amusements, and finding no obstruction in its progress, advances far into
the sensitive part of our nature; and gains imperceptibly a thorough
knowledge of the human heart, of its desires, and of every motive to
action."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 42.
"They please, are pleased; they give to get esteem;
Till, seeming blest, they grow to what they seem."--_Goldsmith_.
LESSON VII.--ADVERBS.
"How cheerfully, how freely, how regularly, how constantly, how
unweariedly, how powerfully, how extensively, he communicateth his
convincing, his enlightening, his heart-penetrating, warming, and melting;
his soul-quickening, healing, refreshing, directing, and fructifying
influence!"--_Brown's Metaphors_, p. 96.
"The passage, I grant, requires to be well and naturally read, in order to
be promptly comprehended; but surely there are very few passages worth
comprehending, either of verse or prose, that can be promptly understood,
when they are read unnaturally and ill."--_Thelwall's Lect_. "They waste
life in what are called good resolutions--partial efforts at reformation,
feebly commenced, heartlessly conducted, and hopelessly
concluded."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 262.
"A man may, in respect of grammatical purity, speak unexceptionably, and
yet speak obscurely and ambiguously; and though we cannot say, that a man
may speak properly, and at the same time speak unintelligibly, yet this
last case falls more naturally to be considered as an offence against
perspicuity, than as a violation of propriety."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p.
104.
"Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblamably we
behaved ourselves among you that believe."--_1 Thes._, ii, 10.
"The question is not, whether they know what is said of Christ in the
Scriptures; but whether they know it savingly, truly, livingly,
powerfully."--_Penington's Works_, iii, 28.
"How gladly would the man recall to life
The boy's neglected sire! a mother too,
That softer friend, perhaps more gladly still,
Might he demand them at the gates of death!"--_Cowper_.
LESSON VIII.--CONJUNCTIONS.
"Every person's safety requires that he should submit to be governed; for
if one man may do harm without suffering punishment, every man has the same
right, and no person can be safe."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 38.
"When it becomes a practice to collect debts by law, it is a proof of
corruption and degeneracy among the people. Laws and courts are necessary,
to settle controverted points between man and man; but a man should pay an
acknowledged debt, not because there is a law to oblige him, but because it
is just and honest, and because he has promised to pay it."--_Ib._, p. 42.
"The liar, and only the liar, is invariably and universally despised,
abandoned, and disowned. It is therefore natural to expect, that a crime
thus generally detested, should be generally avoided."--_Hawkesworth_.
"When a man swears to the truth of his tale, he tacitly acknowledges that
his bare word does not deserve credit. A swearer will lie, and a liar is
not to be believed even upon his oath; nor is he believed, when he happens
to speak the truth."--_Red Book_, p. 108.
"John Adams replied, 'I know Great Britain has determined on her system,
and that very determination determines me on mine. You know I have been
constant and uniform in opposition to her measures. The die is now cast. I
have passed the Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish with
my country, is my unalterable determination.'"--SEWARD'S _Life of John
Quincy Adams_, p. 26.
"I returned, and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor
the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to
men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance
happen to them all."--_Ecclesiastes_, ix, 11.
"Little, alas! is all the good I can;
A man oppress'd, dependent, yet a man."--_Pope, Odys._, B. xiv, p. 70.
LESSON IX.--PREPOSITIONS.
"He who legislates only for a party, is engraving his name on the
adamantine pillar of his country's history, to be gazed on forever as an
object of universal detestation."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 401.
"The Greek language, in the hands of the orator, the poet, and the
historian, must be allowed to bear away the palm from every other known in
the world; but to that only, in my opinion, need our own yield the
precedence."--_Barrow's Essays_, p. 91.
"For my part, I am convinced that the method of teaching which approaches
most nearly to the method of investigation, is incomparably the best;
since, not content with serving up a few barren and lifeless truths, it
leads to the stock on which they grew."--_Burke, on Taste_, p. 37.
Better--"on which _truths grow_."
"All that I have done in this difficult part of grammar, concerning the
proper use of prepositions, has been to make a few general remarks upon the
subject; and then to give a collection of instances, that have occurred to
me, of the improper use of some of them."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 155.
"This is not an age of encouragement for works of elaborate research and
real utility. The genius of the trade of literature is necessarily
unfriendly to such productions."--_Thelwall's Lect._, p. 102.
"At length, at the end of a range of trees, I saw three figures seated on a
bank of moss, with a silent brook creeping at their feet."--_Steele_.
"Thou rather, with thy sharp and sulph'rous bolt,
Splitst the unwedgeable and gnarled oak."--_Shakspeare_.
LESSON X.--INTERJECTIONS.
"Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne
of David; thou, and thy servants, and thy people, that enter in by these
gates: thus saith the Lord, Execute ye judgement and righteousness, and
deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor."--_Jeremiah_, xxii,
2, 3.
"Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king
of Judah, They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah
sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond
the gates of Jerusalem."--_Jer._, xxii, 18, 19.
"O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will
lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with
sapphires."--_Isaiah_, liv, 11.
"O prince! O friend! lo! here thy Medon stands;
Ah! stop the hero's unresisted hands."
--_Pope, Odys._, B. xxii, l. 417.
"When, lo! descending to our hero's aid,
Jove's daughter Pallas, war's triumphant maid!"
--_Ib._, B. xxii, l. 222.
"O friends! oh ever exercised in care!
Hear Heaven's commands, and reverence what ye hear!"
--_Ib._, B. xii, l. 324.
"Too daring prince! ah, whither dost thou run?
Ah, too forgetful of thy wife and you!"
--_Pope's Iliad_, B. vi, l. 510.
CHAPTER II.--ARTICLES.
In this chapter, and those which follow it, the
Rules of Syntax are again exhibited, in the order of the parts of speech,
with Examples, Exceptions, Observations, Notes, and False Syntax. The Notes
are all of them, in form and character, subordinate rules of syntax,
designed for the detection of errors. The correction of the False Syntax
placed under the rules and notes, will form an _oral exercise_, similar to
that of parsing, and perhaps more useful.[334]
RULE I.--ARTICLES.
Articles relate to the nouns which they limit:[335] as, "At _a_ little
distance from _the_ ruins of _the_ abbey, stands _an_ aged elm."
"See _the_ blind beggar dance, _the_ cripple sing,
_The_ sot _a_ hero, lunatic _a_ king."--_Pope's Essay_, Ep. ii, l. 268.
EXCEPTION FIRST.
The definite article used _intensively_, may relate to an _adjective_ or
_adverb_ of the comparative or the superlative degree; as, "A land which
was _the mightiest_."--_Byron_. "_The farther_ they proceeded, _the
greater_ appeared their alacrity."--_Dr. Johnson_. "He chooses it _the
rather_"--_Cowper_. See Obs. 10th, below.
EXCEPTION SECOND.
The indefinite article is sometimes used to give a collective meaning to
what seems a _plural adjective of number_; as, "Thou hast _a few_ names
even in Sardis."--_Rev._, iii, 4. "There are _a thousand_ things which
crowd into my memory."--_Spectator_, No. 468. "The centurion commanded _a
hundred_ men."--_Webster_. See Etymology, Articles, Obs. 26.
OBSERVATIONS ON RULE I.
OBS. 1.--The article is a kind of _index_, usually pointing to some noun;
and it is a general, if not a universal, principle, that no one noun admits
of more than one article. Hence, two or more articles in a sentence are
signs of two or more nouns; and hence too, by a very convenient ellipsis,
an article before an adjective is often made to relate to a noun
understood; as, "_The_ grave [_people_] rebuke _the_ gay [_people_], and
_the_ gay [_people_] mock _the_ grave" [_people_].--_Maturin's Sermons_,
p. 103. "_The_ wise [_persons_] shall inherit glory."--_Prov._, iii, 35.
"_The_ vile [_person_] will talk villainy."--_Coleridge's Lay Sermons_, p.
105: see _Isaiah_, xxxii, 6. "The testimony of the Lord is sure, making
wise _the_ simple" [_ones_].--_Psal._, xix, 7. "_The_ Old [_Testament_] and
the New Testament are alike authentic."--"_The_ animal [_world_] and the
vegetable world are adapted to each other."--"_An_ epic [_poem_] and a
dramatic poem are the same in substance."--_Ld. Kames, El. of Crit._, ii,
274. "The neuter verb is conjugated like _the_ active" [_verb_].--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 99. "Each section is supposed to contain _a_ heavy [_portion_]
and a light portion; _the_ heavy [_portion_] being the accented syllable,
and _the_ light [_portion_] _the_ unaccented" [_syllable_].--_Rush, on the
Voice_, p. 364.
OBS. 2.--Our language does not, like the French, _require a repetition_ of
the article before every noun in a series; because the same article may
serve to limit the signification of several nouns, provided they all stand
in the same construction. Hence the following sentence is bad English: "The
understanding and language have a strict connexion."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
p. 356. The sense of the former noun only was meant to be limited. The
expression therefore should have been, "_Language and the understanding_
have a strict connexion," or, "The understanding _has_ a strict connexion
_with language_." In some instances, one article _seems_ to limit the sense
of several nouns that are not all in the same construction, thus: "As it
proves a greater or smaller obstruction to _the speaker's_ or _writer's
aim_."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 200. That is--"to _the_ aim of _the_ speaker
or _the_ writer." It is, in fact, the possessive, that limits the other
nouns; for, "_a man's foes_" means, "_the_ foes of _a_ man;" and, "_man's
wisdom_," means, "_the_ wisdom of man." The governing noun cannot have an
article immediately before it. Yet the omission of articles, when it
occurs, is not properly _by ellipsis_, as some grammarians declare it to
be; for there never can be a proper ellipsis of an article, when there is
not also an ellipsis of its noun. Ellipsis supposes the omitted words to be
necessary to the construction, when they are not so to the sense; and this,
it would seem, cannot be the case with a mere article. If such a sign be in
any wise necessary, it ought to be used; and if not needed in any respect,
it cannot be said to be _understood_. The definite article being generally
required before adjectives that are used by ellipsis as nouns, we in this
case repeat it before every term in a series; as, "They are singled out
from among their fellows, as _the_ kind, _the_ amiable, _the_
sweet-tempered, _the_ upright."--_Dr. Chalmers_.
"_The_ great, _the_ gay, shall they partake
The heav'n that thou alone canst make?"--_Cowper_.
OBS. 3.--The article precedes its noun, and is never, by itself, placed
after it; as, "Passion is _the_ drunkenness of _the_ mind."--_Southey_.
When an _adjective_ likewise precedes the noun, the article is usually
placed before the adjective, that its power of limitation may extend over
that also; as, "_A concise_ writer compresses his thoughts into _the
fewest_ possible words."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 176.
"_The private_ path, _the secret_ acts of men,
If noble, far _the noblest_ of their lives."--_Young_.
OBS. 4.--The relative position of the article and the adjective is seldom a
matter of indifference. Thus, it is good English to say, "_both the men_,"
or, "_the two men_;" but we can by no means say, "_the both men_" or, "_two
the men_." Again, the two phrases, "_half a dollar_," and "_a half
dollar_," though both good, are by no means equivalent. Of the pronominal
adjectives, some exclude the article; some precede it; and some follow it,
like other adjectives. The word _same_ is seldom, if ever used without the
definite article or some stronger definitive before it; as, "On _the same_
day,"--"in _that same_ hour,"--"_These same_ gentlemen." After the
adjective _both_, the definite article _may_ be used, but it is generally
_unnecessary_, and this is a sufficient reason for omitting it: as, "The
following sentences will fully exemplify, to the young grammarian, _both
the parts_ of this rule."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 192. Say, "_both
parts_." The adjective _few_ may be used either with or without an article,
but not with the same import: as, "_The few_ who were present, were in the
secret;" i. e., All then present knew the thing. "_Few_ that were present,
were in the secret;" i.e., Not many then present knew the thing. "When I
say, 'There were _few_ men with him,' I speak diminutively, and mean to
represent them as inconsiderable; whereas, when I say, 'There were _a few_
men with him,' I evidently intend to make the most of them."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 171. See Etymology, Articles, Obs. 28.
OBS. 5.--The pronominal adjectives which exclude the article, are _any,
each, either, every, much, neither, no_, or _none, some, this, that, these,
those_. The pronominal adjectives which precede the article, are _all,
both, many, such_, and _what_; as, "_All the_ world,"--"_Both the_
judges,"--"_Many a_[336] mile,"--"_Such a_ chasm,"--"_What a_ freak." In
like manner, any adjective of quality, when its meaning is limited by the
adverb _too, so, as_, or _how_, is put before the article; as, "_Too great
a_ study of strength, is found to betray writers into a harsh
manner."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 179. "Like _many an_ other poor wretch, I now
suffer _all the_ ill consequences of _so foolish an_ indulgence." "_Such a_
gift is _too small a_ reward for _so great a_ labour."--_Brightland's
Gram._, p. 95. "Here flows _as clear a_ stream as any in Greece. _How
beautiful a_ prospect is here!"--_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 52. The
pronominal adjectives which follow the article, are _few, former, first,
latter, last, little, one, other_, and _same_; as, "An author might lean
either to _the one [style]_ or to _the other_, and yet be
beautiful."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 179. _Many_, like _few_, sometimes follows
the article; as, "_The many_ favours which we have received."--"In
conversation, for _many a man_, they say, _a many men_."--_Johnson's
Dict._ In this order of the words, _a_ seems awkward and needless; as,
"Told of _a many_ thousand warlike French."--_Shak._
OBS. 6.--When the adjective is preceded by any other adverb than _too, so,
as_, or _how_, the article is almost always placed before the adverb: as,
"One of _the_ most complete models;"--"_An_ equally important
question;"--"_An_ exceedingly rough passage;"--"_A_ very important
difference." The adverb _quite_, however, may be placed either before or
after the article, though perhaps with a difference of construction: as,
"This is _quite a_ different thing;"--or, "This is _a quite different_
thing." "Finding it _quite an_ other thing;"--or, "Finding it _a quite
other_ thing."--_Locke, on Ed._, p. 153. Sometimes _two adverbs_ intervene
between the article and the adjective; as, "We had a _rather more_ explicit
account of the Novii."--_Philol. Museum_, i, 458. But when an other adverb
follows _too, so, as_, or _how_, the three words should be placed either
before the article or after the noun; as, "Who stands there in _so purely
poetical_ a light."--_Ib._, i, 449. Better, perhaps: "_In a light so purely
poetical_."
