Chapter XII: General Review (2)

"The noun or pronoun that _stands_ before the active verb, _usually represents_ the agent."--_A. Murray cor._ "Such _seem_ to _have been_ the musings of our hero of the grammar-quill, when he penned the first part of his grammar."--_Merchant cor._ "Two dots, the one placed above the other [:], _are_ called Sheva, and _are used to represent_ a very short _e_."--_Wilson cor._ "Great _have_ been, and _are_, the obscurity and difficulty, in the nature and application of them" [: i.e.--of natural remedies].--_Butler cor._ "As two _are_ to four, so _are_ four to eight."--_Everest cor._ "The invention and use of arithmetic, _reach_ back to a period so remote, as _to be_ beyond the knowledge of history."-- _Robertson cor._ "What it presents as objects of contemplation or enjoyment, _fill_ and _satisfy_ his mind."--_Id._ "If he _dares_ not say they are, as I know he _dares_ not, how must I then distinguish?"--_Barclay cor._ "He _had_ now grown so fond of solitude, that all company _had_ become uneasy to him."--_Life of Cic. cor._ "Violence and spoil _are_ heard in her; before me continually _are_ grief and wounds."--_Bible cor._ "Bayle's Intelligence from the Republic of Letters, which _makes_ eleven volumes in duodecimo, _is_ truly a model in this kind."--_Formey cor._ "Pauses, to _be rendered_ pleasing and expressive, must not only be made in the right place, but also _be_ accompanied with a proper tone of voice."--_L. Murray cor._ "_To oppose_ the opinions and _rectify_ the mistakes of others, is what truth and sincerity sometimes require of us."--_Locke cor._ "It is very probable, that this assembly was called, to clear some doubt which the king had, _whether it were lawful for the Hollanders to throw_ off the monarchy of Spain, and _withdraw_ entirely their allegiance to that crown." Or:--"About the lawfulness of the Hollanders' _rejection of_ the monarchy of Spain, and _entire withdrawment of_ their allegiance to that crown."--_L. Murray cor._ "_A_ naming _of_ the numbers and cases of a noun in their order, is called _the_ declining _of_ it, or _its declension_."--_Frost cor._ "The embodying _of_ them is, therefore, only _a_ collecting _of_ such component parts of words."--_Town cor._ "The one is the voice heard _when Christ was_ baptized; the other, _when he was_ transfigured."--_Barclay cor._ "_An_ understanding _of_ the literal sense"--or, "_To have understood_ the literal sense, would not have prevented _them from_ condemning the guiltless."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "As if this were, _to take_ the execution of justice out of the hands of God, and _to give_ it to nature."--_Id._ "They will say, you must conceal this good opinion of yourself; which yet is _an_ allowing _of_ the thing, though not _of_ the showing _of_ it." Or:--"which yet is, _to allow_ the thing, though not the showing _of_ it."--_Sheffield cor._ "So as to signify not only the doing _of_ an action, but the causing _of_ it to be done."--_Pike cor._ "This, certainly, was both _a_ dividing _of_ the unity of God, and _a_ limiting _of_ his immensity."--_Calvin cor._ "Tones being infinite in number, and varying in almost every individual, the arranging _of_ them under distinct heads, and _the_ reducing _of_ them to any fixed and permanent rules, may be considered as the last refinement in language."--_Knight cor._ "The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he _hath_ done it, and until he _hath_ performed the intents of his heart."--_Bible cor._ "We seek for deeds _more_ illustrious and heroic, for events more diversified and surprising."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "We distinguish the genders, or the male and _the_ female sex, _in_ four different ways."--_Buchanan cor._ "Thus, _ch_ and _g_ are ever hard. It is therefore proper to retain these sounds in _those_ Hebrew names which have not been _modernized_, or changed by public use."--_Dr. Wilson cor._ "_A_ Substantive, or Noun, is the name of any thing _which is_ conceived to subsist, or of which we have any notion."--_Murray and Lowth cor._ "_A_ Noun is the name of any thing _which_ exists, or of which we have, or can form, an idea."--_Maunder cor._ "A Noun is the name of any thing in existence, or _of any thing_ of which we can form an idea."--_Id._ "The next thing to be _attended to_, is, to keep him exactly to _the_ speaking of truth."--_Locke cor._ "The material, _the_ vegetable, and _the_ animal world, receive this influence according to their several capacities."--_Dial cor._ "And yet it is fairly defensible on the principles of the schoolmen; if _those things_ can be called principles, which _consist_ merely in words."--_Campbell cor._

"Art thou so bare, and full of wretchedness,
And _fearst_ to die? Famine is in thy cheeks,
Need and oppression _starve_ in thy _sunk_ eyes."--_Shak. cor._

LESSON XV.--THREE ERRORS.

