The Grammar of English Grammars Part 243

"Here _rests_ his head _upon the lap of earth_, A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown."--GRAY.

"'_Youth_,' here, is in the _nominative case_, (the verb '_rests_' being, in this instance, _transitive_,) and is _the subject of the sentence_. The meaning is, '_A youth here rests his head_,' &c."--_Hart cor._ "The p.r.o.noun _I, as well as_ the interjection _O_, should be written with a capital."

Or: "The p.r.o.noun _I, and_ the interjection _O_, should be written with _capitals_"--_Weld cor._ "The p.r.o.noun _I_ should _always_ be written with a capital."--_Id._ "He went from _London_ to York."--_Id._ "An adverb is a _word added_ to _a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an_ other _adverb_, to modify _its_ meaning."--_Id._ (See Lesson 1st under the General Rule.) "SINGULAR signifies, '_expressing only one;' denoting but_ one person or thing. PLURAL, (Latin _pluralis_, from _plus_, more,) signifies, '_expressing_ more than one.'"--_Weld cor._ "When the present ends in _e, d_ only is added to form the imperfect _tense_ and _the_ perfect participle of regular verbs."--_Id._ "Synaeresis is the contraction of two syllables into one; as, _seest_ for _seest, drowned_ for _drown-ed_."--_Id._ (See _Brown's Inst_. p. 230.) "Words ending in _ee are often inflected by mere consonants, and without_ receiving an additional syllable beginning with _e_: as, _see, seest, sees; agree, agreed, agrees_."--_Weld cor._ "_In_ monosyllables, final _f, l_, or _s_, preceded by a single vowel, _is_ doubled; as in _staff, mill, gra.s.s_."--_Id._ "_Before ing_, words ending _in ie_ drop the _e_, and _change the i into y; as, die, dying_."--_Id._"

One number may be used for _the_ other--_or, rather, the plural may be used for the singular_; as, _we_ for _I, you_ for _thou_."--_S. S. Greene cor._ "STR~OB'ILE, _n._ A pericarp made up of scales that lie _one over an other_."--_Worcester cor._

"Yet ever, from the clearest source, _hath run_ Some gross _alloy_, some tincture of the man."--_Lowth cor._

LESSON V.--UNDER VARIOUS RULES.

"The possessive case is _usually_ followed by _a_ noun, _expressed or understood_, which is the name of the thing possessed."--_Felton cor._ "Hadmer of Aggstein was as pious, devout, and praying a Christian, as _was_ Nelson, Washington, or Jefferson; or as _is_ Wellington, Tyler, Clay, or Polk."--_H. C. Wright cor._ "A word in the possessive case is not an independent noun, and cannot stand by _itself_."--_J. W. Wright cor._ "Mary is not handsome, but she is good-natured; _and good-nature_ is better than beauty."--_St. Quentin cor._ "After the practice of joining _all_ words together had ceased, _a note_ of distinction _was placed_ at the end of every word."--_L. Murray et al. cor._ "Neither Henry nor Charles _dissipates_ his time."--_Hallock cor._ "'He had taken from the _Christians above_ thirty small castles.' KNOLLES:"--_Brown's Inst.i.tutes_, p. 200; _Johnson's Quarto Dict., w. What._ "In _what_ character Butler was admitted, is unknown." Or: "In _whatever_ character Butler was admitted, _that character_ is unknown."--_Hallock cor._ "How _are_ the agent of a pa.s.sive and the object of an active verb often left?"--_Id._ "By SUBJECT, is meant the word of _whose object_ something is declared." Or: "By SUBJECT, is meant the word _which has_ something declared of _the thing signified_."--_Chandler cor._ "Care should also be taken that _a transitive_ verb _be_ not used _in stead_ of a _neuter or intransitive_; as, _lay_ for _lie, raise_ for _rise, set_ for _sit_, &c."--_Id._ "On them _depends_ the duration of our Const.i.tution and our country."--_Calhoun cor._ "In the present sentence, neither the sense nor the measure _requires_ WHAT."--_Chandler cor._ "The Irish thought themselves oppressed by the _law_ that forbid them to draw with their _horses'