OBS. 7.--The definitives _this, that_, and some others, though they
supersede the article _an_ or _a_, may be followed by the adjective _one_;
for we say, "_this one thing_," but not, "_this a thing_." Yet, in the
following sentence, _this_ and _a_ being separated by other words, appear
to relate to the same noun: "For who is able to judge _this_ thy so great
_a_ people?"--_1 Kings_, iii, 9. But we may suppose the noun _people_ to be
understood after _this_. Again, the following example, if it is not wrong,
has an ellipsis of the word _use_ after the first _a_:
"For highest cordials all their virtue lose,
By _a_ too frequent and too bold _a_ use."--_Pomfret_.
OBS. 8.--When the adjective is placed _after_ the noun, the article
generally retains its place before the noun, and is not repeated before the
adjective: as, "_A_ man _ignorant_ of astronomy;"--"_The_ primrose _pale_."
In _Greek_, when an adjective is placed after its noun, if the article is
applied to the noun, it is repeated before the adjective; as, "[Greek: Hæ
polis hæ megalæ,]"--"_The_ city _the_ great;" i.e., "The great city." [337]
OBS. 9.--Articles, according to their own definition and nature, come
_before_ their nouns; but the definite article and an adjective seem
sometimes to be placed after the noun to which they both relate: as,
"Section _the Fourth_;"--"Henry _the Eighth_." Such examples, however, may
possibly be supposed elliptical; as, "Section, _the fourth division_ of the
chapter;"--"Henry, _the eighth king_ of that name:" and, if they are so,
the article, in _English_, can never be placed after its noun, nor can two
articles ever properly relate to one noun, in any particular construction
of it. Priestley observes, "Some writers affect to _transpose_ these words,
and place the numeral adjective first; [as,] '_The first Henry_.' Hume's
History, Vol. i, p. 497. This construction is common with this writer, but
there seems to be a _want of dignity_ in it."--_Rudiments of E. Gram._, p.
150. Dr. Webster cites the word _Great_, in "_Alexander the Great_" as a
_name_, or _part_ of a name; that is, he gives it as an instance of
"_cognomination_." See his _American Dict._, 8vo. And if this is right, the
article may be said to relate to the epithet only, as it appears to do.
For, if the word is taken substantively, there is certainly no ellipsis;
neither is there any transposition in putting it last, but rather, as
Priestley suggests, in putting it first.
OBS. 10.--The definite article is often prefixed to _comparatives_ and
_superlatives_; and its effect is, as Murray observes, (in the words of
Lowth,) "to mark the degree _the more_ strongly, and to define it _the
more_ precisely: as, '_The more_ I examine it, _the better_ I like it.' 'I
like this _the least_ of any.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 33; _Lowth's_, 14.
"For neither if we eat, are we _the better_; neither if we eat not, are we
_the worse_."--_1 Cor._, viii, 8. "One is not _the more_ agreeable to me
for loving beef, as I do; nor _the less_ agreeable for preferring
mutton."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 365. "They are not the men in
the nation, _the most_ difficult to be replaced."--_Priestley's Gram._, p.
148. In these instances, the article seems to be used _adverbially_, and to
relate only to the _adjective_ or _adverb_ following it. (See observation
fourth, on the Etymology of Adverbs.) Yet none of our grammarians have
actually reckoned _the_ an adverb. After the _adjective_, the noun might
perhaps be supplied; but when the word _the_ is added to an _adverb_, we
must either call it an adverb, or make an exception to Rule 1st above: and
if an exception is to be made, the brief form which I have given, cannot
well be improved. For even if a noun be understood, it may not appear that
the article relates to it, rather than to the degree of the quality. Thus:
"_The_ deeper the well, _the_ clearer the water." This Dr. Ash supposes to
mean, "The deeper _well_ the well _is_, the clearer _water_ the water
_is_."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 107. But does the text specify a _particular_
"deeper well" or "clearer water?" I think not. To what then does _the_
refer, but to the proportionate degree of _deeper_ and _clearer_?
OBS. 11.--The article the is sometimes elegantly used, after an idiom
common in the French language, in lieu of a possessive pronoun; as, "He
looked him full in _the_ face; i. e. in _his_ face."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 150. "Men who have not bowed _the knee_ to the image of Baal."--_Rom._,
xi, 4. That is, _their knees_.
OBS. 12.--The article _an_ or _a_, because it implies unity, is applicable
to nouns of the singular number only; yet a collective noun, being singular
in form, is sometimes preceded by this article even when it conveys the
idea of plurality and takes a plural verb: as, "There _are_ a very great
_number_ [of adverbs] ending in _ly_."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 63. "A
_plurality_ of them _are_ sometimes felt at the same instant."--_Kames, El.
of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 114. In support of this construction, it would be
easy to adduce a great multitude of examples from the most reputable
writers; but still, as it seems not very consistent, to take any word
plurally after restricting it to the singular, we ought rather to avoid
this if we can, and prefer words that literally agree in number: as, "Of
adverbs there _are_ very _many_ ending in _ly_"--"_More than one_ of them
_are_ sometimes felt at the same instant." The word _plurality_, like other
collective nouns, is literally singular: as, "To produce the latter, a
_plurality_ of objects _is_ necessary."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p.
224.
OBS. 13.--Respecting the form of the indefinite article, present practice
differs a little from that of our ancient writers. _An_ was formerly used
before all words beginning with _h_, and before several other words which
are now pronounced in such a manner as to require _a_: thus, we read in the
Bible, "_An_ help,"--"_an_ house,"--"_an_ hundred,"--"_an_ one,"--"_an_
ewer,"--"_an_ usurer;" whereas we now say, "_A_ help,"--"_a_ house,"--"_a_
hundred,"--"_a_ one,"--"_a_ ewer,"--"_a_ usurer."
OBS. 14.--Before the word _humble_, with its compounds and derivatives,
some use _an_, and others, _a_; according to their practice, in this
instance, of sounding or suppressing the aspiration. Webster and Jameson
sound the _h_, and consequently prefer _a_; as, "But _a humbling_ image is
not always necessary to produce that effect."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i,
205. "O what a blessing is _a humble_ mind!"--_Christian Experience_, p.
342. But Sheridan, Walker, Perry, Jones, and perhaps a majority of
fashionable speakers, leave the _h_ silent, and would consequently say,
"_An humbling_ image,"--"_an humble_ mind,"--&c.
OBS. 15.--An observance of the principles on which the article is to be
repeated or not repeated in a sentence, is of very great moment in respect
to accuracy of composition. These principles are briefly stated in the
notes below, but it is proper that the learner should know the reasons of
the distinctions which are there made. By a repetition of the article
before several adjectives in the same construction, a repetition of the
noun is implied; but without a repetition of the article, the adjectives,
in all fairness of interpretation, are confined to one and the same noun:
as, "No figures will render _a cold_ or _an empty_ composition
interesting."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 134. Here the author speaks of a cold
composition and an empty composition as different things. "_The_
metaphorical and _the_ literal meaning _are_ improperly mixed."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 339. Here the verb are has two nominatives, one of which is
expressed, and the other understood. "But _the_ third and _the_ last of
these [forms] are seldom used."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 186. Here the verb
"_are used_" has two nominatives, both of which are understood; namely,
"the third _form_," and "the last _form_." Again: "_The original and
present_ signification _is_ always retained."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of
Lang._, Vol. ii, p. 149. Here _one signification_ is characterized as being
both original and present. "_A loose and verbose manner_ never _fails_ to
create disgust."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 261. That is, _one manner_, loose and
verbose. "To give _a_ short and yet clear and plain answer to this
proposition."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 533. That is, _one answer,
short, clear, and plain_; for the conjunctions in the text connect nothing
but the adjectives.
OBS. 16.--To avoid repetition, even of the little word _the_, we sometimes,
with one article, join _inconsistent_ qualities to a _plural noun_;--that
is, when the adjectives so differ as to individualize the things, we
sometimes make the noun plural, in stead of repeating the article: as,
"_The_ north and south _poles_;" in stead of, "_The_ north and _the_ south
_pole_."--"_The_ indicative and potential _moods_;" in stead of "_The_
indicative and _the_ potential _mood_."--"_The_ Old and New _Testaments_;"
in stead of, "_The_ Old and _the_ New _Testament_." But, in any such case,
to repeat the article when the noun is made plural, is a huge blunder;
because it implies a repetition of the plural noun. And again, not to
repeat the article when the noun is singular, is also wrong; because it
forces the adjectives to coalesce in describing one and the same thing.
Thus, to say, "_The_ north and south _pole_" is certainly wrong, unless we
mean by it, _one pole_, or _slender stick of wood_, pointing north and
south; and again, to say, "_The_ north and _the_ south _poles_," is also
wrong, unless we mean by it, _several poles at the north_ and _others at
the south_. So the phrase, "_The_ Old and New _Testament_" is wrong,
because we have not _one Testament that is both Old and New_; and again,
"_The_ Old and _the_ New _Testaments_," is wrong, because we have not
several _Old Testaments and several New ones_: at least we have them not in
the Bible.
OBS. 17.--Sometimes a noun that _admits no article_, is preceded by
adjectives that do not describe the same thing; as, "Never to jumble
_metaphorical and plain language_ together."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 146. This
means, "_metaphorical language_ and _plain language_;" and, for the sake of
perfect clearness, it would perhaps be better to express it so. "For as
_intrinsic and relative beauty_ must often be blended in the same building,
it becomes a difficult task to attain _both_ in any perfection."--_Karnes,
El. of Crit._, Vol. ii, p. 330. That is, "_intrinsic beauty_ and _relative
beauty_" must often be blended; and this phraseology would be better. "In
correspondence to that distinction of _male and female sex_."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 74. This may be expressed as well or better, in half a dozen
other ways; for the article may be added, or the noun may be made plural,
with or without the article, and before or after the adjectives. "They make
no distinction between causes of civil and criminal jurisdiction."--
_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i, p. 302. This means--"between causes of civil and
_causes_ of criminal jurisdiction;" and, for the sake of perspicuity, it
ought to have been so written,--or, still better, _thus_: "They make no
distinction between civil causes and criminal."
NOTES TO RULE I.
NOTE I.--When the indefinite article is required, _a_ should always be used
before the sound of a consonant, and _an_, before that of a vowel; as,
"With the talents of _an_ angel, a man may be _a_ fool."--_Young_.
NOTE II.--The article _an_ or _a_ must never be so used as to relate, or
even seem to relate, to a plural noun. The following sentence is therefore
faulty: "I invited her to spend a day in viewing _a seat and
gardens._"--_Rambler_, No. 34. Say, "a seat and _its_ gardens."
NOTE III.--When nouns are joined in construction, with different adjuncts,
different dependence, or positive contrast, the article, if it belong at
all to the latter, must be repeated. The following sentence is therefore
inaccurate: "She never considered the quality, but merit of her
visitors."--_Wm. Penn_. Say, "_the_ merit." So the article in brackets is
absolutely necessary to the sense and propriety of the following phrase,
though not inserted by the learned author: "The Latin introduced between
the Conquest and [_the_] reign of Henry the Eighth."--_Fowler's E. Gram._,
8vo, 1850, p. 42.
NOTE IV.--When adjectives are connected, and the qualities belong to things
individually different, though of the same name, the article should be
repeated: as, "_A_ black and _a_ white horse;"--i. e., _two horses_, one
black and the other white. "_The_ north and _the_ south line;"--i. e., _two
lines_, running east and west.
NOTE V.--When adjectives are connected, and the qualities all belong to the
same thing or things, the article should not be repeated: as, "_A_ black
and white horse;"--i. e., _one_ horse, _piebald_. "_The_ north and south
line;"--i. e., _one line_, running north and south, like a meridian. NOTE
VI.--When two or more individual things of the same name are distinguished
by adjectives that cannot unite to describe the same thing, the article
must be added to each if the noun be singular, and to the first only if the
noun follow them in the plural: as, "_The_ nominative and _the_ objective
_case_;" or, "_The_ nominative and objective _cases_."--"_The_ third, _the_
fifth, _the_ seventh, and _the_ eighth _chapter_;" or, "_The_ third, fifth,
seventh, and eighth _chapters_." [338]
NOTE VII.--When two phrases of the same sentence have any special
correspondence with each other, the article, if used in the former, is in
general required also in the latter: as, "For ye know neither _the_ day nor
_the_ hour."--_Matt._, xxv, 13. "Neither _the_ cold nor _the_ fervid are
formed for friendship."--_Murray's Key_, p. 209. "The vail of the temple
was rent in twain, from _the_ top to _the_ bottom."--_Matt._, xxvii, 51.
NOTE VIII.--When a special correspondence is formed between individual
epithets, the noun which follows must not be made plural; because the
article, in such a case, cannot be repeated as the construction of
correspondents requires. Thus, it is improper to say, "Both _the_ first and
second _editions_" or, "Both _the_ first and _the_ second _editions_" for
the accurate phrase, "Both _the_ first and _the_ second _edition_;" and
still worse to say, "Neither _the_ Old nor New _Testaments_" or, "Neither
_the_ Old nor _the_ New _Testaments_" for the just expression, "Neither
_the_ Old nor _the_ New _Testament_." Yet we may say, "Neither _the old_
nor _the new statutes_" or, "Both _the early_ and _the late editions_;" for
here the epithets severally apply to more than one thing.
NOTE IX.--In a series of three or more terms, if the article is used with
any, it should in general be added either to every one, or else to the
first only. The following phrase is therefore inaccurate: "Through their
attention to the helm, the sails, or rigging."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol. i,
p. 11. Say, "_the_ rigging."
