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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75439 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE
+ KING’S ENGLISH
+
+ BY
+
+ H. W. FOWLER & F. G. FOWLER
+
+ COMPILERS OF THE
+ CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF CURRENT ENGLISH
+
+ No levell’d malice
+ Infects one comma in the course I hold.
+
+ _Timon of Athens_, I. i. 48.
+
+
+ SECOND EDITION
+
+
+ OXFORD
+ AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
+
+ LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK
+ TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY
+
+ HUMPHREY MILFORD
+
+ 1924
+
+
+
+
+ PRINTED IN ENGLAND
+
+
+
+
+ PREFACE
+
+
+The compilers of this book would be wanting in courtesy if they
+did not expressly say what might otherwise be safely left to the
+reader’s discernment: the frequent appearance in it of any author’s or
+newspaper’s name does not mean that that author or newspaper offends
+more often than others against rules of grammar or style; it merely
+shows that they have been among the necessarily limited number chosen
+to collect instances from.
+
+The plan of the book was dictated by the following considerations.
+It is notorious that English writers seldom look into a grammar or
+composition book; the reading of grammars is repellent because, being
+bound to be exhaustive on a greater or less scale, they must give much
+space to the obvious or the unnecessary; and composition books are
+often useless because they enforce their warnings only by fabricated
+blunders against which every tiro feels himself quite safe. The
+principle adopted here has therefore been (1) to pass by all rules,
+of whatever absolute importance, that are shown by observation to be
+seldom or never broken; and (2) to illustrate by living examples, with
+the name of a reputable authority attached to each, all blunders that
+observation shows to be common. The reader, however, who is thus led to
+suspect that the only method followed has been the rejection of method
+will find, it is hoped, a practical security against inconvenience in
+the very full Index.
+
+Further, since the positive literary virtues are not to be taught by
+brief quotation, nor otherwise attained than by improving the gifts
+of nature with wide or careful reading, whereas something may really
+be done for the negative virtues by mere exhibition of what should be
+avoided, the examples collected have had to be examples of the bad
+and not of the good. To this it must be added that a considerable
+proportion of the newspaper extracts are, as is sometimes apparent,
+not from the editorial, but from the correspondence columns; the names
+attached are merely an assurance that the passages have actually
+appeared in print, and not been now invented to point a moral.
+
+The especial thanks of the compilers are offered to Dr. Bradley, joint
+editor of the _Oxford English Dictionary_, who has been good enough
+to inspect the proof sheets, and whose many valuable suggestions have
+led to the removal of some too unqualified statements, some confused
+exposition, and some positive mistakes. It is due to him, however,
+to say that his warnings have now and then been disregarded, when it
+seemed that brevity or some other advantage could be secured without
+great risk of misunderstanding.
+
+The _Oxford English Dictionary_ itself has been of much service. On all
+questions of vocabulary, even if so slightly handled as in the first
+chapter of this book, that great work is now indispensable.
+
+ H. W. F.
+ F. G. F.
+
+
+ PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
+
+In this edition new examples have been added or substituted here and
+there.
+
+
+
+
+ CONTENTS
+
+
+PART I
+
+ PAGE
+
+ CHAPTER I. VOCABULARY, pp. 1-59
+
+ General Principles 1-8
+
+ Familiar and far-fetched words 4
+
+ Concrete and abstract expression 5
+
+ Circumlocution 6
+
+ Short and long words 6
+
+ Saxon and Romance words 7
+
+ Requirements of different styles 7
+
+ Malaprops 8
+
+ Neologisms 18
+
+ Americanisms 23
+
+ Foreign words 26
+
+ Formation 37
+
+ Slang 47
+
+ _Individual_ 53
+
+ _Mutual_ 56
+
+ _Unique_ 58
+
+ _Aggravate_ 59
+
+
+ CHAPTER II. SYNTAX, pp. 60-170
+
+ Case 60
+
+ Number 65
+
+ Comparatives and superlatives 70
+
+ Relatives 75-107
+
+ Defining and non-defining relative clauses 75
+
+ _That_ and _who_ or _which_ 80
+
+ _And who_, _and which_ 85
+
+ Case of the relative 93
+
+ Miscellaneous uses of the relative 96
+
+ _It ... that_ 104
+ Participle and gerund 107
+
+ Participles 110
+
+ The gerund 116-133
+
+ Distinguishing the gerund 116
+
+ Omission of the gerund subject 125
+
+ Choice between gerund and infinitive 129
+
+ Shall and will 133-154
+
+ The pure system 134
+
+ The coloured-future system 136
+
+ The plain-future system 138
+
+ Second-person questions 139
+
+ Examples of principal sentences 141
+
+ Substantival clauses 143
+
+ Conditional clauses 149
+
+ Indefinite clauses 151
+
+ Examples of subordinate clauses 152
+
+ Perfect infinitive 154
+
+ Conditionals 156
+
+ _Doubt that_ 158
+
+ Prepositions 161
+
+
+ CHAPTER III. AIRS AND GRACES, pp. 171-218
+
+ Certain types of humor 171
+
+ Elegant variation 175
+
+ Inversion 180-193
+
+ Exclamatory 181
+
+ Balance 182
+
+ In syntactic clauses 187
+
+ Negative, and false-emphasis 190
+
+ Miscellaneous 191
+
+ Archaism 193-200
+
+ Occasional 193
+
+ Sustained 198
+
+ Metaphor 200
+
+ Repetition 209
+
+ Miscellaneous 213-218
+
+ Trite phrases 213
+
+ Irony 215
+
+ Superlatives without _the_ 216
+
+ Cheap originality 217
+
+
+ CHAPTER IV. PUNCTUATION, pp. 219-290
+
+ General difficulties 219
+
+ General principles 224
+
+ The spot plague 226
+
+ Over-stopping 231
+
+ Under-stopping 234
+
+ Grammar and punctuation 235-263
+
+ Substantival clauses 235
+
+ Subject, &c., and verb 239
+
+ Adjectival clauses 242
+
+ Adverbial clauses 244
+
+ Parenthesis 247
+
+ Misplaced commas 248
+
+ Enumeration 250
+
+ Comma between independent sentences 254
+
+ Semicolon with subordinate members 257
+
+ Exclamations and statements 258
+
+ Exclamations and questions 259
+
+ Internal question and exclamation marks 261
+
+ Unaccountable commas 262
+
+ The colon 263
+
+ Miscellaneous 264
+
+ Dashes 266-275
+
+ General abuse 266
+
+ Legitimate uses 267
+
+ Debatable questions 269
+
+ Common misuses 274
+
+ Hyphens 275
+
+ Quotation marks 280-290
+
+ Excessive use 280
+
+ Order with stops 282
+
+ Single and double 287
+
+ Misplaced 288
+
+ Half quotation 289
+
+
+ PART II. p. 291 to the end
+
+
+ EUPHONY, §§ 1-10
+
+ 1. Jingles 291
+
+ 2. Alliteration 292
+
+ 3. Repeated prepositions 293
+
+ 4. Sequence of relatives 293
+
+ 5. Sequence of _that_, &c. 294
+
+ 6. Metrical prose 295
+
+ 7. Sentence accent 295
+
+ 8. Causal _as_ clauses 298
+
+ 9. Wens and hypertrophied members 300
+
+ 10. Careless repetition 303
+
+
+ QUOTATION, &c., §§ 11-19
+
+ 11. Common misquotations 305
+
+ 12. Uncommon misquotations of well-known passages 305
+
+ 13. Misquotation of less familiar passages 306
+
+ 14. Misapplied and misunderstood quotations and phrases 306
+
+ 15. Allusion 307
+
+ 16. Incorrect allusion 308
+
+ 17. Dovetailed and adapted quotations and phrases 308
+
+ 18. Trite quotation 310
+
+ 19. Latin abbreviations, &c. 311
+
+
+ GRAMMAR, §§ 20-37
+
+ 20. Unequal yokefellows and defective double harness 311
+
+ 21. Common parts 314
+
+ 22. The wrong turning 316
+
+ 23. Ellipse in subordinate clauses 317
+
+ 24. Some illegitimate infinitives 317
+
+ 25. Split infinitives 319
+
+ 26. Compound passives 319
+
+ 27. Confusion with negatives 321
+
+ 28. Omission of _as_ 324
+
+ 29. Other liberties taken with _as_ 324
+
+ 30. Brachylogy 326
+
+ 31. Between two stools 327
+
+ 32. The impersonal _one_ 328
+
+ 33. _Between ... or_ 328
+
+ 34. _A_ placed between the adjective and its noun 329
+
+ 35. _Do_ as substitute verb 330
+
+ 36. Fresh starts 330
+
+ 37. Vulgarisms and colloquialisms 331
+
+
+ MEANING, §§ 38-48
+
+ 38. Tautology 331
+
+ 39. Redundancies 332
+
+ 40. _As to whether_ 333
+
+ 41. Superfluous _but_ and _though_ 334
+
+ 42. _If and when_ 334
+
+ 43. Maltreated idioms 336
+
+ 44. Truisms and contradictions in terms 339
+
+ 45. Double emphasis 341
+
+ 46. Split auxiliaries 342
+
+ 47. Overloading 343
+
+ 48. Demonstrative, noun, and participle or adjective 344
+
+
+ AMBIGUITY, §§ 49-52
+
+ 49. False scent 345
+
+ 50. Misplacement of words 346
+
+ 51. Ambiguous position 347
+
+ 52. Ambiguous enumeration 348
+
+
+ STYLE, § 53 to the end
+
+ 53. Antics 348
+
+ 54. Journalese 351
+
+ 55. _Somewhat_, &c. 352
+
+ 56. Clumsy patching 355
+
+ 57. Omission of the conjunction _that_ 356
+
+ 58. Meaningless _while_ 357
+
+ 59. Commercialisms 358
+
+ 60. Pet Phrases 359
+
+ 61. _Also_ as conjunction; and _&c._ 359
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER I
+
+ VOCABULARY
+
+
+ GENERAL
+
+Any one who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour, before he
+allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be direct,
+simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid.
+
+This general principle may be translated into practical rules in the
+domain of vocabulary as follows:--
+
+ Prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched.
+ Prefer the concrete word to the abstract.
+ Prefer the single word to the circumlocution.
+ Prefer the short word to the long.
+ Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance.[1]
+
+These rules are given roughly in order of merit; the last is also
+the least. It is true that it is often given alone, as a sort of
+compendium of all the others. In some sense it is that: the writer
+whose percentage of Saxon words is high will generally be found to
+have fewer words that are out of the way, long, or abstract, and fewer
+periphrases, than another; and conversely. But if, instead of his
+Saxon percentage’s being the natural and undesigned consequence of
+his brevity (and the rest), those other qualities have been attained
+by his consciously restricting himself to Saxon, his pains will have
+been worse than wasted; the taint of preciosity will be over all he
+has written. Observing that _translate_ is derived from Latin, and
+learning that the Elizabethans had another word for it, he will pull us
+up by _englishing_ his quotations; he will puzzle the general reader
+by introducing his book with a _foreword_. Such freaks should be left
+to the Germans, who have by this time succeeded in expelling as aliens
+a great many words that were good enough for Goethe. And they, indeed,
+are very likely right, because their language is a thoroughbred one;
+ours is not, and can now never be, anything but a hybrid; _foreword_
+is (or may be) Saxon; we can find out in the dictionary whether it is
+or not; but _preface_ is English, dictionary or no dictionary; and
+we want to write English, not Saxon. Add to this that, even if the
+Saxon criterion were a safe one, more knowledge than most of us have
+is needed to apply it. Few who were not deep in philology would be
+prepared to state that no word in the following list (extracted from
+the preface to the _Oxford Dictionary_) is English:--_battle_, _beast_,
+_beauty_, _beef_, _bill_, _blue_, _bonnet_, _border_, _boss_, _bound_,
+_bowl_, _brace_, _brave_, _bribe_, _bruise_, _brush_, _butt_, _button_.
+Dr. Murray observes that these ‘are now no less “native”, and no less
+important constituents of our vocabulary, than the Teutonic words’.
+
+There are, moreover, innumerable pairs of synonyms about which the
+Saxon principle gives us no help. The first to hand are _ere_ and
+_before_ (both Saxon), _save_ and _except_ (both Romance), _anent_ and
+_about_ (both Saxon again). Here, if the ‘Saxon’ rule has nothing to
+say, the ‘familiar’ rule leaves no doubt. The intelligent reader whom
+our writer has to consider will possibly not know the linguistic facts;
+indeed he more likely than not takes _save_ for a Saxon word. But he
+does know the reflections that the words, if he happens to be reading
+leisurely enough for reflection, excite in him. As he comes to _save_,
+he wonders, Why not _except_? At sight of _ere_ he is irresistibly
+reminded of that sad spectacle, a mechanic wearing his Sunday clothes
+on a weekday. And _anent_, to continue the simile, is nothing less than
+a masquerade costume. The _Oxford Dictionary_ says drily of the last
+word: ‘Common in Scotch law phraseology, and affected by many English
+writers’; it might have gone further, and said ‘“affected” in any
+English writer’; such things are antiquarian rubbish, Wardour-Street
+English. Why not (as our imagined intelligent reader asked)--why not
+_before_, _except_, and _about_? Bread is the staff of life, and words
+like these, which are common and are not vulgar, which are good enough
+for the highest and not too good for the lowest, are the staple of
+literature. The first thing a writer must learn is, that he is not to
+reject them unless he can show good cause. _Before_ and _except_, it
+must be clearly understood, have such a prescriptive right that to
+use other words instead is not merely not to choose these, it is to
+reject them. It may be done in poetry, and in the sort of prose that
+is half poetry: to do it elsewhere is to insult _before_, to injure
+_ere_ (which is a delicate flower that will lose its quality if much
+handled), and to make one’s sentence both pretentious and frigid.
+
+It is now perhaps clear that the Saxon oracle is not infallible; it
+will sometimes be dumb, and sometimes lie. Nevertheless, it is not
+without its uses as a test. The words to be chosen are those that
+the probable reader is sure to understand without waste of time and
+thought; a good proportion of them will in fact be Saxon, but mainly
+because it happens that most abstract words--which are by our second
+rule to be avoided--are Romance. The truth is that all five rules would
+be often found to give the same answer about the same word or set of
+words. Scores of illustrations might be produced; let one suffice: _In
+the contemplated eventuality_ (a phrase no worse than what any one can
+pick for himself out of his paper’s leading article for the day) is at
+once the far-fetched, the abstract, the periphrastic, the long, and the
+Romance, for _if so_. It does not very greatly matter by which of the
+five roads the natural is reached instead of the monstrosity, so long
+as it _is_ reached. The five are indicated because (1) they differ in
+directness, and (2) in any given case only one of them may be possible.
+
+We will now proceed to a few examples of how not to write, roughly
+classified under the five headings, though, after what has been
+said, it will cause no surprise that most of them might be placed
+differently. Some sort of correction is suggested for each, but the
+reader will indulgently remember that to correct a bad sentence
+satisfactorily is not always possible; it should never have existed,
+that is all that can be said. In particular, sentences overloaded
+with abstract words are, in the nature of things, not curable simply
+by substituting equivalent concrete words; there can be no such
+equivalents; the structure has to be more or less changed.
+
+1. =Prefer the familiar word= to the far-fetched.
+
+ The old Imperial naval policy, which has failed conspicuously
+ because it _antagonized the unalterable supremacy of Colonial
+ nationalism_.--_Times._ (stood in the way of that national ambition
+ which must always be uppermost in the Colonial mind)
+
+ Buttercups made a sunlight of their own, and in the shelter of
+ scattered coppices the pale _wind-flowers_ still dreamed in
+ whiteness.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+We all know what an _anemone_ is: whether we know what a _wind-flower_
+is, unless we happen to be Greek scholars, is quite doubtful.
+
+ The state of Poland, and the excesses committed by mobilized troops,
+ have been of a far more serious nature than has been allowed to
+ _transpire_.--_Times._ (come out)
+
+ Reform converses with possibilities, _perchance_ with impossibilities;
+ but here is sacred fact.--EMERSON. (perhaps)
+
+ Tanners and users are strongly of opinion that there is no room
+ for further enhancement, but on that point there is always
+ room for doubt especially when the _export phase_ is taken into
+ consideration.--_Times._ (state of the export trade)
+
+ Witchcraft has been put a stop to by Act of Parliament; but the
+ mysterious relations which it _emblemed_ still continue.--CARLYLE.
+ (symbolized)
+
+ It will only have itself to thank if future disaster rewards its
+ _nescience_ of the conditions of successful warfare.--_Outlook._
+ (ignorance)
+
+ _Continual vigilance is imperative on the public_ to
+ ensure....--_Times._ (We must be ever on the watch)
+
+ These manoeuvres are by no means new, and _their recrudescence is
+ hardly calculated to influence the development of events_.--_Times._
+ (the present use of them is not likely to be effective)
+
+ ‘I have no particular business at L----’, said he; ‘I was merely going
+ _thither_ to pass a day or two.’--BORROW. (there)
+
+2. =Prefer the concrete word= (or rather expression) to the abstract.
+It may be here remarked that abstract expression and the excessive
+use of nouns are almost the same thing. The cure consists very much,
+therefore, in the clearing away of noun rubbish.
+
+ _The general poverty of explanation as to the diction of particular
+ phrases seemed to point in the same direction._--_Cambridge University
+ Reporter._ (It was perhaps owing to this also that the diction of
+ particular phrases was often so badly explained)
+
+ _An elementary condition of a sound discussion is a frank recognition
+ of the gulf severing two sets of facts._--_Times._ (There can be no
+ sound discussion where the gulf severing two sets of facts is not
+ frankly recognized)
+
+ _The signs of the times point to the necessity of the modification of
+ the system of administration._--_Times._ (It is becoming clear that
+ the administrative system must be modified)
+
+ _No year passes now without evidence of the truth of the
+ statement that_ the work of government is becoming increasingly
+ difficult.--_Spectator._ (Every year shows again how true it is
+ that....)
+
+ The first private conference _relating to the question of
+ the convocation of representatives of the nation_ took place
+ yesterday.--_Times._ (on national representation)
+
+ _There seems to have been an absence of attempt at conciliation
+ between rival sects._--_Daily Telegraph._ (The sects seem never even
+ to have tried mutual conciliation)
+
+Zeal, however, must not outrun discretion in changing abstract to
+concrete. _Officer_ is concrete, and _office_ abstract; but we do
+not _promote to officers_, as in the following quotation, but to
+_offices_--or, with more exactness in this context, to _commissions_.
+
+ Over 1,150 cadets of the Military Colleges were _promoted to officers_
+ at the Palace of Tsarskoe Selo yesterday.--_Times._
+
+3. =Prefer the single word= to the circumlocution. As the word _case_
+seems to lend itself particularly to abuse, we start with more than one
+specimen of it.
+
+ Inaccuracies were _in many cases_ due to cramped methods of
+ writing.--_Cambridge University Reporter._ (often)
+
+ The handwriting was on the whole good, with a few examples
+ of remarkably fine penmanship _in the case both of_ boys and
+ girls.--_Ibid._ (by both boys....)
+
+ Few candidates showed a thorough knowledge of the text of 1 Kings, and
+ _in many cases the answers_ lacked care.--_Ibid._ (many answers)
+
+ The matter will remain in abeyance until the Bishop has had time
+ to become more fully acquainted with the diocese, and to ascertain
+ which part of the city will be most desirable for _residential
+ purposes_.--_Times._ (his residence)
+
+ M. Witte is _taking active measures for the prompt preparation of
+ material for the study of the question of the execution of the
+ Imperial Ukase dealing with reforms_.--_Times._ (actively collecting
+ all information that may be needed before the Tsar’s reform Ukase can
+ be executed)
+
+ The Russian Government is at last face to face with the greatest
+ crisis of the war, _in the shape of the fact that_ the Siberian
+ railway is no longer capable....--_Spectator._ (for) or (:)
+
+ Mr. J---- O---- has _been made the recipient of_ a silver
+ medal.--_Guernsey Advertiser._ (received)
+
+4. =Prefer the short word= to the long.
+
+ One of the most important reforms mentioned in the rescript _is the
+ unification of the organization of the judicial institutions and
+ the guarantee for all the tribunals of the independence necessary
+ for securing to all classes of the community equality before the
+ law_.--_Times._ (is that of the Courts, which need a uniform system,
+ and the independence without which it is impossible for all men to be
+ equal before the law)
+
+ I merely desired to point out _the principal reason which I believe
+ exists for the great exaggeration which is occasionally to be
+ observed in the estimate of the importance of the contradiction
+ between current Religion and current Science put forward by thinkers
+ of reputation_.--BALFOUR. (why, in my opinion, some well-known
+ thinkers make out the contradiction between current Religion and
+ current Science to be so much more important than it is)
+
+ Sir,--Will you permit me to _homologate_ all you say to-day regarding
+ that selfish minority of motorists who....--_Times._ (agree with)
+
+ On the Berlin Bourse to-day the prospect of a general strike was
+ cheerfully _envisaged_.--_Times._ (faced)
+
+5. =Prefer the Saxon word= to the Romance.
+
+ _Despite the unfavourable climatic conditions._--_Guernsey
+ Advertiser._ (Bad as the weather has been)
+
+ * * * * *
+
+By way of general rules for the choice of words, so much must suffice.
+And these must be qualified by the remark that what is suitable for
+one sort of composition may be unsuitable for another. The broadest
+line of this kind is that between poetry and prose; but with that we
+are not concerned, poetry being quite out of our subject. There are
+other lines, however, between the scientific and the literary styles,
+the dignified and the familiar. Our rendering of the passage quoted
+from Mr. Balfour, for instance, may be considered to fall below the
+dignity required of a philosophic essay. The same might, with less
+reason, be said of our simplified newspaper extracts; a great journal
+has a tone that must be kept up; if it had not been for that, we should
+have dealt with them yet more drastically. But a more candid plea for
+the journalist, and one not without weight, would be that he has not
+time to reduce what he wishes to say into a simple and concrete form.
+It is in fact as much easier for him to produce, as it is harder for
+his reader to understand, the slipshod abstract stuff that he does
+rest content with. But it may be suspected that he often thinks the
+length of his words and his capacity for dealing in the abstract
+to be signs of a superior mind. As long as that opinion prevails,
+improvement is out of the question. But if it could once be established
+that simplicity was the true ideal, many more writers would be found
+capable of coming near it than ever make any effort that way now. The
+fact remains, at any rate, that different kinds of composition require
+different treatment; but any attempt to go into details on the question
+would be too ambitious; the reader can only be warned that in this
+fact may be found good reasons for sometimes disregarding any or all
+of the preceding rules. Moreover, they must not be applied either so
+unintelligently as to sacrifice any really important shade of meaning,
+or so invariably as to leave an impression of monotonous and unrelieved
+emphasis.
+
+The rest of this chapter will be devoted to more special and definite
+points--malaprops, neologisms, Americanisms, foreign words, bad
+formations, slang, and some particular words.
+
+
+ MALAPROPS
+
+Before classifying, we define a malaprop as a word used in the belief
+that it has the meaning really belonging to another word that resembles
+it in some particular.
+
+1. =Words containing the same stem, but necessarily, or at least
+indisputably, distinguished by termination or prefix.=
+
+ ‘She writes _comprehensively_ enough when she writes to M. de
+ Bassompierre: he who runs may read.’ In fact, Ginevra’s epistles to
+ her wealthy kinsman were commonly business documents, unequivocal
+ applications for cash.--C. BRONTË.
+
+The context proves that _comprehensibly_ is meant.
+
+ The working of the staff at the agent’s disposal was to a great extent
+ voluntary, and, therefore, required all the influence of _judicial_
+ management in order to avoid inevitable difficulties.--_Times._
+ (judicious)
+
+A not uncommon blunder.
+
+ By all means let us have bright, hearty, and very _reverend_
+ services.--_Daily Telegraph._ (reverent)
+
+Not uncommon.
+
+ He chuckled at his own _perspicuity_.--CORELLI.
+
+ If the writer had a little more _perspicuity_ he would have known that
+ the Church Congress would do nothing of the kind.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+_Perspicuity_ is clearness or transparency: insight is _perspicacity_.
+_-uity_ of style, _-acity_ of mind. Very common.
+
+ Selected in the beginning, I know, for your great ability and
+ _trustfulness_.--DICKENS. (trustworthiness)
+
+ Wise, firm, faithless; secret, crafty, passionless; watchful and
+ inscrutable; acute and _insensate_--withal perfectly decorous--what
+ more could be desired?--C. BRONTË.
+
+Apparently for _insensible_ in the meaning _hardhearted_. Though modern
+usage fluctuates, it seems to tend towards the meaning, _stupidly
+unmoved by prudence or by facts_; at any rate _acute_ and _insensate_
+are incompatible.
+
+ In the meantime the colossal advertisement in the German Press of
+ German aims, of German interests, and of German policy _incontinently_
+ proceeds.--_Times._
+
+The idiomatic sense of _incontinently_ is _immediately_; it seems here
+to be used for _continually_.
+
+ I was _awaiting_ with real curiosity to hear the way in which M.
+ Loubet would to-day acquit himself.--_Times._ (waiting)
+
+_Awaiting_ is always transitive.
+
+ But they too will feel the pain just where you feel it now, and they
+ will _bethink_ themselves the only unhappy on the earth.--CROCKETT.
+
+There is no sort of authority for _bethink_--like _think_--with object
+and complement. _To bethink oneself_ is to remember, or to hit upon an
+idea.
+
+ And Pizarro ... established the city of Arequipa, since _arisen_ to
+ such commercial celebrity.--PRESCOTT.
+
+Arethusa arose; a difficulty arises; but to greatness we can only
+rise--unless, indeed, we wake to find ourselves famous; then we do
+arise to greatness.
+
+2. =Words like the previous set, except that the differentiation may
+possibly be disputed.=
+
+ The long drought left the torrent of which I am speaking, and such
+ others, in a state peculiarly favourable to _observance_ of their
+ least action on the mountains from which they descend.--RUSKIN.
+ (observation)
+
+_Observance_ is obedience, compliance, &c. The _Oxford Dictionary_
+recognizes _observance_ in the sense of watching, but gives no
+authority for it later than 1732 except another passage from Ruskin;
+the natural conclusion is that he accidentally failed to recognize a
+valuable differentiation long arrived at.
+
+ It is physical science, and experience, that man ought to consult
+ in religion, morals, _legislature_, as well as in knowledge and the
+ arts.--MORLEY. (legislation)
+
+_Legislature_ is the legislative body--in England, King, Lords, and
+Commons. To call back the old confusion is an offence.
+
+ The apposite display of the diamonds usually stopped the tears that
+ began to flow hereabouts; and she would remain in a _complaisant_
+ state until....--DICKENS. (complacent)
+
+ Our Correspondent adds that he is fully persuaded that Rozhdestvensky
+ has nothing more to expect from the _complacency_ of the French
+ authorities.--_Times._ (complaisance)
+
+_Complaisant_ is over polite, flattering, subservient, &c. _Complacent_
+means contented, satisfied.
+
+ In the spring of that year the privilege was withdrawn from the four
+ associated booksellers, and the _continuance_ of the work strictly
+ prohibited.--MORLEY.
+
+_Continuation_ is the noun of continue, go on with: _continuance_ of
+continue, remain. With _continuance_ the meaning would be that the
+already published volumes (of Diderot’s _Encyclopaedia_) were to be
+destroyed; but the meaning intended is that the promised volumes were
+not to be gone on with--which requires _continuation_. Again, the next
+two extracts, from one page, show Mr. Morley wrongly substituting
+_continuity_, which only means continuousness, for _continuance_.
+
+ Having arrived at a certain conclusion with regard to the
+ _continuance_ ... of Mr. Parnell’s leadership....--GLADSTONE.
+
+ The most cynical ... could not fall a prey to such a hallucination as
+ to suppose ... that either of these communities could tolerate ... so
+ impenitent an affront as the unruffled _continuity_ of the stained
+ leadership.--MORLEY.
+
+ The Rev. Dr. Usher said he believed the writer of the first letter to
+ be earnest in his inquiry, and agreed with him that the topic of it
+ was _transcendentally_ important.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+_Transcendently_ means in a superlative degree: _transcendentally_ is a
+philosophic term for independently of experience, &c.
+
+ Until at last, gathered _altogether_ again, they find their way down
+ to the turf.--RUSKIN. (all together)
+
+ At such times ... Jimmie’s better angel was always in the
+ ascendency.--_Windsor Magazine._
+
+Was in the _ascendant_: had an _ascendency_ over.
+
+ The inconsistency and _evasion_ of the attitude of the
+ Government.--_Spectator._
+
+_Evasiveness_ the quality: _evasion_ a particular act.
+
+ The _requisition_ for a life of Christianity is ‘walk in
+ love’.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+_Requisite_ or _requirement_, the thing required: _requisition_, the
+act of requiring it.
+
+ We will here merely chronicle the _procession_ of
+ events.--_Spectator._ (progress or succession)
+
+ I was able to watch the Emperor during all these interviews, and
+ noticed the forcible manner in which he spoke, especially to the
+ Sultan’s uncle, who came from Fez _especially_.--_Times._ (specially)
+
+As it stands, it implies that he came chiefly from Fez, but from other
+places in a minor degree; it is meant to imply that he came for this
+particular interview, and had no other motive. The differentiation of
+_spec-_ and _espec-_ is by no means complete yet, but some uses of each
+are already ludicrous. Roughly, _spec-_ means particular as opposed to
+general, _espec-_ particular as opposed to ordinary; but usage must be
+closely watched.
+
+ That it occurs in _violence to_ police regulations is daily
+ apparent.--_Guernsey Advertiser._ (violation of)
+
+ In the field it aims at efforts of unexpected and extreme violence;
+ the _research_ of hostile masses, their defeat by overwhelming and
+ relentless assault, and their wholesale destruction by rigorous
+ pursuit.--_Times._ (discovery)
+
+The object of research is laws, principles, facts, &c., not concrete
+things or persons. Entomological research, for instance, does not look
+for insects, but for facts about insects.
+
+3. =Give-and-take forms=, in which there are two words, with different
+constructions, that might properly be used, and one is given the
+construction of the other.
+
+ A few companies, _comprised_ mainly _of_ militiamen.--_Times._
+ (composed of? comprising?)
+
+ The _Novoe Vremya_ thinks the Tsar’s words will undoubtedly _instil_
+ the Christians of Macedonia _with_ hope.--_Times._ (inspire them with
+ hope? instil hope into them?)
+
+ He appreciated the leisurely solidity, the leisurely beauty of the
+ place, so _innate with_ the genius of the Anglo-Saxon.--E. F. BENSON.
+ (genius innate in the place? the place instinct with genius?)
+
+4. =Words having properly no connexion= with each other at all, but
+confused owing to superficial resemblance.
+
+ Mr. Barton walked forth in cape and boa, to read prayers at
+ the work-house, _euphuistically_ called the ‘College’.--ELIOT.
+ (euphemistically)
+
+_Euphemism_ is slurring over badness by giving it a good name:
+_euphuism_ is a literary style full of antithesis and simile. A pair
+of extracts (_Friedrich_, vol. iv, pp. 5 and 36) will convince readers
+that these words are dangerous:
+
+ Hence Bielfeld goes to Hanover, to grin-out _euphuisms_, and make
+ graceful court-bows to our sublime little Uncle there.--CARLYLE.
+
+ Readers may remember, George II has been at Hanover for some
+ weeks past; Bielfeld diligently grinning _euphemisms_ and courtly
+ graciosities to him.--CARLYLE.
+
+ Troops capable of _contesting_ successfully against the forces of
+ other nations.--_Times._
+
+Though there is authority, chiefly old, for it, good general usage is
+against _contest_ without an object--contest the victory, &c. And as
+there is no possible advantage in writing it, with _contend_ ready to
+hand, it is better avoided in the intransitive sense.
+
+ In the present _self-deprecatory_ mood in which the English people
+ find themselves.--_Spectator._ (self-depreciatory)
+
+_Depreciate_, undervalue: _deprecate_, pray against. A bad but very
+common blunder.
+
+ ‘An irreparable colleague,’ Mr. Gladstone notes in his diary.--MORLEY.
+ (irreplaceable)
+
+No dead colleague is reparable--though his loss may or may not be
+so--this side the Day of Judgement.
+
+ Surely he was better employed in plying the trades of tinker and smith
+ than in having _resource_ to vice, in running after milkmaids, for
+ example.--BORROW. (recourse)
+
+You may indeed have recourse to a resource, but not vice versa. You may
+also resort to, which makes the confusion easier.
+
+ What she would say to him, how he would take it, even the vaguest
+ _predication_ of their discourse, was beyond him to guess.--E. F.
+ BENSON. (prediction)
+
+_Predication_ has nothing to do with the future; it is a synonym, used
+especially in logic, for _statement_. The mistake is generally whipped
+out of schoolboys in connexion with _praedĩcere_ and _praedĭcare_.
+
+5. =Words whose meaning is misapprehended without apparent cause.= The
+hankering of ignorant writers after the unfamiliar or imposing leads
+to much of this. We start with two uses of which correct and incorrect
+examples are desirable: _provided_, where _if_ is required; and _to
+eke out_ in wrong senses. _Provided_ adorns every other page of George
+Borrow; we should have left it alone as an eccentricity of his, if we
+had not lately found the wrong use more than once in _The Times_.
+
+_Provided_ is a small district in the kingdom of _if_; it can never be
+wrong to write _if_ instead of _provided_: to write _provided_ instead
+of _if_ will generally be wrong, but now and then an improvement in
+precision. So much is clear; to define the boundaries of the district
+is another matter; we might be wiser merely to appeal to our readers
+whether all the examples to be quoted, except one, are not wrong. But
+that would be cowardly; we lay down, then, that (_a_) the clause must
+be a stipulation, i. e., a demand yet to be fulfilled, (_b_) there must
+be a stipulator, who (_c_) must desire, or at least insist upon, the
+fulfilment of it.
+
+ Ganganelli would never have been poisoned _provided_ he had had
+ nephews about to take care of his life.--BORROW.
+
+There is no stipulator or stipulation. Grammar would have allowed
+Providence to say to him ‘You shall not be poisoned, provided you
+surround yourself with nephews’.
+
+ The kicks and blows which my husband Launcelot was in the habit of
+ giving me every night, _provided_ I came home with less than five
+ shillings.--BORROW.
+
+Launcelot, the stipulator, does not desire the fulfilment. If _kisses_
+are substituted for _kicks and blows_, and _more_ for _less_, the
+sentence will stand.
+
+ She and I agreed to stand by each other, and be true to old Church of
+ England, and to give our governors warning, _provided_ they tried to
+ make us renegades.--BORROW.
+
+The stipulators, she and I, do not desire the fulfilment. _Not_ to
+give warning, provided they did _not_ try, would be English. There is
+similar confusion between the requirements of negative and positive in
+the next:
+
+ A society has just been founded at Saratoff, the object being, as the
+ members declare in a manifesto to the Liberals, to use violent methods
+ and even bombs _provided_ the latter do so themselves.--_Times._
+
+ In these circumstances the chances are that the direction to proceed
+ to Vladivostok at all costs, _provided_ such instruction _were_ ever
+ given, may have been reconsidered.--_Times._ (if indeed ... was)
+
+There is no stipulation; it is only a question of past fact.
+
+ What will the War Council at the capital decide _provided_ the war is
+ to continue?... The longer Linevitch can hold his position the better,
+ provided he does not risk a serious action.--_Times._ (if, or assuming
+ that)
+
+There is no stipulation, stipulator, or desire--only a question of
+future fact. The second _provided_ in this passage is quite correct.
+The _Times_ writer--or the Russian War Council, his momentary
+client--insists that Linevitch shall not run risks, and encourages him,
+if that stipulation is fulfilled, to hold on.
+
+To _eke out_ means to increase, supplement, or add to. It may be called
+a synonym for any of these verbs; but it must be remembered that
+no synonyms are ever precise equivalents. The peculiarity of _eke
+out_ is that it implies difficulty; in technical language, agreeing
+with _supplement_ in its denotation, it has the extra connotation of
+difficulty. But it does not mean to make, nor to endure. From its
+nature, it will very seldom be used (correctly), though it conceivably
+might, without the source of the addition’s being specified. In the
+first of the quotations, it is rightly used; in the second it is given
+the wrong meaning of _make_, and in the last the equally wrong one of
+_endure_.
+
+ A writer with a story to tell that is not very fresh usually _ekes_
+ it _out_ by referring as much as possible to surrounding objects.--H.
+ JAMES.
+
+ She had contrived, taking one year with another, to _eke out_ a
+ tolerably sufficient living since her husband’s demise.--DICKENS.
+
+ Yes, we do believe, or would the clergy _eke out_ an existence which
+ is not far removed from poverty?--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+Next, some isolated illustrations of our present heading:
+
+ ‘There are many things in the commonwealth of Nowhere, which I rather
+ wish than hope to see adopted in our own.’ It was with these words of
+ characteristic _irony_ that More closed the great work.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+The word _irony_ is one of the worst abused in the language; but it was
+surely never more gratuitously imported than in this passage. There
+could be no more simple, direct, and literal expression of More’s
+actual feeling than his words. Now any definition of irony--though
+hundreds might be given, and very few of them would be accepted--must
+include this, that the surface meaning and the underlying meaning of
+what is said are not the same. The only way to make out that we have
+irony here is to suppose that More assumed that the vulgar would think
+that he was speaking ironically, whereas he was really serious--a very
+topsy-turvy explanation. _Satire_, however, with which _irony_ is often
+confused, would have passed.
+
+ A literary tour de force, a _recrudescence_, two or three
+ generations later, of the very respectable William Lamb (afterwards
+ Lord Melbourne), his unhappy wife, Lady Caroline Lamb, and Lord
+ Byron.--_Times._ (reincarnation, avatar, resurrection?)
+
+_Recrudescence_ is becoming quite a fashionable journalistic word.
+It properly means the renewed inflammation of a wound, and so the
+breaking out again of an epidemic, &c. It may reasonably be used
+of revolutionary or silly opinions: to use it of persons or their
+histories is absurd.
+
+ A colonel on the General Staff, while arguing for a continuation of
+ the struggle on _metaphysical_ grounds, admitted to me that even if
+ the Russians regained Manchuria they would never succeed in colonizing
+ it.... The _Bourse Gazette_ goes still further. It says that war for
+ any definite purpose ceased with the fall of Mukden, and that its
+ _continuation is apparent_ not from any military or naval actions, but
+ from the feeling of depression which is weighing upon all Russians and
+ the reports of the peace overtures.--_Times._
+
+We can suggest no substitute for _metaphysical_. Though we have long
+known _metaphysics_ for a blessed and mysterious word, this is our
+first meeting with it in war or politics. The ‘apparent continuation’,
+however, seems darkly to hint at the old question between phenomena and
+real existence, so that perhaps we actually are in metaphysics all the
+time.
+
+ In a word, M. Witte was always against all our aggressive measures
+ in the Far East.... M. Witte, who was always supported by Count
+ Lamsdorff, has no share in the responsibility of all that has
+ _transpired_.--_Times._ (happened)
+
+As a synonym for _become known_,[2] _transpire_ is journalistic and
+ugly, but may pass: as a synonym for _happen_, it is a bad blunder, but
+not uncommon.
+
+ It was, of course, Mrs. Sedley’s opinion that her son would _demean_
+ himself by a marriage with an artist’s daughter.--THACKERAY.
+
+ The actors who raddle their faces and _demean_ themselves on the
+ stage.--STEVENSON. (lower, degrade)
+
+To _demean_ oneself, with adverb of manner attached, is to behave in
+that manner. The other use has probably arisen by a natural confusion
+with the adjective _mean_; one suspects that it has crept into
+literature by being used in intentional parody of vulgar speech, till
+it was forgotten that it was parody. But perhaps when a word has been
+given full citizen rights by Thackeray and Stevenson, it is too late to
+expel it.
+
+ ‘Oxoniensis’ approaches them with courage, his thoughts are expressed
+ in plain, unmistakable language, _howbeit_ with the touch of a master
+ hand.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+_Albeit_ means _though_: _howbeit_ always _nevertheless_, beginning not
+a subordinate clause, but a principal sentence. A good example of the
+danger attending ignorant archaism.
+
+ In a word, Count von Bülow, who took a very rosy view of the agreement
+ last year, now suddenly discovers that he was slighted, and is
+ indignant _in the paulo-post future tense_.--_Times._
+
+This jest would be pedantic in any case, since no one but schoolmasters
+and schoolboys knows what the paulo-post-future tense is. Being the one
+represented in English by _I shall have been killed_, it has, further,
+no application here; _paulo-ante-past tense_, if there were such a
+thing, might have meant something. As it is, pedantry is combined with
+inaccuracy.
+
+6. =Words used in unaccustomed, though not impossible, senses or
+applications.= This is due sometimes to that avoidance of the obvious
+which spoils much modern writing, and sometimes to an ignorance of
+English idiom excusable in a foreigner, but not in a native.
+
+ No one can imagine non-intervention carried through so desperate and
+ so _consequential_ a war as this.--GREENWOOD.
+
+If _important_ or _fateful_ will not do, it is better to write _a war
+so desperate and so pregnant with consequences_ than to abuse a word
+whose idiomatic uses are particularly well marked. A consequential
+person is one who likes to exhibit his consequence; a consequential
+amendment is one that is a natural consequence or corollary of another.
+
+ Half of Mr. Roosevelt’s speech deals with this double need of justice
+ and strength, the other half being a _skilled_ application of
+ Washington’s maxims to present circumstances.--_Times._ (skilful)
+
+Idiom confines _skilled_, except in poetry, almost entirely to the word
+_labour_, and to craftsmen--a skilled mason, for instance.
+
+ It is to the Convention, therefore, that reference must be made for an
+ _intelligence_ of the principles on which the Egyptian Government has
+ acted during the present war.--_Times._ (understanding)
+
+No one can say why _intelligence_ should never be followed by an
+objective genitive, as grammarians call this; but nearly every one
+knows, apart from the technical term, that it never is. Idiom is an
+autocrat, with whom it is always well to keep on good terms.
+
+ Easier to reproduce, in its _concision_, is the description of the
+ day.--H. JAMES. (conciseness)
+
+_Concision_ is a term in theology, to which it may well be left. In
+criticism, though its use is increasing, it has still an exotic air.
+
+7. =Simple love of the long word.=
+
+ The wide public importance of these proposals (customs regulations)
+ has now been conceived in no _desultory_ manner.--_Guernsey
+ Advertiser._
+
+We have touched shortly upon some four dozen of what we call malaprops.
+Now possible malaprops, in our extended sense, are to be reckoned not
+by the dozen, but by the million. Moreover, out of our four dozen, not
+more than some half a dozen are uses that it is worth any one’s while
+to register individually in his mind for avoidance. The conclusion of
+which is this: we have made no attempt at cataloguing the mistakes of
+this sort that must not be committed; every one must construct his own
+catalogue by care, observation, and the resolve to use no word whose
+meaning he is not sure of--even though that resolve bring on him the
+extreme humiliation of now and then opening the dictionary. Our aim has
+been, not to make a list, but to inculcate a frame of mind.
+
+
+ NEOLOGISMS
+
+Most people of literary taste will say on this point ‘It must needs be
+that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh’.
+They are Liberal-Conservatives, their liberalism being general and
+theoretic, their conservatism particular and practical. And indeed, if
+no new words were to appear, it would be a sign that the language was
+moribund; but it is well that each new word that does appear should be
+severely scrutinized.
+
+The progress of arts and sciences gives occasion for the large majority
+of new words; for a new thing we must have a new name; hence, for
+instance, _motor_, _argon_, _appendicitis_. It is interesting to see
+that the last word did not exist, or was at least too obscure to be
+recorded, when the _Oxford Dictionary_ began to come out in 1888; we
+cannot do without it now. Nor is there in the same volume any sign of
+_argon_, which now has three pages of the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_
+to itself. The discoverers of it are to be thanked for having also
+invented for it a name that is short, intelligible to those at least
+who know Greek, free of barbarism, and above all pronounceable. As to
+barbarism, it might indeed be desired that the man of science should
+always call in the man of Greek composition as godfather to his gas or
+his process; but it is a point of less importance. Every one has been
+told at school how _telegram_ ought to be _telegrapheme_; but by this
+time we have long ceased to mourn for the extra syllable, and begun
+seriously to consider whether the further shortening into _wire_ has
+not been resisted as long as honour demands.
+
+Among other arts and sciences, that of lexicography happens to have
+found convenient a neologism that may here be used to help in the
+very slight classification required for the new words we are more
+concerned with--that is, those whose object is literary or general,
+and not scientific. A ‘nonce-word’ (and the use might be extended to
+‘nonce-phrase’ and ‘nonce-sense’--the latter not necessarily, though it
+may be sometimes, equivalent to nonsense) is one that is constructed
+to serve a need of the moment. The writer is not seriously putting
+forward his word as one that is for the future to have an independent
+existence; he merely has a fancy to it for this once. The motive may be
+laziness, avoidance of the obvious, love of precision, or desire for a
+brevity or pregnancy that the language as at present constituted does
+not seem to him to admit of. The first two are bad motives, the third
+a good, and the last a mixed one. But in all cases it may be said that
+a writer should not indulge in these unless he is quite sure he is a
+good writer.
+
+ The couch-bunk under the window to conceal the _summerly
+ recliner_.--MEREDITH.
+
+The adjective is a nonce-sense, _summerly_ elsewhere meaning ‘such as
+one expects in summer’; the noun is a nonce-word.
+
+ In Christian art we may clearly trace a parallel _regenesis_.--SPENCER.
+
+ Opposition on the part of the _loquently_ weaker of the
+ pair.--MEREDITH.
+
+ Picturesquities.--SLADEN.
+
+ The _verberant_ twang of a musical instrument.--MEREDITH.
+
+ A Russian army is a solid machine, as many _war-famous_ generals have
+ found to their cost.--_Times._
+
+Such compounds are of course much used; but they are ugly when they are
+otiose; it might be worth while to talk of a war-famous brewer, or of
+a peace-famous general, just as we often have occasion to speak of a
+carpet-knight, but of a carpet-broom only if it is necessary to guard
+against mistake.
+
+ Russia’s disposition is aggressive.... Japan may conquer, but she will
+ not aggress.--_Times._
+
+Though _aggress_ is in the dictionary, every one will feel that it is
+rare enough to be practically a neologism, and here a nonce-word. The
+mere fact that it has never been brought into common use, though so
+obvious a form, is sufficient condemnation.
+
+ She did not answer at once, for, in her rather _super-sensitized_
+ mood, it seemed to her....--E. F. BENSON.
+
+The word is, we imagine, a loan from photography. Expressions so
+redolent of the laboratory are as well left alone unless the metaphor
+they suggest is really valuable. Perhaps, if _rather_ and _super-_ were
+cancelled against each other, _sensitive_ might suffice.
+
+ Notoriously and unctuously _rectitudinous_.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+Some readers will remember the origin of this in Cecil Rhodes’s famous
+remark about the unctuous rectitude of British statesmen, and the
+curious epidemic of words in _-ude_ that prevailed for some months in
+the newspapers, especially the _Westminster Gazette_. _Correctitude_, a
+needless variant for _correctness_, has not perished like the rest.
+
+ We only refer to it again because Mr. Balfour clearly thinks it
+ necessary to vindicate his claims to correctitude. This desire for
+ correctitude is amusingly illustrated in the _Outlook_ this week,
+ which....--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+All these formations, whether happy or the reverse, may be assumed to
+be conscious ones: the few that now follow--we shall call them new even
+if they have a place in dictionaries, since they are certainly not
+current--are possibly unconscious:
+
+ The minutes to dinner-time were numbered, and they _briskened_ their
+ steps back to the house.--E. F. BENSON. (quickened)
+
+ He was in some amazement at himself ... _remindful_ of the different
+ nature....--MEREDITH. (mindful)
+
+_Remindful_ should surely mean ‘which reminds’, not ‘who remembers’.
+
+ Persistent _insuccess_, however, did not prevent a repetition of the
+ same question.--_Times._ (failure)
+
+ The best safeguard against any _deplacement_ of the centre of gravity
+ in the Dual Monarchy.--_Times._ (displacement)
+
+ Which would condemn the East to a long period of _unquiet_.--_Times._
+ (unrest)
+
+Mere slips, very likely. If it is supposed that therefore they are not
+worth notice, the answer is that they are indeed quite unimportant in
+a writer who allows himself only one such slip in fifty or a hundred
+pages; but one who is unfortunate enough to make a second before the
+first has faded from the memory becomes at once a suspect. We are
+uneasily on the watch for his next lapse, wonder whether he is a
+foreigner or an Englishman not at home in the literary language, and
+fall into that critical temper which is the last he would choose to be
+read in.
+
+The next two examples are quite distinct from these--words clearly
+created, or exhumed, because the writer feels that his style requires
+galvanizing into energy:
+
+ A man of a cold, _perseverant_ character.--CARLYLE.
+
+ Robbed of the just fruits of her victory by the arbitrary and
+ _forceful_ interference of outside Powers.--_Times._
+
+All the specimens yet mentioned have been productions of individual
+caprice: the writer for some reason or other took a liberty, or made a
+mistake, with one expression; he might as well, or as ill, have done
+it with another, enjoying his little effect, or taking his little nap,
+at this moment or at that. But there are other neologisms of a very
+different kind, which come into existence as the crystallization of a
+political tendency or a movement in ideas. _Prime Minister_, _Cabinet_,
+_His Majesty’s Opposition_, have been neologisms of this kind in their
+day, all standing for particular developments of the party system,
+and all of them, probably, in more or less general use before they
+made their way into books. Such words in our day are _racial_, and
+_intellectuals_. The former is an ugly word, the strangeness of which
+is due to our instinctive feeling that the termination _-al_ has no
+business at the end of a word that is not obviously Latin. Nevertheless
+the new importance that has been attached for the last half century
+to the idea of common descent as opposed to that of mere artificial
+nationality has made _a_ word necessary. Racial is not _the_ word
+that might have been ornamental as well as useful; but it is too well
+established to be now uprooted. _Intellectuals_ is still apologized for
+in 1905 by _The Spectator_ as ‘a convenient neologism’. It is already
+familiar to all who give any time to observing continental politics,
+though the Index to the _Encyclopaedia_ (1903) knows it not. A use has
+not yet been found for the word in home politics, as far as we have
+observed; but the fact that intellect in any country is recognized
+as a definite political factor is noteworthy; and we should hail
+_intellectuals_ as a good omen for the progress of the world.
+
+These, and the scientific, are the sort of neologism that may fairly be
+welcomed. But there is this distinction. With the strictly scientific
+words, writers have not the power to decide whether they shall accept
+them or not; they must be content to take submissively what the men of
+science choose to give them, they being as much within their rights in
+naming what they have discovered or invented as an explorer in naming
+a new mountain, or an American founder a new city. _Minneapolis_,
+_Pikeville_, and _Pennsylvania_, may have a barbaric sound, but there
+they are; so _telegram_, or _aestho-physiology_. The proud father
+of the latter (Herbert Spencer) confesses to having docked it of a
+syllable; and similarly Mr. Lecky writes of ‘a eudaemometer measuring
+with accuracy the degrees of happiness realized by men in different
+ages’; consequently there will be some who will wish these long words
+longer, though more who will wish them shorter; but grumble as we may,
+the _patria potestas_ is indefeasible. On the other hand, with such
+words as _racial_, _intellectuals_, it is open to any writer, if he
+does not like the word that threatens to occupy an obviously vacant
+place, to offer a substitute, or at least to avoid giving currency to
+what he disapproves. It will be remembered that when it was proposed to
+borrow from France what we now know as the closure, it seemed certain
+for some time that with the thing we should borrow the name, _clôture_;
+a press campaign resulted in _closure_, for which we may be thankful.
+The same might have been done for, or rather against, _racial_, if only
+some one had thought of it in time.
+
+
+ AMERICANISMS
+
+Though we take these separately from foreign words, which will follow
+next, the distinction is purely _pro forma_; Americanisms are foreign
+words, and should be so treated. To say this is not to insult the
+American language. If any one were asked to give an Americanism without
+a moment’s delay, he would be more likely than not to mention _I
+guess_. Inquiry into it would at once bear out the American contention
+that what we are often rude enough to call their vulgarisms are in fact
+good old English. _I gesse_ is a favourite expression of Chaucer’s,
+and the sense he sometimes gives it is very finely distinguished from
+the regular Yankee use. But though it is good old English, it is not
+good new English. If we use the phrase--parenthetically, that is, like
+Chaucer and the Yankees--, we have it not from Chaucer, but from the
+Yankees, and with their, not his, exact shade of meaning. It must be
+recognized that they and we, in parting some hundreds of years ago,
+started on slightly divergent roads in language long before we did so
+in politics. In the details of divergence, they have sometimes had
+the better of us. _Fall_ is better on the merits than _autumn_, in
+every way: it is short, Saxon (like the other three season names),
+picturesque; it reveals its derivation to every one who uses it, not to
+the scholar only, like _autumn_; and we once had as good a right to it
+as the Americans; but we have chosen to let the right lapse, and to use
+the word now is no better than larceny.
+
+The other side of this is that we are entitled to protest when any one
+assumes that because a word of less desirable character is current
+American, it is therefore to be current English. There are certain
+American verbs that remind Englishmen of the barbaric taste illustrated
+by such town names as Memphis and those mentioned in the last section.
+A very firm stand ought to be made against _placate_, _transpire_[3],
+and _antagonize_, all of which have English patrons.
+
+There is a real danger of our literature’s being americanized, and that
+not merely in details of vocabulary--which are all that we are here
+directly concerned with--but in its general tone. Mr. Rudyard Kipling
+is a very great writer, and a patriotic; his influence is probably the
+strongest that there is at present in the land; but he and his school
+are americanizing us. His style exhibits a sort of remorseless and
+scientific efficiency in the choice of epithets and other words that
+suggests the application of coloured photography to description; the
+camera is superseding the human hand. We quote two sentences from the
+first page of a story, and remark that in pre-Kipling days none of the
+words we italicize would have been likely; now, they may be matched on
+nearly every page of an ‘up-to-date’ novelist:
+
+ Between the snow-white cutter and the flat-topped, _honey-coloured_[4]
+ rocks on the beach the green water was troubled with _shrimp-pink_
+ prisoners-of-war bathing.--KIPLING.
+
+ Far out, a three-funnelled Atlantic transport with turtle bow and
+ stern _waddled_ in from the deep sea.--KIPLING.
+
+The words are, as we said, extremely efficient; but the impulse that
+selects them is in harmony with American, not with English, methods,
+and we hope it may be developed in America rather than here. We cannot
+go more fully into the point in a digression like this. But though
+we have digressed, it has not been quite without purpose: any one
+who agrees with us in this will see in it an additional reason for
+jealously excluding American words and phrases. The English and the
+American language and literature are both good things; but they are
+better apart than mixed.
+
+Fix up (organize), back of (behind), anyway (at any rate), standpoint
+(point of view), back-number (antiquated), right along (continuously),
+some (to some extent), just (quite, or very--‘just lovely’), may be
+added as typical Americanisms of a different kind from either _fall_
+or _antagonize_; but it is not worth while to make a large collection;
+every one knows an Americanism, at present, when he sees it; how long
+that will be true is a more anxious question.
+
+ And, _back of_ all that, a circumstance which gave great force to all
+ that either has ever said, the rank and file, the great mass of the
+ people on either side, were determined....--CHOATE.
+
+ Hand-power, _back-number_, flint-and-steel reaping machines.--KIPLING.
+
+ Some of them have in secret approximated their _standpoint_ to that
+ laid down by Count Tisza in his programme speech.--_Times._
+
+We close the section by putting _placate_ and _antagonize_ in the
+pillory. It may be remarked that the latter fits in well enough with
+Emerson’s curious bizarre style. Another use of _just_ is pilloried
+also, because it is now in full possession of our advertisement
+columns, and may be expected to insinuate itself into the inside sheets
+before long[5].
+
+ When once _placated_ the Senators will be reluctant to deprive honest
+ creditors of their rights.--_Spectator._
+
+It is true the subject is American politics; but even so, we should
+have liked to see this stranger received ceremoniously as well as
+politely, that is, with quotation marks; the italics are ours only.
+
+ The old Imperial naval policy, which has failed conspicuously
+ because it _antagonized_ the unalterable supremacy of Colonial
+ nationalism.--_Times._
+
+ If Fate follows and limits power, power attends and _antagonizes_
+ Fate.--EMERSON.
+
+ Have you ever thought _just how much_ it would mean to the home
+ if....--_Advertisements passim._
+
+
+ FOREIGN WORDS
+
+The usual protest must be made, to be treated no doubt with the usual
+disregard. The difficulty is that some French, Latin, and other words
+are now also English, though the fiction that they are not is still
+kept up by italics and (with French words) conscientious efforts
+at pronunciation. Such are _tête-à-tête_, _ennui_, _status quo_,
+_raison d’être_, _eirenicon_, _négligé_, and perhaps hundreds more.
+The novice who is told to avoid foreign words, and then observes that
+these English words are used freely, takes the rule for a counsel of
+perfection--not accepted by good writers, and certainly not to be
+accepted by him, who is sometimes hard put to it for the ornament that
+he feels his matter deserves. Even with the best will in the world,
+he finds that there are many words of which he cannot say whether
+they are yet English or not, as _gaucherie_, _bêtise_, _camaraderie_,
+_soupçon_, so that there is no drawing the line. He can only be told
+that all words not English in appearance are in English writing ugly
+and not pretty, and that they are justified only (1) if they afford
+much the shortest or clearest, if not the only way to the meaning (this
+is usually true of the words we have called really English), or (2) if
+they have some special appropriateness of association or allusion in
+the sentence they stand in. This will be illustrated by some of the
+diplomatic words given below, and by the quotation containing the word
+_chasseur_.
+
+Some little assistance may, however, be given on details.
+
+1. To say _distrait_ instead of _absent_ or _absent-minded_, _bien
+entendu_ for _of course_, _sans_ for _without_ (it is, like _I guess_,
+good old English but not good English), _quand même_ for _anyhow_,
+_penchant_ for _liking_ or _fancy_, _rédaction_ for _editing_ or
+_edition_, _coûte que coûte_ for _at all costs_, _Schadenfreude_ for
+_malicious pleasure_, _œuvre_ for _work_, _alma mater_ (except with
+strong extenuating circumstances) for _University_--is pretension and
+nothing else. The substitutes we have offered are not insisted upon;
+they may be wrong, or not the best; but English can be found for all
+these. Moreover, what was said of special association or allusion may
+apply; to call a luncheon _déjeuner_, however, as in the appended
+extract, because it is to be eaten by Frenchmen, is hardly covered by
+this, though it is a praise-worthy attempt at what the critics call
+giving an atmosphere.
+
+ It was resolved that on the occasion of the visit of the French Fleet
+ in August the Corporation should offer the officers an appropriate
+ reception and invite them to a _déjeuner_ at the Guildhall.--_Times._
+
+But speaking broadly, what a writer effects by using these ornaments is
+to make us imagine him telling us he is a wise fellow and one that hath
+everything handsome about him, including a gentlemanly acquaintance
+with the French language. Some illustrations follow:
+
+ Motorists lose more than they know by _bêtises_ of this kind.--_Times._
+
+ His determination to conduct them to a successful issue _coûte que
+ coûte_ might result in complications.--_Times._
+
+ The gloom which the Russian troubles have caused at Belgrade has
+ to some extent been lightened by a certain _Schadenfreude_ over
+ the difficulties with which the Hungarian crisis threatens the
+ neighbouring Monarchy.--_Times._
+
+ A recent reperusal ... left the impression which is so often produced
+ by the exhibition in bulk of the _œuvre_ of a deceased Royal
+ Academician--it has emphasized Schiller’s deficiencies without laying
+ equal emphasis on his merits.--_Times._
+
+The following are instances of less familiar French or Latin words used
+wantonly:
+
+ So, one would have thought, the fever of New York was abated
+ here, even as the smoke of the city was but a gray _tache_ on the
+ horizon.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+Either we know that _tache_ means stain, or we do not. If we do, we
+cannot admire our novelist’s superior learning: if we do not, we
+must be doubtful whether we grasp the whole of his possibly valuable
+meaning. His calculation is perhaps that we shall know it, and shall
+feel complimented by his just confidence in us.
+
+ When the normal convention governing the relations between victors and
+ vanquished is duly re-established, it will be time to chronicle the
+ conjectures relating to peace in some other part of a journal than
+ that devoted to _faits divers_.--_Times._
+
+It is true _The Times_ does not condescend to an Odds-and-Ends,
+or a Miscellaneous column; but many other English newspapers do,
+under various titles; and the _Times_ writer might have thrown the
+handkerchief to one of them.
+
+ But times have changed, and this procedure enters into the category
+ of _vieille escrime_ when not employed by a master hand and made to
+ correspond superficially with facts.--_Times._
+
+ In relation to military organization we are still in the flourishing
+ region of the _vieilles perruques_.--_Times._
+
+The users of these two varieties, who, to judge from the title at the
+head of their articles, are one and the same person must have something
+newer than _vieux jeu_. Just as that has begun to be intelligible to
+the rest of us, it becomes itself _vieux jeu_ to them. It is like
+the man of highest fashion changing his hat-brim because the man of
+middling fashion has found the pattern of it.
+
+ The familiar gentleman burglar, who, having played wolf to his fellows
+ _qua_ financier, journalist, and barrister, undertakes to raise
+ burglary from being a trade at least to the lupine level of those
+ professions.--_Times._
+
+It is quite needless, and hardly correct, to use _qua_ instead of _as_
+except where a sharp distinction is being made between two coexistent
+functions or points of view, as in the next quotation. Uganda needs
+quite different treatment if it is regarded as a country from what it
+needs as a campaigning ground:
+
+ For this point must be borne constantly in mind--the money spent to
+ date was spent with a view only to strategy. The real development of
+ the country _qua_ country must begin to-day.--_Times._
+
+ The reader would not care to have my impressions thereanent; and,
+ indeed, it would not be worth while to record them, as they were the
+ impressions of an _ignorance crasse_.--C. BRONTË.
+
+The writer who allows Charlotte Brontë’s extraordinarily convincing
+power of presentment to tempt him into imitating her many literary
+peccadilloes will reap disaster. _Thereanent_ is as annoying as
+_ignorance crasse_.
+
+ It was he who by doctoring the Ems dispatch in 1870 converted a
+ _chamade_ into a _fanfaronnade_ and thus rendered the Franco-German
+ war inevitable.--_Times._
+
+We can all make a shrewd guess at the meaning of _fanfaronnade_: how
+many average readers have the remotest idea of what a _chamade_[6] is?
+and is the function of newspapers to force upon us against our will the
+buying of French dictionaries?
+
+2. Among the diplomatic words, _entente_ may pass as suggesting
+something a little more definite and official than _good
+understanding_; _démenti_ because, though it denotes the same as
+_denial_ or _contradiction_, it connotes that no more credence need
+be given to it than is usually given to the ‘honest men sent to lie
+abroad for the good of their country’; as for _ballon d’essai_, we see
+no advantage in it over _kite_, and _flying a kite_, which are good
+English; it is, however, owing to foreign correspondents’ perverted
+tastes, already more familiar. The words italicized in the following
+quotations are still more questionable:
+
+ The two Special Correspondents in Berlin of the leading morning
+ newspapers, the _Matin_ and the _Écho de Paris_, report a marked
+ _détente_ in the situation.--_Times._
+
+_Entente_ is comprehensible to every one; but with _détente_ many of us
+are in the humiliating position of not knowing whether to be glad or
+sorry.
+
+ All the great newspapers have insisted upon the inopportuneness of the
+ _démarche_ of William II.--_Times._ (proceeding)
+
+ The _entourage_ and counsellors of the Sultan continue to remain
+ sceptical.--_Times._
+
+Mere laziness, even if the word means anything different from
+_counsellors_; but the writer has at least given us an indication that
+it is only verbiage, by revealing his style in _continue to remain_.
+
+ In diplomatic circles the whole affair is looked upon as an _acte de
+ malveillance_ towards the Anglo-French _entente_.--_Times._
+
+ You have been immensely amused, cyrenaically enjoying the moment
+ for the moment’s sake, but looking before and after (as you cannot
+ help looking in the theatre) you have been disconcerted and
+ _dérouté_.--_Times._
+
+ In spite, however, of this denial and of other official _démentis_,
+ the Italian Press still seems dissatisfied.--_Times._
+
+In this there is clearly not the distinction that we suggested between
+_denial_ and _démenti_--the only thing that could excuse the latter.
+We have here merely one of those elegant variations treated of in the
+chapter ‘Airs and Graces’.
+
+3. It sometimes occurs to a writer that he would like to avail himself
+of a foreign word or phrase, whether to make a genuine point or to
+show that he has the gift of tongues, and yet not keep his less
+favoured readers in the dark; he accordingly uses a literal translation
+instead of the actual words. It may fairly be doubted whether this is
+ever worth while; but there is all the difference in the world, as we
+shall presently exemplify in a pair of contrasted quotations, between
+the genuine and the ostentatious use. The most familiar phrase thus
+treated is _cela va sans dire_; we have of our own _I need hardly
+say_, _needless to remark_, and many other varieties; and the French
+phrase has no wit or point in it to make it worth aping; we might
+just as well say, in similar German or French English (whichever of
+the two languages we had it from), _that understands itself_; each of
+them has to us the quaintness of being non-idiomatic, and no other
+merit whatever. A single word that we have taken in the same way is
+more defensible, because it did, when first introduced here, possess
+a definite meaning that no existing English word had: _epochmaking_
+is a literal translation, or transliteration almost, from German. We
+may regret that we took it, now; for it will always have an alien look
+about it; and, recent in English as it is, it has already lost its
+meaning; it belongs, in fact, to one of those word-series of which
+each member gets successively worn out. _Epochmaking_ is now no more
+than _remarkable_, as witness this extract from a speech by the Lord
+Chancellor:
+
+ The banquet to M. Berryer and the banquet to Mr. Benjamin, both of
+ them very important, and to my mind _epochmaking_ occasions.--LORD
+ HALSBURY.
+
+The verb _to orient_ is a Gallicism of much the same sort, and _the
+half-world_ is perhaps worse:
+
+ In his quality of eligible bachelor he had no objections at any time
+ to conversing with a goodlooking girl. Only he wished very much that
+ he could _orient_ this particular one.--CROCKETT.
+
+ High society is represented by ... Lady Beauminster, the half-world
+ by Mrs. Montrose, loveliness and luckless innocence by her daughter
+ Helen.--_Times._
+
+The next extract is perhaps from the pen of a French-speaker trying
+to write English: but it is not worse than what the English writer who
+comes below him does deliberately:
+
+ Our enveloping movement, which has been proceeding _since several
+ days_.--_Times._
+
+ Making every allowance for special circumstances, the manner in which
+ these amateur soldiers of seven weeks’ service acquitted themselves
+ compels one ‘furiously to think’.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+A warning may be given that it is dangerous to translate if you do not
+know for certain what the original means. To ask what the devil some
+one was doing in that _gallery_ is tempting, and fatal.
+
+Appended are the passages illustrating the two different motives for
+translation:
+
+ If we could take this assurance at its face value and _to the foot of
+ the letter_, we should have to conclude....--_Times._
+
+It will be observed (_a_) that _literally_ gives the meaning perfectly;
+(_b_) that _to the foot of the letter_ is absolutely unintelligible to
+any one not previously acquainted with _au pied de la lettre_; (_c_)
+that there is no wit or other admirable quality in the French itself.
+The writer is meanly admiring mean things; nothing could possibly be
+more fatuous than such half-hearted gallicizing.
+
+ I thought afterwards, but it was _the spirit of the staircase_, what a
+ pity it was that I did not stand at the door with a hat, saying, ‘Give
+ an obol to Belisarius’.--MORLEY.
+
+The French have had the wit to pack into the words _esprit d’escalier_
+the common experience that one’s happiest retorts occur to one only
+when the chance of uttering them is gone, the door is closed, and one’s
+feet are on the staircase. That is well worth introducing to an English
+audience; the only question is whether it is of any use to translate it
+without explanation. No one will know what _spirit of the staircase_ is
+who is not already familiar with _esprit d’escalier_; and even he who
+is may not recognize it in disguise, seeing that _esprit_ does not mean
+spirit (which suggests a goblin lurking in the hall clock), but wit.
+
+We cannot refrain from adding a variation that deprives _au pied de la
+lettre_ even of its quaintness:
+
+ The tone of Russian official statements on the subject is not
+ encouraging, but then, perhaps, they ought not to be taken at the
+ letter.--_Times._
+
+4. Closely connected with this mistake of translating is the other
+of taking liberties with foreign phrases in their original form,
+dovetailing them into the construction of an English sentence when they
+do not lend themselves to it. In Latin words and phrases, other cases
+should always be changed to the nominative, whatever the government in
+the English sentence, unless the Latin word that accounted for the case
+is included in the quotation. It will be admitted that all the four
+passages below are ugly:
+
+ The whole party were engaged _ohne Rast_ with a prodigious quantity of
+ _Hast_ in a continuous social effort.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+German, in which so few Englishmen are at their ease, is the last among
+the half-dozen best-known languages to play these tricks with. The
+facetiousness here is indescribably heavy.
+
+ The clergy in rochet, alb, and other best _pontificalibus_.--CARLYLE.
+
+The intention is again facetious; but the incongruity between a Latin
+inflected ablative and English uninflected objectives is a kind of
+piping to which no man can dance; that the English _in_ and the Latin
+_in_ happen to be spelt alike is no defence; it is clear that _in_
+is here English, not Latin; either _in pontificalibus_, or _in other
+pontificalia_.
+
+ The feeling that one is an _antecedentem scelestum_ after whom a sure,
+ though lame, Nemesis is hobbling....--TROLLOPE.
+
+_Antecedens scelestus_ is necessary.
+
+ ..., which were so evident in the days of the early Church, are now
+ _non est_.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ All things considered, I wonder they were not _non est_ long
+ ago.--_Times._
+
+Such maltreatment of _non est inventus_, which seems to have amused
+some past generations, is surely now as stale and unprofitable as
+_individual_ itself.
+
+5. A special caution may be given about some words and phrases that
+either are shams, or are used in wrong senses. Of the first kind are
+_nom de plume_, _morale_. The French for the name that an author
+chooses to write under is _nom de guerre_. We, in the pride of our
+knowledge that _guerre_ means war, have forgotten that there is such a
+thing as metaphor, assumed that another phrase is required for literary
+campaigning, thereupon ascertained the French for pen, and so evolved
+_nom de plume_. It is unfortunate; for we now have to choose between a
+blunder and a pedantry; but writers who know the facts are beginning to
+reconcile themselves to seeming pedantic for a time, and reviving _nom
+de guerre_.
+
+The French for what we call _morale_, writing it in italics under the
+impression that it is French, is actually _moral_. The other is so
+familiar, however, that it is doubtful whether it would not be better
+to drop the italics, keep the _-e_, and tell the French that they can
+spell their word as they please, and we shall do the like with ours. So
+Mr. Kipling:
+
+ The Gaul, ever an artist, breaks enclosure to study the morale
+ [_sic_], at the present day, of the British sailorman.--KIPLING.
+
+In the second class, of phrases whose meaning is mistaken, we choose
+_scandalum magnatum_, _arrière-pensée_, _phantasmagoria_, and _cui
+bono?_
+
+_Scandalum magnatum_ is a favourite with the lower-class novelist who
+takes _magnatum_ for a participle meaning _magnified_, and finds the
+combination less homely than _a shocking affair_. It is a genitive
+plural noun, and the amplified translation of the two words, which we
+borrow from the _Encyclopaedia_, runs: ‘Slander of great men, such as
+peers, judges, or great officers of state, whereby discord may arise
+within the realm’.
+
+_Arrière-pensée_ we have seen used, with comic intent but sad effect,
+for a bustle or dress-improver; and, with sad intent but comic effect,
+for an afterthought; it is better confined to its real meaning of an
+ulterior object, if indeed we cannot be content with our own language
+and use those words instead.
+
+_Phantasmagoria_ is a singular noun; at least the corresponding
+French monstrosity, _fantasmagorie_, is unmistakably singular; and,
+if used at all in English, it should be so with us too. But the final
+_-a_ irresistibly suggests a plural to the valorous writers who are
+impressed without being terrified by the unknown; so:
+
+ Not that such _phantasmagoria are_ to be compared for a moment with
+ such desirable things as fashion, fine clothes....--BORROW.
+
+_Cui bono?_ is a notorious trap for journalists. It is naturally
+surprising to any one who has not pushed his classics far to be told
+that the literal translation of it is not ‘To what good (end)?’ that is
+‘What is the good of it?’ but ‘Who benefited?’. The former rendering is
+not an absolutely impossible one on the principles of Latin grammar,
+which adds to the confusion. But if that were its real meaning it would
+be indeed astonishing that it should have become a famous phrase;
+the use of it instead of ‘What is the good?’ would be as silly and
+gratuitous as our above-mentioned _to the foot of the letter_. Every
+scholar knows, however, that _cui bono?_ does deserve to be used, in
+its true sense. It is a shrewd and pregnant phrase like _cherchez la
+femme_ or _esprit d’escalier_. _Cherchez la femme_ wraps up in itself a
+perhaps incorrect but still interesting theory of life--that whenever
+anything goes wrong there is a woman at the bottom of it; find her, and
+all will be explained. _Cui bono?_ means, as we said, ‘Who benefited?’.
+It is a Roman lawyer’s maxim, who held that when you were at a loss to
+tell where the responsibility for a crime lay, your best chance was to
+inquire who had reaped the benefit of it. It has been worth while to
+devote a few lines to this phrase, because nothing could better show at
+once what is worth transplanting into English, and what dangers await
+any one who uses Latin or French merely because he has a taste for
+ornament. In the following quotation the meaning, though most obscurely
+expressed, is probably correct; and _cui bono?_ stands for: ‘Where can
+the story have come from? why, who will profit by a misunderstanding
+between Italy and France? Germany, of course; so doubtless Germany
+invented the story’. _Cui bono?_ is quite capable of implying all that;
+but a merciful writer will give his readers a little more help:
+
+ (Berlin) The news which awakens the most hopeful interest is the
+ story of a concession to a Franco-Belgian syndicate in the harbour
+ of Tripoli. There is a manifest desire that the statement should be
+ confirmed and that it should have the effect of exciting the Italian
+ people and alienating them from France. _Cui bono?_--_Times._
+
+6. It now only remains to add that there are French words good in
+some contexts, and not in others. _Régime_ is good in the combination
+_ancien régime_, because that is the briefest way of alluding to the
+state of things in France before the Revolution. Further, its use in
+the first of the appended passages is appropriate enough, because there
+is an undoubted parallel between Russia now and France then. But in the
+second, _administration_ ought to be the word:
+
+ Throwing a flood of light upon the proceedings of the existing
+ _régime_ in Russia.--_Times._
+
+ He said that the goodwill and friendship of the Milner _régime_ had
+ resulted in the effective co-operation of the two countries.--_Times._
+
+The word _employé_ is often a long, ugly, and unnatural substitute for
+_men_, _workmen_, or _hands_, one of which should have been used in the
+first two of the passages below. But it has a value where clerks or
+higher degrees are to be included, as in the third passage. It should
+be used as seldom as possible, that is all:
+
+ The warehouses of the Russian Steamship Company here have been set on
+ fire by some dismissed _employés_.--_Times._
+
+ The _employés_ of the Trans-Caucasian line to-day struck
+ work.--_Times._
+
+ The new project, Article 17, ordains that all _employés_ of the
+ railways, whatever their rank or the nature of their employment, are
+ to be considered as public officials.--_Times._
+
+Finally, even words that have not begun to be naturalized may be used
+exceptionally when a real point can be gained by it. To say _chasseur_
+instead of _sportsman_, _gun_, or other English word, is generally
+ridiculous. But our English notion of the French sportsman (right or
+wrong) is that he sports not because he likes sport, but because he
+likes the picturesque costumes it gives an excuse for. Consequently the
+word is quite appropriate in the following:
+
+ But the costume of the _chasseurs_--green velvet, very
+ Robin-Hoody--had been most tasteful.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+
+ FALSE, UGLY, OR NEEDLESS FORMATIONS
+
+1. As a natural link between this section and the last, the practice
+of taking French words and spelling them as English may stand first.
+With French words that fill a definite blank in English, the time
+comes when that should be done if it can. With some words it cannot;
+no one has yet seen his way to giving _ennui_ an English look. With
+_dishabille_, on the other hand, which appears in the dictionary with
+spellings to suit all tastes[7], many attempts have been made. This
+word, however, well illustrates the importance of one principle that
+should be observed in borrowing from French. Unless the need is a very
+crying one, no word should be taken that offers serious difficulties
+of pronunciation. In _déshabillé_ are at least two problems (_h_, and
+_ll_) of which an Englishman fights shy. The consequence is that,
+though its English history dates back some centuries, it is very seldom
+heard in conversation; no word not used in conversation becomes a
+true native; and _dishabille_ is therefore being gradually ousted by
+_négligé_, which can be pronounced without fear. As _dishabille_ is
+really quite cut off from _déshabillé_, it is a pity it was not further
+deprived of its final _-e_; that would have encouraged us to call it
+_dish-abil_, and it might have made good its footing.
+
+_Naïveté_ is another word for which there is a clear use; and though
+the Englishman can pronounce it without difficulty if he chooses,
+he generally does prefer doing without it altogether to attempting a
+precision that strikes him as either undignified or pretentious. It is
+therefore to be wished that it might be disencumbered of its diaeresis,
+its accent, and its italics. It is true that the first sight of naivety
+is an unpleasant shock; but we ought to be glad that the thing has
+begun to be done, and in speaking sacrifice our pride of knowledge and
+call it _naivety_.
+
+The case of _banality_ is very different. In one sense it has a
+stronger claim than _naivety_, its adjective _banal_ being much older
+in English than _naïve_; but the old use of _banal_ is as a legal term
+connected with feudalism. That use is dead, and its second life is an
+independent one; it is now a mere borrowing from French. Whether we
+are to accept it or not should be decided by whether we want it; and
+with _common_, _commonplace_, _trite_, _trivial_, _mean_, _vulgar_,
+all provided with nouns, which again can be eked out with _truism_
+and _platitude_, a shift can surely be made without it. It is one of
+those foreign feathers, like _intimism_, _intimity_, _femininity_,
+_distinction_ and _distinguished_ (the last pair now banalities if
+anything was ever banal; so do extremes meet), in which writers of
+literary criticism love to parade, and which ordinary persons should do
+their best to pluck from them, protesting when there is a chance, and
+at all times refusing the compliment of imitation. But perhaps the word
+that the critics would most of all delight their readers by forgetting
+is _meticulous_.
+
+Before adding an example or two, we draw attention to the danger of
+accidentally assimilating a good English word to a French one. _Amende_
+is good French; _amends_ is good English; but _amend_ (noun) is neither:
+
+ Triviality and over-childishness and naivety.--H. SWEET.
+
+ Agrippa himself was primarily a paradox-monger. Many of his successors
+ were in dead earnest, and their repetition of his ingenuities becomes
+ _banal_ in the extreme. Bercher himself can by no means be acquitted
+ of this charge of _banality_.--_Times._
+
+It is significant that the only authorities for _banality_ in the
+_Oxford Dictionary_ are Sala, Saintsbury, Dowden, and Browning; but
+the volume is dated 1888; and though the word is still used in the
+same overpowering proportion by literary critics as opposed to other
+writers, its total use has multiplied a hundredfold since then. Our
+hope is that the critics may before long feel that it is as banal to
+talk about banality as it is now felt by most wellbred people to be
+vulgar to talk about vulgarity.
+
+ His style, which is pleasant and diffuse without being
+ _distinguished_, is more suited to the farm and the simple country
+ life than to the complexities of the human character.--_Times._
+
+ His character and that of his wife are sketched with a certain
+ _distinction_.--_Times._
+
+ And yet to look back over the whole is to feel that in one case only
+ has she really achieved that perfection of _intimism_ which is her
+ proper goal.--_Times._
+
+ The reference to the English nonconformists was a graceful _amend_ to
+ them for being so passionate an Oxonian and churchman.--MORLEY.
+
+ And in her presentation of the mode of life of the respectable middle
+ classes, the most _meticulous_ critic will not easily catch her
+ tripping.--_Times._
+
+2. =Formations involving grammatical blunders.= Of these the
+possibilities are of course infinite; we must assume that our readers
+know the ordinary rules of grammar, and merely, not to pass over the
+point altogether, give one or two typical and not too trite instances:
+
+ My landlady entered bearing what she called ‘her best lamp’
+ _alit_.--CORELLI.
+
+This seems to be formed as a past participle from _to alight_, in the
+sense of to kindle. It will surprise most people to learn that there
+is, or was, such a verb; not only was there, but the form that should
+have been used in our sentence, _alight_, is probably by origin the
+participle of it. The _Oxford Dictionary_, however, after saying this,
+observes that it has now been assimilated to words like _afire_, formed
+from the preposition _a-_ and a noun. Whether those two facts are true
+of not, it is quite certain that there is no such word as _alit_ in
+the sense of lighted or lit, and that the use of it in our days is a
+grammatical blunder.[8]
+
+ But every year pleaded _stronger_ and _stronger_ for the Earl’s
+ conception.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+Comparative adverbs of this type must be formed only from those
+positive adverbs, which do not use _-ly_, as _hard_, _fast_. We talk
+of _going strong_, and we may therefore talk of _going stronger_;
+but outside slang we have to choose between _stronglier_--poetical,
+exalted, or affected--and _more strongly_.
+
+ The silence that _underlaid_ the even voice of the breakers along the
+ sea front.--KIPLING.
+
+_Lie_ and _lay_ have cost us all some perplexity in childhood. The
+distinction is more difficult in the compounds with _over_ and _under_,
+because in them _-lie_ is transitive as well as _-lay_, but in a
+different sense. Any one who is not sure that he is sound on the point
+by instinct must take the trouble to resolve them into _lie over_ or
+_lay over_, &c., which at once clears up the doubt. A mistake with the
+simple verb is surprising when made, as in the following, by a writer
+on grammar:
+
+ I met a lad who took a paper from a package that he carried and thrust
+ it into my unwilling hand. I suspected him of having _laid_ in wait
+ for the purpose.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+A confusion, perhaps, between _lay wait_ and _lie in wait_.
+
+ I am not sure that _yours_ and my efforts would suffice separately;
+ but yours and mine together cannot possibly fail.
+
+The first _yours_ is quite wrong; it should be _your_. This mistake is
+common. The absolute possessives, _ours_ and _yours_, _hers_, _mine_
+and _thine_, (with which the poetic or euphonic use of the last two
+before vowels has nothing to do) are to be used only as pronouns or
+as predicative adjectives, not as attributes to an expressed and
+following noun. That they were used by old writers as in our example
+is irrelevant. The correct modern usage has now established itself.
+We add three sentences from Burke. The relation between _no_ and
+_none_ is the same as that between _your_ and _yours_. In the first
+sentence, modern usage would write (as the correct _no or but a few_
+is uncomfortable) either _few or no_, or _few if any_, or _no rays or
+but a few_. For the second we might possibly tolerate _to their as well
+as to your own_; or we might write _to their crown as well as to your
+own_. The third is quite tolerable as it is; but any one who does not
+like the sound can write _and their ancestors and ours_. It must always
+be remembered in this as in other constructions, that the choice is
+not between a well-sounding blunder and an ill-sounding correctness,
+but between an ill and a well sounding correctness. The blunder should
+be ruled out, and if the first form of the correct construction that
+presents itself does not sound well, another way of putting it must be
+looked for; patience will always find it. The flexibility gained by
+habitual selection of this kind, which a little cultivation will make
+easy and instinctive, is one of the most essential elements in a good
+style. For a more important illustration of the same principle, the
+remarks on the gerund in the Syntax chapter (p. 120) may be referred to.
+
+ Black bodies, reflecting _none_ or but a few rays.--BURKE.
+
+ You altered the succession to _theirs_, as well as to your own
+ crown.--BURKE.
+
+ They and we, and _their_ and our ancestors, have been happy under that
+ system.--BURKE.
+
+3. =Formations violating analogy.=
+
+ And then it is its panache, its careless _a-moral_ Renaissance
+ romance.--_Times._
+
+ But she is perfectly natural, and while perfectly _amoral_, no more
+ immoral than a bird or a kitten.--_Times._
+
+_A-_ (not) is Greek; _moral_ is Latin. It is at least desirable that in
+making new words the two languages should not be mixed. The intricate
+needs of science may perhaps be allowed to override a literary
+principle of this sort; and accordingly the _Oxford Dictionary_
+recognizes that _a-_ is compounded with Latin words in scientific and
+technical terms, as _a-sexual_; but purely literary workers may be
+expected to abstain. The obvious excuse for this formation is that the
+Latin negative prefix is already taken up in _immoral_, which means
+contrary to morality, while a word is wanted to mean unconcerned with
+morality. But with _non_ freely prefixed to adjectives in English
+(though not in Latin), there can be no objection to _non-moral_. The
+second of our instances is a few weeks later than the first, and the
+hyphen has disappeared; so quickly has _The Times_ convinced itself
+that _amoral_ is a regular English word.
+
+ There was no social or economic jealousy between them, no _racial_
+ aversion.--_Times._
+
+ Concessions which, besides damaging Hungary by raising _racial_ and
+ _language_ questions of all kinds, would....--_Times._
+
+ The action of foreign countries as to their _coastal_ trade.--_Times._
+
+ Her riverine trade.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+It has been already stated that _-al_ is mainly confined to
+unmistakable Latin stems. There is _whimsical_; and there may be others
+that break the rule, though the _Oxford Dictionary_ (_-al suffix_,
+_-ical suffix_, _-ial suffix_) gives no exceptions. The ugly words
+_racial_ and _coastal_ themselves might well be avoided except in the
+rare cases where _race_ and _coast_ used adjectivally will not do
+the work (they would in the present instances); and they should not
+be made precedents for new formations. If _language_ is better than
+_linguistic_, much more _race_ than _racial_; similarly, _river_ than
+_riverine_.
+
+ What she was pleased to term their superior intelligence, and more
+ _real_ and _reliable_ probity.--C. BRONTË (_Villette_, 1853).
+
+It is absurd at this time of day to make a fuss about the word. It
+is with us and will remain with us, whatever pedants and purists may
+say. In such cases _obsta principiis_ is the only hope; _reliable_
+might once have been suppressed, perhaps; it cannot now. But it is
+so fought over, even to-day, that a short discussion of it may be
+looked for. The objection to it is obvious: you do not rely a thing;
+therefore the thing cannot be reliable; it should be rely-on-able (like
+_come-at-able_). Some of the analogies pleaded for it are perhaps
+irrelevant--as _laughable_, _available_. For these _may_ be formed
+from the nouns _laugh_, _avail_, since _-able_ is not only gerundival
+(capable of being laughed at), but also adjectival (connected with a
+laugh); this has certainly happened with _seasonable_; but that will
+not help _reliable_, which by analogy should be _relianceable_. It is
+more to the point to remark that with _reliable_ must go _dispensable_
+(with _indispensable_) and _dependable_, both quite old words, and
+_disposable_ (in its commoner sense); no one, as far as we know,
+objects to these and others like them; _reliable_ is made into a
+scapegoat. The word itself, moreover, besides its wide popularity, is
+now of respectable antiquity, dating at least from Coleridge. It may
+be added that it is probably to the campaign against it that we owe
+such passive monstrosities as ‘ready to be availed of’ for _available_,
+which is, as we said, possibly not open to the same objection as
+_reliable_.
+
+ I have heretofore designated the misuse of certain words as
+ _Briticisms_.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+Britannic, Britannicism; British, Britishism. Britic?
+
+4. =Needless, though correct formations.=
+
+ The _sordor_ and filths of nature, the sun shall dry up.--EMERSON.
+
+As _candeo candor_, _ardeo ardor_, so--we are to understand--_sordeo
+sordor_. The Romans, however, never felt that they needed the word; and
+it is a roundabout method first to present them with a new word and
+then to borrow it from them; for it will be observed that we have no
+living suffix _-or_ in English, nor, if we had, anything nearer than
+_sordid_ to attach it to. Perhaps Emerson thought _sordor_ was a Latin
+word.
+
+ Merely nodding his head as an _enjoinder_ to be careful.--DICKENS.
+
+As _rejoin rejoinder_, so _enjoin enjoinder_. The word is not given
+in the _Oxford Dictionary_, from which it seems likely that Dickens
+invented it, consciously or unconsciously. The only objection to
+such a word is that its having had to wait so long, in spite of its
+obviousness, before being made is a strong argument against the
+necessity of it. We may regret that _injunction_ holds the field,
+having a much less English appearance; but it does; and in language the
+old-established that can still do the work is not to be turned out for
+the new-fangled that might do it a shade better, but must first get
+itself known and accepted.
+
+ _Oppositely_, the badness of a walk that is shuffling, and an
+ utterance that is indistinct is alleged.--SPENCER.
+
+This, on the other hand, is an archaism, now obsolete. Why it should
+not have lived is a mystery; but it has not; and to write it is to give
+one’s sentence the air of an old curiosity shop.
+
+ Again, as if to _intensate_ the influences that are not of race, what
+ we think of when we talk of English traits really narrows itself to a
+ small district.--EMERSON.
+
+A favourite with those allied experimenters in words, Emerson and
+Carlyle. A word meaning _to make intense_ is necessary; and there
+are plenty of parallels for this particular form. But Coleridge had
+already made _intensify_, introducing it with an elaborate apology in
+which he confessed that it sounded uncouth. It is uncouth no longer;
+if it had never existed, perhaps _intensate_ would now have been so no
+longer, uncouthness being, both etymologically and otherwise, a matter
+of strangeness as against familiarity. It is better to form words only
+where there is a clear demand for them.
+
+5. =Long and short rivals.= The following examples illustrate a foolish
+tendency. From the adjective _perfect_ we form the verb _to perfect_,
+and from that again the noun _perfection_; to take a further step
+forward to a verb _to perfection_ instead of returning to the verb
+_to perfect_ is a superfluity of naughtiness. From the noun _sense_
+we make the adjective _sensible_; it is generally quite needless to
+go forward to _sensibleness_ instead of back to our original noun
+_sense_. To _quieten_ is often used by hasty writers who have not
+time to remember that _quiet_ is a verb. With _ex tempore_ ready to
+serve either as adverb or as adjective, why make _extemporaneous_
+or _extemporaneously_? As to _contumacity_, the writer was probably
+unaware that _contumacy_ existed. _Contumacity_ might be formed from
+_contumax_, like _audacity_ from _audax_. The Romans had only the short
+forms _audacia_, _contumacia_, which should have given us _audacy_ as
+well as _contumacy_; but because our ancestors burdened themselves with
+an extra syllable in one we need not therefore do so in the other.
+
+ The inner, religiously moral _perfectioning_ of individuals.--_Times._
+
+ She liked the quality of mind which may be broadly called
+ _sensibleness_.--_Times._
+
+Broadly, or lengthily?
+
+ M. Delcassé, speaking _extemporaneously_ but with notes,
+ said....--_Times._
+
+ And now, Mdlle St. Pierre’s affected interference provoked
+ _contumacity_.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ It is often a very easy thing to act _prudentially_, but alas! too
+ often only after we have toiled to our prudence through a forest of
+ delusions.--DE QUINCEY.
+
+_Prudent_ gives _prudence_, and _prudence_ _prudential_; the latter
+has its use: prudential considerations are those in which prudence is
+allowed to outweigh other motives; they may be prudent without being
+prudential, and vice versa. But before using _prudentially_ we should
+be quite sure that we mean something different from _prudently_. So
+again _partially_, which should be reserved as far as possible for the
+meaning _with partiality_, is now commonly used for _partly_:[9]
+
+ The series of administrative reforms planned by the Convention had
+ been _partially_ carried into effect before the meeting of Parliament
+ in 1654; but the work was pushed on.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+
+ That the gravity of the situation is _partially_ appreciated by the
+ bureaucracy may be inferred from....--_Times._
+
+_Excepting_, instead of _except_, is to be condemned when there is
+no need for it. We say _not excepting_, or _not even excepting_, or
+_without excepting_; but where the exception is allowed, not rejected,
+the short form is the right one, as a comparison of the following
+examples will show:
+
+ Of all societies ... _not even excepting_ the Roman Republic, England
+ has been the most emphatically ... political.--MORLEY.
