Chapter III: Cases, or Nouns (4)

"When it gives that sense, and also connects, it is a conjunction."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 116. "Though thou wilt not acknowledge, thou canst not deny the fact."--_Murray's Key_, p. 209. "They _specify_, like many other adjectives, and _connect_ sentences."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 114. "The violation of this rule tends so much to perplex and obscure, that it is safer to err by too many short sentences."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 312. "A few _Exercises_ are subjoined to each important definition, for him to _practice_ upon as he proceeds in committing."--_Nutting's Gram._, 3d Ed., p. vii. "A verb signifying actively governs the accusative."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 171; _Gould's_, 172; _Grant's_, 199; and others. "Or, any word that will _conjugate_, is a verb."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 44. "In these two concluding sentences, the author, hastening to finish, appears to write rather carelessly."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 216. "He simply reasons on one side of the question, and then finishes."--_Ib._, p. 306. "Praise to God teaches to be humble and lowly ourselves."--ATTERBURY: _ib._, p. 304. "This author has endeavored to surpass."--_Green's Inductive Gram._, p. 54. "Idleness and plezure fateeg az soon az bizziness."--_Noah Webster's Essays_, p. 402. "And, in conjugating, you must pay particular attention to the manner in which these signs are applied."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 140. "He said Virginia would have emancipated long ago."--_The Liberator_, ix, 33. "And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience."--_2 Cor._, x, 6. "However, in these cases, custom generally determines."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 50. "In proof, let the following cases demonstrate."--_Ib._, p. 46. "We must surprise, that he should so speedily have forgotten his first principles."--_Ib._, p. 147. "How should we surprise at the expression, 'This is a _soft_ question!'"--_Ib._, p. 219. "And such as prefer, can parse it as a possessive adjective."--_Goodenow's Gram._, p. 89. "To assign all the reasons, that induced to deviate from other grammarians, would lead to a needless prolixity."--_Alexander's Gram._, p. 4. "The Indicative mood simply indicates or declares."--_Farnum's Gram._, p. 33.

UNDER NOTE II.--OF VERBS INTRANSITIVE.

"In his seventh chapter he expatiateth himself at great length."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 350. "He quarrelleth my bringing some testimonies of antiquity, agreeing with what I say."--_Ib._, iii, 373. "Repenting him of his design."--_Hume's Hist._, ii, 56. "Henry knew, that an excommunication could not fail of operating the most dangerous effects."--_Ib._, ii, 165. "The popular lords did not fail to enlarge themselves on the subject."--_Mrs. Macaulay's Hist._, iii, 177. "He is always master of his subject; and seems to play himself with it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 445. "But as soon as it comes the length of disease, all his secret infirmities shew themselves."--_Ib._, p. 256. "No man repented him of his wickedness."--_Jeremiah_, viii, 6. "Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left."--_Ezekiel_, xxi, 16. "He lies him down by the rivers side."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 99. "My desire has been for some years past, to retire myself to some of our American plantations."--_Cowley's Pref. to his Poems_, p. vii. "I fear me thou wilt shrink from the payment of it."--_Zenobia_, i, 76. "We never recur an idea, without acquiring some combination."--_Rippingham's Art of Speaking_, p. xxxii.

"Yet more; the stroke of death he must abide,
Then lies him meekly down fast by his brethren's side."--_Milton_.

UNDER NOTE III.--OF VERBS MISAPPLIED.

"A parliament forfeited all those who had borne arms against the king."--_Hume's Hist._, ii, 223. "The practice of forfeiting ships which had been wrecked."--_Ib._, i, 500. "The nearer his military successes approached him to the throne."--_Ib._, v, 383. "In the next example, _you_ personifies _ladies_, therefore it is plural."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 103. "The first _its_ personates vale; the second _its_ represents stream."--_Ib._, p. 103. "Pronouns do not always avoid the repetition of nouns."--_Ib._, p. 96. "_Very_ is an adverb of comparison, it compares the adjective _good_."--_Ib._, p. 88. "You will please to commit the following paragraph."--_Ib._, p. 140. "Even the Greek and Latin passive verbs require an auxiliary to conjugate some of their tenses."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 100. "The deponent verbs, in Latin, require also an auxiliary to conjugate several of their tenses."--_Ib._, p. 100. "I have no doubt he made as wise and true proverbs, as any body has done since."--_Ib._, p. 145. "A uniform variety assumes as many set forms as Proteus had shapes."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 72. "When words in apposition follow each other in quick succession."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 57. "Where such sentences frequently succeed each other."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 349. "Wisdom leads us to speak and act what is most proper."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 99; _Murray's Gram._, i, 303.

"_Jul_. Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
_Rom_. Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike."--_Shak_.

UNDER NOTE IV.--OF PASSIVE VERBS.

"We too must be allowed the privilege of forming our own laws."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 134. "For we are not only allowed the use of all the ancient poetic feet," &c.--_Ib._, p. 259; _Kirkham's Elocution_, 143; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 310. "By what code of morals am I denied the right and privilege?"--_Dr. Bartlett's Lect._, p. 4. "The children of Israel have alone been denied the possession of it."--_Keith's Evidences_, p. 68. "At York fifteen hundred Jews were refused all quarter."--_Ib._, p. 73. "He would teach the French language in three lessons, provided he was paid fifty-five dollars in advance."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 4. "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come."--_Luke_, xvii, 20. "I have been shown a book."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 392. "John Horne Tooke was refused admission only because he had been in holy orders."--_Diversions of Purley_, i, 60. "Mr. Horne Tooke having taken orders, he was refused admission to the bar."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 145. "Its reference to place is lost sight of."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 116. "What striking lesson are we taught by the tenor of this history?"--_Bush's Questions_, p. 71. "He had been left, by a friend, no less than eighty thousand pounds."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 112. "Where there are many things to be done, each must be allowed its share of time and labour."--_Johnson's Pref. to Dict._, p. xiii. "Presenting the subject in a far more practical form than it has been heretofore given."--_Kirkham's Phrenology_, p. v. "If a being of entire impartiality should be shown the two companies."--_Scott's Pref. to Bible_, p. vii. "He was offered the command of the British army."--_Grimshaw's Hist._, p. 81. "Who had been unexpectedly left a considerable sum."--_Johnson's Life of Goldsmith_. "Whether a maid or a widow may be granted such a privilege."--_Spectator_, No. 536. "Happily all these affected terms have been denied the public suffrage."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 199. "Let him next be shewn the parsing table."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. viii. "Thence, he may be shown the use of the Analyzing Table."--_Ib._, p. ix. "Pittacus was offered a great sum of money."--_Sanborn's Gram._, p. 228. "He had been allowed more time for study."--_Ib._, p. 229. "If the walks were a little taken care of that lie between them."--_Addison's Spect._, No. 414. "Suppose I am offered an office or a bribe."--_Pierpont's Discourse_, Jan. 27, 1839.

