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

tabernacle."—Numb., xvii, 13. "The words coalesce, when they have a long established association."— Murray's Gram., p. 169. "Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go in to them."—OLD BIBLE: Ps., cxviii, 19. "He saw an angel of God coming into him."—See Acts, x, 3. "The consequences of any action are to be considered in a two fold light."—Wayland's Moral Science, p. 108. "We commonly write two fold, three fold, four fold, and so on up to ten fold, without a hyphen; and, after that, we use one."—Author. See Matt., xiii, 8. "When the first mark is going off, he cries turn! the glass holder answers done!"—Bowditch's Nav., p. 128. "It is a kind of familiar shaking hands with all the vices."—Maturin's Sermons, p. 170. "She is a good natured woman;" "James is self opinionated;" "He is broken hearted."—Wright's Gram., p. 147. "These three examples apply to the present tense construction only."—Ib., p. 65. "So that it was like a game of hide and go seek."—Edward's First Lessons in Grammar, p. 90.

   "That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
    Whereto the climber upward turns his face."—Bucke's Gram., p. 97.

UNDER RULE IV.—OF ELLIPSES.

"This building serves yet for a school and a meeting-house."

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the compound word schoolhouse is here divided to avoid a repetition of the last half. But, according to Rule 4th, "When two or more compounds are connected in one sentence, none of them should be split to make an ellipsis of half a word." Therefore, "school" should be "schoolhouse;" thus, "This building serves yet for a schoolhouse and a meeting-house."]

"Schoolmasters and mistresses of honest friends [are] to be encouraged."—N. E. Discipline, p. xv. "We never assumed to ourselves a faith or worship-making-power."—Barclay's Works, Vol. i, p. 83. "Pot and pearl ashes are made from common ashes."—Webster's New Spelling-Book, p. 69. "Both the ten and eight syllable verses are iambics."—Blair's Gram., p. 121. "I say to myself, thou, he says to thy, to his self; &c."—Dr. Murray's Hist. of Europ. Lang., Vol. ii p. 121. "Or those who have esteemed themselves skilful, have tried for the mastery in two or four horse chariots."—Zenobia, Vol. i, p. 152. "I remember him barefooted and headed, running through the streets."—Castle Rackrent, p. 68. "Friends have the entire control of the school and dwelling-houses."—The Friend, Vol. vii, p. 231. "The meeting is held at the first mentioned place in the first month, at the last in the second, and so on."—Ib., p. 167. "Meetings for worship are held at the same hour on first and fourth days."—Ib., p. 230. "Every part of it, inside and out, is covered with gold leaf."—Ib., p. 404. "The Eastern Quarterly Meeting is held on the last seventh day in second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh month."—Ib., p. 87. "Trenton Preparative Meeting is held on the third fifth day in each month, at ten o'clock; meetings for worship at the same hour on first and fifth days."—Ib., p. 231. "Ketch, a vessel with two masts, a main and mizzen-mast."—Webster's Dict., "I only mean to suggest a doubt, whether nature has enlisted herself as a Cis or Trans-Atlantic partisan?"— Jefferson's Notes, p. 97. "By large hammers, like those used for paper and fullingmills, they beat their hemp."—MORTIMER: in Johnson's Dict. "Ant-hill, or Hillock, n. s. The small protuberances of earth, in which ants make their nests."—Ib. "It became necessary to substitute simple indicative terms called pro-names or nouns."—Enclytica, p. 16.

   "Obscur'd, where highest woods, impenetrable
    To star or sun-light, spread their umbrage broad."—Milton.

UNDER RULE V.—THE HYPHEN.

"Evilthinking; a noun, compounded of the noun evil and the imperfect participle thinking; singular number;" &c.—Churchill's Gram., p. 180.

[FORMULE—Not proper, because the word evilthinking, which has more than one accented syllable, is here compounded without the hyphen. But, according to Rule 5th, "When the parts of a compound do not fully coalesce, or when each retains its original accent, so that the compound has more than one, or one that is movable, the hyphen should be inserted between them." Therefore, the hyphen should be used in this word; thus, evil-thinking.]

"Evilspeaking; a noun, compounded of the noun evil and the imperfect participle speaking."—Ib. "I am a tall, broadshouldered, impudent, black fellow."—SPECTATOR: in Johnson's Dict. "Ingratitude! thou marblehearted fiend."—SHAK.: ib. "A popular licence is indeed the manyheaded tyranny."—SIDNEY: ib. "He from the manypeopled city flies."—SANDYS: ib. "He manylanguaged nations has surveyed."—POPE: ib. "The horsecucumber is the large green cucumber, and the best for the table."—MORTIMER: ib. "The bird of night did sit, even at noonday, upon the market-place."—SHAK.: ib. "These make a general gaoldelivery of souls, not for punishment."—SOUTH: ib. "Thy air, thou other goldbound brow, is like the first."—SHAK.: ib. "His person was deformed to the highest degree; flatnosed, and blobberlipped."—L'ESTRANGE: ib. "He that defraudeth the labourer of his hire, is a bloodshedder."—ECCLUS., xxxiv, 22: ib. "Bloodyminded, adj. from bloody and mind. Cruel; inclined to blood-shed."—See Johnson's Dict. "Bluntwitted lord, ignoble in demeanour."—SHAK.: ib. "A young fellow with a bobwig and a black silken bag tied to it."—SPECTATOR: ib. "I have seen enough to confute all the boldfaced atheists of this age."—BRAMHALL: ib. "Before milkwhite, now purple with love's wound."—SHAK: ib. "For what else is a redhot iron than fire? and what else is a burning coal than redhot wood?"—NEWTON: ib. "Pollevil is a large swelling, inflammation, or imposthume in the horse's poll, or nape of the neck just between the ears."—FARRIER: ib.

   "Quick-witted, brazenfac'd, with fluent tongues,
    Patient of labours, and dissembling wrongs."—DRYDEN: ib.

UNDER RULE VI.—NO HYPHEN.

"From his fond parent's eye a tear-drop fell."—Snelling's Gift for
Scribblers, p. 43.

[FORMULE—Not proper, because the word tear-drop, which has never any other than a full accent on the first syllable, is here compounded with the hyphen. But, according to Rule 6th, "When a compound has but one accented syllable in pronunciation, and the parts are such as admit of a complete coalescence, no hyphen should be inserted between them." Therefore, teardrop should be made a close compound.]

"How great, poor jack-daw, would thy sufferings be!"—Ib., p. 29. "Placed like a scare-crow in a field of corn."—Ib., p. 39. "Soup for the alms-house at a cent a quart."—Ib., p. 23. "Up into the watch-tower get, and see all things despoiled of fallacies."—DONNE: Johnson's Dict., w. Lattice. "In the day-time she sitteth in a watchtower, and flieth most by night."—BACON: ib., w. Watchtower. "In the daytime Fame sitteth in a watch-tower, and flieth most by night."—ID.: ib., w. Daytime. "The moral is the first business of the poet, as being the ground-work of his instruction."—DRYDEN: ib., w. Moral. "Madam's own hand the mouse-trap baited."—PRIOR: ib., w. Mouse-trap. "By the sinking of the air-shaft the air hath liberty to circulate."—RAY: ib., w. Airshaft. "The multiform and amazing operations of the air-pump and the loadstone."—WATTS: ib., w. Multiform. "Many of the fire-arms are named from animals."—Ib., w. Musket. "You might have trussed him and all his apparel into an eel-skin."—SHAK.: ib., w. Truss. "They may serve as land-marks to shew what lies in the direct way of truth."—LOCKE: ib., w. Landmark. "A pack-horse is driven constantly in a narrow lane and dirty road."—Id. ib., w. Lane. "A mill-horse, still bound to go in one circle."—SIDNEY: ib., w. Mill-horse. "Of singing birds they have linnets, goldfinches, ruddocks, Canary-birds, black-birds, thrushes, and divers others."—CAREW: ib., w. Goldfinch. "Of singing birds, they have linnets, gold-finches, blackbirds, thrushes, and divers others."—ID.: ib., w. Blackbird. "Of singing birds, they have linnets, gold-finches, ruddocks, canary birds, blackbirds, thrushes, and divers other."—ID.: ib., w. Canary bird. "Cartrage, or Cartridge, a case of paper or parchment filled with gun-powder."—Johnson's Dict., 4to.

   "Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night,
    The time of night when Troy was set on fire,
    The tune when screech-owls cry, and ban-dogs howl."
             SHAKSPEARE: ib., w. Silent.

    "The time when screech-owls cry, and bandogs howl."
             IDEM.: ib., w. Bandog.

PROMISCUOUS ERRORS IN THE FIGURE OF WORDS. LESSON I.—MIXED.

"They that live in glass-houses, should not throw stones."—Old Adage. "If a man profess Christianity in any manner or form soever."—Watts, p. 5. "For Cassius is a weary of the world."—SHAKSPEARE: in Kirkham's Elocution, p. 67. "By the coming together of more, the chains were fastened on."—Walker's Particles, p. 223. "Unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month."—Jer., i, 3. "And the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad."—Numbers, xxxiv, 8. "And the goings out of it shall be at Hazar-enan."—Ib., ver. 9. "For the taking place of effects, in a certain particular series."—Dr. West, on Agency, p. 39. "The letting go of which was the occasion of all that corruption."—Dr. J. Owen. "A falling off at the end always hurts greatly."—Blair's Lect., p. 126. "A falling off at the end is always injurious."—Jamieson's Rhetoric, p. 127. "As all holdings forth were courteously supposed to be trains of reasoning."—Dr. Murray's Hist. of Europ. Lang., Vol. i, p. 333. "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."— Micah, v, 2. "Some times the adjective becomes a substantive."— Bradley's Gram., p. 104. "It is very plain, I consider man as visited a new."—Barclay's Works, Vol. iii, p. 331. "Nor do I any where say, as he falsely insinuates."—Ib., p. 331. "Every where, any where, some where, no where."—Alex. Murray's Gram., p. 55. "The world hurries off a pace, and time is like a rapid river."—Collier's Antoninus, p. 58. "But to now model the paradoxes of ancient skepticism."—Brown's Estimate, Vol. i, p. 102. "The south east winds from the ocean invariably produce rain."—Webster's Essays, p. 369. "North west winds from the high lands produce cold clear weather."—Ib. "The greatest part of such tables would be of little use to English men."—Priestley's Gram., p. 155. "The ground floor of the east wing of Mulberry street meeting house was filled."—The Friend, vii, 232. "Prince Rupert's Drop. This singular production is made at the glass houses."—Red Book, p. 131.

   "The lights and shades, whose well accorded strife
    Gives all the strength and colour of our life."
        —Murray's Gram., p. 54; Fisk's, 65.

LESSON II.—MIXED.

"In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah."—1 Kings, xvi, 15. "In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah, began Omri to reign over Israel."—Ib., xvi, 23. "He cannot so deceive himself as to fancy that he is able to do a rule of three sum."—Foreign Quarterly Review. "The best cod are those known under the name of Isle of Shoals dun fish."—Balbi's Geog., p. 26. "The soldiers, with down cast eyes, seemed to beg for mercy."—Goldsmith's Greece, Vol. ii, p. 142. "His head was covered with a coarse worn out piece of cloth."—Ib., p. 124. "Though they had lately received a reinforcement of a thousand heavy armed Spartans."—Ib., p. 38. "But he laid them by unopened; and, with a smile, said, 'Business to morrow.'"—Ib., p. 7. "Chester monthly meeting is held at Moore's town, the third day following the second second day."—The Friend, Vol. vii, p. 124. "Eggharbour monthly meeting is held the first second day."—Ib., p. 124. "Little Egg Harbour Monthly Meeting is held at Tuckerton on the second fifth day in each month."—Ib., p. 231. "At three o'clock, on first day morning the 24th of eleventh month, 1834," &c.—Ib., p. 64. "In less than one-fourth part of the time usually devoted."—Kirkham's Gram., p. 4. "The pupil will not have occasion to use it one-tenth part as much."—Ib., p. 11. "The painter dips his paint brush in paint, to paint the carriage."—Ib., p. 28. "In an ancient English version of the New-Testament."—Ib., p. 74. "The little boy was bare headed."—Red Book, p. 36. "The man, being a little short sighted, did not immediately know him."—Ib., p. 40. "Picture frames are gilt with gold."—Ib., p. 44. "The park keeper killed one of the deer."—Ib., p. 44. "The fox was killed near the brick kiln."—Ib., p. 46. "Here comes Esther, with her milk pail."—Ib., p. 50. "The cabinet maker would not tell us."—Ib., p. 60. "A fine thorn hedge extended along the edge of the hill."—Ib., p. 65. "If their private interests should be ever so little affected."—Ib., p. 73. "Unios are fresh water shells, vulgarly called fresh water clams."—Ib., p. 102.

   "Did not each poet mourn his luckless doom,
    Jostled by pedants out of elbow room."—Lloyd, p. 163.

LESSON III.—MIXED.

"The captive hovers a-while upon the sad remains."—PRIOR: in Johnson's Dict., w. Hover. "Constantia saw that the hand writing agreed with the contents of the letter."—ADDISON: ib., w. Hand. "They have put me in a silk night-gown, and a gaudy fool's cap."—ID.: ib., w. Nightgown. "Have you no more manners than to rail at Hocus, that has saved that clod-pated, numskull'd ninnyhammer of yours from ruin, and all his family?"—ARBUTHNOT: ib., w. Ninnyhammer. "A noble, that is, six, shillings and eightpence, is, and usually hath been paid."—BACON: ib., w. Noble. "The king of birds thick feather'd and with full-summed wings, fastened his talons east and