+
+ The Minister was obliged to present the Budget before May each year,
+ _excepting_ in the event of the Cortes having been dissolved.--_Times._
+
+ The sojourn of belligerent ships in French waters has never been
+ limited _excepting_ by certain clearly defined rules.--_Times._
+
+ _Excepting_ the English, French, and Austrian journalists present, no
+ one had been admitted.--_Times._
+
+Innumerable other needless lengthenings might be produced, from
+which we choose only _preventative_ for _preventive_, and _to
+experimentalize_ for _to experiment_.
+
+On the other hand, when usage has differentiated a long and a short
+form either of which might originally have served, the distinction must
+be kept. _Immovable_ and _irremovable_ judges are different things; the
+shorter word has been wrongly chosen in:
+
+ By suspending conscription and restoring the _immovability_ of the
+ Judges.--_Times._
+
+6. =Merely ugly formations.=
+
+ _Bureaucracy._
+
+The termination _-cracy_ is now so freely applied that it is too late
+to complain of this except on the ground of ugliness. It may be pointed
+out, however, that the very special ugliness of _bureaucracy_ is due
+to the way its mongrel origin is flaunted in our faces by the telltale
+syllable _-eau-_; it is to be hoped that formations similar in this
+respect may be avoided.
+
+ An ordinary reader, if asked what was the main impression given by the
+ _Short History of the English People_, would answer that it was the
+ impression of picturesqueness and _vividity_.--BRYCE.
+
+In sound, there can be no question between _vividity_ with its
+fourfold repetition of the same vowel sound, its two dentals to add
+to the ugliness of its two _v_’s, and the comparatively inoffensive
+_vividness_.
+
+We conclude with deprecating the addition of _-ly_ to participles in
+_-ed_. Some people are so alive to the evil sound of it that they
+write _determinately_ for _determinedly_; that will not do either,
+because _determinate_ does not mean _determined_ in the required
+sense. A periphrasis, or an adjective or Latin participle with _-ly_,
+as _resolutely_, should be used. _Implied_ is as good a word as
+_implicit_, but _impliedly_ is by no means so good as _implicitly_.
+Several instances are given, for cumulative effect. Miss Corelli makes
+a mannerism of this.
+
+ Dr. John and his mother were in their finest mood, contending
+ _animatedly_ with each other the whole way.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ Where the gate opens, or the gateless path turns aside
+ _trustedly_.--RUSKIN.
+
+ ‘That’s not a very kind speech,’ I said somewhat _vexedly_.--CORELLI.
+
+ However, I _determinedly_ smothered all premonitions.--CORELLI.
+
+ I saw one or two passers-by looking at me so _surprisedly_ that I came
+ to the conclusion....--_Corelli._
+
+ I stared _bewilderedly_ up at the stars.--_Corelli._
+
+It should be added that to really established adverbs of this form, as
+_advisedly_, _assuredly_, _hurriedly_, there is no objection whatever;
+but new ones are ugly.
+
+
+SLANG
+
+The place of slang is in real life. There, an occasional indulgence
+in it is an almost necessary concession to our gregarious humanity;
+he who declines altogether to let his speech be influenced by his
+neighbours’ tricks, and takes counsel only of pure reason, is setting
+up for more than man. _Awfully nice_ is an expression than which few
+could be sillier; but to have succeeded in going through life without
+saying it a certain number of times is as bad as to have no redeeming
+vice. Further, the writer who deals in conversation may sometimes find
+it necessary, by way of characterizing his speakers, to put slang in
+their mouths; if he is wise he will make the least possible use of this
+resource; and to interlard the non-conversational parts of a book or
+article with slang, quotation marks or no quotation marks, is as bad
+as interlarding with French. Foreign words and slang are, as spurious
+ornaments, on the same level. The italics, but not the quotation marks,
+in these examples are ours:
+
+ When the madness motif was being treated on the stage, Shakespeare (as
+ was the custom of his theatre) treated it ‘_for all it was worth_’,
+ careless of the boundaries between feigning and reality.--_Times._
+
+ But even this situation ‘_peters out_’, the wife being sent
+ away with her fate undecided, and the husband, represented as a
+ ‘forcible-feeble’ person by the dramatist and as a feeble person, tout
+ court, by the actor....--_Times._
+
+ M. Baron the younger is amusing as the ‘_bounder_’ Olivier.--_Times._
+
+ Asking ourselves this question about Mr. Thurston’s play, we find
+ that it has given us a ha’porth of pleasure to an intolerable deal of
+ boredom. With its primary postulate, ‘_steep_’ as it is, we will not
+ quarrel.--_Times._
+
+ They will find no subtlety in it, no literary art, no profundity of
+ feeling; but they will assuredly find breadth, colour, and strength.
+ It is a play that hits you, as the children say, ‘_bang in the
+ eye_’.--_Times._
+
+ They derive no advantage from schemes of land settlement from which
+ the man who has broken the land in _gets ‘the boot’_, the voter gets
+ the land, the Government gets the vote, and the London labour market
+ gets the risk.--_Times._
+
+The effect of using quotation marks with slang is merely to convert a
+mental into a moral weakness. When they are not used, we may mercifully
+assume that the writer does not know the difference between slang and
+good English, and sins in ignorance: when they are, he is telling us,
+I know it is naughty, but then it is nice. Most of us would rather be
+taken for knaves than for fools; and so the quotation marks are usually
+there.
+
+With this advice--never to use slang except in dialogue, and there
+as little as may be--we might leave the subject, except that the
+suggestion we have made about the unconscious use of slang seems to
+require justifying. To justify it, we must attempt some analysis,
+however slight, of different sorts of slang.
+
+To the ordinary man, of average intelligence and middle-class position,
+slang comes from every direction, from above, from below, and from all
+sides, as well as from the centre. What comes from some directions
+he will know for slang, what comes from others he may not. He may be
+expected to recognize words from below. Some of these are shortenings,
+by the lower classes, of words whose full form conveys no clear
+meaning, and is therefore useless, to them. An antiquated example
+is _mob_, for _mobile vulgus_. That was once slang, and is now good
+English. A modern one is _bike_, which will very likely be good English
+also in time. But though its brevity is a strong recommendation, and
+its uncouthness probably no more than subjective and transitory, it is
+as yet slang. Such words should not be used in print till they have
+become so familiar that there is not the slightest temptation to dress
+them up in quotation marks. Though they are the most easily detected,
+they are also the best slang; when the time comes, they take their
+place in the language as words that will last, and not, like many of
+the more highly descended words, die away uselessly after a brief
+popularity.
+
+Another set of words that may be said to come from below, since it
+owes its existence to the vast number of people who are incapable of
+appreciating fine shades of meaning, is exemplified by _nice_, _awful_,
+_blooming_. Words of this class fortunately never make their way, in
+their slang senses, into literature (except, of course, dialogue). The
+abuse of _nice_ has gone on at any rate for over a century; the curious
+reader may find an interesting page upon it in the fourteenth chapter
+of _Northanger Abbey_ (1803). But even now we do not talk in books of
+_a nice day_, only of _a nice distinction_. On the other hand, the
+slang use makes us shy in different degrees of writing the words in
+their legitimate sense: _a nice distinction_ we write almost without
+qualms; _an awful storm_ we think twice about; and as to _a blooming
+girl_, we hardly venture it nowadays. The most recent sufferer of this
+sort is perhaps _chronic_. It has been adopted by the masses, as far
+apart at least as in Yorkshire and in London, for a mere intensive, in
+the sense of _remarkable_. The next step is for it to be taken up in
+parody by people who know better; after which it may be expected to
+succeed _awful_.
+
+So much for the slang from below; the ordinary man can detect it. He
+is not so infallible about what comes to him from above. We are by no
+means sure that we shall be correct in our particular attribution of
+the half-dozen words now to be mentioned; but it is safe to say that
+they are all at present enjoying some vogue as slang, and that they
+all come from regions that to most of us are overhead. _Phenomenal_,
+soon, we hope, to perish unregretted, is (at least indirectly, through
+the abuse of _phenomenon_) from Metaphysics; _immanence_, a word often
+met in singular company, from Comparative Theology; _epochmaking_
+perhaps from the Philosophic Historian; _true inwardness_ from Literary
+Criticism; _cad_ (which is, it appears, Etonian for _cadet_) from the
+Upper Classes; _psychological moment_ from Science; _thrasonical_
+and _cryptic_ from Academic Circles; _philistine_ from the region of
+culture. Among these the one that will be most generally allowed to
+be slang--_cad_--is in fact the least so; it has by this time, like
+_mob_, passed its probation and taken its place as an orthodox word,
+so that all who do not find adequate expression for their feelings in
+the orthodox have turned away to _bounder_ and other forms that still
+admit the emphasis of quotation marks. As for the rest of them, they
+are being subjected to that use, at once over-frequent and inaccurate,
+which produces one kind of slang. But the average man, seeing from what
+exalted quarters they come, is dazzled into admiration and hardly knows
+them for what they are.
+
+By the slang that comes from different sides or from the centre
+we mean especially the many words taken originally from particular
+professions, pursuits, or games, but extended beyond them. Among these
+a man is naturally less critical of what comes from his own daily
+concerns, that is, in his view, from the centre. _Frontispiece_, for
+face, perhaps originated in the desire of prize-ring reporters to vary
+the words in their descriptive flights. _Negotiate_ (a difficulty, &c.)
+possibly comes from the hunting-field; people whose conversation runs
+much upon a limited subject feel the need of new phrases for the too
+familiar things. And both these words, as well as _individual_, which
+must be treated more at length in the next section, are illustrations
+of a tendency that we have called polysyllabic humour and discussed
+in the Chapter _Airs and Graces_. We now add a short list of slang
+phrases or words that can most of them be referred with more or less
+of certainty to particular occupations. Whether they are recognized
+as slang will certainly depend in part on whether the occupation is
+familiar, though sometimes the familiarity will disguise, and sometimes
+it will bring out, the slanginess.
+
+_To hedge_, _the double event_ (turf); _frontal attack_ (war);
+_play the game_, _stumped_ (cricket); _to run_--the show,
+&c.--(engine-driving); _knock out_, _take it lying down_ (prize-ring);
+_log-rolling_, _slating_, _birrelling_ (literature); _to tackle_--a
+problem, &c.--(football); _to take a back seat_ (coaching?); _bedrock_,
+_to exploit_, _how it pans out_ (mining); _whole-hogging_, _world
+policy_ (politics); _floored_ (1. prize ring; 2. school); _the under
+dog_ (dog-fighting); _up to date_ (advertising); _record_--time,
+&c.--(athletics); _euchred_, _going one better_, _going Nap._ (cards);
+_to corner_--a thing--(commerce)--a person--(ratting); _chic_ (society
+journalism); _on your own_, _of sorts_, _climb down_, _globetrotter_,
+_to laze_ (perhaps not assignable).
+
+Good and sufficient occasions will arise--rarely--for using most
+of these phrases and the rest of the slang vocabulary. To those,
+however, who desire that what they write may endure it is suggested
+that, as style is the great antiseptic, so slang is the great
+corrupting matter; it is perishable itself, and infects what is round
+it--the catchwords that delight one generation stink in the nostrils
+of the next; _individual_, which almost made the fortune of many a
+Victorian humorist, is one of the modern editor’s shibboleths for
+detecting the unfit. And even those who regard only the present will
+do well to remember that in literature as elsewhere there are as many
+conservatives as progressives, as many who expect their writers to
+say things a little better than they could do themselves as who are
+flattered by the proof that one man is no better than another.
+
+ ‘Skepsey did come back to London with rather a damaged
+ _frontispiece_’, Victor said.--MEREDITH.
+
+ Henson, however, once _negotiated_ a sprint down his wing, and put in
+ a fine dropping shot to Aubert, who saved.--_Guernsey Evening Press._
+
+ Passengers, the guild add, usually arrive at the last moment before
+ sailing, when the master must concentrate his mind upon _negotiating_
+ a safe passage.--_Times._
+
+ To deal with these extensive and purely local breeding grounds in the
+ manner suggested by Major Ross would be a very _tall order_.--_Times._
+
+ In about twenty minutes he returned, accompanied by a highly
+ intelligent-looking _individual_, dressed in blue and black, with
+ a particularly white cravat, and without a hat on his head; this
+ _individual_, whom I should have mistaken for a gentleman but for the
+ intelligence depicted in his face, he introduced to me as the master
+ of the inn.--BORROW.
+
+ A Sèvres vase sold yesterday at Christie’s _realized_ what is believed
+ to be the _record_ price of 4,000 guineas.--_Times._
+
+ You could not, if you had tried, have made so perfect a place for two
+ girls to lounge in, to _laze_ in, to read silly novels in, or to go to
+ sleep in on drowsy afternoons.--CROCKETT.
+
+ Mr. Balfour’s somewhat _thrasonical_ eulogies.--_Spectator._
+
+ A quarrelsome, somewhat _thrasonical_ fighting man.--_Spectator._
+
+ The _true inwardness_ of this statement is....--_Times._
+
+ We do not know what _inwardness_ there may be in the order of his
+ discourses, though each of them has some articulate link with that
+ which precedes.--_Times._
+
+ Such a departure from etiquette at the _psychological moment_ shows
+ tact and discretion.--_Times._
+
+ He asserts that about four years ago there was quite an Argentine
+ _boom_ in New Zealand.--_Times._
+
+No treatment of slang, however short, should omit the reminder that
+slang and idiom are hard to distinguish, and yet, in literature,
+slang is bad, and idiom good. We said that slang was perishable; the
+fact is that most of it perishes; but some survives and is given the
+idiomatic franchise; ‘when it doth prosper, none dare call it’ slang.
+The idiomatic writer differs chiefly from the slangy in using what was
+slang and is now idiom; of what is still slang he chooses only that
+part which his insight assures him has the sort of merit that will
+preserve it. In a small part of their vocabulary the idiomatic and the
+slangy will coincide, and be therefore confused by the undiscerning.
+The only advice that can be given to novices uncertain of their own
+discrimination is to keep carefully off the debatable ground. Full
+idiom and full slang are as far apart as virtue and vice; and yet
+
+ They oft so mix, the difference is too nice
+ Where ends the virtue, or begins the vice.
+
+Any one who can confidently assign each of the following phrases to its
+own territory may feel that he is not in much danger:
+
+ Outrun the constable, the man in the street, kicking your heels,
+ between two stools, cutting a loss, riding for a fall, not seeing the
+ wood for the trees, minding your Ps and Qs, crossing the _t_s, begging
+ the question, special pleading, a bone to pick, half seas over, tooth
+ and nail, bluff, maffick, a tall order, it has come to stay.
+
+
+ PARTICULAR WORDS
+
+Individual, mutual, unique, aggravating.
+
+To use _individual_ wrongly in the twentieth century stamps a writer,
+more definitely than almost any other single solecism, not as being
+generally ignorant or foolish, but as being without the literary
+sense. For the word has been pilloried time after time; every one who
+is interested in style at all--which includes every one who aspires
+to be readable--must at least be aware that there is some mystery
+about the word, even if he has not penetrated it. He has, therefore,
+two courses open to him: he may leave the word alone; or he may find
+out what it means; if he insists on using it without finding out, he
+will commit himself. The adjectival use of it presents no difficulty;
+the adjective, as well as the adverb _individually_, is always used
+rightly if at all; it is the noun that goes wrong. An _individual_
+is not simply a person; it is a single, separate, or private person,
+a person as opposed to a combination of persons; this qualification,
+this opposition, must be effectively present to the mind, or the word
+is not in place. In the nineteenth, especially the early nineteenth
+century, this distinction was neglected; mainly under the impulse of
+‘polysyllabic humour’, the word, which does mean _person_ in some sort
+of way, was seized upon as a facetious substitute for it; not only
+that; it spread even to good writers who had no facetious intention; it
+became the kind of slang described in the last section, which is highly
+popular until it suddenly turns disgusting. In reading many of these
+writers we feel that we must make allowances for them on this point;
+they only failed to be right when every one else was wrong. But we, if
+we do it, sin against the light.
+
+To leave no possible doubt about the distinction, we shall give many
+examples, divided into (1) right uses, (2) wrong uses, (3) sentences in
+which, though the author has used the word rightly, a perverse reader
+might take it wrongly. It will be observed that in (1) to substitute
+_man_ or _person_ would distinctly weaken the sense; in the sentence
+from Macaulay it would be practically impossible. The words italicized
+are those that prove the contrast with bodies, or organizations, to
+have been present to the writer’s mind, though it may often happen that
+he does not actually show it by specific mention of them. On the other
+hand, in (2) _person_ or _man_ or _he_ might always be substituted
+without harm to the sense, though sometimes a more exact word (not
+_individual_) might be preferable. In (3) little difference would be
+made by the substitution.
+
+ (1) Many of the _constituent bodies_ were under the absolute control
+ of individuals.--MACAULAY.
+
+ Regarding the general effect of Lord Kitchener’s proclamation,
+ everything so far as is known here points to the conclusion that the
+ document has failed to secure the surrender of any _body of men_.
+ Merely a few individuals have yielded.--_Times._
+
+ The wise Commons, considering that they are, if not a French _Third
+ Estate_, at least an aggregate of individuals pretending to some title
+ of that kind, determine....--CARLYLE.
+
+ (2) That greenish-coloured individual is an advocate of Arras; his
+ name is Maximilien Robespierre.--CARLYLE. (person)
+
+ Surely my fate is somehow strangely interwoven with that of this
+ mysterious individual.--SCOTT. (person)
+
+ And, as its weight is 15 lb., nobody save an individual in no
+ condition to distinguish a hawk from a handsaw could possibly mistake
+ it for a saluting charge.--_Times._ (person)
+
+ The Secretary of State for War was sending the same man down to
+ see what he could do in the Isle of Wight. The individual duly
+ arrived.--_Times._ (he)
+
+ My own shabby clothes and deplorable aspect, as compared with this
+ regal-looking individual.--CORELLI. (person)
+
+ In the present case, however, the individual who had secured the cab
+ had a companion.--BEACONSFIELD. (man)
+
+ I give my idea of the method in which Mr. Spencer and a Metaphysician
+ would discuss the necessity and validity of the Universal Postulate.
+ We must suppose this imaginary individual to have so far forgotten
+ himself as to make some positive statement--A. J. BALFOUR. (person)
+
+ But what made her marry that individual, who was at least as much like
+ an oil-barrel as a man?--C. BRONTË. (monstrosity)
+
+ He was a genteelly dressed individual; rather corpulent, with dark
+ features.--BORROW. (man)
+
+ During his absence two calls were made at the parsonage--one by a very
+ rough-looking individual who left a suspicious document in the hands
+ of the servant.--TROLLOPE. (man)
+
+ (3) Almost all the recent Anarchist crimes were perpetrated
+ by _isolated_ halfwitted individuals who aimed at universal
+ notoriety.--_Times._
+
+ Which of these two individuals, in plain white cravat, that have come
+ up to regenerate France, might one guess would become their king? For
+ a king or leader they, as all _bodies of men_, must have.--CARLYLE.
+
+Some apology is due for so heaping up instances of the same thing; but
+here, as with other common blunders to be treated of later, it has
+seemed that an effect might be produced by mere iteration.
+
+The word _mutual_ requires caution. As with _individual_, any one who
+is not prepared to clear his ideas upon its meaning will do well to
+avoid it; it is a very telltale word, readily convicting the unwary,
+and on the other hand it may quite easily be done without. Every one
+knows by now that _our mutual friend_ is a solecism. _Mutual_ implies
+an action or relation between two or more persons or things, A doing
+or standing to B as B does or stands to A. Let A and B be the persons
+indicated by _our_, C the _friend_. No such reciprocal relation is here
+implied between A and B (who for all we know may be enemies), but only
+a separate, though similar relation between each of them and C. There
+is no such thing as a mutual friend in the singular; but the phrase
+_mutual friends_ may without nonsense be used to describe either A and
+C, B and C, or, if A and B happen to be also friends, A and B and C.
+_Our mutual friend_ is nonsense; _mutual friends_, though not nonsense,
+is bad English, because it is tautological. It takes two to make a
+friendship, as to make a quarrel; and therefore all friends are mutual
+friends, and _friends_ alone means as much as _mutual friends_. _Mutual
+wellwishers_ on the other hand is good English as well as good sense,
+because it is possible for me to be a man’s wellwisher though he hates
+me. Mutual love, understanding, insurance, benefits, dislike, mutual
+benefactors, backbiters, abettors, may all be correct, though they are
+also sometimes used incorrectly, like _our mutual friend_, where the
+right word would be _common_.
+
+Further, it is to be carefully observed that the word _mutual_ is an
+equivalent in meaning, and sometimes a convenient one for grammatical
+reasons, of the pronoun _each other_ with various prepositions. To use
+it as well as _each other_ is even more clearly tautological than the
+already mentioned _mutual friendship_.
+
+ If this be the case, much of the lost mutual understanding and unity
+ of feeling may be restored.--_Times._
+
+Correct, if _mutual_ is confined to _understanding_: they no longer
+understand _each other_.
+
+ Once their differences removed, both felt that in presence of certain
+ incalculable factors in Europe it would be of mutual advantage to draw
+ closer together.--_Times._
+
+Slightly clumsy; but it means that they would get advantage _from each
+other_ by drawing together, and may stand.
+
+ ... conversing with his Andalusian lady-love in rosy whispers about
+ their mutual passion for Spanish chocolate all the while.--MEREDITH.
+
+ Surely you have heard Mrs. Toddles talking to Mrs. Doddles about their
+ mutual maids.--THACKERAY.
+
+Indefensible.
+
+ There may be, moreover, while each has the key of the fellow breast, a
+ mutually sensitive nerve.--MEREDITH.
+
+A nerve cannot respond to each other; nerves can; _a common nerve_
+would have done; or _mutually sensitive nerves_.
+
+ It is now definitely announced that King Edward will meet President
+ Loubet this afternoon near Paris. Our Paris Correspondent says the
+ meeting will take place by mutual desire.--_Times._
+
+Right or wrong according to what is meant by _desire_. (1) If it means
+that King Edward and M. Loubet desired, that is, had a yearning for,
+each other, it is correct; but the writer probably did not intend so
+poetic a flight. (2) If it means that they merely desired a meeting,
+it is wrong, exactly as _our mutual friend_ is wrong. The relation is
+not one between A and B; it is only that A and B hold separately the
+same relation to C, the meeting. It should be _common desire_. (3) If
+_desire_ is here equivalent to _request_, and each is represented as
+having requested the other to meet him, it is again correct; but only
+politeness to the writer would induce any one to take this alternative.
+
+ The carpenter holds the hammer in one hand, the nail in the other, and
+ they do their work equally well. So it is with every craftsman; the
+ hands are mutually busy.--_Times._
+
+Wrong. The hands are not _busy_ with or _upon each other_, but with
+or upon the work. As _commonly_ would be ambiguous here, _equally_
+or _alike_ should be used, or simply _both_. _Mutually serviceable_,
+again, would have been right.
+
+ There were other means of communication between Claribel and her new
+ prophet. Books were mutually lent to each other.--BEACONSFIELD.
+
+This surprising sentence means that Vanity Fair was lent to Paradise
+Lost, and Paradise Lost to Vanity Fair. If we further assume for
+politeness’ sake that _mutually_ is not mere tautology with _to each
+other_, the only thing left for it to mean is _by each other_. The
+doubt then remains whether (1) Paradise Lost was lent to Vanity Fair by
+Paradise Lost, and Vanity Fair to Paradise Lost by Vanity Fair, or (2)
+Paradise Lost was lent to Vanity Fair by Vanity Fair, and Vanity Fair
+to Paradise Lost by Paradise Lost. This may be considered captious; but
+we still wish the author had said either, They lent each other books,
+or, Books were lent by them to each other.
+
+A thing is _unique_, or not unique; there are no degrees of
+uniqueness; nothing is ever somewhat or rather unique, though many
+things are almost or in some respects unique. The word is a member
+of a depreciating series. _Singular_ had once the strong meaning
+that _unique_ has still in accurate but not in other writers. In
+consequence of slovenly use, _singular_ no longer means singular, but
+merely remarkable; it is worn out; before long _rather unique_ will be
+familiar; _unique_, that is, will be worn out in turn, and we shall
+have to resort to _unexampled_ and keep that clear of qualifications as
+long as we can. Happily it is still admitted that sentences like the
+three given below are solecisms; they contain a self-contradiction.
+For the other regrettable use of _unique_, as when the advertisement
+columns offer us what they call _unique opportunities_, it may
+generally be assumed with safety that they are lying; but lying is not
+in itself a literary offence, so that with these we have nothing to do.
+
+ Thrills which gave him _rather_ a _unique_ pleasure.--HUTTON.
+
+ A _very unique_ child, thought I.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ ... is to be translated into Russian by M. Robert Böker, of St.
+ Petersburg. This is a _somewhat unique_ thing to happen to an English
+ text-book.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+To _aggravate_ is not to annoy or enrage (a person), but to make worse
+(a condition or trouble). The active participle should very rarely, and
+the rest of the active practically never, be used without an expressed
+object, and that of the right kind. In the sentence, _An aggravating
+circumstance was that the snow was dirty_, the meaning is not that the
+dirt was annoying, but that it added to some other misery previously
+expressed or implied. But, as the dirt happens to be annoying also,
+this use is easily misunderstood, and is probably the origin of the
+notorious vulgarism; since it almost inevitably lays a writer open
+to suspicion, it is best avoided. Of the following quotations, the
+first is quite correct, the other five as clearly wrong; in the fifth,
+_aggrieved_ would be the right word.
+
+ A premature initiative would be useless and even dangerous,
+ being calculated rather to aggravate than to simplify the
+ situation.--_Times._
+
+ Perhaps the most trying and aggravating period of the whole six months
+ during which the siege has lasted was this period of enforced idleness
+ waiting for the day of entry.--_Times._
+
+ There is a cold formality about the average Englishman; a lack of
+ effusive disposition to ingratiate himself, and an almost aggravating
+ indifference to alien customs or conventions.--_Times._
+
+ Mrs. Craigie may possibly be regarding him with an irony too fine for
+ us to detect; but to the ordinary mind he appears to be conceived in
+ the spirit of romance, and a very stupid, tiresome, aggravating man he
+ is.--_Times._
+
+ ‘Well, I’m sure I’m very much obliged to you, Misses Brown,’ said the
+ unfortunate youth, greatly aggravated.--DICKENS.
+
+ Nevertheless, it is an aggravating book, though we are bound to admit
+ that we have been greatly interested.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] The Romance languages are those whose grammatical structure, as
+well as part at least of their vocabulary, is directly descended from
+Latin--as Italian, French, Spanish. Under Romance words we include
+all that English has borrowed from Latin either directly or through
+the Romance languages. And words borrowed from Greek in general use,
+ranging from _alms_ to _metempsychosis_, may for the purposes of this
+chapter be considered as Romance. The vast number of purely scientific
+Greek words, as _oxygen_, _meningitis_, are on a different footing,
+since they are usually the only words for what they denote.
+
+[2] As in the second quotation from _The Times_ on p. 4.
+
+[3] Even in the legitimate sense (see p. 16), originally a happy
+metaphor for mysterious leaking out, but now vulgarized and ‘dead’.
+
+[4] Not that this word calls for censure in itself; but when packed
+into a sentence with _snow-white_, _green_, and _shrimp-pink_,
+it contributes noticeably to that effect of brief and startling
+exhaustiveness which is one variety of what we have stigmatized as
+efficiency.
+
+[5] It has. ‘It would be difficult to say just how many weddings of
+famous people have been celebrated at St. George’s Church, Hanover
+Square.’--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+[6] Readers of history are of course likely to be familiar with it; it
+occurs, for instance, scores of times in Carlyle’s _Friedrich_. In such
+work it is legitimate, being sure, between context and repetition, to
+be comprehensible; but this does not apply to newspaper writing.
+
+[7] The _Oxford Dictionary_ has fourteen varieties.
+
+[8] _Alit_ is due, no doubt, to mere inadvertence or ignorance: the
+form _litten_ (‘red-litten windows’, &c.), for which the _Oxford
+Dictionary_ quotes Poe, Lytton, W. Morris, and Crockett, but no old
+writer, is sham archaism.
+
+[9] The use deprecated has perhaps crept in from such phrases as _the
+sun was partially eclipsed_, an adaptation of _a partial eclipse_; and
+to such phrases it should be restricted. ‘The case was partially heard
+on Oct. 17’ is ambiguous; and the second example in the text is almost
+so, nearly enough to show that the limitation is desirable. The rule
+should be never to write _partially_ without first considering the
+claims of _partly_.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER II
+
+ SYNTAX
+
+
+ CASE
+
+There is not much opportunity in English for going wrong here, because
+we have shed most of our cases. The personal pronouns, and _who_ and
+its compounds, are the only words that visibly retain three--called
+subjective, objective, possessive. In nouns the first two are
+indistinguishable, and are called the common case. One result of this
+simplicity is that, the sense of case being almost lost, the few
+mistakes that can be made are made often--some of them so often that
+they are now almost right by prescription.
+
+1. In apposition.
+
+A pronoun appended to a noun, and in the same relation to the rest of
+the sentence, should be in the same case. Disregard of this is a bad
+blunder.
+
+ But to behold her mother--_she_ to whom she owed her being!--S.
+ FERRIER.
+
+2. The complement with _am_, _are_, _is_, &c., should be subjective.
+
+ I am she, she _me_, till death and beyond it.--MEREDITH.
+
+ _Whom_ would you rather be?
+
+ To how many maimed and mourning millions is the first and sole angel
+ visitant, _him_ Easterns call Azrael.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ That’s _him_.
+
+In the last but one, _him_ would no doubt have been defended by the
+writer, since the full form would be _he whom_, as an attraction to
+the vanished _whom_. But such attraction is not right; if _he_ alone
+is felt to be uncomfortable, _whom_ should not be omitted; or, in this
+exalted context, it might be _he that_.
+
+On _that’s him_, see 4, below.
+
+3. When a verb or preposition governs two pronouns united by _and_,
+&c., the second is apt to go wrong--a bad blunder. _Between you and I_
+is often heard in talk; and, in literature:
+
+ And now, my dear, let you and _I_ say a few words about this
+ unfortunate affair.--TROLLOPE.
+
+ It is kept locked up in a marble casket, quite out of reach of you or
+ _I_.--S. FERRIER.
+
+ She found everyone’s attention directed to Mary, and _she_ herself
+ entirely overlooked.--S. FERRIER.
+
+4. The interrogative _who_ is often used for _whom_, as, _Who_ did you
+see? A distinction should here be made between conversation, written or
+spoken, and formal writing. Many educated people feel that in saying
+_It is I, Whom do you mean?_ instead of _It’s me, Who do you mean?_
+they will be talking like a book, and they justifiably prefer geniality
+to grammar. But in print, unless it is dialogue, the correct forms are
+advisable.
+
+5. Even with words that have no visible distinction between subjective
+and objective case, it is possible to go wrong; for the case can always
+be inferred, though not seen. Consequently a word should never be so
+placed that it must be taken twice, once as subject and once as object.
+This is so common a blunder that it will be well to give a good number
+of examples. It occurs especially with the relative, from its early
+position in the sentence; but, as the first two examples show, it may
+result from the exceptional placing of other words also. The mere
+repetition of the relative, or insertion of _it_ or other pronoun,
+generally mends the sentence; in the first example, change _should only
+be_ to _only to be_.
+
+ _The occupation of the mouths of the Yalu_, however, his Majesty
+ considered undesirable, and should only be carried out in the last
+ resort.--_Times._
+
+ _This_ the strong sense of Lady Maclaughlan had long perceived, and
+ was the principal reason of her selecting so weak a woman as her
+ companion.--S. FERRIER.
+
+ Qualities _which_ it would cost me a great deal to acquire, and would
+ lead to nothing.--MORLEY.
+
+ A recorded saying of our Lord _which_ some higher critics of the New
+ Testament regard as of doubtful authenticity, and is certainly of
+ doubtful interpretation.
+
+ A weakness _which_ some would miscall gratitude, and is oftentimes the
+ corrupter of a heart not ignoble.--RICHARDSON.
+
+Analogous to these are the next three examples, which will require
+separate comment:
+
+ Knowledge _to_ the certainty of which no authority could add, or take
+ away, one jot or tittle.--HUXLEY.
+
+_To_ is applicable to _add_, not to _take away_. The full form is given
+by substituting for _or_ ‘and from the certainty of which no authority
+could’. This is clearly too cumbrous. Inserting _or from_ after _to_
+is the simplest correction; but the result is rather formal. Better,
+perhaps, ‘the certainty of which could not be increased or diminished
+one jot by any authority’.
+
+ From his conversation I should have pronounced him to be fitted to
+ excel _in_ whatever walk of ambition he had chosen to exert his
+ abilities.
+
+A second _in_ is required. This common slovenliness results from the
+modern superstition against putting a preposition at the end. The
+particular sentence may, however, be mended otherwise than by inserting
+_in_, if _excel_ is made absolute by a comma placed after it. Even
+then, the _in_ would perhaps be better at the end of the clause than at
+the beginning.
+
+ Lastly may be mentioned a principle _upon which_ Clausewitz insisted
+ with all his strength, and could never sufficiently impress upon his
+ Royal scholar.--_Times._
+
+The italicized _upon_ (we have nothing to do with the other _upon_) is
+right with _insist_, but wrong, though it must necessarily be supplied
+again, with _impress_. It is the result of the same superstition. Mend
+either by writing _upon_ after _insisted_ instead of before _which_, or
+by inserting _which he_ after _and_.
+
+6. After _as_ and _than_.
+
+These are properly conjunctions and ‘take the same case after them as
+before’. But those words must be rightly understood. (a), _I love you
+more than him_, means something different from (b), _I love you more
+than he_. It must be borne in mind that the ‘case before’ is that of
+the word that is compared with the ‘case after’, and not necessarily
+that of the word actually next before in position. In (a) _you_ is
+compared with _him_: in (b) _I_ (not _you_) is compared with _he_. The
+correct usage is therefore important, and the tendency illustrated in
+the following examples to make _than_ and _as_ prepositions should be
+resisted--though no ambiguity can actually result here.
+
+ When such as _her_ die.--SWIFT.
+
+ But there, I think, Lindore would be more eloquent than _me_.--S.
+ FERRIER.
+
+It must further be noticed that both _as_ and _than_ are conjunctions
+of the sort that can either, like _and_, &c., merely join coordinates,
+or, like _when_, &c., attach a subordinate clause to what it depends
+on. This double power sometimes affects case.
+
+ It is to him and such men as _he_ that we owe the change.--HUXLEY.
+
+This example is defensible, _as_ being here a subordinating
+conjunction, and _as he_ being equivalent to _as he is_. But it is
+distinctly felt to need defence, which _as him_ would not; _as_ would
+be a coordinating conjunction, and simply join the pronoun _him_ to the
+noun _men_. So, with _than_:
+
+ Such as have bound me, as well as others much better than _me_, by an
+ inviolable attachment to him from that time forward.--BURKE.
+
+On the other hand, we could not say indifferently, _I am as good as
+he_, and _I am as good as him_; the latter would imply that _as_ was a
+preposition, which it is not. And it is not always possible to choose
+between the coordinating and the subordinating use. In the next example
+only the coordinating will do, no verb being capable of standing after
+_he_; but the author has not observed this.
+
+ I beheld a man in the dress of a postillion, whom I instantly
+ recognized as _he_ to whom I had rendered assistance.--BORROW.
+
+A difficult question, however, arises with relatives after _than_.
+In the next two examples _whom_ is as manifestly wrong as _who_ is
+manifestly intolerable:
+
+ Dr. Dillon, than _whom_ no Englishman has a profounder acquaintance
+ with....--_Times._
+
+ It was a pleasure to hear Canon Liddon, than _whom_, in his day, there
+ was no finer preacher.
+
+The only correct solution is to recast the sentences. For instance,
+_... whose acquaintance with ... is unrivalled among Englishmen_; and
+_... unsurpassed in his day as a preacher_. But perhaps the convenience
+of _than whom_ is so great that to rule it out amounts to saying that
+man is made for grammar and not grammar for man.
+
+7. Compound possessives.
+
+This is strictly the proper place for drawing attention to a question
+that has some importance because it bears on the very common
+construction discussed at some length in the gerund section. This is
+the question whether, and to what extent, compound possessives may be
+recognized. Some people say _some one else’s_, others say _some one’s
+else_. Our own opinion is that the latter is uncalled for and pedantic.
+Of the three alternatives, _Smith the baker’s wife_, _Smith’s wife
+the baker_, _the wife of Smith the baker_, the last is unmitigated
+Ollendorff, the second thrusts its ambiguity upon us and provokes an
+involuntary smile, and the first alone is felt to be natural. It must
+be confessed, however, that it is generally avoided in print, while the
+form that we have ventured to call pedantic is not uncommon. In the
+first of the examples that follow, we should be inclined to change to
+_Nanny the maid-of-all-work’s_, and in the second to _the day of Frea,
+goddess of_, &c.
+
+ Another mind that was being wrought up to a climax was Nanny’s, the
+ maid-of-all-work, who had a warm heart.--ELIOT.
+
+ Friday is Frea’s-day, the goddess of peace and joy and
+ fruitfulness.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+
+ NUMBER
+
+Very little comment will be needed; we have only to convince readers
+that mistakes are common, and caution therefore necessary.
+
+1. The copula should always agree with the subject, not with the
+complement. These are wrong:
+
+ The _pages_ which describe how the 34th Osaka Regiment wiped out the
+ tradition that had survived since the Saigo rebellion _is_ a typical
+ _piece_ of description.--_Times._
+
+ A _boy_ dressed up as a girl _and a girl_ dressed up as a girl _is_,
+ to the eye at least, the same _thing_.--_Times._
+
+ People do not believe now as they did, but the moral _inconsistencies_
+ of our contemporaries _is_ no _proof_ thereof.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+It must be remembered that in questions the subject often comes after
+the verb and the complement before it; but the same rule must be kept.
+E. g., if the last example were put as a question instead of as a
+negative statement, ‘What proof _is_ the inconsistencies?’ would be
+wrong, and ‘What proof _are_ &c.?’ right.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Some sentences in which the subject contains _only_, a superlative,
+&c., have the peculiarity that subject and complement may almost be
+considered to have changed places; and this defence would probably be
+put in for the next three examples; but, whether actually wrong or not,
+they are unpleasant. The noun that stands before the verb should be
+regarded as the subject, and the verb be adapted to it.
+
+ The only _thing_ Siamese about the Consul, except the hatchment and
+ the flag, _were_ his _servants_.--SLADEN.
+
+ The only _difficulty_ in Finnish _are_ the _changes_ undergone by the
+ stem.--SWEET.
+
+ The most pompous _monument_ of Egyptian greatness, and _one_ of the
+ most bulky works of manual industry, _are_ the pyramids.--JOHNSON.
+
+The next example is a curious problem; the subject to _were_ is in
+sense plural, but in grammar singular (_finding_, verbal noun):
+
+ _Finding_ Miss Vernon in a place so solitary, engaged in a journey
+ so dangerous, and under the protection of one gentleman only, _were
+ circumstances_ to excite every feeling of jealousy.--SCOTT.
+
+2. Mistakes in the number of verbs are extremely common when a singular
+noun intervenes between a plural subject (or a plural noun between
+a singular subject) and its verb. It is worth while to illustrate
+the point abundantly; for it appears that real doubt can exist on
+the subject:--‘“No one but schoolmasters and schoolboys knows” is
+exceedingly poor English, _if it is not absolutely bad grammar_’ (from
+a review of this book, 1st ed.).
+
+ And do we wonder, when the _foundation_ of _politics_ _are_ in the
+ letter only, that many evils should arise?--JOWETT.
+
+ There is _much_ in these ceremonial _accretions and teachings_ of
+ the Church which _tend_ to confuse and distract, and which hinder
+ us....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+This sentence, strictly taken as it stands, would mean something that
+the writer by no means intends it to, viz., ‘Though the ceremonies are
+confusing, there is a great deal in them’.
+
+ An immense _amount_ of _confusion and indifference_ _prevail_ in these
+ days.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ They produced various _medicaments_, the lethal _power_ of _which_
+ _were_ extolled at large.--_Times._
+
+ The _partition_ which the two ministers made of the _powers_ of
+ government _were_ singularly happy.--MACAULAY.
+
+ _One_ at least of the _qualities_ which fit it for training ordinary
+ men _unfit_ it for training an extraordinary man.--BAGEHOT.
+
+ I failed to pass in the small _amount_ of _classics_ which _are_ still
+ held to be necessary.--_Times._
+
+ The Tibetans have engaged to exclude from their country those
+ dangerous _influences_ _whose appearance_ _were_ the chief cause of
+ our action.--_Times._
+
+ Sundry other reputable _persons_, I know not whom, _whose_ joint
+ _virtue_ still _keep_ the law in good odour.--EMERSON.
+
+ The practical _results_ of the recognition of this _truth_ _is_ as
+ follows.--W. H. MALLOCK.
+
+ The Ordination _services_ of the English _Church_ _states_ this to be
+ a truth.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ All special _rights_ of _voting_ in the election of members _was_
+ abolished.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ The separate _powers_ of this great _officer_ of State, who had
+ originally acted only as President of the Council when discharging its
+ judicial functions, _seems_ to have been thoroughly established under
+ Edward I.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+3. _They_, _them_, _their_, _theirs_, are often used in referring back
+to singular pronominals (as _each_, _one_, _anybody_, _everybody_), or
+to singular nouns or phrases (as _a parent_, _neither Jack nor Jill_),
+of which the doubtful or double gender causes awkwardness. It is a
+real deficiency in English that we have no pronoun, like the French
+_soi_, _son_, to stand for _him-or-her_, _his-or-her_ (for _he-or-she_
+French is no better off than English). Our view, though we admit it to
+be disputable, is clear--that _they_, _their_, &c., should never be
+resorted to, as in the examples presently to be given they are. With a
+view to avoiding them, it should be observed that (_a_) the possessive
+of _one_ (indefinite pronoun) is _one’s_, and that of _one_ (numeral
+pronoun) is either _his_, or _her_, or _its_ (One does not forget
+_one’s_ own name: I saw one of them drop _his_ cigar, _her_ muff, or
+_its_ leaves); (_b_) _he_, _his_, _him_, may generally be allowed to
+stand for the common gender; the particular aversion shown to them by
+Miss Ferrier in the examples may be referred to her sex; and, ungallant
+as it may seem, we shall probably persist in refusing women their due
+here as stubbornly as Englishmen continue to offend the Scots by saying
+_England_ instead of _Britain_. (_c_) Sentences may however easily
+be constructed (Neither John nor Mary knew _his_ own mind) in which
+_his_ is undeniably awkward. The solution is then what we so often
+recommend, to do a little exercise in paraphrase (_John and Mary were
+alike irresolute_, for instance). (_d_) Where legal precision is really
+necessary, _he or she_ may be written in full. Corrections according to
+these rules will be appended in brackets to the examples.
+
+ _Anybody_ else who _have_ only _themselves_ in view.--RICHARDSON. (has
+ ... himself)
+
+ Ce n’est que le premier pas qui coûte, in novel-writing as in carrying
+ _one’s_ head in _their_ hand.--S. FERRIER. (one’s ... one’s)
+
+ The feelings of the _parent_ upon committing the cherished object of
+ _their_ cares and affections to the stormy sea of life.--S. FERRIER.
+ (his)
+
+ But he never allowed _one_ to feel _their_ own deficiencies, for he
+ never appeared to be aware of them himself.--S. FERRIER. (one’s)
+
+ A difference of opinion which leaves _each_ free to act according to
+ _their_ own feelings.--S. FERRIER. (his)
+
+ Suppose _each_ of us _try our hands_ at it.--S. FERRIER. (tries his
+ hand; _or, if all of us are women_, tries her hand)
+
+ _Everybody_ is discontented with _their_ lot in life.--BEACONSFIELD.
+ (his)
+
+4. Other mistakes involving number made with such pronominals, or with
+nouns collective, personified, or abstract.
+
+ No man can read Scott without being more of a public man, whereas the
+ ordinary novel tends to make its _readers_ rather less of _one_ than
+ before.--HUTTON.
+
+ And so _each_ of his portraits _are_ not only a ‘piece of history’,
+ but....--STEVENSON.
+
+ Le Roman d’un Spahi, Azidayé and Rarahu _each_ contains the history of
+ a love affair.--H. JAMES.
+
+ He manages to interest us in the men, who _each_ in turn wishes to
+ engineer Richard Baldock’s future.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+When _each_ is appended in apposition to a plural subject, it should
+stand after the verb, or auxiliary, which should be plural; read here,
+_contain each_, _wish each in turn_ (or, _each of whom wishes in turn_).
+
+ As the leading maritime _nation_ in the world and dependent wholly
+ on the supremacy of our fleet to maintain this position, _everyone_
+ is virtually bound to accord some measure of aid to an association
+ whose time and talents are devoted to ensuring this important
+ object.--_Times._
+
+Every one is indeed a host in himself, if he is the leading maritime
+nation.
+
+ It is not in _Japan’s_ interests to allow negotiations to drag on once
+ _their_ armies are ready to deliver the final blow.--_Times._
+
+The personification of Japan must be kept up by _her_.
+
+ _Many_ of my notes, I am greatly afraid, will be thought _a
+ superfluity_.--E. V. LUCAS (quoted in _Times_ review).
+
+My notes may be a superfluity; many of my notes may be superfluous, or
+superfluities; or many a note of mine may be a superfluity; but it will
+hardly pass as it is.
+
+5. Though nouns of multitude may be freely used with either a singular
+or a plural verb, or be referred to by pronouns of singular or plural
+meaning, they should not have both (except for special reasons and upon
+deliberation) in the same sentence; and words that will rank in one
+context as nouns of multitude may be very awkward if so used in another.
+
+ _The public_ _is_ naturally much impressed by this evidence, and in
+ considering it _do_ not make the necessary allowances.--_Times._
+
+ The _Times_ Brussels correspondent ... tells us that the _committee_
+ _adds_ these words to _their_ report.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ The Grand Opera Syndicate _has_ also made an important addition to
+ _their_ German tenors.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ The only political _party_ _who_ could take office was _that_ which
+ ... had consistently opposed the American war.--BAGEHOT.
+
+ As _the race_ of man, after centuries of civilization, still _keeps_
+ some traits of _their_ barbarian fathers.--STEVENSON.
+
+ The battleship Kniaz Potemkin, of which the _crew_ _is_ said to have
+ mutinied and murdered _their_ officers.--_Times._
+
+6. _Neither_, _either_, as pronouns, should always take a singular
+verb--a much neglected rule. So also _every_.
+
+ The conception is faulty for two reasons, neither of which _are_
+ noticed by Plato.--JOWETT.
+
+ ... neither of which _are_ very amiable motives for religious
+ gratitude.--THACKERAY.
+
+ He asked the gardener whether either of the ladies _were_ at
+ home.--TROLLOPE.
+
+_Were_, however, may be meant for the subjunctive, when it would be a
+fault of style, not of grammar.
+
+ I think almost _every one_ of the Judges of the High Court _are_
+ represented here.--LORD HALSBURY.
+
+ _Every_ Warwick institution, from the corporation to the
+ schools and the almshouses, _have_ joined hands in patriotic
+ fellow-working.--_Speaker._
+
+7. For rhetorical reasons, a verb often precedes its subject; but
+enthusiasm, even if appropriate, should not be allowed to override the
+concords.
+
+ And of this emotion _was_ born all the _gods_ of antiquity.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ But unfortunately there _seems_ to be spread abroad certain
+ _misconceptions_.--_Times._
+
+ But with these suggestions _are_ joined some very good _exposition_ of
+ principles which should underlie education generally.--_Spectator._
+
+ Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman has received a resolution, to which _is_
+ appended the _names_ of eight Liberal members and candidates for East
+ London....--_Times._
+
+
+ COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES
+
+The chief point that requires mention is ill treatment of _the more_.
+In this phrase _the_ is not the article, but an adverb, either relative
+or demonstrative. In _the more the merrier_ it is first relative and
+then demonstrative: by-how-much we are more, by-so-much we shall be
+merrier. When the relative _the_ is used, it should always be answered
+regularly by, or itself answer, the demonstrative _the_. Attempts to
+vary the formula are generally unhappy; for instance,
+
+ He was leaving his English business in the hands of Bilton, who seemed
+ to him, the more he knew him, extraordinarily efficient.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+This should run, perhaps: _whose efficiency impressed him the more, the
+more he knew him_--though it must be confessed that the double form
+is nearly always uncomfortable if it has not the elbowroom of a whole
+sentence to itself. That, however, is rather a question of style than
+of syntax; and other examples will accordingly be found in the section
+of the Chapter _Airs and Graces_ concerned with originality.
+
+ The farther we advance into it, we see confusion more and more unfold
+ itself into order.--CARLYLE.
+
+Most readers will feel that this is an uncomfortable compromise between
+_The farther we advance the more do we see_ and _As we advance we see
+confusion more and more unfold itself_. Similarly,
+
+ She had reflection enough to foresee, that the longer she countenanced
+ his passion, her own heart would be more and more irretrievably
+ engaged.--SMOLLETT.
+
+But it is when the demonstrative is used alone with no corresponding
+relative clause--a use in itself quite legitimate--that real blunders
+occur. It seems sometimes to be thought that _the more_ is merely a
+more imposing form of _more_, and is therefore better suited for a
+dignified or ambitious style; but it has in fact a perfectly definite
+meaning, or rather two; and there need never be any doubt whether
+_more_ or _the more_ is right. One of the meanings is a slight
+extension of the other. (1) The correlative meaning _by so much_ may
+be kept, though the relative clause, instead of formally corresponding
+and containing _the_ (meaning _by how much_) and a comparative, takes
+some possibly quite different shape. But it must still be clear from
+the context what the relative clause might be. Thus, ‘We shall be a
+huge crowd’.--‘Well, we shall be the merrier’. Or, ‘If he raises his
+demands, I grant them the more willingly’, i. e., The more he asks,
+the more willingly I give. This instance leads to the other possible
+meaning, which is wider. (2) The original meaning of the demonstrative
+_the_ is simply _by that_; this in the complete double form, and often
+elsewhere, has the interpretation, limited to quantity, of _by so
+much_, or _in that proportion_; but it may also mean _on that account_,
+when the relative clause is not present. Again, however, the context
+must answer plainly in some form the question _On what account?_ Thus,
+He has done me many good turns; but I do not like him any the better;
+i. e., any better on that account; i. e., on account of the good turns.
+
+The function of _the_, then, is to tell us that there is, just before
+or after, an answer to one of the questions, _More by what amount?_
+_More on what account?_ If there is no such answer, we may be sure
+that the comparative has no right to its _the_. We start with a
+sentence that is entitled to its _the_, but otherwise unidiomatic.
+
+ We are not a whit _the less_ depressed in spirits at the sight of all
+ this unrelieved misery on the stage _by the reminder_ that Euripides
+ was moved to depict it by certain occurrences in his own contemporary
+ Athens.--_Times._
+
+_The less_ is _less on that account_, viz., that we are reminded. But
+the preposition required when the cause is given in this construction
+by a noun is _for_, not _by_. Read _for the reminder_. The type is
+shown in _None the better for seeing you_. Our sentence is in fact a
+mixture between _Our depression is not lessened_ by _the reminder_, and
+_We are not the less depressed for the reminder_; and the confusion is
+the worse that _depressed by_ happens to be a common phrase.
+
+ The suggestion, as regarded Mr. Sowerby, was certainly true, and was
+ not the less so as regarded some of Mr. Sowerby’s friends.--TROLLOPE.
+
+_The_ tells us that we can by looking about us find an answer either to
+_Not less true by what amount?_ or to _Not less true on what account?_
+There is no answer to the first except _Not less true about the friends
+in proportion as it was truer about Mr. Sowerby_; and none to the
+second except _Not less true about the friends because it was true
+about Mr. Sowerby_. Both are meaningless, and _the_ the is superfluous
+and wrong.
+
+ Yet as his criticism is more valuable than that of other men, so it is
+ the more rarely met with.--_Spectator._
+
+This is such an odd tangle of the two formulae _as ... so_, _the more
+... the more_, that the reader is tempted to cut the knot and imagine
+what is hardly possible, that _the_ is meant for the ordinary article,
+agreeing with _kind of criticism_ understood between _the_ and _more_.
+Otherwise it must be cured either by omitting _the_, or by writing
+_The more valuable his criticism, the more rarely is it met with_. If
+the latter is done, _than that of other men_ will have to go. Which
+suggests the further observation that _the_ with a comparative is
+almost always wrong when a _than_-clause is appended. This is because
+in the full double clause there is necessarily not a fixed standard of
+comparison, but a sliding scale. The following example, not complicated
+by any _the_, will make the point clear:
+
+ My eyes are more and more averse to light than ever.--S. FERRIER.
+
+You can be more averse than ever, or more and more averse, but not
+more and more averse than ever. _Ever_ can only mean the single point
+of time in the past, whichever it was, at which you were most averse.
+But to be more and more averse is to be more averse at each stage than
+at each previous stage. Just such a sliding scale is essential with
+_the more ... the more_. And perhaps it becomes so closely associated
+with the phrase that the expression of a fixed standard of comparison,
+such as is inevitably set up by a _than_-clause, is felt to be
+impossible even when the demonstrative _the_ stands alone. In the next
+two examples, answers to the question _More on what account?_ can be
+found, though they are so far disguised that the sentences would be
+uncomfortable, even if what makes them impossible were absent. That is
+the addition of the _than_-clause in each.
+
+ But neither is that way open; nor is it any the more open in the case
+ of Canada than Australia.--F. GREENWOOD.
+
+The _the_ might pass if _than Australia_ were omitted, and there
+would be no objection to it if we read further (for _in the case_)
+_if we take the case_, and better still, placed that clause first in
+the sentence: Nor, if we take the case of Canada, is the way any the
+more open. _The_ then means _on that account_, viz., because we have
+substituted Canada.
+
+ I would humbly protest against setting up any standard of Christianity
+ by the regularity of people’s attendance at church or chapel. I am
+ certain personally that I have a far greater realization of the
+ goodness of God to all creation; I am certain that I can _the more_
+ acknowledge His unbounded love for all He has made, and our entire
+ dependence on Him, _than I could_ twenty years ago, when I attended
+ church ten times where I now go once.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+In this, the answer to _More on what account?_ is possibly implied in
+the last clause; it would perhaps be, if clearly put, Because I go to
+church seldomer. The right form would be, _I can the more acknowledge
+... for going_ (or _that I go_) _to church only once where twenty years
+ago I went ten times_. Unless the _than_-clause is got rid of, we ought
+to have _more_ without _the_.
+
+This question of _the_ is important for lucidity, is rather difficult,
+and has therefore had to be treated at length. The other points that
+call for mention are quite simple; they are illogicalities licensed by
+custom, but perhaps better avoided. Avoidance, however, that proclaims
+itself is not desirable; to set readers asking ‘Who are you, pray,
+that the things everybody says are not good enough for you?’ is bad
+policy; ‘in vitium ducit culpae fuga si caret arte.’ But if a way
+round presents itself that does not at once suggest an assumption of
+superiority, so much the better.
+
+1. _More than I can help._
+
+ Without thinking of the corresponding phrase in his native language
+ more than he can help.--H. SWEET.
+
+ We don’t haul guns through traffic more than we can help.--KIPLING.
+
+These really mean, of course, more than he (we) can_not_ help. To say
+that, however, is by this time impossible. More than he need, if (when)
+he can help it, too much, unnecessarily, and other substitutes, will
+sometimes do.
+
+2. _Most of any_ (singular).
+
+ A political despotism, the most unbounded, both in power and
+ principle, of any tyranny that ever existed so long.--GALT.
+
+ She has the most comfortable repository of stupid friends to have
+ recourse to of anybody I ever knew.--S. FERRIER.
+
+ And they had the readiest ear for a bold, honourable sentiment, of any
+ class of men the world ever produced.--STEVENSON.
+
+ Latin at any rate should be an essential ingredient in culture as the
+ best instrument of any language for clear and accurate expression of
+ thought.--_Times._
+
+ The first chapter, which from the lessons it enforces is perhaps the
+ most valuable of any in the present volume....--SIR G. T. GOLDIE.
+
+ Disraeli said that he had ‘the largest parliamentary knowledge of any
+ man he had met’.--BRYCE.
+
+Though this is extremely common, as the examples are enough to show,
+there is seldom any objection to saying either _most of all_ or _more
+than any_.
+
+3. _Most_ with words that do not admit of degrees.
+
+_Unique_ has been separately dealt with in the chapter on _Vocabulary_.
+_Ideal_ is another word of the same sort; _an ideal solution_ is one
+that could not possibly be improved upon, and _most_ is nonsense with
+it; _an ideal and most obvious_ should be read in the example:
+
+ That the transformation of the Regular Army into the general service
+ Army and of the Militia into the home service Army is a most ideal and
+ obvious solution admits, I think, of no contradiction.--_Times._
+
+
+ RELATIVES
+
+=a. Defining and non-defining relative clauses.=
+
+For the purposes of b. and c. below, all relative clauses are divided
+into defining and non-defining. The exact sense in which we use these
+terms is illustrated by the following groups, of which (i) contains
+defining clauses, (ii) non-defining.
+
+ (i) The man who called yesterday left no address.
+
+ Mr. Lovelace has seen divers apartments at Windsor: but not one, he
+ says, that he thought fit for me.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ He secured ... her sincere regard, by the feelings which he
+ manifested.--THACKERAY.
+
+ The Jones who dines with us to-night is not the Jones who was at
+ school with you.
+
+ The best novel that Trollope ever wrote was....
+
+ Any man that knows three words of Greek could settle that point.
+
+ (ii) At the first meeting, which was held yesterday, the chair....
+
+ Deputies must be elected by the Zemstvos, which must be extended and
+ popularized, but not on the basis of....--_Times._
+
+ The Emperor William, who was present ..., listened to a loyal
+ address.--_Times._
+
+ The statue of the Emperor Frederick, which is the work of the sculptor
+ Professor Uphnes, represents the Monarch on horseback.--_Times._
+
+ Jones, who should know something of the matter, thinks differently.
+
+The function of a defining relative clause is to limit the application
+of the antecedent; where that is already precise, a defining clause
+is not wanted. The limitation can be effected in more than one way,
+according to the nature of the antecedent. As a rule, the antecedent
+gives us a class to select from, the defining clause enables us to make
+the selection. Thus in our first example the antecedent leaves us to
+select from the general class of ‘men’, the defining clause fixes the
+particular man (presumably the only man, or the only man that would
+occur in the connexion) ‘who called yesterday’. Sometimes, however, the
+functions of the two are reversed. When we have an antecedent with a
+superlative, or other word of exclusive or comprehensive meaning, such
+as ‘all’, ‘only’, ‘any’, we know already how to make our selection,
+and only wait for the relative clause to tell us from what class to
+make it. We know that we are to choose ‘the best novel’: the relative
+clause limits us to the works of Trollope. We are to choose ‘any man’
+we like, provided (says our relative clause) that he ‘knows three
+words of Greek’. In either case, the work of definition is done by the
+exclusion (implied in the relative clause) of persons or things that
+the antecedent by itself might be taken to include.
+
+The point to notice is that, whichever way the defining clause does its
+work, it is essential to and inseparable from its antecedent. If for
+any reason we wish to get rid of it, we can only do so by embodying its
+contents in the antecedent: ‘The man in Paris with whom I correspond’
+must become ‘My Paris correspondent’. To remove the clause altogether
+is to leave the antecedent with either no meaning or a wrong one. Even
+in such extreme cases as ‘the wisest man that ever lived’, ‘the meanest
+flower that blows’, where the defining clause may seem otiose and
+therefore detachable, we might claim that future wise men, and past and
+future flowers, are excluded; but we shall better realize the writer’s
+intention if we admit that these clauses are only a pretence of
+limitation designed to exclude the reality; it is as if the writers,
+invited to set limits to their statements, had referred us respectively
+to Time and Space.
+
+This fact, that the removal of a defining clause destroys the meaning
+of the antecedent, supplies an infallible test for distinguishing
+between the defining and the non-defining clause: the latter can
+always, the former never, be detached without disturbing the truth of
+the main predication. A non-defining clause gives independent comment,
+description, explanation, anything but limitation of the antecedent;
+it can always be rewritten either as a parenthesis or as a separate
+sentence, and this is true, however essential the clause may be to the
+point of the main statement. ‘Jones’, in our last example above, is
+quoted chiefly as one ‘who should know something of the matter’; but
+this need not prevent us from writing: ‘Jones thinks differently; and
+he should know something of the matter’.
+
+To find, then, whether a clause defines or does not define, remove it,
+and see whether the statement of which it formed a part is unaltered:
+if not, the clause defines. This test can be applied without difficulty
+to all the examples given above. It is true that we sometimes get
+ambiguous cases: after removing the relative clause, we cannot always
+say whether the sense has been altered or not. That means, however,
+not that our test has failed, but that the clause is actually capable
+of performing either function, and that the main sentence can bear
+two distinct meanings, between which even context may not enable us
+to decide. The point is illustrated, in different degrees, by the
+following examples:
+
+ Mr. H. Lewis then brought forward an amendment, which had been put
+ down by Mr. Trevelyan and which provided for an extension of the
+ process of income-tax graduation.--_Times._
+
+ This was held to portend developments that somehow or other have not
+ followed.--_Times._
+
+The former of these is quite ambiguous. The bringing forward of an
+amendment (no matter what or whose) may be all that the writer meant
+to tell us of in the first instance; the relative clauses are then
+non-defining clauses of description. On the other hand, both clauses
+may quite well be meant to define; and it is even possible that the
+second is meant to define, and the first not, though the coordination
+is then of a kind that we shall show under c. to be improper.
+Similarly, in the second sentence, ‘to portend developments’ may
+possibly be complete in itself; the whole might then be paraphrased
+thus: ‘It was thought that the matter would not stop there: but it
+has’. More probably the clause is meant to define: ‘It was held to
+portend what have since proved to be unrealized developments’. This
+view is confirmed, as we shall see, both by the use of ‘that’ (not
+‘which’) and by the absence of a comma before it.
+
+Punctuation is a test that would not always be applicable even if all
+writers could be assumed to punctuate correctly; but it is often a
+guide to the writer’s intention. For (1) a non-defining clause should
+always be separated from the antecedent by a stop; (2) a defining
+clause should never be so separated unless it is either preceded by a
+parenthesis indicated by stops, or coordinated with a former defining
+clause or with adjectives belonging to the antecedent; as in the
+following examples:
+
+ The only circumstance, in fact, that could justify such a course....
+
+ It is he only who does this, who follows them into all their force and
+ matchless grace, that does or can feel their full value.--HAZLITT.
+
+ Perfect types, that satisfy all these requirements, are not to be
+ looked for.
+
+It will occur to the reader that our last two examples are strictly
+speaking exceptions to the rule of defining clauses, since they tell us
+only what is already implied, and could therefore be removed without
+impairing the sense. That is true to some extent of many parallel
+defining clauses: they are admissible, however, if, without actually
+giving any limitation themselves, they make more clear a limitation
+already given or implied; if, in fact, they are offered as alternative
+versions or as reminders. Our next example is of a defining clause of
+the same kind:
+
+ This estimate which he gives, is the great groundwork of his plan for
+ the national redemption.--BURKE.
+
+The limitation given by ‘this’ is repeated in another form by the
+relative clause. ‘This estimate, the one he gives, is....’
+
+The reader should bear in mind that the distinction between the two
+kinds of relative is based entirely on the closeness of their relation
+to the antecedent. The information given by a defining clause must be
+taken at once, with the antecedent, or both are useless: that given by
+a non-defining clause will keep indefinitely, the clause being complete
+in sense without the antecedent, and the antecedent without the clause.
+This is the only safe test. To ask, for instance, whether the clause
+conveys comment, explanation, or the like, is not a sufficient test
+unless the question is rightly understood; for, although we have said
+that a non-defining clause conveys comment and the like, as opposed
+to definition of the antecedent, it does not follow that a defining
+clause may not (while defining its own antecedent) _contribute_ towards
+comment; on the contrary, it is often open to a writer to throw his
+comment into such a form as will include a defining clause. It may even
+appear from a comparison of the two sentences below that this is the
+origin of the non-defining clause, (2) being an abbreviation of (1):
+
+ 1. Lewis, a man to whom hard work never came amiss, sifted the
+ question thoroughly.
+
+ 2. Lewis, to whom hard work never came amiss, sifted the question....
+
+In (1), a comment is introduced by ‘a man’ in apposition with Lewis; ‘a
+man’ is antecedent to a defining relative clause; separate them, and
+the antecedent is meaningless. But next remove the connecting words ‘a
+man’, and the relative changes at once its antecedent and its nature:
+the antecedent is ‘Lewis’; the relative is non-defining; and the
+clause _is_ a comment, and does not merely contribute to one.
+
+=b. ‘That’ and ‘who’ or ‘which’.=
+
+‘That’ is evidently regarded by many writers as nothing more than
+an ornamental variation for ‘who’ and ‘which’, to be used, not
+indeed immoderately, but quite without discrimination. The opinion
+is excusable; it is not easy to draw any distinction that is at all
+consistently supported by usage. There was formerly a tendency to use
+‘that’ for everything: the tendency now is to use ‘who’ and ‘which’
+for everything. ‘That’, from disuse, has begun to acquire an archaic
+flavour, which with some authors is a recommendation. De Quincey, for
+one, must certainly have held that in exalted prose ‘that’, in all
+connexions, was the more dignified relative; his higher flights abound
+in curious uses of the word, some instances of which are quoted below.
+
+This confusion is to be regretted; for although no distinction can
+be authoritatively drawn between the two relatives, an obvious one
+presents itself. The few limitations on ‘that’ and ‘who’ about which
+every one is agreed all point to ‘that’ as the defining relative,
+‘who’ or ‘which’ as the non-defining. We cannot say ‘My father, that
+left Berlin last night, will shortly arrive’, and an examination of
+instances would show that we can never use ‘that’ where the clause is
+unmistakably non-defining. On the other hand, we cannot say ‘All which
+I can do is useless’; this time, it is true, the generalization will
+not hold; ‘which’ can, and sometimes must, be used, and ‘who’ commonly
+is used, in defining clauses. But that is explained partly by the
+obvious inconvenience sometimes attending the use of ‘that’, and partly
+by the general tendency to exclude it from regular use, which has
+already resulted in making it seem archaic when used of persons, except
+in certain formulae.
+
+The rules given below are a modification of this principle, that
+‘that’ is the defining, ‘who’ or ‘which’ the non-defining relative;
+the reason for each modification is given in its place. We must here
+remind the reader of the distinction drawn in a. between defining and
+non-defining clauses: a defining clause limits the application of the
+antecedent, enabling us to select from the whole class to which the
+antecedent is applicable the particular individual or individuals meant.
+
+1. ‘That’ should never be used to introduce a non-defining clause; it
+is therefore improperly used in all the following examples:
+
+ But by her side was kneeling her better angel, that hid his face with
+ wings: that wept and pleaded for her: that prayed when she could not:
+ that fought with Heaven by tears for her deliverance.--DE QUINCEY.
+
+ Rendering thanks to God in the highest--that, having hid his face
+ through one generation behind thick clouds of war, once again was
+ ascending.--DE QUINCEY.
+
+ And with my own little stock of money besides, that Mrs. Hoggarty’s
+ card-parties had lessened by a good five-and-twenty shillings, I
+ calculated....--THACKERAY.
+
+ How to keep the proper balance between these two testy old wranglers,
+ that rarely pull the right way together, is as much....--MEREDITH.
+
+ Nataly promised amendment, with a steely smile, that his lips mimicked
+ fondly.--MEREDITH.
+
+ It is opposed to our Constitution, that only allows the Crown to
+ remove a Norwegian Civil servant.--NANSEN.
+
+ I cannot but feel that in my person and over my head you desire to pay
+ an unexampled honour to the great country that I represent, to its
+ Bench and Bar, that daily share your labours and keep step with your
+ progress.--CHOATE.
+
+‘That I represent’ is right: ‘that daily share’ is wrong.
+
+ As to dictionaries of the present day, that swell every few years
+ by the thousand items, the presence of a word in one of them shows
+ merely....--R. G. WHITE.
+
+ The sandy strip along the coast is fed only by a few scanty streams,
+ that furnish a remarkable contrast to the vast volumes of water which
+ roll down the Eastern sides.--PRESCOTT.
+
+‘That’ and ‘which’ should change places.
+
+ The social and economic sciences, that now specially interest me, have
+ no considerable place in such a reform.--_Times._
+
+If this is a defining clause, excluding ‘the social and economic
+sciences that’ do _not_ interest the writer, the comma after ‘sciences’
+should be removed.
+
+2. ‘Who’ or ‘which’ should not be used in defining clauses except when
+custom, euphony, or convenience is decidedly against the use of ‘that’.
+The principal exceptions will be noted below; but we shall first give
+instances in which ‘that’ is rightly used, and others in which it might
+have been used with advantage.
+
+ In those highly impressionable years that lie between six and
+ ten....--_Spectator._
+
+ The obstacles that hedge in children from Nature....--_Spectator._
+
+ The whole producing an effect that is not without a certain
+ poetry.--_Times._
+
+ He will do anything that he deems convenient.--BORROW.
+
+ The well-staffed and well-equipped ‘High Schools’ that are now at work
+ ... had not yet sprung into being.--_Times._
+
+ Then, Sir, you keep up revenue laws which are mischievous, in order to
+ preserve trade laws that are useless.--BURKE.
+
+‘That’ should have been used in both clauses.
+
+ The struggle that lay before him.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ There goes another sort of animal that is differentiating from my
+ species....--H. G. WELLS.
+
+ There are other powers, too, that could perform this grateful but
+ onerous duty.--_Times._
+
+In the following examples, ‘that’ is to be preferred to ‘which’;
+especially with antecedent ‘it’, and after a superlative or other word
+of exclusive or comprehensive meaning, such as ‘all’, ‘only’, ‘any’.
+
+ The opportunities which London has given them.--_Times._
+
+ The principles which underlay the agreement.--_Times._
+
+ One cause which surely contributes to this effect has its root in
+ early childhood.--_Spectator._
+
+ A meeting which was held yesterday, which consisted in the main of a
+ bitter personal attack.--ROSEBERY.
+
+‘Which consisted’ is right: but we should have ‘that was held’; the
+clause defines.
+
+ The first thing which the person who desires to be amiable must
+ determine to do is....--_Spectator._
+
+ The most abominable din and confusion which it is possible for a
+ reasonable person to conceive.--POE.
+
+ Reverential objections, composed of all which his unstained family
+ could protest.--MEREDITH.
+
+ He required all the solace which he could derive from literary
+ success.--MACAULAY.
+
+ All the evidence which we have ever seen tends to prove....--MACAULAY.
+
+ A battle more bloody than any which Europe saw in the long interval
+ between Malplaquet and Eylau.--MACAULAY.
+
+ The only other biography which counts for much is....--_Times._
+
+ The French Government are anxious to avoid anything which might be
+ regarded as a breach of neutrality.--_Times._
+
+ It was the ecclesiastical synods which by their example led the way to
+ our national parliaments.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ It is the little threads of which the inner substance of the nerves is
+ composed which subserve sensation.--HUXLEY.
+
+‘Of which’ in a defining clause is one of the recognized exceptions;
+but we ought to have ‘that subserve’.
+
+ It is not wages and costs of handling which fall, but profits and
+ rents.--_Times._
+
+ It has been French ports which have been chosen for the beginning and
+ for the end of his cruise.--_Times._
+
+ Who is it who talks about moral geography?--E. F. BENSON.
+
+3. We come now to the exceptions. The reader will have noticed that of
+all the instances given in (2) there is only one--the last--in which we
+recommend the substitution of ‘that’ for ‘who’; in all the others, it
+is a question between ‘that’ and ‘which’. ‘That’, used of persons, has
+in fact come to look archaic: the only cases in which it is now to be
+preferred to ‘who’ are those mentioned above as particularly requiring
+‘that’ instead of ‘which’; those, namely, in which the antecedent is
+‘it’, or has attached to it a superlative or other word of exclusive
+meaning. We should not, therefore, in the _Spectator_ instance above,
+substitute ‘the person that desires’ for ‘who desires’; but we should
+say
+
+ The most impartial critic that could be found.
+ The only man that I know of.
+ Any one that knows anything knows this.
+ It was you that said so.
+ Who is it that talks about moral geography?
+
+Outside these special types, ‘that’ used of persons is apt to sound
+archaic.
+
+4. It will also have been noticed that all the relatives in (2)
+were either in the subjective case, or in the objective without
+a preposition. ‘That’ has no possessive case, and cannot take a
+preposition before it. Accordingly ‘the man that I found the hat of’
+will of course give place to ‘the man whose hat I found’; and ‘the
+house in which this happened’ will generally be preferred to ‘the
+house that this happened in’. The latter tendency is modified in the
+spoken language by the convenient omission of ‘that’; for always in
+a defining clause, though never in a non-defining, a relative in the
+objective case, with or without a preposition, can be dropped. But few
+writers like, as a general rule, either to drop their relatives or to
+put prepositions at the end. ‘The friends I was travelling with’, ‘the
+book I got it from’, ‘the place I found it in’, will therefore usually
+appear as
+
+ The friends with whom I was travelling.
+ The book from which I got it.
+ The place in which I found it.
+
+5. Euphony demands that ‘that that’ should become ‘that which’, even
+when the words are separated; and many writers, from a feeling that
+‘which’ is the natural correlative of the demonstrative ‘that’, prefer
+the plural ‘those which’; but the first example quoted in (2) seems to
+show that ‘those ... that’ can be quite unobjectionable.
+
+6. A certain awkwardness seems to attend the use of ‘that’ when the
+relative is widely separated from its antecedent. When, for instance,
+two relative clauses are coordinate, some writers use ‘that’ in the
+first, ‘which’ in the second clause, though both define. This point
+will be illustrated in c., where we shall notice that inconsistency in
+this respect sometimes obscures the sense.
+
+It may seem to the reader that a rule with so many exceptions to it
+is not worth observing. We would remind him (i) that it is based upon
+those palpable misuses of the relatives about which every one is
+agreed; (ii) that of the exceptions the first and last result from,
+and might disappear with, the encroachment of ‘who’ and the general
+vagueness about the relatives; while the other two, being obvious and
+clearly defined, do not interfere with the remaining uses of ‘that’;
+(iii) that if we are to be at the expense of maintaining two different
+relatives, we may as well give each of them definite work to do.
+
+In the following subsections we shall not often allude to the
+distinction here laid down. The reader will find that our rules are
+quite as often violated as observed; and may perhaps conclude that if
+the vital difference between a defining and a non-defining clause were
+consistently marked, wherever it is possible, by a discriminating use
+of ‘that’ and ‘which’, false coordination and other mishandlings of the
+relatives would be less common than they are.
+
+=c. ‘And who’; ‘and which’.=
+
+The various possibilities of relative coordination, right and wrong,
+may be thus stated: (i) a relative clause may be rightly or wrongly
+coordinated with another relative clause; this we shall call ‘open’
+coordination; (ii) it may be rightly or wrongly coordinated with words
+that are equivalent to a relative clause, and for which a relative
+clause can be substituted; ‘latent’ coordination; (iii) a clause that
+has obviously no coordinate, open or latent, may yet be introduced by
+‘and’ or other word implying coordination; for such offenders, which
+cannot be coordinate and will not be subordinate, ‘insubordination’ is
+not too harsh a term.
+
+The following are ordinary types of the three classes:
+
+ (i) Men who are ambitious, and whose ambition has never been thwarted,
+ ....
+
+ Pitt, who was ambitious, but whose ambition was qualified by....
+
+ (ii) Ambitious men, and whose ambition has never been thwarted, ....
+
+ An evil now, alas! beyond our power to remedy, and for which we have
+ to thank the folly of our predecessors.
+
+ (iii) Being thus pressed, he grudgingly consented at last to a
+ redistribution, and which, I need not say, it was his duty to have
+ offered in the first instance.
+
+A coordination in which ‘and’ is the natural conjunction may also be
+indicated simply by a comma; there is safety in this course, since the
+clause following the comma may be either coordinate or subordinate. But
+we have to deal only with clauses that are committed to coordination.
+
+‘Insubordination’ will not detain us long; it is always due either to
+negligence or to gross ignorance; we shall illustrate it in its place
+with a few examples, but shall not discuss it. With regard, however,
+to open and latent coordination opinions differ; there is an optimist
+view of open coordination, and a pessimist view of latent, both of
+which seem to us incorrect. It is held by some that open coordination
+(provided that the relatives have the same antecedent) is never wrong,
+and by some--not necessarily others--that latent coordination is never
+right: we shall endeavour to show that the former is often wrong, and
+the latter, however ungainly, often right.
+
+The essential to coordination is that the coordinates should be
+performing the same function in the sentence. It is not necessary, nor
+is it enough, that they should be in the same grammatical form: things
+of the same form may have different functions, and things of different
+forms may have the same function. If we say ‘Unambitious men, and who
+have no experience’, ‘unambitious’ and ‘who have no experience’ are not
+in the same form, but they have the same function--that of specifying
+the class of men referred to. Their grammatical forms (vocabulary
+permitting) are interchangeable: a defining adjective can always take
+the form of a relative clause, and a defining relative clause can often
+take the form of an adjective: ‘inexperienced men, and who have no
+ambition’. ‘Unambitious’ is therefore the true grammatical equivalent
+of ‘who have no ambition’, and latent coordination between it and a
+relative clause is admissible.
+
+On the other hand, among things that have the same grammatical form,
+but different functions, are the defining and the non-defining relative
+clause. A non-defining clause, we know, can be removed without
+disturbing the truth of the predication; it has therefore no essential
+function; it cannot therefore have the same function as a defining
+clause, whose function we know to be essential. It follows that open
+coordination is not admissible between a defining and a non-defining
+clause; and, generally, coordination, whether open or latent, is
+admissible between two defining or two non-defining coordinates, but
+not between a defining and a non-defining.
+
+Our object, however, in pointing out what seems to be the true
+principle of relative coordination is not by any means to encourage the
+latent variety. It has seldom any advantage over full coordination;
+it is perhaps more apt to lead to actual blunders; it is usually
+awkward; and it does violence--needless violence, as often as not--to
+a very widespread and not unreasonable prejudice. Many writers may
+be suspected of using it, against their better judgement, merely for
+the purpose of asserting a right; it is their natural protest against
+the wholesale condemnation of ignorant critics, who do not see that
+latent coordination may be nothing worse than clumsy, and that open
+coordination may be a gross blunder. For the benefit of such critics it
+seems worth while to examine the correctness of various examples, both
+open and latent; on the other merits and demerits of the latent variety
+the reader will form his own judgement.
+
+(i) =Open coordination.=
+
+ A few minutes brought us to a large and busy bazaar, with the
+ localities of which the stranger appeared well acquainted, and where
+ his original demeanour again became apparent.--POE.
+
+ Mr. Lovelace has seen divers apartments at Windsor; but not one,
+ he says, that he thought fit for me, and which, at the same time,
+ answered my description.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ All the toys that infatuate men, and which they play for, are the
+ self-same thing.--EMERSON.
+
+All these are correct: in the first both clauses are non-defining, in
+the others both define.
+
+ The hills were so broken and precipitous as to afford no passage
+ except just upon the narrow line of the track which we occupied, and
+ which was overhung with rocks, from which we might have been destroyed
+ merely by rolling down stones.--SCOTT.
+
+Wrong: the first clause defines, the second not.
+
+ From doing this they were prevented by the disgraceful scene which
+ took place, and which the leader of the Opposition took no steps to
+ avert.--_Times._
+
+Wrong. The first clause defines, the second is obviously one of
+comment: the ‘scene’ is not distinguished from those that the leader
+_did_ take steps to avert.
+
+ They propose that the buildings shall belong ... to the communes
+ in which they stand, and which, it is hoped, will not permit their
+ desecration.--_Spectator._
+
+Wrong. The communes that ‘will not permit’ are not meant to be
+distinguished from those that will. The second clause is comment, the
+first defines.
+
+ The way in which she jockeyed Jos, and which she described with
+ infinite fun, carried up his delight to a pitch....--THACKERAY.
+
+ In the best French which he could muster, and which in sooth was of a
+ very ungrammatical sort....--THACKERAY.
+
+ Peggy ... would have liked to have shown her turban and bird of
+ paradise at the ball, but for the information which her husband had
+ given her, and which made her very grave.--THACKERAY.
+
+All these are wrong. Thackeray would probably have been saved from
+these false coordinations if he had observed the distinction between
+‘that’ and ‘which’: ‘In the best French (that) he could muster, which
+in sooth was...’.
+
+ There goes another sort of animal that is differentiating from my
+ species, and which I would gladly see exterminated.--H. G. WELLS.
+
+Probably the second clause, like the first, is meant to define: if so,
+the coordination is right; if not, it is wrong. We have alluded to the
+tendency to avoid ‘that’ when the relative is widely separated from its
+antecedent; here, the result is ambiguity.
+
+ And here he said in German what he wished to say, and which was of no
+ great importance, and which I translated into English.--BORROW.
+
+Wrong: ‘what (that which)’ defines, the ‘and which’ clauses do not.
+
+(ii) =Latent coordination=, between relative clause and equivalent,
+is seldom correct when the relative clause is non-defining; for the
+equivalent, with few and undesirable exceptions, is always a defining
+adjective or phrase, and can be coordinate only with a defining
+clause. The equivalent must of course be a true one; capable, that
+is, of being converted into a relative clause without altering the
+effect of the sentence. Neglect of this restriction often results in
+false coordination, especially in one particular type of sentence.
+Suppose that a historian, after describing some national calamity,
+proceeds: ‘In these distressing circumstances....’ Here we might seem
+to have two possible equivalents, ‘these’ and ‘distressing’. First
+let us expand ‘these’ into a relative clause: ‘In the distressing
+circumstances that I have described’. This, in the context, is a fair
+equivalent, and as often as not would actually appear instead of
+‘these’. But next expand ‘distressing’: ‘In these circumstances, which
+were distressing’, a non-defining clause. To this expansion no writer
+would consent; it defeats the object for which ‘distressing’ was placed
+before the antecedent. That object was to record his own sensibility
+without disparaging the reader’s by telling him in so many words (as
+our relative clause does) that the circumstances were distressing; and
+it is secured by treating ‘distressing’ not as a separate predication
+but as an inseparable part of the antecedent. ‘Distressing’, it will
+be observed, cannot give us a defining clause; it is obviously meant
+to be co-extensive with ‘these’; we are not to select from ‘these’
+circumstances those only that are ‘distressing’. Moreover, as ‘these’,
+although capable of appearing as a relative clause, can scarcely
+require another relative clause to complete the limitation of the
+antecedent, it follows that in sentences of this form coordination will
+generally be wrong. We have examples in the Cowper quotation below,
+and in the anonymous one that precedes it.
+
+ Juices ready prepared, and which can be absorbed immediately.--HUXLEY.
+
+ A deliberate attempt to frame and to verify general rules as to
+ phenomena of all kinds, and which can, therefore, be propagated by
+ argument or persuasion....--L. STEPHEN.
+
+‘Rules that shall be general, and that can....’
+
+ A painful, comprehensive survey of a very complicated matter,
+ and which requires a great variety of considerations, is to be
+ made.--BURKE.
+
+ The goldsmith to the royal household, and who, if fame spoke true,
+ oftentimes acted as their banker, ... was a person of too much
+ importance to...--SCOTT.
+
+‘The man who was goldsmith to ... and who’.
+
+ It is a compliment due, and which I willingly pay, to those who
+ administer our affairs.--BURKE.
+
+All these are correct, with defining coordinates throughout.
+
+ ‘A junior subaltern, with pronounced military and political views,
+ with no false modesty in expressing them, and who (sic) possesses the
+ ear of the public, ....’--(Quoted by the _Times_.)
+
+‘Who has ... views, and who....’ ‘Sic’ is the comment of the _Times_
+writer. The coordination is correct.
+
+ While there, she had ample opportunity afforded her of studying
+ fashionable life in all its varied and capricious moods, and which
+ have been preserved to posterity in her admirable delineations of
+ character.
+
+ I am sensible that you cannot in my uncle’s present infirm state, and
+ of which it is not possible to expect any considerable amendment,
+ indulge us with a visit.--COWPER.
+
+These are the instances of false expansion alluded to above. The former
+is based on the non-defining expansion ‘in all its moods, which are
+varied and capricious’; the true expansion being ‘in all the varied and
+capricious moods in which it reveals itself’, a defining clause, which
+will not do with the ‘and which’. Similarly, the second is based on the
+non-defining expansion ‘in my uncle’s present state, which is an infirm
+one’; the true expansion is ‘in the infirm state in which my uncle now
+is’. In both, a non-defining clause is coordinated with words that can
+only yield a defining clause.
+
+ Previous to the innovations introduced by the Tudors, and which had
+ been taken away by the bill against pressing soldiers, the King in
+ himself had no power of calling on his subjects generally to bear
+ arms.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+If the writer means us to distinguish, among the innovations introduced
+by the Tudors, those that had also been taken away, the ‘and which’
+clause defines, and the coordination is right. But more probably the
+clause conveys independent information; the coordination is then wrong.
+
+ [The various arrangements of _pueri puellam amabant_] all have the
+ same meaning--the boys loved the girl. For _puellam_ shows by its form
+ that it must be the object of the action; _amabant_ must have for
+ its subject a plural substantive, and which must therefore be, not
+ _puellam_, but _pueri_.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+Wrong. ‘A plural substantive’ can yield only the defining clause ‘a
+substantive that is plural’. Now these words contain an inference
+from a general grammatical principle (that a plural verb must have a
+plural subject); and any supplementary defining clause must also be
+general, not (like the ‘and which’ clause) particular. We might have,
+for instance, ‘Amabant, being plural, and finite, must have for its
+subject a plural substantive, and which is in the nominative case’. But
+the ‘and which’ clause is evidently non-defining; the inference ends at
+‘substantive’; then comes the application of it to the particular case.
+
+ He refused to adopt the Restrictive Theory, and impose a numerical
+ limit on the Bank’s issues, and which he again protested against in
+ 1833.--H. D. MACLEOD.
+
+Wrong. The ‘and which’ clause is non-defining; none of the three
+possible antecedents (‘Theory’, ‘limit’, ‘imposition’) will give a
+non-defining clause.
+
+ The great obstacle ... is the religion of Europe, and which has
+ unhappily been colonially introduced into America.--BEACONSFIELD.
+
+This illustrates an important point. ‘Of Europe’ gives the defining
+clause ‘that prevails in Europe’; the coordination therefore requires
+that the ‘and which’ clause should define. Now a defining clause must
+contain no word that is not meant to contribute to definition; if,
+then, the ‘and which’ clause defines, the writer wishes to distinguish
+the religion in question, not only from those European religions that
+have not been colonially introduced into America, but also from those
+European religions that have been introduced, but whose introduction
+is not a matter for regret; that is the only defining meaning that
+‘unhappily’ can bear, and unless we accept this interpretation the
+clause is non-defining.--We shall allude to this sentence again in
+d., where the possibilities of parenthesis in a defining clause are
+discussed.
+
+ It may seem strange that this important place should not have been
+ conferred on Vaca de Castro, already on the spot, and who had shown
+ himself so well qualified to fill it.--PRESCOTT.
+
+One of our ‘few and undesirable exceptions’, in which the
+clause-equivalent is non-defining (‘who was already on the spot’); for
+a person’s name can only require a defining clause to distinguish him
+from others of the same name. The sentence is an ugly one, even if we
+remove the ‘and who’ clause; but the coordination is right.
+
+(iii) =Insubordination.=
+
+ The struggler, the poor clerk, mechanic, poorer musician, artist, or
+ actor, feels no right to intrude, and who quickly falls from a first
+ transient resentment....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Such a person may reside there with absolute safety, unless it becomes
+ the object of the government to secure his person; and which purpose,
+ even then, might be disappointed by early intelligence.--SCOTT.
+
+ All this when Madame saw, and of which when she took note, her sole
+ observation was:--...--C. BRONTË.
+
+To these we may add examples in which the coordinated relatives
+have different antecedents. In practice, nothing can justify such
+coordination: in theory, it is admissible when the antecedents are
+coordinate, as in the following sentence:
+
+ We therefore delivered the supplies to those individuals, and at those
+ places, to whom the special grants had been made, and for which they
+ were originally designed.
+
+But in the following instances, one antecedent is subordinate to
+another in the same clause, or is in a clause subordinate to that of
+the other.
+
+ They marched into the apartment where the banquet was served; and
+ which, as I have promised the reader he shall enjoy it, he shall have
+ the liberty of ordering himself.--THACKERAY.
+
+ A large mineral-water firm in London, whose ordinary shares are a
+ million in value, and which shares always paid a dividend before
+ the imposition of the sugar-tax, have not paid any dividend
+ since.--_Times._
+
+ He very much doubted whether I could find it on his mine, which was
+ located some five miles from St. Austell, Cornwall, and upon whose
+ property I had never been.--_Times._
+
+ But I have besought my mother, who is apprehensive of Mr. Lovelace’s
+ visits, and for fear of whom my uncles never stir out without arms,
+ ...--RICHARDSON.
+
+It was of Mr. Lovelace that the uncles were afraid.
+
+=d. Case of the relative.=
+
+Special attention was not drawn, in the section on Case, to the gross
+error committed in the following examples:
+
+ Instinctively apprehensive of her father, whom she supposed it was,
+ she stopped in the dark.--DICKENS.
+
+ That peculiar air of contempt commonly displayed by insolent menials
+ to those whom they imagine are poor.--CORELLI.
+
+ It is only those converted by the Gospel whom we pretend are
+ influenced by it.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ We found those whom we feared might be interested to withhold the
+ settlement alert and prompt to assist us.--GALT.
+
+ Mr. Dombey, whom he now began to perceive was as far beyond human
+ recall.--DICKENS.
+
+ Those whom it was originally pronounced would be allowed to
+ go.--_Spectator._
+
+ But this looks as if he has included the original 30,000 men whom he
+ desires ‘should be in the country now’.--_Times._
+
+ We feed children whom we think are hungry.--_Times._
+
+ The only gentlemen holding this office in the island, whom, he felt
+ sure, would work for the spiritual good of the parish.--_Guernsey
+ Advertiser._
+
+These writers evidently think that in ‘whom we think are hungry’ ‘whom’
+is the object of ‘we think’. The relative is in fact the subject of
+‘are’; and the object of ‘we know’ is the clause ‘who are hungry’; the
+order of the words is a necessary result of the fact that a relative
+subject must stand at the beginning of its clause.
+
+(The same awkward necessity confronts us in clauses with ‘when’,
+‘though’, &c., in which the subject is a relative. Such clauses are
+practically recognized as impossible, though Otway, in a courageous
+moment, wrote:
+
+ Unblemished honour, and a spotless love;
+ _Which tho’_ perhaps now _know_ another flame,
+ Yet I have love and passion for their name.)
+
+Some writers, with a consistency worthy of a better cause, carry the
+blunder into the passive, renouncing the advantages of an ambiguous
+‘which’ in the active; for in the active ‘which’ of course tells no
+tales.
+
+ As to all this, the trend of events has been the reverse of
+ that which was anticipated would be the result of democratic
+ institutions.--_Times._
+
+‘Which _it_ was anticipated would be’. Similarly, the passive
+of ‘men whom we-know-are-honest’ is the impossible ‘men who
+are-known-are-honest’: ‘men who we know are honest’ gives the correct
+passive ‘men who it is known are honest’.
