatory change of
terms, the comma is usually inserted; as, "We saw a large opening, or
inlet."--_W. Allen_. "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as
well as other apostles?"--_Cor._, ix, 5.

EXCEPTION IV.--CONJUNCTION UNDERSTOOD.

When the conjunction is understood, the comma is inserted; and, if two
separated words or terms refer alike to a third term, the second requires a
second comma: as, "Reason, virtue, answer one great aim."--_L. Murray,
Gram._, p. 269.

   "To him the church, the realm, their pow'rs consign."--_Johnson_.

    "She thought the isle that gave her birth.
    The sweetest, wildest land on earth."--_Hogg_.


RULE V.--WORDS IN PAIRS.

When successive words are joined in pairs by conjunctions, they should be
separated in pairs by the comma; as, "Interest and ambition, honour and
shame, friendship and enmity, gratitude and revenge, are the prime movers
in public transactions."--_W. Allen_. "But, whether ingenious or dull,
learned or ignorant, clownish or polite, every innocent man, without
exception, has as good a right to liberty as to life."--_Beattie's Moral
Science_, p. 313.

   "Then say how hope and fear, desire and hate,
    O'erspread with snares the crowded maze of fate."--_Dr. Johnson_.


RULE VI.--WORDS PUT ABSOLUTE.

Nouns or pronouns put absolute, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by
the comma; as, "The prince, _his father being dead_, succeeded."--"_This
done_, we parted."--"_Zaccheus_, make haste and come down."--"_His
proctorship in Sicily_, what did it produce?"--_Cicero_.

   "Wing'd with his fears, on foot he strove to fly,
    _His steeds too distant_, and _the foe too nigh_"
        --_Pope, Iliad_, xi, 440.


RULE VII.--WORDS IN APPOSITION.

Words in apposition, (especially if they have adjuncts,) are generally set
off by the comma; as, "He that now calls upon thee, is Theodore, _the
hermit of Teneriffe_."--_Johnson_. "LOWTH, _Dr. Robert, bishop of London_,
born in 1710, died in 1787."--_Biog. Dict._ "HOME, _Henry, lord
Kames_."--_Ib._

   "What next I bring shall please thee, be assur'd,
    Thy _likeness_, thy fit _help_, thy other _self_,
    Thy _wish_ exactly to thy heart's desire."--_Milton, P. L._, viii, 450.

    "And he, their prince, shall rank among my peers."--_Byron_.

EXCEPTION I.--COMPLEX NAMES.

When several words, in their common order, are used as one compound name,
the comma is not inserted; as, "Dr. Samuel Johnson,"--"Publius Gavius
Cosanus."

EXCEPTION II.--CLOSE APPOSITION.

When a common and a proper name are closely united, the comma is not
inserted; as, "The brook Kidron,"--"The river Don,"--"The empress
Catharine,"--"Paul the Apostle."

EXCEPTION III.--PRONOUN WITHOUT PAUSE.

When a pronoun is added to an other word merely for emphasis and
distinction, the comma is not inserted; as, "Ye men of Athens,"--"I
myself,"--"Thou flaming minister,"--"You princes."

EXCEPTION IV.--NAMES ACQUIRED.

When a name acquired by some action or relation, is put in apposition with
a preceding noun or pronoun, the comma is not inserted; as, "I made the
_ground_ my _bed_;"--"To make _him king_;"--"_Whom_ they revered as
_God_;"--"With _modesty_ thy _guide_."--_Pope._

RULE VIII.--ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives, when something depends on them, or when they have the import of
a dependent clause, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma;
as,

    1. ----------------------------"Among the roots
      Of hazel, _pendent o'er the plaintive stream_,
      They frame the first foundation of their domes."--_Thomson_.

    2. -------------------------"Up springs the lark,
      _Shrill-voic'd_ and _loud_, the messenger of morn."--_Id._

EXCEPTION.--ADJECTIVES RESTRICTIVE.

When an adjective immediately follows its noun, and is taken in a
restrictive sense, the comma should not be used before it; as,

    ----"And on the coast _averse_
    From entrance or cherubic watch."--_Milton, P. L._, B. ix, l. 68.


RULE IX.--FINITE VERBS.

Where a finite verb is understood, a comma is generally required; as, "From
law arises security; from security, curiosity; from curiosity,
knowledge."--_Murray_.

   "Else all my prose and verse were much the same;
    This, prose on stilts; that, poetry fallen lame."--_Pope_.

EXCEPTION.--VERY SLIGHT PAUSE.

As the semicolon must separate the clauses when the comma is inserted by
this rule, if the pause for the omitted verb be very slight, it may be left
unmarked, and the comma be used for the clauses; as, "When the profligate
speaks of piety, the miser of generosity, the coward of valour, and the
corrupt of integrity, they are only the more despised by those who know
them."--_Comstock's Elocution_, p. 132.


RULE X.--INFINITIVES.

The infinitive mood, when it follows a verb from which it must be
separated, or when it depends on something remote or understood, is
generally, with its adjuncts, set off by the comma; as, "One of the
greatest secrets in composition is, _to know_ when to be
simple."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 151. "To confess the truth, I was much in
fault."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 271.

   "The Governor of all--has interposed,
    Not seldom, his avenging arm, _to smite_
    The injurious trampler upon nature's law."--_Cowper_.


RULE XI.--PARTICIPLES.

Participles, when something depends on them, when they have the import of a
dependent clause, or when they relate to something understood, should, with
their adjuncts, he set off by the comma; as, 1. "Law is a rule of civil
conduct, _prescribed_ by the supreme power in a state, _commanding_ what is
right, and _prohibiting_ what is wrong."--BLACKSTONE: _Beattie's Moral
Science_, p. 346.

    2. "Young Edwin, _lighted by the evening star,
      Lingering and list'ning_ wander'd down the vale."--_Beattie_.

    3. "_United_, we stand; _divided_, we fall."--_Motto_.

    4. "_Properly speaking_, there is no such thing as chance."

EXCEPTION.--PARTICIPLES RESTRICTIVE.

When a participle immediately follows its noun, and is taken in a
restrictive sense, the comma should not be used before it; as,

   "A man _renown'd for repartee_,
    Will seldom scruple to make free
    With friendship's finest feeling."--_Cowper_.

RULE XII.--ADVERBS.  Adverbs, when they break the connexion of a simple
sentence, or when they have not a close dependence on some particular word
in the context, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by the comma; as,
"We must not, _however_, confound this gentleness with the artificial
courtesy of the world."--"_Besides_, the mind must be employed."--_Gilpin_.
"_Most unquestionably_, no fraud was equal to all this."--_Lyttelton_.
"But, _unfortunately for us_, the tide was ebbing already."

   "When buttress and buttress, _alternately_,
    Seem framed of ebon and ivory."--_Scott's Lay_, p. 33.


RULE XIII.--CONJUNCTIONS.

Conjunctions, when they are separated from the principal clauses that
depend on them, or when they introduce examples, are generally set off by
the comma; _as_, "_But_, by a timely call upon Religion, the force of Habit
was eluded."--_Johnson_.

   "They know the neck that joins the shore and sea,
    _Or_, ah! how chang'd that fearless laugh would be."--_Crabbe_.


RULE XIV.--PREPOSITIONS.

Prepositions and their objects, when they break the connexion of a simple
sentence, or when they do not closely follow the words on which they
depend, are generally set off by the comma; as, "Fashion is, _for the most
part_, nothing but the ostentation of riches."--"_By reading_, we add the
experience of others to our own."

   "In vain the sage, _with retrospective eye_,
    Would from th' apparent What conclude the Why."--_Pope_.


RULE XV.--INTERJECTIONS.

Interjections that require a pause, though more commonly emphatic and
followed by the ecphoneme, are sometimes set off by the comma; as, "For,
_lo_, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the
north."--_Jeremiah_, i, 15. "_O_, 'twas about something you would not
understand."--_Columbian Orator_, p. 221. "_Ha, ha!_ you were finely taken
in, then!"--_Aikin_. "_Ha, ha, ha!_ A facetious gentleman, truly!"--_Id._

   "_Oh_, when shall Britain, conscious of her claim,
    Stand emulous of Greek and Roman fame?"--_Pope_.


RULE XVI.--WORDS REPEATED.

A word emphatically repeated, is generally set off by the comma; as,
"Happy, happy, happy pair!"--_Dryden_. "Ay, ay, there is some comfort in
that."--_Shak_. "Ah! no, no, no."--_Dryden_.

   "The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
    The moss-covered bucket, which hung in the well!"--_Woodworth_.


RULE XVII.--DEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

A quotation, observation, or description, when it is introduced in close
dependence on a verb, (as, _say, reply, cry_, or the like,) is generally
separated from the rest of the sentence by the comma; as, "'The book of
nature,' said he, 'is before thee.'"--_Hawkesworth_. "I say unto all,
Watch."--_Mark_. "'The boy has become a man,' means, 'he has _grown to be_
a man.' 'Such conduct becomes a man,' means, 'such conduct _befits_
him.'"--_Hart's Gram._, p. 116.

   "While man exclaims, 'See all things for my use!'
    'See man for mine!' replies a pamper'd goose."--_Pope_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE COMMA.

UNDER RULE I.--OF SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"Short, simple sentences should not be separated by a comma."--_Felton's
Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 135; 3d Ed., Stereotyped, p. 137.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because a needless comma is put after _short_, the
sentence being simple. But, according to Rule 1st for the Comma, "A simple
sentence does not, in general, admit the comma." Therefore, this comma
should be omitted; thus, "Short simple sentences should not be separated by
a comma." Or, much better: "_A_ short simple _sentence_ should _rarely be
divided_ by _the_ comma." For such sentences, combined to form a period,
_should generally be separated_; and even a single one may have some phrase
that must be set off.]

"A regular and virtuous education, is an inestimable blessing."--_Murray's
Key_, 8vo, p. 174. "Such equivocal expressions, mark an intention to
deceive."--_Ib._, p. 256. "They are, _This_ and _that_, with their plurals
_these_ and _those_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 26; _Practical Lessons_, p.
3. "A nominative case and a verb, sometimes make a complete sentence; as,
He sleeps."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 78. "_Tense_, expresses the action
connected with certain relations of time; _mood_, represents it as farther
modified by circumstances of contingency, conditionally, &c."--_Bullions,
E. Gram._, p. 37. "The word Noun, means name."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 14.
"The present, or active participle, I explained then."--_Ib._, p. 97. "Are
some verbs used, both transitively and intransitively?"--_Cooper's Pt. and
Pract. Gram._, p. 54. "Blank verse, is verse without rhyme."--_Hallock's
Gram._, p. 242. "A distributive adjective, denotes each one of a number
considered separately."--_Ib._, p. 51.

   "And may at last my weary age,
    Find out the peaceful hermitage."
        --_Murray's Gr._, 12mo, p. 205; 8vo, 255.


UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"A noun without an Article to limit it is taken in its widest
sense."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 8; _Practical Lessons_, p. 10.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here set before the verb _is
taken_. But, according to the Exception to Rule 1st for the Comma, "When
the nominative in a long simple sentence is accompanied by inseparable
adjuncts, or when several words together are used in stead of a nominative,
a comma should be placed immediately before the verb." Therefore, a comma
should be here inserted; thus, "A noun without an article to limit it, is
taken in its widest sense."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 6.]

"To maintain a steady course amid all the adversities of life marks a great
mind."--_Day's District School Gram._, p. 84. "To love our Maker supremely
and our neighbor as ourselves comprehends the whole moral law."--_Ibid._
"To be afraid to do wrong is true courage."--_Ib._, p. 85. "A great fortune
in the hands of a fool is a great misfortune."--_Bullions, Practical
Lessons_, p. 89. "That he should make such a remark is indeed
strange."--_Farnum, Practical Gram._, p. 30. "To walk in the fields and
groves is delightful."--_Id., ib._ "That he committed the fault is most
certain."--_Id., ib._ "Names common to all things of the same sort or class
are called _Common nouns_; as, _man, woman, day_."--_Bullions, Pract.
Les._, p. 12. "That it is our duty to be pious _admits_ not of any
doubt."--_Id., E. Gram._, p. 118. "To endure misfortune with resignation is
the characteristic of a great mind,"--_Id., ib._, p. 81. "The assisting of
a friend in such circumstances was certainly a duty."--_Id., ib._, 81.
"That a life of virtue is the safest is certain."--_Hallock's Gram._, p.
169. "A collective noun denoting the idea of unity should be represented by
a pronoun of the singular number."--_Ib._, p. 167.


UNDER RULE II.--OF SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"When the sun had arisen the enemy retreated."--_Day's District School
Gram._, p. 85.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma here separates the two simple
members which compose the sentence. But, according to Rule 2d, "The simple
members of a compound sentence, whether successive or involved, elliptical
or complete, are generally divided by the comma." Therefore, a comma should
be inserted after _arisen_; thus, "When the sun had arisen, the enemy
retreated."]

"If he _become_ rich he may be less industrious."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p.
118. "The more I study grammar the better I like it."--_Id., ib._, p. 127.
"There is much truth in the old adage that fire is a better servant than
master."--_Id., ib._, p. 128. "The verb _do_, when used as an auxiliary
gives force or emphasis to the expression."--_Day's Gram._, p. 39.
"Whatsoever it is incumbent upon a man to do it is surely expedient to do
well."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhetoric_, Vol. i, p. 46. "The soul which our
philosophy divides into various capacities, is still one
essence."--_Channing, on Self-Culture_, p. 15. "Put the following words in
the plural and give the rule for forming it."--_Bullions, Practical
Lessons_, p. 19. "We will do it if you wish."--_Id., ib._, p. 29. "He who
does well will be rewarded."--_Id., ib._, 29. "That which is always true is
expressed in the present tense."--_Id., ib._, p. 119. "An observation which
is always true must be expressed in the present tense."--_Id., Prin. of E.
Gram._, p. 123. "That part of orthography which treats of combining letters
to form syllables and words is called SPELLING."--_Day's Gram._, p. 8. "A
noun can never be of the first person except it is in apposition with a
pronoun of that person."--_Ib._, p. 14. "When two or more singular nouns or
pronouns refer to the same object they require a singular verb and
pronoun."--_Ib._, p. 80. "James has gone but he will return in a few
days."--_Ib._, 89. "A pronoun should have the same person, number, and
gender as the noun for which it stands."--_Ib._, 89 and 80. "Though he is
out of danger he is still afraid."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 80. "She is
his inferior in sense but his equal in prudence."--_Ib._, p. 81. "The man
who has no sense of religion is little to be trusted."--_Ib._, 81. "He who
does the most good has the most pleasure."--_Ib._, 81. "They were not in
the most prosperous circumstances when we last saw them."--_Ib._, 81. "If
the day continue pleasant I shall return."--_Felton's Gram._, 1st Ed., p.
22; Ster. Ed., 24. "The days that are past are gone for ever."--_Ib._, pp.
89 and 92. "As many as are friendly to the cause will sustain it."--_Ib._,
89 and 92. "Such as desire aid will receive it."--_Ib._, 89 and 92. "Who
gave you that book which you prize so much?"--_Bullions, Pract. Lessons_,
p. 32. "He who made it now preserves and governs it."--_Bullions, E.
Gram._, p. 83.

   "Shall he alone, whom rational we call,
    Be pleased with nothing if not blessed with all?"
        --_Felton's Gram._, p. 126.


UNDER THE EXCEPTIONS CONCERNING SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"Newcastle is the town, in which Akenside was born."--_Bucke's Classical
Gram._, p. 54.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because a needless comma here separates the
restrictive relative _which_ from its antecedent _town_. But, according to
Exception 1st to Rule 2d, "When a relative immediately follows its
antecedent, and is taken in a restrictive sense, the comma should not be
introduced before it." Therefore, this comma Should be omitted; thus,
"Newcastle is the town in which Akenside was born."]

"The remorse, which issues in reformation, is true
repentance."--_Campbell's Philos. of Rhet._, p. 255. "Men, who are
intemperate, are destructive members of community."--_Alexander's Gram._,
p. 93. "An active-transitive verb expresses an action, which extends to an
object."--_Felton's Gram._, pp. 16 and 22. "They, to whom much is given,
will have much to answer for."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 188. "The prospect,
which we have, is charming."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._, p. 143. "He is
the person, who informed me of the matter."--_Ib._, p. 134; _Cooper's
Murray_, 120. "These are the trees, that produce no fruit."--_Ib._, 134;
and 120. "This is the book, which treats of the subject."--_Ib._, 134; and
120. "The proposal was such, as pleased me."--_Cooper, Pl. and Pr. Gram._,
p. 134. "Those, that sow in tears, shall reap in joy."--_Id., ib._, pp. 118
and 124; and _Cooper's Murray_, p. 141. "The pen, with which I write, makes
too large a mark."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 71. "Modesty makes large amends
for the pain, it gives the persons, who labour under it, by the prejudice,
it affords every worthy person in their favour."--_Ib._, p. 80. "Irony is a
figure, whereby we plainly intend something very different from what our
words express."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 108. "Catachresis is a figure, whereby
an improper word is used instead of a proper one."--_Ib._, p. 109. "The
man, whom you met at the party, is a Frenchman."--_Frost's Practical
Gram._, p. 155.


UNDER RULE III.--OF MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

"John, James and Thomas are here:
that is, John _and_ James, &c."--_Cooper's Plain and Practical Grammar_, p.
153.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here used after _James_, or
after _Thomas_, or again after _John_, in the latter clause; the three
nouns being supposed to be in the same construction, and all of them
nominatives to the verb _are_. But, according to Rule 3d for the Comma,
"When more than two words or terms are connected in the same construction,
or in a joint dependence on some other term, by conjunctions expressed or
understood, the comma should be inserted after every one of them but the
last; and, if they are nominatives before a verb, the comma should follow
the last also." Therefore, the comma should be inserted after each; thus,
"John, James, and Thomas, are here: that is, John, _and_ James, and Thomas,
are here."][463]

"Adverbs modify verbs adjectives and other adverbs."--_Bullions, E. Gram._,
p. 97. "To Nouns belong Person, Gender, Number and Case."--_Id., Practical
Lessons_, p. 12. "Wheat, corn, rye, and oats are extensively
cultivated."--_Id., ib._, p. 13. "In many, the definitions, rules and
leading facts are prolix, inaccurate and confused."--_Finch's Report on
Gram._, p. 3. "Most people consider it mysterious, difficult and
useless."--_Ib._, p. 3. "His father and mother, and uncle reside at
Rome."--_Farnum's Gram._, p. 11. "The relative pronouns are _who, which_
and _that_."--_Bullions, Practical Lessons_, p. 29. "_That_ is sometimes a
demonstrative, sometimes a relative and sometimes a conjunction."--_Id.,
ib._, p. 33. "Our reputation, virtue, and happiness greatly depend on the
choice of our companions."--_Day's Gram._, p. 92. "The spirit of true
religion is social, kind and cheerful."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 81. "_Do, be,
have_ and _will_ are sometimes principal verbs."--_Ib._, p. 26. "John and
Thomas and Peter reside at Oxford."--_Webster, Philos. Gram._, p. 142;
_Improved Gram._, p. 96. "The most innocent pleasures are the most
rational, the most delightful and the most durable."--_Id., ib._, pp. 215
and 151. "Love, joy, peace and blessedness are reserved for the
good."--_Id., ib._, 215 and 151. "The husband, wife and children, suffered
extremely."--_Murray's Gram._, 4th Am. Ed., 8vo, p. 269. "The husband,
wife, and children suffer extremely."--_Sanborn's Analytical Gram._, p.
268. "He, you, and I have our parts assigned us."--_Ibid._

   "He moaned, lamented, tugged and tried,
    Repented, promised, wept and sighed."--_Felton's Gr._, p. 108.


UNDER RULE IV.--OF ONLY TWO WORDS.

"Disappointments derange, and overcome, vulgar minds."--_Murray's
Exercises_, p. 15.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the two verbs here connected by _and_, are
needlessly separated from each other, and from their object following. But,
according to Rule 4th, "When only two words or terms are connected by a
conjunction, they should not be separated by the comma." Therefore, these
two commas should be omitted; thus, "Disappointments derange and overcome
vulgar minds."]

"The hive of a city, or kingdom, is in the best condition, when there is
the least noise or buzz in it."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 171. "When a
direct address is made, the noun, or pronoun, is in the nominative case
independent."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 88. "The verbs _love_ and _teach_,
make _loved_, and _taught_, in the imperfect and participle."--_Ib._, p.
97. "Neither poverty, nor riches were injurious to him."--_Cooper's Pl. and
Pr. Gram._, p. 133. "Thou, or I am in fault."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 136. "A
verb is a word that expresses action, or being."--_Day's District School
Gram._, pp. 11 and 61. "The Objective Case denotes the object of a verb, or
a preposition."--_Ib._, pp. 17 and 19. "Verbs of the second conjugation may
be either transitive, or intransitive."--_Ib._, p. 41. "Verbs of the fourth
conjugation may be either transitive, or intransitive."--_Ib._, 41. "If a
verb does not form its past indicative by adding _d_, or _ed_ to the
indicative present, it is said to be _irregular_."--_Ib._, 41. "The young
lady is studying rhetoric, and logic."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._, p.
143. "He writes, and speaks the language very correctly."--_Ib._, p. 148.
"Man's happiness, or misery, is, in a great measure, put into his own
hands."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 183. "This accident, or characteristic of
nouns, is called their _Gender_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, 1843, p. 195.

   "Grant that the powerful still the weak controul;
    Be Man the Wit, and Tyrant of the whole."
        --POPE: _Brit. Poets_, vi, 375.


UNDER EXCEPTION I.--TWO WORDS WITH ADJUNCTS.

"Franklin is justly considered the ornament of the new world and the pride
of modern philosophy."--_Day's District School Gram._, p. 88.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the words _ornament_ and _pride_, each of
which has adjuncts, are here connected by _and_ without a comma before it.
But, according to Exception 1st to Rule 4th, "When the two words connected
have several adjuncts, or when one of them has an adjunct that relates not
to both, the comma is inserted." Therefore, a comma should be set before
_and_; thus, "Franklin is justly considered the ornament of the New World,
and the pride of modern philosophy."]

"Levity and attachment to worldly
pleasures, destroy the sense of gratitude to him."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p.
183. "In the following Exercise, point out the adjectives and the
substantives which they qualify."--_Bullions, Practical Lessons_, p. 100.
"When a noun or pronoun is used to explain or give emphasis to a preceding
noun or pronoun."--_Day's Gram._, p. 87. "Superior talents and _briliancy_
of intellect do not always constitute a great man."--_Ib._, p. 92. "A word
that makes sense after an _article_ or the phrase _speak of_, is a
noun."--_Bullions, Practical Lessons_, p. 12. "All feet used in poetry, are
reducible to eight kinds; four of two syllables and four of
three."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 123. "He would not do it himself nor let me do
it."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 113.[464] "The old writers give examples of
the subjunctive mode and give other modes to explain what is meant by the
words in the subjunctive."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 352.


UNDER EXCEPTION II.--TWO TERMS CONTRASTED.

"We often commend as well as censure imprudently."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p.
214. "It is as truly a violation of the right of property, to take little
as to take much; to purloin a book, or a penknife, as to steal money; to
steal fruit as to steal a horse; to defraud the revenue as to rob my
neighbour; to overcharge the public as to overcharge my brother; to cheat
the postoffice as to cheat my friend."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, 1st
Edition, p. 254. "The classification of verbs has been and still is a vexed
question."--_Bullions, E. Grammar_, Revised Edition, p. 200. "Names applied
only to individuals of a sort or class and not common to all, are called
_Proper Nouns_."--_Id., Practical Lessons_, p. 12. "A hero would desire to
be loved as well as to be reverenced."--_Day's Gram._, p. 108. "Death or
some worse misfortune now divides them."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._, p.
133. "Alexander replied, 'The world will not permit two suns nor two
sovereigns.'"--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. ii, p. 113.

   "From nature's chain, whatever link you strike,
    Tenth or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike."
        --_Felton's Gram._, p. 131.


UNDER EXCEPTION III.--ALTERNATIVE OF WORDS.

"_Metre_ or _Measure_ is the number of poetical feet which a verse
contains."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 123. "The _Cæsura_ or _division_, is the
pause which takes place in a verse, and which divides it into two
parts."--_Ib._, 123. "It is six feet or one fathom deep."--_Bullions, E.
Gram._, p. 113. "A BRACE is used in poetry at the end of a triplet or three
lines which rhyme together."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 142. "There are four
principal kinds of English verse or poetical feet."--_Ib._, p. 143. "The
period or full stop denotes the end of a complete sentence."--_Sanborn's
Analytical Gram._, p. 271. "The scholar is to receive as many _jetons_ or
counters as there are words in the sentence."--_St. Quentin's Gram._, p.
16. "_That_ [thing] or _the thing which_ purifies, fortifies also the
heart."--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 74. "_That thing_ or _the thing which_ would
induce a laxity in public or private morals, or indifference to guilt and
wretchedness, should be regarded as the deadly Sirocco."--_Ib._, 74. "What
is elliptically _what thing_ or _that thing which_."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p.
99. "_Demonstrate_ means _show_ or _point out precisely_."--_Ib._, p. 139.
"_The_ man or _that_ man, who endures to the end, shall be
saved."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 73.  UNDER EXCEPTION IV.--A SECOND COMMA.

"Reason, passion answer one great end."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 152;
_Hiley's_, p. 112. "Reason, virtue answer one great aim."--_Cooper's Pl.
and Pract. Gram._, p. 194; _Butler's_, 204. "Every good gift, and every
perfect gift is from above."--_Felton's Gram._, p. 90. "Every plant, and
every tree produces others after its kind."--_Day's Gram._, p. 91. "James,
and not John was paid for his services."--_Ib._, 91. "The single dagger, or
obelisk [Dagger] is the second."--_Ib._, p. 113. "It was I, not he that did
it."--_St. Quentin's Gram._, p. 152. "Each aunt, (and) each cousin hath her
speculation."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 139. "'I shall see you _when_ you
come,' is equivalent to 'I shall see you _then_, or _at that time_ when you
come.'"--_Butler's Pract. Gram._, p. 121.

   "Let wealth, let honour wait the wedded dame,
    August her deed, and sacred be her fame."--_Pope_, p. 334.


UNDER RULE V.--OF WORDS IN PAIRS.

"My hopes and fears, joys and sorrows centre in you."--B. GREENLEAF:
_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 268.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma here separates the second pair of
nominatives from the verb. But, according to Rule 5th, "When successive
words are joined in pairs by conjunctions, they should be separated in
pairs by the comma." Therefore, an other comma should be inserted after
_sorrows_; thus, "My hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, centre in you."]

"This mood implies possibility, or liberty, will, or
obligation."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 113. "Substance is divided into Body,
and Spirit into Extended and Thinking."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 253.
"These consonants, [_d_ and _t_,] like _p_, and _b, f_, and _v, k_, and
hard _g_, and _s_, and _z_, are letters of the same organ."--_Walkers
Dict._, p. 41: _Principles_, No. 358. "Neither fig nor twist pigtail nor
cavendish have passed my lips since, nor ever shall they again."--_Boston
Cultivator_, Vol. vii, p. 36. "The words WHOEVER, or WHOSOEVER, WHICHEVER,
or WHICHSOEVER, and WHATEVER, or WHATSOEVER are called COMPOUND RELATIVE
PRONOUNS."--_Day's Gram._, p. 23. "Adjectives signifying profit or
disprofit, likeness or unlikeness govern the dative."--_Bullions, Lat.
Gram._, 12th Ed., 215.


UNDER RULE VI.--OF WORDS ABSOLUTE.

"Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 135.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here set after _staff_, which,
with the noun _rod_, is put absolute by pleonasm. But, according to Rule
6th, "Nouns or pronouns put absolute, should, with their adjuncts, be set
off by the comma." Therefore, a comma should be here inserted; thus, "Thy
rod and thy staff, they comfort me."--_Psalm_ xxiii, 4.]

"Depart ye wicked."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 70. "He saith to his mother,
Woman behold thy son."--_Gurney's Portable Evidences_, p. 44. "Thou God
seest me."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 9; _Practical Lessons_, p. 13. "Thou,
God seest me."--_Id., E. Gram._, Revised Ed., p. 195. "John write me a
letter. Henry go home."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 356. "John; write a
letter. Henry; go home."--_Ib._, p. 317. "Now, G. Brown; let us reason
together."--_Ib._, p. 326. "Smith: You say on page 11, the objective case
denotes the object."--_Ib._, p. 344. "Gentlemen: will you always speak as
you mean?"--_Ib._, p. 352. "John: I sold my books to William for his
brothers."--_Ib._, p. 47. "Walter and Seth: I will take my things, and
leave yours."--_Ib._, p. 69. "Henry: Julia and Jane left their umbrella,
and took yours."--_Ib._, p. 73. "John; harness the horses and go to the
mine for some coal. William; run to the store for a few pounds of
tea."--_Ib._, p. 160. "The king being dead the parliament was
dissolved."--_Chandler's Gram._, p. 119.

   "Cease fond nature, cease thy strife,
    And let me languish into life."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 173.

    "Forbear great man, in arms renown'd, forbear."--_Ib._, p. 174.

    "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind,
    Each prayer accepted and each wish resign'd."--_Hiley's Gr._, p. 123.


UNDER RULE VII.--WORDS IN APPOSITION.

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice," &c.--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 200.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here set after the pronoun _We_,
with which the word _people_, which has adjuncts, is in apposition. But,
according to Rule 7th, "Words in apposition, (especially if they have
adjuncts,) are generally set off by the comma." Therefore, an other comma
should be here inserted; thus, "We, the people of the United States," &c.]

"The Lord, the covenant God of his people requires it."--_Anti-Slavery
Magazine_, Vol. i, p. 73. "He as a patriot deserves praise."--_Hallock's
Gram._, p. 124. "Thomson the watchmaker and jeweller from London, was of
the party."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 128. "Every body knows that the
person here spoken of by the name of _the conqueror_, is William duke of
Normandy."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 33. "The words _myself, thyself,
himself, herself_, and their plurals _ourselves, yourselves_, and
_themselves_ are called Compound Personal Pronouns."--_Day's Gram._, p. 22.

   "For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
    This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd,
    Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
    Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?"--_U. Poems_, p. 68.


UNDER EXCEPTIONS CONCERNING APPOSITION.

"Smith and Williams' store; Nicholas, the emperor's army."--_Day's Gram._,
p. 17. "He was named William, the conqueror."--_Ib._, p. 80. "John, the
Baptist, was beheaded."--_Ib._, p. 87. "Alexander, the coppersmith, did me
great harm."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 126. "A nominative in immediate
apposition; as, 'The boy, _Henry_, speaks.'"--_Smart's Accidence_, p. 29.
"A noun objective can be in apposition with some other; as, 'I teach the
boy, _Henry_.'"--_Ib._, p. 30.


UNDER RULE VIII.--OF ADJECTIVES.

"But he found me, not singing at my work ruddy with health vivid with
cheerfulness; but pale and dejected, sitting on the ground, and chewing
opium."

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrases, "_ruddy with health_," and
"_vivid with cheerfulness_," which begin with adjectives, are not here
_commaed_. But, according to Rule 8th, "Adjectives, when something depends
on them, or when they have the import of a dependent clause, should, with
their adjuncts, be set off by the comma." Therefore, two other commas
should be here inserted; thus, "But he found me, not singing at my work,
ruddy with health, vivid with cheerfulness; but pale," &c.--_Dr. Johnson_.]

"I looked up, and beheld an inclosure beautiful as the gardens of paradise,
but of a small extent."--See _Key._ "_A_ is an article, indefinite and
belongs to '_book_.'"--_Bullions, Practical Lessons_, p. 10. "The first
expresses the rapid movement of a troop of horse over the plain eager for
the combat."--_Id., Lat. Gram._, p. 296. "He [, the Indian chieftain, King
Philip,] was a patriot, attached to his native soil; a prince true to his
subjects and indignant of their wrongs; a soldier daring in battle firm in
adversity patient of fatigue, of hunger, of every variety of bodily
suffering and ready to perish in the cause he had espoused."--See _Key_.

   "For thee, who mindful of th' unhonour'd dead
    Dost in these lines their artless tale relate."
        --_Union Poems_, p. 68.

    "Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest:
    Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood."
        --_Day's Gram._, p. 117.

    "Idle after dinner in his chair
    Sat a farmer ruddy, fat, and fair."
        --_Hiley's Gram._, p. 125.


UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING ADJECTIVES.

"When an attribute becomes a title, or is emphatically applied to a name,
it follows it; as Charles, the Great; Henry, the First; Lewis, the
Gross."--_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 153; _Improved Gram._, p. 107. "Feed
me with food, convenient for me."--_Cooper's Practical Gram._, p. 118. "The
words and phrases, necessary to exemplify every principle progressively
laid down, will be found strictly and exclusively adapted to the
illustration of the principles to which they are referred."--_Ingersoll's
Gram., Pref._, p. x. "The _Infinitive Mode_ is that form of the verb which
expresses action or being, unlimited by person, or number."--_Day's Gram._,
p. 35. "A man, diligent in his business, prospers."--_Frost's Practical
Gram._, p. 113.

   "O wretched state! oh bosom, black as death!"
        --_Hallock's Gram._, p. 118.

    "O, wretched state! O, bosom, black as death!"
        --_Singer's Shak._, Vol. ii, p. 494.


UNDER RULE IX.--OF FINITE VERBS.

"The Singular denotes _one_; the Plural _more_ than one."--_Bullions, E.
Gram._, p. 12; _Pract. Lessons_, p. 16; _Lennie's Gram._, p. 7.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here set after _Plural_, where
the verb _denotes_ is understood. But, according to Rule 9th, "Where a
finite verb is understood, a comma is generally required." Therefore, a
comma should be inserted at the place mentioned; thus, "The Singular
denotes _one_; the Plural, _more_ than one."]

"The _comma_ represents the shortest pause; the _semicolon_ a pause longer
than the comma; the _colon_ longer than the semicolon; and the _period_
longer than the colon."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 111. "The comma represents the
shortest pause; the semicolon a pause double that of the comma; the colon,
double that of the semicolon; and the period, double that of the
colon."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 151; _Pract. Lessons_, p. 127. "Who is
applied only to persons; which to animals and things; what to things only;
and that to persons, animals, and things."--_Day's Gram._, p. 23. "_A_ or
_an_ is used before the singular number only; _the_ before either singular
or plural."--_Bullions, Practical Lessons_, p. 10. "Homer was the greater
genius; Virgil the better artist."--_Day's Gram._, p. 96. "Homer was the
greater genius, Virgil the better artist."--POPE'S PREFACE: _British
Poets_, Vol. vi, p. viii. "Words are formed of syllables; syllables of
letters."--_St. Quentin's General Gram._, p. 2. "The Conjugation of an
active verb is styled the ACTIVE VOICE; and that of a passive verb the
PASSIVE VOICE."--_Frost's El. of E. Gram._, p. 19. "The CONJUGATION of an
active verb is styled the ACTIVE VOICE, and that of a passive verb the
PASSIVE VOICE."--_Smith's New. Gram._, p. 171. "The possessive is sometimes
called the genitive case; and the objective the accusative."--_L. Murray's
Gram._, 12mo, p. 44. "Benevolence is allied to few vices; selfishness to
fewer virtues."--_Kames, Art of Thinking_, p. 40. "Orthography treats of
Letters, Etymology of Words, Syntax of Sentences, and Prosody of
Versification."--_Hart's English Gram._, p. 21.

   "Earth praises conquerors for shedding blood;
    Heaven those that love their foes, and do them good."--See _Key_.


UNDER RULE X.--OF INFINITIVES.

"His business is to observe the agreement or disagreement of
words."--_Bullions, E. Grammar_, Revised Edition, p. 189.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma here divides _to observe_ from the
preceding verb. But, according to Rule 10th, "The infinitive mood, when it
follows a verb from which it must be separated, or when it depends on
something remote or understood, is generally, with its adjuncts, set off by
the comma." Therefore, a comma should be inserted after _is_; thus, "His
business is, to observe the agreement or disagreement of words."]

"It is a mark of distinction to be made a member of this society."--
_Farnum's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 25; 2d Ed., p. 23. "To distinguish the
conjugations let the pupil observe the following rules."--_Day's D. S.
Gram._, p. 40. "He was now sent for to preach before the Parliament."--
_Life of Dr. J. Owen_, p. 18. "It is incumbent on the young to love and
honour their parents."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 83. "It is the business of
every man to prepare for death."--_Id., ib._, 83. "It argued the sincerest
candor to make such an acknowledgement."--_Id., ib._, p. 115. "The proper
way is to complete the construction of the first member, and leave that of
the second understood."--_Ib., ib._, p. 125. "ENEMY is a name. It is a term
of distinction given to a certain person to show the character in which he
is represented."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 23. "The object of this is to
preserve the soft sound of _c_ and _g_."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 29. "The
design of grammar is to facilitate the _reading, writing_, and _speaking_
of a language."--_Barrett's Gram._, 10th Ed., Pref., p. iii. "Four kinds of
type are used in the following pages to indicate the portions that are
considered more or less elementary."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 3.


UNDER RULE XI.--OF PARTICIPLES.

"The chancellor being attached to the king secured his crown."--_Wright's
Gram._, p. 114.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrase, "being attached to the king," is
not _commaed_. But, according to Rule 11th, "Participles, when something
depends on them, when they have the import of a dependent clause, or when
they relate to something understood, should, with their adjuncts, be set
off by the comma." Therefore, two commas should be here inserted; thus,
"The chancellor, being attached to the king, secured his crown."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 66.]

"The officer having received his orders, proceeded to execute them."--
_Day's Gram._, p. 108. "Thus used it is in the present tense."--_Bullions,
E. Gram._, Revised Ed., p. 33. "The _Imperfect_ tense has three distinct
forms corresponding to those of the present tense."--_Id., ib._, p. 40.
"Every possessive case is governed by some noun denoting the thing
possessed."--_Id., ib._, p. 87. "The word _that_ used as a conjunction is
preceded by a comma."--_Id., ib._, p. 154. "His narrative being composed
upon such good authority, deserves credit."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._,
p. 97. "The hen being in her nest, was killed and eaten there by the
eagle."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo. p. 252. "Pronouns being used instead of nouns
are subject to the same modifications."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 92. "When
placed at the beginning of words they are consonants."--_Hallock's Gram._,
p. 14. "Man starting from his couch, shall sleep no more."--_Ib._, p. 222.
"_His_ and _her_ followed by a noun are possessive pronouns: not followed
by a noun they are personal pronouns."--_Bullions, Practical Lessons_, p.
33.

   "He with viny crown advancing,
    First to the lively pipe his hand addressed."--_Id., E. Gram._, p. 83.


UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING PARTICIPLES.

"But when they convey the idea of many, acting individually, or separately,
they are of the plural number."--_Day's Gram._, p. 15. "Two or more
singular antecedents, connected by _and_ require verbs and pronouns of the
plural number."--_Ib._, pp. 80 and 91. "Words ending in _y_, preceded by a
consonant, change _y_ into _i_ when a termination is added."--_Butlers
Gram._, p. 11. "A noun, used without an article to limit it, is generally
taken in its widest sense."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 30. "Two nouns,
meaning the same person or thing, frequently come together."--_Bucke's
Gram._, p. 89. "Each one must give an account to God for the use, or the
abuse of the talents, committed to him."--_Coopers Pl. and Pract. Gram._,
p. 133. "Two vowels, united in one sound, form a diphthong."--_Frost's El.
of Gram._, p. 6. "Three vowels, united in one sound, form a
triphthong."--_Ib._ "Any word, joined to an adverb, is a secondary
adverb."--_Barrett's Revised Gram._, p. 68. "The person, spoken to, is put
in the Second person. The person, spoken of, in the Third
person."--_Cutler's Gram._, p. 14. "A man, devoted to his business,
prospers."--_Frost's Pr. Gram._, p. 113.


UNDER RULE XII.--OF ADVERBS.

"So in indirect questions; as, 'Tell me _when_ he will come.'"--_Butler's
Gram._, p. 121.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the adverb _So_ is not set off by the comma.
But according to Rule 12th, "Adverbs, when they break the connexion of a
simple sentence, or when they have not a close dependence on some
particular word in the context, should, with their adjuncts, be set off by
the comma." Therefore, a comma should be inserted after _So_; thus, "So, in
indirect questions; as," &c.]

"Now when the verb tells what one person or thing does to another, the verb
is transitive."--_Bullions, Pract. Les._, p 37. "Agreeably to your request
I send this letter."--_Id., E. Gram._, p. 141. "There seems therefore, to
be no good reason for giving them a different classification."--_Id., E.
Gram._, p. 199. "Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman,
seeking goodly pearls."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Matt._, xiii, 45. "Again the
kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea."--_Ib,
ib._, verse 47. "_Cease_ however, is used as a transitive verb by our best
writers."--_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 171. "Time admits of three natural
divisions, namely: Present, Past, and Future."--_Day's Gram._, p. 37.
"There are three kinds of comparison, namely: regular, irregular, and
adverbial."--_Ib._, p. 31. "There are five Personal Pronouns namely: _I,
thou, he, she_, and _it_."--_Ib._, p. 22. "Nouns have three cases, viz. the
Nominative, Possessive, and Objective."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 16; _P.
Lessons_, p. 19. "Hence in studying Grammar, we have to study
words."--_Frazee's Gram._, p. 18. "Participles like Verbs relate to Nouns
and Pronouns."--_Miller's Ready Grammarian_, p. 23. "The time of the
participle like that of the infinitive is estimated from the time of the
leading verb."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, p. 97.

   "The dumb shall sing the lame his crutch forego,
    And leap exulting like the bounding roe."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 123.


UNDER RULE XIII.--OF CONJUNCTIONS.

"But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the
wheat with them."--FRIENDS' BIBLE, and SMITH'S: _Matt._, xiii, 29.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is inserted after _lest_. But,
according to Rule 13th, "Conjunctions, when they are separated from the
principal clauses that depend on them, or when they introduce examples, are
generally set off by the comma." Therefore, a comma should be put after the
word _lest_; thus, "But he said, Nay; lest, while ye gather up the tares,
ye root up also the wheat with them."--SCOTT'S BIBLE, ALGER'S, BRUCE'S.]

"Their intentions were good; but wanting prudence, they missed the mark at
which they aimed."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, Vol. ii, p. 221. "The verb _be_
often separates the name from its attribute; as war is expensive."--
_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 153. "_Either_ and _or_ denote an
alternative; as 'I will take _either_ road at your pleasure.'"--_Ib._, p.
63; _Imp. Gram._, 45. "_Either_ is also a substitute for a name; as
'_Either_ of the roads is good.'"--_Webster, both Grams._, 63 and 45. "But
alas! I fear the consequence."--_Day's Gram._, p. 74. "Or if he ask a fish,
will he for a fish give him a serpent?"--_Scott's Bible, and Smith's_. "Or
if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?"--_Smiths Bible_.
"The infinitive sometimes performs the office of a nominative case, as 'To
enjoy is to obey.'--POPE."--_Cutler's Gram._, p. 62. "The plural is
commonly formed by adding _s_ to the singular, as _book,
books_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 12. "As 'I _were_ to blame, if I did
it.'"--_Smart's Accidence_, p. 16.

   "Or if it be thy will and pleasure
    Direct my plough to find a treasure."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 124.

    "Or if it be thy will and pleasure,
    Direct my plough to find a treasure."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 185.


UNDER RULE XIV.--OF PREPOSITIONS.

"Pronouns agree with the nouns for which they stand in gender, number, and
person."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, pp. 141 and 148; _Bullions's Analyt.
and Pract. Gram._, p. 150.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the preposition _in_ has not the comma
before it, as the text requires. But, according to Rule 14th, "Prepositions
and their objects, when they break the connexion of a simple sentence, or
when they do not closely follow the words on which they depend, are
generally set off by the comma." Therefore, a comma should be here
inserted; thus, "Pronouns agree with the nouns for which they stand, in
gender, number, and person." Or the words may be transposed, and the comma
set before _with_; thus, "Pronouns agree _in_ gender, number, and person,
_with_ the nouns for which they stand."]

"In the first two examples the antecedent is _person_, or something
equivalent; in the last it is _thing_."--_Butler_, ib., p. 53. "In what
character he was admitted is unknown."--_Ib._, p. 55. "To what place he was
going is not known."--_Ib._, p. 55. "In the preceding examples _John,
Cæsar_, and _James_ are the subjects."--_Ib._, p. 59. "_Yes_ is generally
used to denote assent in _the_ answer to a question."--_Ib._, p. 120.
"_That_ in its origin is the passive participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb
_thean, to take_"--_Ib._, p. 127. "But in all these sentences _as_ and _so_
are _adverbs_."--_Ib._, p. 127. "After an interjection or exclamatory
sentence is placed the mark of exclamation."--_Blair's Gram._, p. 116.
"Intransitive verbs from their nature can have no distinction of
voice."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 30. "To the inflection of verbs belong
Voices, Moods, Tenses, Numbers, and Persons."--_Id._, ib., p. 33; _Pract.
Lessons_, p. 41. "_As_ and _so_ in the antecedent member of a comparison
are properly adverbs."--_Id., E. Gram._, p. 113. "In the following Exercise
point out the words in apposition."--_Id., P. Lessons_, p. 103. "In the
following Exercise point out the noun or pronoun denoting the possessor."--
_Id., ib._, p. 105. "_Its_ is not found in the Bible except by
misprint."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 68. "No one's interest is concerned
except mine."--_Ib._, p. 70. "In most of the modern languages there are
four concords."--_St. Quentin's Gen. Gram._, p. 143. "In illustration of
these remarks let us suppose a case."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 104. "On the
right management of the emphasis depends the life of pronunciation."--
_Ib._, p. 172; _Murray's_, 8vo, p. 242.


UNDER RULE XV.--OF INTERJECTIONS.

"Behold he is in the desert."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Matt._, xxiv, 26.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the interjection _Behold_, which has usually
a comma after it in Scripture, has here no point. But, according to Rule
15th, "Interjections that require a pause, though more commonly emphatic
and followed by the ecphoneme, are sometimes set off by the comma." In this
instance, a comma should be used; thus, "Behold, he is in the
desert."--_Common Bible_.]

"And Lot said unto them, Oh not so my Lord."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Gen._, xix,
18. "Oh let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall
live."--SCOTT: _Gen._, xix, 20. "Behold! I come quickly.--BIBLE."--_Day's
Gram._, p. 74. "Lo! I am with you always."--_Day's Gram._, pp. 10 and 73.
"And lo! I am with you always."--_Ib._, pp. 78 and 110. "And lo, I am with
you alway."--SCOTT'S BIBLE, and BRUCE'S: _Matt._, xxviii, 20. "Ha! ha! ha!
how laughable that is."--_Bullions, Pract. Les._, p. 83. "Interjections of
_Laughter_,--Ha! he! hi! ho!"--_Wright's Gram._, p. 121.


UNDER RULE XVI.--OF WORDS REPEATED.

"Lend lend your wings! I mount! I fly!"--_Example varied_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the repeated word _lend_ has here no comma.
But, according to Rule 16th, "A word emphatically repeated, is generally
set off by the comma." In this instance, a comma is required after the
former _lend_, but not after the latter; thus,

   "Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!"--_Pope's Poems_, p. 317.

]

"To bed to bed to bed. There is a knocking at the gate. Come come come.
What is done cannot be undone. To bed to bed to bed."--See _Burgh's
Speaker_, p. 130. "I will roar, that the duke shall cry, Encore encore let
him roar let him roar once more once more."--See ib., p. 136.

   "Vital spark of heav'nly flame,
    Quit oh quit this mortal frame."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 126.

    "Vital spark of heav'nly flame,
    Quit, oh quit, this mortal frame!"--_Bullions, E. Gr._, p. 172.

    "O the pleasing pleasing Anguish,
    When we love, and when we languish."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 161.

    "Praise to God immortal praise
    For the love that crowns our days!"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 124.


UNDER RULE XVII.--OF DEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

"Thus, of an infant, we say '_It_ is a lovely creature.'"--_Bullions, Prin.
of E. Gram._, p. 12.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because no comma is here inserted between _say_ and
the citation which follows. But, according to Rule 17th, "A quotation,
observation, or description, when it is introduced in close dependence on a
verb, (as, _say, reply, cry_, or the like.) is generally separated from the
rest of the sentence by the comma." Therefore, a comma should be put after
_say_; as, "Thus, of an infant, we say, '_It_ is a lovely creature.'"]

"No being can state a falsehood in saying _I am_; for no one can utter it,
if it is not true."--_Cardell's Gram._, 18mo, p. 118. "I know they will cry
out against this and say 'should he pay, means if he should pay.'"--_O. B.
Peirce's Gram._, p. 352. "For instance, when we say '_the house is
building_,' the advocates of the new theory ask, 'building _what_?' We
might ask in turn, when you say 'the field ploughs well,' ploughs _what_?
'Wheat sells well,' sells _what_? If _usage_ allows us to say 'wheat
_sells_ at a dollar' in a sense that is not active, why may it not also
allow us to say 'wheat _is selling_ at a dollar' in a sense that is not
active?"--_Hart's English Gram._, p. 76. "_Man_ is accountable, equals
_mankind_ are accountable."--_S. Barrett's Revised Gram._, p. 37. "Thus,
when we say 'He may be reading,' _may_ is the real verb; the other parts
are verbs by name only."--_Smart's English Accidence_, p. 8. "Thus we say
_an apple, an hour_, that two vowel sounds may not come together."--_Ib._,
p. 27. "It would be as improper to say _an unit_, as to say _an youth_; to
say _an one_, as to say _an wonder_."--_Ib._, p. 27. "When we say 'He died
for the truth,' _for_ is a preposition."--_Ib._, p. 28. "We do not say 'I
might go yesterday,' but 'I might have gone yesterday.'"--_Ib._, p. 11. "By
student, we understand one who has by matriculation acquired the rights of
academical citizenship; but, by bursché, we understand one who has already
spent a certain time at the university."--_Howitt's Student-Life in
Germany_, p. 27.




SECTION II.--THE SEMICOLON.

The Semicolon is used to separate those parts of a compound sentence, which
are neither so closely connected as those which are distinguished by the
comma, nor so little dependent as those which require the colon.


RULE I.--COMPLEX MEMBERS.

When two or more complex members, or such clauses as require the comma in
themselves, are constructed into a period, they are generally separated by
the semicolon: as, "In the regions inhabited by angelic natures, unmingled
felicity forever blooms; joy flows there with a perpetual and abundant
stream, nor needs any mound to check its course."--_Carter_. "When the
voice rises, the gesture naturally ascends; and when the voice makes the
falling inflection, or lowers its pitch, the gesture follows it by a
corresponding descent; and, in the level and monotonous pronunciation of
the voice, the gesture seems to observe a similar limitation, by moving
rather in the horizontal direction, without much varying its
elevation."--_Comstock's Elocution_, p. 107.

   "The wide, the unbounded prospect lies before me;
    But shadows, clouds, and darkness, rest upon it."--_Addison_.


RULE II.--SIMPLE MEMBERS.

When two or more simple members, or such clauses as complete their sense
without subdivision, are constructed into a period; if they require a pause
greater than that of the comma, they are usually separated by the
semicolon: as, "Straws swim upon the surface; but pearls lie at the
bottom."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 276. "Every thing grows old; every thing
passes away; every thing disappears."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 115. "Alexander
asked them the distance of the Persian capital; what forces the king of
Persia could bring into the field; what the Persian government was; what
was the character of the king; how he treated his enemies; what were the
most direct ways into Persia."--_Whelpley's Lectures_, p. 175.

   "A longer care man's helpless kind demands;
    That longer care contracts more lasting bands."--_Pope_.


RULE III.--OF APPOSITION, &C.

Words in apposition, in disjunct pairs, or in any other construction, if
they require a pause greater than that of the comma, and less than that of
the colon, may be separated by the semicolon: as, "Pronouns have three
cases; the nominative, the possessive, and the objective."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 51. "Judge, judgement; lodge, lodgement; acknowledge,
acknowledgement."--_Butler's Gram._, p. 11. "Do not the eyes discover
humility, pride; cruelty, compassion; reflection, dissipation; kindness,
resentment?"--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 159. "This rule forbids parents to
lie to children, and children to parents; instructors to pupils, and pupils
to instructors; the old to the young, and the young to the old; attorneys
to jurors, and jurors to attorneys; buyers to sellers, and sellers to
buyers."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 304.

   "_Make, made; have, had; pay, paid; say, said; leave, left;
    Dream, dreamt; mean, meant; reave_ and _bereave_ have _reft_."
        --_Ward's Gr._, p. 66.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE SEMICOLON.

UNDER RULE I.--OF COMPLEX MEMBERS.

"The buds spread into leaves, and the blossoms swell to fruit, but they
know not how they grow, nor who causes them to spring up from the bosom of
the earth."--_Day's E. Gr._, p. 72.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the two chief members which compose this
period, are separated only by the comma after "_fruit_." But, according to
Rule 1st for the Semicolon, "When two or more complex members, or such
clauses as require the comma in themselves, are constructed into a period,
they are generally separated by the semicolon." Therefore, the pause after
"_fruit_" should be marked by a semicolon.]

"But he used his eloquence chiefly against Philip, king of Macedon, and, in
several orations, he stirred up the Athenians to make war against
him."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 84. "For the sake of euphony, the _n_ is
dropped before a consonant, and because most words begin with a consonant,
this of course is its more common form.'"--_Ib._, p. 192. "But if I say
'Will _a_ man be able to carry this burden?' it is manifest the idea is
entirely changed, the reference is not to number, but to the species, and
the answer might be 'No; but a horse will.'"--_Ib._, p. 193. "In direct
discourse, a noun used by a speaker or writer to designate himself, is said
to be of the _first_ person--used to designate the person addressed, it is
said to be of the _second_ person, and when used to designate a person or
thing spoken of, it is said to be of the _third_ person."--_Ib._, p. 195.
"Vice stings us, even in our pleasures, but virtue consoles us, even in our
pains."--_Day's Gram._, p. 84. "Vice is infamous though in a prince, and
virtue honorable though in a peasant."--_Ib._, p. 72. "Every word that is
the name of a person or thing, is a _Noun_, because 'A noun is the name of
any person, place, or thing.'"--_Bullions, Pract. Les._, p. 83.

   "This is the sword, with which he did the deed,
    And that the shield by which he was defended."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 56.


UNDER RULE II.--OF SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"A deathlike paleness was diffused over his countenancee [sic--KTH], a
chilling terror convulsed his frame; his voice burst out at intervals into
broken accents."--_Principles of Eloquence_, p. 73.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the first pause in this sentence is not
marked by a suitable point. But, according to Rule 2d for the Semicolon,
"When two or more simple members, or such clauses as complete their sense
without subdivision, are constructed into a period; if they require a pause
greater than that of the comma, they are usually separated by the
semicolon." Therefore, the comma after "_countenance_" should be changed to
a semicolon.]

"The Lacedemonians never traded--they knew no luxury--they lived in houses
built of rough materials--they lived at public tables--fed on black broth,
and despised every thing effeminate or luxurious."--_Whelpley's Lectures_,
p. 167. "Government is the agent. Society is the principal."--_Wayland's
Moral Science_, 1st Ed., p. 377. "The essentials of speech were anciently
supposed to be sufficiently designated by the _Noun_ and the _Verb_, to
which was subsequently added, the _Conjunction_"--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p.
191. "The first faint gleamings of thought in its mind are but the
reflections from the parents' own intellect,--the first manifestations of
temperament are from the contagious parental fountain,--the first
aspirations of soul are but the warmings and promptings of the parental
spirit."--_Jocelyn's Prize Essay_, p. 4. "_Older_ and _oldest_ refer to
maturity of age, _elder_ and _eldest_ to priority of right by birth.
_Farther_ and _farthest_ denote place or distance: _Further_ and
_furthest_, quantity or addition."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 148. "Let the
divisions be _natural_, such as obviously suggest themselves to the mind,
and as may aid your main design, and be easily remembered."--_Goldsbury's
Manual of Gram._, p. 91.

   "Gently make haste, of labour not afraid:
    A hundred times consider what you've said."--_Dryden's Art of Poetry_.


UNDER RULE III.--OF APPOSITION, &c.

(1.) "Adjectives are divided into two classes: _Adjectives denoting
quality_, and _Adjectives denoting number_."--_Frost's Practical Gram._, p.
31.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the colon after the word "_classes_," is not
the most suitable sign of the pause required. But according to Rule 3d for
the Semicolon, "Words in apposition, in disjunct pairs, or in any other
construction if they require a pause greater than that of the comma, and
less than that of the colon, maybe separated by the semicolon." In this
case, the semicolon should have been preferred to the colon.]

(2.) "There are two classes of adjectives--_qualifying_ adjectives, and
_limiting_ adjectives."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. 33. (3.) "There are
three Genders, the _Masculine_, the _Feminine_, and the _Neuter_."--
_Frost's Pract. Gram._, p. 51; _Hiley's Gram._, p. 12; _Alger's_, 16; _S.
Putnam's_, 14: _Murray's_, 8vo, 37; _and others_. (4.) "There are three
genders: the MASCULINE, the FEMININE, and the NEUTER."--_Murray's Gram._,
12mo. p. 39; _Jaudon's_, 25. (5.) "There are three genders: The
_Masculine_, the _Feminine_, and the _Neuter_."--_Hendrick's Gram._, p. 15.
(6.) "The Singular denotes ONE, and the Plural MORE THAN ONE."--_Hart's
Gram._, p. 40. (7.) "There are three Cases viz., the _Nominative_, the
_Possessive_, and the _Objective_"--_Hendrick's Gram._, p. 7. (8.) "Nouns
have three cases, the nominative, the possessive, and the objective."--
_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 41. (9.) "In English, nouns have three cases--the
nominative, the possessive, and the objective."--_R. C. Smith's New Gram._,
p. 47. (10.) "Grammar is divided into four parts, namely, ORTHOGRAPHY,
ETYMOLOGY, SYNTAX, PROSODY."--_Ib._, p. 41. (11) "It is divided into four
parts, viz. ORTHOGRAPHY, ETYMOLOGY, SYNTAX, and PROSODY."--_L. Murray's
Grammars all; T. Smith's Gram._, p. 5. (12.) "It is divided into four
parts: viz. Orthography--Etymology--Syntax--Prosody."--_Bucke's Gram._, p.
3. (13.) "It is divided into four parts, namely, Orthography. Etymology,
Syntax and Prosody."--_Day's Gram._, p. 5. (14.) "It is divided into four
parts: viz. _Orthography, Etymology, Syntax_ and _Prosody_."--_Hendrick's
Gram._, p. 11. (15.) "Grammar is divided into four parts: viz. Orthography,
Etymology. Syntax and Prosody."--_Chandler's Gram._, p, 13. (16.) "It is
divided into four parts: Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and
Prosody."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pract. Gram._, p. 1; _Frost's Pract. Gram._,
19. (17.) "English grammar has been usually divided into four parts, viz:
Orthography, Etymology, Syntax and Prosody."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 13.
(18.) "Temperance leads to happiness, intemperance to misery."--_Hiley's
Gram._, p. 137 _Hart's_, 180. (19.) "A friend exaggerates a man's virtues,
an enemy his crimes."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 137 (20.) "A friend exaggerates
a man's virtues: an enemy his crimes."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo., p. 325
(21.) "Many writers use a _plural noun_ after the second of two numeral
adjectives, thus, 'The first and second pages are torn.'"--_Bullions, E.
Gram._, 5th Ed., p. 145 (22.) "Of these, the Latin has six, the Greek,
five, the German, four, the Saxon, six, the French, three, &c."--_Id.,
ib._, p. 196.

   "In (_ing_) it ends, when _doing_ is express'd,
    In _d, t, n_, when _suffering's_ confess'd."
        --_Brightland's Gram._, p. 93.


MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"In old books _i_ is often used for _j, v_ for _u, vv_ for _w_, and _ii_ or
_ij_ for _y_."--_Hart's E. Gram._, p. 22. "The forming of letters into
words and syllables is also called _Spelling_."--_Ib._, p. 21. "Labials are
formed chiefly by the _lips_, dentals by the _teeth_, palatals by the
_palate_, gutturals by the _throat_, nasals by the _nose_, and linguals by
the _tongue_."--_Ib._, p. 25. "The labials are _p, b, f, v_; the dentals
_t, d, s, z_; the palatals _g_ soft and _j_; the gutturals _k, q_, and _c_
and _g_ hard; the nasals _m_ and _n_; and the linguals _l_ and
_r_."--_Ib._, p. 25. "Thus, 'the man _having finished_ his letter, will
carry it to the post office.'"--_Ib._, p. 75. "Thus, in the sentence 'he
had a dagger _concealed_ under his cloak,' _concealed_ is passive,
signifying _being_ concealed; but in the former combination, it goes to
make up a form, the force of which is active."--_Ib._, p. 75. "Thus, in
Latin, 'he had concealed the dagger' would be '_pugionem abdiderat_;' but
'he had the dagger concealed' would be '_pugionem abditum habebat_.'"--
_Ib._, p. 75. "_Here_, for instance, means 'in this place,' _now_, 'at this
time,' &c."--_Ib._, p. 90. "Here _when_ both declares the _time_ of the
action, and so is an adverb, and also _connects_ the two verbs, and so is a
conjunction."--_Ib._, p. 91. "These words were all no doubt originally
other parts of speech, viz.: verbs, nouns, and adjectives."--_Ib._, p. 92.
"The principal parts of a sentence are the subject, the attribute, and the
object, in other words the nominative, the verb, and the objective."--
_Ib._, p. 104. "Thus, the adjective is connected with the noun, the adverb
with the verb or adjective, pronouns with their antecedents, &c."--_Ib._,
p. 104. "_Between_ refers to two, _among_ to more than two."--_Ib._, p.
120. "_At_ is used after a verb of _rest, to_ after a verb of
motion."--_Ib._, p. 120. "Verbs are of three kinds, Active, Passive, and
Neuter."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 19; _Bullions, Prin._, 2d Ed., p. 29 "Verbs
are divided into two classes: Transitive and Intransitive."--_Hendrick's
Gram._, p. 28 "The Parts of Speech in the English language are nine, viz.
The Article, Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition.
Interjection and Conjunction."--_Bullions, Prin. of E. Gram._, p. 7 "Of
these the Noun, Pronoun, and Verb are declined, the rest are
indeclinable."--_Id., ib._, p. 7; _Practical Lessons_, p. 9. "The first
expression is called the 'Active form.' The second the 'Passive
form.'"--_Welds Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 83; Abridged, p. 66.

   "O 'tis a godlike privilege to save,
    And he that scorns it is himself a slave."--_Cowper_, Vol. i., p. 123



SECTION III.--THE COLON.

The Colon is used to separate those parts of a compound sentence, which are
neither so closely connected as those which are distinguished by the
semicolon, nor so little dependent as those which require the period.


RULE I.--ADDITIONAL REMARKS.

When the preceding clause is complete in itself, but is followed by some
additional remark or illustration, especially if no conjunction is used,
the colon is generally and properly inserted: as, "Avoid evil doers: in
such society, an honest man may become ashamed of himself."--"See that moth
fluttering incessantly round the candle: man of pleasure, behold thy
image!"--_Art of Thinking_, p. 94. "Some things we can, and others we
cannot do: we can walk, but we cannot fly."--_Beanie's Moral Science_, p.
112.

   "Remember Heav'n has an avenging rod:
    To smite the poor, is treason against God."--_Cowper_.


RULE II.--GREATER PAUSES.

When the semicolon has been introduced, or when it must be used in a
subsequent member, and a still greater pause is required within the period,
the colon should be employed: as, "Princes have courtiers, and merchants
have partners; the voluptuous have companions, and the wicked have
accomplices: none but the virtuous can have friends."--"Unless the truth of
our religion be granted, a Christian must be the greatest monster in
nature: he must at the same time be eminently wise, and notoriously
foolish; a wise man in his practice, and a fool in his belief: his
reasoning powers must be deranged by a constant delirium, while his conduct
never swerves from the path of propriety."--_Principles of Eloquence_, p.
80.

   "A decent competence we fully taste;
    It strikes our sense, and gives a constant feast:
    More we perceive by dint of thought alone;
    The rich must labour to possess their own."--_Young_.


RULE III.--INDEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

A quotation introduced without a close dependence on a verb or a
conjunction, is generally preceded by the colon; as, "In his last moments,
he uttered these words: 'I fall a sacrifice to sloth and luxury.'"--"At
this the king hastily retorted: 'No put-offs, my lord; answer me
presently.'"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 367. "The father addressed himself to
them to this effect: 'O my sons, behold the power of unity!'"--
_Rippingham's Art of Speaking_, p. 85.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE COLON.

UNDER RULE I.--ADDITIONAL REMARKS.

"_Of_ is a preposition, it expresses the relation between _fear_ and
_Lord_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 133.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because
the additional remark in this sentence is not sufficiently separated from
the main clause, by the comma after the word _preposition_. But, according
to Rule 1st for the Colon, "When the preceding clause is complete in
itself, but is followed by some additional remark or illustration,
especially if no conjunction is used, the colon is generally and properly
inserted." Therefore, the colon should here be substituted for the comma.]

"Wealth and poverty are both temptations to man; _that_ tends to excite
pride, _this_ discontentment."--_Id., ib._, p. 93; see also _Lennie's
Gram._, p. 81; _Murray's_, 56; _Ingersoll's_ 61; _Alger's_, 25;
_Merchant's_, 44; _Hart's_, 137; _et al_. "Religion raises men above
themselves, irreligion sinks them beneath the brutes; _this_ binds them
down to a poor pitiable speck of perishable earth, _that_ opens for them a
prospect in the skies."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 98; _Lennie's Gram._, p.
81. "Love not idleness, it destroys many."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 71.
"Children, obey your parents; honour thy father and mother, is the first
commandment with promise."--_Bullions, Pract. Lessons_, p. 88. "Thou art my
hiding place, and my shield, I hope in thy promises."--_O. B. Peirce's
Gram._, p. 56. "The sun shall not smite me by day nor the moon by night.
The Lord will preserve from evil. He will save my soul.--BIBLE."--_Ib._, p.
57. "Here Greece is assigned the highest place in the class of objects
among which she is numbered--the nations of antiquity--she is one of
them."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 79.

   "From short (as usual) and disturb'd repose
    I wake; how happy they who wake no more!"--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 216.


UNDER RULE II.--GREATER PAUSES.

"A taste _of_ a thing, implies actual enjoyment of it; but a taste for it,
implies only capacity for enjoyment; as, 'When we have had a true taste of
the pleasures of virtue, we can have no relish _for_ those of
vice.'"--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 147.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pause after _enjoyment_ is marked only
by a semicolon. But, according to Rule 2d for the Colon, "When the
semicolon has been introduced, or when it must be used in a subsequent
member, and a still greater pause is required within the period, the colon
should be employed." Therefore, the second semicolon here should be changed
to a colon.]

"The Indicative mood simply declares a thing; as, He _loves_;
He is _loved_; Or, it asks a question; as, _Lovest_ thou me?"--_Id., ib._,
p. 35; _Pract. Lessons_, p. 43; _Lennie's Gr._, p. 20. "The Indicative Mood
simply indicates or declares a thing: as, 'He _loves_, he is _loved_:' or
it asks a question: as, 'Does he love?' 'Is he loved?'"--_L. Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 63; 12mo, p. 63. "The Imperfect (or Past) tense represents
an action or event indefinitely as past; as, Cæsar _came_, and _saw_, and
_conquered_; or it represents the action definitely as unfinished and
continuing at a certain time, now entirely past; as, My father _was coming_
home when I met him."--_Bullions, P. L._, p. 45; _E. Gr._, 39. "Some nouns
have no plural; as, _gold, silver, wisdom, health_; others have no
singular; as, _ashes, shears, tongs_; others are alike in both numbers; as,
_sheep, deer, means, news_"--_Day's School Gram._, p. 15. "The same verb
may be transitive in one sense, and intransitive in another; thus, in the
sentence, 'He believes my story,' _believes_ is transitive; but in this
phrase, 'He believes in God,' it is intransitive."--_Butler's Gram._, p.
61. "Let the divisions be _distinct_; one part should not include another,
but each should have its proper place, and be of importance in that place,
and all the parts well fitted together and united, should present a
whole."--_Goldsbury's C. S. Gram._, p. 91. "In the use of the transitive
verb there are always _three_ things implied,--the _actor_, the _act_, and
the _object_ acted upon. In the use of the intransitive there are only
_two_--the _subject_ or thing spoken of, and the _state_, or _action_
attributed to it."--_Bullions, E. Gram._

   "Why labours reason? instinct were as well;
    Instinct far better; what can choose, can err."
        --_Brit. Poets_, Vol. viii.


UNDER RULE III.--INDEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

"The sentence may run thus; 'He is related to the same person, and is
governed by him.'"--_Hart's Gram._

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the semicolon is here inserted, in an
unusual manner, before a quotation not closely dependent. But, according to
Rule 3d for the Colon, "A quotation introduced without a close dependence
on a verb or a conjunction, is generally preceded by the colon." Therefore,
the colon should be here preferred.]

"Always remember this ancient proverb, 'Know thyself.'"--_Hallock's Gram._
"Consider this sentence. The boy runs swiftly."--_Frazee's Gram._,
Stereotype Ed. 1st Ed. "The comparative is used thus; 'Greece was more
polished than any _other_ nation of antiquity.' The same idea is expressed
by the superlative when the word _other_ is left out. Thus, 'Greece was the
most polished nation of antiquity'"--_Bullions, E. Gram._ see _Lennie's
Gram._ "Burke, in his speech on the Carnatic war, makes the following
allusion to the well known fable of Cadmus's sowing dragon's teeth;--'Every
day you are fatigued and disgusted with this cant, the Carnatic is a
country that will soon recover, and become instantly as prosperous as
ever. They think they are talking to innocents, who believe that by the
sowing of dragon's teeth, men may come up ready grown and ready
made.'"--_Hiley's Gram._, see also _Hart's_.

   "For sects he car'd not, 'they are not of us,
    Nor need we, brethren, their concerns discuss.'"--_Crabbe_.

    "Habit with him was all the test of truth,
    'It must be right: I've done it from my youth.'
    Questions he answered in as brief a way,
    'It must be wrong--it was of yesterday.'"--_Id., Borough_.


MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"This would seem to say, 'I doubt nothing save one thing, namely, that he
will fulfil his promise;' whereas, that is the very thing not
doubted."--_Bullions, E. Gram._. "The common use of language requires that
a distinction be made between _morals_ and _manners_, the former depend
upon internal dispositions, the latter on outward and visible
accomplishments."--_Beattie's Moral Science_. "Though I detest war in each
particular fibre of my heart yet I honor the Heroes among our fathers who
fought with bloody hand: Peacemakers in a savage way they were faithful to
their light; the most inspired can be no more, and we, with greater light,
do, it may be, far less."--_Parker's Idea of a Church_. "The Article _the_,
like _a_, must have a substantive joined with it, whereas _that_, like
_one_, may have it understood; thus, speaking of books, I may select one,
and say, 'give me that;' but not, 'give me _the_;' 'give me _one_;' but not
'give me _a_.'"--_Bullions's E. Gram._. "The Present tense has three
distinct forms--the _simple_; as, I read; the _emphatic_; as, I do read;
and the _progressive_; as, I am reading'."--_Ib._. "The tenses in English
are usually reckoned six. The _Present_, the _Imperfect_, the _Perfect_,
the _Pluperfect_, the _Future_, and the _Future Perfect_."--_Ib._. "There
are three participles, the Present or Active, the Perfect or Passive, and
the Compound Perfect; as, _loving, loved, having loved._"--_L. Murray's
Gram._, 2d Edition; _Alger's_; _Fisk's_; _Bacon's_. "The Participles are
three, the Present, the Perfect, and the Compound Perfect; as, _loving,
loved, having loved_."--_Hart's Gram._. "_Will_ is conjugated regularly,
when it is a principal verb, as, present, I will, past, I willed,
&c."--_Frazee's Gram._, Ster. Ed.; Old Ed. "And both sounds of _x_ are
compound, one is that of _gz_, and the other, that of _ks_"--_Ib._, Ster.
Ed. "The man is happy: he is benevolent: he is useful."--_Cooper's Murray_;
_Pl. and Pract. Gr._ "The Pronoun stands instead of the noun; as, The man
is happy; _he_ is benevolent; _he_ is useful.'"--_L. Murray's Gram._, 2d
Ed. "A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun, to avoid the too frequent
repetition of the same word: as, 'The man is happy,' '_he_ is benevolent,'
'_he_ is useful.'"--_Ib._. "A pronoun is a word, used in the room of a
noun, or as a substitute for one or more words, as: the man is happy; _he_
is benevolent; _he_ is useful."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram., his Abridg.
of Mur._ "A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or class of beings, or
things, as: animal; tree; insect; fish; fowl"--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._
"Nouns have three persons: the first; the second; and the third."--_Ib._

   "(Eve) so saying, her rash hand in evil hour
    Forth reaching to the fruit; she pluck'd, she ate
    Earth felt the wound: and nature from her seat,
    Sighing through all her works, gave signs of wo,
    That all was lost."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._



SECTION IV.--THE PERIOD.

The Period, or Full Stop, is used to mark an entire and independent
sentence, whether simple or compound.


RULE I.--DISTINCT SENTENCES.

When a sentence, whether long or short, is complete in respect to sense,
and independent in respect to construction, it should be marked with the
period: as, "Every deviation from truth is criminal. Abhor a falsehood. Let
your words be ingenuous. Sincerity possesses the most powerful
charm."--"The force of a true individual is felt through every clause and
part of a right book; the commas and dashes are alive with it."--_R. W.
Emerson_.

   "By frequent trying, TROY was won.
    All things, by trying, may be done."--_Lloyd_, p. 184.


RULE II.--ALLIED SENTENCES.


The period is often employed between two sentences which have a general
connexion, expressed by a personal pronoun, a conjunction, or a conjunctive
adverb: as, "The selfish man languishes in his narrow circle of pleasures.
_They_ are confined to what affects his own interests. _He_ is obliged to
repeat the same gratifications, till they become insipid. _But_ the man of
virtuous sensibility moves in a wider sphere of felicity."--_Blair_.

   "And whether we shall meet again, I know not.
    _Therefore_ our everlasting farewell take."--_Shak._, J. C.


RULE III.--ABBREVIATIONS.

The period is generally used after abbreviations, and very often to the
exclusion of other points; but, as in this case it is not a constant sign
of pause, other points may properly follow it, if the words written in full
would demand them: as, A. D. for _Anno Domini_;--Pro tem. for _pro
tempore_;--Ult. for _ultimo_;--i.e. for _id est_, that is;--Add., Spect,
No. 285; i.e., _Addison, in the Spectator, Number 285th_.

   "Consult the statute; 'quart.' I think, it is,
    'Edwardi sext.,' or 'prim. et quint. Eliz.'"--_Pope_, p. 399.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--It seems to be commonly supposed, whether correctly or not, that
short sentences which are in themselves distinct, and which in their stated
use must be separated by the period, may sometimes be rehearsed as
examples, in so close succession as not to require this point: as, "But if
thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which?
Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou
shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and
thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."--SCOTT, ALGER,
AND OTHERS: _Matt._, xix, 17, 18, 19. "The following sentences exemplify
the possessive pronouns:--'_My_ lesson is finished; _Thy_ books are
defaced; He loves _his_ studies; She performs _her_ duty; We own _our_
faults; _Your_ situation is distressing; I admire _their_ virtues.'"--_L.
Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 55. What mode of pointing is best adapted to
examples like these, is made a very difficult question by the great
diversity of practice in such cases. The semicolon, with guillemets, or the
semicolon and a dash, with the quotation marks, may sometimes be
sufficient; but I see no good reason why the _period_ should not in general
be preferred to the comma, the semicolon, or the colon, where full and
distinct sentences are thus recited. The foregoing passage of Scripture I
have examined in five different languages, ten different translations, and
seventeen different editions which happened to be at hand. In these it is
found pointed in twelve different ways. In Leusden's, Griesbach's, and
Aitton's Greek, it has nine colons; in Leusden's Latin from Montanus,
eight; in the common French version, six; in the old Dutch, five; in our
Bibles, usually one, but not always. In some books, these commandments are
mostly or wholly divided by periods; in others, by colons; in others, by
semicolons; in others, as above, by commas. The first four are negative, or
prohibitory; the other two, positive, or mandatory. Hence some make a
greater pause after the fourth, than elsewhere between any two. This
greater pause is variously marked by the semicolon, the colon, or the
period; and the others, at the same time, as variously, by the comma, the
semicolon, or the colon. Dr. Campbell, in his Four Gospels, renders and
points the latter part of this passage thus: "Jesus answered, 'Thou shalt
not commit murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not give false testimony. Honour thy father and mother; and love
thy neighbour as thyself." But the corresponding passage in Luke, xviii 20,
he exhibits thus: "Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery;
do not commit murder; do not steal; do not give false testimony; honour thy
father and thy mother." This is here given as present advice, _referring
to_ the commandments, but not actually _quoting_ them; and, in this view of
the matter, semicolons, not followed by capitals may be right. See the
common reading under Rule XIV for Capitals, on page 166.

OBS. 2.--Letters written for _numbers_, after the manner of the Romans,
though read as words, are never words in themselves; nor are they, except
perhaps in one or two instances, abbreviations of words. C, a hundred,
comes probably from _Centum_; and M, a thousand, is the first letter of
_Mille_; but the others, I, V, X, L, D, and the various combinations of
them all, are direct numerical signs, as are the Arabic figures. Hence it
is not really necessary that the period should be set after them, except at
the end of a sentence, or where it is suitable as a sign of pause. It is,
however, and always has been, a prevalent custom, to mark numbers of this
kind with a period, as if they were abbreviations; as, "While pope Sixtus
V. who succeeded Gregory XIII. fulminated the thunder of the church against
the king of Navarre."--_Smollet's Eng._, iii, 82. The period is here
inserted where the reading requires only the comma; and, in my opinion, the
latter point should have been preferred. Sometimes, of late, we find other
points set after this period; as, "Otho II., surnamed the Bloody, was son
and successor of Otho I.; he died in 983."--_Univ. Biog. Dict._ This may be
an improvement on the former practice, but double points are not
_generally_ used, even where they are proper; and, if the period is not
indispensable, a simple change of the point would perhaps sooner gain the
sanction of general usage.

OBS. 3.--Some writers, judging the period to be wrong or needless in such
cases, omit it, and insert only such points as the reading requires; as,
"For want of doing this, Judge Blackstone has, in Book IV, Chap. 17,
committed some most ludicrous errors."--_Cobbett's Gram._, Let. XIX, ¶ 251.
To insert points needlessly, is as bad a fault as to omit them when they
are requisite. In Wm. Day's "Punctuation Reduced to a System," (London,
1847,) we have the following obscure and questionable RULE: "_Besides
denoting a grammatical pause_, the _full point_ is used to mark
_contractions_, and is requisite after _every abbreviated word_, as well as
after _numeral letters._"--Page 102. This seems to suggest that both a
pause and a contraction may be denoted by the same point. But what are
properly called "_contractions_," are marked not by the period, but by the
apostrophe, which is no sign of pause; and the confounding of these with
words "_abbreviated_," makes this rule utterly absurd. As for the period
"after _numeral letters_," if they really needed it at all, they would need
it _severally_, as do the abbreviations; but there are none of them, which
do not uniformly dispense with it, when not final to the number; and they
may as well dispense with it, in like manner, whenever they are not final
to the sentence.

OBS. 4.--Of these letters, Day gives this account: "_M._ denotes _mille_,
1,000; _D., dimidium mille_, half a thousand, or 500; _C. centum_, 100;
_L._ represents the lower half of _C._, and expresses 50; _X._ resembles
_V._ _V._, the one upright, the other inverted, and signifies 10; _V._
stands for 5, because its sister letter U is the fifth vowel; and _I._
signifies 1, probably because it is the plainest and simplest letter in the
alphabet."--_Day's Punctuation_, p. 103. There is some fancy in this. Dr.
Adam says, "The letters employed for this purpose [i.e., to express
_numbers_.] were C. I. L. V. X."--_Latin and Eng. Gram._, p. 288. And
again: "A thousand is marked thus CI[C-reverserd], which in later times was
_contracted_ into M. _Five hundred_ is marked thus, I[C-reversed], or by
_contraction_, D."--_Ib._ Day inserts periods thus: "IV. means 4; IX., 9;
XL., 40; XC., 90; CD., 400; CM., 900."--Page 703. And again: "4to.,
_quarto_, the fourth of a sheet of paper; 8vo., _octavo_, the eighth part
of a sheet of paper; 12mo., _duodecimo_, the twelfth of a sheet of paper;
N. L., 8°., 9'., 10''., North latitude, eight degrees, nine minutes, ten
seconds."--Page 104. But IV may mean 4, without the period; 4to or 8vo has
no more need of it than 4th or 8th; and N. L. 8° 9' 10'' is an expression
little to be mended by commas, and not at all by additional periods.

OBS. 5.--To allow the period of abbreviation to supersede all other points
wherever it occurs, as authors generally have done, is sometimes plainly
objectionable; but, on the other hand, to suppose double points to be
always necessary wherever abbreviations or Roman numbers have pauses less
than final, would sometimes seem more nice than wise, as in the case of
Biblical and other references. A concordance or a reference Bible pointed
on this principle, would differ greatly from any now extant. In such
references, _numbers_ are very frequently pointed with the period, with
scarcely any regard to the pauses required in the reading; as, "DIADEM, Job
29. 14. Isa. 28. 5. and 62. 3. Ezek. 21. 26."--_Brown's Concordance_.
"Where no vision is, the people perish, Prov. xxix. 18. Acts iv. 12. Rom.
x. 14."--_Brown's Catechism_, p. 104. "What I urge from 1. Pet. 3. 21. in
my Apology."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 498. "I. Kings--II. Kings."--_Alger's
Bible_, p. iv. "Compare iii. 45. with 1. Cor. iv. 13."--_Scott's Bible,
Pref. to Lam. Jer._ "Hen. v. A. 4. Sc. 5."--_Butler's Gram._, p. 41. "See
Rule iii. Rem. 10."--_Ib._, p. 162. Some set a _colon_ between the number
of the chapter and that of the verse; which mark serves well for
distinction, where both numbers are in Arabic figures: as, "'He that formed
the eye, shall he not see?'--Ps. 94: 9."--_Wells's Gram._, p. 126. "He had
only a lease-hold title to his service. Lev. 25: 39, Exod. 21: 2."--_True
Amer._, i. 29. Others adopt the following method which seems preferable to
any of the foregoing: "Isa. Iv, 3; Ezek. xviii, 20; Mic. vi, 7."--_Gurney's
Essays_, p. 133. Churchill, who is uncommonly nice about his punctuation,
writes as follows: "_Luke_. vi, 41, 42. See also Chap. xv, 8; and _Phil._,
iii. 12."--_New Gram._, p. 353.

OBS. 6.--Arabic figures used as ordinals, or used for the numeral adverbs,
_first_, or _firstly, secondly, thirdly, &c._, are very commonly pointed
with the period, even where the pause required after them is less than a
full stop; as, "We shall consider these words, 1. as expressing
_resolution_; and 2. as expressing _futurity_."--_Butler's Gram._, p. 106.
But the period thus followed by a small letter, has not an agreeable
appearance, and some would here prefer the comma, which is, undoubtedly,
better suited to the pause, A fitter practice, however, would be, to change
the expression thus: "We shall consider these words, 1st, as expressing
_resolution_; and, 2dly, as expressing _futurity_."

OBS. 7.--Names vulgarly shortened, then written as they are spoken, are not
commonly marked with a period; as, _Ben_ for _Benjamin_. "O RARE BEN
JOHNSON!"--_Biog. Dict._

   "From whence the inference is plain,
    Your friend MAT PRIOR wrote with pain."
        --LLOYD: _B. P._, Vol. viii, p. 188.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE PERIOD.

UNDER RULE I.--DISTINCT SENTENCES.

"The third person is the position of the name spoken of; as, Paul and Silas
were imprisoned, the earth thirsts, the sun shines."--_Frazee's Gram._, 1st
Ed., p. 21; Ster. Ed., p. 23.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because three totally distinct sentences are here
thrown together as examples, with no other distinction than what is made by
two commas. But, according to Rule 1st for the Period, "When a sentence,
whether long or short, is complete in respect to sense, and independent in
respect to construction, it should be marked with the period." Therefore,
these commas should be periods; and, of course, the first letter of each
example must be a capital.]

"Two and three and four make nine; if he were here, he would assist his
father and mother, for he is a dutiful son; they live together, and are
happy, because they enjoy each other's society; they went to Roxbury, and
tarried all night, and came back the next day."--_Goldsbury's Parsing
Lessons in his Manual of E. Gram._, p. 64.

"We often resolve, but seldom perform; she is wiser than her sister; though
he is often advised, yet he does not reform; reproof either softens or
hardens its object; he is as old as his classmates, but not so learned;
neither prosperity, nor adversity, has improved him; let him that standeth,
take heed lest he fall; he can acquire no virtue, unless he make some
sacrifices."--_Ibid._

   "Down from his neck, with blazing gems array'd,
    Thy image, lovely Anna! hung portray'd,
    Th' unconscious figure, smiling all serene,
    Suspended in a golden chain was seen,"--_S. Barrett's E. Gr._, p. 92.


UNDER RULE II.--ALLIED SENTENCES.

"This life is a mere prelude to another, which has no limits, it is a
little portion of duration. As death leaves us, so the day of judgment will
find us."--_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 76.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pause after _limits_, which is
sufficient for the period, is marked only by the comma. But, according to
Rule 2d, "The period is often employed between two sentences which have a
general connexion, expressed by a personal pronoun, a conjunction, or a
conjunctive adverb." It would improve the passage, to omit the first comma,
change the second to a period, and write the pronoun _it_ with a capital.
_Judgment_ also might be bettered with an _e_, and _another_ is properly
two words.]

"He went from Boston to New York; he went from Boston; he went to New York;
in walking across the floor, he stumbled over a chair."--_Goldsbury's
Manual of E. Gram._, p. 62.

"I saw him on the spot, going along the road, looking towards the house;
during the heat of the day, he sat on the ground, under the shade of a
tree."--_Id., ib._

"George came home, I saw _him_ yesterday, here; the word him, can extend
only to the individual _George_"--_S. Barrett's E. Gram._, 10th Ed., p. 45.

"Commas are often used now, where parentheses were formerly; I cannot,
however, esteem this an improvement."--See the _Key_.

   "Thou, like a sleeping, faithless sentinel
    Didst let them pass unnoticed, unimproved,
    And know, for that thou slumb'rest on the guard,
    Thou shalt be made to answer at the bar
    For every fugitive."
        --_Hallock's Gram._, p. 222; _Enfield's Sp._, p. 380.


UNDER RULE III.--OF ABBREVIATIONS.

"The term pronoun (Lat _pronomen_) strictly means a word used for, or
instead of a noun."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 198.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the syllable here put for the word _Latin_,
is not marked with a period. But, according to Rule 3d, "The period is
generally used after abbreviations, and very often to the exclusion of
other points; but, as in this case it is not a constant sign of pause,
other points may properly follow it, if the words written in full would
demand them." In this instance, a period should mark the abbreviation, and
a comma be set after _of_. By analogy, _in stead_ is also more properly two
words than one.]

"The period is also used after abbreviations; as, A. D. P. S. G. W.
Johnson."--_Butler's Pract. Gram._, p. 211. "On this principle of
classification, the later Greek grammarians divided words into eight
classes or parts of speech, viz: the Article, Noun, Pronoun, Verb,
Participle, Adverb, Preposition, and Conjunction."--_Bullions, E. Gram._,
p. 191.

"'_Metre_ is not confined to verse: there is a tune in all good prose; and
Shakspeare's was a sweet one.'--_Epea Pter_, II, 61. Mr. H. Tooke's idea
was probably just, agreeing with Aristotle's, but not accurately
expressed."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 385.

"Mr. J. H. Tooke was educated at Eton and at Cambridge, in which latter
college he took the degree of A. M; being intended for the established
church of England, he entered into holy orders when young, and obtained the
living of Brentford, near London, which he held ten or twelve
years."--_Div. of Purley_, 1st Amer. Edition, Vol. i, p. 60.

   "I, nor your plan, nor book condemn,
    But why your name, and why A. M!"--_Lloyd_.


MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"If thou _turn_ away thy foot from the sabbath, &c. _Isaiah_. lviii.
7."--_Butler's Gram._, p. 67. "'He that hath eeris of herynge, _here he_.
_Wiclif_. Matt xi."--_Butler's Gram._, p. 76. "See General Rules for
Spelling, iii., v., and vii."--_Butler's Gram._, p. 81. "'False witnesses
_did_ rise up.' _Ps_. xxxv. ii."--_Butlers Gram._, p. 105.

"An _explicative_ sentence is used for explaining. An _interrogative_
sentence for enquiring. An _imperative_ sentence for commanding."--_S.
Barrett's Prin. of Language_, p. 87. "In October, corn is gathered in the
field by men, who go from hill to hill with baskets, into which they put
the ears; Susan labors with her needle for a livelihood; notwithstanding
his poverty, he is a man of integrity."--_Goldsbury's Parsing, Manual of E.
Gram._, p. 62.

"A word of one syllable, is called a monosyllable. A word of two syllables;
a dissyllable. A word of three syllables; a trissyllable. A word of four or
more syllables; a polysyllable."--_Frazee's Improved Gram._, 1st Ed., p.
15. "A word of one syllable, is called a monosyllable. A word of two
syllables, a dissyllable. A word of three syllables, a trissyllable. A word
of four or more syllables, a polysyllable."--_Frazee's Improved Gram._,
Ster. Ed., p. 17.

"If I say, '_if it did not rain_, I would take a walk;' I convey the idea
that it _does rain_, at the time of speaking, _If it rained_, or _did it
rain_, in the present time, implies, it does not rain; _If it did not
rain_, or _did it not rain_, in present time, implies that _it does rain_;
thus in this peculiarity, an _affirmative_ sentence always implies a
_negation_, and a _negative sentence_ an _affirmation_."--_Frazee's Gram._,
1st Ed., p. 61; Ster. Ed., 62. "_If I were loved_, and, _were I loved_,
imply, I am _not_ loved; _if I were not loved_, and, _were I not loved_,
imply, I am loved; a negative sentence implies an affirmation; and an
affirmative sentence implies a negation, in these forms of the
subjunctive."--_Ib._, Old Ed., p. 73; Ster. Ed., 72.

"What is Rule III.?"--_Hart's Gram._, p. 114. "How is Rule III.
violated?"--_Ib._, p. 115. "How do you parse 'letter' in the sentence,
'James writes a _letter'? Ans._--'Letter is a noun com., of the MASC.
gend., in the 3d p., sing. num., and _objective case_, and is governed by
the verb 'writes,' according to Rule III., which says. 'A transitive verb,'
&c."--_Ib._, p. 114.[465]

   "Creation sleeps. 'T is as the general pulse
    Of life stood still, and nature made a pause;
    An awful pause! prophetic of her end,
    And let her prophecy be soon fulfilled;
    Fate drop the curtain; I can lose no more."--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 216.



SECTION V.--THE DASH.

The Dash is mostly used to denote an unexpected or emphatic pause, of
variable length; but sometimes it is a sign of faltering, or of the
irregular stops of one who hesitates in speaking: as, "Then, after many
pauses, and inarticulate sounds, he said: 'He was very sorry for it, was
extremely concerned it should happen so--but--a--it was necessary--a--'
Here lord E------ stopped him short, and bluntly demanded, if his post were
destined for an other."--See _Churchill's Gram._, p. 170.


RULE I.--ABRUPT PAUSES.

A sudden interruption, break, or transition, should be marked with the
dash; as, 1. "'I must inquire into the affair; and if'--'And _if_!'
interrupted the farmer." 2. "Whom I--But first 't is fit the billows to
restrain."--_Dryd. Virg._ 3. "HERE LIES THE GREAT--False marble! where?
Nothing but sordid dust lies here."--_Young_.


RULE II.--EMPHATIC PAUSES.

To mark a considerable pause, greater than the structure or the sentence or
the points inserted would seem to require, the dash may be employed; as, 1.
"I pause for a reply.--None?--Then none have I offended.--I have done no
more to Cæsar, than you should do to Brutus."--SHAKSPEARE: _Enfields
Speaker_, p. 182.

2. "Tarry a little. There is something else.--
    This bond--doth give thee here--no jot of blood."
        --ID.: _Burgh's Sp._, p. 167.

3. "It thunders;--but it thunders to preserve."--_Young_.

4. "Behold the picture!--Is it like?--Like whom?"--_Cowper_.



RULE III.--FAULTY DASHES.

Dashes needlessly inserted, or substituted for other stops more definite,
are in general to be treated as errors in punctuation; as, "Here Greece
stands by _itself_ as opposed to the _other_ nations of antiquity--She was
none of the _other nations_--She was more polished than they."--_Lennie's
Gram._, p. 78. "Here Greece stands by _herself_, as opposed to the _other_
nations of antiquity. She was none of the _other nations_: She was more
polished than they."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 114. If this colon is
sufficient, the capital after it is needless: a period would, perhaps, be
better.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The dash does not appear to be always a rhetorical stop, or always
intended to lengthen the pause signified by an other mark before it. As one
instance of a different design, we may notice, that it is now very often
employed between a text and a reference;--i.e., between a quotation and the
name of the author of the book quoted;--in which case, as Wm. Day suggests,
"it serves as a _connecting mark_ for the two."--_Day's Punctuation_, p.
131. But this usage, being comparatively recent, is, perhaps, not so
general or so necessary, that a neglect of it may properly be censured as
false punctuation.

OBS. 2.--An other peculiar use of the dash, is its application to
_side-titles_, to set them off from other words in the same line, as is
seen often in this Grammar as well as in other works. Day says of this,
"When the _substance_ of a paragraph is given as a side-head, a dash is
_necessary_ to _connect_ it with its relative matter."--_Ibid._ Wilson also
approves of this usage, as well as of the others here named; saying, "The
dash should be inserted between a title and the subject-matter, and also
between the subject-matter, and the authority from which it is taken, when
they occur in the same paragraph."--_Wilson's Punctuation_, Ed. of 1850, p.
139.

OBS. 3.--The dash is often used to signify the omission of something; and,
when set between the two extremes of a series of numbers, it may represent
all the intermediate ones; as, "Page 10-15;" i. e., "Page 10, 11, 12, &c.
to 15."--"Matt, vi, 9-14."


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE DASH.

UNDER RULE I.--ABRUPT PAUSES.

"And there is something in your very strange story, that resembles ... Does
Mr. Bevil know your history particularly?"--See _Key_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the abrupt pause after _resembles_ is here
marked by three periods. But, according to Rule 1st for the Dash. "A sudden
interruption, break, or transition, should be marked with the dash."
Therefore, the dash should be preferred to these points.]

"Sir, Mr. Myrtle, Gentlemen! You are friends; I am but a servant.
But."--See _Key_.

"Another man now would have given plump into this foolish story; but I? No,
no, your humble servant for that."--See _Key_.

"Do not plunge thyself too far in anger lest thou hasten thy trial; which
if Lord have mercy on thee for a hen!"--See _Key_.

   "But ere they came, O, let me say no more!
    Gather the sequel by that went before."--See _Key_.


UNDER RULE II.--EMPHATIC PAUSES.

"_M_, Malvolio; _M_, why, that begins my name."

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pauses after _M_ and _Malvolio_ seem not
to be sufficiently indicated here. But, according to Rule 2d for the Dash,
"To mark a considerable pause, greater than the structure of the sentence
or the points inserted would seem to require, the dash may be employed."
Therefore, a dash may be set after the commas and the semicolon, in this
sentence.]

"Thus, by the creative influence of the Eternal Spirit, were the heavens
and the earth finished in the space of six days, so admirably finished, an
unformed chaos changed into a system of perfect order and beauty, that the
adorable Architect himself pronounced it very good, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy."--See _Key_.

"If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop
remained in my country, I NEVER would lay down my arms; NEVER, NEVER,
NEVER."--_Columbian Orator_, p. 265.

   "Madam, yourself are not exempt in this,
    Nor your son Dorset, Buckingham, nor you."--See _Key_.


UNDER RULE III.--FAULTY DASHES.

"--You shall go home directly, Le Fevre, said my uncle Toby, to my
house,--and we'll send for a doctor to see what's the matter,--and we'll
have an apothecary,--and the corporal shall be your nurse;--and I'll be
your servant, Le Fevre."--STERNE: _Enfield's Speaker_, p. 306.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because all the dashes here quoted, except perhaps
the last, are useless, or obviously substituted for more definite marks.
But, according to Rule 3d, "Dashes needlessly inserted, or substituted for
other stops more definite, are in general to be treated as errors in
punctuation." Therefore, the first of these should be simply expunged; the
second, third, and fourth, with their commas, should be changed to
semicolons; and the last, with its semicolon, may well be made a colon.]

"He continued--Inferior artists may be at a stand, because they want
materials."--HARRIS: _Enfield's Speaker_, p. 191. "Thus, then, continued
he--The end in other arts is ever distant and removed."--_Id., ib._

"The nouns must be coupled with _and_, and when a pronoun is used it must
be plural, as in the example--When the nouns are _disjoined_ the pronoun
must be singular."--_Lennie's Gram._, 5th Ed., p. 57.

"_Opinion_ is a noun or substantive common,--of the singular
number,--neuter gender,--nominative case,--and third person."--_Wright's
Philos. Gram._, p. 228.

   "The mountain--thy pall and thy prison--may keep thee;
    I shall see thee no more; but till death I will weep thee."
        --_Felton's Gram._, p. 146.


MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR

"If to accommodate man and beast, heaven and earth; if this be beyond me,
'tis not possible.--What consequence then follows? or can there be any
other than this--if I seek an interest of my own, detached from that of
others; I seek an interest which is chimerical, and can never have
existence."--HARRIS: _Enfield's Speaker_, p. 139.

"Again--I must have food and clothing--Without a proper genial warmth, I
instantly perish--Am I not related, in this view, to the very earth itself?
To the distant sun, from whose beams I derive vigour?"--_Id., ib._, p. 140.

"Nature instantly ebb'd again--the film returned to its place--the pulse
flutter'd--stopp'd--went on--throbb'd--stopp'd again--mov'd--stopp'd--shall
I go on?--No."--STERNE: _ib._, p. 307.

"Write ten nouns of the masculine gender. Ten of the feminine. Ten of the
neuter. Ten indefinite in gender."--_Pardon Davis's Gram._, p. 9.

"The Infinitive Mode has two tenses--the Indicative, six--the Potential,
two--the Subjunctive, six, and the Imperative, one."--_Frazee's Gram._,
Ster. Ed., p. 39; 1st Ed., 37. "Now notice the following sentences. John
runs,--boys run--thou runnest."--_Ib._, Ster. Ed., p. 50; 1st Ed., p. 48.

"The Pronoun sometimes stands for a name--sometimes for an adjective--a
sentence--a part of a sentence--and, sometimes for a whole series of
propositions."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, 1st Ed., 12mo, p. 321.

   "The self-applauding bird, the peacock, see--
    Mark what a sumptuous pharisee is he!"--_Cowper_, i, 49.



SECTION VI.--THE EROTEME.

The Eroteme, or Note of Interrogation, is used to designate a question.


RULE I.--QUESTIONS DIRECT.

Questions expressed directly as such, if finished, should always be
followed by the note of interrogation; as, "Was it possible that virtue so
exalted should be erected upon injustice? that the proudest and the most
ambitious of mankind should be the great master and accomplished pattern of
humility? that a doctrine so pure as the Gospel should be the work of an
uncommissioned pretender? that so perfect a system of morals should be
established on blasphemy?"--_Jerningham's Essay_, p. 81.

   "In life, can love be bought with gold?
    Are friendship's pleasures to be sold?"--_Johnson_.


RULE II.--QUESTIONS UNITED.

When two or more questions are united in one compound sentence, the comma,
semicolon, or dash, is sometimes used to separate them, and the eroteme
occurs after the last only; as, 1. "When--under what administration--under
what exigencies of war or peace--did the Senate ever before deal with such
a measure in such a manner? Never, sir, never."--_D. Webster, in Congress_,
1846.

    2. "Canst thou, and honour'd with a Christian name,
       Buy what is woman-born, and feel no shame;
       Trade in the blood of innocence, and plead
       Expedience as a warrant for the deed?"--_Cowper_.

    3. "Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land?
       All fear, none aid you, and few understand."--_Pope_.


RULE III.--QUESTIONS INDIRECT.

When a question is mentioned, but not put directly as a question, it loses
both the quality and the sign of interrogation; as, "The Cyprians asked me
_why I wept_."--_Murray_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The value of the eroteme as a sign of pause, is stated very
differently by different grammarians; while many of the vast multitude, by
a strange oversight, say nothing about it. It is unquestionably _variable_,
like that of the dash, or of the ecphoneme. W. H. Wells says, "The comma
requires a momentary pause; the semicolon, a pause somewhat longer than the
comma; the colon, a pause somewhat longer than the semicolon; and the
period, a full stop. The note of interrogation, or the note of exclamation,
_may take the place of_ EITHER _of these_, and accordingly requires a pause
of the same length as the point for which it is substituted."--_Wells's
School Gram._, p. 175. This appears to be accurate in idea, though perhaps
hardly so in language. Lindley Murray has stated it thus: "The
interrogation and exclamation points are _intermediate_ as to their
quantity or time, and may be equivalent in that respect to a semicolon, a
colon, or a period, as the sense may require."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 280. But
Sanborn, in regard to his "_Question Point_," awkwardly says: "_This pause_
is generally _some longer_ than that of a period."--_Analytical Gram._, p.
271. Buchanan, as long ago as 1767, taught as follows: "The Pause after the
two Points of Interrogation and Admiration ought to be equal to that of the
Period, or a Colon at least."--_English Syntax_, p. 160. And J. S. Hart
avers, that, "A question is reckoned as equal to a complete sentence, and
the mark of interrogation as equal to a period."--_Hart's English Gram._,
p. 166. He says also, that, "the first word after a note of interrogation
should begin with a capital."--_Ib._, p. 162. In some instances, however,
he, like others, has not adhered to these exceptionable principles, as may
be seen by the false grammar cited below.

OBS. 2.--Sometimes a series of questions may be severally complete in
sense, so that each may require the interrogative sign, though some or all
of them may be so united in construction, as not to admit either a long
intermediate pause or an initial capital; as, "Is there no honor in
generosity? nor in preferring the lessons of conscience to the impulses of
passion? nor in maintaining the supremacy of moral principle, and in paying
reverence to Christian truth?"--_Gannett_. "True honour is manifested in a
steady, uniform train of actions, attended by justice, and directed by
prudence. Is this the conduct of the duellist? will justice support him in
robbing the community of an able and useful member? and in depriving the
poor of a benefactor? will it support him in preparing affliction for the
widow's heart? in filling the orphan's eyes with tears?"--_Jerningham's
Essay_, p. 113. But, in this latter example, perhaps, commas might be
substituted for the second and fourth erotemes; and the word _will_ might,
in both instances, begin with a capital.

OBS. 3.--When a question is mentioned in its due form, it commonly retains
the sign of interrogation, though not actually asked by the writer; and,
except perhaps when it consists of some little interrogative word or
phrase, requires the initial capital: as, "To know when this point ought to
be used, do not say:[,] 'Is a question asked?' but, 'Does the sentence ask
a question?'"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 368. "They put their huge
inarticulate question, 'What do you mean to do with us?' in a manner
audible to every reflective soul in the kingdom."--_Carlyle's Past and
Present_, p. 16. "An adverb may be generally known, by its answering to the
question, How? how much? when? or where? as, in the phrase, 'He reads
_correctly_,' the answer to the question, How does he read? is
_correctly_."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 28. This passage, which, without
ever arriving at great accuracy, has been altered by Murray and others in
ways innumerable, is everywhere exhibited with five interrogation points.
But, as to capitals and commas, as well as the construction of words, it
would seem no easy matter to determine what impression of it is nearest
right. In Flint's Murray it stands thus: "An adverb may generally be known
by its answering the question, How? How much? When? or Where? As in the
phrase, 'He reads _correctly_. The answer to the question, 'How does he
read?' is, '_correctly_.'" Such questions, when the pause is slight, do
not, however, in all cases, require capitals: as,

   "_Rosal_. Which of the visors was it, that you wore?
    _Biron_. Where? when? what visor? why demand you this?"
                     _Shakspeare, Love's Labour Lost_, Act V, Sc. 2.

OBS. 4.--A question is sometimes put in the form of a mere declaration; its
interrogative character depending solely on the eroteme, and the tone, or
inflection of voice, adopted in the utterance: as, "I suppose, Sir, you are
his apothecary?"--SWIFT: _Burgh's Speaker_, p. 85. "I hope, you have, upon
no account, promoted sternutation by hellebore?"--_Id., ib._ "This priest
has no pride in him?"--SINGER'S SHAK., _Henry_ VIII, ii, 2.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE EROTEME.

UNDER RULE I.--QUESTIONS DIRECT.

"When will his ear delight in the sound of arms."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._,
12mo, p. 59.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because here is a finished question with a period
set after it. But, according to Rule 1st for the Eroteme, "Questions
expressed directly as such, if finished, should always be followed by the
note of interrogation." Therefore, the eroteme, or note of interrogation,
should here be substituted for the period.]

"When shall I, like Oscar, travel in the light of my steel."--_Ib._, p. 59.
"Will Henry call on me while he shall be journeying South."--_Peirce, ib._,
p. 133.

"An Interrogative Pronoun is one that is used in asking a question; as,
'_who_ is he, and _what_ does he want?'"--_Day's School Gram._, p. 21.
"_Who_ is generally used when we would inquire for some unknown person or
persons; as, _who_ is that man."--_Ib._, p. 24. "Our fathers, where are
they, and the prophets, do they live forever?"--_Ib._, p. 109.

"It is true, that some of our best writers have used _than whom_; but it is
also true, that they have used _other_ phrases which we have rejected as
ungrammatical: then why not reject this too.--The sentences in the
Exercises [with _than who_] are correct as they stand."--_Lennie's Gram._,
5th Ed., 1819, p. 79.

"When the perfect participle of an active-intransitive verb is annexed to
the neuter verb _to be_? What does the combination form?"--_Hallock's
Gram._, p. 88. "Those adverbs which answer to the question _where, whither_
or _whence_, are called adverbs of _place_."--_Ib._, p. 116.

"Canst thou, by searching, find out God; Canst thou find out the Almighty
to perfection; It is high as heaven, what canst thou do? deeper than hell,
what canst thou know?"--_Blair's Rhet._ p. 132.

   "Where, where, for shelter shall the guilty fly,
    When consternation turns the good man pale."--_Ib._, p. 222.


UNDER RULE II.--QUESTIONS UNITED.

"Who knows what resources are in store? and what the power of God may do
for thee?"

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because an eroteme is set after _store_, where a
comma would be sufficient. But, according to Rule 2d for the Eroteme, "When
two or more questions are united in one compound sentence, the comma,
semicolon, or dash, is sometimes used to separate them, and the eroteme
occurs after the last only." Therefore, the comma should here be preferred,
as the author probably wrote the text. See _Key_.]

"The Lord is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he
should repent. Hath he said it? and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken it?
and shall he not make it good?"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 353; 12mo, 277;
_Hiley's_, 139; _Hart's_, 181. "_Hath the Lord said it? and shall he not do
it? Hath he spoken it? and shall he not make it good_?"--_Lennie's Gram._,
p. 113; _Bullions's_, 176.

   "Who calls the council, states the certain day?
    Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way."
        --_Brit. Poets_, vi, 376.


UNDER RULE III.--QUESTIONS INDIRECT.

"To be, or not to be?--that is the question."--_Enfield's Sp._, p. 367;
_Kirkham's Eloc._, 123.[466]

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the note of interrogation is here set after
an expression which has neither the form nor the nature of a direct
question. But, according to Rule 3d for the Eroteme, "When a question is
mentioned, but not put directly as a question, it loses both the quality
and the sign of interrogation." Therefore, the semicolon, which seems
adapted to the pause, should here be preferred.]

"If it be asked, why a pause should any more be necessary to emphasis than
to an accent? or why an emphasis alone, will not sufficiently distinguish
the members of sentences from each other, without pauses, as accent does
words? the answer is obvious; that we are pre-acquainted with the sound of
words, and cannot mistake them when distinctly pronounced, however rapidly;
but we are not pre-acquainted with the meaning of sentences, which must be
pointed out to us by the reader or speaker."--_Sheridan's Rhet. Gram._, p.
lvi.

   "Cry, By your Priesthood tell me what you are?"
          --POPE: _British Poets_, London, 1800, Vol. vi, p. 411.


MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"Who else can he be. Where else can he go."--_S. Barrett's Gram._, 1845, p.
71. "In familiar language _here, there_ and _where_ are used for _hither,
thither_ and _whither_."--_N. Butler's Gram._, p. 183. "Take, for instance,
this sentence, 'Indolence undermines the foundation of virtue.'"--_Hart's
Gram._, p. 106. "Take, for instance, the sentence before quoted.
'_Indolence_ undermines the foundation of virtue.'"--_Ib._, p. 110. "Under
the same head are considered such sentences as these, '_he_ that heareth,
let him hear,' 'Gad, a troop shall overcome him,' &c."--_Ib._, p. 108.

"TENSES are certain modifications of the verb which point out the
distinctions of time."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 38; _Pract. Les._, p. 44.
"Calm was the day and the scene delightful."--_Id. E. Gr._, p. 80. "The
capital letters used by the Romans to denote numbers, were C. I. L. V. X.
which are therefore called Numeral Letters. I, denotes _one_; V, _five_: X,
_ten_; L, _fifty_; and C, a hundred."--_Id., Lat. Gram._, p. 56. "'I shall
have written;' viz, at or before some future time or event."--_Id., ib._,
p. 89. "In Latin words the liquids are _l_ and _r_ only. In Greek words _l,
r, m, n_."--_Id., ib._, p. 277. "Each legion was divided into ten cohorts,
each cohort into three maniples, and each maniple into two
centuries."--_Id., ib._, p. 300. "Of the Roman literature previous to A. U.
514 scarcely a vestige remains."--_Id., ib._, p. 312.

   "And that, which He delights in must be happy.
    But when!--or where!--This world was made for Cæsar."
        --_Burgh's Sp._, p. 122.

    "And that which he delights in must be happy.
    But when, or where? This world was made for Cæsar."
        --_Enfield's Sp._, p. 321.

    "Look next on greatness. Say, where greatness lies?
    Where but among the heroes and the wise."
        --_Burgh's Sp._, p. 91.

    "Look next on greatness! say where greatness lies.
    Where, but among the heroes and the wise?"
        --_Essay on Man_, p. 51.

    "Look next on Greatness; say where Greatness lies:
    Where, but among the Heroes and the Wise?"
        --_Brit. Poets_, vi, 380.


SECTION VII--THE ECPHONEME.

The Ecphoneme, or Note of Exclamation, is used to denote a pause with some
strong emotion of admiration, joy, grief, or other feeling; and, as a sign
of great wonder, it is sometimes, though not very elegantly, repeated: as,
"Grammatical consistency!!! What a gem!"--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 352.


RULE I.--INTERJECTIONS, &c.

Emphatic interjections, and other expressions of great emotion, are
generally followed by the note of exclamation; as, "Hold! hold! Is the
devil in you? Oh! I am bruised all over."--MOLIERE: _Burgh's Speaker_, p.
250.

   "And O! till earth, and seas, and heav'n decay,
    Ne'er may that fair creation fade away!"--_Dr. Lowth_.


RULE II.--INVOCATIONS.

After an earnest address or solemn invocation, the note of exclamation is
now generally preferred to any other point; as, "Whereupon, O king Agrippa!
I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision."--_Acts_, xxvi, 19.

   "Be witness thou, immortal Lord of all!
    Whose thunder shakes the dark aërial hall."--_Pope_.


RULE III.--EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS.

Words uttered with vehemence in the form of a question, but without
reference to an answer, should be followed by the note of exclamation; as,
"How madly have I talked!"--_Young_.

   "An Author! 'Tis a venerable name!
    How few deserve it, and what numbers claim!"
        --_Id., Br. Po._, viii, 401.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE ECPHONEME.

UNDER RULE I.--OF INTERJECTIONS, &c.

(1.) "O that he were wise."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 111.

[FORMULE. Not proper, because this strong wish, introduced by "O," is
merely marked with a period. But, according to Rule 1st for the Ecphoneme,
"Emphatic interjections, and other expressions of great emotion, are
generally followed by the note of exclamation." Therefore, the pause after
this sentence, should be marked with the latter sign; and, if the "O" be
read with a pause, the same sign may be there also.]

(2.) "O that his heart was tender."--_Exercises, ib._, p. 111. (3.) "_Oh_,
what a sight is here!"--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 48. (4.) "Oh! what a sight is
here."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 71; (Obs. 2;) _Pract. Les._, p. 83. (5.)
"O virtue! How amiable thou art."--_Id._,, p. 71; _Pract. Les._, p. 82.
(6.) "O _virtue_! how amiable thou art."--_Day's Gram._, p. 109. (7.) "O,
virtue! how amiable thou art."--_S. Putnam's Gram._, p. 53. (8.) "_Oh!_
virtue, how amiable thou art!"--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 191; _O. B.
Peirce's_, 375. (9.) "_O_ virtue! how amiable thou art!"--_Hallock's
Gram._, p. 126. (10.) "Oh! that I had been more diligent."--_Hart's Gram._,
p. 167; see _Hiley's_, 117. (11.) "O! the humiliation to which vice reduces
us."--_Farnum's Gram._, p. 12; _Murray's Ex._, p. 5. (12.) "O! that he were
more prudent."--_Farnum's Gram._, p. 81. (13.) "Ah! me."--_P. Davis's
Gram._, p. 79. (14.) "Ah me!"--_Ib._, p. 122. (15.) "Lately alas I knew a
gentle boy," _&c.--The Dial_, Vol. i, p. 71.

    (16.) "Wo is me Alhama."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 190.

    (17.) "Wo is me, Alhama."--_Ibid._, "113th Thousand," p. 206.


UNDER RULE II.--OF INVOCATIONS.

"Weep on the rocks of roaring winds, O _maid_ of Inistore."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 131; _Cooper's Plain and Practical Gram._, p. 158.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because the emphatic address in this sentence, is
marked with a period after it. But, according to Rule 2d for the Ecphoneme,
"After an earnest address or solemn invocation, the note of exclamation is
now generally preferred to any other point." Therefore, this period should
be changed to the latter sign.]

"Cease a little while, O wind; stream, be thou silent a while; let my voice
be heard around. Let my wanderer hear me. Salgar, it is Colma who calls.
Here is the tree, and the rock. Salgar, my love, I am here. Why delayest
thou thy coming? Lo, the calm moon comes forth. The flood is bright in the
vale."--See _Key_.

   "Ah, stay not, stay not, guardless and alone;
    Hector, my lov'd, my dearest, bravest son."--See _Key_.


UNDER RULE III.--EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS.

"How much better is wisdom than gold."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 153;
_Hiley_, p. 113.

[FORMULE--Not proper, because this exclamatory sentence is pointed with a
period at the end. But, according to Rule 3d for the Ecphoneme, "Words
uttered with vehemence in the form of a question, but without reference to
an answer, should be followed by the note of exclamation." Therefore, this
period should be changed to the latter sign.]

"O virtue! how amiable art thou."--_Flint's Murray_, p. 51. "At that hour,
O how vain was all sublunary happiness."--_Day's Gram._, p. 74. "Alas! how
few and transitory are the joys which this world affords to man."--_Ib._,
p. 12. "Oh! how vain and transitory are all things here below."--_Ib._, p.
110.

   "And oh! what change of state, what change of rank,
    In that assembly everywhere was seen."--_Day's Gram._, p. 12.

    "And O! what change of state! what change of rank!
    In that assembly every where was seen!"--_Pollok_, B. ix, l. 781.


MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"O shame! where is thy blush."--_S. Barren's Principles of Language_, p.
86. "O _shame_, where is thy blush; _John_, give me my hat."--_Ib._, p. 98.
"What! is Moscow in flames."--_Ib._, p. 86. "Ah! what happiness awaits the
virtuous."--_Ib._, 86.

"Ah, welladay,--do what we can for him, said Trim, maintaining his
point,--the poor soul will die."--STERNE: _Enfield's Speaker_, p. 306. "A
well o'day! do what we _can_ for him, said Trim, maintaining his point: the
poor soul will _die_"--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 340.

"Will John _return_ to-morrow."--_S. Barrett's Gram._, Tenth Ed., p. 55.
"_Will not_ John _return_ to-morrow."--_Ib._, 55. "John! _return_
to-morrow; Soldiers! _stand_ firm."--_Ib._, 55. "If _mea_ which means _my_
is an adjective in _Latin_, why may not _my_ be so called _in_ English, and
if _my_ is an adjective, why not _Barrett's_"--_Ib._, p. 50.

"Oh? Absalom, my son."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 375. "Oh! STAR-EYED
SCIENCE!! whither hast thou fled?"--_Ib._, p. 366. "Why do you tolerate
your own inconsistency, by calling it the present tense!"--_Ib._, p. 360.
"Thus the declarative mode may be used in asking a question; as, _what_ man
_is_ frail."--_Ib._, p. 358. "What connexion has motive wish, or
supposition, with the term subjunctive!"--_Ib._, p. 348. "A grand reason,
truly! for calling it a golden key."--_Ib._, p. 347. "What '_suffering_'!
the man who can say this, must be '_enduring._'"--_Ib._, p. 345. "What is
Brown's Rule! in relation to this matter?"--_Ib._, p. 334.

"_Alas!_ how short is life." "_Thomas_, study your book."--_Day's District
School Gram._, p. 109. "As, '_alas!_' how short is life; _Thomas_, study
your book.'"--_Ib._, p. 82. "Who can tell us who they are."--_Sanborn's
Gram._, p. 178. "Lord have mercy on my son; for he is a lunatic,
etc."--_Felton's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 138; Ster. Ed., 140. "O, ye wild
groves, O, where is now your bloom!"--_Ib._, p. 88; Ster. Ed., 91.

   "O who of man the story will unfold!"
        --_Farnum's Gr._, 2d Ed., p. 104.

    "Methought I heard Horatio say to-morrow.
    Go to I will not hear of it--to-morrow."
        --_Hallock's Gr._, 1st Ed., p. 221.

    "How his eyes languish? how his thoughts adore
    That painted coat which Joseph never wore?"
        --_Love of Fame_, p. 66.



SECTION VIII.--THE CURVES.

The Curves, or Marks of Parenthesis, are used to distinguish a clause or
hint that is hastily thrown in between the parts of a sentence to which it
does not properly belong; as, "Their enemies (and enemies they will always
have) would have a handle for exposing their measures."--_Walpole_.

   "To others do (the law is not severe)
    What to thyself thou wishest to be done."--_Beattie_.

OBS.--The incidental clause should be uttered in a lower tone, and faster
than the principal sentence. It always requires a pause as great as that of
a comma, or greater.


RULE I.--THE PARENTHESIS.

A clause that breaks the unity of a sentence or passage too much to be
incorporated with it, and only such, should be inclosed within curves, as a
parenthesis; as, "For I know that in me, (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth
no good thing."--_Rom._, vii, 18.

   "Know then this truth, (enough for man to know,)
    Virtue alone is happiness below."--_Pope_.


RULE II.--INCLUDED POINTS.

The curves do not supersede other stops; and, as the parenthesis terminates
with a pause equal to that which precedes it, the same point should be
included, except when the sentences differ in form: as, 1. "Now for a
recompense in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also
enlarged."--_2 Cor._, vi, 13.

2. "Man's thirst of happiness declares it is:
    (For nature never gravitates to nought:)
    That thirst unquench'd, declares it is not here."--_Young_.

3. "Night visions may befriend: (as sung above:)
    Our waking dreams are fatal. How I dreamt
    Of things impossible! (could sleep do more?)
    Of joys perpetual in perpetual change!"--_Young_.


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE CURVES.

UNDER RULE I.--OF THE PARENTHESIS.

"Another is composed of the indefinite article _an_, which, etymologically
means _one_ and _other_, and denotes _one other_."--_Hallock's Gram._, p.
63.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the parenthetic expression, "which
etymologically means _one_," is not sufficiently separated from the rest of
the passage. But, according to Rule 1st for the Curves, "A clause that
breaks the unity of a sentence or passage too much to be incorporated with
it, and only such, should be enclosed within curves, as a parenthesis."
Therefore, the curves should be here inserted; and also, by Rule 2d, a
comma at the word _one_.]

"Each mood has its peculiar Tense, Tenses (or Times)."--_Bucke's Gram._, p.
58.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the expression, "or Times," which has not
the nature of a parenthesis, is here marked with curves. But, according to
Rule 1st for the Curves, "A clause that breaks the unity of a sentence or
passage too much to be incorporated with it, _and only such_, should be
enclosed within curves, as a parenthesis." Therefore, these marks should be
omitted; and a comma should be set after the word "_Tenses_," by Rule 3d.]

"In some very ancient languages, as the Hebrew, which have been employed
chiefly for expressing plain sentiments in the plainest manner, without
aiming at any elaborate length or harmony of periods, this pronoun [the
relative] occurs not so often."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 127.

"Before I shall say those Things, (O conscript Fathers) about the Public
Affairs, which are to be spoken at this Time; I shall lay before you, in
few Words, the Motives of the Journey, and the Return."--_Brightland's
Gram._, p. 149.

   "Of well-chose Words some take not care enough.
    And think they should be (like the Subject) rough."
        --_Ib._, p. 173.

    "Then having shewed his wounds, _he'd_ sit (him) down."
        --_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 32.


UNDER RULE II.--OF INCLUDED POINTS.

"Then Jael smote the Nail into his Temples, and fastened it to the Ground:
(for he was fast asleep and weary) so he died. OLD TEST."--_Ward's Gram._,
p. 17.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because this parenthesis is not marked as
terminating with a pause equal to that which precedes it. But, according to
Rule 2d above, "The curves do not supersede other stops; and, as the
parenthesis terminates with a pause equal to that which precedes it, the
same point should be included, except when the sentences differ in form."
Therefore, a colon should be inserted within the curve after _weary_.]

"Every thing in the Iliad has manners (as Aristotle expresses it) that is,
every thing is acted or spoken."--_Pope, Pref. to Homer_, p. vi.

"Those nouns, that end in _f._ or _fe_ (except some few I shall mention
presently), form plurals by changing those letters into _ves_: as, thief,
_thieves_; wife, _wives_."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 35.

"_As_, requires _as_; (expressing equality) Mine is as good as yours.
_As_,--so; (expressing equality) As the stars, so shall thy seed be.
_So,--as_; (with a negative expressing inequality) He is not so wise as his
brother. _So.--that_; (expressing consequence) I am so weak that I cannot
walk."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 113; _Pract. Les._, p. 112.

   "A captious question, sir (and yours is one,)
    Deserves an answer similar, or none."--_Cowper_, ii. 228.


MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"Whatever words the verb TO BE serves to unite referring to the same thing,
must be of the same case; §61, as, _Alexander_ is a _student_."--_Bullions,
E. Gram._, p. 75. "When the objective is a relative or interrogative, it
comes before the verb that governs it. §40, R. 9. (Murray's 6th rule is
unnecessary.)"--_Id., ib._, p. 90. "It is generally improper (except in
poetry,) to omit the antecedent to a relative; and always to omit a
relative when of the nominative case."--_Id., ib._, p. 130. "In every
sentence there must be a _verb_ and a _nominative_ (or subject) expressed
or understood."--_Id., ib._, p. 87; _Pract. Lessons_, p. 91. "Nouns and
pronouns, and especially words denoting time, are often governed by
prepositions understood; or are used to restrict verbs or adjectives
without a governing word, §50. Rem. 6 and Rule; as, He gave (to) me a full
account of the whole affair."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 80. "When _should_
is used instead of _ought_, to express _present_ duty, §20, 4, it may be
followed by the present; as, 'You _should_ study that you _may_ become
learned.'"--_Id., ib._, p. 123. "The indicative present is frequently used
after the words, _when, till, before, as soon as, after_, to express the
relative time of a future action; (§24, I, 4,) as, 'When he _comes_, he
will be welcome.'"--_Id., ib._, p. 124. "The relative is parsed by stating
its gender, number, case, and antecedent, (the gender and number being
always the same as those of the antecedent) thus, 'The boy who.' '_Who_' is
a relative pronoun, masculine, singular, the nominative, and refers to
'_boy_' as its antecedent."--_Bullions, Pract. Les._, p. 31.

   "Now, now, I seize, I clasp _thy_ charms,
    And now _you_ burst; ah! cruel from my arms."

Here is an unnecessary change from the second person singular to the second
plural. It would have been better thus,

   "Now, now I seize, I clasp _your_ charms,
    And now _you_ burst; ah! cruel from my arms."
        --_J. Burn's Gram._, p. 193.



SECTION IX.--THE OTHER MARKS.

There are also several other marks, which are occasionally used for various
purposes, as follow:--

I. ['] The APOSTROPHE usually denotes either the possessive case of a noun,
or the elision of one or more letters of a word: as, "The _girl's_ regard
to her _parents'_ advice;"--_'gan, lov'd, e'en, thro'_; for _began, loved,
even, through_. It is sometimes used in pluralizing a mere letter or sign;
as, Two _a's_--three _6's_.[467]

II. [-] The HYPHEN connects the parts of many compound words, especially
such as have two accents; as, _ever-living_. It is also frequently inserted
where a word is divided into syllables; as, _con-tem-plate_. Placed at the
end of a line, it shows that one or more syllables of a word are can led
forward to the next line.

III. ["] The DIÆRESIS, or DIALYSIS, placed over either of two contiguous
vowels, shows that they are not a diphthong; as, _Danäe, aërial_.

IV. ['] The ACUTE ACCENT marks the syllable which requires the principal
stress in pronunciation; as, _e'qual, equal'ity_. It is sometimes used in
opposition to the grave accent, to distinguish a close or short vowel; as,
"_Fáncy_:" (_Murray_:) or to denote the rising inflection of the voice; as,
"Is it _hé?_"

V. [`] The GRAVE ACCENT is used in opposition to the acute, to distinguish
an open or long vowel; as, "_Fàvour_:" (_Murray_:) or to denote the falling
inflection of the voice; as, "_Yès_; it is _hè_" It is sometimes placed
over a vowel to show that it is not to be suppressed in pronunciation; as,

   "Let me, though in humble speech,
    Thy refinèd maxims teach."--_Amer. Review_, May, 1848.

VI. [^] The CIRCUMFLEX generally denotes either the broad sound of _a_ or
an unusual sound given to some other vowel; as in _âll, hêir, machîne_.
Some use it to mark a peculiar _wave_ of the voice, and when occasion
requires, reverse it; as, "If you said _s=o_, then I said _sô_."

VII. [[~]] The BREVE, or STENOTONE, is used to denote either the close,
short, _shut_ sound of a vowel, or a syllable of short quantity; as,
_l~ive_, to have life,--_r~av'en_, to devour,[468]--_c~al~am~us_, a reed.

VIII. [=] The MACRON, or MACROTONE,[469] is used to denote either the open,
long, _primal_ sound of a vowel, or a syllable of long quantity; as,
_l=ive_, having life,--_r=a'ven_, a bird,--_=e'qu=ine_, of a horse.

IX. [----] or [* * * *] or [....] The ELLIPSIS, or SUPPRESSION, denotes the
omission of some letters or words: as, _K--g_, for _King; c****d_, for
_coward; d....d_, for _damned_.

X. [^] The CARET, used only in writing, shows where to insert words or
letters that have been accidentally omitted.  XI [{}] The BRACE serves to
unite a triplet; or, more frequently, to connect several terms with
something to which they are all related.  XII. [§] The SECTION marks the
smaller divisions of a book or chapter; and, with the help of numbers,
serves to abridge references.

XIII. [¶] The PARAGRAPH (chiefly used in the Bible) denotes the
commencement of a new subject. The parts of discourse which are called
paragraphs, are, in general, sufficiently distinguished by beginning a new
line, and carrying the first word a little forwards or backwards. The
paragraphs of books being in some instances numbered, this character may
occasionally be used, in lieu of the word _paragraph_, to shorten
references.

XIV. [""] The GUILLEMETS, or QUOTATION POINTS, distinguish words that are
exhibited as those of an other author or speaker. A quotation within a
quotation, is usually marked with single points; which, when both are
employed, are placed within the others: as, "And again he saith, 'Rejoice,
ye Gentiles, with his people.'"--_Rom._, xv, 10.

XV. [[]] The CROTCHETS, or BRACKETS, generally inclose some correction or
explanation, but sometimes the sign or subject to be explained; as, "He
[Mr. Maurice] was of a different opinion."--_Allen's Gram._, p. 213.

XVI. [Fist] The INDEX, or HAND, points out something remarkable, or what
the reader should particularly observe.

XVII. [*] The ASTERISK, or STAR, [Dagger] the OBELISK, or DAGGER, [Double
dagger] the DIESIS, or DOUBLE DAGGER, and [||] the PARALLELS, refer to
marginal notes. The SECTION also [§], and the PARAGRAPH [¶], are often used
for marks of reference, the former being usually applied to the fourth, and
the latter to the sixth note on a page; for, by the usage of printers,
these signs are commonly introduced in the following order: 1, *; 2,
[Dagger]; 3, [Double dagger]; 4, §; 5, ||; 6, ¶; 7, **; 8,
[Dagger][Dagger]; &c. Where many references are to be made, the _small
letters_ of the alphabet, or the _numerical figures_, in their order, may
be conveniently used for the same purpose.

XVIII. [[Asterism]] The ASTERISM, or THREE STARS, a sign not very often
used, is placed before a long or general note, to mark it as a note,
without giving it a particular reference.

XIX. [,] The CEDILLA is a mark borrowed from the French, by whom it is
placed under the letter _c_, to give it the sound of _s_, before _a_ or
_o_; as in the words, "façade," "Alençon." In Worcester's Dictionary, it is
attached to three other letters, to denote their soft sounds: viz., "[,G]
as J; [,S] as Z; [,x] as gz."

[Fist][Oral exercises in punctuation should not be confined to the
correction of errors. An application of its principles to points rightly
inserted, is as easy a process as that of ordinary syntactical parsing, and
perhaps as useful. For this purpose, the teacher may select a portion of
this grammar, or of any well-pointed book, to which the foregoing rules
and explanations may be applied by the pupil, as reasons for the points
that occur.]


IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"The principal stops are the following:--

The Comma (,) the semicolon (;) the colon (:) the period, or fall stop (.)
the note of interrogation (?) the note of exclamation (!) the parenthesis
() and the dash (--) [.]"--_Bullions, E. Gram., p. 151; Pract. Les._, p.
127. "The modern punctuation in Latin is the same as in English. The marks
employed, are the _Comma_ (,); _Semicolon_ (;); _Colon_ (:); _Period_ (.);
_Interrogation_ (?); _Exclamation_ (!)."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, p. 3.

"Plato reproving a young man for playing at some childish game; you chide
me, says the youth, for a trifling fault. Custom, replied the philosopher,
is no trifle. And, adds Montagnie, he was in the right; for our vices begin
in infancy."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, (N. Y. 1818,) p. 54.

"A merchant at sea asked the skipper what death his father died? 'My
father,' says the skipper, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, were
all drowned. 'Well,' replies the merchant, and are not you afraid of being
drowned too?'"--_Ib._, p. 135.

"The use of inverted comma's derives from France, where one Guillemet was
the author of them; [and] as an acknowledgement for the improvement his
countrymen call them after his name GUILLEMETS."--_History of Printing_,
(London, 1770,) p. 266.

"This, however, is seldem [sic--KTH] if ever done unless the word following
the possessive begins with _s_; thus we do not say, 'the prince' feather,'
but, 'the prince's feather.'"--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 17. "And this
phrase must mean _the feather of the prince_ but _princesfeather_ written
as one word is the name of a plant: a species of amaranth."--See _Key_.

"Böëthius soon had the satisfaction of obtaining the highest honour his
country could bestow."--_Ingersoll's Gram._ 12mo., p. 279. "Boethius soon
had," &c.--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. ii., p. 83.

"When an example, a quotation, or a speech is introduced, it is separated
from the rest of the sentence either by a semicolon or a colon; as, 'The
scriptures give us an amiable representation of the Deity, in these words;
_God is love._'"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 116. "Either the colon or semicolon
may be used when an example, a quotation, or a speech is introduced; as,
'Always remember this ancient maxim; _Know thyself._' 'The scriptures give
us an amiable representation of the Deity, in these words: _God is
love._'"--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 155.

"The first word of a quotation, introduced after a colon [, must begin with
a capital]; as, always remember this ancient maxim: '_Know_ thyself.'"--
_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 159; _Lennie's Gram._, p. 106. [Lennie has
_"Always"_ with a capital.] "The first word of a quotation, introduced
after a colon, or _when it is_ in a direct form: as, 'Always remember this
ancient maxim: _Know thyself_.' 'Our great lawgiver says, Take up thy cross
daily, and follow me.'"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 284. "8. The first word
of a quotation, _introduced after a colon_, or _when it is_ in a direct
form. EXAMPLES.--'Always remember this ancient maxim, 'Know thyself.' 'Our
great Lawgiver says, Take up thy cross daily, and follow me.'"--_Weld's
Gram., Abridged._, p. 17

"Tell me in whose house do you live."--_N. Butler's Gram._, p. 55. "He,
that acts wisely, deserves praise."--_Ib._, p. 50 "He, who steals my purse,
steals trash."--_Ib._, p. 51. "The antecedent is sometimes omitted, as,
'Who steals my purse, steals trash;' that is, _he_ who, or _person_
who."--_Ib._, p. 51. "Thus, 'Whoever steals my purse steals trash;'
'Whoever does no good does harm.'"--_Ib._, p. 53 "Thus, 'Whoever sins will
suffer.' This means that any one without exception who sins will
suffer."--_Ib._, p. 53.

"Letters form syllables, syllables words, words sentences, and sentences,
combined and connected form discourse."--_Cooper's Plain and Practical
Gram._, p. 1. "A letter which forms a perfect sound, when uttered by
itself, is called a vowel, as: _a, e, i_."--_Ib._, p. 1. "A proper noun is
the name of an individual, as: John; Boston: Hudson; America."--_Ib._, p.
17.

"Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing,
but very few a generous thing."--_P. Davis's Gram._, p. 96. "In the place
of an ellipsis of the verb a comma must be inserted."--_Ib._, p. 121. "A
common noun unlimited by an article is sometimes understood in its broadest
acceptation: thus, '_Fishes_ swim' is understood to mean _all_ fishes.
'_Man_ is mortal,' _all_ men."--_Ib._, p. 13.

"Thus those sounds formed principally by the throat are called _gutturals_.
Those formed principally by the palate are called _palatals_. Those formed
by the teeth, _dentals_--those by the lips, _labials_--those by the nose,
_nasals_, &c."--_P. Davis's Gram._, p. 113.

"Some adjectives are compared irregularly; as, _Good, better, best. Bad,
worse, worst. Little, less, least._"--_Felton's Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 63;
Ster. Ed., p. 66.

"Under the fourth head of grammar, therefore, four topics will be
considered, viz. PUNCTUATION, ORTHOEPY, FIGURES, and VERSIFICATION."--
_Hart's Gram._, p. 161.

   "Direct her onward to that peaceful shore,
    Where peril, pain and death are felt no more!"
    _Falconer's Poems_, p. 136; _Barrett's New Gram._, p. 94


BAD ENGLISH BADLY POINTED.

LESSON I.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"Discoveries of such a character are sometimes made in grammar also, and
such, too, is often their origin and their end."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p.
191.

"_Traverse_, (to cross.) To deny what the opposite party has alleged. To
traverse an indictment, &c. is to deny it."--_Id., ib._, p. 216.

"The _Ordinal_ [numerals] denote the _order_ or _succession_ in which any
number of persons or things is mentioned, as _first, second, third,
fourth_, &c."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 22.

"Nouns have three persons, FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD. The First person is
the speaker, the Second is the one spoken to, the Third is the one spoken
of."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 44.

"Nouns have three cases, NOMINATIVE, POSSESSIVE, and OBJECTIVE. The
relation indicated by the case of a noun includes three ideas, viz: those
of _subject, object_, and _ownership_."--_Ib._, p. 45.

"In speaking of animals that are of inferior size, or whose sex is not
known or not regarded, they are often considered as without sex: thus, we
say of a _cat 'it_ is treacherous,' of an infant '_it_ is beautiful,' of a
_deer 'it_ was killed.'"--_Ib._, p. 39.

"When _this_ or _these, that_ or _those_, refers to a preceding sentence;
_this_, or _these_, refers to the latter member or term; _that_, or
_those_, to the former."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 136; see _Lowth's Gram._,
p. 102.

"The rearing of them [i. e. of plants] became his first care, their fruit
his first food, and marking their kinds his first knowledge."--_N. Butler's
Gram._, p. 44.

"After the period used with abbreviations we should employ other points, if
the construction demands it; thus, after Esq. in the last example, there
should be, besides a period, a comma."--_Ib._, p. 212.

"In the plural, the verb is the same in all the persons; and hence the
principle in _Rem._ 5, under Rule iii. [that the first or second person
takes precedence,] is not applicable to verbs."--_Ib._, p. 158.

"Rex and Tyrannus are of very different characters. The one rules his
people by laws to which they consent; the other, by his absolute will and
power: _that_ is called freedom, this, _tyranny_."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p.
190.

"A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, which can be known, or
mentioned, as: George; London; America; goodness; charity."--_Cooper's
Plain and Pract. Gram._, p. 17.

"Etymology treats of the classification of words; their various
modifications and derivations."--_Day's School Gram._, p. 9. "To punctuate
correctly implies a thorough acquaintance with the meaning of words and
phrases, as well as of all their corresponding connexions"--_W. Day's
Punctuation_, p. 31.

"All objects which belong to neither the male nor female kind are called
neuter."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 57. "All objects, which belong to
neither the male nor female kind, are said to be of the neuter
gender."--_Weld's Gram., Abridged_, p. 51.

"The Analysis of the Sounds in the English language presented in the
preceding statements are sufficiently exact for the purpose in hand. Those
who wish to pursue it further can consult Dr. Rush's admirable work, 'The
Philosophy of the Human Voice.'"--_Fowlers E. Gram._, 1850, §65. "Nobody
confounds the name of _w_ or _y_ with their sound or phonetic
import."--_Ib._, §74.

   "Order is Heaven's first law; and this confest,
    Some are and must be, greater than the rest."--_Ib._, p. 96.


LESSON II.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"In adjectives of one syllable, the Comparative is formed by adding _-er_
to the positive; and the Superlative by adding _-est_; as, _sweet, sweeter,
sweetest_."--_Bullions, Prin. of E. Gram._, p. 19.

"In monosyllables the comparative is formed by adding _er_ or _r_ to the
positive, and the superlative by adding _est_ or _st_; as, _tall, taller,
tallest; wise, wiser, wisest_."--_Id., Pract. Les._, p. 24.

"By this method the confusion and unnecessary labor occasioned by studying
grammars in these languages, constructed on different principles is
avoided, the study of one is rendered a profitable introduction to the
study of another, and an opportunity is furnished to the enquiring student
of comparing the languages in their grammatical structure, and seeing at
once wherein they agree, and wherein they differ."--_Bullions, Prin. of E.
Gram._, Pref. to 5th Ed., p. vii.

"No larger portion should be assigned for each recitation than the class
can easily master, and till this is done, a new portion should not be given
out."--_Id., ib._, p. viii. "The acquisitions made in every new lesson
should be rivetted and secured by repeated _revisals_."--_Id., ib._, p.
viii.

"The personal pronouns may be parsed briefly thus; _I_, the first personal
pronoun, masculine (or feminine), singular, the nominative. _His_, the
third personal pronoun, masculine, singular, the possessive,
&c."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 23: _Pract. Les._, p. 28.

"When the male and female are expressed by distinct terms; as, _shepherd,
shepherdess_, the masculine term has also a general meaning, expressing
both male and female, and is always to be used when the office, occupation,
profession, &c., and not the sex of the individual, is chiefly to be
expressed. The feminine term is used only when the discrimination, of sex
is indispensably necessary. Thus, when it is said 'the Poets of this
country are distinguished by correctness of taste,' the term 'Poet' clearly
includes both male and female writers of poetry."--_Id., E. Gram._, p. 12;
_his Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, 24.

"Nouns and pronouns, connected by conjunctions, must be in the same
cases."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 78. "Verbs, connected by conjunctions,
must be in the same moods and tenses, and, when in the subjunctive present,
they must be in the same form."--_Ib._, p. 112.

"This will habituate him to reflection--exercise his judgment on the
meaning of the author, and without any great effort on his part, impress
indelibly on his memory, the rules which he is required to give. After the
exercises under the rule have been gone through as directed in the note
page 96, they may be read over again in a corrected state the pupil making
an emphasis on the correction made, or they may be presented in writing at
the next recitation."--_Bullions, Prin. of E. Gram._, 2d Ed. Revised and
Cor., p. viii.

   "Man, but for _that_, no action _could_ attend
    And but for _this_, be _thoughtful_ to no end."
        --_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, Pref. p. 5.


LESSON III.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"'Johnson the bookseller and stationer,' indicates that the bookseller and
the stationer are epithets belonging to the same person; 'the bookseller
and the stationer' would indicate that they belong to different
persons."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 127.

"_Past_ is an adjective; _passed_, the past tense or perfect participle of
the verb, and they ought not, as is frequently done, to be confounded with
each other."--_Id., ib._, p. 148.

"Not only the nature of the thoughts and sentiments, but the very selection
and arrangement of the words, gives English poetry a character, which
separates it widely from common prose."--_Id., ib._, p. 178.

"Men of sound, discriminating, and philosophical minds--men prepared for
the work by long study, patient investigation, and extensive acquirements,
have labored for ages to improve and perfect it, and nothing is hazarded in
asserting, that should it be unwisely abandoned, it will be long before
another equal in beauty, stability and usefulness, be produced in its
stead."--_Id., ib._, p. 191.

"The Article _The_, on the other hand, is used to restrict, and is
therefore termed _Definite_. Its proper office is to call the attention to
a particular individual or class, or to any number of such, and is used
with nouns in either the singular or plural number."--_Id., ib._, p. 193.

"Hence also the infinitive mood, a participle, a member of a sentence, or a
proposition, forming together the subject of discourse, or the object of a
verb or preposition, and being the name of an act or circumstance, are in
construction, regarded as nouns, and are usually called 'substantive
phrases;' as '_To play_ is pleasant,' '_His being an expert dancer_ is no
recommendation,' 'Let your motto be _Honesty is the best policy_.'"--_Id.,
ib._, p. 194.

"In accordance with his definition, Murray has divided verbs into three
classes, _Active, Passive_, and _Neuter_, and includes in the first class
_transitive_ verbs only, and in the last all verbs used
intransitively"--_Id., ib._, p. 200.

"Moreover, as the name of the speaker or the person spoken to is seldom
expressed, (the pronouns _I_ and _thou_ being used in its stead,) a noun is
very seldom in the first person, not often in the second, and almost never
in either, unless it be a proper noun, or a common noun
personified."--_Bullions, Pract. Les._, p. 13.

"In using the above exercises it will save much time, which is all
important, if the pupil be taught to say every thing belonging to the nouns
in the fewest words possible, and to say them always in the same order as
above."--_Id., ib._, p. 21.

"In any phrase or sentence the adjectives qualifying a noun may generally
be found by prefixing the phrase 'What kind of,' to the noun in the form of
a question; as, What kind of a horse? What kind of a stone? What kind of a
way? The word containing the answer to the question is an
adjective."--_Id., ib._, p. 22.

"In the following exercise let the pupil first point out the nouns, and
then the adjectives; and tell how he knows them to be so."--_Id., ib._, p.
23.

"In the following sentences point out the improper ellipsis. Show why it is
improper, and correct it."--_Id., ib._, p. 124.

"SINGULAR PRONOUNS.          PLURAL PRONOUNS.

1. I--am being smitten.      1. We--are being smitten.
2. Thou--art being smitten.  2. Ye _or_ you--are being smitten.
3. He--is being smitten.     3. They--are being smitten."

_Wright's Philos. Gram._, p. 98.




CHAPTER II--UTTERANCE.

Utterance Is the art or act of vocal expression. It includes the principles
of articulation, of pronunciation, and of elocution.


SECTION I.--OF ARTICULATION.

Articulation is the forming of words; by the voice, with reference to their
component letters and sounds.


ARTICLE I.--OF THE DEFINITION.

Articulation differs from pronunciation, in having more particular regard
to the elements of words, and in not embracing accent[470]. A recent author
defines it thus: "ARTICULATION is the act of forming, with the organs of
speech, the elements of vocal language."--_Comstock's Elocution_, p. 16.
And again: "A good articulation is the _perfect_ utterance of the elements
of vocal language."--_Ibid._

An other describes it more elaborately thus: "ARTICULATION, in language, is
the forming of the human voice, accompanied by the breath, in some few
consonants, into the simple and compound sounds, called vowels, consonants,
and diphthongs, by the assistance of the organs of speech; and the uniting
of those vowels, consonants, and diphthongs, together, so as to form
syllables and words, and constitute spoken language."--_Bolles's Dict.,
Introd._, p. 7.


ARTICLE II--OF GOOD ARTICULATION.

Correctness in articulation is of such importance, that without it speech
or reading becomes not only inelegant, but often absolutely unintelligible.
The opposite faults are mumbling, muttering, mincing, lisping, slurring,
mouthing, drawling, hesitating, stammering, misreading, and the like.  "A
good articulation consists in giving every letter in a syllable its due
proportion of sound, according to the most approved custom of pronouncing
it; and in making such a distinction between the syllables of which words
are composed, that the ear shall without difficulty acknowledge their
number; and perceive, at once, to which syllable each letter belongs. Where
these points are not observed, the articulation is proportionably
defective."--_Sheridan's Rhetorical Grammar_, p. 50.

Distinctness of articulation depends, primarily, upon the ability to form
the simple elements, or sounds of letters, by the organs of speech, in the
manner which the custom of the language demands; and, in the next place,
upon the avoidance of that precipitancy of utterance, which is greater than
the full and accurate play of the organs will allow. If time be not given
for the full enunciation of any word which we attempt to speak, some of the
syllables will of course be either lost by elision or sounded confusedly.

Just articulation gives even to a feeble voice greater power and reach than
the loudest vociferation can attain without it. It delivers words from the
lips, not mutilated, distorted, or corrupted, but as the acknowledged
sterling currency of thought;--"as beautiful coins newly issued from the
mint, deeply and accurately impressed, perfectly finished, neatly struck by
the proper organs, distinct, sharp, in due succession, and of due
weight."--_Austin's Chironomia_, p. 38.

OBS.--The principles of articulation constitute the chief exercise of all
those who are learning either to speak or to read. So far as they are
specifically taught in this work, they will be found in those sections
which treat of the powers of the letters.



SECTION II.--OF PRONUNCIATION.

Pronunciation, as distinguished from elocution, or delivery, is the
utterance of words taken separately. The correct pronunciation of words, or
that part of grammar which teaches it, is frequently called _Orthoëpy_.

Pronunciation, or orthoëpy, requires a knowledge of the just powers of the
letters in all their combinations; of the distinction of quantity in vowels
and syllables; and of the force and seat of the accent.


ARTICLE I--OF THE POWERS OF LETTERS.

The JUST POWERS of the letters, are those sounds which are given to them by
the best readers. These are to be learned, as reading is learned, partly
from example, and partly from such books as show or aid the pronunciation
of words.

It is to be observed, however, that considerable variety, even in the
powers of the letters, is produced by the character and occasion of what is
uttered. It is noticed by Walker, that, "Some of the vowels, when neither
under the accent, nor closed by a consonant, have a longer or a shorter, an
opener or a closer sound, according to the solemnity or familiarity, the
deliberation or rapidity of our delivery."--_Pronouncing Dict., Preface_,
p. 4. In cursory speech, or in such reading as imitates it, even the best
scholars utter many letters with quicker and obscurer sounds than ought
ever to be given them in solemn discourse. "In public speaking," says
Rippingham, "every word should be uttered, as though it were spoken singly.
The solemnity of an oration justifies and demands such scrupulous
distinctness. That careful pronunciation which would be ridiculously
pedantic in colloquial intercourse, is an essential requisite of good
elocution."--_Art of Public Speaking_, p. xxxvii.


ARTICLE II--OF QUANTITY.

QUANTITY, or TIME in pronunciation, is the measure of sounds or syllables
in regard to their duration; and, by way of distinction, is supposed ever
to determine them to be either _long_ or _short_.[471]

The absolute time in which syllables are uttered, is very variable, and
must be different to suit different subjects, passions, and occasions; but
their relative length or shortness may nevertheless be preserved, and
generally must be, especially in reciting poetry.

Our long syllables are chiefly those which, having sounds naturally capable
of being lengthened at pleasure, are made long by falling under some stress
either of accent or of emphasis. Our short syllables are the weaker sounds,
which, being the less significant words, or parts of words, are uttered
without peculiar stress.

OBS.--As quantity is chiefly to be regarded in the utterance of poetical
compositions, this subject will be farther considered under the head of
Versification.


ARTICLE III.--OF ACCENT.

ACCENT, as commonly understood, is the peculiar stress which we lay upon
some particular syllable of a word, whereby that syllable is distinguished
from and above the rest; as, _gram'-mar, gram-ma'-ri-an_.

Every word of more than one syllable, has one of its syllables accented;
and sometimes a compound word has two accents, nearly equal in force; as,
_e'ven-hand'ed, home'-depart'ment_.[472]

Besides the _chief_ or _primary_ accent, when the word is long, for the
sake of harmony or distinctness, we often give a _secondary_ or less
forcible accent to an other syllable; as, to the last of
_tem'-per-a-ture'_, and to the second of _in dem'-ni-fi-ca'-tion_.

"Accent seems to be regulated, in a great measure, by etymology. In words
from the Saxon, the accent is generally on the root; in words from the
learned languages, it is generally on the termination; and if to these we
add the different accent we lay on some words, to distinguish them from
others, we seem to have the three great principles of accentuation; namely,
the radical, the terminational, and the distinctive."--_Walker's
Principles_, No. 491; _L. Murray's Grammar_, 8vo, p. 236.

A full and open pronunciation of the long vowel sounds, a clear
articulation of the consonants, a forcible and well-placed accent, and a
distinct utterance of the unaccented syllables, distinguish the elegant
speaker.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The pronunciation of the English language is confessedly very
difficult to be mastered. Its rules and their exceptions are so numerous,
that few become thoroughly acquainted with any general system of them. Nor,
among the different systems which have been published, is there any which
is worthy in all respects to be accounted a STANDARD. And, if we appeal to
custom, the custom even of the best speakers is far from an entire
uniformity. Perhaps the most popular directory on this subject is Walker's
Critical Pronouncing Dictionary. The "Principles of English Pronunciation,"
which this author has furnished, occupy fifty-six closely-printed octavo
pages, and are still insufficient for the purpose of teaching our orthoëpy
by rule. They are, however, highly valuable, and ought to be consulted by
every one who wishes to be master of this subject. In its vocabulary, or
stock of words, this Dictionary is likewise deficient. Other lexicographers
have produced several later works, of high value to the student; and,
though no one has treated the subject of pronunciation so elaborately as
did Walker, some may have given the results of their diligence in a form
more useful to the generality of their consulters. Among the good ones, is
the Universal and Critical Dictionary of Joseph E. Worcester.

OBS. 2.--Our modern accentuation of Greek or Latin words is regulated
almost wholly by the noted rule of Sanctius, which Walker has copied and
Englished in the Introduction to his Key, and of which the following is a
new version or paraphrase, never before printed:

RULE FOR THE ACCENTING OF LATIN.

    _One_ syllable has stress of course,
    And words of _two_ the _first_ enforce;
    In _longer_ words the _penult_ guides,
    Its _quantity_ the point decides;
    If _long_, 'tis _there_ the accent's due,
    If _short_, accent the _last but two_;
    For accent, in a Latin word,
    Should ne'er go higher than the third.

This rule, or the substance of it, has become very important by long and
extensive use; but it should be observed, that stress on monosyllables is
more properly _emphasis_ than _accent_; and that, in English, the accent
governs quantity, rather than quantity the accent.



SECTION III.--OF ELOCUTION.

Elocution is the graceful utterance of words that are arranged into
sentences, and that form discourse.

Elocution requires a knowledge, and right application, of emphasis, pauses,
inflections, and tones.


ARTICLE I--OF EMPHASIS.

EMPHASIS is the peculiar stress of voice which we lay upon some particular
word or words in a sentence, which are thereby distinguished from the rest
as being more especially significant.[473]

As accent enforces a syllable, and gives character to a word; so emphasis
distinguishes a word, and often determines the import of a sentence. The
right placing of accent, in the utterance of words, is therefore not more
important, than the right placing of emphasis, in the utterance of
sentences. If no emphasis be used, discourse becomes vapid and inane; if no
accent, words can hardly be recognized as English.

"Emphasis, besides its other offices, is the great regulator of quantity.
Though the quantity of our syllable is fixed, in words separately
pronounced, yet it is mutable, when [the] words are [ar]ranged in[to]
sentences; the long being changed into short, the short into long,
according to the importance of the words with regard to meaning: and, as it
is by emphasis only, that the meaning can be pointed out, emphasis must be
the regulator of the quantity."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 246.[474]
"Emphasis changes, not only the quantity of words and syllables, but also,
in particular cases, the sent of the accent. This is demonstrable from the
following examples: 'He shall _in_crease, but I shall _de_crease.' 'There
is a difference between giving and _for_giving.' 'In this species of
composition, _plaus_ibility is much more essential than _prob_ability.' In
these examples, the emphasis requires the accent to be placed on syllables
to which it does not commonly belong."--_Ib._, p. 247.

In order to know what words are to be made emphatic, the speaker or reader
must give constant heed to _the sense_ of what he utters; his only sure
guide, in this matter, being a just conception of the force and spirit of
the sentiment which he is about to pronounce. He must also guard against
the error of multiplying emphatic words too much; for, to overdo in this
way, defeats the very purpose for which emphasis is used. To manage this
stress with exact propriety, is therefore one of the surest evidences both
of a quick understanding, and of a delicate and just taste.


ARTICLE II.--OF PAUSES.

Pauses are cessations in utterance, which serve equally to relieve the
speaker, and to render language intelligible and pleasing.

Pauses are of three kinds: first, _distinctive_ or _sentential_
pauses,--such as form the divisions required by the sense; secondly,
_emphatic_ or _rhetorical_ pauses,--such as particularly call the hearer's
attention to something which has been, or is about to be, uttered; and
lastly, _poetical_ or _harmonic_ pauses,--such as are peculiar to the
utterance of metrical compositions.

The duration of the distinctive pauses should be proportionate to the
degree of connexion between the parts of the discourse. The shortest are
long enough for the taking of some breath; and it is proper, thus to
relieve the voice at every stop, if needful. This we may do, slightly at a
comma, more leisurely at a semicolon, still more so at a colon, and
completely at a period.

Pauses, whether in reading or in public discourse, ought always to be
formed after the manner in which we naturally form them in ordinary,
sensible conversation; and not after the stiff, artificial manner which
many acquire at school, by a mere mechanical attention to the common
punctuation.

Forced, unintentional pauses, which accidentally divide words that ought to
be spoken in close connexion, are always disagreeable; and, whether they
arise from exhaustion of breath, from a habit of faltering, or from
unacquaintance with the text, they are errors of a kind utterly
incompatible with graceful elocution.

Emphatic or rhetorical pauses, the kind least frequently used, may be made
immediately before, or immediately after, something which the speaker
thinks particularly important, and on which he would fix the attention of
his audience. Their effect is similar to that of a strong emphasis; and,
like this, they must not be employed too often.

The harmonic pauses, or those which are peculiar to poetry, are of three
kinds: the _final pause_, which marks the end of each line; the _cæsural_
or _divisional pause_, which commonly divides the line near the middle; and
the _minor rests_, or _demi-cæsuras_, which often divide it still further.

In the reading of poetry, these pauses ought to be observed, as well as
those which have reference to the sense; for, to read verse exactly as if
it were prose, will often rob it of what chiefly distinguishes it from
prose. Yet, at the same time, all appearance of singsong, or affected tone,
ought to be carefully guarded against.


ARTICLE III.--OF INFLECTIONS.

INFLECTIONS are those peculiar variations of the human voice, by which a
continuous sound is made to pass from one note, key, or pitch, into an
other. The passage of the voice from a lower to a higher or shriller note,
is called the _rising_ or _upward_ inflection. The passage of the voice
from a higher to a lower or graver note, is called tbe _falling_ or
_downward_ inflection. These two opposite inflections may be heard in the
following examples: 1. The rising, "Do you mean to _gó_?" 2. The falling,
"_When_ will you _gò_?"

In general, questions that may be answered by _yes_ or _no_, require the
rising inflection; while those which demand any other answer, must be
uttered with the falling inflection. These slides of the voice are not
commonly marked in writing, or in our printed books; but, when there is
occasion to note them, we apply the acute accent to the former, and the
grave accent to the latter.[475]

A union of these two inflections upon the same syllable, is called a
_circumflex_, a _wave_, or a "_circumflex inflection_." When the slide is
first downward and then upward, it is called the _rising circumflex_, or
"the _gravo-acute circumflex_;" when first upward and then downward, it is
denominated the _falling circumflex_, or "the _acuto-grave circumflex_." Of
these complex inflections of the voice, the emphatic words in the following
sentences may be uttered as examples: "And it shall go _h~ard_ but I will
_ûse_ the information."--"_Ô_! but he _pa~used_ upon the brink."

When a passage is read without any inflection, the words are uttered in
what is called a _monotone_; the voice being commonly pitched at a grum
note, and made to move for the time, slowly and gravely, on a perfect
level.

"Rising inflections are far more numerous than falling inflections; the
former constitute the main body of oral language, while the latter are
employed for the purposes of emphasis, and in the formation of cadences.
Rising inflections are often emphatic; but their emphasis is weaker than
that of falling inflections."--_Comstock's Elocution_, p. 50.

"Writers on Elocution have given numerous rules for the regulation of
inflections; but most of these rules are better calculated to make _bad_
readers than good ones. Those founded on the construction of sentences
might, perhaps, do credit to a _mechanic_, but they certainly do none to an
_elocutionist_."--_Ib._, p. 51.

"The reader should bear in mind that a falling inflection gives more
importance to a word than a rising inflection. Hence it should never be
employed merely for the sake of _variety_; but for _emphasis_ and
_cadences_. Neither should a rising inflection be used for the sake of mere
'_harmony_,' where a falling inflection would better express the meaning of
the author. The _sense_ should, in _all_ cases, determine the direction of
inflections."--_Ib._

_Cadence_ is a fall of the voice, which has reference not so much to pitch
as to force, though it may depress both; for it seems to be generally
contrasted with emphasis,[476] and by some is reprehended as a fault.
"Support your voice steadily and firmly," says Rippingham, "and pronounce
the concluding words of the sentence with force and vivacity, rather than
with a languid cadence."--_Art of Speaking_, p. 17. The pauses which L.
Murray denominates the suspending and the closing pause, he seems to have
discriminated chiefly by the inflections preceding them, if he can be said
to have distinguished them at all. For he not only teaches that the former
may sometimes be used at the close of a sentence, and the latter sometimes
where "the sense is not completed;" but, treating cadence merely as a
defect, adds the following caution: "The closing pause must not be
confounded with that fall of the voice, or _cadence_, with which many
readers uniformly finish a sentence. Nothing is more destructive of
propriety and energy than this habit. The tones and inflections of the
voice at the close of a sentence, ought to be diversified, according to the
general nature of the discourse, and the particular construction and
meaning of the sentence."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 250; 12mo, p. 200.


ARTICLE IV.--OF TONES.

Tones are those modulations of the voice which depend upon the feelings of
the speaker. They are what Sheridan denominates "the language of emotions."
And it is of the utmost importance, that they be natural, unaffected, and
rightly adapted to the subject and to the occasion; for upon them, in a
great measure, depends all that is pleasing or interesting in elocution.

"How much of the propriety, the force, and [the] grace of discourse, must
depend on these, will appear from this single consideration; that to almost
every sentiment we utter, more especially to every strong emotion, nature
has adapted some peculiar tone of voice; insomuch, that he who should tell
another that he was angry, or much grieved, in a tone that did not suit
such emotions, instead of being believed, would be laughed at."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 333.

"The different passions of the mind must be expressed by different tones of
the voice. _Love_, by a soft, smooth, languishing voice; _anger_, by a
strong, vehement, and elevated voice; _joy_, by a quick, sweet, and clear
voice; _sorrow_, by a low, flexible, interrupted voice; _fear_, by a
dejected, tremulous, hesitating voice; _courage_, by a full, bold, and loud
voice; and _perplexity_, by a grave and earnest voice. In _exordiums_, the
voice should be low, yet clear; in _narrations_, distinct; in _reasoning_,
slow; in _persuasions_, strong: it should thunder in _anger_, soften in
_sorrow_, tremble in _fear_, and melt in _love_."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 121.

OBS.--Walker observes, in his remarks on the nature of Accent and Quantity,
"As to the tones of the passions, which are so many and various, these, in
the opinion of one of the best judges in the kingdom, are _qualities_ of
sound, occasioned by certain vibrations of the organs of speech,
independent _on_ [say _of_] high, low, loud, soft, quick, slow, forcible,
or feeble: which last may not improperly be called different _quantities_
of sound."--_Walker's Key_, p. 305.




CHAPTER III.--FIGURES.

A Figure, in grammar, is an intentional deviation from the ordinary
spelling, formation, construction, or application, of words. There are,
accordingly, figures of Orthography, figures of Etymology, figures of
Syntax, and figures of Rhetoric. When figures are judiciously employed,
they both strengthen and adorn expression. They occur more frequently in
poetry than in prose; and several of them are merely poetic licenses.


SECTION I.--FIGURES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.

A Figure of Orthography is an intentional deviation from the ordinary or
true spelling of a word. The principal figures of Orthography are two;
namely, _Mi-me'-sis_ and _Ar'-cha-ism_.


EXPLANATIONS.

I. _Mimesis_ is a ludicrous imitation of some mistake or mispronunciation
of a word, in which the error is mimicked by a false spelling, or the
taking of one word for another; as, "_Maister_, says he, have you any
_wery_ good _weal_ in you _vâllet?_"--_Columbian Orator_, p. 292. "Ay, he
was _porn_ at Monmouth, captain Gower."--_Shak._ "I will _description_ the
matter to you, if you be _capacity_ of it."--_Id._

   "_Perdigious!_ I can hardly stand."
        --LLOYD: _Brit. Poets_, Vol. viii, p. 184.

II. An _Archaism_ is a word or phrase expressed according to ancient usage,
and not according to our modern orthography; as, "_Newe grene chese of
smalle clammynes comfortethe a hotte stomake._"--T. PAYNEL: _Tooke's
Diversions_, ii, 132. "He _hath holpen_ his servant Israel."--_Luke_, i,
54.

   "With him was rev'rend Contemplation _pight_,
    Bow-bent with _eld_, his beard of snowy hue."--_Beattie_.

OBS.--Among the figures of this section, perhaps we might include the
foreign words or phrases which individual authors now and then adopt in
writing English; namely, the _Scotticisms_, the _Gallicisms_, the
_Latinisms_, the _Grecisms_, and the like, with which they too often
garnish their English style. But these, except they stand as foreign
quotations, in which case they are exempt from our rules, are in general
offences against the _purity_ of our language; and it may therefore be
sufficient, just to mention them here, without expressly putting any of
them into the category of grammatical figures.


SECTION II.--FIGURES OF ETYMOLOGY.

A Figure of Etymology is an intentional deviation from the ordinary
formation of a word. The principal figures of Etymology are eight; namely,
_A-phoer'-e-sis, Pros'-the-sis, Syn'-co-pe, A-poc'-o-pe, Par-a-go'-ge,
Di-oer'-e-sis, Syn-oer'-e-sis_, and _Tme'-sis_.

EXPLANATIONS.

I. _Aphæresis_ is the elision of some of the initial letters of a word: as,
_'gainst_, for _against_; _'gan_, for _began_; _'neath_, for _beneath_;
_'thout_, for _without_.

II. _Prosthesis_ is the prefixing of an expletive syllable to a word: as,
_a_down, for _down_; _ap_paid, for _paid_; _be_strown, for _strown_;
_ev_anished, for _vanished_; _y_clad, for _clad_.

III. _Syn'copè_ is the elision of some of the middle letters of a word:
as, _med'cine_, for _medicine_; _e'en_, for _even_; _o'er_, for _over_;
_conq'ring_, for _conquering_; _se'nnight_, for _sevennight_.

IV. _Apoc'opè_ is the elision of some of the final letters of a word: as,
_tho'_ for _though_; _th'_, for _the_; _t'other_, for _the other_; _thro'_,
for _through_.

V. _Parago'gè_ is the annexing of an expletive syllable to a word: as,
_Johnny_, for _John_; _deary_, for _dear_; _withouten_, for _without_.

VI. _Diæresis_ is the separating of two vowels that might be supposed to
form a diphthong: as, _coöperate_, not _cooperate_; _aëronaut_, not
_æronaut_; _or'thoëpy_, not _orthoepy_.

VII. _Synæresis_ is the sinking of two syllables into one: as, _seest_, for
_sëest_; _tacked_, for _tack-ed_; _drowned_, for _drown-ed_; _spoks't_, for
_spok-est_; _show'dst_, for _show-edst_; _'tis_, for _it is_; _I'll_, for
_I will_.

VIII. _Tmesis_ is the inserting of a word between the parts of a compound,
or between two words which should be united if they stood together: as, "On
_which_ side _soever_."--_Rolla_. "_To_ us _ward_;" "_To_ God
_ward_."--_Bible_. "The _assembling_ of ourselves _together_."--_Id._ "With
_what_ charms _soe'er_ she will."--_Cowper_. "So _new_ a _fashion'd_
robe."--_Shak._ "Lament the _live_ day _long_."--_Burns_.

OBS.--In all our pronunciation, except that of the solemn style, such
verbal or participial terminations as can be so uttered, are usually sunk
by _synæresis_ into mere modifications of preceding syllables. The
terminational consonants, if not uttered with one vowel, must be uttered
with an other. When, therefore, a vowel is entirely suppressed in
pronunciation, (whether retained in writing or not,) the consonants
connected with it, necessarily fall into an other syllable: thus, _tried,
triest, sued, suest, loved, lovest, mov'd, mov'st_, are monosyllables; and
_studied, studiest, studi'dst, argued, arguest, argu'dst_, are
dissyllables; except in solemn discourse, in which the _e_ is generally
retained and made vocal.


SECTION III.--FIGURES OF SYNTAX.

A Figure of Syntax is an intentional deviation from the ordinary
construction of words. The principal figures of Syntax are five; namely,
_El-lip'-sis, Ple'-o-nasm, Syl-lep'-sis, En-al'-la-ge_, and
_Hy-per'-ba-ton._ EXPLANATIONS.

I. _Ellipsis_ is the omission of some word or words which are necessary to
complete the construction, but not necessary to convey the meaning. Such
words are said, in technical phrase, to be _understood_;[477] because they
are received as belonging to the sentence, though they are not uttered.

Of compound sentences, a vast many are more or less elliptical; and
sometimes, for brevity's sake, even the most essential parts of a simple
sentence, are suppressed;[478] as, "But more of this hereafter."--_Harris's
Hermes_, p. 77. This means, "But _I shall say_ more of this hereafter."
"Prythee, peace."--_Shak._ That is, "_I pray_ thee, _hold thou thy_ peace."

There may be an omission of any of the parts of speech, or even of a whole
clause, when this repeats what precedes; but the omission of mere articles
or interjections can scarcely constitute a proper ellipsis, because these
parts of speech, wherever they are really necessary to be recognized, ought
to be expressed.


EXAMPLES OF ELLIPSIS SUPPLIED.

1. Of the ARTICLE:--"A man and [_a_] woman."--"The day, [_the_] month, and
[_the_] year."--"She gave me an apple and [_a_] pear, for a fig and [_an_]
orange."--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 170.

2. Of the NOUN:--"The common [_law_] and the statute law."--"The twelve
[_apostles_]."--"The same [_man_] is he."--"One [_book_] of my books."--"A
dozen [_bottles_] of wine."--"Conscience, I say; not thine own
[_conscience_], but [_the conscience_] of the other."--_1 Cor._, x, 29.
"Every moment subtracts _from_ [_our lives_] what it adds _to_ our
lives."--_Dillwyn's Ref._, p. 8. "Bad actions mostly lead to worse"
[_actions_].--_Ib._, p. 5.

3. Of the ADJECTIVE:--"There are subjects proper for the one, and not
[_proper_] for the other."--_Kames._ "A just weight and [_a just_] balance
are the Lord's."--_Prov._, xvi, 11. True ellipses of the adjective alone,
are but seldom met with.

4. Of the PRONOUN:--"Leave [_thou_] there thy gift before the altar, and go
[_thou_] thy way; first be [_thou_] reconciled to thy brother, and then
come [_thou_] and offer [_thou_] thy gift,"--_Matt._, v, 24. "Love [_ye_]
your enemies, bless [_ye_] them that curse you, do [_ye_] good to them that
hate you."--_Ib._, v. 44. "Chastisement does not always immediately follow
error, but [_it_] sometimes comes when [_it is_] least expected."--
_Dillwyn, Ref._, p. 31. "Men generally put a greater value upon the favours
[_which_] they bestow, than upon those [_which_] they receive."--_Art of
Thinking_, p. 48. "Wisdom and worth were all [_that_] he had."--_Allen's
Gram._, p. 294.

5. Of the VERB:--"The world is crucified unto me, and I [_am crucified_]
unto the world."--_Gal._, vi, 14. "Hearts should not [_differ_], though
heads may, differ."--_Dillwyn_, p. 11. "Are ye not much better than they"
[_are_]?--_Matt._, vi, 26. "Tribulation worketh patience; and patience
[_worketh_] experience; and experience [_worketh_] hope."--_Romans_, v, 4.
"Wrongs are engraved on marble; benefits [_are engraved_] on sand."--_Art
of Thinking_, p. 41. "To whom thus Eve, yet sinless" [_spoke_].--_Milton_.

6. Of the PARTICIPLE:--"That [_being_] o'er, they part."--"Animals of
various natures, some adapted to the wood, and some [_adapted_] to the
wave."--_Melmoth, on Scripture_, p. 13.

   "His knowledge [_being_] measured to his state and place,
    His time [_being_] a moment, and a point [_being_] his space."--_Pope_.

7. Of the ADVERB:--"He can do this independently of me, if not
[_independently_] of you."

   "She shows a body rather than a life;
    A statue, [_rather_] than a breather."
        --_Shak., Ant. and Cleo._, iii, 3.

8. Of the CONJUNCTION:--"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, [_and_] joy,
[_and_] peace, [_and_] long suffering, [_and_] gentleness, [_and_]
goodness, [_and_] faith, [_and_] meekness, [_and_] temperance."--_Gal._, v,
22. The repetition of the conjunction is called _Polysyndeton_; and the
omission of it, _Asyndeton_.

9. Of the PREPOSITION:--"It shall be done [_on_] this very day."--"We shall
set off [_at_] some time [_in_] next month."--"He departed [_from_] this
life."--"He gave [_to_] me a book."--"We walked [_through_] a mile."--"He
was banished [_from_] the kingdom."--_W. Allen_. "He lived like [_to_] a
prince."--_Wells_.

10. Of the INTERJECTION:--"Oh! the frailty, [_oh!_] the wickedness of
men."--"Alas for Mexico! and [_alas_] for many of her invaders!"

11. Of PHRASES or CLAUSES:--"The active commonly do more than they are
bound to do; the indolent [_commonly do_] less" [_than they are bound to
do_].--"Young men, angry, mean less than they say; old men, [_angry, mean_]
more" [_than they say_].--"It is the duty of justice, not to injure men;
[_it is the duty_] of modesty, not to offend them."--_W. Allen_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Grammarians in general treat of ellipsis without _defining_ it;
and exhibit such rules and examples as suppose our language to be a
hundred-fold more elliptical than it really is.[479] This is a great error,
and only paralleled by that of a certain writer elsewhere noticed, who
denies the existence of all ellipsis whatever. (See Syntax, Obs. 24th on
Rule 22d.) Some have defined this figure in a way that betrays a very
inaccurate notion of what it is: as, "ELLIPSIS is _when_ one or more words
are wanting _to complete the sense_."--_Adam's Lat. and Eng. Gram._, p.
235; _Gould's_, 229. "ELLIPSIS is the omission of one or more words
necessary _to complete the sense_."--_Bullions, Lat. Gram._, p. 265. These
definitions are decidedly worse than none; because, if they have any
effect, they can only mislead. They absurdly suggest that every elliptical
sentence lacks a part of its own meaning! Ellipsis is, in fact, the mere
omission or absence of certain _suggested words_; or of words that may be
spared from utterance, _without defect in the sense_. There never can be an
ellipsis of any thing which is either unnecessary to the construction or
necessary to the sense; for to say what we mean and nothing more, never can
constitute a deviation from the ordinary grammatical construction of words.
As a figure of Syntax, therefore, the _ellipsis_ can only be of such words
as are so evidently suggested to the reader, that the writer is as fully
answerable for them as if he had written them.

OBS. 2.--To suppose an ellipsis where there is none, or to overlook one
where it really occurs, is to pervert or mutilate the text, in order to
accommodate it to the parser's or reader's ignorance of the principles of
syntax. There never can be either a general uniformity or a
self-consistency in our methods of parsing, or in our notions of grammar,
till the true nature of an ellipsis is clearly ascertained; so that the
writer shall distinguish it from a _blundering omission_ that impairs the
sense, and the reader or parser be barred from an _arbitrary insertion_ of
what would be cumbrous and useless. By adopting loose and extravagant ideas
of the nature of this figure, some pretenders to learning and philosophy
have been led into the most whimsical and opposite notions concerning the
grammatical construction of language. Thus, with equal absurdity, _Cardell_
and _Sherman_, in their _Philosophic Grammars_, attempt to confute the
doctrines of their predecessors, by supposing _ellipses_ at pleasure. And
while the former teaches, that prepositions do not govern the objective
case, but that every verb is transitive, and governs at least two objects,
expressed or _understood_, its own and that of a preposition: the latter,
with just as good an argument, contends that no verb is transitive, but
that every objective case is governed by a preposition expressed or
_understood_. A world of nonsense for lack of a _definition!_

II. PLEONASM is the introduction of superfluous words; as, "But of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat _of it_."--_Gen._,
ii, 17. This figure is allowable only, when, in animated discourse, it
abruptly introduces an emphatic word, or repeats an idea to impress it more
strongly; as, "_He_ that hath ears to hear, let him hear."--_Bible_. "All
ye inhabitants of the world, and _dwellers on the earth_."--_Id._ "There
shall not be left one stone upon another _that shall not be thrown
down_."--_Id._ "I know thee _who thou art_."--_Id._ A Pleonasm, as perhaps
in these instances, is sometimes impressive and elegant; but an unemphatic
repetition of the same idea, is one of the worst faults of bad writing.

OBS.--Strong passion is not always satisfied with saying a thing once, and
in the fewest words possible; nor is it natural that it should be. Hence
repetitions indicative of intense feeling may constitute a beauty of the
highest kind, when, if the feeling were wanting, or supposed to be so, they
would be reckoned intolerable tautologies. The following is an example,
which the reader may appreciate the better, if he remembers the context:
"At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down; at her feet he bowed, he fell;
where he bowed, there he fell down dead."--_Judges_, v, 27.

III. SYLLEPSIS is agreement formed according to the figurative sense of a
word, or the mental conception of the thing spoken of, and not according to
the literal or common use of the term; it is therefore in general connected
with some figure of rhetoric: as "The _Word_ was made flesh, and dwelt
amongst us, and we beheld _his_ glory."--_John_, i, 14. "Then Philip went
down to the _city_ of Samaria, and preached Christ unto _them_."--_Acts_,
viii, 5. "The _city_ of London _have_ expressed _their_ sentiments with
freedom and firmness."--_Junius_, p. 159. "And I said [to backsliding
_Israel_,] after _she_ had done all these things, Turn _thou_ unto me; but
_she_ returned not: and _her_ treacherous _sister Judah_ saw it."--_Jer._,
iii, 7. "And he surnamed them _Boanerges, which is_, The sons of
thunder."--_Mark_, iii, 17.

   "While _Evening_ draws _her_ crimson curtains round."--_Thomson_, p. 63.

    "The _Thunder_ raises _his_ tremendous voice."--_Id._, p. 113.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--To the parser, some explanation of that agreement which is
controlled by tropes, is often absolutely necessary; yet, of our modern
grammarians, none appear to have noticed it; and, of the oldest writers,
few, if any, have given it the rank which it deserves among the figures of
syntax. The term _Syllepsis_ literally signifies _conception,
comprehension_, or _taking-together_. Under this name have been arranged,
by the grammarians and rhetoricians, many different forms of unusual or
irregular agreement; some of which are quite too unlike to be embraced in
the same class, and not a few, perhaps, too unimportant or too ordinary to
deserve any classification as figures. I therefore omit some forms of
expression which others have treated as examples of _Syllepsis_, and define
the term with reference to such as seem more worthy to be noticed as
deviations from the ordinary construction of words. Dr. Webster, allowing
the word two meanings, explains it thus: "SYLLEPSIS, _n._ [_Gr._
syllæpsis.] 1. In _grammar_, a figure by which we conceive the sense of
words otherwise than the words import, and construe them according to the
intention of the author; otherwise called _substitution_.[480] 2. The
agreement of a verb or adjective, not with the word next to it, but with
the most worthy in the sentence."--_American Dict._

OBS. 2.--In short, _Syllepsis_ is a _conception_ of which grammarians have
_conceived_ so variously, that it has become doubtful, what definition or
what application of the term is now the most appropriate. Dr. Prat, in
defining it, cites one notion from Sanctius, and adds an other of his own,
thus: "SYLLEPSIS, id est, _Conceptio_, est quoties Generibus, aut Numeris
videntur voces discrepare. Sanct. l. 4. c. 10. Vel sit Comprehensio
indignioris sub digniore."--_Prat's Lat. Gram._, Part ii, p. 164. John
Grant ranks it as a mere form or species of _Ellipsis_, and expounds it
thus: "_Syllepsis_ is _when_ the adjective or verb, joined to different
substantives, agrees with the more worthy."--_Institutes of Lat. Gram._, p.
321. Dr. Littleton describes it thus: "SYLLLEPSIS [sic--KTH],--A
Grammatical figure _where_ two Nominative Cases singular of different
persons are joined to a Verb plural."--_Latin Dict._, 4to. By Dr. Morell it
is explained as follows: "SYLLEPSIS,--A grammatical figure, _where_ one is
put for many, and many for one, Lat. _Conceptio_."--_Morell's Ainsworth's
Dict._, 4to, Index Vitand.  IV. _Enállagè_ is the use of one part of
speech, or of one modification, for an other. This figure borders closely
upon solecism; and, for the stability of the language, it should be
sparingly indulged. There are, however, several forms of it which can
appeal to good authority: as,

1. "_You know_ that _you are_ Brutus, that _say_ this."--_Shak._

2. "They fall _successive_[ly], and _successive_[ly] rise."--_Pope_.

3. "Than _whom_ [who] a fiend more fell is nowhere found."--_Thomson_.

4. "Sure some disaster has _befell_" [befallen].--_Gay_.

5. "So furious was that onset's shock,
    Destruction's gates at once _unlock_" [unlocked].--_Hogg_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--_Enallage_ is a Greek word, signifying _commutation, change_, or
_exchange. "Enallage_, in a general sense, is the change of words, or of
their accidents, one for another."--_Grant's Latin Gram._, p. 322. The word
_Antimeria_, which literally expresses _change of parts_, was often used by
the old grammarians as synonymous with _Enallage_; though, sometimes, the
former was taken only for the substitution of one _part of speech_ for an
other, and the latter, only, or more particularly, for a change of
_modification_--as of mood for mood, tense for tense, or number for number.
The putting of one _case_ for an other, has also been thought worthy of a
particular name, and been called _Antiptosis_. But _Enallage_, the most
comprehensive of these terms, having been often of old applied to all such
changes, reducing them to one head, may well be now defined as above, and
still applied, in this way, to all that we need recognize as figures. The
word _Enallaxis_, preferred by some, is of the same import. "ENALLAXIS, so
called by _Longinus_, or ENALLAGE, is an _Exchange_ of _Cases, Tenses,
Persons, Numbers_, or _Genders_."--_Holmes's Rhet._, Book i, p. 57.

   "An ENALLAXIS changes, when it pleases,
    Tenses, or Persons, Genders, Numbers, Cases."--_Ib._, B. ii, p. 50.

OBS. 2.--Our most common form of _Enallage_ is that by which a single
person is addressed in the plural number. This is so fashionable in our
civil intercourse, that some very polite grammarians improperly dispute its
claims to be called a _figure_; and represent it as being more ordinary,
and even more literal than the regular phraseology; which a few of them, as
we have seen, would place among the _archaisms_. The next in frequency, (if
indeed it can be called a different form,) is the practice of putting _we_
for _I_, or the plural for the singular in the _first person_. This has
never yet been claimed as literal and regular syntax, though the usages
differ in nothing but commonness; both being honourably authorized, both
still improper on some occasions, and, in both, the _Enallage_ being alike
obvious. Other varieties of this figure, not uncommon in English, are the
putting of adjectives for adverbs, of adverbs for nouns, of the present
tense for the preterit, and of the preterit for the perfect participle.
But, in the use of such liberties, elegance and error sometimes approximate
so nearly, there is scarcely an obvious line between them, and grammarians
consequently disagree in making the distinction.

OBS. 3.--Deviations of this kind are, _in general_, to be considered
solecisms; otherwise, the rules of grammar would be of no use or authority.
_Despauter_, an ancient Latin grammarian, gave an improper latitude to this
figure, or to a species of it, under the name of _Antiptosis_; and
_Behourt_ and others extended it still further. But _Sanctius_ says,
"_Antiptosi grammaticorum nihil imperitius, quod figmentum si esset verum,
frustra quæreretur, quem casum verba regerent_." And the _Messieurs De Port
Royal_ reject the figure altogether. There are, however, some changes of
this kind, which the grammarian is not competent to condemn, though they do
not accord with the ordinary principles of construction.

V. _Hyperbaton_ is the transposition of words; as, "He wanders _earth
around_."--_Cowper_ "_Rings the world_ with the vain stir."--_Id. "Whom_
therefore ye ignorantly worship, _him declare I_ unto you."--_Acts_, xvii,
23. "'_Happy_', says _Montesquieu, 'is that nation_ whose annals are
tiresome.'"--_Corwin, in Congress_, 1847. This figure is much employed in
poetry. A judicious use of it confers harmony, variety, strength, and
vivacity upon composition. But care should be taken lest it produce
ambiguity or obscurity, absurdity or solecism.

OBS.--A confused and intricate arrangement of words, received from some of
the ancients the name of _Syn'chysis_, and was reckoned by them among the
figures of grammar. By some authors, this has been improperly identified
with _Hyper'baton_, or elegant inversion; as may be seen under the word
_Synchysis_ in Littleton's Dictionary, or in Holmes's Rhetoric, at page
58th. _Synchysis_ literally means _confusion_, or _commixtion_; and, in
grammar, is significant only of some poetical jumble of words, some verbal
_kink_ or _snarl_, which cannot be grammatically resolved or disentangled:
as,

   "_Is piety_ thus _and_ pure _devotion_ paid?"
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. xi, l. 452.

   "An ass will with his long ears fray
    The flies that tickle him away;
    But man delights to have _his ears
    Blown maggots in by_ flatterers."
        --_Butler's Poems_, p. 161.



SECTION IV.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

A Figure of Rhetoric is an intentional deviation from the ordinary
application of words. Several of this kind of figures are commonly called
_Tropes_, i.e., _turns_; because certain words are turned from their
original signification to an other.[481]

Numerous departures from perfect simplicity of diction, occur in almost
every kind of composition. They are mostly founded on some similitude or
relation of things, which, by the power of imagination, is rendered
conducive to ornament or illustration.

The principal figures of Rhetoric are sixteen; namely, _Sim'-i-le,
Met'-a-phor, Al'-le-gor-y, Me-ton'-y-my, Syn-ec'-do-che, Hy-per'-bo-le,
Vis'-ion, A-pos'-tro-phe, Per-son'-i-fi-ca'-tion, Er-o-te'-sis,
Ec-pho-ne'-sis, An-tith'-e-sis, Cli'-max, I'-ro-ny, A-poph'-a-sis_, and
_On-o-ma-to-poe'-ia._


EXPLANATIONS.

I. A _Simile_ is a simple and express comparison; and is generally
introduced by _like, as_, or _so_: as, "Such a passion is _like falling in
love with a sparrow flying over your head_; you have but one glimpse of
her, and she is out of sight."--_Colliers Antoninus_. "Therefore they shall
be _as the morning cloud_, and _as the early dew_ that passeth away; _as
the chaff_ that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and _as the
smoke_ out of the chimney."--_Hosea_, xiii.

   "At first, _like thunder's distant tone_,
    The rattling din came rolling on."--_Hogg_.

    "Man, _like the generous vine_, supported lives;
    The strength he gains, is from th' embrace he gives."--_Pope_.

OBS.--Comparisons are sometimes made in a manner sufficiently intelligible,
without any express term to point them out. In the following passage, we
have a triple example of what seems the _Simile_, without the usual
sign--without _like, as_, or _so_: "Away with all tampering with such a
question! Away with all trifling with the man in fetters! _Give a hungry
man a stone, and tell what beautiful houses are made of it;--give ice to a
freezing man, and tell him of its good properties in hot weather;--throw a
drowning man a dollar, as a mark of your good will_;--but do not mock the
bondman in his misery, by giving him a Bible when he cannot read
it."--FREDERICK DOUGLASS: _Liberty Bell_, 1848.


II. A _Metaphor_ is a figure that expresses or suggests the resemblance of
two objects by applying either the name, or some attribute, adjunct, or
action, of the one, directly to the other; as,

1. "The LORD is my _rock_, and my _fortress_."--_Psal._, xviii 1.

2. "His eye was _morning's brightest ray_."--_Hogg_.

3. "An _angler_ in the _tides_ of fame."--_Id., Q. W._

4. "Beside him _sleeps_ the warrior's bow."--_Langhorne_.

5. "Wild fancies in his moody brain
    _Gambol'd unbridled_ and unbound."--_Hogg, Q. W._

6. "Speechless, and fix'd in all the _death_ of wo."--_Thomson_.

OBS.--A _Metaphor_ is commonly understoood [sic--KTH] to be only the
tropical use of some _single word_, or _short phrase_; but there seem to be
occasional instances of one _sentence_, or _action_, being used
metaphorically to represent an other. The following extract from the London
Examiner has several figurative expressions, which perhaps belong to this
head: "In the present age, nearly all people are critics, even to the pen,
and treat the gravest writers with a sort of _taproom_ familiarity. If they
are dissatisfied, _they throw a short and spent cigar in the face of the
offender_; if they are pleased, _they lift the candidate off his legs, and
send him away with a hearty slap on the shoulder_. Some of the shorter,
when they are bent to mischief, _dip a twig in the gutter, and drag it
across our polished boots_: on the contrary, when they are inclined to be
gentle and generous, _they leap boisterously upon our knees, and kiss us_
with bread-and-butter in their mouths."--WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR.


III. An _Allegory_ is a continued narration of fictitious events, designed
to represent and illustrate important realities. Thus the Psalmist
represents the _Jewish nation_ under the symbol of a _vine_: "Thou hast
brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted
it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root;
and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and
the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars."--_Psalms_, lxxx, 8-10.

OBS.--The _Allegory_, agreeably to the foregoing definition of it, includes
most of those similitudes which in the Scriptures are called _parables_; it
includes also the better sort of _fables_. The term _allegory_ is sometimes
applied to a _true history_ in which something else is intended, than is
contained in the words literally taken. See an instance in _Galatians_, iv,
24. In the _Scriptures_, the term _fable_ denotes an idle and groundless
story: as, in _1 Timothy_, iv, 7; and _2 Peter_, i, 16. It is now commonly
used in a better sense. "A _fable_ may be defined to be an analogical
narrative, intended to convey some moral lesson, in which irrational
animals or objects are introduced as speaking."--_Philological Museum_,
Vol. i, p. 280.


IV. A _Metonymy_ is a change of names between things related. It is
founded, not on resemblance, but on some such relation as that of _cause_
and _effect_, of _progenitor_ and _posterity_, of _subject_ and _adjunct_,
of _place_ and _inhabitant_, of _container_ and _thing contained_, or of
_sign_ and _thing signified_: as, (1.) "God is our _salvation_;" i.e.,
_Saviour_. (2.) "Hear, O _Israel_;" i.e. O _ye descendants of_ Israel. (3.)
"He was the _sigh_ of her secret soul;" i.e., the _youth_ she loved. (4.)
"They smote the _city_;" i.e., the _citizens_. (5.) "My son, give me thy
_heart_;" i.e., _affection_. (6.) "The _sceptre_ shall not depart from
Judah;" i.e., _kingly power_. (7.) "They have _Moses and the prophets_;"
i.e., _their writings_. See _Luke_, xvi, 29.


V. _Synecdoche_, (that is, _Comprehension_,) is the naming of a part for
the whole, or of the whole for a part; as, (1.) "This _roof_ [i.e., house]
protects you." (2.) "Now the _year_ [i.e., summer] is beautiful." (3.) "A
_sail_ [i.e., a ship or vessel] passed at a distance." (4.) "Give us this
day our daily _bread_;" i.e., food. (5.) "Because they have taken away _my
Lord_, [i.e., the body of Jesus,] and I know not where they have laid
him."--_John_. (6.) "The same day there were added unto them about three
thousand _souls_;" i.e., persons.--_Acts_. (7.) "There went out a decree
from Cæsar Augustus, that all _the world_ [i.e., the Roman empire] should
be taxed."--_Luke_, ii, 1.


VI. _Hyperbole_ is extravagant exaggeration, in which the imagination is
indulged beyond the sobriety of truth; as, "My little finger _shall be
thicker_ than my father's loins."--_2 Chron._, x, 10. "When I washed my
_steps with butter_, and the rock poured me out _rivers of oil_."--_Job_,
xxix, 6.

   "The sky _shrunk upward with unusual dread_,
    And trembling Tiber _div'd beneath his bed_."--_Dryden_.


VII. _Vision_, or _Imagery_, is a figure by which the speaker represents
the objects of his imagination, as actually before his eyes, and present to
his senses; as,

   "I see the dagger-crest of Mar!
    I see the Moray's silver star
    Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war,
    That up the lake comes winding far!"--_Scott, L. L._, vi, 15.


VIII. _Apostrophe_ is a turning from the regular course of the subject,
into an animated address; as, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death!
where is thy sting? O Grave! where is thy victory?"--_1 Cor._, xv, 55.


IX. _Personification_ is a figure by which, in imagination, we ascribe
intelligence and personality to unintelligent beings or abstract qualities;
as,

1. "The _Worm_, aware of his intent,
   Harangued him thus, right eloquent."--_Cowper_.

2. "Lo, steel-clad _War_ his gorgeous standard rears!"--_Rogers_.

3. "Hark! _Truth_ proclaims, thy triumphs cease!"--_Idem_.


X. _Erotesis_ is a figure in which the speaker adopts the form of
interrogation, not to express a doubt, but, in general, confidently to
assert the reverse of what is asked; as, "Hast thou an arm like God? or
canst thou thunder with a voice like him?"--_Job_, xl, 9. "He that planted
the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not
see?"--_Psalms_, xciv, 9.


XI. _Ecphonesis_ is a pathetic exclamation, denoting some violent emotion
of the mind; as, "O liberty!--O sound once delightful to every Roman
ear!--O sacred privilege of Roman citizenship!--once sacred--now trampled
upon."--_Cicero_. "And I said, O that I had wings like a dove! for then
would I fly away, and be at rest."--_Psalms_, lv, 6.


XII. _Antithesis_ is a placing of things in opposition, to heighten their
effect by contrast; as, "I will talk of things _heavenly_, or things
_earthly_; things _moral_, or things _evangelical_; things _sacred_, or
things _profane_; things _past_, or things _to come_; things _foreign_, or
things _at home_; things more _essential_, or things _circumstantial_;
provided that all be done to our profit."--_Bunyan, P. P._, p. 90.

   "Contrasted faults through all his manners reign;
    Though _poor, luxurious_; though _submissive, vain_;
    Though _grave_, yet _trifling_; _zealous_, yet _untrue_;
    And e'en _in penance, planning sins_ anew."--_Goldsmith_.

XIII. _Climax_ is a figure in which the sense is made to advance by
successive steps, to rise gradually to what is more and more important and
interesting, or to descend to what is more and more minute and particular;
as, "And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and
to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance,
patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness;
and to brotherly kindness, charity."--_2 Peter_, i, 5.


XIV. _Irony_ is a figure in which the speaker sneeringly utters the direct
reverse of what he intends shall be understood; as, "We have, to be sure,
great reason to believe the modest man would not ask him for a debt, when
he pursues his life."--_Cicero_. "No doubt but ye are the people, and
wisdom shall die with you."--_Job_, xii, 2. "They must esteem learning
_very much_, when they see its professors used with such little
ceremony!"--_Goldsmith's Essays_, p. 150.


XV. _Apophasis_, or _Paralipsis_,[482] is a figure in which the speaker or
writer pretends to omit what at the same time he really mentions; as, "I
Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it; albeit _I do not
say to thee_, how thou owest unto me even thine own self
besides."--_Philemon_, 19.


XVI. _Onomatopoeia_ is the use of a word, phrase, or sentence, the sound of
which resembles, or intentionally imitates, the sound of the thing
signified or spoken of: as, "Of a knocking at the door, _Rat a tat
tat_."--J. W. GIBBS: _in Fowler's Gram._, p. 334. "_Ding-dong! ding-dong!_
Merry, merry, go the bells, _Ding-dong! ding-dong_!"--_H. K. White_.
"Bow'wow _n._ The loud bark of a dog. _Booth_."--_Worcester's Dict._ This
is often written separately; as, "_Bow wow_."--_Fowler's Gram._, p. 334.
The imitation is better with three sounds: "_Bow wow wow_." The following
verses have been said to exhibit this figure:

   "But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
    The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar."
        --_Pope, on Crit._, l. 369.

OBS.--The whole number of figures, which I have thought it needful to
define and illustrate in this work, is only about thirty. These are the
_chief_ of what have sometimes been made a very long and minute catalogue.
In the hands of some authors, Rhetoric is scarcely anything else than a
detail of figures; the number of which, being made to include almost every
possible form of expression, is, according to these authors, not less than
two hundred and forty. Of their _names_, John Holmes gives, in his index,
two hundred and fifty-three; and he has not all that might be quoted,
though he has more than there are of the forms named, or the figures
themselves. To find a learned name for every particular mode of expression,
is not necessarily conducive to the right use of language. It is easy to
see the inutility of such pedantry; and Butler has made it sufficiently
ridiculous by this caricature:

   "For all a rhetorician's rules
    Teach nothing but to name his tools."--_Hudibras_, P. i, C. i, l. 90.


SECTION V.--EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS XIV.--PROSODICAL.

_In the Fourteenth Praxis, are exemplified the several Figures of
Orthography, of Etymology, of Syntax, and of Rhetoric, which the parser may
name and define_; _and by it the pupil may also be exercised in relation to
the principles of Punctuation, Utterance, Analysis, or whatever else of
Grammar, the examples contain_.


LESSON I.--FIGURES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.

MIMESIS AND ARCHAISM.

"I _ax'd_ you what you had to sell. I am fitting out a _wessel_ for
_Wenice_, loading her with _warious keinds_ of _prowisions_, and
_wittualling_ her for a long _woyage_; and I want several _undred_ weight
of _weal, wenison_, &c., with plenty of _inyons_ and _winegar_, for the
_preserwation_ of _ealth_."--_Columbian Orator_, p. 292.

"God bless you, and lie still quiet (_says_ I) a bit longer, for my
_shister's_ afraid of ghosts, and would die on the spot with the fright,
_was_ she to see you come to life all on a sudden this way without the
least preparation."--_Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent_, p. 143.

"None [else are] so desperately _evill_, as they that may _bee_ good and
will not: or have _beene_ good and are not."--_Rev. John Rogers_, 1620. "A
Carpenter finds his work as _hee_ left it, but a Minister shall find his
_sett_ back. You need preach continually."--_Id._

   "Here _whilom ligg'd_ th' Esopus of his age,
    But call'd by Fame, in soul _ypricked_ deep."--_Thomson_.

    "It was a fountain of Nepenthe rare,
    Whence, as Dan Homer sings, huge _pleasaunce_ grew."--_Id._


LESSON II.--FIGURES OF ETYMOLOGY.

APHÆRESIS, PROSTHESIS, SYNCOPE, APOCOPE, PARAGOGE, DIÆRESIS, SYNÆRESIS, AND
TMESIS.

   "Bend _'gainst_ the steepy hill thy breast,
    Burst down like torrent from its crest."--_Scott_.

    "_'Tis_ mine to teach _th'_ inactive hand to reap
    Kind nature's bounties, _o'er_ the globe _diffus'd_."--_Dyer_.

    "Alas! alas! how impotently true
    _Th' aërial_ pencil forms the scene anew."--_Cawthorne_.

    "Here a deformed monster _joy'd_ to won,
    Which on fell rancour ever was _ybent_."--_Lloyd_.

    "_Withouten_ trump was proclamation made."--_Thomson_.

    "The gentle knight, who saw their rueful case,
    Let fall _adown_ his silver beard some tears.
    'Certes,' quoth he, 'it is not _e'en_ in grace,
    _T'_ undo the past and eke your broken years."--_Id._

    "Vain _tamp'ring_ has but _foster'd_ his disease;
    _'Tis desp'rate_, and he sleeps the sleep of death."--_Cowper_.

    "'I have a pain upon my forehead here'--
    'Why _that's_ with watching; _'twill_ away again.'"--_Shakspeare_.

    "I'll to the woods, among the happier brutes;
    Come, _let's_ away; hark! the shrill horn resounds."--_Smith_.

"_What_ prayer and supplication _soever_ be made."--_Bible_. "By the grace
of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly _to_
you _ward_."--_Ib._


LESSON III.--FIGURES OF SYNTAX.

FIGURE I.--ELLIPSIS.

   "And now he faintly kens the bounding fawn,
    And [--] villager [--] abroad at early toil."--_Beattie_.

    "The cottage curs at [--] early pilgrim bark."--_Id._

    "'Tis granted, and no plainer truth appears,
    Our most important [--] are our earliest years."--_Cowper_.

    "To earn her aid, with fix'd and anxious eye,
    He looks on nature's [--] and on fortune's course."--_Akenside_.

    "For longer in that paradise to dwell,
    The law [--] I gave to nature him forbids."--_Milton_.

    "So little mercy shows [--] who needs so much."--_Cowper_.

    "Bliss is the same [--] in subject, as [--] in king;
    In [--] who obtain defence, and [--] who defend."--_Pope_.

    "Man made for kings! those optics are but dim
    That tell you so--say rather, they [--] for him."--_Cowper_.

    "Man may dismiss compassion from his heart,
    But God will never [-------]."--_Id._

    "Vigour [--] from toil, from trouble patience grows."--_Beattie_.

    "Where now the rill melodious, [--] pure, and cool,
    And meads, with life, and mirth, and beauty crown'd?"--_Id._

    "How dead the vegetable kingdom lies!
    How dumb the tuneful [------------]!"--_Thomson_.

    "Self-love and Reason to one end aspire,
    Pain [--] their aversion, pleasure [--] their desire;
    But greedy that its object would devour,
    This [--] taste the honey, and not wound the flower."--_Pope_.


LESSON IV.--FIGURES OF SYNTAX.

FIGURE II.--PLEONASM.

"_According_ to their deeds, _accordingly_ he will _repay_, fury to his
adversaries, _recompense_ to his enemies; to the islands he will repay
recompense."--_Isaiah_, lix, 18. "Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, _and my locks with the drops
of the night_."--_Song of Sol._, v, 2. "Thou hast chastised me, _and I was
chastised_, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, _and I
shall be turned_; for thou art the Lord my God."--_Jer._, xxxi, 18.
"Consider the _lilies_ of the field how _they grow_."--_Matt._, vi, 28.
"_He_ that glorieth, let _him_ glory in the Lord."--_2 Cor._, x, 17.

   "_He_ too is witness, noblest of the train
    That wait on man, the flight-performing horse."--_Cowper_.

FIGURE III.--SYLLEPSIS.

"'Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called _Cephas:' which_ is,
by interpretation a stone."--_John_, i, 42. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
'Behold, I will break the bow of _Elam_, the chief of _their_
might.'"--_Jer._, xlix, 35. "Behold, I lay in Sion a _stumbling-stone_ and
_rock_ of offence: and whosoever believeth on _him_ shall not be
ashamed."--_Rom._, ix, 33.

   "Thus _Conscience_ pleads _her_ cause within the breast,
    Though long rebell'd against, not yet suppressed."--_Cowper_.

    "_Knowledge_ is proud that _he_ has learn'd so much;
    _Wisdom_ is humble that _he_ knows no more."--_Id._

    "For those the _race_ of Israel oft forsook
    _Their_ living _strength_, and unfrequented left
    _His_ righteous altar, bowing lowly down
    To bestial gods."--_Milton, Paradise Lost_, B. i, l. 432.


LESSON V.--FIGURES OF SYNTAX.

FIGURE IV.--ENALLAGE.

   "Let me tell _you_, Cassius, _you_ yourself
    _Are_ much condemned to have an itching palm,
    To sell and mart _your_ offices for gold."--_Shakspeare_.

    "Come, Philomelus; let us _instant_ go,
    O'erturn his bow'rs, and lay his castle low."--_Thomson_.

    "Then palaces shall rise; the joyful son
    Shall finish what the short-liv'd sire _begun_"--_Pope_.

    "Such was that temple built by Solomon,
    Than _whom_ none richer reign'd o'er Israel."--_Author_.

    "He spoke: with fatal eagerness we _burn_,
    And _quit_ the shores, undestin'd to return."--_Day_.

    "Still as he pass'd, the nations he _sublimes_."--_Thomson_.

    "Sometimes, with early morn, he mounted _gay_."--_Id._

    "'I've lost a day'--the prince who nobly cried,
    _Had been_ an emperor without his crown."--_Young_.

FIGURE V.--HYPERBATON.

   "Such resting found _the sole_ of unblest feet."--_Milton_.

    "Yet, though successless, _will the toil_ delight."--_Thomson_.

    "Where, 'midst the changeful scen'ry ever new,
    Fancy a thousand wondrous _forms_ descries."--_Beattie_.

    "Yet so much bounty is in God, such grace,
    That who advance his glory, not their own,
    _Them_ he himself to glory will advance."--_Milton_.

    "No quick _reply_ to dubious questions make;
    Suspense and caution still prevent mistake."--_Denham_.


LESSON VI.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE I.--SIMILE.

"Human greatness is short and transitory, _as the odour of incense in the
fire_."--_Dr. Johnson_. "Terrestrial happiness is of short continuance:
_the brightness of the flame is wasting its fuel, the fragrant flower is
passing away in its own odours_."--_Id._ "Thy nod is _as the earthquake
that shakes the mountains_; and thy smile, _as the dawn of the vernal
day_."--_Id._

   "_Plants rais'd with tenderness are seldom strong_;
    Man's coltish disposition asks the thong;
    And, without discipline, the fav'rite child,
    _Like a neglected forester_, runs wild."--_Cowper_.

    "As turns a flock of geese, and, on the green,
    Poke out their foolish necks in awkward spleen,
    (Ridiculous in rage!) to _hiss_, not _bite,
    So war their quills_, when sons of _dullness_ write."--_Young_.

    "Who can unpitying see the flowery race,
    Shed by the morn, their new-flush'd bloom resign,
    Before th' unbating beam? _So fade the fair_,
    When fevers revel through their azure veins."--_Thomson_.

FIGURE II.--METAPHOR.

"Cathmon, thy name is a pleasant _gale_."--_Ossian_. "Rolled into himself
he flew, wide on the _bosom of winds_. The old _oak felt_ his departure,
and _shook_ its whistling _head_."--_Id._ "Carazan gradually lost the
inclination to do good, as he acquired the power; as the _hand of time_
scattered _snow_ upon his head, the _freeziny influence_ [sic--KTH]
extended to his bosom."--_Hawkesworth_. "The sun _grew weary_ of gilding
the palaces of Morad; _the clouds of sorrow_ gathered round his head; and
_the tempest of hatred_ roared about his dwelling."--_Dr. Johnson_.


LESSON VII.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE III.--ALLEGORY.

"But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first,
and said, 'Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.' He answered and said, 'I
will not;' but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second,
and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir;' and went not.
Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, 'The
first.'"--_Matt._, xxi, 28-31.

FIGURE IV.--METONYMY.

"Swifter than a whirlwind, flies the leaden _death_."--_Hervey_. "'Be all
the dead forgot,' said Foldath's bursting _wrath_. 'Did not I fail in the
field?'"--_Ossian_.

   "Their _furrow_ oft the stubborn glebe has broke."--_Gray_.

    "Firm in his love, resistless in his hate,
    His arm is _conquest_, and his frown is _fate_."--_Day_.

    "At length the _world_, renew'd by calm repose,
    Was strong for toil; the dappled morn arose."--_Parnell_.

    "What modes of sight betwixt each wide extreme,
    The mole's dim curtain and the lynx's _beam_!
    Of hearing, from the _life_ that fills the flood,
    To _that_ which warbles through the vernal wood!"--_Pope_.

FIGURE V.--SYNECDOCHE.

   "'Twas then his _threshold_ first receiv'd a guest."--_Parnell_.

    "For yet by swains alone the world he knew,
    Whose _feet_ came wand'ring o'er the nightly dew."--_Id._

    "Flush'd by the spirit of the genial _year_,
    Now from the virgin's cheek a fresher bloom
    Shoots, less and less, the live carnation round."--_Thomson_.


LESSON VIII.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE VI.--HYPERBOLE.

"I saw their chief, tall as a rock of ice; his spear, the blasted fir; his
shield the rising moon; he sat on the shore, like a cloud of mist on the
hill."--_Ossian_.

   "At which the universal host up sent
    A shout, that tore Hell's concave, and beyond
    Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night."--_Milton_.

    "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
    Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather
    The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
    Making the green one red!"--_Shakspeare_.

FIGURE VII.--VISION.

"How mighty is their defence who reverently trust in the arm of God! How
powerfully do they contend who fight with lawful weapons! Hark! 'Tis the
voice of eloquence, pouring forth the living energies of the soul;
pleading, with generous indignation and holy emotion, the cause of injured
humanity against lawless might, and reading the awful destiny that awaits
the oppressor!--I see the stern countenance of despotism overawed! I see
the eye fallen, that kindled the elements of war! I see the brow relaxed,
that scowled defiance at hostile thousands! I see the knees tremble, that
trod with firmness the embattled field! Fear has entered that heart which
ambition had betrayed into violence! The tyrant feels himself a man, and
subject to the weakness of humanity!--Behold! and tell me, is that power
contemptible which can thus find access to the sternest hearts?"--_Author_.

FIGURE VIII.--APOSTROPHE.

   "Yet still they breathe destruction, still go on,
    Inhumanly ingenious to find out
    New pains for life, new terrors for the grave;
    Artificers of death! Still monarchs dream
    Of universal empire growing up
    From universal ruin. _Blast the design_,
    _Great God of Hosts! nor let thy creatures fall_
    _Unpitied victims at Ambition's shrine_."--_Porteus_.


LESSON IX.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE IX.--PERSONIFICATION.

   "Hail, sacred _Polity_, by _Freedom_ rear'd!
    Hail, sacred _Freedom_, when by _Law_ restrain'd!
    Without you, what were man? A grov'ling herd,
    In darkness, wretchedness, and want, enchain'd."--_Beattie_.

    "Let cheerful _Mem'ry_, from her purest cells,
    Lead forth a godly train of _Virtues_ fair,
    Cherish'd in early youth, now paying back
    With tenfold usury the pious care."--_Porteus_.

FIGURE X.--EROTESIS.

"He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man
knowledge, shall not he know?"--_Psalms_, xciv, 10. "Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that
are accustomed to do evil."--_Jeremiah_, xiii, 23.

FIGURE XI.--ECPHONESIS.  "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a
fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the
daughter of my people! O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of
way-faring men, that I might leave my people, and go from
them!"--_Jeremiah_, ix, 1.

FIGURE XII.--ANTITHESIS.

"On this side, modesty is engaged; on that, impudence: on this, chastity;
on that, lewdness: on this, integrity; on that, fraud: on this, piety; on
that, profaneness: on this, constancy; on that, fickleness: on this,
honour; on that, baseness: on this, moderation; on that, unbridled
passion."--_Cicero_.

   "She, from the rending earth, and bursting skies,
    Saw gods descend, and fiends infernal rise;
    Here fix'd the dreadful, there the blest abodes;
    Fear made her devils, and weak hope her gods."--_Pope_.


LESSON X.--FIGURES OF RHETORIC.

FIGURE XIII.--CLIMAX.

"Virtuous actions are necessarily approved by the awakened conscience; and
when they are approved, they are commended to practice; and when they are
practised, they become easy; and when they become easy, they afford
pleasure; and when they afford pleasure, they are done frequently; and when
they are done frequently, they are confirmed by habit: and confirmed habit
is a kind of second nature."--_Inst._, p. 246.

   "Weep all of every name: begin the wo,
    Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds;
    And doleful winds, wail to the howling hills;
    And howling hills, mourn to the dismal vales;
    And dismal vales, sigh to the sorrowing brooks;
    And sorrwing brooks, weep to the weeping stream;
    And weeping stream, awake the groaning deep;
    And let the instrument take up the song,
    Responsive to the voice--harmonious wo!"--_Pollok_, B. vi, l. 115.

FIGURE XIV.--IRONY.

"And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, 'Cry
aloud; for he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is
in [_on_] a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked!'
"--_1 Kings_, xviii, 27.

"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty
days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years;
and ye shall know my breach of promise."--_Numbers_, xiv, 34.

   "Some lead a life unblamable and just,
    Their own dear virtue their unshaken trust;
    They never sin--or if (as all offend)
    Some trivial slips their daily walk attend,
    The poor are near at hand, the charge is small,
    A slight gratuity atones for all."--_Cowper_.

FIGURE XV.--APOPHASIS, OR PARALIPSIS.

I say nothing of the notorious profligacy of his character; nothing of the
reckless extravagance with which he has wasted an ample fortune; nothing of
the disgusting intemperance which has sometimes caused him to reel in our
streets;--but I aver that he has not been faithful to our interests,--has
not exhibited either probity or ability in the important office which he
holds.

FIGURE XVI.--ONOMATOPOEIA.

[Fist][The following lines, from Swift's Poems, satirically mimick the
imitative music of a violin.]

   "Now slowly move your fiddle-stick;
    Now, tantan, tantantivi, quick;
    Now trembling, shivering, quivering, quaking,
    Set hoping hearts of Lovers aching."

    "Now sweep, sweep the deep.
    See Celia, Celia dies,
    While true Lovers' eyes
    Weeping sleep, Sleeping weep,
    Weeping sleep, Bo-peep, bo-peep."




CHAPTER IV.--VERSIFICATION.

Versification is the forming of that species of literary composition which
is called _verse_; that is, _poetry_, or _poetic numbers_.


SECTION I.--OF VERSE.

Verse, in opposition to prose, is language arranged into metrical lines of
some determinate length and rhythm--language so ordered as to produce
harmony, by a due succession of poetic feet, or of syllables differing in
quantity or stress.


DEFINITIONS AND PRINCIPLES.

The _rhythm_ of verse is its relation of quantities; the modulation of its
numbers; or, the kind of metre, measure, or movement, of which it consists,
or by which it is particularly distinguished.

The _quantity_ of a syllable, as commonly explained, is the relative
portion of time occupied in uttering it. In poetry, every syllable is
considered to be either long or short. A long syllable is usually reckoned
to be equal to two short ones.

In the construction of English verse, long quantity coincides always with
the primary accent, generally also with the secondary, as well as with
emphasis; and short quantity, as reckoned by the poets, is found only in
unaccented syllables, and unemphatical monosyllabic words.[483]

The quantity of a syllable, whether long or short, does not depend on what
is called the long or the short sound of a vowel or diphthong, or on a
supposed distinction of accent as affecting vowels in some cases and
consonants in others, but principally on the degree of energy or loudness
with which the syllable is uttered, whereby a greater or less portion of
time is employed.

The open vowel sounds, which are commonly but not very accurately termed
_long_, are those which are the most easily protracted, yet they often
occur in the shortest and feeblest syllables; while, on the other hand, no
vowel sound, that occurs under the usual stress of accent or of emphasis,
is either so short in its own nature, or is so "quickly joined to the
succeeding letter," that the syllable is not one of long quantity.

Most monosyllables, in English, are variable in quantity, and may be made
either long or short, as strong or weak sounds suit the sense and rhythm;
but words of greater length are, for the most part, fixed, their accented
syllables being always long, and a syllable immediately before or after the
accent almost always short.

One of the most obvious distinctions in poetry, is that of rhyme and blank
verse. _Rhyme_ is a similarity of sound, combined with a difference:
occurring usually between the last syllables of different lines, but
sometimes at other intervals; and so ordered that the rhyming syllables
begin differently and end alike. _Blank verse_ is verse without rhyme.

The principal rhyming syllables are almost always long. Double rhyme adds
one short syllable; triple rhyme, two. Such syllables are redundant in
iambic and anapestic verses; in lines of any other sort, they are
generally, if not always, included in the measure.

A _Stanza_ is a combination of several verses, or lines, which, taken
together, make a regular division of a poem. It is the common practice of
good versifiers, to form all stanzas of the same poem after one model. The
possible variety of stanzas is infinite; and the actual variety met with in
print is far too great for detail.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Verse, in the broadest acceptation of the term, is poetry, or
metrical language, in general. This, to the eye, is usually distinguished
from prose by the manner in which it is written and printed. For, in very
many instances, if this were not the case, the reader would be puzzled to
discern the difference. The division of poetry into its peculiar lines, is
therefore not a mere accident. The word _verse_, from the Latin _versus_,
literally signifies a _turning_. Each full line of metre is accordingly
called a verse; because, when its measure is complete, the writer _turns_
to place another under it. A _verse_, then, in the primary sense of the
word with us, is, "A _line_ consisting of a certain succession of sounds,
and number of syllables."--_Johnson, Walker, Todd, Bottes_, and others. Or,
according to _Webster_, it is, "A poetic _line_, consisting of a certain
number of long and short syllables, disposed according to the rules of the
species of poetry which the author intends to compose."--See _American
Dict._, 8vo.

OBS. 2.--If to settle the theory of English verse on true and consistent
principles, is as difficult a matter, as the manifold contrarieties of
doctrine among our prosodists would indicate, there can be no great hope of
any scheme entirely satisfactory to the intelligent examiner. The very
elements of the subject are much perplexed by the incompatible dogmas of
authors deemed skillful to elucidate it. It will scarcely be thought a hard
matter to distinguish true verse from prose, yet is it not well agreed,
wherein the difference consists: what the generality regard as the most
essential elements or characteristics of the former, some respectable
authors dismiss entirely from their definitions of both verse and
versification. The existence of quantity in our language; the dependence of
our rhythms on the division of syllables into long and short; the
concurrence of our accent, (except in some rare and questionable
instances,) with long quantity only; the constant effect of emphasis to
lengthen quantity; the limitation of quantity to mere duration of sound;
the doctrine that quantity pertains to all _syllables_ as such, and not
merely to vowel sounds; the recognition of the same general principles of
syllabication in poetry as in prose; the supposition that accent pertains
not to certain _letters_ in particular, but to certain _syllables_ as such;
the limitation of accent to stress, or percussion, only; the conversion of
short syllables into long, and long into short, by a change of accent; our
frequent formation of long syllables with what are called short vowels; our
more frequent formation of short syllables with what are called long or
open vowels; the necessity of some order in the succession of feet or
syllables to form a rhythm; the need of framing each line to correspond
with some other line or lines in length; the propriety of always making
each line susceptible of scansion by itself: all these points, so essential
to a true explanation of the nature of English verse, though, for the most
part, well maintained by some prosodists, are nevertheless denied by some,
so that opposite opinions may be cited concerning them all. I would not
suggest that all or any of these points are thereby made _doubtful_; for
there may be opposite judgements in a dozen cases, and yet concurrence
enough (if concurrence _can_ do it) to establish them every one.

OBS. 3.--An ingenious poet and prosodist now living,[484] Edgar Allan Poe,
(to whom I owe a word or two of reply,) in his "Notes upon English Verse,"
with great self-complacency, represents, that, "While much has been written
upon the structure of the Greek and Latin rhythms, comparatively _nothing_
has been done as regards the English;" that, "It may be said, indeed, we
are _without a treatise_ upon our own versification;" that "The very best"
_definition_ of versification[485] to be found in any of "_our ordinary
treatises_ on the topic," has "_not a single point_ which does not involve
an error;" that, "A _leading deft_ in each of these treatises is the
confining of the subject to mere _versification_, while metre, or rhythm,
in general, is the real question at issue;" that, "Versification is _not_
the art, but the _act_'--of making verses;" that, "A correspondence in the
_length_ of lines is by no means essential;" that "_Harmony_" produced "by
the regular alternation of syllables differing in quantity," does not
include "_melody_;" that "A _regular alternation_, as described, forms _no
part_ of the principle of metre:" that "There is no necessity of _any
regularity_ in the succession of _feet_;" that, "By consequence," he
ventures to "dispute the _essentiality_ of any alternation, regular or
irregular, of _syllables_ long and short:" that, "For _anything more
intelligible_ or _more satisfactory_ than this definition [i. e., G.
Brown's former definition of versification,] we shall look in vain in _any
published_ treatise upon the subject;" that, "So general and _so total a
failure_ can be referred only to some _radical misconception_;" that, "The
word _verse_ is derived (through _versus_ from the Latin _verto, I turn_,)
and * * * * it can be nothing but _this derivation_, which has led to _the
error_ of our writers upon prosody;" that, "_It is this_ which _has seduced
them_ into regarding the _line_ itself--the _versus_, or turning--as an
essential, or principle of metre;" that, "Hence the term _versification_
has been employed as sufficiently general, or inclusive, for treatises upon
rhythm in general;" that, "Hence, also, [comes] the precise catalogue of a
few varieties of English _lines_, when these varieties are, in fact, almost
without limit;" that, "_I_," the aforesaid Edgar Allan Poe, "_shall dismiss
entirely_, from the consideration of the principle of _rhythm_, the idea of
_versification_, or the construction of verse;" that, "In so doing, _we_
shall avoid _a world of confusion_;" that, "_Verse_ is, indeed, an
_afterthought_, or an _embellishment_, or an _improvement_, rather than an
element of rhythm;" that, "_This fact_ has induced the easy admission, into
the realms of Poesy, of _such works_ as the 'Télémaque' of Fenelon;"
because, forsooth, "In the elaborate modulation of their sentences, THEY
FULFIL THE IDEA OF METRE."--_The Pioneer, a Literary and Critical Magazine_
(Boston, March, 1843,) Vol. I, p. 102 to 105.

OBS. 4.--"Holding these things in view," continues this sharp connoisseur,
"the prosodist who rightly examines that which constitutes the external,
or most immediately _recognisable_, form of Poetry, will commence with the
definition of _Rhythm_. Now _rhythm_, from the Greek [_Greek: arithmos_],
_number_, is a term which, in its present application, very nearly _conveys
its own idea_. No more _proper_ word could be employed to present _the
conception intended_; for _rhythm_, in prosody, is, in its _last analysis_,
identical with _time_ in music. _For this reason_," says he, "I have used,
throughout this article, as synonymous with _rhythm_, the word _metre_ from
[Greek: metron], _measure_. Either the one or the other may be defined as
_the arrangement of words into two or more consecutive, equal, pulsations
of time_. These pulsations are _feet_. Two feet, at least, are requisite to
constitute a _rhythm_; just as, in mathematics, two units are necessary to
form [a] _number_.[486] The syllables of which the foot consists, when the
foot is not a syllable in itself, are subdivisions of the pulsations. No
equality is demanded in these subdivisions. It is only required that, so
far as regards two consecutive feet at least, the sum of the times of the
syllables in one, shall be equal to the sum of the times of the syllables
in the other. Beyond two pulsations there is no necessity for equality of
time. All beyond is arbitrary or conventional. A third or fourth pulsation
may embody half, or double, or any proportion of the time occupied in the
two first. Rhythm being thus understood, the prosodist should proceed to
define _versification_ as _the making of verses_, and _verse_ as _the
arbitrary or conventional isolation of rhythm into masses of greater or
less extent_."--_Ib._, p. 105.

OBS. 5.--No marvel that all usual conceptions and definitions of rhythm, of
versification, and of verse, should be found dissatisfactory to the critic
whose idea of _metre_ is fulfilled by the pompous _prose_ of Fenelon's
Télémaque. No right or real examination of this matter can ever make the
most immediately _recognizable_ form of poetry to be any thing else than
the form of _verse_--the form of writing in _specific lines_, ordered by
number and chime of syllables, and not squared by gage of the
composing-stick. And as to the derivation and primitive signification of
_rhythm_, it is plain that in the extract above, both are misrepresented.
The etymology there given is a gross error; for, "the Greek [_Greek:
arithmos_], _number_," would make, in English, not _rhythm_, but _arithm_,
as in _arithmetic_. Between the two combinations, there is the palpable
difference of three or four letters in either six; for neither of these
forms can be varied to the other, but by dropping one letter, and adding an
other, and changing a third, and moving a fourth. _Rhythm_ is derived, not
thence, but from the Greek [_Greek: rhythmos_]; which, according to the
lexicons, is a primitive word, and means, _rhythmus, rhythm, concinnity,
modulation, measured tune_, or _regular flow_, and _not "number_."

OBS. 6.--_Rhythm_, of course, like every other word not misapplied,
"conveys _its own idea_;" and that, not qualifiedly, or "_very nearly_,"
but _exactly_. That this idea, however, was originally that of
arithmetical _number_, or is nearly so now, is about as fanciful a notion,
as the happy suggestion added above, that _rhythm_ in lieu of _arithm_ or
_number_, is the fittest of words, _because_ "rhythm in prosody is _time_
in music!" Without dispute, it is important to the prosodist, and also to
the poet or versifier, to have as accurate an idea as possible of the
import of this common term, though it is observable that many of our
grammarians make little or no use of it. That it has some relation to
_numbers_, is undeniable. But what is it? Poetic numbers, and numbers in
arithmetic, and numbers in grammar, are three totally different sorts of
things. _Rhythm_ is related only to the first. Of the signification of this
word, a recent expositor gives the following brief explanation: "RHYTHM,
_n._ Metre; verse; _numbers_. Proportion applied to any motion
whatever."--_Bolles's Dictionary_, 8vo. To this definition, Worcester
prefixes the following: "The consonance of measure and time in poetry,
_prose composition_, and music;--also in dancing."--_Universal and Critical
Dict._ In verse, the proportion which forms rhythm--that is, the chime of
quantities--is applied to the _sounds_ of syllables. Sounds, however, may
be considered as a species of _motion_, especially those which are
rhythmical or musical.[487] It seems more strictly correct, to regard
rhythm as a _property_ of poetic numbers, than to identify it with them. It
is their proportion or modulation, rather than the numbers themselves.
According to Dr. Webster, "RHYTHM, or RHYTHMUS, in _music_ [is] variety in
the movement as to quickness or slowness, or length and shortness of the
notes; or _rather_ the proportion which the parts of the motion have to
each other."--_American Dict._ The "_last analysis_" of rhythm can be
nothing else than the reduction of it to its _least parts_. And if, in this
reduction, it is "identical with _time_," then it is here the same thing as
_quantity_, whether prosodical or musical; for, "The _time_ of a note, or
syllable, is called _quantity_. The time of a _rest_ is also called
quantity; because _rests_, as well as notes are a constituent of
rhythm."--_Comstock's Elocution_, p. 64. But rhythm is, in fact, neither
time nor quantity; for the analysis which would make it such, destroys the
relation in which the thing consists.



SECTION II.--OF ACCENT AND QUANTITY.

Accent and Quantity have already been briefly explained in the second
chapter of Prosody, as items coming under the head of Pronunciation. What
we have to say of them here, will be thrown into the form of _critical
observations_; in the progress of which, many quotations from other writers
on these subjects, will be presented, showing what has been most popularly
taught.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Accent and quantity are distinct things;[488] the former being the
stress, force, loudness, or percussion of voice, that distinguishes certain
syllables from others; and the latter, the _time_, distinguished as _long_
or _short_, in which a syllable is uttered. But, as the _great_ sounds
which we utter, naturally take more time than the _small_ ones, there is a
necessary connexion between quantity and accent in English,--a connexion
which is sometimes expounded as being the mere relation of _cause and
effect_; nor is it in fact much different from that. "As no utterance can
be agreeable to the ear, which is void of proportion; and as _all
quantity_, or proportion of time in utterance, depends upon a due
observation of the _accent_; it is a matter of absolute necessity to all,
who would arrive at a good and graceful delivery, to be master of that
point. Nor is the use of _accent_ in our language confined to _quantity_
alone; but it is also the chief mark by which words are distinguished from
mere syllables. Or rather I may say, it is the _very essence_ of words,
which without that, would be only so many collections of
syllables."--_Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution_, p. 61. "As no utterance
_which is void of proportion_, can be agreeable to the ear; and as
quantity, or proportion of time in utterance, _greatly_ depends _on_ a due
_attention_ to the _accent_; it is _absolutely necessary for every person_,
who would attain a _just_ and _pleasing_ delivery, to be master of that
point."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 241; 12mo, 194.

OBS. 2.--In the first observation on Prosody, at page 770, and in its
marginal notes, was reference made to the fact, that the nature and
principles of _accent_ and _quantity_ are involved in difficulty, by reason
of the different views of authors concerning them. To this source of
embarrassment, it seems necessary here again to advert; because it is upon
the distinction of syllables in respect to quantity, or accent, or both,
that every system of versification, except his who merely counts, is based.
And further, it is not only requisite that the principle of distinction
which we adopt should be clearly made known, but also proper to consider
which of these three modes is the best or most popular foundation for a
theory of versification. Whether or wherein the accent and quantity of the
ancient languages, Latin and Greek, differed from those of our present
English, we need not now inquire. From the definitions which the learned
lexicographers Littleton and Ainsworth give to _prosodia_, prosody, it
would seem that, with them, "the art of _accenting_" was nothing else than
the art of giving to syllables their right _quantity_, "whether long or
short." And some have charged it as a glaring error, long prevalent among
English grammarians, and still a fruitful source of disputes, to confound
accent with quantity in our language.[489] This charge, however, there is
reason to believe, is sometimes, if not in most cases, made on grounds
rather fanciful than real; for some have evidently mistaken the notion of
concurrence or coincidence for that of identity. But, to affirm that the
stress which we call accent, coincides always and only with long quantity,
does not necessarily make accent and quantity to be one and the same thing.
The greater force or loudness which causes the accented syllable to occupy
more time than any other, is in itself something different from time.
Besides, quantity is divisible,--being either _long_ or _short_: these two
species of it are acknowledged on all sides, and some few prosodists will
have a third, which they call "common." [490] But, of our English accent,
the word being taken in its usual acceptation, no _such_ division is ever,
with any propriety, made; for even the stress which we call _secondary
accent_, pertains to _long_ syllables rather than to short ones; and the
mere absence of stress, which produces short quantity, we do not call
_accent_.[491]

OBS. 3.--The impropriety of affirming _quantity_ to be the same as
_accent_, when its most frequent species occurs only in the absence of
accent, must be obvious to every body; and those writers who anywhere
suggest this identity, must either have written absurdly, or have taken
_accent_ in some sense which includes the sounds of our _unaccented_
syllables. The word sometimes means, "The _modulation_ of the voice in
speaking."--_Worcester's Dict., w. Accent_. In this sense, the lighter as
well as the more impressive sounds are included; but still, whether both
together, considered as accents, can be reckoned the same as long and short
quantities, is questionable. Some say, they cannot; and insist that they
are yet as different, as the variable tones of a _trumpet_, which swell and
fall, are different from the merely loud and soft notes of the monotonous
_drum_. This illustration of the "easy Distinction betwixt _Quantity_ and
_Accent_" is cited with commendation, in Brightland's Grammar, on page
157th;[492] the author of which grammar, _seems_ to have understood
_Accent_, or _Accents_, to be the same as _Inflections_--though these are
still unlike to quantities, if he did so. (See an explanation of
Inflections in Chap. II, Sec. iii, Art. 3, above.) His exposition is this:
"_Accent_ is the _rising_ and _falling_ of the Voice, above or under its
usual _Tone_. There are three Sorts of Accents, an _Acute_, a _Grave_, and
an _Inflex_, which is also call'd a _Circumflex_. The _Acute_, or _Sharp_,
naturally _raises_ the Voice; and the _Grave_, or _Base_, as naturally
_falls_ it. The _Circumflex_ is a kind of _Undulation_, or _Waving_ of the
Voice."--_Brightland's Gram._, Seventh Ed., Lond., 1746, p. 156.

OBS. 4.--Dr. Johnson, whose great authority could not fail to carry some
others with him, too evidently identifies accent with quantity, at the
commencement of his Prosody. "PRONUNCIATION is just," says he, "when every
letter has its proper sound, and when every syllable has its proper accent,
or which in English versification is _the same_, its proper quantity."--
_Johnson's Gram._, before Dict., 4to, p. 13; _John Burn's Gram._, p. 240;
_Jones's Prosodial Gram._, before Dict., p. 10. Now our most common notion
of _accent_--the sole notion with many--and that which the accentuation of
Johnson himself everywhere inculcates--is, that it belongs _not_ to "_every
syllable_," but only to some particular syllables, being either "a _stress
of voice_ on a certain syllable," or a _small mark_ to denote such
stress.--See _Scott's Dict._, or _Worcester's_. But Dr. Johnson, in the
passage above, must have understood the word _accent_ agreeably to his own
imperfect definition of it; to wit, as "_the sound given to the syllable
pronounced_."--_Joh. Dict._ An _unaccented_ syllable must have been to him
a syllable unpronounced. In short he does not appear to have recognized any
syllables as being unaccented. The word _unaccented_ had no place in his
lexicography, nor could have any without inconsistencey. [sic--KTH] It was
unaptly added to his text, after sixty years, by one of his amenders, Todd
or Chalmers; who still blindly neglected to amend his definition of
_accent_. In these particulars, Walker's dictionaries exhibit the same
deficiencies as Johnson's; and yet no author has more frequently used the
words _accent_ and _unaccented_, than did Walker.[493] Mason's Supplement,
first published in 1801, must have suggested to the revisers of Johnson the
addition of the latter term, as appears by the authority cited for it:
"UNA'CCENTED, _adj._ Not accented. 'It being enough to make a syllable
long, if it be accented, and short, if it be _unaccented_.' _Harris's
Philological Inquiries_."--_Mason's Sup._

OBS. 5--This doctrine of Harris's, that long quantity accompanies the
accent, and unaccented syllables are short, is far from confounding or
identifying accent with quantity, as has already been shown; and, though it
plainly contradicts some of the elementary teaching of Johnson, Sheridan,
Walker, Murray, Webster, Latham, Fowler, and others, in regard to the
length or shortness of certain syllables, it has been clearly maintained by
many excellent authors, so that no opposite theory is better supported by
authority. On this point, our language stands not alone; for the accent
controls quantity in some others.[494] G H. Noehden, a writer of uncommon
ability, in his German Grammar for Englishmen, defines accent to be, as we
see it is in English, "that _stress_ which marks a particular syllable in
speaking;" and recognizing, as we do, both a full accent and a partial one,
or "demi-accent," presents the syllables of his language as being of three
conditions: the "_accented_," which "cannot be used otherwise than as
_long_;" the "_half-accented_" which "must be regarded as ambiguous, or
common;" and the "_accentless_," which "are in their nature _short_."--See
_Noehden's Gram._, p. 87. His middle class, however, our prosodists in
general very properly dispense with. In Fiske's History of Greek
Literature, which is among the additions to the Manual of Classical
Literature from the German of Eschenburg, are the following passages: "The
_tone_ [i.e. accent] in Greek is placed upon short syllables as well as
long; in German, it accompanies regularly only long syllables."--"In giving
an accent to a syllable in an English word we _thereby_ render it a long
syllable, whatever may be the sound given to its vowel, and in whatever way
the syllable may be composed; so that as above stated in relation to the
German, an English accent, or stress in pronunciation, accompanies only a
long syllable."--_Manual of Class. Lit._, p. 437. With these extracts,
accords the doctrine of some of the ablest of our English grammarians. "In
the English Pronunciation," says William Ward, "there is a certain Stress
of the Voice laid on some one syllable at least, of every Word of two or
more Syllables; and that Syllable on which the Stress is laid may be
considered _long_. Our Grammarians have agreed to consider this Stress of
the Voice as _the Accent_ in English; and therefore the Accent and long
Quantity coincide in our Language."--_Ward's Practical Gram._, p. 155. As
to the vowel sounds, with the quantity of which many prosodists have
greatly puzzled both themselves and their readers, this writer says, "they
may be made as long, or as short, as the Speaker pleases."--_Ib._, p. 4.

OBS. 6.--From the absurd and contradictory nature of many of the
_principles usually laid down_ by our grammarians, for the discrimination
of long quantity and short, it is quite apparent, that but very few of them
have well understood either the distinction itself or their own rules
concerning it. Take Fisher for an example. In Fisher's Practical Grammar,
first published in London in 1753,--a work not unsuccessful, since Wells
quotes the "_28th edition_" as appearing in 1795, and this was not the
last--we find, in the first place, the vowel sounds distinguished as long
or short thus: "_Q._ How many Sounds has a Vowel? _A._ Two in general, viz.
1. A LONG SOUND, When the Syllable ends with a Vowel, either in
Monosyllables, or in Words of more Syllables; as, _t=ake, w=e, =I, g=o,
n=il_; or, as, _N=ature, N=ero, N=itre, N=ovice, N=uisance_. 2. A SHORT
SOUND, When the Syllable ends with a Consonant, either in Monosyllables, or
others; as _H~at, h~er, b~it, r~ob, T~un_; or, as _B~arber, b~itten,
B~utton_."--See p. 5. To this rule, the author makes needless exceptions of
all such words as _balance_ and _banish_, wherein a single consonant
between two vowels goes to the former; because, like Johnson, Murray, and
most of our old grammarians, he divides on the vowel; falsely calls the
accented syllable short; and imagines the consonant to be heard _twice_, or
to have "_a double Accent_." On page 35th, he tells us that, "_Long and
short Vowels_, and _long and short Syllables_, are _synonimous_
[--_synonymous_, from [Greek: synonymos]--] Terms;" and so indeed have they
been most erroneously considered by sundry subsequent writers; and the
consequence is, that all who judge by their criteria, mistake the poetic
quantity, or prosodical value, of perhaps one half the syllables in the
language. Let each syllable be reckoned long that "ends with a Vowel," and
each short that "ends with a Consonant," and the decision will probably be
oftener wrong than right; for more syllables end with consonants than with
vowels, and of the latter class a majority are without stress and therefore
short. Thus the foregoing principle, contrary to the universal practice of
the poets, determines many _accented_ syllables to be "_short_;" as the
first in "_barber, bitten, button, balance, banish_;--" and many
_unaccented_ ones to be "_long_;" as the last in _sofa, specie, noble,
metre, sorrow, daisy, valley, nature, native_; or the first in _around,
before, delay, divide, remove, seclude, obey, cocoon, presume, propose_,
and other words innumerable.

OBS. 7.--Fisher's conceptions of accent and quantity, as constituting
prosody, were much truer to the original and etymological sense of the
words, than to any just or useful view of English versification: in short,
this latter subject was not even mentioned by him; for prosody, in his
scheme, was nothing but the right pronunciation of words, or what we now
call _orthoëpy._ This part of his Grammar commences with the following
questions and answers:

"_Q._ What is the Meaning of the Word PROSODY? _A._ It is a Word borrowed
from the Greek; which, in Latin, is rendered _Accentus_, and in English
_Accent_. "_Q._ What do you mean by _Accent_? _A._ Accent originally
signified a Modulation of the Voice, or chanting to a musical Instrument;
but is now generally used to signify _Due Pronunciatian_, i.e. the
pronouncing [of] a syllable according to its Quantity, (whether it be long
or short,) with a stronger Force or Stress of Voice than the other
Syllables in the same Word; as, _a_ in _able, o_ in _above_, &c. "_Q._ What
is _Quantity_? _A._ Quantity is the different Measure of _Time_ in
pronouncing Syllables, from whence they are called long or short. "_Q._
What is the _Proportion_ between a long and a short Syllable? _A._ Two to
one; that is, a long Syllable is twice as long in pronouncing as a short
one; as, _Hate, Hat_. This mark (=) set over a Syllable, shows that it is
long, and this (~) that it is short; as, r=ecord, r~ecord.  "_Q_. How do
you _know_ long and short Syllables? _A_. A Syllable is long or short
according to the Situation of the Vowel, i.e. it is generally long when it
ends with a Vowel, and short when with a Consonant; as, _F=a_- in _Favour_,
and _M~an_- in _Manner_."--_Fisher's Practical Gram._, p. 34.

Now one grand mistake of this is, that it supposes syllabication to fix the
quantity, and quantity to determine the accent; whereas it is plain, that
accent controls quantity, so far at least that, in the construction of
verse, a syllable fully accented cannot be reckoned short. And this mistake
is practical; for we see, that, in three of his examples, out of the four
above, the author himself misstates the quantity, because he disregards the
accent: the verb _re-cord'_, being accented on the second syllable, is an
_iambus_; and the nouns _rec'-ord_ and _man'-ner_, being accented on the
first, are _trochees_; and just as plainly so, as is the word _f=av~our_.
But a still greater blunder here observable is, that, as a "_due
pronunciation_" necessarily includes the utterance of every syllable, the
explanation above stolidly supposes _all_ our syllables to be _accented_,
each "according to its Quantity, (whether it be long or short,)" and each
"_with a stronger Force or Stress of Voice_, than _the other_ Syllables!"
Absurdity akin to this, and still more worthy to be criticised, has since
been propagated by Sheridan, by Walker, and by Lindley Murray, with a host
of followers, as Alger, D. Blair, Comly, Cooper, Cutler, Davenport, Felton,
Fowler, Frost, Guy, Jaudon, Parker and Fox, Picket, Pond, Putnam, Russell,
Smith, and others.

OBS. 8.--Sheridan was an able and practical teacher of _English
pronunciation_, and one who appears to have gained reputation by all he
undertook, whether as an actor, as an elocutionist, or as a lexicographer.
His publications that refer to that subject, though now mostly superseded
by others of later date, are still worthy to be consulted. The chief of
them are, his Lectures on Elocution, his Lectures on the Art of Reading,
his Rhetorical Grammar, his Elements of English, and his English
Dictionary. His third lecture on Elocution, and many pages of the
Rhetorical Grammar, are devoted to _accent_ and _quantity_--subjects which
he conceived to have been greatly misrepresented by other writers up to his
time.[495] To this author, as it would seem, we owe the invention of that
absurd doctrine, since copied into a great multitude of our English
grammars, that the accent on a syllable of two or more letters, belongs,
_not to the whole of it, but only to some_ ONE LETTER; and that according
to the character of this letter, as vowel or consonant, the same stress
serves to lengthen or shorten the syllable's quantity! Of this matter, he
speaks thus: "The _great distinction_ of our accent depends upon its
_seat_; which may be either upon a vowel or a consonant. Upon a vowel, as
in the words, glóry, fáther, hóly. Upon a consonant, as in the words,
hab'it, bor'row, bat'tle. When the accent is on the vowel, the syllable is
long; because the accent is _made by dwelling_ upon the vowel. When it is
on the consonant, the _syllable is short_;[496] because the accent is _made
by passing rapidly_ over the vowel, and giving a smart stroke of the voice
to the following consonant. _Obvious as this point is_, it _has wholly
escaped the observation of all our grammarians and compilers of
dictionaries_; who, instead of examining the peculiar genius of our tongue,
implicitly and pedantically have followed the Greek method of always
placing the accentual mark over a vowel."--_Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram._,
p. 51. The author's reprehension of the old mode of accentuation, is not
without reason; but his "great distinction" of short and long syllables is
only fit to puzzle or mislead the reader. For it is plain, that the first
syllables of _hab'it, bor'row_, and _bat'tle_, are twice as long as the
last; and, in poetry, these words are trochees, as well as the other three,
_glo'ry, fa'ther_, and _ho'ly_.

OBS. 9.--The only important distinction in our accent, is that of the
_primary_ and the _secondary_, the latter species occurring when it is
necessary to enforce more syllables of a word than one; but Sheridan, as we
see above, after rejecting all the old distinctions of _rising_ and
_falling, raising_ and _depressing, acute_ and _grave, sharp_ and _base,
long_ and _short_, contrived a new one still more vain, which he founded on
that of vowels and consonants, but "referred to _time_, or _quantity_." He
recognized, in fact, a _vowel accent_ and a _consonant accent_; or, in
reference to quantity, a _lengthening accent_ and a _shortening accent_.
The discrimination of these was with him "THE GREAT DISTINCTION of our
accent." He has accordingly mentioned it in several different places of his
works, and not always with that regard to consistency which becomes a
precise theorist. It led him to new and variant ways of _defining_ accent;
some of which seem to imply a division of consonants from their vowels in
utterance, or to suggest that syllables are not the least parts of spoken
words. And no sooner has he told us that our accent is but one single mode
of distinguishing a syllable, than he proceeds to declare it two. Compare
the following citations: "As the pronunciation of English words is chiefly
regulated by _accent_, it will be necessary to have a _precise idea_ of
that term. Accent with us means _no more_ than _a certain stress_ of the
voice upon _one letter_ of a syllable, which distinguishes it from all the
_other letters_ in a word."--_Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram._, p. 39. Again:
"Accent, in the English language, means _a certain stress_ of the voice
upon _a particular letter_ of a syllable which distinguishes it from the
rest, and, at the same time, _distinguishes the syllable itself_ to which
it belongs from the others which compose the word."--_Same work_, p. 50.
Again: "But as _our accent consists in stress only_, it can just as well be
placed on a consonant as [on] a vowel."--_Same_, p. 51. Again: "By the word
_accent_, is meant _the stress_ of the voice on _one letter_ in a
syllable."--_Sheridan's Elements of English_, p. 55. Again: "The term
[_accent_] with us has no reference to _inflexions_ of the voice, or
musical notes, but only means _a peculiar manner of distinguishing one
syllable of a word from the rest_, denominated by us accent; and the term
for that reason [is] used by us in the singular number.--This distinction
is made by us in _two ways_; either by _dwelling longer upon one syllable_
than the rest; or by _giving it a smarter percussion_ of the voice in
utterance. Of the first of these, we have instances in the words, _gl=ory,
f=ather, h=oly_; of the last, in _bat'tle, hab'it, bor'row_. So that
accent, with us, is not referred to tune, but to _time_; to _quantity_, not
quality; to the more _equable_ or _precipitate_ motion of the voice, not to
the variation of notes or _inflexions_."--_Sheridan's Lectures on
Elocution_, p. 56; _Flint's Murray's Gram._, p. 85.

OBS. 10.--How "precise" was Sheridan's idea of accent, the reader may well
judge from the foregoing quotations; in four of which, he describes it as
"_a certain stress_," "_the stress_," and "_stress only_," which enforces
some "_letter_;" while, in the other, it is whimsically made to consist in
two different modes of pronouncing "_syllables_"--namely, with
_equability_, and with _precipitance_--with "_dwelling longer_," and with
"_smarter percussion_"--which terms the author very improperly supposes to
be _opposites_: saying, "For the two ways of distinguishing syllables by
accent, as mentioned before, are _directly opposite_, and produce _quite
contrary effects_; the one, by _dwelling_ on the syllable, necessarily
makes it long; the other, by the _smart percussion_--of the voice, as
necessarily _makes it short_"--_Ib._, p. 57. Now it is all a mistake,
however common, to suppose that our accent, consisting as it does, in
stress, enforcement, or "percussion of voice," can ever _shorten_ the
syllable on which it is laid; because what increases the quantum of a vocal
sound, cannot diminish its length; and a syllable accented will always be
found _longer_ as well as _louder_, than any unaccented one immediately
before or after it. Though weak sounds may possibly be protracted, and
shorter ones be exploded loudly, it is not the custom of our speech, so to
deal with the sounds of syllables.

OBS. 11.--Sheridan admitted that some syllables are naturally and
necessarily short, but denied that any are naturally and necessarily long.
In this, since syllabic length and shortness are relative to each other,
and to the cause of each, he was, perhaps, hardly consistent. He might have
done better, to have denied both, or neither. Bating his new division of
accent to subject it sometimes to short quantity, he recognized very fully
the dependence of quantity, long or short, whether in syllables or only in
vowels, upon the presence or absence of accent or emphasis. In this he
differed considerably from most of the grammarians of his day; and many
since have continued to uphold other views. He says, "It is an _infallible
rule_ in our tongue that no vowel ever has a long sound in an unaccented
syllable."--_Lectures on Elocution_, p. 60. Again: "In treating of the
simple elements or letters, I have shown that some, both vowels and
consonants, are _naturally short_; that is, whose sounds _cannot possibly_
be prolonged; and these are the [short or shut] sounds of ~e, ~i, and ~u,
of vocal sounds; and three pure mutes, k, p, t, of the consonant; as in the
words _beck, lip, cut_. I have shown also, that the sounds of all the other
vowels, and of the consonant semivowels, may be prolonged to what degree we
please; but at the same time it is to be observed, that all these may also
be reduced to a short quantity, and are capable of being uttered in as
short a space of time as those which are naturally short. So that they who
speak of syllables as absolutely in their own nature long, _the common cant
of prosodians_, speak of a nonentity: for though, as I have shown above,
there are syllables absolutely short, which cannot possibly be prolonged by
any effort of the speaker, yet it is in his power to shorten or prolong the
others to what degree he pleases."--_Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram._, p. 52.
And again: "I have already mentioned that when the accent is on the vowel,
it of course makes the syllable _long_; and when the accent is on the
consonant, the syllable may be _either long or short_, according to the
nature of the consonant, or _will of the speakers_. And as _all unaccented
syllables are short_, the quantity of our syllables is adjusted by the
easiest and simplest rule in the world, and in the exactest
proportion."--_Lect. on Elocution_, p. 66.

OBS. 12.--This praise of our rule for the adjustment of quantity, would
have been much more appropriate, had not the rule itself been greatly
mistaken, perplexed, and misrepresented by the author. If it appear, on
inspection, that "_beck, lip, cut_," and the like syllables, are twice as
long when under the accent, as they are when not accented, so that, with a
short syllable annexed or a long one prefixed, they may form _trochees_;
then is it _not true_, that such syllables are either always necessarily
and _inherently_ short, or always, "by the smart percussion of the voice,
as necessarily _made_ short;" both of which inconsistent ideas are above
affirmed of them. They may not be so long as some other long syllables;
but, if they are twice as long as the accompanying short ones, they are not
short. And, if not short, then that remarkable distinction in accent, which
assumes that they are so, is as needless as it is absurd and perplexing.
Now let the words, _beck'on, lip'ping, cut'ter_, be properly pronounced,
and their syllables be compared with each other, or with those of
_lim'beck, fil'lip, Dr=a'cut_; and it cannot but be perceived, that _beck,
lip_, and _cut_, like other syllables in general, are _lengthened_ by the
accent, and shortened only in its absence; so that all these words are
manifestly trochees, as all similar words are found to be, in our
versification. To suppose "as many words as we hear accents," or that "it
is the laying of an accent on _one_ syllable, which _constitutes a word_,"
and then say, that "no unaccented syllable or vowel is ever to be accounted
long," as this enthusiastic author does in fact, is to make strange
scansion of a very large portion of the trissyllables and polysyllables
which occur in verse. An other great error in Sheridan's doctrine of
quantity, is his notion that all monosyllables, except a few small
particles, are _accented_; and that their quantity is determined to be long
or short by the _seat_ or the _mode_ of the accent, as before stated. Now,
as our poetry abounds with monosyllables, the relative time of which is
adjusted by emphasis and cadence, according to the nature and importance of
the terms, and according to the requirements of rhythm, with no reference
to this factitious principle, no conformity thereto but what is accidental,
it cannot but be a puzzling exercise, when these difficulties come to be
summed up, to attempt the application of a doctrine so vainly conceived to
be "the easiest and simplest rule in the world!"

OBS. 13.--Lindley Murray's principles of accent and quantity, which later
grammarians have so extensively copied, were mostly extracted from
Sheridan's; and, as the compiler appears to have been aware of but few, if
any, of his predecessor's errors, he has adopted and greatly spread
well-nigh all that have just been pointed out; while, in regard to some
points, he has considerably increased the number. His scheme, as he at last
fixed it, appears to consist essentially of propositions already refuted,
or objected to, above; as any reader may see, who will turn to his
definition of accent, and his rules for the determination of quantity. In
opposition to Sheridan, who not very consistently says, that, "_All_
unaccented syllables are _short_," this author appears to have adopted the
greater error of Fisher, who supposed that the _vowel sounds_ called long
and short, are just the same as the long and short _syllabic quantities_.
By this rule, thousands of syllables will be called long, which are in fact
short, being always so uttered in both prose and poetry; and, by the other,
some will occasionally be called short, which are in fact long, being made
so by the poet, under a slight secondary accent, or perhaps none. Again, in
supposing our numerous monosyllables to be accented, and their quantity to
be thereby fixed, without excepting "the _particles_, such as _a, the, to,
in_, &c.," which were excepted by Sheridan, Murray has much augmented the
multitude of errors which necessarily flow from the original rule. This
principle, indeed, he adopted timidly; saying, as though he hardly believed
the assertion true: "And _some writers assert_, that every monosyllable of
two or more letters, has one of its letters thus distinguished."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 236; 12mo, 189. But still he _adopted_ it, and adopted it
_fully_, in his section on Quantity; for, of his twelve words, exemplifying
syllabic time so regulated, no fewer than nine are monosyllables. It is
observable, however, that, in some instances, it is not _one_ letter, but
_two_, that he marks; as in the words, "m=o=od, h=o=use."--_Ib._, p. 239;
12mo, 192. And again, it should be observed, that generally, wherever he
marks accent, he follows the _old mode_, which Sheridan and Webster so
justly condemn; so that, even when he is speaking of "the accent on the
_consonant_," the sign of stress, as that of time, is set over a _vowel_:
as, "Sádly, róbber."--_Ib._, 8vo, 240; 12mo, 193. So in his Spelling-Book,
where words are often falsely divided: as, "Vé nice," for Ven'-ice; "Há no
ver," for Han'o-ver; &c.--See p. 101.

OBS. 14.--In consideration of the great authority of this grammarian, now
backed by a score or two of copyists and modifiers, it may be expedient to
be yet more explicit. Of _accent_ Murray published about as many different
definitions, as did Sheridan; which, as they show what notions he had at
different times, it may not be amiss for some, who hold him always in the
right, to compare. In one, he describes it thus: "Accent signifies _that
stress_ of the voice, which is laid on _one syllable_, to distinguish it
from the rest."--_Murray's Spelling-Book_, p. 138. He should here have
said, (as by his examples it would appear that he meant,) "on one syllable
_of a word_;" for, as the phrase now stands, it may include stress on a
_monosyllable in a sentence_; and it is a matter of dispute, whether this
can properly be called accent. Walker and Webster say, it is emphasis, and
not accent. Again, in an other definition, which was written before he
adopted the notion of accent on consonants, of accent on monosyllables, or
of accent for quantity in the formation of verse, he used these words:
"Accent is _the laying of_ a peculiar stress of the voice on a certain
_vowel_ or syllable in a word, that it may be better heard than the rest,
or distinguished from them; as, in the word _presúme_, the stress of the
voice must be on the second syllable, _súme_, which takes the
accent."--_Murray's Gram., Second Edition_, 12mo, p. 161. In this edition,
which was published at York, in 1796, his chief rules of quantity say
nothing about accent, but are thus expressed: [1.] "A _vowel or syllable_
is long, when _the vowel or vowels contained in it_ are slowly joined in
pronunciation with the _following letters_; as, 'F=all, b=ale, m=o=od,
h=o=use, f=eature.' [2.] A syllable is short, when the vowel is quickly
joined to the succeeding _letter_; as, '~art, b~onn~et, h~ung~er.'"--_Ib._,
p. 166. Besides the absurdity of representing "_a vowel_" as having
"_vowels_ contained in it," these rules are _made up_ of great faults. They
confound syllabic quantities with vowel sounds. They suppose quantity to
be, not the time of a whole syllable, but the quick or slow junction of
_some_ of its parts. They apply to no syllable that ends with a vowel
sound. The former applies to none that ends with one consonant only; as,
"_mood_" or the first of "_feat-ure_." In fact, it does not apply to _any_
of the examples given; the final letter in each of the other words being
_silent_. The latter rule is worse yet: it misrepresents the examples; for
"_bonnet_" and "_hunger_" are trochees, and "_art_," with any stress on it,
is long.

OBS. 15.--In all late editions of L. Murray's Grammar, and many
modifications of it, accent is defined thus: "Accent is _the laying of_ a
peculiar stress of the voice, on a certain _letter_ OR _syllable_ in a
word, that _it_ may be better heard than _the rest_, or distinguished from
_them_; as, in the word _presúme_, the stress of the voice must be on the
_letter u_, AND [the] _second syllable, sume_, which takes the
accent."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 235; 12mo, 188; 18mo, 57; _Alger's_,
72; _Bacon's_, 52; _Comly's_, 168; _Cooper's_, 176; _Davenport's_, 121;
_Felton's_, 134; _Frost's El._, 50; _Fisk's_, 32; _Merchant's_, 145;
_Parker and Fox's_, iii, 44; _Pond's_, 197; _Putnam's_, 96; _Russell's_,
106; _R. O. Smith's_, 186. Here we see a curious jumble of the common idea
of accent, as "stress laid on some particular _syllable_ of a _word_," with
Sheridan's doctrine of accenting always "a particular _letter_ of a
_syllable_,"--an idle doctrine, contrived solely for the accommodation of
short quantity with long, _under the accent_. When this definition was
adopted, Murray's scheme of quantity was also revised, and materially
altered. The principles of his main text, to which his copiers all confine
themselves, then took the following form:

"The quantity of a syllable, is _that_ time which is occupied in
pronouncing it. It is considered as LONG or SHORT.

"A _vowel or syllable_ is long, when the accent is on the vowel; _which_
occasions it to be slowly joined in pronunciation with the following
_letters_: as, 'F=all, b=ale, m=o=od, h=o=use, f=eature.'

"A _syllable_ is short, when the accent is on the consonant; _which_
occasions the vowel to be quickly joined to the succeeding _letter_: as,
'~ant, b=onn~et, h=ung~er.'

"A long syllable generally requires double the time of a short one _in
pronouncing it_: thus, 'M=ate' and 'N=ote' should be pronounced as slowly
again as 'M~at' and 'N~ot.'"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 239; 12mo, 192;
18mo, 57; _Alger's_, 72; _D. C. Allen's_, 86; _Bacon's_, 52; _Comly's_,
168; _Cooper's_, 176; _Cutler's_, 165; _Davenport's_, 121; _Felton's_, 134;
_Frost's El._, 50; _Fisk's_, 32; _Maltby's_, 115; _Parker and Fox's_, iii,
47; _Pond's_, 198; _S. Putnam's_, 96; _R. C. Smith's_, 187; _Rev. T.
Smith's_, 68.

Here we see a revival and an abundant propagation of Sheridan's erroneous
doctrine, that our accent produces both short quantity and long, according
to its seat; and since none of all these grammars, but the first two of
Murray's, give any _other_ rules for the discrimination of quantities, we
must infer, that these were judged sufficient. Now, of all the principles
on which any have ever pretended to determine the quantity of syllables,
none, so far as I know, are more defective or fallacious than these. They
are liable to more objections than it is worth while to specify. Suffice it
to observe, that they divide certain accented syllables into long and
short, and say nothing of the unaccented; whereas it is plain, and
acknowledged even by Murray and Sheridan themselves, that in "_ant, bonnet,
hunger_" and the like, the unaccented syllables are the _only short ones_:
the rest can be, and here are, lengthened.[497]

OBS. 16.--The foregoing principles, differently expressed, and perchance in
some instances more fitly, are found in many other grammars, and in some of
the very latest; but they are everywhere a _mere dead letter_, a record
which, if it is not always untrue, is seldom understood, and never applied
in any way to practice. The following are examples:

(1.) "In a long syllable, the vowel is accented; in a short syllable [,]
the consonant; as [,] _r=oll, p=oll; t~op, c~ut_."--_Rev. W. Allen's
Gram._, p. 222. (2.) "A syllable _or word_ is long, when the accent is on
the vowel: as n=o, l=ine, l=a, m=e; and short, when on the consonant: as
n~ot, l~in, L~atin, m~et."--_S. Barrett's Grammar, ("Principles of
Language,")_ p. 112.

(3.) "A syllable is long when the accent is on the vowel, as, P=all, s=ale,
m=o=use, cr=eature. A syllable is short when the accent is placed on the
consonant; as great´, let´ter, mas´ter."--_Rev. D. Blair's Practical
Gram._, p. 117.

(4.) "When the stress is on the _vowel_, the measure of quantity is _long_:
as, Máte, fáte, complàin, pláyful, un der míne. When the stress is on a
_consonant_, the quantity is short: as, Mat´, fat´, com pel´, prog´ress,
dis man´tle."--_Pardon Davis's Practical Gram._, p. 125.

(5.) "The quantity of a syllable is considered _as long or short_. It is
long when the accent is on the vowel; as, F=all, b=ale, m=ood, ho=use,
f=eature. It is short when the accent is placed on the consonant; as,
Mas´ter, let´ter."--_Guy's School Gram._, p. 118; _Picket's Analytical
School Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 224.

(6.) "A syllable is _long_ when the accent is on the vowel; and _short_,
when the accent is on the consonant. A _long_ syllable requires twice the
time in pronouncing it that a _short_ one does. Long syllables are marked
thus =; as, t=ube; short syllables, thus ~; as, m~an."--_Hiley's English
Gram._, p. 120.

(7.) "When the accent is on a vowel, the syllable is generally long; as
_=aleho=use, am=usement, f=eatures_. But when the accent is on a consonant,
the syllable is mostly short; as, _h~ap'py, m~an'ner_. A long syllable
requires twice as much time in the pronunciation, as a short one; as,
_h=ate, h~at; n=ote, n~ot; c=ane, c~an; f=ine, f~in_."--_Jaudon's Union
Gram._, p. 173.

(8.) "If the syllable _be long_, the accent is on the vowel; as, in _b=ale,
m=o=od, educ=ation; &c_. If _short_, the accent is on the consonant; as, in
_~ant, b~onnet, h~unger_, &c."--_Merchant's American School Gram._, p. 145.

The quantity of our unaccented syllables, none of these authors, except
Allen, thought it worth his while to notice. But among their accented
syllables, they all include _words of one syllable_, though most of them
thereby pointedly contradict their own definitions of accent. To find in
our language no short syllables but such as are accented, is certainly a
very strange and very great oversight. Frazee says, "The pronunciation of
an accented syllable _requires double the time_ of that of an unaccented
one."--_Frazee's Improved Gram._, p. 180. If so, our poetical quantities
are greatly misrepresented by the rules above cited. Allen truly says,
"Unaccented syllables are generally short; as, _r~etúrn, túrn~er_."--
_Elements of E. Gram._, p. 222. But how it was ever found out, that in
these words we accent only the vowel _u_, and in such as _hunter_ and
_bluntly_, some one of the consonants only, he does not inform us.

OBS. 17.--As might be expected, it is not well agreed among those who
accent single consonants and vowels, _what particular letter_ should
receive the stress and the mark. The word or syllable "_ant_," for example,
is marked "an´t" by Alger, Bacon, and others, to enforce the _n_; "ant´" by
Frost, Putnam, and others, to enforce the _t_; "~ant" by Murray, Russell,
and others, to show, as they say, "_the accent on the consonant_!" But, in
"A´NTLER," Dr. Johnson accented the _a_; and, to mark the same
pronunciation, Worcester now writes, "~ANT´LER;" while almost any
prosodist, in scanning, would mark this word "_~antl~er_" and call it a
_trochee_.[498] Churchill, who is in general a judicious observer, writes
thus: "The _leading feature_ in the English language, on which _it's_
melody both in prose and verse _chiefly depends_, is _it's accent_. Every
word in it of _more than one syllable_ has one of _it's_ syllables
distinguished by this from the rest; the accent being in some cases on the
vowel, in others on the _consonant that closes the syllable_; on the vowel,
when it has _it's_ long sound; on the consonant, when the vowel is
short."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 181. But to this, as a rule of
accentuation, no attention is in fact paid nowadays. Syllables that have
long vowels not final, very properly take the sign of stress on or after a
consonant or a mute vowel; as, =an´gel, ch=am´ber, sl=ay´er, b=ead´roll,
sl=ea´zy, sl=e=ep´er, sl=e=eve´less, l=ive´ly, m=ind´ful, sl=ight´ly,
sl=id´ing, b=old´ness, gr=oss´ly, wh=ol´ly, =use´less.--See _Worcester's
Dict._

OBS. 18.--It has been seen, that Murray's principles of quantity were
greatly altered by himself, after the first appearance of his grammar. To
have a full and correct view of them, it is necessary to notice something
more than his main text, as revised, with which all his amenders content
themselves, and which he himself thought sufficient for his Abridgement.
The following positions, which, in some of his revisals, he added to the
large grammar, are therefore cited:--

(1.) "Unaccented syllables are generally short: as, '~admíre, bóldn~ess,
sínn~er.' But to this rule there are _many_ exceptions: as, 'áls=o, éx=ile,
gángr=ene, úmp=ire, f=oretáste,' &c.

(2.) "When the accent is on the consonant, the syllable is often _more or
less short_, as it ends with a _single consonant_, or with more than one:
as, 'Sádly, róbber; persíst, mátchless.'

(3.) "When the accent is on a semi-vowel, the time of the syllable may be
protracted, by dwelling upon the _semi-vowel_: as, 'Cur´, can´, f~ulfil´'
but when the accent falls on a mute, the syllable _cannot be lengthened in
the same manner_: as, 'Búbble, cáptain, tótter.'"--_L. Murray's Gram._,
8vo, p. 240; 12mo, 193.

(4.) "In this work, and in the author's Spelling-book, the vowels _e_ and
_o_, in the first syllable of such words as, behave, prejudge, domain,
propose; and in the second syllable of such as pulley, turkey, borrow,
follow; are considered as _long vowels_. The second syllables in such words
as, baby, spicy, holy, fury, are also considered as _long
syllables_."--_Ib._, 8vo, p. 241.

(5.) "In the words _scarecrow, wherefore_, both the syllables are
_unquestionably long_, but not of equal length. We presume _therefore_,
that the syllables under consideration, [i.e., those which end with the
sound of _e_ or _o_ without accent,] may also be properly styled _long
syllables_, though their length is not equal to that of some
others."--_Murray's Octavo Gram._, p. 241.

OBS. 19.--Sheridan's "_infallible rule_, that no vowel ever has a long
sound in an unaccented syllable," is in striking contrast with three of
these positions, and the exact truth of the matter is with neither author.
But, for the accuracy of his doctrine, Murray appeals to "the authority of
the judicious Walker," which he thinks sufficient to prove any syllable
long whose vowel is called so; while the important distinction suggested by
Walker, in his Principles, No. 529, between "the length or shortness of the
vowels," and "that quantity which constitutes poetry," is entirely
overlooked. It is safe to affirm, that all the accented syllables occurring
in the examples above, are _long_; and all the unaccented ones, _short_:
for Murray's long syllables vary in length, and his short ones in
shortness, till not only the just proportion, but the actual relation, of
long and short, is evidently lost with some of them. Does not _match_ in
"_match´less_," _sad_ in "_sad´ly_," or _bub_ in "_bub´ble_," require more
time, than _so_ in "_al´so_," _key_ in "_tur´key_," or _ly_ in "_ho´ly_"?
If so, four of the preceding positions are very faulty. And so, indeed, is
the remaining one; for where is the sense of saying, that "when the accent
falls _on a mute_, the syllable cannot be lengthened by _dwelling upon the
semi-vowel_"? This is an apparent truism, and yet not true. For a semivowel
in the middle or at the beginning of a syllable, may lengthen it as much as
if it stood at the end. "_Cur_" and "_can_," here given as protracted
syllables, are certainly no longer by usage, and no more susceptible of
protraction, than "_mat_" and "_not_," "_art_" and "_ant_," which are among
the author's examples of short quantity. And if a semivowel accented will
make the syllable long, was it not both an error and a self-contradiction,
to give "_b~onnet_" and "_h~unger_" as examples of quantity _shortened_ by
the accent? The syllable _man_ has two semivowels; and the letter _l_, as
in "_ful fil´_," is the most sonorous of consonants; yet, as we see above,
among their false examples of short syllables accented, different authors
have given the words "_man_" and "_man´ner_," "_disman´tle_" and "_com
pel´_," "_mas´ter_" and "_let´ter_," with sundry other sounds which may
easily be lengthened. Sanborn says, "The _breve_ distinguishes a short
syllable; as, _m~anner_."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 273. Parker and Fox say,
"The Breve (thus ~) is placed over a vowel to indicate _its short sound_;
as, St. H~elena."--_English Gram._, Part iii, p. 31. Both explanations of
this sign are defective; and neither has a suitable example. The name "_St.
H~l=e´n~a_," as pronounced by Worcester, and as commonly heard, is two
trochees; but "_Hel´ena_," for _Helen_, having the penult short, takes the
accent on the first syllable, which is thereby _made long_, though the
vowel sound is _called short_. Even Dr. Webster, who expressly notes the
difference between "long and short _vowels_" and "long and short
_syllables_," allows himself, on the very same page, to confound them: so
that, of his three examples of a _short syllable,--"th~at, not,
m~elon,"_--all are erroneous; two being monosyllables, which any emphasis
must lengthen; and the third,--the word "_m~el´on_,"--with the first
syllable marked short, and not the last! See _Webster's Improved Gram._, p.
157.

