Chapter VII: Combinations of Clauses

+504.+ The use of subordinate clauses as complements and modifiers, and as modifiers of complements and of modifiers, may produce sentences of great length and complicated structure.

Such sentences, if skilfully composed, are not hard to follow. Their analysis requires merely the intelligent application of a few simple principles, which have already been explained and illustrated.

+505.+ These principles may be summed up as follows:--

I. All clauses are either +independent+ or +subordinate+. A clause is subordinate if it is used as a part of speech (noun, adjective, or adverb); otherwise, it is independent (§ 46).

II. +Coördinate+ means “of the same rank” in the sentence (§ 46).

1. Two or more +independent clauses+ in the same sentence are manifestly coördinate.

_The fire blazed_ and _the wood crackled_. [Two declarative clauses.]

_What is your name_, and _where were you born_? [Interrogative
clauses.]

_Sit down_ and _tell me your story_. [Imperative clauses.]

2. Two or more +subordinate clauses+ are coördinate _with each other_ when they are used together in the same construction,--as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

Such a group may be regarded as forming one +compound subordinate clause+.

The truth is, _that I have no money_ and _that my friends have
forsaken me_. [Noun clauses.]

The Indians, _who were armed with long lances_, and _who showed
great skill in using them_, made a furious attack on the cavalry.
[Adjective clauses.]

_When he had spoken_, but _before a vote had been taken_, a strange
tumult was heard in the outer room. [Adverbial clauses.]

In the first example, we have a +compound noun clause+; in the second, a +compound adjective clause+; in the third, a +compound adverbial clause+.

3. Coördinate clauses are either joined by coördinate conjunctions (_and_, _or_, _but_, etc.), or such conjunctions may be supplied without changing the sense (§ 362).

The good-natured old gentleman, _who was friendly to both parties_,
[AND] _who did not lack courage_, AND _who hated a quarrel_, spoke
his mind with complete frankness.

III. A subordinate clause may depend on another subordinate clause.

The horse shied _when he saw the locomotive_. [The subordinate clause
depends upon the independent (main) clause.]

The horse shied when he saw the locomotive, _which was puffing
violently_. [The second subordinate clause depends upon the first,
being an adjective modifier of _locomotive_.]

In such cases, the whole group of subordinate clauses may be taken together as forming one +complex subordinate clause+.

Thus, in the second example, _when he saw the locomotive, which was
puffing violently_ may be regarded as a complex adverbial clause
modifying _shied_, and containing an adjective clause (_which was
puffing violently_).

+506.+ From the principles summarized in § 505, it appears that--

+Clauses (like sentences) may be simple, compound, or complex.+

1. A +simple clause+ contains but one subject and one predicate, either or both of which may be compound (§ 451).

2. A +compound clause+ consists of two or more coördinate clauses (§ 454).

3. A +complex clause+ consists of at least two clauses, one of which is subordinate to the other.

+507.+ The +unit+ in all combinations of clauses is clearly the +simple sentence+, which, when used as a part of a more complicated sentence, becomes a +simple clause+.

The processes used in such combinations, as we have seen, are really but two in number,--+coördination+ and +subordination+.

+Coördination of clauses produces compound sentences or compound clauses; subordination of one clause to another produces complex sentences or complex clauses.+

+508.+ Every sentence, however long and complicated, belongs (in structure) to one of the three classes,--+simple+, +compound+, and +complex+.

SIMPLE SENTENCES

+509.+ A simple sentence may have a +compound subject or predicate+ (or both), and may also include a number of modifiers and complements.

Obviously, then, a simple sentence need not be short. It remains +simple in structure+ so long as it contains but one simple or compound subject and one simple or compound predicate. Thus,--

1. You leave Glasgow in a steamboat, go down the Clyde fourteen
miles, and then come to Dumbarton Castle, a huge rock five or six
hundred feet high, not connected with any other high land, and with a
fortress at the top.--WEBSTER.

The length of this sentence is due partly to its compound predicate,
partly to the modifier (and modifiers of the modifier) attached to
the noun _Dumbarton Castle_.

2. He was little disposed to exchange his lordly repose for the
insecure and agitated life of a conspirator, to be in the power
of accomplices, to live in constant dread of warrants and king’s
messengers, nay, perhaps, to end his days on a scaffold, or to live
on alms in some back street of the Hague.--MACAULAY.

