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 LIBRARY 
 
°lii*te.,.^!,. ,ffiS.„f.l „<?*...expressJon / 
 
 oHn,an^ ^^24 031 787 314 
 
The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031787314 
 
OUTLINES 
 
 ART OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 BY 
 
 J: H. GILMOEE, A.M. 
 
 PBOFESSOB or LOGIC, BHETOBIO AND ENGLISH Df THE 
 UNIVEBSITY OF EOCHBSTEB. 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 GINN AND HEATa 
 
 1S80. 
 
3 i-cr3:^'dj7 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 Entered aecordine to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by 
 
 PEOF. J. H. GILMORE, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, 
 
PEEFAOE. 
 
 This little book has grown, in the author's class-ixjom, out 
 of an attempt to supplement the defective early training of his 
 pupils. 
 
 Those pupils had, when they entered college, some practical 
 acquaintance with English composition, and, from their study 
 of Latin and Greek, a fair knowledge of General Grammar. 
 English Grammar, many of them had never studied at all — 
 few, if any, of them, as the author conceives it should be 
 studied. 
 
 It was necessary, then, to superinduce upon a knowledge of 
 those general elements of Grammar which are common to the 
 English, the Latin and the Greek, a knowledge of those par- 
 ticular elements of Grammar which are distinctively character- 
 istic of the English tongue. 
 
 Further than this: it seemed desirable to give the student, at 
 the very outset of his college course, a few brief and practical 
 suggestions with reference to Style, Figurative Language, etc., 
 which might be serviceable till the thorough and systematic 
 study of Rhetoric could be taken up. 
 
 To these purposes the author's " Art of Expression " is de- 
 voted. While it may, possibly, be useful in the college class- 
 room, it is more likely to be useful to instructors who desire 
 some simple manual of English on which to condition candi- 
 dates for admission to college. It is hoped, however, that it 
 will not be found ill adapted to general use in academies and 
 high schools — and wherever, in fact, a review of English 
 Grammar from a Logical and Historical stand-point is desired. 
 
 The book is, as its name indicates, a mere outline — designed 
 to be amplified and extended by oral instruction. To those 
 who desire helps in the work of amplification, the author would 
 especially recommend: Morris's Outlines of English Accidence, 
 Angus's Handbook of the English Tongue; Latham's English 
 Grammar; Rushton's Rules and Cautions in English Grammar: 
 Abbott's Shakspearian Grammar and How to Write Clearly. 
 
 Untvebsity of Eoohesteb, 
 Jan. 1, 1876. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1. Define Grammar, indicate its relation to Rhet^ 
 orio, and give the general name under which both 
 may be included. 
 
 Grammar may be defined as the art of correctly express- 
 ing our thoughts. It lays the foundation for Rhetoric, 
 ■which superinduces, upon mere correctness of expression, 
 ■ Clearness, Energy and Elegance, and teaches how to 
 adapt correct expression to the purposes of Enlighten- 
 ment, Conviction, Excitation and Persuasion. Both 
 Grammar and Ehetoric may be included under the general 
 name of The Akt op Expsessiou.* 
 
 1 Whenever there is a decided transition in the thought (as 
 above) we should indicate it to the eye by " malting a new para- 
 graph." This is done, in writing, by beginning the sentence 
 which marlis the transition on a new line and about one fourth 
 of the distance from the left of the page. The following mark 
 [T] indicates to reader, or printer, that a paragraph should have 
 been made at a given point. The importance of paragraphing 
 can hardly be over estimated. It calls the reader's attention to 
 important transitions in the thought; and gives to one's produc- 
 tions a lively and attractive appearance. We instinctively shun, 
 as dull, a book with unbroken pages. 
 
 The close of every sentence within a paragraph is marked by a 
 
 feriod [.] ; the clauses of a sentence are separated by a semicolon 
 ;] ; the members of sentences are indicated by commas before 
 
 and after them [, ,]. The colon [:] is less frequently used now 
 
 than formerly. It is still employed, however, to Introduce a direct 
 quotation, or a summary of facts, and (instead of the period) to 
 separate short sentences relating to the same subject. The use of 
 the interrogation mark [?] and the exclamation mark [!], in place 
 of the period, is obvious. The dash [ — ] is used where expansion 
 is given to a thought already expressed ; where an abrupt break is 
 made in the discourse ; and, also, to lengthen a comma, semicolon, 
 or period. 
 
 Parenthetical matter (or matter which does not strictly pertain 
 to the subject) is indicated — according to its degree of irreia- 
 vance -- as follows : — 
 
 > J • » • » 
 
 ;-. *- ( ) I- ] 
 
6 INTEODTJCTION. 
 
 2. Distinguish between the Art of Expression 
 and the Science of Expression; and indicate the 
 degree of attention paid to each. 
 
 Corresponding to the Art of Expression, — which em- 
 bodies precepts for attaining to excellence in writing and 
 speaking, and contemplates such assiduous practice as 
 will make excellence easy and habitual, — there is, of 
 course, a Science of Expression, which gives us, in an 
 abstract form, the principles that underlie these precepts. 
 
 It is with the art, rather than the science, that we are 
 at present concerned. Our principal object is, to promote 
 greater facility in accurate and effective composition. 
 Hence the instruction imparted will be practical rather 
 than theoretical, and immediate application will be made 
 of everjr rule and every caution that may be suggested. 
 It would be equally impossible and undesirable, however, 
 to confine our attention wholly to Rhetorical precepts. 
 Sometimes, to determine the precept, it will be necessary 
 to investigate its underlying principle ; and thus, while 
 our main purpose is entirely practical, we shall, inciden- 
 tally, gain some familiarity with the canons of Ehetorical 
 criticism, and, also, lay the foundation for subsequent 
 studies in the departments of Logic and Early English. 
 
 3. Explain the relation between the Laws of 
 Expression and the Laws of Thought, and show 
 the bearing of this relationship on Rhetorical 
 Studies. 
 
 Ii. the department of Logic ; because the forms of 
 thought necessarily underlie and condition the forms 
 of expression, as the conformation of the landscape under- 
 lies and moulds to itself its covering of snow. Hence, 
 
 The design of these marks of punctuation is, to indicate to the 
 eye, those pauses and inflections which would be indicated to 
 the ear in correct reading. One who gets this idea into his head, 
 and i-emembers that a period indicates a full stop ; a semicolon, a 
 slighter stop ; a coran>a, a stop still less, is more likely to punctuate 
 correctly than if he has mastered all Wilson's rules. 
 
 It is very important that a writer he master of a simple, e£Eec- 
 tive, and, above all, uniform system of punctuation; still, as 
 Latham says [Essay mi Hamlet, p. 5 ], " It Is not in accordance 
 with the rules of Rhetoric to address the argument to the eye 
 rather than to the understanding, and to throw the priiper duties 
 of the writer upon the printei-." 
 
TNTEODtrCTION. 7 
 
 in treating of the laws of expression, we must turn once 
 and again, to tlieir natural and indispensable ground- 
 work — the Laws of Thought. The true method of Rhe- 
 torical study is, to begin at the thought and work out, 
 rather than to begin at the words and work in ; or — still 
 worse — to stick, forever, in the cork of mere verbiage. 
 In order to secure correctness of expression it is neces- 
 sary, in every instance, to ask : " What, precisely, is the 
 thought which I wish to express?" That form of ex- 
 pression is gbod, in any given case, which exactly fits the 
 thought. Any other form of expression, however elegant, 
 is bad.^ 
 
 4. Indicate the origin and nature of the univer- 
 sal element in G-ranamar and Rhetoric. 
 
 But if the forms of expression are thus determined by 
 the forms of thought, Grammar and Rhetoric must be, 
 like Logic, universal sciences ; for the forms of thought 
 are determined by the constitution of the human mind, 
 which is everywhere the same. Considered with reference 
 to their essential elements, Grammar and Rhetoric are 
 universal sciences, and, in their application, universal 
 arts. "Whether the Grammar we study be Latin, Greek, 
 English, French or Hebrew, the fundamental principles 
 which it recognizes will be the same, because the funda- 
 mental structure of Latin, Greek, English, French and 
 Hebrew minds is the same. 
 
 Thus, every language must recognize such Grammati- 
 cal distinctions as "subject," "predicate," "noun," 
 " verb," etc. Our grammars should discriminate more 
 carefully between these "general" and "particular" 
 elements. It would be well, indeed, to have a series of 
 grammars in which the discussion of " General Gram- 
 mar" should be the same — so that the student may not 
 be burdened and perplexed as he takes up a new language, 
 by different names for the same thing. This departznent 
 should embrace the essential points that are common, 
 Grammaticall3', to the Indo-European family of languages ; 
 and be followed by a discussion of what is peculiar to the 
 individual language to which the Grammar is devoted. 
 