+
+Nor must it be supposed that ‘we know’ is parenthetic. In non-defining
+clauses (Jones, who we know is honest), we can regard the words as
+parenthetic if we choose, except when the phrase is negative (Jones,
+who I cannot think is honest); but in a defining clause they are
+anything but parenthetic. When we say ‘Choose men who you know are
+honest’, the words ‘you know’ add a new circumstance of limitation:
+it is not enough that the men should in fact be honest; you must know
+them to be honest; honest men of whose honesty you are not certain
+are excluded by the words ‘you know’. Similarly, in the _Guernsey
+Advertiser_ quotation above, the writer does not go the length of
+saying that these are the only gentlemen who would work: he says that
+they are the only ones of whom he feels sure. The commas of parenthesis
+ought therefore to go, as well as the comma at ‘island’, which is
+improper before a defining clause.
+
+The circumstances under which a parenthesis is admissible in a defining
+clause may here be noticed.
+
+(i) When the clause is too strict in its limitation, it may be modified
+by a parenthesis:
+
+ Choose men who, during their time of office, have never been suspected.
+
+A whole class, excluded by the defining clause, is made eligible by the
+parenthesis.
+
+(ii) Similarly, a parenthesis may be added to tell us that within the
+limits of the defining clause we have perfect freedom of choice:
+
+ Choose men who, at one time or another, have held office.
+
+They must have held office, that is all; it does not matter when.
+
+(iii) Words of comment, indicating the writer’s authority for his
+limitation, his recognition of the sentiments that it may arouse, and
+the like, properly stand outside the defining clause: when they are
+placed within it, they ought to be marked as parenthetic.
+
+ There are men who, so I am told, prefer a lie to truth on its own
+ merits.
+
+ The religion that obtains in Europe, and that, unhappily, has been
+ introduced into America.
+
+The latter sentence is an adaptation of one considered above on
+p. 91. ‘Unhappily’ there appeared not as a parenthesis but as
+an inseparable part of the relative clause, which was therefore
+defining or non-defining, according as ‘unhappily’ could or could
+not be considered as adding to the limitation. But with the altered
+punctuation ‘unhappily’ is separable from the relative clause, which
+may now define: ‘that obtains in Europe and (I am sorry to have to add)
+in America.’
+
+In sentences of this last type, the parenthesis is inserted in
+the defining clause only for convenience: in the others, it is an
+essential, though a negative, part of the definition. But all three
+types of parenthesis agree in this, that they do not limit the
+antecedent; they differ completely from the phrases considered above,
+which do limit the antecedent, and are not parenthetic.
+
+=e. Miscellaneous uses and abuses of the relative.=
+
+(i) A relative clause is sometimes coordinated with an independent
+sentence; such coordination is perhaps always awkward, but is not
+always incorrect. The question arises chiefly when the two have a
+common subject expressed only in the relative clause; for when the
+subject is expressed in both, the independent sentence may be taken to
+be coordinate, not with the relative clause, but with the main sentence
+to which the relative clause is attached, as in the following instance:
+
+ To begin with, he had left no message, which in itself I felt to be a
+ suspicious circumstance, and (I) was at my wits’ end how to account
+ plausibly for his departure.
+
+Retain ‘I’, and ‘I was’ may be coordinate with ‘he had left’: remove
+it, and the coordination is necessarily between ‘I was’ and ‘I felt’.
+In our next examples the writers are committed:
+
+ These beatitudes are just laws which we have been neglecting, and have
+ been receiving in ourselves the consequences that were meet.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ The idea which mankind most commonly conceive of proportion, is the
+ suitableness of means to certain ends, and, where this is not the
+ question, very seldom trouble themselves about the effect of different
+ measures of things.--BURKE.
+
+ Fictitious capital, a name of extreme inaccuracy, which too many
+ persons are in the habit of using, from the hasty assumption that what
+ is not real must necessarily be fictitious, and are more led away by a
+ jingling antithesis of words than an accurate perception of ideas.--H.
+ D. MACLEOD.
+
+The first two of these are wrongly coordinated: the third, a curiosity
+in other respects, is in this respect right. The reason is that in the
+first two we have a defining, in the third a non-defining relative
+clause. A defining clause is grammatically equivalent to an adjective
+(‘violated laws’, ‘the popular idea’), and can be coordinated only with
+another word or phrase performing the same function; now the phrase ‘we
+have been receiving’, not being attached to the antecedent by means of
+a relative, expressed or understood, is not equivalent to an adjective.
+We could have had ‘and (which we) have been properly punished _for
+neglecting_’, or we could have had the ‘and’ sentence in an adverbial
+form, ‘with the fitting result’; but coordination between the two as
+they stand is impossible.
+
+The Burke sentence is a worse offender. Coordination of this kind is
+not often attempted when the antecedent of the relative is _subject_
+of the main sentence; and when it is attempted, the two coordinates
+must of course not be separated by the predicate. If we had had ‘the
+idea which mankind most commonly conceive of proportion, and very
+seldom trouble themselves about anything further’, the coordination
+would have been similar to the other, and could have been rectified
+in the same way (‘and beyond which they very seldom ...’, or ‘to the
+exclusion of any other considerations’). But this alteration we cannot
+make; for there is a further and an essential difference. The _Daily
+Telegraph_ writer evidently _meant_ his second coordinate to do the
+work of a defining clause; he has merely failed to make the necessary
+connexion, which we supply, as above, either by turning the words into
+a second defining clause, or by embodying them, adverbially, in the
+first. Burke’s intention is different, and would not be represented by
+our proposed alteration in the order. All that a defining clause can do
+in his sentence is to tell us _what_ idea is going to be the subject.
+If we were to give a brief paraphrase of the whole, italicizing the
+words that represent the second coordinate, it would be, not ‘mankind’s
+_sole_ idea of proportion is the suitableness ...’, but ‘mankind’s idea
+of proportion is the suitableness ..., _and very little else_’; for
+the question answered is, not ‘what is mankind’s sole idea?’ but ‘what
+is mankind’s idea?’ In other words, the second coordinate belongs in
+intention not, like the relative clause, to the subject, but to the
+predicate; to rectify it, we must either make it part of the predicate
+(‘and is not concerned with ...’), or, by inserting ‘they’, coordinate
+it with the main sentence. Obvious as the latter correction is, the
+sentence repays close examination, as illustrating the incoherence of
+thought that may underlie what seems a very trifling grammatical slip.
+
+But in our third example, the relative clause is non-defining; it is
+grammatically equivalent to, and could be replaced by, an independent
+sentence: ‘Many persons are in the habit of using it’. There is nothing
+grammatically wrong in this type of coordination; it is objectionable
+only because it seems to promise what it does not fulfil. When the
+common subject of two coordinates is expressed only with the first, it
+is natural to assume that all words preceding it are also to be applied
+to both coordinates; and the violation of this principle, though not
+of course ungrammatical, is often felt to be undesirable in other than
+relative clauses.
+
+(ii) In the sentences considered above, the antecedent of the relative
+did not belong to the second coordinate, and could not have been
+represented in it without the material alterations there proposed. But
+it may also happen that the antecedent, as in the following examples,
+belongs equally to both coordinates, being represented in the first by
+a relative, in the second by some other pronoun.
+
+ There were two or three _whose_ accuracy was more scrupulous, _their_
+ judgement more uniformly sober and cautious.--BRYCE.
+
+ He renewed the old proposal, _which_ Pizarro treated as a piece of
+ contemptible shuffling, and curtly rejected _it_.
+
+ _Which_ she has it in her option either to do or to let _it_
+ alone.--RICHARDSON.
+
+In the pair of parallel coordinates from Mr. Bryce, insert the
+suppressed ‘was’, and it becomes clear that ‘whose’, not ‘their’, is
+the right pronoun.
+
+In the ‘Pizarro’ sentence, ‘it’ is not only superfluous, but disturbing
+to the reader, who assumes that ‘which’ is common to both clauses, and
+on reaching ‘it’ has to glance back and check the sentence. Here,
+as often, the pronoun seems to be added to restore an ill-balanced
+sentence; but that can be done in several other ways. In the Richardson
+sentence also the ‘it’ should go.
+
+More commonly, the repetition of the antecedent in another form results
+from the superstitious avoidance of a preposition at the end:
+
+ A demand by Norway for political separation, to which Sweden will not
+ assent, but will not go to war to prevent it.--_Times._
+
+‘To (which)’ is not common to both coordinates: accordingly the writer
+finds it necessary to give ‘it’ in the second. But, even if we respect
+our superstition, and exclude ‘which Sweden will not assent to, but
+will not go to war to prevent’, we have still the two possibilities
+of (1) complete relative coordination, ‘to ..., but which ...’; (2)
+subordination, ‘though she will not go to war to prevent it’.
+
+In our next example, Lord Rosebery, again for fear of a preposition at
+the end, falls into the trap clumsily avoided by the _Times_ writer:
+
+ That promised land for which he was to prepare, but scarcely to enter.
+
+So perhaps Bagehot, though his verb may be _conceive of_:
+
+ English trade is carried on upon borrowed capital to an extent of
+ which few foreigners have an idea, and none of our ancestors could
+ have conceived.
+
+(iii) When the relative is the subject of both coordinates, or the
+object of both, its repetition in the second is a matter of choice. But
+to omit the relative when it is in a different case from the first is a
+gross, though not uncommon, blunder. The following are instances:
+
+ A league which their posterity for many ages kept so inviolably,
+ and proved so advantageous for both the kingdoms of France and
+ Scotland.--LOCKHART.
+
+ Questions which we either do not put to ourselves, or are turned aside
+ with traditional replies.--MARK RUTHERFORD.
+
+It is just conceivable that in the last of these the subject of ‘are’
+is ‘we’: if so, the sentence is to be referred to (i) above (wrong
+coordination of an independent sentence with a defining relative
+clause).
+
+It is not easy to see why the relative more than other words should be
+mishandled in this way; few would write (but see p. 61, s. f.) ‘This
+league we kept and has proved advantageous’.
+
+The condensed antecedent-relative ‘what’ is only an apparent exception
+to this universal rule. In the sentence ‘What I hold is mine’, ‘what’
+is only object to ‘hold’, not subject to ‘is’; the subject to ‘is’ is
+the whole noun-clause ‘what I hold’. Sentences of this type, so far
+from being exceptions, often give a double illustration of the rule,
+and leave a double possibility of error. For just as a single ‘what’
+cannot stand in different relations to two coordinate verbs in its
+clause, so a single noun-clause cannot stand in different relations to
+two coordinate main verbs. We can say ‘What I have and hold’, where
+‘what’ is object to both verbs, and ‘what is mine and has been fairly
+earned by me’, where it is subject to both; but we cannot say ‘what I
+have and has been fairly earned by me’. Similarly, we can say ‘What
+I have is mine and shall remain mine’, where the noun-clause ‘what I
+have’ is subject to both verbs, and ‘What I have I mean to keep, and
+will surrender to no man’, where it is object to both; but not ‘What I
+have is mine, and I will surrender to no man’. Of the various ways of
+avoiding this error (subordination, adaptation of verbs, insertion of
+a pronoun, relative or otherwise), that chosen by Miss Brontë below is
+perhaps the least convenient. Her sentence is, however, correct; that
+from the _Spectator_ is not.
+
+ Not mere empty ideas, but what were once realities, and that I long
+ have thought decayed.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ Whatever we possessed in 1867 the British Empire possesses now, and is
+ part of the Dominion of Canada.--_Spectator._
+
+‘Things that were once realities, and that I long have thought
+decayed’; a pair of defining clauses.
+
+The condensed ‘what’ must of course be distinguished from the ‘what’
+of indirect questions, which is not relative but interrogative. In
+the following example, confusion of the two leads to an improper
+coordination.
+
+ What sums he made can only be conjectured, but must have been
+ enormous.--MACAULAY.
+
+In the first sentence, ‘what’ is an interrogative, in the second, a
+condensed antecedent-relative, standing for ‘the sums that’. It is the
+sums that were enormous: it is the answer to the question ‘What sums
+did he make?’ that can only be conjectured. The mistake is possible
+only because ‘can’ and ‘must’ do not reveal their number: ‘can’ is
+singular, ‘must’ plural.
+
+The differentiation between the two _what_s and their equivalents
+is not, indeed, complete: just as the condensed antecedent-relative
+resembles in form, though not in treatment, the unresolved
+interrogative, so the interrogative, by resolution into ‘the ... that
+(which)’, not only resembles, but is grammatically identified with,
+the uncondensed relative and antecedent. The resolution is, no doubt,
+convenient: it should be noticed, however, that the verbs with which
+alone it can be employed (verbs that may denote either perception of
+a fact or other kinds of perception) are precisely those with which
+ambiguity may result. ‘I know the house (that) you mean’: it may
+(antecedent and relative) or may not (resolved interrogative) follow
+that I have ever seen it. ‘We must first discover the scoundrel who
+did it’; antecedent and relative? then we must secure the scoundrel’s
+person; resolved interrogative? then only information is needed.
+‘I can give a good guess at the problem that is puzzling you’: and
+the solution?--I know nothing of the solution; I was resolving an
+interrogative.
+
+This, however, does not affect sentences like the Macaulay one above:
+for although the resolved or uncondensed forms (‘the ... which’) are
+grammatically identified, the condensed or unresolved forms (‘what’)
+are not.
+
+(iv) The omission of the relative in isolated clauses (as opposed to
+coordinates) is a question not of correctness but of taste, so far
+as there is any question at all. A non-defining relative can never be
+omitted. The omission of a defining relative subject is often effective
+in verse, but in prose is either an archaism or a provincialism. It
+may, moreover, result in obscurity, as in the second of our examples,
+which may possibly puzzle the reader for a moment:
+
+ Now it would be some fresh insect won its way to a temporary fatal new
+ development--H. G. WELLS.
+
+ No one finds himself planted at last in so terribly foul a morass, as
+ he would fain stand still for ever on dry ground.--TROLLOPE.
+
+But when the defining relative is object, or has a preposition, there
+is no limit to the omission, unless euphony is allowed to be one. We
+give three instances in which the reader may or may not agree that the
+relative might have been retained with advantage:
+
+ We do that in our zeal our calmer moments would be afraid to
+ answer.--SCOTT.
+
+ But did you ever see anything there you had never seen
+ before?--BAGEHOT.
+
+ These ethical judgements we pass on self-regarding acts are ordinarily
+ little emphasized.--SPENCER.
+
+(v) When a defining relative has the same preposition as its
+antecedent, it is not uncommon, in the written as well as in the
+spoken language, to omit the preposition in the relative clause. There
+is something to be said for a licence that rids us of such cumbrous
+formulae as ‘in the way in which’, ‘to the extent to which’, and the
+like; in writing, however, it should be used with caution if at all.
+
+In the first place, if the preposition is to go, the relative should
+go too, or if retained should certainly be ‘that’, not ‘which’; and if
+the verb of the relative clause is the same as in the main sentence,
+it should be represented by ‘do’, or (in a compound tense) by its
+auxiliary component.
+
+ Because they found that it touched them in a way which no book in the
+ world could touch them.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ The man who cleaned the slate in the manner which Sir E. Satow has
+ done both in Morocco and Japan might surely rank as a reflective
+ diplomatist.--_Spectator._
+
+‘In a way no other book in the world could’: ‘in the way (that) Sir E.
+Satow has done’.
+
+A further limitation is suggested by our next example:
+
+ The Great Powers, after producing this absolutely certain result, are
+ ending with what they ought to have begun,--coercion.--_Spectator._
+
+Here, of course, the relative cannot be omitted, since relative and
+antecedent are one. But that is not the principal fault, as will appear
+from a resolution of the antecedent-relative: ‘they are ending with
+the very thing (that) they ought to have begun ...’. We are now at
+liberty to omit our relative or retain it, as we please; in either
+case, the omission of ‘with’ is unbearable. The reason is that ‘with’
+does not, like the ‘in’ of our former examples, introduce a purely
+adverbial phrase: it is an inseparable component of the compound verbs
+‘end-with’ and ‘begin-with’, of which the antecedent and relative are
+respectively the objects. Similarly, we cannot say ‘He has come to the
+precise conclusion (that) I thought he would come’, because we should
+be mutilating the verb to ‘come-to’; we can, however, say ‘to the
+conclusion (that) I thought he would’, ‘come-to’ being then represented
+by ‘would’.
+
+Finally, the omission is justifiable only when antecedent and relative
+have the same preposition. Sentences like the next may pass in
+conversation, but (except with the one noun _way_) are intolerable in
+writing:
+
+ One of the greatest dangers in London is the pace that the corners in
+ the main streets are turned.--_Times._
+
+(vi) The use of ‘such ... who (which)’, ‘such ... that (defining
+relative)’, for ‘such ... as’ is sometimes an archaism, sometimes a
+vulgarism.
+
+ Till such time when we shall throw aside our earthly garment.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ Only such supplies were to be made which it would be inhuman to refuse
+ to ships in distress.--_Times._
+
+ The censorship of literature extends to such absurd prohibitions which
+ it did not reach even during the worst period of the forties.--_Times._
+
+ A God in such an abstract sense that, as I have pointed out before,
+ does not signify.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ They would find such faith, such belief, that would be a revelation to
+ them.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Swift’s plan was to offer to fulfil it on conditions so insulting that
+ no one with a grain of self-respect could accept.--L. STEPHEN.
+
+=f. ‘It ... that.’=
+
+Two constructions, closely allied, but grammatically distinct, are
+often confused: (i) Antecedent ‘=it=’ followed by a defining relative
+clause with ‘that’ (who, which); (ii) ‘=it=’ followed by a clause in
+apposition, introduced by the conjunction ‘that’. The various correct
+possibilities are represented in the set of examples given below.
+Relative clauses are marked R, conjunction clauses C. One impossible
+example is added in brackets, to mark the transition from relative to
+conjunction.
+
+ (1) It is money that I want. R.
+
+ (2) It was you that told me. R.
+
+ (3) It was you that I gave it to (or, to whom I gave it). R.
+
+ (4) It was to you that I gave it. C.
+
+ (5) It was the Romans that built this wall. R.
+
+ (6) It is the Romans that we are indebted to for this. R.
+
+ (7) It is to the Romans that we are indebted for this. C.
+
+ (8) It was Jones whose hat I borrowed. R.
+
+ (9) It was Jones’s hat that I borrowed. R.
+
+ (10) It was a knife that I cut it with. R.
+
+ (11) It was with a knife that I cut it. C.
+
+ (12) It was with difficulty that I cut it. C.
+
+ (13) (It was difficulty that I cut it with.) R.
+
+ (14) It was provisionally that I made the offer. C.
+
+ (15) It was in this spring, too, that the plague broke out. C.
+
+ (16) Accordingly, it was with much concern that I presently received a
+ note informing me of his departure. C.
+
+In the relative construction, the antecedent ‘it’ is invariable,
+whatever the number and gender of the relative. The main verb is also
+invariable in number, but in tense is usually adapted to past, though
+not (for euphony’s sake) to future circumstances: ‘it was you that
+looked foolish’, but ‘it is you that will look foolish’.
+
+In both constructions, the ‘that’ clause, supplemented or introduced
+by ‘it’, gives us the subject of a predication, the relative clause
+(with _it_) being equivalent to a pure noun, the conjunction clause to
+a verbal noun in apposition, partly retaining its verbal character. In
+both, also, the predication answers an imaginary question, recorded
+distinctly in the relative, less distinctly in the conjunction clause.
+‘What do you want?’ ‘It (the thing) that I want is money.’ ‘To whom did
+you give it?’ ‘It (the persons) that I gave it to was your friends.’
+‘As to your cutting it: give particulars.’ ‘It--that I cut it (my
+cutting it)--was with a knife.’
+
+From the above examples it will be seen that the two constructions
+largely overlap. When (as in 1, 2, 5, 8) the relative is subject or
+direct object of the clause-verb, or is in the possessive case, it
+cannot be replaced by the conjunction; but when its relation to the
+clause-verb is marked by a preposition, the conjunction always may take
+its place, and sometimes must, as in 12 and 13. For the relative clause
+can only be used when the question reflected in it is calculated to
+secure the right kind of answer. Now the natural answer to the question
+‘What did you cut it with?’ is not ‘difficulty’ but ‘a knife’. The
+misleading ‘with’ is therefore removed from the relative clause in
+13, and placed within the predicate, the definite question ‘What did
+you cut it with?’ giving place to the vague demand for particulars.
+‘With’ being removed, the relative clause falls to pieces, for want of
+a word to govern the relative, and the conjunction clause takes its
+place. In the same way, ‘it was _a cab_ (but not _high indignation_)
+that he drove away in’; ‘it was _a concert_ (but not _curiosity_) that
+I was returning from’; ‘it was a _beech-tree_ (but not _unpleasant
+circumstances_) that I found him under’. And, generally, it will be
+found that a preposition is admissible in the relative clause only when
+used in the literal or the most obvious sense.
+
+The conjunction clause is, as we have said, a verbal noun; so far a
+noun that things can be predicated of it, and so far a verb that the
+things predicated of it are verbal relations and verbal circumstances,
+indirect object, agent, instrument, means, manner, cause, attendant
+circumstances; anything but subject and direct object. ‘My giving was
+to you’; ‘my offering was provisionally’; ‘my concealing it was because
+I was ashamed’.
+
+The mistakes that constantly occur in careless writers result from
+hesitation between the two forms where both are possible. The
+confusion, however, ought not to arise; for always with a relative
+clause, and never with a conjunction, the complement of the main
+predicate (the answer to the suppressed question) is a noun or the
+grammatical equivalent of a noun. ‘A knife’, ‘Jones’, ‘you’, ‘my friend
+in Chicago’, ‘the man who lives next door’, are the answers that
+accompany the relative clause: ‘with a knife’, ‘with difficulty’, ‘to
+you’, ‘occasionally’, ‘because I was ashamed’, are those that accompany
+the conjunction.
+
+Examples 15 and 16, though quite recognized types, are really
+artificial perversions. In 15 the true question and answer in the
+circumstances would be, not, as the sentence falsely implies, ‘When did
+the plague break out?’ ‘That too happened in this same spring’, but
+‘Were there any other notable events in this spring?’ ‘Yes: the plague
+broke out’. Impressiveness is given to the announcement by the fiction
+that the reader is wondering when the plague broke out; in fact, he is
+merely waiting for whatever may turn up in the history of this spring.
+In 16 we go still further: the implied question, ‘What were your
+feelings on receiving a (not _the_) note ...?’ could not possibly be
+asked; the information that alone could prompt it is only given in the
+‘that’ clause.
+
+It has been pointed out in b. that a relative clause with antecedent
+‘it’ particularly calls for the relative ‘that’, in preference
+to ‘which’, and even to ‘who’. Even when the relative is in the
+possessive case, ‘that’, which has no possessive, is often retained
+by transferring to the main predicate the noun on which it depends; 8
+thus gives place to 9, even at the risk of ambiguity; for the relative
+clause now supplies us with the question (not ‘whose hat ...?’ but)
+but ‘what did you borrow?’ leaving us theoretically in doubt whether
+Jones’s hat is distinguished from his other property, from other
+people’s hats, or from things in general.
+
+On the other hand, the two blunders that are most frequently made
+almost invariably have the relative ‘who’ or ‘which’.
+
+ And it is to me, the original promoter of the whole scheme, to whom
+ they would deny my fair share in the profits!
+
+‘To me’ implies a conjunction clause: ‘to whom ...’ is a relative
+clause. ‘It is to me that...’.
+
+ It was _to Mrs._ Brent, the beetle-browed wife of Mr. Commissary
+ Brent, _to whom_ the General transferred his attentions
+ now.--THACKERAY.
+
+ It is to you whom I address a history which may perhaps fall into very
+ different hands.--SCOTT.
+
+‘To you that’, or ‘you to whom’.
+
+ It is not taste that is plentiful, but courage that is
+ rare.--STEVENSON.
+
+Again a common blunder; not, however, a confusion between the two
+constructions above, but between one of them (the relative) and a
+third. The sentence explains why every one seems to prefer Shakespeare
+to Ouida (they are afraid to say that they like Ouida best). ‘What is
+the explanation of this?’ ‘It is not the plentifulness of taste, but
+the rarity of courage, that explains it.’ Or, less clumsily, using the
+construction that Stevenson doubtless intended: ‘It (the inference to
+be drawn) is not that taste is plentiful, but that courage is rare.’
+
+
+ PARTICIPLE AND GERUND
+
+It is advisable to make a few remarks on the participle and gerund
+together before taking them separately. As the word _gerund_ is
+variously used, we first define it. A gerund is the verbal noun
+identical in form with any participle, simple or compound, that
+contains the termination _-ing_. Thus the verb _write_ has the active
+participles _writing_, _having written_, _being about to write_,
+_about to write_, and the passive participles _written_, _having been
+written_, _being written_, _about to be written_, _being about to
+be written_. Any of these except _written_, _about to write_, _about
+to be written_, may be a gerund also; but while the participle is
+an adjective, the gerund is a noun, differing from other nouns in
+retaining its power (if the active gerund of a transitive verb) of
+directly governing another noun.
+
+Both these are of great importance for our purpose. The participle
+itself, even when confusion with the other cannot occur, is much
+abused; and the slovenly uses of it that were good enough in Burke’s
+time are now recognized solecisms. Again, the identity between the two
+forms leads to loose and unaccountable gerund constructions that will
+probably be swept away, as so many other laxities have been, with the
+advance of grammatical consciousness. We shall have to deal with both
+these points at some length.
+
+It is indeed no wonder that the forms in _-ing_ should require close
+attention. Exactly how many old English terminations _-ing_ is heir
+to is a question debated by historical grammarians, which we are not
+competent to answer. But we may point out that _writing_ may now be (1)
+participle--I was writing; I saw him writing; writing piously, he acts
+profanely--, (2) gerund or full verbal noun--I object to your writing
+that--, (3) hybrid between gerund and participle--I do not mind you
+writing it--, (4) detached verbal noun--Writing is an acquired art--,
+(5) concrete noun--This writing is illegible. Moreover, the verbal noun
+_writing_ has the synonym _to write_, obligatory instead of it in some
+connexions, better in some, worse in some, and impossible in others;
+compare, for instance: I do not like the trouble of writing; I shall
+not take the trouble to write; the trouble of writing is too much for
+him; it is a trouble to write; writing is a trouble. The grammatical
+difficulties, that is, are complicated by considerations of idiom.
+
+In these preliminary remarks, however, it is only with the distinction
+or want of distinction between participle and gerund that we are
+concerned. The participle is an adjective, and should be in agreement
+with a noun or pronoun; the gerund is a noun, of which it should be
+possible to say clearly whether, and why, it is in the subjective,
+objective, or possessive case, as we can of other nouns. That the
+distinction is often obscured, partly in consequence of the history of
+the language, will be clear from one or two facts and examples.
+
+1. _The man is building_ contains what we should all now call, whether
+it is so or not historically, a participle or verbal adjective: _the
+house is building_ (older but still living and correct English for
+_the house is being built_) contains, as its remarkable difference of
+meaning prepares us to believe, a gerund or verbal noun, once governed
+by a now lost preposition.
+
+2. In _He stopped, laughing_ we have a participle; in _He stopped
+laughing_, a verbal noun governed directly by the verb; in _He burst
+out laughing_, a verbal noun governed by a vanished preposition.
+
+3. Present usage does not bear out the definite modern ideas of the
+distinction between participle and gerund as respectively adjective
+and noun. So long as that usage continues, there are various degrees
+of ambiguity, illustrated by the three following examples. It would
+be impossible to say, whatever the context, whether the writer of the
+first intended a gerund or a participle. In the second, a previous
+sentence would probably have decided the question. In the third, though
+grammar (again as modified by present usage) leaves the question open,
+the meaning of the sentence is practically decisive by itself.
+
+ Can he conceive _Matthew Arnold permitting_ such a book to be written
+ and published about himself?--_Times._
+
+ And no doubt that end will be secured by _the Commission sitting_ in
+ Paris.--_Times._
+
+ Those who know least of them [the virtues] know very well how much
+ they are concerned in _other people having_ them.--MORLEY.
+
+In the second of these, if _sitting_ is a participle, the meaning is
+that the end will be secured by the Commission, which is described by
+way of identification as the one sitting in Paris. If _sitting_ is
+gerund, the end will be secured by the wise choice of Paris and not
+another place for its scene. If _Commission’s_ were written, there
+could be no doubt the latter was the meaning. With _Commission_, there
+is, by present usage, absolutely no means of deciding between the two
+meanings apart from possible light in the context. In the third, common
+sense is able to tell us, though grammar gives the question up, that
+what is interesting is not the other people who have them, but the
+question whether other people have them.
+
+We shall, in the section on the gerund, take up the decided position
+that all gerunds ought to be made distinguishable from participles. We
+are quite aware, however, that in the first place a language does not
+remodel itself to suit the grammarian’s fancy for neat classification;
+that secondly the confusion is not merely wanton or ignorant, but the
+result of natural development; that thirdly the change involves some
+inconveniences, especially to hurried and careless writers. On the
+other hand it is certain that the permanent tendency in language is
+towards the correct and logical, not from it; it is merely hoped that
+the considerable number of instances here collected may attract the
+attention of some writers who have not been aware of the question,
+and perhaps convince them that the distinction is a useful one,
+that a writer ought to know and let us know whether he is using a
+participle or a gerund, and that to abandon the gerund when it cannot
+be distinguished without clumsiness need cause no difficulty to any but
+the very unskilful in handling words.
+
+
+ PARTICIPLES
+
+The unattached or wrongly attached participle is one of the blunders
+most common with illiterate or careless writers. But there are degrees
+of heinousness in the offence; our examples are arranged from 1. to 8.
+in these degrees, starting with perfect innocence.
+
+1. Participles that have passed into prepositions, conjunctions, or
+members of adverbial phrases.
+
+ _Considering_ the circumstances, _you_ may go.
+
+ _Seeing_ that it was involuntary, _he_ can hardly be blamed.
+
+ Roughly _speaking_, all _men_ are liars.
+
+ _Looking_ at it in a shortened perspective of time, those _years_ of
+ transition have the quality of a single consecutive occurrence.--H. G.
+ WELLS.
+
+ The _Bill_ ... will bring about, _assuming_ that it meets with good
+ fortune in the remaining stages of its passage through Parliament, a
+ very useful reform.--_Times._
+
+Regarded as participles, these are incorrect. It is not _you_ that
+consider, but I; not _he_ that sees, but we; not _men_ that roughly
+speak, but the moralist; not _years_ that look, but philosophic
+historians; not _the Bill_ that assumes, but the newspaper prophet.
+The development into prepositions, &c., is a natural one, however; the
+only question about any particular word of the kind is whether the vox
+populi has yet declared for it; when it has, there is no more to be
+said; but when it has not, the process should be resisted as long as
+possible, writers acting as a suspensive House of Lords; an instance
+will be found in 4.
+
+Three quotations from Burke will show that he, like others of his time,
+felt himself more at liberty than most good writers would now feel
+themselves.
+
+ _Founding_ the appeal on this basis, _it was judged_ proper to lay
+ before Parliament....--BURKE.
+
+ _Flattering_ themselves that their power is become necessary to the
+ support of all order and government, _everything_ which tends to the
+ support of that power _is sanctified_.--BURKE.
+
+ _Having considered_ terror as producing an unnatural tension and
+ certain violent emotions of the nerves; _it_ easily _follows_.--BURKE.
+
+Similar constructions may be found on almost every page of Smollett.
+
+2. Participles half justified by attachment to a pronoun implied in
+_my_, _your_, _his_, _their_. These are perhaps better avoided.
+
+ _Having_ thus _run_ through the causes of the sublime with reference
+ to all the senses, _my_ first observation will be found very nearly
+ true.--BURKE.
+
+ _Being_ much _interested_ in the correspondence bearing on the
+ question ‘Do we believe?’, the first difficulty arising in _my_ mind
+ is....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ _My_ farm consisted of about twenty acres of excellent land, _having
+ given_ a hundred pounds for my predecessor’s good will.--GOLDSMITH.
+
+3. Mere unattached participles for which nothing can be said, except
+that they are sometimes inoffensive if the word to be supplied is very
+vague.
+
+ _Doubling_ the point, and _running_ along the southern shore of the
+ little peninsula, the scene changes.--F. M. CRAWFORD.
+
+ The most trying ... period was this one of enforced idleness _waiting_
+ for the day of entry.--_Times._
+
+ _Having acquired_ so many tropical colonies there is the undoubted
+ duty attached to such possession of....--_Times._
+
+4. Participles that may some day become prepositions, &c.
+
+ Sir--_Referring_ to your correspondent’s (the Bishop of Croydon’s)
+ letter in to-day’s issue, _he_ quotes at the close of it the following
+ passage.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+_He_ must be the Bishop; for the immediately preceding _Sir_, marking
+the beginning of the letter, shows that no one else has been mentioned;
+but if we had given the sentence without this indication, no one
+could possibly have believed that this was so; _referring_ is not yet
+unparticipled.
+
+5. An unwary writer sometimes attaches a participle to the subject of
+a previous sentence, assuming that it will be the subject of the new
+sentence also, and then finds (or rather is not awake enough to find)
+himself mistaken. This is a trap into which good writers sometimes
+fall, and so dangerous to bad writers that we shall give many examples.
+It is important for the tiro to realize that he has not satisfied the
+elementary requirements of grammar until he has attached the participle
+to a noun in the same sentence as itself, not in another. He must also
+remember that, for instance, _I went and he came_, though often spoken
+of loosely as a sentence, is in fact as fully two sentences as if each
+half of it were ten lines long, and the two were parted by a full stop
+and not connected by a conjunction.
+
+ _They_ had now reached the airy dwelling where Mrs. Macshake
+ resided, and _having rung, the door_ was at length most deliberately
+ opened.--S. FERRIER.
+
+ _The lovers_ sought a shelter, and, mutually _charmed_ with each
+ other, _time_ flew for a while on downy pinions.--S. FERRIER.
+
+ A molecular _change_ is propagated to the muscles by which the body is
+ retracted, and _causing_ them to contract, _the act_ of retraction is
+ brought about.--HUXLEY.
+
+ _Joseph_, as they supposed, by tampering with Will, got all my
+ secrets, and was acquainted with all my motions--; and _having_ also
+ _undertaken_ to watch all those of his young lady, the wise _family_
+ were secure.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ _Miss Pinkerton_ ... in vain ... tried to overawe her. _Attempting_
+ once to scold her in public, _Rebecca_ hit upon the ... plan of
+ answering her in French, which quite routed the old woman.--THACKERAY.
+
+ But _he_ thought it derogatory to a brave knight passively to await
+ the assault, and _ordering_ his own men to charge, the hostile
+ _squadrons_, rapidly advancing against each other, met midway on the
+ plain.--PRESCOTT.
+
+ Alvarado, roused by the noise of the attack on this quarter, hastened
+ to the support of his officer, when _Almagro_, seizing the occasion,
+ pushed across the bridge, dispersed the small body left to defend it,
+ and, _falling_ on Alvarado’s rear, _that general_ saw himself hemmed
+ in on all sides.--PRESCOTT.
+
+ _Murtagh_, without a word of reply, went to the door, and _shouting_
+ into the passage something in Irish, _the room_ was instantly filled
+ with bog-trotters.--BORROW.
+
+ But, as before, _Anne_ once more made me smart, and _having equipped_
+ herself in a gown and bonnet of mine--not of the newest--off _we_
+ set.--CROCKETT.
+
+ At this I was silent for a little, and then _I_ resolved to speak
+ plainly to Anne. But not _being_ ready with my words, _she_ got in
+ first.--CROCKETT.
+
+ For many years _I_ had to contend with much opposition in the nature
+ of scepticism; but _having had_ hundreds of successful cases and
+ proofs _it_ has become such an established fact in the eastern
+ counties that many landowners, &c., would not think of sinking a well
+ without first seeking the aid of a water diviner.--_Times._
+
+6. A more obvious trap, and consequently less fatal, is a change from
+the active construction that may have been intended to a passive,
+without corresponding alterations. If the writers of the next two had
+used _we must admit_ instead of _it must be admitted_, _a policy that
+they put forward_, instead of _a policy put forward_, the participles
+_hesitating_ and _believing_ would have had owners.
+
+ While _hesitating_ to accept this terrible indictment of French
+ infancy, _it must be admitted_ that French literature in all its
+ strength and wealth is a grown-up literature.--_Spectator._
+
+ He and those with whom he acted were responsible for the policy
+ promulgated--_a policy_ put forward in all seriousness and honesty
+ _believing_ it to be essential to the obtaining of the better
+ government of Ireland.--_Times._
+
+7. Participles that seem to belong to a noun, but do not.
+
+ Letters on the constant stopping of omnibuses, thus _causing_
+ considerable suffering to the horses.
+
+Does _causing_ agree with _letters_? Then the letters annoy the horses.
+With _stopping_? Then stopping causes suffering by stopping (_thus_).
+With _omnibuses_? The horses possibly blame those innocents, but we
+can hardly suppose a human being, even the writer of the sentence, so
+illogical. The word _thus_, however, is often considered to have a kind
+of dispensing power, freeing its participle from all obligations; so:
+
+ The Prince was, by the special command of his Majesty the Emperor,
+ made the guardian of H.I.H. the Crown Prince, _thus necessitating_ the
+ Prince’s constant presence in the capital of Japan.--_Times._
+
+ A very wealthy man can never be sure even of friendship,--while the
+ highest, strongest and noblest kind of love is nearly always denied to
+ him, in this way _carrying out_ the fulfilment of those strange but
+ true words:--‘How hardly shall he that is a rich man enter the Kingdom
+ of Heaven!’--CORELLI.
+
+It is not _love_ that carries out, but the power that denies love,
+which is not mentioned.
+
+8. Really bad unattached or wrongly attached participles. The reader
+will generally find no difficulty in seeing what has led to the
+blunder, and if he will take the trouble to do this, will be less
+likely to make similar blunders himself.
+
+ And then _stooping_ to take up the key to let _myself_ into the
+ garden, _he_ started and looked as if he heard somebody near the
+ door.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ Sir--With reference to this question ‘Do we believe?’, while
+ _recognizing_ the vastness of the subject, its modern aspect has some
+ definite features.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ _Taken_ in conjunction with the splendid white and brown trout-fishing
+ of the Rosses lakes and rivers, anglers have now the opportunity of
+ fishing one of the best, if not the best, fishery to be obtained in
+ Ireland.--ADVT.
+
+ Sir--_Having read_ with much interest the letters re ‘Believe only’
+ now appearing in the _Daily Telegraph_, perhaps some of your readers
+ might be interested to know the following texts which have led some
+ great men to ‘believe only’.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ _Being pushed_ unceremoniously to one side--which was precisely what I
+ wished--he usurped my place.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ The higher forms of speech acquire a secondary strength from
+ association. _Having_, in actual life, habitually _heard_ them in
+ connexion with mental impressions, and _having been accustomed_ to
+ meet with them in the most powerful writing, they come to have in
+ themselves a species of force.--SPENCER.
+
+ _Standing_ over one of the sluices of the Aswan dam last January, not
+ only was the vibration evident to the senses....--_Times._
+
+ The following passage may be commended for use in examination
+ papers. ‘Always _beloved_ by the Imperial couple who are to-day the
+ Sovereign lord and lady of Great Britain, their Majesties have, on
+ many occasions since the Devonshire houses rejoiced in a mistress once
+ more, honoured them by visits extending over some days.’--_Times._
+
+The last, as the _Times_ reviewer has noticed, will repay analysis in
+several ways.
+
+=9. The absolute construction= is not much to be recommended, having
+generally an alien air in English; but it is sometimes useful. It must
+be observed, first, that the case used should now invariably be the
+subjective, though it was otherwise in old English. Secondly, it is
+very seldom advisable to make an absolute construction and insert a
+pronoun for the purpose when the participle might simply be attached
+in ordinary agreement to a noun already to hand. Thirdly, it is very
+bad to use the construction, but omit to give the participle a noun
+or pronoun to itself. These three transgressions will be illustrated,
+in the same order, by the next three examples. But many of the wrong
+sentences in 5 above may be regarded as absolute constructions with
+the subject omitted.
+
+ I, with whom that Impulse was the most intractable, the most
+ capricious, the most maddening of masters (_him_ before me always
+ excepted)....--C. BRONTË.
+
+ ‘Special’ is a much overworked word, _it_ being loosely used to mean
+ great in degree, also peculiar in kind.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+ This is said now because, _having been said_ before, I have been
+ judged as if I had made the pretensions which were then and which are
+ now again disclaimed.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+
+ THE GERUND
+
+There are three questions to be considered: whether a writer ought to
+let us know that he is using a gerund and not a participle; when a
+gerund may be used without its subject’s being expressed; when a gerund
+with preposition is to be preferred to the infinitive.
+
+=1. Is the gerund to be made recognizable?= And, in the circumstances
+that make it possible, that is, when its subject is expressed, is this
+to be done sometimes, or always?
+
+It is done by putting what we call for shortness’ sake the subject of
+the gerund (i. e., the word _me_ or _my_ in _me doing_ or _my doing_)
+in the possessive instead of in the objective or subjective case.
+
+Take the typical sentence: I dislike my best friend(’s) violating my
+privacy. It cannot be a true account of the matter to say that _friend_
+is the object of _I dislike_, and has a participle _violating_ attached
+to it. For (a) we can substitute _resent_, which never takes a personal
+object, for _dislike_, without changing the sense. (b) If we substitute
+a passive construction, also without changing the sense, we find that
+_dislike_ has quite a different object--_privacy_.--I dislike my
+privacy being violated by my friend. (c) Many of us would be willing to
+adopt the sentiment conveyed who yet would not admit for a moment that
+they disliked their best friend even when he intruded; they condemn the
+sin, but not the sinner.
+
+_Violating_ then is not an ordinary participle. It does not follow
+yet that it is a gerund. It may be an extraordinary participle, fused
+into one notion with the noun, so that _a friend violating_ means
+_the-violation-by-a-friend_. The Latin scholar here at once puts in
+the idiom of _occisus Caesar_, which does not generally mean _Caesar
+after he was killed_, as it naturally should, but the killing of
+Caesar, or the fact that Caesar had been killed. The parallel is close
+(though the use is practically confined to the passive in Latin), and
+familiar to all who know any Latin at all. But it shows not so much
+what the English construction is as how educated people have been
+able to reconcile themselves to an ambiguous and not very reasonable
+idiom--not very reasonable, that is, after language has thrown off its
+early limitations, and got over the first difficulty of accomplishing
+abstract expression of any kind. The sort of fusion assumed is
+further illustrated for the Latinist, though not so closely, by the
+Latin accusative and infinitive. This theory then takes _violating_
+for a participle fused into one notion with _friend_. There are two
+difficulties.
+
+I. The construction in English is, though in the nature of things not
+as common, yet as easy in the passive as in the active. Now the passive
+of _violating_ is either _violated_ or _being violated_. It is quite
+natural to say, Privacy violated once is no longer inviolable. Why then
+should it be most unnatural to say, The worst of privacy violated once
+is that it is no longer inviolable? No one, not purposely seeking the
+unusual for some reason or other, would omit _being_ before _violated_
+in the second. Yet as participles _violated_ and _being violated_ are
+equally good--not indeed always, but in this context, as the simpler
+Privacy sentence shows. The only difference between the two participles
+(except that in brevity, which tells against _being violated_) is that
+the longer form can also be the gerund, and the shorter cannot. The
+almost invariable choice of it is due to the instinctive feeling that
+what we are using is or ought to be the gerund. A more convincing
+instance than this mere adaptation of our original example may be added:
+
+ Many years ago I became impressed with the necessity for _our infantry
+ being taught and practised_ in the skilful use of their rifle.--LORD
+ ROBERTS.
+
+_The necessity for our infantry taught and practised_ is absolutely
+impossible. But why, _if being_ taught is participle, and not gerund?
+
+II. Assuming that the fused-participle theory is satisfactory and
+recognized, whence comes the general, though not universal impression
+among those who, without being well versed in grammar, are habitually
+careful how they speak and write, that constructions like the following
+are ignorant vulgarisms?--It is no use he (his) doing it; it is no use
+him (his) doing it; that need not prevent us (our) believing; excuse
+me (my) interrupting you; a thing (thing’s) existing does not prove
+that it ought to exist; I was annoyed by Tom (Tom’s) hesitating; the
+Tsar (Tsar’s) leaving Russia is significant; it failed through the King
+(King’s) refusing his signature; without us (our) hearing the man, the
+facts cannot be got at; without the man (man’s) telling us himself, we
+can never know. With a single exception for one (not both) of the first
+two, none of these ought to cause a moment’s uneasiness to any one who
+was consciously or unconsciously in the fused-participle frame of mind;
+and if they do cause uneasiness it shows that that frame of mind is not
+effectively present.
+
+The Fused-Participle Theory, having no sufficient answer to these
+objections, but seeing that the gerund’s case is also weak, naturally
+tries a counter-attack:--If on the other hand the gerund theory is
+satisfactory and recognized, how is it conceivable that people should
+leave out the possessive _’s_ in the reckless way they do? To which,
+however, the Gerund makes reply:--I regret that they do leave it out,
+but at least we can see how they come to; it is the combined result of
+a mistake and an inconvenience. The mistake is caused by certain types
+of sentence in which a real, not a fused participle is so used that the
+noun and its (unfused) participle give a sense hardly distinguishable
+from a possessive noun and a gerund. Examples are:
+
+ This plan has now been abandoned owing to _circumstances requiring_
+ the convocation of representatives of the people at the earliest
+ possible moment.--_Times._
+
+ ... by imposing as great difficulty as possible on _parents and
+ publicans using_ child messengers.--_Times._
+
+ Of course no obstacles should be put in the way of _charitable people
+ providing_ free or other meals if they think fit.--_Times._
+
+ The notion of _the Czar being addressed_ in such terms by the
+ nobility of his capital would have been regarded as an absolute
+ impossibility.--_Spectator._
+
+There is of course a difference. For instance, in the example about
+the Czar, as in a previous one about _conceiving Matthew Arnold
+permitting_, the participle has a pictorial effect; it invites us to
+imagine the physical appearance of these two great men under indignity
+instead of merely thinking of the abstract indignity, as we should
+have done if _Czar’s_ and _Arnold’s_ had shown that we had a gerund;
+but the difference is very fine; the possessive sign might be inserted
+without practical effect in all these four, and in hundreds like them.
+And unlearned people may be excused for deducing that the subject of
+the gerund can be used at pleasure without the possessive sign, while
+the learned comfort themselves with the fused-participle theory. That
+is the mistake. The inconvenience is this: it is easy enough to use the
+possessive adjectives (_my_, &c.), and to add the possessive sign to
+most names and many single nouns; but the subject of a gerund is often
+a long phrase, after which the sign is intolerable. So the mistake
+(that the gerund may have a subject not marked by the possessive)
+is eagerly applied to obviating the inconvenience (that long gerund
+subjects must be avoided). And that is why people drop their possessive
+_’s_, and why you, the Fused Participle, flourish, defrauding both
+me, the Gerund, and the honest participle. Thus answered, the Fused
+Participle does not continue the argument, but pleads only that there
+is room for all three forms.
+
+Before giving some examples to help in the decision, we shall summarize
+our own opinion. (1) It is not a matter to be decided by appeal
+to historical grammar. All three constructions may have separate
+legitimate descents, and yet in the interests of clear thought and
+expression it may be better for one of them to be abandoned. (2) There
+are two opposite tendencies at present: among careful writers, to
+avoid the fused participle (this, being negative, can naturally not
+be illustrated) and to put possessive signs in slightly uncomfortable
+places by way of compensation; among slovenly writers, to throw off
+all limits of length for the subject of the fused participle. (3) Long
+fused-participle phrases are a variety of abstract expression, and
+as such to be deprecated. Among the resources of civilization is the
+power of choosing between different ways of saying the same thing; and
+literary skill is very much a matter of exercising that power; a writer
+should recognize that if he cannot get round an ugly fused participle
+there is still much for him to learn. (4) Opportunities for ambiguity
+are so abundant in English, owing to the number of words whose parsing
+depends on context, that all aids to precision are valuable; and it
+is not too much to expect a writer to know and let us know whether he
+means a participle or a gerund.
+
+_a._ That the possessive of all pronouns that have the form should be
+used instead of the objective or subjective is hardly disputed. Correct
+accordingly:
+
+ You may rely upon _me_ doing all in my power.--SIR W. HARCOURT.
+
+ The confounded fetterlock clapped on my movements by old Griffiths
+ prevents _me_ repairing to England in person.--SCOTT.
+
+ But when it comes to _us_ following his life and example....--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ Nothing can prevent _it_ being the main issue at the General
+ Election.--_Spectator._
+
+ One of them, if you will pardon _me_ reminding you, is that no
+ discussion is to pass between us.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ Frederick had already accepted the crown, lest James should object to
+ _him_ doing so.--_Times._
+
+ ... notwithstanding the fact that their suspicions of ease-loving,
+ ear-tickling parsons prevent _them_ supporting the commercial churches
+ of our time.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+_b._ Examples in which the possessive of nouns might be written without
+a qualm.
+
+ Nearly a week passed over without _Mr. Fairford_ hearing a word
+ directly from his son.--SCOTT.
+
+ Mrs. Downe Wright had not forgiven the indignity of _her son_ having
+ been refused by Mary.--S. FERRIER.
+
+ In no other religion is there a thought of _man_ being saved by grace
+ and not by merit.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ And it is said that, on _a visitor_ once asking to see his library,
+ Descartes led him....--HUXLEY.
+
+ It is true that one of our objects was to prevent[10] _children_
+ ‘sipping’ the liquor they were sent for.--_Times._
+
+ Orders were sometimes issued to prohibit[1a] _soldiers_ buying and
+ eating cucumbers.--_Times._
+
+ Renewed efforts at a settlement in 1891 failed through the
+ _Swedish Government_ leading off with a flippant and offensive
+ suggestion.--NANSEN.
+
+ Hurried reading results in _the learner_ forgetting half of what he
+ reads, or in _his_ forming vague conceptions.--SWEET.
+
+_c._ All the last set involved what were either actual or virtual names
+of persons; there is more difficulty with abstract nouns, compound
+subjects, and words of which the possessive is ugly. Those that may
+perhaps bear the possessive mark will be put first, and alterations
+suggested for the others.
+
+ We look forward to _much attention_ being given.--_Times._
+
+ He affirmed that such increases were the rule in that city on _the
+ change_ being made.--_Times._
+
+ I live in hopes of _this discussion_ resulting in some modification
+ in our form of belief.--_Daily Telegraph._ (that this discussion may
+ result)
+
+The real objection to the possessive here is merely the addition to the
+crowd of sibilants.
+
+ In the event of _the passage_ being found, he will esteem it a favour
+ ... (if the passage is found)
+
+ Conceive my vexation at being told by Papa this morning that he had
+ not the least objection to _Edward and me_ marrying whenever we
+ pleased.--S. FERRIER. (our)
+
+Or, if the names are essential, _did not in the least mind how soon
+Edward and I married_.
+
+ It has been replied to the absurd taunt about _the French_ inventing
+ nothing, that at least Descartes invented German philosophy.--MORLEY.
+ (Frenchmen’s)
+
+_d._ A modern construction called the compound possessive was mentioned
+at the end of the section on Cases. It is sometimes ugly, sometimes
+inoffensive; that is a matter of degree and of knowing where to draw
+the line; there is no objection to it in principle. And the application
+of it will sometimes help out a gerund. The first quotation gives a
+compound possessive simply; the second, a gerund construction to which
+it ought to be applicable; the third and fourth, two to which it can be
+applied; and the last, one to which it cannot.
+
+ A protestation, read at Edinburgh, was followed, on _Archibald
+ Johnston of Warriston’s_ suggestion, by....--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ The retirement of Judge Stonor was made the subject of special
+ reference yesterday on the occasion of _Sir W. L. Selfe, his
+ successor_, taking his seat in Marylebone County Court.--_Times._
+
+ The mere fact of _such a premier_ being endured shows....--BAGEHOT.
+
+ There is no possibility of _the dissolution of the legislative union_
+ becoming a vital question.--_Spectator._
+
+ If some means could be devised for ... insisting upon _many English
+ guardians of the poor_ making themselves more acquainted....--_Times._
+
+The only objection to a possessive mark after _successor_ is that
+the two commas cannot be dispensed with; we must say _when ...
+took_ for _on the occasion of ... taking_. _Such a premier’s_ will
+certainly pass. In the _Spectator_ sentence, we should ourselves
+allow _union’s_; opinions will differ. But to put the _’s_ after
+_poor_ in the last sentence would be ridiculous; that sentence must be
+rewritten--insisting that many English guardians of the poor should
+make--or else _poor-law Guardians’_ must be used.
+
+_e._ Sometimes we can get over the difficulty without abandoning the
+gerund, by some slight change of order.
+
+ This incentive can only be supplied by _the nation itself_ taking the
+ matter up seriously.--LORD ROBERTS.
+
+If _itself’s_ is objected to, omit _itself_ (or shift it to the end),
+and write _nation’s_.
+
+_f._ But many types of sentence remain that will have to be completely
+changed if the gerund is to be recognizable. It will be admitted about
+most of our examples that the change is not to be regretted. The
+subject of the gerund is italicized in each, to emphasize its length.
+
+ We have to account for _the collision of two great fleets, so equal in
+ material strength that the issue was thought doubtful by many careful
+ statisticians_, ending in the total destruction of one of them and
+ in the immunity of the other from damage greater than might well be
+ incurred in a mere skirmish.--_Times._
+
+For _account for ... ending_ write _ascertain why ... ended_. The
+sentence is radically bad, because the essential construction seems
+complete at _collision_--a false scent. That, which is one of the worst
+literary sins, is the frequent result of long fused participles. It is
+quite practically possible here for readers to have supposed that they
+were going to be told why the fleets met, and not why the meeting ended
+as it did. In the remaining sentences, we shall say when there is false
+scent, but leave the reader to examine it.
+
+ The success of the negotiations depends on _the Russian Minister at
+ Tokio_ being allowed to convince Japan that....--_Times._
+
+The compound possessive--Tokio’s--is tempting, but perhaps overbold.
+Insert _whether_ after _depends on_, and write _is_ for _being_.
+
+ So far from _this_ being the case, the policy ... was actually decided
+ upon before ... the question ... was raised.--_Times._
+
+Omit _being the case_.
+
+ We are not without tokens of _an openness for this higher truth also,
+ of a keen though uncultivated sense for it_, having existed in
+ Burns.--CARLYLE.
+
+For the first _of_ write _that_, omit the second _of_, and omit
+_having_. False scent.
+
+ There is no apparent evidence of _an early peace_ being necessitated
+ by the pecuniary exigencies of the Russian Government.--SIR HOWARD
+ VINCENT.
+
+For _of ... being_ write _that ... will be_, if _peace’s_ cannot be
+endured.
+
+ The general effect of his words was to show the absurdity of _the
+ Secretary of State for War, and our military authorities generally_,
+ denouncing the Militia as useless or redundant.--_Spectator._
+
+For _the absurdity of ... denouncing_ write _how absurd it was for ...
+to denounce_. False scent, though less deceptive.
+
+ Apparently his mission was decided upon without _that of the British
+ and Spanish Ministers_ having been taken into account, or, at all
+ events, without their having been sufficiently reckoned with.--_Times._
+
+Without regard (at all events without sufficient regard) to that of....
+
+ ... capital seeking employment in foreign protected countries, in
+ consequence of _manufacturing business in many branches in which it
+ might be employed at home_ being rendered unprofitable by our system
+ of free trade.--LORD GOSCHEN.
+
+For _in consequence of ... being_ write _because ... has been_. Bad
+false scent again.
+
+ So far from _the relief given to agriculture by the State paying
+ one-half of the rates_ being inequitable, it is but a bare act of
+ justice.--_Spectator._
+
+Observe the fused participle within fused participle here; and read
+thus: So far from its being inequitable that the state should relieve,
+&c.
+
+After these specimens, chosen not as exceptional ones, but merely as
+not admitting of simple correction by insertion of the possessive mark,
+the reader will perhaps agree that the long gerund subject--or rather
+noun phrase of the fused participle--is a monstrosity, the abolition of
+which would be a relief to him, and good discipline for the writer.
+
+Two sentences are added to show the chaotic state of present practice.
+Noticing the bold use of the strict gerund in the first, we conclude
+that the author is a sound gerundite, faithful in spite of all
+temptations; but a few pages later comes the needless relapse into
+fused participle.
+
+ I remember old _Colney’s_ once, in old days, _calling_ that kind of
+ marriage a sarcophagus.--MEREDITH.
+
+ She had thought in her heart that _Mr. Barmby espousing_ the girl
+ would smoothe a troubled prospect.--MEREDITH.
+
+The following looks like a deliberate avoidance of both constructions
+by a writer who is undecided between the two. _Its being_ is what
+should have been written.
+
+ I do not say that the advice is not sound, or complain that it is
+ given. I do deprecate _that it should be_ taken.--_Times._
+
+And perhaps a shyness of _something’s being shown_ accounts for the
+next odd arrangement; it is true that entire recasting is what is
+called for.
+
+ _There being shown to be something_ radically defective in the
+ management of the Bank _led_ to the appointment of a Committee.--H. D.
+ MACLEOD.
+
+=2. When must the subject of the gerund (or infinitive) be expressed,
+and when omitted?=
+
+This is not a controversial matter like the last; the principles are
+quite simple, and will be accepted; but it is necessary to state and
+illustrate them because they are often forgotten. As the same mistakes
+are sometimes made with the infinitive, that is to be considered as
+included.
+
+Roughly, the subject of the gerund (or infinitive) should be expressed
+if it is different from, and omitted if it is the same as, the subject
+of the sentence. To omit it when different is positively wrong, and may
+produce actual ambiguity or worse, though sometimes there is only a
+slipshod effect; to insert it when the same is generally clumsy.
+
+No one would say ‘I succeeded to his property upon dying’, because, _I_
+being the subject of the sentence, _my_ is naturally suggested instead
+of the necessary _his_ as subject of the gerund; the _his_ must be
+inserted before _dying_, even though the nature of the case obviates
+ambiguity. To take an instance that will show both sides, the following
+is correct:
+
+ I shut the door and stood with my back to it. Then, instead of _his
+ philandering_ with Bess, I, Clementina MacTaggart, had some plain
+ speech with John Barnaby.--CROCKETT.
+
+Subject of the sentence, I; subject of the gerund, he; they are
+different; therefore the _he_ must be expressed, in the shape of
+_his_. Now rewrite the main sentence as--John Barnaby heard some plain
+speech from me, Clementina MacTaggart. The sense is the same; but the
+_his_ before _philandering_ at once becomes superfluous; it is not
+yet seriously in the way, because we do not know what is the subject
+of _philandering_, the name only coming later. Now rewrite it again
+as--Then John Barnaby heard some plain speech from ... instead of ...
+The _his_ is now so clumsy as to be almost impossible.
+
+The insertion of superfluous subjects is much less common than the
+omission of necessary ones; but three examples follow. The first is a
+rare and precious variety; the second has no apparent justification;
+for the third it may be said that the unusual _his_ has the same effect
+as the insertion of the parenthetic words _as he actually does_ after
+_limiting_ would have had.
+
+ You took food to him, but instead of _he reaching_ out his hand and
+ taking it, he kept asking for food.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Harsh facts: sure as she was of _her_ never _losing_ her filial hold
+ of the beloved.--MEREDITH.
+
+ I have said that Mr. Chamberlain has no warrant for _his limiting_ the
+ phrase ... to the competitive manufacture of goods.--LORD GOSCHEN.
+
+In giving the rule summarily, we used the phrase _subject of the
+sentence_. That phrase is not to be confined to the subject of the main
+sentence, but to be referred instead, when necessary, to the subject of
+the subordinate clause in which the gerund may stand. For instance:
+
+ The good, the illuminated, sit apart from the rest, censuring their
+ dullness and vices, as if they thought that, _by sitting_ very grand
+ in their chairs, the very brokers, attorneys, and congressmen would
+ see the error of their ways, and flock to them.--EMERSON.
+
+Here _by sitting_ breaks the rule, though the subject of _sitting_
+is the same as that of the main verb _sit_, because the subject of
+the clause in which _sitting_ comes is not _the good_, but _brokers,
+&c._ The right way to mend this is not to insert _their_ before
+_sitting_--which after all is clumsy, though correct--but to make _the
+good_ the subject of the clause also, by writing _as if they thought
+that by sitting ... they would make the brokers ... see the error_.
+
+And sometimes _subject of the sentence_ is to be interpreted still more
+freely as the word grammatically dominant in the part of the sentence
+that contains the gerund. For instance:
+
+ From the Bible alone was she taught the duties of morality, but
+ familiarized to her taste _by hearing_ its stories and precepts from
+ the lips she best loved.--S. FERRIER.
+
+Here the dominant word is _Bible_, to which _familiarized_ belongs. So,
+though _she_ does happen to be the main subject, _her_ must be inserted
+because the _familiarized_ phrase removes the gerund from the reach of
+the main subject.
+
+After these explanations we add miscellaneous instances. It will be
+seen that transgression of the rule, though it seldom makes a sentence
+ambiguous enough to deceive, easily makes it ambiguous enough to amuse
+the reader at wrong moments, or gives an impression of amateurish work.
+Mistakes are mended, sometimes by inserting the subject of the gerund
+(or infinitive), sometimes by changing the main subject to make it the
+same as that of the gerund, sometimes by other recasting.
+
+ ... an excellent arrangement for a breeching, which, when released,
+ remains with the carriage, so that lead or centre horses can be put in
+ the wheel _without having_ to affix a new breeching.--_Times._
+
+Lucky, reflects the reader, since horses are not good at affixing
+breechings. Write _the drivers can put ... horses ... without having to
+affix_.
+
+ I cultivated a passionless and cold exterior, for I discovered that
+ _by assuming_ such a character, certain otherwise crafty persons
+ would talk more readily before me.--CORELLI.
+
+Write _if I assumed_; or else _I should induce certain ... persons
+to talk_. It will be noticed that the mistake here, and often, is
+analogous to the most frequent form of wrongly attached participle
+(participle, 5); the writer does not observe that he has practically
+passed from the sphere of the sentence whose subject was the word that
+he still allows to operate.
+
+ _After following_ a country Church of England clergyman for a period
+ of half a century, a newly-appointed, youthful vicar, totally
+ unacquainted with rural life, comes into the parish, and at once
+ commences to alter the services of the Church, believed in by the
+ parishioners for generations.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+Grammar gives _his_, i. e., the new vicar’s, as subject of _following_;
+it is really either _my_ or _the parishioners’_. Insert _my_ or _our_,
+or write _After we (I) have followed_.
+
+ I am sensible that _by conniving_ at it it will take too deep root
+ ever to be eradicated.--_Times._
+
+Insert _our_, or write _if connived at_.
+
+ This was experienced by certain sensitive temperaments, either by
+ sensations which produced shivering, or _by seeing_ at night a
+ peculiar light in the air.--_Times._
+
+Who or what sees? Certainly not _this_, the main subject. Not even
+_temperaments_, which have no eyes. Write _Persons of sensitive
+temperament experienced this, &c._
+
+ But the commercial interests of both Great Britain and the United
+ States were too closely affected by the terms of the Russo-Chinese
+ agreement _to let_ it pass unnoticed.--_Times._
+
+It is not the interests that cannot let it pass, but the countries.
+Insert _for those countries_ before _to let_; or write _Both Great
+Britain and the United States were too closely affected in their
+interests to let...._
+
+ And it would be well for all concerned, for motor drivers and the
+ public alike, if this were made law, instead of _fixing_ a maximum
+ speed.--_Times._
+
+Write _if the law required this...._
+
+ And _in order to bring_ her to a right understanding, she underwent a
+ system of persecution.--S. FERRIER.
+
+Write _they subjected her to_ for _she underwent_.
+
+ Her friendship is too precious to me, not _to doubt_ my own merits on
+ the one hand, and not to be anxious for the preservation of it on the
+ other.--RICHARDSON.
+
+Write _I value her friendship too highly not to...._
+
+ One cannot do good to a man whose mouth has been gagged _in order not
+ to hear_ what he desires for his welfare.--_Times._
+
+Grammar suggests that his mouth--or, if indulgent, that he--is not to
+hear; but the person meant is _one_. Write _one has gagged_ for _has
+been gagged_.
+
+ Germany has, alas! victories enough _not to add_ one of the kind which
+ would have been implied in the retirement of M. Delcassé.--_Times._
+
+It is France, not Germany, that should not add. Write _without France’s
+adding_.
+
+ _In order to obtain_ peace, ordinary battles followed by ordinary
+ victories and ordinary results will only lead to a useless
+ prolongation of the struggle.--_Times._
+
+This is a triumph of inconsequence. Write _If peace is the object, it
+should be remembered that ordinary...._
+
+It will have occurred to the reader that, while most of the sentences
+quoted are to be condemned, objection to a few of them might be called
+pedantic. The fact is that every writer probably breaks the rule
+often, and escapes notice, other people’s, his own, or both. Different
+readers, however, will be critical in different degrees; and whoever
+breaks the rule does so at his own risk; if his offence is noticed,
+that is hanging evidence against him by itself; if it is not noticed,
+it is not an offence. Of saying on page 127 _Mistakes are mended
+sometimes by inserting the subject_, we plead Guilty if we were caught
+in the act, but otherwise Not Guilty.
+
+=3. Choice between the gerund with preposition and the infinitive.=
+
+It was said in the preliminary section on the Participle and Gerund
+that _writing_--the verbal noun or gerund--and _to write_--the
+infinitive--are in some sense synonyms; but phrases were given showing
+that it is by no means always indifferent which of the two is used. It
+is a matter of idiom rather than of grammar; but this seems the most
+convenient place for drawing attention to it. To give satisfactory
+rules would require many more examples and much more space than can
+be afforded. But something will be gained if students are convinced
+(1) that many of the mistakes made give sentences the appearance of
+having been written by a foreigner or one who is not at home with the
+literary language; (2) that the mistakes are nearly always on one side,
+the infinitive being the form that should only be used with caution;
+(3) that a slight change in arrangement may require a change from
+infinitive to gerund or vice versa.
+
+_a._ When the infinitive or gerund is attached to a noun, defining
+or answering the question _what_ (hope, &c.) about it, it is almost
+always better to use the gerund with of; not quite always, however; for
+instance, _an intention to return_, usually, and _a tendency to think_
+always.
+
+ The vain _hope to be understood_ by everybody possessed of a ballot
+ makes us in the United States perhaps guiltier than public men in
+ Great Britain in the use of that monstrous muddled dichotomy ‘capital
+ and labour’.--_Times._
+
+What hope?--That of being understood. Write it so, and treat all the
+following similarly:
+
+ The habitual _necessity to amass_ [of amassing] matter for the weekly
+ sermon, set him noting...--MEREDITH.
+
+ We wish to be among the first to felicitate Mr. Whitelaw Reid upon
+ his _opportunity to exercise_ [of exercising] again the distinguished
+ talents which...--_Times._
+
+ Men lie twenty times in as many hours in the _hope to propitiate_ [of
+ propitiating] you.--CORELLI.
+
+ We left the mound in the twilight, with the _design to return_ [of
+ returning] the next morning.--EMERSON.
+
+ The main duties of government were omitted--the _duty to instruct_ [of
+ instructing] the ignorant, _to supply_ [of supplying] the poor with
+ work and good guidance.--EMERSON.
+
+ Mr. Hay’s _purpose to preserve or restore_ [of preserving or
+ restoring] the integrity of the administrative entity of China has
+ never been abandoned.--_Times._
+
+ My _custom to be dressed_ [of being dressed] for the day, as
+ soon as breakfast is over, ... will make such a step less
+ suspected.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ He points out that if Russia accepted the agreement, she would not
+ attain her _object to clear_ [of clearing] the situation, inasmuch
+ as....--_Times._
+
+What accounts for these mistakes is the analogy of forms like: Our
+design was to return; it is a duty to instruct; man has power to
+interpret (but _the_ power of interpreting); it is my custom to be
+dressed.
+
+When, however, the noun thus defined is more or less closely fused into
+a single idea with the verb that governs it, the infinitive becomes
+legitimate, though seldom necessary.
+
+ The menace to have secreted Solmes, and that other, that I _had
+ thoughts to run away_ with her foolish brother, ... so much terrified
+ the dear creature....--RICHARDSON.
+
+ I passed my childhood here, and _had a weakness here to close_ my
+ life.--BEACONSFIELD.
+
+ Before ten o’clock in the evening, Gasca _had the satisfaction to see_
+ the bridge so well secured that....--PRESCOTT.
+
+ Almagro’s followers _made as little scruple to appropriate_ to their
+ own use such horses and arms as they could find.--PRESCOTT.
+
+_Had thoughts_ means _was planning_; _had a weakness_ means _desired_;
+_had the satisfaction_, _was pleased_; _made as little scruple_,
+_scrupled as little_.
+
+Again, an interval between the noun defined and the infinitive or
+gerund makes the former more tolerable.
+
+ _The necessity_ which has confronted the Tokio War Office, _to
+ enlarge_ their views of the requirements of the situation.--_Times._
+
+Or the infinitive is used to avoid a multiplication of _of_.
+
+ He had as much as any man ever had that _gift_ of a great preacher _to
+ make_ the oratorical fervour which persuades himself while it lasts
+ into the abiding conviction of his hearers.--LOWELL.
+
+ The pastures of Tartary were still remembered by the tenacious
+ _practice_ of the Norsemen _to eat_ horseflesh at religious
+ feasts.--EMERSON.
+
+If the noun has the indefinite article the infinitive is better
+sometimes.
+
+ But our recognition of it implies a corresponding _duty to make_ the
+ most of such advantages.--_Times._
+
+_A_ duty to make: _the_ duty of making. Compare _power_ and _the power_
+above.
+
+The following is probably an adaptation (not to be commended) of _it is
+necessary for Russia to secure_--_for Russia to secure_ being regarded
+as a fused infinitive like the Latin accusative and infinitive.
+
+ His views on the _necessity_ for Russia _to secure_ the command of the
+ sea....--_Times._
+
+_b._ Though the gerund with _of_ is the usual construction after nouns,
+they sometimes prefer the gerund with other prepositions also to the
+infinitive. The gerund with _in_ should be used, for instance, in the
+following. But euphony operates again in the first.
+
+ ... the extraordinary _remissness_ of the English commanders _to
+ utilize_ their preponderating strength against the Boers.--_Times._
+
+ Lord Kenyon reminded the House of the resistance met with to
+ vaccination, to [of?] the possible _effect_ of the proposal _to
+ increase_ that resistance....--_Times._
+
+ I think sculpture and painting have an _effect to teach_ us manners
+ and abolish hurry.--EMERSON.
+
+ Such a capitulation would be inconsistent with the position of any
+ Great Power, independently of the _humiliation_ there would be for
+ England and France _to submit_ their agreement for approval and
+ perhaps modification to Germany.--_Times._
+
+The humiliation there would be in submitting; or the humiliation it
+would be to submit.
+
+_c._ After verbs and adjectives the infinitive is much more common; but
+no one will use a gerund where an infinitive is required, while many
+will do the reverse.
+
+ But history _accords_ with the Japanese practice _to show_ [in
+ showing] that....--_Times._
+
+ We must necessarily appeal to the intuition, and _aim_ much
+ more _to suggest_ than _to describe_ [at suggesting than at
+ describing].--EMERSON.
+
+ But they can only highly serve us, when they _aim_ not _to drill_, but
+ _to create_ [at drilling, but at creating].--EMERSON.
+
+ So far from _aiming to be_ mistress of Europe, she was rapidly sinking
+ into the almost helpless prey of France.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+This is to avoid _aiming at be_ing; compare the avoidance of double
+_of_ above.
+
+ _Lose no time_, I pray you, _to advise_.--RICHARDSON.
+
+_In advising_ may have been avoided as ambiguous.
+
+ Egotism has its root in the cardinal necessity by which each
+ individual _persists to be_ [in being] what he is.--EMERSON.
+
+ I do not _despair to see_ [of seeing] a motor public
+ service.--_Guernsey Advertiser._
+
+ Their journeymen are far too declamatory, and too much _addicted to
+ substitute_ [substituting] vague and puerile dissertations for solid
+ instruction.--MORLEY.
+
+In the common phrase _addicted to drink_, drink is a noun, not a verb.
+
+ His blackguard countrymen, always _averse_, as their descendants
+ are, _to give_ [giving] credit to anybody, for any valuable
+ quality.--BORROW.
+
+ Is he _to be blamed_, if he thinks a person would make a wife worth
+ having, _to endeavour_ [for endeavouring] to obtain her?--RICHARDSON.
+
+_d._ If a deferred subject, anticipated by _it_, is to be verbal, it
+must of course be either the infinitive or a gerund without preposition.
+
+ Fortune, who has generally been ready to gratify my inclinations,
+ provided _it_ cost her very little _by so doing_....--BORROW.
+
+
+ SHALL AND WILL
+
+It is unfortunate that the idiomatic use, while it comes by nature to
+southern Englishmen (who will find most of this section superfluous),
+is so complicated that those who are not to the manner born can hardly
+acquire it; and for them the section is in danger of being useless. In
+apology for the length of these remarks it must be said that the short
+and simple directions often given are worse than useless. The observant
+reader soon loses faith in them from their constant failure to take him
+right; and the unobservant is the victim of false security.
+
+Roughly speaking, _should_ follows the same rules as _shall_, and
+_would_ as _will_; in what follows, Sh. may be taken as an abbreviation
+for _shall_, _should_, and _should have_, and W. for _will_, _would_,
+and _would have_.
+
+In our usage of the Sh. and W. forms, as seen in principal sentences,
+there are elements belonging to three systems. The first of these, in
+which each form retains its full original meaning, and the two are
+not used to give different persons of the same tense, we shall call
+the pure system: the other two, both hybrids, will be called, one the
+coloured-future, the other the plain-future system. In Old English
+there was no separate future; present and future were one. _Shall_
+and _will_ were the presents of two verbs, to which belong also the
+pasts _should_ and _would_, the conditionals _should_ and _would_, and
+the past conditionals _should have_ and _would have_. _Shall_ had the
+meaning of command or obligation, and _will_ of wish. But as commands
+and wishes are concerned mainly with the future, it was natural that
+a future tense auxiliary should be developed out of these two verbs.
+The coloured future results from the application to future time of
+those forms that were practically useful in the pure system; they
+consequently retain in the coloured future, with some modifications,
+the ideas of command and wish proper to the original verbs. The plain
+future results from the taking of those forms that were practically
+out of work in the pure system to make what had not before existed,
+a simple future tense; these have accordingly not retained the ideas
+of command and wish. Which were the practically useful and which the
+superfluous forms in the pure system must now be explained.
+
+_Thou shall not steal_ is the type of _shall_ in the pure system. We
+do not ordinarily issue commands to ourselves; consequently _I shall_
+is hardly required; but we often ask for orders, and therefore _shall
+I?_ is required. The form of the _shall_ present in the pure system is
+accordingly:
+
+ Shall I? You shall. He shall. Shall we? They shall.
+
+As to the past tense, orders cannot be given, but may be asked about,
+so that, for instance, _What should I do?_ (i. e., What was I to do?)
+can be done all through interrogatively.
+
+In the conditionals, both statement and question can be done all
+through. I can give orders to my imaginary, though not to my actual
+self. I cannot say (as a command) _I shall do it_; but I can say, as a
+conditional command, _I should do it_.
+
+_I shall_ and _we shall_ are accordingly the superfluous forms of the
+present _shall_ in the pure system.
+
+Again, with _will_, _I will_ meaning _it is my will_, it is obvious
+that we can generally state this only of ourselves; we do not know the
+inside of other people’s minds, but we can ask about it. The present
+runs, then,
+
+ I will. Will you? Will he? We will. Will they?
+
+The past tense can here be done all through, both positively and
+interrogatively. For though we cannot tell other people’s present will,
+we can often infer their past will from their actions. So (I was asked,
+but) _I would not_, and _Why would I do it?_ all through. And similarly
+in the conditionals, _I would not_ (if I could), &c.
+
+The spare forms supplied by the present _will_, then, are _you will_,
+_he will_, _they will_; and these, with _I shall_, _we shall_, are
+ready, when the simple future is required, to construct it out of. We
+can now give
+
+
+Rule 1. The Pure System
+
+When Sh. and W. retain the full original meanings of command and wish,
+each of them is used in all three persons, so far as it is required.
+
+The following examples show most of what we inherit directly from the
+pure system.
+
+ Thou shalt not steal. Not required in first person.
+
+ Shall I open the door? Not required in second.
+
+ You should not say such things. In all persons.
+
+ And shall Trelawny die? Hardly required in second.
+
+ Whom should he meet but Jones? (... was it his fate....) In all.
+
+ Why should you suspect me? In all.
+
+ It should seem so. (It would apparently be incumbent on us to believe)
+ Isolated idiom with third.
+
+ I will have my way. Not required in second and third; but see below.
+
+ I (he) asked him (me) to do it, but he (I) would not. In all.
+
+ I would not have done it for the world. In all.
+
+ I would be told to wait a while (Habitual). In all.
+
+ Will you come with me? Not required in first.
+
+ I would I were dead. Not required in second and third.
+
+ He will bite his nails, whatever I say. In all.
+
+ He will often stand on his head. In all.
+
+ You will still be talking (i. e., you always are). Not required in
+ first.
+
+ A coat will last two years with care.
+
+It will be noticed that the last four forms are among those that were
+omitted as not required by the pure system. _Will_ would rarely be
+required in second and third person statements, but would of course be
+possible in favourable circumstances, as in describing habitual action,
+where the will of another may be inferred from past experience. The
+last of all is a natural extension of the idiom even to things that
+have no will. All these ‘habitual’ uses are quite different from _I
+will have my way_; and though _you will have your way_ is possible,
+it always has the ‘habitual’ meaning, which _I will have my way_ is
+usually without.
+
+All the forms in the above list, and others like them, have three
+peculiarities--that they are not practically futures as distinguished
+from presents; that they use Sh. for all persons, or W. for all
+persons, if the idea is appropriate to all persons; and that the
+ideas are simply, or with very little extension, those of command or
+obligation and wish.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The coloured-future system is so called because, while the future sense
+is more distinct, it is still coloured with the speaker’s mood; command
+and wish receive extensions and include promise, permission, menace,
+consent, assurance, intention, refusal, offer, &c.; and the forms
+used are invariably those--from both Sh. and W.--that we called the
+practically useful ones in the pure system. That is, we have always
+
+ I will, shall I? You shall, will you? He shall, will he? We will,
+ shall we? They shall, will they?
+
+And the conditionals, _should_ and _would_, _should have_ and _would
+have_, are used with exactly the same variations. It will be borne in
+mind, however, that no clear line of division can be drawn between
+the pure system and the coloured-future system, since the latter
+is developed naturally (whereas the plain-future system is rather
+developed artificially) out of the former. And especially the questions
+of the coloured future are simply those of the pure system without any
+sort of modification.
+
+
+Rule 2. The Coloured-Future System
+
+In future and conditional statements that include (without the use of
+special words for the purpose) an expression of the speaker’s (not
+necessarily of the subject’s) wish, intention, menace, assurance,
+consent, refusal, promise, offer, permission, command, &c.--in such
+sentences the first person has W., the second and third persons Sh.
+
+ I will tell you presently. My promise.
+
+ You shall repent it before long. My menace.
+
+ He shall not have any. My refusal.
+
+ We would go if we could. Our conditional intention.
+
+ You should do it if we could make you. Our conditional command.
+
+ They should have had it if they had asked. My conditional consent.
+
+The only questions possible here are the asking for orders and the
+requests already disposed of under Rule 1.
+
+Observe that _I would like_ (which is not English) is not justified by
+this rule, because the speaker’s mood is expressed by _like_, and does
+not need double expression; it ought to be _I should like_, under Rule
+3.
+
+Observe also that _I sha’n’t_, _You will go to your room and stay
+there_, are only apparent exceptions, which will be explained under
+Rule 3.
+
+The archaic literary forms _You shall find_, _A rogue shall often
+pass for an honest man_, though now affected and pretentious, are
+grammatically defensible. The speaker asks us to take the fact on his
+personal assurance.
+
+The forms little required in the pure system, and therefore ready to
+hand for making the new plain future, were _I_, and _we_, _shall_;
+_you_, _he_, and _they_, _will_. These accordingly constitute the plain
+future, and the corresponding forms of the plain conditional are used
+analogously. Questions follow the same rule, with one very important
+exception, which will be given a separate rule (4). We now give
+
+
+Rule 3. The Plain-Future System
+
+In plain statements about the future, and in the principal clause,
+result, or apodosis, of plain conditional sentences (whether the
+subordinate clause, condition, or _if_-clause, is expressed or not),
+the first person has Sh., the second and third persons W. Questions
+conform, except those of the second person, for which see Rule 4.
+
+ I shall, you will, die some day.
+
+ Shall I, will they, be here to-morrow?
+
+ We should, he would, have consented if you had asked.
+
+ Should we, would he, have missed you if you had been there?
+
+ I should, you would, like a bathe.
+
+ Should I, would he, like it myself, himself?
+
+Some apparent exceptions, already anticipated, must here be explained.
+It may be said that _I shall execute your orders_ being the speaker’s
+promise, _You will go to your room_ being the speaker’s command, and
+_Sha’n’t_ (the nursery abbreviation for _I shall not do it_) being the
+speaker’s refusal, these are all coloured futures, so that Sh. and
+W. should be reversed in each. They are such in effect, but they are
+not in form. In each, the other form would be possible and correct.
+The first is a promise only so far as the hearer chooses to take as
+a promise the plain future or impersonal prophecy; but the speaker
+emphasizes his obedience by implying that of course, since the order
+has been given, it will be executed; the matter is settled without
+his unimportant consent. The other two gain force by the opposite
+assumption that the speaker’s will and the future are absolutely
+identical, so that what he intends may be confidently stated as a
+future fact. In the first example the desired submissiveness, in the
+other two the desired imperiousness, supercilious or passionate, are
+attained by the same impersonality.
+
+Before giving the rule for second-person questions, we observe that
+questions generally follow the rule of the class of statement they
+correspond to. This was shown in the pure system (Rule 1). There are
+no questions (apart from those already accounted for by the pure
+system) belonging to the coloured future (Rule 2). In the plain future
+(Rule 3), first and third person questions are like the plain-future
+statements. But second-person questions under the plain future
+invariably use Sh. or W. according as the answer for which the speaker
+is prepared has Sh. or W. Care is necessary, however, in deciding
+what that answer is. In _Should (would) you like a bathe?_ _should_
+is almost always right, because the answer expected is almost always
+either _Yes, I should_, or _No, I should not_, the question being
+asked for real information. It is true that _Would you like?_ is very
+commonly used, like the equally wrong _I would like_; but it is only
+correct when the answer is intended to be given by the asker:--_No, of
+course you would not._ A clearer illustration of this is the following
+sentence, which requires Sh. or W. according to circumstances: _Will
+(shall) you, now so fresh and fair, be in a hundred years nothing but
+mouldering dust?_. This might possibly be asked in expectation of
+an answer from the person apostrophized--_Yes, I shall._ Much more
+probably it would be asked in expectation of the answer from the
+speaker himself to his own question--_Alas! yes, you will._ And _shall_
+ought to be used for the question only in the first case, _will_ in
+the second case. Similarly, _Ah, yes, that is all very well; but will
+(shall) you be able to do it?_ Use _will_ if the answer is meant to be
+_No, of course you will not_; _shall_, if the answer expected is _Yes,
+I shall_, or _No, I shall not_.
+
+In practice, Sh. is more commonly required, because questions asked
+for information are commoner than rhetorical ones. But observe the
+common _Would you believe it?_, Answer, _No, of course you would not._
+_Should you believe it?_, also possible, would indicate real curiosity
+about the other person’s state of mind, which is hardly ever felt.
+_Would you believe it?_, however, might also be accounted for on the
+ground that the answer would be _No, I would not_, which would be a
+coloured-future form, meaning _I should never consent to believe_.
+
+
+Rule 4. Second-person Questions
+
+Second-person questions invariably have Sh. or W. by assimilation to
+the answer expected.
+
+It may be added, since it makes the application of the rule easier,
+that the second-person questions belonging not to the plain future but
+to the pure system are also, though not because of assimilation, the
+same in regard to Sh. and W. as their answers. Thus _Will you come?_
+_Yes, I will_ (each on its merits), as well as _Shall you be there?_
+_Yes, I shall_ (assimilation). _Should you not have known?_ _Yes, I
+should_ (each on its merits; _should_ means _ought_), as well as _What
+should you think?_ _I should think you were right_ (assimilation). The
+true form for all second-person questions, then, can be ascertained by
+deciding what the expected answer is.
+
+This completes what need be said about principal sentences, with the
+exception of one important usage that might cause perplexity. If
+some one says to me ‘You would think so yourself if you were in my
+position’, I may either answer ‘No, I should not’ regularly, or may
+catch up his word, and retain the W., though the alteration of person
+requires Sh. Thus--‘Would I, though? No, I wouldn’t’. Accordingly,
+
+
+Rule 5. Echoes
+
+A speaker repeating and adapting another’s words may neglect to make
+the alteration from Sh. to W., or from W. to Sh., that an alteration of
+the person strictly requires.
+
+We have now all the necessary rules for principal sentences, and can
+put down a few examples of the right usage, noteworthy for various
+reasons, and some blunders, the latter being illustrated in proportion
+to their commonness. The number of the rule observed or broken will be
+added in brackets for reference. The passage from Johnson with which
+the correct examples begin is instructive.
+
+
+_Right._
+
+ I would (2) injure no man, and should (3) provoke no resentment;
+ I would (2) relieve every distress, and should (3) enjoy the
+ benedictions of gratitude. I would (2) choose my friends among the
+ wise, and my wife among the virtuous; and therefore should (3) be in
+ no danger from treachery or unkindness. My children should (2) by my
+ care be learned and pious, and would (3) repay to my age what their
+ childhood had received.--JOHNSON.
+
+ Chatham, it should (1) seem, ought to have taken the same
+ side.--MACAULAY.
+
+ For instance, when we allege, that it is against reason to tax a
+ people under so many restraints in trade as the Americans, the noble
+ lord in the blue riband shall (2) tell you....--BURKE.
+
+ The ‘critic fly’, if it do but alight on any plinth or single
+ cornice of a brave stately building, shall (2) be able to declare,
+ with its half-inch vision, that here is a speck, and there an
+ inequality.--CARLYLE.
+
+ John, why should you waste yourself (1) upon those ugly giggling
+ girls?--R. G. WHITE.
+
+ It wouldn’t be quite proper to take her alone, would it? What should
+ (4) you say?--R. G. WHITE.
+
+ Whether I have attained this, the future shall decide (2. I consent to
+ accept the verdict of the future).--_Times._
+
+
+_Wrong._
+
+We give first many examples of the mistake that is out of all
+proportion the commonest--using the coloured future when the speaker’s
+mood is sufficiently given by a separate word. In the second example,
+for instance, _I would ask the favour_ would be quite right, and would
+mean _I should like to ask_. As it stands, it means _I should like to
+like to ask_. The same applies to the other instances, which are only
+multiplied to show how dangerous this particular form is.
+
+
+ Among these ... I would be inclined to place (3) those who acquiesce
+ in the phenomenalism of Mr. Herbert Spencer.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ As one of the founders of the Navy League, I would like (3) to ask the
+ favour of your well-known courtesy....--_Times._
+
+ I would be glad (3) to have some account of his behaviour.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ I would like (3) also to talk with you about the thing which has come
+ to pass.--JOWETT.
+
+ But give your definition of romance. I would like to hear it (3).--F.
+ M. CRAWFORD.
+
+ These are typical of thousands of paragraphs in the newspaper.... We
+ would (3) wish for brighter news.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ I have already had some offers of assistance, and I would be glad (3)
+ to receive any amount towards the object.--_Times._
+
+Some examples follow that have not this excuse; and the first two
+deserve comment--the first because it results in serious ambiguity, the
+second because it is possibly not wrong.
+
+ The two fleets present seven Russian battleships against four
+ Japanese--less than two to one; two Russian armoured cruisers against
+ eight, and seven Russian torpedo-boat destroyers against an indefinite
+ number of the enemy. Here we will (3) not exaggerate in attributing to
+ the Japanese three or four to one.--MAHAN.
+
+With _will_, the meaning must be: We won’t call them three or four to
+one, because that would be exaggeration. But the meaning is intended to
+be: We will call them that, and it will be no exaggeration. _Shall_ is
+absolutely necessary, however, to make it bear that interpretation.
+
+ This character who delights us may commit murder like Macbeth, or fly
+ the battle for his sweetheart as did Antony, or betray his country
+ like Coriolanus, and yet we will rejoice (3) in every happiness that
+ comes to him.--W. B. YEATS.
+
+It is possible that this is the use of _will_ described as the
+‘habitual’ use--he will often stand on his head--under Rule 1. But this
+is very rare, though admissible, in the first person of the present.
+_We shall rejoice_, or simply _we rejoice_, would be the plain way of
+saying it.
+
+ If this passion was simply painful, we would (3) shun with the
+ greatest care all persons and places that could excite such a
+ passion.--BURKE.
+
+ What would (3) we be without our appetites?--S. FERRIER.
+
+ If I was ever to be detected, I would (3) have nothing for it but to
+ drown myself.--S. FERRIER.
+
+ I will (3) never forget, in the year 1858, one notorious
+ revivalist.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ As long as I am free from all resentment, hardness, and scorn, I would
+ (3) be able to face the life with much more calm and confidence than I
+ would....--WILDE.
+
+In the next two, if ‘I think’, and the _if_-clause, were removed, the
+_shall_ and _will_ would stand, expressing resolve according to Rule 2.
+But with those additions it is clear that prophecy or pure future is
+meant; and _shall_ and _will_ should be _will_ and _shall_.
+
+ Nothing, I think, shall ever make me (3) forgive him.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ We were victorious in 1812, and we will (3) be victorious now at any
+ cost, if we are strong in an alliance between the governing class and
+ the governed.--_Times._
+
+=We now proceed to Subordinate Clauses, and first to the Substantival.=
+The word ‘reported’ will mean ‘made indirect’ or ‘subordinated
+substantivally’, not always actually reported.
+
+=Reported statement= is quite simple when it is of the pure system
+or the coloured future; the Sh. or W. of the original statement is
+retained in the reported form, unaffected by any change of person that
+the reporting involves. Thus: (Pure system) _He forgave me_ (_you_,
+or _her_), _though he said I_ (_you_, or _she_) _should not have
+left him in the lurch like that._ (Coloured future) _You said I_ (or
+_he_) _should repent it_; either of these is a report of either _You
+shall repent it_ or _He shall repent it_. (Coloured future) _You said
+you_ (or _I said I_) _would apologize_; both are reports of _I will
+apologize_.
+
+But with the plain-future system there is difficulty and some
+inconsistency. The change of person sometimes required by reported
+speech has almost always the effect here of introducing Sh. if _I_
+or _we_ appears in the words as reported, and usually the effect of
+introducing W. if _you_, _he_, or _they_, appears. The following are
+all the types in which doubt can arise, except that each of these may
+occur in either number, and in past or present. The form that would be
+required by analogy (keeping the original Sh. or W.) is given first,
+and the one generally used instead is added in brackets. Reporting _I
+shall never succeed_, we get
+
+ You said you should (would) never succeed.
+
+ He says he shall (will) never succeed.
+
+Reporting _you will_ (or _he will_) _never succeed_, we get
+
+ You say I will (shall) never succeed.
+
+ He said I would (should) never succeed.
+
+Even those persons who have generally a just confidence in their own
+correctness about Sh. and W. will allow that they have some doubt about
+the first pair; and nearly every one will find W. in the second pair,
+however reasonable and consistent, intolerable.
