Chapter VIII: Adverbs

The syntax of an Adverb consists in its simple relation to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or whatever else it qualifies; just as the syntax of an English Adjective, (except in a few instances,) consists in its simple relation to a noun or a pronoun.

RULE XXI.--ADVERBS.

Adverbs relate to verbs, participles, adjectives, or other adverbs: as, "Any passion that _habitually_ discomposes our temper, or unfits us for _properly_ discharging the duties of life, has _most certainly_ gained a _very_ dangerous ascendency."--_Blair_.

"_How_ bless'd this happy hour, should he appear,
Dear to us all, to me _supremely_ dear!"--_Pope's Homer_.

EXCEPTION FIRST.

The adverbs _yes, ay_, and _yea_, expressing a simple affirmation, and the adverbs _no_ and _nay_, expressing a simple negation, are always independent. They generally answer a question, and are equivalent to a whole sentence. Is it clear, that they ought to be called adverbs? _No_. "Can honour set to a leg? _No_. Or an arm? _No_. Or take away the grief of a wound? _No_. Honour hath no skill in surgery then? _No_."--SHAK.: _First Part of Hen. IV_, Act v, 1.

EXCEPTION SECOND.

The word _amen_, which is commonly called an adverb, is often used independently at the beginning or end of a declaration or a prayer; and is itself a prayer, meaning, _So let it be_: as, "Surely, I come quickly. _Amen_: Even so, come Lord Jesus."--_Rev._, xxii, 20. When it does not stand thus alone, it seems in general to be used substantively; as, "The strangers among them stood on Gerizim, and echoed _amen_ to the blessings."--_Wood's Dict._ "These things saith the _Amen_."--_Rev._, iii, 14

EXCEPTION THIRD.

An adverb before a preposition seems sometimes to relate to the latter, rather than to the verb or participle to which the preposition connects its object; as, "This mode of pronunciation runs _considerably beyond_ ordinary discourse."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 334. "Yea, _all along_ the times of the apostasy, this was the thing that preserved the witnesses."--_Penington's Works_, Vol. iv, p. 12. [See Obs. 8th on Rule 7th.]

"_Right against_ the eastern gate,
Where the great sun begins his state."--_Milton, L'Allegro_.

EXCEPTION FOURTH.

The words _much, little, far_, and _all_, being originally adjectives, are sometimes preceded by the negative _not_, or (except the last) by such an adverb as _too, how, thus, so_, or _as_, when they are taken substantively; as, "_Not all_ that glitters, is gold."--"_Too much_ should not be offered at once."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 140. "_Thus far_ is consistent."--_Ib._, p. 161. "_Thus far_ is right."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 101.

OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XXI.

OBS. 1.--On this rule of syntax, Dr. Adam remarks, "Adverbs sometimes likewise qualify _substantives_;" and gives Latin examples of the following import: "Homer _plainly_ an orator:"--"_Truly_ Metellus;"--"_To-morrow_ morning." But this doctrine is not well proved by such imperfect phrases, nor can it ever be very consistently admitted, because it destroys the characteristic difference between an adjective and an adverb. _To-morrow_ is here an adjective; and as for _truly_ and _plainly_, they are not such words as can make sense with nouns. I therefore imagine the phrases to be elliptical: "_Verè Metellus_," may mean, "_This is truly_ Metellus;" and "_Homerus planè orator_," "Homer _was plainly_ an orator." So, in the example, "Behold an Israelite _indeed_," the true construction seems to be, "Behold, _here is indeed_ an Israelite;" for, in the Greek or Latin, the word _Israelite_ is a nominative, thus: "_Ecce verè Israëlita_."--_Beza_; also _Montanus_. "[Greek: Ide alæthos 'Israaelitæs.]"--_Greek Testament. Behold_ appears to be here an interjection, like _Ecce_. If we make it a transitive verb, the reading should be, "Behold a _true_ Israelite;" for the text does not mean, "_Behold indeed_ an Israelite." At least, this is not the meaning in our version. W. H. Wells, citing as authorities for the doctrine, "Bullions, Allen and Cornwell, Brace, Butler, and Webber," has the following remark: "There are, however, certain forms of expression in which _adverbs_ bear a special relation to _nouns_ or _pronouns_; as, 'Behold I, _even I_, do bring a flood of waters.'--_Gen._ 6: 17. 'For our gospel came not unto you in _word only_, but also in power.'--1 _Thes._ 1: 5."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 156; late Ed., 168. And again, in his Punctuation, we find this: "When, however, the intervening word is an _adverb_, the comma is more commonly omitted; as, 'It is _labor only_ which gives a relish to pleasure.'"--_Ib._, p. 176. From all this, the doctrine receives no better support than from Adam's suggestion above considered. The word "_only_" is often an _adjective_, and wherever its "special relation" is to a noun or a pronoun, it can be nothing else. "_Even_," when it introduces a word repeated with emphasis, is a _conjunction_.

OBS. 2.--When participles become nouns, their adverbs are not unfrequently left standing with them in their original relation; as, "For the fall and _rising again_ of many in Israel."--_Luke_, ii, 34. "To denote the _carrying forward_ of the action."--_Barnard's Gram._, p. 52. But in instances like these, _the hyphen_ seems to be necessary. This mark would make the terms _rising-again_ and _carrying-forward_ compound nouns, and not participial nouns with adverbs relating to them.

"There is no _flying hence_, nor _tarrying here_."--_Shak., Macbeth_.

"What! in ill thoughts again? men must endure
Their _going hence_, ev'n as their _coming hither_."--_Id._

OBS. 3.--Whenever any of those words which are commonly used adverbially, are made to relate directly to nouns or pronouns, they must be reckoned _adjectives_, and parsed by Rule 9th. Examples: "The _above_ verbs."--_Dr. Adam_. "To the _above_ remarks."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 318. "The _above instance_."--_Ib._, p. 442. "After the _above_ partial illustration."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of Lang._, ii, 62. "The _above explanation_."--_Cobbett's Gram._, ¶ 22. "For _very_ age."--_Zech._, viii, 4. "From its _very_ greatness."--_Phil. Museum_, i, 431. "In his _then_ situation."--_Johnson's Life of Goldsmith_. "This was the _then_ state of Popery."--_Id., Life of Dryden_, p. 185. "The servant becomes the master of his _once_ master."--_Shillitoe_. "Time _when_ is put in the ablative, time how _long_ is put in the accusative."--_Adam's Lat. Gram._, p. 201; _Gould's_, 198. "Nouns signifying the time _when_ or how _long_, may be put in the objective case without a preposition."--_Wilbur and Livingston's Gram._, p. 24. "I hear the _far-off_ curfew sound."--_Milton_. "Far on the _thither_ side."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 58. "My _hither_ way."--"Since my _here_ remain in England."--_Shak._ "But short and _seldom_ truce."--_Fell_. "An _exceeding_ knave."--_Pope_. "According to my _sometime_ promise."--_Zenobia_, i, 176. "Thine _often_ infirmities."--_Bible_. "A _far_ country."--_Ib._ "_No_ wine,"--"_No_ new thing,"--"_No_ greater joy."--_Ib._ "Nothing _else_."--_Blair_. "_Tomorrow_ noon."--_Scott_. "Calamity _enough_."--_Tr. Sallust_. "For thou _only_ art holy."--_Rev._, xv, 4.