 1 Eushton, In the Introduction to his Rules and Cautions in 
 English Grammar, questions the Logical basis of Grammar; though 
 he virtually concedes it, pp. 18, 60. Cf. Jevons, Principles of 
 Science, p. 37. 
 
8 INTKODUCTION. 
 
 5. Indicate the origin, nature and importance oi 
 the particular element in the Grammar and Rhet- 
 oric of any given people. 
 
 But, while there is this identity in mental constitution, 
 there is not identity in mental training and development. 
 The Hebrew, the Greek, the Englishman, has each his 
 mental idiosyncrasies ; and those idiosyncrasies, the result 
 of centuries of peculiar training, are infallibly reflected 
 in his language. Hence ; — besides the universal element 
 in Grammar and Rhetoric, which is common to all lan- 
 guages that are, or may be, known ; and determined by the 
 structure of the human mind ; — we have the particular 
 element which especially characterizes each separate lan- 
 guage. Even where the grammars of different languages 
 recognize the same elements, they do not handle them in 
 the same way. Compare, with reference to inflections, 
 the earlier and the later Indo-European languages. It is 
 in these especial and peculiar elements that the idioms of 
 a people root themselves. From them, their speech 
 gathers flavor and aroma — so that speech differs from 
 speech as coffee does from tea, the basis of both being 
 water. If, then, we would master the grammar and 
 rhetoric of any given people, it is not enough to bring to 
 their language an acquaintance with the universal ele- 
 ments in the Art of Expression. As well might we 
 infer that, because we know half a dozen men, we do not 
 need to study the peculiarities of the individual man with 
 whom we are to have intimate and personal relations. 
 We must give to the peculiar forms of each language 
 assiduous attention — tracing them, so far as may be, in 
 their origin and development. 
 
 Recognizing this fact, our present course of study will, 
 incidentally, as has already been remarked, lay the foun- 
 dation for subsequent studies in the department of Early 
 English. While we take a cursory survey of those prin- 
 ciples of General Grammar which are, from the study of 
 the Latin and Greek, fresh in your memory; we shall 
 dwell upon those peculiarities of our mother tongue which 
 are characteristic of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. Beside 
 those elements in The Art of Expression which are 
 universal and characteristic of the race, we shall endeav- 
 or to put those other elements which are particular and 
 ohai-acteristic of the English people. 
 
OUTLINES OE THE AKT OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 THE STRUOTUEE OE SENTENCES. 
 
 6. Define a simple sentence and an act of 
 thought. State and illustrate the three elements 
 which enter into every act of thought. 
 
 A simple sentence is the expression of a single act of 
 thought. This act of thought is a process of comparison, 
 as the result of which, the identity between two notions is 
 aflSrmed or denied.' 
 
 In every act of thought there are three elements in- 
 volved : First, the object about which we think ; sec- 
 ondly, a quality, or a class of objects, with which we 
 compare the primitive object of thought ; thirdly, the 
 aflSrmation of identity, or non-identity, between these two 
 elements. Each of these three elements is indispensably 
 . necessary to the act of thought. 
 
 To illustrate : I look from my window and the image 
 of a tree is painted upon the retina of the eye and trans- 
 ferred to the brain. The object of thought, the first ele- 
 ment, is here supplied ; but there is, as yet, no thought. 
 The mind grasps and retains the idea of a tree — nothing 
 more. The mind may, at the same time, grasp, and 
 retain, the notion of greenness, or taUness, or fruitful- 
 ness. Thus the second element in the act of thought is 
 supplied. The mind has now a quality, or a class of 
 objects, with which to compare the object first noticed ; 
 but there is as yet no thought. The mind grasps, and 
 retains, the two notions — nothing more. Another ele- 
 
 1 Notj the fact.that "thought" is here used in the strict sense 
 of the word, to Indicate the process or the result of mental com- 
 parison — not loosely, of any kind of mental activity. 
 
10 OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 ment must be supplied before the act of thought is com- 
 plete. The mind must bring its two notions into relation 
 to each other ; it must affirm, or deny, their identity ; it 
 must decide, for example, that the tree is tall, or gi-een, 
 or not fruitful — then the three elements are supplied and 
 the act of thought is finished.^ 
 
 7. How are the three elements which enter into 
 every act of thought represented in the simple 
 sentence ? Illustrate the possible combination of 
 these elements in expression. 
 
 These three elements, as has been said, do, and must, 
 exist in every act of thought. In the simple sentence, 
 which we have deiined as the expression of a single act of 
 thought, these three elements must, accordingly, be repre- 
 sented. The object about which we think is represented 
 by what is called the subject of the sentence ; the qualitj', 
 or the class of objects, with which we compare the primi- 
 tive object of thought, by what is called the predicate of 
 the sentence ; the affirmation of identity or non-identity, 
 by what is called the copula. 
 
 Corresponding, then, to. the three essential elements in 
 every act of thought, we have three essential elements 
 in every simple sentence : subject, predicate and copula. 
 For example: in the sentence, "John is tall," we have 
 "John," the subject; "tall," the predicate; and "is," 
 the copula. 
 
 It should here be remarked that the copula and predi- 
 cate may often be combined with each other and expressed 
 by a single word, so that the sentence seems, at first 
 sight, to lack one of its essential elements. Thus, in- 
 stead of saying: "Charles is walking," I may say: 
 " Charles walks." Indeed, the three elements may some- 
 times be represented by a single word. Thus the Latin 
 viret is equivalent to, "it is green;" and our English 
 monosyllable " Come," may be expanded into, " be thou 
 coming." 
 
 1 It is not intended to assert that there is, of necessity, a percep- 
 tible interval between the mental presentations of tliese elements. 
 They may be absolutely synchronous, or they may succeed each 
 other with such rapidity as to seem absolutely synchronous. 
 What is meant is, that, in the analysis of every act of thought, 
 these elements are found to exist. This is evident when we think 
 slowly an 1 laboriously. 
 
OUTLINES OP THE ART OF EXPEESSION. 11 
 
 In treating of the structure of sentences, we must ex- 
 amine, somewhat in detail, the several elements of which 
 thoy are composed. And first : — 
 
 THE SUBJECT. 
 
 8. How is the subject of a simple sentence reg- 
 ularly expressed? Define a noun and distinguisli 
 between common and proper, concrete and abstract 
 nouns. 
 
 The subject is regularly expressed, in the simple sen- 
 tence, by a noun in the nominative case. 
 
 A noun — from the Latin nomen, which denotes, prop- 
 erly, that by which a thing is known, no-{sco)-men — is 
 the name of an object of thought. The nominative case 
 is the naming (nominare) case, the form of the noun 
 which is used to designate the subject of the sentence. 
 
 There are several kinds of nouns which ought at least 
 to be enumerated in this connection. Proper nouns are 
 the names of individual objects — as John, Genesee, 
 Rochester, England, Venus, June. These words should, 
 in writing and printing, always begin with capital letters.' 
 Common nouns, or class-nouns, are the names of classes 
 of objects — as boy, river, city, countrj^, planet, Inonth. 
 They should never be capitalized unless they stand in 
 positions of special prominence — as at the beginning of 
 sentences and in the titles of essays, books, etc. 
 
 ' Capitals should also be used to indicate: — 
 
 a. The first word in every sentence. 
 
 6. The first word in every line of poetry. 
 
 c. The first word in a direct quotation. 
 
 (1. The pronoun I and the interjection O. 
 
 e. The principal words in the title of any book, essay, address, 
 etc. 
 
 Capitals are much less frequently used now than formerly. Be 
 chary of mechanical devices fco indicate to your reader what you 
 regard as important. The excessive use of capitals, italics, etc., 
 as.sumes a lack of discernment on the part of him for whom you 
 write, and implies a want of confidence, on your part, that your 
 words correctly and forcibly express your thought. The same 
 principle applies in delivery. Do not feel bound to convey every 
 shade of thought to your hearer's mind by sheer force of emphasis. 
 Trust somewhat to the meaning of your words. 
 
 Keed {En;/. Lit, p. 117), carries the use of mechanical devices 
 to express one's meaning to its utmost, when he says; "It is 
 our duty, therefore, to cultivate, to cherish and to keep it [the 
 English language] from corruption. Especially is this a duty foi 
 us who are spreading that language over such vast territory." 
 