OBS. 20.--Among the latest of our English Grammars, is Chandler's new one
of 1847. The Prosody of this work is fresh from the mint; the author's old
grammar of 1821, which is the nucleus of this, being "confined to Etymology
and Syantax." [sic--KTH] If from anybody the public have a right to expect
correctness in the details of grammar, it is from one who has had the
subject so long and so habitually before him. "_Accent_" says this author,
"is _the_ stress on a syllable, _or letter_."--_Chandler's Common School
Gram._, p. 188. Now, if our less prominent words and syllables require any
force at all, a definition so loose as this, may give accent to some words,
or to all; to some syllables, or to all; to some letters, or to all--except
those which are _silent_! And, indeed, whether the stress which
distinguishes some monosyllables from others, is supposed by the writer to
be accent, or emphasis, or both, it is scarcely possible to ascertain from
his elucidations. "The term _emphasis_," says he, "is used to denote a
fuller sound of voice _after_ certain words that come in _antithesis_; that
is, contrast. 'He can _write_, but he cannot _read_.' Here, _read_ and
_write_ are _antithetical_ (that is, in contrast), and are _accented_, or
_emphasized_."--P. 189. The word "_after_" here may be a misprint for the
word _upon_; but no preposition really suits the connexion: the participle
_impressing_ or _affecting_ would be better. Of _quantity_, this work gives
the following account: "The _quantity_ of a _syllable_ is that time which
is required to pronounce it. A syllable may be _long_ or _short_. _Hate_ is
long, as the vowel _a_ is elongated by the final _e_; _hat_ is short, and
requires about half the time for pronunciation which is used for
pronouncing _hate_. So of _ate, at; bate, bat; cure, cur_. Though
unaccented syllables are usually short, yet _many_ of those which are
accented are short also. The following are short: _ád_vent, _sin´_ner,
_sup´_per. In the following, the unaccented syllables are long: ál_so_,
éx_ile_, gán_grene_, úm_pire_. It maybe remarked, that the quantity of a
syllable is short when the accent is on a consonant; as, art´, bon´net,
hun´ger. The _hyphen_ (-), placed over a syllable, denotes that it is long:
n=áture. The breve (~) over a syllable, denotes that it is short; as,
d~etr=áct."--_Chandler's Common School Gram._, p. 189. This scheme of
quantity is truly remarkable for its absurdity and confusion. What becomes
of the elongating power of e, without accent or emphasis, as in _jun´cate,
pal´ate, prel´ate_? Who does not know that such syllables as "_at, bat_,
and _cur_" are often long in poetry? What more absurd, than to suppose both
syllables short in such words as, "_~advent, sin´ner, sup´per_," and then
give "serm~on, f=ilt~er, sp=ir~it, g=ath~er," and the like, for regular
trochees, with "the first syllable long, and the second short," as does
this author? What more contradictory and confused, than to pretend that the
primal sound of a vowel lengthens an unaccented syllable, and accent on the
consonant shortens an accented one, as if in "_âl´so_" the first syllable
must be short and the second long, and then be compelled, by the evidence
of one's senses to mark "ech~o" as a trochee, and "détract" as an iambus?
What less pardonable misnomer, than for a great critic to call the sign of
long quantity a "_hyphen_"?

OBS. 21.--The following suggestions found in two of Dr. Webster's grammars,
are not far from the truth: "Most prosodians who have treated particularly
of this subject, have been guilty of a fundamental error, in considering
the movement of English verse as depending on long and short syllables,
formed by long and short vowels. This hypothesis has led them into capital
mistakes. The truth is, many of those syllables which are considered as
_long_ in verse, are formed by the shortest vowels in the language; as,
_strength, health, grand_. The doctrine that long vowels are necessary to
form long syllables in poetry is at length exploded, and the principles
which regulate the movement of our verse, are explained; viz. _accent_ and
_emphasis_. Every emphatical word, and every accented syllable, will form
what is called in verse, a long syllable. The unaccented syllables, and
unemphatical monosyllabic words, are considered as short
syllables."--_Webster's Philosophical Gram._, p. 222; _Improved Gram._,
158. Is it not remarkable, that, on the same page with this passage, the
author should have given the first syllable of "_melon_" as an example of
_short_ quantity?

OBS. 22.--If the principle is true, which every body now takes for granted,
that the foundation of versifying is some distinction pertaining to
syllables; it is plain, that nothing can be done towards teaching the Art
of Measuring Verses, till it be known _upon what distinction_ in syllables
our scheme of versification is based, and by what rule or rules the
discrimination is, or ought to be, made. Errors here are central, radical,
fundamental. Hence the necessity of these present disquisitions. Without
some effectual criticism on their many false positions, prosodists may
continue to theorize, dogmatize, plagiarize, and blunder on, as they have
done, indefinitely, and knowledge of the rhythmic art be in no degree
advanced by their productions, new or old. For the supposition is, that in
general the consulters of these various oracles are persons more fallible
still, and therefore likely to be misled by any errors that are not
expressly pointed out to them. In this work, it is assumed, that
_quantity_, not laboriously ascertained by "a great variety of rules
applied from the Greek and Latin Prosody," but discriminated on principles
of our own--_quantity_, dependent in some degree on the nature and number
of the letters in a syllable, but still more on the presence or absence of
stress--is the true foundation of our metre. It has already been stated,
and perhaps proved, that this theory is as well supported by authority as
any; but, since Lindley Murray, persuaded wrong by the positiveness of
Sheridan, exchanged his scheme of feet formed by quantities, for a new one
of "feet formed by accents"--or, rather, for an impracticable mixture of
both, a scheme of supposed "_duplicates_ of each foot"--it has been
becoming more and more common for grammarians to represent the basis of
English versification to be, not the distinction of long and short
quantities, but the recurrence of _accent_ at certain intervals. Such is
the doctrine of Butler, Felton, Fowler, S. S. Greene, Hart, Hiley, R. C.
Smith, Weld, Wells, and perhaps others. But, in this, all these writers
contradict themselves; disregard their own definitions of accent; count
monosyllables to be accented or unaccented; displace emphasis from the rank
which Murray and others give it, as "the great regulator of quantity;" and
suppose the length or shortness of syllables not to depend on the presence
or absence of either accent or emphasis; and not to be of much account in
the construction of English verse. As these strictures are running to a
great length, it may be well now to introduce the poetic feet, and to
reserve, for notes under that head, any further examination of opinions as
to what constitutes the _foundation_ of verse.



SECTION III.--OF POETIC FEET.

A verse, or line of poetry., consists of successive combinations of
syllables, called _feet_. A poetic _foot_, in English, consists either of
two or of three syllables, as in the following examples:

1. "C=an t=y | -r~ants b=ut | b~y t=y | -r~ants c=on | -qu~ered
                                               b=e?"--_Byron_.

2. "H=ol~y, | h=ol~y, | h=ol~y! | =all th~e | s=aints ~a | -d=ore
                                               th~ee."--_Heber_.

3. "And th~e br=eath | ~of th~e D=e | -~it~y c=ir | -cl~ed th~e
                                               ro=om."--_Hunt_.

4. "H=ail t~o th~e | chi=ef wh~o ~in | tr=i~umph ~ad |-v=anc~es!"--_Scott_.


EXPLANATIONS AND DEFINITIONS.

Poetic feet being arbitrary combinations, contrived merely for the
measuring of verses, and the ready ascertainment of the syllables that suit
each rhythm, there is among prosodists a perplexing diversity of opinion,
as to the _number_ which we ought to recognize in our language. Some will
have only two or three; others, four; others, eight; others, twelve. The
dozen are all that can be made of two syllables and of three. Latinists
sometimes make feet of four syllables, and admit sixteen more of these,
acknowledging and naming twenty-eight in all. The _principal_ English feet
are the _Iambus_, the _Trochee_, the _Anapest_, and the _Dactyl_.

1. The _Iambus_, or _Iamb_, is a poetic foot consisting of a short syllable
and a long one; as, _b~etr=ay, c~onf=ess, d~em=and, ~intent, d~egr=ee_.

2. The _Trochee_, or _Choree_, is a poetic foot consisting of a long
syllable and a short one; as, _h=atef~ul, p=ett~ish, l=eg~al, m=eas~ure,
h=ol~y_.

3. The _Anapest_ is a poetic foot consisting of two short syllables and one
long one; as, _c~ontr~av=ene, ~acqu~i=esce, ~imp~ort=une_.

4. The _Dactyl_ is a poetic foot consisting of one long syllable and two
short ones; as, _l=ab~our~er, p=oss~ibl~e, w=ond~erf~ul_.

These are our principal feet, not only because they are oftenest used, but
because each kind, with little or no mixture, forms a distinct order of
numbers, having a peculiar rhythm. Of verse, or poetic measure, we have,
accordingly, four principal kinds, or orders; namely, _Iambic, Trochaic,
Anapestic_, and _Dactylic_; as in the four lines cited above.

The more pure these several kinds are preserved, the more exact and
complete is the chime of the verse. But exactness being difficult, and its
sameness sometimes irksome, the poets generally indulge some variety; not
so much, however, as to confound the drift of the rhythmical pulsations:
or, if ever these be not made obvious to the reader, there is a grave fault
in the versification.

The _secondary_ feet, if admitted at all, are to be admitted only, or
chiefly, as occasional diversifications. Of this class of feet, many
grammarians adopt four; but they lack agreement about the selection.
Brightland took the _Spondee_, the _Pyrrhic_, the _Moloss_, and the
_Tribrach_. To these, some now add the other four; namely, the
_Amphibrach_, the _Amphimac_, the _Bacchy_, and the _Antibacchy_.

Few, if any, of these feet are really _necessary_ to a sufficient
explanation of English verse; and the adopting of so many is liable to the
great objection, that we thereby produce different modes of measuring the
same lines. But, by naming them all, we avoid the difficulty of selecting
the most important; and it is proper that the student should know the
import of all these prosodical terms.

5. A _Spondee_ is a poetic foot consisting of two long syllables; as,
_c=old n=ight, p=o=or s=ouls, ~am~en, shr=ovet=ide._

6. A _Pyrrhic_ is a poetic foot consisting of two short syllables; as,
presumpt-|_~uo~us_, perpet-|_~u~al_, unhap-|_p~il~y_, inglo-|_r~io~us_.

7. A _Moloss_ is a poetic foot consisting of three long syllables; as,
_De~ath's p=ale h=orse,--gre=at wh=ite thr=one,--d=eep d=amp v=a=ult._

8. A _Tribrach_ is a poetic foot consisting of three short syllables; as,
prohib-|_~it~or~y_, unnat-|_~ur~all~y_, author-|_~it~at~ive_,
innum-|_~er~abl~e_.

9. An _Amphibrach_ is a poetic foot of three syllables, having both sides
short, the middle long; as, _~impr=ud~ent, c~ons=id~er, tr~ansp=ort~ed._

10. An _Amphimac, Amphimacer_, or _Cretic_, is a poetic foot of three
syllables, having both sides long, the middle short; as, _w~ind~ingsh=eet,
l=ife-~est=ate, s=oul-d~is~eased._

11. A _Bacchy_ is a poetic foot consisting of one short syllable and two
long ones; as, _th=e wh=ole w~orld,--~a gre=at v=ase,--=of p=ure g=old_.

12. An _Antibacchy_, or _Hypobacchy_, is a poetic foot consisting of two
long syllables and a short one; as, _kn=ight-s=erv~ice, gl=obe-d=ais~y,
gr=ape-flow~er, g=old-b=eat~er_.

Among the variegations of verse, one emphatic syllable is sometimes counted
for a foot. "When a single syllable is [thus] taken by itself, it is called
a _Cæsura_, which is commonly a long syllable." [499]

FOR EXAMPLE:--

   "Keeping | _time, | time, | time_,
    In a | sort of | Runic | _rhyme_,
    To the | tintin| -nabu| -lation that so | musi| -cally | _wells_
    From the | _bells, |  bells, |  bells, | bells,
    Bells, | bells, |  bells._"
        --EDGAR A. POE: _Union Magazine, for Nov. 1849; Literary World_,
          No. 143.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--In defining our poetic feet, many late grammarians substitute the
terms _accented_ and _unaccented_ for _long_ and _short_, as did Murray,
after some of the earlier editions of his grammar; the only feet recognized
in his _second_ edition being the _Iambus_, the _Trochee_, the _Dactyl_,
and the _Anapest_, and all these being formed by _quantities_ only. This
change has been made on the supposition, that accent and long quantity, as
well as their opposites, nonaccent and short quantity, may oppose each
other; and that the basis of English verse is not, like that of Latin or
Greek poetry, a distinction in the _time_ of syllables, not a difference in
_quantity_, but such a course of accenting and nonaccenting as overrides
all relations of this sort, and makes both length and shortness compatible
alike with stress or no stress. Such a theory, I am persuaded, is
untenable. Great authority, however, may be quoted for it, or for its
principal features. Besides the several later grammarians who give it
countenance, even "the judicious Walker," who, in his Pronouncing
Dictionary, as before cited, very properly suggests a difference between
"_that quantity which constitutes poetry_," and the mere "_length or
shortness of vowels_," when he comes to explain our English accent and
quantity, in his "_Observations on the Greek and Latin Accent and
Quantity_," finds "accent perfectly compatible with either long or short
quantity;" (_Key_, p. 312;) repudiates that vulgar accent of Sheridan and
others, which "is only a greater force upon one syllable than another;"
(_Key_, p. 313;) prefers the doctrine which "makes the elevation or
depression of the voice inseparable from accent;" (_Key_, p. 314;) holds
that, "unaccented vowels are frequently pronounced long when the accented
vowels are short;" (_Key_, p. 312;) takes long or short _vowels_ and long
or short _syllables_ to be things everywhere tantamount; saying, "We have
_no conception_ of quantity arising from any thing but the nature of the
vowels, as they are pronounced long or short;" (_ibid._;) and again: "Such
long quantity" as consonants may produce with a close or short vowel, "an
English ear _has not the least idea of_. Unless the sound of the vowel be
altered, we have _not any conception_ of a long or short
syllable."--_Walker's Key_, p. 322; and _Worcester's Octavo Dict._, p. 935.

OBS. 2.--In the opinion of Murray, Walker's authority should be thought
sufficient to settle any question of prosodial quantities. "But," it is
added, "there are some critical writers, who dispute the propriety of his
arrangement."--_Murray's Octavo Gram._, p. 241. And well there may be; not
only by reason of the obvious incorrectness of the foregoing positions, but
because the great orthoëpist is not entirely consistent with himself. In
his "_Preparatory Observations_," which introduce the very essay above
cited, he avers that, "the different states of the voice," which are
indicated by the comparative terms _high_ and _low, loud_ and _soft, quick_
and _slow, forcible_ and _feeble_, "may not improperly be called
_quantities_ of sound."--_Walker's Key_, p. 305. Whoever thinks this,
certainly conceives of quantity as arising from _several other things_ than
"the nature of the vowels." Even Humphrey, with whom, "Quantity differs
materially from time," and who defines it, "the weight, or aggregate
quantum of sounds," may find his questionable and unusual "conception" of
it included among these.

OBS. 3.--Walker must have seen, as have the generality of prosodists since,
that such a distinction as he makes between long syllables and short, could
not possibly be the basis of English versification, or determine the
elements of English feet; yet, without the analogy of any known usage, and
contrary to our customary mode of reading the languages, he proposes it as
applicable--and as the only doctrine conceived to be applicable--to Greek
or Latin verse. Ignoring all long or short quantity not formed by what are
called long or short vowels,[500] he suggests, "_as a last refuge_," (§25,)
the very doubtful scheme of reading Latin and Greek poetry with the vowels
conformed, agreeably to this English sense of _long_ and _short_ vowel
sounds, to the ancient rules of quantity. Of such words as _fallo_ and
_ambo_, pronounced as we usually utter them, he says, "_nothing can be more
evident_ than the long quantity of the final vowel though without the
accent, and the short quantity of the initial and accented
syllable."--_Obs. on Greek and Lat. Accent_, §23; Key, p. 331. Now the very
reverse of this appears to me to be "evident." The _a_, indeed, may be
close or short, while the _o_, having its primal or _name_ sound, is
_called_ long; but the first _syllable_, if fully accented, will have
_twice the time_ of the second; nor can this proportion be reversed but by
changing the accent, and misplacing it on the latter syllable. Were the
principle _true_, which the learned author pronounces so "evident," these,
and all similar words, would constitute _iambic feet_; whereas it is plain,
that in English they are _trochees_; and in Latin,--where "_o_ final is
_common_,"--either _trochees_ or _spondees_. The word _ambo_, as every
accurate scholar knows, is always a _trochee_, whether it be the Latin
adjective for "_both_," or the English noun for "_a reading desk_, or
_pulpit_."

OBS. 4.--The names of our poetic feet are all of them derived, by change of
endings, from similar names used in Greek, and thence also in Latin; and,
of course, English words and Greek or Latin, so related, are presumed to
stand for things somewhat similar. This reasonable presumption is an
argument, too often disregarded by late grammarians, for considering our
poetic feet to be quantitative, as were the ancient,--not accentual only,
as some will have them,--nor separately both, as some others absurdly
teach. But, whatever may be the difference or the coincidence between
English verse and Greek or Latin, it is certain, that, in _our_ poetic
division of syllables, strength and length must always concur, and any
scheme which so contrasts accent with long quantity, as to confound the
different species of feet, or give contradictory names to the same foot,
must be radically and grossly defective. In the preceding section it has
been shown, that the principles of quantity adopted by Sheridan, Murray,
and others, being so erroneous as to be wholly nugatory, were as unfit to
be the basis of English verse, as are Walker's, which have just been spoken
of. But, the puzzled authors, instead of reforming these their elementary
principles, so as to adapt them to the quantities and rhythms actually
found in our English verse, have all chosen to assume, that our poetical
feet in general _differ radically_ from those which the ancients called by
the same names; and yet the _coincidence_ found--the "_exact sameness of
nature_" acknowledged--is sagely said by some of them _to duplicate each
foot into two distinct sorts for our especial advantage_; while the
_difference_, which they presume to exist, or which their false principles
of accent and quantity would create, between feet quantitative and feet
accentual, (both of which are allowed to us,) would _implicate different
names_, and convert foot into foot--iambs, trochees, spondees, pyrrhics,
each species into some other--till all were confusion!

OBS. 5.--In Lindley Murray's revised scheme of feet, we have first a
paragraph from Sheridan's Rhetorical Grammar, suggesting that the ancient
poetic measures were formed of syllables divided "into _long_ and _short_,"
and affirming, what is not very true, that, for the forming of ours, "In
English, syllables are divided into _accented_ and _unaccented_."--_Rhet.
Gram._, p. 64; _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, 253; _Hart's Gram._, 182; and others.
Now _some_ syllables are accented, and others are unaccented; but syllables
singly significant, i.e., monosyllables, which are very numerous, belong to
neither of these classes. The contrast is also comparatively new; our
language had much good poetry, long before _accented_ and _unaccented_ were
ever thus misapplied in it. Murray proceeds thus: "When the feet are
formed by _accent on vowels_, they are _exactly of the same nature as
ancient feet_, and have the same just quantity in their syllables. So that,
in this respect, _we have all that the ancients had_, and something which
they had not. We have in fact _duplicates of each foot_, yet with such a
_difference_, as to fit them for _different purposes_, to be applied at our
pleasure."--_Ib._, p. 253. Again: "_We_ have observed, that _English verse
is composed of feet formed by accent_; and that when the accent falls on
_vowels_, the feet are equivalent to those formed by quantity."--_Ib._, p.
258. And again: "From the preceding view of English versification, we may
see _what a copious stock of materials_ it possesses. For _we are not only
allowed the use of all the ancient poetic feet_, in our _heroic measure_,
but we have, as before observed, _duplicates of each_, agreeing in
movement, though differing in measure,[501] _and which_ make different
impressions on the ear; _an opulence peculiar_ to our language, _and which_
may be the source of a boundless variety."--_Ib._, p. 259.

OBS. 6.--If it were not dullness to overlook the many errors and
inconsistencies of this scheme, there should be thought a rare ingenuity in
thus turning them all to the great advantage and peculiar riches of the
English tongue! Besides several grammatical faults, elsewhere noticed,
these extracts exhibit, first, the inconsistent notion--of "_duplicates
with a difference_;" or, as Churchill expresses it, of "_two distinct
species of each foot_;" (_New Gram._, p. 189;) and here we are gravely
assured withal, that these _different sorts_, which have no separate names,
are sometimes forsooth, "_exactly of the same nature_"! Secondly, it is
incompatibly urged, that, "English verse is _composed of feet formed by
accent_," and at the same time shown, that it partakes largely of _feet
"formed by quantity_." Thirdly, if "_we have all that the ancients had_,"
of poetic feet, and "_duplicates of each_," "_which they had not_" we are
encumbered with an enormous surplus; for, of the twenty-eight Latin
feet,[502] mentioned by Dr. Adam and others, Murray never gave the names of
more than eight, and his early editions acknowledged _but four_, and these
_single_, not "_duplicates_"--_unigenous_, not severally of "_two
species_." Fourthly, to suppose a multiplicity of feet to be "_a copious
stock of materials_" for versification, is as absurd as to imagine, in any
other case, a variety of _measures_ to be materials for producing the thing
measured. Fifthly, "_our heroic measure_" is _iambic pentameter_, as Murray
himself shows; and, to give to this, "_all the ancient poetic feet_," is to
bestow most of them where they are least needed. Sixthly, "feet _differing
in measure_," so as to "_make different impressions on the ear_," cannot
well be said to "_agree in movement_," or to be "_exactly of the same
nature!_"

OBS. 7.--Of the foundation of metre, _Wells_ has the following account:
"The _quantity_ of a syllable is the relative time occupied in its
pronunciation. A syllable may be _long_ in quantity, as _fate_; or _short_,
as _let_. The Greeks and Romans based their poetry on the quantity of
syllables; but modern versification depends chiefly upon accent, the
quantity of syllables being almost wholly disregarded."--_School Gram._,
1st Ed., p. 185. Again: "_Versification_ is a measured arrangement of
words[,] in which the _accent_ is made to recur at certain regular
intervals. This definition applies only to modern verse. In Greek and Latin
poetry, it is the regular recurrence of _long syllables_, according to
settled laws, which constitutes verse."--_Ib._, p. 186. The contrasting of
ancient and modern versification, since Sheridan and Murray each contrived
an example of it, has become very common in our grammars, though not in
principle very uniform; and, however needless where a correct theory
prevails, it is, to such views of accent and quantity as were adopted by
these authors, and by Walker, or their followers, but a necessary
counterpart. The notion, however, that English verse has less regard to
quantity than had that of the old Greeks or Romans, is a mere assumption,
originating in a false idea of what quantity is; and, that Greek or Latin
verse was less accentual than is ours, is another assumption, left
proofless too, of what many authors disbelieve and contradict. Wells's
definition of quantity is similar to mine, and perhaps unexceptionable; and
yet his idea of the thing, as he gives us reason to think, was very
different, and very erroneous. His examples imply, that, like Walker, he
had "no conception of quantity arising from any thing but the nature of the
vowels,"--no conception of a long or a short _syllable_ without what is
called a long or a short _vowel sound_. That "the Greeks and Romans based
their poetry on quantity" of that restricted sort,--on _such "quantity"_ as
"_fate_" and "_let_" may serve to discriminate,--is by no means probable;
nor would it be more so, were a hundred great modern masters to declare
themselves ignorant of any other. The words do not distinguish at all the
long and short quantities even of our own language; much less can we rely
on them for an idea of what is long or short in other tongues. Being
monosyllables, both are long with emphasis, both short without it; and,
could they be accented, accent too would lengthen, as its absence would
shorten both. In the words _phosphate_ and _streamlet_, we have the same
sounds, both short; in _lettuce_ and _fateful_, the same, both long. This
cannot be disproved. And, in the scansion of the following stanza from
Byron, the word "_Let_" twice used, is to be reckoned a _long_ syllable,
and not (as Wells would have it) a short one:

   "Cavalier! and man of worth!
    _Let_ these words of mine go forth;
    _Let_ the Moorish Monarch know,
    That to him I nothing owe:
      Wo is me, Alhama!"

OBS. 8.--In the English grammars of Allen H. Weld, works remarkable for
their egregious inaccuracy and worthlessness, yet honoured by the Boston
school committee of 1848 and '9, the author is careful to say, "Accent
should not be confounded with emphasis. _Emphasis_ is a stress of voice on
a word in a sentence, to mark its importance. _Accent_ is a stress of voice
on a syllable in a word." Yet, within seven lines of this, we are told,
that, "A _verse_ consists of a certain number of _accented and unaccented
syllables_, arranged according to certain rules."--_Weld's English
Grammar_, 2d Edition, p. 207; "Abridged Edition," p. 137. A doctrine cannot
be contrived, which will more evidently or more extensively confound accent
with emphasis, than does this! In English verse, on an average, about three
quarters of the words are monosyllables, which, according to Walker, "have
no accent," certainly none distinguishable from emphasis; hence, in fact,
our syllables are no more "divided into _accented_ and _unaccented_" as
Sheridan and Murray would have them, than into _emphasized_ and
_unemphasized_, as some others have thought to class them. Nor is this
confounding of accent with emphasis at all lessened or palliated by
teaching with Wells, in its justification, that, "The term _accent_ is also
applied, in poetry, to _the_ stress laid on monosyllabic words."--_Wells's
School Gram._, p. 185; 113th Ed., §273. What better is this, than to apply
the term _emphasis_ to the accenting of syllables in poetry, or to all the
stress in question, as is virtually done in the following citation? "In
English, verse is regulated by the _emphasis_, as there should be one
_emphatic_ syllable in every foot; for it is by the interchange of
_emphatick_ and _non-emphatick_ syllables, that verse grateful to the ear
is formed."--_Thomas Coar's E. Gram._, p. 196. In Latin poetry, the longer
words predominate, so that, in Virgil's verse, not one word in five is a
monosyllable; hence accent, if our use of it were adjusted to the Latin
quantities, might have much more to do with Latin verse than with English.
With the following lines of Shakspeare, for example, accent has, properly
speaking, no connexion;

   "Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet;
    But thou shalt have; and creep time ne'er so slow,
    Yet it shall come, for me to do thee good.
    I had a thing to say,--But let it go."--_King John_, Act iii, Sc. 3.

OBS. 9.--T. O. Churchill, after stating that the Greek and Latin rhythms
are composed of syllables long and short, sets ours in contrast with them
thus: "These terms are commonly employed also in speaking of English verse,
though it is marked, _not by long and short_, but by accented and
unaccented syllables; the accented syllables being _accounted_ long; the
unaccented, short."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 183. This, though far from
being right, is very different from the doctrine of Murray or Sheridan;
because, in practice, or the scansion of verses, it comes to the _same
results_ as to suppose all our feet to be "formed by quantity." To
_account_ syllables long or short and not _believe_ them to _be_ so, is a
ridiculous inconsistency: it is a shuffle in the name of science.

OBS. 10.--Churchill, though not apt to be misled by others' errors, and
though his own scanning has no regard to the principle, could not rid
himself of the notion, that the quantity of a syllable must depend on the
"vowel sound." Accordingly he says, "Mr. Murray _justly observes_, that our
accented syllables, or those reckoned long:, may have either _a long or [a]
short vowel sound_, so that we have _two distinct species_ of each
foot."--_New Gram._, p. 189. The obvious impossibility of "two distinct
species" in one,--or, as Murray has it, of "duplicates fitted for different
purposes,"--should have prevented the teaching and repeating of this
nonsense, propound it who might. The commender himself had not such faith
in it as is here implied. In a note, too plainly incompatible with this
praise, he comments thus: "Mr. Murray adds, that this is 'an opulence
_peculiar_ to our language, and which may be the source of a boundless
variety:' a point, on which, I confess, _I have long entertained doubts_. I
am inclined to suspect that the English mode of reading verse _is
analogous_ to that of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Dion. Hal., _de Comp.,
Verb_. §xi, speaks of the _rhythm of verse differing_ from the proper
measure of the syllables, and often reversing it: does not this imply, that
the ancients, contrary to the opinion of the learned author of
Metronariston, read verse as we do?"--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 393, note
329.

OBS. 11.--The nature, chief sources, and true distinction of _quantity_, at
least as it pertains to our language, I have set forth with clearness,
first in the short chapter on Utterance, and again, more fully in this,
which treats of Versification; but that the syllables, long and short, of
the old Greek and Latin poets, or the feet they made of them, are to be
expounded on precisely the same principles that apply to ours. I have not
deemed it necessary to affirm or to deny. So far as the same laws are
applicable, let them be applied. This important property of
syllables,--their _quantity_, or relative time,--which is the basis of all
rhythm, is, as my readers have seen, very variously treated, and in general
but ill appreciated, by our English prosodists, who ought, at least in this
their own province, to understand it all alike, and as it is; and so common
among the erudite is the confession of Walker, that "the accent and
quantity of the ancients" are, to modern readers, "obscure and mysterious,"
that it will be taken as a sign of arrogance and superficiality, to pretend
to a very certain knowledge of them. Nor is the difficulty confined to
Latin and Greek verse: the poetry of our own ancestors, from any remote
period, is not easy of scansion. Dr. Johnson, in his History of the English
Language, gave examples, with this remark: "Of the _Saxon_ poetry some
specimen is necessary, though our ignorance of the laws of their metre and
the quantities of their syllables, _which it would be very difficult,
perhaps impossible, to recover_, excludes us from that pleasure which the
old bards undoubtedly gave to their contemporaries."

OBS. 12.--The imperfect measures of "the father of English poetry," are
said by Dryden to have been _adapted to the ears_ of the rude age which
produced them. "The verse of Chaucer," says he, "I confess, is not
harmonious to us; but it is like the eloquence of one whom Tacitus
commends, it was _auribus istius temporis accommodata_:' they who lived
with him, and sometime after him, thought it musical; and it continues so
even in our judgment, if compared with the numbers of Lidgate and Gower,
his contemporaries: there is the rude sweetness of a Scotch tune in it,
which is natural and pleasing, though not perfect. It is true, I cannot go
so far as he who published the last edition of him; for he would make us
believe that the fault is in _our ears_, and that there were really ten
syllables in a verse where we find but nine: but this opinion is not worth
confuting; it is so gross and obvious an error, that common sense (which is
a rule in every thing but matters of faith and revelation) must convince
the reader that equality of numbers in every verse, which we call Heroic,
was either not known, or not always practised in Chaucer's age. It were an
easy matter to produce some thousands of his verses, which are lame for
want of half a foot, and sometimes a whole one, and which no pronunciation
can make otherwise. We can only say, that he lived in the infancy of our
poetry, and that nothing is brought to perfection at the first."--_British
Poets_, Vol. iii, p. 171.

OBS. 13.--Dryden appears to have had more faith in the ears of his own age
than in those of an earlier one; but Poe, of our time, himself an ingenious
versifier, in his Notes upon English Verse, conveys the idea that all ears
are alike competent to appreciate the elements of metre. "Quantity,"
according to his dogmatism, "is a point in the investigation of which the
lumber of mere learning may be dispensed with, if ever in any. _Its
appreciation_" says he, "_is universal_. It appertains to no region, nor
race, nor era in especial. To melody and to harmony the Greeks hearkened
with ears precisely similar to those which we employ, for similar purposes,
at present; and a pendulum at Athens would have vibrated much after the
same fashion as does a pendulum in the city of Penn."--_The Pioneer_, Vol.
i. p. 103. Supposing here not even the oscillations of the same pendulum to
be more uniform than are the nature and just estimation of quantity the
world over, this author soon after expounds his idea of the thing as
follows: "I have already said that all syllables, in metre, are either long
or short. Our usual prosodies maintain that a long syllable is equal, in
its time, to two short ones; this, however, is but an approach to the
truth. It should be here observed that the quantity of an English syllable
_has no dependence upon_ the sound of its vowel or dipthong [diphthong],
but [depends] chiefly upon _accentuation_. Monosyllables are exceedingly
variable, and, for the most part, may be either long or short, to suit the
demand of the rhythm. In polysyllables, the accented _ones_ [say,
_syllables_] are always long, while those which immediately precede or
succeed them, are always short. _Emphasis_ will render any short syllable
long."--_Ibid._, p. 105. In penning the last four sentences, the writer
must have had Brown's Institutes of English Grammar before him, and open at
page 235.

OBS. 14.--Sheridan, in his Rhetorical Grammar, written about 1780, after
asserting that a distinction of accent, and not of quantity, marks the
movement of English verse, proceeds as follows: "From not having examined
the peculiar genius of our tongue, our Prosodians have fallen into a
variety of errors; some having adopted the rules of our neighbours, the
French; and others having had recourse to those of the ancients; though
neither of them, in reality, would square with our tongue, on account of an
essential difference _between them_. [He means, "_between each language and
ours_," and should have said so.] With regard to the French, they measured
verses by the number of syllables whereof they were composed, on account of
a constitutional defect in their tongue, which rendered it incapable of
numbers formed by poetic feet. For it has neither accent nor quantity
suited to the purpose; the syllables of their words being for the most part
equally accented; and the number of long syllables being out of all
proportion greater than that of the short. Hence for a long time it was
supposed, _as it is by most people at present_, that our verses were
composed, not of feet, but syllables; and accordingly they _are
denominated_ verses often, eight, six, or four syllables, _even to this
day_. Thus have we lost sight of the great advantage which our language has
given us over the French, in point of poetic numbers, by its being capable
of a geometrical proportion, on which the harmony of versification depends;
and blindly reduced ourselves to that of the arithmetical kind which
contains no natural power of pleasing the ear. And hence like the French,
our chief pleasure in verse arises from the poor ornament of
rhyme."--_Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram._, p. 64.

OBS. 15.--In a recent work on this subject, Sheridan is particularly
excepted, and he alone, where Hallam, Johnson, Lord Kames, and other
"Prosodians" in general, are charged with "astonishing ignorance of the
first principles of our verse;" and, at the same time, he is as
particularly commended of having "especially insisted on the subject of
Quantity."--_Everett's English Versification, Preface_, p. 6. That the
rhetorician was but slenderly entitled to these compliments, may plainly
appear from the next paragraph of his Grammar just cited; for therein he
mistakingly represents it as a central error, to regard our poetic feet as
being "formed by quantity" at all. "Some few of our Prosodians," says he,
"finding this to be an error, and that our verses were really composed of
feet, not syllables, without farther examination, boldly applied all the
rules of the Latin prosody to our versification; though scarce any of them
answered exactly, and some of them were utterly incompatible with the
genius of our tongue. _Thus because the Roman feet were formed by quantity,
they asserted the same of ours, denominating all the accented syllables
long; whereas I have formerly shewn, that the accent, in some cases, as
certainly makes the syllable on which it is laid, short, as in others it
makes it long_. And their whole theory of quantity, borrowed from the
Roman, in which they endeavour to establish the proportion of long and
short, as immutably fixed to the syllables of words constructed in a
certain way, at once falls to the ground; when it is shewn, that the
quantity of our syllables is _perpetually varying with the sense_, and is
_for the most part regulated by_ EMPHASIS: which has been fully proved in
the course of Lectures on the Art of reading Verse; where it has been also
shewn, that _this very circumstance_ has given us an _amazing advantage
over the ancients_ in the point of poetic numbers."--_Sheridan's
Rhetorical Gram._, p. 64.

OBS. 16.--The lexicographer here claims to have "_shewn_" or "_proved_,"
what he had only _affirmed_, or _asserted_. Erroneously taking the quality
of the vowel for the quantity of the syllable, he had suggested, in his
confident way, that short quantity springs from the accenting of
_consonants_, and long quantity, from the accenting of _vowels_--a doctrine
which has been amply noticed and refuted in a preceding section of the
present chapter. Nor is he, in what is here cited, consistent with himself.
For, in the first place, nothing comes nearer than this doctrine of his, to
an "endeavour to establish the proportion of long and short, as immutably
fixed to the syllables of words constructed in a certain way"! Next,
although he elsewhere contrasts accent and emphasis, and supposes them
different, he either confounds them in reference to verse, or contradicts
himself by ascribing to each the chief control over quantity. And, lastly,
if our poetic feet are not quantitative, not formed of syllables long and
short, as were the Roman, what "advantage over the ancients," can we derive
from the fact, that quantity is regulated by stress, whether accent or
emphasis?

OBS. 17.--We have, I think, no prosodial treatise of higher pretensions
than Erastus Everett's "System of English Versification," first published
in 1848. This gentleman professes to have borrowed no idea but what he has
regularly quoted. "He mentions this, that it may not be supposed that this
work is a compilation. It will be seen," says he, "how great a share of it
is original; and the author, having deduced his rules from the usage of the
great poets, has the best reason for being confident of their
correctness."--_Preface_, p. 5. Of the place to be filled by this System,
he has the following conception: "It is thought to supply an important
desideratum. It is a matter of surprise to the foreign student, who
attempts the study of English poetry and the structure of its verse, to
find that _we have no work on which he can rely as authority on this
subject_. In the other modern languages, the most learned philologers have
treated of the subject of versification, in all its parts. In English
alone, in a language which possesses a body of poetical literature more
extensive, as well as more valuable than any other modern language, not
excepting the Italian, _the student has no rules to guide him_, but a few
meagre and incorrect outlines appended to elementary text-books." Then
follows this singularly inconsistent exception: "We must except from this
remark two works, published in the latter part of the sixteenth century.
But as they were written before the poetical language of the English tongue
was fixed, and as the rules of verse were not then settled, these works can
be of little practical utility."--_Preface_, p. 1. The works thus excepted
as of _reliable authority without practical utility_, are "a short tract by
_Gascoyne_," doubtless _George Gascoigne's_ 'Notes of Instruction
concerning the making of Verse or Rhyme in English,' published in 1575, and
Webbe's 'Discourse of English Poetry,' dated 1586, neither of which does
the kind exceptor appear to have ever seen! Mention is next made,
successively, of Dr. Carey, of Dryden, of Dr. Johnson, of Blair, and of
Lord Kames. "To these _guides_," or at least to the last two, "the author
is indebted for many valuable hints;" yet he scruples not to say, "Blair
betrays a paucity of knowledge on this subject;"--"Lord Kames has slurred
over the subject of Quantity," and "shown an unpardonable ignorance of the
first principles of Quantity in our verse;"--and, "Even Dr. Johnson speaks
of syllables in such a manner as would lead us to suppose that he was in
the same error as Kames. These inaccuracies," it is added, "can be
accounted for only from the fact that Prosodians have not thought
_Quantity_ of sufficient importance to merit their attention."--See
_Preface_, p. 4-6.

OBS. 18.--Everett's Versification consists of seventeen chapters, numbered
consecutively, but divided into two parts, under the two titles Quantity
and Construction. Its specimens of verse are numerous, various, and
beautiful. Its modes of scansion--the things chiefly to be taught--though
perhaps generally correct, are sometimes questionable, and not always
consonant with the writer's own rules of quantity. From the citations
above, one might expect from this author such an exposition of quantity, as
nobody could either mistake or gainsay; but, as the following platform will
show, his treatment of this point is singularly curt and incomplete. He is
so sparing of words as not even to have given a _definition_ of quantity.
He opens his subject thus: "VERSIFICATION is the proper arrangement of
words in _a line_ according to _their quantity_, and the disposition of
_these lines in_ couplets, stanzas, or in blank verse, in such order, and
according to such rules, as are sanctioned by usage.--A FOOT is a
combination of two or _more_ syllables, whether long or short.--A LINE is
one foot, or more than one.--The QUANTITY of each _word_ depends on its
_accent_. In words of more than one syllable, all accented syllables are
long, and all unaccented syllables are short. Monosyllables are long or
short, according to the following Rules:--1st. All Nouns, Adjectives,
Verbs, and Participles are long.--2nd. The articles are always short.--3rd,
The Pronouns are long or short, according to _emphasis_.--4th.
Interjections and Adverbs are generally long, but sometimes _made short by
emphasis_.--5th. Prepositions and Conjunctions are almost always _short_,
but sometimes _made long by emphasis_."--_English Versification_, p. 13.
None of these principles of quantity are unexceptionable; and whoever
follows them implicitly, will often differ not only from what is right, but
from their author himself in the analysis of verses. Nor are they free from
important antagonisms. "Emphasis," as here spoken of, not only clashes with
"accent," but contradicts itself, by making some syllables long and some
short; and, what is more mysteriously absurd, the author says, "It
_frequently happens_ that syllables _long by_ QUANTITY become _short by_
EMPHASIS."--_Everett's Eng. Versif._, 1st Ed., p. 99. Of this, he takes the
first syllable of the following line, namely, "the word _bids_," to be an
example:

   "B~ids m~e l=ive b~ut t=o h=ope f~or p~ost=er~it~y's pr=aise."

OBS. 19.--In the American Review, for May, 1848, Everett's System of
Versification is named as "an apology and occasion"--not for a critical
examination of this or any other scheme of prosody--but for the
promulgation of a new one, a rival theory of English metres, "the
principles and laws" of which the writer promises, "at an other time" more
fully "to develop." The article referred to is entitled, "_The Art of
Measuring Verses_." The writer, being designated by his initials, "J. D.
W.," is understood to be James D. Whelpley, editor of the Review. Believing
Everett's principal doctrines to be radically erroneous, this critic
nevertheless excuses them, because he thinks we have nothing better! "The
views supported in the work itself," says his closing paragraph, "_are not,
indeed, such as we would subscribe to, nor can we admit the numerous
analyses of the English metres which it contains to be correct_; yet, as it
is as complete in design and execution as anything that has yet appeared on
the subject, and well calculated to excite the attention, and direct the
inquiries, of English scholars, to the study of our own metres, we shall
even pass it by without a word of criticism."--_American Review, New
Series_, Vol. I, p. 492.

OBS. 20.--Everett, although, as we have seen, he thought proper to deny
that the student of English versification had any well authorized "rules to
guide him," still argues that, "The laws of our verse are just as fixed,
and may be as clearly laid down, if we but attend to the usage of the great
Poets, as are the laws of our syntax."--_Preface_, p. 7. But this critic,
of the American Review, ingenious though he is in many of his remarks,
flippantly denies that our English Prosody has either authorities or
principles which one ought to respect; and accordingly cares so little whom
he contradicts, that he is often inconsistent with himself. Here is a
sample: "As there are _no established authorities_ in this art, and,
indeed, _no acknowledged principles_--every rhymester being permitted to
_invent_ his own _method_, and write by _instinct_ or _imitation_--the
critic feels quite at liberty to say just what he pleases, and _offer his
private observations_ as though these were really of some moment."--_Am.
Rev._, Vol. i, p. 484. In respect to writing, "_to invent_," and _to
"imitate_," are repugnant ideas; and so are, _after a "method_," and "_by
instinct_." Again, what sense is there in making the "liberty" of
publishing one's "private observations" to depend on the presumed absence
of rivals? That the author did not lack confidence in the general
applicability of his speculations, subversive though they are of the best
and most popular teaching on this subject, is evident from the following
sentence: "We intend, also, that if these principles, with the others
previously expressed, are true in the given instances, _they are equally
true for all languages and all varieties of metre_, even to the denial that
_any_ poetic metres, founded on other principles, can properly
exist."--_Ib._, p. 491

OBS. 21.--J. D. W. is not one of those who discard quantity and supply
accent in expounding the nature of metre; and yet he does not coincide very
nearly with any of those who have heretofore made quantity the basis of
poetic numbers. His views of the rhythmical elements being in several
respects _peculiar_, I purpose briefly to notice them here, though some of
the peculiarities of this new "_Art of Measuring Verses_," should rather be
quoted under the head of _Scanning_, to which they more properly belong.
"Of every species of beauty," says this author, "and more especially of the
beauty of sounds, _continuousness_ is the _first element_; a succession of
_pulses_ of sound becomes agreeable, only when the breaks or intervals
cease to be heard." Again: "Quantity, or the _division into measures of
time_, is a _second element_ of verse; each line must be _stuffed out with
sounds_, to a certain fullness and plumpness, that will sustain the voice,
and force it to dwell upon the sounds."--_Rev._, p. 485. The first of these
positions is subsequently contradicted, or very largely qualified, by the
following: "So, the line of significant sounds, in a verse, is also marked
by _accents_, or _pulses_, and divided into portions called _feet_. These
are necessary and natural for the very simple reason that _continuity by
itself is tedious_; and the greatest pleasure arises from the union of
continuity with _variety_. [That is, with "_interruption_," as he elsewhere
calls it!] In the line,

    'Full màny a tàle theír mùsic tèlls,'

there are at least four accents or stresses of the voice, with faint
_pauses_ after them, just enough to separate the continuous stream of sound
into these four parts, to be read thus:

    Fullman--yataleth--eirmus--ictells,[503]

by which, new combinations of sound are produced, of a singularly musical
character. It is evident from the inspection of the above line, that the
division of the feet by the accents is quite independent of the division of
words by the sense. The sounds are melted into continuity, and _re-divided
again_ in a manner agreeable to the musical ear."--_Ib._, p. 486.
Undoubtedly, the due formation of our poetic feet occasions both a blending
of some words and a dividing of others, in a manner unknown to prose; but
still we have the authority of this writer, as well as of earlier ones, for
saying, "Good verse requires to be read _with the natural quantites
[sic--KTH] of the syllables_," (p. 487,) a doctrine with which that of the
_redivision_ appears to clash. If the example given be read with any regard
to the _cæsural pause_, as undoubtedly it should be, the _th_ of _their_
cannot be joined, as above, to the word _tale_; nor do I see any propriety
in joining the _s_ of _music_ to the third foot rather than to the fourth.
Can a theory which turns topsyturvy the whole plan of syllabication, fail
to affect "the _natural quantities_ of syllables?"

OBS. 22--Different modes of reading verse, may, without doubt, change the
quantities of very many syllables. Hence a correct mode of reading, as well
as a just theory of measure, is essential to correct scansion, or a just
discrimination of the poetic feet. It is a very common opinion, that
English verse has but few spondees; and the doctrine of Brightland has been
rarely disputed, that, "_Heroic Verses_ consist of five _short_, and five
_long_ Syllables _intermixt_, but not so very strictly as never to alter
that order."--_Gram._, 7th Ed., p. 160.[504] J. D. W., being a heavy
reader, will have each line so "_stuffed out with sounds_," and the
consonants so syllabled after the vowels, as to give to our heroics three
spondees for every two iambuses; and lines like the following, which, with
the elisions, I should resolve into four iambuses, and without them, into
three iambuses and one anapest, he supposes to consist severally of four
spondees:--

   "'When coldness wraps this suffering clay,
    Ah! whither strays the immortal mind?'

[These are] to be read," according to this prosodian,

   "Whencoldn--esswrapsth--issuff'r--ingclay,
    Ah! whith--erstraysth'--immort--almind?"

"The verse," he contends, "is perceived to consist of _six_ [probably he
meant to say _eight_] heavy syllables, each composed of a vowel followed by
a group of consonantal sounds, the whole measured into four equal feet. The
movement is what is called spondaic, a spondee being a foot of two heavy
sounds. The absence of short syllables gives the line a peculiar weight and
solemnity suited to the sentiment, and doubtless prompted by
it."--_American Review_, Vol. i, p. 487. Of his theory, he subsequently
says: "It maintains that good English verse is as thoroughly quantitative
as the Greek, though it be _much more heavy and spondaic_."--_Ib._, p.
491.[505]

OBS. 23--For the determining of quantities and feet, this author borrows
from some old Latin grammar three or four rules, commonly thought
inapplicable to our tongue, and, mixing them up with other speculations,
satisfies himself with stating that the "Art of Measuring Verses" requires
yet the production of many more such! But, these things being the essence
of his principles, it is proper to state them _in his own words_: "A short
vowel sound followed by a double consonantal sound, usually makes a _long_
quantity;[506] so also does a long vowel like _y_ in _beauty_, before a
consonant. The _metrical accents_, which _often differ from the prosaic_,
mostly fall upon the heavy sounds; _which must also be prolonged in
reading_, and never slurred or lightened, unless to help out a bad verse.
In our language _the groupings of the consonants furnish a great number of
spondaic feet_, and give the language, especially its more ancient forms,
as in the verse of Milton and the prose of Lord Bacon, a grand and solemn
character. One vowel followed by another, unless the first be _naturally
made long_ in the reading, makes a short quantity, as in _th[=e] old_. So,
also, a short vowel followed by a single short consonant, gives a short
_time_ or _quantity_, as in _tö give_. [Fist] A great variety of rules for
the detection of long and short quantities _have yet to be invented_, or
applied from the Greek and Latin prosody. _In all languages they are of
course the same_, making due allowance for difference of organization; but
it is as absurd to suppose that the Greeks should have a system of prosody
differing in principle from our own, as that their rules of musical harmony
should be different from the modern. Both result from the nature of the ear
and of _the organ of speech_, and are consequently _the same_ in all ages
and nations."--_Am. Rev._, Vol. i, p. 488.

OBS. 24.--QUANTITY is here represented as "_time_" only. In this author's
first mention of it, it is called, rather less accurately, "_the division
into measures of time_." With too little regard for either of these
conceptions, he next speaks of it as including both "_time and accent_."
But I have already shown that "_accents_ or _stresses_" cannot pertain to
_short_ syllables, and therefore cannot be ingredients of quantity. The
whole article lacks that _clearness_ which is a prime requisite of a sound
theory. Take all of the writer's next paragraph as an example of this
defect: "The two elements of musical metre, _time_ and _accent_, both
together constituting _quantity_, are _equally_ elements of the metre of
verse. Each _iambic_ foot or metre, is marked by a swell of the voice,
concluding abruptly in an _accent_, or _interruption_, on the _last sound_
of the foot; or, [omit this 'or:' it is improper,] in metres of the
_trochaic_ order, in such words as _dandy, handy, bottle, favor, labor_, it
[the foot] begins with a heavy accented sound, and declines to a faint or
light one at the close. The line is thus composed of a series of swells or
waves of sound, _concluding and beginning alike_. The _accents_, or points
at which the voice is most forcibly exerted in the feet, _being the
divisions of time_, by which a part of its musical character is given to
the verse, are _usually made to coincide_, in our language, with the
accents of the words as they are spoken; which [coincidence] diminishes the
musical character of our verse. In Greek hexameters and Latin hexameters,
on the contrary, this coincidence is avoided, as tending to monotony and a
prosaic character."--_Ibid._

OBS. 25.--The passage just cited represents "_accent_" or "_accents_" not
only as partly constituting _quantity_, but as being, in its or their turn,
"_the divisions of time_;"--as being also stops, pauses, or
"_interruptions_" of sound else continuous;--as being of two sorts,
"_metrical_" and "_prosaic_," which "usually coincide," though it is said,
they "often differ," and their "interference" is "very frequent;"--as being
"the points" of stress "in the _feet_," but not always such in "the
_words_," of verse;--as striking different feet differently, "each _iambic_
foot" on the latter syllable and every _trochee_ on the former, yet
causing, in each line, only such waves of sound as conclude and begin
"_alike_;"--as coinciding with the long quantities and "_the prosaic
accents_," in iambics and trochaics, yet not coinciding with these
always;--as giving to verse "a part of its musical character," yet
_diminishing_ that character, by their usual coincidence with "_the prose
accents_;"--as being kept distinct in Latin and Greek, "_the metrical" from
"the prosaic_" and their "coincidence avoided," to make poetry more
poetical,--though the old prosodists, in all they say of accents, acute,
grave, and circumflex, give no hint of this primary distinction! In all
this elementary teaching, there seems to be a want of a clear, steady, and
consistent notion of the things spoken of. The author's theory led him to
several strange combinations of words, some of which it is not easy, even
with his whole explanation before us, to regard as other than _absurd_.
With a few examples of his new phraseology, Italicized by myself, I dismiss
the subject: "It frequently happens that _word and verse accent_ fall
differently."--P. 489. "The _verse syllables_, like _the verse feet_,
differ _in the prosaic and_ [the] _metrical reading_ of the line."--_Ib._
"If we read it by _the prosaic syllabication_, there will be no possibility
of measuring the quantities."--_Ib._ "The metrical are perfectly distinct
from the _prosaic properties of verse_."--_Ib._ "It may be called _an
iambic dactyl_, formed by the substitution of two short for one long time
in the last portion of the foot. _Iambic spondees and dactyls_ are to be
distinguished by the _metrical accent_ falling on the last syllable."--P.
491.



SECTION IV.--THE KINDS OF VERSE.

The principal kinds of verse, or orders of poetic numbers, as has already
been stated, are four; namely, _Iambic, Trochaic, Anapestic_, and
_Dactylic_. Besides these, which are sometimes called "_the simple orders_"
being unmixed, or nearly so, some recognize several "_Composite orders_" or
(with a better view of the matter) several kinds of mixed verse, which are
said to constitute "_the Composite order_." In these, one of the four
principal kinds of feet must still be used as the basis, some other species
being inserted therewith, in each line or stanza, with more or less
regularity.


PRINCIPLES AND NAMES.

The diversification of any species of metre, by the occasional change of a
foot, or, in certain cases, by the addition or omission of a short
syllable, is not usually regarded as sufficient to change the denomination,
or stated order, of the verse; and many critics suppose some variety of
feet, as well as a studied diversity in the position of the cæsural pause,
essential to the highest excellence of poetic composition.

The dividing of verses into the feet which compose them, is called
_Scanning_, or _Scansion_. In this, according to the technical language of
the old prosodists, when a syllable is wanting, the verse is said to be
_catalectic_; when the measure is exact, the line is _acatalectic_; when
there is a redundant syllable, it forms _hypermeter_.

Since the equal recognition of so many feet as twelve, or even as eight,
will often produce different modes of measuring the same lines; and since
it is desirable to measure verses with uniformity, and always by the
simplest process that will well answer the purpose; we usually scan by the
principal feet, in preference to the secondary, where the syllables give us
a choice of measures, or may be divided in different ways.

A single foot, especially a foot of only two syllables, can hardly be said
to constitute a line, or to have rhythm in itself; yet we sometimes see a
foot so placed, and rhyming as a line. Lines of two, three, four, five,
six, or seven feet, are common; and these have received the technical
denominations of _dim'eter, trim'eter, tetram'eter, pentam'eter,
hexam'eter_, and _heptam'eter_. On a wide page, iambics and trochaics may
possibly be written in _octom'eter_; but lines of this measure, being very
long, are mostly abandoned for alternate tetrameters.


ORDER I.--IAMBIC VERSE.

In Iambic verse, the stress is laid on the even syllables, and the odd ones
are short. Any short syllable added to a line of this order, is
supernumerary; iambic rhymes, which are naturally single, being made double
by one, and triple by two. But the adding of one short syllable, which is
much practised in dramatic poetry, may be reckoned to convert the last foot
into an amphibrach, though the adding of two cannot. Iambics consist of the
following measures:--

MEASURE I.--IAMBIC OF EIGHT FEET, OR OCTOMETER.

_Psalm XLVII, 1 and 2_.

   "O =all | y~e p=eo | -pl~e, cl=ap | y~our h=ands, | ~and w=ith | tr~i=um
                                              | -ph~ant v=oi | -c~es s=ing;
    No force | the might | -=y power | withstands | of God, | the u
                                               | -niver | -sal King."
       See the "_Psalms of David, in Metre_," p. 54.

Each couplet of this verse is now commonly reduced to, or exchanged for, a
simple stanza of four tetrameter lines, rhyming alternately, and each
commencing with a capital; but sometimes, the second line and the fourth
are still commenced with a small letter: as,

   "Your ut | -most skill | in praise | be shown,
    for Him | who all | the world | commands,
    Who sits | upon | his right | -eous throne,
    and spreads | his sway | o'er heath | -en lands."
        _Ib._, verses 7 and 8; _Edition bound with Com. Prayer_,
            N. Y., 1819.

_An other Example_.

   "The hour | is come | --the cher | -ish'd hour,
    When from | the bus | -y world | set free,
    I seek | at length | my lone | -ly bower,
    And muse | in si | -lent thought | on thee."
        THEODORE HOOK'S REMAINS: _The Examiner_, No. 82.

MEASURE II.--IAMBIC OF SEVEN FEET, OR HEPTAMETER.

_Example I.--Hat-Brims_.

   "It's odd | how hats | expand [ their brims | as youth | begins
                                                          | to fade,
    As if | when life | had reached | its noon, | it want | -ed them
                                                          | for shade."
        OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES: _From a Newspaper_.

_Example II.--Psalm XLII_, 1.

   "As pants | the hart | for cool | -ing streams, | when heat | -ed in
                                                             | the chase;
    So longs | my soul, | O God, | for thee, | and thy | refresh
                                                             | -ing grace."
        EPISCOPAL PSALM-BOOK: _The Rev. W. Allen's Eng. Gram._, p. 227.

_Example III.--The Shepherd's Hymn_.

   "Oh, when | I rove | the des | -ert waste, | and 'neath | the hot
                                                              | sun pant,
    The Lord | shall be | my Shep | -herd then, | he will | not let
                                                              | me want;
    He'll lead | me where | the past | -ures are | of soft | and shad
                                                              | -y green,
    And where | the gen | -tle wa | -ters rove, | the qui | -et hills
                                                              | between.

    And when | the sav | -age shall | pursue, | and in | his grasp
                                                              | I sink,
    He will | prepare | the feast | for me, | and bring | the cool
                                                              | -ing drink,
    And save | me harm | -less from | his hands, and strength | -en me
                                                              | in toil,
    And bless | my home | and cot | -tage lands, and crown | my head
                                                              | with oil.

    With such | a Shep | -herd to | protect, | to guide | and guard
                                                              | me still,
    And bless | my heart | with ev | -'ry good, | and keep | from ev
                                                              | -'ry ill,
    _Surely_ | I shall | not turn | aside, | and scorn | his kind
                                                              | -ly care,
    But keep | the path | he points | me out, | and dwell | for ev
                                                              | -er there."
        W. GILMORE SIMMS: _North American Reader_, p. 376.

_Example IV.--"The Far, Far Fast."--First six Lines._

   "It was | a dream | of earl | -y years, | the long | -est and
                                                            | the last,
    And still | it ling | -ers bright | and lone | amid | the drear
                                                            | -y past;
    When I | was sick | and sad | at heart | and faint | with grief
                                                            | and care,
    It threw | its ra | -diant smile | athwart | the shad | -ows of
                                                            | despair:
    And still | when falls | the hour | of gloom | upon | this way
                                                            | -ward breast,
    Unto | THE FAR, | FAR EAST | I turn | for sol | -ace and | for rest."
        _Edinburgh Journal_; and _The Examiner_,

_Example V.--"Lament of the Slave."--Eight Lines from thirty-four._

   "Behold | the sun | which gilds | _yon heaven_,  how love | -ly it
                                                              | appears!
    And must | it shine | to light | a world | of war | -fare and
                                                              | of tears?
    Shall hu | -man pas | -sion ev | -er sway | this glo | _-rious world_
                                                              | of God,
    And beau | -ty, wis | -dom, hap | -piness, | sleep with | the tram
                                                              | -pled sod?
    Shall peace | ne'er lift | her ban | -ner up, | shall truth | and rea
                                                              | -son cry,
    And men | oppress | them down | with worse | than an | -cient tyr
                                                              | -anny?
    Shall all | the les | -sons time | has taught, | be so | long taught
                                                              | in vain;
    And earth | be steeped | in hu | -man tears, | and groan | with hu
                                                              | -man pain?"
        ALONZO LEWIS: _Freedom's Amulet_, Dec. 6, 1848.

_Example VI.--"Greek Funeral Chant."--First four of sixty-four Lines._

   "A wail | was heard | around | the bed, | the death | -bed of
                                                              | the young;
    Amidst | her tears, | the Fu | _-neral Chant_ | a mourn | -ful moth
                                                              | -er sung.
    'I-an | -this dost | thou sleep?-- | Thou sleepst!-- | but this
                                                      | is not | the rest,
    The breath | -ing, warm, | and ros | -y calm, | I've pil | -low'd on
                                                            | my breast!'"
        FELICIA HEMANS: _Poetical Works_, Vol. ii, p. 37.

Everett observes, "The _Iliad_ was translated into this measure by CHAPMAN,
and the _Æneid_ by PHAER."--_Eng. Versif._, p. 68. Prior, who has a ballad
of one hundred and eighty such lines, intimates in a note the great
antiquity of the verse. Measures of this length, though not very uncommon,
are much less frequently used than shorter ones. A practice has long
prevailed of dividing this kind of verse into alternate lines of four and
of three feet, thus:--

   "To such | as fear | thy ho | -ly name,
      myself | I close | -ly join;
    To all | who their | obe | -dient wills
      to thy | commands | resign."
        _Psalms with Com. Prayer: Psalm_ cxix, 63.

This, according to the critics, is the most soft and pleasing of our lyric
measures. With the slight change of setting a capital at the head of each
line, it becomes the regular ballad-metre of our language. Being also
adapted to hymns, as well as to lighter songs, and, more particularly, to
quaint details of no great length, this stanza, or a similar one more
ornamented with rhymes, is found in many choice pieces of English poetry.
The following are a few popular examples:--

   "When all | thy mer | -cies, O | my God!
      My ris | -ing soul | surveys,
    Transport | -ed with | the view | I'm lost
      In won | -der, love, | and praise."
        _Addison's Hymn of Gratitude_.

    "John Gil | -pin was | a cit | -izen
      Of cred | -it and | renown,
    A train | -band cap | -tain eke | was he
      Of fam | -ous Lon | -don town."
        _Cowper's Poems_, Vol. i, p. 275.

    "God pros | -per long | our no | -ble king,
      Our lives | and safe | -ties all;
    A wo | -ful hunt | -ing once | there did
      In Chev | -y Chase | befall,"
        _Later Reading of Chevy Chase_.

    "Turn, An | -geli | -na, ev | -er dear,
      My charm | -er, turn | to see
    Thy own, | thy long | -lost Ed | -win here,
      Restored | to love | and thee."
        _Goldsmith's Poems_, p. 67.

    "'Come back! | come back!' | he cried | in grief,
       Across | this storm | -y wa_ter_:
    'And I'll | forgive | your High | -land chief,
       My daugh | -ter!--oh | my daugh_ter_!
    'Twas vain: | the loud | waves lashed | the shore,
       Return | or aid | prevent_ing_:--
     The wa | -ters wild | went o'er | his child,--
       And he | was left | lament_ing_."--_Campbell's Poems_, p. 110.

The rhyming of this last stanza is irregular and remarkable, yet not
unpleasant. It is contrary to rule, to omit any rhyme which the current of
the verse leads the reader to expect. Yet here the word "_shore_" ending
the first line, has no correspondent sound, where twelve examples of such
correspondence had just preceded; while the third line, without previous
example, is so rhymed within itself that one scarcely perceives the
omission. Double rhymes are said by some to unfit this metre for serious
subjects, and to adapt it only to what is meant to be burlesque, humorous,
or satiric. The example above does not confirm this opinion, yet the rule,
as a general one, may still be just. Ballad verse may in some degree
imitate the language of a simpleton, and become popular by clownishness,
more than by elegance: as,

   "Father | and I | went down | to the camp
      Along | with cap | -tain Goodwin,
    And there | we saw | the men | and boys
      As thick | as hast | -y pudding;

    And there | we saw | a thun | -dering gun,--
      It took | a horn | of powder,--
    It made | a noise | like fa | -ther's gun,
      Only | a na | -tion louder."
        _Original Song of Yankee Doodle_.

Even the line of seven feet may still be lengthened a little by a double
rhyme: as,

    How gay | -ly, o | -ver fell | and fen, | yon sports | -man light
                                                         | is _dashing_!
    And gay | -ly, in | the sun | -beams bright, | the mow |--er's blade
                                                         | is _flashing_!

Of this length, T. O. Churchill reckons the following couplet; but by the
general usage of the day, the final _ed_ is not made a separate syllable:--

   "With _hic_ | and _hoec_, | as Pris | -cian tells, | _sacer | -dos_ was
                                                         | de_cli | -n~ed_;
    But now | its gen | -der by | the pope | far bet | -ter is | de_fi
                                                         | -n~ed_."
        _Churchill's New Grammar_, p. 188.


MEASURE III.--IAMBIC OF SIX FEET, OR HEXAMETER.

_Example I.--A Couplet_.

   "S~o v=a | _-r~y~ing still_ | th~eir m=oods, | ~obs=erv | -~ing =yet
                                                         | ~in =all
    Their quan | -tities, | their rests, | their cen | -sures met
                                                         | -rical."
        MICHAEL DRAYTON: _Johnson's Quarto Dict., w. Quantity_.

_Example II.--From a Description of a Stag-Hunt_.

   "And through | the cumb | -rous thicks, | as fear | -fully | he makes,
    He with | his branch | -ed head | the ten | -der sap | -lings shakes,
    That sprink | -ling their | moist pearl | do seem | for him | to weep;
    When aft | -er goes | the cry, | with yell | -ings loud | and deep,
    That all | the for | -est rings, | and ev | -ery neigh
                                                         | -bouring place:
    And there | is not | a hound | but fall | -eth to | the chase."
        DRAYTON: _Three Couplets from twenty-three,
                 in Everett's Versif._, p. 66.

_Example III.--An Extract from Shakespeare_.

   "If love | make me | forsworn, | how shall | I swear | to love?
    O, nev | -er faith | could hold, | if not | to beau | -ty vow'd:
    Though to | myself | forsworn, | to thee | I'll con | -stant prove;
    Those thoughts, | to me | like oaks, | to thee | like o | -siers bow'd.
    _St=ud~y_ | his bi | -as leaves, | and makes | his book | thine eyes,
    Where all | those pleas | -ures live, | that art | can com | -prehend.
    If knowl | -edge be | the mark, | to know | thee shall | suffice;
    Well learn | -ed is | that tongue | that well | can thee | commend;
    All ig | -norant | that soul | that sees | thee with' | _o~ut wonder_;
    Which is | to me | some praise, | that I | thy parts | admire:
    Thine eye | Jove's light | -ning seems, | thy voice | his dread
                                                        | _-ful thunder_,
    Which (not | to an | -ger bent) | is mu | -sic and | sweet fire.
    Celes | -tial as | thou art, | O, do | not love | that wrong,
    To sing | the heav | -ens' praise | with such | an earth | -ly tongue."
        _The Passionate Pilgrim, Stanza IX_;
            SINGER'S SHAK., Vol. ii, p. 594.

_Example IV.--The Ten Commandments Versified_.

   "Adore | no God | besides | me, to | provoke | mine eyes;
    Nor wor | -ship me | in shapes | and forms | that men | devise;
    With rev | 'rence use | my name, | nor turn | my words | to jest;
    Observe | my sab | -bath well, | nor dare | profane | my rest;
    Honor | and due | obe | -dience to | thy pa | -rents give;
    Nor spill | the guilt | -less blood, | nor let | the guilt
                                                        | -y live;[507]
    Preserve | thy bod | -y chaste, | and flee | th' unlaw | -ful bed;
    Nor steal | thy neigh | -bor's gold, | his gar | -ment, or | his bread;
    Forbear | to blast | his name | with false | -hood or deceit;
    Nor let | thy wish | -es loose | upon | his large | estate."
        DR. ISAAC WATTS: _Lyric Poems_, p. 46.

This verse, consisting, when entirely regular, of twelve syllables in six
iambs, is the _Alexandrine_; said to have been so named because it was
"first used in a poem called _Alexander_."--_Worcester's Dict._ Such metre
has sometimes been written, with little diversity, through an entire
English poem, as in Drayton's Polyolbion; but, couplets of this length
being generally esteemed too clumsy for our language, the Alexandrine has
been little used by English versifiers, except to complete certain stanzas
beginning with shorter iambics, or, occasionally, to close a period in
heroic rhyme. French heroics are similar to this; and if, as some assert,
we have obtained it thence, the original poem was doubtless a French one,
detailing the exploits of the hero "_Alexandre_." The phrase, "_an
Alexandrine verse_," is, in French, "_un vers Alexandrin_." Dr. Gregory, in
his Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, copies Johnson's Quarto Dictionary,
which says, "ALEXANDRINE, a kind of verse borrowed from the French, first
used in a poem called Alexander. They [Alexandrines] consist, among the
French, of twelve and thirteen syllables, in alternate couplets; and, among
us, of twelve." Dr. Webster, in his American Dictionary, _improperly_ (as I
think) gives to the name two forms, and seems also to acknowledge two sorts
of the English verse: "ALEXAN'DRINE, or ALEXAN'DRIAN, _n._ A kind of verse,
consisting of twelve syllables, or of twelve and thirteen alternately."
"The Pet-Lamb," a modern pastoral, by Wordsworth, has sixty-eight lines,
all probably meant for Alexandrines; most of which have twelve syllables,
though some have thirteen, and others, fourteen. But it were a great pity,
that versification so faulty and unsuitable should ever be imitated. About
half of the said lines, as they appear in the poet's royal octave, or "the
First Complete American, from the Last London Edition," are as sheer prose
as can be written, it being quite impossible to read them into any proper
rhythm. The poem being designed for children, the measure should have been
reduced to iambic trimeter, and made exact at that. The story commences
thus:--

   "The dew | was fall | -ing fast, | the stars | began | to blink;
    I heard | a voice; | it said, | 'Drink, pret | -ty crea
                                                       | -ture, drink!'
    And, look | -ing o'er | the hedge, | before | me I | espied
    A snow | -white moun | -tain Lamb | w=ith =a M=aid | -en at
                                                       | its side."

All this is regular, with the exception of one foot; but who can make any
thing but _prose_ of the following?

   "Thy limbs will shortly be twice as stout as they are now,
    Then I'll yoke thee to my cart like a pony in the plough."
    "Here thou needest not dread the raven in the sky;
    Night and day thou art safe,--our cottage is hard by."
        WORDSWORTH'S _Poems_, New-Haven Ed., 1836, p. 4.

In some very ancient English poetry, we find lines of twelve syllables
combined in couplets with others of fourteen; that is, six iambic feet are
alternated with seven, in lines that rhyme. The following is an example,
taken from a piece of fifty lines, which Dr. Johnson ascribes to the _Earl
of Surry_, one of the wits that flourished in the reign of Henry VIII:--

   "Such way | -ward wayes | hath Love, | that most | part in | discord,
    Our willes | do stand, | whereby | our hartes | but sel | -dom do
                                                            | accord;
    Decyte | is hys | delighte, | and to | begyle | and mocke,
    The sim | ple hartes | which he | doth strike | with fro | -ward di
                                                            | -vers stroke.
    He caus | -eth th' one | to rage | with gold | -en burn | -ing darte,
    And doth | allay | with lead | -en cold, | again | the oth
                                                            | -er's harte;
    Whose gleames | of burn | -ing fyre | and eas | -y sparkes | of flame,
    In bal | -ance of | ~un=e | -qual weyght | he pon | -dereth | by ame."
        See _Johnson's Quarto Dict., History of the Eng. Lang._, p. 4.

MEASURE IV.--IAMBIC OF FIVE FEET, OR PENTAMETER.

_Example I.--Hector to Andromache._

   "Andr=om | -~ach=e! | m=y s=oul's | f~ar b=et | -t~er p=art,
    _Wh=y w~ith_ | untime | -ly | sor | -rows heaves | thy heart?
    No hos | -tile hand | can an | -tedate | my doom,
    Till fate | condemns | me to | the si | -lent tomb.
    Fix'd is | the term | to all | the race | of earth;
    And such | the hard | conditi | -on of | our birth,
    No force | can then | resist, | no flight | can save;
    All sink | alike, | the fear | -ful and | the brave."
        POPE'S HOMER: _Iliad_, B. vi, l. 624-632.

_Example II.--Angels' Worship._

   "No soon | -er had | th' Almight | -y ceas'd | _but_ all
    The mul | -titude | of an | -gels with | a shout
    Loud as | from num | -bers with' | -out num | -ber, sweet
    As from | blest voi | -ces ut | _t~er ~ing j=oy_, | heav'n rung
    With ju | -bilee, | and loud | hosan | -nas fill'd
    Th' eter | -nal | re | -gions; low | -ly rev | -erent
    Tow'rds ei | -ther throne | they bow, | and to | the ground
    With sol | -emn ad | -ora | -tion down | they cast
    Their crowns | inwove | with am | -arant | and gold."
        MILTON: _Paradise Lost_, B. iii, l. 344.

_Example III.--Deceptive Glosses_.

   "The world | is still | deceiv'd | with or | -nament.
    In law, | what plea | so taint | -ed and | corrupt,
    But, be | -ing sea | -son'd with | a gra | -cious voice,
    Obscures | the show | of e | -vil? In | _religi~on_,
    What dam |--n~ed er | -ror, but | some so | -ber brow
    Will bless | it, and | approve | it with | a text,
    _Hid~ing_ | the gross | -ness with | fair or | -nament?"
        SHAKSPEARE: _Merch. of Venice_, Act iii, Sc. 2.

_Example IV.--Praise God_.

   "Ye head | -long tor | -rents, rap | -id, and | profound;
    Ye soft | -er floods, | that lead | the hu | -mid maze
    Along | the vale; | and thou, | majes | -tic main,
    A se | -cret world | of won | -ders in | thyself,
    Sound His | stupen | -dous | praise; | whose great | -er voice
    Or bids | you roar, | or bids | your roar | -ings fall."
        THOMSON: _Hymn to the Seasons_.

_Example V.--The Christian Spirit_.

   "Like him | the soul, | thus kin | -dled from | above,
    Spreads wide | her arms | of u | -niver | -sal love;
    And, still | enlarg'd | as she | receives | the grace,
    Includes | cr~e=a | -tion in | her close | embrace.
    Behold | a Chris | -tian! and | without | the fires
    The found | -_~er ~of_ | that name | alone | inspires,
    Though all | accom | -plishment, | all knowl | -edge meet,
    To make | the shin | -ing prod | -igy | complete,
    Whoev | -er boasts | that name-- | behold | a cheat!"
        COWPER: _Charity; Poems_, Vol. i, p. 135.

_Example VI.--To London_.

   "Ten right | -eous would | have sav'd | a cit | -y once,
    And thou | hast man | -y right | -eous.--Well | for thee--
    That salt | preserves | thee; more | corrupt | -ed else,
    And there | -fore more | obnox | -ious, at | this hour,
    Than Sod | -om in | her day | had pow'r | to be,
    For whom | God heard | his Abr' | -ham plead | in vain."
        IDEM: _The Task_, Book iii, at the end.

This verse, the iambic pentameter, is the regular English _heroic_--a
stately species, and that in which most of our great poems are composed,
whether epic, dramatic, or descriptive. It is well adapted to rhyme, to the
composition of sonnets, to the formation of stanzas of several sorts; and
yet is, perhaps, the only measure suitable for blank verse--which latter
form always demands a subject of some dignity or sublimity.

The _Elegiac Stanza_, or the form of verse most commonly used by elegists,
consists of four heroics rhyming alternately; as,

   "Thou knowst | how trans | -port thrills | the ten | -der breast,
      Where love | and fan | -cy fix | their ope | -ning reign;
    How na | -ture shines | in live | -lier col | -ours dress'd,
      To bless | their un | -ion, and | to grace | their train."
        SHENSTONE: _British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 106.

Iambic verse is seldom continued perfectly pure through a long succession
of lines. Among its most frequent diversifications, are the following; and
others may perhaps be noticed hereafter:--

(1.) The first foot is often varied by a substitutional trochee; as,

   "_Bacchus_, | that first | from out | the pur | -ple grape
    _Crush'd the_ | sweet poi | -son of | mis-=us | -~ed wine,
    _After_ | the Tus | -can mar | -iners | transform'd,
    _Coasting_ | the Tyr | -rhene shore, | ~as th~e | winds list_~ed_,
    On Cir | -ce's isl | -and fell. | Who knows | not Cir_c~e_,
    The daugh | -ter of | the sun? | whose charm | -~ed cup
    Whoev | -er tast | -ed, lost | his up | -right shape,
    And down | -ward fell | _=int~o_  a grov | -elling swine."
        MILTON: _Comus; British Poets_, Vol. ii, p. 147.

(2.) By a synæresis of the two short syllables, an anapest may sometimes be
employed for an iambus; or a dactyl, for a trochee. This occurs chiefly
where one unaccented vowel precedes an other in what we usually regard as
separate syllables, and both are clearly heard, though uttered perhaps in
so quick succession that both syllables may occupy only half the time of a
long one. Some prosodists, however, choose to regard these substitutions as
instances of trissyllabic feet mixed with the others; and, doubtless, it is
in general easy to make them such, by an utterance that avoids, rather than
favours, the coalescence. The following are examples:--

   "No rest: | through man | _-y a dark_ | and drear | -y vale
    They pass'd, | and man | _-y a re_ | -gion dol | -orous,
    _O'er man_ | _-y a fro_ | -zen, man | _-y a fi_ | _-ery Alp_."
        --MILTON: _P. L._, B. ii, l. 618.

    "Rejoice | ye na | -tions, vin | -dicate | the sway
    Ordain'd | for com | -mon hap | -piness. | Wide, o'er
    The globe | terra | _-queous, let_ | Britan | _-nia pour_
    The fruits | of plen | -ty from | her co | _-pious horn_."
        --DYER: _Fleece_, B. iv, l. 658.

    "_Myriads_ | of souls | that knew | one pa | -rent mold,
      See sad | -ly sev | er'd by | the laws | of chance!
    _Myriads_, | in time's | peren | _-nial list_ | enroll'd,
      Forbid | by fate | to change | one tran | _-sient glance!_"
        SHENSTONE: _British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 109.

(3.) In plays, and light or humorous descriptions, the last foot of an
iambic line is often varied or followed by an additional short syllable;
and, sometimes, in verses of triple rhyme, there is an addition of two
short syllables, after the principal rhyming syllable. Some prosodists call
the variant foot, in die former instance, an _amphibrach_, and would
probably, in the latter, suppose either an _additional pyrrhic_, or an
amphibrach with still a _surplus syllable_; but others scan, in these
cases, by the iambus only, calling what remains after the last long
syllable _hypermeter_; and this is, I think, the better way. The following
examples show these and some other variations from pure iambic measure:--

_Example I.--Grief._

   "Each sub | st~ance ~of | a grief | hath twen | -ty shad_~ows_,
    Which show | like grief | itself, | but are | not so:
    For sor | -row's eye, | gl=az~ed | with blind | -ing tears,
    Divides one thing | entire | to man |--y ob_j~ects_;
    Like per | -spectives, | which, right | -ly gaz'd | upon,
    Show noth | -ing but | confu | -sion; ey'd | awry,
    Distin | -guish form: | so your | sweet maj | -esty,
    Lo=ok~ing | awry | upon | your lord's | depart_~ure_,
    Finds shapes | of grief, | more than | himself, | to wail;
    Which, look'd | on as | it is, | is nought | but shad_~ows_."
        SHAKSPEARE: _Richard II_, Act ii, Sc. 2.

_Example II.--A Wish to Please_.

   "O, that | I had | the art | of eas | -y _writing_
      What should | be eas | -y read | -ing | could | I scale
    Parnas | -sus, where | the Mus | -es sit | in_diting_
      Those pret | -ty po | -ems nev | -er known | to fail,
    How quick | -ly would | I print | (the world | de_lighting_)
      A Gre | -cian, Syr | -ian, or | Assy | -ian tale;
    And sell | you, mix'd | with west | -ern sen | -ti_mentalism_,
    Some sam | -ples of | the fin | -est O | -ri_entalism_."
        LORD BYRON: _Beppo_, Stanza XLVIII.

MEASURE V.--IAMBIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.

_Example I.--Presidents of the United States of America_.

   "First stands | the loft | -y Wash | -ington,
    That no | -ble, great, | immor | -tal one;
    The eld | -er Ad | -ams next | we see;
    And Jef | -ferson | comes num | -ber three;
    Then Mad | -ison | is fourth, | you know;
    The fifth | one on | the list, | Monroe;
    The sixth | an Ad | -ams comes | again;
    And Jack | -son, sev | -enth in | the train;
    Van Bu | -ren, eighth | upon | the line;
    And Har | -rison | counts num | -ber nine;
    The tenth | is Ty | -ler, in | his turn;
    And Polk, | elev | -enth, as | we learn;
    The twelfth | is Tay | -lor, peo | -ple say;
    The next | we learn | some fu | -ture day."
        ANONYMOUS: _From Newspaper_, 1849.

_Example II.--The Shepherd Bard_.

   "The bard | on Ett | -rick's moun | tain green
    In Na | -ture's bo | -som nursed | had been,
    And oft | had marked | in for | -est lone
    Her beau | -ties on | her moun | -tain throne;
    Had seen | her deck | the wild | -wood tree,
    And star | with snow | -y gems | the lea;
    In love | _-li~est c=ol_ | -ours paint | the plain,
    And sow | the moor | with pur | -ple grain;
    By gold | -en mead | and moun | -tain sheer,
    Had viewed | the Ett | -rick wav | -ing clear,
    Where shad | _-=ow=y fl=ocks_ | of pur | -est snow
    Seemed graz | -ing in | a world | below."
        JAMES HOGG: _The Queen's Wake_, p. 76.

_Example III.--Two Stanzas from Eighteen, Addressed to the Ettrick
Shepherd_.

   "O Shep | -herd! since | 'tis thine | to boast
      The fas | -cinat | -ing pow'rs | of song,
    Far, far | above | the count | -less host,
      Who swell | the Mus | -es' sup | -_pli~ant throng_,

    The GIFT | OF GOD | distrust | no more,
      His in | -spira | -tion be | thy guide;
    Be heard | thy harp | from shore | to shore,
      Thy song's | reward | thy coun | -try's pride."
        B. BARTON: _Verses prefixed to the Queen's Wake_.

_Example IV.--"Elegiac Stanzas," in Iambics of Four feet and Three_.

   "O for | a dirge! | But why | complain?
    Ask rath | -er a | trium | -phal strain
      When FER | MOR'S race | is run;
    A gar | -land of | immor | -tal boughs
    To bind | around | the Chris | -tian's brows,
      Whose glo | _-rious work_ | is done.

    We pay | a high | and ho | -ly debt;
    No tears | of pas | -sionate | regret
      Shall stain | this vo | -tive lay;
    Ill-wor | -thy, Beau | -mont! were | the grief
    That flings | itself | on wild | relief
      When Saints | have passed | away."
        W. WORDSWORTH: _Poetical Works_, First complete Amer. Ed., p. 208.

This line, the iambic tetrameter, is a favourite one, with many writers of
English verse, and has been much used, both in couplets and in stanzas.
Butler's Hudibras, Gay's Fables, and many allegories, most of Scott's
poetical works, and some of Byron's, are written in couplets of this
measure. It is liable to the same diversifications as the preceding metre.
The frequent admission of an additional short syllable, forming double
rhyme, seems admirably to adapt it to a familiar, humorous, or burlesque
style. The following may suffice for an example:--

   "First, this | large par | -cel brings | you _tidings_
    Of our | good Dean's | eter | -nal _chidings_;
    Of Nel | -ly's pert | -ness, Rob | -in's _leasings_,
    And Sher | -idan's | perpet | -ual _teasings_.
    This box | is cramm'd | on ev | -ery side
    With Stel | -la's mag | -iste | -rial pride."
         DEAN SWIFT: _British Poets_, Vol. v, p. 334.

The following lines have _ten syllables_ in each, yet the measure is not
iambic of five feet, but that of four with hypermeter:--

   "There was | ~an =an | -cient sage | phi_losopher_,
    Who had | read Al | -exan | -der _Ross over_."--_Butler's Hudibras_.

    "I'll make | them serve | for per | -pen_diculars_,
    As true | as e'er | were us'd | by _bricklayers_."
        --_Ib._, Part ii, C. iii, l. 1020.


MEASURE VI.--IAMBIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.

_Example.--To Evening_.

   "Now teach | me, maid | compos'd
    To breathe | some soft | -en'd strain."--_Collins_, p. 39.

This short measure has seldom, if ever, been used alone in many successive
couplets; but it is often found in stanzas, sometimes without other
lengths, but most commonly with them. The following are a few examples:--

_Example I.--Two ancient Stanzas, out of Many_,

   "This while | we are | abroad,
      Shall we | not touch | our lyre?
    Shall we | not sing | an ode?
      Shall now | that ho | -ly fire,
    In us, | that strong | -ly glow'd,
      In this | cold air, | expire?

    Though in | the ut | -most peak,
      A while | we do | remain,
    Amongst | the moun | -tains bleak,
      Expos'd | to sleet | and rain,
    No sport | our hours | shall break,
      To ex | -ercise | our vein."
        DRAYTON: _Dr. Johnson's Gram._, p. 13; _John Burn's_, p. 244.

_Example II.--Acis and Galatea_.

   "For us | the zeph | -yr blows,
      For us | distils | the dew,
    For us | unfolds | the rose,
      And flow'rs | display | their hue;

    For us | the win | -ters rain,
      For us | the sum | -mers shine,
    Spring swells | for us | the grain,
      And au | -tumn bleeds | the vine."
        JOHN GAY: _British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 376.

_Example III.--"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin_."

   "The king | was on | his throne,
      The sa | -traps thronged | the hall;
    A thou | -sand bright | lamps shone
      O'er that | high fes | -tival.
    A thou | -sand cups | of gold,
      In Ju | -dah deemed | divine--
    Jeho | -vah's ves | -sels, hold
      The god | -less Hea | -then's wine!

    In that | same hour | and hall,
      The fin | -gers of | a hand
    Came forth | against | the wall,
      And wrote | as if | on sand:
    The fin | -gers of | a man,--
      A sol | -ita | -ry hand
    Along | the let | -ters ran,
      And traced | them like | a wand."
        LORD BYRON: _Vision of Belshazzar_.

_Example IV.--Lyric Stanzas_.

   "Descend, | celes | -tial fire,
      And seize | me from | above,
    Melt me | in flames | of pure | desire,
      A sac | -rifice | to love.

    Let joy | and wor | -ship spend
      The rem | -nant of | my days,
    And to | my God, | my soul | ascend,
      In sweet | perfumes | of praise."
        WATTS: _Poems sacred to Devotion_, p. 50.

_Example V.--Lyric Stanzas_.

   "I would | begin | the mu | -sic here,
      And so | my soul | should rise:
    O for | some heav'n | -ly notes | to bear
      My spir | -it to | the skies!

    There, ye | that love | my say | -iour, sit,
      There I | would fain | have place
    Amongst | your thrones | or at | your feet,
      So I | might see | his face."
        WATTS: _Same work_, "_Horæ Lyricæ_," p. 71.

_Example VI.--England's Dead_.

   "The hur | -ricane | hath might
      Along  | the In | -dian shore,
    And far, | by Gan | -ges' banks | at night,
      Is heard | the ti | -ger's roar.

    But let | the sound | roll on!
      It hath | no tone | of dread
    For those | that from | their toils | are gone;--
      _There_ slum | -ber Eng | -land's dead."
        HEMANS: _Poetical Works_, Vol. ii, p. 61.

The following examples have some of the common diversifications already
noticed under the longer measures:--

_Example I.--"Languedocian Air_."

   "_L=ove ~is_ | a hunt | -er boy,
      Who makes | young hearts | his prey;
    _And in_ | his nets | of joy
      Ensnares | them night | and day.

    In vain | conceal'd | they lie,
      Love tracks | them ev' | -ry where;
    In vain | aloft | they fly,
      Love shoots | them fly | -ing there.

    But 'tis | his joy | most sweet,
      At earl | -y dawn | to trace
    The print | of Beau | -ty's feet,
      And give | the trem | -bler chase.

    And most | he loves | through snow
      To track | those foot | -steps fair,
    For then | the boy | doth know,
      None track'd | before | him there."
        MOORE'S _Melodies and National Airs_, p. 274.

_Example II.--From "a Portuguese Air_."

   "Flow on, | thou shin | -ing _river_,
      But ere | thou reach | the sea,
    Seek El | -la's bower, | and _give her_
      The wreaths | I fling | o'er thee.

    But, if | in wand' | -ring _thither_,
      Thou find | she mocks | my pray'r,
    Then leave | those wreaths | to _wither_
      Upon | the cold | bank there."
        MOORE: _Same Volume_, p. 261.

_Example III.--Resignation_.

   "O Res | -igna | -tion! yet | unsung,
      Untouch'd | by for | -mer strains;
    Though claim | -ing ev | -_ery mu_ | -se's smile,
      And ev | -_ery po_ | -et's pains!

    All oth | -er du | -ties cres | -cents are
      Of vir | -tue faint | -ly bright;
    The glo | -_rious con_ | -summa | -tion, thou,
      Which fills | her orb | with light!"
        YOUNG: _British Poets_, Vol. viii, p. 377.


MEASURE VII.--IAMBIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.

_Example--A Scolding Wife_.

           1.

    "There was | a man
    Whose name | was Dan,
    Who sel | -dom spoke;
    His part | -ner sweet
    He thus | did greet,
    Without | a joke;

           2.

    My love | -ly wife,
    Thou art | the life
    Of all | my joys;
    Without | thee, I
    Should sure | -ly die
    For want | of noise.

           3.
    O, prec | -ious one,
    Let thy | tongue run
    In a | sweet fret;
    And this | will give
    A chance | to live,
    A long | time yet.

           4.

    When thou | dost scold
    So loud | and bold,
    I'm kept | awake;
    But if | thou leave,
    It will | me grieve,
    Till life | forsake.

           5.

    Then said | his wife,
    I'll have | no strife
    With you, | sweet Dan;
    As 'tis | your mind,
    I'll let | you find
    I am | your man.

           6.

    And fret | I will,
    To keep | you still
    Enjoy | -ing life;
    So you | may be
    Content | with me,
    A scold | -ing wife."
        ANONYMOUS: _Cincinnati Herald_, 1844.

Iambic dimeter, like the metre of three iambs, is much less frequently used
alone than in stanzas with longer lines; but the preceding example is a
refutation of the idea, that no piece is ever composed wholly of this
measure, or that the two feet cannot constitute a line. In Humphrey's
English Prosody, on page 16th, is the following paragraph; which is not
only defective in style, but erroneous in all its averments:--

"Poems are never composed of lines of two [-] feet metre, in succession:
they [combinations of two feet] are only used occasionally in poems, hymns,
odes, &c. to diversify the metre; and are, in no case, lines of poetry, or
verses; but hemistics, [_hemistichs_,] or half lines. The shortest metre of
which iambic verse is composed, in lines successively, is that of three
feet; and this is the shortest metre _which_ can be denominated lines, or
verses; and _this is not frequently used_."

In ballads, ditties, hymns, and versified psalms, scarcely any line is
_more common_ than the iambic trimeter, here denied to be "frequently
used;" of which species, there are about seventy lines among the examples
above. Dr. Young's poem entitled "Resignation," has eight hundred and
twenty such lines, and as many more of iambic tetrameter. His "Ocean" has
one hundred and forty-five of the latter, and two hundred and ninety-two of
the species now under consideration; i.e., iambic dimeter. But how can the
metre which predominates by two to one, be called, in such a case, an
occasional diversification of that which is less frequent?

Lines of two iambs are not very uncommon, even in psalmody; and, since we
have some lines _yet shorter_, and the lengths of all are determined only
by the act of measuring, there is, surely, no propriety in calling dimeters
"hemistichs," merely because they are short. The following are some
examples of this measure combined with longer ones:--

_Example I.--From Psalm CXLVIII_.

                  1, 2.
    "Ye bound | -less realms | of joy,
      Exalt | your Ma | -ker's fame;
    His praise | your songs | employ
      Above | the star | -ry frame:
        Your voi | -ces raise,
      Ye Cher | -ubim,
      And Ser | -aphim,
        To sing | his praise.

                  3, 4.
    Thou moon, | that rul'st | the night,
      And sun, | that guid'st | the day,
    Ye glitt' | -ring stars | of light,
      To him | your hom | -age pay:
        His praise | declare,
      Ye heavens | above,
      And clouds | that move
        In liq | -uid air."
_The Book of Psalms in Metre_, (_with Com. Prayer_,) 1819.

_Example II.--From Psalm CXXXVI._

   "To God | the might | -y Lord,
      your joy | -ful thanks | repeat;
    To him | due praise | afford,
      as good | as he | is great:
        For God | does prove
        Our con | -stant friend,
        His bound | -less love
        Shall nev | -er end."--_Ib._, p. 164.

_Example III.--Gloria Patri_.

   "To God | the Fa | -ther, Son,
      And Spir | -it ev | -er bless'd,
    Eter | -nal Three | in One,
      All wor | -ship be | address'd;
        As here | -tofore
      It was, | is now,
      And shall | be so
        For ev | -ermore."--_Ib._, p. 179.

_Example IV.--Part of Psalm III_.

    [O] "Lord, | how man | -y are | my foes!
      How man | -y those
    That [now] | in arms | against | me rise!
      _Many_ | are they
    That of | my life | distrust | -fully | thus say:
    'No help | for him | in God | there lies.'

    But thou, | Lord, art | my shield | my glo_ry_;
      Thee, through | my sto_ry_,
    Th' exalt | -er of | my head | I count;
      Aloud | I cried
    Unto | Jeho | -vah, he | full soon | replied,
    And heard | me from | his ho | -ly mount."
        MILTON: _Psalms Versified, British Poets_, Vol. ii, p. 161.

_Example V.--Six Lines of an "Air."_

    "As when | the dove
     Laments | her love
    All on | the na | -ked spray;

     When he | returns,
     No more | she mourns,
    But loves | the live | -long day."
       JOHN GAY: _British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 377.

_Example VI.--Four Stanzas of an Ode_.

   "XXVIII.
     Gold pleas | -ure buys;
     But pleas | -ure dies",
    Too soon | the gross | fruiti | -on cloys:
     Though rapt | -ures court,
     The sense | is short;
    But vir | -tue kin | -dles liv | -ing joys:

    XXIX.
     Joys felt | alone!
     Joys ask'd | of none!
    Which Time's | and For | -tune's ar | -rows miss;
     Joys that | subsist,
     Though fates | resist,
    An un | -preca | -rious, end | -less bliss!

    XXX.
     The soul | refin'd
     Is most | inclin'd
    To ev | -_~er=y m=or_ | -al ex | -cellence;
     All vice | is dull,
     A knave's | a fool;
    And Vir | -tue is | the child | of Sense.

    XXXI.
     The vir | -_tuous mind_
     Nor wave, | nor wind,
    Nor civ | -il rage, | nor ty | -rant's frown,
     The shak | -en ball,
     Nor plan | -ets' fall,
    From its | firm ba | -sis can | dethrone."
       YOUNG'S "OCEAN:" _British Poets_, Vol. viii, p 277.

There is a line of five syllables and double rhyme, which is commonly
regarded as iambic dimeter with a supernumerary short syllable; and which,
though it is susceptible of two other divisions into two feet, we prefer to
scan in this manner, because it usually alternates with pure iambics.
Twelve such lines occur in the following extract:--

    LOVE TRANSITORY

    "Could Love | for ev_er_
    Run like | a riv_er_,
    And Time's | endeav_our_
      Be tried | in vain,--
    No oth | -er pleas_ure_
    With this | could meas_ure_;
    And like | a treas_ure_
      We'd hug | the chain.

    But since | our sigh_ing_
    Ends not | in dy_ing_,
    And, formed | for fly_ing_,
      Love plumes | his wing;
    Then for | this rea_son_
    Let's love | a sea_son_;
    But let | that sea_son_
      Be on | -ly spring."
        LORD BYRON: See _Everett's Versification_, p. 19;
           _Fowler's E. Gram._, p. 650.


MEASURE VIII.--IAMBIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.

"The shortest form of the English Iambic," says Lindley Murray, "consists
of an Iambus with an additional short syllable: as,

    Disdaining,
    Complaining,
    Consenting,
    Repenting.

We have no poem of this measure, but it may be met with in stanzas. The
Iambus, with this addition, coincides with the Amphibrach."--_Murray's
Gram._, 12mo, p. 204; 8vo, p. 254. This, or the substance of it, has been
repeated by many other authors. Everett varies the language and
illustration, but teaches the same doctrine. See _E. Versif._, p. 15.

Now there are sundry examples which may be cited to show, that the iambus,
without any additional syllable, and without the liability of being
confounded with an other foot, may, and sometimes does, stand as a line,
and sustain a regular rhyme. The following pieces contain instances of this
sort:--

    _Example I.--"How to Keep Lent."_

    "Is this | a Fast, | to keep
      The lard | -er lean
        And clean
    From fat | of neats | and sheep?

    Is it | to quit | the dish
      Of flesh, | yet still
        To fill
    The plat | -ter high | with fish?

    Is it | to fast | an hour,
      Or ragg'd | to go,
        Or show
    A down | -cast look | and sour?

    No:--'Tis | a Fast | to dole
      Thy sheaf | of wheat,
        And meat,
    Unto | the hun | -gry soul.

    It is | to fast | from strife,
      From old | debate,
        And hate;
    To cir | -cumcise | thy life;

    To show | a _heart_ | grief-rent;
      To starve | thy sin,
        Not _bin_:
    Ay, that's | to keep | thy Lent."
        ROBERT HERRICK: _Clapp's Pioneer_, p. 48.

Example II.--"To Mary Ann."

[This singular arrangement of seventy-two separate iambic feet, I find
_without intermediate points_, and leave it so. It seems intended to be
read in three or more different ways, and the punctuation required by one
mode of reading would not wholly suit an other.]

   "Your face         Your tongue         Your wit
      So fair            So sweet            So sharp
    First bent         Then drew           Then hit
      Mine eye           Mine ear            Mine heart

    Mine eye           Mine ear           Mine heart
      To like            To learn           To love
    Your face          Your tongue        Your wit
      Doth lead          Doth teach         Doth move

    Your face           Your tongue       Your wit
      With beams          With sound        With art
    Doth blind          Doth charm        Doth rule
      Mine eye            Mine ear          Mine heart

    Mine eye           Mine ear          Mine heart
      With life          With hope          With skill
    Your face          Your tongue       Your wit
      Doth feed          Doth feast         Doth fill

    O face             O tongue          O wit
      With frowns        With cheek        With smart
    Wrong not          Vex not           Wound not
      Mine eye           Mine ear          Mine heart

    This eye           This ear          This heart
      Shall joy          Shall bend        Shall swear
    Your face          Your tongue       Your wit
      To serve           To trust          To fear."

        ANONYMOUS: _Sundry American Newspapers_, in 1849.

_Example III.--Umbrellas._

"The late George Canning, of whom Byron said that 'it was his happiness to
be at once a wit, poet, orator, and statesman, and excellent in all,' is
the author of the following clever _jeu d' esprit_:" [except three lines
here added in brackets:]

   "I saw | a man | with two | umbrellas,
    (One of | the lon |--gest kind | of fellows,)
            When it rained,
            M=eet =a | l=ady
            On the | shady
            Side of | thirty |-three,
    Minus | one of | these rain |-dispellers.
                'I see,'
                Says she,
    'Your qual | -ity | of mer | -cy is | not strained.'
    [Not slow | to comprehend | an inkling,
    His eye | with wag |-gish hu |-mour twinkling.]
            Replied | he, 'Ma'am,
                Be calm;
            This one | under | my arm
                Is rotten,
    [And can |-not save | you from | a sprinkling.]
            Besides | to keep | you dry,
    'Tis plain | that you | as well | as I,
            'Can lift | your cotton.'"
        See _The Essex County Freeman_, Vol. i, No. 1.

_Example IV.--Shreds of a Song._

    I. SPRING.

   "The cuck |--oo then, | on ev |--ery tree,
    Mocks mar |--ried men, | for thus | sings he, _Cuckoo'_;
    Cuckoo', | cuckoo',-- | O word | of fear,
    Unpleas |-ing to | a mar |-ried ear!"

    II. WINTER.

   "When blood | is nipp'd, | and ways | be foul,
    Then night | -ly sings | the star |-ing owl, _To-who_;
    To-whit, | to-who, | a mer | -ry note,
    While greas | -y Joan | doth keel | the pot."
        --SHAKSPEARE: _Love's Labour's Lost_, Act v, Sc. 2.

_Example V.--Puck's Charm._

[_When he has uttered the fifth line, he squeezes a juice on Lysander's
eyes_.]

   "On the ground,
      _Sleep sound_;
      I'll apply
      To your eye,
    Gentle | lover, | remedy.
     When thou wak'st,
       _Thou tak'st_
     True delight
     In the sight
    Of thy | former | lady's eye." [508]
       IDEM: _Midsummer-Night's Dream_, Act iii, Sc. 2.


ORDER II.--TROCHAIC VERSE.

In Trochaic verse, the stress is laid on the odd syllables, and the even
ones are short. Single-rhymed trochaic omits the final short syllable, that
it may end with a long one; for the common doctrine of Murray, Chandler,
Churchill, Bullions, Butler, Everett, Fowler, Weld, Wells, Mulligan, and
others, that this chief rhyming syllable is "_additional_" to the real
number of feet in the line, is manifestly incorrect. One long syllable is,
in some instances, used _as a foot_; but it is one or more _short
syllables_ only, that we can properly admit _as hypermeter_. Iambics and
trochaics often occur in the same poem; but, in either order, written with
exactness, the number of feet is always the number of the long syllables.

_Examples from Gray's Bard._

    (1.)

   "_Ruin | seize thee,|  ruthless | king_!
    Confu | -sion on | thy ban |-ners wait,
    Though, fann'd | by Con | -quest's crim | -son wing.
    They mock | the air | with i | -dle state.
    _Helm, nor | hauberk's | twisted | mail_,
    Nor e'en | thy vir | -tues, ty | -rant, shall | avail."

    (2.)

   "_Weave the | warp, and | weave the | woof_,
    The wind | -ing-sheet | of Ed | -ward's race.
    Give am | -ple room, | and verge | enough,
    The char | -acters | of hell | to trace.
    _Mark the |year, and | mark the | night_,
    When Sev | -ern shall | re-ech | -o with | affright."
        "_The Bard, a Pindaric Ode_;"
            _British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 281 and 282.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Trochaic verse without the final short syllable, is the same as
iambic would be without the _initial_ short syllable;--it being quite
plain, that iambic, so changed, _becomes trochaic, and_ is iambic no
longer. But trochaic, retrenched of its last short syllable, is trochaic
still; and can no otherwise be made iambic, than by the prefixing of a
short syllable to the line. Feet, and the orders of verse, are
distinguished one from an other by two things, and in general by two only;
the number of syllables taken as a foot, and the order of their quantities.
Trochaic verse is always as distinguishable from iambic, as iambic is from
any other. Yet have we several grammarians and prosodies who contrive to
confound them--or who, at least, mistake catalectic trochaic for catalectic
iambic; and that too, where the syllable wanting affects only the last
foot, and makes it perhaps but a common and needful cæsura.

OBS. 2.--To suppose that iambic verse may drop its initial short syllable,
and still be iambic, still be measured as before, is not only to take a
single long syllable for a foot, not only to recognize a pedal cæsura at
the _beginning_ of each line, but utterly to destroy the only principles on
which iambics and trochaics can be discriminated. Yet Hiley, of Leeds, and
Wells, of Andover, while they are careful to treat separately of these two
orders of verse, not only teach that any order may take at the end "an
additional syllable," but also suggest that the iambic _may drop_ a
syllable "from the first foot," without diminishing the number of
feet,--without changing the succession of quantities,--without disturbing
the mode of scansion! "Sometimes," say they, (in treating of iambics,) "a
syllable is cut off from the first foot; as,

    Práise | to Gód, | immór |-tal práise,
    Fór | the lóve | that crówns | our dáys."[--BARBAULD.]
        _Hiley's E. Gram._, Third Edition, London, p. 124;
            _Wells's_, Third Edition, p. 198.

OBS. 3.--Now this couplet is the precise exemplar, not only of the
thirty-six lines of which it is a part, but also of the most common of our
trochaic metres; and if this may be thus scanned into iambic verse, so may
all other trochaic lines in existence: distinction between the two orders
must then be worse than useless. But I reject this doctrine, and trust that
most readers will easily see its absurdity. A prosodist might just as well
scan all iambics into trochaics, by pronouncing each initial short syllable
to be hypermeter. For, surely, if deficiency may be discovered at the
_beginning_ of measurement, so may redundance. But if neither is to be
looked for before the measurement ends, (which supposition is certainly
more reasonable,) then is the distinction already vindicated, and the
scansion above-cited is shown to be erroneous.

OBS. 4.--But there are yet other objections to this doctrine, other errors
and inconsistencies in the teaching of it. Exactly the same kind of verse
as this, which is said to consist of "_four iambuses_" from one of which "a
syllable _is cut off_," is subsequently scanned by the same authors as
being composed of "_three trochees_ and an _additional_ syllable; as,

    'Haste thee, | Nymph, and | bring with | _thee_
    Jest and | youthful | Jolli |-_ty_.'--MILTON."
        _Wells's School Grammar_, p. 200.

    "V=it~al | sp=ark of | he=av'nly | _fl=me_,
    Q=uit ~oh | q=uit th~is | m=ort~al | _fr=ame_." [509][--POPE.]
        _Hiley's English Grammar_, p. 126.

There is, in the works here cited, not only the inconsistency of teaching
two very different modes of scanning the same species of verse, but in each
instance the scansion is wrong; for all the lines in question are _trochaic
of four feet_,--single-rhymed, and, of course, catalectic, and ending with
a cæsura, or elision. In no metre that lacks but one syllable, can this
sort of foot occur _at the beginning_ of a line; yet, as we see, it is
sometimes _imagined_ to be there, by those who have never been able to find
it _at the end_, where it oftenest exists!

OBS. 5.--I have hinted, in the main paragraph above, that it is a common
error of our prosodists, to underrate, by one foot, the measure of all
trochaic lines, when they terminate with single rhyme; an error into which
they are led by an other as gross, that of taking for hypermeter, or mere
surplus, the whole rhyme itself, the sound or syllable most indispensable
to the verse.

   "(For rhyme the _rudder_ is of verses,
    With which, like ships, they steer their courses.)"--_Hudibras._

Iambics and trochaics, of corresponding metres, and exact in them, agree of
course in both the number of feet and the number of syllables; but as the
former are slightly redundant with double rhyme, so the latter are
deficient as much, with single rhyme; yet, the number of feet may, and
should, in these cases, be reckoned the same. An estimable author now
living says, "Trochaic verse, with an additional long syllable, is the same
as iambic verse, without the initial short syllable."--_N. Butler's
Practical Gram._, p. 193. This instruction is not quite accurate. Nor would
it be right, even if there could be "iambic verse without the initial short
syllable," and if it were universally _true_, that, "Trochaic verse may
take an additional _long_ syllable."--_Ibid._ For the addition and
subtraction here suggested, will inevitably make the difference of a foot,
between the measures or verses said to be the same!

OBS. 6.--"I doubt," says T. O. Churchill, "whether the _trochaic_ can be
considered as a legitimate English measure. All the examples of it given by
Johnson have an additional long syllable at the end: but these are
_iambics_, if we look upon the additional syllable to be at the beginning,
which is much more agreeable to the analogy of music."--_Churchill's New
Gram._, p. 390. This doubt, ridiculous as must be all reasoning in support
of it, the author seriously endeavours to raise into a general conviction
_that we have no trochaic order of verse!_ It can hardly be worth while to
notice here all his remarks. _"An additional long syllable"_ Johnson never
dreamed of--"at the end"--"at the beginning"--or anywhere else. For he
discriminated metres, not by the number of feet, as he ought to have done,
but by the number of _syllables_ he found in each line. His doctrine is
this: "Our _iambick_ measure comprises verses--Of four syllables,--Of
six,--Of eight,--Of ten. Our _trochaick_ measures are--Of three
syllables,--Of five,--Of seven. These are the measures _which are now in
use_, and above the rest those of seven, eight and ten syllables. Our
ancient poets wrote verses sometimes of twelve syllables, as Drayton's
Polyolbion; and of fourteen, as Chapman's Homer." "We have another measure
very quick and lively, and therefore much used in songs, which may be
called the _anapestick_.

    'May I góvern my pássion with ábsolute swáy,
    And grow wiser and bétter as life wears awáy.' _Dr. Pope_.

"In this measure a syllable is often retrenched from the first foot, [;] as
[,]

    'When présent we lóve, and when ábsent agrée,
    I th'nk not of I'ris [.] nor I'ris of mé.' _Dryden_.

"These measures are varied by many combinations, and sometimes by _double
endings_, either with or without rhyme, as in the _heroick_ measure.

    ''Tis the divinity that stirs _within us_,
    'Tis heaven itself that points out an _hereafter._.' _Addison_.

"So in that of eight syllables,

    'They neither added nor confounded,
    They neither wanted nor abounded.' _Prior_.

"In that of seven,

    'For resistance I could _fear none_,
      But with twenty ships had done,
    What thou, brave and happy _Vernon_,
    Hast achieved with six alone.' _Glover_.

"To these measures and their laws, may be reduced every species of English
verse."--_Dr. Johnson's Grammar of the English Tongue_, p. 14. See his
_Quarto Dict._ Here, except a few less important remarks, and sundry
examples of the metres named, is Johnson's _whole scheme_ of versification.

OBS. 7.--How, when a prosodist judges certain examples to "have an
additional long syllable at the end," he can "look upon the additional
syllable to be at the beginning," is a matter of marvel; yet, to abolish
trochaics, Churchill not only does and advises this, but imagines short
syllables removed sometimes from the beginning of lines; while sometimes he
couples final short syllables with initial long ones, to make iambs, and
yet does not always count these as feet in the verse, when he has done so!
Johnson's instructions are both misunderstood and misrepresented by this
grammarian. I have therefore cited them the more fully. The first syllable
being retrenched from an _anapest_, there remains an _iambus_. But what
countenance has Johnson lent to the gross error of reckoning such a foot an
anapest still?--or to that of commencing the measurement of a line by
including a syllable not used by the poet? The preceding stanza from
Glover, is _trochaic of four feet_; the odd lines full, and of course
making double rhyme; the even lines catalectic, and of course ending with a
long syllable counted as a foot. Johnson cited it merely as an example of
"_double endings_" imagining in it no "additional syllable," except perhaps
the two which terminate the two trochees, "fear none" and "Vernon." These,
it may be inferred, he improperly conceived to be additional to the regular
measure; because he reckoned measures by the number of syllables, and
probably supposed single rhyme to be the normal form of all rhyming verse.

OBS. 8.--There is false scansion in many a school grammar, but perhaps none
more uncouthly false, than Churchill's pretended amendments of Johnson's.
The second of these--wherein "the old _seven_[-]_foot iambic_" is
professedly found in two lines of Glover's _trochaic tetrameter_--I shall
quote:--

"In the anapæstic measure, Johnson himself allows, that a syllable is often
retrenched from the first foot; yet he gives _as an example of trochaics
with an additional syllable at the end of the even lines_ a stanza, which,
by adopting the _same principle_, would be in the iambic measure:

   "For | resis- | tance I | could fear | none,
      But | with twen | ty ships | had done,
    What | thou, brave | and hap | py Ver- | non,
      Hast | achiev'd | with six | alone.

In fact, _the second and fourth lines_ here stamp the character of the
measure; [Fist] _which is the old seven[-]foot iambic broken into four and
three_, WITH AN ADDITIONAL SYLLABLE AT THE BEGINNING."--_Churchill's New
Gram._, p. 391.

After these observations and criticisms concerning the trochaic order of
verse, I proceed to say, trochaics consist of the following measures, or
metres:--

MEASURE I.--TROCHAIC OF EIGHT FEET, OR OCTOMETER.

_Example I.--"The Raven"--First Two out of Eighteen Stanzas_.

1.
   "Once up | -on a | midnight | dreary, | while I | pondered, | weak and
                                                               | weary,
    Over | _m=any ~a_ | quaint and | _c=ur~io~us_ | volume | of for
                                                          | -gotten | lore,
    While I | nodded, | nearly | napping, | sudden |-ly there | came a
                                                               | tapping,
    As of | some one | gently | rapping, | rapping | at my | chamber
                                                               | door.
    ''Tis some | visit |-or,' I | muttered, | 'tapping | at my | chamber
                                                               | door--
        Only | this, and |nothing | more."

2.
    Ah! dis |-tinctly | I re |-member | it was | in the | bleak De
                                                               |-cember,
    And each | _s=ep~ar~ate_ | dying | ember | wrought its | ghost up
                                                         |-on the | floor;
    Eager |-ly I | wished the | morrow; | vainly | had I | tried to
                                                               | borrow
    From my | books sur |-cease of | sorrow--| sorrow | for the | lost Le
                                                               |-nore--
    For the | rare and | _r=ad~i~ant_ | maiden, | whom the | angels
                                                         | name Le |-nore--
          Nameless | here for | ever |-more."
       EDGAR A. POE: _American Review for February_, 1845.

Double rhymes being less common than single ones, in the same proportion,
is this long verse less frequently terminated with a full trochee, than
with a single long syllable counted as a foot. The species of measure is,
however, to be reckoned the same, though catalectic. By Lindley Murray, and
a number who implicitly re-utter what he teaches, the verse of _six
trochees_, in which are _twelve syllables_ only, is said "to be _the
longest_ Trochaic line that our language admits."--_Murray's Octavo Gram._,
p. 257; _Weld's E. Gram._, p. 211. The examples produced here will
sufficiently show the inaccuracy of their assertion.

_Example II.--"The Shadow of the Obelisk."--Last two Stanzas._

   "Herds are | feeding |in the | Forum, | as in | old E | -vander's
                                                               | time:
    Tumbled | from the | steep Tar |_-peian_ | _every_ | pile that
                                                      | sprang sub |-lime.
    Strange! that | what seemed | most in |-constant | should the | most a
                                                      | -biding | prove;
    Strange! that |what is | hourly | moving | no mu |-tation | can re
                                                               |-move:
    Ruined | lies the | cirque! the | _chariots_, | long a |-go, have
                                                      | ceased to | roll--
    E'en the | Obe |-lisk is | broken |--but the | shadow | still is
                                                               | whole.

    9.

    Out a |--las! if | _mightiest_ | empires | leave so | little | mark be
                                                               |-hind,
    How much | less must | heroes | hope for, | in the | wreck of | human
                                                               | kind!
    Less than | e'en this | darksome | picture, | which I | tread be
                                                       |-neath my | feet,
    Copied | by a | lifeless | moonbeam | on the | pebbles | of the
                                                               | street;
    Since if | Cæsar's | best am |-bition, | living, | was, to | be re
                                                               |-nowned,
    What shall | Cassar | leave be |-hind him, | save the | shadow | of a
                                                               | sound?"
        T. W. PARSONS: _Lowell and Carter's "Pioneer,"_ Vol. i, p. 120.

_Example III.--"The Slaves of Martinique."--Nine Couplets out of
Thirty-six._

   "Beams of | noon, like | burning | lances, | through the | tree-tops
                                                   | flash and | glisten,
    As she | stands be | -fore her | lover, | with raised | face to
                                                   | look and | listen.

    Dark, but | comely, | like the | maiden | in the | ancient | Jewish
                                                               | song,
    Scarcely | has the | toil of | task-fields | done her graceful | beauty
                                                               | wrong.

    He, the | strong one, | and the | manly, | with the | vassal's
                                                     | garb and | hue,
    Holding | still his | spirit's | birthright, | to his | higher | nature
                                                               | true;

    Hiding | deep the | _strengthening_ | purpose | of a | freeman | in his
                                                               | heart,
    As the | Greegree | holds his | Fetish | from the | white man's
                                                      | gaze a | -part.

    Ever | foremost | of the | toilers, | when the | driver's | morning
                                                               | horn
    Calls a | -way to | stifling | millhouse, | or to | fields of
                                                   | cane and | corn;

    Fall the | keen and | burning | lashes | never | on his | back or
                                                               | limb;
    Scarce with | look or | word of | censure, | turns the | driver | unto
                                                               | him.

    Yet his | brow is | always | thoughtful, | and his | eye is | hard and
                                                               | stern;
    _Slavery's_ | last and | humblest | lesson | he has | never
                                                   | deigned to | learn."

    "And, at evening | when his | comrades | dance be | -fore their
                                                   | master's | door,
    Folding arms and | knitting | forehead, | stands he | silent | ever
                                                                |-more.

    God be | praised for | every  instinct | which re | -bels a | -gainst a
                                                                | lot
    Where the | brute sur |-vives the | human, | and man's | upright
                                                         | form is | not!"
        --J. G. WHITTIER: _National Era, and other Newspapers_, Jan. 1848.

_Example IV.--"The Present Crisis"--Two Stanzas out of sixteen._

   "Once to | _every_ | man and | nation | comes the | moment | to de
                                                              |-cide,
    In the | strife of | Truth with | Falsehood, | for the | good or | evil
                                                              | side;
    Some great | cause, God's | new Mes |-siah, | _offering_ | each the
                                                       | bloom or | blight,
    Parts the | goats up | -on the | left hand, | and the | sheep up
                                                       | -on the | right,
    And the | choice goes | by for | -ever |'twixt that | darkness
                                                       | and that | light.

    Have ye | chosen, | O my | people, | on whose | party | ye shall
                                                                 | stand,
    Ere the | Doom from | _its_ worn | sandals | shakes the | dust a
                                                      | -gainst our | land?
    Though the | cause of | evil | prosper, | yet the | Truth a | -lone is
                                                                 | strong,
    And, al | _beit she_ | wander | outcast | now, I | see a | -round her
                                                                 | throng
    Troops of | beauti | -ful tall | angels | to en | -shield her
                                                      | from all | wrong."
        JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL: _Liberator_, September 4th, 1846.

_Example V.--The Season of Love.--A short Extract_.

   "In the | Spring, a | fuller | crimson | comes up | -on the | robin's
                                                               | breast;
    In the | Spring, the | wanton | lapwing | gets him | -self an | other
                                                               | crest;
    In the | Spring, a | _livelier_ | iris | changes | on the | burnished
                                                               | dove;
    In the | Spring, a | young man's | fancy | lightly | turns to
                                                    | thoughts of | love.

    Then her | cheek was | pale, and | thinner | than should | be for
                                                    | one so | young;
    And her | eyes on | all my | motions, | with a | mute ob | -servance,
                                                               | hung.
    And I | said, 'My | cousin | Amy, | speak, and | speak the | truth to
                                                               | me;
    Trust me, | cousin, | all the | current | of my | being | sets to
                                                               | thee.'"
       _Poems by_ ALFRED TENNYSON, Vol. ii, p. 35.

Trochaic of eight feet, as these sundry examples will suggest, is much
oftener met with than iambic of the same number; and yet it is not a form
very frequently adopted. The reader will observe that it requires a
considerable pause after the fourth foot; at which place one might divide
it, and so reduce each couplet to a stanza of four lines, similar to the
following examples:--

PART OF A SONG, IN DIALOGUE.

    SYLVIA.

    "Corin, | cease this | idle | teasing;
      Love that's | forc'd is | harsh and | sour;
    If the | lover | be dis | -pleasing,
      To per | -sist dis | -gusts the | more."

    CORIN.

    "'Tis in | vain, in | vain to | fly me,
      _Sylvia_, | I will | still pur | -sue;
    Twenty | thousand | times de | -ny me,
      I will | kneel and | weep a | -new."

    SYLVIA.

    "Cupid | ne'er shall | make me | languish,
      I was | born a | -verse to | love;
    Lovers' | sighs, and | tears, and | anguish,
      Mirth and | pastime | to me | prove."

    CORIN.

    "Still I | vow with | patient | duty
      Thus to | meet your | proudest | scorn;
    You for | unre | -lenting | beauty
      I for | constant | love was | born."

       _Poems by_ ANNA LÆTITIA BARBAULD, p. 56.

PART OF A CHARITY HYMN.

    1.

    "Lord of | life, all | praise ex | -celling,
      thou, in | glory | uncon | -fin'd,
    Deign'st to | make thy | humble | dwelling
      with the | poor of | humble | mind.

    2.

    As thy | love, through | all cre | -ation,
      beams like | thy dif | -fusive | light;
    So the | scorn'd and | humble | station
      shrinks be | -fore thine | equal | sight.

    3.

    Thus thy | care, for | all pro | -viding,
      warm'd thy | faithful | prophet's | tongue;
    Who, the | lot of | all de | -ciding,
      to thy | chosen | _Israel_ | sung:

    4.

    'When thine | harvest | yields thee | pleasure,
      thou the | golden | sheaf shalt | bind;
    To the | poor be | -longs the | treasure
      of the | scatter'd | ears be | -hind.'"
       _Psalms and Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal Church_, Hymn LV.

A still more common form is that which reduces all these tetrameters to
single rhymes, preserving their alternate succession. In such metre and
stanza, is Montgomery's "Wanderer of Switzerland, a Poem, in Six Parts,"
and with an aggregate of eight hundred and forty-four lines. Example:--

    1.

    "'_Wanderer_, | whither | wouldst thou | roam?
      To what | region | far a | -way,
    Bend thy | steps to | find a | home,
      In the | twilight | of thy | day?'

    2.

    'In the | twilight | of my | day,
      I am | hastening | to the | west;
    There my | weary limbs | to lay,
      Where the | sun re | -tires to | rest.

    3.

    Far be | -yond the At | -lantic | floods,
      Stretched be | -neath the | evening | sky,
    Realms of | mountains, | dark with | woods,
      In Co | -lumbia's | bosom | lie.

    4.

    There, in | glens and | caverns | rude,
      Silent | since the | world be | -gan,
    Dwells the | virgin | Soli | -tude,
      Unbe | -trayed by | faithless | man:

    5.

    Where a | tyrant | never | trod,
      Where a | slave was | never | known,
    But where | nature | worships | God
      In the | wilder | -ness a | -lone.

    6.

    Thither, | thither | would I | roam;
      There my | children | may be | free;
    I for | them will | find a | home;
      They shall | find a | grave for | me.'"

       _First six stanzas of Part VI_, pp. 71 and 72.


MEASURE II.--TROCHAIC OF SEVEN FEET, OR HEPTAMETER.

_Example.--Psalm LXX,[510] Versified._

    Hasten, | Lord, to | rescue | me, and | set me | safe from | trouble;
    Shame thou | those who | seek my | soul, re | -ward their | mischief
                                                               | double.
    Turn the | taunting | scorners | back, who | cry, 'A | -ha!' so
                                                               | loudly;
    Backward | in con | -fusion | hurl the | foe that | mocks me | proudly.
    Then in | thee let | those re | -joice, who | seek thee, | self-de
                                                               | -nying;
    All who | thy sal | -vation | love, thy | name be | glory | -fying.
    So let | God be | magni | -fied. But | I am | poor and | needy:
    Hasten, | Lord, who | art my | Helper; | let thine | aid be | speedy.

This verse, like all other that is written in very long lines, requires a
cæsural pause of proportionate length; and it would scarcely differ at all
to the ear, if it were cut in two at the place of this pause--provided the
place were never varied. Such metre does not appear to have been at any
time much used, though there seems to be no positive reason why it might
not have a share of popularity. To commend our versification for its
"boundless variety," and at the same time exclude from it forms either
unobjectionable or well authorized, as some have done, is plainly
inconsistent. Full trochaics have some inconvenience, because all their
rhymes must be double; and, as this inconvenience becomes twice as much
when any long line of this sort is reduced to two short ones, there may be
a reason why a stanza precisely corresponding to the foregoing couplets is
seldom seen. If such lines be divided and rhymed at the middle of the
fourth foot, where the cæsural pause is apt to fall, the first part of each
will be a trochaic line of four feet, single-rhymed and catalectic, while
the rest of it will become an iambic line of three feet, with double rhyme
and hypermeter. Such are the prosodial characteristics of the following
lines; which, if two were written as one, would make exactly our full
trochaic of seven feet, the metre exhibited above:--

   "Whisp'ring, | heard by | wakeful | maids,
      To whom | the night | stars _guide_ | _us_,
    Stolen | walk, through | moonlight | shades,
      With those | we love | _beside_ | _us_"--_Moore's Melodies_, p. 276.

But trochaic of seven feet may also terminate with single rhyme, as in the
following couplet, which is given anonymously, and, after a false custom,
erroneously, in N. Butler's recent Grammar, as "trochaic of _six feet, with
an additional long syllable_:--

   "Night and | morning | were at | meeting | over | Water | -loo;
    Cocks had | sung their | _earliest_ | greeting; | faint and | low they
                                                             | crew." [511]

In Frazee's Grammar, a separate line or two, similar in metre to these, and
rightly reckoned to have _seven feet_, and many lines, (including those
above from Tennyson, which W. C. Fowler erroneously gives for
_Heptameter_,) being a foot longer, are presented as trochaics of _eight_
feet; but Everett, the surest of our prosodists, remaining, like most
others, a total stranger to our octometers, and too little acquainted with
trochaic heptameters to believe the species genuine, on finding a couple of
stanzas in which two such lines are set with shorter ones of different
sorts, and with some which are defective in metre, sagely concludes that
all lines of more than "_six trochees_" must necessarily be condemned as
prosodial anomalies. It may be worth while to repeat the said stanzas here,
adding such corrections and marks as may suggest their proper form and
scansion. But since they commence with the shorter metre of six trochees
only, and are already placed under that head, I too may take them in the
like connexion, by now introducing my third species of trochaics, which is
Everett's tenth.


MEASURE III.--TROCHAIC OF SIX FEET, OR HEXAMETER.

_Example.--Health_.

   "Up the | dewy | mountain, | Health is | bounding | lightly;
      On her | brows a | garland, | twin'd with | richest | posies:
    Gay is | she, e | -late with | hope, and | smiling | sprighthly;
      Redder | is her | cheek, and | sweeter | than the | rose is."
        G. BROWN: _The Institutes of English Grammar_, p. 258.

This metre appears to be no less rare than the preceding; though, as in
that case, I know no good reason why it may not be brought into vogue.
Professor John S. Hart says of it: "This is the _longest_ Trochaic verse
that seems _to have been cultivated_."--_Hart's Eng. Gram._, p. 187. The
seeming of its cultivation he doubtless found only in sundry modern
grammars. Johnson, Bicknell, Burn, Coar, Ward, Adam,--old grammarians, who
vainly profess to have illustrated "every species of English verse,"--make
no mention of it; and, with all the grammarians who notice it, _one
anonymous couplet_, passing from hand to hand, has everywhere served to
exemplify it.

Of this, "the line of six Trochees," Everett says: "This measure _is
languishing_, and rarely used. The following example is often cited:

   'On a  | mountain, | stretched be | -neath a   | hoary   | willow,
      Lay a | shepherd  | swain, and   | view'd the | rolling
                                                          | billow.'"[512]

Again: "We have the following from BISHOP HEBER:--

    'H=ol~y, | h=ol~y | h=ol~y! | =all th~e | s=aints ~a | -d=ore th~ee,
      C=ast~ing | d=own th~eir | g=old~en | cr=owns ~a | -r=ound th~e
                                                      | gl=ass~y | s=ea;
    Ch=er~u | -b=im ~and | s=er~a | -ph=im [~_are_,] | f=all~ing
                                                | d=own b~e | -f=ore th~ee,
      _Wh~ich_ w=ert, | ~and =art, | ~and =ev | -~erm=ore | sh~alt b=e!

    Holy, | holy, | holy! | though the | darkness | hide thee,
      Though the | eye of | sinful | man thy | glory | may not | see,
    Only | thou, [_O | God_,] art | holy; | there is | none be
                                                            | -side  thee,
      P=erf~ect | ~in p=ow'r, | ~in l=ove, | ~and p=u | -r~it=y.'

Only the first _and the third_ lines of these stanzas are to our purpose,"
remarks the prosodist. That is, only these he conceived to be "lines of six
Trochees." But it is plain, that the third line of the first stanza, having
seven long syllables, must have seven feet, and cannot be a trochaic
hexameter; and, since the third below should be like it in metre, one can
hardly forbear to think the words which I have inserted in brackets, were
accidentally omitted.

Further: "It is worthy of remark," says he, "that the second line of each
of these stanzas is composed of _six Trochees_ and an _additional long
syllable_. As its corresponding line is an Iambic, and as the piece has
some licenses in its construction, it is _far safer_ to conclude that this
line is an _anomaly_ than that it forms a distinct species of verse. We
must therefore conclude that the tenth [the metre of six trochees] is the
longest species of Trochaic line known to English verse."--_Everett's
Versification_, pp. 95 and 96.

This, in view of the examples above, of our longer trochaics, may serve as
a comment on the author's boast, that, "having deduced his rules from the
usage of the great poets, he has the best reason for being confident of
their correctness."--_Ibid._, Pref., p. 5.

Trochaic hexameter, too, may easily be written with _single rhyme_; perhaps
more easily than a specimen suited to the purpose can be cited from any
thing already written. Let me try:--

_Example I.--The Sorcerer_.

    Lonely | in the | forest, | subtle | from his | birth,
    Lived a | necro | -mancer, | wondrous | son of | earth.
    More of | him in | -quire not, | than I | choose to | say;
    Nymph or | dryad | bore him-- | else 'twas | witch or | fay;
    Ask you | who his | father?-- | haply | he might | be
    Wood-god, | satyr, | sylvan; | --such his | pedi | -gree.
    Reared mid | fauns and | fairies, | knew he | no com | -peers;
    Neither | cared he | for them, | saving | ghostly | seers.
    Mistress | of the | black-art, | "wizard | gaunt and | grim,"
    Nightly | on the | hill-top, | "read the | stars to | him."
    These were | welcome | teachers; | drank he | in their | lore;
    Witchcraft | so en | -ticed him, | still to | thirst for | more.
    Spectres | he would | play with, | phantoms | raise or | quell;
    Gnomes from | earth's deep | centre | knew his | potent | spell.
    Augur | or a | -ruspex | had not | half his | art;
    Master | deep of | magic, | spirits | played his | part;
    Demons, | imps in | -fernal, | conjured | from be | -low,
    Shaped his | grand en | -chantments | with im | -posing | show.

_Example II.--An Example of Hart's, Corrected_

   "Where the | wood is | waving, | _shady_, | green, and | high,
    Fauns and | dryads, | _nightly_, | watch the | starry | sky."
        See _Hart's E. Gram._, p. 187; or _the citation thence below_.

A couplet of this sort might easily be reduced to a pleasant little
stanza, by severing each line after the third foot, thus:--

    Hearken! | hearken! | hear ye;
     Voices | meet my | ear.
    Listen, | never | fear ye;
     Friends--or | foes--are | near.

    Friends! "So | -ho!" they're | shouting.--
     "Ho! so | -ho, a | -hoy!"--
    'Tis no | Indian, | scouting.
     Cry, _so | -ho_! with | joy.

But a similar succession of eleven syllables, six long and five short,
divided after the seventh, leaving two iambs to form the second or shorter
line,--(since such a division produces different orders and metres both,--)
will, I think, retain but little resemblance in rhythm to the foregoing,
though the actual sequence of quantities long and short is the same. If
this be so, the particular measure or correspondent length of lines is more
essential to the character of a poetic strain than some have supposed. The
first four lines of the following extract are an example relevant to this
point:--

_Ariel's Song._

   "C=ome ~un |-t=o´ th~ese | y=ell~ow | s=ands,
    And th=en | t~ake h=ands:
    Court'sied | when you | have and | kiss'd,
    (The wild | waves whist,)
    Foot it | featly | here and | there;
    And, sweet | sprites, the | burden | bear."
        SINGER'S SHAKSPEARE: _Tempest_, Act i, Sc. 2.


MEASURE IV.--TROCHAIC OF FIVE FEET, OR PENTAMETER

_Example I.--Double Rhymes and Single, Alternated_.

   "Mountain | winds! oh! | whither | do ye | call me?
      Vainly, | vainly, | would my | steps pur |-sue:
    Chains of | care to | lower | earth en |-thrall me,
      Wherefore | thus my | weary | spirit | woo?

    Oh! the | strife of | this di |-vided | being!
      Is there | peace where | ye are | borne, on | high?
    Could we | soar to | your proud | eyries | fleeing,
      In our | hearts, would | haunting | _m=em~or~ies_ | die?"
       FELICIA HEMANS: "_To the Mountain Winds:" Everet's Versif._, p. 95.

_Example II--Rhymes Otherwise Arranged._

   "Then, me |-thought, I | heard a | hollow | sound,
    _G=ath~er~ing_ | up from | all the lower | ground:
    _N=arr~ow~ing_ | in to | where they | sat as |-sembled,
    Low vo |_-l~upt~uo~us_ | music, | winding, | trembled."
       ALFRED TENNYSON: _Frazee's Improved Gram._, p. 184; _Fowler's_, 657.


This measure, whether with the final short syllable or without it, is said,
by Murray, Everett, and others, to be "_very uncommon_." Dr. Johnson, and
the other old prosodists named with him above, knew nothing of it. Two
couplets, exemplifying it, now to be found in sundry grammars, and
erroneously reckoned to _differ as to the number of their feet_, were
either selected or composed by Murray, for his Grammar, at its origin--or,
if not then, at its first reprint, in 1796. They are these:--

(1.)

   "All that | walk on | foot or | ride in | _chariots_,
    All that | dwell in | pala |-ces or | garrets."

_L. Murray's Gram._, 12mo, 175; 8vo, 257; _Chandler's_, 196; _Churchill's_,
187; _Hiley's_, 126; _et al._

(2.)

   "Idle | after | dinner, | in his | chair,
    Sat a | farmer, | ruddy, | fat, and | fair."

_Murray, same places; N. Butler's Gr._, p. 193; _Hallock's_, 244; _Hart's_,
187; _Weld's_, 211; _et al._

Richard Hiley most absurdly scans this last couplet, and all verse like it,
into "_the Heroic measure_," or a form of our _iambic pentameter_; saying,
"Sometimes a syllable is cut off from the _first_ foot; as,

    =I |-dl~e =af |-t~er d=inn |-n~er =in | h~is ch=air [,]
    S=at | ~a f=ar |-m~er [,] r=ud |-dý, f=at, | =and f=air."
        _Hiley's English Grammar_, Third Edition, p. 125.

J. S. Hart, who, like many others, has mistaken the metre of this last
example for "_Trochaic Tetrameter_," with a surplus "syllable," after
repeating the current though rather questionable assertion, that, "this
measure is very uncommon," proceeds with our "_Trochaic Pentameter_," thus:
"This species is likewise uncommon. It is composed of five trochees; as,

    =In th~e | d=ark ~and | gr=een ~and | gl=oom~y | v=all~ey,
    S=at~yrs | b=y th~e | br=ookl~et | l=ove t~o | d=all~y."

And again: [[Fist]] "_The SAME with an ADDITIONAL accented syllable_; as,

    Wh=ere th~e | w=ood ~is | w=av~ing |gr=een ~and |_h=igh_,
    F=auns ~and | Dr=y~ads | w=atch th~e | st=arr~y | _sky._"
       _Hart's English Grammar_, First Edition, p. 187.

These examples appear to have been made for the occasion; and the latter,
together with its introduction, made unskillfully. The lines are of five
feet, and so are those about the ruddy farmer; but there is nothing
"_additional_" in either case; for, as pentameter, they are all
_catalectic_, the final short syllable being dispensed with, and a cæsura
preferred, for the sake of single rhyme, otherwise not attainable. "Five
trochees" and a rhyming "syllable" will make trochaic _hexameter_, a
measure perhaps more pleasant than this. See examples above.


MEASURE V.--TROCHAIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.

_Example I.--A Mournful Song_.

    1.

    "Raving | winds a | -round her | blowing,
    Yellow | leaves the | woodlands | strewing,
    By a | river | hoarsely | roaring,
    Isa | -bella | strayed de | -ploring.
    'Farewell | hours that | late did | measure
    Sunshine | days of | joy and | pleasure;
    Hail, thou | gloomy | night of | sorrow,
    Cheerless | night that | knows no | morrow.

    2.

    O'er the | past too | fondly | _wandering_,
    On the | hopeless |  future | _pondering_,
    Chilly | grief my | life-blood | freezes,
    Fell de | -spair my | fancy | seizes.
    Life, thou | soul of | _every_ | blessing,
    Load to | _misery_ | most dis | -tressing,
    O how | gladly | I'd re | -sign thee,
    And to | dark ob | _-livion_ | join thee.'"
        ROBERT BURNS: _Select Works_, Vol. ii, p. 131

_Example II.--A Song Petitionary_.

   "_Powers ce_ | -lestial, | whose pro | -tection
     Ever | guards the | _virtuous_ | fair,
    While in | distant | climes I | wander,
     Let my | Mary | be your | care:
    Let her | form so | fair and | faultless,
     Fair and | faultless | as your | own;
    Let my | Mary's | kindred | spirit
     Draw your | choicest | _influence_ | down.

    Make the | gales you | waft a | -round her
     Soft and | peaceful | as her | breast;
    Breathing | in the | breeze that | fans her,
     Soothe her | bosom | into | rest:
    _Guardian_ | angels, | O pro | -tect her,
     When in | distant | lands I | roam;
    _To realms_ | _unknown_ | _while fate_ | _exiles me_,
     Make her | bosom | still my | home."
       BURNS'S SONGS, Same Volume, p. 165.

_Example III.--Song of Juno and Ceres_.

    _Ju_. "Honour, | riches, marriage | -blessing,
     Long con | _-tinuance_, | and in | -creasing,
     Hourly | joys be | still up | -on you!
    Juno | sings her | blessings | on you."
    _Cer_. "Earth's in | -crease, and | foison | plenty;
     Barns and | garners | never | empty;
     Vines with | clust'ring | bunches | growing;
     Plants with | goodly | burden | bowing;
     Spring come | to you, | at the | farthest,
     In the | very | end of | harvest!
     Scarci | -ty and | want shall | shun you;
     Ceres' | blessing | so is | on you."
       SHAKSPEARE: _Tempest_, Act iv, Sc. 1.

_Example IV.--On the Vowels_.

   "We are | little | airy | creatures,
    All of | diff'rent | voice and | features;
    One of | us in | glass is | set,
    One of | us you'll | find in | jet;

    T'other | you may | see in | tin,
    And the | fourth a | box with | -in;
    If the | fifth you | should pur | -sue,
    It can | never | fly from | you."
        SWIFT: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. v, p. 343.

_Example V.--Use Time for Good_.

   "Life is | short, and | time is | swift;
    Roses | fade, and | shadows | shift;
    But the ocean | and the | river
    Rise and | fall and | flow for | ever;

    Bard! not | vainly | heaves the | ocean;
    Bard! not | vainly | flows the | river;
    Be thy | song, then, | like their | motion,
    Blessing | now, and | blessing | ever."
        EBENEZER ELLIOT: _From a Newspaper_.

_Example IV.[sic for VI--KTH]--"The Turkish Lady"--First Four Stanzas_.

    1.
    "'Twas the | hour when | rites un | -holy
      Called each | Paynim | voice to | pray'r,
    And the | star that | faded | slowly,
      Left to | dews the | freshened | air.

    2.
    Day her | sultry | fires had | wasted,
      Calm and | sweet the | moonlight | rose;
    E'en a | captive's | spirit | tasted
      Half ob | -livion | of his | woes.

    3.
    Then 'twas | from an | Emir's | palace
      Came an | eastern | lady | bright;
    She, in | spite of | tyrants | jealous,
      Saw and | loved an | English | knight.

    4.
    'Tell me, | captive, | why in | anguish
      Foes have | dragged thee | here to | dwell
    Where poor | Christians, | as they | languish.
      Hear no | sound of | sabbath | bell?'"
        THOMAS CAMPBELL: _Poetical Works_, p. 115.

_Example VII.--The Palmer's Morning Hymn_.

   "Lauded | be thy | name for | ever,
    Thou, of | life the | guard and | giver!
    Thou canst | guard thy | creatures | sleeping,
    Heal the | heart long | broke with | weeping,
    Rule the | =ouphes ~and | =elves ~at | w=ill
    _Th~at v=ex_ | _th~e =air_ | _~or h=aunt_ | _th~e h=ill_,
    _~And =all_ | _th~e f=u_ | _-r~y s=ub_ | _-j~ect k=eep_
    _~Of b=oil_ | _-~ing cl=oud_ | _~and ch=af_ | _-~ed d=eep!_

    I h~ave | s=een, ~and | w=ell I | kn=ow ~it!
    Thou hast | done, and | Thou wilt | do it!
    God of | stillness | and of | motion!
    Of the | rainbow | and the | ocean!
    Of the | mountain, | rock, and | river!
    Blessed | be Thy | name for | ever!
    I have | seen thy | wondrous | might
    Through the | shadows | of this | night!

    Thou, who | slumber'st | not, nor | sleepest!
    Blest are | they thou | kindly | keepest!
    Spirits, | from the | ocean | under,
    Liquid | flame, and | levell'd | thunder,
    Need not | waken | nor a |-larm them--
    All com |-bined, they | cannot | harm them.

    God of | evening's | yellow | ray,
    God of | yonder | dawning | day,
    Thine the | flaming | sphere of | light!
    Thine the | darkness | of the | night!
    Thine are | all the | gems of | even,
    God of | angels! | God of | heaven!"
        JAMES HOGG: _Mador of the Moor, Poems_, p. 206.

_Example VIII--A Short Song, of Two Stanzas_.

   "Stay, my | charmer, | can you | leave me?
    Cruel, | cruel, | to de |-ceive me!
    Well you | know how | much you | grieve me:
    Cruel | charmer, | can you | go?
    Cruel | charmer, | can you | go?

    By my | love, so | ill re |-quited;
    By the | faith you | fondly plighted;
    By the | pangs of | lovers slighted;
    Do not, | do not | leave me | so!
    Do not, | do not | leave me | so!"
        ROBERT BURNS: _Select Works_, Vol. ii, p. 129.

_Example IX.--Lingering Courtship_.

    1.
    "Never | wedding, | ever | wooing,
    Still | lovelorn | heart pur |-suing,
    Read you | not the | wrong you're | doing,
    In my | cheek's pale | hue?
    All my | life with | sorrow | strewing,
    Wed, or | cease to | woo.

    2.
    Rivals | banish'd, | bosoms | plighted,
    Still our | days are | disu |-nited;
    Now the | lamp of | hope is | lighted,
    Now half | quench'd ap | -pears,
    Damp'd, and | _wavering_, and be | -nighted,
    Midst my | sighs and | tears.

    3.
    Charms you | call your | dearest | blessing,
    Lips that | thrill at | your ca | -ressing,
    Eyes a | _mutual_  soul con | -fessing,
    Soon you'll | make them | grow
    Dim, and | worthless | your pos | -sessing,
    Not with | age, but | woe!"
        CAMPBELL: _Everett's System of Versification_, p. 91.

_Example X.--"Boadicea"--Four Stanzas from Eleven_.

    1.
    "When the | British | warrior | queen,
    Bleeding | from the | Roman | rods,
    Sought, with | an in | -dignant | mien,
    Counsel | of her | country's | gods,

    2.
    Sage be | -neath the | spreading | oak,
    Sat the | Druid, | hoary | chief;
    _Every_  burning | word he | spoke
    Full of | rage, and | full of | grief.

    3.
    Princess! | if our | aged | eyes
    Weep up | -on thy | matchless | wrongs,
    'Tis be | -cause re | -sentment | ties
    All the | terrors | of our | tongues.

    4.
    ROME SHALL | PERISH-- | write that | word
    In the | blood that | she hath | spilt;
    Perish, | hopeless | and ab | -horr'd,
    Deep in | ruin | as in | guilt."
        WILLIAM COWPER: _Poems_, Vol. ii, p. 244.

_Example XI--"The Thunder Storm"--Two Stanzas from Ten_.

   "Now in | deep and | dreadful | gloom,
    Clouds on | clouds por | -tentous | spread,
    Black as | if the | day of | doom
    Hung o'er | Nature's | shrinking | head:
    Lo! the | lightning | breaks from | high,
    God is | coming! |--God is | nigh!

    Hear ye | not his | _chariot_ |  wheels,
    As the | mighty | thunder | rolls?
    Nature, | startled | Nature | reels,
    From the | centre | to the | poles:
    Tremble! | --Ocean, | Earth, and | Sky!
    Tremble! | --God is | passing | by!"
        J. MONTGOMERY: _Wanderer of Switzerland, and other Poems_, p. 130.

_Example XII.--"The Triumphs of Owen," King of North Wales._[513]

   "Owen's | praise de | -mands my song,
    Owen | swift and | Owen | strong;
    Fairest | flow'r of | _Roderick's_ | stem,
    Gwyneth's | shield, and | Britain's | gem.
    He nor | heaps his | brooded | stores,
    Nor the | whole pro | -fusely | pours;
    Lord of | _every_  | regal | art,
    _Liberal_ | hand and | open | heart.
      Big with | hosts of | mighty | name,
    Squadrons | three a | -gainst him came;
    This the | force of | Eirin | hiding,
    Side by | side as | proudly | riding,
    On her | shadow | long and | gay,
    Lochlin | ploughs the | _watery_  | way:
    There the Norman | sails a | -far
    Catch the | winds, and | join the | war;
    Black and | huge, a | -long they | sweep,
    Burthens | of the | angry | deep.
      Dauntless | on his | native | sands,
    _The Drag | -on-son  | of Mo | -na stands;[514]
    In glit | -tering arms  | and glo | -ry drest_,
    High he | rears his | ruby | crest.
    There the | thundering | stroke be | -gin,
    There the | press, and | there the | din;
    Taly | -malfra's | rocky | shore
    _Echoing_ | to the | battle's | roar;
    Where his | glowing | eyeballs | turn,
    Thousand | banners | round him | burn.
    Where he | points his | purple | spear,
    Hasty, | hasty | rout is | there,
    Marking | with in | -dignant | eye
    Fear to | stop, and | shame to | fly.
    There Con | -fusion, | Terror's | child,
    Conflict | fierce, and | Ruin | wild,
    Ago | -ny, that | pants for | breath,
    _Despair_, | and HON | -OURA | -BLE DEATH."
        THOMAS GRAY: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 285.

_Example XIII.--"Grongar Hill."--First Twenty-six Lines_.

   "Silent | Nymph, with | _curious_ | eye,
    Who, the | purple | eve, dost | lie
    On the | mountain's | lonely | van,
    _Beyond_ | _the noise_ | _of bus_ | _-y man_;
    Painting | fair the | form of | things,
    While the | yellow | linnet | sings;
    Or the | tuneful | nightin | -gale
    Charms the | forest | with her | tale;
    Come, with | all thy | various  hues,
    Come, and | aid thy | sister | Muse.
    Now, while | Phoebus, | riding | high,
    _Gives lus_ | _-tre to_ | _the land_ | _and sky_,
    Grongar | Hill in | -vites my | song;
    Draw the | landscape | bright | and strong;
    Grongar, | in whose | mossy | cells,
    Sweetly | -musing | Quiet | dwells;
    Grongar, | in whose | silent | shade,
    For the | modest | Muses | made,
    _So oft_ | _I have_, | _the eve_ | _-ning still_,
    At the | fountain | of a | rill,
    Sat up | -on a | _flowery_ | bed,
    With my | hand be | -neath my | head,
    _While stray'd_ | _my eyes_ | _o'er Tow_ | _-y's flood_,
    Over | mead and | over wood,
    _From house_ | _to house_, | _from hill_ | _to hill_,
    _Till Con_ | _-templa_ | _-tion had_ | _her fill_."
        JOHN DYER: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 65.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--This is the most common of our trochaic measures; and it seems to
be equally popular, whether written with single rhyme, or with double; in
stanzas, or in couplets; alone, or with some intentional intermixture. By a
careful choice of words and style, it may be adapted to all sorts of
subjects, grave, or gay; quaint, or pathetic; as may the corresponding
iambic metre, with which it is often more or less mingled, as we see in
some of the examples above. Milton's _L'Allegro_, or _Gay Mood_, has one
hundred and fifty-two lines; ninety-eight of which are iambics; fifty-four
trochaic tetrameters; a very few of each order having double rhymes. These
orders the poet has _not_--"very ingeniously _alternated_" as Everett
avers; but has simply interspersed, or commingled, with little or no regard
to alternation. His _Il Penseroso_, or _Grave Mood_, has twenty-seven
trochaic tetrameters, mixed irregularly with one hundred and forty-nine
iambics.

OBS. 2.--Everett, who divides our trochaic tetrameters into two species of
metre, imagines that the catalectic form, or that which is single-rhymed,
"has a _solemn effect_,"--"imparts to all pieces _more dignity_ than any of
the other short measures,"--"that no trivial or humorous subject should be
treated in this measure,"--and that, "besides dignity, it imparts an air of
_sadness_ to the subject."--_English Verses._, p. 87. Our "line of four
trochees" he supposes to be "_difficult_ of construction,"--"not of very
_frequent_ occurrence,"--"the most _agreeable_ of all the trochaic
measures,"--"remarkably well adapted to lively subjects,"--and "peculiarly
expressive of the eagerness and fickleness of the passion of love."--_Ib._,
p. 90. These pretended metrical characteristics seem scarcely more worthy
of reliance, than astrological predictions, or the oracular guessings of
our modern craniologists.

OBS. 3.--Dr. Campbell repeats a suggestion of the older critics, that
gayety belongs naturally to all trochaics, as such, and gravity or
grandeur, as naturally, to iambics; and he attempts to find a reason for
the fact; while, perhaps, even here--more plausible though the supposition
is--the fact may be at least half imaginary. "The iambus," says he, "is
expressive of dignity and grandeur; the trochee, on the contrary, according
to Aristotle, (Rhet. Lib. Ill,) is frolicsome and gay. It were difficult to
assign a reason of this difference that would be satisfactory; but of the
thing itself, I imagine, most people will be sensible on comparing the two
kinds together. I know not whether it will be admitted as a sufficient
reason, that the distinction into metrical feet hath a much greater
influence in poetry on the rise and fall of the voice, than the distinction
into words; and if so, when the cadences happen mostly after the long
syllables, the verse will naturally have an air of greater gravity than
when they happen mostly after the short."--_Campbell's Philosophy of
Rhetoric_, p. 354.


MEASURE VI.--TROCHAIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.

_Example I.--Youth and Age Contrasted_.

   "Crabbed | age and | youth
      Cannot | live to | -gether;
    Youth is | full of | pleasance,
      Age is | full of | care:
    Youth, like | summer | morn,
      Age, like | winter | weather;
    Youth, like | summer, | brave;
      Age, like | winter, | bare.
      Youth is | full of | sport,
      Age's | breath is | short,
    Youth is | nimble, | age is | lame;
      Youth is | hot and | bold,
      Age is | weak and | cold;
    Youth is | wild, and | age is | tame."
        _The Passionate Pilgrim_; SINGER'S SHAKSPEARE, Vol. ii p. 594.

_Example II--Common Sense and Genius_.

    3.

    "While I | touch the | string,
    Wreathe my | brows with | laurel;
    For the | tale I | sing,
    Has, for | once, a | moral!

    4.

    Common | Sense went | on,
    Many | wise things | saying;
    While the | light that | shone,
    Soon set | Genius | straying.

    5.

    One his eye ne'er | rais'd
    From the | path be | -fore him;
    T' other | idly | gaz'd
    On each | night-cloud | o'er him.

    6.

    While I | touch the | string,
    Wreathe my | brows with | laurel;
    For the | tale I | sing,
    Has, for | once, a | moral!

    7.

    So they | came, at | last,
    To a | shady | river;
    Common | Sense soon |pass'd
    Safe,--as | he doth | ever.

    8.

    While the | boy whose | look
    Was in | heav'n that | minute,
    Never | saw the | brook,--
    _But tum_ | _-bled head_ | _-long in it_."
       _Six Stanzas from Twelve_.--MOORE'S MELODIES, p. 271.

This short measure is much oftener used in stanzas, than in couplets. It
is, in many instances, combined with some different order or metre of
verse, as in the following:--

_Example III.--Part of a Song_.

   "Go where | glory | waits thee,
    But while | fame e | -lates thee,
        _Oh! still | remem | -ber me_.
    When the | praise thou | meetest,
    To thine | ear is | sweetest,
        _Oh! then | remem | -ber me_.
    Other | arms may | press thee,
    Dearer | friends ca | -ress thee,
    All the | joys that | bless thee,
        Sweeter | far may | be:
    But when | friends are | nearest,
    And when | joys are | dearest,
        _Oh! then | remem | -ber me._

    When, at | eve, thou | rovest,
    By the | star thou | lovest,
        _Oh! then  | remem | -ber me_.
    Think when | home re | -turning,
    Bright we've | seen it | burning;
        _Oh! thus | remem | -ber me_.
    Oft as | summer | closes,
    When thine | eye re | -poses
    On its | ling'ring | roses,
        Once so | loved by | thee,
    Think of | her who | wove them,
    Her who | made thee | love them;
        _Oh! then | remem | -ber me_."
        MOORE'S _Melodies, Songs, and Airs_, p. 107.

_Example IV.--From an Ode to the Thames_.

   "On thy | shady | margin,
    Care its | load dis | -charging,
      _Is lull'd | to gen | -tle rest_:

    Britain | thus dis | -arming,
    Nothing | her a | -larming,
      _Shall sleep  on Cæ | -sar's breast_."
        See ROWE'S POEMS: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. iv, p. 58.

_Example V.--"The True Poet"--First Two of Nine Stanzas_.

    1.
    "Poet | of the | heart,
       Delving | in its | mine,
     From man | -kind a | -part,
       Yet where | jewels | shine;
    Heaving | upward | to the | light,
    Precious | wealth that | charms the | sight;

    2.

     Toil thou | still, deep | down,
       For earth's | hidden | gems;
     They shall | deck a | crown,
       Blaze in | dia | -dems;
    _And when | thy hand | shall fall | to rest_,
    Brightly | jewel | beauty's | breast."
       JANE B. LOCKE: _N. Y. Evening Post; The Examiner, No. 98_.

_Example VI.--"Summer Longings"--First Two of Five Stanzas_.

   "Ah! my | heart is | ever | waiting,
      Waiting | for the | May,--
    Waiting | for the | pleasant | rambles
    Where the | fragrant | hawthorn | brambles,
      With the | woodbine | alter | -nating,
        Scent the | dewy | way.
    Ah! my | heart is | weary | waiting,
      Waiting | for the | May.

    Ah! my | heart is | sick with | longing,
      Longing | for the | May,--
    Longing | to e | -scape from | study,
    To the | young face | fair and | ruddy,
      And the | thousand | charms be | -longing
        To the | Summer's | day.
      Ah! my | heart is | sick with | longing,
        Longing | for the | May."
        "D. F. M. C.:" _Dublin University Magazine; Liberator, No_. 952.


MEASURE VII.--TROCHAIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.

_Example I.--Three Short Excerpts._

    1.

    "My flocks | feed not,
    My ewes | breed not,
    My rams | speed not,
      All is | _amiss_:
    Love's de | -nying,
    Faith's de | -fying,
    Heart's re | -nying,
      Causer | _of this_."

    2.

    "In black | mourn I,
    All fears | scorn I,
    Love hath | lorn me,
      Living | _in thrall_:
    Heart is | bleeding,
    All help | needing.
    (Cruel | speeding,)
      Fraughted | _with gall_."

    3.

    "Clear wells | spring not.
    Sweet birds | sing not,
    Loud bells | ring not
      _Cheerfully_;
    Herds stand | weeping,
    Flocks all | sleeping,
    Nymphs back | creeping
      _Fearfully_."
        SHAKSPEARE: _The Passionate Pilgrim_. See Sec. xv.

_Example II.--Specimen with Single Rhyme.

"To Quinbus Flestrin, the Man-Mountain"_

A LILLIPUTIAN ODE

    I.

    "In a | -maze,
    Lost, I | gaze.
    Can our | eyes
    Reach thy | size?
    May my | lays
    Swell with | praise,
    Worthy | thee,
    Worthy | me!
    Muse, in | -spire
    All thy | fire!
    Bards of | old
    Of him | told,
    When they | said
    Atlas' | head
    Propp'd the | skies:
    See! and | _believe_ | _your eyes!_

    II.

    "See him | stride
    Valleys | wide:
    Over | woods,
    Over | floods,
    When he | treads,
    Mountains' | heads
    Groan and | shake:
    Armies | quake,
    Lest his | spurn
    Over | -turn
    Man and | steed:
    Troops, take | heed!
    Left and | right
    Speed your | flight!
    Lest an | host
    _Beneath_ | _his foot_ | _be lost_.

    III.

    "Turn'd a | -side
    From his | hide,
    Safe from | wound,
    Darts re | -bound.
    From his | nose,
    Clouds he | blows;
    When he | speaks,
    Thunder | breaks!
    When he | eats,
    Famine | threats!
    When he | drinks,
    Neptune | shrinks!
    Nigh thy | ear,
    In mid | air,
    On thy | hand,
    Let me | stand.
    So shall | I
    (Lofty | poet!) touch the sky."
        JOHN GAY: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 376.

_Example III.--Two Feet with Four._

   "Oh, the | pleasing, | pleasing | anguish,
    When we | love, and | when we | languish!
        Wishes | rising!
        Thoughts sur | -prising!
        Pleasure | courting!
        Charms trans | -porting!
        Fancy | viewing
        Joys en | -suing!
    Oh, the | pleasing, | pleasing | anguish!"
        ADDISON'S _Rosamond_, Act i, Scene 6.

_Example IV.--Lines of Three Syllables with Longer Metres_.

1. WITH TROCHAICS.

   "Or we | sometimes | pass an | hour
      Under | a green | willow,
    That de | -fends us | from the | shower,
      Making | earth our | pillow;
        Where we | may
        Think and | pray,
        B=e'fore | death
        Stops our | breath:
        Other | joys,
        Are but | toys,
      And to | be la | -mented." [515]

2. WITH IAMBICS.

   "What sounds | were heard,
    What scenes | appear'd,
    O'er all | the drear | -y coasts!
        Dreadful | gleams,
        Dismal | screams,
        Fires that | glow,
        Shrieks of | wo,
        Sullen | moans,
        Hollow | groans,
      And cries | of tor | -tur'd ghosts!"
        POPE: _Johnson's Brit. Poets_, Vol. vi, p. 315.

_Example V.--"The Shower."--In Four Regular Stanzas_.

    1.

    "In a | valley | that I | know--
        Happy | scene!
    There are | meadows | sloping | low,
    There the | fairest | flowers | blow,
    And the | brightest | waters | flow.
        All se | -rene;
    But the | sweetest | thing to | see,
    If you | ask the | dripping | tree,
    Or the | harvest | -hoping | swain,
        Is the | Rain.

    2.

    Ah, the | dwellers | of the | town,
        How they | sigh,--
    How un | -grateful | -ly they | frown,
    When the | cloud-king | shakes his | crown,
    And the | pearls come | pouring | down
        From the | sky!
    They de | -scry no | charm at | all
    Where the | sparkling | jewels | fall,
    And each | moment | of the | shower,
        Seems an | hour!

    3.

    Yet there's | something | very | sweet
        In the | sight,
    When the | crystal | currents | meet
    In the | dry and | dusty | street,
    And they | wrestle | with the | heat,
        In their | might!
    While they | seem to | hold a | talk
    With the | stones a | -long the | walk,
    And re | -mind them | of the | rule,
        To 'keep | cool!'

    4.

    Ay, but | in that | quiet | dell,
        Ever | fair,
    Still the | Lord doth | all things | well,
    When his | clouds with | blessings | swell,
    And they | break a | brimming | shell
        On the | air;
    There the | shower | hath its | charms,
    Sweet and | welcome | to the | farms
    As they | listen | to its | voice,
        And re | -joice!"
        Rev. RALPH HOYT'S _Poems: The Examiner_, Nov. 6, 1847.

_Example VI.--"A Good Name?"--Two Beautiful Little Stanzas_.

    1.

      "Children, | choose it,
       Don't re | -fuse it,
    'Tis a | precious | dia | -dem;
       Highly | prize it,
       Don't de | -spise it,
    You will | need it | when you're | men.

    2.

       Love and | cherish,
       Keep and | nourish,
    'Tis more | precious | far than | gold;
       Watch and | guard it,
       Don't dis | -card it,
    You will | need it | when you're | old."
       _The Family Christian Almanac, for 1850_, p. 20.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Trochaics of two feet, like those of three, are, more frequently
than otherwise, found in connexion with longer lines, as in some of the
examples above cited. The trochaic line of three syllables, which our
prosodists in general describe as consisting, not of two feet; but "of one
Trochee and a long syllable," may, when it stands alone, be supposed to
consist of one _amphimac_; but, since this species of foot is not admitted
by all, and is reckoned a secondary one by those who do admit it, the
better practice is, to divide even the three syllables into two feet, as
above.

OBS. 2.--Murray, Hart, Weld, and many others, erroneously affirm, that,
"The _shortest_ Trochaic verse in our language, consists of one Trochee and
a long syllable."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 256; _Hart's, First Edition_, p.
186; _Weld's, Second Edition_, p. 210. The error of this will be shown by
examples below--examples of _true "Trochaic Monometer_," and not of Dimeter
mistaken for it, like Weld's, Hart's, or Murray's.

OBS. 3.--These authors also aver, that, "This measure is _defective in
dignity_, and can seldom be used on serious occasions."--_Same places_.
"Trochaic of _two feet_--is likewise so _brief_, that," in their opinion,
"it is rarely used for any very serious purpose."--_Same places_. Whether
the expression of love, or of its disappointment, is "any very serious
purpose" or not, I leave to the decision of the reader. What lack of
dignity or seriousness there is, in several of the foregoing examples,
especially the last two, I think it not easy to discover.


MEASURE VIII.--TROCHAIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.

_Examples with Longer Metres_.

1. WITH IAMBICS.

   "Fr~om w=alk | t~o w=alk, | fr~om sh=ade | t~o sh=ade,
    From stream to purl | -ing stream | convey'd,
    Through all | the ma | -zes of | the grove,
    Through all | the ming | -ling tracks | I rove,
        Turning,
        Burning,
        Changing,
        Ranging,
    F=ull ~of | gri=ef ~and | f=ull ~of | l=ove."
       ADDISON'S _Rosamond_, Act I, Sc. 4:
           _Everett's Versification_, p. 81.

2. WITH ANAPESTICS, &c.

   "T~o l=ove ~and t~o l=angu~ish,
      T~o s=igh | ~and c~ompl=ain,
    H~ow cr=u~el's th~e =angu~ish!
      H~ow t~orm=ent | -~ing th~e p=ain!
        Suing,
        Pursuing,
        Flying,
        Denying,
      O the curse | of disdain!
      How torment | -ing's the pain!"
        GEO. GRANVILLE: _Br. Poets_, Vol. v, p. 31.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The metres acknowledged in our ordinary schemes of prosody,
scarcely amount, with all their "boundless variety," to more than one half,
or three quarters, of what may be found in _actual use_ somewhere. Among
the foregoing examples, are some which are longer, and some which are
shorter, than what are commonly known to our grammarians; and some, also,
which seem easily practicable, though perhaps not so easily quotable. This
last trochaic metre, so far as I know, has not been used alone,--that is,
without longer lines,--except where grammarians so set examples of it in
their prosodies.

OBS. 2.--"Trochaic of One foot," as well as "Iambic of One foot," was, I
believe, first recognized, prosodically, in Brown's Institutes of English
Grammar, a work first published in 1823. Since that time, both have
obtained acknowledgement in sundry schemes of versification, contained in
the new grammars; as in Farnum's, and Hallock's, of 1842; in Pardon
Davis's, of 1845; in S. W. Clark's, and S. S. Greene's, of 1848; in
Professor Fowler's, of 1850. Wells, in his School Grammar, of 1846, and D.
C. Allen, in an other, of 1847, give to the _length of lines_ a laxity
positively absurd: "_Rhymed_ verses," say they, "may consist of _any
number_ of syllables."--_Wells_, 1st Ed., p. 187; late Ed., 204; _Allen_,
p. 88. Everett has recognized "_The line of a single Trochee_," though he
repudiates some long measures that are much more extensively authorized.



ORDER III.--ANAPESTIC VERSE.

In full Anapestic verse, the stress is laid on every third syllable, the
first two syllables of each foot being short. The first foot of an
anapestic line, may be an iambus. This is the most frequent diversification
of the order. But, as a diversification, it is, of course, not _regular_ or
_uniform_. The stated or uniform adoption of the iambus for a part of each
line, and of the anapest for the residue of it, produces verse of the
_Composite Order_. As the anapest ends with a long syllable, its rhymes are
naturally single; and a short syllable after this, producing double rhyme,
is, of course, supernumerary: so are the two, when the rhyme is triple.
Some prosodists suppose, a surplus at the end of a line may compensate for
a deficiency at the beginning of the next line; but this I judge to be an
error, or at least the indulgence of a questionable license. The following
passage has two examples of what may have been _meant_ for such
compensation, the author having used a dash where I have inserted what
seems to be a necessary word:--

   "Apol | -lo smil'd shrewd | -ly, and bade | him sit down,
    With 'Well, | Mr. Scott, | you have man | -aged the town;
    Now pray, | copy less-- | have a lit | -tle temer | -_~it~y_--
    [And] Try | if you can't | also man | -age poster | -_ity_.
    [For] All | you add now | only les | -sens your cred | -_it_;
    And how | could you think, | too, of tak | -ing to ed | -_ite?_'"
        LEIGH HUNT'S _Feast of the Poets_, page 20.

The anapestic measures are few; because their feet are long, and no poet
has chosen to set a great many in a line. Possibly lines of five anapests,
or of four and an initial iambus, might be written; for these would
scarcely equal in length some of the iambics and trochaics already
exhibited. But I do not find any examples of such metre. The longest
anapestics that have gained my notice, are of fourteen syllables, being
tetrameters with triple rhyme, or lines of four anapests and two short
surplus syllables. This order consists therefore of measures reducible to
the following heads:--

MEASURE I.--ANAPESTIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.

_Example I.--A "Postscript."--An Example with Hypermeter._

   "Lean Tom, | when I saw | him, last week, | on his _horse_ | _awry_,
    Threaten'd loud | -ly to turn | me to stone | with his _sor_ | -_cery_.
    But, I think, | little Dan, | that, in spite | of what _our_
                                                           | _foe says_,
    He will find | I read Ov | -id and his | Meta_mor_ | -_phoses_.
    For, omit | -ting the first, | (where I make | a com_par_ | -_ison_,
    With a sort | of allu | -sion to Put | -land or _Har_ | -_rison_,)
    Yet, by | my descrip | -tion, you'll find | he in _short_ | _is_
    A pack | and a gar | -ran, a top | and a _tor_ | -_toise_.
    So I hope | from hencefor | -ward you ne'er | will ask, _can_
                                                           | _I maul_
    This teas | -ing, conceit | -ed, rude, in | -solent _an_ | -_imal?_
    And, if | this rebuke | might be turn'd | to his _ben_ | -_efit_,
    (For I pit | -y the man,) | I should | be glad _then_ | _of it_"
        SWIFT'S POEMS: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. v, p. 324.

_Example II.--"The Feast of the Poets."--First Twelve Lines._

   "T' other day, | as Apol | -lo sat pitch | -ing his darts
    Through the clouds | of Novem | -ber, by fits | and by starts,
    He began | to consid | -er how long | it had been
    Since the bards | of Old Eng | -land had all | been rung in.
    'I think,' | said the god, | recollect | -ing, (and then
    He fell twid | -dling a sun | -beam as I | may my pen,)
    'I think-- | let me see-- | yes, it is, | I declare,
    As long | ago now | as that Buck | -ingham there;
    And yet | I can't see | why I've been | so remiss,
    Unless | it may be-- | and it cer | -tainly is,
    That since Dry | -den's fine ver | -ses and Mil | -ton's sublime,
    I have fair | -ly been sick | of their sing | -song and rhyme.'"
        LEIGH HUNT: _Poems_, New-York Edition, of 1814.


_Example III.--The Crowning of Four Favourites._

   "Then, 'Come,' | cried the god | in his el | -egant mirth,
    'Let us make | us a heav'n | of our own | upon earth,
    And wake, | with the lips | that we dip | in our bowls,
    That divin | -est of mu | -sic--conge | -nial souls.'
    So say | -ing, he led | through the din | -ing-room door,
    And, seat | -ing the po | -ets, cried, 'Lau | -rels for four!'
    No soon | -er demand | -ed, than, lo! | they were there,
    And each | of the bards | had a wreath | in his hair.
    Tom Camp | -bell's with wil | -low and pop | -lar was twin'd,
    And South | -ey's, with moun | -tain-ash, pluck'd | in the wind;
    And Scott's, | with a heath | from his old | garden stores,
    And, with vine | -leaves and jump | -up-and-kiss | -me, Tom Moore's."
        LEIGH HUNT: from line 330 to line 342.

_Example IV.--"Glenara."--First Two of Eight Stanzas._

   "O heard | ye yon pi | -broch sound sad | in the gale,
    Where a band | cometh slow | -ly with weep | -ing and wail!
    'Tis the chief | of Glena | -ra laments | for his dear;
    And her sire, | and the peo | -ple, are called | to her bier.

    Glena | -ra came first | with the mourn | -ers and shroud;
    Her kins | -men, they fol | -lowed, but mourned | not aloud;
    Their plaids | all their bo | -soms were fold | -ed around;
    They marched | all in si | -lence--they looked | on the ground."
        T. CAMPBELL'S _Poetical Works_, p. 105.

_Example V.--"Lochiel's Warning."--Ten Lines from Eighty-six._

   "'Tis the sun | -set of life | gives me mys | -tical lore,
    And com | -ing events | cast their shad | -ows before.
    I tell | thee, Cullo | -den's dread ech | -oes shall ring
    With the blood | -hounds that bark | for thy fu | -gitive king.
    Lo! anoint | -ed by Heav'n | with the vi | -als of wrath,
    Behold, | where he flies | on his des | -olate path!
    Now, in dark | -ness and bil | -lows he sweeps | from my sight;
    Rise! rise! | ye wild tem | -pests, and cov | -er his flight!
    'Tis fin | -ished. Their thun | -ders are hushed | on the moors;
    Cullo | -den is lost, | and my coun | -try deplores."--_Ib._, p. 89.

_Example VI.--"The Exile of Erin."--The First of Five Stanzas._

   "There came | to the beach | a poor Ex | -ile of E | -_r~in_,
      The dew | on his thin | robe was heav | -y and chill;
    For his coun | -try he sighed, | when at twi | -light repair | -_~ing_
      To wan | -der alone | by the wind | -beaten hill.
    But the day | -star attract | -ed his eye's | sad devo | -_t~ion_,
      For it rose | o'er his own | native isle | of the o | -_c~ean_,
    Where once, | in the fire | of his youth | -ful emo | _t~ion_,
      He sang | the bold an | -them of E | -rin go bragh."--_Ib._, p. 116.

 _Example VII.--"The Poplar Field."_

   "_The pop_ | -lars are fell'd, | _farewell_ | to the shade,
    And the whis | -pering sound | of the cool | colonnade;
    _The winds_ | play no lon | -ger and sing | in the leaves,
    _Nor Ouse_ | on his bo | -som their im | -age receives.
    _Twelve years_ | have elaps'd, | since I last | took a view
    Of my fa | -vourite field, | and the bank | where they grew;
    _And now_ | in the grass | _behold_ | they are laid,
    And the tree | is my seat | that once lent | me a shade.
    _The black_ | -bird has fled | to anoth | -er retreat,
    Where the ha | -zels afford | him a screen | from the heat,
    And the scene, | where his mel | -ody charm'd | me before,
    _Resounds_ | with his sweet | -flowing dit | -ty no more.
    _My fu_ | -gitive years | are all hast | -ing away,
    _And I_ | must ere long | lie as low | -ly as they,
    With a turf | on my breast, | and a stone | at my head,
    Ere anoth | -er such grove | shall arise | in its stead.
    'Tis a sight | to engage | me, if an | -y thing can,
    _To muse_ | on the per | -ishing pleas | -ures of man;
    Though his life | be a dream, | his enjoy | -ments, I see,
    Have a be | -ing less dur | -able e | -ven than he."
        COWPER'S _Poems_, Vol. i, p. 257.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Everett avers, that, "The purely Anapestic measure is more easily
constructed than the Trochee, [Trochaic,] and of much more frequent
occurrence."--_English Versification_, p. 97. Both parts of this assertion
are at least very questionable; and so are this author's other suggestions,
that, "The Anapest is [necessarily] the vehicle of _gayety and joy_;" that,
"Whenever this measure is employed in the treating of _sad_ subjects, _the
effect is destroyed_;" that, "Whoever should attempt to write an elegy in
this measure, would be _sure to fail_;" that, "The words might express
grief, but the measure _would express joy_;" that, "The Anapest should
never be employed throughout a _long piece_;" because "buoyancy of spirits
can never be supposed to last,"--"sadness _never leaves us_, BUT joy
remains but for a moment;" and, again, because, "the measure is
_exceedingly monotonous_."--_Ibid._, pp. 97 and 98.

OBS. 2.--Most anapestic poetry, so far as I know, is in pieces of no great
length; but Leigh Hunt's "Feast of the Poets," which is thrice cited above,
though not a long _poem_, may certainly be regarded as "_a long piece_,"
since it extends through fifteen pages, and contains four hundred and
thirty-one lines, all, or nearly all, of anapestic tetrameter. And, surely,
no poet had ever more need of a metre well suited to his purpose, than he,
who, intending a critical as well as a descriptive poem, has found so much
fault with the versification of others. Pope, as a versifier, was regarded
by this author, "not only as no master of his art, but as a very
indifferent practiser."--_Notes on the Feast of the Poets_, p. 35. His
"_monotonous and cloying_" use of numbers, with that of Darwin, Goldsmith,
Johnson, Haley, and others of the same "school," is alleged to have wrought
a general corruption of taste in respect to versification--a fashion that
has prevailed, not temporarily,

   "_But ever since Pope spoil'd the ears of the town
    With his cuckoo-song verses, half up and half down_"--_Ib._

OBS. 3.--Excessive monotony is thus charged by one critic upon all verse of
"the purely Anapestic measure;" and, by an other, the same fault is alleged
in general terms against all the poetry "of the school of Pope," well-nigh
the whole of which is iambic. The defect is probably in either case, at
least half imaginary; and, as for the inherent joyousness of anapestics,
that is perhaps not less ideal. Father Humphrey says, "Anapæstic and
amphibrachic verse, being similar in measure and movement, are pleasing to
the ear, and well adapted to cheerful and humourous compositions; and
_sometimes to elegiac compositions_, and subjects important and
solemn."--_Humphrey's English Prosody_, p. 17.

OBS. 4.--The anapest, the dactyl, and the amphibrach, have this in
common,--that each, with one long syllable, takes two short ones. Hence
there is a degree of similarity in their rhythms, or in their several
effects upon the ear; and consequently lines of each order, (or of any two,
if the amphibrachic be accounted a separate order,) are sometimes
commingled. But the propriety of acknowledging an order of "_Amphibrachic
verse_," as does Humphrey, is more than doubtful; because, by so doing, we
not only recognize the amphibrach as one of the principal feet, but make a
vast number of lines ambiguous in their scansion. For our Amphibrachic
order will be _made up_ of lines that are commonly scanned as
anapestics--such anapestics as are diversified by an iambus at the
beginning, and sometimes also by a surplus short syllable at the end; as in
the following verses, better divided as in the sixth example above:--

   "Th~ere c=ame t~o | th~e b=each ~a | p~oor Ex~ile | ~of Er~in
      The dew on | his thin robe | was heavy | and chill:
    F~or h~is co=un | -tr~y h~e s=ighed, | wh=en ~at tw=i
                                            | -l~ight r~ep=air | _-~ing_
      To wander | alone by | the wind-beat | -en hill."


MEASURE II.--ANAPESTIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.

_Example I.--"Alexander Selkirk."--First Two Stanzas._

    I.

    "I am mon | -arch of all | I survey,
      My right | there is none | to dispute;
    From the cen | -tre all round | to the sea,
      I am lord | of the fowl | and the brute.
    O Sol | -itude! where | are the charms
      That sa | -ges have seen | in thy face?
    Better dwell | in the midst | of alarms,
      Than reign | in this hor | -rible place.

    II.

    I am out | of human | -ity's reach,
      I must fin | -ish my jour | -ney alone,
    Never hear | the sweet mu | -sic of speech,
      I start | at the sound | of my own.
    The beasts | that roam o | -ver the plain,
      My form | with indif | -ference see;
    They are so | unacquaint | -ed with man,
      Their tame | -ness is shock | -ing to me."
        COWPER'S _Poems_, Vol. i, p. 199.

_Example II.--"Catharina."--Two Stanzas from Seven._

    IV.

    "Though the pleas | -ures of Lon | -don exceed
      In num | -ber the days | of the year,
    Cathari | -na, did noth | -ing impede,
      Would feel | herself hap | -pier here;
    For the close | -woven arch | -es of limes
      On the banks | of our riv | -er, I know,
    Are sweet | -er to her | many times
      Than aught | that the cit | -y can show.

    V.

    So it is, | when the mind | is endued
      With a well | -judging taste | from above;
    Then, wheth | -er embel | -lish'd or rude,
      'Tis na | -ture alone | that we love.
    The achieve | -ments of art | may amuse,
      May e | -ven our won | -der excite,
    But groves, | hills, and val | -leys, diffuse
      A last | -ing, a sa | -cred delight."
        COWPER'S _Poems_, Vol. ii, p. 232.

_Example III.--"A Pastoral Ballad."--Two Stanzas from Twenty-seven._

    (8.)

    "Not a pine | in my grove | is there seen,
      But with ten | -drils of wood | -bine is bound;
    Not a beech | 's more beau | -tiful green,
      But a sweet | -briar twines | it around,
    Not my fields | in the prime | of the year
      More charms | than my cat | -tle unfold;
    Not a brook | that is lim | -pid and clear,
      But it glit | -ters with fish | -es of gold.

    (9)

    One would think | she might like | to retire
      To the bow'r | I have la | -bour'd to rear;
    Not a shrub | that I heard | her admire,
      But I hast | -ed and plant | -ed it there.
    O how sud | -den the jes | -samine strove
      With the li | -lac to ren | -der it gay!
    Alread | -y it calls | for my love,
      To prune | the wild branch | -es away."
        SHENSTONE: _British Poets_, Vol. vii, p. 139.

Anapestic lines of four feet and of three are sometimes alternated in a
stanza, as in the following instance:--

_Example IV.--"The Rose."_

   "The rose | had been wash'd, | just wash'd | in a show'r,
      Which Ma | -ry to An | -na convey'd;
    The plen | -tiful moist | -ure encum | -ber'd the flow'r,
      And weigh'd | down its beau | -tiful head.

    The cup | was all fill'd, | and the leaves | were all wet,
      And it seem'd | to a fan | -ciful view,
    To weep | for the buds | it had left, | with regret,
      On the flour | -ishing bush | where it grew.

    I hast | -ily seized | it, unfit | as it was
      For a nose | -gay, so drip | -ping and drown'd,
    And, swing | -ing it rude | -ly, too rude | -ly, alas!
      I snapp'd | it,--it fell | to the ground.

    And such, | I exclaim'd, | is the pit | -iless part
      Some act | by the del | -icate mind,
    Regard | -less of wring | -ing and break | -ing a heart
      Alread | -y to sor | -row resign'd.

    This el | -egant rose, | had I shak | -en it less,
      Might have bloom'd | with its own | -er a while;
    And the tear | that is wip'd | with a lit | -tle address,
      May be fol | -low'd perhaps | by a smile."
        COWPER: _Poems_, Vol. i, p. 216; _English Reader_, p. 212.


MEASURE III.--ANAPESTIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.

_Example I.--Lines with Hypermeter and Double Rhyme._

"CORONACH," OR FUNERAL SONG.

    1.

    "He is gone | on the mount | -a~in
      He is lost | to the for | -~est
    Like a sum | -mer-dried foun | -ta~in
      When our need | was the sor | -~est.
    The font, | reappear | -~ing,
      From the rain | -drops shall bor | -r~ow,
    But to us | comes no cheer | -~ing,
      Do Dun | -can no mor | -r~ow!

    2.

    The hand | of the reap | -~er
      Takes the ears | that are hoar | -~y,
    But the voice | of the weep | -~er
      Wails man | -hood in glo | -r~y;
    The au | -tumn winds rush | -~ing,
      Waft the leaves | that are sear | -~est,
    But our flow'r | was in flush | -~ing,
      When blight | -ing was near | -~est."
        WALTER SCOTT: _Lady of the Lake_, Canto iii, St. 16.

_Example II.--Exact Lines of Two Anapests._

   "Prithee, Cu | -pid, no more
    Hurl thy darts | at threescore;
    To thy girls | and thy boys,
    Give thy pains | and thy joys;
    Let Sir Trust | -y and me
    From thy frol | -ics be free."
       ADDISON: _Rosamond_, Act ii, Scene 2; _Ev. Versif._, p. 100.

_Example III--An Ode, from the French of Malherbe_.

   "This An | -na so fair,
      So talk'd | of by fame,
    Why dont | she appear?
      Indeed, | she's to blame!
    Lewis sighs | for the sake
      Of her charms, | as they say;
    What excuse | can she make
      For not com | -ing away?
    If he does | not possess,
      He dies | with despair;
    Let's give | him redress,
      And go find | out the fair"

    "Cette Anne si belle,
      Qu'on vante si fort,
    Pourquoi ne vient elle?
      Vraiment, elle a tort!
    Son Louis soupire,
      Après ses appas;
    Que veut elle dire,
      Qu'elle ne vient pas?
    S'il ne la posséde,
      Il s'en va mourir;
    Donnons y reméde,
      Allons la quérir."
        WILLIAM KING, LL. D.: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. iii, p. 590.

_Example IV.--'Tis the Last Rose of Summer_.

    1.

    "'Tis the last | rose of sum | -_m~er_,
      Left bloom | -ing alone;
    All her love | -ly compan | -_i~ons_
      Are fad | -ed and gone;
    No flow'r | of her kin | -_dr~ed_,
      No rose | -bud is nigh,
    To give | back her blush | -_~es_,
      Or give | sigh for sigh.

    2.

    I'll not leave | thee, thou lone | _~one!_
      To pine | on the stem!
    Since the love | -ly are sleep | -_~ing_,
      Go, sleep | thou with them;
    Thus kind | -ly I scat | -_t~er_
      Thy leaves | o'er thy bed,
    Where thy mates | of the gar | -_d~en_
      Lie scent | -less and dead.

    3.

    So, soon | may I fol | -_l~ow_,
      When friend | -ships decay,
    And, from love's | shining cir | -_cl~e_,
      The gems | drop away;
    When true | hearts lie with | -_~er'd_,
      And fond | ones are flown,
    Oh! who | would inhab | -_it_
      This bleak | world alone ?"
        T. MOORE: _Melodies, Songs, and Airs_, p. 171.

_Example V.--Nemesis Calling up the Dead Astarte_.

   "Shadow! | or spir | -_~it!_
      Whatev | -er thou art,
    Which still | doth inher | -_~it_
      The whole | or a part
    Of the form | of thy birth,
      Of the mould | of thy clay,
    Which return'd | to the earth,
      Re-appear | to the day!
    Bear what | thou bor | -_~est_,
      The heart | and the form,
    And the as | -pect thou wor | -_~est_
      Redeem | from the worm!
    Appear!--Appear!--Appear!"
        LORD BYRON: _Manfred_, Act ii, Sc. 4.

_Example VI.--Anapestic Dimeter with Trimeter_.

    FIRST VOICE.

    "Make room | for the com | -bat, make room;
      Sound the trum | -pet and drum;
    A fair | -er than Ve | -nus prepares
    To encoun | -ter a great | -er than Mars.
    Make room | for the com | -bat, make room;
      Sound the trum | -pet and drum."

    SECOND VOICE.

    "Give the word | to begin,
     Let the com | -batants in,
    The chal | -lenger en | -ters all _glo | r~io~us_;
     But Love | has decreed,
     Though Beau | -ty may bleed,
    Yet Beau | -ty shall still | be vic_to | -r~io~us_."
       GEORGE GRANVILLE: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. v, p. 58.



_Example VII.--Anapestic Dimeter with Tetrameter_.

    AIR.

    "Let the pipe's | merry notes | aid the skill | of the voice;
    For our wish | -es are crown'd, | and our hearts | shall rejoice.
        Rejoice, | and be glad;
        For, sure, | he is mad,
    Who, where mirth, | and good hum | -mour, and har | -mony's found,
    Never catch | -es the smile, | nor lets pleas | -ure go round.
        Let the stu | -pid be grave,
        'Tis the vice | of the slave;
        But can nev | -er agree
        With a maid | -en like me,
    Who is born | in a coun | -try that's hap | -py and free."
        LLOYD: _Johnson's British Poets_, Vol. viii, p, 178.


MEASURE IV.--ANAPESTIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.

This measure is rarely if ever used except in connexion with longer lines.
The following example has six anapestics of two feet, and two of one; but
the latter, being verses of double rhyme, have each a surplus short
syllable; and four of the former commence with the iambus:--

_Example I.--A Song in a Drama._

   "Now, mor |-tal, prepare,
    For thy fate | is at hand;
    Now, mor |-tal, prepare,
    ~And s~urr=en |-d~er.

    For Love | shall arise,
    Whom no pow'r | can withstand,
    Who rules | from the skies
    T~o th~e c=en |-tr~e."
        GRANVILLE, VISCOUNT LANSDOWNE: _Joh. Brit. Poets_, Vol. v, p. 49.

The following extract, (which is most properly to be scanned as anapestic,
though considerably diversified,) has two lines, each of which is pretty
evidently composed of a single anapest:--

_Example II.--A Chorus in the Same_.

   "Let trum |-pets and tym |-b~als,
    Let at~a |--bals and cym |-b~als,
    Let drums | and let haut |-boys give o |-v~er;
    B~ut l~et fl=utes,
    And l~et l=utes
    Our pas |-sions excite
    To gent |-ler delight,
    And ev |-ery Mars | be a lov |-~er."
        _Ib._, p. 56.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--That a single anapest, a single foot of any kind, or even a single
long syllable, may be, and sometimes is, in certain rather uncommon
instances, set as a line, is not to be denied. "Dr. Caustic," or T. G.
Fessenden, in his satirical "Directions for _Doing_ Poetry," uses in this
manner the monosyllables, "_Whew_," "_Say_," and "_Dress_" and also the
iambs, "_The gay_" and, "_All such_," rhyming them with something less
isolated.

OBS. 2.--Many of our grammarians give anonymous examples of what they
conceive to be "_Anapestic Monometer_," or "_the line of one anapest_,"
while others--(as Allen, Bullions, Churchill, and Hiley--) will have the
length of two anapests to be the _shortest_ measure of this order. Prof.
Hart says, "The shortest anapæstic verse is a _single_ anapæst; as,

    '~In =a sw=eet
    R~es~on=ance,

    ~All th~eir f=eet
    ~In th=e d=ance

    ~All th=e n=ight
    T~inkl~ed l=ight.'

This measure," it is added, "is, however, _ambiguous_; for by laying an
accent on the first, as well as the third syllable, we may generally make
it a trochaic."--_Hart's English Gram._, p. 188. The same six versicles are
used as an example by Prof. Fowler, who, without admitting any ambiguity in
the measure, introduces them, rather solecistically, thus: "_Each_ of the
following lines _consist_ of a single Anapest."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo,
1850, §694.

OBS. 3.--Verses of three syllables, with the second short, the last long,
and the first _common, or variable_, are, it would seem, _doubly doubtful_
in scansion; for, while the first syllable, if made short, gives us an
anapest, to make it long, gives either an amphimac or what is virtually two
trochees. For reasons of choice in the latter case, see Observation 1st on
Trochaic Dimeter. For the _fixing of variable quantities_, since the case
admits no other rule, regard should be had to the _analogy of the verse_,
and also to the common principles of accentuation. It is doubtless possible
to read the six short lines above, into the measure of so many _anapests_;
but, since the two monosyllables "_In_" and "_All_" are as easily made long
as short, whoever considers the common pronunciation of the longer words,
"_Resonance_" and "_Tinkled_," may well doubt whether the learned
professors have, in this instance, hit upon the right mode of scansion. The
example may quite as well be regarded either as Trochaic Dimeter,
cataletic, or as Amphimacric Monometer, acatalectic. But the word
_resonance_, being accented usually on the first syllable only, is
naturally a _dactyl_; and, since the other five little verses end severally
with a monosyllable, which _can_ be varied in quantity, it is possible to
read them all as being _dactylics_; and so the whole may be regarded as
_trebly doubtful_ with respect to the measure.

OBS. 4.--L. Murray says, "_The shortest anapæstic verse must be a single
anapæst_; as,

    B~ut ~in v=ain
    They complain."

And then he adds, "This measure is, however, ambiguous; for, by laying the
stress of the voice on the first and third syllables, we _might make_ a
trochaic. _And therefore_ the first and simplest form of our genuine
Anapæstic verse, is made up of _two anapæsts_."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
257; 12mo, p. 207. This conclusion is utterly absurd, as well as completely
contradictory to his first assertion. The genuineness of this small metre
depends not at all on what may be made of the same words by other
pronunciation; nor can it be a very natural reading of this passage, that
gives to "_But_" and "_They_" such emphasis as will make them long.

OBS. 5.--Yet Chandler, in his improved grammar of 1847, has not failed to
repeat the substance of all this absurdity and self-contradiction,
carefully dressing it up in other language, thus: "Verses composed of
single Anapæsts _are frequently found_ in stanzas of songs; and the same is
true of several of the other kinds of feet; _but we may consider the first_
[i.e., shortest] _form_ of anapæstic verse as consisting of _two_
Anapæsts."--_Chandler's Common School Gram._, p. 196.

OBS. 6.--Everett, speaking of anapestic lines, says, "The first and
shortest of these is composed of a _single Anapest following an
Iambus_."--_English Versification_, p. 99. This not only denies the
existence of _Anapestic Monometer_, but improperly takes for the Anapestic
verse what is, by the statement itself, half Iambic, and therefore of the
Composite Order. But the false assertion is plainly refuted even by the
author himself and on the same page. For, at the bottom of the page, he has
this contradictory note: "It has been remarked (§15) that though the Iambus
with an additional short syllable _is the shortest line that is known_ to
Iambic verse, _there are isolated instances of a single Iambus_, and even
of a _single long syllable_. There are examples of _lines made up of a
single Anapest_, as the following example will show:--

    'Jove in his chair,
    Of the sky lord mayor,
    With his nods
    Men and gods
      Keeps in awe;
    When he winks,
    Heaven shrinks;
    * * * *

    Cock of the school,
    He bears despotic rule;
      His word,
      Though absurd,
      Must be law.
      Even Fate,
      Though so great,
      Must not prate;

    His bald pate
    Jove would cuff,
    He's so bluff,
      For a straw.
    Cowed deities,
    Like mice in cheese,
    To stir must cease
      Or gnaw.'

        O'HARA:--_Midas_, Act i, Sc. 1."--_Everett's Versification_, p. 99



ORDER IV.--DACTYLIC VERSE.

In pure Dactylic verse, the stress is laid on the first syllable of each
successive three; that is, on the first, the fourth, the seventh, and the
tenth syllable of each line of four feet. Full dactylic generally forms
triple rhyme. When one of the final short syllables is omitted, the rhyme
is double; when both, single. These omissions are here essential to the
formation of such rhymes. Dactylic with double rhyme, ends virtually with a
_trochee_; dactylic with single rhyme, commonly ends with a _cæsura_; that
is, with a long syllable taken for a foot. Dactylic with single rhyme is
the same as anapestic would be without its initial short syllables.
Dactylic verse is rather uncommon; and, when employed, is seldom perfectly
pure and regular.


MEASURE I.--DACTYLIC OF EIGHT FEET, OR OCTOMETER.

_Example.--Nimrod._

    Nimrod the | hunter was | mighty in | hunting, and | famed as the
                                           | ruler of | cities of | yore;
    Babel, and | Erech, and | Accad, and | Calneh, from | Shinar's fair
                                           | region his | name afar | bore.

MEASURE II.--DACTYLIC OF SEVEN FEET, OR HEPTAMETER.

_Example.--Christ's Kingdom._

    Out of the | kingdom of | Christ shall be | gathered, by | angels o'er
                                                   | Satan vic | -torious,
    All that of |-fendeth, that | lieth, that | faileth to | honour his
                                                   | name ever | glorious.


MEASURE III.--DACTYLIC OF SIX FEET, OR HEXAMETER.

_Example I.--Time in Motion._

    Time, thou art | ever in | motion, on | wheels of the
                                              | days, years, and | ages;
    Restless as | waves of the | ocean, when | Eurus or | Boreas | rages.

_Example II.--Where, is Grand-Pré?_

   "This is the | forest pri | -meval; but | where are the | hearts that be
                                                               | -neath it
    Leap'd like the | roe, when he | hears in the | woodland the
                                                 | voice of the | huntsman?
    Where is the | thatch-rooféd | village, the | home of A | -cadian
                                                               | farmers?"
        H. W. LONGFELLOW: _Evangeline_, Part i, l. 7--9.


MEASURE IV.--DACTYLIC OF FIVE FEET, OR PENTAMETER.

_Example.--Salutation to America._

   "Land of the | beautiful, | beautiful, | land of the | free,
    Land of the | negro-slave, | negro-slave, | land of the | chivalry,
    Often my | heart had turned, | heart had turned, | longing to | thee;
    Often had | mountain-side, | mountain-side, | broad lake, and | stream,
    Gleamed on my | waking thought, | waking thought, | crowded my | dream.
    Now thou dost | welcome me, | welcome me, | from the dark | sea,
    Land of the | beautiful, | beautiful, | land of the | free,
    Land of the | negro-slave, | negro-slave, | land of the | chivalry."


MEASURE V.--DACTYLIC OF FOUR FEET, OR TETRAMETER.

_Example 1--The Soldier's Wife._

   "Weary way |-wanderer, | languid and | sick at heart,
    Travelling | painfully | over the | rugged road,
    Wild-visaged | Wanderer! | God help thee, | wretched one!
    Sorely thy | little one | drags by thee | barefooted;
    Cold is the | baby that | hangs at thy | bending back,
    Meagre, and | livid, and | screaming for | misery.
    Woe-begone | mother, half | anger, half | agony,
    Over thy | shoulder thou | lookest to | hush the babe,
    Bleakly the | blinding snow | beats in thy | haggard face.
    Ne'er will thy | husband re | -turn from the | war again,
    Cold is thy | heart, and as | frozen as | Charity!
    Cold are thy | children.--Now | God be thy | comforter!"
        ROBERT SOUTHEY: _Poems_, Philad., 1843, p. 250.

_Example II.--Boys.--A Dactylic Stanza_.

   "Boys will an | -ticipate, | lavish, and | dissipate
      All that your | busy pate | hoarded with | care;
    And, in their | foolishness, | passion, and | mulishness,
      Charge you with | churlishness, | spurning your pray'r."

_Example III--"Labour."--The First of Five Stanzas_.

   "Pause not to | dream of the | future be | -fore us;
    Pause not to | weep the wild | cares that come | o'er us:
    Hark, how Cre | -ation's deep, | musical | chorus,
      Uninter | -mitting, goes | up into | Heaven!
    Never the | ocean-wave | falters in | flowing;
    Never the | little seed | stops in its | growing;
    More and more | richly the | rose-heart keeps | glowing,
    Till from its | nourishing | stem it is | riven."
        FRANCES S. OSGOOD: _Clapp's Pioneer_, p. 94.

_Example IV.--"Boat Song."--First Stanza of Four._

   "Hail to the | chief who in | triumph ad | -vances!
      Honour'd and | bless'd be the | ever-green | pine!
    Long may the | tree in his | banner that | glances,
      Flourish, the | shelter and | grace of our | line!
       Heaven send it happy dew,
        Earth lend it sap anew,
    Gayly to | bourgeon, and | broadly to | grow,
        While ev'ry | Highland glen
        Sends our shout | back agen,
    'Roderigh Vich Alpine Dhu, ho! ieroe!'"
        WALTER SCOTT: _Lady of the Lake_, C. ii, St. 19.


MEASURE VI.--DACTYLIC OF THREE FEET, OR TRIMETER.

_Example.--To the Katydid._

   "Ka-ty-did, | Ka-ty-did, | sweetly sing,--
      Sing to thy | loving mates | near to thee;
    Summer is | come, and the | trees are green,--
      Summer's glad | season so | dear to thee.

    Cheerily, | cheerily, | insect, sing;
      Blithe be thy | notes in the | hickory;
    Every | bough shall an | answer ring,
      Sweeter than | trumpet of | victory."


MEASURE VII.--DACTYLIC OF TWO FEET, OR DIMETER.

_Example I.--The Bachelor.--Four Lines from Many._

   "Free from sa | -tiety,
    Care, and anx | -iety,
    Charms in va | -riety,
    Fall to his | share."--ANON.: _Newspaper_.

_Example II.--The Pibroch.--Sixteen Lines from Forty._

   "Pibroch of | Donuil Dhu,
      Pibroch of | Donuil,
    Wake thy wild | voice anew.
      Summon Clan | -Conuil.
    Come away, | come away!
      Hark to the | summons!
    Come in your | war-array,
      Gentles and | commons!

    "Come as the | winds come, when
      Forests are | rended;
    Come as the | waves come, when
      Navies are | stranded;
    Faster come, | faster come,
      Faster and | faster!
    Chief, vassal, | page, and groom,
      Tenant and | master."--W. SCOTT.

_Example III.--"My Boy."_

_'There is even a happiness that makes the heart afraid.'_--HOOD.

    1.
    "One more new | claimant for
      Human fra | -ternity,
    Swelling the | flood that sweeps
      On to e | -ternity;

    I who have | filled the cup,
      Tremble to | think of it;
    For, be it | what it may,
      I must yet | drink of it.

    2.
    Room for him | into the
      Ranks of hu |-manity;
    Give him a | place in your
      Kingdom of | vanity!
    Welcome the | stranger with
      Kindly af |-fection;
    Hopefully, | trustfully,
      Not with de |-jection.

    3.
    See, in his | waywardness
      How his fist | doubles;
    Thus pugi |-listical,
      Daring life's | troubles:
    Strange that the | neophyte
      Enters ex |-istence
    In such an | attitude,
      Feigning re |-sistance.

    4.
    Could he but | have a glimpse
      Into fu |-turity,
    Well might he | fight against
      Farther ma |-turity;
    Yet does it | seem to me
      As if his | purity
    Were against | sinfulness
      Ample se |-curity.

    5.
    Incompre |-hensible,
      Budding im |-mortal,
    Thrust all a |-mazedly
      Under life's | portal;
    Born to a | destiny
      Clouded in | mystery,
    Wisdom it |-self cannot
      Guess at its | history.

    6.
    Something too | much of this
      Timon-like | croaking;
    See his face | wrinkle now,
      Laughter pro |-voking.
    Now he cries | lustily--
      Bravo, my | hearty one!
    Lungs like an | orator
      Cheering his | party on.

    7.
    Look how his | merry eyes
      Turn to me | pleadingly!
    Can we help | loving him--
      Loving ex |-ceedingly?
    Partly with | hopefulness,
      Partly with | fears,
    Mine, as I | look at him,
      Moisten with | tears.

    8.
    Now then to | find a name;--
      Where shall we | search for it?
    Turn to his | ancestry,
      Or to the | church for it?
    Shall we en |-dow him with
      Title he |-roic,
    After some | warrior,
      Poet, or | stoic?

    9.
    One aunty | says he will
      Soon 'lisp in | numbers,'
    Turning his | thoughts to rhyme,
      E'en in his | slumbers;
    Watts rhymed in | babyhood,
      No blemish | spots his fame--
    Christen him | even so:
      Young Mr. | Watts his name."
        ANONYMOUS: _Knickerbocker_, and _Newspapers_, 1849.


MEASURE VIII.--DACTYLIC OF ONE FOOT, OR MONOMETER.

   "Fearfully,
    Tearfully."


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--A single dactyl, set as a line, can scarcely be used otherwise
than as part of a stanza, and in connexion with longer verses. The initial
accent and triple rhyme make it necessary to have something else with it.
Hence this short measure is much less common than the others, which are
accented differently. Besides, the line of three syllables, as was noticed
in the observations on Anapestic Monometer, is often peculiarly uncertain
in regard to the measure which it should make. A little difference in the
laying of emphasis or accent may, in many instances, change it from one
species of verse to an other. Even what seems to be dactylic of two feet,
if the last syllable be sufficiently lengthened to admit of single rhyme
with the full metre, becomes somewhat doubtful in its scansion; because, in
such case, the last foot maybe reckoned an _amphimac_, or _amphimacer_. Of
this, the following stanzas from Barton's lines "to the Gallic Eagle," (or
to Bonaparte on St. Helena,) though different from all the rest of the
piece, may serve as a specimen:--

   "Far from the | _battle's shock_,
      Fate hath fast | bound thee;
    Chain'd to the | _rugged rock_,
      Waves warring | round thee.

    [Now, for] the | _trumpet's sound_,
      Sea-birds are  | shrieking;
    Hoarse on thy | _rampart's bound_,
      Billows are | breaking."

OBS. 2.--This may be regarded as verse of the Composite Order; and,
perhaps, more properly so, than as Dactylic with mere incidental
variations. Lines like those in which the questionable foot is here
Italicized, may be united with longer dactylics, and thus produce a stanza
of great beauty and harmony. The following is a specimen. It is a song,
written by I know not whom, but set to music by Dempster. The twelfth line
is varied to a different measure.

   "ADDRESS TO THE SKYLARK."

       "Bird of the | wilderness,
        Blithesome and | cumberless,
    Light be thy | matin o'er | moorland and | lea;
        Emblem of | happiness,
        Blest is thy | dwelling-place;
    O! to a |-bide in the | desert with | thee!

       "Wild is thy | lay, and loud,
        Far on the | downy cloud;
    Love gives it | energy, | love gave it | birth:
        Where, on thy | dewy wing,
        Where art thou | journeying?
    Thy lay | is in heav |-en, thy love | is on earth.

       "O'er moor and | mountain green,
        O'er fell and | fountain sheen,
    O'er the red | streamer that | heralds the | day;
        Over the | cloudlet dim,
        Over the | rainbow's rim,
    Musical | cherub, hie, | hie thee a |-way.

       "Then, when the | gloamin comes,
        Low in the | heather blooms.
    Sweet will thy | welcome and | bed of love | be.
        Emblem of | happiness,
        Blest is thy | dwelling-place;
    O! to a |-bide in the | desert with | thee!"

OBS. 3.--It is observed by Churchill, (_New Gram._, p. 387,) that,
"Shakspeare has used the dactyl, as appropriate to mournful occasions." The
chief example which he cites, is the following:--

   "Midnight, as |-sist our moan,
    Help us to | sigh and groan
        Heavily, | heavily.
    Graves, yawn and | yield your dead,
    Till death be | uttered
        Heavily, | heavily."--_Much Ado_, V, 3

OBS. 4.--These six lines of Dactylic (or Composite) Dimeter are subjoined
by the poet to four of Trochaic Tetrameter. There does not appear to me to
be any particular adaptation of either measure to mournful subjects, more
than to others; but later instances of this metre may be cited, in which
such is the character of the topic treated. The following long example
consists of lines of two feet, most of them dactylic only; but, of the
seventy-six, there are twelve which _may_ be otherwise divided, and as many
more which _must_ be, because they commence with a short syllable.

"THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS."--BY THOMAS HOOD.

   "One more un |-fortunate,
      Weary of | breath,
    Rashly im |-portunate,
      Gone to her | death!
    Take her up | tenderly,
      Lift her with | care;
    Fashioned so | slenderly,
      Young, and so | fair!

    Look at her | garments
    Clinging like | cerements,
    Whilst the wave | constantly
      Drips from her | clothing;
    Take her up | instantly,
      Loving, not | loathing.

    Touch her not | scornfully;
    Think of her | mournfully,
      Gently, and | humanly;
    Not of the | stains of her:
    All that re |-mains of her
      Now, is pure | womanly.

    Make no deep | scrutiny
    Into her | mutiny,
      Rash and un |-dutifull;
    Past all dis |-honour,
    Death has left | on her
      Only the | beautiful.

    Still, for all | slips of hers,--
      One of Eve's | family,--
    Wipe those poor | lips of hers,
      Oozing so | clammily.
    Loop up her | tresses,
      Escaped from the comb,--
    Her fair auburn tresses;
    Whilst wonderment guesses,
      Where was her | home?

    Who was her | father?
      Who was her | mother?
    Had she a | sister?
      Had she a | brother?
    Was there a | dearer one
      Yet, than all | other?

    Alas, for the rarity
    Of Christian charity
      Under the | sun!
    O, it was | pitiful!
    Near a whole | city full,
      Home she had | none.

    Sisterly, | brotherly,
    Fatherly, | motherly,
      Feelings had | changed;
    Love, by harsh |evidence,
    Thrown from its |eminence
    Even God's | providence
      Seeming e |-stranged.

    Where the lamps | quiver
    So far in the river,
      With many a light,
    From window and casement,
    From garret to basement,
    She stood, with amazement,
      Houseless, by | night.

    The bleak wind of March
      Made her tremble and shiver;
    But not the dark arch,
      Or the black-flowing river:
    Mad from life's | history,
    Glad to death's | mystery,
      Swift to be | hurled,--
    Anywhere, | anywhere,
      Out of the | world!

    In she plung'd | boldly,--
    No matter how coldly
      The rough | river ran,--
    Over the | brink of it:
    Picture it, | think of it,
      Dissolute | man!"
        _Clapp's Pioneer_, p. 54.

OBS. 5.--As each of our principal feet,--the Iambus, the Trochee, the
Anapest, and the Dactyl,--has always one, and only one long syllable; it
should follow, that, in each of our principal orders of verse,--the Iambic,
the Trochaic, the Anapestic, and the Dactylic,--any line, not diversified
by a secondary foot, must be reckoned to contain just as many feet as long
syllables. So, too, of the Amphibrach, and any line reckoned Amphibrachic.
But it happens, that the common error by which single-rhymed Trochaics have
so often been counted a foot _shorter_ than they are, is also extended by
some writers to single-rhymed Dactylics--the rhyming syllable, if long,
being esteemed _supernumerary!_ For example, three dactylic stanzas, in
each of which a pentameter couplet is followed by a hexameter line, and
this again by a heptameter, are introduced by Prof. Hart thus: "The
_Dactylic Tetrameter, Pentameter_, and _Hexameter_, with the _additional_
or _hypermeter syllable_, are all found combined in the following
extraordinary specimen of versification. * * * This is the only specimen of
Dactylic _hexameter_ or even _pentameter_ verse that the author recollects
to have seen."

LAMENT OF ADAM.

   "Glad was our | meeting: thy | glittering | bosom I | _heard_,
    Beating on | mine, like the | heart of a | timorous | _bird_;
    Bright were thine | eyes as the | stars, and their | glances were
                                                   | radiant as | _gleams_
    Falling from | eyes of the | angels, when | singing by | Eden's pur
                                                   |-pureal | _streams._

    "Happy as | seraphs were | we, for we | wander'd a | -_lone_,
    Trembling with | passionate | thrills, when the | twilight had
                                                              | _flown_:
    Even the | echo was | silent: our | kisses and | whispers of | _love_
    Languish'd un | -heard and un | -known, like the | breath of the
                                     | blossoming | buds of the | _grove._

    "Life hath its | pleasures, but | fading are | they as the | _flowers_;
    Sin hath its | sorrows, and | sadly we | turn'd from those | _bowers_;
    Bright were the | angels be | -hind with their | falchions of
                                                 | heavenly | _flame!_
    Dark was the | desolate | desert be | -fore us, and | darker the
                                                 | depth of our | _shame!_"
        --HENRY B. HIRST: _Hart's English Grammar_, p. 190.

OBS. 6.--Of Dactylic verse, our prosodists and grammarians in general have
taken but very little notice; a majority of them appearing by their
silence, to have been utterly ignorant of the whole species. By many, the
dactyl is expressly set down as an inferior foot, which they imagine is
used only for the occasional diversification of an iambic, trochaic, or
anapestic line. Thus Everett: "It is _never used_ except as a _secondary
foot_, and then in the _first place_ of the line."--_English
Versification_, p. 122. On this order of verse, Lindley Murray bestowed
only the following words: "The DACTYLIC measure being very uncommon, we
shall give only one example of one species of it:--

    Fr=om th~e l~ow pl=eas~ures ~of th=is f~all~en n=at~ure,
    Rise we to higher, &c."--_Gram._, 12mo, p. 207; 8vo, p. 257.

Read this example with _"we rise"_ for _"Rise we,"_ and all the poetry of
it is gone! Humphrey says, "_Dactyle_ verse is seldom used, as remarked
heretofore; but _is used occasionally_, and has three metres; viz. of 2, 3,
and 4 feet. Specimens follow. 2 feet. Free from anxiety. 3 feet. Singing
most sweetly and merrily. 4 feet. Dactylic measures are wanting in
energy."--_English Prosody_, p. 18. Here the prosodist has made his own
examples; and the last one, which unjustly impeaches all dactylics, he has
made very badly--very prosaically; for the word "_Dactylic_," though it has
three syllables, is properly no dactyl, but rather an amphibrach.

OBS. 7.--By the Rev. David Blair, this order of poetic numbers is utterly
misconceived and misrepresented. He says of it, "DACTYLIC verse consists of
a _short syllable_, with one, two, or three feet, _and a long syllable_;
as,

    'D~istr=act~ed w~ith w=oe,
    'I'll r=ush ~on th~e f=oe.' ADDISON."--_Blair's Pract. Gram._, p. 119.

    "'Y~e sh=eph~erds s~o ch=eerf~ul ~and g=ay,
    'Wh~ose fl=ocks n~ev~er c=arel~essl~y r=oam;
    'Sh~ould C=or~yd~on's h=app~en t~o str=ay,
    'Oh! c=all th~e p=oor w=and~er~ers h=ome.' SHENSTONE."--_Ib._, p. 120.

It is manifest, that these lines are not dactylic at all. There is not a
dactyl in them. They are composed of iambs and anapests. The order of the
versification is Anapestic; but it is here varied by the very common
diversification of dropping the first short syllable. The longer example is
from a ballad of 216 lines, of which 99 are thus varied, and 117 are full
anapestics.

OBS. 8.--The makers of school-books are quite as apt to copy blunders, as
to originate them; and, when an error is once started in a grammar, as it
passes with the user for good learning, no one can guess where it will
stop. It seems worth while, therefore, in a work of this nature, to be
liberal in the citation of such faults as have linked themselves, from time
to time, with the several topics of our great subject. It is not probable,
that the false scansion just criticised originated with Blair; for the
Comprehensive Grammar, a British work, republished in its third edition, by
Dobson, of Philadelphia, in 1789, teaches the same doctrine, thus:
"Dactylic measure may consist of one, two, or three Dactyls, introduced by
a feeble syllable, and terminated by a strong one; as,

    M~y | d=ear Ir~ish | f=olks,
    C=ome | l=eave ~off y~our | j=okes,
    And | b=uy ~up m~y | h=alfp~ence s~o | f=ine;
    S~o | f=air ~and s~o | br=ight,
    Th~ey'll | g=ive y~ou d~e | -l=ight:
    Ob | -s=erve h~ow th~ey | gl=ist~er ~and | sh=ine.  SWIFT.

    A | c=obl~er th~ere | w=as ~and h~e | l=iv'd ~in ~a | st=all,
    Wh~ich | s=erv'd h~im f~or | k=itch~en, f~or | p=arl~our ~and | hall;
    N~o | c=oin ~in h~is | p=ock~et, n~o | c=are ~in h~is | p=ate;
    N~o ~am | -b=it~ion h~e | h=ad, ~and n~o | d=uns ~at h~is | g=ate."
        --_Comp. Gram._, p. 150.

To this, the author adds, "Dactylic measure becomes Anapestic by setting
off an Iambic foot in the beginning of the line."--_Ib._ These verses, all
but the last one, unquestionably have an iambic foot at the beginning; and,
for that reason, they are not, and by no measurement can be, dactylics. The
last one is purely anapestic. All the divisional bars, in either example,
are placed wrong.



ORDER V.--COMPOSITE VERSE.

Composite verse is that which consists of various metres, or different
feet, combined,--not accidentally, or promiscuously, but by design, and
with some regularity. In Composite verse, of any form, the stress must be
laid rhythmically, as in the simple orders, else the composition will be
nothing better than unnatural prose. The possible variety of combinations
in this sort of numbers is unlimited; but, the pure and simple kinds being
generally preferred, any stated mixture of feet is comparatively uncommon.
Certain forms which may be scanned by other methods, are susceptible also
of division as Composites. Hence there cannot be an exact enumeration of
the measures of this order, but instances, as they occur, may be cited to
exemplify it.

_Example I.--From Swift's Irish Feast_.

   "O'Rourk's | noble fare | will ne'er | be forgot,
    By those | who were there, | or those | who were not.
    His rev |-els to keep, | we sup | and we dine
    On sev |-en score sheep, | fat bul |-locks, and swine.
    Usquebaugh | to our feast | in pails | was brought up,
    An hun |-dred at least, | and a mad |-der our cup.
    O there | is the sport! | we rise | with the light,
    In disor |-derly sort, | from snor |-ing all night.
    O how | was I trick'd! | my pipe | it was broke,
    My pock |-et was pick'd, | I lost | my new cloak.
    I'm ri |-fled, quoth Nell, | of man |-tle and kerch |-_er_:
    Why then | fare them well, | the de'il | take the search |-_er_."
        _Johnson's Works of the Poets_, Vol. v, p. 310.

Here the measure is tetrameter; and it seems to have been the design of the
poet, that each hemistich should consist of one iamb and one anapest. Such,
with a few exceptions, is the arrangement throughout the piece; but the
hemistichs which have double rhyme, _may_ each be divided into two
amphibrachs. In Everett's Versification, at p. 100, the first six lines of
this example are broken into twelve, and set in three stanzas, being given
to exemplify "_The Line of a single Anapest preceded by an Iambus_," or
what he improperly calls "The first and shortest species of Anapestic
lines." His other instance of the same metre is also _Composite_ verse,
rather than Anapestic, even by his own showing. "In the following example,"
says he, "we have this measure alternating with Amphibrachic lines:"

_Example II.--From Byron's Manfred._

   "The Captive Usurper,
      Hurl'd down | from the throne.
    Lay buried in torpor,
      Forgotten and lone;
    I broke through his slumbers,
      I shiv |-er'd his chain,
    I leagued him with numbers--
      He's Ty |-rant again!
    With the blood | of a mill |-ion he'll an |-swer my care,
    With a na |-tion's destruc |-tion--his flight | and despair."
        --Act ii, Sc. 3.

Here the last two lines, which are not cited by Everett, are pure anapestic
tetrameters; and it may be observed, that, if each two of the short lines
were printed as one, the eight which are here scanned otherwise, would
become four of the same sort, except that these would each begin with an
iambus. Hence the specimen _sounds_ essentially as anapestic verse.

_Example III.--Woman on the Field of Battle_.

   "Gentle and | lovely form,
      What didst | thou here,
    When the fierce | battle storm
      Bore down | the spear?

    Banner and | shiver'd crest,
      Beside | thee strown,
    Tell that a |-midst the best
      Thy work  was done!

    Low lies the | stately head,
      Earth-bound | the free:
    How gave those | haughty dead
      A place | to thee?

    Slumb'rer! thine | early bier
      Friends should | have crown'd,
    Many a |flow'r and tear
      Shedding | around.

    Soft voices, | dear and young,
      Mingling | their swell,
    Should o'er thy | dust have sung
      Earth's last | farewell.

    Sisters a |-bove the grave
      Of thy | repose
    Should have bid | vi'lets wave
      With the | white rose.

    Now must the | trumpet's note.
      Savage | and shrill,
    For requi'm | o'er thee float,
      Thou fair | and still!

    And the swift | charger sweep,
      In full | career,
    Trampling thy | place of sleep--
      Why cam'st | thou here?

    Why?--Ask the | true heart why
      Woman | hath been
    Ever, where | brave men die,
      Unshrink |-ing seen.

    Unto this | harvest ground,
      Proud reap |-ers came,
    Some for that | stirring sound,
      A warr |-ior's name:

    Some for the | stormy play,
      And joy | of strife,
    And some to | fling away
      A wea |-ry life.

    But thou, pale | sleeper, thou,
      With the | slight frame,
    And the rich | locks, whose glow
      Death can |-not tame;

    Only one | thought, one pow'r,
     _Thee_ could | have led,
    So through the | tempest's hour
     To lift | thy head!

    Only the | true, the strong,
     The love | whose trust
    Woman's deep | soul too long
     Pours on | the dust."

    HEMANS: _Poetical Works_, Vol. ii, p. 157.

Here are fourteen stanzas of composite dimeter, each having two sorts of
lines; the first sort consisting, with a few exceptions, of a dactyl and an
amphimac; the second, mostly, of two iambs; but, in some instances, of a
trochee and an iamb;--the latter being, in such a connexion, much the more
harmonious and agreeable combination of quantities.

_Example IV.--Airs from a "Serenata."_

    Air 1.

    "Love sounds | the alarm,
      And fear | is a-fly~ing;
    When beau |-ty's the prize,
      What mor |-tal fears dy |-~ing?
    In defence | of my treas |-~ure,
      I'd bleed | at each vein;
    Without | her no pleas |-ure;
      For life | is a pain."

    Air 2.

    "Consid |-er, fond shep |-h~erd,
      How fleet |-ing's the pleas |-~ure,
    That flat |-ters our hopes
      In pursuit | of the fair:
    The joys | that attend | ~it,
      By mo |-ments we meas |-~ure;
    But life | is too lit |-tle
      To meas |-ure our care."

       GAY'S POEMS: _Johnson's Works of the Poets_, VoL vii, p. 378.


These verses are essentially either anapestic or amphibrachic. The anapest
divides two of them in the middle; the amphibrach will so divide eight. But
either division will give many iambs. By the present scansion, the _first
foot_ is an iamb in all of them but the two anapestics.

_Example V.--"The Last Leaf."_

    1.
    "I saw | him once | before
    As he pass |-~ed by | the door,
        And again
    The pave |-ment stones | resound
    As he tot |-ters o'er | the ground
        With his cane.

    2.
    They say | that in | his prime,
    Ere the prun |-ing knife  of Time
        Cut him down,
    Not a bet |-ter man | was found
    By the cri |-er on | his round
        Through the town.

    3.
    But now | he walks | the streets,
    And he looks | at all | he meets
        So forlorn;
    And he shakes | his fee |-ble head,
    That it seems | as if | he said,
        They are gone.

    4.
    The mos |-sy mar |-bles rest
    On the lips | that he | has press'd
        In their bloom;
    And the names | he lov'd | to hear
    Have been carv'd | for man |-y a year
        On the tomb.

    5.
    My grand |-mamma | has said,--
    Poor old La |-dy! she | is dead
        Long ago,--
    That he had | a Ro |-man nose,
    And his cheek | was like | a rose
        In the snow.

    6.
    But now | his nose | is thin,
    And it rests | upon | his chin
        Like a staff;
    And a crook | is in | his back
    And a mel |-anchol |-y crack
        In his laugh.

    7.
    I know | it is | a sin
    For me [thus] | to sit | and grin
        At him here;
    But the old | three-cor |-ner'd hat,
    And the breech |-es, and | all that,
        Are so queer!

    8.
    And if I | should live | to be
    The last leaf | upon | the tree
        In the spring,--
    Let them smile, | as I | do now,
    At the old | forsak |-en bough
        Where I cling."
        OLIVER W. HOLMES: _The Pioneer_, 1843, p. 108.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Composite verse, especially if the lines be short, is peculiarly
liable to uncertainty, and diversity of scansion; and that which does not
always abide by one chosen order of quantities, can scarcely be found
agreeable; it must be more apt to puzzle than to please the reader. The
eight stanzas of this last example, have eight lines of _iambic trimeter_;
and, since seven times in eight, this metre holds the first place in the
stanza, it is a double fault, that one such line seems strayed from its
proper position. It would be better to prefix the word _Now_ to the fourth
line, and to mend the forty-third thus:--

   "And should | I live | to be"--

The trissyllabic feet of this piece, as I scan it, are numerous; being the
sixteen short lines of monometer, and the twenty-four initial feet of the
lines of seven syllables. Every one of the forty--(except the thirty-sixth,
"_The_ last leaf"--) begins with a monosyllable which may be varied in
quantity; so that, with stress laid on this monosyllable, the foot becomes
an _amphimac_; without such stress, an _anapest_.

OBS. 2.--I incline to read this piece as composed of iambs and anapests;
but E. A. Poe, who has commended "the effective harmony of these lines,"
and called the example "an excellently well conceived and well managed
specimen of versification," counts many syllables long, which such a
reading makes short, and he also divides all but the iambics in a way quite
different from mine, thus: "Let us scan the first stanza.

    'I s=aw | h~im =once | b~ef=ore
    As h~e | p=ass~ed | b=y th~e | d=oor,
        And ~a- | g=ain

    Th~e p=ave- | m~ent st=ones | r~es=ound
    As h~e | t=ott~ers | =o'er th~e | gr=ound
        W=ith h~is c=ane.'

This," says he, "is the general scansion of the poem. We have first three
iambuses. The second line shifts the _rhythm_ into the _trochaic_, giving
us three trochees, with a cæsura equivalent, in this case, to a trochee.
The third line is a trochee and equivalent cæsura."--POE'S NOTES UPON
ENGLISH VERSE: _Pioneer_, p. 109. These quantities are the same as those by
which the whole piece is made to consist of iambs and amphimacs.

OBS. 3.--In its _rhythmical effect_ upon the ear, a supernumerary short
syllable at the end of a line, may sometimes, perhaps, compensate for the
want of such a syllable at the beginning of the next line, as may be seen
in the fourth example above; but still it is unusual, and seems improper,
to suppose such syllables to belong to the scansion of the subsequent line;
for the division of lines, with their harmonic pauses, is greater than the
division of feet, and implies that no foot can ever actually be split by
it. Poe has suggested that the division into lines may be disregarded in
scanning, and sometimes must be. He cites for an example the beginning of
Byron's "Bride of Abydos,"--a passage which has been admired for its easy
flow, and which, he says, has greatly puzzled those who have attempted to
scan it. Regarding it as essentially anapestic tetrameter, yet as having
some initial iambs, and the first and fifth lines dactylic, I shall here
divide it accordingly, thus:--

   "Kn=ow y~e th~e | l=and wh~ere th~e | c=ypr~ess ~and | m=yrtl~e
      Ar~e =em | -bl~ems ~of d=eeds | th~at ~are d=one
                                                   | ~in th~eir cl=ime--
    Where the rage | of the vul | -ture, the love | of the tur | -tle,
      Now melt | into soft | -ness, now mad | -den to crime?
      Know ye the | land of the | cedar and | vine.
      Where the flow'rs | ever blos | -som, the beams | ever shine,
      And the light | wings of Zeph | -yr, oppress'd | with perfume,
      Wax faint | o'er the gar | -dens of Gul | in her bloom?
      Where the cit | -ron and ol | -ive are fair | -est of fruit,
      And the voice | of the night | -ingale nev | -er is mute?
      Where the vir | -gins are soft as the ros | -es they twine,
      And all, | save the spir | -it of man, | is divine?
      'Tis the land | of the East- | 't is the clime | of the Sun--
      Can he smile | on such deeds | as his chil | -dren have done?
      Oh, wild | as the ac | -cents of lov | -ers' farewell,
      Are the hearts | that they bear, | and the tales | that they tell."

OBS. 4.--These lines this ingenious prosodist divides not thus, but,
throwing them together like prose unpunctuated, finds in them "a regular
succession of _dactylic rhythms_, varied only at three points by equivalent
_spondees_, and separated into two distinct divisions by equivalent
terminating _cæsuras_." He imagines that, "By all who have ears--not over
long--this will be acknowledged as the true and the sole true
scansion."--_E. A. Poe: Pioneer_, p. 107. So it may, for aught I know; but,
having dared to show there is an other way quite as simple and plain, and
less objectionable, I submit both to the judgement of the reader:--

"Kn=ow y~e th~e | l=and wh~ere th~e | c=ypr~ess ~and | m=yrtl~e ~are |
=embl~ems ~of | d=eeds th~at ~are | d=one ~in th~eir | cl=ime wh~ere th~e |
r=age ~of th~e | v=ult~ure th~e | l=ove ~of th~e | t=urtl~e n~ow | m=elt
~int~o | s=oftn~ess n~ow | madd~en t~o | _crime_. Kn=ow y~e th~e | l=and
~of th~e | c=ed~ar ~and | v=ine wh~ere th~e | fl=ow'rs ~ev~er | bl=oss~om
th~e | b=eams ~ev~er | sh=ine wh~ere th=e | l=ight w~ings =of | z=eph=yr
~op | -pr=ess'd w~ith p~er | -_f=ume w=ax_ | f=aint ~o'er th~e | g=ard~ens
~of | G=ul ~in h~er | bl=oom wh~ere th~e | c=itr~on ~and | =oli~ve ~are |
f=air~est ~of | fr=uit ~and th~e | v=oice ~of th~e | n=ight~ing~ale |
n=ev~er ~is | m=ute wh~ere th~e | v=irg~ins ~are | s=oft ~as th~e | r=os~es
th~ey | _tw=ine =and_ | =all s~ave th~e | sp=ir~it ~of | m=an ~is d~i- |
v=ine 't~is th~e | l=and ~of th~e | E=ast 't~is th~e | cl=im~e ~of th~e |
S=un c~an h~e | sm=ile ~on s~uch | d=eeds ~as h~is | ch=ildr~en h~ave |
_d~one =oh_ w=ild ~as th~e | =acc~ents ~of | l=ov~ers' f~are- | w=ell ~are
th~e | h=earts th~at th~ey | be=ar and th~e | t=ales th~at th~ey |
_t=ell_."--_Ib._

OBS. 5.--In the sum and proportion of their quantities, the anapest, the
dactyl, and the amphibrach, are equal, each having two syllables short to
one long; and, with two short quantities between two long ones, lines may
be tolerably accordant in rhythm, though the order, at the commencement, be
varied, and their number of syllables be not equal. Of the following
sixteen lines, nine are pure anapestic tetrameters; one _may_ be reckoned
dactylic, but it may quite as well be said to have a trochee, an iambus,
and two anapests or two amphimacs; one is a spondee and three anapests; and
the rest _may_ be scanned as amphibrachics ending with an iambus, but are
more properly anapestics commencing with an iambus. Like the preceding
example from Byron, they lack the uniformity of proper composites, and are
rather to be regarded as anapestics irregularly diversified.

THE ALBATROSS.

"'Tis said the Albatross never rests."--_Buffon_.

   "Wh~ere th~e f=ath | -~oml~ess w=aves | in magnif | -icence toss,
    H=omel~ess | ~and h=igh | soars the wild | Albatross;
    Unwea | -ried, undaunt | -ed, unshrink | -ing, alone,
    The o | -cean his em | -pire, the tem | -pest his throne.
    When the ter | -rible whirl | -wind raves wild | o'er the surge,
    And the hur | -ricane howls | out the mar | -iner's dirge,
    In thy glo | -ry thou spurn | -est the dark | -heaving sea,
    Pr=oud b=ird | of the o | -cean-world, home | -less and free.
    When the winds | are at rest, | and the sun | in his glow,
    And the glit | -tering tide | sleeps in beau | -ty below,
    In the pride | of thy pow | -er trium | -phant above,
    With thy mate | thou art hold | -ing thy rev | -els of love.
    Untir | -ed, unfet | -tered, unwatched, | unconfined,
    Be my spir | -it like thee, | in the world | of the mind;
    No lean | -ing for earth, | e'er to wea | -ry its flight,
    And fresh | as thy pin | -ions in re | -gions of light."
       SAMUEL DALY LANGTREE: _North American Reader_, p. 443.

OBS. 6.--It appears that the most noted measures of the Greek and Latin
poets were not of any simple order, but either composites, or mixtures too
various to be called composites. It is not to be denied, that we have much
difficulty in reading them rhythmically, according to their stated feet and
scansion; and so we should have, in reading our own language rhythmically,
in any similar succession of feet. Noticing this in respect to the Latin
Hexameter, or Heroic verse, Poe says, "Now the discrepancy in question is
not observable in English metres; where the scansion coincides with the
reading, _so far as the rhythm is concerned_--that is to say, if we pay no
attention to the _sense_ of the passage. But these facts indicate _a
radical difference_ in the genius of the two languages, as regards their
capacity for modulation. In truth, * * * the Latin is a far more _stately_
tongue than our own. It is essentially spondaic; the English is as
essentially dactylic."--_Pioneer_, p. 110. (See the marginal note in §3d.
at Obs. 22d, above.) Notwithstanding this difference, discrepance, or
difficulty, whatever it may be, some of our poets have, in a few instances,
attempted imitations of certain Latin metres; which imitations it may be
proper briefly to notice under the present head. The Greek or Latin
Hexameter line has, of course, six feet, or pulsations. According to the
Prosodies, the first four of these may be either dactyls or spondees; the
fifth is always, or nearly always, a dactyl; and the sixth, or last, is
always a spondee: as,

   "L=ud~er~e | qu=æ v=el | -l=em c~al~a | -m=o p=er | -m=is~it ~a
                                                    | -gr=est=i."--_Virg._

   "Inf=an- | d=um, R=e | -g=in~a, j~u | -b=es r~en~o | -v=ar~e d~o
                                                    | -l=or=em."--_Id._

Of this sort of verse, in English, somebody has framed the following very
fair example:--

   "M=an ~is ~a | c=ompl=ex, | c=omp=ound | c=omp=ost, | y=et ~is h~e
                                                          | G=od-b=orn."

OBS. 7.--Of this species of versification, which may be called Mixed or
Composite Hexameter, the most considerable specimen that I have seen in
English, is Longfellow's Evangeline, a poem of one thousand three hundred
and eighty-two of these long lines, or verses. This work has found
admirers, and not a few; for, of these, nothing written by so distinguished
a scholar could fail: but, surely, not many of the verses in question
exhibit truly the feet of the ancient Hexameters; or, if they do, the
ancients contented themselves with very imperfect rhythms, even in their
noblest heroics. In short, I incline to the opinion of Poe, that, "Nothing
less than the deservedly high reputation of Professor Longfellow, could
have sufficed to give currency to his lines as to Greek Hexameters. In
general, they are neither one thing nor another. Some few of them are
dactylic verses--English dactylics. But do away with the division into
lines, and the most astute critic would never have suspected them of any
thing more than prose."--_Pioneer_, p. 111. The following are the last ten
lines of the volume, with such a division into feet as the poet is presumed
to have contemplated:--

   "Still stands the | forest pri | -meval; but | under the | shade of its
                                                               | branches
    Dwells an | -other | race, with | other | customs and | language.
    Only a | -long the | shore of the | mournful and | misty At | -lantic
    Linger a | few A | -cadian | peasants, whose | fathers from | exile
    Wandered | back to their | native | land to | die in its | bosom.
    In the | fisherman's | cot the | wheel and the | loom are still | busy;
    Maidens still | wear their | Norman | caps and their | kirtles of
                                                               | homespun,
    And by the | evening | fire re | -peat E | -vangeline's  story,
    While from its | rocky | caverns the | deep-voiced, | neighbouring
                                                               | ocean
    Speaks, and in | accents dis | -consolate | answers the | wail of the
                                                               | forest."
       HENRY W. LONGFELLOW: _Evangeline_, p. 162.

OBS. 8.--An other form of verse, common to the Greeks and Romans, which has
sometimes been imitated--or, rather, which some writers have _attempted to
imitate_--in English, is the line or stanza called Sapphic, from the
inventress, Sappho, a Greek poetess. The Sapphic verse, according to
Fabricius, Smetius, and all good authorities, has eleven syllables, making
"five feet--the first a trochee, the second a spondee, the third a dactyl,
and the fourth and fifth trochees." The Sapphic stanza, or what is
sometimes so called, consists of three Sapphic lines and an Adonian, or
Adonic,--this last being a short line composed of "a dactyl and a spondee."
Example from Horace:--

   "=Int~e | -g=er v=i | -tæ, sc~el~e | -r=isqu~e | p=ur~us
    Non e | -get Mau | -ri jacu | -lis ne | -qu' arcu,
    Nec ven | -ena | -tis gravi | -dâ sa | -gittis,
        Fusce, pha | -retra."

To arrange eleven syllables in a line, and have half or more of them to
form trochees, is no difficult matter; but, to find _rhythm_ in the
succession of "a trochee, a spondee, and a dactyl," as we read words, seems
hardly practicable. Hence few are the English Sapphics, if there be any,
which abide by the foregoing formule of quantities and feet. Those which I
have seen, are generally, if not in every instance, susceptible of a more
natural scansion as being composed of trochees, with a dactyl, or some
other foot of three syllables, at the _beginning_ of each line. The cæsural
pause falls sometimes after the fourth syllable, but more generally, and
much more agreeably, after the fifth. Let the reader inspect the following
example, and see if he do not agree with me in laying the accent on only
the first syllable of each foot, as the feet are here divided. The accent,
too, must be carefully laid. Without considerable care in the reading, the
hearer will not suppose the composition to be any thing but prose:--

"THE WIDOW."--(IN "SAPPHICS.")

   "Cold was the | night-wind, | drifting | fast the | snow fell,
    Wide were the | downs, and | shelter | -less and | naked,
    When a poor | Wanderer | struggled | on her | journey,
           Weary and | way-sore.

    Drear were the | downs, more | dreary | her re | -flections;
    Cold was the | night-wind, | colder | was her | bosom;
    She had no | home, the | world was | all be | -fore her;
           She had no | shelter.

    Fast o'er the | heath a | chariot | rattlee | by her;
    'Pity me!' | feebly | cried the | lonely | wanderer;
    'Pity me, | strangers! | lest, with | cold and | hunger,
           Here I should | perish.

    'Once I had | friends,--though | now by | all for | -saken!
    'Once I had | parents, | --they are | now in | heaven!
    'I had a | home once, | --I had | once a | husband--
           Pity me, | strangers!

    'I had a | home once, | --I had | once a | husband--
    'I am a | widow, | poor and | broken | -hearted!'
    Loud blew the | wind; un | -heard was | her com | -plaining;
           On drove the | chariot.

    Then on the | snow she | laid her | down to | rest her;
    She heard a | horseman; | 'Pity | me!' she | groan'd out;
    Loud was the | wind; un | -heard was | her com | -plaining;
           On went the | horseman.

    Worn out with | anguish, | toil, and | cold, and | hunger,
    Down sunk the | Wanderer; | sleep had | seized her | senses;
    There did the | traveller | find her | in the | morning;
           God had re | -leased her."
             ROBERT SOUTHEY: _Poems_, Philad., 1843, p. 251.

Among the lyric poems of Dr. Watts, is one, entitled, "THE DAY OF
JUDGEMENT; _an Ode attempted in English Sapphic_." It is perhaps as good an
example as we have of the species. It consists of nine stanzas, of which I
shall here cite the first three, dividing them into feet as above:--

   "When the fierce | North Wind, | with his | airy | forces,
    Rears up the | Baltic | to a | foaming | fury;
    And the red | lightning | with a | storm of | hail comes
      Rushing a | -main down;

    How the poor | sailors | stand a | -maz'd and | tremble!
    While the hoarse | thunder, | like a bloody | trumpet,
    Roars a loud | onset | to the | gaping | waters,
      Quick to de | -vour them.

    Such shall the | noise be, | and the | wild dis | -order,
    (If things e | -ternal | may be | like these | earthly,)
    Such the dire | terror, | when the | great Arch | -angel
      Shakes the cre | -ation."--_Horæ Lyricæ_, p. 67.

"These lines," says Humphrey, who had cited the first four, "are good
English Sapphics, and contain the essential traits of the original as
nearly as the two languages, Greek and English, correspond to each other.
This stanza, together with the poem, from which this was taken, may stand
for a model, in our English compositions."--_Humphrey's E. Prosody_, p. 19.
This author erroneously supposed, that the trissyllabic foot, in any line
of the Sapphic stanza, must occupy the second place: and, judging of the
ancient feet and quantities by what he found, or supposed he found, in the
English imitations, and not by what the ancient prosodists say of them, yet
knowing that the ancient and the modern Sapphics are in several respects
unlike, he presented forms of scansion for both, which are not only
peculiar to himself, but not well adapted to either. "We have," says he,
"no established rule for this kind of verse, in our English compositions,
which has been uniformly adhered to. The rule for which, in Greek and Latin
verse, _as far as I can ascertain_, was this: = ~ | = = = | ~ ~ |= ~ | = =
a trochee, a _moloss_, a _pyrrhic_, a trochee, and [a] _spondee_; and
_sometimes, occasionally_, a trochee, instead of a spondee, at the end. But
as our language is not favourable to the use of the spondee and moloss, the
moloss is seldom or never used in our English Sapphics; but, instead of
which, some other _trissyllable_ foot is used. Also, instead of the
spondee, a trochee is commonly used; and sometimes a trochee instead of the
pyrrhic, in the third place. As some prescribed rule, or model for
imitation, may be necessary, in this case, I will cite a stanza from one of
our best English poets, which may serve for a model.

   'Wh=en th~e | fi=erce n=orth-w~ind, | w~ith h~is | =air~y | f=orc~es [,]
    R=ears ~up | th~e B=alt~ic | t~o ~a | f=oam~ing | f=ur~y;
    And th~e | r=ed l=ightn~ing | w~ith ~a | st=orm ~of | h=ail c~omes
            R=ush~ing | ~am=ain d=own.'--Watts."--_Ib._, p. 19.

OBS. 12.--In "the Works of George Canning," a small book published in 1829,
there is a poetical dialogue of nine stanzas, entitled, "The Friend of
Humanity and the Knife-Grinder," said to be "a burlesque on Mr. Southey's
Sapphics." The metre appears to be near enough like to the foregoing. But
these verses I divide, as I have divided the others, into trochees with
initial dactyls. At the commencement, the luckier party salutes the other
thus:--

   "'Needy knife | -grinder! | whither | are you | going?
     Rough is the | road, your | wheel is | out of | order--
     Bleak blows the | blast;--your | hat has | got a | hole in't,
               So have your | breeches!

    'Weary knife | -grinder! | little | think the | proud ones
     Who in their | coaches | roll a | -long the | turnpike--
     Road, what hard | work 'tis, | crying | all day, | 'Knives and
               Scissors to | grind O!'"--P. 44.

OBS. 13.--Among the humorous poems of Thomas Green Fessenden, published
under the sobriquet of Dr. Caustic, or "Christopher Caustic, M. D.," may be
seen an other comical example of Sapphics, which extends to eleven stanzas.
It describes a contra-dance, and is entitled, "Horace Surpassed." The
conclusion is as follows:--

   "Willy Wagnimble dancing with Flirtilla,
    Almost as light as air-balloon inflated,
    Rigadoons around her, 'till the lady's heart is
                    Forced to surrender.

    Benny Bamboozle cuts the drollest capers,
    Just like a camel, or a hippopot'mus;
    Jolly Jack Jumble makes as big a rout as
                    Forty Dutch horses.

    See Angelina lead the mazy dance down;
    Never did fairy trip it so fantastic;
    How my heart flutters, while my tongue pronounces,
                    'Sweet little seraph!'

    Such are the joys that flow from contra-dancing,
    Pure as the primal happiness of Eden,
    Love, mirth, and music, kindle in accordance
                    Raptures extatic."--_Poems_, p. 208.



SECTION V.--ORAL EXERCISES.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PROSODY, OR ERRORS OF METRE.

LESSON I.--RESTORE THE RHYTHM.

"The lion is laid down in his lair."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 134.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word "_lion_," here put for Cowper's
word "_beast_" destroys the metre, and changes the line to prose. But,
according to the definition given on p. 827, "Verse, in opposition to
prose, is language arranged into metrical lines of some determinate length
and rhythm--language so ordered as to produce harmony by a due succession
of poetic feet." This line was composed of one iamb and two anapests; and,
to such form, it should be restored, thus: "The _beast_ is laid down in his
lair."--_Cowper's Poems_, Vol. i, p. 201.]

   "Where is thy true treasure? Gold says, not in me."
        --_Hallock's Gram._, 1842, p. 66.

   "Canst thou grow sad, thou sayest, as earth grows bright?"
        --_Frazee's Gram._, 1845, p. 140.

   "It must be so, Plato, thou reasonest well."
        --_Wells's Gram._, 1846, p. 122.

   "Slow rises merit, when by poverty depressed."
        --_Ib._, p. 195; _Hiley_, 132; _Hart_, 179.

   "Rapt in future times, the bard begun."
        --_Wells's Gram._, 1846, p. 153.

   "Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
    To wash it white as snow? Whereunto serves mercy,
    But to confront the visage of offence!"
        --_Hallock's Gram._, 1842, p. 118.

   "Look! in this place ran Cassius's dagger through."
        --_Kames, El. of Cr._, Vol. i, p. 74.

    "----When they list their lean and flashy songs,
    Harsh grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw."
        --_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 135.

    "Did not great Julius bleed for justice's sake?"
        --_Dodd's Beauties of Shak._, p. 253.

    "Did not great Julius bleed for justice sake?"
        --_Singer's Shakspeare_, Vol. ii, p. 266.

    "May I, unblam'd, express thee? Since God is light."
        --_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 290.

    "Or hearest thou, rather, pure ethereal stream!"
        --_2d Perversion, ib._

    "Republics; kingdoms; empires, may decay;
    Princes, heroes, sages, sink to nought."
        --_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 287.

    "Thou bringest, gay creature as thou art,
    A solemn image to my heart."
        --_E. J. Hallock's Gram._, p. 197.

    "Know thyself presume not God to scan;
    The proper study of mankind is Man."
        --_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 285.

    "Raised on a hundred pilasters of gold."
        --_Charlemagne_, C. i, St. 40.

    "Love in Adalgise's breast has fixed his sting."
        --_Ib._, C. i, St. 30.

    "Thirty days hath September,
    April, June, and November,
    February twenty-eight alone,
    All the rest thirty and one."
        _Colet's Grammar, or Paul's Accidence_. Lond., 1793, p. 75.


LESSON II.--RESTORE THE RHYTHM.

   "'Twas not the fame of what he once had been,
    Or tales in old records and annals seen."
        --_Rowe's Lucan_, B. i, l. 274.

    "And Asia now and Afric are explor'd,
    For high-priced dainties, and citron board."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. i, l. 311.

    "Who knows not, how the trembling judge beheld
    The peaceful court with arm'd legions fill'd?"
        --_Eng. Poets; ib._, B. i, l. 578.

    "With thee the Scythian wilds we'll wander o'er,
    With thee burning Libyan sands explore."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. i, l. 661.

    "Hasty and headlong different paths they tread,
    As blind impulse and wild distraction lead."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. i, l. 858.

    "But Fate reserv'd to perform its doom,
    And be the minister of wrath to Rome."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. ii, l. 136.

    "Thus spoke the youth. When Cato thus exprest
    The sacred counsels of his most inmost breast."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. ii, l. 435.

    "These were the strict manners of the man,
    And this the stubborn course in which they ran;
    The golden mean unchanging to pursue,
    Constant to keep the proposed end in view."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. ii, l. 580.

    "What greater grief can a Roman seize,
    Than to be forc'd to live on terms like these!"
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. ii, l. 782.

    "He views the naked town with joyful eyes,
    While from his rage an arm'd people flies."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. ii, l. 880.

    "For planks and beams he ravages the wood,
    And the tough bottom extends across the flood."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. ii, l. 1040.

    "A narrow pass the horned mole divides,
    Narrow as that where Euripus' strong tides
    Beat on Euboean Chalcis' rocky sides."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. ii, l. 1095.

    "No force, no fears their hands unarm'd bear,
    But looks of peace and gentleness they wear."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. iii, l. 112.

    "The ready warriors all aboard them ride,
    And wait the return of the retiring tide."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. iv, l. 716.

    "He saw those troops that long had faithful stood,
    Friends to his cause, and enemies to good,
    Grown weary of their chief, and satiated with blood."
        --_Eng. Poets: ib._, B. v, l. 337.




CHAPTER V.--QUESTIONS.


ORDER OF REHEARSAL, AND METHOD OF EXAMINATION.

PART FOURTH, PROSODY.

[Fist][The following questions call the attention of the student to the
main doctrines in the foregoing code of Prosody, and embrace or demand
those facts which it is most important for him to fix in his memory; they
may, therefore, serve not only to aid the teacher in the process of
examining his classes, but also to direct the learner in his manner of
preparation for recital.]


LESSON I.--OF PUNCTUATION.

1. Of what does Prosody treat? 2. What is _Punctuation?_ 3. What are the
principal points, or marks? 4. What pauses are denoted by the first four
points? 5. What pauses are required by the other four? 6. What is the
general use of the Comma? 7. How many rules for the Comma are there, and
what are their heads? 8. What says Rule 1st of _Simple Sentences?_ 9. What
says Rule 2d of _Simple Members?_ 10. What says Rule 3d of _More than Two
Words?_ 11. What says Rule 4th of _Only Two Words?_ 12. What says Rule 5th
of _Words in Pairs?_ 13. What says Rule 6th of _Words put Absolute?_ 14.
What says Rule 7th of _Words in Apposition?_ 15. What says Rule 8th of
_Adjectives?_ 16. What says Rule 9th of _Finite Verbs?_ 17. What says Rule
10th of _Infinitives?_ 18. What says Rule 11th of _Participles?_ 19. What
says Rule 12th of _Adverbs?_ 20. What says Rule 13th of _Conjunctions?_ 21.
What says Rule 14th of _Prepositions?_ 22. What says Rule 15th of
_Interjections?_ 23. What says Rule 16th of _Words Repeated?_ 24. What says
Rule 17th of _Dependent Quotations?_


LESSON II.--OF THE COMMA.

1. How many exceptions, or forms of exception, are there to Rule 1st for
the comma? 2.--to Rule 2d? 3.--to Rule 3d? 4.--to Rule 4th? 5.--to Rule
5th? 6.--to Rule 6th? 7.--to Rule 7th? 8.--to Rule 8th? 9.--to Rule 9th?
10.--to Rule 10th? 11.--to Rule 11th? 12.--to Rule 12th? 13.--to Rule 13th?
14.--to Rule 14th? 15.--to Rule 15th? 16.--to Rule 16th? 17.--to Rule 17th?
18. What says the Exception to Rule 1st of a _Long Simple Sentence?_ 19.
What says Exception 1st to Rule 2d of _Restrictive Relatives?_ 20. What
says Exception 2d to Rule 2d of _Short Terms closely Connected?_ 21. What
says Exception 3d to Rule 2d of _Elliptical Members United?_ 22. What says
Exception 1st to Rule 4th of _Two Words with Adjuncts?_ 23. What says
Exception 2d to Rule 4th of _Two Terms Contrasted?_ 24. What says Exception
3d to Rule 4th of a mere _Alternative of Words?_ 25. What says Exception
4th to Rule 4th of _Conjunctions Understood?_


LESSON III.--OF THE COMMA.

1. What rule speaks of the separation of _Words in Apposition?_ 2. What
says Exception 1st to Rule 7th of _Complex Names?_ 3. What says Exception
2d to Rule 7th of _Close Apposition?_ 4. What says Exception 3d to Rule 7th
of _a Pronoun without a Pause?_ 5. What says Exception 4th to Rule 7th of
_Names Acquired?_ 6. What says the Exception to Rule 8th of _Adjectives
Restrictive?_ 7. What is the rule which speaks of a finite _Verb
Understood?_ 8. What says the Exception to Rule 9th of a _Very Slight
Pause?_ 9. What is the Rule for the pointing of _Participles?_ 10. What
says the Exception to Rule 11th of _Participles Restrictive?_

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules
given, some or all of the various examples of _False Punctuation_, which
are arranged under the rules for the Comma in Section First.]


LESSON IV.--OF THE SEMICOLON.

1. What is the general use of the Semicolon? 2. How many rules are there
for the Semicolon? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of
_Complex Members?_ 5. What says Rule 2d of _Simple Members?_ 6. What says
Rule 3d of _Apposition, &c.?_

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules
given, some or all of the various examples of _False Punctuation_, which
are arranged under the rules for the Semicolon in Section Second.]


LESSON V.--OF THE COLON.

1. What is the general use of the Colon? 2. How many rules are there for
the Colon? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of _Additional
Remarks?_ 5. What says Rule 2d of _Greater Pauses?_ 6. What says Rule 3d of
_Independent Quotations?_

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules
given, some or all of the various examples of _False Punctuation_, which
are arranged under the rules for the Colon in Section Third.]


LESSON VI.--OF THE PERIOD.

1. What is the general use of the Period? 2. How many rules are there for
the Period? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of _Distinct
Sentences?_ 5. What says Rule 2d of _Allied Sentences?_ 6. What says Rule
3d of _Abbreviations?_

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules
given, some or all of the various examples of _False Punctuation_, which
are arranged under the rules for the Period in Section Fourth.]


LESSON VII.--OF THE DASH.

1. What is the general use of the Dash? 2. How many rules are there for the
Dash? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule 1st of _Abrupt Pauses?_ 5.
What says Rule 2d of _Emphatic Pauses?_ 6. What says Rule 3d of _Faulty
Dashes?_

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules
given, some or all of the various examples of _False Punctuation_, which
are arranged under the rules for the Dash in Section Fifth.]


LESSON VIII.--OF THE EROTEME.

1. What is the use of the Eroteme, or Note of Interrogation? 2. How many
rules are there for this mark? 3. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule
1st of _Questions Direct?_ 5. What says Rule 2d of _Questions United?_ 6.
What says Rule 3d of _Questions Indirect?_

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules
given, some or all of the various examples of _False Punctuation_, which
are arranged under the rules for the Eroteme in Section Sixth.]


LESSON IX--OF THE ECPHONEME.

1. What is the use of the Ecphoneme, or Note of Exclamation? 2. How many
rules are there for this mark? 2. What are their heads? 4. What says Rule
1st of _Interjections?_ 5. What says Rule 2d of _Invocations?_ 6. What says
Rule 3d of _Exclamatory Questions?_

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules
given, some or all of the various examples of _False Punctuation_, which
are arranged under the rules for the Ecphoneme in Section Seventh.]


LESSON X.--OF THE CURVES.

1. What is the use of the Curves, or Marks of Parenthesis? 2. How many
rules are there for the Curves? 3. What are their titles, or heads? 4. What
says Rule 1st of _the Parenthesis?_ 5. What says Rule 2d of _Included
Points?_

[Now, if you please, you may correct orally, according to the formules
given, some or all of the various examples of _False Punctuation_, which
are arranged under the rules for the Curves in Section Eighth.]


LESSON XI.--OF THE OTHER MARKS.

1. What is the use of the Apostrophe? 2. What is the use of the Hyphen? 3.
What is the use of the Diæresis, or Dialysis? 4. What is the use of the
Acute Accent? 5. What is the use of the Grave Accent? 6. What is the use of
the Circumflex? 7. What is the use of the Breve, or Stenotone? 8. What is
the use of the Macron, or Macrotone? 9. What is the use of the Ellipsis, or
Suppression? 10. What is the use of the Caret? 11. What is the use of the
Brace? 12. What is the use of the Section? 13. What is the use of the
Paragraph? 14. What is the use of the Guillemets, or Quotation Points? 15.
How do we mark a quotation within a quotation? 16. What is the use of the
Crotchets, or Brackets? 17. What is the use of the Index, or Hand? 18. What
are the six Marks of Reference in their usual order? 19. How can
references be otherwise made? 20. What is the use of the Asterism, or the
Three Stars? 21. What is the use of the Cedilla?

[Having correctly answered the foregoing questions, the pupil should be
taught to apply the principles of punctuation; and, for this purpose, he
may be required to read a portion of some accurately pointed book, or may
be directed to turn to the _Fourteenth Praxis_, beginning on p. 821,--and
to assign a reason for every mark he finds.]


LESSON XII.--OF UTTERANCE.

1. What is _Utterance?_ 2. What does it include? 3. What is articulation?
4. How does articulation differ from pronunciation? 5. How does Comstock
define it? 6. What, in his view, is a good articulation? 7. How does Bolles
define articulation? 8. Is a good articulation important? 9. What are the
faults opposite to it? 10. What says Sheridan, of a good articulation? 11.
Upon what does distinctness depend? 13. Why is just articulation better
than mere loudness? 13. Do we learn to articulate in learning to speak or
read?


LESSON XIII.--OF PRONUNCIATION.

1. What is pronunciation? 2. What is it that is called _Orthoëpy?_ 3. What
knowledge does pronunciation require? 4. What are the just powers of the
letters? 5. How are these learned? 6. Are the just powers of the letters in
any degree variable? 7. What is quantity? 8. Are all long syllables equally
long, and all short ones equally short? 9. What has stress of voice to do
with quantity? 10. What is accent? 11. Is every word accented? 12. Do we
ever lay two equal accents on one word? 13. Have we more than one sort of
accent? 14. Can any word have the secondary accent, and not the primary?
15. Can monosyllables have either? 16. What regulates accent? 17. What four
things distinguish the elegant speaker?


LESSON XIV.--OF ELOCUTION.

1. What is elocution? 2. What does elocution require? 3. What is emphasis?
4. What comparative view is taken of accent and emphasis? 5. How does L.
Murray connect emphasis with quantity? 6. Does emphasis ever affect accent?
7. What is the guide to a right emphasis? 8. Can one read with too many
emphases? 9. What are pauses? 10. How many and what kinds of pauses are
there? 11. What is said of the duration of pauses, and the taking of
breath? 12. After what manner should pauses be made? 13. What pauses are
particularly ungraceful? 14. What is said of rhetorical pauses? 15. How are
the harmonic pauses divided? 16. Are such pauses essential to verse?


LESSON XV.--OF ELOCUTION.

17. What are inflections? 18. What is called the rising or upward
inflection? 19. What is called the falling or downward inflection? 20. How
are these inflections exemplified? 21. How are they used in asking
questions? 22. What is said of the notation of them? 23. What constitutes a
circumflex? 24. What constitutes the rising, and what the falling,
circumflex? 25. Can you give examples? 26. What constitutes a monotone, in
elocution? 27. Which kind of inflection is said to be most common? 28.
Which is the best adapted to strong emphasis? 29. What says Comstock of
rules for inflections? 30. Is the voice to be varied for variety's sake?
31. What should regulate the inflections? 32. What is cadence? 33. What
says Rippingham about it? 34. What says Murray? 35. What are tones? 36. Why
do they deserve particular attention? 37. What says Blair about tones? 38.
What says Hiley?


LESSON XVI.--OF FIGURES.

1. What is a _Figure_ in grammar? 2. How many kinds of figures are there?
3. What is a figure of orthography? 4. What are the principal figures of
orthography? 5. What is Mimesis? 6. What is an Archaism? 7. What is a
figure of etymology? 8. How many and what are the figures of etymology? 9.
What is Aphæresis? 10. What is Prosthesis? 11. What is Syncope? 12. What is
Apocope? 13. What is Paragoge? 14. What is Diæresis? 15. What is Synæresis?
16. What is Tmesis? 17. What is a figure of syntax? 18. How many and what
are the figures of syntax? 19. What is Ellipsis, in grammar? 20. Are
sentences often elliptical? 21. What parts of speech can be omitted, by
ellipsis? 22. What is Pleonasm? 23. When is this figure allowable? 24. What
is Syllepsis? 25. What is Enallage? 26. What is Hyperbaton? 27. What is
said of this figure?


LESSON XVII.--OF FIGURES.

28. What is a figure of rhetoric? 29. What peculiar name have some of
these? 30. Do figures of rhetoric often occur? 31. On what are they
founded? 32. How many and what are the principal figures of rhetoric? 33.
What is a Simile? 34. What is a Metaphor? 35. What is an Allegory? 36. What
is a Metonymy? 37. What is Synecdoche? 38. What is Hyperbole? 39. What is
Vision? 40. What is Apostrophe? 41. What is Personification? 42. What is
Erotesis? 43. What is Ecphonesis? 44. What is Antithesis? 45. What is
Climax? 46. What is Irony? 47. What is Apophasis, or Paralipsis? 48. What
is Onomatopoeia?

[Now, if you please, you may examine the quotations adopted for the
_Fourteenth Praxis_, and may name and define the various figures of grammar
which are contained therein.]


LESSON XVIII.--OF VERSIFICATION.

1. What is _Versification_? 2. What is verse, as distinguished from prose?
3. What is the rhythm of verse? 4. What is the quantity of a syllable? 5.
How are poetic quantities denominated? 6. How are they proportioned? 7.
What quantity coincides with accent or emphasis? 8. On what but the vowel
sound does quantity depend? 9. Does syllabic quantity always follow the
quality of the vowels? 10. Where is quantity variable, and where fixed, in
English? 11. What is rhyme? 12. What is blank verse? 13. What is remarked
concerning the rhyming syllables? 14. What is a stanza? 15. What uniformity
have stanzas? 16. What variety have they?


LESSON XIX.--OF VERSIFICATION.

17. Of what does a verse consist? 18. Of what does a poetic foot consist?
19. How many feet do prosodists recognize? 20. What are the principal feet
in English? 21. What is an Iambus? 22. What is a Trochee? 23. What is an
Anapest? 24. What is a Dactyl? 25. Why are these feet principal? 26. What
orders of verse arise from these? 27. Are these kinds to be kept separate?
28. What is said of the secondary feet? 29. How many and what secondary
feet are explained in this code? 30. What is a Spondee? 31. What is a
Pyrrhic? 32. What is a Moloss? 33. What is a Tribrach? 34. What is an
Amphibrach? 35. What is an Amphimac? 36. What is a Bacchy? 37. What is an
Antibachy? 38. What is a Cæsura?


LESSON XX.--OF VERSIFICATION.

39. What are the principal kinds, or orders, of verse? 40. What other
orders are there? 41. Does the composite order demand any uniformity? 42.
Do the simple orders admit any diversity? 43. What is meant by _scanning_
or _scansion_? 44. What mean the technical words, _catalectic,
acatalectic_, and _hypermeter_? 45. In scansion, why are the principal feet
to be preferred to the secondary? 46. Can a single foot be a line? 47. What
are the several combinations that form dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter,
pentameter, hexameter, heptameter, and octometer? 48. What syllables have
stress in a pure iambic line? 49. What are the several measures of iambic
verse? 50. What syllables have stress in a pure trochaic line? 51. Can it
be right, to regard as hypermeter the long rhyming syllables of a line? 52.
Is the number of feet in a line to be generally counted by that of the long
syllables? 53. What are the several measures of trochaic verse?


LESSON XXI.--OF VERSIFICATION.

54. What syllables have stress in a pure anapestic line? 55. What variation
may occur in the first foot? 56. Is this frequent? 57. Is it ever uniform?
58. What is the result of a uniform mixture? 59. Is the anapest adapted to
single rhyme? 60. May a surplus ever make up for a deficiency? 61. Why are
the anapestic measures few? 62. How many syllables are found in the
longest? 63. What are the several measures of anapestic verse? 64. What
syllables have stress in a pure dactylic line? 65. With what does
single-rhymed dactylic end? 66. Is dactylic verse very common? 67. What are
the several measures of dactylic verse? 68. What is composite verse? 69.
Must composites have rhythm? 70. Are the kinds of composite verse numerous?
71. Why have we no exact enumeration of the measures of this order? 72.
Does this work contain specimens of different kinds of composite verse?

[It may now be required of the pupil to determine, by reading and scansion,
the metrical elements of any good English poetry which may be selected for
the purpose--the feet being marked by pauses, and the long syllables by
stress of voice. He may also correct orally the few _Errors of Metre_ which
are given in the Fifth Section of Chapter IV.]




CHAPTER VI.--FOR WRITING.


EXERCISES IN PROSODY.

[Fist] [When the pupil can readily answer all the questions on Prosody, and
apply the rules of punctuation to any composition in which the points are
rightly inserted, he should _write out_ the following exercises, supplying
what is required, and correcting what is amiss. Or, if any teacher choose
to exercise his classes _orally_, by means of these examples, he can very
well do it; because, to read words, is always easier than to write them,
and even points or poetic feet may be quite as readily named as written.]


EXERCISE I.--PUNCTUATION.

_Copy the following sentences, and insert the_ COMMA _where it is
requisite_.


EXAMPLES UNDER RULE I.--OF SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"The dogmatist's assurance is paramount to argument." "The whole course of
his argumentation comes to nothing." "The fieldmouse builds her garner
under ground."

EXC.--"The first principles of almost all sciences are few." "What he gave
me to publish was but a small part." "To remain insensible to such
provocation is apathy." "Minds ashamed of poverty would be proud of
affluence." "To be totally indifferent to praise or censure is a real
defect in character."--_Wilson's Punctuation_, p. 38.


UNDER RULE II.--OF SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"I was eyes to the blind and feet was I to the lame." "They are gone but
the remembrance of them is sweet." "He has passed it is likely through
varieties of fortune." "The mind though free has a governor within itself."
"They I doubt not oppose the bill on public principles." "Be silent be
grateful and adore." "He is an adept in language who always speaks the
truth." "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong."

EXC. I.--"He that has far to go should not hurry." "Hobbes believed the
eternal truths which he opposed." "Feeble are all pleasures in which the
heart has no share." "The love which survives the tomb is one of the
noblest attributes of the soul."--_Wilson's Punctuation_, p. 38.

EXC. II.--"A good name is better than precious ointment." "Thinkst thou
that duty shall have dread to speak?" "The spleen is seldom felt where
Flora reigns."


UNDER RULE III.--OF MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

"The city army court espouse my cause." "Wars pestilences and diseases are
terrible instructors." "Walk daily in a pleasant airy and umbrageous
garden." "Wit spirits faculties but make it worse." "Men wives and
children stare cry out and run." "Industry, honesty, and temperance are
essential to happiness."--_Wilson's Punctuation_, p. 29. "Honor, affluence,
and pleasure seduce the heart."--_Ib._, p. 31.


UNDER RULE IV.--OF TWO TERMS CONNECTED.

"Hope and fear are essentials in religion." "Praise and adoration are
perfective of our souls." "We know bodies and their properties most
perfectly." "Satisfy yourselves with what is rational and attainable."
"Slowly and sadly we laid him down."

EXC. I.--"God will rather look to the inward motions of the mind than to
the outward form of the body." "Gentleness is unassuming in opinion and
temperate in zeal."

EXC. II.--"He has experienced prosperity and adversity." "All sin
essentially is and must be mortal." "Reprove vice but pity the offender."

EXC. III.--"One person is chosen chairman or moderator." "Duration or time
is measured by motion." "The governor or viceroy is chosen annually."

EXC. IV.--"Reflection reason still the ties improve." "His neat plain
parlour wants our modern style." "We are fearfully wonderfully made."


UNDER RULE V.--OF WORDS IN PAIRS.

"I inquired and rejected consulted and deliberated." "Seed-time and harvest
cold and heat summer and winter day and night shall not cease."


EXERCISE II.--PUNCTUATION.

_Copy the following sentences, and insert the_ COMMA _where it is
requisite_.


EXAMPLES UNDER RULE VI.--OF WORDS PUT ABSOLUTE.

"The night being dark they did not proceed." "There being no other coach we
had no alternative." "Remember my son that human life is the journey of a
day." "All circumstances considered it seems right." "He that overcometh to
him will I give power." "Your land strangers devour it in your presence."
"Ah sinful nation a people laden with iniquity!"

   "With heads declin'd ye cedars homage pay;
    Be smooth ye rocks ye rapid floods give way!"


UNDER RULE VII.--OF WORDS IN APPOSITION.

"Now Philomel sweet songstress charms the night." "'Tis chanticleer the
shepherd's clock announcing day." "The evening star love's harbinger
appears." "The queen of night fair Dian smiles serene." "There is yet one
man Micaiah the son of Imlah." "Our whole company man by man ventured
down." "As a work of wit the Dunciad has few equals."

   "In the same temple the resounding wood
    All vocal beings hymned their equal God."

EXC. I.--"The last king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus." "Bossuet highly
eulogizes Maria Theresa of Austria." "No emperor has been more praised than
Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus."

EXC. II.--"For he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith." "Remember the
example of the patriarch Joseph." "The poet, Milton, excelled in prose as
well as in verse."

EXC. III.--"I wisdom dwell with prudence." "Ye fools be ye of an
understanding heart." "I tell you that which you yourselves do know."

EXC. IV.--"I crown thee king of intimate delights" "I count the world a
stranger for thy sake." "And this makes friends such miracles below." "God
has pronounced it death to taste that tree." "Grace makes the slave a
freeman."


UNDER RULE VIII.--OF ADJECTIVES.

"Deaf with the noise I took my hasty flight." "Him piteous of his youth
soft disengage." "I played a while obedient to the fair." "Love free as air
spreads his light wings and flies." "Physical science separate from morals
parts with its chief dignity."

   "Then active still and unconfined his mind
    Explores the vast extent of ages past."

    "But there is yet a liberty unsung
    By poets and by senators unpraised."

EXC.--"I will marry a wife beautiful as the Houries." "He was a man able to
speak upon doubtful questions." "These are the persons, anxious for the
change." "Are they men worthy of confidence and support?" "A man,
charitable beyond his means, is scarcely honest."


UNDER RULE IX.--OF FINITE VERBS.

"Poverty wants some things--avarice all things." "Honesty has one
face--flattery two." "One king is too soft and easy--an other too fiery."

   "Mankind's esteem they court--and he his own:
    Theirs the wild chase of false felicities;
    His the compos'd possession of the true."


EXERCISE III.--PUNCTUATION.

 _Copy the following sentences, and insert the COMMA where it is
requisite._


EXAMPLES UNDER RULE X.--OF INFINITIVES.


"My desire is to live in peace." "The great difficulty was to compel them
to pay their debts." "To strengthen our virtue God bids us trust in him."
"I made no bargain with you to live always drudging." "To sum up all her
tongue confessed the shrew." "To proceed my own adventure was still more
laughable."

   "We come not with design of wasteful prey
    To drive the country force the swains away."


UNDER RULE XI.--OF PARTICIPLES.

"Having given this answer he departed." "Some sunk to beasts find pleasure
end in pain." "Eased of her load subjection grows more light." "Death still
draws nearer never seeming near." "He lies full low gored with wounds and
weltering in his blood." "Kind is fell Lucifer compared to thee." "Man
considered in himself is helpless and wretched." "Like scattered down by
howling Eurus blown." "He with wide nostrils snorting skims the wave."
"Youth is properly speaking introductory to manhood."

EXC.--"He kept his eye fixed on the country before him." "They have their
part assigned them to act." "Years will not repair the injuries done by
him."


UNDER RULE XII.--OF ADVERBS.

"Yes we both were philosophers." "However Providence saw fit to cross our
design." "Besides I know that the eye of the public is upon me." "The fact
certainly is much otherwise." "For nothing surely can be more
inconsistent."


UNDER RULE XIII.--OF CONJUNCTIONS.

"For in such retirement the soul is strengthened." "It engages our desires;
and in some degree satisfies them also." "But of every Christian virtue
piety is an essential part." "The English verb is variable--_as love lovest
loves_."

UNDER RULE XIV.--OF PREPOSITIONS.

"In a word charity is the soul of social life." "By the bowstring I can
repress violence and fraud." "Some by being too artful forfeit the
reputation of probity." "With regard to morality I was not indifferent."
"Of all our senses sight is the most perfect and delightful."


UNDER RULE XV.--OF INTERJECTIONS.

"Behold I am against thee O inhabitant of the valley!" "O it is more like a
dream than a reality," "Some wine ho!" "Ha ha ha; some wine eh?"

   "When lo the dying breeze begins to fail,
    And flutters on the mast the flagging sail."


UNDER RULE XVI.--OF WORDS REPEATED.

"I would never consent never never never." "His teeth did chatter chatter
chatter still." "Come come come--to bed to bed to bed."


UNDER RULE XVII.--OF DEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

"He cried 'Cause every man to go out from me.'" "'Almet' said he 'remember
what thou hast seen.'" "I answered 'Mock not thy servant who is but a worm
before thee.'"


EXERCISE IV.--PUNCTUATION.

I. THE SEMICOLON.--_Copy the following sentences, and insert the Comma and
the SEMICOLON where they are requisite._


EXAMPLES UNDER RULE I.--OF COMPOUND MEMBERS.

"'Man is weak' answered his companion 'knowledge is more than equivalent to
force.'" "To judge rightly of the present we must oppose it to the past for
all judgement is compartive [sic--KTH] and of the future nothing can be
known." "'Contentment is natural wealth' says Socrates to which I shall add
'luxury is artificial poverty.'"

   "Converse and love mankind might strongly draw
    When love was liberty and nature law."


UNDER RULE II.--OF SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"Be wise to-day 'tis madness to defer." "The present all their care the
future his." "Wit makes an enterpriser sense a man." "Ask thought for joy
grow rich and hoard within." "Song soothes our pains and age has pains to
soothe." "Here an enemy encounters there a rival supplants him." "Our
answer to their reasons is; 'No' to their scoffs nothing."

   "Here subterranean works and cities see
    There towns aerial on the waving tree."


UNDER RULE III.--OF APPOSITION.

"In Latin there are six cases namely the nominative the genitive the dative
the accusative the vocative and the ablative." "Most English nouns form the
plural by taking _s_; as _boy boys nation nations king kings bay bays_."
"Bodies are such as are endued with a vegetable soul as plants a sensitive
soul as animals or a rational soul as the body of man."

II. THE COLON.--_Copy the following sentences, and insert the Comma, the
Semicolon, and the COLON, where they are requisite._


UNDER RULE I.--OF ADDITIONAL REMARKS.