+
+If the reader will now go through the four sentences again, and
+substitute for _succeed_ the phrase _do it_ (which may or may not mean
+_succeed_), he will see that the orthodox _should_ and _shall_ of the
+first pair become actually more natural than the commoner _would_ and
+_will_; and that even in the second pair _will_ and _would_ are now
+tolerable. The reason is that with _do it_ there is risk of confusion
+with the reported forms of _I will never do it_ and _you shall never
+do it_, which are not plain futures, but coloured futures meaning
+something quite different.
+
+=Reported questions= present the same difficulties. Again those only
+are doubtful that belong to the plain future. There, for instance,
+reporting _Shall you do it?_ we can say by the correct analogy _I asked
+him whether he should_; and we generally do so if the verb, as here,
+lends itself to ambiguity: _I asked him whether he would do it_ is
+liable to be mistaken for the report of _Will you do it?_--a request.
+If on the other hand (as in reporting _Shall you be there?_) there is
+little risk of misunderstanding, _I asked him whether he would_ is
+commoner. And again it is only in extreme cases, if even then, that
+the original W. can be kept when the report introduces _I_ in place
+of the original question’s _you_ or _he_. For instance, the original
+question being _How will he be treated?_, it may be just possible
+to say _You had made up your mind how I would be treated_, because
+_You had made up your mind how I should be treated_ almost inevitably
+suggests (assisted by the ambiguity of _making up your mind_, which may
+imply either resolve or inference) that the original question was _How
+shall he be treated?_
+
+It would be well, perhaps, if writers who take their responsibilities
+seriously would stretch a point sometimes to keep the more consistent
+and less ambiguous usage alive; but for practical purposes the rule
+must run:
+
+
+Rule 6. Substantival Clauses.
+
+In these (whether ‘reported’ strictly or otherwise subordinated)
+pure-system or coloured-future forms invariably keep the Sh. or W. of
+the original statement or question, unaffected by any change of person.
+Reports of plain-future forms do this also, if there would be serious
+danger of ambiguity, but almost always have Sh. in the first person,
+and usually W. in the second and third persons.
+
+As the division of substantival clauses into indirect (or reported
+or subordinate or oblique) statements, questions, _and commands_,
+is familiar, it may be well to explain that in English the reported
+command strictly so called hardly exists. In what has the force of
+a reported command it is in fact a statement that is reported. For
+instance, _He said I was to go_, though used as the indirect form of
+_Go_, is really the indirect of the statement _You are to go_. _He
+ordered that they should be released_ (though the actual words were _Be
+they_, or _Let them be, released_) is formed on the coloured-future
+statement, _They shall be released_. It is therefore unnecessary to
+give special rules for reported command. But there are one or two types
+of apparent indirect command about which, though there is no danger of
+error, the reader may feel curious.
+
+a. _I stipulate that I shall, you shall, he shall, do it._ Why _shall_
+in all persons? because the original form is: _I_ (_you_, _he_) _shall
+do it_, _I stipulate that_, where _shall_ means _am to_, _are to_, _is
+to_; that is, it is a pure-system form.
+
+b. _I beg that you_ (or _he_) _will do it._ _He begs that I will do
+it._ Again the original is pure-system: _You_ (or _he_) _will_ (i. e.,
+you consent to) _do it: that is what I beg._ _I will_ (i. e., I consent
+to) _do it: that is what he begs._
+
+c. _I beg that I_ (or _he_) _shall not suffer for it._ _You begged that
+I should not suffer for it._ Observe that b. has _will_ and a. and c.
+_shall_, because it is only in b. that the volition of the subject of
+_shall_ or _will_ is concerned.
+
+d. _I wish you would not sneeze._ Before subordination this is: _You
+will not sneeze: that is what I wish._ W. remains, but _will_ becomes
+_would_ to give the remoteness always connected with wish, which is
+seen also, for instance, in _I wish I were_ instead of _I wish I be_.
+
+Before going on to examples of substantival clauses, we also register,
+again rather for the curious than for the practical reader, the
+peculiar but common use of _should_ contained in the following:
+
+ It is not strange that his admiration for those writers should have
+ been unbounded.--MACAULAY.
+
+In this use _should_ goes through all persons and is equivalent to
+a gerund with possessive: _that a man should be_ is the same as _a
+man’s being_. We can only guess at its origin; our guess is that (1)
+_should_ is the remote form for _shall_, as _would_ for _will_ in d.
+above, substituted in order to give an effect of generality; and (2)
+the use of _shall_ is the archaic one seen in _You shall find_, &c. So:
+a man shall be afraid of his shadow; that a man should be afraid (as a
+generally observed fact) is strange.
+
+After each of the substantival clauses, of which examples now follow,
+we shall say whether it is a reported (subordinated) statement, or
+question, and give what we take to be the original form of the
+essential words, even when further comment is unnecessary.
+
+
+Examples of Sh. and W. in Substantival clauses.
+
+
+_Right._
+
+ You, my dear, believe you shall be unhappy, if you have Mr. Solmes:
+ your parents think the contrary; and that you will be undoubtedly so,
+ were you to have Mr. Lovelace.--RICHARDSON.
+
+Statement. The original of the first is _I shall be_; of the second,
+_she will be_. In this and the next three the strictly analogical form
+that we recommended is kept.
+
+ I have heard the Princess declare that she should not willingly die in
+ a crowd.--JOHNSON.
+
+Statement. I should not.
+
+ People imagine they should be happy in circumstances which they would
+ find insupportably burthensome in less than a week.--COWPER.
+
+Statement. We should. _They would_ is not ‘reported’.
+
+ Do you really fancy you should be more beholden to your
+ correspondent, if he had been damning you all the time for your
+ importunity?--STEVENSON.
+
+Statement. I should be.
+
+ The nation had settled the question that it would not have
+ conscription.--_Times._
+
+Statement. We will not. The blundering insertion of _the
+question_--perhaps due to some hazy notion of ‘putting the
+question’--may be disregarded.
+
+ When the war will end still depends on Japan.--_Times._
+
+Question. When will it end?
+
+ Shaftesbury’s anger vented itself in threats that the advisers of this
+ dissolution should pay for it with their heads.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+Statement. You shall pay.
+
+ He [i. e., James II] regarded his ecclesiastical supremacy as a
+ weapon.... Under Henry and Elizabeth it had been used to turn the
+ Church of England from Catholic to Protestant. Under James it should
+ be used to turn it back again.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+Statement. Under me it shall be. The reporting word not expressed.
+
+ She could not bear the sight of all these things that reminded her of
+ Anthony and of her sin. Perhaps she should die soon; she felt very
+ feeble.--ELIOT.
+
+Statement. I shall. Again the reporting word absent.
+
+ There will never perhaps be a time when every question between London
+ and Washington shall be laid at rest.--_Times._
+
+This is not properly speaking reported speech. But the _shall_ is
+accounted for by a sort of allusion to a supposed prophecy--every
+_question shall one day be laid at rest_. In that prophecy, _shall_
+would convey that the prophet gave his personal guarantee for it, and
+would come under Rule 2. This is not to be confused with the use of
+_shall_ in indefinite clauses that will be noticed later.
+
+
+_Wrong._
+
+ The four began their descent, not knowing at what step they should
+ meet death nor which of them should reach the shore alive.--F. M.
+ CRAWFORD.
+
+Questions. At what step shall we meet? Which of us will reach? The
+first is accordingly right, the second wrong. The modern writer--who
+has been at the pains to use the strictly correct _should_ in the first
+place rather than the now common _would_--has not seen, as Richardson
+did in the first of the right examples, that his two clauses are
+dissimilar.
+
+ I hope that our sympathy shall survive these little revolutions
+ undiminished.--STEVENSON.
+
+Statement. Will survive. It is possible, however, that the original
+was thought of, or rather felt, as Our sympathy shall survive. But as
+the effect of that is to give the speaker’s personal guarantee for
+the truth of the thing, it is clearly not a proper statement to make
+dependent on the doubtful word _hope_.
+
+ After mentioning the advance made in reforms of the military force of
+ the country he [Lord Lansdowne] announced that the Government should
+ not oppose the motion, readily availing themselves of Lord Wemyss’s
+ suggestion that....--_Times._
+
+Statement. We shall not, or the Government will not. Probably Lord
+Lansdowne said _we_, and that accounts for _should_. But if _The
+Times_ chooses to represent _we_ by _the Government_, it must also
+represent _shall_ by _would_.
+
+ It came with a strange stunning effect upon us all--the consciousness
+ that never again would we hear the grind of those positive boot-heels
+ on the gravel.--CROCKETT.
+
+Statement. We shall never.
+
+ I think that if the matter were handed over to the parish councils ...
+ we would within a twelvemonth have exactly such a network of rifle
+ clubs as is needed.--CONAN DOYLE.
+
+Statement. We should. Of these two instances it may be thought that
+the writers would have made the mistake in the original unsubordinated
+sentence, instead of its arising in the process of subordination;
+our experience is, however, that many people do in fact go wrong in
+subordinate clauses who are alive to the danger in simple sentences.
+
+ The Prime Minister ... would at once have asked the Opposition if
+ they could suggest any further means for making the inquiry more
+ drastic and complete, with the assurance that if they could suggest
+ any such means, they would at once be incorporated in the Government
+ scheme.--_Spectator._
+
+Statement. They shall be incorporated. We have classed this as wrong
+on the assumption, supported by the word _assurance_, that the Prime
+Minister gave a promise, and therefore used the coloured future, and
+did not state a fact and use the plain future.
+
+Another type of subordinate clause important for Sh. and W. is =the
+conditional protasis or if-clause=. It is not necessary, nor with
+modern writers usual, to mark the future or conditional force of this
+separately, since it is sufficiently indicated by the apodosis. For
+instance, _If you come I shall be glad_; _if you came I should be
+glad_; _if you had come I should have been glad_. But in formal style
+or with a slight difference of meaning, it is often superfluously done
+in the protasis too. Sh. is then used for all persons, as, _If he
+should come, you would learn how the matter stands_. So:
+
+ Japan will adhere to her pledge of neutrality unless Russia shall
+ first violate hers.--_Times._
+
+But to the rule that the protasis takes _shall_ there are three
+exceptions, real or apparent; W. is found under the following
+circumstances:
+
+(1.) An original pure-system or coloured-future W. is not changed
+to Sh. by being used in subordination to _if_ (or _unless_). It is
+retained with its full original force instead of some verb like _wish_
+or _choose_. In _If we would believe we might move mountains_, the
+meaning is _If we chose to believe_, different from that of _If we
+believed_ or _should believe_. So
+
+ It would be much better if you would not be so hypocritical, Captain
+ Wybrow.--ELIOT.
+
+If you consented not to be, or did not insist on being.
+
+ It would be valuable if he would somewhat expand his ideas regarding
+ local defence by Volunteers.--_Times._
+
+If he consented to.
+
+(2.) When the _if_-clause (though a genuine condition) is incorrectly
+expressed for the sake of brevity and compresses two verbs into one,
+the W. proper to the retained verb is sometimes necessarily used
+instead of the Sh. proper to the verb that, though it contains in
+strict logic the essential protasis, has been crushed out. Thus:
+_If it will be useless I shall prefer not to do it._ It is not the
+uselessness that is the condition of the preference; for the use or
+uselessness is subsequent to the decision; it is my conviction of the
+uselessness; so that the full form would be _If I shall be_ (or _am_ in
+ordinary speech) _convinced that it will be useless, I shall prefer_,
+&c. The following example can be defended on this ground, _if never
+again will he_ standing for _if he shall realize that he will never_;
+the feebleness that decides his not wishing is subsequent to it, and
+can only condition it if taken in the sense of his anticipation of
+feebleness.
+
+ And if there is to be no recovery, _if never again will he_ be young
+ and strong and passionate, if the actual present shall be to him
+ always like a thing read in a book or remembered out of the far-away
+ past; he will not greatly wish for the continuance of a twilight
+ that....--STEVENSON.
+
+The next is more difficult only because, besides the compression, the
+_if_-clause is protasis not to the expressed main sentence, but to
+another that is suppressed.
+
+ I shall wait for fine weather, if that will ever come.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+Given fully, this would run: I shall wait for fine weather; (at least I
+should say so) if (I were sure that) that will ever come.
+
+(3.) When an _if_-clause is not a condition at all, as for instance
+where it expresses contrast, and is almost equivalent to _although_,
+the ordinary plain-future use prevails. Thus: _If annihilation will
+end our joys it will also end our griefs._ Contrast with this the real
+condition, in: _If annihilation shall end_ (or _ends_) _our joys, we
+shall never regret the loss of them._
+
+=Indefinite clauses, relative or other=, bearing the same relation to
+a conditional or future principal sentence that a conditional protasis
+bears to its apodosis follow the same rules. Thus _Whoever compares
+the two will find_ is equivalent to _If any one compares_; _When we
+have won the battle we can decide that question_ is equivalent to _If
+ever we have won_. Accordingly we can if we choose write _Whoever shall
+compare_, and _When we shall have won_; but we cannot write _When
+we will have won_, and must only write _Whoever will compare_ if we
+distinctly mean _Whoever chooses to compare_. As there is sometimes
+difficulty in analysing indefinite clauses of this sort, one or two
+instances had better be considered.
+
+ The candidate who should have distinguished himself most was to be
+ chosen.
+
+This is clear enough; it is equivalent to _if any one should have ...
+he was...._
+
+ We must ask ourselves what victory will cost the Russian people when
+ at length it will become possible to conclude the peace so ardently
+ desired.--_Times._
+
+Equivalent to _If ever it at length becomes_. _Will_ is therefore
+wrong; either _becomes_, or _shall become_.
+
+ Nothing can now prevent it from continuing to distil upwards
+ until there shall be no member of the legislature who shall not
+ know....--HUXLEY.
+
+This is a complicated example. The _shalls_ will be right if it appears
+that each _shall_-clause is equivalent to a conditional protasis. We
+may show it by starting at the end as with the house that Jack built
+and constructing the sentence backwards, subordinating by stages, and
+changing _will_ to _shall_ as the protases come in; it will be allowed
+that _until_ means _to the time when_, and that _when_ may be resolved
+into _if ever_. Thus we get: _a._ One will know. _b._ None will be a
+member of the legislature unless one shall know. _c._ It will distil to
+the time if ever none shall be a member unless one shall know.
+
+ Think what I will about them, I must take them for politeness’
+ sake.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+Although _think what I will_ is an indefinite relative clause, meaning
+practically _whatever I think_, _will_ here is right, the strict sense
+being _whatever I choose to think_. Indeed the time of _think_ is
+probably not, at any rate need not be, future at all; compare _Think
+what I will, I do not tell my thoughts._
+
+We now give
+
+=Rule 7. Conditional protasis and Indefinite Clauses=
+
+In the protasis or _if_-clause of conditional sentences Sh. may be used
+with all persons. Generally neither Sh. nor W. is used. W. is only used
+(1) when the full meaning of _wish_ is intended; it may then be used
+with all persons; (2) when the protasis is elliptically expressed; W.
+may then be necessary with the second and third persons; (3) when the
+_if_-clause is not a real conditional protasis; there is then no reason
+for Sh. with second and third persons. Indefinite classes of similar
+character follow the same rules.
+
+A few right but exceptional, and some wrong subordinate clauses may now
+be added.
+
+
+Examples of Sh. and W. in Subordinate Clauses.
+
+
+_Right._
+
+ As an opiate, or spirituous liquors, shall suspend the operation of
+ grief....--BURKE.
+
+ We may conceive Mr. Worldly Wiseman accosting such an one, and the
+ conversation that should thereupon ensue.--STEVENSON.
+
+ She is such a spare, straight, dry old lady--such a pew of a
+ woman--that you should find as many individual sympathies in a
+ chip.--DICKENS.
+
+In these three we have the archaic _shall_ of personal assurance that
+comes under Rule 2, and its corresponding conditional, appearing in
+subordinate clauses. There is no objection to it except that, in modern
+writers, its context must be such as to exonerate it from the charge of
+affectation.
+
+ The longing of the army for a fresh struggle which should restore its
+ glory.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+This use of Sh. after final relatives is seen, if the compound sentence
+is resolved, to point to an original coloured future: We long for a
+fresh struggle; a fresh struggle shall restore (that is, we intend it
+to restore) our glory.
+
+ He was tormented by that restless jealousy which should seem to belong
+ only to minds burning with the desire of fame.--MACAULAY.
+
+This is the _should seem_ explained under Rule 1 appearing also as
+subordinate.
+
+
+_Wrong._
+
+It should never be, but often is, forgotten that when the apodosis
+of a conditional sentence (with or without expressed protasis) is
+subordinate it is nevertheless still an apodosis, and has still Sh. in
+the first, W. in the second and third persons.
+
+ In ‘he struck him a blow’, we do not feel the first object to be
+ datival, as we would in ‘he gave him a blow’.--H. SWEET.
+
+ I cannot let the moment pass at which I would have been enjoying
+ a visit to you after your severe illness without one word of
+ sympathy.--GLADSTONE.
+
+ It would mean that I would always be haunted by an intolerable sense
+ of disgrace.--WILDE.
+
+ But though I would not willingly part with such scraps of science, I
+ do not set the same store by them.--STEVENSON.
+
+ We must reconcile what we would like to do with what we can
+ do.--_Times._
+
+All these are wrong; in the last two the mistake is perhaps accounted
+for by the presence of _willingly_ and _like_. _I would not willingly_
+can indeed be defended at the cost of admitting that _willingly_ is
+mere tautology, and saying that _I would not_ means _I should not
+consent to_, according to Rule 2.
+
+It may be worth while to add that the subordinate apodosis still
+follows the rule even if it is subordinated to _if_, so that it is part
+of the protasis of another conditional sentence. The following, which
+is of course quite correct, seems, but only seems, to break the rules
+both for protasis and apodosis: If you would be patient for yourself,
+you should be patient for me. But we have W. with second person in the
+protasis because _would be patient_ is also apodosis to the implied
+protasis _if occasion should arise_; and the _should_ with second
+person in the apodosis is not a conditional _should_ at all, but a
+pure-system _should_, which would be the same with any person; it means
+simply _you ought_, or _it would be your duty_.
+
+ The result in part of a genuine anxiety lest the Chinese would
+ gradually grow until they monopolized the country.--_Times._
+
+We have purposely refrained until now from invoking the subjunctive,
+because the word is almost meaningless to Englishmen, the thing having
+so nearly perished. But on this instance it must be remarked that
+when conjunctions like _lest_, which could once or still can take a
+subjunctive (as _lest he die_), use a compound form instead, they use
+the Sh. forms for all persons. It is a matter of little importance,
+since hardly any one would go wrong in such a sentence.
+
+
+ THE PERFECT INFINITIVE
+
+This has its right and its wrong uses. The right are obvious, and can
+be left alone. Even of the wrong some are serviceable, if not strictly
+logical. _I hoped to have succeeded_, for instance, means _I hoped
+to succeed, but I did not succeed_, and has the advantage of it in
+brevity; it is an idiom that it would be a pity to sacrifice on the
+altar of Reason. So:
+
+ Philosophy began to congratulate herself upon such a proselyte from
+ the world of business, and hoped to have extended her power under the
+ auspices of such a leader.--BURKE.
+
+ And here he cannot forbear observing, that it was the duty of
+ that publisher to have rebutted a statement which he knew to be a
+ calumny.--BORROW.
+
+ I was going to have asked, when....--SLADEN.
+
+But other perfects, while they are still more illogical than these,
+differ as little in meaning from the present as the _deposuisse_, dear
+to the hearts of elegiac writers ancient and modern, differs from
+_deponere_. And whereas there is at least metre, and very useful metre,
+in _deposuisse_, there is in our corresponding perfect infinitive
+neither rhyme nor reason. Thus,
+
+ With whom on those golden summer evenings I should have liked to have
+ taken a stroll in the hayfield.--THACKERAY.
+
+_To have taken_ means simply to take; the implication of non-fulfilment
+that justified the perfects above is here needless, being already given
+in _I should have liked_; and the doubled _have_ is ugly in sound.
+Similar are
+
+ If my point had not been this, I should not have endeavoured to have
+ shown the connexion.--_Times._
+
+ The author can only wish it had been her province to have raised
+ plants of nobler growth.--S. FERRIER.
+
+ Had you given your advice in any determined or positive manner, I had
+ been ready to have been concluded by it.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ Jim Scudamore would have been the first man to have acknowledged the
+ anomaly.--CROCKETT.
+
+ Though certainly before she commenced her mystic charms she would have
+ liked to have known who he was.--BEACONSFIELD.
+
+ Peggy would have liked to have shown her turban and bird of paradise
+ at the ball.--THACKERAY.
+
+ It might have been thought to be a question of bare alternatives, and
+ to have been susceptible of no compromise.--BAGEHOT.
+
+The less excusable that Bagehot has started with the correct _to be_.
+
+Another very common form, still worse, occurs especially after _seem_
+and _appear_, and results from the writer’s being too lazy to decide
+whether he means _He seems to have been_, or _He seemed to be_. The
+mistake may be in either verb or both.
+
+ [Repudiating the report of an interview] I warned him when he spoke
+ to me that I could not speak to him at all if I was to be quoted as
+ an authority. _He seemed to have taken_ this as applying only to the
+ first question he asked me.--_Westminster Gazette._ (seems)
+
+ They, as it has been said of Sterne, seemed to have wished, every
+ now and then, to have thrown their wigs into the faces of their
+ auditors.--I. DISRAELI. (seem to have wished ... to throw)
+
+ Lady Austen’s fashionable friends occasioned no embarrassment; they
+ _seemed to have preferred_ some more fashionable place for summering
+ in, for they _are_ not again spoken of.--SOUTHEY. (seem)
+
+Sometimes _have_ is even transferred from the verb with which it would
+make sense to the other with which it makes nonsense.
+
+ On the point of church James was obdurate.... He would like to have
+ insisted on the other grudging items.--SLADEN.
+
+In the next, the perfect is wanted; for a child that has been flogged
+cannot be left unflogged--not, that is, in the past; and the future is
+not meant.
+
+ A child flogged left-handedly had better be left unflogged.--POE.
+
+We add, for the reader’s refreshment rather than for practical
+purposes, an illustration of where careless treatment of _have_ may end:
+
+ Oh, Burgo, hadst thou not have been a very child, thou shouldst have
+ known that now, at this time of day--after all that thy gallant steed
+ had done for thee--it was impossible for thee or him.--TROLLOPE.
+
+
+ CONDITIONALS
+
+These, which cost the schoolboy at his Latin and Greek some weary
+hours, need not detain us long. The reader passes lightly and
+unconsciously in his own language over mixtures that might have caused
+him searchings of heart in a dead one.
+
+But there is one corrupt and meaningless form, apparently gaining
+ground, that calls for protest. When a clause begins with _as if_, it
+must be remembered that there is an ellipse. _I treat her as tenderly
+as if she were my daughter_ would be in full _I treat her as tenderly
+as I should if she were_, &c. If this is forgotten, there is danger in
+some sentences, though not in this one, of using a present indicative
+in the place where the verb _were_ stands. So:
+
+ We will not appear like fools in this matter, and as if we _have_ no
+ authority over our own daughter.--RICHARDSON.
+
+This may be accounted for, but not justified, as an attempt to express
+what should be merely implied, our actual possession of authority.
+
+ As if the fruit or the flower not only _depends_ on a root as one
+ of the conditions among others of its development, but _is_ itself
+ actually the root.--MORLEY.
+
+This is absolutely indefensible so far as _is_ is concerned; _depends_
+has the same motive as _have_ in the Richardson.
+
+ But this looks as if he _has_ included the original 30,000
+ men.--_Times._
+
+ There have been rumours lately, as if the present state of the nation
+ _may_ seem to this species of agitators a favourable period for
+ recommencing their intrigues.--SCOTT.
+
+This is a place where _as if_ should not have been used at all. If it
+is used, the verb should be _seemed_, not _may seem_, the full form
+being _as there would be_ (_rumours_). Read _suggesting that_ for _as
+if_, and _seems_ for _may seem_.
+
+ General Linevitch reports that the army is concentrating as if it
+ _intends_ to make a stand.--_Times._
+
+A mixture between _it apparently intends_ and _as if it intended_.
+
+ As if the same end _may_ not, and must not, be compassed, according to
+ its circumstances, by a great diversity of ways.--BURKE.
+
+_May_ should be _might_. _As if it may not_ is made to do the work of
+_as if it might not, as of course it may_.
+
+The same rule applies to _as though_.
+
+The use of true subjunctive forms (if he be, though it happen) in
+conditional sentences is for various reasons not recommended. These
+forms, with the single exception of _were_, are perishing so rapidly
+that an experienced word-actuary[11] puts their expectation of life at
+one generation. As a matter of style, they should be avoided, being
+certain to give a pretentious air when handled by any one except the
+skilful and practised writers who need no advice from us. And as a
+matter of grammar, the instinct for using subjunctives rightly is
+dying with the subjunctive, so that even the still surviving _were_ is
+often used where it is completely wrong. So
+
+ It would be advisable to wait for fuller details before making any
+ attempt to appraise the significance of the raid from the military
+ point of view, if, indeed, the whole expedition _were_ not planned
+ with an eye to effect.--_Times._
+
+Here the last clause means _though perhaps it was only planned with
+an eye to effect_ (_and therefore has no military significance_). But
+_if_ followed by _were not_ necessarily means that it certainly is.
+The mistake here results in making the clause look as if it were the
+protasis to _It would be advisable_, with which it has in fact nothing
+whatever to do; it is a note on the words _military significance_.
+Write _was_ for _were_.
+
+ ... and who, taking my offered hand, bade me ‘Good morning’--nightfall
+ though it _were_.--_Times._
+
+The sentence describes a meeting with a person who knew hardly any
+English; he said good morning, though it _was_ nightfall. A single
+example may be added of the intrusion of _were_ for _was_ in a sentence
+that is not conditional.
+
+ Dr. Chalmers was a believer in an Establishment as he conceived an
+ Establishment should be. Whether such an Establishment _were_ possible
+ or not it is not for me now to discuss.--LORD ROSEBERY.
+
+_Were_, however, is often right and almost necessary: other
+subjunctives are never necessary, often dangerous, and in most writers
+unpleasantly formal. The tiro had much better eschew them.
+
+
+ ‘DOUBT THAT’ AND ‘DOUBT WHETHER’
+
+Instances will be found in Part II of verbs constructed with wrong
+prepositions or conjunctions. Most mistakes of this kind are
+self-evident; but the verb ‘doubt’, which is constructed with ‘that’
+or ‘whether’ according to the circumstances under which the doubt is
+expressed, requires special notice. The broad distinction is between
+the positive, ‘I doubt whether (that)’ and the negative, ‘I do not
+doubt that (whether)’; and the rule, in order to include implied as
+well as expressed negatives, questions as well as statements, will run
+thus:
+
+The word used depends upon the writer’s or speaker’s opinion as to the
+reasonableness of the doubt, no matter in whose mind it is said to
+exist or not to exist.
+
+1. If there is nothing to show that the writer considers the doubt an
+unreasonable one, the word is always ‘whether’, which reminds us that
+there is a suppressed alternative:
+
+ I doubt whether this is true (or not).
+
+ Every one is at liberty to doubt whether ... (or not).
+
+To this part of the rule there is no exception.
+
+2. If it is evident that the writer disapproves of the doubt, the words
+introducing it amount to an affirmation on his part that the thing
+doubted is undoubtedly true; the alternative is no longer offered;
+‘that’ is therefore the word:
+
+ I do not doubt that (i. e., I am sure that)....
+
+ Who can doubt that...?
+
+This, however, is modified by 3.
+
+3. The ‘vivid’ use of ‘whether’. When the writer’s point is rather
+the extravagance of the doubt than the truth of the thing doubted,
+‘whether’ is often retained:
+
+ It is as if a man should doubt whether he has a head on his shoulders.
+
+ Can we imagine any man seriously doubting whether...?
+
+Here, according to 2., we ought to have ‘that’, since the writer
+evidently regards the doubt as absurd. But in the first sentence it
+is necessary for the force of the illustration that the deplorable
+condition of the doubter’s mind should be vividly portrayed:
+accordingly, he is represented to us as actually handling the two
+alternatives. Similarly, in the second, we are invited to picture
+to ourselves, if we can, a hesitation so ludicrous in the writer’s
+opinion. We shall illustrate this point further by a couple of
+sentences in which again the state of mind of the doubter, not the
+truth of the thing doubted, is clearly the point, but in which ‘that’
+has been improperly substituted for the vivid ‘whether’:
+
+ She found herself wondering at the breath she drew, doubting that
+ another would follow.--MEREDITH.
+
+ I am afraid that you will become so afraid of men’s motives as to
+ doubt that any one can be honest.--TROLLOPE.
+
+The mistake commonly made is to use ‘that’ for ‘whether’ in violation
+of 1. ‘Whether’ is seldom used in place of ‘that’, and apparent
+violations of 2. often prove to be legitimate exceptions of the ‘vivid’
+kind. Some of our examples may suggest that when the dependent clause
+is placed before the verb, ‘that’ appears because the writer had not
+decided what verb of doubt or denial to use. This is probably the true
+explanation of many incorrect _thats_, but is not a sufficient defence.
+It supplies, on the contrary, an additional reason for adhering to
+‘whether’: the reader is either actually misled or at any rate kept in
+needless suspense as to what is going to be said, because the writer
+did not make up his mind at the right time how to say it. ‘Whether’
+at the beginning at once proclaims an open question: after ‘that’ we
+expect (or ought to expect) ‘I have _no_ reason to doubt’.
+
+In all the following, ‘whether’ should have been used.
+
+ There is nothing for it but to doubt such diseases exist.--H. G. WELLS.
+
+‘Whether’ is never suppressed.
+
+ I do not think it would have pleased Mr. Thackeray; and to doubt that
+ he would have wished to see it carried out determines my view of the
+ matter.--GREENWOOD.
+
+ That the movement is as purely industrial as the leaders of the strike
+ claim may be doubted.--_Times._
+
+ And I must be allowed to doubt that there is any class who
+ deliberately omit....--_Times._
+
+ He may doubt that his policy will be any more popular in England a
+ year or two hence than it is now.--GREENWOOD.
+
+ I doubt the correctness of the assertion.... I doubt, I say, that
+ Becky would have selected either of these young men.--THACKERAY.
+
+ But that his army, if it retreats, will carry with it all its guns ...
+ we are inclined to doubt.--_Times._
+
+ It was generally doubted that France would permit the use of her
+ port.--_Times._
+
+
+ PREPOSITIONS
+
+In an uninflected language like ours these are ubiquitous, and it is
+quite impossible to write tolerably without a full knowledge, conscious
+or unconscious, of their uses. Misuse of them, however, does not
+often result in what may be called in the fullest sense blunders of
+syntax, but mostly in offences against idiom. It is often impossible
+to convince a writer that the preposition he has used is a wrong one,
+because there is no reason in the nature of things, in logic, or in
+the principles of universal grammar (whichever way it may be put), why
+that preposition should not give the desired meaning as clearly as the
+one that we tell him he should have used. Idioms are special forms of
+speech that for some reason, often inscrutable, have proved congenial
+to the instinct of a particular language. To neglect them shows a
+writer, however good a logician he may be, to be no linguist--condemns
+him, from that point of view, more clearly than grammatical blunders
+themselves. But though the subject of prepositions is thus very
+important, the idioms in which they appear are so multitudinous that it
+is hopeless to attempt giving more than the scantiest selection; this
+may at least put writers on their guard. Usages of this sort cannot be
+acquired from dictionaries and grammars, still less from a treatise
+like the present, not pretending to be exhaustive; good reading with
+the idiomatic eye open is essential. We give a few examples of what to
+avoid.
+
+1. After adjectives and adverbs.
+
+ Another stroke of palsy soon rendered Sir Sampson _unconscious_ even
+ _to_ the charms of Grizzy’s conversation.--S. FERRIER.
+
+ Being _oblivious to_ the ill feeling it would be certain to
+ engender.--_Cheltenham Examiner._
+
+ To me it is incredible that the British people, who own one-half of
+ the world’s sea-going ships, should be so _oblivious to_ the manner in
+ which....--_Times._
+
+Insensible to, but unconscious of; indifferent to, but oblivious of
+
+The adjectives _different_ and _averse_, with their adverbs or nouns,
+_differently_, _difference_, _aversion_, _averseness_, call for a few
+words of comment. There is no essential reason whatever why either set
+should not be as well followed by _to_ as by _from_. But _different
+to_ is regarded by many newspaper editors and others in authority
+as a solecism, and is therefore better avoided by those to whom the
+approval of such authorities is important. It is undoubtedly gaining
+ground, and will probably displace _different from_ in no long time;
+perhaps, however, the conservatism that still prefers _from_ is
+not yet to be named pedantry. It is at any rate defensive, and not
+offensive pedantry, _different to_ (though ‘found in writers of all
+ages’--_Oxford Dictionary_) being on the whole the aggressor. With
+_averse_, on the other hand, though the _Oxford Dictionary_ gives a
+long roll of good names on each side, the use of _from_ may perhaps
+be said to strike most readers as a distinct protest against the more
+natural _to_, so that _from_ is here the aggressor, and the pedantry,
+if it is pedantry, is offensive. Our advice is to write _different
+from_ and _averse to_. We shall give a few examples, and add to them
+two sentences in which the incorrect use of _from_ with other words
+looks like the result of insisting on the slightly artificial use of it
+after different and averse.
+
+ My experience caused me to make quite _different_ conclusions _to_
+ those of the Coroner for Westminster.--_Times._
+
+It will be noticed that _to_ is more than usually uncomfortable when it
+does not come next to _different_.
+
+ We must feel charitably towards those who think _differently to_
+ ourselves.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Why should these profits be employed _differently to_ the profits made
+ by capitalists at home?--LORD GOSCHEN.
+
+ Ah, how _different_ were my feelings as I sat proudly there on the box
+ _to_ those I had the last time I mounted that coach!--THACKERAY.
+
+ What is the great _difference_ of the one _to_ the other?--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+_From_ would in this last be clearly better than _to_; but _between the
+two_ would be better than either.
+
+ The Queen and the cabinet, however, were entirely _averse to_ meddling
+ with the council.--MORLEY.
+
+ Perhaps he is not _averse from_ seeing democrats on this, as on
+ railway rates, range themselves with him.--_Times._
+
+ In all democratic circles _aversion from_ the Empire of the Tsar may
+ be intensified by the events of the last few days.--_Times._
+
+ _To_ no kind of begging are people so _averse_ as _to_ begging
+ pardon.--_Guesses at Truth._
+
+ This _averseness_ in the dissenting churches _from_ all that looks
+ like absolute government.--BURKE.
+
+ I deeply regret the _aversion to_ ‘conscience clauses’.--GLADSTONE.
+
+ But she had no sort of _aversion for_ either Puritan or Papist.--J. R.
+ GREEN.
+
+_Disagree from_ (for _with_), and _adverse from_ (for _to_), seem to
+have resulted from the superstition against _averse_ and _different to_.
+
+ A general proposition, which applies just as much to those who
+ _disagree from_ me as to those who agree with me.--LORD ROSEBERY.
+
+ There were politicians in this country who had been very _adverse
+ from_ the Suez Canal scheme altogether.--F. GREENWOOD.
+
+2. After verbs.
+
+ I _derive_ an unholy pleasure _in_ noting.--_Guernsey Evening Press._
+
+ We must _content ourselves_ for the moment _by_ observing that from
+ the juridical standpoint the question is a doubtful one.--_Times._
+
+ The petition which now reaches us from Bloemfontein ... _contents
+ itself by_ begging that the isolation laws may be carried out nearer
+ to the homes of the patients.--_Times._
+
+I content you _by_ submitting: I content myself _with_ saying.
+
+ ‘Doing one’s duty’ generally _consists of_ being moral, kind and
+ charitable.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ The external world which is dealt with by natural science _consisted_,
+ according to Berkeley, _in_ ideas. According to Mr. Mill it _consists
+ of_ sensations and permanent possibilities of sensation.--BALFOUR.
+
+The moon consists _of_ green cheese: virtue consists _in_ being good.
+_Consist of_ gives a material, _consist in_ a definition. Mr. Balfour’s
+‘elegant variation’ (see _Airs and Graces_) is certainly wrong, though
+nominalists and realists will perhaps differ about which should
+have been used in both sentences, and no one below the degree of a
+metaphysician can pretend to decide between them.
+
+ A scholar _endowed by_ [with] an ample knowledge and persuasive
+ eloquence to cite and instance.--MEREDITH.
+
+ I say to you plainly there is no end _to_ [at] which your practical
+ faculty can _aim_....--EMERSON.
+
+ He urged that it was an undesirable thing to be always _tinkering
+ with_ this particular trade.--_Times._
+
+We tamper _with_, but tinker _at_, the thing that is to be operated on.
+
+ You may hunt the alien from his overcrowded tenement, you may _forbid_
+ him, if you like, _from toiling_ ten hours a day for a wage of a few
+ shillings.--_Times._
+
+_His toiling_, or _him to toil_.
+
+ His readiness, not only at catching a point, but at making the most of
+ it _on a moment’s notice_, was amazing.--BRYCE.
+
+_On_ the spur of the moment, but _at_ a moment’s notice. The motive
+was, no doubt, to avoid repeating _at_; but such devices are sins if
+they are detected.
+
+ Nataly had her sense of safety in _acquiescing to_ such a
+ voice.--MEREDITH.
+
+We acquiesce _in_, not _to_, though either phrase is awkward enough
+with _a voice_; _to_ is probably accounted for again by the desire to
+avoid repeating _in_.
+
+3. After nouns.
+
+ There can be no _fault found to_ her manners or sentiments.--SCOTT.
+
+I find fault _with_: I find a fault _in_. Write _in_ or _with_, as one
+or the other phrase is meant.
+
+ The Diet should leave to the Tsar _the initiative of_ taking such
+ measures as may be necessary.--_Times._
+
+ M. Delcassé took _the initiative of_ turning the conversation to
+ Moroccan affairs.--_Times._
+
+We assume the _right of_ turning, we take the _initiative in_ turning.
+
+ Those, who are urging with most ardour what are called the greatest
+ _benefits_ of mankind.--EMERSON.
+
+Benefits _of_ the benefactor, but _to_ the beneficiary.
+
+ A power to marshal and adjust particulars, which can only come from an
+ _insight of_ [into] their whole connection.--EMERSON.
+
+ From its driving energy, its personal weight, its invincible _oblivion
+ to_ [of] certain things, there sprang up in Redwood’s mind the most
+ grotesque and strange of images.--H. G. WELLS.
+
+4. Superfluous prepositions, whether due to ignorance of idiom,
+negligence, or mistaken zeal for accuracy.
+
+ _As to_ Mr. Lovelace’s approbation of your assumption-scheme, I wonder
+ not _at_.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ A something _of_ which the sense can in no way assist the mind to form
+ a conception _of_.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ The Congress could occupy itself with no more important question than
+ _with_ this.--HUXLEY.
+
+This is due to confusion with ‘could occupy itself with no question
+more profitably than with this’.
+
+5. Necessary prepositions omitted.
+
+ The Lady Henrietta ... _wrote him_ regularly through his bankers, and
+ once in a while he _wrote her_.--BARONESS VON HUTTEN.
+
+_Write_ without _to_ will now pass in commercial letters only;
+elsewhere, we can say ‘I write you a report, a letter’, but neither ‘I
+will write you’ simply, nor ‘I wrote you that there was danger’. That
+is, we must only omit the _to_ when _you_ not only is the indirect
+object, but is unmistakably so at first sight. It may be said that
+_I write you_ is good old English. So is _he was a-doing of it_; _I
+guess_ is good Chaucerian. But in neither case can the appeal to a dead
+usage--dead in polite society, or in England--justify what is a modern
+vulgarism.
+
+6. Compound prepositions and conjunctions.
+
+The increasing use of these is much to be regretted. They, and the
+love for abstract expression with which they are closely allied, are
+responsible for much of what is flaccid, diffuse, and nerveless, in
+modern writing. They are generally, no doubt, invented by persons who
+want to express a more precise shade of meaning than they can find in
+anything already existing; but they are soon caught up by others who
+not only do not need the new delicate instrument, but do not understand
+it. _Inasmuch_ as, for instance, originally expressed that the truth
+of its clause gave the exact measure of the truth that belonged to the
+main sentence. So (from the _Oxford Dictionary_):
+
+ God is only God inasmuch as he is the Moral Governor of the
+ world.--SIR W. HAMILTON.
+
+But long before Hamilton’s day the word passed, very naturally, into
+the meaning, for which it need never have been invented, of _since_ or
+_because_. Consequently most people who need the original idea have
+not the courage to use _inasmuch as_ for it, like Sir W. Hamilton,
+but resort to new combinations with _far_. Those new combinations,
+however, as will be shown, fluctuate and are confused with one another.
+The best thing we can now do with _inasmuch_ as is to get it decently
+buried; when it means _since_, _since_ is better; when it means what it
+once meant, no one understands it. The moral we wish to draw is that
+these compounds should be left altogether alone except in passages
+where great precision is wanted. Just as a word like _save_ (except)
+is ruined for the poet by being used on every page of ordinary prose
+(which it disfigures in revenge for its own degradation), so _inasmuch_
+as is spoilt for the logician.
+
+We shall first illustrate the absurd prevailing abuse of the compound
+preposition _as to_. In each of the following sentences, if _as to_
+is simply left out, no difference whatever is made in the meaning.
+It is only familiarity with unnecessary circumlocution that makes
+such a state of things tolerable to any one with a glimmering of
+literary discernment. _As to_ flows from the pen now at every possible
+opportunity, till many writers seem quite unaware that such words as
+_question_ or _doubt_ can bear the weight of a _whether_-clause without
+help from this offensive parasite.
+
+ With the idea of endeavouring to ascertain as to this, I
+ invited....--_Times._
+
+ Confronted with the simple question as to in what way other people’s
+ sisters, wives and daughters differ from theirs....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ It is not quite clear as to what happened.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ Doubt is expressed as to whether the fall of Port Arthur will
+ materially affect the situation.--_Times._
+
+ I feel tempted to narrate one that occurred to me, leaving it
+ to your judgment as to whether it is worthy of notice in your
+ paper.--_Spectator._
+
+ I was entirely indifferent as to the results of the game, caring
+ nothing at all _as to_ whether I had losses or gains.--CORELLI.
+
+The first _as to_ in this may pass, though plain _to_ is better.
+
+ German anticipations with regard to the future are apparently based
+ upon the question as to how far the Sultan will....--_Times._
+
+ But you are dying to know what brings me here, and even if you find
+ nothing new in it you will perhaps think _it_ makes some difference
+ _as to_ who says a thing.--GREENWOOD.
+
+This is the worst of all. The subject of _makes_ (anticipated in the
+ordinary way by _it_) is _who says a thing_; but the construction
+is obscured by the insertion of _as to_. We are forced to suppose,
+wrongly, that _it_ means _what brings me here_. Worse than the worst,
+however, at least more aggressively wrong, is an instance that we find
+while correcting this sheet for the press:
+
+ ... Although it is open to doubt as to what extent individual saving
+ through more than one provident institution prevails.--_Westminster
+ Gazette._
+
+Another objection to the compound prepositions and conjunctions is
+that they are frequently confused with one another or miswritten. We
+illustrate from two sets. (_a_) The word _view_ is common in the forms
+_in view of_, _with a view to_, _with the view of_. The first expresses
+external circumstances, existing or likely to occur, that must be taken
+into account; as, _In view of these doubts about the next dividend, we
+do not recommend_.... The other two both express the object aimed at,
+but must not have the correspondence, _a_ view _to_, _the_ view _of_,
+upset.
+
+ A Resolution was moved and carried _in favour of_ giving facilities
+ to the public vaccination officers of the Metropolis to enter the
+ schools of the Board _for the purpose of_ examining the arms of the
+ children _with a view to_ advising the parents to allow their children
+ to be vaccinated.--_Spectator._
+
+ The Sultan ... will seek to obtain money by contracting loans with
+ private firms _in view of_ beginning for himself the preliminary
+ reforms.--_Times._
+
+ If Germany has anything to propose _in view of_ the safeguarding
+ of her own interests, it will certainly meet with that courteous
+ consideration which is traditional in French diplomacy.--_Times._
+
+ Its execution is being carefully prepared _with a view of_ avoiding
+ any collision with the natives.--_Times._
+
+ My company has been approached by several firms _with a view of_
+ overcoming the difficulty.--_Times._
+
+Of these the first is correct; but the sentence it comes in is so
+typical of the compound-prepositional style that no one who reads it
+will be surprised that its patrons should sometimes get mixed; how
+should people who write like that keep their ideas clear? The second
+should have _with a view to_. Still more should the third, which is
+ambiguous as well as unidiomatic; the words used ought to mean _seeing
+that her interests are safeguarded already_. The fourth and fifth
+should again have _with a view to_ (or _with the view of_).
+
+(_b_) The combinations with _far_--_as far as_, _so far as_, _so
+far that_, _in so far as_, _in so far that_, of which the last
+is certainly, and the last but one probably needless--have some
+distinctions and limitations often neglected. For instance, _as far as_
+must not be followed by a mere noun except in the literal sense, _as
+far as London_. _So far as_ and _so far that_ are distinguished by good
+writers in being applied, the first to clauses that contain a doubtful
+or varying fact, the other to clauses containing an ascertained or
+positive fact. _So far as_ (and _in so far as_), that is, means _to
+whatever extent_, and _so far that_ means _to this extent, namely that_.
+
+ The question of the Capitulations and of the Mixed Tribunals is not in
+ any way essentially British, save _in so far as_ the position of Great
+ Britain in Egypt makes her primarily responsible.--_Times._
+
+Correct; but _except that_ would be much better than _save in so far
+as_.
+
+ Previous to 1895, when a separate constitution existed for the Bombay
+ and Madras armies, possibly a military department and a military
+ member were necessary in order to focus at the seat of government
+ the general military situation in India, but in the judgment of many
+ officers well qualified to form an opinion, no such department under
+ present conditions is really requisite, _in so far as_ the action of
+ the Commander-in-Chief is thwarted in cases where he should be the
+ best judge of what is necessary.--_Times._
+
+Entirely wrong. It is confused with _inasmuch as_, and _since_ should
+be written.
+
+ The officials have done their utmost to enforce neutrality, and
+ have _in so far_ succeeded _as_ the Baltic fleet keeps outside the
+ three-mile limit.--_Times._
+
+Should be _so far succeeded that_; we are meant to understand that the
+fleet does keep outside, though it does not go right away as might be
+wished.
+
+ The previous appeal made by M. Delcassé was _so far_ successful _as_
+ the Tsar himself sent orders to Admiral Rozhdestvensky to comply with
+ the injunctions of the French colonial authorities.--_Times._
+
+_As_ should be _that_. It is not doubtful to what extent or whether the
+Tsar sent. He did send; that is the only point.
+
+ They are exceptional in character, _in so far as_ they do not appear
+ to be modifications of the epidermis.--HUXLEY.
+
+Should probably be _so far exceptional that_. The point is that
+there _is_ this amount of the exceptional in them, not that their
+irregularity depends on the doubtful fact of their not being
+modifications; the word _appear_ ought otherwise to have been
+parenthetically arranged.
+
+ This influence was _so far_ indirect _in that_ it was greatly
+ furthered by Le Sage, who borrowed the form of his Spanish
+ contemporaries.--_Times._
+
+A mixture of _was so far indirect that_ and _was indirect in that_.
+
+ He seemed quickly to give up first-hand observation and to be content
+ to reproduce and re-reproduce his early impressions, always trusting
+ to his own invention, and the reading public’s inveterate preference
+ for symmetry and satisfaction, to pull him through. They have
+ pulled him through _in so far as_ they have made his name popular;
+ but an artist and a realist--possibly even a humourist--have been
+ lost.--_Times._
+
+_In so far as_ leaves the popularity and the pulling through doubtful,
+which they are clearly not meant to be. It should be _so far that_.
+
+ A man can get help from above to do what _as far as_ human possibility
+ has proved out of his power.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+This is a whole sentence, not a fragment, as might be supposed. But
+_as far as_ (except in the local sense) must have a verb, finite or
+infinite. Supply _goes_.
+
+ The large majority would reply in the affirmative, _in so far as_ to
+ admit that there is a God.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+_So far as to admit_, or _in so far as they would admit_; not the
+mixture. And this distinction is perhaps the only justification for the
+existence of _in so far as_ by the side of _so far as_; the first is
+only conjunction, the second can be preposition as well.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[10] The reason why many who as a rule use the possessive are willing
+to do without it after verbs like _prevent_ is perhaps this: in _I
+prevented him going_ they consciously or unconsciously regard both
+_him_ and _going_ as nouns, one the indirect, one the direct object, as
+in _I refused him leave_.
+
+[11] Dr. Henry Bradley, _The Making of English_, p. 53.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER III
+
+ AIRS AND GRACES
+
+Certain types of humour--Elegant
+variation--Inversion--Archaism--Metaphor--Repetition--Miscellaneous.
+
+
+Certain Types of Humour
+
+Some of the more obvious devices of humorous writers, being fatally
+easy to imitate, tend to outlive their natural term, and to become a
+part of the injudicious novice’s stock-in-trade. _Olfactory organ_,
+once no doubt an agreeable substitute for ‘nose’, has ceased to
+be legal tender in literature, and is felt to mark a low level in
+conversation. No amount of classical authority can redeem a phrase that
+has once reached this stage. The warmest of George Eliot’s admirers,
+called upon to swallow some tough morsel of polysyllabic humour in a
+twentieth-century novel, will refuse to be comforted with parallel
+passages from _Adam Bede_. Loyalty may smother the ejaculation that
+‘George Eliot knew no better’: it is none the less clear to him that we
+know better now. A few well-worn types are illustrated below.
+
+a. Polysyllabic humour.
+
+ He was a boy whom Mrs. Hackit had pronounced stocky (a word that
+ etymologically, in all probability, conveys some allusion to an
+ instrument of punishment for the refractory).--ELIOT.
+
+ Tommy was a saucy boy, impervious to all impressions of reverence,
+ and excessively addicted to humming-tops and marbles, with which
+ recreative resources he was in the habit of immoderately distending
+ the pockets of his corduroys.--ELIOT.
+
+ No one save an individual not in a condition to distinguish a hawk
+ from a handsaw....--_Times._
+
+ And an observer of Miss Tox’s proceedings might have inferred so much
+ without declaratory confirmation.--DICKENS.
+
+ But it had its little inconveniences at other times, among which
+ may be enumerated the occasional appearance of the river in the
+ drawing-room, and the contemporaneous disappearance of the lawn and
+ shrubbery.--DICKENS.
+
+ They might be better employed in composing their quarrels and
+ preparing a policy than in following the rather lugubrious occupations
+ indicated by Mr. Asquith.--_Times._
+
+ Or perhaps, from a presentiment of calves’ brains, you refrain
+ from any lacteal addition, and rasp your tongue with unmitigated
+ bohea.--ELIOT.
+
+ The rooks were cawing with many-voiced monotony, apparently--by
+ a remarkable approximation to human intelligence--finding great
+ conversational resources in the change of weather.--ELIOT.
+
+ I had been terribly shaken by my fall, and had subsequently, owing to
+ the incision of the surgeon’s lancet, been deprived of much of the
+ vital fluid.--BORROW.
+
+ An elderly man stood near me, and a still more elderly female was
+ holding a phial of very pungent salts to my olfactory organ.--BORROW.
+
+ The minister, honest man, was getting on his boots in the kitchen to
+ see us home.... Well, this preparation ministerial being finished, we
+ stepped briskly out.--CROCKETT.
+
+ We have ourselves been reminded of the deficiencies of our femoral
+ habiliments, and exhorted upon that score to fit ourselves more
+ beseemingly.--SCOTT.
+
+b. Playful repetition.
+
+ When she had banged out the tune slowly, she began a different manner
+ of ‘Gettin’ up Stairs’, and did so with a fury and swiftness quite
+ incredible. She spun up stairs; she whirled up stairs; she galloped up
+ stairs; she rattled up stairs.... Then Miss Wirt played the ‘Gettin’
+ up Stairs’ with the most pathetic and ravishing solemnity.... Miss
+ Wirt’s hands seemed to faint and wail and die in variations: again,
+ and she went up with a savage clang and rush of trumpets, as if Miss
+ Wirt was storming a breach.--THACKERAY.
+
+ My mind was, to a certain extent, occupied with the marks on the
+ teapot; it is true that the mournful idea strove hard with the marks
+ on the teapot for the mastery in my mind, and at last the painful idea
+ drove the marks of the teapot out.--BORROW.
+
+ The pastrycook is hard at work in the funereal room in Brook Street,
+ and the very tall young men are busy looking on. One of the very tall
+ young men already smells of sherry, and his eyes have a tendency to
+ become fixed in his head, and to stare at objects without seeing them.
+ The very tall young man is conscious of this failing in himself; and
+ informs his comrade that it’s his ‘exciseman’. The very tall young man
+ would say excitement, but his speech is hazy.--DICKENS.
+
+ Busy is Mrs. Miff this morning at the church-door, beating and dusting
+ the altar-cloth, the carpet and the cushions; and much has Mrs. Miff
+ to say about the wedding they are going to have. Mrs. Miff is told
+ that the new furniture and alterations in the house cost full five
+ thousand pound, if they cost a penny; and Mrs. Miff has heard, upon
+ the best authority, that the lady hasn’t got a sixpence wherewithal to
+ bless herself. Mrs. Miff remembers, likewise, as if it had happened
+ yesterday, the first wife’s funeral, and then the christening, and
+ then the other funeral; and Mrs. Miff says, By-the-bye, she’ll
+ soap-and-water that ’ere tablet presently, against the company
+ arrive.--DICKENS.
+
+ Mr. Dombey was a grave sight, behind the decanters, in a state of
+ dignity; and the East India Director was a forlorn sight, near the
+ unoccupied end of the table, in a state of solitude; and the major
+ was a military sight, relating stories of the Duke of York to six of
+ the seven mild men (the ambitious one was utterly quenched); and the
+ Bank Director was a lowly sight, making a plan of his little attempt
+ at a pinery, with dessert knives, for a group of admirers; and Cousin
+ Feenix was a thoughtful sight, as he smoothed his long wristbands and
+ stealthily adjusted his wig.--DICKENS.
+
+The author is very much at his ease in the last example; the novice
+who should yawn in our faces with such engaging candour would render
+himself liable to misinterpretation.
+
+c. The well-worn ‘flood-of-tears-and-sedan-chair’ pleasantry.
+
+ Phib Cook left her evening wash-tub and appeared at her door in
+ soap-suds, a bonnet-poke, and general dampness.--ELIOT.
+
+ Sir Charles, of course, rescues her from the clutches of the Italian,
+ and they return together in triumph and a motor-car.--_Times._
+
+ Miss Nipper ... shook her head and a tin-canister, and began unasked
+ to make the tea.--DICKENS.
+
+ And for the rest it is not hard to be a stoic in eight-syllable metre
+ and a travelling-carriage.--LOWELL.
+
+ But what the bare-legged men were doing baffled conjecture and the
+ best glasses.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+d. Other worn-out phrases of humorous tendency.
+
+ For, tell it not in Gath, the Bishop had arrived on a bicycle.--D.
+ SLADEN.
+
+ Tell it not in Smith-st., but....--_Guernsey Evening Press._
+
+ Sleeping the sleep of the just.
+
+ The gallant sons of Mars.--_Times._
+
+ Mr. Mackenzie, with a white hat ... and long brown leather gaiters
+ buttoned upon his nether anatomy.--LOCKHART.
+
+ Looking for all the world like....--D. SLADEN.
+
+ Too funny for words.
+
+These two phrases are commonly employed to carry off a humorous
+description of which the success is doubted. They are equivalents,
+in light literature, of the encouragement sometimes offered by the
+story-teller whose joke from _Punch_ has fallen flat: ‘You should have
+seen the illustration’. _Worthy_ and _gallant_ are similarly used:
+
+ To hear the worthy and gallant Major resume his favourite topic is
+ like law-business, or a person who has a suit in Chancery going
+ on.--HAZLITT.
+
+ _Home._--I would implore God to survey with an eye of mercy their
+ unoffending bairns. _Hume._--And would not you be disposed to behold
+ them with an eye _of the same materials_?--LANDOR.
+
+ Two or three haggard, ragged drawers ran to and fro.... Guided by one
+ of these blinking _Ganymedes_, they entered....--SCOTT.
+
+ The ancient _Hebe_ who acted as Lord Glenvarloch’s cup-bearer took his
+ part against the intrusion of the still more antiquated _Ganymede_,
+ and insisted on old Trapbois leaving the room instantly.--SCOTT.
+
+It may be doubted whether any resemblance or contrast, however
+striking, can make it worth a modern writer’s while to call waiters
+Ganymedes, waitresses Hebes, postmen Mercuries, cabmen Automedons or
+Jehus. In Scott’s time, possibly, these phrases had still an agreeable
+novelty: they are now so hackneyed as to have fallen into the hands of
+writers who are not quite certain who Ganymede and Hebe were. Thus,
+there are persons who evidently think that it is rather complimentary
+to one’s host than otherwise to call him an Amphitryon; and others who
+are fond of using the phrase ‘l’Amphitryon où l’on dîne’ altogether
+without point, apparently under the impression that ‘où l’on dîne’ is
+an alternative version for the use of the uninitiated (‘Amphitryon’,
+that is to say, ‘one’s host’).
+
+ Japan, says M. Balet, can always borrow money so long as she can
+ provide two things--guarantees and victories. She has guarantees
+ enough and victories _galore_.--_Times._
+
+ The English people has insisted on its preference for a married
+ clergy, and Dr. Ingram’s successor may have ‘arrows in the hand of a
+ giant’.--_Times._
+
+The inverted commas seem to implore the reader’s acceptance of this
+very battered ornament. One could forgive it more easily, if there were
+the slightest occasion for its appearance here.
+
+ The only change ever known in his outward man was....--DICKENS.
+
+ Rob the Grinder, thus transformed as to his outer man....--DICKENS.
+
+ One hundred parishioners and friends partaking of tea.--_Guernsey
+ Advertiser._
+
+ But that’s another story.--KIPLING.
+
+ But that is ‘another story’.--_Times._
+
+ It was all that Anne could do to keep from braining him with the poker
+ for daring to call her ‘Little One’,--and Anne’s arm is no joke when
+ she hits to hurt. Once John Barnaby--but the tale of John Barnaby can
+ wait.--CROCKETT.
+
+ Nevertheless, some folk like it so, and even now the Captain, when his
+ pipe draws well and his grog is to his liking, says--But there is no
+ use in bringing the Captain into the story.--CROCKETT.
+
+The notion that Mr. Kipling, left to himself, is not competent to bring
+out all the latent possibilities of this phrase is a mistaken one, and
+argues an imperfect acquaintance with his works.
+
+ Many heads in England, I find, are shaken doubtfully over the
+ politics, or what are thought to be the politics, of Australia.
+ They--the politics, not the heads--are tangled, they are
+ unsatisfactory in a high degree.--W. H. FITCHETT.
+
+
+ ELEGANT VARIATION
+
+We include under this head all substitutions of one word for another
+for the sake of variety, and some miscellaneous examples will be found
+at the end of the section. But we are chiefly concerned with what may
+be called pronominal variation, in which the word avoided is either a
+noun or its obvious pronoun substitute. The use of pronouns is itself
+a form of variation, designed to avoid ungainly repetition; and we
+are only going one step further when, instead of either the original
+noun or the pronoun, we use some new equivalent. ‘Mr. Gladstone’,
+for instance, having already become ‘he,’ presently appears as ‘that
+statesman’. Variation of this kind is often necessary in practice; so
+often, that it should never be admitted except when it is necessary.
+Many writers of the present day abound in types of variation that are
+not justified by expediency, and have consequently the air of cheap
+ornament. It is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules, but two
+general principles may be suggested: (1) Variation should take place
+only when there is some awkwardness, such as ambiguity or noticeable
+monotony, in the word avoided. (2) The substitute should be of a purely
+pronominal character, a substitute and nothing more; there should be no
+killing of two birds with one stone. Even when these two requirements
+are satisfied, the variation is often worse, because more noticeable,
+than the monotony it is designed to avoid.
+
+The examples in our first group do not offend against (2): how far
+they offend against (1), and how far they are objectionable on other
+grounds, we shall consider in detail.
+
+ Mr. Wolff, the well-known mining engineer, yesterday paid a visit to
+ the scene of the disaster. _The expert_ gave it as his opinion that no
+ blame attached....
+
+_The expert_ is gratuitous: _He_ would have done quite well.
+
+ None the less Mrs. Scott [Sir Walter’s mother] was a motherly
+ comfortable woman, with much tenderness of heart, and a well stored,
+ vivid memory. Sir Walter, writing of her, after _his mother’s_ death,
+ to Lady Louisa Stewart, says....--HUTTON.
+
+_His mother’s_ is not only unnecessary, but misleading: there is a
+difficulty in realizing that _her_ and _his mother_, so placed, can be
+meant to refer to the same person.
+
+ Mr. J. Hays Hammond, a friend of President Roosevelt, lecturing before
+ the American Political Science Association, quoted a recent utterance
+ of the President of the Japanese House of Peers. _That dignitary_
+ said: ....--_Spectator._
+
+_That dignitary said_ might have been omitted, with the full stop
+before it.
+
+ Mr. Sidney Lee’s study of the Elizabethan Sonnets, the late Mr.
+ Charles Elton’s book on Shakespeare’s Family and Friends, and
+ Professor Bradley’s on Shakespearean Tragedy--a work which may
+ be instructively read with Professor Campbell’s ‘Tragic Drama in
+ Aeschylus, Sophocles and Shakespeare’--remind us that _the dramatist_
+ still holds his own with the publishers. The last two or three weeks
+ have seen two new editions of him.--_Times._
+
+The writer has thoroughly puzzled himself. He cannot call Shakespeare
+Shakespeare, because there is a Shakespeare just before: he cannot call
+him _he_, because six other persons in the sentence have claims upon
+_he_: and he ought not to call him _the dramatist_, because Aeschylus
+and Sophocles were dramatists too. We know, of course, which dramatist
+is meant, just as we should have known which _he_ was meant; but the
+appropriation is awkward in either case. _The dramatist_ is no doubt
+the best thing under the circumstances; but when matters are brought
+to such a pass that we can neither call a man by his own name, nor use
+a pronoun, nor identify him by means of his profession, it is time to
+remodel the sentence.
+
+ If Mr. Chamberlain has been injured by the fact that till now Mr.
+ Balfour has clung to him, Mr. Balfour has been equally injured by the
+ fact that Mr. Chamberlain has persistently locked his arm in _that of
+ the Prime Minister_.--_Spectator._
+
+Elegant variation is the last thing we should expect here. For what
+is the writer’s principal object? Clearly, to emphasize the idea of
+reciprocity by the repetition of names, and by their arrangement. Mr.
+Chamberlain, Mr. Balfour: Mr. Balfour, Mr. Chamberlain. It is easy
+enough, so far: ‘If Mr. Chamberlain has been injured by the persistent
+attachment of Mr. Balfour, Mr. Balfour has been equally injured by
+that of Mr. Chamberlain’. But that is not all that is required: there
+is to be the graphic touch; arm is to be locked in arm. Now comes the
+difficulty: in whose arm are we to lock Mr. Chamberlain’s? in ‘his’?
+in ‘_his_’? in ‘his own’? in ‘Mr. Balfour’s’? in ‘that of the Prime
+Minister’? As the locking of arms is perhaps after all only an elegant
+variation for clinging, remodelling seems again to be the best way out
+of the difficulty. Perhaps our simplified form above might serve.
+
+ On Thursday evening last, as a horse and cart were standing at Mr.
+ Brown’s shop, the animal bolted.
+
+‘The horse’.--An unconscious satirist, of tender years but ripe
+discernment, parsed ‘animal’ in this sentence as a personal pronoun;
+‘it replaced the subject of the sentence’. Journalists (it was
+explained to her) are equipped with many more personal pronouns than
+ever get into the grammars.
+
+ _The King_ yesterday morning made a close inspection of the Cruiser
+ Drake at Portsmouth, and afterwards made a tour of the harbour on
+ board the Admiral’s launch. _His Majesty_ then landed and drove
+ to Southsea, where he inspected the Royal Garrison Artillery at
+ Clarence Barracks. _The King_ returned to London in the course of the
+ afternoon.--_Times._
+
+This is, no doubt, a difficult case. The royal pronoun (His Majesty)
+does not lend itself to repetition: on the other hand, it is felt that
+_he_s, if indulged in at all, must be kept a respectful distance apart;
+hence _The King_ in the third sentence. We can get rid of it by reading
+‘... at Clarence Barracks; returning ...’. But of course that solution
+would not always be possible.
+
+ _The Emperor_ received yesterday and to-day General Baron von Beck....
+ It may therefore be assumed with some confidence that the terms of
+ a feasible solution are maturing themselves in _His Majesty’s_ mind
+ and may form the basis of further negotiations with Hungarian party
+ leaders when _the Monarch_ goes again to Budapest.--_Times._
+
+ If _the Emperor of Austria_ should disappear from the scene, war,
+ according to this authority, is to be feared, as _the Emperor Francis
+ Joseph_ alone controls....--_Times._
+
+There is no excuse either for _the Monarch_ or for the _Emperor Francis
+Joseph_. ‘He’ could scarcely have been misinterpreted even in the
+latter sentence.
+
+ _Sir Charles Edward Bernard_ had a long and distinguished career in
+ the Indian Civil Service.... Five years later _Sir Charles Bernard_
+ was appointed Commissioner of Nagpur.... In 1876 _Sir Edward Bernard_
+ returned to Nagpur.--_Times._
+
+It is natural that _Sir Charles Edward Bernard_ should be introduced
+to us under his full name; natural, also, that an abbreviation should
+be chosen for working purposes. But why two abbreviations? If _Sir
+Charles_ and _he_ are judiciously employed, they will last out to the
+end of the longest article, without any assistance from _Sir Edward_.
+
+Among the instances here given, there is scarcely one in which
+variation might not have been avoided with a little trouble. There are
+some, indeed, in which it is not gratuitous; and if in these the effect
+upon the reader were as negative as the writer’s intention, there would
+be nothing to complain of. But it is not; the artistic concealment
+of art is invariably wanting. These elephantine shifts distract our
+attention from the matter in hand; we cannot follow His Majesty’s
+movements, for wondering what the King will be called next time; will
+it be plain Edward VII? or will something be done, perhaps, with ‘the
+Emperor of India’? When the choice lies between monotonous repetition
+on the one hand and clumsy variation on the other, it may fairly be
+laid down that of two undesirable alternatives the natural is to be
+preferred to the artificial.
+
+But variation of this kind is, at the worst, less offensive than
+that which, in violation of our second principle above, is employed
+as a medium for the conveyance of sprightly allusion, mild humour or
+(commonest of all) parenthetic information.
+
+ When people looked at his head, they felt he ought to have been a
+ giant, but he was far from _rivalling the children of Anak_.--H. CAINE.
+
+‘Far from it’, in fact.
+
+ He never fuddled himself with rum-and-water in his son’s presence, and
+ only talked to his servants in a very reserved and polite manner; and
+ _those persons_ remarked....--THACKERAY.
+
+ ‘What made ye sae late?’ said Mr. Jarvie, as I entered the
+ dining-parlour of _that honest gentleman_.--SCOTT.
+
+The parlour was Mr. Jarvie’s.
+
+ At the sixth round, there were almost as many _fellows shouting
+ out_ ‘Go it, Figs’, as there were _youths exclaiming_ ‘Go it,
+ Cuff’.--THACKERAY.
+
+ Great advances in the education of women ... are likely, perhaps, to
+ find more congenial soil in Universities less bound by time-honoured
+ traditions and by social conventions than Oxford or Cambridge.
+ Whatever may be the case _by Isis or Cam_, ....--_Times._
+
+ Our representative yesterday ran down to Brighton to interview the
+ Cambridge Captain. _The weight-putter and high-jumper_ received him
+ with his usual cordiality.
+
+This is a favourite newspaper type.
+
+The miscellaneous examples given below (except ‘the former of the last
+two’) are connected with pronominal variation only so far as they
+illustrate the same principle of false elegance.
+
+ ... hardly calculated to impress _at this juncture_ more than _upon
+ any former occasion_ the audience....--_Times._
+
+ His mother _possessed_ a good development of benevolence, but he
+ _owned_ a better and larger.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ In the subjoined official record of ‘business done’, transactions
+ _marked_ thus * relate to small bonds, those _signalized_ thus †
+ to small bonds free of stamp and fee, and those _distinguished_
+ thus + to an exceptional amount at special rates. Stocks and shares
+ marked thus †† have paid no dividend for the last two half-years and
+ upwards.--_Times._
+
+The return to _marked_ is humiliating; we would respectfully suggest
+_characterized_.
+
+ One might be more intelligible in such moods if one wrote in
+ _waving lines_, and accordingly the question ‘Why do you not
+ ask Alfred Tennyson to your home?’ is written in _undulating
+ script_.--_Spectator._
+
+ Eighty-three volumes are _required for_ letter “M,” seventy-seven are
+ _demanded by_ “L,” and seventy-six are perforce _conceded to_ “B”; but
+ _the former of the last two_....--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ I must _ask_ the reader to _use_ the same twofold procedure that I
+ before _requested_ him to _employ_ in considering....--H. SIDGWICK.
+
+We have not room to record at length, from the _Westminster Gazette_,
+the elegant variety of fortune that attended certain pictures, which
+(within twenty lines) made, fetched, changed hands for, went for,
+produced, elicited, drew, fell at, accounted for, realized, and were
+knocked down for, various sums.
+
+
+ INVERSION
+
+Of all the types of inversion used by modern writers, there is perhaps
+not one that could not be shown to exist in older English. Ordinary
+modern usage, however, has retained those forms only in which ancient
+authority combines with practical convenience; and not all of those.
+To set aside the verdict of time in this respect is to be archaic.
+Before using inversion, therefore, the novice should ask himself two
+questions: is there any solid, practical reason (ornamental reasons
+will not do) for tampering with the normal order of subject and verb?
+and does the inversion sound natural?
+
+Throughout this section it must be borne in mind that in all questions
+of right and wrong inversion the final appeal is not to history, but
+to the reader’s perception: what sounds right to most modern ears is
+right for modern purposes. When, under balance inversion, we speak of
+a true and a false principle, we do not mean to imply that the ‘true’
+principle was, historically, the origin of this kind of inversion, or
+that the ‘false’ is a mistaken analogy from it: all that is meant is
+that if we examine a collection of instances, those that sound natural
+will prove to be based upon the ‘true’ principle, and those that do not
+on the ‘false’.
+
+=a. Exclamatory inversion.=
+
+This may be regarded as an abbreviated form of exclamation, as if
+the word ‘How’ had dropped out at the beginning, and a note of
+exclamation at the end. The inverted order, which is normal in the
+complete exclamation, sounds natural also in the abbreviated form. The
+requirements for this kind of inversion are these: (1) The intention
+must be genuinely exclamatory, so that the full form of exclamation
+could be substituted without extravagance. (2) The word placed first
+must be that which would bear the chief emphasis in the uninverted
+form. It should be observed that this is the only kind of inversion in
+which the emphatic word, as such, stands at the beginning.
+
+Our first three examples satisfy these conditions, and are
+unobjectionable. The fourth does not: we could not substitute ‘With
+what difficulty...!’; nor are the first words emphatic; the emphasis
+is on ‘conceive’. Yet the inversion is inoffensive, being in fact not
+exclamatory at all, but a licensed extension of negative inversion,
+which is treated below.
+
+ Bitterly did I regret the perverse, superstitious folly that had
+ induced me to neglect so obvious a precaution.
+
+ But in these later times, with so many disillusions, with fresh
+ problems confronting science as it advances, rare must be the spirit
+ of faith with which Haeckel regards his work.--_Times._
+
+ Gladly would he now have consented to the terms....
+
+ With difficulty can I conceive of a mental condition in which....
+
+Exclamatory inversion, like everything else that is exclamatory, should
+of course be used sparingly.
+
+=b. Balance inversion.=
+
+The following are familiar and legitimate types:
+
+ First on our list stands the question of local option.
+
+ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
+
+ To this cause may be attributed....
+
+ Among the guests were A, B, C, ... Z.
+
+We give the name of ‘balance’ to this kind of inversion because,
+although the writer, in inverting the sentence, may not be distinctly
+conscious of rectifying its balance, the fact that it was ill-balanced
+before is the true cause of inversion. It is a mistake to say that the
+words placed first in the above examples are so placed for the sake
+of emphasis; that is a very common impression, and is responsible for
+many unlawful inversions. It is not emphasis that is given to these
+words, it is protection; they are placed there to protect them from
+being virtually annihilated, as they would have been if left at the
+end. Look at the last of our examples: how can we call the words ‘Among
+the guests were’ emphatic, or say that they were placed there for
+emphasis? They are essential words, they show the connexion, nor could
+the sentence be a sentence without them; but they are as unemphatic as
+words could well be.--Why, then (it may be asked), are they put at the
+beginning? is not this an emphatic position? and does not any unusual
+position give emphasis?--No: it gives not emphasis but prominence,
+which is another thing.
+
+Put the sentence back into its original form, and we shall see why
+inversion was desirable. ‘A, B, C, D, E, F ... Z were among the
+guests.’ Observe how miserably the sentence tails off; it has no
+balance. By inverting it, we introduce several improvements. First, we
+give prominence to the unemphatic predicate, and enable it to discharge
+its humble office, that of a sign-post, indicating the connexion with
+what has gone before. Secondly, by giving prominence to the predicate,
+we give balance to the sentence, which before was top-heavy. Thirdly,
+we give prominence to the subject, by placing it in an unusual position.
+
+Next take the ‘local option’ sentence. Are the words ‘First on our
+list’ emphatic? Not if the inverter knows his business. How did it run
+originally? ‘The question of local option stands first on our list.’
+These words might be meant to tell us either of two things: what stood
+first on the list, or where local option stood. If the inversion is
+right, they are meant to tell us what stood first. If the other had
+been meant, then ‘First on the list’ would have been emphatic, and the
+writer would have left it in its place; but as it is not emphatic, and
+the other words are, the sentence is top-heavy; he therefore inverts
+it, thus balancing the sentence, and placing the unemphatic words in
+a prominent position, where they continue to be unemphatic, but are
+sure to be noticed. In spoken language, the relative importance of the
+different parts of a sentence can be indicated merely by the inflexion
+of the voice; but the balance of the sentence is best maintained, even
+then, by means of inversion.
+
+It is the same with the other examples. If we restore the St. Matthew
+quotation to the uninverted form, again we have an answer to either of
+two questions: What is the basis of the law? and What is the importance
+of these two commandments? Obviously it is meant as an answer to
+the latter, and therefore the words that convey that answer are the
+emphatic words; the others are not emphatic, but merely essential to
+the connexion; the general importance of the ‘two commandments’,
+as forming the subject-matter of the whole context, does not in the
+slightest degree affect their relation to the other words in this
+particular sentence.
+
+It follows from what has been said that true balance inversion is
+employed not for the sake of impressiveness, but with the purely
+negative object of avoiding a bad balance. The data required for its
+justification are (i) An emphatic subject, carrying in itself the point
+of the sentence, (ii) Unemphatic ‘sign-post’ words, essential to the
+connexion, standing originally at the end of the sentence, and there
+felt to be inadequately placed. The results of the inversion must be
+(iii) That the sign-post stands at the beginning, (iv) That the subject
+stands absolutely at the end.
+
+When these four conditions are fulfilled, the inversion, far from being
+objectionable, may tend greatly to vigour and lucidity. It is liable,
+of course, to be overdone, but there are several ways of avoiding
+that: sometimes it is possible to place the sign-post at the beginning
+without inversion; or the uninverted sentence may be reconstructed, so
+that the subject no longer carries the emphasis; and, as often as not,
+a sentence of which the accentuation is theoretically doubtful may in
+practice be left to the reader’s discernment.
+
+One occasional limitation remains to be mentioned, before we proceed
+to instances. It applies to those sentences only that have a compound
+verb: if the compound verb cannot be represented simply by its
+auxiliary component, the inversion may have to be abandoned, on account
+of the clumsiness of compound verbs in the middle of an inverted
+sentence, for to carry the other component to the end would be to
+violate our fourth rule. Take the type sentence ‘To these causes may
+be attributed ...’, and first let the subject be ‘our disasters’. The
+clumsiness of the verb is then distinctly felt; and ‘To these causes
+may our disasters be attributed’ is ugly enough to show the importance
+of the rule it violates. But next let the subject be ‘every one of
+the disasters that have come upon us’. This time the inversion is
+satisfactory; whence we conclude that if the verb is compound, the
+subject must be long as well as emphatic, or the inversion will not do.
+
+ On the answer to this question depends entirely every decision
+ concerning the goodness or badness of conduct.--SPENCER.
+
+ Just as, after contact, some molecules of a mass of food are absorbed
+ by the part touched, and excite the act of prehension, so are absorbed
+ such of its molecules as, spreading through the water, reach the
+ organism.--SPENCER.
+
+These are both formed on the right principle, but the second suffers
+from the awkwardness of the auxiliary.
+
+ Still more when considered in the concrete than when considered in
+ the abstract do the views of Hobbes and his disciples prove to be
+ inconsistent.--SPENCER.
+
+Here we have neither the data that justify balance inversion, nor the
+results that should follow from it. It is due to the false principle
+of ‘emphasis’ dealt with below in d. and reads as awkwardly as such
+inversions usually read. The sentence is, no doubt, cumbrous in the
+uninverted form; but it wants reconstruction, not inversion.
+
+ Much deeper down than the history of the human race must we go to find
+ the beginnings of these connections.--SPENCER.
+
+Wrong again, for the same reasons, but not with the same excuse; for
+the original form is unobjectionable. The emphasis is not on the
+problem (_to find_ ...), but on the clue to it (_much deeper down_),
+which, being emphatic, can maintain its position at the end of the
+sentence. The compound verb is only a secondary objection: we do not
+mend matters much by substituting _lie_ for _must we go to find_.
+
+ You say he is selfish. Well, so is every one.
+
+ You say he is selfish. Well, so is every one selfish.
+
+_So is every one_ is a correct inversion: _so_ is too weak to stand at
+the end, and at the beginning it is a good enough sign-post to tell us
+that selfishness is going to be defended. But _so is every one selfish_
+is wrong: for if _selfish_ is repeated at all, it is repeated with
+rhetorical effect, and is strong enough to take care of itself. Our
+second rule is thus violated; and so is our fourth--the subject does
+not come at the end.
+
+ All three methods had their charm. So may have Mr. Yeats’s notion
+ of....--_Times._
+
+This time, the compound verb is fatal. ‘So, perhaps, has ...’ would do.
+
+ The arrival of the Hartmanns created no little excitement in the
+ Falconet family, both among the sons and the daughters. Especially was
+ there no lack of speculation as to the character and appearance of
+ Miss Hartmann.--BEACONSFIELD.
+
+Right or wrong in principle, this does not read comfortably; but that
+may seem to be due to the cumbrous phrase ‘was there no lack of’, which
+for practical purposes is a compound verb. That difficulty we can
+remove without disturbing the accentuation of the sentence: ‘Especially
+numerous were the speculations as to the character of Miss Hartmann’.
+This resembles in form our old type ‘Among the guests were ...’, but
+with the important difference that ‘especially numerous’ is emphatic,
+and can therefore stand at the end. The inversion is rather explained
+than justified by the still stronger emphasis on ‘Miss Hartmann’.
+Sentences in which both subject and predicate are independently
+emphatic should be avoided, quite apart from the question of inversion:
+italics are more or less necessary to secure the inferior emphasis, and
+italics are a confession of weakness.
+
+ Somewhat lightened was the _provincial_ panic by this proof that
+ the murderer had not condescended to sneak into the country, or to
+ abandon for a moment, under any motion of caution or fear, the great
+ metropolitan _castra stativa_ of gigantic crime seated for ever on the
+ Thames.--DE QUINCEY (the italics are his).
+
+Not a happy attempt. We notice, for one thing, that the subject does
+not come at the end; the inversion is not complete. Let us complete
+it. To do so, we must convey our huge sign-post to the beginning: ‘By
+this proof ... Thames, was somewhat lightened the _provincial_ panic.’
+Worse than ever; is the compound verb to blame? Remove it, and see:
+‘In consequence of this proof ... Thames, subsided in some degree the
+_provincial_ panic’. This is not much better. There is another and
+a worse flaw: condition number one is not satisfied; we want ‘an
+emphatic subject that carries in itself the point of the sentence’. Now
+we must not assume that because ‘provincial’ is italicized, therefore
+the subject (however emphatic) carries in itself the point of the
+sentence. What is that point? what imaginary question does the sentence
+answer? Can it be meant to answer the question ‘What limitations were
+there upon the comfort derived from the intelligence that the murderer
+was still in London?’? No; that question could not be asked; we have
+not yet been told that any comfort at all was derived. The question
+it answers is ‘What effect did this intelligence produce upon the
+general panic?’. This question can be asked; for the reader evidently
+knows that a panic had prevailed, and that the intelligence had come.
+If, then, we are to use balance inversion, we must so reconstruct
+the sentence that the words containing the essential answer to this
+question become the subject; we must change ‘somewhat lightened’
+into ‘some alleviation’. ‘From this proof ... Thames, resulted some
+alleviation of the _provincial_ panic.’ That is the best that inversion
+will do for us; it is not quite satisfactory, and the reason is that
+the sentence is made to do too much. When the essential point is
+subject to an emphatic limitation (an unemphatic one like ‘somewhat’
+does not matter), the limitation ought to be conveyed in a separate
+sentence; otherwise the sentence is overworked, and either shirks its
+work, with the result of obscurity, or protests by means of italics.
+We ought therefore to have: ‘From ... resulted some alleviation of the
+general panic; this, however, was confined to the provinces’. But,
+except for this incidental fault, the sentence can be mended without
+inversion: ‘By this proof ... Thames, the _provincial_ panic was
+somewhat lightened’.
+
+=c. Inversion in syntactic clauses.=
+
+In clauses introduced by _as_, _than_, or a relative (pronoun or
+adverb), we have only a special case of balance inversion. They differ
+from the instances considered above in this important respect, that
+their relation to the preceding words is no longer paratactic, but
+syntactic, with the result that the sign-post indicating this relation
+is necessarily placed at the beginning. This will be seen from a
+comparison of the paratactic and syntactic forms in the following pairs
+of examples:
+
+ He was quick-tempered: so are most Irishmen. (Paratactic.)
+
+ He was quick-tempered, as are most Irishmen. (Syntactic.)
+
+ Several difficulties now arose: among them was....
+
+ Several difficulties now arose, among which was....
+
+Now in each of these sentences there are the same inducements to
+inversion in the syntactic form as in the paratactic; and added to
+these is the necessity for placing the sign-post at the beginning. We
+might expect, therefore, that inversion of syntactic clauses would
+be particularly common. But (i) We have already seen that inversion
+does not necessarily follow from the fact that the sign-post is placed
+at the beginning. And (ii) The verb in _as_ and _than_ clauses will
+probably, from the nature of the case, be the same as in the preceding
+clause. If it is in the same mood and tense, it can usually be omitted,
+unless effective repetition is required, in which case it will go to
+the end: a change of mood or tense, on the other hand, will often be
+marked by an auxiliary (itself perhaps compound), which again will
+usually preclude inversion.
+
+The result is this:
+
+i. Relative clauses, uninfluenced by the position of the sign-post,
+remain subject to precisely the same conditions as the corresponding
+paratactic sentences. Thus ‘Among whom were....’ is right, just
+as ‘Among the guests were....’ was right; ‘Among which would I
+mention....’ is of course impossible, because the subject does not
+carry the point; and ‘To which may be attributed....’ is right or
+wrong, according as the subject is or is not long enough to balance the
+compound verb.
+
+ii. Inversion of an _as_ or _than_ clause, having become unusual for
+the reason mentioned above, is almost certain to look either archaic
+or clumsy; clumsy when the reason for it is apparent, archaic when it
+is not. The practical rule is this: if you cannot omit the verb, put
+it at the end; and if you can neither omit it nor put it at the end,
+reconstruct the sentence.
+
+ The German government was as anxious to upset M. Delcassé as have been
+ his bitterest opponents in France.--_Times._
+
+The verb is preserved to avoid ambiguity. But it should go to the end,
+especially as it is compound.
+
+ Relishing humour more than does any other people, the Americans could
+ not be seriously angry.--BRYCE.
+
+Ambiguity cannot fairly be pleaded here; the verb should be omitted.
+
+ If France remains as firm as did England at that time, she will
+ probably have as much reason as had England to congratulate
+ herself.--_Times._
+
+Either ‘as England did’, or, since the parallel is significant, ‘as
+England then remained’. Also, ‘as England had’.
+
+ St. Paul’s writings are as full of apparent paradoxes as sometimes
+ seems the Sermon on the Mount.--_Spectator._
+
+The verb must be retained, for the sake of _sometimes_; but it should
+go to the end.
+
+ But he has performed as have few, if any, in offices similar to his
+ the larger, benigner functions of an Ambassador.--_Times._
+
+‘As few ... have performed them.’
+
+ Her impropriety was no more improper than is the natural instinct of a
+ bird or animal improper.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+This is like the case considered in b. ‘so is every one selfish’. If
+_improper_ is repeated with rhetorical effect, there is no need of
+inversion: if not, it should be left out.
+
+ There had been from time to time a good deal of interest over Mrs.
+ Emsworth’s career, the sort of interest which does more for a time in
+ filling a theatre than would acting of a finer quality than hers have
+ done.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+Either ‘would have done’ at the end, or (perhaps better) no verb at all.
+
+ All must join with me in the hope you express--that ... as also must
+ all hope that some good will come of....--_Times._
+
+Like the indiscriminate use of _while_, this ungainly _as_ connexion is
+popular with slovenly writers, and is always aggravated by inversion.
+‘All, too, must hope....’
+
+=d. Negative inversion, and false ‘emphasis’ inversion.=
+
+The connexion here suggested between certain forms of inversion must
+be taken to represent, not by any means the historical order of
+development, with which we are not directly concerned, but the order
+in which a modern writer may be supposed, more or less unconsciously,
+to adopt them. Starting from an isolated case of necessary inversion,
+we proceed to extensions of it that seem natural and are sanctioned
+by modern usage; and from these to other extensions, based probably
+on a misunderstanding, and producing in modern writers the effect of
+archaism.
+
+_Nor_, except when used in conjunction with _neither_, always stands
+first; and if the subject appears at all, the sentence is always
+inverted. This requires no illustration.
+
+On the analogy of _nor_, many other negative words and phrases are
+thrown to the beginning of the sentence, and again inversion is the
+result.
+
+ Never had the Cardinal’s policy been more triumphantly vindicated.
+
+ Nowhere is this so noticeable as in the South of France.
+
+ In no case can such a course be justified merely by success.
+
+ Systems, neither of which can be regarded as philosophically
+ established, but neither of which can we consent to
+ surrender.--BALFOUR.
+
+ Two sorts of judgments, neither of which can be deduced from the
+ other, and of neither of which can any proof be given.--BALFOUR.
+
+It is at this stage that misconception creeps in. Most of these
+negative phrases are in themselves emphatic; and from their being
+placed first (really on the analogy of _nor_) comes the mistaken idea
+that they derive emphasis from their position. This paves the way for
+wholesale inversion: any words, other than the subject, are placed at
+the beginning; and this not always in order to emphasize the words
+so placed, but merely to give an impressive effect to the whole. The
+various steps are marked by the instances that follow. In the first
+two, inversion may be on the analogy of negatives, or may be designed
+for emphasis; in the third, emphasis is clearly the motive; and in the
+rest we have mere impressiveness--not to say mere mannerism.
+
+ With difficulty could he be persuaded....
+
+ Disputes were rife in both cases, but in both cases have the disputes
+ been arranged.--_Times._
+
+ Almost unanimously do Americans assume that....--_Times._
+
+ They hardly resembled real ships, so twisted and burnt were the
+ funnels and superstructure; rather did they resemble the ghosts of a
+ long departed squadron....--_Times._
+
+ His love of romantic literature was as far as possible from that of a
+ mind which only feeds on romantic excitements. Rather was it that of
+ one who was so moulded....--HUTTON.
+
+ There is nothing to show that the Asclepiads took any prominent
+ share in the work of founding anatomy, physiology, zoology,
+ and botany. Rather do these seem to have sprung from the early
+ philosophers.--HUXLEY.
+
+ His works were ordered to be burnt by the common hangman. Yet was the
+ multitude still true to him.--MACAULAY.
+
+ Henry Fox, or nobody, could weather the storm which was about to
+ burst. Yet was he a person to whom the court, even in that extremity,
+ was unwilling to have recourse.--MACAULAY.
+
+ A book of ‘levities and gravities’, it would seem from the author’s
+ dedication, is this set of twelve essays, named after the twelve
+ months.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ The set epistolary pieces, one might say, were discharged before the
+ day of Elia. Yet is there certainly no general diminution of sparkle
+ or interest....--_Times._
+
+ Futile were the endeavor to trace back to Pheidias’ varied originals,
+ as we are tempted to do, many of the later statues....--L. M. MITCHELL.
+
+ Inevitably critical was the attitude that he adopted towards
+ religion.... Odious to him were, on the one hand, ....--_Journal of
+ Education._
+
+ Finely conceived is this poem, and not less admirable in
+ execution.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ ‘The Rainbow and the Rose’, by E. Nisbet, is a little book that will
+ not disappoint those who know the writer’s ‘Lays and Legends’. Facile
+ and musical, sincere and spontaneous, are these lyrics.--_Westminster
+ Gazette._
+
+ Then to the resident Medical Officer at the Brompton Hospital for
+ Consumption for an authoritative opinion on the subject went the
+ enquirer.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+In view of the rapidly increasing tendency to causeless inversion of
+all kinds, it is far from certain that this last is intentional satire.
+
+=e. Miscellaneous.=
+
+(i) In narrated dialogue, the demand for variations of ‘he said’, &c.,
+excuse considerable freedom in the matter of inversion. One or two
+points, however, may be noticed.
+
+When the subject is a personal pronoun, _say_ is perhaps the only verb
+with which inversion is advisable. ‘Said I, he, they’, and ‘retorted
+Jones’: but not ‘enquired I’, ‘rejoined he’, ‘suggested they’.
+
+Compound verbs, as usual, do not lend themselves to inversion:
+
+ ‘I won’t plot anything extra against Tom,’ had said Isaac.--M.
+ MAARTENS.
+
+ ‘At any rate, then,’ may rejoin our critic, ‘it is clearly
+ useless....’--SPENCER.
+
+ ‘I am the lover of a queen,’ had often sung the steward in his pantry
+ below.--R. ELLIOT.
+
+ ‘The cook and the steward are always quarrelling, it is quite
+ unbearable,’ had explained Mrs. Tuggy to the chief mate.--R. ELLIOT.
+
+Inverted _said_ at the beginning is one of the first pitfalls that
+await the novice who affects sprightliness. It is tolerable, if
+anywhere, only in light playful verse.
+
+ Said a friend to me the other day, ‘I should like to be able to run
+ well across country, but have never taken part in a paper-chase, for
+ I have always been beaten so easily when trying a hundred yards or so
+ against my acquaintances....’--S. THOMAS.
+
+ Mr. Takahira and Count Cassini continue to exchange repartees through
+ friends or through the public press. Said the Japanese Minister
+ yesterday evening:--_Times._
+
+ It is inferred here officially and unofficially that neutral rights
+ are unlikely to suffer from any derangement in Morocco to which
+ England is a consenting party. Said a Minister:--‘American interests
+ are not large enough in Morocco to induce us to....’--_Times._
+
+With verbs other than _said_, this form of inversion is still more
+decidedly a thing to be left to the poets. ‘Appears Verona’; ‘Rose a
+nurse of ninety years’; but not
+
+ Comes a new translation ... in four neat olive-green
+ volumes.--_Journal of Education._
+
+(ii) The inverted conditionals _should_, _had_, _could_, _would_,
+_were_, _did_, being recommended by brevity and a certain neatness, are
+all more or less licensed by modern usage. It is worth while, however,
+to name them in what seems to be their order of merit. _Should I_,
+from its frequency, is without taint of archaism; but _could_ and
+_would_, and, in a less degree, _had_, are apt to betray their archaic
+character by the addition of _but_ (‘would he but consent’); and _were_
+and _did_ are felt to be slightly out of date, even without this hint.
