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

   "Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
    And let me languish into life."
        —Pope, Brit. Poets, vi, 317.

    "Forbear, great man, in arms renown'd, forbear."
        —Hiley's Gram., p. 127.

    "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
    Each prayer accepted, and each wish resign'd."
        —Pope, Brit. Poets, vi, 335.

"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice," &c.—Constit. of U. S. "The Lord, the covenant God of his people, requires it."—A. S. Mag. cor. "He, as a patriot, deserves praise."—Hallock cor. "Thomson, the watchmaker and jeweller from London, was of the party."—Bullions cor. "Every body knows that the person here spoken of by the name of 'the Conqueror,' is William, duke of Normandy."—L. Mur. cor. "The words myself, thyself, himself, herself, itself, and their plurals, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves, are called Compound Personal Pronouns."—Day cor.

   "For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
      This pleasing, anxious being e'er resign'd,
    Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day
       Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?"—GRAY: Mur. Seq.

"Smith & Williams's store; Nicholas the emperor's army."—Day cor. "He was named William the Conqueror."—Id. "John the Baptist was beheaded."—Id. "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil."—2 Tim., iv, 14. "A nominative in immediate apposition: as, 'The boy Henry speaks.'"—Smart cor. "A noun objective can be in apposition with some other; as, 'I teach the boy Henry.'"—Id.

"But he found me, not singing at my work, ruddy with health, vivid with cheerfulness; but pale," &c.—DR. JOHNSON: Murray's Sequel, p. 4. "I looked up, and beheld an inclosure, beautiful as the gardens of paradise, but of a small extent."—HAWKESWORTH: ib., p. 20. "A is an article, indefinite, and belongs to 'book.'"—Bullions cor. "The first expresses the rapid movement of a troop of horse over the plain, eager for the combat."—Id. "He [, the Indian chieftain, King Philip,] was a patriot, attached to his native soil; a prince, true to his subjects, and indignant of their wrongs; a soldier, daring in battle, firm in adversity, patient of fatigue, of hunger, of every variety of bodily suffering, and ready to perish in the cause he had espoused."—W. Irving.

   "For thee, who, mindful of th' unhonour'd dead,
    Dost in these lines their artless tale relate."
        —GRAY: Mur. Seq., p. 258.

    "Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest;
    Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood."
        —GRAY: Enf. Sp., p. 245.

    "Idle after dinner [,] in his chair,
    Sat a farmer, ruddy, fat, and fair."
        —Murray's Gram., p. 257.

"When an attribute becomes a title, or is emphatically applied to a name, it follows it: as, Charles the Great; Henry the First; Lewis the Gross."—Webster cor. "Feed me with food convenient for me."—Prov., xxx, 8. "The words and phrases necessary to exemplify every principle progressively laid down, will be found strictly and exclusively adapted to the illustration of the principles to which they are referred."—Ingersoll cor. "The Infinitive Mood is that form of the verb which expresses being or action unlimited by person or number."—Day cor. "A man diligent in his business, prospers."—Frost cor.

"Oh wretched state! oh bosom black as death!" —SHAK.: Enfield, p. 368.

"The Singular denotes one; the Plural, more than one."—Bullions and Lennie cor. "The Comma represents the shortest pause; the Semicolon, a pause longer than the comma; the Colon, longer than the semicolon; and the Period, longer than the colon."—Hiley cor. "The Comma represents the shortest pause; the Semicolon, a pause double that of the Comma; the Colon, double that of the semicolon; and the Period, double that of the colon."—L. Murray's Gram., p. 266. "WHO is applied only to persons; WHICH, to animals and things; WHAT, to things only; and THAT, to persons, animals, and things."—Day cor. "A or an is used before the singular number only; the, before either singular or plural."—Bullions cor. "Homer was the greater genius; Virgil, the better artist."—Day cor.; also Pope. "Words are formed of syllables; syllables, of letters."—St. Quentin cor. "The conjugation of an active verb is styled the ACTIVE VOICE; and that of a passive verb, the PASSIVE VOICE."—Frost cor.; also Smith: L. Murray's Gram., p. 77. "The possessive is sometimes called the genitive case; and the objective, the accusative."—L. Murray cor. "Benevolence is allied to few vices; selfishness, to fewer virtues."—Kames cor. "Orthography treats of Letters; Etymology, of words; Syntax, of Sentences; and Prosody, of Versification."—Hart cor.