"Indulge not desires at the expense of the slightest article of virtue pass
once its limits and you fall headlong into vice." "Death wounds to cure we
fall we rise we reign." "Beware of usurpation God is the judge of all."

   "Bliss!--there is none but unprecarious bliss
    That is the gem sell all and purchase that."


UNDER RULE II.--OF GREATER PAUSES.

"I have the world here before me I will review it at leisure surely
happiness is somewhere to be found." "A melancholy enthusiast courts
persecution and when he cannot obtain it afflicts himself with absurd
penances but the holiness of St. Paul consisted in the simplicity of a
pious life."

   "Observe his awful portrait and admire
    Nor stop at wonder imitate and live."


UNDER RULE III.--OF INDEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

"Such is our Lord's injunction 'Watch and pray.'" "He died praying for his
persecutors 'Father forgive them they know not what they do.'" "On the old
gentleman's cane was inscribed this motto '_Festina lente_.'"

III.--THE PERIOD.--_Copy the following sentences, and insert the Comma, the
Semicolon, the Colon, and the PERIOD, where they are requisite._


UNDER RULE I.--OF DISTINCT SENTENCES.

"Then appeared the sea and the dry land the mountains rose and the rivers
flowed the sun and moon began their course in the skies herbs and plants
clothed the ground the air the earth and the waters were stored with their
respective inhabitants at last man was made in the image of God"

"In general those parents have most reverence who most deserve it for he
that lives well cannot be despised"


UNDER RULE II.--OF ALLIED SENTENCES.

"Civil accomplishments frequently give rise to fame but a distinction is to
be made between fame and true honour the statesman the orator or the poet
may be famous while yet the man himself is far from being honoured"


UNDER RULE III.--OF ABBREVIATIONS.

"Glass was invented in England by Benalt a monk A D 664" "The Roman era U C
commenced A C 1753 years" "Here is the Literary Life of S T Coleridge Esq"
"PLATO a most illustrious philosopher of antiquity died at Athens 348 B C
aged 81 his writings are very valuable his language beautiful and correct
and his philosophy sublime"--See _Univ. Biog. Dict._


EXERCISE V.--PUNCTUATION.

I. THE DASH.--_Copy the following sentences, and insert, in their proper
places, the_ DASH, _and such other points as are necessary_.


EXAMPLES UNDER RULE I.--OF ABRUPT PAUSES.

"You say _famous_ very often and I don't know exactly what it means a
_famous_ uniform _famous_ doings What does famous mean"

"O why _famous_ means Now don't you know what _famous_ means It means It is
a word that people say It is the fashion to say it It means it means
_famous_."


UNDER RULE II.--OF EMPHATIC PAUSES.

"But this life is not all there is there is full surely another state
abiding us And if there is what is thy prospect O remorseless obdurate Thou
shalt hear it would be thy wisdom to think thou now nearest the sound of
that trumpet which shall awake the dead Return O yet return to the Father
of mercies and live"

   "The future pleases Why The present pains
    But that's a secret yes which all men know"


II. THE EROTEME.--_Copy the following sentences, and insert rightly the_
EROTEME, _or_ NOTE OF INTERROGATION, _and such other points as are
necessary_.


UNDER RULE I.--OF QUESTIONS DIRECT.

   "Does Nature bear a tyrant's breast
    Is she the friend of stern control
    Wears she the despot's purple vest
    Or fetters she the freeborn soul"

    "Why should a man whose blood is warm within
    Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster"

    "Who art thou courteous stranger and from whence
    Why roam thy steps to this abandon'd dale"


UNDER RULE II.--OF QUESTIONS UNITED.

   "Who bid the stork Columbus-like explore
    Heav'ns not his own and worlds unknown before
    Who calls the council states the certain day
    Who forms the phalanx and who points the way"


UNDER RULE III.--OF QUESTIONS INDIRECT.

"They asked me who I was and whither I was going." "St. Paul asked king
Agrippa if he believed the prophets? But he did not wait for an answer."

   "Ask of thy mother Earth why oaks are made
    Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade"


III. THE ECPHONEME.--_Copy the following sentences, and insert rightly the_
ECPHONEME, _or_ NOTE OF EXCLAMATION, _and such other points as are
necessary_.


UNDER RULE I.--OF INTERJECTIONS.

"Oh talk of hypocrisy after this Most consummate of all hypocrites After
instructing your chosen official advocate to stand forward with such a
defence such an exposition of your motives to dare utter the word hypocrisy
and complain of those who charged you with it" _Brougham_

   "Alas how is that rugged heart forlorn"

    "Behold the victor vanquish'd by the worm"

    "Bliss sublunary Bliss proud words and vain"


UNDER RULE II.--OF INVOCATIONS.

   "O Popular Applause what heart of man
    Is proof against thy sweet seducing charms"

    "More than thy balm O Gilead heals the wound"


UNDER RULE III.--OF EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS.

With what transports of joy shall I be received In what honour in what
delightful repose shall I pass the remainder of my life What immortal glory
shall I have acquired" _Hooke's Roman History_.

   "How often have I loiter'd o'er thy green
    Where humble happiness endear'd each scene"

IV.--THE CURVES.--_Copy the following sentences, and insert rightly the
CURVES, or MARKS OF PARENTHESIS, and such other points as are necessary_.


UNDER RULE I.--OF THE PARENTHESIS.

   "And all the question wrangle e'er so long
    Is only this If God has plac'd him wrong"

    "And who what God foretells who speaks in things
    Still louder than in words shall dare deny"


UNDER RULE II.--OF INCLUDED POINTS.

   "Say was it virtue more though Heav'n ne'er gave
    Lamented Digby sunk thee to the grave"

    "Where is that thrift that avarice of time
    O glorious avarice thought of death inspires"

    "And oh the last last what can words express
    Thought reach the last last silence of a friend"


EXERCISE VI.--PUNCTUATION.

_Copy the following MIXED EXAMPLES, and insert the points which they
require._

"As one of them opened his sack he espied his money" "They cried out the
more exceedingly Crucify him" "The soldiers' counsel was to kill the
prisoners" "Great injury these vermin mice and rats do in the field" "It is
my son's coat an evil beast hath devoured him" "Peace of all worldly
blessings is the most valuable" "By this time the very foundation was
removed" "The only words he uttered were I am a Roman citizen" "Some
distress either felt or feared gnaws like a worm" "How then must I
determine Have I no interest If I have not I am stationed here to no
purpose" _Harris_ "In the fire the destruction was so swift sudden vast and
miserable as to have no parallel in story" "Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily
was far from being happy" "I ask now Verres what thou hast to advance"
"Excess began and sloth sustains the trade" "Fame can never reconcile a man
to a death bed" "They that sail on the sea tell of the danger" "Be doers of
the word and not hearers only" "The storms of wintry time will quickly
pass" "Here Hope that smiling angel stands" "Disguise I see thou art a
wickedness" "There are no tricks in plain and simple faith" "True love
strikes root in reason passion's foe" "Two gods divide them all Pleasure
and Gain" "I am satisfied My son has done his duty" "Remember Almet the
vision which thou hast seen" "I beheld an enclosure beautiful as the
gardens of paradise" "The knowledge which I have received I will
communicate" "But I am not yet happy and therefore I despair" "Wretched
mortals said I to what purpose are you busy" "Bad as the world is respect
is always paid to virtue" "In a word he views men as the clear sunshine of
charity" "This being the case I am astonished and amazed" "These men
approached him and saluted him king" "Excellent and obliging sages these
undoubtedly" "Yet at the same time the man himself undergoes a change" "One
constant effect of idleness is to nourish the passions" "You heroes regard
nothing but glory" "Take care lest while you strive to reach the top you
fall" "Proud and presumptuous they can brook no opposition" "Nay some awe
of religion may still subsist" "Then said he Lo I come to do thy will O
God" _Bible_ "As for me behold I am in your hand" _Ib._ "Can any hide
himself in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord" _Jer_
xxiii 24 "Now I Paul myself beseech you" "Now for a recompense in the same
I speak as unto my children be ye also enlarged" _2 Cor_ vi 13 "He who
lives always in public cannot live to his own soul whereas he who retires
remains calm" "Therefore behold I even I will utterly forget you" "This
text speaks only of those to whom it speaks" "Yea he warmeth himself and
saith Aha I am warm" "King Agrippa believest thou the prophets"


EXERCISE VII.--PUNCTUATION.

_Copy the following MIXED EXAMPLES, and insert the points which they
require._

    To whom can riches give repute or trust
    Content or pleasure but the good and just _Pope_

    To him no high no low no great no small
    He fills he bounds connects and equals all _Id_

    Reasons whole pleasure all the joys of sense
    Lie in three words health peace and competence _Id_

    Not so for once indulged they sweep the main
    Deaf to the call or hearing hear in vain _Anon_

    Say will the falcon stooping from above
    Smit with her varying plumage spare the dove _Pope_

    Throw Egypts by and offer in its stead
    Offer the crown on Berenices head _Id_

    Falsely luxurious will not man awake
    And springing from the bed of sloth enjoy
    The cool the fragrant and the silent hour _Thomson_

    Yet thus it is nor otherwise can be
    So far from aught romantic what I sing _Young_

    Thyself first know then love a self there is
    Of virtue fond that kindles at her charms _Id_

    How far that little candle throws his beams
    So shines a good deed in a naughty world _Shakspeare_

    You have too much respect upon the world
    They lose it that do buy it with much care _Id_

    How many things by season seasoned are
    To their right praise and true perfection _Id_

    Canst thou descend from converse with the skies
    And seize thy brothers throat For what a clod _Young_

    In two short precepts all your business lies
    Would you be great--_be virtuous_ and _be wise Denham_

    But sometimes virtue starves while vice is fed
    What then is the reward of virtue bread _Pope_

    A life all turbulence and noise may seem
    To him that leads it wise and to be praised
    But wisdom is a pearl with most success
    Sought in still waters and beneath clear skies _Cowper_

    All but the swellings of the softened heart
    That waken not disturb the tranquil mind _Thomson_

    Inspiring God who boundless spirit all
    And unremitting energy pervades
    Adjusts sustains and agitates the whole _Id_

    Ye ladies for indifferent in your cause
    I should deserve to forfeit all applause
    Whatever shocks or gives the least offence
    To virtue delicacy truth or sense
    Try the criterion tis a faithful guide
    Nor has nor can have Scripture on its side. _Cowper_


EXERCISE VIII.--SCANNING.

_Divide the following_ VERSES _into the feet which compose them, and
distinguish by marks the long and the short syllables_.

    _Example I.--"Our Daily Paths"--By F. Hemans_.

    "There's Beauty all around our paths, if but our watchful eyes
    Can trace it 'midst familiar things, and through their lowly guise;
    We may find it where a hedgerow showers its blossoms o'er our way,
    Or a cottage-window sparkles forth in the last red light of day."

    _Example II.--"Fetching Water"--Anonymous_.

    "Early on a sunny morning, while the lark was singing sweet,
    Came, beyond the ancient farmhouse, sounds of lightly-tripping feet.
    'Twas a lowly cottage maiden, going,--why, let young hearts tell,--
    With her homely pitcher laden, fetching water from the well."

    _Example III.--Deity_.

     Alone thou sitst above the everlasting hills
     And all immensity of space thy presence fills:
    For thou alone art God;--as God thy saints adore thee;
    Jehovah is thy name;--they have no gods before thee.--_G. Brown_.

    _Example IV.--Impenitence_.

    The impenitent sinner whom mercy empowers,
     Dishonours that goodness which seeks to restore;
    As the sands of the desert are water'd by showers.
     Yet barren and fruitless remain as before.--_G. Brown_.

    _Example V.--Piety_.

    Holy and pure are the pleasures of piety,
     Drawn from the fountain of mercy and love;
    Endless, exhaustless, exempt from satiety,
     Rising unearthly, and soaring above.--_G. Brown_.

    _Example VI.--A Simile_.

    The bolt that strikes the tow'ring cedar dead,
    Oft passes harmless o'er the hazel's head.--_G. Brown_.

    _Example VII.--A Simile_.

    "Yet to their general's voice they soon obey'd
    Innumerable. As when the potent rod
    Of Amram's son, in Egypt's evil day,
    Wav'd round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud
    Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind,
    That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
    Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile."--_Milton_.

    _Example VIII.--Elegiac Stanza._

    Thy name is dear--'tis virtue balm'd in love;
     Yet e'en thy name a pensive sadness brings.
    Ah! wo the day, our hearts were doom'd to prove,
     That fondest love but points affliction's stings!--_G. Brown_.

    _Example IX.--Cupid._

    Zephyrs, moving bland, and breathing fragrant
     With the sweetest odours of the spring,
    O'er the winged boy, a thoughtless vagrant,
     Slumb'ring in the grove, their perfumes fling.--_G. Brown_.

    _Example X.--Divine Power._

    When the winds o'er Gennesaret roar'd,
     And the billows tremendously rose,
    The Saviour but utter'd the word,
     They were hush'd to the calmest repose.--_G. Brown_.

    _Example XI.--Invitation._

    Come from the mount of the leopard, spouse,
     Come from the den of the lion;
    Come to the tent of thy shepherd, spouse,
     Come to the mountain of Zion.--_G. Brown_.

    _Example XII.--Admonition_.

    In the days of thy youth,
     Remember thy God:
    O! forsake not his truth,
     Incur not his rod.--_G. Brown._

    _Example XIII.--Commendation._

    Constant and duteous,
     Meek as the dove,
    How art thou beauteous,
     Daughter of love!--_G. Brown._


EXERCISE IX.--SCANNING.

_Mark the feet and syllables which compose the following lines--or mark a
sample of each metre._

_Edwin, an Ode_.

    I. STROPHE.

    Led by the pow'r of song, and nature's love,
    Which raise the soul all vulgar themes above,
           The mountain grove
           Would Edwin rove,
       In pensive mood, alone;
       And seek the woody dell,
       Where noontide shadows fell,
               Cheering,
               Veering,
         Mov'd by the zephyr's swell.
    Here nurs'd he thoughts to genius only known,
       When nought was heard around
       But sooth'd the rest profound
    Of rural beauty on her mountain throne.
       Nor less he lov'd (rude nature's child)
       The elemental conflict wild;
       When, fold on fold, above was pil'd
    The watery swathe, careering on the wind.
           Such scenes he saw
           With solemn awe,
    As in the presence of the Eternal Mind.
           Fix'd he gaz'd,
           Tranc'd and rais'd,
    Sublimely rapt in awful pleasure undefin'd.

    II. ANTISTROPHE

     Reckless of dainty joys, he finds delight
     Where feebler souls but tremble with affright.
         Lo! now, within the deep ravine,
             A black impending cloud
             Infolds him in its shroud,
         And dark and darker glooms the scene.
           Through the thicket streaming,
           Lightnings now are gleaming;
             Thunders rolling dread,
             Shake the mountain's head;
                 Nature's war
                 Echoes far,
               O'er ether borne,
                   That flash
                   The ash
               Has scath'd and torn!
                 Now it rages;
                 Oaks of ages,
             Writhing in the furious blast,
             Wide their leafy honours cast;
    Their gnarled arms do force to force oppose
       Deep rooted in the crevic'd rock,
       The sturdy trunk sustains the shock,
    Like dauntless hero firm against assailing foes.

    III. EPODE.

    '0 Thou who sitst above these vapours dense,
    And rul'st the storm by thine omnipotence!
     Making the collied cloud thy ear,
     Coursing the winds, thou rid'st afar,
         Thy blessings to dispense.
     The early and the latter rain,
     Which fertilize the dusty plain,
         Thy bounteous goodness pours.
     Dumb be the atheist tongue abhorr'd!
     All nature owns thee, sovereign Lord!
         And works thy gracious will;
     At thy command the tempest roars,
         At thy command is still.
    Thy mercy o'er this scene sublime presides;
     'Tis mercy forms the veil that hides
           The ardent solar beam;
    While, from the volley'd breast of heaven,
     Transient gleams of dazzling light,
     Flashing on the balls of sight,
           Make darkness darker seem.
    Thou mov'st the quick and sulphurous leven--
           The tempest-driven
             Cloud is riven;
     And the thirsty mountain-side
     Drinks gladly of the gushing tide.'
    So breath'd young Edwin, when the summer shower,
     From out that dark o'erchamb'ring cloud,
     With lightning flash and thunder loud,
    Burst in wild grandeur o'er his solitary bower.--_G. Brown._


THE END OF PART FOURTH.





KEY TO THE IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION, CONTAINED IN THE GRAMMAR OF
ENGLISH GRAMMARS, AND DESIGNED FOR ORAL EXERCISES UNDER ALL THE RULES AND
NOTES OF THE WORK.

[Fist][The various examples of error which are exhibited for oral
correction, in the Grammar of English Grammars, are all here explained, in
their order, by full amended readings, sometimes with authorities
specified, and generally with references of some sort. They are intended to
be corrected orally by the pupil, according to the formules given under
corresponding heads in the Grammar. Some portion, at least, under each rule
or note, should be used in this way; and the rest, perhaps, may be read and
compared more simply.]

THE KEY.--PART I.--ORTHOGRAPHY.

CHAPTER I.--OF LETTERS. CORRECTIONS RESPECTING CAPITALS.

UNDER RULE I.--OF BOOKS.

"Many a reader of the _Bible_ knows not who wrote the _Acts_ of the
_Apostles_"--G. B. "The sons of Levi, the chief of the fathers, were
written in the book of the _Chronicles_."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Neh._, xii, 23.
"Are they not written in the book of the _Acts_ of Solomon?"--FRIENDS'
BIBLE: I _Kings_, xi, 41. "Are they not written in the book of the
Chronicles of the _Kings_ of Israel?"--ALGER CORRECTED: I _Kings_, xxii,
39. "Are they not written in the book of the _Chronicles_ of the _Kings_ of
Judah."--See ALGER: _ib., ver_. 45. "Which were written in the law of
Moses, and in the prophets, and in the _Psalms_."--ALGER, ET AL.: _Luke_,
xxiv, 44. "The narrative of which maybe seen in Josephus's History of the
_Jewish War_"--_Dr. Scott cor._ [Obs.--The word in Josephus is "_War_," not
"_Wars_."--_G. Brown._] "This _History of the Jewish War_ was Josephus's
first work, and published about A. D. 75."--_Whiston cor._ "'I have read,'
says Photius, 'the Chronology of Justus of Tiberias.'"--_Id._ "_A
Philosophical Grammar_, written by James Harris, Esquire."--_Murray cor._
"The reader is referred to Stroud's _Sketch_ of the _Slave Laws_"--_A. S.
Mag. cor._ "But God has so made the _Bible_ that it interprets
itself."--_Idem_. "In 1562, with the help of Hopkins, he completed the
_Psalter_."--_Gardiner cor._ "Gardiner says this of Sternhold; of whom the
_Universal Biographical Dictionary_ and the American _Encyclopedia_ affirm,
that he died in 1549."--_G. B._ "The title of a book, to wit: 'English
Grammar in _Familiar Lectures_,'" &c.--_Kirkham cor._ "We had not, at that
time, seen Mr. Kirkham's 'Grammar in _Familiar_ Lectures.'"--_Id._ "When
you parse, you may spread the Compendium before you."--_Id. right_.[516]
"Whenever you parse, you may spread the _Compendium_ before you."--_Id.
cor._ "Adelung was the author of a _Grammatical_ and _Critical
Dictionary_ of the German _Language_, and other works." _Biog. Dict. cor._
"Alley, William, author of '_The Poor Man's Library_,' and a translation of
the Pentateuch, died in 1570."--_Id._


UNDER RULE II.--OF FIRST WORDS.

"Depart instantly;"--"_Improve_ your time;"--"_Forgive_ us our
sins."--_Murray corrected_. EXAMPLES:--"Gold is corrupting;"--"_The_ sea is
green;"--"_A_ lion is bold."--_Mur. et al. cor._ Again: "It may
rain;"--"_He_ may go or stay;"--"_He_ would walk;;"--"_They_ should
learn."--_Iidem_. Again: "Oh! I have alienated my friend;"--"_Alas_! I fear
for life."--_Iidem._ See _Alger's Gram._, p. 50. Again: "He went from
London to York;"--"_She_ is above disguise;" "_They_ are supported by
industry."--_Iidem_. "On the foregoing examples, I have a word to say.
_They_ are better than a fair specimen of their kind. _Our_ grammars abound
with worse illustrations. _Their_ models of English are generally spurious
quotations. _Few_ of their proof-texts have any just parentage.
_Goose-eyes_ are abundant, but names scarce. _Who_ fathers the foundlings?
_Nobody. Then_ let their merit be nobody's, and their defects his who could
write no better."--_Author_. "_Goose-eyes_!" says a bright boy; "pray, what
are they? _Does_ this Mr. Author make new words when he pleases?
_Dead-eyes_ are in a ship. _They_ are blocks, with holes in them. _But_
what are goose-eyes in grammar?" ANSWER: "_Goose-eyes_ are quotation
points. _Some_ of the Germans gave them this name, making a jest of their
form. _The_ French call them _guillemets_, from the name of their
inventor."--_Author_. "_It_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person
singular."--_Comly cor._ "_Ourselves_ is a personal pronoun, of the first
person plural."--_Id._ "_Thee_ is a personal pronoun, of the second person
singular."--_Id._ "_Contentment_ is a _common noun_, of the third person
singular."--_Id._ "_Were_ is a neuter verb, of the indicative mood,
imperfect tense."--_Id._

UNDER RULE III.--OF DEITY.

"O thou _Dispenser_ of life! thy mercies are boundless."--_Allen cor._
"Shall not the _Judge_ of all the earth do right?"--ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.:
_Gen._, xviii, 25. "And the _Spirit of God_ moved upon the face of the
waters."--SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.: _Gen._, i, 2. "It is the gift of
_Him_, who is the great _Author_ of good, and the Father of
mercies."--_Murray cor._ "This is thy _God_ that brought thee up out of
Egypt."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Neh._, ix, 18. "For the LORD is our defence; and
the _Holy One_ of Israel is our _King_."--_Psal._. lxxxix, 18. "By making
him the responsible steward of _Heaven's_ bounties."--_A. S. Mag. cor._
"Which the Lord, the righteous _Judge_, shall give me at that day."--ALGER:
_2 Tim._, iv, 8. "The cries of them ... entered into the ears of the Lord
of _Sabaoth_."--ALGER, FRIENDS: _James_, v, 4. "In Horeb, the _Deity_
revealed himself to Moses, as the _Eternal_ 'I AM,' the _Self-existent
One_; and, after the first discouraging interview of his messengers with
Pharaoh, he renewed his promise to them, by the awful name, JEHOVAH--a name
till then unknown, and one which the Jews always held it a fearful
profanation to pronounce."--_G. Brown_. "And _God_ spake unto Moses, and
said unto him, I am the LORD: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and
unto Jacob, by the name of _God Almighty_; but by my name JEHOVAH was I not
known to them."--SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS: _Exod._, vi, 2. "Thus saith the
LORD[517] the _King_ of Israel, and his _Redeemer_ the LORD of hosts; I am
the _First_, and I am the _Last_; and besides me there is no _God_."--See
_Isa._, xliv, 6.

   "His impious race their blasphemy renew'd,
    And nature's _King_, through nature's optics view'd."--_Dryden cor._


UNDER RULE IV.--OF PROPER NAMES.

"Islamism prescribes fasting during the month _Ramadan_."--_Balbi cor._
"Near _Mecca_, in _Arabia_, is _Jebel Nor_, or the _Mountain of Light_, on
the top of which the _Mussulmans_ erected a mosque, that they might perform
their devotions where, according to their belief, _Mohammed_ received from
the angel _Gabriel_ the first chapter of the Koran."--_G. Brown_. "In the
_Kaaba_ at _Mecca_ there is a celebrated block of volcanic basalt, which
the _Mohammedans_ venerate as the gift of _Gabriel_ to _Abraham_, but their
ancestors once held it to be an image of _Remphan_, or _Saturn_; so 'the
image which fell down from _Jupiter_,' to share with _Diana_ the homage of
the _Ephesians_, was probably nothing more than a meteoric stone."--_Id._
"When the _Lycaonians_ at _Lystra_ took _Paul_ and _Barnabas_ to be gods,
they called the former _Mercury_, on account of his eloquence, and the
latter _Jupiter_, for the greater dignity of his appearance."--_Id._ "Of
the writings of the apostolic fathers of the first century, but few have
come down to us; yet we have in those of _Barnabas, Clement_ of _Rome,
Hermas, Ignatius_, and _Polycarp_, very certain evidence of the
authenticity of the New Testament, and the New Testament is a voucher for
the Old."--_Id._ "It is said by _Tatian_, that _Theagenes_ of _Rhegium_, in
the time of _Cambyses, Stesimbrotus_ the _Thracian, Antimachus_ the
_Colophonian, Herodotus_ of _Halicarnassus, Dionysius_ the _Olynthian,
Ephorus_ of _Cumæ, Philochorus_ the _Athenian, Metaclides_ and _Chamæleon_
the _Peripatetics_, and _Zenodotus, Aristophanes, Callimachus, Crates,
Eratosthenes, Aristarchus_, and _Apollodorus_, the grammarians, all wrote
concerning the poetry, the birth, and the age of _Homer_."--See
_Coleridge's Introd._, p. 57. "Yet, for aught that now appears, the life of
_Homer_ is as fabulous as that of _Hercules_; and some have even suspected,
that, as the son of _Jupiter_ and _Alcmena_ has fathered the deeds of forty
other _Herculeses_, so this unfathered son of _Critheis, Themisto_, or
whatever dame--this _Melesigenes, Mæonides, Homer_--the blind schoolmaster,
and poet, of _Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodes, Argos, Athens_, or
whatever place--has, by the help of _Lycurgus, Solon, Pisistratus_, and
other learned ancients, been made up of many poets or _Homers_, and set so
far aloft and aloof on old _Parnassus_, as to become a god in the eyes of
all _Greece_, a wonder in those of all _Christendom_."--_G. Brown_.

   "Why so sagacious in your guesses?
    Your _Effs_, and _Tees_, and _Ars_, and _Esses_?"--_Swift corrected_.


UNDER RULE V.--OF TITLES.

"The king has conferred on him the title of _Duke_."--_Murray cor._ "At the
court of _Queen_ Elizabeth."--_Priestley's E. Gram._, p. 99; see
_Bullions's_, p. 24. "The laws of nature are, truly, what _Lord_ Bacon
styles his aphorisms, laws of laws."--_Murray cor._ "Sixtus the Fourth was,
if I mistake not, a great collector of books."--_Id._ "Who at that time
made up the court of _King_ Charles the _Second_"--_Id._ "In case of his
_Majesty's_ dying without issue."--_Kirkham cor._ "King Charles the _First_
was beheaded in 1649."--_W. Allen cor._ "He can no more impart, or (to use
_Lord_ Bacon's word) _transmit_ convictions."--_Kirkham cor._ "I reside at
_Lord_ Stormont's, my old patron and benefactor." Better: "I reside _with
Lord Stormont_, my old patron and benefactor."--_Murray cor._ "We staid a
month at _Lord Lyttelton's_, the ornament of his country." Much better: "We
stayed a month at _the seat of Lord Lyttelton, who is_ the ornament of his
country."--_Id._ "Whose prerogative is it? It is the _King_-of-Great-
Britain's;" [518]--"That is the _Duke_-of-Bridgewater's canal;"--"The
_Bishop_-of-Landaff's excellent book;"--"The Lord _Mayor_-of-London's
authority."--_Id._ (See Murray's Note 4th on his Rule 10th.) "Why call ye
me, _Lord, Lord_, and do not the things which I say?"--_Luke_, vi, 46. "And
of them he chose twelve, whom also he named _Apostles_."--ALGER, FRIENDS,
ET AL.: _Luke_, vi, 13. "And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail,
_Master_; and kissed him."--_Matt._, xxvi, 49. "And he said, Nay, _Father_
Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they _would_
repent."--_Bible cor._


UNDER RULE VI.--OF ONE CAPITAL.

"_Fallriver_, a village in Massachusetts, population (in 1830)
3,431."--_Williams cor._ "Dr. Anderson died at _Westham_, in Essex, in
1808."--_Biog. Dict. cor._ "_Madriver_, the name of two towns in Clark and
Champaign counties, Ohio."--_Williams cor._ "_Whitecreek_, a town of
Washington county, New York."--_Id._ "_Saltcreek_, the name of four towns
in different parts of Ohio."--_Id._ "_Saltlick_, a town of Fayette county,
Pennsylvania."--_Id._ "_Yellowcreek_, a town of Columbiana county,
Ohio."--_Id._ "_Whiteclay_, a hundred of _Newcastle_ county, Delaware."--
_Id._ "Newcastle, _a_ town and _half-shire_ of Newcastle county,
Delaware."--_Id._ "_Singsing_, a village of _Westchester_ county, New York,
situated in the town of _Mountpleasant_."--_Id._ "_Westchester_, a county
of New York: _East Chester and West Chester are towns_ in Westchester
county."--_Id._ "_Westtown_, a village of Orange county, New York."--_Id._
"_Whitewater_, a town of Hamilton county, Ohio."--_Worcester's Gaz._
"_Whitewater_ River, a considerable stream that rises in Indiana, and
flowing southeasterly unites with the Miami in Ohio."--See _ib._
"_Blackwater_, a village of Hampshire, in England, and a town in
Ireland."--See _ib._ "_Blackwater_, the name of seven different rivers, in
England, Ireland, and the United States."--See _ib._ "_Redhook_, a town of
Dutchess county, New York, on the Hudson."--_Williams cor._ "Kinderhook, a
town of Columbia county, New York, on the Hudson."--_Williams right_.
"_Newfane_, a town of Niagara county, New York."--_Williams cor._
"_Lakeport_, a town of Chicot county, Arkansas."--_Id._ "_Moosehead_ Lake,
the chief source of the Kennebeck, in Maine."--_Id._ (See _Worcester's
Gaz._) "Macdonough, a county of Illinois, population (in 1830)
2,959."--_Williams's Univ. Gaz._, p 408. "_Macdonough_, a county of
Illinois, with a _court-house_ at Macomb."--_Williams cor._ "_Halfmoon_,
the name of two towns in New York and Pennsylvania; also of two bays in the
West Indies."--_S. Williams's Univ. Gaz._ "_Leboeuf_, a town of Erie
county, Pennsylvania, near a small lake of the same name."--See _ib._
"_Charlescity, Jamescity, Eiizabethcity_, names of counties in Virginia,
not cities, nor towns."--See _Univ. Gaz._, p. 404.[519] "The superior
qualities of the waters of the Frome, here called _Stroudwater_."--_Balbi
cor._


UNDER RULE VII.--OF TWO CAPITALS.

"The Forth rises on the north side of _Ben Lomond_, and runs
easterly."--_Glasgow Geog._, 8vo, _corrected_. "The red granite of _Ben
Nevis_ is said to be the finest in the world."--_Id._ "_Ben More_, in
Perthshire, is 3,915 feet above the level of the sea."--_Id._ "The height
of _Ben Cleagh_ is 2,420 feet."--_Id._ "In Sutherland and Caithness, are
Ben Ormod, Ben Clibeg, Ben Grin, Ben Hope, and Ben Lugal."--_Glas. Geog.
right_. "_Ben Vracky_ is 2,756 feet high; _Ben Ledi_, 3,009; and _Ben
Voirloich_, 3,300."--_Glas. Geog. cor._ "The river Dochart gives the name
of _Glen Dochart_ to the vale through which it runs."--_Id._ "About ten
miles from its source, it [the Tay] diffuses itself into _Loch
Dochart_."--_Glasgow Geog._, Vol. ii, p. 314. LAKES:--"_Loch Ard_, Loch
Achray, Loch Con, Loch Doine, Loch Katrine, Loch Lomond, Loch
Voil."--_Scott corrected_. GLENS:--"_Glen Finlas_, Glen Fruin, Glen Luss,
_Ross Dhu, Leven Glen_, Strath Endrick, Strath Gartney. Strath Ire."--_Id._
MOUNTAINS:--"_Ben An, Ben Harrow, Ben Ledi_, Ben Lomond, _Ben Voirlich, Ben
Venue_, or, (as some spell it,) _Ben Ivenew_."--_Id._[520] "Fenelon died in
1715, deeply lamented by all the inhabitants of the _Low
Countries_."--_Murray cor._ "And _Pharaoh Necho_[521] made Eliakim, the son
of Josiah, king."--See ALGER: _2 Kings_, xiii, 34. "Those who seem so merry
and well pleased, call her _Good Fortune_; but the others, who weep and
wring their hands, _Bad Fortune_."--_Collier cor._


UNDER RULE VIII.--OF COMPOUNDS.

"When Joab returned, and smote Edom in the _Valley_ of _Salt_"--FRIENDS'
BIBLE: _Ps_. lx, title. "Then Paul stood in the midst of _Mars Hill_, and
said," &c.--_Scott cor._ "And at night he went out, and abode in the mount
that is called the _Mount_ of Olives."--_Bible cor._ "Abgillus, son of the
king of the Frisii, surnamed Prester John, was in the Holy _Land_ with
Charlemagne."--_U. Biog. Dict. cor._ "Cape Palmas, in Africa, divides the
Grain _Coast_ from the Ivory _Coast_."--_Dict. of Geog. cor._ "The North
Esk, flowing from Loch _Lee_, falls into the sea three miles north of
Montrose."--_Id._ "At Queen's _Ferry_, the channel of the Forth is
contracted by promontories on both coasts."--_Id._ "The Chestnut _Ridge_ is
about twenty-five miles west of the Alleghanies, and Laurel _Ridge_, ten
miles further west."--_Balbi cor._ "Washington _City_, the metropolis of
the United States of America."--_Williams, U. Caz._, p. 380. "Washington
_City_, in the District of Columbia, population (in 1830)
18,826."--_Williams cor._ "The loftiest peak of the _White Mountains_, in
New Hampshire, is called _Mount_ Washington."--_G. Brown_. "Mount's _Bay_,
in the west of England, lies between the _Land's End_ and _Lizard
Point_."--_Id._ "Salamis, an island of the Egean Sea, off the southern
coast of the ancient Attica."--_Dict. of Geog_. "Rhodes, an island of the
Egean _Sea_, the largest and most easterly of the Cyclades."--_Id. cor._
"But he overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red _Sea_."--SCOTT: _Ps_.
cxxxvi, 15. "But they provoked him at the sea, even at the Red
_Sea_."--ALGER, FRIENDS: _Ps_. cvi, 7.


UNDER RULE IX.--OF APPOSITION.

"At that time, Herod the _tetrarch_ heard of the fame of Jesus."--SCOTT,
FRIENDS, ET AL.: _Matt._, xiv, 1. "Who has been more detested than Judas
the _traitor?_"--_G. Brown_. "St. Luke the _evangelist_ was a physician of
Antioch, and one of the converts of St. Paul."--_Id._ "Luther, the
_reformer_, began his bold career by preaching against papal
indulgences."--_Id._ "The _poet_ Lydgate was a disciple and admirer of
Chaucer: he died in 1440."--_Id._ "The _grammarian_ Varro, 'the most
learned of the Romans,'[522] wrote three books when he was eighty years
old."--_Id._ "John Despauter, the great _grammarian_ of Flanders, whose
works are still valued, died in 1520."--_Id._ "Nero, the _emperor_ and
_tyrant_ of Rome, slew himself to avoid a worse death."--_Id._ "Cicero the
_orator_, 'the Father of his Country,' was assassinated at the age of
64."--_Id._ "Euripides, the Greek _tragedian_, was born in the _island_ of
Salamis, B. C. 476."--_Id._ "I will say unto God my _rock_, Why hast thou
forgotten me?"--ALGER, ET AL.: _Ps_. xlii, 9. "Staten Island, an island of
New York, nine miles below New York _city_."--_Williams cor._ "When the son
of Atreus, _king_ of _men_, and the noble Achilles first
separated."--_Coleridge cor._

   "Hermes, his _patron-god_, those gifts bestow'd,
    Whose shrine with _weanling_ lambs he wont to load."--_Pope cor._

UNDER RULE X.--OF PERSONIFICATIONS.

"But _Wisdom_ is justified of all her children."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Luke_,
vii, 35. "Fortune and the _Church_ are generally put in the feminine
gender: that is, when personified." "Go to your _Natural Religion_; lay
before her Mahomet and his disciples."--_Bp. Sherlock_. "O _Death!_ where
is thy sting? O _Grave!_ where is thy victory."--_Pope_: _1 Cor._, xv, 55;
_Merchant's Gram._, p. 172. "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."--_Matt._, vi,
24. "Ye cannot serve God and _Mammon_"--See _Luke_, xvi, 13. "This house
was built as if _Suspicion_ herself had dictated the plan."--_Rasselas_.
"Poetry distinguishes herself from _Prose_, by yielding to a musical
law."--_Music of Nature_, p. 501. "My beauteous deliverer thus uttered her
divine instructions: 'My name is _Religion_. I am the offspring of _Truth_
and _Love_, and the parent of _Benevolence, Hope_, and _Joy_. That monster,
from whose power I have freed you, is called _Superstition_: she is called
the child of _Discontent_, and her followers are _Fear_ and
_Sorrow_.'"--_E. Carter_. "Neither _Hope_ nor _Fear_ could enter the
retreats; and _Habit_ had so absolute a power, that even _Conscience_, if
_Religion_ had employed her in their favour, would not have been able to
force an entrance."--_Dr. Johnson_.

   "In colleges and halls in ancient days,
    There dwelt a sage called _Discipline_."--_Cowper_.


UNDER RULE XI.--OF DERIVATIVES.

"In English, I would have _Gallicisms_ avoided."--_Felton_. "Sallust was
born in Italy, 85 years before the _Christian_ era."--_Murray cor._; "Dr.
Doddridge was not only a great man, but one of the most excellent and
useful _Christians_, and _Christian_ ministers."--_Id._ "They corrupt their
style with untutored _Anglicisms_"--_Milton_. "Albert of Stade, author of a
chronicle from the creation to 1286, a _Benedictine_ of the 13th
century."--_Biog. Dict. cor._ "Graffio, a _Jesuit_ of Capua in the 16th
century, author of two volumes on moral subjects."--_Id._ "They _Frenchify_
and _Italianize_ words whenever they can."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 86. "He who
sells a _Christian_, sells the grace of God."--_Mag. cor._ "The first
persecution against the _Christians_, under Nero, began A. D.
64."--_Gregory cor._ "P. Rapin, the _Jesuit_, uniformly decides in favour
of the Roman writers."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 248. "The Roman poet and
_Epicurean_ philosopher Lucretius has said," &c.--_Cohen cor._ Spell
_"Calvinistic, Atticism, Gothicism, Epicurism, Jesuitism, Sabianism,
Socinianism, Anglican, Anglicism, Anglicize, Vandalism, Gallicism_, and
_Romanize_."--_Webster cor._ "The large _Ternate_ bat."--_Id. and Bolles
cor._

   "Church-ladders are not always mounted best
    By learned clerks, and _Latinists_ profess'd"--_Cowper cor._


UNDER RULE XII.--OF I AND O.

"Fall back, fall back; _I_ have not room:--_O!_ methinks _I_ see a couple
whom _I_ should know."--_Lucian_. "Nay, _I_ live as _I_ did, _I_ think as
_I_ did, _I_ love you as _I_ did; but all these are to no purpose; the
world will not live, think, or love, as _I_ do."--_Swift to Pope_.
"Whither, _O!_ whither shall _I_ fly? _O_ wretched prince! _O_ cruel
reverse of fortune! _O_ father Micipsa! is this the consequence of thy
generosity?"--_Tr. of Sallust._ "When _I_ was a child, _I_ spake as a
child, _I_ understood as a child, _I_ thought as a child; but when _I_
became a man, _I_ put away childish things."--_1 Cor._, xiii, 11. "And _I_
heard, but _I_ understood not; then said _I, O_ my Lord, what shall be the
end of these things?"--_Dan._, xii, 8. "Here am _I_; _I_ think _I_ am very
good, and _I_ am quite sure _I_ am very happy, yet _I_ never wrote a
treatise in my life."--_Few Days in Athens_, p. 127. "Singular, Vocative,
_O master!_ Plural, Vocative, _O masters!_"--_Bicknell cor._

   "I, _I_ am he; _O_ father! rise, behold
    Thy son, with twenty winters now grown old!"
        --_Pope's Odyssey_, B. 24, l. 375.


UNDER RULE XIII.--OF POETRY.

   "Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,
    _Lie_ in three words--health, peace, and competence;
    _But_ health consists with temperance alone,
    _And_ peace, O Virtue! peace is all thy own."--_Pope._

    "Observe the language well in all you write,
    _And_ swerve not from it in your loftiest flight.
    The smoothest verse and the exactest sense
    _Displease_ us, if ill English give offence:
    _A_ barbarous phrase no reader can approve;
    _Nor_ bombast, noise, or affectation love.
    In short, without pure language, what you write
    _Can_ never yield us profit or delight.
    Take time for thinking; never work in haste;
    _And_ value not yourself for writing fast."--_Dryden._


UNDER RULE XIV.--OF EXAMPLES.

"The word _rather_ is very properly used to express a small degree or
excess of a quality; as, '_She_ is _rather_ profuse in her
expenses.'"--_Murray cor._ "_Neither_ imports _not either_; that is, not
one nor the other: as, '_Neither_ of my friends was there.'"--_Id._ "When
we say, '_He_ is a tall man,'--'_This_ is a fair day,' we make some
reference to the ordinary size of men, and to different weather."--_Id._
"We more readily say, 'A million of men,' than, '_A_ thousand of
men.'"--_Id._ "So in the instances, '_Two_ and two are four;'--'_The_ fifth
and sixth volumes will complete the set of books.'"--_Id._ "The adjective
may frequently either precede or follow the verb: as, '_The_ man is
_happy_;' or, '_Happy_ is the man;'--'The interview was _delightful_;' or,
'_Delightful_ was the interview.'"--_Id._ "If we say, '_He_ writes a
pen;'--'_They_ ran the river;'--'_The_ tower fell the Greeks;'--'Lambeth is
Westminster _Abbey_;'--[we speak absurdly;] and, it is evident, there is a
vacancy which must be filled up by some connecting word: as thus, 'He
writes _with_ a pen;'--'_They_ ran _towards_ the river;'--'_The_ tower fell
_upon_ the Greeks;'--'Lambeth is _over against_ Westminster
_Abbey_.'"--_Id._ "Let me repeat it;--_He_ only is great, who has the
habits of greatness."--_Id._ "I say not unto thee, _Until_ seven times;
but, _Until_ seventy times seven."--_Matt._, xviii, 22.

   "The Panther smil'd at this; and, '_When_,' said she,
    'Were those first councils disallow'd by me?'"--_Dryd. cor._


UNDER RULE XV.--OF CHIEF WORDS.

"The supreme council of the nation is called the _Divan_."--_Balbi cor._
"The British _Parliament_ is composed of _King, Lords_, and
_Commons._"--_Comly's Gram._, p. 129; and _Jaudon's_, 127. "A popular
orator in the House of Commons has a sort of patent for coining as many new
terms as he pleases."--See _Campbell's Rhet._, p. 169; _Murray's Gram._,
364. "They may all be taken together, as one name; as, '_The House of
Commons._'"--_Merchant cor._ "Intrusted to persons in whom the _Parliament_
could confide."--_Murray cor._ "For 'The _Lords' House_,' it were certainly
better to say, '_The House of Lords_;' and, in stead of 'The _Commons'_
vote,' to say. 'The _vote_ of the _Commons._'"--_Id. and Priestley cor._
"The _House_ of _Lords_ were so much influenced by these
reasons."--_Iidem._ "Rhetoricians commonly divide them into two great
classes; _Figures_ of _Words_, and _Figures_ of _Thought_. The former,
_Figures_ of _Words_, are commonly called _Tropes_."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
337. "Perhaps, _Figures_ of _Imagination_, and _Figures_ of _Passion_,
might be a more useful distribution."--_Ib._ "Hitherto we have considered
sentences, under the heads of _Perspicuity, Unity_, and _Strength_."--See
_Murray's Gram._, p. 356.

   "The word is then depos'd; and, in this view,
    You rule the _Scripture_, not the _Scripture_ you."--_Dryd. cor._


UNDER RULE XVI.--OF NEEDLESS CAPITALS.

"Be of good cheer; _it_ is I; be not afraid."--FRIENDS' BIBLE, AND SCOTT'S:
_Matt._, xiv, 27. "Between passion and lying, there is not a _finger's_
breadth."--_Mur. cor._ "Can our _solicitude_ alter the course, or unravel
the intricacy, of human events?" "The last edition was carefully compared
with the _original manuscript_."--_Id._ "And the governor asked him,
saying, Art thou the _king_ of the Jews?"--SCOTT: _Matt._, xxvii, 11. "Let
them be turned back for a reward of their shame, that say, Aha,
_aha_!"--SCOTT ET AL.: _Ps._, lxx, 3. "Let them be desolate for a reward of
their shame, that say unto me, Aha, aha!"--IIDEM: _Ps._, xl, 15. "What
think ye of Christ? whose _son_ is he? They say unto him, The _son_ of
David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in _spirit_ call him
Lord?"--ALGER: _Matt._, xxii, 42, 43. "Among all _things_ in the
_universe_, direct your _worship_ to the _greatest_. And which is that?
_It_ is that Being _who manages_ and _governs_ all the rest."--_Collier's
Antoninus cor._ "As for _modesty_ and _good faith, truth_ and _justice_,
they have left this wicked _world_ and retired to _heaven; and_ now what is
it that can keep you here?"--_Idem_.

   "If pulse of verse a nation's temper shows,
    In keen iambics English metre flows."--_Brightland cor._


PROMISCUOUS CORRECTIONS RESPECTING CAPITALS.

LESSON I.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"Come, gentle _Spring, ethereal_ mildness, come."--_Thomson's Seasons_, p.
29. As, "He is the Cicero of his age;"--"_He_ is reading the _Lives_ of the
Twelve Cæsars;"--or, if no particular book is meant,--"the _lives_ of the
_twelve_ Cæsars;" (as it is in _Fisk's Grammar_, p. 57;) for the sentence,
as it stands in Murray, is ambiguous. "In the _History_ of Henry the
_Fourth_, by _Father_ Daniel, we are _surprised_ at not finding him the
great man."--_Smollett's Voltaire_, Vol. v, p. 82. "Do not those same poor
peasants use the _lever_, and the _wedge_, and many other
instruments?"--_Harris and Mur. cor._ "Arithmetic is excellent for the
gauging of _liquors; geometry_, for the measuring of _estates; astronomy_,
for the making of _almanacs_; and _grammar_, perhaps, for the drawing of
_bonds_ and _conveyances_."--See _Murray's Gram._, p. 288. "The [_History_
of the] _Wars_ of Flanders, written in Latin by Famianus Strada, is a book
of some note."--_Blair cor._ "_William_ is a noun. _Why_? _Was_ is a verb.
_Why_? _A_ is an article. _Why_? _Very_ is an adverb. _Why_?"
&c.--_Merchant cor._ "In the beginning was the _Word_, and that _Word_ was
with God, and God was that _Word_."--See _Gospel of John_, i, 1. "The
_Greeks_ are numerous in _Thessaly, Macedonia, Romelia_, and
_Albania_."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 360. "He [the Grand Seignior] is styled by
the Turks, Sultan, Mighty, or Padishah, _Lord_."--_Balbi cor._ "I will
ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O
_Death_! I will be thy _plague_; O _Grave_! I will be thy
destruction."--_Bible cor._ "Silver and _gold_ have I none; but such as I
have, give I [unto] thee."--See _Acts_, iii, 6. "Return, we beseech thee, O
God of _hosts_! look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this
vine."--See _Psalm_ lxxx, 14. "In the Attic _commonwealth_, it was the
privilege of every citizen to rail in public."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i,
p. 316. "They assert, that in the phrases, 'GIVE me _that_,'--'_This_ is
John's,' and, '_Such_ were _some_ of you,'--the words in _Italics_ are
pronouns; but that, in the following phrases, they are not pronouns:
'_This_ book is instructive;'--'_Some_ boys are ingenious;'--'_My_ health
is declining;'--'_Our_ hearts are deceitful.'"--_Murray partly
corrected_.[523] "And the coast bends again to the northwest, as far as
_Farout Head_."--_Geog. cor._ "Dr. Webster, and other makers of
spelling-books, very improperly write _Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday_, and _Saturday_, without capitals."--_G. Brown_. "The
commander in chief of the Turkish navy is styled the _Capitan
Pacha_."--_Balbi cor._ "Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the
_Father_ of spirits, and live?"--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Heb._, xii, 9. "He [Dr.
Beattie] was more anxious to attain the character of a _Christian_
hero."--_Murray cor._ "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,
is _Mount_ Zion."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 393. "The Lord is my _helper_,
and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."--ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.:
_Heb._, xiii, 6. "Make haste to help me, O LORD my _salvation_."--IIDEM:
_Psalms_, xxxviii, 22.

   "The _city_ which _thou_ seest, no other deem
    Than great and glorious Rome, _queen_ of the _earth_."
        --_Paradise Regained_, B. iv.


LESSON II.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"That range of hills, known under the general name of _Mount_
Jura."--_Account of Geneva_. "He rebuked the Red _Sea_ also, and it was
dried up."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Ps_. cvi, 9. "Jesus went unto the _Mount_ of
Olives."--_Bible cor._ "Milton's book in reply to the _Defence of the
King_, by Salmasius, gained him a thousand pounds from the _Parliament_,
and killed his antagonist with vexation."--_G. B_. "Mandeville, _Sir_ John,
an Englishman famous for his travels, born about 1300, died in 1372."--_B.
Dict. cor._ "Ettrick _Pen_, a mountain in Selkirkshire, Scotland, height
2,200 feet."--_G. Geog. cor._ "The coast bends from _Dungsby Head_, in a
northwest direction, to the promontory of _Dunnet Head_."--_Id._ "General
Gaines ordered a detachment of _nearly_ 300 men, under the command of Major
Twiggs, to surround and take an Indian _village_, called _Fowltown_, about
fourteen miles from _Fort_ Scott."--_Cohen Cor._ "And he took the damsel by
the hand, and said unto her, 'Talitha, _cumi_.'"--_Bible Editors cor._ "On
religious subjects, a frequent _adoption of Scripture_ language is attended
with peculiar force."--_Murray cor._ "Contemplated with gratitude to their
Author, the Giver of all _good_."--_Id._ "When he, the Spirit of _truth_,
is come, he will guide you into all [the] truth,"--SCOTT, ALGER, ET AL.:
_John_, xvi, 13. "See the _Lecture on Verbs, Rule XV, Note_ 4th."--_Fisk
cor._ "At the commencement of _Lecture_ 2d, I informed you that Etymology
treats, _thirdly_, of derivation."--_Kirkham cor._ "This 8th _Lecture_ is a
very important one."--_Id._ "Now read the _11th_ and _12th_ lectures, four
or five times over."--_Id._ "In 1752, he [Henry Home] was advanced to the
bench, under the title of _Lord_ Kames."--_Murray cor._ "One of his maxims
was, '_Know_ thyself.'"--_Lempriere cor._ "Good _Master_, what good thing
shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Matt._, xix,
16. "His best known works, however, [John Almon's] are, '_Anecdotes_ of the
_Life_ of the _Earl_ of Chatham,' 2 vols. 4to, 3 vols. 8vo; and
'_Biographical, Literary_, and _Political Anecdotes_ of several of the
_Most Eminent Persons_ of the _Present Age_; never before printed,' 3 vols.
8vo, 1797."--_Biog. Dict. cor._ "O gentle _Sleep_, Nature's soft nurse, how
have I frighted thee?"--SHAK.: _Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 175. "And
_peace, O Virtue!_ peace is all thy own."--_Pope et al. cor._


LESSON III.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"Fenelon united the characters of a nobleman and a _Christian_ pastor. His
book entitled, 'An _Explication_ of the Maxims of the Saints, concerning
the _Interior Life_,' gave considerable offence to the guardians of
orthodoxy."--_Murray cor._ "When _Natural Religion_, who before was only a
spectator, is introduced as speaking by the _Centurion's_
voice."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 347. "You cannot deny, that the great
_Mover_ and _Author_ of nature constantly explaineth himself to the eyes of
men, by the sensible intervention of arbitrary signs, which have no
similitude to, or connexion with, the things signified."--_Berkley cor._
"The name of this letter is _Double-u_, its form, that of a double
V."--_Dr. Wilson cor._ "Murray, in his _Spelling-Book_, wrote _Charlestown_
with a _hyphen_ and two capitals."--_G. Brown._ "He also wrote _European_
without a capital."--_Id._ "They profess themselves to be _Pharisees_, who
are to be heard and not imitated."--_Calvin cor._ "Dr. Webster wrote both
_Newhaven_ and _New York_ with single capitals."--_G. Brown_. "_Gay Head_,
the west point of Martha's Vineyard."--_Williams cor._ "Write _Crab
Orchard, Egg Harbour, Long Island, Perth Amboy, West Hampton, Little
Compton, New Paltz, Crown Point, Fell's Point, Sandy Hook, Port Penn, Port
Royal, Porto Bello_, and _Porto Rico_.'"--_G. Brown._ "Write the names of
the months: _January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August,
September, October, November, December_."--_Id._ "Write the following names
and words properly: _Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
Saturn;--Christ, Christian, Christmas, Christendom, Michaelmas, Indian,
Bacchanals;--East Hampton, Omega, Johannes, Aonian, Levitical, Deuteronomy,
European_."--_Id._

   "Eight _letters_ in some _syllables_ we find,
    And no more _syllables_ in _words_ are join'd."--_Brightland cor._


CHAPTER II.--OF SYLLABLES.

CORRECTIONS OF FALSE SYLLABICATION.

LESSON I.--CONSONANTS.

1. Correction of _Murray_, in words of two syllables: civ-il, col-our,
cop-y, dam-ask, doz-en, ev-er, feath-er, gath-er, heav-en, heav-y, hon-ey,
lem-on, lin-en, mead-ow, mon-ey, nev-er, ol-ive, or-ange, oth-er,
pheas-ant, pleas-ant, pun-ish, rath-er, read-y, riv-er, rob-in, schol-ar,
shov-el, stom-ach, tim-id, whith-er.

2. Correction of _Murray_, in words of three syllables: ben-e-fit,
cab-i-net, can-is-ter, cat-a-logue, char-ac-ter, char-i-ty, cov-et-ous,
dil-i-gence, dim-i-ty, el-e-phant, ev-i-dent, ev-er-green, friv-o-lous,
gath-er-ing, gen-er-ous, gov-ern-ess, gov-ern-or, hon-est-y, kal-en-dar,
lav-en-der, lev-er-et, lib-er-al, mem-or-y, min-is-ter, mod-est-ly,
nov-el-ty, no-bod-y, par-a-dise, pov-er-ty, pres-ent-ly, prov-i-dence,
prop-er-ly, pris-on-er, rav-en-ous, sat-is-fy, sev-er-al, sep-ar-ate,
trav-el-ler, vag-a-bond;--con-sid-er, con-tin-ue, de-liv-er, dis-cov-er,
dis-fig-ure, dis-hon-est, dis-trib-ute, in-hab-it, me-chan-ic,
what-ev-er;--rec-om-mend, ref-u-gee, rep-ri-mand.

3. Correction of _Murray_, in words of four syllables: cat-er-pil-lar,
char-i-ta-ble, dil-i-gent-ly, mis-er-a-ble, prof-it-a-ble,
tol-er-a-ble;--be-nev-o-lent, con-sid-er-ate, di-min-u-tive, ex-per-i-ment,
ex-trav-a-gant, in-hab-i-tant, no-bil-i-ty, par-tic-u-lar, pros-per-i-ty,
ri-dic-u-lous, sin-cer-i-ty;--dem-on-stra-tion, ed-u-ca-tion, em-u-la-tion,
ep-i-dem-ic, mal-e-fac-tor, man-u-fac-ture, mem-o-ran-dum, mod-er-a-tor,
par-a-lyt-ic, pen-i-ten-tial, res-ig-na-tion, sat-is-fac-tion,
sem-i-co-lon.

4. Correction of _Murray_, in words of five syllables: a-bom-i-na-ble,
a-poth-e-ca-ry, con-sid-er-a-ble, ex-plan-a-to-ry, pre-par-a-to-ry;--
ac-a-dem-i-cal, cu-ri-os-i-ty, ge-o-graph-i-cal, man-u-fac-tor-y,
sat-is-fac-tor-y, mer-i-to-ri-ous;--char-ac-ter-is-tic, ep-i-gram-mat-ic,
ex-per-i-ment-al, pol-y-syl-la-ble, con-sid-er-a-tion.

5. Correction of _Murray_, in the division of proper names: Hel-en,
Leon-ard, Phil-ip, Rob-ert, Hor-ace, Thom-as;--Car-o-line, Cath-a-rine,
Dan-i-el, Deb-o-rah, Dor-o-thy, Fred-er-ick, Is-a-bel, Jon-a-than, Lyd-i-a,
Nich-o-las, Ol-i-ver, Sam-u-el, Sim-e-on, Sol-o-mon, Tim-o-thy,
Val-en-tine;--A-mer-i-ca, Bar-thol-o-mew, E-liz-a-beth, Na-than-i-el,
Pe-nel-o-pe, The-oph-i-lus.

LESSON II.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

1. Correction of _Webster_, by Rule 1st:--ca-price, e-steem, dis-e-steem,
o-blige;--a-zure, ma-tron, pa-tron, pha-lanx, si-ren, trai-tor, tren-cher,
bar-ber, bur-nish, gar-nish, tar-nish, var-nish, mar-ket, mus-ket,
pam-phlet;--bra-ver-y, kna-ver-y, sla-ver-y, e-ven-ing, sce-ner-y,
bri-ber-y, ni-ce-ty, chi-ca-ner-y, ma-chin-er-y, im-a-ger-y;--a-sy-lum,
ho-ri-zon,--fin-an-cier, her-o-ism, sar-do-nyx, scur-ri-lous,--co-me-di-an,
pos-te-ri-or.

2. Correction of _Webster_, by Rule 2d: o-yer, fo-li-o, ge-ni-al, ge-ni-us,
ju-ni-or, sa-ti-ate, vi-ti-ate;--am-bro-si-a, cha-me-_le_-on, par-he-li-on,
con-ve-ni-ent, in-ge-ni-ous, om-nis-ci-ence, pe-cu-li-ar, so-ci-a-ble,
par-ti-al-i-ty, pe-cu-ni-a-ry;--an-nun-ci-ate, e-nun-ci-ate, ap-pre-ci-ate,
as-so-ci-ate, ex-pa-ti-ate, in-gra-ti-ate, in-i-ti-ate, li-cen-ti-ate,
ne-go-ti-ate, no-vi-ti-ate, of-fi-ci-ate, pro-pi-ti-ate, sub-stan-ti-ate.

3. Correction of _Cobb_ and _Webster_, by each other, under Rule 3d:
"dress-er, hast-y, past-ry, seiz-ure, roll-er, jest-er, weav-er, vamp-er,
hand-y, dross-y, gloss-y, mov-er, mov-ing, ooz-y, full-er, trust-y,
weight-y, nois-y, drows-y, swarth-y."--_Webster_. Again: "east-ern, ful-ly,
pul-let, ril-let, scant-y, need-y."--_Cobb._

4. Correction of _Webster_ and _Cobb_, under Rule 4th: a-wry, a-thwart´,
pros-pect´-ive, pa-ren´-the-sis, re-sist-i-bil´-i-ty, hem-i-spher´-ic,
mon´-o-stich, hem´-i-stich, to´-wards.

5. Correction of the words under Rule 5th; Eng-land, an oth-er,[524]
Beth-es´-da, Beth-ab´-a-ra.


LESSON III.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

1. Correction of _Cobb_, by Rule 3d: bend-er, bless-ing, brass-y, chaff-y,
chant-er, clasp-er, craft-y, curd-y, fend-er, film-y, fust-y, glass-y,
graft-er, grass-y, gust-y, hand-ed, mass-y, musk-y, rust-y, swell-ing,
tell-er, test-ed, thrift-y, vest-ure.

2. Corrections of _Webster_, mostly by Rule 1st: bar-ber, bur-nish,
bris-ket, can-ker, char-ter, cuc-koo, fur-nish, gar-nish, guilt-y, han-ker,
lus-ty, por-tal, tar-nish, tes-tate, tes-ty, trai-tor, trea-ty, var-nish,
ves-tal, di-ur-nal, e-ter-nal, in-fer-nal, in-ter-nal, ma-ter-nal,
noc-tur-nal, pa-ter-nal.

3. Corrections of _Webster_, mostly by Rule 1st: ar-mor-y, ar-ter-y,
_butch-er-y_, cook-er-y, eb-on-y, em-er-y, ev-er-y, fel-on-y, fop-per-y,
frip-per-y, gal-ler-y, his-tor-y, liv-er-y, lot-ter-y, mock-er-y,
_mys-ter-y_,[525] nun-ner-y, or-rer-y, pil-lor-y, quack-er-y, sor-cer-y,
witch-er-y.

4. Corrections of _Cobb_, mostly by Rule 1st: an-kle, bas-ket, blan-ket,
buc-kle, cac-kle, cran-kle, crin-kle, Eas-ter, fic-kle, frec-kle, knuc-kle,
mar-ket, mon-key, por-tress, pic-kle, poul-tice, pun-cheon, quad-rant,
quad-rate, squad-ron, ran-kle, shac-kle, sprin-kle, tin-kle, twin-kle,
wrin-kle.

5. Corrections of _Emerson_, by Rules 1st and 3d: as-cribe, blan-dish,
branch-y, cloud-y, dust-y, drear-y, e-ven-ing, fault-y, filth-y, frost-y,
gaud-y, gloom-y, health-y, heark-en, heart-y, hoar-y, leak-y, loun-ger,
marsh-y, might-y, milk-y, naught-y, pass-ing, pitch-er, read-y, rock-y,
speed-y, stead-y, storm-y, thirst-y, thorn-y, trust-y, vest-ry, west-ern,
wealth-y.


CHAPTER III.--OF WORDS.

CORRECTIONS RESPECTING THE FIGURE, OR FORM, OF WORDS.

RULE I.--COMPOUNDS.

"Professing to imitate Timon, the _manhater_."--_Goldsmith corrected_. "Men
load hay with a _pitchfork._"--_Webster cor._ "A _peartree_ grows from the
seed of a pear."--_Id._ "A _toothbrush_ is good to brush your
teeth."--_Id._ "The mail is opened at the _post-office_."--_Id._ "The error
seems to me _twofold_."--_Sanborn cor._ "To _preëngage_ means to engage
_beforehand_."--_Webster cor._ "It is a mean act to deface the figures on a
_milestone_."--_Id._ "A grange is a farm, _with its farm- house_."--_Id._
"It is no more right to steal apples or _watermelons_, than [to steal]
money."--_Id._ "The awl is a tool used by shoemakers and
_harness-makers_."--_Id._ "_Twenty-five_ cents are equal to one quarter of
a dollar."--_Id._ "The _blowing-up_ of the Fulton at New York, was a
terrible disaster."--_Id._ "The elders also, and the _bringers-up_ of the
children, sent to Jehu."--ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.: _2 Kings_, x, 5. "Not
with _eyeservice_ as _menpleasers_."--_Col._, iii, 22. "A _good-natured_
and equitable construction of cases."--_Ash cor._ "And purify your hearts,
ye _double-minded_."--_James_, iv, 8. "It is a _mean-spirited_ action to
steal; i.e., To steal is a _mean-spirited_ action."--_A. Murray cor._
"There is, indeed, one form of orthography which is _akin_ to the
subjunctive mood of the Latin tongue."--_Booth cor._ "To bring him into
nearer connexion with real and _everyday_ life."--_Philological Museum_,
Vol. i, p. 459. "The _commonplace_, stale declamation of its revilers would
be silenced."--_Id. cor._ "She [Cleopatra] formed a very singular and
_unheard-of_ project."--_Goldsmith cor._ "He [William Tell] had many
vigilant, though _feeble-talented_ and _mean-spirited_ enemies."--_R. Vaux
cor._ "These _old-fashioned_ people would level our psalmody,"
&c.--_Gardiner cor._ "This _slow-shifting_ scenery in the theatre of
harmony."--_Id._ "So we are assured from Scripture _itself_."--_Harris
cor._ "The mind, being disheartened, then betakes _itself_ to
trifling."--_R. Johnson cor._ "_Whosesoever_ sins ye remit, they are
remitted unto them."--_Bible cor._ "Tarry we _ourselves_ how we will."--_W.
Walker cor._ "Manage your credit so, that you need neither swear
_yourself_, nor seek a voucher."--_Collier cor._ "Whereas song never
conveys any of the _abovenamed_ sentiments."--_Dr. Rush cor._ "I go on
_horseback_."--_Guy cor._ "This requires purity, in opposition to
barbarous, obsolete, or _new-coined words_."--_Adam cor._ "May the
_ploughshare_ shine."--_White cor._ "_Whichever_ way we consider
it."--_Locke cor._

   "_Where'er_ the silent _e_ a _place_ obtains,
    The _voice_ foregoing, _length_ and softness gains."--_Brightland cor._


RULE II.--SIMPLES.

"It qualifies any of the four parts of speech _above named_."--_Kirkham
cor._ "After _a while_ they put us out among the rude multitude."--_Fox
cor._ "It would be a _shame_, if your mind should falter and give
in."--_Collier cor._ "They stared _a while_ in silence one upon _an
other_."--_Johnson cor._ "After passion has for _a while_ exercised its
tyrannical sway."--_Murray cor._ "Though set within the same _general
frame_ of intonation."--_Rush cor._ "Which do not carry any of the natural
_vocal signs_ of expression."--_Id._ "The measurable _constructive powers_
of a few associable constituents."--_Id._ "Before each accented syllable or
emphatic _monosyllabic word_."--_Id._ "One should not think too favourably
of _one's self_."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 154. "Know ye not your _own
selves_, how that Jesus Christ is in you?"--_2 Cor._, xiii, 5. "I judge not
my _own self_, for I know nothing of my _own self_."--See _1 Cor._, iv, 3.
"Though they were in such a rage, I desired them to tarry _a
while_."--_Josephus cor._ "_A, in stead_ of _an_, is now used before words
beginning with _u_ long."--_Murray cor._ "John will have earned his wages
_by_ next _new year's_ day."--_Id._ "A _new year's gift_ is a present made
on the first day of the year."--_Johnson et al. cor._ "When he sat on the
throne, distributing _new year's gifts_."--_Id._ "St. Paul admonishes
Timothy to refuse _old wives' fables_."--See _1 Tim._, iv, 7. "The world,
take it _all together_, is but one."--_Collier cor._ "In writings of this
stamp, we must accept of sound _in stead_ of sense."--_Murray cor._ "A
_male_ child, a _female_ child; _male_ descendants, _female_
descendants."--_Goldsbury et al. cor._ "_Male_ servants, _female_ servants;
_male_ relations, _female_ relations."--_Felton cor._

   "Reserved and cautious, with no partial aim,
    My muse e'er sought to blast _an other's_ fame."--_Lloyd cor._


RULE III.--THE SENSE.

"Our discriminations of this matter have been but _four-footed_
instincts."--_Rush cor._ "He is in the right, (says Clytus,) not to bear
_free-born_ men at his table."--_Goldsmith cor._ "To the _short-seeing_ eye
of man, the progress may appear little."--_The Friend cor._ "Knowledge and
virtue are, emphatically, the _stepping-stones_ to individual
distinction."--_Town cor._ "A _tin-peddler_ will sell tin vessels as he
travels."--_Webster cor._ "The beams of a _wooden house_ are held up by the
posts and joists."--_Id._ "What you mean by _future-tense_ adjective, I can
easily understand."--_Tooke cor._ "The town has been for several days very
_well-behaved_."--_Spectator cor._ "A _rounce_ is the handle of a
_printing-press_."--_Webster cor._ "The phraseology [which] we call
_thee-and-thouing_ [or, better, _thoutheeing_,] is not in so common use
with us, as the _tutoyant_ among the French."--_Walker cor._ "Hunting and
other _outdoor_ sports, are generally pursued."--_Balbi cor._ "Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are _heavy-laden_."--_Scott et al. cor._ "God so
loved the world, that he gave his _only-begotten_ Son to save it."--See
ALGER'S BIBLE, and FRIENDS': _John_, iii, 16. "Jehovah is a
_prayer-hearing_ God: Nineveh repented, and was spared."--_Observer cor._
"These are _well-pleasing_ to God, in all ranks and relations."--_Barclay
cor._ "Whosoever cometh _anything_ near unto the tabernacle."--_Bible cor._
"The words coalesce, when they have a _long-established_
association."--_Mur. cor._ "Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will
go _into_ them."--MODERN BIBLE: _Ps_. cxviii, 19. "He saw an angel of God
coming _in to_ him."--_Acts_, x, 3. "The consequences of any action are to
be considered in a _twofold_ light."--_Wayland cor._ "We commonly write
_twofold, threefold, fourfold_, and so on up to _tenfold_, without a
hyphen; and, after that, we use one."--_G. Brown_. "When the first mark is
going off, he cries, _Turn_! the _glassholder_ answers, _Done_!"--_Bowditch
cor._ "It is a kind of familiar _shaking-hands_ (or _shaking of hands_)
with all the vices."--_Maturin cor._ "She is a _good-natured_
woman;"--"James is _self-opinionated_;"--"He is _broken-hearted_."--_Wright
cor._ "These three examples apply to the _present-tense_ construction
only."--_Id._ "So that it was like a game of _hide-and-go-seek_."--_Gram.
cor._

   "That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
    Whereto the _climber-upward_ turns his face."--_Shak._


RULE IV.--ELLIPSES.

"This building serves yet for a _schoolhouse_ and a meeting-house."--_G.
Brown_. "Schoolmasters and _schoolmistresses, if_ honest friends, are to be
encouraged."--_Discip. cor._ "We never assumed to ourselves a
_faith-making_ or a _worship-making_ power."--_Barclay cor._ "_Potash_ and
_pearlash_ are made from common ashes."--_Webster cor._ "Both the
_ten-syllable_ and the _eight-syllable_ verses are iambics."--_Blair cor._
"I say to myself, thou _say'st to thyself_, he says to _himself_,
&c."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "Or those who have esteemed themselves _skillful_,
have tried for the mastery in _two-horse_ or _four-horse_ chariots."--_Ware
cor._ "I remember him barefooted and _bareheaded_, running through the
streets."--_Edgeworth cor._ "Friends have the entire control of the
_schoolhouse_ and _dwelling-house_." Or:--"of the _schoolhouses_ and
_dwelling-houses_" Or:--"of the _schoolhouse_ and the _dwelling-houses_"
Or:--"of the _schoolhouses_ and the _dwelling-house_." Or:--"of the
_school_, and _of the dwelling-houses_." [For the sentence here to be
corrected is so ambiguous, that any of these may have been the meaning
intended by it.]--_The Friend cor._ "The meeting is held at the
_first-mentioned_ place in _Firstmonth_; at the _last-mentioned_, in
_Secondmonth_; and so on."--_Id._ "Meetings for worship are held, at the
same hour, on _Firstday_ and _Fourthday_." Or:--"on _Firstdays_ and
_Fourthdays_."--_Id._ "Every part of it, inside and _outside_, is covered
with gold leaf."--_Id._ "The Eastern Quarterly Meeting is held on the last
_Seventhday_ in _Secondmonth, Fifthmonth, Eighthmonth_, and
_Eleventhmonth_."--_Id._ "Trenton Preparative Meeting is held on the third
_Fifthday_ in each month, at ten o'clock; meetings for worship [are held,]
at the same hour, on _Firstdays_ and _Fifthdays_."--_Id._ "Ketch, a vessel
with two masts, a _mainmast_ and _a mizzenmast_."--_Webster cor._ "I only
mean to suggest a doubt, whether nature has enlisted herself [either] as a
_Cis-Atlantic_ or [as a] _Trans-Atlantic_ partisan."--_Jefferson cor._ "By
large hammers, like those used for _paper-mills_ and _fulling-mills_, they
beat their hemp."--_Johnson cor._ "ANT-HILL, or ANT-HILLOCK, n. A small
_protuberance_ of earth, _formed_ by ants, _for_ their _habitation_."--
_Id._ "It became necessary to substitute simple indicative terms called
_pronames_ or _pronouns_."

   "Obscur'd, where highest woods, impenetrable
    To _light of star or sun_, their umbrage spread."--_Milton cor._


RULE V.--THE HYPHEN.

"_Evil-thinking_; a noun, compounded of the noun _evil_ and the imperfect
participle _thinking_; singular number;" &c.--_Churchill cor._
"_Evil-speaking_; a noun, compounded of the noun _evil_ and the imperfect
participle _speaking_."--_Id._ "I am a tall, _broad-shouldered_, impudent,
black fellow."--_Spect_, or _Joh. cor._ "Ingratitude! thou _marble-hearted_
fiend."--_Shak_. or _Joh. cor._ "A popular _license_ is indeed the
_many-headed_ tyranny."--_Sydney_ or _Joh. cor._ "He from the
_many-peopled_ city flies."--_Sandys_ or _Joh. cor._ "He _many-languaged_
nations has surveyed."--_Pope_ or _Joh. cor._ "The _horse-cucumber_ is the
large green cucumber, and the best for the table."--_Mort_. or _Joh. cor._
"The bird of night did sit, even at _noon-day_, upon the
market-place."--_Shak_. or _Joh. cor._ "These make a general
_gaol-delivery_ of souls not for punishment."--_South_ or _Joh. cor._ "Thy
air, thou other _gold-bound_ brow, is like the first."--_Shak_. or _Joh.
cor._ "His person was deformed to the highest degree; _flat-nosed_ and
_blobber-lipped_."--_L'Estr._ or _Joh. cor._ "He that defraudeth the
labourer of his hire, is a _blood-shedder_."--_Ecclus._, xxxiv, 22.
"_Bloody-minded, adj._, from _bloody_ and _mind_; Cruel, inclined to
_bloodshed_."--_Johnson cor._ "_Blunt-witted_ lord, ignoble in
demeanour."--_Shak_. or _Joh. cor._ "A young fellow, with a _bob-wig_ and a
black silken bag tied to it."--_Spect_. or _Joh. cor._ "I have seen enough
to confute all the _bold-faced_ atheists of this age."--_Bramhall_ or _Joh.
cor._ "Before _milk-white_, now purple with love's wound."--_Joh. Dict., w.
Bolt_. "For what else is a _red-hot_ iron than fire? and what else is a
burning coal than _red-hot_ wood?"--_Newton_ or _Joh. cor._ "_Poll-evil_ is
a large swelling, inflammation, or imposthume, in the horse's poll, or nape
of the neck, just between the ears."--_Far_. or _Joh. cor._

   "Quick-witted, _brazen-fac'd_, with fluent tongues,
    Patient of labours, and dissembling wrongs."--_Dryden cor._


RULE VI.--NO HYPHEN.

"From his fond parent's eye a _teardrop_ fell."--_Snelling cor._ "How
great, poor _jackdaw_, would thy sufferings be!"--_Id._ "Placed, like a
_scarecrow_ in a field of corn."--_Id._ "Soup for the almshouse at a cent a
quart."--_Id._ "Up into the _watchtower_ get, and see all things despoiled
of fallacies."--_Donne_ or _Joh. cor._ "In the _daytime_ she [Fame] sitteth
in a _watchtower_, and flieth most by night."--_Bacon_ or _Joh. cor._ "The
moral is the first business of the poet, as being the _groundwork_ of his
instruction."--_Dryd._ or _Joh. cor._ "Madam's own hand the _mousetrap_
baited."--_Prior_ or _Joh. cor._ "By the sinking of the _airshaft_, the air
_has_ liberty to circulate."--_Ray_ or _Joh. cor._ "The multiform and
amazing operations of the _airpump_ and the loadstone."--_Watts_ or _Joh.
cor._ "Many of the _firearms_ are named from animals."--_Johnson cor._ "You
might have trussed him and all his apparel into an _eelskin_"--_Shak_. or
_Joh. cor._ "They may serve as _landmarks_, to show what lies in the direct
way of truth."--_Locke_ or _Joh. cor._ "A _packhorse_ is driven constantly
in a narrow lane and dirty road."--_Locke_ or _Joh. cor._ "A _millhorse_,
still bound to go in one circle."--_Sidney_ or _Joh. cor._ "Of singing
birds, they have linnets, _goldfinches_, ruddocks, _Canary birds,
blackbirds_, thrushes, and divers others."--_Carew_ or _Joh. cor._
"Cartridge, a case of paper or parchment filled with _gunpowder_; [or,
rather, containing the _entire charge_ of a gun]."--_Joh. cor._

   "Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night,
    The time of night when Troy was set on fire,
    The time when _screechowls_ cry, and _bandogs_ howl."
        SHAKSPEARE: _in Johnson's Dict., w. Screechowl_.


PROMISCUOUS CORRECTIONS IN THE FIGURE OF WORDS.

LESSON I.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"They that live in _glass houses_, should not throw stones."--_Adage_. "If
a man profess Christianity in any manner or form _whatsoever_."--_Watts
cor._ "For Cassius is _aweary_ of the world." Better: "For Cassius is
_weary_ of the world."--_Shak. cor._ "By the _coming-together_ of more, the
chains were fastened on."--_W. Walker cor._ "Unto the _carrying-away_ of
Jerusalem captive in the fifth month."--_Bible cor._ "And the
_goings-forth_ of the border shall be to Zedad."--_Id._ "And the
_goings-out_ of it shall be at _Hazar Enan_."--See _Walker's Key_ "For the
_taking-place_ of effects, in a certain particular series."--_West cor._
"The _letting-go_ of which was the _occasion_ of all that
corruption."--_Owen cor._ "A _falling-off_ at the end, is always
injurious."--_Jamieson cor._ "As all _holdings-forth_ were courteously
supposed to be trains of reasoning."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "Whose
_goings-forth_ have been from of old, from everlasting."--_Bible cor._
"_Sometimes_ the adjective becomes a substantive."--_Bradley cor._ "It is
very plain, _that_ I consider man as visited _anew_."--_Barclay cor._ "Nor
do I _anywhere say_, as he falsely insinuates."--_Id._ "_Everywhere,
anywhere, elsewhere, somewhere, nowhere_"--_L. Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p.
115. "The world hurries off apace, and time is like a rapid
river."--_Collier cor._ "But to _new-model_ the paradoxes of ancient
skepticism."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "The _southeast_ winds from the ocean
invariably produce rain."--_Webster cor._ "_Northwest_ winds from the
_highlands_ produce cold clear weather."--_Id._ "The greatest part of such
tables would be of little use to _Englishmen_."--_Priestley cor._ "The
_ground-floor_ of the east wing of _Mulberry-street_ meeting-house was
filled."--_The Friend cor._ "Prince Rupert's Drop. This singular production
is made at the _glasshouses_."--_Barnes cor._

   "The lights and shades, whose _well-accorded_ strife
    Gives all the strength and colour of our life."--_Pope_.


LESSON II.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"In the _twenty-seventh_ year of Asa king of Judah, did Zimri reign seven
days in Tirzah."--_Bible cor._ "In the _thirty-first_ year of Asa king of
Judah, began Omri to reign over Israel."--_Id._ "He cannot so deceive
himself as to fancy that he is able to do a _rule-of-three_ sum."
Better--"_a sum in the rule of three_."--_Qr. Rev. cor._ "The best cod are
those known under the name of _Isle-of-Shoals dun-fish_."--_Balbi cor._
"The soldiers, with _downcast eyes_, seemed to beg for mercy."--_Goldsmith
cor._ "His head was covered with a coarse, _wornout_ piece of
cloth."--_Id._ "Though they had lately received a reinforcement of a
thousand _heavy-armed_ Spartans."--_Id._ "But he laid them by unopened;
and, with a smile, said, 'Business _to-morrow_.'"--_Id._ "Chester _Monthly
Meeting_ is held at _Moorestown, on_ the _Thirdday_ following the second
_Secondday_"--_The Friend cor._ "Eggharbour _Monthly Meeting_ is held _on_
the first _Secondday_."--_Id._ "_Little-Eggharbour_ Monthly Meeting is held
at Tuckerton on the second _Fifthday_ in each month."--_Id._ "At three
o'clock, on _Firstday_ morning, the 24th of _Eleventhmonth_, 1834,"
&c.--_Id._ "In less than _one fourth_ part of the time usually
devoted."--_Kirkham cor._ "The pupil will not have occasion to use it _one
tenth_ part _so_ much."--_Id._ "The painter dips his _paintbrush_ in paint,
to paint the carriage."--_Id._ "In an ancient English version of the _New
Testament_."--_Id._ "The little boy was _bareheaded_."--_Red Book cor._
"The man, being a little _short-sighted_, did not immediately know
him."--_Id._ "_Picture-frames_ are gilt with gold."--_Id._ "The
_parkkeeper_ killed one of the deer."--_Id._ "The fox was killed near the
_brickkiln_."--_Id._ "Here comes Esther, with her _milkpail_"--_Id._ "The
_cabinet-maker_ would not tell us."--_Id._ "A fine _thorn-hedge_ extended
along the edge of the hill."--_Id._ "If their private interests should be
_everso_ little affected."--_Id._ "Unios are _fresh-water_ shells, vulgarly
called _fresh-water_ clams."--_Id._

   "Did not each poet mourn his luckless doom,
    Jostled by pedants out of _elbow-room_."--_Lloyd cor._


LESSON III.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"The captive hovers _a while_ upon the sad remains."--_Johnson cor._
"Constantia saw that the _hand-writing_ agreed with the contents of the
letter."--_Id._ "They have put me in a silk _night-gown_, and a gaudy
_foolscap_"--_Id._ "Have you no more manners than to rail at Hocus, that
has saved that clod-pated, _numb-skulled ninny-hammer_ of yours from ruin,
and all his family?"--_Id._ "A noble, (that is, six shillings and _eight
pence_,) is [paid], and usually hath been paid."--_Id._ "The king of birds,
_thick-feathered_, and with full-summed wings, fastened his talons east and
west."--_Id._ "_To-morrow_. This--supposing _morrow_ to mean _morning_, as
it did originally--is an idiom of the same kind as _to-night,
to-day_."--_Johnson cor._ "To-day goes away, and to-morrow comes."--_Id._
"Young children, who are tried in _Gocarts_, to keep their steps from
sliding."--_Id._ "Which, followed well, would demonstrate them but
_goers-backward_"--_Id._ "Heaven's _golden-winged_ herald late he saw, to a
poor Galilean virgin sent."--_Id._ "My _pent-house eyebrows_ and my shaggy
beard offend your sight."--_Id._ "The hungry lion would fain have been
dealing with good _horseflesh_."--_Id._ "A _broad-brimmed_ hat ensconsed
each careful head."--_Snelling cor._ "With harsh vibrations of his
_three-stringed lute_."--_Id._ "They magnify a _hundred-fold_ an author's
merit."--_Id._ "I'll nail them fast to some _oft-opened_ door."--_Id._
"Glossed over only with _saintlike_ show, still thou art bound to
vice."--_Johnson's Dict., w. Saintlike_. "Take of aqua-fortis two ounces,
of _quicksilver_ two drachms."--_Id. cor._ "This rainbow never appears but
when it rains in the _sunshine_."--_Id. cor._

   "Not but there are, who merit other palms;
    Hopkins and _Sternhold_ glad the heart with _psalms_."--_Pope_.


CHAPTER IV.--OF SPELLING.

CORRECTIONS OF FALSE SPELLING.

RULE I.--FINAL F, L, OR S.

"He _will_ observe the moral law, in _his_ conduct."--_Webster corrected_.
"A _cliff_ is a steep bank, or a precipitous rock."--_Walker cor._ "A needy
man's budget is _full_ of schemes."--_Maxim cor._ "Few large publications,
in this country, _will_ pay a printer."--_N. Webster cor._ "I _shall_, with
cheerfulness, resign my other papers to oblivion."--_Id._ "The proposition
_was_ suspended _till_ the next session of the legislature."--_Id._
"Tenants for life _will_ make the most of lands for themselves."--_Id._
"While every thing _is_ left to lazy negroes, a state _will_ never be
_well_ cultivated."--_Id._ "The heirs of the original proprietors _still_
hold the soil."--_Id._ "Say my annual profit on money loaned _shall_ be
six per cent."--_Id._ "No man would submit to the drudgery of business, if
he could make money _as_ fast by lying _still_."--_Id._ "A man may _as
well_ feed himself with a bodkin, _as_ with a knife of the present
fashion."--_Id._ "The clothes _will_ be ill washed, the food _will_ be
badly cooked; you _will_ be ashamed of your wife, if she _is_ not ashamed
of herself."--_Id._ "He _will_ submit to the laws of the state while he
_is_ a member of it."--_Id._ "But _will_ our sage writers on law forever
think by tradition?"--_Id._ "Some _still_ retain a sovereign power in their
territories."--_Id._ "They _sell_ images, prayers, the sound of _bells_,
remission of sins, &c."--_Perkins cor._ "And the law had sacrifices offered
every day, for the sins of _all_ the people."--_Id._ "Then it may please
the Lord, they _shall_ find it to be a restorative."--_Id._ "Perdition is
repentance put _off till_ a future day."--_Maxim cor._ "The angels of God,
who _will_ good and cannot _will_ evil, have nevertheless perfect liberty
of _will_."--_Perkins cor._ "Secondly, this doctrine cuts off the excuse of
_all_ sin."--_Id._ "_Knell_, the sound of a bell rung at a
funeral."--_Dict. cor._

   "If gold with _dross_ or grain with _chaff_ you find,
    Select--and leave the _chaff_ and _dross_ behind."--_G. Brown_.


RULE II.--OTHER FINALS.

"The _mob_ hath many heads, but no brains."--_Maxim cor._ "_Clam_; to clog
with any glutinous or viscous matter."--See _Webster's Dict._ "_Whur_; to
pronounce the letter _r_ with too much force." "_Flip_; a mixed liquor,
consisting of beer and spirit sweetened." "_Glyn_; a hollow between two
mountains, a glen."--See _Walker's Dict._ "_Lam_, or _belam_; to beat
soundly with a cudgel or bludgeon."--See _Red Book_. "_Bun_; a small cake,
a simnel, a kind of sweet bread."--See _Webster's Dict._ "_Brunet_, or
_Brunette_; a woman with a brown complexion."--See _ib._, and _Scott's
Dict._ "_Wadset_; an ancient tenure or lease of land in the Highlands of
Scotland."--_Webster cor._ "To _dod_ sheep, is to cut the wool away about
their tails."--_Id._ "In aliquem arietare. _Cic._ To run full _butt_ at
one."--_W. Walker cor._ "Neither your policy nor your temper would _permit_
you to kill me."--_Phil. Mu. cor._ "And _admit_ none but his own offspring
to fulfill them."--_Id._ "The _sum_ of all this dispute is, that some make
them Participles."--_R. Johnson cor._ "As the _whistling_ winds, the _buzz_
and _hum_ of insects, the _hiss_ of serpents, the _crash_ of falling
timber."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 331. "_Van_; to winnow, or a fan for
winnowing."--See _Scott_. "Creatures that _buzz_, are very commonly such as
will sting."--_G. Brown_. "_Beg_, buy, or borrow; _but_ beware how yon
find."--_Id._ "It is better to have a house to _let_, than a house to
_get_." "Let not your tongue _cut_ your throat."--_Precept cor._ "A little
_wit_ will save a fortunate man."--_Adage cor._ "There is many a _slip_
'twixt the cup and the _lip_."--_Id._ "Mothers' darlings make but _milksop_
heroes."--_Id._ "One eye-witness is worth _ten_ hearsays."--_Id._

   "The judge shall _job_, the bishop bite the town,
    And mighty dukes pack cards for half a crown."
        POPE: _in Johnson's Dict., w. Job_.


RULE III.--DOUBLING.

"Friz, to curl; _frizzed_, curled; _frizzing_, curling."--_Webster cor._
"The commercial interests served to foster the principles of
_Whiggism_."--_Payne cor._ "Their extreme indolence _shunned_ every species
of labour."--_Robertson cor._ "In poverty and _strippedness_, they attend
their little meetings."--_The Friend cor._ "In guiding and _controlling_
the power you have thus obtained."--_Abbott cor._ "I began, Thou
_begannest_ or _beganst_, He began, &c."--_A. Murray cor._ "Why does
_began_ change its ending; as, I began, Thou _begannest_ or
_beganst_?"--_Id._ "Truth and conscience cannot be _controlled_ by any
methods of coercion."--_Hints cor._ "Dr. Webster _nodded_, when he wrote
_knit, knitter_, and _knitting-needle_, without doubling the _t_."--_G.
Brown_. "A wag should have wit enough to know when other wags are
_quizzing_ him." "_Bonny_; handsome, beautiful, merry."--_Walker cor._
"_Coquettish; practising_ coquetry; after the manner of a jilt."--See
_Worcester_. "_Pottage_; a species of food made of meat and vegetables
boiled to softness in water."--See _Johnson's Dict._ "_Pottager_; (from
_pottage_;) a porringer, a small vessel for children's food." "Compromit,
_compromitted, compromitting_; manumit, manumitted, manumitting."--_Webster
cor._ "_Inferrible_; that may be inferred or deduced from
premises."--_Walker_. "Acids are either solid, liquid, or
_gasseous_."--_Gregory cor._ "The spark will pass through the interrupted
space between the two wires, and explode the _gasses_."--_Id._ "Do we sound
gasses and _gasseous_ like _cases_ and _caseous_? No: they are more like
_glasses_ and _osseous_."--_G. Brown_. "I shall not need here to mention
_Swimming_, when he is of an age able to learn."--_Locke cor._ "Why do
lexicographers spell _thinnish_ and _mannish_ with two Ens, and _dimmish_
and _rammish_ with one Em, each?"--_G. Brown._ "_Gas_ forms the plural
regularly, _gasses_."--_Peirce cor._ "Singular, _gas_; Plural,
_gasses_."--_Clark cor._ "These are contractions from _shedded,
bursted_."--_Hiley cor._ "The Present Tense denotes what is _occurring_ at
the present time."--_Day cor._ "The verb ending in _eth_ is of the solemn
or antiquated style; as, He loveth, He walketh, He _runneth_."--_Davis
cor._

   "Thro' Freedom's sons no more remonstrance rings,
    Degrading nobles and controlling kings."--_Johnson_.


RULE IV--NO DOUBLING.

"A _bigoted_ and tyrannical clergy will be feared."--See _Johnson, Walker_,
&c. "Jacob _worshiped_ his Creator, leaning on the top of his
staff."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 165. "For it is all _marvellously_
destitute of interest."--See _Johnson, Walker_, and _Worcester_. "As, box,
boxes; church, churches; lash, lashes; kiss, kisses; rebus,
_rebuses_."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 40. "_Gossiping_ and lying go hand
in hand."--See _Webster's Dict., and Worcester's, w. Gossiping_. "The
substance of the Criticisms on the Diversions of Purley was, with singular
industry, _gossiped_ by the present precious Secretary _at_ [of] war, in
Payne the bookseller's shop."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 187.
"_Worship_ makes _worshiped, worshiper, worshiping_; _gossip, gossiped,
gossiper, gossiping_; _fillip, filliped, filliper, filliping_."--_Web.
Dict._ "I became as _fidgety_ as a fly in a milk-jug."--See _ib._ "That
enormous error seems to be _riveted_ in popular opinion." "Whose mind is
not _biased_ by personal attachments to a sovereign."--See _ib._ "Laws
against usury originated in a _bigoted_ prejudice against the
Jews."--_Webster cor._ "The most _critical_ period of life is usually
between thirteen and seventeen."--_Id._ "_Generalissimo_, the chief
commander of an army or military force."--_Every Dict._ "_Tranquilize_, to
quiet, to make calm and peaceful."--_Webster's Dict._ "_Pommelled_, beaten,
bruised; having pommels, as a sword-hilt."--_Webster et al. cor._ "From
what a height does a _jeweller_ look down upon his shoemaker!"--_Red Book
cor._ "You will have a verbal account from my friend and fellow
_traveller_."--_Id._ "I observe that you have written the word _counselled_
with one _l_ only."--_Ib._ "They were offended at such as _combated_ these
notions."--_Robertson cor._ "From _libel_, come _libelled, libeller,
libelling, libellous_; from _grovel, grovelled, groveller, grovelling_;
from _gravel, gravelled_, and _gravelling_."--_Webster cor._ "_Woolliness_,
the state of being woolly."--_Worcester's Dict._ "Yet he has spelled
chapelling, bordeller, _medalist, metaline, metalist, metalize_,
clavellated, etc, with _ll_, contrary to his rule."--_Webster cor._ "Again,
he has spelled _cancellation_ and _snivelly_ with single _l_, and
cupellation, pannellation wittolly, with _ll_."--_Id._ "_Oily_, fatty,
greasy, containing oil, glib."--_Walker cor._ "_Medalist_, one curious in
medals; _Metalist_, one skilled in metals."--_Walker's Rhym. Dict._ "He is
_benefited_."--_Webster_. "They _travelled_ for pleasure."--_Clark cor._

   "Without you, what were man? A _grovelling_ herd,
    In darkness, wretchedness, and want enchain'd."--_Beattle cor._


RULE V.--FINAL CK.

"He hopes, therefore, to be pardoned by the _critic_."--_Kirkham
corrected_. "The leading object of every _public_ speaker should be, to
persuade."--_Id._ "May not four feet be as _poetic_ as five; or fifteen
feet as _poetic_ as fifty?"--_Id._ "Avoid all theatrical trick and
_mimicry_, and especially all _scholastic stiffness_."--_Id._ "No one
thinks of becoming skilled in dancing, or in _music_, or in _mathematics_,
or _in logic_, without long and close application to the subject."--_Id._
"Caspar's sense of feeling, and susceptibility of _metallic_ and _magnetic_
excitement, were also very extraordinary."--_Id._ "Authorship has become a
mania, or, perhaps I should say, an _epidemic_."--_Id._ "What can prevent
this _republic_ from soon raising a literary standard?"--_Id._ "Courteous
reader, you may think me garrulous upon _topics_ quite foreign to the
subject before me."--_Id._ "Of the _Tonic, Subtonic_, and _Atonic_
elements."--_Id._ "The _subtonic_ elements are inferior to the _tonics_, in
all the _emphatic_ and elegant purposes of speech."--_Id._ "The nine
_atonics_ and the three abrupt _subtonics_ cause an interruption to the
continuity of the _syllabic_ impulse." [526]--_Id._ "On _scientific_
principles, conjunctions and prepositions are [_not_] one [and the same]
part of speech."--_Id._ "That some inferior animals should be able to
_mimick_ human articulation, will not seem wonderful."--_L. Murray cor._

   "When young, you led a life _monastic_,
    And wore a vest _ecclesiastic_;
    Now, in your age, you grow _fantastic_."--_Denham's Poems_, p. 235.


RULE VI.--RETAINING.

"_Fearlessness_; exemption from fear, intrepidity."--_Johnson cor._
"_Dreadlessness_; _fearlessness_, intrepidity, undauntedness."--_Id._
"_Regardlessly_, without heed; _Regardlessness_, heedlessness."--_Id._
"_Blamelessly_, innocently; _Blamelessness_, innocence."--_Id._ "That is
better than to be flattered into pride and _carelessness_."--_Id._ "Good
fortunes began to breed a proud _recklessness_ in them."--_Id._ "See
whether he lazily and _listlessly_ dreams away his time."--_Id._ "It maybe,
the palate of the soul is indisposed by _listlessness_ or sorrow."--_Id._
"_Pitilessly_, without mercy; _Pitilessness_, unmercifulness."--_Id._ "What
say you to such as these? abominable, accordable, _agreeable_, etc."--
_Tooke cor._ "_Artlessly_; naturally, sincerely, without craft."--_Johnson
cor._ "A _chillness_, or shivering of the body, generally precedes a
fever."--See _Webster_. "_Smallness_; littleness, minuteness,
weakness."--_Walker's Dict., et al._ "_Galless, adj_. Free from gall or
bitterness."--_Webster cor._ "_Tallness_; height of stature, upright length
with comparative slenderness."--_Webster's Dict._ "_Willful_; stubborn,
contumacious, perverse, inflexible."--See _ib._ "He guided them by the
_skillfulness_ of his hands."--See _ib._ "The earth is the Lord's, and the
_fullness_ thereof."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Ps_. xxiv, 1. "What is now, is but
an _amassment_ of imaginary conceptions."--_Glanville cor._
"_Embarrassment_; perplexity, entanglement."--_Walker_. "The second is
slothfulness, whereby they are performed slackly and _carelessly_."--
_Perkins cor._ "_Installment_; induction into office, part of a large sum
of money, to be paid at a particular time."--See _Webster's Dict._
"_Inthrallment_; servitude, slavery, bondage."--_Ib._

   "I, who at some times spend, at others spare,
    Divided between _carelessness_ and care."--_Pope cor._


RULE VII.--RETAINING.

"_Shall_, on the contrary, in the first person, simply
_foretells_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 41; _Comly's_, 38; _Cooper's_, 51;
_Lennie's_, 26. "There are a few compound irregular verbs, as _befall,
bespeak_, &c."--_Ash cor._ "That we might frequently _recall_ it to our
memory."--_Calvin cor._ "The angels exercise a constant solicitude that no
evil _befall us_."--_Id._ "_Inthrall_; to enslave, to shackle, to reduce to
servitude."--_Johnson_. "He makes resolutions, and _fulfills_ them by new
ones."--See _Webster_. "To _enroll_ my humble name upon the list of authors
on Elocution."--See _Webster_. "_Forestall_; to anticipate, to take up
beforehand."--_Johnson_. "_Miscall_; to call wrong, to name
improperly."--_Webster_. "_Bethrall_; to enslave, to reduce to
bondage."--_Id._ "_Befall_; to happen to, to come to pass."--_Walkers
Dict._ "_Unroll_; to open what is rolled or convolved."--_Webster's Dict._
"_Counterroll_; to keep copies of accounts to prevent frauds."--See _ib._
"As Sisyphus _uprolls_ a rock, which constantly overpowers him at the
summit."--_G. Brown_. "_Unwell_; not well, indisposed, not in good
health."--_Webster_. "_Undersell_; to defeat by selling for less, to sell
cheaper than an other."--_Johnson_. "_Inwall_; to enclose or fortify with a
wall."--_Id._ "_Twibill_; an instrument with two bills, or with a point and
a blade; a pickaxe, a mattock, a halberd, a battleaxe."--_Dict. cor._ "What
you _miscall_ their folly, is their care."--_Dryden cor._ "My heart will
sigh when I _miscall_ it so."--_Shak. cor._ "But if the arrangement
_recalls_ one set of ideas more readily than an other."--_Murray's Gram._,
Vol. i, p. 334.

   "'Tis done; and since 'tis done, 'tis past _recall_
    And since 'tis past _recall_, must be forgotten."--_Dryden cor._


RULE VIII.--FINAL LL.

"The righteous is taken away from the _evil_ to come."--_Isaiah_, lvii, 1.
"_Patrol_; to go the rounds in a camp or garrison, to march about and
observe what passes."--See _Joh. Dic._ "_Marshal_; the chief officer of
arms, one who regulates rank and order."--See _ib._ "_Weevil_; a
destructive grub that gets among corn."--See _ib._ "It much _excels_ all
other studies and arts."--_W. Walker cor._ "It is _essential_ to all
magnitudes, to be in one place."--_Perkins cor._ "By nature I was thy
_vassal_, but Christ hath redeemed me."--_Id._ "Some being in want, pray
for _temporal_ blessings."--_Id._ "And this the Lord doth, either in
_temporal_ or _in spiritual_ benefits."--_Id._ "He makes an _idol_ of them,
by setting his heart on them." "This _trial_ by desertion serveth for two
purposes."--_Id._ "Moreover, this destruction is both _perpetual_ and
terrible."--_Id._ "Giving to _several_ men several gifts, according to his
good pleasure." "_Until_; to some time, place, or degree, mentioned."--See
_Dict._ "_Annul_; to make void, to nullify, to abrogate, to abolish."--See
_Dict._ "Nitric acid combined with _argil_, forms the nitrate of
_argil_."--_Gregory cor._

   "Let modest Foster, if he will, _excel_
    Ten metropolitans in preaching well."--_Pope cor._


RULE IX.--FINAL E.

"Adjectives ending in _able_ signify capacity; as, _comfortable, tenable,
improvable_."--_Priestly cor._ "Their mildness and hospitality are
_ascribable_ to a general administration of religious ordinances."--
_Webster cor._ "Retrench as much as possible without _obscuring_ the
sense."--_J. Brown cor._ "_Changeable_, subject to change; _Unchangeable_,
immutable."--_Walker cor._ "_Tamable_, susceptive of taming; _Untamable_,
not to be tamed."--_Id._ "_Reconcilable, Unreconcilable, Reconcilableness_;
Irreconcilable, Irreconcilably, Irreconcilableness."--_Johnson cor._ "We
have thought it most _advisable_ to pay him some little attention."--
_Merchant cor._ "_Provable_, that may be proved; Reprovable, _blamable_,
worthy of reprehension."--_Walker cor._ "_Movable_ and Immovable, _Movably_
and Immovably, _Movables_ and Removal, _Movableness_ and Improvableness,
_Unremovable_ and Unimprovable, _Unremovably_ and Removable, _Provable_ and
Approvable, _Irreprovable_ and Reprovable, _Unreprovable_ and Improvable,
_Unimprovableness_ and Improvably."--_Johnson cor._ "And with this cruelty
you are _chargeable_ in some measure yourself."--_Collier cor._ "Mothers
would certainly resent it, as _judging_ it proceeded from a low opinion of
the genius of their sex."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "_Tithable_, subject to the
payment of tithes; _Salable_, vendible, fit for sale; _Losable_, possible
to be lost; _Sizable_, of reasonable bulk or size."--See _Webster's Dict._
"When he began this custom, he was _puting_ and very tender."--_Locke cor._

   "The plate, coin, revenues, and _movables_,
    Whereof our uncle Gaunt did stand possess'd."--_Shak. cor._


RULE X.--FINAL E.

"_Diversely_; in different ways, differently, variously."--See _Walker's
Dict._ "The event thereof contains a _wholesome_ instruction."--_Bacon
cor._ "Whence Scaliger _falsely_ concluded that Articles were
useless."--_Brightland cor._ "The child that we have just seen is
_wholesomely_ fed."--_Murray cor._ "Indeed, _falsehood_ and legerdemain
sink the character of a prince."--_Collier cor._ "In earnest, at this rate
of _management_, thou usest thyself very _coarsely_."--_Id._ "To give them
an _arrangement_ and a diversity, as agreeable as the nature of the subject
would admit."--_Murray cor._ "Alger's Grammar is only a trifling
_enlargement_ of Murray's little _Abridgement_."--_G. Brown_. "You ask
whether you are to retain or _to_ omit the mute _e_ in the _words,
judgement, abridgement, acknowledgement, lodgement, adjudgement_, and
_prejudgement_."--_Red Book cor._ "Fertileness, fruitfulness; _fertilely_,
fruitfully, abundantly."--_Johnson cor._ "_Chastely_, purely, without
contamination; _Chasteness_, chastity, purity."--_Id._ "_Rhymester_, n. One
who makes rhymes; a versifier; a mean poet."--_Walker, Chalmers, Maunder,
Worcester_. "It is therefore a heroical _achievement_ to disposess
[sic--KTH] this imaginary monarch."--_Berkley cor._ "Whereby is not meant
the present time, as he _imagines_, but the time past."--_R. Johnson cor._
"So far is this word from affecting the noun, in regard to its
_definiteness_, that its own character of _definiteness_ or
_indefiniteness_, depends upon the name to which it is prefixed."--_Webster
cor._

   "Satire, by _wholesome_ lessons, would reclaim,
    And heal their vices to secure their fame "--_Brightland cor._


RULE XI.--FINAL Y.

"Solon's the _veriest_ fool in all the play."--_Dryden cor._ "Our author
prides himself upon his great _sliness_ and shrewdness."--_Merchant cor._
"This tense, then, _implies_ also the signification of _debeo_."--_R.
Johnson cor._ "That may be _applied_ to a subject, with respect to
something accidental."--_Id._ "This latter author _accompanies_ his note
with a distinction."--_Id._ "This rule is defective, and none of the
annotators have sufficiently _supplied its deficiencies_."--_Id._ "Though
the _fancied_ supplement of Sanctius, Scioppius, Vossius, and Mariangelus,
may take place."--_Ib._ "Yet, as to the commutableness of these two tenses,
which is _denied_ likewise, they [the foregoing examples] are _all one_ [;
i.e., _exactly equivalent_]"--_Id._ "Both these tenses may represent a
futurity, _implied_ by the dependence of the clause."--_Id._ "Cry, cries,
crying, cried, crier, decrial; Shy, _shier, shiest, shily, shiness_; Fly,
flies, flying, flier, high-flier; Sly, _slier, sliest, slily, sliness_;
Spy, spies, spying, spied, espial; Dry, drier, driest, _drily,
driness_."--_Cobb, Webster, and Chalmers cor._ "I would sooner listen to
the thrumming of a _dandizette_ at her piano."--_Kirkham cor._ "Send her
away; for she _crieth_ after us."--_Matt._, v, 23. "IVIED, _a_. overgrown
with ivy."--_Cobb's Dict._, and _Maunders_.

   "Some _drily_ plain, without invention's aid,
    Write dull receipts how poems may be made."--_Pope cor._


RULE XII.--FINAL Y.

"The _gayety_ of youth should be tempered by the precepts of age."--_Murray
cor._ "In the storm of 1703, two thousand stacks of _chimneys_ were blown
down in and about London."--_Red Book cor._ "And the vexation was not
abated by the _hackneyed_ plea of haste."--_Id._ "The fourth sin of our
_days_ is lukewarmness."--_Perkins cor._ "God hates the workers of
iniquity, and _destroys_ them that speak lies."--_Id._ "For, when he _lays_
his hand upon us, we may not fret."--_Id._ "Care not for it; but if thou
_mayst_ be free, choose it rather."--_Id._ "Alexander Severus saith, 'He
that _buyeth_, must sell; I will not suffer buyers and sellers of
offices.'"--_Id._ "With these measures, fell in all _moneyed_ men."--See
_Johnson's Dict._ "But rattling nonsense in full _volleys_
breaks."--_Murray's Reader, q. Pope_. "_Valleys_ are the intervals betwixt
mountains."--_Woodward cor._ "The Hebrews had fifty-two _journeys_ or
marches."--_Wood cor._ "It was not possible to manage or steer the
_galleys_ thus fastened together."--_Goldsmith cor._ "_Turkeys_ were not
known to naturalists till after the discovery of America."--_Gregory cor._
"I would not have given it for a wilderness of _monkeys_."--SHAK.: _in
Johnson's Dict._ "Men worked at embroidery, especially in
_abbeys_."--_Constable cor._ "By which all purchasers or mortgagees may be
secured of all _moneys_ they lay out."--_Temple cor._ "He would fly to the
mines _or_ the _galleys_, for his recreation."--_South cor._ "Here
_pulleys_ make the pond'rous oak ascend."--_Gay cor._

    ------"You need my help, and you say,
    Shylock, we would have _moneys_."--_Shak. cor._


RULE XIII.--IZE AND ISE.

"Will any able writer _authorize_ other men to _revise_ his works?"--_G.
B_. "It can be made as strong and expressive as this _Latinized_
English."--_Murray cor._ "Governed by the success or failure of an
_enterprise_."--_Id._ "Who have _patronized_ the cause of justice against
powerful oppressors."--_Id., et al_. "Yet custom _authorizes_ this use of
it."--_Priestley cor._ "They _surprise_ myself, ****; and I even think the
writers themselves will be _surprised_."--_Id._ "Let the interest _rise_ to
any sum which can be obtained."--_Webster cor._ "To _determine_ what
interest shall _arise_ on the use of money."--_Id._ "To direct the popular
councils and check _any rising_ opposition,"--_Id._ "Five were appointed to
the immediate _exercise_ of the office."--_Id._ "No man ever offers himself
as a candidate by _advertising_."--_Id._ "They are honest and economical,
but indolent, and destitute of _enterprise_."--_Id._ "I would, however,
_advise_ you to be cautious."--_Id._ "We are accountable for what we
_patronize_ in others."--_Murray cor._ "After he was _baptized_, and was
solemnly admitted into the office."--_Perkins cor._ "He will find all, or
most, of them, _comprised_ in the exercises."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "A quick
and ready habit of _methodizing_ and regulating their thoughts."--_Id._ "To
_tyrannize_ over the time and patience of his readers."--_Kirkham cor._
"Writers of dull books, however, if _patronized_ at all, are rewarded
beyond their deserts."--_Id._ "A little reflection will show the reader the
reason for _emphasizing_ the words marked."--_Id._ "The English Chronicle
contains an account of a _surprising_ cure."--_Red Book cor._ "_Dogmatize_,
to assert positively; Dogmatizer, an _assertor_, a magisterial
teacher."--_Chalmers cor._ "And their inflections might now have been
easily _analyzed_."--_Murray cor._ "Authorize, _disauthorize_, and
unauthorized; Temporize, _contemporize_, and extemporize."--_Walker cor._
"Legalize, _equalize, methodize_, sluggardize, _womanize_, humanize,
_patronize_, cantonize, _gluttonize, epitomize_, anatomize, _phlebotomize,
sanctuarize_, characterize, _synonymize, recognize_, detonize,
_colonize_."--_Id. cor._

   "This beauty sweetness always must _comprise_,
    Which from the subject, well express'd, will rise."--_Brightland cor._


RULE XIV.--COMPOUNDS.

"The glory of the Lord shall be thy _rear-ward_."--SCOTT, ALGER: _Isa._,
lviii, 8. "A mere _van-courier_ to announce the coming of his
master."--_Tooke cor._ "The _party-coloured_ shutter appeared to come close
up before him."--_Kirkham cor._ "When the day broke upon this _handful_ of
forlorn but dauntless spirits."--_Id._ "If, upon a _plumtree_, peaches and
apricots are engrafted, _nobody_ will say they are the natural growth of
the _plumtree_.'--_Berkley cor._ "The channel between Newfoundland and
Labrador is called the Straits of _Belleisle_."--_Worcester cor._ "There
being nothing that more exposes to _the headache_:"--or, (perhaps more
accurately,) "_headake_."--_Locke cor._ "And, by a sleep, to say we end the
_heartache_:"--or, "_heartake_."--_Shak. cor._ "He that sleeps, feels not
the _toothache_:"--or, "_toothake_."--_Id._ "That the shoe must fit him,
because it fitted his father and _grandfather_."--_Phil. Museum cor._ "A
single word _misspelled_ [or _misspelt_] in a letter is sufficient to show
that you have received a defective education."--_C. Bucke cor._ "Which
_misstatement_ the committee attributed to a failure of
memory."--_Professors cor._ "Then he went through the _Banqueting-House_ to
the scaffold."--_Smollet cor._ "For the purpose of maintaining a clergyman
and _a schoolmaster_."--_Webster cor._ "They however knew that the lands
were claimed by _Pennsylvania_."--_Id._ "But if you ask a reason, they
immediately bid _farewell_ to argument."--_Barnes cor._ "Whom resist,
_steadfast_ in the faith."--_Alger's Bible_. "And they continued
_steadfastly_ in the apostles' doctrine."--_Id._ "Beware lest ye also fall
from your own _steadfastness_."--_Ib._ "_Galiot_, or _Galliot_, a Dutch
vessel carrying a main-mast and a _mizzen-mast_."--_Webster cor._
"Infinitive, to overflow; Preterit, overflowed; Participle,
_overflowed_."--_Cobbett cor._ "After they have _misspent_ so much precious
time."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "Some say, 'two _handsful_;" some, 'two
_handfuls_; and others, 'two _handful_.' The second expression is
right."--_G. Brown_. "_Lapful_, as much as the lap can contain."--_Webster
cor._ "_Dareful_, full of defiance."--_Walker cor._ "The road to the
_blissful_ regions is as open to the peasant as to the king."--_Mur. cor._
"_Misspell_ is _misspelled_ [or _misspelt_] in every dictionary which I
have seen."--_Barnes cor._ "_Downfall_; ruin, calamity, fall from rank or
state."--_Johnson cor._ "The whole legislature _likewise_ acts _as_ a
court."--_Webster cor._ "It were better a _millstone_ were hanged about his
neck."--_Perkins cor._ "_Plumtree_, a tree that produces plums;
_Hogplumtree_, a tree."--_Webster cor._ "_Trissyllables_ ending in _re_ or
_le_, accent the first syllable."--_Murray cor._

   "It happened on a summer's _holyday_,
    That to the greenwood shade he took his way."--_Dryden_.


RULE XV.--USAGE.

"Nor are the _moods_ of the Greek tongue more uniform."--_Murray cor._ "If
we _analyze_ a conjunctive _preterit_, the rule will not appear to
hold."--_Priestley cor._ "No landholder would have been at that
_expense_."--_Id._ "I went to see the child whilst they were putting on its
_clothes_."--_Id._ "This _style_ is ostentatious, and _does_ not suit grave
writing."--_Id._ "The king of Israel and _Jehoshaphat_ the king of Judah,
sat each on his throne."--_1 Kings_, xxii, 10; _2 Chron._, xviii, 9.
"_Lysias_, speaking of his friends, promised to his father never to abandon
them."--_Murray cor._ "Some, to avoid this _error_, run into _its_
opposite."--_Churchill cor._ "Hope, the balm of life _soothes_ us under
every misfortune."--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 182. "Any judgement or decree
might be _heard_ and reversed by the legislature."--_N. Webster cor._ "A
pathetic _harangue will screen_ from punishment any knave."--_Id._ "For the
same _reason_ the _women_ would be improper judges."--_Id._ "Every person
_is_ indulged in worshiping _as_ he _pleases_."--_Id._ "Most or all
_teachers_ are excluded from genteel company."--_Id._ "The _Christian_
religion, in its purity, _is_ the best institution on _earth_."--_Id._
"_Neither_ clergymen nor human laws _have_ the _least_ authority over the
conscience."--_Id._ "A _guild_ is a society, fraternity, or
corporation."--_Barnes cor._ "Phillis was not able to _untie_ the knot, and
so she cut it."--_Id._ "An _acre_ of land is the quantity of one hundred
and sixty perches."--_Id._ "_Ochre_ is a fossil earth combined with the
_oxyd_ of some metal."--_Id._ "_Genii_, when denoting _aërial_ spirits;
_geniuses_, when signifying persons of genius."--_Murray cor._; also
_Frost_; also _Nutting_. "Acrisius, king of Argos, had a beautiful
daughter, whose name was _Danäe_."--_Classic Tales cor._ "_Phäeton_ was the
son of Apollo and Clymene."--_Id._--"But, after all, I may not have reached
the intended _goal_."--_Buchanan cor._ "'_Pittacus_ was offered a large
sum.' Better: '_To Pittacus_ was offered a large sum.'"--_Kirkham cor._
"King _Micipsa_ charged his sons to respect the senate and people of
Rome."--_Id._ "For example: '_Galileo_ greatly improved the
telescope.'"--_Id._ "Cathmor's _warriors_ sleep in death."--_Macpherson's
Ossian_. "For parsing will enable you to detect and correct _errors_ in
composition."--_Kirkham cor._

   "O'er barren mountains, o'er the flow'ry plain,
    Extends thy _uncontrolled_ and boundless reign."--_Dryden cor._


PROMISCUOUS CORRECTIONS OF FALSE SPELLING.

LESSON I.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"A bad author deserves better usage than a bad _critic_."--_Pope (or
Johnson) cor._ "Produce a single passage, _superior_ to the speech of
Logan, a Mingo chief, to Lord Dunmore, _governor_ of this
state."--_Jefferson's Notes_, p. 94. "We have none _synonymous_ to supply
its place."--_Jamieson cor._ "There is a probability that the effect will
be _accelerated_."--_Id._ "Nay, a regard to sound has _controlled_ the
public choice."--_Id._ "Though learnt [better, _learned_] from the
uninterrupted use of _guttural_ sounds."--_Id._ "It is by carefully filing
off all roughness and _all inequalities_, that languages, like metals, must
be polished."--_Id._ "That I have not _misspent_ my time in the service of
the community."--_Buchanan cor._ "The leaves of _maize_ are also called
blades."--_Webster cor._ "Who boast that they know what is past, and can
_foretell_ what is to come."--_Robertson cor._ "Its tasteless _dullness_ is
interrupted by nothing but its perplexities."--_Abbott, right_. "Sentences
constructed with the Johnsonian _fullness_ and swell."--_Jamieson, right_.
"The privilege of escaping from his prefatory _dullness_ and
prolixity."--_Kirkham, right_. "But, in poetry, this _characteristic_ of
_dullness_ attains its full growth."--_Id. corrected_. "The leading
_characteristic_ consists in an increase of the force and fullness."--_Id
cor._ "The character of this opening _fullness_ and feebler vanish."--_Id.
cor._ "Who, in the _fullness_ of _unequalled_ power, would not believe
himself the favourite of Heaven?"--_Id. right_. "They _mar_ one _an_ other,
and distract him."--_Philol. Mus. cor._ "Let a deaf _worshiper_ of
antiquity and an English prosodist settle this."--_Rush cor._ "This
_Philippic_ gave rise to my satirical reply in self-defence."--_Merchant
cor._ "We here saw no _innuendoes_, no new sophistry, no
falsehoods."--_Id._ "A witty and _humorous_ vein has often produced
enemies."--_Murray cor._ "Cry _hollo_! to thy tongue, I _pray thee_:[527]
it _curvets_ unseasonably."--_Shak. cor._ "I said, in my _sliest_ manner,
'Your health, sir.'"--_Blackwood cor._ "And _attorneys_ also travel the
circuit in _pursuit_ of business."--_Barnes cor._ "Some whole counties in
Virginia would hardly _sell_ for the _value_ of the _debts due_ from the
inhabitants."--_Webster cor._ "They were called the Court of Assistants,
and _exercised_ all powers, _legislative_ and judicial."--_Id._ "Arithmetic
is excellent for the _gauging_ of liquors."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 295.
"Most of the inflections may be _analyzed_ in a way somewhat
similar."--_Murray cor._

   "To epithets allots emphatic state,
    _While_ principals, ungrac'd, like _lackeys_ wait."
        --_T. O. Churchill's Gram._, p. 326.


LESSON II.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"Hence _less_ is a privative _suffix_, denoting destitution; as in
_fatherless, faithless, penniless_."--_Webster cor._ "_Bay_; red, or
reddish, inclining to a _chestnut colour_."--_Id._ "To _mimick_, to imitate
or ape for sport; a _mimic_, one who imitates or mimicks."--_Id._
"Counterroll, a counterpart or copy of the rolls; _Counterrollment_, a
counter account."--_Id._ "_Millennium_, [from _mille_ and _annus_,] the
thousand years during which Satan shall be bound."--See _Johnson's Dict._
"_Millennial_, [like _septennial, decennial_, &c.,] pertaining to the
_millennium_, or to a thousand years."--See _Worcester's Dict._
"_Thralldom_; slavery, bondage, a state of servitude."--_Webster's Dict._
"Brier, a prickly bush; Briery, rough, prickly, full of briers;
_Sweetbrier_, a fragrant shrub."--See _Ainsworth's Dict., Scott's, Gobb's_,
and others. "_Will_, in the second and third persons, barely
_foretells_."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "And _therefore_ there is no word false,
but what is distinguished by Italics."--_Id._ "What should be _repeated_,
is left to their discretion."--_Id._ "Because they are abstracted or
_separated_ from material substances."--_Id._ "All motion is in time, and
_therefore, wherever_ it exists, implies time as its _concomitant_."--
_Harris's Hermes_, p. 95. "And illiterate grown persons are guilty of
_blamable_ spelling."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "They _will_ always be ignorant,
and of _rough_, uncivil manners."--_Webster cor._ "This fact _will_ hardly
be _believed_ in the northern states."--_Id._ "The province, however, _was
harassed_ with disputes."--_Id._ "So little concern _has_ the legislature
for the interest of _learning_."--_Id._ "The gentlemen _will_ not admit
that a _schoolmaster_ can be a gentleman."--_Id._ "Such absurd
_quid-pro-quoes_ cannot be too strenuously avoided."--_Churchill cor._
"When we say of a man, 'He looks _slily_;' we signify, that he takes a sly
glance or peep at something."--_Id._ "_Peep_; to look through a crevice; to
look narrowly, closely, or _slily_"--_Webster cor._ "Hence the confession
has become a _hackneyed_ proverb."--_Wayland cor._ "Not to mention the more
ornamental parts of _gilding_, varnish, &c."--_Tooke cor._ "After this
system of self-interest had been _riveted_."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "Prejudice
might have prevented the cordial approbation of a _bigoted_ Jew."--_Dr.
Scott cor._

   "All twinkling with the _dewdrop_ sheen,
    The _brier-rose_ fell in streamers green."--_Sir W. Scott cor._


LESSON III.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"The infinitive _mood_ has, commonly, the sign _to_ before it."--_Harrison
cor._ "Thus, it is _advisable_ to write _singeing_, from the verb to
_singe_, by way of distinction from _singing_, the participle of the verb
to _sing_."--_Id._ "Many verbs form both the _preterit_ tense and the
_preterit_ participle irregularly."--_Id._ "Much must be left to every
one's taste and _judgement_."--_Id._ "Verses of different lengths,
intermixed, form a _Pindaric_ poem."--_Priestley cor._ "He'll _surprise_
you."--_Frost cor._ "Unequalled archer! why was this concealed?"--
_Knowles_. "So _gayly_ curl the waves before each dashing prow."--_Byron
cor._ "When is a _diphthong_ called a proper _diphthong_?"--_Inf. S. Gram.
cor._ "How many _Esses_ would _the word_ then end with? Three; for it would
be _goodness's_."--_Id._ "_Qu_. What is a _triphthong_? _Ans_. A
_triphthong_ is a _coalition_ of three vowels _in one syllable_."--_Bacon
cor._ "The verb, noun, or pronoun, is referred to the preceding terms taken
_separately_."--_Murray_. "The cubic foot of matter which occupies the
_centre_ of the globe."--_Cardell cor._ "The wine imbibes _oxygen_, or the
acidifying principle, from the air."--_Id._ "Charcoal, sulphur, and
_nitre_, make _gunpowder_."--_Id._ "It would be readily understood, that
the thing so _labelled_ was a bottle of Madeira wine."--_Id._ "They went
their ways, one to his farm, an other to his _merchandise_."--_Matt._,
xxii, 5. "A _diphthong_ is the union of two vowels, _both in one
syllable_."--_Russell cor._ "The professors of the _Mohammedan_ religion
are called Mussulmans."--_Maltby cor._ "This _shows_ that _let_ is not a
_mere_ sign of the imperative mood, but a real verb."--_Id._ "Those
_preterits_ and participles which are first mentioned in the list, seem to
be the most eligible."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 107; _Fisk's_, 81;
_Ingersoll's_, 103. "Monosyllables, for the most part, are compared by _er_
and _est_, and _dissyllables_, by _more_ and _most_."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
47. "This termination, added to a noun or _an_ adjective, changes it into a
verb: as, _modern_, to _modernize_; a _symbol_, to _symbolize_."--
_Churchill cor._ "An _Abridgement_ of Murray's Grammar, with additions from
Webster, Ash, Tooke, and others."--_Maltby's Gram._, p. 2. "For the sake of
occupying the room more _advantageously_, the subject of Orthography is
merely glanced at."--_Nutting cor._ "So contended the accusers of
_Galileo_."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ Murray says, "They were _travelling post_
when _he_ met them."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 69. "They _fulfill_ the
only purposes for which they were designed."--_Peirce cor._--See _Webster's
Dict._ "On the _fulfillment_ of the event."--_Peirce, right_. "_Fullness_
consists in expressing every idea."--_Id._ "Consistently with _fullness_
and perspicuity."--_Peirce cor._ "The word _veriest_ is a _regular
adjective_; as, 'He is the _veriest_ fool on earth.'"--_Wright cor._ "The
sound will _recall_ the idea of the object."--_Hiley cor._ "Formed for
great _enterprises_."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 113. "The most important rules
and definitions are printed in large type, _Italicized_."--_Hart cor._
"HAMLETED, _a._, accustomed to a hamlet, countrified."--_Webster_, and
_Worcester_. "Singular, _spoonful, cupful, coachful, handful_; plural,
_spoonfuls, cupfuls, coachfuls, handfuls_."--_Worcester's Universal and
Critical Dictionary_.

   "Between superlatives and following names,
    _Of_, by _grammatic_ right, a station claims."--_Brightland cor._


THE KEY.--PART II.--ETYMOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.--PARTS OF SPEECH.

The first chapter of Etymology, as it exhibits only the distribution of
words into the ten Parts of Speech, contains no false grammar for
correction. And it may be here observed, that as mistakes concerning the
forms, classes, or modifications of words, are chiefly to be found in
_sentences_, rather than in any separate exhibition of the terms; the
quotations of this kind, with which I have illustrated the principles of
etymology, are many of them such as might perhaps with more propriety be
denominated _false syntax_. But, having examples enough at hand to show the
ignorance and carelessness of authors in every part of grammar, I have
thought it most advisable, so to distribute them as to leave no part
destitute of this most impressive kind of illustration. The examples
exhibited as _false etymology_, are as distinct from those which are called
_false syntax_, as the nature of the case will admit.


CHAPTER II.--ARTICLES.

CORRECTIONS RESPECTING A, AN, AND THE.

LESSON I.--ARTICLES ADAPTED.

"Honour is _a_ useful distinction in life."--_Milnes cor._ "No writer,
therefore, ought to foment _a_ humour of innovation."--_Jamieson cor._
"Conjunctions [generally] require a situation between the things of which
they form _a_ union."--_Id._ "Nothing is more easy than to mistake _a u_
for an _a_."--_Tooke cor._ "From making so ill _a_ use of our innocent
expressions."--_Penn cor._ "To grant thee _a_ heavenly and incorruptible
crown of glory."--_Sewel cor._ "It in no wise follows, that such _a_ one
was able to predict."--_Id._ "With _a_ harmless patience, they have borne
most heavy oppressions."--_Id._ "My attendance was to make me _a_ happier
man."--_Spect. cor._ "On the wonderful nature of _a_ human mind."--_Id._ "I
have got _a_ hussy of a maid, who is most craftily given to this."--_Id._
"Argus is said to have had _a_ hundred eyes, some of which were always
awake."--_Stories cor._ "Centiped, having _a_ hundred feet; centennial,
consisting of a hundred years."--_Town cor._ "No good man, he thought,
could be _a_ heretic."--_Gilpin cor._ "As, a Christian, an infidel, _a_
heathen."--_Ash cor._ "Of two or more words, usually joined by _a_
hyphen."--_Blair cor._ "We may consider the whole space of _a_ hundred
years as time present."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 138. "In guarding against
such _a_ use of meats and drinks."--_Ash cor._ "Worship is _a_ homage due
from man to his Creator."--_Monitor cor._ "Then _a_ eulogium on the
deceased was pronounced."--_Grimshaw cor._ "But for Adam there was not
found _a_ help meet for him."--_Bible cor._ "My days are consumed like
smoke, and my bones are burned as _a_ hearth."--_Id._ "A foreigner and a
hired servant shall not eat thereof."--_Id._ "The hill of God is as the
hill of Bashan; _a_ high hill, as the hill of Bashan."--_Id._ "But I do
declare it to have been _a_ holy offering, and such _a_ one too as was to
be once for all."--_Penn cor._ "A hope that does not make ashamed those
that have it."--_Barclay cor._ "Where there is not _a_ unity, we may
exercise true charity."--_Id._ "Tell me, if in any of these such _a_ union
can be found?"--_Dr. Brown cor._

   "Such holy drops her tresses steeped,
    Though 'twas _a_ hero's eye that weeped."--_Sir W. Scott cor._


LESSON II.--ARTICLES INSERTED.

"This veil of flesh parts the visible and _the_ invisible
world."--_Sherlock cor._ "The copulative and _the_ disjunctive conjunctions
operate differently on the verb."--_L. Murray cor._ "Every combination of a
preposition and _an_ article with the noun."--_Id._ "_Either_ signifies,
'the one or the other:' _neither_ imports, 'not either;' that is, 'not
_the_ one nor the other.'"--_Id._ "A noun of multitude may have a pronoun
or _a_ verb agreeing with it, either of the singular number or _of the_
plural."--_Bucke cor._ "_The principal_ copulative conjunctions are, _and,
as, both, because, for, if, that, then, since_."--_Id._ "The two real
genders are the masculine and _the_ feminine."--_Id._ "In which a mute and
_a_ liquid are represented by the same character, _th_."--_Gardiner cor._
"They said, John _the_ Baptist hath sent us unto thee."--_Bible cor._ "They
indeed remember the names of _an_ abundance of places."--_Spect. cor._
"Which created a great dispute between the young and _the_ old
men."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Then shall be read the Apostles' or _the_ Nicene
Creed."--_Com. Prayer cor._ "The rules concerning the perfect tenses and
_the_ supines of verbs are Lily's."--_K. Henry's Gr. cor._ "It was read by
the high and the low, the learned and _the_ illiterate."--_Dr. Johnson
cor._ "Most commonly, both the pronoun and _the_ verb are
understood."--_Buchanan cor._ "To signify the thick and _the_ slender
enunciation of tone."--_Knight cor._ "The difference between a palatial and
_a_ guttural aspirate is very small."--_Id._ "Leaving it to waver between
the figurative and _the_ literal sense."--_Jamieson cor._ "Whatever verb
will not admit of both an active and _a_ passive signification."--_Alex.
Murray cor._ "_The_ is often set before adverbs in the comparative or _the_
superlative degree."--_Id. and Kirkham cor._ "Lest any should fear the
effect of such a change, upon the present or _the_ succeeding age of
writers."--_Fowle cor._ "In all these measures, the accents are to be
placed on _the_ even syllables; and every line is, in general, _the_ more
melodious, as this rule is _the_ more strictly observed."--_L. Murray et
al. cor._ "How many numbers do nouns appear to have? Two: the singular and
_the_ plural."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "How many persons? Three; the first,
_the_ second, and _the_ third."--_Id._ "How many cases? Three; the
nominative, _the_ possessive, and _the_ objective."--_Id._

   "Ah! what avails it me, the flocks to keep,
    Who lost my heart while I preserv'd _the_ sheep:"--or, "_my_ sheep."


LESSON III.--ARTICLES OMITTED.

"The negroes are all _descendants_ of Africans."--_Morse cor._ "_Sybarite_
was applied as a term of reproach to a man of dissolute manners."--_Id._
"The original signification of _knave_ was _boy_."--_Webster cor._ "The
meaning of these will be explained, for greater clearness and
precision."--_Bucke cor._ "What sort of _noun_ is _man_? A noun
substantive, common."--_Buchanan cor._ "Is _what_ ever used as three kinds
of _pronoun_?"_--Kirkham's Question cor._ [Answer: "No; as a pronoun, it is
either relative or interrogative."--_G. Brown_.] "They delighted in _having
done it_, as well as in the doing of it."--_R. Johnson cor._ "_Both parts_
of this rule are exemplified in the following sentences."--_Murray cor._
"He has taught them to hope for _an other and better_ world."--_Knapp cor._
"It was itself only preparatory to a future, _better_, and perfect
revelation."--_Keith cor._ "_Es_ then makes _an other and distinct_
syllable."--_Brightland cor._ "The eternal clamours of a _selfish and
factious_ people."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "To those whose taste in elocution is
_but little_ cultivated."--_Kirkham cor._ "They considered they had but a
_sort of gourd_ to rejoice in."--_Bennet cor._ "Now there was _but one such
bough_, in a spacious and shady grove."--_Bacon cor._ "Now the absurdity of
this latter supposition will go a great way _towards making_ a man
easy."--_Collier cor._ "This is true of _mathematics, with which taste_ has
but little to do."--_Todd cor._ "To stand prompter to a _pausing yet ready_
comprehension."--_Rush cor._ "Such an obedience as the _yoked and tortured_
negro is compelled to yield to the whip of the overseer."--_Chalmers cor._
"For the gratification of a _momentary and unholy_ desire."--_Wayland cor._
"The body is slenderly put together; the mind, a rambling _sort of
thing_."--_Collier cor._ "The only nominative to the verb, is
_officer_."--_Murray cor._ "And though _in general_ it ought to be
admitted, &c."--_Blair cor._ "Philosophical writing admits of a polished,
_neat_, and elegant style."--_Id._ "But notwithstanding this defect,
Thomson is a strong _and beautiful_ describer."--_Id._ "So should he be
sure to be ransomed, _and many_ poor men's lives _should be_
saved."--_Shak. cor._

   "Who felt the wrong, or feared it, _took alarm_,
    Appealed to law, and Justice lent her arm."--_Pope cor._


LESSON IV.--ARTICLES CHANGED.

"To enable us to avoid too frequent _a_ repetition of the same
word."--_Bucke cor._ "The former is commonly acquired in _a_ third part of
the time."--_Burn cor._ "Sometimes _an_ adjective becomes a substantive;
and, _like other substantives, it may have an_ adjective _relating_ to it:
as, '_The chief good_.'"--_L. Murray cor._ "An articulate sound is _a_
sound of the human voice, formed by the organs of speech."--_Id. "A tense_
is _a_ distinction of time: there are six tenses."--_Maunder cor._ "In this
case, _an_ ellipsis of the last article would be improper."--_L. Hurray
cor._ "Contrast _always_ has the effect to make each of the contrasted
objects appear in _a_ stronger light."--_Id. et al_. "These remarks may
serve to _show_ the great importance of _a_ proper use of the
_articles_."--_Lowth et al. cor._ "'Archbishop Tillotson,' says _the_
author of _a_ history of England, 'died in this year.'"--_Dr. Blair cor._
"Pronouns are used in stead of substantives, to prevent too frequent _a_
repetition of them."--_A. Murray cor._ "THAT, as a relative, seems to be
introduced to _prevent_ too frequent _a_ repetition of WHO and
WHICH."--_Id._ "A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun, to _prevent_
too frequent _a_ repetition of it."--_L. Murray cor._ "THAT is often used
as a relative, to prevent too frequent _a_ repetition of WHO and
WHICH."--_Id. et al. cor._ "His knees smote one against _the_
other."--_Logan cor._ "They stand now on one foot, then on _the_
other."--_W. Walker cor._ "The Lord watch between thee and me, when we are
absent one from _the_ other."--_Bible cor._ "Some have enumerated ten parts
of speech, making _the_ participle a distinct part."--_L. Murray cor._
"Nemesis rides upon _a_ hart because _the_ hart is a most lively
creature."--_Bacon cor._ "The transition of the voice from one vowel of the
diphthong to _the_ other."--_Dr. Wilson cor._ "So difficult it is, to
separate these two things one from _the_ other."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"Without _a_ material breach of any rule."--_Id._ "The great source of
_looseness_ of style, in opposition to precision, is _an_ injudicious use
of _what_ are termed _synonymous words_."--_Blair cor._; also _Murray_.
"Sometimes one article is improperly used for _the_ other."--_Sanborn cor._

   "Satire of sense, alas! can Sporus feel?
    Who breaks a butterfly upon _the_ wheel?"--_Pope cor._


LESSON V.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"He hath no delight in the strength of _a_ horse."--_Maturin cor._ "The
head of it would be _a_ universal monarch."--_Butler cor._ "Here they
confound the material and _the_ formal object of faith."--_Barclay cor._
"The Irish [Celtic] and _the Scottish_ Celtic are one language; the Welsh,
_the_ Cornish, and _the_ Armorican, are _an_ other."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "In
_a_ uniform and perspicuous manner."--_Id._ "SCRIPTURE, _n._ Appropriately,
and by way of distinction, the books of the Old and _the_ New Testament;
the Bible."--_Webster cor._ "In two separate volumes, entitled, 'The Old
and New Testaments.'"--_Wayland cor._ "The Scriptures of the Old and _the_
New Testament, contain a revelation from God."--_Id._ "Q has _always a_ u
after it; which, in words of French origin, is not sounded."--_Wilson cor._
"What should we say of such _a_ one? that he is regenerate? No."--_Hopkins
cor._ "Some grammarians subdivide _the_ vowels into simple and
compound."--_L. Murray cor._ "Emphasis has been _divided_ into the weaker
and _the_ stronger emphasis."--_Id._ "Emphasis has also been divided into
_the_ superior and the inferior emphasis."--_Id._ "Pronouns must agree with
their antecedents, or _the_ nouns which they represent, in gender, number,
and person."--_Merchant cor._ "The adverb _where_ is often used improperly,
for _a_ relative pronoun and _a_ preposition": as, "Words _where_ [in
which] the _h_ is not silent."--_Murray_, p. 31. "The termination _ish_
imports diminution, or _a_ lessening _of_ the quality."--_Merchant cor._
"In this train, all their verses proceed: one half of _a_ line always
answering to the other."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "To _a_ height of prosperity and
glory, unknown to any former age."--_L. Murray cor._ "_Hwilc_, who, which,
such as, such _a_ one, is declined as follows."--_Gwilt cor._ "When a vowel
precedes _the y, s_ only is required to form _the_ plural; as, _day,
days_."--_Bucke cor._ "He is asked what sort _of word_ each is; whether a
primitive, _a_ derivative, or _a_ compound."--_British Gram. cor._ "It is
obvious, that neither the second, _the_ third, nor _the_ fourth chapter of
Matthew, is the first; consequently, there are not '_four first_
chapters.'"--_Churchill cor._ "Some thought, which a writer wants _the_ art
to introduce in its proper place."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Groves and meadows
are _the_ most pleasing in the spring."--_Id._ "The conflict between the
carnal and _the_ spiritual mind, is often long."--_Gurney cor._ "A
Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and _the_
Beautiful"--_Burke cor._

   "Silence, my muse! make not these jewels cheap,
    Exposing to the world too large _a_ heap."--_Waller cor._


CHAPTER III.--NOUNS.

CORRECTIONS IN THE MODIFICATIONS OF NOUNS.

LESSON I.--NUMBERS.

"All the ablest of the Jewish _rabbies_ acknowledge it."--_Wilson cor._
"Who has thoroughly imbibed the system of one or other of our Christian
_rabbies_."--_Campbell cor._ "The seeming _singularities_ of reason soon
wear off."--_Collier cor._ "The chiefs and _arikies_, or priests, have the
power of declaring a place or object taboo."--_Balbi cor._ "Among the
various tribes of this family, are the Pottawatomies, the _Sauks_ and
Foxes, or _Saukies_ and _Ottogamies_."--_Id._ "The Shawnees, Kickapoos,
Menom'onies, _Miamies_, and Delawares, are of the same region."--_Id._ "The
Mohegans and _Abenaquies_ belonged also to this family."--_Id._ "One tribe
of this family, the _Winnebagoes_, formerly resided near lake
Michigan."--_Id._ "The other tribes are the Ioways, the Otoes, the
_Missouries_, the Quapaws."--_Id._" The great Mexican family comprises the
Aztecs, the Toltecs, and the _Tarascoes_."--_Id._" The Mulattoes are born
of negro and white parents; the _Zamboes_, of Indians and Negroes."--_Id._
"To have a place among the Alexanders, the Cæsars, the _Louises_, or the
_Charleses_,--the scourges and butchers of their fellow-creatures."--Burgh
cor." Which was the notion of the Platonic philosophers and the Jewish
_rabbies_."--_Id._ "That they should relate to the whole body of
_virtuosoes_."--_Cobbeti cor._" What _thanks_ have ye? for sinners also
love those that love them."--_Bible cor._" There are five ranks of
nobility; dukes, _marquises_, earls, viscounts, and barons."--_Balbi cor._"
Acts which were so well known to the two _Charleses_."--_Payne cor._
"_Courts-martial_ are held in all parts, for the trial of the
blacks."--_Observer cor._ "It becomes a common noun, and may have _the_
plural number; as, the two _Davids_, the two _Scipios_, the two
_Pompeys_."--_Staniford cor._ "The food of the rattlesnake is birds,
squirrels, _hares_, rats, and reptiles."--_Balbi cor._ "And let _fowls_
multiply in the earth."--_Bible cor._ "Then we reached the _hillside_,
where eight _buffaloes_ were grazing."--_Martineau cor._ "CORSET, _n. a
bodice_ for a woman."--_Worcester cor._ "As, the _Bees_, the _Cees_, the
_Double-ues_."--_Peirce cor._ "Simplicity is the _mean_ between ostentation
and rusticity."--_Pope cor._ "You have disguised yourselves like
_tipstaffs_."--_Gil Bias cor._ "But who, that _has_ any taste, can endure
the incessant quick returns of the _alsoes_, and the _likewises_, and the
_moreovers_, and the _howevers_, and the _notwithstandings?_"--_Campbell
cor._

   "Sometimes, in mutual sly disguise,
    Let _ays_ seem _noes_, and _noes_ seem _ays_."--_Gay cor._


LESSON II.--CASES.

"For whose _name's_ sake, I have been made willing."--_Penn cor._ "Be
governed by your conscience, and never ask any _body's_ leave to be
honest."--_Collier cor._ "To overlook _nobody's_ merit or misbehaviour."--
_Id._ "And Hector at last fights his way to the stern of _Ajax's_
ship."--_Coleridge cor._ "Nothing is lazier, than to keep _one's_ eye upon
words without heeding their meaning."--_Museum cor._ "Sir William _Jones's_
division of the day."--_Id._ "I need only refer here to _Voss's_ excellent
account of it."--_Id._ "The beginning of _Stesichorus's_ palinode has been
preserved."--_Id._ "Though we have _Tibullus's_ elegies, there is not a
word in them about Glyc~era."--_Id._ "That Horace was at _Thaliarchus's_
country-house."--_Id._ "That _Sisyphus's_ foot-tub should have been still
in existence."--_Id._ "How everything went on in Horace's closet, and
_Mecenas's_ antechamber."--_Id._ "Who, for elegant _brevity's_ sake, put a
participle for a verb."--_W. Walker cor._ "The _country's_ liberty being
oppressed, we have no more to hope."--_Id._ "A brief but true account of
this _people's_ principles."--_Barclay cor._ "As, The _Church's peace_, or,
_The peace_ of the Church; Virgil's _Æneid_, or, _The Æneid_ of
Virgil."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "As, Virgil's Æneid, for, _The_ Æneid of
Virgil; _The Church's peace_, for, _The peace_ of the Church."--_Buchanan
cor._ "Which, with Hubner's Compend, and _Well's_ Geographia Classica, will
be sufficient."--_Burgh cor._ "Witness Homer's speaking horses, scolding
goddesses, and Jupiter _enchanted_ with _Venus's_ girdle."--_Id._ "_Dr.
Watts's_ Logic may with success be read to them and commented on."--_Id._
"Potter's Greek, and Kennet's Roman Antiquities, _Strauchius's_ and
_Helvicus's_ Chronology."--_Id._ "SING. _Alice's_ friends, _Felix's_
property; PLUR. The Alices' friends, the Felixes' property."--_Peirce cor._
"Such as _Bacchus's_ company--at _Bacchus's_ festivals."--_Ainsworih cor._
"_Burns's_ inimitable _Tam o' Shanter_ turns entirely upon such a
circumstance."--_Scott cor._ "Nominative, men; Genitive, [or Possessive,]
_men's_; Objective, men."--_Cutler cor._ "_Men's_ happiness or misery is
_mostly_ of their own making."--_Locke cor._ "That your _son's clothes_ be
never made strait, especially about the breast."--_Id._ "_Children's_ minds
are narrow and weak."--_Id._ "I would not have little children much
tormented about _punctilios_, or niceties of breeding."--_Id._ "To fill his
head with suitable ideas."--_Id._ "The _Burgusdisciuses_ and the Scheiblers
did not swarm in those days, as they do now."--_Id._ "To see the various
ways of dressing--a _calf's_ head!"--_Shenstone cor._

   "He puts it on, and for _decorum's_ sake
    Can wear it e'en as gracefully as she."--_Cowper cor._


LESSON III.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"Simon the _wizard_ was of this religion too"--_Bunyan cor._ "MAMMODIES, n.
Coarse, plain, India muslins."--_Webster cor._ "Go on from single persons
to families, that of the _Pompeys_ for instance."--_Collier cor._ "By which
the ancients were not able to account for _phenomena_."--_Bailey cor._
"After this I married a _woman_ who had lived at Crete, but a _Jewess_ by
birth."--_Josephus cor._ "The very _heathens_ are inexcusable for not
_worshiping_ him."--_Todd cor._ "Such poems as _Camoens's_ Lusiad,
Voltaire's Henrinde, &c."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "My learned correspondent
writes a word in defence of large _scarfs_."--_Sped. cor._ "The forerunners
of an apoplexy are _dullness, vertigoes_, tremblings."--_Arbuthnot cor._"
_Vertigo_, [in Latin,] changes the _o_ into _~in=es_, making the plural
_vertig~in=es_:" [not so, in English.]--_Churchill cor._ "_Noctambulo_, [in
Latin,] changes the _o_ into _=on=es_, making the plural
_noctambul=on=es_:" [not so in English.]--_Id._ "What shall we say of
_noctambuloes?_ It is the regular English plural."--_G. Brown_. "In the
curious fretwork of rocks and _grottoes_."--_Blair cor._ "_Wharf_ makes the
plural _wharfs_, according to the best usage."--_G. Brown_. "A few _cents'_
worth of _macaroni_ supplies all their wants."--_Balbi cor._ "C sounds
hard, like _k_, at the end of a word or _syllable_."--_Blair cor._ "By
which the _virtuosoes_ try The magnitude of every lie."--_Butler cor._
"_Quartoes, octavoes_, shape the lessening pyre."--_Pope cor._ "Perching
within square royal _roofs_"--_Sidney cor._ "_Similes_ should, even in
poetry, be used with moderation."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "_Similes_ should never
be taken from low or mean objects."--_Id._ "It were certainly better to
say, '_The House of Lords_,' than, '_The Lords' House_.'"--_Murray cor._
"Read your answers. _Units_' figure? 'Five.' _Tens_'? 'Six.' _Hundreds_'?
'Seven.'"--_Abbott cor._ "Alexander conquered _Darius's_ army."--_Kirkham
cor._ "Three _days_' time was requisite, to prepare matters."--_Dr. Brown
cor._ "So we say, that _Cicero's_ style and _Sallust's_ were not one; nor
_Cæsar's_ and _Livy's_; nor _Homer's_ and _Hesiod's_; nor _Herodotus's_ and
_Thucydides's_; nor _Euripides's_ and _Aristophanes's_; nor _Erasmus's_ and
_Budæus's_."--_Puttenham cor._ "LEX (i.e., _legs_, a _law_,) is no other
than our _ancestors'_ past participle _loeg, laid down_"--_Tooke cor._
"Achaia's sons at Ilium slain for the _Atridoe's_ sake."--_Cowper cor._
"The _corpses_ of her senate manure the fields of Thessaly."--_Addison
cor._

   "Poisoning, without regard of fame or fear;
    And spotted _corpses_ load the frequent bier."--_Dryden cor._


CHAPTER IV.--ADJECTIVES.

CORRECTIONS IN THE FORMS OF COMPARISON, &c.

LESSON I.--DEGREES.

"I have the real excuse of the _most honest_ sort of bankrupts."--_Cowley
corrected_. "The _most honourable_ part of talk, is, to give the
occasion."--_Bacon cor._ "To give him one of the _most modest_ of his own
proverbs."--_Barclay cor._ "Our language is now, certainly, _more proper_
and more natural, than it was formerly."--_Burnet cor._ "Which will be of
the _greatest_ and _most frequent_ use to him in the world."--_Locke cor._
"The same is notified in the _most considerable_ places in the
diocese."--_Whitgift cor._ "But it was the _most dreadful_ sight that ever
I saw."--_Bunyan cor._ "Four of the _oldest_, soberest, and discreetest of
the brethren, chosen for the occasion, shall regulate it."--_Locke cor._
"Nor can there be any clear understanding of any Roman author, especially
of _more ancient_ time, without this skill."--_W. Walker cor._ "Far the
_most learned_ of the Greeks."--_Id._ "The _more learned_ thou art, the
humbler be thou."--_Id._ "He is none of the best, or _most honest_."--_Id._
"The _most proper_ methods of communicating it to others."--_Burn cor._
"What heaven's great King hath _mightiest_ to send against us."--_Milton
cor._ "Benedict is not the _most unhopeful_ husband that I
know."--_Shakspeare cor._ "That he should immediately do all the meanest
and _most trifling_ things himself."--_Ray cor._ "I shall be named among
the _most renowned_ of women."--_Milton cor._ "Those have the _most
inventive_ heads for all purposes."--_Ascham cor._ "The _more wretched_ are
the contemners of all helps."--_B. Johnson cor._ "I will now deliver a few
of the _most proper_ and _most natural_ considerations that belong to this
piece."--_Wotton cor._ "The _most mortal_ poisons practised by the _West
Indians_, have some mixture of the blood, fat, or flesh of man."--_Bacon
cor._ "He so won upon him, that he rendered him one of the _most faithful_
and _most affectionate_ allies the Medes ever had."--_Rollin cor._ "'You
see before you,' says he to him, 'the most devoted servant, and the _most
faithful_ ally, you ever had.'"--_Id._ "I chose the _most flourishing_ tree
in all the park."--_Cowley cor._ "Which he placed, I think, some centuries
_earlier_ than _did_ Julius Africanus afterwards."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "The
Tiber, the _most noted_ river of Italy."--_Littleton cor._

   "To _farthest_ shores th' ambrosial spirit flies."--_Pope_.

    ----"That what she wills to do or say,
    Seems wisest, _worthiest_, discreetest, best."--_Milton cor._


LESSON II.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"During the _first three or four_ years of its existence."--_Taylor cor._
"To the first of these divisions, my _last ten_ lectures have been
devoted."--_Adams cor._ "There are, in the twenty-four states, not _fewer_
than sixty thousand common schools."--_J. O. Taylor cor._ "I know of
nothing which gives teachers _more_ trouble, _than_ this want of
firmness."--_Id._ "I know of nothing _else_ that throws such darkness over
the line which separates right from wrong."--_Id._ "None need this purity
and _this_ simplicity of language and thought, _more than does the
instructor of a common school_."--_Id._ "I know of no _other_ periodical
that is so valuable to the teacher, as the Annals of Education."--_Id._
"Are not these schools of the highest importance? Should not every
individual feel _a deep_ interest in their character and condition?"--_Id._
"If instruction were made a _liberal_ profession, teachers would feel more
sympathy for _one an other_."--_Id._ "Nothing is _more interesting to_
children, _than_ novelty, _or_ change."--_Id._ "I know of no _other_ labour
which affords so much happiness as the teacher's."--_Id._ "Their school
exercises are the most pleasant and agreeable _duties_, that they engage
in."--_Id._ "I know of no exercise _more_ beneficial to the pupil _than_
that of drawing maps."--_Id._ "I know of nothing in which our district
schools are _more_ defective, _than_ they are in the art of teaching
grammar."--_Id._ "I know of _no other branch of knowledge_, so easily
acquired as history."--_Id._ "I know of _no other school exercise_ for
which pupils usually have such an abhorrence, as _for_ composition."--_Id._
"There is nothing _belonging to_ our fellow-men, which we should respect
_more sacredly than_ their good name."--_Id._ "_Surely_, never any _other
creature_ was so unbred as that odious man."--_Congreve cor._ "In the
dialogue between the mariner and the shade of the _deceased_."--_Phil.
Museum cor._ "These master-works would still be less excellent and
_finished_."--_Id._ "Every attempt to staylace the language of _polished_
conversation, renders our phraseology inelegant and clumsy."--_Id._ "Here
are a few of the _most unpleasant_ words that ever blotted
paper."--_Shakespeare cor._ "With the most easy _and obliging_
transitions."--_Broome cor._ "Fear is, of all affections, the _least apt_
to admit any conference with reason."--_Hooker cor._ "Most chymists think
glass a body _less destructible_ than gold itself."--_Boyle cor._ "To part
with _unhacked_ edges, and bear back our barge undinted."--_Shak. cor._
"Erasmus, who was an _unbigoted_ Roman Catholic, was transported with this
passage."--_Addison cor._ "There are no _fewer_ than five words, with any
of which the sentence might have terminated."--_Campbell cor._ "The _ones_
preach Christ of contention; but the _others_, of love." Or, "The _one
party_ preach," &c.--_Bible cor._ "Hence we find less discontent and
_fewer_ heart-burnings, than where the subjects are unequally
burdened."--_H. Home, Ld. Kames, cor._

   "The serpent, _subtlest_ beast of all the field."
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. ix, l. 86.

    "Thee, Serpent, _subtlest_ beast of all the field,
    I knew, but not with human voice indued."
        --_Id., P. L._, B. ix, l. 560.

    "How much more grievous would our lives appear.
    To reach th' _eight-hundredth_, than the eightieth year!"
        --_Denham cor._


LESSON III.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"Brutus engaged with Aruns; and so fierce was the attack, that they pierced
_each other_ at the same time."--_Lempriere cor._ "Her two brothers were,
one after _the other_, turned into stone."--_Kames cor._ "Nouns are often
used as adjectives; as, A _gold_ ring, a _silver_ cup."--_Lennie cor._
"Fire and water destroy _each other_"--_Wanostrocht cor._ "Two negatives,
in English, destroy _each other_, or are equivalent to an
affirmative."--_Lowth, Murray, et al. cor._ "Two negatives destroy _each
other_, and are generally equivalent to an affirmative."--_Kirkham and
Felton cor._ "Two negatives destroy _each other_, and make an
affirmative."--_Flint cor._ "Two negatives destroy _each other_, being
equivalent to an affirmative."--_Frost cor._ "Two objects, resembling _each
other_, are presented to the imagination."--_Parker cor._ "Mankind, in
order to hold converse with _one an other_, found it necessary to give
names to objects."--_Kirkham cor._ "_Derivative_ words are _formed_ from
_their primitives_ in various ways."--_Cooper cor._ "There are many
_different_ ways of deriving words _one from an other_."--_Murray cor._
"When several verbs _have a joint construction_ in a sentence, the
auxiliary is usually _expressed_ with the first _only_."--_Frost cor._ "Two
or more verbs, having the same nominative case, and _coming in immediate
succession_, are also separated by _the comma_."--_Murray et al. cor._ "Two
or more adverbs, _coming in immediate succession_, must be separated by
_the comma_."--_Iidem_. "If, however, the _two_ members are very closely
connected, the comma is _unnecessary_."--_Iidem_. "Gratitude, when exerted
towards _others_, naturally produces a very pleasing sensation in the mind
of a _generous_ man."--_L. Murray cor._ "Several verbs in the infinitive
mood, _coming in succession_, and having a common dependence, are also
divided by commas."--_Comly cor._ "The several words of which it consists,
have so near a relation _one to an other_."--_Murray et al. cor._ "When two
or more verbs, or two or more adverbs,[528] _occur in immediate
succession_, and have a common dependence, they must be separated by _the
comma_."--_Comly cor._ "_One noun_ frequently _follows an other_, both
meaning the same thing."--_Sanborn cor._ "And these two tenses may thus
answer _each other_."--_R. Johnson cor._ "Or some other relation which two
objects bear to _each other_."--_Jamieson cor._ "That the heathens
tolerated _one an other_ is allowed."--_A. Fuller cor._ "And yet these two
persons love _each other_ tenderly."--_E. Reader cor._ "In the six
_hundred_ and first year."--_Bible cor._ "Nor is this arguing of his, _any
thing_ but a _reiterated_ clamour."--_Barclay cor._ "In _several_ of them
the inward life of Christianity is to be found."--_Ib._ "Though Alvarez,
_Despauter_, and _others, do not allow it_ to be plural."--_R. Johnson
cor._ "Even the most _dissipated_ and shameless blushed at the
sight."--_Lempriere cor._ "We feel a _higher_ satisfaction in surveying the
life of animals, _than_ [_in contemplating_] that of vegetables."--
_Jamieson cor._ "But this man is so _full-fraught_ with malice."--_Barclay
cor._ "That I suggest some things concerning the _most proper_
means."--_Dr. Blair cor._

   "So, hand in hand, they passed, the loveliest pair
    That ever _yet_ in love's embraces met."--_Milton cor._

    "Aim at _supremacy_; without _such height_,
    Will be for thee no sitting, or not long."--_Id. cor._


CHAPTER V.--PRONOUNS.

CORRECTIONS IN THE FORMS AND USES OF PRONOUNS.

LESSON I.--RELATIVES.

"_While_ we attend to this pause, every appearance of _singsong_ must be
carefully avoided."--_Murray cor._ "For thou shalt go to all _to whom_ I
shall send thee."--_Bible cor._ "Ah! how happy would it have been for me,
had I spent in retirement these twenty-three years _during which_ I have
possessed my kingdom."--_Sanborn cor._ "In the same manner _in which_
relative pronouns and their antecedents are usually parsed."--_Id._ "Parse
or _explain_ all the other nouns _contained_ in the examples, _after the
very_ manner _of_ the word _which is parsed for you_."--_Id._ "The passive
verb will always _have_ the person and number that _belong_ to the verb
_be_, of which it is in part composed."--_Id._ "You have been taught that a
verb must always _agree in_ person and number _with_ it subject or
nominative."--_Id._ "A relative pronoun, also, must always _agree in_
person, _in_ number, and even _in_ gender, _with_ its antecedent."--_Id._
"The _answer_ always _agrees_ in case _with the pronoun_ which asks the
question."--_Id._ "_One_ sometimes represents an antecedent noun, in the
definite manner of a personal pronoun." [529]--_Id._ "The mind, being
carried forward to the time _at which the_ event _is to happen_, easily
conceives it to be present." "SAVE and SAVING are [_seldom to be_] parsed
in the manner _in which_ EXCEPT and EXCEPTING are [commonly
explained]."--_Id._ "Adverbs qualify _verbs_, or modify _their_ meaning,
_as_ adjectives _qualify_ nouns [and describe things.]"--_Id._ "The third
person singular of verbs, _terminates in s_ or _es, like_ the plural number
of nouns."--_Id._ "He saith further: that, 'The apostles did not baptize
anew such persons _as_ had been baptized with the baptism of
John.'"--_Barclay cor._ "For we _who_ live,"--or, "For we _that are
alive_, are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake."--_Bible cor._
"For they _who_ believe in God, must be careful to maintain good
works."--_Barclay cor._ "Nor yet of those _who_ teach things _that_ they
ought not, for filthy lucre's sake."--_Id._ "So as to hold such bound in
heaven _as_ they bind on earth, and such loosed in heaven _as_ they loose
on earth."--_Id._ "Now, if it be an evil, to do any thing out of strife;
then such things _as_ are seen so to be done, are they not to be avoided
and forsaken?"--_Id._ "All such _as_ do not satisfy themselves with the
superfices of religion."--_Id._ "And he is the same in substance, _that_ he
was upon earth,--_the same_ in spirit, soul, and body."--_Id._ "And those
that do not thus, are such, _as_ the Church of Rome can have no charity
_for_." Or: "And those that do not thus, are _persons toward_ whom the
Church of Rome can have no charity."--_Id._ "Before his book, he _places_ a
great list of _what_ he accounts the blasphemous assertions of the
Quakers."--_Id._ "And this is _what_ he should have proved."--_Id._ "Three
of _whom_ were at that time actual students of philosophy in the
university."--_Id._ "Therefore it is not lawful for any _whomsoever_ * * *
to force the consciences of others."--_Id._ "_Why were_ the former days
better than these?"--_Bible cor._ "In the same manner _in which_"--or,
better, "_Just as_--the term _my_ depends on the name _books_."--_Peirce
cor._ "_Just as_ the term HOUSE depends on the [preposition _to_,
understood after the _adjective_] NEAR."--_Id._ "James died on the day _on
which_ Henry returned."--_Id._


LESSON II.--DECLENSIONS.

"OTHER makes the plural OTHERS, when it is found without _its_
substantive."--_Priestley cor._ "But _his, hers, ours, yours_, and
_theirs_, have evidently the form of the possessive case."--_Lowth cor._
"To the Saxon possessive cases, _hire, ure, eower, hira_, (that is, _hers,
ours, yours, theirs_,) we have added the _s_, the characteristic of the
possessive case of nouns."--_Id._ "Upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
both _theirs_ and _ours_."--_Friends cor._ "In this place, _His_ is clearly
preferable either to _Her_ or _to Its_."--_Harris cor._ "That roguish leer
of _yours_ makes a pretty woman's heart _ache_."--_Addison cor._ "Lest by
any means this liberty of _yours_ become a stumbling-block."--_Bible cor._
"First person: Sing. I, _my or_ mine, me; Plur. we, _our or ours_,
us."--_Wilbur and Livingston cor._ "Second person: Sing, thou, _thy or_
thine, thee; Plur. ye or you, _your or yours_, you."--_Iid._ "Third person:
Sing, she, _her or hers_, her; Plur. they, _their or theirs_,
them."--_Iid._ "So shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not
_yours_."--ALGER, BRUCE, ET AL.; _Jer._, v, 19. "Second person, Singular:
Nom. _thou_, Poss. _thy_ or _thine_, Obj. _thee_."--_Frost cor._ "Second
person, Dual; Nom. Gyt, ye two; Gen. Incer, of _you_ two; Dat. Inc, incrum,
to _you_ two; Acc. Inc, _you_ two; Voc. Eala inc, O ye two; Abl. Inc,
incrum, from _you_ two."--_Gwilt cor._ "Second person, Plural: Nom. Ge, ye;
Gen. Eower, of _you_; Dat. Eow, to _you_; Acc. Eow, _you_; Voc Eala ge, O
ye; Abl. Eow, from _you_."--_Id._ "These words are, _mine, thine, his,
hers, ours, yours, theirs_, and _whose_."--_Cardell cor._ "This house is
_ours_, and that is _yours. Theirs_ is very commodious."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 55. "And they shall eat up _thy_ harvest, and thy bread; they shall eat
up thy flocks and _thy_ herds."--_Bible cor._ "_Whoever_ and _Whichever_
are thus declined: Sing. Nom. whoever, Poss. _whosever_, Obj. whomever;
Plur. Nom. whoever, Poss. _whosever_, Obj. whomever. Sing. Nom. whichever,
Poss. (_wanting_,) Obj. whichever; Plur. Nom. whichever, Poss. (_wanting_,)
Obj. whichever."--_Cooper cor._ "The compound personal pronouns are thus
declined: Sing. Nom. myself, Poss. (_wanting_,) Obj. myself; Plur. Nom.
ourselves, Poss. (_wanting_,) Obj. ourselves. Sing. Nom. thyself or
yourself, Poss. (_wanting_,) Obj. thyself, &c."--_Perley cor._ "Every one
of us, each for _himself_, laboured to recover him."--_Sidney cor._ "Unless
when ideas of their opposites manifestly suggest _themselves_."--_Wright
cor._ "It not only exists in time, but is _itself_ time." "A position which
the action _itself_ will palpably _confute_."--_Id._ "A difficulty
sometimes presents _itself_."--_Id._ "They are sometimes explanations in
_themselves_."--_Id._ "_Ours, Yours, Theirs, Hers, Its_."--_Barrett cor._

   "_Theirs_, the wild _chase_ of false felicities;
    His, the composed possession of the true."
        --_Young, N. Th._, N. viii, l. 1100.


LESSON III.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"It is the boast of Americans, without distinction of parties, that their
government is the most free and perfect _that_ exists on the earth."--_Dr.
Allen cor._ "Children _that_ are dutiful to their parents, enjoy great
prosperity."--_Sanborn cor._ "The scholar _that_ improves his time, sets an
example worthy of imitation."--_Id._ "Nouns and pronouns _that_ signify the
same person, place, or thing, agree in case."--_Cooper cor._ "An
interrogative sentence is one _that_ asks a question."--_Id._ "In the use
of words and phrases _that_ in point of time relate to each other, _the
order of time_ should be _duly regarded_."--_Id._ "The same observations
_that show_ the effect of the article _upon_ the participle, appear to be
applicable [also] to the pronoun and participle."--_Murray cor._ "The
reason _why_ they have not the same use of them in reading, may be traced
to the very defective and erroneous method in which the art of reading is
taught."--_Id._ "_Ever since_ reason began to exert her powers, thought,
during our waking hours, has been active in every breast, without a
moment's suspension or pause."--_Id. et al. cor._ "In speaking of _such as_
greatly delight in the same."--_Pope cor._ "Except _him to whom_ the king
shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live."--_Bible cor._ "But
the same day _on which_ Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone
from heaven, and destroyed them all."--_Bible cor._ "In the next place, I
will explain several _constructions_ of nouns and pronouns, _that_ have not
yet come under our notice."--_Kirkham cor._ "Three natural distinctions of
time are all _that_ can exist."--_Hall cor._ "We have exhibited such only
as are obviously distinct; and _these_ seem to be sufficient, and not more
than sufficient."--_Murray et al. cor._ "_The parenthesis_ encloses a
_phrase or clause that_ may be omitted without materially injuring the
connexion of the other members."--_Hall cor._ "Consonants are letters
_that_ cannot be sounded without the aid of a vowel."--_Bucke cor._ "Words
are not _mere_ sounds, but sounds _that_ convey a meaning to the
mind."--_Id._ "Nature's postures are always easy; and, _what_ is more,
nothing but your own will can put you out of them."--_Collier cor._
"Therefore ought we to examine our _own selves_, and prove our _own
selves_."--_Barclay cor._ "Certainly, it had been much more natural, to
have divided Active verbs into _Immanent_, or _those whose_ action is
terminated _within itself_, and _Transient_, or _those whose_ action is
terminated in something without _itself_."--_R. Johnson cor._ "This is such
an advantage _as_ no other lexicon will afford."--_Dr. Taylor cor._ "For
these reasons, such liberties are taken in the Hebrew tongue, with those
words _which_ are of the most general and frequent use."--_Pike cor._
"_While_ we object to the _laws which_ the antiquarian in language would
impose on us, we must _also_ enter our protest against those _authors who_
are too fond of innovations."--_L. Murray cor._


CHAPTER VI.--VERBS.

CORRECTIONS IN THE FORMS OF VERBS.

LESSON I.--PRETERITS.

"In speaking on a matter which _touched_ their hearts."--_Phil. Museum
cor._ "Though Horace _published_ it some time after."--_Id._ "The best
subjects with which the Greek models _furnished_ him."--_Id._ "Since he
_attached_ no thought to it."--_Id._ "By what slow steps the Greek alphabet
_reached_ its perfection."--_Id._ "Because Goethe _wished_ to erect an
affectionate memorial."--_Id._ "But the Saxon forms soon _dropped_
away."--_Id._ "It speaks of all the towns that _perished_ in the age of
Philip."--_Id._ "This _enriched_ the written language with new
words."--_Id._ "He merely _furnished_ his friend with matter for
laughter."--_Id._ "A cloud arose, and _stopped_ the light."--_Swift cor._
"She _slipped_ spadillo in her breast."--_Id._ "I _guessed_ the
hand."--_Id._ "The tyrant _stripped_ me to the skin; My skin he _flayed_,
my hair he _cropped_; At head and foot my body _lopped_."--_Id._ "I see the
greatest owls in you, That ever _screeched_ or ever flew."--_Id._ "I _sat_
with delight, From morning till night."--_Id._ "Dick nimbly _skipped_ the
gutter."--_Id._ "In at the pantry door this morn I _slipped_."--_Id._"
Nobody living ever _touched_ me, but you."--_W. Walker cor._ "_Present_, I
ship; _Preterit_, I shipped; _Perf. Participle_, shipped."--_A. Murray
cor._ "Then the king arose, and _tore_ his garments."--_Bible cor._ "When
he _lifted_ up his foot, he knew not where he should set it next."--_Bunyan
cor._ "He _lifted_ up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one
time."--_Bible cor._ "Upon this chaos _rode_ the distressed ark."--_Burnet
cor._ "On whose foolish honesty, my practices _rode_ easy."--_Shakspeare
cor._ "That form of the first or primogenial Earth, which _rose_
immediately out of chaos."--_Burnet cor._ "Sir, how _came_ it, you have
_helped_ to make this rescue?"--_Shak. cor._ "He _swore_ he _would_ rather
lose all his father's images, than that table."--_Peacham cor._ "When our
language _dropped_ its ancient terminations."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "When
themselves they _vilified_."--_Milton cor._ "But I _chose_ rather to do
thus."--_Barclay cor._ "When he _pleaded_ (or _pled_) against the
parsons."--_Hist. cor._ "And he that saw it, _bore_ record." Or: "And he
that saw it, _bare_ record."--_John_, xix, 35. "An irregular verb has one
more variation; as, drive, drivest, [_driveth_,] drives, drove, _drovest_,
driving, driven."--_Matt. Harrison cor._ "Beside that village, Hannibal
_pitched_ his camp."--_W. Walker cor._ "He _fetched_ it from
Tmolus."--_Id._ "He _supped_ with his morning-gown on."--_Id._ "There
_stamped_ her sacred name."--_Barlow cor._

   "_Fix'd_[530] on the view the great discoverer stood;
    And thus _address'd_ the messenger of good."--_Barlow cor._


LESSON II.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"Three freemen _were on trial_"--or, "_were receiving their trial_--at the
date of our last information."--_Editor cor._ "While the house _was
building_, many of the tribe arrived."--_Cox cor._ "But a foundation has
been laid in Zion, and the church _is built_--(or, _continues to be
built_--) upon it."--_The Friend cor._ "And one fourth of the people are
_receiving education_."--_E. I. Mag. cor._ "The present [_tense_,] or that
[_form of the verb_] which [_expresses what_] is now _doing_."--_Beck cor._
"A new church, called the Pantheon, is _about_ being completed, in an
expensive style."--_Thompson cor._ "When I last saw him, he _had_ grown
considerably."--_Murray cor._ "I know what a rugged and dangerous path I
_have_ got into."--_Duncan cor._ "You _might_ as _well_ preach ease to one
on the rack."--_Locke cor._ "Thou hast heard me, and _hast_ become my
salvation."--_Bible cor._ "While the Elementary Spelling-Book _was
preparing_ (or, _was in progress of preparation_) for the press."--_Cobb
cor._ "Language _has_ become, in modern times, more correct."--_Jamieson
cor._ "If the plan _has_ been executed in any measure answerable to the
author's wishes."--_Robbins cor._ "The vial of wrath is still _pouring_ out
on the seat of the beast."--_Christian Ex. cor._ "Christianity _had_ become
the generally-adopted and established religion of the whole Roman
Empire."--_Gurney cor._ "Who wrote before the first century _had_
elapsed."--_Id._ "The original and analogical form _has_ grown quite
obsolete."--_Lowth cor._ "Their love, and their hatred, and their envy,
_have_ perished."--_Murray cor._ "The poems _had_ got abroad, and _were_ in
a great many hands."--_Waller cor._ "It is more harmonious, as well as more
correct, to say, 'The bubble _is ready to burst._'"--_Cobbett cor._ "I
_drove_ my suitor from his mad humour of love."--_Shak. cor._ "Se viriliter
expedivit."--_Cic._ "He _has played_ the man."--_Walker cor._ "Wilt thou
kill me, as thou _didst_ the Egyptian yesterday?"--_Bible cor._ "And we,
_methought_, [or _thought I_] looked up to him from our hill"--_Cowley
cor._ "I fear thou _dost_ not think _so_ much of _the_ best things as thou
_ought_."--_Memoir cor._ "When this work was commenced."--_Wright cor._
"Exercises and _a_ Key to this work are _about_ being prepared."--_Id._
"James is loved by John."--_Id._ "Or that which is exhibited."--_Id._ "He
was smitten."--_Id._ "In the passive _voice_ we say, 'I am loved.'"--_Id._
"Subjunctive Mood: If I _be_ smitten, If thou _be_ smitten, If he _be_
smitten."--_Id._ "I _shall_ not be able to convince you how superficial the
reformation is."--_Chalmers cor._ "I said to myself, I _shall_ be obliged
to expose the folly."--_Chazotte cor._ "When Clodius, had he meant to
return that day to Rome, must have arrived."--_J. Q. Adams cor._ "That the
fact has been done, _is doing_, or will be done."--_Peirce cor._ "Am I _to
be_ instructed?"--_Wright cor._ "I _choose_ him."--_Id._ "John, who
_respected_ his father, was obedient to his commands."--_Barrett cor._

   "The region _echoes_ to the clash of arms."--_Beattie cor._

    "And _sitst_ on high, and mak'st creation's top
    Thy footstool; and _beholdst_ below thee--all."--_Pollok cor._

    "And see if thou _canst_ punish sin and let
    Mankind go free. Thou _failst_--be not surprised."--_Idem._


LESSON III--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"What follows, _might better have been_ wanting altogether."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "This member of the sentence _might_ much better have been omitted
altogether."--_Id._ "One or _the_ other of them, therefore, _might_ better
have been omitted."--_Id._ "The whole of this last member of the sentence
_might_ better have been dropped."--_Id._ "In this case, they _might_ much
better be omitted."--_Id._ "He _might_ better have said 'the
_productions_.'"--_Id._ "The Greeks _ascribed_ the origin of poetry to
Orpheus, Linus, and Musæus."--_Id._ "It _was_ noticed long ago, that all
these fictitious names have the same number of syllables."--_Phil. Museum
cor._ "When I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, I
_determined_ to send him."--_Bible cor._ "I _would_ rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God."--_Id._ "As for such, I wish the Lord _would open_
their eyes." Or, better: "_May_ the Lord _open_ (or, I _pray_ the Lord _to_
open) their eyes."--_Barclay cor._ "It would _have_ made our _passage_ over
the river very difficult."--_Walley cor._ "We should not _have_ been able
to _carry_ our great guns."--_Id._ "Others would _have_ questioned our
prudence, if _we_ had."--_Id._ "Beware thou _be_ not BECÆSARED; i.e.,
Beware that thou _do_ not dwindle--or, _lest thou dwindle_--into a mere
Cæsar."--_Harris cor._ "Thou _raisedst_ (or, familiarly, thou _raised_) thy
voice to record the stratagems of needy heroes."--_Arbuthnot cor._ "Life
_hurries_ off apace; thine is almost _gone_ already."--_Collier cor._ "'How
unfortunate has this accident made me!' _cries_ such a one."--_Id._ "The
muse that soft and sickly _woos_ the ear."--_Pollok cor._ "A man _might_
better relate himself to a statue."--_Bacon cor._ "I heard thee say but
now, thou _liked_ not that."--_Shak. cor._ "In my whole course of wooing,
thou _criedst_, (or, familiarly, thou _cried_,) _Indeed!_"--_Id._ "But our
ears _have_ grown familiar with '_I have wrote_, '_I have drank_,' &c.,
which are altogether as ungrammatical."--_Lowth et al. cor._ "The court was
_in session_ before Sir Roger came"--_Addison cor._ "She _needs_--(or, if
you please, _need_,--) be no more with the jaundice _possessed_"--_Swift
cor._ "Besides, you found fault with our victuals one day _when_ you _were_
here."--_Id._ "If spirit of other sort, So minded, _hath_ (or _has_)
o'erleaped these earthy bounds."--_Milton cor._ "It _would_ have been more
rational to have _forborne_ this."--_Barclay cor._ "A student is not master
of it till he _has_ seen all these."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "The said justice
shall _summon_ the party."--_Brevard cor._ "Now what _has_ become of thy
former wit and humour?"--_Spect. cor._ "Young stranger, whither _wanderst_
thou?"--_Burns cor._ "SUBJ. _Pres._ If I love, If thou _love_, If he love.
_Imp._ If I loved, If thou _loved_, If he loved."--_Merchant cor._ "SUBJ.
If I do not love, If thou _do_ not love, If he _do_ not love."--_Id._ "If
he _has_ committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."--_Bible cor._
"Subjunctive Mood of the verb _to call_, second person singular: If thou
_call_, (rarely, If thou _do call_,) If thou _called_."--_Hiley cor._
"Subjunctive Mood of the verb _to love_, second person singular: If thou
love, (rarely, If thou do love,) If thou _loved_."--_Bullions cor._ "I was;
thou wast; he, she, or it, was: We, you or ye, they, were."--_White cor._
"I taught, thou _taughtest_, (familiarly, thou _taught_,) he taught."--
_Coar cor._ "We say, '_If it rain,' 'Suppose it rain?' 'Lest it rain,'
'Unless it rain._' This manner of speaking is called the SUBJUNCTIVE
MOOD."--_Weld cor._ "He _has_ arrived at what is deemed the age of
manhood."--_Priestley cor._ "He _might_ much better have let it
alone."--_Tooke cor._ "He were better without it. Or: He _would be better_
without it."--_Locke cor._ "_Hadst_ thou not been by. Or: _If_ thou _hadst_
not been by. Or, in the familiar style: _Had_ not thou been by,"--_Shak.
cor._ "I learned geography. Thou _learned arithmetic_. He learned
grammar."--_Fuller cor._ "Till the sound _has_ ceased."--_Sheridan cor._
"Present, die; Preterit, died; Perf. Participle, _died_."--_Six English
Grammars corrected_.

   "Thou _bow'dst_ thy glorious head to none, _fear'dst_ none." Or:--
    "Thou _bowed_ thy glorious head to none, _feared_ none."
        --_Pollok cor._

    "Thou _lookst_ upon thy boy as though thou _guess'd_ it."
        --_Knowles cor._

    "As once thou _slept_, while she to life was formed."
        --_Milton cor._

    "Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest,
    But may imagine how the bird was _killed?_"
        --_Shak. cor._

    "Which might have well _become_ the best of men."
        --_Idem cor._


CHAPTER VII.--PARTICIPLES.

CORRECTIONS IN THE FORMS OF PARTICIPLES.

LESSON I.--IRREGULARS.

"Many of your readers have _mistaken_ that passage."--_Steele cor._ "Had
not my dog of a steward _run_ away."--_Addison cor._ "None should be
admitted, except he had _broken_ his collarbone thrice."--_Id._ "We could
not know what was _written_ at twenty."--_Waller cor._ "I have _written_,
thou hast _written_, he has _written_; we have _written_, you have
_written_, they have _written_."--_Ash cor._ "As if God had _spoken_ his
last words there to his people."--_Barclay cor._ "I had like to have _come_
in that ship myself."--_Observer cor._ "Our ships and vessels being
_driven_ out of the harbour by a storm."--_Hutchinson cor._ "He will
endeavour to write as the ancient author would have _written_, had he
_written_ in the same language."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "When his doctrines
grew too strong to be _shaken_ by his enemies."--_Atterbury cor._ "The
immortal mind that hath _forsaken_ her mansion."--_Milton cor._ "Grease
that's _sweated_ (or _sweat_) from the murderer's gibbet, throw into the
flame."--_Shak. cor._ "The court also was _chidden_ (or _chid_) for
allowing such questions to be put."--_Stone cor._ "He would have
_spoken_."--_Milton cor._ "Words _interwoven_ (or _interweaved_) with sighs
found out their way."--_Id._ "Those kings and potentates who have _strived_
(or _striven_.)"--_Id._ "That even Silence was _taken_."--_Id._ "And
envious Darkness, ere they could return, had _stolen_ them from
me."--_Id._ "I have _chosen_ this perfect man."--_Id._ "I _shall scarcely_
think you have _swum_ in a gondola."--_Shak. cor._ "The fragrant brier was
_woven_ (or _weaved_) between."--_Dryden cor._ "Then finish what you have
_begun_."--_Id._ "But now the years a numerous train have _run_."--_Pope
cor._ "Repeats your verses _written_ (or _writ_) on glasses."--_Prior cor._
"Who by turns have _risen_."--_Id._ "Which from great authors I have
taken."--_Id._ "Even there he should have _fallen_."--_Id._

   "The sun has _ris'n_, and gone to bed.
    Just as if Partridge were not dead."--_Swift cor._

    "And, though no marriage words are _spoken_,
    They part not till the ring is _broken_."--_Swift cor._


LESSON II.--REGULARS.

"When the word is _stripped_ of all the terminations."--_Dr. Murray cor._
"Forgive him, Tom; his head is _cracked_."--_Swift cor._ "For 'tis the
sport, to have the engineer _hoised_ (or _hoisted_) with his own
petar."--_Shak. cor._ "As great as they are, I was _nursed_ by their
mother."--_Swift cor._ "If he should now be _cried_ down since his
change."--_Id. "Dipped_ over head and ears--in debt."--_Id._ "We see the
nation's credit _cracked_."--_Id._ "Because they find their pockets
_picked_."--_Id._ "O what a pleasure _mixed_ with pain!"--_Id._ "And only
with her brother _linked_."--_Id._ "Because he ne'er a thought allowed,
That might not be _confessed_."--_Id._ "My love to Sheelah is more firmly
_fixed_."--_Id._ "The observations _annexed_ to them will be
intelligible."--_Phil. Mus. cor._ "Those eyes are always _fixed_ on the
general principles."--_Id._ "Laborious conjectures will be _banished_ from
our commentaries."--_Id._ "Tiridates was dethroned, and Phraates was
_reestablished_, in his stead."--_Id._ "A Roman who was _attached_ to
Augustus."--_Id._ "Nor should I have spoken of it, unless Baxter had
_talked_ about two such."--_Id._ "And the reformers of language have
generally _rushed_ on."--_Id._ "Three centuries and a half had then
_elapsed_ since the date,"--_Ib._ "Of such criteria, as has been _remarked_
already, there is an abundance."--_Id._ "The English have _surpassed_ every
other nation in their services."--_Id._ "The party _addressed_ is next in
dignity to the speaker."--_Harris cor._ "To which we are many times
_helped_."--_W. Walker cor._ "But for him, I should have _looked_ well
enough to myself."--_Id._ "Why are you _vexed_, Lady? why do
frown?"--_Milton cor._ "Obtruding false rules _pranked_ in reason's
garb."--_Id._ "But, like David _equipped_ in Saul's armour, it is
encumbered and oppressed."--_Campbell cor._

   "And when their merchants are blown up, and _cracked_,
    Whole towns are cast away in storms, and _wrecked_."--_Butler cor._


LESSON III.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"The lands are _held_ in free and common soccage."--_Trumbull cor._ "A
stroke is _drawn_ under such words."--_Cobbett's Gr._, 1st Ed. "It is
_struck_ even, with a strickle."--_W. Walker cor._ "Whilst I was
_wandering_, without any care, beyond my bounds."--_Id._ "When one would do
something, unless _hindered_ by something present."--_B. Johnson cor._ "It
is used potentially, but not so as to be _rendered_ by these signs."--_Id._
"Now who would dote upon things _hurried_ down the stream thus
fast?"--_Collier cor._ "Heaven hath timely _tried_ their growth."--_Milton
cor._ "O! ye mistook, ye should have _snatched_ his wand."--_Id._ "Of true
virgin here _distressed_."--_Id._ "So that they have at last come to be
_substituted_ in the stead of it."--_Barclay cor._ "Though ye have _lain_
among the pots."--_Bible cor._ "And, lo! in her mouth was an olive leaf
_plucked_ off."--_Scott's Bible, and Alger's_. "Brutus and Cassius _Have
ridden_, (or _rode_,) like madmen, through the gates of Rome."--_Shak.
cor._ "He shall be _spit upon_."--_Bible cor._ "And are not the countries
so _overflowed_ still _situated_ between the tropics?"--_Bentley_. "Not
_tricked_ and _frounced_ as she was wont, But _kerchiefed_ in a comely
cloud."--_Milton cor._ "To satisfy his rigour, _Satisfied_ never."--_Id._
"With him there _crucified_."--_Id._ "Th' earth cumbered, and the wing'd
air _darked_ with plumes."--_Id._ "And now their way to Earth they had
_descried_."--_Id._ "Not so thick swarmed once the soil _Bedropped_ with
blood of Gorgon."--_Id._ "And in a troubled sea of passion
_tossed_."--_Id._ "The cause, alas! is quickly _guessed_."--_Swift cor._
"The kettle to the top was _hoised_, or _hoisted_."--_Id._ "In chains thy
syllables are _linked_."--_Id._ "Rather than thus be _overtopped_, Would
you not wish their laurels _cropped_."--_Id._ "The HYPHEN, or CONJOINER, is
a little line _drawn_ to connect words, or parts of words."--_Cobbett cor._
"In the other manners of dependence, this general rule is sometimes
_broken_."--_R. Johnson cor._ "Some intransitive verbs may be rendered
transitive by means of a preposition _prefixed_ to them."--_Grant cor._
"Whoever now should place the accent on the first syllable of _Valerius_,
would set every body _a laughing_."--_J. Walker cor._ "Being mocked,
scourged, _spit upon_, and crucified."--_Gurney cor._

   "For rhyme in Greece or Rome was never known,
    Till _barb'rous hordes those states had overthrown_."--_Roscommon cor._

    "In my own Thames may I be _drowned_,
    If e'er I stoop beneath _the crowned_." Or thus:--
    "In my own Thames may I be _drown'd dead_,
    If e'er I stoop beneath a crown'd head."--_Swift cor._


CHAPTER VIII.--ADVERBS.

CORRECTIONS RESPECTING THE FORMS OF ADVERBS.

"We can much _more easily_ form the conception of a fierce combat."--_Blair
corrected_. "When he was restored _agreeably_ to the treaty, he was a
perfect savage."--_Webster cor._ "How I shall acquit myself _suitably_ to
the importance of the trial."--_Duncan cor._ "Can any thing show your
Holiness how _unworthily_ you treat mankind?"--_Spect. cor._ "In what
other, _consistently_ with reason and common sense, can you go about to
explain it to him?"--_Lowth cor._ "_Agreeably_ to this rule, the short
vowel Sheva has two characters."--_Wilson cor._ "We shall give a
_remarkably_ fine example of this figure."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 156.
"All of which is most _abominably_ false."--_Barclay cor._ "He heaped up
great riches, but passed his time _miserably_."--_Murray cor._ "He is never
satisfied with expressing any thing clearly and _simply_."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "Attentive only to exhibit his ideas _clearly_ and _exactly_, he
appears dry."--_Id._ "Such words as have the most liquids and vowels, glide
the _most softly_." Or: "Where liquids and vowels most abound, the
utterance is softest."--_Id._ "The simplest points, such as are _most
easily_ apprehended."--_Id._ "Too historical to be accounted a _perfectly_
regular epic poem."--_Id._ "Putting after them the oblique case,
_agreeably_ to the French construction."--_Priestley cor._ "Where the train
proceeds with an _extremely_ slow pace."--_Kames cor._ "So as _scarcely_ to
give an appearance of succession."--_Id._ "That concord between sound and
sense, which is perceived in some expressions, _independently_ of artful
pronunciation."--_Id._ "Cornaro had become very corpulent, _previously_ to
the adoption of his temperate habits."--_Hitchcock cor._ "Bread, which is a
solid, and _tolerably_ hard, substance."--_Day cor._ "To command every body
that was not dressed as _finely_ as himself."--_Id._ "Many of them have
_scarcely_ outlived their authors."--_J. Ward cor._ "Their labour, indeed,
did not penetrate very _deeply_."--_Wilson cor._ "The people are
_miserably_ poor, and subsist on fish."--_Hume cor._ "A scale, which I took
great pains, some years _ago_, to make."--_Bucke cor._ "There is no truth
on earth _better_ established _than_ the truth of the Bible."--_Taylor
cor._ "I know of no work _more_ wanted _than_ the one _which_ Mr. Taylor
has now furnished."--_Dr. Nott cor._ "And therefore their requests are
_unfrequent_ and reasonable."--_Taylor cor._ "Questions are _more easily_
proposed, than answered rightly."--_Dillwyn cor._ "Often reflect on the
advantages you possess, and on the source _from which_ they are all
derived."--_Murray cor._ "If there be no special rule which requires it to
be put _further forward_."--_Milnes cor._ "The masculine and _the_ neuter
have the same dialect in all _the_ numbers, especially when they end
_alike_."--_Id._

   "And children are more busy in their play
    Than those that _wiseliest_ pass their time away."--_Butler cor._


CHAPTER IX.--CONJUNCTIONS.

CORRECTIONS IN THE USE OF CONJUNCTIONS.

"A _Verb_ is so called from the Latin _verbum_, a word."--_Bucke cor._
"References are often marked by letters _or_ figures."--_Adam and Gould
cor._ (1.) "A Conjunction is a word which joins words _or_ sentences
together."--_Lennie, Bullions and Brace, cor._ (2.) "A Conjunction is used
to connect words _or_ sentences together."--_R. C. Smith cor._ (3.) "A
Conjunction is used to connect words _or_ sentences."--_Maunder cor._ (4.)
"Conjunctions are words used to join words _or_ sentences."--_Wilcox cor._
(5.) "A Conjunction is a word used to connect words _or_
sentences."--_M'Culloch, Hart, and Day, cor._ (6.) "A Conjunction joins
words _or_ sentences together."--_Macintosh and Hiley cor._ (7.) "The
Conjunction joins words _or_ sentences together."--_L. Murray cor._ (8.)
"Conjunctions connect words _or_ sentences to each other."--_Wright cor._
(9.) "Conjunctions connect words _or_ sentences."--_Wells and Wilcox cor._
(10.) "The conjunction is a part of speech, used to connect words _or_
sentences."--_Weld cor._ (11.) "A conjunction is a word used to connect
words _or_ sentences together."--_Fowler cor._ (12.) "Connectives are
_particles that_ unite words _or_ sentences in construction."--_Webster
cor._ "English Grammar is miserably taught in our district schools; the
teachers know _little or nothing_ about it."--_J. O. Taylor cor._ "_Lest_,
instead of preventing _diseases_, you draw _them_ on."--_Locke cor._ "The
definite article _the_ is frequently applied to adverbs in the comparative
_or the_ superlative degree."--_Murray et al. cor._ "When nouns naturally
neuter are _assumed to be_ masculine _or_ feminine."--_Murray cor._ "This
form of the perfect tense represents an action _as_ completely past,
_though_ often _as done_ at no great distance _of time, or at a time_ not
specified."--_Id._ "The _Copulative Conjunction_ serves to connect _words
or clauses, so as_ to continue a sentence, by expressing an addition, a
supposition, a cause, _or a consequence_."--_Id._ "The _Disjunctive
Conjunction_ serves, not only to continue a sentence _by connecting its
parts_, but also to express opposition of meaning, _either real or
nominal_."--_Id._ "_If_ we open the volumes of our divines, philosophers,
historians, or artists, we shall find that they abound with all the terms
necessary to communicate _the_ observations and discoveries _of their
authors._"--_Id._ "When a disjunctive _conjunction_ occurs between a
singular noun or pronoun and a plural one, the verb is made to agree with
the plural noun _or_ pronoun."--_Murray et al. cor._ "Pronouns must always
agree with their antecedents, _or_ the nouns for which they stand, in
gender and number."--_Murray cor._ "Neuter verbs do not _express action,
and consequently do not_ govern nouns or pronouns."--_Id._ "And the
auxiliary of the past imperfect _as well as of the_ present
_tense_."--_Id._ "If this rule should not appear to apply to every example
_that_ has been produced, _or_ to others which might be cited."--_Id._ "An
emphatical pause is made, after something of peculiar moment has been said,
on which we desire to fix the hearer's attention."--_Murray and Hart cor._
"An imperfect[531] phrase contains no assertion, _and_ does not amount to a
proposition, or sentence."--_Murray cor._ "The word was in the mouth of
every one, _yet_ its meaning may still be a secret."--_Id._ "This word was
in the mouth of every one, _and yet_, as to its precise and definite idea,
this may still be a secret,"--_Harris cor._ "It cannot be otherwise,
_because_ the French prosody differs from that of every other European
language."--_Smollet cor._ "So gradually _that it may be_ engrafted on a
subtonic."--_Rush cor._ "Where the Chelsea _and_ Malden bridges now are."
Or better: "Where the Chelsea _or the_ Malden _bridge_ now _is_."--_Judge
Parker cor._ "Adverbs are words _added_ to verbs, _to_ participles, _to_
adjectives, _or to_ other adverbs."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "I could not have
told you who the hermit was, _or_ on what mountain he lived."--_Bucke cor._
"AM _and_ BE (for they are the same _verb_) naturally, or in themselves,
signify _being_."--_Brightland cor._ "Words are _signs, either oral or
written_, by which we express our thoughts, _or_ ideas."--_Mrs. Bethune
cor._ "His fears will detect him, _that_ he shall not escape."--_Comly
cor._ "_Whose_ is equally applicable to persons _and to_ things"--_Webster
cor._ "One negative destroys an other, _so that two are_ equivalent to an
affirmative."--_Bullions cor._

   "No sooner does he peep into the world,
    _Than_ he has done his do."--_Hudibras cor._


CHAPTER X.--PREPOSITIONS.

CORRECTIONS IN THE USE OF PREPOSITIONS.

"Nouns are often formed _from_ participles."--_L. Murray corrected_. "What
tenses are formed _from_ the perfect participle?"--_Ingersoll cor._ "Which
tense is formed _from_ the _present_, or root of the verb?"--_Id._ "When a
noun or _a_ pronoun is placed before a participle, independently _of_ the
rest of the sentence."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 348. "If the addition
consists _of_ two or more words."--_Mur. et al. cor._ "The infinitive mood
is often made absolute, or used independently _of_ the rest of the
sentence."--_Lowth's Gram._, 80; _Churchill's_, 143; _Bucke's_, 96;
_Merchant's_, 92. "For the great satisfaction of the reader, we _shall
present a variety_ of false constructions."--_Murray cor._ "For your
satisfaction, I _shall present you a variety_ of false constructions."--
_Ingersoll cor._ "I shall here _present [to] you a scale_ of derivation."--
_Bucke cor._ "These two manners of representation in respect _to_
number."--_Lowth and Churchill cor._ "There are certain adjectives which
seem to be derived _from verbs, without_ any variation."--_Lowth cor._ "Or
disqualify us for receiving instruction or reproof _from_ others."--_Murray
cor._ "For being more studious than any other pupil _in_ the school."--
_Id._ "Misunderstanding the directions, we lost our way."--_Id._ "These
people reduced the greater part of the island _under_ their own power."--
_Id._ "The principal accent distinguishes one syllable _of_ a word from the
rest."--_Id._ "Just numbers are in unison _with_ the human mind."--_Id._
"We must accept of sound _in stead_ of sense."--_Id._ "Also, _in stead of
consultation_, he uses _consult_."--_Priestley cor._ "This ablative seems
to be governed _by_ a preposition understood."--_W. Walker cor._ "_Lest_ my
father _hear of it_, by some means or other."--_Id._ "And, besides, my wife
would hear _of it_ by some means."--_Id._ "For insisting _on_ a requisition
so odious to them."--_Robertson cor._ "Based _on_ the great self-evident
truths of liberty and equality."--_Manual cor._ "Very little knowledge of
their nature is acquired _from_ the spelling-book."--_Murray cor._ "They do
not cut it off: except _from_ a few words; as, _due, duly_, &c."--_Id._
"Whether passing _at_ such time, or then finished."--_Lowth cor._ "It hath
disgusted hundreds _with_ that confession."--_Barclay cor._ "But they have
egregiously fallen _into_ that inconveniency."--_Id._ "For is not this, to
set nature _at_ work?"--_Id._ "And, surely, that which should set all its
springs _at_ work, is God."--_Atterbury cor._ "He could not end his
treatise without a panegyrie _on_ modern learning."--_Temple cor._ "These
are entirely independent _of_ the modulation of the voice."--_J. Walker
cor._ "It is dear _at_ a penny. It is cheap _at_ twenty pounds."--_W.
Walker cor._ "It will be despatched, _on_ most occasions, without
resting."--_Locke cor._ "_Oh_ the pain, the bliss of dying!"--_Pope_. "When
the objects or the facts are presented _to him_."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "I
will now present you a synopsis."--_Id._ "The disjunctive conjunction
connects _words or_ sentences, _and suggests an_ opposition of meaning,
_more or less direct_."--_Id._ "I shall now present _to_ you a few
lines."--_Bucke cor._ "Common names, _or_ substantives, are those which
stand for things _assorted_."--_Id._ "Adjectives, in the English language,
_are not varied by_ genders, numbers, or cases; _their only inflection is
for_ the degrees of comparison."--_Id._ "Participles are [little more than]
adjectives formed _from_ verbs."--_Id._ "I do love to walk out _on_ a fine
_summer_ evening."--_Id._ "_Ellipsis_, when applied to grammar, is the
elegant omission of one or more words _of_ a sentence."--_Merchant cor._
"The _preposition to_ is generally _required_ before verbs in the
infinitive mood, but _after_ the following verbs it is properly omitted;
namely, _bid, dare, feel, need, let, make, hear, see_: as, 'He _bid_ me
_do_ it;' not, 'He _bid_ me _to_ do it.'"--_Id._ "The infinitive sometimes
follows _than, for the latter term of_ a comparison; as, ['Murray should
have known _better than to write_, and Merchant, _better than to copy_, the
text here corrected, or the ambiguous example they appended to
it.']"--_Id._ "Or, by prefixing the _adverb more_ or _less, for_ the
comparative, and _most_ or _least, for_ the superlative."--_Id._ "A pronoun
is a word used _in stead_ of a noun."--_Id._ "From monosyllables, the
comparative is regularly formed by adding _r_ or _er_."--_Perley cor._ "He
has particularly named these, in distinction _from_ others."--_Harris cor._
"To revive the decaying taste _for ancient_ literature."--_Id._ "He found
the greatest difficulty _in_ writing."--_Hume cor._

   "And the tear, that is wiped with a little address,
    May be followed perhaps _by_ a smile."--_Cowper_, i, 216.

CHAPTER XI.--INTERJECTIONS.

CORRECTIONS IN THE USE OF INTERJECTIONS.

"Of chance or change, _O_ let not man complain."--_Beattie's Minstrel_, B.
ii, l. 1. "O thou persecutor! _O_ ye hypocrites!"--_Russell's Gram._, p.
92. "_O_ thou my voice inspire, Who _touch'd_ Isaiah's hallow'd lips with
fire!"--_Pope's Messiah_. "_O happy we_! surrounded by so many
blessings!"--_Merchant cor._ "_O thou who_ art so unmindful of thy
duty!"--_Id._ "If I am wrong, _O_ teach my heart To find that better
way."--_Murray's Reader_, p. 248. "Heus! evocate huc Davum."--_Ter_. "Ho!
call Davus out hither."--_W. Walker cor._ "It was represented by an analogy
(_O_ how inadequate!) which was borrowed from the _ceremonies_ of
paganism."--_Murray cor._ "_O_ that Ishmael might live before
thee!"--_Friends' Bible_, and _Scott's_. "And he said unto him, _O_ let not
the Lord be angry, and I will speak."--_Alger's Bible_, and _Scott's_. "And
he said, _O_ let not the Lord be angry."--_Alger; Gen._, xviii. 32. "_O_ my
Lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word."--_Scott's Bible_. "_O_
Virtue! how amiable thou art!"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 128. "_Alas_! I fear
for life."--See _Ib._ "_Ah_ me! they little know How dearly I abide that
boast so vain!"--See _Bucke's Gram._, p. 87. "_O_ that I had digged myself
a cave!"--_Fletcher cor._ "_Oh_, my good lord! thy comfort comes too
late."--_Shak. cor._ "The vocative takes no article: it is distinguished
thus: _O Pedro_! O Peter! _O Dios_! O God!"--_Bucke cor._ "_Oho_! But, the
relative is always the same."--_Cobbett cor._ "_All-hail_, ye happy
men!"--_Jaudon cor._ "_O_ that I had wings like a dove!'--_Scott's Bible_.
"_O glorious_ hope! O _bless'd_ abode!"--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 304.
"_Welcome_ friends! how joyous is your presence!"--_T. Smith cor._ "_O_
blissful days!--_but, ah_! how soon ye pass!"--_Parker and Fox cor._

   "_O_ golden days! _O_ bright unvalued hours!--
    What bliss, did ye but know that bliss, were yours!"--_Barbauld cor._

    "_Ah_ me! what perils do environ
    The man that meddles with cold iron!"--_Hudibras cor._



THE KEY.--PART III.--SYNTAX.

CHAPTER I.--SENTENCES.

The first chapter of Syntax, being appropriated to general views of this
part of grammar, to an exhibition of its leading doctrines, and to the
several forms of sentential analysis, with an application of its principal
rules in parsing, contains no false grammar for correction; and has, of
course, nothing to correspond to it, in this Key, except the title, which
is here inserted for form's sake.


CHAPTER II.--ARTICLES.

CORRECTIONS UNDER THE NOTES TO RULE I.

UNDER NOTE I.--AN OR A.

"I have seen _a_ horrible thing in the house of Israel."--_Bible cor._
"There is _a_ harshness in the following sentences."--_Murray's Gram._,
8vo, p. 152. "Indeed, such _a_ one is not to be looked for."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "If each of you will be disposed to approve himself _a_ useful
citizen."--_Id._ "Land with them had acquired almost _a_ European
value."--_Webster cor._ "He endeavoured to find out _a_ wholesome
remedy."--_Neef cor._ "At no time have we attended _a_ yearly meeting more
to our own satisfaction."--_The Friend cor._ "Addison was not _a humorist_
in character."--_Kames cor._ "Ah me! what _a_ one was he!"--_Lily cor._ "He
was such _a_ one as I never saw before"--_Id._ "No man can be a good
preacher, who is not _a_ useful one."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "_A_ usage which is
too frequent with Mr. Addison."--_Id._ "Nobody joins the voice of a sheep
with the shape of _a_ horse."--_Locke cor._ "_A_ universality seems to be
aimed at by the omission of the article."--_Priestley cor._ "Architecture
is _a_ useful as well as a fine art."--_Kames cor._ "Because the same
individual conjunctions do not preserve _a_ uniform signification."--
_Nutting cor._ "Such a work required the patience and assiduity of _a_
hermit."--_Johnson cor._ "Resentment is _a_ union of sorrow with
malignity."--_Id._ "His bravery, we know, was _a_ high courage of
blasphemy."--_Pope cor._ "HYSSOP; _an_ herb of bitter taste."--_Pike cor._

   "On each enervate string they taught the note
    To pant, or tremble through _a eunuch's_ throat."--_Pope cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--AN OR A WITH PLURALS.

"At a _session_ of the court, in March, it was moved," &c.--_Hutchinson
cor._ "I shall relate my conversations, of which I kept memoranda."--_D.
D'Ab. cor._ "I took _an other_ dictionary, and with a _pair of_ scissors
cut out, for instance, the word ABACUS."--_A. B. Johnson cor._ "A person
very meet seemed he for the purpose, _and about_ forty-five years
old."--_Gardiner cor._ "And it came to pass, about eight days after these
sayings."--_Bible cor._ "There were slain of them about three thousand
men."--_1 Macc. cor._ "Until I had gained the top of these white mountains,
which seemed _other_ Alps of snow."--_Addison cor._ "To make them
satisfactory amends for all the losses they had sustained."--_Goldsmith
cor._ "As a _first-fruit_ of many that shall be gathered."--_Barclay cor._
"It makes indeed a little _amend_, (or _some amends_,) by inciting us to
oblige people."--_Sheffield cor._ "A large and lightsome _back stairway_
(or _flight of backstairs_) leads up to an entry above."--_Id._ "Peace of
mind is an _abundant recompense_ for _any_ sacrifices of
interest."--_Murray et al. cor._ "With such a spirit, and _such_
sentiments, were hostilities carried on."--_Robertson cor._ "In the midst
of a thick _wood_, he had long lived a voluntary recluse."--_G. B_. "The
flats look almost like a young _forest_."--_Chronicle cor._ "As we went on,
the country for a little _way_ improved, but scantily."--_Freeman cor._
"Whereby the Jews were permitted to return into their own country, after _a
captivity of seventy years_ at Babylon."--_Rollin cor._ "He did not go a
great _way_ into the country."--_Gilbert cor._

   "A large _amend_ by fortune's hand is made,
    And the lost Punic blood is well repay'd."--_Rowe cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--NOUNS CONNECTED.

"As where a landscape is conjoined with the music of birds, and _the_ odour
of flowers."--_Kames cor._ "The last order resembles the second in the
mildness of its accent, and _the_ softness of its pause."--_Id._ "Before
the use of the loadstone, or _the_ knowledge of the compass."--_Dryden
cor._ "The perfect participle and _the_ imperfect tense ought not to be
confounded."--_Murray cor._ "In proportion as the taste of a poet or _an_
orator becomes more refined."--_Blair cor._ "A situation can never be more
intricate, _so_ long as there is an angel, _a_ devil, or _a_ musician, to
lend a helping hand."--_Kames cor._ "Avoid rude sports: an eye is soon
lost, or _a_ bone broken."--_Inst._, p. 262. "Not a word was uttered, nor
_a_ sign given."--_Ib._ "I despise not the doer, but _the_ deed."--_Ib._
"For the sake of an easier pronunciation and _a_ more agreeable
sound."--_Lowth cor._ "The levity as well as _the_ loquacity of the Greeks
made them incapable of keeping up the true standard of history."--
_Bolingbroke cor._


UNDER NOTE IV.--ADJECTIVES CONNECTED.

"It is proper that the vowels be a long and _a_ short one."--_Murray cor._
"Whether the person mentioned was seen by the speaker a long or _a_ short
time before."--_Id. et al_. "There are three genders; _the_ masculine,
_the_ feminine, and _the_ neuter."--_Adam cor._ "The numbers are two; _the_
singular and _the_ plural."--_Id. et al_. "The persons are three; _the_
first, _the_ second, and _the_ third."--_Iidem_. "Nouns and pronouns have
three cases; the nominative, _the_ possessive, and _the_ objective."--
_Comly and Ing. cor._ "Verbs have five moods; namely, the infinitive, _the_
indicative, _the_ potential, _the_ subjunctive, and _the_ imperative."--
_Bullions et al. cor._ "How many numbers have pronouns? Two, the singular
and _the_ plural."--_Bradley cor._ "To distinguish between an interrogative
and _an_ exclamatory sentence."--_Murray et al. cor._ "The first and _the_
last of which are _compound_ members."--_Lowth cor._ "In the last lecture,
I treated of the concise and _the_ diffuse, the nervous and _the_ feeble
manner."--_Blair cor._ "The passive and _the_ neuter verbs I shall reserve
for some future conversation."--_Ingersoll cor._ "There are two voices; the
active and _the_ passive."--_Adam et al. cor._ "WHOSE is rather the
poetical than _the_ regular genitive of WHICH."--_Johnson cor._ "To feel
the force of a compound or _a_ derivative word."--_Town cor._ "To preserve
the distinctive uses of the copulative and _the_ disjunctive
conjunctions."--_Murray et al. cor._ "E has a long and _a_ short sound in
most languages."--_Bicknell cor._ "When the figurative and _the_ literal
sense are mixed and jumbled together."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The Hebrew, with
which the Canaanitish and _the_ Phoenician stand in connexion."--_Conant_
and _Fowler cor._ "The languages of Scandinavia proper, the Norwegian and
_the_ Swedish."--_Fowler cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--ADJECTIVES CONNECTED.

"The path of truth is a plain and safe path."--_Murray cor._ "Directions
for acquiring a just and happy elocution."--_Kirkham cor._ "Its leading
object is, to adopt a correct and easy method."--_Id._ "How can it choose
but wither in a long and sharp winter?"--_Cowley cor._ "Into a dark and
distant unknown."--_Dr. Chalmers cor._ "When the bold and strong enslaved
his fellow man."--_Chazotte cor._ "We now proceed to consider the things
most essential to an accurate and perfect sentence."--_Murray cor._ "And
hence arises a second and very considerable source of the improvement of
taste."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Novelty produces in the mind a vivid and
agreeable emotion."--_Id._ "The deepest and bitterest feeling still is
_that of_ the separation."--_Dr. M'Rie cor._ "A great and good man looks
beyond time."--See _Brown's Inst._, p. 263. "They made but a weak and
ineffectual resistance."--_Ib._ "The light and worthless kernels will
float."--_Ib._ "I rejoice that there is an other and better world."--_Ib._
"For he is determined to revise his work, and present to the _public an
other and better_ edition."--_Kirkham cor._ "He hoped that this title would
secure _to_ him an ample and independent authority."--_L. Murray cor. et
al_. "There is, however, _an other and more limited sense_."--_J. Q. Adams
cor._


UNDER NOTE VI.--ARTICLES OR PLURALS.

"This distinction forms what are called the diffuse _style_ and the
concise."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Two different modes of speaking, distinguished
at first by the denominations of _the Attic manner_ and _the
Asiatic_."--_Adams cor._ "But the great design of uniting the Spanish and
French monarchies under the former, was laid."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "In the
solemn and poetic styles, it [_do_ or _did_] is often rejected."--_Allen
cor._ "They cannot be, at the same time, in _both_ the objective _case_ and
the nominative." Or: "They cannot be, at the same time, in _both_ the
objective and the nominative _case_." Or: "They cannot be, at the same
time, in the nominative _case_, and _also in the_ objective." Or: "They
cannot be, at the same time, in the nominative and objective
cases."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 148. Or, better: "They cannot be, at the
same time, in _both_ cases, the nominative and _the_ objective."--_Murray
et al. cor._ "They are named the positive, comparative, and superlative
degrees."--_Smart cor._ "Certain adverbs are capable of taking an
inflection; namely, that of the comparative and superlative
degrees."--_Fowler cor._ "In the subjunctive mood, the present and
imperfect tenses often carry with them a future sense."--_Murray et al.
cor._ "The imperfect, the perfect, the pluperfect, and the first-future
_tense_, of this mood, are conjugated like the same tenses of the
indicative."--_Kirkham bettered_. "What rules apply in parsing personal
pronouns of the second and third _persons_?"--_Id._ "Nouns are sometimes in
the nominative or _the_ objective case after the neuter verb _be_, or after
an active-intransitive or _a_ passive verb." "The verb varies its _ending_
in the singular, in order to agree with its nominative, in the first,
second, and third _persons_."--_Id._ "They are identical in effect with the
radical and the vanishing _stress_."--_Rush cor._ "In a sonnet, the first,
_the_ fourth, _the_ fifth, and _the_ eighth line, _usually_ rhyme to _one
an_ other: so do the second, third, sixth, and seventh _lines_; the ninth,
eleventh, and thirteenth _lines_; and the tenth, twelfth, and fourteenth
_lines_."--_Churchill cor._ "The iron and golden ages are run; youth and
manhood are departed."--_Wright cor._ "If, as you say, the iron and the
golden _age_ are past, the youth and the manhood of the world."--_Id._ "An
Exposition of the Old and New _Testaments_."--_Henry cor._ "The names and
order of the books of the Old and _the_ New Testament."--_Bible cor._ "In
the second and third _persons_ of that tense."--_Murray cor._ "And who
still unites in himself the human and the divine _nature_."--_Gurney cor._
"Among whom arose the Italian, Spanish, French, and English
languages."--_Murray cor._ "Whence arise these two _numbers_, the singular
and the plural."--_Burn cor._


UNDER NOTE VII.--CORRESPONDENT TERMS.

"Neither the definitions nor _the_ examples are entirely the same _as_
his."--_Ward cor._ "Because it makes a discordance between the thought and
_the_ expression."--_Kames cor._ "Between the adjective and _the_ following
substantive."--_Id._ "Thus Athens became both the repository and _the_
nursery of learning."--_Chazotte cor._ "But the French pilfered from both
the Greek and _the_ Latin."--_Id._ "He shows that Christ is both the power
and _the_ wisdom of God."--_The Friend cor._ "That he might be Lord both of
the dead and _of the_ living."--_Bible cor._ "This is neither the obvious
nor _the_ grammatical meaning of his words."--_Blair cor._ "Sometimes both
the accusative and _the_ infinitive are understood."--_Adam and Gould cor._
"In some cases, we can use either the nominative or _the_ accusative,
promiscuously."--_Iidem_. "Both the former and _the_ latter substantive are
sometimes to be understood."--_Iidem_. "Many _of_ which have escaped both
the commentator and _the_ poet himself."--_Pope cor._ "The verbs MUST and
OUGHT, have both a present and _a_ past signification."--_L. Murray cor._
"How shall we distinguish between the friends and _the_ enemies of the
government?"--_Dr. Webster cor._ "Both the _ecclesiastical_ and _the_
secular powers concurred in those measures."--_Dr. Campbell cor._ "As the
period has a beginning and _an_ end within itself, it implies an
_inflection_."--_J. Q. Adams cor._ "Such as ought to subsist between a
principal and _an_ accessory."--_Ld. Kames cor._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--CORRESPONDENCE PECULIAR.

"When both the upward and the downward _slide_ occur in _the sound of one_
syllable, they are called a CIRCUMFLEX, or WAVE."--_Kirkham cor._ "The word
THAT is used both in the nominative and _in the objective case_."--_Sanborn
cor._ "But _in_ all the other moods and tenses, both of the active and _of
the_ passive _voice_ [the verbs] are conjugated at large."--_Murray cor._
"Some writers on grammar, admitting the second-future _tense into_ the
indicative mood, _reject it from the_ subjunctive."--_Id._ "_After_ the
same conjunction, _to use_ both the indicative and the subjunctive _mood_
in the same sentence, and _under_ the same circumstances, seems to be a
great impropriety."--_Id._ "The true distinction between the subjunctive
and the indicative _mood_ in this tense."--_Id._ "I doubt of his capacity
to teach either the French or _the_ English _language_."--_Chazotte cor._
"It is as necessary to make a distinction between the active-transitive and
the active-intransitive verb, as between the active and _the_
passive."--_Nixon cor._


UNDER NOTE IX.--A SERIES OF TERMS.

"As comprehending the terms uttered by the artist, the mechanic, and _the_
husbandman."--_Chazotte cor._ "They may be divided into four classes; the
Humanists, _the_ Philanthropists, _the Pestalozzians_, and the
_Productives_."--_Smith cor._ "Verbs have six tenses; the present, the
imperfect, the perfect, the pluperfect, the _first-future_, and the
_second-future_."--_Murray et al. cor._ "Is it an irregular _neuter_ verb
[from _be, was, being, been_; found in] _the_ indicative mood, present
tense, third person, and singular number."--_Murray cor._ "SHOULD GIVE is
an irregular _active-transitive_ verb [from _give, gave, given, giving_;
found] in the potential mood, imperfect tense, first person, and plural
number."--_Id._ "US is a personal pronoun, _of the_ first person, plural
number, _masculine gender_, and objective case."--_Id._ "THEM is a personal
pronoun, of the third person, plural number, _masculine gender_, and
objective case."--_Id._ "It is surprising that the Jewish critics, with
all their skill in dots, points, and accents, never had the ingenuity to
invent a point of interrogation, _a point_ of admiration, or a
parenthesis."--_Dr. Wilson cor._ "The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth
_verses_." Or: "The fifth, _the_ sixth, _the_ seventh, and the eighth
verse."--_O. B. Peirce cor_. "Substitutes have three persons; the First,
_the_ Second, and the Third."--_Id._ "JOHN'S is a proper noun, of the third
person, singular number, masculine gender, and possessive case: and _is_
governed by 'WIFE,' _according to_ Rule" [4th, _which says_, &c.]--_Smith
cor_. "Nouns, in the English language, have three cases; the nominative,
the possessive, and _the_ objective."--_Bar. and Alex. cor._ "The potential
mood has four tenses; viz., the present, the imperfect, the perfect, and
_the_ pluperfect."--_Ingersoll cor._

   "Where Science, Law, and Liberty depend,
    And own the patron, patriot, and friend."--_Savage cor._


UNDER NOTE X.--SPECIES AND GENUS.

"_The_ pronoun is a part of speech[532] put for _the_ noun."--_Paul's Ac.
cor._ "_The_ verb is a part of speech declined with mood and tense."--_Id._
"_The_ participle is a part of speech derived _from the_ verb."--_Id._
"_The_ adverb is a part of speech joined to verbs, [participles,
adjectives, or other adverbs,] to declare their signification."--_Id._
"_The_ conjunction is a part of speech that _joins words or_ sentences
together."--_Id._ "_The_ preposition is a part of speech most commonly set
before other parts."--_Id._ "_The_ interjection is a part of speech which
_betokens_ a sudden _emotion_ or passion of the mind."--_Id._ "_The_
enigma, or riddle, is also a species of allegory."--_Blair and Murray cor._
"We may take from the Scriptures a very fine example of _the_
allegory."--_Iidem_. "And thus have you exhibited a sort of sketch of
art."--_Harris cor._ "We may 'imagine a subtle kind of reasoning,' as Mr.
Harris acutely observes."--_Churchill cor._ "But, before entering on these,
I shall give one instance of _metaphor, very beautiful_, (or, one _very
beautiful_ instance of metaphor,) that I may show the figure to full
advantage."--_Blair cor._ "Aristotle, in his Poetics, uses _metaphor_ in
this extended sense, for any figurative meaning imposed upon a word; as
_the_ whole put for _a_ part, or a part for _the_ whole; _a_ species for
the genus, or _the_ genus for a species."--_Id._ "It shows what kind of
apple it is of which we are speaking."--_Kirkham cor._ "Cleon was _an
other_ sort of man."--_Goldsmith cor._ "To keep off his right wing, as a
kind of reserved body."--_Id._ "This part of speech is called _the_
verb."--_Mack cor._ "What sort of thing is it?"--_Hiley cor._ "What sort of
charm do they possess?"--_Bullions cor._

   "Dear Welsted, mark, in dirty hole,
    That painful animal, _the_ mole."--_Dunciad cor._


UNDER NOTE XI.--ARTICLES NOT REQUISITE.

"Either thou or the boys were in fault."--_Comly cor._ "It may, at first
view, appear to be too general."--_Murray et al. cor._ "When the verb has
reference to future time."--_Iidem_. "No; they are the language of
imagination, rather than of passion."--_Blair cor._ "The dislike of English
Grammar, which has so generally prevailed, can be attributed _only_ to the
intricacy of [our] syntax."--_Russell cor._ "Is that ornament in good
taste?"--_Kames cor._ "There are not many fountains in good taste." Or:
"Not many fountains are [ornamented] in good taste."--_Id._ "And I
persecuted this way unto death."--_Bible cor._ "The sense of feeling can,
indeed, give us a notion of extension."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 411. "The
distributive _adjectives, each, every, either_, agree with nouns, pronouns,
_or_ verbs, of the singular number only."--_Murray cor._ "Expressing by one
word, what might, by a circumlocution, be resolved into two or more words
belonging to other parts of speech."--_Blair cor._ "By certain muscles
which operate [in harmony, and] all at the same time."--_Murray cor._ "It
is sufficient here to have observed thus much in general concerning
them."--_Campbell cor._ "Nothing disgusts us sooner than empty pomp of
language."--_Murray cor._


UNDER NOTE XII.--TITLES AND NAMES.

"He is entitled to the appellation of _gentleman_."--_G. Brown_. "Cromwell
assumed the title of Protector"--_Id._ "Her father is honoured with the
title of _Earl_."--_Id._ "The chief magistrate is styled _President_."--
_Id._ "The highest title in the state is that of _Governor_."--_Id._ "That
boy is known by the name of _Idler_."--_Murray cor._ "The one styled
_Mufti_, is the head of the ministers of law and religion."--_Balbi cor._
"Ranging all that possessed them under one class, he called that whole
class _tree_."--_Blair cor._ "For _oak, pine_, and _ash_, were names of
whole classes of objects."--_Id._ "It is of little importance whether we
give to some particular mode of expression the name of _trope_, or of
_figure_."--_Id._ "The collision of a vowel with itself is the most
ungracious of all combinations, and has been doomed to peculiar reprobation
under the name of _hiatus_."--_Adams cor._ "We hesitate to determine,
whether _Tyrant_ alone is the nominative, or whether the nominative
includes the _word Spy_."--_Cobbett cor._ "Hence originated the customary
abbreviation of _twelve months_ into _twelvemonth_; of _seven nights_ into
_sennight_; of _fourteen nights_ into _fortnight_."--_Webster cor._


UNDER NOTE XIII.--COMPARISONS AND ALTERNATIVES.

"He is a better writer than reader."--_W. Allen_. "He was an abler
mathematician than linguist."--_Id._ "I should rather have an orange than
_an_ apple."--_G. Brown_. "He was no less able _as_ a negotiator, than
courageous _as_ a warrior."--_Smollett cor._ "In an epic poem, we pardon
many negligences that would not be permitted in a sonnet or _an_
epigram."--_Kames cor._ "That figure is a sphere, globe, or
ball."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 357.


UNDER NOTE XIV.--ANTECEDENTS TO WHO OR WHICH.

"_The_ carriages which were formerly in use, were very clumsy."--_Key to
Inst_. "The place is not mentioned by _the_ geographers who wrote at that
time."--_Ib._ "Those questions which a person _puts to_ himself in
contemplation, ought to be terminated _with_ points of interrogation."--
_Mur. et al. cor._ "The work is designed for the use of _those_ persons who
may think it merits a place in their libraries."--_Mur. cor._ "That _those_
who think confusedly, should express themselves obscurely, is not to be
wondered at."--_Id._ "_Those_ grammarians who limit the number to two, or
three, do not reflect."--_Id._ "_The_ substantives which end in _ian_, are
those that signify profession." Or: "_Those_ substantives which end in
_ian_, are _such as_ signify profession."--_Id._ "To these may be added
_those_ verbs which, among the poets, _usually_ govern the dative."--_Adam
and Gould cor._ "_The_ consonants are _those_ letters which cannot be
sounded without the aid of a vowel."--_Bucke cor._ "To employ the curiosity
of persons _skilled_ in grammar:"--"of _those_ who are skilled in
grammar:"--"of persons _that_ are skilled in grammar:"--"of _such_ persons
_as_ are skilled in grammar:" or--"of _those_ persons _who_ are skilled in
grammar."--_L. Murray cor._ "This rule refers only to _those_ nouns and
pronouns which have the same bearing, or relation."--_Id._ "So that _the_
things which are seen, were not made of things _that_ do appear."--_Bible
cor._ "Man is an imitative creature; he may utter _again_ the sounds which
he has heard."--_Dr. Wilson cor._ "But _those_ men whose business is wholly
domestic, have little or no use for any language but their own."--_Dr.
Webster cor._


UNDER NOTE XV.--PARTICIPIAL NOUNS.

"Great benefit may be reaped from _the_ reading of histories."--_Sewel
cor._ "And some attempts were made towards _the_ writing of
history."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "It is _an_ invading of the priest's office,
for any other to offer it"--_Leslie cor._ "And thus far of _the_ forming of
verbs."--_W. Walker cor._ "And without _the_ shedding of blood _there_ is
no remission."--_Bible cor._ "For _the_ making of measures, we have the
best method here in England."--_Printer's Gram. cor._ "This is really both
_an_ admitting and _a_ denying at once."--_Butler cor._ "And hence the
origin of _the_ making of parliaments."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "Next thou
objectest, that _the_ having of saving light and grace presupposes
conversion. But that I deny: for, on the contrary, conversion _presupposes
the_ having _of_ light and grace."--_Barclay cor._ "They cried down _the_
wearing of rings and other superfluities, as we do."--_Id._ "Whose
adorning, let it not be that outward adorning, of _the_ plaiting _of_ the
hair, and of _the_ wearing of gold, or of _the putting-on_ of
apparel."--_Bible cor._ "In _the_ spelling of derivative words, the
_primitives_ must be kept whole."--_Brit. Gram. and Buchanan's cor._ "And
the princes offered for _the_ dedicating of the altar."--_Numb. cor._
"Boasting is not only _a_ telling of lies, but also _of_ many unseemly
truths."--_Sheffield cor._ "We freely confess that _the_ forbearing of
prayer in the wicked is sinful."--_Barclay cor._ "For _the_ revealing of a
secret, there is no remedy."--_G. Brown_. "He turned all his thoughts to
_the_ composing of laws for the good of the State."--_Rollin cor._


UNDER NOTE XVI.--PARTICIPLES, NOT NOUNS.

"It is salvation to be kept from falling into a pit, as truly as to be
taken out of it after falling in."--_Barclay cor._ "For in receiving and
embracing the testimony of truth, they felt their souls eased."--_Id._
"True regularity does not consist in having but a single rule, and forcing
every thing to conform to it."--_Phil. Museum cor._ "To the man of the
world, this sound of glad tidings appears only an idle tale, and not worth
attending to."--_Say cor._ "To be the deliverer of the captive Jews, by
ordering their temple to be rebuilt," &c.--_Rollin cor._ "And for
preserving them from being defiled."--_Discip. cor._ "A wise man will
_forbear to show_ any excellence in trifles."--_Kames cor._ "Hirsutus had
no other reason for valuing a book."--_Johnson, and Wright, cor._ "To being
heard with satisfaction, it is necessary that the speaker should deliver
himself with ease." Perhaps better: "_To be_ heard, &c." Or: "_In order to
be_ heard, &c."--_Sheridan cor._ "And, to the _end of_ being well heard and
clearly understood, a good and distinct articulation contributes more, than
_can even the greatest_ power of voice."--_Id._

   "_Potential_ purports, _having power or will_;
    As, If you _would_ improve, you _should_ be still."--_Tobitt cor._


UNDER NOTE XVII.--VARIOUS ERRORS.

"For the same reason, a neuter verb cannot become passive."--_Lowth cor._
"_A_ period is _a_ whole sentence complete in itself."--_Id._ "_A_ colon,
or member, is a chief constructive part, or _the greatest_ division, of a
sentence."--_Id._ "_A_ semicolon, or half-member, is a _smaller_
constructive part, or _a_ subdivision, of a sentence or _of_ a
member."--_Id._ "A sentence or _a_ member is again subdivided into commas,
or segments."--_Id._ "The first error that I would mention is, too general
_an_ attention to the dead languages, with a neglect of our own
_tongue_."--_Webster cor._ "One third of the importations would supply the
demands of _the_ people."--_Id._ "And especially in _a_ grave
_style_."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 178. "By too eager _a_ pursuit, he ran a
great risk of being disappointed."--_Murray cor._ "_The_ letters are
divided into vowels and consonants."--_Mur. et al. cor._ "_The_ consonants
are divided into mutes and semivowels."--_Iidem_. "The first of these forms
is _the_ most agreeable to the English idiom."--_Murray cor._ "If they
gain, it is _at_ too dear _a_ rate."--_Barclay cor._ "A pronoun is a word
used _in stead_ of a noun, to prevent too frequent _a_ repetition of
it."--_Maunder cor._ "This vulgar error might perhaps arise from too
partial _a_ fondness for the Latin."--_Ash cor._ "The groans which too
heavy _a_ load extorts from her."--_Hitchcock cor._ "The numbers of a verb
are, of course, _the_ singular and _the_ plural."--_Bucke cor._ "To brook
no meanness, and to stoop to no dissimulation, are indications of a great
mind."--_Murray cor._ "This mode of expression rather suits _the_ familiar
than _the_ grave style."--_Id._ "This use of the word _best_ suits _a_
familiar and low style."--_Priestley cor._ "According to the nature of the
composition, the one or _the_ other may be predominant."--_Blair cor._ "Yet
the commonness of such sentences prevents in a great measure too early _an_
expectation of the end."--_Campbell cor._ "A eulogy or a philippic may be
pronounced by an individual of one nation upon _a_ subject of _an_
other."--_J. Q. Adams cor._ "A French sermon is, for _the_ most part, a
warm animated exhortation."--_Blair cor._ "I do not envy those who think
slavery no very pitiable lot."--_Channing cor._ "The auxiliary and _the_
principal united constitute a tense."--_Murray cor._ "There are some verbs
which are defective with respect to _the_ persons."--_Id._ "In youth,
habits of industry are _the_ most easily acquired."--_Id._ "_The_
apostrophe (') is used in place of a letter left out."--_Bullions cor._


CHAPTER III.--CASES, OR NOUNS.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE II; OF NOMINATIVES.

"The whole need not a physician, but _they_ that are sick."--_Bunyan cor._
"He will in no wise cast out _whosoever_ cometh unto him." Better: "He will
in no wise cast out _any that come_ unto him."--_Hall cor._ "He feared the
enemy might fall upon his men, _who_, he saw, were off their
guard."--_Hutchinson cor._ "_Whosoever_ shall compel thee to go a mile, go
with him twain."--_Matt._, v, 41. "The _ideas_ of the author have been
conversant with the faults of other writers."--_Swift cor._ "You are a much
greater loser than _I_, by his death." Or: "_Thou art_ a much greater loser
by his death than _I_."--_Id._ "Such _peccadilloes_ pass with him for pious
frauds."--_Barclay cor._ "In whom I am nearly concerned, and _who_, I know,
would be very apt to justify my whole procedure."--_Id._ "Do not think such
a man as _I_ contemptible for my garb."--_Addison cor._ "His wealth and
_he_ bid adieu to each other."--_Priestley cor._ "So that, 'He is greater
than _I_,' will be more grammatical than, 'He is greater than
_me_.'"--_Id._ "The Jesuits had more interests at court than _he_."--_Id.
and Smollett cor._ "Tell the Cardinal that I understand poetry better than
_he_."--_Iid._ "An inhabitant of Crim Tartary was far more happy than
_he_."--_Iid._ "My father and _he_ have been very intimate since."--_Fair
Am. cor._ "Who was the agent, and _who_, the object struck or
kissed?"--_Mrs. Bethune cor._ "To find the person _who_, he imagined, was
concealed there."--_Kirkham cor._ "He offered a great recompense to
_whosoever_ would help him." Better: "He offered a great recompense to _any
one who_ would help him."--_Hume and Pr. cor._ "They would be under the
dominion, absolute and unlimited, of _whosoever_ (or _any one who_) might
exercise the right of judgement."--_Haynes cor._ "They had promised to
accept _whosoever_ (or _any one who_) should be born in Wales."--_Croker
cor._ "We sorrow not as _they_ that have no hope."--_Maturin cor._ "If he
suffers, he suffers as _they_ that have no hope."--_Id._ "We acknowledge
that he, and _he_ only, hath been our peacemaker."--_Gratton cor._ "And
what can be better than _he_ that made it?"--_Jenks cor._ "None of his
school-fellows is more beloved than _he_."--_Cooper cor._ "Solomon, who was
wiser than _they_ all."--_Watson cor._ "Those _who_ the Jews thought were
the last to be saved, first entered the kingdom of God."--_Tract cor._ "A
stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than
both."--_Bible cor._ "A man of business, in good company, is hardly more
insupportable, than _she whom_ they call a notable woman."--_Steele cor._
"The king of the Sarmatians, _who_ we may imagine was no small prince,
restored to him a hundred thousand Roman prisoners."--_Life of Anton. cor._
"Such notions would be avowed at this time by none but rosicrucians, and
fanatics as mad as _they_."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 203. "Unless, as I
said, Messieurs, you are the masters, and not _I_."--_Hall cor._ "We had
drawn up against peaceable travellers, who must have been as glad as _we_
to escape."--_Burnes cor._ "Stimulated, in turn, by their approbation and
that of better judges than _they_, she turned to their literature with
redoubled energy."--_Quarterly Rev. cor._ "I know not _who_ else are
expected."--_Scott cor._ "He is great, but truth is greater than _we_ all."
Or: "He is great, but truth is greater than _any of us_."--_H. Mann cor._.
"_He_ I accuse has entered." Or, by ellipsis of the antecedent, thus:
"_Whom_ I accuse has entered."--_Fowler cor.; also Shakspeare._

   "Scotland and _thou_ did each in other live."--_Dryden cor._

    "We are alone; here's none but _thou_ and I."--_Shak. cor._

    "_I_ rather _would_, my heart might feel your love,
    Than my unpleas'd eye see your courtesy."--_Shak. cor._

    "Tell me, in sadness, _who_ is she you love?"--_Shak. cor._

    "Better leave undone, than by our deeds acquire
    Too high a fame, when _he_ we serve's away."--_Shak. cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE III; OF APPOSITION.

"Now, therefore, come thou, let us make a covenant, _thee_ and
_me_."--_Bible cor._ "Now, therefore, come thou, we will make a covenant,
_thou_ and _I_."--_Variation corrected_. "The word came not to Esau, the
hunter, that stayed not at home; but to Jacob, the plain man, _him_ that
dwelt in tents."--_Penn cor._ "Not to every man, but to the man of God,
(i.e.,) _him_ that is led by the spirit of God."--_Barclay cor._ "For,
admitting God to be a creditor, or _him_ to whom the debt should be paid,
and Christ _him_ that satisfies or pays it on behalf of man the debtor,
this question will arise, whether he paid that debt as God, or man, or
both?"--_Penn cor._ "This Lord Jesus Christ, the heavenly Man, the
Emmanuel, God with us, we own and believe in: _him_ whom the high priests
raged against," &c.--_Fox cor._ "Christ, and _He_ crucified, was the Alpha
and Omega of all his addresses, the fountain and foundation of his hope and
trust."--_Exp. cor._ "Christ, and _He_ crucified, is the head, and the only
head, of the church."--_Denison cor._ "But if Christ, and _He_ crucified,
_is_ the burden of the ministry, such disastrous results are all
avoided."--_Id._ "He never let fall the least intimation, that himself, or
any other person _whosoever_, was the object of worship."--_View cor._ "Let
the elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honour, especially
_them_ who labour in the word and doctrine."--_Bible cor._ "Our Shepherd,
_he_ who is styled King of saints, will assuredly give his saints the
victory."--_Sermon cor._ "It may seem odd, to talk of _us_
subscribers."--_Fowle cor._ "And they shall have none to bury them: _they_,
their wives, nor their sons, nor[533] their daughters; for I will pour
their wickedness upon them."--_Bible cor._ "Yet I supposed it necessary to
send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and
fellow-soldier, but your messenger, and _him_ that ministered to my
wants."--_Bible cor._

   "Amidst the tumult of the routed train,
    The sons of false Antimachus were slain;
    _Him_ who for bribes his faithless counsels sold,
    And voted Helen's stay for Paris' gold."--_Pope cor._

    "See the vile King his iron sceptre bear--
    His only praise attends the pious heir;
    _Him_ in whose soul the virtues all conspire,
    The best good son, from the worst wicked sire."--_Lowth cor._

    "Then from thy lips poured forth a joyful song
    To thy Redeemer!--yea, it poured along
    In most melodious energy of praise,
    To God, the Saviour, _him_ of ancient days."--_Arm Chair cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE IV; OF POSSESSIVES.

UNDER NOTE I.--THE POSSESSIVE FORM.

"_Man's_ chief good is an upright mind."--_Key to Inst_. "The translator of
_Mallet's_ History _has_ the following note."--_Webster cor._ "The act,
while it gave five _years'_ full pay to the officers, allowed but one
year's pay to the privates."--_Id._ "For the study of English is preceded
by several _years'_ attention to Latin and Greek."--_Id._ "The first, the
_Court-Baron_, is the _freeholders'_ or _freemen's_ court."--_Coke cor._ "I
affirm that _Vaugelas's_ definition labours under an essential
defect."--_Campbell cor.; and also Murray_. "There is a chorus in
_Aristophanes's_ plays."--_Blair cor._ "It denotes the same perception in
my mind as in _theirs_."--_Duncan cor._ "This afterwards enabled him to
read _Hickes's_ Saxon Grammar."--_Life of Dr. Mur. cor._ "I will not do it
for _ten's_ sake."--_Ash cor._ Or: "I will not _destroy_ it for _ten's_
sake."--_Gen._, xviii, 32. "I arose, and asked if those charming infants
were _hers_."--_Werter cor._ "They divide their time between _milliners_'
shops and _the_ taverns."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "The _angels_' adoring of Adam
is also mentioned in the Talmud."--_Sale cor._ "Quarrels arose from the
_winners_' insulting of those who lost."--_Id._ "The vacancy occasioned by
Mr. _Adams's_ resignation."--_Adv. to Adams's Rhet. cor._ "Read, for
instance, _Junius's_ address, commonly called his _Letter to the
King_."--_Adams cor._ "A perpetual struggle against the tide of
_Hortensius's_ influence."--_Id._ "Which, for _distinction's_ sake, I shall
put down severally."--_R. Johnson cor._ "The fifth case is in a clause
signifying the matter of _one's_ fear."--_Id._ "And they took counsel, and
bought with them the _potter's_ field."--_Alger cor._ "Arise for thy
_servants_' help, and redeem them for thy mercy's sake."--_Jenks cor._
"Shall not their cattle, their substance, and every beast of _theirs_, be
_ours_?"--COM. BIBLE: _Gen._, xxxiv, 23. "_Its_ regular plural, _bullaces_,
is used by Bacon."--_Churchill cor._ "Mordecai walked every day before the
court of the _women's_ house."--_Scott cor._ "Behold, they that wear soft
clothing, are in _kings_' houses."--_Alger's Bible_. "Then Jethro,
_Moses's_ father-in-law, took Zipporah, _Moses's_ wife, and her two sons;
and Jethro, _Moses's_ father-in-law, came, with his sons and his wife, unto
Moses."--_Scott's Bible_. "King _James's_ translators merely revised former
translations."--_Frazee cor._ "May they be like corn on _houses_'
tops."--_White cor._

   "And for his Maker's _image'_ sake exempt."--_Milton cor._

    "By all the fame acquired in ten _years'_ war."--_Rowe cor._

    "Nor glad vile poets with true _critics'_ gore."--_Pope cor._

    "Man only of a softer mold is made,
    Not for his _fellows'_ ruin, but their aid."--_Dryden cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--POSSESSIVES CONNECTED.

"It was necessary to have both the _physician's_ and the surgeon's
advice."--_L. Murray's False Syntax_, Rule 10. "This _outside_
fashionableness of the _tailor's_ or _the tirewoman's_ making."--_Locke
cor._ "Some pretending to be of Paul's party, others of _Apollos's_, others
of _Cephas's_, and others, (pretending yet higher,) to be of
Christ's."--_Wood cor._ "Nor is it less certain, that _Spenser and
Milton's_ spelling agrees better with our pronunciation."--_Phil. Museum
cor._ "Law's, _Edwards's_, and _Watts's Survey_ of the Divine
Dispensations." Or thus: "_Law, Edwards_, and _Watts's_, Surveys of the
Divine Dispensations."--_Burgh cor._ "And who was Enoch's Saviour, and the
_prophets'_?"--_Bayly cor._ "Without any impediment but his own, his
_parents'_, or his _guardian's_ will."--_Journal corrected_. "James
relieves neither the _boy's_ nor the girl's distress."--_Nixon cor._ "John
regards neither the _master's_ nor the pupil's advantage."--_Id._ "You
reward neither the _man's_ nor the woman's labours."--_Id._ "She examines
neither _James's_ nor John's conduct."--_Id._ "Thou pitiest neither the
_servant's_ nor the master's injuries."--_Id._ "We promote _England's_ or
Ireland's happiness."--_Id._ "Were _Cain's_ and Abel's occupation the
same?"--_G. Brown_. "Were _Cain_ and Abel's occupations the same?"--_Id._
"What was _Simon_ and Andrew's employment?"--_Id._ "Till he can read _for_
himself _Sanctius's_ Minerva with _Scioppius's_ and Perizonius's
Notes."--_Locke cor._

   "And _love_ and friendship's finely-pointed dart
    Falls blunted from each indurated heart." Or:--

    "And _love's_ and friendship's finely-pointed dart
    _Fall_ blunted from each indurated heart."--_Goldsmith cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--CHOICE OF FORMS.

"But some degree of trouble is the portion _of all men_."--_L. Murray et
al. cor._ "With the names _of his father and mother_ upon the blank
leaf."--_Abbott cor._ "The general, in the name _of the army_, published a
declaration."--_Hume cor._ "The vote _of the Commons_."--_Id._ "The _House
of Lords_."--_Id._ "A collection of _the faults of writers_;"--or, "A
collection _of literary faults_."--_Swift cor._ "After ten _years of_
wars."--_Id._ "Professing his detestation of such practices as _those of_
his predecessors."--_Pope cor._ "By that time I shall have ended my _year
of_ office."--_W. Walker cor._ "For the sake _of Herodias_, the wife of
_his brother Philip_."--_Bible and Mur. cor._ "I endure all things for _the
sake of the elect_, that they may also obtain salvation."--_Bibles cor._
"He was _heir to the son of_ Louis the Sixteenth."--_W. Allen_. "The throne
we honour is the _people's choice_."--_Rolla_. "An account of the
proceedings of _Alexander's court_."--_Inst._ "An excellent tutor _for the
child of a person of fashion_!"--_Gil Blas cor._ "It is curious enough,
that this sentence of the _Bishop's_ is, itself, ungrammatical."--_Cobbett
cor._ "The troops broke into the palace _of_ the _Emperor_
Leopold."--_Nixon cor._ "The meeting was called by desire _of_ Eldon the
_Judge_."--_Id._ "The occupation _of Peter, John_, and _Andrew_, was that
of fishermen."--_Murray's Key_, R. 10. "The _debility of_ the venerable
president of the Royal _Academy_, has lately increased."--_Maunder cor._


UNDER NOTE IV.--NOUNS WITH POSSESSIVES PLURAL.

"God hath not given us our _reason_ to no purpose."--_Barclay cor._ "For
our _sake_, no doubt, this is written."--_Bible cor._ "Are not health and
strength of body desirable for their own _sake_?"--_Harris and Murray cor._
"Some sailors who were boiling their _dinner_ upon the shore."--_Day cor._
"And they, in their _turn_, were subdued by others."--_Pinnock cor._
"Industry on our _part_ is not superseded by God's grace."--_Arrowsmith
cor._ "Their _health_ perhaps may be pretty well secured."--_Locke cor._
"Though he was rich, yet for _your sake_ he became poor."--See _2 Cor._,
viii, 9. "It were to be wished, his correctors had been as wise on their
_part_."--_Harris cor._ "The Arabs are commended by the ancients for being
most exact to their _word_, and respctful to their kindred."--_Sale cor._
"That is, as a reward of some exertion on our _part_."--_Gurney cor._ "So
that it went ill with Moses for their _sake_."--_Ps. cor._ "All liars shall
have their _part_ in the burning lake."--_Watts cor._ "For our own _sake_
as well as for thine."--_Pref. to Waller cor._ "By discovering their
_ability_ to detect and amend errors."--_L. Murray cor._

   "This world I do renounce; and, in your _sight_,
    Shake patiently my great affliction off."--_Shak. cor._

    "If your relenting _anger_ yield to treat,
    Pompey and thou, in safety, here may meet."--_Rowe cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--POSSESSIVES WITH PARTICIPLES.

"This will encourage him to proceed without acquiring the
prejudice."--_Smith cor._ "And the notice which they give of an _action as_
being completed or not completed."--_L. Mur. et al. cor._ "Some obstacle,
or impediment, that prevents _it from_ taking place."--_Priestley and A.
Mur. cor._ "They have apostolical authority for so frequently urging the
seeking of the Spirit."--_The Friend cor._ "Here then is a wide field for
_reason to exert_ its powers in relation to the objects of taste."--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "Now this they derive altogether from their greater capacity of
imitation and description."--_Id._ "This is one clear reason _why they
paid_ a greater attention to that construction."--_Id._ "The dialogue part
had also a modulation of its own, which was capable of being set to
notes."--_Id._ "_Why are we so often_ frigid and unpersuasive in public
discourse?"--_Id._ "Which is only a preparation for leading his forces
directly upon us."--_Id._ "The nonsense about _which, as_ relating to
things only, and having no declension, needs no refutation."--_Fowle cor._
"Who, upon breaking it open, found nothing but the following
inscription."--_Rollin cor._ "A prince will quickly have reason to repent
_of_ having exalted one person so high."--_Id._ "Notwithstanding _it is_
the immediate subject of his discourse."--_Churchill cor._ "With our
definition of _it, as_ being synonymous with _time_."--_Booth cor._ "It
will considerably increase _our danger of_ being deceived."--_Campbell
cor._ "His beauties can never be mentioned without suggesting his blemishes
also."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "No example has ever been adduced, of a _man_
conscientiously approving an action, because of its badness." Or:--"of a
_man who_ conscientiously _approved_ of an action because of its
badness."--_Gurney cor._ "The last episode, of the _angel_ showing to Adam
the fate of his posterity, is happily imagined."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "And the
news came to my son, _that he_ and the bride _were_ in Dublin."--_M.
Edgeworth cor._ "There is no room for the _mind to exert_ any great
effort."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "One would imagine, that these _critics_ never
so much as heard _that Homer wrote_ first."--_Pope cor._ "Condemn the book,
for not being a geography;" or,--"_because it is not_ a
geography."--_Peirce cor._ "There will be in many words a transition from
being the figurative to being the proper signs of certain
ideas."--_Campbell cor._ "The doctrine _that the Pope is_ the only source
of ecclesiastical power."--_Rel. World cor._ "This _was_ the more
expedient, _because_ the work _was_ designed for the benefit of private
learners."--_L. Murray cor._ "This was _done, because_ the _Grammar, being
already in type, did not admit_ of enlargement."--_Id._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE V; OF OBJECTIVES.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE OBJECTIVE FORM.

"_Whom_ should I meet the other day but my old friend!"--_Spect. cor._ "Let
not him boast that puts on his armour, but _him_ that takes it
off."--_Barclay cor._ "Let none touch it, but _them_ who are clean."--_Sale
cor._ "Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and _them_
that dwell therein."--_Ps. cor._ "Pray be private, and careful _whom_ you
trust."--_Mrs. Goffe cor._ "How shall the people know _whom_ to entrust
with their property and their liberties?"--_J. O. Taylor cor._ "The
chaplain entreated my comrade and _me_ to dress as well as
possible."--_World cor._ "And _him_ that cometh _to_ me, I will in no wise
cast out."--_John_, vi, 37. "_Whom_, during this preparation, they
constantly and solemnly invoke."--_Hope of Is. cor._ "Whoever or whatever
owes us, is Debtor; _and whomever_ or whatever we owe, is
Creditor."--_Marsh cor._ "Declaring the curricle was his, and he should
have _in it whom_ he chose."--_A. Ross cor._ "The fact is, Burke is the
only one of all the host of brilliant contemporaries, _whom_ we can rank as
a first-rate orator."--_Knickerb. cor._ "Thus you see, how naturally the
Fribbles and the Daffodils have produced the _Messalinas_ of our
time."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "They would find in the Roman list both the
_Scipios_."--_Id._ "He found his wife's clothes on fire, and _her_ just
expiring."--_Observer cor._ "To present _you_ holy, and _unblamable_, and
_unreprovable_ in his sight."--_Colossians_, i, 22. "Let the distributer do
his duty with simplicity; the superintendent, with diligence; _him_ who
performs offices of compassion, with cheerfulness."--_Stuart cor._ "If the
crew rail at the master of the vessel, _whom_ will they mind?"--_Collier
cor._ "He having none but them, they having none but him"--_Drayton cor._

   "Thee, Nature, partial Nature, I arraign;
    Of thy caprice maternal I complain."--_Burns cor._

    "_Nor weens he who it is, whose charms consume_
    _His longing soul_, but loves he knows not _whom_"--_Addison cor._


UNDER NOTE I.--OF VERBS TRANSITIVE.

"When it gives that sense, and also connects _sentences_, it is a
conjunction."--_L. Murray cor._ "Though thou wilt not acknowledge _thyself
to--be guilty_, thou canst not deny the fact _stated_."--_Id._ "They
specify _some object_, like many other adjectives, and _also_ connect
sentences."--_Kirkham cor._ "A violation of this rule tends so much to
perplex _the reader_ and obscure _the sense_, that it is safer to err by
_using_ too many short sentences."--_L. Murray cor._ "A few exercises are
subjoined to each important definition, for him [the pupil] to _practise_
upon as he proceeds in committing _the grammar to memory._"--_Nutting cor._
"A verb signifying _an action directly transitive_, governs the
accusative."--_Adam et al. cor._ "Or, any word _that can be conjugated_, is
a verb."--_Kirkham cor._ "In these two concluding sentences, the author,
hastening to _a close_, appears to write rather carelessly."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "He simply reasons on one side of the question, and then _leaves
it._"--_Id._" Praise to God teaches _us_ to be humble and lowly
ourselves."--_Atterbury cor._ "This author has endeavoured to surpass _his
rivals._"--_R. W. Green cor._ "Idleness and _pleasure fatigue a man as_
soon _as business._"--_Webster cor._" And, in conjugating _any verb_,"--or,
"And in _learning conjugations_, you must pay particular attention to the
manner in which these signs are applied."--_Kirkham cor._ "He said Virginia
would have emancipated _her slaves_ long ago."--_Lib. cor._ "And having a
readiness"--or, "And holding ourselves in readiness"--or," And being in
readiness--to revenge all disobedience."--_Bible cor._ "However, in these
cases, custom generally determines _what is right._"--_Wright cor._ "In
proof, let the following cases _be taken._"--_Id._ "We must _marvel_ that
he should so speedily have forgotten his first principles."--_Id._ "How
should we _wonder_ at the expression, 'This is a _soft_ question!' "--_Id._
"And such as prefer _this course_, can parse it as a possessive
adjective."--_Goodenow cor._ "To assign all the reasons that induced _the
author_ to deviate from other grammarians, would lead to a needless
prolixity."--_Alexander cor._ "The Indicative Mood simply indicates or
declares _a thing._"--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 63.


UNDER NOTE II.--OF VERBS INTRANSITIVE.

"In his seventh chapter _he expatiates_ at great length."--_Barclay cor._
"He _quarrels with me for adducing_ some _ancient_ testimonies agreeing
with what I say."--_Id._ "Repenting of his design."--_Hume cor._ "Henry
knew, that an excommunication could not fail _to produce_ the most
dangerous effects."--_Id._ "The popular lords did not fail to enlarge on
the subject,"--_Mrs. Macaulay cor._ "He is always master of his subject,
and seems to _play_ with it:" or,--"seems to _sport himself_ with
it."--_Blair cor._ "But as soon as it _amounts to real_ disease, all his
secret infirmities _show_ themselves."--_Id._ "No man repented of his
wickedness."--_Bible cor._ "Go one way or other, either on the right hand,
or on the left,"--_Id._ "He lies down by the _river's edge._" Or: "He _lays
himself_ down _on_ the _river's brink_"--_W. Walker cor._ "For some years
past, _I have had an ardent wish_ to retire to some of our American
plantations."--_Cowley cor._ "I fear thou wilt shrink from the payment of
it."--_Ware cor._ "_We never retain_ an idea, without acquiring some
combination."--_Rippingham cor._

   "Yet more; the stroke of death he must abide,
    Then lies _he_ meekly down, fast by his brethren's side."
        --_Milton cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--OF VERBS MISAPPLIED.

"_The_ parliament _confiscated the property of_ all those who had borne
arms _against_ the king."--_Hume cor._ "The practice of _confiscating_
ships _that_ had been wrecked"'--_Id._ "The nearer his military successes
_brought_ him to the throne." Or: "The nearer, _through_ his military
successes, _he approached_ the throne."--_Id._ "In the next example, _'you'
represents 'ladies;'_ therefore it is plural."--_Kirkham cor._ "The first
_'its' stands for 'vale;'_ the second _'its'_ represents _'stream'_."--
_Id._ "Pronouns do not always _prevent_ the repetition of nouns."--_Id._
"Very is an adverb of _degree_; it _relates_ to the adjective
_good_"--_Id._ "You will please to commit to _memory_ the following
paragraph."--_Id._ "Even the Greek and Latin passive verbs _form_ some of
their tenses _by means of auxiliaries._"--_L. Mur. cor._ "The deponent
verbs in Latin _also employ auxiliaries_ to _form_ several of their
tenses."--_Id._ "I have no doubt he made as wise and true proverbs, as any
body has _made_ since."--_Id._ "_Monotonous delivery_ assumes as many set
forms, as _ever_ Proteus _did of fleeting_ shapes."--_Kirkham cor._ "When
words in apposition _are uttered_ in quick succession."--_Nixon cor._
"Where _many_ such sentences _occur in succession._"--_L. Mur. cor._
"Wisdom leads us to speak and _do_ what is most proper."--_Blair and L.
Murray cor._

   "_Jul._ Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
    _Rom._ Neither, fair saint, if either thee _displease._" Or:--
    "Neither, fair saint, if either _thou_ dislike."--_Shak. cor._


UNDER NOTE IV.--OF PASSIVE VERBS.

"_To us_, too, must be allowed the privilege of forming our own laws." Or:
"_We_ too must _have_ the privilege," &c.--_L. Murray cor._ "For not only
_is_ the use of all the ancient poetic feet _allowed_ [to] us," &c.--_Id.
et al. cor._ "By what code of morals _is the right or privilege denied
me_?"--_Bartlett cor._ "To the children of Israel alone, _has_ the
possession of it been denied."--_Keith cor._ "At York, all quarter _was
refused_ to fifteen hundred Jews."--_Id._ "He would teach the French
language in three lessons, provided _there were paid him_ fifty-five
dollars in advance."--_Prof. Chazotte cor._ "And when _it_ was demanded of
_him by_ the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come." Or: "And when
the _Pharisees demanded_ of him," &c.--_Bible cor._ "A book _has been
shown_ me."--_Dr. Campbell cor._ "To John Horne Tooke _admission was
refused_, only because he had been in holy orders."--_W. Duane cor._ "Mr.
Horne Tooke having taken orders, admission to the bar was refused
_him_."--_Churchill cor._ "Its reference to place is _disregarded_."--_Dr.
Bullions cor._ "What striking lesson _is taught_ by the tenor of this
history?"--_Bush cor._ "No less _a sum_ than eighty thousand pounds had
been left _him_ by a friend."--_Dr. Priestley cor._ "Where there are many
things to be done, _there_ must be allowed _to each_ its share of time and
labour."--_Dr. Johnson cor._ "Presenting the subject in a far more
practical form, than _has heretofore been given it_."--_Kirkham cor._ "If
_to_ a being of entire impartiality should be shown the two
companies."--_Dr. Scott cor._ "The command of the British army was offered
_to him_."--_Grimshaw cor._ "_To whom_ a considerable sum had been
unexpectedly left."--_Johnson cor._ "Whether such a privilege may be
granted _to_ a maid or a widow."--_Spect. cor._ "Happily, _to_ all these
affected terms, the public suffrage _has_ been denied."--_Campbell cor._
"Let the _parsing table_ next be _shown him_."--_Nutting cor._ "_Then_ the
use of the _analyzing table_ may be _explained to him_."--_Id._ "_To_
Pittacus _there_ was offered a great sum of money."--_Sanborn cor._ "More
time for study had been allowed _him_."--_Id._ "If a little care were
_bestowed on the walks_ that lie between them."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 222.
"Suppose an office or a bribe _be_ offered _me_."--_Pierpont cor._

   "_Is then_ one chaste, one last embrace _denied_?
    Shall I not lay me by his clay-cold side?"--_Rowe cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--OF PASSIVE VERBS TRANSITIVE.

"The preposition TO is _used_ before nouns of place, when they follow verbs
_or_ participles of motion."--_Murray et al. cor._ "They were _not allowed
to enter_ the house."--_Mur. cor._ "Their separate signification has been
_overlooked_."--_Tooke cor._ "But, whenever YE is _used_, it must be in the
nominative case, and _not_ in the objective."--_Cobbett cor._ "It is said,
that more persons than one _receive_ handsome salaries, to see _that_ acts
of parliament _are_ properly worded."--_Churchill cor._ "The following
Rudiments of English Grammar have been _used_ in the University of
Pennsylvania."--_Dr. Rogers cor._ "It never should be _forgotten_."--
_Newman cor._ "A very curious fact _has been noticed_ by those expert
metaphysicians."--_Campbell cor._ "The archbishop interfered that
Michelet's lectures might be _stopped_."--_The Friend cor._ "The
disturbances in Gottengen have been entirely _quelled_."--_Daily Adv. cor._
"Besides those _which are noticed_ in these exceptions."--_Priestley cor._
"As one, two, or three auxiliary verbs are _employed_."--_Id._ "The
arguments which have been _used_."--_Addison cor._ "The circumstance is
properly _noticed_ by the author."--_Blair cor._ "Patagonia has never been
taken _into possession_ by any European nation."--_Cumming cor._ "He will
be _censured_ no more."--_Walker cor._ "The thing was to be _terminated_
somehow."--_Hunt cor._ "In 1798, the Papal Territory was _seized_ by the
French."--_Pinnock cor._ "The idea has not for a moment _escaped the
attention_ of the Board."--_C. S. Journal cor._ "I shall easily be excused
_from_ the labour of more transcription."--_Johnson cor._ "If I may be
allowed _to use_ that expression."--_Campbell cor._ "If without offence I
may _make_ the observation."--_Id._ "There are other characters, which are
frequently _used_ in composition."--_Mur. et al. cor._ "Such unaccountable
infirmities might be _overcome_, in many cases, _and_ perhaps in
most."--_Beattie cor._ "Which ought never to be _employed_, or _resorted
to_."--_Id._ "That _care_ may be taken _of the widows_." Or: "That the
widows may be _provided for_."--_Barclay cor._ "Other cavils will yet be
_noticed_."--_Pope cor._ "Which implies, that _to_ all Christians _is_
eternal salvation _offered_."--_West cor._ "Yet even the dogs are allowed
_to eat_ the crumbs which fall from their master's table."--_Campbell cor._
"For we say, the light within must be _heeded_."--_Barclay cor._ "This
sound of _a_ is _noticed_ in Steele's Grammar."--_J. Walker cor._ "One came
to _receive_ ten guineas for a pair of silver buckles."--_M. Edgeworth
cor._ "Let therefore the application of the several questions in the table
be carefully _shown_ [to] _him_."--_Nutting cor._ "After a few times, it is
no longer _noticed_ by the hearers."--_Sheridan cor._ "It will not admit of
the same excuse, nor _receive_ the same indulgence, _from_ people of any
discernment."--_Id._ "Of inanimate things, property may be made." Or:
"Inanimate things may be made property;" i.e., "may _become_
property."--_Beattie cor._

   "And, when _some rival bids a higher_ price,
    Will not be sluggish in the work, _or_ nice."--_Butler cor._


UNDER NOTE VI.--OF PERFECT PARTICIPLES.

"All the words _employed_ to denote spiritual _or_ intellectual things, are
in their origin _metaphors_."--_Dr. Campbell cor._ "A reply to an argument
commonly _brought forward_ by unbelievers."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "It was once
the only form _used_ in the _past_ tenses."--_Dr. Ash cor._ "Of the points
and other characters _used_ in writing."--_Id._ "If THY be the personal
pronoun _adopted_."--_Walker cor._ "The Conjunction is a word _used_ to
connect [words or] sentences."--_Burn cor._ "The points _which_ answer
these purposes, are the four following."--_Harrison cor._ "INCENSE
signifies _perfume_ exhaled by fire, and _used_ in religious
ceremonies."--_L. Mur. cor._ "In most of his orations, there is too much
art; _he carries it even to_ ostentation."--_Blair cor._ "To illustrate the
great truth, so often _overlooked_ in our times."--_C. S. Journal cor._
"The principal figures _calculated_ to affect the heart, are Exclamation,
Confession, Deprecation, Commination, and Imprecation."--_Formey cor._
"Disgusted at the odious artifices _employed_ by the judge."--_Junius cor._
"_All the_ reasons _for which there was allotted to us_ a condition out of
which so much wickedness and misery would in fact arise."--_Bp. Butler
cor._ "Some characteristical circumstance being generally invented or
_seized upon_."--_Ld. Kames cor._

   "And BY is likewise used with names that shew
    The method or the means of _what we do_."--_Ward cor._


UNDER NOTE VII.--OF CONSTRUCTIONS AMBIGUOUS.

"Many adverbs admit of degrees of comparison, as _do_
adjectives."--_Priestley cor._ "But the author who, by the number and
reputation of his works, _did_ more than any one _else, to bring_ our
language into its present state, _was_ Dryden."--_Blair cor._ "In some
states, courts of admiralty have no juries, nor _do_ courts of chancery
_employ any_ at all."--_Webster cor._ "I feel grateful to my
friend."--_Murray cor._ "This requires a writer to have _in his own mind_ a
very clear apprehension of the object which he means to present to
us."--_Blair cor._ "Sense has its own harmony, _which naturally contributes
something to the harmony of_ sound."--_Id._ "The apostrophe denotes the
omission of an _i_, which was formerly inserted, and _which gave to the
word an additional_ syllable."--_Priestley cor._ "There are few _to whom_ I
can refer with more advantage than _to_ Mr. Addison."--_Blair cor._ "DEATH,
(in _theology_,) is a perpetual separation from God, a _state of_ eternal
torments."--_Webster cor._ "That could inform the _traveller_ as well as
_could_ the old man himself!"--_O. B. Peirce cor._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--OF YE AND YOU IN SCRIPTURE.

"Ye daughters of Rabbah, gird _you_ with sackcloth."--SCOTT, FRIENDS, and
the COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE: _Jer._, xlix, 3. "Wash _you_, make you
clean."--SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.: _Isaiah_, i, 16. "Strip _you_, and
make _you_ bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins."--SCOTT, FRIENDS, ET
AL.: _Isaiah_, xxxii, 11. "_Ye_ are not ashamed that _ye_ make yourselves
strange to me."--SCOTT, BRUCE, and BLAYNEY: _Job_, xix, 3. "If _ye_ knew
the gift of God." Or: "If _thou_ knew the gift of God."--See _John_, iv,
10. "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity; I know _you_ not."--_Penington
cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE VI; OF SAME CASES.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--OF PROPER IDENTITY.

"Who would not say, 'If it be _I_,' rather than, 'If it be
_me_?"--_Priestley cor._ "Who is there? It is _I_."--_Id._ "It is
_he_."--_Id._ "Are these the houses you were speaking of? Yes; they are
_the same_."--_Id._ "It is not _I, that_ you are in love with."--_Addison
cor._ "It cannot be _I_."--_Swift cor._ "To that which once was
_thou_."--_Prior cor._ "There is but one man that she can have, and that
_man_ is _myself_."--_Priestley cor._ "We enter, as it were, into his body,
and become in some measure _he_." Or, better:--"and become in some measure
_identified_ with him."--_A. Smith and Priestley cor._ "Art thou proud
yet? Ay, that I am not _thou_."--_Shak. cor._ "He knew not _who_ they
were."--_Milnes cor._ "_Whom_ do you think me to be?"--_Dr. Lowth's Gram._,
p. 17. "_Who_ do men say that I, the Son of man, am?"--_Bible cor._ "But
_who_ say ye that I am?"--_Id._ "_Who_ think ye that I am? I am not
he."--_Id._ "No; I am in error; I perceive it is not the person _that_ I
supposed it was."--_Winter in London cor._ "And while it is _He that_ I
serve, life is not without value."--_Ware cor._ "Without ever dreaming it
was _he_."--_Charles XII cor._ "Or he was not the illiterate personage
_that_ he affected to be."--_Montgom. cor._ "Yet was he _the man_ who was
to be the greatest apostle of the Gentiles."--_Barclay cor._ "Sweet was the
thrilling ecstacy; I know not if 'twas love, or _thou_."--_J. Hogg cor._
"Time was, when none would cry, that oaf was _I_."--_Dryden cor._ "No
matter where the vanquished be, _or who_."--_Rowe cor._ "No; I little
thought it had been _he_."--_Gratton cor._ "That reverence, that godly
fear, _which is ever due to_ 'Him who can destroy both body and soul in
hell.'"--_Maturin cor._ "It is _we_ that they seek to please, or rather to
astonish."--_J. West cor._ "Let the same be _her_ that thou hast appointed
for thy servant Isaac."--_Bible cor._ "Although I knew it to be
_him_."--_Dickens cor._ "Dear gentle youth, is't none but _thou_?"--_Dorset
cor._ "Who do they say it is?"--_Fowler cor._

   "These are her garb, not _she_; they but express
    Her form, her semblance, her appropriate dress."--_More cor._


UNDER NOTE I.--OF THE CASE DOUBTFUL.

"I had no knowledge of _any connexion_ between them."--_Col. Stone cor._
"To promote iniquity in others, is nearly the same _thing_, as _to be_ the
actors of it ourselves." (That is, "_For us_ to promote iniquity in others,
is nearly the same _thing_ as _for us_ to be the actors of it
_ourselves_.")--_Murray cor._ "It must arise from _a delicate_ feeling _in_
ourselves."--_Blair and Murray cor._ "_Because there has not_ been
exercised a competent physical power for their enforcement."--_Mass.
Legisl. cor._ "PUPILAGE, _n._ The state of a _pupil_, or
scholar."--_Dictionaries cor._ "Then the other _part_, being the
_definition, would include_ all verbs, of every description."--_Peirce
cor._ "John's _friendship for me_ saved me from inconvenience."--_Id._
"William's _judgeship_"--or, "William's _appointment to the office of_
judge,--changed his whole demeanour."--_Id._ "William's _practical
acquaintance with teaching_, was the cause of the interest he felt."--_Id._
"_To be_ but one among many, stifleth the chidings of conscience."--_Tupper
cor._ "As for _the opinion that it is_ a close translation, I doubt not
that many have been led into that error by the shortness of it."--_Pope
cor._ "All presumption _that death is_ the destruction of living beings,
must go upon _the_ supposition that they are compounded, and _therefore_
discerptible."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "This argues rather _that they are_
proper names."--_Churchill cor._ "But may it not be retorted, that _this
gratification itself_, is that which excites our resentment?"--_Campbell
cor._ "Under the common notion, _that it is_ a system of the whole poetical
art."--_Blair cor._ "Whose _want of_ time, or _whose_ other circumstances,
forbid _them to become_ classical scholars."--_Lit. Jour. cor._ "It would
_prove him not to have been a mere_ fictitious personage." Or: "It would
preclude the notion _that he was merely a_ fictitious personage."--_Phil.
Mu. cor._ "For _heresy_, or under pretence _that they are_ heretics or
infidels."--_Oath cor._ "We may here add Dr. Horne's sermon on _Christ, as
being_ the Object of religious adoration."--_Rel. World cor._ "To say
nothing of Dr. _Priestley, as being_ a strenuous advocate," &c.--_Id._
"_Through the agency of Adam, as being_ their public head." Or: "_Because
Adam was_ their public head."--_Id._ "Objections against _the existence of_
any such moral plan as this."--_Butler cor._ "A greater instance of a _man_
being a blockhead."--_Spect. cor._ "We may insure or promote _what will
make it_ a happy state of existence to ourselves."--_Gurney cor._ "_Since
it often undergoes_ the same kind of unnatural treatment."--_Kirkham cor._
"Their _apparent_ foolishness"--"Their _appearance of foolishness_"--or,
"_That they appear_ foolishness,--is no presumption against this."--_Butler
cor._ "But what arises from _them_ as being offences; i.e., from their
_liability_ to be perverted."--_Id._ "And he _went_ into _the_ house _of_ a
certain man named Justus, one that _worshiped_ God."--_Acts cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--OF FALSE IDENTIFICATION.

"But _popular_, he observes, is an ambiguous word."--_Blair cor._ "The
infinitive mood, a _phrase, or a sentence_, is often _made the subject of_
a verb."--_Murray cor._ "When any person, in speaking, introduces his name
_after the pronoun I_, it is _of_ the first person; as, 'I, James, of the
city of Boston.'"--_R. C. Smith cor._ "The name of the person spoken to, is
_of_ the second person; as, 'James, come to me.'"--_Id._ "The name of the
person or thing _merely_ spoken of, or about, is _of_ the third person; as,
'James has come.'"--_Id._ "The passive verb _has no object, because_ its
subject or nominative always represents _what is acted upon_, and the
_object_ of a verb must needs be in the _objective_ case."--_Id._ "When a
noun is in the nominative to an active verb, it _denotes_ the
actor."--_Kirkham cor._ "And _the pronoun_ THOU _or_ YE, _standing for the
name of_ the person _or persons_ commanded, is its nominative."--_Ingersoll
cor._ "The first person is that _which denotes the speaker_."--_Brown's
Institutes_, p. 32. "The conjugation of a verb is _a regular arrangement
of_ its different variations or inflections throughout the moods and
tenses."--_Wright cor._ "The first person is _that which denotes_ the
speaker _or writer_."--G. BROWN: for the correction of _Parker and Fox,
Hiley_, and _Sanborn_. "The second person is _that which denotes the
hearer, or the person addressed_."--_Id._: for _the same_. "The third
person is _that which denotes the person or thing merely_ spoken
of."--_Id._: for _the same_, "_I_ is _of_ the first person, singular; WE,
_of_ the first person, plural."--_Mur. et al. cor._ "THOU is _of_ the
second person, singular; YE or You, _of_ the second person,
plural."--_Iid._ "HE, SHE, or IT, is _of_ the third person, singular; THEY,
_of_ the third person, plural."--_Iid._ "The nominative case _denotes_ the
actor, _and is the_ subject of the verb."--_Kirkham cor._ "John is the
actor, therefore _the noun_ JOHN is in the nominative case."--_Id._ "The
actor is always _expressed_ by the nominative case, _unless the verb be
passive_."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "The nominative case _does not_ always
_denote an_ agent or actor."--_Mack cor._ "_In mentioning_ each name, tell
the part of speech."--_John Flint cor._ "_Of_ what number is _boy_?
Why?"--_Id._ "_Of_ what number is _pens_? Why?"--_Id._ "The speaker is
_denoted by_ the first person; the person spoken to _is denoted by_ the
second person; and the person or thing spoken of is _denoted by_ the third
person."--_Id._ "What nouns are _of the_ masculine gender? _The names of_
all males are _of the_ masculine gender."--_Id._ "An interjection is a
_word that is uttered merely to indicate some strong or_ sudden emotion of
the mind."--_G. Brown's Grammars_.


