"Pylades' soul and mad Orestes', was
In these, if we believe Pythagoras"—Cowley's Poems, p. 3.
UNDER NOTE VII.—DISTINCT SUBJECT PHRASES.
"To be moderate in our views, and to proceed temperately in the pursuit of them, is the best way to ensure success."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 206. "To be of any species, and to have a right to the name of that species, is all one."—Locke's Essay, p. 300. "With whom to will and to do is the same."—Jamieson's Sacred History, Vol. ii, p. 22. "To profess, and to possess, is very different things."—Inst., p. 156. "To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God, is duties of universal obligation."—Ib. "To be round or square, to be solid or fluid, to be large or small, and to be moved swiftly or slowly, is all equally alien from the nature of thought."—Ib. "The resolving of a sentence into its elements or parts of speech and stating the Accidents which belong to these, is called PARSING."—Bullion's Pract. Lessons, p. 9. "To spin and to weave, to knit and to sew, was once a girl's employment; but now to dress and catch a beau, is all she calls enjoyment."—Lynn News, Vol. 8, No. 1.
RULE XVII.—FINITE VERBS.
When a Verb has two or more nominatives connected by or or nor, it must agree with them singly, and not as if taken together: as, "Fear or jealousy affects him."—W. Allen's Gram., p. 133. "Nor eye, nor listening ear, an object finds: creation sleeps."—Young. "Neither character nor dialogue was yet understood."—L. Murray's Gram., p. 151.
"The wife, where danger or dishonour lurks,
Safest and seemliest by her husband stays."—Milton, P. L., ix, 267.
OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XVII.
OBS. 1.—To this rule, so far as its application is practicable, there are properly no exceptions; for, or and nor being disjunctive conjunctions, the nominatives are of course to assume the verb separately, and as agreeing with each. Such agreement seems to be positively required by the alternativeness of the expression. Yet the ancient grammarians seldom, if at all, insisted on it. In Latin and Greek, a plural verb is often employed with singular nominatives thus connected; as,
"Tunc nec mens mini, nec color
Certa sede manent."—HORACE. See W. Allen's Gram., p. 133.
[Greek: "Ean de adelphos æ adelphæ lumnoi huparchosi, kai leipomenoi osi tæs ephæmerou trophæs."]—James, ii. 15. And the best scholars have sometimes improperly imitated this construction in English; as, "Neither Virgil nor Homer were deficient in any of the former beauties."—DRYDEN'S PREFACE: Brit. Poets, Vol. iii, p. 168. "Neither Saxon nor Roman have availed to add any idea to his [Plato's] categories."—R. W. EMERSON: Liberator, No. 996.
"He comes—nor want nor cold his course delay:
Hide, blushing Glory! hide Pultowa's day."—Dr. Johnson.
"No monstrous height, or breadth, or length, appear;
The whole at once is bold and regular."—Pope, on Crit., l. 250.
OBS. 2.—When two collective nouns of the singular form are connected by or or nor, the verb may agree with them in the plural number, because such agreement is adapted to each of them, according to Rule 15th; as, "Why mankind, or such a part of mankind, are placed in this condition."—Butler's Analogy, p. 213. "But neither the Board of Control nor the Court of Directors have any scruples about sanctioning the abuses of which I have spoken."—Glory and Shame of England, Vol. ii, p. 70.
OBS. 3.—When a verb has nominatives of different persons or numbers, connected by or or nor, an explicit concord with each is impossible; because the verb cannot be of different persons or numbers at the same time; nor is it so, even when its form is made the same in all the persons and numbers: thus, "I, thou, [or] he, may affirm; we, ye, or they, may affirm."—Beattie's Moral Science, p. 36. Respecting the proper management of the verb when its nominatives thus disagree, the views of our grammarians are not exactly coincident. Few however are ignorant enough, or rash enough, to deny that there may be an implicit or implied concord in such cases,—a zeugma of the verb in English, as well as of the verb or of the adjective in Latin or Greek. Of this, the following is a brief example: "But he nor I feel more."—Dr. Young, Night iii, p. 35. And I shall by-and-by add others—enough, I hope, to confute those false critics who condemn all such phraseology.
OBS. 4.—W. Allen's rule is this: "If the nominatives are of different numbers or persons, the verb agrees with the last; as, he or his brothers were there; neither you nor I am concerned."—English Gram., p. 133. Lindley Murray, and others, say: (1.) "When singular pronouns, or a noun and pronoun, of different persons, are disjunctively connected, the verb must agree with that person which is placed nearest to it: as, 'I or thou art to blame;' 'Thou or I am in fault;' 'I, or thou, or he, is the author of it;' 'George or I am the person.' But it would be better to say; 'Either I am to blame, or thou art,' &c. (2.) 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: as, 'Neither poverty nor riches were injurious to him;' 'I or they were offended by it.' But in this case, the plural noun or pronoun, when it can conveniently be done, should be placed next to the verb."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 151; Smith's New Gram., 128; Alger's Gram., 54; Comly's, 78 and 79; Merchant's, 86; Picket's, 175; and many more. There are other grammarians who teach, that the verb must agree with the nominative which is placed next to it, whether this be singular or plural; as, "Neither the servants nor the master is respected;"—"Neither the master nor the servants are respected."—Alexander Murray's Gram., p. 65. "But if neither the writings nor the author is in existence, the Imperfect should be used."—Sanborn's Gram., p. 107.
OBS. 5.—On this point, a new author has just given us the following precept and criticism: "Never connect by or, or nor, two or more names or substitutes that have the same asserter [i.e. verb] depending on them for sense, if when taken separately, they require different forms of the asserters. Examples. 'Neither you nor I am concerned. Either he or thou wast there. Either they or he is faulty.' These examples are as erroneous as it would be to say, 'Neither you am concerned, nor am I.' 'Either he wast there, or thou wast.' 'Either they is faulty, or he is.' The sentences should stand thus—'Neither of us is concerned,' or, 'neither are you concerned, nor am I.' 'Either he was there, or thou wast.' 'Either they are faulty, or he is. They are, however, in all their impropriety, writen [sic—KTH] according to the principles of Goold Brown's grammar! and the theories of most of the former writers."—Oliver B. Peirce's Gram., p. 252. We shall see by-and-by who is right.
OBS. 6.—Cobbett also—while he approves of such English as, "He, with them, are able to do much," for, "He and they are able to do much"—condemns expressly every possible example in which the verb has not a full and explicit concord with each of its nominatives, if they are connected by or or nor. His doctrine is this: "If nominatives of different numbers present themselves, we must not give them a verb which disagrees with either the one or the other. We must not say: 'Neither the halter nor the bayonets are sufficient to prevent us from obtaining our rights.' We must avoid this bad grammar by using a different form of words: as, 'We are to be prevented from obtaining our rights by neither the halter nor the bayonets.' And, why should we wish to write bad grammar, if we can express our meaning in good grammar?"—Cobbett's E. Gram., ¶ 242. This question would have more force, if the correction here offered did not convey a meaning widely different from that of the sentence corrected. But he goes on: "We cannot say, 'They or I am in fault; I, or they, or he, is the author of it; George or I am the person.' Mr. Lindley Murray says, that we may use these phrases; and that we have only to take care that the verb agree with that person which is placed nearest to it; but, he says also, that it would be better to avoid such phrases by giving a different turn to our words. I do not like to leave any thing to chance or to discretion, when we have a clear principle for our guide."—Ib., ¶ 243. This author's "clear principle" is merely his own confident assumption, that every form of figurative or implied agreement, every thing which the old grammarians denominated zeugma, is at once to be condemned as a solecism. He is however supported by an other late writer of much greater merit. See Churchill's New Gram., pp. 142 and 312.