OBS. 4.--It is not my design to justify any uncouth substitution of adverbs for adjectives; nor do I affirm that all the foregoing examples are indisputably good English, though most of them are so; but merely, that the words, when they are thus used, _are adjectives_, and not adverbs. Lindley Murray, and his copyists, strongly condemn some of these expressions, and, by implication, most or all of them; but both he and they, as well as others, have repeatedly employed at least one of the very models they censure. They are too severe on all those which they specify. Their objections stand thus; "_Such expressions_ as the following, though not destitute of authority, _are very inelegant_, and do _not suit the idiom_ of our language; 'The _then_ ministry,' for, 'the ministry of that time;' 'The _above_ discourse,' for, 'the preceding discourse.'"--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 198; _Crombie's_, 294; _Ingersoll's_, 206. "The following phrases are also exceptionable: 'The _then_ ministry;' 'The _above_ argument.'"--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 190. "Adverbs used as adjectives, as, 'The _above_ statement;' 'The _then_ administration;' should be avoided."--_Barnard's Gram._, p. 285. "_When_ and _then_ must not be used for nouns _and pronouns_; thus, 'Since _when_,' 'since _then_,' 'the _then_ ministry,' ought to be, 'Since _which time_,' 'since _that time_,' 'the ministry _of that period_.'"--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 96. Dr. Priestley, from whom Murray derived many of his critical remarks, noticed these expressions; and, (as I suppose,) _approvingly_; thus, "Adverbs are often put for adjectives, agreeably to the idiom of the Greek tongue: [as,] 'The action was _amiss_.'--'The _then_ ministry.'--'The idea is _alike_ in both.'--Addison. 'The _above_ discourse.'--Harris."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 135. Dr. Johnson, as may be seen above, thought it not amiss to use _then_ as Priestley here cites it; and for such a use of _above_, we may quote the objectors themselves: "To support the _above_ construction."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 149; _Ingersoll's_, p. 238. "In all the _above_ instances."--_Mur._, p. 202; _Ing._, 230. "To the _above_ rule."--_Mur._, p. 270; _Ing._, 283. "The same as the _above_."--_Mur._, p. 66; _Ing._, 46. "In such instances as the _above_."--_Mur._, p. 24; _Ing._, 9; _Kirkham_, 23.[427]

OBS. 5.--When words of an adverbial character are used after the manner of _nouns_, they must be parsed as nouns, and not as adverbs; as, "The Son of God--was not _yea_ and _nay_, but in him was _yea_."--_Bible_. "For a great _while_ to come."--_Ib._ "On this _perhaps_, this _peradventure_ infamous for lies."--_Young_. "From the extremest _upward_ of thine head."--_Shak_. "There are _upwards_ of fifteen millions of inhabitants."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 266. "Information has been derived from _upwards_ of two hundred volumes."--_Worcester's Hist._, p. v. "An eternal _now_ does always last"--_Cowley_. "Discourse requires an animated _no_."--_Cowper_. "Their hearts no proud _hereafter_ swelled."--_Sprague_. An adverb after a preposition is used substantively, and governed by the preposition; though perhaps it is not necessary to call it a common noun: as, "For _upwards_ of thirteen years."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. xvi. "That thou mayst curse me them _from thence_."--_Numb._, xxiii, 27. "Yet _for once_ we'll try."--_Dr. Franklin_. But many take such terms together, calling them "_adverbial phrases_." Allen says, "Two adverbs sometimes come together; as, 'Thou hast kept the good wine _until now_.'"--_Gram._, p. 174. But _until_ is here more properly a preposition, governing _now_.

OBS. 6.--It is plain, that when words of an adverbial form are used either adjectively or substantively, they cannot be parsed by the foregoing rule, or explained as having the ordinary relation of _adverbs_; and if the unusual relation or character which they thus assume, be not thought sufficient to fix them in the rank of adjectives or nouns, the parser may describe them as adverbs used adjectively, or substantively, and apply the rule which their assumed construction requires. But let it be remembered, that adverbs, as such, neither relate to nouns, nor assume the nature of cases: but express the time, place, degree, or manner, of actions or qualities. In some instances in which their construction may seem not to be reconcilable with the common rule, there may be supposed an ellipsis of a verb or a participle:[428] as, "From Monday to Saturday _inclusively_."--_Webster's Dict._ Here, the Doctor ought to have used a comma after _Saturday_; for the adverb relates, not to that noun, but to the word _reckoned_, understood. "It was well said by Roscommon, '_too faithfully is pedantically_.'"--_Com. Sch. Journal_, i, 167. This saying I suppose to mean, "_To do a thing_ too faithfully, is, _to do it_ pedantically." "And, [_I say] truly_, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned."--_Heb._, xi, 15.

OBS 7.--To abbreviate expressions, and give them vivacity, verbs of self-motion (such as _go, come, rise, get_, &c.) are sometimes suppressed, being suggested to the mind by an emphatic adverb, which seems to be put _for the verb_, but does in fact relate to it understood; as,

"I'll _hence_ to London, on a serious matter."--_Shak_. Supply "_go_."

"I'll _in_. I'll _in_. Follow your friend's counsel. I'll _in_"--_Id._ Supply "_get_."

"_Away_, old man; give me thy hand; _away_."--_Id._ Supply "_come_."

"Love hath wings, and will _away_"--_Waller_. Supply "_fly_."

"_Up, up_, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho!"--_Scott_. Supply "_spring_."

"Henry the Fifth is crowned; _up_, vanity!" Supply "_stand_."

"_Down_, royal state! all you sage counsellors, _hence_!"--_Shak._ Supply "_fall_," and "_get you_."

"But _up_, and enter now into full bliss."--_Milton_. Supply "_rise_."

OBS. 8.--We have, on some occasions, a singular way of expressing a transitive action imperatively, or emphatically, by adding the preposition _with_ to an adverb of direction; as, _up with it, down with it, in with it, out with it, over with it, away with it_, and the like; in which construction, the adverb seems to be used elliptically as above, though the insertion of the verb would totally enervate or greatly alter the expression. Examples: "She _up with_ her fist, and took him on the face."--_Sydney, in Joh. Dictionary_. "_Away with_ him!"--_Acts_, xxi, 36. "_Away with_ such a fellow from the earth."--_Ib._, xxii, 22. "The calling of assemblies I cannot _away with_"--_Isaiah_, i, 13. "_Hence with_ denial vain, and coy excuse."--_Milton's Comus_. Ingersoll says, "Sometimes a whole phrase is used as an interjection, and we call such _interjectional phrases_: as, _out upon him!--away with him!--Alas, what wonder!_ &c."--_Conversations on Gram._, p. 79. This method of lumping together several different parts of speech under the notion of one, and calling the whole an "_adverbial phrase_," a "_substantive phrase_," or an "_interjectional phrase_," is but a forced put, by which some grammarians would dodge certain difficulties which they know not how to meet. It is directly repugnant to the idea of _parsing_; for the parser ever deals with the parts of speech as such, and not with whole phrases in the lump. The foregoing adverbs when used imperatively, have some resemblance to interjections; but, in some of the examples above cited, they certainly are not used in this manner.

OBS. 9.--A _conjunctive adverb_ usually relates to two verbs at the same time, and thus connects two clauses of a compound sentence; as, "And the rest will I set in order _when_ I come,"--_1 Cor._, xi, 34. Here _when_ is a conjunctive adverb of time, and relates to the two verbs _will set_ and _come_; the meaning being, "And the rest will I set in order _at the time at which_ I come." This adverb _when_ is often used erroneously in lieu of a nominative after _is_, to which construction of the word, such an interpretation as the foregoing would not be applicable; because the person means to tell, not _when_, but _what_, the thing is, of which he speaks: as, "Another cause of obscurity is _when_ the structure of the sentence is too much complicated, or too artificial; or _when_ the sense is too long suspended by parentheses."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 246. Here the conjunction _that_ would be much better than _when_, but the sentence might advantageously spare them both; thus, "An other cause of obscurity is too much _complication_, too artificial _a structure_ of the sentence, or too long _a suspension_ of the sense by _parenthesis_."

OBS. 10.--For the _placing_ of adverbs, no definite general rule can be given; yet is there no other part of speech so liable to be misplaced. Those which relate to adjectives, or to other adverbs, with very few exceptions, immediately precede them; and those which belong to compound verbs, are commonly placed after the first auxiliary; or, if they be emphatical, after the whole verb. Those which relate to simple verbs, or to simple participles, are placed sometimes before and sometimes after them. Examples are so very common, I shall cite but one: "A man may, in respect to grammatical purity, speak _unexceptionably_, and yet speak _obscurely_, or _ambiguously_; and though we cannot say, that a man may speak _properly_, and at the same time speak _unintelligibly_, yet this last case falls _more naturally_ to be considered as an offence against perspicuity, than as a violation of propriety."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 239.