tails_."--_Brightland cor._ "_So and willingly_ are adverbs. _So_ is _an_ adverb of _degree_, and qualifies _willingly. Willingly_ is an adverb of _manner_, and qualifies _deceives_."--_Cutler cor._ "Epicurus, for _experiment's_ sake, confined himself to a narrower diet than that of the severest prisons."--_Id._ "Derivative words are such as are _formed from_ other words _by prefixes or suffixes_; as, _injustice, goodness, falsehood_."--_Id._ "The distinction here insisted on is as old as Aristotle, and should not be lost _from_ sight." Or: "and _it_ should _still_ be _kept in view_."--_Hart cor._ "The Tenses of the Subjunctive and Potential Moods." Or: "The Tenses of the Subjunctive and _the_ Potential Mood."--_Id._ "A triphthong is a union of three vowels, uttered _by a single impulse of the voice_; as, _uoy_ in _buoy_"--_Pardon Davis cor._ "A common _noun is_ the _name_ of a species or kind."--_Id._ "The superlative degree _implies_ a comparison _either_ between _two_ or _among_ more."--_Id._ "An adverb is a word serving to give an additional idea _to_ a verb, _a participle, an adjective_, or _an other_ adverb."--_Id._ "When several nouns in the possessive case _occur in succession_, each showing possession _of things_ of the same _sort_, it is _generally_ necessary to add the sign of the possessive case to _each of them_: as, 'He sells _men's, women's_, and children's shoes.'--'_Dogs', cats'_, and _tigers'_ feet are digitated.'"--_Id._ "'A _rail-road_ is _being made_,' should be, 'A _railroad_ is _making_;' 'A _school-house_ is _being built_,' should be, 'A _schoolhouse_ is _building_.'"--_Id._ "Auxiliaries _are_ of themselves verbs; _yet_ they resemble, in their character and use, those terminational or other inflections _which_, in other languages, _serve_ to express the action in the _mood_, tense, _person_, and _number_ desired."--_Id._ "Please _to_ hold my horse while I speak to my friend."--_Id._ "If I say, 'Give me _the_ book,' I _demand_ some particular book."--_n.o.ble Butler cor._ "_Here_ are five men."--_Id._ "_After_ the active _verb_, the object may be omitted; _after_ the pa.s.sive, the name of the agent may be omitted."--_Id._ "The Progressive and Emphatic forms give, in each case, a different shade of meaning to the verb."--_Hart cor._ "THAT _may be called_ a Redditive Conjunction, when it answers to so _or_ SUCH."--_Ward cor._ "He attributes to negligence your _want of success_ in that business."--_Smart cor._ "_Do_ WILL and GO express but _one_ action?" Or: "_Does_ '_will go_'

express but _one_ action?"--_Barrett cor._ "Language is the _princ.i.p.al_ vehicle of thought."--_G. Brown's Inst., Pref._, p. iii. "_Much_ is applied to things weighed or measured; _many_, to those that are numbered. _Elder_ and _eldest_ _are applied_ to persons only; _older_ and _oldest_, to _either_ persons or things."--_Bullions cor._ "If there are any old maids still extant, while _misogynists_ are so rare, the fault must be attributable to themselves."--_Kirkham cor._ "The second method, used by the Greeks, has never been the practice of any _other people_ of Europe."--_Sheridan cor._ "Neither consonant nor vowel _is_ to be dwelt upon beyond _its_ common quant.i.ty, when _it closes_ a sentence." Or: "Neither _consonants_ nor _vowels_ are to be dwelt upon beyond their common quant.i.ty, when they close a sentence." Or, better thus: "Neither _a_ consonant nor _a_ vowel, when _it closes_ a sentence, _is_ to be _protracted_ beyond _its usual length_."--_Id._ "Irony is a mode of speech, in which what is said, is the opposite of what is meant."--_McElligott's Manual_, p. 103. "The _person_ speaking, _and the person or persons_ spoken to, are supposed to be present."--_Wells cor._; also _Murray_. "A _Noun_ is _a name_, a word used to express the _idea_ of an object."--_Wells cor._ "A syllable is _such_ a word, or _part_ of a word, as is uttered by one articulation."--_Weld cor._

"Thus wond'rous fair; thyself how wond'rous then!

Unspeakable, who _sitst_ above these heavens."--_Milton_, B. v, l. 156.

"And feel thy _sovran_ vital lamp; but thou _Revisitst_ not these eyes, that roll in vain."--_Id._, iii, 22.

"Before all temples _th'_ upright _heart_ and pure."--_Id._, i, 18.

"In forest wild, in thicket, _brake_, or den."--_Id._, vii, 458.

"The rogue and fool by fits _are_ fair and wise; And e'en the best, by fits, what they despise."--_Pope cor._

THE KEY.--PART IV.--PROSODY.

CHAPTER I.--PUNCTUATION.

SECTION I.--THE COMMA.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE I.--OF SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"A short simple _sentence_ should _rarely_ be _divided_ by _the_ comma."--_Felton cor._ "A regular and virtuous education is an inestimable blessing."--_L. Mur. cor._ "Such equivocal expressions mark an intention to deceive."--_Id._ "They are _this_ and _that_, with their plurals _these_ and _those_."--_Bullions cor._ "A nominative and a verb sometimes make a complete sentence; as, He sleeps."--_Felton cor._ "TENSE expresses the action _as_ connected with certain relations of time; MOOD represents it as _further_ modified by circ.u.mstances of contingency, conditionality, &c."--_Bullions cor._ "The word _noun_ means _name_."--_Ingersoll cor._ "The present or active participle I explained then."--_Id._ "Are some verbs used both transitively and intransitively?"--_Cooper cor._ "Blank verse is verse without rhyme."--_Brown's Inst.i.tutes_, p. 235. "A distributive adjective denotes each one of a number considered separately."--_Hallock cor._

"And may at last my weary age Find out the peaceful hermitage."

--MILTON: _Ward's Gr._, 158; _Hiley's_, 124.

UNDER THE EXCEPTION CONCERNING SIMPLE SENTENCES.

"A noun without an _article_ to limit it, is taken in its widest sense."--_Lennie_, p. 6. "To maintain a steady course amid all the adversities of life, marks a great mind."--_Day cor._ "To love our Maker supremely and our neighbour as ourselves, comprehends the whole moral law."--_Id._ "To be afraid to do wrong, is true courage."--_Id._ "A great fortune in the hands of a fool, is a great misfortune."--_Bullions cor._ "That he should make such a remark, is indeed strange."--_Farnum cor._ "To walk in the fields and groves, is delightful."--_Id._ "That he committed the fault, is most certain."--_Id._ "Names common to all things of the same sort or cla.s.s, are called _Common nouns_; as, _man, woman, day_."--_Bullions cor._ "That it is our duty to be pious, admits not of any doubt."--_Id._ "To endure misfortune with resignation, is the characteristic of a great mind."--_Id._ "The a.s.sisting of a friend in such circ.u.mstances, was certainly a duty."--_Id._ "That a life of virtue is the safest, is certain."--_Hallock cor._ "A collective noun denoting the idea of unity, should be represented by a p.r.o.noun of the singular number."--_Id._

UNDER RULE II.--OF SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"When the sun had arisen, the enemy retreated."--_Day cor._ "If he _become_ rich, he may be less industrious."--_Bullions cor._ "The more I study grammar, the better I like it."--_Id._ "There is much truth in the old adage, that fire is a better servant than master."--_Id._ "The verb _do_, when used as an auxiliary, gives force or emphasis to the expression."--_P.

E. Day cor._ "Whatsoever is inc.u.mbent upon a man to do, it is surely expedient to do well."--_Adams cor._ "The soul, which our philosophy divides into various capacities, is still one essence."--_Channing cor._ "Put the following words in the plural, and give the rule for forming it."--_Bullions cor._ "We will do it, if you wish."--_Id._ "He who does well, will be rewarded."--_Id._ "That which is always true, is expressed in the present tense."--_Id._ "An observation which is always true, must be expressed in the present tense."--_Id._ "That part of orthography which treats of combining letters to form syllables and words, is called SPELLING."--_Day cor._ "A noun can never be of the first person, except it is in apposition with a p.r.o.noun of that person."--_Id._ "When two or more singular nouns or p.r.o.nouns refer to the same object, they require a singular verb and p.r.o.noun."--_Id._ "James has gone, but he will return in a few days."--_Id._ "A p.r.o.noun should have the same person, number, and gender, as the noun for which it stands."--_Id._ "Though he is out of danger, he is still afraid."--_Bullions cor._ "She is his inferior in sense, but his equal in prudence."--_Murray's Exercises_, p. 6. "The man who has no sense of religion, is little to be trusted."--_Bullions cor._ "He who does the most good, has the most pleasure."--_Id._ "They were not in the most prosperous circ.u.mstances, when we last saw them."--_Id._ "If the day continue pleasant, I shall return."--_Felton cor._ "The days that are past, are gone forever."--_Id._ "As many as are friendly to the cause, will sustain it."--_Id._ "Such as desire aid, will receive it."--_Id._ "Who gave you that book, which you prize so much?"--_Bullions cor._ "He who made it, now preserves and governs it."--_Id._

"Shall he alone, whom rational we call, Be pleas'd with nothing, if not _blest_ with all?"--_Pope_.

UNDER THE EXCEPTIONS CONCERNING SIMPLE MEMBERS.

"Newcastle is the town in which Akenside was born."--_Bucke cor._ "The remorse which issues in reformation, is true repentance."--_Campbell cor._ "Men who are intemperate, are destructive members of community."-- _Alexander cor._ "An active-transitive verb expresses an action which extends to an object."--_Felton cor._ "They to whom much is given, will have much, to answer for."--_L. Murray cor._ "The prospect which we have, is charming."--_Cooper cor._ "He is the person who informed me of the matter."--_Id._ "These are the trees that produce no fruit."--_Id._ "This is the book which treats of the subject."--_Id._ "The proposal was such as pleased me."--_Id._ "Those that sow in tears, shall reap in joy."--_Id._ "The pen with which I write, makes too large a mark."--_Ingersoll cor._ "Modesty makes large amends for the pain it gives the persons who labour under it, by the prejudice it affords every worthy person, in their favour."--_Id._ "Irony is a figure whereby we plainly intend something very different from what our words express."--_Bucke cor._ "Catachresis is a figure whereby an improper word is used in stead of a proper one."--_Id._ "The man whom you met at the party, is a Frenchman."--_Frost cor._

UNDER RULE III.--OF MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

"John, James, and Thomas, are here: that is, John, _and_ James, and Thomas, are here."--_Cooper cor._ "Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 116. "To Nouns belong Person, Gender, Number, and Case."--_Id., ib._, p. 9. "Wheat, corn, rye, and oats, are extensively cultivated."--_Bullions cor._ "In many, the definitions, rules, and leading facts, are prolix, inaccurate, and confused."--_Finch cor._ "Most people consider it mysterious, difficult, and useless."--_Id._ "His father, and mother, and uncle, reside at Rome."--_Farnum cor._ "The relative p.r.o.nouns are _who, which_, and _that_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p.

23. "_That_ is sometimes a demonstrative, sometimes a relative, and sometimes a conjunction."--_Bullions cor._ "Our reputation, virtue, and happiness, greatly depend on the choice of our companions."--_Day cor._ "The spirit of true religion is social, kind, and cheerful."--_Felton cor._ "_Do, be, have_, and _will_, are sometimes princ.i.p.al verbs."--_Id._ "John, and Thomas, and Peter, reside at Oxford."--_Webster cor._ "The most innocent pleasures are the most rational, the most delightful, and the most durable."--_Id._ "Love, joy, peace, and blessedness, are reserved for the good."--_Id._ "The husband, wife, and children, suffered extremely."--_L.

Murray cor._ "The husband, wife, and children, suffer extremely."--_Sanborn cor._ "He, you, and I, have our parts a.s.signed us."--_Id._

"He moaned, lamented, tugged, and tried, Repented, promised, wept, and sighed."--_Cowper_.

UNDER RULE IV.--OF ONLY TWO WORDS.

"Disappointments derange and overcome vulgar minds."--_L. Murray cor._ "The hive of a city or kingdom, is in the best condition, when there is the least noise or buzz in it."--_Id._ "When a direct address is made, the noun or p.r.o.noun is in the nominative case, independent."--_Ingersoll cor._ "The verbs _love_ and _teach_, make _loved_ and _taught_, in the imperfect and participle."--_Id._ "Neither poverty nor riches were injurious to him."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 152. "Thou or I am in fault."--_Id._, p.

152. "A verb is a word that expresses action or being."--_P. E. Day cor._ "The Objective Case denotes the object of a verb or a preposition."--_Id._ "Verbs of the second conjugation may be either transitive or intransitive."--_Id._ "Verbs of the fourth conjugation may be either transitive or intransitive."--_Id._ "If a verb does not form its past indicative by adding _d_ or _ed_ to the indicative present, it is said to be _irregular_."--_Id._ "The young lady is studying rhetoric and logic."--_Cooper cor._ "He writes and speaks the language very correctly."--_Id._ "Man's happiness or misery is, in a great measure, put into his own hands."--_Mur. cor._ "This accident or characteristic of nouns, is called their _Gender_."--_Bullions cor._

"Grant that the powerful still the weak _control_; Be _man_ the _wit_ and _tyrant_ of the whole."--_Pope cor._

UNDER EXCEPTION I.--TWO WORDS WITH ADJUNCTS.