OBS. 7.—If, in lieu of their fictitious examples, our grammarians would give us actual quotations from reputable authors, their instructions would doubtless gain something in accuracy, and still more in authority. "I or they were offended by it," and, "I, or thou, or he, is the author of it," are expressions that I shall not defend. They imply an egotistical speaker, who either does not know, or will not tell, whether he is offended or not,—whether he is the author or not! Again, there are expressions that are unobjectionable, and yet not conformable to any of the rules just quoted. That nominatives may be correctly connected by or or nor without an express agreement of the verb with each of them, is a point which can be proved to as full certainty as almost any other in grammar; Churchill, Cobbett, and Peirce to the contrary notwithstanding. But with which of the nominatives the verb shall expressly agree, or to which of them it may most properly be understood, is a matter not easy to be settled by any sure general rule. Nor is the lack of such a rule a very important defect, though the inculcation of a false or imperfect one may be. So judged at least the ancient grammarians, who noticed and named almost every possible form of the zeugma, without censuring any as being ungrammatical. In the Institutes of English Grammar, I noted first the usual form of this concord, and then the allowable exceptions; but a few late writers, we see, denounce every form of it, exceptions and all: and, standing alone in their notions of the figure, value their own authority more than that of all other critics together.
OBS. 8.—In English, as in other languages, when a verb has discordant nominatives connected disjunctively, it most commonly agrees expressly with that which is nearest, and only by implication, with the more remote; as, "When some word or words are dependent on the attribute."—Webster's Philos. Gram., p. 153. "To the first of these qualities, dulness or refinements are dangerous enemies."—Brown's Estimate, Vol. ii, p. 15. "He hazards his own life with that of his enemy, and one or both are very honorably murdered."—Webster's Essays, p. 235. "The consequence is, that they frown upon everyone whose faults or negligence interrupts or retards their lessons."—W. C. Woodbridge: Lit. Conv., p. 114. "Good intentions, or at least sincerity of purpose, was never denied her."—West's Letters, p. 43. "Yet this proves not that either he or we judge them to be the rule."—Barclay's Works, i, 157. "First clear yourselves of popery before you or thou dost throw it upon us."—Ib., i, 169. "Is the gospel or glad tidings of this salvation brought nigh unto all?"—Ib., i, 362. "Being persuaded, that either they, or their cause, is naught."—Ib., i, 504. "And the reader may judge whether he or I do most fully acknowledge man's fall."—Ib., iii, 332. "To do justice to the Ministry, they have not yet pretended that any one, or any two, of the three Estates, have power to make a new law, without the concurrence of the third."—Junius, Letter xvii. "The forest, or hunting-grounds, are deemed the property of the tribe."—Robertson's America, i, 313. "Birth or titles confer no preëminence."—Ib., ii, 184. "Neither tobacco nor hides were imported from Caraccas into Spain."—Ib., ii, 507. "The keys or seed-vessel of the maple has two large side-wings."—The Friend, vii, 97. "An example or two are sufficient to illustrate the general observation."—Dr. Murray's Hist. of Lang., i, 58.
"Not thou, nor those thy factious arts engage, Shall reap that harvest of rebellious rage."—Dryden, p. 60.
OBS. 9.—But when the remoter nominative is the principal word, and the nearer one is expressed parenthetically, the verb agrees literally with the former, and only by implication, with the latter; as, "One example, (or ten,) says nothing against it."—Leigh Hunt. "And we, (or future ages,) may possibly have a proof of it."—Bp. Butler. So, when the alternative is merely in the words, not in the thought, the former term is sometimes considered the principal one, and is therefore allowed to control the verb; but there is always a harshness in this mixture of different numbers, and, to render such a construction tolerable, it is necessary to read the latter term like a parenthesis, and make the former emphatic: as, "A parenthesis, or brackets, consists of two angular strokes, or hooks, enclosing one or more words."—Whiting's Reader, p. 28. "To show us that our own schemes, or prudence, have no share in our advancements."—Addison. "The Mexican figures, or picture-writing, represent things, not words; they exhibit images to the eye, not ideas to the understanding."—Murray's Gram., p. 243; English Reader, p. xiii. "At Travancore, Koprah, or dried cocoa-nut kernels, is monopolized by government."—Maunder's Gram., p. 12. "The Scriptures, or Bible, are the only authentic source."—Bp. Tomline's Evidences.
"Nor foes nor fortune take this power away;
And is my Abelard less kind than they?"—Pope, p. 334.
OBS. 10.—The English adjective being indeclinable, we have no examples of some of the forms of zeugma which occur in Latin and Greek. But adjectives differing in number, are sometimes connected without a repetition of the noun; and, in the agreement of the verb, the noun which is understood, is less apt to be regarded than that which is expressed, though the latter be more remote; as, "There are one or two small irregularities to be noted."—Lowth's Gram., p. 63. "There are one or two persons, and but one or two."—Hazlitt's Lectures. "There are one or two others."—Crombie's Treatise, p. 206. "There are one or two."—Blair's Rhet., p. 319. "There are one or more seminaries in every province."—H. E. Dwight: Lit. Conv., p. 133. "Whether one or more of the clauses are to be considered the nominative case."—Murray's Gram., Vol. i, p. 150. "So that, I believe, there is not more than one genuine example extant."—Knight, on the Greek Alphabet, p. 10. "There is, properly, no more than one pause or rest in the sentence."—Murray's Gram., Vol. i, p. 329; Blair's Rhet., p. 125. "Sometimes a small letter or two is added to the capital."—Adam's Lat. Gram., p. 223; Gould's, 283. Among the examples in the seventh paragraph above, there is one like this last, but with a plural verb; and if either is objectionable, is should here be are. The preceding example, too, is such as I would not imitate. To L. Murray, the following sentence seemed false syntax, because one does not agree with persons: "He saw one or more persons enter the garden."—Murray's Exercises, Rule 8th, p. 54. In his Key, he has it thus: "He saw one person, or more than one, enter the garden."—Oct. Gram., Vol. ii, p. 189. To me, this stiff correction, which many later grammarians have copied, seems worse than none. And the effect of the principle may be noticed in Murray's style elsewhere; as, "When a semicolon, or more than one, have preceded."—Octavo Gram., i, p. 277; Ingersoll's Gram., p. 288. Here a ready writer would be very apt to prefer one of the following phrases: "When a semicolon or two have preceded,"—"When one or two semicolons have preceded,"—"When one or more semicolons have preceded." It is better to write by guess, than to become systematically awkward in expression.
OBS. 11.—In Greek and Latin, the pronoun of the first person, according to our critics, is generally[398] placed first; as, "[Greek: Ego kai su ta dikaia poiæsomen]. Xen."—Milnes's Gr. Gram., p. 120. That is, "Ego et tu justa faciemus." Again: "Ego et Cicero valemus. Cic."—Buchanan's Pref., p. x; Adam's Gram., 206; Gould's, 203. "I and Cicero are well."—Ib. But, in English, a modest speaker usually gives to others the precedence, and mentions himself last; as, "He, or thou, or I, must go."—"Thou and I will do what is right."—"Cicero and I are well."—Dr. Adam.[399] Yet, in speaking of himself and his dependants, a person most commonly takes rank before them; as, "Your inestimable letters supported myself, my wife, and children, in adversity."—Lucien Bonaparte, Charlemagne, p. v. "And I shall be destroyed, I and my house."—Gen., xxxiv, 30. And in acknowledging a fault, misfortune, or censure, any speaker may assume the first place; as, "Both I and thou are in the fault."—Adam's Gram., p. 207. "Both I and you are in fault."—Buchanan's Syntax, p. ix. "Trusty did not do it; I and Robert did it."—Edgeworth's Stories.