"The silver age is reckoned to have commenced _at_ the death of Augustus, and _to have_ continued _till_ the end of Trajan's reign."--_Gould cor._ "Language _has indeed_ become, in modern times, more correct, and _more determinate_."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "It is evident, that _those_ words are _the_ most agreeable to the ear, which are composed of smooth and liquid sounds, _and in which_ there is a proper intermixture of vowels and consonants."--_Id._ "It would have had no other effect, _than_ to add _to_ the sentence _an unnecessary_ word."--_Id._ "But as rumours arose, _that_ the judges _had_ been corrupted by money in this cause, these gave _occasion_ to much popular clamour, and _threw_ a heavy odium on Cluentius."--_Id._ "A Participle is derived _from_ a verb, and partakes of the nature both of the verb and _of an_ adjective."--_Ash and Devis cor._ "I _shall_ have learned my grammar before you _will have learned yours_."--_Wilbur and Livingston cor._ "There is no _other_ earthly object capable of making _so_ various and _so_ forcible impressions upon the human mind, as a complete speaker."--_Perry cor._ "It was not the carrying _of_ the bag, _that_ made Judas a thief and _a_ hireling."--_South cor._ "As the reasonable soul and _the_ flesh _are_ one man, so God and man _are_ one Christ."--_Creed cor._ "And I will say to them _who_ were not my people, _Ye are_ my people; and they shall say, Thou art _our_ God."--_Bible cor._ "Where there is _in the sense_ nothing _that_ requires the last sound to be elevated or _suspended_, an easy fall, sufficient to show that the sense is finished, will be proper."--_L. Mur. cor._ "Each party _produce_ words _in which_ the letter _a_ is sounded in the manner _for which_ they contend."--_J. Walker cor._ "To countenance persons _that_ are guilty of bad actions, is scarcely one remove from _an actual commission of the same crimes_."--_L. Mur. cor._ "'To countenance persons _that_ are guilty of bad actions,' is a _phrase or clause_ which is _made_ the _subject of_ the verb 'is.'"--_Id._ "What is called _the_ splitting of particles,--_that is, the_ separating _of_ a preposition from the noun which it governs, is always to be avoided."--_Dr. Blair et al. cor._ (See Obs. 15th on Rule 23d.) "There is properly _but_ one pause, or rest, in the sentence; _and this falls_ betwixt the two members into which _the sentence_ is divided."--_Iid._ "_To go_ barefoot, does not at all help _a man_ on, _in_ the way to heaven."--_Steele cor._ "There is _nobody who does not condemn_ this in others, though _many_ overlook it in themselves."--_Locke cor._ "Be careful not to use the same word _in_ the same sentence _either_ too frequently _or_ in different senses."--_L. Murray cor._ "Nothing could have made her _more_ unhappy, _than to have married_ a man _of_ such principles."--_Id._ "A warlike, various, and tragical age is _the_ best to write of, but _the_ worst to write in."--_Cowley cor._ "When thou _instancest Peter's_ babtizing [sic--KTH] _of_ Cornelius."--_Barclay cor._ "To introduce two or more leading thoughts or _topics_, which have no natural _affinity_ or _mutual_ dependence."--_L. Murray cor._ "Animals, again, are fitted to one _an other_, and to the elements _or regions in which_ they live, and to which they are as appendices."--_Id._ "This melody, _however_, or so _frequent_ varying _of_ the sound of each word, is a proof of nothing, but of the fine ear of that people."--_Jamieson cor._ "They can, each in _its turn_, be _used_ upon occasion."--_Duncan cor._ "In this reign, lived the _poets_ Gower and Chaucer, who are the first authors _that_ can properly be said to have written English."--_Bucke cor._ "In translating expressions _of this_ kind, consider the [phrase] '_it is_' as if it were _they are_."--_W. Walker cor._ "The chin has an important office to perform; for, _by the degree of_ its activity, we disclose _either_ a polite or _a_ vulgar pronunciation."--_Gardiner cor._ "For no other reason, _than that he was_ found in bad company."--_Webster cor._ "It is usual to compare them _after_ the manner _of polysyllables_."--_Priestley cor._ "The infinitive mood is _recognized more easily_ than any _other_, because the preposition TO precedes it."--_Bucke cor._ "Prepositions, you recollect, connect words, _and so do_ conjunctions: how, then, can you tell _a conjunction_ from _a preposition_?" Or:--"how, then, can you _distinguish_ the _former_ from the _latter_?"--_R. C. Smith cor._

"No kind of work requires _a nicer_ touch,
And, _this_ well finish'd, _none else_ shines so much."
--_Sheffield cor._

LESSON XVI.--THREE ERRORS.