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE VII; OF OBJECTIVES.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--OF THE OBJECTIVE IN FORM.

"But I do not remember _whom_ they were for."--_Abbott cor._ "But if you
can't help it, _whom_ do you complain of?"--_Collier cor._ "_Whom_ was it
from? and what was it about?"--_M. Edgeworth cor._ "I have plenty of
victuals, and, between you and _me_, something in a corner."--_Day cor._
"The upper one, _whom_ I am now about to speak of."--_Leigh Hunt cor._ "And
to poor _us, thy_ enmity _is_ most capital."--_Shak. cor._ "Which, thou
dost confess, _'twere_ fit for thee to use, as _them_ to claim." That
is,--"as _for them_ to claim."--_Id._ "To beg of thee, it is my more
dishonour, than _thee_ of them." That is,--"than _for thee to beg_ of
them."--_Id._ "There are still a few, who, like _thee_ and _me_, drink
nothing but water."--_Gil Bias cor._ "Thus, 'I _shall_ fall,'--'Thou
_shalt_ love thy neighbour,'--'He _shall_ be rewarded,'--express no
resolution on the part of _me, thee_, or _him_." Or better:--"on the part
of _the persons signified by the nominatives, I, Thou, He_."--_Lennie and
Bullions cor._ "So saucy with the hand of _her_ here--what's her
name?"--_Shak. cor._ "All debts are cleared between you and _me_."--_Id._
"Her price is paid, and she is sold like _thee_."--HARRISON'S _E. Lang._,
p. 172. "Search through all the most flourishing _eras_ of Greece."--_Dr.
Brown cor._ "The family of the _Rudolphs_ has been long
distinguished."--_The Friend cor._ "It will do well enough for you and
_me_."--_Edgeworth cor._ "The public will soon discriminate between him who
is the sycophant, and _him_ who is the teacher."--_Chazotte cor._ "We are
still much at a loss _to determine whom_ civil power belongs to."--_Locke
cor._ "What do you call it? and _to whom_ does it belong?"--_Collier cor._
"He had received no lessons from the _Socrateses_, the _Platoes_, and the
_Confuciuses_ of the age."--_Haller cor._ "I cannot tell _whom_ to compare
them to."--_Bunyan cor._ "I see there was some resemblance betwixt this
good man and _me_."--_Id._ "They, by those means, have brought themselves
into the hands and house of I do not know _whom_."--_Id._ "But at length
she said, there was a great deal of difference between Mr. Cotton and
_us_."--_Hutch. Hist. cor._ "So you must ride on horseback after
_us_."--_Mrs. Gilpin cor._ "A separation must soon take place between our
minister and _me_,"--_Werter cor._ "When she exclaimed on Hastings, you,
and _me_."--_Shak. cor._ "To _whom_? to thee? What art thou?"--_Id._ "That
they should always bear the certain marks _of him from whom_ they
came."--_Bp. Butler cor._

   "This life has joys for you and _me_,
    And joys that riches ne'er could buy."--_Burns cor._

UNDER THE NOTE.--OF TIME OR MEASURE.

"Such as almost every child, ten years old, knows."--_Town cor._ "_Four
months' schooling_ will carry any industrious scholar, of ten or twelve
years _of age_, completely through this book."--_Id._ "A boy of six years
_of age_ may be taught to speak as correctly, as Cicero did before the
Roman senate."--_Webster cor._ "A lad about twelve years old, who was taken
captive by the Indians."--_Id._ "Of nothing else _than_ that individual
white figure of five inches _in length_, which is before him."--_Campbell
cor._ "Where lies the fault, that boys of eight or ten years _of age_ are
with great difficulty made to understand any of its principles?"--_Guy
cor._ "Where language three centuries old is employed."--_Booth cor._ "Let
a gallows be made, of fifty cubits _in height_." Or: "Let a gallows _fifty
cubits high_ be made."--_Bible cor._ "I say to this child, nine years old,
'Bring me that hat.' He hastens, and brings it me."--_Osborn cor._ "'He
laid a floor, twelve feet long, and nine feet wide:' that is, _the floor
was_ long _to_ the extent of twelve feet, and wide _to the extent_ of nine
feet."--_Merchant cor._ "The Goulah people are a tribe of about fifty
thousand _in strength_." Or: "The Goulah people are a tribe about fifty
thousand strong."--_Examiner cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE VIII; NOM. ABSOLUTE.

"_He_ having ended his discourse, the assembly dispersed."--_Inst. of E.
G._, p. 190. "_I_ being young, they deceived me."--_Ib._, p. 279. "_They_
refusing to comply, I withdrew."--_Ib._ "_Thou_ being present, he would not
tell what he knew."--_Ib._ "The child is lost; and _I_, whither shall I
go?"--_Ib._ "_O_ happy _we!_ surrounded with so many blessings."--_Ib._
"'_Thou_ too! Brutus, my son!' cried Cæsar, overcome."--_Ib._ "_Thou!_
Maria! and so late! and who is thy companion?"--_Mirror cor._ "How swiftly
our time passes away! and ah! _we_, how little concerned to improve
it!"--_Greenleaf's False Syntax, Gram._, p. 47.

   "There all thy gifts and graces we display,
    _Thou_, only _thou_, directing all our way."--_Pope, Dunciad_.


CHAPTER IV.--ADJECTIVES.

CORRECTIONS UNDER THE NOTES TO RULE IX.

UNDER NOTE I.--OF AGREEMENT.

"I am not recommending _this_ kind of sufferings to your
liking."--_Sherlock cor._ "I have not been to London _these_ five
years."--_Webster cor._ "_Verbs of this kind_ are more expressive than
their radicals."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "Few of us would be less corrupted than
kings are, were we, like them, beset with flatterers, and poisoned with
_those_ vermin."--_Kames cor._ "But it seems _these_ literati had been very
ill rewarded for their ingenious labours."--_R. Random cor._ "If I had not
left off troubling myself about _things of that kind_."--_Swift cor._ "For
_things of this sort_ are usually joined to the most noted
fortune."--_Bacon cor._ "The nature of _those_ riches and _that_
long-suffering, is, to lead to repentance."--_Barclay cor._ "I fancy _it is
this_ kind of gods, _that_ Horace mentions."--_Addison cor._ "During
_those_ eight days, they are prohibited from touching the skin."--_Hope of
Is. cor._ "Besides, he had _but a small quantity of_ provisions left for
his army."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Are you not ashamed to have no other thoughts
than _those_ of amassing wealth, and of acquiring glory, credit, and
dignities?"--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 115. "It _distinguishes_ still more
remarkably the feelings of the former from _those_ of the latter."--_Kames
cor._ "And _these_ good tidings of the reign shall be published through all
the world."--_Campbell cor._ "_These_ twenty years have I been with
thee."--_Gen. cor._ "In _this_ kind of expressions, some words seem to be
understood."--_W. Walker cor._ "He thought _this_ kind of excesses
indicative of greatness."--_Hunt cor._ "_This_ sort of fellows _is_ very
numerous." Or thus: "_Fellows of this sort_ are very numerous."--_Spect.
cor._ "Whereas _men of this sort_ cannot give account of their faith." Or:
"Whereas _these men_ cannot give account of their faith."--_Barclay cor._
"But the question is, whether _those are_ the words."--_Id._ "So that
_expressions of this sort_ are not properly optative."--_R. Johnson cor._
"Many things are not _such as_ they appear to be."--_Sanborn cor._ "So that
_all_ possible means are used."--_Formey cor._

   "We have strict statutes, and most biting laws,
    Which for _these_ nineteen years we have let sleep."--_Shak. cor._

    "They could not speak, and so I left them both,
    To bear _these_ tidings to the bloody king."--_Shak. cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--OF FIXED NUMBERS.

"Why, I think she cannot be above six _feet_ two inches high."--_Spect.
cor._ "The world is pretty regular for about forty _rods_ east and ten
west."--_Id._ "The standard being more than two _feet_ above it."--_Bacon
cor._ "Supposing, among other things, _that_ he saw two suns, and two
_Thebeses_."--_Id._ "On the right hand we go into a parlour _thirty-three
feet_ by _thirty-nine_."--_Sheffield cor._ "Three _pounds_ of gold went to
one shield."--_1 Kings cor._ "Such an assemblage of men as there appears to
have been at that _session_."--_The Friend cor._ "And, truly, he _has_
saved me _from_ this _labour_."--_Barclay cor._ "Within _these_ three
_miles_ may you see it coming."--_Shak. cor._ "Most of the churches, not
all, had one _ruling elder or more_."--_Hutch. cor._ "While a Minute
Philosopher, not six _feet_ high, attempts to dethrone the Monarch of the
universe."--_Berkley cor._ "The wall is ten _feet_ high."--_Harrison cor._
"The stalls must be ten _feet_ broad."--_Walker cor._ "A close prisoner in
a room twenty _feet_ square, being at the north side of his chamber, is at
liberty to walk twenty _feet_ southward, not to walk twenty _feet_
northward."--_Locke cor._ "Nor, after all this _care_ and industry, did
they think themselves qualified."--_C. Orator cor._ "No _fewer_ than
thirteen _Gypsies_ were condemned at one Suffolk _assize_, and
executed."--_Webster cor._ "The king was petitioned to appoint _one person
or more_."--_Mrs. Macaulay cor._ "He carries weight! he rides a race! 'Tis
for a thousand _pounds_."--_Cowper cor._ "They carry three _tiers_ of guns
at the head, and at the stern, _two_ tiers"--_Joh. Dict. cor._ "The verses
consist of two _sorts_ of rhymes."--_Formey cor._ "A present of forty
_camel-loads_ of the most precious things of Syria."--_Wood's Dict. cor._
"A large grammar, that shall extend to every _minutia_"--_S. Barrett cor._

   "So many spots, like næves on Venus' soil,
    One _gem_ set off with _many a glitt'ring_ foil."--_Dryden cor._

    "For, _off the end, a double_ handful
    It had devour'd, it was so manful."--_Butler cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--OF RECIPROCALS.

"That _shall_ and _will_ might be substituted _one for the
other_."--_Priestley cor._ "We use not _shall_ and _will_ promiscuously
_the one for the other_."--_Brightland cor._ "But I wish to distinguish the
three high ones from _one an_ other also."--_Fowle cor._ "Or on some other
relation which two objects bear to _each other_."--_Blair cor._ "Yet the
two words lie so near to _each other_ in meaning, that, in the present
case, _perhaps either_ of them would have been sufficient."--_Id._ "Both
orators use great liberties _in their treatment of each other_."--_Id._
"That greater separation of the two sexes from _each other_."--_Id._ "Most
of whom live remote from _one an other_."--_Webster cor._ "Teachers like to
see their pupils polite to _one an other_"--_Id._ "In a little time, he and
I must keep company with _each other_ only."--_Spect. cor._ "Thoughts and
circumstances crowd upon _one an other_."--_Kames cor._ "They cannot
_perceive_ how the ancient Greeks could understand _one an other_."--_Lit.
Conv. cor._ "The poet, the patriot, and the prophet, vied with _one an
other_ in his breast."--_Hazlitt cor._ "Athamas and Ino loved _each
other_."--_C. Tales cor._ "Where two things are compared or contrasted _one
with the other_." Or: "Where two things, are compared or contrasted with
_each other_."--_Blair and Mur. cor._ "In the classification of words,
almost all writers differ from _one an other_."--_Bullions cor._

   "I will not trouble thee, my child. Farewell;
    We'll no more meet; _we'll_ no more see _each other_."--_Shak. cor._


UNDER NOTE IV.--OF COMPARATIVES.

"_Errors_ in education should be less indulged than any _others_."--_Locke
cor._ "This was less his case than any _other_ man's that ever
wrote."--_Pref. to Waller cor._ "This trade enriched some _other_ people
more than it enriched them."--_Mur. cor._ "The Chaldee alphabet, in which
the Old Testament has reached us, is more beautiful than any _other_
ancient character known."--_Wilson cor._ "The Christian religion gives a
more lovely character of God, than any _other_ religion ever did."--_Murray
cor._ "The temple of Cholula was deemed more holy than any _other_ in New
Spain."--_Robertson cor._ "Cibber grants it to be a better poem of its kind
than _any other that_ ever was _written_"--_Pope cor._ "Shakspeare is more
faithful to the true language of nature, than any _other_ writer."--_Blair
cor._ "One son I had--one, more than all my _other_ sons, the strength of
Troy." Or: "One son I had--one, _the most of all my sons_, the strength of
Troy."--_Cowper cor._ "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his _other_
children, because he was the son of his old age."--_Bible cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--OF SUPERLATIVES.

"Of _all simpletons_, he was the greatest"--_Nutting cor._ "Of _all
beings_, man has certainly the greatest reason for gratitude."--_Id._ "This
lady is _prettier than any_ of her sisters."--_Peyton cor._ "The relation
which, of all _the class_, is by far the most fruitful of tropes, I have
not yet mentioned."--_Blair cor._ "He studied Greek the most of _all
noblemen_."--_W. Walker cor._ "And indeed that was the qualification _which
was_ most wanted at that time."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Yet we deny that the
knowledge of him as outwardly crucified, is the best of all knowledge of
him."--_Barclay cor._ "Our ideas of numbers are, of all _our conceptions_,
the most accurate and distinct"--_Duncan cor._ "This indeed is, of all
_cases, the one in which_ it _is_ least necessary to name the agent"--_J.
Q. Adams cor._ "The period to which you have arrived, is perhaps the most
critical and important moment of your lives."--_Id._ "Perry's royal octavo
is esteemed the best of _all the pronouncing dictionaries_ yet known."--_D.
H. Barnes cor._ "This is the tenth persecution, and, of all the _ten_ the
most bloody."--_Sammes cor._ "The English tongue is the most susceptible of
sublime imagery, of _all the languages_ in the world."--_Bucke cor._ "Of
_all writers_ whatever, Homer is universally allowed to have had the
greatest Invention."--_Pope cor._ "In a version of this particular work,
which, _more than_ any other, seems to require a venerable, antique
cast."--_Id._ "Because I think him the _best-informed_ naturalist _that_
has ever written."--_Jefferson cor._ "Man is capable of being the most
social of _all animals_."--_Sheridan cor._ "It is, of all _signs_ (or
_expressions_) that which most moves us."--_Id._ "Which, of all _articles_,
is the most necessary."--_Id._

   "Quoth he, 'This gambol thou advisest,
    Is, of all _projects_, the unwisest.'"--_S. Butler cor._


UNDER NOTE VI.--OF INCLUSIVE TERMS.

"Noah and his family _were the only antediluvians_ who _survived_ the
flood."--_Webster cor._ "I think it superior to any _other grammar_ that we
have yet had."--_Blair cor._ "We have had no _other_ grammarian who has
employed so much labour and _judgement_ upon our native language, as _has_
the author of these volumes."--_British Critic cor._ "_Those_ persons feel
_most for_ the distresses of others, who have experienced distresses
themselves."--_L. Murray cor._ "Never was any _other_ people so much
infatuated as the Jewish nation."--_Id. et al. cor._ "No _other_ tongue is
so full of connective particles as the Greek."--_Blair cor._ "Never _was
sovereign_ so much beloved by the people." Or: "_Never was any other_
sovereign so much beloved by _his_ people."--_L. Murray cor._ "Nothing
_else_ ever affected her so much as this misconduct of her child."--_Id. et
al. cor._ "Of all the figures of speech, _no other_ comes so near to
painting as _does_ metaphor."--_Blair et al. cor._ "I know _no other
writer_ so happy in his metaphors as _is_ Mr. Addison."--_Blair cor._ "Of
all the English authors, none is _more_ happy in his metaphors _than_
Addison."--_Jamieson cor._ "Perhaps no _other_ writer in the world was ever
so frugal of his words as Aristotle."--_Blair and Jamieson cor._ "Never was
any _other_ writer so happy in that concise _and_ spirited style, as Mr.
Pope."--_Blair cor._ "In the harmonious structure and disposition of _his_
periods, no _other_ writer whatever, ancient or modern, equals
Cicero."--_Blair and Jamieson cor._ "Nothing _else_ delights me so much as
the works of nature."--_L. Mur. cor._ "No person was ever _more_ perplexed
_than_ he has been to-day."--_Id._ "In _no other_ case are writers so apt
to err, as in the position of the word _only_."--_Maunder cor._ "For
nothing is _more_ tiresome _than_ perpetual uniformity."--_Blair cor._

   "_Naught else sublimes the spirit, sets it free,
    Like_ sacred and soul-moving poesy."--_Sheffield cor._


UNDER NOTE VII.--EXTRA COMPARISONS.

"How much _better are ye_ than the fowls!"--_Bible cor._ "Do not thou
hasten above the Most _High_."--_Esdras cor._ "This word, PEER, is
principally used for the nobility of the realm."--_Cowell cor._ "Because
the same is not only most _generally_ received, &c."--_Barclay cor._ "This
is, I say, not the best and most _important_ evidence."--_Id._ "Offer unto
God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most _High_."--_The Psalter
cor._ "The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most _High_."--_Id._ "As
boys should be educated with temperance, so the first _great_ lesson that
should be taught them, is, to admire frugality."--_Goldsmith cor._ "More
_general_ terms are put for such as are more restricted."--_Rev. J. Brown
cor._ "This, _this_ was the unkindest cut of all."--_Enfield's Speaker_, p.
353. "To take the basest and most _squalid_ shape."--_Shak. cor._ "I'll
forbear: _I have_ fallen out with my more _heady_ will."--_Id._ "The power
of the Most _High_ guard thee from sin."--_Percival cor._ "Which title had
been more _true_, if the dictionary had been in Latin and
_Welsh_."--_Verstegan cor._ "The waters are frozen sooner and harder, than
further upward, within the inlands."--_Id._ "At every descent, the worst
may become more _depraved_."--_Mann cor._

   "Or as a moat defensive to a house
    Against the envy of less _happy_ lands."--_Shak. cor._

    "A dreadful quiet felt, and _worse by_ far
    Than arms, a sullen interval of war."--_Dryden cor._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--ADJECTIVES CONNECTED.

"It breaks forth in its _highest, most energetic_, and _most impassioned_
strain."--_Kirkham cor._ "He has fallen into the _vilest and grossest_ sort
of railing."--_Barclay cor._ "To receive that _higher and more general_
instruction which the public affords."--_J. O. Taylor cor._ "If the best
things have the _best and most perfect_ operations."--_Hooker cor._ "It
became the plainest and most elegant, the _richest_ and most splendid, of
all languages."--_Bucke cor._ "But the _principal and most frequent_ use of
pauses, is, to mark the divisions of the sense."--_Blair cor._ "That every
thing belonging to ourselves is _the best and the most perfect_."--
_Clarkson cor._ "And to instruct their pupils in the _best and most
thorough_ manner."--_School Committee cor._

UNDER NOTE IX.--ADJECTIVES SUPERADDED.

"The Father is figured out as a _venerable old_ man."--_Brownlee cor._
"There never was exhibited _an other such_ masterpiece of ghostly
assurance."--_Id._ "After the _first three_ sentences, the question is
entirely lost."--_Spect. cor._ "The _last four_ parts of speech are
commonly called particles."--_Al. Murray cor._ "The _last two_ chapters
will not be found deficient in this respect."--_Todd cor._ "Write upon your
slates a list of the _first ten_ nouns."--_J. Abbott cor._ "We have a few
remains of _two other_ Greek poets in the pastoral style, Moschus and
Bion."--_Blair cor._ "The _first nine_ chapters of the book of Proverbs are
highly poetical."--_Id._ "For, of these five heads, only the _first two_
have any particular relation to the sublime."--_Id._ "The resembling sounds
of the _last two_ syllables give a ludicrous air to the whole."--_Kames
cor._ "The _last three_ are arbitrary."--_Id._ "But in the _sentence_, 'She
hangs the curtains,' _hangs_ is an _active-transitive_ verb."--_Comly cor._
"If our definition of a verb, and the arrangement of _active-transitive,
active-intransitive_, passive, and neuter verbs, are properly
understood."--_Id._ "These _last two lines_ have an embarrassing
construction."--_Rush cor._ "God was provoked to drown them all, but Noah
and _seven other_ persons."--_Wood cor._ "The _first six_ books of the
Æneid are extremely beautiful."--_Formey cor._ "_Only_ a few instances
_more_ can _here_ be given."--_Murray cor._ "A few years _more_ will
obliterate every vestige of a subjunctive form."--_Nutting cor._ "Some
define them to be verbs devoid of the _first two_ persons."--_Crombie cor._
"In _an other such_ Essay-tract as this."--_White cor._ "But we fear that
not _an other such_ man is to be found."--_Edward Irving cor._ "_O for an
other such_ sleep, that I might see _an other such_ man!" Or, to preserve
poetic measure, say:--

   "_O for such_ sleep _again_, that I might see
    _An other such_ man, _though but in a dream_!"--_Shak. cor._


UNDER NOTE X.--ADJECTIVES FOR ADVERBS.

"_The_ is an article, relating to the noun _balm, agreeably_ to Rule
11th."--_Comly cor._ "_Wise_ is an adjective, relating to the noun _man's,
agreeably_ to Rule 11th."--_Id._ "To whom I observed, that the beer was
_extremely_ good."--_Goldsmith cor._ "He writes _very elegantly_." Or: "He
writes _with remarkable elegance_."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "John behaves
_very civilly_ (or, _with true civility_) to all men."--_Id._ "All the
sorts of words hitherto considered, have each of them some meaning, even
when taken _separately_."--_Beattie cor._ "He behaved himself _conformably_
to that blessed example."--_Sprat cor._ "_Marvellously_ graceful."--
_Clarendon cor._ "The Queen having changed her ministry, _suitably_ to her
wisdom."--_Swift cor._ "The assertions of this author are _more easily_
detected."--_Id._ "The characteristic of his sect allowed him to affirm no
_more strongly_ than that."--_Bentley cor._ "If one author had spoken _more
nobly_ and _loftily_ than an other."--_Id._ "Xenophon says _expressly_."--
_Id._ "I can never think so very _meanly_ of him."--_Id._ "To convince all
that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have
_impiously_ committed."--_Bible cor._ "I think it very _ably_ written." Or:
"I think it written _in a_ very masterly _manner_."--_Swift cor._ "The
whole design must refer to the golden age, which it represents _in a_
lively _manner_."--_Addison cor._ "_Agreeably_ to this, we read of names
being blotted out of God's book."--_Burder et al. cor._ "_Agreeably_ to the
law of nature, children are bound to support their indigent
parents."--_Paley_. "Words taken _independently_ of their meaning, are
parsed as nouns of the neuter gender."--_Maltby cor._

   "Conceit in weakest bodies _strongliest_ works."--_Shak. cor._


UNDER NOTE XI.--THEM FOR THOSE.

"Though he was not known by _those_ letters, or the name CHRIST."--_Bayly
cor._ "In a gig, or some of _those_ things." Better: "In a gig, or _some
such vehicle_."--_M. Edgeworth cor._ "When cross-examined by _those_
lawyers."--_Same_. "As the custom in _those_ cases is."--_Same_. "If you
_had_ listened to _those_ slanders."--_Same_. "The old people were telling
stories about _those_ fairies; but, to the best of my _judgement_, there is
nothing in _them_."--_Same_. "And is it not a pity that the Quakers have no
better authority to substantiate their principles, than the testimony of
_those_ old Pharisees?"--_Hibbard cor._


UNDER NOTE XII.--THIS AND THAT.

"Hope is as strong an incentive to action, as fear: _that_ is the
anticipation of good, _this_ of evil."--_Inst._, p. 265. "The poor want
some advantages which the rich enjoy; but we should not therefore account
_these_ happy, and _those_ miserable."--_Inst._, p. 266.

   "Ellen and Margaret, fearfully,
    Sought comfort in each other's eye;

    Then turned their ghastly look each one,
    _That_ to her sire, _this_ to her son."--_Scott cor._

    "Six youthful sons, as many blooming maids,
    In one sad day beheld the Stygian shades;
    _Those_ by Apollo's silver bow were slain,
    _These_ Cynthia's arrows stretch'd upon the plain."--_Pope cor._

    "Memory and forecast just returns engage,
    _That_ pointing back to youth, _this_ on to age."--_Pope, on Man_.


UNDER NOTE XIII.--EITHER AND NEITHER.

"These make the three great subjects of discussion among mankind; _namely_,
truth, duty, and interest: but the arguments directed towards _any_ of them
are generically distinct."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "A thousand other deviations
may be made, and still _any_ of _the accounts_ may be correct in principle;
for _all_ these divisions, and their technical terms, are arbitrary."--_R.
W. Green cor._ "Thus it appears, that our alphabet is deficient; as it has
but seven vowels to represent thirteen different sounds; and has no letter
to represent _any_ of five simple consonant sounds."--_Churchill cor._
"Then _none_ of these five verbs can be neuter."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "And
the _assertor_[534] is in _none_ of the four already mentioned."--_Id._ "As
it is not in any of these four."--_Id._ "See whether or not the word comes
within the definition of _any_ of the other three simple cases."--_Id._ "No
one of the ten was there."--_Frazee cor._ "Here are ten oranges, take _any
one_ of them."--_Id._ "There are three modes, by _any_ of which
recollection will generally be supplied; inclination, practice, and
association."--_Rippingham cor._ "Words not reducible to _any_ of the three
preceding heads."--_Fowler cor._ "Now a sentence may be analyzed in
reference to _any_ of these four classes."--_Id._


UNDER NOTE XIV.--WHOLE, LESS, MORE, AND MOST.

"Does not all proceed from the law, which regulates _all the_ departments
of the state?"--_Blair cor._ "A messenger relates to Theseus _all the_
particulars."--_Ld. Kames cor._ "There are no _fewer_ than twenty-_nine_
diphthongs in the English language."--_Ash cor._ "The Redcross Knight runs
through _all the_ steps of the Christian life."--_Spect. cor._ "There were
not _fewer_ than fifty or sixty persons present."--_Mills and Merchant
cor._ "Greater experience, and _a_ more cultivated _state of_ society,
abate the warmth of imagination, and chasten the manner of
expression."--_Blair and Murray cor._ "By which means, knowledge, _rather_
than oratory, _has_ become the principal requisite."--_Blair cor._ "No
_fewer_ than seven illustrious cities disputed the right of having given
birth to the greatest of poets."--_Lempriere cor._ "Temperance, _rather_
than medicines, is the proper means of curing many diseases."--_Murray
cor._ "I do not suppose, that we Britons _are more deficient_ in genius
than our neighbours."--_Id._ "In which, he _says_, he has found no _fewer_
than twelve untruths."--_Barclay cor._ "The several places of rendezvous
were concerted, and _all the_ operations _were_ fixed."--_Hume cor._ "In
these rigid opinions, _all the_ sectaries concurred."--_Id._ "Out of whose
modifications have been made _nearly all_ complex modes."--_Locke cor._
"The Chinese vary each of their words on no _fewer_ than five different
tones."--_Blair cor._ "These people, though they possess _brighter_
qualities, are not so proud as he is, nor so vain as she."--_Murray cor._
"It is certain, _that_ we believe _our own judgements_ more _firmly_, after
we have made a thorough inquiry into the _things_."--_Brightland cor._ "As
well as the whole course and _all the_ reasons of the operation."--_Id._
"Those rules and principles which are of _the greatest_ practical
advantage."--_Newman cor._ "And _all_ curse shall be _no more_."--_Rev.
cor._--(See _the Greek_.) "And death shall be _no more_."--_Id._ "But, in
recompense, we have _pleasanter_ pictures of ancient manners."--_Blair
cor._ "Our language has suffered _a greater number of_ injurious changes in
America, since the British army landed on our shores, than it had suffered
before, in the period of three centuries."--_Webster cor. "All the_
conveniences of life are derived from mutual aid and support in
society."--_Ld. Kames cor._


UNDER NOTE XV.--PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVES.

"To such as think the nature of it deserving _of_ their attention."--_Bp.
Butler cor._ "In all points, more deserving _of_ the approbation of their
readers."--_Keepsake cor._ "But to give way to childish sensations, was
unbecoming _to_ our nature."--_Lempriere cor._ "The following extracts are
deserving _of_ the serious perusal of all."--_The Friend cor._ "No inquiry
into wisdom, however superficial, is undeserving _of_ attention."--_Bulwer
cor._ "The opinions of illustrious men are deserving _of_ great
consideration."--_Porter cor._ "And resolutely keep its laws. Uncaring
_for_ consequences." Or:--"_Not heeding_ consequences."--_Burns cor._ "This
is an item that is deserving _of_ more attention."--_Goodell cor._

   "Leave then thy joys, unsuiting _to_ such age:"--Or,

    "Leave then thy joys _not suiting_ such an age,
    To a fresh comer, and resign the stage."--_Dryden cor._


UNDER NOTE XVI.--FIGURE OF ADJECTIVES.

"The tall dark mountains and the _deep-toned_ seas."--_Dana_. "O! learn
from him To station _quick-eyed_ Prudence at the helm."--_Frost cor._ "He
went in a _one-horse_ chaise."--_David Blair cor._ "It ought to be, 'in a
_one-horse_ chaise.'"--_Crombie cor._ "These are marked with the
_above-mentioned_ letters."--_Folker cor._ "A _many-headed_
faction."--_Ware cor._ "Lest there should be no authority in any popular
grammar, for the perhaps _heaven-inspired_ effort."--_Fowle cor.
"Common-metre_ stanzas consist of four iambic lines; one of eight, and the
next of six syllables. They were formerly written in two
_fourteen-syllable_ lines."--_Goodenow cor. "Short-metre_ stanzas consist
of four iambic lines; the third of eight, the rest of six
syllables."--_Id._ "_Particular-metre_ stanzas consist of six iambic lines;
the third and sixth of six syllables, the rest of eight."--_Id.
"Hallelujah-metre_ stanzas consist of six iambic lines; the last two of
eight syllables, and the rest of six."--_Id. "Long-metre_ stanzas are
merely the union of four iambic lines, of ten syllables each."--_Id._ "A
majesty more commanding than is to be found among the rest of the
_Old-Testament_ poets."--_Blair cor._

   "You, sulphurous and _thought-executed_ fires,
    _Vaunt-couriers_ to _oak-cleaving_ thunderbolts,
    Singe my white head! And thou, _all-shaking_ thunder,
    Strike flat the thick rotundity o' th' world!"--_Lear_, Act iii, Sc. 2.


CHAPTER V.--PRONOUNS.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE X AND ITS NOTES.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--OF AGREEMENT.

"The subject is to be joined with _its_ predicate."--_Wilkins cor._ "Every
one must judge of _his_ own feelings."--_Byron cor._ "Every one in the
family should know _his or her_ duty."--_Penn cor._ "To introduce its
possessor into that way in which _he_ should go."--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "Do
not they say, _that_ every true believer has the Spirit of God in
_him_?"--_Barclay cor._ "There is none in _his_ natural state righteous;
no, not one."--_Wood cor._ "If ye were of the world, the world would love
_its_ own."--_Bible cor._ "His form had not yet lost all _its_ original
brightness."--_Milton cor._ "No one will answer as if I were _his_ friend
or companion."--_Steele cor._ "But, in lowliness of mind, let each esteem
_others_ better than _himself_."--_Bible cor._ "And let none of you imagine
evil in _his heart_ against his neighbour."--_Id._ "For every tree is known
by _its_ own fruit."--_Id._ "But she fell to laughing, like one out of
_his_ right mind."--_M. Edgeworth cor._ "Now these systems, so far from
having any tendency to make men better, have a manifest tendency to make
_them_ worse."--_Wayland cor._ "And nobody else would make that city _his_
refuge any more."--_Josephus cor._ "What is quantity, as it respects
syllables or words? It is _the_ time which _a speaker occupies_ in
pronouncing _them_."--_Bradley cor._ "In such expressions, the adjective so
much resembles an adverb in its meaning, that _it is_ usually parsed as
such."--_Bullions cor._ "The tongue is like a racehorse; which runs the
faster, the less weight _he_ carries." Or thus: "The tongue is like a
racehorse; the less weight _it_ carries, the faster _it_ runs."--_Addison,
Murray, et al. cor._ "As two thoughtless boys were trying to see which
could lift the greatest weight with _his_ jaws, one of them had several of
his firm-set teeth wrenched from their sockets."--_Newspaper cor._ "Every
body nowadays publishes memoirs; every body has recollections which _he
thinks_ worthy of recording."--_Duchess D'Ab. cor._ "Every body trembled,
for _himself_, or _for his_ friends."--_Goldsmith cor._

   "A steed comes at morning: no rider is there;
    But _his_ bridle is red with the sign of despair."--_Campbell cor._


UNDER NOTE I.--PRONOUNS WRONG--OR NEEDLESS.

"Charles loves to study; but John, alas! is very idle."--_Merchant cor._
"Or what man is there of you, _who_, if his son ask bread, will give him a
stone?"--_Bible cor._ "Who, in stead of going about doing good, are
perpetually intent upon doing mischief."--_Tillotson cor._ "Whom ye
delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pontius Pilate."--_Bible cor._
"Whom, when they had washed _her_, they laid in an upper chamber."--_Id._
"Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God."--_Id._ "Whatever a man
conceives clearly, he may, if he will be at the trouble, put into distinct
propositions, and express clearly to others."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 93.
"But the painter, being entirely confined to that part of time which he has
chosen, cannot exhibit various stages of the same action."--_Murray's
Gram._, i, 195. "What he subjoins, is without any proof at all."--_Barclay
cor._ "George _Fox's_ Testimony concerning Robert Barclay."--_Title cor._
"According to the _advice of the_ author of the Postcript
[sic--KTH]."--_Barclay cor._ "These things seem as ugly to the eye of their
meditations, as those Ethiopians _that were_ pictured _on Nemesis's_
pitcher."--_Bacon cor._ "Moreover, there is always a twofold condition
propounded with _the Sphynx's enigmas_."--_Id._ "Whoever believeth not
therein, shall perish."--_Koran cor._ "When, at _Sestius's_ entreaty, I had
been at his house."--_W. Walker cor._

   "There high on _Sipylus's_ shaggy brow,
    She stands, her own sad monument of wo."--_Pope cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--CHANGE OF NUMBER.

"So will I send upon you famine, and evil beasts, and they shall bereave
_you_."--_Bible cor._ "Why do you plead so much for it? why do _you_ preach
it up?" Or: "Why do _ye_ plead so much for it? why do _ye_ preach it
up?"--_Barclay cor._ "Since thou hast decreed that I shall bear man, _thy_
darling."--_Edward's Gram. cor._ "You have my book, and I have _yours_;
i.e., _your_ book." Or thus: "_Thou hast_ my book, and I have _thine_;
i.e., _thy_ book."--_Chandler cor._ "Neither art thou such a one as to be
ignorant of what _thou_ art."--_Bullions cor._ "Return, thou backsliding
Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon
_thee_."--_Bible cor._ "The Almighty, unwilling to cut thee off in the
fullness of iniquity, has sent me to give _thee_ warning."--_Ld. Kames cor.
"Wast_ thou born only for pleasure? _wast thou_ never to do any
thing?"--_Collier cor._ "Thou shalt be required to go to God, to die, and
_to_ give up _thy_ account."--_Barnes cor._ "And canst thou expect to
behold the resplendent glow of the Creator? would not such a sight
annihilate _thee_?"--_Milton cor._ "If the prophet had commanded thee to do
some great thing, _wouldst thou_ have refused?"--_C. S. Journal cor._ "Art
thou a penitent? evince _thy_ sincerity, by bringing forth fruits meet for
repentance."--_Vade-Mecum cor._ "I will call thee my dear son: I remember
all _thy_ tenderness."--_C. Tales cor._ "So do thou, my son: open _thy_
ears, and _thy_ eyes."--_Wright cor._ "I promise you, this was enough to
discourage _you_."--_Bunyan cor._ "Ere you remark an other's sin, Bid
_your_ own conscience look within."--_Gay cor._ "Permit that I share in thy
wo, The privilege _canst thou_ refuse?"--_Perfect cor._ "Ah! Strephon, how
_canst thou_ despise Her who, without thy pity, _dies_?"--_Swift cor._

   "Thy verses, friend, are Kidderminster stuff;
    And I must own, _thou'st_ measured out enough."--_Shenst. cor._

    "This day, dear Bee, is thy nativity;
    Had Fate a luckier one, she'd give it _thee_."--_Swift cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--WHO AND WHICH.

"Exactly like so many puppets, _which_ are moved by wires."--_Blair cor._
"They are my servants, _whom_ I brought forth[535] out of the land of
Egypt."--_Leviticus_, xxv, 55. "Behold, I and the children _whom_ God hath
given me."--See _Isaiah_, viii, 18. "And he sent Eliakim, _who_ was over
the household, and Shebna the scribe."--_Isaiah_, xxxvii, 2. "In a short
time the streets were cleared of the corpses _which_ filled
them."--_M'Ilvaine cor._ "They are not of those _who_ teach things _that_
they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake."--_Barclay cor._ "As a lion among
the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep;
_which_, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in
pieces."--_Bible cor._ "Frequented by every fowl _which_ nature has taught
to dip the wing in water."--_Johnson cor._ "He had two sons, one of _whom_
was adopted by the family of Maximus."--_Lempriere cor._ "And the ants,
_which_ are collected by the smell, are burned _with_ fire."--_The Friend
cor._ "They being the agents to _whom_ this thing was trusted."--_Nixon
cor._ "A packhorse _which_ is driven constantly _one way and the other_, to
_and from_ market."--_Locke cor._ "By instructing children, _whose_
affection will be increased."--_Nixon cor._ "He had a comely young woman,
_who_ travelled with him."--_Hutchinson cor._ "A butterfly, _who_ thought
himself an accomplished traveller, happened to light upon a
beehive."--_Inst._, p. 267. "It is an enormous elephant of stone, _which_
disgorges from his uplifted trunk a vast but graceful shower."--_Ware cor._
"He was met by a dolphin, _which_ sometimes swam before him, and sometimes
behind him."--_Edward's Gram. cor._

   "That Cæsar's horse, _which_, as fame goes,
    Had corns upon his feet and toes,
    Was not by half so tender-hoof'd,
    Nor trod upon the ground so soft."--_Butler cor._


UNDER NOTE IV.--NOUNS OF MULTITUDE.

"He instructed and fed the crowds _that_ surrounded him."--_Murray's Key_.
"The court, _which_ gives currency to manners, ought to be exemplary." p.
187. "Nor does he describe classes of sinners _that_ do not exist."--_Mag.
cor._ "Because the nations among _which_ they took their rise, were not
savage."--_Murray cor._ "Among nations _that_ are in the first and rude
periods of society."--_Blair cor._ "The martial spirit of those nations
among _which_ the feudal government prevailed."--_Id._ "France, _which_ was
in alliance with Sweden."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 97. "That faction, in
England, _which_ most powerfully opposed his arbitrary pretensions."--_Ib._
"We may say, 'the crowd _which_ was going up the street.'"--_Cobbett's E.
Gram._, ¶ 204. "Such members of the Convention _which_ formed this Lyceum,
as have subscribed this Constitution."--_N. Y. Lyceum cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--CONFUSION OF SENSES.

"_The name_ of the possessor shall take a particular form to show its
case."--_Kirkham cor._ "Of which reasons, the principal one is, that no
noun, properly so called, implies _the_ presence _of the thing
named_."--_Harris cor._ "_Boston_ is a proper noun, which distinguishes
_the city of Boston_ from other cities."--_Sanborn cor._ "_The word_
CONJUNCTION means union, or _the act of_ joining together. _Conjunctions
are_ used to join or _connect_ either words or sentences."--_Id._ "The word
INTERJECTION means _the act of throwing between. Interjections are_
interspersed among other words, to express _strong or sudden_
emotion."--_Id._ "_Indeed_ is composed of _in_ and _deed. The words_ may
better be written separately, as they formerly were."--_Cardell cor._
"_Alexander_, on the contrary, is a particular name; and is _employed_ to
distinguish _an individual only_."--_Jamieson cor._ "As an indication that
nature itself had changed _its_ course." Or:--"that _Nature herself_ had
changed her course."--_History cor._ "Of removing from the United States
and _their_ territories the free people of colour."--_Jenifer cor._ "So
that _gh_ may be said not to have _its_ proper sound." Or thus: "So that
_the letters, g_ and _h_, may be said not to have their proper
_sounds_."--_Webster cor._ "Are we to welcome the loathsome harlot, and
introduce _her_ to our children?"--_Maturin cor._ "The first question is
this: 'Is reputable, national, and present use, _which_, for brevity's
sake, I shall hereafter simply denominate _good use_, always uniform, [i.
e., undivided, and unequivocal,] in _its_ decisions?"--_Campbell cor._ "_In
personifications_, Time is always masculine, on account of _his_ mighty
efficacy; Virtue, feminine, _by reason of her_ beauty and
_loveliness_."--_Murray, Blair, et al. cor._ "When you speak to a person or
thing, the _noun or pronoun_ is in the second person."--_Bartlett cor._
"You now know the noun; for _noun_ means _name_."--_Id._ "_T_. What do you
see? _P_. A book. _T_. Spell _book_."--_R. W. Green cor._ "_T_. What do you
see now? _P_. Two books. _T_. Spell _books_."--_Id._ "If the United States
lose _their_ rights as a nation."--_Liberator cor._ "When a person or thing
is addressed or spoken to, the _noun or pronoun_ is in the second
person."--_Frost cor._ "When a person or thing is _merely_ spoken of, the
_noun or pronoun_ is in the third person."--_Id._ "The _word_ OX _also,
taking_ the same plural termination, _makes_ OXEN."--_Bucke cor._

   "Hail, happy States! _yours_ is the blissful seat
    Where nature's gifts and art's improvements meet."--_Everett cor._


UNDER NOTE VI.--THE RELATIVE THAT.

(1.) "This is the most useful art _that_ men possess."--_L. Murray cor._
"The earliest accounts _that_ history gives us, concerning all nations,
bear testimony to these facts."--_Blair et al. cor._ "Mr. Addison was the
first _that_ attempted a regular inquiry into the pleasures of
taste."--_Blair cor._ "One of the first _that_ introduced it, was
Montesquieu."--_Murray cor._ "Massillon is perhaps the most eloquent
_sermonizer that_ modern times have produced."--_Blair cor._ "The greatest
barber _that_ ever lived, is our guiding star and prototype."--_Hart cor._

(2.) "When prepositions are subjoined to nouns, they are generally the same
_that_ are subjoined to the verbs from which the nouns are
derived."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 200. Better thus: "_The_ prepositions
_which_ are subjoined to nouns, _are_ generally the same _that_,"
&c.--_Priestley cor._ "The same proportions _that_ are agreeable in a
model, are not agreeable in a large building."--_Kames cor._ "The same
ornaments _that_ we admire in a private apartment, are unseemly in a
temple."--_Murray cor._ "The same _that_ John saw also in the
sun."--_Milton cor._

(3.) "Who can ever be easy, _that_ is reproached with his own ill
conduct?"--_T. à Kempis cor._ "Who is she _that_ comes clothed in a robe of
green?"--_Inst._, p. 267. "Who _that_ has either sense or civility, does
not perceive the vileness of profanity?"--_G. Brown_.

(4.) "The second person denotes the person or thing _that_ is spoken
to."--_Kirkham cor._ "The third person denotes the person or thing _that_
is spoken of."--_Id._ "A passive verb denotes action received, or endured
by the person or thing _that is signified by_ its nominative."--_Id._ "The
princes and states _that_ had neglected or favoured the growth of this
power."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "The nominative expresses the name of the
person or thing _that_ acts, or _that_ is the subject of
discourse."--_Hiley cor._

(5.) "Authors _that_ deal in long sentences, are very apt to be
faulty."--_Blair cor._ "Writers _that_ deal," &c.--_Murray cor._ "The
neuter gender denotes objects _that_ are neither male nor
female."--_Merchant cor._ "The neuter gender denotes things _that_ have no
sex."--_Kirkham cor._ "Nouns _that_ denote objects neither male nor female,
are of the neuter gender."--_Wells's Gram. of late_, p. 55. Better thus:
"_Those_ nouns _which_ denote objects _that are_ neither male nor female,
are of the neuter gender."--_Wells cor._ "Objects and ideas _that_ have
been long familiar, make too faint an impression to give an agreeable
exercise to our faculties."--_Blair cor._ "Cases _that_ custom has left
dubious, are certainly within the grammarian's province."--_L. Murray cor._
"Substantives _that_ end in _ery_, signify action or habit."--_Id._ "After
all _that_ can be done to render the definitions and rules of grammar
accurate."--_Id._ "Possibly, all _that_ I have said, is known and
taught."--_A. B. Johnson cor._

(6.) "It is a strong and manly style _that_ should chiefly be
studied."--_Blair cor._ "It is this [viz., _precision] that_ chiefly makes
a division appear neat and elegant."--_Id._ "I hope it is not I _that_ he
is displeased with."--_L. Murray cor._ "When it is this alone _that_
renders the sentence obscure."--_Campbell cor._ "This sort of full and
ample assertion, '_It is this that_,' is fit to be used when a proposition
of importance is laid down."--_Blair cor._ "She is not the person _that_ I
understood it to have been."--_L. Murray cor._ "Was it thou, or the wind,
_that_ shut the door?"--_Inst._, p. 267. "It was not I _that_ shut
it."--_Ib._

(7.) "He is not the person _that he_ seemed _to be_."--_Murray and
Ingersoll cor._ "He is really the person _that_ he appeared to be."--_Iid._
"She is not now the woman _that_ they represented her to have
been."--_Iid._ "An _only child_ is one _that_ has neither brother nor
sister; a _child alone_ is one _that_ is left by itself, _or
unaccompanied_."--_Blair, Jam., and Mur., cor._


UNDER NOTE VII.--RELATIVE CLAUSES CONNECTED.

(1.) "A Substantive, or Noun, is the name of a thing; (i. e.,) of whatever
we conceive to subsist, or of _whatever_ we _merely imagine_."--_Lowth
cor._ (2.) "A Substantive, or Noun, is the name of any thing _which_
exists, or of which we have any notion."--_Murray et al. cor._ (3.) "A
Substantive, or Noun, is the name of any person, place, or thing, that
exists, or _that_ we can have an idea _of_."--_Frost cor._ (4.) "A noun is
the name of any thing _which_ exists, or of which we form an
idea."--_Hallock cor._ (5.) "A Noun is the name of any person, place,
object, or thing, that exists, or _that_ we may conceive to exist."--_D. C.
Allen cor._ (6.) "The name of every thing _which_ exists, or of which we
can form a notion, is a noun."--_Fisk cor._ (7.) "An allegory is the
representation of some one thing by an other that resembles it, and _that_
is made to stand for it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 150. (8.) "Had he exhibited
such sentences as contained ideas inapplicable to young minds, or _such as_
were of a trivial or injurious nature."--_L. Murray cor._ (9.) "Man would
have others obey him, even his own kind; but he will not obey God, _who_ is
so much above him, and who made him."--_Penn cor._ (10.) "But what we may
consider here, and _what_ few persons have _noticed_, is," &c.--_Brightland
cor._ (11.) "The compiler has not inserted _those_ verbs _which_ are
irregular only in familiar writing or discourse, and which are improperly
terminated by _t in stead_ of _ed_."--_Murray, Fisk, Hart, Ingersoll et
al., cor._ (12.) "The remaining parts of speech, which are called the
indeclinable parts, _and which_ admit of no variations, (or, _being words
that_ admit of no variations,) will not detain us long."--_Dr. Blair cor._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--THE RELATIVE AND PREPOSITION.

"In the temper of mind _in which_ he was then."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 102.
"To bring them into the condition _in which_ I am at present."--_Add. cor._
"In the posture _in which_ I lay."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 102. "In the sense
_in which_ it is sometimes taken."--_Barclay cor._ "Tools and utensils are
said to be right, when they _answer well_ the uses _for which_ they were
made."--_Collier cor._ "If, in the extreme danger _in which_ I now am," &c.
Or: "If, in _my present_ extreme danger," &c.--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 116.
"News was brought, that Dairus [sic--KTH] was but twenty miles from the
place _in which_ they then were."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Alexander, upon
hearing this news, continued four days _where_ he then was:" or--"_in the
place in which_ he then was."--_Id._ "To read in the best manner _in which
reading_ is now taught."--_L. Murray cor._ "It may be expedient to give a
few directions as to the manner _in which_ it should be studied."--_Hallock
cor._ "Participles are words derived from verbs, and convey an idea of the
acting of an agent, or the suffering of an object, with the time _at which_
it happens." [536]--_A. Murray cor._

   "Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal
    _With which_ I serv'd my king, he would not _thus_,
    In age, have left me naked to _my foes_."--_Shak. cor._

UNDER NOTE IX.--ADVERBS FOR RELATIVES. "In compositions _that are not
designed to be delivered in public_."--_Blair cor._ "They framed a
protestation _in which_ they repeated their claims."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 133; _Murray's_, 197. "Which have reference to _inanimate_ substances,
_in which_ sex _has no_ existence."--_Harris cor._ "Which denote substances
_in which_ sex never had existence."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 26. "There is
no rule given _by which_ the truth may be found out."--_W. Walker cor._
"The nature of the objects _from which_ they are taken."--_Blair cor._
"That darkness of character, _through which_ we can see no heart:" [i. e.,
generous emotion.]--_L. Murray cor._ "The states _with which_ [or _between
which_] they negotiated."--_Formey cor._ "Till the motives _from which_ men
act, be known."--_Beattie cor._ "He assigns the principles _from which_
their power of pleasing flows."--_Blair cor._ "But I went on, and so
finished this History, in that form _in which_ it now appears."--_Sewel
cor._ "By prepositions we express the cause _for which_, the instrument by
which, _and_ the manner _in which_, a thing is done."--_A. Murray cor._
"They are not such in the language _from which_ they are derived."--_Town
cor._ "I find it very hard to persuade several, that their passions are
affected by words from _which_ they have no ideas."--_Burke cor._ "The
known end, then, _for which_ we are placed in a state of so much
affliction, hazard, and difficulty, is our improvement in virtue and
piety."--_Bp. Butler cor._

   "Yet such his acts as Greeks unborn shall tell,
    And curse the _strife in which_ their fathers fell."--_Pope cor._


UNDER NOTE X.--REPEAT THE NOUN.

"Youth may be thoughtful, but _thoughtfulness in the young_ is not very
common."--_Webster cor._ "A proper name is _a name_ given to one person or
thing."--_Bartlett cor._ "A common name is _a name_ given to many things of
the same sort."--_Id._ "This rule is often violated; some instances of _its
violation_ are annexed."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "This is altogether
careless writing. _Such negligence respecting the pronouns_, renders style
often obscure, and always inelegant."--_Blair cor._ "Every inversion which
is not governed by this rule, will be disrelished by every _person_ of
taste."--_Kames cor._ "A proper diphthong, is _a diphthong_ in which both
the vowels are sounded."--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 18. "An improper
diphthong, is _a diphthong_ in which only one of the vowels is
sounded."--_Ib._ "Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and _the_ descendants _of Jacob_,
are called Hebrews."--_Wood cor._ "In our language, _every word_ of more
than one syllable, has one of _its syllables_ distinguished from the rest
in this manner."--_L. Murray cor._ "Two consonants proper to begin a word,
must not be separated; as, fa-ble, sti-fle. But when _two consonants_ come
between two vowels, and are such as cannot begin a word, they must be
divided, as, ut-most, un-der."--_Id._ "Shall the intellect alone feel no
pleasures in its energy, when we allow _pleasures_ to the grossest energies
of appetite and sense?"--_Harris and Murray cor._ "No man has a propensity
to vice as such: on the contrary, a wicked deed disgusts _every one_, and
makes him abhor the author."--_Ld. Kames cor._ "The same _grammatical
properties_ that belong to nouns, belong also to pronouns."--_Greenleaf
cor._ "What is language? It is the means of communicating thoughts from one
_person_ to an other."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "A simple word is _a word_
which is not made up of _other words_."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "A compound
word is _a word_ which is made up of two or more words."--_Iid_. "When a
conjunction is to be supplied, _the ellipsis_ is called Asyndeton."--_Adam
cor._


UNDER NOTE XI.--PLACE OF THE RELATIVE.

"It gives _to words a meaning which_ they would not have."--_L. Murray
cor._ "There are in the English language many _words, that_ are sometimes
used as adjectives, and sometimes as adverbs."--_Id._ "Which do not more
effectually show the varied intentions of the mind, than do the
_auxiliaries which_ are used to form the potential mood."--_Id._ "These
_accents, which_ will be the subject of a following speculation, make
different impressions on the mind."--_Ld. Kames cor._ "And others differed
very much from the words _of the writers to whom_ they were
ascribed."--_John Ward cor._ "Where there is in the sense _nothing which_
requires the last sound to be elevated, an easy fall will be
proper."--_Murray and Bullions cor._ "In the last clause there is an
ellipsis of the verb; _and_, when you supply _it_, you find it necessary to
use the adverb _not, in lieu of no_."--_Campbell and Murray cor._ "_Study_
is _of the_ singular number, because _the_ nominative _I, with which_ it
agrees, _is singular_."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "John is the _person who_ is in
error, or thou art."--_Wright cor._ "For he hath made him, who knew no sin,
to be sin for us."--_Harrison's E. Lang._, p. 197.

   "My friend, take that of _me, who_ have the power
    To seal th' accuser's lips."--_Shakspeare cor._


UNDER NOTE XII.--WHAT FOR THAT.

"I had no idea but _that_ the story was true."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 268.
"The postboy is not so weary but _that_ he can whistle."--_Ib._ "He had no
intimation but _that_ the men were honest."--_Ib._ "Neither Lady Haversham
nor Miss Mildmay will ever believe but _that_ I have been entirely to
blame."--_Priestley cor._ "I am not satisfied but _that_ the integrity of
our friends is more essential to our welfare than their knowledge of the
world."--_Id._ "Indeed, there is in poetry nothing so entertaining or
descriptive, but _that an ingenious_ didactic writer may introduce _it_ in
some part of his work."--_Blair cor._ "Brasidas, being bit by a mouse he
had catched, let it slip out of his fingers: 'No creature,' says he, 'is so
contemptible but _that it_ may provide for its own safety, if it have
courage.'"--_Ld. Kames cor._


UNDER NOTE XIII.--ADJECTIVES FOR ANTECEDENTS.

"In narration, Homer is, at all times, remarkably concise, _and therefore_
lively and agreeable."--_Blair cor._ "It is usual to talk of a nervous, a
feeble, or a spirited style; which _epithets_ plainly _indicate the_
writer's manner of thinking."--_Id._ "It is too violent an alteration, if
any alteration were necessary, _whereas_ none is."--_Knight cor._ "Some men
are too ignorant to be humble; _and_ without _humility_ there can be no
docility."--_Berkley cor._ "Judas declared him innocent; _but innocent_ he
could not be, had he in any respect deceived the disciples."--_Porteus
cor._ "They supposed him to be innocent, _but_ he certainly was not
_so_."--_Murray et al. cor._ "They accounted him honest, _but_ he certainly
was not _so_."--_Felch cor._ "Be accurate in all you say or do; for
_accuracy_ is important in all the concerns of life."--_Brown's Inst._, p.
268. "Every law supposes the transgressor to be wicked; _and_ indeed he is
_so_, if the law is just."--_Ib._ "To be pure in heart, pious, and
benevolent, (_and_ all may be _so_,) constitutes human happiness."--_Murray
cor._ "To be dexterous in danger, is a virtue; but to court danger to show
_our dexterity_, is _a_ weakness."--_Penn cor._


UNDER NOTE XIV.--SENTENCES FOR ANTECEDENTS.

"This seems not so allowable in prose; which _fact_ the following erroneous
examples will demonstrate."--_L. Murray cor._ "The accent is laid upon the
last syllable of a word; which _circumstance_ is favourable to the
melody."--_Kames cor._ "Every line consists of ten syllables, five short
and five long; from which _rule_ there are but two exceptions, both of them
rare."--_Id._ "The soldiers refused obedience, _as_ has been
explained."--_Nixon cor._ "Caesar overcame Pompey--_a circumstance_ which
was lamented."--_Id._ "The crowd hailed William, _agreeably to the
expectations of his friends_."--_Id._ "The tribunes resisted Scipio, _who
knew their malevolence towards him_."--_Id._ "The censors reproved vice,
_and were held in great honour_."--_Id._ "The generals neglected
discipline, which _fact_ has been proved."--_Id._ "There would be two
nominatives to the verb _was, and such a construction_ is improper."--_Adam
and Gould cor._ "His friend bore the abuse very patiently; _whose
forbearance, however_, served _only_ to increase his rudeness; it produced,
at length, contempt and insolence."--_Murray and Emmons cor._ "Almost all
_compound_ sentences are more or less elliptical; _and_ some examples of
_ellipsis_ may be _found_, under _nearly all_ the different parts of
speech."--_Murray, Guy, Smith, Ingersoll, Fisk, et al. cor._


UNDER NOTE XV.--REPEAT THE PRONOUN.

"In things of Nature's workmanship, whether we regard their internal or
_their_ external structure, beauty and design are equally
conspicuous."--_Kames cor._ "It puzzles the reader, by making him doubt
whether the word ought to be taken in its proper, or _in its_ figurative
sense."--_Id._ "Neither my obligations to the muses, nor _my_ expectations
from them, are so great."--_Cowley cor._ "The Fifth Annual Report of the
_Antislavery_ Society of Ferrisburgh and _its_ vicinity."--_Title cor._
"Meaning taste in its figurative as well as _its_ proper sense."--_Kames
cor._ "Every measure in which either your personal or _your_ political
character is concerned."--_Junius cor._ "A jealous _and_ righteous God has
often punished such in themselves or _in their_ offspring."--_Extracts
cor._ "Hence their civil and _their_ religious history are
inseparable."--_Milman cor._ "Esau thus carelessly threw away both his
civil and _his_ religious inheritance."--_Id._ "This intelligence excited
not only our hopes, but _our_ fears likewise."--_Jaudon cor._ "In what way
our defect of principle, and _our_ ruling manners, have completed the ruin
of the national spirit of union."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "Considering her
descent, her connexion, and _her_ present intercourse."--_Webster cor._
"His own and _his_ wife's wardrobe are packed up in a firkin."--_Parker and
Fox cor._


UNDER NOTE XVI.--CHANGE THE ANTECEDENT.

"The _sounds_ of _e_ and _o_ long, in _their_ due degrees, will be
preserved, and clearly distinguished."--_L. Murray cor._ "If any _persons_
should be inclined to think," &c., "the author takes the liberty to suggest
to _them_," &c.--_Id._ "And he walked in all the _way_ of Asa his father;
he turned not aside from _it_."--_Bible cor._ "If ye from your hearts
forgive not every one his _brethren their_ trespasses."--_Id._ "_None_ ever
fancied _they_ were slighted by him, or had the courage to think
_themselves_ his _betters_."--_Collier cor._ "And _Rebecca_ took _some very
good clothes_ of her eldest son _Esau's_, which _were_ with her in the
house, and put _them_ upon Jacob her younger son."--_Gen. cor._ "Where all
the attention of _men_ is given to _their_ own indulgence."--_Maturin cor._
"The idea of a _father_ is a notion superinduced to _that of_ the
substance, or man--let _one's idea of_ man be what _it_ will."--_Locke
cor._ "Leaving _all_ to do as they _list_."--_Barclay cor._ "Each _person_
performed his part handsomely."--_J. Flint cor._ "This block of marble
rests on two layers of _stones_, bound together with lead, which, however,
has not prevented the Arabs from forcing out several of _them_."--_Parker
and Fox cor._

   "Love gives to _all our powers_ a double power,
    Above their functions and their offices." Or:--
    "Love gives to every power a double power,
    _Exalts all_ functions and _all_ offices."--_Shak. cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XI; OF PRONOUNS.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE IDEA OF PLURALITY.

"The jury will be confined till _they_ agree on a verdict."--_Brown's
Inst._, p. 145. "And mankind directed _their_ first cares towards the
needful."--_Formey cor._ "It is difficult to deceive a free people
respecting _their_ true interest."--_Life of Charles XII cor._ "All the
virtues of mankind are to be counted upon a few fingers, but _their_
follies and vices are innumerable."--_Swift cor._ "Every sect saith, 'Give
_us_ liberty:' but give it _them_, and to _their_ power, _and they_ will
not yield it to any body else."--_Cromwell cor._ "Behold, the people shall
rise up as a great lion, and lift up _themselves_ as a young lion."--_Bible
cor._ "For all flesh had corrupted _their_ way upon the earth."--_Id._
"There happened to the army a very strange accident, which put _them_ in
great consternation."--_Goldsmith cor._


UNDER NOTE I.--THE IDEA OF UNITY.

"The meeting went on _with its_ business as a united body."--_Foster cor._
"Every religious association has an undoubted right to adopt a creed for
_itself_."--_Gould cor._ "It would therefore be extremely difficult to
raise an insurrection in that state against _its_ own government."--_Dr.
Webster cor._ "The mode in which a lyceum can apply _itself_ in effecting a
reform in common schools."--_N. Y. Lyc. cor._ "Hath a nation changed _its_
gods, which yet are no gods?"--_Jer. cor._ "In the holy Scriptures, each of
the twelve tribes of Israel is often called by the name of the patriarch
from whom _it_ descended." Or better:--"from whom _the tribe_
descended."--_Adams cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--UNIFORMITY OF NUMBER.

"A nation, by the reparation of _the wrongs which it has done_, achieves a
triumph more glorious than any field of blood can ever give."--_Adams cor._
"The English nation, from _whom_ we descended, have been gaining their
liberties inch by inch."--_Webster cor._ "If a Yearly Meeting should
undertake to alter _its_ fundamental doctrines, is there any power in the
society to prevent _it from_ doing so?"--_Foster's Rep. cor._ "There
is[537] a generation that _curse_ their father, and _do_ not bless their
mother."--_Bible cor._ "There is[537] a generation that are pure in their
own eyes, and yet _are_ not washed from their filthiness."--_Id._ "He hath
not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel:
the Lord _their_ God is with _them_, and the shout of a king is among
them."--_Id._ "My people _have_ forgotten me, they have burnt incense to
vanity."--_Id._ "When a quarterly meeting _has_ come to a _judgement_
respecting any difference, relative to any monthly meeting belonging to
_it_" &c.--_Discip. cor._ "The number of such compositions is every day
increasing, and it _appears_ to be limited only by the pleasure or _the
convenience_ of _writers_."--_Booth cor._ "The Church of Christ _has_ the
same power now as ever, and _is_ led by the same spirit into the same
practices."--_Barclay cor._ "The army, whom _their_ chief had thus
abandoned, pursued meanwhile their miserable march." Or thus: "The army,
_which its_ chief had thus abandoned, pursued meanwhile _its_ miserable
march."--_Lockhart cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XII; OF PRONOUNS.

ANTECEDENTS CONNECTED BY AND.

"Discontent and sorrow manifested _themselves_ in his
countenance."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 146. "Both conversation and public
speaking became more simple and plain, such as we now find _them_."--_Blair
cor._ "Idleness and ignorance, _if they_ be suffered to proceed,
&c."--_Johnson and Priestley cor._ "Avoid questions and strife: _they show_
a busy and contentious disposition."--_Penn cor._ "To receive the gifts and
benefits of God with thanksgiving, and witness _them_ blessed and
sanctified to us by the word and prayer, is owned by us."--_Barclay cor._
"Both minister and magistrate are compelled to choose between _their_ duty
and _their_ reputation."--_Junius cor._ "All the sincerity, truth, and
faithfulness, or disposition of heart or conscience to approve _them_,
found among rational creatures, necessarily originate from God."--_Rev. J.
Brown cor._ "Your levity and heedlessness, if _they_ continue, will prevent
all substantial improvement."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 269. "Poverty and
obscurity will oppress him only who esteems _them_ oppressive."--_Ib._
"Good sense and refined policy are obvious to few, because _they_ cannot be
discovered but by a train of reflection."--_Ib._ "Avoid haughtiness of
behaviour, and affectation of manners: _they imply_ a want of solid
merit."--_Ib._ "If love and unity continue, _they_ will make you partakers
of one an other's joy."--_Ib._ "Suffer not jealousy and distrust to enter:
_they_ will destroy, like a canker, every germ of friendship."--_Ib._
"Hatred and animosity are inconsistent with Christian charity: guard,
therefore, against the slightest indulgence of _them_."--_Ib._ "Every man
is entitled to liberty of conscience, and freedom of opinion, if he does
not pervert _them_ to the injury of others."--_Ib._

   "With the azure and vermilion
    _Which are_ mix'd for my pavilion."--_Byron cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XIII; OF PRONOUNS.

ANTECEDENTS CONNECTED BY OR OR NOR.

"Neither prelate nor priest can give _his_ [flock or] flocks any decisive
evidence that you are lawful pastors."--_Brownlee cor._ "And is there a
heart of parent or of child, that does not beat and burn within _him_?"--
_Maturin cor._ "This is just as if an eye or a foot should demand a
salary for _its_ service to the body."--_Collier cor._ "If thy hand or thy
foot offend thee, cut _it_ off, and cast _it_ from thee."--_Bible cor._
"The same might as well be said of Virgil, or any great author; whose
general character will infallibly raise many casual additions to _his_
reputation."--_Pope cor._ "Either James or John,--one _or the other_,--will
come."--_Smith cor._ "Even a rugged rock or _a_ barren heath, though in
_itself_ disagreeable, _contributes_, by contrast, to the beauty of the
whole."--_Kames cor._ "That neither Count Rechteren nor Monsieur Mesnager
had behaved _himself_ right in this affair."--_Spect. cor._ "If an
Aristotle, a Pythagoras, or a Galileo, _suffers_ for _his_ opinions, _he is
a 'martyr.'_"--_Fuller cor._ "If an ox gore a man or a woman, that _he or
she_ die; then the ox _shall surely_ be stoned."--_Exod. cor._ "She was
calling out to one or an other, at every step, that a Habit was ensnaring
_him_."--_Johnson cor._ "Here is a task put upon children, _which_ neither
this author _himself_, nor any other, _has_ yet undergone."--_R. Johnson
cor._ "Hence, if an adjective or _a_ participle be subjoined to the verb
when _the construction is singular, it_ will agree both in gender and _in_
number with the collective noun."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "And if you can
find a diphthong or a triphthong, be pleased to point _that_ out
too."--_Bucke cor._ "And if you can find a trissyllable or a polysyllable,
point _it_ out."--_Id._ "The false refuges in which the atheist or the
sceptic _has_ intrenched _himself_."--_Chr. Spect. cor._ "While the man or
woman thus assisted by art, expects _his_ charms _or hers_ will be imputed
to nature alone."--_Opie cor._ "When you press a watch, or pull a clock,
_it answers_ your question with precision; for _it repeats_ exactly the
hour of the day, and tells you neither more nor less than you desire to
know."--_Bolingbroke cor._

   "Not the Mogul, or Czar of Muscovy,
    Not Prester John, or Cham of Tartary,
    _Is_ in _his mansion_ monarch more than I."--_King cor._


CHAPTER VI.--VERBS.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XIV AND ITS NOTES.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--VERB AFTER THE NOMINATIVE.

"Before you left Sicily, you _were reconciled_ to Verres."--_Duncan cor._
"Knowing that you _were_ my old master's good friend."--_Spect. cor._ "When
the judge _dares_ not act, where is the loser's remedy?"--_Webster cor._
"Which extends it no farther than the variation of the verb
_extends_."--_Mur. cor._ "They presently dry without hurt, as myself _have_
often proved."--_R. Williams cor._ "Whose goings-forth _have_ been from of
old, from everlasting."--_Micah_, v, 2. "You _were_ paid to fight against
Alexander, not to rail at him."--_Porter cor._ "Where more than one part of
speech _are_ almost always concerned."--_Churchill cor._ "Nothing less than
murders, rapines, and conflagrations, _employs_ their thoughts." Or: "_No
less things_ than murders, rapines, and conflagrations, _employ_ their
thoughts."--_Duncan cor._ "I wondered where you _were_, my dear."--_Lloyd
cor._ "When thou most sweetly _singst_."--_Drummond cor._ "Who _dares_, at
the present day, avow himself equal to the task?"--_Gardiner cor._
"Every body _is_ very kind to her, and not discourteous to me."--_Byron
cor._ "As to what thou _sayst_ respecting the diversity of opinions."--_M.
B. cor._ "Thy nature, Immortality, who _knows_?"--_Everest cor._ "The
natural distinction of sex in animals, gives rise to what, in grammar,
_are_ called genders."--_Id._ "Some pains _have_ likewise been
taken."--_Scott cor._ "And many a steed in his stables _was_
seen."--_Penwarne cor._ "They _were_ forced to eat what never was esteemed
food."--_Josephus cor._ "This that _you_ yourself _have_ spoken, I desire
that they may take their oaths upon."--_Hutchinson cor._ "By men whose
experience best _qualifies_ them to judge."--_Committee cor._ "He _dares_
venture to kill and destroy several other kinds of fish."--_Walton cor._
"If a gudgeon meet a roach, He _ne'er will_ venture to approach." Or thus:
"If a gudgeon _meets_ a roach, He _dares_ not venture to approach."--_Swift
cor._ "Which thou _endeavourst_ to establish to thyself."--_Barclay cor._
"But they pray together much oftener than thou _insinuat'st_."--_Id._ "Of
people of all denominations, over whom thou _presidest_."--_N. Waln cor._
"I can produce ladies and gentlemen whose progress _has_ been
astonishing."--_Chazotte cor._ "Which of these two kinds of vice _is the_
more criminal?"--_Dr. Brown cor._ "Every twenty-four hours _afford_ to us
the vicissitudes of day and night."--_Smith's False Syntax, New Gram._, p.
103. Or thus: "Every _period_ of twenty-four hours _affords_ to us the
vicissitudes of day and night."--_Smith cor._ "Every four years _add_ an
other day."--_Smith's False Syntax, Gram._, p. 103. Better thus: "Every
_fourth year adds_ an other day."--_Smith cor._ "Every error I could find,
_Has_ my busy muse employed."--_Swift cor._ "A studious scholar _deserves_
the approbation of his teacher."--_Sanborn cor._ "Perfect submission to the
rules of a school _indicates_ good breeding."--_Id._ "A comparison in which
more than two _are_ concerned."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 78. "By the
facilities which artificial language _affords_ them."--_O. B. Peirce cor._
"Now thyself _hast_ lost both lop and top."--_Spencer cor._ "Glad tidings
_are_ brought to the poor."--_Campbell cor._ "Upon which, all that is
pleasurable or affecting in elocution, chiefly _depends._"--_Sher. cor._
"No pains _have_ been spared to render this work complete."--_Bullions
cor._ "The United States _contain_ more than a twentieth part of the land
of this globe."--_Clinton cor._ "I am mindful that myself _am_
strong."--_Fowler cor._ "Myself _am_ (not _is_) weak;"--"Thyself _art_ (not
_is_) weak."--_Id._

   "How pale each worshipful and reverend guest
    Rises from clerical or city feast!"--_Pope cor._

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--VERB BEFORE THE NOMINATIVE.

"Where _were_ you born? In London."--_Buchanan cor._ "There _are_ frequent
occasions for commas."--_Ingersoll cor._ "There necessarily _follow_ from
thence these plain and unquestionable consequences."--_Priestley cor._ "And
to this impression _contributes_ the redoubled effort."--_Kames cor._ "Or,
if he was, _were_ there no spiritual men then?"--_Barclay cor._ "So, by
these two also, _are_ signified their contrary principles."--_Id._ "In the
motions made with the hands, _consists_ the chief part of gesture in
speaking."--_Blair cor._ "_Dares_ he assume the name of a popular
magistrate?"--_Duncan cor._ "There _were_ no damages as in England, and so
Scott lost his wager."--_Byron cor._ "In fact, there _exist_ such
resemblances."--_Kames cor._ "To him _give_ all the prophets
witness."--_Acts_, x, 43. "That there _were_ so many witnesses and
actors."--_Addison cor._ "How _do_ this man's definitions stand
affected?"--_Collier cor._ "Whence _come_ all the powers and prerogatives
of rational beings?"--_Id._ "Nor _do_ the scriptures cited by thee prove
thy intent."--_Barclay cor._ "Nor _does_ the scripture cited by thee prove
the contrary."--_Id._ "Why then _citest_ thou a scripture which is so plain
and clear for it?"--_Id._ "But what _say_ the Scriptures as to respect of
persons among Christians?"--_Id._ "But in the mind of man, while in the
savage state, there _seem_ to be hardly any ideas but what enter by the
senses;"--_Robertson cor._ "What sounds _has_ each of the
vowels?"--_Griscom cor._ "Out of this _have_ grown up aristocracies,
monarchies, despotisms, tyrannies."--_Brownson cor._ "And there _were_
taken up, of fragments that remained to them, twelve baskets."--_Bible
cor._ "There _seem_ to be but two general classes."--_Day cor._ "Hence
_arise_ the six forms of expressing time."--_Id._ "There _seem_ to be no
other words required."--_Chandler cor._ "If there _are_ two, the second
increment is the syllable next to the last."--_Bullions cor._ "Hence
_arise_ the following advantages."--_Id._ "There are no data by which it
can be estimated."--_Calhoun cor._ "To this class, _belongs_ the Chinese
language, in which we have nothing but naked _primitives_."--_Fowler cor._
[[Fist] "Nothing but naked _roots_" is faulty; because no word is a _root_,
except some derivative spring from it."--G. B.] "There _were_ several other
grotesque figures that presented themselves."--_Spect. cor._ "In these
_consists_ that sovereign good which ancient sages so much
extol."--_Percival cor._ "Here _come_ those I have done good to against my
will."--_Shak. cor._ "Where there _are_ more than one auxiliary." Or:
"Where there _are_ more _auxiliaries_ than one."--_O. B. Peirce cor._

   "On me to cast those eyes where _shines_ nobility."
        --_Sidney cor._

    "Here _are_ half-pence in plenty, for one you'll have twenty."
        --_Swift cor._

    "Ah, Jockey, ill _advisest_ thou. I wis,
    To think of songs at such a time as this."
        --_Churchill cor._


UNDER NOTE I.--THE RELATIVE AND VERB.

"Thou, who _lovest_ us, wilt protect us still."--_A. Murray cor._ "To use
that endearing language, 'Our Father, who _art_ in heaven.'"--_Bates cor._
"Resembling the passions that _produce_ these actions."--_Kames cor._
"Except _dwarf, grief, hoof, muff_, &c., which _take s_ to make the
plural."--_Ash cor._ "As the cattle that _go_ before me, and the children,
be able to endure."--_Gen. cor._ "Where is the man who _dares_ affirm that
such an action is mad?"--_Dr. Pratt cor._ "The ninth book of Livy affords
one of the most beautiful exemplifications of historical painting, that
_are_ anywhere to be met with."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "In some studies, too,
that relate to taste and fine writing, which _are_ our object," &c.--_Id._
"Of those affecting situations which _make_ man's heart feel for
man."--_Id._ "We see very plainly, that it is neither Osmyn nor Jane Shore
that _speaks_."--_Id._ "It should assume that briskness and ease which
_are_ suited to the freedom of dialogue."--_Id._ "Yet they grant, that none
ought to be admitted into the ministry, but such as _are_ truly
pious."--_Barclay cor._ "This letter is one of the best that _have_ been
written about Lord Byron."--_Hunt cor._ "Thus, besides what _were_ sunk,
the Athenians took above two hundred ships."--_Goldsmith cor._ "To have
made and declared such orders as _were_ necessary."--_Hutchinson cor._ "The
idea of such a collection of men as _makes_ an army."--_Locke cor._ "I'm
not the first that _has_ been wretched."--_Southern cor._ "And the faint
sparks of it which _are_ in the angels, are concealed from our
view."--_Calvin cor._ "The subjects are of such a nature, as _allows_ room
(or, as to _allow_ room) for much diversity of taste and sentiment."--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "It is in order to propose examples of such perfection, as _is_
not to be found in the real examples of society."--_Formey cor._ "I do not
believe that he would amuse himself with such fooleries as _have_ been
attributed to him."--_Id._ "That shepherd, who first _taught_ the chosen
seed."--_Milton, P. L._, B. i, l. 8. "With respect to the vehemence and
warmth which _are_ allowed in popular eloquence."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"Ambition is one of those passions that _are_ never to be
satisfied."--_Home cor._ "Thou wast he that _led_ out and _brought_ in
Israel."--_Bible cor._ "Art thou the man of God, that _came_ from
Judah?"--_Id._

   "How beauty is excell'd by manly grace
    And wisdom, which alone _are_ truly fair."--_Milton cor._

    "What art thou, speak, that on designs unknown,
    While others sleep, thus _roamst_ the camp alone?"--_Pope cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--NOMINATIVE WITH ADJUNCTS.

"The literal sense of the words _is_, that the action had been done."--_Dr.
Murray cor._ "The rapidity of his movements _was_ beyond example."--_Wells
cor._ "Murray's Grammar, together with his Exercises and Key, _has_ nearly
superseded every thing else of the kind."--_Murray's Rec. cor._ "The
mechanism of clocks and watches _was_ totally unknown."--_Hume cor._ "The
_it_, together with the verb _to be, expresses a state_ of
being."--_Cobbett cor._ "Hence it is, that the profuse variety of objects
in some natural landscapes, _occasions neither_ confusion nor
fatigue."--_Kames cor._ "Such a clatter of sounds _indicates_ rage and
ferocity."--_Gardiner cor._ "One of the fields _makes_ threescore square
yards, and the other, only fifty-five."--_Duncan cor._ "The happy effects
of this fable _are_ worth attending to."--_Bailey cor._ "Yet the glorious
serenity of its parting rays, still _lingers_ with us."--_Gould cor._
"Enough of its form and force _is_ retained to render them
uneasy."--_Maturin cor._ "The works of nature, in this respect, _are_
extremely regular."--_Pratt cor._ "No small addition of exotic and foreign
words and phrases, _has_ been made by commerce."--_Bicknell cor._ "The
dialect of some nouns _is noticed_ in the notes."--_Milnes cor._ "It has
been said, that a discovery of the full resources of the arts, _affords_
the means of debasement, or of perversion."--_Rush cor._ "By which means,
the order of the words _is_ disturbed."--_Holmes cor._ "The two-fold
influence of these and the others, _requires_ the _verb_ to be in the
plural form."--_Peirce cor._ "And each of these _affords_
employment."--_Percival cor._ "The pronunciation of the vowels _is_ best
explained under the rules relative to the consonants."--_Coar cor._ "The
judicial power of these courts _extends_ to all cases in law and
equity."--_Hall and Baker cor._ "One of you _has_ stolen my
money."--_Humorist cor._ "Such redundancy of epithets, in stead of
pleasing, _produces_ satiety and disgust."--_Kames cor._ "It has been
alleged, that a compliance with the rules of Rhetoric, _tends_ to cramp the
mind."--_Hiley cor._ "Each of these _is_ presented to us in different
relations."--_Hendrick cor._ "The past tense of these verbs, (_should,
would, might, could_,) _is_ very indefinite with respect to
time."--_Bullions cor._ "The power of the words which are said to govern
this mood, _is_ distinctly understood."--_Chandler cor._

   "And now, at length, the fated term of years
    The world's desire _hath_ brought, and lo! the God appears."
        --_Lowth cor._

    "Variety of numbers still _belongs_
    To the soft melody of _odes_, or _songs_."
        --_Brightland cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--COMPOSITE OR CONVERTED SUBJECTS.

"Many are the works of human industry, which to begin and finish, _is_
hardly granted to the same man."--_Johnson cor._ "To lay down rules for
these, _is_ as inefficacious."--_Pratt cor._ "To profess regard and act
_injuriously, discovers_ a base mind."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "To magnify
to the height of wonder things great, new, and admirable, extremely
_pleases_ the mind of man."--_Fisher cor._ "In this passage, '_according
as_' _is_ used in a manner which is very common."--_Webster cor._ "A CAUSE
DE, _is_ called a preposition; A CAUSE QUE, a conjunction."--_Webster cor._
"To these _it is_ given to speak in the name of the Lord."--_The Friend
cor._ "While _wheat_ has no plural, _oats has_ seldom any
singular."--_Cobbett cor._ "He cannot assert that _ll_ (i.e., _double Ell_)
_is_ inserted in _fullness_ to denote the sound of _u_"--_Cobb cor._ "_Ch_,
in Latin, _has_ the power of _k_."--_Gould cor._ "_Ti_, before a vowel, and
unaccented, _has_ the sound of _si_ or _ci_."--_Id._ "In words derived from
French, as _chagrin, chicanery_, and _chaise, ch is sounded_ like
_sh_."--_Bucke cor._ "But, in the _words schism, schismatic_, &c., the _ch
is_ silent."--_Id._ "_Ph_, at the beginning of words, _is_ always sounded
like _f_."--_Bucke cor._ "_Ph has_ the sound of _f_ as in
_philosophy_."--_Webster cor._ "_Sh has_ one sound only, as in
_shall_."--_Id._ "_Th has_ two sounds."--_Id._ "_Sc_, before _a, o, u, or
r, has_ the sound of _sk_."--_Id._ "_Aw has_ the sound of _a_ in
_hall_."--_Bolles cor._ "_Ew sounds_ like _u_"--_Id._ "_Ow_, when both
_vowels are_ sounded, _has_ the _power_ of _ou in thou_."--_Id._ "_Ui_,
when both _vowels are_ pronounced in one syllable, _sounds_ like _wi short,
as_ in _languid_."--_Id._

   "_Ui_ three _other sounds at least expresses_,
    As _who hears_ GUILE, REBUILD, and BRUISE, _confesses_."
        --_Brightland cor._


UNDER NOTE IV.--EACH, ONE, EITHER, AND NEITHER.

"When each of the letters which compose this word, _has_ been
learned."--_Dr. Weeks cor._ "As neither of us _denies_ that both Homer and
Virgil have great beauties."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Yet neither of them _is_
remarkable for precision."--_Id._ "How far each of the three great epic
poets _has_ distinguished _himself_."--_Id._ "Each of these _produces_ a
separate, agreeable sensation."--_Id._ "On the Lord's day, every one of us
Christians _keeps_ the sabbath."--_Tr. of Iren. cor._ "And each of them
_bears_ the image of purity and holiness."--_Hope of Is. cor._ "_Was_
either of these meetings ever acknowledged or recognized?"--_Foster cor._
"Whilst neither of these letters _exists_ in the Eugubian
inscription."--_Knight cor._ "And neither of them _is_ properly termed
indefinite."--_Dr. Wilson cor._ "As likewise of the several subjects, which
have in effect _their several verbs_:" or,--"_each of which has_ in effect
_its own verb_."--_Lowth cor._ "Sometimes, when the word ends in _s_,
neither of the signs _is_ used."--_A. Mur. cor._ "And as neither of these
manners _offends_ the ear."--_J. Walker cor._ "Neither of these two tenses
_is_ confined to this signification only."--_R. Johnson cor._ "But neither
of these circumstances _is_ intended here."--_Tooke cor._ "So that all are
indebted to each, and each _is_ dependent upon all."--_Bible Rep. cor._
"And yet neither of them _expresses_ any more action in this case, than
_it_ did in the other."--_Bullions cor._ "Each of these expressions
_denotes_ action."--_Hallock cor._ "Neither of these moods _seems_ to be
defined by distinct boundaries."--_Butler cor._ "Neither of these solutions
_is_ correct."--_Bullions cor._ "Neither _bears_ any sign of case at
all."--_Fowler cor._

   "Each in _his_ turn, like Banquo's monarchs, _stalks._" Or:--
    "_All_ in _their_ turn, like Banquo's monarchs, _stalk_."--_Byron cor._

    "And tell what each _doth_ by _the_ other lose."--_Shak. cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--VERB BETWEEN TWO NOMINATIVES.

"The quarrels of lovers _are but_ a renewal of love."--_Adam et al. cor._
"Two dots, one placed above the other, _are_ called _a Sheva."--Wilson
cor._ "A few centuries more or less _are_ a matter of small
consequence."--_Id._ "Pictures were the first step towards the art of
writing; _hieroglyphics were_ the second step."--_Parker cor._ "The
comeliness of youth _is_ modesty and frankness; of age, condescension and
dignity." Or, much better: "The _great ornaments_ of youth are,"
&c.--_Murray cor._ "Merit and good works _are_ the end of man's
motion."--_Bacon cor._ "Divers philosophers hold, that the lips _are_
parcel of the mind."--_Shak. cor._ "The clothing of the natives _was_ the
skins of wild beasts." Or thus: "The _clothes_ of the natives _were_ skins
of wild beasts."--_Hist. cor._ "Prepossessions in _favour_ of our _native_
town, _are_ not a matter of surprise."--_Webster cor._ "Two shillings and
sixpence _are_ half a crown, but not a half crown."--_Priestley and
Bicknell cor._ "Two vowels, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice,
and uniting in one sound, _are_ called a _diphthong_."--_Cooper cor._ "Two
or more sentences united together _are_ called a Compound Sentence."--_Day
cor._ "Two or more words rightly put together, but not completing an entire
proposition, _are_ called a Phrase."--_Id._ "But the common number of times
_is_ five." Or, to state the matter truly: "But the common number of
_tenses is six_."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "Technical terms, injudiciously
introduced, _are an other_ source of darkness in composition."--_Jamieson
cor._ "The United States _are_ the great middle division of North
America."--_Morse cor._ "A great cause of the low state of industry, _was_
the restraints put upon it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 199; _Churchill's_,
414. "Here two tall ships _become_ the victor's prey."--_Rowe cor._ "The
expenses incident to an outfit _are_ surely no object."--_The Friend cor._

   "Perhaps their loves, or else their sheep,
    _Were_ all that did their silly thoughts so busy keep."--_Milt. cor._


UNDER NOTE VI.--CHANGE OF THE NOMINATIVE.

"Much _care_ has been taken, to explain all the kinds of words."--_Inf. S.
Gr. cor._ "Not _fewer_ [years] than three years, are spent in attaining
this faculty." Or, perhaps better: "Not less than three _years' time, is_
spent in attaining this faculty." Or thus: "Not less _time_ than three
years, _is_ spent," &c.--_Gardiner cor._ "Where this night are met in state
Many _friends_ to gratulate His wish'd presence."--_Milton cor._ "Peace! my
darling, here's no danger, Here's no _ox anear_ thy bed."--_Watts cor._
"But _all_ of these are mere conjectures, and some of them very unhappy
ones."--_Coleridge cor._ "The old theorists' _practice_ of calling the
Interrogatives and Repliers ADVERBS, is only a part of their regular system
of naming words."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "Where _several sentences_ occur,
place them in the order _of the facts_."--_Id._ "And that _all the events_
in conjunction make a regular chain of causes and effects."--_Kames cor.
"In regard to their_ origin, the Grecian and Roman republics, though
equally involved in the obscurities and uncertainties of fabulous events,
present one remarkable distinction."--_Adams cor._ "In these respects,
_man_ is left by nature an unformed, unfinished creature."--_Bp. Butler
cor._ "The _Scriptures_ are the oracles of God himself."--_Hooker cor._
"And at our gates are all _kinds_ of pleasant fruits."--_S. Song cor._ "The
_preterits_ of _pluck, look_, and _toss_, are, in speech, pronounced
_pluckt, lookt, tosst_."--_Fowler corrected_.

   "Severe the doom that days _prolonged impose_,
    To stand sad witness of unnumbered woes!"--_Melmoth cor._


UNDER NOTE VII.--FORMS ADAPTED TO DIFFERENT STYLES.

_1. Forms adapted to the Common or Familiar Style._ "Was it thou[538] that
_built_ that house?"--_Brown's Institutes_, Key, p. 270. "That boy _writes_
very elegantly."--_Ib. "Could_ not thou write without blotting thy
book?"--_Ib. "Dost_ not thou think--or, _Don't_ thou think, it will rain
to-day?"--_Ib. "Does_ not--or, _Don't_ your cousin intend to visit
you?"--_Ib._ "That boy _has_ torn my book."--_Ib._ "Was it thou that
_spread_ the hay?"--_Ib._ "Was it James, or thou, that _let_ him
in?"--_Ib._ "He _dares_ not say a word."--_Ib._ "Thou _stood_ in my way and
_hindered_ me."--_Ib._

"Whom _do_ I _see_?--Whom _dost_ thou _see_ now?--Whom _does_ he
_see_?--Whom _dost_ thou _love_ most?--What _art_ thou _doing_
to-day?--What person _dost_ thou _see_ teaching that boy?--He _has_ two new
knives.--Which road _dost_ thou _take_?--What child is he
_teaching_?"--_Ingersoll cor._ "Thou, who _mak'st_ my shoes, _sellst_ many
more." Or thus: "_You_, who _make_ my shoes, _sell_ many more."--_Id._

"The English language _has_ been much cultivated during the last two
hundred years. It _has_ been considerably polished and refined."--_Lowth
cor._ "This _style_ is ostentatious, and _does_ not suit grave
writing."--_Priestley cor._ "But custom _has_ now appropriated _who_ to
persons, and _which_ to things" [and brute animals].--_Id._ "The indicative
mood _shows_ or _declares something_; as, _Ego amo_, I love; or else _asks_
a question; as, _Amas tu_? Dost thou love?"--_Paul's Ac. cor._ "Though thou
_cannot_ do much for the cause, thou _may_ and _should_ do
something."--_Murray cor._ "The support of so many of his relations, was a
heavy tax: but thou _knowst_ (or, _you know_) he paid it
cheerfully."--_Id._ "It may, and often _does_, come short of
it."--_Murray^s Gram._, p. 359.

   "'Twas thou, who, while thou _seem'd_ to chide,
    To give me all thy pittance _tried_."--_Mitford cor._

2. _Forms adapted to the Solemn or Biblical Style_. "The Lord _hath
prepared_ his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom _ruleth_ over
all."--_Psalms_, ciii, 19. "Thou _answeredst_ them, O Lord our God; thou
_wast_ a God that forgave[539] them, though thou _tookest_ vengeance of
their inventions."--See _Psalms_, xcix, 8. "Then thou _spakest_ in vision
to thy Holy One, and _saidst_, I have laid help upon one that is
mighty."--_Ib._, lxxxix, 19. "'So then, it is not of him that _willeth_,
nor of him that _runneth_, but of God that _showeth_ mercy;' who
_dispenseth_ his blessings, whether temporal or spiritual, as _seemeth_
good in his sight."--_Christian Experience of St. Paul_, p. 344; see
_Rom._, ix, 16.

   "Thou, the mean while, _wast_ blending with my thought;
    Yea, with my life, and life's own secret joy."--_Coleridge cor._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--EXPRESS THE NOMINATIVE.

"Who is here so base, that _he_ would be a bondman?"--_Shak. cor._ "Who is
here so rude, _he_ would not be a _Roman_?"--_Id._ "There is not a sparrow
_which_ falls to the ground without his notice." Or better: "_Not a
sparrow_ falls to the ground, without his notice."--_Murray cor._ "In order
to adjust them _in such a manner_ as shall consist equally with the
perspicuity and the strength of the period."--_Id. and Blair cor._ "But
sometimes there is a verb _which_ comes in." Better: "But sometimes there
is a verb _introduced_."--_Cobbett cor._ "Mr. Prince has a genius _which_
would prompt him to better things."--_Spect. cor._ "It is this _that_
removes that impenetrable mist."--_Harris cor._ "By the praise _which_ is
given him for his courage."--_Locke cor._ "There is no man _who_ would be
more welcome here."--_Steele cor._ "Between an antecedent and a consequent,
or what goes before, and _what_ immediately follows."--_Blair cor._ "And as
connected with what goes before and _what_ follows."--_Id._ "No man doth a
wrong for the wrong's sake."--_Bacon cor._ "All the various miseries of
life, which people bring upon themselves by negligence _or_ folly, and
_which_ might have been avoided by proper care, are instances of
this."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Ancient philosophers have taught many things in
_favour_ of morality, so far at least as _it respects_ justice and goodness
towards our fellow-creatures."--_Fuller cor._ "Indeed, if there be any
such, _who_ have been, or _who_ appear to be of us, as suppose there is not
a wise man among us all, nor an honest man, that is able to judge betwixt
his brethren; we shall not covet to meddle in their _matters_."--_Barclay
cor._ "There were _some_ that drew back; there were _some_ that made
shipwreck of faith; yea, there were _some_ that brought in damnable
heresies."--_Id._ "The nature of the cause rendered this plan altogether
proper; and, _under_ similar _circumstances, the orator's method_ is fit to
be imitated."--_Blair cor._ "This is an idiom to which our language is
strongly inclined, and _which_ was formerly very prevalent."--_Churchill
cor._ "His roots are wrapped about the heap, and _he_ seeth the place of
stones."--_Bible cor._

"New York, Fifthmonth 3d, 1823.

Dear friend,

_I_ am sorry to hear of thy loss; but _I_ hope it may be retrieved. I
should be happy to render thee any assistance in my power. _I_ shall call
to see thee to-morrow morning. Accept assurances of my regard. A. B."

"New York, May 3d, P. M., 1823.

Dear sir,

_I_ have just received the kind note _you_ favoured me with this morning;
and _I_ cannot forbear to express my gratitude to you. On further
information, _I_ find _I_ have not lost so much as _I_ at first supposed;
and _I_ believe _I_ shall still be able to meet all my engagements. _I_
should, however, be happy to see you. Accept, dear sir, my most cordial
thanks. C. D."

See _Brown's Institutes_, p. 271.

   "Will martial flames forever fire thy mind,
    And _wilt thou_ never be to Heaven resign'd?"--_Pope cor._


UNDER NOTE IX.--APPLICATION OF MOODS.

_First Clause of the Note.--The Subjunctive Present_.

"He will not be pardoned unless he _repent_."--_Inst._, p. 191. "If thou
_find_ any kernelwort in this marshy meadow, bring it to me."--_Neef cor._
"If thou _leave_ the room, do not forget to shut that drawer."--_Id._ "If
thou _grasp_ it stoutly, thou wilt not be hurt:" or, (familiarly,)--"thou
_will_ not be hurt."--_Id._ "On condition that he _come_, I will consent to
stay."--_Murray's Key_, p. 208. "If he _be_ but discreet, he will
succeed."--_Inst._, p. 280. "Take heed that thou _speak_ not to
Jacob."--_Gen._, xxxi, 24. "If thou _cast_ me off, I shall be
miserable."--_Inst._, p. 280. "Send them to me, if thou _please_."--_Ib._
"Watch the door of thy lips, lest thou _utter_ folly."--_Ib._ "Though a
liar _speak_ the truth, he will hardly be believed."--_Bartlett cor._ "I
will go, unless I _be_ ill."--_L. Murray cor._ "If the word or words
understood _be_ supplied, the true construction will be apparent."--_Id._
"Unless thou _see_ the propriety of the measure, we shall not desire thy
support."--_Id._ "Unless thou _make_ a timely retreat, the danger will be
unavoidable."--_Id._ "We may live happily, though our possessions _be_
small."--_Id._ "If they _be_ carefully studied, they will enable the
student to parse all the exercises."--_Id._ "If the accent _be_ fairly
preserved on the proper syllable, this drawling sound will never be
heard."--_Id._ "One phrase may, in point of sense, be equivalent to an
other, though its grammatical nature _be_ essentially different."--_Id._
"If any man _obey_ not our word by this epistle, note that man."--_2
Thess._, iii, 14. "Thy skill will be the greater, if thou _hit_
it."--_Putnam, Cobb, or Knowles, cor._ "We shall overtake him, though he
_run_."--_Priestley et al. cor._ "We shall be disgusted, if he _give_ us
too much."--_Blair cor._

   "What is't to thee, if he _neglect_ thy urn,
    Or without spices _let_ thy body burn?"--_Dryden cor._

_Second Clause of Note IX.--The Subjunctive Imperfect_.[540]

"And so would I, if I _were_ he."--_Inst._, p. 191. "If I _were_ a Greek, I
should resist Turkish despotism."--_Cardell cor._ "If he _were_ to go, he
would attend to your business."--_Id._ "If thou _felt_ as I do, we should
soon decide."--_Inst._, p. 280. "Though thou _shed_ thy blood in the cause,
it would but prove thee sincerely a fool."--_Ib._ "If thou _loved_ him,
there would be more evidence of it."--_Ib._ "If thou _convinced_ him, he
would not act accordingly."--_Murray cor._ "If there _were_ no liberty,
there would be no real crime."--_Formey cor._ "If the house _were_ burnt
down, the case would be the same."--_Foster cor._ "As if the mind _were_
not always in action, when it prefers any thing."--_West cor._ "Suppose I
_were_ to say, 'Light is a body.'"--_Harris cor._ "If either oxygen or
azote _were_ omitted, life would be destroyed."--_Gurney cor._ "The verb
_dare is_ sometimes used as if it _were_ an auxiliary."--_Priestley cor._
"A certain lady, whom I could name, if it _were_ necessary."--_Spect. cor._
"If the _e were_ dropped, _c_ and _g_ would assume their hard
sounds."--_Buchanan cor._ "He would no more comprehend it, than if it
_were_ the speech of a Hottentot."--_Neef cor._ "If thou _knew_ the gift of
God," &c.--_Bible cor._ "I wish I _were_ at home."--_O. B. Peirce cor._
"Fact alone does not constitute right: if it _did_, general warrants were
lawful."--_Junius cor._ "Thou _lookst_ upon thy boy, as though thou
_guessed_ it."--_Putnam, Cobb, or Knowles, cor._ "He fought as if he
_contended_ for life."--_Hiley cor._ "He fought as if he _were contending_
for his life."--_Id._

   "The dewdrop glistens on thy leaf,
    As if thou _shed for me_ a tear;
    As if thou _knew_ my tale of grief,
    _Felt_ all my sufferings severe."--_Letham cor._

_Last Clause of Note IX.--The Indicative Mood_.

"If he _knows_ the way, he does not need a guide."--_Inst._, p. 191. "And
if there _is_ no difference, one of them must be superfluous, and ought to
be rejected."--_Murray cor._ "I cannot say that I admire this construction
though it _is_ much used."--_Priestley cor._ "We are disappointed, if the
verb _does_ not immediately follow it."--_Id._ "If it _was_ they, _that_
acted so ungratefully, they are doubly in fault."--_Murray cor._ "If art
_becomes_ apparent, it disgusts the reader."--_Jamieson cor._ "Though
perspicuity _is_ more properly a rhetorical than a grammatical quality, I
thought it better to include it in this book."--_Campbell cor._ "Although
the efficient cause _is_ obscure, the final cause of those sensations lies
open."--_Blair cor._ "Although the barrenness of language, or the want of
words, _is_ doubtless one cause of the invention of tropes."--_Id._ "Though
it _enforces_ not its instructions, yet it furnishes a greater
variety."--_Id._ "In other cases, though the idea _is_ one, the words
remain quite separate."--_Priestley cor._ "Though the form of our language
_is_ more simple, and has that peculiar beauty."--_Buchanan cor._ "Human
works are of no significancy till they _are_ completed."--_Kames cor._ "Our
disgust lessens gradually till it _vanishes_ altogether."--_Id._ "And our
relish improves by use, till it _arrives_ at perfection."--_Id._ "So long
as he _keeps_ himself in his own proper element."--_Coke cor._ "Whether
this translation _was_ ever published or not, I am wholly ignorant."--_Sale
cor._ "It is false to affirm, 'As it is day, it is light,' unless it
actually _is_ day."--_Harris cor._ "But we may at midnight affirm, 'If it
_is_ day, it is light.'"--_Id._ "If the Bible _is_ true, it is a volume of
unspeakable interest."--_Dickinson cor._ "Though he _was_ a son, yet
learned he obedience by the things which he suffered."--_Bible cor._ "If
David then _calleth_ (or _calls_) him Lord, how is he his son?"--_Id._

   "'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill
    _Appears_ in writing, or in judging, ill."--_Pope cor._


UNDER NOTE X.--FALSE SUBJUNCTIVES.

"If a man _has built_ a house, the house is his."--_Wayland cor._ "If God
_has required_ them of him, as is the fact, he has time."--_Id._ "Unless a
previous understanding to the contrary _has been had_ with the
principal."--_Berrian cor._ "O! if thou _hast hid_ them in some flowery
cave."--_Milton cor._ "O! if Jove's will _has linked_ that amorous power to
thy soft lay."--_Id._ "SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD: If thou love, If thou
loved."--_Dr. Priestley, Dr. Murray, John Burn, David Blair, Harrison, and
others_. "Till Religion, the pilot of the soul, _hath_ lent thee her
unfathomable coil."--_Tupper cor._ "Whether nature or art _contributes_
most to form an orator, is a trifling inquiry."--_Blair cor._ "Year after
year steals something from us, till the decaying fabric _totters_ of
itself, and _at length crumbles_ into dust."--_Murray cor._ "If spiritual
pride _has_ not entirely vanquished humility."--_West cor._ "Whether he
_has_ gored a son, or _has_ gored a daughter."--_Bible cor._ "It is
doubtful whether the object introduced by way of simile, _relates_ to what
goes before or to what follows."--_Kames cor._

   "And bridle in thy headlong wave,
    Till thou our summons answer'd _hast_." Or:--
    "And bridle in thy headlong wave,
    Till thou _hast granted what we crave_."--_Milt. cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XV AND ITS NOTE.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE IDEA OF PLURALITY.

"The gentry _are_ punctilious in their etiquette."--_G. B_. "In France, the
peasantry _go_ barefoot, and the middle sort _make_ use of wooden
shoes."--_Harvey cor._ "The people _rejoice_ in that which should cause
sorrow."--_Murray varied_. "My people _are_ foolish, they have not known
me."--_Bible and Lowth cor._ "For the people _speak_, but _do_ not
write."--_Phil. Mu. cor._ "So that all the people that _were_ in the camp,
trembled."--_Bible cor._ "No company _like_ to confess that they are
ignorant."--_Todd cor._ "Far the greater part of their captives _were_
anciently sacrificed."--_Robertson cor._ "_More than_ one half of them
_were_ cut off before the return of spring."--_Id._ "The other class,
termed Figures of Thought, _suppose_ the words to be used in their proper
and literal meaning."--_Blair and Mur. cor._ "A multitude of words in their
dialect _approach_ to the Teutonic form, and therefore afford excellent
assistance."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "A great majority of our authors _are_
defective in manner."--_J. Brown cor._ "The greater part of these
new-coined words _have_ been rejected."--_Tooke cor._ "The greater part of
the words it contains, _are_ subject to certain modifications _or_
inflections."--_The Friend cor._ "While all our youth _prefer_ her to the
rest."--_Waller cor._ "Mankind _are_ appointed to live in a future
state."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "The greater part of human kind _speak_ and
_act_ wholly by imitation."--_Rambler_, No. 146. "The greatest part of
human gratifications _approach_ so nearly to vice."--_Id._, No. 160.

   "While still the busy world _are_ treading o'er
    The paths they trod five thousand years before."--_Young cor._


UNDER THE NOTE.--THE IDEA OF UNITY.

"In old English, this species of words _was_ numerous."--_Dr. Murray cor._
"And a series of exercises in false grammar _is_ introduced towards the
end."--_Frost cor._ "And a jury, in conformity with the same idea, _was_
anciently called _homagium_, the homage, or manhood."--_Webster cor._ "With
respect to the former, there _is_ indeed _a_ plenty of means."--_Kames
cor._ "The number of school districts _has_ increased since the last
year."--_Throop cor._ "The Yearly Meeting _has_ purchased with its funds
these publications."--_Foster cor._ "_Has_ the legislature power to
prohibit assemblies?"--_Sullivan cor._ "So that the whole number of the
streets _was_ fifty."--_Rollin cor._ "The number of inhabitants _was_ not
more than four millions."--_Smollett cor._ "The house of Commons _was_ of
small weight."--_Hume cor._ "The assembly of the wicked _hath_ (or _has_)
inclosed me."--_Psal. cor._ "Every kind of convenience and comfort _is_
provided."--_C. S. Journal cor._ "Amidst the great decrease of the
inhabitants in Spain, the body of the clergy _has_ suffered no diminution;
but _it_ has rather been gradually increasing."--_Payne cor._ "Small as the
number of inhabitants _is_, yet their poverty is extreme."--_Id._ "The
number of the names _was_ about one hundred and twenty."--_Ware and Acts
cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XVI AND ITS NOTES.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF--THE VERB AFTER JOINT NOMINATIVES.

"So much ability and [so much] merit _are_ seldom found."--_Mur. et al.
cor._ "The _etymology and syntax_ of the language _are_ thus spread before
the learner."--_Bullions cor._ "Dr. Johnson tells us, that, in English
poetry, the accent and the quantity of syllables _are_ the same
thing."--_Adams cor._ "Their general scope and tendency, having never been
clearly apprehended, _are_ not remembered at all."--_L. Murray cor._ "The
soil and sovereignty _were_ not purchased of the natives."--_Knapp cor._
"The boldness, freedom, and variety, of our blank verse, _are_ infinitely
more favourable to _sublimity of style_, than [are the constraint and
uniformity of] rhyme."--_Blair cor._ "The vivacity and sensibility of the
Greeks _seem_ to have been much greater than ours."--_Id._ "For sometimes
the mood and tense _are_ signified by the verb, sometimes they are
signified of the verb by something else."--_R. Johnson cor._ "The verb and
the noun making a complete sense, _whereas_ the participle and the noun
_do_ not."--_Id._ "The growth and decay of passions and emotions, traced
through all their mazes, _are_ a subject too extensive for an undertaking
like the present."--_Kames cor._ "The true meaning and etymology of some of
his words _were_ lost."--_Knight cor._ "When the force and direction of
personal satire _are_ no longer understood."--_Junius cor._ "The frame and
condition of man _admit_ of no other principle."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "Some
considerable time and care _were_ necessary."--_Id._ "In consequence of
this idea, much ridicule and censure _have_ been thrown upon
Milton."--_Blair cor._ "With rational beings, nature and reason _are_ the
same thing."--_Collier cor._ "And the flax and the barley _were_
smitten."--_Bible cor._ "The colon and semicolon _divide_ a period; this
with, and that without, a connective."--_Ware cor._ "Consequently, wherever
space and time _are_ found, there God must also be."--_Newton cor._ "As the
past tense and perfect participle of LOVE _end_ in ED, it is
regular."--_Chandler cor._ "But the usual arrangement and nomenclature
_prevent_ this from being readily seen."--_N. Butler cor._ "_Do_ and _did_
simply _imply_ opposition or emphasis."--_A. Murray cor._ "_I_ and _an
other_ make the plural WE; _thou_ and _an other are equivalent to_ YE; _he,
she_, or _it_, and _an other_, make THEY."--_Id._ "_I_ and _an other_ or
_others are_ the same as WE, the first person plural; _thou_ and _an other_
or _others are_ the same as YE, the second person plural; _he, she_, or
_it_, and _an other_ or _others, are_ the same as THEY, the third person
plural."--_Buchanan and Brit. Gram. cor._ "God and thou _are_ two, and thou
and thy neighbour are two."--_Love Conquest cor._ "Just as AN and A _have_
arisen out of the numeral ONE."--_Fowler cor._ "The tone and style of _all_
of them, particularly _of_ the first and the last, _are_ very
different."--_Blair cor._ "Even as the roebuck and the hart _are_
eaten."--_Bible cor._ "Then I may conclude that two and three _do not make_
five."--_Barclay cor._ "Which, at sundry times, thou and thy brethren
_have_ received from us."--_Id._ "Two and two _are_ four, and one is five:"
i, e., "and _one, added to four, is five_."--_Pope cor._ "Humility and
knowledge with poor apparel, _excel_ pride and ignorance under costly
array."--See _Murray's Key_, Rule 2d. "A page and a half _have_ been added
to the section on composition."--_Bullions cor._ "Accuracy and expertness
in this exercise _are_ an important acquisition."--_Id._

   "Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
    Hill and dale _proclaim_ thy blessing." Or thus:--
    "Hill and _valley_ boast thy blessing."--_Milton cor._


UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--THE VERB BEFORE JOINT NOMINATIVES.

"There _are_ a good and a bad, a right and a wrong, in taste, as in other
things."--_Blair cor._ "Whence _have_ arisen much stiffness and
affectation."--_Id._ "To this error, _are_ owing, in a great measure, that
intricacy and [that] harshness, in his figurative language, which I before
_noticed_."--_Blair and Jamieson cor._ "Hence, in his Night Thoughts, there
_prevail_ an obscurity and _a_ hardness _of_ style."--_Blair cor._ See
_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 167. "There _are_, however, in that work, much good
sense and excellent criticism."--_Blair cor._ "There _are_ too much low wit
and scurrility in Plautus." Or: "There _is, in Plautus_, too much _of_ low
wit and scurrility."--_Id._ "There _are_ too much reasoning and refinement,
too much pomp and studied beauty, in them." Or: "There _is_ too much _of_
reasoning and refinement, too much _of_ pomp and studied beauty, in
them."--_Id._ "Hence _arise_ the structure and characteristic expression of
exclamation."--_Rush cor._ "And such pilots _are_ he and his brethren,
according to their own confession."--_Barclay cor._ "Of whom _are_ Hymeneus
and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred."--_Bible cor._ "Of whom
_are_ Hymeneus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan."--_Id._
"And so _were_ James and John, the sons of Zebedee."--_Id._ "Out of the
same mouth, _proceed_ blessing and cursing."--_Id._ "Out of the mouth of
the Most High, _proceed_ not evil and good."--_Id._ "In which there _are_
most plainly a right and a wrong."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "In this sentence,
there _are_ both an actor and an object."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "In the
breastplate, _were_ placed the mysterious Urim and Thummim."--_Milman cor._
"What _are_ the gender, number, and person, _of the pronoun_[541] in the
first _example_?"--_R. C. Smith cor._ "There _seem_ to be a familiarity and
_a_ want of dignity in it."--_Priestley cor._ "It has been often asked,
what _are_ Latin and Greek?"--_Lit. Journal cor._ "For where _do_ beauty
and high wit, But in your constellation, meet?"--_Sam. Butler cor._ "Thence
to the land where _flow_ Ganges and Indus."--_Milton cor._ "On these
foundations, _seem_ to rest the midnight riot and dissipation of modern
assemblies."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "But what _have_ disease, deformity, and
filth, upon which the thoughts can be allured to dwell?"--_Dr. Johnson
cor._ "How _are_ the gender and number of the relative known?"--_Bullions
cor._

   "High rides the sun, thick rolls the dust,
    And feebler _speed_ the blow and thrust."--_Scott cor._


UNDER NOTE I.--CHANGE THE CONNECTIVE.

"In every language, there prevails a certain structure, _or_ analogy of
parts, which is understood to give foundation to the most reputable
usage."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "There runs through his whole manner a stiffness,
_an_ affectation, which renders him [Shaftsbury] very unfit to be
considered a general model."--_Id._ "But where declamation _for_
improvement in speech is the sole aim."--_Id._ "For it is by these,
chiefly, that the train of thought, the course of reasoning, the whole
progress of the mind, in continued discourse of _any kind_, is laid
open."--_Lowth cor._ "In all writing and discourse, the proper composition
_or_ structure of sentences is of the highest importance."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "Here the wishful _and expectant_ look of the beggar naturally leads
to a vivid conception of that which was the object of his
thoughts."--_Campbell cor._ "Who say, that the outward naming of Christ,
_with the sign of_ the cross, puts away devils."--_Barclay cor._ "By which
an oath _with a_ penalty was to be imposed _on_ the members."--_Junius
cor._ "Light, _or_ knowledge, in what manner soever afforded us, is equally
from God."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "For instance, sickness _or_ untimely death
is the consequence of intemperance."--_Id._ "When grief _or_ blood
ill-tempered _vexeth_ him." Or: "When grief, _with_ blood ill-tempered,
_vexes_ him"--_Shak. cor._ "Does continuity, _or_ connexion, create
sympathy and relation in the parts of the body?"--_Collier cor._ "His
greatest concern, _his_ highest enjoyment, was, to be approved in the sight
of his Creator."--_L. Murray cor._ "Know ye not that there is[542] a
prince, a great man, fallen this day in Israel?"--_Bible cor._ "What is
vice, _or_ wickedness? No rarity, you may depend on it."--_Collier cor._
"There is also the fear _or_ apprehension of it."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "The
apostrophe _with s_ (_'s_) is an abbreviation for _is_, the termination of
the old English genitive."--_Bullions cor._ "_Ti, ce_, OR _ci_, when
followed by a vowel, usually has the sound of _sh_; as in _partial, ocean,
special_."--_Weld cor._

   "Bitter constraint _of_ sad occasion dear
    Compels me to disturb your season due."--_Milton cor._

    "_Debauch'ry, or_ excess, though with less noise,
    As great a portion of mankind destroys."--_Waller cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--AFFIRMATION WITH NEGATION.

"Wisdom, and not wealth, _procures_ esteem."--_Inst., Key_, p. 272.
"Prudence, and not pomp, _is_ the basis of his fame."--_Ib._ "Not fear, but
labour _has_ overcome him."--_Ib._ "The decency, and not the abstinence,
_makes_ the difference."--_Ib._ "Not her beauty, but her talents _attract_
attention."--_Ib._ "It is her talents, and not her beauty, _that attract_
attention."--_Ib._ "It is her beauty, and not her talents, _that attracts_
attention."--_Ib._

   "His belly, not his brains, this impulse _gives_:
    He'll grow immortal; for he cannot live." Or thus:--
    "His _bowels_, not his brains, this impulse give:
    He'll grow immortal; for he cannot live."--_Young cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--AS WELL AS, BUT, OR SAVE.

"Common sense, as well as piety, _tells_ us these are proper."--_Fam. Com.
cor._ "For without it the critic, as well as the undertaker, ignorant of
any rule, _has_ nothing left but to abandon _himself_ to chance."--_Kames
cor._ "And accordingly hatred, as well as love, _is_ extinguished by long
absence'."--_Id._ "But at every turn the richest melody, as well as the
sublimest sentiments, _is_ conspicuous."--_Id._ "But it, as well as the
lines immediately subsequent, _defies_ all translation."--_Coleridge cor._
"But their religion, as well as their customs and manners, _was_ strangely
misrepresented."--_Bolingbroke, on History_, Paris Edition of 1808, p. 93.
"But his jealous policy, as well as the fatal antipathy of Fonseca, _was_
conspicuous."--_Robertson cor._ "When their extent, as well as their value,
_was_ unknown."--_Id._ "The etymology, as well as the syntax, of the more
difficult parts of speech, _is_ reserved for his attention at a later
period."--_Parker and Fox cor._ "What I myself owe to him, no one but
myself _knows_."--_Wright cor._ "None, but thou, O mighty prince! _can_
avert the blow."--_Inst., Key_, p. 272. "Nothing, but frivolous amusements,
_pleases_ the indolent."--_Ib._

   "Nought, save the gurglings of the rill, _was_ heard."--_G. B._

    "All songsters, save the hooting owl, _were_ mute."--_G. B._


UNDER NOTE IV.--EACH, EVERY, OR NO.

"Give every word, and every member, _its_ due weight and force."--_Murray's
Gram._, Vol. i, p. 316. "And to one of these _belongs_ every noun, and
every third person of every verb."--_Dr. Wilson cor._ "No law, no
restraint, no regulation, _is_ required to keep him _within_
bounds."--_Lit. Journal cor._ "By that time, every window and every door in
the street _was_ full of heads."--_Observer cor._ "Every system of
religion, and every school of philosophy, _stands_ back from this field,
and _leaves_ Jesus Christ alone, the solitary example." Or: "_All systems_
of religion, and _all schools_ of philosophy, _stand_ back from this
field, and _leave_ Jesus Christ alone, the solitary example."--_Abbott
cor._ "Each day, and each hour, _brings its_ portion of duty."--_Inst.,
Key_, p. 272. "And every one that was in distress, and every one that was
in debt, and every one that was discontented, _resorted_ unto him."--_Bible
cor._ "Every private Christian, _every_ member of the church, ought to read
and peruse the Scriptures, that _he_ may know _his_ faith and belief _to
be_ founded upon them."--_Barclay cor._ "And every mountain and _every_
island was moved out of _its place_."--_Bible cor._

   "No bandit fierce, no tyrant mad with pride,
    No cavern'd hermit _rests_ self-satisfied."--_Pope_.


UNDER NOTE V.--WITH, OR, &c., FOR AND.

"The _sides_, A, B, _and_ C, compose the triangle."--_Tobitt, Felch_, and
_Ware cor._ "The stream, the rock, _and_ the tree, must each of them stand
forth, so as to make a figure in the imagination."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "While
this, with euphony, _constitutes_, finally, the whole."--_O. B. Peirce
cor._ "The bag, with the guineas and dollars in it, _was_
stolen."--_Cobbett cor._ "Sobriety, with great industry and talent,
_enables_ a man to perform great deeds." Or: "Sobriety, industry, and
talent, _enable_ a man to perform great deeds."--_Id._ "The _it_, together
with the verb, _expresses a state_ of being."--_Id._ "Where Leonidas the
Spartan king, _and_ his chosen band, fighting for their country, were cut
off to the last man."--_Kames cor._. "And Leah also, and _her_ children,
came near and bowed themselves."--_Bible cor._ "The First _and_ the Second
will either of them, by _itself_, coalesce with the Third, but _they do_
not _coalesce_ with each other."--_Harris cor._ "The whole must centre in
the query, whether Tragedy _and_ Comedy are hurtful and dangerous
representations."--_Formey cor._ "_Both_ grief _and_ joy are infectious:
the emotions _which_ they raise in the spectator, resemble them
perfectly."--_Kames cor._ "But, in all other words, the _q and u_ are both
sounded."--_Ensell cor._ "_Q and u_ (which are always together) have the
sound of _kw_, as in _queen_; or _of k only_, as in _opaque_." Or, better:
"_Q_ has always the sound of _k_; and the _u_ which follows it, that of
_w_; except in French words, in which the _u_ is silent."--_Goodenow cor._
"In this selection, the _a and i_ form distinct syllables."--_Walker cor._
"And a considerable village, with gardens, fields, &c., _extends_ around on
each side of the square."--_Lib. cor._ "Affection _and_ interest guide our
notions and behaviour in the affairs of life; imagination and passion
affect the sentiments that we entertain in matters of taste."--_Jamieson
cor._ "She heard none of those intimations of her defects, which envy,
petulance, _and_ anger, produce among children."--_Johnson cor._ "The King,
Lords, and Commons, constitute an excellent form of government."--_Crombie
et al. cor._ "If we say, 'I am the man who commands you,' the relative
clause, with the antecedent _man, forms_ the predicate."--_Crombie cor._

   "The spacious firmament on high,
    The blue ethereal _vault_ of sky,
    And spangled heav'ns, a shining frame,
    Their great Original proclaim."--_Addison cor._


UNDER NOTE VI.--ELLIPTICAL CONSTRUCTIONS.

"There _are_ a reputable and a disreputable practice." Or: "There is a
reputable, and _there is_ a disreputable practice."--_Adams cor._ "This
_man_ and this _were_ born in her."--_Milton cor._ "This _man_ and that
_were_ born in her."--_Bible cor._ "This and that man _were_ born
there."--_Hendrick cor._ "Thus _le_ in _l~ego_, and _le_ in _l=egi_, seem
to be sounded equally long."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "A distinct and an
accurate articulation _form_ the groundwork of good delivery." Or: "A
distinct and accurate articulation _forms_ the groundwork of good
delivery."--_Kirkham cor._ "How _are_ vocal and written language
understood?"--_Sanders cor._ "The good, the wise, and the learned man, _are
ornaments_ to human society." Or: "The good, wise, and learned man is an
ornament to human society."--_Bartlett cor._ "_In_ some points, the
expression of song and _that of_ speech _are_ identical."--_Rush cor._ "To
every room, there _were_ an open and _a_ secret passage."--_Johnson cor._
"There _are_ such _things as a true_ and _a_ false taste; and the latter
_as_ often directs fashion, _as_ the former."--_Webster cor._ "There _are_
such _things_ as a prudent and an imprudent institution of life, with
regard to our health and our affairs."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "The lot of the
outcasts of Israel, and _that of_ the dispersed of Judah, however different
in one respect, have in an other corresponded with wonderful
exactness."--_Hope of Israel cor._ "On these final syllables, the radical
and _the_ vanishing movement _are_ performed."--_Rush cor._ "To be young or
old, _and to be_ good, just, or the contrary, are physical or moral
events."--_Spurzheim cor., and Felch._ "The eloquence of George Whitfield
and _that_ of John Wesley _were_ very different _in_ character each from
the other."--_Dr. Sharp cor._ "The affinity of _m_ for the series
_beginning with b_, and _that_ of _n_ for the series _beginning with t_,
give occasion for other euphonic changes."--_Fowler cor._

   "Pylades' soul, and mad Orestes', _were_
    In these, if _right the Greek philosopher_." Or thus:--
    "Pylades' and Orestes' soul _did pass
    To_ these, if we believe Pythagoras." Or, without ellipsis:--
    "Pylades and Orestes' _souls_ did pass
    To these, if we believe Pythagoras."--_Cowley corrected._


UNDER NOTE VII.--DISTINCT SUBJECT PHRASES.

"To be moderate in our views, and to proceed temperately in the pursuit of
them, _are_ the best _ways_ to ensure success."--_L. Murray cor._ "To be of
any species, and to have a right to the name of that species, _are both_
one."--_Locke cor._ "With whom, to will, and to do, _are_ the same."--_Dr.
Jamieson cor._ "To profess, and to possess, _are_ very different
things."--_Inst., Key_, p. 272. "To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with God, _are_ duties of universal obligation."--_Ib._ "To be round
or square, to be solid or fluid, to be large or small, and to be moved
swiftly or slowly, _are_ all equally alien from the nature of
thought."--_Dr. Johnson._ "The resolving of a sentence into its elements,
or parts of speech, and [_a_] stating [_of_] the accidents which belong to
these, _are_ called PARSING." Or, according to Note 1st above: "The
resolving of a sentence into its elements, or parts of speech, _with_ [a]
stating [of] the accidents which belong to these, _is_ called
PARSING."--_Bullions cor._ "To spin and to weave, to knit and to sew,
_were_ once a girl's _employments_; but now, to dress, and _to_ catch a
beau, _are_ all she calls _enjoyments_."--_Kimball cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XVII AND ITS NOTES.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--NOMINATIVES CONNECTED BY OR.

"We do not know in what either reason or instinct _consists_."--_Johnson
corrected._ "A noun or a pronoun joined with a participle, _constitutes_ a
nominative case absolute."--_Bicknell cor._ "The relative will be of that
case which the verb or noun following, or the preposition going before,
_uses_ to govern:" or,--"usually _governs_."--_Adam, Gould, et al., cor._
"In the different modes of pronunciation, which habit or caprice _gives_
rise to."--_Knight cor._ "By which he, or his deputy, _was_ authorized to
cut down any trees in Whittlebury forest."--_Junius cor._ "Wherever objects
were named, in which sound, noise, or motion, _was_ concerned, the
imitation by words was abundantly obvious."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The pleasure
or pain resulting from a train of perceptions in different circumstances,
_is_ a beautiful contrivance of nature for valuable purposes."--_Kames
cor._ "Because their foolish vanity, or their criminal ambition,
_represents_ the principles by which they are influenced, as absolutely
perfect."--_D. Boileau cor._ "Hence naturally _arises_ indifference or
aversion between the parties."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "A penitent unbeliever, or
an impenitent believer, _is a character nowhere_ to be found."--_Tract
cor._ "Copying whatever is peculiar in the talk of all those whose birth or
fortune _entitles_ them to imitation."--_Johnson cor._ "Where love, hatred,
fear, or contempt, _is_ often of decisive influence."--_Duncan cor._ "A
lucky anecdote, or an enlivening tale, _relieves_ the folio
page."--_D'Israeli cor._ "For outward matter or event _fashions_ not the
character within." Or: (according to the antique style of this modern book
of proverbs:)--"_fashioneth_ not the character within."--_Tupper cor._ "Yet
sometimes we have seen that wine, or chance, _has_ warmed cold
brains."--_Dryden cor._ "Motion is a genus; flight, a species; this flight
or that flight _is an individual_."--_Harris cor._ "When _et, aut, vel,
sive_, or _nec, is repeated before_ different members of the same
sentence."--_Adam, Gould, and Grant, cor._ "Wisdom or folly _governs_
us."--_Fisk cor._ "_A_ or _an is_ styled _the_ indefinite article"--_Folker
cor._ "A rusty nail, or a crooked pin, _shoots_ up into _a
prodigy_."--_Spect. cor._ "_Is_ either the subject or the predicate in the
second sentence modified?"--_Prof. Fowler cor._

   "Praise from a friend, or censure from a foe,
    _Is_ lost on hearers that our merits know."--_Pope cor._


UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--NOMINATIVES CONNECTED BY NOR.

"Neither he nor she _has_ spoken to him."--_Perrin cor._ "For want of a
process of events, neither knowledge nor elegance _preserves_ the reader
from weariness."--_Johnson cor._ "Neither history nor tradition _furnishes_
such information."--_Robertson cor._ "Neither the form nor _the_ power of
the liquids _has_ varied materially."--_Knight cor._ "Where neither noise
nor motion _is_ concerned."--_Blair cor._ "Neither Charles nor his brother
_was_ qualified to support such a system."--_Junius cor._ "When, therefore,
neither the liveliness of representation, nor the warmth of passion
_serves_, as it were, to cover the trespass, it is not safe to leave the
beaten track."--_Campbell cor._ "In many countries called Christian,
neither Christianity, nor its evidence, _is_ fairly laid before men."--_Bp.
Butler cor._ "Neither the intellect nor the heart _is_ capable of being
driven."--_Abbott cor._ "Throughout this hymn, neither Apollo nor Diana
_is_ in any way connected with the Sun or Moon."--_Coleridge cor._ "Of
which, neither he, nor this grammar, _takes_ any notice."--_R. Johnson
cor._ "Neither their solicitude nor their foresight _extends_ so
far."--_Robertson cor._ "Neither Gomara, nor Oviedo, nor Herrera,
_considers_ Ojeda, or his companion Vespucci, as the first _discoverer_ of
the continent of America."--_Id._ "Neither the general situation of our
colonies, nor that particular distress which forced the inhabitants of
Boston to take up arms, _has_ been thought worthy of a moment's
consideration."--_Junius cor._

   "Nor war nor wisdom _yields_ our Jews delight,
    They will not study, and they dare not fight."--_Crabbe cor._

    "Nor time nor chance _breeds_ such confusions yet,
    Nor are the mean so rais'd, nor sunk the great."--_Rowe cor._


UNDER NOTE I.--NOMINATIVES THAT DISAGREE.

"The definite article, _the_, designates what particular thing or things
_are_ meant."--_Merchant cor._ "Sometimes a word, or _several_ words,
necessary to complete the grammatical construction of a sentence, _are_ not
expressed, but _are_ omitted by ellipsis."--_Burr cor._ "Ellipsis, (better,
_Ellipses_,) or abbreviations, _are_ the wheels of language."--_Maunder
cor._ "The conditions or tenor of none of them _appears_ at this day." Or:
"The _tenor or conditions_ of none of them _appear_ at this day."--
_Hutchinson cor._ "Neither men nor money _was_ wanting for the service."
Or: "Neither _money nor men were_ wanting for the service."--_Id._ "Either
our own feelings, or the representation of those of others, _requires_
emphatic distinction _to be frequent_."--_Dr. Barber cor._ "Either Atoms
and Chance, or Nature, _is_ uppermost: now I am for the latter part of the
disjunction."--_Collier cor._ "Their riches or poverty _is_ generally
proportioned to their activity or indolence."--_Cox cor._ "Concerning the
other part of him, neither _he nor you_ seem to have entertained an
idea."--_Horne cor._ "Whose earnings or income _is_ so small."--_Discip.
cor._ "Neither riches nor fame _renders_ a man happy."--_Day cor._ "The
references to the pages always point to the first volume, unless the
Exercises or Key _is_ mentioned." Or, better:--"unless _mention is made of_
the Exercises or Key." Or: "unless the Exercises or Key _be named_."--_L.
Murray cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--COMPLETE THE CONCORD.

"My lord, you wrong my father; _neither is_ he, nor _am_ I, capable of
harbouring a thought against your peace."--_Walpole cor._ "There was no
division of acts; _there were_ no pauses, or _intervals, in the
performance_; but the stage was continually full; occupied either by the
actors, or _by_ the chorus."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Every word ending in _b,
p_, or _f, is_ of this order, as also _are_ many _that end_ in _v_."--_Dr.
Murray cor._ "Proud as we are of human reason, nothing can be more absurd
than _is_ the general system of human life and human knowledge."--
_Bolingbroke cor._ "By which the body of sin and death is done away, and we
_are_ cleansed."--_Barclay_ cor. "And those were already converted, and
regeneration _was_ begun in them."--_Id._ "For I am an old man, and my wife
_is_ well _advanced_ in years."--_Bible cor._ "Who is my mother? or _who
are_ my brethren?"--See _Matt._, xii, 48. "Lebanon is not sufficient to
burn, nor _are_ the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering."--
_Bible cor._ "Information has been obtained, and some trials _have been_
made."--_Martineau cor._ "It is as obvious, and its causes _are_ more
easily understood."--_Webster cor._ "All languages furnish examples of this
kind, and the English _contains_ as many as any other."--_Priestley cor._
"The winters are long, and the cold _is_ intense."--_Morse cor._ "How have
I hated instruction, and _how hath_ my heart despised reproof!"--_Prov.
cor._ "The vestals were abolished by Theodosius the Great, and the fire of
Vesta _was_ extinguished."--_Lempriere cor._ "Riches beget pride; pride
_begets_ impatience."--_Bullions cor._ "Grammar is not reasoning, any more
than organization is thought, or letters _are_ sounds."--_Enclytica cor._
"Words are implements, and grammar _is_ a machine."--_Id._


UNDER NOTE III.--PLACE OF THE FIRST PERSON.

"_Thou or I_ must undertake the business."--_L. Murray cor._ "_He and I_
were there."--_Ash cor._ "And we dreamed a dream in one night, _he and
I_."--_Bible cor._ "If my views remain the same as _his and mine_ were in
1833."--_Goodell cor._ "_My father and I_ were riding out."--_Inst., Key_,
p. 273. "The premiums were given to _George and me_."--_Ib._ "_Jane and I_
are invited."--_Ib._ "They ought to invite _my sister and me_."--_Ib._
"_You and I_ intend to go."--_Guy cor._ "_John and I_ are going to
town."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "_He and I are_ sick."--_James Brown cor._
"_Thou and I_ are well."--_Id._ "_He and I are_."--_Id._ "_Thou and I
are_."--_Id._ "_He, and I write_."--_Id._ "_They and I_ are well."--_Id._
"_She, and thou, and I_, were walking."--_Id._


UNDER NOTE IV.--DISTINCT SUBJECT PHRASES.

"To practise tale-bearing, or even to countenance it, _is_ great
injustice."--_Inst., Key_, p. 273. "To reveal secrets, or to betray one's
friends, _is_ contemptible perfidy."--_Id._ "To write all substantives with
capital letters, or to exclude _capitals_ from adjectives derived from
proper names, may perhaps be thought _an offence_ too small for
animadversion; but the evil of innovation is always something."--_Dr.
Barrow cor._ "To live in such families, or to have such servants, _is a
blessing_ from God."--_Fam. Com. cor._ "How they portioned out the country,
what revolutions they experienced, _or_ what wars they maintained, _is_
utterly unknown." Or: "How they portioned out the country, what revolutions
they experienced, _and_ what wars they maintained, _are things_ utterly
unknown."--_Goldsmith cor._ "To speak or to write perspicuously and
agreeably, _is an attainment_ of the utmost consequence to all who purpose,
either by speech or _by_ writing, to address the public."--_Dr. Blair cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--MAKE THE VERBS AGREE.

"Doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and _go_ into the mountains, and
_seek_ that which is gone astray?"--_Bible cor._ "Did he not fear the Lord,
and _beseech_ the Lord, and _did not_ the Lord _repent_ of the evil which
he had pronounced?"--_Id._ "And dost thou open thine eyes upon such _a_
one, and _bring_ me into judgement with thee?"--_Id._ "If any man among you
_seemeth_ to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his
own heart, this man's religion is vain."--_Id._ "If thou sell aught unto
thy neighbour, or _buy_ aught of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress
one an other."--_Id._ "And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee, _become_
poor, and be sold to thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a
bond-servant."--_Id._ "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there
_remember_ that thy brother hath aught against thee," &c.--_Id._ "Anthea
was content to call a coach, and _so to cross_ the brook." Or:--"and _in
that she crossed_ the brook."--_Johnson cor._ "It is either totally
suppressed, or _manifested only_ in its lowest and most imperfect
form."--_Blair cor._ "But if any man _is_ a worshiper of God, and doeth his
will, him he heareth." Or: "If any man _be_ a worshiper of God, and _do_
his will, him _will_ he _hear_."--_Bible cor._ "Whereby his righteousness
and obedience, death and sufferings without, become profitable unto us, and
_are made_ ours."--_Barclay cor._ "Who ought to have been here before thee,
and _to have objected_, if they had _any thing_ against me."--_Bible cor._

   "Yes! thy proud lords, unpitied land, shall see,
    That man _has_ yet a soul, and _dares_ be free."--_Campbell cor._


UNDER NOTE VI.--USE SEPARATE NOMINATIVES.

"_H_ is only an aspiration, or breathing; and sometimes, at the beginning
of a word, _it_ is not sounded at all."--_Lowth cor._ "Man was made for
society, and _he_ ought to extend his good will to all men."--_Id._ "There
is, and must be, a Supreme Being, of infinite goodness, power, and wisdom,
who created, and _who_ supports them."--_Beattie cor._ "Were you not
affrighted, and _did you not mistake_ a spirit for a body?"--_Bp. Watson
cor._ "The latter noun or pronoun is not governed by the conjunction _than_
or _as_, but _it either_ agrees with the verb, or is governed by the verb
or the preposition, expressed or understood."--_Mur. et al. cor._ "He had
mistaken his true _interest_, and _he_ found himself forsaken."--_Murray
cor._ "The amputation was exceedingly well performed, and _it_ saved the
patient's life."--_Id._ "The intentions of some of these philosophers, nay,
of many, might have been, and probably _they_ were, good."--_Id._ "This may
be true, and yet _it_ will not justify the practice."--_Webster cor._ "From
the practice of those who have had a liberal education, and _who_ are
therefore presumed to be best acquainted with men and things."--_Campbell
cor._ "For those energies and bounties which created, and _which_ preserve,
the universe."--_J. Q. Adams cor._ "I shall make it once for all, and _I_
hope it will be remembered."--_Blair cor._ "This consequence is drawn too
abruptly. _The argument_ needed more explanation." Or: "This consequence is
drawn too abruptly, and _without sufficient_ explanation."--_Id._ "They
must be used with more caution, and _they_ require more
preparation."--_Id._ "The apostrophe denotes the omission of an _i_, which
was formerly inserted, and _which_ made an addition of a syllable to the
word."--_Priestley cor._ "The succession may be rendered more various or
more uniform, but, in one shape or an other, _it_ is unavoidable."--_Kames
cor._ "It excites neither terror nor compassion; nor is _it_ agreeable in
any respect."--_Id._

   "Cheap vulgar arts, whose narrowness affords
    No flight for thoughts,--_they_ poorly stick at words."--_Denham cor._


UNDER NOTE VII.--MIXTURE OF DIFFERENT STYLES.

"Let us read the living page, whose every character _delights_ and
instructs us."--_Maunder cor._ "For if it _is_ in any degree obscure, it
puzzles, and _does_ not please."--_Kames cor._ "When a speaker _addresses_
himself to the understanding, he proposes the instruction of his
hearers."--_Campbell cor._ "As the wine which strengthens and _refreshes_
the heart."--_H. Adams cor._ "This truth he _wraps_ in an allegory, and
feigns that one of the goddesses had taken up her abode with the
other."--_Pope cor._ "God searcheth and _understandeth_ the heart." Or:
"God _searches_ and _understands_ the heart."--_T. à. Kempis cor._ "The
grace of God, that _bringeth_ salvation, hath appeared to all
men."--_Titus_, ii, 11. "Which things also we speak, not in the words which
man's wisdom _teacheth_, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth."--_1 Cor._, ii,
13. "But he _has_ an objection, which he _urges_, and by which he thinks to
overturn all."--_Barclay cor._ "In that it gives them not that comfort and
joy which it _gives to_ them who love it."--_Id._ "Thou here misunderstood
the place and _misapplied_ it." Or: "Thou here _misunderstoodst_ the place
and _misappliedst_ it."--_Id._ Or: (as many of our grammarians will have
it:) "Thou here _misunderstoodest_ the place and _misappliedst_ it."--_Id._
"Like the barren heath in the desert, which knoweth not when good
_cometh_."--See _Jer._, xvii, 6. "It _speaks_ of the time past, _and shows_
that something was then doing, but not quite finished."--_Devis cor._ "It
subsists in spite of them; it _advances_ unobserved."--_Pascal cor._

   "But where is he, the pilgrim of my song?--
    Methinks he _lingers_ late and tarries long."--_Byron cor._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--CONFUSION OF MOODS.

"If a man _have_ a hundred sheep, and one of them _go_ (or _be gone_)
astray," &c.--_Matt._, xviii, 12. Or: "If a man _has_ a hundred sheep, and
one of them _goes_ (or _is gone_) astray," &c. Or: "If a man _hath_ a
hundred sheep, and one of them _goeth_ (or _is gone_) astray,"
&c.--_Kirkham cor._ "As a speaker _advances_ in his discourse, and
_increases_ in energy and earnestness, a higher and a louder tone will
naturally steal upon him."--_Id._ "If one man _esteem one_ day above an
other, and an other _esteem_ every day alike; let every man be fully
persuaded in his own mind."--_Barclay cor._ See _Rom._, xiv, 5. "If there
be but one body of legislators, it _will be_ no better than a tyranny; if
there _be_ only two, there will want a casting voice."--_Addison cor._
"Should you come up this way, and I _be_ still here, you need not be
assured how glad I _should_ be to see you."--_Byron cor._ "If he repent and
_become_ holy, let him enjoy God and heaven."--_Brownson cor._ "If thy
fellow approach thee, naked and destitute, and thou _say_ unto him, 'Depart
in peace, be warmed and filled,' and yet _thou give_ him not those things
_which_ are needful to him, what benevolence is there in thy
conduct?"--_Kirkham cor._

   "Get on your nightgown, lest occasion _call_ us,
    And _show_ us to be watchers."--_Singer's Shakspeare_.

    "But if it _climb_, with your assisting _hand_,
    The Trojan walls, and in the city _stand_."--_Dryden cor._

    ----------------"Though Heaven's King
    _Ride_ on thy wings, and thou with thy compeers,
    Used to the yoke, _draw_ his triumphant wheels."--_Milton cor._


UNDER NOTE IX.--IMPROPER ELLIPSES.

"Indeed we have seriously wondered that Murray should leave some things as
he has _left them_."--_Reporter cor._ "Which they neither have _done_ nor
can do."--_Barclay cor._ "The Lord hath _revealed_, and doth and will
reveal, his will to his people; and hath _raised up_, and doth raise up,
members of his body," &c.--_Id._ "We see, then, that the Lord hath _given_,
and doth give, such."--_Id._ "Towards those that have _declared_, or do
declare, themselves members."--_Id._ "For which we can _give_, and have
given, our sufficient reasons."--_Id._ "When we mention the several
properties of the different words in sentences, as we have _mentioned_
those of _the word William's_ above, what is the exercise called?"--_R. C.
Smith cor._ "It is however to be doubted, whether this Greek idiom ever has
_obtained_, or _ever_ will obtain, extensively, in English."--_Nutting
cor._ "Why did not the Greeks and Romans abound in auxiliary words as much
as we _do_?"--_Murray cor._ "Who delivers his sentiments in earnest, as
they ought to be _delivered_ in order to move and persuade."--_Kirkham
cor._


UNDER NOTE X.--DO, USED AS A SUBSTITUTE.

"And I would avoid it altogether, if it could be _avoided_." Or: "I would
avoid it altogether, if _to avoid_ it _were practicable_."--_Kames cor._
"Such a sentiment from a man expiring of his wounds, is truly heroic; and
_it_ must elevate the mind to the greatest height _to which it can be
raised_ by a single expression."--_Id._ "Successive images, _thus_ making
deeper and deeper impressions, must elevate _the mind_ more than any single
image can."--_Id._ "Besides making a deeper impression than can be _made_
by cool reasoning."--_Id._ "Yet a poet, by the force of genius alone, _may_
rise higher than a public speaker _can_." Or:--"than _can_ a public
speaker."--_Blair cor._ "And the very same reason that has induced several
grammarians to go so far as they have _gone_, should have induced them to
go farther."--_Priestley cor._ "The pupil should commit the first section
_to memory_ perfectly, before he _attempts_ (or _enters upon_) the second
part of grammar."--_Bradley cor._ "The Greek _ch_ was pronounced hard, as
we now _pronounce it_ in _chord_."--_Booth cor._ "They pronounce the
syllables in a different manner from what they _adopt_ (or, in a _manner
different_ from _that which_ they _are accustomed to use_) at other
times."--_L. Murray cor._ "And give him the _cool and formal_ reception
that Simon had _given_."--_Scott cor._ "I do not say, as some have
_said_."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "If he suppose the first, he _may_ the
last."--_Barclay cor._ "Who are now despising Christ in his inward
appearance, as the Jews of old _despised_ him in his outward
[advent]."--_Id._ "That text of Revelations must not be understood as he
_understands_ it."--_Id._ "Till the mode of parsing the noun is so familiar
to him that he can _parse_ it readily."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "Perhaps it is
running the same course _that_ Rome had _run_ before."--_Middleton cor._
"It ought even on this ground to be avoided; _and it_ easily _may be_, by a
different construction."--_Churchill cor._ "These two languages are now
pronounced in England as no other nation in Europe _pronounces
them_."--_Creighton cor._ "Germany ran the same risk that Italy had
_run_."--_Bolingbroke, Murray, et al., cor._


UNDER NOTE XI.--PRETERITS AND PARTICIPLES.

"The beggars themselves will be _broken_ in a trice."--_Swift cor._ "The
hoop is _hoisted_ above his nose."--_Id._ "And _his_ heart was _lifted_ up
in the ways of the Lord."--_2 Chron._, xvii, 6. "Who sin so oft have
mourned, Yet to temptation _run_."--_Burns cor._ "Who would not have let
them _appear_."--_Steele cor._ "He would have had you _seek_ for ease at
the hands of Mr. Legality."--_Bunyan cor._ "From me his madding mind is
_turned: He woos_ the widow's daughter, of the glen."--_Spenser cor._ "The
man has _spoken_, and _he_ still speaks."--_Ash cor._ "For you have but
_mistaken_ me all this while."--_Shak. cor._ "And will you _rend_ our
ancient love asunder?"--_Id._ "Mr. Birney has _pled_ (or _pleaded_) the
inexpediency of passing such resolutions."--_Liberator cor._ "Who have
_worn_ out their years in such most painful labours."--_Littleton cor._
"And in the conclusion you were _chosen_ probationer."--_Spectator cor._

   "How she was lost, _ta'en_ captive, made a slave;
    And how against him set that should her save."--_Bunyan cor._


UNDER NOTE XII.--OF VERBS CONFOUNDED.

"But Moses preferred to _while_ away his time."--_Parker cor._ "His face
shone with the rays of the sun."--_John Allen cor._ "Whom they had _set_ at
defiance so lately."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "And when he _had sat down_, his
disciples came unto him."--_Bible cor._ "When he _had sat down_ on the
judgement-seat." Or: "_While_ he _was sitting_ on the judgement-seat."--
_Id._ "And, _they having kindled_ a fire in the midst of the hall and _sat_
down together, Peter sat down among them."--_Id._ "So, after he had washed
their feet, and had taken his garments, and _had sat_ down again,[or,
literally,'_sitting down again_,'] he said _to_ them, _Do_ ye _know_ what I
have done to you?"--_Id._ "Even as I also overcame, and _sat_ down with my
Father in his throne."--_Id._ Or: (rather less literally:) "Even as I _have
overcome_, and _am sitting_ with my Father _on_ his throne."--_Id._ "We
have such a high priest, who _sitteth_ on the right hand of the throne of
the Majesty in the heavens."--_Id._ "And _is now sitting_ at the right hand
of the throne of God."--_Id._ "He _set_ on foot a furious persecution."--
_Payne cor._ "There _lieth_ (or _lies_) an obligation upon the saints to
help such."--_Barclay cor._ "There let him _lie_."--_Byron cor._ "Nothing
but moss, and shrubs, and _stunted_ trees, can grow upon it."--_Morse cor._
"Who had _laid_ out considerable sums purely to distinguish themselves."--
_Goldsmith cor._ "Whereunto the righteous _flee_ and are safe."--_Barclay
cor._ "He _rose_ from supper, and laid aside his garments."--_Id._
"Whither--_oh!_ whither--shall I _flee_?"--_L. Murray cor._ "_Fleeing_ from
an adopted murderer."--_Id._ "To you I _flee_ for refuge."--_Id._ "The sign
that should warn his disciples to _flee_ from _the_ approaching ruin."--
_Keith cor._ "In one she _sits_ as a prototype for exact imitation."--_Rush
cor._ "In which some only bleat, bark, mew, _whinny_, and bray, a little
better than others."--_Id._ "Who represented to him the unreasonableness of
being _affected_ with such unmanly fears."--_Rollin cor._ "Thou _sawest_
every action." Or, familiarly: "Thou _saw_ every action."--_Guy cor._ "I
taught, thou _taughtest_, or _taught_, he or she taught."--_Coar cor._
"Valerian was taken by Sapor and _flayed_ alive, A. D. 260."--_Lempriere
cor._ "What a fine vehicle _has_ it now become, for all conceptions of the
mind!"--_Blair cor._ "What _has_ become of so many productions?"--_Volney
cor._ "What _has_ become of those ages of abundance and of life?"--_Keith
cor._ "The Spartan admiral _had_ sailed to the Hellespont."--_Goldsmith
cor._ "As soon as he _landed_, the multitude thronged about him."--_Id._
"Cyrus _had_ arrived at Sardis."--_Id._ "Whose year _had_ expired."--_Id._
"It _might_ better have been, 'that faction which,'" Or; "'That faction
which,' _would_ have been better."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 157. "This people
_has_ become a great nation."--_Murray and Ingersoll cor._ "And here we
_enter_ the region of ornament."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The ungraceful
parenthesis which follows, _might_ far better have been avoided." "Who
forced him under water, and there held him until _he was drowned_."--_Hist.
cor._

   "I _would_ much rather be myself the slave,
    And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him."--_Cowper cor._


UNDER NOTE XIII.--WORDS THAT EXPRESS TIME.

"I _finished_ my letter _before_ my brother arrived." Or: "I _had finished_
my letter _when_ my brother arrived."--_Kirkham cor._ "I _wrote_ before I
received his letter."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "From what _was formerly_
delivered."--_Id._ "Arts _were at length_ introduced among them." Or: "Arts
_have been of late_ introduced among them."--_Id._ [But the latter reading
suits not the Doctor's context.] "I am not of opinion that such rules _can
be_ of much use, unless persons _see_ them exemplified." Or:--"_could be_,"
and "_saw_."--_Id._ "If we _use_ the noun itself, we _say_, (or _must
say_,) 'This composition is John's.'" Or: "If we _used_ the noun itself, we
_should say_," &c.--_L. Murray cor._ "But if the assertion _refer_ to
something that _was transient_, or _to something that is not_ supposed to
be _always the same_, the past tense must be preferred:" [as,] "They told
him that Jesus of Nazareth _was passing_ by."--_Luke and L. Murray cor._
"There is no particular intimation but that I _have continued_ to work,
even to the present moment."--_R. W. Green cor._ "Generally, as _has been_
observed already, it is but hinted in a single word or phrase."--_Campbell
cor._ "The wittiness of the passage _has been_ already illustrated."--_Id._
"As was observed _before_."--_Id._ Or: "As _has been_ observed
_already_"--_Id._ "It _has been_ said already in general _terms_."--_Id._
"As I hinted _before_."--_Id._ Or: "As I _have hinted already_."--_Id._
"What, I believe, was hinted once _before_."--_Id._ "It is obvious, as
_was_ hinted formerly, that this is but an artificial and arbitrary
connexion."--_Id._ "They _did_ anciently a great deal of hurt."--
_Bolingbroke cor._ "Then said Paul, I knew not, brethren, that he _was_ the
high priest."--See _Acts_, xxiii, 5; _Webster cor._ "Most prepositions
originally _denoted_ the _relations_ of place; and _from these_ they _were_
transferred, to denote, by similitude, other relations."--_Lowth and
Churchill cor._ "His gift was but a poor offering, _in comparison with_ his
_great_ estate."--_L. Murray cor._ "If he should succeed, and obtain his
end, he _would_ not be the happier for it." Or, better: "If he _succeed_,
and _fully attain_ his end, he will not be the happier for it."--_Id._
"These are torrents that swell to-day, and _that will_ have spent
themselves by to-morrow."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Who have called that wheat _on
one day_, which they have called tares _on the next_."--_Barclay cor._ "He
thought it _was_ one of his tenants."--_Id._ "But if one went unto them
from the dead, they _would_ repent."--_Bible cor._ "Neither _would_ they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead."--_Id._ "But it is while men
_sleep_, that the arch-enemy always _sows_ his tares."--_The Friend cor._
"Crescens would not _have failed_ to _expose_ him."--_Addison cor._

   "Bent _is_ his bow, the Grecian hearts to wound;
    Fierce as he _moves_, his silver shafts resound."--_Pope cor._


UNDER NOTE XIV.--VERBS OF COMMANDING, &C.

"Had I commanded you to _do_ this, you would have thought hard of it."--_G.
B_. "I found him better than I expected to _find_ him."--_L Murray's
Gram._, i, 187. "There are several smaller faults which I at first intended
to _enumerate_."--_Webster cor._ "Antithesis, therefore, may, on many
occasions, be employed to advantage, in order to strengthen the impression
which we intend that any object _shall_ make."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The girl
said, if her master would but have let her _have_ money, she might have
been well long ago."--_Priestley et al. cor._ "Nor is there the least
ground to fear that we _shall here_ be cramped within too narrow
limits."--_Campbell cor._ "The Romans, flushed with success, expected to
_retake_ it."--_Hooke cor._ "I would not have let _fall_ an unseasonable
pleasantry in the venerable presence of Misery, to be entitled to all the
wit that ever Rabelais scattered."--_Sterne cor._ "We expected that he
_would arrive_ last night."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 282. "Our friends intended
to _meet_ us."--_Ib._ "We hoped to _see_ you."--_Ib._ "He would not have
been allowed to _enter_."--_Ib._


UNDER NOTE XV.--PERMANENT PROPOSITIONS.

"Cicero maintained, that whatsoever _is_ useful _is_ good."--_G. B_. "I
observed that love _constitutes_ the whole moral character of
God."--_Dwight cor._ "Thinking that one _gains_ nothing by being a good
man."--_Voltaire cor._ "I have already told you, that I _am_ a
gentleman."--_Fontaine cor._ "If I should ask, whether ice and water _are_
two distinct species of things."--_Locke cor._ "A stranger to the poem
would not easily discover that this _is_ verse."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, i,
260. "The doctor affirmed that fever always _produces_ thirst."--_Brown's
Inst._, p. 282. "The ancients asserted, that virtue _is_ its own
reward."--_Ib._ "They should not have repeated the error, of insisting that
the infinitive _is_ a mere noun."--_Tooke cor._ "It was observed in Chap.
III, that the distinctive OR _has_ a double use."--_Churchill cor._ "Two
young gentlemen, who have made a discovery that there _is_ no
God."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 206.


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XVIII; INFINITIVES.

INSTANCES DEMANDING THE PARTICLE TO.

"William, please _to_ hand me that pencil."--_Smith cor._ "Please _to_
insert points so as to make sense."--_P. Davis cor._ "I have known lords
_to_ abbreviate almost half of their words."--_Cobbett cor._ "We shall find
the practice perfectly _to_ accord with the theory."--_Knight cor._ "But it
would tend to obscure, rather than _to_ elucidate, the subject."--_L.
Murray cor._ "Please _to_ divide it for them, as it should be
_divided_"--_J. Willetts cor._ "So as neither to embarrass nor _to_ weaken
the sentence."--_Blair and Mur. cor._ "Carry her to his table, to view his
poor fare, and _to_ hear his heavenly discourse."--_Same_. "That we need
not be surprised to find this _to_ hold [i.e., to find _the same to be
true_, or to find _it so_] in eloquence."--_Blair cor._ "Where he has no
occasion either to divide or _to_ explain" [_the topic in debate_.]--_Id._
"And they will find their pupils _to_ improve by hasty and pleasant
steps."--_Russell cor._ "The teacher, however, will please _to_ observe,"
&c.--_Inf. S. Gr. cor._ "Please _to_ attend to a few rules in what is
called syntax."--_Id._ "They may dispense with the laws, to favour their
friends, or _to_ secure their office."--_Webster cor._ "To take back a
gift, or _to_ break a contract, is a wanton abuse."--_Id._ "The legislature
_has_ nothing to do, but _to_ let it bear its own price."--_Id._ "He is not
to form, but _to_ copy characters."--_Rambler cor._ "I have known a woman
_to_ make use of a shoeing-horn."--_Spect. cor._ "Finding this experiment
_to_ answer, in every respect, their wishes."--_Day cor._ "In fine, let him
cause his arrangement _to_ conclude in the term of the question."--_Barclay
cor._

   "That he permitted not the winds of heaven
     _To visit her_ too roughly."
                             [Omit "_face_," to keep the measure: or say,]
    "That he _did never let_ the winds of heaven
     _Visit her face_ too roughly."--_Shak. cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XIX.--OF INFINITIVES.

Instances after Bid, Dare, Feel, Hear, Let, Make, Need, See.

"I dare not proceed so hastily, lest I give offence."--See _Murray's Key_,
Rule xii. "Their character is formed, and made _to_ appear."--_Butler cor._
"Let there be but matter and opportunity offered, and you shall see them
quickly revive again."--_Bacon cor._ "It has been made _to_ appear, that
there is no presumption against a revelation."--_Bp. Butler cor._
"MANIFEST, v. t. To reveal; to make appear; to show plainly."--_Webster
cor._ "Let him reign, like good Aurelius, or let him bleed like _Seneca_:"
[Socrates did not bleed, he was poisoned.]--_Kirkham's transposition of
Pope cor._ "_Sing_ I could not; _complain_ I durst not."--_Fothergill cor._
"If T. M. be not so frequently heard _to_ pray by them."--_Barclay cor._
"How many of your own church members were never heard _to_ pray?"--_Id._
"Yea, we are bidden _to_ pray one for an other."--_Id._ "He was made _to_
believe that neither the king's death nor _his_ imprisonment would help
him."--_Sheffield cor._ "I felt a chilling sensation creep over
me."--_Inst._, p. 279. "I dare say he has not got home yet."--_Ib._ "We
sometimes see bad men honoured."--_Ib._ "I saw him move"--_Felch cor._ "For
see thou, ah! see thou, a hostile world its _terrors_ raise."--_Kirkham
cor._ "But that he make him rehearse so."--_Lily cor._ "Let us
rise."--_Fowle cor._

   "Scripture, you know, exhorts us to it;
    It bids us 'seek peace, and ensue it.'"--_Swift cor._

    "Who bade the mud from Dives' wheel
    _Bedash_ the rags of Lazarus?
    Come, brother, in that dust we'll kneel,
    Confessing heaven that ruled it thus."--_Christmas Book cor._


CHAPTER VII.--PARTICIPLES.

CORRECTIONS UNDER THE NOTES TO RULE XX.

UNDER NOTE I.--EXPUNGE OF.

"In forming his sentences, he was very exact."--_L. Murray_. "For not
believing which, I condemn them."--_Barclay cor._ "To prohibit his hearers
from reading that book."--_Id._ "You will please them exceedingly in crying
down ordinances."--_Mitchell cor._ "The warwolf subsequently became an
engine for casting stones." Or:--"for _the_ casting of stones."--_Cons.
Misc. cor._ "The art of dressing hides and working in leather was
practised."--_Id._ "In the choice they had made of him for restoring
order."--_Rollin cor._ "The Arabians exercised themselves by composing
orations and poems."--_Sale cor._ "Behold, the widow-woman was there,
gathering sticks."--_Bible cor._ "The priests were busied in offering
burnt-offerings."--_Id._ "But Asahel would not turn aside from following
him."--_Id._ "He left off building Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah."--_Id._
"Those who accuse us of denying it, belie us."--_Barclay cor._ "And
breaking bread from house to house."--_Acts_, iv, 46. "Those that set about
repairing the walls."--_Barclay cor._ "And secretly begetting
divisions."--_Id._ "Whom he has made use of in gathering his
church."--_Id._ "In defining and distinguishing the _acceptations_ and uses
of those particles."--_W. Walker cor._

   "In _making this a crime_, we overthrow
    The laws of nations and of nature too."--_Dryden cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--ARTICLES REQUIRE OF.

"The mixing _of_ them makes a miserable jumble of truth and
fiction."--_Kames cor._ "The same objection lies against the employing _of_
statues."--_Id._ "More efficacious than the venting _of_ opulence upon the
fine arts."--_Id._ "It is the giving _of_ different names to the same
object."--_Id._ "When we have in view the erecting _of_ a column."--_Id._
"The straining _of_ an elevated subject beyond due bounds, is a vice not so
frequent."--_Id._ "The cutting _of_ evergreens in the shape of animals, is
very ancient."--_Id._ "The keeping _of_ juries without _meat_, drink, or
fire, can be accounted for only on the same idea."--_Webster cor._ "The
writing _of_ the verbs at length on his slate, will be a very useful
exercise."--_Beck cor._ "The avoiding _of_ them is not an object of any
moment."--_Sheridan cor._ "Comparison is the increasing or decreasing _of_
the signification of a word by degrees."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "Comparison is
the increasing or decreasing _of_ the quality by degrees."--_Buchanan cor._
"The placing _of_ a circumstance before the word with which it is connected
is the easiest of all inversion."--_Id._ "What is emphasis? It is the
emitting _of_ a stronger and fuller sound of voice," &c.--_Bradley cor._
"Besides, the varying _of_ the terms will render the use of them more
familiar."--_A. Mur. cor._ "And yet the confining _of_ themselves to this
true principle, has misled them."--_Tooke cor._ "What is here commanded, is
merely the relieving _of_ his misery."--_Wayland cor._ "The accumulating
_of_ too great a quantity of knowledge at random, overloads the mind _in
stead_ of adorning it."--_Formey cor._ "For the compassing _of_ his
point."--_Rollin cor._ "To the introducing _of_ such an inverted order of
things."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Which require only the doing _of_ an external
action."--_Id._ "The imprisoning _of_ my body is to satisfy your
wills."--_Fox cor._ "Who oppose the conferring _of_ such extensive command
on one person."--_Duncan cor._ "Luxury contributed not a little to the
enervating _of_ their forces."--_Sale cor._ "The keeping _of_ one day of
the week for a sabbath."--_Barclay cor._ "The doing _of_ a thing is
contrary to the forbearing of it."--_Id._ "The doubling _of_ the Sigma is,
however, sometimes regular."--_Knight cor._ "The inserting _of_ the common
aspirate too, is improper."--_Id._ "But in Spenser's time the pronouncing
_of_ the _ed_ [as a separate syllable,] seems already to have been
something of an archaism."--_Phil. Mu. cor._ "And to the reconciling _of_
the effect of their verses on the eye."--_Id._ "When it was not in their
power to hinder the taking _of_ the whole."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "He had
indeed given the orders himself for the shutting _of_ the gates."--_Id._
"So his whole life was a doing _of_ the will of the Father."--_Penington
cor._ "It signifies the suffering or receiving _of_ the action
expressed."--_Priestley cor._ "The pretended crime therefore was the
declaring _of_ himself to be the Son of God."--_West cor._ "Parsing is the
resolving _of_ a sentence into its different parts of speech."--_Beck cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--ADJECTIVES REQUIRE OF.

"There is _no_ expecting _of_ the admiration of beholders."--_Baxter cor._
"There is no hiding _of_ you in the house."--_Shak. cor._ "For the better
regulating _of_ government in the province of Massachusetts."--_Brit. Parl.
cor._ "The precise marking _of_ the shadowy boundaries of a complex
government."--_Adams cor._ "This state of discipline requires the voluntary
foregoing _of_ many things which we desire, and _the_ setting _of_
ourselves to what we have no inclination to."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "This
amounts to an active setting _of_ themselves against religion."--_Id._
"Which engaged our ancient friends to the orderly establishing _of_ our
Christian discipline."--_Friends cor._ "Some men are so unjust that there
is no securing _of_ our own property or life, but by opposing force to
force."--_Rev. John Brown cor._ "An Act for the better securing _of_ the
Rights and Liberties of the Subject."--_Geo. III cor._ "Miraculous curing
_of_ the sick is discontinued."--_Barclay cor._ "It would have been no
transgressing _of_ the apostle's rule."--_Id._ "As far as consistent with
the proper conducting _of_ the business of the House."--_Elmore cor._
"Because he would have no quarrelling at the just condemning _of_ them at
that day." Or:--"at _their just condemnation_ at that day."--_Bunyan cor._
"That transferring _of_ this natural manner will insure propriety."--_Rush
cor._ "If a man were porter of hell-gate, he should have old [i.e.,
frequent] turning _of_ the key."--_Singer's Shakspeare cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--POSSESSIVES REQUIRE OF.

"So very simple a thing as a man's wounding _of_ himself."--_Dr. Blair
cor., and Murray_. "Or with that man's avowing _of_ his
designs."--_Blair, Mur., et al. cor._ "On his putting _of_ the
question."--_Adams cor._ "The importance of teachers' requiring _of_ their
pupils to read each section many times over."--_Kirkham cor._ "Politeness
is a kind of forgetting _of_ one's self, in order to be agreeable to
others."--_Ramsay cor._ "Much, therefore, of the merit and the
agreeableness of epistolary writing, will depend on its introducing _of_ us
into some acquaintance with the writer."--_Blair and Mack cor._ "Richard's
restoration to respectability depends on his paying _of_ his debts."--_O.
B. Peirce cor._ "Their supplying _of_ ellipses where none ever existed;
their parsing _of the_ words of sentences already full and perfect, as
though depending on words understood."--_Id._ "Her veiling _of_ herself,
and shedding _of_ tears, &c., her upbraiding _of_ Paris for his cowardice,"
&c.--_Blair cor._ "A preposition may be made known by its admitting _of_ a
personal pronoun after it, in the objective case."--_Murray et al. cor._
"But this forms no just objection to its denoting _of_ time."--_L. Mur.
cor._ "Of men's violating or disregarding _of_ the relations _in_ which God
has _here_ placed them."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Success, indeed, no more
decides for the right, than a man's killing _of_ his antagonist in a
duel."--_Campbell cor._ "His reminding _of_ them."--_Kirkham cor._ "This
mistake was corrected by his preceptor's causing _of_ him to plant some
beans."--_Id._ "Their neglecting _of_ this was ruinous."--_Frost cor._
"That he was serious, appears from his distinguishing _of_ the others as
'finite.'"--_Felch cor._ "His hearers are not at all sensible of his doing
_of_ it." Or:--"_that he does_ it."--_Sheridan cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--CHANGE THE EXPRESSION.

"An allegory is _a fictitious story the meaning of which is figurative, not
literal_; a double meaning, or dilogy, is the saying _of_ only one thing,
_when we have_ two in view."--_Phil. Mu. cor._ "A verb may generally be
distinguished by _the sense which it makes_ with any of the personal
pronouns, or _with_ the word TO, before it."--_Murray et al. cor._ "A noun
may in general be distinguished by _the article which comes_ before it, or
by _the sense which it makes_ of itself."--_Merchant et al. cor._ "An
adjective may usually be known by _the sense which it makes_ with the word
_thing_; as, a _good_ thing, a _bad_ thing."--_Iid._ "It is seen _to be_ in
the objective case, _because it denotes_ the object affected by the act of
leaving."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "It is seen _to be_ in the possessive case,
_because it denotes_ the possessor of something."--_Id._ "The _noun_ MAN is
caused by the _adjective_ WHATEVER to _seem like_ a twofold _nominative, as
if it denoted_, of itself, one person as the subject of the two
remarks."--_Id._ "WHEN, as used in the last line, is a connective, _because
it joins_ that line to the other part of the sentence."--_Id._ "_Because
they denote_ reciprocation."--_Id._ "To allow them _to make_ use of that
liberty;"--"To allow them _to use_ that liberty;"--or, "To allow them that
liberty."--_Sale cor._ "The worst effect of it is, _that it fixes_ on your
mind a habit of indecision."--_Todd cor._ "And you groan the more deeply,
as you reflect that _you have not power to shake_ it off."--_Id._ "I know
of nothing that can justify the _student in_ having recourse to a Latin
translation of a Greek writer."--_Coleridge cor._ "Humour is the _conceit
of_ making others act or talk absurdly."--_Hazlitt cor._ "There are
remarkable instances _in which they do not affect_ each other."--_Bp.
Butler cor._ "_That Cæsar was left out_ of the commission, was not from any
slight."--_Life cor._ "Of the _thankful reception_ of this toleration, I
shall say no more," Or: "Of the _propriety of_ receiving this toleration
thankfully, I shall say no more."--_Dryden cor._ "Henrietta was delighted
with Julia's _skill in_ working lace."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "And it is
_because each of them represents_ two different words, that the confusion
has arisen."--_Booth cor._ "Æschylus died of a fracture of his skull,
caused by an eagle's _dropping of_ a tortoise on his head." Or:--"caused by
_a tortoise which an eagle let fall_ on his head."--_Biog. Dict. cor._ "He
doubted _whether they had_ it."--_Felch cor._ "_To make_ ourselves clearly
understood, is the chief end of speech."--_Sheridan cor._ "_One cannot
discover_ in their countenances any signs which are the natural
concomitants of the feelings of the heart."--_Id._ "Nothing can be more
common or less proper, than to speak of a _river as emptying
itself_."--_Campbell cor._ "Our _non-use of_ the former expression, is
owing to this."--_Bullions cor._


UNDER NOTE IV.--DISPOSAL OF ADVERBS.

"To this generally succeeds the division, or the _laying-down_ of the
method of the discourse."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "To the _pulling-down_ of
strong holds."--_Bible cor._ "Can a mere _buckling-on of_ a military weapon
infuse courage?"--_Dr. Brown cor._ "_Expensive_ and _luxurious_ living
destroys health."--_L. Murray cor._ "By _frugal_ and _temperate_ living,
health is preserved." Or: "By living frugally and temperately, _we preserve
our_ health."--_Id._ "By the _doing-away_ of the necessity."--_The Friend
cor._ "He recommended to them, however, the _immediate_ calling of--(or,
_immediately to call_--) the whole community to the church."--_Gregory
cor._ "The separation of large numbers in this manner, certainly
facilitates the _right_ reading _of_ them."--_Churchill cor._ "From their
_mere_ admitting of a twofold grammatical construction."--_Phil. Mu. cor._
"His _grave_ lecturing _of_ his friend about it."--_Id._ "For the
_blotting-out_ of sin."--_Gurney cor._ "From the _not-using_ of water."--
_Barclay cor._ "By the gentle _dropping-in_ of a pebble."--_Sheridan cor._
"To the _carrying-on_ of a great part of that general course of
nature."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Then the _not-interposing_ is so far from
being a ground of complaint."--_Id._ "The bare omission, (or rather, the
_not-employing_,) of what is used."--_Campbell and Jamieson cor._ "The
_bringing-together_ of incongruous adverbs is a very common fault."--
_Churchill cor._ "This is a presumptive proof _that it does_ not _proceed_
from them."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "It represents him in a character to which
_any injustice_ is peculiarly unsuitable."--_Campbell cor._ "They will aim
at something higher than _a mere dealing-out_ of harmonious sounds."--
_Kirkham cor._ "This is intelligible and sufficient; and _any further
account of the matter_ seems beyond the reach of our faculties."--_Bp.
Butler cor._ "Apostrophe is a _turning-off_ from the regular course of the
subject."--_Mur. et al. cor._ "Even Isabella was finally prevailed upon to
assent to the _sending-out_ of a commission to investigate his
conduct."--_Life of Columbus cor._ "For the _turning-away_ of the simple
shall slay them."--_Bible cor._

   "Thick fingers always should command
    Without _extension_ of the hand."--_King cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--OF PARTICIPLES WITH ADJECTIVES.

"Is there any Scripture _which_ speaks of the _light_ as being
inward?"--_Barclay cor._ "For I believe not _positiveness_ therein
essential to salvation."--_Id._ "Our _inability_ to act _a uniformly_ right
part without some thought and care."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "_On the_
supposition _that it is reconcilable_ with the constitution of
nature."--_Id._ "_On the ground that it is_ not discoverable by reason or
experience."--_Id._ "_On the ground that they are_ unlike the known course
of nature."--_Id._ "Our _power_ to discern reasons for them, gives a
positive credibility to the history of them."--_Id._ "From its _lack of
universality_."--_Id._ "That they may be turned into passive _participles_
in _dus_, is no decisive argument _to prove them_ passive."--_Grant cor._
"With the implied idea _that St. Paul was_ then absent from the
Corinthians."--_Kirkham cor._ "_Because it becomes_ gradually weaker, until
it finally dies away into silence."--_Id._ "Not without the author's _full
knowledge_."--_Id._ "_Wit_ out of season is one sort of folly."--_Sheffield
cor._ "Its _general susceptibility_ of a much stronger evidence."--
_Campbell cor._ "At least, _that they are_ such, rarely enhances our
opinion, either of their abilities or of their virtues."--_Id._ "Which were
the ground of our _unity_."--_Barclay cor._ "But they may be distinguished
from it by their _intransitiveness_."--_L. Murray cor._ "To distinguish the
higher degree of our persuasion of a thing's _possibility_."--_Churchill
cor._

   "_That he was_ idle, and dishonest too,
    Was that which caused his utter overthrow."--_Tobitt cor._


UNDER NOTE VI.--OF COMPOUND VERBAL NOUNS.

"When it denotes _subjection_ to the exertion of an other."--_Booth cor._
"In the passive sense, it signifies _a subjection_ to the influence of the
action."--_Felch cor._ "_To be_ abandoned by our friends, is very
deplorable."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Without waiting _to be_ attacked by the
Macedonians."--_Id._ "In progress of time, words were wanted to express
men's _connexion_ with certain conditions of fortune."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"Our _acquaintance_ with pain and sorrow has a tendency to bring us to a
settled moderation."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "The chancellor's _attachment_ to
the king, secured _to the monarch_ his crown."--_L. Murray et al. cor._
"The general's _failure_ in this enterprise occasioned his disgrace."--
_Iid._ "John's _long application to_ writing had wearied him."--_Iid._ "The
sentence _may_ be, 'John's _long application_ to writing has wearied
him.'"--_Wright cor._ "Much depends on _the observance of_ this _rule_."--
_L. Murray cor._ "He mentioned _that a boy had been_ corrected for his
faults."--_Alger and Merchant cor._ "The boy's _punishment_ is shameful to
him."--_Iid._ "The greater the difficulty of remembrance is, and the more
important the _being-remembered_ is to the attainment of the ultimate
end."--_Campbell cor._ "If the parts in the composition of similar objects
were always in equal quantity, their _being-compounded_ (or their
_compounding_) would make no odds."--_Id._ "Circumstances, not of such
importance as that the scope of the relation is affected by their
_being-known_"--or, "by the _mention of them_."--_Id._ "A passive verb
expresses the receiving of an action, or _represents its subject as_ being
acted upon; as, 'John is beaten.'"--_Frost cor._ "So our language has an
other great advantage; namely, _that it is little_ diversified by
genders."--_Buchanan cor._ "The _slander concerning Peter_ is no fault of
_his_."--_Frost cor._ "Without _faith in Christ_, there is no
_justification_."--_Penn cor._ "_Habituation_ to danger begets intrepidity;
i.e., lessens fear."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "It is not _affection of any kind_,
but _action that_ forms those habits."--_Id._ "In order _that we may be_
satisfied of the truth of the apparent paradox."--_Campbell cor._ "_A trope
consists_ in _the employing of a word_ to signify something that is
different from its original _or usual_ meaning."--_Blair, Jamieson, Murray,
and Kirkham cor._; also _Hiley_. "The scriptural view of our _salvation_
from punishment."--_Gurney cor._ "To submit and obey, is not a renouncing
_of_ the _Spirit's leading_."--_Barclay cor._


UNDER NOTE VII.--PARTICIPLES FOR INFINITIVES, &c.

"_To teach_ little children is a pleasant employment." Or: "_The_ teaching
_of_ little children," &c.--_Bartlett cor._ "_To deny_ or _compromise the_
principles of truth, is virtually _to deny_ their divine
Author."--_Reformer cor._ "A severe critic might point out some expressions
that would bear _retrenching_"--"_retrenchment_"--or, "_to be
retrenched_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Never attempt _to prolong_ the pathetic
too much."--_Id._ "I now recollect _to have_ mentioned--(or, _that I_
mentioned--) a report of that nature."--_Whiting cor._ "Nor of the
necessity which there is, for their _restraint_--(or, for _them to be_
restrained--) in them."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "But, _to do_ what God commands
because he commands it, is obedience, though it proceeds from hope or
fear."--_Id._ "Simply _to close_ the nostrils, does not so entirely prevent
resonance."--_Gardiner cor._ "Yet they absolutely refuse _to do_
so."--_Harris cor._ "But Artaxerxes could not refuse _to pardon_
him."--_Goldsmith cor._ "_The_ doing _of_ them in the best manner, is
signified by the _names_ of these arts."--_Rush cor._ "_To behave_ well for
the time to come, may be insufficient."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "The compiler
proposed _to publish_ that part by itself."--_Adam cor._ "To smile _on_
those _whom_ we should censure, is, _to bring_ guilt upon
ourselves."--_Kirkham cor._ "But it would be great injustice to that
illustrious orator, to bring his genius down to the same level."--_Id._
"_The doubt that_ things go ill, often hurts more, than to be sure they
do."--_Shak. cor._ "This is called _the_ straining _of_ a metaphor."--
_Blair and Murray cor._ "This is what Aristotle calls _the_ giving _of_
manners to the poem."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The painter's _entire confinement_
to that part of time which he has chosen, deprives him of the power of
exhibiting various stages of the same action."--_L. Mur. cor._ "It imports
_the retrenchment of_ all superfluities, and _a_ pruning _of_ the
expression."--_Blair et al. cor._ "The necessity for _us to be_ thus
exempted is further apparent."--_Jane West cor._ "Her situation in life
does not allow _her to be_ genteel in every thing."--_Same_. "Provided you
do not dislike _to be_ dirty when you are invisible."--_Same_. "There is
now an imperious necessity for her _to be_ acquainted with her title to
eternity."--_Same_. "_Disregard to_ the restraints of virtue, is misnamed
ingenuousness."--_Same_. "The legislature prohibits _the_ opening _of shops
on_ Sunday."--_Same_. "To attempt _to prove_ that any thing is right."--_O.
B. Peirce cor._ "The comma directs _us to make_ a pause of a second in
duration, or less."--_Id._ "The rule which directs _us to put_ other words
into the place of it, is wrong."--_Id._ "They direct _us to_ call the
specifying adjectives, or adnames, adjective pronouns."--_Id._ "William
dislikes _to attend_ court."--_Frost cor._ "It may perhaps be worth while
_to remark_, that Milton makes a distinction."--_Phil. Mu. cor._ "_To
profess_ regard and _act injuriously, discovers_ a base mind."--_Murray et
al. cor._ "_To profess_ regard and _act_ indifferently, _discovers_ a base
mind."--_Weld cor._ "You have proved beyond contradiction, that _this
course of action_ is the sure way to procure such an object."--_Campbell
cor._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--PARTICIPLES AFTER BE, IS, &c.

"Irony is _a figure in which the speaker sneeringly utters the direct
reverse of what he intends shall be understood_."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 235.
[Correct by this the four false definitions of "Irony" cited from _Murray,
Peirce, Fisher_, and _Sanborn_.] "This is, in a great measure, _a_
delivering _of_ their own compositions."--_Buchanan cor._ "But purity is _a
right use of_ the words of the language."--_Jamieson cor._ "But the most
important object is _the_ settling _of_ the English quantity."--_Walker
cor._ "When there is no affinity, the transition from one meaning to an
other is a very wide step _taken_."--_Campbell cor._ "It will be _a loss
of_ time, to attempt further to illustrate it."--_Id._ "This _leaves_ the
sentence too bare, and _makes_ it to be, if not nonsense, hardly
sense."--_Cobbett cor._ "This is _a_ requiring _of_ more labours from every
private member."--_J. West cor._ "Is not this, _to use_ one measure for our
neighbours and _an other_ for ourselves?"--_Same_. "_Do we_ not _charge_
God foolishly, when we give these dark colourings to human
nature?"--_Same_. "This is not, _to endure_ the cross, as a disciple of
Jesus Christ; but, _to snatch_ at it, like a _partisan_ of Swift's
Jack."--_Same_. "What is spelling? It is _the_ combining _of_ letters to
form syllables and words."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "It is _the_ choosing _of_
such letters to compose words," &c.--_Id._ "What is parsing? (1.) It is _a_
describing _of_ the nature, use, and powers of words."--_Id._ (2.) "For
Parsing is _a_ describing _of_ the words of a sentence as they are
used."--_Id._ (3.) "Parsing is only _a_ describing _of_ the nature and
relations of words as they are used."--_Id._ (4.) "Parsing, let the pupil
understand and remember, is a _statement of_ facts concerning words; or _a_
describing _of words_ in their offices and relations as they are."--_Id._
(5.) "Parsing is _the_ resolving and explaining _of_ words according to the
rules of grammar."--_Id._ Better: "Parsing is _the_ resolving _or_
explaining _of a sentence_ according to the _definitions and_ rules of
grammar."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 28. (6.) "_The_ parsing _of_ a word,
remember, is _an_ enumerating and describing _of_ its various qualities,
and its grammatical relations to other words in the sentence."--_Peirce
cor._ (7.) "For the parsing _of_ a word is _an_ enumerating and describing
_of_ its various properties, and [_its_] relations to [_other words in_]
the sentence."--_Id._ (8.) "_The_ parsing _of_ a noun is _an explanation_
of _its_ person, number, gender, and case; and also of its grammatical
_relation_ in a sentence, with respect to _some_ other _word or_
words."--_Ingersoll cor._ (9.) "_The_ parsing _of_ any part of speech is
_an explanation of_ all its properties and relations."--_Id._ (10.)"
Parsing is _the_ resolving _of_ a sentence into its elements."--_Fowler
cor._ "The highway of the _upright_ is, _to depart_ from evil."--_Prov._,
xvi, 17. "Besides, the first step towards exhibiting _the_ truth, should
be, _to remove_ the veil of error."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "Punctuation is
_the_ dividing _of_ sentences, and the words of sentences, by _points for_
pauses."--_Id._ "_An other_ fault is _the_ using _of_ the imperfect _tense_
SHOOK _in stead_ of the participle SHAKEN."--_Churchill cor._ "Her
employment is _the_ drawing _of_ maps."--_Alger cor._ "_To go_ to the play,
according to his notion, is, _to lead_ a sensual life, and _to expose
one's_ self to the strongest temptations. This is _a_ begging _of_ the
question, and _therefore_ requires no answer."--_Formey cor._ "It is _an_
overvaluing _of_ ourselves, to reduce every thing to the narrow measure of
our capacities."--_Comly's Key, in his Gram._, p. 188; _Fisk's Gram._, p.
135. "What is vocal language? It is _speech_, or _the_ expressing of ideas
by the human voice."--_C. W. Sanders cor._


UNDER NOTE IX.--VERBS OF PREVENTING.

"The annulling power of the constitution prevented that _enactment from_
becoming a law."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "Which prevents the _manner from_
being brief."--_Id._ "This close prevents _them from_ bearing forward as
nominatives."--_Rush cor._ "Because this prevents _it from_ growing
_drowsy_."--_Formey cor._ "Yet this does not prevent _him from_ being
great."--_Id._ "To prevent _it from_ being insipid."--_Id._ "Or whose
interruptions did not prevent its _continuance_." Or thus: "Whose
interruptions did not prevent _it from_ being continued."--_Id._ "This by
no means prevents _them from_ being also punishments."--_Wayland cor._
"This hinders _them_ not _from_ being also, in the strictest sense,
punishments."--_Id._ "The noise made by the rain and wind, prevented _them
from_ being heard."--_Goldsmith cor._ "He endeavoured to prevent _it from_
taking effect."--_Id._ "So sequestered as to prevent _them from_ being
explored."--_Jane West cor._ "Who prevented her _from_ making a more
pleasant party."--_Same_. "To prevent _us from_ being tossed about by every
wind of doctrine."--_Same_. "After the infirmities of age prevented _him
from_ bearing his part of official duty."--_R. Adam cor._ "To prevent
splendid trifles _from_ passing for matters of importance."--_Kames cor._
"Which prevents _him from_ exerting himself to any good purpose."--_Beattie
cor._ "The _nonobservance_ of this rule very frequently prevents _us from_
being punctual in the performance of our duties."--_Todd cor._ "Nothing
will prevent _him from_ being a student, and possessing the means of
study."--_Id._ "Does the present accident hinder _you from_ being honest
and brave?"--_Collier cor._ "The _e_ is omitted to prevent two _Ees from_
coming together."--_Fowle cor._ "A pronoun is used for, or in place of, a
noun,--to prevent _a repetition of_ the noun."--_Sanborn cor._ "Diversity
in the style relieves the ear, and prevents _it from_ being tired with the
frequent recurrence of the rhymes."--_Campbell cor._; also _Murray_.
"Timidity and false shame prevent _us from_ opposing vicious
customs."--_Mur. et al. cor._ "To prevent _them from_ being moved by
such."--_Campbell cor._ "Some obstacle, or impediment, that prevents _it
from_ taking place."--_Priestley cor._ "Which prevents _us from_ making a
progress towards perfection."--_Sheridan cor._ "This method of
distinguishing words, must prevent any regular proportion of time _from_
being settled."--_Id._ "That nothing but affectation can prevent _it from_
always taking place."--_Id._ "This did not prevent _John from_ being
acknowledged and solemnly inaugurated Duke of Normandy." Or:
"_Notwithstanding_ this, _John was_ acknowledged and solemnly inaugurated
Duke of Normandy."--_Henry, Webster, Sanborn, and Fowler cor._


UNDER NOTE X.--THE LEADING WORD IN SENSE.

"This would _make it impossible for a noun_, or any other _word_, ever _to
be_ in the possessive case."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "A great part of our
pleasure arises from _finding_ the plan or story well conducted."--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "And we have no reason to wonder _that this was_ the
case."--_Id._ "She objected only, (as Cicero says,) to Oppianicus _as_
having two sons by his present wife."--_Id._ "_The subjugation of_ the
Britons by the Saxons, was a necessary consequence of their _calling of_
these Saxons to their assistance."--_Id._ "What he had there said
concerning the Saxons, _that they expelled_ the Britons, and _changed_ the
customs, the religion, and the language of the country, is a clear and a
good reason _why_ our present language _is_ Saxon, rather than
British."--_Id._ "The only material difference between them, _except that_
the one _is_ short and the other _more_ prolonged, is, that a metaphor _is
always explained_ by the words that are connected with it."--_Id. et Mur.
cor._ "The description of _Death_, advancing to meet Satan on his
arrival."--_Rush cor._ "Is not the bare fact, _that_ God _is_ the witness
of it, sufficient ground for its credibility to rest upon?"--_Chalmers
cor._ "As in the case of one _who is_ entering upon a new study."--_Beattie
cor._ "The manner _in which_ these _affect_ the copula, is called the
imperative _mood_."--_Wilkins cor._ "We are freed from the trouble,
_because_ our nouns _have scarcely any_ diversity of endings."--_Buchanan
cor._ "The verb is rather indicative of the _action as_ being doing, or
done, than _of_ the time _of the event_; but indeed the ideas are
undistinguishable."--_Booth cor._ "Nobody would doubt _that_ this _is_ a
sufficient proof."--_Campbell cor._ "Against the doctrine here maintained,
_that_ conscience as well as reason, _is_ a natural faculty."--_Beattie
cor._ "It is one cause _why_ the Greek and English languages _are_ much
more easy to learn, than the Latin."--_Bucke cor._ "I have not been able to
make out a solitary instance _in which_ such _has been_ the fact."--_Lib.
cor._ "An _angel_, forming the appearance of a hand, and writing the king's
condemnation on the wall, checked their mirth, and filled them with
terror."--_Wood cor._ "The _prisoners, in attempting_ to escape, aroused
the keepers."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "I doubt not, in the least, _that_ this
_has_ been one cause of the multiplication of divinities in the heathen
world."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "From the general rule he lays down, _that the
verb is_ the parent word of all language."--_Tooke cor._ "He was accused of
being idle." Or: "He was accused of _idleness_."--_Felch cor._ "Our meeting
is generally dissatisfied with him _for_ so removing." Or: "with _the
circumstances of his removal_."--_Edmondson cor._ "The spectacle is too
rare, of _men_ deserving solid fame while not seeking it."--_Bush cor._
"What further need was there _that_ an other priest _should
rise_?"--_Heb._, vii, 11.


UNDER NOTE XI.--REFERENCE OF PARTICIPLES.

"Viewing them separately, _we experience_ different emotions." Or:
"_Viewed_ separately, _they produce_ different emotions."--_Kames cor._
"But, _this being left_ doubtful, an other objection occurs."--_Id._ "_As
he proceeded_ from one particular to an other, the subject grew under his
hand."--_Id._ "But this is still an interruption, and a link of the chain
_is_ broken."--_Id._ "After some _days_' hunting,--(or, After some days
_spent in_ hunting,)--Cyrus communicated his design to his
officers."--_Rollin cor._ "But it is made, without the appearance of _being
made_ in form."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "These would have had a better effect,
_had they been_ disjoined, thus."--_Blair and Murray cor._ "_In_ an
improper diphthong, but one of the vowels _is_ sounded."--_Murray, Alger,
et al. cor._ "And _I_ being led to think of both together, my view is
rendered unsteady."--_Blair, Mur., and Jam. cor._ "By often doing the same
thing, _we make the action_ habitual." Or: "_What is_ often _done_, becomes
habitual."--_L. Murray cor._ "They remain with us in our dark and solitary
hours, no less than when _we are_ surrounded with friends and cheerful
society."--_Id._ "Besides _showing_ what is right, _one may further
explain_ the matter by pointing out what is wrong."--_Lowth cor._ "The
former teaches the true pronunciation of words, _and comprises_ accent,
quantity, emphasis, _pauses_, and _tones_."--_L. Murray cor._ "_A person
may reprove others_ for their negligence, by saying, 'You have taken great
care indeed.'"--_Id._ "The _word_ preceding and _the word_ following it,
are in apposition to each other."--_Id._ "_He_ having finished his speech,
the assembly dispersed."--_Cooper cor._ "Were the voice to fall at the
close of the last line, as many a reader is in the habit of _allowing it to
do_."--_Kirkham cor._ "The misfortunes of his countrymen were but
negatively the effects of his wrath, _which only deprived_ them of his
assistance."--_Kames cor._ "Taking them as nouns, _we may explain_ this
construction thus."--_Grant cor._ "These have an active signification,
_except_ those which come from neuter verbs."--_Id._ "From _its evidence_
not being universal." Or: "From the _fact that its evidence is not_
universal."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "And this faith will continually grow, _as
we acquaint_ ourselves with our own nature."--_Channing cor._
"Monosyllables ending with any consonant but _f, l_, or _s_, never double
the final consonant, _when it is preceded by a single vowel_; except _add,
ebb_," &c.--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 23. Or: "_Words_ ending with any
consonant except _f, l_, or _s_, do not double the final letter.
Exceptions. Add, ebb, &c."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 3. (See my 2d Rule
for Spelling, of which this is a partial copy.) "The relation of _Maria as_
being the object of the action, is expressed by the change of the noun
_Maria_ to _Mariam_;" [i. e., in the _Latin_ language.]--_Booth cor._ "In
analyzing a proposition, _one must_ first _divide it_ into its logical
subject and predicate."--_Andrews and Stoddard cor._ "In analyzing a simple
sentence, _one_ should first _resolve it_ into its logical subject and
logical predicate."--_Wells cor._


UNDER NOTE XII.--OF PARTICIPLES AND NOUNS.

"The _instant discovery of_ passions at their birth, is essential to our
well-being."--_Kames cor._ "I am now to enter on _a consideration of_ the
sources of the pleasures of taste."--_Blair cor._ "The varieties in _the
use of_ them are indeed many."--_Murray cor._ "_The_ changing _of_ times
and seasons, _the_ removing and _the setting-up_ of kings, belong to
Providence alone."--_Id._ "_Adherence_ to the partitions, seemed the cause
of France; _acceptance of_ the will, that of the house of
Bourbon."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "An other source of darkness in
_composition_, is the injudicious introduction of technical words and
phrases."--_Campbell cor._ "These are the rules of grammar; by observing
which, you may avoid mistakes."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "By observing the
rules, you may avoid mistakes."--_Alger cor._ "By observing these rules, he
succeeded."--_Frost cor._ "_The praise bestowed on him_ was his
ruin."--_Id._ "_Deception_ is not _convincement_."--_Id._ "He never feared
_the loss_ of a friend."--_Id._ "_The_ making _of_ books is his
amusement."--_Alger cor._ "We call it _the_ declining--(or, _the
declension_--) _of_ a noun."--_Ingersoll cor._ "Washington, however,
pursued the same policy of neutrality, and opposed firmly _the_ taking _of_
any part in the wars of Europe."--_Hall and Baker cor._ "The following is a
note of Interrogation, or _of a_ question: (?)."--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "The
following is a note of Admiration, or _of_ wonder: (!)."--_Id._ "_The use
or omission of_ the article A forms a nice distinction in the
sense."--_Murray cor._ "_The_ placing _of_ the preposition before the word,
_which_ it governs, is more graceful."--_Churchill cor._ (See _Lowth's
Gram._, p. 96; _Murray's_, i, 200; _Fisk's_, 141; _Smith's_, 167.)
"Assistance is absolutely necessary to their recovery, and _the_ retrieving
_of_ their affairs."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Which termination, [_ish_,] when
added to adjectives, imports diminution, or _a_ lessening of the
quality."--_Mur. and Kirkham cor._ "After what _has been_ said, will it be
thought _an excess of refinement_, to suggest that the different orders are
qualified for different purposes?"--_Kames cor._ "Who has nothing to think
of, but _the_ killing _of_ time."--_West cor._ "It requires no nicety of
ear, as in the distinguishing of tones, or _the_ measuring _of_
time."--_Sheridan cor._ "The _possessive case_ [is that form or state of a
noun or pronoun, which] denotes possession, or _the relation of
property_."--_S. R. Hall cor._


UNDER NOTE XIII.--PERFECT PARTICIPLES.

"Garcilasso was master of the language _spoken_ by the Incas."--_Robertson
cor._ "When an interesting story is _broken_ off in the middle."--_Kames
cor._ "Speaking of Hannibal's elephants _driven_ back by the enemy."--_Id._
"If Du Ryer had not _written_ for bread, he would have equalled
them."--_Formey cor._ "Pope describes a rock _broken_ off from a mountain,
and hurling to the plain."--_Kames cor._ "I have written, Thou hast
written, He hath or has written; &c."--_Ash and Maltby cor._ "This was
_spoken_ by a pagan."--_Webster cor._ "But I have _chosen_ to follow the
common arrangement."--_Id._ "The language _spoken_ in Bengal."--_Id._ "And
sound sleep thus _broken_ off with _sudden_ alarms, is apt enough to
discompose any one."--_Locke cor._ "This is not only the case of those open
sinners before _spoken_ of."--_Leslie cor._ "Some grammarians have written
a very perplexed and difficult doctrine on Punctuation."--_Ensell cor._
"There hath a pity _arisen_ in me towards thee."--_G. Fox Jun. cor._ "Abel
is the only man that has _undergone_ the awful change of death."--_De
Genlis, Death of Adam_.

   "Meantime, on Afric's glowing sands,
    _Smit_ with keen heat, the traveller stands."--_Ode cor._


CHAPTER VIII.--ADVERBS.

CORRECTIONS UNDER THE NOTES TO RULE XXI.

UNDER NOTE I.--THE PLACING OF ADVERBS.

"_Not_ all that is favoured by good use, is proper to be retained."--_L.
Murray corrected._ "_Not_ everything favoured by good use, is on that
account worthy to be retained."--_Campbell cor._ "Most men dream, but _not_
all."--_Beattie cor._ "By hasty composition, we shall _certainly_ acquire a
very bad style."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The comparisons are short, touching on
_only_ one point of resemblance."--_Id._ "Having _once_ had some
considerable object set before us."--_Id._ "The positive seems to be
_improperly_ called a degree." [543]--_Adam and Gould cor._ "In some
phrases, the genitive _only_ is used."--_Iid._ "This blunder is said to
have _actually_ occurred."--_Smith cor._ "But _not_ every man is called
James, nor every woman, Mary."--_Buchanan cor._ "Crotchets are employed for
_nearly_ the same purpose as the parenthesis."--_Churchill cor._ "There is
a _still_ greater impropriety in a double comparative."--_Priestley cor._
"We often have occasion to speak of time."--_Lowth cor._ "The following
sentence cannot _possibly_ be understood."--_Id._ "The words must
_generally_ be separated from the context."--_Comly cor._ "Words ending in
_ator, generally_ have the accent on the penultimate."--_L. Mur. cor._ "The
learned languages, with respect to voices, moods, and tenses, are, in
general, constructed _differently_ from the English tongue."--_Id._
"Adverbs seem to have been _originally_ contrived to express compendiously,
in one word, what must otherwise have required two or more."--_Id._ "But it
is so, _only_ when the expression can be converted into the regular form of
the possessive case."--_Id._ "'Enter _boldly_,' says he, 'for here too
there are gods.'"--_Harris cor._ "For none _ever_ work for so little a
pittance that some cannot be found to work for less."--_Sedgwick cor._ "For
sinners also lend to sinners, to receive _again_ as much."--_Bible cor._
Or, as Campbell has it in his version:--"_that they may_ receive as much
_in return_."--_Luke_, vi, 34. "They must be viewed in _exactly_ the same
light."--_L. Murray cor._ "If he _speaks but_ to display his abilities, he
is unworthy of attention."--_Id._


UNDER NOTE II.--ADVERBS FOR ADJECTIVES.

"_Upward_ motion is commonly more agreeable than motion _downward_."--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "There are but two _possible_ ways of justification before
God."--_Cox cor._ "This construction sounds rather _harsh_."--_Mur. and
Ing. cor._ "A clear conception, in the mind of the learner, of _regular_
and well-formed letters."--_C. S. Jour. cor._ "He was a great hearer of * *
* Attalus, Sotion, Papirius, Fabianus, of whom he makes _frequent_
mention."--_L'Estrange cor._ "It is only the _frequent_ doing of a thing,
that makes it a custom."--_Leslie cor._ "Because W. R. takes _frequent_
occasion to insinuate his jealousies of persons and things."--_Barclay
cor._ "Yet _frequent_ touching will wear gold."--_Shak. cor._ "Uneducated
persons frequently use an _adverb_ when they ought to use an _adjective_:
as, 'The country looks _beautifully_;' in stead of _beautiful_." [544]--
_Bucke cor._ "The adjective is put _absolute_, or without its
substantive."--_Ash cor._ "A noun or _a_ pronoun in the second person, may
be put _absolute_ in the nominative case."--_Harrison cor._ "A noun or _a_
pronoun, when put _absolute_ with a participle," &c.--_Id. and Jaudon cor._
"A verb in the infinitive mood absolute, stands _independent_ of the
remaining part of the sentence."--_Wilbur and Liv. cor._ "At my _late_
return into England, I met a book _entitled_, 'The Iron Age.'"--_Cowley
cor._ "But he can discover no better foundation for any of them, than the
_mere_ practice of Homer and Virgil."--_Kames cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--HERE FOR HITHER, &C.

"It is reported, that the _governor_ will come _hither_
to-morrow."--_Kirkham cor._ "It has been reported that the _governor_ will
come _hither_ to-morrow."--_Id._ "To catch a prospect of that lovely land
_whither_ his steps are tending."--_Maturin cor._ "Plautus makes one of his
characters ask _an other, whither_ he is going with that Vulcan shut up in
a horn; that is, with a _lantern_ in his hand."--_Adams cor._ "When we left
Cambridge we intended to return _thither_ in a few days."--_Anon. cor._
"Duncan comes _hither_ to-night."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 323. "They
talked of returning _hither_ last week."--See _J. M. Putnam's Gram._, p.
129.


UNDER NOTE IV.--FROM HENCE, &C.

"Hence he concludes, that no inference can be drawn from the meaning of the
word, that a _constitution_ has a higher authority than a law or
statute,"--_Webster cor._ "Whence we may likewise date the period of this
event."--_L. Murray cor._ "Hence it becomes evident that LANGUAGE, taken in
the most comprehensive view, implies certain sounds, [or certain written
signs,] having certain meanings."--_Harris cor._ "They returned to the city
whence they came out."--_A. Murray cor._ "Respecting ellipses, some
grammarians differ strangely in their ideas; and thence has arisen a very
whimsical diversity in their systems of grammar."--_G. Brown_. "What am I,
and whence? That is, What am I, and whence _am I_?"--_Jaudon cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--THE ADVERB HOW.

"It is strange, _that_ a writer so accurate as Dean Swift, should have
stumbled on so improper an application of this particle."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"Ye know, _that_ a good while ago God made choice among us," &c.--_Bible
cor._ "Let us take care _lest_ we sin; i.e.,--_that_ we _do not_
sin."--_Priestley cor._ "We see by these instances, _that_ prepositions may
be necessary, to connect _such_ words _as_ are not naturally connected _by_
their _own_ signification."--_L. Murray cor._ "Know ye not your own selves,
_that_ Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"--_Bible cor._
"That thou _mayst_ know _that_ the earth is the Lord's."--_Id._


UNDER NOTE VI.--WHEN, WHILE, OR WHERE.

"ELLIPSIS is _the omission of some word or_ words _which are necessary to
complete the construction, but not_ requisite to complete the
sense."--_Adam, Gould, and Fisk, cor._ "PLEONASM is _the insertion of some
word or words_ more than _are_ absolutely necessary _either to complete the
construction, or_ to express the sense."--_Iid. cor._ "HYSTERON-PROTERON is
a _figure in which_ that is put in the former part of the sentence, which,
according to the sense, should be in the latter."--_Adam and Gould cor._
"HYSTERON-PROTERON is a rhetorical figure _in which_ that is said last,
which was done first."--_Webster cor._ "A BARBARISM is a foreign or strange
word, _an expression contrary to the pure idiom of the language_."--_Adam
and Gould cor._ "A SOLECISM is _an impropriety in respect to_ syntax, _an
absurdity or incongruity in speech_."--_Iid. cor._ "An IDIOTISM is _a_
manner of expression peculiar to one language _childishly transferred to an
other_."--_Iid. cor._ "TAUTOLOGY is _a disagreeable repetition_, either
_of_ the same words, or _of_ the same sense in different words."--_Iid.
cor._ "BOMBAST, _or_ FUSTIAN, is _an inflated or ambitious style, in which
high-sounding_ words are used, _with little or no_ meaning, or upon a
trifling occasion."--_Iid. cor._ "AMPHIBOLOGY is ambiguity of construction,
_phraseology which_ may be taken in two different senses."--_Iid. cor._
"IRONY is _a figure in which_ one means the contrary of what is
said."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "PERIPHRASIS, _or_ CIRCUMLOCUTION, is _the
use of_ several words, to express what might be _said_ in fewer."--_Iid.
cor._ "HYPERBOLE is _a figure in which_ a thing is magnified above the
truth."--_Iid. cor._ "PERSONIFICATION is _a figure which ascribes human_
life, sentiments, or actions, to inanimate beings, or to abstract
qualities."--_Iid. cor._ "APOSTROPHE is a _turning from the tenor of one's_
discourse, _into an animated address_ to some person, present or absent,
living or dead, or _to some object personified_."--_Iid. cor._ "A SIMILE is
_a simple and express comparison; and is generally introduced by_ LIKE, AS,
_or_ so."--_G. B., Inst._, p. 233; Kirkham cor.; also Adam and Gould.
"ANTITHESIS is a placing of things in opposition, to heighten their effect
by contrast."--_Inst._, p. 234; _Adam and Gould corrected_. "VISION, or
IMAGERY, _is a figure in which what is present only to the mind, is
represented as actually before one's eyes, and present_ to the
senses."--_G. B.; Adam cor._ "EMPHASIS is a particular stress _of voice_
laid on some word in a sentence."--_Gould's Adam's Gram._, p. 241.
"EPANORTHOSIS, or CORRECTION, is _the recalling or correcting by the
speaker_, of what he last said."--_Ibid._ "PARALIPSIS, or OMISSION, is _the
pretending_ to omit or pass by, what one at the same time
declares."--_Ibid._ "INCREMENTUM, or CLIMAX in sense, is the _rising_ of
one member above an other to the highest."--_Ibid._ "METONYMY is _a change
of names: as when_ the cause is _mentioned_ for the effect, or the effect
for the cause; the container for the thing contained, or the sign for the
thing signified."--_Kirkham cor._ "_The_ Agreement _of words_ is _their
similarity_ in person, number, gender, case, _mood, tense, or
form_."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 104. "_The_ Government _of words is that power
which one_ word has _over an other, to cause it to assume some particular
modification_."--_Ib._ "Fusion is _the converting of_ some solid substance
into a fluid by heat."--_G. B_. "A proper diphthong is _a diphthong in
which_ both the vowels are sounded together; as, _oi_ in _voice, ou_ in
_house_."--_Fisher cor._ "An improper diphthong is _a diphthong in which_
the sound of but one of the two vowels is heard; as, _eo_ in
_people_."--_Id._


UNDER NOTE VII.--THE ADVERB NO FOR NOT.

"An adverb is _added_ to a verb to show how, or when, or where, or whether
or _not_, one is, does, or suffers."--_Buchanan cor._ "We must be immortal,
whether we will or _not_."--_Maturin cor._ "He cares not whether the world
was made for Cæsar or _not_."--_A. Q. Rev. cor._ "I do not know whether
they are out or _not_."--_Byron cor._ "Whether it can be proved or _not_,
is not the thing."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Whether he makes use of the means
commanded by God, or _not_."--_Id._ "Whether it pleases the world or _not_,
the care is taken."--_L'Estrange cor._ "How comes this to be never heard
of, nor in the least questioned, whether the Law was undoubtedly of Moses's
writing or _not_?"--_Tomline cor._ "Whether he be a sinner or _not_, I _do
not know_." Or, as the text is more literally translated by Campbell:
"Whether he be a sinner, I know not."--_Bible cor._ "Can I make men live,
whether they will or _not_?"--_Shak. cor._

   "Can hearts not free, be _tried_ whether they serve
    Willing or _not_, who will but what they must?"--_Milton cor._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--OF DOUBLE NEGATIVES.

"We need not, nor do _we_, confine the purposes of God." Or: "We need not,
_and_ do not, confine," &c.--_Bentley cor._ "I cannot by _any_ means allow
him that."--_Id._ "We must try whether or _not_ we _can_ increase the
attention by the help of the senses."--_Brightland cor._ "There is nothing
more admirable _or_ more useful."--_Tooke cor._ "And what in time to come
he can never be said to have done, he can never be supposed to do."--_R.
Johnson cor._ "No skill could obviate, no remedy dispel, the terrible
infection."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Prudery cannot be an indication _either_ of
sense _or_ of taste."--_Spurzheim cor._ "But _neither_ that scripture, nor
_any_ other, speaks of imperfect faith."--_Barclay cor._ "But _neither_
this scripture, nor _any_ other, proves that faith was or is always
accompanied with doubting."--_Id._ "The light of Christ is not, _and_
cannot be, darkness."--_Id._ "Doth not the Scripture, which cannot lie,
give _some_ of the saints this testimony?"--_Id._ "Which do not continue,
_and_ are not binding."--_Id._ "It not being perceived directly, _any_ more
than the air."--_Campbell cor._ "Let us be no Stoics, _and_ no stocks, I
pray."--_Shak. cor._ "Where there is no marked _or_ peculiar character in
the style."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "There can be no rules laid down, nor _any_
manner recommended."--_Sheridan cor._

   "_Bates_. 'He hath not told his thought to the king?'
    _K. Henry_. 'No; _and_ it is not meet he should.'"
    Or thus: "'No; nor _is it_ meet he should.'"--_Shak. cor._


UNDER NOTE IX.--EVER AND NEVER.

"The prayer of Christ is more than sufficient both to strengthen us, be we
_everso_ weak; and to overthrow all adversary power, be it _everso_
strong."--_Hooker cor._ "He is like to have no share in it, or to be
_never_ the better for it." Or: "He is _not likely_ to have any share in
it, or to be _ever_ the better for it."--_Bunyan cor._ "In some parts of
Chili it seldom or _never_ rains."--_Willetts cor._ "If Pompey shall but
_everso_ little seem to like it."--_W. Walker cor._ "Though _everso_ great
a posse of dogs and hunters pursue him."--_Id._ "Though you be _everso_
excellent."--_Id._ "If you do amiss _everso_ little."--_Id._ "If we cast
our eyes _everso_ little down."--_Id._ "A wise man scorneth nothing, be it
_everso_ small or homely."--_M. F. Tupper cor._ "Because they have seldom
_if_ ever an opportunity of learning them at all."--_Clarkson cor._ "We
seldom or _never_ see those forsaken who trust in God."--_Atterbury cor._

   "Where, playing with him at bo-peep,
    He solved all problems, _e'erso_ deep."--_S. Butler cor._


UNDER NOTE X.--OF THE FORM OF ADVERBS.

"One can _scarcely_ think that Pope was capable of epic or tragic poetry;
but, within a certain limited region, he has been outdone by no
poet."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "I who now read, have _nearly_ finished this
chapter."--_Harris cor._ "And yet, to refine our taste with respect to
beauties of art or of nature, is _scarcely_ endeavoured in any seminary of
learning."--_Kames cor._ "The numbers being confounded, and the possessives
_wrongly_ applied, the passage is neither English nor grammar."--_Buchanan
cor._ "The letter G is _wrongly_ named _Jee_."--_Creighton cor._ "_Lastly_,
remember that in science, as in morals, authority cannot make right what in
itself is wrong."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "They regulate our taste even where
we are _scarcely_ sensible of them."--_Kames cor._ "Slow action, for
example, is imitated by words pronounced _slowly_."--_Id._ "_Surely_, if it
be to profit withal, it must be in order to save."--_Barclay cor._ "Which
is _scarcely_ possible at best."--_Sheridan cor._ "Our wealth being
_nearly_ finished."--_Harris cor._


CHAPTER IX.--CONJUNCTIONS.

CORRECTIONS UNDER THE NOTES TO RULE XXII.

UNDER NOTE I.--OF TWO TERMS WITH ONE.

"The first proposal was essentially different _from_ the second, and
inferior _to it._"--_Inst_. "A neuter verb _expresses_ the state _which_ a
subject is in, without acting upon _any other thing_, or being acted upon
by an other."--_A. Murray cor._ "I answer, You _may use_ stories and
anecdotes, and ought to _do_ so."--_Todd cor._ "ORACLE, _n._ Any person
_from whom_, or place _at which_, certain decisions are
obtained."--_Webster cor._ "Forms of government may, and _occasionally
must, be_ changed."--_Lyttelton cor._ "I have _been_, and _I still_ pretend
to be, a tolerable judge."--_Sped. cor._ "Are we not lazy in our duties, or
_do we not_ make a Christ of them?"--_Baxter cor._ "They may not express
that idea which the author intends, but some other which only resembles
_it_, or is _akin_ to it."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "We may _therefore read them_,
we ought to read them, with a distinguishing eye."--_Ib._ "Compare their
poverty with what they might _possess_, and ought to possess."--_Sedgwick
cor._ "He is much better _acquainted with grammar_ than they are."--_L.
Murray cor._ "He was more beloved _than Cinthio_, but [he was] not so much
admired."--_L. Murray's Gram._, i, 222. "Will it be urged, that the four
gospels are as old _as tradition, and even_ older?"--_Campbell's Rhet._, p.
207. "The court of chancery frequently mitigates and _disarms_ the common
law."--_Spect. and Ware cor._ "Antony, coming along side of her ship,
entered it without seeing _her_, or being seen by her."--_Goldsmith cor._
"_Into_ candid minds, truth _enters as_ a welcome _guest_."--_L. Murray
cor._ "_There are_ many designs _in which_ we may succeed, _to our ultimate
ruin_."--_Id._ "_From_ many pursuits _in which_ we embark with pleasure,
_we are destined to_ land sorrowfully."--_Id._ "They _gain_ much _more_
than I, by this unexpected event."--_Id._


UNDER NOTE II.--OF HETEROGENEOUS TERMS.

"Athens saw them entering her gates and _filling_ her
academies."--_Chazotte cor._ "_Neither_ have we forgot his past
_achievements_, nor _do we_ despair of his future success."--_Duncan cor._
"Her monuments and temples had long been shattered, or _had_ crumbled into
dust."--_Journal cor._ "Competition is excellent; _it is_ the vital
principle in all these things."--_Id._ "Whether provision should, or
_should_ not, be made, _in order_ to meet this exigency."--_Ib._. "That our
Saviour was divinely inspired, and _that he was_ endued with supernatural
powers, are positions that are here taken for granted."--_L. Mur. cor._ "It
would be much more eligible, to contract or enlarge their extent by
explanatory notes and observations, than _to sweep_ away our ancient
landmarks and _set_ up others."--_Id._ "It is certainly much better to
supply defects and abridge superfluities by occasional notes and
observations, than _to disorganize_ or _greatly alter_ a system which has
been so long established."--_Id._ "To have only one tune, or measure, is
not much better than _to have_ none at all."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Facts too
well known and _too_ obvious to be insisted on."--_Id._ "In proportion as
all these circumstances are happily chosen, and _are_ of a sublime
kind."--_Id._ "If the description be too general, and _be_ divested of
circumstances."--_Id._ "He gained nothing _but commendation_."--_L. Mur.
cor._ "I cannot but think its application somewhat strained and
_misplaced_."--_Vethake cor._ "Two negatives _standing_ in the same clause,
or referring to the same thing, destroy each other, and leave the sense
affirmative."--_Maunder cor._ "Slates are _thin plates of stone_, and _are
often_ used to cover _the_ roofs of houses."--_Webster cor._ "Every man of
taste, and _of_ an elevated mind, ought to feel almost the necessity of
apologizing for the power he possesses."--_Translator of De Staël cor._
"They very seldom trouble themselves with _inquiries_, or _make any_ useful
observations of their own."--_Locke cor._

   "We've both the field and honour won;
    _Our foes_ are profligate, and run."--_S. Butler cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--IMPORT OF CONJUNCTIONS.

"THE is sometimes used before adverbs in the comparative _or the_
superlative degree."--_Lennie, Bullions, and Brace cor._ "The definite
article THE is frequently applied to adverbs in the comparative _or the_
superlative degree."--_Lowth. Murray, et al, cor._ "Conjunctions usually
connect verbs in the same mood _and_ tense." Or, more truly: "Verbs
connected by _a conjunction, are_ usually in the same mood _and_
tense."--_Sanborn cor._ "Conjunctions connect verbs in the same style, and
usually in the same mood, tense, _and_ form." Or better: "Verbs connected
by _a conjunction_, are usually _of_ the same mood, tense, _and_ form, _as
well as_ style."--_Id._ "The ruins of Greece _or_ Rome are but the
monuments of her former greatness."--_P. E. Day cor._ "It is not
improbably, _that in many of these cases_ the articles were used
originally."--_Priestley cor._ "I cannot doubt that these objects are
really what they appear to be."--_Kames cor._ "I question not _that_ my
reader will be as much pleased with it."--_Spect. cor._ "It is ten to one
_that_ my friend Peter is among them."--_Id._ "I doubt not _that_ such
objections as these will be made"--_Locke cor._ "I doubt not _that_ it will
appear in the perusal of the following sheets."--_Buchanan cor._ "It is not
improbable, that in time these different constructions maybe appropriated
to different uses."--_Priestley cor._ "But to forget _and_ to remember at
pleasure, are equally beyond the power of man."--_Idler cor._ "The
nominative case follows the verb, in interrogative _or_ imperative
sentences."--_L. Mur. cor._ "Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive
berries? _or_ a vine, figs?"--_Bible cor._ "Whose characters are too
profligate _for_ the managing of them _to_ be of any consequence."--_Swift
cor._ "You, that are a step higher than a philosopher, a divine, yet have
too much grace and wit to be a bishop."--_Pope cor._ "The terms _rich and
poor_ enter not into their language."--_Robertson cor._ "This pause is but
seldom, _if_ ever, sufficiently dwelt upon." Or: "This pause is seldom _or
never_ sufficiently dwelt upon."--_Gardiner cor._ "There would be no
possibility of any such thing as human life _or_ human happiness."--_Bp.
Butler cor._ "The multitude rebuked them, _that_ they should hold their
peace."--_Bible cor._


UNDER NOTE IV.--THE CONJUNCTION THAN.

"A metaphor is nothing _else than_ a short comparison." Or: "A metaphor is
nothing _but_ a short comparison."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "There being no
other dictator here _than_ use."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 364. "This
construction is no otherwise known in English, _than_ by supplying the
first or _the_ second person plural."--_Buchanan cor._ "Cyaxares was no
sooner _on_ the throne, _than_ he was engaged in a terrible war."--_Rollin
cor._ "Those classics contain little else _than_ histories of
murders."--_Am. Mu. cor._ "Ye shall not worship any other _than_
God."--_Sale cor._ "Their relation, therefore, is not otherwise to be
ascertained, _than_ by their place."--_Campbell cor._ "For he no sooner
accosted her, _than_ he gained his point."--_Burder cor._ "And all the
modern writers on this subject, have done little else _than_ translate
them."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "One who had no other aim _than_ to talk copiously
and plausibly."--_Id._ "We can refer it to no other cause _than_ the
structure of the eye."--_Id._ "No more is required _than_ singly an act of
vision."--_Kames cor._ "We find no more in its composition, _than_ the
particulars now mentioned."--_Id._ "_He does not pretend_ to say, that it
_has_ any other effect _than_ to raise surprise."--_Id._ "No sooner was the
princess dead, _than_ he freed himself."--_Dr. S. Johnson cor._ "OUGHT is
an imperfect verb, for it has no modification besides this
one."--_Priestley cor._ "The verb is palpably nothing else _than_ the
tie."--_Neef cor._ "Does he mean that theism is capable of nothing else
_than_ of being opposed to polytheism or atheism?"--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Is it
meant that theism is capable of nothing else _than of_ being opposed to
polytheism or atheism?"--_L. Murray cor._ "There is no other method of
teaching that of which any one is ignorant, _than_ by means of something
already known."--_Ingersoll's Grammar, Titlepage: Dr. Johnson cor._ "O
fairest flower, no sooner blown _than_ blasted!"--_Milton cor._
"Architecture and gardening cannot otherwise entertain the mind, than by
raising certain agreeable emotions or feelings."--_Kames cor._ "Or, rather,
they are nothing else _than_ nouns."--_Brit. Gram. cor._

   "As if religion were intended
    For nothing else than to be mended."--_S. Butler cor._


UNDER NOTE V.--RELATIVES EXCLUDE CONJUNCTIONS.

"To prepare the Jews for the reception of a prophet mightier than _himself,
a teacher_ whose shoes he was not worthy to bear."--_Anon, or Mur. cor._
"Has this word, which represents an action, an object after it, on which
_the action_ terminates?"--_Osborne cor._ "The stores of literature lie
before him, from which he may collect for use many lessons of wisdom."--
_Knapp cor._ "Many and various great advantages of this grammar _over_
others, might be enumerated."--_Greenleaf cor._ "The custom which still
prevails, of writing in lines from left to right, is said to have been
introduced about the time of Solon, the Athenian legislator."--_Jamieson
cor._ "The fundamental rule _for_ the construction of sentences, _the rule_
into which all others might be resolved, undoubtedly is, to communicate, in
the clearest and most natural order, the ideas which we mean to
_express_."--_Blair and Jamieson cor._ "He left a son of a singular
character, who behaved so ill that he was put in prison."--_L. Murray cor._
"He discovered in the youth some disagreeable qualities which to him were
wholly unaccountable."--_Id._ "An emphatical pause is made after something
_of_ peculiar moment has been said, on which we _wish_ to fix the hearer's
attention." Or: "An emphatical pause is made after something has been said
_which is_ of peculiar moment, _and_ on which we _wish_ to fix the hearer's
attention."--_Blair and Murray cor._ "But we have duplicates of each,
agreeing in movement, though differing in measure, and _making_ different
impressions on the ear,"--_Murray cor._


UNDER NOTE VI.--OF THE WORD THAT.

"It will greatly facilitate the labours of the teacher, _and_, at the same
time, it will relieve the pupil _from_ many difficulties."--_Frost cor._
"_While_ the pupil is engaged in the exercises just mentioned, it will be
proper _for him_ to study the whole grammar in course."--_Bullions cor._
"On the same ground _on which_ a participle and _an_ auxiliary are allowed
to form a tense."--_Beattie and Murray cor._ "On the same ground _on which_
the voices, moods, and tenses, are admitted into the English tongue."--_L.
Murray cor._ "The five examples last mentioned, are corrected on the same
principle that _is applied to the errors_ preceding _them_."--_Murray and
Ingersoll cor._ "The brazen age began at the death of Trajan, and lasted
till Rome was taken by the Goths."--_Gould cor._ "The introduction to the
duodecimo edition is retained in this volume, for the same reason _for
which_ the original introduction to the Grammar is retained in the first
volume."--_L. Murray cor._ "The verb must also _agree in person with its
subject or_ nominative."--_Ingersoll cor._ "The personal pronoun 'THEIR' is
plural for the same reason _for which_ 'WHO' is plural."--_Id._ "The
Sabellians could not justly be called Patripassians, in the same sense _in
which_ the Noëtians were so called."--_R. Adam cor._ "This is one reason
_why_ we pass over such smooth language without suspecting that it contains
little or no meaning."--_L. Murray cor._ "The first place _at which the
two_ armies came _within_ sight of each other, was on the opposite banks of
the river Apsus."--_Goldsmith cor._ "At the very time _at which_ the author
gave him the first book for his perusal."--_Campbell cor._ "Peter will sup
at the time _at which_ Paul will dine."--_Fosdick cor._ "Peter will be
supping _when_ Paul will enter."--_Id._ "These, _while_ they may serve as
models to those who may wish to imitate them, will give me an opportunity
to cast more light upon the principles of this book."--_Id._

   "Time was, like thee, they life _possess'd_,
    And time shall be, _when_ thou shalt rest."--_Parnell cor._


UNDER NOTE VII.--OF THE CORRESPONDENTS.

"Our manners should be _neither_ gross nor excessively refined."--_Murray's
Key_, ii, 165. "A neuter verb expresses neither action _nor_ passion, but
being, or a state of being."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "The old books are
neither English grammars, _nor in any sense_ grammars of the English
language."--_Id._ "The author is apprehensive that his work is not yet _so_
accurate and _so_ much simplified as it may be."--_Kirkham cor._ "The
writer could not treat some _topics so_ extensively as [it] was desirable
[to treat them]."--_Id._ "Which would be a matter of such nicety, _that_ no
degree of human wisdom could regulate _it_."--_L. Murray cor._ "No
undertaking is so great or difficult, _that_ he cannot direct
_it_."--_Duncan cor._ "It is a good which depends _neither_ on the will of
others, nor on the affluence of external fortune."--_Harris cor._ "Not only
his estate, _but_ his reputation too, has suffered by his
misconduct."--_Murray and Ingersoll cor._ "Neither do they extend _so_ far
as might be imagined at first view."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "There is no
language so poor, but _that_ it _has_ (or, _as not to have_) two or three
past tenses."--_Id. "So_ far as this system is founded in truth, language
appears to be not altogether arbitrary in its origin."--_Id._ "I have not
_such_ command of these convulsions as is necessary." Or: "I have not
_that_ command of these convulsions _which_ is necessary."--_Spect. cor._
"Conversation with such _as_ (or, _those who_) know no arts _that_ polish
life."--_Id._ "And which cannot be _either_ very lively or very
forcible."--_Jamieson cor._ "To _such a_ degree as to give proper names to
rivers."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "In the utter overthrow of such _as_ hate to be
reformed."--_Barclay cor._ "But still so much of it is retained, _that it_
greatly injures the uniformity of the whole."--_Priestley cor._ "Some of
them have gone to _such a_ height of extravagance, as to assert,"
&c.--_Id._ "A teacher is confined, not more than a merchant, and probably
not _so_ much."--_Abbott cor._ "It shall not be forgiven him, neither in
this world, _nor_ in the world to come." Or: "It shall not be forgiven him,
_either_ in this world, _or_ in the world to come."--_Bible cor._ "Which
_nobody_ presumes, or is so sanguine _as_ to hope."--_Swift cor._ "For the
torrent of the voice left neither time, _nor_ power in the organs, to shape
the words properly."--_Sheridan cor._ "That he may neither unnecessarily
waste his voice by throwing out too much, _nor_ diminish his power by using
too little."--_Id._ "I have retained only such _as_ appear most agreeable
to the measures of analogy."--_Littleton cor._ "He is a man both prudent
and industrious."--_P. E. Day cor._ "Conjunctions connect either words or
sentences."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 169.

   "Such silly girls _as_ love to chat and play,
    Deserve no care; their time is thrown away."--_Tobitt cor._

    "Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
    _That_ to be hated _she_ but needs be seen."--_Pope cor._

    "Justice must punish the rebellious deed;
    Yet punish so _that_ pity shall exceed."--_Dryden cor._


UNDER NOTE VIII.--IMPROPER ELLIPSES.

"THAT, WHOSE, and AS, relate either to persons or _to_ things." Or
better:--"relate _as well_ to persons _as to_ things."--_Sanborn cor._
"WHICH and WHAT, as adjectives, relate either to persons or _to_ things."
Or better:--"relate to persons _as well as to_ things."--_Id._ "Whether of
a public or _of a_ private nature."--_J. Q. Adams cor._ "Which are included
_among both_ the public and _the_ private wrongs."--_Id._ "I might extract,
both from the Old and _from the_ New Testament, numberless examples of
induction."--_Id._ "Many verbs are used both in an active and _in a_ neuter
signification." Or thus: "Many verbs are used _in both_ an active and _a_
neuter signification."--_Lowth, Mur., et al., cor._ "Its influence is
likely to be considerable, both on the morals and _on the_ taste of a
nation."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The subject afforded a variety of scenes, both
of the awful and _of the_ tender kind."--_Id._ "Restlessness of mind
disqualifies us both for the enjoyment of peace, and _for_ the performance
of our duty."--_Mur. and Ing. cor. "Pronominal adjectives_ are of a mixed
nature, participating the properties both of pronouns and _of_
adjectives."--_Mur. et al. cor. "Pronominal adjectives_ have the nature
both of the adjective and _of_ the pronoun."--_Frost cor._ Or: "[Pronominal
adjectives] partake of the properties _of both_ adjectives _and_
pronouns."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 55. "Pronominal adjectives are a kind of
compound part of speech, partaking the nature both of pronouns and _of_
adjectives."--_Nutting cor._ "Nouns are used either in the singular or _in
the_ plural number." Or perhaps better: "Nouns are used _in either_ the
singular or _the_ plural number."--_David Blair cor._ "The question is not,
whether the nominative or _the_ accusative ought to follow the particles
THAN and AS; but, whether these particles are, in such particular cases, to
be regarded as conjunctions or _as_ prepositions"--_Campbell cor._ "In
English, many verbs are used both as transitives and _as_
intransitives."--_Churchill cor._ "He sendeth rain both on the just and _on
the_ unjust."--See _Matt._, v, 45. "A foot consists either of two or _of_
three syllables."--_David Blair cor._ "Because they participate the nature
both of adverbs and _of_ conjunctions."--_L. Murray cor._ "Surely, Romans,
what I am now about to say, ought neither to be omitted, nor _to_ pass
without notice."--_Duncan cor._ "Their language frequently amounts, not
only to bad sense, but _to nonsense_."--_Kirkham cor._ "Hence arises the
necessity of a social state to man, both for the unfolding, and _for the_
exerting, of his nobler faculties."--_Sheridan cor._ "Whether the subject
be of the real or _of the_ feigned kind."--_Dr. H. Blair cor._ "Not only
was liberty entirely extinguished, but arbitrary power _was_ felt in its
heaviest and most oppressive weight."--_Id._ "This rule is _also_
applicable both to verbal Critics and _to_ Grammarians."--_Hiley cor._
"Both the rules and _the_ exceptions of a language must have obtained the
sanction of good usage."--_Id._


CHAPTER X.--PREPOSITIONS.

CORRECTIONS UNDER THE NOTES TO RULE XXIII.

UNDER NOTE I.--CHOICE OF PREPOSITIONS.

"You have bestowed your favours _upon_ the most deserving persons."--_Swift
corrected._ "But, to rise _above_ that, and overtop the crowd, is given to
few."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "This [also is a good] sentence [, and] gives
occasion _for_ no material remark."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 203. "Though
Cicero endeavours to give some reputation _to_ the elder Cato, and those
who were his _contemporaries._" Or:--"to give some _favourable account_ of
the elder Cato," &c.--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The change that was produced _in_
eloquence, is beautifully described in the dialogue."--_Id._ "Without
carefully attending to the variation which they make _in_ the idea."--_Id._
"All _on_ a sudden, you are transported into a lofty palace."--_Hazlitt
cor._ "Alike independent of one _an other._" Or: "Alike independent _one of
an other_."--_Campbell cor._ "You will not think of them as distinct
processes going on independently _of_ each other."--_Channing cor._ "Though
we say to _depend on, dependent on_, and _dependence on_, we say,
_independent of_, and _independently of._"--_Churchill cor._ "Independently
_of_ the rest of the sentence."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 80; _Buchanan's_, 83;
_Bullions's_, 110; _Churchill's_, 348.[545] "Because they stand independent
_of_ the rest of the sentence."--_Allen Fisk cor._ "When a substantive is
joined with a participle, in English, independently _of_ the rest of the
sentence."--_Dr. Adam cor._ "CONJUNCTION comes _from_ the two Latin words
_con_, together, and _jungo_, to join."--_Merchant cor._ "How different
_from_ this is the life of Fulvia!"--_Addison cor._ "LOVED is a participle
or adjective, derived _from_ the word _love_."--_Ash cor._ "But I would
inquire _of_ him, what an office is."--_Barclay cor._ "For the capacity is
brought _into_ action."--_Id._ "In this period, language and taste arrive
_at_ purity."--_Webster cor._ "And, should you not aspire _to_ (or _after_)
distinction in the _republic_ of letters."--_Kirkham cor._ "Delivering you
up to the synagogues, and _into_ prisons."--_Luke_, xxi, 12. "_He_ that is
kept from falling _into_ a ditch, is as truly saved, as he that is taken
out of one."--_Barclay cor._ "The best _of_ it is, they are but a sort of
French Hugonots."--_Addison cor._ "These last ten examples are indeed of a
different nature _from_ the former."--_R. Johnson cor._ "For the initiation
of students _into_ the principles of the English language."--_Ann. Rev.
cor._ "Richelieu profited _by_ every circumstance which the conjuncture
afforded."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "In the names of drugs and plants, the
mistake _of_ a word may endanger life."--_Merchant's Key_, p. 185. Or
better: "In _naming_ drugs _or_ plants, _to mistake_ a word, may endanger
life."--_L. Murray cor._ "In order to the carrying _of_ its several parts
into execution."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "His abhorrence _of_ the superstitious
figure."--_Priestley._ "Thy prejudice _against_ my cause."--_Id._ "Which is
found _in_ every species of liberty."--_Hume cor._ "In a hilly region _on_
the north of Jericho."--_Milman cor._ "Two or more singular nouns coupled
_by_ AND require a verb _or_ pronoun in the plural."--_Lennie cor._

   "Books should to one of these four ends conduce,
    _To_ wisdom, piety, delight, or use."--_Denham cor._


UNDER NOTE II.--TWO OBJECTS OR MORE.

"The Anglo-Saxons, however, soon quarrelled _among_ themselves for
precedence."--_Const. Misc. cor._ "The distinctions _among_ the principal
parts of speech are founded in nature."--_Webster cor._ "I think I now
understand the difference between the active verbs and those _which are_
passive _or_ neuter."--_Ingersoll cor._ "Thus a figure including a space
_within_ three lines, is the real as well as nominal essence of a
triangle."--_Locke cor._ "We must distinguish between an imperfect phrase
_and_ a simple sentence, _and between a simple sentence_ and a compound
sentence."--_Lowth, Murray, et al., cor._ "The Jews are strictly forbidden
by their law to exercise usury _towards one an_ other."--_Sale cor._ "All
the writers have distinguished themselves among _themselves_."--_Addison
cor._ "This expression also better secures the systematic uniformity _of_
the three cases."--_Nutting cor._ "When two or more _infinitives_ or
clauses _are connected disjunctively as the subjects of an affirmation_,
the verb must be singular."--_Jaudon cor._ "Several nouns or pronouns
together in the same case, require a comma _after_ each; [except the last,
which must sometimes be followed by a greater point.]"--_David Blair cor._
"The difference between _one vowel and an other_ is produced by opening the
mouth differently, and placing the tongue in a different manner for
each."--_Churchill cor._ "Thus feet composed of syllables, being pronounced
with a sensible interval between _one foot and an other_, make a more
lively impression than can be made by a continued sound."--_Kames cor._
"The superlative degree implies a comparison, _sometimes_ between _two, but
generally among_ three or more."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "They are used to mark
a distinction _among_ several objects."--_Lévizac cor._


UNDER NOTE III.--OMISSION OF PREPOSITIONS.

"This would have been less worthy _of_ notice."--_Churchill cor._ "But I
passed it, as a thing unworthy _of_ my notice."--_Werter cor._ "Which, in
compliment to me, perhaps you may one day think worthy _of_ your
attention."--_Bucke cor._ "To think this small present worthy _of_ an
introduction to the young ladies of your very elegant establishment."--
_Id._ "There are but a few miles _of_ portage."--_Jefferson cor._ "It is
worthy _of_ notice, that our mountains are not solitary."--_Id._ "It is
_about_ one hundred feet _in_ diameter." [546]--_Id._ "Entering a hill a
quarter or half _of_ a mile."--_Id._ "And herself seems passing to _an_
awful dissolution, whose issue _it_ is not given _to_ human foresight to
scan."--_Id._ "It was of a spheroidical form, _about_ forty feet _in_
diameter at the base, and had been _about_ twelve feet _in_
altitude."--_Id._ "Before this, it was covered with trees of twelve inches
_in_ diameter; and, round the base, _there_ was an excavation of five feet
_in_ depth and _five in_ width."--_Id._ "Then thou _mayst_ eat grapes _to_
thy fill, at thine own pleasure."--_Bible cor._ "Then he brought me back
_by_ the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary."--_Id._ "They will bless
God, that he has peopled one half _of_ the world with a race of
freemen."--_Webster cor._ "_Of_ what use can these words be, till their
meaning is known?"--_Town cor._ "The tents of the Arabs now are black, or
_of_ a very dark colour."--_The Friend cor._ "They may not be unworthy _of_
the attention of young men."--_Kirkham cor._ "The pronoun THAT is
frequently applied to persons as well as _to_ things."--_Merchant cor._
"And '_who_' is in the same case that '_man_' is _in_."--_Sanborn cor._ "He
saw a flaming stone, apparently about four feet _in_ diameter."--_The
Friend cor._ "Pliny informs us, that this stone was _of_ the size of a
cart."--_Id._ "Seneca was about twenty years of age in the fifth year of
Tiberius, when the Jews were expelled _from_ Rome."--_L'Estrange cor._ "I
was prevented _from_ reading a letter which would have undeceived
me."--_Hawkesworth cor._ "If the problem can be solved, we may be pardoned
_for_ the inaccuracy of its demonstration."--_Booth cor._ "The army must of
necessity be the school, not of honour, but _of_ effeminacy."--_Dr. Brown
cor._ "Afraid of the virtue of a nation in its opposing _of_ bad measures:"
or,--"in its _opposition to_ bad measures."--_Id._ "The uniting _of_ them
in various ways, so as to form words, would be easy."--_Gardiner cor._ "I
might be excused _from_ taking any more notice of it."--_Watson cor._
"Watch therefore; for ye know not _at_ what hour your Lord _will_
come."--_Bible cor._ "Here, not even infants were spared _from_ the
sword."--_M'Ilvaine cor._ "To prevent men _from_ turning aside to _false_
modes of worship."--_John Allen cor._ "God expelled them _from_ the garden
of Eden."--_Burder cor._ "Nor could he refrain _from_ expressing to the
senate the agonies of his mind."--_Hume cor._ "Who now so strenuously
opposes the granting _to_ him _of_ any new powers."--_Duncan cor._ "That
the laws of the censors have banished him _from_ the forum."--_Id._ "We
read not that he was degraded _from_ his office _in_ any other
way."--_Barclay cor._ "To all _to_ whom these presents shall come,
greeting."--_Hutchinson cor._ "On the 1st _of_ August, 1834."--_Brit. Parl.
cor._

   "Whether you had not some time in your life
    Err'd in this point _on_ which you censure him."--_Shak. cor._


UNDER NOTE IV.--OF NEEDLESS PREPOSITIONS.

"And the apostles and elders came together to consider this
matter."--_Barclay cor._; also _Acts_. "Adjectives, in our language, have
neither case, _nor_ gender, nor number; the only variation they have, is
comparison."--_Buchanan cor._ "'It is to you that I am indebted for this
privilege;' that is, 'To you am I indebted;' or, 'It is you to whom I am
indebted.'"--_Sanborn cor._ "BOOKS is a _common_ noun, of the third person,
plural number, _and_ neuter gender."--_Ingersoll cor._ "BROTHER'S is a
common _noun_, of the third person, singular number, masculine gender, and
possessive case."--_L. Murray cor._ "VIRTUE'S is a common _noun_, of the
third person, singular number, [neuter gender,] and possessive
case."--_Id._ "When the authorities on one side greatly preponderate, it is
vain to oppose the prevailing usage."--_Campbell and Murray cor._ "A
captain of a troop of banditti, had a mind to be plundering
Rome."--_Collier cor._ "And, notwithstanding its verbal power, we have
added the TO and other signs of exertion."--_Booth cor._ "Some of these
situations are termed CASES, and are expressed by additions to the noun,
_in stead of_ separate words:" or,--"_and not by_ separate words."--_Id._
"Is it such a fast that I have chosen, that a man should afflict his soul
for a day, and bow down his head like a bulrush?"--_Bacon cor._ Compare
_Isa._, lviii, 5. "And this first emotion comes at last to be awakened by
the accidental _in stead of_ the necessary antecedent."--_Wayland cor._
"About the same time, the subjugation of the Moors was completed."--_Balbi
cor._ "God divided between the light and the darkness."--_Burder cor._
"Notwithstanding this, we are not against outward significations of
honour."--_Barclay cor._ "Whether these words and practices of Job's
friends, _ought_ to be our rule."--_Id._ "Such verb cannot admit an
objective case after it."--_Lowth cor._ "For which, God is now visibly
punishing these nations."--_C. Leslie cor._ "In this respect, Tasso yields
to no poet, except Homer."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Notwithstanding the numerous
panegyrics on the ancient English liberty."--_Hume cor._ "Their efforts
seemed to anticipate the spirit which became so general afterwards."--_Id._


UNDER NOTE V.--THE PLACING OF THE WORDS.

"But how short _of_ its excellency are my expressions!"--_Baxter cor._
"_In_ his style, there is a remarkable union _of_ harmony with ease."--_Dr.
H. Blair cor._ "It disposes _of_ the light and shade _in_ the most
artificial manner, _that_ every thing _may be viewed_ to the best
advantage."--_Id._ "_For_ brevity, Aristotle too holds an eminent rank
among didactic writers."--_Id._ "In an introduction, correctness _of_
expression should be carefully studied."--_Id._ "_In_ laying down a method,
_one ought_ above all things _to study_ precision."--_Id._ "Which shall
make _on_ the mind the impression _of_ something that is one, whole, and
entire."--_Id._ "At the same time, there are _in_ the Odyssey some defects
which must be acknowledged." Or: "At the same time, _it_ must be
acknowledged _that_ there are some defects in the Odyssey."--_Id._ "_In_
the concluding books, however, there are beauties _of_ the tragic
kind."--_Id._ "These forms of conversation multiplied _by_ degrees, and
grew troublesome."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 44. "When she has made her
own choice, she sends, _for_ form's sake, a congé-d'élire to her
friends."--_Ib._, ii, 46. "Let us endeavour to establish to ourselves an
interest in him who holds _in_ his hand the reins of the whole
creation."--_Spectator cor._; also _Kames_. "Next to this, the measure most
frequent _in_ English poetry, is that of eight syllables."--_David Blair
cor._ "To introduce as great a variety _of_ cadences as possible."--
_Jamieson cor._ "He addressed _to_ them several exhortations, suitable to
their circumstances."--_L. Murray cor._ "Habits _of_ temperance and
self-denial must be acquired."--_Id._ "In reducing _to_ practice the rules
prescribed."--_Id._ "But these parts must be so closely bound together, as
to make _upon_ the mind the impression _of_ one object, not of
many."--_Blair and Mur. cor._ "Errors _with_ respect to the use of _shall_
and _will_, are sometimes committed by the most distinguished
writers."--_N. Butler cor._


CHAPTER XI.--PROMISCUOUS EXERCISES.

CORRECTIONS OF THE PROMISCUOUS EXAMPLES.

LESSON I.--ANY PARTS OF SPEECH.

"Such _a_ one, I believe, yours will be proved to be."--_Peet and Farnum
cor._ "Of the distinction between the imperfect and the perfect _tense_, it
may be observed," &c.--_L. Ainsworth cor._ "The subject is certainly worthy
_of_ consideration."--_Id._ "By this means, all ambiguity and controversy
_on this point are avoided_."--_Bullions cor._ "The perfect participle, in
English, has both an active and _a_ passive signification." Better: "The
perfect participle, in English, has _sometimes_ an active, and _sometimes_
a passive, signification."--_Id._ "The old house _has_ at length fallen
down."--_Id._ "The king, the lords, and _the_ commons, constitute the
English form of government."--_Id._ "The verb in the singular agrees with
the person next _to_ it." Better: "The singular verb agrees _in_ person
with _that nominative which is_ next _to_ it."--_Id._ "Jane found Seth's
gloves in _James's_ hat."--_O. C. Felton cor._ "_Charles's_ task is too
great."--_Id._ "The conjugation of a verb is the naming _of_ its several
_moods_, tenses, numbers, and persons, _in regular order_."--_Id._ "The
_long-remembered_ beggar was his guest."--_Id._ "Participles refer to nouns
_or_ pronouns."--_Id._ "F has _a_ uniform sound, in every position, except
in OF." Better: "F has _one unvaried_ sound, in every position, except in
OF."--_E. J. Hallock cor._ "There are three genders; the masculine, the
feminine, and _the_ neuter."--_Id._ "When SO _and_ THAT occur together,
sometimes the particle SO is taken as an adverb."--_Id._ "The definition of
the articles _shows_ that they modify [the import of] the words to which
they belong."--_Id._ "The _auxiliary_, SHALL, WILL, or SHOULD, is
implied."--_Id. "Single-rhymed_ trochaic omits the final short
syllable."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 237. "_Agreeably_ to this, we read of names
being blotted out of God's book."--_Burder, Hallock, and Webster, cor._
"The first person is _that which denotes the speaker_."--_Inst._, p. 32.
"Accent is the laying _of_ a peculiar stress of the voice, on a certain
letter or syllable in a word."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 235; _Felton's_,
134. "_Thomas's_ horse was caught."--_Felton cor._ "You _were_
loved."--_Id._ "The nominative and _the_ objective end _alike_."--_T. Smith
cor._ "The _numbers_ of pronouns, like those of substantives, are two; the
singular and the plural."--_Id._ "_I_ is called the pronoun of the first
person, _because it represents_ the person speaking."--_Frost cor._ "The
essential elements of the phrase _are_ an intransitive gerundive and an
adjective."--_Hazen cor._ "_Wealth_ is no justification for such
impudence."--_Id._ "_That he was_ a soldier in the revolution, is not
doubted."--_Id._ "_Fishing_ is the chief employment of the
inhabitants."--_Id._ "The chief employment of the inhabitants, is _the_
catching _of_ fish."--_Id._ "The cold weather did not prevent the _work
from_ being finished at the time specified."--_Id._ "The _man's_ former
viciousness caused _him to be_ suspected of this crime."--_Id._ "But person
and number, applied to verbs, _mean_ certain terminations."--_Barrett cor._
"Robert _felled_ a tree."--_Id._ "Charles raised _himself_ up."--_Id._ "It
might not be _a_ useless waste of time."--_Id._ "Neither will you have that
implicit faith in the writings and works of others, which _characterizes_
the vulgar."--_Id._ "_I_ is _of_ the first person, because it denotes the
speaker."--_Ib._ "I would refer the student to _Hedge's_ or _Watts's_
Logic."--_Id._ "Hedge's _Watts's_, Kirwin's, and Collard's Logic."--_Parker
and Fox cor._ "Letters _that_ make a full and perfect sound of themselves,
are called vowels." Or: "_The_ letters _which_ make," &c.--_Cutler cor._
"It has both a singular and _a_ plural construction."--_Id._ "For he
_beholds_ (or _beholdeth_) thy beams no more."--_Id. Carthon._ "To this
sentiment the Committee _have_ the candour to incline, as it will appear by
their _summing-up_."--_Macpherson cor._ "This _reduces_ the point at issue
to a narrow compass."--_Id._ "Since the English _set_ foot upon the
soil."--_Exiles cor._ "The arrangement of its different parts _is_ easily
retained by the memory."--_Hiley cor._ "The words employed are the most
appropriate _that_ could have been selected."--_Id._ "To prevent it _from_
launching!"--_Id._ "Webster has been followed in preference to others,
where _he_ differs from them." Or: "_Webster's Grammar_ has been followed
in preference to others, where _it_ differs from them."--_Frazee cor._
"Exclamation and interrogation are often mistaken _the_ one _for the_
other."--_Buchanan cor._ "When all nature is hushed in sleep, and neither
love nor guilt _keeps its_ vigils."--_Felton cor._ Or thus:--

   "When all nature's hush'd asleep.
    Nor love, nor guilt, _doth_ vigils keep."


LESSON II.--ANY PARTS OF SPEECH.

"A _Versifier_ and _a_ Poet are two different things."--_Brightland cor._
"Those qualities will arise from the _well-expressing_ of the
subject."--_Id._ "Therefore the explanation of NETWORK is _not noticed_
here."--_Mason cor._ "When emphasis or pathos _is_ necessary to be
expressed."--_Humphrey cor._ "Whether this mode of punctuation is correct,
_or_ whether it _is_ proper to close the sentence with the mark of
admiration, may be made a question."--_Id._ "But not every writer in those
days _was_ thus correct."--_Id._ "The sounds of A, in English orthoepy, are
no _fewer_ than four."--_Id._ "Our present code of rules _is_ thought to be
generally correct." Or: "_The rules in_ our present code are thought to be
generally correct."--_Id._ "To prevent _it from_ running into _an
other_"--_Id._ "_Shakspeare_, perhaps, the greatest poetical genius _that_
England has produced."--_Id._ "This I will illustrate by example; but,
_before doing so_, a few preliminary remarks may be necessary."--_Id._ "All
such are entitled to two accents each, and some of _them_ to two accents
nearly equal."--_Id._ "But some cases of the kind are so plain, that no one
_needs_ to exercise (or, need exercise) his _judgement_ therein."--_Id._ "I
have _forborne_ to use the word."--_Id._ "The propositions, 'He may study,'
'He might study,' 'He could study,' _affirm_ an ability or power to
study."--_E. J. Hallock cor._ "The divisions of the tenses _have_
occasioned grammarians much trouble and perplexity."--_Id._ "By adopting a
familiar, inductive method of presenting this subject, _one may render it_
highly attractive to young learners."--_Wells cor._ "The definitions and
rules of different grammarians were carefully compared with _one an_
other:" or--"_one_ with _an_ other."--_Id._ "So as not wholly to prevent
some _sound from_ issuing."--_Sheridan cor._ "Letters of the Alphabet, not
yet _noticed_."--_Id._ "'IT _is sad_,' 'IT _is strange_,' &c., _seem_ to
express only that _the thing_ is sad, strange, &c."--_Well-Wishers cor._
"The winning is easier than the preserving _of_ a conquest."--_Same_. "The
United States _find themselves_ the _owners_ of a vast region of country at
the west."--_H. Mann cor._ "One or more letters placed before a word _are_
a prefix."--_S. W. Clark cor._ "One or more letters added to a word, _are_
a Suffix."--_Id._ "_Two thirds_ of my hair _have_ fallen off." Or: "My hair
has, two thirds of it, fallen off."--_Id._ "'Suspecting' describes _us,
the speakers_, by expressing, incidentally, an act of _ours_."--_Id._
"Daniel's predictions are now _about_ being fulfilled." Or thus: "Daniel's
predictions are now _receiving their fulfillment_"--_Id._ "His
_scholarship_ entitles him to respect."--_Id._ "I doubted _whether he had_
been a soldier."--_Id._ "_The_ taking _of_ a madman's sword to prevent _him
from_ doing mischief, cannot be regarded as _a robbery_."--_Id._ "I thought
it to be him; but it was not _he_."--_Id._ "It was not _I_ that you
saw."--_Id._ "Not to know what happened before you _were_ born, is always
to be a boy."--_Id._ "How long _were_ you going? Three days."--_Id._ "The
qualifying adjective is placed next _to_ the noun."--_Id._ "All went but
_I_."--_Id._ "This is _a_ parsing _of_ their own language, and not _of_ the
author's."--_Wells cor._ "_Those_ nouns which denote males, are of the
masculine gender." Or: "Nouns _that_ denote males, are of the masculine
gender."--_Wells, late Ed._ "_Those_ nouns which denote females, are of the
feminine gender." Or: "Nouns _that_ denote females, are of the feminine
gender."--_Wells, late Ed._ "When a comparison _among_ more than two
objects of the same class is expressed, the superlative degree is
employed."--_Wells cor._ "Where _d_ or _t goes_ before, the additional
letter _d_ or _t_, in this contracted form, _coalesces_ into one letter
with the radical _d_ or _t_."--_Dr. Johnson cor._ "Write words which will
show what kind of _house_ you live in--what kind of _book_ you hold in your
hand--what kind of _day_ it is."--_Weld cor._ "One word or more _are_ often
joined to nouns or pronouns to modify their meaning."--_Id._ "_Good_ is an
adjective; it explains the quality or character of every person _to whom_,
or thing to which, it is applied." Or:--"of every person or thing _that_ it
is applied to."--_Id._ "A great public as well as private advantage arises
from every one's devoting _of_ himself to that occupation which he prefers,
and for which he is specially fitted."--_Wayland, Wells, and Weld, cor._
"There was a chance _for_ him _to recover_ his senses." Or: "There was a
chance _that he might recover_ his senses."--_Wells and Macaulay cor._
"This may be known by _the absence of_ any connecting word immediately
preceding it."--_Weld cor._ "There are irregular expressions occasionally
to be met with, which usage, or custom, rather than analogy,
_sanctions_."--_Id._ "He added an anecdote of _Quin_ relieving Thomson from
prison." Or: "He added an anecdote of _Quin_ as relieving Thomson from
prison." Or: "He added an anecdote of Quin's relieving _of_ Thomson from
prison." Or better: "He _also told how Quin relieved_ Thomson from
prison."--_Id._ "The daily labour of her hands _procures_ for her all that
is necessary."--_Id._ "_That it is I, should_ make no change in your
determination."--_Hart cor._ "The classification of words into what _are_
called the Parts of Speech."--_Weld cor._ "Such licenses may be explained
_among_ what _are_ usually termed Figures."--_Id._

   "Liberal, not lavish, is kind Nature's _hand_."--_Beattie_.

    "They fall successive, and successive _rise_."--_Pope_.


LESSON III.--ANY PARTS OF SPEECH.

"A Figure of Etymology is _an_ intentional deviation _from_ the usual form
of a word."--_See Brown's Institutes_, p. 229. "A Figure of Syntax is _an_
intentional deviation _from_ the usual construction of a word."--_See
Brown's Inst._, p. 230. "Synecdoche is _the naming_ of the whole of _any
thing_ for a part, or a part for the whole."--_Weld cor._ "Apostrophe is a
_turning-off_[547] from the regular course of the subject, to address some
person or thing."--_Id._ "Even young pupils will perform such exercises
with surprising interest and facility, and will unconsciously gain, in a
little time, more knowledge of the structure of _language_, than _they_ can
acquire by a drilling of several years in the usual routine of
parsing."--_Id._ "A few _rules_ of construction are employed in this
_part_, to guide _the pupil_ in the exercise of parsing."--_Id._ "The name
of _any_ person, object, or thing, _that_ can be thought of, or spoken of,
is a noun."--_Id._ "A dot, resembling our period, is used between every
_two words_, as well as at the close of _each verse_."--_W. Day cor._
"_The_ casting _of_ types in matrices was invented by Peter Schoeffer, in
1452."--_Id._ "On perusing it, he said, that, so far [_was it_] _from_
showing the prisoner's guilt [that] it positively established his
innocence."--_Id._ "By printing the nominative and verb in Italic letters,
_we shall enable_ the reader to distinguish them at a glance."--_Id._ "It
is well, no doubt, to avoid unnecessary words."--_Id._ "_I_ meeting a
friend the other day, he said to me, 'Where are you going?'"--_Id._ "To
John, apples _were_ first denied; then _they were_ promised _to him_; then
_they were_ offered _to him_."--_Lennie cor._ "Admission was denied
_him_."--_Wells cor._ "A pardon _was_ offered _to them_."--_L. Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 183. "A new _potato_ was this day shown me."--_Darwin,
Webster, Frazee, and Weld, cor._ "_Those_ nouns or pronouns which denote
males, are of the masculine gender."--_S. S. Greene, cor._ "There are three
degrees of comparison; the positive, _the_ comparative, and _the_
superlative."--_Id._ "The first two refer to direction; the third _refers_
to locality."--_Id._ "The following are some of the verbs which take a
direct and _an_ indirect object."--_Id._ "I was not aware _that he was_ the
judge of the supreme court."--_Id._ "An indirect question may refer to
_any_ of the five elements of a declarative sentence."--_Id._ "I am not
sure that he will be present."--_Id._ "We left _New York_ on
Tuesday."--_Id._ "He left _the city_, as he told me, before the arrival of
the steamer."--_Id._ "We told him that he must leave _us_;"--_Id._ "We told
him to leave _us_."--_Id._ "Because he was unable to persuade the
multitude, he left _the place_, in disgust."--_Id._ "He left _the company_,
and took his brother with him."--_Id._ "This stating, or declaring, or
denying _of_ any thing, is called the indicative _mood_, or manner of
speaking."--_Weld cor._ "This took place at our friend Sir Joshua
_Reynolds's_."--_Id._ "The manner _in which_ a young _lady may employ_
herself usefully in reading, will be the subject of _an other_
paper."--_Id._ "Very little time is necessary for _Johnson to conclude_ a
treaty with the bookseller."--_Id._ "My father is not now sick; but if he
_were_, your services would be welcome."--_Chandler's Common School Gram.,
Ed. of 1847_, p. 79. "_Before_ we begin to write or speak, we ought to fix
in our minds a clear conception of the end to be aimed at."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "Length of days _is_ in her right hand; and, in her left hand, _are_
riches and honour."--See _Proverbs_, iii, 16. "The active and _the_ passive
present express different ideas."--_Bullions cor._ "An _Improper
Diphthong_, (_sometimes called a_ Digraph,) is a diphthong in which only
one of the vowels _is_ sounded."--_Fowler cor._ (See G. Brown's
definition.) "The real origin of the words _is_ to be sought in the
Latin."--_Fowler cor._ "What sort of alphabet the Gothic languages possess,
we know; what sort of alphabet they require, we can determine."--_Id._ "The
Runic alphabet, whether borrowed or invented by the early Goths, is of
greater antiquity than either the oldest Teutonic or the Moeso-Gothic
_alphabet_."--_Id._ "Common to the masculine and neuter genders."--_Id._
"In the Anglo-Saxon, HIS was common to both the masculine and _the_ Neuter
_Gender_."--_Id._ "When time, number, or dimension, _is_ specified, the
adjective follows the substantive."--_Id._ "Nor pain, nor grief nor anxious
fear, _Invades_ thy bounds."--_Id._ "To Brighton, the Pavilion lends a
_lath-and-plaster_ grace."--_Fowler cor._ "From this consideration, _I have
given to nouns_ but one person, the THIRD."--_D. C. Allen cor._

   "For it seems to guard and cherish
    E'en the wayward dreamer--_me_."--_Anon. cor._


CHAPTER XII.--GENERAL REVIEW.

CORRECTIONS UNDER ALL THE PRECEDING RULES AND NOTES.

LESSON I.--ARTICLES.

"And they took stones, and made _a_ heap."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Gen._, xxxi,
46. "And I do know many fools, that stand in better place."--_Shak. cor._
"It is a strong antidote to the turbulence of passion, and _the_ violence
of pursuit."--_Kames cor._ "The word NEWS may admit of either a singular or
_a_ plural application."--_Wright cor._ "He has gained a fair and
honourable reputation."--_Id._ "There are two general forms, called the
solemn and _the_ familiar style." Or:--"called the solemn and familiar
_styles_."--_Sanborn cor._ "Neither the article nor _the_ preposition can
be omitted."--_Wright cor._ "A close union is also observable between the
subjunctive and _the_ potential _mood_."--_Id._ "Should we render service
equally to a friend, _a_ neighbour, and an enemy?"--_Id._ "Till _a_ habit
is obtained, of aspirating strongly."--_Sheridan cor._ "There is _a_
uniform, steady use of the same signs."--_Id._ "A traveller remarks most
_of the_ objects _which_ he sees."--_Jamieson cor._ "What is the name of
the river on which London stands? _Thames_."--_G. B._ "We sometimes find
the last line of a couplet or _a_ triplet stretched out to twelve
syllables."--_Adam cor._ "_The_ nouns which follow active verbs, are not in
the nominative case."--_David Blair cor._ "It is a solemn duty to speak
plainly of _the_ wrongs which good men perpetrate."--_Channing cor._ "_The_
gathering of riches is a pleasant torment."--_L. Cobb cor._ "It is worth
being quoted." Or better: "It is worth quoting."--_Coleridge cor._ "COUNCIL
is a noun which admits of a singular and _a_ plural form."--_Wright cor._
"To exhibit the connexion between the Old _Testament_ and the New."--_Keith
cor._ "An apostrophe discovers the omission of a letter or _of_
letters."--_Guy cor._ "He is immediately ordained, or rather acknowledged,
_a_ hero."--_Pope cor._ "Which is the same in both the leading and _the_
following state."--_Brightland cor._ "Pronouns, as will be seen hereafter,
have _three_ distinct _cases; the_ nominative, _the_ possessive, and _the_
objective."--_D. Blair cor._ "A word of many syllables is called _a_
polysyllable."--_Beck cor._ "Nouns have two numbers; _the_ singular and
_the_ plural."--_Id._ "They have three genders; _the_ masculine, _the_
feminine, and _the_ neuter."--_Id._ "They have three cases; _the_
nominative, _the_ possessive, and _the_ objective."--_Id._ "Personal
pronouns have, like nouns, two numbers; _the_ singular and _the_
plural;--three genders; _the_ masculine, _the_ feminine, and _the_
neuter;--_three_ cases; _the_ nominative, _the possessive_, and _the_
objective."--_Id._ "He must be wise enough to know the singular from _the_
plural"--_Id._ "Though they may be able to meet every reproach which any
one of their fellows may prefer."--_Chalmers cor._ "Yet for love's sake I
rather beseech thee, being such _a_ one as Paul the aged."--_Bible cor._;
also _Webster_. "A people that jeoparded their lives unto death."--_Bible
cor._ "By preventing too great _an_ accumulation of seed within too narrow
_a_ compass."--_The Friend cor._ "Who fills up the middle space between the
animal and _the_ intellectual nature, the visible and _the_ invisible
world."--_Addison cor._ "The Psalms abound with instances of _the_
harmonious arrangement of words."--_Murray cor._ "On _an_ other table, were
_a_ ewer and _a_ vase, likewise of gold."--_Mirror cor._ "TH is said to
have two sounds, _a_ sharp and _a_ flat."--_Wilson cor._ "_The_ SECTION (§)
is _sometimes_ used in _the_ subdividing of a chapter into lesser
parts."--_Brightland cor._ "Try it in a dog, or _a_ horse, or any other
creature."--_Locke cor._ "But particularly in _the_ learning of languages,
there is _the_ least occasion _to pose_ children."--_Id._ "_Of_ what kind
is _the_ noun RIVER, and why?"--_R. C. Smith cor._ "Is WILLIAM'S a proper
or _a_ common noun?"--_Id._ "What kind of article, then, shall we call
_the_?" Or better: "What then shall we call the article _the_?"--_Id._

   "Each burns alike, who can, or cannot write,
    Or with a rival's, or _a_ eunuch's spite."--_Pope cor._


LESSON II.--NOUNS, OR CASES.

"And there _are_ stamped upon their imaginations _ideas_ that follow them
with terror and _affright_."--_Locke cor._ "There's not a wretch that lives
on common charity, but's happier than _I_."--_Ven. Pres. cor._ "But they
overwhelm _every one who_ is ignorant of them."--_H. Mann cor._ "I have
received a letter from my cousin, _her_ that was here last week."--_Inst._,
p. 129. "_Gentlemen's_ houses are seldom without variety of
company."--_Locke cor._ "Because Fortune has laid them below the level of
others, at their _masters_' feet."--_Id._ "We blamed neither _John's_ nor
Mary's delay."--_Nixon cor._ "The book was written by order _of Luther_ the
_reformer_."--_Id._ "I saw on the table of the saloon Blair's sermons, and
_somebody's_ else, (I forget _whose_,) and [_about the room_] a set of
noisy children."--_Byron cor._ "Or saith he it altogether for our
_sake_?"--_Bible cor._ "He was not aware _that the Duke was_ his
competitor."--_Sanborn cor._ "It is no condition of an adjective, that _the
word_ must be placed before a noun." Or: "It is no condition _on which a
word becomes_ an adjective, that it must be placed before a noun."--_Id.,
and Fowle cor._ "Though their reason corrected the wrong _ideas which_ they
had taken in."--_Locke cor._ "It was _he that_ taught me to hate
slavery."--_Morris cor._ "It is _he_ and his kindred, who live upon the
labour of others."--_Id._ "Payment of tribute is an acknowledgement of _him
as_ being King--(of _him as_ King--or, _that he is_ King--) to whom we
think it due."--_C. Leslie cor._ "When we comprehend what _is taught
us_."--_Ingersoll cor._ "The following words, and parts of words, must be
_noticed_."--_Priestley cor._ "Hence tears and commiseration are so often
_employed_."--_Dr. H. Blair cor._ "JOHN-A-NOKES, _n._ A fictitious name
_used_ in law proceedings."--_A. Chalmers cor._ "The construction of _words
denoting_ matter, and _the_ part _grasped_."--_B. F. Fisk cor._ "And such
other names as carry with them the _idea_ of _something_ terrible and
hurtful."--_Locke cor._ "Every learner then would surely be glad to be
spared _from_ the trouble and fatigue."--_Pike cor._ "_It_ is not the
owning of _one's_ dissent from _an other_, that I speak against."--_Locke
cor._ "A man that cannot fence, will be more careful to keep out of bullies
and _gamesters'_ company, and will not be half so apt to stand upon
_punctilios_."--_Id._ "From such persons it is, _that_ one may learn more
in one day, than in a _year's_ rambling from one inn to _an other_."--_Id._
"A long syllable is generally considered to be twice _as long as_ a short
one."--_D. Blair cor._ "I is of the first person, and _the_ singular
number. THOU is _of the_ second person singular. HE, SHE, or IT, is _of
the_ third person singular. WE is _of the_ first person plural. YE or YOU
is _of the_ second person plural. THEY is _of the_ third person
plural."--_Kirkham cor._ "This actor, doer, or producer of the action, is
_denoted by some word in_ the nominative _case_."--_Id._ "_Nobody_ can
think, _that_ a boy of three or seven years _of age_ should be argued with
as a grown man."--_Locke cor._ "This was in _the house of_ one of the
Pharisees, not in Simon the leper's."--_Hammond cor._ "Impossible! it can't
be _I_."--_Swift cor._ "Whose grey top shall tremble, _He_
descending."--_Milton, P. L._, xii, 227. "_Of_ what gender is _woman_, and
why?"--_R. C. Smith cor._ "_Of_ what gender, then, is _man_, and
why?"--_Id._ "Who is _this I; whom_ do you mean when you say _I_?"--_R. W.
Green cor._ "It _has_ a pleasant air, but _the soil_ is barren."--_Locke
cor._ "You may, in three _days'_ time, go from Galilee to Jerusalem."--_W.
Whiston cor._ "And that which is left of the meat-offering, shall be
Aaron's and his _sons'_."--FRIENDS' BIBLE.

   "For none in all the world, without a lie,
    Can say _of_ this, '_'T_is mine,' but _Bunyan_, I."--_Bunyan cor._


LESSON III.--ADJECTIVES.

"When he can be their remembrancer and advocate _at all assizes_ and
sessions."--_Leslie cor._ "DOING denotes _every_ manner of action; as, to
dance, to play, to write, &c."--_Buchanan cor._ "Seven _feet_
long,"--"eight _feet_ long,"--"fifty _feet_ long."--_W. Walker cor._
"Nearly the whole of _these_ twenty-five millions of dollars is a dead loss
to the nation."--_Fowler cor._ "Two negatives destroy _each_ other."--_R.
W. Green cor._ "We are warned against excusing sin in ourselves, or in _one
an_ other."--_Friend cor._ "The Russian empire is more extensive than any
_other_ government in the world."--_Inst._, p. 265. "You will always have
the satisfaction to think it, of all _your expenses_, the money best laid
out."--_Locke cor._ "There is no _other_ passion which all mankind so
naturally _indulge_, as pride."--_Steele cor._ "O, throw away the _viler_
part of it."--_Shak. cor._ "He showed us _an easier_ and _more agreeable_
way."--_Inst._, p. 265. "And the _last four_ are to point out those further
improvements."--_Jamieson and Campbell cor._ "Where he has not clear
_ideas_, distinct and different."--_Locke cor._ "Oh, when shall we have _an
other such_ Rector of Laracor!"--_Hazlitt cor._ "Speech must have been
absolutely necessary _previously_ to the formation of society." Or better
thus: "Speech must have been absolutely necessary to the formation of
society."--_Jamieson cor._ "Go and tell _those_ boys to be
still."--_Inst._, p. 265. "Wrongs are engraved on marble; benefits, on
sand: _those_ are apt to be requited; _these_, forgot."--_G. B._ "_None_ of
these several interpretations is the true one."--_G. B._ "My friend
indulged himself in some freaks _not befitting_ the gravity of a
clergyman."--_G. B._ "And their pardon is all that _any_ of their
impropriators will have to plead."--_Leslie cor._ "But the time usually
chosen to send young men abroad, is, I think, of all _periods_, that _at_
which _they are_ least capable of reaping those advantages."--_Locke cor._
"It is a mere figment of the human imagination, a rhapsody of the
_transcendently_ unintelligible."--_Jamieson cor._ "It contains a greater
assemblage of sublime ideas, of bold and daring figures, than is perhaps
_anywhere else_ to be met with."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The order in which the
_last two_ words are placed should have been reversed."--_Dr. Blair cor._;
also _L. Murray_. "In Demosthenes, eloquence _shone_ forth with higher
splendour, than perhaps in any _other_ that ever bore the name of
_orator_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The circumstance of his _poverty_ (or, _that
he is_ poor) is decidedly favourable."--_Todd cor._ "The temptations to
dissipation are greatly lessened by his _poverty_."--_Id._ "For, with her
death, _those_ tidings came."--_Shak. cor._ "The next objection is, that
_authors of this sort_ are poor."--_Cleland cor._ "Presenting Emma, as Miss
Castlemain, to these _acquaintances_:" or,--"to these _persons of her_
acquaintance."--_Opie cor._ "I doubt not _that_ it will please more
_persons_ than the opera:" or,--"that it will be _more pleasing_ than the
opera."--_Spect. cor._ "The world knows only two; _these are_ Rome and
I."--_Ben Jonson cor._ "I distinguish these two things from _each_
other."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "And, in this case, mankind reciprocally claim
and allow indulgence to _one an_ other."--_Sheridan cor._ "The _last six_
books are said not to have received the finishing hand of the
author."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The _best-executed_ part of the work, is the
first six books."--_Id._

   "To reason how can we be said to rise?
    So _hard the task for mortals to be_ wise!"--_Sheffield cor._


LESSON IV.--PRONOUNS.