NOTE X.--As the article _an_ or _a_ denotes "_one thing of a kind_," it
should not be used as we use _the_, to denote emphatically a _whole kind_;
and again, when the species is said to be _of the genus_, no article should
be used to limit the latter. Thus some will say, "_A jay_ is a sort of _a
bird_;" whereas they ought to say, "_The jay_ is a sort _of bird_." Because
it is absurd to suggest, that _one jay_ is _a sort_ of _one bird_. Yet we
may say, "_The jay_ is _a bird_," or, "_A jay_ is _a bird_;" because, as
every species is one under the genus, so every individual is one under
both.
NOTE XI.--The article should not be used before the names of virtues,
vices, passions, arts, or sciences, in their general sense; before terms
that are strictly limited by other definitives; or before any noun whose
signification is sufficiently definite without it: as, "_Falsehood_ is
odious."--"_Iron_ is useful."--"_Beauty_ is vain."--"_Admiration_ is
useless, when it is not supported by _domestic worth_"--_Webster's Essays_,
p. 30.
NOTE XII.--When titles are mentioned merely as titles; or names of things,
merely as names or words; the article should not be used before them: as,
"He is styled _Marquis_;" not, "_the_ Marquis," or, "_a_ Marquis,"--"Ought
a teacher to call his pupil _Master_?"--"_Thames_ is derived from the Latin
name _Tam~esis_."
NOTE XIII.--When a comparison or an alternative is made with two nouns, if
both of them refer to the same subject, the article should not be inserted
before the latter; if to different subjects, it should not be omitted:
thus, if we say, "He is a better teacher than poet," we compare different
qualifications of the same man; but if we say, "He is a better teacher than
_a_ poet," we speak of different men, in regard to the same qualification.
NOTE XIV.--The definite article, or some other definitive, (as _this, that,
these, those_,) is generally required before the antecedent to the pronoun
_who_ or _which_ in a restrictive clause; as, "All _the men who_ were
present, agreed to it."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 145. "The _thoughts which_
passion suggests are always plain and obvious ones."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
468. "The _things which_ are impossible with men, are possible with
God."--_Luke_, xviii, 27. See Etymology, Chap. V, Obs. 26th, &c., on
Classes of Pronouns.
NOTE XV.--The article is generally required in that construction which
converts a participle into a verbal or participial noun; as, "_The
completing of_ this, by _the working-out of_ sin inherent, must be by the
power and spirit of Christ in the heart."--_Wm. Penn_. "They shall be _an
abhorring_ unto all flesh."--_Isaiah_, lxvi, 24. "For _the dedicating of_
the altar."--_Numb._, vii, 11.
NOTE XVI.--The article should not be added to any participle that is not
taken in all other respects as a noun; as, "For _the_ dedicating the
altar."--"He made a mistake in _the_ giving out the text." Expunge _the_,
and let _dedicating_ and _giving_ here stand as participles only; for in
the construction of nouns, they must have not only a definitive before
them, but the preposition _of_ after them.
NOTE XVII.--The false syntax of articles properly includes every passage in
which there is any faulty insertion, omission, choice, or position, of this
part of speech. For example: "When the verb is _a_ passive, the agent and
object change places."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 73. Better: "When the verb is
_passive_, the agent and _the_ object change places." "Comparisons used by
the sacred poets, are generally short."--_Russell's Gram._, p. 87. Better:
"_The_ comparisons," &c. "Pronoun means _for noun_, and _is used_ to _avoid
the_ too frequent repetition of _the_ noun."--_Infant School Gram._, p. 89.
Say rather: "_The_ pronoun _is put_ for _a_ noun, and is used to _prevent_
too frequent a repetition of the noun." Or: "_The word_ PRONOUN means _for
noun_; and _a pronoun_ is used to prevent too frequent a repetition of
_some_ noun."
IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE I.
[Fist][The examples of False Syntax placed under the rules and notes, are
to be corrected _orally_ by the pupil, according to the formules given, or
according to others framed in like manner, and adapted to the several
notes.]
EXAMPLES UNDER NOTE I.--AN OR A.
"I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel."--_Hosea_, vi, 10.
[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the article _an_ is used before _horrible_,
which begins with the sound of the consonant _h_. But, according to Note
1st, under Rule 1st, "When the indefinite article is required, _a_ should
always be used before the sound of a consonant, and _an_, before that of a
vowel." Therefore, _an_ should be _a_; thus, "I have seen _a_ horrible
thing in the house of Israel."]
"There is an harshness in the following sentences."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 188. "Indeed, such an one is not to be looked for."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
27. "If each of you will be disposed to approve himself an useful
citizen."--_Ib._, p. 263. "Land with them had acquired almost an European
value."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 325. "He endeavoured to find out an
wholesome remedy."--_Neef's Method of Ed._, p. 3. "At no time have we
attended an Yearly Meeting more to our own satisfaction."--_The Friend_, v,
224. "Addison was not an humourist in character."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
i, 303. "Ah me! what an one was he?"--_Lily's Gram._, p. 49. "He was such
an one as I never saw."--_Ib._ "No man can be a good preacher, who is not
an useful one."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 283. "An usage which is too frequent
with Mr. Addison."--_Ib._, p. 200. "Nobody joins the voice of a sheep with
the shape of an horse."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 298. "An universality seems to
be aimed at by the omission of the article."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 154.
"Architecture is an useful as well as a fine art."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 335. "Because the same individual conjunctions do not preserve an
uniform signification."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 78. "Such a work required
the patience and assiduity of an hermit."--_Johnson's Life of Morin_.
"Resentment is an union of sorrow with malignity."--_Rambler_, No. 185.
"His bravery, we know, was an high courage of blasphemy."--_Pope_. "Hyssop;
a herb of bitter taste."--_Pike's Heb. Lex._, p. 3.
"On each enervate string they taught the note
To pant, or tremble through an Eunuch's throat."--_Pope_.
UNDER NOTE II.--AN OR A WITH PLURALS.
"At a sessions of the court in March, it was moved," &c.--_Hutchinson's
Hist. of Mass._, i, 61. "I shall relate my conversations, of which I kept a
memoranda."--_Duchess D'Abrantes_, p. 26. "I took another dictionary, and
with a scissors cut out, for instance, the word ABACUS."--_A. B. Johnson's
Plan of a Dict._, p. 12. "A person very meet seemed he for the purpose, of
a forty-five years old."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p. 338. "And it
came to pass about an eight days after these sayings."--_Luke_, ix, 28."
There were slain of them upon a three thousand men."--_1 Mac._, iv, 15."
Until I had gained the top of these white mountains, which seemed another
Alps of snow."--_Addison, Tat._, No. 161. "To make them a satisfactory
amends for all the losses they had sustained."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, p.
187. "As a first fruits of many more that shall be gathered."--_Barclay's
Works_, i, 506. "It makes indeed a little amends, by inciting us to oblige
people."--_Sheffield's Works_, ii, 229. "A large and lightsome backstairs
leads up to an entry above."--_Ib._, p. 260. "Peace of mind is an
honourable amends for the sacrifices of interest."--_Murray's Gram._, p.
162; _Smith's_, 138. "With such a spirit and sentiments were hostilities
carried on."--_Robertson's America_, i, 166. "In the midst of a thick
woods, he had long lived a voluntary recluse."--_G. B_. "The flats look
almost like a young woods."--_Morning Chronicle_. "As we went on, the
country for a little ways improved, but scantily."--_Essex County Freeman_,
Vol. ii, No. 11. "Whereby the Jews were permitted to return into their own
country, after a seventy years captivity at Babylon."--_Rollin's An.
Hist._, Vol. ii, p. 20. "He did riot go a great ways into the
country."--_Gilbert's Gram._, p. 85.
"A large amends by fortune's hand is made,
And the lost Punic blood is well repay'd."--_Rowe's Lucan_, iv, 1241.
UNDER NOTE III.--NOUNS CONNECTED.
"As where a landscape is conjoined with the music of birds and odour of
flowers."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 117. "The last order resembles the
second in the mildness of its accent, and softness of its pause."--_Ib._,
ii, 113. "Before the use of the loadstone or knowledge of the
compass."--_Dryden_. "The perfect participle and imperfect tense ought not
to be confounded."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, 292. "In proportion as the taste
of a poet, or orator, becomes more refined."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 27. "A
situation can never be intricate, as long as there is an angel, devil, or
musician, to lend a helping hand."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 285. "Avoid
rude sports: an eye is soon lost, or bone broken."--"Not a word was
uttered, nor sign given."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 125. "I despise not the
doer, but deed."--_Ibid._ "For the sake of an easier pronunciation and more
agreeable sound."--_Lowth_. "The levity as well as loquacity of the Greeks
made them incapable of keeping up the true standard of history."--
_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 115.
UNDER NOTE IV.--ADJECTIVES CONNECTED.
"It is proper that the vowels be a long and short one."--_Murray's Gram._,
p. 327. "Whether the person mentioned was seen by the speaker a long or
short time before."--_Ib._, p. 70; _Fisk's_, 72. "There are three genders,
Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 8. "The numbers
are two; Singular and Plural."--_Ib._, p. 80; _Gould's_, 77. "The persons
are three; First, Second, [and] Third."--_Adam, et al_. "Nouns and pronouns
have three cases; the nominative, possessive, and objective."--_Comly's
Gram._, p. 19; _Ingersoll's_, 21. "Verbs have five moods; namely, the
Indicative, Potential, Subjunctive, Imperative, and Infinitive."--
_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 35; _Lennie's_, 20. "How many numbers have
pronouns? Two, the singular and plural."--_Bradley's Gram._, p. 82. "To
distinguish between an interrogative and exclamatory sentence."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 280; _Comly's_, 163; _Ingersoll's_, 292. "The first and last of
which are compounded members."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 123. "In the last
lecture, I treated of the concise and diffuse, the nervous and feeble
manner."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 183. "The passive and neuter verbs, I shall
reserve for some future conversation."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 69. "There
are two voices; the Active and Passive."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 59; _Gould's_,
87. "Whose is rather the poetical than regular genitive of _which_."--_Dr.
Johnson's Gram._, p. 7. "To feel the force of a compound, or derivative
word."--_Town's Analysis_, p. 4. "To preserve the distinctive uses of the
copulative and disjunctive conjunctions."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 150;
_Ingersoll's_, 233. "E has a long and short sound in most languages."--
_Bicknell's Gram._, Part ii, p. 13. "When the figurative and literal sense
are mixed and jumbled together."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 151. "The Hebrew,
with which the Canaanitish and Phoenician stand in connection."--CONANT:
_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, p. 28. "The languages of Scandinavia
proper, the Norwegian and Swedish."--_Fowler, ib._, p. 31.
UNDER NOTE V.--ADJECTIVES CONNECTED.
"The path of truth is a plain and a safe path"--_Murray's Key_, p. 236.
"Directions for acquiring a just and a happy elocution."--_Kirkham's
Elocution_, p. 144. "Its leading object is to adopt a correct and an easy
method."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 9. "How can it choose but wither in a long
and a sharp winter."--_Cowley's Pref._, p. vi. "Into a dark and a distant
unknown."--_Chalmers, on Astronomy_, p. 230. "When the bold and the strong
enslaved his fellow man."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 21. "We now proceed to
consider the things most essential to an accurate and a perfect sentence."
--_Murray's Gram._, p. 306. "And hence arises a second and a very
considerable source of the improvement of taste."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 18.
"Novelty produces in the mind a vivid and an agreeable emotion."--_Ib._, p.
50. "The deepest and the bitterest feeling still is, the separation."--
_Dr. M'Rie_. "A great and a good man looks beyond time."--_Brown's
Institutes_, p. 125. "They made but a weak and an ineffectual resistance."
--_Ib._ "The light and the worthless kernels will float."--_Ib._ "I rejoice
that there is an other and a better world."--_Ib._ "For he is determined to
_revise_ his work, and present to the publick another and a better
edition."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 7. "He hoped that this title would secure
him an ample and an independent authority."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 172: see
_Priestley's_, 147. "There is however another and a more limited
sense."--_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. ii, p. 232.
UNDER NOTE VI.--ARTICLES OR PLURALS.
"This distinction forms, what are called the diffuse and the concise
styles."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 176. "Two different modes of speaking,
distinguished at first by the denominations of the Attic and the Asiatic
manners."--_Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i, p. 83. "But the great design of uniting
the Spanish and the French monarchies under the former was laid."--
_Bolingbroke, on History_, p. 180. "In the solemn and the poetic styles, it
[_do_ or _did_] is often rejected."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 68. "They
cannot be at the same time in the objective and the nominative
cases."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 151; _Ingersoll's_, 239; _R. G.
Smith's_, 127. "They are named the POSITIVE, the COMPARATIVE, and the
SUPERLATIVE degrees."--_Smart's Accidence_, p. 27. "Certain Adverbs are
capable of taking an Inflection, namely, that of the comparative and the
superlative degrees."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 8vo, 1850, §321. "In the
subjunctive mood, the present and the imperfect tenses often carry with
them a future sense."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 187; _Fisk's_, 131. "The
imperfect, the perfect, the pluperfect, and the first future tenses of this
mood, are conjugated like the same tenses of the indicative."--_Kirkham's
Gram._, p. 145. "What rules apply in parsing personal pronouns of the
second and third person?"--_Ib._, p. 116. "Nouns are sometimes in the
nominative or objective case after the neuter verb to be, or after an
active-intransitive or passive verb."--_Ib._, p. 55. "The verb varies its
endings in the singular in order to agree in form with the first, second,
and third person of its nominative."--_Ib._, p. 47. "They are identical in
effect, with the radical and the vanishing stresses."--_Rush, on the
Voice_, p. 339. "In a sonnet the first, fourth, fifth, and eighth line
rhyme to each other: so do the second, third, sixth, and seventh line; the
ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth line; and the tenth, twelfth, and
fourteenth line."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 311. "The iron and the golden
ages are run; youth and manhood are departed."--_Wright's Athens_, p. 74.
"If, as you say, the iron and the golden ages are past, the youth and the
manhood of the world."--_Ib._ "An Exposition of the Old and New
Testament."--_Matthew Henry's Title-page_. "The names and order of the
books of the Old and New Testament."--_Friends' Bible_, p. 2; _Bruce's_, p.
