The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown (free ebook reader .txt) 📕

is peculiarly the case in eloquence. By glancing at either poets or orators, we may easily satisfy ourselves, that neither a poem nor an oration which aims continually at what is fine, showy, and sparkling, can please us long. Wherefore, though we may wish for the frequent praise of having expressed ourselves well and properly, we should not covet repeated applause for being bright and splendid."—CICERO, de Oratore.

"The foundation of eloquence, as well as of every other high attainment, is practical wisdom. For it happens in oratory, as in life, that nothing is more difficult, than to discern what is proper and becoming. Through lack of such discernment, gross faults are very often committed. For neither to all ranks, fortunes, and ages, nor to every time, place, and auditory, can the same style either of language or of sentiment be adapted. In every part of a discourse, as in every part of life, we must consider what is suitable and decent; and this must be determined with reference both to the matter in question, and to the personal character of those who speak and those who hear."—CICERO, Orator ad Brutum.

   "So spake th' Omnipotent, and with his words
    All seem'd well pleas'd; all seem'd, but were not all."—Milton.

LESSON II.—PARSING.

"A square, though not more regular than a hexagon or an octagon, is more beautiful than either: for what reason, but that a square is more simple, and the attention is less divided?"—Kames, El. of Crit., i, 175.

"We see the material universe in motion; but matter is inert; and, so far as we know, nothing can move it but mind: therefore God is a spirit. We do not mean that his nature is the same as that of our soul; for it is infinitely more excellent. But we mean, that he possesses intelligence and active power in supreme perfection; and, as these qualities do not belong to matter, which is neither active nor intelligent, we must refer them to that which is not matter, but mind."—Beattie's Moral Science, p. 210.

"Men are generally permitted to publish books, and contradict others, and even themselves, as they please, with as little danger of being confuted, as of being understood."—Boyle.

"Common reports, if ridiculous rather than dangerous, are best refuted by neglect."—Kames's Thinking, p. 76. "No man is so foolish, but that he may give good counsel at a time; no man so wise, but he may err, if he take no counsel but his own."—Ib., p. 97.

   "Young heads are giddy, and young hearts are warm,
    And make mistakes for manhood to reform."—Cowper.

LESSON III.—PARSING.

"The Nouns denote substances, and those either natural, artificial, or abstract. They moreover denote things either general, or special, or particular. The Pronouns, their substitutes, are either prepositive, or subjunctive."—Harris's Hermes, p. 85.

"In a thought, generally speaking, there is at least one capital object considered as acting or as suffering. This object is expressed by a substantive noun: its action is expressed by an active verb; and the thing affected by the action is expressed by an other substantive noun: its suffering, or passive state, is expressed by a passive verb; and the thing that acts upon it, by a substantive noun. Beside these, which are the capital parts of a sentence, or period, there are generally underparts; each of the substantives, as well as the verb, may be qualified: time, place, purpose, motive, means, instrument, and a thousand other circumstances, may be necessary to complete the thought."—Kames, El. of Crit., ii, 34.

   "Yet those whom pride and dullness join to blind,
    To narrow cares and narrow space confined,
    Though with big titles each his fellow greets,
    Are but to wits, as scavengers to streets."—Mallet.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. ERRORS RESPECTING CONJUNCTIONS.

"A Verb is so called from the Latin verbum, or word."—Bucke's
Classical Gram., p. 56.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the conjunction or, connecting verbum and word, supposes the latter to be Latin. But, according to Observation 7th, on the Classes of Conjunctions, "The import of connectives, copulative or disjunctive, must be carefully observed, lest we write or speak them improperly." In this instance, or should be changed to a; thus, "A Verb is so called from the Latin verbum, a word" that is, "which means, a word."]