"Once upon a time, a goose fed _her_ young by a _pond's_ side:" or--"by a
_pondside_."--_Goldsmith cor._ (See OBS. 33d on Rule 4th.) "If either _has_
a sufficient degree of merit to recommend _it_ to the attention of the
public."--_J. Walker cor._ "Now W. _Mitchell's_ deceit is very
remarkable."--_Barclay cor._ "My brother, I did not put the question to
thee, for that I doubted of the truth of _thy_ belief."--_Bunyan cor._ "I
had two elder brothers, one of _whom_ was a lieutenant-colonel."--_De Foe
cor._ "Though James is here the object of the action, yet _the word James_
is in the nominative case."--_Wright cor._ "Here John is the actor; and
_the word John_ is known to be _in_ the nominative, by its answering to the
question, '_Who_ struck Richard?'"--_Id._ "One of the most distinguished
privileges _that_ Providence has conferred upon mankind, is the power of
communicating their thoughts to one _an other_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "With
some of the most refined feelings _that_ belong to our frame."--_Id._ "And
the same instructions _that_ assist others in composing _works of
elegance_, will assist them in judging of, and relishing, the beauties of
composition."--_Id._ "To overthrow all _that_ had been yielded in favour of
the army."--_Macaulay cor._ "Let your faith stand in the Lord God, who
changes not, _who_ created all, and _who_ gives the increase of
all."--_Friends cor._ "For it is, in truth, the sentiment of passion which
lies under the figured expression, that gives it _all its_ merit."--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "Verbs are words _that_ affirm the being, doing, or suffering
of a thing, together with the time _at which_ it happens."--_A. Murray
cor._ "The _bias_ will always hang on that side _on which_ nature first
placed it."--_Locke cor._ "They should be brought to do the things _which_
are fit for them."--_Id._ "_The_ various sources _from which_ the English
language is derived."--_L. Murray cor._ "This attention to the several
cases _in which_ it is proper to omit _or_ to redouble the copulative, is
of considerable importance."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Cicero, for instance,
speaking of the cases _in which it_ is lawful _to kill an other in
self-defence_, uses the following words."--_Id._ "But there is no nation,
hardly _are there_ any _persons_, so phlegmatic as not to accompany their
words with some actions, _or_ gesticulations, _whenever_ they are much in
earnest."--_Id._ "_William's_ is said to be governed by _coat_, because
_coat_ follows _William's_" Or better:--"because _coat_ is the name of the
thing possessed by William."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "In life, there are many
_occasions on which_ silence and simplicity are _marks of_ true
wisdom."--_L. Murray cor._ "In choosing umpires _whose_ avarice is
excited."--_Nixon cor._ "The boroughs sent representatives, _according to
law_."--_Id._ "No man believes but _that_ there is some order in the
universe."--_G. B._ "The moon is orderly in her changes, _and_ she could
not be _so_ by accident."--_Id._ "_The riddles of the Sphynx_ (or, The
_Sphynx's_ riddles) are generally _of_ two kinds."--_Bacon cor._ "They must
generally find either their friends or _their_ enemies in power."--_Dr.
Brown cor._ "For, of old, _very many_ took upon them to write what happened
in their own time."--_Whiston cor._ "The Almighty cut off the family of Eli
the high priest, for _their_ transgressions."--_The Friend_, vii, 109. "The
convention then resolved _itself_ into a committee of the whole."--_Inst._,
p. 269. "The severity with which _persons of_ this denomination _were_
treated, appeared rather to invite _them to the colony_, than to deter them
from flocking _thither_."--_H. Adams cor._ "Many Christians abuse the
Scriptures and the traditions of the apostles, to uphold things quite
contrary to _them_."--_Barclay cor._ "Thus, a circle, a square, a triangle,
or a hexagon, _pleases_ the eye by _its_ regularity, _and is a_ beautiful
_figure_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Elba is remarkable for being the place to
which Bonaparte was banished in 1814."--_Olney's Geog_. "The editor has the
reputation of being a good linguist and critic."--_Rel. Herald_. "It is a
pride _which_ should be cherished in them."--_Locke cor._ "And to restore
_to_ us the _hope_ of fruits, to reward our pains in _their_
season."--_Id._ "The comic representation of Death's victim relating _his_
own tale."--_Wright cor._ "As for _Scioppius's_ Grammar, that wholly
_concerns_ the Latin tongue."--_Wilkins cor._

   "And chiefly _Thou_, O Spirit, _that_ dost prefer
    Before all temples _th'_ upright heart and pure,
    Instruct me, for Thou _knowst_."--_Milton, P. L._, B. i, l. 17.


LESSON V.--VERBS.

"And there _were_ in the same country shepherds abiding in the
field."--_Friends' Bible_; also _Bruce's, and Alger's_. "Whereof every one
_bears_ [or _beareth_] twins."--BIBLE COR.: _Song_, vi, 6. "He strikes out
of his nature one of the most divine principles that _are_ planted in
it."--_Addison cor._ "GENII [i.e., the _word_ GENII] _denotes aërial_
spirits."--_Wright cor._ "In proportion as the long and large prevalence of
such corruptions _has_ been obtained by force."--_Halifax cor._ "Neither
of these _is set before any_ word of a general signification, or _before a_
proper name."--_Brightland cor._ "Of which, a few of the opening lines
_are_ all I shall give."--_Moore cor._ "The _wealth_ we had in England, was
the slow result of long industry and wisdom." Or: "The _riches_ we had in
England _were_," &c.--_Davenant cor._ "The following expression appears to
be correct: 'Much _public gratitude_ is due.'" Or this: "'_Great public_
thanks _are_ due.'"--_-Wright cor._ "He _has_ been enabled to correct many
mistakes."--_Lowth cor._ "Which road _dost_ thou take here?"--_Ingersoll
cor._ "_Dost_ thou _learn_ thy lesson?"--_Id._ "_Did_ they _learn_ their
pieces perfectly?"--_Id._ "Thou _learned_ thy task well."--_Id._ "There are
some _who_ can't relish the town, and others can't _bear_ with the
country."--_Sir Wilful cor._ "If thou _meet_ them, thou must put on an
intrepid mien."--_Neef cor._ "Struck with terror, as if Philip _were_
something more than human."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "If the personification of
the form of Satan _were_ admissible, _the pronoun_ should certainly have
been masculine."--_Jamieson cor._ "If only one _follows_, there seems to be
a defect in the sentence."--_Priestley cor._ "Sir, if thou _hast_ borne him
hence, tell me where thou hast laid him."--_Bible cor._ "Blessed _are_ the
people that know the joyful sound."--_Id._ "Every auditory _takes_ in good
part those marks of respect and awe _with which a modest speaker commences
a public discourse_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Private causes were still pleaded
in the forum; but the public _were_ no longer interested, nor _was_ any
general attention drawn to what passed there."--_Id._ "Nay, what evidence
can be brought to show, that the _inflections_ of the _classic_ tongues
were not originally formed out of obsolete auxiliary words?"--_L. Murray
cor._ "If the student _observe_ that the principal and the auxiliary _form
but_ one verb, he will have little or no difficulty in the proper
application of the present rule."--_Id._ "For the sword of the enemy, and
fear, _are_ on every side."--_Bible cor._ "Even the Stoics agree that
nature, _or_ certainty, is very hard to come at."--_Collier cor._ "His
politeness, _his_ obliging behaviour, _was_ changed." Or thus: "His
_polite_ and obliging behaviour was changed."--_Priestley and Hume cor._
"War and its honours _were_ their employment and ambition." Or thus: "War
_was_ their employment; its honours _were their_ ambition."--_Goldsmith
cor._ "_Do_ A and AN mean the same thing?"--_R. W. Green cor._ "When
_several_ words _come_ in between the discordant parts, the ear does not
detect the error."--_Cobbett cor._ "The sentence should be, 'When _several_
words _come_ in,' &c."--_Wright cor._ "The nature of our language, the
accent and pronunciation of it, _incline_ us to contract even all our
regular verbs."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 104. Or thus: "The nature of
our language,--(_that is_, the accent and pronunciation of it,--) inclines
us to contract even all our regular verbs."--_Lowth cor._ "The nature of
our language, together with the accent and pronunciation of it, _inclines_
us to contract even all our regular verbs."--_Hiley cor._ "Prompt aid, and
not promises, _is_ what we ought to give."--_G. B._ "The position of the
several organs, therefore, as well as their functions, _is_
ascertained."--_Med. Mag. cor._ "Every private company, and almost every
public assembly, _affords_ opportunities of remarking the difference
between a just and graceful, and a faulty and unnatural
elocution."--_Enfield cor._ "Such submission, together with the active
principle of obedience, _makes_ up _in us_ the temper _or_ character which
answers to his sovereignty."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "In happiness, as in other
things, there _are_ a false and a true, an imaginary and a real."--_A.
Fuller cor._ "To confound things that differ, and to make a distinction
where there is no difference, _are_ equally unphilosophical."--_G. Brown_.

   "I know a bank wheron _doth_ wild thyme _blow_,
    Where oxlips and the nodding violet _grow_."--_Shak. cor._


LESSON VI.--VERBS.

"Whose business or profession _prevents_ their attendance in the
morning."--_Ogilby cor._ "And no church or officer _has_ power over _an
other_."--_Lechford cor._ "While neither reason nor experience _is_
sufficiently matured to protect them."--_Woodbridge cor._ "Among the Greeks
and Romans, _almost_ every syllable was known to have a fixed and
determined quantity." Or thus: "Among the Greeks and Romans, _all
syllables_, (or at least the far _greater_ number,) _were_ known to have
_severally_ a fixed and determined quantity."--_Blair and Jamieson cor._
"Their vanity is awakened, and their passions _are_ exalted, by the
irritation which their self-love receives from contradiction."--_Tr. of
Mad. De Staël cor._ "_He and I were_ neither of us any great
swimmer."--_Anon_. "Virtue, honour--nay, even self-interest, _recommends_
the measure."--_L. Murray cor._ (See Obs. 5th on Rule 16th.) "A correct
plainness, _an_ elegant simplicity, is the proper character of an
introduction."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "In syntax, there is what grammarians call
concord or agreement, and _there is_ government."--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._
"People find themselves able, without much study, to write and speak
English intelligibly, and thus _are_ led to think _that_ rules _are_ of no
utility."--_Webster cor._ "But the writer must be one who has studied to
inform himself well, _who_ has pondered his subject with care, and who
addresses himself to our _judgement_, rather than to our
imagination."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "But practice _has_ determined it
otherwise; and has, in all the languages with which we are much acquainted,
supplied the place of an interrogative _mood_, either by particles of
interrogation, or by a peculiar order of the words in the
sentence."--_Lowth cor._ "If the Lord _hath_ stirred thee up against me,
let him accept an offering."--_Bible cor._ "But if the priest's daughter be
a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and _she return_ unto her father's
house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat."--_Id._ "Since
we never have _studied, and never_ shall study, your sublime
productions."--_Neef cor._ "Enabling us to form _distincter_ images of
objects, than can be _formed_, with the utmost attention, where these
particulars are not found."--_Kames cor._ "I hope you will consider _that_
what is _spoken_ comes from my love."--_Shak. cor._ "We _shall_ then
perceive how the designs of emphasis may be marred."--_Rush cor._ "I knew
it was Crab, and _went_ to the fellow that whips the dogs."--_Shak. cor._
"The youth _was consuming_ by a slow malady."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 64;
_Ingersoll's_, 45; _Fisk_, 82. "If all men thought, spoke, and wrote alike,
something resembling a perfect adjustment of these points _might_ be
accomplished."--_Wright cor._ "If you will replace what has been, _for a_
long _time_ expunged from the language." Or: "If you will replace what
_was_ long _ago_ expunged from the language."--_Campbell and Murray cor._
"As in all those faulty instances _which_ I have _just_ been giving."--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "This mood _is_ also used _improperly_ in the following
places."--_L. Murray cor._ "He seems to have been well acquainted with his
own genius, and to _have known_ what it was that nature had bestowed upon
him."--_Johnson cor._ "Of which I _have_ already _given_ one instance, the
worst indeed that occurred in the poem."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "It is strange
he never commanded you to _do_ it."--_Anon_. "History painters would have
found it difficult, to _invent_ such a species of beings."--_Addison cor._
"Universal Grammar cannot be taught abstractedly; it must be _explained_
with referenc [sic--KTH] to some language already known."--_Lowth cor._
"And we might imagine, that if verbs had been so contrived as simply to
express these, _no other tenses would have been_ needful."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "To a writer of such a genius as _Dean Swift's_, the plain style _is_
most admirably fitted."--_Id._ "Please _to_ excuse my son's
absence."--_Inst._, p. 279. "Bid the boys come in immediately."--_Ib._

   "Gives us the secrets of his pagan hell,
    Where _restless ghosts_ in sad communion dwell."--_Crabbe cor._

    "Alas! nor faith nor valour now _remains_;
    Sighs are but wind, and I must bear my _chains_."--_Walpole cor._


LESSON VII.--PARTICIPLES.

"Of which the author considers himself, in compiling the present work, as
merely laying the foundation-stone."--_David Blair cor._ "On the raising
_of_ such lively and distinct images as are here described."--_Kames cor._
"They are necessary to the avoiding _of_ ambiguities."--_Brightland cor._
"There is no neglecting _of_ it without falling into a dangerous error." Or
better: "_None can neglect_ it without falling," &c.--_Burlamaqui cor._
"The contest resembles Don Quixote's fighting _of_ (or _with_)
windmills."--_Webster cor._ "That these verbs associate with _other_ verbs
in all the tenses, is no proof _that they have_ no particular time of their
own."--_L. Murray cor._ "To justify _myself in_ not following the _track_
of the ancient rhetoricians."--_Dr. H. Blair cor._ "The _putting-together
of_ letters, so as to make words, is called Spelling."--_Inf. S. Gram.
cor._ "What is the _putting-together of_ vowels and consonants
called?"--_Id._ "Nobody knows of their _charitableness_, but themselves."
Or: "Nobody knows _that they are_ charitable, but themselves."--_Fuller
cor._ "Payment was at length made, but no reason _was_ assigned for so long
_a postponement of it_."--_Murray et al. cor._ "Which will bear _to be_
brought into comparison with any composition of the kind."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "To render vice ridiculous, is _to do_ real service to the
world."--_Id._ "It is _a direct_ copying from nature, a plain rehearsal of
what passed, or was supposed to pass, in conversation."--_Id._ "Propriety
of pronunciation _consists in_ giving to every word that sound which the
most polite usage of the language appropriates to it."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 200; and again, p. 219. "To occupy the mind, and prevent _us from_
regretting the insipidity of _a_ uniform plain."--_Kames cor._ "There are a
hundred ways _in which_ any thing _may happen_."--_Steele cor._ "Tell me,
_seignior, for_ what cause (or _why) Antonio sent_ Claudio to Venice
yesterday."--_Bucke cor._ "As _you are_ looking about for an outlet, some
rich prospect unexpectedly opens to view."--_Kames cor._ "A hundred volumes
of modern novels may be read without _communicating_ a new idea." Or thus:
"_A person may read_ a hundred volumes of modern novels without acquiring a
new idea."--_Webster cor._ "Poetry admits of greater latitude than prose,
with respect to _the_ coining, or at least _the_ new compounding, _of_
words."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "When laws were _written_ on brazen tablets, _and
enforced_ by the sword."--_Pope cor._ "A pronoun, which saves the naming
_of_ a person or thing a second time, ought to be placed as near as
possible to the name of that person or thing."--_Kames cor._ "The using
_of_ a preposition in this case, is not always a matter of choice."--_Id._
"To save _the_ multiplying _of_ words, I would be understood to comprehend
both circumstances."--_Id._ "Immoderate grief is mute: _complaint_ is _a
struggle_ for consolation."--_Id._ "On the other hand, the accelerating or
_the_ retarding _of_ the natural course, excites a pain."--_Id._ "Human
affairs require the distributing _of_ our attention."--_Id._ "By neglecting
this circumstance, _the author of_ the following example _has made it_
defective in neatness."--_Id._ "And therefore the suppressing _of_
copulatives must animate a description."--_Id._ "If the _omission of_
copulatives _gives_ force and liveliness, a redundancy of them must render
the period languid."--_Id._ "It skills not, _to ask_ my leave, said
Richard."--_Scott cor._ "To redeem his credit, he proposed _to be_ sent
once more to Sparta."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Dumas relates _that he gave_ drink
to a dog."--_Stone cor._ "Both are, in a like way, instruments of our
_reception of_ such ideas from external objects."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "In
order to your proper handling _of_ such a subject."--_Spect. cor._ "For I
do not recollect _it_ preceded by an open vowel."--_Knight cor._ "Such is
_the setting up of_ the form above the power of godliness."--_Barclay cor._
"I remember _that I was_ walking once with my young acquaintance."--_Hunt
cor._ "He did not like _to pay_ a debt."--_Id._ "I do not remember _to have
seen_ Coleridge when I was a child."--_Id._ "In consequence of the dry _rot
discovered in it_, the mansion has undergone a thorough repair."--_Maunder
cor._ "I would not advise the following _of_ the German system _in all its
parts_."--_Lieber cor._ "Would it not be _to make_ the students judges of
the professors?"--_Id._ "Little time should intervene between _the
proposing of them_ and _the deciding_ upon _them_."--_Verthake [sic--KTH]
cor._ "It would be nothing less than _to find_ fault with the
Creator."--_Lit. Journal cor._ "_That we were once friends_, is a powerful
reason, both of prudence and _of_ conscience, to restrain us from ever
becoming enemies."--_Secker cor._ "By using the word as a conjunction, _we
prevent_ the ambiguity."--_L. Murray cor._

   "He forms his schemes the flood of vice to stem,
    But _faith in Jesus has no part in_ them."--_J Taylor cor._


LESSON VIII.--ADVERBS.

"Auxiliaries _not only can_ be inserted, but are really
understood."--_Wright cor._ "He was _afterwards_ a hired scribbler in the
Daily Courant."--_Pope's Annotator cor._ "In gardening, luckily, relative
beauty _never need stand_ (or, perhaps better, _never needs to stand_) in
opposition to intrinsic beauty."--_Kames cor._ "I _much_ doubt the
propriety of the following examples."--_Lowth cor._ "And [we see] how far
they have spread, in this part of the world, one of the worst languages
_possible_"--_Locke cor._ "And, in this manner, _merely to place_ him on a
level with the beast of the forest."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "_Whither_, ah!
_whither_, has my darling fled."--_Anon_. "As for this fellow, we know not
whence he is."--_Bible cor._ "Ye see then, that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only."--_Id._ "The _Mixed_ kind is _that in
which_ the poet sometimes speaks in his own person, and sometimes makes
other characters speak."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "Interrogation is _a
rhetorical figure in which_ the writer or orator raises questions, and, _if
he pleases_, returns answers."--_Fisher cor._ "Prevention is _a figure in
which_ an author starts an objection which he foresees may be made, and
gives an answer to it."--_Id._ "Will you let me alone, or _not_?"--_W.
Walker cor._ "Neither man nor woman _can_ resist an engaging exterior."--
_Chesterfield cor._ "Though the cup be _everso_ clean."--_Locke cor._
"Seldom, or _never_, did any one rise to eminence, by being a witty
lawyer." Or thus: "Seldom, _if ever, has_ any one _risen_ to eminence, by
being a witty lawyer."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The second rule which I give,
respects the choice of _the_ objects from _which_ metaphors, and other
figures, are to be drawn."--_Id._ "In the figures which it uses, it sets
mirrors before us, _in which_ we may behold objects _reflected_ in their
likeness."--_Id._ "Whose business _it_ is, to seek the true measures of
right and wrong, and not the arts _by which he may_ avoid doing the one,
and secure himself in doing the other."--_Locke cor._ "The occasions _on
which_ you ought to personify things, and _those on which_ you ought not,
cannot be stated in any precise rule."--_Cobbett cor._ "They reflect that
they have been much diverted, but _scarcely_ can _they_ say about
what."--_Kames cor._ "The eyebrows and shoulders should seldom or _never_
be remarked by any perceptible motion."--_J. Q. Adams cor._ "And the left
hand or arm should seldom or never attempt any motion by itself."--_Id.,
right_. "_Not_ every speaker _purposes_ to please the imagination."--
_Jamieson cor._ "And, like Gallio, they care for none of these things." Or:
"And, like Gallio, they care _little_ for _any_ of these things."--_S.
cor._ "They may inadvertently be _used_ where _their_ meaning would be
obscure."--_L. Murray cor._ "Nor _can_ a man make him laugh."--_Shak. cor._
"The Athenians, in their present distress, _scarcely_ knew _whither_ to
turn."--_Goldsmith cor._ "I do not remember where God _ever_ delivered his
oracles by the multitude."--_Locke cor._ "The object of this government is
twofold, _outward_ and _inward_."--_Barclay cor._ "In order _rightly_ to
understand what we read"--_R. Johnson cor._ "That a design had been formed,
to _kidnap_ or _forcibly abduct_ Morgan."--_Col. Stone cor._ "But such
imposture can never _long_ maintain its ground."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "But
_surely_ it is _as_ possible to apply the principles of reason and good
sense to this art, as to any other that is cultivated among men."--_Id._
"It would have been better for you, to have remained illiterate, and _even_
to have been hewers of wood."--_L. Murray cor._ "Dissyllables that have two
vowels which are separated in the pronunciation, _always_ have the accent
on the _first_ syllable."--_Id._ "And they all turned their backs, _almost_
without drawing a sword." Or: "And they all turned their backs, _scarcely
venturing to draw_ a sword."--_Kames cor._ "The principle of duty
_naturally_ takes _precedence_ of every other."--_Id. "Not_ all that
glitters, is gold."--_Maunder cor._ "Whether now, or _everso_ many myriads
of ages hence."--_Edwards cor._

   "England never did, nor _ever_ shall,
    Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror."--_Shak. cor._


LESSON IX.--CONJUNCTIONS.

"He readily comprehends the rules of syntax, their use in _the constructing
of sentences_, and _their_ applicability _to_ the examples before
him."--_Greenleaf cor._ "The works of Æschylus have suffered more by time,
than _those of_ any _other_ ancient _tragedian_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "There
is much more story, more bustle, and _more_ action, than on the French
theatre."--_Id._ (See Obs. 8th on Rule 16th.) "Such an unremitted anxiety,
_or such a_ perpetual application, as engrosses _all_ our time and
thoughts, _is_ forbidden."--_Jenyns cor._ "It seems to be nothing else
_than_ the simple form of the adjective."--_Wright cor._ "But when I talk
of _reasoning_, I do not intend any other _than_ such as is suited to the
child's capacity."--_Locke cor._ "Pronouns have no other use in language,
_than_ to represent nouns."--_Jamieson cor._ "The speculative relied no
farther on their own judgement, _than_ to choose a leader, whom they
implicitly followed."--_Kames cor._ "Unaccommodated man is no more _than_
such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou art."--_Shak. cor._ "A Parenthesis
is a _suggestion which is_ introduced into the body of a sentence
obliquely, _and which_ may be omitted without injuring the grammatical
construction."--_Mur. et al. cor. "The_ Caret (marked thus ^) is placed
where _something that happened_ to be left out, _is to be put into_ the
line."--_Iid. "When_ I visit them, they shall be cast down."--_Bible cor._
"Neither our virtues _nor our_ vices are all our own."--_Johnson and
Sanborn cor._ "I could not give him _so early_ an answer as he had
desired."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "He is not _so_ tall as his
brother."--_Nixon cor._ "It is difficult to judge _whether_ Lord Byron is
serious or not."--_Lady Blessington cor._ "Some nouns are of _both_ the
second and _the_ third declension."--_Gould cor._ "He was discouraged
neither by danger _nor by_ misfortune."--_Wells cor._ "This is consistent
neither with logic nor _with_ history."--_Dial cor._ "Parts of sentences
are _either_ simple _or_ compound."--_David Blair cor._ "English verse is
regulated rather by the number of syllables, than _by_ feet:" or,--"than by
the number of feet."--_Id._ "I know not what more he can do, _than_ pray
for him."--_Locke cor._ "Whilst they are learning, and _are applying_
themselves with attention, they are to be kept in good humour."--_Id._ "A
man cannot have too much of it, nor _have it_ too perfectly."--_Id._ "That
you may so run, as _to_ obtain; and so fight, as _to_ overcome." Or thus:
"That you may so run, _that_ you may obtain; and so fight, _that_ you may
overcome."--_Penn cor._ "It is the _artifice_ of some, to contrive false
periods of business, _that_ they may seem men of despatch."--_Bacon cor._
"'A tall man and a woman.' In this _phrase_, there is no ellipsis; the
adjective _belongs only to the former noun_; the quality _respects_ only
the man."--_Ash cor._ "An abandonment of the policy is neither to be
expected _nor to be_ desired."--_Jackson cor._ "Which can be acquired by no
other means _than by_ frequent exercise in speaking."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"The chief _or_ fundamental rules of syntax are common to the English _and_
the Latin tongue." Or:--"are _applicable_ to the English as well as _to_
the Latin tongue."--_Id._ "Then I exclaim, _either_ that my antagonist is
void of all taste, or that his taste is corrupted in a miserable degree."
Or thus: "Then I exclaim, that my antagonist is _either_ void of all taste,
or _has a taste that is miserably_ corrupted."--_Id._ "I cannot pity any
one who is under no distress _either_ of body _or_ of mind."--_Kames cor._
"There was much genius in the world, before there were learning _and_ arts
to refine it."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Such a writer can have little else to do,
_than_ to _new-model_ the paradoxes of ancient scepticism."--_Dr. Brown
cor._ "Our ideas of them being nothing else _than collections_ of the
ordinary qualities observed in them."--_Duncan cor._ "A _non-ens_, or
negative, can give _neither_ pleasure nor pain."--_Kames cor._ "So _that_
they shall not justle and embarrass one an other."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "He
firmly refused to make use of any other voice _than_ his own."--_Murray's
Sequel_, p. 113. "Your marching regiments, sir, will not make the guards
their example, either as soldiers or _as_ subjects."--_Junius cor._
"Consequently they had neither meaning _nor_ beauty, to any but the natives
of each country."--_Sheridan cor._

   "The man of worth, _who_ has not left his peer,
    Is in his narrow house forever darkly laid."--_Burns cor._


LESSON X.--PREPOSITIONS.

"These may be carried on progressively _beyond_ any assignable
limits."--_Kames cor._ "To crowd different subjects _into_ a single member
of a period, is still worse than to crowd them into one period."--_Id._
"Nor do we rigidly insist _on having_ melodious prose."--_Id._ "The
aversion we have _to_ those who differ from us."--_Id._ "For we cannot bear
his shifting _of_ the scene _at_ every line."--_Halifax cor._ "We shall
find that we come by it _in_ the same way."--_Locke cor._ "_Against_ this
he has no better _defence_ than that."--_Barnes cor._ "Searching the person
whom he suspects _of_ having stolen his casket."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Who, as
vacancies occur, are elected _by_ the whole Board."--_Lit. Jour. cor._
"Almost the only field of ambition _for_ a German, is science."--_Lieber
cor._ "The plan of education is very different _from_ the one pursued in
the sister country."--_Coley cor._ "Some writers on grammar have contended,
that adjectives _sometimes_ relate to _verbs_, and modify _their_
action."--_Wilcox cor._ "They are therefore of a mixed nature,
participating the properties both of pronouns and _of_ adjectives."--
_Ingersoll cor._ "For there is no authority which can justify the inserting
_of_ the aspirate or _the_ doubling _of_ the vowel."--_Knight cor._ "The
distinction and arrangement _of_ active, passive, and neuter verbs."--
_Wright cor._ "And see thou a hostile world spread its delusive
snares."--_Kirkham cor._ "He may be precautioned, and be made _to_ see how
those _join_ in the contempt."--_Locke cor._ "The contenting _of_
themselves in the _present_ want of what they wished for, is a _virtue_."--
_Id._ "If the complaint be _about_ something really worthy _of_ your
notice."--_Id._ "True fortitude I take to be the quiet possession of a
man's self, and an undisturbed doing _of_ his duty."--_Id._ "For the custom
of tormenting and killing beasts, will, by degrees, harden their minds even
towards men."--_Id._ "Children are whipped to it, and made _to_ spend many
hours of their precious time uneasily _at_ Latin."--_Id. "On_ this subject,
[the Harmony of Periods,] the ancient rhetoricians have entered into a very
minute and particular detail; more particular, indeed, than _on_ any other
_head_ that regards language."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 122. "But the one
should not be omitted, _and the other retained_." Or: "But the one should
not be _used without_ the other."--_Bullions cor. "From_ some common forms
of speech, the relative pronoun is usually omitted."--_Murray and Weld
cor._ "There are _very many_ causes which disqualify a witness _for_ being
received to testify in particular cases."--_Adams cor._ "Aside _from_ all
regard to interest, we should expect that," &c.--_Webster cor._ "My opinion
was given _after_ a rather cursory perusal of the book."--_L. Murray cor._
"And, [_on_] the next day, he was put on board _of_ his ship." Or thus:
"And, the next day, he was put _aboard_ his ship."--_Id._ "Having the
command of no emotions, but what are raised by sight."--_Kames cor._ "Did
these moral attributes exist in some other being _besides_ himself."
Or:--"in some other being _than_ himself."--_Wayland cor._ "He did not
behave in that manner _from_ pride, or [_from_] contempt of the
tribunal."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 113. "These prosecutions _against_
William seem to have been the most iniquitous measures pursued by the
court."--_Murray and Priestley cor._ "To restore myself _to_ the good
graces of my fair critics."--_Dryden cor._ "Objects denominated beautiful,
please not _by_ virtue of any one quality common to them all."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "This would have been less worthy _of_ notice, had not a writer or
two of high rank lately adopted it."--_Churchill cor._

   "A Grecian youth, _of_ talents rare,
    Whom Plato's philosophic care," &c.--WHITEHEAD: E. R., p. 196.


LESSON XI.--PROMISCUOUS.

"To excel _has_ become a much less considerable object."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"My robe, and my integrity to _Heav'n_, are all I dare now call _my_
own."--_Enfield's Speaker_, p. 347. "_For_ thou the garland _wearst_
successively."--_Shak. cor._; also _Enfield_. "If _then_ thou _art_ a
_Roman_, take it forth."--_Id._ "If thou _prove_ this to be real, thou must
be a smart lad indeed."--_Neef cor._ "And _an other_ bridge of four hundred
_feet_ in length."--_Brightland cor._ "METONYMY is _the_ putting _of_ one
name for _an other_, on account of the near relation _which_ there is
between them."--_Fisher cor._ "ANTONOMASIA is _the_ putting _of_ an
appellative or common name for a proper name."--_Id._ "_That it is I,
should_ make no difference in your determination."--_Bullions cor._ "The
first and second _pages_ are torn." Or. "The first and _the_ second _page_
are torn." Or: "The first _page_ and _the_ second are torn."--_Id._ "John's
_absence_ from home occasioned the delay."--_Id._ "His _neglect of_
opportunities for improvement, was the cause of his disgrace."--_Id._ "He
will regret his _neglect of his_ opportunities _for_ improvement, when it
_is_ too late."--_Id._ "His _expertness at dancing_ does not entitle him to
our regard."--_Id._ "Cæsar went back to Rome, to take possession of the
public treasure, which his opponent, by a most unaccountable oversight, had
neglected _to carry away_ with him."--_Goldsmith cor._ "And Cæsar took out
of the treasury, _gold_ to the amount of three thousand _pounds'_ weight,
besides an immense quantity of silver." [548]--_Id._ "Rules and
definitions, which should always be _as_ clear and intelligible as
possible, are thus rendered obscure."--_Greenleaf cor._ "So much both of
ability and _of_ merit is seldom found." Or thus: "So much _of both_
ability and merit is seldom found."[549]--_L. Murray cor._ "If such maxims,
and such practices prevail, what _has_ become of decency and
virtue?"[550]--_Murray's False Syntax_, ii, 62. Or: "If such maxims and
practices prevail, what _will_ become of decency and virtue?"--_Murray and
Bullions cor._ "Especially if the subject _does not require_ so much
pomp."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "However, the proper mixture of light and shade in
such compositions,--the exact adjustment of all the figurative
circumstances with the literal sense,--_has_ ever been _found an affair_ of
great nicety."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 151. "And adding to that hissing in our
language, which is so much _noticed_ by foreigners."--_Addison, Coote, and
Murray, cor._ "_To speak_ impatiently to servants, or _to do_ any thing
that betrays unkindness, or ill-humour, is certainly criminal." Or better:
"Impatience, unkindness, or ill-humour, is certainly criminal."--_Mur. et
al. cor._ "_Here are_ a _fullness_ and grandeur of expression, well suited
to the subject."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "I single _out_ Strada _from_ among the
moderns, because he had the foolish presumption to censure Tacitus."--_L.
Murray cor._ "I single him out _from_ among the moderns, because,"
&c.--_Bolingbroke cor._ "This _rule is not_ always observed, even by good
writers, _so_ strictly as it ought to be."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "But this
gravity and assurance, which _are_ beyond boyhood, being neither wisdom nor
knowledge, do never reach to manhood."--_Pope cor._ "The regularity and
polish even of a turnpike-road, _have_ some influence upon the low people
in the neighbourhood."--_Kames cor._ "They become fond of regularity and
neatness; _and this improvement of their taste_ is displayed, first upon
their yards and little enclosures, and next within doors."--_Id._ "The
phrase, '_it is impossible to exist_,' gives us the idea, _that it is_
impossible for men, or any body, to exist."--_Priestley cor._ "I'll give a
thousand _pounds_ to look upon him."--_Shak. cor._ "The reader's knowledge,
as Dr. Campbell observes, may prevent _him from_ mistaking it."--_Crombie
and Murray cor._ "When two words are set in contrast, or in opposition to
_each_ other, they are both emphatic."--_L. Murray cor._ "The number of
_the_ persons--men, women, and children--who were lost in the sea, was very
great." Or thus: "The number of persons--men, women, and children--_that_
were lost in the sea, was very great."--_Id._ "Nor is the resemblance
between the primary and _the_ resembling object pointed out."--_Jamieson
cor._ "I think it the best book of the kind, _that_ I have met
with."--_Mathews cor._

   "Why should not we their ancient rites restore,
    And be what Rome or Athens _was_ before?"--_Roscommon cor._


LESSON XII.--TWO ERRORS.

"It is labour only _that_ gives relish to pleasure."--_L. Murray cor._
"Groves are never _more_ agreeable _than_ in the opening of spring."--_Id._
"His Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas _of_ the Sublime
and _the_ Beautiful, soon made him known to the literati."--See _Blair's
Lect._, pp. 34 and 45. "An awful precipice or tower _from which_ we look
down on the objects which _are_ below."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "This passage,
though very poetical, is, however, harsh and obscure; _and for_ no other
cause _than_ this, that three distinct metaphors are crowded
together."--_Id._ "I _purpose to make_ some observations."--_Id._ "I shall
_here_ follow the same method _that_ I have all along pursued."--_Id._
"Mankind _at no other time_ resemble _one an_ other so much as they do in
the beginnings of society."--_Id._ "But no ear is sensible of the
termination of each foot, in _the_ reading _of a_ hexameter line."--_Id._
"The first thing, says he, _that_ a writer _either_ of fables or of heroic
poems does, is, to choose some maxim or point of morality."--_Id._ "The
fourth book has _always_ been most justly admired, and _indeed it_ abounds
with beauties of the highest kind."--_Id._ "There is _in_ the poem no
attempt towards _the_ painting _of_ characters."--_Id._ "But the artificial
contrasting of characters, and the _constant_ introducing _of_ them in
pairs and by opposites, _give_ too theatrical and affected an air to the
piece."--_Id._ "Neither of them _is_ arbitrary _or_ local."--_Kames cor._
"If _the_ crowding _of_ figures _is_ bad, it is still worse to graft one
figure upon _an other_."--_Id._ "The _crowding-together of_ so many objects
lessens the pleasure."--_Id._ "This therefore lies not in the _putting-off
of_ the hat, nor _in the_ making of compliments."--_Locke cor._ "But the
Samaritan Vau may have been used, as the Jews _used_ the Chaldaic, both for
a vowel and _for a_ consonant."--_Wilson cor._ "But if a solemn and _a_
familiar pronunciation really _exist_ in our language, is it not the
business of a grammarian to mark both?"--_J. Walker cor._ "By making sounds
follow _one an_ other _agreeably_ to certain laws."--_Gardiner cor._ "If
there _were_ no drinking _of_ intoxicating draughts, there could be no
drunkards."--_Peirce cor._ "Socrates knew his own defects, and if he was
proud of any thing, it was _of_ being thought to have none."--_Goldsmith
cor._ "Lysander, having brought his army to Ephesus, erected an arsenal for
_the_ building of _galleys_."--_Id._ "The use of these signs _is_ worthy
_of_ remark."--_Brightland cor._ "He received me in the same manner _in
which_ I would _receive_ you." Or thus: "He received me _as_ I would
_receive_ you."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "Consisting of _both_ the direct and
_the_ collateral evidence."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "If any man or woman that
believeth _hath_ widows, let _him_ or _her_ relieve them, and let not the
church be charged."--_Bible cor._ "For _men's sake_ are beasts bred."--_W.
Walker cor._ "From three _o'clock_, there _were_ drinking and
gaming."--_Id._ "Is this he that I am seeking, or _not?_"--_Id._ "And for
the upholding _of_ every _one's_ own opinion, there is so much
ado."--_Sewel cor._ "Some of them, however, will _necessarily_ be
_noticed_."--_Sale cor._ "The boys conducted themselves _very
indiscreetly_."--_Merchant cor._ "Their example, their influence, their
fortune,--every talent they possess,--_dispenses_ blessings on all
_persons_ around them."--_Id. and Murray cor._ "The two _Reynoldses_
reciprocally converted _each_ other."--_Johnson cor._ "The destroying _of_
the _last two_, Tacitus calls an attack upon virtue itself."--_Goldsmith
cor._ "_Moneys are_ your suit."--_Shak. cor._ "_Ch_ is commonly sounded
like _tch_, as in _church_; but in words derived from Greek, _it_ has the
sound of _k_."--_L. Murray cor._ "When one is obliged to make some utensil
_serve for_ purposes to which _it was_ not originally destined."--_Campbell
cor._ "But that a _baptism_ with water is a _washing-away_ of sin, thou
canst not hence prove."--_Barclay cor._ "Being _spoken_ to _but_ one, it
infers no universal command."--_Id._ "For if the _laying-aside of_
copulatives gives force and liveliness, a redundancy of them must render
the period languid."--_Buchanan cor._ "James used to compare him to a cat,
_which_ always _falls_ upon her legs."--_Adam cor._

   "From the low earth aspiring genius springs,
    And sails triumphant _borne_ on _eagle's_ wings."--_Lloyd cor._


LESSON XIII.--TWO ERRORS

"An ostentatious, a feeble, a harsh, or an obscure style, for instance,
_is_ always _faulty_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Yet in this we find _that_ the
English pronounce _quite agreeably_ to rule." Or thus: "Yet in this we find
the English _pronunciation_ perfectly agreeable to rule." Or thus: "Yet in
this we find _that_ the English pronounce _in a manner_ perfectly agreeable
to rule."--_J. Walker cor._ "But neither the perception of ideas, nor
knowledge of any sort, _is a habit_, though absolutely necessary to the
forming of _habits_."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "They were cast; and _a_ heavy
fine _was_ imposed upon them."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Without making this
reflection, he cannot enter into the spirit _of the author, or_ relish the
composition."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The scholar should be instructed _in
relation_ to _the_ finding _of_ his words." Or thus: "The scholar should be
_told how_ to _find_ his words."--_Osborn cor._ "And therefore they could
neither have forged, _nor have_ reversified them."--_Knight cor._ "A
dispensary is _a_ place _at which_ medicines are dispensed _to the
poor_."--_L. Mur. cor._ "Both the connexion and _the_ number of words _are_
determined by general laws."--_Neef cor._ "An Anapest has the _first two_
syllables unaccented, and the last _one_ accented; as, c~ontr~av=ene,
acquiésce."--_L. Mur. cor._ "An explicative sentence is _one in which_ a
thing is said, _in a direct manner_, to be or not to be, to do or not to
do, to suffer or not to suffer."--_Lowth and Mur. cor._ "BUT is a
conjunction _whenever_ it is neither an adverb nor _a_ preposition."
[551]--_R. C. Smith cor._ "He wrote in the name _of_ King _Ahasuerus_, and
sealed _the writing_ with the king's ring."--_Bible cor._ "Camm and Audland
_had_ departed _from_ the town before this time."--_Sewel cor._ "_Before
they will relinquish_ the practice, they must be convinced."--_Webster
cor._ "Which he had thrown up _before he set_ out."--_Grimshaw cor._ "He
left _to him_ the value of _a_ hundred drachms in Persian money."--_Spect
cor._ "All _that_ the mind can ever contemplate concerning them, must be
divided _among_ the three."--_Cardell cor._ "Tom Puzzle is one of the most
eminent immethodical disputants, of _all_ that _have_ fallen under my
observation."--_Spect. cor._ "When you have once got him to think himself
_compensated_ for his suffering, by the praise _which_ is given him for his
courage."--_Locke cor._ "In all matters _in which_ simple reason, _or_ mere
speculation is concerned."--_Sheridan cor._ "And therefore he should be
spared _from_ the trouble of attending to anything else _than_ his
meaning."--_Id._ "It is this kind of phraseology _that_ is distinguished by
the epithet _idiomatical; a species that was_ originally the spawn, partly
of ignorance, and partly of affectation."--_Campbell and Murray cor._ "That
neither the inflection nor _the letters_ are such as could have been
employed by the ancient inhabitants of Latium."--_Knight cor._ "In _those_
cases _in which_ the verb is intended to be applied to any one of the
terms."--_L. Murray cor._ "But _these_ people _who_ know not the law, are
accursed."--_Bible cor._ "And the magnitude of the _choruses has_ weight
and sublimity."--_Gardiner cor._ "_Dares_ he deny _that_ there are some of
his fraternity guilty?"--_Barclay cor._ "Giving an account of most, if not
all, _of_ the papers _which_ had passed betwixt them."--_Id._ "In this
manner, _as to both_ parsing and correcting, _should_ all the rules of
syntax be treated, _being taken up_ regularly according to their
order."--_L. Murray cor._ "_To_ Ovando _were_ allowed a brilliant retinue
and a _body-guard_."--_Sketch cor._ "_Was_ it I or he, _that_ you requested
to go?"--_Kirkham cor._ "Let _thee_ and _me_ go on."--_Bunyan cor._ "This I
nowhere affirmed; and _I_ do wholly deny _it_."--_Barclay cor._ "But that I
deny; and _it_ remains for him to prove _it_."--_Id._ "Our country sinks
beneath the yoke: _She_ weeps, _she_ bleeds, and each new day a gash Is
added to her wounds."--_Shak. cor._ "Thou art the Lord who _chose_ Abraham
and _brought_ him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees."--_Bible and Mur. cor._
"He is the exhaustless fountain, from which _emanate_ all these attributes
that _exist_ throughout this wide creation."--_Wayland cor._ "I am he who
_has_ communed with the son of Neocles; I am he who _has_ entered the
gardens of pleasure."--_Wright cor._

   "Such _were_ in ancient times the tales received,
    Such by our good forefathers _were_ believed."--_Rowe cor._


LESSON XIV.--TWO ERRORS.

"The noun or pronoun that _stands_ before the active verb, _usually
represents_ the agent."--_A. Murray cor._ "Such _seem_ to _have been_ the
musings of our hero of the grammar-quill, when he penned the first part of
his grammar."--_Merchant cor._ "Two dots, the one placed above the other
[:], _are_ called Sheva, and _are used to represent_ a very short
_e_."--_Wilson cor._ "Great _have_ been, and _are_, the obscurity and
difficulty, in the nature and application of them" [: i.e.--of natural
remedies].--_Butler cor._ "As two _are_ to four, so _are_ four to
eight."--_Everest cor._ "The invention and use of arithmetic, _reach_ back
to a period so remote, as _to be_ beyond the knowledge of history."--
_Robertson cor._ "What it presents as objects of contemplation or
enjoyment, _fill_ and _satisfy_ his mind."--_Id._ "If he _dares_ not say
they are, as I know he _dares_ not, how must I then distinguish?"--_Barclay
cor._ "He _had_ now grown so fond of solitude, that all company _had_
become uneasy to him."--_Life of Cic. cor._ "Violence and spoil _are_ heard
in her; before me continually _are_ grief and wounds."--_Bible cor._
"Bayle's Intelligence from the Republic of Letters, which _makes_ eleven
volumes in duodecimo, _is_ truly a model in this kind."--_Formey cor._
"Pauses, to _be rendered_ pleasing and expressive, must not only be made in
the right place, but also _be_ accompanied with a proper tone of
voice."--_L. Murray cor._ "_To oppose_ the opinions and _rectify_ the
mistakes of others, is what truth and sincerity sometimes require of
us."--_Locke cor._ "It is very probable, that this assembly was called, to
clear some doubt which the king had, _whether it were lawful for the
Hollanders to throw_ off the monarchy of Spain, and _withdraw_ entirely
their allegiance to that crown." Or:--"About the lawfulness of the
Hollanders' _rejection of_ the monarchy of Spain, and _entire withdrawment
of_ their allegiance to that crown."--_L. Murray cor._ "_A_ naming _of_ the
numbers and cases of a noun in their order, is called _the_ declining _of_
it, or _its declension_."--_Frost cor._ "The embodying _of_ them is,
therefore, only _a_ collecting _of_ such component parts of words."--_Town
cor._ "The one is the voice heard _when Christ was_ baptized; the other,
_when he was_ transfigured."--_Barclay cor._ "_An_ understanding _of_ the
literal sense"--or, "_To have understood_ the literal sense, would not have
prevented _them from_ condemning the guiltless."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "As if
this were, _to take_ the execution of justice out of the hands of God, and
_to give_ it to nature."--_Id._ "They will say, you must conceal this good
opinion of yourself; which yet is _an_ allowing _of_ the thing, though not
_of_ the showing _of_ it." Or:--"which yet is, _to allow_ the thing, though
not the showing _of_ it."--_Sheffield cor._ "So as to signify not only the
doing _of_ an action, but the causing _of_ it to be done."--_Pike cor._
"This, certainly, was both _a_ dividing _of_ the unity of God, and _a_
limiting _of_ his immensity."--_Calvin cor._ "Tones being infinite in
number, and varying in almost every individual, the arranging _of_ them
under distinct heads, and _the_ reducing _of_ them to any fixed and
permanent rules, may be considered as the last refinement in
language."--_Knight cor._ "The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return,
until he _hath_ done it, and until he _hath_ performed the intents of his
heart."--_Bible cor._ "We seek for deeds _more_ illustrious and heroic, for
events more diversified and surprising."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "We distinguish
the genders, or the male and _the_ female sex, _in_ four different
ways."--_Buchanan cor._ "Thus, _ch_ and _g_ are ever hard. It is therefore
proper to retain these sounds in _those_ Hebrew names which have not been
_modernized_, or changed by public use."--_Dr. Wilson cor._ "_A_
Substantive, or Noun, is the name of any thing _which is_ conceived to
subsist, or of which we have any notion."--_Murray and Lowth cor._ "_A_
Noun is the name of any thing _which_ exists, or of which we have, or can
form, an idea."--_Maunder cor._ "A Noun is the name of any thing in
existence, or _of any thing_ of which we can form an idea."--_Id._ "The
next thing to be _attended to_, is, to keep him exactly to _the_ speaking
of truth."--_Locke cor._ "The material, _the_ vegetable, and _the_ animal
world, receive this influence according to their several
capacities."--_Dial cor._ "And yet it is fairly defensible on the
principles of the schoolmen; if _those things_ can be called principles,
which _consist_ merely in words."--_Campbell cor._

   "Art thou so bare, and full of wretchedness,
    And _fearst_ to die? Famine is in thy cheeks,
    Need and oppression _starve_ in thy _sunk_ eyes."--_Shak. cor._


LESSON XV.--THREE ERRORS.

"The silver age is reckoned to have commenced _at_ the death of Augustus,
and _to have_ continued _till_ the end of Trajan's reign."--_Gould cor._
"Language _has indeed_ become, in modern times, more correct, and _more
determinate_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "It is evident, that _those_ words are
_the_ most agreeable to the ear, which are composed of smooth and liquid
sounds, _and in which_ there is a proper intermixture of vowels and
consonants."--_Id._ "It would have had no other effect, _than_ to add _to_
the sentence _an unnecessary_ word."--_Id._ "But as rumours arose, _that_
the judges _had_ been corrupted by money in this cause, these gave
_occasion_ to much popular clamour, and _threw_ a heavy odium on
Cluentius."--_Id._ "A Participle is derived _from_ a verb, and partakes of
the nature both of the verb and _of an_ adjective."--_Ash and Devis cor._
"I _shall_ have learned my grammar before you _will have learned
yours_."--_Wilbur and Livingston cor._ "There is no _other_ earthly object
capable of making _so_ various and _so_ forcible impressions upon the human
mind, as a complete speaker."--_Perry cor._ "It was not the carrying _of_
the bag, _that_ made Judas a thief and _a_ hireling."--_South cor._ "As the
reasonable soul and _the_ flesh _are_ one man, so God and man _are_ one
Christ."--_Creed cor._ "And I will say to them _who_ were not my people,
_Ye are_ my people; and they shall say, Thou art _our_ God."--_Bible cor._
"Where there is _in the sense_ nothing _that_ requires the last sound to be
elevated or _suspended_, an easy fall, sufficient to show that the sense is
finished, will be proper."--_L. Mur. cor._ "Each party _produce_ words _in
which_ the letter _a_ is sounded in the manner _for which_ they
contend."--_J. Walker cor._ "To countenance persons _that_ are guilty of
bad actions, is scarcely one remove from _an actual commission of the same
crimes_."--_L. Mur. cor._ "'To countenance persons _that_ are guilty of bad
actions,' is a _phrase or clause_ which is _made_ the _subject of_ the verb
'is.'"--_Id._ "What is called _the_ splitting of particles,--_that is, the_
separating _of_ a preposition from the noun which it governs, is always to
be avoided."--_Dr. Blair et al. cor._ (See Obs. 15th on Rule 23d.) "There
is properly _but_ one pause, or rest, in the sentence; _and this falls_
betwixt the two members into which _the sentence_ is divided."--_Iid._ "_To
go_ barefoot, does not at all help _a man_ on, _in_ the way to
heaven."--_Steele cor._ "There is _nobody who does not condemn_ this in
others, though _many_ overlook it in themselves."--_Locke cor._ "Be careful
not to use the same word _in_ the same sentence _either_ too frequently
_or_ in different senses."--_L. Murray cor._ "Nothing could have made her
_more_ unhappy, _than to have married_ a man _of_ such principles."--_Id._
"A warlike, various, and tragical age is _the_ best to write of, but _the_
worst to write in."--_Cowley cor._ "When thou _instancest Peter's_
babtizing [sic--KTH] _of_ Cornelius."--_Barclay cor._ "To introduce two or
more leading thoughts or _topics_, which have no natural _affinity_ or
_mutual_ dependence."--_L. Murray cor._ "Animals, again, are fitted to one
_an other_, and to the elements _or regions in which_ they live, and to
which they are as appendices."--_Id._ "This melody, _however_, or so
_frequent_ varying _of_ the sound of each word, is a proof of nothing, but
of the fine ear of that people."--_Jamieson cor._ "They can, each in _its
turn_, be _used_ upon occasion."--_Duncan cor._ "In this reign, lived the
_poets_ Gower and Chaucer, who are the first authors _that_ can properly be
said to have written English."--_Bucke cor._ "In translating expressions
_of this_ kind, consider the [phrase] '_it is_' as if it were _they
are_."--_W. Walker cor._ "The chin has an important office to perform; for,
_by the degree of_ its activity, we disclose _either_ a polite or _a_
vulgar pronunciation."--_Gardiner cor._ "For no other reason, _than that he
was_ found in bad company."--_Webster cor._ "It is usual to compare them
_after_ the manner _of polysyllables_."--_Priestley cor._ "The infinitive
mood is _recognized more easily_ than any _other_, because the preposition
TO precedes it."--_Bucke cor._ "Prepositions, you recollect, connect words,
_and so do_ conjunctions: how, then, can you tell _a conjunction_ from _a
preposition_?" Or:--"how, then, can you _distinguish_ the _former_ from the
_latter_?"--_R. C. Smith cor._

   "No kind of work requires _a nicer_ touch,
    And, _this_ well finish'd, _none else_ shines so much."
        --_Sheffield cor._


LESSON XVI.--THREE ERRORS.

"_On_ many occasions, it is the final pause alone, _that_ marks the
difference between prose and verse: _this_ will be evident from the
following arrangement of a few poetical lines."--_L. Murray cor._ "I shall
do all I can to persuade others to take _for their cure_ the same measures
_that_ I have _taken for mine_."--_Guardian cor._; also _Murray_. "It is
the nature of extreme self-lovers, _that_ they will set _a_ house on fire,
_as_ it were, but to roast their eggs."--_Bacon cor._ "Did ever man
struggle more earnestly in a cause _in which_ both his honour and _his_
life _were_ concerned?"--_Duncan cor._ "So the rests, _or_ pauses, _which
separate_ sentences _or_ their parts, are marked by points."--_Lowth cor._
"Yet the case and _mood are_ not influenced by them, but _are_ determined
by the nature of the sentence."--_Id._ "_Through inattention_ to this rule,
many errors have been committed: _several_ of which _are here_ subjoined,
as a further caution and direction to the learner."--_L. Murray cor._
"Though thou _clothe_ thyself with crimson, though thou _deck_ thee with
ornaments of gold, though thou _polish_ thy face with painting, in vain
shalt thou make thyself fair." [552]--_Bible cor._ "But that the doing _of_
good to others, will make us happy, is not so evident; _the_ feeding _of_
the hungry, for example, or _the_ clothing _of_ the naked." Or: "But that,
_to do_ good to others, will make us happy, is not so evident; _to feed_
the hungry, for example, or _to clothe_ the naked."--_Kames cor._ "There is
no other God _than he_, no other light _than_ his." Or: "There is no God
_but he_, no light _but_ his."--_Penn cor._ "How little reason _is there_
to wonder, that a _powerful_ and accomplished orator should be one of the
characters that _are_ most rarely found."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Because they
express _neither the_ doing nor _the_ receiving _of_ an action."--_Inf. S.
Gram. cor._ "To find the answers, will require an effort of mind; and, when
_right answers are_ given, _they_ will be the result of reflection, _and
show_ that the subject is understood."--_Id._ "'The sun rises,' is _an
expression_ trite and common; but _the same idea_ becomes a magnificent
image, when expressed _in the language of_ Mr. Thomson."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"The declining _of_ a word is the giving _of its_ different endings." Or:
"_To decline_ a word, is _to give_ it different endings."--_Ware cor._ "And
so much are they for _allowing_ every _one to follow his_ own
mind."--_Barclay cor._ "More than one overture for peace _were_ made, but
Cleon prevented _them from_ taking effect."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Neither in
English, _nor_ in any other language, is this word, _or_ that which
corresponds to it in _meaning_, any more an article, than TWO, THREE, _or_
FOUR."--_Webster cor._ "But the most irksome conversation of all that I
have met _with in_ the neighbourhood, has been _with_ two or three of your
travellers."--_Spect. cor._ "Set down the _first two_ terms of _the_
supposition, _one under the other_, in the first place."--_Smiley cor._ "It
is _a_ useful _practice_ too, to fix _one's_ eye on some of the most
distant persons in the assembly."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "He will generally
please _his hearers_ most, when _to please them_ is not his sole _or his_
chief aim."--_Id._ "At length, the consuls return to the camp, and inform
_the soldiers, that_ they could _obtain for them_ no other terms _than
those_ of surrendering their arms and passing under the yoke."--_Id._ "Nor
_are_ mankind so much to blame, in _their_ choice thus determining
_them_."--_Swift cor._ "These forms are what _are_ called _the Numbers_."
Or: "These forms are called _Numbers_."--_Fosdick cor._ "In _those_
languages which admit but two genders, all nouns are either masculine or
feminine, even though they designate beings _that_ are neither male _nor_
female."--_Id._ "It is called _Verb_ or _Word_ by way of eminence, because
it is the most essential word in a sentence, _and one_ without which the
other parts of speech _cannot_ form _any_ complete sense."--_Gould cor._
"The sentence will consist of two members, _and these will_ commonly _be_
separated from _each_ other by a comma."--_Jamieson cor._ "Loud and soft in
speaking _are_ like the _fortè_ and _piano_ in music; _they_ only _refer_
to the different degrees of force used in the same key: whereas high and
low imply a change of key."--_Sheridan cor._ "They are chiefly three: the
acquisition of knowledge; the assisting _of_ the memory to treasure up this
knowledge; _and_ the communicating _of_ it to others."--_Id._

   "_This_ kind of knaves I know, _who_ in this plainness
    Harbour more craft, and _hide_ corrupter ends,
    Than twenty silly ducking observants."--_Shak. cor._


LESSON XVII.--MANY ERRORS.

"A man will be forgiven, even _for_ great errors, _committed_ in a foreign
language; but, in _the use he makes of_ his own, even the least slips are
justly _pointed out_ and ridiculed."--_Amer. Chesterfield cor._ "LET
expresses _not only_ permission, but _entreaty, exhortation, and
command_."--_Lowth cor._; also _Murray, et al._ "That death which is our
leaving _of_ this world, is nothing else _than the putting-off of_ these
bodies."--_Sherlock cor._ "They differ from the saints recorded _in either_
the Old _or the_ New _Testament_."--_Newton cor._ "The nature of relation,
_therefore_, consists in the referring or comparing _of_ two things to
_each_ other; from which comparison, one or both _come_ to be
denominated."--_Locke cor._ "It is not credible, that there _is_ any one
who will say, that _through_ the whole course of _his life he_ has kept
_himself entirely_ undefiled, _without_ the least spot or stain of
sin."--_Witsius cor._ "If _to act_ conformably to the will of our
Creator,--if _to promote_ the welfare of mankind around us,--if _to secure_
our own happiness, _is an object_ of the highest moment; then are we loudly
called upon to cultivate and extend the great interests of religion and
virtue." Or: "If, to act conformably to the will of our Creator, to promote
the welfare of mankind around us, _and_ to secure our own happiness, _are
objects_ of the highest moment; then," &c.--_Murray et al. cor._ "The verb
being in the plural number, it is supposed, that _the officer and his guard
are joint agents. But this_ is not the case: the only nominative to the
verb is '_officer_.' In the expression, '_with his guard_,' the _noun
'guard' is_ in the objective case, _being_ governed by the preposition
_with_; and _consequently it_ cannot form the nominative, or any part of
it. The prominent subject _for the agreement_, the true nominative _to_ the
verb, _or the term_ to which the verb peculiarly refers, is the _word
'officer.'_"--_L. Murray cor._ "This is _an other_ use, that, in my
opinion, contributes to make a man learned _rather_ than wise; and is
_incapable_ of pleasing _either_ the understanding or _the_
imagination."--_Addison cor._ "The work is a dull performance; and is
_incapable_ of pleasing _either_ the understanding _or_ the
imagination."--_L. Murray cor._ "I would recommend the 'Elements of English
Grammar,' by Mr. Frost. _The_ plan _of this little work is similar to that
of Mr. L. Murray's smallest Grammar_; but, _in order_ to meet the
understanding of children, _its_ definitions and language _are_ simplified,
_so_ far as the nature of the subject will admit. It also embraces more
examples _for_ Parsing, than _are_ usual in elementary treatises."--_S. R.
Hall cor._ "More rain falls in the first two summer months, than in the
first two _months_ of winter; but _what falls_, makes a much greater show
upon the earth, in _winter_ than in _summer_, because there is a much
slower evaporation."--_L. Murray cor._ "They often contribute also to
_render_ some persons prosperous, though wicked; and, _what_ is still
worse, to _reward_ some actions, though vicious; and _punish_ other
actions, though virtuous."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Hence, to such a man,
_arise_ naturally a secret satisfaction, _a_ sense of security, and _an_
implicit hope of somewhat further."--_Id._ "So much for the third and last
cause of illusion, that was _noticed above; which arises_ from the abuse of
very general and abstract terms; _and_ which is the principal source of the
_abundant_ nonsense that _has_ been vented by metaphysicians, mystagogues,
and theologians."--_Campbell cor._ "As to those animals _which are_ less
common, or _which_, on account of the places they inhabit, fall less under
our observation, as fishes and birds, or _which_ their diminutive size
removes still further from our observation, we generally, in English,
employ a single noun to designate both genders, _the_ masculine and _the_
feminine."--_Fosdick cor._ "Adjectives may always be distinguished by their
_relation to other words: they express_ the quality, condition, _or
number_, of whatever _things are_ mentioned."--_Emmons cor._ "_An_ adverb
_is_ a word added to a verb, _a_ participle, _an_ adjective, or _an_ other
adverb; _and generally expresses time, place, degree, or
manner_."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 29. "The _joining-together of_ two objects,
_so_ grand, and the representing _of_ them both, as subject at one moment
to the command of God, _produce_ a noble effect."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"Twisted columns, for instance, are undoubtedly ornamental; but, as they
have an appearance of weakness, they displease _the eye, whenever_ they are
_used_ to support any _massy_ part of a building, _or what_ seems to
require a more substantial prop."--_Id._ "_In_ a vast number of
inscriptions, some upon rocks, some upon stones of a defined shape, is
found an Alphabet different from the _Greeks', the Latins'_, and _the
Hebrews'_, and also unlike that of any modern nation."--_W. C. Fowler cor._


LESSON XVIII.--MANY ERRORS.

"The empire of Blefuscu is an island situated on the northeast side of
Lilliput, from _which_ it is parted by a channel of _only_ 800 yards _in
width_."--_Swift and Kames cor._ "The nominative case usually _denotes_ the
agent or doer; and _any noun or pronoun which is_ the subject of a _finite_
verb, _is always in this case_."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "There _are, in_ his
allegorical personages, an originality, _a_ richness, and _a_ variety,
which almost _vie_ with the splendours of the ancient mythology."--_Hazlitt
cor._ "As neither the Jewish nor _the_ Christian revelation _has_ been
universal, and as _each has_ been afforded to a greater or _a_ less part of
the world at different times; so likewise, at different times, both
revelations have had different degrees of evidence."--_Bp. Butler cor._
"Thus we see, that, _to kill_ a man with a sword, _and to kill one_ with a
hatchet, are looked upon as no distinct species of action; but, if the
point of the sword first enter the body, _the action_ passes for a distinct
species, called _stabbing_."--_Locke cor._ "If a soul sin, and commit a
trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbour _concerning_ that
which was delivered him to keep, or _deceive_ his neighbour, or _find_ that
which was lost, and _lie_ concerning it, and _swear_ falsely; in any of all
these that a man doeth, sinning therein, then it shall be," &c.--_Bible
cor._ "As, _to do_ and _teach_ the commandments of God, is the great proof
of virtue; so, _to break_ them, and _to teach_ others to break them, _are_
the great _proofs_ of vice."--_Wayland cor._ "The latter simile, _in_
Pope's terrific maltreatment of _it_, is true _neither_ to _the_ mind _nor
to the_ eye."--_Coleridge cor._ "And the two brothers were seen,
transported with rage and fury, like Eteocles and Polynices, _each
endeavouring_ to plunge _his sword_ into _the other's heart_, and to assure
_himself_ of the throne by the death of _his_ rival."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Is
it not plain, therefore, that neither the castle, _nor_ the planet, nor the
cloud, which you _here_ see, _is that_ real _one_ which you suppose _to_
exist at a distance?"--_Berkley cor._ "I have often wondered, how it comes
to pass, that every body should love _himself_ best, and yet value _his
neighbours'_ opinion about _himself_ more than _his_ own."--_Collier cor._
"Virtue, ([Greek: Aretæ], _Virtus_,) as well as most of its species, _when
sex is figuratively ascribed to it, is made_ feminine, perhaps from _its_
beauty and amiable appearance."--_Harris cor._ "Virtue, with most of its
species, is _made_ feminine _when personified_; and so is Vice, _perhaps_
for being Virtue's opposite."--_Brit. Gram. cor._; also _Buchanan_. "From
this deduction, _it_ may _easily_ be seen, how it comes to pass, that
personification makes so great a figure in all compositions _in which_
imagination or passion _has_ any concern."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "An Article is
a word _placed before a noun_, to point _it_ out _as such_, and to show how
far _its_ signification extends."--_Folker cor._ "All men have certain
natural, essential, and inherent rights;--among which are the _rights of_
enjoying and defending life and liberty; _of_ acquiring, possessing, and
protecting property; and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining
happiness."--_Const. of N. H. cor._ "From _those_ grammarians who form
their ideas and make their decisions, respecting this part of English
grammar, _from_ the principles and construction of _other_ languages,--_of
languages_ which do not in these points _accord with_ our own, but _which_
differ considerably from it,--we may naturally expect grammatical schemes
that _will be neither_ perspicuous nor consistent, and _that_ will tend
_rather_ to perplex than _to_ inform the learner."--_Murray and Hall cor.
"Indeed_ there are but very few who know how to be idle and innocent, or
_who_ have a relish _for_ any pleasures that are not criminal; every
diversion _which the majority_ take, is at the expense of some one virtue
or _other_, and their very first step out of business is into vice or
folly."--_Addison cor._

   "Hail, holy Love! thou _bliss_ that _sumst_ all bliss!
    _Giv'st_ and _receiv'st_ all bliss; fullest when most
    Thou _giv'st_; spring-head of all felicity!"--_Pollok cor._


CHAPTER XIII--GENERAL RULE.

CORRECTIONS UNDER THE GENERAL RULE.

LESSON I.--ARTICLES.

(1.) "_The_ article is a part of speech placed before nouns." Or thus:
"_An_ article is a _word_ placed before nouns."--_Comly cor._ (2.) "_The_
article is a part of speech used to limit nouns."--_Gilbert cor._ (3.) "An
article is a _word_ set before nouns to fix their vague
signification."--_Ash cor._ (4.) "_The_ adjective is a part of speech used
to describe _something named by a_ noun."--_Gilbert cor._ (5.) "A pronoun
is a _word_ used _in stead_ of a noun."--_Id. and Weld cor.: Inst._, p. 45.
(6.) "_The_ pronoun is a part of speech which is often used _in stead_ of a
noun."--_Brit. Gram. and Buchanan cor._ (7.) "A verb is a _word_ which
signifies _to be, to do_, or _to be acted upon_."--_Merchant cor._ (8.)
"_The_ verb is a part of speech which signifies _to be, to act_, or _to
receive an action_."--_Comly cor._ (9.) "_The_ verb is _the_ part of speech
by which any thing is asserted."--_Weld cor._ (10.) "_The_ verb is a part
of speech, which expresses action or existence in a direct
manner."--_Gilbert cor._ (11.) "A participle is a _word_ derived from a
verb, and expresses action or existence in an indirect manner."--_Id._
(12.) "_The_ participle is a part of speech derived from _the_ verb, and
denotes being, doing, or suffering, and implies time, as a verb
does."--_Brit. Gram. and Buchanan cor._ (13.) "_The_ adverb is a part of
speech used to add _some modification_ to the meaning of verbs, adjectives,
and participles."--_Gilbert cor._ (14.) "An adverb is an indeclinable
_word_ added to a verb, [_a participle,] an_ adjective, or _an_ other
adverb, to express some circumstance, _accident_, or manner of _its_
signification."--_Adam and Gould cor._ (15.) "An adverb is a _word added_
to a verb, an adjective, a participle, _or an_ other adverb, to express the
circumstance of _time, place, degree, or manner_."--_Dr. Ash cor._ (16.)
"An adverb is a _word added_ to a verb, _an_ adjective, _a_ participle,
_or_, sometimes, _an_ other adverb, to express some _circumstance_
respecting _the sense_."--_Beck cor._ (17.) "_The_ adverb is a part of
speech, which is _added_ to _verbs, adjectives, participles_, or to other
_adverbs_, to express some modification or circumstance, quality or manner,
of their signification."--_Buchanan cor._ (18.) "_The_ adverb is a part of
speech _which we add_ to _the verb_, (whence the name,) _to the adjective
or participle likewise_, and sometimes even to _an other adverb_."--_Bucke
cor._ (19.) "A conjunction is a _word_ used to connect words _or_
sentences."--_Gilbert and Weld cor._ (20.) "_The_ conjunction is a part of
speech that joins words or sentences together."--_Ash cor._ (21.) "_The_
conjunction is that part of speech which _connects_ sentences, or parts of
sentences, or single words."--_D. Blair cor._ (22.) "_The_ conjunction is a
part of speech that is used principally to connect sentences, so as, out of
two, three, or more sentences, to make one."--_Bucke cor._ (23.) "_The_
conjunction is a part of speech that is used to connect _words or_
sentences _together; but_, chiefly, _to join_ simple sentences into _such
as are_ compound."--_Kirkham cor._ (24.) "A conjunction is a _word_ which
joins _words or_ sentences together, and _shows_ the manner of their
_dependence, as they stand in connexion_."--_Brit. Gram. et al. cor._ (25.)
"A preposition is a _word_ used to show the relation between other words,
_and govern the subsequent term_."--_Gilbert cor._ (26.) "A preposition is
a _governing word_ which serves to connect _other_ words, and _to_ show the
relation between them."--_Frost cor._ (27.) "A preposition is a _governing
particle_ used to connect words and show their relation."--_Weld cor._
(28.) "_The_ preposition is that part of speech which shows the _various
positions_ of persons or things, _and_ the _consequent relations_ that
_certain words bear_ toward _one an_ other."--_David Blair cor._ (29.)
"_The_ preposition is a part of speech, which, being added to _certain_
other parts of speech, serves to _show_ their state _of_ relation, or
_their_ reference to each other."--_Brit. Gram. and Buchanan cor._ (30.)
"_The_ interjection is a part of speech used to express sudden passion or
_strong_ emotion."--_Gilbert cor._ (31.) "An interjection is an
_unconnected word_ used in giving utterance to some sudden feeling or
_strong_ emotion."--_Weld cor._ (32.) "_The_ interjection is that part of
speech which denotes any sudden affection or _strong_ emotion of the
mind."--_David Blair cor._ (33.) "An interjection is _an independent word
or sound_ thrown into discourse, and denotes some sudden passion or
_strong_ emotion of the soul."--_Brit. Gram. and Buchanan cor._

    (34.) "_The_ scene might tempt some peaceful sage
          To rear _a lonely_ hermitage."--_Gent. of Aberdeen cor._

    (35.) "Not all the storms that shake the pole,
          Can e'er disturb thy halcyon soul,
            And _smooth unalter'd_ brow."--_Barbauld's Poems_, p. 42.


LESSON II.--NOUNS.

"The _throne_ of every monarchy felt the shock."--_Frelinghuysen cor._
"These principles ought to be deeply impressed upon the _mind_ of every
American."--_Dr. N. Webster cor._ "The _words_ CHURCH and SHIRE are
radically the same."--_Id._ "They may not, in their present form, be
readily accommodated to every circumstance belonging to the possessive
_case_ of nouns."--_L. Murray cor. "Will_, in the second and third
_persons_, only _foretells_."--_Id.; Lowth's Gram._, p. 41. "Which seem to
form the true distinction between the subjunctive and the indicative
_mood_."--_L. Murray cor._ "The very general approbation which this
performance of _Walker's_ has received from the public."--_Id._ "Lest she
carry her improvements _of this kind_ too far." Or thus: "Lest she carry
her improvements _in_ this way too far."--_Id. and Campbell cor._ "Charles
was extravagant, and by _his prodigality_ became poor and despicable."--_L.
Murray cor._ "We should entertain no _prejudice_ against simple and rustic
persons."--_Id._ "These are indeed the _foundation_ of all solid
merit."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "And his embellishment, by means of _figures,
musical cadences_, or other _ornaments_ of speech."--_Id._ "If he is at no
pains to engage us by the employment of figures, musical arrangement, or
any other _ornament of style_."--_Id._ "The most eminent of the sacred
poets, are, _David, Isaiah_, and the _author_ of the Book of Job."--_Id._
"Nothing in any _poem_, is more beautifully described than the death of old
Priam."--_Id._ "When two vowels meet together, and are _joined in one
syllable_, they are called _a diphthong_."--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "How many
_Esses_ would _goodness'_ then end with? Three; as _goodness's_."--_Id.
"Birds_ is a noun; it is the _common_ name of _feathered
animals_."--_Kirkham cor._ "Adam gave names to _all_ living _creatures_."
Or thus: "Adam gave _a name_ to every living creature."--_Bicknell cor._
"The steps of a _flight of stairs_ ought to be accommodated to the human
figure." Or thus: "_Stairs_ ought to be accommodated to the _ease of the
users_."--_Kames cor._ "Nor ought an emblem, more than a simile, to be
founded on _a_ low or familiar _object_."--_Id._ "Whatever the Latin has
not from the Greek, it has from the _Gothic_."--_Tooke cor._ "The _mint_,
and _the office of the secretary of state_, are neat buildings."--_The
Friend cor._ "The scenes of dead and still _existence_ are apt to pall upon
us."--_Blair cor._ "And Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus, the angelical
_doctor_ and the subtle, are the brightest stars in the scholastic
constellation."--_Lit. Hist. cor._ "The English language has three methods
of distinguishing the _sexes_."--_Murray et al. cor._; also _R. C. Smith_.
"In English, there are the three following methods of distinguishing _the
sexes_."--_Jaudon cor._ "There are three ways of distinguishing the
_sexes_."--_Lennie et al. cor._; also _Merchant. "The sexes are_
distinguished in three ways."--_Maunder cor._ "Neither discourse in
general, nor poetry in particular, can be called altogether an imitative
_art_."--_Dr. Blair cor._

   "Do we for this the gods and conscience brave,
    That one may rule and _all_ the rest _enslave_?"--_Rowe cor._


LESSON III.--ADJECTIVES.

"There is a deal _more_ of heads, than _of_ either heart or
horns."--_Barclay cor._ "For, of all villains, I think he has the _most
improper name_."--_Bunyan cor._ "Of all the men that I met in my
pilgrimage, he, I think, bears the _wrongest_ name."--_Id._ "I am
_surprised_ to see so much of the distribution, and _so many of the_
technical terms, of the Latin grammar, retained in the grammar of our
tongue."--_Priestley cor._ "Nor did the Duke of Burgundy bring him _any_
assistance."--_Hume and Priestley cor._ "Else he will find it difficult to
make _an_ obstinate _person_ believe him."--_Brightland cor._ "Are there
any adjectives which form the degrees of comparison _in a manner_ peculiar
to themselves?"--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "Yet _all_ the verbs are of the
indicative mood."--_Lowth cor._ "The word _candidate_ is _absolute_, in the
_nominative_ case."--_L. Murray cor._ "An Iambus has the first syllable
unaccented, and the _last_ accented."--_L. Murray, D. Blair, Jamieson,
Kirkham, Bullions, Guy, Merchant_, and others. "A Dactyl has the first
syllable accented, and the _last two [syllables_] unaccented."--_Murray et
al. cor._ "It is proper to begin with a capital the first word of every
book, chapter, letter, note, or[553] other piece of writing."--_Jaudon's
Gram._, p. 195; _John Flint's_, 105. "Five and seven make twelve, and one
_more_ makes thirteen."--_L. Murray cor._ "I wish to cultivate a _nearer_
acquaintance with you."--_Id._ "Let us consider the means _which are
proper_ to effect our purpose." Or thus: "Let us consider _what_ means
_are_ proper to effect our purpose."--_Id._ "Yet they are of _so_ similar a
nature as readily to mix and blend."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The Latin is formed
on the same model, but _is_ more imperfect."--_Id._ "I know very well how
_great_ pains have been taken." Or thus: "I know very well how much _care
has_ been taken."--_Temple cor._ "The management of the breath requires a
_great_ deal of care."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Because the mind, during such a
momentary stupefaction, is, in a _great_ measure, if not totally,
insensible."--_Kames cor._ "Motives of reason and interest _alone_ are not
sufficient."--_Id._ "To render the composition distinct in its parts, and
on the whole _impressive_."--_Id._ "_A_ and _an_ are named _the Indefinite
article_, because they denote _indifferently any_ one thing of a
kind."--_Maunder cor._ "_The_ is named _the Definite article_, because it
points out some particular thing _or things_."--_Id._ "So much depends upon
the proper construction of sentences, that, in _any_ sort of composition,
we cannot be too strict in our attention to it." Or:--"that, in _every_
sort of composition, we _ought to be very_ strict in our attention to it."
Or:--"that, in _no_ sort of composition, _can we be_ too strict," &c.--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "_Every_ sort of declamation and public speaking was carried on
by them." Or thus: "All _sorts_ of declamation and public speaking, _were_
carried on by them."--_Id._ "The _former_ has, on many occasions, a
sublimity to which the latter never attains."--_Id._ "When the words,
_therefore, consequently, accordingly_, and the like, are used in connexion
with conjunctions, they are adverbs."--_Kirkham cor._ "Rude nations make
_few_ or no allusions to the productions of the arts."--_Jamieson cor._
"While two of her maids knelt on _each_ side of her." Or, if there were
only two maids kneeling, and not four: "While two of her maids knelt _one_
on _each_ side of her."--_Mirror cor._ "The personal pronouns _of the third
person_, differ from _one an_ other in meaning and use, as
follows."--_Bullions cor._ "It was happy for the state, that Fabius
continued in the command with _Minutius_: the phlegm _of the former_ was a
check _on_ the vivacity _of the latter_."--_L. Murray and others cor._: see
_Maunders Gram._, p. 4. "If it be objected, that the words _must_ and
_ought_, in the preceding sentences, are _both_ in the present tense." Or
thus: "If it be objected, that _in all_ the preceding sentences the words
_must_ and _ought_ are in the present tense."--_L. Murray cor._ "But it
will be well, if you turn to them now and then." Or:--"if you turn to them
_occasionally_."--_Bucke cor._ "That every part should have a dependence
on, and mutually contribute to support, _every_ other."--_Rollin cor._ "The
phrase, '_Good, my lord_,' is not common, and _is_ low." Or:--"is
_uncommon_, and low."--_Priestley cor._

   "That brother should not war with brother,
    And _one_ devour _or vex an_ other."--_Cowper cor._


LESSON IV.--PRONOUNS.

"If I can contribute to _our_ country's glory." Or:--"to _your glory_ and
_that of my country_."--_Goldsmith cor._ "As likewise of the several
subjects, which have in effect each _its_ verb."--_Lowth cor._ "He is
likewise required to make examples _for_ himself." Or: "He _himself_ is
likewise required to make examples."--_J. Flint cor._ "If the emphasis be
placed wrong, _it will_ pervert and confound the meaning wholly." Or: "If
the emphasis be placed wrong, the meaning _will be perverted_ and
_confounded_ wholly." Or: "If _we place_ the emphasis wrong, we pervert and
confound the meaning wholly."--_L. Murray cor._; also _Dr. Blair_. "It was
this, that characterized the great men of antiquity; it is this, _that_
must distinguish the moderns who would tread in their steps."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "I am a great enemy to implicit faith, as well the Popish as _the_
Presbyterian; _for_, in that, _the Papists and the Presbyterians_ are
_very_ much alike."--_Barclay cor._ "Will he thence dare to say, the
apostle held _an other_ Christ than _him_ that died?"--_Id._ "_Why_ need
you be anxious about this event?" Or: "What need _have_ you to be anxious
about this event?"--_Collier cor._ "If a substantive can be placed after
the verb, _the latter_ is active."--_A. Murray cor._ "_To see_ bad men
honoured and prosperous in the world, is some discouragement to virtue."
Or: "_It_ is some discouragement to virtue, _to see_ bad men," &c.--_L.
Murray cor._ "It is a happiness to young persons, _to be_ preserved from
the snares of the world, as in a garden enclosed."--_Id._ "_At_ the court
of Queen Elizabeth, _where all_ was prudence and economy."--_Bullions cor._
"It is no wonder, if such a man did not shine at the court of Queen
Elizabeth, who was _so remarkable_ for _her_ prudence and
economy."--_Priestley, Murray, et al cor._ "A defective verb is _a verb_
that wants some parts. _The defective verbs_ are chiefly the _auxiliaries_
and _the_ impersonal verbs."--_Bullions cor._ "Some writers have given _to
the_ moods a much greater extent than _I_ have assigned to them."--_L.
Murray cor._ "The personal pronouns give _such_ information _as_ no other
words are capable of conveying."--_M'Culloch cor._ "When the article _a,
an_, or _the_, precedes the participle, _the latter_ also becomes a
noun."--_Merchant cor._ "To some of these, there is a preference to be
given, which custom and judgement must determine."--_L. Murray cor._ "Many
writers affect to subjoin to any word the preposition with which it is
compounded, or _that_ of which it _literally_ implies the idea."--_Id. and
Priestley cor._

   "Say, dost thou know Vectidius? _Whom_, the wretch
    Whose lands beyond the Sabines largely stretch?"--_Dryden cor._


LESSON V.--VERBS.

"We _should_ naturally expect, that the word _depend_ would require _from_
after it."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 158. "A dish which they pretend _is_
made of emerald."--_L. Murray cor._ "For the very nature of a sentence
implies _that_ one proposition _is_ expressed."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
311. "Without a careful attention to the sense, we _should_ be naturally
led, by the rules of syntax, to refer it to the rising and setting of the
sun."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "For any rules that can be given, on this subject,
_must be_ very general."--_Id._ "He _would be_ in the right, if eloquence
were what he conceives it to be."--_Id._ "There I _should_ prefer a more
free and diffuse manner."--_Id._ "Yet that they also _resembled one an
other, and agreed_ in certain qualities."--_Id._ "But, since he must
restore her, he insists _on having an other_ in her place."--_Id._ "But
these are far from being so frequent, or so common, as _they have_ been
supposed _to be_."--_Id._ "We are not _led_ to assign a wrong place to the
pleasant or _the_ painful feelings."--_Kames cor._ "Which are of greater
importance than _they are_ commonly thought."--_Id._ "Since these qualities
are both coarse and common, _let us_ find out the mark of a man of
probity."--_Collier cor._ "Cicero did what no man had ever done before him;
_he drew_ up a treatise of consolation for himself."--_Biographer cor._
"Then there can _remain_ no other doubt of the truth."--_Brightland cor._
"I have observed _that_ some satirists use the term." Or: "I have observed
some satirists _to_ use the term."--_Bullions cor._ "Such men are ready to
despond, or _to become_ enemies."--_Webster cor._ "Common nouns _are_ names
common to many things."--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "To make ourselves _heard_ by
one to whom we address ourselves."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "That, in reading
poetry, he may be the better able to judge of its correctness, and _may_
relish its beauties." Or:--"and _to_ relish its beauties."--_L. Murray
cor._ "On the stretch to keep pace with the author, and _comprehend his
meaning_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "For it might have been sold for more than
three hundred pence, and _the money_ have been given to the poor."--_Bible
cor._ "He is a beam that _has_ departed, and _has_ left no streak of light
behind."--_Ossian cor._ "No part of this incident ought to have been
represented, but _the whole should have been_ reserved for a
narrative."--_Kames cor._ "The rulers and people debauching themselves, _a
country is brought to ruin_." Or: "_When_ the rulers and people _debauch_
themselves, _they bring_ ruin on a country."--_Ware cor._ "When _a title_,
(as _Doctor, Miss, Master_, &c.,) is prefixed to a name, the _latter only_,
of the two words, is commonly _varied to form the_ plural; as, 'The _Doctor
Nettletons_,'--'The two _Miss Hudsons_.'"--_A. Murray cor._ "Wherefore that
field _has been_ called, '_The Field of Blood_,' unto this day."--_Bible
cor._ "To comprehend the situations of other countries, which perhaps _it_
may be necessary for him to explore."--_Dr. Brown cor._ "We content
ourselves now with fewer conjunctive particles than our ancestors
_used_."--_Priestley cor._ "And who will be chiefly liable to make mistakes
where others have _erred_ before them."--_Id._ "The voice of nature _and
that of_ revelation _unite_." Or: "_Revelation and_ the voice of nature
_unite_." Or: "The voice of nature _unites with revelation_." Or: "The
voice of nature unites _with that of_ revelation."--_Wayland cor._

   "This adjective, you see, we can't admit;
    But, changed to 'WORSE,' _the word is_ just and fit."--_Tobitt cor._


LESSON VI.--PARTICIPLES.

"Its application is not arbitrary, _or dependent_ on the caprice of
readers."--_L. Murray cor._ "This is the more expedient, _because the work
is_ designed for the benefit of private learners."--_Id._ "A man, he tells
us, ordered by his will, to have _a statue erected_ for him."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ "From some likeness too remote, and _lying_ too far out of the road
of ordinary thought."--_Id._ "In the commercial world, money is a _fluid,
running_ from hand to hand."--_Dr. Webster cor._ "He pays much attention to
_the_ learning and singing _of_ songs."--_Id._ "I would not be understood
to consider _the_ singing _of_ songs as criminal."--_Id._ "It is a _case
decided by Cicero_, the great master of writing."--_Editor of Waller cor._
"Did they ever bear a testimony against _the_ writing _of_ books?"--
_Bates's Rep. cor._ "Exclamations are sometimes _mistaken_ for
interrogations."--_Hist. of Print, cor._ "Which cannot fail _to prove_ of
service."--_Smith cor._ "Hewn into such figures as would make them
_incorporate_ easily and firmly."--_Beat, or Mur. cor._ "_After_ the rule
and example, _there_ are practical inductive questions."--_J. Flint cor._
"I think _it_ will be an advantage, _that I have_ collected _my_ examples
from modern writings."--_Priestley cor._ "He was eager _to recommend_ it to
his fellow-citizens."--_Id. and Hume cor._ "The good lady was careful _to
serve_ me _with_ every thing."--_Id._ "No revelation would have been given,
had the light of nature been sufficient, in such a sense as to render one
_superfluous_ and useless."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Description, again, is _a
representation which raises_ in the mind the conception of an object, by
means of some arbitrary or instituted symbols."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"Disappointing the expectation of the hearers, when they look for _an
end_." Or:--"for _the termination of_ our _discourse_."--_Id._ "There is a
distinction, which, in the use of them, is _worthy_ of attention."--
_Maunder cor._ "A model has been contrived, which is not very expensive,
and _which_ is easily managed."--_Ed. Reporter cor._ "The conspiracy was
the more easily discovered, _because the conspirators were_ many."--_L.
Murray cor._ "Nearly ten years _had_ that celebrated work _been published_,
before its importance was at all understood."--_Id._ "_That_ the _sceptre
is_ ostensibly grasped by a female hand, does not reverse the general order
of government."--_West cor._ "I have hesitated _about_ signing the
Declaration of Sentiments."--_Lib. cor._ "The prolonging of men's lives
when the world needed to be peopled, and _the subsequent_ shortening _of_
them when that necessity _had_ ceased."--_Rev. John Brown cor._ "Before the
performance commences, we _see_ displayed the insipid formalities of the
prelusive scene."--_Kirkham cor._ "It forbade the lending of money, or
_the_ sending _of_ goods, or _the_ embarking _of_ capital in anyway, in
transactions connected with that foreign traffic."--_Brougham cor._ "Even
abstract ideas have sometimes the same important _prerogative conferred_
upon them."--_Jamieson cor._ "_Ment_, like other terminations, changes _y_
into _i_, when _the y is preceded_ by a consonant."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p.
25. "The term PROPER is from the French _propre_, own, or the Latin
_proprius_; and _a Proper noun_ is _so called, because it_ is peculiar to
the individual _or family_ bearing the name. The term COMMON is from the
Latin _communis_, pertaining equally to several or many; and _a Common
noun_ is _so called, because it is common_ to every individual comprised in
the class."--_Fowler cor._

   "Thus oft by mariners are _showed_ (Unless the men of Kent are liars)
    Earl Godwin's castles _overflowed_, And palace-roofs, and steeple-
                                                 spires."--_Swift cor._


LESSON VII.--ADVERBS.

"He spoke to every man and woman _who was there_."--_L. Murray cor._
"Thought and language act and react upon each other."--_Murray's Key_, p.
264. "Thought and expression act _and react_ upon each other."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 356. "They have neither the leisure nor the means of
attaining any knowledge, except what lies within the contracted circle of
their several professions."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 160. "Before they are
capable of understanding _much_, or indeed any thing, of _most_ other
branches of education."--_Olney cor._ "There is _no_ more beauty in one of
them, than in _an other_."--_L. Murray cor._ "Which appear to be
constructed according to _no_ certain rule."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The
vehement manner of speaking became _less_ universal."--Or better:--"_less
general_."--_Id._ "_Not_ all languages, however, agree in this mode of
expression." Or: "This mode of expression, however, _is not common to all_
languages."--_Id._ "The great occasion of setting _apart_ this particular
day."--_Atterbury cor._ "He is much more promising now, than _he was_
formerly."--_L. Murray cor._ "They are placed before a participle, _without
dependence_ on the rest of the sentence."--_Id._ "This opinion _does not
appear to have been_ well considered." Or: "This opinion appears to _have
been formed without due consideration_."--_Id._ "Precision in language
merits a full explication; and _merits it_ the more, because distinct ideas
are, perhaps, _but rarely_ formed _concerning_ it."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "In
the more sublime parts of poetry, he is _less_ distinguished." Or:--"he is
not so _highly_ distinguished."--_Id._ "_Whether_ the author was altogether
happy in the choice of his subject, may be questioned."--_Id._ "But, _with
regard to this matter_ also, there is a great error in the common
practice."--_Webster cor._ "This order is the very order of the human mind,
which makes things we are sensible of, a means to come at those that are
not _known_." Or:--"which makes things _that_ are _already known, its_
means _of finding out_ those that are not so."--_Foreman cor._ "Now, who is
not discouraged, and _does not fear_ want, when he has no money?"--_C.
Leslie cor._ "Which the authors of this work consider of little or no
use."--_Wilbur and Liv. cor._ "And here indeed the distinction between
these two classes begins to be _obscure_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "But this is a
manner which deserves to be _avoided_." Or:--"which _does not deserve_ to
be imitated."--_Id._ "And, in this department, a person effects _very_
little, _whenever_ he attempts too much."--_Campbell and Murray cor._ "The
verb that signifies _mere_ being, is neuter."--_Ash cor._ "I hope to tire
_but little_ those whom I shall not happen to please."--_Rambler cor._ "Who
were utterly unable to pronounce some letters, and _who pronounced_ others
very indistinctly."--_Sheridan cor._ "The learner may point out the active,
passive, and neuter verbs in the following examples, and state the reasons
_for thus distinguishing them_." Or: "The learner may point out the active,
_the_ passive, and _the_ neuter verbs in the following examples, and state
the reasons _for calling them so_."--_C. Adams cor._ "These words are
_almost_ always conjunctions."--_Barrett cor._

   "_How glibly_ nonsense trickles from his tongue!
    How sweet the periods, neither said nor sung!"--_Pope cor._


LESSON VIII.--CONJUNCTIONS.

"Who, at least, either knew not, _or did not love_ to make, a distinction."
Or better thus: "Who, at least, either knew _no distinction_, or _did not
like_ to make _any_."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "It is childish in the last degree
_to let_ this become the ground of estranged affection."--_L. Murray cor._
"When the regular, _and when_ the irregular verb, is to be preferred
[sic--KTH], p. 107."--_Id._ "The books were to have been sold this day."
Or:--"_on_ this day."--_Priestley cor._ "Do, _an_ you will." Or: "Do, _if_
you will."--_Shak. cor._ "If a man had a positive idea _either_ of infinite
duration or _of infinite_ space, he could add two infinites together." Or:
"If a man had a positive idea of _what is_ infinite, either _in_ duration
or _in_ space, he could," &c.--_Murray's proof-text cor._ "None shall more
willingly agree _to_ and advance the same _than_ I."--_Morton cor._ "That
it cannot _but_ be hurtful to continue it."--_Barclay cor._ "A conjunction
joins words _or_ sentences."--_Beck cor._ "The copulative conjunction
connects words _or_ sentences together, and continues the sense."--_Frost
cor._ "The _copulative_ conjunction serves to connect [_words or clauses_,]
_and_ continue a sentence, by expressing an addition, a cause, or a
supposition."--_L. Murray cor._ "All construction is either true or
apparent; or, in other words, _either literal or_ figurative."--_Buchanan
and Brit. Gram. cor._ "But the divine character is such _as_ none but a
divine hand could draw." Or: "But the divine character is such, _that_ none
but a divine hand could draw _it_."--_A. Keith cor._ "Who is so mad, that,
on inspecting the heavens, _he_ is insensible of a God?"--_Gibbons cor._
"It is now submitted to an enlightened public, with little _further_ desire
on the part of the _author_, than for its general utility."--_Town cor._
"This will sufficiently explain _why_ so many provincials have grown old in
the capital without making any change in their original dialect."--
_Sheridan cor._ "Of these, they had chiefly three in general use, which
were denominated ACCENTS, the term _being_ used in the plural
number."--_Id._ "And this is one of the chief reasons _why_ dramatic
representations have ever held the first rank amongst the diversions of
mankind."--_Id._ "Which is the chief reason _why_ public reading is in
general so disgusting."--_Id._ "At the same time _in which_ they learn to
read." Or: "_While_ they learn to read."--_Id._ "He is always to pronounce
his words with _exactly_ the same accent that he _uses in
speaking_."--_Id._ "In order to know what _an other_ knows, and in the same
manner _in which_ he knows it."--_Id._ "For the same reason _for which_ it
is, in a more limited state, assigned to the several tribes of
animals."--_Id._ "Were there masters to teach this, in the same manner _in
which_ other arts are taught." Or: "Were there masters to teach this, _as_
other arts are taught."--_Id._

   "Whose own example strengthens all his laws;
    _Who_ is himself that great sublime he draws."--_Pope cor._


LESSON IX.--PREPOSITIONS.

"The word _so_ has sometimes the same meaning _as_ ALSO, LIKEWISE, _or_ THE
SAME."--_Priestley cor._ "The verb _use_ relates not to 'pleasures of the
imagination;' but to the terms _fancy_ and _imagination_, which he was to
employ as synonymous."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "It never can view, clearly and
distinctly, _more than_ one object at a time."--_Id._ "This figure
[Euphemism] is often the same _as_ the Periphrasis."--_Adam and Gould cor._
"All the _intermediate_ time _between_ youth and old age."--_W. Walker
cor._ "When one thing is said to act _upon an other_, or do something to
_it_."--_Lowth cor._ "Such a composition has as much of meaning in it, as a
mummy has _of_ life." Or: "Such a composition has as much meaning in it, as
a mummy has life."--_Lit. Conv. cor._ "That young men, from fourteen to
eighteen _years of age_, were not the best judges."--_Id._ "This day is a
day of trouble, and of rebuke, and _of_ blasphemy."--_Isaiah_, xxxvii, 3.
"Blank verse has the same pauses and accents _that occur in_
rhyme."--_Kames cor._ "In prosody, long syllables are distinguished by _the
macron_ (¯); and short ones by what is called _the breve_ (~)."--_Bucke
cor._ "Sometimes both articles are left out, especially _from_
poetry."--_Id._ "_From_ the following example, the pronoun and participle
are omitted." Or: "In the following example, the pronoun and participle are
_not expressed_."--_L. Murray cor._ [But the example was faulty. Say.]
"Conscious of his weight and importance,"--or, "_Being_ conscious of his
own weight and importance, _he did_ not _solicit_ the aid of
others."--_Id._ "He was an excellent person; _even in his_ early youth, a
mirror of _the_ ancient faith."--_Id._ "The carrying _of_ its several parts
into execution."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Concord is the agreement which one
word has _with_ an other, in gender, number, case, _or_ person."--_L.
Murray's Gram._, p. 142. "It might perhaps have given me a greater taste
_for_ its antiquities."--_Addison cor._ "To call _on_ a person, and to wait
_on_ him."--_Priestley cor._ "The great difficulty they found in fixing
just sentiments."--_Id. and Hume cor._ "Developing the _differences of_ the
three."--_James Brown cor._ "When the singular ends in x, ch soft, sh, ss,
or s, we add _es to form_ the plural."--_L. Murray cor._ "We shall present
him a list or specimen of them." "It is very common to hear of the evils of
pernicious reading, how it enervates the mind, or how it depraves the
principles."--_Dymond cor._ "In this example, the verb _arises_ is
understood before 'curiosity' and _before_ 'knowledge.'"--_L. Murray et al.
cor._ "The connective is frequently omitted, _when_ several words _have the
same construction_."--_Wilcox cor._ "He shall expel them from before you,
and drive them _out from_ your sight."--_Bible cor._ "Who makes his sun
_to_ shine and his rain to descend, upon the just and the unjust." Or thus:
"Who makes his sun shine, and his rain descend, upon the just and the
unjust."--_M'Ilvaine cor._


LESSON X.--MIXED EXAMPLES.

"This sentence violates _an established rule_ of grammar."--_L. Murray
cor._ "The words _thou_ and _shall_ are again reduced to _syllables of_
short _quantity_."--_Id._ "Have the _greatest_ men always been the most
popular? By no means."--_Lieber cor._ "St. Paul positively stated, that 'He
_that loveth an other, hath_ fulfilled the law.'"--_Rom._, xiii, 8. "More
_organs_ than one _are_ concerned in the utterance of almost every
consonant."--_M'Culloch cor._ "If the reader will pardon _me for_
descending so low."--_Campbell cor._ "To adjust them in _such a manner_ as
shall consist equally with the perspicuity and the grace of the period."
Or: "To adjust them so, _that they_ shall consist equally," &c.--_Dr. Blair
and L. Mur. cor._ "This class exhibits a lamentable inefficiency, and _a
great_ want of simplicity."--_Gardiner cor._ "Whose style, _in all its
course_, flows like a limpid stream, _through which_ we see to the very
bottom."--_Dr. Blair cor._; also _L. Murray_. "We _admit various
ellipses_." Or thus: "An _ellipsis_, or _omission_, of some words, is
frequently admitted."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 116. "The ellipsis, of
_articles may occur_ thus."--_L. Murray cor._ "Sometimes the _article a_ is
improperly applied to nouns of different numbers; as, 'A magnificent house
and gardens.'"--_Id._ "In some very emphatical expressions, _no_ ellipsis
should be _allowed_."--_Id._ "_Ellipses_ of the adjective _may happen_ in
the following manner."--_Id._ "The following _examples show that there may
be an_ ellipsis of the pronoun."--_Id._ "_Ellipses_ of the verb _occur_ in
the following instances."--_Id._ "_Ellipses_ of the adverb _may occur_ in
the following manner."--_Id._ "The following _brief expressions are all of
them elliptical_." [554]--_Id._ "If no emphasis be placed on any words, not
only will discourse be rendered heavy and lifeless, but the meaning _will_
often _be left_ ambiguous."--_Id._; also _J. S. Hart and Dr. Blair cor._
"He regards his word, but thou dost not _regard thine_."--_Bullions,
Murray, et al., cor._ "I have learned my task, but you have not _learned
yours_."--_Iid._ "When the omission of a word would obscure the _sense_,
weaken _the expression_, or be attended with impropriety, _no ellipsis_
must be _indulged_."--_Murray and Weld cor._ "And therefore the verb is
correctly put in the singular number, and refers to _them all_ separately
and individually considered."--_L. Murray cor._ "_He was to me the most
intelligible_ of all who spoke on the subject."--_Id._ "I understood him
better than _I did_ any other who spoke on the _subject_."--_Id._ "The
roughness found on the entrance into the paths of virtue and learning
_decreases_ as we advance." Or: "The _roughnesses encountered in_ the paths
of virtue and learning _diminish_ as we advance."--_Id._ "_There is_
nothing _which more_ promotes knowledge, than _do_ steady application and
_habitual_ observation."--_Id._ "Virtue confers _on man the highest_
dignity _of which he is capable; it_ should _therefore_ be _the chief
object of_ his desire."--_Id. and Merchant cor._ "The supreme Author of our
being has so formed _the human soul_, that nothing but himself can be its
last, adequate, and proper happiness."--_Addison and Blair cor._ "The
inhabitants of China laugh at the plantations of our Europeans: 'Because,'
_say they_, 'any one may place trees in equal rows and uniform
figures.'"--_Iid._ "The divine laws are not _to be reversed_ by those of
men."--_L. Murray cor._ "In both of these examples, the relative _which_
and the verb _was_ are understood."--_Id. et al. cor._ "The Greek and Latin
languages, though for many reasons they cannot be called dialects of one
_and the same tongue_, are nevertheless closely connected."--_Dr. Murray
cor._ "To ascertain and settle _whether_ a white rose or a red breathes the
sweetest fragrance." Or thus: "To ascertain and settle which _of the two_
breathes the _sweeter_ fragrance, a white rose or a red _one_."--_J. Q.
Adams cor._ "To which he can afford to devote _but little_ of his time and
labour."--_Dr. Blair cor._

   "Avoid extremes; and shun the fault of such
    _As_ still are pleased too little or too much."--_Pope cor._


LESSON XI.--OF BAD PHRASES.

"He _might as well_ leave his vessel to the direction of the
winds."--_South cor._ "Without good-nature and gratitude, men _might as
well_ live in a wilderness as in society."--_L'Estrange cor._ "And, for
this reason, such lines _very seldom_ occur together."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"His _greatness_ did not make him _happy_."--_Crombie cor._ "Let that which
tends to _cool_ your love, be judged in all."--_Crisp cor._ "It is _worth_
observing, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak but it mates
and masters the fear of death."--_Bacon cor._ "Accent dignifies the
syllable on which it is laid, and makes it more _audible_ than the
rest."--_Sheridan and Murray cor._ "Before he proceeds to argue on _either_
side."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The _general_ change of manners, throughout
Europe."--_Id._ "The sweetness and beauty of Virgil's numbers, _through
all_ his works."--_Id._ "The French writers of sermons, study neatness and
elegance in _the division of their discourses._"--_Id._ "This _seldom_
fails to prove a refrigerant to passion."--_Id._ "_But_ their fathers,
brothers, and uncles, cannot, as good relations and good citizens, _excuse
themselves for_ not standing forth to demand vengeance."--_Murray's
Sequel_, p. 114. "Alleging, that their _decrial_ of the church of Rome, was
a _uniting_ with the Turks."--_Barclay cor._ "To which is added the
Catechism _by the_ Assembly of Divines."--_N. E. Prim. cor._ "This
treachery was always present in _the thoughts of both of them_."--
_Robertson cor._ "Thus far their words agree." Or: "Thus far _the words of
both_ agree."--_W. Walker cor._ "Aparithmesis is _an_ enumeration _of the_
several parts of what, _as a whole_, might be expressed in few
words."--_Gould cor._ "Aparithmesis, or Enumeration, is _a figure in which_
what might be expressed in a few words, is branched out into several
parts."--_Dr. Adam cor._ "Which may sit from time to time, where you dwell,
or in the vicinity."--_J. O. Taylor cor._ "Place together a _large-sized
animal and a small one_, of the same species." Or: "Place together a large
and a small animal of the same species."--_Kames cor._ "The weight of the
swimming body is equal to that of the quantity of fluid displaced by
it."--_Percival cor._ "The Subjunctive mood, in all its tenses, is similar
to the Optative."--_Gwilt cor._ "No feeling of obligation remains, except
that of _an obligation to_ fidelity."--_Wayland cor._ "Who asked him _why_
whole audiences should be moved to tears at the representation of some
story on the stage."--_Sheridan cor._ "_Are you not ashamed_ to affirm that
the best works of the Spirit of Christ in his saints are as filthy
rags?"--_Barclay cor._ "A neuter verb becomes active, when followed by a
noun of _kindred_ signification."--_Sanborn cor._ "But he has judged better
in _forbearing_ to repeat the article _the_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Many
objects please us, _and are thought_ highly beautiful, which have _scarcely
any_ variety at all."--_Id._ "Yet they sometimes follow them."--_Emmons
cor._ "For I know of nothing more _important_ in the whole subject, than
this doctrine of mood and tense."--_R. Johnson cor._ "It is by no means
impossible for an _error_ to be _avoided_ or _suppressed_."--_Philol.
Museum cor._ "These are things of the highest importance to _children and
youth_."--_Murray cor._ "He _ought to_ have omitted the word _many_." Or:
"He _might_ better have omitted the word _many_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Which
_might_ better have been separated." Or: "Which _ought rather to_ have been
separated."--_Id._ "Figures and metaphors, therefore, should _never_ be
_used_ profusely."--_Id. and Jam. cor._ "Metaphors, _or_ other figures,
should _never_ be _used in_ too _great abundance_."--_Murray and Russell
cor._ "Something like this has been _alleged against_ Tacitus."--
_Bolingbroke cor._

   "O thou, whom all mankind in vain withstand,
    _Who with the blood of each_ must one day stain thy hand!"
        --_Sheffield cor._


LESSON XII.--OF TWO ERRORS.

"Pronouns sometimes precede the _terms_ which they represent."--_L. Murray
cor._ "Most prepositions originally _denoted relations_ of place."--_Lowth
cor._ "WHICH is applied to _brute_ animals, and _to_ things without
life."--_Bullions cor._ "What _thing_ do they describe, or _of what do
they_ tell the kind?"--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "Iron _cannons_, as well as
brass, _are_ now universally cast solid."--_Jamieson cor._ "We have
philosophers, _more_ eminent perhaps _than those of_ any _other_
nation."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "This is a question about words _only_, and
_one_ which common sense easily determines."--_Id._ "The low pitch of the
voice, is _that which_ approaches to a whisper."--_Id._ "Which, as to the
effect, is just the same _as to use_ no such distinctions at all."--_Id._
"These two systems, therefore, _really_ differ from _each_ other _but_ very
little."--_Id._ "It _is_ needless to give many instances, as _examples_
occur so often."--_Id._ "There are many occasions _on which_ this is
neither requisite nor proper."--_Id._ "Dramatic poetry divides itself into
two forms, comedy _and_ tragedy."--_Id._ "No man ever rhymed _with more
exactness_ than he." [I.e., than Roscommon.]--_Editor of Waller cor._ "The
Doctor did not reap from his poetical labours a _profit_ equal to _that_ of
his prose."--_Johnson cor._ "We will follow that which we _find_ our
fathers _practised_." Or: "We will follow that which we _find to have been_
our _fathers'_ practice."--_Sale cor._ "And I _should_ deeply regret _that
I had_ published them."--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "Figures exhibit ideas _with
more vividness and power_, than could be _given them_ by plain
language."--_Kirkham cor._ "The allegory is finely drawn, _though_ the
heads _are_ various."--_Spect. cor._ "I should not have thought it worthy
_of this_ place." Or: "I should not have thought it worthy _of being
placed_ here."--_Crombie cor._ "In this style, Tacitus excels all _other_
writers, ancient _or_ modern."--_Kames cor._ "No _other_ author, ancient or
modern, possesses the art of dialogue _so completely as_ Shakspeare."--
_Id._ "The names of _all the things_ we see, hear, smell, taste, _or_ feel,
are nouns."--_Inf. S. Gram. cor. "Of_ what number are _the expressions_,
'these boys,' 'these pictures,' &c.?"--_Id._ "This sentence _has faults_
somewhat _like those_ of the last."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Besides perspicuity,
he pursues propriety, purity, and precision, in his language; which
_qualities form_ one degree, and no inconsiderable one, of beauty."--_Id._
"Many critical terms have unfortunately been employed in a sense too loose
and vague; none _with less precision_, than _the word_ sublime."--_Id._
"Hence no word in the language is used _with_ a more vague signification,
than _the word_ beauty."--_Id._ "But still, _in speech_, he made use of
general terms _only_."--_Id._ "These give life, body, and colouring, to the
_facts recited_; and enable us to _conceive of_ them as present, and
passing before our eyes."--_Id._ "Which carried an ideal chivalry to a
still more extravagant height, than _the adventurous spirit of knighthood_
had _ever attained_ in fact."--_Id._ "We write much more supinely, and
_with far less labour_, than _did_ the ancients."--_Id._ "This appears
indeed to form the characteristical difference between the ancient poets,
orators, and historians, _and_ the modern."--_Id._ "To violate this rule,
as the English too often _do, shows_ great incorrectness."--_Id._ "It is
impossible, by means of any _training_, to _prevent them from_ appearing
stiff and forced."--_Id. "And it also gives to_ the speaker the
disagreeable _semblance_ of one who endeavours to compel assent."--_Id._
"And _whenever_ a light or ludicrous anecdote is proper to be recorded, it
is generally better to throw it into a note, than to _run the_ hazard _of_
becoming too familiar."--_Id. "It is_ the great business of this life, to
prepare and qualify _ourselves_ for the enjoyment of a better."--_L. Murray
cor. "From_ some dictionaries, accordingly, it was omitted; and in others
_it is_ stigmatized as a barbarism."--_Crombie cor._ "You cannot see a
thing, or think of _one, the name of which is not_ a noun."--_Mack cor.
"All_ the fleet _have_ arrived, and _are_ moored in safety." Or better:
"The _whole_ fleet _has_ arrived, and _is_ moored in safety."--_L. Murray
cor._


LESSON XIII.--OF TWO ERRORS.

"They have _severally_ their distinct and exactly-limited _relations_ to
gravity."--_Hasler cor._ "But _where the additional s_ would give too much
of the hissing sound, the omission takes place even in prose."--_L. Murray
cor._ "After _o_, it [the _w_] is sometimes not sounded at all; _and_
sometimes _it is sounded_ like a single _u_."--_Lowth cor._ "It is
situation chiefly, _that_ decides the _fortunes_ and characters of
men."--_Hume cor._; also _Murray_. "The vice of covetousness is _that_
[vice] _which_ enters _more deeply_ into the soul than any other."--_Murray
et al. cor. "Of all vices_, covetousness enters the _most deeply_ into the
soul."--_Iid._ "_Of all the vices_, covetousness is _that which_ enters the
_most deeply_ into the soul."--_Campbell cor._ "The vice of covetousness is
_a fault which_ enters _more deeply_ into the soul _than_ any
other."--_Guardian cor._ "WOULD primarily denotes inclination of will; and
SHOULD, obligation: but _they_ vary their import, and are often used to
express simple _events_." Or:--"but _both of them_ vary their import," &c.
Or:--"but _both_ vary their import, and are used to express simple
_events_."--_Lowth, Murray, et al. cor._; also _Comly and Ingersoll_;
likewise _Abel Flint_. "A double _condition_, in two correspondent clauses
of a sentence, is sometimes made _by the word_ HAD; as, '_Had_ he done
this, he _had_ escaped.'"--_Murray and Ingersoll cor._ "The pleasures of
the understanding are preferable to those of the imagination, _as well as
to those_ of sense."--_L. Murray cor._ "Claudian, in a fragment upon the
wars of the giants, has contrived to render this idea of their throwing
_of_ the mountains, which in itself _has so much grandeur_, burlesque and
ridiculous."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "To which not only no other writings are to
be preferred, but _to which_, even in divers respects, _none are_
comparable."--_Barclay cor._ "To distinguish them in the understanding, and
treat of their several natures, in the same cool manner _that_ we _use_
with regard to other ideas."--_Sheridan cor._ "For it has nothing to do
with parsing, or _the_ analyzing _of_ language."--_Kirkham cor._ Or: "For
it has nothing to do with _the_ parsing, or analyzing, _of_
language."--_Id._ "Neither _has_ that language [the Latin] _ever been_ so
_common_ in Britain."--_Swift cor._ "All that I _purpose_, is, _to give_
some openings into the pleasures of taste."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "But the
following sentences would have been better _without it_."--_L. Murray cor._
"But I think the following sentence _would_ be better _without it_." Or:
"But I think it _should be expunged from_ the following sentence."--
_Priestley cor._ "They appear, in this case, like _ugly_ excrescences
jutting out from the body."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "And therefore the fable of
the Harpies, in the third book of the Æneid, and the allegory of Sin and
Death, in the second book of Paradise Lost, _ought not to have been
inserted_ in these celebrated poems."--_Id._ "Ellipsis is an elegant
suppression, or _omission_, of _some_ word or words, _belonging to_ a
sentence."--_Brit. Gram. and Buchanan cor._ "The article A or AN _is not
very proper_ in this construction."--_D. Blair cor._ "Now suppose the
articles had not been _dropped from_ these passages."--_Bucke cor._ "To
_have given_ a separate _name_ to every one of those trees, would have been
an endless and impracticable undertaking."--_Blair cor._ "_Ei_, in general,
_has_ the same _sound_ as long and slender _a_." Or better: "_Ei generally
has_ the _sound of_ long _or_ slender _a_."--_L. Murray cor._ "When a
conjunction is used _with apparent redundance, the insertion of it_ is
called Polysyndeton."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "EACH, EVERY, EITHER, _and_
NEITHER, denote the persons or things _that_ make up a number, as taken
separately or distributively."--_M'Culloch cor._ "The principal sentence
must be expressed by _a verb_ in the indicative, imperative, or potential
_mood_"--_S. W. Clark cor._ "Hence he is diffuse, where he ought to _be
urgent_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "All _sorts_ of subjects admit of _explanatory_
comparisons."--_Id. et al. cor._ "The present or imperfect participle
denotes being, action, _or passion_, continued, _and_ not
perfected."--_Kirkham cor._ "What are verbs? Those words which _chiefly_
express what _is said of things_."--_Fowle cor._

   "Of all those arts in which the wise excel,
    _The very_ masterpiece is _writing-well_."--_Sheffield cor._

    "Such was that muse whose rules and practice tell,
    _That art's_ chief masterpiece is _writing-well_."--_Pope cor._


LESSON XIV.--OF THREE ERRORS.

"_From_ some words, the metaphorical sense has justled out the original
sense altogether; so that, in respect _to the latter_, they _have_ become
obsolete."--_Campbell cor._ "_Surely_, never any _other_ mortal was so
overwhelmed with grief, as I am at this present _moment_."--_Sheridan cor._
"All languages differ from _one an_ other in their _modes_ of
_inflection_."--_Bullions cor._ "_The noun_ and _the verb_ are the only
indispensable parts of speech: the one, to express the subject spoken of;
and the other, the predicate, or what is affirmed of _the
subject_."--_M'Culloch cor._ "The words _Italicized in_ the _last three_
examples, perform the office of substantives."--_L. Murray cor._ "A
sentence _so constructed_ is always _a_ mark of _carelessness in the
writer_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Nothing is more hurtful to the grace or _the_
vivacity of a period, than superfluous _and_ dragging words at the
conclusion."--_Id._ "When its substantive is not _expressed with_ it, but
_is_ referred to, _being_ understood."--_Lowth cor._ "Yet they _always_
have _substantives_ belonging to them, either _expressed_ or
understood."--_Id._ "Because they define and limit the _import_ of the
common _names_, or general _terms_, to which they refer."--_Id._ "Every new
object surprises _them_, terrifies _them_, and makes a strong impression on
their _minds_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "His argument required _a_ more _full
development_, in order to be distinctly apprehended, and to _have_ its due
force."--_Id._ "_Those_ participles which are derived from
_active-transitive_ verbs, will govern the objective case, as _do_ the
verbs from which they are derived."--_Emmons cor._ "Where, _in violation
of_ the rule, the objective case _whom_ follows the verb, _while_ the
nominative _I_ precedes _it_."--_L. Murray cor._ "_To use, after_ the same
conjunction, both the indicative and the subjunctive _mood_, in the same
sentence, and _under_ the same circumstances, seems to be a great
impropriety."--_Lowth, Murray, et al. cor._ "A nice discernment of _the
import of words_, and _an_ accurate attention to the best usage, are
necessary on these occasions."--_L. Murray cor._ "The Greeks and Romans,
the former especially, were, in truth, much more musical than we _are_;
their genius was more turned to _take_ delight in the melody of
speech."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "_In general, if_ the sense admits it _early_,
the sooner _a circumstance is introduced_, the better; that the more
important and significant words may possess the last place, _and be_ quite
disencumbered."--_Murray et al. cor._; also _Blair and Jamieson_. "Thus we
find it in _both_ the Greek and _the_ Latin _tongue_."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"_Several_ sentences, constructed in the same manner, and _having_ the same
number of members, should never be allowed to _come in succession_."--
_Blair et al. cor._ "I proceed to lay down the rules to be observed in the
conduct of metaphors; and _these, with little variation, will be applicable
to_ tropes of every kind."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "By _selecting_ words _with_ a
proper _regard to their sounds_, we may _often imitate_ other sounds which
we mean to describe."--_Dr. Blair and L. Mur. cor._ "The disguise can
_scarcely_ be so perfect _as to deceive_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The sense
_does not admit_ of _any_ other pause, than _one_ after the second syllable
'sit;' _this_ therefore must be the only pause made in the reading."--_Id._
"Not that I believe North America to _have been first_ peopled so _lately_
as _in_ the twelfth century, the period of Madoc's migration."--_Webster
cor._ "Money and commodities _will_ always flow to that country _in which_
they are most wanted, and _in which they will_ command the most
profit."--_Id._ "That it contains no visible marks of _certain_ articles
which are _of_ the _utmost importance_ to a just delivery."--_Sheridan
cor._ "And _Virtue_, from _her_ beauty, we call a fair and favourite
maid."--_Mack cor._ "The definite article may _relate to_ nouns _of either_
number."--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._


LESSON XV.--OF MANY ERRORS.

(1.) "Compound _words are_[, by L. Murray and others, improperly] included
_among the derivatives_."--_L. Murray corrected._ (2.) "_The_ Apostrophe,
_placed above the line_, thus ', is used to abbreviate or shorten _words.
But_ its chief use is, to _denote_ the _possessive_ case of nouns."--_Id._
(3.) "_The_ Hyphen, _made_ thus -, _connects the parts of compound_ words.
It is also used when a word is divided."--_Id._ (4.) "The Acute Accent,
_made_ thus ´, _denotes the syllable on which stress is laid, and sometimes
also, that the vowel is short_: as, '_Fáncy_.' The Grave _Accent, made_
thus `, _usually denotes, (when applied to English words,) that the stress
is laid where a vowel ends the syllable_: as, '_Fàvour_.'"--_Id._ (5.) "The
stress is laid on long _vowels or_ syllables, and on short _ones_,
indiscriminately. In order to distinguish the _long or open vowels_ from
the _close or short ones_, some writers of dictionaries have placed the
grave _accent_ on the former, and the acute on the latter."--_Id._ (6.)
"_The_ Diæresis, thus _made_ ¨, _is_ placed over one of two _contiguous_
vowels, _to show that they are not_ a diphthong."--_Id._ (7.) "_The_
Section, _made_ thus §, is _sometimes used to mark the subdivisions_ of a
discourse or chapter."--_Id._ (8.) "_The_ Paragraph, _made thus_ ¶,
_sometimes_ denotes the beginning of a new subject, or _of_ a _passage_ not
connected with the _text preceding_. This character is _now seldom_ used
[_for such a purpose_], _except_ in the Old and New Testaments." Or
better:--"except in the _Bible_."--_Id._ (9.) "_The_ Quotation _Points,
written thus_ " ", _mark_ the beginning _and the end_ of _what_ is quoted
or transcribed from _some_ speaker or author, in his own words. In type,
they are inverted commas at the beginning, _apostrophes_ at the
conclusion."--_Id._ (10.) "_The_ Brace _was formerly_ used in poetry at the
end of a triplet, or _where_ three lines _rhymed together in heroic verse;
it_ also _serves_ to connect _several terms_ with one, _when the one is
common to all_, and _thus_ to prevent a repetition _of the_ common
term."--_Id._ (11.) "_Several_ asterisks _put together_, generally denote
the omission of some _letters belonging to_ a word, or of some bold or
indelicate expression; _but sometimes they imply a_ defect in the
manuscript _from which the text is copied_."--_Id._ (12.) "_The_ Ellipsis,
_made thus_ ----, _or thus_ ****, is used _where_ some letters _of_ a word,
or some words _of_ a verse, are omitted."--_Id._ (13.) "_The_ Obelisk,
which is _made_ thus [Obelisk]; and _the_ Parallels, _which are made_ thus
||; _and sometimes_ the letters of the alphabet; and _also the Arabic_
figures; are used as references to _notes in_ the margin, or _at the_
bottom, of the page."--_Id._ (14.) "_The_ note of interrogation should not
be employed, where it is only said _that_ a question has been asked, and
where the words are not used as a question; _as_, 'The Cyprians asked me
why I wept.'"--_Id. et al. cor._ (15.) "_The note_ of interrogation is
improper after _mere_ expressions of admiration, or of _any_ other emotion,
_though they may bear the form of_ questions."--_Iid._ (16.) "The
parenthesis incloses _something which is thrown_ into the body of a
sentence, _in an under tone; and_ which affects neither the sense, nor the
construction, _of the main text_."--_Lowth cor._ (17.) "Simple members
connected by _a relative not used restrictively, or by a conjunction that
implies comparison_, are for the most part _divided_ by _the_
comma."--_Id._ (18.) "Simple members, _or_ sentences, connected _as terms
of comparison_, are for the most part _separated_ by _the_ comma."--_L.
Murray et al. cor._ (19.) "Simple sentences connected by _a comparative
particle_, are for the most part _divided_ by the comma."--_Russell cor._
(20.) "Simple sentences _or clauses_ connected _to form a comparison_,
should generally be _parted_ by _the_ comma."--_Merchant cor._ (21.) "The
simple members of sentences that express contrast or comparison, should
generally be divided by _the_ comma."--_Jaudon cor._ (22.) "_The_ simple
members of _a comparative sentence, when_ they _are_ long, are separated by
a comma."--_Cooper cor._ (23.) "Simple sentences connected _to form a
comparison, or_ phrases placed in opposition, or contrast, are _usually_
separated by _the comma_."--_Hiley and Bullions cor._ (24.) "On _whichever_
word we lay the emphasis,--whether on the first, _the_ second, _the_ third,
or _the_ fourth,--_every change of it_ strikes out a different sense."--_L.
Murray cor._ (25.) "To _say to_ those who do not understand sea phrases,
'We tacked to the larboard, and stood off to sea,' would _give them little
or no information_."--_Murray and Hiley cor._ (26.) "Of _those_
dissyllables which are _sometimes_ nouns and _sometimes_ verbs, _it may be
observed, that_ the verb _is_ commonly _accented_ on the latter _syllable_,
and the noun on the former."--_L. Murray cor._ (27.) "And this gives _to_
our language _an_ advantage _over_ most others, in the poetical _or_
rhetorical style."--_Id. et al. cor._ (28.) "And this gives _to_ the
English _language_ an advantage _over_ most _others_, in the poetical and
_the_ rhetorical style."--_Lowth cor._ (29.) "The second and _the_ third
scholar may read the same sentence; or as many _may repeat the text_, as
_are_ necessary to _teach_ it perfectly to the whole _class_."--_Osborn
cor._

    (30.) "Bliss is the _same_, in subject, _or in_ king,
          In who obtain defence, or who defend."
        --_Pope's Essay on Man_, IV, 58.


LESSON XVI.--OF MANY ERRORS.

"The Japanese, the Tonquinese, and the _Coreans_, speak languages
_differing_ from one _an other_, and from _that of_ the inhabitants of
China; _while all_ use the same written characters, and, by means _of
them_, correspond intelligibly with _one an_ other in writing, though
ignorant of the language spoken _by their correspondents_: a plain proof,
that the Chinese characters are like hieroglyphics, _and essentially_
independent of language."--_Jamieson cor._; also _Dr. Blair_. "The curved
line, _in stead_ of _remaining_ round, is _changed to a_ square _one_, for
the reason _before mentioned_."--_Knight cor._ "Every _reader_ should
content himself with the use of those tones only, that he is habituated to
in speech; and _should_ give _to the words no_ other emphasis, _than_ what
he would _give_ to the same words, in discourse. [Or, perhaps the author
meant:--and _should_ give _to the emphatic words no_ other _intonation,
than_ what he would _give_, &c.] Thus, whatever he utters, will be
_delivered_ with ease, and _will_ appear natural."--_Sheridan cor._ "_A
stop_, or _pause, is_ a total cessation of sound, during a perceptible,
and, in _musical or poetical_ compositions, a measurable space of time."--_
Id._ "Pauses, or rests, in speaking _or_ reading, are total _cessations_ of
the voice, during perceptible, and, in many cases, measurable _spaces_ of
time."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "_Those derivative_ nouns which _denote_
small _things_ of the kind _named by their primitives_, are called
Diminutive Nouns: as, lambkin, hillock, satchel, gosling; from lamb, hill,
sack, goose."--_Bullions cor._ "_Why is it_, that nonsense so often escapes
_detection, its character not being perceived either_ by the writer _or_ by
the reader?"--_Campbell cor._ "An Interjection is a word used to express
sudden emotion. _Interjections_ are so called, because they are generally
thrown in between the parts of _discourse, and have no_ reference to the
structure of _those_ parts."--_M'Culloch_ cor. "_The verb_ OUGHT _has no
other inflection than_ OUGHTEST, _and this is nearly obsolete_."--
_Macintosh cor._ "But the _arrangement_, government, _and_ agreement _of
words_, and _also their_ dependence upon _others_, are referred to our
reason."--_Osborn cor._ "ME is a personal pronoun, _of the_ first person,
singular _number_, and _objective_ case."--_Guy cor._ "The _noun_ SELF is
_usually_ added to a pronoun; as, herself, himself, &c. _The compounds_
thus _formed are_ called reciprocal _pronouns_."--_ Id._ "One cannot _but
think_, that our author _would have_ done better, _had he_ begun the first
of these three sentences, with saying, '_It_ is novelty, _that_ bestows
charms on a monster.'"--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The idea which they present to
us, of _nature_ resembling art, of _art_ considered as an original, and
nature as a copy, seems not very distinct, _or_ well _conceived_, nor
indeed very material to our author's purpose."--_Id._ "_This faulty_
construction of the sentence, _evidently arose from haste and
carelessness_."--_Id._ "Adverbs serve to modify _terms_ of action or
quality, or to denote time, place, order, degree, _or_ some _other
circumstance_ which we have occasion to specify."--_Id._ "We may naturally
expect, _that_ the more any nation is improved by science, and the more
perfect _its_ language becomes, _the_ more will _that language_ abound with
connective particles."--_Id._ "Mr. Greenleaf's book is _far better_ adapted
_to the capacity of_ learners, _than_ any _other_ that has yet appeared, on
the subject."--_Feltus and Onderdonk's false praise Englished_.
"Punctuation is the art of marking, in writing _or in print_, the several
pauses, or rests, _which separate_ sentences, _or_ the parts of sentences;
_so as to denote_ their proper quantity or proportion, as _it is exhibited_
in a just and accurate _delivery_."--_Lowth cor._ "A compound sentence must
_generally_ be resolved into simple ones, and _these be_ separated by _the
comma_." Or better: "A compound sentence _is generally divided_, by _the
comma_, into _its_ simple _members_."--_Greenleaf and Fisk cor._ "Simple
sentences should _in general_ be separated from _one an_ other by _the
comma_, unless _a greater point is required_; as, 'Youth is passing away,
age is approaching, and death is near.'"--_S. R. Hall cor._ "_V_ has
_always_ one uniform sound, _which is that_ of _f flattened_, as in
_thieve_ from _thief: thus v_ bears to _f_ the same relation _that b_ does
to _p, d_ to _t_, hard _g_ to _k, or z_ to _s_."--_L. Murray and Fisk
cor._; also _Walker_; also _Greenleaf_. "The author is explaining the
_difference_ between sense and imagination, _as_ powers _of_ the human
mind."--_L. Murray cor._ Or, if this was the critic's meaning: "The author
is endeavouring to explain a very abstract point, the distinction between
the powers of sense and _those of_ imagination, _as two different faculties
of_ the human mind."--_ Id._; also _Dr. Blair cor._ "HE--(_from the_
Anglo-Saxon HE--) is a personal pronoun, of the third person, singular
number, masculine gender, _and_ nominative case. Decline HE."--_Fowler
cor._


CORRECTIONS UNDER THE CRITICAL NOTES.

UNDER CRITICAL NOTE I.--OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

"The passive voice denotes _an action received_." Or: "The passive voice
denotes _the receiving of an action_."--_Maunder corrected_. "Milton, in
some of his prose works, has _many_ very _finely-turned_ periods."--_Dr.
Blair and Alex. Jam. cor._ "These will be found to be _wholly_, or chiefly,
of that class."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "All appearances of an author's
_affecting of_ harmony, are disagreeable."--_Id. and Jam. cor._ "Some nouns
have a double increase; that is, _they increase_ by more syllables than
one: as _iter, itin~eris_."--_Adam et al. cor._ "The powers of man are
enlarged by _progressive_ cultivation."--_Gurney cor._ "It is always
important to begin well; to make a favourable impression at _the first
setting out_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "For if one take a wrong method at _his
first setting-out_, it will lead him astray in all that follows."--_ Id._
"His mind is full of his subject, and _all_ his words are expressive."--_
Id._ "How exquisitely is _all_ this performed in Greek!"--_Harris cor._
"How _unworthy_ is all this to satisfy the ambition of an immortal
soul!"--_L. Murray cor._ "So as to exhibit the object in its _full
grandeur_, and _its_ most striking point of view."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "And
that the author know how to descend with propriety to the _plain style_, as
well as how to rise to the bold and figured."--_ Id._ "The heart _alone_
can answer to the heart."--_ Id._ "Upon _the_ first _perception of it_."
Or: "_As it is_ first perceived."--_Harris cor._ "Call for Samson, that he
may make _sport for us_."--_Bible cor._ "And he made _sport before
them_."--_ Id._ "The term '_to suffer_,' in this definition, is used in a
technical sense; and means simply, _to receive_ an action, or _to be_ acted
upon."--_Bullions cor._ "The text _only_ is what is meant to be taught in
schools."--_Brightland cor._ "The perfect participle denotes action or
_existence_ perfected or finished."--_Kirkham cor._ "From the intricacy and
confusion which are produced _when they are_ blended together."--_L. Murray
cor._ "This very circumstance, _that the word is_ employed antithetically
renders it important in the sentence."--_Kirkham cor._ "It [the pronoun
that,] is applied _both to_ persons and _to_ things."--_L. Murray cor._
"Concerning us, as being _everywhere traduced_."--_Barclay cor._ "Every
thing _else_ was buried in a profound silence."--_Steele cor._ "They raise
_fuller_ conviction, than any reasonings produce."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "It
appears to me _nothing but_ a fanciful refinement." Or: "It appears to me
_nothing_ more than a fanciful refinement"--_ Id._ "The regular _and
thorough_ resolution of a complete passage."--_Churchill cor._ "The
infinitive is _distinguished_ by the word TO, _which_ immediately _precedes
it_."--_Maunder cor._ "It will not be _a gain of_ much ground, to urge that
the basket, or vase, is understood to be the capital."--_Kames cor._ "The
disgust one has to drink ink in reality, is not to the purpose, where _the
drinking of it is merely figurative_."--_ Id._ "That we run not into the
extreme of pruning so very _closely_."--See _L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
318. "Being obliged to rest for a _little while_ on the preposition
itself." Or: "Being obliged to rest a _while_ on the preposition itself."
Or: "Being obliged to rest [for] a _moment_ on the preposition
_alone_."--_Blair and Jam. cor._ "Our days on the earth are as a shadow,
and there is _no_ abiding."--_Bible cor._ "There _may be attempted_ a more
particular expression of certain objects, by means of _imitative_
sounds."--_Blair, Jam., and Mur. cor._ "The right disposition of the shade,
makes the light and colouring _the more apparent_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "I
_observe_ that a diffuse style _is apt to run into_ long periods."--_ Id._
"Their poor arguments, which they only _picked up in the
highways_."--_Leslie cor._ "Which must be little _else than_ a transcribing
of their writings."--_Barclay cor._ "That single impulse is a _forcing-out_
of almost all the breath." Or: "That single impulse _forces_ out almost all
the breath."--_Hush cor._ "Picini compares modulation to the _turning-off_
from a road."--_Gardiner cor._ "So much has been written on and off almost
every subject."--_Sophist cor._ "By _the_ reading _of_ books written by the
best authors, his mind became highly improved." Or: "By _the study of the
most instructive_ books, his mind became highly improved."--_L. Mur. cor._
"For I never made _a rich provision a_ token of a spiritual
ministry."--_Barclay cor._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE II.--OF DOUBTFUL REFERENCE.

"However disagreeable _the task_, we must resolutely perform our
duty."--_L. Murray cor._ "The formation of _all_ English verbs, _whether
they be_ regular _or_ irregular, is derived from the Saxon
_tongue_."--_Lowth cor._ "Time and chance have an influence on all things
human, and nothing _do they affect_ more remarkably than
language."--_Campbell cor._ "Time and chance have an influence on all
things human, and on nothing _a_ more remarkable _influence_ than on
language."--_Jamieson cor._ "_That_ Archytases, _who was_ a virtuous man,
happened to perish once upon a time, is with him a sufficient ground."
&c.--_Phil Mu. cor._ "He will be the better qualified to understand the
meaning of _the_ numerous words _into_ which they _enter as_ material
_parts_."--_L. Murray cor._ "We should continually have the goal in view,
_that it may_ direct us in the race."--_ Id._ "But Addison's figures seem
to rise of their own accord from the subject and constantly _to_ embellish
it" Or:--"and _they_ constantly embellish it."--_Blair and Jam. cor._ "So
far as _they signify_ persons, animals, and things that we can see, it is
very easy to distinguish nouns."--_Cobbett cor._ "Dissyllables ending in
_y_ or mute _e_, or accented on the _final_ syllable, may _sometimes_ be
compared like monosyllables."--_Frost cor._ "_If_ the _foregoing_
objection _be admitted_, it will not overrule the design."--_Rush cor._
"These philosophical innovators forget, that objects, like men, _are known_
only by their actions."--_Dr. Murray cor._ "The connexion between words and
ideas, is arbitrary and conventional; _it has arisen mainly from_ the
agreement of men among themselves."--_Jamieson cor._ "The connexion between
words and ideas, may in general be considered as arbitrary and
conventional, _or as arising from_ the agreement of men among
themselves."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "A man whose inclinations led him to be
corrupt, and _who_ had great abilities to manage and multiply and defend
his corruptions."--_Swift cor._ "They have no more control over him than
_have_ any other men."--_Wayland cor._ "_All_ his old words are true
English, and _his_ numbers _are_ exquisite."--_Spect. cor._ "It has been
said, that _not Jesuits only_ can equivocate."--_Mur. in Ex. and Key, cor._
"_In Latin_, the nominative of the first _or_ second person, is seldom
expressed."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "Some words _have_ the same _form_ in
both numbers."--_Murray et al. cor._ "Some nouns _have_ the same _form_ in
both numbers."--_Merchant et al. cor._ "Others _have_ the same _form_ in
both numbers; as, _deer, sheep, swine_."--_Frost cor._ "The following list
denotes the _consonant_ sounds, _of which there are_ twenty-two." Or: "The
following list denotes the _twenty-two simple_ sounds of the
consonants."--_Mur. et al. cor._ "And is the ignorance of these peasants a
reason for _other persons_ to remain ignorant; or _does it_ render the
subject _the_ less _worthy of our_ inquiry?"--_Harris and Mur. cor._ "He is
one of the most correct, and perhaps _he is_ the best, of our prose
writers."--_Lowth cor._ "The motions of a vortex and _of_ a whirlwind are
perfectly similar." Or: "The motion of a vortex and _that of_ a whirlwind
are perfectly similar."--_Jamieson cor._ "What I have been saying, throws
light upon one important verse in the Bible; which _verse_ I should like to
_hear some one read_."--_Abbott cor._ "When there are any circumstances of
time, place, _and the like, by_ which the principal _terms_ of our sentence
_must be limited or qualified_."--_Blair, Jam. and Mur. cor._
"Interjections are words _that_ express emotion, affection, or passion, and
_that_ imply suddenness." Or: "Interjections express emotion, affection, or
passion, and imply suddenness."--_Bucke cor._ "But the genitive
_expressing_ the measure of things, is used in the plural number
_only_."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "The buildings of the institution have been
enlarged; _and an_ expense _has been incurred_, which, _with_ the increased
price of provisions, renders it necessary to advance the terms of
admission."--_L. Murray cor._ "These sentences are far less difficult than
complex _ones_."--_S. S. Greene cor._

   "Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife
    _They_ sober _lived, nor ever wished_ to stray."--_Gray cor._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE III.--OF DEFINITIONS.

(1.) "A definition is a _short and lucid_ description of _a thing, or
species, according to its nature and properties_."--G. BROWN: _Rev. David
Blair cor._ (2.) "Language, in general, signifies the expression of our
ideas by certain articulate sounds, _or written words_, which are used as
the signs of those ideas."--_Dr. Hugh Blair cor._ (3.) "A word is _one or
more syllables_ used by common consent as the sign of an idea."--_Bullions
cor._ (4.) "A word is _one or more syllables_ used as the _sign of an idea,
or of some manner_ of thought."--_Hazen cor._ (5.) "Words are articulate
sounds, _or their written signs_, used to convey ideas."--_Hiley cor._ (6.)
"A word is _one or more syllables_ used _orally or in writing_, to
represent some idea."--_Hart cor._ (7.) "A word is _one or more syllables_
used as the sign of an idea."--_S. W. Clark cor._ (8.) "A word is a letter
or a combination of letters, _a sound or a combination of sounds_, used as
the sign of an idea."--_Wells cor._ (9.) "Words are articulate sounds, _or
their written signs_, by which ideas are communicated."--_Wright cor._
(10.) "Words are certain articulate sounds, _or their written
representatives_, used by common consent as signs of our
ideas."--_Bullions, Lowth, Murray, et al. cor._ (11.) "Words are sounds _or
written symbols_ used as signs of our ideas."--_W. Allen cor._ (12.)
"Orthography _literally_ means _correct writing_"--_Kirkham and Smith cor._
[The word _orthography_ stands for different things: as, 1. The art or
practice of writing words with their proper letters; 2. That part of
grammar which treats of letters, syllables, separate words, and spelling.]
(13.) "A vowel is a letter which _forms a perfect_ sound _when uttered
alone_."--_Inst._, p. 16; _Hazen, Lennie, and Brace, cor._ (14-18.)
"Spelling is the art of expressing words by their proper letters."--G.
BROWN: _Lowth and Churchill cor._; also _Murray, Ing. et al._; also
_Comly_; also _Bullions_; also _Kirkham and Sanborn_. (19.) "A syllable is
_one or more letters_, pronounced by a single impulse of the voice, and
constituting a word, or part of a word."--_Lowth, Mur., et al., cor._ (20.)
"A syllable is a _letter or a combination of letters_, uttered in one
complete sound."--_Brit. Gram. and Buch. cor._ (21.) "A syllable is _one or
more letters representing_ a distinct sound, _or what is_ uttered by a
single impulse of the voice."--_Kirkham cor._ (22.) "A syllable is so much
of a word as _is_ sounded at once, _whether it_ be the whole _or a
part_."--_Bullions cor._ (23.) "A syllable is _so many letters_ as _are_
sounded at once; _and is either_ a word, or a part of a word."--_Picket
cor._ (24.) "A diphthong is _a_ union of two vowels _in one syllable_, as
in _bear_ and _beat_."--_Bucke cor._ Or: "A diphthong is _the meeting_ of
two vowels in one syllable."--_Brit. Gram._, p. 15; _Buchanan's_, 3. (25.)
"A diphthong consists of two vowels _put together in_ one syllable; as _ea_
in _beat, oi_ in _voice_."--_Guy cor._ (26.) "A triphthong consists of
three vowels _put together in_ one syllable; as, _eau_ in _beauty_."--_Id._
(27.) "But _a_ triphthong is the union of three vowels _in one
syllable_."--_Bucke cor._ Or: "A triphthong is the meeting of three vowels
in one syllable."--_British Gram._, p. 21; _Buchanan's_, 3. (28.) "What is
a noun? A noun is the _name of something_; as, a man, a boy."--_Brit. Gram.
and Buchanan cor._ (29.) "An adjective is a word added to _a noun or
pronoun_, to describe _the object named or referred to_."--_Maunder cor._
(30.) "An adjective is a word _added_ to a noun _or pronoun_, to describe
or define _the object mentioned_."--_R. C. Smith cor._ (31.) "An adjective
is a word _which, without assertion or time, serves_ to describe or define
_something_; as, a _good_ man, _every_ boy."--_Wilcox cor._ (32.) "_An_
adjective is _a word_ added to _a_ noun _or pronoun, and generally
expresses a_ quality."--_Mur. and Lowth cor._ (33.) "An adjective expresses
the quality, _not_ of the noun _or pronoun_ to which it is applied, _but of
the person or thing spoken of_; and _it_ may generally be known by _the_
sense _which it thus makes_ in connexion with _its noun_; as, 'A _good_
man,' 'A _genteel_ woman.'"--_Wright cor._ (34.) "An adverb is a word used
to modify the sense of _a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other
adverb_."--_Wilcox cor._ (35.) "An adverb is a word _added_ to a verb, _a
participle_, an adjective, or an other adverb, to modify _the sense_, or
denote some circumstance."--_Bullions cor._ (36.) "A substantive, or noun,
is a name given to _some_ object which the senses can perceive, the
understanding comprehend, or the imagination entertain."--_Wright cor._
(37-54.) "_Genders are modifications that_ distinguish _objects_ in regard
to sex."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 35: _Bullions cor._: also _Frost_; also
_Perley_; also _Cooper_; also _L. Murray et al_.; also _Alden et al_.; also
_Brit. Gram., with Buchanan_; also _Fowle_; also _Burn_; also _Webster_;
also _Coar_; also _Hall_; also _Wright_; also _Fisher_; also _W. Allen_;
also _Parker and Fox_; also _Weld_; also _Weld again_. (55 and 56.) "_A_
case, _in grammar_, is the state or condition of a noun _or pronoun_, with
respect to _some_ other _word_ in _the_ sentence."--_Bullions cor._; also
_Kirkham_. (57.) "_Cases_ are modifications that distinguish the relations
of nouns and pronouns to other words."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 36. (58.)
"Government is the power which one _word_ has over an other, _to cause_ it
to _assume_ some particular _modification_."--_Sanborn et al. cor._ See
_Inst._, p. 104. (59.) "A simple sentence is a sentence which contains only
one _assertion, command, or question_."--_Sanborn et al. cor._ (60.)
"Declension means _the_ putting _of_ a noun _or pronoun_ through the
different cases _and numbers_."--_Kirkham cor._ Or better: "The declension
of a _word_ is a regular arrangement of its numbers and cases."--See
_Inst._, p. 37. (61.) "Zeugma is a _figure in which_ two or more _words
refer_ in common _to an other_ which _literally agrees with_ only one of
them."--_B. F. Fish cor._ (62.) "An irregular verb is _a verb that does not
form the preterit_ and the perfect participle _by assuming d_ or _ed_; as,
smite, smote, smitten."--_Inst._, p. 75. (63). "A personal _pronoun is a
pronoun that shows, by its form, of what person it is_."--_Inst._, p. 46.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE IV.--OF COMPARISONS.

"_Our language abounds_ more in vowel and diphthong sounds, than most
_other tongues_." Or: "We abound more in vowel and _diphthongal_ sounds,
than most _nations_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "A line thus accented has a more
spirited air, than _one which takes_ the accent on any other
syllable."--_Kames cor._ "Homer _introduces_ his deities with no greater
ceremony, that [what] he uses towards mortals; and Virgil has still less
moderation _than he_."--_Id._ "Which the more refined taste of later
writers, _whose_ genius _was_ far inferior to _theirs_, would have taught
them to avoid."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "_As a poetical composition_, however,
the Book of Job is not only equal to any other of the sacred writings, but
is superior to them all, except those of Isaiah alone."--_Id._ "On the
whole, Paradise Lost is a poem _which_ abounds with beauties of every kind,
and _which_ justly entitles its author to _be equalled in_ fame _with_ any
poet."--_Id._ "Most of the French writers compose in short sentences;
though their style, in general, is not concise; commonly less so than
_that_ of _most_ English writers, whose sentences are much longer."--_Id._
"The principles of the Reformation were _too deeply fixed_ in the prince's
mind, to be easily eradicated."--_Hume cor._ "Whether they do not create
jealousy and animosity, more than _sufficient to counterbalance_ the
benefit derived from them."--_Leo Wolf cor._ "The Scotch have preserved the
ancient character of their music more entire, than _have the inhabitants
of_ any other country."--_Gardiner cor._ "When the time or quantity of one
syllable exceeds _that of_ the rest, that syllable readily receives the
accent."--_Rush cor._ "What then can be more obviously true, than that it
should be made as just as we can _make it_."--_Dymond cor._ "It was not
likely that they would criminate themselves more than, they could _not_
avoid."--_Clarkson cor._ "_In_ their understandings _they_ were the most
acute people _that_ have ever lived."--_Knapp cor._ "The patentees have
printed it with neat types, and upon better paper than was _used_
formerly."--_John Ward cor._ "In reality, its relative use is not exactly
like _that of_ any other word."--_Felch cor._ "Thus, _in stead_ of _having
to purchase_ two books,--the Grammar and the Exercises,--the learner finds
both in one, for a price at _most_ not greater than _that of_ the
others."--_Alb. Argus cor._ "_They are_ not improperly regarded as
pronouns, though they are less _strictly_ such than the others."--_Bullions
cor._ "We have had, as will readily be believed, _a much better_
opportunity of becoming conversant with the case, than the generality of
our readers can be supposed to have had."--_Brit. Friend cor._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE V.--OF FALSITIES.

"The long sound of _i_ is _like a very quick union_ of the sound of _a_, as
heard in _bar_, and that of _e_, as heard in _be_."--_Churchill cor._ "The
omission of a word necessary to grammatical propriety, is _of course an
impropriety, and not a true_ ellipsis."--_Priestley cor._ "_Not_ every
substantive, _or noun_, is _necessarily_ of the third person."--_A. Murray
cor._ "A noun is in the third person, when the subject is _merely_ spoken
_of_; and in the second person, when the subject is spoken _to_; _and_ in
the first person, _when it names the speaker as such_."--_Nutting cor._
"With us, no nouns are _literally of the_ masculine _or the_ feminine
gender, except the names of male and female creatures."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"_The_ apostrophe is a little mark, either _denoting the possessive case of
nouns_, or signifying that something is shortened: as, '_William's_
hat;'--'the _learn'd_,' for 'the _learned_.'"--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "When a
word beginning with a vowel coupled with one beginning with a consonant,
the indefinite article must _not_ be repeated, _if the two words be
adjectives belonging to one and the same noun_; thus, 'Sir Matthew Hale was
_a_ noble and impartial judge;'--'Pope was _an_ elegant and nervous
writer.'"--_Maunder cor._[555] "_W_ and _y_ are consonants, when they
_precede a vowel heard in the same_ syllable: in every other situation,
they are vowels."--_L. Mur. et al. cor._ See _Inst._, p. 16. "_The_ is _not
varied_ before adjectives and substantives, let them begin as they
will."--_Bucke cor._ "_A few English_ prepositions, _and many which we have
borrowed from other languages_, are _often_ prefixed to words, in such a
manner as to coalesce with them, and to become _parts of the compounds or
derivatives thus formed_."--_Lowth cor._ "_H_, at the beginning of
syllables not accented, is _weaker_, but _not_ entirely silent; as in
_historian, widowhood_."--_Rev. D. Blair cor._ "_Not every_ word that will
make sense with _to_ before it, is a verb; for _to_ may govern nouns,
pronouns, or participles."--_Kirkham cor._ "_Most_ verbs do, in reality,
express actions; but they are _not_ intrinsically the mere names of
actions: _these must of course be nouns_."--_Id._ "The nominative _denotes_
the actor or subject; and the verb, the action _which is_ performed _or
received_ by _this actor or subject_."--_Id._ "_But_ if only one creature
or thing acts, _more than_ one action _may_, at the same instant, be done;
as, 'The girl not only _holds_ her pen badly, but _scowls_ and _distorts_
her features, while she _writes_.'"--_Id._ "_Nor is each of these verbs of
the singular number because it_ denotes but one action which the girl
performs, _but because the subject or nominative_ is of the singular
number, _and the words must agree_."--_Id._ "And when I say, '_Two men
walk_,' is it not equally apparent, that _walk_ is plural because it
_agrees with men_?"--_Id._ "The subjunctive mood is formed by _using the
simple verb in a suppositive sense, and without personal
inflection_."--_Beck cor._ "The possessive case _of nouns, except in
instances of apposition or close connexion_, should always be distinguished
by the apostrophe."--_Frost cor._ "'At these proceedings _of_ the Commons:'
Here _of_ is _a_ sign of the _objective_ case; and '_Commons_' is of that
case, _being_ governed _by this preposition_."--_A. Murray cor._ "Here let
it be observed again, that, strictly speaking, _all finite_ verbs have
numbers _and_ persons; _and so_ have _nearly all_ nouns _and_ pronouns,
_even_ when they refer to irrational creatures and inanimate
things."--_Barrett cor._ "The noun denoting the person or _persons_
addressed or spoken to, is in the nominative case independent: _except it
be put in apposition with a pronoun of the second person_; as, 'Woe to _you
lawyers_;'--'_You_ political _men_ are constantly manoeuvring.'"--_Frost
cor._ "Every noun, when _used in a direct address and set off by a comma_,
becomes of the second person, and is in the nominative case absolute; as,
'_Paul_, thou art beside thyself."--_Jaudon cor._ "Does the conjunction
_ever_ join words together? _Yes_; the conjunction _sometimes_ joins
_words_ together, _and sometimes_ sentences, _or certain parts of
sentences_."--_Brit. Gram. cor._; also _Buchanan_. "Every _noun of the
possessive form_ has a _governing_ noun, expressed or understood: as, _St.
James's_. Here _Palace_ is understood. _But_ one _possessive may_ govern an
other; as, '_William's father's_ house.'"--_Buchanan cor._ "Every adjective
(_with the exceptions noted under Rule_ 9th) belongs to a _noun or pronoun_
expressed or understood."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "_Not_ every adjective
qualifies a substantive, expressed or understood."--_Bullions cor._ "_Not_
every adjective belongs to _a_ noun expressed or understood."--_Ingersoll
cor._ "Adjectives belong to nouns _or pronouns, and serve to_ describe
_things_."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "_English_ adjectives, _in general, have no
modifications in which they can_ agree with the nouns _to_ which they
_relate_."--_Allen Fisk cor._ "The adjective, _if it denote unity or
plurality_, must agree with its substantive in number."--_Buchanan cor._
"_Not_ every adjective and participle, _by a vast many_, belongs to some
noun or pronoun, expressed or understood."--_Frost cor._ "_Not_ every verb
of the infinitive mood, supposes a verb before it, expressed or
understood."--_Buchanan cor._ "_Nor_ has every adverb its verb, expressed
or understood; _for some adverbs relate to participles, to adjectives, or
to other adverbs_."--_Id._ "_A conjunction that connects one_ sentence to
_an other, is not_ always placed betwixt the two propositions or sentences
which _it unites_."--_Id._ "The words _for all that_, are by no means
'low;' but the putting of this phrase for _yet_ or _still_, is neither
necessary nor elegant."--_L. Murray cor._; also _Dr. Priestley_. "The
reader or hearer then understands from AND, that _the author adds one
proposition, number, or thing, to an other_. Thus AND _often, very often_,
connects one thing with an other thing, _or_ one word with an other
word."--_James Brown cor._ "'Six AND six _are_ twelve.' Here it is
affirmed, that _the two sixes added together are_ twelve."--_Id._ "'John
AND his wife _have_ six children.' This is an instance _in which_ AND
_connects two nominatives in a simple sentence_. It is _not_ here affirmed
that John has six children, and that his wife has six _other_
children."--_Id._ "That 'Nothing can be great which is not right,' is
itself a _great falsity_: there are great blunders, great evils, great
sins."--_L. Murray cor._ "The highest degree of reverence should be paid to
_the most exalted virtue or goodness_."--_Id._ "There is in _all_ minds
_some_ knowledge, _or_ understanding."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "Formerly,
the nominative and objective cases of our pronouns, were _more generally
distinguished in practice_, than they now are."--_Kirkham cor._ "As it
respects a choice of words and expressions, _the just_ rules of grammar
_may_ materially aid the learner."--_S. S. Greene cor._ "_The name of_
whatever exists, or is conceived to exist, is a noun."--_Fowler cor._ "As
_not all_ men are brave, _brave_ is itself _distinctive_."--_Id._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE VI.--OF ABSURDITIES.

(1.) "And sometimes two unaccented syllables _come together_."--_Dr. Blair
cor._ (2.) "What nouns frequently _stand together_?" Or: "What nouns _are_
frequently _used one after an other_?"--_Sanborn cor._ (3.) "Words are
derived from _other words_ in various ways."--_Idem et al. cor._ (4.) "_The
name_ PREPOSITION _is_ derived from the two Latin words _præ_ and _pono_,
which signify _before_ and _place_."--_Mack cor._ (5.) "He was _much_
laughed at for such conduct."--_Bullions cor._ (6.) "Every _pronominal
adjective_ belongs to some noun, expressed or understood."--_Ingersoll
cor._ (7.) "If he [Addison] fails in any thing, it is in strength and
precision; _the want of_ which renders his manner not altogether a proper
model."--_Dr. Blair cor._ (8.) "Indeed, if Horace _is_ deficient in any
thing _his fault_ is this, of not being sufficiently attentive to juncture,
_or the_ connexion of parts."--_Id._ (9.) "The pupil is now supposed to be
acquainted with the _ten parts_ of speech, and their most usual
modifications."--_Taylor cor._ (10.) "I could see, _feel_, taste, and smell
the rose."--_Sanborn cor._ (11.) "The _vowels iou are_ sometimes pronounced
distinctly in two syllables; as in _various, abstemious_; but not in
_bilious_."--_Murray and Walker cor._ (12.) "The diphthong _aa_ generally
sounds like _a_ short; as in _Balaam, Canaan, Isaac_; in _Baäl_ and _Gaäl_,
we make no diphthong."--_L. Mur. cor._ (13.) "Participles _cannot be said
to be_ 'governed by the article;' for _any_ participle, with _an_ article
before it, becomes a substantive, or an adjective used substantively: as,
_the learning, the learned_."--_Id._ (14.) "_From_ words ending with _y_
preceded by a consonant, _we_ form the plurals of nouns, the persons of
verbs, _agent_ nouns, _perfect_ participles, comparatives, and
superlatives, by changing the _y_ into _i_, and adding _es, ed, er, eth_,
or _est_."--_Walker, Murray, et al. cor._ (15.) "But _y_ preceded by a
vowel, _remains unchanged_, in the derivatives above named; as, _boy,
boys_."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ (16.) "But when _the final y_ is preceded
by a vowel, it _remains unchanged before an_ additional syllable; as, coy,
_coyly_."--_Iid._ (17.) "But _y_ preceded by a vowel, _remains unchanged_,
in _almost all_ instances; as, coy, _coyly_."--_Kirkham cor._ (18.)
"Sentences are of _two kinds_, simple and compound."--_Wright cor._ (19.)
"The neuter pronoun _it_ may be employed to _introduce a nominative_ of any
person, number, or gender: as, '_It_ is _he_:'--'_It_ is _she_;'--'_It is
they_;'--'_It_ is the _land_.'"--_Bucke cor._ (20 and 21.) "_It is_ and _it
was_, are _always singular_; but they _may introduce words of_ a plural
construction: as, '_It was_ the _heretics that_ first began to rail.'
SMOLLETT."--_Merchant cor._; also _Priestley et al._ (22.) "_W_ and _y_, as
consonants, have _each of them_ one sound."--_Town cor._ (23.) "The _word
as_ is frequently a relative _pronoun_."--_Bucke cor._ (24.) "_From a
series of_ clauses, the conjunction may _sometimes_ be omitted with
propriety."--_Merchant cor._ (25.) "If, however, the _two_ members are very
closely connected, the comma is unnecessary; as, 'Revelation tells us how
we may attain happiness.'"--_L. Murray et al. cor._ (26-27.) "The mind has
difficulty in _taking effectually_, in quick succession, so many different
views of the same object."--_Dr. Blair cor._; also _L. Mur_. (28.)
"_Pronominal adjectives_ are a kind of _definitives_, which _may either
accompany their_ nouns, _or represent them understood_."--_Kirkham cor._
(29.) "_When the nominative or antecedent is a collective noun_ conveying
_the idea of plurality, the_ verb or pronoun _must agree_ with it in the
plural _number_."--_Id. et al. cor._ (30-34.) "A noun or _a_ pronoun in the
possessive case, is governed by the _name of the thing possessed_."--
_Brown's Inst._, p. 176; _Greenleaf cor._; also _Wilbur and Livingston_;
also _Goldsbury_; also _P. E. Day_; also _Kirkham, Frazee, and Miller_.
(35.) "Here the boy is represented as acting: _the word boy_ is therefore
in the nominative case."--_Kirkham cor._ (36.) "_Do, be, have_, and _will_,
are _sometimes_ auxiliaries, _and sometimes_ principal verbs."--_Cooper
cor._ (37.) "_Names_ of _males_ are masculine. _Names_ of _females_ are
feminine."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 10; _Beck cor._ (38.) "'To-day's lesson is
longer than yesterday's.' Here _to-day's_ and _yesterday's_ are
substantives."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ (39.) "In this example, _to-day's_
and _yesterday's_ are nouns in the possessive case."--_Kirkham cor._ (40.)
"An Indian in Britain would be much surprised to _find by chance_ an
elephant feeding at large in the open fields."--_Kames cor._ (41.) "If we
were to contrive a new language, we might make any articulate sound the
sign of any idea: _apart from previous usage_, there would be no
impropriety in calling oxen _men_, or rational beings _oxen_."--_L. Murray
cor._ (42.) "All the parts of a sentence should _form a consistent
whole_."--_Id et al. cor._

    (43.) "Full through his neck the weighty falchion sped,
          Along the pavement rolled the _culprit's_ head."--_Pope cor._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE VII.--OF SELF-CONTRADICTION.

(1.) "Though 'The king, _with_ the lords and commons,' _must have a
singular rather than_ a plural verb, the sentence would certainly stand
better thus: 'The king, the lords, _and_ the commons, _form_ an excellent
constitution.'"--_Mur. and Ing. cor._ (2-3.) "_L_ has a soft liquid sound;
as in _love, billow, quarrel_. _This letter_ is sometimes silent; as in
_half, task [sic for 'talk'--KTH], psalm_."--_Mur. and Fisk cor._; also
_Kirkham_. (4.) "The words _means_ and _amends_, though regularly derived
from the singulars _mean_ and _amend_, are _not_ now, _even_ by polite
writers, restricted to the plural number. Our most distinguished modern
authors _often_ say, 'by _this means_,' as well as, 'by _these
means_.'"--_Wright cor._ (5.) "A friend exaggerates a man's virtues; an
enemy, his crimes."--_Mur. cor._ (6.) "The auxiliary _have, or any form of_
the perfect tense, _belongs not properly to_ the subjunctive mood. _We
suppose past facts by the indicative_: as, If I _have loved_, If thou _hast
loved_, &c."--_Merchant cor._ (7.) "There is also an impropriety in _using_
both the indicative and the subjunctive _mood_ with the same conjunction;
as, '_If_ a man _have_ a hundred sheep, and one of them _is_ gone astray,'
&c. [This is Merchant's perversion of the text. It should be, 'and one of
them _go_ astray:' or, '_be gone_ astray,' as in Matt., xviii. 12.]"--_Id._
(8.) "The rising series of contrasts _conveys transcendent_ dignity and
energy to the conclusion."--_Jamieson cor._ (9.) "A groan or a shriek is
instantly understood, as a language extorted by distress, a _natural_
language which conveys a meaning that _words_ are _not adequate_ to
express. A groan or _a_ shriek speaks to the ear with _a_ far more
thrilling effect than words: yet _even this natural_ language of distress
may be counterfeited by art."--_Dr. Porter cor._ (10.) "_If_ these words
[_book_ and _pen_] cannot be put together in such a way as will constitute
plurality, then they cannot be '_these words_;' and then, also, _one and
one_ cannot be _two_."--_James Brown cor._ (11.) "Nor can the real pen and
the real book be _added or counted together_ in words, in such a manner as
will _not_ constitute plurality in grammar."--_Id._ (12.) "_Our_ is _a
personal_ pronoun, of the possessive _case. Murray does not_ decline
it."--_Mur. cor._ (13.) "_This_ and _that_, and their plurals _these_ and
_those_, are _often_ opposed to each other in a sentence. When _this_ or
_that_ is used alone, i.e., _without contrast, this_ is _applied_ to _what
is_ present or near; _that_, to _what is_ absent or distant."--_Buchanan
cor._ (14.) "Active and neuter verbs may be conjugated by adding their
_imperfect_ participle to the auxiliary verb _be_, through all its
variations."--"_Be_ is an auxiliary whenever it is placed before either the
perfect _or the imperfect_ participle of an other verb; but, in every other
situation, it is a principal verb."--_Kirkham cor._ (15.) "A verb in the
imperative mood is _almost_ always of the second person."--"The verbs,
according to a _foreign_ idiom, or the poet's license, are used in the
imperative, agreeing with a nominative of the first or third
person."--_Id._ (16.) "A personal _pronoun, is a pronoun that shows, by its
form, of what_ person _it is_."--"Pronouns of the first person do not
_disagree_ in person with the nouns they represent."--_Id._ (17.) "Nouns
have three cases; _the_ nominative, _the possessive_, and _the_
objective."--"Personal pronouns have, like nouns, _three_ cases; _the_
nominative, _the_ possessive, and _the_ objective."--_Beck cor._ (18.) "In
_many_ instances the preposition suffers _a_ change _and_ becomes an adverb
by its _mere_ application."--_L. Murray cor._ (19.) "Some nouns are used
only in the plural; as, _ashes, literati, minutiæ_. Some nouns _have_ the
same _form_ in both numbers; as, _sheep, deer, series, species_. Among the
inferior parts of speech, there are some _pairs_ or _couples_."--_Rev. D.
Blair cor._ (20.) "Concerning the pronominal adjectives, that may, _or_ may
not, represent _their nouns_."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ (21.) "The _word a_ is
in a few instances employed in the sense of a preposition; as, 'Simon Peter
_saith unto them_, I go _a_ fishing;' i. e., I go _to_ fishing."--_Weld
cor._ (22.) "So, _too_, verbs _that are commonly_ transitive, are used
intransitively, when they have no object."--_Bullions cor._

    (23.) "When first young Maro, in his boundless mind,
          A work t' outlast _imperial_ Rome design'd."--_Pope cor._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE VIII.--OF SENSELESS JUMBLING.

"_There are two numbers_, called the singular and _the_ plural, _which_
distinguish nouns as _signifying either_ one _thing_, or many of the same
kind."--_Dr. H. Blair cor._ "Here James Monroe is addressed, he is spoken
to; _the name_ is _therefore_ a noun of the second person."--_Mack cor._
"The number and _person_ of _an English_ verb can _seldom_ be ascertained
until its nominative is known."--_Emmons cor._ "A noun of multitude, or _a
singular noun_ signifying many, may have _a_ verb _or a_ pronoun agreeing
with it in _either_ number; yet not without regard to the import of the
_noun_, as conveying _the idea of_ unity or plurality."--_Lowth et al.
cor._ "To _form_ the present _tense_ and _the_ past imperfect of our
_active_ or neuter _verbs_, the auxiliary _do, and its preterit did, are
sometimes_ used: _as_, I _do_ now love; I _did_ then love."--_Lowth cor._
"If these _be_ perfectly committed _to memory, the learner_ will be able to
take twenty lines for _his second_ lesson, and _the task_ may be increased
each day."--_Osborn cor._ "_Ch is_ generally sounded in the same manner _as
if it were tch_: as in _Charles, church, cheerfulness_, and _cheese_. But,
_in Latin or Greek_ words, _ch is_ pronounced like _k_: as in _Chaos,
character, chorus_, and _chimera_. _And_, in _words_ derived from the
French, _ch is_ sounded like _sh_: as _in Chagrin, chicanery_, and
_chaise_."--_Bucke cor._ "Some _nouns literally_ neuter, are _made_
masculine or feminine by a figure of speech."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "In
the English language, words may be classified under ten general heads: the
_sorts, or chief classes, of words_, are usually termed the ten parts of
speech."--_Nutting cor._ "'Mercy is the true badge of nobility.' _Nobility_
is a _common_ noun, _of the_ third person, singular number, _neuter_
gender, and objective case; and is governed by _of_."--_Kirkham cor._ "_Gh
is_ either silent, _as in plough_, or _has_ the sound of _f_, as in
_laugh_."--_Town cor._ "Many _nations_ were destroyed, and as many
languages or dialects were lost and blotted out from the general
catalogue."--_Chazotte cor._ "Some languages contain a greater number of
moods than others, and _each_ exhibits _its own as_ forms _peculiar to
itself_."--_L. Murray cor._ "A SIMILE is a simple and express comparison;
and is generally introduced by _like, as_, or _so_."--_Id._ See _Inst._, p.
233. "The word _what_ is sometimes improperly used for the conjunction
_that_."--_Priestley, Murray, et al., cor._ "Brown makes _no_ ado _in
condemning_ the _absurd_ principles of preceding works, in relation to the
gender of pronouns."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "The nominative _usually_
precedes the verb, and _denotes the agent of_ the action."--_Wm. Beck cor._
"Primitive _words_ are those which _are not formed from other words_ more
simple."--_Wright cor._ "In monosyllables, the single vowel _i_ always
preserves its long sound before a single consonant with _e_ final; as _in
thine, strive_: except in _give_ and _live_, which are short; and in
_shire_, which has the sound of long _e_."--_L. Murray, et al. cor._ "But
the person or thing _that is merely_ spoken of, being _frequently_ absent,
and _perhaps_ in many respects unknown _to the hearer_, it is _thought
more_ necessary, that _the third person_ should be marked by a distinction
of gender."--_Lowth, Mur., et al., cor._ "_Both vowels of every diphthong
were_, doubtless, originally _vocal_. Though in many instances _they are_
not _so_ at present, _the_ combinations _in which one only is heard_, still
retain the name of diphthongs, _being distinguished from others_ by the
term _improper_."--_L. Mur., et al. cor._ "_Moods are different forms_ of
the verb, _each of which expresses_ the being, action, or passion, _in some
particular_ manner."--_Inst._, p. 33; _A. Mur. cor._ "The word THAT is a
demonstrative _adjective, whenever_ it is followed by a _noun_ to which it
refers."--_L. Mur. cor._

   "The _guilty soul by Jesus wash'd_,
    Is future glory's deathless heir."--_Fairfield cor._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE IX.--OF WORDS NEEDLESS.

"A knowledge of grammar enables us to express ourselves better in
conversation and in writing."--_Sanborn cor._ "And hence we infer, that
there is no dictator here but use."--_Jamieson cor._ "Whence little is
gained, except correct spelling and pronunciation."--_Town cor._ "The man
who is faithfully attached to religion, may be relied on with
confidence."--_Merchant cor._ "Shalt thou build me _a_ house to dwell in?"
Or: "Shalt thou build _a_ house for me to dwell in?"--_Bible cor._ "The
house was deemed polluted which was entered by so abandoned a woman."--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "The farther he searches, the firmer will be his
belief."--_Keith cor._ "I deny not that religion consists in these
things."--_Barclay cor._ "Except the king delighted in her, and she were
called by name."--_Bible cor._ "The proper method of reading these lines,
is, to read them as the sense dictates."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "When any words
become obsolete, or are used _only in_ particular phrases, it is better to
dispense with their service entirely, and give up the phrases."--_Campbell
and Mur cor._ "Those savage people seemed to have no element but war."--_L.
Mur. cor._ "_Man_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number,
masculine gender, and nominative case."--_J. Flint cor._ "The orator, as
circumstances require, will employ them all."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "By
deferring repentence [sic--KTH], we accumulate our sorrows."--_L. Murray
cor._ "There is no doubt that public speaking became early an engine of
government."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The different _meanings_ of these two
words, may not at first occur."--_Id._ "The sentiment is well expressed by
Plato, but much better by Solomon."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "They have had
a greater privilege than we."--_L. Mur. cor._ "Every thing should be so
arranged, that what goes before, may give light and force to what
follows."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "So that his doctrines were embraced by great
numbers."--_Hist. cor._ "They have taken _an other_ and shorter
cut."--_South cor._ "The imperfect tense of a regular verb is formed from
the present by adding _d_ or _ed_; as, _love, loved_."--_Frost cor._ "The
pronoun _their_ does not agree in number with the noun '_man_', for which
it stands."--_Kirkham cor._ "This mark [!] denotes wonder, surprise, joy,
grief, or sudden emotion."--_Bucke cor._ "We all are accountable, each for
himself."--_L. Mur. et al. cor._ "If he has commanded it, I must
obey."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "I now present him a form of the diatonic
scale."--_Barber cor._ "One after an other, their favourite rivers have
been reluctantly abandoned." Or: "One after an other _of_ their favourite
rivers have _they_ reluctantly abandoned."--_Hodgson cor._ "_Particular_
and _peculiar_ are words of different import."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Some
adverbs admit of comparison; as, _soon, sooner, soonest_."--_Bucke cor._
"Having exposed himself too freely in different climates, he entirely lost
his health."--_L. Mur. cor._ "The verb must agree with its nominative in
number and person."--_Buchanan cor._ "Write twenty short sentences
containing adjectives."--_Abbott cor._ "This general tendency of the
language seems to have given occasion to a very great corruption."--
_Churchill's Gram._, p. 113. "The second requisite of a perfect sentence is
_unity_."--_L. Murray cor._ "It is scarcely necessary to apologize for
omitting their names."--_Id._ "The letters of the English alphabet are
twenty-six."--_Id. et al. cor._ "He who employs antiquated or novel
phraseology, must do it with design; he cannot err from inadvertence, as he
may with respect to provincial or vulgar expressions."--_Jamieson cor._
"The vocative case, in some grammars, is wholly omitted; why, if we must
have cases, I could never understand."--_Bucke cor._ "Active verbs are
conjugated with the auxiliary verb _have_; passive verbs, with the
auxiliary _am_ or _be_."--_Id._ "What then may AND be called? A
conjunction."--_Smith cor._ "Have they ascertained who gave the
information?"--_Bullions cor._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE X.--OF IMPROPER OMISSIONS.

"All _words signifying concrete_ qualities of things, are called adnouns,
or adjectives."--_Rev. D. Blair cor._ "The _macron_ [[=]] signifies _a_
long or accented syllable, and the breve [[~]] indicates a short or
unaccented syllable."--_Id._ "Whose duty _it_ is, to help young
ministers."--_Friends cor._ "The passage is closely connected with what
precedes and _what_ follows."--_Phil. Mu. cor._ "The work is not completed,
but _it_ soon will be."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "Of whom hast thou been afraid,
or _whom hast thou_ feared?"--_Bible cor._ "There is a God who made, and
_who_ governs, the world."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "It was this _that_ made them
so haughty."--_Goldsmith cor._ "How far the whole charge affected him, _it_
is not easy to determine."--_Id._ "They saw _these wonders of nature_, and
_worshiped_ the God that made them."--_Bucke cor._ "The errors frequent in
the use of hyperboles, arise either from overstraining _them_, or _from_
introducing them on unsuitable occasions."--_L. Mur. cor._ "The preposition
_in_ is set before _the names of_ countries, cities, and large towns; as,
'He lives _in_ France, _in_ London, or _in_ Birmingham.' But, before _the
names of_ villages, single houses, _or foreign_ cities, _at_ is used; as,
'He lives _at_ Hackney.'"--_Id. et al. cor._ "And, in such recollection,
the thing is not figured as in our view, nor _is_ any image
formed."--_Kames cor._ "Intrinsic _beauty_ and relative beauty must be
handled separately."--_Id._ "He should be on his guard not to do them
injustice by disguising _them_ or placing them in a false light."--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "In _perusing_ that work, we are frequently interrupted by _the
author's_ unnatural thoughts."--_L. Murray cor._ "To this point have tended
all the rules _which_ I have _just_ given."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "To _this
point_ have tended all the rules which have _just_ been given."--_L. Murray
cor._ "Language, as written, or _as_ oral, is addressed to the eye, or to
the ear."--_Journal cor._ "He will learn, Sir, that to accuse and _to_
prove are very different."--_Walpole cor._ "They crowded around the door so
as to prevent others _from_ going out."--_Abbott cor._ "_A word denoting_
one person or thing, is _of the_ singular number; _a word denoting_ more
than one person or thing: is _of the_ plural number."--_J. Flint cor._
"Nouns, according to the sense or relation in which they are used, are in
the nominative, _the_ possessive, or _the objective_ case: thus, Nom. man.
Poss. man's, Obj. man."--_Rev. D. Blair cor._ "Nouns or pronouns in the
possessive case are placed before the nouns which govern them, _and_ to
which they belong."--_Sanborn cor._ "A teacher is explaining the difference
between a noun and _a_ verb."--_Abbott cor._ "And therefore the two ends,
or extremities, must directly answer to the north and _the_ south
pole."--_Harris cor._ "WALKS or WALKETH, RIDES or RIDETH, _and_ STANDS or
STANDETH, are of the third person singular."--_Kirkham cor._ "I grew
immediately roguish and pleasant, to a _high_ degree, in the same
strain."--_Swift cor._ "An _Anapest_ has the first _two_ syllables
unaccented, and the last _one_ accented."--_Rev. D. Blair cor._; also
_Kirkham et al_.; also _L. Mur. et al_. "But hearing and vision differ not
more than words spoken and _words_ written." Or: "But hearing and vision
_do not differ_ more than _spoken words_ and written."--_Wilson cor._ "They
are considered by some _authors to be_ prepositions."--_Cooper cor._ "When
those powers have been deluded and _have_ gone astray."--_Phil Mu. cor._
"They will understand this, and _will_ like it."--_Abbott cor._ "They had
been expelled _from_ their native country Romagna."--_Hunt cor._ "Future
time is expressed _in_ two different ways."--_Adam and Gould cor._ "Such as
the borrowing _of some noted event_ from history."--_Kames cor._ "Every
_finite_ verb must agree with its nominative in number and person."--_Bucke
cor._ "We are struck, we know not how, with the symmetry of any _handsome_
thing we see."--_L. Murray cor._ "Under this head, I shall consider every
thing _that is_ necessary to a good delivery."--_Sheridan cor._ "A good ear
is the gift of nature; it may be much improved, but _it cannot be_ acquired
by art."--_L. Murray cor._ "'_Truth_' _is a common_ noun, _of the third
person_, singular _number_, neuter _gender_, and nominative
_case_."--_Bullions cor._ by _Brown's Form_. "'_Possess_' _is a regular_
active-transitive verb, _found in_ the indicative mood, present _tense_,
third person, _and_ plural number."--_Id._ "'_Fear_' is a _common_ noun,
_of the third person_, singular _number_, neuter _gender_, and nominative
_case_: and is the subject of _is: according to the Rule which says, 'A
noun or a pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the
nominative case.'_ Because the meaning is--'_fear is_.'"--_Id._ "'_Is_' is
an irregular _neuter_ verb, _from be_, was, _being_, been; _found_ in the
indicative _mood_, present _tense_, third person, _and_ singular _number_:
and agrees with its nominative _fear_; _according to the_ Rule _which
says_, '_Every finite_ verb _must agree with its subject, or nominative, in
person and number_' Because the meaning is--'_fear is_.'"--_Id._ "_Ae in
the word Gælic_, has the sound of long _a_."--_Wells cor._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XI.--OF LITERARY BLUNDERS.

"Repeat some adverbs that are composed of the _prefix or preposition a_ and
nouns."--_Kirkham cor._ "Participles are so called, because _they
participate or partake the properties of verbs and of adjectives or nouns_.
The Latin word _participium_, which signifies _a participle, is_ derived
from _participo_, to partake."--_Merchant cor._ "The possessive _precedes_
an other noun, and is known by the sign _'s_, or by this ', the apostrophe
only."--_Beck cor._ "Reciprocal pronouns, _or compound personal pronouns_,
are formed by adding _self_ or _selves_ to the _simple_ possessives _of the
first and second persons, and to the objectives of the third person_; as,
_myself, yourselves, himself, themselves_."--_Id._ "The word SELF, and its
plural SELVES, _when used separately as names_, must be considered as
nouns; _but when joined to the simple pronouns, they are not nouns, but
parts of the compound personal pronouns_."--_Wright cor._ "The _Spondee
'rolls round_,' expresses beautifully the majesty of the sun in his
course."--_Webster and Frazee cor._ "_Active-transitive verbs_ govern the
objective case; as, 'John _learned_ his _lesson_.'"--_Frazee cor._ "Prosody
primarily signified _accent_, or _the modulation of the voice_; and, as the
name implies, related _to poetry, or song_."--_Hendrick cor._ "On such a
principle of forming _them_, there would be as many _moods_ as verbs; and,
_in stead_ of four moods, we should have _four thousand three hundred_,
which is the number of verbs in the English language, according to
Lowth." [556]--_Hallock cor._ "The phrases, 'To let _out_ blood,'--'To go
_a_ hunting,' are _not_ elliptical; for _out_ is needless, and _a_ is a
preposition, governing _hunting_."--_Bullions cor._ "In Rhyme, the last
syllable of every _line corresponds in_ sound _with that of some other line
or lines_."--_Id._ "The possessive case plural, _where the nominative ends
in s_, has the apostrophe _only_; as, '_Eagles'_ wings,'--'_lions'_
whelps,'--'_bears'_ claws.'"--_Weld cor._ "'_Horses-manes_,' plural, should
be written _possessively, 'horses' manes_:'" [_one "mane"_ is never
possessed by many "_horses_."]--_Id._ "W takes its _usual_ form from the
union of two _Vees_, V being the _figure_ of the Roman capital letter which
was anciently called _U_."--_Fowler cor._ "In the sentence, 'I saw the lady
who sings,' what word _is nominative to_ SINGS?"--_J. Flint cor._ "In the
sentence, 'This is the pen which John made,' what word _expresses the
object of_ MADE?"--_Id._ "'That we fall into _no_ sin:' _no_ is a
definitive or pronominal _adjective_, not compared, and relates to
_sin_."--_Rev. D. Blair cor._ "'That _all_ our doings may be ordered by thy
governance:' _all_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared, and relates to
_doings_."--_Id._ "'Let him be made _to_ study.' _Why is_ the sign _to_
expressed before _study_? Because _be made_ is passive; and passive verbs
do not take the infinitive after them without the preposition
_to_."--_Sanborn cor._ "The following verbs have _both the preterit tense
and the perfect participle like the present_: viz., Cast, cut, cost, shut,
let, bid, shed, hurt, hit, put, &c."--_Buchanan cor._ "The agreement which
_any_ word has with _an other_ in person, _number_, gender, _or_ case, is
called CONCORD; and _the_ power which one _word_ has over _an other_, in
respect to ruling its case, mood, or _form_, is called GOVERNMENT."--_Bucke
cor._ "The word _ticks_ tells what the watch is _doing_."--_Sanborn cor._
"_The_ Breve ([~]) marks a short vowel or syllable, and the _Macron_ ([=]),
a long _one_."--_Bullions and Lennie cor._ "'Charles, you, by your
diligence, make easy work of the task given you by your preceptor.' The
first _you_ is in the _nominative_ case, being the subject of the verb
_make_."--_Kirkham cor._ "_Uoy_ in _buoy_ is a proper _triphthong; eau_ in
_flambeau_ is an improper _triphthong_."--_Sanborn cor._ "'While I of
things to come, As past rehearsing, sing.'--POLLOK. That is, 'While I sing
of things to come, _as if I were rehearsing things that are_
past.'"--_Kirkham cor._ "A simple sentence _usually_ has in it but one
nominative, and _but_ one _finite_ verb."--_Folker cor._ "An irregular verb
is _a verb that does not form the preterit_ and _the_ perfect participle
_by assuming d or ed_."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 75. "But, when the antecedent
is used in a _restricted_ sense, a comma is _sometimes_ inserted before the
relative; as, 'There is no _charm_ in the female sex, _which_ can supply
the place of virtue.'"--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 273. Or: "But, when the
antecedent is used in a _restricted_ sense, no comma is _usually_ inserted
before the relative; as, 'There is in the female sex no _charm which_ can
supply the place of virtue.'"--_Kirkham cor._ "Two capitals _used_ in this
way, denote _different words_; but _one repeated, marks_ the plural number:
as, L. D. _Legis Doctor_; LL. D. _Legum Doctor_."--_Gould cor._ "Was any
person _present besides_ the mercer? Yes; his clerk."--_L. Murray cor._
"The word _adjective_ comes from the Latin _adjectivum_; and this, from
_ad_, to, and _jacio_, I cast."--_Kirkham cor._ "Vision, or _Imagery_, is a
figure _by which the speaker represents the objects of his imagination_, as
actually before _his_ eyes, and _present to his senses_. Thus Cicero, in
his fourth oration against Cataline: 'I seem to myself to behold this city,
the ornament of the earth, and the capital of all nations, suddenly
involved in one conflagration. I see before me the slaughtered heaps of
citizens lying unburied in the midst of their ruined country. The furious
countenance of Ceth[=e]'gus rises to my view, while with savage joy he is
triumphing in your miseries.'"--_Dr. Blair cor._; also _L. Murray_. "When
_two or more_ verbs follow the same nominative, _an_ auxiliary _that is
common to them both or all_, is _usually expressed to_ the first, and
understood to the rest: as, 'He _has gone_ and _left_ me;' that is, 'He
_has gone_ and _has left_ me.'"--_Comly cor._ "When I use the word _pillar
to denote a column that supports_ an edifice, I employ it
literally."--_Hiley cor._ "_In poetry_, the conjunction _nor_ is often used
for _neither_; as

    'A stately superstructure, that _nor_ wind,
    Nor wave, nor shock of falling years, could move.'--POLLOK."--_Id._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XII--OF PERVERSIONS.

"In the beginning God created the _heaven_ and the earth."--_Genesis_, i,
1. "Canst thou by searching find out _God_?"--_Job_, xi, 7. "Great _and
marvellous are thy works_, Lord _God Almighty_; just and true are thy ways,
thou King of saints."--_Rev._, xv. 3. "_Not_ every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven."--_Matt._, vii, 21.
"Though he was rich, yet for _your_ sakes he became poor."--_2 Cor._, viii,
9. "Whose foundation was _overthrown_ with a flood."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Job_,
xxii, 16. "Take my yoke upon _you, and learn of me_;" &c.--_Matt._, xi, 29.
"I _go_ to prepare a place for you."--_John_, xiv, 2. "_And you_ hath he
quickened, who _were_ dead _in_ trespasses _and sins_."--_Ephesians_, ii,
1. "Go, flee thee away into the land of _Judah_."--_Amos_, vii, 12;
_Lowth's Gram._, p. 44. Or: "Go, flee away into the land of
_Judah_."--_Hart cor._ "Hitherto shalt thou come, _but_ no
_further_."--_Job_, xxxviii, 11. "The day is thine, the night also is
thine."--_Psal._, lxxiv, 16. "_Tribulation_ worketh patience; and patience,
experience; and experience, hope."--_Romans_, v, 4. "_Then_ shall the dust
return to _the earth as it was_; and the _spirit shall return unto God_ who
gave it."--_Ecclesiastes_, xii, 7. "_At the last_ it biteth like a serpent,
and stingeth like an adder. _Thine eyes shall behold strange women_, and
_thine heart shall_ utter perverse things: _Yea_, thou _shalt_ be _as he
that_ lieth down in the midst of the sea."--_Prov._, xxiii, 32, 33, 34.
"The memory of the just _is blessed_; but the name of the wicked shall
rot."--_Prov._, x, 7. "He that is slow _to_ anger, is better than the
mighty; _and_ he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a
city."--_Prov._, xvi, 32. "_For whom the Lord loveth_, he correcteth;
_even_ as _a_ father the son in whom he delighteth."--_Prov._, iii, 12.
"The _first-future_ tense _is that which expresses_ what _will_ take place
hereafter."--_Brown's Inst. of E. Gram._, p. 54. "Teach me to feel
another's woe, To hide _the fault_ I see."--_Pope's Univ. Prayer_. "Surely
thou art one of them; for thou art a _Galilean_."--_Mark_, xiv, 70. "Surely
thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee."--_Matt._, xxvi,
73. "Strait is the gate, and narrow _is_ the way, _which leadeth_ unto
life."--_Matt._, vii, 14. "Thou buildest the wall, that thou _mayest_ be
their king."--_Nehemiah_, vi, 6. "There is forgiveness with thee, that thou
_mayest_ be feared."--_Psalms_, cxxx, 4. "But yesterday, the word _of
Cæsar_ might Have stood against the world."--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p.
250. "The North-East spends _his_ rage."--_Thomson's Seasons_, p. 34.
"Tells how the drudging _goblin_ swet."--_Milton's Allegro_, l. 105. "And
to his faithful _champion_ hath in place _Borne_ witness
gloriously."--_Milton's Sam. Agon._, l. 1752. "Then, if thou _fall'st_, O
Cromwell, Thou _fall'st_ a blessed martyr."--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p.
173. Better: "Then, if thou _fall_, O Cromwell! thou _fallst_ a blessed
martyr."--_Shak. and Kirk. cor._ "I see the dagger-crest of Mar, I see the
_Moray's_ silver star, _Wave_ o'er the cloud of Saxon war, That up the lake
_comes_ winding far!"--_Scott's Lady of the Lake_, p. 162. "Each _beast_,
each insect, happy in its own."--_Pope, on Man_, Ep. i, l. 185. "_And he
that is_ learning to arrange _his_ sentences with accuracy and order, _is_
learning, at the same time, to think with accuracy and order."--_Blair's
Lect._, p. 120. "We, then, as workers together with _him_, beseech you also
that ye receive not the grace of God in vain."--_2 Cor._, vi, 1. "And on
the _boundless_ of thy goodness calls."--_Young's Last Day_, B. ii, l. 320.
"Knowledge dwells In heads replete with thoughts of other men; Wisdom, in
minds _attentive_ to their own."--_Cowper's Task_, B. vi, l. 90. "_O_! let
me listen to the _words_ of life!"--_Thomson's Paraphrase on Matt_. vi.
"Save that, from yonder ivy-mantled _tower_." &c.--_Gray's Elegy_, l. 9.
"_Weighs_ the _men's_ wits against the _Lady's hair_."--_Pope's Rape of the
Lock_, Canto v, l. 72. "_Till_ the publication of _Dr_. Lowth's _small
Introduction_, the grammatical study of our language formed no part of the
ordinary method of instruction."--_Hiley's Preface_, p. vi. "Let there be
no strife, _I pray thee, between_ me and thee."--_Gen._, xiii, 8.

   "What! canst thou not _forbear_ me half an hour?"--_Shakspeare_.

    "Till then who knew the force of those dire _arms_?"--_Milton_.

    "In words, as fashions, the _same_ rule will hold;
    Alike fantastic, if too new or old:
    Be not the first by whom the new _are_ tried
    Nor yet the last to lay the old aside."--_Pope, on Criticism_, l. 333.


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XIII.--OF AWKWARDNESS.

"They slew Varus, _whom_ I mentioned before."--_L. Murray cor._ "Maria
rejected Valerius, _whom_ she had rejected before." Or: "Maria rejected
Valerius _a second time_."--_Id._ "_In_ the English _language, nouns have_
but two different terminations for cases."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 64.
"Socrates and Plato were _the wisest men, and_ the most eminent
philosophers _in_ Greece."--_Buchanan's Gram._, Pref., p. viii. "Whether
more than one were concerned in the business, does not yet appear." Or:
"_How many_ were concerned in the business, does not yet appear."--_L.
Murray cor._ "And that, consequently, the verb _or_ pronoun agreeing with
it, _can never_ with propriety be used in the plural number."--_Id. et al.
cor._ "A second help may be, _frequent_ and _free converse_ with _others_
of your own sex who are like minded."--_Wesley cor._ "Four of the
_semivowels_, namely, _l, m, n_, and _r_, are _termed_ LIQUIDS, _on account
of the fluency of_ their sounds."--See _Brown's Inst._, p. 16. "Some
conjunctions _are used in pairs_, so that _one_ answers to _an other, as
its regular_ correspondent."--_Lowth et al. cor._ "The mutes are those
consonants whose sounds cannot be protracted; the _semivowels have
imperfect_ sounds _of their own_, which can be continued at
pleasure."--_Murray et al. cor._ "HE _and_ SHE _are_ sometimes used as
_nouns_, and, _as such, are_ regularly declined: as, 'The _hes_ in
birds.'--BACON. 'The _shes_ of Italy.'--SHAK."--_Churchill cor._ "The
separation of a preposition from the word which it governs, is [censured by
some writers, as being improper."--_C. Adams cor._ "The word WHOSE,
_according to some critics, should_ be restricted to persons; but good
writers _still occasionally_ use it _with reference to_
things."--_Priestley et al. cor._ "New and surpassing wonders present
themselves to our _view_."--_Sherlock cor._ "The degrees of comparison are
often _inaccurately_ applied and construed."--_Alger's Murray_. Or:
"_Passages_ are often found in which the degrees of comparison _have not an
accurate construction_."--_Campbell cor._; also _Murray et al_. "The _sign
of possession_ is placed too _far from the name_, to _form a construction
that is_ either perspicuous or agreeable."--_L. Murray cor._ "_The simple
tenses_ are those which are formed _by_ the principal verb without an
auxiliary."--_Id._ "The _more intimate_ men _are_, the more _they affect
one another's happiness_."--_Id._ "This is the machine that he
_invented_."--_Nixon cor._ "To give this sentence the interrogative form,
_we must express it_ thus." Or: "This sentence, _to have_ the interrogative
form, should be expressed thus."--_L. Murray cor._ "Never employ words
_that are_ susceptible of a sense different from _that which_ you intend
_to convey_."--_Hiley cor._ "Sixty pages are occupied in explaining what,
according to the ordinary method, would not require more than ten or
twelve."--_Id._ "The participle in _ing_ always expresses action,
suffering, or being, as continuing, _or in progress_."--_Bullions cor._
"The _first_ participle of all active verbs, has _usually_ an active
signification; as, 'James is _building_ the house.' _Often_, however, it
_takes_ a passive _meaning_; as, '_The house is building_.'"--_Id._
"_Previously_ to parsing this sentence, the young pupil may be _taught to
analyze_ it, by such questions as the following: viz."--_Id._ "_Since_ that
period, however, attention has been paid to this important subject."--_Id.
and Hiley cor._ "A definition of a word is _a brief_ explanation _of_ what
_it means_."--G. BROWN: _Hiley cor._


UNDER CRITICAL NOTE XIV.--OF IGNORANCE.

"What is _a verb_? It is _a word_ which signifies _to be, to act_, or _to
be acted upon_." Or thus: "What is an _assertor_? Ans. 'One who affirms
positively; an affirmer, supporter, or vindicator.'--WEBSTER'S
DICT."--_Peirce cor._ "Virgil wrote the _Æneid_."--_Kirkham cor._ "Which,
to a supercilious or inconsiderate _native of Japan_, would seem very idle
and impertinent."--_Locke cor._ "Will not a look of disdain cast upon you
throw you into a _ferment_?"--_Say cor._ "Though only the conjunction _if_
is _here set before_ the verb, there are several others, (as _that, though,
lest, unless, except_,) which may be _used with_ the subjunctive
mood."--_L. Murray cor._ "When proper names have an article _before_ them,
they are used as common names."--_Id. et al. cor._ "When a proper noun has
an article _before_ it, it is used as a common noun."--_Merchant cor._
"Seeming to _rob_ the death-field of its terrors."--_Id._ "For the same
reason, we might, without any _detriment_ to the language, dispense with
the terminations of our verbs in the singular."--_Kirkham cor._ "It
_removes_ all possibility of being misunderstood."--_Abbott cor._
"Approximation to _perfection_ is all that we can expect."--_Id._ "I have
often joined in singing with _musicians_ at Norwich."--_Gardiner cor._
"When not standing in regular _prosaic_ order." Or:--"in _the_ regular
order _of prose_."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "_Regardless_ of the dogmas and
edicts of the philosophical umpire."--_Kirkham cor._ "Others begin to talk
before their mouths are open, _prefixing_ the mouth-closing M to most of
their words; as, '_M-yes_,' for '_Yes_.'"--_Gardiner cor._ "That noted
close of his '_esse videatur_,' exposed him to censure among his
_contemporaries_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "A man's _own is_ what he _has, or
possesses by right; the word own_ being a past participle of _the_ verb _to
owe_, which formerly signified _to have or possess_."--_Kirkham cor._ "As
requires so; expressing a comparison of _manner_; as, '_As_ the one dieth,
_so_ dieth the other.'"--_L. Mur. et al. cor._ "To obey our parents, is _an
obvious_ duty."--_Parker and Fox cor._ "_Almost_ all the political papers
of the kingdom have touched upon these things."--_H. C. Wright cor._ "I
shall take _the liberty_ to make a few observations on the
subject."--_Hiley cor._ "His loss I have endeavoured to supply, _so_ far as
_by_ additional vigilance and industry _I could_."--_Id._ "That they should
make vegetation so _exuberant_ as to anticipate every want."--_Frazee cor._
"The _guillemets_, or _quotation points_, [""] denote that one or more
words are extracted from an other author."--_P. E. Day cor._ "_Nineveh, the
capital of_ Assyria, _was one_ of the most noted cities of ancient
_times_."--_Id._ "It may, however, be rendered definite by _the mention of_
some _particular_ time; as, yesterday, last week, &c."--_Bullions cor._
"The last is called heroic measure, and is the same that is used by Milton,
Young, _Thomson, Pollok_. &c."--_Id._ "_Perennial_ ones must be sought in
the delightful regions above."--_Hallock cor._ "Intransitive verbs are
those which are _inseparable_ from the effect produced." Or better:
"Intransitive verbs are those which _express action without governing an
object_."--_Cutler cor._ "_The Feminine_ gender belongs to women, and
animals of the female kind."--_Id._ "_Wo_ unto you, scribes and
_Pharisees_, hypocrites!"--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Luke_, xi, 44. "A _pyrrhic_,
which has both its syllables short."--_Day cor._ "What kind of _jessamine_?
A _jessamine_ in flower, or a flowery _jessamine_."--_Barrett cor._
"LANGUAGE, _a word_ derived from LINGUA, the tongue, _now signifies any
series of sounds or letters formed into words, and used for the expression
of thought_."--_Id._ See _this Gram. of E. Grammars_, p. 145. "Say
'_none_,' not '_ne'er a one_.'"--_Staniford cor._ "'_E'er a one_,' [is
sometimes used for '_any_'] or '_either_.'"--_Pond cor._

   "Earth loses thy _pattern_ for ever and aye;
    O sailor-boy! sailor-boy! peace to thy soul."
        --_Dymond_.

    "His brow was sad; his eye beneath
    Flashed like a _falchion_ from its sheath."
        --_Longfellow's Ballads_, p. 129.

[Fist] [The examples exhibited for exercises under Critical Notes 15th and
16th, being judged either incapable of correction, or unworthy of the
endeavour, are submitted to the criticism of the reader, without any
attempt to amend them, or to offer substitutes in this place.]


PROMISCUOUS CORRECTIONS OF FALSE SYNTAX.

LESSON I.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"_Why is_ our language less refined than that of Italy, Spain, or
France?"--_L. Murray cor. "Why is_ our language less refined than _the
French_?"--_Ingersoll cor._ "I believe your Lordship will agree with me, in
the reason why our language is less refined than _that_ of Italy, Spain, or
France."--_Swift cor._ "Even in this short sentence, 'why our language is
less refined than _those_ of Italy, Spain, or France,' we may discern an
inaccuracy; the _pronominal adjective 'those'_ is made plural, when the
substantive to which it refers, or the thing for which it stands, 'the
_language_ of Italy, Spain, or France,' is singular."--_Dr. H. Blair cor._
"The sentence _would_ have run much better in this way:--'why our language
is less refined than the Italian, _the_ Spanish, or _the_ French.'"--_Id._
"But when arranged in an entire sentence, _as_ they must be to make a
complete sense, they show it still more evidently."--_L. Murray cor._ "This
is a more artificial and refined construction, than that in which the
common connective is simply _used_."--_Id._ "_I_ shall present _to_ the
reader a list of _certain_ prepositions _or prefixes_, which are derived
from the Latin and Greek languages."--_Id. "A relative sometimes
comprehends_ the meaning of a _personal_ pronoun and a copulative
conjunction."--_Id._ "Personal pronouns, being used to supply the _places_
of nouns, are not _often_ employed in the same _clauses with_ the _nouns_
which they represent."--_Id. and Smith cor._ "There is very seldom any
occasion for a substitute where the principal word is present."--_L. Mur.
cor._ "We hardly consider little children as persons, because _the_ term
_person_ gives us the idea of reason, _or intelligence_."--_Priestley et
al. cor._ "The _occasions_ for exerting these _two_ qualities _are_
different."--_Dr. Blair et al. cor._ "I'll tell you _with whom_ time ambles
withal, _with whom_ time trots withal, _with whom_ time gallops withal, and
_with whom_ he stands still withal. I pray thee, _with whom_ doth he trot
withal?"--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 122. "By greatness, I mean, _not_ the bulk
of any single object _only_ but the largeness of a whole view."--_Addison
cor._ "The question may then be put, What _more_ does he than mean?"--_Dr.
Blair cor._ "The question might be put, What more does he than
mean?"--_Id._ "He is surprised to find himself _at_ so great a distance
from the object with which he _set_ out."--_Id._; also _Murray cor._ "Few
rules can be given which will hold _good_ in all cases."--_Lowth and Mur.
cor._ "Versification is the arrangement of _words into metrical lines_,
according to the laws _of verse_."--_Johnson cor._ "Versification is the
arrangement _of words into rhythmical lines of some particular length, so
as to produce harmony by the regular alternation of syllables differing in
quantity_."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "_Amelia's_ friend Charlotte, to whom
no one imputed blame, was too prompt in her own vindication."--_L. Murray
cor._ "Mr. Pitt's joining _of_ the war party in 1793, the most striking and
the most fatal instance of this offence, is the one which at once presents
itself."--_Brougham cor._ "To the framing _of_ such a sound constitution of
mind."--_Lady cor._ "'I beseech you,' said St. Paul to his Ephesian
converts, 'that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.'
"--See _Eph._, iv, 1. "So as to prevent _it from_ being equal to
that."--_Booth cor._ "When speaking of an _action_ as being performed." Or:
"When speaking of _the performance of an action_."--_Id._ "And, in all
questions of _actions_ being so performed, _est_ is added _for_ the second
person."--_Id._ "No account can be given of this, _but_ that custom has
blinded their eyes." Or: "No _other_ account can be given of this, _than_
that custom has blinded their eyes."--_Dymond cor._

   "Design, or chance, _makes_ others wive;
    But nature did this match contrive."--_Waller cor._


LESSON II.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"I suppose each of you _thinks_ it is _his_ own nail."--_Abbott cor._ "They
are useless, _because they are_ apparently based upon this
supposition."--_Id._ "The form, _or_ manner, in which this plan may be
adopted is various."--_Id. "The_ making _of_ intellectual effort, and _the_
acquiring _of_ knowledge, are always pleasant to the human mind."--_Id._
"This will do more than the best lecture _that_ ever was delivered."--_Id.
"The_ doing _of_ easy things is generally dull work."--_Id._ "Such _are_
the tone and manner of some teachers."--_Id._ "Well, the fault is, _that
some one was_ disorderly at prayer time."--_Id._ "Do you remember _to have
spoken_ on this subject in school?"--_Id._ "The course above recommended,
is not _the_ trying _of_ lax and inefficient measures"--_Id._ "Our
community _agree_ that there is a God."--_Id._ "It prevents _them from_
being interested in what is said."--_Id._ "We will also suppose that I call
an other boy to me, _whom_ I have reason to believe to be a sincere
Christian."--_Id._ "Five _minutes'_ notice is given by the bell."--_Id._
"The Annals of Education _give_ notice of it." Or: "The _work entitled_
'Annals of Education' _gives_ notice of it."--_Id. "Teachers'_ meetings
will be interesting and useful."--_Id._ "She thought _a_ half hour's study
would conquer all the difficulties."--_Id._ "The difference between an
honest and _a_ hypocritical confession."--_Id._ "There is no point of
attainment _at which_ we must stop."--_Id._ "Now six _hours' service_ is as
much as is expected of teachers."--_Id._ "How _many_ are seven times
nine?"--_Id._ "Then the reckoning proceeds till it _comes_ to ten
hundred."--_Frost cor._ "Your success will depend on your own exertions;
see, then, that you _be_ diligent."--_Id._ "Subjunctive Mood, Present
Tense: If I _be_ known, If thou _be_ known, If he _be_ known;" &c.--_Id._
"If I be loved, If thou be loved, If he be loved;" &c.--_Frost right._ "An
Interjection is a word used to express sudden emotion. _Interjections_ are
so called because they are generally thrown in between the parts of
_discourse_, without any reference to the structure of _those_
parts."--_Frost cor._ "The _Cardinal numbers_ are those which _simply tell
how many_; as, one, two, three."--_Id._ "More than one organ _are_
concerned in the utterance of almost every consonant." Or thus: "More
_organs_ than one _are_ concerned in the utterance of almost _any_
consonant."--_Id._ "To extract from them all the terms _which_ we _use_ in
our divisions and subdivisions of the art."--_Holmes cor._ "And there
_were_ written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe."--_Bible cor._
"If I were to be judged as to my behaviour, compared with that of
_John_."--_Whiston's Jos. cor._ "The preposition _to_, signifying _in order
to_, was anciently preceded by _for_; as, 'What went ye out _for to
see?_'"--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 184. "This makes the proper perfect tense,
which in English is always expressed by the auxiliary verb _have; as_, 'I
have written.'"--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Indeed, in the formation of character,
personal exertion is the first, the second, and the third
_virtue_."--_Sanders cor._ "The reducing _of_ them to the condition of the
beasts that perish."--_Dymond cor._ "Yet this affords no reason to deny
that the nature of the gift is the same, or that both are divine." Or: "Yet
this affords no reason to _aver_ that the nature of the gift is not the
same, or that both are not divine."--_Id._ "If God _has_ made known his
will."--_Id._ "If Christ _has_ prohibited them, nothing else can prove them
right."--_Id._ "That the taking _of_ them is wrong, every man who simply
consults his own heart, will know."--_Id._ "_From these evils the world_
would be spared, if one did not write."--_Id._ "It is in a great degree our
own _fault_."--_Id._ "It is worthy _of_ observation, that lesson-learning
is nearly excluded."--_Id._ "Who spares the aggressor's life, even to the
endangering _of_ his own."--_Id._ "Who advocates the taking _of_ the life
of an aggressor."--_Id._ "And thence up to the intentionally and
_voluntarily_ fraudulent."--_Id._ "And the contention was so _sharp
between_ them, that they departed asunder one from _the_ other."--SCOTT'S,
FRIENDS', ALGER'S, BRUCE'S BIBLE, AND OTHERS: _Acts_, xv, 39. "Here the man
is John, and John is the man; so the words are _imagination_ and _fancy;
but THE imagination_ and THE fancy are _not words_: they are intellectual
powers."--_Rev. M. Harrison cor._ "The article, which is here so emphatic
in the Greek, is _quite forgotten_ in our translation."--_Id._ "We have no
_fewer_ than _twenty-four_ pronouns."--_Id._ "It will admit of a pronoun
joined to it."--_Id._ "From intercourse and from conquest, all the
languages of Europe participate _one_ with _an_ other."--_Id._ "It is not
always necessity, therefore, that has been the cause of our introducing
_of_ terms derived from the classical languages."--_Id._ "The man of genius
stamps upon it any impression that pleases _him_." Or: "any impression that
he _chooses_."--_Id._ "The proportion of names ending in SON
_preponderates_ greatly among the Dano-Saxon population of the
North."--_Id._ "As a proof of the strong similarity between the English
_language_ and the Danish."--_Id._ "A century from the time _when_ (or _at
which_) Hengist and Horsa landed on the Isle of Thanet."--_Id._

   "I saw the colours waving in the wind,
    And _them_ within, to mischief how combin'd."--_Bunyan cor._


LESSON III.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"A ship excepted: of _which_ we say, '_She_ sails well.'"--_Jonson cor._
"Honesty is reckoned _of_ little worth."--_Lily cor._ "Learn to esteem life
as _you_ ought."--_Dodsley cor._ "As the soundest health is less perceived
than the lightest malady, so the highest joy toucheth us less _sensibly_
than the smallest sorrow."--_Id._ "_Youth_ is no apology for
_frivolousness_."--_Whiting cor._ "The porch was _of_ the same width as the
temple."--_Milman cor._ "The other tribes contributed _neither_ to his rise
_nor to his_ downfall."--_Id._ "His whole religion, _with all its laws_,
would have been shaken to its foundation."--_Id._ "The English has most
commonly been neglected, and children _have been_ taught only _in_ the
Latin syntax."--_J. Ward cor._ "They are not _noticed_ in the notes."--
_Id._ "He walks in righteousness, doing what he would _have others do to
him_."--_Fisher cor._ "They stand _independent_ of the rest of the
sentence."--_Ingersoll cor._ "My uncle _and_ his son were in town
yesterday."--_Lennie cor._ "She _and_ her sisters are well."--_Id._ "His
purse, with its contents, _was_ abstracted from his pocket."--_Id._ "The
great constitutional feature of this institution being, that directly
_after_ the acrimony of the last election is over, the acrimony of the next
begins."--_Dickens cor._ "His disregarding _of_ his parents' advice has
brought him into disgrace."--_Farnum cor._ "Can you tell me _why_ his
father _made_ that remark?"--_Id._ "_Why does_ our teacher _detain_ us so
long?"--_Id._ "I am certain _that_ the boy said so."--_Id._ "WHICH means
any thing or things before named; and THAT may represent any person or
persons, thing or things, _that_ have been speaking, spoken to, or spoken
of."--_Perley cor._ "A certain number of syllables _occurring in a
particular order_, form a foot. _Poetic feet_ are so called because it is
by their aid that the voice, as it were, steps along."--_L. Murray et al.
cor._ "_Questions asked by_ a principal verb _only_--as, _'Teach I?' 'Burns
he?'_ &c.,--are _archaisms_, and now _peculiar to the poets_."--_A. Murray
cor._ "Tell whether the 18th, _the_ 19th, _the_ 20th, _the_ 21st, _the_
22d, or _the_ 23d _rule is_ to be used, and repeat the rule."--_Parker and
Fox cor._ "The resolution was adopted without much deliberation, _and
consequently_ caused great dissatisfaction." Or: "The resolution, _which_
caused great dissatisfaction, was adopted without much deliberation."--
_Iid._ "The man is now much _noticed_ by the people thereabouts."--_Webb's
Edward's Gram. cor._ "The sand prevents _them from_ sticking to one an
other."--_Id._ "Defective verbs are those which are used only in some of
_the_ moods and tenses."--_Greenleaf's Gram., p. 29; Ingersoll's, 121;
Smith's, 90; Merchant's, 64; Nutting's, 68; L. Murray, Guy, Russell, Bacon,
Frost, Alger, S. Putnam, Goldsbury, Felton, et al. cor._ "Defective verbs
are those which want some of _the_ moods _or_ tenses."--_Lennie et al.
cor._ "Defective verbs want some of _the_ parts _common to other
verbs_."--_Bullions cor._ "A Defective verb is one that wants some of _the_
parts _common to verbs_."--_Id._ "To the irregular verbs _may_ be added the
defective; which are not only irregular, but also wanting in some
parts."--_Lowth cor._ "To the irregular verbs _may_ be added the defective;
which are not only wanting in some parts, but are, when inflected,
irregular."--_Churchill cor._ "When two or more nouns _occur together_ in
the possessive case."--_Farnum cor._ "When several short sentences _come
together_"--_Id._ "Words are divided into ten classes, called Parts of
Speech."--_L. Ainsworth cor._ "A passive verb has its agent or doer always
in the objective case, governed by a preposition."--_Id._ "I am surprised
at your _inattention_."--_Id._ "SINGULAR: Thou lovest, _not_ You love.
_You_ has always a plural verb."--_Bullions cor._ "How do you know that
love is _of_ the first person? Ans. Because _we, the pronoun_, is _of_ the
first _person_."--_Id. and Lennie cor._ "The lowing herd _winds_ slowly
_o'er_ the lea."--_Gray's Elegy_, l. 2: _Bullions cor._ "Iambic verses have
_their_ second, fourth, and other even syllables accented."--_Bullions
cor._ "Contractions _that_ are not allowable in prose, are often made in
poetry."--_Id._ "Yet to their general's voice they _soon obey'd_"--
_Milton_. "It never presents to his mind _more than_ one new subject at the
same time."--_Felton cor._ "An _abstract noun_ is the name of some
particular quality considered apart from its substance."--_Brown's Inst. of
E. Gram._, p. 32. "_A noun is of_ the first person when _it denotes the
speaker_."--_Felton cor._ "Which of the two brothers _is a graduate_?"--
_Hallock cor._ "I am a linen-draper bold, As all the world doth
know."--_Cowper_. "_Oh_ the _pain_, the _bliss_ of dying!"--_Pope_. "This
do; take _to_ you censers, _thou_, Korah, and all _thy_ company."--_Bible
cor._ "There are _three_ participles; the _imperfect, the perfect_, and
_the preperfect_: as, reading, read, having read. Transitive verbs have an
_active and passive_ participle: that is, their form for the perfect is
sometimes active, and sometimes passive; as, _read_, or _loved_."--_S. S.
Greene cor._

   "O _Heav'n_, in my connubial hour decree
    _My spouse this man_, or such a _man_ as he."--_Pope cor._


LESSON IV.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"The past tenses (of Hiley's subjunctive mood) represent conditional past
_facts_ or _events_, of which the speaker is uncertain."--_Hiley cor._
"Care also should be taken that they _be_ not introduced too
abundantly."--_Id._ "Till they _have_ become familiar to the mind." Or:
"Till they _become_ familiar to the mind."--_Id._ "When once a particular
arrangement and phraseology _have_ become familiar to the mind."--_Id._ "I
have furnished the student with the plainest and most practical directions
_that_ I could devise."--_Id._ "When you are conversant with the Rules of
Grammar, you will be qualified to commence the study of Style."--_Id._ "_C
before e, i, or y, always_ has a soft sound, like _s_."--_L. Murray cor._
"_G_ before _e, i, or y_, is _generally_ soft; as in _genius, ginger,
Egypt_."--_Id._ "_C_ before _e, i, or y, always_ sounds soft, like
_s_."--_Hiley cor._ "_G_ is _generally_ soft before _e, i, or y_; as in
_genius, ginger, Egypt_."--_Id._ "A perfect alphabet must always contain
_just_ as many letters as there are elementary sounds in the language: the
English alphabet, _having fewer letters than sounds, and sometimes more
than one letter for the same sound_, is both defective and
redundant."--_Id._ "A common _noun is a name_, given to a whole class or
species, and _is_ applicable to every individual of that class."--_Id._
"Thus an adjective has _usually_ a noun either expressed or
understood."--_Id._ "Emphasis is _extraordinary force used in the
enunciation of such words as we wish to make prominent in discourse_." Or:
"Emphasis is _a peculiar stress of voice, used in the utterance of words
specially significant_."--_Dr. H. Blair cor._; also _L. Murray_. "_So_
simple _a_ question as. 'Do you ride to town to-day?' is capable of _as
many as_ four different acceptations, _the sense varying_ as the emphasis
is differently placed."--_Iid._ "Thus, _bravely, for_ 'in a brave manner.'
is derived from _brave-like_."--_Hiley cor._ "In _this_ manner, _several_
different parts of speech are _often_ formed from _one root_ by means of
_different affixes_."--_Id._ "Words derived from _the same root_, are
always more or less allied in signification."--_Id._ "When a noun of
multitude conveys _the idea of unity_, the verb and pronoun should be
singular; but when it conveys _the idea of plurality_, the verb and pronoun
must be plural."--_Id._ "They have spent their whole time to make the
sacred chronology agree with the profane."--_Id._ "I have studied my
lesson, but you have not _looked at yours_."--_Id._ "When words _are
connected_ in pairs, there is _usually_ a comma _after_ each pair."--
_Hiley, Bullions, and Lennie, cor._ "When words _are connected_ in pairs,
the pairs should be marked by the comma."--_Farnum cor._ "His _book
entitled_, 'Studies of Nature,' is deservedly a popular work."--_Biog.
Dict. cor._

   "Here _rests_ his head _upon the lap of earth_,
    A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown."--GRAY.

"'_Youth_,' here, is in the _nominative case_, (the verb '_rests_' being,
in this instance, _transitive_,) and is _the subject of the sentence_. The
meaning is, '_A youth here rests his head_,' &c."--_Hart cor._ "The pronoun
_I, as well as_ the interjection _O_, should be written with a capital."
Or: "The pronoun _I, and_ the interjection _O_, should be written with
_capitals_"--_Weld cor._ "The pronoun _I_ should _always_ be written with a
capital."--_Id._ "He went from _London_ to York."--_Id._ "An adverb is a
_word added_ to _a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an_ other _adverb_,
to modify _its_ meaning."--_Id._ (See Lesson 1st under the General Rule.)
"SINGULAR signifies, '_expressing only one;' denoting but_ one person or
thing. PLURAL, (Latin _pluralis_, from _plus_, more,) signifies,
'_expressing_ more than one.'"--_Weld cor._ "When the present ends in _e,
d_ only is added to form the imperfect _tense_ and _the_ perfect participle
of regular verbs."--_Id._ "Synæresis is the contraction of two syllables
into one; as, _seest_ for _seëst, drowned_ for _drown-ed_."--_Id._ (See
_Brown's Inst_. p. 230.) "Words ending in _ee are often inflected by mere
consonants, and without_ receiving an additional syllable beginning with
_e_: as, _see, seest, sees; agree, agreed, agrees_."--_Weld cor._ "_In_
monosyllables, final _f, l_, or _s_, preceded by a single vowel, _is_
doubled; as in _staff, mill, grass_."--_Id._ "_Before ing_, words ending
_in ie_ drop the _e_, and _change the i into y; as, die, dying_."--_Id._"
One number may be used for _the_ other--_or, rather, the plural may be used
for the singular_; as, _we_ for _I, you_ for _thou_."--_S. S. Greene cor._
"STR~OB'ILE, _n._ A pericarp made up of scales that lie _one over an
other_."--_Worcester cor._

   "Yet ever, from the clearest source, _hath run_
    Some gross _alloy_, some tincture of the man."--_Lowth cor._


LESSON V.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"The possessive case is _usually_ followed by _a_ noun, _expressed or
understood_, which is the name of the thing possessed."--_Felton cor._
"Hadmer of Aggstein was as pious, devout, and praying a Christian, as _was_
Nelson, Washington, or Jefferson; or as _is_ Wellington, Tyler, Clay, or
Polk."--_H. C. Wright cor._ "A word in the possessive case is not an
independent noun, and cannot stand by _itself_."--_J. W. Wright cor._ "Mary
is not handsome, but she is good-natured; _and good-nature_ is better than
beauty."--_St. Quentin cor._ "After the practice of joining _all_ words
together had ceased, _a note_ of distinction _was placed_ at the end of
every word."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "Neither Henry nor Charles
_dissipates_ his time."--_Hallock cor._ "'He had taken from the _Christians
above_ thirty small castles.' KNOLLES:"--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 200;
_Johnson's Quarto Dict., w. What._ "In _what_ character Butler was
admitted, is unknown." Or: "In _whatever_ character Butler was admitted,
_that character_ is unknown."--_Hallock cor._ "How _are_ the agent of a
passive and the object of an active verb often left?"--_Id._ "By SUBJECT,
is meant the word of _whose object_ something is declared." Or: "By
SUBJECT, is meant the word _which has_ something declared of _the thing
signified_."--_Chandler cor._ "Care should also be taken that _a
transitive_ verb _be_ not used _in stead_ of a _neuter or intransitive_;
as, _lay_ for _lie, raise_ for _rise, set_ for _sit_, &c."--_Id._ "On them
_depends_ the duration of our Constitution and our country."--_Calhoun
cor._ "In the present sentence, neither the sense nor the measure
_requires_ WHAT."--_Chandler cor._ "The Irish thought themselves oppressed
by the _law_ that forbid them to draw with their _horses'
tails_."--_Brightland cor._ "_So and willingly_ are adverbs. _So_ is _an_
adverb of _degree_, and qualifies _willingly. Willingly_ is an adverb of
_manner_, and qualifies _deceives_."--_Cutler cor._ "Epicurus, for
_experiment's_ sake, confined himself to a narrower diet than that of the
severest prisons."--_Id._ "Derivative words are such as are _formed from_
other words _by prefixes or suffixes_; as, _injustice, goodness,
falsehood_."--_Id._ "The distinction here insisted on is as old as
Aristotle, and should not be lost _from_ sight." Or: "and _it_ should
_still_ be _kept in view_."--_Hart cor._ "The Tenses of the Subjunctive and
Potential Moods." Or: "The Tenses of the Subjunctive and _the_ Potential
Mood."--_Id._ "A triphthong is a union of three vowels, uttered _by a
single impulse of the voice_; as, _uoy_ in _buoy_"--_Pardon Davis cor._ "A
common _noun is_ the _name_ of a species or kind."--_Id._ "The superlative
degree _implies_ a comparison _either_ between _two_ or _among_
more."--_Id._ "An adverb is a word serving to give an additional idea _to_
a verb, _a participle, an adjective_, or _an other_ adverb."--_Id._ "When
several nouns in the possessive case _occur in succession_, each showing
possession _of things_ of the same _sort_, it is _generally_ necessary to
add the sign of the possessive case to _each of them_: as, 'He sells
_men's, women's_, and children's shoes.'--'_Dogs', cats'_, and _tigers'_
feet are digitated.'"--_Id._ "'A _rail-road_ is _being made_,' should be,
'A _railroad_ is _making_;' 'A _school-house_ is _being built_,' should be,
'A _schoolhouse_ is _building_.'"--_Id._ "Auxiliaries _are_ of themselves
verbs; _yet_ they resemble, in their character and use, those terminational
or other inflections _which_, in other languages, _serve_ to express the
action in the _mood_, tense, _person_, and _number_ desired."--_Id._
"Please _to_ hold my horse while I speak to my friend."--_Id._ "If I say,
'Give me _the_ book,' I _demand_ some particular book."--_Noble Butler
cor._ "_Here_ are five men."--_Id._ "_After_ the active _verb_, the object
may be omitted; _after_ the passive, the name of the agent may be
omitted."--_Id._ "The Progressive and Emphatic forms give, in each case, a
different shade of meaning to the verb."--_Hart cor._ "THAT _may be called_
a Redditive Conjunction, when it answers to so _or_ SUCH."--_Ward cor._ "He
attributes to negligence your _want of success_ in that business."--_Smart
cor._ "_Do_ WILL and GO express but _one_ action?" Or: "_Does_ '_will go_'
express but _one_ action?"--_Barrett cor._ "Language is the _principal_
vehicle of thought."--_G. Brown's Inst., Pref._, p. iii. "_Much_ is applied
to things weighed or measured; _many_, to those that are numbered. _Elder_
and _eldest_ _are applied_ to persons only; _older_ and _oldest_, to
_either_ persons or things."--_Bullions cor._ "If there are any old maids
still extant, while _misogynists_ are so rare, the fault must be
attributable to themselves."--_Kirkham cor._ "The second method, used by
the Greeks, has never been the practice of any _other people_ of
Europe."--_Sheridan cor._ "Neither consonant nor vowel _is_ to be dwelt
upon beyond _its_ common quantity, when _it closes_ a sentence." Or:
"Neither _consonants_ nor _vowels_ are to be dwelt upon beyond their common
quantity, when they close a sentence." Or, better thus: "Neither _a_
consonant nor _a_ vowel, when _it closes_ a sentence, _is_ to be
_protracted_ beyond _its usual length_."--_Id._ "Irony is a mode of speech,
in which what is said, is the opposite of what is meant."--_McElligott's
Manual_, p. 103. "The _person_ speaking, _and the person or persons_ spoken
to, are supposed to be present."--_Wells cor._; also _Murray_. "A _Noun_ is
_a name_, a word used to express the _idea_ of an object."--_Wells cor._ "A
syllable is _such_ a word, or _part_ of a word, as is uttered by one
articulation."--_Weld cor._

   "Thus wond'rous fair; thyself how wond'rous then!
    Unspeakable, who _sitst_ above these heavens."--_Milton_, B. v, l. 156.

    "And feel thy _sovran_ vital lamp; but thou
    _Revisitst_ not these eyes, that roll in vain."--_Id._, iii, 22.

    "Before all temples _th'_ upright _heart_ and pure."--_Id._, i, 18.

    "In forest wild, in thicket, _brake_, or den."--_Id._, vii, 458.

    "The rogue and fool by fits _are_ fair and wise;
    And e'en the best, by fits, what they despise."--_Pope cor._


THE KEY.--PART IV.--PROSODY.


CHAPTER I.--PUNCTUATION.

SECTION I.--THE COMMA.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"A short simple _sentence_ should _rarely_ be _divided_ by _the_
comma."--_Felton cor._ "A regular and virtuous education is an inestimable
blessing."--_L. Mur. cor._ "Such equivocal expressions mark an intention to
deceive."--_Id._ "They are _this_ and _that_, with their plurals _these_
and _those_."--_Bullions cor._ "A nominative and a verb sometimes make a
complete sentence; as, He sleeps."--_Felton cor._ "TENSE expresses the
action _as_ connected with certain relations of time; MOOD represents it as
_further_ modified by circumstances of contingency, conditionality,
&c."--_Bullions cor._ "The word _noun_ means _name_."--_Ingersoll cor._
"The present or active participle I explained then."--_Id._ "Are some verbs
used both transitively and intransitively?"--_Cooper cor._ "Blank verse is
verse without rhyme."--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 235. "A distributive
adjective denotes each one of a number considered separately."--_Hallock
cor._

   "And may at last my weary age
    Find out the peaceful hermitage."
        --MILTON: _Ward's Gr._, 158; _Hiley's_, 124.


UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"A noun without an _article_ to limit it, is taken in its widest
sense."--_Lennie_, p. 6. "To maintain a steady course amid all the
adversities of life, marks a great mind."--_Day cor._ "To love our Maker
supremely and our neighbour as ourselves, comprehends the whole moral
law."--_Id._ "To be afraid to do wrong, is true courage."--_Id._ "A great
fortune in the hands of a fool, is a great misfortune."--_Bullions cor._
"That he should make such a remark, is indeed strange."--_Farnum cor._ "To
walk in the fields and groves, is delightful."--_Id._ "That he committed
the fault, is most certain."--_Id._ "Names common to all things of the same
sort or class, are called _Common nouns_; as, _man, woman,
day_."--_Bullions cor._ "That it is our duty to be pious, admits not of any
doubt."--_Id._ "To endure misfortune with resignation, is the
characteristic of a great mind."--_Id._ "The assisting of a friend in such
circumstances, was certainly a duty."--_Id._ "That a life of virtue is the
safest, is certain."--_Hallock cor._ "A collective noun denoting the idea
of unity, should be represented by a pronoun of the singular
number."--_Id._


UNDER RULE II.--OF SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"When the sun had arisen, the enemy retreated."--_Day cor._ "If he _become_
rich, he may be less industrious."--_Bullions cor._ "The more I study
grammar, the better I like it."--_Id._ "There is much truth in the old
adage, that fire is a better servant than master."--_Id._ "The verb _do_,
when used as an auxiliary, gives force or emphasis to the expression."--_P.
E. Day cor._ "Whatsoever is incumbent upon a man to do, it is surely
expedient to do well."--_Adams cor._ "The soul, which our philosophy
divides into various capacities, is still one essence."--_Channing cor._
"Put the following words in the plural, and give the rule for forming
it."--_Bullions cor._ "We will do it, if you wish."--_Id._ "He who does
well, will be rewarded."--_Id._ "That which is always true, is expressed in
the present tense."--_Id._ "An observation which is always true, must be
expressed in the present tense."--_Id._ "That part of orthography which
treats of combining letters to form syllables and words, is called
SPELLING."--_Day cor._ "A noun can never be of the first person, except it
is in apposition with a pronoun of that person."--_Id._ "When two or more
singular nouns or pronouns refer to the same object, they require a
singular verb and pronoun."--_Id._ "James has gone, but he will return in a
few days."--_Id._ "A pronoun should have the same person, number, and
gender, as the noun for which it stands."--_Id._ "Though he is out of
danger, he is still afraid."--_Bullions cor._ "She is his inferior in
sense, but his equal in prudence."--_Murray's Exercises_, p. 6. "The man
who has no sense of religion, is little to be trusted."--_Bullions cor._
"He who does the most good, has the most pleasure."--_Id._ "They were not
in the most prosperous circumstances, when we last saw them."--_Id._ "If
the day continue pleasant, I shall return."--_Felton cor._ "The days that
are past, are gone forever."--_Id._ "As many as are friendly to the cause,
will sustain it."--_Id._ "Such as desire aid, will receive it."--_Id._ "Who
gave you that book, which you prize so much?"--_Bullions cor._ "He who made
it, now preserves and governs it."--_Id._

   "Shall he alone, whom rational we call,
    Be pleas'd with nothing, if not _blest_ with all?"--_Pope_.


UNDER THE EXCEPTIONS CONCERNING SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"Newcastle is the town in which Akenside was born."--_Bucke cor._ "The
remorse which issues in reformation, is true repentance."--_Campbell cor._
"Men who are intemperate, are destructive members of community."--
_Alexander cor._ "An active-transitive verb expresses an action which
extends to an object."--_Felton cor._ "They to whom much is given, will
have much, to answer for."--_L. Murray cor._ "The prospect which we have,
is charming."--_Cooper cor._ "He is the person who informed me of the
matter."--_Id._ "These are the trees that produce no fruit."--_Id._ "This
is the book which treats of the subject."--_Id._ "The proposal was such as
pleased me."--_Id._ "Those that sow in tears, shall reap in joy."--_Id._
"The pen with which I write, makes too large a mark."--_Ingersoll cor._
"Modesty makes large amends for the pain it gives the persons who labour
under it, by the prejudice it affords every worthy person, in their
favour."--_Id._ "Irony is a figure whereby we plainly intend something very
different from what our words express."--_Bucke cor._ "Catachresis is a
figure whereby an improper word is used in stead of a proper one."--_Id._
"The man whom you met at the party, is a Frenchman."--_Frost cor._


UNDER RULE III.--OF MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

"John, James, and Thomas, are here: that is, John, _and_ James, and Thomas,
are here."--_Cooper cor._ "Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other
adverbs."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 116. "To Nouns belong Person, Gender,
Number, and Case."--_Id., ib._, p. 9. "Wheat, corn, rye, and oats, are
extensively cultivated."--_Bullions cor._ "In many, the definitions, rules,
and leading facts, are prolix, inaccurate, and confused."--_Finch cor._
"Most people consider it mysterious, difficult, and useless."--_Id._ "His
father, and mother, and uncle, reside at Rome."--_Farnum cor._ "The
relative pronouns are _who, which_, and _that_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p.
23. "_That_ is sometimes a demonstrative, sometimes a relative, and
sometimes a conjunction."--_Bullions cor._ "Our reputation, virtue, and
happiness, greatly depend on the choice of our companions."--_Day cor._
"The spirit of true religion is social, kind, and cheerful."--_Felton cor._
"_Do, be, have_, and _will_, are sometimes principal verbs."--_Id._ "John,
and Thomas, and Peter, reside at Oxford."--_Webster cor._ "The most
innocent pleasures are the most rational, the most delightful, and the most
durable."--_Id._ "Love, joy, peace, and blessedness, are reserved for the
good."--_Id._ "The husband, wife, and children, suffered extremely."--_L.
Murray cor._ "The husband, wife, and children, suffer extremely."--_Sanborn
cor._ "He, you, and I, have our parts assigned us."--_Id._

   "He moaned, lamented, tugged, and tried,
    Repented, promised, wept, and sighed."--_Cowper_.


UNDER RULE IV.--OF ONLY TWO WORDS.

"Disappointments derange and overcome vulgar minds."--_L. Murray cor._ "The
hive of a city or kingdom, is in the best condition, when there is the
least noise or buzz in it."--_Id._ "When a direct address is made, the noun
or pronoun is in the nominative case, independent."--_Ingersoll cor._ "The
verbs _love_ and _teach_, make _loved_ and _taught_, in the imperfect and
participle."--_Id._ "Neither poverty nor riches were injurious to
him."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 152. "Thou or I am in fault."--_Id._, p.
152. "A verb is a word that expresses action or being."--_P. E. Day cor._
"The Objective Case denotes the object of a verb or a preposition."--_Id._
"Verbs of the second conjugation may be either transitive or
intransitive."--_Id._ "Verbs of the fourth conjugation may be either
transitive or intransitive."--_Id._ "If a verb does not form its past
indicative by adding _d_ or _ed_ to the indicative present, it is said to
be _irregular_."--_Id._ "The young lady is studying rhetoric and
logic."--_Cooper cor._ "He writes and speaks the language very
correctly."--_Id._ "Man's happiness or misery is, in a great measure, put
into his own hands."--_Mur. cor._ "This accident or characteristic of
nouns, is called their _Gender_."--_Bullions cor._

   "Grant that the powerful still the weak _control_;
    Be _man_ the _wit_ and _tyrant_ of the whole."--_Pope cor._


UNDER EXCEPTION I.--TWO WORDS WITH ADJUNCTS.

"Franklin is justly considered the ornament of the New World, and the pride
of modern philosophy."--_Day cor._ "Levity, and attachment to worldly
pleasures, destroy the sense of gratitude to Him."--_L. Mur. cor._ "In the
following Exercise, point out the adjectives, and the substantives which
they qualify."--_Bullions cor._ "When a noun or pronoun is used to explain,
or give emphasis to, a preceding noun or pronoun."--_Day cor._ "Superior
talents, and _brilliancy_ of intellect, do not always constitute a great
man."--_Id._ "A word that makes sense after an article, or _after_ the
phrase _speak of_, is a noun."--_Bullions cor._ "All feet used in poetry,
are reducible to eight kinds; four of two syllables, and four of
three."--_Hiley cor._ "He would not do it himself, not let me do
it."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 64. "The old writers give examples of the
subjunctive _mood_, and give other _moods_ to explain what is meant by the
words in the subjunctive."--_O. B. Peirce cor._


UNDER EXCEPTION II.--TWO TERMS CONTRASTED.

"We often commend, as well as censure, imprudently."--_L. Mur. cor._ "It is
as truly a violation of the right of property, to take a little, as to take
much; to purloin a book or a penknife, as to steal money; to steal fruit,
as to steal a horse; to defraud the revenue, as to rob my neighbour; to
overcharge the public, as to overcharge my brother; to cheat the
post-office, as to cheat my friend."--_Wayland cor._ "The classification of
verbs has been, and still is, a vexed question."--_Bullions cor._ "Names
applied only to individuals of a sort or class, and not common to all, are
called _Proper nouns_."--_Id._ "A hero would desire to be loved, as well as
to be reverenced."--_Day cor._ "Death, or some worse misfortune, now
divides them." Better: "Death, or some _other_ misfortune, _soon_ divides
them."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 151. "Alexander replied, 'The world will not
permit two suns, nor two sovereigns.'"--_Goldsmith cor._

   "From nature's chain, whatever link you strike,
    Tenth, or _ten-thousandth_, breaks the chain alike."--_Pope_.


UNDER EXCEPTION III.--OF AN ALTERNATIVE OF WORDS.

"_Metre_, or _Measure_, is the number of poetical feet which a verse
contains."--_Hiley cor._ "The _Cæsura_, or _division_, is the pause which
takes place in a verse, and which divides it into two parts."--_Id._ "It is
six feet, or one fathom, deep."--_Bullions cor._ "A _Brace_ is used in
poetry, at the end of a triplet, or three lines which rhyme
together."--_Felton cor._ "There are four principal kinds of English verse,
or poetical feet."--_Id._ "The period, or full stop, denotes the end of a
complete sentence."--_Sanborn cor._ "The scholar is to receive as many
_jetons_, or counters, as there are words in the sentence."--_St. Quentin
cor._ "_That_ [thing], or _the thing, which_ purifies, fortifies also the
heart."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "_That thing_, or _the thing_, which would
induce a laxity in public or private morals, or indifference to guilt and
wretchedness, should be regarded as the deadly Sirocco."--_Id._ "_What_ is,
elliptically, _what thing_, or _that thing which_."--_Sanborn cor._
"_Demonstrate_ means _show_, or _point out precisely_."--_Id._ "_The_ man,
or _that_ man, who endures to the end, shall be saved."--_Hiley cor._


UNDER EXCEPTION IV.--OF A SECOND COMMA.

"That reason, passion, answer one great _aim_."--POPE: _Bullions and Hiley
cor._ "Reason, virtue, answer one great aim."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 269;
_Cooper's Murray_, 182; _Comly_, 145; _Ingersoll_, 282; _Sanborn_, 268;
_Kirkham_, 212; _et al._ "Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from
above."--_James_, i, 17. "Every plant, and every tree, produces others
after its kind."--_Day cor._ "James, and not John, was paid for his
services."--_Id._ "The single dagger, or obelisk [Dagger], is the
second."--_Id._ "It was I, not he, that did it."--_St. Quentin cor._ "Each
aunt, each cousin, hath her speculation."--_Byron._ "'I shall see you
_when_ you come,' is equivalent to, 'I shall see you _then_, or _at that
time_, when you come.'"--_N. Butler cor._

   "Let wealth, let honour, wait the wedded dame;
    August her deed, and sacred be her fame."--_Pope cor._


UNDER RULE V.--OF WORDS IN PAIRS.

"My hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, centre in you."--_Greenleaf or
Sanborn cor._ "This mood implies possibility or liberty, will or
obligation."--_Ingersoll cor._ "Substance is divided into _body_ and
_spirit_, into _extended_ and _thinking_."--_Brightland cor._ "These
consonants, [_d_ and _t_,] like _p_ and _b, f_ and _v, k_ and hard _g_, and
_s_ and _z_, are letters of the same organ."--_J. Walker cor._ "Neither fig
nor twist, pigtail nor Cavendish, _has_ passed my lips since; nor ever
shall again."--_Cultivator cor._ "The words _whoever_ or _whosoever,
whichever_ or _whichsoever_, and _whatever_ or _whatsoever_, are called
Compound Relative Pronouns."--_Day cor._ "Adjectives signifying profit or
disprofit, likeness or unlikeness, govern the dative."--_Bullions cor._


UNDER RULE VI.--OF WORDS ABSOLUTE.

"Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."--_Psalm_ xxiii 4. "Depart, ye
wicked."--_J. W. Wright cor._ "He saith unto his mother. Woman, behold thy
son!"--_John_, xix, 26. "Thou, God, seest me."--_Bullions cor._ "John,
write me a letter. Henry, go home."--_O. B. Peirce cor., twice_. "Now, G.
Brown, let us reason together."--_Id._ "_Mr._ Smith, _you_ say, on page
11th, '_The_ objective case denotes the object'"--_Id._ "Gentlemen, will
you always speak as you mean?"--_Id._ "John, I sold my books to William,
for his brothers."--_Id._ "Walter, and Seth, I will take my things, and
leave yours."--_Id._ "Henry, Julia and Jane left their umbrella, and took
yours."--_Id._ "John, harness the horses, and go to the mine for some
coal."--_Id._ "William, run to the store, for a few pounds of tea."--_Id._
"The king being dead, the parliament was dissolved."--_Chandler cor._

   "Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
    And let me languish into life."
        --_Pope, Brit. Poets_, vi, 317.

    "Forbear, great man, in arms renown'd, forbear."
        --_Hiley's Gram._, p. 127.

    "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
    Each prayer accepted, and each wish resign'd."
        --_Pope, Brit. Poets_, vi, 335.


UNDER RULE VII.--OF WORDS IN APPOSITION.

"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice," &c.--_Constit. of U. S._ "The Lord, the covenant
God of his people, requires it."--_A. S. Mag. cor._ "He, as a patriot,
deserves praise."--_Hallock cor._ "Thomson, the watchmaker and jeweller
from London, was of the party."--_Bullions cor._ "Every body knows that the
person here spoken of by the name of '_the Conqueror_,' is William, duke of
Normandy."--_L. Mur. cor._ "The words _myself, thyself, himself, herself,
itself_, and their plurals, _ourselves, yourselves_, and _themselves_, are
called Compound Personal Pronouns."--_Day cor._

   "For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
      This pleasing, anxious being e'er resign'd,
    Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day
       Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?"--GRAY: _Mur. Seq._


UNDER THE EXCEPTIONS CONCERNING APPOSITION.

"Smith & _Williams's_ store; Nicholas the emperor's army."--_Day cor._ "He
was named _William the Conqueror._"--_Id._ "John the Baptist was
beheaded."--_Id._ "Alexander the coppersmith did me _much evil_."--_2
Tim._, iv, 14. "A nominative in immediate apposition: as, 'The boy _Henry_
speaks.'"--_Smart cor._ "A noun objective can be in apposition with some
other; as, 'I teach the boy _Henry_.'"--_Id._


UNDER RULE VIII.--OF ADJECTIVES.

"But he found me, not singing at my work, ruddy with health, vivid with
cheerfulness; but pale," &c.--DR. JOHNSON: _Murray's Sequel_, p. 4. "I
looked up, and beheld an inclosure, beautiful as the gardens of paradise,
but of a small extent."--HAWKESWORTH: _ib._, p. 20. "_A_ is an article,
indefinite, and belongs to '_book_.'"--_Bullions cor._ "The first expresses
the rapid movement of a troop of horse over the plain, eager for the
combat."--_Id._ "He [, the Indian chieftain, King Philip,] was a patriot,
attached to his native soil; a prince, true to his subjects, and indignant
of their wrongs; a soldier, daring in battle, firm in adversity, patient of
fatigue, of hunger, of every variety of bodily suffering, and ready to
perish in the cause he had espoused."--_W. Irving_.

   "For thee, who, mindful of th' unhonour'd dead,
    Dost in these lines their artless tale relate."
        --GRAY: _Mur. Seq._, p. 258.

    "Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest;
    Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood."
        --GRAY: _Enf. Sp._, p. 245.

    "Idle after dinner [,] in his chair,
    Sat a farmer, ruddy, fat, and fair."
        --_Murray's Gram._, p. 257.


UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING ADJECTIVES.

"When an attribute becomes a title, or is emphatically applied to a name,
it follows it: as, Charles the Great; Henry the First; Lewis the
Gross."--_Webster cor._ "Feed me with food convenient for me."--_Prov._,
xxx, 8. "The words and phrases necessary to exemplify every principle
progressively laid down, will be found strictly and exclusively adapted to
the illustration of the principles to which they are referred."--_Ingersoll
cor._ "The Infinitive _Mood_ is that form of the verb which expresses
_being or action_ unlimited by person or number."--_Day cor._ "A man
diligent in his business, prospers."--_Frost cor._

   "_Oh_ wretched state! oh bosom black as death!"
        --SHAK.: _Enfield_, p. 368.


UNDER RULE IX.--OF FINITE VERBS.

"The Singular denotes _one_; the Plural, _more_ than one."--_Bullions and
Lennie cor._ "The _Comma_ represents the shortest pause; the _Semicolon_, a
pause longer than the comma; the _Colon_, longer than the semicolon; and
the _Period_, longer than the colon."--_Hiley cor._ "The Comma represents
the shortest pause; the Semicolon, a pause double that of the Comma; the
Colon, double that of the semicolon; and the Period, double that of the
colon."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 266. "WHO is applied only to persons;
WHICH, to animals and things; WHAT, to things only; and THAT, to persons,
animals, and things."--_Day cor._ "_A_ or _an_ is used before the singular
number only; _the_, before either singular or plural."--_Bullions cor._
"Homer was the greater genius; Virgil, the better artist."--_Day cor._;
also _Pope_. "Words are formed of syllables; syllables, of letters."--_St.
Quentin cor._ "The conjugation of an active verb is styled the ACTIVE
VOICE; and that of a passive verb, the PASSIVE VOICE."--_Frost cor._; also
_Smith: L. Murray's Gram._, p. 77. "The possessive is sometimes called the
_genitive_ case; and the objective, the _accusative_."--_L. Murray cor._
"Benevolence is allied to few vices; selfishness, to fewer
virtues."--_Kames cor._ "Orthography treats of Letters; Etymology, of
words; Syntax, of Sentences; and Prosody, of Versification."--_Hart cor._

   "Earth praises conquerors for shedding blood;
    Heaven, those that love their foes, and do them good."--_Waller_.


UNDER RULE X.--OF INFINITIVES.

"His business is, to observe the agreement or disagreement of
words."--_Bullions cor._ "It is a mark of distinction, to be made a member
of this society."--_Farnum cor._ "To distinguish the conjugations, let the
pupil observe the following rules."--_Day cor._ "He was now sent for, to
preach before the Parliament."--_E. Williams cor._ "It is incumbent on the
young, to love and honour their parents."--_Bullions cor._ "It is the
business of every man, to prepare for death."--_Id._ "It argued the
sincerest candor, to make such an acknowledgement."--_Id._ "The proper way
is, to complete the construction of the first member, and leave that of the
second _elliptical_."--_Id._ "ENEMY is a name. It is a term of distinction,
given to a certain person, to show the character in which he is
represented."--_Peirce cor._ "The object of this is, to preserve the soft
_sounds_ of _c_ and _g_."--_Hart cor._ "The design of grammar is, to
facilitate the reading, writing, and speaking of a language."--_Barrett
cor._ "Four kinds of type are used in the following pages, to indicate the
portions that are considered more or less elementary."--_Hart cor._


UNDER RULE XI.--OF PARTICIPLES.

"The chancellor, being attached to the king, secured his crown."--_Murray's
Grammar_, p. 66. "The officer, having received his orders, proceeded to
execute them."--_Day cor._ "Thus used, it is in the present
tense."--_Bullions, E. Gr._, 2d Ed., p. 35. "The imperfect tense has three
distinct forms, corresponding to those of the present tense."--_Bullions
cor._ "Every possessive case is governed by some noun, denoting the thing
possessed."--_Id._ "The word _that_, used as a conjunction, is [generally]
preceded by a comma."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 114. "His narrative, being
composed upon _so_ good authority, deserves credit."--_Cooper cor._ "The
hen, being in her nest, was killed and eaten there by the eagle."--_Murray
cor._ "Pronouns, being used _in stead_ of nouns, are subject to the same
modifications."--_Sanborn cor._ "When placed at the beginning of words,
they are consonants."--_Hallock cor._ "Man, starting from his couch, shall
sleep no more."--_Young._ "_His_ and _her_, followed by a noun, are
possessive pronouns; not followed by a noun, they are personal
pronouns."--_Bullions cor._

   "He, with viny crown advancing,
    First to the lively pipe his hand address'd."--_Collins_.


UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING PARTICIPLES.

"But when they convey the idea of many acting individually, or separately,
they are of the plural number."--_Day cor._ "Two or more singular
antecedents connected by _and_, [when they happen to introduce more than
one verb and more than one pronoun,] require verbs and pronouns of the
plural number."--_Id._ "Words ending in _y_ preceded by a consonant change
_y_ into _i_, when a termination is added."--_N. Butler cor._ "A noun used
without an article to limit it, is generally taken in its widest
sense."--_Ingersoll cor._ "Two nouns meaning the same person or thing,
frequently come together."--_Bucke cor._ "Each one must give an account to
God for the use, or abuse, of the talents committed to him."--_Cooper cor._
"Two vowels united in one sound, form a diphthong."--_Frost cor._ "Three
vowels united in one sound, form a triphthong."--_Id._ "Any word joined to
an adverb, is a secondary adverb."--_Barrett cor._ "The person spoken _to_,
is put in the _Second_ person; the person spoken _of_, in the _Third_
person."--_Cutler cor._ "A man devoted to his business, prospers."--_Frost
cor._


UNDER RULE XII.--OF ADVERBS.

"So, in indirect questions; as, 'Tell me _when_ he will come.'"--_Butler
cor._ "Now, when the verb tells what one person or thing does to _an other,
it_ is transitive."--_Bullions cor._ "Agreeably to your request, I send
this letter."--_Id._ "There seems, therefore, to be no good reason for
giving them a different classification."--_Id._ "Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like unto a merchant-man seeking good pearls."--_Scott's Bible,
Smith's, and Bruce's_. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net
that was cast into the sea."--_Same._ "_Cease_, however, is used as a
transitive verb by our best writers."--_Webster cor._ "Time admits of three
natural divisions; namely, Present, Past, and Future."--_Day cor._ "There
are three kinds of comparison; namely, Regular, Irregular, and
Adverbial"--_Id._ "There are five personal pronouns; namely, _I, thou, he,
she_, and _it_."--_Id._ "Nouns have three cases: viz., the Nominative,
_the_ Possessive, and _the_ Objective."--_Bullions cor._ "Hence, in
studying Grammar, we have to study words."--_Frazee cor._ "Participles,
like verbs, relate to nouns and pronouns."--_Miller cor._ "The time of the
participle, like that of the infinitive, is estimated from the time of the
leading verb."--_Bullions cor._

   "The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego,
    And leap exulting, like the bounding roe."--_Pope._


UNDER RULE XIII.--OF CONJUNCTIONS.

"But he said, Nay; lest, while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the
wheat with them."--_Scott's Bible et al._ "Their intentions were good: but,
wanting prudence, they missed the mark at which they aimed."--_L. Mur.
cor._ "The verb _be_ often separates the name from its attribute; as,
'_War_ is expensive.'"--_Webster cor._ "_Either_ and _or_ denote an
alternative; as, 'I will take _either_ road at your pleasure.'"--_Id._
"_Either_ is also a substitute for a name; as, '_Either_ of the roads is
good.'"--_Id._ "But, alas! I fear the consequence."--_Day cor._ "Or, if he
ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?"--_Luke_, xi, 11. "Or,
if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?"--ALGER'S BIBLE:
_Luke, xi, 12_. "The infinitive sometimes performs the office of a
nominative case; as, 'To enjoy is to obey.'--POPE."--_Cutler cor._ "The
plural is commonly formed by adding _s_ to the singular; as, _book_,
books."--_Bullions, P. Lessons_, p. 16. "As, 'I _were_ to blame, if I did
it.'"--_Smart cor._

   "Or, if it be thy will and pleasure,
    Direct my plough to find a treasure."


UNDER RULE XIV.--OF PREPOSITIONS.

"Pronouns agree with the nouns for which they stand, in gender, number, and
person."--_Butler and Bullions cor._ "In the first two examples, the
antecedent is _person_, or something equivalent; in the last [_one_], it is
_thing_."--_N. Butler cor._ "In what character he was admitted, is
unknown."--_Id._ "To what place he was going, is not known."--_Id._ "In the
preceding examples, _John, Cæsar_, and _James_, are the subjects."--_Id._
"_Yes_ is generally used to denote assent, _in answer_ to a
question."--_Id._ "_That_, in its origin, is the passive participle of the
Anglo-Saxon verb _thean_, [_thegan, thicgan, thicgean_, or _thigan_,] _to
take_."--_Id._ "But, in all these sentences, _as_ and _so_ are
adverbs."--_Id._ "After an interjection or _an_ exclamatory sentence, is
_usually_ placed the mark of exclamation."--_D. Blair cor._ "Intransitive
verbs, from their nature, can have no distinction of voice."--_Bullions
cor._ "To the inflection of verbs, belong Voices, Moods, Tenses, Numbers,
and Persons."--_Id._ "_As_ and _so_, in the antecedent member of a
comparison, are properly Adverbs." Better: "_As_ OR _so_, in the antecedent
member of a comparison, _is_ properly _an adverb_."--_Id._ "In the
following Exercise, point out the words in apposition."--_Id._ "In the
following Exercise, point out the noun or pronoun denoting the
possessor."--_Id._ "_Its_ is not found in the Bible, except by
misprint."--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 49. "No one's interest is concerned,
except mine."--_Hallock cor._ "In most of the modern languages, there are
four concords."--_St. Quentin cor._ "In illustration of these remarks, let
us suppose a case."--_Hart cor._ "On the right management of the emphasis,
depends the life of pronunciation."--_J. S. Hart and L. Murray cor._ See
_Blair's Rhet._, p. 330.


UNDER RULE XV.--OF INTERJECTIONS.

"Behold, he is in the desert."--_Friend's Bible_. "And Lot said unto them,
Oh, not so, my Lord."--_Alger's Bible_. "Oh, let me escape thither, (is it
not a little one?) and my soul shall live."--_Friend's Bible, and Alger's_.
"Behold, I come quickly."--_Rev._, xxii, 7. "Lo, I am with you
always."--_Day cor._ "And, lo, I am with you alway."--_Alger's Bible: Day
cor._; also _Scott and Bruce_. "Ha, ha, ha; how laughable that
is!"--_Bullions cor._ "Interjections of laughter; _ha, ha, Ha_."--_Wright
cor._


UNDER RULE XVI.--OF WORDS REPEATED.

"Lend, lend your wings!" &c.--_Pope._ "To bed, to bed, to bed. There is a
knocking at the gate. Come, come, come. What is done, cannot be undone. To
bed, to bed, to bed."--SHAKSPEARE: _Burghs Speaker_, p. 130. "I will roar,
that the duke shall cry, Encore, encore, let him roar, let him roar, once
more, once more."--_Id., ib._, p. 136.

   "Vital spark of heavenly flame!
    Quit, oh quit this mortal frame!"--_Pope_.

    "O the pleasing, pleasing anguish,
    When we love, and when we languish."--_Addison_.

    "Praise to God, immortal praise,
    For the love that crowns our days!"--_Barbauld_.


UNDER RULE XVII.--OF DEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

"Thus, of an infant, we say, '_It_ is a lovely creature.'"--_Bullions cor._
"No being can state a falsehood in saying, '_I am_;' for no one can utter
_this_, if it is not true."--_Cardell cor._ "I know they will cry out
against this, and say, 'Should he pay,' means, 'If he should pay.'"--_O. B.
Peirce cor._ "For instance, when we say, '_The house is building_,' the
advocates of the new theory ask,--'building _what?_' We might ask in turn,
When you say, 'The field _ploughs_ well,'--ploughs _what?_ 'Wheat _sells_
well,'--sells _what?_ If _usage_ allows us to say, 'Wheat _sells_ at a
dollar,' in a sense that is not active; why may it not also allow us to
say, 'Wheat is _selling_ at a dollar' in a sense that is not
active?"--_Hart cor._ "_Man_ is accountable,' equals, '_Mankind_ are
accountable.'"--_Barrett cor._ "Thus, when we say, 'He may be reading,'
_may_ is the real verb; the other parts are verbs by name only."--_Smart
cor._ "Thus we say, _an apple, an hour_, that two vowel sounds may not come
together."--_Id._ "It would be as improper to say, _an unit_, as to say,
_an youth_; to say, _an one_, as to say, _an wonder_."--_Id._ "When we say,
'He died for the truth,' _for_ is a preposition."--_Id._ "We do not say, 'I
might go yesterday;' but, 'I might have gone yesterday.'"--_Id._ "By
student, we understand, one who has by matriculation acquired the rights of
academical citizenship; but, by _bursché_, we understand, one who has
already spent a certain time at the university."--_Howitt cor._


SECTION II.--THE SEMICOLON.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF COMPLEX MEMBERS.

"The buds spread into leaves, and the blossoms swell to fruit; but they
know not how they grow, nor who causes them to spring up from the bosom of
the earth."--_Day cor._ "But he used his eloquence chiefly against Philip,
king of Macedon; and, in several orations, he stirred up the Athenians to
make war against him."--_Bullions cor._ "For the sake of euphony, the _n_
is dropped before a consonant; and, because most words begin with a
consonant, this of course is its more common form."--_Id._ "But if I say,
'Will _a_ man be able to carry this burden?' it is manifest the idea is
entirely changed; the reference is not to number, but to the species; and
the answer might be, 'No; but a horse will.'"--_Id._ "In direct discourse,
a noun used by the speaker or writer to designate himself [in the special
relation of speaker or writer], is said to be of the _first_ person; used
to designate the person addressed, it is said to be of the _second_ person;
and, when used to designate a person or thing [merely] spoken of, it is
said to be of the _third_ person."--_Id._ "Vice stings us, even in our
pleasures; but virtue consoles us, even in our pains."--_Day cor._ "Vice is
infamous, though in a prince; and virtue, honourable, though in a
peasant."--_Id._ "Every word that is the name of a person or thing, is a
_noun_; because, 'A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing.'"--_Bullions cor._

   "This is the sword with which he did the deed;
    And that, the shield by which he was defended."--_Bucke cor._

UNDER RULE II.--OF SIMPLE MEMBERS. "A deathlike paleness was diffused over
his countenance; a chilling terror convulsed his frame; his voice burst out
at intervals into broken accents."--_Jerningham cor._ "The Lacedemonians
never traded; they knew no luxury; they lived in houses built of rough
materials; they _ate_ at public tables; fed on black broth; and despised
every thing effeminate or luxurious."--_Whelpley cor._ "Government is the
agent; society is the principal."--_Wayland cor._ "The essentials of speech
were anciently supposed to be sufficiently designated by the _Noun_ and the
_Verb_; to which was subsequently added the _Conjunction_."--_Bullions
cor._ "The first faint gleamings of thought in its mind, are but
reflections from the parents' own intellect; the first manifestations of
temperament, are from the contagious parental fountain; the first
aspirations of soul, are but the warmings and promptings of the parental
spirit."--_Jocelyn cor._ "_Older_ and _oldest_ refer to maturity of age;
_elder_ and _eldest_, to priority of right by birth. _Farther_ and
_farthest_ denote place or distance; _further_ and _furthest_, quantity or
addition."--_Bullions cor._ "Let the divisions be _natural_; such as
obviously suggest themselves to the mind; _such_ as may aid your main
design; and _such as may_ be easily remembered."--_Goldsbury cor._

   "Gently make haste, of labour not afraid;
    A hundred times consider what you've said."--_Dryden cor._


UNDER RULE III.--OF APPOSITION, &C.

(1.) "Adjectives are divided [, in Frost's Practical Grammar,] into two
classes; adjectives denoting _quality_, and adjectives denoting
_number_."--_Frost cor._ (2.) "There are [, according to some authors,] two
classes of adjectives; _qualifying_ adjectives, and _limiting_
adjectives."--_N. Butler cor._ (3-5.) "There are three genders; the
_masculine_, the _feminine_, and the _neuter_."--_Frost et al. cor._; also
_L. Mur. et al_.; also _Hendrick: Inst._, p. 35. (6.) "The Singular denotes
_one_; the Plural, _more_ than one."--_Hart cor._ (7.) "There are three
cases; viz., the Nominative, the Possessive, and the Objective."--_Hendrick
cor._ (8.) "Nouns have three cases; the _nominative_, the _possessive_, and
the _objective_."--_Kirkham cor._ (9.) "In English, nouns have three cases;
the _nominative_, the _possessive_, and the _objective_."--_Smith cor._
(10.) "Grammar is divided into four parts; namely, Orthography, Etymology,
Syntax, Prosody."--_Hazen_. (11.) "It is divided into four parts; viz.,
Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, Prosody."--_Mur. et al. cor._ (12.) "It is
divided into four parts; viz., Orthography. Etymology, Syntax,
Prosody."--_Bucke cor._ (13.) "It is divided into four parts; namely,
Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody."--_Lennie, Bullions, et al_.
(14.) "It is divided into four parts; viz., Orthography, Etymology, Syntax,
and Prosody."--_Hendrick cor._ (15.) "Grammar is divided into four parts;
viz., Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody."--_Chandler cor._ (16.)
"It is divided into four parts; Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and
Prosody."--_Cooper and Frost cor._ (17.) "English Grammar has been usually
divided into four parts; viz., Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and
Prosody."--_Nutting cor._ (18.) "Temperance leads to happiness;
intemperance, to misery."--_Hiley and Hart cor._ (19, 20.) "A friend
exaggerates a man's virtues; an enemy, his crimes."--_Hiley cor._; also
_Murray_. (21.) "Many writers use a plural noun after the second of two
numeral adjectives; thus, 'The first and second _pages_ are
torn.'"--_Bullions cor._ (22.) "Of these, [i. e., of _Cases_,] the Latin
has six; the Greek, five; the German, four; the Saxon, six; the French,
three; &c."--_Id._

   "In _ing_ it ends, when doing is expressed;
    In _d, t, n_, when suffering's confessed."--_Brightland cor._


MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"In old books, _i_ is often used for _j; v_, for _u; vv_, for _w_; and _ii_
or _ij_, for _y_."--_Hart cor._ "The forming of letters into words and
syllables, is also called _Spelling_."--_Id._ "Labials are formed chiefly
by the _lips_; dentals, by the _teeth_; palatals, by the palate; gutturals,
by the _throat_; nasals, by the _nose_; and linguals, by the
_tongue_."--_Id._ "The labials are _p, b, f, v_; the dentals, _t, d, s, z_;
the palatals, _g_ soft and _j_; the gutturals, _k, q_, and _c_ and _g_
hard; the nasals, _m_ and _n_; and the linguals, _l_ and _r_."--_Id._
"Thus, '_The_ man, _having finished_ his letter, will carry it to the
_post-office_.'"--_Id._ "Thus, in the sentence, '_He_ had a dagger
concealed under his cloak,' _concealed_ is passive, signifying _being
concealed_; but, in the former combination, it goes to make up a form the
force of which is active."--_Id._ "Thus, in Latin, '_He_ had concealed the
dagger,' would be, '_Pugionem abdiderat_;' but, '_He_ had the dagger
concealed,' would be, '_Pugionem abditum habebat_."--_Id._ "_Here_, for
instance, means, 'in this place;' _now_, 'at this time;' &c."--_Id._ "Here
_when_ both declares the _time_ of the action, and so is an adverb; and
also _connects_ the two verbs, and so _resembles_ a conjunction."--_Id._
"These words were all, no doubt, originally other parts of speech; viz.,
verbs, nouns, and adjectives."--_Id._ "The principal parts of a sentence,
are the subject, the attribute, and the object; in other words, the
nominative, the verb, and the objective."--_Id._ "Thus, the adjective is
connected with the noun; the adverb, with the verb or adjective; _the
pronoun_, with _its antecedent_; &c." "_Between_ refers to two; _among_, to
more than two."--_Id._ "_At_ is used after a verb of rest; _to_, after a
verb of motion."--_Id._ "Verbs are of three kinds; Active, Passive, and
Neuter."--_L. Murray_. [Active] "Verbs are divided into two classes;
Transitive and Intransitive."--_Hendrick cor._ "The Parts of Speech, in the
English language, are nine; viz., _the_ Article, Noun, Adjective, Pronoun,
Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Interjection, and Conjunction."--_Bullions cor._
See _Lennie_. "Of these, the Noun, Pronoun, and Verb, are declined; the
rest are indeclinable."--_Bullions, Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, p. 18. "The
first expression is called 'the _Active_ form;' the second, 'the _Passive_
form.'"--_Weld cor._

   "O, 'tis a godlike privilege to save;
    And he that scorns it, is himself a slave."--_Cowper cor._


SECTION III.--THE COLON.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF ADDITIONAL REMARKS.

"_Of_ is a preposition: it expresses the relation between _fear_ and
_Lord_."--_Bullions cor._ "Wealth and poverty are both temptations to man:
_that_ tends to excite pride; _this_, discontentment."--_Id. et al cor._
"Religion raises men above themselves; irreligion sinks them beneath the
brutes: _this_ binds them down to a poor pitiable speck of perishable
earth; _that_ opens for them a prospect to the skies."--_Murray's Key_,
8vo, p. 189. "Love not idleness: it destroys many."--_Ingersoll cor._
"Children, obey your parents: 'Honour thy father and mother,' is the first
commandment with promise."--_Bullions cor._ "Thou art my _hiding-place_ and
my shield; I hope in thy _word_."--_Psalm_ cxix, 114. "The sun shall not
smite _thee_ by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord _shall_ preserve
_thee_ from _all_ evil: _he shall preserve thy_ soul."--_Psalm_ cxxi, 6.
"Here _to_ Greece is assigned the highest place in the class of objects
among which she is numbered--the nations of antiquity: she is one of
them."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 114.

   "From short (as usual) and disturb'd repose,
    I wake: how happy they who wake no more!"--_Young, N. T._, p. 3.


UNDER RULE II.--OF GREATER PAUSES.

"A taste _of_ a thing, implies actual enjoyment of it; but a tase
[sic--KTH] _for_ it, implies only capacity for enjoyment: as, 'When we have
had a true taste _of_ the pleasures of virtue, we can have no relish _for_
those of vice.'"--_Bullions cor._ "The Indicative mood simply declares a
thing: as, 'He _loves_;' 'He _is_ loved:' or it asks a question; as,
'_Lovest_ thou me?'"--_Id. and Lennie cor._; also _Murray_. "The Imperfect
(or Past) tense represents an action or event indefinitely as past; as,
'Cæsar _came_, and _saw_, and _conquered_:' or it represents the action
definitely as unfinished and continuing at a certain time now entirely
past; as, 'My father _was coming_ home when I met him.'"--_Bullions cor._
"Some nouns have no plural; as, _gold, silver, wisdom_: others have no
singular: as, _ashes, shears, tongs_: others are alike in both numbers; as,
_sheep, deer, means, news_."--_Day cor._ "The same verb may be transitive
in one sense, and intransitive in an other: thus, in the sentence, 'He
believes my story,' _believes_ is transitive; but, in this phrase, 'He
believes in God,' it is intransitive."--_Butler cor._ "Let the divisions be
_distinct_: one part should not include _an other_, but each should have
its proper place, and be of importance in that place; and all the parts,
well fitted together and united, should present a _perfect_
whole."--_Goldsbury cor._ "In the use of the transitive verb, there are
always _three_ things implied; the _actor_, the _act_, and the _object_
acted upon: in the use of the intransitive, there are only _two_; the
subject, or _the thing_ spoken of, and the _state_ or _action_ attributed
to it."--_Bullions cor._

   "Why labours reason? instinct were as well;
    Instinct, far better: what can choose, can err."--_Young_, vii, 622.


UNDER RULE III.--OF INDEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

"The sentence may run thus: 'He is related to the same person, and is
governed by him.'"--_Hart cor._ "Always remember this ancient proverb:
'Know thyself.'"--_Hallock cor._ "Consider this sentence: 'The boy runs
swiftly.'"--_Frazee cor._ "The comparative is used thus: 'Greece was more
polished than any other nation of antiquity.' The same idea is expressed by
the superlative, when the word _other_ is left out: thus, 'Greece was the
most polished nation of antiquity.'"--_Bullions and Lennie cor._ "Burke, in
his speech on the Carnatic war, makes the following allusion to the well
known fable of _Cadmus_ sowing dragon's teeth:--'Every day you are
fatigued and disgusted with this cant: 'The Carnatic is a country that will
soon recover, and become instantly as prosperous as ever.' They think they
are talking to innocents, who believe that by the sowing of dragon's teeth,
men may come up ready grown and ready made.'"--_Hiley and Hart cor._

   "For sects he car'd not: 'They are not of us,
    Nor need we, brethren, their concerns discuss.'"--_Crabbe cor._

    "Habit, with him, was all the test of truth:
    'It must be right; I've done it from my youth.'
    Questions he answer'd in as brief a way:
    'It must be wrong; it was of yesterday.'"--_Id._


MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"This would seem to say, 'I doubt nothing, save one thing; namely, that he
will _fulfill_ his promise:' whereas that is the very thing not
doubted."--_Bullions cor._ "The common use of language requires, that a
distinction be made between _morals_ and _manners_: the former depend upon
internal dispositions; the latter, _upon_ outward and visible
accomplishments."--_Beattie cor._ "Though I detest war in each particular
fibre of my heart, yet I honour the heroes among our fathers, who fought
with bloody hand. Peacemakers in a savage way, they were faithful to their
light: the most inspired can be no more; and we, with greater light, do, it
may be, far less."--_T. Parker cor._ "The article _the_, like _a_, must
have a substantive joined with it; whereas _that_, like _one_, may have it
understood: thus, speaking of books, I may select one, and say, 'Give me
that;' but not, 'Give me _the_;'--[so I may say,] 'Give me _one_;' but not,
'Give me _a_.'"--_Bullions cor._ "The Present tense has three distinct
forms: the _simple_; as, I read: the _emphatic_; as, I do read: and the
_progressive_; as, I am reading." Or thus: "The Present tense has three
distinct forms;--the _simple_; as, 'I read;'--the _emphatic_; as, 'I do
read;'--and the _progressive_; as, 'I am reading.'"--_Id._ "The tenses in
English are usually reckoned six: the _Present_, the _Imperfect_, the
_Perfect_, the _Pluperfect_, the _First-future_, and the
_Second-future_."--_Id._ "There are three participles; the Present or
Active, the Perfect or Passive, and the Compound Perfect: as, _loving,
loved, having loved_." Or, better: "There are three participles from each
verb; namely, the _Imperfect_, the _Perfect_, and the _Preperfect_; as,
_turning, turned, having turned_."--_Murray et al. cor._ "The participles
are three; the Present, the Perfect, and the Compound Perfect: as, _loving,
loved, having loved_." Better: "The participles of each verb are three; the
_Imperfect_, the _Perfect_, and the _Preperfect_: as, _turning, turned,
having turned_."--_Hart cor._ "_Will_ is conjugated regularly, when it is a
principal verb: as, present, I _will_; past, I _willed_; &c."--_Frazee
cor._ "And both sounds of _x_ are compound: one is that of _gz_, and the
other, that of _ks_."--_Id._ "The man is happy; he is benevolent; he is
useful."--_L. Mur._, p. 28: _Cooper cor._ "The pronoun stands _in stead_ of
the noun: as, 'The man is happy; _he_ is benevolent; _he_ is useful.'"--_L.
Murray cor._ "A Pronoun is a word used _in stead_ of a noun, to _prevent_
too frequent _a_ repetition of it: as, 'The man is happy; _he_ is
benevolent; _he_ is useful.'"--_Id._ "A Pronoun is a word used in the room
of a noun, or as a substitute for one or more words: as, 'The man is happy;
_he_ is benevolent; _he_ is useful.'"--_Cooper cor._ "A common noun is the
name of a sort, kind, or class, of beings or things; as, _Animal, tree,
insect, fish, fowl_."--_Id._ "Nouns have three persons; the _first_, the
_second_, and the _third_."--_Id._

   "_So_ saying, her rash hand in evil hour
    Forth reaching to the fruit, she pluck'd, she _eat_:
    Earth felt the wound; and _Nature_ from her seat,
    Sighing through all her works, gave signs of _woe_,
    That all was lost."--MILTON, P. L., Book ix, l. 780.


SECTION IV.--THE PERIOD.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF DISTINCT SENTENCES.

"The third person is the position of _a word by which an object is merely_
spoken of; as, 'Paul and Silas were imprisoned.'--'The earth
thirsts.'--'The sun shines.'"--_Frazee cor._

"Two, and three, and four, make nine. If he were here, he would assist his
father and mother; for he is a dutiful son. They live together, and are
happy, because they enjoy each other's society. They went to Roxbury, and
tarried all night, and came back the next day."--_Goldsbury cor._

"We often resolve, but seldom perform. She is wiser than her sister. Though
he is often advised, yet he does not reform. Reproof either softens or
hardens its object. He is as old as his classmates, but not so learned.
Neither prosperity, nor adversity, has improved him. Let him that standeth,
take heed lest he fall. He can acquire no virtue, unless he make some
sacrifices."--_Id._

   "Down from his neck, with blazing gems array'd,
    Thy image, lovely Anna! hung portray'd;
    Th' unconscious figure, smiling all serene,
    Suspended in a golden chain was seen."--_Falconer._


UNDER RULE II.--OF ALLIED SENTENCES.

"This life is a mere prelude to _an other_ which has no limits. _It_ is a
little portion of duration. As death leaves us, so the day of _judgement_
will find us."--_Merchant cor._

"He went from Boston to New York.--He went (I say) from Boston; he went to
New York. In walking across the floor, he stumbled over a
chair."--_Goldsbury corrected_.

"I saw him on the spot, going along the road, looking towards the house.
During the heat of the day, he sat on the ground, under the shade of a
tree."--_Goldsbury corrected_.

"'George came home; I saw him yesterday.' _Here_ the word _him_ can extend
only to the individual George."--_Barrett corrected_.

"Commas are often used now, where parentheses were [adopted] formerly. I
cannot, however, esteem this an improvement."--_Bucke's Classical
Grammar_, p. 20.

   "Thou, like a sleeping, faithless sentinel,
    Didst let them pass unnotic'd, unimprov'd.
    And know, for that thou _slumberst_ on the guard,
    Thou shalt be made to answer at the bar
    For every fugitive."--COTTON: _Hallock and Enfield cor._


UNDER RULE III.--OF ABBREVIATIONS.

"The term _pronoun_ (Lat. _pronomen_) strictly means a word used _for_, or
_in stead of_, a noun."--_Bullions corrected_.