"Am I one chaste, one last embrace deny'd?
Shall I not lay me by his clay-cold side?"
--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. ix, l. 103.

UNDER NOTE V.--PASSIVE VERBS TRANSITIVE.

"The preposition _to_ is made use of before nouns of place, when they follow verbs and participles of motion."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 203; _Ingersoll's_, 231; _Greenlef's_, 35; _Fisk's_, 143; _Smith's_, 170; _Guy's_, 90; _Fowler's_, 555. "They were refused entrance into the house."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 204. "Their separate signification has been lost sight of."--_Horne Tooke_, ii, 422. "But, whenever _ye_ is made use of, it must be in the nominative, and never in the objective, case."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, 58. "It is said, that more persons than one are paid handsome salaries, for taking care to see acts of parliament properly worded."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 334. "The following Rudiments of English Grammar, have been made use of in the University of Pennsylvania."--DR. ROGERS: _in Harrison's Gram._, p. 2. "It never should be lost sight of."--_Newman's Rhetoric_, p. 19. "A very curious fact hath been taken notice of by those expert metaphysicians."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 281. "The archbishop interfered that Michelet's lectures might be put a stop to."--_The Friend_, ix, 378. "The disturbances in Gottengen have been entirely put an end to."--_Daily Advertiser_. "Besides those that are taken notice of in these exceptions."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 6. "As one, two, or three auxiliary verbs are made use of."--_Ib._, p. 24. "The arguments which have been made use of."--_Addison's Evidences_, p. 32. "The circumstance is properly taken notice of by the author."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 217. "Patagonia has never been taken possession of by any European nation."--_Cumming's Geog._, p. 62. "He will be found fault withal no more, i. e. not hereafter."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 226. "The thing was to be put an end to somehow."--_Leigh Hunt's Byron_, p. 15. "In 1798, the Papal Territory was taken possession of by the French."--_Pinnock's Geog._, p. 223. "The idea has not for a moment been lost sight of by the Board."--_Common School Journal_, i, 37. "I shall easily be excused the labour of more transcription."--_Johnson's Life of Dryden_. "If I may be allowed that expression."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 259, and 288. "If without offence I may be indulged the observation."--_Ib._, p. 295. "There are other characters, which are frequently made use of in composition."-- _Murray's Gram._, p. 280; _Ingersoll's_, 293. "Such unaccountable infirmities might be in many, perhaps in most, cases got the better of."--_Seattle's Moral Science_, i, 153. "Which ought never to be had recourse to."--_Ib._, i, 186. "That the widows may be taken care of."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 499. "Other cavils will yet be taken notice of."--_Pope's Pref. to Homer_. "Which implies, that all Christians are offered eternal salvation."--_West's Letters_, p. 149. "Yet even the dogs are allowed the crumbs which fall from their master's table."--_Campbell's Gospels, Matt._, xv. 27. "For we say the light within must be taken heed unto."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 148. "This sound of a is taken notice of in Steele's Grammar."--_Walker's Dict._, p. 22. "One came to be paid ten guineas for a pair of silver buckles."--_Castle Rackrent_, p. 104. "Let him, therefore, be carefully shewn the application of the several questions in the table."--_Nutting's Gram._, p. 8, "After a few times, it is no longer taken notice of by the hearers."--_Sheridan's Lect._, p. 182. "It will not admit of the same excuse, nor be allowed the same indulgence, by people of any discernment."--_Ibid._ "Inanimate things may be made property of."--_Beanie's M. Sci._, p. 355.

"And, when he's bid a liberaller price,
Will not be sluggish in the work, nor nice."--_Butler's Poems_, p. 162.

UNDER NOTE VI.--OF PERFECT PARTICIPLES.

"All the words made use of to denote spiritual and intellectual things, are in their origin metaphors."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 380. "A reply to an argument commonly made use of by unbelievers."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 293. "It was heretofore the only form made use of in the preter tenses."--_Dr. Ash's Gram._, p. 47. "Of the points, and other characters made use of in writing."--_Ib._, p. xv. "If _thy_ be the personal pronoun made use of."--_Walker's Dict._ "The Conjunction is a word made use of to connect sentences."--_Burn's Gram._, p. 28. "The points made use of to answer these purposes are the four following."--_Harrison's Gram._, p. 67. "_Incense_ signifies perfumes exhaled by fire, and made use of in religious ceremonies."--_Murray's Key_, p. 171. "In most of his orations, there is too much art; even carried the length of ostentation."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 246. "To illustrate the great truth, so often lost sight of in our times."--_Common School Journal_, I, 88. "The principal figures, made use of to affect the heart, are Exclamation, Confession, Deprecation, Commination, and Imprecation."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 133. "Disgusted at the odious artifices made use of by the Judge."--_Junius_, p. 13. "The whole reasons of our being allotted a condition, out of which so much wickedness and misery would in fact arise."--_Butler's Analogy_ p. 109. "Some characteristieal circumstance being generally invented or laid hold of."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 246.

"And _by_ is likewise us'd with Names that shew
The Means made use of, or the Method how."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 105.

UNDER NOTE VII.--CONSTRUCTIONS AMBIGUOUS.

"Many adverbs admit of degrees of comparison as well as adjectives."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 133. "But the author, who, by the number and reputation of his works, formed our language more than any one, into its present state, is Dryden."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 180. "In some States, Courts of Admiralty have no juries, nor Courts of Chancery at all."--_Webster's Essays_, p, 146. "I feel myself grateful to my friend."--_Murray's Key_, p. 276. "This requires a writer to have, himself, a very clear apprehension of the object he means to present to us."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 94. "Sense has its own harmony, as well as sound."--_lb._, p. 127. "The apostrophe denotes the omission of an _i_ which was formerly inserted, and made an addition of a syllable to the word."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 67. "There are few, whom I can refer to, with more advantage than Mr. Addison."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 139. "DEATH, in _theology_, [is a] perpetual separation from God, and eternal torments."--_Webster's Dict._ "That could inform the _traveler_ as well as the old man himself!"--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 345.