12 OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 Corresponding to class-nouns, we ought, perhaps, to 
 recognize " mass-nouns," which are the names of elements 
 in nature {e.g. iron, wood, air, water), or products of 
 human industry {e.g. silk, leather) , that are viewed as a 
 whole and are not separable into members. These nouns 
 are seldom, if ever pluralized. See Jevons, Principles of 
 Science, p. 34. 
 
 While all the nouns in a language may thus be divided 
 into proper and common nouns, according to their use as 
 designations of single objects or as general terms ; there 
 are still other distinctions made with which we must 
 familiarize ourselves. Thus, nouns are again divided into 
 concrete and abstract. 
 
 A concrete Noun is the name of something which has 
 independent and objective existence — as book, chair, 
 table. The word concrete {con and crescere) denotes an 
 object taken with the qualities which have grown up 
 around it and reside in it. An abstract Noun is the 
 name of an attribute, or quality, regarded by the mind as 
 an object of thought — as brightness, hardihood, wisdom, 
 kingship, nationality.^ 
 
 The word abstract {abs and traliere") denotes a quality 
 abstracted, or taken away, from the object in which it 
 resides, and invested by the mind with independent 
 existence.^ 
 
 9. Define a collective noun, and illustrate the 
 difference between a collective noun and a class- 
 noun. 
 
 We have also collective nouns — which are singular 
 in form but which include, or group together, several per- 
 sons or things — as army, flock, people, assembly. The 
 
 ^ Note the A. S. terminations, -dom, -hood, -ness, -ship, which 
 serve to mark abstract nouns. Dom (A. S. Dom) denotes judg- 
 ment, power, state, condition. Hood (A. S. Hdd) denotes person, 
 form, state, condition. Ness (A. S. -nes or -nys, fem. term.) de- 
 notes quality or state. Ship (A. S. -scipe, masc. term.) shape, 
 fonn, condition. 
 
 Ity — from the Latin -itas, as evo-{is)-itas — serves the same 
 purpose. So, also, -tion and -sion, which are of Latin origin. 
 
 For additional abstract snfHxes, see Morris, Primer of Ena. 
 Ctram., pp. 81, 86. 7 j n 
 
 2 Angus {Handrbook of the Mng. Tongue, p. 172) giyes a minute 
 and exhaustive plassiflpatlo;^ of noups, ^hicl) may pi-ofltably be 
 consulted. 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPEESSION. 13 
 
 diflference between an ordinary class-noun and a collective 
 noun, is this. The class-noun can be sepaialely predi- 
 cated of each individual included within the class which 
 it denotes, while the collective noun cannot thus be predi- 
 cated. For example : John is, we will suppose, included 
 within tlie meaning of the class-noun " soldier ; " John is, 
 also, included within the meaning of the collective noun 
 " army." But, by virtue of John's inclusion in the class 
 soldier, we can give him the name of the class and say, 
 "John is a soldier;" while we cannot saj', "John is an 
 army." The collective noun does not belong to him in 
 his individual, but in his associated capacity. 
 
 10. Illustrate the modification in the object of 
 thought which gives rise to the Grammatical dis- 
 tinction called " number." 
 
 In analyzing the act of thought, it was supposed that I 
 looked from lay window and saw a tree, which served me 
 as an object of thought. Now, instead'of seeing one tree, 
 I might see two, or three, or a dozen ; and the clump of 
 trees, instead of the single tree, might constitute mj' 
 object of thought. I might say, " Trees are tall," just as 
 well as " tree." But in order to indicate the fact that I 
 am thinking of more than one tree, a change must be 
 made in the form of the noun which denotes the object of 
 thought.^ This necessity gives rise to the Grammatical 
 distinction which is called : — 
 
 mJMBER. 
 11. What "numbers " are recognized in English ? 
 
 English nouns have but two numbers, the singular and 
 the plural. In other languages (as the Greek) we have 
 a "dual," which would naturally precede the plural. 
 There are traces of it in the Anglo-Saxon, e. g. Wit^ 
 we two ; Git = ye two. 
 
 The singular number denotes a single person, or a sin- 
 gle thing ; the plural number (phis — pluris) denotes two 
 or more persons or things of the same kind. 
 
 1 " I see a tree and a tree and a tree," would naturally be the 
 form of expression, until linguistic progress conferred upon the 
 race the boon of a plural. 
 2 
 
14 OTTTLIIirES OF THE AET OP EXPEESSION. 
 
 12. Give the general riiles for forming the plurala 
 of English nouns. 
 
 The plurals of English nouns are regularly formed (as 
 in other languages of the Indo-European family — see the 
 Gr. avSQSs, Lat. homin-e-s) by adding s with a connecting 
 vowel, to the unchanged form of the singular, e. g. 
 watches, boxes, atlases. The connecting vowel is, 
 however, uniformly omitted when the s can unite in a 
 single syllable with the consonant preceding it. e. g. 
 books, trees, Miltons. Figures, letters and signs, used 
 as words, insert an apostrophe before s to form the plural. 
 For example: 5's, B's, *'s. 
 
 In compound nouns, and phrases where we have nouns 
 in apposition, the more prominent object of thought takes 
 the sign of the plural. For example : brothers-in-law, 
 Misses Smith, the Generals Sherman, the brothers Carter. 
 
 13. Give the exceptions to the general rules for 
 forming the plurals of English nouns. 
 
 To the general rules above given there are several 
 exceptions. 
 
 Most nouns which end in o preceded by a consonant, 
 retain e before s in forming the plural, to indicate that s 
 has the sound of z. e. g. heroes, negroes, cargoes ; but 
 cantos, grottos, mottos, quartos, solos. 
 
 Nouns ending in y, preceded by a consonant, retain the 
 Old English singular form in ie before the s which desig- 
 nates the plural. For example : skies, lilies, duties ; but 
 valleys, not "vallies;" chimneys, not " chimnies ; " 
 attorneys, not " attornies." 
 
 Several nouns exchange a terminal f, or ff, for v in 
 forihing the plural, to indicate to the eye that sound of 
 terminal f which we have derived from our Anglo-Saxon 
 ancestors. For example : leaves, wives, staves, thieves, 
 wharves. 
 
 A few nouns, all in common use, form the plural irregu- 
 larly, generally by changes in the body of the noun. For 
 example : man, men ; tooth, teeth ; cow, kine ; die, dice ; 
 ox, oxen ; brother, brethren ; child, children. 
 
 A few nouns make no change in the plural, e. g. sheep, 
 deer, fish, and most names of fish. Some nouns occur 
 ■»nly in the plural, e. g. victuals, aborigines, trousers. 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ART OF EXPRESSION. 15 
 
 14. Illustrate the connection of our common 
 Snglish plurals with the Anglo-Saxon forms. 
 
 The rules and exceptions thus far given with reference 
 to the plural, refer especially to words which are English 
 by birth, as well as by use ; and their explanation is to be 
 sought in the forms employed by our Anglo-Saxon 
 ancestors. 
 
 The following A. S. noun of the 2 Decl. may be mem- 
 orized to illustrate the origin of our regular plural forms. 
 Sing. Pltir. 
 
 iV and Ac. Dael, (part) Dallas, 
 
 D and Ab. Dadle, Daelum, 
 
 Gen. Daeles. Dacla. 
 
 The -en which appears in the plural of " oxen " (cf. the 
 O. E. hosen, shoon, e'en), is a relic of the regular A. S. 
 plural in -an — with which compare the modern Germ, 
 plural in -en. For example, take the following A. S. 
 noun of the 1 Decl. 
 
 Sing. Plue. 
 
 N. Tunge, (tongue) N. and Ac. Tungan, 
 
 Ac. Tungan, 
 
 D. and Ah. Tungan, D. and Ah. Tungum, 
 
 Gen. Tungan. Gen. Tungena. 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon had in the 3 Decl. the following plu- 
 rals, which illustrate some of our irregular plural forms : — 
 Man pi. men 
 
 r6t " fet 
 
 T6dh " tMh 
 
 Cii " cy (Gen. pi. ciina, cf. Mne) 
 
 Cild " cild(r)u 
 
 Compare with the last noun the Ger. Kind., Kinder; 
 and the common Hibernicism '■'■ cMlder." The Dutch, 
 like ourselves, employ a pleonastic plural, e. g. Kind, 
 Kind-er-en. 
 
 Those nouns which make no change in the plural follow 
 the neuters in the A. S. 2 Decl. For example : 
 Sing. Plub. 
 
 N. and Ac. Deor (animal ') Deor, 
 
 D. and Ah. De6re, Deorum, 
 
 Gen. Deores. De6ra. 
 
 I Cf. Grer. Tlder, Gr. Qvp; and recall Sliakspere's, — 
 " Rats and mice, and such small deer. 
 Have been Tom's food for many a year." 
 