+
+ I should be, therefore, worse than a fool, did I object.--SCOTT.
+
+ Did space allow, I could give you startling proof of this.--_Times._
+
+(iii) Always, after performing inversion of any kind, the novice
+should go his rounds, and see that all is shipshape. For want of this
+precaution, a writer who was no novice, particularly in the matter of
+inversion, produces such curiosities as these:
+
+ Be this a difference of inertia, of bulk or of form, matters not to
+ the argument.--SPENCER.
+
+ It is true that, disagreeing with M. Comte, though I do, in all those
+ fundamental views that are peculiar to him, I agree with him in sundry
+ minor views.--SPENCER.
+
+We shall venture on removing the comma before ‘though’; but must leave
+it to connoisseurs in inversion to decide between the rival attractions
+of ‘disagree with M. Comte though I do’ and ‘disagreeing ... though I
+am’. ‘Though I do’, in spite of the commas, can scarcely be meant to be
+parenthetic; that would give (by resolution of the participle) ‘though
+I disagree with M. Comte, though I do, ....’
+
+
+ ARCHAISM
+
+=a. Occasional.=
+
+We have implied in former sections, and shall here take it for granted,
+that occasional archaism is always a fault, conscious or unconscious.
+There are, indeed, a few writers--Lamb is one of them--whose
+uncompromising terms, ‘Love me, love my archaisms’, are generally
+accepted; but they are taking risks that a novice will do well not to
+take.
+
+As to unconscious archaism, it might be thought that such a thing could
+scarcely exist: to employ unconsciously a word that has been familiar,
+and is so no longer, can happen to few. Yet charitable readers
+will believe that in the following sentence _demiss_ has slipped
+unconsciously from a learned pen:
+
+ He perceived that the Liberal ministry had offended certain
+ influential sections by appearing too demiss or too unenterprising in
+ foreign affairs.--BRYCE.
+
+The guilt of such peccadilloes as this may be said to vary inversely
+as the writer’s erudition; for in this matter the learned may plead
+ignorance, where the novice knows too well what he is doing. It is
+conscious archaism that offends, above all the conscious archaisms of
+the illiterate: the historian’s _It should seem_, even the essayist’s
+_You shall find_, is less odious, though not less deliberate, than
+the _ere_, _oft_, _aught_, _thereanent_, _I wot_, _I trow_, and
+similar ornaments, with which amateurs are fond of tricking out their
+sentences. This is only natural. An educated writer’s choice falls
+upon archaisms less hackneyed than the amateur’s; he uses them, too,
+with more discretion, limiting his favourites to a strict allowance,
+say, of once in three essays. The amateur indulges us with his whole
+repertoire in a single newspaper letter of twenty or thirty lines,
+and--what is worse--cannot live up to the splendours of which he is so
+lavish: charmed with the discovery of some antique order of words, he
+selects a modern slang phrase to operate upon; he begins a sentence
+with _ofttimes_, and ends it with a grammatical blunder; aspires to
+_albeit_, and achieves _howbeit_. Our list begins with the educated
+specimens, but lower down the reader will find several instances of
+this fatal incongruity of style; fatal, because the culprit proves
+himself unworthy of what is worthless. For the vilest of trite
+archaisms has this latent virtue, that it might be worse; to use it,
+and by using it to make it worse, is to court derision.
+
+ A coiner or a smuggler _shall_ get off tolerably well.--LAMB.
+
+ The same circumstance may make one person laugh, which _shall_ render
+ another very serious.--LAMB.
+
+ You _shall_ hear the same persons say that George Barnwell is very
+ natural, and Othello is very natural.--LAMB.
+
+ Don Quixote _shall_ last you a month for breakfast
+ reading.--_Spectator._
+
+ Take them as they come, you _shall_ find in the common people a surly
+ indifference.--EMERSON.
+
+The worst of making a mannerism of this _shall_ is that, after the
+first two or three times, the reader is certain to see it coming; for
+its function is nearly always the same--to bring in illustrations of a
+point already laid down.
+
+ Some of us, like Mr. Andrew Lang for instance, _cannot away with_ a
+ person who does not care for Scott or Dickens.--_Spectator._
+
+ One _needs_ not praise their courage.--EMERSON.
+
+ What turn things are likely to take if this version _be_ persisted in
+ is a matter for speculation.--_Times._
+
+ If Mr. Hobhouse’s analysis of the vices of popular government _be_
+ correct, much more would seem to be needed.--_Times._
+
+ Mr. Bowen has been, not recalled, but ordered to Washington, and will
+ be expected to produce proof, if any he _have_, of his charges against
+ Mr. Loomis.--_Times._
+
+ It _were_ futile to attempt to deprive it of its real
+ meaning.--_Times._
+
+ It _were_ idle to deny that the revolutionary movement in Russia is
+ nowhere followed with keener interest than in this country.--_Times._
+
+ It _were_ idle to deny that coming immediately after the
+ Tangier demonstration it assumes special and unmistakable
+ significance.--_Times._
+
+ He is putting poetic ‘frills’, if the phrase _be_ not too mean, on
+ what is better stated in the prose summary of the argument.--_Times._
+
+Regarded as a counter-irritant to slang, archaism is a failure.
+_Frills_ is ten times more noticeable for the prim and pompous _be_.
+
+ Under them the land is being rapidly frivolled away, and,
+ unless immediate action _be_ taken, the country will be so tied
+ that....--_Times._
+
+ That will depend a good deal on whether he _be_ shocked by the
+ cynicism of the most veracious of all possible representations....--H.
+ JAMES.
+
+ We _may_ not quote the lengthy passage here: it is probably familiar
+ to many readers.--_Times._
+
+‘We must not’. Similarly, the modern prose English for _if I be, it
+were_, is _if I am, it would be_.
+
+ ‘I have no particular business at L.,’ said he; ‘I was merely going
+ _thither_ to pass a day or two.’--BORROW.
+
+ I am afraid you will hardly be able to ride your horse _thither_ in
+ time to dispose of him.--BORROW.
+
+ It will necessitate my recurring _thereto_ in the House of
+ Commons.--_Spectator._
+
+ The Scottish Free Church had _theretofore_ prided itself upon the
+ rigidity of its orthodoxy.--BRYCE.
+
+ The special interests of France in Morocco, _whereof_ the recognition
+ by Great Britain and Spain forms the basis of the international
+ agreements concluded last year by the French Government.--_Times._
+
+ To what extent has any philosophy or any revelation assured us
+ _hereof_ till now?--F. W. H. MYERS.
+
+ On the concert I need not dwell; the reader would not care to have my
+ impressions _thereanent_.--C. BRONTË.
+
+_There_, not _thither_, is the modern form; _to it_, not _thereto_;
+_of which_, _of this_, not _whereof_, _hereof_; _till then_, or _up to
+that time_, not _theretofore_. So, in the following examples, _except_,
+_perhaps_, _before_, _though_; not _save_, _perchance_, _ere_, _albeit_.
+
+ Nobody _save_ an individual in no condition to distinguish a hawk from
+ a handsaw....--_Times._
+
+ My ignorance as to ‘figure of merit’ is of no moment _save_ to
+ myself.--_Times._
+
+ This we obtain by allowing imports to go untaxed _save_ only for
+ revenue purposes.--_Spectator._
+
+ Who now reads Barry Cornwall or Talfourd _save_ only in connexion with
+ their memorials of the rusty little man in black?--_Times._
+
+ In my opinion the movements may be attributed to unconscious
+ cerebration, _save_ in those cases in which it is provoked
+ wilfully.--_Times._
+
+ When Mr. Roosevelt was but barely elected Governor of New York, when
+ Mr. Bryan was once and again by mounting majorities excused from
+ service at the White House, _perchance_ neither correctly forecasted
+ the actual result.--_Times._
+
+ Dr. Bretton was a cicerone after my own heart; he would take me
+ betimes _ere_ the galleries were filled.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ He is certainly not cruising on a trade route, or his presence would
+ long _ere_ this have been reported.--_Times._
+
+ Mr. Shaynor unlocked a drawer, and _ere_ he began to write, took out a
+ meagre bundle of letters.--KIPLING.
+
+ Fortifications are fixed, immobile defences, and, in time of war, must
+ await the coming of an enemy _ere_ they can exercise their powers of
+ offence.--_Times._
+
+ ‘It is something in this fashion’, she cried out _ere_ long; ‘the man
+ is too romantic and devoted.’--C. BRONTË.
+
+ _Ere_ departing, however, I determined to stroll about and examine the
+ town.--BORROW.
+
+The use of _ere_ with a gerund is particularly to be avoided.
+
+ And that she should force me, by the magic of her pen to
+ mentally acknowledge, _albeit_ with wrath and shame, my own
+ inferiority!--CORELLI.
+
+ Such things as our modern newspapers chronicle, _albeit_ in different
+ form.--CORELLI.
+
+ It is thought by experts that there could be no better use of
+ the money, _albeit_ the best American colleges, with perhaps one
+ exception, have very strong staffs of professors at incredibly low
+ salaries.--_Times._
+
+ ‘Oxoniensis’ approaches them with courage, his thoughts are expressed
+ in plain, unmistakable language, _howbeit_ with the touch of a master
+ hand.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+The writer means _albeit_; he would have been safer with _though_.
+
+ Living in a coterie, he seems to have read the laudations and not to
+ have noticed _aught_ else.--_Times._
+
+ Hence, if higher criticism, or _aught_ besides, compels any man
+ to question, say, the historic accuracy of the fall....--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ Many a true believer _owned not up_ to his faith.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ The controversy now going on in your columns _anent_ ‘Do we believe?’
+ throws a somewhat strange light upon the religion of to-day.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ It is because the world has not accepted the religion of Jesus
+ Christ our Lord, that the world is _in the parlous state we see it
+ still_.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ A discussion in which _well nigh_ every trade, profession and calling
+ have been represented.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Why not? Because we have _well-nigh bordering on_ 300 different
+ interpretations of the message Christ bequeathed us.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ It is quite a common thing to see ladies with their hymn-books in
+ their hands, _ere_ returning home from church enter shops and make
+ purchases which might _every whit_ as well have been effected on the
+ Saturday.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ How _oft_ do those who train young minds need to urge the necessity of
+ being in earnest....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ I _trow_ not.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ The clerk, as I conjectured him to be from his appearance, was also
+ commoved; for, sitting opposite to Mr. Morris, that honest gentleman’s
+ terror communicated itself to him, though he _wotted_ not why.--SCOTT.
+
+ I should be _right_ glad if the substance could be made known to
+ clergy and ministers of all denominations.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ So sordid are the lives of such natures, who are not only not heroic
+ to their valets and waiting-women, but have neither valets nor
+ waiting-women to be heroic to _withal_.--DICKENS.
+
+=b. Sustained archaism in narrative and dialogue.=
+
+A novelist who places his story in some former age may do so for
+the sake of a purely superficial variety, without any intention of
+troubling himself or his readers with temporal colour more than is
+necessary to avoid glaring absurdities; he is then not concerned with
+archaism at all. More commonly, however, it is part of his plan to
+present a living picture of the time of which he writes. When this
+is the case, he naturally feels bound to shun anachronism not only
+in externals, but in thought and the expression of thought. Now with
+regard to the language of his characters, it would be absurd for him
+to pretend to anything like consistent realism: he probably has no
+accurate knowledge of the language as his characters would speak it;
+and if he had this knowledge, and used it, he would be unintelligible
+to most of his readers, and burdensome to the rest. Accordingly, if he
+is wise, he will content himself with keeping clear of such modes of
+expression as are essentially modern and have only modern associations,
+such as would jar upon the reader’s sense of fitness and destroy the
+time illusion. He will aim, that is to say, at a certain archaic
+directness and simplicity; but with the archaic vocabulary, which
+instead of preserving the illusion only reminds us that there is an
+illusion to be preserved, he will have little to do. This we may call
+negative archaism. _Esmond_ is an admirable example of it, and the
+‘Dame Gossip’ part of Mr. Meredith’s _Amazing Marriage_ is another. It
+hardly occurs to us in these books that the language is archaic; it
+is appropriate, that is all. The same may be said, on the whole, of
+_Treasure Island_, and of one or two novels of Besant’s.
+
+Only the novelist who is not wise indulges in positive archaism. He
+is actuated by the determination to have everything in character at
+all costs. He does not know very much about old English of any period;
+very few people do, and those who know most of it would be the last to
+attempt to write a narrative in it. He gives us, however, all that
+he knows, without much reference to particular periods; it may not be
+good ancient English, but, come what may, it shall not be good modern.
+This, it need scarcely be said, is not fair play: the recreation is
+all on the writer’s side. Archaism is, no doubt, very seductive to the
+archaist. Well done (that is, negatively done), it looks easy; and to
+do it badly is perhaps even easier than it looks. No very considerable
+stock-in-trade is required; the following will do quite well:
+Prithee--quotha--perchance--peradventure--i’ faith--sirrah--beshrew
+me--look ye--sith that--look to it--leave prating--it shall go hard
+but--I tell you, but--the more part--fair cold water--to me-ward--I
+am shrewdly afeared--it is like to go stiff with me--y’ are--y’
+have--it irks me sorely--benison--staunch--gyves--yarely--this same
+villain--drink me this--you were better go; to these may be added
+the indiscriminate use of ‘Nay’ and ‘Now (by the rood, &c.)’; free
+inversion; and verb terminations in _-st_ and _-th_. Our list is
+largely drawn from Stevenson, who, having tried negative archaism with
+success in _Treasure Island_, chose to give us a positive specimen in
+_The Black Arrow_. How vexatious these reach-me-down archaisms can
+become, even in the hands of an able writer, will be seen from the
+following examples of a single trick, all taken from _The Black Arrow_.
+
+ An I had not been a thief, I could not have painted _me_ your face.
+
+ Put _me_ your hand into the corner, and see what ye find there.
+
+ Bring _me_ him down like a ripe apple. And keep ever forward, Master
+ Shelton; turn _me_ not back again, an ye love your life.
+
+ Selden, take _me_ this old shrew softly to the nearest elm, and hang
+ _me_ him tenderly by the neck, where I may see him at my riding.
+
+ Mark _me_ this old villain on the piebald.
+
+ ‘Sirrah, no more words,’ said Dick. ‘Bend _me_ your back.’
+
+ ‘Here is a piece of forest that I know not’, Dick remarked. ‘Where
+ goeth _me_ this track?’
+
+ ‘I slew him fair. I ran _me_ in upon his bow,’ he cried.
+
+ ‘Swallow _me_ a good draught of this,’ said the knight.
+
+It is like a child with a new toy.
+
+But there is the opposite fault. The judicious archaist, as we
+have said, will abstain from palpable modernisms, especially from
+modern slang. The following extracts are taken from an old woman’s
+reminiscences of days in which a ‘faultless attire’ included ‘half high
+boots, knee-breeches very tight above the calf (as the fashion was
+then), a long-tailed cutaway coat, ...’:
+
+ But the Captain, who, of course, lacks bowels of mercy for this kind
+ of thing, says that if he had been Caesar, ‘Caius would have _got
+ the great chuck_. Yes, madam, I would have broke Mister Caius on the
+ spot’.--CROCKETT.
+
+ But if you once go in for _having a good time_ (as Miss Anne in her
+ innocence used to remark) you must be prepared to....--CROCKETT.
+
+ ... as all girls love to do when they are content with the way they
+ have _put in their time_.--CROCKETT.
+
+
+ METAPHOR
+
+Strictly speaking, metaphor occurs as often as we take a word out of
+its original sphere and apply it to new circumstances. In this sense
+almost all words can be shown to be metaphorical when they do not bear
+a physical meaning; for the original meaning of almost all words can
+be traced back to something physical; in our first sentence above, for
+instance, there are eight different metaphors. Words had to be found to
+express mental perceptions, abstract ideas, and complex relations, for
+which a primitive vocabulary did not provide; and the obvious course
+was to convey the new idea by means of the nearest physical parallel.
+The commonest Latin verb for _think_ is a metaphor from vine-pruning;
+‘seeing’ of the mind is borrowed from literal sight; ‘pondering’ is
+metaphorical ‘weighing’. Evidently these metaphors differ in intention
+and effect from such a phrase as ‘smouldering’ discontent; the former
+we may call, for want of a better word, ‘natural’ metaphor, as opposed
+to the latter, which is artificial. The word metaphor as ordinarily
+used suggests only the artificial kind: but in deciding on the merits
+or demerits of a metaphorical phrase we are concerned as much with the
+one class as the other; for in all doubtful cases our first questions
+will be, what was the writer’s intention in using the metaphor? is
+it his own, or is it common property? if the latter, did he use it
+consciously or unconsciously?
+
+This distinction, however, is useful only as leading up to another.
+We cannot use it directly as a practical test: artificial metaphors,
+as well as natural ones, often end by becoming a part of ordinary
+language; when this has happened, there is no telling to which class
+they belong, and in English the question is complicated by the fact
+that our metaphorical vocabulary is largely borrowed from Latin in the
+metaphorical state. Take such a word as _explain_: its literal meaning
+is ‘spread out flat’: how are we to say now whether necessity or
+picturesqueness first prompted its metaphorical use? And the same doubt
+might arise centuries hence as to the origin of a phrase so obviously
+artificial to us as ‘glaring inconsistency’.
+
+Our practical distinction will therefore be between conscious or
+‘living’ and unconscious or ‘dead’ metaphor, whether natural or
+artificial in origin: and again, among living metaphors, we shall
+distinguish between the intentional, which are designed for effect,
+and the unintentional, which, though still felt to be metaphors, are
+used merely as a part of the ordinary vocabulary. It may seem at
+first sight that this classification leaves us where we were: how can
+we know whether a writer uses a particular metaphor consciously or
+unconsciously? We cannot know for certain: it is enough if we think
+that he used it consciously, and know that we should have used it
+consciously ourselves; experience will tell us how far our perceptions
+in this respect differ from other people’s. Most readers, we think,
+will agree in the main with our classification of the following
+instances; they are taken at random from a couple of pages of the
+_Spectator_.
+
+These we should call dead: ‘his _views_ were personal’; ‘_carry out_
+his policy’; ‘not _acceptable_ to his _colleagues_’; ‘the Chancellor
+_proposed_’; ‘some _grounds_ for _complaint_’; ‘_refrain_ from talking
+about them’; ‘the _remission_ of the Tea-duty’; ‘_sound_ policy’; ‘a
+speech almost entirely _composed_ of _extracts_’; ‘_reduction_ of
+taxation’; ‘_discussion_’; ‘the _low_ price of Consols’; ‘_falls_
+due’; ‘_succeeded_’; ‘will _approach_ their task’; ‘_delivered_ a
+speech’; ‘_postponing_ to a future year’. The next are living, but not
+intentional metaphor; the writer is aware that his phrase is still
+picturesque in effect, but has not chosen it for that reason: ‘a
+Protestant _atmosphere_’; ‘this would leave a _margin_ of £122,000’;
+‘the loss of _elasticity_’ in the Fund; ‘_recasting_ our whole Fiscal
+system’; ‘to _uphold_ the unity of the Empire’; ‘to _strengthen_ the
+Exchequer balances’; ‘all _dwelt_ on the grave injury’; ‘his somewhat
+_shattered_ authority’; ‘the policy of evasion now _pursued_’;
+‘_throws_ new _light_ on the situation’; ‘a _gap_ in our fiscal
+system’. Intentional metaphors are of course less plentiful: ‘the
+home-rule motion designed to “_draw_” Sir Henry’; ‘a _dissolving view_
+of General Elections’; ‘this reassuring declaration _knocks the bottom
+out of_ the plea of urgency’; ‘the _scattered remnants_ of that party
+might _rally after the disastrous defeat_’.
+
+One or two general remarks may be made before we proceed to instances.
+It is scarcely necessary to warn any one against over-indulgence in
+intentional metaphor; its effects are too apparent. The danger lies
+rather in the use of live metaphor that is not intentional. The many
+words and phrases that fall under this class are all convenient; as
+often as not they are the first that occur, and it is laborious,
+sometimes impossible, to hit upon an equivalent; the novice will find
+it worth while, however, to get one whenever he can. We may read a
+newspaper through without coming upon a single metaphor of this kind
+that is at all offensive in itself; it is in the aggregate that they
+offend. ‘Cries aloud for’, ‘drop the curtain on’, ‘goes hand in hand
+with’, ‘a note of warning’, leaves its impress’, ‘paves the way for’,
+‘heralds the advent of’, ‘opens the door to’, are not themselves
+particularly noisy phrases; but writers who indulge in them generally
+end by being noisy.
+
+Unintentional metaphor is the source, too, of most actual blunders.
+Every one is on his guard when his metaphor is intentional; the
+nonsense that is talked about mixed metaphor, and the celebrity of one
+or two genuine instances of it that come down to us from the eighteenth
+century, have had that good effect. There are few obvious faults a
+novice is more afraid of committing than this of mixed metaphor. His
+fears are often groundless; many a sentence that might have stood has
+been altered from a misconception of what mixed metaphor really is. The
+following points should be observed.
+
+1. If only one of the metaphors is a live one, the confusion is not a
+confusion for practical purposes.
+
+2. Confusion can only exist between metaphors that are grammatically
+inseparable; parallel metaphors between which there is no grammatical
+dependence cannot result in confusion. The novice must beware, however,
+of being misled either by punctuation or by a parallelism that does not
+secure grammatical independence. Thus, no amount of punctuation can
+save the time-honoured example ‘I smell a rat: I see him hovering in
+the air: ... I will nip him in the bud’. _Him_ is inseparable from the
+later metaphors, and refers to the rat. But there is no confusion in
+the following passage; any one of the metaphors can be removed without
+affecting the grammar:
+
+ This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
+ This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, ...
+ This fortress built by Nature for herself ...
+ This happy breed of men, this little world,
+ This precious stone set in the silver sea, ...
+ This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
+ This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings, ...
+
+3. Metaphor within metaphor is dangerous. Here there is a grammatical
+dependence between the metaphors, and if the combination is unsuitable
+confusion will result. But combination is one thing, and confusion
+is another: if the internal metaphor is not inconsistent with the
+external, there is no confusion, though there may be ugliness. To adapt
+one of our examples below, ‘The Empire’s butcher (i. e. New Zealand)
+has not all his eggs in one basket’ is not a confusion, because a
+metaphorical butcher can have his eggs in one basket as well as any one
+else. What does lead to confusion is the choice of an internal metaphor
+applicable not to the words of the external metaphor, but to the
+literal words for which it is substituted. In the following example,
+the confusion is doubtless intended.
+
+ This pillar of the state
+ Hath swallowed hook and bait.
+
+The swallowing is applicable only to the person metaphorically called a
+pillar.
+
+4. Confusion of metaphor is sometimes alleged against sentences that
+contain only one metaphor--a manifest absurdity. These are really
+cases of a clash between the metaphorical and the non-metaphorical.
+A striking or original metaphor is apt to appear violent, and a
+commonplace one impertinent, if not adequately borne out by the rest of
+the sentence. This we may label ‘unsustained metaphor’. It sometimes
+produces much the same effect as mixed metaphor; but the remedy for
+it, as well as the cause, is different. Mixed metaphor is the result
+of negligence, and can generally be put right by a simple adaptation
+of the language to whichever metaphor is to be retained. Unsustained
+metaphor is rather an error of judgement: it is unsustained either
+because it was difficult to sustain, or because it was not worth
+sustaining; in either case abandonment is the simplest course.
+
+ This diverting incident contributed in a high degree to the general
+ merriment.
+
+Here we have four different metaphors; but as they are all dead, there
+is no real confusion.
+
+ This, as you know, was a burning question; and its unseasonable
+ introduction threw a chill on the spirits of all our party.
+
+_Burning_ and _chill_ are both live metaphors, they are grammatically
+connected by _its_, and they are inconsistent; there is therefore
+confusion.
+
+ The uncertainty which hangs over every battle extends in a special
+ degree to battles at sea.--_Spectator._
+
+_Extends_ is usually dead; and if in this case it is living, it is also
+suitable.
+
+ A centre and nucleus round which the scattered remnants of that party
+ might rally after the disastrous defeat.--_Spectator._
+
+The main or external metaphor is that of an army. Now any metaphor that
+is applicable to a literal army is also applicable to a metaphorical
+one: but ‘rally round a nucleus’ is a confusion of metaphor, to
+whichever it is applied; it requires us to conceive of the army at the
+same time as animal and vegetable, _nucleus_ being literally the kernel
+of a nut, and metaphorically a centre about which growth takes place.
+An army can have a nucleus, but cannot rally round it.
+
+ Sir W. Laurier had claimed for Canada that she would be the granary
+ and baker of the Empire, and Sir Edmund Barton had claimed for
+ Australia that she would be the Empire’s butcher; but in New Zealand
+ they had not all their eggs in one basket, and they could claim a
+ combination of the three.
+
+This is quoted in a newspaper as an example of mixed metaphor. It
+is nothing of the kind: _they_ in New Zealand are detached from the
+metaphor.
+
+ We move slowly and cautiously from old moorings in our English life,
+ that is our laudable constitutional habit; but my belief is that the
+ great majority of moderate churchmen, to whatever political party they
+ may belong, desirous as they are to lift this question of popular
+ education out of the party rut, ....
+
+‘A rut’, says the same newspaper, ‘is about the very last thing we
+should expect to find at sea, despite the fact that it is ploughed’.
+There is no mention of ruts at sea; the two metaphors are independent.
+If the speaker had said ‘Moderate churchmen, moving at length from
+their old moorings, are beginning to lift this question out of the
+party rut’, we should have had a genuine confusion, the _moorings_ and
+the _rut_ being then inseparable. Both this sentence and the preceding
+one, the reader may think, would have been better without the second
+metaphor; we agree, but it is a question of taste, not of correctness.
+
+ ... the keenest incentive man can feel to remedy ignorance and
+ abolish guilt. It is under the impelling force of this incentive that
+ civilization progresses.--_Spectator._
+
+This illustrates the danger of deciding hastily on the deadness of a
+metaphor, however common it may be. Probably any one would have said
+that the musical idea in _incentive_ had entirely vanished: but the
+successive attributes _keenness_ and _impelling force_ are too severe
+a test; the dead metaphor is resuscitated, and a perceptible confusion
+results.
+
+ Her forehand drive--her most trenchant asset.--_Daily Mail._
+
+Another case of resuscitation. _Trenchant_ turns in its grave; and
+_asset_, ready to succumb under the violence of athletic reporters, has
+yet life enough to resent the imputation of a keen edge. As the critic
+of ‘ruts at sea’ might have observed, the more blunt, the better the
+assets.
+
+ And the very fact that the past is beyond recall imposes upon the
+ present generation a continual stimulus to strive for the prevention
+ of such woes.--_Spectator._
+
+We _impose_ a burden, we apply a _stimulus_. It looks as if the writer
+had meant by a short cut to give us both ideas; if so, his guilt is
+clear; and if we call _impose_ a mere slip in idiom, the confusion is
+none the less apparent.
+
+ Sword of the devil, running with the blood of saints, poisoned adder,
+ thy work is done.
+
+These are independent metaphors; and, as _thy work is done_ is
+applicable to each of them, there is no confusion.
+
+ In the hope that something might be done, even at the eleventh hour,
+ to stave off the brand of failure from the hide of our military
+ administration.--_Times._
+
+To _stave off a brand_ is not, perhaps, impossible; but we suspect
+that it would be a waste of energy. The idea of bulk is inseparable
+from the process of staving off. The metaphor is usually applied
+to literal abstract nouns, not to metaphorical concretes: ruin and
+disaster one can suppose to be of a tolerable size; but a metaphorical
+brand does not present itself to the imagination as any larger than a
+literal one. We assume that by _brand_ the instrument is meant: the
+eleventh hour is all too early to set about staving off the mark.
+
+This is a good example of mixed metaphor of the more pronounced type;
+it differs only in degree from some of those considered above. We
+suggested that _impose a stimulus_ was perhaps a short cut to the
+expression of two different metaphors, and the same might be said of
+_staving off the brand_. But we shall get a clearer idea of the nature
+of mixed metaphor if we regard all these as violations of the following
+simple rule: When a live metaphor (intentional or unintentional) has
+once been chosen, the words grammatically connected with it must be
+either (a) recognizable parts of the same metaphorical idea, or one
+consistent with it, or (b) unmetaphorical, or dead metaphor; literal
+abstract nouns, for instance, instead of metaphorical concretes.
+Thus, we shall impose not the stimulus, but either (a) the burden
+of resistance, or (b) the duty of resistance; and we shall stave
+off not the ‘brand’ but the ‘ignominy of failure from our military
+administration’.
+
+But from our remarks in 4 above, it will be clear that (b), though it
+cannot result in confusion of metaphor, may often leave the metaphor
+unsustained. Our examples illustrate several common types.
+
+ Is it not a little difficult to ask for Liberal votes for Unionist
+ Free-traders, if we put party interests in the front of the
+ consideration?--_Spectator._
+
+ May I be allowed to add a mite of experience of an original Volunteer
+ in a good City regiment?--_Spectator._
+
+ But also in Italy many ancient edifices have been recently coated with
+ stucco and masked by superfluous repairs.--_Spectator._
+
+ The elementary schools are hardly to be blamed for this failure. Their
+ aim and their achievement have to content themselves chiefly with
+ moral rather than with mental success.--_Spectator._
+
+ The scourge of tyranny had breathed his last.
+
+ The means of education at the disposal of the Protestants and
+ Presbyterians of the North were stunted and sterilized.--BALFOUR.
+
+ I once heard a Spaniard shake his head over the present Queen of
+ Spain.--(Quoted by _Spectator_.)
+
+ But, apart from all that, we see two pinching dilemmas even in this
+ opium case--dilemmas that screw like a vice--which tell powerfully in
+ favour of our Tory views.--DE QUINCEY.
+
+The reader who is uncharitable enough to insist upon the natural
+history of dilemmas will call this not unsustained metaphor, but a
+gross confusion; horns cannot be said to _screw_. We prefer to believe
+that De Quincey was not thinking of the horns at all; they are a
+gratuitous metaphorical ornament; _dilemma_, in English at any rate,
+is a literal word, and means an argument that presents two undesirable
+alternatives. The circumstances of a dilemma are, indeed, such as to
+prompt metaphorical language, but the word itself is incorrigibly
+literal; we confess as much by clapping horns on its head and making
+them do the metaphorical work.
+
+ These remarks have been dictated in order that the importance
+ of recognizing the difference and the value of soils may be
+ understood.--J. LONG.
+
+This metaphor always requires that the dictator--usually a personified
+abstract--should be mentioned. ‘Dictated by the importance’.
+
+The opposite fault of over-conscientiousness must also be noticed.
+Elaborate poetical metaphor has perhaps gone out of fashion; but
+technical metaphor is apt to be overdone, and something of the same
+tendency appears in the inexorable working-out of popular catchword
+metaphors:
+
+ Tost to and fro by the high winds of passionate control, I behold the
+ desired port, the single state, into which I would fain steer; but am
+ kept off by the foaming billows of a brother’s and sister’s envy, and
+ by the raging winds of a supposed invaded authority; while I see in
+ Lovelace, the rocks on the one hand, and in Solmes, the sands on the
+ other; and tremble, lest I should split upon the former or strike
+ upon the latter. But you, my better pilot,...--RICHARDSON.
+
+ Such phases of it as we did succeed in mentally kodaking are hardly to
+ be ‘developed’ in cold print.--_Times._
+
+We are not photographers enough to hazard a comment on _cold_ print.
+
+ The leading planks of the Opposition policy are declared to be the
+ proper audit of public accounts,...--_Times._
+
+
+ REPETITION
+
+‘Rhetorical’ or--to use at once a wider and a more intelligible
+term--‘significant’ repetition is a valuable element in modern style;
+used with judgement, it is as truly a good thing as clumsy repetition,
+the result of negligence, is bad. But there are some writers who, from
+the fact that all good repetition is intentional, rashly infer that
+all intentional repetition is good; and others who may be suspected of
+making repetitions from negligence, and retaining them from a misty
+idea that to be aware of a thing is to have intended it. Even when
+the repetition is a part of the writer’s original plan, consideration
+is necessary before it can be allowed to pass: it is implied in the
+terms ‘rhetorical’ or significant repetition that the words repeated
+would ordinarily be either varied or left out; the repetition, that
+is to say, is more or less abnormal, and whatever is abnormal may be
+objectionable in a single instance, and is likely to become so if it
+occurs frequently.
+
+The writers who have most need of repetition, and are most justified
+in using it, are those whose chief business it is to appeal not to
+the reader’s emotions, but to his understanding; for, in spite of
+the term ‘rhetorical’, the object ordinarily is not impressiveness
+for impressiveness’ sake, but emphasis for the sake of clearness. It
+may seem, indeed, that a broad distinction ought to be drawn between
+the rhetorical and the non-rhetorical: they differ in origin and in
+aim, one being an ancient rhetorical device to secure impressiveness,
+the other a modern development, called forth by the requirements of
+popular writers on subjects that demand lucidity; and there is the
+further difference, that rhetorical repetition often dictates the whole
+structure of the sentence, whereas the non-rhetorical, in its commonest
+form, is merely the completion of a sentence that need not have been
+completed. But in practice the two things become inseparable, and we
+shall treat them together; only pointing out to the novice that of the
+two motives, impressiveness and lucidity, the latter is far the more
+likely to seem justifiable in the reader’s eyes.
+
+We shall illustrate both the good and bad points of repetition almost
+exclusively from a few pages of Bagehot, one of its most successful
+exponents, in whom nevertheless it degenerates into mannerism. To a
+writer who has so much to say that is worth hearing, almost anything
+can be forgiven that makes for clearness; and in him clearness, vigour,
+and a certain pleasant rapidity, all result from the free use of
+repetition. It will be seen that his repetitions are not of the kind
+properly called rhetorical; it is the spontaneous fullness of a writer
+who, having a clear point to make, is determined to make it clearly,
+elegance or no elegance. Yet the growth of mannerism is easily seen in
+him; the justifiable repetitions are too frequent, and he has some that
+do not seem justifiable.
+
+ He analysed not a particular government, but what is common to
+ all governments; not one law, but what is common to all laws; not
+ political communities in their features of diversity, but political
+ communities in their features of necessary resemblance. He gave
+ politics not an interesting aspect, but a new aspect: for by giving
+ men a steady view of what political communities must be, he nipped in
+ the bud many questions as to what they ought to be. As a gymnastic of
+ the intellect, and as a purifier, Mr. Austin’s philosophy is to this
+ day admirable--even in its imperfect remains; a young man who will
+ study it will find that he has gained something which he wanted, but
+ something which he did not know that he wanted: he has clarified a
+ part of his mind which he did not know needed clarifying.
+
+ All these powers were states of some magnitude, and some were states
+ of great magnitude. They would be able to go on as they had always
+ gone on--to shift for themselves as they had always shifted.
+
+ Without Spanish and without French, Walpole would have made a good
+ peace; Bolingbroke could not do so with both.
+
+ Cold men may be wild in life and not wild in mind. But warm and eager
+ men, fit to be the favourites of society, and fit to be great orators,
+ will be erratic not only in conduct but in judgement.
+
+ A man like Walpole, or a man like Louis Napoleon, is protected by an
+ unsensitive nature from intellectual destruction.
+
+ After a war which everyone was proud of, we concluded a peace which
+ nobody was proud of, in a manner that everyone was ashamed of.
+
+ He hated the City because they were Whigs, and he hated the Dutch
+ because he had deserted them.
+
+ But he professed to know nothing of commerce, and did know nothing.
+
+ The fierce warlike disposition of the English people would not have
+ endured such dishonour. We may doubt if it would have endured any
+ peace. It certainly would not have endured the best peace, unless it
+ were made with dignity and with honesty.
+
+ Using the press without reluctance and without cessation.
+
+ He ought to have been able to bear anything, yet he could bear
+ nothing. He prosecuted many more persons than it was usual to
+ prosecute then, and far more than have been prosecuted since.... He
+ thought that everything should be said for him, and that nothing
+ should be said against him.
+
+ Between these fluctuated the great mass of the Tory party, who did not
+ like the House of Hanover because it had no hereditary right, who did
+ not like the Pretender because he was a Roman Catholic.
+
+ He had no popularity; little wish for popularity; little respect for
+ popular judgement.
+
+Here is a writer who, at any rate, has not the vice of ‘elegant
+variation’. Most of the possibilities of repetition, for good and
+for evil, are here represented. As Bagehot himself might have said,
+‘we have instances of repetition that are good in themselves; we
+have instances of repetition that are bad in themselves; and we
+have instances of repetition that are neither particularly good nor
+particularly bad in themselves, but that offend simply by recurrence’.
+The ludicrous appearance presented by our collection as a whole
+necessarily obscures the merit of individual cases; but if the reader
+will consider each sentence by itself, he will see that repetition
+is often a distinct improvement. The point best illustrated here, no
+doubt, is that it impossible to have too much of a good thing; but it
+is a good thing for all that. As instances of unjustifiable mannerism,
+we may select ‘fit to be the favourites ..., and fit to be great
+orators’; ‘not political communities ..., but political communities
+...’; ‘something which he wanted, but something which he did not know
+that he wanted’; ‘a man like Walpole, or a man like Louis Napoleon’;
+‘without reluctance and without cessation’; ‘who did not like ...,
+who did not like ...’; and ‘without Spanish and without French’. We
+have mentioned clearness as the ultimate motive for repetition of this
+kind: in this last sentence, we get not clearness, but obscurity.
+Any one would suppose that there was some point in the distinction
+between Spanish and French: there is none; the point is, simply, that
+languages do not make a statesman. Again, there is sometimes virtue in
+half-measures: from ‘something which he did not know that he wanted’
+remove the first three words, and there remains quite repetition
+enough. ‘Wild in life and not wild in mind’ is a repetition that is
+clearly called for; but it is followed by the wholly gratuitous ‘fit
+... and fit ...’, and the result is disastrous. Finally, in ‘who did
+not like ..., who did not like ...’, mannerism gets the upper hand
+altogether: instead of the appearance of natural vigour that ordinarily
+characterizes the writer, we have stiff, lumbering artificiality.
+
+Writers like Bagehot do not tend at all to impressive repetition:
+their motive is always the business-like one of lucidity, though it is
+sometimes lucidity run mad. Repetition of this kind, not being designed
+to draw the reader’s attention to itself, wears much better in practice
+than the more pronounced types of rhetorical repetition. The latter
+should be used very sparingly. As the spontaneous expression of strong
+feeling in the writer, it is sometimes justified by circumstances:
+employed as a deliberate artifice to impress the reader, it is likely
+to be frigid, and to fail in its object; and the term ‘rhetorical’
+should remind us in either case that what may be spoken effectively
+will not always bear the test of writing.
+
+Rhetorical repetition, when it is clearly distinguishable from the
+non-rhetorical, is too obvious to require much illustration. Of the
+three instances given, the last is an excellent test case for the
+principle that ‘whatever is intentional is good’.
+
+ I have summoned you here to witness your own work. I have summoned you
+ here to witness it, because I know it will be gall and wormwood to
+ you. I have summoned you here to witness it, because I know the sight
+ of everybody here must be a dagger in your mean false heart!--DICKENS.
+
+ As the lark rose higher, he sank deeper into thought. As the lark
+ poured out her melody clearer and stronger, he fell into a graver and
+ profounder silence. At length, when the lark came headlong down ... he
+ sprang up from his reverie.--DICKENS.
+
+ Russia may split into fragments, or Russia may become a
+ volcano.--_Spectator._
+
+
+ MISCELLANEOUS
+
+a. Some more trite phrases.
+
+The worn-out phrases considered in a former section were of a humorous
+tendency: we may add here some expressions of another kind, all of
+them calculated in one way or another to save the writer trouble; the
+trouble of description, or of producing statistics, or of thinking what
+he means. Such phrases naturally die hard; even ‘more easily imagined
+than described’ still survives the rough handling it has met with, and
+flourishes in writers of a certain class. ‘Depend upon it’, ‘you may
+take my word for it’, ‘in a vast majority of cases’, ‘no thinking man
+will believe’, ‘all candid judges must surely agree’, ‘it would be a
+slaying of the slain’, ‘I am old-fashioned enough to think’, are all
+apt to damage the cause they advocate.
+
+The shrill formula ‘It stands to reason’ is one of the worst offenders.
+Originally harmless, and still no doubt often used in quite rational
+contexts, the phrase has somehow got a bad name for prefacing
+fallacies and for begging questions; it lacks the delicious candour of
+its feminine equivalent--‘Kindly allow me to know best’--, but appeals
+perhaps not less irresistibly to the generosity of an opponent. Apart
+from this, there is a correct and an incorrect use of the words. It is
+of course the conclusion drawn from certain premisses that stands to
+reason; the premisses do not stand to reason; they are assumed to be
+a matter of common knowledge, and ought to be distinguished from the
+conclusion by _if_ or a causal participle, not co-ordinated with it by
+_and_.
+
+ My dear fellow, it stands to reason that if the square of _a_ is _a_
+ squared, and the square of _b_ is _b_ squared, then the square of _a_
+ minus _b_ is _a_ squared minus _b_ squared. You may argue till we are
+ both tired, you will never alter that.
+
+ It stands to reason that a thick tumbler, having a larger body of cold
+ matter for the heat to distribute itself over, is less liable to crack
+ when boiling water is poured into it than a thin one would be.
+
+ It stands to reason that my men have their own work to attend to,
+ and cannot be running about London all day rectifying other people’s
+ mistakes.
+
+ It stands to reason that Russia, though vast, is a poor country,
+ that the war must cost immense sums, and that there must come a
+ time....--_Spectator._
+
+Just as ‘stands to reason’ is not an argument, but an invitation to
+believe, ‘the worthy Major’ not amusing, but an invitation to smile, so
+the sentimental or sensational novelist has his special vocabulary of
+the impressive, the tender, the tragic, and the horrible. One or two of
+the more obvious catch-phrases may be quoted. In the ‘strong man’ of
+fiction the reader may have observed a growing tendency to ‘sob like a
+child’; the right-minded hero to whom temptation comes decides, with
+archaic rectitude, that he ‘will not do _this thing_’; the villain,
+taught by incessant ridicule to abstain from ‘muffled curses’, finds
+a vent in ‘discordant laughs, that somehow jarred unpleasantly upon
+my nerves’; this laugh, _mutatis mutandis_ (‘cruel little laugh, that
+somehow ...’), he shares with the heroine, who for her exclusive
+perquisite has ‘this man who had somehow come into her life’. _Somehow_
+and _half-dazed_ are invaluable for throwing a mysterious glamour over
+situations and characters that shun the broad daylight of common sense.
+
+b. Elementary irony.
+
+A well-known novelist speaks of the resentment that children feel
+against those elders who insist upon addressing them in a jocular
+tone, as if serious conversation between the two were out of the
+question. Irony is largely open to the same objection: the writer
+who uses it is taking our intellectual measure; he forgets our _ex
+officio_ perfection in wisdom. Theoretically, indeed, the reader is
+admitted to the author’s confidence; _he_ is not the _corpus vile_ on
+which experiment is made: that, however, is scarcely more convincing
+than the two-edged formula ‘present company excepted’. For minute,
+detailed illustration of truths that have had the misfortune to become
+commonplaces without making their due impression, sustained irony has
+its legitimate use: tired of being told, and shown by direct methods,
+that only the virtuous man is admirable, we are glad enough to go off
+with Fielding on a brisk _reductio ad absurdum_: ‘for if not, let some
+other kind of man be admirable; as Jonathan Wild’. But the _reductio_
+process should be kept for emergencies, as Euclid kept it, with whom
+it is a confession that direct methods are not available. The isolated
+snatches of irony quoted below have no such justification: they are
+for ornament, not for utility; and it is a kind of ornament that is
+peculiarly un-English--a way of shrugging one’s shoulders in print.
+
+ He had also the comfortable reflection that, by the violent quarrel
+ with Lord Dalgarno, he must now forfeit the friendship and good
+ offices of that nobleman’s father and sister.--SCOTT.
+
+ Naturally that reference was received with laughter by the Opposition,
+ who are, or profess to be, convinced that our countrymen in the
+ Transvaal do not intend to keep faith with us. They are very welcome
+ to the monopoly of that unworthy estimate, which must greatly endear
+ them to all our kindred beyond seas.--_Times._
+
+ The whole of these proceedings were so agreeable to Mr. Pecksniff,
+ that he stood with his eyes fixed upon the floor ..., as if a host of
+ penal sentences were being passed upon him.--DICKENS.
+
+ The time comes when the banker thinks it prudent to contract some of
+ his accounts, and this may be one which he thinks it expedient to
+ reduce: and then perhaps he makes the pleasant discovery, that there
+ are no such persons at all as the acceptors, and that the funds for
+ meeting all these bills have been got from himself!--H. D. MACLEOD.
+
+_Pleasant_ is put for _unpleasant_ because the latter seemed dull and
+unnecessary; the writer should have taken the hint, and put nothing at
+all.
+
+The climax is reached by those pessimists who, regarding the reader’s
+case as desperate, assist him with punctuation, italics, and the like:
+
+ And this honourable (?) proposal was actually made in the presence of
+ two at least of the parties to the former transaction!
+
+ These so-called _gentlemen_ seem to forget....
+
+ I was content to be snubbed and harassed and worried a hundred times a
+ day by one or other of the ‘great’ personages who wandered at will all
+ over my house and grounds, and accepted my lavish hospitality. Many
+ people imagine that it must be an ‘honour’ to entertain a select party
+ of aristocrats, but I....--CORELLI.
+
+ The much-prated-of ‘kindness of heart’ and ‘generosity’ possessed by
+ millionaires, generally amounts to this kind of thing.--CORELLI.
+
+ Was I about to discover that the supposed ‘woman-hater’ had been tamed
+ and caught at last?--CORELLI.
+
+ That should undoubtedly have been your ‘great’ career--you were born
+ for it--made for it! You would have been as brute-souled as you are
+ now....--CORELLI.
+
+c. Superlatives without _the_.
+
+The omission of _the_ with superlatives is limited by ordinary prose
+usage to (1) Superlatives after a possessive: ‘Your best plan’. (2)
+Superlatives with _most_: ‘in most distressing circumstances’, but not
+‘in saddest circumstances’. (3) Superlatives in apposition, followed
+by _of_: ‘I took refuge with X., kindliest of hosts’; ‘We are now
+at Weymouth, dingiest of decayed watering-places’. Many writers of
+the present day affect the omission of _the_ in all cases where the
+superlative only means _very_. No harm will be done if they eventually
+have their way: in the meantime, the omission of _the_ with inflected
+superlatives has the appearance of gross mannerism.
+
+ Our enveloping movements since some days proved successful, and
+ fiercest battle is now proceeding.--_Times._
+
+ In which, too, so many noblest men have ... both made and been what
+ will be venerated to all time.--CARLYLE.
+
+ Struggling with objects which, though it cannot master them, are
+ essentially of richest significance.--CARLYLE.
+
+ The request was urged with every kind suggestion, and every assurance
+ of aid and comfort, by friendliest parties in Manchester, who, in the
+ sequel, amply redeemed their word.--EMERSON.
+
+ In Darkest Africa.--STANLEY.
+
+ Delos furnishes, not only quaintest tripods, crude bronze oxen and
+ horses like those found at Olympia, but....--L. M. MITCHELL.
+
+ The scene represents in crudest forms the combat of gods and giants, a
+ subject which should attain long afterwards fullest expression in the
+ powerful frieze of the Great Altar at Pergamon.--L. M. MITCHELL.
+
+ A world of highest and noblest thought in dramas of perfect form.--L.
+ M. MITCHELL.
+
+ From earliest times such competitive games had been celebrated.--L. M.
+ MITCHELL.
+
+ When fullest, freest forms had not yet been developed.--L. M. MITCHELL.
+
+d. Cheap originality.
+
+Just as ‘elegant variation’ is generally a worse fault than monotony,
+so the avoidance of trite phrases is sometimes worse than triteness
+itself. Children have been known to satisfy an early thirst for
+notoriety by merely turning their coats inside out; and ‘distinction’
+of style has been secured by some writers on the still easier terms
+of writing a common expression backwards. By this simplest of all
+possible expedients, ‘wear and tear’ ceases to be English, and becomes
+Carlylese, and Emerson acquires an exclusive property (so at least
+one hopes) in ‘nothing or little’. The novice need scarcely be warned
+against infringing these writers’ patents; it would be as unpardonable
+as stealing the idea of a machine for converting clean knives into
+dirty ones. Hackneyed phrases become hackneyed because they are
+useful, in the first instance; but they derive a new efficiency from
+the very fact that they are hackneyed. Their precise form grows to
+be an essential part of the idea they convey, and all that a writer
+effects by turning such a phrase backwards, or otherwise tampering
+with it, is to give us our triteness at secondhand; we are put to the
+trouble of translating ‘tear and wear’, only to arrive at our old
+friend ‘wear and tear’, hackneyed as ever.
+
+ How beautiful is noble-sentiment; like gossamer-gauze beautiful and
+ cheap, which will stand no _tear and wear_.--CARLYLE.
+
+ Bloated promises, which end in _nothing or little_.--EMERSON.
+
+ The universities also are _parcel_ of the ecclesiastical
+ system.--EMERSON.
+
+ Fox, Burke, Pitt, Erskine, Wilberforce, Sheridan, Romilly,
+ or _whatever national man_, were by this means sent to
+ Parliament.--EMERSON.
+
+ And the stronger these are, the individual is so much weaker.--EMERSON.
+
+ The faster the ball falls to the sun, the force to fly off is by so
+ much augmented.--EMERSON.
+
+ The friction in nature is so enormous that we cannot spare any power.
+ _It is not question_ to express our thought, to elect our way, but to
+ overcome resistances.--EMERSON.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER IV
+
+ PUNCTUATION
+
+
+In this chapter we shall adhere generally to our plan of not giving
+systematic positive directions, or attempting to cover all ground
+familiar and unfamiliar, important or not, but drawing attention only
+to the most prevalent mistakes. On so technical a subject, however, a
+few preliminary remarks may be made; and to those readers who would
+prefer a systematic treatise Beadnell’s _Spelling and Punctuation_
+(Wyman’s Technical Series, Menken, 2/6) may be recommended. We shall
+refer to it occasionally in what follows; and the examples to which
+--B. is attached instead of an author’s name are taken from it; these
+are all given in Beadnell (unless the contrary is stated) as examples
+of correct punctuation. It should be added that the book is written
+rather from the compositor’s than from the author’s point of view, and
+illustrates the compositor’s natural weaknesses; it is more important
+to him, for instance, that a page should not be unsightly (the
+unsightliness being quite imaginary, and the result of professional
+conservatism) than that quotation marks and stops, or dashes and stops,
+should be arranged in their true significant order; but, as the right
+and unsightly is candidly given as well as the wrong and beautiful,
+this does not matter; the student can take his choice.
+
+We shall begin by explaining how it is that punctuation is a difficult
+matter, and worth a writer’s serious attention. There are only six
+stops, comma, semicolon, colon, full stop, question mark, exclamation
+mark; or, with the dash, seven. The work of three of them, full stop,
+question, exclamation, is so clear that mistakes about their use can
+hardly occur without gross carelessness; and it might be thought that
+with the four thus left it ought to be a very simple matter to exhaust
+all possibilities in a brief code of rules. It is not so, however.
+Apart from temporary disturbing causes--of which two now operative are
+(1) the gradual disappearance of the colon in its old use with the
+decay of formal periodic arrangement, and (2) the encroachments of the
+dash as a saver of trouble and an exponent of emotion--there are also
+permanent difficulties.
+
+Before mentioning these we observe that the four stops in the strictest
+acceptation of the word (,) (;) (:) (.)--for (!) and (?) are tones
+rather than stops--form a series (it might be expressed also by 1, 2,
+3, 4), each member of which directs us to pause for so many units of
+time before proceeding. There is essentially nothing but a quantitative
+time relation between them.
+
+The first difficulty is that this single distinction has to convey to
+the reader differences of more than one kind, and not commensurable; it
+has to do both logical and rhetorical work. Its logical work is helping
+to make clear the grammatical relations between parts of a sentence
+or paragraph and the whole or other parts: its rhetorical work is
+contributing to emphasis, heightening effect, and regulating pace. It
+is in vain that Beadnell lays it down: ‘The variation of pause between
+the words of the same thought is a matter of rhetoric and feeling, but
+punctuation depends entirely upon the variation of relations--upon
+logical and grammatical principles’. The difference between these two:
+
+ The master beat the scholar with a strap.--B.
+ The master beat the scholar, with a strap.
+
+is in logic nothing; but in rhetoric it is the difference between
+matter-of-fact statement and indignant statement: a strap, we are to
+understand from the comma, is a barbarous instrument.
+
+Again, in the two following examples, so far as logic goes, commas
+would be used in both, or semicolons in both. But the writer of the
+second desires to be slow, staccato, and impressive: the writer of the
+first desires to be rapid and flowing, or rather, perhaps, does not
+desire to be anything other than natural.
+
+ Mathematicians have sought knowledge in figures, philosophers in
+ systems, logicians in subtilties, and metaphysicians in sounds.--B.
+
+ In the eclogue there must be nothing rude or vulgar; nothing fanciful
+ or affected; nothing subtle or abstruse.--B.
+
+The difference is rhetorical, not logical. It is true, however, that
+modern printers make an effort to be guided by logic or grammar alone;
+it is impossible for them to succeed entirely; but any one who will
+look at an Elizabethan book with the original stopping will see how far
+they have moved: the old stopping was frankly to guide the voice in
+reading aloud, while the modern is mainly to guide the mind in seeing
+through the grammatical construction.
+
+A perfect system of punctuation, then, that should be exact and
+uniform, would require separate rhetorical and logical notations in
+the first place. Such a system is not to be desired; the point is only
+that, without it, usage must fluctuate according as one element is
+allowed to interfere with the other. But a second difficulty remains,
+even if we assume that rhetoric could be eliminated altogether. Our
+stop series, as explained above, provides us with four degrees; but the
+degrees of closeness and remoteness between the members of sentence
+or paragraph are at the least ten times as many. It is easy to show
+that the comma, even in its purely logical function, has not one, but
+many tasks to do, which differ greatly in importance. Take the three
+examples:
+
+ His method of handling the subject was ornate, learned, and
+ perspicuous.--B.
+
+The removal of the comma after _learned_ makes so little difference
+that it is an open question among compositors whether it should be used
+or not.
+
+ The criminal, who had betrayed his associates, was a prey to remorse.
+
+With the commas, the criminal is necessarily a certain person already
+known to us: without them, we can only suppose a past state of society
+to be described, in which all traitors were ashamed of themselves--a
+difference of some importance.
+
+ Colonel Hutchinson, the Governor whom the King had now appointed,
+ having hardened his heart, resolved on sterner measures.
+
+Omission of the comma after _appointed_ gives us two persons instead
+of one, and entirely changes the meaning, making the central words
+into, what they could not possibly be with the comma, an absolute
+construction.
+
+These commas, that is, have very different values; many intermediate
+degrees might be added. Similarly the semicolon often separates
+grammatically complete sentences, but often also the mere items of a
+list, and between these extremes it marks other degrees of separation.
+A perfect system for the merely logical part of punctuation, then,
+would require some scores of stops instead of four. This again is not
+a thing to be desired; how little, is clear from the fact that one of
+our scanty supply, the colon, is now practically disused as a member
+of the series, and turned on to useful work at certain odd jobs that
+will be mentioned later. A series of stops that should really represent
+all gradations might perhaps be worked by here and there a writer
+consistently with himself; but to persuade all writers to observe the
+same distinctions would be hopeless.
+
+A third difficulty is this: not only must many tasks be performed by
+one stop; the same task is necessarily performed by different stops
+according to circumstances; as if polygamy were not bad enough, it
+is complicated by an admixture of polyandry. We have already given
+two sentences of nearly similar pattern, one of which had its parts
+separated by commas, the other by semicolons, and we remarked that
+the difference was there accounted for by the intrusion of rhetoric.
+But the same thing occurs even when logic or grammar (it should be
+explained that grammar is sometimes defined as logic applied to
+speech, so that for our purposes the two are synonymous) is free from
+the disturbing influence; or when that influence acts directly, not on
+the stop itself that is in question, but only on one of its neighbours.
+To illustrate the first case, when the stops are not affected by
+rhetoric, but depend on grammar alone, we may take a short sentence
+as a nucleus, elaborate it by successive additions, and observe how a
+particular stop has to go on increasing its power, though it continues
+to serve only the same purpose, because it must keep its predominance.
+
+ When ambition asserts the monstrous doctrine of millions made for
+ individuals, is not the good man indignant?
+
+The function of the comma is to mark the division between the
+subordinate and the main clauses.
+
+ When ambition asserts the monstrous doctrine of millions made for
+ individuals, their playthings, to be demolished at their caprice; is
+ not the good man indignant?
+
+The semicolon is doing now exactly what the comma did before; but, as
+commas have intruded into the clause to do the humble yet necessary
+work of marking two appositions, the original comma has to dignify its
+relatively more important office by converting itself into a semicolon.
+
+ When ambition asserts the monstrous doctrine of millions made for
+ individuals, their playthings, to be demolished at their caprice;
+ sporting wantonly with the rights, the peace, the comforts, the
+ existence, of nations, as if their intoxicated pride would, if
+ possible, make God’s earth their football: is not the good man
+ indignant?--B.
+
+The new insertion is also an apposition, like the former ones; but,
+as it contains commas within itself, it must be raised above their
+level by being allowed a semicolon to part it from them. The previous
+semicolon, still having the same supreme task to do, and challenged
+by an upstart rival, has nothing for it but to change the regal for
+the imperial crown, and become a colon. A careful observer will now
+object that, on these principles, our new insertion ought to have had
+an internal semicolon, to differentiate the subordinate clause, _as
+if_, &c., from the mere enumeration commas that precede: in which
+case the semi-colon after _caprice_ should be raised to a colon; and
+then what is the newly created emperor to do? There is no papal tiara
+for him to assume, the full stop being confined to the independent
+sentence. The objection is quite just, and shows how soon the powers
+of the four stops are exhausted if relentlessly worked. But we are
+concerned only to notice that the effect of stops, even logically
+considered, is relative, not absolute. It is also true that many modern
+writers, if they put down a sentence like this, would be satisfied
+with using commas throughout; the old-fashioned air of the colon will
+hardly escape notice. But the whole arrangement is according to the
+compositor’s art in its severer form.
+
+A specimen of the merely indirect action of rhetoric may be more
+shortly disposed of. In a sentence already quoted--
+
+ Mathematicians have sought knowledge in figures, philosophers in
+ systems, logicians in subtilties, and metaphysicians in sounds--
+
+suppose the writer to have preferred for impressive effect, as we said
+he might have, to use semicolons instead of commas. The immediate
+result of that would be that what before could be left to the reader
+to do for himself (i. e., the supplying of the words _have sought
+knowledge_ in each member) will in presence of the semicolon require to
+be done to the eye by commas, and the sentence will run:
+
+ Mathematicians have sought knowledge in figures; philosophers, in
+ systems; logicians, in subtilties; and metaphysicians, in sounds.
+
+But, lest we should be thought too faithful followers of the logicians,
+we will now assume that our point has been sufficiently proved: the
+difficulties of punctuation, owing to the interaction of different
+purposes, and the inadequacy of the instruments, are formidable enough
+to be worth grappling with.
+
+We shall now only make three general remarks before proceeding to
+details. The first is implied in what has been already said: the work
+of punctuation is mainly to show, or hint at, the grammatical relation
+between words, phrases, clauses, and sentences; but it must not be
+forgotten that stops also serve to regulate pace, to throw emphasis
+on particular words and give them significance, and to indicate tone.
+These effects are subordinate, and must not be allowed to conflict with
+the main object; but as the grammatical relation may often be shown in
+more than one way, that way can be chosen which serves another purpose
+best.
+
+Secondly, it is a sound principle that as few stops should be used as
+will do the work. There is a theory that scientific or philosophic
+matter should be punctuated very fully and exactly, whereas mere
+literary work can do with a much looser system. This is a mistake,
+except so far as scientific and philosophic writers may desire to give
+an impressive effect by retarding the pace; that is legitimate; but
+otherwise, all that is printed should have as many stops as help the
+reader, and not more. A resolution to put in all the stops that can be
+correctly used is very apt to result in the appearance of some that can
+only be used incorrectly; some of our quotations from Huxley and Mr.
+Balfour may be thought to illustrate this. And whereas slight stopping
+may venture on small irregularities, full stopping that is incorrect
+is also unpardonable. The objection to full stopping that is correct
+is the discomfort inflicted upon readers, who are perpetually being
+checked like a horse with a fidgety driver.
+
+Thirdly, every one should make up his mind not to depend on his stops.
+They are to be regarded as devices, not for saving him the trouble of
+putting his words into the order that naturally gives the required
+meaning, but for saving his reader the moment or two that would
+sometimes, without them, be necessarily spent on reading the sentence
+twice over, once to catch the general arrangement, and again for the
+details. It may almost be said that what reads wrongly if the stops are
+removed is radically bad; stops are not to alter meaning, but merely
+to show it up. Those who are learning to write should make a practice
+of putting down all they want to say without stops first. What then,
+on reading over, naturally arranges itself contrary to the intention
+should be not punctuated, but altered; and the stops should be as few
+as possible, consistently with the recognized rules. At this point
+those rules should follow; but adequately explained and illustrated,
+they would require a volume; and we can only speak of common abuses and
+transgressions of them.
+
+First comes what may be called for short the spot-plague--the tendency
+to make full-stops do all the work. The comma, most important, if
+slightest, of all stops, cannot indeed be got rid of, though even for
+that the full-stop is substituted when possible; but the semicolon
+is now as much avoided by many writers as the colon (in its old use)
+by most. With the semicolon go most of the conjunctions. Now there
+is something to be said for the change, or the two changes: the
+old-fashioned period, or long complex sentence, carefully worked out
+with a view to symmetry, balance, and degrees of subordination, though
+it has a dignity of its own, is formal, stiff, and sometimes frigid;
+the modern newspaper vice of long sentences either rambling or involved
+(far commoner in newspapers than the spot-plague) is inexpressibly
+wearisome and exasperating. Simplification is therefore desirable. But
+journalists now and then, and writers with more literary ambition than
+ability generally, overdo the thing till it becomes an affectation;
+it is then little different from Victor Hugo’s device of making every
+sentence a paragraph, and our last state is worse than our first.
+Patronizing archness, sham ingenuousness, spasmodic interruption,
+scrappy argument, dry monotony, are some of the resulting impressions.
+We shall have to trouble the reader with at least one rather long
+specimen; the spot-plague in its less virulent form, that is, when it
+is caused not by pretentiousness or bad taste, but merely by desire
+to escape from the period, does not declare itself very rapidly. What
+follows is a third or so of a literary review, of which the whole is
+in exactly the same style, and which might have been quoted entire
+for the same purpose. It will be seen that it shows twenty full-stops
+to one semicolon and no colons. Further, between no two of the twenty
+sentences is there a conjunction.
+
+ The life of Lord Chatham, which has just appeared in three volumes,
+ by Dr. Albert v. Ruville of the University of Halle deserves special
+ notice. It is much the most complete life which has yet appeared of
+ one of the most commanding figures in English history. It exhibits
+ that thoroughness of method which characterized German historical
+ writings of other days, and which has not lately been conspicuous.
+ It is learned without being dull, and is free from that uncritical
+ spirit of hostility to England which impairs the value of so many
+ recent German histories. That portion which deals with the closing
+ years of George II and with events following the accession of George
+ III is exceptionally interesting. One of the greatest misfortunes that
+ ever happened to England was the resignation of Pitt in 1761. It was
+ caused, as we all know, by difference of opinion with his colleagues
+ on the Spanish question. Ferdinand VI of Spain died in 1759, and was
+ succeeded by King Charles III, one of the most remarkable princes of
+ the House of Bourbon. This sovereign was an enthusiastic adherent of
+ the policy which found expression in the celebrated family compact.
+ On August 15, 1761, a secret convention was concluded between
+ France and Spain, under which Spain engaged to declare war against
+ England in May, 1762. Pitt quite understood the situation. He saw
+ that instant steps should be taken to meet the danger, and proposed
+ at a Cabinet held on October 2 that war should be declared against
+ Spain. Newcastle, Hardwicke, Anson, Bute, and Mansfield combated this
+ proposal, which was rejected, and two days afterwards Pitt resigned.
+ His scheme was neither immature nor ill-considered. He had made his
+ preparations to strike a heavy blow at the enemy, to seize the Isthmus
+ of Panama, thereby securing a port in the Pacific, and separating the
+ Spanish provinces of Mexico and Peru. He had planned an expedition
+ against Havana and the Philippine Islands, where no adequate
+ resistance could have been made; and, had he remained in office, there
+ is but little doubt that the most precious possessions of Spain in the
+ New World would have been incorporated in the British Empire. When he
+ left the Cabinet all virility seems to have gone out of it with him.
+ As he had foreseen, Spain declared war on England at a suitable moment
+ for herself, and the unfortunate negotiations were opened leading to
+ the Peace of Paris in 1763, which was pregnant with many disastrous
+ results for England. The circumstances which led to the resignation
+ of Pitt are dealt with by Dr. v. Ruville much more lucidly than by
+ most historians. This portion of his work is the more interesting
+ because of the pains he takes to clear George III from the charge of
+ conspiring against his great Minister.--_Times._
+
+The reader’s experience has probably been that the constant fresh
+starts are at first inspiriting, that about half-way he has had
+quite enough of the novelty, and that he is intensely grateful, when
+the solitary semicolon comes into sight, for a momentary lapse into
+ordinary gentle progress. Writers like this may almost be suspected of
+taking literally a summary piece of advice that we have lately seen
+in a book on English composition: _Never use a semicolon when you can
+employ a full-stop._ Beadnell lays down a law that at first sight seems
+to amount to the same thing: _The notion of parting short independent
+sentences otherwise than by a full-stop, rests upon no rational
+foundation, and leads to endless perplexities._ But his practice
+clears him of the imputation: he is saved by the ambiguity of the word
+_independent_. There are grammatical dependence, and dependence of
+thought. Of all those ‘little hard round unconnected things’, in the
+_Times_ review, that ‘seem to come upon one as shot would descend from
+a shot-making tower’ (Sir Arthur Helps), hardly one is not dependent
+on its neighbours in the more liberal sense, though each is a complete
+sentence and independent in grammar. Now one important use of stops
+is to express the degrees of thought dependence. A style that groups
+several complete sentences together, by the use of semicolons, because
+they are more closely connected in thought, is far more restful and
+easy--for the reader, that is--than the style that leaves him to do
+the grouping for himself; and yet it is free from the formality of the
+period, which consists, not of grammatically independent sentences, but
+of a main sentence with many subordinate clauses. We have not space for
+a long example of the group system rightly applied; most good modern
+writers free from the craving to be up to date will supply them on
+every page; but a very short quotation may serve to emphasize the
+difference between group and spot-plague principles. The essence of the
+latter is that almost the only stops used are full-stops and commas,
+that conjunctions are rare, and that when a conjunction does occur the
+comma is generally used, not the full-stop. What naturally follows is
+an arrangement of this kind:
+
+ The sheil of Ravensnuik was, for the present at least, at his
+ disposal. The foreman or ‘grieve’ at the Home Farm was anxious to be
+ friendly, but even if he lost that place, Dan Weir knew that there was
+ plenty of others.--CROCKETT.
+
+(To save trouble, let it be stated that the sheil is a dependency of
+the Home Farm, and not contrasted with or opposed to it.) Here there
+are three grammatically independent sentences, between the two latter
+of which the conjunction _but_ is inserted. It follows from spot-plague
+principles that there will be a full-stop at the end of the first,
+and a comma at the end of the second. With the group system it is not
+so simple a matter; before we can place the stops, we have to inquire
+how the three sentences are connected in thought. It then appears
+that the friendliness of the grieve is mentioned to account for the
+sheil’s being at disposal; that is, there is a close connexion, though
+no conjunction, between the first and the second sentences. Further,
+the birds in the bush of the third sentence are contrasted, not with
+the second sentence’s friendliness, but with the first sentence’s
+bird in the hand (which, however, is accounted for by the second
+sentence’s friendliness). To group rightly, then, we must take care,
+quite reversing the author’s punctuation, that the first and second
+are separated by a stop of less power than that which separates the
+third from them. Comma, semicolon, would do it, if the former were
+sufficient between two grammatically independent sentences not joined
+by a conjunction; it obviously is not sufficient here (though in some
+such pairs it might be); so, instead of comma, semicolon, we must use
+semicolon, full-stop; and the sentence will run, with its true meaning
+much more clearly given:
+
+ The sheil of Ravensnuik was, for the present at least, at his
+ disposal; the foreman or ‘grieve’ at the Home Farm was anxious to be
+ friendly. But even if he lost that place, Dan Weir knew that there was
+ plenty of others.
+
+The group system gives more trouble to the writer or compositor, and
+less to the reader; the compositor cannot be expected to like it, if
+the burden falls on him; inferior writers cannot be expected to choose
+it either, perhaps; but the good writers who do choose it no doubt find
+that after a short time the work comes to do itself by instinct.
+
+We need now only add two or three short specimens, worse, though
+from their shortness less remarkable, than the _Times_ extract. They
+are not specially selected as bad; but it may be hoped that by their
+juxtaposition they may have some deterrent effect.
+
+ So Dan opened the door a little and the dog came out as if nothing had
+ happened. It was now clear. The light was that of late evening. The
+ air hardly more than cool. A gentle fanning breeze came from the North
+ and....--CROCKETT.
+
+ Allies must have common sentiments, a common policy, common interests.
+ Russia’s disposition is aggressive. Her policy is the closed door.
+ Her interests lie in monopoly. With our country it is precisely the
+ opposite. Japan may conquer, but she will not aggress. Russia may be
+ defeated, but she will not abandon her aggression. With such a country
+ an alliance is beyond the conception even of a dream.--_Times._
+
+ Upon a hillside, a great swelling hillside, high up near the clouds,
+ lay a herd lad. Little more than a boy he was. He did not know much,
+ but he wanted to know more. He was not very good, but he wanted to be
+ better. He was lonely, but of that he was not aware. On the whole he
+ was content up there on his great hillside.--CROCKETT.
+
+ To be popular you have to be interested, or appear to be interested,
+ in other people. And there are so many in this world in whom it
+ is impossible to be interested. So many for whom the most skilful
+ hypocrisy cannot help us to maintain a semblance of interest.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ Of course a girl so pretty as my Miss Anne could not escape having
+ many suitors, especially as all over the countryside Sir Tempest had
+ the name of being something of a skinflint. And skinflints are always
+ rich, as is well known.--CROCKETT.
+
+The last sentence here is a mere comment on what is itself only an
+appendage, the clause introduced by _especially_; it has therefore
+no right to the dignity of a separate sentence. But it can hardly be
+mended without some alteration of words as well as stops; for instance,
+put a semicolon after suitors, write _moreover_ for _especially as_,
+and put only a comma after _skinflint_; the right proportion would then
+be secured.
+
+The spot-plague, as we have shown, sometimes results in illogicality;
+it need not do so, however; when it does, the fault lies with the
+person who, accepting its principles, does not arrange his sentences
+to suit them. It is a new-fashioned and, in our opinion, unpleasant
+system, but quite compatible with correctness.
+
+Over-stopping, to which we now proceed, is on the contrary
+old-fashioned; but it is equally compatible with correctness. Though
+old-fashioned, it still lingers obstinately enough to make some slight
+protest desirable; the superstition that every possible stop should be
+inserted in scientific and other such writing misleads compositors,
+and their example affects literary authors who have not much ear. Any
+one who finds himself putting down several commas close to one another
+should reflect that he is making himself disagreeable, and question his
+conscience, as severely as we ought to do about disagreeable conduct in
+real life, whether it is necessary. He will find that the parenthetic
+or emphatic effect given to an adverbial phrase by putting a comma
+at each end of it is often of no value whatever to his meaning; in
+other words, that he can make himself agreeable by merely putting off
+a certain pompous solemnity; erasing a pair of commas may make the
+difference in writing that is made in conversation by a change of tone
+from the didactic to the courteous. Sometimes the abundance of commas
+is not so easily reduced; a change in the order of words, the omission
+of a needless adverb or conjunction, even the recasting of a sentence,
+may be necessary. But it is a safe statement that a gathering of commas
+(except on certain lawful occasions, as in a list) is a suspicious
+circumstance. The sentence should at least be read aloud, and if it
+halts or jolts some change or other should be made.
+
+ The smallest portion possible of curious interest had been
+ awakened within me, and, at last, I asked myself, within my own
+ mind....--BORROW.
+
+None of the last three commas is wanted; those round _at last_ are very
+unpleasant, and they at least should be omitted.
+
+ In questions of trade and finance, questions which, owing, perhaps, to
+ their increasing intricacy, seem....--BRYCE.
+
+_Perhaps_ can do very well without commas.
+
+ It is, however, already plain enough that, unless, indeed, some great
+ catastrophe should upset all their calculations, the authorities have
+ very little intention....--_Times._
+
+_Indeed_ can do without commas, if it cannot itself be done without.
+
+ Jeannie, too, is, just occasionally, like a good girl out of a book by
+ a sentimental lady-novelist.--_Times._
+
+If _just_ is omitted, there need be no commas round _occasionally_.
+There may be a value in _just_; but hardly enough to compensate for the
+cruel jerking at the bit to which the poor reader is subjected by a
+remorseless driver.
+
+ Thus, their work, however imperfect and faulty, judged by modern
+ lights, it may have been, brought them face to face with....--HUXLEY.
+
+The comma after _thus_ is nothing if not pompous. And another can be
+got rid of by putting _it may have been_ before _judged by modern
+lights_.
+
+ Lilias suggested the advice which, of all others, seemed most suited
+ to the occasion, that, yielding, namely, to the circumstances of their
+ situation, they should watch....--SCOTT.
+
+Omit _namely_ and its commas.
+
+ Shakespeare, it is true, had, as I have said, as respects England, the
+ privilege which only first-comers enjoy.--LOWELL.
+
+A good example of the warning value of commas. None of these can
+be dispensed with, since there are no less than three parenthetic
+qualifications to the sentence. But the crowd of commas ought to have
+told the writer how bad his sentence was; it is like an obstacle race.
+It should begin, It is true that ..., which disposes of one obstacle.
+_As I have said_ can be given a separate sentence afterwards--So much
+has been said before.
+
+ Private banks and capitalists constitute the main bulk of the
+ subscribers, and, apparently, they are prepared to go on subscribing
+ indefinitely.--_Times._
+
+Putting commas round _apparently_ amounts to the insertion of a
+further clause, such as, Though you would not think they could be such
+fools. But what the precise contents of the further clause may be is
+problematic. At any rate, a writer should not invite us to read between
+the lines unless he is sure of two things: what he wants to be read
+there; and that we are likely to be willing and able readers of it. The
+same is true of many words that are half adverbs and half conjunctions,
+like _therefore_. We have the right to comma them off if we like; but,
+unless it is done with a definite purpose, it produces perplexity as
+well as heaviness. In the first of the next two examples, there is
+no need whatever for the commas. In the second, the motive is clear:
+having the choice between commas and no commas, the reporter uses them
+because he so secures a pause after _he_, and gives the word that
+emphasis which in the speech as delivered doubtless made the _I_ that
+it represents equivalent to _I for my part_.
+
+ Both Tom and John knew this; and, therefore, John--the soft-hearted
+ one--kept out of the way.--TROLLOPE.
+
+ It would not be possible to sanction an absolutely unlimited
+ expenditure on the Volunteers; the burden on the tax-payers would be
+ too great. He, therefore, wished that those who knew most about the
+ Volunteers would make up their minds as to the direction in which
+ there should be development.--_Times._
+
+After _for_ and _and_ beginning a sentence commas are often used
+that are hardly even correct. It may be suspected that writers allow
+themselves to be deceived by the false analogy of sentences in which
+the _and_ or _for_ is immediately followed by a subordinate clause
+or phrase that has a right to its two commas. When there is no such
+interruption, the only possible plea for the comma is that it is not
+logical but rhetorical, and conveys some archness or other special
+significance such as is hardly to be found in our two examples:
+
+ The lawn, the soft, smooth slope, the ... bespeak an amount of elegant
+ comfort within, that would serve for a palace. This indication is
+ not without warrant; for, within it is a house of refinement and
+ luxury.--DICKENS.
+
+ And, it is true that these were the days of mental and moral
+ fermentation.--HUTTON.
+
+We shall class here also, assuming for the present that the rhetorical
+plea may be allowed even when there is no logical justification for a
+stop, two sentences in which the copula _is_, standing between subject
+and complement, has commas on each side of it. Impressiveness is what
+is aimed at; it seems to us a tawdry device for giving one’s sentence
+an _ex cathedra_ air:
+
+ The reason why the world lacks unity, is, because man is disunited
+ with himself.--EMERSON.
+
+ The charm in Nelson’s history, is, the unselfish greatness.--EMERSON.
+
+Many other kinds of over-stopping might be illustrated; but we have
+intentionally confined ourselves here to specimens in which grammatical
+considerations do not arise, and the sentence is equally correct
+whether the stops are inserted or not. Sentences in which over-stopping
+outrages grammar more or less decidedly will be incidentally treated
+later on. Meanwhile we make the general remark that ungrammatical
+insertion of stops is a high crime and misdemeanour, whereas
+ungrammatical omission of them is often venial, and in some cases
+even desirable. Nevertheless the over-stopping that offends against
+nothing but taste has its counterpart in under-stopping of the same
+sort. And it must be added that nothing so easily exposes a writer
+to the suspicion of being uneducated as omission of commas against
+nearly universal custom. In the examples that follow, every one will
+see at the first glance where commas are wanting. When it is remembered
+that, as we have implied, an author has the right to select the degree
+of intensity, or scale, of his punctuation, it can hardly be said
+that grammar actually demands any stops in these sentences taken by
+themselves. Yet the effect, unless we choose to assume misprints, as we
+naturally do in isolated cases, is horrible.
+
+ It may be asked can further depreciation be afforded.--_Times._
+
+ I believe you used to live in Warwickshire at Willowsmere Court did
+ you not?--CORELLI.
+
+ The hills slope gently to the cliffs which overhang the bay of Naples
+ and they seem to bear on their outstretched arms a rich offering
+ of Nature’s fairest gifts for the queen city of the south.--F. M.
+ CRAWFORD.
+
+ ‘You made a veritable sensation Lucio!’ ‘Did I?’ He laughed. ‘You
+ flatter me Geoffrey.’--CORELLI.
+
+ I like your swiftness of action Geoffrey.--CORELLI.
+
+ Good heavens man, there are no end of lords and ladies who
+ will....--CORELLI.
+
+Although we are, when we turn from taste to grammar, on slightly firmer
+ground, it will be seen that there are many debatable questions; and
+we shall have to use some technical terms. As usual, only those points
+will be attended to which our observation has shown to be important.
+
+1. The substantival clause.
+
+Subordinate clauses are sentences containing a subject and predicate,
+but serving the purpose in the main sentence (to which they are
+sometimes joined by a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun,
+but sometimes without any separate and visible link) of single words,
+namely, of noun, adjective, or adverb; they are called respectively
+substantival, adjectival, or adverbial clauses. Examples:
+
+Substantival. He asked _what I should do_. (_my plan_, noun)
+
+Adjectival. The man _who acts honestly_ is respected. (_honest_,
+adjective)
+
+Adverbial. I shall see you _when the sun next rises_. (_to-morrow_,
+adverb)
+
+Now there is no rule that subordinate clauses must be separated from
+the main sentence by a stop; that depends on whether they are essential
+parts of the proposition (when stops are generally wrong), or more or
+less separable accidents (when commas are more or less required). But
+what we wish to draw attention to is a distinction in this respect,
+very generally disregarded, between the substantival clause and the two
+other kinds. When the others are omitted, though the desired meaning
+may be spoilt, the grammar generally remains uninjured; a complete,
+though not perhaps valuable sentence is left. _The man is respected_,
+_I shall see you_, are as much sentences alone as they were with the
+adjectival and adverbial clauses. With substantival clauses this is
+seldom true; they are usually the subjects, objects, or complements,
+of the verbs, that is, are grammatically essential. _He asked_ is
+meaningless by itself. (Even if the point is that he asked and did not
+answer, _things_, or _something_, has to be supplied in thought.) Now
+it is a principle, not without exceptions, but generally sound, that
+the subject, object, or complement, is not to be separated from its
+verb even by a comma (though _two_ commas belonging to an inserted
+parenthetic clause or phrase or word may intervene). It follows that
+there is no logical or grammatical justification, though there may
+be a rhetorical one, for the comma so frequently placed before the
+_that_ of an indirect statement. Our own opinion (which is, however,
+contrary to the practice of most compositors) is that this should
+always be omitted except when the writer has a very distinct reason for
+producing rhetorical impressiveness by an unusual pause. Some very ugly
+overstopping would thus be avoided.
+
+ Yet there, too, we find, that character has its problems to
+ solve.--MEREDITH.
+
+ We know, that, in the individual man, consciousness grows.--HUXLEY.
+
+ And it is said, that, on a visitor once asking to see his library,
+ Descartes led him....--HUXLEY.
+
+ The general opinion however was, that, if Bute had been early
+ practised in debate, he might have become an impressive
+ speaker.--MACAULAY.
+
+The comma before _whether_ in the next is actually misleading; we are
+tempted to take as adverbial what is really a substantival clause,
+object to the verbal noun _indifference_:
+
+ The book ... had merits due to the author’s indifference, whether he
+ showed bad taste or not, provided he got nearer to the impression he
+ wished to convey.--_Speaker._
+
+Grammar, however, would afford some justification for distinguishing
+between the substantival clause as subject, object, or complement, and
+the substantival clause in apposition with one of these. Though there
+should decidedly be no comma in _He said that ..._, it is strictly
+defensible in _It is said, that...._ The _that_-clause in the latter
+is explanatory of, and in apposition with, _it_; and the ordinary
+sign of apposition is a comma. Similarly, _My opinion is that_: _It
+is my opinion, that_. But as there seems to be no value whatever in
+the distinction, our advice is to do without the comma in all ordinary
+cases of either kind. A useful and reasonable exception is made in
+some manuals; for instance, in Bigelow’s _Manual of Punctuation_ we
+read: ‘Clauses like “It is said”, introducing several propositions
+or quotations, each preceded by the word _that_, should have a comma
+before the first _that_. But if a single proposition or quotation only
+is given, no comma is necessary. Example:
+
+ Philosophers assert, that Nature is unlimited in her operations, that
+ she has inexhaustible treasures in reserve, that....’
+
+Anything that shows the reader what he is to expect, and so saves
+him the trouble of coming back to revise his first impressions, is
+desirable if there is no strong reason against it.
+
+A more important distinction is this: _He said_, &c., may have
+for its object, and _It is said_, &c., for its (virtual) subject,
+either the actual words said, or a slight rearrangement of them (not
+necessarily to the eye, but at least to the mind), which makes them
+more clearly part of the grammatical construction, and turns them
+into true subordinate clauses. Thus _He told her, You are in danger_
+may be kept, but is usually altered to _He told her that she was in
+danger_, or to _He told her she was in danger_. In the first, _You
+are in danger_ is not properly a subordinate clause, but a sentence,
+which may be said to be in apposition with _these words_ understood.
+In the second and third alike, the altered words are a subordinate
+substantival clause, the object to _told_. It follows that when the
+actual words are given as such (this is sometimes only to be known by
+the tone: compare _I tell you, I will come_, and _I tell you I will
+come_), a comma should be inserted; whereas, when they are meant as
+mere reported or indirect speech, it should be omitted. Actual words
+given as such should also be begun with a capital letter; and if they
+consist of a compound sentence, or of several sentences, a comma will
+not suffice for their introduction; a colon, a colon and dash, or a
+full stop, with quotation marks always in the last case, and usually in
+the others, will be necessary; but these are distinctions that need not
+be considered here in detail.
+
+Further, it must be remembered that substantival clauses include
+indirect questions as well as indirect statements, and that the same
+rules will apply to them. The two following examples are very badly
+stopped:
+
+ (_a_) Add to all this that he died in his thirty-seventh year: and
+ then ask, If it be strange that his poems are imperfect?--CARLYLE.
+
+Accommodation of the stops to the words would give:
+
+ and then ask if it be strange that his poems are imperfect.
+
+And accommodation of the words to the stops would give:
+
+ and then ask, Is it strange that his poems are imperfect?
+
+ (_b_) It may be asked can further depreciation be afforded.--_Times._
+
+The two correct alternatives here are similarly:
+
+ It may be asked, Can further depreciation be afforded?
+
+ It may be asked whether further depreciation can be afforded.
+
+As the sentences stood originally, we get in the Carlyle a most
+theatrical, and in the _Times_ a most slovenly effect.
+
+2. The verb and its subject, object, or complement.
+
+Our argument against the common practice of placing a comma before
+substantival _that_-clauses and others like them was, in brief: This
+sort of _that_-clause is simply equivalent to a noun; that noun is,
+with few exceptions, the subject, object, or complement, to a verb;
+and between things so closely and essentially connected as the verb
+and any of these no stop should intervene (unless for very strong and
+special rhetorical reasons). This last principle, that the verb and its
+essential belongings must not be parted, was merely assumed. We think
+it will be granted by any one who reads the next two examples. It is
+felt at once that a writer who will break the principle with so little
+excuse as here will shrink from nothing.
+
+ So poor Byron was dethroned, as I had prophesied he would be, though I
+ had little idea that his humiliation, would be brought about by one,
+ whose sole strength consists in setting people to sleep.--BORROW.
+
+ He was, moreover, not an unkind man; but the crew of the _Bounty_,
+ mutinied against him, and set him half naked in an open boat.--BORROW.
+
+Very little better than these, but each with some perceptible motive,
+are the next six:
+
+ Depreciation of him, fetched up at a stroke the glittering armies of
+ her enthusiasm.--MEREDITH.
+
+ Opposition to him, was comparable to the stand of blocks of timber
+ before a flame.--MEREDITH.
+
+In each of these the comma acts as an accent upon _him_, and is purely
+rhetorical and illogical.
+
+ Such women as you, are seldom troubled with remorse.--CORELLI.
+
+Here the comma guards us from taking _you are_ together. We have
+already said that this device is illegitimate. Such sentences should be
+recast; for instance, Women like you are seldom, &c.
+
+ The thick foliage of the branching oaks and elms in my grounds
+ afforded grateful shade and repose to the tired body, while the
+ tranquil loveliness of the woodland and meadow scenery, comforted and
+ soothed the equally tired mind.--CORELLI.
+
+ With them came young boys and little children, while on either side,
+ maidens white-veiled and rose-wreathed, paced demurely, swinging
+ silver censers to and fro.--CORELLI.
+
+ Swift’s view of human nature, is too black to admit of any hopes of
+ their millennium.--L. STEPHEN.
+
+_Loveliness_, _maidens_, _view_, the strict subjects, have adjectival
+phrases attached after them. The temptation to insert the comma is
+comprehensible, but slight, and should have been resisted.
+
+In the three that come next, the considerable length of the subject,
+it must be admitted, makes a comma comforting; it gives us a sort of
+assurance that we have kept our hold on the sentence. It is illogical,
+however, and, owing to the importance of not dividing subject from
+verb, unpleasantly illogical. In each case the comfort would be equally
+effective if it were legitimized by the insertion of a comma before
+as well as after the clause or phrase at the end of which the present
+comma stands. The extra commas would be after _earth_, _victims_,
+_Schleiden_.
+
+ To see so many thousand wretches burdening the earth when such as her
+ die, makes me think God did never intend life for a blessing.--SWIFT.
+
+ An order of the day expressing sympathy with the families of the
+ victims and confidence in the Government, was adopted.--_Times._
+
+ The famous researches of Schwann and Schleiden in 1837 and the
+ following years, founded the modern science of histology.--HUXLEY.
+
+It may be said that it is ‘fudging’ to find an excuse, as we have
+proposed to do, for a stop that we mean really to do something
+different from its ostensible work. But the answer is that with few
+tools and many tasks to do much fudging is in fact necessary.
+
+A special form of this, in protest against which we shall give five
+examples, each from a different well-known author, is when the subject
+includes and ends with a defining relative clause, after which an
+illogical comma is placed. As the relative clause is of the defining
+kind (a phrase that has been explained[12]), it is practically
+impossible to fudge in these sentences by putting a comma before the
+relative pronoun. Even in the first sentence the length of the relative
+clause is no sufficient excuse; and in all the others we should abolish
+the comma without hesitation.
+
+ The same quickness of sympathy which had served him well in his work
+ among the East End poor, enabled him to pour feeling into the figures
+ of a bygone age.--BRYCE.
+
+ One of its agents is our will, but that which expresses itself in our
+ will, is stronger than our will.--EMERSON.
+
+ The very interesting class of objects to which these belong, do not
+ differ from the rest of the material universe.--BALFOUR.
+
+ And thus, the great men who were identified with the war, began slowly
+ to edge over to the party....--L. STEPHEN.
+
+ In becoming a merchant-gild the body of citizens who formed the
+ ‘town’, enlarged their powers of civic legislation.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+In the two sentences that now follow from Mr. Morley, the offending
+comma of the first parts _centre_, which is what grammarians call the
+oblique complement, from its verb _made_; the offending comma of the
+second parts the direct object _groups_ from its verb _drew_. Every one
+will allow that the sentences are clumsy; most people will allow that
+the commas are illogical. As for us, we do not say that, if the words
+are to be kept as they are, the commas should be omitted; but we do say
+that a good writer, when he found himself reduced to illogical commas,
+should have taken the trouble to rearrange his words.
+
+ De Maistre was never more clear-sighted than when he made a vigorous
+ and deliberate onslaught upon Bacon, the centre of his movement
+ against revolutionary principles.--MORLEY.
+
+ In saying that the Encyclopaedists began a political work, what
+ is meant is that they drew into the light of new ideas, groups of
+ institutions, usages, and arrangements which affected the well-being
+ of France, as closely as nutrition affected the health and strength of
+ an individual Frenchman.--MORLEY.
+
+It may be added, by way of concluding this section, that the insertion
+of a comma in the middle of an absolute construction, which is capable,
+as was shown in the sentence about Colonel Hutchinson and the governor,
+of having very bad results indeed, is only a particular instance
+and _reductio ad absurdum_ of inserting a comma between subject and
+verb. The comma in the absolute construction is so recognized a trap
+that it might have been thought needless to mention it; the following
+instances, however, will show that a warning is even now necessary.
+
+ Sir E. Seymour, having replied for the Navy, the Duke of Connaught, in
+ replying for the Army, said....--_Times._
+
+ Thus _got_, having been by custom poorly substituted for _gat_,
+ so that we say He got away, instead of He gat away, many persons
+ abbreviate _gotten_ into _got_, saying He had got, for He had
+ gotten.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+ The garrison, having been driven from the outer line of defences
+ on July 30, Admiral Witoft considered it high time to make a
+ sortie.--_Times._
+
+ But that didn’t last long; for Dr. Blimber, happening to change the
+ position of his tight plump legs, as if he were going to get up, Toots
+ swiftly vanished.--DICKENS.
+
+3. The adjectival clause.
+
+This, strictly speaking, does the work of an adjective in the sentence.