UNDER NOTE VIII.--YE AND YOU IN SCRIPTURE.

"Ye daughters of Rabbah, gird ye with sackcloth."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Jer._, xlix, 3. "Wash ye, make you clean."--_Brown's Concordance, w. Wash_. "Strip ye, and make ye bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _Isaiah_, xxxii, 11. "You are not ashamed that you make yourselves strange to me."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Job_, xix, 3. "You are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me."--ALGER'S BIBLE: _ib._ "If you knew the gift of God."--_Brown's Concordance, w. Knew_. "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I know ye not."--_Penington's Works_, ii, 122.

RULE VI.--SAME CASES.

A Noun or a Pronoun put after a verb or participle not transitive, agrees in case with a preceding noun or pronoun referring to the same thing: as, "_It_ is _I_."--"_These_ are _they_."--"The _child_ was named _John_."--"_It_ could not be _he_."--"The _Lord_ sitteth _King_ forever."--_Psalms_, xxix, 10.

"What war could ravish, commerce could bestow,
And _he_ return'd a _friend, who_ came a _foe_."
--_Pope_, Ep. iii, l. 206.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE VI.

OBS. 1.--Active-transitive verbs, and their imperfect and preperfect participles, always govern the objective case; but active-intransitive, passive, and neuter verbs, and their participles, take the same case after as before them, when both words refer to the same thing. The latter are rightly supposed _not to govern_[357] any case; nor are they in general followed by any noun or pronoun. But, because they are not transitive, some of them become connectives to such words as are in the same case and signify the same thing. That is, their finite tenses may be followed by a nominative, and their infinitives and participles by a nominative or an objective, _agreeing_ with a noun or a pronoun which precedes them. The cases are the same, because the person or thing is one; as, "_I_ am _he_."--"_Thou_ art _Peter_."--"Civil _government_ being the sole _object_ of forming societies, its administration must be conducted by common consent."--_Jefferson's Notes_, p. 129. Identity is both the foundation and the characteristic of this construction. We chiefly use it to affirm or deny, to suggest or question, the _sameness_ of things; but sometimes _figuratively_, to illustrate the relations of persons or things by comparison:[358] as, "_I_ am the true _vine_, and my _Father_ is the _husbandman_."--_John_, xv, 1. "_I_ am the _vine, ye_ are the _branches_."--_John_, xv, 5. Even the names of direct opposites, are sometimes put in the same case, under this rule; as,

"By such a change thy _darkness_ is made _light_,
Thy _chaos order_, and thy _weakness might_."--_Cowper_, Vol. i, p. 88.

OBS. 2.--In this rule, the terms _after_ and _preceding_ refer rather to the order of the sense and construction, than to the mere _placing_ of the words; for the words in fact admit of various positions. The proper subject of the verb is the nominative _to_ it, or _before_ it, by Rule 2d; and the other nominative, however placed, is understood to be that which comes _after_ it, by Rule 6th. In general, however, the proper subject _precedes_ the verb, and the other word _follows_ it, agreeably to the literal sense of the rule. But when the proper subject is placed after the verb, as in certain instances specified in the second observation under Rule 2d, the explanatory nominative is commonly introduced still later; as, "But be _thou_ an _example_ of the believers."--_1 Tim_. iv, 12. "But what! is thy _servant_ a _dog_?"--_2 Kings_, viii, 13. "And so would I, were _I Parmenio_."--_Goldsmith_. "O Conloch's daughter! is _it thou_?"--_Ossian_. But in the following example, on the contrary, there is a transposition of the entire lines, and the verb agrees with the two nominatives in the latter:

"To thee _were_ solemn _toys_ or empty _show_,
The _robes_ of pleasure and the _veils_ of wo."--_Dr. Johnson_.

OBS. 3.--In interrogative sentences, the terms are usually transposed,[359] or both are placed after the verb; as, "Am _I_ a _Jew_?"--_John_, xviii, 35. "Art _thou_ a _king_ then?"--_Ib._, ver. 37. "_What_ is _truth_?"--_Ib._, ver. 38. "_Who_ art _thou_?"--_Ib._, i, 19. "Art _thou Elias_?"--_Ib._, i, 21. "Tell me, Alciphron, is not _distance_ a _line_ turned endwise to the eye?"--_Berkley's Dialogues_, p. 161.

"Whence, and _what_ art _thou_, execrable shape?"--_Milton_.

"Art _thou_ that traitor _angel_? art _thou he_?"--_Idem_.

OBS. 4.--In a declarative sentence also, there may be a rhetorical or poetical transposition of one or both of the terms: as, "And I _thy victim_ now remain."--_Francis's Horace_, ii, 45. "To thy own dogs a _prey_ thou shalt be made."--_Pope's Homer_, "I was eyes to the blind, and _feet_ was _I_ to the lame."--_Job_, xxix, 15. "Far other _scene_ is _Thrasymenè_ now."--_Byron_. In the following sentence, the latter term is palpably misplaced: "It does not clearly appear at first _what the antecedent is_ to _they_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 218. Say rather: "It does not clearly appear at first, _what is the antecedent_ to [the pronoun] _they_." In examples transposed like the following, there is an elegant ellipsis of the verb to which the pronoun is nominative; as, _am, art_, &c.

"When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering _angel thou_."--_Scott's Marmion._

"The forum's champion, and the people's chief,
Her new-born _Numa thou_--with reign, alas! too brief."--_Byron_.

"For this commission'd, I forsook the sky--
Nay, cease to kneel--thy _fellow-servant I_."--_Parnell._

OBS. 5.--In some peculiar constructions, both words naturally come _before_ the verb; as, "I know not _who she_ is."--"_Who_ did you say _it_ was?"--"I know not how to tell thee _who I_ am."--_Romeo_. "Inquire thou whose _son_ the _stripling_ is."--_1 Sam._, xvii, 56. "Man would not be the creature _which he_ now is."--_Blair_. "I could not guess _who it_ should be."--_Addison_. And they are sometimes placed in this manner by _hyberbaton_ [sic--KTH], or transposition; as, "Yet _he it_ is."--_Young_. "No contemptible _orator he_ was."--_Dr. Blair_. "_He it_ is to whom I shall give a sop."--_John_, xiii, 26. "And a very noble _personage Cato_ is."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 457. "_Clouds they_ are without water."--_Jude_, 12.

"Of worm or serpent kind _it something_ looked,
But monstrous, with a thousand snaky heads."--_Pollok_, B. i, l. 183.