16 OUTLINES OP THE AET OF BXPELSSION. 
 
 15. State and illustrate any peculiarities witb 
 reference to the plurals of nouns of foreign origin. 
 
 Many nouns which are of foreign origin retain the plu- 
 rals that they formed in their native land — especially if 
 they are of recent introduction, or used mostly by the 
 learned or the fashionable. For example : aides-de-camp, 
 beaux, billets-doux, virtuosi, alumni, antitheses, crises, 
 phenomena. 
 
 Some words of foreign origin retain the foreign plural 
 together with an English plural regularly formed — fre- 
 quently, however, attaching to them a different meaning. 
 Thus we have cherubim and cherubs, genii and geniuses, 
 indices and indexes. Indeed, we have some English 
 words which have two plurals used in different senses. 
 e. g. Pennies, pence ; dies, dice. 
 
 16. Enumerate the genders that are recognized 
 in Unglish; give illustrations of each; and state 
 how gender naay be distinguished. 
 
 Objects of thought may be distinguished with reference 
 not only to number, but also with reference to : — 
 
 GENDER 
 
 Other languages, — for instance: the Latin, Greek, 
 French, German, — invest inanimate objects with the 
 attributes of masculine and feminine gender ; and some- 
 times neutralize the gender of animate objects, e. g. Das 
 Weib, the woman ; Das Madchen, the maiden. The A. S. 
 recognized this constructive gender which the English 
 has, fortunately for us, abandoned. The only gender 
 that we recognize is actual, not constructive.^ Words 
 which denote objects of the male sex are said to be of the 
 Masculine Gender ; those which denote objects of the 
 female sex are said to be of the Feminine Gender ; 
 those which denote objects that have no sex, are said to 
 be of the Neuter Gender ; those which denote objects 
 that have sex, without designating the sex, are said to be 
 of the Common Gender. Examples of the neuter gen- 
 der are book, watch, table. Examples of the common 
 gender are parent, child, goat. 
 
 ^ On the reasonableness of constructive gender, see Harris's 
 Wermes, pp. 44-60. 
 
OUTLINES OB" THE ART OF EXPEESSION. 17 
 
 Nouns may distinguish the sex of the object which they 
 denote : — 
 
 1. By change of termination — as heir, heiress; lad, 
 lass (lad-ess) ; actor, actress ; testator, testatrix ; 
 marquis, marchioness ; hero, heroine (cf. Ger. termina- 
 tion in) . 
 
 2. By prefixing, or sufllxing, a sex-word — as man- 
 servant, maid-servant ; gentle-man, gentle-woman. 
 
 3. By words of different origin — as husband, wife; 
 wizard, witch ; earl, countess ; buck, doe ; stag, hind ; 
 sir, madam ; steer, heifer. 
 
 17. What is the object of the Grammatical 
 modification called " case," and what are the cases 
 most naturally recognized ? 
 
 The noun may be further modified in order to show its 
 relation to the other parts of the sentenpe. This modifi- 
 cation gives us the distinction which is called : — 
 
 CASE.' 
 
 Thus we may have the Nominative, or naming, case ; 
 the Genitive case, indicating origin or possession ; the 
 Dative case, indicating the indirect object of an action ; 
 the Accusative case, indicating the direct object ; the 
 Vocative case, used in direct address ; the Ablative 
 case, indicating separation or instrumentality. 
 
 18. Explain the method by which the relation 
 of a noun to the remainder of the sentence is 
 expressed in the Anglo-Saxon and in the English. 
 
 The Latin and the Greek express these various rela- 
 tions of the noun to the rest of the sentence, by changes 
 in the form of the noun itself. The Anglo-Saxon, from 
 which our modern English is directly descended, employed 
 the same method. But (in accordance with the tendency 
 that exists in every language to give to each word a uni- 
 form and definite meaning, and express its relations by 
 separate words rather than by modifications of its form) 
 the Anglo-Saxon case-endings have disappeared from our 
 
 1 For the derivation of the word, see Harris's Hermes, p. 277. 
 This author claims (in anticipation of Mr. Grant White) thai 
 there are no cases in modei-n languages. lb. p. 273. 
 2» 
 
18 OUTLINES OF THE ABT OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 modern English — their place being supplied by preposi- 
 tions and by increased attention to the position of words. 
 The Latin inflectional system is so perfect that there can 
 be no question as to the meaning of the sentence Johan- 
 nes percussit CfuKelmum, whatever the order of the words ; 
 while to invert the English sentence "John struck Wil- 
 liam," gives it an entu-ely different meaning. 
 
 19. Indicate the four stages through which lan- 
 guages pass with reference to inflection. 
 
 Languages pass through four stages with reference to 
 inflection : — 
 
 1. A period in which words succeed each other in the 
 natural order, with nothing except the order — aided, pos- 
 sibly, by tone and accent — to indicate their relations. 
 This may be called the Isolative period. The Chinese is 
 an example. "Thus, ra, according to its position in a 
 Chinese sentence, may mean : great, greatness, to grow, 
 very much, very." — Max Miiller. 
 
 2. A period in which the smaller words have become 
 permanently attached to the larger ones, though still 
 retaining their original form. This may be called the 
 Agglutinative period.^ The languages of the N. A. 
 Indians are an example. 
 
 3. A period in which (the agglutinated words being so 
 worn, by use, that their origin is mainly forgotten) a sys- 
 tem of terminations is developed, to indicate the relations 
 of roots to the rest of the sentence. This may be called 
 the Inflectional period. The Latin, Greek and Anglo- 
 Saxon are examples. 
 
 4. A period in which inflections disappear, — their 
 place being supplied by pronouns, prepositions, auxilia- 
 ries, etc., — and each word acquires a distinct and uni- 
 form meaning. This may be called the Analytic period. 
 The English is an example. 
 
 The agglutinated words are like so many bits of wood 
 rudely, but firmly, joined together to make a block of suffi- 
 cient size and shape for the lathe. The inflected words 
 
 ^ Thus, such forms as haddi^had + I, hajou^had + you, 
 might, natarally enough, spring from rapid utterance. Cf. 
 willy, nill/" = will + lie, ne-)--will+ he. See Marsh, Zecturea 
 on the Eng. Lang. pp. 386-9. 
 
OT7TLINE3 OP THE ART OP EXPHESSION. 19 
 
 are the same words turned down and sanS-papered. The 
 inflectional period is an advance on the agglutinative 
 period ; since it reduces to rule and system, what was, 
 under the previous period, accidental and peculiar to sin- 
 gle words. Thus we have: (Isolative) "He was like 
 God;" (Agglutinative), "He was God-like;" (Inflec- 
 tional) , ^^ He was godly." See Moviis, Eng. Accidence, 
 p. 3. 
 
 The analytic stage is a higher stage in the development 
 of language than any which precedes it ; since it is the 
 result of a minute discrimination between different shades 
 of thought which renders men dissatisfied with grouping 
 them indiscriminately under the few comprehensive heads 
 that are alone possible under an inflectional system, e. g. 
 We are no longer satisfied with the ablative case to denote 
 " cause, manner, means, or instrument." We say : " He 
 killed him from jealousy, by stealth, with poison, etc." 
 
 20. Explain the origin of the English possessive 
 and give the rules for its formation. 
 
 The only instance in which we still modify the form of 
 the noun to express its relations is, in 
 
 THE POSSESSIVE CASE. 
 
 This is a relic of the A. S. genitive singular in -es and 
 not (at least immediately) a contraction for a noun fol- 
 lowed by the possessive pronoun "his," as has been 
 claimed.' That is : we have retained one of the forms by 
 which the Anglo-Saxon indicated possession (a form 
 common to the Anglo-Saxon with the other Indo-Euro- 
 pean languages — cf. A. S. Daeles with Lat. hominis and 
 
 1 "John's book" might, as has been supposed, be a contraction 
 for "John his book;" but how about "the queen's frock"? 
 Such expansions of the possessive as "John his book," were used, 
 during the reign of Queen Anne, by all who affected precision of 
 speech — Priestley says (Grammar, p. 98) for euphonic considerar 
 tioiis. This expansion of the possessive occurs, however, in the 
 earliest MS. of Layamon's Brut — that is, not later than the begin- 
 ning of the thirteenth century. See, also, " Asa, his heart," 1 
 Kings, 15: 14; "Mordecai, his matters," Esth. 3: 4. The A. S. 
 genitive may be a contraction from a noun followed by a possess- 
 ive pronoun (e. g. Dael + his = Dalies); but our possessive mxist 
 be immediately referred to the A. S. genitive. Yet see Shepherd, 
 Bist. Eng. Lang. p. 63, note. 
 