"With critic scales, weighs out the partial wit,
What I, or you, or he, or no one writ."
—Lloyd's Poems, p. 162.
OBS. 12.—According to the theory of this work, verbs themselves are not unfrequently connected, one to an other, by and, or, or nor; so that two or more of them, being properly in the same construction, may be parsed as agreeing with the same nominative: as, "So that the blind and dumb [man] both spake and saw."—Matt., xii, 22. "That no one might buy or sell."—Rev., xiii, 17. "Which see not, nor hear, nor know."—Dan., v, 23. We have certainly very many examples like these, in which it is neither convenient nor necessary to suppose an ellipsis of the nominative before the latter verb, or before all but the first, as most of our grammarians do, whenever they find two or more finite verbs connected in this manner. It is true, the nominative may, in most instances, be repeated without injury to the sense; but this fact is no proof of such an ellipsis; because many a sentence which is not incomplete, may possibly take additional words without change of meaning. But these authors, (as I have already suggested under the head of conjunctions,) have not been very careful of their own consistency. If they teach, that, "Every finite verb has its own separate nominative, either expressed or implied," which idea Murray and others seem to have gathered from Lowth; or if they say, that, "Conjunctions really unite sentences, when they appear to unite only words," which notion they may have acquired from Harris; what room is there for that common assertion, that, "Conjunctions connect the same moods and tenses of verbs," which is a part of Murray's eighteenth rule, and found in most of our grammars? For no agreement is usually required between verbs that have separate nominatives; and if we supply a nominative wherever we do not find one for each verb, then in fact no two verbs will ever be connected by any conjunction.
OBS. 13.—What agreement there must be, between verbs that are in the same construction, it is not easy to determine with certainty. Some of the Latin grammarians tell us, that certain conjunctions connect "sometimes similar moods and tenses, and sometimes similar moods but different tenses." See Prat's Grammatica Latina, Octavo, Part ii, p. 95. Ruddiman, Adam, and Grant, omit the concord of tenses, and enumerate certain conjunctions which "couple like cases and moods." But all of them acknowledge some exceptions to their rules. The instructions of Lindley Murray and others, on this point, may be summed up in the following canon: "When verbs are connected by a conjunction, they must either agree in mood, tense, and form, or have separate nominatives expressed." This rule, (with a considerable exception to it, which other authors had not noticed.) was adopted by myself in the Institutes of English Grammar, and also retained in the Brief Abstract of that work, entitled, The First Lines of English Grammar. It there stands as the thirteenth in the series of principal rules; but, as there is no occasion to refer to it in the exercise of parsing, I now think, a less prominent place may suit it as well or better. The principle may be considered as being less certain and less important than most of the usual rules of syntax: I shall therefore both modify the expression of it, and place it among the notes of the present code. See Notes 5th and 6th below.
OBS. 14.—By the agreement of verbs with each other in form, it is meant, that the simple form and the compound, the familiar form and the solemn, the affirmative form and the negative, or the active form and the passive, are not to be connected without a repetition of the nominative. With respect to our language, this part of the rule is doubtless as important, and as true, as any other. A thorough agreement, then, in mood, tense, and form, is generally required, when verbs are connected by and, or, or nor; and, under each part of this concord, there may be cited certain errors which ought to be avoided, as will by-and-by be shown. But, at the same time, there seem to be many allowable violations of the rule, some or other of which may perhaps form exceptions to every part of it. For example, the tense may be varied, as it often is in Latin; thus, "As the general state of religion has been, is, or shall be, affected by them."—Butlers Analogy, p. 241. "Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shall be, because thou hast judged thus."—Rev., xvi, 5. In the former of these examples, a repetition of the nominative would not be agreeable; in the latter, it would perhaps be an improvement: as, "who art, and who wast, and who shalt be." (I here change the pronoun, because the relative which is not now applied as above.) "This dedication may serve for almost any book, that has been, or shall be published."—Campbell's Rhet. p. 207; Murray's Gram., p. 222. "It ought to be, 'has been, is, or shall be, published.'"—Crombie's Treatise, p. 383. "Truth and good sense are firm, and will establish themselves."—Blair's Rhet. p. 286. "Whereas Milton followed a different plan, and has given a tragic conclusion to a poem otherwise epic in its form."—Ib., p. 428. "I am certain, that such are not, nor ever were, the tenets of the church of England."—West's Letters, p. 148. "They deserve, and will meet with, no regard."—Blair's Rhet., p. 109.
"Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be."
—Pope, on Crit.
OBS. 15.—So verbs differing in mood or form may sometimes agree with the same nominative, if the simplest verb be placed first—rarely, I think, if the words stand in any other order: as, "One may be free from affectation and not have merit"—Blair's Rhet., p. 189. "There is, and can be, no other person."—Murray's Key. 8vo. p. 224. "To see what is, and is allowed to be, the plain natural rule."—Butler's Analogy, p. 284. "This great experiment has worked, and is working, well, every way well"—BRADBURN: Liberator, ix. 162. "This edition of Mr. Murray's works on English Grammar, deserves a place in Libraries, and will not fail to obtain it."—BRITISH CRITIC: Murray's Gram., 8vo, ii, 299.
"What nothing earthly gives, or can destroy."—Pope.
"Some are, and must be, greater than the rest."—Id.
OBS. 16.—Since most of the tenses of an English verb are composed of two or more words, to prevent a needless or disagreeable repetition of auxiliaries, participles, and principal verbs, those parts which are common to two or more verbs in the same sentence, are generally expressed to the first, and understood to the rest; or reserved, and put last, as the common supplement of each; as, "To which they do or can extend."—Butler's Analogy, p. 77. "He may, as any one may, if he will, incur an infamous execution from the hands of civil justice."—Ib., p. 82. "All that has usurped the name of virtue, and [has] deceived us by its semblance, must be a mockery and a delusion."—Dr. Chalmers. "Human praise, and human eloquence, may acknowledge it, but the Discerner of the heart never will" [acknowledge it].—Id. "We use thee not so hardly, as prouder livers do" [use thee].—Shak. "Which they might have foreseen and [might have] avoided."—Butler. "Every sincere endeavour to amend, shall be assisted, [shall be] accepted, and [shall be] rewarded."—Carter. "Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and [will] stand and [will] call on the name of the Lord his God, and [will] strike his hand over the place, and [will] recover the leper."—2 Kings, v, 11. "They mean to, and will, hear patiently."—Salem Register. That is, "They mean to hear patiently, and they will hear patiently." "He can create, and he destroy."—Bible. That is,—"and he can destroy."
"Virtue may be assail'd, but never hurt,
Surpris'd by unjust force, but not inthrall'd."—Milton.
"Mortals whose pleasures are their only care,
First wish to be imposed on, and then are."—Cowper.
OBS. 17.—From the foregoing examples, it may be seen, that the complex and divisible structure of the English moods and tenses, produces, when verbs are connected together, a striking peculiarity of construction in our language, as compared with the nearest corresponding construction in Latin or Greek. For we can connect different auxiliaries, participles, or principal verbs, without repeating, and apparently without connecting, the other parts of the mood or tense. And although it is commonly supposed that these parts are necessarily understood wherever they are not repeated, there are sentences, and those not a few, in which we cannot express them, without inserting also an additional nominative, and producing distinct clauses; as, "Should it not be taken up and pursued?"—Dr. Chalmers. "Where thieves do not break through nor steal."—Matt., vi, 20. "None present could either read or explain the writing-."—Wood's Dict., Vol. i, p. 159. Thus we sometimes make a single auxiliary an index to the mood and tense of more than one verb.
OBS. 18.—The verb do, which is sometimes an auxiliary and sometimes a principal verb, is thought by some grammarians to be also fitly made a substitute for other verbs, as a pronoun is for nouns; but this doctrine has not been taught with accuracy, and the practice under it will in many instances be found to involve a solecism. In this kind of substitution, there must either be a true ellipsis of the principal verb, so that do is only an auxiliary; or else the verb do, with its object or adverb, if it need one, must exactly correspond to an action described before; so that to speak of doing this or thus, is merely the shortest way of repeating the idea: as, "He loves not plays, as thou dost. Antony."—Shak. That is, "as thou dost love plays." "This fellow is wise enough to play the fool; and, to do that well, craves a kind of wit."—Id. Here, "to do that," is, "to play the fool." "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."—Gen., xviii, 30. Do what? Destroy the city, as had been threatened. Where do is an auxiliary, there is no real substitution; and, in the other instances, it is not properly the verb do, that is the substitute, but rather the word that follows it—or perhaps, both. For, since every action consists in doing something or in doing somehow, this general verb do, with this, that, it, thus, or so, to identify the action, may assume the import of many a longer phrase. But care must be taken not to substitute this verb for any term to which it is not equivalent; as, "The a is certainly to be sounded as the English do."—Walker's Dict., w. A. Say, "as the English sound it;" for do is here absurd, and grossly solecistical. "The duke had not behaved with that loyalty with which he ought to have done."—Lowth's Gram., p. 111; Murray's, i, 212; Churchill's, 355; Fisk's, 137; Ingersoll's, 269. Say, "with which he ought to have behaved;" for, to have done with loyalty is not what was meant—far from it. Clarendon wrote the text thus: "The Duke had not behaved with that loyalty, as he ought to have done." This should have been corrected, not by changing "as" to "with which", but by saying—"with that loyalty which he ought to have observed;" or, "which would have become him".
OBS. 19.—It is little to the credit of our grammarians, to find so many of them thus concurring in the same obvious error, and even making bad English worse. The very examples which have hitherto been given to prove that do may be a substitute for other verbs, are none of them in point, and all of them have been constantly and shamefully misinterpreted. Thus: "They [do and did] sometimes also supply the place of another verb, and make the repetition of it, in the same or a subsequent sentence, unnecessary: as, 'You attend not to your studies as he does;' (i. e. as he attends, &c.) 'I shall come if I can; but if I do not, please to excuse me;' (i. e. if I come not.)"—L. Murray's Gram., Vol. i, p. 88; R. C. Smith's, 88; Ingersoll's, 135; Fisk's, 78; A. Flint's, 41; Hiley's, 30. This remark, but not the examples, was taken from Lowths Gram., p. 41. Churchill varies it thus, and retains Lowth's example: "It [i. e., do] is used also, to supply the place of another verb, in order to avoid the repetition of it: as, 'He loves not plays, As thou dost, Antony.' SHAKS."—New Gram., p. 96. Greenleaf says, "To prevent the repetition of one or more verbs, in the same, or [a] following sentence, we frequently make use of do AND did; as, 'Jack learns the English language as fast as Henry does;' that is, 'as fast as Henry learns.' 'I shall come if I can; but if I do not, please to excuse me;' that is, 'if I come not.'"—Gram. Simplified, p. 27. Sanborn says, "Do is also used instead of another verb, and not unfrequently instead of both the verb and its object; as, 'he loves work as well as you do;' that is, as well as you love work."—Analyt. Gram., p. 112. Now all these interpretations are wrong; the word do, dost, or does, being simply an auxiliary, after which the principal verb (with its object where it has one) is understood. But the first example is bad English, and its explanation is still worse. For, "As he attends, &c.," means, "As he attends to your studies!" And what good sense is there in this? The sentence ought to have been, "You do not attend to your studies, as he does to his." That is—"as he does attend to his studies." This plainly shows that there is, in the text, no real substitution of does for attends. So of all other examples exhibited in our grammars, under this head: there is nothing to the purpose, in any of them; the common principle of ellipsis resolves them all. Yet, strange to say, in the latest and most learned of this sort of text-books, we find the same sham example, fictitious and solecistical as it is, still blindly repeated, to show that "does" is not in its own place, as an auxiliary, but "supplies the place of another verb."—Fowler's E. Gram., 8vo. 1850. p. 265.
NOTES TO RULE XVII.
NOTE I.—When a verb has nominatives of different persons or numbers,[400] connected by or or nor, it must agree with the nearest, (unless an other be the principal term,) and must be understood to the rest, in the person and number required; as, "Neither you nor I am concerned."—W. Allen. "That neither they nor ye also die."—Numb., xviii, 3.
"But neither god, nor shrine, nor mystic rite,
Their city, nor her walls, his soul delight."
—Rowe's Lucan, B. x, l. 26.
NOTE II.—But, since all nominatives that require different forms of the verb, virtually produce separate clauses or propositions, it is better to complete the concord whenever we conveniently can, by expressing the verb or its auxiliary in connexion with each of them; as, "Either thou art to blame, or I am."—Comly's Gram., p. 78. "Neither were their numbers, nor was their destination, known."—W. Allen's Gram., p. 134. So in clauses connected by and: as, "But declamation is idle, and murmurs fruitless."—Webster's Essays, p. 82. Say,—"and murmurs are fruitless."
NOTE III.—In English, the speaker should always mention himself last; unless his own superior dignity, or the confessional nature of the expression, warrant him in taking the precedence: as, "Thou or I must go."—"He then addressed his discourse to my father and me."—"Ellen and I will seek, apart, the refuge of some forest cell."—Scott. See Obs. 11th above.
NOTE IV.—Two or more distinct subject phrases connected by or or nor, require a singular verb; and, if a nominative come after the verb, that must be singular also: as, "That a drunkard should be poor, or that a fop should be ignorant, is not strange."—"To give an affront, or to take one tamely, is no mark of a great mind." So, when the phrases are unconnected: as, "To spread suspicion, to invent calumnies, to propagate scandal, requires neither labour nor courage."—Rambler, No. 183.
NOTE V.—In general, when verbs are connected by and, or, or nor, they must either agree in mood, tense, and form, or the simplest in form must be placed first; as, "So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh."—Isaiah, xxxvii, 37. "For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die."—Acts, xxv, 11.
NOTE VI.—In stead of conjoining discordant verbs, it is in general better to repeat the nominative or insert a new one; as, "He was greatly heated, and [he] drank with avidity."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 201. "A person may be great or rich by chance; but cannot be wise or good, without taking pains for it."—Ib., p. 200. Say,—"but no one can be wise or good, without taking pains for it."
NOTE VII.—A mixture of the forms of the solemn style and the familiar, is inelegant, whether the verbs refer to the same nominative or have different ones expressed; as, "What appears tottering and in hazard of tumbling, produceth in the spectator the painful emotion of fear."—Kames, El. of Crit., ii, 356. "And the milkmaid singeth blithe, And the mower whets his sithe."—Milton's Allegro, l. 65 and 66.
NOTE VIII.—To use different moods under precisely the same circumstances, is improper, even if the verbs have separate nominatives; as, "Bating that one speak and an other answers, it is quite the same."—Blair's Rhet., p. 368. Say,—"that one speaks;" for both the speaking and the answering are assumed as facts.
NOTE IX.—When two terms are connected, which involve different forms of the same verb, such parts of the compound tenses as are not common to both forms, should be inserted in full: except sometimes after the auxiliary do; as, "And then he falls, as I do."—Shak. That is, "as I do fall." The following sentences are therefore faulty: "I think myself highly obliged to make his fortune, as he has mine."—Spect., No. 474. Say,—"as he has made mine." "Every attempt to remove them, has, and likely will prove unsuccessful."—Gay's Prosodical Gram., p. 4. Say,—"has proved, and likely will prove, unsuccessful."
NOTE X.—The verb do must never be substituted for any term to which its own meaning is not adapted; nor is there any use in putting it for a preceding verb that is equally short: as, "When we see how confidently men rest on groundless surmises in reference to their own souls, we cannot wonder that they do it in reference to others."—Simeon. Better:—"that they so rest in reference to the souls of others;" for this repeats the idea with more exactness. NOTE XI.—The preterit should not be employed to form the compound tenses of the verb; nor should the perfect participle be used for the preterit or confounded with the present. Thus: say, "To have gone," not, "To have went;" and, "I did so," not, "I done so;" or, "He saw them," not, "He seen them." Again: say not, "It was lift or hoist up;" but, "It was lifted or hoisted up."
NOTE XII.—Care should be taken, to give every verb or participle its appropriate form, and not to confound those which resemble each other; as, to flee and to fly, to lay and to lie, to sit and to set, to fall and to fell, &c. Thus: say, "He lay by the fire;" not, "He laid by the fire;"—"He has become rich;" not, "He is become rich;"—"I would rather stay;" not, "I had rather stay."
NOTE XIII.—In the syntax of words that express time, whether they be verbs, adverbs, or nouns, the order and fitness of time should be observed, that the tenses may be used according to their import. Thus: in stead of, "I have seen him last week;" say, "I saw him last week;"—and, in stead of, "I saw him this week;" say, "I have seen him this week." So, in stead of, "I told you already;" or, "I have told you before;" say, "I have told you already;"—"I told you before."
NOTE XIV.—Verbs of commanding, desiring, expecting, hoping, intending, permitting, and some others, in all their tenses, refer to actions or events, relatively present or future: one should therefore say, "I hoped you would come;" not, "I hoped you would have come;"—and, "I intended to do it;" not, "I intended to have done it;"—&c.
NOTE XV.—Propositions that are as true now as they ever were or will be, should generally be expressed in the present tense: as, "He seemed hardly to know, that two and two make four;" not, "made."—Blair's Gram., p. 65. "He will tell you, that whatever is, is right." Sometimes the present tense is improper with the conjunction that, though it would be quite proper without it; as, "Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet."—Mark, vi, 15. Here That should be omitted, or else is should be was. The capital T is also improper.
IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.
FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XVII.
UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.—NOMINATIVES CONNECTED BY OR.
"We do not know in what either reason or instinct consist."—Rambler, No. 41.
[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the verb consist is of the plural number, and does not correctly agree with its two nominatives, reason and instinct, which are connected by or, and taken disjunctively. But, according to Rule 17th, "When a verb has two or more nominatives connected by or or nor, it must agree with them singly, and not as if taken together." Therefore, consist should be consists; thus, "We do not know in what either reason or instinct consists."]
"A noun or a pronoun joined with a participle, constitute a nominative case absolute."—Bicknell's Gram., Part ii, p. 50. "The relative will be of that case, which the verb or noun following, or the preposition going before, use to govern."—Dr. Adam's Gram., p. 203. "Which the verb or noun following, or the preposition going before, usually govern."—Gould's Adam's Gram., p. 200.[401] "In the different modes of pronunciation which habit or caprice give rise to."—Knight, on the Greek Alphabet, p. 14. "By which he, or his deputy, were authorized to cut down any trees in Whittlebury forest."—Junius, p. 251. "Wherever objects were to be named, in which sound, noise, or motion were concerned, the imitation by words was abundantly obvious."—Blair's Rhet., p. 55. "The pleasure or pain resulting from a train of perceptions in different circumstances, are a beautiful contrivance of nature for valuable purposes."—Kames, El. of Crit., i, 262. "Because their foolish vanity or their criminal ambition represent the principles by which they are influenced, as absolutely perfect."—Life of Madame De Stael, p. 2. "Hence naturally arise indifference or aversion between the parties."—Brown's Estimate, ii, 37. "A penitent unbeliever, or an impenitent believer, are characters no where to be found."—Tract, No. 183. "Copying whatever is peculiar in the talk of all those whose birth or fortune entitle them to imitation."—Rambler, No. 194. "Where love, hatred, fear, or contempt, are often of decisive influence."—Duncan's Cicero, p. 119. "A lucky anecdote, or an enlivening tale relieve the folio page."—D'Israeli's Curiosities, Vol. i, p. 15. "For outward matter or event, fashion not the character within."—Book of Thoughts, p. 37. "Yet sometimes we have seen that wine, or chance, have warmed cold brains."—Dryden's Poems, p. 76. "Motion is a Genus; Flight, a Species; this Flight or that Flight are Individuals."—Harris's Hermes, p. 38. "When et, aut, vel, sine, or nec, are joined to different members of the same sentence."—Adam's Lat. and Eng. Gram., p. 206; Gould's Lat. Gram., 203; Grant's, 266. "Wisdom or folly govern us."—Fisk's English Gram., 84. "A or an are styled indefinite articles."—Folker's Gram., p. 4. "A rusty nail, or a crooked pin, shoot up into prodigies."—Spectator, No. 7. "Are either the subject or the predicate in the second sentence modified?"—Fowler's E. Gram., 8vo, 1850, p. 578, §589.
"Praise from a friend, or censure from a foe,
Are lost on hearers that our merits know."
—Pope, Iliad, B. x, l. 293.
UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.—NOMINATIVES CONNECTED BY NOR.
"Neither he nor she have spoken to him."—Perrin's Gram., p. 237. "For want of a process of events, neither knowledge nor elegance preserve the reader from weariness."—JOHNSON: in Crabb's Syn., p. 511. "Neither history nor tradition furnish such information."—Robertson's Amer., Vol. i, p. 2. "Neither the form nor power of the liquids have varied materially."—Knight, on the Greek Alph., p. 16. "Where neither noise nor motion are concerned."—Blair's Rhet., p. 55. "Neither Charles nor his brother were qualified to support such a system."—Junius, p. 250. "When, therefore, neither the liveliness of representation, nor the warmth of passion, serve, as it were, to cover the trespass, it is not safe to leave the beaten track."—Campbell's Rhet., p. 381. "In many countries called Christian, neither Christianity, nor its evidence, are fairly laid before men."—Butler's Analogy, p. 269. "Neither the intellect nor the heart are capable of being driven."—Abbott's Teacher, p. 20. "Throughout this hymn, neither Apollo nor Diana are in any way connected with the Sun or Moon."—Coleridge's Introd., p. 199. "Of which, neither he, nor this Grammar, take any notice."—Johnson's Gram. Com., p. 346. "Neither their solicitude nor their foresight extend so far."—Robertson's Amer., Vol. i, p. 287. "Neither Gomara, nor Oviedo, nor Herrera, consider Ojeda, or his companion Vespucci, as the first discoverers of the continent of America."—Ib., Vol. i, p. 471. "Neither the general situation of our colonies, nor that particular distress which forced the inhabitants of Boston to take up arms, have been thought worthy of a moment's consideration."—Junius, p. 174.
"Nor War nor Wisdom yield our Jews delight,
They will not study, and they dare not fight."
—Crabbe's Borough, p. 50.
"Nor time nor chance breed such confusions yet,
Nor are the mean so rais'd, nor sunk the great."
—Rowe's Lucan, B. iii, l. 213.
UNDER NOTE I.—NOMINATIVES THAT DISAGREE.
"The definite article the, designates what particular thing or things is meant."—Merchant's School Gram., p. 23 and p. 33. "Sometimes a word or words necessary to complete the grammatical construction of a sentence, is not expressed, but omitted by ellipsis."—Burr's Gram., p. 26. "Ellipsis, or abbreviations, is the wheels of language."—Maunder's Gram., p. 12. "The conditions or tenor of none of them appear at this day."—Hutchinson's Hist. of Mass., Vol. i, p. 16. "Neither men nor money were wanting for the service."—Ib., Vol. i, p. 279. "Either our own feelings, or the representation of those of others, require frequent emphatic distinction."—Barber's Exercises, p. 13. "Either Atoms and Chance, or Nature are uppermost: now I am for the latter part of the disjunction,"—Collier's Antoninus, p. 181. "Their riches or poverty are generally proportioned to their activity or indolence."—Ross Cox's Narrative. "Concerning the other part of him, neither you nor he seem to have entertained an idea."—Bp. Horne. "Whose earnings or income are so small."—N. E. Discipline, p. 130. "Neither riches nor fame render a man happy."—Day's Gram., p. 71. "The references to the pages, always point to the first volume, unless the Exercises or Key are mentioned."—Murray's Gram., Vol. ii, p. 283.
UNDER NOTE II.—COMPLETE THE CONCORD.
"My lord, you wrong my father; nor he nor I are capable of harbouring a thought against your peace."—Walpole. "There was no division of acts; no pauses or interval between them; but the stage was continually full; occupied either by the actors, or the chorus."—Blair's Rhet., p. 463. "Every word ending in B, P, F, as also many in V, are of this order."—Dr. Murray's Hist. of Lang., i, 73. "As proud as we are of human reason, nothing can be more absurd than the general system of human life and human knowledge."—Bolingbroke, on Hist., p. 347. "By which the body of sin and death is done away, and we cleansed."—Barclay's Works, i, 165. "And those were already converted, and regeneration begun in them."—Ib., iii, 433. "For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years."—Luke, i, 18. "Who is my mother, or my brethren?"—Mark, iii, 33. "Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering."—Isaiah, xl, 16. "Information has been obtained, and some trials made."—Society in America, i, 308. "It is as obvious, and its causes more easily understood."—Webster's Essays, p. 84. "All languages furnish examples of this kind, and the English as many as any other."—Priestley's Gram., p. 157. "The winters are long, and the cold intense."—Morse's Geog., p. 39. "How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!"—Prov., v, 12. "The vestals were abolished by Theodosius the Great, and the fire of Vesta extinguished."—Lempriere, w. Vestales. "Riches beget pride; pride, impatience."—Bullions's Practical Lessons, p. 89. "Grammar is not reasoning, any more than organization is thought, or letters sounds."—Enclytica, p. 90. "Words are implements, and grammar a machine."—Ib., p. 91.
UNDER NOTE III.—PLACE OF THE FIRST PERSON.
"I or thou art the person who must undertake the business proposed."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 184. "I and he were there."—Dr. Ash's Gram., p. 51. "And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he."—Gen., xli, 11. "If my views remain the same as mine and his were in 1833."—GOODELL: Liberator, ix, 148. "I and my father were riding out."—Inst., p. 158. "The premiums were given to me and George."—Ib. "I and Jane are invited."—Ib. "They ought to invite me and my sister."—Ib. "I and you intend going."—Guy's Gram., p. 55. "I and John are going to Town."—British Gram., p. 193. "I, and he are sick. I, and thou are well."—James Brown's American Gram., Boston Edition of 1841, p. 123. "I, and he is. I, and thou art. I, and he writes."—Ib., p. 126. "I, and they are well. I, thou, and she were walking."—Ib., p. 127.
UNDER NOTE IV.—DISTINCT SUBJECT PHRASES.
"To practise tale-bearing, or even to countenance it, are great injustice."—Brown's Inst., p. 159. "To reveal secrets, or to betray one's friends, are contemptible perfidy."—Ib. "To write all substantives with capital letters, or to exclude them from adjectives derived from proper names, may perhaps be thought offences too small for animadversion; but the evil of innovation is always something."—Dr. Barrow's Essays, p. 88. "To live in such families, or to have such servants, are blessings from God."—Family Commentary, p. 64. "How they portioned out the country, what revolutions they experienced, or what wars they maintained, are utterly unknown."—Goldsmith's Greece, Vol. i, p. 4. "To speak or to write perspicuously and agreeably, are attainments of the utmost consequence to all who purpose, either by speech or writing, to address the public."—Blair's Rhet., p. 11.
UNDER NOTE V.—MAKE THE VERBS AGREE.
"Doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?"—Matt., xviii, 12. "Did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced?"—Jer., xxvi, 19. "And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgement with thee?"—Job, xiv, 3. "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain."—James, i, 26. "If thou sell aught unto thy neighbour, or buyest aught of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one an other."—Leviticus, xxv, 14. "And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee, shall have become poor, and be sold to thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant."—WEBSTER'S BIBLE: Lev., xxv, 39. "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee," &c.—Matt., v, 23. "Anthea was content to call a coach, and crossed the brook."—Rambler, No. 34. "It is either totally suppressed, or appears in its lowest and most imperfect form."—Blair's Rhet., p. 23. "But if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth."—John, ix, 31. "Whereby his righteousness and obedience, death and sufferings without, become profitable unto us, and is made ours."—Barclay's Works, i, 164. "Who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had aught against me."—Acts, xxiv, 19.
"Yes! thy proud lords, unpitied land, shall see
That man hath yet a soul, and dare be free."—Campbell.
UNDER NOTE VI.—USE SEPARATE NOMINATIVES.
"H is only an aspiration or breathing; and sometimes at the beginning of a word is not sounded at all."—Lowth's Gram., p. 4. "Man was made for society, and ought to extend his good will to all men."—Ib., p. 12; Murray's, i, 170. "There is, and must be, a supreme being, of infinite goodness, power, and wisdom, who created and supports them."—Beattie's Moral Science, p. 201. "Were you not affrighted, and mistook a spirit for a body?"—Watson's Apology, p. 122. "The latter noun or pronoun is not governed by the conjunction than or as, but agrees with the verb, or is governed by the verb or the preposition, expressed or understood."— Murray's Gram., p. 214; Russell's, 103; Bacon's, 51; Alger's, 71; R. C. Smith's, 179. "He had mistaken his true interests, and found himself forsaken."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 201. "The amputation was exceedingly well performed, and saved the patient's life."—Ib., p. 191. "The intentions of some of these philosophers, nay, of many [,] might have been, and probably were good."—Ib., p. 216. "This may be true, and yet will not justify the practice."—Webster's Essays, p. 33. "From the practice of those who have had a liberal education, and are therefore presumed to be best acquainted with men and things."—Campbell's Rhet., p. 161. "For those energies and bounties which created and preserve the universe."—J. Q. Adams's Rhet., i, 327. "I shall make it once for all and hope it will be afterwards remembered."—Blair's Lect., p. 45. "This consequence is drawn too abruptly, and needed more explanation."—Ib., p. 229. "They must be used with more caution, and require more preparation."— Ib., p. 153. "The apostrophe denotes the omission of an i, which was formerly inserted, and made an addition of a syllable to the word."— Priestley's Gram., p. 67. "The succession may be rendered more various or more uniform, but in one shape or an other is unavoidable."—Kames, El. of Crit., i. 253. "It excites neither terror nor compassion, nor is agreeable in any respect."—Ib., ii, 277.