OBS. 6.--As infinitives and participles have no nominatives of their own, such of them as are not transitive in their nature, may take _different_ cases after them; and, in order to determine what _case_ it is that follows them, the learner must carefully observe what preceding word denotes the same person or thing, and apply the principle of the rule accordingly. This word being often remote, and sometimes understood, the _sense_ is the only clew to the construction. Examples: "_Who_ then can bear the thought of being an _outcast_ from his presence?"--_Addison_. Here _outcast_ agrees with _who_, and not with _thought_. "_I_ cannot help being so passionate an _admirer_ as I am."--_Steele_. Here _admirer_ agrees with _I_. "To recommend _what_ the soberer part of mankind look upon to be a _trifle_."--_Steele_. Here _trifle_ agrees with _what_ as relative, the objective governed by _upon_. "_It_ would be a romantic _madness_, for a _man_ to be a _lord_ in his closet."--_Id._ Here _madness_ is in the nominative case, agreeing with _it_; and _lord_, in the objective, agreeing with _man_. "To _affect_ to be a _lord_ in one's closet, would be a romantic _madness_." In this sentence also, _lord_ is in the objective, after _to be_; and _madness_, in the nominative, after _would be._

"'My dear _Tibullus!_' If that will not do,
Let _me_ be _Horace_, and be _Ovid you_."--_Pope_, B. ii, Ep. ii, 143.

OBS. 7.--An active-intransitive or a neuter participle in _ing_, when governed by a preposition, is often followed by a noun or a pronoun the case of which depends not on the preposition, but on the case which goes before. Example: "The _Jews_ were in a particular manner ridiculed _for being_ a credulous _people_."--_Addison's Evidences_, p. 28. Here _people_ is in the nominative case, agreeing with _Jews_. Again: "The learned pagans ridiculed the _Jews_ for _being_ a credulous _people_." Here _people_ is in the objective case, because the preceding noun _Jews_ is so. In both instances the preposition _for_ governs the participle _being_, and nothing else. "The atrocious crime of _being_ a young _man_, I shall neither attempt to palliate _or_ deny."--PITT: _Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 82; _S. S. Greene's_, 174. Sanborn has this text, with "_nor_" for "_or_."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 190. This example has been erroneously cited, as one in which the case of the noun after the participle is _not determined_ by its relation to any other word. Sanborn absurdly supposes it to be "in the _nominative independent_." Bullions as strangely tells us, "it may correctly be called the _objective indefinite_"--like _me_ in the following example: "He was not sure of _its being me_."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 82. This latter text I take to be _bad English_. It should be, "He was not sure _of it as being me_;" or, "He was not sure _that it was I."_ But, in the text above, there is an evident transposition. The syntactical order is this: "_I_ shall neither deny _nor_ attempt to palliate the atrocious crime of being a young _man_." The words _man_ and _I_ refer to the same person, and are therefore in the same case, according to the rule which I have given above.

OBS. 8.--S. S. Greene, in his late Grammar, improperly denominates this case after the participle _being_, "the _predicate-nominative_," and imagines that it necessarily remains a nominative even when the possessive case precedes the participle. If he were right in this, there would be an important exception to Rule 6th above. But so singularly absurd is his doctrine about "_abridged predicates_," that in general the _abridging_ shows an _increase_ of syllables, and often a conversion of good English into bad. For example: "_It_ [the predicate] remains _unchanged in the nominative_, when, with the participle of the copula, _it_ becomes _a verbal noun_, limited by the possessive case of the subject; as, 'That he was a foreigner prevented his election,'='_His_ being a _foreigner_ prevented his election.'"--_Greene's Analysis_, p. 169. Here the number of syllables is unaltered; but _foreigner_ is very improperly called "a verbal noun," and an example which only lacks a comma, is changed to what Wells rightly calls an "_anomalous expression_," and one wherein that author supposes _foreigner_ and _his_ to be necessarily in the same case. But Greene varies this example into other "_abridged forms_," thus: "I knew _that he was a foreigner_," = "I knew _his being_, or _of his being a foreigner_." "The fact _that he was a foreigner_, = _of his being a foreigner_, was undeniable." "_When he was first called a foreigner_, = _on his being first called a foreigner_, his anger was excited."--_Ib._, p. 171. All these changes _enlarge_, rather than abridge, the expression; and, at the same time, make it questionable English, to say the least of it.

OBS. 9.--In some examples, the adverb _there_ precedes the participle, and we evidently have nothing by which to determine the case that follows; as, "These judges were twelve in number. Was this _owing to there being_ twelve primary _deities_ among the Gothic nations?"--_Webster's Essays_, p. 263. Say rather: "Was this _because there were_ twelve primary deities among the Gothic nations?" "How many are injured by Adam's fall, that know nothing of _there ever being_ such a man in the world!"--_Barclay's Apology_, p. 185. Say rather,--"_who know not that there ever was_ such a man in the world!"

OBS. 10.--In some other examples, we find a possessive before the participle, and a doubtful case after it; as, "This our Saviour himself was pleased to make use of as the strongest argument of _his_ being the promised _Messiah_"--_Addison's Evidences_, p. 81. "But my chief affliction consisted in _my_ being singled out from all the other boys, by a lad about fifteen years of age, as a proper _object_ upon whom he might let loose the cruelty of his temper."--_Cowper's Memoir_, p. 13. "[Greek: Tou patros [ontos] onou euthus hypemnæsthæ]. He had some sort of recollection of his _father's_ being an ass"--_Collectanea Græca Minora, Notæ_, p. 7. This construction, though not uncommon, is anomalous in more respects than one. Whether or not it is worthy to form an exception to the rule of _same cases_, or even to that of _possessives_, the reader may judge from the observations made on it under the latter. I should rather devise some way to avoid it, if any can be found--and I believe there can; as, "This our Saviour himself was pleased to _advance_ as the strongest _proof that he was_ the promised Messiah."--"But my chief affliction consisted in _this, that I was_ singled out," &c. The story of the mule is, "_He seemed to recollect on a sudden that his father was an ass_." This is the proper meaning of the Greek text above; but the construction is different, the Greek nouns being genitives in apposition.

OBS. 11.--A noun in the nominative case sometimes follows a finite verb, when the equivalent subject that stands before the verb, is not a noun or pronoun, but a phrase or a sentence which supplies the place of a nominative; as, "That the barons and freeholders derived their authority from kings, is wholly a _mistake_."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 277. "To speak of a slave as a member of civil society, may, by some, be regarded a _solecism_."--_Stroud's Sketch_, p. 65. Here _mistake_ and _solecism_ are as plainly nominatives, as if the preceding subjects had been declinable words.