"Franklin is justly considered the ornament of the New World, and the pride of modern philosophy."--_Day cor._ "Levity, and attachment to worldly pleasures, destroy the sense of grat.i.tude to Him."--_L. Mur. cor._ "In the following Exercise, point out the adjectives, and the substantives which they qualify."--_Bullions cor._ "When a noun or p.r.o.noun is used to explain, or give emphasis to, a preceding noun or p.r.o.noun."--_Day cor._ "Superior talents, and _brilliancy_ of intellect, do not always const.i.tute a great man."--_Id._ "A word that makes sense after an article, or _after_ the phrase _speak of_, is a noun."--_Bullions cor._ "All feet used in poetry, are reducible to eight kinds; four of two syllables, and four of three."--_Hiley cor._ "He would not do it himself, not let me do it."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 64. "The old writers give examples of the subjunctive _mood_, and give other _moods_ to explain what is meant by the words in the subjunctive."--_O. B. Peirce cor._

UNDER EXCEPTION II.--TWO TERMS CONTRASTED.

"We often commend, as well as censure, imprudently."--_L. Mur. cor._ "It is as truly a violation of the right of property, to take a little, as to take much; to purloin a book or a penknife, as to steal money; to steal fruit, as to steal a horse; to defraud the revenue, as to rob my neighbour; to overcharge the public, as to overcharge my brother; to cheat the post-office, as to cheat my friend."--_Wayland cor._ "The cla.s.sification of verbs has been, and still is, a vexed question."--_Bullions cor._ "Names applied only to individuals of a sort or cla.s.s, and not common to all, are called _Proper nouns_."--_Id._ "A hero would desire to be loved, as well as to be reverenced."--_Day cor._ "Death, or some worse misfortune, now divides them." Better: "Death, or some _other_ misfortune, _soon_ divides them."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 151. "Alexander replied, 'The world will not permit two suns, nor two sovereigns.'"--_Goldsmith cor._

"From nature's chain, whatever link you strike, Tenth, or _ten-thousandth_, breaks the chain alike."--_Pope_.

UNDER EXCEPTION III.--OF AN ALTERNATIVE OF WORDS.

"_Metre_, or _Measure_, is the number of poetical feet which a verse contains."--_Hiley cor._ "The _Caesura_, or _division_, is the pause which takes place in a verse, and which divides it into two parts."--_Id._ "It is six feet, or one fathom, deep."--_Bullions cor._ "A _Brace_ is used in poetry, at the end of a triplet, or three lines which rhyme together."--_Felton cor._ "There are four princ.i.p.al kinds of English verse, or poetical feet."--_Id._ "The period, or full stop, denotes the end of a complete sentence."--_Sanborn cor._ "The scholar is to receive as many _jetons_, or counters, as there are words in the sentence."--_St. Quentin cor._ "_That_ [thing], or _the thing, which_ purifies, fortifies also the heart."--_O. B. Peirce cor._ "_That thing_, or _the thing_, which would induce a laxity in public or private morals, or indifference to guilt and wretchedness, should be regarded as the deadly Sirocco."--_Id._ "_What_ is, elliptically, _what thing_, or _that thing which_."--_Sanborn cor._ "_Demonstrate_ means _show_, or _point out precisely_."--_Id._ "_The_ man, or _that_ man, who endures to the end, shall be saved."--_Hiley cor._

UNDER EXCEPTION IV.--OF A SECOND COMMA.

"That reason, pa.s.sion, answer one great _aim_."--POPE: _Bullions and Hiley cor._ "Reason, virtue, answer one great aim."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 269; _Cooper's Murray_, 182; _Comly_, 145; _Ingersoll_, 282; _Sanborn_, 268; _Kirkham_, 212; _et al._ "Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above."--_James_, i, 17. "Every plant, and every tree, produces others after its kind."--_Day cor._ "James, and not John, was paid for his services."--_Id._ "The single dagger, or obelisk [Dagger], is the second."--_Id._ "It was I, not he, that did it."--_St. Quentin cor._ "Each aunt, each cousin, hath her speculation."--_Byron._ "'I shall see you _when_ you come,' is equivalent to, 'I shall see you _then_, or _at that time_, when you come.'"--_N. Butler cor._

"Let wealth, let honour, wait the wedded dame; August her deed, and sacred be her fame."--_Pope cor._