"Cheap vulgar arts, whose narrowness affords
No flight for thoughts, but poorly stick at words."—Denham.
UNDER NOTE VII.—MIXTURE OF DIFFERENT STYLES.
"Let us read the living page, whose every character delighteth and instructs us."—Maunder's Gram., p. 5. "For if it be in any degree obscure, it puzzles, and doth not please."—Kames, El. of Crit., ii, 357. "When a speaker addresseth himself to the understanding, he proposes the instruction of his hearers."—Campbell's Rhet., p. 13. "As the wine which strengthens and refresheth the heart."—H. Adams's View, p. 221. "This truth he wrappeth in an allegory, and feigns that one of the goddesses had taken up her abode with the other."—Pope's Works, iii, 46. "God searcheth and understands the heart."—Thomas à Kempis. "The grace of God, that brings salvation hath appeared to all men."—Barclays Works, i, 366. "Also we speak not in the words, which man's wisdom teaches; but which the Holy Ghost teacheth."—Ib., i, 388. "But he hath an objection, which he urgeth, and by which he thinks to overturn all."—Ib., iii, 327. "In that it gives them not that comfort and joy which it giveth unto them who love it."—Ib., i, 142. "Thou here misunderstood the place and misappliedst it."—Ib., iii, 38. "Like the barren heath in the desert, which knoweth not when good comes."—Friends' Extracts, p. 128; N. E. Discip., p. 75. "It speaketh of the time past, but shews that something was then doing, but not quite finished."—E. Devis's Gram., p. 42. "It subsists in spite of them; it advanceth unobserved."—PASCAL: Addison's Evidences, p. 17.
"But where is he, the Pilgrim of my song?—
Methinks he cometh late and tarries long."—Byron, Cant. iv, St. 164.
UNDER NOTE VII.—CONFUSION OF MOODS.
"If a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them is gone astray, &c."—Kirkham's Gram., p. 227 with 197. "As a speaker advances in his discourse, especially if it be somewhat impassioned, and increases in energy and earnestness, a higher and louder tone will naturally steal upon him."—Kirkham's Elocution, p. 68. "If one man esteem a day above another, and another esteemeth every day alike; let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."—Barclay's Works, i, 439. "If there be but one body of legislators, it is no better than a tyranny; if there are only two, there will want a casting voice."—Addison, Spect., No. 287. "Should you come up this way, and I am still here, you need not be assured how glad I shall be to see you."—Ld. Byron. "If he repent and becomes holy, let him enjoy God and heaven."—Brownson's Elwood, p. 248. "If thy fellow approach thee, naked and destitute, and thou shouldst say unto him, 'Depart in peace; be you warmed and filled;' and yet shouldst give him not those things that are needful to him, what benevolence is there in thy conduct?"—Kirkham's Elocution, p. 108.
"Get on your nightgown, lost occasion calls us.
And show us to be watchers."
—Beauties of Shakspeare, p. 278.
"But if it climb, with your assisting hands,
The Trojan walls, and in the city stands."
—Dryden's Virgil, ii, 145.
—————————————"Though Heaven's king
Ride on thy wings, and thou with thy compeers,
Us'd to the yoke, draw'st his triumphant wheels."
—Milton, P. L., iv, l. 973.
"Us'd to the yoke, draw'dst his triumphant wheels."
—Lowth's Gram., p. 106.
UNDER NOTE IX.—IMPROPER ELLIPSES.
"Indeed we have seriously wondered that Murray should leave some things as he has."—Education Reporter. "Which they neither have nor can do."—Barclay's Works, iii, 73. "The Lord hath, and doth, and will reveal his will to his people, and hath and doth raise up members of his body," &c.—Ib., i, 484. "We see then, that the Lord hath, and doth give such."—Ib., i, 484. "Towards those that have or do declare themselves members."—Ib., i, 494. "For which we can, and have given our sufficient reasons."—Ib., i, 507. "When we mention the several properties of the different words in sentences, in the same manner as we have those of William's, above, what is the exercise called?"—Smith's New Gram., p. 12. "It is, however to be doubted whether this peculiarity of the Greek idiom, ever has or will obtain extensively in the English."—Nutting's Gram., p. 47. "Why did not the Greeks and Romans abound in auxiliary words as much as we?"—Murray's Gram., Vol. i, p. 111. "Who delivers his sentiments in earnest, as they ought to be in order to move and persuade."—Kirkham's Elocution, p. 151.
UNDER NOTE X.—DO, USED AS A SUBSTITUTE.
"And I would avoid it altogether, if it could be done."—Kames, El. of Crit., i, 36. "Such a sentiment from a man expiring of his wounds, is truly heroic, and must elevate the mind to the greatest height that can be done by a single expression."—Ib., i, 204. "Successive images making thus deeper and deeper impressions, must elevate more than any single image can do."—Ib., i, 205. "Besides making a deeper impression than can be done by cool reasoning."—Ib., ii, 273. "Yet a poet, by the force of genius alone, can rise higher than a public speaker can do."—Blair's Rhet., p. 338. "And the very same reason that has induced several grammarians to go so far as they have done, should have induced them to go farther."—Priestley's Gram., Pref., p. vii. "The pupil should commit the first section perfectly, before he does the second part of grammar."— Bradley's Gram., p. 77. "The Greek ch was pronounced hard, as we now do in chord."—Booth's Introd. to Dict., p. 61. "They pronounce the syllables in a different manner from what they do at other times."— Murray's Eng. Reader, p. xi. "And give him the formal cool reception that Simon had done."—Dr. Scott, on Luke, vii. "I do not say, as some have done."—Bolingbroke, on Hist., p. 271. "If he suppose the first, he may do the last."—Barclay's Works, ii, 406. "Who are now despising Christ in his inward appearance, as the Jews of old did him in his outward."—Ib., i, 506. "That text of Revelations must not be understood, as he doth it."— Ib., iii, 309. "Till the mode of parsing the noun is so familiar to him, that he can do it readily."—Smith's New Gram., p. 13. "Perhaps it is running the same course which Rome had done before."—Middleton's Life of Cicero. "It ought even on this ground to be avoided; which may easily be done by a different construction."—Churchill's Gram., p. 312. "These two languages are now pronounced in England as no other nation in Europe does besides."—Creighton's Dict., p. xi. "Germany ran the same risk that Italy had done."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 211: see Priestley's Gram., p. 196.
UNDER NOTE XI.—PRETERITS AND PARTICIPLES.
"The Beggars themselves will be broke in a trice."—Swift's Poems, p. 347. "The hoop is hoist above his nose."—Ib., p. 404. "My heart was lift up in the ways of the Lord. 2 CHRON."—Joh. Dict., w. Lift. "Who sin so oft have mourned, Yet to temptation ran."—Burns. "Who would not have let them appeared."—Steele. "He would have had you sought for ease at the hands of Mr. Legality."—Pilgrim's Progress, p. 31. "From me his madding mind is start, And wooes the widow's daughter of the glen."—SPENSER: Joh. Dict., w. Glen. "The man has spoke, and still speaks."—Ash's Gram., p. 54. "For you have but mistook me all this while."—Beauties of Shak., p. 114. "And will you rent our ancient love asunder."—Ib., p. 52. "Mr. Birney has plead the inexpediency of passing such resolutions."— Liberator, Vol. xiii, p. 194. "Who have wore out their years in such most painful Labours."—Littleton's Dict., Pref. "And in the conclusion you were chose probationer."—Spectator, No. 32.
"How she was lost, took captive, made a slave;
And how against him set that should her save."—Bunyan.
UNDER NOTE XII.—VERBS CONFOUNDED.