2; et al. "In the second and third person of that tense."--_L. Murray's
Gram._, p. 81. "And who still unites in himself the human and the divine
natures."--_Gurney's Evidences_, p. 59. "Among whom arose the Italian, the
Spanish, the French, and the English languages."--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo,
p. 111. "Whence arise these two, the singular and the plural
Numbers."--_Burn's Gram._, p. 32.
UNDER NOTE VII.--CORRESPONDENT TERMS.
"Neither the definitions, nor examples, are entirely the same with
his."--_Ward's Pref. to Lily's Gram._, p. vi. "Because it makes a
discordance between the thought and expression."--_Kames, El. of Crit._,
ii, 24. "Between the adjective and following substantive."--_Ib._ ii, 104.
"Thus, Athens became both the repository and nursery of
learning."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 28. "But the French pilfered from both
the Greek and Latin."--_Ib._, p. 102. "He shows that Christ is both the
power and wisdom of God."--_The Friend_, x, 414. "That he might be Lord
both of the dead and living."--_Rom._, xiv, 9. "This is neither the obvious
nor grammatical meaning of his words."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 209. "Sometimes
both the accusative and infinitive are understood."--_Adam's Gram._, p.
155; _Gould's_, 158. "In some cases we can use either the nominative or
accusative promiscuously."--_Adam_, p. 156; _Gould_, 159. "Both the former
and latter substantive are sometimes to be understood."--_Adam_, p. 157;
_Gould_, 160. "Many whereof have escaped both the commentator and poet
himself."--_Pope_. "The verbs must and ought have both a present and past
signification."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 108. "How shall we distinguish
between the friends and enemies of the government?"--_Webster's Essays_, p.
352. "Both the ecclesiastical and secular powers concurred in those
measures."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 260. "As the period has a beginning and
end within itself it implies an inflexion."--_Adams's Rhet._, ii, 245.
"Such as ought to subsist between a principal and accessory."--_Kames, on
Crit._, ii, 39.
UNDER NOTE VIII.--CORRESPONDENCE PECULIAR.
"When both the upward and the downward slides occur in pronouncing a
syllable, they are called a _Circumflex_ or _Wave_."--_Kirkham's
Elocution_, pp. 75 and 104. "The word _that_ is used both in the nominative
and objective cases."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 69. "But all the other moods
and tenses of the verbs, both in the active and passive voices, are
conjugated at large."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 81. "Some writers on
Grammar object to the propriety of admitting the second future, in both the
indicative and subjunctive moods."--_Ib._, p. 82. "The same conjunction
governing both the indicative and the subjunctive moods, in the same
sentence, and in the same circumstances, seems to be a great
impropriety."--_Ib._, p. 207. "The true distinction between the subjunctive
and the indicative moods in this tense."--_Ib._, p. 208. "I doubt of his
capacity to teach either the French or English languages."--_Chazotte's
Essay_, p. 7. "It is as necessary to make a distinction between the active
transitive and the active intransitive forms of the verb, as between the
active and passive forms."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 13.
UNDER NOTE IX.--A SERIES OF TERMS.
"As comprehending the terms uttered by the artist, the mechanic, and
husbandman."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 24. "They may be divided into four
classes--the Humanists, Philanthropists, Pestalozzian and the Productive
Schools."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. iii. "Verbs have six tenses, the
Present, the Imperfect, the Perfect, the Pluperfect, and the First and
Second Future tenses."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 138; _L. Murray's_, 68; _R.
C. Smith's_, 27; _Alger's_, 28. "_Is_ is an irregular verb neuter,
indicative mood, present tense, and the third person singular."--_Murray's
Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 2. "_Should give_ is an irregular verb active, in the
potential mood, the imperfect tense, and the first person plural."--_Ibid._
"_Us_ is a personal pronoun, first person plural, and in the objective
case."--_Ibid._ "_Them_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person, the
plural number, and in the objective case."--_Ibid._ "It is surprising that
the Jewish critics, with all their skill in dots, points, and accents,
never had the ingenuity to invent a point of interrogation, of admiration,
or a parenthesis."--_Wilson's Hebrew Gram._, p. 47. "The fifth, sixth,
seventh, and the eighth verse."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 263.
"Substitutes have three persons; the First, Second, and the Third."--_Ib._,
p. 34. "_John's_ is a proper noun, of the masculine gender, the third
person, singular number, possessive case, and governed by _wife_, by Rule
I."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 48. "Nouns in the English language have three
cases; the nominative, the possessive, and objective."--_Barrett's Gram._,
p. 13; _Alexander's_, 11. "The Potential [mood] has four [tenses], viz. the
Present, the Imperfect, the Perfect, and Pluperfect."--_Ingersoll's Gram._,
p. 96.
"Where Science, Law, and Liberty depend,
And own the patron, patriot, and the friend."--_Savage, to Walpole_.
UNDER NOTE X.--SPECIES AND GENUS.
"A pronoun is a part of speech put for a noun."--_Paul's Accidence_, p. 11.
"A verb is a part of speech declined with mood and tense."--_Ib._, p. 15.
"A participle is a part of speech derived of a verb."--_Ib._, p. 38. "An
adverb is a part of speech joined to verbs to declare their
signification."--_Ib._, p. 40. "A conjunction is a part of speech that
joineth sentences together."--_Ib._, p. 41. "A preposition is a part of
speech most commonly set before other parts."--_Ib._, p. 42. "An
interjection is a part of speech which betokeneth a sudden motion or
passion of the mind."--_Ib._, p. 44. "An enigma or riddle is also a species
of allegory."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 151; _Murray's Gram._, 343. "We may take
from the Scriptures a very fine example of an allegory."--_Ib._: _Blair_,
151; _Mur._, 341. "And thus have you exhibited a sort of a sketch of
art."--HARRIS: _in Priestley's Gram._, p. 176. "We may 'imagine a subtle
kind of a reasoning,' as Mr. Harris acutely observes."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 71. "But, before entering on these, I shall give one instance of
a very beautiful metaphor, that I may show the figure to full
advantage."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 143. "Aristotle, in his Poetics, uses
metaphor in this extended sense, for any figurative meaning imposed upon a
word; as a whole put for the part, or a part for a whole; the species for
the genus, or a genus for the species."--_Ib._, p. 142. "It shows what kind
of an apple it is of which we are speaking."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 69.
"Cleon was another sort of a man."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, Vol. i, p. 124.
"To keep off his right wing, as a kind of a reserved body."--_Ib._, ii, 12.
"This part of speech is called a verb."--_Mack's Gram._, p. 70. "What sort
of a thing is it?"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 20. "What sort of a charm do they
possess?"--_Bullions's Principles of E. Gram._, p. 73.
"Dear Welsted, mark, in dirty hole,
That painful animal, a Mole."--_Note to Dunciad_, B. ii, l. 207.
UNDER NOTE XI.--ARTICLES NOT REQUISITE.
"Either thou or the boys were in the fault."--_Comly's Key, in Gram._, p.
174. "It may, at the first view, appear to be too general."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 222; _Ingersoll's_, 275. "When the verb has a reference to
future time."--_Ib.: M._, p. 207; _Ing._, 264. "No; they are the language
of imagination rather than of a passion."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 165. "The
dislike of the English Grammar, which has so generally prevailed, can only
be attributed to the intricacy of syntax."--_Russell's Gram._, p. iv. "Is
that ornament in a good taste?"--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 326. "There are
not many fountains in a good taste."--_Ib._, ii, 329. "And I persecuted
this way unto the death."--_Acts_, xxii, 4. "The sense of the feeling can,
indeed, give us the idea of extension."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 196. "The
distributive adjective pronouns, _each, every, either_, agree with the
nouns, pronouns, and verbs, of the singular number only."--_Murray's
Gram._, p. 165; _Lowth's_, 89. "Expressing by one word, what might, by a
circumlocution, be resolved into two or more words belonging to the other
parts of speech."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 84. "By the certain muscles which
operate all at the same time."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 19. "It is sufficient
here to have observed thus much in the general concerning
them."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 112. "Nothing disgusts us sooner than the
empty pomp of language."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 319.
UNDER NOTE XII.--TITLES AND NAMES.
"He is entitled to the appellation of a gentleman."--_Brown's Inst._, p.
126. "Cromwell assumed the title of a Protector."--_Ib._ "Her father is
honoured with the title of an Earl."--_Ib._ "The chief magistrate is styled
a President."--_Ib._ "The highest title in the state is that of the
Governor."--_Ib._ "That boy is known by the name of the Idler."--_Murray's
Key_, 8vo, p. 205. "The one styled the Mufti, is the head of the ministers
of law and religion."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 360. "Banging all that possessed
them under one class, he called that whole class _a tree_."--_Blair's
Rhet._, p. 73. "For the oak, the pine, and the ash, were names of whole
classes of objects."--_Ib._, p. 73. "It is of little importance whether we
give to some particular mode of expression the name of a trope, or of a
figure."--_Ib._, p. 133. "The collision of a vowel with itself is the most
ungracious of all combinations, and has been doomed to peculiar reprobation
under the name of an hiatus."--_J. Q. Adams's Rhet._, Vol. ii, p. 217. "We
hesitate to determine, whether the _Tyrant_ alone, is the nominative, or
whether the nominative includes the spy."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 246.
"Hence originated the customary abbreviation of _twelve months_ into a
_twelve-month_; _seven nights_ into _se'night_; _fourteen nights_ into a
_fortnight_."--_Webster's Improved Gram._, p. 105.
UNDER NOTE XIII.--COMPARISONS AND ALTERNATIVES.
"He is a better writer than a reader."--_W. Allen's False Syntax, Gram._,
p. 332. "He was an abler mathematician than a linguist."--_Ib._ "I should
rather have an orange than apple."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 126. "He was no
less able a negotiator, than a courageous warrior."--_Smollett's Voltaire_,
Vol. i, p. 181. "In an epic poem we pardon many negligences that would not
be permitted in a sonnet or epigram."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p.
186. "That figure is a sphere, or a globe, or a ball."--_Harris's Hermes_,
p. 258.
UNDER NOTE XIV.--ANTECEDENTS TO WHO OR WHICH.
"Carriages which were formerly in use, were very clumsy."--_Inst._, p. 126.
"The place is not mentioned by geographers who wrote at that time."--_Ib._
"Questions which a person asks himself in contemplation, ought to be
terminated by points of interrogation."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 279;
_Comly's_, 162; _Ingersoll's_, 291. "The work is designed for the use of
persons, who may think it merits a place in their Libraries."--_Murray's
Gram._, 8vo., p. iii. "That persons who think confusedly, should express
themselves obscurely, is not to be wondered at."--_Ib._, p. 298.
"Grammarians who limit the number to two, or at most to three, do not
reflect."--_Ib._, p. 75. "Substantives which end in _ian_, are those that
signify profession."--_Ib._, p. 132. "To these may be added verbs, which
chiefly among the poets govern the dative."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 170;
_Gould's_, 171. "Consonants are letters, which cannot be sounded without
the aid of a vowel."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 9. "To employ the curiosity of
persons who are skilled in grammar."--_Murray's Gram., Pref._, p. iii.
"This rule refers only to nouns and pronouns, which have the same bearing
or relation."--_Ib._, i, p. 204. "So that things which are seen, were not
made of things which do appear."--_Heb._, xi, 3. "Man is an imitative
creature; he may utter sounds, which he has heard."--_Wilson's Essay on
Gram._, p. 21. "But men, whose business is wholly domestic, have little or
no use for any language but their own."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 5.
UNDER NOTE XV.--PARTICIPIAL NOUNS.
"Great benefit may be reaped from reading of histories."--_Sewel's Hist._,
p. iii. "And some attempts were made towards writing of
history."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 110. "It is Invading of the Priest's
Office for any other to Offer it."--_Right of Tythes_, p. 200. "And thus
far of forming of verbs."--_Walker's Art of Teaching_, p. 35. "And without
shedding of blood is no remission."--_Heb._, ix, 22. "For making of
measures we have the best method here in England."--_Printer's Gram._ "This
is really both admitting and denying, at once."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 72.
"And hence the origin of making of parliaments."--_Brown's Estimate_, Vol.
i, p. 71. "Next thou objectest, that having of saving light and grace
presupposes conversion. But that I deny: for, on the contrary, conversion
presupposeth having light and grace."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 143.
"They cried down wearing of rings and other superfluities as we
do."--_Ib._, i, 236. "Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning
of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of
apparel."--_1 Peter_, iii, 3. "In spelling of derivative Words, the
Primitive must be kept whole."--_British Gram._, p. 50; _Buchanan's
Syntax_, 9. "And the princes offered for dedicating of the
altar."--_Numbers_, vii, 10. "Boasting is not only telling of lies, but
also many unseemly truths."--_Sheffield's Works_, ii, 244. "We freely
confess that forbearing of prayer in the wicked is sinful."--_Barclay_, i,
316. "For revealing of a secret, there is no remedy."--_Inst. E. Gram._, p.
126. "He turned all his thoughts to composing of laws for the good of the
state."--_Rollin's Ancient Hist._, Vol. ii, p. 38.
UNDER NOTE XVI.--PARTICIPLES, NOT NOUNS. "It is salvation to be kept from
falling into a pit, as truly as to be taken out of it after the falling
in."--_Barclay_, i, 210. "For in the receiving and embracing the testimony
of truth, they felt eased."--_Ib._, i, 469. "True regularity does not
consist in the having but a single rule, and forcing every thing to conform
to it."--_Philol. Museum_, i, 664. "To the man of the world, this sound of
glad tidings appears only an idle tale, and not worth the attending
to."--_Life of Tho. Say_, p. 144. "To be the deliverer of the captive Jews,
by the ordering their temple to be re-built," &c.--_Rollin_, ii, 124. "And
for the preserving them from being defiled."--_N. E. Discipline_, p. 133.