20 OUTLINES OF THE ART OF EXPEESSION. 
 
 Gr. avSgog) ; and use it now, to indicate possession, with 
 any noun, whether singular or plural, masculine or 
 feminine. 
 
 The possessive case is formed by adding the apostrophe 
 with s to the unchanged form of the noun. For example : 
 " John's book," " men's shoes." Plural nouns ending in 
 s, take the apostrophe only. For example: "The 
 Ladies' Parlor." For the sake of euphony, the s is 
 sometimes omitted with the singular where the noun in 
 the possessive ends with a sibilant, especially if the next 
 word begins with a similar sound. For example : ' ' Cas 
 sins' sword," " Aristides' sarcasm." 
 
 Where the possessing subject is indicated by a phrase 
 that precedes the name of the object possessed, the last 
 word in the phrase, and that only, takes the sign of the 
 possessive. For example: "The Empress Carlotta's 
 insanity;" "John, Peter and Henry's father." If, 
 however, the phrase follows the word which it limits, the 
 principal word in the phrase, and that alone, takes the 
 sign of the possessive. For example : ^ The palace was 
 Maximilian's, the emperor. 
 
 21. What should, be done when the application 
 of Grammatical principles gives rise to ambiguity 
 or awkwardness ? 
 
 Wherever ambiguity, or awkwardness, would result 
 from the application of these rules, it is best to avoid the 
 use of the possessive altogether. Thus, instead of the 
 form last given, we may say : " The palace was that of 
 Maximilian, the emperor." * 
 
 This principle of avoidance is of wide application and 
 very great usefulness. The trained writer will often find 
 that he cannot well handle the form of expression which 
 first occurred to him ; and, being fertile in Rhetorical 
 expedients, will substitute for it an entirely different 
 form, while the novice will waste time in vain attempts to 
 make the original form graceful and appropriate. 
 
 Much of the value of sound Rhetorical instruction, 
 consists in the suggestion, and exemplification, of alter- 
 
 1 Instead of Grant White's sentence : " That it might be, if not 
 his, at least his nearest cousin Duncan's," which is certainly un- 
 pleasant and may be ambiguous, we might better read: " That of 
 Duncan, his nearest cousin." 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ART OP EXPHESSION. 21 
 
 native modes of expression of which we may avail our- 
 selves in an emergency.' 
 
 22. What is the significance of the English pos- 
 sessive case as compared with the Latin genitive? 
 Has the distinction that we now make always 
 been recognized? 
 
 It is to be carefully noted that the English possessive, 
 at least in its modern use, is always subjective — never 
 objective, e. g. '■'■ God's love " means the love which God 
 feels towards us ; not the love we feel towards God, for 
 which "The love of God" would be the correct form. 
 For both "God's love" and "the love of God," the 
 Latin would say amor Dei ; but our more highly analytic 
 language has set apart a different expression for each of 
 these ideas. Our possessive is possessive in the strictest 
 sense — a remark which applies to pronouns as well as to 
 nouns : hence the impropriety of such an expression as 
 " In our midst," " for " In the midst of us," or " among 
 us." 
 
 Because of its strictly subjective character, our pos- 
 sessive is, also, coming to be restricted to animate objects. 
 Thus we should hardly say : " The house's roof." 
 
 The A. S. genitive was used either subjectively or 
 objectively ; and our possessive is freely used in an 
 objective sense by the early English authors. Thus Mil- 
 ton writes ; " Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste," 
 etc. 
 
 1 To illustrate my meaning — the following sentence from 
 Thomson's Laws of Thought is correct enough: "We seek for 
 some other judgment, or judgments, that contains the grounds for 
 our coming to a decision." It sounds unpleasantly, however, 
 owing to the proximity of the parenthetic plural " judgments " to 
 the singular " contains." Change " contains "to " may contain " 
 (or, better, "may afEord"), a form which is either singular or 
 plural, and you get round the diflBculty. Getting round difficul- 
 ties is a very great art — only second to going through them ; and 
 sometimes you can hardly go through them. A student's oration 
 affords a sentence which might be similarly improved : " The 
 barriers which the political policy of the Chinese has erected, are 
 pjrumbling down." 
 
 ^ The following extract from a recent newspaper illustra'.es, to 
 perfection, the usage which is condemned: — 
 
 " On Monday night last, a gang of petty burglars, who evidently 
 have their abiding place in, or near, our midst, plied their vocar 
 tion in three or four different places in our village." 
 
22 OUTLn^S OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 23. Has tiie English language any construction 
 corresponding to the Latin ablative absolute ? If 
 so, indicate it. 
 
 Besides the possessive case, the English language 
 recognizes : — 
 
 THE NOMI]SrATIV:E CASE. 
 
 This con-esponds in its use to the Latin nominative and 
 vocative, and is also used independently, where the classi- 
 cal tongues would employ the genitive, or the ablative, 
 absolute. For example: "He being here, it is safe for 
 me to leave " — noi " Him being here ; " though Latham, 
 following the analogy of the Anglo-Saxon (which em- 
 ploys the dative absolute), and forgetting that good 
 usage always dominates over analogy, decides for the 
 latter form. 
 
 The question here suggested is of less practical signifi- 
 cance, because only in the case of pronouns do we make 
 any distinction in form between the nominative and the 
 objective case. 
 
 24. To what classical cases does the English 
 objective correspond ? 
 
 We recognize also : — 
 
 THE OBJECTIVE CASE, 
 
 which, when standing without a preposition generally, like 
 the Latin accusative, indicates the direct object of an 
 action ; when preceded by " to " or " for," like the Latin 
 dative, the indirect object ; while, when preceded by such 
 prepositions as "by," "from," "with," "in," it corre- 
 sponds to the Latin ablative. 
 
 25. Define, classify and illustrate "abnormal 
 nouns." 
 
 Any place in the sentence which would regularly be 
 filled by a noun ; may be supplied by what are called : — 
 
 ABNORMAL NOUNS. 
 
 By the expression "abnormal noun" we understand: 
 any word, phrase or clause which is not properly a noun, 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ABT OF EXPRESSION. 23 
 
 l)u<-. which is used instead of a noun.-' The most frequent 
 examples are : — 
 
 1. An adjective -with the definite article. For 
 example : " He hath given to the poor." 
 
 2. A verb in the "infinitive mood." For exam- 
 ple: " To err is human." Indeed, some take the posi- 
 tion that the infinitive ^ is always to be regarded as an 
 abnormal noun. 
 
 26. Explain the relation of the English infin- 
 tive to the Anglo-Saxon infinitive and gerund. 
 
 It is to be noted, in passing, that the English infinitive 
 corresponds not only to the A. S. infinitive, but also to 
 the A. S. gerund. The A. S. infinitive was characterized 
 by no separate sign, but by the termination -an. For 
 example : luf-i-an, to love. The A. S. gerund was a 
 verbal noun ending in -anne or -enne, and invariably pre- 
 ceded by the preposition to.- For example: to lujigenne, 
 for loving. These two forms were practicallj' confounded 
 through the influence of the Norman conquest — the ter- 
 minations being dropped, and the sign to indifferently pre- 
 fixed both to the infinitive and the gerund. Hence, in 
 many cases, what we now regard as an infinitive might, 
 properly, be regarded as a relic of the A. S. gerund. ' 
 For example: "He is to blame,'"' means "He is for 
 blaming," and need not be corrected into : " He is to be 
 blamed." So, also, "A house to let." The infinitive 
 still exists without the prefix "to," which it has acquired 
 
 1 An abnormal verb, may be similarly defined. For example : 
 
 " Wiether the charmer Mnner it or saint It, 
 If folly grow romantic, I must paint it." — Pope, 
 
 ^ Of which we have four forms : — 
 
 Pres. active, to love. Pres. passive, to be loved. 
 
 Past active, to have loved. Past passive, to have been loved. 
 8 Harris {Hermes, p. 167) gives the following illustrations of 
 tills difference in our English infinitives: — 
 
 I desire to live (inf.) 
 
 I eat to live (gerund. ) 
 The following are examples of the gerund : — 
 
 " That which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day." 
 " Which is not lawful to eat, but for the priests alone." 
 " These domestic and particular broils 
 Are not to question here." — Shakspere. 
 
24 OTTTLINES OF THE AKT OP EXPRESSION. 
 
 in modern English, in connection with the auxiliaries 
 and such familiar verbs as : bid, dare, have, help, let, 
 make, need, see and the synonymes of see. For example : 
 "Bid him go," "Let me see," "Help me do this 
 example." ■" 
 
 27. What participial forms are recognized in 
 English, and how may they supply the place of a 
 finite verb in a dependent clause ? 
 
 3. Another abnormal noun, of very frequent occur- 
 rence, is the participial form of the verb. We have 
 four participial forms : the present and the past active, the 
 present and the past passive. For example : " The heal- 
 ing of the sick ; " " By having striven hard, he attained 
 success;" "From being abused, he learned ferocity;" 
 "From having been treated kindly, he gradually became 
 docile." 
 
 The participials, which partake of the nature hoth of 
 the verb and the noun, often supply the place of a finite 
 verb. In this case, the noun or pronoun which would be 
 the subject of the finite verb is put in the possessive form 
 and modifies the participial. Thus, " From the time 
 when he came " is equivalent to : " From the time of his 
 coming " — not, as is often incorrectly said and written, 
 " From the time of him coming." The forms in -ing, as 
 thus employed, are regarded by Eushton {Rules and 
 Cautions, p. 23) as infinitives ; by others, as gerundials. 
 I prefer to designate them by the term "participials," 
 though discriminating between their use as participles and 
 as nouns. 
 
 4. Clauses and phrases are also used as abnormal 
 nouns ; and may stand either as subject, predicate, object, 
 or adjunct. For example : " That he voill come [subject] 
 is certain." " The cheering after the victory was what 
 all anticipated [predicate] ; " "I saw that he would not 
 do it [object] ; " "He waited long after the hour had 
 expired [adjunct]. The introduction of these clauses and 
 phrases into a sentence, however, robs it of its simple 
 character, and renders it complex. 
 
 1 Cf. Shakspere's Merchant of .Venice : — 
 
 " O ! father Abrara, what these Christians are 
 Whose own hard dealings teaches them suspect 
 The thoughts of others." 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPEESSION. 25 
 
 28. "What objects are gained by introducing 
 pronouns into a sentence ? 
 
 The English language also recognizes a class of words 
 which are called 
 
 PRONOUNS. 
 
 These, as their name indicates, may take the place of 
 a noun in any position which a noun would regularly 
 occupy. Thus, instead of saying: "John is look- 
 ing pale, John needs air and exercise," we say, "he 
 needs) air and exercise," using the pronoun "he" to 
 represent the subject already introduced. So, also, 
 instead of: "Give John, John's book," we may say 
 " his book," using the possessive pronoun to avoid the 
 repetition of the noun. Again, in reply to the question : 
 " Did you see that flash of lightning? " we should natu- 
 rally say : "I saw it," making the pronoun "it" take 
 the place of the phrase, "that flash of lightning." 
 While pronouns thus serve to obviate the stiflfhess and 
 awkwardness which would result from the repetition of 
 the same noun within the limit of a brief sentence, they 
 have other and more important uses. 
 
 PERSONAL PRONOUNS 
 
 serve, — and were, indeed, designed, — to distinguish the 
 person speaking from the person or thing spoken to, and 
 the person or thing spoken of."^ These persons are sever- 
 ally called the first, the second and the third. The 
 English pronominal forms are, like nearly all the other 
 inflectional forms in our language, derived from the 
 Anglo-Saxon, as will be seen from the following table of 
 the personal pronouns, in which the English forms are 
 placed beside their Anglo-Saxon originals. 
 
 29. Give the Anglo-Saxon personal pronouns of 
 the first, second and third persons, in connection 
 with the English forms derived from them. 
 
 FIRST PERSON. 
 Singular. Plitkai,. 
 
 Nom. I, rN. ic, we, \ We, 
 
 Poss. My, mine, < ^- ^f' ^^' > Our, oars, 
 Obj. Me. (Sim".'' Us!') Us. 
 
 1 See Harr'5's Hermes, pp. 63 sq. 
 
26 OUTLINES OF THE AEX OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 SECOND PERSON, 
 
 Nom 
 Poss 
 Obj 
 
 m. Thou, ( N. tM, ge, \ Ye, yoii. 
 
 BS. Thy, thine, ^ ^^ ||-^ Your, yours, 
 J. Thee. I d. the. eow. ' ^ou. 
 
 THIRD PERSON", 
 
 Nom. He, she, it; rN. he, heo, hit; They, ftha, 
 Poss. His, her, its ; ] ^- ^' ^^^^ ^ Their, ] tha,^ 
 Obj. Him, her, it. {. d. um, hire,' him. Them, { tham 
 
 The points of resemblance between our personal pro- 
 nouns and their A. S. originals are entirely obvious. 
 There are some points of difference which require especial 
 attention. 
 
 1. The accusative forms Mne, M and tJia, in the third 
 person, have disappeared from the language — their places 
 being supplied by the corresponding datives Mm, hire, 
 thdm. 
 
 Him began to supplant Jiine in the writings of Layamon 
 and Orm (12 cent.). Hine still exists in the dialect of 
 southern England as en. She comes from se, seo, timet — 
 the same pronoun that furnishes the plurals of the third 
 person given above. 
 
 30. To what extent, if at all, do we still recog- 
 nize a dative case in English? 
 
 2. "We no longer have a distinctive form for the dative 
 case ; though in such expressions as " Give me, him, her, 
 us, them, the book," the pronouns are rather to be re- 
 garded as relics of the A. S. dative than as objectives gov- 
 erned by a preposition understood. There is no sense in 
 uniformly understanding a preposition which can never, 
 by any possibility, be expressed. In "meseems," " me- 
 thinks," "methought," the pronoun is, unquestionably, 
 in the dative, limiting an impersonal verb. The A. S. had 
 two verbs very similar in form : thencan, to think ; and 
 tJiincan, to seem. Our " methinks " and "methought" 
 are to be connected with the latter. Thus : methyncedli = 
 it seems to me ; methuhte = it seemed to me. As late as 
 S.'ialBpeze's time, the dative pronominal forms were used 
 
OUTLINES 01' THE ART OP EXPEESSION". 27 
 
 as datives of indirect reference, e. g. " He plucked me 
 ope his doublet." Cf. Taming of Shrew, Act 1, Sc. 2. 
 
 In " Woe worth the day," (worth from A. S. weordhan, 
 to become), and in such expressions as: "Go home," 
 " Give the man your monej'," we have examples of s 
 noun in the dative case.^ Our adverbial "whilom," is a 
 proper dative plural from the A. S. hwil = time. 
 
 31. Explain and illustrate the introduction of 
 the.neuter possessive, " its," to our language. 
 
 3. In the neuter pronoun of the third person, "it," 
 the genitive was formerly the same as that of the mascu- 
 line, namely "his," and this usage prevailed to a com- 
 paratively recent period. Cf. Gen. 1:11 and Matt. 5 : 13. 
 " Its " does not occur in correctly printed copies of King 
 James's version of the Bible, and is very rarely used by 
 Milton. It is sometimes said, never ; but see Par. Lost, 
 1 : 254. " The mind is its own place, etc." Owing to 
 the inconvenience which arose from having the same form 
 for both the masculine and neuter possessive of the third 
 person (especially, as limiting Ehetorical personification) , 
 it became customary to use the unchanged form of the 
 neuter, "it," as a possessive. Thus Shakspere wrote 
 (Hamlet, Act 1, Sc. 2) : '^,It lifted up it head." Then 
 the apostrophe with s was added to " it," when the pro- 
 noun denoted possession. Then, the apostrophe was 
 dropped and our modern possessive form was complete. 
 In correctly printed copies of Shakspere we find illustra- 
 tions of all four forms of the neuter possessive — his, it, 
 it's and its — though tl;e third is said to occur only nine 
 times and the last only once. Measure for Measure, Act 
 1, Sc. 2. " Heaven grant us its peace, but not the King 
 of Hungary's." 
 
 1 Cf. "How triie a gentleman you send relief," Merchant of 
 Venice, Act 3, Sc. 4, with Clarendon Press note, p. 113. 
 
 See, on tlie retention of the dative in modern Eng., Lowth, 
 Gram. p. 169; Angus, Hand-book of the English Tongue, p. 271 sq.; 
 Fowler, Eng. Gram. p. 202; Mnlligan, Eng. Lang. p. 185; Proceed- 
 ings of Loud. Phil. hoc. vol. i, p. 151 ; Kusliton, Eules and Cau- 
 tions in Eng. Grammar, pp. 91, 106; Maetzner, Englische Grammatik, 
 vol. ii, 206 sg.,- Dalgleisli, Grammatical Analysis, p. 15; Morris, Outr 
 lines of English Accidence, p. 117. 
 
28 OUTLINES OF THE AKT OF EXPEESSIOK. 
 
 32. What peculiarities are to be noted with 
 reference to the use of the pronominal forms, 
 "thou," "you," "we; " "my" and "mine," "their" 
 and "theirs?" 
 
 In the use of some of our pronomirial forms, there art 
 peculiarities which deserve notice. In speaking to a sin- 
 gle person, we generally use the plural rather than the 
 singular, implying that we regard the person addressed as 
 more than a single being — as a host in himself. The 
 Hebrew made use of this pluralis excellentice even in the 
 case of nouns. For example : EloMm, God ; Shamayim, 
 heaven,^ As a result of this custom, "Thou" and 
 "Tliee" are confined almost exclusively, at the present 
 day, to elevated or devotional discourse. They formerly 
 denoted a degree of familiarity which bordered on con- 
 tempt. Thus Shakspere, in the Twelfth Night, makes 
 Sir Toby Belch, when instructing Sir Andrew Ague- 
 Cheek how to insult Viola, say: "If thou thou'st him 
 some thrice it will not be amjss ; " and Coke, to insult 
 Sir "Walter Raleigh at his trial, cried: "All that Lord 
 Cobham did, was at tliy instigation, thou viper ; for I 
 thou thee, thou traitor." '' 
 
 It is customary for editors and kings to use the plural 
 "we" rather than the singular "I," regarding them- 
 selves as the representatives of others.' Lord Coke says 
 
 ^ Another, and possibly a better, explanation may be found in 
 the tendency to regard indirectness of address as a sign of respect. 
 Thus the German, hi addressing a single person, says Sie haben 
 instead of Ihr habet — using the third person as well as the plural 
 number; and, in addressing dignitaries, we are required to say: 
 "Tour Majesty," "Tour Lordship," "Tour Excellency," etc. 
 The German " Du," at the present time, denotes the familiarity 
 either of affection or contempt. 
 
 2 Cf. Sha]£spere's: — 
 
 " Thou liest, thou thread, thou thimble. 
 Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter-cricket — Thou ! " 
 
 ' The inconvenience of this practice is illustrated by the follow- 
 ing extract from a newspaper which publishes a list of seven edi- 
 tors. Which of them was to deliver the eulogy on Dr. Witt? 
 Thd paper might better have said in mercantile parlance : " Our 
 Mr. J." 
 
 " It will be seen in another column, that we have been requested 
 to deliver a memorial discourse on the life and character of Dr. 
 Witt, which will probably be published ; and the expectation of 
 performing that service must, in some measure, restrain our pen, 
 m writing this article." 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AKT OE EXPRESSION. 29 
 
 that the custom was introduced by King John. Many 
 clergymen are in the habit of using the plural with refer- 
 ence to themselves, through a mock modesty which, to 
 avoid the use of the seemingly egotistic "I," assumes 
 that the thought enunciated from the pulpit may fairly be 
 regarded as the utterance of all who hear it. It should 
 be remembered that " wegotism " is as bad as egotism. 
 It is well enough for a clergyman to say "we" in hig 
 public prayers; when he may be considered the mouth- 
 piece of his people ; but not in his sermons, — where he 
 speaks for himself alone, and "we" is but a threadbare 
 cloak for excessive deference to his own opinions, — 
 unless, indeed, he is making a statement in which he may 
 fairly assume the concurrence of his hearers. 
 
 In the possessive case of nearly all the personal pro- 
 nouns, we have a weaker and a stronger form.^ The 
 weaker form is used, attributively, when the pronoun pre- 
 cedes the noun which it limits. For example : " My 
 book." The stronger form, predicativelj', when the pro- 
 noun follows the noun. For example: "The book is 
 mine, not hers or theirs." But note such archaic expres- 
 sions as " Mine arm ; " " Brother mine." 
 
 33. Indicate the origin and afQ.nities of the ex- 
 pression, "One says." 
 
 Such expressions as " One says," which are coming to 
 be very common in English, are modelled, probably, after 
 the French "on dit," etc. The French ^^on" and the 
 English " one," as thus used, are supposed to be contrac- 
 tions of the Latin homo. Of. the German : " man sagt." 
 But see Morris, Eng. Accidence, p. 143. 
 
 34. What is the origin of the English reflective 
 pronouns, and what rules may be given respecting 
 their use ? 
 
 1 Latham — Eng. Gram. pp. 85-86 and 145 sq. — characterizes 
 the weaker forms as "false," and the strohger forms as "true" 
 possessive pronouns ; and discusses them at some length. In the 
 case of " mine" and "thine " (cf. the Anglo-Saxon), the stronger 
 is, imdoubtedly, the original form. "Ours," "yours," "theirs," 
 "hers" ar(, probably, double possessivos (See Morris, Outlines of 
 English Accidence, p. 125) ; corresponding to which we have, in 
 the Midland dialect of England, ouren, youren, etc. — whence our 
 vulgarisms " our'n," "your'u." See Tancock, Eng. Gram. p. 56. 
 8* 
 
30 OTJTLIKES OP THE AET OF EXPEESSIOS, 
 
 REFLECTIVE PRONOUNS. 
 
 Eacli of the personal pronouns may be combined with 
 the word " self," or " selves," giving rise to such reflect- 
 ive forms as myself, thyself, himself, ourselves, etc. — 
 which are used either as nominatives or objectives. 
 Latham (Crrammar, p. 152) contends that, when these 
 reflectives are used as nominatives, we should say " his- 
 self" instead of "himself," regarding " self" as a noun 
 which, as the subject of the sentence, should be modified 
 by the possessive. The best usage at the present day is, 
 however, to employ a simple personal pronoun as the sub- 
 ject of the sentence and put the reflective in apposition 
 with it — removing the reflective, if possible, from imme- 
 diate contact with the subject. For example : instead of 
 " Himself is strong," we say ; " He is, himself, strong." 
 The word " self," thus compounded with the personal 
 pronouns is, says Vernon : " No more a noun than the 
 Greek avzog, the Latin ipse, or the French meme ; " but 
 a declinable A. S. adjective {sylf) which was at first put 
 in apposition to, and subsequently combined with, the 
 pronominal forms. See the A. S. form, us selven. This 
 statement is illustrated by the fact that " itself" was, so 
 late as Shakspere's time, written as two words — "it 
 self." Indeed, Shakspere says, in the Merchant of Ven- 
 ice: " I shot another arrow that seZ/" way," using " self" 
 as a proper adjective.^ 
 
 It is to be remarked, that, where it becomes necessary to 
 introduce one of these reflective forms into a sentence in 
 which the plural of a personal pronoun has been used to 
 indicate a single person, the singular form of the reflect- 
 ive is preferred to the plural. For example: "You, 
 John, are, yourself, at fault." " 
 
 35. What purpose do the relative pronouns sub- 
 serve ? Illustrate the origin of the English relative 
 by reference to the A»glo-Saxon. 
 
 1 Cf. "That seZ/ hand." — ^jiiony and Cleopatra. 
 Contrast Milton's : " That Orpheus' self may raise his head." 
 
 2 The principle here indicated is of wider application. Thus the 
 sentence given below, from the New'Tork Standard, is incorrect: 
 
 "The judge is a glorious sailor as well as a jurist, and we would 
 gladly trust our lives with him on. the most dangerous seas." 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AETOP EXPRESSION. 31 
 
 RELATIVE PRONOira'S. 
 
 Relative pronouns serve to introduce a second time, 
 and in a new relation, an object of thought already men- 
 tioned. This object is called the antecedent. The ordi- 
 nary forms of the relative are : — 
 
 With reference to With reference to 
 
 Persons : — Tilings : — 
 
 Nom. Who, "Which, 
 
 Poss. Whose, Whose, 
 
 Obj. Whom. Which. 
 
 The A. S. pronoun from which our relative is derived 
 was : — 
 
 Masc. and Fern. Neuter. 
 
 N. Hwa, Hwaet, 
 
 Ac. Hwone, Hwaet, 
 
 D. Hwam, Hwam, 
 
 Gen. Hw&es, Hwaes, 
 
 Ab. Hwy. Hwy. 
 