"The period is also used after abbreviations; as, A. D., P. S., G. W.
Johnson."--_N. Butler cor._

"On this principle of classification, the later Greek grammarians divided
words into eight classes, or parts of speech: viz., the Article, Noun,
Pronoun, Verb, Participle, Adverb, Preposition, and Conjunction."--
_Bullions cor._

"'_Metre [Melody]_ is not confined to verse: there is a tune in all good
prose; and Shakspeare's was a sweet one.'--_Epea Pter._, ii, 61. [_First
American Ed._, ii, 50.] Mr. H. Tooke's idea was probably just, agreeing
with Aristotle's; but [, if so, it is] not accurately expressed."--
_Churchill cor._

"Mr. J. H. Tooke was educated at Eton and at Cambridge, in which latter
college he took the degree of A. M. Being intended for the established
church of England, he entered into holy orders when young; and obtained the
living of Brentford, near London, which he held ten or twelve
years."--_Tooke's Annotator cor._

   "I, nor your plan, nor book condemn;
    But why your name? and why A. M.?"--_Lloyd cor._

MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath," &c.--_Isaiah_, lviii, 13.
"He that hath eeris of hervnge, _here he_."--WICKLIFFE: _Matt._, xi, 15.
"See General Rules for Spelling, iii, v, and vii."--_N. Butler cor._ "False
witnesses did rise up."--_Ps._, xxxv, 11.

"An _explicative_ sentence is used for explaining; an _interrogative_
sentence, for inquiring; an _imperative_ sentence, for commanding."--
_Barrett cor._ "In October, corn is gathered in the field by men, who go
from hill to hill with baskets, into which they put the ears.--Susan
labours with her needle for a livelihood.--Notwithstanding his poverty, he
is a man of integrity."--_Golds, cor._

"A word of one syllable is called a monosyllable; a word of two syllables,
a dissyllable; a word of three syllables, a trissyllable; a word of four or
more syllables, a polysyllable."--_Frazee cor._

"If I say, '_If it did not rain_, I would take a walk;' I convey the idea
that it _does_ rain at the time of speaking. '_If it rained_,' or, '_Did it
rain_,' in [reference to] the present time, implies _that_ it does _not_
rain. '_If it did not rain_,' or, '_Did it not rain_,' in [reference to
the] present time, implies that it _does_ rain. Thus, in this peculiar
_application_, an affirmative sentence always implies a negation; and a
negative sentence, an affirmation."--_Id._ "'_If I were loved_' and, '_Were
I loved_;' imply I am _not_ loved: '_If I were not loved_,' and, '_Were I
not loved_,' imply I _am_ loved. A negative sentence implies an
affirmation, and an affirmative sentence implies a negation, in these forms
of the subjunctive."--_Id._

"What is Rule III?"--_Hart cor._ "How is Rule III violated?"--_Id._ "How do
you parse _letter_ in the sentence, 'James writes a letter?' Ans. _Letter_
is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, _neuter_ gender,
and objective case; and is governed by the verb _writes_, according to Rule
III, which says, 'A transitive verb governs the objective case.'"--_Id._

   "Creation sleeps. 'Tis as the gen'ral pulse
    Of life stood still, and nature made a pause;
    An awful pause! prophetic of her end.
    And let her prophecy be soon fulfill'd:
    Fate, drop the curtain; I can lose no more."--_Young_.


SECTION V.--THE DASH.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF ABRUPT PAUSES.

"And there is something in your very strange story, that resembles--Does
Mr. Bevil know your history particularly?"--_Burgh's Speaker_, p. 149.
"Sir,--Mr. Myrtle--Gentlemen--You are friends--I am but a
servant--But--"--_Ib._, p. 118.

"An other man now would have given plump into this foolish story; but
I--No, no, your humble servant for that."--GARRICK, _Neck or Nothing_.

"Do not plunge thyself too far in anger, lest thou hasten thy trial; which
if--Lord have mercy on thee for a hen!"--SHAKSPEARE, _All's Well_.

   "But ere they came,--O, let me say no more!
    Gather the sequel by that went before."--IDEM, _Com. of Errors_.


UNDER RULE II.--OF EMPHATIC PAUSES.

"M,--Malvolio;--M,--why, that begins my name."--SINGER'S SHAK., _Twelfth
Night_.

"Thus, by the creative influence of the Eternal Spirit, were the heavens
and the earth finished in the space of six days--so admirably finished--an
unformed chaos changed into a system of perfect order and beauty--that the
adorable Architect himself pronounced it _very good_, and _all the sons of
God shouted for joy_."--_Historical Reader_, p. 10.

"If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop
remained in my country, I never would lay down my arms--never, never,
never."--_Pitt's Speech_.

   "Madam, yourself are not exempt in this,--
    Nor your son Dorset;--Buckingham, nor you."--SHAK.


UNDER RULE III.--OF FAULTY DASHES.

"'You shall go home directly, Le Fevre,' said my uncle Toby, 'to my house;
and we'll send for a doctor to see what's the matter; and we'll have an
apothecary; and the corporal shall be your nurse: and I'll be your servant,
Le Fevre.'"--_Sterne cor._

"He continued: 'Inferior artists may be at a stand, because they want
materials.'"--_Harris cor._ "Thus, then, continued he: 'The end, in other
arts, is ever distant and removed.'"--_Id._

"The nouns must be coupled with _and_; and when a pronoun is used, it must
be plural, as in the example. When the nouns are _disjoined_, the pronoun
must be singular."--_Lennie cor._

"_Opinion_ is a common noun, or substantive, of the third person, singular
number, neuter gender, and nominative case."--_Wright cor._

   "The mountain, thy pall and thy prison, may keep thee;
    I shall see thee no more, but till death I will weep thee."
        --_See Felton's Gram._, p. 93.


MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"If to accommodate man and beast, heaven and earth--if this be beyond me,
'tis not possible.--What consequence then follows? Or can there be any
other than this?--_if_ I seek an interest of my own, detached from that of
others, I seek an interest which is chimerical, and can never have
existence."--_Harris_.

"Again: I must have food and clothing. Without a proper genial warmth, I
instantly perish. Am I not related, in this view, to the very earth
itself?--_to_ the distant sun, from whose beams I derive vigour?"--_Id._

"Nature instantly ebbed again; the film returned to its place; the pulse
fluttered--stopped--went on--throbbed--stopped again--moved--stopped.--
Shall I go on?--No."--_Sterne cor._

"Write ten nouns of the masculine gender;--ten of the feminine;--ten of the
neuter; ten indefinite in gender."--_Davis cor._

"The infinitive _mood_ has two tenses; the indicative, six; the potential,
_four_; the subjunctive, _two_; and the imperative, one."--_Frazee cor._
"Now notice the following sentences: 'John runs.'--'Boys run.'--'Thou
runnest.'"--_Id._

"The Pronoun sometimes stands for a name; sometimes for an adjective, a
sentence, _or_ a part of a sentence; and, sometimes, for a whole series of
propositions."--_Peirce cor._

   "The self-applauding bird, the peacock, see;
    Mark what a sumptuous pharisee is he!"--_Cowper cor._


SECTION VI.--THE EROTEME.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF QUESTIONS DIRECT.

"When will his ear delight in the sound of arms? When shall I, like Oscar,
travel in the light of my steel?"--_Ossian_, Vol. i, p. 357. "Will Henry
call on me, while he shall be journeying south?"--_Peirce cor._

"An Interrogative Pronoun is one that is used in asking a question; as,
'_Who_ is he? and _what_ does he want?'"--_P. E. Day cor._ "_Who_ is
generally used when we would inquire _about_ some unknown person or
persons; as, '_Who_ is that man?'"--_Id._ "_Your_ fathers, where are they?
and the prophets, do they live forever?"--_Zech._, i. 5.

"It is true, that some of our best writers have used _than whom_; but it is
also true that they have used _other_ phrases which we have rejected as
ungrammatical: then why not reject this too?--The sentences in the
exercises, with _than who_, are correct as they stand."--_Lennie cor._

"When the perfect participle of an active-intransitive verb is annexed to
the neuter verb _to be_, what does the combination form?"--_Hallock cor._
"Those adverbs which answer to the question _where_? _whither_? or
_whence_? are called adverbs of _place_."--_Id._ "Canst thou by searching
find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as
high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou
know?"--SCOTT, ALGER, BRUCE, AND OTHERS: _Job_, xi, 7 and 8.

   "Where, where, for shelter shall the wicked fly,
    When consternation turns the good man pale?"--_Young_.


UNDER RULE II.--OF QUESTIONS UNITED.

"Who knows what resources are in store, and what the power of God may do
for thee?"--STERNE: _Enfield's Speaker_, p. 307.

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he
should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and
shall he not make it good?"--SCOTT'S BIBLE, ALGER'S, FRIENDS', BRUCE'S, AND
OTHERS: _Numb._, xxiii, 19. "Hath the Lord said it, and shall he not do it?
hath he spoken it, and shall he not make it good?"--_Lennie and Bullions
cor._

   "Who calls the council, states the certain day,
    Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way?"--_Pope's Essay_.


UNDER RULE III.--OF QUESTIONS INDIRECT.

"To be, or not to be;--that is the question."--_Shak. et al. cor._ "If it
be asked, why a pause should any more be necessary to emphasis than to an
accent,--or why an emphasis alone will not sufficiently distinguish the
members of sentences from each other, without pauses, as accent does
words,--the answer is obvious: that we are preacquainted with the sound of
words, and cannot mistake them when distinctly pronounced, however rapidly;
but we are not preacquainted with the meaning of sentences, which must be
pointed out to us by the reader or speaker."--_Sheridan cor._

   "Cry, 'By your priesthood, tell me what you are.'"--_Pope cor._


MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"Who else can he be?"--_Barrett cor._ "Where else can he go?"--_Id._ "In
familiar language, _here, there_, and _where_, are used for _hither,
thither_, and _whither_."--_N. Butler cor._ "Take, for instance, this
sentence: 'Indolence undermines the foundation of virtue.'"--_Hart cor._
"Take, for instance, the sentence before quoted: 'Indolence undermines the
foundation of virtue.'"--_Id._ "Under the same head, are considered such
sentences as these: '_He_ that _hath ears to hear_, let him hear.'--'_Gad_,
a troop shall overcome him.'"--_Id._

"Tenses are certain modifications of the verb, which point out the
distinctions of time."--_Bullions cor._ "Calm was the day, and the scene,
delightful."--_Id._ See _Murray's Exercises_, p. 5. "The capital letters
used by the Romans to denote numbers, were C, I, L, V, X; which are
therefore called Numeral Letters. I denotes _one_; V, _five_; X, _ten_; L,
_fifty_; and C, _a hundred_."--_Bullions cor._ "'I shall have written;'
viz., at or before some future time or event."--_Id._ "In Latin words, the
liquids are _l_ and _r_ only; in Greek words, _l, r, m_, and _n_."--_Id._
"Each legion was divided into ten cohorts; each cohort, into three
maniples; and each maniple, into two centuries."--_Id._ "Of the Roman
literature previous to A. U. 514, scarcely a vestige remains."--_Id._

   "And that which He delights in, must be happy.
    But when? or where? This world was made for Cæsar."--CATO.

    "Look next on greatness. Say where greatness lies.
    Where, but among the heroes and the wise?"--_Pope_.


SECTION VII--THE ECPHONEME.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF INTERJECTIONS, &c.

(1.) "O! that he were wise!"--_Bullions cor._ (2.) "O! that his heart
_were_ tender!"--_See Murray's Ex._ or _Key_, under Rule xix. (3 and 4.)
"Oh! what a sight is here!"--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 71; (§37;) _Pract.
Les._, p. 82; _Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, p. 111. (5-9.) "O Virtue! how
amiable thou art!"--_Farnum's Gram._, p. 12; _Bullions's Analyt. and Pract.
Gram._, p. 111. (10.) "Oh! that I had been more diligent!"--_Hart cor._;
and _Hiley_. (11.) "O! the humiliation to which vice reduces us!"--_Farnum_
and _Mur. cor._ (12.) "O! that he were more prudent!"--_Farnum cor._ (13
and 14.) "Ah me!"--_Davis cor._

          (15.) "Lately, alas! I knew a gentle boy," &c.--_Dial cor._

    (16 and 17.) "Wo is me, Alhama!"--_Byron's Poems: Wells cor._


UNDER RULE II.--OF INVOCATIONS.

"Weep on the rocks of roaring winds, O maid of Inistore!"--_Ossian_. "Cease
a little while, O wind! stream, be thou silent a while! let my voice be
heard around. Let my wanderer hear me! Salgar! it is Colma who calls. Here
is the tree, and the rock. Salgar, my love! I am here. Why delayest thou
thy coming? Lo! the calm moon comes forth. The flood is bright in the
vale."--_Id._, Vol. i, p. 369.

   "Ah, stay not, stay not! guardless and alone:
    Hector! my lov'd, my dearest, bravest son!"--_Pope_, II., xxii, 61.


UNDER RULE III.--OF EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS.

"How much better is wisdom than gold!"--See _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 272.
"O Virtue! how amiable art thou!"--See _Murray's Grammar_, 2d Edition, p.
95. "At that hour, O how vain was all sublunary happiness!"--_Brown's
Institutes_, p. 117; see _English Reader_, p. 135. "Alas! how few and
transitory are the joys which this world affords to man!"--_P. E. Day cor._
"Oh! how vain and transitory are all things here below!"--_Id._

   "And O! what change of state, what change of rank,
    In that assembly everywhere was seen!"--_Pollok cor._; also _Day_.


MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"O _Shame_! where is thy blush?"--_Shak._[557] "_John_, give me my
hat."--_Barrett cor._ "What! is Moscow in flames?"--_Id._ "_O_! what
happiness awaits the virtuous!"--_Id._

"_Ah, welladay_! do what we can for him, said Trim, maintaining his
point,--the poor soul will die."--_Sterne_ or _Enfield cor._; also
_Kirkham_.

"Will John return to-morrow?"--_Barrett cor._ "Will not John return
to-morrow?"--_Id._ "John, return to-morrow."--_Id._ "Soldiers, stand
firm."--_Id._ "If _mea_, which means _my_, is an adjective in Latin, why
may not _my_ be so called in English? and if my is an adjective, why not
_Barrett's_?"--_Id._

"O Absalom, my son!"--See _2 Sam._, xix, 4. "O star-eyed Science! whither
hast thou fled?"--_Peirce cor._ "Why do you tolerate your own
inconsistency, by calling it the present tense?"--_Id._ "Thus the
declarative mood [i.e., the indicative mood] may be used in asking a
question: as, '_What_ man _is_ frail?'"--_Id._ "What connection has motive,
wish, or supposition, with the the term _subjunctive_?"--_Id._ "A grand
reason, truly, for calling it a golden key!"--_Id._ "What '_suffering_' the
man who can say this, must be enduring!"--_Id._ "What is Brown's Rule in
relation to this matter?"--_Id._ "Alas! how short is life!"--_P. E. Day
cor._ "Thomas, study your book."--_Id._ "Who can tell us who they
are?"--_Sanborn cor._ "Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic, and
sorely vexed."--See _Matt._, xvii, 15. "O ye wild groves! O where is now
your bloom?"--_Felton cor._

   "O who of man the story will unfold?"--_Farnum cor._.

    "Methought I heard Horatio say, To-morrow.
    Go to--I will not hear of it--to-morrow!"--COTTON.

    "How his eyes languish! how his thoughts adore
    That painted coat which Joseph never wore!"


SECTION VIII.--THE CURVES.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF PARENTHESES.

"_Another_ [, better written as a phrase, _An other_,] is composed of the
indefinite article _an_, (which etymologically means _one_,) and _other_;
and denotes _one other_."--_Hallock cor._

"Each mood has its peculiar Tense, Tenses, or Times."--_Bucke cor._

"In some very ancient languages, (as the Hebrew,) which have been employed
chiefly for expressing plain sentiments in the plainest manner, without
aiming at any elaborate length or harmony of periods, this pronoun [the
relative] occurs not so often."--_L. Murray cor._

"Before I shall say those things, O Conscript Fathers! about the public
affairs, which are to be spoken at this time; I shall lay before you, in
few words, the motives of the journey and the return."--_Brightland cor._

   "Of well-chose words some take not care enough,
    And think they should be, like the subject, rough."--_Id._

    "Then, having _showed_ his wounds, he'd sit him down."--_Bullions cor._


UNDER RULE II.--OF INCLUDED POINTS.

"Then Jael smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it _into_ the
ground: (for he was fast asleep, and weary:) so he died."--SCOTT'S BIBLE:
_Judges_, iv, 21.

"Every thing in the Iliad has manners, (as Aristotle expresses it,) that
is, every thing is acted or spoken."--_Pope cor._

"Those nouns that end in _f_, or _fe_. (except some few _which_ I shall
mention presently,) form plurals by changing those letters into _ves_: as,
thief, _thieves_: wife, _wives_."--_Bucke cor._

"_As_ requires _as_; (expressing equality _of degree_;) _thus_, 'Mine is
_as_ good _as_ yours.' _As_ [requires] _so_; (expressing equality _or
proportion_;) _thus_, '_As_ the stars, _so_ shall thy seed be.' _So_
[requires] _as_; (with a negative expressing inequality;) _as_, 'He is _not
so_ wise _as_ his brother.' _So_ [requires] _that_; (expressing _a_
consequence:) _as_, 'I am _so_ weak _that_ I cannot walk.'"
[558]--_Bullions cor._

   "A captious question, sir, (and yours is one,)
    Deserves an answer similar, or none."--_Cowper cor._


MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"Whatever words the verb TO BE serves to unite, referring to the same
thing, must be of the same case; (§61;) as, '_Alexander_ is a
_student_.'"--_Bullions cor._ "When the objective is a relative _or_ [_an_]
interrogative, it comes before the verb that governs it: (§40, Rule 9:)
Murray's 6th rule is unnecessary."--_Id._ "It is generally improper, except
in poetry, to omit the antecedent to a relative; and always, to omit a
relative, when of the nominative case."--_Id._ "In every sentence, there
must be a verb and a nominative or subject, expressed or
understood."--_Id._ "Nouns and pronouns, and especially words denoting
time, are often governed by prepositions understood; or are used to
restrict verbs or adjectives, without a governing word: (§50, Rem. 6 and
Rule:) as, 'He gave [to] me a full account of the affair.'"--_Id._ "When
_should_ is used in stead of _ought_, to express _present_ duty, (§20, 4,)
it may be followed by the present; as, 'You _should_ study that you _may_
become learned.'"--_Id._ "The indicative present is frequently used after
the words _when, till, before, as soon as, after_, to express the relative
time of a future action: (§24, I, 4;) as, 'When he _comes_, he will be
welcome.'"--_Id._ "The relative is parsed, [_according to Bullions_,] by
stating its gender, number, case, and antecedent; (the gender and number
being always the same as those of the antecedent;) thus, 'The boy
who'--'_Who_ is a relative pronoun, masculine, singular, the nominative;
and refers to '_boy_' as its antecedent."--_Id._

   "'Now, now, I seize, I clasp _thy_ charms;
    And now _you_ burst, ah cruel! from my arms.'--_Pope_.

"Here is an unnecessary change from the second person singular to the
second _person_ plural. _The text_ would have been better, thus:--

    'Now, now, I seize, I clasp _your_ charms;
    And now _you_ burst, ah cruel! from my arms.'"--_John Burn cor._
        See _Lowth's Gram._, p. 35; _Churchill's_, 293.


SECTION IX.--ALL POINTS.

MIXED EXAMPLES CORRECTED.

"The principal stops are the following: the Comma [,], the Semicolon [;],
the Colon [:], the Period, or Full Stop [.], the Note of Interrogation [?],
the Note of Exclamation [!], the Parenthesis [()], and the Dash
[--]."--_Bullions cor._ "The modern punctuation in Latin is the same as in
English. The _chief_ marks employed are the Comma [,], _the_ Semicolon [;],
_the_ Colon [:], _the_ Period [.], _the Note of_ Interrogation [?], _the
Note of_ Exclamation (!), _the Parenthesis_ [()], _and the Dash_
[--]."--_Id._

"Plato reproving a young man for playing at some childish game, 'You chide
me,' says the youth, 'for a trifling fault.' 'Custom,' replied the
philosopher, 'is no trifle.' 'And,' adds _Montaigne_, 'he was in the right;
for our vices begin in infancy.'"--_Home cor._

"A merchant at sea asked the skipper what death his father died. 'My
father,' says the skipper, 'my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, were
all drowned.' 'Well,' replies the merchant, 'and are not you afraid of
being drowned too?'"--_Id._

"The use of inverted commas derives from France, where one Guillemet was
the author of them; [and,] as an acknowledgement for the improvement, his
countrymen call them after his name, GUILLEMETS."--_Hist. cor._

"This, however, is seldom if ever done, unless the word following the
possessive begins with _s_; thus, we do not say, 'the _prince_' feather;'
but, 'the _prince's_ feather.'"--_Bullions cor._ "And this phrase must
mean, '_the feather of the prince_;' but '_prince's-feather_,' written as
one word, [and with both apostrophe and hyphen,] is the name of a plant, a
species of amaranth."--_G. Brown_. "Boëthius soon had the satisfaction of
obtaining the highest honours his country could bestow."--_Ingersoll cor._;
also _L. Murray_.

"When an example, a quotation, or a speech, is introduced, it is separated
from the rest of the sentence either by a _comma_ or _by_ a colon; as, 'The
Scriptures give us an amiable representation of the Deity, in these words:
_God is love_.'"--_Hiley cor._ "Either the colon or _the comma_ may be
used, [according to the nature of the case,] when an example, a quotation,
or a speech, is introduced; as, 'Always remember this ancient maxim: _Know
thyself_.'--'The Scriptures give us an amiable representation of the Deity,
in these words: _God is love_.'"--_Bullions cor._

"The first word of a quotation introduced after a colon, or _of any
sentence quoted_ in a direct form, must begin with a capital: as, '_Always_
remember this ancient maxim: _Know_ thyself.'--'Our great lawgiver says,
_Take_ up thy cross daily, and follow me.'"--_Bullions and Lennie cor._;
also _L. Murray_; also _Weld_. See _Luke_, ix, 23.

"Tell me, in whose house do you live?"--_N. Butler cor._ "He that acts
wisely, deserves praise."--_Id._ "He who steals my purse, steals
trash."--_Id._ "The antecedent is _sometimes_ omitted; as, 'Who steals my
purse, steals trash.'--[_Shak._] That is, '_He_ who,' or, 'The _person_
who.'"--_Id._ "Thus, 'Whoever steals my purse, steals trash;'--'Whoever
does no good, does harm.'"--_Id._ "Thus, 'Whoever sins, will suffer.' This
means, that any one, without exception, who sins, will suffer."--_Id._

"Letters form syllables; syllables, words; words, sentences; and sentences,
combined and connected, form discourse."--_Cooper cor._ "A letter which
forms a perfect sound when uttered by itself, is called a vowel; as, _a, e,
i_."--_Id._ "A proper noun is the name of an individual, [or of a
particular people or place]; as, John, Boston, Hudson, America."--_Id._

"Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing; more, a cunning thing;
but very few, a generous thing."--_Davis cor._ "In the place of an ellipsis
of the verb, a comma must be inserted."--_Id._ "A common noun unlimited by
an article, is sometimes understood in its broadest acceptation: thus,
'_Fishes_ swim,' is understood to mean _all_ fishes; '_Man_ is mortal,'
_all_ men."--_Id._

"Thus, those sounds formed principally by the throat, are called
_gutturals_; those formed principally by the palate, _palatals_; those
formed by the teeth, _dentals_; those by the lips, _labials; and_ those by
the nose, _nasals_."--_Davis cor._

"Some adjectives are compared irregularly: as, _Good, letter, best; Bad,
worse, worst; Little, less, least_."--_Felton cor._

"Under the fourth head of grammar, therefore, four topics will be
considered; viz., PUNCTUATION, ORTHOEPY [sic--KTH], FIGURES, and
VERSIFICATION."--_Hart cor._

   "Direct her onward to that peaceful shore,
    Where peril, pain, and death, are felt no more!"--_Falconer cor._


GOOD ENGLISH RIGHTLY POINTED.

LESSON I.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"Discoveries of such a character are sometimes made in grammar also; and
such, too, _are_ often their origin and their end."--_Bullions cor._

"TRAVERSE, [literally to _cross_,] To deny what the opposite party has
alleged. To traverse an indictment, _or the like_, is to deny it."--_Id._

"The _Ordinal_ numerals denote the _order_, or _succession_, in which any
number of persons or things _are_ mentioned; as, _first, second, third_,
fourth, &c."--_Hiley cor._

"Nouns have three persons; _the_ First, _the_ Second, and _the_ Third. The
First person is _that which denotes_ the speaker: the Second is _that which
denotes the person or thing_ spoken to; the Third is _that which denotes_
the _person or thing merely_ spoken of."--_Hart cor._

"Nouns have three cases; _the_ Nominative, _the_ Possessive, and _the_
Objective. The _relations_ indicated by the _cases_ of a noun, _include_
three _distinct_ ideas; viz., those of subject, object, and
ownership."--_Id._

"In speaking of animals that are of inferior size, or whose sex is not
known or not regarded, _we_ often _treat them_ as without sex: thus, we say
of a cat, '_It_ is treacherous;' of an infant, '_It_ is beautiful;' of a
deer, '_It_ was killed.'"--_Id._

"When THIS _and_ THAT, or THESE _and_ THOSE, refer to a preceding sentence;
THIS or THESE _represents_ the latter member or term, _and_ THAT or THOSE,
the former."--_Churchill cor._; and _Lowth_.

"The rearing of them became his first care; their fruit, his first food;
and _the_ marking _of_ their kinds, his first knowledge."--_N. Butler cor._

"After the period used with abbreviations, we should employ other points,
if the construction demands _them_; thus, after 'Esq.,' in the last
example, there should be, besides _the_ period, a comma."--_Id._

"In the plural, the verb _has_ the same _form_ in all the persons; _but
still_ the principle in _Rem._ 5, under Rule iii, that the first or second
person takes precedence, is applicable to verbs, _in parsing_."--_Id._

"Rex and Tyrannus are of very different characters. The one rules his
people by laws to which they consent; the other, by his absolute will and
power: that _government_ is called freedom; this, tyranny."--_L. Murray
cor._

"A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, _that_ can be known or
mentioned: as, George, London, America, goodness, charity."--See _Brown's
Institutes_, p. 31.

"Etymology treats of the classification of words, their various
modifications, and _their derivation_"--_P. E. Day cor._

"To punctuate correctly, implies a thorough acquaintance with the meaning
of words and phrases, as well as _with_ all their corresponding
connexions."--_W. Day cor._

"All objects _that_ belong to neither the male nor _the_ female kind, are
said to be of the neuter gender, _except certain things
personified_."--_Weld cor twice_.

"The Analysis of the Sounds in the English language, presented in the
preceding statements, _is_ sufficiently exact for the purpose in hand.
Those who wish to pursue _the subject_ further, can consult Dr. Rush's
admirable work, 'The Philosophy of the Human Voice.'"--_Fowler cor._
"Nobody confounds the name of _w_ or _y_ with _the_ sound _of the letter_,
or _with its_ phonetic import."--_Id._ [[Fist] This assertion is hardly
true. Strange as such a blunder is, it has actually occurred. See, in
Orthography, Obs. 5, on the Classes of the Letters, at p. 156.--G. B.]

   "Order is Heav'n's first law; and, this _confess'd_,
    Some are, and must be, greater than the rest."--_Pope_.


LESSON II--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"_From_ adjectives of one syllable, _and some of two_, the comparative is
formed by adding _r_ or _er_ to the positive; and the superlative, by
adding _st_ or _est_: as, _sweet, sweeter, sweetest_; _able, abler,
ablest_."--_Bullions cor._

"_From_ monosyllables, _or from dissyllables ending with a vowel or the
accent_, the comparative is formed by adding _er_ or _r_ to the positive;
and the superlative, by adding _est_ or _st_: as, _tall, taller, tallest_;
_wise, wiser, wisest_; _holy, holier, holiest_; _complete, completer,
completest_."--_Id._

"By this method, the confusion and unnecessary labour occasioned by
studying grammars, in these languages, constructed on different principles,
_are_ avoided; the study of one is rendered a profitable introduction to
the study of an other; and an opportunity is furnished to the _inquiring_
student, of comparing the languages in their grammatical structure, and
_of_ seeing at once wherein they agree, and wherein they differ."--_Id._

"No larger portion should be assigned for each recitation, than the class
can easily master; and, till _the previous lessons are well learned_, a new
portion should not be given out."--_Id._ "The acquisitions made in every
new lesson, should be _riveted_ and secured by repeated revisals."--_Id._

"The personal pronouns may be parsed briefly, thus: '_I_ is a personal
pronoun, _of_ the first _person_, singular _number_, masculine _gender_,
(feminine, if the speaker is a female,) _and_ nominative _case_.' '_His is_
a personal pronoun, _of_ the third _person_, singular _number_, masculine
_gender, and_ possessive _case_.'"--_Id._

"When the male and _the_ female are expressed by distinct terms, as,
_shepherd, shepherdess_, the masculine term has also a general meaning,
expressing both male and female; and is always to be used when the office,
occupation, _or_ profession, and not the sex, of the individual, is chiefly
to be expressed; the feminine term being used only when the discrimination
of sex is indispensably necessary. Thus, when it is said, 'The poets of
this country are distinguished _for_ correctness of taste,' the term
'poets' clearly includes both male and female writers of poetry."--_Id._

"Nouns and pronouns connected by conjunctions, must be in the same
_case_"--_Ingersoll cor._

"Verbs connected by _and, or_, or _nor_, must _generally_ be in the _same
mood_ and _tense_; and, when _the tense has different forms_, they must be
in the same form."--_Id._

"This will habituate him to reflection; exercise his _judgement_ on the
meaning of the author; and, without any great effort on his part, impress
indelibly on his memory the rules which he is required to give. After the
exercises under _any_ rule have been gone through, _agreeably to the
direction_ in the note _at the bottom of_ page _88th_, they may be read
over again in a corrected state, the pupil making an emphasis on the
correction made; or they may be presented in writing, at the next
recitation."--_Bullions cor._

   "Man, but for that, no action could attend;
    And, but for this, _were active_ to no end."--_Pope_.


LESSON III.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"'Johnson, the bookseller and stationer' indicates that _bookseller_ and
_stationer_ are _terms_ belonging to the same person; 'the bookseller and
the stationer,' would indicate that they belong to different
persons."--_Bullions cor._

"_Past_ is [commonly] an adjective; _passed_, the past tense or perfect
participle of the verb: and they ought not (as _they_ frequently _are_) to
be confounded with each other."--_Id._

"Not only the nature of the thoughts and sentiments, but the very selection
_or_ arrangement of the words, gives English poetry a character which
separates it widely from common prose."--_Id._

"Men of sound, discriminating, and philosophical minds--men prepared for
the work by long study, patient investigation, and extensive
acquirements--have laboured for ages to improve and perfect it; and nothing
is hazarded in asserting, that, should it be unwisely abandoned, it will be
long before an other, equal in beauty, stability, and usefulness, _will_ be
produced in its stead."--_Id._, on the common "system of English Grammar."

"The article _the_, on the other hand, is used to restrict; and is
therefore termed _Definite_. Its proper office is, to call the attention to
a particular individual or class, or to any number of such; and
_accordingly it_ is used with nouns _of_ either number, singular or
plural."--_Id._

"Hence, also, the infinitive mood, a participle _with its adjuncts_, a
member of a sentence, or a _whole_ proposition, forming the subject of
discourse, or the object of a verb or preposition, and being the name of an
act or circumstance, _is_, in construction, regarded as a _noun_; and _is_
usually called, 'a substantive phrase:' as, '_To play_, is
pleasant.'--'_That he is an expert dancer_, is no recommendation.'--'Let
your motto be, _Honesty is the best policy_.'"--_Id._

"In accordance with his definition, Murray has divided verbs into three
classes: _Active, Passive_, and _Neuter_;--and _included_ in the first
class transitive verbs only; and, in the last, all verbs used
intransitively"--_Id._

"Moreover, as the name of the speaker or _that of_ the person spoken to is
seldom expressed, (the _pronoun_ I being used _for the former_, and THOU
_or_ YOU _for the latter_,) a noun is very _rarely_ in the first person;
not often in the second; and _hardly ever_ in either, unless it _is_ a
proper noun, or a common noun _denoting an object_ personified."--_Id._

"In using the _parsing_ exercises, it will save much time, (_and this
saving_ is _all-important_,) if the pupil be taught to say _all things_
belonging to the noun, in the fewest words possible; and to say them always
in the same order, _after the example_ above."--_Id._

"In any phrase or sentence, the adjectives qualifying a noun may generally
be found by prefixing the phrase, 'What kind of,' to the noun, in the form
of a question; as, 'What kind of horse?' 'What kind of stone?' 'What kind
of way?' The word containing the answer to the question, is an
adjective."--_Id._

"In the following exercise, let the pupil first point out the nouns, and
then the adjectives; and tell how he knows them to be _such_."--_Id._

"In the following sentences, point out the improper _ellipses_; _show_ why
_they are_ improper; and correct _them_."--_Id._

   "SINGULAR.                   PLURAL.
    1. I am smitten,      1. We are smitten,
    2. Thou art smitten,  2. You are smitten,
    3. He is smitten;     3. They are smitten."--_Wright cor._


CHAPTER II.--UTTERANCE.

The second chapter of Prosody, treating of articulation, pronunciation,
elocution and the minor topics that come under Utterance, contains no
exercises demanding correction in this Key.


CHAPTER III.--FIGURES.

In the third chapter of Prosody, the several Figures of speech are
explained; and, as the illustrations embrace no errors for correction,
nothing here corresponds to the chapter, but the title.


CHAPTER IV.--VERSIFICATION.

FALSE PROSODY, OR ERRORS OF METRE, CORRECTED.

LESSON I.--RHYTHM RESTORED.

   "Where thy true treasure? Gold says, 'Not in me.'"
        --_Young_.

   "Canst thou grow sad, thou _say'st_, as earth grows bright."
        --_Dana_.

   "It must be so;--Plato, thou _reason'st_ well"
        --CATO: _Enfield_, p. 321.

   "Slow rises _worth_ by poverty depressed."
        --_Wells's Gram., Late Ed._, p. 211.

   "Rapt _into_ future times, the bard begun."
        --POPE.--_Ib._, p. 165.

   "Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
    To wash it white as snow? _Whereto_ serves mercy
    But to confront the visage of offence?"
        --_Shak., Hamlet_.

   "Look! in this place ran _Cassius_' dagger through."
        --_Id., J. Cæsar_.

   "_And_ when they list, their lean and flashy songs
    Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw."
        --_Milton, Lycidas_.

   "Did not great Julius bleed for _justice'_ sake?"
        --_Dodd and Shak. cor._

   "May I _express thee' unblam'd? since_ God is light"
        --_Milton_, B. iii, l. 3.

   "Or _hear'st_ thou rather pure ethereal stream?"
        --_Id._, B. iii, l. 7.

   "Republics, kingdoms, empires, may decay;
     _Great_ princes, heroes, sages, sink to nought."
        --_Peirce or La-Rue cor._

   "Thou _bringst_, gay creature as thou art,
    A solemn image to my heart."
        --_Hallock cor._

   "Know _then_ thyself, presume not God to scan;
    The proper study of mankind is Man."
        --_Pope, on Man_, Ep. ii, l. 1.

   "Raised on _pilasters high_ of _burnished_ gold."
        --_Dr. S. Butler cor._

   "Love in _Adalgise_' breast has fixed his sting."
        --_Id._

   "Thirty days _each have_ September,
    April, June, and _old_ November;
    _Each_ of the rest _has_ thirty-one,
    Bating February alone,
    Which has twenty-eight in fine,
    Till leap-year gives it twenty-nine."
        --_Dean Colet cor._


LESSON II.--RHYTHM RESTORED.

   "'Twas not the fame of what he once had been,
    Or tales in _records old_ and annals seen."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "And Asia now and Afric are explored
    For high-priced dainties and _the_ citron board."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "Who knows not how the trembling judge beheld
    The peaceful court with _arm~ed_ legions fill'd?"
        --_Rowe cor._

    "With thee the Scythian wilds we'll wander o'er,
    With thee _the_ burning Libyan sands explore."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "Hasty and headlong, different paths they tread,
    As _impulse blind_ and wild distraction lead."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "But Fate reserv'd _him_ to perform its doom,
    And be the minister of wrath to Rome."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "Thus spoke the youth. When Cato thus _express'd_
    The sacred counsels of his inmost breast."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "These were the _rigid_ manners of the man,
    This _was_ the stubborn course in which they ran;
    The golden mean unchanging to pursue,
    Constant to keep the _purpos'd_ end in view."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "What greater grief can _on_ a Roman seize,
    Than to be forced to live on terms like these!"
        --_Rowe cor._

    "He views the naked town with joyful eyes,
    While from his rage an _arm~ed_ people flies."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "For planks and beams, he ravages the wood,
    And the tough _oak_ extends across the flood."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "A narrow pass the horn~ed mole divides.
    Narrow as that where _strong Euripus_' tides
    Beat on Euboean Chalcis' rocky sides."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "No force, no fears their hands _unarm~ed_ bear,"--or,
    "No force, no fears their hands unarm'd _now_ bear,
    But looks of peace and gentleness they wear."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "The ready warriors all aboard them ride,
    And wait return of the retiring tide."
        --_Rowe cor._

    "He saw those troops that long had faithful stood,
    Friends to his cause, and enemies to good,
    Grown weary of their chief, and _satiate_ with blood."
        --_Rowe cor._


END OF THE KEY.



APPENDIX I. TO PART FIRST, OR ORTHOGRAPHY. OF THE SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.


In the first chapter of Part I, the powers of the letters, or the
elementary sounds of the English language, were duly enumerated and
explained; for these, as well as the letters themselves, are few, and may
be fully stated in few words: but, since we often express the same sound in
many different ways, and also, in some instances, give to the same letter
several different sounds,--or, it may be, no sound at all,--any adequate
account of the powers of the letters considered severally according to
usage,--that is, of the sound or sounds of each letter, with its mute
positions, as these occur in practice,--must, it was thought, descend to a
minuteness of detail not desirable in the first chapter of Orthography. For
this reason, the following particulars have been reserved to be given here
as an Appendix, pertaining to the First Part of this English Grammar.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--A proper discrimination of the different vowel sounds by the
epithets most commonly used for this purpose,--such as _long_ and _short,
broad_ and _slender, open_ and _close_, or _open_ and _shut_,--is made
difficult, if not impossible, by reason of the different, and sometimes
directly contradictory senses in which certain orthoepists [sic--KTH] have
employed such terms. Wells says, "Vowel sounds are called _open_ or
_close_, according to the _relative size of the opening_ through which the
voice passes in forming them. Thus, _a_ in _father_, and _o_ in _nor_, are
called _open_ sounds, because they are formed by a _wide opening_ of the
organs of speech; while _e_ in _me_, and _u_ in _rule_, are called _close_
sounds, because the organs are _nearly closed_ in uttering them."--_School
Grammar_, 1850, p. 32. Good use should fix the import of words. How does
the passage here cited comport with this hint of Pope?

   "These equal syllables alone require,
    _Though oft the ear the open_ vowels tire."
        --_Essay on Criticism_, l. 344.

OBS. 2.--Walker, too, in his Principles, 64 and 65, on page 19th of his
Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, mentions a similar distinction of vowels,
"which arises from _the different apertures_ of the mouth in forming them;"
and says, "We accordingly find vowels denominated by the French, _ouvert_
and _fermé_; by the Italians, _aperto_ and _chiuso_; and by the English [,]
_open_ and _shut_. But whatever propriety there may be in the use of these
terms in other languages, it is certain they must be used with caution in
English for fear of confounding them with _long_ and _short_. Dr. Johnson
and other grammarians call the _a_ in _father_ the _open a_: which may,
indeed, distinguish it from the _slender a_ in _paper_; but not from the
_broad a_ in _water_, which is still more _open_. Each of these letters
[the seven vowels] has a _short_ sound, which may be called a _shut_ sound;
but the _long_ sounds cannot be so properly denominated _open_ as more or
less _broad_; that is, the _a_ in _paper_, the slender sound; the _a_ in
_father_, the broadish or middle sound; and the _a_ in _water_, the broad
sound. The same may be observed of the _o_. This letter has three long
sounds, heard in _move, note, nor_; which graduate from slender to
broadish, and broad [,] like [those three sounds of] the _a_. The _i_ also
in _mine_ may be called the broad _i_, and that in _machine_, the slender
_i_; though each of them is equally _long_; and though these vowels that
are _long_ [,] may be said to be more or less _open_ according to the
different apertures of the mouth in forming them, yet the _short_ vowels
cannot be said to be more or less _shut_; for as _short_ always implies
_shut_ (except in verse,) though _long_ does not always imply _open_, we
must be careful not to confound _long_ and _open_, and _close_ and _shut_,
when we speak of the quantity and quality of the vowels. The truth of it
is," continues he, "all vowels either terminate a syllable, or are united
with a consonant. In the first case, if the accent be on the syllable, the
vowel is _long_, though it may not be _open_: in the second case, where a
syllable is terminated by a consonant, except that consonant be _r_,
whether the accent be on the syllable or not, the vowel has its _short_
sound, which, compared with its long one, may be called _shut_: but [,] as
no vowel can be said to be _shut_ that is not joined to a consonant, _all
vowels that end syllables_ may be said to be _open_, whether the accent be
on them or not."--_Crit. Pron. Dict._, New York, 1827, p. 19.

OBS. 3.--These suggestions of Walker's, though each in itself may seem
clear and plausible, are undoubtedly, in several respects, confused and
self-contradictory. _Open_ and _shut_ are here inconsistently referred
first to one principle of distinction, and then to another;--first, (as are
"_open_ and _close_" by Wells,) to "the _relative size_ of the opening," or
to "the _different apertures_ of the mouth;" and then, in the conclusion,
to the _relative position_ of the vowels with respect to other letters.
These principles improperly give to each of the contrasted epithets two
very different senses: as, with respect to aperture, _wide_ and _narrow_;
with respect to position, _closed_ and _unclosed_. Now, that _open_ may
mean _unclosed_, or _close_ be put _for closed_, is not to be questioned;
but that _open_ is a good word for _wide_, or that _shut_ (not to say
_close_) can well mean _narrow_, is an assumption hardly scholarlike.
According to Walker, "_we must be careful_ not to confound" _open_ with
_long_, or _shut_ with _short_, or _close_ with _shut_; and yet, if he
himself does not, in the very paragraph above quoted, confound them
all,--does not identify in sense, or fail to distinguish, the two words in
each of these pairs,--I know not who can need his "caution." If there are
vowel sounds which graduate through several degrees of openness or
broadness, it would seem most natural to express these by regularly
comparing the epithet preferred; as, _open, opener, openest_; or _broad,
broader, broadest_. And again, if "all vowels that end syllables may be
said to be open," then it is not true, that "the long sounds" of _a_ in
_paper, father, water_, cannot be so "denominated;" or that to "call the
_a_ in _father_ the _open a_, may, indeed, distinguish it from the slender
_a_ in _paper_." Nor, on this principle, can it be said that "the broad _a_
in _water_ is still _more open_;" for this a no more "ends a syllable" than
the others. If any vowel sound is to be called the _open_ sound because the
letter ends a syllable, or is not shut by a consonant, it is, undoubtedly,
the _primal_ and _most usual_ sound, as found in the letter when accented,
and not some other of rare occurrence.

OBS. 4.--Dr. Perley says, "It is greatly to be regretted that the different
sounds of a vowel should be called by the names _long, short, slender_, and
_broad_, which convey no idea of the nature of the sound, for _mat_ and
_not_ are as long in poetry as _mate_ and _note_. The first sound of a
vowel[,] as [that of _a_ in] _fate_[,] may be called _open_, because it is
the sound which the vowel generally has when it ends a syllable; the second
sound as [that of _a_ in] _fat_, may be called _close_, because it is the
sound which the vowel generally has when it is joined with a consonant
following in the same syllable, as _fat-ten_; when there are more than two
sounds of any vowel[,] they may be numbered onward; as 3 _far_, 4
_fall_."--_Perley's Gram._, p. 73.

OBS. 5.--Walker thought a long or short vowel sound essential to a long or
short quantity in any syllable. By this, if he was wrong in it, (as, in the
chapter on Versification, I have argued that he was,) he probably disturbed
more the proper distinction of quantities, than that of vowel sounds. As
regards _long_ and _short_, therefore, Perley's regret seems to have cause;
but, in making the same objection to "_slender_ and _broad_," he reasons
illogically. So far as his view is right, however, it coincides with the
following earlier suggestion: "The terms _long_ and _short_, which are
often used to denote certain vowel sounds; being also used, with a
different import, to distinguish the quantity of syllables, are frequently
misunderstood; for which reason, we have substituted for them the terms
_open_ and _close_;--the former, to denote the sound usually given to a
vowel when it _forms_ or _ends_ an accented syllable; as, _ba, be, bi, bo,
bu, by_;--the latter, to denote the sound which the vowel commonly takes
when closed by a consonant; as, _ab, eb, ib, ob, ub_"--_Brown's
Institutes_, p. 285.


I. OF THE LETTER A.

The vowel A has _four_ sounds properly its own; they are named by various
epithets: as,

1. The English, open, full, long, or slender _a_; as in _aid, fame, favour,
efficacious_.

2. The French, close, curt, short, or stopped _a_; as in _bat, banner,
balance, carrying_.

3. The Italian, broadish, grave, or middle _a_; as in _far, father, aha,
comma, scoria, sofa_.

4. The Dutch, German, Old-Saxon, or broad _a_; as in _wall, haul, walk,
warm, water_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Concerning the number of sounds pertaining to the vowel _a_, or to
certain other particular letters, and consequently in regard to the whole
number of the sounds which constitute the oral elements of the English
language, our educational literati,--the grammarians, orthoepists
[sic--KTH], orthographers, elocutionists, phonographers, and
lexicographers,--are found to have entertained and inculcated a great
variety of opinions. In their different countings, the number of our
phonical elements varies from twenty-six to more than forty. Wells says
there are "_about forty_ elementary sounds."--_School Gram._, §64. His
first edition was more positive, and stated them at "_forty-one_." See the
last and very erroneous passage which I have cited at the foot of page 162.
In Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary, there appear to be noted
several _more_ than _forty-one_, but I know not whether this author, or
Walker either, has anywhere told us how many of his marked sounds he
considered to be severally different from all others. Sheridan and Jones
admitted _twenty-eight_. Churchill acknowledges, as undisputed and
indisputable, only _twenty-six_; though he enumerates, "Of simple vowel
sounds, _twelve_, or _perhaps thirteen_" (New Grammar, p. 5,) and says,
"The consonant sounds in the English language, are _nineteen_, or _rather
twenty_."--P. 13.

OBS. 2.--Thus, while Pitman, Comstock, and others, are amusing themselves
with the folly of inventing new "Phonetic Alphabets," or of overturning all
orthography to furnish "a character for each of the 38 elementary sounds,"
more or fewer, one of the acutest observers among our grammarians can fix
on no number more definite or more considerable than _thirty-one,
thirty-two_, or _thirty-three_; and the finding of these he announces with
a "_perhaps_," and the admission that other writers object to as many as
_five_ of the questionable number. Churchill's vowel sounds, he says, "may
be found in the following words: 1. B_a_te, 2. B_a_t, 3. B_a_ll; 4. B_e_t,
5. B_e_; 6. B_i_t; 7. B_o_t, 8. B_o_ne, 9. B_oo_n; 10. B_u_t, 11. B_u_ll;
12. Lovel_y_; 13. _W_ool."--_New Grammar_, p. 5. To this he adds: "Many of
the writers on orthoepy [sic--KTH], however, consider the first and fourth
of the sounds above distinguished as actually the same, the former
differing from the latter only by being lengthened in the pronunciation.
They also reckon the seventh sound, to be the third shortened; the twelfth,
the fifth shortened; and the eleventh, the ninth shortened. Some consider
the fifth and sixth as differing only in length; and most esteem the
eleventh and thirteenth as identical."--_Ib._

OBS. 3.--Now, it is plain, that these six identifications, or so many of
them as are admitted, must diminish by six, or by the less number allowed,
the thirteen vowel sounds enumerated by this author. By the best
authorities, _W_ initial, as in "_W_ool." is reckoned a _consonant_; and,
of course, its sound is supposed to differ in some degree from that of _oo_
in "B_oo_n," or that of _u_ in "B_u_ll,"--the ninth sound or the eleventh
in the foregoing series. By Walker, Murray, and other popular writers, the
sound of _y_ in "Lovel_y_" is accounted to be essentially the same as that
of _e_ in "B_e_." The twelfth and the thirteenth, then, of this list, being
removed, and three others added,--namely, the _a_ heard in _far_, the _i_
in _fine_, and the _u_ in _fuse_,--we shall have the _fourteen vowel
sounds_ which are enumerated by L. Murray and others, and adopted by the
author of the present work.

OBS. 4.--Wells says, "_A_ has _six_ sounds:--1. Long; as in _late_. 2.
Grave; as in _father_. 3. Broad; as in _fall_. 4. Short; as in _man_. 5.
The sound heard in _care, hare_. 6. Intermediate between _a_ in _man_ and
_a_ in _father_; as in _grass, pass, branch_."--_School Grammar_, 1850, p.
33. Besides these six, Worcester recognizes a seventh sound,--the "_A
obscure_; as in _liar, rival_"--_Univ. and Crit. Dict._, p. ix. Such a
multiplication of the oral elements of our first vowel.--or, indeed, any
extension of them beyond four,--appears to me to be unadvisable; because it
not only makes our alphabet the more defective, but is unnecessary, and not
sustained by our best and most popular orthoepical [sic--KTH] authorities.
The sound of _a_ in _liar_, (and in _rival_ too, if made "_obscure_") is a
borrowed one, pertaining more properly to the letter _u_. In _grass, pass_,
and _branch_, properly uttered, the _a_ is essentially the same as in
_man_. In _care_ and _hare_, we have the first sound of _a_, made as
slender as the _r_ will admit.

OBS. 5.--Concerning his fifth sound of _a_, Wells cites authorities thus:
"Walker, Webster, Sheridan, Fulton and Knight, Kenrick, Jones, and Nares,
give _a_ in _care_ the _long_ sound of _a_, as in _late_. Page and Day give
it the _short_ sound of _a_, as in _mat_. See Page's Normal Chart, and
Day's Art of Elocution. Worcester and Perry make the sound of _a_ in _care_
a separate element; and this distinction is also recognized by Russell,
Mandeville, and Wright. See Russell's Lessons in Enunciation, Mandeville's
Elements of Reading and Oratory, and Wright's Orthography."--_Wells's
School Grammar_, p. 34. Now the opinion that _a_ in _care_ has its long,
primal sound, and is not properly "a separate element," is maintained also
by Murray, Hiley, Bullions, Scott, and Cobb; and is, undoubtedly, much more
prevalent than any other. It accords, too, with the scheme of Johnson. To
count this _a_ by itself, seems too much like a distinction without a
difference.

OBS. 6.--On his sixth sound of _a_, Wells remarks as follows: "Many persons
pronounce this _a_ incorrectly, giving it either the grave or the short
sound. Perry, Jones, Nares, Webster, and Day, give to _a_ in _grass_ the
grave sound, as in _father_; while Walker, Jamieson, and Russell, give it
the short sound, as in _man_. But good speakers generally pronounce _a_ in
_grass, plant_, etc., as a distinct element, intermediate between the grave
and the short sound."--_School Gram._, p. 34. He also cites Worcester and
Smart to the same effect; and thinks, with the latter, "_There can be no
harm_ in avoiding the censure of both parties by _shunning the extreme_
that offends the taste of each."--_Ib._, p. 35. But I say, that a needless
multiplication of questionable vowel powers difficult to be discriminated,
_is_ "harm," or a fault in teaching; and, where intelligent orthoepists
[sic--KTH] dispute whether words have "the _grave_ or the _short_ sound" of
_a_, how can others, who condemn both parties, acceptably split the
difference, and form "a distinct element" in the interval? Words are often
mispronounced, and the French or close _a_ may be mistaken for the Italian
or broadish _a_, and _vice versa_; but, between the two, there does not
appear to be room for an other distinguishable from both. Dr. Johnson says,
(inaccurately indeed,) "_A_ has _three_ sounds, the slender, [the] open,
and [the] broad. _A_ slender is found in _most words_, as _face, mane_. _A_
open is the _a_ of the Italian, or nearly resembles it; as _father, rather,
congratulate, fancy, glass_. _A_ broad resembles the _a_ of the German; as
_all, wall, call_. [fist] The _short a_ approaches to the _a_ open, as
_grass_."--_Johnson's Grammar, in his Quarto Dictionary_, p. 1. Thus the
same word, _grass_, that serves Johnson for an example of "the _short a_"
is used by Wells and Worcester to exemplify the "_a intermediate_;" while
of the Doctor's five instances of what he calls the "_a open_," three, if
not four, are evidently such as nearly all readers nowadays would call
close or short!

OBS. 7.--There are several grammarians who agree in ascribing to our first
vowel _five_ sounds, but who nevertheless oppose one an other in making up
the five. Thus, according to Hart, "A has five sounds of its own, as in
fate, fare, far, fall, fat,"--_Hart's E. Gram._, p. 26. According to W.
Allen, "A has five sounds;--the long or slender, as in _cane_; the short or
open, as in _can_; the middle, as in _arm_; the broad, as in _all_; and the
_broad contracted_, as in _want_."--_Allen's E. Gram._, p. 6. P. Davis has
the same sounds in a different order, thus: "a [as in] mane, mar, fall,
mat, what."--_Davis's E. Gram._, p. xvi. Mennye says, "A has five sounds;
as, 1 fame, 2 fat, 3 false, 4 farm, 5 beggar."--_Mennye's E. Gram._, p. 55.
Here the fifth sound is the seventh of Worcester,--the "_A obscure_."



DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH A.

The only proper diphthong in which _a_ is put first, is the word _ay_,
meaning _yes_: in which _a_ has its _middle_ sound, as in _ah_, and _y_ is
like _open e_, or _ee_, uttered feebly--_ah-ee_. _Aa_, when pronounced as
an improper diphthong, and not as pertaining to two syllables, usually
takes the sound of _close a_; as in _Balaam, Canaan, Isaac_. In many words,
as in _Baäl, Gaäl, Gaäsh_, the diæresis occurs. In _baa_, the cry of a
sheep, we hear the Italian sound of _a_; and, since we hear it but once,
one _a_ or the other must be silent.

_Æ_, a Latin improper diphthong, common also in the Anglo-Saxon, generally
has, according to modern orthoëpists, the sound of _open e_ or _ee_; as in
_Cæsar, ænigma, pæan_;--sometimes that of _close_ or _short e_; as in
_aphæresis, diæresis, et cætera_. Some authors, judging the _a_ of this
diphthong to be needless, reject it, and write _Cesar, enigma_, &c.

_Ai_, an improper diphthong, generally has the sound of _open_ or _long a_;
as in _sail, avail, vainly_. In a final unaccented syllable, it sometimes
preserves the first sound of _a_; as in _chilblain, mortmain_: but oftener
takes the sound of _close_ or _short i_; as in _certain, curtain, mountain,
villain_. In _said, saith, again_, and _against_, it takes the sound of
_close_ or _short e_; and in the name _Britain_, that of _close_ or _short
u_.

_Ao_, an improper diphthong, occurs in the word _gaol_, now frequently
written as it is pronounced, _jail_; also in _gaoler_, which may be written
_jailer_; and in the compounds of _gaol_: and, again, it is found in the
adjective _extraordinary_, and its derivatives, in which, according to
nearly all orthoëpists, the _a_ is silent. The name _Pharaoh_, is
pronounced _F=a'r=o_.

_Au_, an improper diphthong, is generally sounded like _broad a_; as in
_cause, caught, applause_. Before _n_ and an other consonant, it usually
has the sound of _grave_ or _middle a_; as in _aunt, flaunt, gaunt, launch,
laundry_. So in _laugh, laughter_, and their derivatives. _Gauge_ and
_gauger_ are pronounced _gage_ and _gager_, and sometimes written so.

_Aw_, an improper diphthong, is always sounded like _broad a_; as in _draw,
drawn, drawl_.

_Ay_, an improper diphthong, like _ai_, has usually the sound of _open_ or
_long a_; as in _day, pay, delay_: in _sayst_ and _says_, it has the sound
of _close_ or _short e_.



TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH A.

_Awe_ is sounded _au_, like _broad a_. _Aye_, an adverb signifying
_always_, has the sound of _open_ or _long a_ only; being different, both
in sound and in spelling, from the adverb _ay_, yes, with which it is often
carelessly confounded. The distinction is maintained by Johnson, Walker,
Todd, Chalmers, Jones, Cobb, Maunder, Bolles, and others; but Webster and
Worcester give it up, and write "_ay_, or _aye_," each sounded _ah-ee_, for
the affirmation, and "_aye_," sounded _=a_, for the adverb of time:
Ainsworth on the contrary has _ay_ only, for either sense, and does not
note the pronunciation.



II. OF THE LETTER B.

The consonant _B_ has but one sound; as in _boy, robber, cub_. _B_ is
silent before _t_ or after _m_ in the same syllable; as in _debt, debtor,
doubt, dumb, lamb, climb, tomb_. It is heard in _subtile_, fine; but not in
_subtle_, cunning.



III. OF THE LETTER C.

The consonant _C_ has two sounds, neither of them peculiar to this letter;
the one _hard_, like that of _k_, and the other _soft_, or rather
_hissing_, like that of _s_. _C_ before _a, o, u, l, r, t_, or when it ends
a syllable, is generally hard, like _k_; as in _can, come curb, clay, crab,
act, action, accent, flaccid_. _C_ before _e, i_, or _y_, is always soft,
like _s_; as in _cent, civil, decency, acid_.

In a few words, _c_ takes the _flat_ sound of _s_, like that of _z_; as in
_discern, suffice, sacrifice, sice_. _C_ before _ea, ia, ie, io_, or _eou_,
when the accent precedes, sounds like _sh_; as in _ocean, special, species,
gracious, cetaceous_. _C_ is silent in _czar, czarina, victuals, indict,
muscle, corpuscle_, and the second syllable of _Connecticut_.

_Ch_ is generally sounded like _tch_, or _tsh_, which is the same to the
ear; as in _church, chance, child_. But in words derived from the learned
languages, it has the sound of _k_; as in _character, scheme, catechise,
chorus, choir, chyle, patriarch, drachma, magna charta_: except in _chart,
charter, charity_. _Ch_, in words derived from the French, takes the sound
of _sh_; as in _chaise, machine_. In Hebrew words or names, in general,
_ch_ sounds like _k_; as in _Chebar, Sirach, Enoch_: but in _Rachel,
cherub_, and _cherubim_, we have Anglicized the sound by uttering it as
_tch_. _Loch_, a Scottish word, sometimes also a medical term, is heard as
_lok_.

"_Arch_, before a vowel, is pronounced _ark_; as in _archives, archangel,
archipelago_: except in _arched, archer, archery, archenemy_. Before a
consonant it is pronounced _artch_; as in _archbishop, archduke,
archfiend_."--See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 10. _Ch_ is silent in _schism,
yacht_, and _drachm_. In _schedule_, some utter it as _k_; others, as _sh_;
and many make it mute: I like the first practice.



IV. OF THE LETTER D.

The general sound of the consonant _D_, is that which is heard in _dog,
eddy, did_. _D_, in the termination _ed_, preceded by a sharp consonant,
takes the sound of _t_, when the _e_ is suppressed or unheard: as in
_faced, stuffed, cracked, tripped, passed_; pronounced _faste, stuft,
cract, tript, past. D_ before _ia, ie, io_, or _eou_, when the accent
precedes, generally sounds like _j_; as in _Indian, soldier, tedious,
hideous_. So in _verdure, arduous, education_.


V. OF THE LETTER E.

The vowel _E_ has _two_ sounds properly its own,--and I incline to think,
_three_:--

1. The open, long, full, or primal _e_; as in _me, mere, menial,
melodious_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _e_; as in _men, merry, ebony,
strength_.

3. The obscure or faint _e_; as in _open, garden, shovel, able_. This third
sound is scarcely perceptible, and barely sufficient to articulate the
consonant and form a syllable.

_E final_ is mute and belongs to the syllable formed by the preceding vowel
or diphthong; as in _age, eve, ice, ore_. Except--1. In the words, _be, he,
me, we, she_, in which it has the open sound; and the article _the_,
wherein it is open before a vowel, and obscure before a consonant. 2. In
Greek and Latin words, in which it has its open sound, and forms a distinct
syllable, or the basis of one; as in _Penelope, Pasiphaë, Cyaneë,
Gargaphië, Arsinoë, apostrophe, catastrophe, simile, extempore, epitome_.
3. In the terminations _ere, gre, tre_, in which it has the sound of
_close_ or _curt u_, heard before the _r_; as in _acre, meagre, centre_.

Mute _e_, after a single consonant, or after _st_ or _th_, generally
preserves the open or long sound of the preceding vowel; as in _cane, here,
pine, cone, tune, thyme, baste, waste, lathe, clothe_: except in syllables
unaccented; as in the last of _genuine_;--and in a few monosyllables; as
_bade, are, were, gone, shone, one, done, give, live, shove, love_.


DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH E.

_E_ before an other vowel, in general, either forms with it an _improper_
diphthong, or else belongs to a separate syllable. We do not hear both
vowels in one syllable, except perhaps in _eu_ or _ew_.

_Ea_, an improper diphthong, mostly sounds like _open_ or _long e_; as in
_ear, fear, tea_; frequently like _close_ or _curt e_; as in _head, health,
leather_: sometimes, like _open_ or _long a_; as in _steak, bear,
forswear_: rarely, like _middle a_; as in _heart, hearth, hearken. Ea_ in
an unaccented syllable, sounds like _close_ or _curt u_; as _in vengeance,
pageant_.

_Ee_, an improper diphthong, mostly sounds like one _open_ or _long e_; as
in _eel, sheep, tree, trustee, referee_. The contractions _e'er_ and
_ne'er_, are pronounced _air_ and _nair_, and not like _ear_ and _near.
E'en_, however, preserves the sound of _open e. Been_ is most commonly
heard with the curt sound of _i, bin_.

_Ei_, an improper diphthong, mostly sounds like the _primal_ or _long a_;
as in _reign, veil_: frequently, like _open_ or _long e_; as in _deceit,
either, neither, seize_: sometimes, like _open_ or _long i_; as in _height,
sleight, heigh-ho_: often, in unaccented syllables, like _close_ or _curt
i_; as in _foreign, forfeit, surfeit, sovereign_: rarely, like _close e_;
as in _heifer, nonpareil_.

_Eo_, an improper diphthong, in _people_, sounds like _open_ or _long e_;
in _leopard_ and _jeopard_, like _close_ or _curt e_; in _yeoman_,
according to the best usage, like _open_ or _long o_; in _George, Georgia,
georgic_, like _close o_; in _dungeon, puncheon, sturgeon_, &c., like
_close u_. In _feoff_, and its derivatives, the _close_ or _short_ sound of
_e_ is most fashionable; but some prefer the long sound of _e_; and some
write the word "_fief." Feod, feodal, feodary, feodatory_, are now commonly
written as they are pronounced, _feud, feudal, feudary, feudatory_.

_Eu_ and _ew_ are sounded alike, and almost always with the diphthongal
sound of _open_ or _long u_; as in _feud, deuce, jewel, dew, few, new_.
These diphthongs, when initial, sound like _yu_. Nouns beginning with this
sound, require the article _a_, and not _an_, before them; as, _A European,
a ewer_. After _r_ or _rh, eu_ and _ew_ are commonly sounded like _oo_; as
in _drew, grew, screw, rheumatism_. In _sew_ and _Shrewsbury, ew_ sounds
like _open o_: Worcester, however, prefers the sound of _oo_ in the latter
word. _Shew_ and _strew_, having the same meaning as _show_ and _strow_,
are sometimes, by sameness of pronunciation, made to be the same words; and
sometimes distinguished as different words, by taking the sounds _shu_ and
_stroo_.

_Ey_, accented, has the sound of _open_ or _long a_; as in _bey, prey,
survey_: unaccented, it has the sound of _open e_; as in _alley, valley,
money. Key_ and _ley_ are pronounced _kee, lee_.


TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH E.

_Eau_, a French triphthong, sounds like _open o_; as in _beau, flambeau,
portmanteau, bureau_: except in _beauty_, and its compounds, in which it is
pronounced like _open u_, as if the word were written _buty_.

_Eou_ is a combination of vowels sometimes heard in one syllable,
especially after _c_ or _g_; as in _crus-ta-ceous, gor-geous_. Walker, in
his Rhyming Dictionary, gives one hundred and twenty words ending in
_eous_, in all of which he separates these vowels; as in _ex-tra-ne-ous_.
And why, in his Pronouncing Dictionary, he gave us several such anomalies
as _fa-ba-ce-ous_ in four syllables and _her-ba-ceous_ in three, it is not
easy to tell. The best rule is this: after _c_ or _g_, unite these vowels;
after the other consonants, separate them.

_Ewe_ is a triphthong having the sound of _yu_, and forming a word. The
vulgar pronunciation _yoe_ should be carefully avoided.

_Eye_ is an improper triphthong which also forms a word, and is pronounced
like _open i_, or the pronoun _I_.


VI. OF THE LETTER F.

The consonant _F_ has one unvaried sound, which is heard in _fan, effort,
staff_: except _of_, which, when simple, is pronounced _ov_.


VII. OF THE LETTER G.

The consonant _G_ has two sounds;--the one _hard_, guttural, and peculiar
to this letter; the other _soft_, like that of _j. G_ before _a, o, u, l,
r_, or at the end of a word, is hard; as in _game, gone, gull, glory,
grace, log, bog_; except in _gaol. G_ before _e, i_, or _y_, is soft; as in
_gem, ginger, elegy_. Except--1. In _get, give, gewgaw, finger_, and a few
other words. 2. When a syllable is added to a word ending in g: as, _long,
longer; fog, foggy_.

_G_ is silent before _m_ or _n_ in the same syllable; as in _phlegm,
apothegm, gnaw, design. G_, when silent, usually lengthens the preceding
vowel; as in _resign, impregn, impugn_.

_Gh_ at the beginning of a word has the sound of _g hard_; as in _ghastly,
gherkin, Ghibelline, ghost, ghoul, ghyll_: in other situations, it is
generally silent; as in _high, mighty, plough, bough, though, through,
fight, night, bought. Gh final_ sometimes sounds like _f_; as in _laugh,
rough, tough_; and sometimes, like _g hard_; as in _burgh_. In _hough,
lough, shough_, it sounds like _k_, or _ck_; thus, _hock, lock, shock_.


VIII. OF THE LETTER H.

The sound of the consonant _H_, (though articulate and audible when
properly uttered,) is little more than an aspirate breathing. It is heard
in _hat, hit, hot, hut, adhere_.

_H_ at the beginning of a word, is always sounded; except in _heir, herb,
honest, honour, hospital, hostler, hour, humble, humour_, with their
compounds and derivatives. _H_ after _r_, is always silent; as in
_rhapsody, rhetoric, rheum, rhubarb. H final_, immediately following a
vowel, is always silent; as in _ah, Sarah, Nineveh, Shiloh_.


IX. OF THE LETTER I.

The vowel _I_ has three sounds, each very common to it, and perhaps
properly its own:--

1. The open, long, full, or primal _i_; as in _life, fine, final, time,
bind, child, sigh, pint, resign_. This is a diphthongal sound, equivalent
to the sounds of _middle a_ and _open e_ quickly united.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _i_; as in _ink, limit, disfigure,
mimicking_.

3. The feeble, faint, or slender _i_, accentless; as in _divest, doctrinal,
diversity_.

This third sound is equivalent to that of _open e_, or _ee_ uttered feebly.
_I_ generally has this sound when it occurs at the end of an unaccented
syllable: except at the end of Latin words, or of ancient names, where it
is _open_ or _long_; as in _literati, Nervii, Eli, Levi_.

In some words, (principally from other modern languages,) _i_ has the full
sound of _open e_, under the accent; as in _Porto Rico, machine, magazine,
antique, shire_.

Accented _i_ followed by a vowel, has its open or primal sound; and the
vowels belong to separate syllables; as in _pliant, diet, satiety, violet,
pious_. Unaccented _i_ followed by a vowel, has its feeble sound; as in
_expatiate, obedient, various, abstemious_.


DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH I.

_I_, in the situation last described, readily coalesces with the vowel
which follows, and is often sunk into the same syllable, forming a proper
diphthong: as in _fustian, quotient, question_. The terminations _cion,
sion, and tion_, are generally pronounced _shun_; and _cious_ and _tious_
are pronounced _shus_.

_Ie_ is commonly an improper diphthong. _Ie_ in _die, hie, lie, pie, tie,
vie_, and their derivatives, has the sound of _open i. Ie_ in words from
the French, (as _cap-a-pie, ecurie, grenadier, siege, bier_,) has the sound
of _open e_. So, generally, in the middle of English roots; as in _chief,
grief, thief_; but, in _sieve_, it has the sound of _close_ or _short i_.
In _friend_, and its derivatives or compounds, it takes the sound of _close
e_.


TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH I.

The triphthongs ieu and iew both sound like open or long u; as in lieu,
adieu, view.

The three vowels iou, in the termination ious, often fall into one
syllable, and form a triphthong. There are two hundred and forty-five words
of this ending; and more than two hundred deriva- tives from them. Walker
has several puzzling inconsistencies in their pronunciation; such as
fas-tid-i-ous and per-fid-ious, con-ta-gi-ous and sac-ri-le-gious. After c,
g, t, or x, these vowels should coalesce: as in gra-cious, re-li-gious,
vex-a-tious, ob-nox-ious, and about two hundred other words. After the
other consonants, let them form two syllables; (except when there is a syn-
seresis in poetry;) as in dw-bi-ou-s, o-di-ous, va-ri-ous, en-vi-ous.


X. OF THE LETTER J.

The consonant _J_, the tenth letter of the English alphabet, has invariably
the sound of _soft g_, like the _g_ in _giant_, which some say is
equivalent to the complex sound _dzh_; as, _jade, jet, jilt, joy, justice,
jewel, prejudice_.


XI. OF THE LETTER K.

The consonant _K_, not silent, has uniformly the sound of _c_ hard; and
occurs where _c_ would have its soft sound: as in _keep, looking, kind,
smoky_.

_K_ before _n_ is silent; as in _knave, know, knuckle_. In stead of
doubling _c final_, we write _ck_; as in _lack, lock, luck, attack_. In
English words, _k_ is never doubled, though two Kays may come together in
certain compounds; as in _brickkiln, jackknife_. Two Kays, belonging to
different syllables, also stand together in a few Scripture names; as in
_Akkub, Bakbakkar, Bukki, Bukkiah, Habakkuk. Hakkoz, Ikkesh, Sukkiims_. _C_
before _k_, though it does not always double the sound which _c_ or _k_ in
such a situation must represent, always shuts or shortens the preceding
vowel; as in _rack, speck, freckle, cockle, wicked_.


XII. OF THE LETTER L.

The consonant _L_, the plainest of the semivowels, has a soft, liquid
sound; as in _line, lily, roll, follow. L_ is sometimes silent; as in
_Holmes, alms, almond, calm, chalk, walk, calf, half, could, would, should.
L_, too, is frequently doubled where it is heard but once; as in _hill,
full, travelled_. So any letter that is written twice, and not twice
sounded, must there be once mute; as the last in _baa, ebb, add, see,
staff, egg, all, inn, coo, err, less, buzz_.


XIII. OF THE LETTER M.

The consonant _M_ is a semivowel and a liquid, capable of an audible,
humming sound through the nose, when the mouth is closed. It is heard in
_map, murmur, mammon_. In the old words, _compt, accompt, comptroller_,
(for _count, account, controller_,) the _m_ is sounded as _n. M_ before
_n_, at the beginning of a word, is silent; as in _Mnason, Mnemosyne,
mnemonics_.


XIV. OF THE LETTER N.

The consonant _N_, which is also a semivowel and a liquid, has two
sounds;--the first, the pure and natural sound of _n_; as in _nun, banner,
cannon_;--the second, the ringing sound of _ng_, heard before certain
gutturals; as in _think, mangle, conquer, congress, singing, twinkling,
Cen'chreä_. The latter sound should be carefully preserved in all words
ending in _ing_, and in such others as require it. The sounding of the
syllable _ing_ as if it were _in_, is a vulgarism in utterance; and the
writing of it so, is, as it would seem by the usage of Burns, a Scotticism.

_N final_ preceded by _m_, is silent; as in _hymn, solemn, column, damn,
condemn, autumn_. But this _n_ becomes audible in an additional syllable;
as in _autumnal, condemnable, damning_.


XV. OF THE LETTER O.

The vowel _O_ has _three_ different sounds, which are properly its own:--

1. The open, full, primal, or long _o_; as in _no, note, opiate, opacity,
Roman_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _o_; as in _not, nor, torrid, dollar,
fondle_.

3. The slender or narrow _o_, like _oo_; as in _prove, move, who, to, do,
tomb_.

_O_, in many words, sounds like _close_ or _curt u_; as in _love, shove,
son, come, nothing, dost, attorney, gallon, dragon, comfit, comfort,
coloration. One_ is pronounced _wun_; and _once, wunce_. In the termination
_on_ immediately after the accent, _o_ is often sunk into a sound scarcely
perceptible, like that of _obscure e_; as in _mason, person, lesson_.


DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH O.

_Oa_, an improper diphthong, has the sound of _open_ or _long o_; as in
_boat, coal, roach, coast, coastwise_: except in _broad_ and _groat_, which
have the sound of _broad a_.

_Oe_, an improper diphthong, when _final_, has the sound of _open_ or _long
o_: as in _doe, foe, throe_: except in _canoe, shoe_, pronounced _canoo,
shoo_. _OE_, a Latin diphthong, generally sounds like _open e_; as in
_Antoeci, foetus_: sometimes, like _close_ or _curt e_; as in _foetid,
foeticide_. But the English word _f~etid_ is often, and perhaps generally,
written without the _o_.

_Oi_ is generally a proper diphthong, uniting the sound of _close o_ or
_broad a_, and that of _open e_; as in _boil, coil, soil, rejoice_. But the
vowels, when they appear together, sometimes belong to separate syllables;
as in _Stoic, Stoicism. Oi_ unaccented, sometimes has the sound of _close_
or _curt i_; as in _avoirdupois, connoisseur, tortoise_.

_Oo_, an improper diphthong, generally has the slender sound of _o_; as in
_coo, too, woo, fool, room_. It has, in some words, a shorter or closer
sound, (like that of _u_ in _bull_,) as in _foot, good, wood, stood,
wool_;--that of _close u_ in _blood_ and _flood_;--and that of _open o_ in
_door_ and _floor_. Derivatives from any of these, sound as their
primitives.

_Ou_ is generally a proper diphthong, uniting the sound of _close_ or _curt
o_, and that of _u_ as heard in _bull_,--or _u_ sounded as _oo_; as in
_bound, found, sound, ounce, thou. Ou_ is also, in certain instances, an
improper diphthong; and, as such, it has _six_ different sounds:--(l.) That
of _close_ or _curt u_; as in _rough, tough, young, flourish_. (2.) That of
_broad a_; as in _ought, bought, thought_. (3.) That of _open_ or _long o_;
as in _court, dough, four, though_. (4.) That of _close_ or _curt o_; as in
_cough, trough, lough, shough_: which are, I believe, the only examples.
(5.) That of _slender o_, or _oo_; as in _soup, you, through_. (6.) That of
_u_ in _bull_, or of _oo_ shortened; only in _would, could, should_.

_Ow_ generally sounds like the proper diphthong _ou_,--or like a union of
_short o_ with _oo_; as in _brown, dowry, now, shower_: but it is often an
improper diphthong, having only the sound of _open_ or _long o_; as in
_know, show, stow_.

_Oy_ is a proper diphthong, equivalent in sound to _oi_; as in _joy, toy,
oyster_.


TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH O.

_OEu_ is a French triphthong, pronounced in English as _oo_, and occurring
in the word _manoeuvre_, with its several derivatives. _Owe_ is an improper
triphthong, and an English word, in which the _o_ only is heard, and heard
always with its long or open sound.


XVI. OF THE LETTER P.

The consonant _P_, when not written before _h_, has commonly one peculiar
sound; which is heard in _pen, pine, sup, supper_. The word _cupboard_ is
usually pronounced _kubburd_. _P_, written with an audible consonant, is
sometimes itself silent; as in _psalm, psalter, pseudography, psychology,
ptarmigan, ptyalism, receipt, corps_.

_Ph_ generally sounds like _f_; as in _philosophy_. In _Stephen_ and
_nephew, ph_ has the sound of _v_. The _h_ after _p_, is silent in
_diphthong, triphthong, naphtha, ophthalmic_; and both the _p_ and the _h_
are silent in _apophthegm, phthisis, phthisical_. From the last three
words, _ph_ is sometimes dropped.


XVII. OF THE LETTER Q.

The consonant _Q_, being never silent, never final, never doubled, and not
having a sound peculiar to itself, is invariably heard, in English, with
the power of _k_; and is always followed by the vowel _u_, which, in words
_purely English_, is sounded like the narrow _o_, or _oo_,--or, perhaps, is
squeezed into the consonantal sound of _w_;--as in _queen, quaver, quiver,
quarter, request_. In some words of _French_ origin, the _u_ after _q_ is
silent; as in _coquet, liquor, burlesque, etiquette_.


XVIII. OF THE LETTER R.

The consonant _R_, called also a semivowel and a liquid, has usually, at
the beginning of a word, or before a vowel, a rough or pretty strong sound;
as in _roll, rose, roam, proudly, prorogue_. "In other positions," it is
said by many to be "smooth" or "soft;" "as in _hard, ford, word_."--_W.
Allen_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The letter _R_ turns the tip of the tongue up against or towards
the roof of the mouth, where the sound may be lengthened, roughened,
trilled, or quavered. Consequently, this element may, at the will of the
speaker, have more or less--little or nothing, or even very much--of that
peculiar roughness, jar, or whur, which is commonly said to constitute the
sound. The extremes should here be avoided. Some readers very improperly
omit the sound of _r_ from many words to which it pertains; pronouncing
_or_ as _awe, nor_ as _knaw, for_ as _faugh_, and _war_ as the first
syllable of _water_. On the other hand, "The excessive _trilling_ of the
_r_, as practised by some speakers, is a great fault."--_D. P. Page_.

OBS. 2.--Dr. Johnson, in his "Grammar of the English Tongue," says, "_R_
has the same _rough snarling sound_ as in other tongues."--P. 3. Again, in
his Quarto Dictionary, under this letter, he says, "_R_ is called the
_canine letter_, because it is uttered _with some resemblance to the growl
or snarl of a cur_: it has _one constant sound_ in English, such as it has
in other languages; as, _red, rose, more, muriatick_." Walker, however, who
has a greater reputation as an orthoepist [sic--KTH], teaches that, "There
is a distinction in the sound of this letter, which is," says he, "in my
opinion, _of no small importance_; and that is, the [distinction of] the
rough and [the] smooth _r_. Ben Jonson," continues he, "in his Grammar,
says, 'It is sounded firm in the beginning of words, and more liquid in the
middle and ends, as in _rarer, riper_; and so in the Latin.' The rough _r_
is formed by jarring the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth
near the fore teeth: the smooth _r_ is a vibration of the lower part of the
tongue, near the root, against the inward region of the palate, near the
entrance of the throat."--_Walker's Principles_, No. 419; _Octavo Dict._,
p. 48.

OBS. 3.--Wells, with his characteristic indecision, forbears all
recognition of this difference, and all intimation of the quality of the
sound, whether smooth or rough; saying, in his own text, only this: "_R_
has the sound heard in _rare_."--_School Grammar_, p. 40. Then, referring
the student to sundry authorities, he adds in a footnote certain
"quotations," that are said to "present a general view of the different
opinions which exist among orthoepists respecting this letter." And so
admirably are these authorities or opinions balanced and offset, one class
against an other, that it is hard to tell which has the odds. First, though
it is not at all probable that Wells's utterance of "_rare_" exhibits twice
over the _rough snarl_ of Johnson's _r_, the "general view" seems intended
to confirm the indefinite teaching above, thus: "'_R_ has one constant
sound in English.'--_Johnson_. The same view is adopted by Webster, Perry,
Kendrick, Sheridan, Jones, Jameson, Knowles, and others."--_School
Grammar_, p. 40. In counterpoise of these, Wells next cites about as many
more--namely, Frazee, Page, Russell, Walker, Rush, Barber, Comstock, and
Smart,--as maintaining or admitting that _r_ has sometimes a rough sound,
and sometimes a smoother one.


XIX. OF THE LETTER S.

 The consonant _S_ has a sharp, hissing, or hard sound; as in _sad,
sister, thus_: and a flat, buzzing, or soft sound, like that of _z_; as in
_rose, dismal, bosom, husband. S_, at the beginning of words, or after any
of the sharp consonants, is always sharp; as in _see, steps, cliffs, sits,
stocks, smiths_. _S_, after any of the flat mutes, or at the end of words
when not preceded by a sharp consonant, is generally flat; as in _eyes,
trees, beds, bags, calves_. But in the English termination _ous_, or in the
Latin _us_, it is sharp; as _joyous, vigorous, hiatus_.

_Ss_ is generally sharp; as in _pass, kiss, harass, assuage, basset,
cassock, remissness_. But the first two Esses in _possess_, or any of its
regular derivatives, as well as the two in _dissolve_, or its proximate
kin, sound like two Zees; and the soft or flat sound is commonly given to
each _s_ in _hyssop, hussy, and hussar_. In _scissel, scissible_, and
_scissile_, all the Esses hiss;--in _scissors_, the last three of the four
are flat, like _z_;--but in the middle of _scissure_ and _scission_ we hear
the sound of _zh_.

_S_, in the termination _sion_, takes the sound of _sh_, after a consonant;
as in _aspersion, session, passion, mission, compulsion_: and that of _zh_,
after a vowel; as in _evasion, elision, confusion_.

In the verb _assure_, and each of its derivatives, also in the nouns
_pressure_ and _fissure_, with their derivatives, we hear, according to
Walker, the sound of _sh_ for each _s_, or twice in each word; but,
according to the orthoëpy of Worcester, that sound is heard only in the
accented syllable of each word, and the vowel in each unaccented syllable
is _obscure_.

_S_ is silent or mute in the words, _isle, island, aisle, demesne, corps_,
and _viscount_.


XX. OF THE LETTER T.

The general sound of the consonant _T_, is heard in _time, letter, set_.
_T_, immediately after the accent, takes the sound of _tch_, before _u_,
and generally also before _eou_; as in _nature, feature, virtue, righteous,
courteous_: when _s_ or _x_ precedes, it takes this sound before _ia_ or
_io_; as in _fustian, bastion, mixtion_. But the general or most usual
sound of _t_ after the accent, when followed by _i_ and an other vowel, is
that of _sh_; as in _creation, patient, cautious_.

In English, _t_ is seldom, if ever, silent or powerless. In _depot_,
however, a word borrowed from the French, we do not sound it; and in
_chestnut_, which is a compound of our own, it is much oftener written than
heard. In _often_ and _soften_, some think it silent; but it seems rather
to take here the sound of _f_. In _chasten, hasten, fasten, castle, nestle,
whistle, apostle, epistle, bustle_, and similar words, with their sundry
derivatives, the _t_ is said by some to be mute; but here it seems to take
the sound of _s_; for, according to the best authorities, this sound is
beard twice in such words. _Th_, written in Greek by the character called
_Theta_, ([Greek: th] or O capital, [Greek: th] or [Greek: th] small,)
represents an elementary sound; or, rather, two distinct elementary sounds,
for which the Anglo-Saxons had different characters, supposed by Dr.
Bosworth to have been applied with accurate discrimination of "the _hard_
or _sharp_ sound of _th_," from "the _soft_ or _flat_ sound."--(See
_Bosworth's Compendious Anglo-Saxon Dictionary_, p. 268.) The English _th_
is either sharp, as in _thing, ethical, thinketh_; or flat, as in _this,
whither, thither_.

"_Th initial_ is sharp; as in _thought_: except in _than, that, the, thee,
their, them, then, thence, there, these, they, thine, this, thither, those,
thou, thus, thy_, and their compounds."--_W. Allen's Grammar_, p. 22.

_Th final_ is also sharp; as in _south_: except in _beneath, booth, with_,
and several verbs formerly with _th_ last, but now frequently (and more
properly) written with final _e_; as _loathe, mouthe, seethe, soothe,
smoothe, clothe, wreathe, bequeathe, unclothe_.

_Th medial_ is sharp, too, when preceded or followed by a consonant; as in
_Arthur, ethnic, swarthy, athwart_: except in _brethren, burthen, farther,
farthing, murther, northern, worthy_. But "_th_ between two vowels, is
generally flat in words purely English; as in _gather, neither, whither_:
and sharp in words from the learned languages; as in _atheist, ether,
method_"--See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 22.

"_Th_, in _Thames, Thomas, thyme, asthma, phthisis_, and their compounds,
is pronounced like _t_."--_Ib._


XXI. OF THE LETTER U.

The vowel _U_ has three sounds which may be considered to be properly its
own:--

1. The open, long, full, primal, or diphthongal _u_; as in _tube, cubic,
juvenile_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _u_; as in _tub, butter, justice,
unhung_.

3. The middle _u_, resembling a short or quick _oo_; as in _pull, pulpit,
artful_.

_U_ forming a syllable by itself or _U_ as naming itself is nearly
equivalent in sound to _you_, and requires the article _a_, and not _an_,
before it; as, _a U, a union_.

_U_ sometimes borrows the sound of some other vowel; for _bury_ is
pronounced _berry_, and _busy_ is pronounced _bizzy_. So in the
derivatives, _burial, buried, busied, busily_, and the like.

The long or diphthongal _u_, commonly sounded as _yu_, or as _ew_ in
_ewer_,--or any equivalent diphthong or digraph, as _ue, ui, eu_, or
_ew_.--when it follows _r_ or _rh_, assumes the sound of slender _o_ or
_oo_; as in _rude, rhubarb, rue, rueful, rheum, fruit, truth, brewer_.


DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH U.

_U_, in the proper diphthongs, _ua, ue, ui, uo, uy_, has the sound of _w_
or of _oo feeble_; as in _persuade, query, quell, quiet, languid, quote,
obloquy_.

_Ua_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _middle a_; as in _guard,
guardian_. 2. Of _close a_; as in _guarantee, piquant_. 3. Of _obscure e_;
as in _victuals_ and its compounds or kindred. 4. Of _open u_; as in
_mantuamaker_.

_Ue_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _open u_; as in _blue,
ensue, ague_. 2. Of _close e_; as in _guest, guesser_. 3. Of _close u_; as
in _leaguer_. _Ue final_ is sometimes silent; as in _league, antique_.
_Ui_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _open i_; as in _guide,
guile_. 2. Of _close i_; as in _conduit, circuit_. 3. Of _open u_; as in
_juice, sluice, suit_.

_Uo_ can scarcely be called an improper diphthong, except, perhaps, after
_q_ in _liquor, liquorice, liquorish_, where _uor_ is heard as _ur_.

_Uy_, an improper diphthong, has the sound--1. Of _open y_; as in _buy,
buyer_. 2. Of _feeble y_, or of _ee feeble_; as in _plaguy, roguy_.


TRIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH U.

_Uai_ is pronounced nearly, if not exactly, like _way_; as in _guai-a-cum,
quail, quaint_. _Uaw_ is sounded like _wa_ in _water_; as in _squaw_, a
female Indian. _Uay_ has the sound of _way_; as in _Par-a-guay_: except in
_quay_, which nearly all our orthoepists pronounce _kee_. _Uea_ and _uee_
are each sounded _wee_; as in _queasy, queer, squeal, squeeze_. _Uoi_ and
_woy_ are each sounded _woi_; as in _quoit, buoy_. Some say, that, as _u_,
in these combinations, sounds like _w_, it is a consonant; others allege,
that _w_ itself has only the sound of _oo_, and is therefore in all cases a
vowel. _U_ has, certainly, in these connexions, as much of the sound of
_oo_, as has _w_; and perhaps a little more.


XXII. OF THE LETTER V.

The consonant _V_ always has a sound like that of _f flattened_; as in
_love, vulture, vivacious_. In pure English, it is never silent, never
final, never doubled: but it is often doubled in the dialect of Craven; and
there, too, it is sometimes final.


XXIII. OF THE LETTER W.

_W_, when reckoned a _consonant_, (as it usually is when uttered with a
vowel that follows it,) has the sound heard at the beginning of _wine, win,
woman, woody_; being a sound less vocal than that of _oo_, and depending
more upon the lips.

_W_ before _h_, is usually pronounced as if it followed the _h_; as in
_what, when, where, while_: but, in _who, whose, whom, whole, whoop_, and
words formed from these, it is silent. Before _r_, in the same syllable, it
is also silent; as in _wrath, wrench, wrong_. So in a few other cases; as
in _sword, answer, two_.

_W_ is never used alone as a _vowel_; except in some Welsh or foreign
names, in which it is equivalent to _oo_; as in "_Cwm Cothy_," the name of
a mountain in Wales; "_Wkra_" the name of a small river in Poland.--See
_Lockhart's Napoleon_, Vol. ii, p. 15. In a diphthong, when heard, it has
the power of _u_ in _bull_, or nearly that of _oo_; as in _new, now, brow,
frown_. _Aw_ and _ow_ are frequently improper diphthongs, the _w_ being
silent, the _a_ broad, and the _o_ long; as in _law, flaw,--tow, snow_.
_W_, when sounded before vowels, being reckoned a _consonant_, we have no
diphthongs or triphthongs beginning with this letter.


XXIV. OF THE LETTER X.

The consonant "_X_ has a _sharp_ sound, like _ks_; as in _ox_: and a _flat_
one, like _gz_; as in _example_. _X_ is sharp, when it ends an accented
syllable; as in _exercise, exit, excellence_: or when it precedes an
accented syllable beginning with a consonant; as in _expand, extreme,
expunge_. _X_ unaccented is generally flat, when the next syllable begins
with a vowel; as in _exist, exemption, exotic_. _X initial_, in Greek
proper names, has the sound of _z_; as in _Xanthus, Xantippe, Xenophon,
Xerxes_"--See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 25.


XXV. OF THE LETTER Y.

_Y_, as a _consonant_, has the sound heard at the beginning of _yarn,
young, youth_; being rather less vocal than the feeble sound of _i_, or of
the vowel _y_, and serving merely to modify that of a succeeding vowel,
with which it is quickly united. _Y_, as a vowel, has the same sounds as
_i_:--

1. The open, long, full, or primal _y_; as in _cry, crying, thyme, cycle_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _y_; as in _system, symptom, cynic_.

3. The feeble or faint _y_, accentless; (like _open e feeble_;) as in
_cymar, cycloidal, mercy_.

The vowels _i_ and _y_ have, in general, exactly the same sound under
similar circumstances, and, in forming derivatives, we often change one for
the other: as in _city, cities; tie, tying; easy, easily_.

_Y_, before a vowel heard in the same syllable, is reckoned a _consonant_;
we have, therefore, no diphthongs or triphthongs _commencing_ with this
letter.


XXVI. OF THE LETTER Z.

The consonant _Z_, the last letter of our alphabet, has usually a soft or
buzzing sound, the same as that of _s flat_; as in _Zeno, zenith, breeze,
dizzy_. Before _u primal_ or _i feeble, z_, as well as _s flat_, sometimes
takes the sound of _zh_, which, in the enumeration of consonantal sounds,
is reckoned a distinct element; as in _azure, seizure, glazier; osier,
measure, pleasure_.


END OF THE FIRST APPENDIX.




APPENDIX II.

TO PART SECOND, OR ETYMOLOGY.

OF THE DERIVATION OF WORDS.

Derivation, as a topic to be treated by the grammarian, is a species of
Etymology, which explains the various methods by which those derivative
words which are not formed by mere grammatical inflections, are deduced
from their primitives. Most of those words which are regarded as primitives
in English, may be traced to ulterior sources, and many of them are found
to be compounds or derivatives in the other languages from which they have
come to us. To show the composition, origin, and literal sense of these, is
also a part, and a highly useful part, of this general inquiry, or theme of
instruction.

This species of information, though insignificant in those whose studies
reach to nothing better,--to nothing valuable and available in life,--is
nevertheless essential to education and to science; because it is essential
to a right understanding of the import and just application of such words.
All reliable etymology, all authentic derivation of words, has ever been
highly valued by the wise. The learned James Harris has a remark as
follows: "How useful to ETHIC SCIENCE, and indeed to KNOWLEDGE in general,
a GRAMMATICAL DISQUISITION into the _Etymology_ and _Meaning_ of WORDS was
esteemed by the chief and ablest Philosophers, may be seen by consulting
_Plato_ in his _Cratylus; Xenophon's Memorabilia_, IV, 5, 6; _Arrian.
Epict._ I, 17; II, 10; _Marc. Anton_. III, 11;" &c.--See _Harris's Hermes_,
p. 407.

A knowledge of the _Saxon, Latin, Greek_, and _French_ languages, will
throw much light on this subject, the derivation of our modern English; nor
is it a weak argument in favour of studying these, that our acquaintance
with them, whether deep or slight, tends to a better understanding of what
is borrowed, and what is vernacular, in our own tongue. But etymological
analysis may extensively teach the origin of English words, their
composition, and the import of their parts, without demanding of the
student the power of reading foreign or ancient languages, or of
discoursing at all on General Grammar. And, since many of the users of this
work may be but readers of our current English, to whom an unknown letter
or a foreign word is a particularly uncouth and repulsive thing, we shall
here forbear the use of Saxon characters, and, in our explanations, not go
beyond the precincts of our own language, except to show the origin and
primitive import of some of our definitive and connecting particles, and to
explain the prefixes and terminations which are frequently employed to form
English derivatives.

The rude and cursory languages of barbarous nations, to whom literature is
unknown, are among those transitory things which, by the hand of time, are
irrecoverably buried in oblivion. The fabric of the English language is
undoubtedly of _Saxon_ origin; but what was the particular form of the
language spoken by the _Saxons_, when about the year 450 they entered
Britain, cannot now be accurately known. It was probably a dialect of the
_Gothic_ or _Teutonic_. This _Anglo-Saxon_ dialect, being the nucleus,
received large accessions from other tongues of the north, from the _Norman
French_, and from the more polished languages of _Rome_ and _Greece_, to
form the modern _English_. The speech of our rude and warlike ancestors
thus gradually improved, as Christianity, civilization, and knowledge,
advanced the arts of life in Britain; and, as early as the tenth century,
it became a language capable of expressing all the sentiments of a
civilized people. From the time of _Alfred_, its progress may be traced by
means of writings which remain; but it can scarcely be called _English_, as
I have shown in the Introduction to this work, till about the thirteenth
century. And for two or three centuries later, it was so different from the
modern English, as to be scarcely intelligible at all to the mere English
reader; but, gradually improving by means upon which we need not here
dilate, it at length became what we now find it,--a language copious,
strong, refined, impressive, and capable, if properly used, of a great
degree of beauty and harmony.


SECTION I.--DERIVATION OF THE ARTICLES.

1. For the derivation of our article THE, which he calls "_an adjective_,"
Dr. Webster was satisfied with giving this hint: "Sax. _the_; Dutch,
_de_."--_Amer. Dict._ According to Horne Tooke, this definite article of
ours, is the Saxon _verb_ "THE," imperative, from THEAN, to _take_; and is
nearly equivalent in meaning to _that_ or _those_, because our _that_ is
"the past participle of THEAN," and "means _taken_."--_Diversions of
Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 49. But this is not very satisfactory. Examining
ancient works, we find the word, or something resembling it, or akin to it,
written in various forms, as _se, see, ye, te, de, the, thá_, and others
that cannot be shown by our modern letters; and, tracing it as one article,
or one and the same word, through what we suppose to be the oldest of these
forms, in stead of accounting the forms as signs of different roots, we
should sooner regard it as originating in the imperative of SEON, _to see_.

2. AN, our indefinite article, is the Saxon _oen, ane, an_, ONE; and, by
dropping _n_ before a consonant, becomes _a_. Gawin Douglas, an ancient
English writer, wrote _ane_, even before a consonant; as, "_Ane_
book,"--"_Ane_ lang spere,"--"_Ane_ volume."


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The words of Tooke, concerning the derivation of _That_ and _The_,
as nearly as they can be given in our letters, are these: "THAT (in the
Anglo-Saxon Thæt, i.e. Thead, Theat) means _taken, assumed_; being merely
the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Thean, Thegan, Thion, Thihan,
Thicgan, Thigian; sumere, assumere, accipere; to THE, to _get_, to _take_,
to _assume_.

    'Ill mote he THE That caused me
    To make myselfe a frere.'--_Sir T. More's Workes, pag._ 4.

THE (our _article_, as it is called) is the imperative of the same verb
Thean: which may very well supply the place of the correspondent
Anglo-Saxon article Se, which is the imperative of Seon, videre: for it
answers the same purpose in discourse, to say.... _see_ man, or _take_
man."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 49.

OBS. 2.--Now, between _Thæt_ and _Theat_, there is a considerable
difference of form, for _æ_ and _ea_ are not the same diphthong; and, in
the identifying of so many infinitives, as forming but one verb, there is
room for error. Nor is it half so probable that these are truly one root,
as that our article _The_ is the same, in its origin, as the old
Anglo-Saxon _Se_. Dr. Bosworth, in his Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, gives no
such word as _Thean_ or _Thegan_, no such participle as _Thead_ or _Theat_,
which derivative is perhaps imaginary; but he has inserted together
"Thicgan, thicgean, thigan, _to receive, or take_;" and separately, "Theon,
_to thrive, or flourish_,"--"Thihan, _to thrive_,"--and "Thion, _to
flourish_;" as well as the preterit "Theat, _howled_," from "Theotan, _to
howl_." And is it not plain, that the old verb "THE," as used by More, is
from Theon, _to thrive_, rather than from Thicgan, _to take_? "Ill mote he
THE"--"Ill might he _thrive_," not, "Ill might he _take_."

OBS. 3.--Professor Hart says, "The word _the_ was originally _thæt_, or
_that_. In course of time [,] it became abbreviated, and the short form
acquired, in usage, a shade of meaning different from the original long
one. _That_ is demonstrative with emphasis; _the_ is demonstrative without
emphasis."--_Hart's E. Grammar_, p. 32. This derivation of _The_ is quite
improbable; because the shortening of a monosyllable of five letters by
striking out the third and the fifth, is no usual mode of abbreviation.
Bosworth's Dictionary explains THE as "An indeclinable article, often used
for all the cases of Se, seo, thæt, especially in adverbial expressions and
in corrupt Anglo-Saxon, as in the _Chronicle_ after the year 1138."

OBS. 4--Dr. Latham, in a section which is evidently neither accurate nor
self-consistent, teaches us--"that there exist in the present English two
powers of the word spelled _t-h-e_, or of the so-called definite article;"
then, out of sixteen Anglo-Saxon equivalents, he selects two for the roots
of this double-powered _the_; saying, "Hence the _the_ that has originated
out of the Anglo-Saxon _thy_ is one word; whilst the _the_ that has
originated out of the Anglo-Saxon _the_, [is] another. The latter is the
common article: the former the _the_ in expressions like _all the more, all
the better--more by all that, better by all that_, and the Latin phrases
_eo majus, eo melius_."--_Latham's Hand-Book_, p. 158. This double
derivation is liable to many objections. The Hand-Book afterwards says,
"That the, in expressions like _all the more, all the better_, &c., is _no
article_, has already been shown."--P. 196. But in fact, though _the_
before comparatives or superlatives be no article, Dr. Latham's etymologies
prove no such thing; neither does he anywhere tell us what it is. His
examples, too, with their interpretations, are all of them fictitious,
ambiguous, and otherwise bad. It is uncertain whether he meant his phrases
for counterparts to each other or not. If _the_ means "_by that_," or
_thereby_, it is an _adverb_; and so is its equivalent "_eo_" denominated
by the Latin grammarians. See OBS. 10, under Rule I.



SECTION II.--DERIVATION OF NOUNS.

In _English_, Nouns are derived from nouns, from adjectives, from verbs, or
from participles.

I. Nouns are derived from _Nouns_ in several different ways:--

1. By the adding of _ship, dom, ric, wick, or, ate, hood_, or _head_: as,
_fellow, fellowship; king, kingdom; bishop, bishopric; bailiff_, or _baily,
bailiwick; senate, senator; tetrarch, tetrarchate; child, childhood; God,
Godhead_. These generally denote dominion, office, or character.

2. By the adding of _ian_: as, _music, musician; physic, physician;
theology, theologian; grammar, grammarian; college, collegian_. These
generally denote profession.

3. By the adding of _r, ry_, or _ery_: as, _grocer, grocery; cutler,
cutlery; slave, slavery; scene, scenery; fool, foolery_. These sometimes
denote state or habit; sometimes, an artificer's wares or shop.

4. By the adding of _age_ or _ade_: as, _patron, patronage; porter,
porterage; band, bandage; lemon, lemonade; baluster, balustrade; wharf,
wharfage; vassal, vassalage_.

5. By the adding of _kin, let, ling, ock, el, erel_, or _et_: as, _lamb,
lambkin; ring, ringlet; cross, crosslet; duck, duckling; hill, hillock;
run, runnel; cock, cockerel; pistol, pistolet; eagle, eaglet; circle,
circlet_. All these denote little things, and are called diminutives.

6. By the addition of _ist_: as, _psalm, psalmist; botany, botanist; dial,
dialist; journal, journalist._ These denote persons devoted to, or skilled
in, the subject expressed by the primitive.

7. By the prefixing of an adjective, or an other noun, so as to form a
compound word: as, _foreman, broadsword, statesman, tradesman; bedside,
hillside, seaside; bear-berry, bear-fly, bear-garden; bear's-ear,
bear's-foot, goat's-beard_.

8. By the adoption of a negative prefix to reverse the meaning: as, _order,
disorder; pleasure, displeasure; consistency, inconsistency; capacity,
incapacity; observance, nonobservance; resistance, nonresistance; truth,
untruth; constraint, unconstraint_.

9. By the use of the prefix _counter_, signifying _against_ or _opposite_:
as, _attraction, counter-attraction; bond, counter-bond; current,
counter-current; movement, counter-movement_.

10. By the addition of _ess, ix, or ine_, or the changing of masculines to
feminines so terminating: as, _heir, heiress; prophet, prophetess; abbot,
abbess; governor, governess; testator, testatrix; hero, heroine_.

II. Nouns are derived from _Adjectives_ in several different ways:--

1. By the adding of _ness, ity, ship, dom_, or _hood_: as, _good, goodness;
real, reality; hard, hardship; wise, wisdom; free, freedom; false,
falsehood_.

2. By the changing of _t_ into _ce_ or _cy_: as, _radiant, radiance;
consequent, consequence; flagrant, flagrancy; current, currency;
discrepant, discrepance_, or _discrepancy_.

3. By the changing of some of the letters, and the adding of _t_ or _th_:
as, _long, length; broad, breadth; wide, width; high, height_. The nouns
included under these three heads, generally denote abstract qualities, and
are called abstract nouns.

4. By the adding of _ard_: as, _drunk, drunkard; dull, dullard_. These
denote ill character.

5. By the adding of _ist_: as, _sensual, sensualist; separate, separatist;
royal, royalist; fatal, fatalist_. These denote persons devoted, addicted,
or attached, to something.

6. By the adding of _a_, the Latin ending of neuter plurals, to certain
proper adjectives in _an_: as, _Miltonian, Miltoniana; Johnsonian,
Johnsoniana_. These literally mean, _Miltonian things, sayings_, or
_anecdotes_, &c.; and are words somewhat fashionable with the journalists,
and are sometimes used for titles of books that refer to table-talk.

III. Nouns are derived from _Verbs_ in several different ways:--

1. By the adding of _ment, ance, ence, ure_, or _age_: as, _punish,
punishment; abate, abatement; repent, repentance; condole, condolence;
forfeit, forfeiture; stow, stowage; equip, equipage; truck, truckage_.

2. By a change of the termination of the verb, into _se, ce, sion, tion,
ation_, or _ition_: as, _expand, expanse, expansion; pretend, pretence,
pretension; invent, invention; create, creation; omit, omission; provide,
provision; reform, reformation; oppose, opposition_. These denote either
the act of doing, or the thing done.

3. By the adding of _er_ or _or_: as, _hunt, hunter; write, writer;
collect, collector; assert, assertor; instruct, instructer_, or
_instructor_. These generally denote the doer. To denote the person to whom
something is done, we sometimes form a derivative ending in _ee_: as,
_promisee, mortgagee, appellee, consignee_.

4. Nouns and Verbs are sometimes alike in orthography, but different in
pronunciation: as, a _house_, to _house_; a _use_, to _use_; a _reb'el_, to
_rebel'_; a _rec'ord_, to _record'_; a _cem'ent_, to _cement'_. Of such
pairs, it may often be difficult to say which word is the primitive.

5. In many instances, nouns and verbs are wholly alike as to form and
sound, and are distinguished by their sense and construction only: as,
_love_, to _love; fear_, to _fear; sleep_, to _sleep_;--to _revise_, a
_revise_; to _rebuke_, a _rebuke_. In these, we have but the same word used
differently.

IV. Nouns are often derived from _Participles_ in _ing_; as, a _meeting_,
the _understanding, murmurings, disputings, sayings_, and _doings_: and,
occasionally, one is formed from such a word and an adverb or a perfect
participle joined with it; as, "The _turning-away_,"--"His
_goings-forth_,"--"Your _having-boasted_ of it."



SECTION III.--DERIVATION OF ADJECTIVES.

In _English_, Adjectives are derived from nouns, from adjectives, from
verbs, or from participles.

I. Adjectives are derived from _Nouns_ in several different ways:--

1. By the adding of _ous, ious, eous, y, ey, ic, al, ical_ or _ine_:
(sometimes with an omission or change of some of the final letters:) as,
_danger, dangerous; glory, glorious; right, righteous; rock, rocky; clay,
clayey; poet, poetic_, or _poetical; nation, national; method, methodical;
vertex, vertical; clergy, clerical; adamant, adamantine_. Adjectives thus
formed, generally apply the properties of their primitives, to the nouns to
which they relate.

2. By the adding of _ful_: as, _fear, fearful; cheer, cheerful; grace,
graceful; shame, shameful; power, powerful_. These come almost entirely
from personal qualities or feelings, and denote abundance.

3. By the adding of _some_: as, _burden, burdensome; game, gamesome; toil,
toilsome_. These denote plenty, but do not exaggerate.

4. By the adding of _en_: as, _oak, oaken; silk, silken; wheat, wheaten;
oat, oaten; hemp, hempen_. Here the derivative denotes the matter of which
something is made.

5. By the adding of _ly_ or _ish_: as, _friend, friendly; gentleman,
gentlemanly; child, childish; prude, prudish_. These denote resemblance.
The termination _ly_ signifies _like_.

6. By the adding of _able_ or _ible_: as, _fashion, fashionable; access,
accessible_. But these terminations are generally, and more properly, added
to verbs. See Obs. 17th, 18th, &c., on the Rules for Spelling.

7. By the adding of _less_: as, _house, houseless; death, deathless; sleep,
sleepless; bottom, bottomless_. These denote privation or exemption--the
absence of what is named by the primitive.

8. By the adding of _ed_: as, _saint, sainted; bigot, bigoted; mast,
masted; wit, witted_. These have a resemblance to participles, and some of
them are rarely used, except when joined with some other word to form a
compound adjective: as, _three-sided, bare-footed, long-eared,
hundred-handed, flat-nosed, hard-hearted, marble-hearted, chicken-hearted_.

9. Adjectives coming from proper names, take various terminations: as,
_America, American; England, English; Dane, Danish; Portugal, Portuguese;
Plato, Platonic_.

10. Nouns are often converted into adjectives, without change of
termination: as, _paper_ currency; a _gold_ chain; _silver_ knee-buckles.

II. Adjectives are derived from _Adjectives_ in several different ways:--

1. By the adding of _ish_ or _some_: as, _white, whitish; green, greenish;
lone, lonesome; glad, gladsome_. These denote quality with some diminution.

2. By the prefixing of _dis, in_, or _un_: as, _honest, dishonest;
consistent, inconsistent; wise, unwise_. These express a negation of the
quality denoted by their primitives.

3. By the adding of _y_ or _ly_: as, _swarth, swarthy; good, goodly_. Of
these there are but few; for almost all the derivatives of the latter form
are adverbs.


III. Adjectives are derived from _Verbs_ in several different ways:--

1. By the adding of _able_ or _ible_: (sometimes with a change of some of
the final letters:) as, _perish, perishable; vary, variable; convert,
convertible; divide, divisible_, or _dividable_. These, according to their
analogy, have usually a passive import, and denote susceptibility of
receiving action. 2. By the adding of _ive_ or _ory_: (sometimes with a
change of some of the final letters:) as, _elect, elective; interrogate,
interrogative, interrogatory; defend, defensive; defame, defamatory;
explain, explanatory_.

3. Words ending in _ate_, are mostly verbs; but some of them may be
employed as adjectives, in the same form, especially in poetry; as,
_reprobate, complicate_.


IV. Adjectives are derived from _Participles_, not by suffixes, but in
these ways:--

1. By the prefixing of _un_, meaning _not_; as, _unyielding, unregarded,
unreserved, unendowed, unendeared, unendorsed, unencountered, unencumbered,
undisheartened, undishonoured_. Of this sort there are very many.

2. By a combining of the participle with some word which does not belong to
the verb; as, _way-faring, hollow-sounding, long-drawn, deep-laid,
dear-purchased, down-trodden_. These, too, are numerous.

3. Participles often become adjectives without change of form. Such
adjectives are distinguished from participles by their construction alone:
as, "A _lasting_ ornament;"--"The _starving_ chymist;"--"Words of _learned_
length;"--"With _counterfeited_ glee."



SECTION IV.--DERIVATION OF THE PRONOUNS.

I. The _English_ Pronouns are all of _Saxon_ origin; but, in them, our
language differs very strikingly from that of the Anglo-Saxons. The
following table compares the simple personal forms:--

Eng. I,      My or     Me;        We,      Our or       Us.
              Mine,                         Ours,
Sax. Ic,     Min,      Me or      We,      Ure or       Us.
                        Mec;                User,
Eng. Thou,   Thy or    Thee;      Ye,      Your         You.
              Thine,                         or Yours,
Sax. Thu,    Thin,     The or     Ge       Eower,       Eow or
                        Thec;                           Eowie.
Eng. He,     His       Him;       They,    Their or      Them.
                                            Theirs,
Sax. He,     His or    Him or     Hi or    Hira or      Heom or
              Hys,       Hine;     Hig,     Heora,       Hi.
Eng. She,    Her or    Her;       They,    Their or     Them.
              Hers,                         Theirs,
Sax. Heo,    Hire or   Hi;        Hi or    Hira or      Heom or
               Hyre,               Hig,     Heora,       Hi.
Eng. It,     Its,      It;        They,    Their or      Them.
                                            Theirs,
Sax. Hit,    His or    Hit;       Hi or    Hira or      Heom or
              Hys,                 Hig,     Heora,       Hi.

Here, as in the personal pronouns of other languages, the plurals and
oblique cases do not all appear to be regular derivatives from the
nominative singular. Many of these pronouns, perhaps all, as well as a vast
number of other words of frequent use in our language, and in that from
which it chiefly comes, were very variously written by the Middle English,
Old English, Semi-Saxon, and Anglo-Saxon authors. He who traces the history
of our language, will meet with them under all the following forms, (or
such as these would be with Saxon characters for the Saxon forms,) and
perhaps in more:--

1. I, J, Y, y, i, ay, ic, che, ich, Ic;--MY, mi, min, MINE, myne, myn;--ME,
mee, me, meh, mec, mech;--WE, wee, ve;--OUR or OURS, oure, ure, wer, urin,
uren, urne, user, usse, usser, usses, ussum;--Us, ous, vs, uss, usic,
usich, usig, usih, uz, huz.

2. THOU, thoue, thow, thowe, thu, tou, to, tu;--THY or THINE, thi, thyne,
thyn, thin;--THEE, the, theh, thec;--YE, yee, yhe, ze, zee, ge, ghe;--YOUR
or YOURS, youre, zour, hure, goure, yer, yower, yowyer, yorn, yourn, youre,
eower;--You, youe, yow, gou, zou, ou, iu, iuh, eow, iow, geow, eowih,
eowic, iowih.

3. HE, hee, hie, se;--His, hise, is, hys, ys, hyse, hus;--HIM, hine, hiene,
hion, hen, hyne, hym, im;--THEY, thay, thei, the, tha, thai, thii, yai, hi,
hie, heo, hig, hyg, hy;--THEIR or THEIRS, ther, theyr, theyrs, thair,
thare, theora, hare, here, her, hir, hire, hira, hiora, hiera, heora,
hyra;--THEM, thym, theym, thaym, thaim, thame, tham, em, hem, heom, hiom,
eom, hom, him, hi, hig.

4. SHE, shee, sche, scho, sho, shoe, scæ, seo, heo, hio, hiu, hoo,
hue;--HER, (possessive,) hur, hir, hire, hyr, hyre, hyra, hera;--HER,
(objective,) hire, hyre, hur, hir, hi. The plural forms of this feminine
pronoun are like those of the masculine _He_; but the "_Well-Wishers to
Knowledge_," in their small Grammar, (erroneously, as I suppose,) make
_hira_ masculine only, and _heora_ feminine only. See their _Principles of
Grammar_, p. 38.

5. IT, yt, itt, hit, hyt, hytt. The possessive _Its_ is a modern
derivative; _His_ or _Hys_ was formerly used in lieu of it. The plural
forms of this neuter pronoun, _It_, are like those of _He_ and _She_.
According to Horne Tooke, who declares _hoet_ to have been one of its
ancient forms, "this pronoun was merely the past participle of the verb
HAITAN, _hætan_, nominare," _to name_, and literally signifies "_the
said_;" (_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 46; _W. Allen's Gram._, p.
57;) but Dr. Alexander Murray, exhibiting it in an other form, not adapted
to this opinion, makes it the neuter of a declinable adjective, or pronoun,
inflected from the masculine, thus: "He, heo hita, _this_"--_Hist. of
Lang._, Vol. i, p. 315.

II. The relatives and interrogatives are derived from the same source, the
Anglo-Saxon tongue, and have passed through similar changes, or varieties
in orthography; but, the common relative pronoun of the Anglo-Saxons being
like their article _the_,--or, with the three genders, _se, seo,
thæt_,--and not like our _who, which_, and _what_, it is probable that the
interrogative use of these words was the primitive one. They have been
found in all the following forms:--

1. WHO, ho, hue, wha, hwa, hua, wua, qua, quha;--WHOSE, who's, whos, whois,
whoise, wheas, quhois, quhais, quhase, hwæs;--WHOM, whome, quham, quhum,
quhome, hwom, hwam, hwæm, hwæne, hwone.

2. WHICH, whiche, whyche, whilch, wych, quilch, quilk, quhilk, hwilc,
hwylc, hwelc, whilk, huilic, hvilc. For the Anglo-Saxon forms, Dr.
Bosworth's Dictionary gives "_hwilc, hwylc_, and _hwelc_;" but Professor
Fowler's E. Grammar makes them "_huilic_ and _hvilc_."--See p. 240.
_Whilk_, or _quhilk_, is a Scottish form.

3. WHAT, hwat, hwet, quhat, hwæt. This pronoun, whether relative or
interrogative, is regarded by Bosworth and others as a neuter derivative
from the masculine or femine [sic--KTH] _hwa_, who. It may have been thence
derived, but, in modern English, it is not always of the neuter gender. See
the last note on page 312.

4. THAT, Anglo-Saxon Thæt. Tooke's notion of the derivation of this word is
noticed above in the section on Articles. There is no certainty of its
truth; and our lexicographers make no allusion to it. W. Allen reaffirms
it. See his _Gram._, p. 54.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--In the Well-Wishers' Grammar, (p. 39,) as also in L. Murray's and
some others, the pronoun _Which_ is very strangely and erroneously
represented as being always "of the _neuter_ gender." (See what is said of
this word in the Introduction, Chap. ix, ¶ 32.) Whereas it is the relative
most generally applied to _brute animals_, and, in our common version of
the Bible, its application to _persons_ is peculiarly frequent. Fowler
says, "In its origin it is a Compound."--_E. Gram._, p. 240. Taking its
first Anglo-Saxon form to be "_Huilic_," he thinks it traceable to "_hwa_,
who," or its ablative "_hwi_," and "_lie_, like."--_Ib._ If this is right,
the neuter sense is not its primitive import, or any part of it.

OBS. 2.--From its various uses, the word _That_ is called sometimes a
pronoun, sometimes an adjective, and sometimes a conjunction; but, in
respect to derivation, it is, doubtless, one and the same. As a relative
pronoun, it is of either number, and has no plural form different from the
singular; as, "Blessed is the _man that_ heareth me."--_Prov._, viii, 34.
"Blessed are _they that_ mourn."--_Matt._, v, 4. As an adjective, it is
said by Tooke to have been formerly "applied indifferently to plural nouns
and to singular; as, 'Into _that_ holy orders.'--_Dr. Martin_. 'At _that_
dayes.'--_Id. 'That_ euyll aungels the denilles.'--_Sir Tho. More_. 'This
pleasure undoubtedly farre excelleth all _that_ pleasures that in this life
maie be obteined.'--_Id_."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, pp. 47 and 48.
The introduction of the plural form _those_, must have rendered this usage
bad English.



SECTION V.--DERIVATION OF VERBS.

In English, Verbs are derived from nouns, from adjectives, or from verbs.

I. Verbs are derived from _Nouns_ in the following different ways:--

1. By the adding of _ize, ise, en_, or _ate_: as, _author, authorize;
critic, criticise; length, lengthen; origin, originate_. The termination
_ize_ is of Greek origin, and _ise_ is most probably of French: the former
is generally preferable in forming English derivatives; but both are
sometimes to be used, and they should be applied according to Rule 13th for
Spelling.

2. Some few verbs are derived from nouns by the changing of a sharp or hard
consonant to a flat or soft one, or by the adding of a mute _e_, to soften
a hard sound: as, _advice, advise; price, prize; bath, bathe; cloth,
clothe; breath, breathe; wreath, wreathe; sheath, sheathe; grass, graze_.

II. Verbs are derived from _Adjectives_ in the following different ways:--

1. By the adding of _ize_ or _en_: as _legal, legalize; immortal,
immortalize; civil, civilize; human, humanize; familiar, familiarize;
particular, particularize; deaf, deafen; stiff, stiffen; rough, roughen;
deep, deepen; weak, weaken_.

2. Many adjectives become verbs by being merely used and inflected as
verbs: as, _warm_, to _warm_, he _warms; dry_, to _dry_, he _dries; dull_,
to _dull_, he _dulls; slack_, to _slack_, he _slacks; forward_, to
_forward_, he _forwards_.

III. Verbs are derived from _Verbs_ in the following modes, or ways:--

1. By the prefixing of _dis_ or _un_ to reverse the meaning: as, _please,
displease; qualify, disqualify; organize, disorganize; fasten, unfasten;
muzzle, unmuzzle; nerve, unnerve_.

2. By the prefixing of _a, be, for, fore, mis, over, out, under, up_, or
_with_: as, _rise, arise; sprinkle, besprinkle; bid, forbid; see, foresee;
take, mistake; look, overlook; run, outrun; go, undergo; hold, uphold;
draw, withdraw_.



SECTION VI.--DERIVATION OF PARTICIPLES.

All _English_ Participles are derived from _English_ verbs, in the manner
explained in Chapter 7th, under the general head of Etymology; and when
foreign participles are introduced into our language, they are not
participles with us, but belong to some other class of words, or part of
speech.



SECTION VII.--DERIVATION OF ADVERBS.

1. In _English_, many Adverbs are derived from adjectives by the addition
of _ly_: which is an abbreviation for _like_, and which, though the
addition of it to a noun forms an adjective, is the most distinctive as
well as the most common termination of our adverbs: as, _candid, candidly;
sordid, sordidly; presumptuous, presumptuously_. Most adverbs of manner are
thus formed.

2. Many adverbs are compounds formed from two or more English words; as,
_herein, thereby, to-day, always, already, elsewhere, sometimes,
wherewithal_. The formation and the meaning of these are, in general,
sufficiently obvious.

3. About seventy adverbs are formed by means of the prefix, or inseparable
preposition, _a_; as, _Abreast, abroach, abroad, across, afar, afield, ago,
agog, aland, along, amiss, atilt_.

4. _Needs_, as an adverb, is a contraction of _need is; prithee_, or
_pr'ythee_, of _I pray thee; alone_, of _all one; only_, of _one-like;
anon_, of the Saxon _an on_; i.e., _in one_ [instant]; _never_, of _ne
ever_; i.e., _not_ ever. Prof. Gibbs, in Fowler's Grammar, makes _needs_
"the Genitive case of the noun _need_."--P. 311.

5. _Very_ is from the French _veray_, or _vrai_, true; and this, probably,
from the Latin _verus. Rather_ appears to be the regular comparative of the
ancient _rath_, soon, quickly, willingly; which comes from the _Anglo-Saxon
"Rathe_, or _Hrathe_, of one's own accord."--_Bosworth_. But the parent
language had also "_Hrathre_, to a mind."--_Id._ That is, to _one's_ mind,
or, perhaps, _more willingly_.


OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Many of our most common adverbs are of Anglo-Saxon derivation,
being plainly traceable to certain very old forms, of the same import,
which the etymologist regards but as the same words differently spelled:
as, _All_, eall, eal, or æll; _Almost_, ealmæst, or ælmæst; _Also_, ealswa,
or ælswa; _Else_, elles; _Elsewhere_, elleshwær; _Enough_, genog, or genoh;
_Even_, euen, efen, or æfen; _Ever_, euer, æfer, or æfre; _Downward_,
duneweard; _Forward_, forweard, or foreweard; _Homeward_, hamweard;
_Homewards_, hamweardes; _How_, hu; _Little_, lytel; _Less_, læs; _Least_,
læst; _No_, na; _Not_, noht, or nocht; _Out_, ut, or ute; _So_, swa;
_Still_, stille, or stylle; _Then_, thenne; _There_, ther, thar, thær;
_Thither_, thider, or thyder; _Thus_, thuss, or thus; _Together_, togædere,
or togædre; _Too_, tó; _When_, hwenne, or hwænne; _Where_, hwær; _Whither_,
hwider, hwyder, or hwyther; _Yea_, ia, gea, or gee; _Yes_, gese, gise, or
gyse.

OBS. 2.--According to Horne Tooke, "_Still_ and _Else_ are the imperatives
_Stell_ and _Ales_ of their respective verbs _Stellan_, to put, and
_Alesan_, to dismiss."--_Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 111. He afterwards repeats
the doctrine thus: "_Still_ is only the imperative _Stell_ or _Steall_, of
_Stellan_ or _Steallian_, ponere."--_Ib._, p. 146. "This word _Else_,
formerly written _alles, alys, alyse, elles, ellus, ellis, ells, els_, and
now _else_; is, as I have said, no other than _Ales_ or _Alys_, the
imperative of _Alesan_ or _Alysan_, dimittere."--_Ib._, p. 148. These
ulterior and remote etymologies are perhaps too conjectural.



SECTION VIII.--DERIVATION OF CONJUNCTIONS.

The _English_ Conjunctions are mostly of Anglo-Saxon origin. The best
etymological vocabularies of our language give us, for the most part, the
same words in Anglo-Saxon characters; but Horne Tooke, in his _Diversions
of Purley_, (a learned and curious work which the advanced student may
peruse with advantage,) traces, or professes to trace, these and many other
English particles, to _Saxon verbs_ or _participles_. The following
derivations, so far as they partake of such speculations, are offered
principally on his authority:--

1. ALTHOUGH, signifying _admit, allow_, is from _all_ and _though_; the
latter being supposed the imperative of Thafian or Thafigan, _to allow, to
concede, to yield_.

2. AN, an obsolete or antiquated conjunction, signifying _if_, or _grant_,
is the imperative of the Anglo-Saxon verb Anan or Unan, _to grant, to
give_.

3. AND, [Saxon, And,] _add_, is said by Tooke to come from "An-ad, the
imperative of Ananad, _Dare congeriem_."--_D. of P._, Vol. i, p. 111. That
is, "_To give the heap_." The truth of this, if unapparent, I must leave
so.

4. AS, according to Dr. Johnson, is from the Teutonic _als_; but Tooke says
that _als_ itself is a contraction for _all_ and the original particle _es_
or _as_, meaning _it, that_, or _which_.

5. BECAUSE, from _be_ and _cause_, means _by cause_; the _be_ being written
for _by_.

6. BOTH, _the two_, is from the pronominal adjective _both_; which,
according to Dr. Alexander Murray, is a contraction of the Visigothic
_Bagoth_, signifying _doubled_. The Anglo-Saxons wrote for it _butu, butwu,
buta_, and _batwa_; i. e., _ba_, both, _twa_, two.

7. BUT,--(in Saxon, _bute, butan, buton_, or _butun_--) meaning _except,
yet, now, only, else than, that not_, or _on the contrary_,--is referred by
Tooke and some others, to two roots,--each of them but a conjectural etymon
for it. "BUT, implying _addition_," say they, "is from Bot, the imperative
of Botan, _to boot, to add_; BUT, denoting _exception_, is from Be-utan,
the imperative of Beon-utan, _to be out_."--See _D. of P._, Vol. i, pp. 111
and 155.

8. EITHER, _one of the two_, like the pronominal adjective EITHER, is from
the Anglo-Saxon Æther, or Egther, a word of the same uses, and the same
import.

9. EKE, _also_, (now nearly obsolete,) is from "Eac, the imperative of
Eacan, _to add_."

10. EVEN, whether a noun, an adjective, an adverb, or a conjunction,
appears to come from the same source, the Anglo-Saxon word Efen or Æfen.

11. EXCEPT, which, when used as a conjunction, means _unless_, is the
imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson) an ancient perfect participle, of
the verb _to except_.

12. FOR, _because_, is from the Saxon preposition _For_; which, to express
this meaning, our ancestors combined with something else, reducing to one
word some such phrase as, _For that, For this, For this that_; as, "Fortha,
Fortham, Forthan, Forthamthe, Forthan the."--See _Bosworth's Dict._

13. IF, _give, grant, allow_, is from "Gif, the imperative of the
Anglo-Saxon Gifan, _to give_."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 111.

14. LEST, _that not, dismissed_, is from "Lesed, the perfect participle of
Lesan, _to dismiss_."

15. NEITHER, _not either_, is a union and contraction of _ne either_: our
old writers frequently used _ne_ for _not_; the Anglo-Saxons likewise
repeated it, using _ne--ne_, in lieu of our corresponsives _neither--nor_;
and our modern lexicographers still note the word, in some of these senses.

16. NOR, _not other, not else_, is supposed to be a union and contraction
of _ne or_.

17. NOTWITHSTANDING, _not hindering_, is an English compound of obvious
formation.

18. OR, an alternative conjunction, seems to be a word of no great
antiquity. It is supposed to be a contraction of _other_, which Johnson and
his followers give, in Saxon characters, either as its source, or as its
equivalent.

19. PROVIDED, the perfect participle of the verb _provide_, becomes
occasionally a disjunctive conjunction, by being used alone or with the
particle _that_, to introduce a condition, a saving clause, a proviso.

20. SAVE, anciently used with some frequency as a conjunction, in the sense
of _but_, or except is from the imperative of the English verb _save_, and
is still occasionally turned to such a use by the poets.

21. SEEING, sometimes made a copulative conjunction, is the imperfect
participle of the verb _see_. Used at the head of a clause, and without
reference to an agent, it assumes a conjunctive nature.

22. SINCE is conjectured by Tooke to be "the participle of Seon, _to see_,"
and to mean "_seeing, seeing that, seen that_, or _seen as_."--_Diversions
of P._, Vol. i, pp. 111 and 220. But Johnson and others say, it has been
formed "by contraction from _sithence_, or _sith thence_, from _sithe_,
Sax."--_Joh. Dict._

23. THAN, which introduces the latter term of a comparison, is from the
Gothic _than_, or the Anglo-Saxon _thanne_, which was used for the same
purpose. 24. THAT, when called a conjunction, is said by Tooke to be
etymologically the same as the adjective or pronoun THAT, the derivation of
which is twice spoken of above; but, in Todd's Johnson's Dictionary, as
abridged by Chalmers, THAT, the _conjunction_, is referred to "_thatei_,
Gothic;" THAT, the _pronoun_, to "_that, thata_, Gothic; _thæt_, Saxon;
_dat_, Dutch."

25. THEN, used as a conjunction, is doubtless the same word as the
Anglo-Saxon _Thenne_, taken as an illative, or word of inference.

26. "THOUGH, _allow_, is [from] the imperative Thaf, or Thafig, of the verb
Thafian or Thafigan, _to allow_."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, pp. 111
and 150.

27. "UNLESS, _except, dismiss_, is [from] Onles, the imperative of Onlesan,
_to dismiss_."--_Ib._

28. WHETHER, a corresponsive conjunction, which introduces the first term
of an alternative, is from the Anglo-Saxon _hwæther_, which was used for
the same purpose.

29. YET, _nevertheless_, is from "Get, the imperative of Getan, _to
get_."--_Tooke_.


SECTION IX.--DERIVATION OF PREPOSITIONS.

The following are the principal _English_ Prepositions, explained in the
order of the list:--

1. ABOARD, meaning _on board of_, is from the prefix or preposition _a_ and
the noun _board_, which here means "_the deck_ of a ship" or vessel.
_Abord_, in French, is _approach, arrival_, or a _landing_.

2. ABOUT, [Sax. Abútan, or Abúton,] meaning _around, at circuit_, or
_doing_, is from the prefix _a_, meaning _at_, and the noun _bout_, meaning
a _turn_, a _circuit_, or a _trial_. In French, _bout_ means end; and
_about, end_, or _but-end_.

3. ABOVE, [Sax. Abufan, Abufon, A-be-ufan.] meaning _over_, or, literally,
_at-by-over_, or _at-by-top_, is from the Saxon or Old English _a, be_, and
_ufa_, or _ufan_, said to mean "_high, upwards_, or _the top_."

4. ACROSS, _at cross, athwart, traverse_, is from the prefix _a_ and the
word _cross_.

5. AFTER, [Sax. Æfter, or Æftan,] meaning _behind, subsequent to_, is, in
form, the comparative of _aft_, a word common to seamen, and it may have
been thence derived.

6. AGAINST, _opposite to_, is probably from the Anglo-Saxon, Ongean, or
Ongegen, each of which forms means _again_ or _against_. As prefixes, _on_
and _a_ are often equivalent.

7. ALONG, [i.e., _at-long_,] meaning _lengthwise of, near to_, is formed
from _a_ and _long_.

8. AMID, [i. e., _at mid_ or _middle_,] is from _a_ and _mid_; and AMIDST
[, i.e., _at midst_,] is from _a_ and _midst_, contracted from _middest_,
the superlative of _mid_.

9. AMONG, _mixed with_, is probably an abbreviation of _amongst_; and
AMONGST, according to Tooke, is from _a_ and _mongst_, or the older
"Ge-meneged," Saxon for "_mixed, mingled_."

10. AROUND, _about, encircling_, is from _a_ and _round_, a circle, or
circuit.

11. AT, _gone to_, is supposed by some to come from the Latin _ad_; but Dr.
Murray says, "We have in Teutonic AT for AGT, touching or touched, joined,
_at_."--_Hist. of Lang._, i, 349.

12. ATHWART, _across_, is from _a_ and _thwart_, cross; and this from the
Saxon Thweor.

13. BATING, a preposition for _except_, is the imperfect participle of
_bate_, to abate.

14. BEFORE, [i.e., _by-fore_,] in front of, is from the prefix _be_ and the
adjective _fore_.

15. BEHIND, [i.e., _by-hind_,] in rear of, is from the prefix _be_ and the
adjective _hind_.

16. BELOW, [i.e., _by-low_,] meaning _under_, or _beneath_, is from _be_
and the adjective _low_.

17. BENEATH [, Sax. or Old Eng. Beneoth,] is from _be_ and _neath_, or Sax.
Neothe, _low_.

18. BESIDE [, i.e., _by-side_,] is probably from _be_ and the noun or
adjective _side_.

19. BESIDES [, i.e., _by-sides_,] is probably from _be_ and the plural noun
_sides_.

20. BETWEEN, [Sax. Betweonan, or Betwynan,] literally, _by-twain_, seems to
have been formed from _be_, by, and _twain_, two--or the Saxon Twegen,
which also means _two, twain_.

21. BETWIXT, meaning _between_, [Sax. Betweox, Betwux, Betwyx, Betwyxt,
&c.,] is from _be_, by, and _twyx_, originally a "Gothic" word signifying
"_two_, or _twain_."--See _Tooke_, Vol. i, p. 329.

22. BEYOND, _past_, [Sax. Begeond,] is from the prefix _be_, by, and
_yond_, [Sax. Geond,] _past, far_.

23. BY [, Sax. Be, Bi, or Big,] is affirmed by Tooke to be "the imperative
Byth, of the Anglo-Saxon verb Beon, _to be_."--_Diversions of P._, Vol. i,
p. 326. This seems to be rather questionable.

24. CONCERNING, the preposition, is from the first participle of the verb
_concern_.

25. DOWN, the preposition, is from the Anglo-Saxon Dune, down.

26. DURING, prep. of time, is from the first participle of an old verb
_dure_, to last, formerly in use; as, "While the world may
_dure_."--_Chaucer's Knight's Tale_.

27. ERE, _before_, prep. of time, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ær, a word of
like sort.

28. EXCEPT, _bating_, is from the imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson)
the ancient perfect participle of the verb _to except_; and EXCEPTING, when
a preposition, is from the first participle of the same verb.

29. FOR, _because of_, is the Anglo-Saxon preposition For, a word of like
import, and supposed by Tooke to have come from a Gothic noun signifying
_cause_, or _sake_.

30. FROM, in Saxon, _Fram_, is probably derived from the old adjective
Frum, _original_.

31. IN, or the Saxon In, is the same as the Latin _in_: the Greek is
[Greek: en]; and the French, _en_.

32. INTO, like the Saxon Into, noting entrance, is a compound of _in_ and
_to_.

33. MID and MIDST, as English prepositions, are poetical forms used for
_Amid_ and _Amidst_.

34. NOTWITHSTANDING, _not hindering_, is from the adverb _not_, and the
participle _withstanding_, which, by itself, means _hindering_, or
_preventing_. 35. OF is from the Saxon Of, or Af; which is supposed by
Tooke to come from a noun signifying _offspring_.

36. OFF, opposed to _on_, Dr. Johnson derives from the "Dutch _af_."

37. ON, a word very often used in Anglo-Saxon, is traced by some
etymologists to the Gothic _ana_, the German _an_, the Dutch _aan_; but no
such derivation fixes its meaning.

38. OUT, [Sax. Ut, Ute, or Utan,] when made a preposition, is probably from
the adverb or adjective _Out_, or the earlier _Ut_; and OUT-OF, [Sax.
Ut-of,] opposed to _Into_, is but the adverb _Out_ and the preposition
_Of_--usually written separately, but better joined, in some instances.

39. OVER, _above_, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ofer, _over_; and this,
probably, from Ufa, _above, high_, or from the comparative, Ufera,
_higher_.

40. OVERTHWART, meaning _across_, is a compound of _over_ and _thwart_,
cross.

41. PAST, _beyond, gone by_, is a contraction from the perfect participle
_passed_.

42. PENDING, _during_ or _hanging_, has a participial form, but is either
an adjective or a preposition: we do not use _pend_ alone as a verb, though
we have it in _depend_.

43. RESPECTING, _concerning_, is from the first participle of the verb
_respect_.

44. ROUND, a preposition for _about_ or _around_, is from the noun or
adjective _round_.

45. SINCE is most probably a contraction of the old word _Sithence_; but is
conjectured by Tooke to have been formed from the phrase, "_Seen as_."

46. THROUGH [, Sax. Thurh, or Thurch,] seems related to _Thorough_, Sax.
Thuruh; and this again to Thuru, or Duru, a _Door_.

47. THROUGHOUT, _quite through_, is an obvious compond of _through_ and
_out_.

48. TILL, [Sax. Til or Tille,] _to, until_, is from the Saxon Til or Till,
_an end, a station_.

49. TO, whether a preposition or an adverb, is from the Anglo-Saxon
particle To.

50. TOUCHING, _with regard to_, is from the first participle of the verb
_touch_.

51. TOWARD or TOWARDS, written by the Anglo-Saxons _Toweard_ or
_Toweardes_, is a compound of _To_ and _Ward_ or _Weard_, a guard, a
look-out; "Used in composition to express _situation_ or
_direction_."--_Bosworth_.

52. UNDER, [Gothic, Undar; Dutch, Onder,] _beneath, below_, is a common
Anglo-Saxon word, and very frequent prefix, affirmed by Tooke to be
"nothing but _on-neder_," a Dutch compound = _on lower_.--See _Diversions
of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 331.

53. UNDERNEATH is a compound of _under_ and _neath_, low; whence _nether_,
lower.

54. UNTIL is a compound from _on_ or _un_, and till, or _til_, the end.

55. UNTO, now somewhat antiquated, is formed, not very analogically, from
_un_ and _to_.

56. UP is from the Anglo-Saxon adjective, "Up or Upp, _high, lofty_."

57. UPON, which appears literally to mean _high on_, is from two words _up_
and _on_.

58. WITH comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon With, a word of like sort and
import; which Tooke says is an imperative verb, sometimes from "Withan, _to
join_," and sometimes from "Wyrthan, _to be_."--See his _Diversions_, Vol.
i, p. 262.

59. WITHIN [, i.e., _by-in_,] is from _with_ and _in_: Sax. Withinnan,
Binnan, or Binnon.

60. WITHOUT [, i.e., _by-out_,] is from _with_ and _out_: Sax. Withútan,
-úten, -úton; Bútan, Búton, Bútun.


OBSERVATION.

In regard to some of our minor or simpler prepositions, as of sundry other
particles, to go beyond the forms and constructions which present or former
usage has at some period given them as particles, and to ascertain their
actual origin in something ulterior, if such they had, is no very easy
matter; nor can there be either satisfaction or profit in studying what one
suspects to be mere guesswork. "How do you account for IN, OUT, ON, OFF,
and AT?" says the friend of Tooke, in an etymological dialogue at Purley.
The substance of his answer is, "The explanation and etymology of these
words require a degree of knowledge in all the _antient_ northern
languages, and a skill in the application of that knowledge, which I am
very far from assuming; and though I am almost persuaded by some of my own
conjectures concerning them, I am not willing, by an apparently forced and
far-fetched derivation, to justify your imputation of etymological
legerdemain."--_Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 370.



SECTION X.--DERIVATION OF INTERJECTIONS.

Those significant and constructive words which are occasionally used as
Interjections, (such as _Good! Strange! Indeed_!,) do not require an
explanation here; and those mere sounds which are in no wise expressive of
thought, scarcely admit of definition or derivation. The Interjection HEY
is probably a corruption of the adjective _High_;--ALAS is from the French
_Hélas_:--ALACK is probably a corruption of _Alas_;--WELAWAY or WELLAWAY,
(which is now corrupted into WELLADAY,) is said by some to be from the
Anglo-Saxon _Wá-lá-wá_, i.e., _Wo-lo-wo_;--"FIE," says Tooke, "is the
imperative of the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon verb _Fian_, to hate;"--_Heyday_
is probably from _high day_;--AVAUNT, perhaps from the French _avant_,
before;--LO, from _look_;--BEGONE, from _be_ and _gone_;--WELCOME, from
_well_ and _come_;--FAREWELL, from _fare_ and _well_.



SECTION XI--EXPLANATION OF THE PREFIXES.

In the formation of English words, certain particles are often employed as
prefixes; which, as they generally have some peculiar import, may be
separately explained. A few of them are of Anglo-Saxon origin, or
character; and the greater part of these are still employed as separate
words in our language. The rest are Latin, Greek, or French prepositions.
The _roots_ to which they are prefixed, are not always proper English
words. Those which are such, are called SEPARABLE RADICALS; those which are
not such, INSEPARABLE RADICALS.


CLASS I--THE ENGLISH OR ANGLO-SAXON PREFIXES.

1. A, as an English prefix, signifies _on, in, at_, or _to_: as in
_a-board, a-shore, a-foot, a-bed, a-soak, a-tilt, a-slant, a-far, a-field_;
which are equal to the phrases, _on board, on shore, on foot, in bed, in
soak, at tilt, at slant, to a distance, to the fields_. The French _à_, to,
is probably the same particle. This prefix is sometimes redundant, adding
little or nothing to the meaning; as in _awake, arise, amend_.

2. BE, as a prefix, signifies _upon, over, by, to, at_, or _for_: as in
_be-spatter, be-cloud, be-times, be-tide, be-howl, be-speak_. It is
sometimes redundant, or merely intensive; as in _be-gird, be-deck,
be-loved, be-dazzle, be-moisten, be-praise, be-quote_.

3. COUNTER, an English prefix, allied to the French _Contre_, and the Latin
_Contra_, means _against_, or _opposite_; as in _counter-poise,
counter-evidence, counter-natural_.

4. FOR, as a prefix, unlike the common preposition _For_, seems generally
to signify _from_: it is found in the irregular verbs _for-bear, for-bid,
for-get, for-give, for-sake, for-swear_; and in _for-bathe, for-do,
for-pass, for-pine, for-say, for-think, for-waste_, which last are now
disused, the _for_ in several being merely intensive.

5. FORE, prefixed to a verb, signifies _before_; as in _fore-know,
fore-tell_: prefixed to a noun, it is usually an adjective, and signifies
anterior; as in _fore-side, fore-part_.

6. HALF, signifying _one of two equal parts_, is much used in composition;
and, often, merely to denote imperfection: as, _half-sighted_, seeing
imperfectly.

7. MIS signifies _wrong_ or _ill_; as in _mis-cite, mis-print, mis-spell,
mis-chance, mis-hap_.

8. OVER denotes superiority or excess; as in _over-power, over-strain,
over-large_.

9. OUT, prefixed to a verb, generally denotes excess; as in _out-do,
out-leap, out-poise_: prefixed to a noun, it is an adjective, and signifies
_exterior_; as in _out-side, out-parish_.

10. SELF generally signifies one's own person, or belonging to one's own
person; but, in _self-same_, it means _very_. We have many words beginning
with _Self_, but most of them seem to be compounds rather than derivatives;
as, _self-love, self-abasement, self-abuse, self-affairs, self-willed,
self-accusing_.

11. UN denotes negation or contrariety; as in _un-kind, un-load, un-truth,
un-coif_.

12. UNDER denotes inferiority; as in _under-value, under-clerk,
under-growth_.

13. UP denotes motion upwards; as in _up-lift_: sometimes subversion; as in
_up-set_.

14. WITH, as a prefix, unlike the common preposition _With_, signifies
_against, from_, or _back_; as in _with-stand, with-hold, with-draw,
with-stander, with-holdment, with-drawal_.


CLASS II.--THE LATIN PREFIXES.

The primitives or radicals to which these are prefixed, are not many of
them employed separately in English. The final letter of the prefix _Ad,
Con, Ex, In, Ob_, or _Sub_, is often changed before certain consonants; not
capriciously, but with uniformity, to adapt or assimilate it to the sound
which follows.

1. A, AB, or ABS, means From, or Away: as, _a-vert_, to turn from, or away;
_ab-duce_, to lead from; _ab-duction_, a carrying-away; _ab-stract_, to
draw from, or away.

2. AD,--forming _ac, af, al, an, ap, as, at_,--means To, or At: as,
_ad-vert_, to turn to; _ac-cord_, to yield to; _af-flux_, a flowing-to;
_al-ly_, to bind to; _an-nex_, to link to; _ap-ply_, to put to; _as-sume_,
to take to; _at-test_, to witness to; _ad-mire_, to wonder at.

3. ANTE means Fore, or Before: as, _ante-past_, a fore-taste;
_ante-cedent_, foregoing, or going before; _ante-mundane_, before the
world; _ante-date_, to date before.

4. CIRCUM means Round, Around, or About: as _circum-volve_, to roll round;
_circum-scribe_, to write round; _circum-vent_, to come round;
_circum-spect_, looking about one's self.

5. CON,--which forms _com, co, col, cor_,--means Together: as, _con-tract_,
to draw together; _compel_, to drive together; _co-erce_, to force
together; _col-lect_, to gather together; _cor-rade_, to rub or scrape
together; _con-junction_, a joining-together.

6. CONTRA, or CONTRO, means Against, or Counter: as, _contra-dict_, to
speak against; _contra-vene_, to come against; _contra-mure_, countermure;
_contro-vert_, to turn against.

7. DE means Of, From, or Down: as, _de-note_, to be a sign of; _de-tract_,
to draw from; _de-pend_, to hang down; _de-press_, to press down;
_de-crease_, to grow down, to grow less.

8. DIS, or DI, means Away, or Apart: as, _dis-pel_, to drive away;
_dis-sect_, to cut apart; _di-vert_, to turn away.

9. E, or Ex,--making also _ec, ef_,--means Out: as, _e-ject_, to cast out;
_e-lect_, to choose out; _ex-clude_, to shut out; _ex-cite_, to summon out;
_ec-stacy_, a raising out; _ef-face_, to blot out.

10. EXTRA means Beyond, or Out of: as, _extra-vagant_, syllabled
_ex-trav'a-gant_, roving be-yond; _extra-vasate, ex-trav'a-sate_, to flow
out of the vessels; _extra-territorial_, being out of the territory.

11. IN,--which makes also _il, im, ir_,--means In, Into, or Upon: as,
_in-spire_, to breathe in; _il-lude_, to draw in by deceit; _im-mure_, to
wall in; _ir-ruption_, a rushing in; _in-spect_, to look into; _in-scribe_,
to write upon; _in-sult_, to jump upon. These syllables, prefixed, to
English nouns or adjectives, generally reverse their meaning; as in
_in-justice, il-legality, im-partiality, ir-religion, ir-rational,
in-secure, in-sane_.

12. INTER means Between, or In between: as, _inter-sperse_, to scatter in
between; _inter-jection_, something thrown in between; _inter-jacent_,
lying between; _inter-communication_, communication between.

13. INTRO means In, Inwards, or Within: as, _intro-duce_, to lead in;
_intro-vert_, to turn inwards; _intro-spect_, to look within;
_intro-mission_, a sending-in.

14. OB,--which makes also _oc, of, op_,--means Against: as, _ob-trude_, to
thrust against; _oc-cur_, to run against; _of-fer_, to bring against;
_op-pose_, to place against; _ob-ject_, to cast against.

15. PER means Through or By: as, _per-vade_, to go through; _per-chance_,
by chance; _per-cent_, by the hundred; _per-plex_, to tangle through, or to
entangle thoroughly.

16. POST means After: as, _post-pone_, to place after; _post-date_, to date
after.

17. PRÆ, or PRE, means Before: as, _pre-sume_, to take before;
_pre-position_, a placing-before, or thing placed before; _præ-cognita_,
things known before.

18. PRO means For, Forth, or Forwards: as, _pro-vide_, to take care for;
_pro-duce_, to bring forth; _pro-trude_, to thrust forwards; _pro-ceed_, to
go forward; _pro-noun_, for a noun.

19. PRETER means By, Past, or Beyond: as, _preter-it_, bygone, or gone by;
_preter-imperfect_, past imperfect; _preter-natural_, beyond what is
natural; _preter-mit_, to put by, to omit.

20. RE means Again or Back: as, _re-view_, to view again; _re-pel_, to
drive back.

21. RETRO means Backwards, Backward, or Back: as, _retro-active_, acting
backwards; _retro-grade_, going backward; _retro-cede_, to cede back again.

22. SE means Aside or Apart: as, _se-duce_, to lead aside; _se-cede_, to go
apart.

23. SEMI means Half: as, _semi-colon_, half a colon; _semi-circle_, half a
circle.

24. SUB,--which makes _suf, sug, sup, sur_, and _sus_,--means Under, and
sometimes Up: as, _sub-scribe_, to write under; _suf-fossion_, an
undermining; _sug-gest_, to convey under; _sup-ply_, to put under;
_sur-reption_, a creeping-under; _sus-tain_, to hold up; _sub-ject_, cast
under.

25. SUBTER means Beneath: as, _subter-fluous_, flowing beneath.

26. SUPER means Over or Above: as, _super-fluous_, flowing over;
_super-natant_, swimming above; _super-lative_, carried over, or carrying
over; _super-vise_, to overlook, to oversee.

27. TRANS,--whence TRAN and TRA,--means Beyond, Over, To another state or
place: as, _trans-gress_, to pass beyond or over; _trans-cend_, to climb
over; _trans-mit_ to send to an other place; _trans-form_, to change to an
other shape; _tra-montane_, from beyond the mountains; i.e.,
_Trans-Alpine_, as opposed to _Cis-Alpine_.


CLASS III.--THE GREEK PREFIXES.

1. A and AN, in Greek derivatives, denote privation: as, _a-nomalous_,
wanting rules; _an-ony-mous_, wanting name; _an-archy_, want of government;
_a-cephalous_, headless.

2. AMPHI means Two, Both, or Double: as, _amphi-bious_, living in two
elements; _amphi-brach_, both [sides] short; _amphi-theatre_, a double
theatre.

3. ANTI means Against: as, _anti-slavery_, against slavery; _anti-acid_,
against acidity; _anti-febrile_, against fever; _anti-thesis_, a
placing-against.

4. APO, APH,--From: as, _apo-strophe_, a turning-from; _aph-aeresis_, a
taking from.

5. DIA,--Through: as, _dia-gonal_, through the corners; _dia-meter_,
measure through.

6. EPI, EPH,--Upon: as, _epi-demic_, upon the people; _eph-emera_, upon a
day.

7. HEMI means Half: as, _hemi-sphere_, half a sphere; _hemi-stich_, half a
verse.

8. HYPER means Over: as, _hyper-critical_, over-critical; _hyper-meter_,
over measure.  9. HYPO means Under: as, _hypo-stasis_, substance, or that
which stands under; _hypo-thesis_, supposition, or a placing-under;
_hypo-phyllous_, under the leaf.

10. META means Beyond, Over, To an other state or place: as,
_meta-morphose_, to change to an other shape; _meta-physics_, mental
science, as beyond or over physics.

11. PARA means Against: as, _para-dox_, something contrary to common
opinion.

12. PERI means Around: as, _peri-phery_, the circumference, or measure
round.

13. SYN,--whence _Sym, Syl_,--means Together: as, _syn-tax_, a
putting-together; _sym-pathy_, a suffering-together; _syl-lable_, what we
take together; _syn-thesis_ a placing-together.


CLASS IV.--THE FRENCH PREFIXES.

1. A is a preposition of very frequent use in French, and generally means
_To_. I have suggested above that it is probably the same as the
Anglo-Saxon prefix _a_. It is found in a few English compounds or
derivatives that are of French, and not of Saxon origin: as, _a-dieu_, to
God; i.e., I commend you to God; _a-larm_, from _alarme_, i e., _à l'arme_,
to arms.

2. DE means Of or From: as in _de-mure_, of manners; _de-liver_, to ease
from or of.

3. DEMI means Half: as, _demi-man_, half a man; _demi-god_, half a god;
_demi-devil_, half a devil; _demi-deify_, to half deify; _demi-sized_, half
sized; _demi-quaver_, half a quaver.  4. EN,--which sometimes becomes
em,--means In, Into, or Upon: as, _en-chain_, to hold in chains;
_em-brace_, to clasp in the arms; _en-tomb_, to put into a tomb; _em-boss_,
to stud upon. Many words are yet wavering between the French and the Latin
orthography of this prefix: as, _embody_, or _imbody; ensurance_, or
_insurance; ensnare_, or _insnare; enquire_, or _inquire_.

5. SUR, as a French prefix, means Upon, Over, or After: as, _sur-name_, a
name upon a name; _sur-vey_, to look over; _sur-mount_, to mount over or
upon; _sur-render_, to deliver over to others; _sur-feit_, to overdo in
eating; _sur-vive_, to live after, to over-live, to outlive.

END OF THE SECOND APPENDIX




APPENDIX III TO PART THIRD, OR SYNTAX.

OF THE QUALITIES OF STYLE.

Style, as a topic connected with syntax, is the particular manner in which
a person expresses his conceptions by means of language. It is different
from mere words, different from mere grammar, in any limited sense, and is
not to be regulated altogether by rules of construction. It always has some
relation to the author's peculiar manner of thinking; involves, to some
extent, and shows his literary, if not his moral, character; is, in
general, that sort of expression which his thoughts most readily assume;
and, sometimes, partakes not only of what is characteristic of the man, of
his profession, sect, clan, or province, but even of national peculiarity,
or some marked feature of the age. The words which an author employs, may
be proper in themselves, and so constructed as to violate no rule of
syntax, and yet his style may have great faults.

In reviews and critical essays, the general characters of style are usually
designated by such epithets as these;--concise, diffuse,--neat,
negligent,--terse, bungling,--nervous, weak,--forcible, feeble,--vehement,
languid,--simple, affected,--easy, stiff,--pure, barbarous,--perspicuous,
obscure,--elegant, uncouth,--florid, plain,--flowery, artless,--fluent,
dry,--piquant, dull,--stately, flippant,--majestic, mean,--pompous,
modest,--ancient, modern. A considerable diversity of style, may be found
in compositions all equally excellent in their kind. And, indeed, different
subjects, as well as the different endowments by which genius is
distinguished, require this diversity. But, in forming his style, the
learner should remember, that a negligent, feeble, affected, stiff,
uncouth, barbarous, or obscure style is always faulty; and that
perspicuity, ease, simplicity, strength, neatness, and purity, are
qualities always to be aimed at.

In order to acquire a good style, the frequent practice of composing and
writing something, is indispensably necessary. Without exercise and
diligent attention, rules or precepts for the attainment of this object,
will be of no avail. When the learner has acquired such a knowledge of
grammar, as to be in some degree qualified for the undertaking, he should
devote a stated portion of his time to composition. This exercise will
bring the powers of his mind into requisition, in a way that is well
calculated to strengthen them. And if he has opportunity for reading, he
may, by a diligent perusal of the best authors, acquire both language and
taste as well as sentiment;--and these three are the essential
qualifications of a good writer.

In regard to the qualities which constitute a good style, we can here offer
nothing more than a few brief hints. With respect to words and phrases,
particular attention should be paid to three things--_purity, propriety_,
and _precision_; and, with respect to sentences, to three
others,--_perspicuity, unity_, and _strength_. Under each of these six
heads, we shall arrange, in the form of short precepts, a few of the most
important directions for the forming of a good style.


SECTION I.--OF PURITY.

Purity of style consists in the use of such words and phrases only, as
belong to the language which we write or speak. Its opposites are the
faults aimed at in the following precepts.

PRECEPT I.--Avoid the unnecessary use of foreign words or idioms: such as
the French words _fraicheur, hauteur, delicatesse, politesse,
noblesse_;--the expression, "He _repented himself_;"--or, "It _serves_ to
an excellent purpose."

PRECEPT II.--Avoid obsolete or antiquated words, except there be some
special reason for their use: that is, such words as _acception,
addressful, administrate, affamish, affrontiveness, belikely, blusterous,
clergical, cruciate, rutilate, timidous_.

PRECEPT III.--Avoid strange or unauthorized words: such as, _flutteration,
inspectator, judgematical, incumberment, connexity, electerized,
martyrized, reunition, marvelize, limpitude, affectated, adorement,
absquatulate_. Of this sort is O. B. Peirce's "_assimilarity_," used on
page 19th of his _English Grammar_; and still worse is Jocelyn's
"_irradicable_," for _uneradicable_, used on page 5th of his _Prize Essay
on Education_.

PRECEPT IV.--Avoid bombast, or affectation of fine writing. It is
ridiculous, however serious the subject. The following is an example:
"Personifications, however rich the depictions, and unconstrained their
latitude; analogies, however imposing the objects of parallel, and the
media of comparison; can never expose the consequences of sin to the extent
of fact, or the range of demonstration."--_Anonymous_.


SECTION II.--OF PROPRIETY.

Propriety of language consists in the selection and right construction of
such words as the best usage has appropriated to those ideas which we
intend to express by them. Impropriety embraces all those forms of error,
which, for the purpose of illustration, exercise, and special criticism,
have been so methodically and so copiously posted up under the various
heads, rules, and notes, of this extensive Grammar. A few suggestions,
however, are here to be set down in the form of precepts.

PRECEPT I.--Avoid low and provincial expressions: such as, "Now, _says I_,
boys;"--"_Thinks I to myself;"--"To get into a scrape_;"--"Stay here
_while_ I come back;"--"_By jinkers;"--"By the living jingoes_."

PRECEPT II.--In writing prose, avoid words and phrases that are merely
poetical: such as, _morn, eve, plaint, corse, weal, drear, amid, oft,
steepy;--"what time_ the winds arise."

PRECEPT III.--Avoid technical terms: except where they are necessary in
treating of a particular art or science. In technology, they are proper.

PRECEPT IV.--Avoid the recurrence of a word in different senses, or such a
repetition of words as denotes paucity of language: as, "His own _reason_
might have suggested better _reasons_."--"Gregory _favoured_ the
undertaking, for no other reason than this; that the manager, in
countenance, _favoured_ his friend."--"I _want_ to go and see what he
_wants_."

PRECEPT V.--Supply words that are wanting: thus, instead of saying, "This
action increased his former services," say, "This action increased _the
merit of_ his former services."--"How many [_kinds of_] substantives are
there? Two; proper and common."--See _E. Devis's Gram._, p. 14. "These
changes should not be left to be settled by chance or by caprice, but
[_should be determined_] by the judicious application of the principles of
Orthography."--See _Fowlers E. Gram._, 1850, p. 170.

PRECEPT VI.--Avoid equivocal or ambiguous expressions: as, "His _memory_
shall be lost on the earth."--"I long since learned to like nothing but
what you _do_."

PRECEPT VII.--Avoid unintelligible, inconsistent, or inappropriate
expressions: such as, "I have observed that the superiority among these
coffee-house politicians proceeds from _an opinion_ of gallantry and
fashion."--"These words do not convey even an _opaque_ idea of the author's
meaning."

PRECEPT VIII.--Observe the natural order of things or events, and do not
_put the cart before the horse_: as, "The scribes _taught and studied_ the
Law of Moses."--"They can neither _return to nor leave_ their houses."--"He
tumbled, _head over heels_, into the water."--"'Pat, how did you carry that
quarter of beef?' 'Why, I thrust _it through a stick_, and threw _my
shoulder over it_.'"



SECTION III.--OF PRECISION.

Precision consists in avoiding all superfluous words, and adapting the
expression exactly to the thought, so as to say, with no deficiency or
surplus of terms, whatever is intended by the author. Its opposites are
noticed in the following precepts.

PRECEPT I.--Avoid a useless tautology, either of expression or of
sentiment; as, "When will you return _again_?"--"We returned _back_ home
_again_."--"On entering _into_ the room, I saw _and discovered_ he had
fallen _down_ on the floor and could not _rise_ up."--"They have a _mutual_
dislike to each other."--"Whenever I go, he _always_ meets me
there."--"Where is he _at? In_ there."--"His faithfulness _and fidelity_
should be rewarded."

PRECEPT II.--Repeat words as often as an exact exhibition of your meaning
requires them; for repetition may be elegant, if it be not useless. The
following example does not appear faulty: "Moral _precepts_ are _precepts_
the reasons of which we see; positive _precepts_ are _precepts_ the reasons
of which we do not see."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 165.

PRECEPT III.--Observe the exact meaning of words accounted synonymous, and
employ those which are the most suitable; as, "A diligent scholar may
_acquire_ knowledge, _gain_ celebrity, _obtain_ rewards, _win_ prizes, and
_get_ high honour, though he _earn_ no money." These six verbs have nearly
the same meaning, and yet no two of them can here be correctly
interchanged.

PRECEPT IV.--Observe the proper form of each word, and do not confound such
as resemble each other. "Professor J. W. Gibbs, of Yale College," in
treating of the "Peculiarities of the Cockney Dialect," says, "The Londoner
sometimes confounds two different forms; as _contagious_ for _contiguous;
eminent_ for _imminent; humorous_ for _humorsome; ingeniously_ for
_ingenuously; luxurious_ for _luxuriant; scrupulosity_ for _scruple;
successfully_ for _successively_."--See _Fowler's E. Gram._, p. 87; and
Pref., p. vi.

PRECEPT V.--Think clearly, and avoid absurd or incompatible expressions.
Example of error: "To pursue _those_ remarks, would, _probably_, be of no
further _service_ to the learner than _that of burdening his memory_ with a
catalogue of dry and _uninteresting_ peculiarities; _which may gratify
curiosity_, without affording information adequate to the trouble of the
perusal."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 122.

PRECEPT VI.--Avoid words that are useless; and, especially, a
multiplication of them into sentences, members, or clauses, that may well
be spared. Example: "If one could _really_ be a spectator of what is
passing in the world _around us_ without taking part in the events, _or
sharing in the passions and actual performance on the stage; if we could
set ourselves down, as it were, in a private box of the world's great
theatre, and quietly look on at the piece that is playing, no more moved
than is absolutely implied by sympathy with our fellow-creatures, what a
curious, what an amusing_, what an interesting spectacle would life
present."--G. P. R. JAMES: "_The Forger_," commencement of Chap. xxxi. This
sentence contains _eighty-seven_ words, "of which _sixty-one_ are entirely
unnecessary to the expression of the author's idea, if idea it can be
called."--_Holden's Review_.


OBSERVATION.

Verbosity, as well as tautology, is not so directly opposite to precision,
as to conciseness, or brevity. From the manner in which lawyers usually
multiply terms in order to express their facts _precisely_, it would seem
that, with them, precision consists rather in the use of _many_ words than
of _few_. But the ordinary style of legal instruments no popular writer can
imitate without becoming ridiculous. A terse or concise style is very apt
to be elliptical: and, in some particular instances, must be so; but, at
the same time, the full expression, perhaps, may have more _precision_,
though it be less agreeable. For example: "A word of one syllable, is
called a monosyllable; a word of two syllables, _is called_ a dissyllable:
a word of three syllables, _is called_ a trisyllable: a word of four or
more syllables, _is called_ a polysyllable."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p.
19. Better, perhaps, thus: "A word of one syllable is called a
_monosyllable_; a word of two syllables, a _dissyllable_; a word of three
syllables, a _trissyllable_; and a word of four or more syllables, a
_polysyllable_."--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 17.


SECTION IV.--OF PERSPICUITY.

Perspicuity consists in freedom from obscurity or ambiguity. It is a
quality so essential to every kind of writing, that for the want of it no
merit of other name can compensate. "Without this, the richest ornaments of
style, only glimmer through the dark, and puzzle in stead of pleasing the
reader."--_Dr. Blair_. Perspicuity, being the most important property of
language, and an exemption from the most embarrassing defects, seems even
to rise to a degree of positive beauty. We are naturally pleased with a
style that frees us from all suspense in regard to the meaning; that
carries us through the subject without embarrassment or confusion; and that
always flows like a limpid stream, through which we can "see to the very
bottom." Many of the errors which have heretofore been pointed out to the
reader, are offences against perspicuity. Only three or four hints will
here be added.

PRECEPT I.--Place adjectives, relative pronouns, participles, adverbs, and
explanatory phrases near enough to the words to which they relate, and in a
position which will make their reference clear. The following sentences are
deficient in perspicuity: "Reverence is the veneration paid to superior
sanctity, _intermixed_ with a certain degree of awe."--_Unknown_. "The
Romans understood liberty, _at least_, as well as we."--See _Murray's
Gram._, p. 307. "Taste was never _made to cater_ for vanity."--_J. Q.
Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i, p. 119.

PRECEPT II.--In prose, avoid a poetic collocation of words. For example:
"Guard your weak side from being known. If it be attacked, the best way is,
to join in the attack."--KAMES: _Art of Thinking_, p. 75. This maxim of
prudence might be expressed more poetically, but with some loss of
perspicuity, thus: "Your weak side guard from being known. Attacked in
this, the assailants join."

PRECEPT III.--Avoid faulty ellipses, and repeat all words necessary to
preserve the sense. The following sentences require the words which are
inserted in crotchets: "Restlessness of mind disqualifies us, both for the
enjoyment of peace, and [_for_] the performance of our duty."--_Murray's
Key_, 8vo, p. 166. "Double Comparatives and [_Double_] Superlatives should
be avoided."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 1850, p. 489.

PRECEPT IV.--Avoid the pedantic and sense-dimming style of charlatans and
new theorists, which often demands either a translation or a tedious study,
to make it at all intelligible to the ordinary reader. For example: "RULE
XL Part 3. An intransitive or receptive _asserter_ in the unlimited mode,
depending on a word in the possessive case, may have, after it, a word in
the subjective case, denoting the same thing: And, when it acts the part of
an assertive name, depending on a relative, it may have after it a word in
the subjective case. EXAMPLES:--John's being my _friend_, saved me from
inconvenience. Seth Hamilton was unhappy in being a _slave_ to party
prejudice."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, 1839, p. 201. The meaning of this
_third part of a Rule_ of syntax, is, in proper English, as follows: "A
participle not transitive, with the possessive case before it, may have
after it a nominative denoting the same thing; and also, when a preposition
governs the participle, a nominative may follow, in agreement with one
which precedes." In doctrine, the former clause of the sentence is
erroneous: it serves only to propagate false syntax by rule. See the former
example, and a note of mine, referring to it, on page 531 of this work.


SECTION V.--OF UNITY.

Unity consists in avoiding needless pauses, and keeping one object
predominant throughout a sentence or paragraph. Every sentence, whether its
parts be few or many, requires strict unity. The chief faults, opposite to
this quality of style, are suggested in the following precepts. PRECEPT
I.--Avoid brokenness, hitching, or the unnecessary separation of parts that
naturally come together. Examples: "I was, soon after my arrival, taken out
of my Indian habit."--_Addison, Tattler_, No. 249. Better: "Soon after my
arrival, _I_ was taken out of my Indian habit."--_Churchill's Gram._, p.
326. "Who can, either in opposition, or in the ministry, act alone?"--_Ib._
Better: "Who can act alone, either in opposition, or in the
ministry?"--_Ib._ "I, like others, have, in my youth, trifled with my
health, and old age now prematurely assails me."--_Ib._, p. 327. Better:
"Like others, I have trifled with my health, and old age now prematurely
assails me."

PRECEPT II.--Treat different topics in separate paragraphs, and distinct
sentiments in separate sentences. Error: "The two volumes are, indeed,
intimately _connected, and constitute_ one uniform system of English
Grammar."--_Murray's Preface_, p. iv. Better thus: "The two volumes are,
indeed, intimately connected. _They_ constitute one uniform system of
English _grammar_."

PRECEPT III.--In the progress of a sentence, do not desert the principal
subjects in favour of adjuncts, or change the scene unnecessarily. Example:
"After we came to anchor, they put me on shore, where I was welcomed by all
my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness, which was not then
expected." Better: "The vessel having come to anchor, I was put on shore;
where I was unexpectedly welcomed by all my friends, and received with the
greatest kindness."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 107.

PRECEPT IV.--Do not introduce parentheses, except when a lively remark may
be thrown in without diverting the mind too long from the principal
subject. Example: "But (saith he) since I take upon me to teach the whole
world, (it is strange, it should be so natural for this man to write
untruths, since I direct my _Theses_ only to the Christian world; but if it
may render me odious, such _Peccadillo's_ pass with him, it seems, but for
_Piæ Fraudes_:) I intended never to write of those things, concerning which
we do not differ from others."--_R. Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii. p. 279. The
parts of this sentence are so put together, that, as a whole, it is
scarcely intelligible.


SECTION VI.--OF STRENGTH.

Strength consists in giving to the several words and members of a sentence,
such an arrangement as shall bring out the sense to the best advantage, and
present every idea in its due importance. Perhaps it is essential to this
quality of style, that there be animation, spirit, and _vigour of thought_,
in all that is uttered. A few hints concerning the Strength of sentences,
will here be given in the form of precepts.

PRECEPT I.--Avoid verbosity; a concise style is the most favourable to
strength. Examples: "No human happiness is so pure as not to contain _any_
alloy."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 270. Better: "No human happiness is
_unalloyed_." "He was so much skilled in the exercise of the oar, that few
could equal him."--_Ib._, p. 271. Better: "He was so _skillful at_ the oar,
that few could _match_ him." Or thus: "At the oar, he was _rarely
equalled_." "The reason why they [the pronouns] are considered separately
is, because there is something particular in their inflections."--
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 81. Better: "The pronouns are considered
separately, because there is something peculiar in their inflections."

PRECEPT II.--Place the most important words in the situation in which they
will make the strongest impression. Inversion of terms sometimes increases
the strength and vivacity of an expression: as, "All these things will I
give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."--_Matt._, iv, 9.
"Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgements."--_Psalms_,
cxix, 137. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints."--_Ps._, cxvi, 15.

PRECEPT III.--Have regard also to the relative position of clauses, or
members; for a weaker assertion should not follow a stronger; and, when the
sentence consists of two members, the longer should be the concluding one.
Example: "We flatter ourselves with the belief that we have forsaken our
passions, when they have forsaken us." Better: "When our passions have
forsaken us, we flatter ourselves with the belief that we have forsaken
them."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 117; _Murray's Gram._, p. 323.

PRECEPT IV.--When things are to be compared or contrasted, their
resemblance or opposition will be rendered more striking, if a pretty near
resemblance in the language and construction of the two members, be
preserved. Example: "The wise man is happy, when he gains his own
approbation; the fool, when he recommends himself to the applause of those
about him." Better: "The wise man is happy, when he gains his own
approbation; the fool, when he gains the applause of others."--See
_Murray's Gram._, p. 324.

PRECEPT V.--Remember that it is, in general, ungraceful to end a sentence
with an adverb, a preposition, or any inconsiderable word or phrase, which
may either be omitted or be introduced earlier. "For instance, it is a
great deal better to say, 'Avarice is a crime of which wise men are often
guilty,' than to say, 'Avarice is a crime which wise men are often guilty
of.'"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 117; _Murray's Gram._, p. 323.


END OF THE THIRD APPENDIX.




APPENDIX IV.

TO PART FOURTH, OR PROSODY.

OF POETIC DICTION.

Poetry, as defined by Dr. Blair, "is the language of passion, or of
enlivened imagination, formed, most commonly, into regular
numbers."--_Rhet._, p. 377. The style of poetry differs, in many respects,
from that which is commonly adopted in prose. Poetic diction abounds in
bold figures of speech, and unusual collocations of words. A great part of
the figures, which have been treated of in one of the chapters of Prosody,
are purely poetical. The primary aim of a poet, is, to please and to move;
and, therefore, it is to the imagination, and the passions, that he speaks.
He may also, and he should, have it in his view, to instruct and to reform;
but it is indirectly, and by pleasing and moving, that such a writer
accomplishes this end. The exterior and most obvious distinction of poetry,
is versification: yet there are some forms of verse so loose and familiar,
as to be hardly distinguishable from prose; and there is also a species of
prose, so measured in its cadences, and so much raised in its tone, as to
approach very nearly to poetic numbers.

This double approximation of some poetry to prose, and of some prose to
poetry, not only makes it a matter of acknowledged difficulty to
distinguish, by satisfactory definitions, the two species of composition,
but, in many instances, embarrasses with like difficulty the attempt to
show, by statements and examples, what usages or licenses, found in English
works, are proper to be regarded as peculiarities of poetic diction. It is
purposed here, to enumerate sundry deviations from the common style of
prose; and perhaps all of them, or nearly all, may be justly considered as
pertaining only to poetry.


POETICAL PECULIARITIES.

The following are among the chief peculiarities in which the poets indulge,
and are indulged:--

I. They not unfrequently omit the ARTICLES, for the sake of brevity or
metre; as,

   "What dreadful pleasure! there to stand sublime,
    Like _shipwreck'd mariner_ on _desert_ coast!"
        --_Beattie's Minstrel_, p. 12.

    "_Sky lour'd_, and, muttering thunder, some sad drops
    Wept at _completing_ of the mortal sin."
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. ix, l. 1002.

II. They sometimes abbreviate common NOUNS, after a manner of their own:
as, _amaze_, for _amazement_; _acclaim_, for _acclamation_; _consult_, for
_consultation_; _corse_, for _corpse_; _eve_ or _even_, for _evening_;
_fount_, for _fountain_; _helm_, for _helmet_; _lament_, for _lamentation_;
_morn_, for _morning_; _plaint_, for _complaint_; _targe_, for _target_;
_weal_, for _wealth_.

III. By _enallage_, they use verbal forms substantively, or put verbs for
nouns; perhaps for brevity, as above: thus,

1. "Instant, without _disturb_, they took alarm."
        --_P. Lost: Joh. Dict., w. Aware._

2. "The gracious Judge, without _revile_ reply'd."
        --_P. Lost, B. x, l. 118._

3. "If they were known, as the _suspect_ is great."
        --_Shakspeare._

4. "Mark, and perform it: seest thou? for the _fail_
       Of any point in't shall be death."
        --_Shakspeare._

IV. They employ several nouns that are not used in prose, or are used but
rarely; as, _benison, boon, emprise, fane, guerdon, guise, ire, ken, lore,
meed, sire, steed, welkin, yore_.

V. They introduce the noun _self_ after an other noun of the possessive
case; as,

    1. "Affliction's semblance bends not o'er thy tomb,
       Affliction's _self_ deplores thy youthful doom."--_Byron._

    2. "Thoughtless of beauty, she was beauty's _self._"--_Thomson._

VI. They place before the verb nouns, or other words, that usually come
after it; and, after it, those that usually come before it: as,

1. "No jealousy _their dawn of love_ o'ercast,
    Nor _blasted_ were _their wedded days_ with strife."
        --_Beattie._

2. "No _hive_ hast _thou_ of hoarded sweets."
        --_W. Allen's Gram._

3. "Thy chain _a wretched weight_ shall prove."
        --_Langhorne._

4. "Follows the loosen'd aggravated _roar._"
        --_Thomson._

5. "That _purple_ grows _the primrose pale._"
        --_Langhorne._

VII. They more frequently place ADJECTIVES after their nouns, than do prose
writers; as,

1. "Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand,
    Show'rs on her kings _barbaric_, pearl and gold."
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. ii, l. 2.

2. "Come, nymph _demure_, with mantle _blue_."
        --_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 189.

3. "This truth _sublime_ his simple sire had taught."
        --_Beattie's Minstrel_, p. 14.

VIII. They ascribe qualities to things to which they do not literally
belong; as,

1. "The ploughman homeward plods his _weary way_."
        --_Gray's Elegy_, l. 3.

2. "Or _drowsy tinklings_ lull the distant folds."
        --_Ibidem_, l. 8.

3. "Imbitter'd more and more from _peevish day_ to day."
        --_Thomson_.

4. "All thin and naked, to the _numb_ cold _night_."
        --_Shakspeare_.

IX. They use concrete terms to express abstract qualities; (i. e.,
adjectives for nouns;) as,

1. "Earth's meanest son, all trembling, prostrate falls,
    And on the _boundless_ of thy goodness calls."
        --_Young_.

2. "Meanwhile, whate'er of _beautiful_ or _new_,
    _Sublime_ or _dreadful_, in earth, sea, or sky,
    By chance or search, was offer'd to his view,
    He scann'd with curious and romantic eye."
        --_Beattie_.

3. "Won from the void and formless _infinite_."
        --_Milton_.

4. "To thy large heart give utterance due; thy heart
    Contains of _good, wise, just_, the perfect shape."
        --_Id., P. R._, B. iii, l. 10.

X. They often substitute quality for manner; (i. e., adjectives for
adverbs;) as,

1. ----"The stately-sailing swan
   Gives out his snowy plumage to the gale,
   And, arching _proud_ his neck, with oary feet,
   Bears forward _fierce_, and guards his osier isle."
        --_Thomson_.

2. "Thither _continual_ pilgrims crowded still."
        --_Id., Cos. of Ind._, i, 8.

3. "Level at beauty, and at wit;
    The fairest mark is _easiest_ hit."
        --_Butler's Hudibras_.

XI. They form new compound epithets, oftener than do prose writers; as,

1. "In _world-rejoicing_ state, it moves sublime."
        --_Thomson_.

2. "The _dewy-skirted_ clouds imbibe the sun."
        --_Idem_.

3. "By brooks and groves in _hollow-whispering_ gales."
        --_Idem_.

4. "The violet of _sky-woven_ vest."
        --_Langhorne_.

5. "A league from Epidamnum had we sail'd,
    Before the _always-wind-obeying_ deep
    Gave any tragic instance of our harm."
        --_Shakspeare_.

6. "'_Blue-eyed, strange-voiced, sharp-beaked, ill-omened_ fowl,
    What art thou?' 'What I ought to be, an owl.'"
        --_Day's Punctuation_, p. 139.

XII. They connect the comparative degree to the positive, before a verb;
as,

1. "_Near and more near_ the billows rise."
        --_Merrick_.

2. "_Wide and wider_ spreads the vale."
        --_Dyer's Grongar Hill_.

3. "_Wide and more wide_, the overflowings of the mind
    Take every creature in, of every kind."
        --_Pope_.

4. "_Thick and more thick_ the black blockade extends,
    A hundred head of Aristotle's friends."
        --_Id., Dunciad_.

XIII. They form many adjectives in _y_, which are not common in prose; as,
The _dimply_ flood,--_dusky_ veil,--a _gleamy_ ray,--_heapy_
harvests,--_moony_ shield,--_paly_ circlet,--_sheety_ lake,--_stilly_
lake,--_spiry_ temples,--_steely_ casque,--_steepy_ hill,--_towery_
height,--_vasty_ deep,--_writhy_ snake.

XIV. They employ adjectives of an abbreviated form: as, _dread_, for
_dreadful_; _drear_, for _dreary_; _ebon_, for _ebony_; _hoar_, for
_hoary_; _lone_, for _lonely_; _scant_, for _scanty_; _slope_, for
_sloping_: _submiss_, for _submissive_; _vermil_, for _vermilion_; _yon_,
for _yonder_.

XV. They employ several adjectives that are not used in prose, or are used
but seldom; as, _azure, blithe, boon, dank, darkling, darksome, doughty,
dun, fell, rife, rapt, rueful, sear, sylvan, twain, wan._

XVI. They employ the personal PRONOUNS, and introduce their nouns
afterwards; as,

1. "_It_ curl'd not Tweed alone, that _breeze_."
        --_Sir W. Scott_.

2. "What may _it_ be, the heavy _sound_
    That moans old Branksome's turrets round?"
        --_Idem, Lay_, p. 21.

3. "Is it the lightning's quivering glance,
      That on the thicket streams;
    Or do _they_ flash on spear and lance,
      The sun's retiring _beams_"
        --_Idem, L. of L._, vi, 15.

XVII. They use the forms of the second person singular oftener than do
others; as,

1. "Yet I had rather, if I were to chuse,
    _Thy_ service in some graver subject use,
    Such as may make _thee_ search thy coffers round,
    Before _thou clothe_ my fancy in fit sound."
        --_Milton's Works_, p. 133.

2. "But _thou_, of temples old, or altars new,
    _Standest_ alone--with nothing like to thee."
        --_Byron, Pilg._, iv, 154.

3. "Thou seest not all; but piecemeal thou must break,
    To separate contemplation, the great whole."
        --_Id., ib._, iv, 157.

4. "Thou rightly deemst, fair youth, began the bard;
    The form then sawst was Virtue ever fair."
        --_Pollok, C. of T._, p. 16.

XVIII. They sometimes omit relatives that are nominatives; (see Obs. 22, at
p. 555;) as,

   "For is there aught in sleep can charm the wise?"
        --_Thomson_.

XIX. They omit the antecedent, or introduce it after the relative; as,

1. "_Who_ never fasts, no banquet e'er enjoys,
    _Who_ never toils or watches, never sleeps."
        --_Armstrong_.

2. "_Who_ dares think one thing and an other tell,
    My soul detests _him_ as the gates of hell."
        --_Pope's Homer_.

XX. They remove relatives, or other connectives, into the body of their
clauses; as,

1. "Parts the fine locks, her graceful head _that_ deck."
        --_Darwin_.

2. "Not half so dreadful rises to the sight
    Orion's dog, the year _when_ autumn weighs."
        --_Pope, Iliad_, B. xxii, l. 37.

XXI. They make intransitive VERBS transitive, changing their class; as,

1. ----"A while he stands,
   _Gazing_ the inverted landscape, half afraid
   To _meditate_ the blue profound below."
        --_Thomson_.

2. "Still in harmonious intercourse, they _liv'd_
    The rural day, and _talk'd_ the flowing heart."
        --_Idem_.

3. ----"I saw and heard, for we sometimes
   Who _dwell_ this wild, constrain'd by want, come forth."
        --_Milton, P. R._, B. i, l. 330.

XXII. They make transitive verbs intransitive, giving them no regimen; as,

1. "The soldiers should have _toss'd_ me on their pikes,
    Before I would have _granted_ to that act."
        --_Shakspeare_.

2. "This minstrel-god, well-pleased, amid the quire
    Stood proud to _hymn_, and tune his youthful lyre."
        --_Pope_.

XXIII. They give to the imperative mood the first and the third person; as,

1. "_Turn we_ a moment fancy's rapid flight."
        --_Thomson_.

2. "_Be_ man's peculiar _work_ his sole delight."
        --_Beattie_.

3. "And what is reason? Be _she_ thus _defin'd_:
    Reason is upright stature in the soul."
        --_Young_.

XXIV. They employ _can, could_, and _would_, as principal verbs transitive;
as,

1. "_What_ for ourselves we _can_, is always ours."
        --_Anon_.

2. "Who does the best his circumstance allows,
    Does well, acts nobly; angels _could_ no _more_."
        --_Young_.

3. "What _would_ this man? Now upward will he soar,
    And, little less than angel, would be more."
        --_Pope_.

XXV. They place the infinitive before the word on which it depends; as,

1. "When first thy sire _to send_ on earth
    Virtue, his darling child, _design'd_"
        --_Gray_.

2. "As oft as I, _to kiss_ the flood, _decline_;
    So oft his lips ascend, to close with mine."
        --_Sandys_.

3. "Besides, Minerva, _to secure_ her care,
    _Diffus'd_ around a veil of thicken'd air."
        --_Pope_.

XXVI. They place the auxiliary verb after its principal, by hyperbaton; as,

1. "No longer _heed_ the sunbeam bright
    That plays on Carron's breast he _can_"
        --_Langhorne_.

2. "_Follow_ I _must_, I cannot go before."
        --_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 147.

3. "The man who suffers, loudly may complain;
    And _rage_ he _may_, but he shall rage in vain."
        --_Pope_.

XXVII. Before verbs, they sometimes arbitrarily employ or omit prefixes:
_as, bide_, or _abide_; _dim_, or _bedim_; _gird_, or _begird_; _lure_, or
_allure_; _move_, or _emove_; _reave_, or _bereave_; _vails_, or _avails_;
_vanish_, or _evanish_; _wail_, or _bewail_; _weep_, or _beweep_; _wilder_,
or _bewilder_:--

1. "All knees to thee shall bow, of them that _bide_
    In heav'n, or earth, or under earth in hell."
        --_Milton, P. L._, B. iii, l. 321.

2. "Of a horse, _ware_ the heels; of a bull-dog, the jaws;
    Of a bear, the embrace; of a lion, the paws."
        --_Churchills Cram._, p. 215.

XXVIII. Some few verbs they abbreviate: as _list_, for _listen_; _ope_, for
_open_; _hark_, for _hearken_; _dark_, for _darken_; _threat_, for
_threaten_; _sharp_, for _sharpen_.

XXIX. They employ several verbs that are not used in prose, or are used but
rarely; as, _appal, astound, brook, cower, doff, ken, wend, ween, trow_.

XXX. They sometimes imitate a Greek construction of the infinitive; as,

1. "Who would not sing for Lycidas? he knew
    Himself _to sing_, and _build_ the lofty rhyme."
        --_Milton_.

2. "For not, _to have been dipp'd_ in Lethè lake,
    Could save the son of Thetis _from to die_."
        --_Spenser_.

XXXI. They employ the PARTICIPLES more frequently than prose writers, and
in a construction somewhat peculiar; often intensive by accumulation: as,

1. "He came, and, standing in the midst, explain'd
    The peace _rejected_, but the truce _obtain'd_."
        --_Pope_.

2. "As a poor miserable captive thrall
    Comes to the place where he before had sat
    Among the prime in splendor, now _depos'd,
    Ejected, emptied, gaz'd, unpitied, shunn'd_,
    A spectacle of ruin or of scorn."
        --_Milton, P. R._, B. i, l. 411.

3. "Though from our birth the faculty divine
    Is _chain'd_ and _tortured--cabin'd, cribb'd, confined_."
        --_Byron, Pilg._, C. iv, St. 127.

XXXII. In turning participles to adjectives, they sometimes ascribe
actions, or active properties, to things to which they do not literally
belong; as,

   "The green leaf quivering in the gale,
    The _warbling hill_, the _lowing vale_."
        --MALLET: _Union Poems_, p. 26.

XXXIII. They employ several ADVERBS that are not used in prose, or are used
but seldom; as, _oft, haply, inly, blithely, cheerily, deftly, felly,
rifely, starkly_.

XXXIV. They give to adverbs a peculiar location in respect to other words;
as,

1. "Peeping from _forth_ their alleys green."
        --_Collins_.

2. "Erect the standard _there_ of ancient Night"
        --_Milton_.

3. "The silence _often_ of pure innocence
    Persuades, when speaking fails."
        --_Shakspeare_.

4. "Where Universal Love _not_ smiles around."
        --_Thomson_.

5. "Robs me of that which _not_ enriches him."
        --_Shakspeare_.

XXXV. They sometimes omit the introductory adverb _there_: as,

   "_Was_ nought around but images of rest."
        --_Thomson_.

XXXVI. They briefly compare actions by a kind of compound adverbs, ending
in _like_; as,

   "Who bid the stork, _Columbus-like_, explore
    Heavens not his own, and worlds unknown before?"
        --_Pope_.

XXXVII. They employ the CONJUNCTIONS, _or--or_, and _nor--nor_, as
correspondents; as,

1. "_Or_ by the lazy Scheldt _or_ wandering Po."
        --_Goldsmith_.

2. "Wealth heap'd on wealth, _nor_ truth, _nor_ safety buys."
        --_Johnson_.

3. "Who by repentance is not satisfied,
    Is _nor_ of heaven, _nor_ earth; for these are pleas'd."
        --_Shakspeare_.

4. "Toss it, _or_ to the fowls, _or_ to the flames."
        --_Young, N. T._, p. 157.

5. "_Nor_ shall the pow'rs of hell, _nor_ wastes of time,
    _Or_ vanquish, _or_ destroy."
        --_Gibbon's Elegy on Davies_.

XXXVIII. They oftener place PREPOSITIONS and their adjuncts, before the
words on which they depend, than do prose writers; as,

   "_Against_ your fame _with_ fondness hate _combines_;
    The rival batters, and the lover mines."
        --_Dr. Johnson_.

XXXIX. They sometimes place a long or dissyllabic preposition after its
object; as,

1. "When beauty, _Eden's bowers within_,
    First stretched the arm to deeds of sin,
    When passion burn'd and prudence slept,
    The pitying angels bent and wept."
        --_James Hogg_.

2. "The Muses fair, _these peaceful shades among_,
    With skillful fingers sweep the trembling strings."
        --_Lloyd_.

3. "Where Echo walks _steep hills among_,
    List'ning to the shepherd's song."
        --_J. Warton, U. Poems_, p. 33.

XL. They have occasionally employed certain prepositions for which,
perhaps, it would not be easy to cite prosaic authority; as, _adown, aloft,
aloof, anear, aneath, askant, aslant, aslope, atween, atwixt, besouth,
traverse, thorough, sans_. (See Obs. 10th, and others, at p. 441.)

XLI. They oftener employ INTERJECTIONS than do prose writers; as,

   "_O_ let me gaze!--Of gazing there's no end.
    _O_ let me think!--Thought too is wilder'd here."
        --_Young_.

XLII. They oftener employ ANTIQUATED WORDS and modes of expression; as,

1. "_Withouten_ that, would come _an_ heavier bale."
        --_Thomson_.

2. "He was, _to weet_, a little roguish page,
    _Save_ sleep and play, who minded nought at all."
        --_Id._

3. "Not one _eftsoons_ in view was to be found."
        --_Id._

4. "To number up the thousands dwelling here,
    _An_ useless were, and eke _an_ endless task."
        --_Id._

5. "Of clerks good plenty here you _mote espy_."
        --_Id._

6. "But these I _passen_ by with nameless numbers _moe_."
        --_Id._


THE END OF APPENDIX FOURTH




INDEX TO THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH GRAMMARS.

[Asterism] _In the following Index, the_ page _of the Grammar is directly
referred to_: Obs. _or_ N. _before a numeral, stands for_ Observation _or_
Observations, _or for_ Note _or_ Notes _of the text_: R. _after a
reference, stands for_ RULE. _The small letter_ n., _with an asterisk or
other mark affixed to it, relates to a_ footnote _with such mark in the
Grammar. Occasionally_, t., m., _or_ b., _or_ u., _or_ l., _accompanies a
reference, to indicate the_ top, middle, _or_ bottom, _or the_ upper _or
the_ lower half, _of the page referred to. Few abbreviations are employed
beyond those of the ordinary grammatical terms. The Index is not intended
to supersede the use of the_ Table of Contents, _which stands after the
Preface. It is occupied wholly with the matter of the_ Grammar _proper;
hence there are in it no references to the_ Introduction Historical and
Critical, _which precedes the didactic portion of the work. In the Table
before-mentioned must be sought the general division of English grammar,
and matters pertaining to praxis, to examination, and to the writing of
exercises_.

A.

A, lett., names itself
    --its plur.
    --sounds properly its own
    --numb. of sounds pertaining to, orthoëpists differ concerning
    --diphthongs beginning with,
    --triphth. do.
    --its true sound to be carefully preserved at end of words,
  _A_, as prep, or prefix
    --before part, in _ing_.
  _A_ and _an_, in Gr. derivatives.
  _A_ or _an_, art., see _An, A_

_Abbreviations_, frequent in writt. lang.
    --rule of punct. for.
  C, M, D, &c., as numerals, see _Letters_.
  Needless abbreviations, to be avoided

_Able, ible_, class of adjectives in, numerous in Eng.; difficulty with
  resp. to the prop. form and signif. of; to what _able_ most properly
  belongs
    --application of _able_ to nouns, its propriety doubtf.
    --_Able_ or _ible_, prop. application of, how far determined from Lat.
      etymol.
    --_Able_ and _ible_, words of the same meaning in, how formed from
      different roots,

_About_, with infin., as substitute for Lat. fut. part, in _rus_
    --_About_, with _of_ preced., ("OF ABOUT _one hundred feet_")
    --_About_, derivat. of, from Sax.

_Abrupt_ transitions in the Bible

_Absolute_, when, and in what _case_, a noun or a pron. is put
    --_Absol._, case, defect of the common rule for
    --in how many ways the nom. case is put
    --nom. case put, with part., to what often equivalent; what part.
      frequently understood after nouns put
    --case, its existence denied by what authors
    --words put, punct. of,

_Abstract numbers_, synt. of the phraseology used in speaking of, ("_Twice
two_ IS _four_," or "_Twice two_ ARE _four_")

_Absurd_ or incompatible expressions, to be avoided

_Absurdities_ of expression, Crit. N. concerning

_Acatalectic_, when a line is said to be

_Accent_ and quantity, critical observations on

_Accent_, difficulty with respect to the import of the word
    --various definitions of, cited
    --_Accent_, confounded by some with _emphasis_
    --defined, as commonly understood
    --chief or primary and secondary
    --_Accent_, by what regulated
    --compared with emphasis
    --as affected by do.
    --is distinct from quantity
    --as understood by DR. JOH.
    --SHERID. teachings concerning; mostly adopted by MURR.
    --what lett. of a word receives the mark of
    --stress on a monosyl. more properly _emphasis_ than
    --_Accents_, more than one on a word
    --DR. ADAM'S view of

_Accentuation_, modern, of Gr. and Lat. words, by what regulated;
SANCTIUS'S rule for, new vers. of

_According to, as to_, resolved. _Accordingly_, whether may be said for the
questionable _according_

_Accusative_ before infin., in Lat. and Gr., of what reckoned the subject
    --whether the construc. can in general be imitated in Eng.
    --who adopt the Lat. doctrine of
    --what our nearest approach to the Lat. construc. of

_Active_, in reference to verbs, in what sense may be used

_Active-transitive verb_, defined
    --_Act.-trans. verbs_ gov. obj. case
    --place of agent and object in respect to
    --_Act.-trans. verb_, or part., has some noun or pron. for its object
    --with two words in appos. ("_Proclaim_ THEE KING,")
    --with do., neither in appos. nor connected by conjunc., ("_I paid_ HIM
      _the_ MONEY,")
    --with redund. _me, thee, you_
    --should not be used without an object
    --should not assume a governm. incompatible with its signif.

_Active-intransitive verb_, defined
    --_Act.-intrans. verb_, with prep. and its object, put in the pass.
      form
    --in pass. form with neut. signif. ("_I_ AM COME,")
    --should not be used transitively

_Addison_, undeservedly criticised by BLAIR, for his frequent use of
_that_, as a relative

_Addition, enumeration_, of numbers, by what _number_ of the verb to be
expressed

_Address_, ordinary fashion of, in Eng., the plur. numb.
    --has introduced the anomal. compound _yourself_
    --_Address_, direct, nom. absol. by
    --terms of, _your Majesty, your Highness_, &c., in what construc. used
    --general usage of, in Fr.; in Span., Portug., or Germ.

ADJECTIVES, Etymol. of
    --Classes of, named and defined
    --Modifications of
    --Comparison of, reg.; by adverbs; irreg.
    --_Adjectives_ in _able_ and _ible_, (see _Able, Ible_.)
    --_Adjectives_, number of, in Eng.
    --how have been otherwise called
    --how distinguished from nouns
    --other parts of speech may become
    --MURR., on nouns assuming the nature of
    --whether nouns plur. can assume the character of
    --_Adjectives_ that cannot be compared
    --that are compared by means of adverbs
    --(See _Comparison, Comparative Deg._, and _Superlative Deg._)
    --_Adjectives_ requiring the article _the_
    --denoting place or situation, comparison of
    --become adverbs
    --use of, for adv., improper
    --with prep., ellipt., equivalent to adv.
    --poet., for nouns
    --do., for adverbs
    --_Adjectives_, Synt. of
    --do., in what consists
    --to what relate
    --substituted ellipt. for their abstr. nouns
    --relate to nouns or pronouns understood
    --used with def. art., ellipt., as nouns
    --two or more before a noun, order of
    --two, joined by hyphens
    --denoting unity or plurality, how agree with their nouns
    --connected, position of
    --differing in numb., connected without repetition of noun ("ONE _or
      more letters_,")
    --_much, little_, &c., preceded by _too, how_, &c., taken substantively
    --_Adjectives_, punct. of
    --derivation of, from nouns, from adjectives, &c.
    --poet. peculiarities in respect to
    --_Adjective_, taken abstractly with infin. or part.
    --following a finite verb, without a noun
    --do. an infin. or a part.
    --position of, in Eng.
    --when may either precede or follow its noun
    --Whether _adj._ or adv. is required, how determined
    --_Adjective_, one superadded to an other, without conjunc., position
      of
    --when the figure of, affects the sense, what to be done
    --should not be represented by a pronoun
    --ellipsis of, shown

_Adjectives, common_, probable numb. of, in Eng.
    --enumeration of, according to their endings

_Adjectives, compound_, analogies of their formation, traced
    --nouns derived from, generally disapproved

_Adjectives, numeral_, kinds of, named
    --Cardinal numb. and its corresponding _numeral_, what denote
    --Construction and figure of the _numerals_

_Adjectives, participial_, what words to be referred to the class of
    --cannot be construed to govern obj. case

_Adjectives, pronominal_, list of
    --which, sometimes used adverbially
    --which, sometimes used partitively, appar. as nouns
    --without nouns expressed, how parsed
    --distribution of, by CHURCH See _Other_, &c.

_Adjectives, proper_, peculiarities of, considered
    --rule for initial capital in

_Adjuncts_ of nominative in the agreement of a verb

_Admitting, allowing_, &c., appar. independent, to what may relate

ADVERBS, Etymol. of
    --_Adverb_, defined
    --_Adverbs_, serve to abbreviate expression
    --other classes of words sometimes take the nature of
    --appar. take the nat. of other parts of speech
    --how distinguished from adjectives
    --Classes of, named and defined
    --proper classification of, by what indicated
    --of time, place, and manner, with what connected; of degree, do.
    --_conjunctive_ (see _Conjunctive Adverb_:)
    --Modifications of
    --number of, in Eng.
    --Whether _adverb_ or adjective required, how determined
    --_Adverbs_, Synt. of
    --in what do. consists
    --to what relate
    --_Adverb_ before a prep. ("CONSIDERABLY _beyond_,")
    --_Adverbs_, whether sometimes qualify nouns
    --of participles which become nouns, how managed
    --_above, then_, &c., as relating directly to a noun, how parsed
    --_Adverbs_, of degree, to what adjectives not applicable
    --direct use of, for pronouns, inelegant
    --position of
    --needless use of, for adjectives
    --_hither_, &c., for _here_, &c., with verb of motion
    --_hence_, &c., with _from_ prefixed
    --_when_, &c., not to follow _is_ in a definition ("_Concord is_ WHEN,"
      &c.,)
    --_ever_ and _never_, to be carefully distinguished
    --in _ly_, when preferable to other forms
    --_Adverb_, appar. made object of a prep. ("_At_ ONCE,")
    --emphatic, with verb of self-motion suppressed ("_I'll_ HENCE,")
    --_Adverb_ HOW, misuse of ("_He said_ HOW," &c.,)
    --NO, not to be used in reference to a verb or a part.
    --_Adverbial_ form or character, words of, how parsed
    --_Adverbs_, punct. of
    --_Adverb_, ellips. of, shown
    --_Adverbs_, derivation of,
    --many common Eng., of Anglo-Sax. origin
    --poet. peculiarities in the use of
    --peculiar use of those of two syllables in _ly_, by MILT. and his
      contemporaries
    --_Adverbial phrase_, a needless and improper designation in analysis

_Affectation_ of fine writing, PREC. against

_Ago_ and _since_, difference between

AGREEMENT, of words, defined
    --with what synonymous
    --_Agreement_, how many of the parts of speech in Eng., incapable of;
      none necessary between words unrelated
    --as differing from relation
    --of words in the same construc., not easy to determine
    --rules of, as applied to articles, impertinent
    --_Agreements_, syntactical, in Eng., specified
    --_Agreement_, general principles of
    --figurative, of pronouns with antecedents

_Ah_, sometimes departs from usage

_Alexandrine verse_, description of

_Alias_, for the equivocal _or_, use of, in judicial proceedings

_All_, when may be reckoned a noun

_Allegory_, defined
    --_Allegory_ includes most parables of Script., and some fables

_Alphabet_, Eng., names and plur. numb. of the letters
    --Hebrew, names and characters of, given,
    --Greek, do.
    --Latin, names of the letters of, scarcely known even to the learned;
      account of its letters
    --A _perfect alphabet_ in Eng., what it would effect
    --Letters of the _alphabet_, when and how used in the sciences

_Alphabetic writing_, its advantage over the syllabic

_Ambiguous, construc._, with respect to the _class_ of a word
    --do., with resp. to the _case_ of a word
    --_expressions_, PREC. against

_Amen_, use and import of

_Among_ and _amongst, amid_ and _amidst_, different in sense and construc.
from _between_ and _betwixt_
    --incompatible with the distributive _one an other_
    --derivation of, from Sax.

_Amphibrach_, defined

_Amphimac, amphimacer_, or _Cretic_, defined.

_An_, conjunc., obsolete for _if_ ("_Nay_, AN _thou 'lt mouthe_," &c.,
SHAK.,)
    --derivation of, from Sax.

_An, a_, art., one and the same
    --preferable form before a particular sound
    --_A_ or _an_ before _genus_
    --how commonly limits the sense
    --belongs to sing. numb. only
    --with adjective of numb.
    --its effect upon proper and common nouns
    --is without agreem.
    --Whether _an_ is from _a_ or _a_ from _an_
    --_An, a_, origin of
    --of proportion
    --with numerals
    --by what definitives superseded
    --implies unity; sometimes precedes collective noun conveying the idea
      of plurality
    --present usage of, how differs from that of ancient writers
    --use of, before _humble_, and its compounds and derivatives
    --erroneous use of, as relating to a plural
    --not to be used for _the_, to denote emphat. a whole kind

_Analysis_, "to analyze a sentence," what
    --_Analysis_ of sentences shown in five different methods; which method
      BROWN calls "the best and most thorough"
    --_Analysis_, notices of the different methods of
    --importance of, in teaching grammar; the truest method of, _parsing_

_Anapest_, defined

_Anapestic verse_, treated
    --what syll. of, has stress; first foot of, how may be varied
    --what variation of, produces composite verse
    --whether a surplus syll. in, may compensate for a deficient one
    --what number of syllables in the longest measure of
    --_Anapestic verse_ shown in its four measures
    --_Anapestic_, measures, why few
    --_poetry_, pieces in general short
    --(instance of a long piece, L. HUNT'S "Feast of the Poets,")

_And_, discriminated from _or_
    --when preferable to _with, or_, or _nor_
    --whether emphatic of word or phrase following it ("_Part pays_, AND
      _justly_;" &c., POPE,)
    --derivation of, from Sax.

_Anglo-Saxon_ dialect, and accessions thereto, as forming the modern Eng.
lang.

_An other_, see _Other_

_Antecedent_, proper sense of the term
    --sometimes placed after its pronoun
    --sometimes doubly restricted
    --of pron., applied figuratively
    --sing., with the adj. _many_, and a plur. pron.
    --suppressed
    --_Antecedents_ of different persons, numbers, and genders,
      disjunctively connected, how represented
    --joint, agreem. of pron. in ellipt. construct. of

_Antibacchy_, or _hypobacchy_, defined

_Antiquated_ words and modes of expression, more frequent in poetry than in
prose

_Antithesis_, defined

_Aorist_, or indefinite, may be applied to imperf. tense pot. and subjunc.

_Aphæresis_, defined

_Apocope_, defined

_Apophasis_, or _paralipsis_, explained

_Apostrophe_, mark, what denotes; for what sometimes used
    --at what period introduced into the poss. case _Apostrophe_, figure,
      defined

_Apposition_, Synt.
    --agreement between words in
    --_Apposition_, what, and from whom received this name
    --different from _same cases_ put after verbs and participles not
      trans.; false teachings of MURR. _et al_. hereon
    --the rule for, to _which_ apposed term applied; whether words in,
      should be parsed separately
    --common rule and definition of, wherein faulty
    --which word of, the _explanatory_ term; _when_ explan. word placed
      _first_
    --in what case of, either word may be taken as the explan. term,
    --why two possessive words cannot be in
    --two or more nouns in, where sign of possession put
    --whether compat. with, to supply relative and verb between the apposed
      words
    --_Apposition_, appar., of noun without poss. sign, _with_ pron.
      possess. ("YOUR _success as an_ INSTRUCTER,")
    --noun or pron. emphat. repeated ("_Cisterns, broken_ CISTERNS," &c.,)
    --appar., of a noun to a sentence
    --of words differing in numb. ("_Go_ YE _every_ MAN,")
    --of proper nouns with appellatives ("_The river_ THAMES,")
    --act. verb followed by two words in
    --whether requires any other agreem. than that of cases
    --words in, punct. of
    --of a common with a prop. name, use of capital lett.

_Archaism_, what

_Aristotle_, division of the Greek letters
    --what neoterics wiser than; how considers the compounding or
      non-compounding of terms

_Arithmetical_ numbers, relation of the terms in

ARRANGEMENT of words, term defined
    --_Arrang_. of words, of what importance in synt.; whether it affects
      the method of parsing words

ARTICLES, Etymol. of
    --_Article_, defined
    --_Article_, common noun without; Eng. nouns without, taken
      indefinitely partitive
    --words of mere _being_, used without
    --_Articles_, how often inserted
    --needless, to be omitted
    --Classes of, named and defined
    --Modificat. (_an_ short, to _a_, the only,)
    --_Articles_, the frequent use of; freq. misapplication of
    --to be distinguished from adjectives, and from each other
    --appar. used for adverbs
    --_Article_, Eng., its demonstrative character
    --do., compared with the Gr. def. art.; no rule for _agreement of_,
      appropriate in Eng.
    --use of, before names of rivers
    --_Articles_, Synt. of
    --to what RELATE
    --_Article_, with _the poss. and its governing noun_, only _one_, used
    --one noun admits of one, only; before an adj., relates to a noun
      understood
    --why not repeated, as in Fr., before every noun of a series; why the
      omission of, cannot constitute a proper ellips.
    --position of, with respect to its noun; ditto, with respect to an adj.
      and noun
    --relative position of, and adj., not a matter of indifference
    --excluded by certain pronom. adjectives; what ones precede it; its
      position in respect to an adj. of quality, limited by _too, so, as_,
      or _how_
    --position of, when an adj. is preceded by another adv. than _too, so,
      as_, or _how_
    --do., when an adj. follows its noun
    --whether the insertion or the omission of, can greatly affect the
      import of a sentence
    --_Article_, repetition of, with nouns connected
    --do. with adjectives connected, and, oppos.
    --added to each of two or more nouns sing., or a plural put ("THE
      _nominative and_ THE _objective_ CASE," or "THE _nominative and
      objective_ CASES,")
    --use of, in special correspondence of phrases
    --do., in correspondence peculiar
    --do., in a series of terms
    --erroneous use of, before the _species_, for THE; do., when the
      _species_ is said to be of the _genus_ ("A JAY _is a sort of_ A
      BIRD,")
    --not used before names of the virtues, vices, &c., before limited
      terms, and before nouns of definite signif.
    --do. before titles or names mentioned merely as such
    --do. before a part. not taken as a noun
    --insertion or omission of, with respect to a comparison or an
      alternation made with two nouns
    --required in the construc. which converts a part. into a verbal noun
    --_Articles_, what the false synt. of, includes
    --Ellips. of _article_, shown
    --_Articles_, derivation of
    --frequently omitted by the poets See also _Definite Article_, and _An,
      A_

_Articulate_ or _elementary sound_, nature of

_Articulation_, as defined by COMST.; do. by BOLLES
    --_Articulation_, how differs from pronunciation
    --the principles of, what they constitute
    --a good one, what, in the view of COMST.; do., in what consists,
      according to SHERID.; do. importance of; do., how delivers words

_As_, as subject or object of a verb, _its_ CLASS
    --with a clause or sentence as anteced., do. _As_, as _relative_,
      WEBST. absurd explanation of; CHAND. do.; BULL. denial
    --to what construc. limited
    --peculiarities with respect to position
    --declined
    --derivation of, from Teuton., DR. JOH.
    --_As follow, as follows_, &c., construction of; MURR., himself
      perplexed by TOOKE and CAMPB., delivers dubious instructions
      concerning
    --Opinion of NIX. and CROMB. concerning. _As_, as a conjunc., uniting
      words in appos.
    --between adj. or part. and its noun ("_Actions_ AS _such_")
    --with ellips. of latter term of comparison ("_For such_ AS HE")
    --_As_ and _than_, character and import of
    --words connected by, generally put in the same case
    --_As
    --as; as
    --so; so_ (preceded by a negative,)
    --_as; so
    --as_ (with an infin. following;) correspondents

_Asking_ and _exclaiming_, simple and appropriate _names_ for _the marks
of_, desirable

_Aspirates_, see _Semivowels_

_Asterisk_, use of. _Asterism_, do.

_Ate_, particular words ending in, peculiarities of

_Auxiliary_, defined
    --_Auxiliary_, form of a verb, when preferable to the simp.
    --verbs, are mostly defective
    --do., are needful in the conjug. of English verbs
    --do., inflection of, shown
    --_Auxiliaries_ used as expletives
    --_Auxiliary_, poet. placed after verb

_Averse, aversion_, whether to be construed with _from_ or _to_

_Avoiding_, verbs of, with part. in stead of infin.

_Awkwardness, literary_, Crit. N. censuring

_Ay, I_, assentive adv.
    --_Ay_, sometimes improp. written for _ah_


B.

 B, its name and plur. number
    --its sound
    --in what situations silent

_Bacchy_, described

BE, how varied
    --CONJUGATED, affirmat.
    --Use of the form _be_ for the pres. indic.
    --_Be_, ellips. of the infin. often needlessly supposed by ALLEN _et
      al._
    --whether it should be inserted after the verb _make_
    --_Is_, contracted, giving its nom. the same form as that of the poss.
      case ("_A_ WIT'S _a feather_," &c., POPE)

_Become_, &c., whether they demand the auxiliary _am_ or _have_

_Besides_, prep., in what cases proper to be used after _else_ or _other_,
in lieu of _than_

_Between_, cannot refer to more than two things
    --_Between_ or _betwixt_, how differs in use from _among_ or _amongst_
    --_Between, betwixt_, derivation of, from Sax.

_Bible, the Holy_, application of the name
    --what is shown by Italics in the text of
    --quotations in, how indicated
    --abrupt transitions in
    --its general accuracy of lang.
    --in the lang. of, _ye_ and _you_, in what constructions not found

_Bid_, as commanding, or as promising, its construction with the infin.

_Blair, Dr._, unjustly censures Addison's frequent use of _that_, as a
relative

_Blank verse_, as distinguished from rhyme

_Blunders_, as readily copied, as originated, by makers of school-books
    --_literary_, Crit. N. concerning

_Bombast_, as opposed to purity, PREC. against _Books_, mentioned by name,
rule for capitals

_Both_, as conjunc., corresponding to _and_
    --as adj.
    --derivation of, acc. to DR. MURR.

_Brace_, its purpose

_Breve_, or _stenotone_, for what used

_Brevity_ of expression, sought in the ordinary business of life

_Brokenness_, or _hitching_, as a fault of style, PREC. censuring

_But, save, as well as_, construc. of two nouns connected by
    --_But_, how has acquired the signif. of _only_
    --in ambiguous construc. ("_There cannot be_ BUT _one_," &c., KAMES)
    --as used for _that_, contrary to its import
    --derivation of, from Sax.
    --_But_ and _save_, whether they ever govern the obj. case as
      prepositions
    --_Cannot but_, construc. and signif. of
    --_Not but_, to what equivalent, and the class of _but_


C.

C, name and plur. numb. of
    --sounds of
    --where silent
    --with cedilla placed under (ç)
    --written for a number
    --_Ch_, sounds of
    --_Arch_, sound of, before a vowel, and before a conson.
    --_Ck_, final, for double _c_

_Cadence_, explained
    --faulty, precept against, by RIPP.
    --MURR. direction concerning

_Cadmus_, carried the Phoenician alphabet into Greece

_Cæsura_, signif. and application of
    --_Cæsural_ or _divisional pause_; _demi-cæsuras_, or _minor rests_;
      (see _Pauses_)

_Can_, verb, varied
    --derivation and signif. of
    --_Can not_ and _cannot_, with what distinction used
    --_Cannot_, with a verb of _avoiding_, or with BUT
    --_Can, could, would_, as principal verbs, by poet. use

_Capital letters, capitals_, for what used; how marked for the printer, in
manuscript
    --what things are exhibited wholly in,
    --Rules for the use of,
    --use of, in comp. prop, names,
    --needless,
    --lavish use of, its effect,
    --discrepancies with respect to, abound in books.

_Cardinal numeral_, distinguished from its corresponding ordinal,
    --should _follow_ the ordinal, in a specification of a part of a
      series, ("_The first_ TWO,").

_Caret_, in what used, and for what purpose.

_Cases_, in grammar, what,
    --named and defined,
    --nom. and obj., alike in form, how distinguished,
    --on what founded, and to what parts of speech belong.
    --(See _Nominative Case_, &c.)
    --_Cases_, whether infinitives, participles, &c., can take the nature
      of,
    --what is the proper number of, to be assigned to Eng. nouns,
    --what authorities for the true doctrine of three,
    --discordant doctrine of sundry grammarians concerning the numb, of,
    --WEBST. and MURR. opposite instructions concerning do.
    --_Cases_, whether personal pronouns have two, only,
    --rules for the construc. of,
    --whether a noun may be in two, at once,
    --whether Eng. verbs govern two,
    --whether in Eng., as in Lat., when a verb governs two, the pass.
      retains the latter case.
    --_Cases, same_, (see _Same Cases_.)
    --_Cases_, what kinds of words take different, after them.
    --_Case_ of noun or pron. after part. governed by prep., whether
      undetermined; err. of SANB. and BULL. hereon expos.; GREE. false
      teaching, do.,
    --_doubtful_, after participles, in what kind of examples found; canon
      concerning do.

_Case_, technical term with printers, ("Letters of the _lower case_.")

_Catachresis_, how commonly explained, and what sort of fig.

_Catalectic_, when a measure is said to be.

_Cedilla_, from whom borrowed, and how applied.

_Change_, of numb. in the second pers., ineleg.,
    --of the connective of two nominatives appar. requiring a plur. verb,
      canon concerning.
    --_Changing_ the scene, or deserting the principal subj., in a sent.,
      PREC. against.

_Chaucer's_ imperfect measures, DRYDEN'S remarks on.

_Cherokee_ alphabet, some account of.

_Cherubim_ and _seraphim_, Heb. plurals, sometimes mistaken for singulars.

_Chief terms_, or _principal parts_, of a verb, necessary to be first
ascertained.
    --_Chief words_ may be distinguished by capitals.

_Circumflex_, inflection, (see _Inflection_,)
    --mark, use of.

_Classes_ under the parts of speech, what meant by.

_Classification_ of words, explanations to assist beginners in making,
    --DR. WILSON'S observations on.

_Clause_, see _Member_.

_Climax_, defined.

_Cognomination_, relation of the article, in instances of, ("_Alexander the
Great_").

_Collective noun_, defined.
    --_Collective nouns_, forms of, sing. and plur.; how understood,
    --gend. of, how determined,
    --by what relative represented.
    --_Collec. noun_, represented by plur. pron.,
    --in what two ways may be taken, and with what accord of pron.; the
      plur. construc. of, under what fig. of synt. ranked by the old
      grammarians,
    --whether with a sing. definitive, admits a plur. verb or pronoun.
    --_Collec. nouns_ generally admit of plur. form.
    --_Collect. noun_, represented by sing. pron. neut.,
    --uniformity of numb. to be preserved in words constructed with,
    --agreem. of verb with,
    --how determined whether it conveys the idea of plurality or not,
    --strictures on the rules of ADAM, LOWTH, _et. al._, concerning,
    --NIX. notion of the construc. of verb and.
    --_Coll. nouns_, partitive of plur., construc. of,
    --as expressing collections of persons, or coll. of things, which most
      often taken plurally,
    --when not plur. in form, whether it admits of plur. adj. before it.

_Colon_, from what takes its name,
    --for what used,
    --in what year adopted in England,
    --its utility maintained against some objectors,
    --Rules for the use of,
    --used by some between numb. of chap. and that of verse, in quotations
      from the Bible.

_Comma_, from what takes its name,
    --what denotes,
    --less common in Germ. than in Eng.,
    --its ancient form,
    --Rules for the use of,
    --use of, in a series of words.

_Commanding, desiring, expecting_, &c., verbs of, to what actions or
events, refer.

_Commandments_, the ten, how expressed as to _forms_ of verb,
    --by what points divided in books,
    --example of, versified in iamb. hexameter, by DR. WATTS.

_Common gender_, unnecessary and improper term in Eng. gram.

_Common noun_, defined,
    --when admits of no art.,
    --with def. art. sometimes becomes proper,
    --by personif. often do.
    --_Common nouns_ include the classes, _collective, abstract_, and
      _verbal_.
    --_Common nouns_, their nature and numerical distribution, as
      distinguished from proper.

_Comparative degree_, defined.
    --_Compar. degree_, why BROWN presents a new definit. of, in place of
      his former one,
    --true nature of
    --whether always required in a comparison of two objects
    --with what construc. proper in exclusive comparisons, canon of BROWN
    --_Comparatives_, certain, not construed with the conjunc. _than_
    --double, how to be considered and treated
    --_Comparative_ terminations, to what adjectives not to be applied
    --_Compar. degree_ in Gr. and in Lat., construc. of
    --poet. connected to the positive

_Comparison_, defined
    --_Comparison, degrees of_, named and defined
    --what adjectives admit not of
    --CHURCH. on the different, (and BROWN on CHURCH.)
    --character of BROWN'S definitions of; do. of those of MURR. _et al._,
      exhibited
    --MURR. definitions of, criticised
    --relative nature of
    --_Comparison_, regular
    --to what adjectives applicable
    --when preferable to the comparison by adverbs
    --_Comparison_, HARR. on the degrees of; the positive a _degree_
    --(in oppos. to HARR. _et al._)
    --_Comparison of equality_, what; sometimes involves solec.,
      ("_Nothing_ SO _uncertain_ AS,")
    --_Comparison of equality and of ineq._, canon on
    --_Comparison_, adaptation of the terms of, to the deg. to be expressed
    --belongs chiefly to comm. adjectives
    --_Comparis._, irregular
    --_Comparis._, whether to be mentioned in parsing adverbs
    --inclusive, and exclusive
    --_Comparisons, extra_, their impropriety
    --Crit. N. on, See also _Comparative Degree_, and _Superlative Degree_.

_Comparison_ or _contrast_ of things, the resemblance or opposition how
rendered more striking

_Complex prepositions_, how may be formed

_Composite orders_ of verse, what uniformity of construc. they require
    --_Composite verse_
    --description of; why requires rhythm
    --kinds of, unlimited; which preferable
    --liable to doubtful scansion

_Composition_, the frequent practice of, necessary, in order to acquire a
good style, _Composition_ of language, two kinds of

_Compound_ or _progressive form_ of verb, how made
    --exemplified in the verb READ, conjugated, what verbs do not admit of;
      what it implies
    --verbs of, having a pass. signif.

_Compound word_, defined, _Compounds_, permanent, consolidated; temporary,
formed by hyphen
    --_Comp. words_, not to be needlessly broken
    --two or more, not to be split
    --when to be written with hyphen; when without it
    --_Compounding of words_, unsettled usage respecting; manner of, in
      Lat. and Gr.; arbitrary practice of, in Eng., its effect
    --does not necessarily preclude their separate use
    --propriety of, sometimes difficult to decide
    --_Compounds_, orthog. of
    --_Compounding_ the words of a reg. phrase, its impropriety
    --_Compound adjectives_, see _Adjectives, Compound_.

_Concord_, (see _Agreement_.)
    --_Concords_ and _governments_, examples of false ones from the
      grammarians
    --in Lat., diversely enumerated by the Lat. grammarians

_Concrete _terms for abstract qualities, poet. use of

_Confusion_ of senses, in use of pron., to be avoided

_Conjugation_ of a verb, defined
    --what some teachers choose to understand by
    --Conjugating a verb, four ways of, named
    --_Conjugation_ of an Eng. verb, what the simplest form of
    --_Conjug._ of verbs, shown in five Examples
    --(See also _Compound_ or _Progressive_, &c.)
    --_Conjugat._ negative, how made, interrogative, do.
    --interrog. and negative, do.

CONJUNCTIONS, Etymol. of
    --_Conjunction_, defined
    --_Conjunctions_, how differ from other connectives
    --nature and office of; R. F. MOTT quot.
    --nature of the connexions made by
    --how many in common use
    --how parsed
    --as "connecting the same moods, &c.," strictures on the doctrine of
      MURR. _et al._, concerning
    --_Conjunctions_, classes of, named and defined
    --(See _Copulative Conjunction, Disjunc. Conj._, and _Corresp.
      Conjunc.)
    --Conjunctions_, List of
    --appar. used as adverbs
    --peculiar phrases having the force of
    --importance of, as copulative or as disjunctive, to be carefully
      observed
    --_Conjunctions_, Synt. of
    --do., in what consists, (MURR. _et al._ teaching erron.)
    --what connect
    --declinable words connected by, why in the same case
    --power and position of those that connect sentences or clauses
    --absurd and contradictory notions concerning the office of, by LENN.,
      BULL., _et al._
    --two or three coming together, how parsed
    --_Conjunction_, followed by a phrase, and not a whole member
    --connecting two terms to one
    --do. two terms the same in kind or quality
    --_Conjunctions_, to be used with due regard to import and idiom
    --punct. of
    --ellips. of, shown
    --derivation of
    --are mostly of Anglo-Sax. origin
    --H. TOOKE'S derivations of, given
    --poet. usage of _or
    --or_, and _nor
    --nor_

_Conjunctive adverbs_, what office perform; what classes of words embrace
    --often relate equally to two verbs in different clauses
    --list of
    --_whence, whither_, &c., sometimes partake of the nature of pronouns
      _Connected terms_, two, limited by a third, what both must be
    --should be the same in kind or quality. _Connected_ adjectives, how
      should be placed. _Connective_ words, or connectives, kinds of, named
    --do., how may be distinguished

_Consonants_, divisions and subdivisions of
    --properties of, as _sharp, flat, labial_, &c.

_Construing_, whether differs from parsing

_Continuance_ of action, see _Compound_ or _Progressive_

_Contractions_, in the orthog. and the pronunciation of words
    --ocular, in printing poetry, not important

_Correlatives_, combinations of, ("_Father's son_,") how to be regarded

_Corresponding_, or _corresponsive conjunctions_, in what manner used
    --named and exemplified in their several pairs
    --nature of the terms standing in the relat. of
    --the former of two, how parsed
    --CHURCH. canon on the use of
    --_Or_
    --_or_, and _nor_
    --_nor_, by poet. usage _Crotchets_, or _brackets_, how used
    --confused and inaccurate teaching of WEBST. _et al._, concerning

_Cum_ with an ablative, Lat., ("_Dux_ CUM _aliquibus_," &c.,) the construc.
imitated in Eng.
    --canon on do.

_Curves_, or _marks of parenthesis_
    --have been in use for centuries
    --the use of, not to be discarded
    --confused teaching of WEBST. _et al._, respecting do.
    --what used to distinguish
    --clause enclosed by, how to be uttered; pause of do.
    --Rules for the application of

_Customary_ actions require to be expressed by indic. pres.


D.

D, name and plur. numb.
    --sounds of
    --written for a number

_Dactyl_, defined

_Dactylic verse_
    --stress, on what syll. laid; what rhyme it generally forms
    --is not very common; seldom pure and regular
    --shown in its eight measures
    --has been but little noticed by prosodists and grammarians
    --misconceived and misrepresented Rev. D. BLAIR

_Dare_, construc. with infin. foll.
    --Use of the form DARE for the third pers. sing.

_Dash_, the mark, explanation of
    --LOWTH _et al._ make no mention of
    --Rules for the application of
    --_Dash_, needless, how to be treated
    --between quotation and name of the author
    --applied to side-title
    --used to signify omission

_Dates_, ordinarily abbreviated; how best written
    --objectives in, without their prepositions

_Dative case_, faulty relic, in Eng., of old Sax., ("_It ascends_ ME
_into_," &c., SHAK.)

_Days_ of the week, names of, to be reckoned prop. names, and written with
capital

_Deaf and dumb_
    --The _deaf and dumb_, to whom the letters represent no sounds, learn
      to read and write; what inferred herefrom

_Defective verb_, what verb so called
    --which tenses of, wanting
    --_Defective verbs_, whether they should be reckoned a distinct class
    --_may, can, must_, and _shall_, not to be referred to the class of
    --_will, beware_, &c., construc. and import of explained
    --_Defec. verbs_, List of

_Definite article_, defined
    --_Definite art._, its demonstrative character
    --used before names of rivers
    --do. by way of eminence
    --no rule of agreem. for, in Eng.
    --prefixed as an adv., to comparatives and superlatives
    --repeated before every term in a series of adjectives used ellipt. as
      nouns
    --used for a poss. pron., ("_Full in_ THE _face_")
    --position with respect to its noun
    --required before antecedent to a restricted relative. See also _The_

_Definition_, defined
    --A _perfect definition_, what
    --_Definitions_, needful qualities of certain, in gram.
    --bad, peculiar vice of
    --Crit. N. on

_Definitives_, what, in Eng., and how to be classed
    --example to show what is meant by
    --_Definitive_ word required before antecedent to restricted relative

_Degrees of comparison_, see _Comparison_

_Deity_, names of, use of capitals in
    --in all languages, masc.; direct names of, do.. The sing. numb,
      universally employed in reference to the Supreme Being

_Demonstratives_, from the class, pronominal adjectives

_Derivation_, as a topic of gram., what explains
    --importance of
    --a knowledge of what languages will throw light on the subject of Eng.

_Desiring_, verbs of; see _Commanding_

_Desisting_, verbs of; with part., in stead of infin.

_Despauter_, (Despauterius Joannes,) grammarian, when died
    --his Lat. Gram.
    --his remark on the origin of using plur. pron. of second pers. for
      sing.
    --gives the rule that the _verb governs the nominative before it_

_Diæresis_, or _dialysis_, mark, place and use of
    --explained

_Diesis_, or _double dagger_, for what purpose used. _Dimeter_, line,
_iambic_, examples of
    --_trochaic_, do.
    --_anapæstic_, do.
    --_dactylic_, do.

_Diphthong_, defined
    --_Diphthongs_, distinction of
    --enumeration and specification of the Eng.

_Discourse_, or _narration_, its nature and requirements

_Disjunctive conjunction_, defined
    --_Disjunctives_, List of
    --_Disjunctive_ OR, see _Or_

_Distance_, see _Time_, &c.

_Distribution_, of words into classes, a matter of some difficulty;
explanations concerning, for learners
    --of verbs in Lat., grammarians have disputed respecting

_Distributives_, of the class _pronominal adjectives_
    --_Distributive_ term sing. in apposit. with a plur.

_Division, literary_, see _Literary Division_

_Do_, verb, how varied:
    --particular uses of
    --in what manner may be substituted for an other term

_Double comparatives_ and _double superlatives_, how may be regarded;
canon; (LATH. and CHILD)

_Double negatives_, see _Negation_, and _Negatives_

_Doubling_ of the final consonant before additional syll.; not doubling,
before do.
    --_Double_ letter retained
    --_Doubling_, certain letters incline to; others, do not

_Doubtful case_ after a part., in what kind of examples found; the
construc. to be avoided

_Drink_, verb, grammarians greatly at variance respecting the pret. and the
perf. part. of

_Dual_ number, found in Gr. and in Arab., what denotes

_Duplication_, see _Doubling_

_Du Vivier, G._, his _Grammaire des Grammaires_, and his _Traité des
Participes_, a copious treatment of the Fr. participle


E.

 E, (as A, O, I, and U,) self-naming:
    --how spoken and written
    --its plur.
    --sounds properly its own
    --final, mute, and to what belongs; exceptions
    --effect on preced. vowel, of _e_ mute after a sing. conson., or after
      _st_, or _th_
    --diphthongs beginning with
    --triphthongs do.

_Each_, pronom. adj., always of the third pers. sing.; its agreements.
_Each other_, see _Other_

_Ecphoneme_, or note of exclamation
    --occasional introduction into the classics
    --diversely called by MURR. _et al._
    --for what used, and of what a sign
    --Rules for the application of

_Ecphonesis_, defined

_Either_ and _neither_, pronom. adjectives, relate to two only
    --M. HARR. on the illegit. use of
    --their numb. and pers.; what agreements they require, when they are
      the leading words in their clauses
    --derivation of, from the Sax.

_Either
    --or, neither
    --nor_, corresponsives:
    --transposed, with repeated disjunction or negat.

_Elegiac stanza_, description of

_Elementary sound_, or _elements of speech_, defined. See _Sounds_

_Ellipsis_, figure defined
    --either not defined by grammarians in general, or absurdly defined
    --frequent in comp. sentences
    --to be supplied in parsing
    --_supposed_, may change the construc. without affecting the sense
    --the principle of, as explaining several questionable but customary
      expressions, ("_Fair and softly_ GOES _far_")
    --MURR. on "THE _ellipsis_"
    --_Ellipsis supplied_, EXAMPLES of
    --Needless _ellipses_, the supposition of, to be avoided
    --_Ellipses_, faulty, as opposed to perspicuity, PREC. against.
      _Ellipsis_, or _suppression_, mark of, how figured, and what used to
      denote

_Elliptical_ construction of nouns, ("_A horse, a horse_," &c., SHAK.)

_Elocution_, defined

_Else, other_, &c., with _than_, in exclusive comparisons
    --_Else_ or _other_, sometimes construed with _besides_
    --_Else_, derivation of

_Emphasis_, defined:
    --comparative view of accent and
    --as connected with quantity, MURR.
    --as affecting accent
    --what the guide to a right.
    --_Emphatic_ words, not to be multiplied

_Enallage_, defined
    --signif. of the Gr. word
    --special application of the term
    --with what other terms synonymous
    --the most common forms of, in Eng.
    --examples of, how differ from solecisms
    --too much latitude was given to the fig. by Despauter, and by others

_Enallixis_, see _Enallage_

_Ending_ of a sentence with an adv., a prep., or any inconsid. word or
phrase, PREC. concerning

_English Grammar_, see _Grammar_

_English language_, some account of its origin
    --its character
    --its simplicity and facility asserted by LOWTH
    --its chief defect, according to DR. JOH.

_Enumeration_ of numbers, see _Addition_

_Epicene nouns_, see _Generic Names_ _Epithets_, new compound, poets
frequently form

_Equivalence_, the argument of, has often led into errors

_Equivocal_, or _ambiguous construc._ of cases, to be avoided
    --of rel. pron., by misplacement
    --of prep. with converted part., how amended
    --of the word _but_, ("_There cannot be_ BUT _one_," &c.)
    --of words, leaving the classification doubtful, Crit. N. concerning
    --_Equiv._, or _ambig_. expressions, as opposed to propriety, PREC.
      against

_Eroteme_, its form in Greek
    --derivation; fitness of the name
    --diversely called by MURR. _et al_.
    --its use
    --Rules for do.
    --its value as a sign of pause
    --retained by a quoted question

_Erotesis_, explained

_Errors, incorrigible_, Crit. N. concerning

ETYMOLOGY
    --_Etymol._, of what treats
    --when and how should be taught
    --_figures of_, term defined; the principal do., named and defined
    --_Etymology_ and meaning of words, HARRIS on the usefulness of
      disquisitions into

_Ever_, contrac., _e'er_; so in comp. rel. pronouns
    --_Ever a one_, contrac. by the comm. people into _e'er a one_
    --_Ever_ and _never_, opposite to each other in sense, yet freq.
      confounded and misapplied; canon on the employment of
    --_Ever so_, (prop., _everso_,) signif. of
    --_Ever so wisely_, its propriety determined, against the false
      phraseology _never so wisely_
    --_Ever_, derivation of, from Sax.

_Example_, as used in teaching, meaning of
    --_Examples_, use of capitals in

_Exception_, noun, and _except_, verb, whether more properly followed by
_from_ or by _to_

_Exclamation_, note of, (see _Ecphoneme_)
    --_Exclamation_, nom. absolute by
    --the _case_ of nouns used in

_Exclusive_ and _inclusive terms_ of a comparison

_Exercise_, in grammar, what

_Expecting_, &c., verbs of, see _Commanding_

_Extended_ compositions, gradation of the parts in


F.

 F, its name and plur. numb.
    --final in monosyllables, to be doubled
    --formation of the plur. of nouns in, and in _ff_
    --its sound

_Fable_, how may be defined
    --What the term denotes in the Scriptures

_Fall short of, make bold with_, &c., how the adjective in such phrases is
to be explained in parsing

_False identification_, (under synt. of SAME CASES,) Note exposing the
error of

_Falsities_ in sentences, Crit. N. directed against

_Feel_, its construc. with the infin.

_Few_ and _many_, form and construc. of. _Fewer_, see _Little_

FIGURES, treated
    --_Figure_, in gram., what
    --_Figures_, distinctive names of some; frequent occurrence of those of
      rhetoric
    --_Figure of words_, signif. of the term
    --_Figure of words_, Rules for
    --suggestions additional to do.
    --unsettled and variable usage in that which relates to
    --_Figure of orthog._, what; what the principal _figures of_ do.
    --_Figure of etymol._, what
    --_Figures of etymol._, the principal, named and defined
    --_Figure of synt._, what
    --_Figures of synt._, the principal, named and defined
    --_Figure of rhet._, what
    --_Figures of rhet._, why certain are called _tropes_
    --on what mostly founded
    --the principal, named and defined
    --affect the agreem. of pronouns with their antecedents
    --_Figures_, how many BROWN deems it needful to define and illustrate
    --_Figures_, definitions of sundry, in the lang. of authors,
      _corrected_, KEY. _Figures_, Arabic, in what cases _pointed_ by some

_Final f, l_, or _s_, in spelling; other finals than, in do.
    --_ck_ or _c_, use of
    --_ll_, to what confined
    --_e_ of a primitive, when omitted; when retained
    --_y_ of a prim. word before a terminat., how managed
    --_ise_ or _ize_, which termination to be taken
    --_Finals_, what letters may assume the position of; what may not, and
      why

_Finite_ verbs, _agreem. of, with subjects_, a principle of Univ. Gram.
    --Rules concerning
    --_Fin. verb_ understood, punct. of _First words_, initial capital to
    --faulty practice of grammarians with respect to

_Foot, poetic_, see _Poetic Feet_

_Foreign_ words or idioms, unnecessary use of, in opposition to purity

_For_, with _all_, as equivalent to _although_
    --_For as much as_, &c., having the nature of conjunctions
    --_For that_
    --_For_, with perf. part., ("FOR _lost_")
    --with _ever_
    --before TO _and infin._
    --as introducing its object before an infin.. _For_, conj., _because_,
      from Sax.; anc. expressed _for that_

_Forever_, or _for ever_, its class

_Former_ and _latter_, nature and applic. of _Forms of letters_, in type or
character
    --_Forms_ OF VERBS, a knowledge of THE TRUE, nothing more important in
      gram. than _Forsooth_, signif. and use of

_Friends_, the Society of; their employment, in familiar discourse, of the
sing. pron. of the second pers.
    --generally neglect to compound their numeral names of the months and
      days
    --their misemployment of _thee_ for _thou_
    --their manner of speaking, different from the solemn style
    --examples of their manner of forming the verb with the pron. _thou_;
      their simplificat. of the verb

_From_, derivation of, from Sax.
    --_From forth, from out_, construc. of, explained
    --_Off from_, examp. of the use of

_Full_, in permanent compounds, how written; in temporary do., do.
    --compounds in, (_spoonful, handful_, &c.,) how pluralized

_Future, contingency_, how best expressed

_Future tense_, FIRST, how formed, and what expresses
    --SECOND, do., do., and how varied

_Futurity_, often denoted by the infin., ("_The world_ TO COME")


G.

G, its name and plur.
    --its sounds
    --when silent
    --_Gh_, sounds of, and silence

_Gardiner, W._, his new analysis of the Eng. alphab., noticed

_Genders_, term defined
    --_Genders_, the diff., named and defined
    --on what founded, and to what belong
    --_Gender_, inconsistent views of, as given by many of the grammarians;
      WELLS and MURR. criticised
    --confounded with _sex_ by some writers; others otherwise confuse the
      matter
    --_Common gender_, of the old grammarians, the term objectionable with
      respect to Eng.
    --_Gender_, how in many instances determined
    --figuratively ascribed, how indicated
    --denoted by _he_ and _she_ prefixed to nouns
    --denied by MURR. _et al_. to pronouns of the first and second persons
    --of pron., the _preference_ of, when joint antecedents are of
      different genders

_General_ truths and customary actions, to be expressed by the indic. pres.

_Generic_ names, sense and construc. of

"_Genitives, double_," discovered by our grammarians, the true explanation
of all such

_Gentile names_, nature and construc. of

_German language_, form of its type
    --use of the comma less freq. in, than in Eng.

_Gerund_, Lat., explanation of
    --what form of an Eng. participle corresponds to
    --"Gerund in English," how becomes "a substantive," according to DR.
      ADAM _et al._, _Gerundives_, what

_Giving, paying, procuring_, &c., verbs of, with ellips. of _to_ or _for_
before the objective of the person

GOVERNMENT, of words, defined
    --to what parts of speech has respect
    --the rules of, whether to be applied to the governing or the governed
      words
    --do., how many in the best Lat. grammars; usual faults in the
      distribution of these
    --_Governments_ in Eng. synt. how many
    --false, examples of, cited from grammarians

_Grecism_, literal, in Eng., ("_Before Abraham was_, I AM") comp.

GRAMMAR, defined
    --An English Grammar, what professes to be
    --ENGLISH GRAMMAR, what in itself; what knowledge implies
    --when worthy to be named a science
    --_Grammar_, how to be taught, and its principles how made known
    --the true principles of, in whose possession
    --_a rule of_, what
    --_Grammar_, how divided; its parts, of what severally treat
    --what it requires
    --rightly learned, what ability it confers
    --what many vain pretenders to, have shown by their works
    --on questions of, the practice of authors should have more weight than
      the dogmatism of grammarians. _Grammars of different languages_, how
      far must needs differ; strictures on those of PROF. BULL., _A grammar
      designed for English_, the chief end of. _Grammatical doctrine_, the
      truth of, in what consists

_Granting, supposing_, &c., see _Admitting_

_Grave accent_, as opposed to _acute_
    --as preserving the vocality of _e_

_Greek_ alphabet, characters of, shown and named

_Guillemets_, or _quotation points_, what words they distinguish
    --how applied to a quotation within a quotation
    --not used in our common Bibles; the defect in what measure relieved


H.

H, its name and plur. numb.
    --its sound
    --in what words silent
    --in what positions do.
    --_an_ used formerly before all words beginning with

_Hand_, or _index_, use of

_Handwriting_, script letters in

_Harmonical pauses_, see _Pauses_

_Have_, verb, how varied
    --derivation of; with perf. part., import of the tense
    --_Had_, with _better, rather_, &c., before the infin.

_He_ and _she_, sometimes used as nouns
    --as prefixed to nouns to denote gend.
    --whether to be connected by a hyphen to the nouns to which prefixed

_Hear_, with objective, and an infin. without _to_
    --with infin. alone, perhaps ellipt, ("_I_ HAVE HEARD TELL")
    --_Heard_, verb, why irregular
    --its pronunc.

_Hebrew_ letters, some account of; names, characters, and significations of
    --whether they are, or are not, all consonants, long a subject of
      dispute
    --The

_Hebrew_ names for the months, were prop. nouns
    --_Hebrew_, what pointing adopted in

_Hence, thence, whence_, with _from_ prefixed. "_I'll_ HENCE," see
_Adverbs_

_Heptameter_ line, _iambic_, examples of
    --_trochaic_, do
    --_dactylic_, do.

_Here, there, where_, force of, when compounded with prepositions
    --with verb of motion, perh. allowable for _hither, thither, whither_.
      _Hereof, thereof, whereof_, placed after nouns, what to be called.
      _Herein, therein_, &c., their class and nature

_Heroic verse_, see _Pentameter_

_Heterogeneous terms_, in general, two such not to be connected by a
conjunc.

_Hexameter_ line, _iambic_, examples of
    --_trochaic_, do
    --_dactylic_, do.

_Hissing_ sounds, concurrence of, in forming the poss. case, how avoided

_Hold_, noun, after _lay, take_, &c., whether preferably construed with
_of, on_, or _upon_

_Hoping_, &c., verbs of, see _Commanding_

_How_, after nouns of manner, its nature
    --not to be used before _that_, or in stead of it
    --derivation of, from Anglo-Sax.

_Hyperbaton_, explained
    --its frequency in poetry; how should be used
    --is diff. from synchysis

_Hyperbole_, defined
    --_Hyperboles_, by what commonly expressed

_Hypermeter_, meaning of, in scansion

_Hyphen_, its uses
    --present use in compound names
    --Rules for the insertion of, in compounds
    --signif. of the name
    --_Hyphen_, abuse of
    --CHURCH, on the use of, in comp. words
    --in the _figure_ of an adj., with a change of the synt. and sense
    --necessary with a verbal noun and an adjunct
    --do. with comp. participles, converted

_Hypobacchy_, or _antibacchy_, defined


I.

I, lett., self-naming; its plur.
    --its usual sounds
    --diphthongs beginning with; triphth. do., _I_, pron. with cap. lett.,
      _I_, as written for a number. _I_, adv., see _Ay_

_Iambic verse_, treated
    --_Iamb. verse_, stress where laid in; effect of a short syll. added to
      a line of
    --shown in its eight measures
    --is seldom pure through a long succession of lines
    --some of its diversifications shown. See also _Dimeter, Trimeter_, &c.

_Iambus_, or _iamb_, defined

_Idea of unity_, and of _plurality_, how formed

_Identity of words_, the principle of, considered
    --_Identity, proper_, RULE for, ("Same Cases.") _Identification_,
      false, N. concerning

_Idioms_ or peculiarities of expression, when to be approved or valued

_If_, the Biblical use of, to express an emphat. negation
    --its derivation from Sax.

_Ignorance, literary_, Crit. N. concerning

_Imagery_, or _Vision_, explained

_Imperative mood_, defined
    --_Imperat. mood_, why so called; in what manner applied
    --its one tense, and the import of do
    --its inflection shown in the verb LOVE, conjugated
    --what nominatives only it takes
    --use of, in the Gr. lang.; do., in Lat., Ital., Fr., and Span
    --may have all the persons and numbers
    --poet.

_Imperfect tense_, defined
    --_Imperf. tense_, the _form_, how far applicable to the Eng. tense so
      called
    --in its simple form is the _preterit_
    --in the pot. and subj. moods, an aorist
    --of the indic. and the subj., how distinguished
    --of the sub., to express a mere supposition, with indef. time

_Imperfect participle_, or _first part._, defined
    --its form
    --The _first part._, has been variously called
    --why rightly termed _imperfect participle_
    --for what forms of the Lat. gram., stands
    --is applicable to time pres., past, or fut.; is not always active,
      even when derived from an act. verb
    --may be turned to a multiplicity of uses
    --appar. put absolute, (_Admitting,
    --Allowing_, &c.)
    --distinguished, with respect to governm., from a particip. noun
    --as equivalent to infin. mood; heads of regular equivalence
    --how compares with the Lat. gerund
    --its nature and construc.

_Impersonal verbs_, so called, their peculiarity of use
    --called _monopersonal_ by some

_Impropriety_ of language, what embraces

_In_ and _into_, difference between; nature of the relation expressed by
each; derivation of, from Sax.

_Inclusive_ and _exclusive_ terms of a comparison

_Incorrigible errors_, Crit. N. concerning

_Indefinite article_, see _An, A_ _Indefinite pronouns_, of the class
_pronom. adjectives_

_Independent_, see _Absolute_

_Index_, or _hand_, use of

_Indicative mood_, defined
    --_Indic. mood_, why so called; its nature and use
    --use of its pres. tense
    --do. of its form of the pluperf. in lieu of the pot. pluperf.
    --wherein differs characteristically from the subj.; the two moods
      continually confounded by writers
    --_Indic. mood_, format, and inflec. of its tenses shown in the verb
      LOVE, conjug.
    --employed to express a conditional circumstance assumed as a fact

_Inelegance_ of language, see _Awkwardness_.

_Infinitive mood_, defined
    --_Infin. mood_, so called in oppos. to the other moods
    --usually distinguished by the prep. _to_ before it
    --its _pres._, the ROOT, or radical verb; what _time_ it expresses
    --archaic form in _en_
    --its two tenses shown in the verb LOVE, conjug.
    --Synt. of
    --_Infin. mood_, by what governed; (see _To_:)
    --true construc. of, explained by the 18th Rule of the Synt.
    --why simple of solution in Eng.; whether ever governed by a prep, in
      Fr., Span., or Ital.
    --whimsical account of, given by NIX.
    --how expressed in the Anglo-Sax. of the 11th century
    --why may not, as some grammarians teach, be | considered a noun
    --DR. WILS. on the charac. and import of
    --to what other terms may be connected
    --what in its nature, and for what things chiefly may stand
    --taken abstractly, as subject of finite verb
    --Loose _infinitives_, improp. in precise language
    --_Infin. mood_, position of
    --misplacement of, to be avoided
    --distinction of voice in, often disregarded, ("_You are to_ BLAME;")
      hypercrit. teachings of SANB. and BLAIR hereon
    --_Infin._, after _bid, dare_, &c., without TO
    --whether used with TO after _have, help_, and _find_
    --_Infin._, BY WHAT _governed_, often imposs. to say, according to the
      instructions of MURR.
    --_Infinitives_ connected, governed by one preposition
    --_Infinitive_, ellipsis of, after _to_, whether to be approved
    --sometimes doubtful whether transitive or intransitive
    --in pause, or in remote dependence, punct. of
    --poet. placing of
    --Greek construc. of, in poetic use

_Inflections_, defined
    --rising and falling, explained; do., as applied to questions
    --_notation_ of, in writing and printing
    --the rising more numerous than the falling; predominance of the rising
      in oral lang.; the falling, for what used, COMST.
    --what kind of rules for, have been given by writers
    --the rising and the falling, to be used with prop. discrimination;
      what should determine the direction of
    --_Inflection_, what constitutes the _circumflex_

_Innovation_ extravagant, into the system of synt. or gram., a particular
instance of, noticed

_Inscriptions_ appear best in full capitals

_Instead_, what reckoned, and how best written

_Intending_, &c., verbs of, see _Commanding_.

_Intensive_ nature of comparatives and superlatives, A. MURR.

_Interrogative pronouns_, defined
    --what they severally demand
    --their use and construc.
    --in what differ from relatives
    --are always of the third pers.
    --declined
    --their place in a sentence
    --their construc. of cases, to what similar

_Interrogative_ sentences, agreem. of verbs in

INTERJECTIONS, Etymol. of
    --_Interjection_, defined
    --derivation and signif. of the term; LOWTH'S error in describing the
      _interjections_
    --_Interjections_, numb. of, in common use
    --List of
    --_Interjections_, the frequent use of, an indication of
      thoughtlessness; expressiveness of some _interjections_ in earnest
      utterance, &c.
    --should be discriminatively used
    --chief characteristics of; referred to the class of _adverbs_ by the
      Gr. grammarians
    --significant words uttered as, ("_Out! out!_")
    --appar. taken substantively
    --Synt. of
    --absolute construc. of
    --have no construc. with cases, as in Lat. and Gr.
    --appar., sometimes connected to other words by a prep., or by _that_
    --place of
    --punct. of
    --ellips. of, shown
    --derivation of
    --frequency of, in poet. lang.

_Inversion_ of terms, sometimes of advantage, in respect to strength and
vivacity of expression.

_Irony_, figure explained

_Is being_, with a perf. part., or the subject of the UNCO-PASSIVE _form of
verbs_, canvassed

_Ise_ or _ize_, which of these terminations to be taken in forming
derivatives under Deriv. of Verbs

_Ish_, termination, whether it may be accounted a degree of comparison

_It_. its chief use
    --declined
    --to what creatures may be applied
    --put for the distance, ("_How far do you call_ IT?" &c., PRIESTL.,)
    --without definite reference to an anteced.
    --as explet., and referring to something expressed afterwards; faulty
      omission of, before verb, in such construc.
    --had formerly no variation of cases
    --its poss. form ITS, for _of it_, of recent origin, and not found in
      the text of the common Bible
    --wrongly excluded by some from the list of pers. pronouns:
    --its derivation from Sax., traced

_Italic letters, Italics_, some account of
    --for what purpose used
    --how denoted in preparing manuscripts


J.

J, its name and plur. numb.
    --why never doubled
    --why never ends a word in Eng.
    --impropriety of dividing on the letter, in syllabication
    --sounds of,

_Johnson, Dr. S._, his authority in Eng. orthography

_Joint nominatives_, agreem. of verb with
    --whether words connected by _with_ can be used as. _Joint
      antecedents_, agreem. of pron. with
    --of different persons, agreem. of verb or pron. with, in ellipt.
      construc.

_Jumbling_ together of the active voice and the passive, the manner of some
    --_Jumbling_, senseless, Crit. N. censuring


K.

K, its name and plur.
    --in general, not needed in words derived from the learned languages
    --its sounds
    --when silent
    --Two Kays standing together

_Kind, sort_, with _these_ or _those_ improp. preceding


L.

L, its name and plur. numb.
    --of the class _liquids_
    --final, monosyllables ending in
    --final double, to what words peculiar
    --its sound; in what words silent
    --where doubled
    --written for a number

_Labial_ letters, how articulated

_Language_, the primitive sense of the term, what embraced; signif. of do.,
as now used
    --in opposition to some grammarians, BROWN confines the term to speech
      and writing
    --loose explanations of the word by certain slack thinkers; WEBST.
      notion of
    --SHERID. idea of; KIRKH. wild and contradictory teachings concerning
    --_Language_, PROPRIETY of, in what consists; IMPROPRIETY of, what
      embraces
    --PRECISION of, in what consists; Precepts concerning its opposites
    --_Language_, Eng., (see _English Language_)
    --_Languages_, uniform SERIES OF GRAMMARS for teaching the Eng., Lat.,
      and Gr., that of DR. BULL., noticed

_Lay, pay_, and _say_, how written in the pret. and the perf. part.

_Leading principles_ in the construc. of sentences, in what embraced in the
Grammar

_Least parts_ of language, as written, as spoken, &c., what constituents so
called

_Legal_ phraseology, in contrast with that of common life

_Less_, improper use of, for _fewer_, ("_No_ LESS _than three
dictionaries_," DR. WEBST.)

_Lest_, use of, for THAT, without due regard to its import, ("_I feared_
LEST," &c.)
    --derivation of, from Sax.

_Let_, verb, its construc, with an infin. following

LETTERS, in the Eng. alphabet, numb. of, and numb. of sounds which they
represent
    --a knowledge of, in what consists
    --infinite variety in, yet the letters always THE SAME
    --different sorts of types, or styles of, used in Eng.
    --names of, in Eng.; do., sing, and plur.
    --Classes of, named and defined
    --_powers_ of
    --the JUST POWERS of, (see _Power_)
    --Forms of, and their distinctions, in the Eng. lang.
    --different sorts of, to be kept distinct
    --slanting strokes of the Roman, described
    --_Italic_, chief use of
    --_capital_, employment of
    --_small_, do.
    --_Letters_, history of
    --the names of, are words of a peculiar kind
    --the names and powers of, not always identical
    --general neglect of learning to write the names of, in Eng.
    --importance of learning to write do.
    --erron. teaching with respect to certain names of
    --_Letters_ of the Heb. alphabet given, with their names, and the
      significations of do.
    --of the Gr. alphabet, with their names
    --of the Lat. alphab., their names nearly lost
    --of do., as now printed
    --_Letters_, the twenty-six, possible combinations and mutations of
    --of the alphab., _read by their names_, how taken
    --do., written _for numbers_, what their nature; omission of _period_
      after such letters
    --DAY'S account of do.
    --_Letters_, the SOUNDS of, treated
    --_Letters_, the small, period of their adoption
    --used for references
    --_Letter_, definition of
    --_Letter_, the sound of, called its POWER; yet its _power_ not
      necessarily identified with its _sound_
    --A _letter_, in what consists _Like, near, nigh_, appar.,
      prepositions; why _not placed_ by BROWN with the prep. _Lily, W._,
      grammarian, his arrangement of Lat. syntax

_Lines, poetic_, technical denominations of

_Liquids_, what letters so called

_Literary division_ of a work, common order of, downwards, and throughout;
but all literary works not thus divided. _Literary blunders_, Crit. N.
concerning
    --_awkwardness_, do.
    --_ignorance_, do.
    --_silliness_, do.

_Little, lesser, less_, different uses and import of
    --_Little, much_, &c., preceded by _not, too_, or other such adv., how
      taken
    --_Less_, improp. used as an adj. of number; does not signify _fewer_;
      not to be used in the sense of do.
    --_Less, least_, adv., to be parsed separately, in the comparison of
      adjectives and adverbs

LOVE, verb active-trans., CONJUGATED _affirmatively_
    --BE LOVED, pass., do.
    --LOVE, conjug. negatively
    --do., interrogatively
    --do., interrogatively and negatively

_Low_ and provincial expressions, use of, as opp. to purity, PREC. against

_Ly_, most common terminal of Eng. adverbs; added to nouns to form
adjectives

(I,) u; 1055, b; 1053, L:
    --when adverbs ending in, are preferable to those of other forms.


M.

M, its name and plur. numb.,
    --of the class _liquids_,
    --its sounds,
    --when silent,
    --as written for a number.

_Macron_, or _macrotone_, mark, its use.

_Make_, verb, whether _to_ should be suppressed, and _be_, inserted, after,
("MAKE _yourself_ BE _heard_," BLAIR,)
    --its construc. with infin. following.

_Man_ and _woman_, comp. nouns in, (_man-servant, woman-servant_, &c.,) how
pluralized.

_Many a_, with noun sing. represented by a plur. pronoun.

_Marks_, or _points_, used in literary composition, the principal;
occasional. See _Punctuation_.

_May_, verb, how varied,
    --derivation and uses of.

_Mean, means_, use and construc. of.

_Measure_, &c., see _Time. Measure, poetical_, see _Verse_.

_Melody_ or beauty of a sentence, words necessary to, rarely to be omitted.

_Member_, or _clause_, defined.
    --_Memb_. and _clause_, generally used as synonymous, are discriminated
      by some,
    --_Clause_ and _phrase_, confounded by some,
    --_Members_, simple, of a sent., punct. of,
    --complex, do., do.,
    --_Members_ of a sentence, arrangem. of, as affecting STRENGTH.

_Metaphor_, defined,
    --what commonly understood to be,
    --agreem. of pron. with antecedent in cases of.

_Methinks_, explanation of; the lexicographers on the word.

_Metonymy_, defined,
    --_Meton._, on what founded,
    --agreem. of pron. with its antecedent, in cases of.

_Metres_, more found in actual use, than those acknowledged in the ordinary
schemes of prosody. _Metre_, see _Verse_.

_Milton_, MURR. proposed amendment of the "unintelligible" language of a
certain passage of, criticised,
    --double solec. in a pass, of, noticed,
    --his poem, _L'Allegro_, what its versificat.; what the management of
      the orders of its verse,
    --do., _Il Penseroso_, what its extent and construction.

_Miss_ or _Misses, Mr_. or _Messrs._, what the proper applicat. of, when
_name and title_ are to be used together, in a plur. sense.

_Mistaken, to be_, irregularity of the verb; its import as applied to
persons, and as applied to things.

_Mimesis_, explained; droll examples of.

_Minus, plus, versus, viâ_, Lat., use of, in Eng., in partic.
constructions.

_Mixing_ of synt. with etymol., the manner of INGERS., KIRKH., _et al._,
censured. _Mixture_ of the _forms_ of style, inelegance of.

_Modifications_, defined,
    --sense of the term as employed by BROWN.

_Moloss_, defined.

_Monometer_, scarcely constitutes a line, yet is sometimes so placed.
    --_Monometer_ line, _iambic_, examples of,
    --_trochaic_, do.,
    --_anapestic_, do.,
    --_dactylic_, an examp. of.

_Monopersonal_ verbs, see _Impersonal Verbs_.

_Monotone_, what, and how produced in elocution.

_Months and days_, names of, appar. proper names, and require capitals,
    --how best expressed in literary compositions.

_Moods_ of a verb, term defined,
    --the five, named and defined,
    --_Mood_, or MODE, the name. See _Infinitive Mood, Indic. Mood_, &c.

_More_ and _most_, in ambiguous construction, ("_Some people_ MORE _than
them_," MURR.,)
    --how parsed in comparisons of adjectives and adverbs.

_Moses_, in what characters, is supposed to have written.

_Most_, for _almost_, by vulgarism.

_Motion_, verbs of, with _hither_, &c., in stead of _here_.

_Much, little, all_, &c., as nouns,
    --preceded by _not, too_, or other such adv.,
    --_This much_, in stead of _thus much_, DR. BLAIR.

_Mulkey, W._, strictures on his system of orthoëpy.

_Multiplication_, subject of the verb in, see _Abstract Numbers_.

_Multiplicative_ numerals, as running on in a series; how written above
decuple or tenfold.

_Multitude_, noun of, see _Collective Noun_.

_Mute_ or _silent_, epithet applied to what letters.
    --_Mutes_, what so reckoned; of these, which imperfect.
    --Where a letter must be _once mute_.

_My_ and _mine, thy_ and _thine_, as duplicate forms of the poss. case, use
of.


N.

N, its name and plur. numb.,
    --of the class _liquids_,
    --its sounds,
    --in what position silent.

_Name and title_, see _Proper Names_.

_Naming_ the letters of the alphab., importance of.

_Narration_, see _Discourse_.

_Nasals_, what consonants so called.

_Near_ and _nigh_, see _Like_.

_Need_, as an uninflected third pers. sing. of the verb,
    --has perh. become an _auxiliary_ of the pot. mood,
    --to what tenses must be understood to belong, if to be recognized as
      an auxil. of the pot. mood,
    --that good writers sometimes inflect the verb, and sometimes do not,
      and that they sometimes use _to_ after it, and sometimes do not, how
      may be accounted for
    --three _authorized_ forms of expression, with respect to the verb.
      _Needs_, as an adv., its composition

_Needless_, mixing of characters in printing, bad effect of
    --capitals; effect of
    --articles, to be omitted
    --ellipses, the supposition of, a common error among grammarians
    --use of participles for nouns, or nouns for participles
    --words, ineleg.
    --possessive or art. before a part., how corrected
    --periods, or other points, after certain numeral expressions
    --abbreviations, offend against taste
    --dashes inserted, how to be treated

_Negation_, expressed in the early Eng. by multiplied negatives; such
manner of expression now obsolete and improper
    --Effect on a _negation_, of two negatives in the same clause

_Negatives_, the comm. rule of the grammars, that "two negatives, in Eng.,
destroy each other, or &c.," whether a correct one

_Neither_, see _Either_

_Neuter verb_, defined
    --_Neuter verbs_, the _active-trans_. verbs are so called in most
      grammars and dictionaries; the absurdity of this
    --extent of this class of verbs; their existence in any lang. denied by
      some grammarians
    --Neut. verb BE, conjugated
    --_Neuter verbs_, made from active-transitives, (_am come, is gone_,
      &c.;) these called by some, "neuter passives"
    --of passive form, (_am grown, are flown_, &c.,) as errors of
      conjugat., or of synt.
    --do., how may be distinguished from pass. verbs
    --do., DR. PRIESTL. mistaken notions concerning their nature and
      propriety
    --_Neut. verbs_, and their participles, take the same case after as
      before them
    --_Neuter verb_ between two nominatives, its agreem.

_Nevertheless_, its composition and class

_No_ or _none_, pronom. adj. _No_, as negative adj., "remarkable ambiguity
in the use of," noticed by PRIESTL., ("_No laws are better than the
English_;") how the ambiguity may be avoided
    --as a simple negation, its construc.
    --as an adv. of deg., relating only to comparatives, ("NO _more_,"
    --"NO _better_")
    --set before a noun, is an adj., corresponding to Lat. _nullus_
    --In the phrases, _no longer, no more, no where_, DR. JOH. appar.
      suggests wrongly the class; its true class according to its several
      relations
    --_No_, or an other independent negative, _repeated_, its effect
    --_No_, adv., not to be used with reference to a verb or part.
    --derivation of, from Anglo-Sax.

_Nominative case_, defined
    --_Nom. case_, how distinguished from the objective in nouns
    --as subj. of a finite verb
    --different ways of using
    --_Nominative_ and verb, usual position of, and when varied
    --_Nom. case_ and _object._, at the same time, noun placed in the
      relation of
    --_Nom_. following a verb or part, with what must accord in signif. See
      also _Subject_, &c.

_Nominative sentences_, examples of what MURR. erron. so terms; the prop.
construc. shown

_Nor_, see _Or_.

_Not_, its place in negative questions
    --how spoken in grave discourse, and how ordinarily
    --vulg. contractions of, with certain verbs
    --used with other negatives
    --do. with _nor_ (in stead of _or_) following, whether correctly, or
      not
    --derivation of, from Anglo-Sax. _Not but_, how resolved. _Not only,
      not merely_, to what are correspondents

_Notwithstanding_, import and construc. of; misunderstood by DR. WEBST.
    --formation and signif. of

NOUNS, Etymol. of
    --_Noun_, defined
    --_Nouns_, Classes of, named and defined
    --Modifications of, named
    --Persons of, named and defined; (see _Persons_)
    --Numbers of, do.; (see _Plural Number_)
    --Genders of, do.; (see _Genders_)
    --Cases of, do.; (see _Cases_)
    --Declension of
    --_Nouns_, number of, in Eng.
    --the sense of, how made indefinitely partitive
    --examples of words commonly belonging to other classes, used as
    --_collective, abstract_, and _verbal_ or _participial_, included among
      common nouns; (see _Collective Noun_, and _Particip. Noun_)
    --proper, (see _Proper Names_)
    --_Nouns_, Synt. of
    --_Noun_, why may not be put in the relation of two cases at once
    --taken figuratively sing. for literally plur.
    --required to be repeated, or inserted, in stead of a pronoun
    --ellips. of, shown
    --_Nouns_ of _time, measure, distance_, &c., (see _Time_)
    --_Nouns_, derivation of, from nouns, adjectives, verbs, or participles
    --poet. peculiarities of

_Numbers_, the distinction of, to what belongs, and how applied. (See
_Plural Number_.) _Numbers_, cardinal, ordinal, &c., (see _Cardinal
Numbers_, &c.)
    --_Numbers_, abstract, expressions of multiplication in, ("_Twice one_
      IS _two_,"
    --"_Twice two_ ARE _four_," &c.,) seven different opinions of
      grammarians respecting, examined by BROWN; who determines the prop.
      forms of expression
    --_Numbers_, expressed by letters, how to be considered; whether to be
      marked by the period
    --combined arithmetical, one adjective relating to an other

_Numerals, numeral adjectives_, see _Adjectives, Numeral_. _Numerical
figures_ used for references


O.

O, lett., as A, E, I, and U, self-naming
    --its plural
    --formation of the plur. of nouns in
    --sounds properly its own
    --where sounded as short _u_
    --do. as obscure _e_
    --diphthongs beginning with
    --triphth. do. _O_, interj., with cap. lett.
    --what emotion indicates
    --differs from _oh_
    --as denoting earnestness, before nouns or pronouns put absol. by
      direct address; is no positive index of the vocative
    --_O_, &c., MURR., erron. doctrine concerning, to what teaching it has
      given rise
    --_O_, &c., with a case following, Lat. construc. of, examined
    --_O_, not unfreq. confounded with _oh_, even by grammarians.

_Obelisk_, or _dagger_, as mark of reference.

_Objective case_, defined
    --_Obj. case_, how distinguished from the _nom._ in nouns
    --before the infin. mood, how taken in Eng.
    --as governed by active-trans. verb or part.
    --"Active verbs govern the _obj. case_," MURR., defect of this brief
      assertion; its uselessness as a RULE for "the syntax of verbs."
    --_Obj. case_, of how many constructions susceptible
    --whether infinitives, participles, &c., can be in
    --two nouns in, after a verb, how parsed,
    --Whether any verb in Eng. governs _two objectives_ not coupled
    --_Obj. case_ as governed by passive verbs, erron. allowed by some
    --what verbs not to be employed without
    --_Obj. case_ as governed by prep.
    --"Prepositions gov. the _obj. case_," why the brief assertion is
      exceptionable, as the sole RULE, in parsing prep.

_Obsolete_ or antiquated words, use of, as opposed to purity, PREC. against
    --_Things obsolete_ in Eng., DR. LATHAM'S attempts to revive.

_Ocean_, figurative representation of, as uttering his voice in tones of
varied quantity.

_Octometer_ line, may be reduced to tetrameter
    --iambic, examples of
    --_trochaic_, do
    --dactylic, example of
    --_Octometer_, trochaic, rhyme and termination of; its pauses, and how
      may be divided; the most common form of.

_Of_ and _on_ or _upon_, difference between.

_Old English_, characters of its alphabet, shown
    --occasional use of do.

_Omissions_ of words that are needful to the sense, Crit. N. against.

_Omitting_, verbs of, with part. in stead of infin.

_One_, employment of, as a noun or as a substitute for a noun; how classed
by some grammarians
    --may be preceded by the articles, or by adjectives
    --like Fr. _on_ or _l'on_, used indef. for any person; in this sense
      preferable to a _pers._ pron. applied indefinitely
    --CHURCH., citation ridiculing the too frequent use of, for pers. pron.
    --as pronom. adj., requires verb and pron. in the third pers. sing. to
      agree with it. _One an other_, see _Other. One_, or _a unit_, whether
      it is a _number_.

_Only_, derivation of; class and meaning of, in its several different
relations
    --strictures on the instructions of grammarians respecting the
      classification and placing of
    --ambiguous use of, (as also of _but_,)
    --use of, for _but_, or _except that_, not approved of by BROWN
    --_Not only, not merely
    --but_, &c., correspondents.

_Onomatopoeia_ described and exemplified (extr. from SWIFT.)

_Or_, as expressing an alternation of terms, (Lat., _sive_.)
    --in Eng., is frequently equivocal; the ambiguity how avoided
    --_Or_, perh. contracted from _other_
    --_Or_ and _nor_ discriminated
    --_Or, nor_, grammarians dispute which of these words should be adopted
      after an other negative than _neither_ or _nor_; MURR., following
      PRIESTL., teaches that either word may be used with equal propriety;
      BURN'S doctrine; BROWN, after revising CHURCH., attempts to settle
      the question,
    --_Or ever_, ("OR EVER _the earth was_,") the term explained.

_Or_ or _our_, terminat., number of Eng. words in; how many of these may be
written with _our_; BROWN'S practice and views in respect to this matter.

_Oral_ spelling, the advantage of, to learners.

_Order_ of things or events, the natural, PREC. directing the observance
of, in the use of lang.

_Orders of verse_, see _Verse_.

_Ordinal_ numeral, (see _Numerals._)
    --_Ordinal_ adjectives may qualify card. numbers; cannot properly be
      _qualified by_ do.

_Orthoëpy_, see _Pronunciation_.

ORTHOGRAPHY
    --_Orthography_, of what treats
    --difficulties attending it in Eng.
    --DR. JOHNSON'S improvements in
    --DR. WEBSTER'S do., in a different direction
    --ignorance of, with respect to any word used, what betokens in the
      user (See also _Spelling._) _Orthography_, figures of, MIMESIS and
      ARCHAISM
    --its substantive or pronominal character; (with _one._) how classed by
      some; may be preceded by the articles
    --requires _than_ before the latter term of an exclusive comparison;
      yet sometimes perhaps better takes the prep. _besides. Each other one
      an other_, import and just application of,
    --misapplication of, frequent in books,
    --DR. WEBST. erron. explanation of _other_, as "a correlative to
      _each_,"
    --_One_ and _other_, frequently used as terms relative and partitive,
      appar. demanding a plur. form,
    --_An other_, in stead of _another_. _Somehow_ or _other, somewhere_ or
      _other_, how _other_ is to be disposed of.

_Ought_, principal verb, and not auxiliary, as called by MURR. _et al._,
    --originally part of the verb _to_ OWE; now used as defec. verb,
    --its tense, as limited by the infin. which follows.

_Ourself_, anomalous form peculiar to the regal style,
    --peculiar construc. of.

_Own_, its origin and import; its class and construc.,
    --strangely called a _noun_ by DR. JOH.


P.

P, its name and plur. numb.,
    --its sound,
    --when silent,
    --_Ph_, its sounds.

_Pairs_, words in, punct. of.

_Palatals_, what consonants so called.

_Parables_, in the Scriptures, see _Allegory_.

_Paragoge_, explained.

_Paragraph_ mark, for what used.

_Paralipsis_, or _apophasis_, explained.

_Parallels_, as marks of reference.

_Parenthesis_, signif. and twofold application of the term,
    --_Parenthesis_, marks of, (see _Curves_.)
    --What clause to be inclosed within the curves as a PARENTHESIS, and
      what should be its punct.,
    --_Parentheses_, the introduction of, as affecting unity.