"A wise man will avoid the showing any excellence in trifles."--_Art of
Thinking_, p. 80. "Hirsutus had no other reason for the valuing a
book."--_Rambler_, No. 177; _Wright's Gram._, p. 190. "To the being heard
with satisfaction, it is necessary that the speaker should deliver himself
with ease."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 114. "And to the being well heard,
and clearly understood, a good and distinct articulation contributes more,
than power of voice."--_Ib._, p. 117.
"_Potential_ means the having power or will;
As, If you _would_ improve, you _should_ be still."
--_Tobitt's Gram._, p. 31.
UNDER NOTE XVII.--VARIOUS ERRORS.
"For the same reason, a neuter verb cannot become a passive."--_Lowth's
Gram._, p. 74. "The period is the whole sentence complete in
itself."--_Ib._, p. 115. "The colon or member is a chief constructive part,
or greater division of a sentence."--_Ib._ "The semicolon or half member,
is a less constructive part or subdivision, of a sentence or
member."--_Ib._ "A sentence or member is again subdivided into commas or
segments."--_Ib._, p. 116. "The first error that I would mention, is, a too
general attention to the dead languages, with a neglect of our
own."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 3. "One third of the importations would
supply the demands of people."--_Ib._, p. 119. "And especially in grave
stile."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 72. "By too eager pursuit, he ran a great
risk of being disappointed."--_Murray's Key, Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p.
201. "Letters are divided into vowels and consonants."--_Murray's Gram._,
i, p. 7; _and others_. "Consonants are divided into mutes and
semi-vowels."--_Ib._, i, 8; _and others_. "The first of these forms is most
agreeable to the English idiom."--_Ib._, i, 176. "If they gain, it is a too
dear rate."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 504. "A pronoun is a word used instead
of a noun, to prevent a too frequent repetition of it."--_Maunder's Gram._,
p. 1. "This vulgar error might perhaps arise from a too partial fondness
for the Latin."--_Dr. Ash's Gram., Pref._, p. iv. "The groans which a too
heavy load extorts from her."--_Hitchcock, on Dyspepsy_, p. 50. "The
numbers [of a verb] are, of course, singular and plural."--_Bucke's Gram._
p. 58. "To brook no meanness, and to stoop to no dissimulation, are the
indications of a great mind."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 236. "This mode of
expression rather suits familiar than grave style."--_Murray's Gram._, i,
198. "This use of the word rather suits familiar and low
style."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 134. "According to the nature of the
composition the one or other may be predominant."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 102.
"Yet the commonness of such sentences prevents in a great measure a too
early expectation of the end."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 411. "An eulogy or a
philippie may be pronounced by an individual of one nation upon the subject
of another."--_Adams's Rhet._, i, 298. "A French sermon, is for most part,
a warm animated exhortation."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 288. "I do not envy
those who think slavery no very pitiable a lot."--_Channing, on
Emancipation_, p. 52. "The auxiliary and principal united, constitute a
tense."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 75. "There are some verbs which are defective
with respect to persons."--_Ib._, i, 109. "In youth, the habits of industry
are most easily acquired."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 235. "Apostrophe (') is
used in place of a letter left out."--_Bullions's Eng. Gram._, p. 156.
CHAPTER III.--CASES, OR NOUNS.
The rules for the construction of Nouns, or Cases, are seven; hence this
chapter, according to the order adopted above, reviews the series of rules
from the second rule to the eighth, inclusively. Though _Nouns_ are here
the topic, all these seven rules apply alike to _Nouns and to Pronouns_;
that is, to all the words of our language which are susceptible of _Cases_.
RULE II.--NOMINATIVES.
A Noun or a Pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the
nominative case: as, "The _Pharisees_ also, _who_ were covetous, heard all
these things; and _they_ derided him."--_Luke_, xvi, 14. "But where the
_meekness_ of self-knowledge veileth the front of self-respect, there look
_thou_ for the man whom _none_ can know but _they_ will honour."--_Book of
Thoughts_, p. 66.
"Dost _thou_ mourn Philander's fate?
_I_ know _thou_ sayst it: says thy _life_ the same?"
--_Young_, N. ii, l. 22.
OBSERVATIONS ON RULE II.
OBS. 1.--To this rule, there are _no exceptions_; and nearly all
nominatives, or far the greater part, are to be parsed by it. There are
however _four_ different ways of disposing of the nominative case. _First_,
it is generally _the subject of a verb_, according to Rule 2d. _Secondly_,
it may be put _in apposition_ with an other nominative, according to Rule
3d. _Thirdly_, it may be put after a verb or a participle _not transitive_,
according to Rule 6th. _Fourthly_, it may be put _absolute_, or may help to
form a _phrase that_ is _independent_ of the rest of the sentence,
according to Rule 8th.
OBS. 2.--The subject, or nominative, is generally placed _before_ the verb;
as, "_Peace dawned_ upon his mind."--_Johnson_. "_What is written_ in the
law?"--_Bible_. But, in the following nine cases, the subject of the verb
is usually placed _after_ it, or after the first auxiliary: 1. When a
question is asked without an interrogative pronoun in the nominative case;
as, "_Shall mortals be_ implacable?"--_Hooke_. "What _art thou
doing_?"--_Id._ "How many loaves _have ye_?"--_Bible_. "_Are they_
Israelites? so _am I_."--_Ib._
2. When the verb is in the imperative mood; as, "_Go thou_"--"_Come ye_"
But, with this mood, the pronoun is very often omitted and understood; as,
"Philip saith unto him, _Come_ and _see_"--_John_, i, 46. "And he saith
unto them, _Be_ not _affrighted_."--_Mark_, xvi, 5.
3. When an earnest wish, or other strong feeling, is expressed; as, "_May
she be_ happy!"--"How _were we struck_!"--_Young_. "Not as the world
giveth, _give I_ unto you."--_Bible_.
4. When a supposition is made without the conjunction _if_; as, "_Had they
known_ it;" for, "_If_ they had known it."--"_Were it_ true;" for, "_If_ it
were true."--"_Could we draw_ by the covering of the grave;" for, "_If_ we
could draw," &c.
5. When _neither_ or _nor_, signifying _and not_, precedes the verb; as,
"This was his fear; _nor was his apprehension_ groundless."--"Ye shall not
eat of it, _neither shall ye touch_ it."--_Gen._, iii, 3.
6. When, for the sake of emphasis, some word or words are placed before the
verb, which more naturally come after it; as, "Here _am I_."--"Narrow _is_
the _way_."--"Silver and gold _have I_ none; but such as I have, _give I_
thee."--_Bible_.
7. When the verb has no regimen, and is itself emphatical; as, "_Echo_ the
_mountains_ round."--_Thomson_. "After the Light Infantry _marched_ the
_Grenadiers_, then _followed_ the _Horse_."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 71.
8. When the verbs, _say, answer, reply_, and the like, introduce the parts
of a dialogue; as, "'Son of affliction,' _said Omar_, 'who art thou?' 'My
name,' _replied_ the _stranger_, 'is Hassan.'"--_Dr. Johnson_.
9. When the adverb _there_ precedes the verb; as, "There _lived_ a
_man_."--_Montgomery_. "In all worldly joys, there _is_ a secret
_wound_."--_Owen_. This use of _there_, the general introductory adverb of
place, is idiomatic, and somewhat different from the use of the same word
in reference to a particular locality; as, "Because _there_ was not much
water _there_."--_John_, iii, 23.
OBS. 3.--In exclamations, and some other forms of expression, a few verbs
are liable to be suppressed, the ellipsis being obvious; as, "How different
[is] this from the philosophy of Greece and Rome!"--DR. BEATTIE: _Murray's
Sequel_, p. 127. "What a lively picture [is here] of the most disinterested
and active benevolence!"--HERVEY: _ib._, p. 94. "When Adam [spake] thus to
Eve."--MILTON: _Paradise Lost_, B. iv, l. 610.
OBS. 4.--Though we often use nouns in the nominative case to show whom we
address, yet the imperative verb takes no other nominative of the second
person, than the simple personal pronoun, _thou, ye_, or _you_, expressed
or understood. It would seem that some, who ought to know better, are
liable to mistake for the subject of such a verb, the noun which we put
absolute in the nominative by direct address. Of this gross error, the
following is an example: "_Study boys_. In this sentence," (says its
author,) "_study_ is a verb of the second person, plural number, and agrees
with its nominative case, _boys_--according to the rule: A verb must agree
with its nominative case in number and person. _Boys_ is a noun _of_ the
second person, plural number, masculine gender, in the nominative case to
the verb study."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 17.[339] Now the fact is, that
this laconic address, of three syllables, is written wrong; being made bad
English for want of a comma between the two words. Without this mark,
_boys_ must be an objective, governed by _study_; and with it, a
nominative, put absolute by direct address. But, in either case, _study_
agrees with _ye_ or _you_ understood, and has not the noun for its subject,
or nominative.
OBS. 5.--Some authors say, and if the first person be no exception, say
truly: "The nominative case to a verb, unless it be a pronoun, is always of
the _third_ person."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 141. But W. B. Fowle will
have all pronouns to be _adjectives_. Consequently all his verbs, of every
sort, agree with nouns "expressed or understood." This, and every other
absurd theory of language, can easily be made out, by means of a few
perversions, which may be called corrections, and a sufficient number of
interpolations, made under pretence of filling up ellipses. Thus, according
to this author, "They fear," means, "They _things spoken of_ fear."--_True
Eng. Gram._, p, 33. And, "_John, open_ the door," or, "_Boys, stop_ your
noise," admits no comma. And, "Be grateful, ye children," and, "Be ye
grateful children," are, in his view, every way equivalent: the comma in
the former being, in his opinion, needless. See _ib._, p. 39.
OBS. 6.--Though the nominative and objective cases of nouns do not differ
in form, it is nevertheless, in the opinion of many of our grammarians,
improper to place any noun in both relations at once, because this produces
a confusion in the syntax of the word. Examples: "He then goes on to
declare that there _are_, and distinguish _of_, four _manners_ of saying
_Per se_."--_Walker's Treatise of Particles_, p. xii. Better: "He then
proceeds to show, that _per se_ is susceptible of four different senses."
"In just allegory _and_ similitude there is always a propriety, or, if you
choose to call it, _congruity_, in the literal sense, as well as a distinct
meaning or sentiment suggested, which is called the figurative
sense."--_Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric_, p. 291. Better: "In just
allegory _or_ similitude, there is always a propriety--or, if you choose to
call it _so, a congruity_--in the literal sense," &c. "It must then be
meant of his sins who _makes_, not of his who _becomes_, the
convert."--_Atterbury's Sermons_, i, 2. Better: "It must then be meant of
his sins who _makes the convert_, not of his who _becomes converted_." "Eye
_hath_ not _seen_, nor ear _heard_, neither _have entered_ into the heart
of man, _the things_ which God hath prepared for them that love him."--_1
Cor._, ii, 9. A more regular construction would be: "Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither _hath it_ entered into the heart of man to _conceive_,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." The following
example, from Pope, may perhaps be conceded to the poet, as an allowable
ellipsis of the words "_a friend_," after _is_:
"In who obtain defence, or who defend;
In him who _is_, or him who _finds, a friend_."
--_Essay on Man_, Ep. iv, l. 60.
Dr. Lowth cites the last three examples, without suggesting any forms of
correction; and says of them, "There seems to be an impropriety in these
sentences, in which the same noun stands in a double capacity, performing
at the same time the offices _both of the_ nominative and objective
case."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 73. He should have said--"_of both the_
nominative and _the_ objective case." Dr. Webster, citing the line, "In him
who is, and him who finds, a friend," adds, "Lowth condemns this use of the
noun in the nominative and objective at the same time; but _without
reason_, as the cases are not distinguished in English."--_Improved Gram._,
p. 175.
OBS. 7.--In Latin and Greek, the accusative before the infinitive, is often
reckoned _the subject_ of the latter verb; and is accordingly parsed by a
sort of exception to the foregoing rule--or rather, to that general rule of
concord which the grammarians apply to the verb and its nominative. This
construction is translated into English, and other modern tongues,
sometimes literally, or nearly so, but much oftener, by a nominative and a
finite verb. Example: "_[Greek: Eipen auton phonæthænai]_."--_Mark_, x, 49.
"Ait illum vocari."--_Leusden_. "Jussit eum vocari."--_Beza_. "Præcepit
illum vocari."--_Vulgate_. "He commanded him to be called."--_English
Bible_. "He commanded that he should be called."--_Milnes's Gr. Gram._, p.
143. "Il dit qu'on l'appelât."--_French Bible_. "He bid that somebody
should call him." "Il commanda qu'on le fît venir."--_Nouveau Test._,
Paris, 1812. "He commanded that they should _make him come_;" that is,
"_lead him_, or _bring him_." "Il commanda qu'on l'appelât."--_De Sacy's N.
Test_.
OBS. 8.--In English, the objective case before the infinitive mood,
although it may truly denote the agent of the infinitive action, or the
subject of the infinitive passion, is nevertheless taken as the object of
the preceding verb, participle, or preposition. Accordingly our language
does not admit a literal translation of the above-mentioned construction,
except the preceding verb be such as can be interpreted transitively.
"_Gaudeo te val=ere_," "I am glad that thou art well," cannot be translated
more literally; because, "I am glad thee to be well," would not be good
English. "_Aiunt regem advent=are_," "They say the king is coming," may be
otherwise rendered "They _declare_ the king to be coming;" but neither
version is entirely literal; the objective being retained only by a change
of _aiunt, say_, into such a verb as will govern the noun.
OBS. 9.--The following sentence is a literal imitation of the Latin
accusative before the infinitive, and for that reason it is not good
English: "But experience teacheth us, _both these opinions to be_ alike
ridiculous."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 262. It should be, "But
experience _teaches us, that both these opinions are_ alike ridiculous."
The verbs _believe, think, imagine_, and others expressing _mental action_,
I suppose to be capable of governing nouns or pronouns in the objective
case, and consequently of being interpreted transitively. Hence I deny the
correctness of the following explanation: "RULE XXIV. The objective case
precedes the infinitive mode; [as,] 'I _believe_ your _brother to be_ a
good man.' Here _believe_ does not govern brother, in the objective case,
because it is not the object after it. _Brother_, in the objective case,
third person singular, precedes the neuter verb _to be_, in the infinitive
mode, present time, third person singular."--_S. Barrett's Gram._, p. 135.