OBS. 12.--When a noun is put after an abstract infinitive that is not transitive, it appears necessarily to be in the objective case,[360] though not governed by the verb; for if we supply any noun to which such infinitive may be supposed to refer, it must be introduced before the verb by the preposition _for_: as, "To be an _Englishman_ in London, a _Frenchman_ in Paris, a _Spaniard_ in Madrid, is no easy matter; and yet it is necessary."--_Home's Art of Thinking_, p. 89. That is, "_For a traveller_ to be an _Englishman_ in London," &c. "It is certainly as easy to be a _scholar_, as a _gamester_."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 425. That is, "It is as easy _for a young man_ to be a _scholar, as it is for him to be a gamester_." "To be an eloquent _speaker_, in the proper sense of the _word_, is far from being a common or easy _attainment._"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 337. Here _attainment_ is in the nominative, after _is_--or, rather after _being_, for it follows both; and _speaker_, in the objective after _to be_. "It is almost as hard a thing [for a _man_] to be a poet in despite of fortune, as it is [for _one_ to be a _poet_] in despite of nature."--_Cowley's Preface to his Poems_, p. vii.

OBS. 13.--Where precision is necessary, loose or abstract infinitives are improper; as, "But _to be precise_, signifies, that _they_ express _that idea_, and _no more_."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 94; _Murray's Gram._, 301; _Jamieson's Rhet._, 64. Say rather: "But, _for an author's words to be precise_, signifies, that they express _his exact_ idea, and _nothing_ more _or less_."

OBS. 14.--The principal verbs that take the same case after as before them, except those which are passive, are the following: to be, to stand, to sit, to lie, to live, to grow, to become, to turn, to commence, to die, to expire, to come, to go, to range, to wander, to return, to seem, to appear, to remain, to continue, to reign. There are doubtless some others, which admit of such a construction; and of some of these, it is to be observed, that they are sometimes transitive, and govern the objective: as, "To _commence_ a suit."--_Johnson_. "O _continue_ thy loving kindness unto them."--_Psalms_, xxxvi, 10. "A feather will _turn_ the scale."--_Shak._ "_Return_ him a trespass offering."--_1 Samuel_. "For it _becomes_ me so to speak."--_Dryden_. But their construction with like cases is easily distinguished by the sense; as, "When _I_ commenced _author_, my aim was to amuse."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 286. "_Men_ continue men's _destroyers_."--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 56. "'Tis most just, that thou turn rascal"--_Shak., Timon of Athens_. "He went out _mate_, but _he_ returned _captain_."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 182. "After this event _he_ became _physician_ to the king."--_Ib._ That is, "When I _began to be_ an author," &c.

"Ev'n mean _self-love_ becomes, by force divine,
The _scale_ to measure others' wants by thine."--_Pope_.

OBS. 15.--The common instructions of our English grammars, in relation to the subject of the preceding rule, are exceedingly erroneous and defective. For example: "The verb TO BE, has _always_ a nominative case after it, _unless it be_ in the infinitive mode."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 77. "The verb TO BE _requires_ the same case after it as before it."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 142. "The verb TO BE, through all its variations, _has_ the same case after it, _expressed or understood_, as _that_ which _next_ precedes it."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 181; _Alger's_, 62; _Merchant's_, 91; _Putnam's_, 116; _Smith's_, 97; and many others. "The verb TO BE has _usually_ the same case after it, as that which _immediately_ precedes it."--_Hall's Gram._, p. 31. "_Neuter verbs have_ the same case after them, as that which _next_ precedes them."--_Folker's Gram._, p. 14. "Passive verbs _which signify naming_, and others of a _similar nature_, have the same case _before and after_ them."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 182. "A Noun or Pronoun used in predication with a verb, is in the Independent Case. EXAMPLES--'Thou art a _scholar_.' 'It is _I_.' 'God is _love_.'"--_S. W. Clark's Pract. Gram._, p. 149. So many and monstrous are the faults of these rules, that nothing but very learned and reverend authority, could possibly impose such teaching anywhere. The first, though written by Lowth, is not a whit wiser than to say, "The preposition _to_ has _always_ an infinitive mood after it, _unless it be_ a preposition." And this latter absurdity is even a better rule for all infinitives, than the former for all predicated nominatives. Nor is there much more fitness in any of the rest. "The verb TO BE, _through all_," or even _in any_, of its parts, has neither "_always_" nor _usually_ a case "_expressed_ or _understood_" after it; and, even when there is a noun or a pronoun put after it, the case is, in very many instances, not to be determined by that which "_next_" or "_immediately_" precedes the verb. Examples: "A _sect of freethinkers_ is a _sum_ of ciphers."--_Bentley_. "And _I_ am this _day_ weak, though anointed _king_."--_2 Sam._, iii, 39. "_What_ made _Luther_ a great _man_, was _his_ unshaken _reliance_ on God."--_Kortz's Life of Luther_, p. 13. "The devil offers his service; _He_ is sent with a positive _commission_ to be a lying _spirit_ in the mouth of all the prophets."--_Calvin's Institutes_, p. 131. It is perfectly certain that in these four texts, the words _sum, king, reliance_, and _spirit_, are _nominatives_, after the verb or participle; and not _objectives_, as they must be, if there were any truth in the common assertion, "that the two cases, which, in the construction of the sentence, are _the next_ before and after it, must always be alike."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 98. Not only may the nominative before the verb be followed by an objective, but the nominative after it may be preceded by a possessive; as, "Amos, the herdsman of _Tekoa_, was not a _prophet's_ son."--"It is the _king's_ chapel, and it is the _king's_ court."--_Amos_, vii, 13. How ignorant then must that person be, who cannot see the falsity of the instructions above cited! How careless the reader who overlooks it!

NOTES TO RULE VI.