+It usually begins with a relative pronoun, but sometimes with a
+relative adverb. The man _who does not breathe_ dies, is equivalent to
+The _unbreathing_ man dies. The place _where we stand_ is holy ground,
+is equivalent to _This_ place is holy ground. But we shall include
+under the phrase all clauses that begin with a relative, though some
+relative clauses are not adjectival, because a division of all into
+defining clauses on the one hand, and non-defining or commenting on the
+other, is more easily intelligible than the division into adjectival
+and non-adjectival. This distinction is more fully gone into in the
+chapter on Syntax, where it is suggested that _that_, when possible,
+is the appropriate relative for defining, and _which_ for non-defining
+clauses. That, however, is a debatable point, and quite apart from the
+question of stopping that arises here. Examples of the two types are:
+
+(Defining) The river that (which) runs through London is turbid.
+
+(Commenting) The Thames, which runs through London, is turbid.
+
+It will be seen that in the first the relative clause is an answer to
+the imaginary question, ‘Which river?’; that is, it defines the noun
+to which it belongs. In the second, such a question as ‘Which Thames?’
+is hardly conceivable; the relative clause gives us a piece of extra
+and non-essential information, an independent comment. The two types
+are not always so easily distinguished as in these examples constructed
+for the purpose. What we wish here to say is that it would contribute
+much to clearness of style if writers would always make up their minds
+whether they intend a definition or a comment, and would invariably use
+no commas with a defining clause, and two commas with a non-defining.
+All the examples that follow are in our opinion wrong. The first
+three are of defining relative clauses wrongly preceded by commas;
+the second three of commenting relative clauses wrongly not preceded
+by commas. The last of all there may be a doubt about. If the long
+clause beginning with _which_ is intended merely to show how great the
+weariness is, and _which_ is practically equivalent to _so great that_,
+it may be called a defining clause, and the omission of the comma is
+right. But if the _which_ really acts as a mere connexion to introduce
+a new fact that the correspondent wishes to record, the clause is
+non-defining, and the comma ought according to our rule to be inserted
+before it.
+
+ The man, _who_ thinketh in his heart and hath the power straightway
+ (very straightway) to go and do it, is not so common in any
+ country.--CROCKETT.
+
+ Now everyone must do after his kind, be he asp or angel, and these
+ must. The question, _which_ a wise man and a student of modern history
+ will ask, is, what that kind is.--EMERSON.
+
+ Those, _who_ are urging with most ardour what are called the
+ greatest benefits of mankind, are narrow, self-pleasing, conceited
+ men.--EMERSON.
+
+ A reminder is being sent to all absent members of the Nationalist
+ party that their attendance at Westminster is urgently required next
+ week _when_ the Budget will be taken on Monday.--_Times._
+
+ The Marshall Islands will pass from the control of the Jaluit Company
+ under that of the German colonial authorities _who_ will bear the cost
+ of administration and will therefore collect all taxes.--_Times._
+
+ The causes of this popularity are, no doubt, in part, the extreme
+ simplicity of the reasoning on which the theory rests, in part its
+ extreme plausibility, in part, perhaps, the nature of the result
+ _which_ is commonly thought to be speculatively interesting without
+ being practically inconvenient.--BALFOUR.
+
+ Naval critics ... are showing signs of weariness _which_ even the
+ reported appearance of Admiral Nebogatoff in the Malacca Strait is
+ unable to remove.--_Times._
+
+4. The adverb, adverbial phrase, and adverbial clause.
+
+In writing of substantival and adjectival clauses, our appeal was for
+more logical precision than is usual. We said that the comma habitual
+before substantival clauses was in most cases unjustifiable, and should
+be omitted even at the cost of occasional slight discomfort. We said
+that with one division of adjectival, or rather relative clauses,
+commas should always be used, and with another they should always be
+omitted. With the adverbial clauses, phrases, and words, on the other
+hand, our appeal is on the whole for less precision; we recommend that
+less precision should be aimed at, at least, though more attained, than
+at present. Certain kinds of laxity here are not merely venial, but
+laudable: certain other kinds are damning evidence of carelessness or
+bad taste or bad education. It is not here a mere matter of choosing
+between one right and one wrong way; there are many degrees.
+
+_Now_ is an adverb; _in the house_ is usually an adverbial phrase; _if
+I know it_ is an adverbial clause. Logic and grammar never prohibit the
+separating of any such expressions from the rest of their sentence--by
+two commas if they stand in the middle of it, by one if they begin or
+end it. But use of the commas tends, especially with a single word,
+but also with a phrase or clause, though in inverse proportion to its
+length, to modify the meaning. _I cannot do it now_ means no more than
+it says: _I cannot do it, now_ conveys a further assurance that the
+speaker would have been delighted to do it yesterday or will be quite
+willing tomorrow. This distinction, generally recognized with the
+single word, applies also to clauses; and writers of judgement should
+take the fullest freedom in such matters, allowing no superstition
+about ‘subordinate clauses’ to force upon them commas that they feel to
+be needless, but inclining always when in doubt to spare readers the
+jerkiness of overstopping. It is a question for rhetoric alone, not for
+logic, so long as the proper allowance of commas, if any, is given;
+what the proper allowance is, has been explained a few lines back. We
+need not waste time on exemplifying this simple principle; there is so
+far no real laxity; the writer is simply free.
+
+Laxity comes in when we choose, guided by nothing more authoritative
+than euphony, to stop an adverbial phrase or adverbial clause, but
+not to stop it at both ends, though it stands in the middle of its
+sentence. This is an unmistakable offence against logic, and lays one
+open to the condemnation of examiners and precisians. But the point we
+wish to make is that in a very large class of sentences the injury to
+meaning is so infinitesimal, and the benefit to sound so considerable,
+that we do well to offend. The class is so large that only one example
+need be given:
+
+ But with their triumph over the revolt, Cranmer and his colleagues
+ advanced yet more boldly.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+The adverbial phrase is _with their triumph over the revolt_. _But_
+does not belong to it, but to the whole sentence. The writer has no
+defence whatever as against the logician; nevertheless, his reader will
+be grateful to him. The familiar intrusion of a comma after initial
+_And_ and _For_ where there is no intervening clause to justify it, of
+which we gave examples when we spoke of overstopping, comes probably by
+false analogy from the unpleasant pause that rigid punctuation has made
+common in sentences of this type.
+
+Laxity once introduced, however, has to be carefully kept within
+bounds. It may be first laid down absolutely that when an adverbial
+clause is to be stopped, but incompletely stopped, the omitted stop
+must always be the one at the beginning, and never the one at the end.
+Transgression of this is quite intolerable; we shall give several
+instances at the end of the section to impress the fact. But it is also
+true that even the omission of the beginning comma looks more and more
+slovenly the further we get from the type of our above cited sentence.
+The quotations immediately following are arranged from the less to the
+more slovenly.
+
+ His health gave way, and _at the age of fifty-six_, he died
+ prematurely in harness at Quetta.--_Times._
+
+ If mankind was in the condition of believing nothing, and _without a
+ bias in any particular direction_, was merely on the look-out for some
+ legitimate creed, it would not, I conceive, be possible....--BALFOUR.
+
+ The party _then_, consisted of a man and his wife, of his
+ mother-in-law and his sister.--F. M. CRAWFORD.
+
+ These men _in their honorary capacity_, already have sufficient work
+ to perform.--_Guernsey Evening Press._
+
+It will be observed that in the sentence from Mr. Balfour the chief
+objection to omitting the comma between _and_ and _without_ is that we
+are taken off on a false scent, it being natural at first to suppose
+that we are to supply _was_ again; this can only happen when we are in
+the middle of a sentence, and not at the beginning as in the pattern
+Cranmer sentence.
+
+The gross negligence or ignorance betrayed by giving the first and
+omitting the second comma will be convincingly shown by this array of
+sentences from authors of all degrees.
+
+ It is not strange that the sentiment of loyalty should, _from the day
+ of his accession_ have begun to revive.--MACAULAY.
+
+ Was it possible that having loved she should not so rejoice, or that,
+ _rejoicing_ she should not be proud of her love?--TROLLOPE.
+
+ I venture to suggest that, _had Lord Hugh himself been better informed
+ in the matter_ he would scarcely have placed himself....--_Times._
+
+ The necessary consequence being that the law, _to uphold the
+ restraints of which such unusual devices are employed_ is in practice
+ destitute of the customary sanctions.--_Times._
+
+ The view held ... is that, _owing to the constant absence of the
+ Commander-in-Chief on tour_ it is necessary that....--_Times._
+
+ The master of the house, to whom, _as in duty bound_ I communicated my
+ intention....--BORROW.
+
+ After this victory, Hunyadi, _with his army_ entered Belgrade, to the
+ great joy of the Magyars.--BORROW.
+
+ M. Kossuth declares that, _until the King calls on the majority to
+ take office with its own programme_ chaos will prevail.--_Times._
+
+ A love-affair, _to be conducted with spirit and enterprise_ should
+ always bristle with opposition and difficulty.--CORELLI.
+
+ And that she should force me, _by the magic of her pen_ to
+ mentally acknowledge ..., albeit with wrath and shame, my own
+ inferiority!--CORELLI.
+
+ She is a hard-working woman dependant on her literary success for a
+ livelihood, and you, _rolling in wealth_ do your best to deprive her
+ of the means of existence.--CORELLI.
+
+ Although three trainings of the local militia have been conducted
+ under the new regime, Alderney, _despite the fact that it is a portion
+ of the same military command_ has not as yet been affected.--_Guernsey
+ Evening Press._
+
+5. Parenthesis.
+
+In one sense, everything that is adverbial is parenthetic: it can be
+inserted or removed, that is, without damaging the grammar, though not
+always without damaging the meaning, of the sentence. But the adverbial
+parenthesis, when once inserted, forms a part of the sentence; we have
+sufficiently dealt with the stops it requires in the last section; the
+use of commas emphasizes its parenthetic character, and is therefore
+sometimes desirable, sometimes not; no more need be said about it.
+
+Another kind of parenthesis is that whose meaning practically governs
+the sentence in the middle of which it is nevertheless inserted as an
+alien element that does not coalesce in grammar with the rest. The
+type is--But, you will say, Caesar is not an aristocrat. This kind is
+important for our purpose because of the muddles often made, chiefly by
+careless punctuation, between the real parenthesis and words that give
+the same meaning, but are not, like it, grammatically separable. We
+shall start with an indisputable example of this muddle:
+
+ Where, do you imagine, she would lay it?--MEREDITH.
+
+These commas cannot possibly indicate anything but parenthesis; but, if
+the comma’d words were really a parenthesis, we ought to have _would
+she_ instead of _she would_. The four sentences that now follow are all
+of one pattern. The bad stopping is probably due to this same confusion
+between the parenthetic and the non-parenthetic. But it is possible
+that in each the two commas are independent, the first being one of
+those that are half rhetorical and half caused by false analogy, which
+have been mentioned as common after initial _And_ and _For_; and the
+second being the comma wrongly used, as we have maintained, before
+substantival _that_-clauses.
+
+ Whence, it would appear, that he considers that all deliverances of
+ consciousness are original judgments.--BALFOUR.
+
+ Hence, he reflected, that if he could but use his literary
+ instinct to feed some commercial undertaking, he might gain a
+ considerable....--HUTTON.
+
+ But, depend upon it, that no Eastern difficulty needs our intervention
+ so seriously as....--HUXLEY.
+
+ And yet, it has been often said, that the party issues were hopelessly
+ confused.--L. STEPHEN.
+
+A less familiar form of this mistake, and one not likely to occur
+except in good writers, since inferior ones seldom attempt the
+construction that leads to it, is sometimes found when a subordinating
+conjunction is placed late in its clause, after the object or other
+member. In the Thackeray sentence, it will be observed that the first
+comma would be right (1) if _them_ had stood after _discovered_ instead
+of where it does, (2) if _them_ had been omitted, and _any_ had served
+as the common object to both verbs.
+
+ And to things of great dimensions, if we annex an adventitious idea of
+ terror, they become without comparison greater.--BURKE.
+
+ Any of which peccadilloes, if Miss Sharp discovered, she did not tell
+ them to Lady Crawley.--THACKERAY.
+
+6. The misplaced comma.
+
+Some authors would seem to have an occasional feeling that here or
+hereabouts is the place for a comma, just as in handwriting some
+persons are well content if they get a dot in somewhere within
+measurable distance of its _i_. The dot is generally over the right
+word at any rate, and the comma is seldom more than one word off its
+true place.
+
+ All true science begins with empiricism--though all true science is
+ such exactly, in so far as it strives to pass out of the empirical
+ stage.--HUXLEY.
+
+_Exactly_ qualifies and belongs to _in so far_, &c., not _such_. The
+comma should be before it.
+
+ This, they for the most part, throw away as worthless.--CORELLI.
+
+_For the most part_, alone, is the adverbial parenthesis.
+
+But this fault occurs, perhaps nine times out of ten, in combination
+with the _that_-clause comma so often mentioned. It may be said, when
+our instances have been looked into, that in each of them, apart from
+the _that_-clause comma, which is recognized by many authorities, there
+is merely the licence that we have ourselves allowed, omission of the
+first, without omission of the last, comma of an adverbial parenthesis.
+But we must point out that Huxley, Green, and Mr. Balfour, man of
+science, historian, and philosopher, all belong to that dignified class
+of writers which is supposed to, and in most respects does, insist on
+full logical stopping; they, in view of their general practice, are not
+entitled to our slovenly and merely literary licences.
+
+ And the second is, that for the purpose of attaining culture,
+ an exclusively scientific education is at least as effectual
+ as....--HUXLEY.
+
+ But the full discussion which followed over the various claims showed,
+ that while exacting to the full what he believed to be his right,
+ Edward desired to do justice to the country.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ The one difference between these gilds in country and town was, that
+ in the latter case, from their close local neighbourhood, they tended
+ to coalesce.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ It follows directly from this definition, that however restricted the
+ range of possible knowledge may be, philosophy can never be excluded
+ from it.--BALFOUR.
+
+ But the difficulty here, as it seems to me, is, that if you start from
+ your idea of evolution, these assumptions are....--BALFOUR.
+
+ He begged me to give over all unlawful pursuits, saying,
+ that if persisted in, they were sure of bringing a person to
+ destruction.--BORROW.
+
+7. Enumeration.
+
+This name, liberally interpreted, is meant to include several more
+or less distinct questions. They are difficult, and much debated by
+authorities on punctuation, but are of no great importance. We shall
+take the liberty of partly leaving them undecided, and partly giving
+arbitrary opinions; to argue them out would take more space than it
+is worth while to give. But it _is_ worth while to draw attention to
+them, so that each writer may be aware that they exist, and at least be
+consistent with himself. Typical sentences (from Beadnell) are:
+
+ _a._ Industry, honesty, and temperance, are essential to happiness.--B.
+
+ _b._ Let us freely drink in the soul of love and beauty and wisdom,
+ from all nature and art and history.--B.
+
+ _c._ Plain honest truth wants no colouring.--B.
+
+ _d._ Many states are in alliance with, and under the protection of
+ France.--B.
+
+Common variants for (_a_) are (1) Industry, honesty and temperance
+are essential ... (2) Industry, honesty and temperance, are essential
+... (3) Industry, honesty, and temperance are essential.... We
+unhesitatingly recommend the original and fully stopped form, which
+should be used irrespective of style, and not be interfered with by
+rhetorical considerations; it is the only one to which there is never
+any objection. Of the examples that follow, the first conforms to the
+correct type, but no serious harm would be done if it did not. The
+second also conforms; and, if this had followed variant (1) or (2),
+here indistinguishable, we should have been in danger of supposing
+that Education and Police were one department instead of two. The
+third, having no comma after _interests_, follows variant (3), and,
+as it happens, with no bad effect on the meaning. All three variants,
+however, may under different conditions produce ambiguity or worse.
+
+ But those that remain, the women, the youths, the children, and the
+ elders, work all the harder.--_Times._
+
+ Japanese advisers are now attached to the departments of the
+ Household, War, Finance, Education, and Police.--_Times._
+
+ An American, whose patience, tact, and ability in
+ reconciling conflicting interests have won the praise of all
+ nationalities.--_Times._
+
+Sometimes enumerations are arranged in pairs; it is then most
+unpleasant to have the comma after the last pair omitted, as in:
+
+ The orange and the lemon, the olive and the walnut elbow each other
+ for a footing in the fat dark earth.--F. M. CRAWFORD.
+
+There is a bastard form of enumeration against which warning is
+seriously needed. It is viewed as, but is not really, a legitimate case
+of type (_a_); and a quite unnecessary objection to the repetition of
+_and_ no doubt supplies the motive. Examples are:
+
+ He kept manœuvring upon Neipperg, who counter-manœuvred with
+ vigilance, good judgment, and would not come to action.--CARLYLE.
+
+ Moltke had recruited, trained, and knew by heart all the men under
+ him.--_Times._
+
+ Hence loss of time, of money, and sore trial of patience.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+The principle is this: in an enumeration given by means of a comma or
+commas, the last comma being replaced by or combined with _and_--our
+type (_a_), that is--, there must not be anything that is common to
+two members (as here, _counter-manœuvred with_, _had_, _loss_) without
+being common to all. We may say, Moltke had recruited and trained and
+knew, Moltke had recruited, had trained, and knew, or, Moltke had
+recruited, trained, and known; but we must not say what the _Times_
+says. The third sentence may run, Loss of time and money, and sore
+trial, or, Loss of time, of money, and of patience; but not as it does.
+
+So much for type (_a_). Type (_b_) can be very shortly disposed of. It
+differs in that the conjunction (_and_, _or_, _nor_, &c.) is expressed
+every time, instead of being represented except in the last place by
+a comma. It is logically quite unnecessary, but rhetorically quite
+allowable, to use commas as well as conjunctions. The only caution
+needed is that, if commas are used at all, and if the enumeration does
+not end the sentence, and is not concluded by a stronger stop, a comma
+must be inserted after the last member as well as after the others.
+In the type sentence, which contains two enumerations, it would be
+legitimate to use commas as well as _and_s with one set and not with
+the other, if it were desired either to avoid monotony or to give one
+list special emphasis. The three examples now to be added transgress
+the rule about the final comma. We arrange them from bad to worse; in
+the last of them, the apparently needless though not necessarily wrong
+comma after _fall_ suggests that the writer has really felt a comma to
+be wanting to the enumeration, but has taken a bad shot with it, as in
+the examples of section 6 on the misplaced comma.
+
+ Neither the Court, nor society, nor Parliament, nor the older men in
+ the Army have yet recognized the fundamental truth that....--_Times._
+
+ A subordinate whose past conduct in the post he fills, and whose known
+ political sympathies make him wholly unfitted, however loyal his
+ intentions may be, to give that....--_Times._
+
+ But there are uninstructed ears on whom the constant abuse, and
+ imputation of low motives may fall, with a mischievous and misleading
+ effect.--_Times._
+
+Of type (_c_) the characteristic is that we have two or more adjectives
+attached to a following noun; are there to be commas between the
+adjectives, or not? The rule usually given is that there should be,
+unless the last adjective is more intimately connected with the noun,
+so that the earlier one qualifies, not the noun, but the last adjective
+and the noun together; it will be noticed that we strictly have no
+enumeration then at all. This is sometimes useful; and so is the more
+practical and less theoretic direction to ask whether _and_ could be
+inserted, and if so use the comma, but not otherwise. These both sound
+sufficient in the abstract. But that there are doubts left in practice
+is shown by the type sentence, which Beadnell gives as correct, though
+either test would rather require the comma. He gives also as correct,
+Can flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death?--which is not very
+clearly distinguishable from the other. Our advice is to use these
+tests when in doubt, but with a leaning to the omission of the comma.
+If it happens that a comma of this particular class is the only stop in
+a sentence, it has a false appearance of dividing the sentence into two
+parts that is very unpleasant, and may make the reader go through it
+twice to make sure that all is right--an inconvenience that should by
+all means be spared him.
+
+Type (_d_) is one in which the final word or phrase of a sentence has
+two previous expressions standing in the same grammatical relation to
+it, but their ending with different prepositions, or the fact that one
+is to be substituted for the other, or the length of the expressions,
+or some other cause, obscures this identity of relation. Add to the
+type sentence the following:
+
+ His eloquence was the main, one might almost say the sole, source of
+ his influence.--BRYCE.
+
+ To dazzle people more, he learned or pretended to learn, the Spanish
+ language.--BAGEHOT.
+
+ ... apart from philosophical and sometimes from theological,
+ theories.--BALFOUR.
+
+The rules we lay down are: (1) If possible use no stops at all. (2)
+Never use the second comma and omit the first. (3) Even when the first
+is necessary, the second may often be dispensed with. (4) Both commas
+may be necessary if the phrases are long.
+
+We should correct all the examples, including the type: the type under
+rule (1); the Bryce (which is strictly correct) under rule (3); the
+Bagehot under rules (2) and (1); and the Balfour under rules (2) and
+(3); the list two are clearly wrong. The four would then stand as
+follows:
+
+ Many states are in alliance with and under the protection of France.
+
+ His eloquence was the main, one might almost say the sole source of
+ his influence.
+
+ To dazzle people more, he learned or pretended to learn the Spanish
+ language.
+
+ ... apart from philosophical, and sometimes from theological theories.
+
+Learners will be inclined to say: all this is very indefinite; do
+give us a clear rule that will apply to all cases. Such was the view
+with which, on a matter of even greater importance than punctuation,
+Procrustes identified himself; but it brought him to a bad end. The
+clear rule, Use all logical commas, would give us:
+
+ He was born, in, or near, London, on December 24th, 1900.
+
+No one would write this who was not suffering from bad hypertrophy of
+the grammatical conscience. The clear rule, Use no commas in this sort
+of enumeration, would give:
+
+ If I have the queer ways you accuse me of, that is because but I
+ should have thought a man of your perspicacity might have been
+ expected to see that it was also why I live in a hermitage all by
+ myself.
+
+No one would write this without both commas (after _because_ and _why_)
+who was not deeply committed to an anti-comma crusade. Between the two
+extremes lie cases calling for various treatment; the ruling principle
+should be freedom within certain limits.
+
+8. The comma between independent sentences.
+
+Among the signs that more particularly betray the uneducated writer is
+inability to see when a comma is not a sufficient stop. Unfortunately
+little more can be done than to warn beginners that any serious slip
+here is much worse than they will probably suppose, and recommend them
+to observe the practice of good writers.
+
+It is roughly true that grammatically independent sentences should be
+parted by at least a semicolon; but in the first place there are very
+large exceptions to this; and secondly, the writer who really knows a
+grammatically independent sentence when he sees it is hardly in need of
+instruction; this must be our excuse for entering here into what may
+be thought too elementary an explanation. Let us take the second point
+first; it may be of some assistance to remark that a sentence joined
+to the previous one by a coordinating conjunction is grammatically
+independent, as well as one not joined to it at all. But the difference
+between a coordinating and a subordinating conjunction is itself in
+English rather fine. Every one can see that ‘I will not try; it is
+dangerous’ is two independent sentences--independent in grammar, though
+not in thought. But it is a harder saying that ‘I will not try, for it
+is dangerous’ is also two sentences, while ‘I will not try, because it
+is dangerous’ is one only. The reason is that _for_ coordinates, and
+_because_ subordinates; instead of giving lists, which would probably
+be incomplete, of the two kinds of conjunction, we mention that a
+subordinating conjunction may be known from the other kind by its
+being possible to place it and its clause before the previous sentence
+instead of after, without destroying the sense: we can say ‘Because it
+is dangerous, I will not try’, but not ‘For it is dangerous, I will
+not try’. This test cannot always be applied in complicated sentences;
+simple ones must be constructed for testing the conjunction in question.
+
+Assuming that it is now understood (1) what a subordinating and what
+a coordinating conjunction is, (2) that a member joined on by no
+more than a coordinating conjunction is a grammatically independent
+sentence, or simply a sentence in the proper meaning of the word,
+and not a subordinate clause, we return to the first point. This was
+that, though independent sentences are regularly parted by at least
+a semicolon, there are large exceptions to the rule. These we shall
+only be able to indicate very loosely. There are three conditions
+that may favour the reduction of the semicolon to a comma: (1) Those
+coordinating conjunctions which are most common tend in the order of
+their commonness to be humble, and to recognize a comma as sufficient
+for their dignity. The order may perhaps be given as: _and_, _or_,
+_but_, _so_, _nor_, _for_; conjunctions less common than these should
+scarcely ever be used with less than a semicolon; and many good
+writers would refuse to put a mere comma before _for_. (2) Shortness
+and lightness of the sentence joined on helps to lessen the need for
+a heavy stop. (3) Intimate connexion in thought with the preceding
+sentence has the same effect. Before giving our examples, which are
+all of undesirable commas, we point out that in the first two there
+are independent signs of the writers’ being uneducated; and such signs
+will often be discoverable. It will be clear from what we have said
+why the others are bad--except perhaps the third; it is particularly
+disagreeable to have two successive independent sentences tagged on
+with commas, as those beginning with _nor_ and _for_ are in that
+example.
+
+ No peace at night he enjoys, _for_ he lays awake.--_Guernsey
+ Advertiser._
+
+ Now accepted, nominal Christendom believes this, and strives to attain
+ unto it, _then_ why the inconsistency of creed and deed?--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ But who is responsible to Government for the efficiency of the Army?
+ The Commander-in-Chief and no one else, _nor_ has anyone questioned
+ the fact, _for_ it is patent.--_Times._
+
+ But even on this theory the formula above stated holds good, _for_
+ such systems, so far from being self-contained (as it were) and
+ sufficient evidence for themselves, are really....--BALFOUR.
+
+ Some banks on the Nevsky Prospect are having iron shutters fitted,
+ _otherwise_ there is nothing apparently to justify General Trepoff’s
+ proclamation.--_Times._
+
+ Everybody knows where his own shoe pinches, and, if people find
+ drawbacks in the places they inhabit, they must also find advantages,
+ _otherwise_ they would not be there.--_Times._
+
+ We have suffered many things at the hands of the Russian Navy during
+ the war, _nevertheless_ the news that Admiral Rozhdestvensky ... will
+ send a thrill of admiration....--_Times._
+
+ I think that on the whole we may be thankful for the architectural
+ merits of the Gaiety block, it has breadth and dignity of design and
+ groups well on the angular site.--_Times._
+
+It will not be irrelevant to add here, though the point has been
+touched upon in Understopping, that though a light _and_-clause may be
+introduced by no more than a comma, it does not follow that it need not
+be separated by any stop at all, as in:
+
+ When the Motor Cars Act was before the House it was suggested that
+ these authorities should be given the right to make recommendations to
+ the central authorities and that right was conceded.--_Times._
+
+9. The semicolon between subordinate members.
+
+Just as the tiro will be safer if he avoids commas before independent
+sentences, so he will generally be wise not to use a semicolon before
+a mere subordinate member. We have explained, indeed, that it is
+sometimes quite legitimate for rhetorical reasons, and is under certain
+circumstances almost required by proportion. This is when the sentence
+contains commas doing less important work than the one about which the
+question arises. But the tiro’s true way out of the difficulty is to
+simplify his sentences so that they do not need such differentiation.
+Even skilful writers, as the following two quotations will show,
+sometimes come to grief over this.
+
+ One view called me to another; one hill to its fellow, half across the
+ county, and since I could answer at no more trouble than the snapping
+ forward of a lever, I let the county flow under my wheels.--KIPLING.
+
+ Nay, do not the elements of all human virtues and all human vices;
+ the passions at once of a Borgia and of a Luther, lie written, in
+ stronger or fainter lines, in the consciousness of every individual
+ bosom?--CARLYLE.
+
+In the first of these the second comma and the semicolon clearly ought
+to change places. In the second it looks as if Carlyle had thought
+it dull to have so many commas about; but the remedy was much worse
+than dullness. Avoidance of what a correspondent supposes to be dull,
+but what would in fact be natural and right, accounts also for the
+following piece of vicarious rhetoric; the writer is not nearly so
+excited, it may be suspected, as his semicolons would make him out.
+The ordinary sensible man would have (1) used commas, and (2) either
+omitted the third and fourth _denies_ (reminding us of Zola’s famous
+_j’accuse_, not vicarious, and on an adequate occasion), or else
+inserted an _and_ before the last repetition.
+
+ Mr. Loomis denies all three categorically. He denies that the
+ Asphalt Company paid him £2,000 or any other sum; denies that he
+ purchased a claim against the Venezuelan Government and then used his
+ influence when Minister at Caracas to collect the claim; denies that
+ he agreed with Mr. Meyers or anybody else to use his influence for
+ money.--_Times._
+
+10. The exclamation mark when there is no exclamation.
+
+ My friend! this conduct amazes me!--B.
+
+We must differ altogether from Beadnell’s rule that ‘This point is
+used to denote any sudden emotion of the mind, whether of joy, grief,
+surprise, fear, or any other sensation’--at least as it is exemplified
+in his first instance, given above. The exclamation mark after _friend_
+is justifiable, not the other. The stop should be used, with one
+exception, only after real exclamations. Real exclamations include
+(1) the words recognized as interjections, as _alas_, (2) fragmentary
+expressions that are not complete sentences, as _My friend_ in the
+example, and (3) complete statements that contain an exclamatory word,
+as:
+
+ What a piece of work is man!--B.
+
+The exception mentioned above is this: when the writer wishes to
+express his own incredulity or other feeling about what is not his own
+statement, but practically a quotation from some one else, he is at
+liberty to do it with a mark of exclamation; in the following example,
+the epitaph-writer expresses either his wonder or his incredulity about
+what Fame says.
+
+ Entomb’d within this vault a lawyer lies
+ Who, Fame assureth us, was just and wise!--B.
+
+The exclamation mark is a neat and concise sneer at the legal
+profession.
+
+Outside these narrow limits the exclamation mark must not be used. We
+shall quote a very instructive saying of Landor’s: ‘I read warily;
+and whenever I find the writings of a lady, the first thing I do
+is to cast my eye along her pages, to see whether I am likely to be
+annoyed by the traps and spring-guns of interjections; and if I happen
+to espy them I do not leap the paling’. To this we add that when the
+exclamation mark is used after mere statements it deserves the name,
+by which it is sometimes called, mark of admiration; we feel that the
+writer is indeed lost in admiration of his own wit or impressiveness.
+But this use is mainly confined to lower-class authors; when a grave
+historian stoops to it, he gives us quite a different sort of shock
+from what he designed.
+
+ The unfortunate commander was in the situation of some bold,
+ high-mettled cavalier, rushing to battle on a warhorse whose tottering
+ joints threaten to give way at every step, and leave his rider to the
+ mercy of his enemies!--PRESCOTT.
+
+ The road now struck into the heart of a mountain region, where
+ woods, precipices, and ravines were mingled together in a sort of
+ chaotic confusion, with here and there a green and sheltered valley,
+ glittering like an island of verdure amidst the wild breakers of a
+ troubled ocean!--PRESCOTT.
+
+11. Confusion between question and exclamation.
+
+ Fortunate man!--who would not envy you! Love!--who would, who could
+ exist without it--save me!--CORELLI.
+
+ What wonder that the most docile of Russians should be crying out ‘how
+ long’!--_Times._
+
+We have started with three indisputable instances of the exclamation
+mark used for the question mark. It is worth notice that the correct
+stopping for the end of the second quotation (though such accuracy
+is seldom attempted) would be:--long?’? To have fused two questions
+into an exclamation is an achievement. But these are mere indefensible
+blunders, not needing to be thought twice about, such as author and
+compositor incline to put off each on the other’s shoulders.
+
+The case is not always so clear. In the six sentences lettered for
+reference, _a_-_d_ have the wrong stop; in _e_ the stop implied by _he
+exclaims_ is also wrong; in _f_, though the stop is right assuming
+that the form of the sentence is what was really meant, we venture to
+question this point, as we do also in some of the earlier sentences.
+Any one who agrees with the details of this summary can save himself
+the trouble of reading the subsequent discussion.
+
+ _a._ In that interval what had I not lost!--LAMB.
+
+ _b._ And what will not the discontinuance cost me!--RICHARDSON.
+
+ _c._ A streak of blue below the hanging alders is certainly a
+ characteristic introduction to the kingfisher. How many people first
+ see him so?--_Times._
+
+ _d._ Does the reading of history make us fatalists? What courage does
+ not the opposite opinion show!--EMERSON.
+
+ _e._ What economy of life and money, he exclaims, would not have been
+ spared the empire of the Tsars had it not rendered war certain by
+ devoting itself so largely to the works of peace.--_Times._
+
+ _f._ How many, who think no otherwise than the young painter, have we
+ not heard disbursing secondhand hyperboles?--STEVENSON.
+
+It will be noticed that in all these sentences except _c_ there is a
+negative, which puts them, except _f_, wrong; while in _c_ it is the
+absence of the negative that makes the question wrong. It will be
+simplest to start with _c_. The writer clearly means to let us know
+that many people see the kingfisher first as a blue streak. He might
+give this simply so, as a statement. He might (artificially) give it
+as an exclamation--_How many first see him so!_ Or he might (very
+artificially) give it as a question--_How many do not first see him
+so?_--a ‘rhetorical question’ in which _How many_ interrogative is
+understood to be equivalent to _Few_ positive. He has rejected the
+simple statement; vaulting ambition has o’erleapt, and he has ended in
+a confusion between the two artificial ways of saying the thing, taking
+the words of the possible exclamation and the stop of the possible
+question. In _a_, _b_, _d_, and implicitly in _e_, we have the converse
+arrangement, or derangement. But as a little more clear thinking is
+required for them, we point out that the origin of the confusion
+(though the careless printing of fifty or a hundred years ago no doubt
+helped to establish it) lies in the identity between the words used
+for questions and for exclamations. It will be enough to suggest the
+process that accounts for _a_; the ambiguity is easily got rid of by
+inserting a noun with _what_.
+
+ _Question_: What amount had I lost?
+
+ _Exclamation_: What an amount I had lost!
+
+That is the first stage; the resemblance is next increased by inverting
+subject and verb in the exclamation, which is both natural enough in
+that kind of sentence, and particularly easy after _In that interval_.
+So we get
+
+ _Question_: In that interval, what (amount) had I lost?
+
+ _Exclamation_: In that interval, what (an amount) had I lost!
+
+The words, when the bracketed part of each sentence is left out, are
+now the same; but the question is of course incapable of giving the
+required meaning. The writer, seeing this, but deceived by the order
+of words into thinking the exclamation a question, tries to mend it
+by inserting _not_; _what ... not_, in rhetorical questions, being
+equivalent to _everything_. At this stage some writers stick, as
+Stevenson in _f_. Others try to make a right out of two wrongs by
+restoring to the quondam exclamation, which has been wrongly converted
+with the help of _not_ into a question, the exclamation mark to which
+it has after conversion no right. Such is the genesis of _a_, _b_, _d_.
+The proper method, when the simple statement is rejected, as it often
+reasonably may be, is to use the exclamation, not the Stevensonian
+question[13], to give the exclamation its right mark, and not to insert
+the illogical negative.
+
+12. Internal question and exclamation marks.
+
+By this name we do not mean that insertion of a bracketed stop of which
+we shall nevertheless give one example. That is indeed a confession of
+weakness and infallible sign of the prentice hand, and further examples
+will be found in _Airs and Graces_, _miscellaneous_; but it is outside
+grammar, with which these sections are concerned.
+
+ Under these circumstances, it would be interesting to ascertain
+ the exact position of landlords whose tenants decline to pay rent,
+ and whose only asset (!) from their property is the income-tax now
+ claimed.--_Times._
+
+What is meant is the ugly stop in the middle of a sentence, unbracketed
+and undefended by quotation marks, of which examples follow. To
+novelists, as in the first example, it may be necessary for the purpose
+of avoiding the nuisance of perpetual quotation marks. But elsewhere
+it should be got rid of by use of the indirect question or otherwise.
+Excessive indulgence in direct questions or exclamations where there
+is no need for them whatever is one of the sensational tendencies of
+modern newspapers.
+
+ Why be scheming? Victor asked.--MEREDITH.
+
+ What will Japan do? is thought the most pressing question of
+ all.--_Times._ (What Japan will do is thought, &c.)
+
+ What next? is the next question which the American Press
+ discusses.--_Times._ (‘What next?’ is, &c. Or, What will come next is,
+ &c.)
+
+Amusing efforts are shown below at escaping the ugliness of the
+internal question mark. Observe that the third quotation has a worse
+blunder, since we have here two independent sentences.
+
+ Can it be that the Government will still persist in continuing the now
+ hopeless struggle is the question on every lip?--_Times._
+
+ Men are disenchanted. They have got what they wanted in the days of
+ their youth, yet what of it, they ask?--MORLEY.
+
+ Yet we remember seeing l’Abbé Constantin some sixteen years ago or
+ more at the Royalty, with that fine old actor Lafontaine in the
+ principal part, and seeing it with lively interest. Was it distinctly
+ ‘dates’, for nothing wears so badly as the namby-pamby?--_Times._
+
+13. The unaccountable comma.
+
+We shall now conclude these grammatical sections with a single example
+of those commas about which it is only possible to say that they are
+repugnant to grammar. It is as difficult to decide what principle they
+offend against as what impulse can possibly have dictated them. They
+are commonest in the least educated writers of all; and, next to
+these, in the men of science whose overpowering conscientiousness has
+made the mechanical putting in of commas so habitual that it perhaps
+becomes with them a sort of reflex action, and does itself at wrong
+moments without their volition.
+
+ The Rector, lineal representative of the ancient monarchs of the
+ University, though now, little more than a ‘king of shreds and
+ patches.’--HUXLEY.
+
+
+ THE COLON
+
+It was said in the general remarks at the beginning of this chapter
+that the systematic use of the colon as one of the series (,), (;),
+(:), (.), had died out with the decay of formal periods. Many people
+continue to use it, but few, if we can trust our observation, with any
+nice regard to its value. Some think it a prettier or more impressive
+stop than the semicolon, and use it instead of that; some like variety,
+and use the two indifferently, or resort to one when they are tired
+of the other. As the abandonment of periodic arrangement really makes
+the colon useless, it would be well (though of course any one who
+still writes in formal periods should retain his rights over it) if
+ordinary writers would give it up altogether except in the special
+uses, independent of its quantitative value, to which it is being more
+and more applied by common consent. These are (1) between two sentences
+that are in clear antithesis, but not connected by an adversative
+conjunction; (2) introducing a short quotation; (3) introducing a
+list; (4) introducing a sentence that comes as fulfilment of a promise
+expressed or implied in the previous sentence; (5) introducing an
+explanation or proof that is not connected with the previous sentence
+by _for_ or the like. Examples are:
+
+ (1) Man proposes: God disposes.
+
+ (2) Always remember the ancient maxim: Know thyself.--B.
+
+ (3) Chief rivers: Thames, Severn, Humber....
+
+ (4) Some things we can, and others we cannot do: we can walk, but we
+ cannot fly.--BIGELOW.
+
+ (5) Rebuke thy son in private: public rebuke hardens the heart.--B.
+
+In the following clear case of antithesis a colon would have been more
+according to modern usage than the semicolon.
+
+ As apart from our requirements Mr. Arnold-Forster’s schemes have many
+ merits; in relation to them they have very few.--_Times._
+
+It now only remains, before leaving actual stops for the dash, hyphen,
+quotation mark, and bracket, to comment on a few stray cases of
+ambiguity, false scent, and ill-judged stopping. We have not hunted
+up, and shall not manufacture, any of the patent absurdities that
+are amusing but unprofitable. The sort of ambiguity that most needs
+guarding against is that which allows a sleepy reader to take the words
+wrong when the omission or insertion of a stop would have saved him.
+
+ The chief agitators of the League, who have--not unnaturally
+ considering the favours showered upon them in the past--a high sense
+ of their own importance....--_Times._
+
+With no comma after _unnaturally_ the first thought is that the
+agitators not unnaturally consider; second thoughts put it right; but
+second thoughts should never be expected from a reader.
+
+ Simultaneously extensive reclamation of land and harbour improvements
+ are in progress at Chemulpo and Fusan.--_Times._
+
+With no comma after the first word, the sleepy reader is set wondering
+what _simultaneously extensive_ means, and whether it is journalese for
+_equally extensive_.
+
+ But Anne and I did, for we had played there all our lives--at least,
+ all the years we had spent together and the rest do not count in the
+ story. When Anne and I came together we began to live.--CROCKETT.
+
+A comma after _together_ would save us from adding the two sets
+of years to each other. In the next piece, on the other hand, the
+uncomfortable comma after _gold_ is apparently meant to warn us quite
+unnecessarily that _here and there_ belongs to the verb.
+
+ Flecks of straw-coloured gold, here and there lay upon it, where the
+ sunshine touched the bent of last year.--CROCKETT.
+
+ After that, having once fallen off from their course, they at length
+ succeeded in crossing the Aegean, and beating up in the teeth of the
+ Etesian winds, only yesterday, seventy days out from Egypt, put in at
+ the Piraeus.--S. T. IRWIN.
+
+The omission of the comma between _and_ and _beating_ would ordinarily
+be quite legitimate. Here, it puts us off on a false scent, because
+it allows _beating_ to seem parallel with _crossing_ and object to
+_succeeded in_; we have to go back again when we get to the end, and
+work it out.
+
+ The French demurring to the conditions which the English commander
+ offered, again commenced the action.--B.
+
+The want of a comma between _French_ and _demurring_ makes us assume
+an absolute construction and expect another subject, of which we are
+disappointed.
+
+The next two pairs of examples illustrate the effect of mere accidental
+position on stopping. This is one of the numberless small disturbing
+elements that make cast-iron rules impossible in punctuation.
+
+ I must leave you to discover what the answer is.
+
+ What the answer is, I must leave you to discover.
+
+That is, a substantival clause out of its place is generally allowed
+the comma that all but the straitest sect of punctuators would refuse
+it in its place.
+
+ In the present dispute, therefore, the local politicians have had to
+ choose between defence of the principle of authority and espousing the
+ cause of the local police.--_Times._
+
+ Of its forty-four commissioners however few actually took any part in
+ its proceedings; and the powers of the Commission....--J. R. GREEN.
+
+The half adverbs half conjunctions of which _therefore_ and _however_
+are instances occupy usually the second place in the sentence. When
+there, it is of little importance whether they are stopped or not,
+though we have indicated our preference for no stops. But when it
+happens that they come later (or earlier), the commas are generally
+wanted. _Therefore_ in the first of these sentences would be as
+uncomfortable if stripped as _however_ actually is in the second.
+
+
+ DASHES
+
+Moved beyond his wont by our English ill-treatment of the dash,
+Beadnell permits himself a wail as just as it is pathetic.
+
+ ‘The dash is frequently employed in a very capricious and arbitrary
+ manner, as a substitute for all sorts of points, by writers whose
+ thoughts, although, it may be, sometimes striking and profound, are
+ thrown together without order or dependence; also by some others, who
+ think that they thereby give prominence and emphasis to expressions
+ which in themselves are very commonplace, and would, without this
+ fictitious assistance, escape the observation of the reader, or be
+ deemed by him hardly worthy of notice.’
+
+It is all only too true; these are the realms of Chaos, and the lord
+of them is Sterne, from whom modern writers of the purely literary
+kind have so many of their characteristics. Wishing for an example,
+we merely opened the first volume of _Tristram Shandy_ at a venture,
+and ‘thus the Anarch old With faltering speech and visage incomposed
+Answered’:
+
+ --Observe, I determine nothing upon this.--My way is ever to point
+ out to the curious, different tracts of investigation, to come at the
+ first springs of the events I tell;--not with a pedantic fescue,--or
+ in the decisive manner of Tacitus, who outwits himself and his
+ reader;--but with the officious humility of a heart devoted to the
+ assistance merely of the inquisitive;--to them I write,--and by them I
+ shall be read,--if any such reading as this could be supposed to hold
+ out so long,--to the very end of the world.--STERNE.
+
+The modern newspaper writer who overdoes the use of dashes is seldom as
+incorrect as Sterne, but is perhaps more irritating:
+
+ There are also a great number of people--many of them not in the
+ least tainted by militarism--who go further and who feel that a man
+ in order to be a complete man--that is, one capable of protecting
+ his life, his country, and his civil and political rights--should
+ acquire as a boy and youth the elements of military training,--that
+ is, should be given a physical training of a military character,
+ including....--_Spectator._
+
+It must be added, however, that Beadnell himself helps to make things
+worse, by countenancing the strange printer’s superstition that (,--)
+is beautiful to look upon, and (--,) ugly.
+
+Under these circumstances we shall have to abandon our usual practice
+of attending only to common mistakes, and deal with the matter a
+little more systematically. We shall first catalogue, with examples,
+the chief uses of the dash; next state the debatable questions that
+arise; and end with the more definite misuses. It will be convenient
+to number all examples for reference; and, as many or most of the
+quotations contain some minor violation of what we consider the true
+principles, these will be corrected in brackets.
+
+1. Chief common uses.
+
+_a._ Adding to a phrase already used an explanation, example, or
+preferable substitute.
+
+ 1. Nicholas Copernicus was instructed in that seminary where it is
+ always happy when any one can be well taught,--the family circle.--B.
+ (Omit the comma)
+
+ 2. Anybody might be an accuser,--a personal enemy, an infamous person,
+ a child, parent, brother, or sister.--LOWELL. (Omit the comma)
+
+ 3. That the girls were really possessed seemed to Stoughton and his
+ colleagues the most rational theory,--a theory in harmony with the
+ rest of their creed.--LOWELL. (Omit the comma)
+
+_b._ Inviting the reader to pause and collect his forces against the
+shock of an unexpected word that is to close the sentence. It is
+generally, but not always, better to abstain from this device; the
+unexpected, if not drawn attention to, is often more effective because
+less theatrical.
+
+ 4. To write imaginatively a man should have--imagination.--LOWELL.
+
+_c._ Assuring the reader that what is coming, even if not unexpected,
+is witty. Writers should be exceedingly sparing of this use; good wine
+needs no bush.
+
+ 5. Misfortune in various forms had overtaken the county families, from
+ high farming to a taste for the junior stage, and--the proprietors
+ lived anywhere else except on their own proper estates.--CROCKETT.
+
+_d._ Marking arrival at the principal sentence or the predicate after a
+subordinate clause or a subject that is long or compound.
+
+ 6. As soon as the queen shall come to London, and the houses of
+ Parliament shall be opened, and the speech from the throne be
+ delivered,--then will begin the great struggle of the contending
+ factions.--B.
+
+_e._ Resuming after a parenthesis or long phrase, generally with
+repetition of some previous words in danger of being forgotten.
+
+ 7. It is now idle to attempt to hide the fact that never was the
+ Russian lack of science, of the modern spirit, or, to speak frankly,
+ of intelligence--never was the absence of training or of enthusiasm
+ which retards the efforts of the whole Empire displayed in a more
+ melancholy fashion than in the Sea of Japan.--_Times._ (Add a comma
+ after _intelligence_)
+
+_f._ Giving the air of an afterthought to a final comment that would
+spoil the balance of the sentence if preceded only by an ordinary stop.
+Justifiable when really wanted, that is, when it is important to keep
+the comment till the end; otherwise it is slightly insulting to the
+reader, implying that he was not worth working out the sentence for
+before it was put down.
+
+ 8. As they parted, she insisted on his giving the most solemn
+ promises that he would not expose himself to danger--which was quite
+ unnecessary.
+
+_g._ Marking a change of speakers when quotation marks and ‘he said’,
+&c., are not used; or, in a single speech, a change of subject or
+person addressed.
+
+ 9. Who created you?--God.--B.
+
+ 10. ... And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
+ The fair Ophelia!
+
+_h._ With colon or other stop before a quotation.
+
+ 11. Hear Milton:--How charming is divine Philosophy!
+
+ 12. What says Bacon?--Revenge is a kind of wild justice.
+
+_i._ Introducing a list.
+
+ 13. The four greatest names in English literature are almost the first
+ we come to,--Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton.--B. (Omit the
+ comma before the dash)
+
+_k._ Confessing an anacoluthon, or substitution of a new construction
+for the one started with.
+
+ 14. Then the eye of a child,--who can look unmoved into that well
+ undefiled, in which heaven itself seems to be reflected?--BIGELOW.
+ (Omit the comma)
+
+_l._ Breaking off a sentence altogether.
+
+ 15. Oh, how I wish--! But what is the use of wishing?
+
+_m._ Doubled to serve the purpose of brackets. It gives a medium
+between the light comma parenthesis and the heavy bracket parenthesis.
+It also has the advantage over brackets that when the parenthesis
+ends only with the sentence the second dash need not be given; this
+advantage, however, may involve ambiguity, as will be shown.
+
+ 16. In every well regulated community--such as that of England,--the
+ laws own no superior.--B. (The comma should either be omitted or
+ placed after instead of before the second dash).
+
+These are a dozen distinct uses of more or less value or importance,
+to which others might no doubt be added; but they will suffice both to
+show that the dash is a hard-worked symbol, and to base our remarks
+upon.
+
+2. Debatable questions.
+
+There are several questions that must be answered before we can use
+the dash with confidence. First, is the dash to supersede stops at the
+place where it is inserted, or to be added to them? Secondly, what is
+its relation to the stops in the part of the sentence (or group of
+sentences) that follows it? Does its authority, that is, extend to the
+end of the sentence or group, or where does it cease? Thirdly, assuming
+that it is or can be combined with stops, what is the right order as
+between the two?
+
+Beadnell’s answer to the first question is: _The dash does not dispense
+with the use of the ordinary points at the same time, when the
+grammatical construction of the sentence requires them._ But inasmuch
+as a dash implies some sort of break, irregular pause, or change of
+intention, it seems quite needless to insert the stop that would have
+been used if it had not been decided that a stop was inadequate. The
+dash is a confession that the stop will not do; then let the stop go.
+The reader, who is the person to be considered, generally neither
+knows nor cares to know how the sentence might, with inferior effect,
+have been written; he only feels that the stop is otiose, and that
+his author had better have been off with the old love before he was
+on with the new. There are exceptions to this: obviously in examples
+9, 10, 11, 12, and 15, where the dash is at the end or beginning of a
+sentence; and perhaps also in sentences of which the reader can clearly
+foresee the grammatical development. In example 7, for instance, it
+is clear that a participle (_displayed_ or another) is due after
+_never was_ &c.; a comma after _intelligence_ is therefore definitely
+expected. So in example 6 we are expecting either another continuation
+of _as soon as_, or the principal sentence, before either of which
+a comma is looked for. In examples 2 and 3, on the other hand, the
+sentence may for all we know be complete at the place where the dash
+stands, so that no expectation is disappointed by omitting the comma.
+The rule, then, should be that a dash is a substitute for any internal
+stop, and not an addition to it, except when, from the reader’s point
+of view, a particular stop seemed inevitable.
+
+It must be admitted that that conclusion is not very certain, and also
+that the matter is of no great importance, provided that the stops,
+if inserted, are the right ones. More certainty is possible about
+the combination of stops with the double dash, which we have not yet
+considered. The probable origin of the double dash will be touched
+upon when we come to the second question; but whatever its origin,
+it is now simply equivalent to a pair of brackets, except that it is
+slightly less conspicuous, and sometimes preferred on that account.
+Consequently, the same rule about stops will apply to both, and as
+there is no occasion to treat of brackets separately, it may here be
+stated for both. The use of a parenthesis being to insert, without
+damage to the rest of the sentence, something that is of theoretically
+minor importance, it is necessary that we should be able simply to
+remove the two dashes or brackets with everything enclosed by them, and
+after their removal find the sentence complete and rightly punctuated.
+Further, there is no reason for using inside the parenthesis any stop
+that has not an internal value; that is, no stop can possibly be
+needed just before the second dash except an exclamation or question
+mark, and none at all just after the first; but stops may be necessary
+to divide up the parenthesis itself if it is compound. Three examples
+follow, with the proper corrections in brackets:
+
+ 17. Garinet cites the case of a girl near Amiens possessed by three
+ demons,--Mimi, Zozo, and Crapoulet,--in 1816.--LOWELL. (Omit both
+ commas; the first is indeed just possible, though not required, in
+ the principal sentence; the last is absolutely meaningless in the
+ parenthesis)
+
+ 18. Its visions and its delights are too penetrating,--too
+ living,--for any white-washed object or shallow fountain long to
+ endure or to supply.--RUSKIN. (Omit both commas; this time the
+ first is as impossible in the principal sentence as the second is
+ meaningless in the parenthesis)
+
+ 19. The second carries us on from 1625 to 1714--less than a
+ century--yet the walls of the big hall in the Examination Schools are
+ not only well covered....--_Times._ (Insert a comma, as necessary
+ to the principal sentence, outside the dashes; whether before the
+ first or after the last will be explained in our answer to the third
+ question)
+
+The second question is, how far the authority of the dash extends.
+There is no reason, in the nature of things, why we should not on
+the one hand be relieved of it by the next stop, or on the other be
+subject to it till the paragraph ends. The three following examples,
+which we shall correct in brackets by anticipation, but which we shall
+also assume not to be mere careless blunders, seem to go on the first
+hypothesis.
+
+ 20. The Moral Nature, that Law of laws, whose revelations
+ introduce greatness--yea, God himself, into the open soul, is not
+ explored.--EMERSON. (Substitute a dash for the comma after _himself_.
+ Here, however, Emerson expects us to terminate the authority at the
+ right comma rather than at the first that comes, making things worse)
+
+ 21. I ... there complained of the common notions of the special
+ virtues--justice, &c., as too vague to furnish exact determinations of
+ the actions enjoined under them.--H. SIDGWICK. (Substitute a dash for
+ the comma after _&c._)
+
+ 22. There are vicars and vicars, and of all sorts I love an innovating
+ vicar--a piebald progressive professional reactionary, the least.--H.
+ G. WELLS. (Substitute a dash for the comma after _reactionary_)
+
+It needs no further demonstration, however, that commas are frequently
+used after a dash without putting an end to its influence; and if they
+are to be sometimes taken, nevertheless, as doing so, confusion is sure
+to result. Unless the author of the next example is blind to the danger
+that two neighbouring but independent dashes may be mistaken for a
+parenthetic pair, he must have assumed that the authority of a dash is
+terminated at any rate by a semicolon; that, if true, would obviate the
+danger.
+
+ 23. It is a forlorn hope, however excellent the translation--and Mr.
+ Hankin’s could not be bettered; or however careful the playing--and
+ the playing at the Stage Society performance was meticulously
+ careful.--_Times._ (Insert a dash between _bettered_ and the
+ semicolon, which then need not be more than a comma)
+
+But that it is not true will probably be admitted on the strength of
+sentences like:
+
+ 24. There may be differences of opinion on the degrees--no one takes
+ white for black: most people sometimes take blackish for black--, but
+ that is not fatal to my argument.
+
+On the other hand, we doubt whether a full stop is ever allowed to
+stand in the middle of a dash parenthesis, as it of course may in a
+bracket parenthesis. The reason for the distinction is clear. When we
+have had a left-hand bracket we know for certain that a right-hand
+one is due, full stops or no full stops; but when we have had a dash,
+we very seldom know for certain that it is one of a pair; and the
+appearance of a full stop would be too severe a trial of our faith.
+It seems natural to suppose that the double-dash parenthesis is thus
+accounted for: the construction started with a single dash; but as it
+was often necessary to revert to the main construction, the second
+dash was resorted to as a declaration that the close time, or state of
+siege, was over. The rule we deduce is: All that follows a dash is to
+be taken as under its influence until either a second dash terminates
+it, or a full stop is reached.
+
+Our answer to the third question has already been given by
+implication; but it may be better to give it again explicitly. We first
+refer to examples 1, 2, 3, 6, 13, 14, 24, in all of which the stop, if
+one is to be used, though our view is that in most of these sentences
+it should not, is in the right place; and to example 16, in which it is
+in the wrong place. We next add two new examples of wrong order, with
+corrections as usual; the rules for stops with brackets are the same as
+with double dashes.
+
+ 25. Throughout the parts which they are intended to make most
+ personally their own, (the Psalms,) it is always the Law which is
+ spoken of with chief joy.--RUSKIN. (Remove both commas, and use
+ according to taste either none at all, or one after the second bracket)
+
+ 26. What is the difference, whether land and sea interact, and worlds
+ revolve and intermingle without number or end,--deep yawning under
+ deep, and galaxy balancing galaxy, throughout absolute space,--or,
+ whether....--EMERSON. (Remove both commas, and place one after the
+ second dash)
+
+A protest must next be made against the compositor’s superstition
+embodied in Beadnell’s words: _As the dash in this case supplies the
+place of the parenthesis, strictly speaking, the grammatical point
+should follow the last dash; but as this would have an unsightly
+appearance, it is always placed before it._ This unsightliness is
+either imaginary or at most purely conventional, and should be entirely
+disregarded. The rules will be (1) For the single dash: Since the dash
+is on any view either a correction of or an addition to the stop that
+would have been used if dashes had not existed, the dash will always
+stand after the stop. (2) For the double dash or brackets: There will
+be one stop or none according to the requirements of the principal
+sentence only; there will never be two stops (apart, of course, from
+internal ones); if there is one, it will stand before the first or
+after the last dash or bracket according as the parenthesis belongs to
+the following or the preceding part of the principal sentence. It may
+be added that it is extremely rare for the parenthesis to belong to
+the last part, and therefore for the stop to be rightly placed before
+it. In the following example constructed for the occasion it does so
+belong; but for practical purposes the rule might be that if a stop is
+required it stands after the second dash or bracket.
+
+ 27. When I last saw him, (a singular fact) his nose was pea-green.
+
+3. Common misuses.
+
+_a._ If two single independent dashes are placed near each other, still
+more if they are in the same sentence, the reader naturally takes
+them for a pair constituting a parenthesis, and has to reconsider the
+sentence when he finds that his first reading gives nonsense. We refer
+back to example 23. But this indiscretion is so common that it is well
+to add some more. The sentences should be read over without the two
+dashes and what they enclose.
+
+ Then there is also Miss Euphemia, long deposed from her office
+ of governess, but pensioned and so driven to good works and the
+ manufacture of the most wonderful crazy quilts--for which, to her
+ credit be it said, she shows a remarkable aptitude--as I should have
+ supposed.--CROCKETT.
+
+ The English came mainly from the Germans, whom Rome found hard to
+ conquer in 210 years--say, impossible to conquer--when one remembers
+ the long sequel.--EMERSON.
+
+ As for Anne--well, Anne was Anne--never more calm than when others
+ were tempestuous.--CROCKETT.
+
+_b._ The first dash is inserted and the second forgotten. It will
+suffice to refer back to examples 20, 21, 22.
+
+_c._ Brackets and dashes are combined. It is a pity from the
+collector’s point of view that Carlyle, being in the mood, did not
+realize the full possibilities, and add a pair of commas, closing up
+the parenthesis in _robur et aes triplex_.
+
+ How much would I give to have my mother--(though both my wife and I
+ have of late times lived wholly for her, and had much to endure on her
+ account)--how much would I give to have her back to me.--CARLYLE.
+
+_d._ Like the comma, the dash is sometimes misplaced by a word or two.
+In the first example, the first dash should be one place later; and in
+the second, unless we misread the sentence and this is another case of
+two single dashes, the second dash should be two places earlier, and
+itself be replaced by a comma.
+
+ Here she is perhaps at her best--and in the best sense--her most
+ feminine, as a woman sympathizing with the sorrows peculiar to
+ women.--_Times._
+
+ The girl he had dreamed about--the girl with the smile was there--near
+ him, in his hut.--CROCKETT.
+
+_e._ Dashes are sometimes used when an ordinary stop would serve
+quite well. In the Lowell sentences, the reason why a comma is not
+used is that the members are themselves broken up by commas, and
+therefore demand a heavier stop to divide them from each other; this,
+as explained in the early part of the chapter, is the place for a
+semicolon. In the Corelli sentence, it is a question between comma and
+semicolon, either of which would do quite well.
+
+ Shakespeare found a language already to a certain extent established,
+ but not yet fetlocked by dictionary and grammar mongers,--a
+ versification harmonized, but which had not yet....--LOWELL.
+
+ While I believe that our language had two periods of culmination
+ in poetic beauty,--one of nature, simplicity, and truth, in the
+ ballads, which deal only with narrative and feeling,--another of
+ Art....--LOWELL.
+
+ We were shown in,--and Mavis, who had expected our visit did not keep
+ us waiting long.--CORELLI.
+
+
+ HYPHENS
+
+We return here to our usual practice of disregarding everything
+not necessary for dealing with common mistakes. But some general
+principles, most of which will probably find acceptance, will be useful
+to start from.
+
+1. Hyphens are regrettable necessities, and to be done without when
+they reasonably may.
+
+2. There are three degrees of intimacy between words, of which the
+first and loosest is expressed by their mere juxtaposition as separate
+words, the second by their being hyphened, and the third or closest
+by their being written continuously as one word. Thus, hand workers,
+hand-workers, handworkers.
+
+3. It is good English usage to place a noun or other non-adjectival
+part of speech before a noun, printing it as a separate word, and to
+regard it as serving the purpose of an adjective in virtue of its
+position; for instance, _war expenditure_; but there are sometimes
+special objections to its being done. Thus, words in _-ing_ may be
+actual adjectives (participles), or nouns (gerunds), used in virtue of
+their position as adjectives; and a visible distinction is needed. A
+_walking stick_ is a stick that walks, and the phrase might occur as a
+metaphorical description of a stiffly behaved person: a _walking-stick_
+or _walkingstick_ is a stick for walking; the difference may sometimes
+be important, and consistency may be held to require that all compounds
+with gerunds should be hyphened or made into single words.
+
+4. Not only can a single word in ordinary circumstances be thus treated
+as an adjective, but the same is true of a phrase; the words of the
+phrase, however, must then be hyphened, or ambiguity may result. Thus:
+Covent Garden; Covent-Garden Market; Covent-Garden-Market salesmen.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The prevailing method of giving railway and street names, besides its
+ungainliness, is often misleading and contrary to common sense. For
+one difficulty we suggest recurrence to the old-fashioned formula with
+commas, and _and_, as in _The London, Chatham, and Dover_. On another,
+it is to be observed that _New York-street_ should mean the new part of
+York Street, but _New-York Street_ the street named after New York. The
+set of examples includes some analogous cases, besides the railway and
+street names.
+
+ It is stated that the train service on the
+ Hsin-min-tun-Kau-pan-tse-Yingkau section of the Imperial Chinese
+ Railway will be restored within a few days.--_Times._
+
+Hsinmintun, Kaupantse, and Yingkau. These places can surely do without
+their internal hyphens in an English newspaper; and one almost
+suspects, from the absence of a hyphen between _Ying_ and _kau_, that
+the _Times’s_ stock must have run short.
+
+ Even third-class carriages are scarce on the Dalny-Port Arthur
+ line.--_Times._
+
+The Dalny and Port-Arthur line. By general principle 4, though _Port
+Arthur_ needs no hyphen by itself, it does as soon as it stands for an
+adjective with _line_: the Port-Arthur line. Also, by 2, the _Times_
+version implies that _Dalny_ is more closely connected with _Port_ than
+_Port_ with _Arthur_. We do indeed most of us know at present that
+there is no Dalny Port so called, and that there is a Port Arthur. But
+in the next example, who would know that there was a Brest Litovski,
+but for the sentence that follows?
+
+ A general strike has been declared on the Warsaw-Brest Litovski
+ railway. The telegraph stations at Praga, Warsaw, and Brest Litovski
+ have been damaged.--_Times._
+
+The Warsaw and Brest-Litovski railway. By 4, the hyphen between _Brest_
+and _Litovski_ is necessary. If we write _Warsaw-Brest-Litovski_, it is
+natural to suppose that three places are meant; the _and_ solution is
+accordingly the best.
+
+ At Bow-street, Robert Marsh, greengrocer, of Great Western-road,
+ Harrow-road, was charged....--_Times._
+
+Great-Western Road, Harrow Road. Bow-street, as _at_ (not _in_) shows,
+is a compound epithet for _police-court_ understood, and has a right to
+its hyphen. By 3, there is no need for a hyphen after _Harrow_, and by
+1, if unnecessary, it is undesirable. As to the other road, there are
+three possibilities. The _Times_ is right if there is a _Western Road_
+of which one section is called _Great_, and the other _Little_. If the
+name means literally the great road that runs west, there should be no
+hyphen at all. If the road is named from the Great Western Railway, or
+from the Great-Western Hotel, our version is right.
+
+ Cochin China waters.--_Times._
+
+By 4, _Cochin China_ gives _Cochin-China_ waters.
+
+ Within the last ten days two Anglo-South Americans have been in my
+ office arranging for passages to New Zealand.--_Times._
+
+_Anglo-South-Americans_ is the best that can be done. What is really
+wanted is _Anglo-SouthAmericans_, to show that _South_ goes more
+closely with _America_. But it is too hopelessly contrary to usage at
+present.
+
+ The proceeds of the recent London-New York loan.--_Times._ (London and
+ New-York loan.)
+
+ A good, generous, King Mark-like sort of man.--_Times._
+
+_King-Mark-like_, in default of _KingMark-like_. But the addition of
+_-like_ to compound names should be avoided.
+
+ The Fugitive Slave-law in America before the rebellion.---H. SIDGWICK.
+ (Fugitive-Slave law.)
+
+ The steam-cars will have 16-horse power engines.--_Times._
+
+_Steam cars_ is better, by 3, and 1. And 16-horsepower engines. We can
+do this time what the capitals of _American_ and _Mark_ prevented in
+the previous compounds.
+
+Entirely gratuitous hyphens.
+
+ One had a male-partner, who hopped his loutish burlesque.--MEREDITH.
+
+ Gluttony is the least-generous of the vices.--MEREDITH.
+
+ A little china-box, bearing the motto ‘Though lost to sight, to memory
+ dear,’ which Dorcas sent her as a remembrance.--ELIOT.
+
+This evidently means a box made of china. A box to hold china would
+have the hyphen properly, and there are many differentiations of this
+kind, of which _black bird_, as opposed to _black-bird_ or _blackbird_,
+is the type.
+
+ Bertie took up a quantity of waste-papers, and thrust them down into
+ the basket.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+This is probably formed by a mistaken step backwards from _waste-paper
+basket_, where the hyphen is correct, as explained in 3.
+
+In phrases like _wet and dry fly fishing_, compounded of _wet-fly
+fishing_ and _dry-fly fishing_, methods vary. For instance:
+
+ A low door, leading through a moss and ivy-covered wall.--SCOTT.
+
+ A language ... not yet fetlocked by dictionary and grammar
+ mongers.--LOWELL.
+
+ Those who take human or womankind for their study.--THACKERAY.
+
+The single phrases would have the hyphen for different reasons
+(_moss-covered_, &c.), all but _human kind_. The only quite
+satisfactory plan is the Germans’, who would write _moss-_ and
+_ivy-covered_. This is imitated in English, as:
+
+ In old woods and on fern-and gorse-covered hilltops they do no harm
+ whatever.--_Spectator._
+
+ Refreshment-, boarding-, and lodging-house keepers have suffered
+ severely too.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+But imitations of foreign methods are not much to be recommended;
+failing that, Lowell’s method seems the best--to use no hyphens, and
+keep the second compound separate.
+
+Adverbs that practically form compounds with verbs, but stand after,
+and not necessarily next after them, need not be hyphened unless
+they would be ambiguous in the particular sentence if they were
+not hyphened. This may often happen, since most of them are also
+prepositions; but even then, it is better to rearrange the sentence
+than to hyphen.
+
+ He gratefully hands-over the establishment to his country.--MEREDITH.
+
+ Thoughtful persons, unpledged to shore-up tottering dogmas.--HUXLEY.
+
+It is a much commoner fault to over-hyphen than to under-hyphen. But
+in the next example _malaria-infected_ must be written, by 3. And
+in the next again, one of the differentiations we have spoken of is
+disregarded; _the fifty first_ means the fifty that come first: _the
+fifty-first_ is the one after fifty. The ambiguity in the third example
+is obvious.
+
+ The demonstration that a malaria infected mosquito, transported a
+ great distance to a non-malarial country, can....--_Times._
+
+ ‘Nothing serious, I hope? How do cars break down?’ ‘In fifty different
+ ways. Only mine has chosen the fifty first.’--KIPLING.
+
+ The Cockney knew what the Lord of Session knew not, that the British
+ public is gentility crazy.--BORROW.
+
+There comes a time when compound words that have long had a hyphen
+should drop it; this is when they have become quite familiar. It seems
+absurd to keep any longer the division in _to-day_ and _to-morrow_;
+there are no words in the language that are more definitely single
+and not double words; so much so that the ordinary man can give no
+explanation of the _to_. On the other hand, the word italicized in the
+next example may well puzzle a good many readers without its hyphen;
+it has quite lately come into use in this country (‘Chiefly U.S.’ says
+the _Oxford Dictionary_, which prints the hyphen, whereas Webster does
+not), and is in danger of being taken at first sight for a foreign word
+and pronounced in strange ways.
+
+ The soldiers ... have been building _dugouts_ throughout
+ April.--_Times._
+
+There is a tendency to write certain familiar combinations
+irrationally, which may be mentioned here, though it does not
+necessarily involve the hyphen. With _in no wise_ and _at any rate_,
+the only rational possibilities are to treat them like _nevertheless_
+as one word, or like _none the less_ as three words (the right way, by
+usage), or give them two hyphens. _Nowise_ and _anyrate_ are not nouns
+that can be governed by _in_ and _at_.
+
+ Don McTaggart was the only man on his estate whom Sir Tempest could in
+ nowise make afraid.--CROCKETT.
+
+ French rules of neutrality are in nowise infringed by the
+ squadron.--_Times._
+
+ At anyrate.--CORELLI, _passim_.
+
+
+ QUOTATION MARKS
+
+Quotation marks, like hyphens, should be used only when necessary.
+The degree of necessity will vary slightly with the mental state of
+the audience for whom a book is intended. To an educated man it is
+an annoyance to find his author warning him that something written
+long ago, and quoted every day almost ever since, is not an original
+remark now first struck out. On the other hand, writers who address
+the uneducated may find their account in using all the quotation
+marks they can; their readers may be gratified by seeing how well read
+the author is, or may think quotation marks decorative. The following
+examples start with the least justifiable uses, and stop at the point
+where quotation marks become more or less necessary.
+
+ John Smith, Esq., ‘Chatsworth’, Melton Road, Leamington.
+
+The implication seems to be: living in the house that sensible people
+call 164 Melton Road, but one fool likes to call Chatsworth.
+
+ How is it that during the year in which that scheme has been, so to
+ speak, ‘in the pillory’, no alternative has, at any rate, been made
+ public?--_Times._
+
+Every metaphor ought to be treated as a quotation, if _in the pillory_
+is to be. Here, moreover, quotation marks are a practical tautology,
+after _so to speak_.
+
+ Robert Brown and William Marshall, convicted of robbery with
+ violence, were sentenced respectively to five years’ penal servitude
+ and eighteen strokes with the ‘cat’, and seven years’ penal
+ servitude.--_Times._
+
+There is by this time no danger whatever of confusion with the cat of
+one tail.
+
+ ... not forgetful of how soon ‘things Japanese’ would be things of the
+ past for her.--SLADEN.
+
+This may be called the propitiatory use, analogous in print to the
+tentative air with which, in conversation, the Englishman not sure of
+his pronunciation offers a French word. So trifling a phrase is not
+worth using at the cost of quotation marks. If it could pass without,
+well and good.
+
+ So that the prince and I were able to avoid that ‘familiarity
+ that breeds contempt’ by keeping up our own separate
+ establishments.--CORELLI.
+
+ ... the Rector, lineal representative of the ancient monarchs of
+ the University, though now, little more than a ‘king of shreds and
+ patches’.--HUXLEY.
+
+ We agree pretty well in our tastes and habits--yet so, as ‘with a
+ difference’.--LAMB.
+
+_With a difference_ (_Ophelia_: O, you must wear your rue with a
+difference) might escape notice as a quotation if attention were not
+drawn to it. A reader fit to appreciate Lamb, however, could scarcely
+fail to be sufficiently warned by the odd turn of the preceding words.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+A question of some importance to writers who trouble themselves about
+accuracy, though no doubt the average reader is profoundly indifferent,
+is that of the right order as between quotation marks and stops.
+Besides the conflict in which we shall again find ourselves with the
+aesthetic compositor, it is really difficult to arrive at a completely
+logical system. Before laying down what seems the best attainable, we
+must warn the reader that it is not the system now in fashion; but
+there are signs that printers are feeling their way towards better
+things, and this is an attempt to anticipate what they will ultimately
+come to. We shall make one or two postulates, deduce rules, and give
+examples. After the examples (in order that readers who are content
+either to go on with the present compromise or to accept our rules
+may be able to skip the discussion), we shall consider some possible
+objections.
+
+No stop is ever required at the end of a quotation to separate the
+quotation, as such, from what follows; that is sufficiently done by the
+quotation mark.
+
+A stop is required to separate the containing sentence, which may go
+on beyond the quotation’s end, but more commonly does not, from what
+follows.
+
+An exclamation or question mark--which are not true stops, but tone
+symbols--may be an essential part of the quotation.
+
+When a quotation is broken by such insertions as _he said_, any stop or
+tone symbol may be an essential part of the first fragment of quotation.
+
+No stop is needed at either end of such insertions as _he said_ to
+part them from the quotation, that being sufficiently done by the
+quotation marks.
+
+From these considerations we deduce the following rules:
+
+1. The true stops should never stand before the second quotation mark
+except
+
+(_a_) when, as in dialogue given without framework, complete sentences
+entirely isolated and independent in grammar are printed as quotations.
+Even in these, it must be mentioned that the true stops are strictly
+unnecessary; but if the full stop (which alone can here be in question)
+is used in deference to universal custom, it should be before the
+quotation mark.
+
+(_b_) when a stop is necessary to divide the first fragment of an
+interrupted quotation from the second.
+
+2. Words that interrupt quotations should never be allowed stops to
+part them from the quotation.
+
+3. The tone symbols should be placed before or after the second
+quotation mark according as they belong to the quotation or to the
+containing sentence. If both quotation and containing sentence need a
+tone symbol, both should be used, with the quotation mark between them.
+
+The bracketed numbers before the examples repeat the numbers of the
+rules.
+
+ (1) Views advocated by Dr. Whately in his well-known ‘Essays’;
+
+ It is enough for us to reflect that ‘Such shortlived wits do wither as
+ they grow’.
+
+ We hear that ‘whom the gods love die young’, and thenceforth we
+ collect the cases that illustrate it.
+
+ (1 _a_) ‘You are breaking the rules.’ ‘Well, the rules are silly.’
+
+ (1 _b_) ‘Certainly not;’ he exclaimed ‘I would have died rather’.
+
+ (2) ‘I cannot guess’ he retorted ‘what you mean’.
+
+ (3) But ‘why drag in Velasquez?’
+
+ But what is the use of saying ‘Call no man happy till he dies’?
+
+ Is the question ‘Where was he?’ or ‘What was he doing?’?
+
+ How absurd to ask ‘Can a thing both be and not be?’!
+
+If indignation is excited by the last two monstrosities, we can only
+say what has been implied many other times in this book, that the
+right substitute for correct ugliness is not incorrect prettiness,
+but correct prettiness. There is never any difficulty in rewriting
+sentences like these. (Is the question where he was, &c.?) (‘Can a
+thing both be and not be?’ The question is absurd.) But it should be
+recognized that, if such sentences are to be written, there is only one
+way to punctuate them.
+
+It may be of interest to show how these sentences stand in the books.
+1st sentence (‘Essays;’); 2nd (grow.’); 3rd (young,’); 4th, as here;
+5th (not,’ he exclaimed;) (rather.’); 6th (guess,’ he retorted,)
+(mean.’); 7th (Velasquez’?); 8th (saying,) (dies?’). The last two are
+fabricated.
+
+The objections may now be considered.
+
+ ‘The passing crowd’ is a phrase coined in the spirit of indifference.
+ Yet, to a man of what Plato calls ‘universal sympathies,’ and even
+ to the plain, ordinary denizens of this world, what can be more
+ interesting than ‘the passing crowd’?--B.
+
+After giving this example, Beadnell says:--‘The reason is clear: the
+words quoted are those of another, but the _question_ is the writer’s
+own. Nevertheless, for the sake of neatness, the ordinary points, such
+as the comma, semicolon, colon, and full stop, _precede_ the quotation
+marks in instances analogous to the one quoted; but the exclamation
+follows the same rule as the interrogation’.
+
+Singularly enough, the stops that are according to this always to
+precede the quotation mark (for the ‘analogous cases’ are the only
+cases in which the outside position would be so much as considered) are
+just the ones that by our rules ought hardly ever to do so, whereas the
+two that are sometimes allowed the outside position are the two that we
+admit to be as often necessary inside as outside. Neatness is the sole
+consideration; just as the ears may be regarded as not hearing organs,
+but ‘handsome volutes of the human capital’, so quotation marks may be
+welcomed as giving a good picturesque finish to a sentence; those who
+are of this way of thinking must feel that, if they allowed outside
+them anything short of fine handsome stops like the exclamation and
+question marks, they would be countenancing an anticlimax. But they
+are really mere conservatives, masquerading only as aesthetes; and
+their conservatism will soon have to yield. Argument on the subject is
+impossible; it is only a question whether the printer’s love for the
+old ways that seem to him so neat, or the writer’s and reader’s desire
+to be understood and to understand fully, is to prevail.
+
+Another objector takes a stronger position. He admits that logic, and
+not beauty, must decide: ‘but before we give up the old, let us be
+sure we are giving it up for a new that is logical’. He invites our
+attention to the recent paragraph containing Beadnell’s views. ‘Why,
+in the last sentence of that paragraph, is the full stop outside?
+“But the exclamation follows the same rule as the interrogation” is
+a complete sentence, quoted; why should its full stop be separated
+from it?’ The answer is that the full stop is not _its_ full stop;
+_it_ needs no stop, having its communications forward absolutely
+cut off by the quotation mark. It is a delusion to suppose that any
+sentence has proprietary rights in a stop, though it may have in a
+tone symbol; a stop is placed after it merely to separate it from what
+follows, if necessary.--‘And the full stop after every last sentence
+(not a question or exclamation) of a paragraph, chapter, or book?’--Is
+illogical, and only to be allowed, like those in the isolated
+quotations mentioned in rule (1 _a_), in deference to universal custom.
+Our full stop belongs, not to the last sentence of the quotation,
+but to the paragraph, which is all one sentence, the whole quotation
+simply playing the part, helped by the quotation marks, of object to
+_says_.--‘But _says_ is followed by a colon, and a colon between verb
+and object breaks your own rules.’--No; (:--) is something different
+from a stop; it is an extra quotation mark, as much a conventional
+symbol as the full stop in M.A. and other abbreviations.--‘Well, then,
+instead of _says_, read _continues_, to which the quotation clearly
+cannot be object; will that affect our full stop?’--No; the quotation
+will still be part of the sentence; not indeed a noun, as before,
+and object to the verb; but an adverb, simply equivalent to _thus_,
+attached to the verb.
+
+Satisfied on that point, the objector takes up our statement that
+the quotation mark cuts communications; a similar statement was made
+in the _Dashes_ section about brackets and double dashes. He submits
+a quotation:--Some people ‘grunt and sweat under’ very easy burdens
+indeed; and a pair of brackets:--It is (not a little learning, but)
+much conceit that is a dangerous thing. ‘It is surely not true that
+either quotation mark or bracket cuts the communications there;
+_under_ in the quotation, _but_ in the brackets, are in very active
+communication with _burdens_ and _conceit_, outside.’ The answer
+is that these are merely convenient misuses of quotation marks
+and brackets. A quotation and a parenthesis should be complete
+in themselves, and instances that are not so may be neglected in
+arguing out principles. Special rules might indeed be required in
+consequence for the abnormal cases; but in practice this is not so with
+quotations.--‘A last point. To adapt one of your instances, here are
+two sets of sentences, stopped as I gather you would stop them:--(1) He
+asked me “Can a thing both be and not be?” The question is absurd. (2)
+He said “A thing cannot both be and not be”. I at once agreed. Now, if
+the full stop is required after the quotation mark in the second, it
+must be required after that in the first, in each case to part, not the
+quotation, but the containing sentence, from the next sentence. What
+right have you to omit the full stop in the first?’--None whatever; it
+will not be omitted.--‘So we have an addition of some importance to the
+monstrosities you said we should have to avoid.’--Well, sentences of
+this type are not common except in a style of affected simplicity.--‘Or
+real simplicity. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of
+Jonas, lovest thou me? And is there any particular simplicity, real or
+affected, about this:--(Richmond looked at him with an odd smile for a
+moment or two before asking, as if it were the most natural question in
+the world, “But is it true?”.)?’--In the Bible quotation there is, as
+you say, real simplicity--or rather there was. That sort of simplicity
+now would not be real, but artificial. Any one who has good reason to
+imitate primitive style may imitate primitive punctuation too. But one
+step forward in precision we have definitely taken from the biblical
+typography: we should insist on quotation marks in such a sentence.
+They do not seem pedantic or needless now; nor will a further step in
+precision seem so when once it has been taken. And as to your Richmond
+sentence, and ‘monstrosities’ in general, it may be confessed here,
+as we are out of hearing in this discussion of all but those who are
+really interested, that the word was used for the benefit only of those
+who are indifferent. A sentence with two stops is not a monstrosity, if
+it wants them; and that will be realized, if once sensible punctuation
+gets the upper hand of neatness.
+
+These are the most plausible objections on principle to a system of
+using quotation marks with stops that would be in the main logical.
+It may be thought, however, that it was our business to be practical
+and opportunist, and suggest nothing that could not be acted on at
+once. But general usage, besides being illogical, is so inconsistent,
+different writers improving upon it in special details that appeal to
+them, that it seemed simpler to give our idea of what would be the best
+attainable, and trust to the tiro’s adopting any parts of it that may
+not frighten him by their unaccustomed look.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+There are single and double quotation marks, and, apart from minor
+peculiarities, two ways of utilizing the variety. The prevailing one is
+to use double marks for most purposes, and single ones for quotations
+within quotations, as:--“Well, so he said to me ‘What do you mean by
+it?’ and I said ‘I didn’t mean anything’”. Some of those who follow
+this system also use the single marks for isolated words, short
+phrases, and anything that can hardly be called a formal quotation;
+this avoids giving much emphasis to such expressions, which is an
+advantage. The more logical method is that adopted, for instance, by
+the Oxford University Press, of reserving the double marks exclusively
+for quotations within quotations. Besides the loss of the useful
+degrees in emphasis (sure, however, to be inconsistently utilized),
+there is a certain lack of full-dress effect about important quotations
+when given this way; but that is probably a mere matter of habituation.
+It should be mentioned that most of the quoted quotations in this
+section had originally the double marks, but have been altered to
+suit the more logical method; and the unpleasantness of the needless
+quotation marks with which we started has so been slightly toned down.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+A common mistake, of no great importance, but resulting in more or less
+discomfort or perplexity to the reader, is the placing of the first
+quotation mark earlier than the place where quotation really begins.
+The commonest form of it is the including of the quoter’s introductory
+_that_, which it is often obvious that the original did not contain.
+Generally speaking, if _that_ is used the quotation marks may be
+dispensed with; not, however, if the exact phraseology is important;
+but at least the mark should be in the right place.
+
+ I remember an old scholastic aphorism, which says, ‘that the man
+ who lives wholly detached from others, must be either an angel or a
+ devil.’--BURKE.
+
+As the aphorism descends through Latin from Aristotle (ἢ θηρίον
+ἢ θεός), the precise English Words are of no importance, and the
+quotation marks might as well be away; at least the first should be
+after _that_.
+
+ Then, with ‘a sarvant, sir’ to me, he took himself into the
+ kitchen.--BORROW.
+
+Clearly _a_ is not included in the quotation.
+
+ They make it perfectly clear and plain, he informed the House, that
+ ‘Sir Antony MacDonnell was invited by him, rather as a colleague than
+ as a mere Under-Secretary, to register my will.’--_Times._
+
+The change from _him_ to _my_ would be quite legitimate if the first
+quotation mark stood before _rather_ instead of where it does; as it
+stands, it is absurd.
+
+ It is long since he partook of the Holy Communion, though there was an
+ Easterday, of which he writes, when ‘he might have remained quietly in
+ (his) corner during the office, if...’.--_Times._
+
+The (_his_) is evidently bracketed to show that it is substituted for
+the original writer’s _my_. This is very conscientious; but it follows
+that either the same should have been done for _he_, or the quotation
+mark should be after _he_.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We began this section by saying that quotation marks should be used
+only when necessary. A question that affects the decision to some
+extent is the difference between direct, indirect, and half-and-half
+quotation. We can say (1) He said ‘I will go’. (2) He said he would go.
+(3) He said ‘he would go’. The first variety is often necessary for the
+sake of vividness. The third is occasionally justified when, though
+there is no occasion for vividness, there is some turn of phrase that
+it is important for the reader to recognize as actually originating,
+not with the writer, but with the person quoted; otherwise, that
+variety is to be carefully avoided; how disagreeable it is will appear
+in the example below. For ordinary purposes the second variety, which
+involves no quotation marks, is the best.
+
+ He then followed my example, declared he never felt more refreshed in
+ his life, and, giving a bound, said, ‘he would go and look after his
+ horses.’--BORROW.
+
+Further, there may be quotation, not of other people’s words, but of
+one’s own thoughts. In this case the method prevailing at present is
+that exemplified in the _Times_ extract below. Taken by itself, there
+is no objection to it. We point out, however, that it is irreconcilable
+with the principles explained in this section, which demand the
+addition of a full stop (derived?.). That would be a worse monstrosity
+than the one in the first of the three legitimate alternatives that we
+add. We recommend that the _Times_ method should be abandoned, and the
+first or second of the others used according to circumstances.
+
+ The next question is, Whence is this income derived?--_Times._
+
+ The next question is ‘Whence is this income derived?’. (Full direct
+ quotation. Observe the ‘monstrosity’ stop)
+
+ The next question is whence this income is derived. (Indirect
+ quotation)
+
+ The next question is ‘Whence this income is derived’. (Indirect
+ quotation with quotation marks, or half-and-half quotation, like the
+ Borrow sentence)
+
+In concluding the chapter on Punctuation we may make the general remark
+that the effect of our recommendations, whether advocating as in the
+last section more strictness, or as in other parts more liberty, would
+be, certainly, a considerable reduction in the number of diacritical
+marks cutting up and disfiguring the text; and, as we think, a practice
+in most respects more logical and comprehensible.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[12] See chapter _Syntax_, section _Relatives_.
+
+[13] Of course, however, the rhetorical question is often not, as here,
+the result of a confusion, nor to be described as ‘very artificial’. E.
+g., _What would I not give to be there?_ _To what subterfuge has he not
+resorted?_
+
+
+
+
+ PART II
+
+
+Some less important chapters had been designed on Euphony, Ambiguity,
+Negligence, and other points. But as the book would with them have run
+to too great length, some of the examples have been simply grouped here
+in independent sections, with what seemed the minimum of comment.
+
+
+1. JINGLES
+
+ To read his tales is a bapt_ism_ of optim_ism_.--_Times._
+
+ Sensation is the dir_ect_ eff_ect_ of the _mo_de of _mo_tion of the
+ sensorium.--HUXLEY.
+
+ There have been no periodi_cal_ gener_al_ physi_cal_
+ catastrophes.--HUXLEY.
+
+ It is con_tended_, indeed, that these preparations are in_tended_
+ only....--_Times._
+
+ It is in_tend_ed to ex_tend_ the system to this country.--_Times._
+
+ M. Sphakianakis con_ducted_ pro_tracted_ negotiations.--_Times._
+
+ Those inalienable rights of life, liber_ty_ and proper_ty_ upon which
+ the safe_ty_ of socie_ty_ depends.--CHOATE.
+
+ He served his apprenticeship to statesmanship.--BRYCE.
+
+ Ap_par_ently pre_par_ed to hold its ground.--_Times._
+
+ I awaited a belated train.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+ Hand them on silver salvers to the server.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ ... adjourned the discus_sion_ of the ques_tion_ of dela_tion_ until
+ to-day.--_Times._
+
+ In this house of pover_ty_ and digni_ty_, of past grandeur and present
+ simplici_ty_, the brothers lived together in uni_ty_.--H. CAINE.
+
+ Their invalidi_ty_ was caused by a technicali_ty_.--_Times._
+
+ ... had for consola_tion_ the expan_sion_ of its
+ domin_ion_.--_Spectator._
+
+ The essential founda_tion_ of all the organiza_tion_ needed for the
+ promo_tion_ of educa_tion_.--HUXLEY.
+
+ The projects of M. Witte _re_lative to the _re_gul_ation_ of the
+ _re_l_ations_ between capital and labour.--_Times._
+
+The remaining instances are of consecutive adverbs in _-ly_. Parallel
+adverbs, qualifying the same word simultaneously, do not result in
+a jingle; but in all our instances the two adverbs either qualify
+different words, or qualify the same word at different times. Thus,
+in the Huxley sentence, _unquestionably_ either qualifies _is_, or
+qualifies _true_ only after _largely_ has qualified it: it is not the
+(universal) truth, but the partial truth, of the proposition that is
+unquestionable.
+
+ When the traffic in our streets becomes entirely mechanically
+ propelled.--_Times._
+
+ He lived practically exclusively on milk.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ Critics would probably decidedly disagree.--HUTTON.
+
+ The children are functionally mentally defective.--_Times._
+
+ What is practically wholly and entirely the British commerce and
+ trade.--_Times._
+
+ ... who answered, usually monosyllabically, ....--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ The policy of England towards Afghanistan is, as formerly, entirely
+ friendly.--_Times._
+
+ Money spent possibly unwisely, probably illegally, and certainly
+ hastily.--_Times._
+
+ The deer are necessarily closely confined to definite areas.--_Times._
+
+ We find Hobbes’s view ... tolerably effectively combated.--MORLEY.
+
+ Great mental endowments do not, unhappily, necessarily involve a
+ passion for obscurity.--H. G. WELLS.
+
+ The proposition of Descartes is unquestionably largely true.--HUXLEY.
+
+
+2. ALLITERATION
+
+Alliteration is not much affected by modern prose writers of any
+experience; it is a novice’s toy. The antithetic variety has probably
+seen its best days, and the other instances quoted are doubtless to be
+attributed to negligence.
+
+ I must needs trudge at every old _beldam’s bidding_ and every young
+ _minx’s maggot_.--SCOTT.
+
+ Onward _gl_ided Dame Ursula, now in _gl_immer and now in
+ _gl_oom.--SCOTT.
+
+ I have seen her in the same day as changeful as a _m_armozet, and as
+ stubborn as a _m_ule.--SCOTT.
+
+ Thus, in _con_sequence of the _con_tinuance of that grievance,
+ the means of education at the disposal of the _Pr_otestants and
+ _Pr_esbyterians were _st_unted and _st_erilized.--BALFOUR.
+
+ A gaunt well with a shattered pent-house _dw_arfed the _dw_elling.--H.
+ G. WELLS.
+
+ It shall be lawful to _p_icket _p_remises for the _p_urpose of
+ _p_eacefully _p_ersuading any _p_erson to....--_Times._
+
+
+3. REPEATED PREPOSITIONS
+
+ The founders _of_ the study _of_ the origin _of_ human
+ culture.--MORLEY.
+
+ After the manner _of_ the author _of_ the immortal speeches _of_
+ Pericles.--MORLEY.
+
+ Togo’s announcement _of_ the destruction _of_ the fighting power _of_
+ Russia’s Pacific squadron.--_Times._
+
+ The necessity _of_ the modification _of_ the system _of_
+ administration.--_Times._
+
+ An exaggeration _of_ the excesses _of_ the epoch _of_
+ sentimentalism.--MORLEY.
+
+ Hostile to the justice _of_ the principle _of_ the taxing _of_ those
+ values which....--LORD ROSEBERY.
+
+ The observation _of_ the facts _of_ the geological succession _of_ the
+ forms _of_ life.--HUXLEY.
+
+ Devoid _of_ any accurate knowledge _of_ the mode _of_ development _of_
+ many groups _of_ plants and animals.--HUXLEY.