This author teaches that, "The _infinitive mode agrees_ with the objective
case in number and person."--_Ibid._ Which doctrine is denied; because
the infinitive has no number or person, in any language. Nor do I see why
the noun _brother_, in the foregoing example, may not be both the object of
the active verb _believe_, and the subject of the neuter infinitive _to
be_, at the same time; for the subject of the infinitive, if the infinitive
can be said to have a subject, is not necessarily in the nominative case,
or necessarily independent of what precedes.
OBS. 10.--There are many teachers of English grammar, who still adhere to
the principle of the Latin and Greek grammarians, which refers the
accusative or objective to the latter verb, and supposes the former to be
intransitive, or to govern only the infinitive. Thus Nixon: "The objective
case is frequently put before the infinitive mood, as its subject; as,
'Suffer _me_ to depart.'" [340]--_English Parser_, p. 34. "When an
objective case stands before an infinitive mood, as 'I understood _it_ to
be him,' 'Suffer _me_ to depart,' such objective should be parsed, not as
governed by the preceding verb, but as the objective case before the
infinitive; that is, _the subject_ of it. The reason of this is--the former
verb can govern one object only, and that is (in such sentences) the
infinitive mood; the intervening objective being the subject of the
infinitive following, and not governed by the former verb; as, in that
instance, it _would be governing_ two objects."--_Ib., Note._[341]
OBS. 11.--The notion that one verb governs an other in the infinitive, just
as a transitive verb governs a noun, and so that it cannot also govern an
objective case, is not only contradictory to my scheme of parsing the
infinitive mood, but is also false in itself, and repugnant to the
principles of General Grammar. In Greek and Latin, it is certainly no
uncommon thing for a verb to govern two cases at once; and even the
accusative before the infinitive is sometimes governed by the preceding
verb, as the objective before the infinitive naturally is in English. But,
in regard to construction, every language differs more or less from every
other; hence each must have its own syntax, and abide by its own rules. In
regard to the point here in question, the reader may compare the following
examples: "[Greek: Echo anagkæn exelthein]."--_Luke_, xiv, 18. "Habeo
necesse exire."--_Leusden_. English: "I have _occasion to go_ away." Again:
"[Greek: O echon hota akouein, akoueto]."--_Luke_, xiv, 35. "Habens aures
audiendi, audiat."--_Leusden_. "Qui habet aures ad audiendum,
audiat."--_Beza_. English: "He that hath _ears to hear_, let _him hear_."
But our most frequent use of the infinitive after the objective, is in
sentences that must not be similarly constructed in Latin or Greek;[342]
as, "And he commanded the _porter to watch_."--_Mark_, xiii, 34. "And he
delivered _Jesus to be crucified_."--_Mark_, xv, 15. "And they led _him_
out _to crucify him_."--_Mark_, xv, 20. "We heard _him say_."--_Mark_, xiv,
58. "That I might make _thee know_."--_Prov._, xxii, 21.
OBS. 12.--If our language does really admit any thing like the accusative
before the infinitive, in the sense of a positive subject at the head of a
clause, it is only in some prospective descriptions like the following:
"Let certain studies be prescribed to be pursued during the freshman year;
_some_ of these to be attended to by the whole class; with regard to
others, a _choice_ to be allowed; _which_, when made by the student, (the
parent or guardian sanctioning it,) to be binding during the freshman year:
the same _plan_ to be adopted with regard to the studies of the succeeding
years."--GALLAUDET: _Journal of the N. Y. Literary Convention_, p. 118.
Here the four words, _some, choice, which_, and _plan_, may appear to a
Latinist to be so many objectives, or accusatives, placed before
infinitives, and used to describe that state of things which the author
would promote. If objectives they are, we may still suppose them to be
governed by _let, would have_, or something of the kind, understood: as,
"_Let_ some of these be attended to;" or, "Some of these _I would have_ to
be attended to," &c. The relative _which_ might with more propriety be
made nominative, by changing "_to_ be binding" to "_shall_ be binding;" and
as to the rest, it is very doubtful whether they are not now nominatives,
rather than objectives. The infinitive, as used above, is a mere substitute
for the Latin future participle; and any English noun or pronoun put
absolute with a participle, is in the nominative case. English relatives
are rarely, if ever, put absolute in this manner: and this may be the
reason why the construction of _which_, in the sentence above, seems
awkward. Besides, it is certain that the other pronouns are sometimes put
absolute with the infinitive; and that, in the nominative case, not the
objective: as,
"And _I to be_ a corporal in his field,
And wear his colours like a tumbler's hoop!
What? _I! I love! I sue! I seek_ a wife!"--_Shak., Love's Labour Lost_.
IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.
FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE II.
THE SUBJECT OF A FINITE VERB.
"The whole need not a physician, but them that are sick."--_Bunyan's Law
and Gr._, p. iv.
[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the objective pronoun _them_ is here made
the subject of the verb _need_, understood. But, according to Rule 2d, "A
noun or a pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, must be in the
nominative case." Therefore, _them_ should be _they_; thus, "The whole need
not a physician, but they that are sick."]
"He will in no wise cast out whomsoever cometh unto him."--_Robert Hall_
"He feared the enemy might fall upon his men, whom he saw were off their
guard."--_Hutchinson's Massachusetts_, ii, 133. "Whomsoever shall compel
thee to go a mile, go with him twain."--_Dymond's Essays_, p. 48. "The
idea's of the author have been conversant with the faults of other
writers."--_Swift's T. T._, p. 55. "You are a much greater loser than me by
his death."--_Swift to Pope_, l. 63. "Such peccadillo's pass with him for
pious frauds."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 279. "In whom I am nearly
concerned, and whom I know would be very apt to justify my whole
procedure."--_Ib._, i, 560. "Do not think such a man as me contemptible for
my garb."--_Addison._ "His wealth and him bid adieu to each
other."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 107. "So that, 'He is greater than _me_,'
will be more grammatical than, 'He is greater than _I_.'"--_Ib._, p. 106.
"The Jesuits had more interests at court than him."--SMOLLETT: in _Pr.
Gram._, p. 106.[343] "Tell the Cardinal that I understand poetry better
than him."--_Id., ib._ "An inhabitant of Crim Tartary was far more happy
than him."--_Id., ib._ "My father and him have been very intimate
since."--_Fair American_, ii, 53. "Who was the agent, and whom the object
struck or kissed?"--_Infant School Gram._, p. 32. "To find the person whom
he imagined was concealed there."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 225. "He
offered a great recompense to whomsoever would help him."--HUME: in _Pr.
Gram._, p. 104. "They would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited,
of whomsoever might exercise the right of judgement."--_Gov. Haynes's
Speech_, in 1832. "They had promised to accept whomsoever should be born in
Wales."--_Stories by Croker_. "We sorrow not as them that have no
hope."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 27. "If he suffers, he suffers as them that
have no hope."--_Ib._, p. 32. "We acknowledge that he, and him only, hath
been our peacemaker."--_Gratton_. "And what can be better than him that
made it?"--_Jenks's Prayers_, p. 329. "None of his school-fellows is more
beloved than him."--_Cooper's Gram._, p. 42. "Solomon, who was wiser than
them all."--_Watson's Apology_, p. 76. "Those whom the Jews thought were
the last to be saved, first entered the kingdom of God."--_Eleventh Hour,
Tract_, No. 4. "A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath
is heavier than them both."--_Prov._, xxvii, 3. "A man of business, in good
company, is hardly more insupportable than her they call a notable
woman."--_Steele, Sped_. "The king of the Sarmatians, whom we may imagine
was no small prince, restored him a hundred thousand Roman
prisoners."--_Life of Antoninus_, p. 83. "Such notions would be avowed at
this time by none but rosicrucians, and fanatics as mad as
them."--_Bolingbroke's Ph. Tr._, p. 24. "Unless, as I said, Messieurs, you
are the masters, and not me."--BASIL HALL: _Harrison's E. Lang._, p. 173.
"We had drawn up against peaceable travellers, who must have been as glad
as us to escape."--BURNES'S TRAVELS: _ibid._ "Stimulated, in turn, by their
approbation, and that of better judges than them, she turned to their
literature with redoubled energy."--QUARTERLY REVIEW: _Life of H. More:
ibid._ "I know not whom else are expected."--SCOTT'S PIRATE: _ibid._ "He is
great, but truth is greater than us all."--_Horace Mann, in Congress_,
1850. "Him I accuse has entered."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, §482: see
_Shakspeare's Coriolanus_, Act V, sc. 5.
"Scotland and thee did each in other live."
--_Dryden's Po._, Vol. ii, p. 220.
"We are alone; here's none but thee and I."
--_Shak._, 2 Hen. VI.
"Me rather had, my heart might feel your love,
Than my unpleas'd eye see your courtesy."
--_Idem: Joh. Dict._
"Tell me, in sadness, whom is she you love?"
--_Id., Romeo and Juliet_, A. I, sc. 1.
"Better leave undone, than by our deeds acquire
Too high a fame, when him we serve's away."
--_Shak., Ant. and Cleop._
RULE III.--APPOSITION.
A Noun or a personal Pronoun used to explain a preceding noun or pronoun,
is put, by apposition, in the same case: as, "But it is really _I_, your
old _friend and neighbour., Piso_, late a _dweller_ upon the Coelian hill,
who am now basking in the warm skies of Palmyra."--_Zenobia._
"But _he_, our gracious _Master_, kind as just,
Knowing our frame, remembers we are dust."--_Barbauld_.
OBSERVATIONS ON RULE III.
OBS. 1--_Apposition_ is that peculiar relation which one noun or pronoun
bears to an other, when two or more are placed together in the same case,
and used to designate the same person or thing: as, "_Cicero_ the
_orator_;"--"The _prophet Joel_;"--"_He_ of Gath, _Goliah_;"--"Which _ye
yourselves_ do know;"--"To make _him king_;"--"To give his _life_ a
_ransom_ for many;"--"I made the _ground_ my _bed_;"--"_I_, thy
_schoolmaster_;"--"_We_ the _People_ of the United States." This
placing-together of nouns and pronouns in the same case, was reckoned by
the old grammarians a _figure of syntax_; and from them it received, in
their elaborate detail of the grammatical and rhetorical figures, its
present name of _apposition_. They reckoned it a species of _ellipsis_, and
supplied between the words, the participle _being_, the infinitive _to be_,
or some other part of their "_substantive verb_:" as, "Cicero _being_ the
orator;"--"To make him _to be_ king;"--"I _who am_ thy schoolmaster." But
the later Latin grammarians have usually placed it among their regular
concords; some calling it the first concord, while others make it the last,
in the series; and some, with no great regard to consistency, treating it
both as a figure and as a regular concord, at the same time.
OBS. 2.--Some English grammarians teach, "that the words in the cases
preceding and following the verb _to be_, may be said to be _in apposition_
to each other."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 181; _R. C. Smith's_, 155;
_Fisk's_, 126; _Ingersoll's_, 146; _Merchant's_, 91. But this is entirely
repugnant to the doctrine, that apposition is a _figure_; nor is it at all
consistent with the original meaning of the word _apposition_; because it
assumes that the literal reading, when the supposed ellipsis is supplied,
is _apposition_ still. The old distinction, however, between apposition and
same cases, is _generally_ preserved in our grammars, and is worthy ever to
be so. The rule for _same cases_ applies to all nouns or pronouns that are
put after verbs or participles not transitive, and that are made to agree
in case with other nouns or pronouns going before, and meaning the same
thing. But some teachers who observe this distinction with reference to the
neuter verb _be_, and to certain passive verbs of _naming, appointing_, and
the like, absurdly break it down in relation to other verbs, neuter or
active-intransitive. Thus Nixon: "Nouns in apposition are in the same case;
as, '_Hortensius_ died a _martyr_;' '_Sydney_ lived the shepherd's
_friend_.'"--_English Parser_, p. 55. It is remarkable that _all_ this
author's examples of "_nominatives in apposition_," (and he gives eighteen
in the exercise,) are precisely of this sort, in which there is really _no
apposition at all_.
OBS. 3.--In the exercise of parsing, rule third should be applied only to
the _explanatory term_; because the case of the _principal term_ depends on
its relation to the rest of the sentence, and comes under some other rule.
In certain instances, too, it is better to waive the analysis which _might_
be made under rule third, and to take both or all the terms together, under
the rule for the main relation. Thus, the several proper names which
distinguish an individual, are always in apposition, and should be taken
together in parsing; as, _William Pitt--Marcus Tullius Cicero_. It may, I
think, be proper to include with the personal names, some titles also; as,
_Lord Bacon--Sir Isaac Newton_. William E. Russell and Jonathan Ware, (two
American authors of no great note,) in parsing the name of "_George
Washington_," absurdly take the former word as an _adjective_ belonging to
the latter. See _Russell's Gram._, p. 100; and _Ware's_, 17. R. C. Smith
does the same, both with honorary titles, and with baptismal or Christian
names. See his _New Gram._, p. 97. And one English writer, in explaining
the phrases, "_John Wickliffe's influence_," "_Robert Bruce's exertions_,"
and the like, will have the first nouns to be governed by the last, and the
intermediate ones to be distinct possessives _in apposition_ with the
former. See _Nixon's English Parser_, p. 59. Wm. B. Fowle, in his "True
English Grammar," takes all titles, all given names, all possessives, and
all pronouns, to be adjectives. According to him, this class embraces more
than half the words in the language. A later writer than any of these says,
"The proper noun is _philosophically_ an adjective. Nouns common or proper,
of similar or dissimilar import, _may be parsed as adjectives_, when they
become qualifying or distinguishing words; as, _President_
Madison,--_Doctor_ Johnson,--_Mr_. Webster,--_Esq_. Carleton,--_Miss_
Gould,--_Professor_ Ware,--_lake_ Erie,--the _Pacific_ ocean,--_Franklin_
House,--_Union_ street."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 134. I dissent from all
these views, at least so far as not to divide a _man's name_ in parsing it.