"_On_ many occasions, it is the final pause alone, _that_ marks the difference between prose and verse: _this_ will be evident from the following arrangement of a few poetical lines."--_L. Murray cor._ "I shall do all I can to persuade others to take _for their cure_ the same measures _that_ I have _taken for mine_."--_Guardian cor._; also _Murray_. "It is the nature of extreme self-lovers, _that_ they will set _a_ house on fire, _as_ it were, but to roast their eggs."--_Bacon cor._ "Did ever man struggle more earnestly in a cause _in which_ both his honour and _his_ life _were_ concerned?"--_Duncan cor._ "So the rests, _or_ pauses, _which separate_ sentences _or_ their parts, are marked by points."--_Lowth cor._ "Yet the case and _mood are_ not influenced by them, but _are_ determined by the nature of the sentence."--_Id._ "_Through inattention_ to this rule, many errors have been committed: _several_ of which _are here_ subjoined, as a further caution and direction to the learner."--_L. Murray cor._ "Though thou _clothe_ thyself with crimson, though thou _deck_ thee with ornaments of gold, though thou _polish_ thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair." [552]--_Bible cor._ "But that the doing _of_ good to others, will make us happy, is not so evident; _the_ feeding _of_ the hungry, for example, or _the_ clothing _of_ the naked." Or: "But that, _to do_ good to others, will make us happy, is not so evident; _to feed_ the hungry, for example, or _to clothe_ the naked."--_Kames cor._ "There is no other God _than he_, no other light _than_ his." Or: "There is no God _but he_, no light _but_ his."--_Penn cor._ "How little reason _is there_ to wonder, that a _powerful_ and accomplished orator should be one of the characters that _are_ most rarely found."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Because they express _neither the_ doing nor _the_ receiving _of_ an action."--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "To find the answers, will require an effort of mind; and, when _right answers are_ given, _they_ will be the result of reflection, _and show_ that the subject is understood."--_Id._ "'The sun rises,' is _an expression_ trite and common; but _the same idea_ becomes a magnificent image, when expressed _in the language of_ Mr. Thomson."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The declining _of_ a word is the giving _of its_ different endings." Or: "_To decline_ a word, is _to give_ it different endings."--_Ware cor._ "And so much are they for _allowing_ every _one to follow his_ own mind."--_Barclay cor._ "More than one overture for peace _were_ made, but Cleon prevented _them from_ taking effect."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Neither in English, _nor_ in any other language, is this word, _or_ that which corresponds to it in _meaning_, any more an article, than TWO, THREE, _or_ FOUR."--_Webster cor._ "But the most irksome conversation of all that I have met _with in_ the neighbourhood, has been _with_ two or three of your travellers."--_Spect. cor._ "Set down the _first two_ terms of _the_ supposition, _one under the other_, in the first place."--_Smiley cor._ "It is _a_ useful _practice_ too, to fix _one's_ eye on some of the most distant persons in the assembly."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "He will generally please _his hearers_ most, when _to please them_ is not his sole _or his_ chief aim."--_Id._ "At length, the consuls return to the camp, and inform _the soldiers, that_ they could _obtain for them_ no other terms _than those_ of surrendering their arms and passing under the yoke."--_Id._ "Nor _are_ mankind so much to blame, in _their_ choice thus determining _them_."--_Swift cor._ "These forms are what _are_ called _the Numbers_." Or: "These forms are called _Numbers_."--_Fosdick cor._ "In _those_ languages which admit but two genders, all nouns are either masculine or feminine, even though they designate beings _that_ are neither male _nor_ female."--_Id._ "It is called _Verb_ or _Word_ by way of eminence, because it is the most essential word in a sentence, _and one_ without which the other parts of speech _cannot_ form _any_ complete sense."--_Gould cor._ "The sentence will consist of two members, _and these will_ commonly _be_ separated from _each_ other by a comma."--_Jamieson cor._ "Loud and soft in speaking _are_ like the _fortè_ and _piano_ in music; _they_ only _refer_ to the different degrees of force used in the same key: whereas high and low imply a change of key."--_Sheridan cor._ "They are chiefly three: the acquisition of knowledge; the assisting _of_ the memory to treasure up this knowledge; _and_ the communicating _of_ it to others."--_Id._

"_This_ kind of knaves I know, _who_ in this plainness
Harbour more craft, and _hide_ corrupter ends,
Than twenty silly ducking observants."--_Shak. cor._

LESSON XVII.--MANY ERRORS.