OBS. 11.--Of the infinitive verb and its preposition _to_, some grammarians say, that they must never be separated by an adverb. It is true, that the adverb is, in general, more elegantly placed before the preposition than after it; but, possibly, the latter position of it may sometimes contribute to perspicuity, which is more essential than elegance: as, "If any man refuse _so to implore_, and _to so receive_ pardon, let him die the death."--_Fuller, on the Gospel_, p. 209. The latter word _so_, if placed like the former, might possibly be understood in a different sense from what it now bears. But perhaps it would be better to say. "If any man refuse so to implore, and _on such terms_ to receive pardon, let him die the death." "Honour teaches us _properly_ to respect ourselves."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 252. Here it is not quite clear, to which verb the adverb "_properly_" relates. Some change of the expression is therefore needful. The right to place an adverb sometimes between _to_ and its verb, should, I think, be conceded to the poets: as,

"Who dared _to nobly stem_ tyrannic pride."--BURNS: _C. Sat. N._

OBS. 12.--The adverb _no_ is used independently, only when it is equivalent to a whole sentence. This word is sometimes an adverb of _degree_; and as such it has this peculiarity, that it can relate only to comparatives: as, "_No_ more,"--"_No_ better,"--"_No_ greater,"--"_No_ sooner." When _no_ is set before a noun, it is clearly an _adjective_, corresponding to the Latin _nullus_; as, "_No_ clouds, _no_ vapours intervene."--_Dyer_. Dr. Johnson, with no great accuracy, remarks, "It seems an _adjective_ in these phrases, _no_ longer, _no_ more, _no_ where; though sometimes it may be so commodiously changed to _not_, that it seems an adverb; as, 'The days are yet _no_ shorter.'"--_Quarto Dict._ And his first example of what he calls the "_adverb_ NO" is this: "'Our courteous Antony, Whom ne'er the word of _no_ woman heard speak.' SHAKSPEARE."--_Ibid._ Dr. Webster says, "When it precedes _where_, as in _no where_, it may be considered as adverbial, though originally an adjective."--_Octavo Dict._ The truth is, that _no_ is an adverb, whenever it relates to an adjective; an adjective, whenever it relates to a noun; and a noun, whenever it takes the relation of a case. Thus, in what Johnson cites from Shakspeare, it is a noun, and not an adverb; for the meaning is, that a woman never heard Antony speak the word _of no_--that is, _of negation_. And there ought to be a comma after this word, to make the text intelligible. To read it thus: "_the word of no woman_," makes _no_ an adjective. So, to say, "There are _no abler critics_ than these," is a very different thing from saying, "There are _critics no abler_ than these;" because _no_ is an adjective in the former sentence, and an adverb in the latter. _Somewhere, nowhere, anywhere, else-where_, and _everywhere_, are adverbs of place, each of which is composed of the noun _where_ and an _adjective_; and it is absurd to write a part of them as compound words, and the rest as phrases, as many authors do.

OBS. 13.--In some languages, the more negatives one crowds into a sentence, the stronger is the negation; and this appears to have been formerly the case in English, or in what was anciently the language of Britain: as, "He _never_ yet _no_ vilanie _ne_ sayde in alle his lif unto _no_ manere wight."--_Chaucer_. "_Ne_ I _ne_ wol _non_ reherce, yef that I may."--_Id._ "Give _not_ me counsel; _nor_ let _no_ comforter delight mine ear."--_Shakspeare_. "She _cannot_ love, _nor_ take _no_ shape _nor_ project of affection."--_Id._ Among people of education, this manner of expression has now become wholly obsolete; though it still prevails, to some extent, in the conversation of the vulgar. It is to be observed, however, that the _repetition_ of an independent negative word or clause yet strengthens the negation; as, "_No, no, no_."--"_No, never_."--"_No, not_ for an hour."--_Gal._, ii, 5. "There is _none_ righteous, _no, not_ one."--_Rom._, iii, 10. But two negatives in the same clause, if they have any bearing on each other, destroy the negation, and render the meaning weakly affirmative; as, "_Nor_ did they _not_ perceive their evil plight."--_Milton_. That is, they _did_ perceive it. "'His language, though inelegant, is _not ungrammatical_;' that is, it _is_ grammatical."-- _Murray's Gram._, p. 198. The term _not only_, or _not merely_, being a correspondent to _but_ or _but also_, may be followed by an other negative without this effect, because the two negative words have no immediate bearing on each other; as, "Your brother is _not only not_ present, and _not_ assisting in prosecuting your injuries, _but_ is now actually with Verres."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p, 19. "In the latter we have _not merely nothing_, to denote what the point should be; _but no_ indication, that any point at all is wanting."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 373. So the word _nothing_, when taken positively for nonentity, or that which does not exist, may be followed by an other negative; as,

"First, seat him somewhere, and derive his race,
Or else conclude that _nothing_ has _no_ place."--_Dryden_, p. 95.

OBS. 14.--The common rule of our grammars, "Two negatives, in English, destroy each other, or are equivalent to an affirmative," is far from being _true_ of all possible examples. A sort of informal exception to it, (which is mostly confined to conversation,) is made by a familiar transfer of the word _neither_ from the beginning of the clause to the end of it; as, "But here is _no_ notice taken of that _neither_"--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 336. That is, "But _neither_ is _any_ notice here taken of that." Indeed a negation may be repeated, by the same word or others, as often as we please, if no two of the terms in particular contradict each other; as, "He will _never_ consent, _not_ he, _no, never, nor_ I _neither_." "He will _not_ have time, _no, nor_ capacity _neither_."--_Bolingbroke, on Hist._, p. 103. "Many terms and idioms may be common, which, nevertheless, have _not_ the general sanction, _no, nor_ even the sanction of those that use them."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 160; _Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 358. And as to the equivalence spoken of in the same rule, such an expression as, "He did _not_ say _nothing_," is in fact only a vulgar solecism, take it as you will; whether for, "He did _not_ say _anything_," or for, "He _did_ say _something_." The latter indeed is what the contradiction amounts to; but double negatives must be shunned, whenever they _seem_ like blunders. The following examples have, for this reason, been thought objectionable; though Allen says, "Two negatives destroy each other, or _elegantly_ form an affirmation."--_Gram._, p. 174.

------------"_Nor_ knew I _not_
To be both will and deed created free."
--_Milton, P. L._, B. v., l. 548.

"_Nor_ doth the moon _no_ nourishment exhale
From her moist continent to higher orbs."
--_Ib._, B. v, l. 421.

OBS. 15.--Under the head of _double negatives_, there appears in our grammars a dispute of some importance, concerning the adoption of _or_ or _nor_, when any other negative than _neither_ or _nor_ occurs in the preceding clause or phrase: as, "We will _not_ serve thy gods, _nor_ worship the golden image."--_Dan._, iii., 18. "Ye have _no_ portion, _nor_ right, _nor_ memorial in Jerusalem."--_Neh._, ii, 20. "There is _no_ painsworthy difficulty _nor_ dispute about them."--_Horne Tooke, Div._, Vol. i, p. 43. "So as _not_ to cloud that principal object, _nor_ to bury it."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 115; _Murray's Gram._, p. 322. "He did _not_ mention Leonora, _nor_ her father's death."--_Murray's Key_, p. 264. "Thou canst _not_ tell whence it cometh, _nor_ whither it goeth."--_Ib._, p. 215. The form of this text, in John iii, 8th. is--"But canst not tell whence it cometh, _and_ whither it goeth;" which Murray inserted in his exercises as bad English. I do not see that the copulative _and_ is here ungrammatical; but if we prefer a disjunctive, ought it not to be _or_ rather than _nor_? It appears to be the opinion of some, that in ail these examples, and in similar instances innumerable, _nor_ only is proper. Others suppose, that _or_ only is justifiable; and others again, that either _or_ or _nor_ is perfectly correct. Thus grammar, or what should be grammar, differs in the hands of different men! The principle to be settled here, must determine the correctness or incorrectness of a vast number of very common expressions. I imagine that none of these opinions is warrantable, if taken in all that extent to which each of them has been, or may be, carried.

