Verbs that, when used transitively, are followed by two objectives, the first of which is the object of to understood, can generally retain the last one after the participle passive; thus, "The king granted him his request" may be changed into "He was granted his request by the king.” Perhaps, the most suitable way, in parsing, to account for the objective in such anomalous syntax, is to call it an objective borrowed from a transitive form of the assertion. 3. The imperfect participle sometimes appears to contain a passive signification; as, "Dinner is preparing" seems to mean "Dinner is being prepared." May not the participle, thus used, be rather regarded as assuming the nature of a neuter verb? "The ground is ploughing well” should not signify "The ground is being ploughed well," but "The ground is taking the plough well." Compare "The wine is tasting sour," "The wine tastes sour," &c. (See Note, p. 22.) * 4. EXERCISES. We were people of too much consequence to be allowed the privilege of retirement. Mackenzie. Such is the aspect of this shore; 'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more : So coldly sweet, so deadly fair, We start for life is wanting there. Byron. These good people, however, bear with me wonderfully, and I am not laughed at. Mackenzie. When we were shown a room, I desired the landlord, in my usual way, to let me have his company. Goldsmith. * Some grammarians condemn the use of what is called the imperfect participle passive. Pickbourn seems to deliver the most reasonable judgment:- Though I would by no means," says he, "recommend a too frequent use of these imperfect passive tenses, yet in some instances they are so convenient, if not necessary, that, I think, they should not be entirely rejected."— Dissert. on the Eng. Verb, p. 81. Pity and compassion are words appropriated to signify our fellow-feeling with the sorrow of others. Sympathy, though its meaning was perhaps originally the same, may now, however, without much impropriety, be made use of to denote our fellowfeeling with any passion whatever. Ad. Smith. He feels the anxieties of life, denied Their wonted entertainment, all retire. Cowper. We are given to understand that this piece of mechanism has the property of multiplying the power of the hand. Sir C. Bell. Eneas, after he had conducted his father and followers to a place of safety, returned alone to the burning city, in quest of his wife Creusa, who was missing. Beattie. Amidst the most elegant simplicity of thought and expression, one is sometimes surprised to meet with a poor conceit, which had presented itself unsought for, and which the author had not acquired critical observation enough to condemn. Hume. My soul was spared that wretchedness. That difficulty was never dreamt of while his cottage was erecting. I know not how error is to be guarded against, if this principle is lost sight of. Were you offered no more than a shilling a volume ? Misc. CHAP. XI. APPOSITION. 1. NOUNS are in the first person, only when in apposition with a pronoun of the first person; as, "We petty men walk under his huge legs;" ""Do not ask me, who am no scholar." Nouns are in the second person when they are nominatives addressed, or in apposition with a pronoun of the second person, or both; as, "I was aware, my friends;" "To you Romans he is an enemy;" "Ye mariners of England." The reciprocal pronouns myself, himself, &c., frequently occur in apposition with their correlative simple pronouns, or with nouns; and this apposition sometimes admits the interposition of a verb or a phrase; as, "I myself will do it;" "He will do it himself;" "Paul should himself it;""He direct me." 2. A noun or pronoun and a clause may be related like nouns in apposition; as, "He did it without assistance, a feat which I could not have performed; "" To bow and sue for grace, - that were an ignominy and shame." The demonstrative phrase, that is to say, or the conjunctive adverb namely, may be employed to relate words or clauses in apposition; as, " He quitted the country, that is to say, he renounced his claim;" "We both pursue the same object, namely, the welfare of our country." 3. A substantive in apposition frequently expresses the effect of a transitive verb or a preposition; as, "You call me misbeliever;" "The Romans regard us as their friends;" They dealt with me as an enemy.” 66 Perspicuity, however, will, in many instances, require a repetition of the preposition; thus, "They dealt with us as with enemies." Perspicuity also may depend on the verb; compare "He treated me as a friend," and "He treated me as a friend would do.” The preposition for has sometimes nearly the effect of the appositive conjunction as; thus, "I for one will go;" "They denounced him for a traitor." 4. A single word may be in collective or general apposition with several words, denoting particulars that are comprehended in the signification of the single word; as, "Ambition, interest, honour, all concurred." A plural substantive is very frequently in apposition with a singular, that refers, either collectively or distributively, to the things named by the plural; as, "The arguments, as a body of evidence, are irresistible;' They went, every one to his own house;" "See that ye love one another." In 66 this last example, one is a nominative in apposition with ye, and equivalent to the distributive each one; the word other is an objective governed by love; the sense being "See that ye, each one, love another.” The reciprocal expression one another, or each other, has sometimes a preposition preceding it, but governing only the latter word; as, "They spoke to each other," that is, each to the other. In this instance, each is in apposition with they, and to expresses relation between spoke and other. In such phraseology as "They went one after another," the sense is not reciprocal, and the preposition cannot, therefore, precede both words. 5. Sometimes a noun, without the sign of the possessive case, is placed appositively after a possessive; as, "I admire his character as a statesman." This construction may be explained in various ways. We may conceive his to be resolved into the Norman genitive of him, and make statesman agree in the objective with him; or, better, we may take the expression to mean, "I admire his character, he being considered as a statesman," which puts statesman in apposition with a nominative absolute; or, finally, we may consider statesman as a continuation of the possessive, wanting the sign. 6. The pronoun it, being of vague and feeble import, is often used with a substantive verb in the 3rd person singular, to introduce an apposition subject of any of the three persons or genders, and of either number; as, "It is I;" "It was you;" "It was these boys." A relative following the apposition subject generally takes number, person, and gender, from that subject, but sometimes conforms in these respects to the pronoun it; as, "It is you that go next;" "It was you that was intended." 7. EXERCISES. Both Badajos and San Sebastian were set on fire by their French garrisons, as a means of defence. Gleig. I, a solitary student, pretend not to much knowledge of the world. Johnson. That very law which moulds a tear, And bids it trickle from its source, That law preserves the earth a sphere, And guides the planets in their course. Rogers. He himself came up to the Greek camp, attended by a few horsemen and an interpreter. Thirlwall. Elizabeth guarded not herself with equal care, or equal success, from lesser infirmities, the rivalship of beauty, the desire of admiration, the jealousy of love, and the sallies of anger. Hume. To be, or not to be, that is the question. Shakspeare. Neither is it those circumstances only which excite pain or sorrow, that call forth our fellow-feeling. Ad. Smith. This grandfather had two sons, Marcus, the elder, the father of our Cicero, and Lucius, a particular friend of the celebrated orator Marcus Antonius. Middleton. Cease then, nor order imperfection name; Our proper bliss depends on what we blame. Pope. Frederick had already created him duke of Friedland. Ye mountains, that see us descend to the shore, Schiller. Byron. They pursued their march without molestation, and halted on the banks of the Tigris, near a great decayed city, surrounded by impregnable walls, which Xenophon calls Larissa. Thirlwall. My tenderness as a parent shall never influence my integrity as Goldsmith. a man. The request he made, that Stralsund should receive an imperial garrison, had been firmly and honourably rejected by the magistracy. Schiller. The adventurers were known to each other by reputation. Southey. If it were not she, I cannot tell who told me. Shakspeare. He neither spoke himself, nor seemed willing to invite his visitors to speak. Cooper. |