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

or unto is often understood;[366] as, "It is like [to or unto] silver."—Allen. "How like the former."—Dryden. "Near yonder copse."—Goldsmith. "Nigh this recess."—Garth. As similarity and proximity are relations, and not qualities, it might seem proper to call like, near, and nigh, prepositions; and some grammarians have so classed the last two. Dr. Johnson seems to be inconsistent in calling near a preposition, in the phrase, "So near thy heart," and an adjective, in the phrase, "Being near their master." See his Quarto Dict. I have not placed them with the prepositions, for the following four reasons: (1.) Because they are sometimes compared; (2.) Because they sometimes have adverbs evidently relating to them; (3.) Because the preposition to or unto is sometimes expressed after them; and (4.) Because the words which usually stand for them in the learned languages, are clearly adjectives.[367] But like, when it expresses similarity of manner, and near and nigh, when they express proximity of degree, are adverbs.

OBS. 8.—The word worth is often followed by an objective, or a participle, which it appears to govern; as, "If your arguments produce no conviction, they are worth nothing to me."—Beattie. "To reign is worth ambition."—Milton. "This is life indeed, life worth preserving."—Addison. It is not easy to determine to what part of speech worth here belongs. Dr. Johnson calls it an adjective, but says nothing of the object after it, which some suppose to be governed by of understood. In this supposition, it is gratuitously assumed, that worth is equivalent to worthy, after which of should be expressed; as, "Whatsoever is worthy of their love, is worth their anger."—Denham. But as worth appears to have no certain characteristic of an adjective, some call it a noun, and suppose a double ellipsis; as, "'My knife is worth a shilling;' i. e. 'My knife is of the worth of a shilling.'"—Kirkham's Gram., p. 163. "'The book is worth that sum;' that is, 'The book is (the) worth (of) that sum;' 'It is worth while;' that is, 'It is (the) worth (of the) while.'"—Nixon's Parser, p. 54. This is still less satisfactory;[368] and as the whole appears to be mere guess-work, I see no good reason why worth is not a preposition, governing the noun or participle.[369] If an adverb precede worth, it may as well be referred to the foregoing verb, as when it occurs before any other preposition: as, "It is richly worth the money."—"It lies directly before your door." Or if we admit that an adverb sometimes relates to this word, the same thing may be as true of other prepositions; as, "And this is a lesson which, to the greatest part of mankind, is, I think, very well worth learning."—Blair's Rhet., p. 303. "He sees let down from the ceiling, exactly over his head, a glittering sword, hung by a single hair."—Murray's E. Reader, p. 33. See Exception 3d to Rule 21st.

OBS. 9.—Both Dr. Johnson and Horne Tooke, (who never agreed if they could help it,) unite in saying that worth, in the phrases, "Wo worth the man,"—"Wo worth the day," and the like, is from the imperative of the Saxon verb wyrthan or weorthan, to be; i. e., "Wo be [to] the man," or, "Wo betide the man," &c. And the latter affirms, that, as the preposition by is from the imperative of beon, to be, so with, (though admitted to be sometimes from withan, to join,) is often no other than this same imperative verb wyrth or worth: if so, the three words, by, with, and worth, were originally synonymous, and should now be referred at least to one and the same class. The dative case, or oblique object, which they governed as Saxon verbs, becomes their proper object, when taken as English prepositions; and in this also they appear to be alike. Worth, then, when it signifies value, is a common noun; but when it signifies equal in value to, it governs an objective, and has the usual characteristics of a preposition. Instances may perhaps be found in which worth is an adjective, meaning valuable or useful, as in the following lines:

   "They glow'd, and grew more intimate with God,
    More worth to men, more joyous to themselves."
        —Young, N. ix, l. 988.

In one instance, the poet Campbell appears to have used the word worthless as a preposition:

   "Eyes a mutual soul confessing,
    Soon you'll make them grow
    Dim, and worthless your possessing,
    Not with age, but woe!"

OBS. 10.—After verbs of giving, paying, procuring, and some others, there is usually an ellipsis of to or for before the objective of the person; as, "Give [to] him water to drink."—"Buy [for] me a knife."—"Pay [to] them their wages." So in the exclamation, "Wo is me!" meaning, "Wo is to me!" This ellipsis occurs chiefly before the personal pronouns, and before such nouns as come between the verb and its direct object; as, "Whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth [to] God service."—John, xvi, 2. "Who brought [to] her masters much gain by soothsaying."—Acts, xvi, 16. "Because he gave not [to] God the glory."—Ib., xii, 23. "Give [to] me leave to allow [to] myself no respite from labour."—Spect., No. 454. "And the sons of Joseph, which were born [to] him in Egypt, were two souls."—Gen., xlvi, 27. This elliptical construction of a few objectives, is what remains to us of the ancient Saxon dative case. If the order of the words be changed, the preposition must be inserted; as, "Pray do my service to his majesty."—Shak. The doctrine inculcated by several of our grammarians, that, "Verbs of asking, giving, teaching, and some others, are often employed to govern two objectives," (Wells, §215,) I have, under a preceding rule, discountenanced; preferring the supposition, which appears to have greater weight of authority, as well as stronger support from reason, that, in the instances cited in proof of such government, a preposition is, in fact, understood. Upon this question of ellipsis, depends, in all such instances, our manner of parsing one of the objective words.

OBS. 11.—In dates, as they are usually written, there is much abbreviation; and several nouns of place and time are set down in the objective case, without the prepositions which govern them: as, "New York, Wednesday, 20th October, 1830."—Journal of Literary Convention. That is, "At New York, on Wednesday, the 20th day of October, in the year 1830."

NOTE TO RULE VII.