This sentence is lengthened by means of a series of infinitives used
as adverbial modifiers of the complement _disposed_ (a participle
used as an adjective). Each of these infinitives takes a complement
or a modifier (or both).

3. The arbitrary measures of Charles I, the bold schemes of
Strafford, and the intolerant bigotry of Laud, precipitated a
collision between the opposite principles of government, and divided
the whole country into Cavaliers and Roundheads.--MAY.

Both the subject and the predicate are compound. Each of the three
nouns in the compound subject has modifiers. The two verbs in the
compound predicate have each a complement, and the second has an
adverbial modifier (a phrase).

4. Twenty of the savages now got on board and proceeded to ramble
over every part of the deck and scramble about among the rigging,
making themselves much at home and examining every article with great
inquisitiveness.--POE.

The predicate is compound. The sentence is extended by the use of
participles (_making_ and _examining_), which modify the simple
subject _twenty_.

5. She was tumbled early, by accident or design, into a spacious
closet of good old English reading, without much selection or
prohibition, and browsed at will upon that fair and wholesome
pasturage.--LAMB.

6. The mermaid was still seen to glide along the waters, and mingling
her voice with the sighing breeze, was often heard to sing of
subterranean wonders, or to chant prophecies of future events.--SCOTT.

7. With early dawn, they were under arms, and, without waiting for
the movement of the Spaniards, poured into the city and attacked them
in their own quarters.--PRESCOTT.

8. Arming a desperate troop of slaves and gladiators, he overpowered
the feeble guard of the domestic tranquillity of Rome, received
the homage of the Senate, and, assuming the title of Augustus,
precariously reigned during a tumult of twenty-eight days.--GIBBON.

NOTE. A +simple sentence with compound predicate+ often differs
very slightly from a +compound sentence+. Thus in examples 4–7 the
insertion of a single pronoun (_they_, _she_) to serve as a subject
for the second verb (_proceeded_, _browsed_, etc.) will make the
sentence compound.

COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

+510.+ Every sentence that is not simple must be either +compound+ or +complex+.

A sentence is +compound+ if it consists of two or more independent clauses; +complex+, if it consists of one independent (main) clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

+511.+ An ordinary +compound sentence+ consists of two or more coördinate simple clauses.

Such a sentence may be of great length (as in the last example below), but its structure is usually transparent.

A cricket chirps on the hearth, | and | we are reminded of Christmas
gambols long ago.--HAZLITT.

The moments were numbered; | the strife was finished; | the vision
was closed.--DE QUINCEY.

The old king had retired to his couch that night in one of the
strongest towers of the Alhambra, | but | his restless anxiety kept
him from repose.--IRVING.

The clock has just struck two; | the expiring taper rises and sinks
in the socket; | the watchman forgets his hour in slumber; | the
laborious and the happy are at rest; | and | nothing wakes but
meditation, guilt, revelry, and despair.--GOLDSMITH.

The present, indeed, is not a contest for distant or contingent
objects; | it is not a contest for acquisition of territory; | it
is not a contest for power and glory; | as little is it carried
on merely for any commercial advantage, or any particular form
of government; | but | it is a contest for the security, the
tranquillity, and the very existence of Great Britain, connected
with that of every established government and every country in
Europe.--PITT.

+512.+ A +complex sentence+, in its most elementary form, consists of one simple independent (main) clause and one simple subordinate clause.

The gas exploded when I struck a match.

Though he is idle, he is not lazy.

The carpenter who fell from the roof has recovered from his injuries.

Their eyes were so fatigued with the eternal dazzle and whiteness,
that they lay down on their backs upon deck to relieve their sight on
the blue sky.--KEATS.

The shouts of thousands, their menacing gestures, the fierce clashing
of their arms, astonished and subdued the courage of Vetranio, who
stood, amidst the defection of his followers, in anxious and silent
suspense.--GIBBON.

+513.+ Both compound sentences and complex sentences admit of much variety in structure, according to the nature and the relations of the clauses that compose them.

COMPOUND COMPLEX SENTENCES

+514.+ +Any or all of the coördinate clauses that make up a compound sentence may be complex. In that case, the sentence is called a compound complex sentence.+

NOTE. Compound complex sentences form a special class or subdivision
under the general head of compound sentences.[49]

Old Uncle Venner was just coming out of his door, with a wood-horse
and saw on his shoulder; and, trudging along the street, he scrupled
not to keep company with Phœbe, so far as their paths lay together;
nor, in spite of his patched coat and rusty beaver, and the curious
fashion of his tow-cloth trousers, could she find it in her heart to
outwalk him.--HAWTHORNE.