NOTE I.--The putting of a noun in an unknown case after a participle or a participial noun, produces an anomaly which it seems better to avoid; for the cases ought to be _clear_, even in exceptions to the common rules of construction. Examples: (1.) "WIDOWHOOD, _n._ The state _of being a widow_."--_Webster's Dict._ Say rather, "WIDOWHOOD, _n._ The state of a widow."--_Johnson, Walker, Worcester_. (2.) "I had a suspicion of the _fellow's_ being a _swindler_/" Say rather, "I had a suspicion _that the fellow was a swindler_." (3.) "To prevent _its_ being a dry _detail_ of terms."--_Buck_. Better, "To prevent it _from_ being a dry detail of terms." [361]

NOTE II.--The nominative which follows a verb or participle, ought to accord in signification, either literally or figuratively, with the preceding term which is taken for a sign of the same thing. Errors: (1.) "_To be convicted_ of bribery, was then a crime altogether unpardonable."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 265. To be convicted of a crime, is not the crime itself; say, therefore, "_Bribery_ was then a _crime_ altogether unpardonable." (2.) "The second person is the _object_ of the Imperative."--_Murray's Gram., Index_, ii, 292. Say rather, "The second person is the _subject_ of the imperative;" for the _object_ of a verb is the word governed by it, and not its nominative.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE VI.

UNDER THE RULE ITSELF.--OF PROPER IDENTITY.

"Who would not say, 'If it be _me_,' rather than, If it be _I_?"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 105.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pronoun _me_,--which comes after the neuter verb _be_, is in the objective case, and does not agree with the pronoun _it_, the verb's nominative,[362] which refers to the same thing. But, according to Rule 6th, "A noun or a pronoun put after a verb or participle not transitive, agrees in case with a preceding noun or pronoun referring to the same thing." Therefore, _me_ should be _I_; thus, "Who would not say, 'If it be _I_,' rather than, 'If it be _me_?'"]

"Who is there? It is me."--_Priestley, ib._, p. 104. "It is him."--_Id., ib._, 104. "Are these the houses you were speaking of? Yes, they are them."--_Id., ib._, 104. "It is not me you are in love with."--_Addison's Spect._, No. 290; _Priestley's Gram._, p. 104; and _Campbell's Rhet._, p. 203. "It cannot be me."--SWIFT: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 104. "To that which once was thee."--PRIOR: _ib._, 104. "There is but one man that she can have, and that is me."--CLARISSA: _ib._, 104. "We enter, as it were, into his body, and become, in some measure, him."--ADAM SMITH: _ib._, p. 105. "Art thou proud yet? Ay, that I am not thee."--_Shak., Timon_. "He knew not whom they were."--_Milnes, Greek Gram._, p. 234. "Who do you think me to be?"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 108. "Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?"--_Matt._, xvi, 13. "But whom say ye that I am?"--_Ib._, xvi, 15.--"Whom think ye that I am? I am not he."--_Acts_, xiii, 25. "No; I am mistaken; I perceive it is not the person whom I supposed it was."--_Winter in London_, ii, 66. "And while it is Him I serve, life is not without value."--_Zenobia_, i, 76. "Without ever dreaming it was him."--_Life of Charles XII_, p. 271. "Or he was not the illiterate personage whom he affected to be."--_Montgomery's Lect._ "Yet was he him, who was to be the greatest apostle of the Gentiles."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 540. "Sweet was the thrilling ecstacy; I know not if 'twas love, or thee."--_Queen's Wake_, p. 14. "Time was, when none would cry, that oaf was me."--_Dryden, Prol._ "No matter where the vanquish'd be, nor whom."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. i, l. 676. "No, I little thought it had been him."--_Life of Oration_. "That reverence and godly fear, whose object is 'Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.'"--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 312. "It is us that they seek to please, or rather to astonish."--_West's Letters_, p. 28. "Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac."--_Gen._, xxiv, 14. "Although I knew it to be he."--_Dickens's Notes_, p. 9. "Dear gentle youth, is't none but thee?"--_Dorset's Poems_, p. 4. "Whom do they say it is?"--_Fowler's E. Gram._, §493.

"These are her garb, not her; they but express
Her form, her semblance, her appropriate dress."--_Hannah More_.

UNDER NOTE I.--THE CASE DOUBTFUL.

"I had no knowledge of there being any connexion between them."--_Stone, on Freemasonry_, p. 25. "To promote iniquity in others, is nearly the same as being the actors of it ourselves."--_Murray's Key_, p. 170. "It must arise from feeling delicately ourselves."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 330; _Murray's Gram._, 248. "By reason of there not having been exercised a competent physical power for their enforcement."--_Mass. Legislature_, 1839. "PUPILAGE, _n._ The state of being a scholar."--_Johnson, Walker, Webster, Worcester_. "Then the other part's being the definition would make it include all verbs of every description."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 343. "John's being my friend,[363] saved me from inconvenience."--_Ib._, p. 201. "William's having become a judge, changed his whole demeanor."--_Ib._, p. 201. "William's having been a teacher, was the cause of the interest which he felt."--_Ib._, p. 216. "The being but one among many stifleth the chidings of conscience."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 131. "As for its being esteemed a close translalation [sic--KTH], I doubt not many have been led into that error by the shortness of it."--_Pope's Pref. to Homer_. "All presumption of death's being the destruction of living beings, must go upon supposition that they are compounded, and so discerptible."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 63. "This argues rather their being proper names."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 382. "But may it not be retorted, that its being a gratification is that which excites our resentment?"--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 145. "Under the common notion, of its being a system of the whole poetical art."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 401. "Whose time or other circumstances forbid their becoming classical scholars."--_Literary Convention_, p. 113. "It would preclude the notion of his being a merely fictitious personage."--_Philological Museum_, i, 446. "For, or under pretence of their being heretics or infidels."--_The Catholic Oath_; Geo. III, 31st. "We may here add Dr. Home's sermon on Christ's being the Object of religious Adoration."--_Relig. World_, Vol. ii, p. 200. "To say nothing of Dr. Priestley's being a strenuous advocate," &c.--_Ib._, ii, 207. "By virtue of Adam's being their public head."--_Ib._, ii, 233. "Objections against there being any such moral plan as this."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 57. "A greater instance of a man's being a blockhead."--_Spect._, No. 520. "We may insure or promote its being a happy state of existence to ourselves."--_Gurney's Evidences_, p. 86. "By its often falling a victim to the same kind of unnatural treatment."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 41. "Their appearing foolishness is no presumption against this."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 189. "But what arises from their being offences; _i. e_. from their being liable to be perverted."--_Ib._, p. 185. "And he entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God."--_Acts_, xviii, 7.

UNDER NOTE II.--OF FALSE IDENTIFICATION.