   "Earth praises conquerors for shedding blood;
    Heaven, those that love their foes, and do them good."—Waller.

"His business is, to observe the agreement or disagreement of words."—Bullions cor. "It is a mark of distinction, to be made a member of this society."—Farnum cor. "To distinguish the conjugations, let the pupil observe the following rules."—Day cor. "He was now sent for, to preach before the Parliament."—E. Williams cor. "It is incumbent on the young, to love and honour their parents."—Bullions cor. "It is the business of every man, to prepare for death."—Id. "It argued the sincerest candor, to make such an acknowledgement."—Id. "The proper way is, to complete the construction of the first member, and leave that of the second elliptical."—Id. "ENEMY is a name. It is a term of distinction, given to a certain person, to show the character in which he is represented."—Peirce cor. "The object of this is, to preserve the soft sounds of c and g."—Hart cor. "The design of grammar is, to facilitate the reading, writing, and speaking of a language."—Barrett cor. "Four kinds of type are used in the following pages, to indicate the portions that are considered more or less elementary."—Hart cor.

"The chancellor, being attached to the king, secured his crown."—Murray's Grammar, p. 66. "The officer, having received his orders, proceeded to execute them."—Day cor. "Thus used, it is in the present tense."—Bullions, E. Gr., 2d Ed., p. 35. "The imperfect tense has three distinct forms, corresponding to those of the present tense."—Bullions cor. "Every possessive case is governed by some noun, denoting the thing possessed."—Id. "The word that, used as a conjunction, is [generally] preceded by a comma."—Hiley's Gram., p. 114. "His narrative, being composed upon so good authority, deserves credit."—Cooper cor. "The hen, being in her nest, was killed and eaten there by the eagle."—Murray cor. "Pronouns, being used in stead of nouns, are subject to the same modifications."—Sanborn cor. "When placed at the beginning of words, they are consonants."—Hallock cor. "Man, starting from his couch, shall sleep no more."—Young. "His and her, followed by a noun, are possessive pronouns; not followed by a noun, they are personal pronouns."—Bullions cor.

   "He, with viny crown advancing,
    First to the lively pipe his hand address'd."—Collins.

"But when they convey the idea of many acting individually, or separately, they are of the plural number."—Day cor. "Two or more singular antecedents connected by and, [when they happen to introduce more than one verb and more than one pronoun,] require verbs and pronouns of the plural number."—Id. "Words ending in y preceded by a consonant change y into i, when a termination is added."—N. Butler cor. "A noun used without an article to limit it, is generally taken in its widest sense."—Ingersoll cor. "Two nouns meaning the same person or thing, frequently come together."—Bucke cor. "Each one must give an account to God for the use, or abuse, of the talents committed to him."—Cooper cor. "Two vowels united in one sound, form a diphthong."—Frost cor. "Three vowels united in one sound, form a triphthong."—Id. "Any word joined to an adverb, is a secondary adverb."—Barrett cor. "The person spoken to, is put in the Second person; the person spoken of, in the Third person."—Cutler cor. "A man devoted to his business, prospers."—Frost cor.

"So, in indirect questions; as, 'Tell me when he will come.'"—Butler cor. "Now, when the verb tells what one person or thing does to an other, it is transitive."—Bullions cor. "Agreeably to your request, I send this letter."—Id. "There seems, therefore, to be no good reason for giving them a different classification."—Id. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man seeking good pearls."—Scott's Bible, Smith's, and Bruce's. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea."—Same. "Cease, however, is used as a transitive verb by our best writers."—Webster cor. "Time admits of three natural divisions; namely, Present, Past, and Future."—Day cor. "There are three kinds of comparison; namely, Regular, Irregular, and Adverbial"—Id. "There are five personal pronouns; namely, I, thou, he, she, and it."—Id. "Nouns have three cases: viz., the Nominative, the Possessive, and the Objective."—Bullions cor. "Hence, in studying Grammar, we have to study words."—Frazee cor. "Participles, like verbs, relate to nouns and pronouns."—Miller cor. "The time of the participle, like that of the infinitive, is estimated from the time of the leading verb."—Bullions cor.