This sentence consists of +three coördinate clauses+, each
independent of the others. These are joined by the coördinate
conjunctions _and_, _nor_. The first and the third clause are
+simple+, but the second clause is +complex+. Hence the whole forms
one +compound complex sentence+.

The complex clause consists of two clauses, the second of which is
subordinate to the first. Taken as a whole, however, this complex
clause is manifestly coördinate with the two simple clauses, since
the three form a series joined by coördinate conjunctions.

+515.+ Further examples of +compound complex sentences+ are:--

1. The people drove out King Athamas, because he had killed his
child; and he roamed about in his misery, till he came to the Oracle
in Delphi.--KINGSLEY.

2. Society is the stage on which manners are shown; novels are their
literature.--EMERSON.

3. We keep no bees, but if I lived in a hive I should scarcely have
more of their music.--COWPER.

4. The same river ran on as it had run on before, but the cheerful
faces that had once been reflected in its stream had passed
away.--FROUDE.

5. There are some laws and customs in this empire very peculiar;
and if they were not so directly contrary to those of my own
dear country, I should be tempted to say a little in their
justification.--SWIFT.

6. Here they arrived about noon, and Joseph proposed to Adams that
they should rest awhile in this delightful place.--FIELDING.

7. I never saw a busier person than she seemed to be; yet it was
difficult to say what she did.--C. BRONTË.

8. Malaga possessed a brave and numerous garrison, and the common
people were active, hardy, and resolute; but the city was rich and
commercial, and under the habitual control of opulent merchants, who
dreaded the ruinous consequences of a siege.--IRVING.

9. The Spaniards were not to be taken by surprise; and, before the
barbarian horde had come within their lines, they opened such a
deadly fire from their heavy guns, supported by the musketry and
crossbows, that the assailants were compelled to fall back slowly,
but fearfully mangled, to their former position.--PRESCOTT.

10. Her cheeks were as pale as marble, but of a cold, unhealthy,
ashen white; and my heart ached to think that they had been bleached,
most probably, by bitter and continual tears.--HOOD.

11. The hawk, having in spiral motion achieved the upper flight, fell
like a thunderbolt on the raven, stunned him with the blow, clutched
him in his talons, folded him in his wings, and, the hawk undermost,
they tumbled down like a black ball, till within a short distance
from the earth.--TRELAWNY.

In this sentence _they were_ is understood after _till_.

VARIETIES OF THE COMPLEX SENTENCE

+516.+ A complex sentence may be expanded either by compounding the main clause, or by increasing the number of subordinate clauses. Both methods may be used in the same sentence.

+517.+ +The independent (main) clause of a complex sentence may be compound.+

When they saw the ship, _they shouted for joy and some of them burst
into tears_.

As they turned down from the knoll to rejoin their comrades, _the sun
dipped and disappeared, and the woods fell instantly into the gravity
and grayness of the early night_.--STEVENSON.

_The eye of the young monarch kindled and his dark cheek flushed with
sudden anger_, as he listened to proposals so humiliating.--PRESCOTT.

_Sharpe was so hated in Scotland during his life, and his death won
him so many friends, or pitying observers_, that it is not easy to
write of him without prejudice or favor.--A. LANG.

As has been the case with many another good fellow of his nation,
_his life was tracked and his substance wasted by crowds of hungry
beggars and lazy dependents_.--THACKERAY.

Note that the subordinate clause depends on the compound main clause, not upon either of its members.

Thus, in the first example, the subordinate clause (_when they saw
the ship_) depends upon the compound main clause, _they shouted for
joy and some of them burst into tears_. It is an adverbial modifier
of both _shouted_ and _burst_.

+518.+ Though a complex sentence can have but one (simple or compound) main clause, there is, in theory, no limit to the number of subordinate clauses.

+519.+ Subordinate clauses may be attached to the main clause (1) as +separate modifiers or complements+; (2) in a +coördinate series of clauses+, all in the same construction, and forming one +compound clause+; (3) in a series of +successively subordinate clauses+, forming one +complex clause+.

+520.+ +Two or more subordinate clauses may be attached to the main clause separately, each as a distinct modifier or complement.+

The bridge, _which had been weakened by the ice_, fell with a crash
_while the locomotive was crossing it_. [The first subordinate clause
is an adjective modifier of _bridge_; the second is an adverbial
modifier of _fell_.]

The architect _who drew the plans_ says _that the house will cost
ten thousand dollars_. [The first subordinate clause is an adjective
modifier of _architect_; the second is a complement, being the object
of _says_.]

Isabella, _whom every incident was sufficient to dismay_, hesitated
_whether she should proceed_.--H. WALPOLE.

As the boat drew nearer to the city, the coast which the traveller
had just left sank behind him into one long, low, sad-colored
line.--RUSKIN.

Those dangers which, in the vigor of youth, we had learned to
despise, assume new terrors as we grow old.--GOLDSMITH.

When Farmer Oak smiled, the corners of his mouth spread till they
were within an unimportant distance of his ears.--HARDY.

As Florian Deleal walked, one hot afternoon, he overtook by
the wayside a poor aged man, and, as he seemed weary with the
road, helped him on with the burden which he carried, a certain
distance.--PATER.

While Joe was absent on this errand, the elder Willet and his three
companions continued to smoke with profound gravity and in a deep
silence, each having his eyes fixed on a huge copper boiler that was
suspended over the fire.--DICKENS.

+521.+ +Two or more subordinate clauses in the same construction, forming one compound clause, may be attached to the main clause as a modifier or complement.+

1. The truth was _that Leonard had overslept, that he had missed the
train, and that he had failed to keep his appointment_.

2. The guide told us _that the road was impassable, that the river
was in flood, and that the bridge had been swept away_.

3. Ellis, _whose pockets were empty and whose courage was at a low
ebb_, stared dismally at the passing crowd.

4. _Before the battle was over and while the result was still in
doubt_, the general ordered a retreat.

5. _After we had arrived at the hotel, but before we had engaged our
rooms_, we received an invitation to stay at the castle.

6. My first thought was, _that all was lost, and that my only chance
for executing a retreat was to sacrifice my baggage_.--DE QUINCEY.

7. The author fully convinced his readers _that they were a race of
cowards and scoundrels, that nothing could save them, that they were
on the point of being enslaved by their enemies, and that they richly
deserved their fate_.--MACAULAY.

In the first and second examples, three coördinate noun clauses are joined to make one compound clause, which is used as a complement,--as a predicate nominative in the first sentence, as the direct object of _told_ in the second.

In the third example, a compound adjective clause modifies _Ellis_. In the fourth and fifth, a compound adverbial clause modifies the predicate verb (_ordered_, _received_). In the seventh, four _that_-clauses unite in one compound clause.

+522.+ +Two or more successively subordinate clauses, forming one complex clause, may be joined to the main clause as a modifier or complement.+

In such a series, the first subordinate clause is attached directly to the main clause, the second is subordinate to the first, the third to the second, and so on in succession.

In the course of my travels, I met a good-natured old gentleman,
(_a_) _who was born in the village_ (_b_) _where my parents lived_
(_c_) _before they came to America_.

Here _gentleman_ (a complement in the main clause) is modified by the adjective clause _who was born in the village_ (_a_). _Village_, in clause _a_, is modified by the adjective clause _where my parents lived_ (_b_). _Lived_, the predicate verb of clause _b_, is modified by the adverbial clause _before they came to America_ (_c_).

Thus it appears that _a_ is subordinate to the main clause, and that _b_, in turn, is subordinate to _a_, and _c_ to _b_. In other words, the three clauses (_a_, _b_, _c_) are united to make one complex clause,--_who was born in the village where my parents lived before they came to America_. This clause, taken as a whole, serves as an adjective modifier describing _gentleman_.

+523.+ Further examples of the +successive subordination+ of one clause to another may be seen in the following sentences:--

I have passed my latter years in this city, _where I am frequently
seen in public places, though there are not above half-a-dozen of my
select friends that know me_.--ADDISON.

In this manner they advanced by moonlight _till they came within view
of the two towering rocks that form a kind of portal to the valley,
at the extremity of which rose the vast ruins of Istakar_.--BECKFORD.

The young fellow uttered this with an accent and a look so perfectly
in tune to a feeling heart, _that I instantly made a vow I would give
him a four-and-twenty sous piece, when I got to Marseilles_.--STERNE.
[The conjunction _that_ is omitted before _I would_ (§ 388).]

Three years had scarcely elapsed _before the sons of Constantine
seemed impatient to convince mankind that they were incapable of
contenting themselves with the dominions which they were unqualified
to govern_.--GIBBON.

Mr. Lewis sent me an account of Dr. Arbuthnot’s illness, _which is
a very sensible affliction to me, who, by living so long out of the
world, have lost that hardness of heart contracted by years and
general conversation_.--SWIFT.

NOTE. The method of forming complex clauses by successive
subordination, if overworked, produces long, straggling, shapeless
sentences, as in the following example from Borrow:--“I scouted the
idea that Slingsby would have stolen this blacksmith’s gear; for
I had the highest opinion of his honesty, _which_ opinion I still
retain at the present day, _which_ is upwards of twenty years from
the time of _which_ I am speaking, during the whole of _which_ period
I have neither seen the poor fellow nor received any intelligence of
him.” A famous instance of the use of this structure for comic effect
is “The House that Jack Built.”

SPECIAL COMPLICATIONS

+524.+ The processes of +coördination and subordination+ (§§ 514–523) may be so utilized in one and the same sentence as to produce a very complicated structure.

Examples of such sentences are given below, for reference (§§ 525–526). Their structure, however elaborate, is always either +complex+ or +compound complex+.

I. IN COMPLEX SENTENCES

+525.+ The following sentences are complex. They contain either compound or complex clauses, or both.

1. They preferred the silver with which they were familiar, and which
they were constantly passing about from hand to hand, to the gold
which they had never before seen, and with the value of which they
were unacquainted.--MACAULAY.

The main clause of this complex sentence is _they preferred the
silver to the gold_. To this are separately attached (§ 520) two
adjective clauses, both +compound+: (1) _with which ... hand_,
modifying _silver_; (2) _which they had ... unacquainted_, modifying
_gold_.

2. All London crowded to shout and laugh round the gibbet where hung
the rotting remains of a prince who had made England the dread of the
world, who had been the chief founder of her maritime greatness and
of her colonial empire, who had conquered Scotland and Ireland, who
had humbled Holland and Spain.--MACAULAY.

The sentence is +complex+. The main clause is _all London crowded to
shout and laugh round the gibbet_. The rest of the sentence (_where
... Spain_) forms one long complex adjective clause, modifying
_gibbet_. In this complex clause, the first clause (_where ...
prince_) has dependent on it a compound adjective clause (modifying
_prince_), made up of four coördinate clauses, each beginning with
_who_. The subordination of this compound clause to that which
precedes (_where ... prince_) produces the long complex subordinate
clause _where ... Spain_.

3. As we cannot at present get Mr. Joseph out of the inn, we shall
leave him in it, and carry our reader on after Parson Adams, who, his
mind being perfectly at ease, fell into a contemplation on a passage
in Æschylus, which entertained him for three miles together, without
suffering him once to reflect on his fellow-traveller.--FIELDING.

In this +complex sentence+, two subordinate clauses are separately
attached to the main clause: (1) the adverbial clause _as ... inn_;
(2) the adjective clause _who ... fellow-traveller_. This latter
clause is complex, since it contains the adjective clause _which ...
fellow-traveller_, dependent on _who ... Æschylus_, and modifying
_passage_.

4. As I sit by my window this summer afternoon, hawks are circling
about my clearing; the tantivy of wild pigeons, flying by twos and
threes athwart my view, or perching restlessly on the white pine
boughs behind my house, gives a voice to the air; a fishhawk dimples
the glassy surface of the pond and brings up a fish; a mink steals
out of the marsh before my door and seizes a frog by the shore; the
sedge is bending under the weight of the reed-birds flitting hither
and hither; and for the last half hour I have heard the rattle of
railroad cars, now dying away and then revving like the beat of a
partridge, conveying travellers from Boston to the country.--THOREAU.

This sentence is +complex+. Its main clause is compound, consisting
of a series of six coördinate simple clauses. The whole of this long
compound main clause is modified by the adverbial clause with which
the sentence begins (_as ... afternoon_).

5. That they had sprung from obscurity, that they had acquired
great wealth, that they exhibited it insolently, that they spent it
extravagantly, that they raised the price of everything in their
neighborhood, from fresh eggs to rotten boroughs; that their liveries
outshone those of dukes, that their coaches were finer than that of
the Lord Mayor, that the examples of their large and ill-governed
households corrupted half the servants in the country; that some of
them, with all their magnificence, could not catch the tone of good
society, but in spite of the stud and the crowd of menials, of the
plate and the Dresden china, of the venison and the Burgundy, were
still low men,--these were things which excited, both in the class
from which they had sprung, and in that into which they attempted to
force themselves, that bitter aversion which is the effect of mingled
envy and contempt.--MACAULAY.

This +complex sentence+, though very long, is perfectly easy to
follow. It begins with a long compound noun clause (consisting of
nine coördinate _that_-clauses). This would be the subject of the
main predicate verb _were_, but for the fact that the pronoun _these_
is inserted to act as the subject (referring back to the compound
noun clause and summing it up in a single word). To the complement
_things_ is attached the adjective clause _which excited ...
contempt_. This clause is complex, for it contains three adjective
clauses, (1) _from which they had sprung_ (modifying _class_), (2)
_into which ... themselves_ (modifying _that_), and (3) _which is
... contempt_ (modifying _aversion_). All three are separately
attached to the clause on which they depend, _which excited that
bitter aversion_. Thus all that portion of the sentence which follows
_things_ forms one complex clause, modifying that noun.

6. That I may avoid the imputation of throwing out, even privately,
any loose, random imputations against the public conduct of a
gentleman for whom I once entertained a very warm affection, and
whose abilities I regard with the greatest admiration, I will put
down, distinctly and articulately, some of the matters of objection
which I feel to his late doctrines and proceedings, trusting that
I shall be able to demonstrate to the friends whose good opinion
I would still cultivate, that not levity, nor caprice, nor less
defensible motives, but that very grave reasons, influence my
judgment.--BURKE.

This is a fine example of a long, but well-constructed +complex
sentence+. The main clause is _I will put down, distinctly and
articulately, some of the matters of objection_. Upon this simple
clause, everything else in the sentence depends in one way or another.

II. IN COMPOUND COMPLEX SENTENCES

+526.+ Any complex sentence, however elaborate, may be used as one of the +coördinate complex clauses+ that make up a +compound complex sentence+.

1. While the king was treated at this rude rate, Cromwell, with his
army, was in Scotland, obstructing the motions that were making in
his favor; but on the approach of the Scots, who were much superior
in number, he was forced to retire towards Dunbar, where his ships
and provisions lay.--BURNET.

In this +compound complex sentence+, both coördinate clauses are
complex. In each, the main clause has two subordinate clauses
attached to it separately (§ 520).

2. They had seen me cut the cables, and thought my design was only to
let the ships run adrift, or fall foul on each other; but when they
perceived the whole fleet moving in order, and saw me pulling at the
end, they set up such a scream of grief and despair as it is almost
impossible to describe or conceive.--SWIFT.

In this +compound complex sentence+, both of the two coördinate
clauses are complex. The first contains the noun clause [_that_] _my
design ... each other_, used as the object of _thought_. The second
contains two subordinate clauses, separately attached to the main
clause (_they set ... despair_). For the infinitive _cut_, see § 322.
The infinitive _to let_ is used as a predicate nominative (§ 491); it
has as its object the infinitive clause _the ships ... each other_,
containing two infinitives, _run_ and _fall_ (§ 325).

3. While things went on quietly, while there was no opposition, while
everything was given by the favor of a small ruling junto, Fox had
a decided advantage over Pitt; but when dangerous times came, when
Europe was convulsed with war, when Parliament was broken up into
factions, when the public mind was violently excited, the favorite of
the people rose to supreme power.--MACAULAY.

This +compound complex sentence+ consists of two complex clauses,
joined by the coördinate conjunction _but_. In each of these, the
subordinate clause is compound (§ 521), consisting of several
coördinate adverbial clauses introduced by relative adverbs (_while_
in the first, _when_ in the second).

4. The clear and agreeable language of his despatches had early
attracted the notice of his employers; and before the Peace of Breda
he had, at the request of Arlington, published a pamphlet on the war,
of which nothing is now known, except that it had some vogue at the
time, and that Charles, not a contemptible judge, pronounced it to be
very well written.--MACAULAY.

In this +compound complex sentence+, the first coördinate clause is
simple, the second is complex. In the second, the adjective clause
_of which nothing is known_ has dependent on it the group of words
_except ... well written_, consisting of the preposition _except_ and
its object (the compound noun clause, _that ... time, and that ...
well written_). This group serves as an adjective modifier of the
noun _nothing_. The whole passage _of which ... well written_ forms a
complex adjective clause, modifying _pamphlet_. _It to be very well
written_ is a complement, being an infinitive clause used as the
object of _pronounced_ (§ 325).