"But to be popular, he observes, is an ambiguous word."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 307. "The infinitive mood, or part of a sentence, is often the nominative case to a verb."--_L. Murray's Index, Octavo Gram._, Vol. ii, p. 290. "When any person, in speaking, introduces his own name, it is the first person; as, 'I, James, of the city of Boston.'"--_R. C. Smith's New Gram._, p. 43. "The name of the person spoken to, is the second person; as, 'James, come to me.'"--_Ibid._ "The name of the person or thing spoken of, or about, is the third person; as, 'James has come.'"--_Ibid._ "The object [of a passive verb] is always its subject or nominative case."--_Ib._, p. 62. "When a noun is in the nominative case to an active verb, it is the actor."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 44. "And the person commanded, is its nominative."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 120. "The first person is that who speaks."--_Pasquier's Lévizac_, p. 91. "The Conjugation of a Verb is its different variations or inflections throughout the Moods and Tenses."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 80. "The first person is the speaker. The second person is the one spoken to. The third person is the one spoken of."--_Parker and Fox's Gram._, Part i, p. 6; _Hiley's_, 18. "The first person is the one that speaks, or the speaker."--_Sanborn's Gram._, pp. 23 and 75. "The second person is the one that is spoken to, or addressed."--_Ibid._ "The third person is the one that is spoken of, or that is the topic of conversation."--_Ibid._ "_I_, is the first person Singular. _We_, is the first person Plural."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 51; _Alger's, Ingersoll's_, and _many others_. "_Thou_, is the second person Singular. _Ye_ or _you_, is the second person Plural."--_Ibid._ "_He, she_, or _it_, is the third person Singular. _They_, is the third person Plural."--_Ibid._ "The nominative case is the actor, or subject of the verb."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 43. "The noun _John_ is the actor, therefore John is in the nominative case."--_Ibid._ "The actor is always the nominative case."--_Smith's New Gram._, p. 62. "The nominative case is always the agent or actor."--_Mack's Gram._, p. 67. "Tell the part of speech each name is."--_J. Flint's Gram._, p. 6. "What number is _boy_? Why? What number is _pens_? Why?"--_Ib._, p. 27. "The speaker is the first person, the person spoken to, the second person, and the person or thing spoken of, is the third person."--_Ib._, p. 26. "What nouns are masculine gender? All males are masculine gender."--_Ib._, p. 28. "An interjection is a sudden emotion of the mind."--_Barrett's Gram._, p. 62.

RULE VII.--OBJECTIVES.

A Noun or a Pronoun made the object of a preposition, is governed by it in the objective case: as, "The temple of _fame_ stands upon the _grave_: the flame that burns upon its _altars_, is kindled from the _ashes_ of great _men_"--_Hazlitt_.

"Life is His gift, from _whom_ whate'er life needs, With ev'ry good and perfect _gift_, proceeds."--_Cowper_, Vol. i, p. 95.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE VII.

OBS. 1.--To this rule there are no exceptions; for prepositions, in English, govern no other case than the objective.[364] But the learner should observe that most of our prepositions may take the _imperfect participle_ for their object, and some, the _pluperfect_, or _preperfect_; as, "_On opening_ the trial they accused him _of having defrauded_ them."--"A quick wit, a nice judgment, &c., could not raise this man _above being received_ only upon the foot _of contributing_ to mirth and diversion."--_Steele_. And the preposition _to_ is often followed by an _infinitive verb_; as, "When one sort of wind is said _to whistle_, and an other _to roar_; when a serpent is said _to hiss_, a fly _to buzz_, and falling timber _to crash_; when a stream is said _to flow_, and hail _to rattle_; the analogy between the word and the thing signified, is plainly discernible."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 55. But let it not be supposed that participles or infinitives, when they are governed by prepositions, are therefore in the _objective case_; for case is no attribute of either of these classes of words: they are indeclinable in English, whatever be the relations they assume. They are governed _as participles_, or _as infinitives_, and not _as cases_. The mere fact of government is so far from _creating_ the modification governed, that it necessarily presupposes it to exist, and that it is something cognizable in etymology.

OBS. 2.--The brief assertion, that, "Prepositions govern the objective case," which till very lately our grammarians have universally adopted as their sole rule for both terms, the governing and the governed,--the preposition and its object,--is, in respect to both, somewhat exceptionable, being but partially and lamely applicable to either. It neither explains the connecting nature of the preposition, nor applies to all objectives, nor embraces all the terms which a preposition may govern. It is true, that prepositions, when they introduce declinable words, or words that have cases, always govern the objective; but the rule is liable to be misunderstood, and is in fact often misapplied, as if it meant something more than this. Besides, in no other instance do grammarians attempt to parse both the governing word and the governed, by one and the same rule. I have therefore placed the _objects_ of this government here, where they belong in the order of the parts of speech, expressing the rule in such terms as cannot be mistaken; and have also given, in its proper place, a distinct rule for the construction of the preposition itself. See Rule 23d.

OBS. 3.--Prepositions are sometimes _elliptically_ construed with _adjectives_, the real object of the relation being thought to be some objective noun understood: as, _in vain, in secret, at first, on high_; i. e. _in a vain manner, in secret places, at the first time, on high places_. Such phrases usually imply time, place, degree, or manner, and are equivalent to adverbs. In parsing, the learner may supply the ellipsis.

OBS. 4.--In some phrases, a preposition seems to govern a _perfect participle_; but these expressions are perhaps rather to be explained as being elliptical: as, "To give it up _for lost_;"--"To take that _for granted_ which is disputed."--_Murray's Gram._, Vol. i, p. 109. That is, perhaps, "To give it up for _a thing_ lost;"--"To take that for _a thing_ granted," &c. In the following passage the words _ought_ and _should_ are employed in such a manner that it is difficult to say to what part of speech they belong: "It is that very character of _ought_ and _should_ which makes justice a law to us; and the same character is applicable to propriety, though perhaps more faintly than to justice."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. 286. The meaning seems to be, "It is that very character of _being owed_ and _required, that_ makes justice a law to us;" and this mode of expression, as it is more easy to be _parsed_, is perhaps more grammatical than his Lordship's. But, as preterits are sometimes put by _enallage_ for participles, a reference of them to this figure may afford a mode of explanation in parsing, whenever they are introduced by a preposition, and not by a nominative: as, "A kind of conquest Cæsar made here; but made not here his brag Of, _came_, and _saw_, and _overcame_"--_Shak., Cymb._, iii, 1. That is,--"of _having come_, and _seen_, and _overcome_." Here, however, by assuming that a _sentence_ is the object of the preposition, we may suppose the pronoun _I_ to be understood, as _ego_ is in the bulletin referred to, "_Veni, vidi, vici_." For, as a short sentence is sometimes made the subject of a verb, so is it sometimes made the object of a preposition; as,

"Earth's highest station ends _in, 'here he lies;'_
And '_dust to dust_,' concludes her noblest song."--_Young_.