_Parsing_, defined.
    --_Parsing_, its relation to grammar,
    --what must be considered in,
    --the distinction between etymological and syntactical, to be
      maintained, against KIRKH. _et al._,
    --character of the forms of etymological adopted by BROWN,
    --what implied in the right performance of,
    --whether different from analysis,
    --what to be supplied in.
    --_Parsing_, of a prep., how performed,
    --of a phrase, implies its separation,
    --the RULES OF GOVERNM., how to be applied in,
    --of words, is not varied by mere transposition.
    --_Parsing_, etymological and syntactical, in what order to be taken,
    --the SENSE, why necessary to be observed in; what required of the
      pupil in syntactical,
    --syntactical, EXAMPLE of.
    --_Parsing_ or CORRECTING, which exercise perh. the more useful.

_Participial adjectives_, see _Adjectives, Participial_.

_Participial_ or _verbal noun_, defined,
    --how distinguished from the participle.
    --_Participial noun_ and participle, the distinction between, ill
      preserved by MURR. and his amenders.
    --_Participial noun_, distinc. of VOICE in, sometimes disregarded,
      ("_The day of my_ BURYING,")
    --_with_ INFIN. _following_, strictures on MURR., LENN., and BULL.,
      with respect to examples of.

PARTICIPLES, Etymol. of.
    --_Participle_, defined.
    --_Participles_, whether they ought to be called verbs,
    --appropriate _naming_ of the kinds of,
    --often become adjectives,
    --become adjectives by composition with something not belonging to the
      verb,
    --number of, simp. and comp.,
    --imply _time_, but do not divide it,
    --retain the _essential_ meaning of their verbs, but differ from them
      in the _formal_,
    --in Eng., from what derived,
    --H. TOOKE'S view of the time of; with whom BROWN differs.
    --_Participles_, Classes of, named and defined,
    --(See _Imperfect Participle_ and _Perfect Part_.)
    --_Participles_, grammarians differ in their opinion with respect to
      the time and voice of,
    --how have been called and treated by some,
    --explanation of the different,
    --how distinguished from particip. nouns,
    --elegantly taken as plur. nouns, ("_All his_ REDEEMED,")
    --appar. used for adverbs,
    --some become prepositions.
    --_Participle_ and ADJUNCTS, as forming "one name," and as such,
      _governing the poss._, whence the doctrine; PRIESTL. criticised;
      MURR. _et al_. adopt PRIESTL. doctrine, which they badly sustain;
      teachers of do. disagree among themselves,
    --governm. of possessives by, how BROWN generally disposes of; how
      determines with respect to such governm.
    --_Participles_, Synt. of,
    --regular synt. of, twofold; nature of the two constructions; OTHER
      _less regular_ constructions; which two constructions of all, are
      legitimate uses of the participle; which constructions are of doubtf.
      propriety.
    --_Participles_, to what RELATE, or in what state GOVERNED.
    --_Participle_, as relating to a phrase or sentence,
    --taken abstractly,
    --irregularly used in Eng. as substitute for infin. mood,
    --in irreg. and mixed construc.
    --_Participle_, transitive, what case governs,
    --nom. absol. with, to what equivalent,
    --each requires its appropriate FORM,
    --questionable uses of, admitted by MURR. _et al_.; why BROWN is
      disposed to condemn these irregularities.
    --_Participle_ and particip. noun, distinction between, with respect to
      governm.
    --_Participle_ in _ing_, multiplied uses of, lawful and forced,
      illustrated,
    --equivalence of do. to infin. mood, instances of,
    --every mixed construc. of, how regarded by BROWN,
    --the "double nature" of, CROMB. on; his views, how accord with those
      of MURR. _et al._, HILEY'S treatment of; BROWN'S strictures on do.
    --_Participles_, place of:
    --active, governm. of.
    --_Participle_, trans., converted to a noun:
    --converted, _when_ the expression should be changed:
    --followed by an adj., its conversion into a noun appar. improper:
    --comp. converted, how managed:
    --not to be used for infin., or other more appropriate term:
    --use of, for a nominative after _be, is, was_, &c., faulty:
    --following a verb of _preventing_, how to be managed.
    --_Participles_, converted, disposal of their adverbs:
    --must be construed with a regard to the leading word in sense:
    --should have a clear reference to their subjects:
    --needless use of, for nouns, to be avoided:
    --punct. of:
    --derivation of:
    --poet. peculiarities in the use of.

_Parts of speech_, meaning of the term:
    --_Parts of speech_, named and defined:
    --what explanations may aid learners to distinguish the different:
    --why needful that learners be early taught to make for themselves the
      prop. distribution of:
    --WILS. on the distribution of:
    --the preferable _number_ with respect to; the office of, specifically
      stated.
    --The _parts of speech_, passage exemplifying all.
    --Examples of a partic. _part of speech_ accumulated in a sentence.
    --Etymol. and Synt. of the different _parts of speech_, see _Article,
      Noun, Adjective_, &c.

_Passions_ of the mind, by what tones to be expressed.

_Passive verb_, defined.
    --_Pass. verbs_ contrasted with active-trans, verbs, in respect to the
      object or the agent of the action; their compos, and construc.:
    --their FORM in Eng.
    --_Pass. verb_ BE LOVED, conjug. affirmatively.
    --_Pass. verbs_, how distinguished from neuters of the same form:
    --having active forms nearly equivalent to them, (_is rejoiced,
      rejoices_; _am resolved, know_, &c.,):
    --erroneously allowed by some to govern the obj. case in Eng.; CROMB.
      in this category, cited, canon, pseudo-canons.
    --_Pass. verb_, what should always take for its subj. or nom.:
    --takes the same case after as before it, when both words refer to the
      same thing:
    --between two nominatives, with which should be made to agree,
      ("_Words_ ARE wind,"). See _Unco-Passive_, &c.

_Passive_ form of an active-intrans. verb followed by a prep. and its
objective, ("_He_ WAS LAUGHED AT,"). _Passive_ sense of the act. form of
the verb, ("_The books continue_ SELLING,").

_Past for future_, see _Prophecy_.

_Pauses_, term defined.
    --_Pauses_, kinds of, named and explained:
    --the distinctive, duration of:
    --after what manner should be formed:
    --forced, unintentional, their effect:
    --emphatic or rhetorical, applicat. and office of:
    --harmonic, kinds of; these, essential to verse.
    --_Pauses_, abrupt, punct.:
    --emphatic, do.

_Pedantic_ and sense-dimming style of charlatans &c., as offending against
purity.

_Pentameter_ line, _iambic_, examples of:
    --is the regular Eng. HEROIC; its quality and adaptation:
    --embraces the _elegiac stanza_:
    --_trochaic_, example of, said by MURR. _et al_. to be very uncommon;
      was unknown to DR. JOH. and other old prosodists:
    --the two examples of. in sundry grammars, whence came; a couplet of
      these scanned absurdly by HIL.; HART mistakes the metre of do.:
    --_dactylic_, example of, ("_Salutation to America_,").

_Perfect_, adj., whether admits of comparison; why its comparis. by adverbs
not wholly inadmissible.

_Perfect definition_, what.

_Perfect participle_, or _second part._, defined:
    --its form:
    --how has been variously called:
    --its character and name as distinguished from the imperf. part:
    --why sometimes called the _passive part_.; why this name liable to
      objection:
    --how may be distinguished from the preterit of the same form:
    --should not be made to govern an objective term. ("_The characters_
      MADE USE OF," MURR.,):
    --not to be used for the pret., nor confounded with the pres.:
    --what care necessary in the employment of; when to be distinguished
      from the preterits of their verbs.

_Perfect tense_, defined.
    --_Perf. tense_ of indic., as referring to time relatively fut.

_Period_, or _full stop_, its pause.
    --_Period_, or _circuit_, nature of.
    --_Period_, probably the oldest of the points; how first used:
    --how used in Hebrew:
    --what used to mark:
    --Rules for the use of:
    --not required when short sentences are rehearsed as examples:
    --whether to be applied to letters written for numbers:
    --with other points set after it:
    --whether proper after Arabic figures used as ordinals.
    --_Period of abbreviation_, whether always supersedes other points.

_Permanent_ propositions, to be expressed in the pres. tense.

_Permitting_, &c., verbs of, see _Commanding_.

_Personal pronoun_, defined.
    --_Personal pronouns_, simple, numb, and specificat. of:
    --declension of:
    --often used in a reciprocal sense, ("_Wash_ YOU," &c.,).
    --(See also _It_.)
    --_Personal pronouns_, compound, numb. and specificat. of. 298:
    --explanat. and declension of:
    --CHURCH. account of:
    --of the first and second persons, placed before nouns to distinguish
      their persons.

_Personification_, defined,
    --MURR. definition of, blamed,
    --what constitutes the purest kind of,
    --change of the gend. of inanimate objects by,
    --whether it always changes the gender of anteced. term,
    --agreem. of pronouns with their antecedents in cases of,
    --Rule for capitals in do.,
    --comp.,
    --_Personifications_, CHURCH, on the determination of gender in,
    --_Personified_ objects, names of, put in the second pers., and why,
    --how pronouns agree with,

_Persons_, term defined,
    --_Persons_, named and defined,
    --the distinction of, on what founded,
    --_Persons, numbers_, &c., character of BROWN'S definitions of,
    --_Persons_, in gram., nature of; absurd teachings of some
      grammar-makers concerning,
    --distinctions of, in written lang.,
    --_Person_ and _number_ of a verb, what,
    --_Persons_, second and third, of a verb, distinctive formations of,
    --do., in Lat., shown,
    --_Person_, nouns of the second, in Eng., in how many ways can be
      employed,
    --the _third_, put with the pron. _I_, by vulgarism, ("THINKS I _to
      myself_,")
    --the first, place of,
    --_Persons_, whether the imperat. mood may have three,
    --connected antecedents of different, agreem. of pron. with,
    --connected nominatives of different, agreem. of verb with,

_Perspicuity_, as a quality of style, in what consists,
    --is essential in composition; BLAIR quoted,
    --the excellence of,
    --Precepts aiming at offences against,

_Perversions of Eng. grammar_, the design, in part, of BROWN'S code of
synt, is to make intelligent judges of,
    --_Perversions, literary_, Crit. N. concerning,

_Phonetics, phonography, phonotopy_, BROWN'S estimate of; DR. JOH. cited,
    --account of,
    --TRENCH'S views of,
    --_Phonographic system_ of stenography, its practical value;
      _phonotopy_, to what may be advantageously applied,

_Phrase_, defined,
    --_Phrase_ made the subject of a verb, how to be taken,
    --_Phrases_, distinct, conjunctively connected, agreem. of verb with,
    --distinct, disjunctively connected, do.,
    --unconnected, do.,
    --BAD _phrases_, examples of, from authors,
    --do., corrected,
    --_Phrases_ or _clauses_, ellips. of, shown,
    --_Adverbial phrase_, (so termed by some,) see _Adverb_.

_Place_ or _position_ of the different parts of speech, see _Article, Noun,
Adjective_, &c.

_Pleonasm_, defined,
    --_Pleonasm_, when allowable with respect to a pron.,
    --in what instances impressive and elegant; when, the vice of ill
      writing,
    --occurs sundry times in the Bible,

_Pluperfect tense_, defined,
    --_Pluperf. tense_, what implies when used conditionally; what, in the
      negative form of supposition,
    --how formed in the indic. mood; do. in the potential,
    --indic. form of, put by enall. for pluperf. of the pot.,
    --PLUPERFECT, signif. of the term; several innovators (as BULL., BUTL.,
      _et al._) have been fain to discard it,

_Plural number_, of nouns, how formed,
    --of most nouns in Eng., is simple and regular,
    --of nouns ending in a vowel preceded by a vowel,
    --of do. in _y_ preceded by a consonant,
    --of do. in _o_ preceded by a consonant,
    --construc. of, when several persons of the _same name_ are spoken of
      ("_The Stuarts_,")
    --of prop. names, its formation,
    --of nouns in _i, o, u_, or _y_, preceded by a consonant,
    --when _name_ and _title_ are to be used together, ("_The Miss
      Bells_,")
    --of nouns in _f_,
    --of nouns not formed in _s_ or _es_,
    --of compounds,
    --of certain compound terms, ("_Ave-Maries_," &c.,)
    --wanting to some nouns,
    --of nouns of multitude,
    --_Plural_, nouns made so by nature or art,
    --of foreign nouns, 253,
    --improperly formed by adding apostrophic _s_,
    --of mere characters, how denoted,

_Plurality_, the idea of; see _Unity_, &c.

_Poetic feet_, treated,
    --(See _Iambus, Trochee_, &c.)
    --_Poetic foot_, of what consists,
    --_Poet. feet_, number to be recognized in Eng.,
    --principal Eng., named and defined,
    --kinds of, which form ORDERS OF VERSE,
    --what combinations of, severally form _dimeter, trimeter_, &c.,
    --(See _Dimeter, Trimeter_, &c.)
    --_Poetic_ collocation of words, in prose, as offending against
      perspicuity, PREC. respecting,
    --_Poetic diction_, treated,
    --in what abounds,
    --_Poetical Peculiarities_,

_Poetry_, as defined by BLAIR,
    --character of its style,
    --aim and end of,
    --exterior distinction of,
    --why difficult, by a definition, to be distinguished from prose,
    --inept directions of some grammatists respecting the parsing of,
    --_Poetry_, every line in, should begin with a capital,

_Points_, or _stops_, the principal, named, and their forms shown,
    --the purpose of,
    --length of pauses denoted by,
    --often variously used in different editions of the same work,
    --origin of, See _Punctuation_.

_Points_ of the compass, adjectives for; modes of varying them,

_Possession_, relation of, see _Property_.

_Possessive case_, defined,
    --_Poss. case_, how formed
    --disputes of the earlier grammarians respecting,
    --CARD. _et al._ attempt to revive exploded error concerning,
    --form of,
    --origin of, in Eng.,
    --odd notions of some grammarians concerning the regular formation of
    --exceptions or irregularities in the formation of
    --_Poss. case_, PEI. on, criticised
    --ASH and PRIESTL. on the plur.
    --use of the two forms of, in pers. pronouns
    --_of the simp. pers. pronouns_, grammarians differ with respect to;
      should not be considered mere adjectives
    --are pronom. adjectives, according to DR. LOWTH and his followers,
    --whose doctrine BROWN canvasses, also, WEBSTER'S, WILSON'S, MURRAY'S
    --_Poss. case_, its equivalence to _of_ and the objective, not a
      _sameness of case_, (in oppos. to Nix.)
    --of pronouns, not to be written with apostrophe
    --of nouns in appos., application of the possessive sign to
    --by what _governed_
    --whether the rule for, has true exceptions
    --appos. of one with an other, ("_For_ DAVID _my_ SERVANT'S _sake_,")
      the construc. examined
    --appar. in abstract construc., ("_All_ MINE _are_ THINE,")
    --as governed by a part, the construc. examined; COROL.
    --why the governm. of, should be limited to nouns only
    --whether before a real part., denotes the possession of something
    --_Possessive sign_, omission oL not a true ellips.
    --always implies a governing word,
    --how taken by compounds
    --liable to be added to adjunct of the former noun
    --whether it can be rightly added to separate adjectives, ("_The_
      GUILTY'S _prayer_,")
    --_which_ noun of connected possessives takes
    --Poss. case, place and order of
    --generally equivalent to prep. _of_ and _the objective_,
    --governed by something not expressed, ("St. Paul's,")
    --_Possessives, connected_, how to be taken,
    --Poss. _singular_, with _s_ omitted, ("For CONSCIENCE' _sake_")
    --_Poss. case_ of nouns sing, in _ss_, false teaching of KIRKH. _et
      al._, respecting the formation of
    --MURR. rule for the construc. of, why objectionable,
    --compounds embracing, lack uniformity in writing,
    --peculiarity of, with respect to correlatives, ("Father's son,")
    --_Possessive_ relation between a portion of time and its correlative
      action, ("THREE YEARS' _hard work_" or, "_Three years_ OF HARD
      WORK,")
    --_Poss. case_, appropriate form of, to be observed,
    --plural, with a noun in forced agreem., ("For OUR PARTS,") ib., N. iv:
    --needless use of, before a participle, ("In THEIR _pronouncing the
      Greek_,")
    --_Possessive pronouns, my, thy, his_, &c., how often should be
      inserted, or repeated

_Potential mood_, defined
    --_Potential mood_, why so called; by what _signs_ distinguished,
    --may, like the indic., be used in asking questions; why by some
      included in the subj.
    --in what tenses used; nature of the imperf. tense
    --formation and inflection of its tenses, shown in the verb LOVE,
      conjugated,

_Power_ of a letter, the _powers_ of the letters, what meant by, when
spoken of,
    --The _power_ of a letter is not its sound, as MURR. et al incorrectly
      teach
    --The _simple powers_ of the letters, many irreconcileable doctrines
      have been advanced thereon; GARDINER'S notions concerning, stated in
      brief,
    --RUSH'S explanations of, his pretentious scheme of the alphab. how
      estimated by BROWN
    --The _just powers_ of the letters, what, and how are to be learned,
    --_Powers_ of the letters, variable; how become so; WALK, cited

_Praxis_, defined; lit. signif. of the word, as from the Gr.

_Precision_, as a quality of style, in what consists,
    --Precepts aiming at offences against
    --conciseness, or brevity, as opposed to

_Prefixes_, their management in syllabication, R.:
    --Explanation of
    --import and character of the particles used as, in Eng.; the _roots_
      to which prefixed, not always proper Eng. words
    --_Prefixes_, ENG. or ANGLO-SAX.,
    --_Prefixes_, poet, usage with respect to,

_Preperfect participle_, defined
    --_Preperf. part._, its form
    --its nature and name,

PREPOSITIONS, Etymol. of
    --_Preposition_ defined
    --importance of a right use, and a right explan. of
    --HARR. explanation of, as cited by LOWTH, stricture on HARR.
    --its simplicity among the parts of speech; how should be explained in
      parsing,
    --no sufficient RULE for the synt. of, in most of the Eng. grammars,
      _Prepositions_ and their objects, as preceding the words on which
      they depend, ("_Of man's first disobedience, &c., Sing_" MILC.,)
    --_Prepositions_, what it is, to find the terms of relations of;
      disput. text cited in illustration
    --the special _adaptation_ of; example of misuse by MURR., remarked on
    --HARR., on the purpose for which almost all _prepositions_ were orig.
      formed, and on the nature of their relations; his views controverted
      by BROWN,
    --Prepositions and their governed objects, the true determination of;
      examples of joint objects, and of joint antecedents, wrong views of
      MURR. and his followers concerning this matter.
    --_Prepositions_, two connected, for what different purposes used
    --two coming together, ("FROM AMONG the _just_,")
    --_Prepositions complex_, what their character, and how may be
      resolved; are occasionally compounded by the hyphen
    --_Prepositions_, how might be divided into classes; the inutility in
      parsing of the division into "_separable_ and _inseparable_;"

HALL'S absurd idea of a divis., noticed
    --whether "two in immediate succession require a noun to be understood
      between them," (NUTT.)
    --words commonly reckoned, (_in, on, of_, &c.,) used after infinitives
      or participles, in adverbial construc., ("_Houses to eat and drink_
      IN")
    --_Prepositions_, List of
    --grammarians differ considerably in their tables of; do. concerning
      the characteristics of; what BROWN supposes, in oppos. to the
      assertion that "Every _prep_. requires an obj. case after it"
    --LENN. and BULL. on "_prepositions becoming adverbs_," criticised
    --MURR. on "_prepositions_ appearing to be adverbs," criticised
    --_Preposition_, whether it can be justly said to take a sent. for its
      object
    --_Prepositions_, words in the list of, sometimes used as other parts
      of speech
    --extension of the list of
    --examples of the less usual, _a_, and others beginning with _a_
    --do. of unusual ones beginning with _b, c_, or _d_
    --_unusual_, quotations illustrating further the list of
    --_Preposition_, RULE of synt. for the _word governed by_
    --_Prepositions_, in Eng., govern no other case than the obj.; most,
      may take the imperf. part. for their obj.
    --The brief assertion, that "_Prepositions_ govern the obj. case,"
      wherein is exceptionable as the sole rule for both terms
    --_Prepositions_, ellipt. construc. of, with adjectives, (_in vain, in
      secret_, &c.)
    --sometimes appar. govern adverbs
    --_Preposition_, appar. governing a perf. part., ("_To give it up_ FOR
      LOST")
    --_Prepositions_, Synt. of
    --do., in what consists
    --what RELATIONS, show; (see _To_ and _For_)
    --the parsing of; why tolerable writers are liable to err most in their
      use of
    --_Preposition_, the true terms of the relat. of, how may be discovered
    --when beginning or ending a sent. or clause, what the construc.
    --the terms of relation of, what may be; both usually expressed
    --position of, with respect to the governed word
    --_Prepositions_, several, dependent on one anteced. term, ("_A
      declaration_ FOR _virtue and_ AGAINST _vice_," BUTL.)
    --two coming together between the same terms of relat.; do. in the same
      construc.; erron. remark of PRIESTL., MURR., _et al._, concerning the
      latter
    --_Preposition_, the separating of, from its noun, false doctrine of
      LOWTH, MURR., _et al._, concerning
    --_Prepositions_, prop, choice of
    --do., with respect to the allowable uses of
    --as adapted in meaning to _two_ objects, or to _more_
    --_Preposition_, ellips. or omiss. of, where ineleg.
    --insertion of, when do.
    --_Prep. and its object_, position of, in respect to other words
    --do., punc. of
    --_Prep._, ellips. of, shown
    --_Prepositions_, derivation of
    --poet. usage with respect to

_Present tense_, defined
    --_Pres. tense_, described
    --of the indic., used to express general truths
    --deceased authors spoken of in, and why
    --for the past, by Grecism; in animated narrative, for do., by enall.
    --of the indic. and the subj., when preceded by _as soon as_, &c., to
      what _time_, refers
    --of the infin., what time is expressed by; expedients used to express
      _fut_. time by
    --of the INFINITIVE, the ROOT, or RADICAL VERB
    --of the subj., its use, and how considered by some
    --_Pres. tense_, sometimes improp. with the conjunc. _that_, ("_Others
      said_, THAT _it is Elias_")

_Preter, preterimperfect_, &c., disused terms for _past, imperfect_, &c.
    --_Preter_, prefix, its meaning

_Preterit_, defined
    --_Preterit_, described
    --its form and variations
    --present tendency to a reg. orthog. of, to be encouraged
    --groundless rule of some, for forming second pers. of, when the pres.
      and the pret. are alike
    --not to be used in forming the comp. tenses of a verb

_Preventing_, verbs of, with part., in stead of infin.
    --what construc. is proper for

_Primitive word_, defined
    --_Primitive words_ regarded as such in Eng., may generally be traced
      to ulterior sources

_Principal parts_, of a verb, (see _Chief Terms_)
    --of a sent., how many, and what

_Priscian_, ancient grammarian, delivers the names of most of the Lat.
letters

_Progressive_ form of a verb, see _Compound_ &c.

_Pronominal adjectives_, see _Adjectives, Pronominal_

PRONOUNS, Etymol. of
    --_Pronoun_, definition of
    --_Pronouns_ in Eng., number of, and their variations
    --nature of the representation by; are put substantively, relatively,
      or adjectively; difference in these three modes of substitution
    --Classes of, named, and defined; (see _Personal Pronoun, Relative
      Pron._, and _Interrogative Pron_.)
    --_Pronouns, compound_, constructional peculiarities of
    --_Pronouns_, faultiness and discordance of most Eng. grammars, with
      respect to the classification and treatment of; specification of
      different modes of distribution by diff. authors
    --Modifications of, named; these properties how distinguished in the
      personal pronouns; do. how ascertained in the relat. and interrog.
      pronouns
    --Declension of; simp. personals declined; comp. personals do.; comp.
      relatives do.
    --appar. used for adverbs
    --_Pronouns_, Synt. of
    --_Pronoun_, agreem. of, with its anteced.
    --do., with anteced. indefinite
    --plur., put by enall. for the sing., agreem. of
    --sometimes disagreeing with the anteced. in one sense, because taking
      it in an other
    --what the main point with respect to; what application of the rule of
      agreem., in parsing
    --_Pronouns_, agreem. of, with their antecedents, as affected by the
      figures of rhetoric
    --place of
    --_Pronoun_, as representing a phrase or sentence
    --under what circumstances can agree with either of two antecedents
    --the parsing of, commonly requiring the application of two rules
    --with suppressed anteced.
    --needless introduction of, ("PALLAS, HER _glass_," BACON)
    --with change of numb. in the second pers., or promisc. use of _ye_ and
      _you_
    --must present the same idea as the anteced., and never confound the
      name with the thing signified
    --employment of _the same_, with respect to connected relative clauses
    --in what instances the _noun_ must be repeated, or inserted in stead
      of
    --should never be used to represent an adj., ("_Be_ ATTENTIVE;
      _without_ WHICH," &c.)
    --change of _anteced._ to accord with
    --agreem. with collective nouns
    --do. with joint antecedents
    --do. with connected antecedents in apposition
    --do. with connected antecedents emphat. distinguished
    --do. with connected antecedents preceded by _each, every_, or _no_
    --do. with connected antecedents of different persons
    --agreeing with implied nominatives
    --agreem. with disjunct antecedents
    --what agreem. with disjunct. antecedents of different persons,
      numbers, and genders
    --do. with antecedents taken affirmatively and negatively
    --do. with two antecedents connected by _as well as_, &c.
    --ellips. of, shown
    --punct. of, without pause
    --_Pronouns_, derivation of, from Sax.
    --poet. peculiarities of

_Pronunciation_, importance of an early habit of distinct
    --how best taught to children
    --_Pronunc._, as distinguished from elocution, what; how differs from
      articulation
    --_Pronunc._ of the Eng. lang., what knowledge requires; its
      difficulties; whether we have any system of, worthy to be accounted a
      STANDARD

_Proof-texts_, not to be perverted in the quotation, Crit. N.
    --not _quoted_, but _invented_, by some, in their false illustrations
      of gram.

_Proper names_ begin with capitals
    --_Comm._ and _proper name_ associated, how written
    --_Prop. names_, derivatives from, do.
    --(_Names_ of Deity, see _Deity_.)
    --_Prop. names_, application of rule concerning; distinc. between do.
      and common appellatives
    --of places, comparative difficulty of writing them
    --modern compound, sparing use of hyphen in
    --_Prop. names_, what their relative importance in lang.
    --structure and signif. of; how should be written
    --of plur. form, preceded by def. art.
    --_Prop. name_, with def. art., acquires the import of a comm.
    --_Proper_, from a comm. noun personified
    --_Prop. names_ of individuals, strictly used as such, have no plur.;
      _prop. name_, how made plur., and how then considered
    --when they form a plur., how form it
    --of persons, generally designate their sex
    --_Prop. name_, in appos. with an appellative
    --represented by _which_, ("_Herod_
    --WHICH _is_," &c.)
    --_Prop. name_ and _title_, when taken together in a plur. sense, in
      what form to be written

_Property_, the relation of, how may be otherwise expressed than by the
poss. case

_Prophecy_, the past tenses substituted for the fut., in the lang. of

_Propositions_, permanent, in what tense should be expressed

_Propriety_, as a quality of style, in what consists
    --its oppos., impropriety, what embraces
    --Precepts aiming at offences against

_Prose_ and verse, in the composition of lang., how differ

PROSODY
    --_Prosody_, of what subjects treats
    --etymol. and signif. of the word
    --_Prosody_, meagrely and immethodically treated in the works of many
      grammarians
    --undetermined usage as to what things belong to; how treated by some
      of the old prosodists; account of SMETIUS'S treatise of; do.
      GENUENSIS'S

_Prosthesis_, explained

_Proverbs_, their elliptical character

_Provincial_ expressions, use of, as opposed to purity

PUNCTUATION, arranged under the head of Prosody
    --_Punct._, what
    --principal marks of, named and shown; what they severally denote
    --RULES _of_: for Comma; for Semicolon; for Colon; for Period; for
      Dash; for Eroteme; for Ecphoneme; for Curves
    --description of the _other marks_ of
    --(See _Comma, Semicolon_, &c.)
    --_Punct._, the present system of, in Eng., common to many languages
    --why often found diverse, in diff. editions and diff. versions of the
      same work
    --duty of writers in respect to, and of publishers in reproducing
      ancient books
    --some account of the orig. and prog. of
    --"improvement" in, which is no improvement
    --confused and discordant explanations, by some, of certain of the
      marks of

_Purity_, as a quality of style, in what consists
    --Precepts aiming at offences against

_Pyrrhic_, defined


Q.

Q, its name and plur. numb.
    --has no sound peculiar to itself; its power
    --is always followed by _u_

_Quakers_, or Friends, their style of address, see _Friends_

_Qualities_ of style, treated
    --See _Style_ _Quantity_, or _time_ in pronunciation, explained
    --as defined by the lexicographers
    --its effect in the prolation of sounds
    --WALKER'S views of, unsatisfac. to BROWN
    --as regulated by emphasis, MURR.
    --_Quant_. of a syll., how commonly explained
    --by what marks may be indicated
    --_Quantities poetic_, how denominated, and how proportioned
    --What _quantity_ coincides with accent or emphasis
    --_Quantity_, on what depends
    --where variable, and where fixed, in Eng.
    --Crit. observations on accent and _quantity_
    --_Quantity_, its distinction from _accent_
    --Accent and _quantity_, differing views of authors relative to
    --_Quantity_, impropriety of affirming it to be the same as accent
    --DR. JOH. identification of accent with; such, also, that of others;
      (not so HARRIS;) NOEHD. rightly defines; so FISK, (in Eschenb. Man.
      Class. Lit.,) _et al_.
    --our grammarians seem not to have understood the distinc. of long and
      short, e. g., FISHER; so SHERID., WALK., MURR., _et al_.
    --CHAND. absurd and confused scheme of, noticed
    --suggestion of WEBST. on, approved

_Questions_, can be asked only in the indic. or the pot. mood
    --direct, to be marked by the eroteme
    --united, how to be marked
    --indirect, do.
    --a series of, how may be united and marked
    --exclamatory, how to be marked
    --_Question, mentioned_ in due form, how marked
    --declaratively put, how uttered and marked
    --in _Spanish_, doubly marked, ("¿Quien llama?";) in Greek, how

_Quite_, with art. and adj., construc. how differs according to position of
art.

_Quotation_, direct, first word of, written with capital
    --_Quotations_ of proof-texts, &c., should be literally given
    --dependent, separated from _say_, &c., by comma
    --indep., preceded by colon
    --_Quotat. within a quotat._, how usually marked

_Quoth_ and _quod_, signif. and use of, in ludicrous lang. or in the old
writers


R.

R, name and plur. numb.
    --of the class liquids
    --sound of; do., how can be varied in utterance
    --what faults to be avoided in do.
    --DR. JOH. account of; WALK. do.

_Radicals_, separable and inseparable, what are so called in Eng.
derivation

_Rath_, adv., used only in the compar. deg.
    --_Rather_, with the exclusive term of comparis. introduced by _than_
    --derivation of

_Reading, to read_, in gram., what the signif. of
    --READ, verb, CONJUGATED _affirmatively_ in Comp. Form

_Reciprocal terms, reciprocals_, what pronom. adjectives may be so termed
    --_Reciprocals_, EACH OTHER, ONE AN OTHER, their nature and import
    --misapplicat. of, frequent in books; WEBST. errs in the signif. and
      applicat. of _other_. See also _Other_

_Reciprocal_ or reflected verbs, constructions in imitation of the French

_Recurrence_ of a word in different senses, a fault opposed to propriety

_Redundant verb_, defined
    --_Redund. verbs_, why made a separate class
    --treated
    --List of

_Reference_, marks of, ASTERISK, OBELISK, &c., shown; in what _order_ are
introduced
    --what other signs of, may be used. _Reference, doubtful_, Crit. N.
      concerning

_Reformers_ of the Eng. alphabet and orthog., some account of

_Rejoice, resolve, incline_, &c., import of, in the pass. form

_Relations_ of things, their infinitude and diversity; the nature of
RELATION
    --_Relation of words_, what
    --is diff. from agreem., but may coincide with it
    --_Relation_ according to _the sense_, an important principle in Eng.
      synt.; what _rules_ of relation commonly found in the grammars
    --Simple _relation_, what parts of speech have no other syntact.
      property than; what simp. _relations_ there are in Eng.
    --_Relation_, with respect to a prep., _anteced. term_, what may be;
      _subseq._, do.
    --_Relation_, do., _terms_ of, to be named in parsing a prep.; how the
      terms may be ascertained by a learner
    --_terms of_, to a prep., may be transposed; are very various; both
      usually expressed

_Relative pronouns_, defined
    --_Relative pronouns_, and their _compounds_, named; declined
    --chief constructional peculiarities of
    --two faulty special rules given by the grammarians, for construc. of,
      noticed
    --construc. of, with respect to CASE
    --ellips. of, in famil. lang., ("_The man I trust_;") do., poet.
    --_Relative_ and prep. governing it, when should not be omitted
    --_Relative pron._, place of
    --clauses, connected, employment of, with _same_ pron. in each
    --_Rel. pronouns_, exclude conjunctions
    --derivat. of, from Sax.
    --poet, peculiarities with respect to. See also _Who, Which_, &c.

_Repetition_, of a noun or pronoun, what construc. it produces
    --of words, emphatic, punct.
    --of words, through paucity of lang.; against propriety
    --of do., as demanded by precision
    --_Repetitions_, see _Pleonasm_

_Restrictive_ and _resumptive_ senses of the rel. pronouns, distinc.
between, expl.
    --_Restrictive, relation_, most approp. expressed by the pron. THAT
    --admits not a comma before the relative
    --adj., admits not a comma before it
    --part., do.

_Rhetoric, figure of_, defined
    --Figures of _rhetoric_, see _Figures_

_Rhetorical pauses_, see _Pauses_

_Rhode Island_, the name how acquired; peculiarity of its application

_Rhyme_, defined
    --_Rhyming_ syllables, their nature and quality

_Rhythm_, of verse, defined
    --Fancifully explained by E. A. POE, (who without intelligence derives
      the term from [Greek: hurithmos])
    --sense and signif. of the word

_Roman letters_, some account of

_Rules_, of RELATION, what, commonly found in grammars
    --of SYNT., those common in grammars ill adapted to their purpose;
      examples of such
    --of do., exposition of the faulty charac. of those in Eng. grammars
    --_Rules of grammar_, advantage of, in the written language

_Rush, Dr. J._, his new doctrine of the vowels and consonants, in oppos. to
the old, how estimated by BROWN
    --his doctrine of a duplicity of the vocal elements, perstringed
    --his strange division of the vowels "into two parts," and conversion
      of most of them into diphthongs; his enumeration and specification of
      the alphabetic elements


S.

S, its name and plur. numb.
    --final, in monosyllables, spell.
    --of the poss. case, occas. dropping of; the elis. how to be regarded,
      and when to be allowed
    --its sounds
    --in what words silent
    --_Ss_, sound of

_S_ or _es_, verbal termin., DR. LOWTH'S account of

_Sans_, from Fr., signif., and where read

_Sabaoth_, see _Deity_

_Same cases_, construc. of
    --do., on what founded
    --what position of the words, admitted by the construc.
    --_Same case_, after _what verbs_, except those which are pass., taken
    --_Same cases_, notice of the faulty rules given by LOWTH, MURR., _et
      al._, for the construc. of

_Sameness_ of signif., what should be that of the nom. following a verb or
part.
    --_Sameness_ of words, see _Identity_

_Sapphic_, verse, described
    --_stanza_, composition of; examp. from HOR.
    --_Sapphic verse_, difficulty of; Eng. Sapphics few; scansion of; "The
      Widow," of SOUTHEY, scanned
    --_Eng. Sapphic_, DR. WATTS'S ode, (in part.) "The Day of Judgement,"
      "_attempted in_"
    --HUMPH. on, cited
    --_Sapphics_, burlesque, examples of

_Save, saving_, as denoting exception, class and construc. of
    --_Save_, derivation of

_Saxon_, alphabet, some account of
    --lang., its form about the year 450; do. subsequently

_Scanning_, or _scansion_, explained
    --Why, in _scanning_, the principal feet are to be preferred to the
      secondary
    --The poetry of the earliest Eng. poets, not easy of _scansion_

_Script letters_, the alphabet exhibited in
    --the _forms_ of, their adaptation to the pen

_Scripture names_, many discrepancies in, found in different editions of
the Bible. _Scriptures_, see _Bible_

_Section_, mark, uses of

SEE, verb, irreg., act., CONJUGATED affirmatively
    --takes infin. without prep. TO
    --its construc. with infin. without _to_

_Seeing_ and _provided_, as connectives, their class

_Seldom_, adv., its comparison; use of, as an adj.

_Self_, in the format, of the comp. pers. pronouns
    --CHURCH. explan. of
    --signif. and use of
    --as an Eng. prefix
    --after a noun poss., in poet. diction

_Self-contradiction_, Crit. N. respecting

_Self-naming letters_

_Semicolon_, point
    --for what purpose used
    --from what takes its name
    --_when_ adopted in England
    --is useful and necessary, though discarded by some late grammarians
    --Rules for the use of

_Semivowel_, defined
    --_Semivowels_ named; nature of _w_ and _y_; sound of certain, as
      aspirates

_Sense_ and construc. to be considered, in joining together or writing
separately words otherw. liable to be misunderstood
    --_Sense_ or meaning, necessary to be observed in parsing

_Senseless jumbling_, Crit. N. concerning

_Sentence_, defined
    --_Sentence_, its parts, principal and subordinate
    --_Sentences_, the two kinds of, named and defined
    --whether a tripartite distribut. of is expedient
    --_Simple sent._, false notions amongst grammarians of what constitutes
      one; _the parsing of words_ not affected thereby
    --_Sentences_, simp. and comp., DR. WILS. explanation of
    --component parts of, what these are
    --whether all, can be divided into clauses
    --in what FIVE WAYS, can be analyzed
    --_Sentences_, simp., punct.

of,
    --distinct, do.,
    --allied, do.,
    --short, rehearsed in close succession, how pointed.

_Series_, of terms, proper use of the _articles_ in,
    --of words, how to be commaed.

_Set_ and _sit_, signif. and employment of.

_Sex_, to what persons ascribed; why a young child may be spoken of without
distinc. of,
    --whether animals may be represented as of no,
    --inanimate objects fig. represented as having.
    --_Sexes_, distinction of, by _words_, in diff. ways,
    --denoted by _terminat_. of words,
    --designated by _proper names_.

_Shall_, verb, how varied,
    --original signif. of,
    --explet. use of.
    --_Shall_ and _will_, discriminative application of, in the fut. indic.

_Sheridan, T._, actor and orthoëpist, his literary reputation; the worth of
his writings.

_Side_, noun, peculiarities of usage in regard to.

_Silent_, or _mute_, when a letter is said to be.

_Silliness, literary_, Crit. N. concerning.

_Simile_, explained.

_Since_, improp. use of, for _ago_,
    --derivation of, from Anglo-Sax.

_Sit_ and _set_, use and signif. of.

_So_, as expressing the sense of a preced. word or phrase,
    --derivation of, from Sax.
    --_So
    --as, as
    --so_, correspondents.

_Soever_ or _soe'er_, whether a word or only a part of an other word; how
explained by WEBST.

_Solemn style_, as distinguished from the familiar,
    --should not be displaced from the paradigms in a grammar,
    --is not adapted to familiar discourse,
    --pres. and pret. terminations of, what, and how uttered,
    --examp. of, second pers. sing., negat., throughout the verb LOVE,
      conjugated.

_Some_, classed,
    --vulg. used for _somewhat_, or _in some degree_, ("SOME _longer_,"
      SANB.). _Somehow_ or _other, somewhere_ or _other_, what the
      construc. _Somewhere, nowhere, anywhere_, &c., their class, and how
      should be written.

_Sort_, see _Kind_.

_Sound_, of a letter, commonly called its _power_,
    --_elementary_, of the voice, defined.
    --_Sounds_, simp. or primary, numb. in Eng.,
    --elementary, what meant by; are few in numb.; their _combinations_ may
      be innumerable.
    --_Vowel_ sounds, or vocal elements, how produced, and where heard;
      what those in Eng., and how may be modified in the format. of
      syllables; do., how may be written, and how uttered.
    --_Consonant sounds_, simp., in Eng., how many, and what; by what
      letters marked; in what words heard.
    --_Sounds_, long and short, SIGNS used to denote them.
    --_Sounds_, a knowledge of, how acquired,
    --importance of being early taught to pronounce those of one's native
      lang.
    --Passage exemplifying _all the letters_, and _all the_ SOUNDS, in Eng.
    --_Sounds of the Letters_, treated.

_Speak, to speak_, what is meant by.

_Speaker_, why often speaks of himself in the third pers.,
    --represents himself and others by _we_,
    --in Eng., should mention himself last.
    --The _elegant speaker_, by what distinguished.

_Species_ and _figure_ of words, what so called,
    --unsettled usage of the lang. with regard to what relates to the
      latter. _Species_ and _genus_ of things, how admits limitation by the
      article.

SPELLING, defined.
    --_Spelling_, how to be acquired,
    --cause of the difficulty of its acquisition,
    --Rules for,
    --_usage_, as a law of,
    --uniformity and consistency in, how only can be attained.
    --The _right spelling_ of a word, what, PHILOLOG. Mus.
    --_Oral spelling_, how should be conducted.
    --Charac. of BROWN'S rules for _spelling_.

_Spondee_, defined.

_St_, unsyllab. suffix, whether, wherever found, is a modem contrac. of the
syllable _est_.

_Standards_ of English _orthog._, the books proposed as such, abound in
errors and inconsistencies.
    --Whether we have a system of Eng. ORTHOEPY worthy to be accounted a
      STANDARD.

_Stanza_, defined.
    --_Stanzas_, uniformity of, in the same poem,
    --varieties of,
    --_Elegiac stanza_, described.
    --_Stanzas, lyric_, examples of,
    --"A GOOD NAME," ("two beautiful little _stanzas_," BROWN).

_Star_, or _asterisk_, use of.
    --_Three stars_, or _asterism_,

_Stenotone_, or _breve_, for what used.

_Stops_, in printing or writing, see _Points_.

_Strength_, as a quality of style, in what consists,
    --essentials of,
    --Precepts aiming at offences against.

_Strew_, whether, or not, an other mode of spelling _strow_; whether to be
distinguished in utterance from do.; whether reg. or irreg.

STYLE, qualities of, treated.
    --_Style_, as connected with synt., what,
    --differs from mere words and mere grammar; not regulated entirely by
      rules of construc.,
    --what relation has to the author himself, and what shows,
    --general characters of, by what epithets designated.
    --What must be remembered by the learner, in forming his _style_; a
      good _style_ how acquired.
    --_Style, solemn, familiar_, &c., as used in gram., what meant by.
    --(See _Solemn Style_.)

_Subaudition_, meaning of the term. _Subdisjunctive_ particle, of the
Latins, expressed in Eng. by _or_ of alternat.

_Subject_ of a finite verb, what, and how may be known,
    --must be the NOM. CASE,
    --what besides a noun or pronoun may be.
    --_Subject phrases_, joint, what agreements require.
    --_Subject_ and _predicate_, in analysis. See also _Nominative Case_.

_Subjunctive mood_, defined.
    --_Subj. mood_, why so called; what denotes,
    --differing views of grammarians in regard to the numb. and form of its
      tenses.
    --The true _subj. mood_ rejected by some late grammarians; strictures
      on WELLS.
    --WELD'S erroneous teaching respecting the _subj._, noticed,
    --CHAND. do., do.
    --Chief characteristical diff. between the indic. and the _subj. mood_.
    --_Subj. mood_ described,
    --its two tenses do., and their forms shown, in the verb LOVE,
      conjugated,
    --whether ever put after a rel. pronoun,
    --proper limits of,
    --how properly employed.
    --_False subj_.
    --_Subj. mood_, not necessarily governed by _if, lest_, &c.

_Such_, corresponding to _that_, with infin. foll.,
    --with rel. _as_ following, in stead of _who_ or _which_.

_Sui generis_, what thing is thus designated.

_Superlative degree_, defined,
    --BROWN'S definit. of, and of the other degrees, _new_; the faulty
      charac. of those of MURR., shown,
    --the true nature of; how may be used; to what is applicable; the
      explanations of, by the copyists of MURR., criticised,
    --whether not applicable to _two_ objects,
    --_when employed_, what construc. of the latter term should follow.
    --_Double superlatives_, to be avoided.
    --_Superl. termination_, contractions of.

_Supplied_, in parsing, what must be. See also _Ellipsis_.

_Suppression_, mark of, see _Ellipsis_.

_Syllabic_ writing, far inferior to the alphabetic, BLAIR.

_Syllabication_, Rules of,
    --the doctrine of, why attended with difficulty,
    --object of; WALK. on; strictures on MULK. rules of,
    --which of the four purposes of, is preferable in spelling-books and
      dictionaries,
    --DR. LOWTH on,
    --nature of BROWN'S six Rules of; advantage of a system of, founded on
      the pronunciat.,
    --LATH. and FOWL. fictitious dilemmas in.
    --_Syllabication_, erroneous, samples of, from MURR., WEBST., _et al_.

SYLLABLES, treated.
    --_Syllable_ defined.
    --_Syllable_, cannot be formed without a vowel,
    --cannot be broken.
    --_Syllables_, numb. of, in a word,
    --words denominated from their numb. of,
    --the ear chiefly directs in the division of words into.
    --(See _Syllabication_.)
    --_Syllable_, its quantity in poetry,
    --do., on what depends.

_Syllepsis_, explained,
    --literal signif. of the term; extended applicat. of do. by the
      grammarians and rhetoricians; BROWN, by his definition, gives it a
      more restricted applicat.; disapproves of WEBST. explanat. of the
      term,
    --what definition or what applicat. of the term is the most approp.,
      has become doubtful.

_Synæresis_, explained.

_Synchysis_, what was so termed by some of the ancients; is different from
_hyperbaton_; its import in gram.; its literal signif.

_Syncope_, explained.

_Synecdoche_, (comprehension,) explained.
    --_Synecd._, agreem. of pron. with anteced., in cases of.

_Synonymous_, words so accounted, PREC. concerning the use of.

_Syntactical parsing_, see _Parsing_.

SYNTAX.
    --_Synt._, of what treats,
    --the _relation_ of words, the most important principle of; defects of
      the grammars in treating of do.,
    --false exhibitions of grammarians with respect to the scope and parts
      of,
    --character of the rules of, found in most grammars,
    --divided by some grammarians into _concord_ and _governm._, and yet
      treated by them without regard to such division,
    --common fault of grammarians, noticed, of joining together diff. parts
      of speech in the same rule of,
    --do., of making the rules of, double or triple in their form,
    --whether the principles of etymol. affect those of.
    --All _synt._, on what founded.
    --Why BROWN deemed it needful to add to his code of _synt_. a GENERAL
      RULE and CRITICAL NOTES. Figures of _syntax_.


T.

T, name and plur. numb. of,
    --substitution of, for _ed_, how far allowable,
    --sounds of,
    --is seldom silent; in what words not sounded. _Th_, ([Greek: Th],
      [Greek: alt-th], or [Greek: alt2-th], Gr.,) what represents; how was
      represented in Anglo-Sax., and to what sounds applied; the two sounds
      of. _To a Tee_, the colloq. phrase, explained.

_Tautology_ of expression or of sentiment, a fault opposed to precision.

_Teacher_, what should be his aim with respect to gram.

_Technical_ terms, unnec. use of, as opposed to propriety. _Technically_,
words and signs taken, how to be construed.

_Tenses_, term defined.
    --_Tenses_, the difierent, named and defined,
    --whether the names of, are approp., or whether they should be changed,
    --whether all express time with equal precision,
    --who reckon only _three_, and who _two_; who still differently and
      variously name their tenses,
    --_Tenses_, past and present, occurring together. See _Present Tense_,
      _Imperf. Tense_, &c.

_Terminating_ a sentence with a prep. or other small particle

_Terminations_, of words, separated in syllabicat.
    --of verbs, numb. of different, in each tense
    --of the Eng. verb; DR. A. MURR. account of
    --tendency of the lang. to lay aside the least agreeable
    --usage of famil. discourse in respect to those of second pers. sing.
    --verbal or particip., how are found written in old books
    --the only reg. ones added to Eng. verbs; utterance of _ed_ and _edst_
    --_ed_, participial, and _n_, verbal, WALK. on the contrac. of
    --_Termination t_, for _ed_, forced and irreg.

_Terms_ of relation, see _Relation_. _Tetrameter_ line, _iambic_, examples
of
    --a favorite with many Eng. writers; BUTL. Hudib., GAY'S Fab., and most
      of SCOTT'S poems, writt. in couplets of this meas.
    --admits the doub. rhyme adapted to familiar and burlesque style
    --_trochaic_, examples of
    --character of do.
    --EVERETT'S fanciful notions about do.
    --_anapestic_, examples of
    --L. HUNT'S "Feast of the Poets," an extended examp. of do.
    --_dactylic_, examples of

_Than, as_, with ellips. in latter term of comparison
    --character and import of
    --declinable words connected by, put in same case
    --_Than_ WHOM, as Gr. genitive governed by comparat., MILT.
    --what grammarians have _inferred_ from the phrase
    --MURR. expedient to dispose of do.
    --CHURCH. makes the rel. in do. "the obj. case absol.,"
    --BROWN determines with respect to the construc.
    --_Than_, as demanded after _else, other_, &c., and Eng. comparatives
    --derivation of, from Goth. or Anglo-Sax.

_That_, its class determined
    --its various uses
    --as REL. PRONOUN, to what applied
    --as used in anomalous construc.,
    --its peculiarity of construc. as a relative
    --its especial use as the restrictive relative
    --the frequent employment of, by Addison, wrongly criticised by BLAIR
    --as a relative, in what cases more appropriate than _who_ or _which_
    --_That_, ellipt., repeating the import of the preceding words, ("_And_
      THAT,"
    --[Greek: kai tauta],)
    --_That_, in the phrases _in that_, &c., how to be reckoned
    --_That_, as introducing a dependent clause, how to be ranked
    --as introducing a sent. made the subj. or obj. of a finite verb
    --its power at the head of a sent. or clause
    --its derivation

_The_, before the species, what may denote
    --how commonly limits the sense
    --applied to nouns of either numb.
    --before what _adjectives_, required
    --distinctive use of ("_The Psalmist_")
    --as relating to comparatives and superlatives
    --used for poss. pron.
    --repetition of, how avoided
    --derivation of, from Sax.
    --pronunc. of _e_ in. See also _Definite Article_.

_Them_, in vulg. use as an adj., for _those_

_Thence_, &c., with _from_ prefixed, whether allowable

_There_, introductory and idiomatic, notions of grammarians concerning; its
posit. and use; is a regular _adv. of place_, and not "without
signification,"
    --derivation of, from Anglo-Sax.
    --poet. omission of

_They_, put indefinitely for _men_ or _people_

_This_ and _that_, as explained by CHURCH.
    --placed before conjoint singulars, ("THIS POWER AND WILL _do_," &c.,)
    --in contrasted terms

_Three stars_, or asterism, use of

_Time_, the order and fitness of, to be observed in constructions
expressing it
    --nouns of, with adv. WHEN, as a special relative, following _Time,
      measure_, or _weight_, part made possessive of the whole, ("_An_
      HOUR'S _time_")
    --noun of, not poss., immediately before an other, ("_A_ POUND
      WEIGHT,") _Time, place_, &c., the obj. case in expressions of, taken
      after the fashion of an adv. _Time, measure, distance_, or _value_,
      nouns of, their peculiarity of construc.; the parsing of _Time_, obj.
      noun of, qualifying a subsequent adj., ("A _child_ OF _ten years_
      OLD,") _Four times, five times_, &c., how to be reckoned. TIMES,
      before an other noun, _by way of_ MULTIPLICATION, the nature and
      construc. of, discussed; decision. _Times_, in what construc. may be
      called the objective of _repetition_, or of _time repeated_. _Time_
      in pronunciation, or _quantity_

_Titles_, of books, are printed in capitals
    --of office, &c., begin with do.
    --merely mentioned as such, are without art.
    --_Name and_ TITLE, (see _Proper Names_.) _Side-titles_, use of _dash_
      in application to

_Tmesis_, explained

_To_, as governing infin. mood
    --do., variously explained by grammarians
    --is a sign of inf., but not a part of it
    --what BROWN claims for his RULE respecting the _infin. as gov. by the
      prep._ TO, &c.; he shows that the doctrine originated not with
      himself
    --TO _and the verb_, what FISHER (anno 1800) taught respecting; what,
      LOWTH, and what, absurdly, MURR., his copyist
    --_To_, as governing infin., traced from the Sax. to the Eng. of
      WICKL.,
    --_To_, before infin., evasive teachings of the later grammarians
      concerning its class and construc.
    --do., how considered by most Eng. grammarians
    --do., how proved to be a prep.
    --do., preceded by _for_, anc.
    --after _what verbs_, omitted,
    --whether to be _repeated_ before infinitives in the same construe.
    --sometimes required, and sometimes excluded, after _than_ or _as_
    --whether it may be _separated_ from its verb by an adv.; is placed
      more elegantly AFTER _an adv._, ("PROPERLY TO _respect_,")
    --in what cases has no prop, antec. term of relat.
    --_To_ suppressed and _be_ inserted after MAKE, whether correctly
    --_To_, prep, or adv., from Anglo-Sax.
    --_To_, as prefix to noun, (_to-day, to-night, to-morrow_,).

_Tones_ of the voice, what; why deserving of j particular attention
    --what denominated by SHERID.; what should be their character
    --BLAIR'S remark on; HIL. do.
    --_Tones_ of the passions, WALK, observation on.

_Topics_, different, to be treated in separate paragraphs, PREC. of
_Unity_.

_Transposition_, of the terms of relat., when a preposition begins or ends
a sentence or clause
    --_rhetorical_, of words, or _hyperbaton_.

_Tribrach_, defined.

_Trimeter_ line, _iambic_, the measure seldom used alone; examples of,
    --and do., with diversifications
    --_trochaic_, examples of
    --_anapestic_, examples of
    --alternated with the tetram., examp., "The Rose," of COWP.; the same
      scanned
    --_dactylic_, examples of. _Triphthong_, defined
    --_proper_, do., the only, in Eng.
    --_improp._, do.; and the improp. _triphthongs_ named.

_Trochaic verse_, treated
    --_Troch. verse_, the stress in
    --nature of the single-rhymed; error of MURR. _et al_. concerning the
      last syll. in
    --how may be changed to coincide with other measures; how is affected
      by retrenchment
    --confounded with _iambic_ by several gramm. and prosodists
    --Strictures on CHURCH., who doubts the existence of the _troch_. ord.
      of verse
    --_Troch. verse_ shown in its eight measures
    --_Trochaics_, Eng., the TETRAMETER the most common meas. of
    --DR. CAMPB. on
    --"_Trochaic_ of One foot," account of.

_Trochee_, or _choree_, defined.

_Tropes_, what figures of rhetoric are so called; signif. of the term.

_Trow_, its signif., and where occurs; in what person and tenses read.

_Truisms_ and senseless remarks, how to be dealt with in gram.

_Tutoyant_, to what extent prevalent among the French. See _Youyouing_, &c.

_Type_ or character, two forms of the letters in every kind of.


U.

U, lett., which (as A, E, I, or O) names itself
    --its plur. numb.
    --sounds properly its own
    --as self-naming, to what equivalent; requires art. _a_, and not _an_,
      before it
    --pronounced with borrowed sound
    --long or diphthongal sound, as _yu_; sound of slender _o_ or _oo_,
      after _r_ or _rh_.

_Unamendable_ imperfections sometimes found in ancient writings, remarks in
relation to.

_Unauthorized_ words, use of, as opposed to purity, PREC. concerning.

_Unbecoming_, adj., from participle compounded, error of using transitively
words of this form; such error how corrected.

_Uncertain_, the part of speech left, see _Equivocal_, &c.

_Unco-passive_ voice, or form, of the verb, ("_Is being built_,") the use
of. conflicts with the older and better usage of the lang.
    --the subject of, discussed by BROWN
    --the true principle with respect to, stated.

_Underlining_ words, in preparing manuscripts, to denote Italics &c.

_Understood_, words said, in technical phrase, to be, what such, (Lat.,
_subaudita_)

_Ungrammatical_ language by which grammar itself is professedly taught,
sample from MURR.; from PINNEO; _et al. e diversis_, Gram. of E. Gram.,
_passim_.

_Unity_, as a quality of style, in what consists
    --required by every sentence
    --Precepts aiming at offences against. _Unity_, THE IDEA OF, how
      generally _determined_, in respect to a collect. noun, whether it
      conveys such idea or not.

_Usage_, as a law of orthography for particular words
    --_Usage_, as it has been, and as it is, the advantage of an exhibition
      of, by the grammarian.

_Useless_ words, employment of, as opposed to precision.

UTTERANCE, treated
    --_Utterance_, what, and what includes.


V.

V, name and plur. of:
    --written for a number:
    --sound of,

Value, &c., nouns of, see Time.

Verbal or participial noun, (see Participial, &c.)
    --Verbal forms used substantively, by poet pecul.

VERBS, Etymol. of;
    --Verb, defined:
    --why so called:
    --a perf. definition of, why difficult to form;
    --CHIEF TERMS, or PRINCIP. PARTS, of an Eng. verb, named and defined.
    --Verbs. Classes of, with respect to their FORM, named and defined:
    --do., with respect to their signif., do.
    --(See Active-Transitive Verb, &c.) _Verbs_, whole numb, of, in Eng.;
      the regular, far the most numerous; account of the others
    --how divided with respect to signif. in most grammars and
      dictionaries; BROWN'S division
    --divided by certain grammarians into act., pass., and neut.
    --MURR, on the distribution of
    --NIX. on do.
    --_Verbs_, in Lat., grammarians of old differed respecting the
      distribut. of
    --different methods of distribut. of, by several other authors, noticed
    --_Verbs_, most act., may be used either as trans. or as intrans.
    --some may be used either in an act. or a neut. sense
    --act. form of, used in a pass. sense; so also PART. in _ing_, ("_The
      books continue_ SELLING")
    --_Verbs_, Modifications of, named
    --Moods of, named and defined; (see _Infinitive Mood, Indic. Mood_,
      &c.)
    --Tenses of, named and defined; (see _Present Tense, Imperf. Tense_,
      &c.)
    --Persons and numbers of, what
    --Conjugations of
    --how principally conjugated
    --(See _Conjugation_)
    --_Verbs_, Irreg., List of
    --simp. irreg., numb. of; whence derived
    --Redundant, List of
    --Defective, do.
    --_Verbs irreg_. and _redund._, of what character all former lists of,
      have been
    --_Verbs_, of asking and teaching, construc. of
    --whether any, in Eng., can govern two cases
    --suppressed in exclamat. &c.
    --_Verbs_, Synt. of
    --_Verbs_ requiring a regimen, should not be used without an object
    --_Verb_, AGREEM. _of, with its subject_
    --do., inferred
    --do., by sylleps., in plur., title of a book
    --do., in imperat. mood
    --_Verb_ of the third pers. sing. with a plur. noun of the neut. gend.,
      the use of, a strange custom of the Greeks; such use not existent in
      Eng.
    --_Verb_, AGREEM. of, with infin. phrase or sentence as subject
    --do., with infin. subject limited, ("FOR MEN TO SEARCH _their own
      glory_, IS," &c.)
    --do., with a nom. in interrog. sentences
    --do., with a rel., according to the true anteced. of the pron.;
      (examp. of error from DR. BLAIR)
    --do., with a nom. limited by adjuncts
    --do., with composite or converted subjects
    --do., with _each, every, one_, &c., as leading words
    --do., by change of nominative
    --_Verb_, the _form of_, to be adapted to the style
    --when requires a separate nom. expressed
    --_Verb_, AGREEM. of, with a nom. noun collective
    --do., with joint nominatives
    --do., with two connected nominatives in appos.
    --do., with two conn. nominatives emphatically distinguished
    --do., with two conn. nominatives preceded by _each, every_, or _no_
    --do., with nearest of connected nominatives, and understood to the
      rest; whether the usage is proper in Eng.
    --do., with connected nominatives of different persons
    --do., with connected subjects, one taken affirmat. and the other
      negat.
    --do., with two subjects connected by _as well as, but_, or _save_
    --do., with connected subjects preceded by _each, every_, or _no_
    --do., in ellipt. construc. of joint nominatives
    --do., with distinct subject phrases connected by _and_
    --do., with disjunct. nominatives
    --do., with disagreeing nominatives connected disjunctively
    --do., when connected nominatives require different forms of the verb
    --do., with distinct phrases disjunct, connected
    --_Verbs_, connected by _and, or_, or _nor_, how must agree
    --discordant, how managed with respect to agreem.
    --_Verb_, mixture of the diff. styles of, ineleg.
    --diff. moods of, not to be used under the same circumstances
    --when two connected terms require diff. forms of, what insertion is
      necessary
    --_Verbs_ of _commanding, desiring, expecting_, &c., to what actions or
      events refer
    --of _desisting, omitting_, &c., with a part. following, rather than an
      infin.
    --of _preventing_, what should be made to govern
    --_Verb_, finite, punc. of
    --ellips. of, shown
    --derivation of, from nouns, adjectives, and verbs
    --poet. peculiarities in the use of

_Verbosity_, as affecting strength

_Verse_, in oppos. to prose, what
    --_Blank verse_, as distinguished from rhyme
    --_Verse_, general sense of the term; its derivation and literal
      signif.; the visible form of _verse_
    --_Verse_, as defined by JOH., WALK., _et al_.; do. by WEBST.
    --_Verse_, Eng., the difficulty of treating the subject of, and from
      what this arises
    --A _verse_, or line of poetry, of what consists
    --_Verse_, or poetic measure, the kinds, or orders of, named; (see
      _Iambic Verse, Trochaic Verse_, &c.)
    --_Verse_, the proper reading of

VERSIFICATION, treated
    --_Versification_, defined
    --_Versification_, POE'S (E. A.) notions concerning; his censure of
      BROWN'S former definition of; his rejection of the idea of versif.
      from the principle of rhythm; his unfortunate derivat. of _rhythm_
      from [Greek: hurithmos,] and vain attempts to explain the term: the
      farrago summarily disposed of by BROWN
    --EVERETT'S "System of Eng. Versification," account of, and strictures
      on

_Vision_, or _imagery_, explained

_Vocative case_ of Lat. and Gr. gram., not known in Eng.

_Voice_, ACTIVE, and PASSIVE, whether necessary terms in Eng. gram.

_Vowel_, defined
    --_Vowels_ named
    --_W_ and _Y_, when vowels; comp.
    --_Vowel sounds_, or vocal elements, the different, how produced
    --what are those in Eng.
    --how each may be variously expressed by letters; notation of
    --_Vowels_, two coming together, where may be parted in syllabication.


W.

W, its name and plur. numb.
    --simpler term than _Double-u_ perhaps desirable; DR. WEBST. on the
      lett.
    --W, when a vowel
    --with vowel foll., sound of
    --before _h_, how pronounced
    --in Eng. never used alone as a vowel
    --no diphthongs or triphth. in Eng., beginning with.

_Wages_, noun, plur. by formation; its construe, with a verb.

_Walker, J._, estimate of his Critical Pronouncing Dictionary
    --in his lexicography how far followed DR. JOH.

_Was_, contrary to usage preferred by some to _were_, in the imperf. sing,
of the subj.

_We_, plur., as representing the speaker and others; how sometimes used in
stead of the sing.; sometimes preferred by monarchs to _I_.

_Webster, Dr. N._, describes language as comprehending the voice of brutes
    --never named the Eng. letters rightly
    --his orthography as a _standard_; do. compared with that of DR. JOH.
    --the result to himself of his various attempts to reform our orthog.;
      the value of his _definitions_.

_Weight, measure_, &c., see _Time_.

_Wert_, as used in lieu of _wast_
    --its mood not easy to determine; authorities for a various use of.

_What_, its class and nature
    --to what usually applied; its twofold relat. explained
    --its numb.; example of solec. in the use of
    --as a mere adj., or as a pron. indef.
    --its use both as an adj. and as a relative at the same time; do. for
      _who_ or _which_, ludic. and vulg.
    --declined
    --how to be disposed of in etymolog. parsing; how to be parsed
      syntactically
    --how becomes an interj.
    --used appar. for an adv.; uttered exclamatorily before an adj., to be
      taken as an adj., ("WHAT PARTIAL _judges are our_," &c.,)
    --followed by _that_, by way of pleonasm, ("WHAT _I tell you in
      darkness_, THAT," &c.,)
    --with _but_ preceding, ("_To find a friend_, BUT WHAT" &c.,)
    --vulg. use of, for _that_
    --derivation of, from Sax., shown.

_Whatever_ or _whatsoever_, its peculiarities of construe., the same as
those of _what_; its use in simp, relation
    --its construc. as a double relative; whether it may be supposed
      ellipt.
    --its declension.

_When, where_, or _while_, in what instance not fit to follow the verb _is_
    --_When, where, whither_, as partaking of the nature of a pron.;
      construc, of do., with antecedent nouns of time, &c., how far
      allowable
    --derivation of, from Anglo-Sax.

_Whether_, as an interrog. pron.; as a disjunc. conjunc.
    --conjunc. corresponsive to _or_
    --as do., its derivation from Sax.

_Which_, relative
    --its former use; to what objects now confined
    --its use after a personal term taken by meton. for a thing; do., as
      still applicable to persons
    --is of all the genders, (in oppos. to MURR., WEBST., _et. al._,)
    --is less approp. than _who_, in all personifications
    --its construc. when taken in its discrim. sense,
    --how differs from the rel. _that_
    --BLAIR'S incorrect remarks respecting
    --_Which_, as rel. or interrog., declined
    --_Which_, sometimes takes _whose_ for its poss.,
    --represents a prop. name taken merely as a name, ("_Herod_
    --WHICH _is but_," &c.,)
    --do. nouns of mult, expressing persons, when such are strictly of the
      neut. gend., ("The COMMITTEES WHICH" &c.,)
    --in what cases is less approp. than _that_
    --does not fitly represent an indicative assertion, ('"Be ATTENTIVE,
      _without_ WHICH," &c.,)
    --its Sax. derivation shown
    --_The which_, obsol.,
    --_Which_, interrog., what demands,
    --to what objects applied
    --now used for the obsol. _whether_.

_Whichever, whichsoever_, signif. and construc. of
    --declension of.

_Who_, relative
    --to what usually applied
    --has superseded _which_, formerly applied to persons, ("_Our Father_
      WHO _art_" &c.,)
    --to be preferred to _which_, in all personifications
    --how differs from the rel. _that_
    --_Who_, as rel. or interrog., declined,
    --_Whose_, use of, for the defec. poss., _of which_
    --_Than whom_, (see _Than._)
    --_Who_, interrog., what demands
    --may be the anteced. of the rel. _that_
    --_Who_, derivation of, from Sax.

_Whoever_, and _whoso_ or _whosoever_, signif. and construc. of
    --declens. of
    --_Whoso_ and _whatso_, antiq., import and use of,

_Whole_, improp. use of, for _all_. ("_Almost the_ WHOLE _inhabitants_,"
HUME.,).

_Why_, after nouns of cause, (see _When_, &c.)
    --_Why, wherefore, therefore_, their class.

_Will_, verb, how varied
    --use of, as a principal verb.

_Wis_, verb, pret. _wist_, signif. and use of
    --_Had I wist_,

_With_, for _and_, (see _Cum_:)
    --added to adv. of direc., with emphat. imperat. ("_Up_ WITH _it_").
      _Withal_ its class and construc. _Without_, obsol. use of, for
      _unless_ or _except_. _Withouten_, paragog. and poet. form.
      _Withinside of_ _Won't_, whence formed; its pronunc.

_Worcester, Dr. J. E._, his Universal and Critical Dictionary WORDS,
treated.
    --_Word_, defined.
    --_Words_ distinguished, and the divisions of, defined.
    --(See _Compound Word_.)
    --_Words_, Rules for the figure of;
    --simp., _when_ compounding is to be avoided
    --when to be joined, or to be written separately
    --_Words_, the nature of, explained
    --the consid. of, as comm., and as prop.,
    --brevity sought in the comm. use of
    --the identity of, in what consists
    --unsettled and variable usage with respect to the figure of
    --_Words_ that may constitute diff. parts of speech, their construc.
      not to be left doubtf.
    --the reference of, to other words, do.
    --senselessly jumbled, charac. of
    --entirely needless, how to be disposed of
    --unintelligently misapplied, what indicates,
    --_Words_, PUNCT. _of_: in pairs; alternated; put absol.; in appos.;
      repeated
    --_Words_, derivation of, treated
    --most of those regarded as primitives in Eng., may be traced to
      ulterior sources
    --the study of, its importance
    --how the knowledge of, may be promoted with respect to Eng.
    --_Words_, the use of, as affecting Purity
    --do., as affect. Propriety
    --do., as affect. Precision
    --do., as affect. Perspicuity
    --do., as affect. Strength

_Worshiper_, whether properly written with a single or a double _p_

_Worth_, its class and construc.

_Worthy_, admits not ellips. of prep, _of_ before obj. following

_Writing, to write_, what meant by


X.

X, its name and plur. num.
    --format. of the plur. of nouns in
    --why never doubled
    --written for a number
    --its sounds


Y.

Y, its name and plur. numb.;
    --borrowed first by the Romans from the Greeks, by whom called Ypsilon
    --in Eng. is either a vowel or a conson.
    --classed with the semivowels
    --final, changed or unchanged before terminations
    --do., when, by former practice, retained in verbs ending in _y_,
      before conson. terminations
    --sounds of
    --in poet. format. of adjectives

_Ye_, nom. plur., solemn style
    --its use as the obj. case
    --as a mere explet. in burlesque
    --its use in the lang. of tragedy
    --used for _thee_
    --in the Eng. Bible not found in the obj. case
    --_Ye_ and _you_, promisc. use of, in the same case and the same style,
      ineleg.

_Yes, yea_, in a simp. affirmation, construc. and class of
    --derivation of, from Anglo-Sax.

_You_, use of, for thou
    --_You_, with _was_, ("YOU WAS BUILDING,") approved by DR. WEBST. _et
      al._, as the better form for the sing. numb.
    --_You_, and VERB PLUR., in reference to _one person_, how to be
      treated in parsing. _Your_, facet. in conversation, and how uttered
      ("_Dwells, like_ YOUR _miser_, sir," &c., SHAK.,) _Yourself_, its
      pecul. of construc.

_Your Majesty, your Highness_, &c., see _Address_.

_Youyouing_ and _theethouing_, history of


Z.

Z, its name and plur.
    --has been called by several names; WALK., on the name
    --peculiarity of its ordinary _form_
    --its sounds described

_Zeugma_, (i.e., JUGATIO, _vel_ CONNEXIO, _Sanct._,) the various forms of,
were named and noticed, but not censured, by the ancient grammarians
    --constructions of _adjectives_, referred to the figure, ("ONE _or a_
      FEW _judges_,"); do. of verbs, ("_But_ HE NOR I FEEL _more_," YOUNG,)


THE END OF THE INDEX,

AND OF THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH GRAMMARS.




FOOTNOTES:

[1] Ben Jonson's notion of grammar, and of its parts, was as follows:
"Grammar is the art of true and well-speaking a language: the writing is
but an accident.

The Parts of Grammar are

    Etymology \ which is / the true notation of words,
    Syntaxe   /          \ the right ordering of them.

A word is a part of speech or note, whereby a thing is known or called; and
consisteth of one or more letters. A letter is an indivisible part of a
syllable, whose prosody, or right sounding, is perceived by the power; the
orthography, or right writing, by the form. Prosody, and Orthography, are
not parts of grammar, but diffused, like blood and spirits, through the
whole."--_Jonson's Grammar_, Book I.

[2] Horne Tooke eagerly seized upon a part of this absurdity, to prove that
Dr. Lowth, from whom Murray derived the idea, was utterly unprepared for
what he undertook in the character of a grammarian: "Dr. Lowth, when he
undertook to write his _Introduction_, with the best intention in the
world, most assuredly sinned against his better judgment. For he begins
most judiciously, thus--'Universal grammar explains the principles which
are common to _all_ languages. The grammar of any particular language,
_applies_ those common principles to that particular language.' And yet,
with _this clear truth_ before his eyes, he boldly proceeds to give a
_particular_ grammar; without being himself possessed of one single
principle of universal grammar."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. 1, p. 224.
If Dr. Lowth discredited his better judgement in attempting to write an
English grammar, perhaps Murray, and his weaker copyists, have little
honoured theirs, in supposing they were adequate to such a work. But I do
not admit, that either Lowth or Murray "_begins most judiciously_," in
speaking of Universal and Particular grammar in the manner above cited. The
authors who have started with this fundamental blunder, are strangely
numerous. It is found in some of the most dissimilar systems that can be
named. Even Oliver B. Peirce, who has a much lower opinion of Murray's
ability in grammar than Tooke had of Lowth's, adopts this false notion with
all implicitness, though he decks it in language more objectionable, and
scorns to acknowledge whence he got it. See his _Gram._, p. 16. De Suey, in
his Principles of General Grammar, says, "All rules of Syntax relate to two
things, _Agreement and Government_."--_Foxdick's Tr._, p. 108. And again:
"None of these rules properly belong to General Grammar, as each language
follows, in regard to the rules of Agreement and Government, a course
peculiar to itself."--_Ibid._, p. 109." "It is with Construction [i.e.,
Arrangement] as with Syntax. It follows no general rule common to all
languages."--_Ibid._ According to these positions, which I do not admit to
be strictly true, General or Universal Grammar has no principles of
_Syntax_ at all, whatever else it may have which Particular Grammar can
assume and apply.

[3] This verb "_do_" is wrong, because "_to be contemned_" is passive.

[4] "A very good judge has left us his opinion and determination in this
matter; that he 'would take for his rule in speaking, not what might happen
to be the faulty caprice of the multitude, but the consent and agreement of
learned men.'"--_Creighton's Dict._, p. 21. The "good judge" here spoken
of, is Quintilian; whose words on the point are these: "Necessarium est
judicium, constituendumque imprimis, id ipsum quid sit, quod
_consuetudinem_ vocemus. * * * In loquendo, non, si quid vitiose multis
insederit, pro regula sermonis, amplendum est. * * * Ergo consuetudinem
sermonis, vocabo _consensum eruditorum_ sicut vivendi, consenum
honorum."--_De Inst. Orat._, Lib. i. Cap. 6, p. 57.

[5] "The opinion of plenty is amongst the causes of want; and the great
quantity of books maketh a show rather of superfluity than lack; which
surcharge, nevertheless, is not to be removed by making no more books, but
by making more good books, which, as the serpent of Moses, might devour the
serpents of the enchanters."--_Bacon_. In point of style, his lordship is
here deficient; and he has also mixed and marred the figure which he uses.
But the idea is a good one.

[6] Not, "_Oldham_, in Hampshire," as the Universal Biographical Dictionary
has it; for _Oldham_ is in _Lancashire_, and the name of Lily's birthplace
has sometimes been spelled "_Odiam_."

[7] There are other Latin grammars now in use in England; but what one is
most popular, or whether any regard is still paid to the ancient edict or
not, I cannot say. Dr. Adam, in his preface, dated 1793, speaking of Lily,
says: "His Grammar was appointed, by an act _which is still in force_, to
be taught in the established schools of England." I have somehow gained the
impression, that the act is now totally disregarded.--_G. Brown_.

[8] For this there is an obvious reason, or apology, in what his biographer
states, as "the humble origin of his Grammar;" and it is such a reason as
will go to confirm what I allege. This famous compilation was produced at
the request of _two or three young teachers_, who had charge of a _small
female school_ in the neighbourhood of the author's residence: and nothing
could have been more unexpected to their friend and instructor, than that
he, in consequence of this service, should become known the world over, as
_Murray the Grammarian_. "In preparing the work, and consenting to the
publicaton, he had no expectation that it would be read, except by the
school for which it was designed, and two or three other schools conducted
by persons who were also his friends."--_Life of L Murray_, p. 250.

[9] Grammatici namque auctoritas per se nulla est; quom ex sola
doctissimorum oraturum, historicorum, poetarum, et aliorum ideonorum
scriptorum observatione, constet ortam esse veram grammaticam. _Multa
dicenda forent, si grammatistarum ineptias refellere vellem_: sed nulla est
gloria præterire asellos."--DESPAUTERII _Præf. Art. Versif._, fol. iii,
1517.

[10] The Latin word for _participle_ is _participium_, which makes
_participio_ in the dative or the ablative case; but the Latin word for
_partake_ is _participo_, and not "_participio_."--G. BROWN.

[11] This sentence is manifestly bad English: either the singular verb
"_appears_" should be made plural, or the plural noun "_investigations_"
should be made singular.--G. BROWN.

[12] "What! a book have _no merit_, and yet be called for at the rate of
_sixty thousand copies a year_! What a slander is this upon the public
taste! What an insult to the understanding and discrimination of the good
people of these United States! According to this reasoning, all the
inhabitants of our land must be fools, except one man, and that man is
GOOLD BROWN!"--KIRKHAM, _in the Knickerbocker_, Oct. 1837, p. 361.

Well may the honest critic expect to be called a slanderer of "the public
taste," and an insulter of the nation's "understanding," if both the merit
of this vaunted book and the wisdom of its purchasers are to be measured
and proved by the author's profits, or the publisher's account of sales!
But, possibly, between the intrinsic merit and the market value of some
books there may be a difference. Lord Byron, it is said, received from
Murray his bookseller, nearly ten dollars a line for the Fourth Canto of
Childe Harold, or about as much for every two lines as Milton obtained for
the whole of Paradise Lost. Is this the true ratio of the merit of these
authors, or of the wisdom of the different ages in which they lived?

[13] Kirkham's real opinion of Murray cannot be known from this passage
only. How able is that writer who is chargeable with the _greatest want_ of
taste and discernment? "In regard to the application of the final pause in
reading blank verse, _nothing can betray a greater want of rhetorical taste
and philosophical acumen_, than the directions of Mr. Murray."--_Kirkham's
Elocution_, p. 145. Kirkham is indeed no judge either of the merits, or of
the demerits, of Murray's writings; nor is it probable that this criticism
originated with himself. But, since it appears in his name, let him have
the credit of it, and of representing the compiler whom he calls "_that
able writer_" and "_that eminent philologist_," as an untasteful dunce, and
a teacher of _nonsense_: "To say that, unless we 'make every _line_
sensible to the ear,' we mar the melody, and suppress the numbers of the
poet, is _all nonsense_."--_Ibid._ See Murray's Grammar, on "Poetical
Pauses;" 8vo, p. 260; 12mo, 210.

[14] "Now, in these instances, I should be fair game, were it not for the
_trifling_ difference, that I happen to present the doctrines and notions
of _other writers_, and NOT my own, as stated by my learned
censor."--KIRKHAM, _in the Knickerbocker_, Oct. 1837, p. 360. If the
instructions above cited are not his own, there is not, within the lids of
either book, a penny's worth that is. His fruitful copy-rights are void in
law: the "learned censor's" pledge shall guaranty this issue.--G. B. 1838.

[15] I am sorry to observe that the gentleman, Phrenologist, as he
professes to be, has so little _reverence_ in his crown. He could not read
the foregoing suggestion without scoffing at it. Biblical truth is not
powerless, though the scornful may refuse its correction.--G. B. 1838.

[16] Every schoolboy is familiar with the following lines, and rightly
understands the words "_evil_" and "_good_" to be _nouns_, and not
_adjectives_.

   "The _evil_ that men do, lives after them;
    The _good_ is oft interred with their bones."--SHAKSPEARE.

    _Julius Cæsar, Act 3: Antony's Funeral Oration over Cæsar's Body._

Kirkham has vehemently censured me for _omitting the brackets_ in which he
encloses the words that be supposes to be _understood_ in this couplet. But
he forgets two important circumstances: _First_, that I was quoting, not
the bard, but the grammatist; _Second_, that a writer uses brackets, to
distinguish _his own_ amendments of what he quotes, and not those of an
other man. Hence the marks which he has used, would have been _improper_
for me. Their insertion does not make his reading of the passage _good
English_, and, consequently, does not avert the point of my criticism.

The foregoing Review of Kirkham's Grammar, was published as an extract
from my manuscript, by the editors of the Knickerbocker, in their number
for June, 1837. Four months afterwards, with friendships changed, they
gave, him the "justice" of appearing in their pages, in a long and virulent
article against me and my works, representing me, "with emphatic force," as
"_a knave, a liar, and a pedant_." The _enmity_ of that effusion I forgave;
because I bore him no personal ill-will, and was not selfish enough to
quarrel for my own sake. Its _imbecility_ clearly proved, that in this
critique there is nothing _with which he could justly find fault_.
Perceiving that no point of this argument could be broken, he _changed the
ground_, and satisfied himself with despising, upbraiding, and vilifying
the writer. Of what _use_ this was, others may judge.

This extraordinary grammarian survived the publication of my criticism
about ten years, and, it is charitably hoped, died happily; while I have
had, for a period somewhat longer, all the benefits which his earnest
"_castigation_" was fit to confer. It is not perceived, that what was
written before these events, should now be altered or suppressed by reason
of them. With his pretended "defence," I shall now concern myself no
further than simply to deny one remarkable assertion contained in it; which
is this--that I, Goold Brown, "at the funeral of Aaron Ely," in 1830,
"praised, and _highly_ praised, this self-same Grammar, and declared it to
be 'A GOOD WORK!'"--KIRKHAM, _in the Knickerbocker_, Oct., 1837, p. 362. I
treated him always courteously, and, on this solemn occasion, walked with
him without disputing on grammar; but, if this statement of his has any
reasonable foundation, I know not what it is.--G. B. in 1850.

[17] See _Notes to Pope's Dunciad_, Book II, verse 140.

[18] A modern namesake of the Doctor's, the _Rev. David Blair_, has the
following conception of the _utility_ of these speculations: "To enable
children to comprehend the _abstract idea_ that all the words in a language
consist but of _nine kinds_, it will be found useful to explain how _savage
tribes_ WHO _having no language_, would first invent one, beginning with
interjections and nouns, and proceeding from one part of speech to another,
as their introduction might successively be called for by necessity or
luxury."--_Blair's Pract. Gram., Pref._, p. vii.

[19] "Interjections, I _shewed_, or passionate exclamations, were the
_first elements_ of speech. Men laboured to communicate their feelings to
one another, by those expressive cries and gestures which nature taught
them."--_Dr. Hugh Blair's Lectures_, p. 57.

[20] "It is certain that the verb was invented before the noun, in all the
languages of which a tolerable account has been procured, either in ancient
or modern times."--_Dr. Alex. Murray's History of European Languages_, Vol.
I, p. 326.

[21] The Greek of this passage, together with a translation not very
different from the foregoing, is given as a marginal note, in _Harris's
Hermes_, Book III, Chap. 3d.

[22] The Bible does not say positively that there was no diversity of
languages _before the flood_; but, since the life-time of Adam extended
fifty-six years into that of Lamech, the father of Noah, and two hundred
and forty-three into that of Methuselah, the father of Lamech, with both of
whom Noah was contemporary nearly six hundred years, it is scarcely
possible that there should have occurred any such diversity, either in
Noah's day or before, except from some extraordinary cause. Lord Bacon
regarded the multiplication of languages at Babel as a general evil, which
had had no parallel but in the curse pronounced after Adam's transgression.
When "the language of all the earth" was "confounded," Noah was yet alive,
and he is computed to have lived 162 years afterwards; but whether in his
day, or at how early a period, "grammar" was thought of, as a remedy for
this evil, does not appear. Bacon says, "Concerning speech and words, the
consideration of them hath produced the science of grammar. For man still
striveth to redintegrate himself in those benedictions, of which, by his
fault, he hath been deprived; and as he hath striven against the first
general curse by the invention of all other arts, so hath he striven to
come forth from _the second general curse, which was the confusion of
tongues, by the art of grammar_; whereof the use in a mother tongue is
small, in a foreign tongue more, but most in such foreign tongues as have
ceased to be vulgar tongues, and are turned only to learned tongues."--See
_English Journal of Education_, Vol. viii, p. 444.

[23] It should be, "_to all living creatures_;" for each creature had,
probably, but one name.--G. Brown.

[24] Some recent German authors of note suppose language to have sprung up
among men _of itself_, like spontaneous combustion in oiled cotton; and
seem to think, that people of strong feelings and acute minds must
necessarily or naturally utter their conceptions by words--and even by
words both spoken and written. Frederick Von Schlegel, admitting "the
_spontaneous origin_ of language generally," and referring speech to its
"_original source_--a deep feeling, and a clear discriminating
intelligence," adds: "The oldest system of writing _developed itself_ at
the same time, and in the same manner, as the spoken language; not wearing
at first the symbolic form, which it subsequently assumed in compliance
with the necessities of a less civilized people, but composed of certain
signs, which, in accordance with the simplest elements of language,
actually conveyed the sentiments of the race of men then
existing."--_Millington's Translation of Schlegel's Æsthetic Works_, p.
455.

[25] "Modern Europe owes a principal share of its enlightened and moral
state to the restoration of learning: the advantages which have accrued to
history, religion, the philosophy of the mind, and the progress of society;
the benefits which have resulted from the models of Greek and Roman
taste--in short, all that a knowledge of the progress and attainments of
man in past ages can bestow on the present, has reached it through the
medium of philology."--_Dr. Murray's History of European Languages_, Vol.
II, p. 335.

[26] "The idea of God is a development from within, and a matter of faith,
not an induction from without, and a matter of proof. When Christianity has
developed its correlative principles within us, then we find evidences of
its truth everywhere; nature is full of them: but we cannot find them
before, simply because we have no eye to find them with."--H. N. HUDSON:
_Democratic Review, May_, 1845.

[27] So far as mind, soul, or spirit, is a subject of natural science,
(under whatever name,) it may of course be known naturally. To say to what
extent theology may be considered a natural science, or how much knowledge
of any kind may have been opened to men otherwise than by words, is not now
in point. Dr. Campbell says, "Under the general term [_physiology_] I also
comprehend _natural theology_ and _psychology_, which, in my opinion, have
been most unnaturally disjoined by philosophers. Spirit, which here
comprises only the Supreme Being and the human soul, is surely as much
included under the notion of natural object as a body is, and is knowable
to the philosopher purely in the same way, by observation and
experience."--_Philosophy of Rhetoric_, p. 66. It is quite unnecessary for
the teacher of languages to lead his pupils into any speculations on this
subject. It is equally foreign to the history of grammar and to the
philosophy of rhetoric.

[28] "Except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall
it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. There are, it
may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without
signification. Therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall
be unto him that speaketh, a barbarian; and he that speaketh, shall be a
barbarian unto me."--_1 Cor._, xiv. 9, 10, 11. "It is impossible that our
knowledge of words should outstrip our knowledge of things. It may, and
often doth, come short of it. Words may be remembered as sounds, but [they]
cannot be understood as signs, whilst we remain unacquainted with the
things signified."--_Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric_, p. 160. "Words can
excite only ideas already acquired, and if no previous ideas have been
formed, they are mere unmeaning sounds."--_Spurzheim on Education_, p. 200.

[29] Sheridan the elecutionist makes this distinction: "All that passes in
the mind of man, may be reduced to two classes, which I call ideas and
emotions. By ideas, I mean all thoughts which rise, and pass in succession
in the mind. By emotions, all exertions of the mind in arranging,
combining, and separating its ideas; as well as the effects produced on all
the mind itself by those ideas; from the more violent agitation of the
passions, to the calmer feelings produced by the operation of the intellect
and the fancy. In short, thought is the object of the one; internal
feeling, of the other. That which serves to express the former, I call the
language of ideas; and the latter, the language of emotions. Words are the
signs of the one: tones, of the other. Without the use of these two sorts
of language, it is impossible to communicate through the ear, all that
passes in the mind of man."--_Sheridan's Art of Reading; Blair's Lectures_,
p. 333.

[30] "Language is _the great instrument_, by which all the faculties of the
mind are brought forward, moulded, polished, and exerted."--_Sheridan's
Elocution_, p. xiv.

[31] It should be, "_These are_."--G. B.

[32] It should be, "_They fitly represent_."--G. B.

[33] This is badly expressed; for, according to his own deduction, _each
part_ has but _one sign_. It should be, "We express _the several parts by
as many several signs_."--G. Brown.

[34] It would be better English to say, "the _instruments_ and _the_
signs."--G. Brown.

[35] "Good speakers do not pronounce above three syllables in a second of
time; and generally only two and a half, taking in the necessary
pauses."--_Steele's Melody of Speech_.

[36] The same idea is also conveyed in the following sentence from Dr.
Campbell: "Whatever regards the analysis of the operations of the mind,
_which is quicker than lightning in all her energies_, must in a great
measure be abstruse and dark."--_Philosophy of Rhetoric_, p. 289. Yet this
philosopher has given it as his opinion, "that we really _think by signs_
as well as speak by them."--_Ib._, p. 284. To reconcile these two positions
with each other, we must suppose that thinking by signs, or words, is a
process infinitely more rapid than speech.

[37] That generalization or abstraction which gives to similar things a
common name, is certainly no laborious exercise of intellect; nor does any
mind find difficulty in applying such a name to an individual by means of
the article. The general sense and the particular are alike easy to the
understanding, and I know not whether it is worth while to inquire which is
first in order. Dr. Alexander Murray says, "It must be attentively
remembered, that all terms run from a general to a particular sense. The
work of abstraction, the ascent from individual feelings to classes of
these, was finished before terms were invented. Man was silent till he had
formed some ideas to communicate; and association of his perceptions soon
led him to think and reason in ordinary matters."--_Hist. of European
Languages_, Vol. I, p. 94. And, in a note upon this passage, he adds: "This
is to be understood of primitive or radical terms. By the assertion that
man was silent till he had formed ideas to communicate, is not meant, that
any of our species were originally destitute of the natural expressions of
feeling or thought. All that it implies, is, that man had been subjected,
during an uncertain period of time, to the impressions made on his senses
by the material world, before he began to express the natural varieties of
these by articulated sounds. * * * * * * Though the abstraction which
formed such classes, might be greatly aided or supported by the signs; yet
it were absurd to suppose that the sign was invented, till the sense
demanded it."--_Ib._, p. 399.

[38] Dr. Alexander Murray too, In accounting for the frequent abbreviation
of words, seems to suggest the possibility of giving them the celerity of
thought: "Contraction is a change which results from a propensity to make
the signs _as rapid as the thoughts_ which they express. Harsh combinations
soon suffer contraction. Very long words preserve only the principal, that
is, the accented part. If a nation accents its words on the last syllable,
the preceding ones will often be short, and liable to contraction. If it
follow a contrary practice, the terminations are apt to decay."--History of
European Languages, Vol. I, p. 172.

[39] "We cannot form a distinct idea of any moral or intellectual quality,
unless we find some trace of it in ourselves."--_Beattie's Moral Science,
Part Second, Natural Theology_, Chap. II, No. 424.

[40] "Aristotle tells us that the world is a copy or transcript of those
ideas which are in the mind of the first Being, and that those ideas which
are in the mind of man, are a transcript of the world. To this we may add,
that words are the transcripts of those ideas which are in the mind of man,
and that writing or printing _are_ [is] the transcript of
words."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 166.

[41] Bolingbroke on Retirement and Study, Letters on History, p. 364.

[42] See this passage in "The Economy of Human Life," p. 105--a work
feigned to be a compend of Chinese maxims, but now generally understood to
have been written or compiled by _Robert Dodsley_, an eminent and ingenious
bookseller in London.

[43] "Those philosophers whose ideas of _being_ and _knowledge_ are derived
from body and sensation, have a short method to explain the nature of
_Truth_.--It is a _factitious_ thing, made by every man for himself; which
comes and goes, just as it is remembered and forgot; which in the order of
things makes its appearance _the last_ of all, being not only subsequent to
sensible objects, but even to our sensations of them! According to this
hypothesis, there are many truths, which have been, and are no longer;
others, that will be, and have not been yet; and multitudes, that possibly
may never exist at all. But there are other reasoners, who must surely have
had very different notions; those, I mean, who represent Truth not as _the
last_, but as _the first_ of beings; who call it _immutable, eternal,
omnipresent_; attributes that all indicate something more than
human."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 403.

[44] Of the best method of teaching grammar, I shall discourse in an other
chapter. That methods radically different must lend to different results,
is no more than every intelligent person will suppose. The formation of
just methods of instruction, or true systems of science, is work for those
minds which are capable of the most accurate and comprehensive views of the
things to be taught. He that is capable of "originating and producing"
truth, or true "ideas," if any but the Divine Being is so, has surely no
need to be trained into such truth by any factitious scheme of education.
In all that he thus originates, he is himself a _Novum Organon_ of
knowledge, and capable of teaching others, especially those officious men
who would help him with their second-hand authorship, and their paltry
catechisms of common-places. I allude here to the fundamental principle of
what in some books is called "_The Productive System of Instruction_," and
to those schemes of grammar which are professedly founded on it. We are
told that, "The _leading principle_ of this system, is that which its name
indicates--that the child should be regarded not as a mere recipient of the
ideas of others, but as an agent _capable of collecting, and originating,
and producing_ most of the ideas which are necessary for its education,
when presented with the objects or the facts from which they may be
derived."--_Smith's New Gram., Pref., p. 5: Amer. Journal of Education, New
Series_, Vol. I, No. 6, Art. 1. It ought to be enough for any teacher, or
for any writer, if he finds his readers or his pupils ready _recipients_ of
the ideas which he aims to convey. What more they know, they can never owe
to him, unless they learn it from him against his will; and what they
happen to lack, of understanding or believing him, may very possibly be
more his fault than theirs.

[45] Lindley Murray, anonymously copying somebody, I know not whom, says:
"Words derive their meaning from the consent and practice of those who use
them. _There is no necessary connexion between words and ideas_. The
association between the sign and the thing signified, is purely
arbitrary."--_Octavo Gram._, Vol. i, p. 139. The second assertion here
made, is very far from being literally true. However arbitrary may be the
use or application of words, their connexion with ideas is so necessary,
that they cannot be words without it. Signification, as I shall hereafter
prove, is a part of the very essence of a word, the most important element
of its nature. And Murray himself says, "The understanding and language
have a strict connexion."--_Ib._, Vol. i, p. 356. In this, he changes
without amendment the words of Blair: "Logic and rhetoric have here, as in
many other cases, a strict connexion."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 120.

[46] "The language which is, at present, spoken throughout Great Britain,
is neither the ancient primitive speech of the island, nor derived from it;
but is altogether of foreign origin. The language of the first inhabitants
of our island, beyond doubt, was the Celtic, or Gælic, common to them with
Gaul; from which country, it appears, by many circumstances, that Great
Britain was peopled. This Celtic tongue, which is said to be very
expressive and copious, and is, probably, one of the most ancient languages
in the world, obtained once in most of the western regions of Europe. It
was the language of Gaul, of Great Britain, of Ireland, and very probably,
of Spain also; till, in the course of those revolutions which by means of
the conquests, first, of the Romans, and afterwards, of the northern
nations, changed the government, speech, and, in a manner, the whole face
of Europe, _this tongue was gradually obliterated_; and now subsists only
in the mountains of Wales, in the Highlands of Scotland, and among the wild
Irish. For the Irish, the Welsh, and the Erse, are no other than different
dialects of the same tongue, the ancient Celtic."--_Blair's Rhetoric_,
Lect. IX, p. 85.

[47] With some writers, the _Celtic_ language is _the Welsh_; as may be
seen by the following extract: "By this he requires an Impossibility, since
much the greater Part of Mankind can by no means spare 10 or 11 Years of
their Lives in learning those dead Languages, to arrive at a perfect
Knowledge of their own. But by this Gentleman's way of Arguing, we ought
not only to be Masters of _Latin_ and _Greek_, but of _Spanish, Italian,
High- Dutch, Low-Dutch, French_, the _Old Saxon, Welsh, Runic, Gothic_, and
_Islandic_; since much the greater number of Words of common and general
Use are derived from _those Tongues_. Nay, by the same way of Reasoning we
may prove, that the _Romans_ and _Greeks_ did not understand their own
Tongues, because they were not acquainted with _the Welsh, or ancient
Celtic_, there being above 620 radical _Greek_ Words derived from _the
Celtic_, and of the Latin a much greater Number."--_Preface to Brightland's
Grammar_, p. 5.

[48] The author of this specimen, through a solemn and sublime poem in ten
books, _generally_ simplified the preterit verb of the second person
singular, by omitting the termination _st_ or _est_, whenever his measure
did not require the additional syllable. But his tuneless editors have, in
many instances, taken the rude liberty both to spoil his versification, and
to publish under his name what he did not write. They have given him _bad
prosody_, or unutterable _harshness of phraseology_, for the sake of what
they conceived to be _grammar_. So _Kirkham_, in copying the foregoing
passage, alters it as he will; and alters it _differently_, when he happens
to write some part of it twice: as,

   "That morning, thou, that _slumberedst_ not before,
    Nor _slept_, great Ocean! _laidst_ thy waves at rest,
    And _hushed_ thy mighty minstrelsy."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 203.

Again:

   "That morning, thou, that _slumberedst_ not before,
    Nor _sleptst_, great Ocean, _laidst_ thy waves at rest,
    And _hush'dst_ thy mighty minstrelsy."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 44.

[49] _Camenes_, the _Muses_, whom Horace called _Camænæ_. The former is an
English plural from the latter, or from the Latin word _camena_, a muse or
song. These lines are copied from Dr. Johnson's History of the English
Language; their _orthography_ is, in some respects, _too modern_ for the
age to which they are assigned.

[50] The Saxon characters being known nowadays to but very few readers, I
have thought proper to substitute for them, in the latter specimens of this
chapter, the Roman; and, as the old use of colons and periods for the
smallest pauses, is liable to mislead a common observer, the punctuation
too has here been modernized.

[51] Essay on Language, by William S. Cardell, New York, 1825, p. 2. This
writer was a great admirer of Horne Tooke, from whom he borrowed many of
his notions of grammar, but not this extravagance. Speaking of the words
_right_ and _just_, the latter says, "They are applicable only to _man; to
whom alone language belongs_, and of whose sensations only words are the
representatives."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 9.

[52] CARDELL: _Both Grammars_, p. 4.

[53] "_Quoties dicimus, toties de nobis judicatur_."--Cicero. "As often as
we speak, so often are we judged."

[54] "Nor had he far to seek for the source of our impropriety in the use
of words, when he should reflect that the study of our own language, has
never been made a part of the education of our youth. Consequently, the use
of words is got wholly by chance, according to the company that we keep, or
the books that we read." SHERIDAN'S ELOCUTION, _Introd._, p. viii, dated
"July 10, 1762," 2d Amer. Ed.

[55] "To Write and Speak correctly, gives a Grace, and gains a favourable
Attention to what one has to say: And since 'tis _English_, that an English
Gentleman will have constant use of, that is the Language he should chiefly
Cultivate, and wherein most care should be taken to polish and perfect his
Stile. To speak or write better _Latin_ than _English_, may make a Man be
talk'd of, but he would find it more to his purpose to Express himself well
in his own Tongue, that he uses every moment, than to have the vain
Commendation of others for a very insignificant quality. This I find
universally neglected, and no care taken any where to improve Young Men in
their own Language, that they may thoroughly understand and be Masters of
it. If any one among us have a facility or purity more than ordinary in his
Mother Tongue, it is owing to Chance, or his Genius, or any thing, rather
than to his Education or any care of his Teacher. To Mind what _English_
his Pupil speaks or writes is below the Dignity of one bred up amongst
_Greek_ and _Latin_, though he have but little of them himself. These are
the learned Languages fit only for learned Men to meddle with and teach:
_English_ is the Language of the illiterate Vulgar."--_Locke, on
Education_, p. 339; _Fourth Ed., London_, 1699.

[56] A late author, in apologizing for his choice in publishing a grammar
without forms of praxis, (that is, without any provision for a stated
application of its principles by the learner,) describes the whole business
of _Parsing_ as a "dry and uninteresting recapitulation of the disposal of
a few parts of speech, and their _often times told_ positions and
influence;" urges "the _unimportance_ of parsing, _generally_;" and
represents it to be only "a finical and ostentatious parade of practical
pedantry."--_Wright's Philosophical Gram._, pp. 224 and 226. It would be no
great mistake to imagine, that _this gentleman's system_ of grammar,
applied in any way to practice, could not fail to come under this
unflattering description; but, to entertain this notion of parsing in
general, is as great an error, as that which some writers have adopted on
the other hand, of making this exercise their sole process of inculcation,
and supposing it may profitably supersede both the usual arrangement of the
principles of grammar and the practice of explaining them by definitions.
It is asserted in Parkhurst's "English Grammar for Beginners, on the
Inductive Method of Instruction," that, "to teach the child a definition at
the outset, is beginning at the _wrong end_;" that, "with respect to all
that goes under the name of etymology in grammar, it is learned chiefly by
practice in parsing, and scarcely at all by the aid of definitions."--
_Preface_, pp. 5 and 6.

[57] Hesitation in speech may arise from very different causes. If we do
not consider this, our efforts to remove it may make it worse. In most
instances, however, it may be overcome by proper treatment, "Stammering,"
says a late author, "is occasioned by an _over-effort to articulate_; for
when the mind of the speaker is so occupied with his subject as not to
allow him to reflect upon his defect, he will talk without difficulty. All
stammerers can sing, owing to the continuous sound, and the slight manner
in which the consonants are touched in singing; so a drunken man can run,
though he cannot walk or stand still."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p.
30.

   "To think rightly, is of knowledge; to speak fluently, is of nature;
    To read with profit, is of care; but to write aptly, is of practice."
                                    _Book of Thoughts_, p. 140.

[58] "There is nothing more becoming [to] a _Gentleman_, or more useful in
all the occurrences of life, than to be able, on any occasion, to speak
well, and to the purpose."--_Locke, on Education_, §171. "But yet, I think
I may ask my reader, whether he doth not know a great many, who live upon
their estates, and so, with the name, should have the qualities of
Gentlemen, who cannot so much as tell a story as they should; much less
speak clearly and persuasively in any business. This I think not to be so
much their fault, as the fault of their education.--They have been taught
_Rhetoric_, but yet never taught how to express themselves handsomely with
their tongues or pens in the language they are always to use; as if the
names of the figures that embellish the discourses of those who understood
the art of speaking, were the very art and skill of speaking well. _This,
as all other things of practice, is to be learned, not by a few, or a great
many rules given; but by_ EXERCISE _and_ APPLICATION _according to_ GOOD
RULES, _or rather_ PATTERNS, _till habits are got, and a facility of doing
it well_."--_Ib._, §189. The forms of parsing and correcting which the
following work supplies, are "_patterns_," for the performance of these
practical "_exercises_;" and _such patterns_ as ought to be implicitly
followed, by every one who means to be a ready and correct speaker on these
subjects.

[59] The principal claimants of "the Inductive Method" of Grammar, are
Richard W. Green, Roswell C. Smith, John L. Parkhurst, Dyor H. Sanborn,
Bradford Frazee, and, Solomon Barrett, Jr.; a set of writers, differing
indeed in their qualifications, but in general not a little deficient in
what constitutes an accurate grammarian.

[60] William C. Woodbridge edited the Journal, and probably wrote the
article, from which the author of "English Grammar on the Productive
System" took his "_Preface_."

[61] Many other grammars, later than Murray's, have been published, some in
England, some in America, and some in both countries; and among these there
are, I think, a few in which a little improvement has been made, in the
methods prescribed for the exercises of parsing and correcting. In most,
however, _nothing of the kind has been attempted_. And, of the formularies
which have been given, the best that I have seen, are still miserably
defective, and worthy of all the censure that is expressed in the paragraph
above; while others, that appear in works not entirely destitute of merit,
are absolutely _much worse_ than Murray's, and worthy to condemn to a
speedy oblivion the books in which they are printed. In lieu of forms of
expression, clear, orderly, accurate, and full; such as a young parser
might profitably imitate; such as an experienced one would be sure to
approve; what have we? A chaos of half-formed sentences, for the ignorant
pupil to flounder in; an infinite abyss of blunders, which a world of
criticism could not fully expose! See, for example, the seven pages of
parsing, in the neat little book entitled, "A Practical Grammar of the
English Language, by the Rev. David Blair: Seventh Edition: London, 1815:"
pp. 49 to 57. I cannot consent to quote more than one short paragraph of
the miserable jumble which these pages contain. Yet the author is evidently
a man of learning, and capable of writing well on some subjects, if not on
this. "Bless the Lord, O my soul!" Form: "_Bless_, a verb, (repeat 97);
active (repeat 99); active voice (102); _infinitive mood_ (107); _third
person, soul being the nominative_ (118); present tense (111); conjugate
the verb after the pattern (129); its object is Lord (99)."--_Blair's
Gram._, p. 50. Of the paragraphs referred to, I must take some notice:
"107. The _imperative_ mood commands or orders or intreats."--_Ib._, p. 19.
"118. The _second person_ is always the pronoun _thou_ or _you_ in the
singular, and _ye_ or _you_ in the plural."--_Ib._, p. 21. "111. The
_imperative_ mood has no distinction of tense: and the _infinitive_ has no
distinction of persons."--_Ib._, p. 20. Now the author should have said:
"_Bless_ is a redundant active-transitive verb, from _bless, blessed_ or
_blest, blessing, blessed_ or _blest_; found in the _imperative_ mood,
present tense, _second_ person, and singular number:" and, if he meant to
parse the word _syntactically_, he should have added: "and agrees with its
nominative _thou_ understood; according to the rule which says, 'Every
finite verb must agree with its subject or nominative, in person and
number.' Because the meaning is--_Bless thou_ the Lord." This is the whole
story. But, in the form above, several things are false; many,
superfluous; some, deficient; several, misplaced; nothing, right. Not much
better are the models furnished by _Kirkham, Smith, Lennie, Bullions_, and
other late authors.

[62] Of Dr. Bullions's forms of parsing, as exhibited in his English
Grammar, which is a modification of Lennie's Grammar, it is difficult to
say, whether they are most remarkable for their deficiencies, their
redundancies, or their contrariety to other teachings of the same author or
authors. Both Lennie and Bullions adopt the rule, that, "An _ellipsis_ is
_not allowable_ when it would obscure the sentence, weaken its force, or be
attended with an impropriety."--_L._, p. 91; _B._, p. 130. And the latter
strengthens this doctrine with several additional observations, the first
of which reads thus: "In general, _no word should be omitted_ that is
necessary to the _full and correct construction_, or even _harmony_ of a
sentence."--_Bullions, E. Gr._, 130. Now the parsing above alluded to, has
been thought particularly commendable for its _brevity_--a quality
certainly desirable, so far as it consists with the end of parsing, or with
the more needful properties of a good style, clearness, accuracy, ease, and
elegance. But, if the foregoing rule and observation are true, the models
furnished by these writers are not commendably brief, but miserably
defective. Their brevity is, in fact, such as renders them all _bad
English_; and not only so, it makes them obviously inadequate to their
purpose, as bringing into use but a part of the principles which the
learner had studied. It consists only in the omission of what ought to have
been inserted. For example, this short line, "_I lean upon the Lord_," is
parsed by both of these gentlemen thus: "_I, the first personal_ pronoun,
masculine, or feminine, singular, _the_ nominative--_lean_, a verb,
_neuter_, first person singular, present, indicative--_upon_, a
preposition--_the_, an article, the definite--_Lord_, a noun, masculine,
singular, the objective, (governed by _upon_.)"--_Lennie's Principles of
English Gram._, p. 51; _Bullions's_, 74. This is a little sample of their
etymological parsing, in which exercise they generally omit not only all
the definitions or "reasons" of the various terms applied, but also all the
following particulars: first, the verb _is_, and certain _definitives_ and
_connectives_, which are "necessary to the full and correct construction"
of their sentences; secondly, the distinction of nouns as _proper_ or
_common_; thirdly, the _person_ of nouns, _first, second_, or _third_;
fourthly, the words, _number, gender_, and _case_, which are necessary to
the sense and construction of certain words used; fifthly, the distinction
of adjectives as belonging to _different classes_; sixthly, the division of
verbs as being _regular_ or _irregular, redundant_ or _defective_;
seventhly, sometimes, (Lennie excepted,) the division of verbs as _active,
passive_, or _neuter_; eighthly, the words _mood_ and _tense_, which
Bullions, on page 131, pronounces "quite unnecessary," and inserts in his
own formule on page 132; ninthly, the distinction of adverbs as expressing
_time, place, degree_, or _manner_; tenthly, the distinction of
conjunctions as _copulative_ or disjunctive; lastly, the distinction of
interjections as indicating _different emotions_. All these things does
their completest specimen of etymological parsing lack, while it is grossly
encumbered with parentheses of syntax, which "_must be omitted_ till the
pupil get the _rules_ of syntax."--Lennie, p. 51. It is also vitiated with
several absurdities, contradictions, and improper changes of expression:
as, "_His, the third personal pronoun_;" (B., p. 23;)--"_me, the first
personal pronoun_;" (_Id._, 74;)--"_A_, The indefinite article;" (_Id._,
73;)--"_a_, an article, the indefinite;" (_Id._, 74;)--"When the _verb is
passive_, parse thus: '_A verb active_, in the passive voice, _regular,
irregular_,' &c."--_Bullions_, p. 131. In stead of teaching sufficiently,
as elements of etymological parsing, the definitions which belong to this
exercise, and then dismissing them for the principles of syntax, Dr.
Bullions encumbers his method of syntactical parsing with such a series of
etymological questions and answers as cannot but make it one of the
slowest, longest, and most tiresome ever invented. He thinks that the
pupil, after parsing any word syntactically, "_should be requested to
assign a reason for every thing contained in his statement!_"--_Principles
of E. Grammar_, p. 131. And the teacher is to ask questions as numerous as
the reasons! Such is the parsing of a text-book which has been pronounced
"superior to any other, for use in our common schools"--"a _complete_
grammar of the language, and _available for every purpose_ for which Mr.
Brown's can possibly be used."--_Ralph K. Finch's Report_, p, 12.

[63] There are many other critics, besides Murray and Alger, who seem not
to have observed the import of _after_ and _before_ in connexion with the
tenses. Dr. Bullions, on page 139th of his English Grammar, copied the
foregoing example from Lennie, who took it from Murray. Even Richard Hiley,
and William Harvey Wells, grammarians of more than ordinary tact, have been
obviously misled by the false criticism above cited. One of Hiley's Rules
of Syntax, with its illustration, stands thus: "In _the use of the
different tenses_, we must particularly _observe to use that tense_ which
clearly and properly conveys the sense intended; thus, instead of saying,
'After I _visited_ Europe, I returned to America;' we should say, 'After I
_had visited_ Europe, I returned to America."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 90. Upon
this he thought it needful to comment thus: "'After I _visited_ Europe, I
returned to America;' _this sentence is incorrect_; _visited_ ought to be
_had visited_, because the action _implied_ by the verb _visited_ WAS
COMPLETED _before_ the other past action _returned_."--_Ib._, p. 91. See
nearly the same thing in _Wells's School Grammar, 1st Edition_, p. 151; but
his later editions are wisely altered. Since "_visited_ and _was
completed_" are of the same tense, the argument from the latter, if it
proves any thing, proves the former to be _right_, and the proposed change
needless, or perhaps worse than needless. "I _visited_ Europe _before_ I
_returned_ to America," or, "I _visited_ Europe, _and afterwards returned_
to America," is good English, and not to be improved by any change of
tense; yet here too we see the _visiting_ "_was completed before_" the
return, or HAD BEEN COMPLETED _at the time_ of the return. I say, "The
Pluperfect Tense is that which expresses what _had taken_ place _at_ some
past time mentioned: as, 'I _had seen_ him, _when_ I met you.'" Murray
says, "The Pluperfect Tense represents a _thing_ not only as past, but also
as prior to some _other point of time_ specified in the sentence: as, I
_had finished_ my letter _before_ he arrived." Hiley says, "The
_Past-Perfect_ expresses an action or event which _was past before_ some
_other past action or event_ mentioned in the sentence, _and to which_ it
refers; as, I _had finished_ my lessons _before_ he came." With this, Wells
appears to concur, his example being similar. It seems to me, that these
last two definitions, and their example too, are bad; because by the help
of _before_ or _after_, "_the past before the past_" _may_ be clearly
expressed by the _simple past tense_: as, "I _finished_ my letter _before_
he _arrived_."--"I _finished_ my lessons _before_ he _came_." "He _arrived_
soon _after_ I _finished_ the letter."--"Soon _after_ it _was completed_,
he _came in_."

[64] Samuel Kirkham, whose grammar is briefly described in the third
chapter of this introduction, boldly lays the blame of all his philological
faults, upon our noble _language itself_; and even conceives, that a
well-written and faultless grammar cannot be a good one, because it will
not accord with that reasonless jumble which he takes every existing
language to be! How diligently he laboured to perfect his work, and with
what zeal for truth and accuracy, may be guessed from the following
citation: "The truth is, after all _which_ can be done to render the
definitions and rules of grammar comprehensive and accurate, they will
still be found, when critically examined by men of learning and science,
_more_ or _less_ exceptionable. _These exceptions and imperfections_ are
the unavoidable consequence of the _imperfections of the language_.
Language as well as every thing else _of human invention_, will always be
_imperfect_. Consequently, a perfect system of grammatical principles,
_would not suit it_. A perfect grammar will not be produced, until some
perfect being writes it for a perfect language; and a perfect language will
not be constructed, until _some super-human agency_ is employed in its
production. All grammatical principles and systems which are not _perfect_
are _exceptionable_."--_Kirkham's Grammar_, p. 66. The unplausible
sophistry of these strange remarks, and the palliation they afford to the
multitudinous defects of the book which contains them, may be left, without
further comment, to the judgement of the reader.

[65] The phrase _complex ideas_, or _compound ideas_, has been used for the
notions which we have of things consisting of different parts, or having
various properties, so as to embrace some sort of plurality: thus our ideas
of _all bodies_ and _classes of things_ are said to be complex or compound.
_Simple ideas_ are those in which the mind discovers no parts or plurality:
such are the ideas of _heat, cold, blueness, redness, pleasure, pain,
volition_, &c. But some writers have contended, that the _composition of
ideas_ is a fiction; and that all the complexity, in any case, consists
only in the use of a _general term_ in lieu of many particular ones. Locke
is on one side of this debate, Horne Tooke, on the other.

[66] Dilworth appears to have had a true _idea_ of the thing, but he does
not express it as a definition; "Q. Is _an_ Unit of one, a Number? A. _An_
Unit is a number, _because it may properly answer the question how
many!_"--_Schoolmaster's Assistant_, p. 2. A number in arithmetic, and a
number in grammar, are totally different things. The _plural_ number, as
_men_ or _horses_, does not tell _how many_; nor does the word _singular_
mean _one_, as the author of a recent grammar says it does. The _plural_
number is _one_ number, but it is not _the singular_. "The _Productive
System_" teaches thus: "What does the word _singular_ mean? It means
_one_."--Smith's New Gram., p. 7.

[67] It is truly astonishing that so great a majority of our grammarians
could have been so blindly misled, as they have been, in this matter; and
the more so, because a very good definition of a Letter was both published
and republished, about the time at which Lowth's first appeared: viz.,
"What is a letter? A Letter is the Sign, Mark, or Character of a simple or
uncompounded Sound. Are Letters Sounds? No. Letters are only the Signs or
Symbols of Sounds, not the Sounds themselves."--_The British Grammar_, p.
3. See the very same words on the second page of _Buchanan's "English
Syntax_," a work which was published as early as 1767.

[68] In Murray's octavo Grammar, this word is _the_ in the first chapter,
and _their_ in the second; in the duodecimo, it is _their_ in both places.

[69] "The _definitions_ and the _rules_ throughout the Grammar, are
expressed with neatness and perspicuity. They are as short and
comprehensive as the nature of the subject would admit: and they are well
adapted both to the understanding and the memory of young persons."--_Life
of L. Murray_, p. 245. "It may truly be said that the language in every
part of the work, is simple, correct, and perspicuous."--_Ib._, p. 246.

[70] For this definition, see _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 40; _Duodecimo_,
41; _Smaller Gram._, 18; _Alger's_, 18; _Bacon's_, 15; _Frost's_, 8,
_Ingersoll's_, 17; _A Teacher's_, 8; _Maltby's_, 14; _T. H. Miller's_, 20;
_Pond's_, 18; _S. Putnam's_, 15; _Russell's_, 11; _Merchant's Murray_, 25;
and _Worcester's Univ. and Crit. Dictionary_. Many other grammarians have
attempted to define number; with what success a few examples will show:
(1.) "Number is the distinction of one from many."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p.
40; _Merchant's School Gram._, 28; _Greenleaf's_, 22; _Nutting's_, 17;
_Picket's_, 19; _D. Adams's_, 31. (2.) "Number is the distinction of one
from more."--_Fisher's Gram._, 51; _Alden's_, 7. (3.) "Number is the
distinction of one from several or many."--_Coar's Gram._, p. 24. (4.)
"Number is the distinction of one from more than one."--_Sanborn's Gram._,
p. 24; _J. Flint's_, 27; _Wells's, 52_. (5.) "Number is the distinction of
one from more than one, or many."--_Grant's Latin Gram._, p. 7. (6.) "What
is number? Number is the Distinction of one, from two, or many."--_British
Gram._, p. 89; _Buchanan's_, 16. (7.) "You inquire, 'What is number?'
Merely this: _the distinction_ of one from two, or many. Greek substantives
have _three_ numbers."--_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 38. All these authors
say, that, in English, "there are _two numbers_, the singular and the
plural." According to their explanations, then, we have _two "distinctions
of one from two, several, more, or many;"_ and the Greeks, by adding a dual
number, have _three_! Which, then, of the two or three modifications or
forms, do they mean, when they say, "Number is _the distinction_" &c.? Or,
if none of them, _what else_ is meant? All these definitions had their
origin in an old Latin one, which, although it is somewhat better, makes
doubtful logic in its application: "NUMERUS est, unius et multorum
distinctio. Numeri _igitur_ sunt _duo_; Singularis et Pluralis."--
_Ruddiman's Gram._, p. 21. This means: (8.) "Number is a distinction of one
and many. The numbers _therefore_ are _two_; the Singular and the Plural."
But we have yet other examples: as, (9.) "Number is the distinction of
_objects_, as one or more."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 39. "The _distinction_
of _objects_ as _one_," is very much like "_the consideration_ of _an
object_ as _more than one_." (10.) "Number distinguishes _objects_ as _one_
or more."--_Cooper's Murray_, p. 21; _Practical Gram._, p. 18. That is,
number makes the plural to be either plural or singular for distinction's
sake! (11.) "Number is the distinction of _nouns_ with regard to the
_objects_ signified, _as one_ or more."--_Fisk's Murray_, p. 19. Here, too,
number has "regard" to the same confusion: while, by a gross error, its
"distinction" is confined to "_nouns_" only! (12.) "Number is _that
property_ of a _noun_ by which it expresses _one_ or _more_ than
one."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 12; _Analyt. Gram._, 25. Here again number
is improperly limited to "_a noun_;" and is said to be one sign of two, or
either of two, incompatible ideas! (13.) "Number shows _how many_ are
meant, whether one or more."--_Smith's new Gram._, p. 45. This is not a
_definition_, but a false assertion, in which Smith again confounds
arithmetic with grammar! _Wheat_ and _oats_ are of different numbers; but
neither of these numbers "means _a sum that may be counted_," or really
"shows _how many_ are meant." So of "_Man_ in general, _Horses_ in general,
&c."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 77. (14.) "Number is _the difference_ in a
_noun or pronoun_, to denote either a single thing or more than
one."--_Davenport's Gram._, p. 14. This excludes the numbers of a _verb_,
and makes the singular and the plural to be essentially one thing. (15.)
"Number is a modification of nouns and verbs, &c. according as the thing
spoken of is represented, as, _one_ or _more_, with regard to
number."--_Burn's Gram._, p. 32. This also has many faults, which I leave
to the discernment of the reader. (16.) "What is number? Number _shows the
distinction_ of one from many."--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 6. This is no answer
to the question asked; besides, it is obviously worse than the first form,
which has "_is_," for "_shows_." (17.) "What is Number? It is _the_
representation of _objects_ with respect to singleness, or plurality."
--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 34. If there are two numbers, they are neither
of them properly described in this definition, or in any of the preceding
ones. There is a gross misconception, in taking each or either of them to
be an alternate representation of two incompatible ideas. And this sort of
error is far from being confined to the present subject; it runs through a
vast number of the various definitions contained in our grammars. (18.)
"_Number_ is _the inflection_ of a _noun_, to indicate _one object or more
than one_. Or, _Number_ is _the expression_ of unity or of more than
unity."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 14. How hard this author laboured to _think
what number is_, and could not! (19.) "Number is the distinction of _unity
and plurality_."--_Hart's E. Gram._, p. 40, Why say, "_distinction_;" the
numbers, or _distinctions_, being two? (20.) "Number is _the capacity of
nouns_ to represent either one or more than one object."--_Barrett's
Revised Gram._, p. 40. (21.) "Number is _a property_ of _the noun which_
denotes _one_ or _more_ than one."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 55. (22.)
"Number is _a property_ of the _noun or pronoun_ [,] _by which it_ denotes
_one, or more_ than one."--_Weld's Gram., Abridged Ed._, p. 49. (23.)
"Number is _the property_ that distinguishes _one from more_ than
one."--_Weld's Gram., Improved Ed._, p. 60. This, of course, excludes the
plural. (24.) "Number is _a modification of nouns_ to denote whether one
object is meant, or more than one."--_Butler's Gram._, p. 19. (25.) "Number
is _that modification_ of the _Noun_ which distinguishes one from more than
one."--_Spencer's Gram._, p. 26. Now, it is plain, that not one of these
twenty-five definitions comports with the idea that the singular is one
number and the plural an other! Not one of them exhibits any tolerable
approach to accuracy, either of thought or of expression! Many of the
grammarians have not attempted any definition of _number_, or of _the
numbers_, though they speak of both the singular and the plural, and
perhaps sometimes apply the term _number_ to _the distinction_ which is _in
each_: for it is the property of the singular number, to distinguish unity
from plurality: and of the plural, to distinguish plurality from unity.
Among the authors who are thus silent, are Lily, Colet, Brightland, Harris,
Lowth, Ash, Priestly, Bicknell, Adam, Gould, Harrison, Comly, Jaudon,
Webster, Webber, Churchill, Staniford, Lennie, Dalton, Blair, Cobbett,
Cobb, A. Flint, Felch, Guy, Hall, and S. W. Clark. Adam and Gould, however,
in explaining the properties of _verbs_, say: "_Number_ marks _how many_ we
suppose to be, to act, or to suffer."--_A._, 80; _G._, 78.

[71] These are the parts of speech in some late grammars; as, Barrett's, of
1854, Butler's, Covell's, Day's, Frazee's, Fowle's New, Spear's, Weld's,
Wells's, and the Well-wishers'. In Frost's Practical Grammar, the words of
the language are said to be "divided into _eight_ classes," and the names
are given thus: "_Noun, Article, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition,
Conjunction, and Interjection_."--P. 29. But the author afterwards treats
of the _Adjective_, between the _Article_ and the _Pronoun_, just as if he
had forgotten to name it, and could not count nine with accuracy! In
Perley's Grammar, the parts of speech are a different eight: namely,
"_Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions,
Interjections_, and _Particles_!"--P. 8. S. W. Clark has Priestley's
classes, but calls Interjections "Exclamations."

[72] Felton, who is confessedly a modifier of Murray, claims as a merit,
"_the rejection of several useless parts of speech_" yet acknowledges
"_nine_," and treats of _ten_; "viz., _Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Participles,
Prepositions, Adjectives_, [Articles,] _Adverbs, Conjunctions,
Exclamations_."--_O. C. Felton's Gram._ p. 5, and p. 9.

[73] Quintilian is at fault here; for, in some of his writings, if not
generally, Aristotle recognized _four_ parts of speech; namely, verbs,
nouns, conjunctions, and articles. See _Aristot. de Poetica_, Cap. xx.

[74] "As there are ten different characters or figures in arithmetic to
represent all possible quantities, there are also ten kinds of words or
parts of speech to represent all possible sentences: viz.: article, noun,
adjective, pronoun, verb, participle, adverb, preposition, conjunction,
interjection."--_Chauvier's Punctuation_, p. 104.

[75] _The Friend_, 1829, Vol. ii, p. 117.

[76] _The Friend_, Vol. ii, p. 105.

[77] See the Preface to my Compendious English Grammar in the American
editions of _the Treasury of Knowledge_, Vol. i, p. 8.

[78] Some say that Brightland himself was the writer of this grammar; but
to suppose him the sole author, hardly comports with its dedication to the
Queen, by her "most Obedient and Dutiful _Subjects_, the _Authors_;" or
with the manner in which these are spoken of, in the following lines, by
the laureate:

   "Then say what Thanks, what Praises must attend
    _The Gen'rous Wits_, who thus could condescend!
    Skill, that to Art's sublimest Orb can reach,
    Employ'd its humble Elements to Teach!
    Yet worthily Esteem'd, because we know
    To raise _Their_ Country's Fame _they_ stoop'd so low."--TATE.

[79] Dr. Campbell, in his Philosophy of Rhetoric, page 158th, makes a
difficulty respecting the meaning of this passage: cites it as an instance
of the misapplication of the term _grammar_; and supposes the writer's
notion of the thing to have been, "of grammar in the abstract, _an_
universal archetype by which the particular grammars of all different
tongues ought to be regulated." And adds, "If this was his meaning, I
cannot say whether he is in the right or in the wrong, in this accusation.
I acknowledge myself to be entirely ignorant of this ideal grammar." It
would be more fair to suppose that Dr. Swift meant by "_grammar_" the rules
and principles according to which the English language ought to be spoken
and written; and, (as I shall hereafter show,) it is no great hyperbole to
affirm, that every part of the code--nay, well-nigh every one of these
rules and principles--is, in many instances, violated, if not by what may
be called _the language itself_, at least by those speakers and writers who
are under the strongest obligations to know and observe its true use.

[80] The phrase "_of any_" is here erroneous. These words ought to have
been omitted; or the author should have said--"the least valuable of _all_
his productions."

[81] This word _latter_ should have been _last_; for _three_ works are here
spoken of.

[82] With this opinion concurred the learned James White, author of a
Grammatical Essay on the English Verb, an octavo volume of more than three
hundred pages, published in London in 1761. This author says, "Our Essays
towards forming an English Grammar, have not been very many: from the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, to that of Queen Ann, there are but Two that the author
of the Present knows of: one in English by the renown'd Ben Jonson, and one
in Latin by the learn'd Dr. Wallis. In the reign of Queen Ann indeed, there
seems to have arisen a noble Spirit of ingenious Emulation in this Literary
way: and to this we owe the treatises compos'd at that period for the use
of schools, by Brightland, Greenwood, and Maittaire. But, since that time,
nothing hath appear'd, that hath come to this Essayist's knowledge,
deserving _to be taken any notice of_ as tending to illustrate our Language
by ascertaining the Grammar of it; except Anselm Bayly's Introduction to
Languages, Johnson's Grammar prefix'd to the Abridgement of his Dictionary,
and the late Dr. Ward's Essays upon the English Language.--These are all
the Treatises he hath met with, relative to this subject; all which he hath
perus'd _very_ attentively, and made the best use of them in his power. But
notwithstanding all these aids, something still remains to be done, at
least it so appears to him, _preparatory to attempting with success the
Grammar of our Language_. All our efforts of this kind seem to have been
render'd ineffectual hitherto, chiefly by the prevaliency of two false
notions: one of which is, that our Verbs have no Moods; and the other, that
our Language hath no Syntax."--_White's English Verb_, p. viii.

[83] A similar doctrine, however, is taught by no less an author than "the
Rev. Alexander Crombie, LL. D.," who says, in the first paragraph of his
introduction, "LANGUAGE consists of intelligible signs, and is the medium,
by which _the mind_ communicates _its thoughts_. It is either articulate,
or inarticulate; artificial, or natural. The former is peculiar to man; the
latter is _common to all animals_. By inarticulate language, we mean those
instinctive cries, by which the several tribes of inferior creatures are
enabled to express their sensations and desires. By articulate language is
understood a system of expression, composed of simple _sounds_, differently
modified by the organs of speech, and variously combined."--_Treatise on
the Etymology and Syntax of the English Language_, p. 1. See the same
doctrine also in _Hiley's Gram._, p. 141. The language which "is _common to
all animals_," can be no other than that in which Æsop's wolves and
weasels, goats and grasshoppers, talked--a language quite too unreal for
_grammar_. On the other hand, that which is composed of _sounds_ only, and
not of letters, includes but a mere fraction of the science.

[84] The pronoun _whom_ is not properly applicable to beasts, unless they
are _personified_: the relative _which_ would therefore, perhaps, have been
preferable here, though _whom_ has a better sound.--G. B.

[85] "The great difference between men and brutes, in the utterance of
sound by the mouth, consists in the power of _articulation_ in man, and the
entire want of it in brutes."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 8.

[86] Strictly speaking, an _articulate sound_ is not a simple element of
speech, but rather a complex one, whether syllable or word; for
_articulate_ literally means _jointed_. But our grammarians in general,
have applied the term to the sound of a letter, a syllable, or a word,
indiscriminately: for which reason, it seems not very suitable to be used
alone in describing any of the three. Sheridan says, "The essence of a
syllable consists in _articulation only_, for every _articulate sound_ of
course forms a syllable."--_Lectures on Elocution_, p. 62. If he is right
in this, not many of our letters--or, perhaps more properly, none of
them--can singly represent articulate sounds. The looseness of this term
induces me to add or prefer an other. "The Rev. W. Allen," who comes as
near as any of our grammarians, to the true definition of a _letter_, says:
1. "The sounds used in language are called _articulate sounds_." 2. "A
letter is a character used in printing or writing, to represent an
_articulate_ sound."--_Allen's Elements of E. Gram._, p. 2. Dr. Adam says:
1. "A letter is the mark of _a sound_, or of _an articulation of_ sound."
2. "A vowel is properly called a _simple sound_; and the sounds formed by
the concourse of vowels and consonants, _articulate sounds_."--_Latin and
English Gram._, pp. 1 and 2.

[87] Of this sort of blunder, the following false definition is an
instance: "A _Vowel_ is a letter, _the name of which_ makes a full open
sound."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 5; _Brace's_, 7; _Hazen's_, 10. All this is
just as true of a consonant as of a vowel. The comma too, used in this
sentence, defeats even the sense which the writers intended. It is surely
no description either of a vowel or of a consonant, to say, that it is a
letter, and that the name of a letter makes a full open sound. Again, a
late grammarian teaches, that the names of all the letters are nothing but
_Roman capitals_, and then seems to inquire which of _these names_ are
_vowels_, thus: "_Q_. How many letters are in the alphabet? _A_.
Twenty-six. _Q_. What are their names? _A_. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J,
K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. _Q_. Which of _these_ are
called _Vowels_?"--_Fowle's Common School Gram., Part First_, p. 7. If my
worthy friend Fowle had known or considered _what are the names_ of the
letters in English, he might have made a better beginning to his grammar
than this.

[88] By the colloquial phrase, "to a Tee" we mean, "to a _nicety_, to a
_tittle_, a _jot_, an _iota_. Had the British poet Cawthorn, himself a
noted schoolmaster, known how to write the name of "T," he would probably
have preferred it in the following couplet:

   "And swore by Varro's shade that he
    Conceived the medal to a T."--_British Poets_, Vol. VII, p. 65.

Here the name would certainly be much fitter than the letter, because the
text does not in reality speak of the letter. With the names of the Greek
letters, the author was better acquainted; the same poem exhibits two of
them, where the characters themselves are spoken of:

   "My eye can trace divinely true,
    In this dark curve a little Mu;
    And here, you see, there _seems_ to lie
    The ruins of a Doric Xi."--_Ibidem_.

The critical reader will see that "_seems_" should be _seem_, to agree with
its nominative "_ruins_."

[89] Lily, reckoning without the H, J, or V, speaks of the Latin letters as
"_twenty-two_;" but _says nothing_ concerning their names. Ruddiman, Adam,
Grant, Gould, and others, who include the H, J, and V, rightly state the
number to be "_twenty-five_;" but, concerning their names, are likewise
_entirely silent_. Andrews and Stoddard, not admitting the K, teach thus:
"The letters of the Latin language are _twenty-four_. They _have the same
names_ as the corresponding characters in English."--_Andrews and
Stoddard's Latin Gram._, p. 1. A later author speaks thus: "The Latin
Alphabet consists of _twenty-five_ letters, _the same in name_ and form as
the English, but without the _w_."--_Bullions's Latin Gram._, p. 1. It
would probably be nearer to the truth, to say, "The Latin Alphabet, _like
the French_, has no W; it consists of twenty-five letters, which are _the
same in name_ and form _as the French_." Will it be pretended that the
French names and the English do not differ?

[90] The Scotch _Iz_ and the Craven _Izzet_, if still in use anywhere, are
names strictly local, not properly English, nor likely to spread. "IZZET,
the letter Z. This is probably the corruption of _izzard_, the old and
common name for the letter, though I know not, says _Nares_, on what
authority."--_Glossary of Craven, w. Izzet._ "_Z z, zed_, more commonly
called _izzard_ or _uzzard_, that is, _s hard_."--_Dr. Johnson's Gram._, p.
1.

   "And how she sooth'd me when with study sad
    I labour'd on to reach the final Zad."--_Crabbe's Borough_, p. 228.

[91] William Bolles, in his new Dictionary, says of the letter Z: "Its
sound is uniformly that of a _hard_ S." The _name_, however, he pronounces
as I do; though he writes it not _Zee_ but zé; giving not the _orthography_
of the name, as he should have done, but a mere index of its pronunciation.
Walker proves by citations from Professor Ward and Dr. Wallis, that these
authors considered the _sharp_ or _hissing_ sound of _s_ the "_hard_"
sound; and the _flat_ sound, like that of _z_, its "_soft_" sound. See his
_Dictionary_, 8vo, p. 53.

[92] Dr. Webster died in 1843. Most of this work was written while he was
yet in vigour.

[93] This old definition _John L. Parkhurst_ disputes:--says it "is
_ambiguous_;"--questions whether it means, "that the _name_ of such a
letter, or the _simple sound_," requires a vowel! "If the latter," says he,
"_the assertion is false._ The simple sounds, represented by the
consonants, can be uttered separately, distinctly, and perfectly. It can be
done with the _utmost ease_, even by a little child."--_Parkhurst's
Inductive Gram. for Beginners_, p. 164. He must be one of these modern
philosophers who delight to _make mouths_ of these voiceless elements, to
show how much may be done without sound from the larynx.

[94] This test of what is, or is not, a vowel sound or a consonant sound,
is often appealed to, and is generally admitted to be a just one. Errors in
the application of _an_ or _a_ are not unfrequent, but they do not affect
the argument. It cannot be denied, that it is proper to use _a_, and not
proper to use _an_, before the initial sound of _w_ or _y_ with a vowel
following. And this rule holds good, whether the sound be expressed by
these particular letters, or by others; as in the phrases, "_a wonder, a
one, a yew, a use, a ewer, a humour, a yielding temper_." But I have heard
it contended, that these are vowel sounds, notwithstanding they require
_a_; and that the _w_ and _y_ are always vowels, because even a vowel sound
(it was said) requires _a_ and not _an_, whenever an other vowel sound
immediately follows it. Of this notion, the following examples are a
sufficient refutation: _an aëronaut, an aërial tour, an oeiliad, an
eyewink, an eyas, an iambus, an oäsis, an o'ersight, an oil, an oyster, an
owl, an ounce_. The initial sound of _yielding_ requires _a_, and not _an_;
but those who call the _y_ a vowel, say, it is equivalent to the unaccented
long _e_. This does not seem to me to be exactly true; because the latter
sound requires _an_, and not _a_; as, "Athens, as well as Thebes, had _an
Eëtion_."

[95] Dr. Rush, in his Philosophy of the Human Voice, has exhibited some
acuteness of observation, and has written with commendable originality. But
his accuracy is certainly not greater than his confidence. On page 57th, he
says, "The _m, n_, and _ng_, are _purely nasal_;" on page 401st, "Some of
the tonic elements, and one of the subtonics, are made _by the assistance
of the lips_; they are _o_-we, _oo_-ze, _ou_-r, and _m_." Of the intrinsic
value of his work, I am not prepared or inclined to offer any opinion; I
criticise him only so far as he strikes at grammatical principles long
established, and worthy still to be maintained.

[96] Dr. Comstock, by ¸enumerating as elementary the sound of the diphthong
_ou_, as in _our_, and the complex power of _wh_, as in _what_, (which
sounds ought not to be so reckoned,) makes the whole number of vocal
elements in English to be "_thirty-eight_." See _Comstock's Elocution_, p.
19.

[97] This word is commonly heard in two syllables, _yune'yun_; but if
Walker is right in making it three, _yu'ne-un_, the sound of _y_ consonant
is heard in it but once. Worcester's notation is "_y=un'yun_." The long
sound of _u_ is _yu_; hence Walker calls the letter, when thus sounded, a
"semi-consonant diphthong."

[98] Children ought to be accustomed to speak loud, and to pronounce all
possible sounds and articulations, even those of such foreign languages as
they will be obliged to learn; for almost every language has its particular
sounds which we pronounce with difficulty, if we have not been early
accustomed to them. Accordingly, nations who have the greatest number of
sounds in their speech, learn the most easily to pronounce foreign
languages, since they know their articulations by having met with similar
sounds in their own language."--_Spurzheim, on Education_, p. 159.

[99] If it be admitted that the two semivowels _l_ and _n_ have vocality
enough of their own to form a very feeble syllable, it will prove only that
there are these exceptions to an important general rule. If the name of
_Haydn_ rhymes with _maiden_, it makes one exception to the rule of
writing; but it is no part of the English language. The obscure sound of
which I speak, is sometimes improperly confounded with that of short _u_;
thus a recent writer, who professes great skill in respect to such matters,
says, "One of the most common sounds in our language is that of the vowel
_u_, as in the word _urn_, or as the diphthong _ea_ in the word _earth_,
for which we have no character. Writers have made various efforts to
express it, as in _earth, berth, mirth, worth, turf_, in which all the
vowels are indiscriminately used in turn. [Fist] _This defect has led_ to
the absurd method of placing the vowel after the consonants, instead of
between them, when a word _terminates with this sound_; as in the
following, _Bible, pure, centre, circle_, instead of _Bibel, puer, center,
cirkel_."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p. 498. "It would be a great step
towards perfection to spell our words as they are pronounced!"--_Ibid._, p.
499. How often do the reformers of language multiply the irregularities of
which they complain!

[100] "The number of simple sounds in our tongue is twenty-eight, 9 Vowels
and 19 Consonants. _H_ is no letter, but merely a mark of
aspiration."--_Jones's Prosodial Gram. before his Dict._, p. 14.

"The number of simple vowel and consonant sounds in our tongue is
twenty-eight, and one pure aspiration _h_, making in all
twenty-nine."--_Bolles's Octavo Dict._, Introd., p. 9.

"The number of _letters_ in the English language is twenty-six; but the
number of _elements_ is thirty-eight."--_Comstock's Elocution_, p. 18.
"There are thirty-eight elements in the English alphabet, and to represent
those elements by appropriate characters, we should have thirty-eight
letters. There is, then, a deficiency in our alphabet of twelve
letters--and he who shall supply this imperfection, will be one of the
greatest benefactors of the human race."--_Ib._, p. 19. "Our alphabet is
both redundant and defective. _C, q_, and _z_, are respectively represented
by _k_ or _s, k_, and _ks_, or _gz_; and the remaining twenty-three letters
are employed to represent _forty-one_ elementary sounds."--_Wells's School
Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 36.

"The simple sounds were in no wise to be reckoned of any certain number: by
the first men they were determined to no more than ten, as spine suppose;
as others, fifteen or twenty; it is however certain that mankind in general
never exceed _twenty_ simple sounds; and of these only five are reckoned
strictly such."--_Bicknell's Grammar_, Part ii, p. 4.

[101] "When these sounds are openly pronounced, they produce the familiar
assent _ay_: which, by the old English dramatic writers, was often
expressed by _I_."--_Walker_. We still hear it so among the vulgar; as,
"_I, I_, sir, presently!" for "_Ay, ay_, sir, presently!" Shakspeare wrote,

   "To sleepe, perchance to dreame; _I_, there's the rub."
        --_Bucke's Classical Gram._, p. 143.

[102] Walker pronounces _yew_ and _you_ precisely alike, "_yoo_;" but,
certainly, _ew_ is not commonly equivalent to _oo_, though some make it so:
thus Gardiner, in his scheme of the vowels, says, "_ew_ equals _oo_, as in
_new, noo_."--_Music of Nature_, p. 483. _Noo_ for _new_, is a _vulgarism_,
to my ear.--G. BROWN.

[103] "As harmony is an inherent property of sound, the ear should he first
called to the attention of _simple sounds_; though, in reality, all are
composed _of three_, so nicely blended as to _appear_ but as
one."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p. 8. "Every sound is a mixture of
three tones; as much as a ray of light is composed of three prismatic
colours."--_Ib._, p. 387.

[104] The titulary name of the sacred volume is "The Holy Bible." The word
_Scripture_ or _Scriptures_ is a _common_ name for the writings contained
in this inestimable volume, and, in the book itself, is seldom
distinguished by a capital; but, in other works, it seems proper in general
to write it so, by way of eminence.

[105] "Benedictus es Domine Deus Israel patris nostri ab eterno in
eternum."--_Vulgate_. "O Eternel! Dieu d'Israël, notre père, tu es béni de
tout temps et à toujours."--_Common French Bible_. "[Greek: Eulogætos ei
Kyrie ho theos Israel ho patær hæmon apo tou aionos kai heos tou
aionos.]"--_Septuagint._

[106] Where the word "_See_" accompanies the reference, the reader may
generally understand that the citation, whether right or wrong in regard to
grammar, is not in all respects _exactly_ as it will be found in the place
referred to. Cases of this kind, however, will occur but seldom; and it is
hoped the reasons for admitting a few, will be sufficiently obvious.
Brevity is indispensable; and some rules are so generally known and
observed, that one might search long for half a dozen examples of their
undesigned violation. Wherever an error is made intentionally in the
Exercises, the true reading and reference are to be expected in the Key.

[107] "Et irritaverunt ascendentes in mare, Mare rubrum."--_Latin Vulgate,
folio, Psal._ cv, 7. This, I think, should have been "Mare Rubrum," with
two capitals.--G. BROWN.

[108] The printers, from the manner in which they place their types before
them, call the small letters "_lower-case letters_," or "_letters of the
lower case_."

[109] I imagine that "_plagues_" should here be _plague_, in the singular
number, and not plural. "Ero more ius, o mors; morsus tuus ero,
inferne."--_Vulgate_. "[Greek: Pou hæ dikæ sou, thanate; pou to kentron
sou, aidæ;]"--_Septuagint, ibid._

[110] It is hoped that not many persons will be so much puzzled as are Dr.
Latham and Professor Fowler, about the application of this rule. In their
recent works on The English Language, these gentlemen say, "In certain
words of more than one syllable, _it is difficult to say_ to which syllable
the intervening Consonant belongs. For instance, _does_ the _v_ in _river_
and the _v_ in _fever_ belong to the first or to the second syllable? Are
the words to be divided thus, _ri-ver, fe-ver_? or thus, _riv-er_,
_fev-er_?"--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 1850, §85; _Latham's Hand-Book_, p. 95.
Now I suppose it plain, that, by the rule given above, _fever_ is to be
divided in the former way, and _river_ in the latter; thus, _fe-ver_,
_riv-er_. But this paragraph of Latham's or Fowler's is written, not to
disembarrass the learner, but just as if it were a grammarian's business to
confound his readers with fictitious dilemmas--and those expressed
ungrammatically! Of the two Vees, so illogically associated in one
question, and so solecistically spoken of by the singular verb "_does_,"
one belongs to the former syllable, and the other, to the latter; nor do I
discover that "it is difficult to say" this, or to be well assured that it
is right. What an admirable passage for one great linguist to _steal_ from
an other!

[111] "The usual rules for dividing [words into] syllables, are not only
_arbitrary_ but false and absurd. They contradict the very definition of a
syllable given by the authors themselves. * * * * A syllable in
pronunciation is an _indivisible_ thing; and strange as it may appear, what
is _indivisible_ in utterance is _divided_ in writing: when the very
purpose of dividing words into syllables in writing, is to lead the learner
to a just pronunciation."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 156;
_Philosophical Gram._, 221.

[112] This word, like _distich_ and _monostich_, is from the Greek
_stichos_, a verse; and is improperly spelled by Walker with a final _k_.
It should be _hemistich_, with the accent on the first syllable. See
_Webster, Scott, Perry, Worcester_, and others.

[113] According to Aristotle, the compounding of terms, or the writing of
them as separate words, must needs be a matter of great importance to the
sense. For he will have the parts of a compound noun, or of a compound
verb, to be, like other syllables, destitute of any distinct signification
in themselves, whatever may be their meaning when written separately. See
his definitions of the parts of speech, in his _Poetics_, Chapter 20th of
the Greek; or Goulston's Version in Latin, Chapter 12th.

[114] Whether _worshipper_ should follow this principle, or not, is
questionable. If Dr. Webster is right in making _worship_ a _compound_ of
_worth_ and _ship_, he furnishes a reason against his own practice of using
a single _p_ in _worshiper, worshiped_, and _worshiping_. The Saxon word
appears to have been _weorthscype_. But words ending in _ship_ are
_derivatives_, rather than compounds; and therefore they seem to belong to
the rule, rather than to the exception: as, "So we _fellowshiped_
him."--_Herald of Freedom: Liberator_, Vol. ix, p. 68.

[115] When _ee_ comes before _e_, or may be supposed to do so, or when _ll_
comes before _l_, one of the letters is dropped that _three_ of the same
kind may not meet: as, _free, freer, freest, freeth, freed_; _skill,
skilless_; _full, fully_; _droll, drolly_. And, as _burgess-ship_,
_hostess-ship_, and _mistress-ship_ are derivatives, and not compounds, I
think they ought to follow the same principle, and be written _burgesship,
hostesship, mistresship_. The proper form of _gall-less_ is perhaps more
doubtful. It ought not to be gallless, as Dr. Webster has it; and galless,
the analogical form, is yet, so far as I know without authority. But is it
not preferable to the hyphened form, with three Ells, which has authority?
"GALL-LESS, a. Without gall or bitterness. _Cleaveland_."--_Chalmers,
Bolles, Worcester_.

     "Ah! mild and _gall-less_ dove,
    Which dost the pure and candid dwellings love,
     Canst thou in Albion still delight?"--_Cowley's Odes_.

Worcester's Dictionary has also the questionable word _bellless_. _Treen_,
for _trees_, or for an adjective meaning _a tree's_, or _made of a tree_,
is exhibited in several of our dictionaries, and pronounced as a
monosyllable: but Dr. Beattie, in his Poems, p. 84, has made it a
dissyllable, with three like letters divided by a hyphen, thus:--

   "Plucking from _tree-en_ bough her simple food."


[116] _Handiwork, handicraft_, and _handicraftsman_, appear to have been
corruptly written for _handwork, handcraft_, and _handcraftsman_. They were
formerly in good use, and consequently obtained a place in our vocabulary,
from which no lexicographer, so far as I know, has yet thought fit to
discard them; but, being irregular, they are manifestly becoming obsolete,
or at least showing a tendency to throw off these questionable forms.
_Handcraft_ and _handcraftsman_ are now exhibited in some dictionaries, and
_handiwork_ seems likely to be resolved into _handy_ and _work_, from which
Johnson supposes it to have been formed. See _Psalm_ xix, 1. The text is
varied thus: "And the firmament _sheweth_ his _handiwork_."--_Johnson's
Dict._. "And the firmament _sheweth_ his _handy-work_."--_Scott's Bible_;
_Bruce's Bible_; _Harrison's Gram._, p. 83. "And the firmament _showeth_
his _handy work_."--_Alger's Bible_; _Friends' Bible_; _Harrison's Gram._,
p. 103.

[117] Here a word, formed from its root by means of the termination _ize_,
afterwards assumes a prefix, to make a secondary derivative: thus, _organ_,
_organize, disorganize_. In such a case, the latter derivative must of
course be like the former; and I assume that the essential or primary
formation of both from the word _organ_ is by the termination _ize_; but it
is easy to see that _disguise, demise, surmise_, and the like, are
essentially or primarily formed by means of the prefixes, _dis, de_, and
_sur_. As to _advertise, exercise, detonize_, and _recognize_, which I have
noted among the exceptions, it is not easy to discover by which method we
ought to suppose them to have been formed; but with respect to nearly all
others, the distinction is very plain; and though there may be no _natural
reason_ for founding upon it such a rule as the foregoing, the voice of
general custom is as clear in this as in most other points or principles of
orthography, and, surely, some rule in this case is greatly needed.

[118] _Criticise_, with _s_, is the orthography of Johnson, Walker,
Webster, Jones, Scott, Bolles, Chalmers, Cobb, and others; and so did
Worcester spell it in his Comprehensive Dictionary of 1831, but, in his
Universal and Critical Dictionary of 1846, he wrote it with _z_, as did
Bailey in his folio, about a hundred years ago. Here the _z_ conforms to
the foregoing rule, and the _s_ does not.

[119] Like this, the compound _brim-full_ ought to be written with a hyphen
and accented on the last syllable; but all our lexicographers have
corrupted it into _brim'ful_, and, contrary to the authorities they quote,
accented it on the first. Their noun _brim'fulness_, with a like accent, is
also a corruption; and the text of Shakspeare, which they quote for it, is
nonsense, unless _brim_, be there made a separate adjective:--

   "With ample and _brimfulness_ of his force."--_Johnson's Dict._ _et al_.

    "With _ample_ and _brim fullness_ of his force," would be better.

[120] According to Littleton, the _coraliticus lapis_ was a kind of
Phrygian marble, "called _Coralius_ or by an other name _Sangarius_." But
this substance seems to be different from all that are described by
Webster, under the names of "_coralline_," "_corallinite_," and
"_corallite_." See _Webster's Octavo Dict._

[121] The Greek word for _argil_ is [Greek: argilos], or [Greek: argillos],
(from [Greek: argos], white,) meaning pure white earth; and is as often
spelled with one Lamda as with two.

[122] Dr. Webster, with apparent propriety, writes _caviling_ and
_cavilous_ with one _l_, like _dialing_ and _perilous_; but he has in
general no more uniformity than Johnson, in respect to the doubling of _l_
final. He also, in some instances, accents similar words variously: as,
_cor'alliform_, upon the first syllable, _metal'liform_, upon the second;
_cav'ilous_ and _pap'illous_, upon the first, _argil'lous_, upon the
second; _ax'illar_, upon the first, _medul'lar_, upon the second. See
_Webster's Octavo Dict._

[123] Perry wrote _crystaline, crystalize, crystalization, metaline,
metalist, metalurgist_, and _metalurgy_; and these forms, as well as
_crystalography, metalic, metalography_, and _metaliferous_, are noticed
and preferred by the authors of the _Red Book_, on pp. 288 and 302.

[124] "But if a diphthong precedes, or the accent is on the preceding
syllable, the consonant remains single: as, to toil, toiling; to offer, an
offering."--_Murray's Octavo Gram._, p. 24; _Walker's Rhym. Dict._,
Introd., p. ix.

[125] Johnson, Walker, and Webster, all spell this word _sep'ilible_; which
is obviously wrong; as is Johnson's derivation of it from _sepio_, to hedge
in. _Sepio_ would make, not this word, but _sepibilis_ and _sepible_,
hedgeable.

[126] If the variable word _control, controul_, or _controll_, is from
_con_ and _troul_ or _troll_, it should be spelled with _ll_, by Rule 7th,
and retain the _ll_ by Rule 6th. Dr. Webster has it so, but he gives
_control_ also.

[127] _Ache_, and its plural, _aches_, appear to have been formerly
pronounced like the name of the eighth letter, with its plural, _Aitch_,
and _Aitches_; for the old poets made "_aches_" two syllables. But Johnson
says of _ache_, a pain, it is "now _generally_ written _ake_, and in the
plural _akes_, of one syllable."--See his _Quarto Dict._ So Walker: "It is
now _almost universally_ written _ake_ and _akes_."--See _Walker's
Principles_, No. 355. So Webster: "_Ake_, less properly written
_ache_."--See his _Octavo Dict._ But Worcester seems rather to prefer
_ache_.--G. B.

[128] This book has, probably, more _recommenders_ than any other of the
sort. I have not patience to count them accurately, but it would seem that
_more than a thousand_ of the great and learned have certified to the
world, that they never before had seen so good a spelling-book! With
personal knowledge of more than fifty of the signers, G. B. refused to add
his poor name, being ashamed of the mischievous facility with which very
respectable men had loaned their signatures.

[129] _Scrat_, for _scratch._ The word is now obsolete, and may be altered
by taking _ch_ in the correction.

[130] "_Hairbrained, adj._ This should rather be written _harebrained_;
unconstant, unsettled, wild as a _hare._"--_Johnson's Dict._ Webster writes
it _harebrained_, as from _hare_ and _brain_. Worcester, too, prefers this
form.

[131] "The whole number of verbs in the English language, regular and
irregular, simple and compounded, taken together, is about 4,300. See, in
Dr. Ward's Essays on the English language, the catalogue of English verbs.
The whole number of irregular verbs, the defective included, is about
176."--_Lowth's Gram._, Philad., 1799, p. 59. Lindley Murray copied the
first and the last of these three sentences, but made the latter number
"about 177."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 109; _Duodecimo_, p. 88. In the latter
work, he has this note: "The whole number of _words_, in the English
language, is about thirty-five thousand."--_Ib._ Churchill says, "The whole
number of verbs in the English language, according to Dr. Ward, is about
4,300. The irregulars, including the auxilaries [sic--KTH], scarcely exceed
200."--_New Gram._, p. 113. An other late author has the following
enumeration: "There are in the English language about twenty thousand five
hundred nouns, forty pronouns, _eight thousand verbs_, nine thousand two
hundred adnouns, two thousand six hundred adverbs, sixty-nine prepositions,
nineteen conjunctions, and sixty-eight interjections; in all, above forty
thousand words."--_Rev. David Blair's Gram._, p. 10. William Ward, M. A.,
in an old grammar _undated_, which speaks of Dr. Lowth's as one with which
the public had "_very lately_ been favoured," says: "There are _four
Thousand and about Five Hundred Verbs_ in the English [language]."--_Ward's
Practical Gram._, p. 52.

[132] These definitions are numbered here, because each of them is the
first of a series now begun. In class rehearsals, the pupils may be
required to give the definitions in turn; and, to prevent any from losing
the place, it is important that the numbers be mentioned. When all have
become sufficiently familiar with the _definitions_, the exercise may be
performed _without them._ They are to be read or repeated till faults
disappear--or till the teacher is satisfied with the performance. He may
then save time, by commanding his class to proceed more briefly; making
such distinctions as are required in the praxis, but ceasing to explain the
terms employed; that is, _omitting all the definitions, for brevity's
sake._ This remark is applicable likewise to all the subsequent praxes of
etymological parsing.]

[133] The _modifications_ which belong to the different parts of speech
consist chiefly of the _inflections_ or _changes_ to which certain words
are subject. But I use the term sometimes in a rather broader sense, as
including not only _variations_ of words, but, in certain instances, their
_original forms_, and also such of their _relations_ as serve to indicate
peculiar properties. This is no questionable license in the use of the
term; for when the position of a word _modifies_ its meaning, or changes
its person or case, this effect is clearly a grammatical _modification_,
though there be no absolute _inflection_. Lord Kames observes, "_That
quality_, which distinguishes one genus, one species, or even one
individual, from an other, is termed a _modification_: thus the same
particular that is termed a _property_ or _quality_, when considered as
belonging to an individual, or a class of individuals, is termed a
_modification_, when considered as distinguishing the individual or the
class from an other."--_Elements of Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 392.

[134] Wells, having put the articles into the class of adjectives, produces
authority as follows: "'The words _a_ or _an_, and _the_, are reckoned by
_some_ grammarians a separate part of speech; but, as they in all respects
come under the definition of the adjective, it is unnecessary, as well as
_improper_, to rank them as a class by themselves.'--Cannon." To this he
adds, "The articles are also ranked with adjectives by Priestley, E.
Oliver, Bell, Elphinston, M'Culloch, D'Orsey, Lindsay, Joel, Greenwood.
Smetham, Dalton, King, Hort, Buchanan, Crane, J. Russell, Frazee, Cutler,
Perley, Swett, Day. Goodenow, Willard, Robbins, Felton, Snyder, Butler, S.
Barrett, Badgley, Howe, Whiting, Davenport, Fowle, Weld, and
others."--_Wells's School Gram._, p. 69. In this way, he may have made it
seem to many, that, after thorough investigation, he had decided the point
discreetly, and with preponderance of authority. For it is claimed as a
"peculiar merit" of this grammar, that, "Every point of practical
importance is _thoroughly investigated_, and reference is carefully made to
the _researches_ of preceding writers, in all cases which admit of being
determined by _weight of authority_."--WILLIAM RUSSELL, _on the cover_.
But, in this instance, as in sundry others, wherein he opposes the more
common doctrine, and cites concurrent authors, both he and all his
authorities are demonstrably to the wrong. For how can they be right, while
reason, usage, and the prevailing opinion, are still against them? If we
have forty grammars which reject, the articles as a part of speech, we have
more than twice as many which recognize them as such; among which are those
of the following authors: viz., Adam, D. Adams, Ainsworth, Alden, Alger, W.
Allen, Ash, Bacon, Barnard, Beattie, Beck, Bicknell, Bingham, Blair, J. H.
Brown, Bucke, Bullions, Burn, Burr, Chandler, Churchill, Coar, Cobbett,
Cobbin, Comly, Cooper, Davis, Dearborn, Ensell, Everett, Farnum, Fisk, A.
Flint, Folker, Fowler, Frost, R. G. Greene, Greenleaf, Guy, Hall, Hallock,
Hart, Harrison, Matt. Harrison, Hazen, Hendrick, Hiley, Hull, Ingersoll,
Jaudon, Johnson, Kirkham, Latham, Lennie, A. Lewis, Lowth, Maltby, Maunder,
Mennye, Merchant, T. H. Miller, Murray, Nixon, Nutting, Parker and Fox,
John Peirce, Picket, Pond, S. Putnam, Russell, Sanborn, Sanders, R. C.
Smith, Rev. T. Smith, Spencer, Tower, Tucker, Walker, Webber, Wilcox,
Wilson, Woodworth, J. E. Worcester, S. Worcester, Wright. The articles
characterize our language more than some of the other parts of speech, and
are worthy of distinction for many reasons, one of which is the very great
_frequency_ of their use.

[135] In Murray's Abridgement, and in his "Second Edition," 12mo, the
connective in this place is "_or_;" and so is it given by most of his
amenders; as in _Alger's Murray_, p. 68; _Alden's_, 89; _Bacon's_, 48;
_Cooper's_, 111; _A. Flint's_, 65; _Maltby's_, 60; _Miller's_, 67; _S.
Putnam's_, 74; _Russell's_, 52; _T. Smith's_, 61. All these, and many more,
repeat both of these ill-devised rules.

[136] When this was written, Dr. Webster was living.

[137] In French, the preposition _à, (to,)_ is always carefully
distinguished from the verb _a, (has,)_ by means of the grave accent, which
is placed over the former for that purpose. And in general also the Latin
word _à, (from,)_ is marked in the same way. But, with us, no appropriate
sign has hitherto been adopted to distinguish the preposition _a_ from the
article _a_; though the Saxon _a, (to,)_ is given by Johnson with an acute,
even where no other _a_ is found. Hence, in their ignorance, thousands of
vulgar readers, and among them the authors of sundry grammars, have
constantly mistaken this preposition for an article. Examples: "Some
adverbs are composed of _the article a_ prefixed to nouns; as _a_-side,
_a_-thirst, _a_-sleep, _a_-shore, _a_-ground, &c."--_Comly's Gram._, p67.
"Repeat some [adverbs] that are composed of _the article a_ and
nouns."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 89. "To go a fishing;" "To go a hunting;"
i.e. "to go _on_ a fishing _voyage_ or _business_;" "to go _on_ a hunting
_party_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 221; _Fisk's_, 147; _Ingersoll's_, 157;
_Smith's_, 184; _Bullions's_, 129; _Merchant's_, 101; _Weld's_, 192, _and
others._ That this interpretation is false and absurd, may be seen at once
by any body who can read Latin; for, _a hunting, a fishing_, &c., are
expressed by the supine in _um_: as, "_Venatum ire_."--Virg. Æn. I.e., "To
go _a_ hunting." "_Abeo piscatum_."--Beza. I.e. "I go _a_
fishing."--_John_, xxi, 3. Every school-boy ought to know better than to
call this _a_ an article. _A fishing_ is equivalent to the infinitive _to
fish_. For the Greek of the foregoing text is [Greek: Hupágo hálieúein,]
which is rendered by Montanus, "_Vado piscari_;" i.e., "_I go to fish_."
One author ignorantly says, "The _article a_ seems to have _no particular
meaning_, and is _hardly proper_ in such expressions as these. 'He went
_a-hunting_,' She lies _a-bed_ all day.'"--_Wilcox's Gram._, p. 59. No
marvel that he could not find the meaning of an _article_ in this _a!_ With
doltish and double inconsistency, Weld first calls this "The _article a_
employed _in the sense_ of a _preposition_," (_E. Gram._, p. 177,) and
afterwards adopts Murray's interpretation as above cited! Some, too, have
an absurd practice of joining this preposition to the participle; generally
with the hyphen, but sometimes without: thus, "A-GOING, In motion; as, to
set a mill _agoing_."--_Webster's Dict._ The doctor does not tell us what
part of speech _agoing_ is; but, certainly, "to set the mill _to_ going,"
expresses just the same meaning, and is about as often heard. In the
burial-service of the Common Prayer Book, we read, "They are even as
_asleep_;" but, in the ninetieth Psalm, from which this is taken, we find
the text thus: "They are as _a sleep_;" that is, as a dream that is fled.
Now these are very different readings, and cannot both he right.

[138] Here the lexicographer forgets his false etymology of _a_ before the
participle, and writes the words _separately_, as the generality of authors
always have done. _A_ was used as a preposition long before the article _a_
appeared in the language; and I doubt whether there is any truth at all in
the common notions of its origin. Webster says, "In the words _abed,
ashore_, &c., and before _the_ participles _acoming, agoing, ashooting_,
[he should have said, 'and _before participles_; as, _a coming, a going, a
shooting_,'] _a_ has been supposed a contraction of _on_ or _at_. It may be
so _in some cases_; but with the participles, it _is sometimes_ a
contraction of the Saxon prefix _ge, and sometimes_ perhaps of the Celtic
_ag_."--_Improved Gram._, p. 175. See _Philos. Gram._, p. 244. What
admirable learning is this! _A_, forsooth, is a _contraction_ of _ge!_ And
this is the doctor's reason for _joining_ it to the participle!

[139] The following construction may he considered an _archaism_, or a form
of expression that is now obsolete: "You have bestowed _a_ many _of_
kindnesses upon me."--_Walker's English Particles_, p. 278.

[140] "If _I_ or _we_ is set before a name, it [the name] is of the first
person: as, _I, N-- N--, declare; we, N-- and M-- do promise_."--_Ward's
Gram._, p. 83. "Nouns which relate to the person or persons _speaking_, are
said to be of the _first_ person; as, I, _William_, speak to
you."--_Fowle's Common School Gram._, Part ii, p. 22. The first person of
nouns is admitted by Ainsworth, R. W. Bailey, Barnard, Brightland, J. H.
Brown, Bullions, Butler, Cardell, Chandler, S. W. Clark, Cooper, Day,
Emmons, Farnum, Felton, Fisk, John Flint, Fowle, Frazee, Gilbert,
Goldsbury, R. G. Greene, S. S. Greene, Hall, Hallock, Hamlin, Hart,
Hendrick, Hiley, Perley, Picket, Pinneo, Russell, Sanborn, Sanders, Smart,
R. C. Smith, Spear, Weld, Wells, Wilcox, and others. It is denied, either
expressly or virtually, by Alger, Bacon, Comly, Davis, Dilworth, Greenleaf,
Guy, Hazen, Ingersoll, Jaudon, Kirkham, Latham, L. Murray, Maltby,
Merchant, Miller, Nutting, Parkhurst, S. Putnam, Rev. T. Smith, and others.
Among the grammarians who do not appear to have noticed the persons of
nouns at all, are Alden, W. Allen, D. C. Allen, Ash, Bicknell, Bingham,
Blair, Buchanan, Bucke, Burn, Burr, Churchill, Coar, Cobb, Dalton,
Dearborn, Abel Flint, R. W. Green, Harrison, Johnson, Lennie, Lowth,
Mennye, Mulligan, Priestley, Staniford, Ware, Webber, and Webster.

[141] Prof. S. S. Greene most absurdly and erroneously teaches, that, "When
the speaker wishes to represent himself, _he cannot use his name_, but
_must_ use some other word, as, _I_; [and] when he wishes to represent the
hearer, he _must_ use _thou_ or _you_."--_Greene's Elements of E. Gram._,
1853, p. xxxiv. The examples given above sufficiently show the falsity of
all this.

[142] In _shoe_ and _shoes, canoe_ and _canoes_, the _o_ is sounded
slenderly, like _oo_; but in _doe_ or _does, foe_ or _foes_, and the rest
of the fourteen nouns above, whether singular or plural, it retains the
full sound of its own name, _O_. Whether the plural of _two_ should be
"_twoes_" as Churchill writes it, or "_twos_," which is more common, is
questionable. According to Dr. Ash and the Spectator, the plural of _who_,
taken substantively, is "_whos_."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 131.

[143] There are some singular compounds of the plural word _pence_, which
form their own plurals regularly; as, _sixpence, sixpences_. "If you do not
all show like gilt _twopences_ to me."--SHAKSPEARE. "The _sweepstakes_ of
which are to be composed of the disputed difference in the value of two
doubtful _sixpences._"--GOODELL'S LECT.: _Liberator_. Vol. ix, p. 145.

[144] In the third canto of Lord Byron's Prophecy of Dante, this noun is
used in the singular number:--

   "And ocean written o'er would not afford
    Space for the _annal_, yet it shall go forth."

[145] "They never yet had separated for their daylight beds, without a
climax to their _orgy_, something like the present scene."--_The Crock of
Gold_, p. 13. "And straps never called upon to diminish that long
whity-brown interval between shoe and _trowser_."--_Ib._, p. 24. "And he
gave them _victual_ in abundance."--_2 Chron._, xi, 23. "Store of
_victual_."--_Ib._, verse 11.

[146] The noun _physic_ properly signifies medicine, or the science of
medicine: in which sense, it seems to have no plural. But Crombie and the
others cite one or two instances in which _physic_ and _metaphysic_ are
used, not very accurately, in the sense of the singular of _physics_ and
_metaphysics_. Several grammarians also quote some examples in which
_physics, metaphysics, politics, optics_, and other similar names of
sciences are used with verbs or pronouns of the singular number; but Dr.
Crombie justly says the plural construction of such words, "is more common,
and more agreeable to analogy."--_On Etym. and Syntax_, p. 27.

[147] "Benjamin Franklin, following the occupation of a compositor in a
printing-office, at a limited weekly _wage_," &c.--_Chambers' Edinburgh
Journal_, No. 232. "WAGE, Wages, hire. The singular number is still
frequently used, though _Dr. Johnson_ thought it obsolete."--_Glossary of
Craven_. 1828.

[148] Our lexicographers generally treat the word _firearms_ as a close
compound that has no singular. But some write it with a hyphen, as
_fire-arms_. In fact the singular is sometimes used, but the way of writing
it is unsettled. Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary, defines a _carbine_ as, "a
small sort of _fire arm_;" Webster has it, "a short gun, or _fire arm_;"
Worcester, "a small _fire-arm_;" Cobb, "a sort of small _firearms_."
Webster uses "_fire-arm_," in defining "_stock_."

[149] "But, soon afterwards, he made a glorious _amend_ for his fault, at
the battle of Platæa."--_Hist. Reader_, p. 48.

[150] "There not _a dreg_ of guilt defiles."--_Watts's Lyrics_, p. 27.

[151] In Young's Night Thoughts, (N. vii, l. 475.) _lee_, the singular of
_lees_, is found; Churchill says, (Gram., p. 211,) "Prior has used _lee_,
as the singular of _lees_;" Webster and Bolles have also both forms in
their dictionaries:--

   "Refine, exalt, throw down their poisonous _lee_,
    And make them sparkle in the bowl of bliss."--_Young_.

[152] "The 'Procrustean bed' has been a myth heretofore; it promises soon
to be _a shamble_ and a slaughterhouse in reality."--_St. Louis Democrat_,
1855.

[153] J. W. Wright remarks, "Some nouns admit of no plural distinctions:
as, _wine, wood_, beer, _sugar, tea, timber, fruit, meat_, goodness,
happiness, and perhaps all nouns ending in _ness_."--_Philos. Gram._, p.
139. If this learned author had been brought up in the _woods_, and had
never read of Murray's "richer _wines_," or heard of Solomon's "dainty
_meats_,"--never chaffered in the market about _sugars_ and _teas_, or read
in Isaiah that "all our _righteousnesses_ are as filthy rags," or avowed,
like Timothy, "a good profession before many _witnesses_,"--he might still
have hewed the _timbers_ of some rude cabin, and partaken of the wild
_fruits_ which nature affords. If these nine plurals are right, his
assertion is nine times wrong, or misapplied by himself seven times in the
ten.

[154] "I will not suppose it possible for my dear James to fall into either
the company or the language of those persons who talk, and even write,
about _barleys, wheats, clovers, flours, grasses_, and _malts_."--
_Cobbett's E. Gram._, p. 29.

[155] "It is a general rule, that all names of things measured or weighed,
have no plural; for in _them_ not number, but quantity, is regarded: as,
_wool, wine, oil_. When we speak, however, of different kinds, we use the
plural: as, the coarser _wools_, the richer _wines_, the finer
_oils_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 41.

[156] So _pains_ is the regular plural of _pain_, and, by Johnson, Webster,
and other lexicographers, is recognized only as plural; but Worcester
inserts it among his stock words, with a comment, thus: "Pains, _n._ Labor;
work; toil; care; trouble. [Fist] According to the best usage, the word
_pains_, though of plural form, is used in these senses as singular, and is
joined with a singular verb; as, 'The pains they had taken _was_ very
great.' _Clarendon_. 'No pains _is_ taken.' _Pope_. 'Great pains _is_
taken.' _Priestley_. '_Much_ pains.' _Bolingbroke_."--_Univ. and Crit.
Dict._ The multiplication of anomalies of this kind is so undesirable, that
nothing short of a very clear decision of Custom, against the use of the
regular concord, can well justify the exception. Many such examples may be
cited, but are they not examples of false syntax? I incline to think "the
best usage" would still make all these verbs plural. Dr. Johnson cites the
first example thus: "The _pains_ they had taken _were_ very great.
_Clarendon_."--_Quarto Dict., w. Pain_. And the following recent example is
unquestionably right: "_Pains have_ been taken to collect the information
required."--_President Fillmore's Message_, 1852.

[157] "And the _fish_ that _is_ in the river shall die."--_Exod._, vii, 18.
"And the _fish_ that _was_ in the river died."--_Ib._, 21. Here the
construction is altogether in the singular, and yet the meaning seems to be
plural. This construction appears to be more objectionable, than the use of
the word _fish_ with a plural verb. The French Bible here corresponds with
ours: but the Latin Vulgate, and the Greek Septuagint, have both the noun
and the verb in the plural: as, "The _fishes_ that _are_ in the
river,"--"The _fishes_ that _were_," &c. In our Bible, _fowl_, as well
_fish_, is sometimes plural; and yet both words, in some passages, have the
plural form: as, "And _fowl_ that may fly," &c.--_Gen._, i, 20. "I will
consume the _fowls_ of the heaven, and the _fishes_ of the sea."--_Zeph._,
i, 3.

[158] Some authors, when they give to _mere words_ the construction of
plural nouns, are in the habit of writing them in the form of possessives
singular; as, "They have of late, 'tis true, reformed, in some measure, the
gouty joints and darning work of _whereunto's, whereby's, thereof's,
therewith's_, and the rest of this kind."--_Shaftesbury_. "Here," says Dr.
Crombie, "the genitive singular is _improperly_ used for the objective case
plural. It should be, _whereuntos, wherebys, thereofs, therewiths_."--
_Treatise on Etym. and Synt._, p. 338. According to our rules, these words
should rather be, _whereuntoes, wherebies_, _thereofs, therewiths_. "Any
word, when used as the name of itself, becomes a noun."--_Goodenow's
Gram._, p. 26. But some grammarians say, "The plural of words, considered
as words merely, is formed by the apostrophe and _s_; as, 'Who, that has
any taste, can endure the incessant, quick returns of the _also's_, and the
_likewise's_, and the _moreover's_, and the _however's_, and the
_notwithstanding's_?'--CAMPBELL."--_Wells's School Gram._, p. 54. Practice
is not altogether in favour of this principle, and perhaps it would be
better to decide with Crombie that such a use of the apostrophe is
improper.

[159] "The Supreme Being (_God, [Greek: Theos], Deus, Dieu_, &c.) is, in
all languages, masculine; in as much as the masculine sex is the superior
and more excellent; and as He is the Creator of all, the Father of gods and
men."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 54. This remark applies to all the direct
names of the Deity, but the abstract idea of _Deity itself_, [Greek: To
Theion], _Numen, Godhead_, or _Divinity_, is not masculine, but neuter. On
this point, some notions have been published for grammar, that are too
heterodox to be cited or criticised here. See _O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p.
208.

[160] That is, we give them sex, if we mean to represent them _as_ persons.
In the following example, a character commonly esteemed feminine is
represented as neuter, because the author would seem to doubt both the sex
and the personality: "I don't know what a _witch_ is, or what _it_ was
then."--_N. P. Rogers's Writings_, p. 154.

[161] There is the same reason for doubling the _t_ in _cittess_, as for
doubling the _d_ in _goddess_. See Rule 3d for Spelling. Yet Johnson, Todd,
Webster, Bolles, Worcester, and others, spell it _citess_, with one _t_.

   "Cits and _citesses_ raise a joyful strain."--DRYDEN: _Joh. Dict._


[162] "But in the _English_ we have _no Genders_, as has been seen in the
foregoing Notes. The same may be said of _Cases_."--_Brightland's Gram._,
Seventh Edition, Lond., 1746, p. 85.

[163] The Rev. David Blair so palpably contradicts himself in respect to
this matter, that I know not which he favours most, two cases or three. In
his main text, he adopts no objective, but says: "According to the _sense_
or _relation_ in which nouns are used, they are in the NOMINATIVE or [the]
POSSESSIVE CASE, thus, _nom._ man; _poss._ man's." To this he adds the
following marginal note: "In the English language, the distinction of the
objective case is observable only in the pronouns. _Cases_ being nothing
but _inflections_, where inflections do not exist, there can be no
grammatical distinction of cases, for the terms _inflection_ and _case_ are
_perfectly synonymous_ and _convertible_. As the English noun has _only one
change_ of termination, _so no other case_ is here adopted. The _objective_
case is noticed in the _pronouns_; and _in parsing nouns_ it is easy to
distinguish _subjects_ from _objects_. A noun which _governs the verb_ may
be described as in the _nominative_ case, and one governed by the verb, or
following a preposition, as in the _objective_ case."--_Blair's Practical
Gram., Seventh Edition_, London, 1815, p. 11. The terms _inflection_ and
_case_ are not practically synonymous, and never were so in the grammars of
the language from which they are derived. The man who rejects the objective
case of English nouns, because it has not a form peculiar to itself alone,
must reject the accusative and the vocative of all neuter nouns in Latin,
for the same reason; and the ablative, too, must in general be discarded on
the same principle. In some other parts of his book, Blair speaks of the
objective case of nouns as familiarly as do other authors!

[164] This author says, "We choose to use the term _subjective_ rather than
_nominative_, because it is shorter, and because it conveys its meaning by
its sound, whereas the latter word means, indeed, little or nothing in
itself."--_Text-Book_, p. 88. This appears to me a foolish innovation, too
much in the spirit of Oliver B. Peirce, who also adopts it. The person who
knows not the meaning of the word _nominative_, will not be very likely to
find out what is meant by _subjective_; especially as some learned
grammarians, even such men as Dr. Crombie and Professor Bullions, often
erroneously call the word which is governed by the verb its _subject_.
Besides, if we say _subjective_ and _objective_, in stead of _nominative_
and _objective_, we shall inevitably change the accent of both, and give
them a pronunciation hitherto unknown to the words.--G. BROWN.

[165] The authorities cited by Felch, for his doctrine of "_possessive
adnouns_," amount to nothing. They are ostensibly two. The first is a
remark of Dr. Adam's: "'_John's book_ was formerly written _Johnis book_.
Some have thought the _'s_ a contraction of _his_, but improperly. Others
have imagined, with more justness, that, by the addition of the _'s_, the
substantive is changed into a possessive adjective.'--_Adam's Latin and
English Grammar_, p. 7."--_Felch's Comp. Gram._, p. 26. Here Dr. Adam by no
means concurs with what these "_others have imagined_;" for, in the very
same place, he declares the possessive case of nouns to be their _only_
case. The second is a dogmatical and inconsistent remark of some anonymous
writer in some part of the "_American Journal of Education_," a work
respectable indeed, but, on the subject of grammar, too often fantastical
and heterodox. Felch thinks it not improper, to use the possessive case
before participles; in which situation, it denotes, not the owner of
something, but the agent, subject, or recipient, of the action, being, or
change. And what a jumble does he make, where he attempts to resolve this
ungrammatical construction!--telling us, in almost the same breath, that,
"The agent of a _nounal_ verb [i. e. participle] is never expressed," but
that, "Sometimes it [the _nounal_ or _gerundial_ verb] is _qualified_, in
its _nounal capacity_, by a possessive _adnoun_ indicative _of its agent_
as a verb; as, there is _nothing like one's_ BEING useful he doubted
_their_ HAVING it:" and then concluding, "_Hence it appears_, that the
_present participle_ may be used _as agent or object_, and yet retain its
character as a verb."--_Felch's Comprehensive Gram._, p. 81. Alas for the
schools, if the wise men of the East receive for grammar such utter
confusion, and palpable self-contradiction, as this!

[166] A critic's accuracy is sometimes liable to be brought into doubt, by
subsequent alterations of the texts which, he quotes. Many an error cited
in this volume of criticism, may possibly not be found in some future
edition of the book referred to; as several of those which were pointed out
by Lowth, have disappeared from the places named for them. Churchill also
cites this line as above; (_New Gram._, p. 214;) but, in my edition of the
Odyssey, by Pope, the reading is this: "By _lov'd Telemachus's_ blooming
years!"--Book xi, L 84.

[167] _Corpse_ forms the plural regularly, _corpses_; as in _2 Kings_, xix,
35: "In the morning, behold, they were all dead _corpses_."

[168] Murray says, "An _adjective_ put without a substantive, with the
definite article before it, _becomes a substantive in sense and meaning_,
and is _written as a substantive_: as, 'Providence rewards _the good_, and
punishes _the bad_.'" If I understand this, it is very erroneous, and
plainly contrary to the fact. I suppose the author to speak of _good
persons_ and _bad persons_; and, if he does, is there not an ellipsis in
his language? How can it be said, that _good_ and _bad_ are here
substantives, since they have a plural meaning and refuse the plural form?
A word "_written as a substantive_," unquestionably _is_ a substantive; but
neither of these is here entitled to that name. Yet Smith, and other
satellites of Murray, endorse his doctrine; and say, that _good_ and _bad_
in this example, and all adjectives similarly circumstanced, "may be
considered _nouns_ in parsing."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 52. "An adjective
with the definite article before it, becomes a _noun_, (of the third
person, plural number,) and _must be parsed_ as such."--_R. G. Greene's
Grammatical Text-Book_, p. 55.

[169] Here the word _English_ appears to be used substantively, not by
reason of the article, but rather because _it has no article_; for, when
the definite article is used before such a word taken in the singular
number, it seems to show that the noun _language_ is understood. And it is
remarkable, that before the names or epithets by which we distinguish the
languages, this article may, in many instances, be either used or not used,
repeated or not repeated, without any apparent impropriety: as, "This is
the case with _the_ Hebrew, French, Italian, and Spanish."--_Murray's
Gram._, i, p. 38. Better, perhaps: "This is the case with _the_ Hebrew,
_the_ French, _the_ Italian, and _the_ Spanish." But we may say: "This is
the case with Hebrew, French, Italian, and Spanish." In the first of these
forms, there appears to be an ellipsis of the plural noun _languages_, at
the end of the sentence; in the second, an ellipsis of the singular noun
_language_, after each of the national epithets; in the last, no ellipsis,
but rather a substantive use of the words in question.

[170] The Doctor may, for aught I know, have taken his notion of this
"_noun_," from the language "of Dugald Dalgetty, boasting of his '5000
_Irishes_' in the prison of Argyle." See _Letter of Wendell Phillips, in
the Liberator_, Vol. xi, p. 211.

[171] Lindley Murray, or some ignorant printer of his octavo Grammar, has
omitted this _s_; and thereby spoiled the prosody, if not the sense, of the
line:

   "Of Sericana, where _Chinese_ drive," &c.
        --_Fourth American Ed._, p. 345.

If there was a design to correct the error of Milton's word, something
should have been inserted. The common phrase, "_the Chinese_," would give
the sense, and the right number of syllables, but not the right accent. It
would be sufficiently analogous with our mode of forming the words,
_Englishmen, Frenchmen, Scotchmen, Dutchmen_, and _Irishmen_, and perhaps
not unpoetical, to say:

   "Of Sericana, where _Chinese-men_ drive,
    With sails and wind, their cany _wagons_ light."

[172] The last six words are perhaps more frequently pronouns; and some
writers will have well-nigh all the rest to be pronouns also. "In like
manner, in _the_ English, there have been _rescued_ from the adjectives,
and classed with the pronouns, any, aught, each, every, many, none, one,
other, some, such, that, those, this, these; and by other writers, all,
another, both, either, few, first, last, neither, and several."--_Wilson's
Essay on Gram._, p. 106. Had the author said _wrested_, in stead of
"_rescued_," he would have taught a much better doctrine. These words are
what Dr. Lowth correctly called "_Pronominal Adjectives_."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 24. This class of adjectives includes most of the words which
Murray, Lennie, Bullions, Kirkham, and others, so absurdly denominate
"_Adjective Pronouns_." Their "Distributive Adjective Pronouns, _each,
every, either, neither_;" their "Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns, _this,
that, these, those_;" and their "Indefinite Adjective Pronouns, _some,
other, any, one, all, such_, &c.," are every one of them here; for they all
are _Adjectives_, and not _Pronouns_. And it is obvious, that the
corresponding words in Latin, Greek, or French, are adjectives likewise,
and are, for the most part, so called; so that, from General Grammar, or
"the usages of other languages," arises an argument for ranking them as
adjectives, rather than as pronouns. But the learned Dr. Bullions, after
improperly assuming that every adjective must "express _the quality of a
noun_," and thence arguing that no such definitives can rightly be called
_adjectives_, most absurdly suggests, that "_other languages_," or "_the
usages of_ other languages," generally assign to these _English words_ the
place of _substitutes_! But so remarkable for self-contradiction, as well
as other errors, is this gentleman's short note upon the classification of
these words, that I shall present the whole of it for the reader's
consideration.

"NOTE. The distributives, demonstratives, and indefinites, cannot strictly
be called _pronouns_; since they never stand _instead_ of nouns, but always
_agree_ with _a noun_ expressed or understood: _Neither can they be
properly_ called _adjectives_, since they never express _the quality of a
noun_. They are here classed _with pronouns_, in accordance with _the
usages of other languages_, which _generally assign them this place_. All
these, together with the _possessives_, in parsing, may _with sufficient
propriety_ be termed _adjectives_, being _uniformly regarded as such_ in
syntax."--_Bullions's Principles of English Gram._, p. 27. (See also his
_Appendix_ III, E. Gram., p. 199.)

What a sample of grammatical instruction is here! The pronominal adjectives
"cannot properly _be called adjectives_," but "they may with sufficient
propriety be _termed adjectives_!" And so may "_the possessives_," or _the
personal pronouns in the possessive case_! "Here," i.e., in _Etymology_,
they are all "_classed with pronouns_;" but, "in _Syntax_," they are
"uniformly _regarded as adjectives_!" Precious MODEL for the "Series of
Grammars, English, Latin, and Greek, all on THE SAME PLAN!"

[173] _Some_, for _somewhat_, or _in some degree_, appears to me a
vulgarism; as, "This pause is generally _some_ longer than that of a
period."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 271. The word _what_ seems to have been
used adverbially in several different senses; in none of which is it much
to be commended: as, "Though I forbear, _what_ am I eased?"--_Job_, xvi, 6.
"_What_ advantageth it me?"--_1 Cor._, xv, 32. Here _what_, means _in what
degree? how much?_ or _wherein?_ "For _what_ knowest thou, O wife, whether
thou shalt save thy husband?"--_1 Cor._, vii, 16. Here _how_ would have
been better. "The enemy, having his country wasted, _what_ by himself and
_what_ by the soldiers, findeth succour in no place."--_Spenser_. Here
_what_ means _partly_;--"wasted _partly_ by himself and _partly_ by the
soldiers." This use of _what_ was formerly very common, but is now, I
think, obsolete. _What_ before an adjective seems sometimes to denote with
admiration the degree of the quality; and is called, by some, an adverb;
as, "_What partial_ judges are our love and hate!"--_Dryden_. But here I
take _what_ to be an _adjective_; as when we say, _such_ partial judges,
_some_ partial judges, &c. "_What_ need I be forward with Death, that calls
not on me?"--_Shakspeare_. Here _what_ seems to be improperly put in place
of _why_.

[174] Dr. Blair, in his Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres, often uses
the phrase "_this much_;" but it is, I think, more common to say "_thus
much_," even when the term is used substantively.

[175] There seems to be no good reason for joining _an_ and _other_: on the
contrary, the phrase _an other_ is always as properly two words, as the
phrase _the other_, and more so. The latter, being long ago vulgarly
contracted into _t'other_, probably gave rise to the apparent contraction
_another_; which many people nowadays are ignorant enough to divide wrong,
and mispronounce. See _"a-no-ther"_ in _Murray's Spelling-Book_, p. 71; and
_"a-noth-er"_ in _Emerson's_, p. 76. _An_ here excludes any other article;
and both analogy and consistency require that the words be separated. Their
union, like that of the words _the_ and _other_, has led sometimes to an
improper repetition of the article: as, "_Another_ such _a_ man," for, "An
other such man."--"Bind my hair up. An 'twas yesterday? No, nor _the
t'other_ day."--BEN JONSON: _in Joh. Dict._ "He can not tell when he should
take _the tone_, and when _the tother_."--SIR T. MOORE: Tooke's D. P., Vol.
15, p. 448. That is--"when he should take _the one_ and when _the other_."
Besides, the word _other_ is declined, like a noun, and has the plural
_others_; but the compounding of _another_ constrains our grammarians to
say, that this word "has no plural." All these difficulties will be removed
by writing _an other_ as two words. The printers chiefly rule this matter.
To them, therefore, I refer it; with directions, not to unite these words
for me, except where it has been done in the manuscript, for the sake of
exactness in quotation.--G. BROWN.

[176] This is a misapplication of the word _between_, which cannot have
reference to more than two things or parties: the term should have been
_among_.--G. BROWN.

[177] I suppose that, in a comparison of _two_, any of the degrees may be
accurately employed. The common usage is, to construe the positive with
_as_, the comparative with _than_, and the superlative with _of_. But here
custom allows us also to use the comparative with _of_, after the manner of
the superlative; as, "This is _the better of_ the two." It was but an odd
whim of some old pedant, to find in this a reason for declaring it
ungrammatical to say "This is _the best of_ the two." In one grammar, I
find the former construction _condemned_, and the latter approved, thus:
"This is the better book of the two. Not correct, because the comparative
state of the adjective, (_better_,) can not correspond with the
preposition, _of_. The definite article, _the_, is likewise improperly
applied to the comparative state; the sentence should stand thus, This is
the _best_ book of the two."--_Chandler's Gram._, Ed. of 1821, p. 130; Ed.
of 1847, p. 151.

[178] This example appears to have been borrowed from Campbell; who,
however, teaches a different doctrine from Murray, and clearly sustains my
position; "Both degrees are in such cases used _indiscriminately_. We say
_rightly_, either 'This is the weaker of the two,' or--'the weakest of the
two.'"--_Philosophy of Rhetoric_, p. 202. How positively do some other men
contradict this! "In comparing _two_ persons or things, by means of an
adjective, care must be taken, that the superlative state be not employed:
We properly say, 'John is the _taller_ of the two;' but we _should not
say_, 'John is the _tallest_ of the two.' The reason is plain: we compare
but _two_ persons, and must _therefore_ use the comparative
state."--_Wright's Philosophical Gram._, p. 143. Rev. Matt. Harrison, too,
insists on it, that the superlative must "have reference to more than two,"
and censures _Dr. Johnson_ for not observing the rule. See _Harrison's
English Language_, p. 255.

[179] L. Murray copied this passage literally, (though anonymously,) as far
as the colon; and of course his book teaches us to account "_the
termination ish_, in some sort, _a degree of comparison_."--_Octavo Gram._,
p. 47. But what is more absurd, than to think of accounting this, or any
other suffix, "_a degree of comparison?_" The inaccuracy of the language is
a sufficient proof of the haste with which Johnson adopted this notion, and
of the blindness with which he has been followed. The passage is now found
in most of our English grammars. Sanborn expresses the doctrine thus:
"Adjectives terminating with _ish_, denote a degree of comparison less than
the positive; as, _saltish, whitish, blackish_."--_Analytical Gram._, p.
87. But who does not know, that most adjectives of this ending are derived
from _nouns_, and are compared only by adverbs, as _childish, foolish_, and
so forth? Wilcox says, "Words ending in _ish_, generally express a slight
degree; as, _reddish, bookish_."--_Practical Gram._, p. 17. But who will
suppose that _foolish_ denotes but a slight degree of folly, or _bookish_
but a slight fondness for books? And, with such an interpretation, what
must be the meaning of _more bookish_ or _most foolish_?

[180] "'A rodde shall come _furth_ of the stocke of Jesse.' _Primer, Hen.
VIII_."--_Craven Glossary_.

[181] _Midst_ is a contraction of the regular superlative _middest_, used
by Spenser, but now obsolete. _Midst_, also, seems to be obsolete as an
adjective, though still frequently used as a noun; as, "In the
_midst_."--_Webster_. It is often a poetic contraction for the preposition
_amidst_. In some cases it appears to be an adverb. In the following
example it is equivalent to _middlemost_, and therefore an adjective:
"Still greatest he _the midst_, Now dragon grown."--_Paradise Lost_, B. x,
l. 528.

[182] What I here say, accords with the teaching of all our lexicographers
and grammarians, except one dauntless critic, who has taken particular
pains to put me, and some three or four others, on the defensive. This
gentleman not only supposes _less_ and _fewer, least_ and _fewest_, to be
sometimes equivalent in meaning, but actually exhibits them as being also
etymologically of the same stock. _Less_ and _least_, however, he refers to
three different positives, and _more_ and _most_, to four. And since, in
once instance, he traces _less_ and _more, least_ and _most_, to the same
primitive word, it follows of course, if he is right, that _more_ is there
equivalent to _less_ and _most_ is equivalent to _least_! The following is
a copy of this remarkable "DECLENSION ON INDEFINITE SPECIFYING ADNAMES,"
and just one half of the table is wrong: "_Some, more, most; Some, less,
least_; Little, less, least; Few, fewer _or less_, fewest _or least;
Several, more, most_; Much, more, most; Many, more most."--_Oliver B
Peirce's Gram._, p. 144.

[183] Murray himself had the same false notion concerning six of these
adjectives, and perhaps all the rest; for his indefinite _andsoforths_ may
embrace just what the reader pleases to imagine. Let the following
paragraph be compared with the observations and proofs which I shall offer:
"Adjectives that have in themselves a superlative signification, do not
properly admit of the superlative or [the] comparative form superadded:
such as, 'Chief, extreme, perfect, right, universal, supreme,' &c.; which
are sometimes improperly written, 'Chiefest, extremest, perfectest,
rightest, most universal, most supreme,' &c. The following expressions are
therefore improper. 'He sometimes claims admission to the _chiefest_
offices;' 'The quarrel became _so universal_ and national;' 'A method of
attaining the _rightest_ and greatest happiness.' The phrases, so perfect,
so right, so extreme, so universal, &c., are incorrect; because they imply
that one thing is less perfect, less extreme, &c. than another, which is
not possible."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, Vol. i, p. 167. For himself, a man
may do as he pleases about comparing these adjectives; but whoever corrects
others, on such principles as the foregoing, will have work enough on his
hands. But the writer who seems to exceed all others, in error on this
point, is _Joseph W. Wright_. In his "Philosophical Grammar," p. 51st, this
author gives a list of seventy-two adjectives, which, he says, "admit of
_no variation of state_;" i. e., are not compared. Among them are _round,
flat, wet, dry, clear, pure, odd, free, plain, fair, chaste, blind_, and
more than forty others, which are compared about as often as any words in
the language. Dr. Blair is hypercritically censured by him, for saying
"_most excellent_," "_more false_," "the _chastest_ kind," "_more perfect_"
"_fuller, more full, fullest, most full, truest_ and _most true_;" Murray,
for using "_quite wrong_;" and Cobbett, for the phrase, "_perfect
correctness_." "Correctness," says the critic, "does not admit of _degrees
of perfection_."--_Ib._, pp. 143 and 151. But what does such a thinker know
about correctness? If this excellent quality cannot be _perfect_, surely
nothing can. The words which Dr. Bullions thinks it "improper to compare,"
because he judges them to have "an absolute or superlative signification,"
are "_true, perfect, universal, chief, extreme, supreme_, &c."--no body
knows how many. See _Principles of E. Gram._, p. 19 and p. 115.

[184] The regular comparison of this word, (_like, liker, likest_,) seems
to be obsolete, or nearly so. It is seldom met with, except in old books:
yet we say, _more like_, or _most like, less like_, or _least like_. "To
say the flock with whom he is, is _likest_ to Christ."--_Barclay's Works_,
Vol. i, p. 180. "Of Godlike pow'r? for _likest_ Gods they
seem'd."--_Milton, P. L._ B. vi, l. 301.

[185] This example, and several others that follow it, are no ordinary
solecisms; they are downright Irish bulls, making actions or relations
reciprocal, where reciprocity is _utterly_ unimaginable. Two words can no
more be "_derived from each other_," than two living creatures can have
received their existence from each other. So, two things can never
"_succeed each other_," except they alternate or move in a circle; and a
greater number in train can "_follow one an other_" only in some imperfect
sense, not at all reciprocal. In some instances, therefore, the best form
of correction will be, to reject the reciprocal terms altogether--G. BROWN.

[186] This doctrine of punctuation, if not absolutely false in itself, is
here very badly taught. When _only two words_, of any sort, occur in the
same construction, they seldom require the comma; and never can they need
_more than one_, whereas these grammarians, by their plural word
"_commas_," suggest a constant demand for two or more.--G. BROWN.

[187] Some grammarians exclude the word _it_ from the list of personal
pronouns, because it does not convey the idea of that personality which
consists in _individual intelligence_. On the other hand, they will have
_who_ to be a personal pronoun, because it is literally applied to _persons
only_, or intelligent beings. But I judge them to be wrong in respect to
both; and, had they given _definitions_ of their several classes of
pronouns, they might perhaps have found out that the word _it_ is always
personal, in a grammatical sense, and _who_, either relative or
interrogative.

[188] "_Whoso_ and _whatso_ are found in old authors, but are now out of
use."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 76. These antiquated words are equivalent in
import to _whosoever_ and _whatsoever_. The former, _whoso_, being used
many times in the Bible, and occasionally also by the poets, as by Cowper,
Whittier, and others, can hardly be said to be obsolete; though Wells, like
Churchill, pronounced it so, in his first edition.

[189] "'The man is prudent which speaks little.' This sentence is
incorrect, because _which_ is a pronoun of the neuter gender."--_Murray's
Exercises_, p. 18. "_Which_ is also a relative, but it is of [the] neuter
gender. It is also interrogative."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 26. For
oversights like these, I cannot account. The relative _which_ is of all the
genders, as every body ought to know, who has ever heard of the _horse
which_ Alexander rode, of the _ass which_ spoke to Balaam, or of any of the
_animals_ and _things_ which Noah had with him in the ark.

[190] The word _which_ also, when taken in its _discriminative_ sense (i.e.
to distinguish some persons or things from others) may have a construction
of this sort; and, by ellipsis of the noun after it, it may likewise bear a
resemblance to the double relative _what_: as, "I shall now give you two
passages; and request you to point out _which_ words are mono-syllables,
_which_ dis-syllables, _which_ tris-syllables, and _which_
poly-syllables."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 16. Here, indeed, the word _what_
might be substituted for _which_; because that also has a discriminative
sense. Either would be right; but the author might have presented the same
words and thoughts rather more accurately, thus: "I shall now give you two
passages; and request you to point out which words are monosyllables;
which, dissyllables; which, trissyllables; and which, polysyllables."

[191] The relative _what_, being equivalent to _that which_, sometimes has
the demonstrative word _that_ set after it, by way of pleonasm; as, "_What_
I tell you in darkness, _that_ speak ye in light, and _what_ ye hear in the
ear, _that_ preach ye upon the house-tops."--_Matt._, x, 27. In _Covell's
Digest_, this text is presented as "_false syntax_," under the new and
needless rule, "Double relatives always supply two cases."--_Digest of E.
Gram._, p. 143. In my opinion, to strike out the word _that_, would greatly
weaken the expression: and so thought our translators; for no equivalent
term is used in the original.

[192] As for Butler's method of parsing these words by _always recognizing
a noun as being_ "UNDERSTOOD" _before them_,--a method by which, according
to his publishers notice, "The ordinary unphilosophical explanation of this
class of words is discarded, and a simple, intelligible, common-sense view
of the matter now _for the first time_ substituted,"--I know not what
novelty there is in it, that is not also just so much _error_. "Compare,"
says he, "these two sentences: 'I saw _whom_ I wanted to see;' 'I saw what
I wanted to see. If _what_ in the latter is equivalent to _that which_ or
_the thing which, whom_, in the former is equivalent to _him whom_, or _the
person whom_."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. 51. The former example being
simply elliptical of the antecedent, he judges the latter to be so too; and
infers, "that _what_ is nothing more than a relative pronoun, and includes
nothing else."--_Ib._ This conclusion is not well drawn, because the two
examples are _not analogous_; and whoever thus finds "that _what_ is
nothing more than a relative," ought also to find it is something less,--a
mere adjective. "I saw _the person whom_ I wanted to see," is a sentence
that _can scarcely spare_ the antecedent and retain the sense; "I saw
_what_ I wanted to see," is one which _cannot receive_ an antecedent,
without changing both the sense and the construction. One may say, "I saw
what _things_ I wanted to see;" but this, in stead of giving _what_ an
_antecedent_, makes it an _adjective_, while it _retains the force of a
relative_. Or he _may insert_ a noun before _what_, agreeably to the
solution of Butler; as, "I saw _the things_, what I wanted to see:" or, if
he please, both before and after; as, "I saw _the things_, what _things_ I
wanted to see." But still, in either case, _what_ is no "simple relative;"
for it here seems equivalent to the phrase, _so many as_. Or, again, he may
omit the comma, and say, "I saw _the thing_ what I wanted to see;" but
this, if it be not a vulgarism, will only mean, "I saw _the thing to be_
what I wanted to see." So that this method of parsing the pronoun what, is
manifestly no improvement, but rather a perversion and misinterpretation.

But, for further proof of his position, Butler adduces instances of what he
calls "_the relative_ THAT _with the antecedent omitted_. A few examples of
this," he says, "will help us to ascertain the nature of _what_. 'We speak
_that_ we do know,' _Bible_. [_John_, iii, 11.] 'I am _that_ I am.'
_Bible_. [_Exod._, iii, 14.] 'Eschewe _that_ wicked is.' _Gower_. 'Is it
possible he should know what he is, and be _that_ he is?' Shakespeare.
'Gather the sequel by _that_ went before.' _Id._ In these examples,"
continues he, "_that_ is a relative; and is _exactly synonymous_ with
_what_. No one would contend that _that_ stands for itself and its
antecedent at the same time. The antecedent is omitted, _because it is
indefinite_, OR EASILY SUPPLIED."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. 52;
_Bullions's Analytical and Practical Gram._, p. 233. Converted at his
wisest age, by these false arguments, so as to renounce and gainsay the
doctrine taught almost universally, and hitherto spread industriously by
himself, in the words of Lennie, that, "_What_ is a compound relative,
including both the relative and the antecedent," Dr. Bullions now most
absurdly urges, that, "The truth is, _what_ is a _simple_ relative, having,
wherever used, _like all other relatives_, BUT ONE CASE; but * * * that it
always refers to a _general antecedent, omitted_, BUT EASILY SUPPLIED _by
the mind_," though "_not_ UNDERSTOOD, _in the ordinary sense_ of that
expression."--_Analyt. and Pract. Gram._ of 1849, p. 51. Accordingly,
though he differs from Butler about this matter of "_the ordinary sense_,"
he cites the foregoing suggestions of this author, with the following
compliment: "These remarks appear to me _just_, and _conclusive on this
point_."--_Ib._, p. 233. But there must, I think, be many to whon they will
appear far otherwise. These elliptical uses of _that_ are all of them bad
or questionable English; because, the ellipsis being such as may be
supplied in two or three different ways, the true construction is doubtful,
the true meaning not exactly determined by the words. It is quite as easy
and natural to take "_that_" to be here a demonstrative term, having the
relative _which_ understood after it, as to suppose it "a relative," with
an antecedent to be supplied before it. Since there would not be the same
uncertainty, if _what_ were in these cases substituted for _that_, it is
evident that the terms are _not_ "_exactly synonymous_;" but, even if they
were so, exact synonymy would not evince a sameness of construction.

[193] See this erroneous doctrine in Kirkham's Grammar, p. 112; in Wells's,
p. 74; in Sanborn's, p. 71, p. 96, and p. 177; in Cooper's, p. 38; in O. B.
Peirce's, p. 70. These writers show a great fondness for this complex mode
of parsing. But, in fact, no pronoun, not even the word _what_, has any
double construction of cases from a real or absolute necessity; but merely
because, the noun being suppressed, yet having a representative, we choose
rather to understand and parse its representative doubly, than to supply
the ellipsis. No pronoun includes "both the antecedent and the relative,"
by virtue of its own _composition_, or of its own derivation, as a word. No
pronoun can properly be called "_compound_" merely because it has a double
construction, and is equivalent to two other words. These positions, if
true, as I am sure they are, will refute sundry assertions that are
contained in the above-named grammars.

[194] Here the demonstrative word _that_, as well as the phrase _that
matter_, which I form to explain its construction, unquestionably refers
back to Judas's confession, that he had sinned; but still, as the word has
not the connecting power of a relative pronoun, its true character is
_that_ of an adjective, and not _that_ of a pronoun. This pronominal
adjective is very often mixed with some such ellipsis, and _that_ to repeat
the import of various kinds of words and phrases: as, "God shall help her,
and _that_ right early."--_Psal._, xlvi, 5. "Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud,
and _that_ your brethren."--l Cor., vi, 8. "I'll know your business, _that_
I will."--_Shakespeare._

[195] Dr. Bullions has undertaken to prove, "That the word AS should not be
considered a relative in any circumstances." The force of his five great
arguments to this end, the reader may well conceive of, when he has
compared the following one with what is shown in the 22d and 23d
observations above: "3. As _can never be used as a substitute for another
relative pronoun, nor another relative pronoun as a substitute for it_. If,
then, it is a relative pronoun, it is, to say the least, a very
unaccommodating one."--_Bullions's Analytical and Practical Gram. of_ 1849,
p. 233.

[196] The latter part of this awkward and complex rule was copied from
Lowth's Grammar, p. 101. Dr. Ash's rule is, "_Pronouns_ must _always agree_
with the _nouns_ for which they _stand_, or to which they _refer_, in
_Number, person_, and _gender_."--_Grammatical Institutes_, p. 54. I quote
this _exactly as it stands_ in the book: the Italics are his, not mine.
Roswell C. Smith appears to be ignorant of the change which Murray made in
his fifth rule: for he still publishes as Murray's a principle of concord
which the latter rejected as early as 1806: "RULE V. Corresponding with
Murray's Grammar, RULE V. _Pronouns must agree with the nouns for which
they stand, in gender, number_, AND PERSON."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 130.
So _Allen Fisk_, in his "Murray's English Grammar Simplified," p. 111;
_Aaron M. Merchant_, in his "_Abridgment_ of Murray's English Grammar,
Revised, _Enlarged_ and Improved," p. 79; and the _Rev. J. G. Cooper_, in
his "Abridgment of Murray's English Grammar," p. 113; where, from the
titles, every reader would expect to find the latest doctrines of Murray,
and not what he had so long ago renounced or changed.

[197] L. Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 51; 12mo, 51; 18mo, 22; D. Adams's, 37;
Alger's, 21; Bacon's, 19; Fisk's, 20; Kirkham's, 17; Merchant's Murray, 35;
Merchant's American Gram., 40; F. H. Miller's Gram., 26; Pond's, 28; S.
Putnam's, 22; Russell's, 16; Rev. T. Smith's, 22.

[198] Dr. Crombie, and some others, represent I and thou, with their
inflections, as being "masculine and feminine." Lennie, M'Culloch, and
others, represent them as being "masculine or feminine." But, if either of
them can have an antecedent that is _neuter_, neither of these views is
strictly correct. (See Obs. 5th, above.) Mackintosh says, "We use _our,
your, their_, in speaking of a thing or things belonging to plural nouns of
any gender."--_Essay on English Gram._, p. 149. So William Barnes says,
"_I, thou, we, ye_ or _you_, and _they_, are of _all_ genders,"--
_Philosophical Gram._, p. 196.

[199] "It is perfectly plain, then, that _my_ and _mine_ are but different
forms of the same word, as are _a_ and _an_. _Mine_, for the sake of
euphony, or from custom, stands for the possessive case without a noun; but
must be changed for _my_ when the noun is expressed: and _my_, for a
similar reason, stands before a noun, but must be changed for _mine_ when
the noun is dropped. * * * _Mine_ and _my, thine_ and _thy_, will,
therefore, be considered in this book, as different forms of the possessive
case from _I_ and _Thou_. And the same rule will be extended to _her_ and
_hers, our_ and _ours, your_ and _yours, their_ and _theirs_."--_Barnard's
Analytic Grammar_, p. 142.

[200] It has long been fashionable, in the ordinary intercourse of the
world, to substitute the plural form of this pronoun for the singular
through all the cases. Thus, by the figure ENALLAGE, "_you are_," for
instance, is commonly put for "_thou art_." See Observations 20th and 21st,
below; also Figures of Syntax, in Part IV.

[201] The original nominative was _ye_, which is still the only nominative
of the solemn style; and the original objective was _you_, which is still
the only objective that our grammarians in general acknowledge. But,
whether grammatical or not, _ye_ is now very often used, in a familiar way,
for the objective case. (See Observations 22d and 23d, upon the declensions
of pronouns.) T. Dilworth gave both cases alike: "_Nom_. Ye _or_ you;"
"_Acc._ [or _Obj._] Ye _or_ you."--His _New Guide_, p. 98. Latham gives
these forms: "_Nom._ ye _or_ you; _Obj._ you or ye."--_Elementary Gram._,
p. 90. Dr. Campbell says, "I am inclined to prefer that use which makes
_ye_ invariably the nominative plural of the personal pronoun _thou_, and
_you_ the accusative, when applied to an actual plurality."--_Philosophy of
Rhetoric_, p. 174. Professor Fowler touches the case, rather blindly, thus:
"Instead of the true nominative YE, we use, with few exceptions, _the
objective case_; as, 'YOU _speak_;' 'YOU _two are speaking_.' In this we
_substitute_ one case _for_ another."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850,
§478. No other grammarian, however, discards _you_ as a nominative of
"actual plurality;" and the present casual practice of putting _ye_ in the
objective, has prevailed to some extent for at least two centuries: as,

   "Your change approaches, when all these delights
    Will vanish and deliver _ye_ to woe."
        --_Milton_, P. L., B. iv, l. 367.

[202] Dr. Young has, in one instance, and with very doubtful propriety,
converted this pronoun into the _second person_, by addressing himself
thus:--

   "O _thou, myself I_ abroad our counsels roam
    And, like ill husbands, take no care at home."
        --_Love of Fame_, Sat. II, l. 271.

[203] The fashion of using the plural number for the singular, or _you_ for
_thou_, has also substituted _yourself_ for _thyself_, in common discourse.
In poetry, in prayer, in Scripture, and in the familiar language of the
Friends, the original compound is still retained; but the poets use either
term, according to the gravity or the lightness of their style. But
_yourself_, like the regal compound _ourself_, though apparently of the
singular number, and always applied to one person only, is, in its very
nature, an anomalous and ungrammatical word; for it can neither mean more
than one, nor agree with a pronoun or a verb that is singular. Swift indeed
wrote: "Conversation is but carving; carve for all, _yourself is
starving_." But he wrote erroneously, and his meaning is doubtful: probably
he meant, "To carve for all, is, _to starve yourself_." The compound
personals, when they are nominatives before the verb, are commonly
associated with the simple; as, "I _myself_ also _am_ a man."--_Acts_, x,
16. "That _thou thyself art_ a guide."--_Rom._, ii, 19. "If it stand, as
_you yourself_ still _do_"--_Shakspeare_. "That _you yourself_ are much
condemned."--_Id._ And, if the simple pronoun be omitted, the compound
still requires the same form of the verb; as, "Which way I fly is Hell;
_myself am_ Hell."--_Milton_. The following example is different: "I love
mankind; and in a monarchy myself _is_ all that I _can_ love."--_Life of
Schiller, Follen's Pref._, p. x. Dr. Follen objects to the British version,
"Myself _were_ all that I _could_ love;" and, if his own is good English,
the verb _is_ agrees with _all_, and not with _myself_. _Is_ is of the
third person: hence, "_myself is_" or, "_yourself is_," cannot be good
syntax; nor does any one say, "_yourself art_," or, "_ourself am_," but
rather, "_yourself are_:" as, "Captain, _yourself are_ the
fittest."--_Dryden_. But to call this a "_concord_," is to turn a third
part of the language upsidedown; because, by analogy, it confounds, to such
extent at least, the plural number with the singular through all our verbs;
that is, if _ourself_ and _yourself_ are singulars, and not rather plurals
put for singulars by a figure of syntax. But the words are, in some few
instances, written separately; and then both the meaning and the
construction are different; as, "Your _self_ is sacred, profane _it_
not."--_The Dial_, Vol. i, p. 86. Perhaps the word _myself_ above ought
rather to have been two words; thus, "And, in a monarchy, _my self is all_
that I can love." The two words here differ in person and case, perhaps
also in gender; and, in the preceding instance, they differ in person,
number, gender, and case. But the compound always follows the person,
number, and gender of its first part, and only the case of its last. The
notion of some grammarians, (to wit, of Wells, and the sixty-eight others
whom he cites for it,) that _you_ and _your_ are actually made singular by
usage, is demonstrably untrue. Do _we, our_, and _us_, become actually
singular, as often as a king or a critic applies them to himself? No: for
nothing can be worse syntax than, _we am, we was_, or _you was_, though
some contend for this last construction.

[204] _Whose_ is sometimes used as the possessive case of _which_; as, "A
religion _whose_ origin is divine."--_Blair_. See Observations 4th and 5th,
on the Classes of Pronouns.

[205] After _but_, as in the following sentence, the double relative _what_
is sometimes applied to persons; and it is here equivalent _to the friend
who_:--

   "Lorenzo, pride repress; nor hope to find
    A friend, but _what_ has found a friend in thee."--_Young_.

[206] Of all these compounds. L. Murray very improperly says, "They are
_seldom used_, in modern style."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 54; also _Fisk's_, p.
65. None of them are yet obsolete, though the shorter forms seem to be now
generally preferred. The following suggestion of Cobbett's is erroneous;
because it implies that the shorter forms are innovations and faults; and
because the author carelessly speaks of them as _one thing only_: "We
_sometimes_ omit the _so_, and say, _whoever, whomever, whatever_, and even
_whosever_. _It is_ a mere _abbreviation_. The _so_ is understood: and, it
is best not to omit to write it."--_Eng. Gram._, ¶ 209. R. C. Smith
dismisses the compound relatives with three lines; and these he closes with
the following notion: "_They are not often used!_"--_New Gram._, p. 61.

[207] Sanborn, with strange ignorance of the history of those words,
teaches thus: "_Mine_ and _thine_ appear to have been formed from _my_ and
_thy_ by changing _y_ into _i_ and adding _n_, and then subjoining _e_ to
retain the long sound of the vowel."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 92. This false
notion, as we learn from his guillemets and a remark in his preface, he
borrowed from "Parkhurst's Systematic Introduction." Dr. Lowth says, "The
Saxon _Ic_ hath the possessive case _Min; Thu_, possessive _Thin; He_,
possessive _His_: From which our possessive cases of the same pronouns are
taken _without alteration_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 23.

[208] Latham, with a singularity quite remarkable, reverses this doctrine
in respect to the two classes, and says, "_My, thy, our, your, her_, and
_their_ signify possession, because they are possessive cases. * * * _Mine,
thine, ours, yours, hers, theirs_, signify possession for a different
reason. They partake of the nature of _adjectives_, and in all the allied
languages are declined as such."--_Latham's Elementary E. Gram._, p. 94.
Weld, like Wells, with a few more whose doctrine will be criticised
by-and-by, adopting here an other odd opinion, takes the former class only
for forms of the possessive case; the latter he disposes of thus: "_Ours,
yours, theirs, hers_, and generally _mine_ and _thine_, are POSSESSIVE
PRONOUNS, used in either the _nominative or objective_ case,"--_Weld's
Gram., Improved Ed._, p. 68. Not only denying the possessives with ellipsis
to be instances of the possessive case, but stupidly mistaking at once two
dissimilar things for a third which is totally unlike to either,--i. e.,
assuming together for _substitution_ both an _ellipsis_ of one word and an
_equivalence_ to two--(as some others more learned have very strangely
done--) he supposes all this class of pronouns to have forsaken every
property of their legitimate roots,--their person, their number, their
gender, their case,--and to have assumed other properties, such as belong
to "the thing possessed!" In the example, "_Your_ house is on the plain,
_ours_ is on the hill," he supposes _ours_ to be of the third person,
singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case; and not, as it plainly
is, of the first person, plural number, masculine gender, and possessive
case. Such parsing should condemn forever any book that teaches it.

[209] This word should have been _numerals_, for two or three reasons. The
author speaks of the _numeral adjectives_; and to say "the _numbers_ must
agree in _number_ with their substantives," is tautological--G. Brown.

[210] Cardell assails the common doctrine of the grammarians on this point,
with similar assertions, and still more earnestness. See his _Essay on
Language_, p. 80. The notion that "these _pretended possessives_ [are]
uniformly used as _nominatives_ or _objectives_"--though demonstrably
absurd, and confessedly repugnant to what is "_usually considered_" to be
their true explanation--was adopted by Jaudon, in 1812; and has recently
found several new advocates; among whom are Davis, Felch, Goodenow, Hazen,
Smart, Weld, and Wells. There is, however, much diversity, as well as much
inaccuracy, in their several expositions of the matter. Smart inserts in
his declensions, as the only forms of the possessive case, the words of
which he afterwards speaks thus: "The following _possessive cases_ of the
personal pronouns, (See page vii,) _must be called_ PERSONAL PRONOUNS
POSSESSIVE: _mine, thine, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs_. For these words
are always used _substantively_, so as to include the meaning of some noun
in the third person singular or plural, in the nominative or the objective
ease. Thus, if _we are speaking_ of books, and say [,] '_Mine_ are here,'
_mine_ means _my books_, [Fist] and it must be deemed a personal pronoun
_possessive_ in the _third_ person _plural_, and _nominative_ to the verb
_are_."--_Smart's Accidence_, p. xxii. If to say, these "_possessive cases_
must be called a _class_ of _pronouns_, used _substantively_, and deemed
_nominatives_ or _objectives_," is not absurd, then nothing can be. Nor is
any thing in grammar more certain, than that the pronoun "_mine_" can only
be used by the speaker or writer, to denote himself or herself as the owner
of something. It is therefore of the _first_ person, _singular_ number,
_masculine_ (or feminine) gender, and _possessive case_; being governed by
the name of the thing or things possessed. This name is, of course, always
_known_; and, if known and not expressed, it is "understood." For sometimes
a word is repeated to the mind, and clearly understood, where "it cannot
properly be" expressed; as, "And he came and sought _fruit_ thereon, and
found _none_."--_Luke_, xiii, 6. Wells opposes this doctrine, citing a
passage from Webster, as above, and also imitating his argument. This
author acknowledges three classes of pronouns--"personal, relative, and
interrogative;" and then, excluding these words from their true place among
personals of the possessive case, absurdly makes them a _supernumerary
class of possessive nominatives_ or _objectives_! "_Mine, thine, his_,
_ours, yours_, and _theirs_, are POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS, used in construction
either as _nominatives_ or _objectives_; as, 'Your pleasures are past,
_mine_ are to come.' Here the word _mine_, which is used as a substitute
for _my pleasures_, is _the subject_ of the verb _are_."--_Wells's School
Gram._, p. 71; 113 Ed., p. 78. Now the question to find the subject of the
verb _are_, is, "My _what_ are to come?" Ans. "_pleasures_." But the author
proceeds to argue in a note thus: "_Mine, thine_, etc. are often parsed as
pronouns in the possessive case, _and governed by nouns understood._ Thus,
in the sentence, 'This book is mine,' the _word mine_ is said to _possess
book_. That the word _book_ is _not here understood_, is obvious from the
fact, that, when it is supplied, the phrase becomes not '_mine_ book,' but
'_my_ book,' the pronoun being changed from _mine_ to _my_; so that we are
made, by this practice, to parse _mine_ as _possessing a word_ understood,
before which it cannot properly be used. The word _mine_ is here evidently
employed as a substitute for the two words, _my_ and _book_."--_Wells,
ibid._ This note appears to me to be, in many respects, faulty. In the
first place, its whole design was, to disprove what is true. For, bating
the mere difference of _person_, the author's example above is equal to
this: "Your pleasures are past, _W. H. Wells's_ are to come." The ellipsis
of "_pleasures_", is evident in both. But _ellipsis_ is not _substitution_;
no, nor is _equivalence. Mine_, when it suggests an ellipsis of the
governing noun, is _equivalent_ to _my and that noun_; but certainly, not
"_a substitute for the two words_." It is a substitute, or pronoun, for the
_name of the speaker or writer_; and so is _my_; both forms representing,
and always agreeing with, that name or person only. No possessive agrees
with what governs it; but every pronoun ought to agree with that for which
it stands. Secondly, if the note above cited does not aver, in its first
sentence, that the pronouns in question _are "governed by nouns
understood_," it comes much nearer to saying this, than a writer should who
meant to deny it. In the third place, the example, "This book is mine," is
not a good one for its purpose. The word "_mine_" may be regularly parsed
as a possessive, without supposing any ellipsis; for "_book_," the name of
the thing possessed, is given, and in obvious connexion with it. And
further, the matter affirmed is _ownership_, requiring _different cases_;
and not the _identity_ of something under different names, which must be
put in the _same case_. In the fourth place, to mistake regimen for
possession, and thence speak of _one word "as possessing" an other_, a mode
of expression occurring twice in the foregoing note, is not only
unscholarlike, but positively absurd. But, possibly, the author may have
meant by it, to ridicule the choice phraseology of the following Rule: "A
noun or pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by _the noun it
possesses_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 181; _Frazee's_, 1844, p. 25.

[211] In respect to the _numbers_, the following text is an uncouth
exception: "Pass _ye_ away, _thou_ inhabitant of Saphir."--_Micah_, i, 11.
The singular and the plural are here strangely confounded. Perhaps the
reading should be, "Pass _thou_ away, _O_ inhabitant of Saphir." Nor is the
Bible free from _abrupt transitions_ from one number to the other, or from
one person to an other, which are neither agreeable nor strictly
grammatical; as, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, _ye which
[who]_ are spiritual, restore such _an [a]_ one in the spirit of meekness;
considering _thyself_, lest _thou_ also be tempted."--_Gal._, vi, 1. "_Ye_
that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come
near; that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch _themselves_ upon _their_
couches," &c--_Amos_, vi, 9.

[212] "The solemn style is used, chiefly, in the Bible and in prayer. The
Society of Friends _retain it in common parlance_. It consists in using
_thou_ in the singular number, and _ye_ in the plural, instead of using
_you_ in both numbers as in the familiar style. * * * The third person
singular [of verbs] ends with _th_ or _eth_, which affects only the present
indicative, and _hath_ of the perfect. The second person, singular, ends
with _st, est_, or _t_ only."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 58. "In [the] solemn
and poetic styles, _mine, thine_, and _thy_, are used; and THIS _is the
style adopted by the Friends' society_. In common discourse it appears very
stiff and affected."--_Bartlett's C. S. Man'l_, Part II, p. 72.

[213] "And of the History of his being _tost_ in a Blanket, _he saith_,
'Here, Scriblerus, _thou lessest_ in what _thou assertest_ concerning the
blanket: it was not a blanket, but a rug.--Curlliad, p. 25."--_Notes to
Pope's Dunciad_, B. ii, verse 3. A vulgar idea solemnly expressed, is
ludicrous. Uttered in familiar terms, it is simply vulgar: as, "_You lie_,
Scriblerus, in what _you say_ about the blanket."

[214] "Notwithstanding these verbal mistakes, the Bible, for the size of
it, is the most accurate grammatical composition that we have in the
English language. The authority of several eminent grammarians might be
adduced in support of this assertion, but it may be sufficient to mention
only that of Dr. Lowth, who says, 'The present translation of the Bible, is
_the best standard_ of the English language.'"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p.
166. I revere the Bible vastly too much to be pleased with an imitation of
its peculiar style, in any man's ordinary speech or writing.--G. BROWN.

[215] "_Ye_, except in the solemn style, is _obsolete_; but it is used in
the language of tragedy, to express contempt: as, 'When _ye_ shall know
what Margaret knows, _ye_ may not be so thankful.' Franklin."--_W. Allen's
Gram._, p. 57. "The second person plural had _formerly_ YE _both in the
nominative and the objective._ This form is _now obsolete in the
objective_, and nearly obsolete in the nominative."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 55.

[216] So has Milton:--

   "To waste it all myself, and leave _ye_ none!
    So disinherited how would _you_ bless me!"--_Par. Lost_, B. x, l. 820.

[217] "The word _what_ is a _compound of two specifying adjectives_, each,
of course, referring to a noun, expressed or understood. It is equivalent
to _the which_; _that which_; _which that_; or _that that_; used also in
the plural. At different periods, and in different authors, it appears in
the varying forms, _tha qua, qua tha, qu'tha, quthat, quhat_, _hwat_, and
_what_. This word is found in other forms; but it is needless to multiply
them."--_Cardell's Essay on Language_, p. 86.

[218] This author's distribution of the pronouns, of which I have taken
some notice in Obs. 10th above, is remarkable for its inconsistencies and
absurdities. First he avers, "Pronouns are _generally_ divided into three
kinds, the _Personal_, the _Adjective_, and the _Relative_ pronouns. _They
are all known by the lists._"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 96. These short
sentences are far from being accurate, clear, or true. He should have made
the several kinds known, by a good definition of each. But this was work to
which he did not find himself adequate. And if we look to his _lists_ for
the particular words of each kind, we shall get little satisfaction. Of the
_Personal_ pronouns, he says, "There are _five_ of them; _I, thou, he_,
_she, it_."--_Ib._, p. 97. These are _simple_ words, and in their
declension they are properly multiplied to forty. (See _Ib._, p. 99.) Next
he seems to double the number, thus: "When _self_ is added to the personal
pronouns, as himself, myself, itself, themselves, &c. _they_ are called
_Compound Personal Pronouns_."--_Ib._, p. 99. Then he asserts that _mine_,
_thine, his, hers, ours, yours_, and _theirs_, are compounds of _ne_ or _s_
with _mi, thi, hi_, &c.: that their application invariably "gives them a
compound character:" and that, "They may, therefore, be properly
denominated _Compound Personal Pronouns_."--_Ib._, p. 101. Next he comes to
his _Adjective_ pronouns; and, after proving that he has grossly misplaced
and misnamed every one of them, he gives his lists of the three kinds of
these. His _Relative_ pronouns are _who, which_, and _that_. "_What_ is
generally a _compound_ relative."--_Ib._, p. 111. The compounds of _who,
which, and_ _what_, with _ever_ or _soever_, he calls "compound _pronouns_,
but not compound relatives."--_Ib._, pp. 110 and 112. Lastly he discovers,
that, "Truth and simplicity" have been shamefully neglected in this his
third section of pronouns; that, "Of the words called '_relatives_,' _who_
only is a pronoun, and this is strictly _personal_;" that, "It ought to be
classed with the personal pronouns;" and that, "_Which, that_, and _what_,
are always adjectives. They _never stand for_, but always _belong to_
nouns, either expressed or implied."--_Ib._, p. 114. What admirable
teachings are these!

[219] "It is now proper to give some _examples of the manner_ in which the
learners should be exercised, in order to improve their knowledge, and to
render it familiar to them. This is called _parsing_. The nature of the
subject, as well as the adaptation of it to learners, requires _that it
should be divided_ into two parts: viz. parsing, as it respects etymology
alone; and parsing, as it respects both etymology and syntax."--_Murray's
Gram., Octavo_, Vol. 1, p. 225. How very little real respect for the
opinions of Murray, has been entertained by these self-seeking magnifiers
and modifiers of his work!

What Murray calls "_Syntactical Parsing_" is sometimes called
"_Construing_," especially by those who will have _Parsing_ to be nothing
more than an etymological exercise. A late author says, "The practice of
_Construing_ differs from that of parsing, in the extension of its objects.
Parsing merely indicates the parts of speech and their accidents, but
construing searches for and points out their syntactical relations."--_D.
Blair's Gram._, p. 49.

Here the distinction which Murray judged to be necessary, is still more
strongly marked and insisted on. And though I see no utility in restricting
the word _Parsing_ to a mere description of the parts of speech with their
accidents, and no impropriety in calling the latter branch of the exercise
"_Syntactical Parsing_;" I cannot but think there is such a necessity for
the division, as forms a very grave argument against those tangled schemes
of grammar which do not admit of it. Blair is grossly inconsistent with
himself. For, after drawing his distinction between Parsing and Construing,
as above, he takes no further notice of the latter; but, having filled up
seven pages with his most wretched mode of "PARSING," adds, in an emphatic
note: "_The Teacher should direct the Pupil to_ CONSTRUE, IN THE SAME
MANNER, _any passage from_ MY CLASS-BOOK, _or other Work, at the rate of
three or four lines per day_."--_D. Blair's Gram._, p. 56.


[220] This is a comment upon the following quotation from Milton, where
_Hers_ for _His_ would be a gross barbarism:--

   "Should intermitted vengeance arm again
    _His_ red right hand to plague us."--_Par. Lost_, B. ii, l. 174.

[221] The Imperfect Participle, _when simple_, or when taken as one of the
four principal terms constituting the verb or springing from it, ends
_always_ in _ing_. But, in a subsequent chapter, I include under this name
the first participle of the passive verb; and this, in our language, is
always a compound, and the latter term of it does not end in _ing_: as, "In
all languages, indeed, examples are to be found of adjectives _being
compared_ whose signification admits neither intension nor
remission."--CROMBIE, _on Etym. and Syntax_, p. 106. According to most of
our writers on English grammar, the Present or Imperfect Participle Passive
is _always_ a compound of _being_ and the form of the perfect participle:
as, _being loved, being seen_. But some represent it to have _two_ forms,
one of which is always simple; as, "PERFECT PASSIVE, obeyed _or_ being
obeyed."--_Sanborn's Analytical Gram._, p. 55. "Loved _or_ being
loved."--_Parkhurst's Grammar for Beginners_, p. 11; _Greene's Analysis_,
p. 225. "Loved, or, _being_ loved."--_Clark's Practical Gram._, p. 83. I
here concur with the majority, who in no instance take the participle in
_ed_ or _en_, alone, for the Present or Imperfect.

[222] In the following example, "_he_" and "_she_" are converted into
verbs; as "_thou_" sometimes is, in the writings of Shakspeare, and others:
"Is it not an impulse of selfishness or of a depraved nature to _he_ and
_she_ inanimate objects?"--_Cutler's English Gram._, p. 16. Dr. Bullions,
who has heretofore published several of the worst definitions of the verb
anywhere extant, has now perhaps one of the best: "A VERB is a word used to
express the _act, being_, or _state_ of its subject. "--_Analyt. & Pract.
Gram._, p. 59. Yet it is not very obvious, that "_he_" and "_she_" are here
verbs under this definition. Dr. Mandeville, perceiving that "the usual
definitions of the verb are extremely defective," not long ago helped the
schools to the following: "A verb is a word which describes _the state or
condition_ of a _noun or pronoun_ in relation to _time_,"--_Course of
Reading_, p. 24. Now it is plain, that under this definition too, Cutler's
infinitives, "to _he_ and _she_" cannot be verbs; and, in my opinion, very
small is the number of words that can be. No verb "describes the state or
condition of a _noun or pronoun_," except in some form of _parsing_; nor,
even in this sort of exercise, do I find any verb "which describes the
state or condition" of such a word "_in relation to time_." Hence, I can
make of this definition nothing but nonsense. Against my definition of a
verb, this author urges, that it "excludes neuter verbs, expresses _no
relation_ to subject or time, and uses terms in a vague or contradictory
sense."--_Ib._, p. 25. The first and the last of these three allegations do
not appear to be well founded; and the second, if infinitives are verbs,
indicates an excellence rather than a fault. The definition assumes that
the mind as well as the body may "_act_" or "_be acted upon_." For this
cause, Dr. Mandeville, who cannot conceive that "_to be loved_" is in any
wise "_to be acted upon_," pronounces it "fatally defective!" His argument
is a little web of sophistry, not worth unweaving here. One of the best
scholars cited in the reverend Doctor's book says, "Of mental powers we
have _no conception_, but as certain capacities of _intellectual action_."
And again, he asks, "Who can be conscious of _judgment, memory_, and
_reflection_, and doubt that man was made _to act_!"--EVERETT: _Course of
Reading_, p. 320.

[223] Dr. Johnson says, "English verbs are active, as _I love_; or neuter,
as _I languish_. The neuters are formed like the actives. The passive voice
is formed by joining the participle preterit to the substantive verb, as _I
am loved_." He also observes, "Most verbs signifying _action_ may likewise
signify _condition_ or _habit_, and become _neuters_; as, _I love_, I am in
love; _I strike_, I am now striking."--_Gram. with his Quarto Dict._, p. 7.

[224] The doctrine here referred to, appears in both works in the very same
words: to wit, "English Verbs are either Active, Passive, or Neuter. There
are two sorts of Active Verbs, viz. _active-transitive_ and
_active-intransitive_ Verbs."--_British Gram._, p. 153; _Buchanan's_, 56.
Buchanan was in this case the copyist.

[225] "The distinction between verbs absolutely neuter, as _to sleep_, and
verbs active intransitive, as _to walk_, though _founded_ in NATURE _and_
TRUTH, is of little use in grammar. Indeed it would rather perplex than
assist the learner; for the difference between verbs active and [verbs]
neuter, as transitive and intransitive, is easy and obvious; but the
difference between verbs absolutely neuter and [those which are]
intransitively active is not always clear. But however these latter may
differ in nature, the construction of them both is the same; and grammar is
not so much concerned with their _real_, as with their _grammatical_
properties."--_Lowth's Gram_; p. 30. But are not "TRUTH, NATURE, and
REALITY," worthy to be preferred to any instructions that contradict them?
If they are, the good doctor and his worthy copyist have here made an ill
choice. It is not only for the sake of these properties, that I retain a
distinction which these grammarians, and others above named, reject; but
for the sake of avoiding the untruth, confusion, and absurdity, into which
one must fall by calling all active-intransitive verbs _neuter_. The
distinction of active verbs, as being either transitive or intransitive, is
also necessarily retained. But the suggestion, that this distinction is
more "_easy and obvious_" than the other, is altogether an error. The
really neuter verbs, being very few, occasion little or no difficulty. But
very many active verbs, perhaps a large majority, are sometimes used
intransitively; and of those which our lexicographers record as being
always transitive, not a few are occasionally found without any object,
either expressed or clearly suggested: as, "He _convinces_, but he does not
_elevate nor animate_,"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 242. "The child _imitates_,
and _commits_ to memory; whilst the riper age _digests_, and thinks
independently."--_Dr. Lieber, Lit. Conv._, p. 313. Of examples like these,
three different views maybe taken; and it is _very questionable_ which is
the right one: _First_, that these verbs are here _intransitive_, though
they are not commonly so; _Second_, that they are _transitive_, and have
objects understood; _Third_, that they are used _improperly_, because no
determinate objects are given them. If we assume the second opinion or the
last, the full or the correct expressions may be these: "He convinces _the
judgement_, but he does not elevate _the imagination_, or animate _the
feelings_."--"The child imitates _others_, and commits _words_ to memory;
whilst the riper age digests _facts or truths_, and thinks independently."
These verbs are here transitive, but are they so above? Those grammarians
who, supposing no other distinction important, make of verbs but two
classes, transitive and intransitive, are still as much at variance, and as
much at fault, as others, (and often more so,) when they come to draw the
line of this distinction. To "_require_" an objective, to "_govern_" an
objective, to "_admit_" an objective, and to "_have_" an objective, are
criterions considerably different. Then it is questionable, whether
infinitives, participles, or sentences, must or can have the effect of
objectives. One author says, "If a verb has any objective case _expressed_,
it is transitive: if it has none, it is intransitive. _Verbs which_ appear
transitive in their nature, may frequently be used intransitively."--
_Chandler's Old Gram._, p. 32; his _Common School Gram._, p. 48. An other
says, "A transitive verb _asserts_ action which does or can, terminate on
some object."--_Frazee's Gram._, p. 29. An other avers, "There are two
classes of verbs _perfectly distinct_ from each other, viz: Those which
_do_, and those which _do not_, govern an objective case." And his
definition is, "A _Transitive Verb_ is one which _requires_ an _objective
case_ after it."--_Hart's E. Gram._, p. 63. Both Frazee and Hart reckon the
_passive_ verb _transitive!_ And the latter teaches, that, "_Transitive_
verbs in English, are sometimes used _without an objective case_; as, The
apple _tastes_ sweet!"--_Hart's Gram._, p, 73.

[226] In the hands of some gentlemen, "the Principles of Latin Grammar,"
and "the Principles of English Grammar,"--are equally pliable, or
changeable; and, what is very remarkable, a comparison of different
editions will show, that the fundamental doctrines of a whole "Series of
Grammars, English, Latin, and Greek," may so change in a single lustrum, as
to rest upon authorities altogether different. Dr. Bullions's grammars, a
few years ago, like those of his great oracles, Adam, Murray, and Lennie,
divided verbs into "three kinds, _Active, Passive_, and _Neuter_." Now they
divide them into two only, "_Transitive_ and _Intransitive_;" and absurdly
aver, that "_Verbs in the passive form are really transitive as in the
active form_."--_Prin. of E. Gram._, 1843, p. 200. Now, as if no verb could
be plural, and no transitive act could be future, conditional, in progress,
or left undone, they define thus: "A _Transitive_ verb expresses an _act
done_ by one person or thing to another."--_Ib._, p. 29; _Analyt. and
Pract. Gram._, 60; _Latin Gram._, 77. Now, the division which so lately as
1842 was pronounced by the Doctor to be "more useful than any other," and
advantageously accordant with "most dictionaries of the English language,"
(see his _Fourth Edition_, p. 30,) is wholly rejected from this notable
"_Series_." Now, the "_vexed question_" about "the classification of
verbs," which, at some revision still later, drew from this author whole
pages of weak arguments for his faulty _changes_, is complacently supposed
to have been _well settled_ in his favour! Of this matter, now, in 1849, he
speaks thus: "The division of verbs into transitive and intransitive has
been so generally adopted and approved by the best grammarians, that any
discussion of the subject is now unnecessary."--_Bullions's Analyt. and
Pract. Gram._, p. 59.

[227] This late writer seems to have published his doctrine on this point
as a _novelty_; and several teachers ignorantly received and admired it as
such: I have briefly shown, in the Introduction to this work, how easily
they were deceived. "By this, that Question may be resolv'd, whether every
Verb not Passive governs always an Accusative, at least understood: '_Tis
the Opinion of some very able_ GRAMMARIANS, but for _our_ Parts _we_ don't
think it."--_Grammar published by John Brightland_, 7th Ed., London, 1746,
p. 115.

[228] Upon this point, Richard Johnson cites and criticises Lily's system
thus: "'A Verb Neuter endeth in _o_ or _m_, and cannot take _r_ to make
_him_ a Passive; as, _Curro_, I run; _Sum_, I am.'--_Grammar, Eng_. p. 13.
This Definition, is founded upon the Notion abovementioned, viz. That none
but Transitives are Verbs Active, which is contrary to the reason of
Things, and the common sense of Mankind. And what can shock a Child more,
of any Ingenuity, than to be told, That _Ambuto_ and _Curro_ are Verbs
Neuter; that is, to speak according to the common Apprehensions of Mankind,
that they signifie neither to do, nor suffer."--_Johnson's Grammatical
Commentaries_, 8vo, London, 1706, p. 273.

[229] Murray says, "_Mood_ or _Mode_ is a particular form of the verb,
showing the manner in which the being, action, or passion is
represented."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 63. By many grammarians, the term _Mode_
is preferred to _Mood_; but the latter is, for this use, the more
distinctive, and by far the more common word. In some treatises on grammar,
as well as in books of logic, certain _parts of speech_, as _adjectives_
and _adverbs_, are called _Modes_, because they qualify or modify other
terms. E.g., "Thus all the parts of speech are reducible to four; viz.,
_Names, Verbs, Modes, Connectives_."--_Enclytica, or Universal Gram._, p.
8. "_Modes_ are naturally divided, by their attribution to names or verbs,
into _adnames_ and _adverbs_."--_Ibid._, p. 24. After making this
application of the name _modes_, was it not improper for the learned author
to call the moods also "_modes_?"

[230] "We have, in English, no genuine subjunctive mood, except the
preterimperfect, if I _were_, if thou _wert_, &c. of the verb _to be_. [See
Notes and Observations on the Third Example of Conjugation, in this
chapter.] The phrase termed _the subjunctive mood_, is elliptical; _shall,
may_, &c. being understood: as, 'Though hand (shall) join in hand, the
wicked shall not be unpunished.' 'If it (may) be possible, live peaceably
with all.' Scriptures."--_Rev. W. Allen's Gram._, p. 61. Such expressions
as, "If thou _do love_, If he _do love_," appear to disprove this doctrine.
[See Notes and Remarks on the Subjunctive of the First Example conjugated
below.]

[231] "Mr. Murray has changed his opinion, as often as Laban changed
Jacob's wages. In the edition we print from, we find _shall_ and _will_
used in each person of the _first_ and _second_ future tenses of the
subjunctive, but he now states that in the second future tense, _shalt,
shall_, should be used instead of _wilt, will_. Perhaps this is _the only
improvement_ he has made in his Grammar since 1796."--_Rev. T. Smith's
Edition of Lindley Murray's English Grammar_, p. 67.

[232] Notwithstanding this expression, Murray did not teach, as do many
modern grammarians, that _inflected_ forms of the present tense, such as,
"If he _thinks_ so," "Unless he _deceives_ me," "If thou _lov'st_ me," are
of the subjunctive mood; though, when he rejected his changeless forms of
the other tenses of this mood, he _improperly_ put as many indicatives in
their places. With him, and his numerous followers, the ending determines
the mood in one tense, while the conjunction controls it in the other five!
In his syntax, he argues, "that in cases wherein contingency and futurity
do not occur, it is not proper to turn the verb from its signification of
present time, _nor to vary_ [he means, _or to forbear to change_] its form
or termination. [Fist] _The verb would then be in the indicative mood,
whatever conjunctions might attend it_."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 208:
12mo, p. 167.

[233] Some grammarians--(among whom are Lowth, Dalton, Cobbett, and
Cardell--) recognize only three tenses, or "_times_," of English verbs;
namely, _the present, the past_, and _the future_. A few, like Latham and
Child, denying all the compound tenses to be tenses, acknowledge only the
first two, _the present_ and _the past_; and these they will have to
consist only of the simple or radical verb and the simple preterit. Some
others, who acknowledge six tenses, such as are above described, have
endeavoured of late to _change the names_ of a majority of them; though
with too little agreement among themselves, as may be seen by the following
citations: (1.) "We have six tenses; three, the _Present, Past_, and
_Future_, to represent time in a general way; and three, the _Present
Perfect, Past Perfect_, and _Future Perfect_, to represent the precise time
of _finishing_ the action."--_Perley's Gram._, 1834, p. 25. (2.) "There are
six tenses; the _present_, the _past_, the _present-perfect_, the
_past-perfect_, the _future_, and the _future-perfect_."--_Hiley's Gram._,
1840, p. 28. (3.) "There are six tenses; the _Present_ and _Present
Perfect_, the _Past_ and _Past Perfect_, and the _Future_ and _Future
Perfect_."--_Farnum's Gram._, 1842, p. 34. (4.) "The names of the tenses
will then be, _Present, Present Perfect; Past, Past Perfect; Future, Future
Perfect_. They are _usually_ named as follows: _Present, Perfect,
Imperfect, Pluperfect, Future, Second Future_."--_N. Butler's Gram_, 1845,
p. 69. (5.) "We have six tenses;--the _present_, the _past_, the _future_,
the _present perfect_, the _past perfect_, and the _future
perfect_."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1846. p. 82. (6.) "The tenses in
English are six--the _Present_, the _Present-perfect_, the _Past_, the
_Past-perfect_, the _Future_, and the _Future-perfect_."--_Bullions's
Gram._, 1849. p. 71. (7.) "Verbs have _Six Tenses_, called the _Present_,
the _Perfect-Present_, the _Past_, the _Perfect-Past_, the _Future_, and
the _Perfect-Future_."--_Spencer's Gram._, 1852, p. 53. (8.) "There are six
tenses: the _present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect_, and
_future perfect_."--_Covell's Gram._, 1853, p. 62. (9.) "The tenses
are--the _present_, the _present perfect_; the _past_, the _past perfect_;
the _future_, the _future perfect_."--_S. S. Greene's Gram._, 1853, p. 65.
(10.) "There are six tenses; _one present_, and _but one, three past_, and
_two future_." They are named thus: "_The Present, the First Past, the
Second Past, the Third Past, the First Future, the Second Future_."--"For
the sake of symmetry, to call _two_ of them _present_, and _two_ only past,
while _one_ only is _present_, and _three_ are _past_ tenses, is to
sacrifice truth to beauty."--_Pinneo's Gram._, 1853, pp. 69 and 70. "The
old names, _imperfect, perfect_, and _pluperfect_," which, in 1845, Butler
justly admitted to be the _usual_ names of the three past tenses. Dr.
Pinneo, who dates his copy-right from 1850, most unwarrantably declares to
be "_now generally discarded_!"--_Analytical Gram._, p. 76; _Same Revised_,
p. 81. These terms, still predominant in use, he strangely supposes to have
been suddenly superseded by others which are no better, if so good:
imagining that the scheme which Perley or Hiley introduced, of "_two
present, two past_, and _two future_ tenses,"--a scheme which, he says,
"has no foundation in truth, and is therefore to be rejected,"--had
prepared the way for the above-cited innovation of his own, which merely
presents the old ideas under new terms, or terms partly new, and wholly
unlikely to prevail. William Ward, one of the ablest of our old
grammarians, rejecting in 1765 the two terms _imperfect_ and _perfect_,
adopted others which resemble Pinneo's; but few, if any, have since named
the tenses as he did, thus: "_The Present, the First Preterite, the Second
Preterite, the Pluperfect, the First Future, the Second Future_."--_Ward's
Gram._, p. 47.

[234] "The infinitive mood, as '_to shine_,' may be called the name of the
verb; it carries _neither time nor affirmation_; but simply expresses that
attribute, action, or state of things, which is to be the subject of the
other moods and tenses."--_Blair's Lectures_, p. 81. By the word
"_subject_" the Doctor does not here mean the _nominative to_ the other
moods and tenses, but the _material of_ them, or that which is formed into
them.

[235] Some grammarians absurdly deny that persons and numbers are
properties of verbs at all: not indeed because our verbs have so few
inflections, or because these authors wish to discard the little
distinction that remains; but because they have some fanciful conception,
that these properties cannot pertain to a verb. Yet, when they come to
their syntax, they all forget, that if a verb has no person and number, it
cannot agree with a nominative in these respects. Thus KIRKHAM: "_Person_,
strictly speaking, is a quality that belongs _not to verbs_, but to nouns
and pronouns. We say, however, that the verb _must agree_ with its
nominative in _person_, as well as in number."--_Gram. in Familiar Lect._,
p. 46. So J. W. WRIGHT: "In truth, number and person _are not properties of
verbs_. Mr. Murray grants that, 'in philosophical strictness, both number
and person might (say, _may_) be excluded from every verb, as they are, in
fact, the properties of substantives, not a part of the essence of the
verb.'"--_Philosophical Gram._, p. 68. This author's rule of syntax for
verbs, makes them agree with their nominatives, not in person and number,
but in _termination_, or else in _nobody knows what_: "A verb _must vary
its terminations_, so as to agree with the nominative to which it is
connected."--_Ib._, p. 168. But Murray's rule is, "A verb must agree with
its nominative case in _number and person_:" and this doctrine is directly
repugnant to that interpretation of his words above, by which these
gentlemen have so egregiously misled themselves and others. Undoubtedly,
both the numbers and the persons of all English verbs might be abolished,
and the language would still be intelligible. But while any such
distinctions remain, and the verb is actually modified to form them, they
belong as properly to this part of speech as they can to any other. De Sacy
says, "The distinction of number _occurs_ in the verb;" and then adds, "yet
this distinction does not properly _belong to_ the verb, as it signifies
nothing which can be numbered."--_Fosdick's Version_, p. 64. This deceptive
reason is only a new form of the blunder which I have once exposed, of
confounding the numbers in grammar with numbers in arithmetic. J. M.
Putnam, after repeating what is above cited from Murray, adds: "The terms
_number_ and _person_, as applied to the verb are _figurative_. The
properties which belong to one thing, for convenience' sake are ascribed to
another."--_Gram._, p. 49. Kirkham imagines, if ten men _build_ a house, or
_navigate_ a ship round the world, they perform just "_ten actions_," and
no more. "Common sense teaches you," says he, "that _there must be as many
actions as there are actors_; and that the verb when it has no form or
ending to show it, is as strictly plural, as when it has. So, in the
phrase, '_We walk_,' the verb _walk_ is [of the] first person, because it
expresses the _actions_ performed by the _speakers_. The verb, then, when
correctly written, always agrees, _in sense_, with its nominative in number
and person."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 47. It seems to me, that these authors
do not very well know what persons or numbers, in grammar, are.

[236] John Despauter, whose ample Grammar of the Latin language appeared in
its third edition in 1517, represents this practice as a corruption
originating in false pride, and maintained by the wickedness of hungry
flatterers. On the twentieth leaf of his Syntax, he says, "Videntur hodie
Christiani superbiores, quam olim ethnici imperatores, qui dii haberi
voluerunt; nam hi nunquam inviti audierunt pronomina _tu, tibi, tuus_. Quæ
si hodie alicui monachorum antistiti, aut decano, aut pontifici dicantur
aut scribantur, videbitur ita loquens aut scribens blasphemasse, et
anathemate dignus: nec tamen Abbas, aut pontifex, tam ægrè feret, quam
Malchi, aut famelici gnathones, his assistentes, et vociferantes, _Sic
loqueris, aut scribis, pontifici?_ Quintilianus et Donatus dicunt
barbarismum, aut soloecismum esse, siquis uni dicat. _Salvete._" The
learned Erasmus also ridiculed this practice, calling those who adopted it,
"_voscitatores_," or _youyouers_.

[237] "By a _perversion of language_ the pronoun _you_ is almost invariably
used for the second person singular, as well as plural; always, however,
retaining the plural verb; as, 'My friend, _you write_ a good hand.' _Thou_
is confined to a solemn style, or [to] poetical compositions."--_Chandler's
Grammar_, Edition of 1821, p. 41; Ed. of 1847, p. 66.

[238] In regard to the inflection of our verbs, William B. Fowle, who is
something of an antiquarian in grammar, and who professes now to be
"conservative" of the popular system, makes a threefold distinction of
style, thus: "English verbs have three _Styles_[,] or _Modes_,[;] called
[the] _Familiar_, [the] _Solemn_[,] and [the] _Ancient_. The _familiar
style_, or mode, is that used in common conversation; as, you _see_, he
_fears_. The _solemn style_, or mode, is that used in the Bible, and in
prayer; as, Thou _seest_, he _feareth_. The _ancient style_, or mode, now
little used, _allows no change_ in the second and third person,
[_persons_,] singular, of the verb, and generally follows the word _if_,
_though, lest_, or _whether_; as, if thou _see_; though he _fear_; lest he
_be_ angry; whether he _go_ or _stay_."--_Fowle's Common School Grammar_,
Part Second, p. 44. Among his subsequent examples of the _Solemn style_, he
gives the following: "Thou _lovest_, Thou _lovedst_, Thou _art_, Thou
_wast_, Thou _hast_, Thou _hadst_, Thou _doest_ or _dost_, Thou _didst_."
And, as corresponding examples of the _Ancient style_, he has these forms:
"Thou _love_, Thou _loved_, Thou _or you be_, Thou _wert_, Thou _have_,
Thou _had_, Thou _do_, Thou _did_."--_Ib._, pp. 44-50. This distinction and
this arrangement do not appear to me to be altogether warranted by facts.
The necessary distinction of _moods_, this author rejects; confounding the
_Subjunctive_ with the _Indicative_, in order to furnish out this useless
and fanciful contrast of his _Solemn_ and _Ancient styles_.

[239] In that monstrous jumble and perversion of Murray's doctrines,
entitled, "English Grammar on the Productive System, by Roswell C. Smith,"
_you_ is everywhere preferred to _thou_, and the verbs are conjugated
_without the latter pronoun_. At the close of his paradigms, however, the
author inserts a few lines respecting "_these obsolete conjugations_," with
the pronoun _thou_; for a further account of which, he refers the learner,
_with a sneer_, to the common grammars in the schools. See the work, p. 79.
He must needs be a remarkable grammarian, with whom Scripture, poetry, and
prayer, are all "_obsolete_!" Again: "_Thou_ in the singular _is obsolete_,
except among the Society of Friends; and _ye_ is an _obsolete_
plural!"--_Guy's School Gram._, p. 25. In an other late grammar,
professedly "constructed upon the _basis of Murray's_, by the _Rev. Charles
Adams_, A. M., Principal of Newbury Seminary," the second person singular
is everywhere superseded by the plural; the former being silently dropped
from all his twenty pages of conjugations, without so much as a hint, or a
saving clause, respecting it; and the latter, which is put in its stead, is
falsely called _singular_. By his pupils, all forms of the verb that agree
only with _thou_, will of course be conceived to be either obsolete or
barbarous, and consequently ungrammatical. Whether or not the reverend
gentleman makes any account of the Bible or of prayer, does not appear; he
cites some poetry, in which there are examples that cannot be reconciled
with his "System of English Grammar." Parkhurst, in his late "Grammar for
Beginners," tells us that, "Such words as are used in the Bible, and not
used in common books, are called _obsolete!_"--P. 146. Among these, he
reckons all the distinctive forms of the second person singular, and all
the "peculiarities" which "constitute what is commonly called the _Solemn
Style_."--_Ib._, p. 148. Yet, with no great consistency, he adds: "This
style _is always used_ in prayer, and _is frequently used_ in
poetry."--_Ibid._ Joab Brace, Jnr., may be supposed to have the same notion
of what is obsolete: for he too has perverted all Lennie's examples of the
verb, as Smith and Adams did Murray's.

[240] Coar gives _durst_ in the "Indicative mood," thus: "I durst, _thou
durst_, he durst;" &c.--_Coar's E. Gram._, p. 115. But when he comes to
_wist_, he does not know what the second person singular should be, and so
he leaves it out: "I wist, ------, he wist; we wist, ye wist, they
wist."--_Coar's E. Gram._, p. 116.

[241] Dr. Latham, who, oftener perhaps than any other modern writer,
corrupts the grammar of our language by efforts to revive in it things
really and deservedly obsolete, most strangely avers that "The words _thou_
and _thee_ are, except in the mouths of Quakers, obsolete. The plural
forms, _ye_ and _you_, have replaced them."--_Hand-Book_, p. 284. Ignoring
also any current or "vital" process of forming English verbs in the second
person singular, he gravely tells us that the old form, as "_callest_"
(which is still the true form for the solemn style,) "is becoming
obsolete."--_Ib._, p. 210. "In phrases like _you are speaking_, &c.," says
he rightlier, "even when applied to a single individual, _the idea is
really plural_; in other words, the courtesy consists in treating _one_
person as _more than one_, and addressing him as such, rather than in using
a plural form in a singular sense. It is certain that, grammatically
considered, _you=thou_ is a plural, since the verb with which it agrees is
plural."--_Ib._, p. 163. If these things be so, the English Language owes
much to the scrupulous conservatism of the Quakers; for, had their courtesy
consented to the grammar of the fashionables, the singular number would now
have had but two persons!

[242] For the substitution of _you_ for _thou_, our grammarians assign
various causes. That which is most commonly given in modern books, is
certainly not the original one, because it concerns no other language than
ours: "In order _to avoid the unpleasant formality_ which accompanies the
use of _thou_ with a correspondent verb, its plural _you_, is usually
adopted to familiar conversation; as, Charles, _will you_ walk? instead
of--_wilt thou_ walk? _You read_ too fast, instead of--_thou readest_ too
fast."--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 33.

[243] This position, as may be seen above, I do not suppose it competent
for any critic to maintain. The use of _you_ for _thou_ is no more
"contrary to grammar," than the use of _we_ for _I_; which, it seems, is
grammatical enough for all editors, compilers, and crowned heads, if not
for others. But both are _figures of syntax_; and, as such, they stand upon
the same footing. Their only contrariety to grammar consists in this, that
the words are not the _literal representatives_ of the number for which
they are put. But in what a posture does the grammarian place himself, who
condemns, as _bad English_, that phraseology which he constantly and
purposely uses? The author of the following remark, as well as all who have
praised his work, ought immediately to adopt the style of the Friends, or
Quakers: "The word _thou_, in grammatical construction, is preferable to
_you_, in the second person singular: however, custom has familiarized the
latter, and consequently made it more general, though BAD GRAMMAR. To say,
'_You are a man_.' is NOT GRAMMATICAL LANGUAGE; the word _you_ having
reference to _a plural noun only_. It should be, '_Thou art a
man_.'"--_Wright's Philosoph. Gram._, p. 55. This author, like Lindley
Murray and many others, continually calls _himself_ WE; and it is probable,
that neither he, nor any one of his sixty reverend commenders, _dares
address_ any man otherwise than by the above-mentioned "BAD GRAMMAR!"

[244] "We are always given to cut our words short; and, _with very few
exceptions_, you find people writing _lov'd, mov'd, walk'd_; instead of
_loved, moved, walked._ They wish to make the _pen_ correspond with the
_tongue._ From _lov'd, mov'd, walk'd_, it is very easy to slide into _lovt,
movt, walkt._ And this has been the case with regard to _curst, dealt,
dwelt, leapt, helpt_, and many others in the last inserted list. It is just
as proper to say _jumpt_, as it is to say _leapt_; and just as proper to
say _walkt_ as either; and thus we might go on till the orthography of the
whole language were changed. When the love of contraction came to operate
on such verbs as _to burst_ and _to light_, it found such a clump of
consonants already at the end of the words, that, it could add none. It
could not enable the organs even of English speech to pronounce _burstedst,
lightedst._ It, therefore, made really short work of it, and dropping the
last syllable altogether, wrote, _burst, light_, [rather, _lit_] in the
past time and passive participle."--_Cobbett's English Gram._, ¶ 169. How
could the man who saw all this, insist on adding _st_ for the second
person, where not even the _d_ of the past tense could he articulated? Am I
to be called an innovator, because I do not like in conversation such _new_
and _unauthorized_ words as _littest, leaptest, curstest_; or a corrupter
of the language, because I do not admire in poetry such unutterable
monstrosities as, _light'dst, leap'dst, curs'dst_? The novelism, with the
corruption too, is wholly theirs who stickle for these awkward forms.

[245] "You _were_, not you _was_, for you _was_ seems to be as
ungrammatical, as you _hast_ would be. For the pronoun you being
confessedly plural, its correspondent verb ought to be plural."--_John
Burn's Gram._, 10th Ed., P. 72.

[246] Among grammarians, as well as among other writers, there is some
diversity of usage concerning the personal inflections of verbs; while
nearly all, nowadays, remove the chief occasion for any such diversity, by
denying with a fashionable bigotry the possibility of any grammatical use
of the pronoun _thou_ in a familiar style. To illustrate this, I will cite
Cooper and Wells--two modern authors who earnestly agree to account _you_
and its verb literally singular, and _thou_ altogether erroneous, in common
discourse: except that _Wells_ allows the phrase, "_If thou art_," for
"_Common style_."--_School Gram._, p. 100.

1. Cooper, improperly referring _all_ inflection of the verb to the grave
or solemn style, says: "In the colloquial or familiar style, we observe _no
change_. The same is the case in the plural number." He then proceeds thus:
"In the second person of the present of the indicative, in the _solemn
style_, the verb takes _st_ or _est_; and in the third person _th_ or
_eth_, as: _thou hast, thou lovest, thou teachest; he hath, he loveth, he
goeth_. In the colloquial or _familiar style_, the verb _does not vary_ in
the second person; and in the third person, it ends in _s_ or _es_, as: _he
loves, he teaches, he does_. The indefinite, [i. e. the preterit,] in the
second person singular of the indicative, in the _grave style_, ends in
_est_, as: _thou taughtest, thou wentest_. [Fist] But, _in those verbs,
where_ the sound of _st_ will unite with the last syllable of the verb, the
vowel is omitted, as: _thou lovedst, thou heardst, thou didst_."--_Cooper's
Murray_, p. 60; _Plain and Practical Gram._, p. 59. This, the reader will
see, is somewhat contradictory; for the colloquial style varies the verb by
"_s_ or _es_," and _taught'st may_ be uttered without the _e_. As for
"_lovedst_," I deny that any vowel "_is omitted_" from it; but possibly one
_may_ be, as _lov'dst_.

2. Wells's account of the same thing is this: "In the simple form of the
present and past indicative, the second person singular of the _solemn
style_ ends regularly in _st_ or _est_, as, thou _seest_, thou _hearest_,
thou _sawest, thou heardest_; and the third person singular of the present,
in _s_ or _es_, as, he _hears_, he _wishes_, and also in _th_ or _eth_, as,
he _saith_, he _loveth_. In the simple form of the present indicative, the
third person singular of the _common_ or _familiar style_, ends in _s_ or
_es_; as, he _sleeps_; he _rises_. The first person singular of the _solemn
style_, and the first and second persons singular of the _common style_,
have _the same form_ as the three persons plural."--_Wells's School
Grammar_, 1st Ed. p. 83; 3d Ed. p. 86. This, too, is both defective and
inconsistent. It does not tell when to add _est_, and when, _st_ only. It
does not show what the _regular preterit_, as _freed_ or _loved_, should
make with _thou_: whether _freedest_ and _lovedest_, by assuming the
syllable _est; fre-edst_ and _lov-edst_, by increasing syllabically from
assuming _st_ only; or _freedst_ and _lov'dst_, or _lovedst_, still to be
uttered as monosyllables. It absurdly makes "_s_ or _es_" a sign of two
opposite styles. (See OBS. 9th, above.) And it does not except "_I am, I
was, If I am, If I was, If thou art, I am loved_," and so forth, from
requiring "the same form, [_are_ or _were_,] as the three persons plural."
This author prefers "_heardest_;" the other, "_heardst_," which I think
better warranted:

   "And _heardst_ thou why he drew his blade?
    _Heardst_ thou that shameful word and blow
    Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe?"--_Scott_, L. L., C. v, st. 6.

[247] Better, as Wickliffe has it, "the day _in which_;" though, after
nouns of time, the relative _that_ is often used, like the Latin ablative
_quo_ or _quâ_, as being equivalent to _in which_ or _on which_.

[248] It is not a little strange, that some men, who _never have seen or
heard_ such words as their own rules would produce for the second person
singular of many hundreds of our most common verbs, will nevertheless
pertinaciously insist, that it is wrong to countenance in this matter any
departure from the style of King James's Bible. One of the very rashest and
wildest of modern innovators,--a critic who, but for the sake of those who
still speak in this person and number, would gladly consign the pronoun
_thou_, and all its attendant verbal forms, to utter oblivion,--thus treats
this subject and me: "The Quakers, or Friends, however, use _thou_, and its
attendant form of the _asserter_, in conversation. FOR THEIR BENEFIT,
_thou_ is given, in this work, in all the varieties of inflection; (in some
of which it could not properly be used in an address to the Deity;) for
THEY ERR MOST EGREGIOUSLY in the use of _thou_, with the form of the
_asserter_ which follows _he_ or _they_, and are countenanced in their
errors by G. Brown, who, instead of 'disburdening _the language_ of 144,000
useless _distinctions, increases_ their number just 144,000."--_Oliver B.
Peirce's Gram._, p. 85 Among people of sense, converts are made by
teaching, and reasoning, and proving; but this man's disciples must yield
to the balderdash of a _false speller, false quoter_, and _false assertor!_
This author says, that "_dropt_" is the past tense of "_drop_;" (p. 118;)
let him prove, for example, that _droptest_ is not a clumsy _innovation_,
and that _droppedst_ is not a formal archaism, and then tell of the
egregious error of adopting neither of these forms in common conversation.
The following, with its many common contractions, is the language of POPE;
and I ask this, or any other opponent of my doctrine, TO SHOW HOW SUCH
VERBS ARE RIGHTLY FORMED, either for poetry or for conversation, _in the
second person singular_.

   "It _fled_, I _follow'd_; now in hope, now pain;
    It _stopt_, I _stopt_; it _mov'd_, I _mov'd_ again.
    At last it _fix't_,'twas on what plant it _pleas'd_,
    And where it _fix'd_, the beauteous bird I _seiz'd_."
        --_Dunciad_, B. IV, l. 427.

[249] The Rev. W. Allen, in his English Grammar, p. 132, says: "_Yth_ and
_eth_ (from the Saxon lað [sic--KTH]) were formerly, _plural terminations_;
as, 'Manners _makyth_ man.' William of Wykeham's motto. 'After long
advisement, they _taketh_ upon them to try the matter.' Stapleton's
Translation of Bede. 'Doctrine and discourse _maketh_ nature less
importune.' Bacon." The use of _eth_ as a plural termination of verbs, was
evidently earlier than the use of _en_ for the same purpose. Even the
latter is utterly obsolete, and the former can scarcely have been
_English_. The Anglo-Saxon verb _lufian_, or _lufigean_, to love, appears
to have been inflected with the several pronouns thus: Ic lufige, Thu
lufast, He lufath, We lufiath, Ge lufiath, Hi lufiath. The form in Old
English was this: I love, Thou lovest, He loveth, We loven, Ye loven, They
loven. Dr. Priestley remarks, (though in my opinion unadvisedly,) that,
"Nouns of a plural form, but of a singular signification, require a
singular construction; as, mathematicks _is_ a useful study. This
observation will likewise," says he, "_in some measure_, vindicate the
grammatical propriety of the famous saying of William of Wykeham, Manners
_maketh_ man."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 189. I know not what _half-way_
vindication there can be, for any such construction. _Manners_ and
_mathematics_ are not nouns of the singular number, and therefore both _is_
and _maketh_ are wrong. I judge it better English to say, "Mathematics
_are_ a useful study."--"Manners _make_ the man." But perhaps both ideas
may be still better expressed by a change of the nominative, thus: "The
_study_ of mathematics _is_ useful."--"_Behaviour makes_ the man."

[250] What the state of our literature would have been, had no author
attempted any thing on English grammar, must of course be a matter of mere
conjecture, and not of any positive "conviction." It is my opinion, that,
with all their faults, most of the books and essays in which this subject
has been handled, have been in some degree _beneficial_, and a few of them
highly so; and that, without their influence, our language must have been
much more chaotic and indeterminable than it now is. But a late writer
says, and, with respect to _some_ of our verbal terminations, says wisely:
"It is my _sincere conviction_ that fewer irregularities would have crept
into the language had no grammars existed, than have been authorized by
grammarians; for it should be understood that the first of our grammarians,
finding that good writers differed upon many points, instead of
endeavouring to reconcile these discrepancies, absolutely perpetuated them
by _citing opposite usages, and giving high authorities for both_. To this
we owe all the irregularity which exists in the personal terminations of
verbs, some of the best early writers using them _promiscuously_, some
using them _uniformly_, and others making _no use_ of them; and really
_they are of no use_ but to puzzle children and foreigners, perplex poets,
and furnish an awkward dialect to that exemplary sect of Christians, who in
every thing else study simplicity."--_Fowle's True E. Gram._, Part II, p.
26. Wells, a still later writer, gives this unsafe rule: "_When the past
tense is a monosyllable not ending in a single vowel_, the second person
singular of the solemn style is generally formed by the addition of _est_;
as _heardest, fleddest, tookest_. _Hadst, wast, saidst, and didst_, are
exceptions."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 106; 3d Ed., p. 110;
113th Ed., p. 115. Now the termination _d_ or _ed_ commonly adds no
syllable; so that the regular past tense of any monosyllabic verb is, with
a few exceptions, a monosyllable still; as, _freed, feed, loved, feared,
planned, turned_: and how would these sound with _est_ added, which Lowth,
Hiley, Churchill, and some others erroneously claim as having pertained to
such preterits anciently? Again, if _heard_ is a contraction of _heared_,
and _fled_, of _fleed_, as seems probable; then are _heardst_ and
_fledtst_, which are sometimes used, more regular than _heardest,
fleddest_: so of many other preterits.

[251] Chaucer appears not to have inflected this word in the second person:
"Also ryght as _thou were_ ensample of moche folde errour, righte so thou
must be ensample of manifold correction."--_Testament of Love_. "Rennin and
crie as _thou were_ wode."--_House of Fame_. So others: "I wolde _thou
were_ cold or hoot."--WICKLIFFE'S VERSION OF THE APOCALYPSE. "I wolde _thou
were_ cold or hote."--VERSION OF EDWARD VI: _Tooke_, Vol. ii, p. 270. See
Rev., iii, 15: "I would thou _wert_ cold or hot."--COMMON VERSION.

[252] See evidence of the _antiquity_ of this practice, in the examples
under the twenty-third observation above. According to Churchill, it has
had some local continuance even to the present time. For, in a remark upon
Lowth's contractions, _lov'th, turn'th_, this author says, "These are
_still in use in some country places_, the third person singular of verbs
in general being formed by the addition of the sound _th_ simply, not
making an additional syllable."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 255 So the _eth_
in the following example adds no syllable:--

   "Death _goeth_ about the field, rejoicing mickle
    To see a sword that so surpass'd his sickle."
       _Harrington's Ariosto_, B. xiii:
         see _Singer's Shak._, Vol. ii, p. 296.