A person will sometimes have such a multitude of names, that it would be a
flagrant waste of time, to parse them all separately: for example, that
wonderful doctor, _Paracelsus_, who called himself, "_Aureolus Philippus
Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus de Hoenheim_."--_Univ. Biog. Dict._
OBS. 4.--A very common rule for apposition in Latin, is this: "Substantives
signifying the same thing, agree in case."--_Adam's Latin Gram._, p. 156.
The same has also been applied to our language: "Substantives denoting the
same person or thing, agree in case."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 102. This
rule is, for two reasons, very faulty: first, because the apposition of
_pronouns_ seems not to be included it; secondly, because two nouns that
are not in the same case, do sometimes "signify" or "denote" the same
thing. Thus, "_the city of London_," means only _the city London_; "_the
land of Egypt_," is only Egypt; and "_the person of Richard_" is _Richard
himself_. Dr. Webster defines _apposition_ to be, "The placing of two nouns
in the same case, without a connecting word between them."--_Octavo Dict._
This, too, excludes the pronouns, and has exceptions, both various and
numerous. In the first place, the apposition may be of more than two nouns,
without any connective; as, "_Ezra_ the _priest_, the _scribe_ of the
law."--_Ezra_, vii, 21. Secondly, two nouns connected by a conjunction, may
both be put in apposition with a preceding noun or pronoun; as, "God hath
made that same _Jesus_, whom ye have crucified, both _Lord_ and
_Christ_."--_Acts_, ii, 36. "Who made _me_ a _judge_ or a _divider_ over
you."--_Luke_, xii, 14. Thirdly, the apposition may be of two nouns
immediately connected by _and_, provided the two words denote but one
person or thing; as, "This great _philosopher and statesman_ was bred a
printer." Fourthly, it may be of two words connected by _as_, expressing
the idea of a partial or assumed identity; as, "Yet count _him_ not _as_ an
_enemy_, but admonish _him as_ a _brother_."--_2 Thess._, iii, 15. "So that
_he, as God_, sitteth in the temple of God."--_Ib._, ii, 4. Fifthly, it may
perhaps be of two words connected by _than_; as, "He left _them_ no more
_than_ dead _men_."--_Law and Grace_, p. 28. Lastly, there is a near
resemblance to apposition, when two equivalent nouns are connected by _or_;
as, "The back of the hedgehog is covered with _prickles, or
spines_."--_Webster's Dict._
OBS. 5.--To the rule for apposition, as I have expressed it, there are
properly _no exceptions_. But there are many puzzling examples of
construction under it, some of which are but little short of exceptions;
and upon such of these as are most likely to embarrass the learner, some
further observations shall be made. The rule supposes the first word to be
the principal term, with which the other word, or subsequent noun or
pronoun, is in apposition; and it generally is so: but the explanatory word
is sometimes placed first, especially among the poets; as,
"From bright'ning fields of ether fair disclos'd,
_Child_ of the sun, refulgent _Summer_ comes."--_Thomson_.
OBS. 6.--The pronouns of the _first_ and _second_ persons are often placed
before nouns merely to distinguish their person; as, "_I John_ saw these
things."--_Bible_. "But what is this to _you receivers?_"--_Clarkson's
Essay on Slavery_, p. 108. "His praise, _ye brooks_, attune."--_Thomson_.
In this case of apposition, the words are in general closely united, and
either of them may be taken as the explanatory term. The learner will find
it easier to parse _the noun_ by rule third; or _both nouns_, if there be
two: as, "_I_ thy _father-in-law Jethro_ am come unto thee."--_Exod._,
xviii, 6. There are many other examples, in which it is of no moment, which
of the terms we take for the principal; and to all such the rule may be
applied literally: as, "Thy _son Benhadad king_ of Syria hath sent me to
thee."--_2 Kings_, viii, 9.
OBS. 7.--When two or more nouns of the _possessive case_ are put in
apposition, the possessive termination added to one, denotes the case of
both or all; as, "For _Herodias_' sake, his _brother Philip's
wife_"--_Matt._, xiv, 3; Mark, vi, 17. Here _wife_ is in apposition with
_Herodias_', and _brother_ with _Philip's_; consequently all these words
are reckoned to be in the possessive case. The Greek text, which is better,
stands essentially thus: "For the sake of Herodias, the wife of Philip his
brother." "For _Jacob_ my _servant's_ sake, and _Israel_ mine
_elect_."--_Isaiah_, xlv, 4. Here, as _Jacob_ and _Israel_ are only
different names for the same person or nation, the four nouns in Italics
are, according to the rule, all made possessives by the one sign used; but
the construction is not to be commended: it would be better to say, "For
_the_ sake _of_ Jacob my servant, and Israel mine elect." "With _Hyrcanus_
the high _priest's_ consent."--_Wood's Dict., w. Herod_. "I called at
_Smith's_, the _bookseller_; or, at _Smith_ the _bookseller's_."--
_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 105. Two words, each having the possessive sign,
can never be in apposition one with the other; because that sign has
immediate reference to the governing noun expressed or understood after it;
and if it be repeated, separate governing nouns will be implied, and the
apposition will be destroyed.[344]
OBS. 8.--If the foregoing remark is just, the apposition of two nouns in
the possessive case, requires the possessive sign to be added to that noun
which immediately precedes the governing word, whether expressed or
understood, and positively excludes it from the other. The sign of the case
is added, sometimes to the former, and sometimes to the latter noun, but
never to both: or, if added to both, the two words are no longer in
apposition. Example: "And for that reason they ascribe to him a great part
of his _father Nimrod's_, or _Belus's_ actions."--_Rollin's An. Hist._,
Vol. ii, p. 6. Here _father_ and _Nimrod's_ are in strict apposition; but
if _actions_ governs _Belus's_, the same word is implied to govern
_Nimrod's_, and the two names are not in apposition, though they are in the
same case and mean the same person.
OBS. 9.--Dr. Priestley says, "Some would say, 'I left the parcel at _Mr.
Smith's_, the _bookseller_;' others, 'at _Mr. Smith_ the _bookseller's_;'
and perhaps others, at '_Mr. Smith's_ the _bookseller's_.' The last of
these forms is most agreeable to the Latin idiom, but the first seems to be
more natural in ours; and if the addition consist [_consists_, says
Murray,] of two or more words, _the case seems to be very clear_; as, 'I
left the parcel at _Mr. Smith's_ the _bookseller_ and _stationer_;' i. e.
at Mr. Smith's, _who is a_ bookseller and stationer."--_Priestley's Gram._,
p. 70. Here the examples, if rightly pointed, _would all be right_; but the
ellipsis supposed, not only destroys the apposition, but converts the
explanatory noun into a nominative. And in the phrase, "_at Mr. Smiths, the
bookseller's_," there is no apposition, except that of _Mr_. with
_Smith's_; for the governing noun _house_ or _store_ is understood as
clearly after the one possessive sign as after the other. Churchill
imagines that in Murray's example, "I reside at _Lord Stormont's_, my old
_patron_ and _benefactor_," the last two nouns are in the nominative after
"_who was_" understood; and also erroneously suggests, that their joint
apposition with _Stormont's_ might be secured, by saying, less elegantly,
"I reside at Lord _Stormont's_, my old patron and _benefactor's_."--
_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 285. Lindley Murray, who tacitly takes from
Priestley all that is quoted above, except the term "_Mr._," and the notion
of an ellipsis of "_who is_," assumes each of the three forms as an
instance of apposition, but pronounces the first only to be "correct and
proper." If, then, the first is elliptical, as Priestley suggests, and the
others are ungrammatical, as Murray pretends to prove, we cannot have in
reality any such construction as the apposition of two possessives; for the
sign of the case cannot possibly be added in more than these three ways.
But Murray does not adhere at all to his own decision, as may be seen by
his subsequent remarks and examples, on the same page; as, "The _emperor
Leopold's_;"--"_Dionysius_ the _tyrant's_;"--"For _David_ my _servant's_
sake;"--"Give me here _John_ the _Baptist's_ head;"--"_Paul_ the
_apostle's_ advice." See _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 176; _Smith's New
Gram._, p. 150; and others.
OBS. 10.--An explanatory noun without the possessive sign, seems sometimes
to be put in apposition with a _pronoun of the possessive case_; and, if
introduced by the conjunction _as_, it may either precede or follow the
pronoun: thus, "I rejoice in _your_ success _as_ an _instructer_."--
_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 244. "_As_ an _author_, his 'Adventurer' is _his_
capital work."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 329.
"Thus shall mankind _his_ guardian care engage,
The promised _father_ of a future age."--_Pope_.
But possibly such examples may be otherwise explained on the principle of
ellipsis; as, [_He being_] "the promised _father_," &c. "As [_he was_] an
_author_," &c. "As [_you are_] an _instructer_."
OBS. 11.--When a noun or pronoun _is repeated_ for the sake of emphasis, or
for the adding of an epithet, the word which is repeated may properly be
said to be in apposition with that which is first introduced; or, if not,
the repetition itself implies sameness of case: as, "They have forsaken
_me_, the _fountain_ of living waters, and hewed them out _cisterns_,
broken _cisterns_, that can hold no water."--_Jer._, ii, 13.
"I find the total of their hopes and fears
_Dreams_, empty _dreams_."--_Cowper's Task_, p. 71.
OBS. 12.--A noun is sometimes put, as it were, in apposition to a
_sentence_; being used (perhaps elliptically) to sum up the whole idea in
one emphatic word, or short phrase. But, in such instances, the noun can
seldom be said to have any positive relation that may determine its case;
and, if alone, it will of course be in the nominative, by reason of its
independence. Examples: "He permitted me to consult his library--a
_kindness_ which I shall not forget."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 148. "I have
offended reputation--a most unnoble _swerving_."--_Shakspeare_. "I want a
hero,--an uncommon _want_."--_Byron_. "Lopez took up the sonnet, and after
reading it several times, frankly acknowledged that he did not understand
it himself; a _discovery_ which the poet probably never made
before."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 280.
"In Christian hearts O for a pagan zeal!
A needful, but opprobrious _prayer!_"--_Young_, N. ix, l. 995.
"Great standing _miracle_, that Heav'n assign'd
Its only thinking thing this turn of mind."--_Pope_.
OBS. 13.--A _distributive term_ in the singular number, is frequently
construed in apposition with a comprehensive plural; as, "_They_ reap
vanity, _every one_ with his neighbour."--_Bible_. "Go _ye every man_ unto
his city."--_Ibid._ So likewise with two or more singular nouns which are
taken conjointly; as, "The _Son and Spirit_ have _each_ his proper
office."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 163. And sometimes a _plural_ word is
emphatically put after a series of particulars comprehended under it; as,
"Ambition, interest, glory, _all_ concurred."--_Letters on Chivalry_, p.
11. "Royalists, republicans, churchmen, sectaries, courtiers, patriots,
_all parties_ concurred in the illusion."--_Hume's History_, Vol. viii, p.
73. The foregoing examples are plain, but similar expressions sometimes
require care, lest the distributive or collective term be so placed that
its construction and meaning may be misapprehended. Examples: "We have
_turned every one_ to his own way."--_Isaiah_, liii, 6. Better: "_We have
every one_ turned to his own way." "For in many things we _offend
all_."--_James_, iii, 2. Better: "For in many things _we all_ offend." The
latter readings doubtless convey the _true sense_ of these texts. To the
relation of apposition, it may be proper also to refer the construction of
a singular noun taken in a distributive sense and repeated after _by_ to
denote order; as, "_They_ went out _one_ by one."--_Bible_. "Our whole
_company, man_ by man, ventured in."--_Goldsmith_. "To examine a _book,
page_ by page; to search a _place, house_ by house."--_Ward's Gram._, p.
106. So too, perhaps, when the parts of a thing explain the whole; as,
"But those that sleep, and think not on their sins,
Pinch _them, arms, legs, backs, shoulders, sides_, and _shins_."
--_Shak_.
OBS. 14.--To express a reciprocal action or relation, the pronominal
adjectives _each other_ and _one an other_ are employed: as, "They love
_each other_;"--"They love _one an other_." The words, separately
considered, are singular; but, taken together, they imply plurality; and
they can be properly construed only after plurals, or singulars taken
conjointly. _Each other_ is usually applied to two persons or things; and
_one an other_, to more than two. The impropriety of applying them
otherwise, is noticed elsewhere; (see, in Part II, Obs. 15th, on the
Classes of Adjectives;) so that we have here to examine only their
relations of case. The terms, though reciprocal and closely united, are
seldom or never in the same construction. If such expressions be analyzed,
_each_ and _one_ will generally appear to be in the nominative case, and
_other_ in the objective; as, "They love _each other_;" i. e. _each_ loves
_the other_. "They love _one an other_;" i. e. any or every _one_ loves any
or every _other_. _Each_ and _one_ (--if the words be taken as cases, and
not adjectively--) are properly in agreement or apposition with _they_, and
_other_ is governed by the verb. The terms, however, admit of other
constructions; as, "Be ye helpers _one_ of an _other_."--_Bible_. Here
_one_ is in apposition with _ye_, and _other_ is governed by _of_. "Ye are
_one_ an _other's_ joy."--_Ib._ Here _one_ is in apposition with _ye_, and
_other's_ is in the possessive case, being governed by _joy_. "Love will
make you _one_ an _other's_ joy." Here _one_ is in the objective case,
being in apposition with _you_, and _other's_ is governed as before.
"_Men's_ confidence in _one an other_;"--"_Their_ dependence _one_ upon _an
other_." Here the word _one_ appears to be in apposition with the
possessive going before; for it has already been shown, that words standing
in that relation _never take the possessive sign_. But if its location
after the preposition must make it objective, the whole object is the
complex term, "_one an other_." "Grudge not _one_ against _an
other_."--_James_, v, 9. "Ne vous plaignez point _les uns des
autres_."--_French Bible_. "Ne suspirate _alius_ adversus
_alium_."--_Beza_. "Ne ingemiscite adversus _alii alios."--Leusden_.
"[Greek: Mæ stenazete kat hallælon]."--_Greek New Testament_.
OBS. 15.--The construction of the Latin terms _alius alium, alii alios_,
&c., with that of the French _l'un l'autre, l'un de l'autre_, &c., appears,
at first view, sufficiently to confirm the doctrine of the preceding
observation; but, besides the frequent use, in Latin and Greek, of a
reciprocal adverb to express the meaning of one an other or each other,
there are, from each of these languages, some analogical arguments for
taking the English terms together as compounds. The most common term in
Greek for _one an other_, ([Greek: Hallælon], dat. [Greek: hallælois, ais,
ois], acc. [Greek: hallælous]: ab [Greek: hallos], _alius_,) is a single
derivative word, the case of which is known by its termination; and _each
other_ is sometimes expressed in Latin by a compound: as, "Et osculantes se
_alterutrum_, fleverunt pariter."--_Vulgate_. That is: "And kissing _each
other_, they wept together." As this text speaks of but two persons, our
translators have not expressed it well in the common version: "And they
kissed _one an other_, and wept _one_ with _an other_"--_1 Sam._, xx, 41.
_Alter-utrum_ is composed of a nominative and an accusative, like
_each-other_; and, in the nature of things, there is no reason why the
former should be compounded, and the latter not. Ordinarily, there seems to
be no need of compounding either of them. But some examples occur, in which
it is not easy to parse _each other_ and _one an other_ otherwise than as
compounds: as, "He only recommended this, and not the washing of _one
another's_ feet."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 143.
"The Temple late two brother sergeants saw,
Who deem'd _each other oracles_ of law."--_Pope_, B. ii, Ep. 2.[345]
OBS. 16.--The _common_ and the _proper_ name of an object are very often
associated, and put in apposition; as, "_The river Thames_,"--"_The ship
Albion_,"--"_The poet Cowper_"--"_Lake Erie_,"--"_Cape May_"--"_Mount
Atlas_." But, in English, the proper name of a place, when accompanied by
the common name, is generally put in the objective case, and preceded by
_of_; as, "The city _of_ New York,"--"The land _of_ Canaan,"--"The island
_of_ Cuba,"--"The peninsula _of_ Yucatan." Yet in some instances, even of
this kind, the immediate apposition is preferred; as, "That the _city
Sepphoris_ should be subordinate to the _city Tiberias_."--_Life of
Josephus_, p. 142. In the following sentence, the preposition _of_ is at
least needless: "The law delighteth herself in the number _of_ twelve; and
the number _of_ twelve is much respected in holy writ."--_Coke, on Juries_.
Two or three late grammarians, supposing _of_ always to indicate a
possessive relation between one thing and an other, contend that it is no
less improper, to say, "The city _of_ London, the city _of_ New Haven, the
month _of_ March, the islands _of_ Cuba and Hispaniola, the towns _of_
Exeter and Dover," than to say, "King _of_ Solomon, Titus _of_ the Roman
Emperor, Paul _of_ the apostle, or, Cicero _of_ the orator."--See
_Barrett's Gram._, p. 101; _Emmons's_, 16. I cannot but think there is some
mistake in their mode of finding out what is proper or improper in grammar.
Emmons scarcely achieved two pages more, before he forgot his criticism,
and adopted the phrase, "in the city _of_ New Haven."--_Gram._, p. 19.
OBS. 17.--When an object acquires a new name or character from the action
of a verb, the new appellation is put in apposition with the object of the
active verb, and in the nominative after the passive: as, "They named the
_child John_;"--"The child was named _John_."--"They elected _him
president_;"--"He was elected _president_." After the active verb, the
acquired name must be parsed by Rule 3d; after the passive, by Rule 6th. In
the following example, the pronominal adjective _some_, or the noun _men_
understood after it, is the direct object of the verb _gave_, and the nouns
expressed are in apposition with it: "And he gave _some, apostles_; and
_some, prophets_; and _some, evangelists_; and _some, pastors_ and
_teachers_"--_Ephesians_, iv, 11. That is, "He _bestowed some_ [men] as
_apostles_; and _some_ as _prophets_; and _some_ as _evangelists_; and
_some_ as _pastors_ and _teachers_." The common reader might easily mistake
the meaning and construction of this text in two different ways; for he
might take _some_ to be either a _dative case_, meaning _to some persons_,
or an adjective to the nouns which are here expressed. The punctuation,
however, is calculated to show that the nouns are in apposition with
_some_, or _some men_, in what the Latins call the _accusative, case_. But
the version ought to be amended by the insertion of _as_, which would here
be an express sign of the apposition intended.
OBS. 18.--Some authors teach that words in apposition must agree in person,
number, and gender, as well as in case; but such agreement the following
examples show not to be always necessary: "The _Franks, a people_ of
Germany."--_W. Allen's Gram._ "The Kenite _tribe_, the _descendants_ of
Hobab."--_Milman's Hist. of the Jews_. "But how can _you_ a _soul_, still
either hunger or thirst?"--_Lucian's Dialogues_, p. 14. "Who seized the
wife of _me_ his _host_, and fled."--_Ib._, p. 16.
"Thy gloomy _grandeurs_ (Nature's most august.
Inspiring _aspect_!) claim a grateful verse."--_Young_, N. ix, l. 566.
IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.
FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE III.
ERRORS OF WORDS IN APPOSITION.
"Now, therefore, come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou."--_Gen._,
xxxi, 44.
[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronouns I and thou, of the nominative
case, are here put in apposition with the preceding pronoun _us_, which is
objective. But, according to Rule 3d, "A noun or a personal pronoun, used
to explain a preceding noun or pronoun, is put, by apposition, in the same
case." Therefore, _I_ and _thou_ should be _thee_ and _me_; (the first
person, in our idiom, being usually put last;) thus, "Now, therefore, come
thou, let us make a covenant, thee and me."]
"Now, therefore, come thou, we will make a covenant, thee and
me."--_Variation of Gen._ "The word came not to Esau, the hunter, that
stayed not at home; but to Jacob, the plain man, he that dwelt in
tents."--_Wm. Penn_. "Not to every man, but to the man of God, (i. e.) he
that is led by the spirit of God."--_Barclays Works_, i, 266. "For,
admitting God to be a creditor, or he to whom the debt should be paid, and
Christ he that satisfies or pays it on behalf of man the debtor, this
question will arise, whether he paid that debt as God, or man, or
both?"--_Wm. Penn._ "This Lord Jesus Christ, the heavenly Man, the
Emmanuel, God with us, we own and believe in: he whom the high priests
raged against," &c.--_George Fox_. "Christ, and Him crucified, was the
Alpha and Omega of all his addresses, the fountain and foundation of his
hope and trust."--_Experience of Paul_, p. 399. "'Christ and Him crucified'
is the head, and only head, of the church."--_Denison's Sermon_. "But if
'Christ and Him crucified' are the burden of the ministry, such disastrous
results are all avoided."--_Ib._ "He never let fall the least intimation,
that himself, or any other person, whomsoever, was the object of
worship."--_Hannah Adams's View_, p. 250. "Let the elders that rule well,
be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word
and doctrine."--_1 Tim._, v, 17. "Our Shepherd, him who is styled King of
saints, will assuredly give his saints the victory."--_Sermon_. "It may
seem odd to talk of _we subscribers_"--_Fowlers True Eng. Gram._, p. 20.
"And they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons,
nor their daughters; for I will pour their wickedness upon
them."--_Jeremiah_, xiv, 16. "Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you
Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellow-soldier, but
your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants."--_Philippians_, ii,
25.
"Amidst the tumult of the routed train,
The sons of false Antimachus were slain;
He, who for bribes his faithless counsels sold,
And voted Helen's stay for Paris' gold."
--_Pope, Iliad_, B. xi. l. 161.
"See the vile King his iron sceptre bear--
His only praise attends the pious Heir;
He, in whose soul the virtues all conspire,
The best good son, from the worst wicked sire."
--DR. LOWTH: _Union Poems_, p. 19.
"Then from thy lips poured forth a joyful song
To thy Redeemer!--yea, it poured along
In most melodious energy of praise,
To God, the Saviour, he of ancient days."
--_Arm Chair_, p. 15.
RULE IV.--POSSESSIVES.
A Noun or a Pronoun in the possessive case, is
governed by the name of the thing possessed: as, "_God's_ mercy prolongs
_man's_ life."--_Allen_.
"_Theirs_ is the vanity, the learning _thine_;
Touched by _thy_ hand, again _Rome's_ glories shine."--_Pope_.
OBSERVATIONS ON RULE IV.
OBS. 1.--Though the _ordinary_ syntax of the possessive case is
sufficiently plain and easy, there is perhaps, among all the puzzling and
disputable points of grammar, nothing more difficult of decision, than are
some questions that occur respecting the right management of this case.
That its usual construction is both clearly and properly stated in the
foregoing rule, is what none will doubt or deny. But how many and what
exceptions to this rule ought to be allowed, or whether any are justly
demanded or not, are matters about which there may be much diversity of
opinion. Having heretofore published the rule without any express
exceptions, I am not now convinced that it is best to add any; yet are
there three different modes of expression which might be plausibly
exhibited in that character. Two of these would concern only the parser;
and, for that reason, they seem not to be very important. The other
involves the approval or reprehension of a great multitude of very common
expressions, concerning which our ablest grammarians differ in opinion, and
our most popular digest plainly contradicts itself. These points are;
_first_, the apposition of possessives, and the supposed ellipses which may
affect that construction; _secondly_, the government of the possessive case
after _is, was_, &c., when the ownership of a thing is simply affirmed or
denied; _thirdly_, the government of the possessive by a participle, as
such--that is, while it retains the government and adjuncts of a
participle.
OBS. 2.--The apposition of one possessive with an other, (as, "For _David_
my _servant's_ sake,") might doubtless be consistently made a formal
exception to the direct government of the possessive by its controlling
noun. But this apposition is only a sameness of construction, so that what
governs the one, virtually governs the other. And if the case of any noun
or pronoun is known and determined by the rule or relation of apposition,
there can be no need of an exception to the foregoing rule for the purpose
of parsing it, since that purpose is already answered by rule third. If the
reader, by supposing an ellipsis which I should not, will resolve any given
instance of this kind into something else than apposition, I have already
shown him that some great grammarians have differed in the same way before.
Useless ellipses, however, should never be supposed; and such _perhaps_ is
the following: "At Mr. Smith's [_who is_] the bookseller."--See _Dr.
Priestley's Gram._, p. 71.
OBS. 3.--In all our Latin grammars, the verb _sum, fui, esse_, to be, is
said (though not with strict propriety) sometimes to _signify_ possession,
property, or duty, and in that sense to govern the genitive case: as, "_Est
regis_;"--"It is the king's."--"_Hominis est errare_;"--"It is man's to
err."--"_Pecus est Melibœi_;"--"The flock is Meliboeus's." And
sometimes, with like import, this verb, expressed or understood, may govern
the dative; as, "_Ego_ [sum] _dilecto meo, et dilectus meus_ [est]
_mihi_."--_Vulgate_. "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is
mine."--_Solomon's Song_, vi, 3. Here, as both the genitive and the dative
are expressed in English by the possessive, if the former are governed by
the verb, there seems to be precisely the same reason from the nature of
the expression, and an additional one from analogy, for considering the
latter to be so too. But all the annotators upon the Latin syntax suggest,
that the genitive thus put after _sum_ or _est_, is really governed, not by
the verb, but by some _noun understood_; and with this idea, of an ellipsis
in the construction, all our English grammarians appear to unite. They
might not, however, find it very easy to tell by what noun the word
_beloved's_ or _mine_ is governed, in the last example above; and so of
many others, which are used in the same way: as, "There shall nothing die
of all that is the _children's_ of Israel."--_Exod._, ix, 4. The Latin here
is, "Ut nihil omnino pereat ex his _quæ pertinent ad_ filios
Israel."--_Vulgate_. That is,--"of all those _which belong to_ the
children of Israel."
"For thou art _Freedom's_ now--and _Fame's_,
One of the few, the immortal names,
That were not born to die."--HALLECK: _Marco Bozzaris_.
OBS. 4.--Although the possessive case is always intrinsically an _adjunct_
and therefore incapable of being used or comprehended in any sense that is
positively abstract; yet we see that there are instances in which it is
used with a certain degree of abstraction,--that is, with an actual
separation from the name of the thing possessed; and that accordingly
there are, in the simple personal pronouns, (where such a distinction is
most needed,) two different forms of the case; the one adapted to the
concrete, and the other to the abstract construction. That form of the
pronoun, however, which is equivalent in sense to the concrete and the
noun, is still the possessive case, and nothing more; as, "All _mine_ are
_thine_, and _thine_ are _mine_."--_John_, xvii, 10. For if we suppose this
equivalence to prove such a pronoun to be something more than the
possessive case, as do some grammarians, we must suppose the same thing
respecting the possessive case of a noun, whenever the relation of
ownership or possession is simply affirmed or denied with such a noun put
last: as, "For all things are _yours_; and ye are _Christ's_; and Christ is
_God's_."--_1 Cor._, iii, 21. By the second example placed under the rule,
I meant to suggest, that the possessive case, when placed before or after
this verb, (_be_,) _might_ be parsed as being governed by the nominative;
as we may suppose "_theirs_" to be governed by "_vanity_," and "_thine_" by
"_learning_," these nouns being the names of the things possessed. But then
we encounter a difficulty, whenever a _pronoun_ happens to be the
nominative; as, "Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
_which are God's_"--_1 Cor._, vi, 20. Here the common resort would be to
some ellipsis; and yet it must be confessed, that this mode of
interpretation cannot but make some difference in the sense: as, "_If ye be
Christ's_, then are ye Abraham's seed."--_Gal._, iii, 29. Here some may
think the meaning to be, "_If ye be Christ's seed_, or _children_." But a
truer version of the text would be, "If ye _are of Christ_, then are ye
Abraham's seed."--"Que si vous _êtes à Christ_, vous êtes done la posterité
d'Abraham."--_French Bible_.