"A man will be forgiven, even _for_ great errors, _committed_ in a foreign language; but, in _the use he makes of_ his own, even the least slips are justly _pointed out_ and ridiculed."--_Amer. Chesterfield cor._ "LET expresses _not only_ permission, but _entreaty, exhortation, and command_."--_Lowth cor._; also _Murray, et al._ "That death which is our leaving _of_ this world, is nothing else _than the putting-off of_ these bodies."--_Sherlock cor._ "They differ from the saints recorded _in either_ the Old _or the_ New _Testament_."--_Newton cor._ "The nature of relation, _therefore_, consists in the referring or comparing _of_ two things to _each_ other; from which comparison, one or both _come_ to be denominated."--_Locke cor._ "It is not credible, that there _is_ any one who will say, that _through_ the whole course of _his life he_ has kept _himself entirely_ undefiled, _without_ the least spot or stain of sin."--_Witsius cor._ "If _to act_ conformably to the will of our Creator,--if _to promote_ the welfare of mankind around us,--if _to secure_ our own happiness, _is an object_ of the highest moment; then are we loudly called upon to cultivate and extend the great interests of religion and virtue." Or: "If, to act conformably to the will of our Creator, to promote the welfare of mankind around us, _and_ to secure our own happiness, _are objects_ of the highest moment; then," &c.--_Murray et al. cor._ "The verb being in the plural number, it is supposed, that _the officer and his guard are joint agents. But this_ is not the case: the only nominative to the verb is '_officer_.' In the expression, '_with his guard_,' the _noun 'guard' is_ in the objective case, _being_ governed by the preposition _with_; and _consequently it_ cannot form the nominative, or any part of it. The prominent subject _for the agreement_, the true nominative _to_ the verb, _or the term_ to which the verb peculiarly refers, is the _word 'officer.'_"--_L. Murray cor._ "This is _an other_ use, that, in my opinion, contributes to make a man learned _rather_ than wise; and is _incapable_ of pleasing _either_ the understanding or _the_ imagination."--_Addison cor._ "The work is a dull performance; and is _incapable_ of pleasing _either_ the understanding _or_ the imagination."--_L. Murray cor._ "I would recommend the 'Elements of English Grammar,' by Mr. Frost. _The_ plan _of this little work is similar to that of Mr. L. Murray's smallest Grammar_; but, _in order_ to meet the understanding of children, _its_ definitions and language _are_ simplified, _so_ far as the nature of the subject will admit. It also embraces more examples _for_ Parsing, than _are_ usual in elementary treatises."--_S. R. Hall cor._ "More rain falls in the first two summer months, than in the first two _months_ of winter; but _what falls_, makes a much greater show upon the earth, in _winter_ than in _summer_, because there is a much slower evaporation."--_L. Murray cor._ "They often contribute also to _render_ some persons prosperous, though wicked; and, _what_ is still worse, to _reward_ some actions, though vicious; and _punish_ other actions, though virtuous."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Hence, to such a man, _arise_ naturally a secret satisfaction, _a_ sense of security, and _an_ implicit hope of somewhat further."--_Id._ "So much for the third and last cause of illusion, that was _noticed above; which arises_ from the abuse of very general and abstract terms; _and_ which is the principal source of the _abundant_ nonsense that _has_ been vented by metaphysicians, mystagogues, and theologians."--_Campbell cor._ "As to those animals _which are_ less common, or _which_, on account of the places they inhabit, fall less under our observation, as fishes and birds, or _which_ their diminutive size removes still further from our observation, we generally, in English, employ a single noun to designate both genders, _the_ masculine and _the_ feminine."--_Fosdick cor._ "Adjectives may always be distinguished by their _relation to other words: they express_ the quality, condition, _or number_, of whatever _things are_ mentioned."--_Emmons cor._ "_An_ adverb _is_ a word added to a verb, _a_ participle, _an_ adjective, or _an_ other adverb; _and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner_."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 29. "The _joining-together of_ two objects, _so_ grand, and the representing _of_ them both, as subject at one moment to the command of God, _produce_ a noble effect."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Twisted columns, for instance, are undoubtedly ornamental; but, as they have an appearance of weakness, they displease _the eye, whenever_ they are _used_ to support any _massy_ part of a building, _or what_ seems to require a more substantial prop."--_Id._ "_In_ a vast number of inscriptions, some upon rocks, some upon stones of a defined shape, is found an Alphabet different from the _Greeks', the Latins'_, and _the Hebrews'_, and also unlike that of any modern nation."--_W. C. Fowler cor._

LESSON XVIII.--MANY ERRORS.