"References are often marked by letters and figures."—Gould's Adam's Gram., p. 283. (1.) "A Conjunction is a word which joins words and sentences together."—Lennie's E. Gram., p. 51; Bullions's, 70; Brace's, 57. (2.) "A conjunction is used to connect words and sentences together."—Smith's New Gram., p. 37. (3.) "A conjunction is used to connect words and sentences."—Maunders Gram., p. 1. (4.) "Conjunctions are words used to join words and sentences."—Wilcox's Gram., p. 3. (5.) "A Conjunction is a word used to connect words and sentences."— M'Culloch's Gram., p. 36; Hart's, 92; Day's, 10. (6.) "A Conjunction joins words and sentences together."—Mackintosh's Gram., p. 115; Hiley's, 10 and 53. (7.) "The Conjunction joins words and sentences together."—L. Murray's Gram., 2d Edition, p. 28. (8.) "Conjunctions connect words and sentences to each other."—Wright's Gram., p. 35. (9.) "Conjunctions connect words and sentences."—Wilcox's Gram., p. 80; Wells's, 1st Ed., 159 and 168. (10.) "The conjunction is a part of speech used to connect words and sentences."—Weld's Gram., 2d Ed., p. 49. (11.) "A conjunction is a word used to connect words and sentences together."— Fowler's E. Gram., §329. (12.) "Connectives are words which unite words and sentences in construction."—Webster's Philos. Gram., p. 123; Improved Gram., 81. "English Grammar is miserably taught in our district schools; the teachers know but little or nothing about it."—Taylor's District School, p. 48. "Least, instead of preventing, you draw on Diseases."—Locke, on Ed., p. 40. "The definite article the is frequently applied to adverbs in the comparative and superlative degree."—Murray's Gram., p. 33; Ingersoll's, 33; Lennie's, 6; Bullions's, 8; Fisk's, 53, and others. "When nouns naturally neuter are converted into masculine and feminine."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 38. "This form of the perfect tense represents an action completely past, and often at no great distance, but not specified."—Ib., p. 74. "The Conjunction Copulative serves to connect or to continue a sentence, by expressing an addition, a supposition, a cause, &c."—Ib., p. 123. "The Conjunction Disjunctive serves, not only to connect and continue the sentence, but also to express opposition of meaning in different degrees."—Ib., p. 123. "Whether we open the volumes of our divines, philosophers, historians, or artists, we shall find that they abound with all the terms necessary to communicate their observations and discoveries."—Ib., p. 138. "When a disjunctive occurs between a singular noun, or pronoun, and a plural one, the verb is made to agree with the plural noun and pronoun."—Ib., p. 152: R. G. Smith, Alger, Gomly, Merchant, Picket, et al. "Pronouns must always agree with their antecedents, and the nouns for which they stand, in gender and number."—Murray's Gram., p. 154. "Verbs neuter do not act upon, or govern, nouns and pronouns."—Ib., p. 179. "And the auxiliary both of the present and past imperfect times."—Ib., p. 72. "If this rule should not appear to apply to every example, which has been produced, nor to others which might be adduced."—Ib., p. 216. "An emphatical pause is made, after something has been said of peculiar moment, and on which we desire to fix the hearer's attention."—Ib., p. 248; Hart's Gram., 175. "An imperfect phrase contains no assertion, or does not amount to a proposition or sentence."—Murray's Gram., p. 267. "The word was in the mouth of every one, but for all that, the subject may still be a secret."—Ib., p. 213. "A word it was in the mouth of every one, but for all that, as to its precise and definite idea, this may still be a secret."—Harris's Three Treatises, p. 5. "It cannot be otherwise, in regard that the French prosody differs from that of every other country in Europe."—Smollett's Voltaire, ix, 306. "So gradually as to allow its being engrafted on a subtonic."—Rush, on the Voice, p. 255. "Where the Chelsea or Maiden bridges now are."—Judge Parker. "Adverbs are words joined to verbs, participles, adjectives, and other adverbs."—Smith's Productive Gram., p. 92. "I could not have told you, who the hermit was, nor on what mountain he lived."—Bucke's Classical Gram., p. 32. "Am, or be (for they are the same) naturally, or in themselves signify being."—Brightland's Gram., p. 113. "Words are distinct sounds, by which we express our thoughts and ideas."—Infant School Gram., p. 13. "His fears will detect him, but he shall not escape."—Comly's Gram., p. 64. "Whose is equally applicable to persons or things."—WEBSTER in Sanborn's Gram., p. 95. "One negative destroys another, or is equivalent to an affirmative."— Bullions, Eng. Gram., p. 118.