OBS. 16.--It was observed by Priestley, and after him by Lindley Murray, from whom others again have copied the remark: "Sometimes the particles _or_ and _nor_, may, either of them, be used with nearly equal propriety; [as,] 'The king, whose character was not sufficiently vigorous, _nor_ decisive, assented to the measure.'--_Hume. Or_ would perhaps have been better, but _nor_ seems to repeat the negation in the former part of the sentence, and therefore gives more emphasis to the expression."-- _Priestley's Gram._, p. 138; _Murray's_, i, 212; _Ingersoll's_, 268; _R. C. Smith's_, 177. The conjunction _or_ might doubtless have been used in this sentence, but _not with the same meaning_ that is now conveyed; for, if that connective had been employed, the adjective _decisive_ would have been qualified by the adverb _sufficiently_, and would have seemed only an alternative for the former epithet, _vigorous_. As the text now stands, it not only implies a distinction between vigour of character and decision of character, but denies the latter to the king absolutely, the former, with qualification. If the author had meant to suggest such a distinction, and also to qualify his denial of both, he ought to have said--"not sufficiently vigorous, _nor sufficiently_ decisive." With this meaning, however, he might have used _neither_ for _not_; or with the former, he might have used _or_ for _nor_, had he transposed the terms--"was not decisive, _or_ sufficiently vigorous."

OBS. 17.--In the tenth edition of John Burn's Practical Grammar, published at Glasgow, in 1810, are the following suggestions: "It is not uncommon to find the conjunctions _or_ and _nor_ used indiscriminately; but if there be any real distinction in the proper application of them, it is to be wished that it were settled. It is attempted thus:--Let the conjunction _or_ be used simply to connect the members of a sentence, or to mark distribution, opposition, or choice, without any preceding negative particle; and _nor_ to mark the subsequent part of a negative sentence, with some negative particle in the preceding part of it. Examples of OR: 'Recreation of one kind _or_ other is absolutely necessary to relieve the body _or_ mind from too constant attention to labour or study.'--'After this life, succeeds a state of rewards _or_ punishments.'--'Shall I come to you with a rod, _or_ in love?' Examples of NOR: 'Let no man be too confident, _nor_ too diffident of his own abilities.'--'Never calumniate any man, _nor_ give the least encouragement to calumniators.'--'There is _not_ a Christian duty to which providence has not annexed a blessing, _nor_ any affliction for which a remedy is not provided.' If the above distinction be just, the following passage seems to be faulty:

'Seasons return, but _not_ to me returns
Day, _or_ the sweet approach of ev'n _or_ morn,
_Or_ sight of vernal bloom, _or_ summer's rose,
_Or_ flocks, _or_ herds, _or_ human face divine.'
_Milton, P. L._, B. iii, l. 40.--"_Burn's Gr._, p. 108.

OBS. 18.--T. O. Churchill, whose Grammar first appeared in London in 1823, treats this matter thus: "As _or_ answers to _either, nor_, a compound of _not or [ne or_] by contraction, answers to _neither_, a similar compound of _not either [ne either_]. The latter however does not constitute that double use of the negative, in which one, agreeably to the principles of philosophical grammar, destroys the other; for a part of the first word, _neither_, cannot be understood before the second, _nor_: and for the same reason a part of it could not be understood before _or_, which is sometimes improperly used in the second clause; while the whole of it, _neither_, would be obviously improper before _or_. On the other hand, when _not_ is used in the first clause, _nor_ is improper in the second; since it would involve the impropriety of understanding _not_ before a compound of _not_ [or _ne_] with _or_. 'I shall _not_ attempt to convince, _nor_ to persuade you.--What will you _not_ attempt?--To convince, _nor_ to persuade you.' The impropriety of _nor_ in this answer is clear: but the answer should certainly repeat the words not heard, or not understood."--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 330.

OBS. 19.--"It is probable, that the use of _nor_ after _not_ has been introduced, in consequence of such improprieties as the following: 'The injustice of inflicting death for crimes, when _not_ of the most heinous nature, _or_ attended with extenuating circumstances.' Here it is obviously not the intention of the writer, to understand the negative in the last clause: and, if this were good English, it would be not merely allowable to employ _nor_ after _not_, to show the subsequent clause to be negative as well as the preceding, but it would always be necessary. In fact, however, the sentence quoted is faulty, in not repeating the adverb _when_ in the last clause; 'or _when_ attended:' which would preclude the negative from being understood in it; for, if an adverb, conjunction, or auxiliary verb, preceding a negative, be understood in the succeeding clause, the negative is understood also; if it be repeated, the negative must be repeated likewise, or the clause becomes affirmative."--_Ib._, p. 330.

OBS. 20.--This author, proceeding with his remarks, suggests forms of correction for several other common modes of expression, which he conceives to be erroneous. For the information of the student, I shall briefly notice a little further the chief points of his criticism, though he teaches some principles which I have not thought it necessary always to observe in writing. "'And seemed _not_ to understand ceremony, _or_ to despise it.' _Goldsmith_. Here _either_ ought to be inserted before _not_. 'It is _not_ the business of virtue, to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to regulate them.' _Addison_. The sentence ought to have been: 'It is the business of virtue, _not_ to extirpate the affections of the mind, but to regulate them.' 'I do _not_ think, that he was averse to the office; _nor_ do I believe, that it was unsuited to him.' How much better to say: 'I do not think, that he was averse to the office, _or_ that it was unsuited to him!' For the same reason _nor_ cannot follow _never_, the negative in the first clause affecting all the rest."--_Ib._ p. 332. "_Nor_ is sometimes used improperly after _no_: [as,] 'I humbly however trust in God, that I have hazarded _no_ conjecture, _nor_ have given any explanation of obscure points, inconsistent with the general sense of Scripture, which must be our guide in all dubious passages.' _Gilpin_. It ought to be: '_and_ have given _no_ explanation;' or, 'I have _neither_ hazarded any conjecture, _nor_ given any explanation.' The use of _or_ after _neither_ is as common, as that of _nor_ after _no_ or _not_.[429] '_Neither_ the pencil _or_ poetry are adequate.' _Coxe_. Properly, '_Neither_ the pencil _nor_ poetry _is_ adequate.' 'The vow of poverty _allowed_ the Jesuits individually, to have _no_ idea of wealth.' _Dornford_. We cannot _allow_ a _nonentity_. It should be: 'did _not_ allow, to have _any_ idea.'"--_Ib._, p. 333.

OBS. 21.--Thus we see that Churchill wholly and positively condemns _nor_ after _not, no_, or _never_; while Burn totally disapproves of _or_, under the same circumstances. Both of these critics are wrong, because each carries his point too far; and yet it may not be right, to suppose both particles to be often equally good. Undoubtedly, a negation may be repeated in English without impropriety, and that in several different ways: as, "There is _no_ living, _none_, if Bertram be away."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 3. "Great men are _not_ always wise, _neither_ do the aged [always] understand judgement."--_Job_, xxxii, 9. "Will he esteem thy riches? _no, not_ gold, _nor_ all the forces of strength."--_Job_, xxxiv. 19. Some sentences, too, require _or_, and others _nor_, even when a negative occurs in a preceding clause; as, "There was _none_ of you that convinced Job, _or_ that answered his words."--_Job_, xxxii, 12. "How much less to him that accepteth _not_ the persons of princes _nor_ regardeth the rich more than the poor."--_Job_, xxxiv, 19. "This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn _not, nor_ weep."--_Neh._, viii, 9. "Men's behaviour should be like their apparel, _not_ too straight _or_ point-de-vise, but free for exercise."--_Ld. Bacon_. Again, the mere repetition of a simple negative is, on some occasions, more agreeable than the insertion of any connective; as, "There is _no_ darkness, _nor_ shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves."--_Job_, xxxiv, 22. Better: "There is _no_ darkness, _no_ shadow of death, _wherein_ the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." "_No_ place _nor any_ object appears to him void of beauty."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 255. Better: "_No_ place, _no_ object, appears to him void of beauty." That passage from Milton which Burn supposes to be faulty, and that expression of Addison's which Churchill dislikes, are, in my opinion, not incorrect as they stand; though, doubtless, the latter admits of the variation proposed. In the former, too, _or_ may twice be changed to _nor_, where the following nouns are nominatives; but to change it throughout, would not be well, because the other nouns are objectives governed by _of_:

"Seasons return, but _not_ to me returns
Day, _nor_ the sweet approach of ev'n _or_ morn,
_Nor_ sight of vernal bloom, _or_ summer's rose,
_Or_ flocks, _or_ herds, _or_ human face divine."

OBS. 22.--_Ever_ and _never_ are directly opposite to each other in sense, and yet they are very frequently confounded and misapplied, and that by highly respectable writers; as, "Seldom, or _never_ can we expect," &c.--_Blair's Lectures_, p. 305. "And seldom, or _ever_, did any one rise, &c."--_Ib._, p. 272. "Seldom, or _never_, is[430] there more than one accented syllable in any English word."--_Ib._, p. 329. "Which that of the present seldom or _ever_ is understood to be."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of Lang._, Vol. ii, p. 120. Here _never_ is right, and _ever_ is wrong. It is _time_, that is here spoken of; and the affirmative _ever_, meaning _always_, or _at any time_, in stead of being a fit alternative for _seldom_, makes nonsense of the sentence, and violates the rule respecting the order and fitness of time: unless we change _or_ to _if_, and say, "seldom, _if_ ever." But in sentences like the following, the adverb appears to express, not time, but _degree_; and for the latter sense _ever_ is preferable to _never_, because the degree ought to be possible, rather than impossible: "_Ever so_ little of the spirit of martyrdom is always a more favourable indication to civilization, than _ever so_ much dexterity of party management, or _ever so_ turbulent protestation of immaculate patriotism."--_Wayland's Moral Science_, p. 411. "Now let man reflect but _never so_ little on himself."--_Burlamaqui, on Law_, p. 29. "Which will _not_ hearken to the voice of charmers, charming _never so_ wisely."--_Ps._, lviii, 5. The phrase _ever so_, (which ought, I think, to be written as _one word_,) is now a very common expression to signify _in whatsoever degree_; as, "_everso_ little,"--"_everso_ much,"--"_everso_ wise,"--"_everso_ wisely." And it is manifestly this, and not time, that is intended by the false phraseology above;--"a form of speech handed down by the best writers, but lately accused, I think with justice, of solecism. * * * It can only be defended by supplying a very harsh and unprecedented ellipsis."--_Johnson's Dict., w. Never_.

OBS. 23.--Dr. Lowth seconds this opinion of Johnson, respecting the phrase, "_never so wisely_," and says, "It should be, '_ever_ so wisely;' that is, '_how_ wisely _soever_.'" To which he adds an other example somewhat different: "'Besides, a slave would _not_ have been admitted into that society, had he had _never such_ opportunities.' Bentley."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 109. This should be, "had he had _everso excellent_ opportunities." But Churchill, mistaking the common explanation of the meaning of _everso_ for the manner of parsing or resolving it, questions the propriety of the term, and thinks it easier to defend the old phrase _never so_; in which he supposes _never_ to be an adverb of time, and not to relate to _so_, which is an adverb of degree; saying, "'Be it _never_ so true,' is resolvable into, 'Be it so true, _as never any thing was_.'[431] 'I have had _never_ so much trouble on this occasion,' may be resolved into, 'I _have never had_ so much trouble, _as_ on this occasion:' while, 'I have had _ever_ so much trouble on this occasion, cannot be resolved, without supplying some very harsh and unprecedented ellipsis indeed."--_New Gram._, p. 337, Why not? I see no occasion at all for supposing any ellipsis. _Ever_ is here an adverb of degree, and relates to _so_; or, if we take _everso_ as one word, this too is an adverb of degree, and relates to _much_: because the meaning is--"_everso much_ trouble." But the other phraseology, even as it stands in Churchill's explanations, is a solecism still; nor can any resolution which supposes _never_ to be here an adverb of time, be otherwise. We cannot call that a grammatical resolution, which makes a different sense from that which the writer intended: as, "A slave would not have been admitted into that society, had he _never_ had such opportunities." This would be Churchill's interpretation, but it is very unlike what Bentley says above. So, 'I have _never had so much_ trouble,' and, 'I have had _everso much_ trouble,' are very different assertions.

OBS. 24.--On the word _never_, Dr. Johnson remarks thus: "It seems in some phrases to have the sense of an _adjective_, [meaning,] _not any_; but in reality it is _not ever_: [as,] 'He answered him to _never_ a word.' MATTHEW, xxvii, 14."--_Quarto Dict._ This mode of expression was formerly very common, and a contracted form of it is still frequently heard among the vulgar: as, "Because he'd _ne'er_ an other tub."--_Hudibras_, p. 102. That is, "Because he had _no_ other tub." "Letter nor line know I _never_ a one."--_Scott's Lay of L. M._, p. 27. This is what the common people pronounce "_ne'er a one_," and use in stead of _neither_ or _no one_. In like manner they contract _ever a one_ into "_e'er a one_;" by which they mean _either_ or _any one_. These phrases are the same that somebody--(I believe it is _Smith_, in his Inductive Grammar--) has ignorantly written "_ary one_" and "_nary one_" calling them vulgarisms.[432] Under this mode of spelling, the critic had an undoubted right to think the terms unauthorized! In the compounds of _whoever_ or _whoe'er, whichever_ or _whiche'er, whatever_ or _whate'er_, the word _ever_ or _e'er_, which formerly stood separate, appears to be an adjective, rather than an adverb; though, by becoming part of the pronoun, it has now technically ceased to be either.

OBS. 25.--The same may be said of _soever_ or _soe'er_, which is considered as only a part of an other word even when it is written separately; as, "On _which_ side _soever_ I cast my eyes." In Mark, iii, 28th, _wherewithsoever_ is commonly printed as two words; but Alger, in his Pronouncing Bible, more properly makes it one. Dr. Webster, in his grammars, calls _soever_ a WORD; but, in his dictionaries, he does not _define_ it as such. "The word _soever_ may be interposed between the attribute and the name; 'how clear soever this idea of infinity,'--'how remote soever it may seem.'--LOCKE."--_Webster's Philosophical Gram._, p. 154; _Improved Gram._, p. 107. "SOEVER, _so_ and _ever_, found in compounds, as in _whosoever, whatsoever, wheresoever_. See these words."--_Webster's Dict._, 8vo.

OBS. 26.--The word _only_, (i.e., _onely_, or _onelike_,) when it relates to a noun or a pronoun, is a definitive adjective, meaning _single, alone, exclusive of others_; as, "The _only_ man,"--"The _only_ men,"--"Man _only_,"--"Men _only_,"--"He _only_,"--"They _only_." When it relates to a verb or a participle, it is an adverb of manner, and means _simply, singly, merely, barely_; as, "We fancy that we hate flattery, when we _only_ hate the manner of it."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 38. "A disinterested love of one's country can _only_ subsist in small republics."--_Ib._, p. 56. When it stands at the head of a clause, it is commonly a connective word, equivalent to _but_, or _except that_; in which sense, it must be called a conjunction, or at least a conjunctive adverb, which is nearly the same thing; as, "_Only_ they would that we should remember the poor."--_Gal._, ii, 10. "For these signs are prepositions, _only_ they are of more constant use than the rest."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 129.

OBS. 27.--Among our grammarians, the word "_only_" often passes for an adverb, when it is in fact an adjective. Such a mistake in this single word, has led Churchill to say of the adverb in general, "_It's_ place is for the most part before adjectives, _after nouns_, and after verbs;" &c.--_New Gram._, p. 147. But, properly, the placing of adverbs has nothing to do with "nouns," because adverbs do not relate to nouns. In this author's example, "His _arm only_ was bare," there is no adverb; and, where he afterwards speaks of the latitude allowable in the placing of adverbs, alleging, "It is indifferent whether we say, 'He bared his _arm only_;' or, 'He bared _only_ his arm,'" the word _only_ is an adjective, in one instance, if not in both. With this writer, and some others, the syntax of an adverb centres mainly in the suggestion, that, "_It's_ propriety and force depend on _it's_ position."--_Ib._, p. 147. Illustration: "Thus people commonly say; '_I only_ spoke three words:' which properly implies, that _I_, and _no other person_, spoke three words: when the intention of the speaker requires: 'I spoke _only three_ words; that is, _no more than three_ words.'"--_Ib._, p. 327. One might just as well say, "I spoke three words _only_." But the interpretation above is hypercritical, and contrary to that which the author himself gives in his note on the other example, thus: "Any other situation of the adverb would make a difference. 'He _only_ bared his arm;' would imply, that he did _nothing more than_ bare his arm. '_Only_ he bared his arm;' must refer to a preceding part of the sentence, stating something, to which the act of baring his arm was an exception; as, 'He did it in the same manner, _only_ he bared his arm.' If _only_ were placed immediately before _arm_; as, '_He_ bared his _only arm_;' it would be an adjective, and signify, that he had but one arm."--_Ib._, p. 328. Now are not, "_I only spoke three words_," and, "_He only bared his arm_," analogous expressions? Is not the former as good English as the latter? _Only_, in both, is most naturally conceived to belong to the verb; but either may be read in such a manner as to make it an adjective belonging to the pronoun.

OBS. 28.--The term _not but_ is equivalent to two negatives that make an affirmative; as, "_Not but_ that it is a wide place."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 89. "_Non_ quo _non_ latus locus sit."--_Cic. Ac._, iv, 12. It has already been stated, that _cannot but_ is equal to _must_; as, "It is an affection which _cannot but_ be productive of some distress."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 461. It seems questionable, whether _but_ is not here an adverb, rather than a conjunction. However this may be, by the customary (but faulty) omission of the negative before _but_, in some other sentences, that conjunction has acquired the adverbial sense of _only_; and it may, when used with that signification, be called an _adverb_. Thus, the text, "He hath _not_ grieved me _but_ in part." (_2 Cor._, ii, 5,) might drop the negative _not_, and still convey the same meaning: "He hath grieved me _but_ in part;" i.e., "_only_ in part." In the following examples, too, _but_ appears to be an adverb, like _only_: "Things _but_ slightly connected should not be crowded into one sentence."--_Murray's Octavo Gram., Index_. "The assertion, however, serves _but_ to show their ignorance."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 96.

"Reason itself _but_ gives it edge and power."--_Pope_.

"Born _but_ to die, and reasoning _but_ to err."--_Id._

OBS. 29.--In some constructions of the word _but_, there is a remarkable ambiguity; as, "There _cannot be but one_ capital musical pause in a line."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 92. "A line _admits but one_ capital pause."--_Ibid._ Thus does a great critic, in the same paragraph, palpably contradict himself, and not perceive it. Both expressions are equivocal. He ought rather to have said: "A line admits _no more than_ one capital pause."--"There cannot be _more than_ one capital musical pause in a line." Some would say--"admits _only_ one"--"there can be _only one_." But here, too, is some ambiguity; because _only_ may relate either to _one_, or to the preceding verb. The use of _only_ for _but_ or _except that_, is not noticed by our lexicographers; nor is it, in my opinion, a practice much to be commended, though often adopted by men that pretend to write grammatically: as, "Interrogative pronouns are the same as _relative_, ONLY their antecedents cannot be determined till the answer is _given to the question_."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 16. "A diphthong is always long; as, _Aurum, Cæsar_, &c. ONLY _præ_, in composition before a vowel is commonly short."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 254; _Gould's_, 246.

OBS. 30.--It is said by some grammarians, that, "The adverb _there_ is often used as an _expletive_, or as a word that adds nothing to the sense; in which case, it precedes the verb and the nominative; as, '_There_ is a person at the door.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 197; _Ingersoll's_, 205; _Greenleaf's_, 33; _Nixon's Parser_, p. 53. It is true, that in our language the word _there_ is thus used idiomatically, as an introductory term, when we tell what is taking, or has taken, _place_; but still it is a regular adverb _of place_, and relates to the verb agreeably to the common rule for adverbs. In some instances it is even repeated in the same sentence, because, in its introductory sense, it is always unemphatical; as, "Because _there_ was pasture _there_ for their flocks."--_1 Chron._, iv, 41. "If _there_ be indistinctness or disorder _there_, we can have no success."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 271. "_There, there_ are schools adapted to every age."--_Woodbridge, Lit. Conv._, p. 78. The import of the word is more definite, when emphasis is laid upon it; but this is no good reason for saying, with Dr. Webster, that it is "without signification," when it is without emphasis; or, with Dr. Priestley, that it "seems to have no meaning whatever, except it be thought to give a small degree of emphasis."--_Rudiments of E. Gram._, p. 135.

OBS. 31.--The noun _place_ itself is just as loose and variable in its meaning as the adverb _there_. For example; "_There_ is never any difference;" i.e., "No difference ever takes _place_." Shall we say that "_place_," in this sense, is not a noun of place? To _take place_, is, to occur _somewhere_, or _anywhere_; and the unemphatic word _there_ is but as indefinite in respect to place, as these other adverbs of place, or as the noun itself. S. B. Goodenow accounts it a _great error_, to say that _there_ is an adverb of place, when it is thus indefinite; and he chooses to call it an "_indefinite pronoun_," as, "'What is _there_ here?'--'_There_ is no peace.'--'What need was _there_ of it?'" See his _Gram._, p. 3 and p. 11. In treating of the various classes of adverbs, I have admitted and shown, that _here, there_, and _where_, have sometimes the nature of pronouns, especially in such compounds as _hereof, thereof, whereof_; but in this instance, I see not what advantage there is in calling _there_ a "pronoun:" we have just as much reason to call _here_ and _where_ pronouns--and that, perhaps, on all occasions. Barnard says, "In the sentence, '_There_ is one glory of the sun,' &c., the adverb _there_ qualifies the verb _is_, and seems to have the force of an affirmation, like _truly_"--_Analytical Gram._, p. 234. But an adverb of the latter kind may be used with the word _there_, and I perceive no particular similarity between them: as, "_Verily there_ is a reward for the righteous."--_Psal._, lviii, 11. "_Truly there_ is a glory of the sun."

OBS. 32.--There is a vulgar error of substituting the adverb _most_ for _almost_, as in the phrases, "_most all_,"--"_most anywhere_,"--"_most every day_,"--which we sometimes hear for "_almost all_,"--"_almost anywhere_,"--"_almost every day_." The fault is gross, and chiefly colloquial, but it is sometimes met with in books; as, "But thinking he had replied _most_ too rashly, he said, 'I won't answer your question.'"--_Wagstaff's History of Friends_, Vol. i, p. 207.

NOTES TO RULE XXI.

NOTE I.--Adverbs must be placed in that position which will render the sentence the most perspicuous and agreeable. Example of error: "We are in no hazard of mistaking the sense of the author, though every word which he uses _be not precise_ and exact."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 95; _Jamieson's_, 66. Murray says,--"though every word which he uses _is not precise_ and exact."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 302. Better:--"though _not every word_ which he uses, _is precise_ and exact."

NOTE II.--Adverbs should not be needlessly used for adjectives; nor should they be employed when quality is to be expressed, and not manner: as, "That the _now_ copies of the original text are entire."--_S. Fisher_. Say, "the _present_ copies," or, "the _existing_ copies." "The arrows of calumny fall _harmlessly_ at the feet of virtue."--_Murray's Key_, p. 167; _Merchant's Gram._, 186; _Ingersoll's_, 10; _Kirkham's_, 24. Say, "fall _harmless_;" as in this example: "The impending black cloud, which is regarded with so much dread, may pass by _harmless_."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 262.

NOTE III.--With a verb of motion, most grammarians prefer _hither, thither_, and _whither_, to _here, there_, and _where_, which are in common use, and perhaps allowable, though not so good; as, "Come _hither_, Charles,"--or, "Come _here_."

NOTE IV.--"To the adverbs _hence, thence_, and _whence_, the preposition _from_ is frequently (though not with strict propriety) prefixed; as, _from hence, from whence_."--See _W. Allen's Gram._, p. 174. Some critics, however, think this construction allowable, notwithstanding the former word is implied in the latter. See _Priestley's Gram._, p. 134; and _L. Murray's_, p. 198. It is seldom elegant to use any word needlessly.

NOTE V.--The adverb _how_ should not be used before the conjunction _that_, nor in stead of it; as, "He said _how_ he would go."--"Ye see _how that_ not many wise men are called." Expunge _how_. This is a vulgar error. Somewhat similar is the use of _how_ for _lest_ or _that not_; as, "Be cautious _how_ you offend him, i.e., _that_ you _do not_ offend him."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 175.

NOTE VI.--The adverb _when, while_, or _where_, is not fit to follow the verb _is_ in a definition, or to introduce a clause taken substantively; because it expresses identity, not of being, but of time or place: as, "_Concord_, is _when_ one word agrees with another in some accidents."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 151; _Gould's_, 155. Say, "Concord is _the agreement of_ one word with _an other_ in some _accident or_ accidents."

NOTE VII.--The adverb _no_ should not be used with reference to a _verb_ or a _participle_. Such expressions as, "Tell me whether you will _go_ or _no_," are therefore improper: _no_ should be _not_; because the verb _go_ is understood after it. The meaning is, "Tell me whether you will go or _will not go_;" but nobody would think of saying, "Whether you will go or _no go_."

NOTE VIII.--A negation, in English, admits but one negative word; because two negatives in the same clause, usually contradict each other, and make the meaning affirmative. The following example is therefore ungrammatical: "For my part, I love him not, _nor_ hate him _not_."--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 16. Expunge the last _not_, or else change _nor_ to _and_.

NOTE IX.--The words _ever_ and _never_ should be carefully distinguished according to their sense, and not confounded with each other in their application. Example: "The Lord reigneth, be the earth _never so_ unquiet."--_Experience of St. Paul_, p. 195. Here, I suppose, the sense to require _everso_, an adverb of degree: "Be the earth _everso_ unquiet." That is,--"unquiet _in whatever degree_."

NOTE X.--Adverbs that end in _ly_, are in general preferable to those forms which, for want of this distinction, may seem like adjectives misapplied. Example: "There would be _scarce_ any such thing in nature as a folio."--_Addison_. Better:--"_scarcely_."

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XXI.

EXAMPLES UNDER NOTE I.--THE PLACING OF ADVERBS.

"All that is favoured by good use, is not proper to be retained."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, p. 296.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the adverb _not_ is not put in the most suitable place. But, according to Note 1st under Rule 21st, "Adverbs must be placed in that position which will render the sentence the most perspicuous and agreeable." The sentence will be improved by placing _not_ before _all_; thus, "_Not all_ that is favoured by good use, is proper to be retained."]

"Every thing favoured by good use, [is] not on that account worthy to be retained."--_Ib._, i, 369; _Campbell's Rhet._, p. 179. "Most men dream, but all do not."--_Beattie's Moral Science_, i, 72. "By hasty composition, we shall acquire certainly a very bad style."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 191. "The comparisons are short, touching on one point only of resemblance."--_Ib._, p. 416. "Having had once some considerable object set before us."--_Ib._, p. 116. "The positive seems improperly to be called a degree."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 69; _Gould's_, 68. "In some phrases the genitive is only used."--_Adam_, 159; _Gould_, 161. "This blunder is said actually to have occurred."--_Smith's Inductive Gram._, p. 5. "But every man is not called James, nor every woman Mary."--_Buchanan's Gram._, p. 15. "Crotchets are employed for the same purpose nearly as the parenthesis."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 167. "There is still a greater impropriety in a double comparative."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 78. "We have often occasion to speak of time."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 39. "The following sentence cannot be possibly understood."--_Ib._, p. 104. "The words must be generally separated from the context."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 155. "Words ending in _ator_ have the accent generally on the penultimate."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 239. "The learned languages, with respect to voices, moods, and tenses, are, in general, differently constructed from the English tongue."--_Ib._, i, 101. "Adverbs seem originally to have been contrived to express compendiously in one word, what must otherwise have required two or more."--_Ib._, i, 114. "But it is only so, when the expression can be converted into the regular form of the possessive case."--_Ib._, i, 174. "Enter, (says he) boldly, for here too there are gods."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 8. "For none work for ever so little a pittance that some cannot be found to work for less."--_Sedgwick's Economy_, p. 190. "For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again."--_Luke_, vi, 34. "They must be viewed exactly in the same light."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, 24. "If he does but speak to display his abilities, he is unworthy of attention."--_Ib., Key_, ii, 207.

UNDER NOTE II.--ADVERBS FOR ADJECTIVES.

"Motion upwards is commonly more agreeable than motion downwards."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 48. "There are but two ways possibly of justification before God."--_Dr. Cox, on Quakerism_, p. 413. "This construction sounds rather harshly."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 194; _Ingersoll's_, 199. "A clear conception in the mind of the learner, of regularly and well-formed letters."--_Com. School Journal_, i, 66. "He was a great hearer of * * * Attalus, Sotion, Papirius, Fabianus, of whom he makes often mention."--_Seneca's Morals_, p. 11. "It is only the Often doing of a thing that makes it a Custom."--_Divine Right of Tythes_, p. 72. "Because W. R. takes oft occasion to insinuate his jealousies of persons and things."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 570. "Yet often touching will wear gold."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 18. "Uneducated persons frequently use an adjective, when they ought to use an adverb: as, 'The country looks _beautiful_;' instead of _beautifully_."--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 84. "The adjective is put absolutely, or without its substantive."--_Ash's Gram._, p. 57. "A noun or pronoun in the second person, may be put absolutely in the nominative case."--_Harrison's Gram._, p. 45. "A noun or pronoun, when put absolutely with a participle," &c.--_Ib._, p. 44; _Jaudon's Gram._, 108. "A verb in the infinitive mood absolute, stands independently of the remaining part of the sentence."--_Wilbur and Livingston's Gram._, p. 24. "At my return lately into England, I met a book intituled: 'The Iron Age.'"--_Cowley's Preface_, p. v. "But he can discover no better foundation for any of them, than the practice merely of Homer and Virgil."--_Kames, El. of Criticism, Introd._, p. xxv.

UNDER NOTE III--HERE FOR HITHER, &c.

"It is reported that the governour will come here to-morrow."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 196. "It _has been_ reported that the governour will come here to-morrow."--_Ib., Key_, p. 227. "To catch a prospect of that lovely land where his steps are tending."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 244. "Plautus makes one of his characters ask another where he is going with that Vulcan shut up in a horn; that is, with a lanthorn in his hand."--_Adams's Rhet._ ii, 331. "When we left Cambridge, we intended to return there in a few days."--_Anonym_. "Duncan comes here to-night."--_Shak., Macbeth_. "They talked of returning here last week."--_J. M. Putnam's Gram._, p. 116.

UNDER NOTE IV.--FROM HENCE, &c.

"From hence he concludes that no inference can be drawn from the meaning of the word, that a _constitution_ has a higher authority than a law or statute."--_Webster's Essays_, p. 67. "From whence we may likewise date the period of this event."--_Murray's Key_, ii, p. 202. "From hence it becomes evident, that LANGUAGE, taken in the most comprehensive view, implies certain Sounds, having certain Meanings."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 315. "They returned to the city from whence they came out."--_Alex. Murray's Gram._, p. 135. "Respecting ellipses, some grammarians differ strangely in their ideas; and from thence has arisen a very whimsical diversity in their systems of grammar."--_Author_. "What am I and from whence? i.e. what am I, and from whence _am_ I?"--_Jaudon's Gram._, p. 171.

UNDER NOTE V.--THE ADVERB HOW.

"It is strange how a writer, so accurate as Dean Swift, should have stumbled on so improper an application of this particle."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 112. "Ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us," &c.--_Acts_, xv, 7. "Let us take care _how_ we sin; i.e. _that_ we _do not_ sin."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 135. "We see by these instances, how prepositions may be necessary to connect those words, which in their signification are not naturally connected."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 118. "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"--_2 Cor._, xiii, 5. "That thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord's."--_Exod._, ix, 29.

UNDER NOTE VI.--WHEN, WHILE, OR WHERE.

"Ellipsis is when one or more words are wanting, to complete the sense."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 235; _Gould's_, p. 229; _B. F. Fisk's Greek Gram._. 184. "Pleonasm is when a word more is added than is absolutely necessary to express the sense."--_Same works_. "Hyst~eron prot~eron is when that is put in the former part of the sentence, which, according to the sense, should be in the latter."--_Adam_, p. 237; _Gould_, 230. "Hysteron proteron, _n._ A rhetorical figure when that is said last which was done first."--_Webster's Dict._ "A Barbarism is when a foreign or strange word is _made use_ of."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 242; _Gould's_, 234. "A Solecism is when the rules of Syntax are transgressed."--_Iidem, ib._ "An Idiotism is when the manner of expression peculiar to one language is used in another."--_Iid., ib._ "Tautology is when we either uselessly repeat the same words, or repeat the same sense in different words."--_Adam_, p. 243; _Gould_, 238. "Bombast is when high sounding words are used without meaning, or upon a trifling occasion."--_Iid., ib._ "Amphibology is when, by the ambiguity of the construction, the meaning may be taken in two different senses."--_Iid., ib._ "Irony is when one means the contrary of what is said."--_Adam_, p. 247; _Gould_, 237. "The Periphrasis, or Circumlocution, is when several words are employed to express what might be expressed in fewer."--_Iid., ib._ "Hyperbole is when a thing is magnified above the truth,"--_Adam_, p. 249; _Gould_, 240. "Personification is when we ascribe life, sentiments, or actions, to inanimate beings, or to abstract qualities."--_Iid., ib._ "Apostrophe, or Address, is when the speaker breaks off from the series of his discourse, and addresses himself to some person present or absent, living or dead, or to inanimate nature, as if endowed with sense and reason."--_Iid., ib._ "A Simile or Comparison is when the resemblance between two objects, whether _real_ or _imaginary_, is expressed in form."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 223. "Simile, or Comparison, is when one thing is illustrated or heightened by comparing it to another."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 250; _Gould's_, 240. "Antithesis, or Opposition, is when things contrary or different are contrasted, to make them appear in the more striking light."--_Iid., ib._ "Description, or Imagery, [is] when any thing is painted in a lively manner, as if done before our eyes."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 250. "Emphasis is when a particular stress is laid on some word in a sentence."--_Ib._ "Epanorthosis, or Correction, is when the speaker either recalls or corrects what he had last said."--_Ib._ "Paralepsis, or Omission, is when one pretends to omit or pass by, what he at the same time declares."--_Ib._ "Incrementum, or Climax in sense, is when one member rises above another to the highest."--_Ib._, p. 251. "A Metonymy is where the cause is put for the effect, or the effect for the cause; the container for the thing contained; or the sign for the thing signified."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 223. "Agreement is when one word is like another in number, case, gender, or person."--_Frost's Gram._, p. 43; _Greenleaf's_, 32. "Government is when one word causes another to be in some particular number, person, or case."--_Webster's Imp. Gram._, p. 89; _Greenleaf's_, 32; _Frost's_, 43. "Fusion is while some solid substance is converted into a fluid by heat."--_B._ "A Proper Diphthong is where both the Vowels are sounded together; as, _oi_ in _Voice, ou_ in _House_."-- _Fisher's Gram._, p. 10. "An Improper Diphthong is where the Sound of but one of the two Vowels is heard; as _e_ in _People_."--_Ib._, p. 11.

UNDER NOTE VII.--THE ADVERB NO FOR NOT.

"An adverb is joined to a verb to show how, or whether or no, or when, or where one is, does, or suffers."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 62. "We must be immortal, whether we will or no."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 33. "He cares not whether the world was made for Cæsar or no."--_American Quarterly Review_. "I do not know whether they are out or no."--_Byron's Letters_. "Whether it can be proved or no, is not the thing."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 84. "Whether or no he makes use of the means commanded by God."--_Ib._,, p. 164. "Whether it pleases the world or no, the care is taken."-- _L'Estrange's Seneca_, p. 5. "How comes this to be never heard of nor in the least questioned, whether the Law was undoubtedly of Moses's writing or no?"--_Bp. Tomline's Evidences_, p. 44. "Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not."--_John_, ix, 25. "Can I make men live, whether they will or no?"--_Shak._

"Can hearts, not free, be try'd whether they serve
Willing or no, who will but what they must?"--_Milton, P. L._

UNDER NOTE VIII.--OF DOUBLE NEGATIVES.

"We need not, nor do not, confine the purposes of God."--_Bentley_. "I cannot by no means allow him that."--_Idem_. "We must try whether or no we cannot increase the Attention by the Help of the Senses."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 263. "There is nothing more admirable nor more useful."--_Horne Tooke_, Vol. i, p. 20. "And what in no time to come he can never be said to have done, he can never be supposed to do."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 345. "No skill could obviate, nor no remedy dispel, the terrible infection."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, i, 114. "Prudery cannot be an indication neither of sense nor of taste."--_Spurzheim, on Education_, p. 21. "But that scripture, nor no other, speaks not of imperfect faith."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 172. "But this scripture, nor none other, proves not that faith was or is always accompanied with doubting."--_Ibid._ "The light of Christ is not nor cannot be darkness."--_Ib._, p. 252. "Doth not the Scripture, which cannot lie, give none of the saints this testimony?"--_Ib._, p. 379. "Which do not continue, nor are not binding."--_Ib._, Vol. iii. p. 79. "It not being perceived directly no more than the air."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 331. "Let's be no Stoics, nor no stocks, I pray."--_Shak., Shrew_. "Where there is no marked nor peculiar character in the style."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 175. "There can be no rules laid down, nor no manner recommended."--_Sheridan's Lect._, p. 163.

"_Bates_. 'He hath not told his thought to the king?'
_K. Henry_. 'No; nor it is not meet he should.'"--_Shak_.

UNDER NOTE IX.--EVER AND NEVER.

"The prayer of Christ is more than sufficient both to strengthen us, be we never so weak; and to overthrow all adversary power, be it never so strong."--_Hooker_. "He is like to have no share in it, or to be ever the better for it."--_Law and Grace_, p. 23. "In some parts of Chili, it seldom or ever rains."--_Willetts's Geog_. "If Pompey shall but never so little seem to like it."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 346. "Latin: 'Si Pompeius _paulum_ modò ostenderit sibi placere.' _Cic_. i, 5."--_Ib._ "Though never such a power of dogs and hunters pursue him."--_Walker, ib._ "Latin: '_Quamlibet_ magnâ canum et venantium urgente vi.' _Plin_. l. 18, c. 16."--_Ib._ "Though you be never so excellent."--_Walker, ib._ "Latin: '_Quantumvis_ licet excellas.' _Cic. de Amic_."--_Ib._ "If you do amiss never so little."--_Walker, ib._ "Latin: 'Si _tantillum_ peccâssis.' _Plaut. Rud._ 4, 4"--_Ib._ "If we cast our eyes never so little down."--_Walker, ib._ "Latin: 'Si _tantulum_ oculos dejecerimus.' _Cic. 7. Ver_."--_Ib._ "A wise man scorneth nothing, be it never so small or homely."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 37. "Because they have seldom or ever an opportunity of learning them at all."--_Clarkson's Prize-Essay_, p. 170. "We seldom or ever see those forsaken who trust in God."--_Atterbury_.

"Where, playing with him at bo-peep,
He solved all problems, ne'er so deep."--_Hudibras_.

UNDER NOTE X.--OF THE FORM OF ADVERBS.

"One can scarce think that Pope was capable of epic or tragic poetry; but within a certain limited region, he has been outdone by no poet."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 403. "I, who now read, have near finished this chapter."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 82. "And yet, to refine our taste with respect to beauties of art or of nature, is scarce endeavoured in any seminary of learning."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, Vol. i, p. viii. "By the Numbers being confounded, and the Possessives wrong applied, the Passage is neither English nor Grammar."--_Buchanan's Syntax_, p. 123. "The letter G is wrong named _jee_."--_Creighton's Dict._, p. viii. "Last; Remember that in science, as in morals, authority cannot make right, what, in itself, is wrong."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 194. "They regulate our taste even where we are scarce sensible of them."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, ii, 96. "Slow action, for example, is imitated by words pronounced slow."--_Ib._, ii, 257. "Sure, if it be to profit withal, it must be in order to save."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 366. "Which is scarce possible at best."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 67. "Our wealth being near finished."--HARRIS: _Priestley's Gram._, p. 80.