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

[535] It would be better to omit the word "forth," or else to say—"whom I brought forth from the land of Egypt." The phrase, "forth out of," is neither a very common nor a very terse one.—G. BROWN.

[536] This doctrine, that participles divide and specify time, I have elsewhere shown to be erroneous.—G. BROWN.

[537] Perhaps it would be as well or better, in correcting these two examples, to say, "There are a generation." But the article a, as well as the literal form of the noun, is a sign of unity; and a complete uniformity of numbers is not here practicable.

[538] Though the pronoun thou is not much used in common discourse, it is as proper for the grammarian to consider and show, what form of the verb belongs to it when it is so used, as it is for him to determine what form is adapted to any other pronoun, when a difference of style affects the question.

[539] "Forgavest," as the reading is in our common Bible, appears to be wrong; because the relative that and its antecedent God are of the third person, and not of the second.

[540] All the corrections under this head are directly contrary to the teaching of William S. Cardell. Oliver B. Peirce, and perhaps some other such writers on grammar; and some of them are contrary also to Murray's late editions. But I am confident that these authors teach erroneously; that their use of indicative forms for mere suppositions that are contrary to the facts, is positively ungrammatical; and that the potential imperfect is less elegant, in such instances, than the simple subjunctive, which they reject or distort.

[541] This is what Smith must have meant by the inaccurate phrase, "those in the first." For his first example is, "He went to school;" which contains only the one pronoun "He."—See Smith's New Gram., p. 19.

[542] According to modern usage, has would here be better than is,—though is fallen is still allowable.—G. BROWN.

[543] From this opinion, I dissent. See Obs. 1st on the Degrees of Comparison, and Obs. 4th on Regular Comparison, in the Etymology of this work, at pp. 279 and 285.—G. BROWN.

[544] "The country looks beautiful;'" that is, appears beautiful—is beautiful. This is right, and therefore the use which Bucke makes of it, may be fairly reversed. But the example was ill chosen; and I incline to think, it may also be right to say, "The country looks beautifully;" for the quality expressed by beautiful, is nothing else than the manner in which the thing shows to the eye. See Obs. 11th on Rule 9th.—G. BROWN.

[545] Many examples and authorities may be cited in favour of these corrections; as, "He acted independently of foreign assistance."— Murray's Key, Gram., Vol. ii, p. 222. "Independently of any necessary relation."—Murray's Gram., Vol. i. p. 275. "Independently of this peculiar mode of construction."—Blair's Rhet., p. 473. "Independent of the will of the people."—Webster's Essays, p. 13. "Independent one of an other."—Barclay's Works, i, 84. "The infinitive is often independent of the rest of the sentence."—Lennie's Gram., p. 85. "Some sentences are independent of each other."—Murray's Gram., i, 277. "As if it were independent of it"—Priestley's Gram., p. 186. "Independent of appearance and show."—Blair's Rhet., p. 13.

[546] The preposition of which Jefferson uses before about, appears to me to be useless. It does not govern the noun diameter, and is therefore no substitute for the in which I suppose to be wanting; and, as the preposition about seems to be sufficient between is and feet, I omit the of. So in other instances below.—G. BROWN.

[547] Murray, Jamieson, and others, have this definition with the article "a," and the comma, but without the hyphen: "APOSTROPHE is a turning off from the regular course," &c. See errors under Note 4th to Rule 20th.

[548] This sentence may be written correctly in a dozen different ways, with precisely the same meaning, and very nearly the same words. I have here made the noun gold the object of the verb took, which in the original appears to govern the noun treasure, or money, understood. The noun amount might as well be made its object, by a suppression of the preposition to. And again, for "pounds' weight," we may say, "pounds in weight." The words will also admit of many other positions.—G. BROWN.

[549] See a different reading of this example, cited as the first item of false syntax under Rule 16th above, and there corrected differently. The words "both of," which make the difference, were probably added by L. Murray in some of his revisals; and yet it does not appear that this popular critic ever got the sentence right.—G. BROWN.

[550] "If such maxims, and such practices prevail, what has become of national liberty?"—Hume's History. Vol. vi, p. 254; Priestley's Gram., p. 128.

[551] According to my notion, but is never a preposition; but there are some who think otherwise.—G. BROWN.

[552] "Cùm vestieris te coccino, cùm ornata fueris monili aureo, et pinxeris stibio oculos tuos, frustra componêris."—Vulgate. "[Greek: Eàn peribálæ[i] kókkinon, kaì kosm'æsæ[i] kósmw[i] chrys~w[i]· eàn egchrísæ[i] stíbi toùs ophthalmoús sou eìs mátaion wraïsmós sou.]"—Septuagint. "Quoique tu te revêtes de pourpre, que tu te pares d'ornemens d'or, et que tu te peignes les yeux avec du fard, tu t'embellis en vain."—French Bible.

[553] The word "any" is here omitted, not merely because it is unnecessary, but because "every any other piece,"—with which a score of our grammarians have pleased themselves,—is not good English. The impropriety might perhaps be avoided, though less elegantly, by repeating the preposition, and saying,—"or of any other piece of writing."—G. BROWN.

[554] This correction, as well as the others which relate to what Murray says of the several forms of ellipsis, doubtless conveys the sense which he intended to express; but, as an assertion, it is by no means true of all the examples which he subjoins, neither indeed are the rest. But that is a fault of his which I cannot correct.—G. BROWN.

[555] The article may be repeated in examples like these, without producing impropriety; but then it will alter the construction of the adjectives, and render the expression more formal and emphatic, by suggesting a repetition of the noun.—G. BROWN.

[556] "The whole number of verbs in the English language, regular and irregular, simple and compounded, taken together, is about 4300."—Lowth's Gram., p. 59; Murray's, 12mo, p. 98; 8vo, p. 109; et al.

[557] In Singer's Shakspeare, Vol. ii, p. 495, this sentence is expressed and pointed thus: "O, shame! where is thy blush?"—Hamlet, Act III, Sc. 4. This is as if the speaker meant, "O! it is a shame! where is thy blush?" Such is not the sense above; for there "Shame" is the person addressed.

[558] If, in each of these sentences, the colon were substituted for the latter semicolon, the curves might well be spared. Lowth has a similar passage, which (bating a needful variation of guillemets) he pointed thus: "as ——, as; expressing a comparison of equality; 'as white as snow:' as ——, so; expressing a comparison sometimes of equality; 'as the stars, so shall thy seed be;' that is, equal in number: but" &c.—Lowth's Gram., p. 109. Murray, who broke this passage into paragraphs, retained at first these semicolons, but afterwards changed them all to colons. Of later grammarians, some retain the former colon in each sentence; some, the latter; and some, neither. Hiley points thus: "As requires as, expressing equality; as, 'He is as good as she.'"—Hiley's E. Gram., p. 107.

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