+
+ One uniform note _of_ cordial recognition _of_ the complete success
+ _of_ the experiment.--_Times._
+
+ The first fasciculus _of_ the second volume _of_ the Bishop _of_
+ Salisbury’s critical edition _of_ St. Jerome’s Revision _of_ the Latin
+ New Testament.--_Times._
+
+ The appreciation _of_ the House _of_ the benefits derived _by_
+ the encouragement afforded _by_ the Government to the operations
+ _of_....--_Times._
+
+ The study _of_ the perfectly human theme _of_ the affection _of_ a man
+ _of_ middle age.--_Times._
+
+ His conviction _of_ the impossibility _of_ the proposal either _of_
+ the creation _of_ elective financial boards....--_Daily Express._
+
+ Representative _of_ the mind _of_ the age _of_ literature.--RUSKIN.
+
+ Indignation _against_ the worst offenders _against_....--_Times._
+
+ A belief _in_ language _in_ harmony with....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ The opposition ... _to_ the submission _to_ the claims.--_Times._
+
+ Taken up _with_ warfare _with_ an enemy....--FREEMAN.
+
+ Palmerston wasted the strength derived _by_ England _by_ the great war
+ _by_ his brag.--GRANVILLE.
+
+ Unpropitious _for_ any project _for_ the reduction....--_Times._
+
+ Called _upon_ to decide _upon_ the reduction....--_Times._
+
+
+4. SEQUENCE OF RELATIVES
+
+ A garret, in _which_ were two small beds, in one of _which_ she gave
+ me to understand another gentleman slept.--BORROW.
+
+ Still no word of enlightenment had come _which_ should pierce the
+ thick clouds of doubt _which_ hid the face of the future.--E. F.
+ BENSON.
+
+ The ideal of a general alphabet ... is one _which_ gives a basis
+ _which_ is generally acceptable.--H. SWEET.
+
+ He enjoyed a lucrative practice, _which_ enabled him to maintain and
+ educate a family with all the advantages _which_ money can give in
+ this country.--TROLLOPE.
+
+ The clown _who_ views the pandemonium of red brick _which_ he has
+ built on the estate _which_ he has purchased.--BORROW.
+
+ The main thread of the book, _which_ is a daring assault upon that
+ serious kind of pedantry _which_ utters itself in....--L. STEPHEN.
+
+ Practical reasons _which_ combine to commend this architectural
+ solution of a problem _which_ so many of us dread....--_Times._
+
+ The teachers, _who_ took care that the weaker, _who_ might otherwise
+ be driven to the wall, had ... their fair share.--_Times._
+
+ Let the heads and rulers of free peoples tell this truth to
+ a Tsar _who_ seeks to dominate a people _who_ will not and
+ cannot....--_Times._
+
+ He made a speech ... _which_ contained a passage on the conditions of
+ modern diplomacy _which_ attracted some attention.--_Times._
+
+There is of course no objection to the recurrence when the relatives
+are parallel.
+
+
+5. SEQUENCE OF ‘THAT’ OR OTHER CONJUNCTIONS
+
+Here, as with relatives, the recurrence is objectionable only when one
+of the clauses is subordinate to the other.
+
+ I do not forget _that_ some writers have held _that_ a system is to be
+ inferred.--BALFOUR.
+
+ I say _that_ there is a real danger _that_ we may run to the other
+ extreme.--HUXLEY.
+
+ It is clear ... _that_ the opinion was _that_ it is not
+ incompatible.--NANSEN.
+
+ I find _that_ the view _that_ Japan has now a splendid opportunity ...
+ is heartily endorsed.--_Times._
+
+ I must point out _that_ it is a blot on our national education _that_
+ we have serving....--_Times._
+
+ The Chairman replied to the allegation made by the Radical press to
+ the effect _that_ the statement _that_ the British workman will not
+ work as an unskilled labourer in the mines is inaccurate.--_Times._
+
+ An official telegram states _that_ General Nogi reports
+ _that_....--_Times._
+
+ The conviction _that_ the Tsar must realize _that_ the prestige of
+ Russia is at stake.--_Times._
+
+ He was so carried away by his discovery _that_ he ventured on the
+ assertion _that_ the similarity between the two languages was so great
+ _that_ an educated German could understand whole strophes of Persian
+ poetry.--H. SWEET.
+
+ I may fairly claim to have no personal interest in defending
+ the council, _although_ I believe, _though_ I am not certain,
+ that....--_Times._
+
+
+6. METRICAL PROSE
+
+The novice who is conscious of a weakness for the high-flown and the
+inflated should watch narrowly for metrical snatches in his prose; they
+are a sure sign that the fit is on him.
+
+ Oh, moralists, who treat of happiness / and self-respect, innate in
+ every sphere / of life, and shedding light on every grain / of dust
+ in God’s highway, so smooth below / your carriage-wheels, so rough
+ beneath the tread / of naked feet, bethink yourselves / in looking
+ on the swift descent / of men who _have_ lived in their own esteem,
+ / that there are scores of thousands breathing now, / and breathing
+ thick with painful toil, who in / that high respect have never lived
+ at all, / nor had a chance of life! Go ye, who rest / so placidly upon
+ the sacred Bard / who had been young, and when he strung his harp /
+ was old, ... / go, Teachers of content and honest pride, / into the
+ mine, the mill, the forge, / the squalid depths of deepest ignorance,
+ / and uttermost abyss of man’s neglect, / and say can any hopeful
+ plant spring up / in air so foul that it extinguishes / the soul’s
+ bright torch as fast as it is kindled! /--DICKENS.
+
+ But now,--now I have resolved to stand alone,--/ fighting my battle
+ as a man should fight, / seeking for neither help nor sympathy, / and
+ trusting not in self....--CORELLI.
+
+ And the gathering orange stain / upon the edge of yonder western peak,
+ / reflects the sunsets of a thousand years.--RUSKIN.
+
+ His veins were opened; but he talked on still / while life was slowly
+ ebbing, and was calm / through all the agony of lingering death.--W.
+ W. CAPES.
+
+ Can I then trust the evidence of sense? / And art thou really to my
+ wish restored? / Never, oh never, did thy beauty shine / with such
+ bewitching grace, as that which now / confounds and captivates my
+ view! / ... Where hast thou lived? where borrowed this perfection? /
+ ... Oh! I am all amazement, joy and fear! / Thou wilt not leave me!
+ No! we must not part / again. By this warm kiss! a thousand times
+ / more sweet than all the fragrance of the East! / we never more
+ will part. O! this is rapture! / ecstasy! and what no language will
+ explain--SMOLLETT.
+
+
+7. SENTENCE ACCENT
+
+It is only necessary to read aloud any one of the sentences quoted
+below, to perceive at once that there is something wrong with its
+accentuation. To lay down rules on this point would be superfluous,
+even if it were practicable; for in all doubtful cases the ear can
+and should decide. A writer who cannot trust himself to balance his
+sentences properly should read aloud all that he writes. It is useless
+for him to argue that readers will not read his work aloud, and that
+therefore the fault of which we are speaking will escape notice. For,
+although the fault may appear to be exclusively one of sound, it
+is always in fact a fault of sense: unnatural accentuation is only
+the outward sign of an unnatural combination of thought. Thus, nine
+readers out of ten would detect in a moment, without reading aloud,
+the ill-judged structure in our first example: the writer has tried
+to do two incompatible things at the same time, to describe in some
+detail the appearance of his characters, and to begin a conversation;
+the result is that any one reading the sentence aloud is compelled to
+maintain, through several lines of new and essential information, the
+tone that is appropriate only to what is treated as a matter of course.
+The interrogative tone protests more loudly than any other against this
+kind of mismanagement; but our examples will show that other tones are
+liable to the same abuse.
+
+The accentuation of each clause or principal member of a sentence
+is primarily fixed by its relation to the other members: when the
+internal claims of its own component parts clash with this fixed
+accentuation--when, for instance, what should be read with a uniformly
+declining accentuation requires for its own internal purposes a marked
+rise and fall of accent--reconstruction is necessary to avoid a badly
+balanced sentence. The passage from Peacock will illustrate this: after
+_pupils_, and still more after _counterpoint_, the accentuation should
+steadily decline to the end of the passage; but, conflicting with this
+requirement, we have the exorbitant claims of a complete anecdote,
+containing within itself an elaborately accented speech. To represent
+the anecdote as an insignificant appendage to _pupils_ was a fault of
+sense; it is revealed to the few who would not have perceived it by the
+impossibility of reading the passage naturally.
+
+ ‘Are Japanese Aprils always as lovely as this?’ asked the man in the
+ light tweed suit of two others in immaculate flannels with crimson
+ sashes round their waists and puggarees folded in cunning plaits round
+ their broad Terai hats.--D. SLADEN.
+
+ ‘Here we are’, he said presently, after they had turned off the main
+ road for a while and rattled along a lane between high banks topped
+ with English shrubs, and looking for all the world like an outskirt of
+ Tunbridge Wells.--D. SLADEN.
+
+ I doubt if Haydn would have passed as a composer before a committee of
+ lords like one of his own pupils, who insisted on demonstrating to him
+ that he was continually sinning against the rules of counterpoint; on
+ which Haydn said to him, ‘I thought I was to teach you, but it seems
+ you are to teach me, and I do not want a preceptor’, and thereon he
+ wished his lordship a good morning.--PEACOCK.
+
+ She wondered at having drifted into the neighbourhood of a person
+ resembling in her repellent formal chill virtuousness a windy belfry
+ tower, down among those districts of suburban London or appalling
+ provincial towns passed now and then with a shudder, where the
+ funereal square bricks-up the church, that Arctic hen-mother sits
+ on the square, and the moving dead are summoned to their round of
+ penitential exercise by a monosyllabic tribulation-bell.--MEREDITH.
+
+The verb _wonder_ presupposes the reader’s familiarity with the
+circumstance wondered at; it will not do the double work of announcing
+both the wonder and the thing wondered at. ‘I wondered at Smith’s being
+there’ implies that my hearer knew that Smith was there; if he did
+not, I should say ‘I was surprised to find...’. Accordingly, in this
+very artificial sentence, the writer presupposes the inconceivable
+question: ‘What were her feelings on finding that she had drifted
+... tribulation-bell?’. To read a sentence of minute and striking
+description with the declining accentuation that necessarily follows
+the verb _wondered_ is of course impossible.
+
+ How doth the earth terrifie and oppress us with terrible earthquakes,
+ which are most frequent in China, Japan, and those eastern climes,
+ swallowing up sometimes six cities at once!--BURTON.
+
+Of the many possible violations of sentence accent, one--common in
+inferior writers--is illustrated in the next section.
+
+
+8. CAUSAL ‘AS’ CLAUSES
+
+There are two admissible kinds of causal ‘as’ clauses--the pure and the
+mixed. The pure clause assigns as a cause some fact that is already
+known to the reader and is sure to occur to him in the connexion: the
+mixed assigns as a cause what is not necessarily known to the reader
+or present in his mind; it has the double function of conveying a
+new fact, and indicating its relation to the main sentence. Context
+will usually decide whether an _as_ clause is pure or mixed; in the
+following examples, it is clear from the nature of the two clauses that
+the first is pure, the second mixed:
+
+ I have an edition with German notes; but that is of no use, as you do
+ not read German.
+
+ I caught the train, but afterwards wished I had not, as I presently
+ discovered that my luggage was left behind.
+
+The second of these, it will be noticed, is unreadable, unless we slur
+the _as_ to such an extent as practically to acknowledge that it ought
+not to be there. The reason is that, although a pure clause may stand
+at any point in the sentence, a mixed one must always precede the
+main statement. The pure clause, having only the subordinate function
+normally indicated by _as_, is subordinate in sense as well as in
+grammar; and the declining accentuation with which it is accordingly
+pronounced will not be interfered with wherever we may place it.
+But the mixed clause has another function, that of conveying a new
+fact, for which _as_ does not prepare us, and which entitles it to an
+accentuation as full and as varied as that of the main statement. To
+neutralize the subordinating effect of _as_, and secure the proper
+accentuation, we must place the clause at the beginning; where this
+is not practicable, _as_ should be removed, and a colon or semi-colon
+used instead of a comma. Persistent usage tends of course to remove
+this objection by weakening the subordinating power of conjunctions:
+_because_, _while_, _whereas_, _since_, can be used where _as_ still
+betrays a careless or illiterate writer. There is the same false ring
+in all the following sentences:
+
+ I myself saw in the estate office of a large landed proprietor a
+ procession of peasant women begging for assistance, as owing to
+ the departure of the bread-winners the families were literally
+ starving.--_Times._
+
+Remove _as_, and use a heavier stop.
+
+ Very true, Jasper; but you really ought to learn to read, as, by so
+ doing, you might learn your duty towards yourselves.--BORROW.
+
+To read; by so doing, ....
+
+ There was a barber and hairdresser, who had been at Paris, and talked
+ French with a cockney accent, the French sounding all the better, as
+ no accent is so melodious as the Cockney.--BORROW.
+
+Use a semicolon and ‘for’; the assertion requires all the support that
+vigorous accentuation can lend.
+
+ One of the very few institutions for which the Popish Church
+ entertains any fear, and consequently respect, as it respects nothing
+ which it does not fear.--BORROW.
+
+_For_ instead of _as_ will best suit this illogical and falsely
+coordinated sentence.
+
+ Everybody likes to know that his advantages cannot be attributed to
+ air, soil, sea, or to local wealth, as mines and quarries, ... but to
+ superior brain, as it makes the praise more personal to him.--EMERSON.
+
+Again the clause is a mixed one. The point of view it suggests is,
+indeed, sufficiently obvious; but (unlike our typical pure clause
+above--‘you do not know German’) it depends for its existence upon the
+circumstances of the main sentence, which may or may not have occurred
+to the reader before. The full accentuation with which the clause must
+inevitably be read condemns it at once; use a colon, and remove _as_.
+
+Pure clauses, being from their nature more or less otiose, belong
+rather to the spoken than to the written language. It follows that a
+good writer will seldom have a causal _as_ clause of any kind at the
+end of a sentence. Two further limitations remain to be noticed:
+
+i. When the cause, not the effect, is obviously the whole point of the
+sentence, _because_, not _as_, should be used; the following is quite
+impossible English:
+
+ I make these remarks as quick shooting at short ranges has lately been
+ so strongly recommended.--_Times._
+
+ii. _As_ should be used only to give the cause of the thing asserted,
+not the cause of the assertion, nor an illustration of its truth, as in
+the following instances:
+
+ You refer me to the Encyclopaedia: you are mistaken, as I find the
+ Encyclopaedia exactly confirms my view.
+
+ The Oxford Coxswain did not steer a very good course here, as he kept
+ too close in to the Middlesex shore to obtain full advantage of the
+ tide; it made little difference, however, as his crew continued to
+ gain.--_Times._
+
+My finding the Encyclopaedia’s confirmation was not the cause of
+mistake, nor the keeping too close the cause of bad steering.
+
+
+9. WENS AND HYPERTROPHIED MEMBERS
+
+No sentence is to be condemned for mere length; a really skilful writer
+can fill a page with one and not tire his reader, though a succession
+of long sentences without the relief of short ones interspersed is
+almost sure to be forbidding. But the tiro, and even the good writer
+who is not prepared to take the trouble of reading aloud what he has
+written, should confine himself to the easily manageable. The tendency
+is to allow some part of a sentence to develop unnatural proportions,
+or a half parenthetic insertion to separate too widely the essential
+parts. The cure, indispensable for every one who aims at a passable
+style, and infallible for any one who has a good ear, is reading aloud
+after writing.
+
+1. Disproportionate insertions.
+
+ Some simple eloquence distinctly heard, though only uttered in her
+ eyes, unconscious that he read them, as, ‘By the death-beds I have
+ tended, by the childhood I have suffered, by our meeting in this
+ dreary house at midnight, by the cry wrung from me in the anguish of
+ my heart, O father, turn to me and seek a refuge in my love before it
+ is too late!’ may have arrested them.--DICKENS.
+
+ Captain Cuttle, though no sluggard, did not turn so early on the
+ morning after he had seen Sol Gills, through the shopwindow, writing
+ in the parlour, with the Midshipman upon the counter, and Rob the
+ Grinder making up his bed below it, but that the clocks struck six
+ as he raised himself on his elbow, and took a survey of his little
+ chamber.--DICKENS.
+
+ A perpetual consequent warfare of her spirit and the nature subject
+ to the thousand sensational hypocrisies invoked for concealment of
+ its reviled brutish baseness, held the woman suspended from her
+ emotions.--MEREDITH.
+
+ Yesterday, before Dudley Sowerby’s visit, Nataly would have been
+ stirred where the tears which we shed for happiness or repress
+ at a flattery dwell when seeing her friend Mrs. John Cormyn
+ enter....--MEREDITH.
+
+ ‘It takes’, it is said that Sir Robert Peel observed, ‘three
+ generations to make a gentleman’.--BAGEHOT.
+
+ Behind, round the windows of the lower story, clusters of clematis,
+ like large purple sponges, blossomed, miraculously fed through their
+ thin, dry stalks.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ It is a striking exhibition of the power which the groups, hostile
+ in different degrees to a democratic republic, have of Parliamentary
+ combination.--_Spectator._
+
+ Sir,--With reference to the custom among some auctioneers and
+ surveyors of receiving secret commissions, which was recently brought
+ to light in a case before the Lord Chief Justice and Justices Kennedy
+ and Ridley (King’s Bench Division), when the L. C. J. in giving
+ judgment for the defendants said:--Unfortunately in commercial
+ circles, in which prominent men played a part, extraordinary mistakes
+ occurred. But a principal who employed an agent to do work for him
+ employed him upon terms that the agent was not liable to get secret
+ commissions. The sooner secret commissions were not approved by an
+ honourable profession, the better it would be for commerce in all its
+ branches. I desire to take this opportunity....--_Times._
+
+ In the course of a conversation with a representative of the
+ _Gaulois_, Captain Klado, after repeating his views on the necessity
+ for Russia to secure the command of the sea which have already
+ appeared in the _Times_, replied as follows to a question as to
+ whether, after the new squadron in the course of formation at
+ Libau has reinforced Admiral Rozhdestvensky’s fleet, the Russian
+ and Japanese naval forces will be evenly balanced: [here follows
+ reply]--_Times._
+
+2. Sentences of which the end is allowed to trail on to unexpected
+length.
+
+ But though she could trust his word, the heart of the word went out
+ of it when she heard herself thanked by Lady Blachington (who could
+ so well excuse her at such a time for not returning her call, that
+ she called in a friendly way a second time, warmly to thank her)
+ for throwing open the Concert Room at Lakelands in August, to an
+ entertainment in assistance of the funds for the purpose of erecting
+ an East London Clubhouse, where the children of the poor by day could
+ play, and their parents pass a disengaged evening.--MEREDITH.
+
+ How to commence the ceremony might have been a difficulty, but for the
+ zeal of the American Minister, who, regardless of the fact that he
+ was the representative of a sister Power, did not see any question of
+ delicacy arise in his taking a prominent part in proceedings regarded
+ as entirely irregular by the representatives of the Power to which the
+ parties concerned belonged.--D. SLADEN.
+
+ The style holds the attention, but perhaps the most subtle charm of
+ the work lies in the inextricable manner in which fact is interwoven
+ with something else that is not exactly fiction, but rather fancy bred
+ of the artist’s talent in projecting upon his canvas his own view
+ of things seen and felt and lived through by those whose thoughts,
+ motives, and actions, he depicts.--_Times._
+
+ The cock-bustard that, having preened himself, paces before the hen
+ birds on the plains that he can scour when his wings, which are slow
+ in the air, join with his strong legs to make nothing of grassy
+ leagues on leagues.--_Times._
+
+ I don’t so much wonder at his going away, because, leaving out of
+ consideration that spice of the marvellous which was always in his
+ character, and his great affection for me, before which every other
+ consideration of his life became nothing, as no one ought to know
+ so well as I who had the best of fathers in him--leaving that out
+ of consideration, I say, I have often read and heard of people who,
+ having some near and dear relative, who was supposed to be shipwrecked
+ at sea, have gone down to live on that part of the seashore where any
+ tidings of the missing ship might be expected to arrive, though only
+ an hour or two sooner than elsewhere, or have even gone upon her track
+ to the place whither she was bound, as if their going would create
+ intelligence.--DICKENS.
+
+ What he had to communicate was the contents of despatches from Tokio
+ containing information received by the Japanese Government respecting
+ infringements of neutrality by the Baltic Fleet in Indo-Chinese waters
+ outside what are, strictly speaking, the territorial limits, and
+ principally by obtaining provisions from the shore.--_Times._
+
+3. Decapitable sentences.
+
+Perhaps the most exasperating form is that of the sentence that keeps
+on prolonging itself by additional phrases, each joint of which gives
+the reader hopes of a full stop.
+
+ It was only after the weight of evidence against the economic
+ success of the endeavour became overwhelming that our firm withdrew
+ its support /, and in conjunction with almost the entire British
+ population of the country concentrated its efforts on endeavouring to
+ obtain permission to increase the coloured unskilled labour supply
+ of the mines / so as to be in a position to extend mining operations
+ /, and thus assist towards re-establishing the prosperity of the
+ country /, while at the same time attracting a number of skilled
+ British artisans / who would receive not merely the bare living wage
+ of the white unskilled labourer, but a wage sufficient to enable these
+ artisans to bring their families to the country / and to make their
+ permanent home there.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ Here may still be seen by the watchful eye the Louisiana heron and
+ smaller egret, all that rapacious plume-hunters have left of their
+ race, tripping like timid fairies in and out the leafy screen / that
+ hides the rank jungle of sawgrass and the grisly swamp where dwells
+ the alligator /, which lies basking, its nostrils just level with the
+ dirty water of its bath, or burrows swiftly in the soft earth to evade
+ the pursuit of those who seek to dislodge it with rope and axe / that
+ they may sell its hide to make souvenirs for the tourists / who, at
+ the approach of summer, hie them north or east with grateful memories
+ of that fruitful land.--F. G. AFLALO.
+
+ Running after milkmaids is by no means an ungenteel rural diversion;
+ but let any one ask some respectable casuist (the Bishop of London,
+ for instance), whether Lavengro was not far better employed, when in
+ the country, at tinkering and smithery than he would have been in
+ running after all the milkmaids in Cheshire /, though tinkering is in
+ general considered a very ungenteel employment /, and smithery little
+ better /, notwithstanding that an Orcadian poet, who wrote in Norse
+ about 800 years ago, reckons the latter among nine noble arts which he
+ possessed /, naming it along with playing at chess, on the harp, and
+ ravelling runes /, or as the original has it, ‘treading runes’ /--that
+ is, compressing them into small compass by mingling one letter with
+ another /, even as the Turkish caligraphists ravel the Arabic letters
+ /, more especially those who write talismans.--BORROW.
+
+
+10. CARELESS REPETITION
+
+Conscious repetition of a word or phrase has been discussed in Part
+I (Airs and Graces): in the following examples the repetition is
+unconscious, and proves only that the writer did not read over what he
+had written.
+
+ ... a man ... who directly _impresses_ one with the
+ _impression_....--_Times._
+
+ For most _of them_ get rid _of them_ more or less completely.--H.
+ SWEET.
+
+ The most important distinction between dialogue on the one hand and
+ _purely_ descriptive and narrative pieces on the other hand is a
+ _purely_ grammatical one.--H. SWEET.
+
+ And it _may_ be that from a growing familiarity with Canadian winter
+ amusements _may_ in time spring an even warmer regard....--_Times._
+
+ It _may_ well induce the uncomfortable reflection that these
+ historical words _may_ prove....--_Times._
+
+ The inclusion of _adherents_ would be _adhered_ to.--_Times._
+
+ The _remainder remaining_ loyal, fierce fighting
+ commenced.--_Spectator._
+
+ Every subordinate shortcoming, every incidental defect, will be
+ _pardoned_. ‘Save us’ is the cry of the moment; and, in the confident
+ hope of safety, any deficiency will be overlooked, and any frailty
+ _pardoned_.--BAGEHOT.
+
+ They were _followed_ by jinrikshas _containing_ young girls with very
+ carefully-dressed hair, _carrying_ large bunches of real flowers on
+ their laps, _followed_ in turn by two more coolies _carrying_ square
+ white wooden jars, _containing_ huge silver tinsel flowers.--D. SLADEN.
+
+ It can do so, in all reasonable probability, _provided_ its militia
+ character is maintained. But in any case it will _provide_ us at home
+ with the second line army of our needs.--_Times._
+
+ _Dressed_ in a subtly ill-_dressed_, expensive mode.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ Toodle being the _family_ name of the apple-faced _family_.--DICKENS.
+
+ Artillery firing _extends_ along the whole front, _extending_ for
+ eighty miles.--_Times._
+
+ I regard the action and conduct of the Ministry _as_ a whole _as_ of
+ far greater importance.--_Times._
+
+ The fleet passed the port _on its way_ through the Straits _on the
+ way_ to the China Sea.--_Times._
+
+ Much of his popularity he owed, we believe, to _that_ very timidity
+ _which_ his friends lamented. _That_ timidity often prevented him
+ from exhibiting his talents to the best advantage. But it propitiated
+ Nemesis. It averted _that_ envy _which_ would otherwise have been
+ excited....--MACAULAY.
+
+ I will lay down _a pen_ I am so little able to govern.--And I will try
+ to subdue _an impatience which_ ... may otherwise lead me into still
+ more punishable errors.--I will return to _a subject which_ I cannot
+ fly from for ten minutes together.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ At the same time it was largely _owing to_ his careful training that
+ so many great Etonian cricketers _owed_ their success.--_Times._
+
+
+11. COMMON MISQUOTATIONS
+
+These are excusable in talk, but not in print. A few pieces are given
+correctly, with the usual wrong words in brackets.
+
+ An _ill-favoured_ thing, sir, but mine own. (poor)
+
+ _Fine_ by degrees and beautifully less. (small)
+
+ _That_ last infirmity of noble _mind_. (the: minds)
+
+ Make assurance _double_ sure. (doubly)
+
+ To-morrow to fresh _woods_ and pastures new. (fields)
+
+ The devil can _cite_ Scripture for his purpose. (quote)
+
+ Chewing the _food_ of sweet and bitter fancy. (cud)
+
+ When _Greeks joined Greeks_, then _was_ the tug of war. (Greek meets
+ Greek: comes)
+
+ A goodly apple rotten at the _heart_. (core)
+
+
+12. UNCOMMON MISQUOTATIONS OF WELL-KNOWN PASSAGES OR PHRASES
+
+It is still worse to misquote what is usually given right, however
+informal the quotation. The true reading is here added in brackets.
+
+ Now for the trappings and the _weeds_ of woe.--_S. Ferrier._ (suits)
+
+ She had an instinctive knowledge that she knew her, and she felt her
+ genius _repressed_ by her, as _Julius Caesar’s_ was by _Cassius_.--S.
+ FERRIER. (My genius is _rebuked_ as, it is said, _Mark Antony’s_ was
+ by _Caesar_)
+
+ The new drama represented the very age and body of the time, his form
+ and _feature_.--_J. R. Green._ (pressure)
+
+ He lifts the veil from the sanguinary affair at Kinchau, and we are
+ allowed glimpses of blockade-running, train-wrecking and cavalry
+ reconnaissance, and of many other moving _incidents_ by flood and
+ field.--_Times._ (accidents)
+
+ To him this _rough_ world was but too literally a rack.--LOWELL. (who
+ would, upon the rack of this _tough_ world, stretch him out longer)
+
+ Having once begun, they found returning more tedious than _giving_
+ o’er.--LOWELL. (returning were as tedious as _go_ o’er)
+
+ _Posthaec_ [_sic_] meminisse juvabit.--HAZLITT. (et haec olim)
+
+ _Quid_ vult valde vult. What they do, they do with a will.--EMERSON.
+ (quod) Quid is not translatable.
+
+ Then that wonderful esprit _du_ corps, by which we adopt into our
+ self-love everything we touch.--EMERSON. (de)
+
+ Let not him that _putteth_ on his _armour boast_ as _him_ that
+ _taketh_ it off.--_Westminster Gazette._ (girdeth, harness, boast
+ himself, he, putteth)
+
+ Elizabeth herself, says Spenser, ‘to mine _open_ pipe inclined her
+ ear’.--J. R. GREEN. (oaten)
+
+ He could join the crew of Mirth, and look pleasantly on at a village
+ fair, ‘where the _jolly_ rebecks sound to many a youth and many a
+ maid, dancing in the chequered shade’.--J. R. GREEN. (jocund)
+
+ Heathen Kaffirs, et hoc genero, &c.: ....--_Daily Mail._ (genus omne)
+
+ If she takes her husband _au pied de lettre_.--_Westm. Gaz._ (de la
+ lettre)
+
+
+13. Misquotation of Less Familiar Passages
+
+But the greatest wrong is done to readers when a passage that may not
+improbably be unknown to them is altered.
+
+ It was at Dublin or in his castle of Kilcolman, two miles from
+ Doneraile, ‘under the _fall_ of Mole, that mountain hoar’, that he
+ spent the memorable years in which....--J. R. GREEN. (foot)
+
+ _Petty_ spites of the village _squire_.--_Spectator._ (pigmy: spire)
+
+
+14. Misapplied and Misunderstood Quotations and Phrases
+
+Before _leading question or the exception proves the rule_ is written,
+a lawyer should be consulted; before _cui bono_, Cicero; before _more
+honoured in the breach than the observance_, Hamlet. A leading question
+is one that unfairly helps a witness to the desired answer; cui bono
+has been explained on p. 35; _the exception_, &c., is not an absurdity
+when understood, but it is as generally used; _more honoured_, &c.,
+means not that the rule is generally broken, but that it is better
+broken. A familiar line of Shakespeare, on the other hand, gains by
+being misunderstood: ‘One touch of nature makes the whole world kin’
+merely means ‘In one respect, all men are alike’.
+
+ But _cui bono_ all this detail of our debt? Has the author given
+ a single light towards any material reduction of it? Not a
+ glimmering.--BURKE.
+
+ A rule dated March 3, 1801, which has never been abrogated, lays it
+ down that, to obtain formal leave of absence, a member must show some
+ sufficient cause, such as ... but this rule is more honoured in the
+ breach than in the observance.--_Times._
+
+ Every one knows that the Governor-General in Council is invested
+ by statute with the supreme command of the Army and that it would
+ be disastrous to subvert that power. But ‘why drag in Velasquez’?
+ If any one wishes us to infer that Lord Kitchener has, directly or
+ indirectly, proposed to subvert this unquestioned and unquestionable
+ authority, they are very much mistaken.--_Times._ (Why indeed? no
+ worse literary treason than to spoil other people’s wit by dragging it
+ in where it is entirely pointless. Velasquez here outrages those who
+ know the story, and perplexes those who do not)
+
+ The Nationalist, M. Archdeacon, and M. Meslier put to the Prime
+ Minister several _leading questions_, such as, ‘Why were you so
+ willing promptly to part with M. Delcassé, and why, by going to the
+ conference, did you agree to revive the debate as to the unmistakable
+ rights...?’ To these pertinent inquiries M. Rouvier did not
+ reply.--_Times._ (Leading questions are necessarily not hostile, as
+ these clearly were)
+
+ The happy phrase that an Ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to
+ lie for his country.--_Westminster Gazette._ (Happier when correctly
+ quoted: sent to lie abroad for the good of)
+
+
+15. ALLUSION
+
+A writer who abounds in literary allusions necessarily appeals to a
+small audience, to those acquainted with about the same set of books
+as himself; they like his allusions, others dislike them. Writers
+should decide whether it is not wise to make their allusions explain
+themselves. In the first two instances quoted, though the reader who
+knows the original context has a slight additional pleasure, any one
+can see what the point is. In the last two, those who have not the
+honour of the wetnurse’s and Rosamund’s acquaintance feel that the
+author and the other readers with whom he is talking aside are guilty
+of bad manners.
+
+ The select academy, into whose sacred precincts the audacious Becky
+ Sharp flung back her leaving present of the ‘Dixonary’, survives here
+ and there, but with a different curriculum and a much higher standard
+ of efficiency.--_Times._
+
+ Why can’t they stay quietly at home till they marry, instead of
+ trying to earn their living by unfeminine occupations? So croaks Mrs.
+ Partington, twirling her mop; but the tide comes on.--_Times._
+
+ Sir,--Were it not for M. Kokovtsoff’s tetchiness in the matter of
+ metaphors, I should feel inclined to see in his protest against my
+ estimates of the decline in the Russian gold reserve and of the
+ increase of the note issue a variant of the classic excuse of Mrs.
+ Easy’s wetnurse for the unlawfulness of her baby.--LUCIEN WOLF.
+
+ Three superb glass jars--red, green, and blue--of the sort that led
+ Rosamund to parting with her shoes--blazed in the broad plate-glass
+ windows.--KIPLING.
+
+
+16. INCORRECT ALLUSION
+
+Every one who detects a writer pretending to more knowledge than he
+has jumps to the conclusion that the detected must know less than the
+detective, and cannot be worth his reading. Incorrect allusion of this
+kind is therefore fatal.
+
+ Homer would have seemed arrogantly superior to his audience if he
+ had not called Hebe ‘white-armed’ or ‘ox-eyed’.--_Times._ (He seldom
+ mentions her, and calls her neither)
+
+ My access to fortune had not, so far, brought me either much joy or
+ distinction,--but it was not too late for me yet to pluck the golden
+ apples of Hesperides.--CORELLI. (It is hardly possible for any one who
+ knows what the Hesperides were to omit _the_)
+
+ My publisher, John Morgeson ... was not like Shakespeare’s Cassio
+ strictly ‘an honourable man’.--CORELLI. (Cassio was an honourable man,
+ but was never called so. Even Cassius has only his share in _So are
+ they all, all honourable men._ Brutus, perhaps?)
+
+ A sturdy Benedict to propose a tax on bachelors.--_Westminster
+ Gazette._ (Benedick. In spite of the _Oxford Dictionary_, the
+ differentiation between the saint, Benedict, and the converted
+ bachelor, Benedick, is surely not now to be given up)
+
+ But impound the car for a longer or shorter period according to the
+ offence, and that, as the French say, ‘will give them reason to
+ think’.--_Times._ (The French do not say _give reason to think_; and
+ if they did the phrase would hardly be worth treating as not English;
+ they say _give to think_, which is often quoted because it is unlike
+ English)
+
+
+17. DOVETAILED AND ADAPTED QUOTATIONS AND PHRASES
+
+The fitting into a sentence of refractory quotations, the making of
+facetious additions to them, and the constructing of Latin cases with
+English governing words, have often intolerably ponderous effects.
+
+ Though his denial of any steps in that direction may be true in his
+ official capacity, _there is probably some smoke in the fire of
+ comment_ to which his personal relations with German statesmen have
+ given rise.--_Times._ (The reversal of smoke and fire may be a slip of
+ the pen or a joke; but the correction of it mends matters little)
+
+ It remains to be seen whether ... the pied à terre which Germany
+ hopes she has won by her preliminary action in the Morocco question
+ will form the starting-point for further achievements or will merely
+ represent, like so many other German enterprises, _the end of the
+ beginning_.--_Times._ (The reversal this time is clearly facetious)
+
+ But they had gone on adding misdeed to misdeed, they had _blundered
+ after blunder_.--L. COURTNEY.
+
+ Germany has, it would appear, yet another card in her hand, a card _of
+ the kind which is useful to players when in doubt_.--_Times._
+
+ But the problem of inducing _a refractory camel_ to squeeze
+ himself through the eye of _an inconvenient needle_ is and remains
+ insoluble.--_Times._
+
+ But these unsoldierlike recriminations among the Russian officers as
+ well as their luxurious lives and their complete insouciance in the
+ presence of their country’s misfortunes, seems to have _set back the
+ hand on the dial of Japanese rapprochement_.--_Times._
+
+ Is there no spiritual purge to make the eye of the camel easier for a
+ South-African millionaire?--_Times._
+
+ And so it has come to pass that, not only _where invalids do
+ congregate_, but in places hitherto reserved for the summer recreation
+ of the tourist or the mountaineer there is a growing influx of winter
+ pleasure-seekers.--_Times._
+
+ Salmasius alone was not _unworthy sublimi flagello_.--LANDOR.
+
+ Even if a change were desirable _with Kitchener duce et
+ auspice_.--_Times._
+
+ Charged with carrying out the Military Member’s orders, but having,
+ _pace Sir Edwin Collen_, no authority of his own.--_Times._
+
+ It is not in the interests of the Japanese to close the book of the
+ war, until they have placed themselves in the position of beati
+ possidentes.--_Times._ (_Beati possidentes_ is a sentence, meaning
+ _Blessed are those who are in possession_; to fit it into another
+ sentence is most awkward)
+
+ Resignation became a virtue of necessity for Sweden in hopes that
+ a better understanding might in time grow out of the new order of
+ things.--_Times._ (In the original phrase, _of necessity_ does not
+ depend on _virtue_, but on _make_; and it is intolerable without the
+ word that gives it its meaning)
+
+ Many of the celebrities who in that most frivolous of watering-places
+ do congregate.--BARONESS VON HUTTEN.
+
+ If misbehaviour be not checked in an effectual manner before long,
+ there is every prospect that the whips of the existing Motor Act
+ will be transformed into the scorpions of the Motor Act of the
+ future.--_Times._
+
+A special protest should be made against the practice of introducing a
+quotation in two or three instalments of a word or two, each with its
+separate suit of quotation marks. The only quotations that should be
+cut up are those that are familiar enough to need no quotation marks,
+so that the effect is not so jerky.
+
+
+ The ‘pigmy body’ seemed ‘fretted to decay’ by the ‘fiery soul’ within
+ it.--J. R. GREEN. (The original is:--
+
+ A fiery soul which, working out its way,
+ Fretted the pygmy-body to decay.--DRYDEN.)
+
+
+18. Trite Quotation
+
+Quotation may be material or formal. With the first, the writer quotes
+to support himself by the authority (or to impugn the authority) of the
+person quoted; this does not concern us. With the second, he quotes
+to add some charm of striking expression or of association to his own
+writing. To the reader, those quotations are agreeable that neither
+strike him as hackneyed, nor rebuke his ignorance by their complete
+novelty, but rouse dormant memories. Quotation, then, should be adapted
+to the probable reader’s cultivation. To deal in trite quotations and
+phrases therefore amounts to a confession that the writer either is
+uncultivated himself, or is addressing the uncultivated. All who would
+not make this confession are recommended to avoid (unless in some
+really new or perverted application--notum si callida verbum reddiderit
+junctura novum) such things as:
+
+ Chartered libertine; balm in Gilead; my prophetic soul; harmless
+ necessary; e pur si muove; there’s the rub; the curate’s egg; hinc
+ illae lacrimae; fit audience though few; a consummation devoutly to
+ be wished; more in sorrow than in anger; metal more attractive; heir
+ of all the ages; curses not loud but deep; more sinned against than
+ sinning; the irony of fate; the psychological moment; the man in the
+ street; the sleep of the just; a work of supererogation; the pity of
+ it; the scenes he loved so well; in her great sorrow; all that was
+ mortal of--; few equals and no superior; leave severely alone; suffer
+ a sea-change.
+
+ The plan partook of the nature of that of those ingenious islanders
+ who lived entirely by taking in each other’s washing.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ For he was but moderately given to ‘the cups that cheer but not
+ inebriate’, and had already finished his tea.--ELIOT.
+
+ Austria forbids children to smoke in public places; and in German
+ schools and military colleges there are laws upon the subject;
+ France, Spain, Greece, and Portugal _leave_ the matter _severely
+ alone_.--_Westminster Gazette._ (_Severely_ is much worse than
+ pointless here)
+
+ They carried compulsory subdivision and restriction of all kinds
+ of skilled labour down to a degree _that would have been laughable
+ enough, if it had only been less destructive_.--MORLEY.
+
+ If Diderot had visited ... Rome, even the mighty painter of the Last
+ Judgment ... would have found an interpreter worthy of him. _But it
+ was not to be._--MORLEY.
+
+ Mr. de Sélincourt has, of course, _the defects of his
+ qualities_.--_Times._
+
+ The beloved _lustige Wien_ [Vienna, that is] of his youth had
+ _suffered a sea-change_. The green glacis down which Sobieski drove
+ the defeated besieging army of Kara Mustafa was blocked by ranges of
+ grand new buildings.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+
+19. LATIN ABBREVIATIONS, &c.
+
+No one should use these who is not sure that he will not expose his
+ignorance by making mistakes with them. Confusion is very common, for
+instance, between _i. e._ and _e g._ Again, _sic_ should never be used
+except when a reader might really suppose that there was a misprint or
+garbling; to insert it simply by way of drawing attention and conveying
+a sneer is a very heavy assumption of superiority. _Vide_ is only in
+place when a book or dictionary article is being referred to.
+
+ Shaliapine, first bass at the same opera, has handed in his
+ resignation in consequence of this affair, and also because of affairs
+ in general, vide imprisonment of his great friend Gorki.--_Times._
+
+ The industrialist organ is inclined to regret that the league did not
+ fix some definite date such as the year 1910 (sic) or the year 1912,
+ for the completion of this programme.--_Times._ (This is the true use
+ of _sic_; as the years mentioned are not consecutive, a reader might
+ suppose that something was wrong; sic tells him that it is not so)
+
+ The _Boersen Courier_ ... maintains that ‘nothing remains for M.
+ Delcassé but to cry Pater peccavi to Germany and to retrieve as
+ quickly as possible his diplomatic mistake (_sic_)’.--_Times._
+
+ Let your principal stops be the full stop and comma, with a
+ judicious use of the semicolon and of the other stops where they are
+ absolutely necessary (_i. e._ you could not dispense with the note
+ of interrogation in asking questions).--BYGOTT & JONES. (_e. g._ is
+ wanted, not _i. e._)
+
+
+20. UNEQUAL YOKEFELLOWS AND DEFECTIVE DOUBLE HARNESS
+
+When a word admits of two constructions, to use both may not be
+positively incorrect, but is generally as ugly as to drive a horse and
+a mule in double harness.
+
+ They did not _linger in_ the long scarlet colonnades of the temple
+ itself, nor gazing at the dancing for which it is famous.--SLADEN.
+
+ This undoubtedly caused prices to rise; but did it not also _cause_
+ all _Lancashire to work_ short time, many _mills to close_, and a
+ great _restriction_ in the purchases of all our customers for cotton
+ goods?--_Times._
+
+ ... _set herself_ quietly down _to the care_ of her own household, and
+ _to assist_ Benjamin in the concerns of his trade.--SCOTT.
+
+ This correspondent says that not only did the French Government
+ _know that Germany recognized_ the privileges resulting for France
+ from her position in Algeria, but also her general _views_ on the
+ work of reform which it would be the task of the conference to
+ examine.--_Times._
+
+ _Teach_ them the ‘_character_ of God’ through the ‘Son’s Life of
+ Love’, _that conscience_ must not be outraged, not because they would
+ be punished if they did, or because they would be handsomely rewarded
+ if they didn’t, but simply because they know a thing is right or
+ wrong....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+And any one who permits himself this incongruity is likely to be
+betrayed into actual blunders.
+
+ The popularity of the parlements was surely due to the detestation
+ felt for the absolute Monarchy, and because they seemed to
+ half-informed men to be the champions of....--_Times._ (Here _because
+ they seemed_ does not really fit _the popularity ... was_, but
+ _parlements were popular_)
+
+ A difference, this, which was not much considered where and when the
+ end of the war was thought to be two or three years off, and that the
+ last blow would be Russia’s.--F. GREENWOOD. (The last clause does not
+ fit _the end of the war was thought_, but _it was thought_)
+
+ Attila and his armies, he said, came and disappeared in a very
+ mysterious manner, and _that_ nothing could be said with positiveness
+ about them.--BORROW.
+
+ Save him accordingly she did: but no sooner _is he dismissed_, and
+ _Faust has made_ a remark on the multitude of arrows which she is
+ darting forth on all sides, than Lynceus returns.--CARLYLE.
+
+ The short drives at the beginning of the course of instruction were
+ intended gradually _to accustom_ the novice to the speed, and _of
+ giving_ him in the pauses an opportunity to fix well in his mind the
+ principles of the automobile.--_Times._
+
+ The predecessors of Sir Antony MacDonnell ... were, to use the words
+ of the Prime Minister, ‘the aiders, advisers, and suggesters of their
+ official chiefs’.--_Times._ (Though a chief can have a suggester as
+ well as an adviser, _adviser_ is naturally followed by an objective
+ genitive, but _suggester_ can only be followed by a possessive
+ genitive--except of the suggestion made)
+
+ My assiduities expose me rather to her scorn ... than to the treatment
+ due to a man.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ One worthy gentleman, who is, perhaps, _better known than popular_ in
+ City restaurants, is never known to have lavished even the humblest
+ copper coin on a waiter.--_Titbits._
+
+ Its hands require strengthening and its resources increased.--_Times._
+
+Analogous, but always incorrect, though excusable in various degrees,
+is the equipping of pairs that should obviously be in double harness
+with conjunctions or prepositions that do not match--following
+_neither_ by _or_, _both_ by _as well as_, and the like.
+
+ Diderot presented a bouquet which was _neither_ well _or_ ill
+ received.--MORLEY.
+
+ Like the Persian noble of old, I ask, ‘that I may _neither_ command
+ _or_ obey’.--EMERSON.
+
+ She would hear _nothing_ of a declaration of war, _or_ give any
+ judgment on....--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ It appears, then, that _neither_ the mixed and incomplete empiricism
+ considered in the third chapter, _still less_ the pure empiricism
+ considered in the second chapter, affords us....--BALFOUR.
+
+ _Scarcely_ was the nice new drain finished _than_ several of the
+ children sickened with diphtheria.--_Spectator._
+
+ Which differs from that and who in being used _both_ as an adjective
+ _as well as_ a noun.--H. SWEET.
+
+ M. Shipoff _in one and the same breath_ denounces innovations, _yet_
+ bases the whole electoral system on the greatest innovation in Russian
+ history.--_Times._
+
+ It would be _equally_ absurd to attend to all the other parts of
+ an engine and to neglect the principal source of its energy--the
+ firebox--_as_ it is ridiculous to pay particular attention
+ to the cleanliness of the body and to neglect the mouth and
+ teeth.--_Advertisement._
+
+ The conception of God in their minds was not _that of_ a Father, but
+ _as_ a dealer out of rewards and punishments.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Dr. Dillon, than whom no Englishman has a profounder and more accurate
+ acquaintance _with_ the seamy side--as, indeed, _of_ all aspects of
+ Russian life--assumes....--_Times._
+
+ Sir,--_In view of_ the controversy which has arisen concerning the 12
+ in. Mark VIII guns in the Navy, and especially _to_ the suggestion
+ which might give rise to some doubt as to the efficiency of the wire
+ system of construction....--_Times._
+
+We add three sentences, in the first of which double harness should not
+have been used because it is too cumbrous, in the second of which it
+is not correctly possible, and in the third of which the failure to use
+it is very slovenly.
+
+ The odd part of it is that this childish confusion does not only not
+ take from our pleasure, but does not even take from our sense of the
+ author’s talent.--H. JAMES. (far from diminishing our pleasure, does
+ not....)
+
+ As to the duration of the Austro-Russian mandate, there seems _little
+ disposition_ here to treat the question in a hard-and-fast spirit,
+ _but rather_ to regard it as....--_Times._ (... spirit; it is rather
+ regarded as....)
+
+ To the student of the history of religious opinions in England
+ _few contrasts are more striking when he compares_ the assurance
+ and complacency with which men made profession of their beliefs
+ at the beginning of the nineteenth century and the diffidence and
+ hesitation with which the same are recited at the beginning of the
+ twentieth.--_Daily Telegraph._ (more striking than that between the
+ assurance....)
+
+
+21. COMMON PARTS
+
+When two sentences coupled by a conjunction (whether coordinating or
+subordinating) have one or more parts in common, there are two ways
+of avoiding the full repetition of the common parts. (_a_) ‘I see
+through your villany and I detest your villany’ can become ‘I see
+through and detest your villany’; ‘I have at least tried to bring
+about a reconciliation, though I may have failed to bring about a
+reconciliation’ can become ‘I have at least tried, though I may have
+failed, to bring about, &c.’ (_b_) By substitution or ellipse, the
+sentences become ‘I see through your villany, and detest it’ and ‘I
+have at least tried to bring about a reconciliation, though I may have
+failed (to do so)’. Of these, the (_a_) form requires careful handling:
+a word that is not common to both sentences must not be treated as
+common; and one that is common, and whose position declares that it
+is meant to do double duty, must not be repeated. Violations of these
+rules are always more or less unsightly, and are excusable only when
+the precise (_a_) form is intolerably stiff and the (_b_) form not
+available. In our examples below, the words placed in brackets are
+the two variants, each of which, when the other is omitted, should,
+with the common or unbracketed parts, form a complete sentence; the
+conjunctions being of course ignored for this purpose.
+
+ What other power (could) or (ever has) produced such changes?--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ Things temporal (had) and (would) alter.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ (It had), as (all houses should), been in tune with the pleasant,
+ mediocre charm of the island.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+This type will almost always admit of the emphatic repetition of the
+verb: ‘could produce or ever has produced’.
+
+ Those of us who still believe in Greek as (one of the finest), if not
+ (the finest) instruments....--_Times._
+
+ (One of the noblest), if not (the noblest), feelings an Englishman
+ could possess.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+Use (_b_): ‘One of the finest instruments, if not the finest’.
+
+ The games were looked upon as being (quite as important) or (perhaps
+ more important) than drill.--_Times._
+
+ The railway has done (all) and (more) than was expected of
+ it.--_Spectator._
+
+Use (_b_): ‘as important as drill, if not more so’; ‘all that was
+expected of it, and more’.
+
+All words that precede the first of two correlatives, such as ‘not ...
+but’, ‘both ... and’, ‘neither ... nor’, are declared by their position
+to be common; we bracket accordingly in the next examples:
+
+ The pamphlet forms (not only a valuable addition to our works on
+ scientific subjects), but (is also of deep interest to German
+ readers).--_Times._ (not only forms ..., but is ...)
+
+ Forty-five per cent of the old Rossallians ... received (either
+ decorations) (or were mentioned in despatches).--_Daily Telegraph._
+ (Either received ... or were)
+
+ The Senate, however, has (either passed) (or will pass) amendments to
+ every clause.--_Spectator._ (either has passed or will pass)
+
+ Cloth of gold (neither seems to elate) (nor cloth of frieze to
+ depress) him.--LAMB.
+
+A curious extension, not to be mended in the active; for _neither_
+cannot well precede the first of two subjects when they have different
+verbs.
+
+On the other hand, words placed between the two correlatives are
+declared by their position not to be common:
+
+ Which neither (suits one purpose) (nor the other).--_Times._ (suits
+ neither ... nor)
+
+ Not only (against my judgment), (but my inclination).--RICHARDSON.
+
+ Not only (in the matter of malaria), (but also beriberi).--_Times._
+ (In the matter not of malaria only, but of ...)
+
+
+22. THE WRONG TURNING
+
+It is not very uncommon, on regaining the high road after a divergent
+clause or phrase, to get confused between the two, and continue quite
+wrongly the subordinate construction instead of that actually required.
+
+ I feel, however, that there never was a time when the people of this
+ country were more ready to believe than they are today, and would
+ openly believe if Christianity, with ‘doctrine’ subordinated, were
+ presented to them in the most convincing of all forms, viz....--_Daily
+ Telegraph._ (_Would believe_ is made parallel to _they are today_; it
+ is really parallel to _there never was a time_; and we should read
+ _and that they would openly believe_)
+
+ In the face of this statement either proofs should be adduced to show
+ that Coroner Troutbeck has stated facts ‘soberly judged’, and that
+ they contain ‘warrant for the accusation of wholesale’ ignorance on
+ the part of a trusted and eminently useful class of the community,
+ or failing this, that the offensive and unjust charge should be
+ withdrawn.--_Times._ (_The charge should be withdrawn_ is made
+ parallel to _Coroner Troutbeck has stated_ and _they contain_; it is
+ really parallel to _proofs should be adduced_; and we should omit
+ _that_, and read _or failing this, the offensive_....)
+
+ We cannot part from Prof. Bury’s work without expressing our unfeigned
+ admiration for his complete control of the original authorities on
+ which his narrative is based, and of the sound critical judgment he
+ exhibits....--_Spectator._ (The judgment is admired, not controlled)
+
+Sometimes the confusion is not merely of the pen, but is in the
+writer’s thought; and it is then almost incurable.
+
+ ... the privilege by which the mind, like the lamps of a mailcoach,
+ moving rapidly through the midnight woods, illuminate, for one
+ instant, the foliage or sleeping umbrage of the thickets, and, in the
+ next instant, have quitted them, to carry their radiance forward upon
+ endless successions of objects.--DE QUINCEY.
+
+
+23. ELLIPSE IN SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
+
+The missing subject and (with one exception) the missing verb of a
+subordinate clause can be supplied only from the sentence to which
+it is subordinate. The exception is the verb ‘to be’. We can say
+‘The balls, when wet, do not bounce’, ‘When in doubt, play trumps’,
+because the verb to be supplied is _are_, and the subject is that of
+the principal sentence. Other violations of the rule occur, but are
+scarcely tolerable even in the spoken language. The following are
+undesirable instances:
+
+ For, though summer, I knew ... Mr. Rochester would like to see a
+ cheerful hearth.--C. BRONTË.
+
+We can supply _was_, but not _it_; the natural subject is _I_.
+
+ I have now seen him, and though not for long, he is a man who speaks
+ with Bismarckian frankness.--_Times._
+
+‘Though I did not see him for long’, we are meant to understand. But
+the _though_ clause is not subordinate to the sentence containing that
+subject and verb: _and_ always joins coordinates and announces the
+transition from one coordinate to another. Consequently, the _though_
+clause must be a part (a subordinate part) of the second coordinate,
+and must draw from that its subject and verb: ‘though he is not a man
+of Bismarckian frankness for long, ...’. Even if we could supply _I
+saw_ with the clause in its present place, we should still have the
+absurd implication that the man’s habitual frankness (not the writer’s
+perception of it) depended on the duration of the interview. We offer
+three conjectural emendations: ‘I have now seen him, though not for
+long; and he is a man who ...’; ‘I have now seen him, and though I did
+not see him for long, I perceived that he was a man who ...’; ‘I have
+now seen him, and though I did not see him for long, I found out what
+he thought; for he is a man who...’.
+
+
+24. SOME ILLEGITIMATE INFINITIVES
+
+_Claim_ is not followed by an infinitive except when the subject of
+_claim_ is also that of the infinitive. Thus, _I claim to be honest_,
+but not _I claim this to be honest_. The _Oxford Dictionary_ (1893)
+does not mention the latter use even to condemn it, but it is now
+becoming very common, and calls for strong protest. The corresponding
+passive use is equally wrong. The same applies to _pretend_.
+
+ ‘This entirely new experiment’ which you claim to have ‘solved the
+ problem of combining....’--_Times._
+
+ Usage, therefore, is not, as it is often claimed to be, the absolute
+ law of language.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+ The gun which made its first public appearance on Saturday is
+ claimed to be the most serviceable weapon of its kind in use in any
+ army.--_Times._
+
+ The constant failure to live up to what we claim to be our most
+ serious convictions proves that we do not hold them at all.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ The anonymous and masked delators whose creation the Opposition
+ pretends to be an abuse of power on the part of M. Combes.--_Times._
+
+_Possible_ and _probable_ are not to be completed by an infinitive. For
+_are possible to_ read _can_; and for _probable_ read _likely_.
+
+ But no such questions are possible, as it seems to me, to arise
+ between your nation and ours.--CHOATE.
+
+ Should Germany meditate anything of the kind it would look uncommonly
+ like a deliberate provocation of France, and for that reason it seems
+ scarcely probable to be borne out by events.--_Times._
+
+_Prefer_ has two constructions: I prefer this (living) _to_ that
+(dying), and I prefer to do this _rather than_ that. The infinitive
+construction must not be used without _rather_ (unless, of course, the
+second alternative is suppressed altogether).
+
+ Other things being equal, I should prefer to marry a rich man than a
+ poor one.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+The following infinitives are perhaps by false analogy from those that
+might follow _forbade_, _seen_, _ask_. It may be noticed generally that
+slovenly and hurried writers find the infinitive a great resource.
+
+ Marshal Oyama strictly _prohibited_ his troops _to take_ quarter
+ within the walls.--_Times._
+
+ The Chinese held a chou-chou, during which the devil was exorcised and
+ duly _witnessed_ by several believers _to take_ his flight in divers
+ guises.--_Times._
+
+ Third, they might _demand_ from Germany, all flushed as she was with
+ military pride, _to tell_ us plainly whether....--MORLEY.
+
+
+25. ‘SPLIT’ INFINITIVES
+
+The ‘split’ infinitive has taken such hold upon the consciences of
+journalists that, instead of warning the novice against splitting his
+infinitives, we must warn him against the curious superstition that the
+splitting or not splitting makes the difference between a good and a
+bad writer. The split infinitive is an ugly thing, as will be seen from
+our examples below; but it is one among several hundred ugly things,
+and the novice should not allow it to occupy his mind exclusively. Even
+that mysterious quality, ‘distinction’ of style, may in modest measure
+be attained by a splitter of infinitives: ‘The book is written with a
+distinction (save in the matter of split infinitives) unusual in such
+works.’--_Times._
+
+ The time has come to once again voice the general discontent.--_Times._
+
+ It should be authorized to immediately put in hand such work.--_Times._
+
+ Important negotiations are even now proceeding to further cement trade
+ relations.--_Times._
+
+ We were not as yet strong enough in numbers to seriously influence the
+ poll.--_Times._
+
+ Keep competition with you unless you wish to once more see
+ a similar state of things to those prevalent prior to the
+ inauguration....--_Guernsey Evening Press._
+
+ And that she should force me, by the magic of her pen to mentally
+ acknowledge, albeit with wrath and shame, my own inferiority.--CORELLI.
+
+ The oil lamp my landlady was good enough to still allow me the use
+ of.--CORELLI.
+
+ The ‘persistent agitation’ ... is to so arouse public opinion on the
+ subject as to....--_Times._
+
+ In order to slightly extend that duration in the case of a
+ few.--_Times._
+
+ To thus prevent a constant accretion to the Jewish population of
+ Russia from this country would be nobler work....--_Times._
+
+
+26. COMPOUND PASSIVES
+
+Corresponding to the active construction ‘... have attempted to justify
+this step’, we get two passive constructions: (1) ‘This step has been
+attempted to be justified’, (2) ‘It has been attempted to justify this
+step’. Of these (1), although licensed by usage, is an incorrect and
+slovenly makeshift: ‘this step’ is not the object of ‘have attempted’,
+and cannot be the subject of the corresponding passive. The true object
+of ‘have attempted’ is the whole phrase ‘to justify this step’, which
+in (2) rightly appears as the subject, in apposition to an introductory
+‘it’.--In point of clumsiness, there is perhaps not much to choose
+between the two passive constructions, neither of which should be used
+when it can be avoided. When the subject of the active verb ‘have
+attempted’ is definite, and can conveniently be stated, the active
+form should always be retained; to write ‘it had been attempted by the
+founders of the study to supply’ instead of ‘the founders had attempted
+to supply’ is mere perversity. When, as in some of our examples below,
+the subject of the active verb ‘have attempted’ is indefinite, the
+passive turn is sometimes difficult to avoid; but unless the object
+of ‘justify’ is a relative, and therefore necessarily placed at the
+beginning, ‘an attempt has been made’ can often be substituted for ‘it
+has been attempted’, and is less stiff and ugly.
+
+ The cutting down of ‘saying lessons’, by which it had been attempted
+ by the founders of the study to supply the place of speech in the
+ learning of Greek.--_Times._
+
+ But when it was attempted to give practical effect to the popular
+ exasperation, serious obstacles arose.--_Times._ (When an attempt was
+ made to....)
+
+ He and his friends would make the government of Ireland a sheer
+ impossibility, and it would be the duty of the Irish party to make it
+ so if it was attempted to be run on the lines of....--_Times._ (if an
+ attempt was made to run it on the....)
+
+ It is not however attempted to be denied.--HAZLITT. (No one attempts
+ to deny)
+
+ As to the audience, we imagine that a large part of it,
+ certainly all that part of it whose sympathies it was desired to
+ enlist,...--_Times._ (whose sympathies were to be enlisted)
+
+ He will see the alterations that were proposed to be made, but
+ rejected.--_Times._ (proposed, but rejected)
+
+ The argument by which this difficulty is sought to be evaded.--BALFOUR.
+
+This and the following instances are not easily mended, unless we may
+supply the subject of ‘seek’, &c. (‘some writers’).
+
+ The arguments by which the abolition was attempted to be supported
+ were founded on the rights of man.--_Times._
+
+ Some mystery in regard to her birth, which, she was well informed,
+ was assiduously, though vainly, endeavoured to be discovered.--FANNY
+ BURNEY.
+
+ The close darkness of the shut-up house (forgotten to be
+ opened, though it was long since day) yielded to the unexpected
+ glare.--DICKENS.
+
+ Those whose hours of employment are proposed to be limited.--_Times._
+
+ The insignificant duties proposed to be placed on food.--_Times._
+
+ The anti-liberal principles which it was long ago attempted to embody
+ in the Holy Alliance.--_Times._
+
+ Considerable support was managed to be raised for Waldemar.--CARLYLE.
+
+We may notice here a curious blunder that is sometimes made with the
+reflexive verb ‘I avail myself of’. The passive of this is never used,
+because there is no occasion for it: ‘I was availed of this by myself’
+would mean exactly the same as the active, and would be intolerably
+clumsy. The impossible passives quoted below imply that _it_ and
+_staff_ would be the direct objects of the active verb.
+
+ Watt and Fulton bethought themselves that, where was power was not
+ devil, but was God; that it must be availed of and not by any means
+ let off and wasted.--EMERSON.
+
+_Used_ or _employed_, and so in the next:
+
+ No salvage appliances or staff could have been availed of in time to
+ save the lives of the men.--_Times._
+
+
+27. CONFUSION WITH NEGATIVES
+
+This is extraordinarily common. The instances are arranged in order of
+obviousness.
+
+ Yezd is not only the refuge of the most ancient of Persian religions,
+ but it is one of the headquarters of the modern Babi propaganda,
+ the far-reaching effects of which it is probably difficult to
+ underestimate.--_Spectator._
+
+ Not a whit undeterred by the disaster which overtook them at
+ Cavendish-square last week ... the suffragettes again made themselves
+ prominent.--_Daily Mail._
+
+ So far as medicine is concerned, I am not sure that physiology,
+ such as it was down to the time of Harvey, might as well not have
+ existed.--HUXLEY.
+
+ The generality of his countrymen are far more careful not to
+ transgress the customs of what they call gentility, than to violate
+ the laws of honour or morality.--BORROW.
+
+ France and Russia are allies, as are England and Japan. Is it
+ impossible to imagine that, in consequence of the growing friendship
+ between the two great peoples on both sides of the Channel,
+ an agreement might not one day be realized between the four
+ Powers?--_Times._
+
+ I do not of course deny that in this, as in all moral principles,
+ there may not be found, here and there, exceptional cases which may
+ amuse a casuist.--L. STEPHEN.
+
+ In view of the doubts among professed theologians regarding the
+ genuineness and authenticity of the Gospels in whole or in part, he is
+ unable to say how much of the portraiture of Christ may not be due to
+ the idealization of His life and character.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Is it quite inconceivable that if the smitten had always turned the
+ other cheek the smiters would not long since have become so ashamed
+ that their practice would have ceased?--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ I do not think it is possible that the traditions and doctrines of
+ these two institutions should not fail to create rival, and perhaps
+ warring, schools.--_Times._
+
+ Any man--runs this terrible statute--denying the doctrine of the
+ Trinity or of the Divinity of Christ, or that the books of Scripture
+ are not the ‘Word of God’, or ..., ‘shall suffer the pain of
+ death’.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ But it would not be at all surprising if, by attempting too much,
+ and, it must be added, by indulging too much in a style the strained
+ preciosity of which occasionally verges on rant and even hysteria, Mr.
+ Sichel has not to some extent defeated his own object.--_Spectator._
+
+ No one scarcely really believes.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Let them agree to differ; for who knows but what agreeing to
+ differ may not be a form of agreement rather than a form of
+ difference?--STEVENSON.
+
+ Lastly, how can Mr. Balfour tell but that two years hence he may not
+ be too tired of official life to begin any new conflict?--F. GREENWOOD.
+
+ What sort of impression would it be likely to make upon the Boers?
+ They could hardly fail to regard it as anything but an expression of
+ want of confidence in our whole South-African policy.--_Times._
+
+ My friend Mr. Bounderby could never see any difference between leaving
+ the Coketown ‘hands’ exactly as they were and requiring them to be fed
+ with turtle soup and venison out of gold spoons.--DICKENS.
+
+ But it is one thing to establish these conditions [the Chinese
+ Ordinance], and another to remove them suddenly.--_Westminster
+ Gazette._
+
+ What economy of life and money would not have been spared the empire
+ of the Tsars had it not rendered war certain.--_Times._ (_It_ is the
+ empire. The instance is not quoted for _not_, though that too is
+ wrong, but for the confusion between loss and economy)
+
+ The question of ‘raids’ is one which necessarily comes home to every
+ human being living within at least thirty miles of our enormously long
+ coast line.--LONSDALE HALE. (An odd puzzle. _Within thirty_ means less
+ than thirty; _at least thirty_ means not less than thirty. The meaning
+ is clear enough, however, and perhaps the expression is defensible;
+ but it would have been better to say: within a strip at least thirty
+ miles broad along our enormous coast line)
+
+The fact that a negative idea can often be either included in a word
+or kept separate from it leads to a special form of confusion, the
+construction proper to the resolved form being used with the compound
+and _vice versa_.
+
+ My feelings, Sir, are moderately unspeakable, and that is a
+ fact.--American. (not moderately speakable: _moderately_ belongs only
+ to half of _unspeakable_)
+
+ ... who did not aim, like the Presbyterians, at a change in Church
+ government, but rejected the notion of a national Church at all.--J.
+ R. GREEN. (_Reject_ is equivalent to _will not have_. I reject
+ altogether: I will not have at all)
+
+ And your correspondent does not seem to know, or not to realize, the
+ conditions of the problem.--_Times._ (_Seems_, not _does not seem_,
+ has to be supplied in the second clause)
+
+ I confess myself altogether unable to formulate such a principle, much
+ less to prove it.--_Balfour._ (_Less_ does not suit _unable_, but
+ _able_; but the usage of _much less_ and _much more_ is hopelessly
+ chaotic)
+
+ War between these two great nations would be an inexplicable
+ impossibility.--CHOATE. (_Inexplicable_ does not qualify the whole of
+ _impossibility_; to make sense we must divide _impossibility_ into
+ _impossible event_, and take _inexplicable_ only with _event_)
+
+ And the cry has this justification,--that no age can see itself in a
+ proper perspective, and is therefore incapable of giving its virtues
+ and vices their relative places.--_Spectator._ (_No age_ is equivalent
+ to _not any age_, and out of this we have to take _any age_ as subject
+ to the last sentence; this is a common, but untidy and blameworthy
+ device)
+
+
+28. OMISSION OF ‘AS’
+
+This is very common, but quite contrary to good modern usage, after the
+verb _regard_, and others like it. In the first three instances the
+motive of the omission is obvious, but does not justify it; all that
+was necessary was to choose another verb, as _consider_, that does not
+require _as_. In the later instances the omission is gratuitous.
+
+ I regard it as important as anything.
+
+ Lord Bombie had run away with Lady Bombie ‘in her sark’. This I
+ could not help regarding both a most improper as well as a most
+ uncomfortable proceeding.--CROCKETT.
+
+ So vital is this suggestion regarded.
+
+ Rare early editions of Shakespeare’s plays and poems--editions which
+ had long been regarded among the national heirlooms.--S. LEE.
+
+ The latter may now be expected to regard himself absolved from such
+ obligation as he previously felt.--_Times._
+
+ A memoir which was justly regarded of so much merit and importance
+ that....--HUXLEY.
+
+ ... what might be classed a ‘horizontal’ European triplice.--_Times._
+
+ You would look upon yourself amply revenged if you knew what they have
+ cost me.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ He also alluded to the bayonet, and observed that its main use
+ was no longer a defence against cavalry, but it was for the final
+ charge.--_Times._
+
+ ... I was rewarded with such a conception of the God-like majesty and
+ infinite divinity which everywhere loomed up behind and shone through
+ the humanity of the Son of Man that no false teaching or any power on
+ earth or in hell itself will ever shake my firm faith in the combined
+ divinity and humanity in the person of the Son of God, and _as sure
+ am I_ that I eat and drink and live to-day, so certain am I that this
+ mysterious Divine Redeemer is in living....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+The last example is of a different kind. Read _as sure as I am_ for _as
+sure am I_ as the least possible correction. Unpractised writers should
+beware of correlative clauses except in their very simplest forms.
+
+
+29. OTHER LIBERTIES TAKEN WITH ‘AS’
+
+_As_ must not be expected to do by itself the work of _such as_.
+
+ There were not two dragon sentries keeping ward before the gate of
+ this abode, _as_ in magic legend are usually found on duty over the
+ wronged innocence imprisoned.--DICKENS.
+
+ The specialist is naturally best for his particular job; but if the
+ particular specialist required is not on the spot, as must often
+ be the case, the best substitute for him is not another specialist
+ but the man trained to act for himself in all circumstances, _as_
+ it has been the glory of our nation to produce both in the Army and
+ elsewhere.--_Times._
+
+ We question if throughout the French Revolution there was a single
+ case of six or seven thousand insurgents blasted away by cannon
+ shot, _as_ is believed to have happened in Odessa.--_Spectator._
+ (This is much more defensible than the previous two; but when a
+ definite noun--as here _case_--can be naturally supplied for the verb
+ introduced by _as_, _such as_ is better).
+
+ The decision of the French Government to send a special mission to
+ represent France at the marriage of the German Crown Prince is not
+ intended as anything more than a mere act of international courtesy,
+ _as_ is customary on such occasions.--_Times._
+
+Neither _as_ nor _such as_ should be made to do the work of the
+relative pronoun where there would be no awkwardness in using the
+pronoun itself.
+
+ With a speed of eight knots, _as_ [which] has been found practicable
+ in the case of the Suez Canal, the passage would occupy five
+ days.--_Times._
+
+ The West Indian atmosphere is not of the limpid brightness and
+ transparent purity _such as_ [that] are found in the sketch entitled
+ ‘A Street in Kingston’.--_Times._
+
+ The ideal statues and groups in this room and the next are scarcely so
+ interesting as we have sometimes seen.--_Times._ (_As_ is clearly here
+ a relative adverb, answering to _so_; nevertheless the construction
+ can be theoretically justified, the full form being _as we have
+ sometimes seen groups interesting_. But it is very ugly; why not say
+ instead _as some that we have seen_?)
+
+The idiom _as who should say_ must not be used unless the sentence
+to which it is appended has for subject a person to whom the person
+implied in _who_ is compared. This seems reasonable, and is borne out,
+for instance, by all the Shakespeare passages--a dozen--that we have
+looked at. The type is: The cloudy messenger turns me his back, and
+hums, as who should say:--&c.
+
+ To think of the campaign without the scene is as who should read a
+ play by candle-light among the ghosts of an empty theatre.--MORLEY.
+
+
+30. BRACHYLOGY
+
+1. Omission of a dependent noun in the second of two parallel series:
+‘The brim of my hat is wider than yours’. For this there is some
+justification: an ugly string of words is avoided, and the missing word
+is easily supplied from the first series; it has usually the effect,
+however, of attaching a preposition to the wrong noun:
+
+ I should be proud to lay an obligation upon my charmer to the amount
+ of half, nay, to the whole of my estate.--RICHARDSON.
+
+ There is as much of the pure gospel in their teachings as in any other
+ community of Christians in our land.
+
+ There cannot be the same reason for a prohibition of correspondence
+ with me, as there was of mine with Mr. Lovelace.--RICHARDSON.
+
+Here the right preposition is retained.
+
+ A man holding such a responsible position as Minister of the United
+ States.--D. SLADEN.
+
+2. A preposition is sometimes left out, quite unwarrantably, from a
+mistaken idea of euphony:
+
+ Without troubling myself as to what such self-absorption might lead in
+ the future.--CORELLI. (lead to)
+
+ He chose to fancy that she was not suspicious of what all his
+ acquaintance were perfectly aware--namely, that....--THACKERAY. (aware
+ of)
+
+3. Impossible compromises between two possible alternatives.
+
+ To be a Christian means to us one who has been regenerated.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._ (‘A Christian means one who has’: ‘to be a Christian means
+ to have been’)
+
+ To do what as far as human possibility has proved out of his
+ power.--_Daily Telegraph._ (‘As a matter of human possibility’: ‘as
+ far as human possibility goes’)
+
+One compromise of this kind has come to be generally recognized:
+
+ So far from being annoyed, he agreed at once. (‘So far was he from
+ being annoyed that ...’: ‘far from being annoyed, he agreed’)
+
+
+31. BETWEEN TWO STOOLS
+
+The commonest form of indecision is that between statement and
+question. But the examples of this are followed by a few miscellaneous
+ones.
+
+ May I ask _that_ if care should be taken of remains of buildings a
+ thousand years old, _ought not_ care to be taken of ancient British
+ earth-works several thousand years old?--_Times._
+
+ Can I not make you understand that you are ruining yourself and me,
+ and _that_ if you don’t get reconciled to your father _what is_ to
+ become of you?--S. FERRIER.
+
+ We will only say _that_ if it was undesirable for a private member to
+ induce the Commons to pass a vote against Colonial Preference, _why
+ was it_ not undesirable for a private member....--_Spectator._
+
+ _Surely_, then, if I am not claiming too much for our efforts at that
+ time to maintain the Union, _am I_ exaggerating our present ability
+ to render him effectual aid in the contest that will be fought at the
+ next election if I say that prudence alone should dictate to him the
+ necessity for doing everything in his power to revive the spirit which
+ the policy of Sir Antony MacDonnell, Lord Dudley, and Mr. Wyndham has
+ done so much to weaken?--_Times._
+
+ I then further observed _that_ China having observed the laws of
+ neutrality, _how could he_ believe in the possibility of an alliance
+ with Russia?--_Times._
+
+The next two use both the relative and the participle construction,
+instead of choosing between them.
+
+ Thus it befell that our high and low labour vote, _which_ (if one
+ might say so in the hearing of M. Jaurès and Herr Bebel) _being_
+ vertical rather than horizontal, and quite unhindered in the United
+ States, of course by an overwhelming majority elected President
+ Roosevelt.--_Times._
+
+ He replied to Mr. Chamberlain’s Limehouse speech, the only part of
+ _which_ that he could endorse _being_, he said, the suggestion that
+ the electorate should go to the root of the question at the next
+ general election.--_Times._
+
+ Who, in Europe, at least, would _forego_ the delights of
+ kissing,--(which the Japanese by-the-by consider a disgusting
+ habit),--_without_ embraces,--and all those other endearments which
+ are supposed to dignify the progress of true love!--CORELLI.
+
+ Poor, bamboozled, patient public!--no wonder it is beginning to think
+ _that_ a halfpenny spent on a newspaper which is purchased to be
+ thrown away, _enough_ and more than enough.--CORELLI.
+
+ But hurriedly dismissing _whatever_ shadow of earnestness, or
+ faint confession of a purpose, laudable or wicked, _that_ her
+ face, or voice, or manner, had, for the moment betrayed, she
+ lounged....--DICKENS.
+
+ _At_ the Épée Team Competition for Dr. Savage’s Challenge Cup, held on
+ the 25th and 27th February last, _was won_ by the Inns of Court team,
+ consisting of....--_14th Middlesex Battalion Orders._
+
+
+32. THE IMPERSONAL ‘ONE’
+
+This should never be mixed up with other pronouns. Its possessive is
+_one’s_, not _his_, and _one_ should be repeated, if necessary, not
+be replaced by _him_, &c. Those who doubt their ability to handle
+it skilfully under these restrictions should only use it where no
+repetition or substitute is needed. The older experimental usage,
+which has now been practically decided against, is shown in the Lowell
+examples.
+
+ That inequality and incongruousness in his writing which makes _one_
+ revise _his_ judgment at every tenth page.--LOWELL.
+
+ As one grows older, _one_ loses many idols, perhaps comes at last
+ to have none at all, although _he_ may honestly enough uncover in
+ deference to the worshippers at any shrine.--LOWELL.
+
+ There are many passages which _one_ is rather inclined to like than
+ sure _he_ would be right in liking.--LOWELL.
+
+ He is a man who speaks with Bismarckian frankness, and who directly
+ impresses _one_ with the impression that _you_ are speaking to a man
+ and not to an incarnate bluebook.--_Times._
+
+ The merit of the book, and it is not a small one, is that it discusses
+ every problem with fairness, with no perilous hankering after
+ originality, and with a disposition to avail _oneself_ of what has
+ been done by _his_ predecessors.--_Times._
+
+ If _one_ has an opinion on any subject, it is of little use to read
+ books or papers which tell _you_ what you know already.--_Times._
+
+ ... are all creations which make _one_ laugh inwardly as _we_
+ read.--HUTTON.
+
+_One’s_, on the other hand, is not the right possessive for the generic
+_man_; _man’s_ or _his_ is required according to circumstances; _his_
+in the following example:
+
+ There is a natural desire in the mind of _man_ to sit for _one’s_
+ picture.--HAZLITT.
+
+
+33. BETWEEN ... OR
+
+This is a confusion between two ways of giving alternatives--_between
+... and_, and _either ... or_. It is always wrong.
+
+
+ The choice Russia has is between payment for damages in money _or_ in
+ kind.--_Times._
+
+ Forced to choose between the sacrifice of important interests on the
+ one hand _or_ the expansion of the Estimates on the other.--_Times._
+
+ We have in that substance the link between organic _or_ inorganic
+ matter which abolishes the distinction between living _and_ dead
+ matter.--_Westminster Gazette._ (Observe the ‘elegant variation’)
+
+ The question lies between a God and a creed, _or_ a God in such an
+ abstract sense that does not signify.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+The author of the last has been perplexed by the _and_ in one of his
+alternatives. _He_ should have used _on the one hand_, &c.
+
+
+34. ‘A’ PLACED BETWEEN THE ADJECTIVE AND ITS NOUN
+
+This is ugly when not necessary. Types of phrase in which it is
+necessary are: Many a youth; What a lie! How dreadful _a_ fate! So lame
+an excuse. But there is no difficulty in placing a before ordinary
+qualifications of the adjective like _quite_, _more_, _much less_. In
+the following, read _quite a sufficient_, _a more valuable_, _a more
+glorious_, _a more serviceable_, _no different position_, _a_ greater
+_or less degree_.
+
+ ... adding that there was no suggestion of another raid against the
+ Japanese flank, which was _quite sufficient an indication_ of coming
+ events for those capable of reading between the lines.--_Times._
+
+ Can any one choose _more glorious an exit_ than to die fighting for
+ one’s own country?--_Times._
+
+ Of sympathy, of ... Mr. Baring has a full measure, which, in his
+ case, is _more valuable an asset_ than familiarity with military
+ textbooks.--_Times._
+
+ No great additional expenditure is required in order to make Oxford
+ _more serviceable a part_ of our educational system.--_Westminster
+ Gazette._
+
+ And young undergraduates are in this respect in no different a
+ position from that of any other Civil Servant.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ The thousand and one adjuncts to devotion finding place _in more or
+ less a degree_ in all churches, are all....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+The odd arrangement in the following will not do; we should have _a_
+either before _so_ or before _degree_.
+
+ But what I do venture to protest against is the sacrificing of the
+ interests of the country districts in _so ridiculously an unfair
+ degree_ to those of a small borough.--_Times._
+
+
+35. _DO_ AS SUBSTITUTE VERB
+
+_Do_ cannot represent (1) _be_, (2) an active verb supplied from a
+passive, (3) an active verb in a compound tense, gerund, or infinitive;
+You made the very mistake that I _did_, but _have made_, _was afraid of
+making_, _expected to make_, _shall_ (_make_).
+
+ It ... ought to have been satisfying to the young man. And so, in a
+ manner of speaking, it did.--CROCKETT.
+
+ It may justly be said, as Mr. Paul does, that....--_Westminster
+ Gazette._
+
+ To inflict upon themselves a disability which one day they will find
+ the mistake and folly of doing.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+We can of course say He lost his train, which I had warned him not to
+_do_; because _lose_ is then represented not by _do_, but by _which_
+(thing).
+
+
+36. FRESH STARTS
+
+The trick of taking breath in the middle of a sentence by means of a
+resumptive _that_ or the like should be avoided; especially when it
+is a confession rather of the writer’s short-windedness than of the
+unwieldy length of his sentence.
+
+ It does not follow (as I pointed out by implication above) that if,
+ according to the account of their origin given by the system, those
+ fundamental beliefs are true, that therefore they are true.--BALFOUR.
+
+ Sir--Might I suggest that while this interesting question is being
+ discussed that the hymn ‘Rock of Ages’ be sung in every church and
+ chapel...?--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+A very short-winded correspondent.
+
+ It seems to be a fair deduction that when the Japanese gained their
+ flank position immediately West of Mukden, and when, further, they
+ took no immediate advantage of the fact, but, on the contrary, began
+ to hold the villages in the plain as defensive positions, that a much
+ more ambitious plan was in operation.--_Times._
+
+If the writer means what he says, and the grounds of the deduction are
+not included in the sentence, reconstruction is not obvious, and _that_
+is perhaps wanted to pick up the thread; but if, as may be suspected,
+the _when_ clauses contain the grounds of the deduction, we may
+reconstruct as follows: ‘When the Japanese ..., and when ..., it was
+natural to infer that ...’.
+
+
+37. VULGARISMS AND COLLOQUIALISMS
+
+_Like_ for _as_:
+
+ Sins that were degrading me, like they have many others.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ They should not make a mad, reckless, frontal attack like General
+ Buller made at the battle of Colenso.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Coming to God the loving Father for pardon, like the poor prodigal
+ did.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ There is no moral force in existence ... which enlarges our outlook
+ like suffering does.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+_What ever ...?_ is a colloquialism; _whatever ...?_ a vulgarism:
+
+ Whatever reason have we to suppose, as the vast majority of professing
+ Christians appear to do, that the public worship of Almighty God
+ ...?--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Whatever is the good in wrangling about bones when one is hungry and
+ has nutritious food at hand?--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+‘Those sort’:
+
+ I know many of those sort of girls whom you call conjurors.--TROLLOPE.
+
+ Those sort of writers would merely take it as a first-class
+ advertisement.--CORELLI.
+
+
+38. TAUTOLOGY
+
+ Lord Rosebery has not budged from his position--splendid, no doubt--of
+ (lonely) isolation.--_Times._
+
+ Counsel admitted that that was a grave suggestion to make,
+ but he submitted that it was borne out by the (surrounding)
+ circumstances.--_Times._
+
+ One can feel first the characteristics which men have in common
+ and only afterward those which distinguish them (apart) from one
+ another.--_Times._
+
+ A final friendly agreement with Japan, which would be very welcome
+ to Russia, is only possible if Japan (again) regains her liberty of
+ action.--_Times._
+
+ Miss Tox was (often) in the habit of assuring Mrs. Chick that
+ ...--DICKENS.
+
+ He had come up one morning, as was now (frequently) his
+ wont.--TROLLOPE.
+
+ The counsellors of the Sultan (continue to) remain
+ sceptical.--_Times._
+
+ The Peresviet lost both her fighting-tops and (in appearance) looked
+ the most damaged of all the ships.--_Times._
+
+ They would, however, strengthen their position if they returned
+ the (temporary) loan of Sir A. MacDonnell to his owners with
+ thanks.--_Times._
+
+ The score was taken to 136 when Mr. MacLaren, who had (evidently)
+ seemed bent on hitting Mr. Armstrong off, was bowled.--_Times._
+
+ ... cannot prevent the diplomacy of the two countries from lending
+ each other (mutual) support.--_Times._
+
+ However, I judged that they would soon (mutually) find each other
+ out.--CROCKETT.
+
+ Notwithstanding which, (however,) poor Polly embraced them all
+ round.--DICKENS.
+
+ If any real remedy is to be found, we must first diagnose the true
+ nature of the disease; (but) that, however, is not hard.--_Times._
+
+ M. Delcassé contemplated an identical answer for France, Great
+ Britain, and Spain, refusing, of course, the proposed conference, but
+ his colleagues of the Cabinet were (, however,) opposed to identical
+ replies.--_Times._
+
+ The strong currents frequently shifted the mines, to the equal danger
+ (both) of friend and foe.--_Times._
+
+ And persecution on the part of the Bishops and the Presbyterians, to
+ (both of) whom their opinions were equally hateful, drove flocks of
+ refugees over sea.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ But to the ordinary English Protestant (both) Latitudinarian and High
+ Churchmen were equally hateful.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ Seriously, (and apart from jesting,) this is no light matter.--BAGEHOT.
+
+ To go back to your own country ... with (the consciousness that you go
+ back with) the sense of duty done.--LORD HALSBURY.
+
+ No doubt my efforts were clumsy enough, but Togo had a capacity for
+ taking pains, by which (said) quality genius is apt to triumph over
+ early obstacles.--_Times._
+
+ ... as having created a (joint) partnership between the two Powers in
+ the Morocco question.--_Times._
+
+ Sir--As a working man it appears to me that to the question ‘Do we
+ believe?’ the only sensible position (there seems to be) is to frankly
+ acknowledge our ignorance of what lies beyond.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+
+39. REDUNDANCIES
+
+ Dr. Redmond told his constituents that _by_ reducing the National
+ vote in the House of Commons they would not _thereby_ get rid of
+ obstruction.--_Times._
+
+ It is not a thousand years _ago since_ municipalities in Scotland were
+ by no means free from the suspicion of corruption.--LORD ROSEBERY.
+
+ Some substance equally _as_ yielding.--_Daily Mail._
+
+ Had another expedition reached the Solomon Islands, who knows _but_
+ that the Spaniards might _not_ have gone on to colonize Australia and
+ so turned the current of history?--_Spectator._
+
+ As one _being_ able to give full consent ... I am yours
+ faithfully....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ But _to_ where shall I look for some small ray of light that will
+ illumine the darkness surrounding the mystery of my being?--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ It is quite _possible_ that if they do that it _may_ be _possible_ to
+ amend it in certain particulars.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ Men and women who _professed to call_ themselves Christians.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._ (An echo, no doubt, of ‘profess and call themselves
+ Christians’)
+
+ The correspondence that you have published _abundantly_ throws out
+ into _bold_ relief the false position assumed....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ In the course of the _day_, _yesterday_, M. Rouvier was able to assure
+ M. Delcassé....--_Times._
+
+ _Moreover_, _too_, do we not all feel...?--J. C. COLLINS.
+
+ The doing nothing for a length of days after the first shock he
+ sustained was _the reason of how it came that_ Nesta knitted closer
+ her acquaintance....--MEREDITH.
+
+ When the public adopt new inventions wholesale, ... _some obligation
+ is due_ to lessen, so far as is possible, the hardships in
+ which....--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+
+40. ‘AS TO WHETHER’
+
+This is a form that is seldom necessary, and should be reserved for
+sentences in which it is really difficult to find a substitute.
+Abstract nouns that cannot be followed immediately by _whether_ should
+if possible be replaced by the corresponding verbs. Many writers seem
+to delight in this hideous combination, and employ it not only with
+abstracts that can be followed by _whether_, but even with verbs.
+
+ The Court declined to express any opinion _as to_ whether the Russian
+ Ambassador was justified in giving the assurances in question and _as
+ to_ whether the offences with which the accused were charged were
+ punishable by German law.--_Times._ (Perhaps ‘declined to say whether
+ in their opinion’; but this is less easily mended than most)
+
+ The difficulties of this task were so great that I was in doubt _as
+ to_ whether it was possible.--_Times._
+
+ His whole interest is concentrated on the question _as to_ how his
+ mission will affect his own fortunes.--_Times._
+
+ A final decision has not yet been arrived at _as to_ whether or not
+ the proceedings shall be public.--_Times._ (It has not yet been
+ finally decided whether)
+
+ You raise the question _as to_ whether Admiral Rozhdestvensky will not
+ return.--_Times._
+
+ I have much pleasure in informing Rear Admiral Mather Byles _as to_
+ where he could inspect a rifle of the type referred to.
+
+ The interesting question which such experiments tend to suggest is as
+ to how far science may....--_Outlook._
+
+ When we come to consider the question _as to_ whether, upon the
+ dissolution of the body, the spirit flies to some far-distant
+ celestial realm....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ He never told us to judge by the lives of professing Christians _as
+ to_ whether Christianity is true.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ M. Delcassé did not allude to the debated question _as to_ whether
+ any official communication ... was made by the French Government to
+ Germany. It is also pointed out that he did not let fall the slightest
+ intimation _as to_ whether the French Government expected....--_Times._
+
+
+41. SUPERFLUOUS ‘BUT’ AND ‘THOUGH’
+
+Where there is a natural opposition between two sentences, adversative
+conjunctions may yet be made impossible by something in one of the
+sentences that does the work unaided. Thus if _in vain_, _only_, and
+_reserves_ and _sole_, had not been used in the following sentences,
+_but_ and _though_ would have been right; as it is, they are wrong.
+
+ (The author dreams that he is a horse being ridden) _In vain_ did I
+ rear and kick, attempting to get rid of my foe; _but_ the surgeon
+ remained as saddle-fast as ever.--BORROW.
+
+ But the substance of the story is probably true, _though_ Voltaire has
+ _only_ made a slip in a name.--MORLEY.
+
+ Germany, it appears, _reserves_ for herself the _sole_ privilege
+ of creating triple alliances and ‘purely defensive’ combinations
+ of that character, _but_ when the interests of other Powers
+ bring them together their action is reprobated as aggressive and
+ menacing.--_Times._
+
+Such mistakes probably result from altering the plan of a sentence in
+writing; and the cure is simply to read over every sentence after it is
+written.
+
+42. ‘IF AND WHEN’
+
+This formula has enjoyed more popularity than it deserves; either
+‘when’ or ‘if’ by itself would almost always give the meaning. Even
+where ‘if’ seems required to qualify ‘when’ (which by itself might
+be taken to exclude the possibility of the event’s never happening
+at all), ‘if’ and ‘when’ are clearly not coordinate, though both are
+subordinate to the main sentence: ‘if and when he comes, I will write’
+means ‘if he comes, I will write when he comes’, or ‘when he comes
+(if he comes at all), I will write’, and the ‘if’ clause, whether
+parenthetic or not, is subordinate to the whole sentence ‘I will write
+when he comes’. Our Gladstone instance below differs from the rest:
+‘when’ with a past tense, unqualified by ‘if’, would make an admission
+that the writer does not choose to make; on the other hand, the time
+reference given by ‘when’ is essential; ‘on the occasion on which it
+was done (if it really was done) it was done judicially’. The faulty
+coordination may be overlooked where there is real occasion for its
+use; but many writers seem to have persuaded themselves that neither
+‘if’ nor ‘when’ is any longer capable of facing its responsibilities
+without the other word to keep it in countenance.
+
+ No doubt it will accept the experimental proof here alleged, if and
+ when it is repeated under conditions....--_Times._
+
+ The latter will include twelve army corps, six rifle brigades, and
+ nine divisions or brigades of mounted troops, units which, if and when
+ complete, will more than provide....--_Times._
+
+ Unless and until we pound hardest we shall never beat the
+ Boers.--_Spectator._
+
+ It is only if, and when, our respective possessions become
+ conterminous with those of great military states on land that we
+ each....--_Times._
+
+ If and when it was done, it was done so to speak
+ judicially.--GLADSTONE.