OBS. 5.--In some instances, prepositions precede _adverbs_; as, _at once, at unawares, from thence, from above, till now, till very lately, for once, for ever_. Here the adverb, though an indeclinable word, appears to be made _the object_ of the preposition. It is in fact used substantively, and governed by the preposition. The term _forever_ is often written as one word, and, as such, is obviously an adverb. The rest are what some writers would call _adverbial phrases_; a term not very consistent with itself, or with the true idea of _parsing_. If different parts of speech are to be taken together as having the nature of an adverb, they ought rather to coalesce and be united; for the verb to _parse_, being derived from the Latin _pars_, a _part_, implies in general a distinct recognition of the elements or words of every phrase or sentence.

OBS. 6.--Nouns of _time, measure, distance_, or _value_, have often so direct a relation to verbs or adjectives, that the prepositions which are supposed to govern them, are usually suppressed; as, "We rode _sixty miles_ that day." That is,--"_through_ sixty miles _on_ that day." "The country is not a _farthing_ richer."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 122. That is,--"richer _by_ a farthing." "The error has been copied _times_ without number."--_Ib._, p. 281. That is,--"_on_ or _at_ times _innumerable_." "A row of columns _ten feet_ high, and a row _twice that height_, require different proportions." _Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 344. That is,--"high _to_ ten feet," and, "a row _of_ twice that height." "_Altus sex pedes_, High _on_ or _at_ six feet."--_Dr. Murray's Hist of Europ. Lang._, ii, 150. All such nouns are in the _objective case_, and, in parsing them, the learner may supply the ellipsis;[365] or, perhaps it might be as well, to say, as do B. H. Smart and some others, that the noun is an objective of time, measure, or value, taken _adverbially_, and relating directly to the verb or adjective qualified by it. Such expressions as, "A board of six feet _long_,"--"A boy _of_ twelve years _old_," are wrong. Either strike out the _of_, or say, "A board of six feet _in length_,"--"A boy of twelve years _of age_;" because this preposition is not suited to the adjective, nor is the adjective fit to qualify the time or measure.

OBS. 7.--After the adjectives _like, near_, and _nigh_, the preposition _to_ or _unto_ is often understood;[366] as, "It is _like_ [_to_ or _unto_] silver."--_Allen_. "How _like_ the former."--_Dryden_. "_Near_ yonder copse."--_Goldsmith_. "_Nigh_ this recess."--_Garth_. As similarity and proximity are _relations_, and not _qualities_, it might seem proper to call _like, near_, and _nigh_, prepositions; and some grammarians have so classed the last two. Dr. Johnson seems to be inconsistent in calling _near_ a preposition, in the phrase, "_So near_ thy heart," and an adjective, in the phrase, "Being _near_ their master." See his _Quarto Dict._ I have not placed them with the prepositions, for the following four reasons: (1.) Because they are sometimes _compared_; (2.) Because they sometimes have _adverbs_ evidently relating to them; (3.) Because the preposition _to_ or _unto_ is sometimes expressed after them; and (4.) Because the words which _usually_ stand for them in the learned languages, are clearly _adjectives_.[367] But _like_, when it expresses similarity of _manner_, and _near_ and _nigh_, when they express proximity of _degree_, are _adverbs_.

OBS. 8.--The word _worth_ is often followed by an objective, or a participle, which it appears to govern; as, "If your arguments produce no conviction, they are _worth_ nothing to me."--_Beattie_. "To reign is _worth_ ambition."--_Milton_. "This is life indeed, life _worth_ preserving."--_Addison_. It is not easy to determine to what part of speech _worth_ here belongs. Dr. Johnson calls it an _adjective_, but says nothing of the _object_ after it, which some suppose to be governed by _of_ understood. In this supposition, it is gratuitously assumed, that _worth_ is equivalent to _worthy_, after which _of_ should be expressed; as, "Whatsoever is _worthy of_ their love, is _worth_ their anger."--_Denham_. But as _worth_ appears to have no certain characteristic of an adjective, some call it a _noun_, and suppose a double ellipsis; as, "'My knife is worth a shilling;' i. e. 'My knife is _of the_ worth of a shilling.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 163. "'The book is worth that sum;' that is, 'The book is (_the_) worth (_of_) that _sum_;' 'It is worth _while_;' that is, 'It is (_the_) worth (_of the_) while.'"--_Nixon's Parser_, p. 54. This is still less satisfactory;[368] and as the whole appears to be mere guess-work, I see no good reason why _worth_ is not a _preposition_, governing the noun or participle.[369] If an _adverb_ precede _worth_, it may as well be referred to the foregoing verb, as when it occurs before any other preposition: as, "It _is richly worth_ the money."--"It _lies directly before_ your door." Or if we admit that an adverb sometimes relates to this word, the same thing may be as true of other prepositions; as, "And this is a lesson which, to the greatest part of mankind, is, I think, _very well worth_ learning."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 303. "He sees let down from the ceiling, _exactly over_ his head, a glittering sword, hung by a single hair."--_Murray's E. Reader_, p. 33. See Exception 3d to Rule 21st.

OBS. 9.--Both Dr. Johnson and Horne Tooke, (who never agreed if they could help it,) unite in saying that _worth_, in the phrases, "Wo _worth_ the man,"--"Wo _worth_ the day," and the like, is from the imperative of the Saxon verb _wyrthan_ or _weorthan_, to _be_; i. e., "Wo _be_ [_to_] the man," or, "Wo _betide_ the man," &c. And the latter affirms, that, as the preposition _by_ is from the imperative of _beon_, to _be_, so _with_, (though admitted to be sometimes from _withan_, to join,) is often no other than this same imperative verb _wyrth_ or _worth_: if so, the three words, _by, with_, and _worth_, were originally synonymous, and should now be referred at least to one and the same class. The _dative case_, or oblique object, which they governed as _Saxon verbs_, becomes their proper object, when taken as _English prepositions_; and in this also they appear to be alike. _Worth_, then, when it signifies _value_, is a common noun; but when it signifies _equal in value to_, it governs an objective, and has the usual characteristics of a preposition. Instances may perhaps be found in which _worth_ is an adjective, meaning _valuable_ or _useful_, as in the following lines: