Gillies. We had twice as many galleys as all the rest of Greece. Whatsoever weakens the law, in the same degree also encourages the transgression. South. Him who disobeys, me disobeys. Milton. Let us consider who they are that accuse us of such crimes. Gillies. In order to keep the eye moist and clean, which qualities are necessary to its brightness and its use, a wash is constantly supplied by a secretion for the purpose. Paley. Vengeance is his, or whose he sole appoints. Milton. Whichever side the orator espouses, there are two things that must carefully be studied by him, as was observed on a former occasion. Dr. Campbell. Once, in contempt, they would have bartered me, Who knows not this, though grey, is still a child. Young. I care not to whom you refer. I believe him to be honest, which thou art not. Have you heard what has befallen the person you appointed? Which is the plan that you approve most? What would my lord and father? The power that you contend against is infinite. Success in such an attempt is as decisive a test as can be required. There are who think otherwise. I know not who has most reason to rejoice. What with reading and what with writing, my time is pretty fully occupied. What shall I do? Misc. CHAP. V. POSSESSIVES. 1. WHEN a noun defined by an accessary phrase is to be put in the possessive case, the sign of the possessive is often reserved to the last word of the complex expression; as, "James the Second's reign;" "Smith the bookseller's shop;" "The harp of Erin's tones;" "Washington, the President of the United States' address." In such examples, a pre ceding noun in the complex case may be parsed as part of a complex possessive, or as a possessive reserving the sign. When nouns connected by a conjunction are to be put in the possessive case, the sign of the possessive should be added to each, or only to the last, according as they are to be respectively or conjointly attributed to the governing noun; as Beaumont and Fletcher's plays;" "Love's and Friendship's smile;" "John and James's teacher is a good linguist;" "John's teacher and James's are both good linguists." 2. When a combination of possessives would sound harshly or awkwardly, we should rather employ the preposition of with an objective. Thus, "The property of Charles's father" sounds more agreeably than "Charles's father's property." When the nominative plural of a noun ends in s, the possessive plural should generally be avoided by the same means. Thus, "The interests of the countries" is better than the "The countries' interests," as the latter sounds ambiguously. 3. Sometimes the word governing the possessive is omitted, being conventionally understood; as, "I went to St. Paul's," that is, St. Paul's church or cathedral; “I live next to Smith's, a bookseller," that is, Smith's house, who is a bookseller; “A picture of the king's," that is, of the king's owning; this last form avoids the ambiguity that might arise from saying "A picture of the king," or "The king's picture," which might signify a portrait of him. 66 The possessive pronouns Mine, Thine, Hers, Theirs, &c., when employed in a similar manner, are not to be called possessive cases, as the thing possessed or owned is not understood, but involved in their meaning; they are nominatives or else objectives; as, "A picture of hers;" "I will not speak about yours;" "Ours are superior." (See p. 46. § 3.) 4. It was formerly so usual to prefix the possessive my to the title of lord, even when that title was not used in direct address, but in the third person, that, as Priestley observes, foreigners often confounded the pronoun with the noun, as if the two made but one word- a mylord. We have instances, in our own earlier writers, of adjectives qualifying this compound; thus, in Shakspeare, "Good my lord, vouchsafe me a word with you." 5. EXERCISES. A friend of Sir Henry Wotton's, being designed for the employment of an ambassador, came to Eton. Walton. Byron. No earth of thine is lost in vulgar mould. Robertson. Yours be the praise to make my title good; Good name, in man and woman, dear my lord, Young. Neither Mr. Pope's nor Mr. Philips's Pastorals do any great honour to the English poetry. Blair. No prudence of ours could have prevented our late misfortune. Goldsmith. What are our petty griefs? let me not number mine. Then future ages with delight shall see How Plato's, Bacon's, Newton's looks agree. Pope. Byron. We travelled towards Aberdeen, and, in the way, dined at Lord Monboddo's, the Scotch judge, who has lately written a strange book about the origin of language. Mine honour is life; my Johnson. both grow in one; Take honour from me, and my life is done :- Who with mine his spirit blends As mine was blended with my brother's? Shakspeare. Moultrie. I bought Coleridge's, Southey's, and Wordsworth's Poems. Mine's not an idle cause. True dignity is his. Art thou that my lord Elijah? Mine be the breezy hill that skirts the down. Have you read Hume and Smollett's History of England? My book and hers are different editions. I remember well an anecdote of your father's, concerning Thomson the poet's early career. Misc. CHAP. VI. TRANSITIVE VERBS AND PREPOSITIONS. 1. VERBS that are usually intransitive are sometimes employed transitively; as, "They laughed him to scorn;""To gaze, untired, the morn, the noon, the eve away; ""He lived down all opposition." A kindred substantive often supplies the object to such verbs; as, "He lived a blameless life." 2. A transitive verb may have for its object a gerundial participle, a clause, or an expression of any kind employed like a noun or pronoun*; as, "He declined saying any thing;""He approved my having come to town;""Do you know where he lives?" "You see how small the number is." In these examples, the transitive verbs, declined, approved, know, see, may be regarded as having for their respective objects the clauses by which they are followed. In the first example, however, the participle saying may be considered as the word more immediately governed; it is the gerundial mode, that is, it serves the purpose of both a noun and a verb, of a noun, as object to the transitive verb which precedes it, of a verb as governing the noun which follows * A verb, however, which (as is said) governs simply an infinitive mode, is not necessarily transitive; the prepositional effect of the sign to rather seems to prevent the governing verb, in this instance, from being considered transitive. (See p. 82. § 2.) it. Similarly, in the second example, the gerund having performs the office of a noun to the transitive verb approved and to the possessive my, and of an auxiliary verb to the perfect participle come. 3. The word it is sometimes employed as a grammatical object to a transitive verb, when nothing definite is represented by that pronoun; as, "Come, and trip it as you go;" "He carries it with a high hand;" that is, he acts imperiously. The meaning of this pronoun seems to merge in the import of the verb, indicating, however, a transitive efficacy in the verb; to trip it is to do the tripping; to carry it is to do the carrying or deportment. In like manner, to lord it, is to act as a lord. 4. A preposition may have for its object a gerundial participle, a clause, or an expression of any kind employed like a noun or pronoun; as "He increased his advantages, without increasing his improvement;""They rallied me on my being outwitted;" "I saw him before he departed;" equivalent to before his departure. But, in connexion with this last example, it may be remarked, that such prepositions as After, Before, Since, Till, when they have for their object an assertive expression, which is frequently the case, may be parsed as conjunctions, with as much propriety as the words for and because, which really have a prepositional power. 5. A tendency to abridge those preposition phrases which have an adverbial meaning, has introduced a variety of mutilated forms of expression, among which will be found instances of an adjective governed by a preposition. Thus, the nouns are very generally omitted from the following phrases" In vain (manner)," "In common (manner)," "In secret (manner),” "At first (state)," "By far (extent)," "At present (time)," " On high (seat or position)." The quality implied by an adjective seems to be regarded substantively in such usages as, "It is the reverse of pleasant, far from honourable;" but the meaning is being 66 |