"The empire of Blefuscu is an island situated on the northeast side of Lilliput, from _which_ it is parted by a channel of _only_ 800 yards _in width_."--_Swift and Kames cor._ "The nominative case usually _denotes_ the agent or doer; and _any noun or pronoun which is_ the subject of a _finite_ verb, _is always in this case_."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "There _are, in_ his allegorical personages, an originality, _a_ richness, and _a_ variety, which almost _vie_ with the splendours of the ancient mythology."--_Hazlitt cor._ "As neither the Jewish nor _the_ Christian revelation _has_ been universal, and as _each has_ been afforded to a greater or _a_ less part of the world at different times; so likewise, at different times, both revelations have had different degrees of evidence."--_Bp. Butler cor._ "Thus we see, that, _to kill_ a man with a sword, _and to kill one_ with a hatchet, are looked upon as no distinct species of action; but, if the point of the sword first enter the body, _the action_ passes for a distinct species, called _stabbing_."--_Locke cor._ "If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbour _concerning_ that which was delivered him to keep, or _deceive_ his neighbour, or _find_ that which was lost, and _lie_ concerning it, and _swear_ falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein, then it shall be," &c.--_Bible cor._ "As, _to do_ and _teach_ the commandments of God, is the great proof of virtue; so, _to break_ them, and _to teach_ others to break them, _are_ the great _proofs_ of vice."--_Wayland cor._ "The latter simile, _in_ Pope's terrific maltreatment of _it_, is true _neither_ to _the_ mind _nor to the_ eye."--_Coleridge cor._ "And the two brothers were seen, transported with rage and fury, like Eteocles and Polynices, _each endeavouring_ to plunge _his sword_ into _the other's heart_, and to assure _himself_ of the throne by the death of _his_ rival."--_Goldsmith cor._ "Is it not plain, therefore, that neither the castle, _nor_ the planet, nor the cloud, which you _here_ see, _is that_ real _one_ which you suppose _to_ exist at a distance?"--_Berkley cor._ "I have often wondered, how it comes to pass, that every body should love _himself_ best, and yet value _his neighbours'_ opinion about _himself_ more than _his_ own."--_Collier cor._ "Virtue, ([Greek: Aretæ], _Virtus_,) as well as most of its species, _when sex is figuratively ascribed to it, is made_ feminine, perhaps from _its_ beauty and amiable appearance."--_Harris cor._ "Virtue, with most of its species, is _made_ feminine _when personified_; and so is Vice, _perhaps_ for being Virtue's opposite."--_Brit. Gram. cor._; also _Buchanan_. "From this deduction, _it_ may _easily_ be seen, how it comes to pass, that personification makes so great a figure in all compositions _in which_ imagination or passion _has_ any concern."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "An Article is a word _placed before a noun_, to point _it_ out _as such_, and to show how far _its_ signification extends."--_Folker cor._ "All men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rights;--among which are the _rights of_ enjoying and defending life and liberty; _of_ acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness."--_Const. of N. H. cor._ "From _those_ grammarians who form their ideas and make their decisions, respecting this part of English grammar, _from_ the principles and construction of _other_ languages,--_of languages_ which do not in these points _accord with_ our own, but _which_ differ considerably from it,--we may naturally expect grammatical schemes that _will be neither_ perspicuous nor consistent, and _that_ will tend _rather_ to perplex than _to_ inform the learner."--_Murray and Hall cor. "Indeed_ there are but very few who know how to be idle and innocent, or _who_ have a relish _for_ any pleasures that are not criminal; every diversion _which the majority_ take, is at the expense of some one virtue or _other_, and their very first step out of business is into vice or folly."--_Addison cor._

"Hail, holy Love! thou _bliss_ that _sumst_ all bliss!
_Giv'st_ and _receiv'st_ all bliss; fullest when most
Thou _giv'st_; spring-head of all felicity!"--_Pollok cor._