"But Moses preferred to wile away his time."—Parker's English Composition, p. 15. "His face shown with the rays of the sun."—Calvin's Inst., 4to, p. 76. "Whom they had sat at defiance so lately."— Bolingbroke, on Hist., p. 320. "And when he was set, his disciples came unto him."—Matt., v, 1. "When he was set down on the judgement-seat."— Ib., xxvii, 19. "And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them."—Luke, xxii, 55. "So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?"—John, xiii, 12. "Even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."—Rev., iii, 21. "We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens."— Heb., viii, 1. "And is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."—Ib., xii, 2.[402] "He sat on foot a furious persecution."— Payne's Geog., ii, 418. "There layeth an obligation upon the saints, to help such."—Barclay's Works, i, 389. "There let him lay."—Byron's Pilgrimage, C. iv, st. 180. "Nothing but moss, and shrubs, and stinted trees, can grow upon it."—Morse's Geog., p. 43. "Who had lain out considerable sums purely to distinguish themselves."—Goldsmith's Greece, i, 132. "Whereunto the righteous fly and are safe."—Barclay's Works, i, 146. "He raiseth from supper, and laid aside his garments."—Ib., i, 438. "Whither—Oh! whither shall I fly?"—Murray's English Reader, p. 123. "Flying from an adopted murderer."—Ib., p. 122. "To you I fly for refuge."—Ib., p. 124. "The sign that should warn his disciples to fly from approaching ruin."—Keith's Evidences, p. 62. "In one she sets as a prototype for exact imitation."—Rush, on the Voice, p. xxiii. "In which some only bleat, bark, mew, winnow, and bray, a little better than others."—Ib., p. 90. "Who represented to him the unreasonableness of being effected with such unmanly fears."—Rollin's Hist., ii, 106. "Thou sawedst every action."—Guy's School Gram., p. 46. "I taught, thou taughtedst, he or she taught."—Coar's Gram., p. 79. "Valerian is taken by Sapor and flead alive, A. D. 260."—Lempriere's Chron. Table, Dict., p. xix. "What a fine vehicle is it now become for all conceptions of the mind!"—Blair's Rhet., p. 139. "What are become of so many productions?" —Volney's Ruins, p. 8. "What are become of those ages of abundance and of life?"—Keith's Evidences, p. 107. "The Spartan admiral was sailed to the Hellespont."—Goldsmiths Greece, i, 150. "As soon as he was landed, the multitude thronged about him."—Ib., i, 160. "Cyrus was arrived at Sardis."—Ib., i, 161. "Whose year was expired."—Ib., i, 162. "It had better have been, 'that faction which.'"—Priestley's Gram., p. 97. "This people is become a great nation."—Murray's Gram., p. 153; Ingersoll's, 249. "And here we are got into the region of ornament."—Blair's Rhet., p. 181. "The ungraceful parenthesis which follows, had far better have been avoided."—Ib., p. 215. "Who forced him under water, and there held him until drounded."—Indian Wars, p. 55.
"I had much rather be myself the slave,
And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him."—Cowper.
UNDER NOTE XIII.—WORDS THAT EXPRESS TIME.
"I had finished my letter before my brother arrived."—Kirkham's Gram., p. 139. "I had written before I received his letter."—Blair's Rhet., p. 82. "From what has been formerly delivered."—Ib., p. 182. "Arts were of late introduced among them."—Ib., p. 245. "I am not of opinion that such rules can be of much use, unless persons saw them exemplified."—Ib., p. 336. "If we use the noun itself, we should say, 'This composition is John's.' "—Murray's Gram., p. 174. "But if the assertion referred to something, that is not always the same, or supposed to be so, the past tense must be applied."—Ib., p. 191. "They told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by."—Luke, xviii, 37. "There is no particular intimation but that I continued to work, even to the present moment."—R. W. Green's Gram., p. 39. "Generally, as was observed already, it is but hinted in a single word or phrase."—Campbell's Rhet., p. 36. "The wittiness of the passage was already illustrated."—Ib., p. 36. "As was observed already."—Ib., p. 56. "It was said already in general."—Ib., p. 95. "As I hinted already."—Ib., p. 134. "What I believe was hinted once already."—Ib., p. 148. "It is obvious, as hath been hinted formerly, that this is but an artificial and arbitrary connexion."—Ib., p. 282. "They have done anciently a great deal of hurt."—Bolingbroke, on Hist., p. 109. "Then said Paul, I knew not, brethren, that he is the High Priest."—Dr. Webster's Bible: Acts, xxiii, 5. "Most prepositions originally denote the relation of place, and have been thence transferred to denote by similitude other relations."—Lowth's Gram., p. 65; Churchill's, 116. "His gift was but a poor offering, when we consider his estate."—Murray's Key, 8vo, p. 194. "If he should succeed, and should obtain his end, he will not be the happier for it."—Murray's Gram., i, p. 207. "These are torrents that swell to-day, and have spent themselves by to-morrow."—Blair's Rhet., p. 286. "Who have called that wheat to-day, which they have called tares to-morrow."—Barclay's Works, iii. 168. "He thought it had been one of his tenants."—Ib., i, 11. "But if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent."—Luke, xvi, 30. "Neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."—Ib., verse 31. "But it is while men slept that the archenemy has always sown his tares."—The Friend, x, 351. "Crescens would not fail to have exposed him."—Addison's Evidences, p. 30.
"Bent was his bow, the Grecian hearts to wound;
Fierce as he mov'd, his silver shafts resound."
—Pope, Iliad, B. i, l. 64.
UNDER NOTE XIV.—VERBS OF COMMANDING, &c.
"Had I commanded you to have done this, you would have thought hard of it."—G. B. "I found him better than I expected to have found him."—Priestley's Gram., p. 126. "There are several smaller faults, which I at first intended to have enumerated."—Webster's Essays, p. 246. "Antithesis, therefore, may, on many occasions, be employed to advantage, in order to strengthen the impression which we intend that any object should make."—Blair's Rhet., p. 168. "The girl said, if her master would but have let her had money, she might have been well long ago."—See Priestley's Gram., p. 127. "Nor is there the least ground to fear, that we should be cramped here within too narrow limits."—Campbell's Rhet., p. 163; Murray's Gram., i, 360. "The Romans, flushed with success, expected to have retaken it."—Hooke's Hist., p. 37. "I would not have let fallen an unseasonable pleasantry in the venerable presence of Misery, to be entitled to all the wit that ever Rabelais scattered."—STERNE: Enfield's Speaker, p. 54. "We expected that he would have arrived last night."—Inst. p. 192. "Our friends intended to have met us."—Ib. "We hoped to have seen you."—Ib. "He would not have been allowed to have entered."—Ib.
UNDER NOTE XV.—PERMANENT PROPOSITIONS.
"Cicero maintained that whatsoever was useful was good."—"I observed that love constituted the whole moral character of God."—Dwight. "Thinking that one gained nothing by being a good man."—Voltaire. "I have already told you that I was a gentleman."—Fontaine. "If I should ask, whether ice and water were two distinct species of things."—Locke. "A stranger to the poem would not easily discover that this was verse."—Murray's Gram., 12mo, p. 260. "The doctor affirmed, that fever always produced thirst."—Inst., p. 192. "The ancients asserted, that virtue was its own reward."—Ib. "They should not have repeated the error, of insisting that the infinitive was a mere noun."—Diversions of Purley, Vol. i, p. 288. "It was observed in Chap. III. that the distinctive or had a double use."—Churchill's Gram., p. 154. "Two young gentlemen, who have made a discovery that there was no God."—Swift.