[253] The second person singular of the simple verb _do_, is now usually
written _dost_, and read _dust_; being permanently contracted in
orthography, as well as in pronunciation. And perhaps the compounds may
follow; as, Thou _undost, outdost, misdost, overdost_, &c. But exceptions
to exceptions are puzzling, even when they conform to the general rule. The
Bible has _dost_ and _doth_ for auxilliaries, and _doest_ and _doeth_ for
principal verbs.

[254] N. Butler avers, "The only regular terminations added to verbs are
_est, s, ed, edst_, and _ing_."--_Butler's Practical Gram._, p. 81. But he
adds, in a marginal note, this information: "The third person singular of
the present formerly ended in _eth_. This termination is still sometimes
used in the solemn style. Contractions sometimes take place; as, _sayst_
for _sayest_."--_Ibid._ This statement not only imposes a vast deal of
_needless irregularity_ upon the few inflections admitted by the English
verb, but is, so far as it disagrees with mine, a causeless innovation. The
terminations rejected, or here regarded as _irregular_, are _d, st_, _es,
th_, and _eth_; while _edst_, which is plainly a combination of _ed_ and
_st_,--the past ending of the verb with the personal inflection,--is
assumed to be one single and regular termination which I had overlooked! It
has long been an almost universal doctrine of our grammarians, that regular
verbs form their preterits and perfect participles by adding _d_ to final
_e_, and _ed_ to any other radical ending. Such is the teaching of Blair,
Brightland, Bullions, Churchill, Coar, Comly, Cooper, Fowle, Frazee,
Ingersoll, Kirkham, Lennie, Murray, Weld, Wells, Sanborn, and others, a
great multitude. But this author alleges, that, "_Loved_ is not formed by
adding _d_ to _love_, but by adding _ed_, and dropping _e_ from
_love_."--_Butler's Answer to Brown_. Any one is at liberty to think this,
if he will. But I see not the use of playing thus with _mute Ees_, adding
one to drop an other, and often pretending to drop two under one
apostrophe, as in _lov'd, lov'st_! To suppose that the second person of the
regular preterit, as _lovedst_, is not formed by adding _st_ to the first
person, is contrary to the analogy of other verbs, and is something worse
than an idle whim. And why should the formation of the third person be
called _irregular_ when it requires _es_, as in _flies, denies_, _goes,
vetoes, wishes, preaches_, and so forth? In forming _flies_ from _fly_,
Butler changes "_y_ into _ie_," on page 20th, adding _s_ only; and, on page
11th, "into _i_" only, adding _es_. Uniformity would be better.

[255] Cooper says, "The termination _eth_ is _commonly_ contracted into
_th_, to prevent the addition of a syllable to the verb, as: _doeth_,
_doth_."--_Plain and Practical Gram._, p. 59. This, with reference to
modern usage, is plainly erroneous. For, when _s_ or _es_ was substituted
for _th_ or _eth_, and the familiar use of the latter ceased, this mode of
inflecting the verb without increasing its syllables, ceased also, or at
least became unusual. It appears that the inflecting of verbs with _th_
without a vowel, as well as with _st_ without a vowel, was more common in
very ancient times than subsequently. Our grammarians of the last century
seem to have been more willing to _encumber_ the language with syllabic
endings, than to _simplify_ it by avoiding them. See Observations, 21st,
22d, and 23d, above.

[256] These are what William Ward, in his Practical Grammar, written about
1765, denominated "the CAPITAL FORMS, or ROOTS, of the English Verb." Their
number too is the same. "And these Roots," says he, "are considered as
_Four_ in each verb; although in many verbs two of them are alike, and in
some few three are alike."--P. 50. Few modern grammarians have been careful
to display these Chief Terms, or Principal Parts, properly. Many say
nothing about them. Some speak of _three_, and name them faultily. Thus
Wells: "The three _principal parts_ of a verb are the _present tense_, the
_past tense_, and the _perfect participle_."--_School Gram._, 113th Ed., p.
92. Now a whole "_tense_" is something more than one verbal form, and
Wells's "perfect participle" includes the auxiliary "_having_." Hence, in
stead of _write, wrote, writing, written_, (the true principal parts of a
certain verb,) one might take, under Wells's description, either of these
threes, both entirely false: _am writing, did write_, and _having written_;
or, _do write, wrotest_, and _having written_. But _writing_, being the
root of the "Progressive Form of the Verb," is far more worthy to be here
counted a chief term, than _wrote_, the preterit, which occurs only in one
tense, and never receives an auxiliary. So of other verbs. This sort of
treatment of the Principal Parts, is a very grave defect in sundry schemes
of grammar.

[257] A grammarian should know better, than to exhibit, _as a paradigm_ for
school-boys, such English as the following: "I do have, Thou dost have, He
does have: We do have, You do have, They do have."--_Everest's Gram._, p.
106. "I did have, Thou didst have, He did have: We did have, You did have,
They did have."--_Ib._, p. 107. I know not whether any one has yet thought
of conjugating the verb _be_ after this fashion; but the attempt to
introduce, "_am being, is being_," &c., is an innovation much worse.

[258] Hiley borrows from Webster the remark, that, "_Need_, when
intransitive, is formed _like an auxiliary_, and is followed by a verb,
without the prefix _to_; as, 'He _need go_ no farther.'"--_Hiley's Gram._,
p. 90; _Webster's Imp. Gram._, p. 127; _Philos. Gram._, p. 178. But he
forbears to class it with the auxiliaries, and even contradicts himself, by
a subsequent remark taken from Dr. Campbell, that, for the sake of
"ANALOGY, '_he needs_,' _he dares_,' are preferable to '_he need_,' '_he
dare_,'"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 145; _Campbell's Rhet._, p. 175

[259] This grammarian here uses _need_ for the third person singular,
designedly, and makes a remark for the justification of the practice; but
he neither calls the word an auxiliary, nor cites any other than anonymous
examples, which are, perhaps, of his own invention.

[260] "The substantive form, or, as it is commonly termed, _infinitive
mood_, contains at the same time the essence of verbal meaning, and the
literal ROOT on which all inflections of the verb are to be grafted. This
character being common to the infinitive in all languages, it [this mood]
ought to precede the [other] moods of verbs, instead of being made to
follow them, as is absurdly practised in almost all grammatical
systems."--_Enclytica_, p. 14.

[261] By this, I mean, that the verb in all the persons, both singular and
plural, is _the same in form_. But Lindley Murray, when he speaks of _not
varying_ or _not changing_ the termination of the verb, most absurdly means
by it, that the verb _is inflected_, just as it is in the indicative or the
potential mood; and when he speaks of _changes_ or _variations_ of
termination, he means, that the verb _remains the same_ as in the first
person singular! For example: "The second person singular of the imperfect
tense in the subjunctive mood, is also _very frequently varied in its
termination_: as, 'If thou _loved_ him truly, thou wouldst obey
him.'"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 209. "The auxiliaries of the potential
mood, when applied to the subjunctive, _do not change_ the termination of
the second person singular; as, 'If thou _mayst_ or _canst_ go.'"--_Ib._,
p. 210. "Some authors think, that the termination of these auxiliaries
_should be varied_: as, I advise thee, that thou _may_ beware."--_Ib._, p.
210. "When the circumstances of contingency and futurity concur, it is
proper _to vary_ the terminations of the second and third persons
singular."--_Ib._, 210. "It may be considered as a rule, that _the changes_
of termination _are necessary_, when these two circumstances
concur."--_Ib._, p. 207. "It may be considered as a rule, that _no changes_
of termination _are necessary_, when these two circumstances
concur."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 264. Now Murray and Ingersoll here _mean_
precisely the same thing! Whose fault is that? If Murray's, he has
committed many such. But, in this matter, he is contradicted not only by
Ingersoll, but, on one occasion, by himself. For he declares it to be an
opinion in which he concurs. "That the definition and nature of the
subjunctive mood, have _no reference_ to change of termination."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo, p. 211. And yet, amidst his strange blunders, he seems to have
ascribed the _meaning_ which a verb has in this mood, _to the inflections_
which it receives _in the indicative_: saying. "That part of the verb which
grammarians call the present tense of the subjunctive mood, has a future
signification. _This_ is effected by _varying the terminations_ of the
second and third persons singular of _the indicative_!"--_Ib._, p. 207. But
the absurdity which he really means to teach, is, that the subjunctive mood
_is derived from the indicative_,--the primitive or radical verb, _from
it's derivatives or branches_!

[262] _Wert_ is sometimes used in lieu of _wast_; and, in such instances,
both by authority and by analogy, it appears to belong here, if anywhere.
See OBS. 2d and 3d, below.

[263] Some grammarians, regardless of the general usage of authors, prefer
_was_ to _were_ in the singular number of this tense of the subjunctive
mood. In the following remark, the tense is named "_present_" and this
preference is urged with some critical extravagance: "_Was_, though the
past tense of the indicative mood, expresses the _present_ of the
hypothetical; as, 'I wish that I _was_ well.' _The use of this hypothetical
form_ of the subjunctive mood, _has given rise to_ a form of expression
_wholly unwarranted by the rules of grammar_. When the verb _was_ is to be
used in the _present tense singular_, in this form of the subjunctive mood,
the ear is often pained with a _plural were_, as, '_Were I_ your
master'--'_Were he_ compelled to do it,' &c. This has become so common that
some of the best grammars of the language furnish authority for the
barbarism, and even in the second person supply _wert_, as a convenient
accompaniment. If such a conjugation is admitted, we may expect to see
Shakspeare's '_thou beest_' in full use."--_Chandler's Gram._, Ed. of 1821,
p. 55. In "_Chandler's Common School Grammar_," of 1847, the language of
this paragraph is somewhat softened, but the substance is still retained.
See the latter work, p. 80.

[264] "If I were, If _thou were_. If he were."--_Harrison's Gram._, p. 31.
"If, or though, I were loved. If, or though, _thou were_, or _wert_ loved.
If, or though, he were loved."--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part i, p. 69. "If,
though, &c. I were burned, _thou were_ burned or you were burned, he were
burned."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 53. "Though _thou were_. Some say, 'though
thou _wert_.'"--_Mackintosh's Gram._, p. 178. "If or though I were. If or
though _thou were_. If or though he were."--_St. Quentin's General Gram._,
p. 86. "If I was, Thou wast, or You was or were, He was. Or thus: If I
were, Thou wert, or you was or were, He were."--_Webster's Philosophical
Gram._, p. 95; _Improved Gram._, p. 64. "PRESENT TENSE. Before, &c. I _be_;
thou _beest_, or you _be_; he, she, or it, _be_: We, you or ye, they, _be_.
PAST TENSE. Before, &c. I _were_; thou _wert_, or you _were_; he, she, or
it, _were_; We, you or ye, they, _were_."--WHITE, _on the English Verb_, p.
52.

[265] The text in Acts, xxii, 20th, "I also _was standing_ by, and
_consenting_ unto his death," ought rather to be, "I also _stood_ by, and
_consented_ to his death;" but the present reading is, thus far, a literal
version from the Greek, though the verb "_kept_," that follows, is not.
Montanus renders it literally: "Et ipse _eram astans, et consentiens_
interemptioni ejus, et _custodiens_ vestimenta interficientium illum." Beza
makes it better Latin thus: "Ego quoque _adstabam_, et una _assentiebar_
cædi ipsius, et _custodiebam_ pallia eorum qui interimebant eum." Other
examples of a questionable or improper use of the progressive form may
occasionally be found in good authors; as, "A promising boy of six years of
age, _was missing_ by his parents."--_Whittier, Stranger in Lowell_, p.
100. _Missing, wanting_, and _willing_, after the verb to be, are commonly
reckoned participial _adjectives_; but here "_was missing_" is made a
passive verb, equivalent to _was missed_, which, perhaps, would better
express the meaning. _To miss_, to perceive the absence of, is such an act
of the mind, as seems unsuited to the compound form, _to be missing_; and,
if we cannot say, "The mother _was missing_ her son," I think we ought not
to use the same form passively, as above.

[266] Some grammarians, contrary to the common opinion, suppose the verbs
here spoken of, to have, not a _passive_, but a _neuter_ signification.
Thus, Joseph Guy, Jun., of London: "Active verbs often take a _neuter_
sense; as, A house is building; here, is _building_ is used in a _neuter_
signification, because it has no object after it. By this rule are
explained such sentences as, Application is wanting; The grammar is
printing; The lottery is drawing; It is flying, &c."--_Guy's English
Gram._, p. 21. "_Neuter_," here, as in many other places, is meant to
include the _active-intransitives_. "_Is flying_" is of this class; and
"_is wanting_," corresponding to the Latin _caret_, appears to be neuter;
hut the rest seem rather to be passives. Tried, however, by the usual
criterion,--the naming of the "_agent_" which, it is said, "a verb passive
necessarily implies,"--what may at first seem progressive passives, may not
always be found such. "_Most_ verbs signifying _action_" says Dr. Johnson,
"may likewise signify _condition_, or _habit_, and become _neuters_, [i. e.
_active-intransitives_;] as _I love_, I am in love; _I strike_, I am now
striking."--_Gram. before Quarto Dict._, p. 7. So _sell, form, make_, and
many others, usually transitive, have sometimes an active-intransitive
sense which nearly approaches the passive, and of which _are selling, is
forming, are making_, and the like, may be only equivalent expressions. For
example: "It is cold, and ice _forms_ rapidly--is _forming_ rapidly--or _is
formed_ rapidly."--Here, with little difference of meaning, is the
appearance of both voices, the Active and the Passive; while "_is
forming_," which some will have for an example of "the _Middle_ voice," may
be referred to either. If the following passive construction is right, _is
wanting_ or _are wanting_ may be a verb of three or four different sorts:
"Reflections that may drive away despair, _cannot be wanting by him_, who
considers," &c.--_Johnson's Rambler_, No. 129: _Wright's Gram._, p. 196.

[267] Dr. Bullions, in his grammar of 1849, says, "Nobody would think of
saying, 'He is being loved'--'This result is being desired.'"--_Analyt. and
Pract. Gram._, p. 237. But, according to J. W. Wright, whose superiority in
grammar has sixty-two titled vouchers, this unheard-of barbarism is, for
the present passive, precisely and solely what one _ought_ to say! Nor is
it, in fact, any more barbarous, or more foreign from usage, than the
spurious example which the Doctor himself takes for a model in the active
voice: "I _am loving_. Thou _art loving_, &c; I _have been loving_, Thou
_hast been loving_, &c."--_A. and P. Gr._, p. 92. So: "James _is loving_
me."--_Ib._, p 235.

[268] "The predicate in the form, '_The house is being built_,' would be,
according to our view, 'BEING BEING _built_,' which is manifestly an absurd
tautology."--_Mulligan's Gram._, 1852, p. 151.

[269] "Suppose a criminal to be _enduring_ the operation of binding:--Shall
we say, with Mr. Murray,--'The criminal is binding?' If so, HE MUST BE
BINDING SOMETHING,--a circumstance, in effect, quite opposed to the fact
presented. Shall we then say, as he does, in the _present tense_
conjugation of his passive verb,--'The criminal is bound?' If so, the
_action_ of binding, which the criminal is suffering, will be represented
as completed, --a position which the _action its self_ will palpably deny."
See _Wright's Phil. Gram._, p. 102. It is folly for a man to puzzle himself
or others thus, with _fictitious examples_, imagined on purpose to make
_good usage seem wrong_. There is bad grammar enough, for all useful
purposes, in the actual writings of valued authors; but who can show, by
any proofs, that the English language, as heretofore written, is so
miserably inadequate to our wants, that we need use the strange neologism,
"The criminal _is being bound_," or any thing similar?

[270] It is a very strange event in the history of English grammar, that
such a controversy as this should have arisen; but a stranger one still,
that, after all that has been said, more argument is needed. Some men, who
hope to be valued as scholars, yet stickle for an odd phrase, which critics
have denounced as follows: "But the history of the language scarcely
affords a parallel to the innovation, at once unphilosophical and
hypercritical, pedantic and illiterate, which has lately appeared in the
excruciating refinement '_is being_' and its unmerciful variations. We
hope, and indeed believe, that it has not received the sanction of any
grammar adopted in our popular education, as it certainly never will of any
writer of just pretensions to scholarship."--_The True Sun_. N. Y., April
16, 1846.

[271] Education is a work of continuance, yet completed, like many others,
as fast as it goes on. It is not, like the act of loving or hating, so
complete at the first moment as not to admit the progressive form of the
verb; for one may say of a lad, "I _am educating_ him for the law;" and
possibly, "He _is educating_ for the law;" though not so well as, "He _is
to be educated_ for the law." But, to suppose that "_is educated_" or "_are
educated_" implies unnecessarily a _cessation of the educating_ is a
mistake. That conception is right, only when _educated_ is taken
adjectively. The phrase, "those who _are educated_ in our seminaries,"
hardly includes such as _have been educated_ there in times past: much less
does it apply to these exclusively, as some seem to think. "_Being_," as
inserted by Southey, is therefore quite _needless_: so it is _often_, in
this new phraseology, the best correction being its mere omission.

[272] Worcester has also this citation: "The Eclectic Review remarks, 'That
a need of this phrase, or an equivalent one, is felt, is sufficiently
proved by the extent to which it is used by educated persons and
respectable writers.'"--_Gram. before Dict._, p. xlvi. Sundry phrases,
equivalent in sense to this new voice, have long been in use, and are, of
course, still needed; something from among them being always, by every
accurate writer, still preferred. But this awkward innovation, use it who
will, can no more be justified by a plea of "_need_," than can every other
hackneyed solecism extant. Even the Archbishop, if quoted right by
Worcester, has descended to "uncouth English," without either necessity or
propriety, having thereby only misexpounded a very common Greek word--a
"perfect or pluperfect" participle, which means "_beaten, struck_, or
_having been beaten_"--G. Brown.

[273] Wells has also the following citations, which most probably accord
with his own opinions, though the first is rather extravagant: "The
propriety of these _imperfect passive tenses_ has been _doubted by almost
all_ our grammarians; though I believe but few of them have written many
pages without condescending to make use of them. Dr. Beattie says, 'One of
the greatest defects of the English tongue, with regard to the verb, seems
to be the want of an _imperfect passive participle_.' And yet he uses the
_imperfect participle_ in a _passive sense_ as often as most
writers."--_Pickbourn's Dissertation on the English Verb_.

"Several other expressions of this sort now and then occur, such as the
new-fangled and most uncouth solecism, 'is being done,' for the good old
English idiomatic expression, 'is doing,'--an absurd periphrasis, driving
out a pointed and pithy turn of the English language."--_N. A. Review_. See
_Wells's Grammar_, 1850, p. 161.

The term, "_imperfect passive tenses_," seems not a very accurate one;
because the present, the perfect, &c., are included. Pickbourn applies it
to any passive tenses formed from the simple "imperfect participle;" but
the phrase, "_passive verbs in the progressive form_," would better express
the meaning. The term, "_compound passive participle_," which Wells applies
above to "_being built_," "_being printed_," and the like, is also both
unusual and inaccurate. Most readers would sooner understand by it the
form, _having been built, having been printed_, &c. This author's mode of
naming participles is always either very awkward or not distinctive. His
scheme makes it necessary to add here, for each of these forms, a third
epithet, referring to his main distinction of "_imperfect_ and _perfect_;"
as, "the compound _imperfect_ participle passive," and "the compound
_perfect_ participle passive." What is "_being builded_" or "_being
printed_," but "an _imperfect passive participle_?" Was this, or something
else, the desideratum of Beattie?

[274] _Borne_ usually signifies _carried_; _born_ signifies _brought
forth_. J. K. Worcester, the lexicographer, speaks of these two participles
thus: "[Fist] The participle _born_ is used in the passive form, and
_borne_ in the active form, [with reference to birth]; as, 'He was _born_
blind,' _John_ ix.; 'The barren hath _borne_ seven,' I _Sam_. ii. This
distinction between _born_ and _borne_, though not recognized by grammars,
is in accordance with common usage, at least in this country. In many
editions of the Bible it is recognized; and in many it is not. It seems to
have been more commonly recognized in American, than in English,
editions."--_Worcester's Universal and Critical Dict., w. Bear_. In five,
out of seven good American editions of the Bible among my books, the latter
text is, "The barren hath _born_ seven;" in two, it is as above, "hath
_borne_." In Johnson's Quarto Dictionary, the perfect participle of _bear_
is given erroneously, "_bore_, or _born_;" and that of _forbear_, which
should be _forborne_, is found, both in his columns and in his preface,
"_forborn_."

[275] According to Murray, Lennie, Bullions, and some others, to use
_begun_ for _began_ or _run_ for _ran_, is improper; but Webster gives
_run_ as well as _ran_ for the preterit, and _begun_ may be used in like
manner, on the authority of Dryden, Pope, and Parnell.

[276] "And they shall pass through it, hardly _bestead_, and
hungry."--_Isaiah_, viii, 21.

[277] "_Brake_ [for the preterit of _Break_] seems now obsolescent."--_Dr.
Crombie, Etymol. and Syntax_, p. 193. Some recent grammarians, however,
retain it; among whom are Bullions and M'Culloch. Wells retains it, but
marks it as, "_Obsolete_;" as he does also the preterits _bare, clave,
drove, gat, slang, spake, span, spat, sware, tare, writ_; and the
participles _hoven, loaden, rid_ from _ride, spitten, stricken, and writ_.
In this he is not altogether consistent. Forms really obsolete belong not
to any modern list of irregular verbs; and even such as are archaic and
obsolescent, it is sometimes better to omit. If "_loaden_," for example, is
now out of use, why should "_load, unload_, and _overload_," be placed, as
they are by this author, among "irregular verbs;" while _freight_ and
_distract_, in spite of _fraught_ and _distraught_, are reckoned regular?
"_Rid_," for _rode_ or _ridden_, though admitted by Worcester, appears to
me a low vulgarism.

[278] _Cleave_, to split, is most commonly, if not always, irregular, as
above; _cleave_, to stick, or adhere, is usually considered regular, but
_clave_ was formerly used in the preterit, and _clove_ still may be: as,
"The men of Judah _clave_ unto their king."--_Samuel_. "The tongue of the
public prosecutor _clove_ to the roof of his mouth."--_Boston Atlas_, 1855.

[279] Respecting the preterit and the perfect participle of this verb,
_drink_, our grammarians are greatly at variance. Dr. Johnson says,
"preter. _drank_ or _drunk_; part. pass, _drunk_ or _drunken_." Dr.
Webster: "pret. and pp. _drank_. Old pret. and pp. _drunk_; pp. _drunken_."
Lowth: "pret. _drank_; part, _drunk_ or _drunken_." So Stamford. Webber,
and others. Murray has it: "Imperf. _drank_, Perf. Part, _drunk_." So
Comly, Lennie, Bullions, Blair, Butler. Frost, Felton, Goldsbury, and many
others. Churchill cites the text, "Serve me till I have eaten and
_drunken_;" and observes, "_Drunken_ is now used only as an adjective. The
impropriety of using the preterimperfect [_drank_] for the participle of
this verb is very common."--_New Gram._, p. 261. Sanborn gives both forms
for the participle, preferring _drank_ to _drunk_. Kirkham prefers _drunk_
to _drank_; but contradicts himself in a note, by unconsciously making
_drunk_ an adjective: "The men were _drunk_; i. e. inebriated. The toasts
were _drank_."--_Gram._, p. 140. Cardell, in his Grammar, gives, "_drink,
drank, drunk_;" but in his story of Jack Halyard, on page 59, he wrote,
"had _drinked_:" and this, according to Fowle's True English Grammar, is
not incorrect. The preponderance of authority is yet in favour of saying,
"had _drunk_;" but _drank_ seems to be a word of greater delicacy, and
perhaps it is sufficiently authorized. A hundred late writers may be quoted
for it, and some that were popular in the days of Johnson. "In the choice
of what is fit to be eaten and _drank_."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, Vol.
1, p. 51. "Which I had no sooner _drank_."--_Addison, Tattler_, No. 131.

   "Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drank,
    Broach'd with the steely point of Clifford's lance."--_Shakspeare_.

[280] "_Holden_ is not in general use; and is chiefly employed by
attorneys."--_Crombie, on Etymology and Synt._, p. 190. Wells marks this
word as, "Obsolescent."--_School Gram._, p. 103. L. Murray rejected it; but
Lowth gave it alone, as a participle, and _held_ only as a preterit.

[281] "I have been found guilty of killing cats I never
_hurted_."--_Roderick Random_, Vol. i, p. 8.

[282] "They _keeped_ aloof as they passed her bye."--_J. Hogg, Pilgrims of
the Sun_, p. 19.

[283] _Lie_, to be at rest, is irregular, as above; but _lie_, to utter
falsehood, is regular, as follows: _lie, lied, lying, lied_.

   "Thus said, at least, my mountain guide,
    Though deep, perchance, the villain _lied_."
        --_Scott's Lady of the Lake_.

[284] Perhaps there is authority sufficient to place the verb _rend_ among
those which are redundant.

   "Where'er its cloudy veil was _rended_."
        --_Whittier's Moll Pitcher_.

    "Mortal, my message is for thee; thy chain to earth is _rended_;
    I bear thee to eternity; prepare! thy course is ended."
        --_The Amulet_.

    "Come as the winds come, when forests are _rended_."
        --_Sir W. Scott_.

    "The hunger pangs her sons which rended."
        --NEW QUARTERLY REVIEW: _Examiner_, No. 119.

[285] We find now and then an instance in which _gainsay_ is made regular:
as, "It can neither be _rivalled_ nor _gainsayed_."--_Chapman's Sermons to
Presbyterians_, p. 36. Perhaps it would be as well to follow Webster here,
in writing _rivaled_ with one _l_: and the analogy of the simple verb
_say_, in forming this compound irregularly, _gainsaid_. Usage warrants the
latter, however, better than the former.

[286] "Shoe, _shoed_ or shod, shoeing, _shoed_ or shod."--_Old Gram., by W.
Ward_, p. 64; and _Fowle's True English Gram._, p. 46.

[287] "A. Murray has rejected _sung_ as the _Preterite_, and L. Murray has
rejected _sang_. Each _Preterite_, however, rests on good authority. The
same observation may be made, respecting _sank_ and _sunk_. Respecting the
_preterites_ which have _a_ or _u_, as _slang_, or _slung, sank_, or
_sunk_, it would be better were the former only to be used, as the
_Preterite_ and Participle would thus be discriminated."--_Dr. Crombie, on
Etymology and Syntax_, p. 199. The _preterits_ which this critic thus
prefers, are _rang, sang, stung, sprang, swang, sank, shrank, slank, stank,
swam_, and _span_ for _spun_. In respect to them all, I think he makes an
ill choice. According to his own showing, _fling, string_, and _sting_,
always make the preterit and the participle alike; and this is the obvious
tendency of the language, in all these words. I reject _slang_ and _span_,
as derivatives from _sling_ and _spin_; because, in such a sense, they are
obsolete, and the words have other uses. Lindley Murray, _in his early
editions_, rejected _sang, sank, slang, swang, shrank, slank, stank_, and
_span_; and, at the same time, preferred _rang, sprang_, and _swam_, to
_rung, sprung_, and _swum_. In his later copies, he gave the preference to
the _u_, in all these words; but restored _sang_ and _sank_, which Crombie
names above, still omitting the other six, which did not happen to be
mentioned to him.

[288] _Sate_ for the preterit of _sit_, and _sitten_ for the perfect
participle, are, in my opinion, obsolete, or no longer in good use. Yet
several recent grammarians prefer _sitten_ to _sat_; among whom are
Crombie, Lennie, Bullions, and M'Culloch. Dr. Crombie says, "_Sitten_,
though formerly in use, is now obsolescent. Laudable attempts, however,
have been made to restore it."--_On Etymol. and Syntax_, p. 199. Lennie
says, "Many authors, both here and in America, use _sate_ as the Past time
of _sit_; but this is improper, for it is apt to be confounded with _sate_
to glut. _Sitten_ and _spitten_ are preferable [to _sat_ and _spit_,]
though obsolescent."--_Principles of E. Gram._, p. 45. Bullions says,
"_Sitten_ and _spitten_ are nearly obsolete, though preferable to _sat_ and
_spit_."--_Principles of E. Gram._, p. 64. M'Culloch gives these verbs in
the following form: "Sit, sat, sitten _or_ sat. Spit, spit _or_ spat, spit
_or_ spitten."--_Manual of E. Gram._, p. 65.

[289] "He will find the political hobby which he has _bestrided_ no child's
nag."--_The Vanguard, a Newspaper_.

   "Through the pressed nostril, spectacle-_bestrid_."--_Cowper_.

    "A lank haired hunter _strided_."--_Whittier's Sabbath Scene_.

[290] In the age of Pope, _writ_ was frequently used both for the
participle and for the preterit of this verb. It is now either obsolete or
peculiar to the poets. In prose it seems vulgar: as, "He _writ_ it, at
least, published it, in 1670."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 77.

   "He, who, supreme in judgement, as in wit,
    Might boldly censure, as he boldly _writ_."--_Pope, Ess. on Crit._

Dr. Crombie remarked, more than thirty years ago, that, "_Wrote_ as the
Participle [of _Write_,] is generally disused, and likewise
_writ_."--_Treatise on Etym. and Synt._, p. 202.

[291] A word is not necessarily _ungrammatical_ by reason of having a rival
form that is more common. The regular words, _beseeched, blowed, bursted,
digged, freezed, bereaved, hanged, meaned, sawed, showed, stringed,
weeped_, I admit for good English, though we find them all condemned by
some critics.

[292] "And the man in whom the evil spirit was, _leapt_ on them."--FRIENDS'
BIBLE: _Acts_, xix, 16. In Scott's Bible, and several others, the word is
"_leaped_." Walker says, "The past time of this verb is _generally_ heard
with the diphthong short; and if so, it ought to be spelled _leapt_,
rhyming with _kept_."--_Walker's Pron. Dict., w. Leap_. Worcester, who
improperly pronounces _leaped_ in two ways, "l~ept or l=ept," _misquotes_
Walker, as saying, "it ought to be spelled _lept_."--_Universal and
Critical Dict., w. Leap_. In the solemn style, _leaped_ is, of course, two
syllables. As for _leapedst_ or _leaptest_, I know not that either can be
found.

[293] _Acquit_ is almost always formed regularly, thus: _acquit, acquitted,
acquitting, acquitted._ But, like _quit_, it is sometimes found in an
irregular form also; which, if it be allowable, will make it redundant: as,
"To be _acquit_ from my continual smart."--SPENCER: _Johnson's Dict._ "The
writer holds himself _acquit_ of all charges in this regard."--_Judd, on
the Revolutionary War_, p. 5. "I am glad I am so _acquit_ of this
tinder-box."--SHAK.

[294]

   "Not know my voice! O, time's extremity!
    Hast thou so crack'd and _splitted_ my poor tongue?"
        --SHAK.: _Com. of Er._


[295] _Whet_ is made redundant in Webster's American Dictionary, as well as
in Wells's Grammar; but I can hardly affirm that the irregular form of it
is well authorized.

[296] In S. W. Clark's Practical Grammar, first published in 1847--a work
of high pretensions, and prepared expressly "for the education of
Teachers"--_sixty-three_ out of the foregoing ninety-five Redundant Verbs,
are treated as having no regular or no irregular forms. (1.) The following
twenty-nine are _omitted_ by this author, as if they were _always regular_;
belay, bet, betide, blend, bless, curse, dive, dress, geld, lean, leap,
learn, mulet, pass, pen, plead, prove, rap, reave, roast, seethe, smell,
spoil, stave, stay, wake, wed, whet, wont. (2.) The following thirty-four
are _given_ by him as being _always irregular_; abide, bend, beseech, blow,
burst, catch, chide, creep, deal, freeze, grind, hang, knit, lade, lay,
mean, pay, shake, sleep, slide, speed, spell, spill, split, string, strive,
sweat, sweep, thrive, throw, weave, weep, wet, wind. Thirty-two of the
ninety-five are made redundant by him, though not so called in his book.

In Wells's School Grammar, "the 113th Thousand," dated 1850, the
deficiencies of the foregoing kinds, if I am right, are about fifty. This
author's "List of Irregular Verbs" has forty-four Redundants, to which he
assigns a regular form as well as an irregular. He is here about as much
nearer right than Clark, as this number surpasses thirty-two, and comes
towards ninety-five. The words about which they differ, are--_pen, seethe_,
and _whet_, of the former number; and _catch, deal, hang, knit, spell,
spill, sweat_, and _thrive_, of the latter.

[297] In the following example, there is a different phraseology, which
seems not so well suited to the sense: "But we _must be aware_ of
imagining, that we render style strong and expressive, by a constant and
multiplied use of epithets"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 287. Here, in stead of
"_be aware_," the author should have said, "_beware_," or "_be ware_;" that
is, be _wary_, or _cautious_; for _aware_ means _apprised_, or _informed_,
a sense very different from the other.

[298] Dr. Crombie contends that _must_ and _ought_ are used only in the
present tense. (See his _Treatise_, p. 204.) In this he is wrong,
especially with regard to the latter word. Lennie, and his copyist
Bullions, adopt the same notion; but Murray, and many others, suppose them
to "have both a present and [a] past signification."

[299] Dr. Crombie says, "This Verb, as an auxiliary, is _inflexible_; thus
we say, 'he _will_ go;' and 'he _wills to_ go.'"--_Treatise on Etym. and
Syntax_, p. 203. He should have confined his remarks to the _familiar
style_, in which all the auxiliaries, except _do, be_, and _have_, are
inflexible. For, in the solemn style, we do not say, "Thou _will_ go," but,
"Thou _wilt_ go."

[300] "HAD-I-WIST. A proverbial expression, _Oh_ that I had known.
_Gower_."--_Chalmers's Dict._, also _Webster's_. In this phrase, which is
here needlessly compounded, and not very properly explained, we see _wist_
used as a perfect participle. But the word is obsolete. "_Had I wist_," is
therefore an obsolete phrase, meaning. If I had known, or, "_O_ that I had
known."

[301] That is, passive verbs, as well as others, have three participles for
each; so that, from one active-transitive root, there come _six_
participles--three active, and three passive. Those numerous grammarians
who, like Lindley Murray, make passive verbs a distinct class, for the most
part, very properly state the participles of a _verb_ to be "_three_;" but,
to represent the two voices as modifications of one species of verbs, and
then say, "The Participles are _three_," as many recent writers do, is
manifestly absurd: because _two threes should be six_. Thus, for example,
Dr. Bullions: "In English [,] the _transitive_ verb has always _two
voices_, the Active and [the] Passive."--_Prin. of E. Gram._, p. 33. "The
Participles are _three_, [:] the Present, the _Perfect_, and the _Compound
Perfect_."--_Ib._, p. 57. Again: "_Transitive_ verbs have two voices,
called the _Active_ and the _Passive_."--_Bullions's Analyt. and Pract.
Gram._, p. 66. "Verbs have _three_ participles--the _present_, the _past_,
and the _perfect_; as, _loving, loved, having loved_, in the active voice:
AND _being loved, loved, having been loved_, in the passive."--_Ib._, p.
76. Now either not all these are the participles of _one_ verb, or that
verb has _more than three_. Take your choice. Redundant verbs usually have
_duplicate forms_ of all the participles except the Imperfect Active; as,
_lighting, lighted_ or _lit, having lighted_ or _having lit_; so again,
_being lighted_ or _being lit, lighted_ or _lit, having been lighted_ or
_having been lit_.

[302] The diversity in the _application_ of these names, and in the number
or nature of the participles recognized in different grammars, is quite as
remarkable as that of the names themselves. To prepare a general synopsis
of this discordant teaching, no man will probably think it worth his while.
The following are a few examples of it:

1. "How many Participles, are there; There are two, the Active Participle
which ends in (ing), as burning, and the Passive Participle which ends in
(ed) as, burned."--_The British Grammar_, p. 140. In this book, the
participles of _Be_ are named thus: "ACTIVE. Being. PASSIVE. Been, having
been."--_Ib._, p. 138.

2. "How many _Sorts_ of Participles are there? _A_. Two; the Active
Participle, that ends always in _ing_; as, _loving_, and the Passive
Participle, that ends always in _ed, t_, or _n_; as, _loved, taught,
slain_."--_Fisher's Practical New Gram._, p. 75.

3. "ACTIVE VOICE. _Participles_. Present, calling. Past, having called.
Future, being about to call. PASSIVE VOICE. Present, being called. Past,
having been called. Future, being about to be called."--_Ward's Practical
Gram._, pp. 55 and 59.

4. ACT. "Present, loving; Perfect, loved; Past, having loved."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 39. The participles _passive_ are not given by Lowth; but, by
inference from his rule for forming "the passive verb," they must be these:
"Present, being loved; Perfect, loved, or been loved; Past, having been
loved." See _Lowth's Gram._, p. 44.

5. "ACT. V. _Present_, Loving. _Past_, Loved. _Perfect_, Having loved. PAS.
V. _Pres_. Being loved. _Past_, Loved. _Perf_. Having been
loved."--_Lennie's Gram._, pp. 25 and 33; _Greene's Analysis_, p. 225;
_Bullions's Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, pp. 87 and 95. This is Bullions's
_revised_ scheme, and much worse than his former one copied from Murray.

6. ACT. "_Present._ Loving. _Perfect._ Loved. _Compound Perfect_, Having
loved." PAS. "_Present._ Being loved. _Perfect or Passive._ Loved.
_Compound Perfect._ Having been loved."--_L. Murray's late editions_, pp.
98 and 99; _Hart's Gram._, pp. 85 and 88; _Bullions's Principles of E.
Gram._, pp. 47 and 55. No form or name of the first participle passive was
adopted by Murray in his early editions.

7. ACT. "Present. Pursuing. Perfect. Pursued. Compound perfect. Having
pursued." PAS. "_Present and Perfect_. Pursued, or being pursued. _Compound
Perfect_. Having been pursued."--_Rev. W. Allen's Gram._, pp. 88 and 93.
Here the first two passive forms, and their names too, are thrown together;
the former as equivalents, the latter as coalescents.

8. "TRANSITIVE. _Pres._ Loving, _Perf._ Having loved. PASSIVE. _Pres._
Loved or Being loved, _Perf._ Having been loved."--_Parkhurst's Gram. for
Beginners_, p. 110. Here the second active form is wanting; and the second
passive is confounded with the first.

9. ACT. "_Imperfect_, Loving [;] _Perfect_, Having loved [.]" PAS.
"_Imperfect_, Being loved [;] _Perfect_, Loved, Having been
loved."--_Wells's School Gram._, pp. 99 and 101. Here, too, the second
active is not given; the third is called by the name of the second; and the
second passive is confounded with the _third_, as if they were but forms of
the same thing.

10. ACT. "_Imperfect_, (_Present_,) Loving. _Perfect_. Having loved.
_Auxiliary Perfect_, Loved." PAS. "_Imperfect_, (_Present_,) Being loved.
_Perfect_, Having been loved. _Passive_, Loved."--_N. Butler's Pract.
Gram._, pp. 84 and 91. Here the common order of most of the participles is
very improperly disturbed, and as many are misnamed.

11. ACT. "Present, Loving [;] Perfect, Loved [;] Comp. Perf. Having loved
[.]" PAS. "Present, Being loved [;] Perfect, Loved, or been loved [;]
Compound Perfect, Having been loved."--_Frazee's Improved Gram._, 63 and
73. Here the second participle passive has two forms, one of which, "_been
loved_," is not commonly recognized, except as part of some passive verb or
preperfect participle.

12. ACT. V. "_Imperfect_, Seeing. _Perfect_, Seen. _Compound_, Having
seen." PAS. V. "_Preterimperfect_, Being seen. _Preterperfect_, Having been
seen."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 102. Here the chief and radical passive
participle is lacking, and neither of the compounds is well named.

13. ACT. "_Present_, Loving, [;] _Past_, Loved, [;] _Com. Past_, Having
loved." PAS. "_Present_, Being loved. [;] _Past_, Loved. [;] _Com. Past._
[,] Having been loved."--_Felton's Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, of 1843, pp.
37 and 50.

14. ACT. "Present. [,] Loving. [;] Perfect. [,] Loved. [;] Compound
Perfect. [,] Having loved." PAS. "Perfect or Passive. Loved. Compound
Perfect. Having been loved."--_Bicknell's Gram. Lond._, 1790, Part I, pp.
66 and 70; _L. Murray's_ 2d _Edition, York_, 1796, pp. 72 and 77. Here
"_Being loved_," is not noticed.

15. "_Participles. Active Voice. Present._ Loving. _Past_. Loved, or having
loved. _Participles. Passive Voice. Present._ Being loved. _Past_. Having
been loved."--_John Burn's Practical Gram._, p. 70. Here the chief Passive
term, "Loved," is omitted, and two of the active forms are confounded.

16. "_Present_, loving, _Past_, loved, _Compound_, having loved."--_S. W.
Clark's Practical Gram._, of 1848, p. 71. "ACT. VOICE.--_Present_ ...
Loving [;] _Compound_ [,] Having loved...... _Having been loving_."--_Ib._,
p. 81. "PAS. VOICE.--_Present_..... Loved, or, being loved [;]
_Compound_..... Having been loved."--_Ib._, p. 83. "The Compound Participle
consists of _the_ Participle of a principal verb, added to the word
_having_, or _being_, or to the two words _having been_. Examples--Having
loved--_being loved_--having been loved."--_Ib._, p. 71. Here the second
extract is _deficient_, as may be seen by comparing it with the first; and
the fourth is _grossly erroneous_, as is shown by the third. The
participles, too, are misnamed throughout.

The reader may observe that the _punctuation_ of the foregoing examples is
very discrepant. I have, in brackets, suggested some corrections, but have
not attempted a general adjustment of it.

[303] "The _most unexceptionable_ distinction which grammarians make
between the participles, is, that the one points to the continuation of the
action, passion, or state denoted by the verb; and the other, to the
completion of it. Thus, the present participle signifies _imperfect_
action, or action begun and not ended: as, 'I am _writing_ a letter.' The
past participle signifies action _perfected_, or finished: as, 'I have
_written_ a letter.'--'The letter is written.'"--_Murray's Grammar_, 8vo,
p. 65. "The first [participle] expresses a _continuation_; the other, a
_completion_."--_W. Allen's Grammar_, 12mo, London, 1813. "The idea which
this participle [e.g. '_tearing_'] really expresses, is simply that of the
_continuance_ of an action in an _incomplete_ or _unfinished_ state. The
action may belong to time _present_, to time _past_, or to time _future_.
The participle which denotes the _completion_ of an action, as _torn_, is
called the _perfect_ participle; because it represents the action as
_perfect_ or _finished_."--_Barnard's Analytic Gram._, p. 51. Emmons
stealthily copies from my Institutes as many as ten lines in defence of the
term '_Imperfect_' and yet, in his conjugations, he calls the participle in
_ing_, "_Present_." This seems inconsistent. See his "_Grammatical
Instructer_," p. 61.

[304] "The ancient termination (from the Anglo-Saxon) was _and_; as, 'His
_schynand_ sword.' Douglas. And sometimes _ende_; as, 'She, between the
deth and life, _Swounende_ lay full ofte.' Gower."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p.
88. "The present Participle, in Saxon, was formed by _ande, ende_, or
_onde_; and, by cutting off the final _e_, it acquired a Substantive
signification, and extended the idea to the agent: as, _alysende_, freeing,
and _alysend_, a redeemer; _freonde_, loving or friendly, and _freond_, a
lover or a friend."--_Booth's Introd. to Dict._, p. 75.

[305] William B. Fowle, a modern disciple of Tooke, treats the subject of
grammatical time rather more strangely than his master. Thus: "How many
times or tenses have verbs? _Two_, [the] present and [the] _past_," To this
he immediately adds in a note: "We _do not believe_ in a _past_ any more
than a future tense of verbs."--_The True English Gram._, p. 30. So,
between these two authors, our verbs will retain no tenses at all. Indeed,
by his two tenses, Fowle only meant to recognize the two simple forms of an
English verb. For he says, in an other place, "We repeat our conviction
that no verb in itself expresses time of any sort."--_Ib._, p. 69,

[306] "STONE'-BLIND," "STONE'-COLD," and "STONE'-DEAD," are given in
Worcester's Dictionary, as compound _adjectives_; and this is perhaps their
best classification; but, if I mistake not, they are usually accented quite
as strongly on the latter syllable, as on the former, being spoken rather
as two emphatic words. A similar example from Sigourney, "I saw an infant
_marble cold_," is given by Frazee under this Note: "Adjectives sometimes
belong to other adjectives; as, '_red hot_ iron.'"--_Improved Gram._, p.
141. But Webster himself, from whom this doctrine and the example are
borrowed, (see his Rule XIX,) makes "RED'-HOT" but one word in his
Dictionary; and Worcester gives it as one word, in a less proper form, even
without a hyphen, "RED'HOT."

[307] "OF ENALLAGE.--The construction which may be reduced to this figure
in English, chiefly appears when one part of speech, is used with the power
and effect of another."--_Ward's English Gram._, p. 150.

[308] _Forsooth_ is _literally_ a word of affirmation or assent, meaning
_for truth_, but it is now almost always used _ironically_: as, "In these
gentlemen whom the world _forsooth_ calls wise and solid, there is
generally either a moroseness that persecutes, or a dullness that tires
you."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, p. 24.

[309] In most instances, however, the words _hereof, thereof_, and
_whereof_, are placed after _nouns_, and have nothing to do with any
_verb_. They are therefore not properly _adverbs_, though all our
grammarians and lexicographers call them so. Nor are they _adjectives_;
because they are not used adjectively, but rather in the sense of a pronoun
governed by _of_; or, what is nearly the same thing, in the sense of the
possessive or genitive case. Example: "And the fame _hereof_ went
abroad."--_Matt._, ix, 26. That is, "the fame _of this miracle_;" which
last is a better expression, the other being obsolete, or worthy to be so,
on account of its irregularity.

[310] _Seldom_ is sometimes compared in this manner, though not frequently;
as, "This kind of verse occurs the _seldomest_, but has a happy effect in
diversifying the melody."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 385. In former days, this
word, as well as its correlative _often_, was sometimes used _adjectively_;
as, "Thine _often_ infirmities."--_1 Tim._, v, 23. "I hope God's Book hath
not been my _seldomest_ lectures."--_Queen Elizabeth_, 1585. John Walker
has regularly compared the adverb _forward_: in describing the latter L, he
speaks of the tip of the tongue as being "brought a little _forwarder_ to
the teeth."--_Pron. Dict., Principles_, No. 55.

[311] A few instances of the _regular inflection_ of adverbs ending in
_ly_, may be met with in _modern_ compositions, as in the following
comparisons: "As melodies will sometimes ring _sweetlier_ in the
echo."--_The Dial_, Vol. i, p. 6. "I remember no poet whose writings would
_safelier_ stand the test."--_Coleridge's Biog. Lit._, Vol. ii, p. 53.

[312] De Sacy, in his Principles of General Grammar, calls the relative
pronouns "_Conjunctive Adjectives_." See _Fosdick's Translation_, p. 57. He
also says, "The words _who, which_, etc. are not the only words which
connect the function of a Conjunction with another design. There are
Conjunctive _Nouns_ and _Adverbs_, as well as Adjectives; and a
characteristic of these words is, that we can substitute for them another
form of expression in which shall be found the words _who, which_, etc.
Thus, _when, where, what, how, as_, and many others, are Conjunctive words:
[as,] 'I shall finish _when_ I please;' that is, 'I shall finish _at the
time at which_ I please.'--'I know not _where_ I am;' i.e. 'I know not _the
place in which_ I am.'"--_Ib._, p. 58. In respect to the conjunctive
_adverbs_, this is well enough, so far as it goes; but the word _who_
appears to me to be a pronoun, and not an adjective; and of his
"_Conjunctive Nouns_," he ought to have given us some examples, if he knew
of any.

[313] "Now the Definition of a CONJUNCTION is as follows--_a Part of
Speech, void of Signification itself, but so formed as to help
Signification by making_ TWO _or more significant Sentences to be_ ONE
_significant Sentence_."--_Harris's Hermes_, 6th Edition, London, p. 238.

[314] Whether these, or any other conjunctions that come together, ought to
ho parsed together, is doubtful. I am not in favour of taking any words
together, that can well be parsed separately. Goodenow, who defines a
phrase to be "the union of two or more words having the _nature and
construcion [sic--KTH] of a single word_," finds an immense number of these
unions, which he cannot, or does not, analyze. As examples of "a
_conjunctional phrase_," he gives "_as if_ and "_as though_."--_Gram._, p.
25. But when he comes to speak of _ellipsis_, he says: "After the
conjunctions _than, as, but_, &c., some words are generally understood;
as, 'We have more than [_that is which_] will suffice;' 'He acted _as_ [_he
would act_] _if_ he were mad.'"--_Ib._, p. 41. This doctrine is plainly
repugnant to the other.

[315] Of the construction noticed in this observation, the Rev. Matt.
Harrison cites a good example; pronounces it elliptical; and scarcely
forbears to condemn it as bad English: "_In_ the following sentence, the
relative pronoun is three times omitted:--'Is there a God to swear _by_,
and is there none to believe _in_, none to trust _to_?'--_Letters and
Essays, Anonymous_. _By, in_, and _to_, as prepositions, stand alone,
_denuded of the relatives_ to which they apply. The sentence presents no
attractions worthy of imitation. It exhibits a license carried to the
extreme point of endurance."--_Harrison's English Language_, p. 196.

[316] "An ellipsis of _from_ after the adverb _off_ has caused the latter
word sometimes to be inserted _incorrectly_ among the prepositions. Ex.
'off (from) his horse.'"--_Hart's Gram._, p. 96. _Off_ and _on_ are
opposites; and, in a sentence like the following, I see no more need of
inserting "_from_" after the former, than _to_ after the latter: "Thou
shalt not come down _off_ that bed _on_ which thou art gone up."--2
_Kings_, i, 16.

[317] "_Who consequently_ reduced the _greatest_ part of the island TO
their own power."--_Swift, on the English Tongue_. "We can say, that _one
nation reduces another_ TO _subjection_. But when _dominion_ or _power_ is
used, we always, _as_ [so] far as I know, say, _reduce_ UNDER _their
power_" [or _dominion_]--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 229.

[318] "_O foy_, don't misapprehend me; I don't say so."--DOUBLE DEALER:
_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 305.

[319] According to Walker and Webster, _la_ is pronounced _law_; and, if
they are right in this, the latter is only a false mode of spelling. But I
set down both, because both are found in books, and because I incline to
think the former is from the French _la_, which is pronounced _lah_.
Johnson and Webster make _la_ and _lo_ synonymous; deriving _lo_ from the
Saxon _la_, and _la_ either from _lo_ or from the French _la_. "_Law_, how
you joke, cousin."--_Columbian Orator_, p. 178. "_Law_ me! the very ghosts
are come now!"--_Ibid._ "_Law_, sister Betty! I am glad to see
you!"--_Ibid._

   "_La_ you! If you speak ill of the devil,
    How he takes it at heart!"--SHAKESPEARE: _Joh. Dict., w. La._

[320] The interjection of interrogating, being placed independently, either
after a question, or after something which it converts into a question, is
usually marked with its own separate eroteme; as, "But this is even so:
eh?"--_Newspaper_. "Is't not drown'd i' the last rain? Ha?"--_Shakespeare_.
"Does Bridget paint still, Pompey? Ha?"--_Id._ "Suits my complexion--_hey_,
gal? so I think."--_Yankee Schoolmaster_. Sometimes we see it divided only
by a comma, from the preceding question; as, "What dost thou think of this
doctrine, Friend Gurth, ha?"--SCOTT'S IVANHOE: _Fowler's E. Gram._, §29.

[321] Though _oh_ and _ah_ are most commonly used as signs of these
depressing passions, it must be confessed that they are sometimes employed
by reputable writers, as marks of cheerfulness or exultation; as, "_Ah_,
pleasant proof," &c.--_Cowper's Task_, p. 179. "Merrily _oh!_ merrily
_oh!_"--_Moore's Tyrolese Song_. "Cheerily _oh!_ cheerily _oh!_"--_Ib._ But
even if this usage be supposed to be right, there is still some difference
between these words and the interjection _O_: if there were not, we might
dispense with the latter, and substitute one of the former; but this would
certainly change the import of many an invocation.

[322] This position is denied by some grammarians. One recent author says,
"The _object_ cannot properly be called one of the principal parts of a
sentence; as it belongs only to some sentences, and then is dependent on
the verb, which it modifies or explains."--_Goodenow's Gram._, p. 87. This
is consistent enough with the notion, that, "An infinitive, with or without
a substantive, may be _the object of a transitive verb_; as, 'I wish _to
ride_;' 'I wish _you to ride_.'"--_Ib._, p. 37. Or, with the _contrary_
notion, that, "An infinitive may be _the object of a_ _preposition_,
expressed or understood; as, 'I wish _for you to ride_.'"--_Ibid._ But if
the object governed by the verb, is always a mere qualifying adjunct, a
mere "explanation of the attribute," (_Ib._, p. 28,) how differs it from an
adverb? "Adverbs are words _added to verbs_, and sometimes to other words,
to _qualify_ their meaning."--_Ib._, p. 23. And if infinitives and other
mere _adjuncts_ may be the objects which make verbs transitive, how shall a
transitive verb be known? The fact is, that the _true_ object of the
transitive verb _is one of the principal_ _parts_ of the sentence, and that
the infinitive mood cannot properly be reckoned such an object.

[323] Some writers distinguish sentences as being of _three_ kinds,
_simple_, and _complex_, and _compound_; but, in this work, care has not in
general been taken to discriminate between complex sentences and compound.
A late author states the difference thus: "A sentence containing but one
proposition is _simple_; a sentence containing two propositions, one of
which modifies the other, is _complex_; a sentence containing two
propositions which in no way modify each other, is _compound_."--_Greene's
Analysis_, p. 3. The term _compound_, as applied to sentences, is not
_usually_ so restricted. An other, using the same terms for a very
different division, explains them thus: "A _Simple Sentence_ contains but
one subject and one attribute; as, 'The _sun shines_.' A _Complex Sentence_
contains two or more subjects of the same attribute, or two or more
attributes of the same subject; as, 'The _sun_ and the _stars_ shine.' 'The
sun _rises_ and _sets_.' 'The _sun_ and the _stars rise_ and _set_.' A
_Compound Sentence_ is composed of two or more simple or complex sentences
united; as, 'The _sun shines_, and the _stars twinkle_.' 'The _sun rises_
and _sets_, as the _earth revolves_.'"--_Pinneo's English Teacher_, p. 10;
_Analytical Gram._, pp. 128, 142, and 146. This notion of a _complex
sentence_ is not more common than Greene's; nor is it yet apparent, that
the usual division of sentences into two kinds ought to give place to any
tripartite distribution.

[324] The terms _clause_ and _member_, in grammar, appear to have been
generally used as words synonymous; but some authors have thought it
convenient to discriminate them, as having different senses. Hiley says,
"Those parts of a sentence which are separated by commas, are called
_clauses_; and those separated by semicolons, are called
_members_."--_Hiley' s Gram._, p. 66. W. Allen too confines the former term
to simple members: "A compound sentence is formed by uniting two or more
simple sentences; as, Man is mortal, and life is uncertain. Each of these
simple sentences is called a _clause_. When the _members_ of a compound
sentence are complex, they are _subdivided_ into _clauses_; as, Virtue
leads to honor, and insures true happiness; but vice degrades the
understanding, and is succeeded by infamy."--_Allen's Gram._, p. 128. By
some authors, the terms _clause_ and _phrase_ are often carelessly
confounded, each being applied with no sort of regard to its proper import.
Thus, where L. Murray and his copyists expound their text about "the
pupil's composing frequently," even the minor phrase, "_composing
frequently_," is absurdly called a _clause_; "an entire _clause_ of a
sentence."--See _Murray's Gram._, p. 179; _Alger's_, 61; _Fisk's_, 108;
_Ingersoll's_, 180; _Merchant's_, 84; _R. C. Smith's_, 152; _Weld's_, 2d
Ed., 150. The term _sentence_ also is sometimes grossly misapplied. Thus,
by R. C. Smith, the phrases "_James and William_," "_Thomas and John_," and
others similar, are called "sentences."--_Smith's New Gram._, pp. 9 and 10.
So Weld absurdly writes as follows; "A _whole sentence_ is frequently the
object of a preposition; as, 'The crime of being a young man.' _Being a
young man_, is the object of the preposition _of_."--_Weld's E. Gram._, 2d
Edition, p. 42. The phrase, "_being a young man_," here depends upon
"_of_;" but this preposition governs nothing but the participle "_being_."
The construction of the word "_man_" is explained below, in Obs. 7th on
Rule 6th, of Same Cases.

[325] In the very nature of things, all _agreement_ consists in
concurrence, correspondence, conformity, similarity, sameness, equality;
but _government_ is direction, control, regulation, restrain, influence,
authoritative requisition, with the implication of inequality. That these
properties ought to be so far distinguished in grammar, as never to be
supposed to co-exist in the same terms and under the same circumstances,
must be manifest to every reasoner. Some grammarians who seem to have been
not always unaware of this, have nevertheless egregiously forgotten it at
times. Thus Nutting, in the following remark, expresses a true doctrine,
though he has written it with no great accuracy: "A word _in parsing_ never
governs the same word _which_ it qualifies, or with which it
agrees."--_Practical Gram._, p. 108. Yet, in his syntax, in which he
pretends to separate agreement from government, he frames his first rule
under the better head thus: "The nominative case _governs_ a verb."--_Ib._
p. 96. Lindsey Murray recognizes no such government as this; but seems to
suppose his rule for the agreement of a verb with its nominative to be
sufficient for both verb and nominative. He appears, however, not to have
known that a word does not agree syntactically with another that governs
it; for, in his Exercises, he has given us, apparently from his own pen,
the following _untrue_, but otherwise not very objectionable sentence: "On
these occasions, the pronoun is governed by, _an consequently agrees with_,
the preceding word."--_Exercises_, 8vo, ii, 74. This he corrects thus: On
these occasions, the pronoun is governed by the preceding word, _and
consequently agrees with it_."--_Key_, 8vo, ii, 204. The amendments most
needed he overlooks; for the thought is not just, and the two verbs which
are here connected with one and the same nominative, are different in form.
See the same example, with the same variation of it, in _Smith's New
Gram._, p. 167; and, without the change, in _Ingersoll's_, p. 233; _and
Fisk's_, 141.

[326] It has been the notion of some grammarians, that _the verb governs
the nominative before it_. This is an old rule, which seems to have been
very much forgotten by modern authors; though doubtless it is as true, and
as worthy to be perpetuated, as that which supposes the nominative to
govern the verb: "Omne verbum personale finiti modi regit ante se expresse
vel subaudite ejusdem numeri et personæ nominativum vel aliquid pro
nominativo: ut, _ego scribo, tu legis, ille auscultat_."--DESPAUTERII SYNT.
fol. xvi. This Despauter was a laborious author, who, within fifty years
after the introduction of printing, complains that he found his task heavy,
on account of the immense number of books and opinions which he had to
consult: "Necdum tamen huic operi ultimam manum aliter imposui, quam
Apelles olim picturis: siquidem aptius exire, quum in multis tum in hac
arte est difficillimum, _propter librorum legendorum immensitatem_, et
opinionum innumeram diversitatem."--_Ibid., Epist. Apologetica_, A. D.
1513. But if, for this reason, the task was heavy _then_, what is it _now_!

[327] Nutting's rule certainly implies that _articles_ may relate to
_pronouns_, though he gives no example, nor can he give any that is now
good English; but he may, if he pleases, quote some other modern
grammatists, who teach the same false doctrine: as, "RULE II. _The article
refers to its noun_ (OR PRONOUN) _to limit its signification_."--R. G.
Greene's Grammatical Text-Book, p. 18. Greene's two grammars are used
extensively in the state of Maine, but they appear to be little known
anywhere else. This author professes to inculcate "the principles
established by Lindley Murray." If veracity, on this point, is worth any
thing, it is a pity that in both books there are so many points which, like
the foregoing parenthesis, belie this profession. He followed here
Ingersoll's RULE IV, which is this: "_The article refers to a noun_ OR
PRONOUN, _expressed or understood, to limit its signification_."--
_Conversations on E. Gram._, p. 185.

[328] It is truly a matter of surprise to find under what _titles_ or
_heads_, many of the rules of syntax have been set, by some of the best
scholars that have ever written on grammar. In this respect, the Latin and
Greek grammarians are particularly censurable; but it better suits my
purpose to give an example or two from one of the ablest of the English.
Thus that elegant scholar the Rev. W. Allen: "SYNTAX OF NOUNS. 325. A verb
agrees with its nominative case in number and person."--_Elements of E.
Gram._, p. 131. This is in no wise the syntax of _Nouns_, but rather that
of _the Verb_. Again: "SYNTAX OF VERBS. 405. Active Verbs govern the
accusative case; as, I love _him_. We saw _them_. God rules the
_world_."--_Ib._, p. 161. This is not properly the syntax of _Verbs_, but
rather that of _Nouns_ or _Pronouns_ in the accusative or objective case.
Any one who has but the least sense of order, must see the propriety of
referring the rule to that sort of words to which it is applied in parsing,
and not some other. Verbs are never parsed or construed by the latter of
these rules nor nouns by the former.

[329] What "the Series of Grammars, English, Latin, and Greek, ON THE SAME
PLAN," will ultimately be,--how many treatises for each or any of the
languages it will probably contain,--what uniformity will be found in the
distribution of their several sorts and sizes,--or what _sameness_ they
will have, except that which is bestowed by the binders,--cannot yet be
stated with any certainty. It appears now, in 1850, that the scheme has
thus far resulted in the production of _three remarkably different
grammars_, for the English part of the series, and two more, a Latin
grammar and a Greek, which resemble each other, or any of these, as little.
In these works, abound changes and discrepances, sometimes indicating a
great _unsettlement_ of "principles" or "plan," and often exciting our
wonder at the extraordinary _variety_ of teaching, which has been claimed
to be, "as nearly in the same words as the as the _genius of the languages_
would permit!" In what _should_ have been uniform, and easily _might_ have
been so, these grammars are rather remarkably diverse! Uniformity in the
order, number, or phraseology of the Rules of Syntax, even for our own
language, seems scarcely yet to have entered this "SAME PLAN" at all! The
"onward progress of English grammar," or, rather, of the author's studies
therein, has already, within "fifteen years," greatly varied, from the
_first model_ of the "_Series_," his own idea of a good grammar; and,
though such changes bar consistency, a future progress, real or imaginary,
may likewise, with as good reason, vary it yet as much more. In the preface
to the work of 1840, it is said: "This, though _not essentially different_
from the former, is yet in some respects a new work. It has been almost
_entirely rewritten_." And again: "The Syntax is _much fuller_ than in the
former work; and though _the rules are not different_, they are arranged in
a _different order_." So it is proved, that the model needed remodelling;
and that the Syntax, especially, was defective, in matter as well as in
order. The suggestions, that "_the rules are not different_," and the
works, _"not essentially" so_, will sound best to those who shall never
compare them. The old code has thirty-four chief, and twenty-two "special
rules;" the new has twenty chief, thirty-six "special," and one "general
rule." Among all these, we shall scarcely find _exact sameness_ preserved
in so many as half a dozen instances. Of the old thirty-four, _fourteen
only_ were judged worthy to remain as principal rules; and two of these
have no claim at all to such rank, one of them being quite useless. Of the
_twenty_ now made chief, five are new to "the Series of Grammars," and
three of these exceedingly resemble as many of mine; five are slightly
altered, and five greatly, from their predecessors among the old: one is
the first half of an old rule; one is an old subordinate rule, altered and
elevated; and _three are as they were before_, their numbers and relative
positions excepted!

[330] "The grammatical predicate is a verb."--_Butler's Pract. Gram._,
1845, p. 135, "_The grammatical predicate_ is a finite verb."--_Wells's
School Gram._, 1850, p. 185. "The grammatical predicate is either a verb
alone, or the copula _sum_ [some part of the verb _be_] with a noun or
adjective."--_Andrews and Stoddard's Lat. Gram._, p. 163. "The _predicate_
consists of two parts,--the verb, or _copula_, and that which is asserted
by it, called the _attribute_; as 'Snow _is white_.'"--_Greene's Analysis_.
p. 15. "The _grammatical_ predicate consists of the _attribute_ and
_copula_ not modified by other word."--_Bullions, Analyt, and Pract.
Gram._, P. 129. "The _logical_ predicate is the grammatical, with all the
words or phrases that modify it." _Ib._ p. 130. "The _Grammatical
predicate_ is the word or words containing the simple affirmation, made
respecting the subject."--_Bullions, Latin Gram._, p. 269. "Every
proposition necessarily consists of these three parts: [the _subject_, the
_predicate_, and the _copula_;] but then it is not alike needful, that they
be all severally expressed in words; because the copula _is often included_
in the term of the predicate; as when we say, _he sits_, which imports the
same as, _he is sitting_."--_Duncan's Logic_, p 105. In respect to this
Third Method of Analysis. It is questionable, whether a noun or an
adjective which follows the verb and forms part of the assertion, is to be
included in "the grammatical predicate" or not. Wells says, No: "It would
destroy at once all distinction between the grammatical and the logical
predicate."--_School Gram._, p. 185. An other question is, whether the
_copula_ (_is, was_ or the like,) which the _logicians_ discriminate,
should be included as part of the _logical_ predicate, when it occurs as a
distinct word. The prevalent practice of the _grammatical_ analyzers is, so
to include it,--a practice which in itself is not very "logical." The
distinction of subjects and predicates as "_grammatical_ and _logical_," is
but a recent one. In some grammars, the partition used in logic is copied
without change, except perhaps of _words_: as "There are, in sentences, a
_subject_, a _predicate_ and a _copula_." JOS. R. CHANDLER, _Gram. of_
1821, p. 105; _Gram. of_ 1847, p. 116. The logicians, however, and those
who copy them, may have been hitherto at fault in recognizing and
specifying their "_copula_." Mulligan forcibly argues that the verb of
_being_ is no more entitled to this name than is every other verb. (See his
_Exposition_," §46.) If he is right in this, the "_copula_" of the
logicians (an in my opinion, his own also) is a mere figment of the brain,
there being nothing that answers to the definition of the thing or to the
true use of the word.

[331] I cite this example from Wells, for the purpose of explaining it
without the several errors which that gentleman's _"Model"_ incidentally
inculcates. He suggests that _and_ connects, not the two relative
_clauses_, as such, but the two verbs _can give_ and _can take_; and that
the connexion between _away_ and _is_ must be traced through the former,
and its object _which._ These positions, I think, are wrong. He also uses
here, as elsewhere, the expressions, _"which relates it"_ and, _"which is
related by,"_ each in a very unusual, and perhaps an unauthorized, sense.
His formule reads thus: "_Away_ modifies _can take_; _can take_ is
CONNECTED with _can give_ by _and_; WHICH is governed by CAN GIVE, and
relates to _security_; _security_ is the object of _finding_, _which_ is
RELATED BY _of_ to _conviction_; _conviction_ is the object of with,
_which_ RELATES IT to _can look_; _to_ expresses the relation between
_whom_ and _can look_, and _whom_ relates to _Being_, which is the subject
of _is."_ --_Wells's School Gram._, 113th Ed., p. 192. Neither this nor the
subsequent method has been often called _"analysis;"_ for, in grammar, each
user of this term has commonly applied it to some one method only,--the
method preferred by himself.

[332] The possessive phrase here should be, "_Andrews and Stoddard's_," as
Wells and others write it. The adding of the apostrophe to the former name
is wrong, even by the better half of Butler's own absurd and
self-contradictory Rule: to wit, "When two or more nouns in the possessive
case are connected by _and_, the possessive termination _should be added to
each of them_; as, 'These are _John's and Eliza's_ books.' But, if objects
are possessed in common by two or more, and the nouns are closely connected
without any intervening words, the possessive termination is _added to the
last noun only_; as, 'These are _John and Eliza's_ books.'"--_Butler's_
_Practical Gram._, p. 163. The sign twice used implies two governing nouns:
"John's and Eliza's books." = "John's books and Eliza's;" "Andrews' and
Stoddard's Latin Grammar," = "Andrews' (or Andrews's) Latin Grammar and
Stoddard's"

[333] In Mulligan's recent "Exposition of the Grammatical Structure of the
English Language,"--the work of an able hand,--this kind of "Analysis,"
being most improperly pronounced "_the chief business of the grammarian_,"
is swelled by copious explanation under minute heads, to a volume
containing more than three times as much matter as Greene's; but, since
school-boys have little relish for long arguments, and prolixity had here
already reached to satiety and disgust, it is very doubtful whether the
practical utility of this "Improved Method of Teaching Grammar," will be
greater in proportion to this increase of bulk.--G. B., 1853.

[334] "I will not take upon me to say, whether we have any Grammar that
sufficiently instructs us by rule and example; but I am sure we have none,
that in the manner here attempted, teaches us what is right, by showing
what is wrong; though this perhaps may prove _the more useful and effectual
method_ of Instruction."--_Lowth's Gram., Pref._, p. viii.

[335] With the possessive case and its governing noun, we use but _one
article_; and sometimes it seems questionable, to which of the two that
article properly relates: as, "This is one of _the_ Hebrews'
children."--_Exodus_, ii, 6. The sentence is plainly equivalent to the
following, which has two articles: "This is one of _the_ children of _the_
Hebrews." Not because the one article is equivalent to the two, or because
it relates to both of the nouns; but because the possessive relation itself
makes one of the nouns sufficiently definite. Now, if we change the latter
construction back into the former, it is the noun _children_ that drops its
article; it is therefore the other to which the remaining article relates.
But we sometimes find examples in which the same analogy does not hold.
Thus, "_a summer's day_" means, "_a day of summer_;" and we should hardly
pronounce it equivalent to "_the day of a summer_." So the questionable
phrase, "_a three days' journey_," means, "_a journey of three days_;" and,
whether the construction be right or wrong, the article _a_ cannot be said
to relate to the plural noun. Possibly such a phrase as, "_the three years'
war_," might mean, "_the war of three years_;" so that the article must
relate to the latter noun. But in general it is the latter noun that is
rendered definite by the possessive relation: thus the phrase, "_man's
works_" is equivalent to "_the works_ of man," not to "_works of the man_;"
so, "_the man's works_," is equivalent, not to "the works of man," but to
"the works of _the_ man."

[336] Horne Tooke says, "The _use_ of A after the word MANY is a corruption
for _of_; and has _no connection_ whatever with the _article_ A, i. e.
_one_."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 324. With this conjecture of
the learned etymologist, I do not concur: it is hardly worth while to state
here, what may he urged pro and con.

[337] "Nothing can be more certain than that [in Greek syntax] all words
used for the purpose of definition, either stand between the article and
the noun, or have their own article prefixed. Yet it may sometimes happen
that an apposition [with an article] is parenthetically inserted instead of
being affixed."--J. W. DONALDSON: _Journal of Philology_, No. 2, p. 223.

[338] _Churchill_ rashly condemns this construction, and still more rashly
proposes to make the noun singular without repeating the article. See his
_New Gram._, p. 311. But he sometimes happily forgets his own doctrine; as,
"In fact, _the second and fourth lines_ here stamp the character of the
measure."--_Ib._, p. 391. O. B. Peirce says, "'Joram's _second_ and _third
daughters_,' must mean, if it means any thing, his _second daughters_ and
_third daughters_; and, 'the _first_ and _second verses_.' if it means any
thing, must represent the _first verses_ and the _second verses_."--
_Peirce's English Gram._, p. 263. According to my notion, this
interpretation is as false and hypercritical, as is the rule by which the
author professes to show what is right. He might have been better employed
in explaining some of his own phraseology, such as, "the _indefinite-past
and present_ of the _declarative mode_."--_Ib._, p. 100. The critic who
writes such stuff as this, may well be a misinterpreter of good common
English. It is plain, that the two examples which he thus distorts, are
neither obscure nor inelegant. But, in an alternative of single things, the
article _must be repeated_, and a plural noun is improper; as, "But they do
not receive _the_ Nicene _or the_ Athanasian _creeds_."--_Adam's Religious
World_, Vol. ii, p. 105. Say, "_creed_." So in an enumeration; as, "There
are three participles: _the_ present, _the_ perfect, and _the_ compound
perfect _participles_"--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 42. Expunge this last word,
"_participles_." Sometimes a sentence is wrong, not as being in itself a
solecism, but as being unadapted to the author's thought. Example: "Other
tendencies will be noticed in the Etymological and Syntactical
part."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, N. Y., 1850, p. 75. This implies, what appears
not to be true, that the author meant to treat Etymology and Syntax
_together_ in a single part of his work. Had he put an _s_ to the noun
"part," he might have been understood in either of two other ways, but not
in this. To make sure of his meaning, therefore, he should have said--"in
the Etymological _Part_ and _the_ Syntactical."

[339] Oliver B. Peirce, in his new theory of grammar, not only adopts
Ingersoll's error, but adds others to it. He supposes no ellipsis, and
declares it grossly improper ever to insert the pronoun. According to him,
the following text is wrong: "My son, _despise not thou_ the chastening of
the Lord."--_Heb._, xii, 5. See _Peirce's Gram._, p. 255. Of this
gentleman's book I shall say the less, because its faults are so many and
so obvious. Yet this is "_The Grammar of the English Language_," and claims
to be the only work which is worthy to be called an English Grammar. "The
first and only Grammar of the English Language!"--_Ib._, p. 10. In
punctuation, it is a very _chaos_, as one might guess from the following
Rule: "A _word_ of the _second person_, and in the _subjective_ case, _must
have_ a _semicolon_ after it; as, John; hear me."--_Id._, p. 282. Behold
his practice! "John, beware."--P. 84. "Children, study."--P. 80. "Henry;
study."--P. 249. "Pupil: parse."--P. 211; and many other places. "Be thou,
or do thou be writing? Be ye or you, or do ye or you be writing?"--P. 110.
According to his Rule, this tense requires six semicolons; but the author
points it with two commas and two notes of interrogation!

[340] In Butler's Practical Grammar, first published in 1845, this doctrine
is taught as a _novelty_. His publishers, in their circular letter, speak
of it as one of "the _peculiar advantages_ of this grammar over preceding
works," and as an important matter, "_heretofore altogether omitted by
grammarians_!" Wells cites Butler in support of his false principle: "A
verb in the infinitive is _often_ preceded by a noun or pronoun in the
objective, which has _no direct dependence_ on any other word.
Examples:--'Columbus ordered a strong _fortress_ of wood and plaster _to be
erected_.'--_Irving_. 'Its favors here should make _us tremble_.'--
_Young_." See _Wells's School Gram._, p. 147.

[341] "Sometimes indeed _the verb hath two regimens_, and then _the
preposition is necessary_ to one of them; as, 'I address myself _to_ my
judges.'"--_Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric_, p. 178. Here the verb
_address_ governs the pronoun _myself_, and is also the antecedent to the
preposition _to_; and the construction would be similar, if the preposition
governed the infinitive or a participle: as, "I prepared myself _to_ swim;"
or, "I prepared myself _for_ swimming." But, in any of these cases, it is
not very accurate to say, "_the verb has two regimens_;" for the latter
term is properly the regimen of the _preposition_. Cardell, by robbing the
prepositions, and supposing ellipses, found _two regimens for every verb_.
W. Allen, on the contrary, (from whom Nixon gathered his doctrine above,)
by giving the "accusative" to the infinitive, makes a multitude of our
active-transitive verbs "_neuter_." See _Allen's Gram._, p. 166. But Nixon
absurdly calls the verb "active-transitive," _because it governs the
infinitive_; i. e. as he supposes--and, except when _to_ is not used,
_erroneously_ supposes.

[342] A certain _new theorist_, who very innocently fogs himself and his
credulous readers with a deal of impertinent pedantry, after denouncing my
doctrine that _to_ before the infinitive is a _preposition_, appeals to me
thus: "Let me ask you, G. B.--is not the infinitive in Latin _the same_ as
in _the English?_ Thus, I desire _to teach Latin_--Ego Cupio _docere_. I
saw Abel _come_--Ego videbam Abelem _venire_. The same principle is
recognized by the Greek grammars and those of most of the modern
languages."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 358. Of this gentleman I know
nothing but from what appears in his book--a work of immeasurable and
ill-founded vanity--a whimsical, dogmatical, blundering performance. This
short sample of his Latin, (_with six puerile errors in seven words_,) is
proof positive that he knows nothing of that language, whatever may be his
attainments in Greek, or the other tongues of which he tells. To his
question I answer emphatically, NO. In Latin, "One verb governs an other in
the infinitive; as, _Cupio discere_, I desire _to_ learn."--_Adam's Gram._,
p. 181. This government never admits the intervention of a preposition. "I
saw Abel come," has no preposition; but the Latin of it is, "_Vidi Abelem
venientem_," and not what is given above; or, according to St. Jerome and
others, who wrote, "_Abel_," without declension, we ought rather to say,
"_Vidi Abel venientem_." If they are right, "_Ego videbam Abelem venire_,"
is every word of it wrong!

[343] Priestley cites these examples as _authorities_, not as _false
syntax_. The errors which I thus quote at secondhand from other
grammarians, and mark with double references, are in general such as the
first quoters have allowed, and made themselves responsible for; but this
is not the case in every instance. Such credit has sometimes, though
rarely, been given, where the expression was disapproved.--G. BROWN.

[344] Lindley Murray thought it not impracticable to put two or more nouns
in apposition and add the possessive sign to each; nor did he imagine there
would often be any positive impropriety in so doing. His words, on this
point, are these: "On the other hand, the application of the _genitive_
sign to both or all of the nouns in apposition, would be _generally_ harsh
and displeasing, and _perhaps in some cases incorrect_: as, 'The Emperor's
Leopold's; King George's; Charles's the Second's; The parcel was left at
Smith's, the bookseller's and stationer's."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 177.
Whether he imagined _any of these_ to be "_incorrect_" or not, does not
appear! Under the next rule, I shall give a short note which will show them
_all_ to be so. The author, however, after presenting these uncouth
fictions, which show nothing but his own deficiency in grammar, has done
the world the favour not to pronounce them very _convenient_ phrases; for
he continues the paragraph as follows: "The rules which _we_ have
endeavoured to elucidate, will prevent the _inconveniences_ of both these
modes of expression; and they appear to be _simple, perspicuous_, and
_consistent_ with the idiom of the language.'--_Ib._ This undeserved praise
of his own rules, he might as well have left to some other hand. They have
had the fortune, however, to please sundry critics, and to become the prey
of many thieves; but are certainly very deficient in the three qualities
here named; and, taken together with their illustrations, they form little
else than a tissue of errors, partly his own, and partly copied from Lowth
and Priestley.

Dr. Latham, too, and Prof. Child, whose erroneous teaching on this point is
still more marvellous, not only inculcate the idea that possessives in form
may be in apposition, but seem to suppose that two possessive endings are
essential to the relation. Forgetting all such English as we have in the
phrases, "_John the Baptist's head_,"--"_For Jacob my servant's
sake_,"--"_Julius Cæsar's Commentaries_,"--they invent sham expressions,
too awkward ever to have come to their knowledge from any actual use,--such
as, "_John's the farmer's wife_,"--"_Oliver's the spy's evidence_,"--and
then end their section with the general truth, "For words to be in
apposition with each other, they must be in the same case."--_Elementary
Grammar, Revised Edition_, p. 152. What sort of scholarship is that in
which _fictitious examples_ mislead even their inventors?

[345] In Professor Fowler's recent and copious work, "The English Language
in its Elements and Forms," our present _Reciprocals_ are called, not
_Pronominal Adjectives_, but "_Pronouns_," and are spoken of, in the first
instance, thus: "§248. A RECIPROCAL PRONOUN is _one_ that implies the
mutual action of different agents. EACH OTHER, and ONE ANOTHER, are our
reciprocal forms, _which are treated exactly as if they were compound
pronouns_, taking for their genitives, _each other's, one another's_. _Each
other_ is properly used of _two_, and _one another_ of _more_." The
definition here given takes for granted what is at least disputable, that
"_each other_," or "_one another_," is not a phrase, but is merely "_one
pronoun_." But, to none of his three important positions here taken, does
the author himself at all adhere. In §451, at Note 3, he teaches thus:
"'They love each other.' Here _each_ is in the nominative case in
apposition with _they_, and _other_ is in the objective case. 'They helped
one another.' Here _one_ is in apposition with _they_, and _another_ is in
the objective case." Now, by this mode of parsing, the reciprocal terms
"are treated," not as "compound pronouns," but as phrases consisting of
distinct or separable words: and, as being separate or separable words,
whether they be Adjectives or Pronouns, they conform not to his definition
above. Out of the sundry instances in which, according to his own showing,
he has misapplied one or the other of these phrases, I cite the following:
(1.) "The _two_ ideas of Science and Art differ from _one another_ as the
understanding differs from the will."--_Fowler's Gram._, 1850, §180.
Say,--"from _each_ other;" or,--"_one_ from _the_ other." (2.) "THOU, THY,
THEE, are etymologically related to _each_ other."--_Ib._, §216. Say,--"to
_one an_ other;" because there are "_more_" than "_two_." (3.) "Till within
some centuries, the Germans, like the French and the English, addressed
_each_ other in familiar conversation by the Second Person
Singular."--_Ib._, §221. Say,--"addressed _one an_ other." (4.) "Two
sentences are, on the other hand, connected in the way of co-ordination [,]
when they are not thus dependent one upon _an_other."--_Ib._, §332.
Say,--"upon _each_ other;" or,--"one upon _the_ other;" because there are
but two. (5.) "These two rivers are at a great distance from one
_an_other."--_Ib._, §617. Say,--"from _each_ other;" or,--"_one from the_
other." (6.) "The trees [in the _Forest of Bombast_] are close, spreading,
and twined into _each other_."--_Ib._, §617. Say,--"into _one an_ other."

[346] For this quotation, Dr. Campbell gives, in his margin, the following
reference: "Introduction, &c., Sentences, Note on the 6th Phrase." But in
my edition of Dr. Lowth's Introduction to English Grammar, (a Philadelphia
edition of 1799,) I _do not_ find the passage. Perhaps it has been omitted
in consequence of Campbell's criticism, of which I here cite but a
part.--G. BROWN.

[347] By some grammarians it is presumed to be consistent with the nature
of _participles_ to govern the possessive case; and Hiley, if he is to be
understood _literally_, assumes it as an "_established principle_," that
they _all_ do so! "_Participles govern_ nouns and pronouns in the
possessive case, and at the same time, if derived from transitive verbs,
_require_ the noun or pronoun following to be in the objective case,
_without the intervention of the preposition of_; as 'Much depends on
_William's observing the rule_, and error will be the consequence of _his
neglecting it_;' or, 'Much _will_ depend on the _rule's being observed by
William_, and error will be the consequence of _its being
neglected_.'"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 94. These sentences, without doubt, are
_nearly_ equivalent to each other in meaning. To make them exactly so,
"_depends_" or "_will depend_" must be changed in tense, and "_its being
neglected_" must be "_its being neglected by him_." But who that has looked
at the facts in the case, or informed himself on the points here in
dispute, will maintain that either the awkward phraseology of the latter
example, or the mixed and questionable construction of the former, or the
extensive rule under which they are here presented, is among "the
established principles and best usages of the English language?"--_Ib._, p.
1.

[348] What, in Weld's "Abridged Edition," is improperly called a
"participial _noun_," was, in his "original work," still more erroneously
termed "a participial _clause_." This gentleman, who has lately amended his
general rule for possessives by wrongfully copying or imitating mine, has
also as widely varied his conception of the _participial_--"_object
possessed_;" but, in my judgement, a change still greater might not be
amiss. "The possessive is often governed by a participial clause; as, much
will depend on the _pupil's_ composing frequently. _Pupil's_ is governed by
the _clause_, '_composing frequently_.' NOTE.--The sign ('s) should be
annexed to the word governed by the _participial clause_ following
it."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d _Edition_, p. 150. Again: "The possessive is often
governed by a participial _noun_; as, Much will depend on the _pupil's_
composing frequently. _Pupil's_ is governed by the participial _noun
composing_. NOTE.--The sign ('s) should be annexed to the word governed by
the participial _noun_ following it."--_Weld's Gram., Abridged_, p. 117.
Choosing the possessive case, where, both by analogy and by authority, the
objective would be quite as grammatical, if not more so; destroying, as far
as possible, all syntactical distinction between the participle and the
participial noun, by confounding them purposely, even in name; this author,
like Wells, whom he too often imitates, takes no notice of the question
here discussed, and seems quite unconscious that participles partly made
nouns can _produce_ false syntax. To the foregoing instructions, he
subjoins the following comment, as a marginal note: "_The participle used
as a noun_, still _retains its verbal properties_, and may govern the
objective case, or be modified by an adverb or adjunct, like the verb from
which it is derived."--_Ibid._ When one part of speech is said to be _used
as an other_, the learner may be greatly puzzled to understand _to which
class_ the given word belongs. If "_the participle used as a noun_, still
retains its verbal properties," it is, manifestly, not a noun, but a
participle still; not a participial noun, but a _nounal participle_,
whether the thing be allowable or not. Hence the teachings just cited are
inconsistent. Wells says, "_Participles_ are often used _in the sense of
nouns_; as, 'There was again the _smacking_ of whips, the _clattering_ of
hoofs, and the _glittering_ of harness.'--IRVING."--_School Gram._, p.
154. This is not well stated; because these are participial _nouns_, and
not "_participles_." What Wells calls "participial nouns," differ from
these, and are _all_ spurious, _all_ mongrels, _all_ participles rather
than nouns. In regard to possessives before participles, no instructions
appear to be more defective than those of this gentleman. His sole rule
supposes the pupil always to know when and why the possessive is _proper_,
and only instructs him _not to form it without the sign!_ It is this: "When
a noun or a pronoun, preceding a _participle used as a noun_, is _properly_
in the possessive case, the sign of possession should not be
omitted."--_School Gram._, p. 121. All the examples put under this rule,
are inappropriate: each will mislead the learner. Those which are called
"_Correct_," are, I think erroneous; and those which are called "_False
Syntax_," the adding of the possessive sign will not amend.

[349] It is remarkable, that Lindley Murray, with all his care in revising
his work, did not see the _inconsistency_ of his instructions in relation
to phrases of this kind. First he copies Lowth's doctrine, literally and
anonymously, from the Doctor's 17th page, thus: "When the thing to which
_another is said to belong_, is expressed by a circumlocution, or by _many
terms_, the sign of the possessive case _is commonly added to the last_
term: as, 'The _king of Great Britain's_ dominions.'"--_Murray's Gram._,
8vo, p. 45. Afterwards he condemns this: "The word in the genitive case is
frequently PLACED IMPROPERLY: as, 'This fact appears from _Dr. Pearson of
Birmingham's_ experiments.' _It_ should be, 'from the experiments of _Dr.
Pearson_ of Birmingham.' "--_Ib._, p. 175. And again he makes it necessary:
"A phrase in which the words are so connected and dependent, as to admit of
no pause before the conclusion, _necessarily requires_ the genitive sign
_at or near_ the end _of the phrase_: as, 'Whose prerogative is it? It is
the _king of Great Britain's_;' 'That is the _duke of Bridgewater's_
canal;' " &c.--_Ib._, p. 276. Is there not contradiction in these
instructions?

[350] A late grammarian tells us: "_In_ nouns ending in _es_ and _ss_, the
other _s_ is not added; as, _Charles'_ hat, _Goodness'_ sake."--_Wilcox's
Gram._, p. 11. He should rather have said, "_To_ nouns ending in _es_ or
_ss_, the other _s_ is not added." But his doctrine is worse than his
syntax; and, what is remarkable, he himself forgets it in the course of a
few minutes, thus: "Decline _Charles_. Nom. _Charles_, Poss. _Charles's_,
Obj. _Charles_."--_Ib._, p. 12. See the like doctrine in Mulligan's recent
work on the "_Structure of Language_," p. 182.

[351] VAUGELAS was a noted French critic, who died in 1650. In Murray's
Grammar, the name is more than once mistaken. On page 359th, of the edition
above cited, it is printed "_Vangelas_"--G. BROWN.

[352] Nixon parses _boy_, as being "in the possessive case, governed by
distress understood;" and _girl's_, as being "coupled by _nor_ to _boy_,"
according to the Rule, "Conjunctions connect the same cases." Thus one word
is written wrong; the other, parsed wrong: and so of _all_ his examples
above.--G. BROWN.

[353] Wells, whose Grammar, in its first edition, divides verbs into
"_transitive, intransitive_, and _passive_;" but whose late edition
absurdly make all passives transitive; says, in his third edition, "A
_transitive verb_ is a verb that _has some noun or pronoun_ for its
object;" (p. 78;) adopts, in his syntax, the old dogma, "Transitive verbs
govern the objective case;" (3d Ed., p. 154;) and to this rule subjoins a
series of remarks, so singularly fit to puzzle or mislead the learner, and
withal so successful in winning the approbation of committees and teachers,
that it may be worth while to notice most of them here.

"REM. 1.--A sentence or phrase _often supplies the place_ of a noun or
pronoun in the objective case; as, 'You see _how few of these men have
returned.'"--Wells' s School Gram._, "Third Thousand," p. 154; late Ed.
§215. According to this, must we not suppose verbs to be often transitive,
when _not made so_ by the author's _definition_? And if _"see"_ is here
transitive, would not other forms, such as _are told, have been told_, or
_are aware_, be just as much so, if put in its place?

"REM. 2.--An _intransitive_ verb may be used to _govern an objective_, when
the verb and the noun depending upon it are of kindred signification; as,
'_To live_ a blameless _life;'--'To run_ a _race.'"--Ib._ Here verbs are
absurdly called "_intransitive_," when, both in fact and by the foregoing
definition, they are clearly transitive; or, at least, are, by many
teachers, supposed to be so.

"REM. 3.--Idiomatic expressions sometimes occur in which _intransitive_
verbs are followed by _objectives depending upon them_; as, 'To _look_ the
_subject_ fully in the face.'--_Channing_. 'They _laughed him_ to
scorn.'--_Matt_. 9:24. 'And _talked_ the _night_ away.'--_Goldsmith_."--
_Ib._ Here again, verbs evidently _made transitive by the construction_,
are, with strange inconsistency, called "_intransitive_." By these three
remarks together, the distinction between transitives and intransitives
must needs be extensively _obscured_ in the mind of the learner.

"REM. 4.--Transitive verbs of _asking, giving, teaching_, and _some
others_, are often employed to govern two objectives; as, '_Ask him_ his
_opinion_;'--'This experience _taught me_ a valuable _lesson_.'--'_Spare
me_ yet this bitter _cup.'--Hemans_. 'I thrice _presented him_ a kingly
_crown_.'--_Shakspeare_."--_Ib._ This rule not only jumbles together
several different constructions, such as would require different cases in
Latin or Greek, but is evidently repugnant to _the sense_ of many of the
passages to which it is meant to be applied. Wells thinks, the practice of
supplying a preposition, "is, in many cases, arbitrary, and does violence
to an important and well established _idiom_ of the language."--_Ib._ But
how can any idiom be violated by a mode of parsing, which merely expounds
its _true meaning_? If the dative case has the meaning of _to_, and the
ablative has the meaning of _from_, how can they be expounded, in English,
but by suggesting the _particle_, where it is omitted? For example: "Spare
me yet [_from_] this bitter cup."--"Spare [_to_] me yet this joyous cup."
This author says, "_The rule_ for the government of two objectives by a
verb, without the aid of a preposition, is adopted by Webster, Murray,
Alexander, Frazee, Nutting, Perley, Goldsbury, J. M. Putnam, Hamlin,
Flower, Crane, Brace, and many others."--_Ib._ Yet, if I mistake not, the
weight of authority is vastly against it. _Such a rule as this_, is not
extensively approved; and even some of the names here given, are improperly
cited. Lindley Murray's remark, "Some of our verbs appear to govern two
words in the objective case," is applied only to _words in apposition_, and
wrong even there; Perley's rule is only of "_Some_ verbs of _asking_ and
_teaching_;" and Nutting's note, "It _sometimes happens_ that one
transitive verb governs two objective cases," is so very loose, that one
can neither deny it, nor tell how much it means.

"REM. 5.--Verbs of _asking, giving, teaching_, and _some others_, are often
employed in the passive voice _to govern_ a noun or pronoun; as, 'He _was
asked_ his _opinion.'--Johnson_. 'He _had been refused shelter_.'--
_Irving_."--_Ib._, p. 155, §215. Passive _governing_ is not far from
absurdity. Here, by way of illustration, we have examples of _two sorts_;
the one elliptical, the other solecistical. The former text appears to
mean, "He was asked _for_, his opinion;"--or, "He was asked _to give_ his
opinion: the latter should have been, "_Shelter had been refused_
him;"--i.e., "_to_ him." Of the seven instances cited by the author, five
at least are of the latter kind, and therefore to be condemned; and it is
to be observed, that when they are _corrected_, and the right word is made
nominative, the passive government, by Wells's own showing, becomes nothing
but the ellipsis of a preposition. Having just given a _rule_, by which all
his various examples are assumed to be regular and right, he very
inconsistently adds this not: "_This form_ of expression is _anomalous_,
and _might_, in many cases, be improved. Thus, _instead_ of saying, 'He was
offered a seat on the council,' it would be preferable to say 'A seat in
the council was offered [to] him.'"--_Ib._, p. 155, Sec. 215. By admitting
here the ellipsis of the preposition _to_, he evidently refutes the
doctrine of his own text, so far as it relates to _passive government_,
and, by implication, the doctrine of his fourth remark also. For the
ellipsis of _to_, before "_him_," is just as evident in the active
expression, "I thrice _presented him_ a kingly crown," as in the passive,
"A kingly crown _was thrice presented him_." It is absurd to deny it in
either. Having offset _himself_, Wells as ingeniously balances his
_authorities, pro and con_; but, the _elliptical_ examples being
_allowable_, he should not have said that I and others "_condemn this usage
altogether_."

"REM. 6.--The passive voice of a verb is sometimes used in connection with
a _preposition_, forming a _compound passive verb_; as 'He _was listened
to_.'--'Nor is this _to be scoffed at_.'--'This is a tendency _to be
guarded against_.'--'A bitter persecution _was carried on_.'--_Hallam_."--
_Ib._, p. 155, Sec. 215. The words here called "_prepositions_," are
_adverbs_. Prepositions they cannot be; because they have no subsequent
term. Nor is it either necessary or proper, to call them parts of the verb:
"_was carried on_," is no more a "compound verb," than "_was carried off_,"
or "_was carried forward_," and the like.

"REM. 7.--Idiomatic expressions sometimes occur in which a noun in the
objective is preceded by a passive verb, and followed by _a preposition
used adverbially_. EXAMPLES: 'Vocal and instrumental music _were made use
of_.'--_Addison_. 'The third, fourth, and fifth, _were taken possession of_
at half past eight."--_Southey_. 'The Pinta _was soon lost sight of_ in the
darkness of the night.'--_Irving_."--_Ib._, p. 155, Sec. 215. As it is by
the manner of their use, that we distinguish prepositions and adverbs, it
seems no more proper to speak of "_a preposition used adverbially_," than
of "_an adverb used prepositionally_." But even if the former phrase is
right and the thing conceivable, here is no instance of it; for "_of_" here
modifies no verb, adjective, or adverb. The construction is an unparsable
synchysis, a vile snarl, which no grammarian should hesitate to condemn.
These examples may each be corrected in several ways: 1. Say--"_were
used;"--"were taken into possession_;"--"_was soon lost from sight_." 2.
Say--"_They_ made use of music, _both_ vocal and instrumental."--"Of the
third, _the_ fourth, and _the_ fifth, _they took_ possession at half past
eight."--"Of the Pinta _they_ soon list sight," &c. 3. Say--"Use _was also_
made of _both_ vocal and instrumental music."--"Possession of the third,
_the_ fourth, and _the_ fifth, _was_ taken at half past eight."--"The Pinta
soon _disappeared_ in the darkness of the night." Here again, Wells puzzles
his pupil, with a note which half justifies and half condemns the awkward
usage in question. See _School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 147; 3d Ed., 156; late
Ed., Sec. 215.

"REM. 8.--There are _some_ verbs which may be used either transitively or
intransitively; as, 'He _will return_ in a week,' 'He _will return_ the
book.'"--_Ib._, p. 147; 156; &c. According to Dr. Johnson, this is true of
"_most_ verbs," and Lindley Murray asserts it of "_many_." There are, I
think, but _few_ which may _not_, in some phraseology or other, be used
both ways. Hence the rule, "Transitive verbs govern the objective case,"
or, as Wells now has it, "Transitive verbs, in the active voice, govern the
objective case," (Sec. 215,) rests only upon a distinction which _itself
creates_, between transitives and intransitives; and therefore it amounts
to little.

[354] To these examples, Webster adds _two others_, of a _different sort_,
with a comment, thus: "'Ask _him_ his _opinion_?' 'You have asked _me_ the
_news_.' Will it be said that the latter phrases are elliptical, for 'ask
_of_ him his opinion?' I apprehend this to be a mistake. According to the
true idea of the government of a transitive verb, _him_ must be the
_object_ in the phrase under consideration, as much as in this, 'Ask _him_
for a guinea;' or in this, 'ask him to go.'"--_Ibid, ut supra_; _Frazee's
Gram._, p. 152; _Fowler's_, p. 480. If, for the reason here stated, it is a
"mistake" to supply _of_ in the foregoing instances, it does not follow
that they are not elliptical. On the contrary, if they are analogous to,
"Ask him _for_ a guinea;" or, "Ask him _to go_;" it is manifest that the
construction must be this: "Ask him [_for_] his opinion;" or, "Ask him [_to
tell_] his opinion." So that the question resolves itself into this: What
is the best way of _supplying the ellipsis_, when two objectives thus occur
after ask?--G. BROWN.

[355] These examples Murray borrowed from Webster, who published them, with
_references_, under his 34th Rule. With too little faith in the corrective
power of grammar, the Doctor remarks upon the constructions as follows:
"This idiom is outrageously anomalous, but perhaps incorrigible."--
_Webster's Philos. Gram._, p. 180; _Imp. G._, 128.

[356] This seems to be a reasonable principle of syntax, and yet I find it
contradicted, or a principle opposite to it set up, by some modern teachers
of note, who venture to justify all those abnormal phrases which I here
condemn as errors. Thus Fowler: "Note 5. When a Verb with its Accusative
case, _is equivalent to a single verb_, it may take this accusative after
it in the passive voice; as, 'This _has been put an end to_.'"--_Fowler's
English Language_, 8vo, §552. Now what is this, but an effort to teach bad
English by rule?--and by such a rule, too, as is vastly more general than
even the great class of terms which it was designed to include? And yet
this rule, broad as it is, does not apply at all to the example given! For
"_put an end_," without the important word "_to_," is not equivalent to
_stop_ or _terminate_. Nor is the example right. One ought rather to say,
"This has been _ended_;" or, "This has been _stopped_." See the marginal
Note to Obs. 5th, above.

[357] Some, however, have conceived the putting of the same case after the
verb as before it, to be _government_; as, "Neuter verbs occasionally
_govern_ either the nominative or [the] objective case, after
them."--_Alexander's Gram._, p. 54. "The verb _to be, always governs_ a
Nominative, unless it be of the Infinitive Mood."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p.
94. This latter assertion is, in fact, monstrously untrue, and also
solecistical.

[358] Not unfrequently the conjunction _as_ intervenes between these "same
cases," as it may also between words in apposition; as, "He then is _as_
the head, and we _as_ the members; he the vine, and we the
branches."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. ii, p. 189.

[359] "'Whose house is that?' This sentence, before it is parsed, _should
be transposed_; thus, 'Whose is that house?' The same observation applies
to every sentence of a similar construction."--_Chandler's old Gram._, p.
93. This instruction is worse than nonsense; for it teaches the pupil to
parse every word in the sentence _wrong_! The author proceeds to explain
_Whose_, as "qualifying _house_, understood;" _is_, as agreeing "with its
nominative, _house_;" _that_, as "qualifying _house_;" and _house_, as
"nominative case to the verb, _is_." Nothing of this is _true_ of the
original question. For, in that, _Whose_ is governed by _house; house_ is
nominative after _is; is_ agrees with _house_ understood; and _that_
relates to _house_ understood. The meaning is, "Whose house is that house?"
or, in the order of a declarative sentence, "That house is whose house?"

[360] 1: In Latin, the accusative case is used after such a verb, because
an other word in the same case is understood before it; as, "Facere quæ
libet, ID est [_hominem_] esse _regem_."--SALLUST. "To do what he pleases,
THAT is [for a _man_] to be a _king_." If Professor Bullions had understood
Latin, or Greek, or English, as well as his commenders imagine, he might
have discovered what construction of cases we have in the following
instances: "It is an honour [for a _man_] to be the _author_ of such a
work."--_Bullions's Eng. Gram._, p. 82. "To be _surety_ for a stranger [,]
is dangerous."--_Ib._ "Not to know what happened before you were born, is
to be always a _child_."--_Ib._ "Nescire quid acciderit antequam natus es,
est semper esse _puerum_."--_Ib._ "[Greek: Esti tion aischron ...topon, hon
hæmen pote kurioi phainesthai proiemenous]." "It is a shame to be seen
giving up countries of which we were once masters."--DEMOSTHENES: _ib._
What support these examples give to this grammarian's new notion of "_the
objective indefinite_" or to his still later seizure of Greene's doctrine
of "_the predicate-nominative_" the learned reader may judge. All the Latin
and Greek grammarians suppose an _ellipsis_, in such instances; but some
moderns are careless enough of that, and of the analogy of General Grammar
in this case, to have seconded the Doctor in his absurdity. See _Farnum's
Practical Gram._, p. 23; and _S. W. Clark's_, p. 149.

2. Professor Hart has an indecisive remark on this construction, as
follows: "Sometimes a verb in the infinitive mood has a noun after it
without any other noun before it; as, 'To be a good _man_, is not so easy a
thing as many people imagine.' Here '_man_' may be parsed as used
_indefinitely_ after the verb _to be_. It is not easy to say in what _case_
the noun is in such sentences. The analogy of the Latin would seem to
indicate the _objective_.--Thus, 'Not to know what happened in past years,
is to be always a _child_,' Latin, 'semper esse puerum.' _In like manner_,
in English, we may say, '_Its_ being _me, need_ make no change in your
determination.'"--_Hart's English Gram._, p. 127.

3. These learned authors thus differ about what certainly admits of no
other solution than that which is given in the Observation above. To parse
the nouns in question, "_as used indefinitely_," without case, and to call
them "_objectives indefinite_," without agreement or government, are two
methods equally repugnant to reason. The last suggestion of Hart's is also
a false argument for a true position. The phrases, "_Its being me_," and
"_To be a good man_," are far from being constructed "_in like manner_."
The former is manifestly bad English; because _its_ and _me_ are not in the
_same case_. But S. S. Greene would say, "_Its being I_, is right." For in
a similar instance, he has this conclusion: "Hence, in _abridging_ the
following proposition, 'I was not aware _that it was he_,' we should say
'_of its being he_,' not '_his_' nor '_him_.'"--_Greene's Analysis_, 1st
Ed., p. 171. When _being_ becomes a noun, no case after it appears to be
very proper; but this author, thus "_abridging_" _four syllables into
five_, produces an anomalous construction which it would be much better to
avoid.

[361] Parkhurst and Sanborn, by what they call "A NEW RULE," attempt to
determine the doubtful or unknown case which this note censures, and to
justify the construction as being well-authorized and hardly avoidable.
Their rule is this: "A noun following a neuter or [a] passive participial
noun, is in the _nominative independent_. A noun or pronoun in the
_possessive_ case, always precedes the participial noun, either _expressed_
or _understood_, signifying the same thing as the noun does that follows
it." To this new and exceptionable' dogma, Sanborn adds: "This form of
expression is one of the most common idioms of the language, and _in
general composition_ cannot be well avoided. In confirmation of the
statement made, various authorities are subjoined. Two grammarians only, to
our knowledge, have remarked OH this phraseology: 'Participles are
sometimes preceded by a possessive case and followed by a nominative; as,
There is no doubt of _his_ being a great _statesman_.' B. GREENLEAF. 'We
sometimes find a participle that takes the same case after as before it,
converted into a verbal noun, and the latter word retained unchanged in
connexion with it; as, I have some recollection of his _father's_ being a
_judge_.' GOOLD BROWN."--_Sanborn's Analytical Gram._, p. 189. On what
principle the words _statesman_ and _judge_ can be affirmed to be in the
nominative case, I see not; and certainly they are not nominatives
"_independent_" because the word _being_, after which they stand, is not
itself independent. It is true, the phraseology is common enough to be good
English: but I dislike it; and if this citation from me, was meant for a
confirmation of the reasonless dogmatism preceding, it is not made with
fairness, because my _opinion_ of the construction is omitted by the
quoter. See _Institutes of English Gram._, p. 162. In an other late
grammar,--a shameful work, because it is in great measure a tissue of petty
larcenies from my Institutes, with alterations for the worse,--I find the
following absurd "Note," or Rule: "An infinitive or participle is often
followed by a substantive _explanatory_ of an _indefinite_ person or thing.
The substantive is then in the _objective_ case, and may be called the
_objective after the infinitive_, or _participle_; [as,] It is an honor to
be the _author_ of such a work. His being a great _man_, did not make him a
happy man. By being an obedient _child_, you will secure the approbation of
your parents."--_Farnum's Practical Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 25. The first of
these examples is elliptical; (see Obs. 12th above, and the Marginal Note;)
the second is bad English,--or, at' any rate, directly repugnant to the
rule for same cases; and the third parsed wrong by the rule: "_child_" is
in the nominative case. See Obs. 7th above.

[362] When the preceding case is not "_the verb's nominative_" this phrase
must of course be omitted; and when the word which is to be corrected, does
not literally follow the verb, it may be proper to say, "_constructively
follows_," in lieu of the phrase, "_comes after_."

[363] The author of this example supposes _friend_ to be in the nominative
case, though _John's_ is in the possessive, and both words denote the same
person. But this is not only contrary to the general rule for the same
cases, but contrary to his own application of one of his rules. Example:
"_Maria's_ duty, as a _teacher_, is, to instruct her pupils." Here, he
says, "_Teacher_ is in the _possessive_ case, from its relation to the name
_Maria_, denoting the same object."--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 211. This
explanation, indeed, is scarcely intelligible, on account of its
grammatical inaccuracy. He means, however, that, "_Teacher_ is in the
possessive case, from its relation to the name _Maria's_, the two words
denoting the same object." No word can be possessive "from its relation to
the name _Maria_," except by standing immediately before it, in the usual
manner of possessives; as, "_Sterne's Maria_."

[364] Dr. Webster, who was ever ready to justify almost any usage for which
he could find half a dozen respectable authorities, absurdly supposes, that
_who_ may sometimes be rightly preferred to _whom_, as the object of a
preposition. His remark is this: "In the use of _who_ as an interrogative,
there is an _apparent deviation_ from regular construction--it being used
_without distinction of case_; as, '_Who_ do you speak _to?_' '_Who_ is she
married _to?_' '_Who_ is this reserved _for?_' '_Who_ was it made _by?_'
This _idiom_ is not merely colloquial: it is found in the writings of our
best authors."--_Webster's Philosophical Gram._, p. 194; his _Improved
Gram._, p. 136. "In this phrase, '_Who_ do you speak _to?_' there is a
_deviation_ from regular construction; but the practice of thus using
_who_, in certain familiar phrases, seems to be _established_ by the best
authors."--_Webster's Rudiments of E. Gram._, p. 72. Almost any other
solecism may be quite as well justified as this. The present work shows, in
fact, a great mass of authorities for many of the incongruities which it
ventures to rebuke.

[365] Grammarians differ much as to the proper mode of parsing such nouns.
Wells says, "This is _the case independent by ellipsis_."--_School Gram._,
p. 123. But the idea of _such_ a case is a flat absurdity. Ellipsis occurs
only where something, not uttered, is implied; and where a _preposition_ is
thus wanting, the noun is, of course, its _object_; and therefore _not
independent_. Webster, with too much contempt for the opinion of "Lowth,
followed by the _whole tribe of writers_ on this subject," declares it "a
palpable error," to suppose "prepositions to be understood before these
expressions;" and, by two new rules, his 22d and 28th, teaches, that,
"Names of measure or dimension, followed by an adjective," and "Names of
certain portions of time and space, and especially words denoting
continuance of time or progression, are used _without a governing
word_."--_Philos. Gram._, pp. 165 and 172; _Imp. Gram._, 116 and 122;
_Rudiments_, 65 and 67. But this is no account at all of the
_construction_, or of the _case_ of the noun. As the nominative, or the
case which we may use independently, is never a subject of government, the
phrase, "_without a governing word_," implies that the case is _objective_;
and how can this case be known, except by the discovery of some "governing
word," of which it is the _object?_ We find, however, many such rules as
the following: "Nouns of time, distance, and degree, are put in the
objective case without a preposition."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 100. "Nouns
which denote time, quantity, measure, distance, value, or direction are
often put in the objective case without a preposition."--_Weld's Gram._, p.
153; "Abridged Ed.," 118. "Numes signifying duration, extension, quantity,
quality, and valuation, are in the objective case without a governing
word."--_Frazee's Gram._, p. 154. _Bullions_, too, has a similar rule. To
estimate these rules aright, one should observe how often the nouns in
question are found _with_ a governing word. Weld, of late, contradicts
himself by _admitting the ellipsis_; and then, inconsistently with his
admission, most absurdly _denies the frequent use_ of the preposition with
nouns of _time, quantity_, &c. "Before words of this description, the
_ellipsis of a preposition is obvious_. But it is _seldom proper to use_
the preposition before such words."--_Weld's "Abridged Edition,"_ p. 118.

[366] Professor Fowler absurdly says, "_Nigh, near, next, like_, when
followed by the objective case, _may be regarded either_ as Prepositions or
as Adjectives, _to_ being understood."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850,
§458, Note 7. Now, "_to_ being understood," it is plain that no one of
these words can be accounted a preposition, but by supposing the
preposition to be complex, and to be partly suppressed. This can be nothing
better than an idle whim; and, since the classification of words as parts
of speech, is always positive and exclusive, to refer any particular word
indecisively to "_either_" of two classes, is certainly no better
_teaching_, than to say, "I do not know of which sort it is; call it what
you please!" With decision prompt enough, but with too little regard to
analogy or consistency, Latham and Child say, "The adjective _like governs
a case_, and it is the only adjective that does so."--_Elementary Gram._,
p. 155. In teaching thus, they seem to ignore these facts: that _near_,
_nigh_, or _opposite_, might just as well be said to be an adjective
governing a case; and that the use of _to_ or _unto_ after _like_ has been
common enough to prove the ellipsis. The Bible has many examples; as, "Who
is _like to_ thee in Israel?"--_1 Samuel_, xxvi, 15. "Hew thee two tables
of stone _like unto_ the first."--_Exodus_, xxxiv, 1; and _Deut._, x, 1.
But their great inconsistency here is, that they call the case after like
"_a dative_"--a case unknown to their etymology! See _Gram. of E. Gram._,
p. 259. In grammar, a _solitary_ exception or instance can scarcely be a
_true one_.

[367] The following examples may illustrate these points: "These verbs, and
all others _like to_ them, were _like_ TIMAO."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of
Europ. Lang._, Vol. ii, p. 128. "The old German, and even the modern
German, are much _liker to_ the Visigothic than they are to the dialect of
the Edda."--_Ib._, i, 330. "Proximus finem, _nighest_ the end."--_Ib._, ii,
150. "Let us now come _nearer to_ our own language."--_Dr. Blair's Rhet._,
p. 85. "This looks _very like_ a paradox."--BEATTIE: _Murray's Gram._, Vol.
i, p. 113. "He was _near_ [to] falling."--_Ib._, p. 116. Murray, who puts
_near_ into his list of prepositions, gives this example to show how
"_prepositions become adverbs!_" "There was none ever before _like unto_
it."--_Stone, on Masonry_, p. 5.

   "And earthly power doth then show _likest_ God's,
    When mercy seasons justice."--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 45.

[368] Wright's notion of this construction is positively absurd and
self-contradictory. In the sentence, "My cane is worth a shilling," he
takes the word _worth_ to be a noun "in _apposition_ to the word
_shilling_." And to prove it so, he puts the sentence successively into
these four forms: "My cane is _worth_ or _value_ for a shilling;"--"The
_worth_ or _value_ of my cane is a shilling;"--"My cane is a _shilling's
worth_;"--"My cane is _the worth of_ a shilling."--_Philosophical Gram._,
p. 150. In all these transmutations, _worth_ is unquestionably a noun; but,
in none of them, is it in apposition with the word _shilling_; and he is
quite mistaken in supposing that they "indispensably prove the word in
question to be a _noun_." There are other authors, who, with equal
confidence, and equal absurdity, call _worth_ a _verb_. For example: "A
noun, which signifies the price, is put in the objective case, without a
preposition; as, 'my book is _worth_ twenty shillings.' _Is worth_ is a
_neuter verb_, and answers to the _latin_ [sic--KTH] verb
_valet_."--_Barrett's Gram._, p. 138. I do not deny that the phrase "_is
worth_" is a just version of the verb _valet_; but this equivalence in
import, is no proof at all that _worth_ is a verb. _Prodest_ is a Latin
verb, which signifies "_is profitable to_;" but who will thence infer, that
_profitable to_ is a verb?

[369] In J. R. Chandler's English Grammar, as published in 1821, the word
_worth_ appears in the list of prepositions: but the revised list, in his
edition of 1847, does not contain it. In both books, however, it is
expressly parsed as a preposition; and, in expounding the sentence, "The
book is worth a dollar," the author makes this remark: "_Worth_ has been
called an adjective by some, and a noun by others: _worth_, however, in
this sentence expresses a relation by value, and is so far a preposition;
and no ellipsis, which may be formed, would change the nature of the word,
without giving the sentence a different meaning."--_Chandler's Gram._, Old
Ed., p. 155; New Ed., p. 181.

[370] Cowper here purposely makes Mrs. Gilpin use bad English; but this is
no reason why a school-boy may not be taught to correct it. Dr. Priestley
supposed that the word _we_, in the example, "_To poor we_, thine enmity,"
&c., was also used by Shakespeare, "in a droll humorous way."--_Gram._, p.
103. He surely did not know the connexion of the text. It is in "Volumnia's
_pathetic_ speech" to her victorious son. See _Coriolanus_, Act V, Sc. 3.

[371] Dr. Enfield misunderstood this passage; and, in copying it into his
Speaker, (a very popular school-book,) he has perverted the text, by
changing _we_ to _us_: as if the meaning were, "Making us fools of nature."
But it is plain, that all "fool's of nature!" must be fools of nature's own
making, and not persons temporarily frighted out of their wits by a ghost;
nor does the meaning of the last two lines comport with any objective
construction of this pronoun. See _Enfield's Speaker_, p. 864.

[372] In Clark's Practical Grammar, of 1848, is found this NOTE: "The Noun
should correspond in number with the Adjectives. EXAMPLES--A two feet
ruler. A ten feet pole."--P. 165. These examples are wrong: the doctrine is
misapplied in both. With this author, _a_, as well as _two_ or _ten_, is an
_adjective_ of number; and, since these differ in number, what sort of
concord or construction do the four words in each of these phrases make?
When a numeral and a noun are united to form a _compound adjective_, we
commonly, if not always, use the latter in its primitive or singular form:
as, "A _twopenny_ toy,"--"a _twofold_ error,"--"_three-coat_ plastering,"
say, "a _twofoot_ rule,"--"a _tenfoot_ pole;" which phrases are right;
while Clark's are not only unusual, but unanalogical, ungrammatical.

[373] Certain adjectives that differ in number, are sometimes connected
disjunctively by _or_ or _than_, while the noun literally agrees with that
which immediately precedes it, and with the other merely by implication or
supplement, under the figure which is called _zeugma_: as, "Two or more
nouns joined together by _one_ or _more_ copulative conjunctions."--
_Lowth's Gram._, p. 75; _L. Murray's_, 2d Ed., p. 106. "He speaks not to
_one_ or a _few_ judges, but to a large assembly."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
280. "_More_ than _one_ object at a time."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 301.
See Obs. 10th on Rule 17th.

[374] Double comparatives and double superlatives, such as, "The _more
serener_ spirit,"--"The _most straitest_ sect,"--are noticed by Latham and
Child, in their syntax, as expressions which "we occasionally find, even in
good writers," and are truly stated to be "_pleonastic_;" but, forbearing
to censure them as errors, these critics seem rather to justify them as
pleonasms allowable. Their indecisive remarks are at fault, not only
because they are indecisive, but because they are both liable and likely to
mislead the learner.--See their _Elementary Grammar_, p. 155.

[375] The learned William B. Fowle strangely imagines all pronouns to be
_adjectives_, belonging to nouns expressed or understood after them; as,
"We kings require _them_ (subjects) to obey _us_ (kings)."--_The True
English Gram._, p. 21. "_They_ grammarians, [i. e.] _those_ grammarians.
_They_ is an other spelling of _the_, and of course means _this, that,
these, those_, as the case may be."--_Ibid._ According to him, then, "_them
grammarians_," for "_those grammarians_," is perfectly good English; and so
is "_they grammarians_," though the vulgar do not take care to _vary this
adjective_, "as _the case_ may be." His notion of subjoining a noun to
every pronoun, is a fit counterpart to that of some other grammarians, who
imagine an ellipsis of a pronoun after almost every noun. Thus: "The
personal _Relatives_, for the most part, _are suppressed_ when the Noun is
expressed: as, Man (he) is the Lord of this lower world. Woman (she) is the
fairest Part of the Creation. The Palace (it) stands on a Hill. Men and
Women (they) are rational Creatures."--_British Gram._, p. 234;
_Buchanan's_, 131. It would have been worth a great deal to some men, to
have known _what an Ellipsis is_; and the man who shall yet make such
knowledge common, ought to be forever honoured in the schools.

[376] "An illegitimate and ungrammatical use of these words, _either_ and
_neither_, has lately been creeping into the language, in the application
of these terms to a plurality of objects: as, '_Twenty_ ruffians broke into
the house, but _neither_ of them could be recognized.' 'Here are _fifty_
pens, you will find that _either_ of them will do.'"--MATT. HARRISON, _on
the English Language_, p. 199. "_Either_ and _neither_, applied to any
number more than _one_ of _two_ objects, is a mere solecism, and one of
late introduction."--_Ib._, p. 200. Say, "_Either_ OR _neither_," &c.--G.
B.

[377] Dr. Priestley censures this construction, on the ground, that the
word _whole_ is an "_attribute of unity_," and therefore improperly added
to a plural noun. But, in fact, this adjective is not _necessarily_
singular, nor is _all_ necessarily plural. Yet there is a difference
between the words: _whole_ is equivalent to _all_ only when the noun is
singular; for then only do _entireness_ and _totality_ coincide. A man may
say, "_the whole thing_," when he means, "_all the thing_;" but he must not
call _all things, whole things_. In the following example, _all_ is put for
_whole_, and taken substantively; but the expression is a quaint one,
because the article and preposition seem needless: "Which doth encompass
and embrace the _all_ of things."--_The Dial_, Vol. i, p. 59.

[378] This is not a mere repetition of the last example cited under Note
14th above; but it is Murray's interpretation of the text there quoted.
Both forms are faulty, but not in the same way.--G. BROWN.

[379] Some authors erroneously say, "A _personal_ pronoun does not always
agree in person with its antecedent; as, 'John said, _I_ will do
it.'"--_Goodenow's Gram._ "When I say, 'Go, and say to those children, you
must come in,' you perceive that the noun children is of the _third_
person, but the pronoun you is of the _second_; yet _you_ stands for
_children_,"--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 54. Here are different speakers, with
separate speeches; and these critics are manifestly deceived by the
circumstance. It is not to be supposed, that the nouns represented by one
speaker's pronouns, are to be found or sought in what an other speaker
utters. The pronoun _I_ does not here stand for the noun _John_ which is of
the third person; it is John's own word, representing himself as the
speaker. The meaning is, _"I myself, John, of the first person, will do
it."_ Nor does _you_ stand for _children_ as spoken _of_ by Ingersoll; but
for _children_ of the _second person_, uttered or implied in the address of
his messenger: as, "_Children_, you must come in."

[380] The propriety of this construction is questionable. See Obs. 2d on
Rule 14th.

[381] Among the authors who have committed this great fault, are, Alden, W.
Allen, D. C. Allen, C. Adams, the author of the British Grammar, Buchanan,
Cooper, Cutler, Davis, Dilworth, Felton, Fisher, Fowler, Frazee, Goldsbury,
Hallock, Hull, M'Culloch, Morley, Pinneo, J. Putnam, Russell, Sanborn, R.
C. Smith, Spencer, Weld, Wells, Webster, and White. "_You is plural_,
whether it refer to only one individual, or to more."--_Dr. Crombie, on
Etym. and Synt._, p. 240. "The word _you_, even when applied to one person,
is plural, and should never he connected with a singular
verb."--_Alexander's Gram._, p. 53; _Emmons's_, 26. "_You_ is of the Plural
Number, even though used as the Name of a single Person."--_W. Ward's
Gram._, p. 88. "Altho' the Second Person Singular in both Times be marked
with _thou_, to distinguish it from the Plural, yet we, out of
Complaisance, though we speak but to one particular Person, use _the Plural
you_, and never thou, but when we address ourselves to Almighty God, or
when we speak in an emphatical Manner, or make a distinct and particular
Application to a Person."--_British Gram._, p. 126; _Buchanan's_, 37. "But
_you_, tho' applied to a single Person, requires a _Plural Verb_, the same
as ye; as, _you love_, not _you lovest_ or _loves_; you _were_, not _you
was_ or _wast_."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 37.

[382] "Mr. Murray's 6th Rule is unnecessary."--_Lennie's English Gram._, p.
81; _Bullions's_, p. 90. The two rules of which I speak, constitute
Murray's Rule VI; Alger's and Bacon's Rule VI; Merchant's Rule IX;
Ingersoll's Rule XII; Kirkham's Rules XV and XVI; Jaudon's XXI and XXII;
Crombie's X and XI; Nixon's Obs. 86th and 87th: and are found in Lowth's
Gram., p. 100; Churchill's, 136; Adam's, 203; W. Allen's, 156; Blair's, 75;
and many other books.

[383] This rule, in all its parts, is to be applied chiefly, if not solely,
to such relative clauses as are taken in the _restrictive_ sense; for, in
the _resumptive_ sense of the relative, _who_ or _which_ may be more proper
than _that_: as, "Abraham solemnly adjures his _most faithful_ servant,
_whom_ he despatches to Charran on this matrimonial mission for his son, to
discharge his mission with all fidelity."--_Milman's Jews_, i, 21. See
Etymology, Chap. 5th, Obs. 23d, 24th, &c., on the Classes of Pronouns.

[384] Murray imagined this sentence to be bad English. He very strangely
mistook the pronoun _he_ for the object of the preposition _with_; and
accordingly condemned the text, under the rule, "Prepositions govern the
objective case." So of the following: "It is not I he is engaged
with."--_Murray's Exercises_, R. 17. Better: "It is not I _that_ he is
engaged with." Here is no violation of the foregoing rule, or of any other;
and both sentences, with even Murray's form of the latter, are quite as
good as his proposed substitutes: "It was not _with him_, that they were so
angry."--_Murray's Key_, p. 51. "It is not _with me_ he is engaged."--_Ib._
In these fancied corrections, the phrases _with him_ and _with me_ have a
very awkward and questionable position: it seems doubtful, whether they
depend on _was_ and _is_, or on _angry_ and _engaged_.

[385] In their speculations on the _personal pronouns_, grammarians
sometimes contrive, by a sort of abstraction, to reduce all the persons to
the _third_; that is, the author or speaker puts _I_, not for himself in
particular, but for any one who utters the word, and _thou_, not for his
particular hearer or reader, but for any one who is addressed; and,
conceiving of these as persons merely spoken of by himself, he puts the
verb in the third person, and not in the first or second: as, "_I is_ the
speaker, _thou_ [_is_] the hearer, and _he, she_, or _it_, is the person or
thing spoken of. All denote _qualities of existence_, but such qualities as
make different impressions on the mind. _I is_ the being of _consciousness,
thou_ [_is_ the being] of _perception_, and _he_ of _memory_."--_Booth's
Introd._, p. 44. This is such syntax as I should not choose to imitate; nor
is it very proper to say, that the three persons in grammar "denote
_qualities_ of existence." But, supposing the phraseology to be correct, it
is no _real_ exception to the foregoing rule of concord; for _I_ and _thou_
are here made to be pronouns of the _third_ person. So in the following
example, which I take to be bad English: "I, or the person who speaks, _is_
the first person; you, _is_ the second; he, she, or it, is the third person
singular."--_Bartlett's Manual_, Part ii, p. 70. Again, in the following;
which is perhaps a little better: "The person '_I_' _is spoken of_ as acted
upon."--_Bullions, Prin. of E. Gram._, 2d Edition, p. 29. But there is a
manifest absurdity in saying, with this learned "Professor of Languages,"
that the pronouns of the different persons _are_ those persons: as, "_I is
the first person_, and denotes the speaker. _Thou is the second_, and
denotes the person spoken to."--_Ib._, p. 22.

[386] (1.) Concerning the verb _need_, Dr. Webster has the following note:
"In the use of this verb there is another irregularity, which is peculiar,
the verb being _without a nominative_, expressed or implied. 'Whereof here
_needs_ no account.'--_Milt., P. L._, 4. 235. There is no evidence of the
fact, and there _needs_ none. This is an established use of
_need_."--_Philos. Gram._, p. 178; _Improved Gram._, 127; _Greenleaf's
Gram. Simp._, p. 38; _Fowler's E. Gram._, p. 537. "Established use?" To be
sure, it is "an established use;" but the learned Doctor's comment is a
most unconscionable blunder,--a pedantic violation of a sure principle of
Universal Grammar,--a perversion worthy only of the veriest ignoramus. Yet
Greenleaf profitably publishes it, with other plagiarisms, for "Grammar
Simplified!" Now the verb "_needs_," like the Latin _eget_, signifying _is
necessary_, is here not active, but neuter; and has the nominative set
_after it_, as any verb must, when the adverb _there_ or _here_ is before
it. The verbs _lack_ and _want_ may have the same construction, and can
have no other, when the word _there_, and not a nominative, precedes them;
as, "Peradventure _there shall lack five_ of the fifty righteous."--_Gen._,
xviii, 28. There is therefore neither "_irregularity_," nor any thing
"_peculiar_," in thus placing the verb and its nominative.

(2.) Yet have we other grammarians, who, with astonishing facility, have
allowed themselves to be misled, and whose books are now misleading the
schools, in regard to this very simple matter. Thus Wells: "The
_transitive_ verbs _need_ and _want_, are sometimes employed in a general
sense, _without a nominative_, expressed or implied. Examples:--'There
_needed_ a new dispensation.'--_Caleb Cushing_. 'There _needs_ no better
picture.'--_Irving_. 'There _wanted_ not patrons to stand up.'--_Sparks_.
'Nor did there _want_ Cornice, or frieze.'--_Milton_."--_Wells's School
Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 141: 113th Ed., p. 154. In my edition of Milton, the
text is, "Nor did _they want_ Cornice or frieze."--_P. L._, B. i, l. 715,
716. This reading makes _want_ a "transitive" verb, but the other makes it
neuter, with the nominative following it. Again, thus Weld: "_A verb in the
imperative mode_, and the _transitive_ verbs _need, want_, and _require_,
sometimes appear to be used indefinitely, _without a nominative_; as, _let_
there be light; There _required_ haste in the business; There _needs_ no
argument for proving, &c. There _wanted_ not men who would, &c. The last
expressions have an _active form with a passive sense_, and should perhaps
rather be considered _elliptical_ than _wanting a nominative_; as, _haste
is required, no argument is needed_, &c."--_Weld's English Grammar
Illustrated_, p. 143. Is there anywhere, in print, viler pedantry than
this? The only elliptical example, "_Let_ there be light,"--a kind of
sentence from which the nominative is _usually suppressed_,--is here
absurdly represented as being full, yet without a subject for its verb;
while other examples, which are full, and in which the nominative _must
follow_ the verb, because the adverb "_there_" precedes, are first denied
to have nominatives, and then most bunglingly tortured with false ellipses,
to prove that they have them!

(3.) The idea of a command _wherein no person or thing is commanded_, seems
to have originated with Webster, by whom it has been taught, since 1807, as
follows: "In some cases, the imperative verb is used without a definite
nominative."--_Philos. Gram._, p. 141; _Imp. Gram._, 86; _Rudiments_, 69.
See the same words in _Frazee's Gram._, p. 133. Wells has something
similar: "A verb in the imperative is sometimes used _absolutely_, having
no direct reference to any particular subject expressed or implied; as,
'And God said, _Let_ there be light.'"--_School Gram._, p. 141. But, when
this command was uttered to the dark waves of primeval chaos, it must have
meant, "_Do ye let light be there._" What else could it mean? There may
frequently be difficulty in determining what or who is addressed by the
imperative _let_, but there seems to be more in affirming that it has no
subject. Nutting, puzzled with this word, makes the following dubious and
unsatisfactory suggestion: "Perhaps it may be, in many cases, equivalent to
_may_; or it may be termed itself an _imperative mode impersonal_; that is,
containing a command or an entreaty addressed to no particular
person."--_Nutting's Practical Gram._, p. 47.

(4.) These several errors, about the "Imperative used Absolutely," with "no
subject addressed," as in "_Let there be light_," and the Indicative "verbs
NEED and WANT, employed without a nominative, either expressed or implied,"
are again carefully reiterated by the learned Professor Fowler, in his
great text-book of philology "in its Elements and Forms,"--called, rather
extravagantly, an "English Grammar." See, in his edition of 1850, §597,
Note 3 and Note 7; also §520, Note 2. Wells's authorities for "Imperatives
Absolute," are, "Frazee, Allen and Cornwell, Nutting, Lynde, and Chapin;"
and, with reference to "NEED and WANT," he says, "See Webster, Perley, and
Ingersoll."--_School Gram._, 1850, §209.

(5.) But, in obvious absurdity most strangely overlooked by the writer, all
these blunderers are outdone by a later one, who says: "_Need_ and _dare_
are sometimes used in _a general sense without a nominative_: as, 'There
_needed_ no prophet to tell us that;' 'There _wanted_ no advocates to
secure the voice of the people.' It is better, however, to supply _it_, as
a nominative, than admit an _anomala_. Sometimes, when intransitive, they
have the _plural form_ with a singular _noun_: as, 'He need not fear;' 'He
dare not hurt you.'"--_Rev. H. W. Bailey's E. Gram._, 1854, p. 128. The
last example--"_He dare_"--is bad English: _dare_ should be _dares_. "He
_need_ not _fear_," if admitted to be right, is of the potential mood; in
which no verb is inflected in the third person. "_He_," too, is not a
"_noun_;" nor can it ever rightly have a "_plural_" verb. "To supply _it_,
as a nominative," where the verb is declared to be "_without a
nominative_," and to make "_wanted_" an example of "_dare_" are blunders
precisely worthy of an author who knows not how to spell _anomaly!_

[387] This interpretation, and others like it, are given not only by
_Murray_, but by many other grammarians, one of whom at least was earlier
than he. See _Bicknell's Gram._, Part i, p. 123; _Ingersoll's_, 153;
_Guy's_, 91; _Alger's_, 73; _Merchant's_, 100; _Picket's_, 211; _Fisk's_,
146; _D. Adams's_, 81; _R. C. Smith's_, 182.

[388] The same may be said of Dr. Webster's "_nominative sentences_;" three
fourths of which are nothing but _phrases_ that include a nominative with
which the following verb agrees. And who does not know, that to call the
adjuncts of any thing "an _essential part_ of it," is a flat absurdity? An
_adjunct_ is "something added to another, but _not essentially a part_ of
it."--_Webster's Dict._ But, says the Doctor, "Attributes and other words
often make an _essential part_ of the nominative; [as,] '_Our_ IDEAS _of
eternity_ CAN BE nothing but an infinite succession of moments of
duration.'--LOCKE. 'A _wise_ SON MAKETH a glad father; but a _foolish_ SON
IS the heaviness of his mother.' Abstract the name from its attribute, and
the proposition cannot always be true. 'HE _that gathereth in summer_ is a
wise son.' Take away the description, '_that gathereth in summer_,' and the
affirmation ceases to be true, or becomes inapplicable. These sentences or
clauses thus _constituting_ the subject of an affirmation, may be termed
_nominative sentences_."--_Improved Gram._, p. 95. This teaching reminds me
of the Doctor's own exclamation: "What strange work has been made with
Grammar!"--_Ib._, p. 94; _Philos. Gram._, 138. In Nesbit's English Parsing,
a book designed mainly for "a Key to Murray's Exercises in Parsing," the
following example is thus expounded: "The smooth stream, the serene
atmosphere, [and] the mild zephyr, are the proper emblems of a gentle
temper, and a peaceful life."--_Murray's Exercises_, p. 8. "_The smooth
stream, the serene atmosphere, the mild zephyr_, is part of a sentence,
_which_ is the _nominative case_ to the verb '_are_.' _Are_ is an irregular
verb neuter, in the indicative mood, the present tense, the third person
plural, and _agrees with the aforementioned part of a sentence_, as its
nominative case."--_Introduction to English Parsing_, p. 137. On this
principle of _analysis_, all the rules that speak of the nominatives or
antecedents connected by conjunctions, may be dispensed with, as useless;
and the doctrine, that a verb which has a phrase or sentence for its
subject, must be _singular_, is palpably contradicted, and supposed
erroneous!

[389] "No Relative can become a Nominative to a Verb."--_Joseph W. Wright's
Philosophical Grammar_, p. 162. "A _personal_ pronoun becomes a nominative,
though a _relative_ does not."--_Ib._, p. 152. This teacher is criticised
by the other as follows: "Wright says that 'Personal pronouns may be in the
nominative case,' and that 'relative pronouns _can not be_. Yet he declines
his relatives thus: 'Nominative case, _who_; possessive, _whose_;
objective, _whom!"--Oliver B. Peirce's Grammar_, p. 331. This latter author
here sees the palpable inconsistency of the former, and accordingly treats
_who, which, what, whatever_, &c., as relative pronouns of the nominative
case--or, as he calls them, "connective substitutes in the subjective
form;" but when _what_ or _whatever_ precedes its noun, or when _as_ is
preferred to _who_ or _which_, he refers both verbs to the noun itself, and
adopts the very principle by which Cobbet and Wright erroneously parse the
verbs which belong to the relatives, _who, which_, and _that_: as,
"Whatever man will adhere to strict principles of honesty, will find his
reward in himself."--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 55. Here Peirce considers
_whatever_ to be a mere adjective, and _man_ the subject of _will adhere_
and _will find_. "Such persons as write grammar, should themselves be
grammarians."--_Ib._, p. 330. Here he declares _as_ to be no pronoun, but
"a modifying connective," i.e., conjunction; and supposes _persons_ to be
the direct subject of _write_ as well as of _should be_: as if a
conjunction could connect a verb and its nominative!

[390] Dr. Latham, conceiving that, of words in apposition, the first must
always be the leading one and control the verb, gives to his example an
other form thus: "_Your master, I, commands you_ (not _command_)."--_Ib._
But this I take to be bad English. It is the opinion of many grammarians,
perhaps of most, that nouns, which are ordinarily of the third person, _may
be changed in person_, by being set in apposition with a pronoun of the
first or second. But even if terms so used do not _assimilate_ in person,
the first cannot be subjected to the third, as above. It must have the
preference, and ought to have the first place. The following study-bred
example of the Doctor's, is also awkward and ungrammatical: "_I, your
master, who commands you to make haste, am in a hurry_."--_Hand-Book_, p.
334.

[391] Professor Fowler says, "_One_ when contrasted with _other_, sometimes
represents _plural nouns_; as, 'The reason why the _one_ are ordinarily
taken for real qualities, and the _other_ for bare powers, seems to
be.'--LOCKE.", _Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, p. 242. This doctrine is, I
think, erroneous; and the example, too, is defective. For, if _one_ may be
_plural_, we have no distinctive definition or notion of either number.
"_One_" and "_other_" are not here to be regarded as the leading words in
their clauses; they are mere adjectives, each referring to the collective
noun _class_ or _species_, understood, which should have been expressed
after the former. See Etym., Obs. 19, p. 276.

[392] Dr. Priestley says, "It is a rule, I believe, in all grammars, that
when a verb comes between two nouns, either of which may be understood as
the subject of the affirmation, that it may agree with either of them; but
some regard must be had to that which is more naturally the subject of it,
as also to that which stands next to the verb; for if no regard be paid to
these circumstances, the construction will be harsh: [as,] _Minced pies
was_ regarded as a profane and superstitious viand by the sectaries.
_Hume's Hist._ A great _cause_ of the low state of industry _were_ the
restraints put upon it. _Ib._ By this term was understood, such _persons_
as invented, or drew up rules for themselves and the world."--_English
Gram. with Notes_, p. 189. The Doctor evidently supposed all these examples
to be _bad English_, or at least _harsh in their construction_. And the
first two unquestionably are so; while the last, whether right or wrong,
has nothing at all to do with his rule: it has but one nominative, and that
appears to be part of a definition, and not the true subject of the verb.
Nor, indeed, is the first any more relevant; because Hume's "_viand_"
cannot possibly be taken "as _the subject_ of the affirmation." Lindley
Murray, who literally copies Priestley's note, (all but the first line and
the last,) rejects these two examples, substituting for the former, "His
meat _was_ locusts and wild honey," and for the latter, "The wages of sin
_is_ death." He very evidently supposes all three of his examples to be
_good English_. In this, according to Churchill, he is at fault in two
instances out of the three; and still more so, in regard to the note, or
rule, itself. In stead of being "a rule in all grammars," it is (so far as
I know) found only in these authors, and such as have implicitly copied it
from Murray. Among these last, are Alger, Ingersoll, R. C. Smith, Fisk, and
Merchant. Churchill, who cites it only as Murray's, and yet expends two
pages of criticism upon it, very justly says: "To make that the nominative
case, [or subject of the affirmation,] which happens to stand nearest to
the verb, appears to me to be on a par with the blunder pointed out in note
204th;" [that is, of making the verb agree with an objective case which
happens to stand nearer to it, than its subject, or nominative.]--
_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 313.

[393] "If the excellence of Dryden's works was _lessened_ by his indigence,
their number was increased."--_Dr. Johnson_. This is an example of the
proper and necessary use of the indicative mood after an _if_, the matter
of the condition being regarded as a fact. But Dr. Webster, who prefers the
indicative _too often_, has the following note upon it: "If Johnson had
followed the common grammars, or even his own, which is prefixed to his
Dictionary, he would have written _were_--'If the excellence of Dryden's
works _were_ lessened'--Fortunately this great man, led by usage rather
than by books, wrote _correct English, instead of grammar_."--
_Philosophical Gram._, p. 238. Now this is as absurd, as it is
characteristic of the grammar from which it is taken. Each form is right
sometimes, and neither can be used for the other, without error.

[394] Taking this allegation in one sense, the reader may see that Kirkham
was not altogether wrong here; and that, had he condemned the _solecisms_
adopted by himself and others, about "_unity of idea_" and "_plurality of
idea_," in stead of condemning the _things intended to be spoken of_, he
might have made a discovery which would have set him wholly right. See a
footnote on page 738, under the head of _Absurdities_.

[395] In his _English Reader_, (Part II, Chap. 5th, Sec. 7th,) Murray has
this line in its proper form, as it here stands in the words of Thomson;
but, in his _Grammar_, he corrupted it, first in his _Exercises_, and then
still more in his _Key_. Among his examples of "_False Syntax_" it stands
thus:

   "What black despair, what horror, _fills_ his _mind_!"
        --_Exercises_, Rule 2.

So the error is propagated in the name of _Learning_, and this verse goes
from grammar to grammar, as one that must have a "_plural_" verb. See
_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 242; _Smith's New Gram._, p. 127; _Fisk's Gram._,
p. 120; _Weld's E. Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 189; Imp. Ed., p. 196.

[396] S. W. Clark, by reckoning "_as_" a "_preposition_," perverts the
construction of sentences like this, and inserts a wrong case after the
conjunction. See _Clark's Practical Grammar_, pp. 92 and 178; also _this
Syntax_, Obs. 6 and Obs. 18, on Conjunctions.

[397] Murray gives us the following text for false grammar, under the head
of _Strength_: "And Elias with Moses appeared to them."--_Exercises_, 8vo,
p. 135. This he corrects thus: "And _there appeared to them_ Elias with
Moses."--_Key_, 8vo, p. 266. He omits the comma after _Elias_, which some
copies of the Bible contain, and others do not. Whether he supposed the
verb _appeared_ to be singular or plural, I cannot tell; and he did not
extend his quotation to the pronoun _they_, which immediately follows, and
in which alone the incongruity lies.

[398] This order of the persons, is _not universally_ maintained in those
languages. The words of Mary to her son, "Thy _father and I_ have sought
thee sorrowing," seem very properly to give the precedence to her husband;
and this is their arrangement in St. Luke's Greek, and in the Latin
versions, as well as in others.

[399] The hackneyed example, "_I and Cicero are well,"--"Ego et Cicero
valemus_"--which makes such a figure in the grammars, both Latin and
English, and yet is ascribed to Cicero himself, deserves a word of
explanation. Cicero the orator, having with him his young son Marcus Cicero
at Athens, while his beloved daughter Tullia was with her mother in Italy,
thus wrote to his wife, Terentia: "_Si tu, et Tullia, lux nostra, valetix;
ego, et suavissimus Cicero, valemus_."--EPIST. AD FAM. Lib. xiv, Ep. v.
That is, "If thou, and Tullia, our joy, are well; I, and the sweet lad
Cicero, are likewise well." This literal translation is good English, and
not to be amended by inversion; for a father is not expected to give
precedence to his child. But, when I was a boy, the text and version of Dr.
Adam puzzled me not a little; because I could not conceive how _Cicero_
could ever have said, "_I and Cicero are well_." The garbled citation is
now much oftener read than the original. See it in _Crombie's Treatise_, p.
243; _McCulloch's Gram._, p. 158; and others.

[400] Two singulars connected by _and_, when they form a part of such a
disjunction, are still equivalent to a plural; and are to be treated as
such, in the syntax of the verb. Hence the following construction appears
to be inaccurate: "A single consonant or _a mute and a liquid_ before an
accented vowel, _is_ joined to that vowel"--_Dr. Bullions, Lat. Gram._ p.
xi.

[401] Murray the schoolmaster has it, "_used_ to govern."--_English Gram._,
p. 64. He puts the verb in a _wrong tense_. Dr. Bullions has it, "_usually
governs_."--_Lat. Gram._, p. 202. This is right.--G. B.

[402] The two verbs _to sit_ and _to set_ are in general quite different in
their meaning; but the passive verb _to be set_ sometimes comes pretty near
to the sense of the former, which is for the most part neuter. Hence, we
not only find the Latin word _sedeo, to sit_, used in the sense of _being
set_, as, "Ingens coena _sedet_," "A huge supper _is set_," _Juv._, 2, 119;
but, in the seven texts above, our translators have used _is set, was set,
&c._, with reference to the personal posture of _sitting_. This, in the
opinion of Dr. Lowth and some others, is erroneous. "_Set_," says the
Doctor, "can be no part of the verb _to sit_. If it belong to the verb _to
set_, the translation in these passages is wrong. For _to set_, signifies
_to place_, but without any designation of the _posture_ of the person
placed; which is a circumstance of importance, expressed by the
original."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 53; _Churchill's_, 265. These gentlemen
cite three of these seven examples, and refer to the other four; but they
do not tell us how they would amend any of them--except that they prefer
_sitten_ to _sat_, vainly endeavouring to restore an old participle which
is certainly obsolete. If any critic dislike my version of the last two
texts, because I use the present tense for what in the Greek is the first
aorist; let him notice that this has been done in both by our translators,
and in one by those of the Vulgate. In the preceding example, too, the same
aorist is rendered, "_am set_," and by Beza, "_sedeo_;" though Montanus and
the Vulgate render it literally by "_sedi_," as I do by _sat_. See _Key to
False Syntax_, Rule XVII, Note xii.

[403] Nutting, I suppose, did not imagine the Greek article, [Greek: to],
_the_, and the English or Saxon verb _do_, to be equivalent or kindred
words. But there is no knowing what terms conjectural etymology may not
contrive to identify, or at least to approximate and ally. The ingenious
David Booth, if he does not actually identify _do_, with [Greek: to],
_the_, has discovered synonymes [sic--KTH] and cognates that are altogether
as unapparent to common observers: as, "_It_ and _the_," says he, "when
Gender is not attended to, are _synonymous_. Each is expressive of Being in
general, and when used Verbally, signifies to _bring forth_, or to _add_ to
what we already see. _The, it, and, add, at, to_, and _do_, are _kindred
words_. They mark that an _addition_ is made to some collected mass of
existence. _To_, which literally signifies _add_, (like _at_ and the Latin
_ad_,) is merely a different pronunciation of _do_. It expresses the
_junction_ of an other thing, or circumstance, as appears more evidently
from its varied orthography of _too_."--_Introd. to Analyt. Dict._, p. 45.
Horne Tooke, it seems, could not persuade this author into his notion of
the derivation and meaning of _the, it, to_, or _do_. But Lindley Murray,
and his followers, have been more tractable. They were ready to be led
without looking. "To," say they, "comes from _Saxon and Gothic_ words,
which signify action, effect, termination, to act, &c."--_Murray's Gram._,
8vo, p. 183; _Fisk's_, 92. What an admirable explanation is this! and how
prettily the great Compiler says on the next leaf: "Etymology, when it is
guided by _judgment_, and [when] _proper limits_ are set to it, certainly
merits great attention!"--_Ib._, p. 135. According to his own express rules
for interpreting "a substantive _without any article to limit it_" and the
"relative pronoun _with a comma before it_," he must have meant, that "_to_
comes from Saxon and Gothic words" _of every sort_, and that _the words of
these two languages_ "signify action, effect, termination, to act, &c." The
latter assertion is true enough: but, concerning the former, a man of sense
may demur. Nor do I see how it is possible not to despise _such_ etymology,
be the interpretation of the words what it may. For, if _to_ means _action_
or _to act_, then our little infinitive phrase, _to be_, must mean, _action
be_, or _to act be_; and what is this, but nonsense?

[404] So, from the following language of three modern authors, one cannot
but infer, that they would parse the verb _as governed by the preposition_;
but I do not perceive that they anywhere expressly say so:

(1.) "The Infinitive is the form of the supplemental verb that always has,
or admits, the _preposition_ TO before it; as, to _move_. Its general
character is to represent the action in _prospect_, or _to do_; or in
_retrospect_, as _to have done_. As a verb, it signifies _to do_ the
action; and as _object of the preposition_ TO, it stands in the place of a
noun for _the doing_ of it. The infinitive verb and its prefix _to_ are
used much like a preposition and its noun object."--_Felch's Comprehensive
Gram._, p. 62.

(2.) "The action or other signification of a verb may be expressed in its
widest and most general sense, without any limitation by a person or agent,
but _merely as the end or purpose_ of some other action, state of being,
quality, or thing; it is, from this want of limitation, said to be in the
_Infinitive mode_; and is expressed by the verb with the _preposition_ TO
before it, to denote _this relation of end or purpose_; as, 'He came _to
see_ me;' 'The man is not fit _die_;' 'It was not right for him _to do_
thus.'"--_Dr. S. Webber's English Gram._, p. 35.

(3.) "RULE 3. A verb in the Infinitive Mode, is _the object_ of the
preposition TO, expressed or understood."--_S. W. Clark's Practical Gram._,
p. 127.

[405] Rufus Nutting, A. M., a grammarian of some skill, supposes that in
all such sentences there was "_anciently_" an ellipsis, not of the phrase
"_in order to_," but of the preposition _for_. He says, "Considering this
mode as merely a _verbal noun_, it might be observed, that the infinitive,
when it expresses the _object_, is governed by a _transitive_ verb; and,
when it expresses the _final cause_, is governed by an _intransitive_ verb,
OR ANCIENTLY, BY A PREPOSITION UNDERSTOOD. Of the former kind--'he learns
_to read_.' Of the latter--'he reads _to learn_,' i. e. '_for_ to
learn.'"--_Practical Gram._, p. 101. If _for_ was anciently understood in
examples of this sort, it is understood now, and to a still greater extent;
because we do not now insert the word _for_, as our ancestors sometimes
did; and an ellipsis can no otherwise grow obsolete, than by a continual
use of what was once occasionally omitted.

[406] (1.) "La préposition, est un mot indéclinable, placé devant les noms,
les pronoms, et les _verbes_, qu'elle _régit_."--"The preposition is an
indeclinable word placed before the nouns, pronouns, and _verbs_ which it
_governs_."--_Perrin's Grammar_, p. 152.

(2.) "Every verb placed immediately after _an other verb_, or after _a
preposition_, ought to be put in the _infinitive_; because it is then _the
regimen_ of the verb or preposition which precedes."--See _La Grammaire des
Grammaires, par Girault Du Vivier_, p. 774.

(3.) The American translator of the Elements of General Grammar, by the
Baron De Sacy, is naturally led, in giving a version of his author's method
of analysis, to parse the English infinitive mood essentially as I do;
calling the word _to_ a preposition, and the exponent, or sign, of a
_relation_ between the verb which follows it, and some other word which is
antecedent to it. Thus, in the phrase, "_commanding_ them _to use_ his
power," he says, that "'_to_' [is the] Exponent of a relation whose
Antecedent is '_commanding_,' and [whose] Consequent [is]
'_use_.'"--_Fosdick's De Sacy_, p. 131. In short, he expounds the word _to_
in this relation, just as he does when it stands before the objective case.
For example, in the phrase, "_belonging to him alone: 'to_,' Exponent of a
relation of which the Antecedent is '_belonging_,' and the Consequent,
'_him alone.'"--Ib._, p. 126. My solution, in either case, differs from
this in scarcely any thing else than the _choice of words_ to express it.

(4.) It appears that, in sundry dialects of the north of Europe, the
preposition _at_ has been preferred for the governing of the infinitive:
"The use of _at_ for _to_, as the sign of the infinitive mode, is Norse,
not Saxon. It is the regular prefix in Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, and
Feroic. It is also found in the northern dialects of the Old English, and
in the particular dialect of Westmoreland at the present day."--_Fowler, on
the English Language_, 8vo, 1850, p. 46.

[407] Here is a literal version, in which two infinitives are governed by
the preposition _between_; and though such a construction is uncommon, I
know not why it should be thought less accurate in the one language than in
the other. In some exceptive phrases, also, it seems not improper to put
the infinitive after some other preposition than _to_; as, "What can she do
_besides sing_?"--"What has she done, _except rock_ herself?" But such
expressions, if allowable, are too unfrequent to be noticed in any general
Rule of syntax. In the following example, the word _of_ pretty evidently
governs the infinitive: "Intemperance characterizes our discussions, that
is calculated to embitter in stead _of conciliate_."--CINCINNATI HERALD:
_Liberator_, No. 986.

[408] This doctrine has been lately revived in English by William B. Fowle,
who quotes Dr. Rees, Beauzée, Harris, Tracy, and Crombie, as his
authorities for it. He is right in supposing the English infinitive to be
generally governed by the preposition _to_, but wrong in calling it a
_noun_, or "the _name_ of the verb," except this phrase be used in the
sense in which every verb may be the name of itself. It is an error too, to
suppose with Beauzée, "that the infinitive never in any language _refers to
a subject_ or nominative;" or, as Harris has it, that infinitives "_have no
reference at all to persons or substances_." See _Fowle's True English
Gram._, Part ii, pp. 74 and 75. For though the infinitive verb never
_agrees_ with a subject or nominative, like a finite verb, it most commonly
has a very obvious _reference_ to something which is _the subject_ of the
being, action, or passion, which it expresses; and this reference is one of
the chief points of difference between the infinitive and a noun. S. S.
Greene, in a recent grammar, absurdly parses infinitives "_as nouns_," and
by the common rules for nouns, though he begins with calling them _verbs_.
Thus: "_Our honor is to be maintained. To be maintained_, is a _regular
passive_ VERB, infinitive mode, present tense, and is _used as a_ NOUN _in
the relation of predicate_; according to Rule II. A _noun or pronoun_ used
with the copula to form the _predicate_, must be in the _nominative_
case."--_Greene's Gram._, 1848. p. 93. (See the Rule, ib. p. 29.) This
author admits, "The '_to_' seems, like the preposition, to perform the
office of a _connective_:" but then he ingeniously imagines, "The
infinitive _differs from the preposition and its object_, in that the
'_to_' is _the only preposition_ used with the verb." And so he concludes,
"The _two_ [or more] _parts_ of the infinitive are taken together, and,
_thus_ combined, may _become a_ NOUN _in any relation_."--_Ib._, 1st
Edition, p. 87. S. S. Greene will also have the infinitive to make the verb
before it _transitive_; for he says, "The only form [of phrase] used as the
_direct object of a transitive verb_ is the _infinitive_; as, 'We intend
(What?) _to leave_ [town] to-day:' 'They tried (What?) _to conceal_ their
fears.'"--_Ib._, p. 99. One might as well find transitive verbs in these
equivalents: "_It is our purpose to leave_ town to-day."--"They
_endeavoured to conceal_ their fears." Or in this:--"They _blustered_ to
conceal their fears."

[409] It is remarkable that the ingenious J. E. Worcester could discern
nothing of the import of this particle before a verb. He expounds it, with
very little consistency, thus: "Tò, _or_ To, _ad_. A particle employed as
the usual sign or prefix of the infinitive mood of the verb; and it might,
in such use, be deemed _a syllable of the verb_. It is used _merely as a
sign of the infinitive_, without having any distinct or separate meaning:
as, 'He loves _to_ read.'"--_Univ. and Crit. Dict._ Now is it not plain,
that the action expressed by "_read_" is "that _towards_ which" the
affection signified by "_loves_" is directed? It is only because we can use
no other word in lieu of this _to_, that its meaning is not readily seen.
For calling it "a syllable of the verb," there is, I think, no reason or
analogy whatever. There is absurdity in calling it even "a _part_ of the
verb."

[410] As there is no point of grammar on which our philologists are more at
_variance_, so there seems to be none on which they are more at _fault_,
than in their treatment of the infinitive mood, with its usual sign, or
governing particle, _to_. For the information of the reader, I would gladly
cite every explanation not consonant with my own, and show wherein it is
objectionable; but so numerous are the forms of error under this head, that
such as cannot be classed together, or are not likely to be repeated, must
in general be left to run their course, exempt from any criticism of mine.
Of these various forms of error, however, I may here add an example or two.

(1.) "What is the meaning of the word _to?_ Ans. _To_ means _act_.
NOTE.--As our verbs and nouns _are spelled in the same manner_, it was
formerly _thought best_ to prefix the _word_ TO, to words _when used as
verbs_. For there is no difference between the NOUN, _love_; and the VERB,
_to love_; but what is shown by the _prefix_ TO, which signifies _act_; i.
e. to _act_ love."--_R. W. Greene's Inductive Exercises in English
Grammar_, N. Y., 1829, p. 52. Now all this, positive as the words are, is
not only fanciful, but false, utterly false. _To_ no more "means _act_,"
than _from_ "means _act_." And if it did, it could not be a sign of the
infinitive, or of a verb at all; for, "_act love_," is imperative, and
makes the word "_love_" a _noun_; and so, "_to act love_," (where "_love_"
is also a noun,) must mean "_act act love_," which is tautological
nonsense. Our nouns and verbs are not, _in general_, spelled alike; nor are
the latter, _in general_, preceded by _to_; nor could a particle which may
govern _either_, have been _specifically intended_, at first, to mark their
difference. By some, as we have seen, it is argued from the very sign, that
the infinitive is always essentially a noun.

(2.) "The _infinitive mode_ is the _root_ or _simple form_ of the verb,
used to express an action or state _indefinitely_; as, _to hear, to speak_.
It is generally distinguished by the sign _to_. When the particle _to_ is
employed in _forming_ the infinitive, it is to be regarded as _a part of
the verb_. In _every other case_ it is a _preposition_."--_Wells's School
Grammar_, 1st Ed., p. 80. "A _Preposition_ is a word which is used to
express the relation of a _noun_ or _pronoun_ depending upon it, to some
other word in the sentence."--_Ib._, pp. 46 and 108. "The passive form of a
verb is sometimes used in connection with a _preposition_, forming a
_compound passive verb_. Examples:--'He _was listened to_ without a
murmur.'--A. H. EVERETT. 'Nor is this enterprise _to be scoffed
at_.'--CHANNING."--_Ib._, p. 146. "A verb in the infinitive _usually
relates_ to some noun or pronoun. Thus, in the sentence, 'He desires to
improve,' the verb _to improve_ relates to the pronoun _he_ while it is
governed by _desires_."--_Ib._, p. 150. "'The _agent_ to a verb in the
infinitive mode must be in the _objective_ case.'--NUTTING."--_Ib._, p.
148. These citations from Wells, the last of which he quotes approvingly,
by way of authority, are in many respects self-contradictory, and in nearly
all respects untrue. How can the infinitive be only "the _root_ or _simple
form_ of the verb," and yet consist "generally" of two distinct words, and
often of three, four, or five; as, "_to hear_,"--"_to have heard_,"--"_to
be listened to_,"--"_to have been listened to_?" How can _to_ be a
"_preposition_" in the phrase, "_He was listened to_," and not so at all in
"_to be listened to_?" How does the infinitive "express an action or state
_indefinitely_," if it "_usually relates to some noun or pronoun_?" Why
_must_ its _agent_ "be in the _objective_ case," if "_to improve_ relates
to the pronoun _he_?" Is _to "in every other case a preposition_," and not
such before a verb or a participle? Must every preposition govern some
"_noun or pronoun_?" And yet are there some prepositions which govern
nothing, precede nothing? "The door banged _to_ behind him."--BLACKWELL:
_Prose Edda_, §2. What is _to_ here?

(3.) "The _preposition_ TO _before_ a verb is the sign of the
Infinitive."--_Weld's E. Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 74. "The preposition is _a part
of speech_ used to connect words, and show their relation."--_Ib._, p. 42.
"The perfect infinitive is formed of the perfect participle and the
auxiliary HAVE _preceded_ by the _preposition_ TO."--_Ib._, p. 96. "The
infinitive mode _follows_ a _verb, noun_, or _adjective_."--_Ib._, pp. 75
and 166. "A verb in the Infinitive _may follow_: 1. _Verbs_ or
_participles_; 2. _Nouns_ or _pronouns_; 3. _Adjectives_; 4. _As_ or
_than_; 5. _Adverbs_; 6. _Prepositions_; 7. The _Infinitive_ is often used
_independently_; 8. The Infinitive mode is often used in the office of a
_verbal noun_, as the _nominative case_ to the verb, and as the _objective
case_ after _verbs_ and _prepositions_."--_Ib._, p. 167. These last two
counts are absurdly included among what "the Infinitive _may follow_;" and
is it not rather queer, that this mood should be found to "_follow_" every
thing else, and _not_ "the preposition TO," which comes "_before_" it, and
by which it is "_preceded_?" This author adopts also the following absurd
and needless rule: "The Infinitive mode has an objective case before it
_when_ [the word] THAT _is omitted_: as, I believe _the sun_ to be the
centre of the solar system; I know _him_ to be a man of veracity."--_Ib._,
p. 167; _Abridged Ed._, 124. (See Obs. 10th on Rule 2d, above.) "_Sun_" is
here governed by "_believe_;" and "_him_," by "_know_;" and "_be_," in both
instances, by "the preposition TO:" for this particle is not only "the
_sign_ of the Infinitive," but its _governing word_, answering well to the
definition of a preposition above cited from Weld.

[411] "The infinitive is sometimes governed by a preposition; as, 'The
shipmen were _about to flee_.'"--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 149;
3d Ed., p. 158. Wells has altered this, and for "_preposition_" put
"_adverb_."--Ed. of 1850, p. 163.

[412] Some grammatists, being predetermined that no preposition shall
control the infinitive, avoid the conclusion by absurdly calling FOR, a
_conjunction_; ABOUT, an _adverb_; and TO--no matter what--but generally,
_nothing_. Thus: "The _conjunction_ FOR, is inelegantly used before verbs
in the infinitive mood; as, 'He came _for_ to study Latin.'"--_Greenleaf's
Gram._, p. 38. "The infinitive mood is sometimes _governed_ by
_conjunctions_ or _adverbs_; as, 'An object so high _as to be_ invisible;'
'The army is _about to march_.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 188. This is a note
to that extra rule which Kirkham proposes for our use, "_if we reject the
idea of government_, as applied to the verb in this mood!"--_Ib._

[413] After the word "_fare_," Murray put a semicolon, which shows that he
misunderstood the mood of the verb "_hear_." It is not always necessary to
repeat the particle _to_, when two or more infinitives are connected; and
this fact is an other good argument against calling the preposition _to_ "a
part of the verb." But in this example, and some others here exhibited, the
repetition is requisite.--G. B.

[414] "The Infinitive Mood is not confined to a trunk or nominative, and is
always preceded by _to_, expressed or implied."--_S. Barrett's Gram._,
1854, p. 43.

[415] Lindley Murray, and several of his pretended improvers, say, "The
infinitive sometimes _follows_ the word AS: thus, 'An object so high _as to
be_ invisible.' The infinitive occasionally _follows_ THAN _after_ a
comparison; as, 'He desired _nothing more than to know_ his own
imperfections.'"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 184; _Fisk's_, 125; _Alger's_,
63; _Merchant's_, 92. See this second example in _Weld's Gram._, p. 167;
_Abridg._, 124. Merchant, not relishing the latter example, changes it
thus: "I wish _nothing more, than to know_ his fate." He puts a comma after
_more_, and probably means, "I wish nothing _else_ than to know his fate."
So does Fisk, in the other version: and probably means, "He desired nothing
_else_ than to know his own imperfections." But Murray, Alger, and Weld,
accord in punctuation, and their meaning seems rather to be, "He desired
nothing _more heartily_ than [_he desired_] to know his own imperfections."
And so is this or a similar text interpreted by both Ingersoll and Weld,
who suppose this infinitive to be "_governed by another verb, understood_:
as, 'He desired nothing _more than to see_ his friends;' that is, 'than he
_desired_ to see,' &c."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 244; _Weld's Abridged_,
124. But obvious as is the _ambiguity_ of this fictitious example, in all
its forms, not one of these five critics perceived the fault at all. Again,
in their remark above cited, Ingersoll, Fisk, and Merchant, put a comma
before the preposition "_after_," and thus make the phrase, "_after a
comparison_," describe the place _of the infinitive_. But Murray and Alger
probably meant that this phrase should denote the place of the conjunction
"_than_." The great "Compiler" seems to me to have misused the phrase "_a
comparison_," for, "_an adjective or adverb of the comparative degree_;"
and the rest, I suppose, have blindly copied him, without thinking or
knowing what he ought to have said, or meant to say. Either this, or a
worse error, is here apparent. Five learned grammarians severally represent
either "_than_" or "_the infinitive_," as being AFTER "a _comparison_;" of
which one is the copula, and the other but the beginning of the latter
term! Palpable as is the _absurdity_, no one of the five perceives it! And,
besides, no one of them says any thing about the _government_ of this
infinitive, except Ingersoll, and he supplies a _verb_. "_Than_ and _as_,"
says Greenleaf, "sometimes _appear to govern_ the infinitive mood; as,
'Nothing makes a man suspect _much more, than_ to know little;' 'An object
so high _as_ to be invisible."--_Gram. Simp._, p. 38. Here is an other
fictitious and ambiguous example, in which the phrase, "_to know little_,"
is the subject of _makes_ understood. Nixon supposes the infinitive phrase
after _as_ to be always the subject of a finite verb _understood_ after it;
as, "An object so high as to be invisible _is_ or, _implies_." See _English
Parser_, p. 100.

[416] Dr. Crombie, after copying the substance of Campbell's second Canon,
that, "In doubtful cases _analogy_ should be regarded," remarks: "For the
same reason, '_it needs_' and '_he dares_,' are better than '_he need_' and
'_he dare._'"--_On Etym. and Synt._, p. 326. Dr. Campbell's language is
somewhat stronger: "In the verbs _to dare_ and _to need_, many say, in the
third person present singular, _dare_ and _need_, as 'he _need_ not go: he
_dare_ not do it.' Others say, _dares_ and _needs_. As the first usage is
_exceedingly irregular_, hardly any thing less than uniform practice could
authorize it."--_Philosophy of Rhet._, p. 175. _Dare_ for _dares_ I suppose
to be wrong; but if _need_ is an auxiliary of the potential mood, to use it
without inflection, is neither "irregular," nor at all inconsistent with
the foregoing canon. But the former critic notices these verbs a second
time, thus: "'He _dare_ not,' 'he _need_ not,' may be justly pronounced
_solecisms_, for 'he _dares_,' 'he _needs_.'"--_Crombie, on Etym. and
Synt._, p. 378. He also says, "The verbs _bid, dare, need, make, see, hear,
feel, let_, are _not_ followed by the sign of the infinitive."--_Ib._, p.
277. And yet he writes thus: "These are truths, of which, I am persuaded,
the author, to whom I allude, _needs_ not _to_ be reminded."--_Ib._, p.
123. So Dr. Bullions declares against _need_ in the singular, by putting
down the following example as bad English: "He _need_ not be in so much
haste."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 134. Yet he himself writes thus: "A name
more appropriate than the term _neuter, need_ not be desired."--_Ib._, p.
196. A school-boy may see the inconsistency of this.

[417] Some modern grammarians will have it, that a participle governed by a
preposition is a "_participial noun_;" and yet, when they come to parse an
adverb or an objective following, their "_noun_" becomes a "_participle_"
again, and _not_ a "_noun_." To allow words thus to _dodge_ from one class
to an other, is not only unphilosophical, but ridiculously absurd. Among
those who thus treat this construction of the participle, the chief, I
think, are Butler, Hurt, Weld, Wells, and S. S. Greene.

[418] Dr. Blair, to whom Murray ought to have acknowledged himself indebted
for this sentence, introduced _a noun_, to which, in his work, this
infinitive and these participles refer: thus, "It is disagreeable _for the
mind_ to be _left pausing_ on a word which does not, by itself, produce any
idea."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, p. 118. See Obs. 10th and 11th on Rule 14th.

[419] The perfect contrast between _from_ and _to_, when the former governs
the participle and the latter the infinitive, is an other proof that this
_to_ is the common preposition _to_. For example, "These are the four
spirits of the heavens, which go forth _from standing_ before the Lord of
all the earth."--_Zech._, vi, 5. Now if this were rendered "which go forth
_to stand_," &c., it is plain that these prepositions would express quite
opposite relations. Yet, probably from some obscurity in the original, the
Greek version has been made to mean, "going forth _to stand_;" and the
Latin, "which go forth, _that they may stand_;" while the French text
conveys nearly the same sense as ours,--"which go forth _from the place
where they stood._"

[420] _Cannot_, with a verb of _avoiding_, or with the negative _but_, is
equivalent to _must_. Such examples may therefore be varied thus: "I
_cannot but mention_:" i.e., "I _must_ mention."--"I _cannot help
exhorting_ him to assume courage."--_Knox_. That is, "I _cannot but exhort_
him."

[421] See the same thing in _Kirkham's Gram._ p. 189; in _Ingersoll's_, p.
200; in _Smith's New Grammar_, p. 162; and in other modifications and
mutilations of Murray's work. Kirkham, in an other place, adopts the
doctrine, that, "_Participles_ frequently govern nouns _and_ pronouns in
the possessive case; as, 'In case of his _majesty's dying_ without issue,
&c.; Upon _God's having ended_ all his works, &c.; I remember _its being
reckoned_ a great exploit; At my _coming_ in he said, &c."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 181. None of these examples are written according to my notion
of elegance, or of accuracy. Better: "In case his _Majesty die_ without
issue."--"_God_ having ended all his works."--"I remember _it was_ reckoned
a great exploit."--"At my _entrance_, he said," &c.

[422] We have seen that Priestley's doctrine, as well as Lowth's, is, that
when a participle is taken _substantively_, "it ought not to govern another
word;" and, for the same reason, it ought not to have an _adverb_ relating
to it. But many of our modern grammarians disregard these principles, and
do not restrict their "_participial nouns_" to the construction of nouns,
in either of these respects. For example: Because one may say, "_To read
superficially_, is useless," Barnard supposes it right to say, "_Reading
superficially_ is useless." "But the _participle_," says he, "will also
take the adjective; as, '_Superficial reading_ is useless.'"--_Analytic
Gram._, p. 212. In my opinion, this last construction ought to be
preferred; and the second, which is both irregular and unnecessary,
rejected. Again, this author says: "We have laid it down as a rule, that
the possessive case belongs, like an adjective, to a _noun_. What shall be
said of the following? 'Since the days of Samson, there has been no
instance of _a man's_ accomplishing a task so stupendous.' The _entire
clause_ following _man's_, is taken as a noun. 'Of a man's _success_ in a
task so stupendous.' would present no difficulty. A part of a sentence, or
even a single participle, _thus often_ stands _for a noun_. 'My going will
depend on my father's giving his consent,' or 'on my father's consenting.'
A participle _thus used_ as a noun, may be called a PARTICIPIAL
NOUN."--_Ib._, p. 131. I dislike this doctrine also. In the first example,
_man_ may well be made the leading word in sense; and, as such, it must be
in the objective case; thus: "There has been no instance of a _man
accomplishing_ a task so stupendous." It is also proper to say. "_My going_
will depend on my _father's consenting_," or, "on my _father's consent_."
But an action possessed by the agent, ought not to be transitive. If,
therefore, you make this the leading idea, insert _of_: thus, "There has
been no instance of a _man's accomplishing of_ a task so stupendous." "My
going will depend on my _father's giving of_ his consent."--"My _brother's
acquiring [of_] the French language will be a useful preparation for his
travels."--_Barnard's Gram._, p. 227. If participial nouns retain the power
of participles, why is it wrong to say, "A superficial reading books is
useless?" Again, Barnard approves of the question, "What do you think of my
_horse's running to-day_?" and adds, "Between this form of expression and
the following, 'What do you think of my _horse running_ to-day?' it is
sometimes said, that we should make a distinction; because the former
implies that the horse had actually run, and the latter, that it is in
contemplation to have him do so. _The difference of meaning certainly
exists_; but it would seem more judicious to treat _the latter_ as an
improper mode of speaking. What can be more uncouth than to say, 'What do
you think of _me_ going to Niagara?' We should say _my_ going,
notwithstanding the ambiguity. We ought, _therefore_, to introduce
something explanatory; as, 'What do you think _of the propriety_ of my
going to Niagara?"--_Analytic Gram._, p. 227. The propriety of a past
action is as proper a subject of remark as that of a future one; the
explanatory phrase here introduced has therefore nothing to do with
Priestley's distinction, or with the alleged ambiguity. Nor does the
uncouthness of an objective pronoun with the leading word in sense
improperly taken as an adjunct, prove that a participle may properly take
to itself a possessive adjunct, and still retain the active nature of a
participle.

[423] The following is an example, but it is not very intelligible, nor
would it be at all amended, if the pronoun were put in the possessive case:
"I sympathize with my sable brethren, when I hear of _them being spared_
even one lash of the cart-whip."--REV. DR. THOMPSON: _Garrison, on
Colonization_, p. 80. And this is an other, in which the possessive pronoun
would not be better: "But, if the slaves wish, to return to slavery, let
them do so; not an abolitionist will turn out to stop _them going_
back."--_Antislavery Reporter_, Vol. IV, p. 223. Yet it might be more
accurate to say--"to stop them _from_ going back." In the following example
from the pen of Priestley, the objective is correctly used with _as_, where
some would be apt to adopt the possessive: "It gives us an idea of _him_,
as being the only person to whom it can be applied."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 151. Is not this better English than to say, "of _his_ being the only
person?" The following is from the pen of a good scholar: "This made me
remember the discourse we had together, at my house, about _me drawing_
constitutions, not as proposals, but as if fixed to the hand."--WILLIAM
PENN: _Letter to Algernon Sidney_, Oct. 13th, 1681. Here, if _me_ is
objectionable, _my_ without _of_ would be no less so. It might be better
grammar to say, "about _my drawing of_ constitutions."

[424] Sometimes the passive form is adopted, when there is no real need of
it, and when perhaps the active would be better, because it is simpler; as,
"Those portions of the grammar are worth the trouble of _being committed_
to memory."--_Dr. Barrow's Essays_, p. 109. Better, perhaps:--"worth the
trouble of _committing_ to memory:" or,--"worth the trouble _committing
them_ to memory." Again: "What is worth being uttered at all, is worth
_being spoken_ in a proper manner."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 68. Better,
perhaps: "What is worth _uttering_ at all, is worth _uttering_ in a proper
manner."--G. Brown.

[425] "RULE.--When the participle expresses something of which the noun
following is the DOER, it should have the article and preposition; as, 'It
was said in _the hearing of_ the witness.' When it expresses something of
which the noun following is _not the doer_, but the OBJECT, both should be
omitted; as, 'The court spent some time in _hearing_ the
witness.'"--BULLIONS, _Prin. of E. Gram._, p. 108; _Analyt. and Pract.
Gram._, 181.

[426] This doctrine is far from being true. See Obs. 12th, in this series,
above.--G. B.

[427] "Dr. Webster considers the use of _then_ and _above_ as ADNOUNS, [i.
e., adjectives,] to be 'well authorized and very convenient;' as, the
_then_ ministry; the _above_ remarks."--_Felch's Comp. Gram._, p. 108. Dr.
Webster's remark is in the following words: "_Then_ and _above_ are often
used as ATTRIBUTES: [i. e., adjectives; as,] the _then_ ministry; the
_above_ remarks; nor would I prescribe this use. It is well authorized and
very convenient."--_Philos. Gram._, p. 245; _Improved Gram._, p. 176. Of
this use of _then_, Dr. Crombie has expressed a very different opinion:
"Here _then_," says he, "the adverb equivalent to _at that time_, is
solecistically employed as an adjective, agreeing with _ministry_. This
error seems to gain ground; it should therefore be vigilantly opposed, and
carefully avoided."--_On Etym. and Synt._, p. 405.

[428] W. Allen supposes, "An adverb sometimes qualifies a whole sentence:
as, _Unfortunately_ for the lovers of antiquity, _no remains of Grecian
paintings have been preserved_."--_Elements of Eng. Gram._, p. 173. But
this example may be resolved thus: "_It happens_ unfortunately for the
lovers of antiquity, _that_ no remains of Grecian paintings have been
preserved."

[429] This assertion of Churchill's is very far from the truth. I am
confident that the latter construction occurs, even among reputable
authors, ten times as often as the former can be found in any English
books.--G. BROWN.

[430] Should not the Doctor have said, "_are_ there _more_," since "_more
than one_" must needs be plural? See Obs. 10th on Rule 17th.

[431] This degree of truth is impossible, and therefore not justly
supposable. We have also a late American grammarian who gives a similar
interpretation: "'_Though never so justly deserving of it_.' Comber.
_Never_ is here an emphatic adverb; as if it were said, so justly _as was
never_. Though well authorized, it is disapproved by most grammarians of
the present day; and the word _ever_ is used instead of _never_."--_Felch's
Comp. Gram._, p. 107. The text here cited is not necessarily bad English as
it stands; but, if the commenter has not mistaken its meaning, as well as
its construction, it ought certainly to be, "Though _everso justly_
deserving of it."--"_So justly as was never_," is a positive degree that is
not imaginable; and what is this but an absurdity?

[432] Since this remark was written, I have read an other grammar, (that of
the "_Rev. Charles Adams_,") in which the author sets down among "the more
frequent _improprieties_ committed, in conversation, '_Ary one_' for
_either_, and '_nary one_' for _neither_."--_Adams's System of Gram._, p.
116. Eli Gilbert too betrays the same ignorance. Among his "_Improper
Pronunciations_" he puts down "_Nary_" and "_Ary_" and for "_Corrections_"
of them, gives "_neither_" and "_either_."--_Gilbert's Catechetical Gram._,
p. 128. But these latter terms, _either_ and _neither_, are applicable only
to _one of two_ things, and cannot be used where _many_ are spoken of; as,

   "Stealing her soul with _many_ vows of faith,
    And _ne'er_ a true one."--_Shakspeare_.

What sense would there be in expounding this to mean, "And _neither_ a true
one?" So some men both write and interpret their mother tongue erroneously
through ignorance. But these authors _condemn_ the errors which they here
falsely suppose to be common. What is yet more strange, no less a critic
than Prof. William C. Fowler, has lately exhibited, _without
disapprobation_, one of these literary blunders, with sundry localisms,
(often descending to slang,) which, he says, are mentioned by "Mr.
Bartlett, in his valuable dictionary [_Dictionary] of Americanisms_." The
brief example, which may doubtless be understood to speak for both phrases
and both authors, is this: "ARY = either."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, N.
Y., 1850, p. 92.

[433] The conjunction _that_, at the head of a sentence or clause, enables
us to assume the whole preposition as one _thing_; as, "All arguments
whatever are directed to prove one or other of these _three things: that_
something is true; _that_ it is morally right or fit; or _that_ it is
profitable and good."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 318. Here each _that_ may be
parsed as connecting its own clause to the first clause in the sentence;
or, to the word _things_ with which the three clauses are in a sort of
apposition. If we conceive it to have no such connecting power, we must
make this too an exception.

[434] "Note. Then _and_ than are _distinct Particles_, but use hath made
the using of _then_ for _than_ after a Comparative Degree at least
_passable_. See _Butler's_ Eng. Gram. Index."--_Walker's Eng. Particles_,
Tenth Ed., 1691, p. 333.

[435] "When the relative _who_ follows the preposition _than_, it must be
used as in the _accusative_ case."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 93. Dr. Priestley
seems to have imagined the word _than_ to be _always a preposition_; for he
contends against the common doctrine and practice respecting the case after
it: "It is, likewise, said, that the nominative case ought to follow the
_preposition than_; because the verb _to be_ is understood after it; As,
_You are taller than he_, and not _taller than him_; because at full
length, it would be, _You are taller than he is_; but since it is allowed,
that the oblique case should follow _prepositions_; and since the
comparative degree of an adjective, and the particle _than_ have,
certainly, between them, the force _of a preposition_, expressing the
relation of one word to another, _they ought to require the oblique case_
of the pronoun following."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 105. If _than_ were a
preposition, this reasoning would certainly be right; but the Doctor begs
the question, by assuming that it _is_ a preposition. William Ward, an
other noted grammarian of the same age, supposes that, "ME _sapientior es_,
may be translated, _Thou art wiser_ THAN ME." He also, in the same place,
avers, that, "The best English Writers have considered _than_ as a Sign of
an oblique Case; as, 'She suffers more THAN ME.' Swift, i.e. more than I
suffer.

    'Thou art a Girl as much brighter THAN HER,
    As he was a Poet sublimer THAN ME.' Prior.

i.e. Thou art a Girl as much brighter _than she was_, as he was a Poet
sublimer _than I am_."--_Ward's Practical Gram._, p. 112. These examples of
the objective case after _than_, were justly regarded by Lowth as _bad
English_. The construction, however, has a modern advocate in S. W. Clark,
who will have the conjunctions _as, but, save, saving_, and _than_, as well
as the adjectives _like, unlike, near, next, nigh_, and _opposite_, to be
_prepositions_. "After a _Comparative_ the _Preposition than_ is commonly
used. Example--Grammar is more interesting _than_ all my other
studies."--_Clark's Practical Gram._, p. 178. "_As, like, than_, &c.,
indicate a relation of _comparison_. Example 'Thou hast been _wiser_ all
the while _than me_.' _Southey's Letters._"--_Ib._, p. 96. Here correct
usage undoubtedly requires _I_, and not _me_. Such at least is my opinion.

[436] In respect to the _case_, the phrase _than who_ is similar to _than
he, than they_, &c., as has been observed by many grammarians; but, since
_than_ is a conjunction, and _who_ or _whom_ is a relative, it is doubtful
whether it can be strictly proper to set two such connectives together, be
the case of the latter which it may. See Note 5th, in the present chapter,
below.

[437] After _else_ or _other_, the preposition _besides_ is sometimes used;
and, when it recalls an idea previously suggested, it appears to be as good
as _than_, or better: as, "_Other_ words, _besides_ the preceding, may
begin with capitals."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i. p. 285. Or perhaps this
preposition may be proper, whenever _else_ or _other_ denotes what is
_additional_ to the object of contrast, and not exclusive of it; as, "When
we speak of any _other_ quantity _besides_ bare numbers."--_Tooke's
Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 215. "Because he had no _other_ father _besides_
God."--_Milton, on Christianity_, p. 109. Though we sometimes express an
addition by _more than_, the following example appears to me to be _bad
English_, and its interpretation still worse: "'The secret was communicated
to _more men than him_.' That is, (when the ellipsis is duly supplied,)
'The secret was communicated to more _persons_ than _to_ him.'"--Murray's
Key, 12mo, p. 61; his _Octavo Gram._, p. 215; _Ingersoll's Gram._, 252. Say
rather,--"to _other_ men _besides_ him." Nor, again, does the following
construction appear to be right: "Now _shew_ me _another_ Popish rhymester
_but he_."--DENNIS: _Notes to the Dunciad_, B. ii, l. 268. Say rather, "Now
_show_ me _an other_ popish rhymester _besides him_." Or thus: "Now show me
_any_ popish rhymester _except_ him." This too is questionable: "Now pain
must here be intended to signify something _else besides_
warning."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 121. If "warning" was here
intended to be included with "something else," the expression is right; if
not, _besides_ should be _than_. Again: "There is seldom any _other_
cardinal in Poland _but him_."--_Life of Charles XII_. Here "_but him_"
should be either "_besides him_," or "_than he_;" for _but_ never rightly
governs the objective case, nor is it proper after _other_. "Many _more_
examples, _besides_ the foregoing, might have been adduced."--_Nesbit's
English Parsing_, p. xv. Here, in fact, no comparison is expressed; and
therefore it is questionable, whether the word "_more_" is allowably used.
Like _else_ and _other_, when construed with _besides_, it signifies
_additional_; and, as this idea is implied in _besides_, any one of these
adjectives going before is really pleonastic. In the sense above noticed,
the word _beside_ is sometimes written in stead of besides, though not very
often; as, "There are _other_ things which pass in the mind of man,
_beside_ ideas."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 136.

[438] A few of the examples under this head might be corrected equally well
by some preceding note of a more specific character; for a general note
against the improper omission of prepositions, of course includes those
principles of grammar by which any particular prepositions are to be
inserted. So the examples of error which were given in the tenth chapter of
Etymology, might nearly all of them have been placed under the first note
in this tenth chapter of Syntax. But it was thought best to illustrate
every part of this volume, by some examples of false grammar, out of the
infinite number and variety with which our literature abounds.

[439] "The Rev. _Joab Goldsmith Cooper_, A. M.," was the author of two
English grammars, as well as of what he called "A New and Improved Latin
Grammar," with "An Edition of the Works of Virgil, &c.," all published in
Philadelphia. His first grammar, dated 1828, is entitled, "_An Abridgment
of Murray's English Grammar, and Exercises_." But it is no more an
abridgement of Murray's work, than of mine; he having chosen to steal from
the text of my Institutes, or supply matter of his own, about as often as
to copy Murray. His second is the Latin Grammar. His third, which is
entitled, "_A Plain and Practical English Grammar_," and dated 1831, is a
book very different from the first, but equally inaccurate and worthless.
In this book, the syntax of interjections stands thus: "RULE 21. The
interjections _O, oh_ and _ah_ are followed by _the objective case_ of a
noun or pronoun, as: 'O me! ah me! oh me!' In the second person, they are
_a mark_ or _sign_ of an address, made to a person or thing, as: O thou
persecutor! Oh, ye hypocrites! O virtue, how amiable thou art!"--Page 157.
The inaccuracy of all this can scarcely be exceeded.

[440] "_Oh_ is used to express the emotion of _pain, sorrow_, or
_surprise_. _O_ is used to express _wishing, exclamation_, or a direct
_address_ to a person."--_Lennie's Gram._, 12th Ed., p. 110. Of this
distinction our grammarians in general seem to have no conception; and, in
fact, it is so often disregarded by other authors, that the propriety of it
may be disputed. Since _O_ and _oh_ are pronounced alike, or very nearly
so, if there is no difference in their application, they are only different
modes of writing the same word, and one or the other of them is useless. If
there is a real difference, as I suppose there is, it ought to be better
observed; and _O me!_ and _oh ye!_ which I believe are found only in
grammars, should be regarded as bad English. Both _O_ and _oh_, as well as
_ah_, were used in Latin by Terence, who was reckoned an elegant writer;
and his manner of applying them favours this distinction: and so do our own
dictionaries, though Johnson and Walker do not draw it clearly, for _oh_ is
as much an "_exclamation_" as _O_. In the works of Virgil, Ovid, and
Horace, we find _O_ or _o_ used frequently, but nowhere _oh_. Yet this is
no evidence of their sameness, or of the uselessness of the latter; but
rather of their difference, and of the impropriety of confounding them. _O,
oh, ho_, and _ah_, are French words as well as English. Boyer, in his
Quarto Dictionary, confounds them all; translating "O!" only by "_Oh!_"
"OH! _ou_ HO!" by "_Ho! Oh!_" and "AH!" by "_Oh! alas! well-a-day! ough! A!
ah! hah! ho!_" He would have done better to have made each one explain
itself; and especially, not to have set down "_ough!_" and "_A!_" as
English words which correspond to the French _ah!_

[441] This silence is sufficiently accounted for by _Murray's_; of whose
work, most of the authors who have any such rule, are either piddling
modifiers or servile copyists. And Murray's silence on these matters, is in
part attributable to the fact, that when he wrote his remark, his system of
grammar denied that nouns have any first person, or any objective case. Of
course he supposed that all nouns that were uttered after interjections,
whether they were of the second person or of the third, were in the
nominative case; for he gave to nouns _two_ cases only, the nominative and
the possessive. And when he afterwards admitted the objective case of
nouns, he did not alter his remark, but left all his pupils ignorant of the
case of any noun that is used in exclamation or invocation. In his doctrine
of two cases, he followed Dr. Ash: from whom also he copied the rule which
I am criticising: "The _Interjections, O, Oh_, and _Ah_, require the
_accusative_ case of a pronoun in the _first_ Person: as, O _me_, Oh _me_,
Ah _me_: But the _Nominative_ in the _second_: as, O _thou_, O
_ye_."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 60. Or perhaps he had Bicknell's book, which was
later: "The _interjections O, oh_, and _ah_, require the accusative case of
a pronoun in the _first_ person after them; as, _O, me! Oh, me! Ah, me!_
But the nominative case in the _second_ person; as, _O, thou that rulest!
O, ye rulers of this land!_"--_The Grammatical Wreath_, Part I, p. 105.

[442] See _2 Sam._, xix, 4; also xviii, 33. Peirce has many times
_misquoted_ this text, or some part of it; and, what is remarkable, he
nowhere agrees either with himself or with the Bible! "O! Absalom! my
son!"--_Gram._, p. 283. "O Absalom! my son, my son! would _to_ God I had
died for thee."--_Ib._, p. 304. Pinneo also misquotes and perverts a part
of it, thus: "Oh, Absalom! my son"--_Primary Gram._, Revised Ed., p. 57.

[443] Of this example, Professor Bullions says, "This will be allowed to be
_a correct English sentence_, complete in itself, and requiring nothing to
be supplied. The phrase, '_being an expert dancer_,' is the subject of the
verb '_does entitle_;' but the word '_dancer_' in that phrase is neither
the subject of any verb, nor is governed by any word in the
sentence."--_Eng. Gram._, p. 52. It is because this word cannot have any
regular construction after the participle when the possessive case
precedes, that I deny his first proposition, and declare the sentence _not_
"to be correct English." But the Professor at length reasons himself into
the notion, that this indeterminate "_predicate_," as he erroneously calls
it, "is properly in the _objective case_, and in parsing, may correctly be
called the _objective indefinite_;" of which case, he says, "The following
are also examples: '_He_ had the honour of being a _director_ for life.'
'By being a _diligent student, he_ soon acquired eminence in his
profession.'"--_Ib._, p. 83. But "_director_" and "_student_" are here
manifestly in the _nominative_ case: each agreeing with the pronoun _he_,
which denotes the same person. In the latter sentence, there is a very
obvious transposition of the first five words.

[444] Faulty as this example is, Dr. Blair says of it: "Nothing can be more
elegant, or more finely turned, than this sentence. It is neat, _clear_,
and musical. We could hardly _alter one word_, or disarrange one member,
without _spoiling_ it. Few sentences are to be found, more finished, or
more happy."--_Lecture_ XX, p. 201. See the _six_ corrections suggested in
my Key, and judge whether or not they _spoil_ the sentence.--G. B.

[445] This Note, as well as all the others, will by-and-by be amply
illustrated by citations from authors of sufficient repute to give it some
value as a grammatical principle: but one cannot hope such language as is,
in reality, incorrigibly bad, will always appear so to the generality of
readers. Tastes, habits, principles, judgements, differ; and, where
confidence is gained, many utterances are well received, that are neither
well considered nor well understood. When a professed critic utters what is
incorrect beyond amendment, the fault is the more noteworthy, as his
professions are louder, or his standing is more eminent. In a recent
preface, deliberately composed for a very comprehensive work on "English
Grammar," and designed to allure both young and old to "a thorough and
extensive acquaintance with their mother tongue,"--in the studied preface
of a learned writer, who has aimed "to furnish not only a text-book for the
higher institutions, but also a reference-book for _teachers_, which may
give breadth and exactness to their views,"--I find a paragraph of which
the following is a part: "Unless men, at least occasionally, bestow their
attention upon the science and the laws of the language, they are in some
danger, amid the excitements of professional life, of losing the delicacy
of their taste and giving sanction to vulgarisms, or to what is worse. On
this point, listen to the recent declarations of two leading men in the
Senate of the United States, both of whom understand the use of the English
language in its power: 'In truth, I must say that, in my opinion, the
vernacular tongue of the country has become greatly vitiated, depraved, and
corrupted by the style of our Congressional debates.' And the other, in
courteous response remarked, 'There _is_ such a _thing_ as _an_ English and
_a_ parliamentary _vocabulary_, and I have never heard _a worse_, when
circumstances called it out, on this side [_of_] Billingsgate!'"--_Fowler's
E. Gram._, 8vo. 1850, Pref., p. iv.

Now of these "two leading men," the former was Daniel Webster, who, in a
senatorial speech, in the spring of 1850, made such a remark concerning the
style of oratory used in Congress. But who replied, or what idea the
"courteous response," as here given, can be said to convey, I do not know.
The language seems to me both unintelligible and solecistical; and,
therefore, but a fair sample of the _Incorrigible_. Some intelligent
persons, whom I have asked to interpret it, think, as Webster had accused
our Congress of corrupting the English language, the respondent meant to
accuse the British Parliament of doing the same thing in a greater
degree,--of descending yet lower into the vileness of slang. But this is
hardly a probable conjecture. Webster might be right in acknowledging a
very depraving abuse of the tongue in the two Houses of Congress; but could
it be "courteous," or proper, for the answerer to jump the Atlantic, and
pounce upon the English Lords and Commons, as a set of worse corrupters?

The gentleman begins with saying, "There _is_ such _a thing_"--as if he
meant to describe some _one_ thing; and proceeds with saying, "as _an_
English _and a_ parliamentary vocabulary," in which phrase, by repeating
the article, he speaks of _two "things"--two vocabularies_; then goes on,
"and I have never heard _a worse_!" A worse _what_? Does he mean "_a worse
vocabulary_?" If so, what sense has "_vocabulary_?" And, again, "a worse"
_than_ what? Where and what is this "_thing_" which is so bad that the
leading Senator has "never heard a worse?" Is it some "_vocabulary_" both
"English and parliamentary?" If so, whose? If not, what else is it? Lest
the wisdom of this oraculous "declaration" be lost to the public through
the defects of its syntax,--and lest more than one rhetorical critic seem
hereby "in some danger" of "giving sanction to" _nonsense_,--it may be well
for Professor Fowler, in his next edition, to present some elucidation of
this short but remarkable passage, which he values so highly!

An other example, in several respects still more remarkable,--a shorter
one, into which an equally successful professor of grammar has condensed a
much greater number and variety of faults,--is seen in the following
citation: "The verb is so called, because it means _word_; and as there can
be no sentence without it, it is called, emphatically, _the
word_."--_Pinneo's Analytical Gram._, p. 14. This sentence, in which,
perhaps, most readers will discover no error, has in fact faults of so many
different kinds, that a critic must pause to determine under which of more
than half a dozen different heads of false syntax it might most fitly be
presented for correction or criticism. (1.) It might be set down under my
Note 5th to Rule 10th; for, in one or two instances out of the three, if
not in all, the pronoun "_it_" gives not the same idea as its antecedent.
The faults coming under this head might be obviated by three changes, made
thus: "The verb is so called, because _verb_ means _word_; and, as there
can be no sentence without _a verb, this part of speech_ is called,
emphatically, _the word_." Cobbett wisely says, "Never put an _it_ upon
paper without thinking well of what you are about."--_E. Gram._, ¶ 196. But
(2.) the erroneous text, and this partial correction of it too, might be
put under my Critical Note 5th, among _Falsities_; for, in either form,
each member affirms what is manifestly untrue. The term "_word_" has many
meanings; but no usage ever makes it, "_emphatically_" or otherwise, a name
for one of the classes called "parts of speech;" nor is there nowadays any
current usage in which "_verb_ means _word_." (3.) This text might be put
under Critical Note 6th, among _Absurdities_; for whoever will read it, as
in fairness he should, taking the pronoun "_it_" in the exact sense of its
antecedent "_the verb_," will see that the import of each part is
absurd--the whole, a two-fold absurdity. (4.) It might be put under
Critical Note 7th, among _Self-Contradictions_; for, to teach at once that
"_the verb_ is _so_ called," and "is called, emphatically,"
_otherwise_,--namely, "_the word_,"--is, to contradict one's self. (5.) It
might be set down under Critical Note 9th, among examples of _Words
Needless_; for the author's question is, "Why is the verb so called?" and
this may be much better answered in fewer words, thus: "THE VERB is so
called, because in French it is called _le verbe_ and in Latin, _verbum_,
which means _word_." (6.) It might be put under Critical Note 10th, as an
example of _Improper Omissions_; for it may be greatly bettered by the
addition of some words, thus: "The verb is so called, because [in French]
it [is called _le verbe_, and in Latin, _verbum_, which] means _word_: as
there can be no sentence without _a verb, this_ [most important part of
speech] is called, emphatically, [_the verb_,--q.d.,] _the word_." (7.) It
might be put under Critical Note 11th, among _Literary Blunders_; for there
is at least one blunder in each of its members. (8.) It might be set down
under Critical Note 13th, as an example of _Awkwardness_; for it is but
clumsy work, to teach _grammar_ after this sort. (9.) It might be given
under Critical Note 16th, as a sample of the _Incorrigible_; for it is
scarcely possible to eliminate all its defects and retain its essentials.

These instances may suffice to show, that even gross errors of grammar may
lurk where they are least to be expected, in the didactic phraseology of
professed masters of style or oratory, and may abound where common readers
or the generality of hearers will discover nothing amiss.

[446] As a mere assertion, this example is here sufficiently corrected;
but, as a _definition_, (for which the author probably intended it,) it is
deficient; and consequently, in that sense, is still inaccurate. I would
also observe that most of the subsequent examples under the present head,
contain other errors than that for which they are here introduced; and, of
some of them, the faults are, in my opinion, very many: for example, the
several definitions of an _adverb_, cited below. Lindley Murray's
definition of this part of speech is not inserted among these, because I
had elsewhere criticised that. So too of his faulty definition of a
_conjunction_. See the _Introduction_, Chap. X. paragraphs 26 and 28. See
also _Corrections in the Key_, under Note 10th to Rule 1st.

[447] In his explanation of _Ellipsis_, Lindley Murray continually calls it
"_the_ ellipsis," and speaks of it as something that is "_used_,"--"_made
use of_,"--"_applied_,"--"_contained in_" the examples; which expressions,
referring, as they there do, to the mere _absence_ of something, appear to
me solecistical. The notion too, which this author and others have
entertained of the figure itself, is in many respects erroneous; and nearly
all their examples for its illustration are either questionable as to such
an application, or obviously inappropriate. The absence of what is
_needless_ or _unsuggested_, is _no ellipsis_, though some grave men have
not discerned this obvious fact. The nine solecisms here quoted concerning
"_the ellipsis_," are all found in many other grammars. See _Fisk's E.
Gram._, p. 144; _Guy's_, 91; _Ingersoll's_, 153; _J. M. Putnam's_, 137; _R.
C. Smith's_, 180; _Weld's_, 190.

[448] Some of these examples do, _in fact_, contain _more_ than two errors;
for mistakes in _punctuation_, or in the use of _capitals_, are not here
reckoned. This remark may also he applicable to some of the other lessons.
The reader may likewise perceive, that where two, three, or more
improprieties occur in one sentence, some one or more of them may happen to
be such, as he can, if he choose, correct by some rule or note belonging to
a previous chapter. Great labour has been bestowed on the selection and
arrangement of these syntactical exercises; but to give to so great a
variety of literary faults, a distribution perfectly distinct, and
perfectly adapted to all the heads assumed in this digest, is a work not
only of great labour, but of great difficulty. I have come as near to these
two points of perfection in the arrangement, as I well could.--G. BROWN.

[449] In Murray's sixth chapter of Punctuation, from which this example,
and eleven others that follow it, are taken, there is scarcely a single
sentence that does not contain _many errors_; and yet the whole is
literally copied in _Ingersoll's Grammar_, p. 293; in _Fisk's_, p. 159; in
_Abel Flint's_, 116; and probably in some others. I have not always been
careful to subjoin the great number of references which might be given for
blunders selected from this hackneyed literature of the schools. For
corrections, or improvements, see the Key.

[450] This example, or L. Murray's miserable modification of it, traced
through the grammars of Alden, Alger, Bullions, Comly, Cooper, Flint,
Hiley, Ingersoll, Jaudon, Merchant, Russell, Smith, and others, will be
found to have a dozen different forms--all of them no less faulty than the
original--all of them obscure, untrue, inconsistent, and almost
incorrigible. It is plain, that "_a_ comma," or _one_ comma, cannot divide
more than _two_ "simple members;" and these, surely, cannot be connected by
more than _one relative_, or by more than _one_ "comparative;" if it be
allowable to call _than, as_, or _so_, by this questionable name. Of the
multitude of errors into which these pretended critics have so blindly
fallen, I shall have space and time to point out only a _very small part_:
this text, too justly, may be taken as a pretty fair sample of their
scholarship!

[451] The "_idea_" which is here spoken of, Dr. Blair discovers in a
passage of Addison's Spectator. It is, in fact, as here "_brought out_" by
the critic, a bald and downright absurdity. Dr. Campbell has criticised,
under the name of _marvellous nonsense_, a different display of the same
"_idea_," cited from De Piles's Principles of Painting. The passage ends
thus: "In this sense it may be asserted, that in Rubens' pieces, Art is
above Nature, and Nature only a copy of that great master's works." Of this
the critic says: "When the expression is _stript_ of the _absurd meaning_,
there remains nothing but balderdash."--_Philosophy of Rhet._, p, 278.

[452] All his rules for the comma, Fisk appears to have taken unjustly from
Greenleaf. It is a _double shame_, for a grammarian to _steal_ what is so
_badly written_!--G. BROWN.

[453] Bad definitions may have other faults than to include or exclude what
they should not, but this is their great and peculiar vice. For example:
"_Person_ is _that property_ of _nouns_ and _pronouns_ which distinguishes
the speaker, the person or thing addressed, and the person or thing spoken
of."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 51; 113th Ed., p. 57. See nearly
the same words, in _Weld's English Gram._, p. 67; and in his _Abridgement_,
p. 49. The three persons of _verbs_ are all improperly excluded from this
definition; which absurdly takes "_person_" to be _one property that has
all the effect of all the persons_; so that each person, in its turn, since
each cannot have all this effect, is seen to be excluded also: that is, it
is not such a property as is described! Again: "An _intransitive verb_ is a
verb which _does not have_ a noun or pronoun for its object."--_Wells_, 1st
Ed., p. 76. According to Dr. Johnson, "_does not have_," is not a scholarly
phrase; but the adoption of a puerile expression is a trifling fault,
compared with that of including here all passive verbs, and some
transitives, which the author meant to exclude; to say nothing of the
inconsistency of excluding here the two classes of verbs which he absurdly
calls "intransitive," though he finds them "followed by objectives
depending upon them!"--_Id._, p. 145. Weld imitates these errors too, on
pp. 70 and 153.

[454] S. R. Hall thinks it necessary to recognize "_four distinctions_" of
"_the distinction_ occasioned by sex." In general, the other authors here
quoted, suppose that we have only "_three distinctions_" of "_the
distinction_ of sex." And, as no philosopher has yet discovered more than
two sexes, some have thence stoutly argued, that it is absurd to speak of
more than two genders. Lily makes it out, that in Latin there are _seven_:
yet, with no great consistency, he will have _a gender_ to be _a_ or _the_
distinction of _sex_. "GENUS est sexus discretio. Et sunt genera numero
septem."--_Lilii Gram._, p. 10. That is, "GENDER is the distinction of
_sex_. And _the genders_ are _seven_ in number." Ruddiman says, "GENUS est,
discrimen _nominis_ secundum sexum, vel _ejus_ in structurâ grammaticâ
imitatio. Genera nominum sunt _tria_."--_Ruddimanni Gram._, p. 4. That is,
"GENDER is the diversity of the _noun_ according to sex, or [it is] the
imitation _of it_ in grammatical structure. The genders of nouns are
_three_." These old definitions are no better than the newer ones cited
above. All of them are miserable failures, full of faults and absurdities.
Both the nature and the cause of their defects are in some degree explained
near the close of the tenth chapter of my Introduction. Their most
prominent errors are these: 1. They all assume, that _gender_, taken as one
thing, is in fact two, three, or more, _genders_, 2. Nearly all of them
seem to say or imply, that _words_ differ from one an other _in sex_, like
animals. 3. Many of them expressly confine _gender_, or _the genders_, to
_nouns_ only. 4. Many of them confessedly _exclude the neuter gender_,
though their authors afterwards admit this gender. 5. That of Dr. Webster
supposes, that words differing in gender never have the same
"_termination_." The absurdity of this may be shown by a multitude of
examples: as, _man_ and _woman, male_ and _female, father_ and _mother,
brother_ and _sister_. This is better, but still not free from some other
faults which I have mentioned. For the correction of all this great batch
of errors, I shall simply substitute in the Key one short definition, which
appears to me to be exempt from each of these inaccuracies.

[455] Walker states this differently, and even repeats his remark, thus:
"But _y_ preceded by a vowel is _never_ changed: as coy, coyly, gay,
gayly."--_Walker's Rhyming Dict._, p.x. "Y preceded by a vowel is _never_
changed, as boy, boys, I cloy, he cloys, etc."--_Ib._, p viii. Walker's
twelve "Orthographical Aphorisms," which Murray and others republish as
their "Rules for Spelling," and which in stead of amending they merely
corrupt, happened through some carelessness to contain _two_ which should
have been condensed into _one_. For "words ending with y preceded by a
consonant," he has not only the absurd rule or assertion above recited, but
an other which is better, with an exception or remark under each,
respecting "_y_ preceded by a vowel." The grammarians follow him in his
errors, and add to their number: hence the repetition, or similarity, in
the absurdities here quoted. By the term "_verbal nouns_," Walker meant
nouns denoting agents, as _carrier_ from carry; but Kirkham understood him
to mean "_participial nouns_," as _the carrying_. Or rather, he so mistook
"that able philologist" Murray; for he probably knew nothing of Walker in
the matter; and accordingly changed the word "_verbal_" to "_participial_;"
thus teaching, through all his hundred editions, except a few of the first,
that participial nouns from verbs ending in _y_ preceded by a consonant,
are formed by merely "changing the _y_ into _i_." But he seems to have
known, that this is not the way to form the participle; though he did not
know, that "_coyless_" is not a proper English word.

[456] The _idea of plurality_ is not "_plurality of idea_," any more than
the _idea of wickedness_, or the _idea of absurdity_, is absurdity or
wickedness of idea; yet, behold, how our grammarians copy the blunder,
which Lowth (perhaps) first fell into, of putting the one phrase for the
other! Even Professor Fowler, (as well as Murray, Kirkham, and others,)
talks of having regard "_to unity or plurality of idea_!"--_Fowler's E.
Gram._, 8vo. 1850, §513,--G. BROWN.

[457] In the Doctor's "New Edition, Revised and Corrected," the text stands
thus: "The _Present participle_ of THE ACTIVE VOICE has an active
signification; as, James is _building_ the house. _In many of these_,
however, _it_ has," &c. Here the first sentence is but an idle truism; and
the phrase, "_In many of these_," for lack of an antecedent to _these_, is
utter nonsense. What is in "the active voice," ought of course to be
_active_ in "signification;" but, in this author's present scheme of the
verb, we find "the active voice," in direct violation of his own definition
of it, ascribed not only to verbs and participles either neuter or
intransitive, but also, as it would seem by this passage, to "many" that
are _passive!_--G. BROWN.

[458] One objection to these passage is, that they are _examples_ of the
very construction which they describe as a _fault_. The first and second
sentences ought to have been separated only by a semicolon. This would have
made them _"members"_ of one and the same sentence. Can it be supported
that one _"thought"_ is sufficient for two periods, or for what one chooses
to point as such, but not for two members of the same period?--G. BROWN.

[459] (1.) "_Accent_ is the _tone_ with which one speaks. For, in speaking,
the voice of every man is sometimes _more grave_ in the sound, and at other
times _more acute_ or shrill."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, p. 25. "_Accent_
is _the tone_ of the voice with which a syllable is pronounced."--_Dr.
Adam's Latin and English Gram._, p. 266.

(2.) "_Accent_ in a peculiar _stress_ of the voice on some syllable in a
word to distinguish it from the others."--_Gould's Adam's Lat. Gram._, p.
243.

(3.) "The _tone_ by which one syllable is distinguished from another is the
_accent_; which is a greater _stress and elevation_ of voice on that
particular syllable."--_Bicknell's Eng. Gram._, Part II, p. 111.

(4.) "_Quantity_ is the Length or Shortness of Syllables; and the
Proportion, generally speaking, betwixt a long and [a] short Syllable, is
two to one; as in _Music_, two _Quavers_ to one _Crotchet_.--_Accent_ is
the _rising_ and _falling_ of the Voice, above or under its usual Tone, but
an Art of which we have little Use, and know less, in the _English_ Tongue;
nor are we like to improve our Knowledge in this Particular, unless the Art
of _Delivery_ or _Utterance_ were a little more study'd."--_Brightland's
Gram._, p. 156.

(5.) "ACCENT, s. m. (_inflexion_ de la voix.) Accent, _tone_,
pronunciation."--_Nouveau Dictionnaire Universel_, 4to, Tome Premier, sous
le mot _Accent_.

"ACCENT, _subst._ (_tone_ or _inflection_ of the voice.) Accent, _ton_ ou
_inflexion_ de voix."--_Same Work, Garner's New Universal Dictionary_, 4to,
under the word _Accent_.

(6.) "The word _accent_ is derived from the Latin language and signifies
_the tone of the voice_."--_Parker and Fox's English Gram._, Part III, p.
32.

(7.) "The unity of the word consists in the _tone or accent_, which binds
together the two parts of the composition."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, §360.

(8.) "The accent of the ancients is the opprobrium of modern criticism.
Nothing can show more evidently the fallibility of the human faculties,
than the _total ignorance_ we are in at present of the nature of the Latin
and Greek accent."--_Walker's Principles_, No. 486; Dict., p. 53.

(9.) "It is not surprising, that the accent and quantity of the ancients
should be so obscure and mysterious, when two such learned men of our own
nation as Mr. Foster and Dr. Gaily, differ about the very existence of
quantity in our own language."--_Walker's Observations on Accent_, &c.;
Key, p. 311.

(10.) "What these accents are has puzzled the learned so much that they
seem neither to understand each other nor themselves."--_Walker's Octavo
Dict., w. Barytone_.

(11.) "The ancients designated the _pitch_ of vocal sounds by the term
_accent_; making three kinds of accents, the acute (é), the grave (è), and
the circumflex (ê), which signified severally the rise, the fall, and the
turn of the voice, or union of acute and grave on the same
syllable."--_Sargent's Standard Speaker_, p. 18.

[460] "Interrogatio, Græcè _Erotema_, Accentum quoque transfert; ut, Ter.
_Siccine ais Parmenó?_ Voss. Susenbr."--_Prat's Latin Grammar_, 8vo, Part
II, p. 190.

[461] In regard to the admission of a comma before the verb, by the
foregoing exception, neither the practice of authors nor the doctrine of
punctuators is entirely uniform; but, where a considerable pause is, and
must be, made in the reading, I judge it not only allowable, but necessary,
to mark it in writing. In W. Day's "Punctuation Reduced to a System," a
work of no inconsiderable merit, this principle is disallowed; and even
when the adjunct of the nominative is a _relative clause_, which, by Rule
2d below and its first exception, requires a comma after it but none before
it, this author excludes both, putting no comma before the principal verb.
The following is an example: "But it frequently happens, that punctuation
is not made a prominent exercise in schools; and the brief _manner_ in
which the subject is there dismissed _has proved_ insufficient to impress
upon the minds of youth a due sense of its importance."--_Day's
Punctuation_, p. 32. A pupil of mine would here have put a comma after the
word _dismissed_. So, in the following examples, after _sake_, and after
_dispenses_: "The _vanity_ that would accept power for its own sake _is_
the pettiest of human passions."--_Ib._, p. 75. "The generous _delight_ of
beholding the happiness he dispenses _is_ the highest enjoyment of
man."--_Ib._, p, 100.

[462] When several nominatives are connected, some authors and printers put
the comma only where the conjunction is omitted. W. Day separates them all,
one from an other; but after the last, when this is singular before a
plural verb, he inserts no point. Example: "Imagination is one of the
principal ingredients which enter into the complex idea of genius; but
_judgment, memory, understanding, enthusiasm_, and _sensibility_ are also
included."--_Day's Punctuation_, p. 52. If the points are to be put where
the pauses naturally occur, here should be a comma after _sensibility_;
and, if I mistake not, it would be more consonant with current usage to set
one there. John Wilson, however, in a later work, which is for the most
part a very good one, prefers the doctrine of Day, as in the following
instance: "_Reputation, virtue_, and _happiness_ depend greatly on the
choice of companions."--_Wilson's Treatise on Punctuation_, p. 30.

[463] Some printers, and likewise some authors, suppose a series of words
to require the comma, only where the conjunction is suppressed. This is
certainly a great error. It gives us such punctuation as comports neither
with the _sense_ of three or more words in the same construction, nor with
the _pauses_ which they require in reading. "John, James and Thomas are
here," is a sentence which plainly tells John that James and Thomas are
here; and which, if read according to this pointing, cannot possibly have
any other meaning. Yet this is the way in which the rules of _Cooper,
Felton, Frost, Webster_, and perhaps others, teach us to point it, when we
mean to tell somebody else that all three are here! In his pretended
"Abridgment of Murray's English Grammar," (a work abounding in small thefts
from Brown's Institutes,) Cooper has the following example: "John, James or
Joseph intends to accompany me."--Page 120. Here, John being addressed, the
punctuation is right; but, to make this noun a nominative to the verb, a
comma must be put after _each of the others_. In Cooper's "Plain and
Practical Grammar," the passage is found in this form: "John, James, or
Joseph intends to accompany us."--Page 132. This pointing is doubly wrong;
because it is adapted to neither sense. If the three nouns have the same
construction, the principal pause will be immediately before the verb; and
surely a comma is as much required by that pause, as by the second. See the
Note on Rule 3d, above.

[464] In punctuation, the grammar here cited is unaccountably defective.
This is the more strange, because many of its errors are mere perversions
of what was accurately pointed by an other hand. On the page above referred
to, Dr. Bullions, in copying from Lennie's syntactical exercises _a dozen
consecutive lines_, has omitted _nine needful commas_, which Lennie had
been careful to insert!

[465] Needless abbreviations, like most that occur in this example, are in
_bad taste_, and _ought to be avoided_. The great faultiness of this text
as a model for learners, compels me to vary the words considerably in
suggesting the correction. See the _Key_.--G. B.

[466] "To be, or not to be?--that's the question."--_Hallock's Gram._, p.
220. "To be, or not to be, that is the question."--_Singer's Shak._, ii.
488. "To be, or not to be; that is the Question."--_Ward's Gram._, p 160.
"To be, or not to be, that is the Question."--_Brightland's Gram._, p 209.
"To be, or not to be?"--_Mandeville's Course of Reading_, p. 141. "To be or
not to be! That is the question."--_Pinneo's Gram._, p. 176. "To _be_--or
_not_ to be--_that_ is the question--"--_Burgh's Speaker_, p. 179.

[467] In the works of some of our older poets, the apostrophe is sometimes
irregularly inserted, and perhaps needlessly, to mark a prosodial
synsæresis, or synalepha, where no letter is cut off or left out; as,

   "Retire, or taste thy _folly'_, and learn by proof,
    Hell-born, not to contend with _spir'its_ of Heaven."
        --_Milton, P. L._, ii, 686.

In the following example, it seems to denote nothing more than the open or
long sound of the preceding vowel _e_:

   "That sleep and feeding may prorogue his honour,
    Even till a _lethe'd_ dulness."
        --_Singer's Shakspeare_, Vol. ii, p. 280.

[468] The breve is properly a mark of _short quantity_, only when it is set
over an unaccented syllable or an unemphatic monosyllable, as it often is
in the scanning of verses. In the examples above, it marks the close or
short power of the _vowels_; but, _under the accent_, even this power may
become part of a _long syllable_; as it does in the word _rav´en_, where
the syllable _rav_, having twice the length of that which follows, must be
reckoned _long_. In poetry, _r=av-en_ and _r=a-ven_ are both _trochees_,
the former syllable in each being long, and the latter short.

[469] 1. The signs of long and short sounds, and especially of the former,
have been singularly slow in acquiring _appropriate names_--or any
appellatives suited to their nature, or such as could obtain the sanction
of general use. The name _breve_, from the French _brève_, (which latter
word came, doubtless, originally from the neuter of the Latin adjective
_brevis_, short,) is now pretty generally applied to the one; and the Greek
term _macron_, long, (also originally a neuter adjective,) is perhaps as
common as any name for the other. But these are not quite so well adapted
to each other, and to the things named, as are the substitutes added above.

2. These signs are explained in our grammars under various names, and often
very unfit ones, to say the least; and, in many instances, their use is, in
some way, awkwardly stated, without any attempt to name them, or more than
one, if either. The Rev. T. Smith names them "Long (=), and Short
(~)."--_Smith's Murray_, p. 72. Churchill calls them "The _long_ = and the
_short_ ~."--_New Gram._, p. 170. Gould calls them "a horizontal line" and
"a curved line."--_Gould's Adam's Gram._, p. 3. Coar says, "Quantity is
distinguished by the characters of - long, and ~ short."--_Eng. Gram._, p.
197. But, in speaking of the _signs_, he calls them, "_A long syllable_ =,"
and "_A short syllable_ ~."--_Gram._, pp. 222 and 228. S. S. Greene calls
them "the _long sound_," and "the _breve_ or _short sound_."--_Gram._, p.
257. W. Allen says, "The _long-syllable mark_, (=) and the _breve_, or
_short-syllable mark_, (~) denote the quantity of _words_ poetically
employed."--_Gram._, p. 215. Some call them "the _Long Accent_," and "the
_Short Accent_;" as does _Guy's Gram._, p. 95. This naming seems to
confound accent with quantity. By some, the _Macron_ is improperly called
"a _Dash_;" as by _Lennie_, p. 137; by _Bullions_, p. 157; by _Hiley_, p.
123; by _Butler_, p. 215. Some call it "a _small dash_;" as does _Well's_,
p. 183; so _Hiley_, p. 117. By some it is absurdly named "_Hyphen_;" as by
_Buchanan_, p. 162; by _Alden_, p. 165; by _Chandler_, 183; by _Parker and
Fox_, iii, 36; by _Jaudon_, 193. Sanborn calls it "the _hyphen_, or
_macron_."--_Analyt. Gr._, p. 279. Many, who name it not, introduce it to
their readers by a "_this_ =," or "_thus_ ~;" as do _Alger, Blair, Dr.
Adam, Comly, Cooper, Ingersoll, L. Murray, Sanders, Wright_, and others!

[470] "As soon as language proceeds, from mere _articulation_, to
coherency, and connection, _accent_ becomes the guide of the voice. It is
founded upon an obscure perception of symmetry, and proportion, between the
different sounds that are uttered."--_Noehden's Grammar of the German
Language_, p. 66.

[471] According to Johnson, Walker, Webster, Worcester, and perhaps all
other lexicographers, _Quantity_, in grammar, is--"The measure of _time_ in
pronouncing a _syllable_." And, to this main idea, are conformed, so far as
I know, all the different definitions ever given of it by grammarians and
critics, except that which appeared in Asa Humphrey's English Prosody,
published in 1847. In this work--the most elaborate and the most
comprehensive, though not the most accurate or consistent treatise we have
on the subject--_Time_ and _Quantity_ are explained separately, as being
"_two distinct things_;" and the latter is supposed not to have regard to
_duration_, but solely to the _amount_ of sound given to each syllable.

This is not only a fanciful distinction, but a radical innovation--and one
which, in any view, has little to recommend it. The author's explanations
of both _time_ and _quantity_--of their characteristics, differences, and
subdivisions--of their relations to each other, to poetic numbers, to
emphasis and cadence, or to accent and non-accent--as well as his
derivation and history of "these technical terms, _time_ and
_quantity_"--are hardly just or clear enough to be satisfactory. According
to his theory, "Poetic numbers are composed of _long_ and _short_ syllables
alternately;" (page 5;) but the difference or proportion between the times
of these classes of syllables he holds to be _indeterminable_, "because
their lengths are various." He began with destroying the proper distinction
of quantity, or time, as being _either long or short_, by the useless
recognition of an indefinite number of "_intermediate lengths_;" saying of
our syllables at large, "some are LONG, some SHORT, and some are of
INTERMEDIATE LENGTHS; as, _mat, not, con_, &c. are short sounds; _mate,
note, cone_, and _grave_ are long. Some of our diphthongal sounds are
LONGER STILL; as, _voice, noise, sound, bound_, &c. OTHERS are seen to be
of INTERMEDIATE _lengths_."--_Humphrey's Prosody_, p. 4.

On a scheme like this, it must evidently be impossible to determine, with
any certainty, either what syllables are _long_ and what _short_, or what
is the difference or ratio between _any two_ of the innumerable "lengths"
of that time, or quantity, which is _long, short, variously intermediate_,
or _longer still_, and again _variously intermediate_! No marvel then that
the ingenious author scans some lines in a manner peculiar to himself.

[472] It was the doctrine of Sheridan, and perhaps of our old
lexicographers in general, that no English word can have more than one
_full accent_; but, in some modern dictionaries, as Bolles's, and
Worcester's, many words are marked as if they had two; and a few are given
by Bolles's as having three. Sheridan erroneously affirmed, that "_every
word_ has an accent," even "all monosyllables, the particles alone
excepted."--_Lecture on Elocution_, pp. 61 and 71. And again, yet more
erroneously: "The _essence_ of English words consisting in accent, as that
of syllables in articulation; we know that there are _as many syllables as
we hear articulate sounds_, and _as many words as we hear accents_."--
_Ib._, p. 70. Yet he had said before, in the same lecture: "The longer
polysyllables, have frequently _two accents_, but one is so much stronger
than the other, as to shew that it is but one word; and the inferior accent
is always less forcible, than any accent that is the single one in a
word."--_Ib._, p. 31. Wells defines accent as if it might lie on _many_
syllables of a word; but, in his examples, he places it on no more than
one: "_Accent_ is _the stress_ which is laid on _one or more syllables_ of
a word, in pronunciation; as, re_ver_berate, under_take_."--_Wells's School
Gram._, p. 185. According to this loose definition, he might as well have
accented at least one other syllable in each of these examples; for there
seems, certainly, to be some little stress on _ate_ and _un_. For sundry
other definitions of accent, see Chap. IV, Section 2d, of _Versification_;
and the marginal note referring to Obs. 1st on _Prosody_.

[473] According to Dr. Rush, Emphasis is--"a stress of voice on one or more
words of a sentence, distinguishing them by intensity or peculiarity of
meaning."--_Philosophy of the Voice_, p. 282. Again, he defines thus:
"Accent is the fixed but inexpressive distinction of syllables _by quantity
and stress_: alike both in place and nature, whether the words are
pronounced singly from the columns of a vocabulary, or connectedly in the
series of discourse. _Emphasis_ may be defined to be the _expressive_ but
occasional distinction of a syllable, and consequently of the whole word,
by one or more of the specific modes of _time, quality, force_, or
_pitch_."--_Ibid._

[474] 1. This doctrine, though true in its main intent, and especially
applicable to the poetic quantity of _monosyllables_, (the class of words
most frequently used in English poetry,) is, perhaps, rather too strongly
stated by Murray; because it agrees not with other statements of his,
concerning the power of _accent_ over quantity; and because the effect of
accent, as a "regulator of quantity," _may_, on the whole, be as great as
that of emphasis. Sheridan contradicts himself yet more pointedly on this
subject; and his discrepancies may have been the efficients of Murray's.
"The _quantity_ of our syllables is perpetually varying with the sense, and
is _for the most part regulated by_ EMPHASIS."--_Sheridan's Rhetorical
Gram._, p. 65. Again: "It is by the ACCENT _chiefly_ that the _quantity_ of
our syllables is regulated."--_Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution_, p. 57.
See Chap. IV, Sec. 2d, Obs. 1; and marginal note on Obs. 8.

2. Some writers erroneously confound _emphasis_ with _accent_; especially
those who make accent, and not quantity, the foundation of verse. Contrary
to common usage, and to his own definition of accent, Wells takes it upon
him to say, "The term _accent_ is also applied, in poetry, to the stress
laid on monosyllabic words; as,

    'Content is _wealth, the riches of the mind.'--Dryden_."
        --_Wells's School Grammar_, p. 185.

It does not appear that stress laid on monosyllables is any more fitly
termed accent, when it occurs in the reading of poetry, than when in the
utterance of prose. Churchill, who makes no such distinction, thinks accent
essential alike to emphasis and to the quantity of a long vowel, and yet,
as regards monosyllables, dependent on them both! His words are these:
"Monosyllables are sometimes accented, sometimes not. This depends chiefly
on _their_ being _more or less emphatic_; and on the vowel _sound_ being
_long or short_. We cannot give _emphasis_ to any word, or it's [_its_]
proper duration to a _long vowel_, without _accenting_ it."--_Churchill's
New Gram._, p. 182.

[475] Not only are these inflections denoted occasionally by the accentual
marks, but they are sometimes expressly _identified with accents_, being
called by that name. This practice, however, is plainly objectionable. It
confounds things known to be different,--mere stress with elevation or
depression,--and may lead to the supposition, that to accent a syllable, is
to inflect the voice upon it. Such indeed has been the guess of many
concerning the nature of Greek and Latin accents, but of the English
accent, the common idea is, that it is only a greater force distinguishing
some one syllable of a word from the rest. Walker, however, in the strange
account he gives in his Key, of "what we mean by _the accent and quantity_
of our own language," charges this current opinion with error, dissenting
from Sheridan and Nares, who held it; and, having asserted, that, "in
speaking, the voice is continually _sliding_ upwards or downwards,"
proceeds to contradict himself thus: "As high and low, loud and soft,
forcible and feeble, are comparative terms, words of one syllable
pronounced alone, and without relation to other words or syllables, _cannot
be said to have any_ ACCENT. The only distinction to which such words are
liable, is an _elevation or depression_ of voice, when we compare the
beginning with the end of the word or syllable. Thus a monosyllable,
considered singly, rises from a lower to a higher tone in the question _Nó?
which_ may therefore be called _the acute_ ACCENT: and falls from a higher
to a lower tone upon the same word in the answer _Nò, which_ may therefore
be called _the grave_ [ACCENT]."--_Walker's Key_, p. 316. Thus he tells of
different accents on "_a monosyllable_," which, by his own showing, "cannot
be said to have any accent"! and others read and copy the text with as
little suspicion of its inconsistency! See _Worcester's Universal and
Critical Dictionary_, p. 934.

[476] In Humphrey's English Prosody, _cadence_ is taken for the reverse of
_accent_, and is obviously identified or confounded with _short quantity_,
or what the author inclines to call "_small_ quantity." He defines it as
follows: "Cadence is the reverse or counterpart _to_ accent; a falling or
depression of voice on syllables unaccented: _and by which_ the sound is
shortened and depressed."--P. 3. This is not exactly what is generally
understood by the word _cadence_. Lord Kames also contrasts _cadence_ with
_accent_; but, by the latter term, he seems to have meant something
different from our ordinary accent. "Sometimes to humour the sense," says
he, "and sometimes the melody, a particular syllable is sounded _in a
higher tone_; and this is termed _accenting a syllable_, or gracing it with
an accent. Opposed to the accent, is the _cadence_, which I have not
mentioned as one of the requisites of verse, because it is entirely
regulated by the sense, and hath no peculiar relation to verse."--_Elements
of Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 78.

[477] The Latin term, (made plural to agree with _verba, words_,) is
_subaudita, underheard_--the perfect participle of _subaudio_, to
_underhear_. Hence the noun, _subauditio, subaudition_, the recognition of
ellipses.

[478] "Thus, in the Proverbs of all Languages, many Words are usually left
to be supplied from the trite obvious Nature of what they express; as, _out
of Sight out of Mind; the more the merrier_, &c."--_W. Ward's Pract.
Gram._, p. 147.

[479] Lindley Murray and some others say, "As _the ellipsis occurs in
almost every sentence in the English language_, numerous examples of it
might be given."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 220; _Weld's_, 292; _Fisk's_, 147.
They could, without doubt, have exhibited many true specimens of Ellipsis;
but most of those which they have given, are only fanciful and false ones;
and their notion of the frequency of the figure, is monstrously
hyperbolical.

[480] Who besides Webster has called syllepsis "_substitution_," I do not
know. _Substitution_ and _conception_ are terms of quite different import,
and many authors have explained syllepsis by the latter word. Dr. Webster
gives to "SUBSTITUTION" two meanings, thus: "1. The act of putting one
person or thing in the _place_ of another to _supply_ [his or] _its_
place.--2. In _grammar_, syllepsis, or the use of one word for
another."--_American Dict._, 8vo. This explanation seems to me inaccurate;
because it confounds both substitution and syllepsis with _enallage_. It
has signs of carelessness throughout; the former sentence being both
tautological and ungrammatical.--G. B.

[481] Between Tropes and Figures, some writers attempt a full distinction;
but this, if practicable, is of little use. According to Holmes, "TROPES
affect only single _Words_; but FIGURES, whole _Sentences_."--_Rhetoric_,
B. i, p. 28. "The CHIEF TROPES in Language," says this author, "are seven;
a _Metaphor_, an _Allegory_, a _Metonymy_, a _Synecdoche_, an _Irony_, an
_Hyperbole_, and a _Catachresis_."--_Ib._, p. 30. The term _Figure_ or
_Figures_ is more comprehensive than _Trope_ or _Tropes_; I have therefore
not thought it expedient to make much use of the latter, in either the
singular or the plural form. Holmes's seven tropes are all of them defined
in the main text of this section, except _Catachresis_, which is commonly
explained to be "an _abuse_ of a trope." According to this sense, it seems
in general to differ but little from impropriety. At best, a Catachresis is
a forced expression, though sometimes, perhaps, to be indulged where there
is great excitement. It is a sort of figure by which a word is used in a
sense different from, yet connected with, or analogous to, its own; as,

   "And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
    Striding the blast, as heaven's cherubim
    _Hors'd_ upon the sightless _couriers_ of the air,
    Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
    That tears shall drown the wind."--_Shak., Macbeth_, Act i, Sc. 7.

[482] Holmes, in his Art of Rhetoric, writes this word "_Paraleipsis_"
retaining the Greek orthography. So does Fowler in his recent "English
Grammar," §646. Webster, Adam, and some others, write it "_Paralepsis_." I
write it as above on the authority of Littleton, Ainsworth, and some
others; and this is according to the analogy of the kindred word
_ellipsis_, which we never write either _ellepsis_, or, as the Greek,
_elleipsis_.

[483] To this principle there seems to be now and then an exception, as
when a weak dissyllable begins a foot in an anapestic line, as in the
following examples:--

   "I think--let me see--yes, it is, I declare,
    As long _ago now_ as that Buckingham there."--_Leigh Hunt_.

    "And Thomson, though best in his indolent fits,
    Either slept himself weary, or blasted his wits."--_Id._

Here, if we reckon the feet in question to be anapests, we have
dissyllables with both parts short. But some, accenting "_ago_" on the
latter syllable, and "_Either_" on the former, will call "_ago now_" a
bacchy, and "_Either slept_" an amphimac: because _they make them such_ by
their manner of reading.--G. B.

[484] "Edgar A. Poe, the author, died at Baltimore on Sunday" [the
7th].--_Daily Evening Traveller_, Boston Oct. 9, 1849. This was eight or
ten months after the writing of these observations.--G. B.

[485] "Versification is the art of arranging words into lines of
correspondent length, so as to produce harmony by the regular alternation
of syllables differing in quantity"--_Brown's Institutes of E. Gram._, p.
235.

[486] This appears to be an error; for, according to Dilworth, and other
arithmeticians, "_a unit is a number_;" and so is it expounded by Johnson,
Walker, Webster, and Worcester. See, in the _Introduction_, a note at the
foot of p. 117. Mulligan, however, contends still, that _one is no number_;
and that, "to talk of the _singular number_ is absurd--a contradiction in
terms;"--because, "in common discourse," a "_number_" is "always a
_plurality_, except"--when it is "_number one_!"--See _Grammatical
Structure of the E. Language_, §33. Some prosodists have taught the
absurdity, that two feet are necessary to constitute _a metre_, and have
accordingly applied the terms, _monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter,
pentameter_, and _hexameter_,--or so many of them as they _could so
misapply_,--in a sense very different from the usual acceptation. The
proper principle is, that, "One foot constitutes a metre."--_Dr. P.
Wilson's Greek Prosody_, p. 53. And verses are to be denominated
_Monometer, Dimeter, Trimeter_, &c., according to "THE NUMBER OF
FEET."--See _ib._ p. 6. But Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary
has the following not very consistent explanations: "MONOMETER, _n._ One
metre. _Beck_. DIMETER, _n._ A poetic measure of _four feet_; a _series of
two_ meters. _Beck_. TRIMETER, _a_. Consisting of three poetical
_measures_, forming an _iambic_ of _six feet_. _Tyrwhitt_. TETRAMETER, _n._
A Latin or Greek verse consisting of _four feet_; a series of four metres.
TETRAMETER, _a_. Having _four_ metrical _feet_. _Tyrwhitt_. PENTAMETER,
_n._ A Greek or Latin verse of _five feet_; a series of five metres.
PENTAMETER, _a_. Having _five_ metrical _feet_. _Warton_. HEXAMETER, _n._ A
verse or line of poetry, having _six feet_, either dactyls or spondees; the
heroic, and most important, verse among the Greeks and Romans;--a
rhythmical series of six metres. HEXAMETER, _a_. Having _six_ metrical
_feet_. _Dr. Warton_." According to these definitions, Dimeter has as many
feet as Tetrameter; and Trimeter has as many as Hexameter!

[487] It is common, at any rate, for prosodists to speak of "the _movement_
of the voice," as do Sheridan, Murray, Humphrey, and Everett; but Kames, in
treating of the Beauty of Language from Resemblance, says "There is _no
resemblance_ of sound to motion, nor of sound to sentiment."--_Elements of
Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 63. This usage, however, is admitted by the critic,
had cited to show how, "causes that have no resemblance may produce
resembling effects."--_Ib._ 64. "By a number of syllables in succession, an
emotion is sometimes raised extremely similar to that raised by successive
motion: which may be evident even to those who are defective in taste, from
the following fact, that the term _movement_ in all languages is equally
applied to both."--_Ib._ ii. 66.

[488] "From what has been said of accent and quantity in our own language,
we may conclude them to be essentially distinct _and perfectly separable_:
nor is it to be doubted that they were _equally separable_ in the learned
languages."--_Walkers's Observations on Gr. and Lat. Accent and Quantity_,
§20; Key, p. 326. In the speculative essay here cited, Walker meant by
_accent_ the rising or the falling _inflection_,--an upward or a downward
_slide_ of the voice: and by _quantity_, nothing but the open or close
sound of some vowel; as of "the _a_ in _scatter_" and in "_skater_," the
initial syllables of which words be supposed to differ in quantity as much
as any two syllables can!--_Ib._, §24; Key, p. 331. With these views _of
the things_, it is perhaps the less to be wondered at, that Walker, who
appears to have been a candid and courteous writer, charges "that excellent
scholar Mr. Forster--with a _total ignorance_ of the accent and quantity of
his own language," (_Ib., Note on §8_; Key, p. 317;) and, in regard to
accent, ancient or modern, elsewhere confesses his own ignorance, and that
of every body else, to be _as_ "_total_." See marginal note on Obs. 4th
below.

[489] (1.) "We shall now take a view of sounds when united into
_syllables_. Here a beautiful variation of _quantity_ presents itself as
the next object of our attention. The knowledge of _long_ and _short_
syllables, is the most excellent and most neglected quality in the whole
art of pronunciation.

The disputes of our modern writers on this subject, have arisen chiefly
from an absurd notion that has long prevailed; viz. that there is no
difference between the _accent_ and the _quantity_, in the English
language; that the accented syllables are always _long_, and the unaccented
always _short_.

An absurdity so glaring, does not need refutation. Pronounce any one line
from Milton, and the ear will determine whether or not the accent and
quantity always coincide. Very seldom they do."--HERRIES: _Bicknell's
Gram._, Part ii, p. 108.

(2.) "Some of our Moderns (especially Mr. _Bishe_, in his _Art of Poetry_)
and lately Mr. _Mattaire_, in what he calls, _The English Grammar_,
erroneously use _Accent_ for _Quantity_, one signifying the Length or
Shortness of a Syllable, the other the raising or falling of the Voice in
_Discourse_."--_Brightland's Gram._, London, 1746, p. 156.

(3.) "Tempus cum accentu a nonnullis malè confunditur; quasi idem sit acui
et produci. Cum brevis autem syllaba acuitur, elevatur quidem vox in eà
proferendà, sed tempus non augetur. Sic in voce _hominibus_ acuitur _mi_;
at _ni_ quæ sequitur, æquam in efferendo moram postulat."--_Lily's Gram._,
p. 125. Version: "By some persons, _time_ is improperly confounded with
_accent_; as if to acute and to lengthen were the same. But when a short
syllable is acuted, the voice indeed is raised in pronouncing it, but the
time is not increased. Thus, in the word _hominibus, mi_ as the acute
accent; but _ni_, which follows, demands equal slowness in the
pronunciation." To English ears, this can hardly seem a correct
representation; for, in pronouncing _hominibus_, it is not _mi_, but _min_,
that we accent; and this syllable is manifestly as much longer than the
rest, as it is louder.

[490] (1.) "Syllables, with respect to their _quantity_, are either _long,
short_, or _common_."--_Gould's Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 243. "Some syllables
are _common_; that is, sometimes long, and sometimes short."--_Adam's Lat.
and Eng. Gram._, p. 252. _Common_ is here put for _variable_, or _not
permanently settled in respect to quantity_: in this sense, from which no
third species ought to be inferred, our language is, perhaps, more
extensively "_common_" than any other.

(2.) "Most of our Monosyllables either take this Stress or not, according
as they are more or less emphatical; and therefore English Words of one
Syllable may be considered as _common_; i.e. either as long or short in
certain Situations. These Situations are chiefly determined by the Pause,
or Cesure, of the Verse, and this Pause by the Sense. And as the English
abounds in Monosyllables, there is probably no Language in which the
Quantity of Syllables is more regulated by the Sense than in English."--_W.
Ward's Gram._, Ed. of 1765, p. 156.

(3.) Bicknell's theory of quantity, for which he refers to Herries, is
this: "The English _quantity_ is divided into _long, short_, and _common_.
The longest species of syllables are those that end in a vowel, and are
under the accent; as, _mo_ in har_mo_nious, _sole_ in con_sole_, &c. When a
monosyllable, which is unemphatic, ends in a vowel, it is always short; but
when the emphasis is placed upon it, it is always long. _Short_ syllables
are such as end in any of the six mutes; as cu_t_, sto_p_, ra_p_i_d_,
ru_g_ge_d_, lo_ck_. In _all such syllables_ the sound cannot be lengthened:
they are necessarily and invariably _short_. If another consonant
intervenes between the vowel and mute, as re_nd_, so_ft_, fla_sk_, the
syllable is rendered _somewhat longer_. The other species of syllables
called _common_, are such as terminate in a half-vowel or aspirate. For
instance, in the words ru_n_, swi_m_, cru_sh_, pu_rl_, the concluding sound
can be continued or shortened, as we please. This scheme of quantity," it
is added, "is founded on fact and experience."--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part
ii, p. 109. But is it not a _fact_, that such words as _cuttest, stopping,
rapid, rugged_, are _trochees_, in verse? and is not _unlock_ an _iambus_?
And what becomes of syllables that end with vowels or liquids and are not
accented?

[491] I do not say the mere absence of stress is _never_ called _accent_;
for it is, plainly, the doctrine of some authors that the English accent
differs not at all in its nature from the accent of the ancient Greeks or
Romans, which was distinguished as being of three sorts, _acute, grave,
inflex_; that "the stronger breathing, or higher sound," which
distinguishes one syllable of a word from or above the rest, is _the acute
accent_ only; that "the softer breathing, or lower sound," which belongs to
an _unacuted_ (or _unaccented_) syllable, is _the grave accent_; and that a
combination of these two sounds, or "breathings," upon one syllable,
constitutes the _inflex or circumflex accent_. Such, I think, is the
teaching of Rev. William Barnes; who further says, "English verse is
constructed upon sundry orders of _acute and grave accents_ and matchings
of rhymes, while the poetic language of the Romans and Greeks is formed
upon rules of the sundry clusterings of _long and short
syllables_."--_Philological Grammar_, p. 263. This scheme is not wholly
consistent, because the author explains accent or accents as being
applicable only to "words of two or more syllables;" and it is plain, that
the accent which includes the three sorts above, must needs be "some other
thing than what we call accent," if this includes only the acute.

[492] Sheridan used the same comparison, "To illustrate the difference
between the accent of the ancients and that of _ours_" [our tongue]. Our
accent he supposed, with Nares and others, to have "no reference to
_inflections_ of the voice."--See _Art of Reading_, p. 75; _Lectures on
Elocution_, p. 56; _Walker's Key_, p. 313.

[493] (1.) It may in some measure account for these remarkable omissions,
to observe that Walker, in his lexicography, followed Johnson in almost
every thing but pronunciation. On this latter subject, his own authority is
perhaps as great as that of any single author. And here I am led to
introduce a remark or two touching _the accent and quantity_ with which he
was chiefly concerned; though the suggestions may have no immediate
connexion with the error of confounding these properties.

(2.) Walker, in his theory, regarded the _inflections_ of the voice as
pertaining to _accent_, and as affording a satisfactory solution of the
difficulties in which this subject has been involved; but, as an English
orthoëpist, he treats of accent in no other sense, than as _stress laid on
a particular syllable of a word_--a sense implying contrast, and
necessarily dividing all syllables into accented and unaccented, except
monosyllables. Having acknowledged our "_total ignorance_ of the nature of
the Latin and Greek accent," he adds: "The accent of the English language,
which is constantly sounding in our ears, and every moment open to
investigation, seems _as much a mystery_ as that accent which is removed
almost two thousand years from our view. Obscurity, perplexity, and
confusion, run through every treatise on the subject, and nothing could be
so hopeless as an attempt to explain it, did not a circumstance present
itself, which at once accounts for the confusion, and affords a clew to
lead us out of it. Not one writer on accent has given such a definition of
the voice as acquaints us with its essential properties. * * * But let us
once divide the voice into its rising and falling inflections, the
obscurity vanishes, and accent becomes as intelligible as any other part of
language. * * * On the present occasion it will be sufficient to observe,
that _the stress we call accent_ is as well understood as is necessary for
the pronunciation of single words, which is the object of this
treatise."--_Walker's Dict._, p. 53, _Princip._ 486, 487, 488.

(3.) Afterwards, on introducing _quantity_, as an orthoëpical topic, he has
the following remark: "In treating this part of pronunciation, it will not
be necessary to enter into the nature of _that quantity which constitutes
poetry_; the quantity here considered will be that which relates to words
taken singly; and this is _nothing more than the length or shortness of the
vowels_, either as they stand alone, or as they are differently combined
with the vowels or consonants." _Ib._, p. 62, _Princip._ 529. Here is
suggested a distinction which has not been so well observed by grammarians
and prosodists, or even by Walker himself, as it ought to have been. So
long as the practice continues of denominating certain mere _vowel sounds_
the _long_ and the _short_, it will be very necessary to notice that these
are not the same as the _syllabic quantities_, long and short, which
constitute English verse.

[494] (1.) In the Latin and Greek languages, this is not commonly supposed
to be the case; but, on the contrary, the quantity of syllables is
professedly adjusted by its own rules independently of what we call accent;
and, in our English pronunciation of these languages, the accentuation of
all long words is regulated by the quantity of the last syllable but one.
Walker, in the introduction to his Key, speaks of "The English
pronunciation of Greek and Latin [as] injurious to quantity." And no one
can deny, that we often accent what are called short syllables, and perhaps
oftener leave unaccented such as are called long; but, after all, were the
quantity of Latin and Greek syllables always judged of by their actual
time, and not with reference to the vowel sounds called long and short,
these our violations of the old quantities would be found much fewer than
some suppose they are.

(2.) Dr. Adam's view of the accents, acute and grave, appears to be
peculiar; and of a nature which may perhaps come nearer to an actual
identity with the quantities, long and short, than any other. He says,

"1. The _acute_ or _sharp_ accent raises the voice in pronunciation, and is
thus marked [´]; _prófero, prófer_. [The English word is written, not thus,
but with two Effs, _proffer_.--G. B.]

"2. The _grave_ or _base_ accent depresses the voice, or keeps it in its
natural tone; and is thus marked [`]; as, doctè. [Fist] _This accent
properly belongs to all syllables which have no other_.

"The accents are hardly ever marked in English books, except in
dictionaries, grammars, spelling-books, or the like, where the acute accent
only is used. The accents are likewise seldom marked in Latin books, unless
for the sake of distinction; as in these adverbs, _aliquò, continuò, doctè,
unà_, &c."--_Adam's Latin and English Grammar_, p. 266.

(3.) As stress naturally lengthens the syllables on which it falls, if we
suppose the grave accent to be the opposite of this, and to belong to all
syllables which have no peculiar stress,--are not enforced, not acuted, not
circumflected, not emphasized; then shall we truly have an accent with
which our short quantity may fairly coincide. But I have said, "the mere
absence of stress, which produces short quantity, we do not call _accent_;"
and it may be observed, that the learned improver of Dr. Adam's Grammar, B.
A. Gould, has totally rejected all that his predecessor taught concerning
_accent_, and has given an entirely different definition of the thing. See
marginal notes on page 771, above. Dr. Johnson also cites from _Holder_ a
very different explanation of it, as follows: "_Accent_, as in the Greek
names and usage, seems to have regarded the tune of the voice; the acute
accent, raising the voice in some certain syllables, to a higher, (_i.e._
more acute) pitch or tone; and the grave, depressing it lower; [Fist] _and
both having some emphasis_, i.e. _more vigorous pronunciation_.
HOLDER."--_Johnson's Quarto Dict., w. Accent_.

[495] (1.) "Amongst them [the ancients,] we know that accents were marked
by certain _inflexions_ [inflections] of the voice like musical notes; and
the grammarians to this day, with great formality inform their pupils, that
the acute accent, is the raising [of] the voice on a certain syllable; the
grave, a depression of it; and the circumflex, a raising and depression
both, in one and the same syllable. _This jargon they constantly preserve_,
though they have no sort of ideas annexed to these words; for if they are
asked to shew how this is to be done, they cannot tell, and their practice
always belies their precept."--_Sheridan's Lectures on Eloc._, p. 54.

(2.) "It is by the accent chiefly that the quantity of our syllables is
regulated; but not according to the _mistaken rule_ laid down by _all who
have written_ on the subject, that the accent _always makes the syllable
long_; than which _there cannot be any thing more false_."--_Ib._, p. 57.

(3.) "And here I cannot help taking notice of a circumstance, which shews
in the strongest light, the _amazing deficiency_ of those, who have
hitherto employed their labours on that subject, [accent, or
pronunciation,] _in point of knowledge_ of the true genius and constitution
of our tongue. Several of the compilers of dictionaries, vocabularies, and
spelling books, have undertaken to mark the accents of our words; but so
_little acquainted_ were they with the nature of our accent, that they
thought it necessary only to mark _the syllable_ on which the stress is to
be laid, without marking the _particular letter_ of the syllable to which
the accent belongs."--_Ib._, p. 59.

(4.) "The mind thus taking a bias under the prejudice of false rules, never
arrives at a knowledge of the true nature of _quantity_; and accordingly we
find that _all attempts hitherto_ to settle the prosody of our language,
have been vain and fruitless."--_Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram._, p. 52.

[496] In the following extract, this matter is stated somewhat differently:
"The _quantity_ depends upon the seat of the accent, whether it be on the
vowel or [on the] consonant; if on the vowel, the syllable is necessarily
long: as it makes the vowel long; if on the consonant, _it may be either
long or short_, according to the nature of the consonant, or _the time
taken up_ in dwelling upon it."--_Sheridan's Lectures on Eloc._, p. 57.
This last clause shows the "distinction" to be a very weak one.--G. BROWN.

[497] "If the consonant be in its nature a short one, the syllable is
necessarily short. If it be a long one, that is, one whose sound is capable
of being lengthened, it _may be long or short_ at the will of the speaker.
By a short consonant I mean one whose sound cannot be continued after a
vowel, such as c or k p t, as ac, ap, at--whilst that of long consonants
_can_, as, el em en er ev, &c."--_Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution_, p. 58.
Sheridan here forgets that "_bor'row_" is one of his examples of short
quantity.

Murray admits that "accent on a _semi-vowel_" may make the syllable long;
and his semivowels are these: "_f, l, m, n, r, v, s, z, x_, and _c_ and _g_
soft." See his _Octavo Gram._, p. 240 and p. 8.

[498] On account of the different uses made of the breve, the macron, and
the accents, one grammarian has proposed a new mode of marking poetic
quantities. Something of the kind might be useful; but there seems to be a
reversal of order in this scheme, the macrotone being here made light, and
the stenotone dark and heavy. "Long and short syllables have _sometimes_
been designated by the same marks _which_ are used for accent, tones, and
the quality of the vowels; but it will be better[,] to prevent confusion[,]
to use different marks. This mark º may represent a long syllable, and this
· a short syllable; as,

    ·   ·    °   ·   ·   °   ·    ·   °     ·    °
   'At the close of the day when the hamlet is still.'"
        --_Perley's Gram._, p. 73.
    [no · over 'let', sic--KTH]

[499] _Dr. Adam's Gram._, p. 267; _B. A. Gould's_, 257. The Latin word
_cæsura_ signifies "_a cutting_, or _division_." This name is sometimes
Anglicized, and written "_Cesure_." See _Brightland's Gram._, p. 161; or
_Worcester's Dict., w. Cesure_.

[500] "As to the long quantity arising from the succession of two
consonants, which the ancients are uniform in asserting, if it did not mean
that the preceding vowel was to lengthen its sound, _as we should do_ by
pronouncing the _a_ in _scatter_ as we do in _skater_, (one who skates,) _I
have no conception of what it meant_; for if it meant that only the _time
of the syllable_ was prolonged, the vowel retaining the same sound, I must
confess as ut er [sic--KTH] an inability of _comprehending this source_ of
quantity in the Greek and Latin as in English."--_Walker on Gr. and L.
Accent_, §24; Key, p. 331. This distinguished author seems unwilling to
admit, that the consonants occupy time in their utterance, or that other
vowel sounds than those which _name_ the vowels, can be protracted and
become long; but these are _truths_, nevertheless; and, since every letter
adds _something_ to the syllable in which it is uttered, it is by
consequence a "_source of quantity_," whether the syllable be long or
short.

[501] Murray has here a marginal note, as follows: "Movement and measure
are thus distinguished. _Movement_ expresses the progressive order of
sounds, whether from strong to weak, from long to short, or vice versa.
_Measure_ signifies the proportion of time, both in sounds _and
pauses_."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 259. This distinction is neither usual nor
accurate; though Humphrey adopts it, with slight variations. Without some
species of _measure_,--Iambic, Trochaic, Anapestic, Dactylic, or some
other,--there can be no regular _movement_, no "progressive _order_ of
sounds." Measure is therefore too essential to movement to be in contrast
with it. And the movement "from _strong_ to _weak_, from _long_ to
_short_," is but one and the same, a _trochaic_ movement; its reverse, the
movement, "_vice versa_," from _weak_ to _strong_, or from _short_ to
_long_, is, of course, that of _iambic_ measure. But Murray's doctrine is,
that _strong_ and _long, weak_ and _short_, may be separated; that _strong_
may be _short_, and _weak_ be _long_; so that the movement from _weak_ to
_strong_ may be from _long_ to _short_, and _vice versa_: as if a trochaic
movement might arise from iambic measure, and an iambic movement from
trochaic feet! This absurdity comes of attempting to regulate the
_movement_ of verse by accent, and not by quantity, while it is admitted
that quantity, and not accent, forms the _measure_, which "signifies _the
proportion of time_." The idea that _pauses belong to measure_, is an other
radical error of the foregoing note. There are more pauses in poetry than
in prose, but none of them are properly "_parts_" of either. Humphrey says
truly, "_Feet_ are the _constituent parts_ of verse."--_English Prosody_,
p. 8. But L. Murray says, "_Feet and pauses_ are the constituent parts of
verse."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 252. Here Sheridan gave bias. Intending to
treat of verse, and "the pauses peculiarly belonging to it," the
"_Cæsural_" pause and the "_Final_," the rhetorician had _improperly_ said,
"The constituent _parts_ of verse are, feet, and pauses."--_Sheridan's
Rhetorical Gram._, p. 64.

[502] "But as many Ways as Quantities may be varied by Composition and
Transposition, so many different Feet have the _Greek_ Poets contriv'd, and
that under distinct Names, from two to six Syllables, to the Number of 124.
But it is the Opinion of some Learned Men in this Way, that Poetic Numbers
may be sufficiently explain'd by those of two or three Syllables, into
which the rest are to be resolv'd."--_Brightland's Grammar_, 7th Ed., p.
161.

[503] "THE BELLS OF ST. PETERSBURGH."

   "Those ev'ning bells, those ev'ning bells,
    _How_ many a tale their music tells!"--_Moore's Melodies_, p. 263.

This couplet, like all the rest of the piece from which it is taken, is
iambic verse, and to be divided into feet thus:--

   "Those ev' | -ning bells, | those ev' | -ning bells,
    How man | -y a tale | their mu | -sic tells!"

[504] Lord Kames, too, speaking of "English Heroic verse," says: "Every
line consists of ten syllables, _five short and five long_; from which
[rule] there are but two exceptions, both of them rare."--_Elements of
Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 89.

[505] "The Latin is a far more _stately_ tongue than our own. It is
essentially _spondaic_; the English is as essentially _dactylic_. The
_long_ syllable is the spirit of the Roman (and Greek) verse; the _short_
syllable is the essence of ours."--_Poe's Notes upon English Verse;
Pioneer_, Vol. i, p. 110. "We must search for _spondaic words_, which, in
English, are rare indeed."--_Ib._, p. 111.

[506] "There is a rule, in Latin prosody, that a vowel _before two
consonants_ is long. We moderns have not only no such rule, but profess
inability to comprehend its _rationale_."--_Poe's Notes: Pioneer_, p. 112.

[507] The opponents of capital punishment will hardly take this for a fair
version of the sixth commandment.--G. B.

[508] These versicles, except the two which are Italicized, are _not
iambic_. The others are partly trochaic; and, according to many of our
prosodists, wholly so; but it is questionable whether they are not as
properly amphimacric, or Cretic.

[509] See exercises in Punctuation, on page 786, of this work.--G. B.

[510] The Seventieth Psalm is the same as the last five verses of the
Fortieth, except a few unimportant differences of words or points.

[511] It is obvious, that these two lines may easily be reduced to an
agreeable stanza, by simply dividing each after the fourth foot--G. B.

[512] In Sanborn's Analytical Grammar, on page 279th, this couplet is
ascribed to "_Pope_;" but I have sought in vain for this quotation, or any
example of similar verse, in the works of that poet. The lines, one or both
of them, appear, _without reference_, in _L. Murray's Grammar, Second
Edition_, 1796, p. 176, and in subsequent editions; in _W. Allen's_, p.
225; _Bullions's_, 178; _N. Butler's_, 192; _Chandler's New_, 196;
_Clark's_, 201; _Churchill's_, 187; _Cooper's Practical_, 185; _Davis's_,
137; _Farnum's_, 106; _Felton's_, 142; _Frazee's_, 184; _Frost's_, 164; _S.
S. Greene's_, 250; _Hallock's_, 244; _Hart's_, 187; _Hiley's_, 127;
_Humphrey's Prosody_, 17; _Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part iii, p. 60;
_Weld's_, 211; _Ditto Abridged_, 138; _Wells's_, 200; _Fowler's_, 658; and
doubtless in many other such books.

[513] "Owen succeeded his father Griffin in the principality of North
Wales, A. D. 1120. This battle was fought near forty years afterwards.
North Wales is called, in the fourth line, '_Gwyneth_;' and 'Lochlin,' in
the fourteenth, is Denmark."--_Gray_. Some say "Lochlin," in the Annals of
Ulster, means Norway.--G. B.

[514] "The red dragon is the device of Cadwallader, which all his
descendants bore on their banners."--_Gray_.

[515] This passage, or some part of it, is given as a trochaic example, in
many different systems of prosody. Everett ascribes it entire to "_John
Chalkhill_;" and Nutting, more than twenty years before, had attached the
name of "_Chalkhill_" to a part of it. But the six lines "of three
syllables," Dr. Johnson, in his Grammar, credits to "_Walton's Angler_;"
and Bicknell, too, ascribes the same to "_Walton_." The readings also have
become various. Johnson, Bicknell, Burn, Churchill, and Nutting, have
"_Here_" for "_Where_" in the fifth line above; and Bicknell and Burn have
"_Stop_" in the eighth line, where the rest read "_Stops_." Nutting has,
for the ninth line, "_Others'_ joys," and not, "_Other_ joys," as have the
rest.--G. B.

[516] OBS.--Of this, and of every other example which requires no
amendment, let the learner simply say, after reading the passage, "This
sentence is correct as it stands."--G. BROWN.

[517] OBSERVATION.--In the Bible, the word LORD, whenever it stands for the
Hebrew name JEHOVAH, not only commences with a full capital, but has small
or half capitals for the other letters; and I have thought proper to print
both words in that manner here. In correcting the last example, I follow
Dr. Scott's Bible, except in the word "_God_," which he writes with a small
_g_. Several other copies have "_first_" and "_last_" with small initials,
which I think not so correct; and some distinguish the word "_hosts_" with
a capital, which seems to be needless. The sentence here has eleven
capitals: in the Latin Vulgate, it has but six, and one of them is for the
last word, "_Deus_," God.--G. B.

[518] OBS.--This construction I dislike. Without hyphens, it is improper;
and with them it is not to be commended. See Syntax, Obs 24th on Rule
IV.--G. B.

[519] On the page here referred to, the author of the Gazetteer has written
"_Charles city_," &c. Analogy requires that the words be compounded,
because they constitute three names which are applied to _counties_, and
not to _cities_.

[520] OBS.--The following words, _as names of towns_, come under Rule 6th,
and are commonly found correctly compounded in the books of Scotch
geography and statistics; "Strathaven, Stonehaven, Strathdon, Glenluce,
Greenlaw, Coldstream, Lochwinnoch, Lochcarron, Loehmaber, Prestonpans,
Prestonkirk, Peterhead, Queensferry, Newmills," and many more like them.

[521] Section OBS.--This name, in both the Vulgate and the Septuagint, is
_Pharao Nechao_, with two capitals and no hyphen. Walker gives the two
words separately in his Key, and spells the latter _Necho_, and not
_Nechoh_. See the same orthography in _Jer._, xlvi, 2. In our common
Bibles, many such names are needlessly, if not improperly, compounded;
sometimes with one capital, and sometimes with two. The proper manner of
writing Scripture names, is too little regarded even by good men and
biblical critics.

[522] "[Marcus] Terentius Varro, vir Romanorum eruditissimus."--QUINTILIAN.
Lib. x, Cap. 1, p. 577.

[523] NOTE.--By this amendment, we remove a multitude of errors, but the
passage is still very faulty. What Murray here calls "_phrases_," are
properly _sentences_; and, in his second clause, he deserts the terms of
the first to bring in "_my_," "_our_," and also "_&c._," which seem to be
out of place there.--G. BROWN.

[524] _An other_ is a phrase of two words, which ought to be written
separately. The transferring of the n to the latter word, is a gross
vulgarism. Separate the words, and it will be avoided.

[525] _Mys-ter-y_, according to Scott and Cobb; _mys-te-ry_, according to
Walker and Worcester.

[526] Kirkham borrowed this doctrine of "Tonics, Subtonics, and Atonies,"
from Rush: and dressed it up in his own worse bombast. See Obs. 13 and 14,
on the Powers of the Letters.--GB.

[527] There is, in most English dictionaries, a contracted form of this
phrase, written _prithee_, or _I prithee_; but Dr. Johnson censures it as
"a familiar _corruption_, which some writers have _injudiciously_ used;"
and, as the abbreviation amounted to nothing but the slurring of one vowel
sound into an other, it has now, I think, very deservedly become
obsolete.--G. BROWN.

[528] This is the doctrine of Murray, and his hundred copyists; but it is
by no means generally true. It is true of adverbs, only when they are
connected by conjunctions; and seldom applies to _two_ words, unless the
conjunction which may be said to connect them, be suppressed and
understood.--G. BROWN.

[529] Example: "Imperfect articulation comes not so much from bad _organs_,
as from the abuse of good ones."--_Porter's Analysis_. Here _ones_
represents _organs_, and prevents unpleasant repetition.--G. BROWN.

[530] From the force of habit, or to prevent the possibility of a false
pronunciation, these ocular contractions are still sometimes carefully made
in printing poetry; but they are not very important, and some modern
authors, or their printers, disregard them altogether. In correcting short
poetical examples, I shall in general take no particular pains to
distinguish them from prose. All needful contractions however will be
preserved, and sometimes also a capital letter, to show where the author
commenced a line.

[531] The word "_imperfect_" is not really necessary here; for the
declaration is true of _any phrase_, as this name is commonly applied.--G.
BROWN.

[532] A _part of speech_ is a _sort of words_, and not _one word only_. We
cannot say, that every pronoun, or every verb, is _a part of speech_,
because the parts of speech are _only ten_. But every pronoun, verb, or
other word, is _a word_; and, if we will refer to this genus, there is no
difficulty in defining all the parts of speech in the singular, with _an_
or _a_: as, "A _pronoun_ is _a word_ put for _a noun_." Murray and others
say, "_An Adverb_ is _a part of speech_," &c., "A _Conjunction_ is _a part
of speech_," &c., which is the same as to say, "_One adverb_ is _a sort of
words_," &c. This is a palpable absurdity.--G. BROWN.


[533] The propriety of this conjunction, "_nor_," is somewhat questionable:
the reading in both the Vulgate and the Septuagint is--"_they, and_ their
wives, _and_ their sons, _and_ their daughters."

[534] All our lexicographers, and all accurate authors, spell this word
with an _o_; but the gentleman who has furnished us with the last set of
_new terms_ for the science of grammar, writes it with an _e_, and applies
it to the _verb_ and the _participle_. With him, every verb or participle
is an "_asserter_;" except when he forgets his creed, as he did in writing
the preceding example about certain "_verbs_." As he changes the names of
all the parts of speech, and denounces the entire technology of grammar,
perhaps his innovation would have been sufficiently broad, had he for THE
VERB, the most important class of all, adopted some name which he knew how
to spell.--G. B.

[535] It would be better to omit the word "_forth_," or else to say--"whom
I _brought forth from_ the land of Egypt." The phrase, "_forth out of_," is
neither a very common nor a very terse one.--G. BROWN.

[536] This _doctrine_, that participles divide and specify time, I have
elsewhere shown to be erroneous.--G. BROWN.

[537] Perhaps it would be as well or better, in correcting these two
examples, to say, "There _are_ a generation." But the article _a_, as well
as the literal form of the noun, is a sign of unity; and a complete
uniformity of numbers is not here practicable.

[538] Though the pronoun _thou_ is not much used in _common discourse_, it
is as proper for the grammarian to consider and show, what form of the verb
belongs to it _when it is so used_, as it is for him to determine what form
is adapted to any other pronoun, when a difference of style affects the
question.

[539] "_Forgavest_," as the reading is in our common Bible, appears to be
wrong; because the relative _that_ and its antecedent _God_ are of the
third person, and not of the second.

[540] All the corrections under this head are directly contrary to the
teaching of William S. Cardell. Oliver B. Peirce, and perhaps some other
such writers on grammar; and some of them are contrary also to Murray's
late editions. But I am confident that these authors teach erroneously;
that their use of indicative forms for mere suppositions that are contrary
to the facts, is positively ungrammatical; and that the potential imperfect
is less elegant, in such instances, than the simple subjunctive, which they
reject or distort.

[541] This is what Smith must have _meant_ by the inaccurate phrase,
"_those_ in the first." For his first example is, "He went to school;"
which contains only the _one_ pronoun "He."--See _Smith's New Gram._, p.
19.

[542] According to modern usage, _has_ would here be better than
_is_,--though _is fallen_ is still allowable.--G. BROWN.

[543] From this opinion, I dissent. See Obs. 1st on the Degrees of
Comparison, and Obs. 4th on Regular Comparison, in the Etymology of this
work, at pp. 279 and 285.--G. BROWN.

[544] "The country _looks beautiful_;'" that is, _appears_ beautiful--_is_
beautiful. This is right, and therefore the use which Bucke makes of it,
may be fairly reversed. But the example was ill chosen; and I incline to
think, it may also be right to say, "The country _looks beautifully_;" for
the _quality_ expressed by _beautiful_, is nothing else than the _manner_
in which the thing _shows_ to the eye. See Obs. 11th on Rule 9th.--G.
BROWN.

[545] Many examples and authorities may be cited in favour of these
corrections; as, "He acted independently _of_ foreign assistance."--
_Murray's Key, Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 222. "Independently _of_ any necessary
relation."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i. p. 275. "Independently _of_ this
peculiar mode of construction."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 473. "Independent _of_
the will of the people."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 13. "Independent one _of_
an other."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 84. "The infinitive is often independent
_of_ the rest of the sentence."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 85. "Some sentences
are independent _of_ each other."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 277. "As if it were
independent _of_ it"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 186. "Independent of
appearance and show."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 13.

[546] The preposition _of_ which Jefferson uses before _about_, appears to
me to be useless. It does not govern the noun _diameter_, and is therefore
no substitute for the _in_ which I suppose to be wanting; and, as the
preposition _about_ seems to be sufficient between _is_ and _feet_, I omit
the _of_. So in other instances below.--G. BROWN.

[547] Murray, Jamieson, and others, have this definition with the article
"a," and the comma, but without the hyphen: "APOSTROPHE is _a turning off_
from the regular course," &c. See errors under Note 4th to Rule 20th.

[548] This sentence may be written correctly in a dozen different ways,
with precisely the same meaning, and very nearly the same words. I have
here made the noun _gold_ the object of the verb _took_, which in the
original appears to govern the noun _treasure_, or _money_, understood. The
noun _amount_ might as well be made its object, by a suppression of the
preposition _to_. And again, for "_pounds' weight_," we may say, "_pounds
in_ weight." The words will also admit of many other positions.--G. BROWN.

[549] See a different reading of this example, cited as the first item of
false syntax under Rule 16th above, and there corrected differently. The
words "_both of_," which make the difference, were probably added by L.
Murray in some of his _revisals_; and yet it does not appear that this
popular critic ever got the sentence _right_.--G. BROWN.

[550] "If such maxims, and such practices prevail, what _has become_ of
national liberty?"--_Hume's History_. Vol. vi, p. 254; _Priestley's Gram._,
p. 128.

[551] According to my notion, _but_ is never a preposition; but there are
some who think otherwise.--G. BROWN.

[552] "Cùm vestieris te coccino, cùm ornata fueris monili aureo, et
_pinxeris stibio oculos tuos_, frustra componêris."--_Vulgate_. "[Greek:
Eàn peribálæ[i] kókkinon, kaì kosm'æsæ[i] kósmw[i] chrys~w[i]· eàn
egchrísæ[i] stíbi toùs ophthalmoús sou eìs mátaion wraïsmós
sou.]"--_Septuagint_. "Quoique tu te revêtes de pourpre, que tu te pares
d'ornemens d'or, et _que tu te peignes les yeux avec du fard_, tu
t'embellis en vain."--_French Bible_.

[553] The word "_any_" is here omitted, not merely because it is
_unnecessary_, but because "_every any other piece_,"--with which a score
of our grammarians have pleased themselves,--is not good English. The
impropriety might perhaps be avoided, though less elegantly, by _repeating
the preposition_, and saying,--"or _of_ any other piece of writing."--G.
BROWN.

[554] This correction, as well as the others which relate to what Murray
says of the several forms of ellipsis, doubtless conveys the sense which he
intended to express; but, as an assertion, it is by no means true of all
the examples which he subjoins, neither indeed are the rest. But that is a
fault of his which I cannot correct.--G. BROWN.

[555] The article _may_ be repeated in examples like these, without
producing _impropriety_; but then it will alter the construction of the
adjectives, and render the expression more formal and emphatic, by
suggesting a repetition of the noun.--G. BROWN.

[556] "The whole number of verbs in the English language, regular and
irregular, simple and compounded, taken together, is about 4300."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 59; _Murray's_, 12mo, p. 98; 8vo, p. 109; _et al._

[557] In Singer's Shakspeare, Vol. ii, p. 495, this sentence is expressed
and pointed thus: "O, shame! where is thy blush?"--_Hamlet_, Act III, Sc.
4. This is as if the speaker meant, "O! it is a shame! where is thy blush?"
Such is not the sense above; for there "_Shame_" is the person addressed.

[558] If, in each of these sentences, the colon were substituted for the
latter semicolon, the curves might well be spared. Lowth has a similar
passage, which (bating a needful variation of guillemets) he pointed thus:
"_as_ ----, _as_; expressing a comparison of equality; '_as_ white _as_
snow:' _as_ ----, _so_; expressing a comparison sometimes of equality;
'_as_ the stars, _so_ shall thy seed be;' that is, equal in number: but"
&c.--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 109. Murray, who broke this passage into
paragraphs, retained at first these semicolons, but afterwards changed them
_all_ to colons. Of later grammarians, some retain the former colon in each
sentence; some, the latter; and some, neither. Hiley points thus: "_As_
requires _as_, expressing equality; as, 'He is _as_ good _as_
she.'"--_Hiley's E. Gram._, p. 107.













End of Project Gutenberg's The Grammar of English Grammars, by Goold Brown