   "No sooner does he peep into
    The world, but he has done his do."—Hudibras.

CHAPTER X.—PREPOSITIONS.

A Preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a pronoun: as, "The paper lies before me on the desk."

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.—The relations of things to things in nature, or of words to words in discourse, are infinite in number, if not also in variety. But just classification may make even infinites the subjects of sure science. Every relation of course implies more objects, and more terms, than one; for any one thing, considered merely in itself, is taken independently, abstractly, irrelatively, as if it had no relation or dependence. In all correct language, the grammatical relation of the words corresponds exactly to the relation of the things or ideas expressed; for the relation of words, is their dependence, or connexion, according to the sense. This relation is oftentimes immediate, as of one word to an other, without the intervention of a preposition; but it is seldom, if ever, reciprocally equal; because dependence implies subordination; and mere adjunction is a sort of inferiority.

OBS. 2.—To a preposition, the prior or antecedent term may be a noun, an adjective, a pronoun, a verb, a participle, or an adverb; and the subsequent or governed term may be a noun, a pronoun, a pronominal adjective, an infinitive verb, or a participle. In some instances, also, as in the phrases, in vain, on high, at once, till now, for ever, by how much, until then, from thence, from above, we find adjectives used elliptically, and adverbs substantively, after the preposition. But, in phrases of an adverbial character, what is elsewhere a preposition often becomes an adverb. Now, if prepositions are concerned in expressing the various relations of so many of the different parts of speech, multiplied, as these relations must be, by that endless variety of combinations which may be given to the terms; and if the sense of the writer or speaker is necessarily mistaken, as often as any of these relations are misunderstood, or their terms misconceived; how shall we estimate the importance of a right explanation, and a right use, of this part of speech?

OBS. 3.—The grammarian whom Lowth compliments, as excelling all others, in "acuteness of investigation, perspicuity of explication, and elegance of method;" and as surpassing all but Aristotle, in the beauty and perfectness of his philological analysis; commences his chapter on conjunctions in the following manner: "Connectives are the subject of what follows; which, according as they connect either Sentences or Words, are called by the different Names of Conjunctions OR Prepositions. Of these Names, that of the Preposition is taken from a mere accident, as it commonly stands in connection before the Part, which it connects. The name of the Conjunction, as is evident, has reference to its essential character. Of these two we shall consider the Conjunction first, because it connects, not Words, but Sentences."—Harris's Hermes, p. 237.

OBS. 4.—In point of order, it is not amiss to treat conjunctions before prepositions; though this is not the method of Lowth, or of Murray. But, to any one who is well acquainted with these two parts of speech, the foregoing passage cannot but appear, in three sentences out of the four, both defective in style and erroneous in doctrine. It is true, that conjunctions generally connect sentences, and that prepositions as generally express relations between particular words: but it is true also, that conjunctions often connect words only; and that prepositions, by governing antecedents, relatives, or even personal pronouns, may serve to subjoin sentences to sentences, as well as to determine the relation and construction of the particular words which they govern. Example: "The path seems now plain and even, but there are asperities and pitfalls, over which Religion only can conduct you."—Dr. Johnson. Here are three simple sentences, which are made members of one compound sentence, by means of but and over which; while two of these members, clauses, or subdivisions, contain particular words connected by and.

OBS. 5.—In one respect, the preposition is the simplest of all the parts of speech: in our common schemes of grammar, it has neither classes nor modifications. Every connective