+
+ No prudent seaman would undertake an invasion unless or until he had
+ first disposed of the force preparing ... to impeach him.--_Times._
+
+ Its leaders decline to take office unless and until the 90 or 100
+ German words of command used ... are replaced....--_Times._
+
+ If and when employment is abundant....--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ It means nothing less, if Mr. Chamberlain has his way, than the final
+ committal of one of the two great parties to a return to Protection,
+ if and when it has the opportunity.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ It is clear, however, that the work will gain much if and when she
+ plays faster.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+
+43. MALTREATED IDIOMS
+
+1. Two existing idioms are fused into a non-existent one.
+
+ It did not take him much trouble.--SLADEN. (I take: it costs me)
+
+ An opportunity should be afforded the enemy of retiring northwards,
+ more or less _of_ their own _account_.--_Times._ (of my own accord: on
+ my own account)
+
+ Dr. Kuyper admitted that his opinion had been consulted.--_Times._ (I
+ consult you: take your opinion)
+
+ But it was in vain with the majority to attempt it.--BAGEHOT. (I
+ attempt in vain: it is vain to attempt)
+
+ The captain got out the shutter of the door, shut it up, made it all
+ fast, and locked the door itself.--DICKENS. (make it fast: make all
+ fast)
+
+ The provisioning of the Russian Army would practically have to be
+ drawn exclusively from the mother country.--_Times._ (draw provisions:
+ do provisioning)
+
+ It gives me the greatest pleasure in adding my testimony.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._ (I have pleasure in adding: it gives me pleasure to add)
+
+ And if we rejected a similar proposition made to us, was it
+ not too much to expect that Canada might not turn in another
+ direction?--CHAMBERLAIN (reported). (Might not Canada turn?... to
+ expect that Canada would not turn)
+
+ I can speak from experience that ... ‘conversion’ ... was a very real
+ and powerful thing.--_Daily Telegraph._ (speak to conversion’s being:
+ say that conversion was)
+
+ He certainly possessed, though in no great degree, the means of
+ affording them more relief than he practised.--SCOTT. (preached more
+ than he practised: had means of affording more than he did afford)
+
+ My position is one of a clerk, thirty-eight years of age, and
+ married.--_Daily Telegraph._ (one that no one would envy: that of a
+ clerk)
+
+ Abbot, indeed, had put the finishing stroke on all attempts at a
+ higher ceremonial. Neither he nor his household would bow at the name
+ of Christ.--J. R. GREEN. (put the finishing touches on: given the
+ finishing stroke to)
+
+ In this chapter some of these words will be considered, and also some
+ others against which purism has raised objections which do not seem
+ to be well taken.--R. G. WHITE. (exceptions well taken: objections
+ rightly made. _To take an objection well_ can only mean to keep your
+ temper when it is raised)
+
+ A woman would instinctively draw her cloak or dress closer to her, and
+ a man leave by far an unnecessary amount of room for fear of coming
+ into contact with those to whom....--_Daily Telegraph._ (by far too
+ great: quite an unnecessary)
+
+ The fines inflicted for excess of the legal speed.--_Times._ (excess
+ of speed: exceeding the legal speed)
+
+ Notwithstanding the no inconsiderable distance by sea.--_Guernsey
+ Advertiser._ (it is no inconsiderable distance: the--or a--not
+ inconsiderable distance)
+
+ His whim had been gratified at a trifling cost of ten thousand
+ pounds.--CRAWFORD. (a trifling cost--unspecified: a trifle of ten
+ thousand _or so_: the trifling cost of ten thousand. So in the next)
+
+ Dying at a ripe old age of eighty-three.--_Westminster Gazette._
+
+ That question is the present solvency or insolvency of the Russian
+ State. The answer to it depends not upon the fact whether Russia has
+ or has not....--_Times._ (the fact that: the question whether. But
+ _depends not upon whether_ would be best here)
+
+ To all those who had thus so self-sacrificingly and energetically
+ promoted the organization of this fund he desired to accord in the
+ name of the diocese their deep obligation.--_Guernsey Advertiser._
+ (accord thanks: acknowledge obligation)
+
+ The allies frittered away in sieges the force which was ready for an
+ advance into the heart of France until the revolt of the West and
+ South was alike drowned in blood.--_Times._ (the revolts were alike
+ drowned: the revolt was drowned)
+
+2. Of two distinct idioms the wrong is chosen.
+
+ When, too, it was my pleasure to address a public meeting of more than
+ 2,000 at the Royal Theatre the organized opposition numbered less than
+ seven score.--_Times._
+
+ It is our pleasure to present to you the enclosed notification of the
+ proportion of profits which has been placed to the credit of your
+ account.--Company circular. (I had, we have, the pleasure of--. The
+ form chosen is proper to royal personages expressing their gracious
+ will)
+
+ In the face of it the rule appears a most advisable one.--_Guernsey
+ Advertiser._ (_On the face of it_ means prima facie: the other means
+ in spite of)
+
+3. The form of an idiom is distorted, without confusion with another.
+
+ However, towards evening the wind and the waves subsided and the night
+ became quiet and starlight.--_Times._ (_Starlight_ is a noun, which
+ can be used as an adjective immediately before another noun only; a
+ starlight night)
+
+ Russia is now bitterly expiating her share in the infamy then visited
+ upon Japan.--_Times._ (We visit upon a person his sins, or something
+ for which he is responsible, and not we; or again, we may visit our
+ indignation upon him)
+
+ He anticipated much towards Mary’s recovery in her return to
+ Japan.--SLADEN. (anticipate ... from)
+
+ But both Governments have now requested Washington to be chosen as the
+ place of meeting.--_Times._ (requested that Washington should)
+
+ For as its author in later years told the writer of this article,
+ he had studied war for nine years before he put the pen to the
+ paper.--_Times._ (Put pen to paper. This looks like imitation French;
+ it is certainly not English)
+
+4. The meaning of an idiom is mistaken without confusion with another.
+
+ For days and days, in such moods, he would stay within his cottage,
+ never darkening the door or seeing other face than his own
+ inmates.--TROLLOPE. (To darken the door is always to enter as a
+ visitor, never to go out)
+
+5. Some miscellaneous and unclassified violations are added, mostly
+without further comment than italics, to remind sanguine learners that
+there are small pitfalls in every direction.
+
+ If I _did not have_ the most thorough dependence on your good sense
+ and high principles, I should not speak to you in this way.--TROLLOPE.
+
+ Japan, while desiring the massacre of her own and Russia’s subjects to
+ be brought to an end, _has_ nevertheless _every interest that_ the war
+ should go on.--_Times._
+
+ The unpublished state, of which only _an extremely few_ examples are
+ in existence.--_Times._
+
+ Once I _jested her_ about it.--CROCKETT.
+
+ It is _significant to add_ that when Mrs. Chesnut died in 1886 her
+ servants were with her.--_Times._
+
+ Herring boats, the drapery of whose black suspended nets _contrasted_
+ with picturesque effect _the white sails_ of the larger vessels.--S.
+ FERRIER.
+
+ It is at least incumbent to be scrupulously accurate.--_Times._
+ (The metaphor in _incumbent_ is so much alive that _upon_--is never
+ dispensed with)
+
+ A measure _according Roman Catholic clergymen_ who have passed through
+ the local seminaries but have not yet passed the prescribed Russian
+ language test _to hold_ clerical appointments.--_Times._
+
+ There will be established in this free England a commercial tyranny
+ _the like of which_ will not be inferior to the tyrannical Inquisition
+ of the Dark Ages.--_Spectator._
+
+
+44. TRUISMS AND CONTRADICTIONS IN TERMS
+
+A contradiction in terms is often little more than a truism turned
+inside out; we shall therefore group the two together, and with them
+certain other illogical expressions, due to a similar confusion of
+thought.
+
+ Praise which perhaps was scarcely meant to be taken _too_
+ literally.--BAGEHOT.
+
+Where no standard of literalness is mentioned, _too literally_ is ‘more
+literally than was meant’. We may safely affirm, without the cautious
+reservations _perhaps_ and _scarcely_, that the praise was not meant to
+be taken more literally than it was meant to be taken. Omit _too_.
+
+ He found what was _almost quite_ as interesting.--_Times._
+
+If it was almost as interesting, we do not want _quite_: if quite, we
+do not want _almost_.
+
+ Splendid and elegant, but _somewhat bordering on_ the antique
+ fashion.--SCOTT.
+
+_Bordering on_ means not ‘like’ but ‘very like’; ‘somewhat very like’.
+
+ A _very unique_ child, thought I.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ A _somewhat unique_ gathering of our great profession.--HALSBURY.
+
+There are no degrees in uniqueness.
+
+ Steady, respectable labouring men--_one and all, with rare
+ exceptions_, married.--_Times._ (all without exception, with rare
+ exceptions)
+
+ To _name_ only a _few_, _take_ Lord Rosebery, Lord Rendel, Lord ...,
+ ..., ..., and _many_ others.--_Times._
+
+_Take_ in this context means ‘consider as instances’; we cannot
+consider them as instances unless we have their names; _take_ must
+therefore mean ‘let me name for your consideration’. Thus we get: ‘To
+_name_ only a _few_, let me _name_ ... and _many_ others (whom I do
+_not_ name)’.
+
+ More _led away_ by a jingling antithesis of words than _an accurate
+ perception_ of ideas.--H. D. MACLEOD.
+
+‘Guided by an accurate perception’ is what is meant. To be ‘led
+away by accurate perception’ is a misfortune that could happen only
+in a special sense, the sense in which it has happened, possibly, to
+the writer, whom sheer force of accurate perception may have hurried
+into inaccurate expression; but more probably he too is the victim of
+‘jingling antithesis’.
+
+ _Long before_ the appointed hour for the commencement of the
+ recital, standing room only fell to the lot of those who arrived
+ _just previous_ to Mr. K.’s appearance on the platform.--_Guernsey
+ Advertiser._
+
+The necessary inference--that Mr. K., the reciter, appeared on the
+platform long before the appointed hour--is probably not in accordance
+with the facts.
+
+ The weather this week has for the most part been of that quality which
+ the month of March so _strikingly_ characterizes in the _ordinary_
+ course of events.--_Guernsey Advertiser._
+
+What happens in the ordinary course of events can scarcely continue
+to be striking. Whether the month characterizes the weather, or the
+weather the month, we need not consider here.
+
+ He _forgot_ that it was possible, that from a brief period of
+ tumultuous disorder, there might issue a military despotism more
+ compact, more disciplined, and more overpowering than any which had
+ preceded it, or any which _has_ followed it.--BAGEHOT.
+
+_He_ could not forget, because he could not know, anything about the
+despotisms which _have_ in fact followed. He might know and forget
+something about all the despotisms that had preceded or _should_ follow
+(in direct speech, ‘that have preceded or shall follow’): ‘this may
+result in the most compact despotism in all history, past and future’.
+But probably Bagehot does not even mean this: the last clause seems to
+contain a reflection of his own, falsely presented as a part of what
+_he_ ought to have reflected.
+
+ Some people would say that my present manner of travelling is much
+ the _most preferable_, riding as I do now, instead of leading my
+ horse.--BORROW.
+
+Only two modes of travelling are compared: _the most preferable_
+implies four, three of them preferable in different degrees to the
+fourth. A not uncommon vulgarism.
+
+
+45. DOUBLE EMPHASIS
+
+Attempts at packing double emphasis into a single sentence are apt to
+result in real weakening.
+
+ No government ever plunged _more_ rapidly into a _deeper_
+ quagmire.--_Outlook._ (From the writer’s evident wish to state the
+ matter strongly, we infer that several Governments have plunged more
+ rapidly into as deep quagmires, and as rapidly into deeper ones)
+
+ Mr. Justice Neville ... will now have the very rare experience of
+ joining on the Bench a colleague whom he defeated on the polls _just
+ fourteen years ago_.--_Westminster Gazette._ (The _experience_,
+ with exact time-interval, is probably unique, like any individual
+ thumb-print; that does not make the _coincidence_ more remarkable; and
+ it is the coincidence that we are to admire)
+
+ Nothing has brought out more strongly than motor-driving the
+ over-bearing, selfish nature of too many motor-drivers and their utter
+ want of consideration for their fellow men.--LORD WEMYSS. (The attempt
+ to kill drivers and driving with one stone leaves both very slightly
+ wounded. For what should show up the drivers more than the driving?
+ and whom should the driving show up more than the drivers?)
+
+The commonest form of this is due to conscientious but mistaken zeal
+for correctness, which prefers, for instance, _without oppressing or
+without plundering_ to _without oppressing or plundering_. The first
+form excludes only one of the offences, and is therefore, though
+probably meant to be twice as emphatic, actually much weaker than the
+second, which excludes both. With _and_ instead of _or_, it is another
+matter.
+
+ Actual experience has shown that a gun constructed on the wire
+ system can still be utilized effectively without the destruction of
+ the weapon or without dangerous effects, even with its inner tube
+ split.--_Times._
+
+ The Union must be maintained without pandering to such prejudices on
+ the one hand, _or without_ giving way on the other to the ... schemes
+ of the Nationalists.--_Spectator._
+
+ He inhibited him, on pain of excommunication, from seeking a divorce
+ in his own English Courts, _or from_ contracting a new marriage.--J.
+ R. GREEN. (Half excused by the negative sense of _inhibit_)
+
+
+46. ‘SPLIT’ AUXILIARIES.
+
+Some writers, holding that there is the same objection to split
+compound verbs as to split infinitives, prefer to place any adverb or
+qualifying phrase not between the auxiliary and the other component,
+but before both. Provided that the adverb is then separated from the
+auxiliary, no harm is done: ‘Evidently he was mistaken’ is often as
+good as ‘He was evidently mistaken’, and suits all requirements of
+accentuation. But the placing of the adverb immediately before or
+after the auxiliary depends, according to established usage, upon
+the relative importance of the two components. When the main accent
+is to fall upon the second component, the normal place of the adverb
+is between the two; it is only when the same verb is repeated with a
+change in the tense or mood of the auxiliary, that the adverb should
+come first. ‘He evidently was deceived’ implies, or should imply, that
+the verb _deceived_ has been used before, and that the point of the
+sentence depends upon the emphatic auxiliary; accordingly we should
+write ‘The possibility of his being deceived had never occurred to
+me; but he evidently was deceived’, but ‘I relied implicitly on his
+knowledge of the facts; but he was evidently deceived’. In our first
+two examples below the adverb is rightly placed first to secure the
+emphasis on the auxiliary: in all the others the above principle of
+accentuation is violated. The same order of words is required by the
+copula with whatever kind of complement.
+
+ I recognize this truth, and always have recognized it.
+
+ Refined policy ever has been the parent of confusion, and ever will be
+ so, as long as the world endures.--BURKE.
+
+ They never are suffered to succeed in their opposition.--BURKE.
+
+ She had received the homage of ... and occasionally had deigned to
+ breathe forth....--BEACONSFIELD.
+
+ He ordered breakfast as calmly as if he never had left his
+ home.--BEACONSFIELD.
+
+ Miss Becky, whose sympathetic powers never had been called into action
+ before.--FERRIER.
+
+ They now were bent on taking the work into their own hands.--MORLEY.
+
+ There may have been a time when a king was a god, but he now is pretty
+ much on a level with his subjects.--JOWETT.
+
+ They both are contradicted by all positive evidence.--W. H. MALLOCK.
+
+ Religious art at once complete and sincere never yet has
+ existed.--RUSKIN.
+
+ Not mere empty ideas, but what were once realities, and that I long
+ have thought decayed.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ So that he might assist at a Bible class, from which he never had been
+ absent.--BEACONSFIELD.
+
+ If we would write an essay, we necessarily must have something to
+ say.--BYGOTT & JONES.
+
+ The protectionists lately have been affirming that the autumn session
+ will be devoted to railway questions.--_Times._
+
+ Visitors no longer can drive in open carriages along the
+ littoral.--_Times._
+
+ It still is the fact that his mind ... was essentially the mind of a
+ poet.--_Times._
+
+ To whom in any case its style would have not appealed.--_Times._
+
+To go wrong with _not_ is an achievement possible only with triple
+compounds, where the principal division is of course between the finite
+(_would_) and the infinitive with participle (_have appealed_). ‘Would
+not have appealed’ must be written, though at an enormous sacrifice of
+‘distinction’.
+
+ This enhanced value of old English silver may be due partly to the
+ increase in the number of collectors; but it also has been largely
+ influenced by the publication....--_Times._
+
+ Mr. Fry showed to a very great extent his power of defence.... To-day,
+ if runs are to be of importance, he very likely will show his powers
+ of hitting.--_Times._
+
+
+47. OVERLOADING
+
+A single sentence is sometimes made to carry a double burden:
+
+ So unique a man as Sir George Lewis has, in truth, rarely been lost to
+ this country.--BAGEHOT.
+
+The meaning is not ‘Men like Sir G. Lewis have seldom been lost’, but
+‘Men like the late Sir G. Lewis have seldom been found’. But instead
+of _the late_ a word was required that should express proper concern;
+_lost_ is a short cut to ‘men so unique as he whose loss we now
+deplore’.
+
+ There are but few men whose lives abound in such wild and romantic
+ adventure, and, for the most part, crowned with success.--PRESCOTT.
+
+The writer does not mean ‘adventures so wild, so romantic, and so
+successful in the main’; that is shown by the qualifying parenthesis,
+which is obviously one of comment on the individual case. What he does
+mean ought to have been given in two sentences: ‘There are but few ...
+adventure;--’s, moreover, was for the most part crowned with success’.
+
+ The Sultan regrets that the distance and the short notice alone
+ prevent him from coming in person.--_Times._
+
+This is as much as to say that the Sultan wishes there were more
+obstacles. Read: ‘The Sultan regrets that he cannot come in person;
+nothing but the distance and the short notice could prevent him’.
+
+
+48. DEMONSTRATIVE, NOUN, AND PARTICIPLE OR ADJECTIVE
+
+Of the forms, _persons interested_, _the persons interested_, _those
+interested_, _those who are interested_, one or another may better suit
+a particular phrase or context. _Those interested_ is the least to be
+recommended, especially with an active participle or adjective. The
+form _those persons interested_ is a hybrid, and is very seldom used by
+any good writer; but it is becoming so common in inferior work that it
+is thought necessary to give many examples. The first two, of the form
+_those interested_, will pass, though _those who were concerned_, _all
+who drive_, would be better. In the others _that_ and _those_ should be
+either replaced by _the_ or (sometimes) simply omitted.
+
+ The idea of a shortage had hardly entered the heads even of _those_
+ most immediately _concerned_.--_Times._
+
+ They are the terror of all _those driving_ or riding spirited
+ horses.--_Times._
+
+ At every time and in every place throughout _that_ very limited
+ _portion_ of time and space _open_ to human observation.--BALFOUR.
+
+ _That part_ of the regular army _quartered_ at home should be grouped
+ by divisions.--_Times._
+
+ Here they beheld acres of _that_ stupendous _growth seen_ only in the
+ equinoctial regions.--PRESCOTT.
+
+ It is not likely that General Kuropatkine has amassed _those
+ reserves_ of military stores and supplies plainly _required_ by the
+ circumstances of his situation.--_Times._
+
+ The insurrection had been general throughout the country, at least
+ _that portion_ of it _occupied_ by the Spaniards.--PRESCOTT.
+
+ My amendment would be that _that part_ of the report _dealing_ with
+ the dividend on the ‘A’ shares ... be not adopted.--Company report.
+
+ We shall fail to secure _that unanimity_ of thought and doctrine so
+ _indispensable_ both for....--_Times._
+
+ ... in order to minimize the effect produced by _that portion_ of the
+ Admirals’ report _favourable_ to England.--_Times._
+
+ A struggle ... which our nation must be prepared to face in the last
+ resort, or else give way to _those countries_ not _afraid_ to accept
+ the responsibilities and sacrifices inseparable from Empire.--_Times._
+
+ Civil servants will not, nay, cannot, work with _that freedom_ of
+ action so _essential_ to good work in the case of such persons, so
+ long as....--_Times._
+
+ To _those Colonies unable_ to concur with these suggestions a warning
+ should be addressed.--_Times._
+
+
+49. FALSE SCENT
+
+It is most annoying to a reader to be misled about the construction,
+and therefore most foolish in a writer to mislead him. In the sentences
+that follow, _facilities_ and _excesses_ are naturally taken as in the
+same construction, and similarly _influences_ and _nature_, until the
+ends of the sentences show us that we have gone wrong. These are very
+bad cases; but minor offences of the kind are very common, and should
+be carefully guarded against.
+
+ He gloats over the facilities the excesses and the blunders of the
+ authorities have given his comrades for revolutionary action among the
+ masses.--_Times._
+
+ The influences of that age, his open, kind, susceptible nature,
+ to say nothing of his highly untoward situation, made it
+ more than usually difficult for him to cast aside or rightly
+ subordinate.--CARLYLE.
+
+That there is no comma between _facilities_ and _the excesses_ is no
+defence, seeing how often commas go wrong; indeed the comma after _age_
+in the second piece, which is strictly wrong, is a proof how little
+reliance is to be placed on such signs.
+
+
+50. MISPLACEMENT OF WORDS
+
+Generous interpretation will generally get at a writer’s meaning; but
+for him to rely on that is to appeal _ad misericordiam_. Appended to
+the sentences, when necessary, is the result of supposing them to mean
+what they say.
+
+ It is with grief and pain, that, _as admirers of the British
+ aristocracy_, we find ourselves obliged to admit the existence of so
+ many ill qualities in a person whose name is in Debrett.--THACKERAY.
+ (implies that admirers must admit this more than other people)
+
+ It is from this fate that the son of a commanding prime minister is
+ _at any rate_ preserved.--BAGEHOT. (implies that _preserved_ is a weak
+ word used instead of a stronger)
+
+ And even if we could suppose it to be our duty, it is not one which,
+ _as was shown in the last chapter_, we are practically competent to
+ perform.--BALFOUR.
+
+ The chairman said there was no sadder sight in the world than to
+ see women drunk, because they seemed to lose _complete_ control of
+ themselves. (implies that losing complete control leaves you with less
+ than if you lost incomplete control)
+
+ The soldiers are deeply chagrined at having had to give up positions,
+ _in obedience to orders_, which the Japanese could not take.--_Times._
+
+ Great and heroic men have existed, who had almost no other information
+ than by the printed page. I _only_ would say, that it needs a strong
+ head to bear that diet.--EMERSON. (implies that no one else would say
+ it)
+
+ Yes, the laziest of human beings, through the providence of God, _a
+ being, too, of rather inferior capacity_, acquires the written part of
+ a language so difficult that....--BORROW.
+
+ Right or wrong as his hypothesis may be, no one that knows him will
+ suspect that he himself had not seen it, and seen over it.... Neither,
+ _as we often hear_, is there any superhuman faculty required to follow
+ him.--CARLYLE. (implies that we often hear there is not)
+
+ This, we say to ourselves, may be all very true (for have we, _too_,
+ not browsed in the Dictionary of National Biography?); but why does
+ Tanner say it all, just at that moment, to....--_Times._ (implies
+ that others have refrained from browsing)
+
+ But in 1798 the Irish rising was crushed in a defeat of the insurgents
+ at Vinegar Hill; and Tippoo’s death in the storm of his own capital,
+ Seringapatam, _only_ saved him from witnessing the English conquest of
+ Mysore.--J. R. GREEN. (implies that that was all it saved him from)
+
+
+51. AMBIGUOUS POSITION
+
+In this matter judgement is required. A captious critic might find
+examples on almost every page of almost any writer; but most of
+them, though they may strictly be called ambiguous, would be quite
+justifiable. On the other hand a careless writer can nearly always
+plead, even for a bad offence, that an attentive reader would take
+the thing the right way. That is no defence; a rather inattentive and
+sleepy reader is the true test; if the run of the sentence is such that
+he at first sight refers whatever phrase is in question to the wrong
+government, then the ambiguity is to be condemned.
+
+ Louis XVIII, dying in 1824, was succeeded, as Charles X, by his
+ brother the Count d’Artois.--E. SANDERSON. (The sleepy reader,
+ assisted by memories of James the First and Sixth, concludes, though
+ not without surprise, which perhaps finally puts him on the right
+ track, that Louis XVIII of France was also Charles X of some other
+ country)
+
+ In 1830 Paris overthrew monarchy by divine right.--MORLEY. (_By divine
+ right_ looks so much more like an adverbial than an adjectival phrase
+ that the sleepy reader takes it with _overthrew_)
+
+ (From review of a book on ambidexterity) Two kinds of emphatic
+ type are used, and both are liberally sprinkled about the pages
+ on some principle which is not at all obvious. The practice may
+ have its merits, like ambidexterity, but it is generally eschewed
+ by good writers who know their business, although they are not
+ ambidextrous.--_Times._ (The balance of the sentence is extremely bad
+ if the _although_ clause is subordinated to _who_; and the sleepy
+ reader accordingly does not take it so, but with _is eschewed_, and so
+ makes nonsense)
+
+ It was a temper not only legal, but pedantic in its legality,
+ intolerant from its very sense of a moral order and law _of_ the
+ lawlessness and disorder of a personal tyranny.--J. R. GREEN.
+
+ The library over the porch of the church, which is large and handsome,
+ contains one thousand printed books.--R. CURZON. (A large and handsome
+ library, or porch, or church?)
+
+Both these last are very unkind to the poor sleepy reader; it is true
+that in one of them he is inexcusable if he goes wrong, but we should
+for our own sakes give him as few chances of going wrong as possible.
+
+ Luck and dexterity always give more pleasure than intellect and
+ knowledge; because they fill up what they fall _on to_ the brim at
+ once, and people run to them with acclamation at the splash.--LANDOR.
+ (_On_ and _to_ so regularly belong together now, though they did
+ not in Landor’s time, that it is disconcerting to be asked to pause
+ between them)
+
+
+52. AMBIGUOUS ENUMERATION
+
+In comma’d enumerations, care should be taken not to insert appositions
+that may be taken, even if only at first sight, for separate members.
+
+ Some high officials of the Headquarter Staff, including the officer
+ who is primus inter pares, the Director of Military Operations, and
+ the Director of Staff duties....--_Times._ (Two, or three, persons?
+ Probably two; but those who can be sure of this do not need the
+ descriptive clause, and those who need it cannot be sure)
+
+ Lord Curzon, Sir Edmond Elles, the present Military Member, and
+ the Civilian Members of Council traverse the most material of Lord
+ Kitchener’s statements of fact.--_Times._ (Is Sir E. Elles the
+ Military Member? No need to tell any one who knows; and any one who
+ does not know is not told)
+
+ I here wish to remark that Lord Dufferin first formed the Mobilization
+ Committee, of which the Commander-in-Chief is President, and the
+ Military Member, Secretary, Military Department, and the heads of
+ departments both at Army Headquarters and under the Government of
+ India, are members with the express intention of....--_Times._ (Is the
+ Military Member Secretary of the Mobilization Committee? Well, he may
+ be, but a certain amount of patience shows us that the sentence we are
+ reading does not tell us so)
+
+
+53. ANTICS
+
+A small selection must suffice. Straining after the dignified, the
+unusual, the poignant, the high-flown, the picturesque, the striking,
+often turns out badly. It is not worth while to attain any of these
+aims at the cost of being unnatural.
+
+1. Use of stiff, full-dress, literary, or out-of-the-way words.
+
+ And in no direction was the slightest concern _evinced_.--_Times._
+
+ The majority display _scant_ anxiety for news.--_Times._
+
+ ... treating his characters on broader lines, occupying himself with
+ more elemental emotions and types, and forsaking altogether his
+ almost _meticulous_ analysis of motive and temperament.--_Westminster
+ Gazette._ (We recommend to this reviewer a more meticulous use of the
+ dictionary)
+
+ And most probably he is voted a fool for not doing as many men in
+ similar positions are doing--viz., making up for a lack of principle
+ by an abundance of _bawbees_ easily extracted from a large class of
+ contractors who are only too willing....--_Times._
+
+ It is Victor Hugo’s people, the motives on which they act, the means
+ they take to carry out their objects, their relations to one another,
+ that strike us as so _monumentally_ droll.--_Times._
+
+ Nothing definite has been decided upon as to the exact date of the
+ visits, the _venue_ of the visits, the....--_Times._
+
+2. Pretentious circumlocution.
+
+ That life was brought to a close in November 1567, at an age,
+ probably, not far from _the one fixed by the sacred writer as the term
+ of human existence_.--PRESCOTT.
+
+ She skated extremely badly, but with an enjoyment that was almost
+ pathetic, _in consideration of the persistence of ‘frequent
+ fall’_.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ The question of an extension of the Zemstvos to the southwest
+ provinces is believed to be under consideration. It is understood that
+ the visit of General Kleigels to St. Petersburg is _not unconnected
+ therewith_.--_Times._
+
+3. Poetic phraseology, especially the Carlylese superlative. Almost any
+page of Milton’s prose will show whence Carlyle had this; but it is
+most offensive in ordinary modern writing.
+
+ A period when, as she puts it, men and women of fashion ‘tried not to
+ be themselves, yet never so successfully displayed _the naked hearts
+ of them_’.--_Times._
+
+ The last week in February was harnessing her seven bright steeds in
+ shining tandem in the silent courtyard of the time to be.--_The Lamp._
+
+ Our enveloping movements since some days prove successful, and
+ fiercest battle is now proceeding.--_Times._
+
+ The unhappy man persuades himself that he has in truth become a new
+ creature, of the wonderfullest symmetry.--CARLYLE.
+
+4. Patronizing superiority expressed by describing simple things in
+long words.
+
+ The skating-rink, where happy folk all day slide with set purpose on
+ the elusive material, and with great content perform mystic evolutions
+ of the most complicated order.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+5. The determined picturesque.
+
+ Across the street blank shutters flung back the gaslight in cold
+ smears.--KIPLING.
+
+ The outflung white water at the foot of a homeward-bound Chinaman
+ not a hundred yards away, and her shadow-slashed rope-purfled sails
+ bulging sideways like insolent cheeks.--KIPLING.
+
+ An under-carry of grey woolly spindrift of a slaty colour flung
+ itself noiselessly in the opposite direction, a little above the tree
+ tops.--CROCKETT.
+
+ Then for a space the ground was more clayey, and a carpet of green
+ water-weeds were combed and waved by the woven ropes of water.--E. F.
+ BENSON.
+
+ At some distance off, in Winchester probably, which pricked the
+ blue haze of heat with dim spires, a church bell came muffled and
+ languid.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ A carriage drive lay in long curves like a flicked whip lash,
+ surmounting terrace after terrace set with nugatory nudities.--E. F.
+ BENSON.
+
+6. Recherché epithets.
+
+ Perhaps both Milton and Beethoven would live in our memories as
+ writers of idylls, had not a _brusque_ infirmity dreadfully shut them
+ off from their fellow men.--_Times._
+
+ The high _canorous_ note of the north-easter.--STEVENSON.
+
+ By specious and _clamant_ exceptions.--STEVENSON.
+
+7. Formal antithesis or parallel. This particular form of artificiality
+is perhaps too much out of fashion to be dangerous at present. The
+great storehouse of it is in Macaulay.
+
+ He had neither the qualities which make dulness respectable, nor the
+ qualities which make libertinism attractive.--MACAULAY.
+
+ The first two kings of the House of Hanover had neither those
+ hereditary rights which have often supplied the place of merit, nor
+ those personal qualities which have often supplied the defect of
+ title.--MACAULAY.
+
+ But he was indolent and dissolute, and had early impaired a
+ fine estate with the dice-box, and a fine constitution with the
+ bottle.--MACAULAY.
+
+ The disclosure of the stores of Greek literature had wrought the
+ revolution of the Renascence. The disclosure of the older mass of
+ Hebrew literature wrought the revolution of the Reformation.--J. R.
+ GREEN.
+
+8. Author’s self-consciousness.
+
+ ‘You mean it is,’ she said--‘about Bertie’. Charlie made the noise
+ usually written ‘Pshaw’.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+9. Intrusive smartness--another form of self-consciousness.
+
+ Round her lay piles of press notices, which stripped the American
+ variety of the English language bare of epithets.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+ Income-tax payers are always treated to the fine words which butter
+ no parsnips, and are always assured that it is really a danger to the
+ State to go on skinning them in time of peace to such an extent as to
+ leave little integument to remove in time of war.--_Times._
+
+ Yet in the relentless city, where no one may pause for a moment unless
+ he wishes to be left behind in the great universal race for gold which
+ begins as soon as a child can walk, and ceases not until he is long
+ past walking, the climbing of the thermometer into the nineties _is
+ an acrobatic feat which concerns the thermometer only_, and at the
+ junction of Sixth Avenue and Broadway there was no slackening in the
+ tides of the affairs of men.--E. F. BENSON.
+
+
+54. MISCELLANEOUS TYPES OF JOURNALESE
+
+ Mr. Lionel Phillips maintained that it was impossible to introduce
+ white unskilled _labour_ on a large scale _as a payable proposition_
+ without lowering the position of the white man.--_Times._
+
+How _labour_ can be a _proposition_, and how a _proposition_ can be
+_payable_ it is not easy to say. The sentence seems to mean: ‘to
+introduce ... labour on a large scale and make it pay’. This is what
+comes of a fondness for abstracts.
+
+ They have not hitherto discovered the formula for the intelligent
+ use of our unrivalled resources for the _satisfaction of our
+ security_.--_Times._
+
+This perhaps means: ‘They have not yet discovered how our unrivalled
+resources may be made to ensure our safety’.
+
+ An attempt to efface the ill-effects of the Czar’s refusal to see the
+ workmen has been made _by_ the grant _of_ an interview _by_ the Czar
+ _at_ Tsarkoe Selo _to_ a body _of_ workmen officially selected to
+ represent the masses.--_Spectator._
+
+ The powerful and convincing article on the question of War Office
+ administration as it affects the Volunteers to be found in this
+ month’s National.--_Spectator._
+
+ The Russian Government is at last face to face with the greatest
+ crisis of the war, _in the shape of the fact that_ the Siberian
+ railway....--_Spectator._
+
+ No year passes now without evidence of the truth of the
+ statement that the work of government is becoming increasingly
+ difficult.--_Spectator._
+
+ It has taken a leading part in protesting against the Congo State’s
+ treatment of natives controlled by it, and in procuring the pressure
+ which the House of Commons has put upon our Government with a view to
+ international insistence on fulfilment of the obligations entered upon
+ by the Congo Government as regards native rights.--_Times._
+
+ The outcome of a desire to convince the Government of the expediency
+ of granting the return recently ordered by the House with regard to
+ the names, ....--_Times._
+
+ In default of information of the result of the deliberations which
+ it has been stated the Imperial Defence Committee have been engaged
+ in....--_Times._
+
+ The volunteer does not volunteer to be compelled to suffer long,
+ filthy, and neglected illnesses and too often death, yet such was
+ South Africa on a vast scale, and is inevitable in war under the
+ present official indifference.--_Times._
+
+
+55. SOMEWHAT, &c.
+
+Indulgence in qualifying adverbs, as _perhaps_, _possibly_, _probably_,
+_rather_, _a little_, _somewhat_, amounts with English journalists
+to a disease; the intemperate orgy of moderation is renewed every
+morning. As _somewhat_ is rapidly swallowing up the rest, we shall
+almost confine our attention to it; and it is useless to deprecate the
+use without copious illustration. Examples will be classified under
+headings, though these are not quite mutually exclusive.
+
+1. _Somewhat_ clearly illogical.
+
+ A number of questions to the Prime Minister have been put upon the
+ paper with the object of eliciting information as to the personnel of
+ the proposed Royal Commission and the scope of their inquiry. These
+ are now _somewhat belated_ in view of the official announcement made
+ this morning.--_Times._ (The announcement contained both the list of
+ members and the full reference)
+
+ Thrills which gave him _rather a unique_ pleasure.--HUTTON.
+
+ Russian despatches are _somewhat inconsistent_, one of them stating
+ that there is no change in the position of the armies, while another
+ says that the Japanese advance continues.--_Times._
+
+ Being faint with hunger I was _somewhat in a listless condition_
+ bordering on stupor.--CORELLI.
+
+In the light of these, it would be hard to say what full belatedness,
+inconsistency, and listlessness may be.
+
+2. _Somewhat_ with essentially emphatic words.
+
+We may call a thing dirty, or filthy; if we choose the latter, we mean
+to be emphatic; it is absurd to use the emphatic word and take away its
+emphasis with _somewhat_, when we might use the gentler word by itself.
+
+ A member of the Legislative Council is allowed now to speak in
+ Dutch if he cannot express himself clearly in English; under the
+ proposed arrangement he will be able to decide for himself in which
+ medium he can express himself the more clearly. Surely a _somewhat
+ infinitesimal_ point.--_Times._
+
+ Thirdly, it is _rather agonizing_ at times to the
+ philologist.--_Times._
+
+ The distances at which the movements are being conducted receive a
+ _somewhat startling_ illustration from the statement that....--_Times._
+
+ Under these circumstances it is _somewhat extraordinary_ to endeavour
+ to save the Government from blame.--_Times._
+
+ In various evidently ‘well-informed’ journals the _somewhat amazing_
+ proposition is set up that....--_Times._
+
+ But unfortunately the word ‘duties’ got accidentally substituted
+ for ‘bounties’ in two places, and made the utterance _somewhat
+ unintelligible_ to the general reader.--_Times._
+
+ The songs are sung by students to the accompaniment of a _somewhat
+ agonizing_ band.--_Times._
+
+ There is a mysterious man-killing orchid, a great Eastern jewel of
+ State, and many other properties, some of them _a little well worn_,
+ suitable for the staging of a tale of mystery.--_Spectator._
+
+Some of the instances in these two classes would be defended as
+humorous under-statement. But if this hackneyed trick is an example of
+the national humour, we had better cease making reflections on German
+want of humour.
+
+3. _Somewhat_ shyly announcing an epigrammatic or well-chosen phrase.
+
+ There is a very pretty problem awaiting the decision of Prince
+ Bülow, and one which is entirely worthy of his _somewhat acrobatic_
+ diplomacy.--_Times._
+
+ Gaston engaged in a controversy on the origin of evil, which
+ terminated by his _somewhat abruptly quitting his Alma
+ Mater_.--BEACONSFIELD.
+
+ Why even Tennyson became an amateur milkman to _somewhat conceal and
+ excuse the shame and degradation of writing verse_.--CORELLI.
+
+ The virtuous but _somewhat unpleasing_ type of the Roman
+ nation.--_Times._
+
+ The sight of these soldiers and sailors sitting round camp-fires in
+ the midst of the snow in fashionable thoroughfares, transforming the
+ city into an armed camp, is _somewhat weird_.--_Times._
+
+ While Mary was trying to decipher these _somewhat mystic_ lines.--S.
+ FERRIER.
+
+4. _Somewhat_ conveying a sneer.
+
+ It is somewhat strange that any one connected with this institution
+ should be so unfamiliar with its regulations.--_Times._
+
+ ... that the conclusion arrived at by the shortest route is
+ to be accepted--a somewhat extravagant doctrine, according to
+ which....--BALFOUR.
+
+ But very few points of general interest have been elicited in any
+ quarter by these somewhat academic reflections.--_Times._
+
+ This somewhat glowing advertisement of the new loan.--_Times._
+
+5. The genuine _somewhat_, merely tame, timid, undecided, conciliatory,
+or polite.
+
+ It is somewhat pitiful to see the efforts of a foreign State directed,
+ not to the pursuit of its own aims by legitimate means, but to the
+ gratification of personal hostility to a great public servant of
+ France.--_Times._
+
+ I am certain that the clergy themselves only too gladly acquiesce in
+ this somewhat illogical division of labour.--_Times._
+
+ This, no doubt, is what Professor Ray Lankester is driving at in his
+ somewhat intemperate onslaught.--Times.
+
+ The _rather mysterious_ visit of S. Tittoni, the Italian Foreign
+ Minister, to Germany.--_Times._
+
+ These are of _rather remarkable_ promise; the head shows an unusual
+ power of realizing character under a purely ideal conception.--_Times._
+
+ The _rather finely_ conceived statuette called ‘The Human Task’ by Mr.
+ Oliver Wheatley.--_Times._
+
+ It is somewhat the fashion to say that in these days....--_Times._
+
+ A letter from one whose learning and experience entitle him to be
+ heard, conceived, as I think, in a spirit of somewhat exaggerated
+ pessimism.--_Times._
+
+ The statement made by the writer is somewhat open to doubt.--_Times._
+
+ I have read with much interest the letters on the subject of
+ hush-money, especially as they account to me somewhat for the
+ difficulties I have experienced.--_Times._
+
+ It would be valuable if he would somewhat expand his ideas regarding
+ local defence by Volunteers.--_Times._
+
+ Sir,--I have been somewhat interested in the recent correspondence in
+ your columns.--_Times._
+
+ So many persons of undoubted integrity believe in ‘dowsing’ that he is
+ a somewhat rash man who summarily dismisses the matter.--_Times._
+
+ Sir Francis Bertie, whose dislike of unnecessary publicity is somewhat
+ pronounced.--_Times._
+
+It is not too much to say that any one who hopes to write well had
+better begin by abjuring _somewhat_ altogether.
+
+We cannot tell whether this long list will have a dissuasive effect, or
+will be referred to foolish individual prejudice against an unoffending
+word. But on the first assumption we should like to add that a not
+less dissuasive collection might easily be made of the intensifier
+_distinctly_ than of the qualifier _somewhat_. The use meant is that
+seen in:
+
+ The effect as the procession careers through the streets of Berlin is
+ described as distinctly interesting.
+
+_Distinctly_ gives the patronizing interest, as _somewhat_ gives
+the contemptuous indifference, with which a superior person is to
+be conceived surveying life; and context too often reveals that the
+superiority is imaginary.
+
+
+56. CLUMSY PATCHING
+
+When a writer detects a fault in what he has written or thought of
+writing, his best course is to recast the whole sentence. The next best
+is to leave it alone. The worst is to patch it in such a way that the
+reader has his attention drawn, works out the original version, and
+condemns his author for carelessness aggravated by too low an estimate
+of his own intelligence.
+
+ Numerous allegations, too, were made of prejudiced treatment _measured
+ out against_ motorists by rural magistrates.--_Times._ (avoidance of
+ the jingle in _meted_ out to _motor_ists)
+
+ No crew proved to be of the very highest class; but this, perhaps,
+ _led the racing to be_ on the whole close and exciting.--_Times._
+ (avoidance of the jingle in led to the rac_ing_ be_ing_)
+
+ The Lord Mayor last night entertained the Judges _to_ a banquet at the
+ Mansion House.--_Times._ (avoidance of double _at_)
+
+ The occupants talked, inspected the cars _of one another_,
+ interchanged tales of....--_Times._ (avoidance, in grammatical
+ pusillanimity, of _one another’s cars_)
+
+ ... who have only themselves in view _by_ breaking through
+ it.--RICHARDSON. (avoidance of double _in_)
+
+ He nodded, _as one who would say_, ‘I have already thought of
+ that’.--CROCKETT. (avoidance of the archaism, which however is the
+ only natural form, _as who should say_)
+
+ It is now practically certain that the crews of Nebogatoff’s squadron
+ were in a state of mutiny, and that this is the explanation _for_ the
+ surrender _of_ these vessels.--_Times._ (avoidance of double _of_)
+
+ And _for_ the first time _after_ twenty years the Whigs saw themselves
+ again in power.--J. R. GREEN. (Avoidance of double _for_; if _after_
+ had been originally intended, we should have had _at last_ instead of
+ _for the first time_)
+
+ And oppressive laws forced even these _few_ with _scant_ exceptions to
+ profess Protestantism.--J. R. GREEN. (To avoid the repetition of _few_
+ the affected word _scant_ has been admitted)
+
+ Given competition, any line would vie with the others in mirrors
+ and gilded furniture; but if there is none, why spend a penny? Not
+ a passenger the less will travel because the mode of transit is
+ _bestial_.--E. F. BENSON. (To avoid the overdone word _beastly_--which
+ however happens to be the right one here; _bestial_ describes
+ character or conduct)
+
+ There is, indeed, a kind of timorous atheism in the man who dares not
+ trust God to _render_ all efforts to interpret his Word--and what is
+ criticism but interpretation?--work together for good.--_Spectator._
+ (_Render_ is substituted for _make_ because _make efforts_ might
+ be taken as complete without the _work together_ that is due.
+ Unfortunately, _to render efforts work together_ is not even English
+ at all)
+
+
+57. OMISSION OF THE CONJUNCTION ‘THAT’
+
+This is quite legitimate, but often unpleasant. It is partly a matter
+of idiom, as, _I presume you know_, but _I assume that you know_;
+partly of avoiding false scent, as in the sixth example below, where
+_scheme_ might be object to _discover_. In particular it is undesirable
+to omit _that_ when a long clause or phrase intervenes between it and
+the subject and verb it introduces, as in the first four examples.
+
+ And it is to be hoped, _as the tree-planting season has arrived_,
+ Stepney will now put its scheme in hand.--_Times._
+
+ Sir,--We notice _in a leading article in your issue to-day on
+ the subject of the carriage of Australian mails_ you imply that
+ the increased price demanded by the Orient Pacific Line was due
+ to....--_Times._
+
+ Lord Balfour ... moved that it is necessary, _before the
+ constituencies are asked to determine upon the desirability of such
+ conference_, they should be informed first....--_Times._
+
+ Lord Spencer held that it was impossible _with regard to a question
+ which had broken up the Government and disturbed the country_ they
+ could go into a conference which....--_Times._
+
+ If the Australian is to be convinced that is an unreasonable wish, it
+ will not be by arguments about taxation.--_Times._
+
+ I think he would discover the scheme unfolded and explained in them is
+ a perfectly intelligible and comprehensive one.--_Times._
+
+ It is not till He cometh the ideal will be seen.--_Times._
+
+ And it is only by faith the evils you mention as productive of war can
+ be cast out of our hearts.--_Times._
+
+ I do not wish it to be understood that I consider all those who
+ applied for work during the past two winters and who are now seeking
+ employment are impostors.--_Times._
+
+ I assume Turkey would require such a cash payment of at least
+ £500,000.--_Times._
+
+ Tawno leaped into the saddle, where he really looked like Gunnar of
+ Hlitharend, save and except the complexion of Gunnar was florid,
+ whereas that of Tawno was of nearly Mulatto darkness.--BORROW.
+
+In some of these the motive is obvious, to avoid one _that_-clause
+depending on another; the end was good, but the means bad; a more
+thorough recasting was called for.
+
+
+58. MEANINGLESS ‘WHILE’
+
+_While_, originally temporal, has a legitimate use also in contrasts.
+The further colourless use of it, whether with verb or with participle,
+as a mere elegant variation for _and_ is very characteristic of
+journalese, and much to be deprecated.
+
+ Of its value there can be no question. The editor’s article on
+ ‘Constitutions’, for example, and that of Mr. W. Wyse on ‘Law’ both
+ well repay most careful study; _while_ when Sir R. Jebb writes
+ on ‘Literature’, Dr. Henry Jackson on ‘Philosophy’, or Professor
+ Waldstein on ‘Sculpture’, their contributions must be regarded as
+ authoritative.--_Spectator._
+
+ The fireman was killed on the spot, and the driver as well as the
+ guard of the passenger train was slightly injured; _while_ the up-line
+ was blocked for some time with débris from broken trucks of the goods
+ train.--_Times._
+
+ The deer on the island took some interest in the proceeding, while the
+ peacocks on the lawn screamed at the right time.--_Birmingham Daily
+ Post._
+
+ It cannot be contended that it is more profitable to convey a
+ passenger the twenty-four miles to Yarmouth for payment than to
+ accept the same payment without performing the service; _while_, if
+ the company wish to discourage the use of cheap week-end tickets, why
+ issue them at all?--_Times._
+
+
+59. COMMERCIALISMS
+
+Certain uses of _such_, _the same_, and other words, redolent of
+commerce and the law, should be reserved for commercial and legal
+contexts. _Anent_, which has been noticed in Part I, is a legalism of
+this kind. In the Brontë instances quoted, a twang of flippancy will be
+observed; the other writers are probably unconscious.
+
+ This gentleman’s state of mind was very harrowing, and I was glad when
+ he wound up his exposition of the same.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ The present was no occasion for showy array; my dun mist crape would
+ suffice, and I sought the same in the great oak wardrobe in the
+ dormitory.--C. BRONTË.
+
+ There are certain books that almost defy classification, and this
+ volume ... is one of such.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ I am pleased to read the correspondence in your paper, and hope that
+ good will be the result of the same.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ The man who has approached nearest to the teaching of the Master, and
+ carried the same to its logical and practical conclusion is General
+ Booth.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ Do I believe that by not having had the hands of a bishop laid upon my
+ head I cannot engage in the outward and visible commemoration of the
+ Lord’s Supper as not being fit to receive the same?--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ But do the great majority of people let their belief in the hereafter
+ affect their conduct with regard to the same. I think not.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ Let us hope, Sir, that it may be possible in your own interests to
+ continue the same till the subject has had a good innings.--_Daily
+ Telegraph._
+
+ I believe, and have believed since, a tiny child, made miserable by
+ the loss of a shilling, I prayed my Heavenly Father to help me to
+ recover the same.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+It is of course possible, in this connexion, that the Prayer Book is
+responsible for ‘the same’.
+
+ If I am refused the Sacrament I do not believe that I shall have
+ less chance of entering the Kingdom of God than if I received such
+ Sacrament.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ But when it comes to us following his life and example, in all
+ its intricate details, all will, I think, agree that such is
+ impossible.--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ An appeal to philanthropy is hardly necessary, the grounds for such
+ being so self-evident.--_Times._
+
+ ... such a desire it should be the purpose of a Unionist Government
+ to foster; but such will not be attained under the present regime in
+ Dublin.--_Times._
+
+ ... regaling themselves on half-pints at the said village
+ hostelries.--BORROW.
+
+ Having read with much interest the letters re ‘believe only’ now
+ appearing in the _Daily Telegraph_....--_Daily Telegraph._
+
+ He ruined himself and family by his continued experiments for the
+ benefit of the British nation.--_Times._
+
+
+60. PET PHRASES
+
+Vivid writers must be careful not to repeat any conspicuous phrase so
+soon that a reader of ordinary memory has not had time to forget it
+before it invites his attention again. Whatever its merits, to use it
+twice (unless deliberately and with point) is much worse than never
+to have thought of it. The pages below are those of Green’s _Short
+History_ (1875).
+
+ The temper of the first [King George] was that of a gentleman usher.
+ p. 704.
+
+ Bute was a mere court favourite, with the abilities of a gentleman
+ usher. p. 742.
+
+ ‘For weeks’, laughs Horace Walpole, ‘it rained gold boxes’. p. 729.
+
+ ‘We are forced to ask every morning what victory there is’, laughed
+ Horace Walpole. p. 737.
+
+The two following passages occur on pp. 6 and 81 of _The Bride of
+Lammermoor_ (Standard Edition).
+
+ In short, Dick Tinto’s friends feared that he had acted like the
+ animal called the sloth, which, having eaten up the last green leaf
+ upon the tree where it has established itself, ends by tumbling down
+ from the top, and dying of inanition.
+
+ ‘... but as for us, Caleb’s excuses become longer as his diet turns
+ more spare, and I fear we shall realise the stories they tell of
+ the sloth: we have almost eaten up the last green leaf on the plant,
+ and have nothing left for it but to drop from the tree and break our
+ necks.’
+
+
+61. ‘ALSO’ AS CONJUNCTION; AND ‘&c.’
+
+_Also_ is an adverb; the use of it as a conjunction is slovenly, if not
+illiterate.
+
+ We are giving these explanations gently as friends, also patiently as
+ becomes neighbours.--_Times._
+
+ ‘Special’ is a much overworked word, it being used to mean great in
+ degree, also peculiar in kind.--R. G. WHITE.
+
+ Mr. Sonnenschein’s volume will show by parallel passages Shakespeare’s
+ obligations to the ancients, also the obligations of modern writers to
+ Shakespeare.--_Times._
+
+The use of _&c._, except in business communications and such contexts,
+has often the same sort of illiterate effect. This is very common, but
+one example must suffice.
+
+ There are others with faults of temper, &c., evident enough, beside
+ whom we live content, as if the air about them did us good.--C. BRONTË.
+
+
+
+
+ INDEX
+
+
+_In this index all references are to pages. Small italics are used
+for words and phrases; small roman type for subjects incidentally
+mentioned; capitals for subjects expressly, even if not fully, treated._
+
+
+ A
+
+ _A-_, 41-2.
+
+ _A_ BETWEEN ADJECTIVE AND NOUN, 329-30.
+
+ ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTION, 115-6.
+
+ Absolute construction and stops, 222, 241-2, 265.
+
+ ABSTRACT WORDS, 4, 5-6.
+
+ ACCENT, SENTENCE, 296-8.
+
+ _Acquiesce to_, 164.
+
+ _Acte de malveillance_, 30.
+
+ Adjectival clause, 235.
+
+ ADJECTIVAL CLAUSE IN PUNCTUATION, 242-4.
+
+ ADVERB AND ADVERBIAL CLAUSE IN PUNCTUATION, 244-7.
+
+ Adverbial clause, 236.
+
+ _Adverse from_, 163.
+
+ _Aesthophysiology_, 23.
+
+ _Aggravate_, 59.
+
+ _Aggress_, 20.
+
+ _Aim to_, 132-3, 164.
+
+ AIRS AND GRACES, Cap. III.
+
+ _-al_, 22, 42.
+
+ _Albeit_, 17, 194, 196-7.
+
+ _Alit_, 39-40.
+
+ ALLITERATION, 292.
+
+ ALLUSION, 307-8.
+
+ _Alma mater_, 27.
+
+ _Almost quite_, 339.
+
+ _ALSO_, CONJ., AND _&C._, 360.
+
+ _Altogether_, 11.
+
+ Amateurs, 127, 194.
+
+ AMBIGUITY, 345-8.
+
+ Ambiguity, 88, 109, 117, 120, 127, 142, 144-5, 250, 264-5.
+
+ Ambiguity and punctuation, 264-5.
+
+ AMBIGUOUS ENUMERATION, 348.
+
+ AMBIGUOUS POSITION, 347-8.
+
+ _Amend_, n., 38-9.
+
+ AMERICANISMS, 23-6.
+
+ _A-moral_, 41-2.
+
+ _Amphitryon_, 174.
+
+ Anachronism in thought, 198, 200.
+
+ _And_, 233-4, 245.
+
+ _AND WHICH_, 85-93.
+
+ _AND WHO_, 85-93.
+
+ _Anent_, 3.
+
+ _Animatedly_, 47.
+
+ _Another story_, 175.
+
+ _Antagonize_, 4, 24, 26.
+
+ _Antecedentem scelestum_, 33.
+
+ ANTICS, 348-51.
+
+ Antithesis, 292, 350.
+
+ _Anyway_, 25.
+
+ _Appendicitis_, 19.
+
+ ARCHAISM, 193-200.
+
+ Archaism, 17, 83, 103, 137.
+
+ Archaism, positive and negative, 198-200.
+
+ ARCHAISM, SUSTAINED, 198-9.
+
+ _Argon_, 19.
+
+ _Arise_, 9.
+
+ _Arrière pensée_, 34.
+
+ _As also_, 189.
+
+ _As_ and _while_ clauses, slovenly, 189.
+
+ _AS_, CASE, 62-4.
+
+ _AS_ CLAUSE, CAUSAL, 298-300.
+
+ _As far as, that_, 168-70.
+
+ _As if_, 156-7.
+
+ _AS_, LIBERTIES WITH, 324-6.
+
+ _AS_, OMISSION OF, 324.
+
+ _As to_, 166-7.
+
+ _AS TO WHETHER_, 333-4.
+
+ _As who should say_, 325-6.
+
+ _At anyrate_, 280.
+
+ _At the letter_, 33.
+
+ _Aught_, 194, 197.
+
+ _Au pied de la lettre_, 32.
+
+ _Automedon_, 174.
+
+ AUXILIARIES, SPLIT, 342-3.
+
+ _Avail_, 321.
+
+ _Available_, 43.
+
+ _Averse from_, 162-3.
+
+ Avoidance, clumsy, 17, 74, 125, 179, 277, 355-6, 357.
+
+ _Await_, 9.
+
+ _Awful_, 49-50.
+
+
+ B
+
+ _Back-number_, 25.
+
+ _Back of_, 25.
+
+ Bagehot, 210-2.
+
+ BALANCE INVERSION, 182-7.
+
+ Balfour, 225, 249.
+
+ _Ballon d’essai_, 30.
+
+ _Banal_, 38-9.
+
+ _Banality_, 38-9.
+
+ _Bang in the eye_, 48.
+
+ Bastard enumeration, 251.
+
+ _BE_ AND _DO_, 330.
+
+ Beadnell, 219.
+
+ _Bedrock_, 51.
+
+ _Benefits of_, 165.
+
+ Besant, 198.
+
+ _Bethink_, 9.
+
+ _Bêtise_, 27.
+
+ _BETWEEN ... OR_, 328-9.
+
+ BETWEEN TWO STOOLS, 327-8.
+
+ _Between you and I_, 61.
+
+ _Bewilderedly_, 47.
+
+ _Bien entendu_, 27.
+
+ _Bike_, 49.
+
+ _Birrelling_, 51.
+
+ _Blooming_, 49-50.
+
+ _Boom_, 52.
+
+ Borrow, G., 13.
+
+ _Both ... as well as_, 313.
+
+ _Bounder_, 48, 50.
+
+ _Bow-street_, 277.
+
+ BRACHYLOGY, 326.
+
+ Brackets & double dashes, 272, 286.
+
+ BRACKETS AND STOPS, 270-1.
+
+ _Brisken_, 21.
+
+ _Briticism_, 43.
+
+ Brontë, C., 29, 358.
+
+ _Bureaucracy_, 46.
+
+ Burke, E., 111.
+
+ _BUT_, SUPERFLUOUS, 334.
+
+
+ C
+
+ _Cad_, 50.
+
+ _Camaraderie_, 27.
+
+ CARELESS REPETITION, 303-4.
+
+ Carlyle, 44, 349.
+
+ CASE, 60-4.
+
+ _Case_, 6.
+
+ CASE AFTER _as_ AND _than_, 62-4.
+
+ CASE, COMPOUND POSSESSIVE, 64.
+
+ CASE CONFUSION, 61-2.
+
+ Case in absolute construction, 115-6.
+
+ CASE IN APPOSITION, 60.
+
+ CASE OF COMPLEMENT, 60.
+
+ CASE OF RELATIVES, 93-4, 99-100.
+
+ CAUSAL _as_ CLAUSE, 298-300.
+
+ _Cela va sans dire_, 31.
+
+ _Chamade_, 29.
+
+ _Chasseur_, 27, 37.
+
+ _Cherchez la femme_, 35.
+
+ _Chic_, 51.
+
+ CIRCUMLOCUTION, 6.
+
+ Circumlocution, 165-70, 349.
+
+ _Claim_, 317-8.
+
+ _Climb down_, 51.
+
+ _Closure_, 23.
+
+ CLUMSY PATCHING, 355-6.
+
+ _Coastal_, 42.
+
+ COLLOQUIALISMS, 331.
+
+ COLON, 263-4.
+
+ Colon, changed usage of, 220, 222.
+
+ _Come into her life_, 215.
+
+ Comma before _that_, 236-7, 249-50.
+
+ COMMA BETWEEN INDEPENDENT SENTENCES, 254-7.
+
+ Comma, distinct functions, 221-2.
+
+ COMMA MISPLACED, 248-50.
+
+ COMMA, UNACCOUNTABLE, 262-3.
+
+ Commas, illogical, 241.
+
+ Commas, unnecessary, 232.
+
+ _Commercialisms_, 358-9.
+
+ Common case, 60.
+
+ COMMON PARTS, 314-6.
+
+ COMPARATIVES, 70-4.
+
+ _Complacent_, 10.
+
+ _Complaisant_, 10.
+
+ Compositors, 219, 230, 266, 273, 282.
+
+ COMPOUND PASSIVES, 319-21.
+
+ Compound possessive, 64, 122-3.
+
+ Compound verbs and inversion, 184-6.
+
+ Compound words, 20.
+
+ _Comprehensively_, 8.
+
+ _Comprise_, 12.
+
+ _Concision_, 18.
+
+ CONDITIONALS, 156-8.
+
+ CONDITIONALS, SUBJUNCTIVE, 157-8.
+
+ Conditionals, subjunctive, 192-3, 195.
+
+ CONFUSION WITH NEGATIVES, 321-3.
+
+ CONJUNCTIONS, COMPOUND, 165-70.
+
+ Conjunctions, coordinating and subordinating, 63, 255.
+
+ _Consequential_, 17.
+
+ _Consist of_ or _in_, 163-4.
+
+ _Content myself by_, 163.
+
+ _Contest_, vb, 12.
+
+ _Continuance_, 10.
+
+ _Continuation_, 10.
+
+ _Continuity_, 10.
+
+ CONTRADICTIONS IN TERMS, 339-41.
+
+ _Contumacity_, 45.
+
+ COORDINATION OF RELATIVES, 85-100.
+
+ COPULA, NUMBER, 65-7.
+
+ Corelli, 47.
+
+ _Cornering_, 51.
+
+ _Correctitude_, 21.
+
+ _Coûte que coûte_, 27-8.
+
+ Criterion of rightness, 3, 8, 41, 42, 165, 181, 347.
+
+ Crockett, 200.
+
+ _Cryptic_, 50.
+
+ _Cui bono?_, 35-6, 306.
+
+
+ D
+
+ _Dans cette galère_, 32.
+
+ DASHES, 266-75.
+
+ DASHES AND STOPS, 269-75.
+
+ DASHES, DEBATABLE QUESTIONS, 269-74.
+
+ DASHES, DOUBLE, 270-1.
+
+ DASHES, MISUSES, 274-5.
+
+ DASHES, TYPES, 267-9.
+
+ Dead metaphors, 201-9.
+
+ DECAPITABLE SENTENCES, 303.
+
+ DEFINING RELATIVES, 75-85.
+
+ Defining relatives in punctuation, 240-1, 242-4.
+
+ _Déjeuner_, 27.
+
+ _Démarche_, 30.
+
+ _Demean_, 16.
+
+ _Démenti_, 29-30.
+
+ DEMONSTRATIVE, NOUN, AND PARTICIPLE OR ADJECTIVE, 344-5.
+
+ _Depend upon it_, 213.
+
+ _Dependable_, 43.
+
+ _Deplacement_, 21.
+
+ _Deprecate_, 12.
+
+ _Depreciate_, 12.
+
+ De Quincey, 80.
+
+ _Desultory_, 18.
+
+ _Détente_, 30.
+
+ _Determinedly_, 47.
+
+ Differentiation, 10, 11, 46, 85.
+
+ _Different to_, 162.
+
+ _Dilemma_, 208.
+
+ DIPLOMATIC FRENCH, 29-30.
+
+ _Disagree from_, 163.
+
+ _Dishabille_, 37.
+
+ _Dispensable_, 43.
+
+ _Disposable_, 43.
+
+ _Distinction_, 38-9.
+
+ Distinction, 217, 319.
+
+ _Distinctly_, 355.
+
+ _Distinguished_, 38-9.
+
+ _Distrait_, 27.
+
+ _DO_ AS SUBSTITUTE VERB, 330.
+
+ Double dashes & brackets, 272, 286.
+
+ DOUBLE EMPHASIS, 341.
+
+ _Double event_, 51.
+
+ DOUBLE HARNESS, 311-4.
+
+ Doubtful gender, 67.
+
+ _Doubt that_, 158-60.
+
+ DOVETAILING, 33, 308-10.
+
+
+ E
+
+ _Each_, 68.
+
+ _-edly_, 47.
+
+ _E.g._, 311.
+
+ _Eirenicon_, 26.
+
+ _EITHER_, 69.
+
+ _Eke out_, 14-5.
+
+ ELEGANT VARIATION, 175-80.
+
+ Elegant variation, 30, 163, 211, 357.
+
+ Eliot, George, 171.
+
+ ELLIPSE IN SUBORDINATE CLAUSES, 317.
+
+ _Emblem_, vb, 5.
+
+ Emerson, 26, 43, 44, 217.
+
+ EMPHASIS, DOUBLE, 341.
+
+ EMPHATIC INVERSION, 190-1.
+
+ _Employé_, 36.
+
+ _Endowed by_, 164.
+
+ _English_, vb, 2.
+
+ _Enjoinder_, 43-4.
+
+ _Ennui_, 26, 37.
+
+ _Entente_, 29-30.
+
+ _Entourage_, 30.
+
+ ENUMERATION, 250-4.
+
+ ENUMERATION, AMBIGUOUS, 348.
+
+ _Envisage_, 7.
+
+ Epithets, recherché, 350.
+
+ _Epoch-making_, 31, 50.
+
+ _Equally as_, 332.
+
+ _Ere_, 2, 194, 196-7.
+
+ _Especial_, 11.
+
+ _Esprit d’escalier_, 32.
+
+ _ETC._, SLOVENLY, 360.
+
+ _Euchred_, 51.
+
+ _Eudaemometer_, 23.
+
+ _Euphemism_, 12.
+
+ EUPHONY, 291-304.
+
+ Euphony, 46-7, 102, 104, 122, 132, 326;
+ and punctuation, 245.
+
+ Euphony with relatives, 84.
+
+ _Euphuism_, 12.
+
+ _Evasion_, 11.
+
+ _Excepting_, 46.
+
+ EXCLAMATION AND QUESTION, 259-61.
+
+ EXCLAMATION MARK, 258-62.
+
+ EXCLAMATION MARK, INTERNAL, 261-2.
+
+ EXCLAMATORY INVERSION, 181-2.
+
+ EX-PARTICIPLES, 110-1.
+
+ _Experimentalize_, 46.
+
+ _Exploit_, vb, 51.
+
+ _Extemporaneous_, 45.
+
+
+ F
+
+ _Faits divers_, 28.
+
+ _Fall_ (autumn), 24.
+
+ FALSE SCENT, 345-6.
+
+ False scent, 93, 123-4, 246, 264-5, 274, 356.
+
+ _Fanfaronnade_, 29.
+
+ FAR-FETCHED WORDS, 4-5.
+
+ _Femininity_, 38.
+
+ Ferrier, S., 67.
+
+ Fielding, 215.
+
+ _Find fault to_, 164.
+
+ _Fix up_, 25.
+
+ Flexibility, 41, 120.
+
+ FLOOD-OF-TEARS-AND-SEDAN-CHAIR, 173.
+
+ _Floored_, 51.
+
+ _For_, 233-4, 245.
+
+ _For all it is worth_, 48.
+
+ _Forbid from_, 164.
+
+ _Forceful_, 21-2.
+
+ FOREIGN WORDS, 26-39.
+
+ FOREIGN WORDS, ADAPTATION OF, 37-9.
+
+ FOREIGN WORDS, BLUNDERS, 34-6.
+
+ FOREIGN WORDS TRANSLATED, 30-3.
+
+ _Foreword_, 2.
+
+ FORMATION AND ANALOGY, 41-3.
+
+ FORMATION BLUNDERS, 39-41.
+
+ FORMATION, UGLY, 46-7.
+
+ FRESH STARTS, 330-1.
+
+ _Frills_, 195.
+
+ _Frontal attack_, 51.
+
+ _Frontispiece_, 51-2.
+
+ Fudging in punctuation, 240-1.
+
+ FUSED PARTICIPLE, 117-25.
+
+
+ G
+
+ _Gallant_, 174.
+
+ _Galore_, 174.
+
+ _Ganymede_, 174.
+
+ _Gaucherie_, 27.
+
+ George Eliot, 171.
+
+ GERUND, 116-33.
+
+ GERUND AND INFINITIVE, 129-33.
+
+ GERUND AND PARTICIPLE, 107-10, 119.
+
+ GERUND AND POSSESSIVE, 116-25.
+
+ GERUND, COMPOUND SUBJECT, 123-4.
+
+ GERUND, OMISSION OF SUBJECT, 125-9.
+
+ _Get the boot_, 48.
+
+ _Globetrotter_, 51.
+
+ _Go Nap_, 51.
+
+ _Go one better_, 51.
+
+ GRAMMAR, 311-31.
+
+ GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION, 220-5, 235-63.
+
+ Green, J. R., 249, 359.
+
+ GROUP SYSTEM IN PUNCTUATION, 228-30.
+
+
+ H
+
+ _Half-world_, 31.
+
+ _Hebe_, 174.
+
+ _Hedge_, vb., 51.
+
+ He-or-she, 67.
+
+ _Hereof_, 196.
+
+ _He said_, 282.
+
+ _Homologate_, 7.
+
+ _Honey-coloured_, 25.
+
+ _Howbeit_, 17, 194, 197.
+
+ _However_, 265.
+
+ _How it pans out_, 51.
+
+ Hugo, 226.
+
+ HUMOUR, POLYSYLLABIC, 171-2.
+
+ HUMOUR, TYPES, 171-5.
+
+ Huxley, 225, 249.
+
+ Hybrid words, 41-2, 46.
+
+ HYPHENS, 275-80.
+
+ Hyphens, 42.
+
+
+ I
+
+ _Ideal_, 75.
+
+ Idiom, 53, 161, 356.
+
+ IDIOMS, MALTREATED, 336-8.
+
+ _I. e._, 311.
+
+ _IF AND WHEN_, 334-5.
+
+ _Ignorance crasse_, 29.
+
+ _I guess_, 24.
+
+ ILLEGITIMATE INFINITIVES, 317-8.
+
+ _Immanence_, 50.
+
+ _Immovability_, 46.
+
+ IMPERSONAL _one_, 328.
+
+ _Impliedly_, 47.
+
+ _Inasmuch as_, 166.
+
+ _Incentive_, 206.
+
+ Incongruity, 194.
+
+ _Incontinently_, 9.
+
+ Indirect question and punctuation, 238.
+
+ _Individual_, 52, 53-6.
+
+ INFINITIVE AND GERUND, 129-33.
+
+ INFINITIVE, OMISSION OF SUBJECT, 125-9.
+
+ INFINITIVE PERFECT, 154-6.
+
+ INFINITIVES, ILLEGITIMATE, 317-8.
+
+ INFINITIVE, SPLIT, 319.
+
+ _-ing_, 107-10.
+
+ _Initiative of_, 164.
+
+ _Innate_, 12.
+
+ _In nowise_, 280.
+
+ _Insensate_, 9.
+
+ _In so far as, that_, 168-70.
+
+ _Instil_, 12.
+
+ _Insuccess_, 21.
+
+ _Intellectuals_, 22-3.
+
+ _Intelligence_, 18.
+
+ _Intensate_, 44.
+
+ Intervening-noun error in number, 66-7.
+
+ _Intimism_, 38-9.
+
+ _Intimity_, 38.
+
+ INVERSION, 180-93.
+
+ Inversion and compound verbs, 184-6.
+
+ Inversion and emphasis, 182, 184.
+
+ INVERSION, BALANCE, 182-7.
+
+ INVERSION, EMPHATIC, 190-1.
+
+ INVERSION, EXCLAMATORY, 181-2.
+
+ Inversion in _as_ or _than_ clauses, 188-9.
+
+ Inversion in relative clauses, 188.
+
+ INVERSION IN SYNTACTIC CLAUSES, 187-9.
+
+ INVERSION, MISCELLANEOUS, 191-3.
+
+ INVERSION, NEGATIVE, 190-1.
+
+ _In view of_, 167-8.
+
+ _Inwardness_, 50, 52.
+
+ IRONY, 215-6.
+
+ _Irony_, 15.
+
+ _Irreparable_, 12.
+
+ Italics, 186.
+
+ Italics and irony, 216.
+
+ _It should seem_, 194.
+
+ _It’s me_, 61.
+
+ _It ... that_, 104-7.
+
+ _It were_, 195.
+
+
+ J
+
+ _Jehu_, 174.
+
+ JINGLES, 291-2.
+
+ Jonathan Wild, 215.
+
+ JOURNALESE, 351-2.
+
+ Journalese, 7, 352, 357.
+
+ _Judicial_, 8.
+
+ _Just_, 25.
+
+
+ K
+
+ Kipling 24-5, 175.
+
+ _Knock out_, 51.
+
+
+ L
+
+ Lamb, Charles, 193.
+
+ Lapsus calami, 21.
+
+ LATIN ABBREVIATIONS, &c., 311.
+
+ _Laughable_, 43.
+
+ Laxity, disappearance of, 108, 110-1.
+
+ Laxity in punctuation, 235, 244-7.
+
+ _Laze_, 51-2.
+
+ _Leading question_, 306-7.
+
+ _Legislature_, 10.
+
+ _Lie_ and _lay_, 40.
+
+ _Like_, 331.
+
+ _-like_, 278.
+
+ Literary critics’ words, 38-9.
+
+ LOGIC AND PUNCTUATION, 220-5.
+
+ Logic and rhetoric in punctuation, 252.
+
+ _Log-rolling_, 51.
+
+ LONG AND SHORT DERIVATIVES, 44-6.
+
+ Long sentences, 226, 300.
+
+ Long words, 349-50.
+
+ _Loquently_, 20.
+
+ _-ly_, 47, 291.
+
+
+ M
+
+ Macaulay, 350.
+
+ MALAPROPS, 8-18.
+
+ MALTREATED IDIOMS, 336-8.
+
+ Mannerism, 47, 190, 195, 210, 212, 217.
+
+ MEANING, 331-45.
+
+ MEANINGLESS _while_, 357-8.
+
+ _Me_, ethic, 199.
+
+ _Mercury_, 174.
+
+ Meredith, 198.
+
+ METAPHOR, 200-9.
+
+ Metaphor, live and dead, 201-9.
+
+ _Metaphysical_, 16.
+
+ _Meticulous_, 38-9, 349.
+
+ METRICAL PROSE, 295.
+
+ MISPLACEMENT OF WORDS, 346-7.
+
+ MISQUOTATION, 305-7.
+
+ Mixed metaphor, 203-9.
+
+ _Mob_, 49.
+
+ Monstrosity stops, 259, 283, 286-7, 290.
+
+ _Morale_, 34.
+
+ _More and more than ever_, 73.
+
+ _More easily imagined than described_, 213.
+
+ _More honoured in the breach_, 306.
+
+ _More than I can help_, 74.
+
+ _Most_, 75.
+
+ _Most of any_, 74-5.
+
+ _Mutual_, 56-8.
+
+ _My_ and _mine_, 40-1.
+
+
+ N
+
+ _Naïveté_, 37-8.
+
+ _Naivety_, 38.
+
+ Native words, 2, 37.
+
+ NEGATIVE CONFUSION, 321-3.
+
+ NEGATIVE INVERSION, 190-1.
+
+ Negatives, resolved and compound, 323.
+
+ _Négligé_, 26, 37.
+
+ _Negotiate_, 51-2.
+
+ _Neither_, 69.
+
+ _Neither ... or_, 313.
+
+ NEOLOGISMS, 18-23.
+
+ Neologisms, scientific, 23.
+
+ Newspaper style, 162, 178, 180, 226, 262, 266, 351-2.
+
+ _Nice_, 49.
+
+ _No_ and _none_, 41.
+
+ Noisiness, 202-3.
+
+ _Nom de guerre_, 34.
+
+ _Nom de plume_, 34.
+
+ Nonce-words, 19-20.
+
+ NON-DEFINING RELATIVES, 75-85.
+
+ _Non est_, 33.
+
+ Nouns and abstract expression, 5.
+
+ NOUNS OF MULTITUDE, 69.
+
+ Nouns used adjectivally, 42, 276.
+
+ NUMBER, 65-70.
+
+ NUMBER OF COPULA, 65-7.
+
+
+ O
+
+ _Oblivion to_, 165.
+
+ _Oblivious to_, 161.
+
+ _Observance_, 9.
+
+ _Œuvre_, 27-8.
+
+ _Of sorts_, 51.
+
+ _Oft_, 194.
+
+ _Oft-times_, 194.
+
+ _Ohne Hast ohne Rast_, 33.
+
+ _Old-fashioned enough to_, 213.
+
+ _Olfactory organ_, 171.
+
+ OMISSION OF _as_, 324.
+
+ OMISSION OF RELATIVES, 101-2.
+
+ Omission of relatives, 84.
+
+ OMISSION OF _that_, CONJ., 356-7.
+
+ _On a moment’s notice_, 164.
+
+ _One_, 67.
+
+ _ONE_, IMPERSONAL, 328.
+
+ _One’s_ and _his_, 328.
+
+ _One’s_ or _his_, 67.
+
+ _On your own_, 51.
+
+ _Oppositely_, 44.
+
+ _Orient_, vb., 31.
+
+ ORIGINALITY, CHEAP, 217-8.
+
+ Ornament, 35, 215.
+
+ Ostentation, 27, 31, 349.
+
+ _Our_ and _ours_, 40-1.
+
+ OVERLOADING, 343-4.
+
+ OVER-STOPPING, 231-4.
+
+ Over-stopping, 245, 262-3.
+
+
+ P
+
+ Parenthesis, 269, 270.
+
+ PARENTHESIS, 247-50.
+
+ PARENTHESIS IN RELATIVE CLAUSES, 94-5.
+
+ _Partially_, 45-6.
+
+ PARTICIPLE AND GERUND, 107-10, 119.
+
+ PARTICIPLES, 110-6.
+
+ PARTICIPLES ABSOLUTE, 115-6.
+
+ PARTICIPLES UNATTACHED, 112-5.
+
+ PARTICIPLES WITH _my_, &c., 111-2.
+
+ Passive monstrosities, 43.
+
+ PASSIVES, COMPOUND, 319-21.
+
+ PATCHING, CLUMSY, 355-6.
+
+ _Paulo-post future_, 17.
+
+ Pedantry, 34, 42, 64, 129, 162.
+
+ _Penchant_, 27.
+
+ _Perchance_, 4, 196.
+
+ PERFECT INFINITIVE, 154-6.
+
+ _Perfection_, vb., 44-5.
+
+ Period, 226.
+
+ _Perseverant_, 21-2.
+
+ Personification, 68.
+
+ _Perspicuity_, 8-9.
+
+ _Peter out_, 48.
+
+ PET PHRASES, 359-60.
+
+ _Phantasmagoria_, 35.
+
+ _Phase_, 5.
+
+ _Phenomenal_, 50.
+
+ _Philistine_, 50.
+
+ Picturesque, 350.
+
+ _Picturesquities_, 20.
+
+ _Placate_, 24, 26.
+
+ PLAYFUL REPETITION, 172-3.
+
+ _Play the game_, 51.
+
+ Pleonasm, v. Redundancies.
+
+ Poetic words, 3, 349.
+
+ Polysyllabic humour, 51, 54.
+
+ POLYSYLLABIC HUMOUR, 171-2.
+
+ _Pontificalibus_, 33.
+
+ Possessive, absolute, 40-1.
+
+ POSSESSIVE AND GERUND, 116-25.
+
+ POSSESSIVE, COMPOUND, 64.
+
+ Possessive, compound, 122-3.
+
+ _Possible_, 318.
+
+ Preciosity, 2.
+
+ _Predication_, 13.
+
+ _Prediction_, 13.
+
+ _Preface_, 2.
+
+ _Prefer_, 318.
+
+ Preposition at end of clause, 62, 84, 99.
+
+ PREPOSITIONS, 161-70.
+
+ PREPOSITIONS, COMPOUND, 165-70;
+ OMITTED, 165;
+ REPEATED, 293;
+ SUPERFLUOUS, 165.
+
+ _Pretend_, 318.
+
+ _Preventative_, 46.
+
+ _Probable_, 318.
+
+ _Procession_, 11.
+
+ _Promote_, 6.
+
+ Pronominal variation, 175.
+
+ Proportion, 300-3.
+
+ _Provided_, 13-4.
+
+ _Prudential_, 45.
+
+ _Psychological moment_, 50, 52.
+
+ PUNCTUATION, Cap. IV.
+
+ Punctuation and ambiguity, 264-5.
+
+ Punctuation and neatness, 284.
+
+ Punctuation and relatives, 78, 242-4.
+
+ PUNCTUATION, DIFFICULTIES, 219-24.
+
+ Punctuation, full and slight, 225.
+
+ Punctuation, group system, 228-31.
+
+ Punctuation in scientific and philosophic work, 225, 231.
+
+ PUNCTUATION, LOGIC, AND RHETORIC, 220-5.
+
+ PUNCTUATION, SPOT PLAGUE, 226-31.
+
+
+ Q
+
+ _Qua_, 29.
+
+ _Quand même_, 27.
+
+ QUESTION AND EXCLAMATION, 259-61.
+
+ QUESTION-MARK, INTERNAL, 261-62.
+
+ _Quieten_, 45
+
+ QUOTATION, 305-11.
+
+ Quotation, half-and-half, 237-8, 289.
+
+ QUOTATION MARKS, 280-90.
+
+ Quotation marks and irony, 216.
+
+ Quotation marks and slang, 48, 49, 50.
+
+ QUOTATION MARKS AND STOPS, 282-8.
+
+ Quotation marks misplaced, 288-9.
+
+ QUOTATION MARKS, SINGLE AND DOUBLE, 287-8.
+
+ Quotation marks, superfluous, 280-82.
+
+ QUOTATION, TRITE, 310-1.
+
+ Quotations cut up, 309-10.
+
+
+ R
+
+ _Racial_, 22-3, 42.
+
+ Railway names, 276-7.
+
+ _Raison d’être_, 26.
+
+ Reader, 2-3, 7, 36, 98, 210, 225, 228, 230, 231-3, 253, 268, 269,
+ 280-1, 310, 347-8, 355.
+
+ Reading aloud, 296, 300.
+
+ Recasting, 64, 67, 120, 125, 177-8, 185, 226, 231, 232-3, 239, 241,
+ 257, 284, 330, 355-6, 357.
+
+ _Recliner_, 20.
+
+ _Record_, adj., 51-2.
+
+ _Recrudescence_, 5, 15-6.
+
+ _Rectitudinous_, 20.
+
+ _Rédaction_, 27.
+
+ REDUNDANCIES, 332-3.
+
+ _Regard_, 324.
+
+ _Regenesis_, 20.
+
+ _Régime_, 36.
+
+ Relative and participle, 327.
+
+ Relative clauses and inversion, 188.
+
+ RELATIVE COORDINATION, 85-100.
+
+ RELATIVE, MISCELLANEOUS USES AND ABUSES, 96-107.
+
+ RELATIVE, OMISSION OF PREPOSITION, 102-3.
+
+ RELATIVE OMITTED, 101-2.
+
+ RELATIVES, 75-107.
+
+ Relatives and punctuation, 78, 242-4.
+
+ RELATIVES, CASE, 93-4, 99-100.
+
+ RELATIVES DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING, 75-85.
+
+ RELATIVES, PARENTHESIS, 94-5.
+
+ RELATIVES, SEQUENCE OF, 293-4.
+
+ _Reliable_, 42-3.
+
+ _Remindful_, 21.
+
+ REPETITION, 209-13.
+
+ REPETITION, CARELESS, 303-4.
+
+ REPETITION, PLAYFUL, 172-3.
+
+ _Requisition_, 11.
+
+ _Research_, 11.
+
+ _Resource_, 13.
+
+ _Reverend_, 8.
+
+ Rhetoric, 234, 236.
+
+ Rhetorical repetition, 209, 213.
+
+ RHETORIC AND PUNCTUATION, 220-5.
+
+ _Right along_, 25.
+
+ ROMANCE WORDS, 1, 3.
+
+ Royal pronoun, 178.
+
+ _Run the show_, 51.
+
+
+ S
+
+ _Said_ with inversion, 192.
+
+ _Same, the_, 358.
+
+ _Sans_, 27.
+
+ _Save_, 2-3, 196.
+
+ SAXON WORDS, 1, 2-3, 7.
+
+ _Scandalum magnatum_, 34.
+
+ _Schadenfreude_, 27-8.
+
+ Scott, 174.
+
+ _Seasonable_, 43.
+
+ Self-consciousness, 351.
+
+ Semicolon and independent sentences, 255.
+
+ SEMICOLON AND SUBORDINATE CLAUSES, 257-8.
+
+ Semicolon, distinct functions of, 222.
+
+ Sense and sound, 296.
+
+ _Sensibleness_, 44-5.
+
+ Sentence, 112, 254-5.
+
+ SENTENCE ACCENT, 296-8.
+
+ _SHALL_ AND _WILL_, 133-54.
+
+ _Shall_, archaic and literary, 137, 153, 194-5.
+
+ SHORT AND LONG WORDS, 6-7.
+
+ _Shrimp-pink_, 25.
+
+ _Sic_, 90, 311.
+
+ Signpost connexion, 183, 184.
+
+ _Since several days_, 32.
+
+ _Skilled_, 17.
+
+ SLANG, 47-53.
+
+ Slang and idiom, 53.
+
+ SLANG, VARIOUS ORIGINS, 49-51.
+
+ Slang with quotation marks, 48.
+
+ _Slating_, 51.
+
+ Smartness, 351.
+
+ Smollett, 111.
+
+ _So far as, that_, 168-70.
+
+ _SOMEWHAT_, &c., 352-5.
+
+ _Sordor_, 43.
+
+ Sound and sense, 296.
+
+ _Soupçon_, 27.
+
+ _Special_, 11.
+
+ Spencer, 193.
+
+ _Spirit of the staircase_, 32.
+
+ SPLIT AUXILIARIES, 342-3.
+
+ SPLIT INFINITIVE, 319.
+
+ SPOT-PLAGUE, 226-31.
+
+ _Standpoint_, 25.
+
+ _Stands to reason_, 213-4.
+
+ _Status quo_, 26.
+
+ _Stave off_, 206-7.
+
+ _Steep_ (slang), 48.
+
+ Sterne, 266.
+
+ Stevenson, 198-9.
+
+ Stops and tone symbols, 220, 285.
+
+ Street names, 276-7.
+
+ _Stronger_, adv., 40.
+
+ _Stumped_, 51.
+
+ STYLE, 348-end.
+
+ Styles, various, 7-8.
+
+ SUBJECT, &c., and VERB IN PUNCTUATION, 239-42.
+
+ Subjunctive, 154, 157-8.
+
+ Subjunctive conditionals, 195.
+
+ SUBSTANTIVAL CLAUSE IN PUNCTUATION, 235-8, 265.
+
+ _Such_, 358-9.
+
+ _Such who_, _which_, and _that_, 103-4.
+
+ _Summerly_, 20.
+
+ SUPERFLUOUS _but_ AND _though_, 334.
+
+ SUPERLATIVES, 74-5.
+
+ Superlatives, Carlylese, 349.
+
+ SUPERLATIVES WITHOUT _the_, 216-17.
+
+ _Super-sensitized_, 20.
+
+ Superstitions, 62, 99, 245, 266, 273, 319.
+
+ _Surprisedly_, 47.
+
+ SYNTAX, Cap. II.
+
+
+ T
+
+ _Tache_, 28.
+
+ _Tackle_, 51.
+
+ _Take a back seat_, 51.
+
+ _Take it lying down_, 51.
+
+ _Take my word for it_, 213.
+
+ TAUTOLOGY, 331-2.
+
+ Tautology, 56.
+
+ _Tear and wear_, 217-8.
+
+ _Telegram_, 19, 23.
+
+ Tell-tale errors, 21, 53, 56, 235, 254, 261, 308.
+
+ _Tête-à-tête_, 26.
+
+ Thackeray, 88, 198.
+
+ _THAN_, CASE, 62-4.
+
+ _Than whom_, 64.
+
+ _That_ and _which_, 242-3.
+
+ _THAT_ AND _WHICH_ (_WHO_), 80-5.
+
+ _THAT_ (CONJUNCTION), OMISSION OF, 356-7.
+
+ _THAT_ (RELATIVE) OF PERSONS, 83-4.
+
+ _That_ resumptive, 330-1.
+
+ _THAT_, SEQUENCE OF, 294-5.
+
+ _That’s him_, 60.
+
+ _The exception proves_, &c., 306.
+
+ _Their_, 67.
+
+ _THE MORE_, 70-4.
+
+ _The more_, 218.
+
+ _Thereanent_, 29, 194.
+
+ _Therefore_, 265.
+
+ _Thereto_, 196.
+
+ _Theretofore_, 196.
+
+ _The same_, 358.
+
+ _The ... that_ (resolved interrogative), 101.
+
+ _Thither_, 5, 196.
+
+ _Those interested_, 344-5.
+
+ _Those sort_, 331.
+
+ _THOUGH_ SUPERFLUOUS, 334.
+
+ _Thrasonical_, 50, 52.
+
+ _Tinker with_, 164.
+
+ _Today_, 280.
+
+ _To have ..._, 154-6.
+
+ _Tomorrow_, 280.
+
+ Tone symbols and stops, 285.
+
+ _To the foot of the letter_, 32.
+
+ _Transcendentally_, 10-11.
+
+ _Translate_, 2.
+
+ TRANSLATION OF FOREIGN WORDS, 30-3.
+
+ _Transpire_, 4, 16, 24.
+
+ TRITE PHRASES, 213-5.
+
+ TRITE QUOTATION, 310-1.
+
+ _Trow_, 194.
+
+ TRUISMS, 339-41.
+
+ _Trustedly_, 47.
+
+ _Trustfulness_, 9.
+
+ TYPES OF HUMOUR, 171-5.
+
+
+ U
+
+ _-ude_, 21.
+
+ _Unconscious to_, 161.
+
+ _Under dog_, 51.
+
+ UNDER-STOPPING, 234-5.
+
+ UNEQUAL YOKEFELLOWS, &c., 311-14.
+
+ _Unique_, 58-9, 339.
+
+ _Unquiet_, n., 21.
+
+ _Up to date_, 51.
+
+
+ V
+
+ Verbal noun, 108.
+
+ _Verberant_, 20.
+
+ _Vexedly_, 47.
+
+ _Vide_, 311.
+
+ _Vieille escrime_, 28.
+
+ _Vieilles perruques_, 28.
+
+ _Vieux jeu_, 28.
+
+ _Violence_, 11.
+
+ _Vividity_, 46-7.
+
+ VOCABULARY, Cap. I.
+
+ VOCABULARY, GENERAL RULES, 1-4.
+
+ Vocabulary, prose and poetry, 3.
+
+ Vulgarism, 103, 118.
+
+ VULGARISMS, 331.
+
+
+ W
+
+ _Waddle_, 25.
+
+ _Walking stick_, 276.
+
+ _War-famous_, 20.
+
+ WENS AND HYPERTROPHIED MEMBERS, 300-3.
+
+ _Were_, 157-8.
+
+ _What_, antecedent-relative, 100-1.
+
+ _What ever...?_, 331.
+
+ _Whatever...?_, 331.
+
+ _What_, relative and interrogative, 100-1.
+
+ _Whereof_, 196.
+
+ _While_ and _as_, clauses, slovenly 189.
+
+ _WHILE_, MEANINGLESS, 357-8.
+
+ _Whimsical_, 42.
+
+ _WHO_ AND _WHOM_, 61.
+
+ _Whole-hogging_, 51.
+
+ _WILL_ AND _SHALL_, 133-54.
+
+ _Will not do this thing_, 214.
+
+ _Wind-flower_, 4.
+
+ _Wire_, vb., 19.
+
+ _With a view to_, 167-8.
+
+ _With the view of_, 167, 168.
+
+ WORD-FORMATION, 37-47.
+
+ _World policy_, 51.
+
+ WORN-OUT HUMOROUS PHRASES, 173-5.
+
+ _Worthy_, 174, 214.
+
+ _Wot_, 194.
+
+ _Write you_, 165.
+
+ WRONG TURNING, 316.
+
+
+ Y
+
+ _Your_ and _yours_, 40-1.
+
+ _You shall find_, 194.
+
+
+ Printed in England at the Oxford University Press
+
+
+
+
+ Some Oxford Books
+ on
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+ Transcriber’s Notes
+
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+
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+original text.
+
+Page 38: “call it _navity_” changed to “call it _naivety_”
+
+Page 213: “aud flourishes in” changed to “and flourishes in”
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75439 ***
generated by cgit v1.2.3 (git 2.25.1) at 2026-01-25 02:04:50 +0000