An objective noun of time or measure, if it qualifies a subsequent adjective, must not also be made an adjunct to a preceding noun; as, "To an infant of only two or three years old."—Dr. Wayland. Expunge of, or for old write of age. The following is right: "The vast army of the Canaanites, nine hundred chariots strong, covered the level plain of Esdraelon."—Milman's Jews, Vol. i, p. 159. See Obs. 6th above.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION. FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE VII. UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.—OF THE OBJECTIVE IN FORM.

"But I do not remember who they were for."—Abbott's Teacher, p. 265.

[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the pronoun who is in the nominative case, and is made the object of the preposition for. But, according to Rule 7th, "A noun or a pronoun made the object of a preposition, is governed by it in the objective case." Therefore, who should be whom; thus, "But I do not remember whom they were for."]

"But if you can't help it, who do you complain of?"—Collier's Antoninus, p. 137. "Who was it from? and what was it about?"—Edgeworth's Frank, p. 72. "I have plenty of victuals, and, between you and I, something in a corner."—Day's Sandford and Merton. "The upper one, who I am now about to speak of."—Hunt's Byron, p. 311. "And to poor we, thine enmity's most capital."—Beauties of Shakspeare, p. 201. "Which thou dost confess, were fit for thee to use, as they to claim."—Ib., p. 196. "To beg of thee, it is my more dishonour, than thou of them."—Ib., p. 197. "There are still a few who, like thou and I, drink nothing but water."—Gil Blas, Vol. i, p. 104. "Thus, I shall fall; Thou shalt love thy neighbour; He shall be rewarded, express no resolution on the part of I, thou, he."—Lennie's E. Gram., p. 22; Bullions's, 32. "So saucy with the hand of she here—What's her name?"—Shak., Ant. and Cleop., Act iii, Sc. 11. "All debts are cleared between you and I."—Id., Merchant of Venice, Act iii, Sc. 2. "Her price is paid, and she is sold like thou."—Milman's Fall of Jerusalem. "Search through all the most flourishing era's of Greece."—Brown's Estimate, ii, 16. "The family of the Rudolph's had been long distinguished."—The Friend, Vol. v, p. 54. "It will do well enough for you and I."—Castle Rackrent, p. 120. "The public will soon discriminate between him who is the sycophant, and he who is the teacher."—Chazotte's Essay, p. 10. "We are still much at a loss who civil power belongs to."—Locke. "What do you call it? and who does it belong to?"—Collier's Cebes. "He had received no lessons from the Socrates's, the Plato's, and the Confucius's of the age."—Hatter's Letters. "I cannot tell who to compare them to."—Bunyan's P. P., p. 128. "I see there was some resemblance betwixt this good man and I."—Pilgrim's Progress, p. 298. "They by that means have brought themselves into the hands and house of I do not know who."—Ib., p. 196. "But at length she said there was a great deal of difference between Mr. Cotton and we."—Hutchinson's Mass., ii, 430. "So you must ride on horseback after we." [370]—MRS. GILPIN: Cowper, i, 275. "A separation must soon take place between our minister and I."—Werter, p. 109. "When she exclaimed on Hastings, you, and I."—Shakspeare. "To who? to thee? What art thou?"—Id. "That they should always bear the certain marks who they came from."—Butler's Analogy, p. 221.

   "This life has joys for you and I,
    And joys that riches ne'er could buy."—Burns.

UNDER THE NOTE—OF TIME OR MEASURE.

"Such as almost every child of ten years old knows."—Town's Analysis, p. 4. "One winter's school of four months, will carry any industrious scholar, of ten or twelve years old, completely through this book."—Ib., p. 12. "A boy of six years old may be taught to speak as correctly, as Cicero did before the Roman Senate."—Webster's Essays, p. 27. "A lad of about twelve years old, who was taken captive by the Indians."—Ib., p. 235. "Of nothing else but that individual white figure of five inches long which is before him."—Campbell's Rhet., p. 288. "Where lies the fault, that boys of eight or ten years old, are with great difficulty made to understand any of its principles."—Guy's Gram., p. v. "Where language of three centuries old is employed."—Booth's Introd. to Dict., p. 21. "Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high."—Esther, v. 14. "I say to this child of nine years old bring me that hat, he hastens and brings it me."—Osborn's Key, p. 3. "He laid a floor twelve feet long, and nine feet wide; that is, over the extent of twelve feet long, and of nine feet wide."—Merchants School Gram., p. 95. "The Goulah people are a tribe of about fifty thousand strong."—Examiner, No. 71. RULE VIII.—NOM. ABSOLUTE.

A Noun or a Pronoun is put absolute in the nominative, when its case depends on no other word: as, "He failing, who shall meet success?"—"Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever?"—Zech., i, 5. "Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?"—1 Cor., ix, 6. "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?"—Rom., ix, 20. "O rare we!"—Cowper. "Miserable they!"—Thomson.

"The hour conceal'd, and so remote the fear, Death still draws nearer, never seeming near."—Pope.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE VIII.

OBS. 1.—Many grammarians make an idle distinction between the nominative absolute and the nominative independent, as if these epithets were not synonymous; and, at the same time, they are miserably deficient in directions for disposing of the words so employed. Their two rules do not embrace more than one half of those frequent examples in which the case of the noun or pronoun depends on no other word. Of course, the remaining half cannot be parsed by any of the rules which they give. The lack of a comprehensive rule, like the one above, is a great and glaring defect in all the English grammars that the author has seen, except his own, and such as are indebted to him for such a rule. It is proper, however, that the different forms of expression which are embraced in this general rule, should be discriminated, one from an other, by the scholar: let him therefore, in parsing any nominative absolute, tell how it is put so; whether with a participle, by direct address, by pleonasm, or by exclamation. For, in discourse, a noun or a pronoun is put absolute in the nominative, after four modes, or under the