   "The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego,
    And leap exulting, like the bounding roe."—Pope.

"But he said, Nay; lest, while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them."—Scott's Bible et al. "Their intentions were good: but, wanting prudence, they missed the mark at which they aimed."—L. Mur. cor. "The verb be often separates the name from its attribute; as, 'War is expensive.'"—Webster cor. "Either and or denote an alternative; as, 'I will take either road at your pleasure.'"—Id. "Either is also a substitute for a name; as, 'Either of the roads is good.'"—Id. "But, alas! I fear the consequence."—Day cor. "Or, if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?"—Luke, xi, 11. "Or, if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?"—ALGER'S BIBLE: Luke, xi, 12. "The infinitive sometimes performs the office of a nominative case; as, 'To enjoy is to obey.'—POPE."—Cutler cor. "The plural is commonly formed by adding s to the singular; as, book, books."—Bullions, P. Lessons, p. 16. "As, 'I were to blame, if I did it.'"—Smart cor.

   "Or, if it be thy will and pleasure,
    Direct my plough to find a treasure."

"Pronouns agree with the nouns for which they stand, in gender, number, and person."—Butler and Bullions cor. "In the first two examples, the antecedent is person, or something equivalent; in the last [one], it is thing."—N. Butler cor. "In what character he was admitted, is unknown."—Id. "To what place he was going, is not known."—Id. "In the preceding examples, John, Cæsar, and James, are the subjects."—Id. "Yes is generally used to denote assent, in answer to a question."—Id. "That, in its origin, is the passive participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb thean, [thegan, thicgan, thicgean, or thigan,] to take."—Id. "But, in all these sentences, as and so are adverbs."—Id. "After an interjection or an exclamatory sentence, is usually placed the mark of exclamation."—D. Blair cor. "Intransitive verbs, from their nature, can have no distinction of voice."—Bullions cor. "To the inflection of verbs, belong Voices, Moods, Tenses, Numbers, and Persons."—Id. "As and so, in the antecedent member of a comparison, are properly Adverbs." Better: "As OR so, in the antecedent member of a comparison, is properly an adverb."—Id. "In the following Exercise, point out the words in apposition."—Id. "In the following Exercise, point out the noun or pronoun denoting the possessor."—Id. "Its is not found in the Bible, except by misprint."—Brown's Institutes, p. 49. "No one's interest is concerned, except mine."—Hallock cor. "In most of the modern languages, there are four concords."—St. Quentin cor. "In illustration of these remarks, let us suppose a case."—Hart cor. "On the right management of the emphasis, depends the life of pronunciation."—J. S. Hart and L. Murray cor. See Blair's Rhet., p. 330.

"Behold, he is in the desert."—Friend's Bible. "And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord."—Alger's Bible. "Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."—Friend's Bible, and Alger's. "Behold, I come quickly."—Rev., xxii, 7. "Lo, I am with you always."—Day cor. "And, lo, I am with you alway."—Alger's Bible: Day cor.; also Scott and Bruce. "Ha, ha, ha; how laughable that is!"—Bullions cor. "Interjections of laughter; ha, ha, Ha."—Wright cor.

"Lend, lend your wings!" &c.—Pope. "To bed, to bed, to bed. There is a knocking at the gate. Come, come, come. What is done, cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed."—SHAKSPEARE: Burghs Speaker, p. 130. "I will roar, that the duke shall cry, Encore, encore, let him roar, let him roar, once more, once more."—Id., ib., p. 136.

   "Vital spark of heavenly flame!
    Quit, oh quit this mortal frame!"—Pope.