 36. What facts are especially to be noted with 
 reference to " which," " what " and "whose " ? 
 
 In regard to our relative forms the following facts are 
 to be noted : — 
 
 a. " Which," though now denoting things, formerly 
 denoted persons as well. It generally expresses some- 
 thing of quality as well as relation ; as is natural from its 
 derivation — hwa-lic (who-like) =^ while = which. ^ For 
 example : " Our Father which art in heaven," i.e., " who 
 art of such a nature as to be in heaven." The difference 
 between "who" (expressing simple reference) and 
 " which " (implying something of quality) is admirably 
 illustrated by Xh& following passage from Shakspere's 
 Macbeth : — 
 
 " I have known those which [^uales^ have walked in 
 their sleep, who [gui] have died, holily, in their beds." 
 
 b. "What," used by the Anglo-Saxons as a simple 
 neuter pronoun, has become, in modern English, a com- 
 
 1 In Uko manner, " such " is derived from siea-lic (so-like) = 
 swilc. 
 
32 OUTLINES OF THE ART OP EXl'RBSSIOK. 
 
 pound pronoun including both the relative an( I its antece. 
 dent, and equivalent to "that which." For example - 
 " I know not what he says." 
 
 c. " Whose" — from its derivation applicable to things 
 as well as persons — was formerly so used, though now, 
 like all our possessives, generally restricted to persons. 
 
 Besides the regular relative, " as," which was origin- 
 ally a conjunction of comparison, has come to be used 
 after " same," " such," " so," and " as," in the place if 
 a relative. For example : "It is such a book as I fc> 
 nierly owned " — a sentence which I should, however, pre- 
 fer to expand into : " It is such a book as that book was 
 which I formerly owned." ^ Swinton {Grammar, ^. 16) 
 says " but " is sometimes a negative relative and quotes : 
 
 " There is no household, howsoe'er defended 
 But has one vacant chair." 
 
 So, also ; " No roof arose hut was open to the home- 
 less stranger." Rushton {Rules and Cautions, pp. 40, 
 132) admits the relative force of " as " and " but " ; yet 
 denies that they are relative pronouns. 
 
 No Grammatical principle is clearer than that a word 
 should be named according to the oflice which it dischar- 
 ges in a given sentence. As Morris well sa5's {Primer of 
 Enif. Gram. p. 14, cf. Rushton, pp. 5, 140, 220, 221) ; 
 " The same word may be a noun in one part of a sentence, 
 an adjective in another, a verb in a third, and so on ; as 
 ,' John exchanged his silver watch for a lump of Bilver 
 with which he meant to silver some metal coins.' '' 
 
 37. When may "that" be used instead of "who" 
 or " which ; " and when should it be preferred ? 
 
 " That " (from the A. S. se seo, thaet — which was both 
 relative and article) may generally be used as a relative 
 whenever "who" or "which" can be, excepting after a 
 preposition. It is to be preferred to "who" or 
 '•which": 
 
 1. To avoid ambiguity, when "who" or "which" 
 has already been used in the sentence, and it becomes 
 necessary to introduce a relative that refers to a differ- 
 
 1 But see the following : " He took great content and exceeding 
 delight in his voyage, as who doth not as shall attempt the like," 
 Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy. 
 
OTTTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPEESSIOK. 33 
 
 ent antecedent. For example: "The windows which I 
 saw, had shutters that opened on the inside." 
 
 2. "When the antecedent embraces both persons and 
 things — "that" being appropriate to either. For 
 example : " The men and houses that I saw." 
 
 3. In elliptical expressions — and especially when, by 
 the omission of a preposition, the relative is brought 
 exceptionally near to its antecedent. For example : 
 " The last time that I saw him." ^ The reason for this 
 preference is, that " that," and not " who," or " which " 
 is, by derivation and early usage, the true English rela- 
 tive ; and hence it stands in closer relation to its antece- 
 dent than "who " or " which." 
 
 This is the reason why we cannot use " that " when the 
 relative is separated by a preposition from its antecedent, 
 as in the clause : " The man of that I spoke." What 
 Lowth calls " a vernacular instinct " may have led you to 
 regard the expression as wrong ; but for the first time, 
 possibly, you ask : " Why ? " 
 
 4. To distinguish deflnitive clauses (that is, clauses 
 that indicate a necessary limitation or expansion of the 
 antecedent) from mere epithets — which serve to call 
 attention to some quality of the antecedent that may be 
 prominent, but is not a necessary limitation of the 
 writer's thought. This use of " that" is especially com- 
 mon after demonstratives. For example : " Earthly pleas- 
 ures which [an epithet implying something of quality] 
 are short and uncertain, cannot be the highest for man ; " 
 but "Those pleasures that [strictly definitive] are from 
 the earth, etc." The ground for this distinction is, to 
 borrow the words of Angus, that " That is restrictive and 
 deflnitive as well as relative." That it has this restrict- 
 ive force, is owing to its close connection with the ante- 
 cedent." 
 
 1 " That " must here be regarded as a relic of the A. S. dative 
 of time. 
 
 2 Be careful not to introduce too many "thats." The following 
 sentence, though Grammatical, is manifestly defective: "Don't 
 you see that that ' that' that that [sentence] that that gentleman 
 wrote contains, is superfluous ? " 
 
 "Be careful, too, not to use "that" as a relative in such con- 
 nection that it may be mistalcen for a conjunction, e.g. " It may 
 now be regarded as a maxim that nobody will deny, that education 
 ia th 3 best guaranty of success in every conceivable direction ol 
 hum<tn enterprise." 
 
34 OUTLINES OF THE ABT OP EXPRESSION. 
 
 Note the difference in meaning between : " The transit 
 of Venus that occurred recently was of great importance 
 to science," and " The transit of Venus which occurred 
 recentlj'." The relative clause in the last case, strikes us 
 as parenthetic and unessential, whether it was meant to be 
 so, or not. The rule here given founded upon a distinc- 
 tion in the thought that we wish to express, covers several 
 seemingly arbitrary rules, given by the grammarians: 
 e.g. : — 
 
 That " that" must be preferred after an adjective in the 
 superlative degree ; and after very, same and all. 
 
 INTERROaATIYE PRONOUNS. 
 
 38. What pronouns are used as interrogatives 
 in English ; and why ? 
 
 " Who," " whose," " whom," " what " and " which" 
 may all be used as interrogative pronouns. Indeed the 
 A. S. pronoun from which they are derived was always in- 
 terrogative — always equivalent to the Latin quis ?, never 
 to qui. Its ablative, " Swy " is always either interroga- 
 tive, or a mere particle of transition, to the present day. 
 This fact furnishes an amusing commentary on the " Hum- 
 ble Petition of Who and Which," in the Spectator, No. 
 78 — by Sir Richard Steele. 
 
 CONSTRTJOTION OF PEONOUISrS. 
 
 39. What rule may be given respecting the 
 construction of pronouns ? Why is especial care 
 necessary with reference to the construction and 
 arrangement of pronominal clauses? 
 
 In regard to construction, we may lay down the general 
 principle that a pronoun must agree, in gender, number 
 and person, with its antecedent, while its case depends on 
 the nature of the clause in which it stands. 
 
 It may be remarked in passing, that clearness depends, 
 more than upon any other one thing, on the immediate 
 and unmistikable reference of the relative to its proper 
 antecedent — which is, properly, a noun, a pronoun, or an 
 lufiaitive, never an adjective. Thus, the following sen 
 
OUTLINES OF THE XRT OF EXPKESSIOIT. 35 
 
 tence is incorrect. " Some men are too ignorant to be 
 humble, ■without which there can be no docility and no 
 progress." — Berkeley. 
 
 To secure the immediate reference of the relative to its 
 antecedent, it should be brought as near to its antecedent 
 as possible ; and the same relative should never refer, in 
 the same sentence, to two different antecedents.' 
 
 Almost equal care is necessary, in order to avoid am- 
 biguity, with reference to the personal and demonstrative 
 pronouns — which should be rigidly restricted, within the 
 limits of a single sentence, to a single object of thought. 
 The following sentence, from Goldsmith, is miserably 
 defective in this particular. " He [Philip] wrote to' that 
 distinguished philosopher [Aristotle] in terms the most 
 polite and flattering, begging of him [Aristotle] to under- 
 take his [Alexander's] education ; and to bestow on him 
 [Alexander] those useful lessons which his [Philip's] 
 numerous vocations would not allow him [Philip] to be- 
 stow." 
 
 In the following sentence, there are far too many 
 " it's," and their reference is vacillating and obscure. 
 "It is many times as troublesome to make good the pre- 
 tence of a good quality as to have it ; and if a man 
 have it not, it is ten to one but he is discovered to 
 want it, and then all his pains and labors to seem to have 
 it are lost." 
 
 William Cobbett (Eng. G'ram., Letter XVII.), says: 
 " The word it is the greatest troubler that I know of in 
 language. It is so small, and so convenient, that few are 
 careful enough in using it. Writers seldom spare this 
 word. Whenever they are at a loss for either a nomina- 
 tive or an adjective to their sentence, they, without any 
 kind of ceremony, clap in an it." 
 
 1 That a violation of. these principles leads sometimes to ludi- 
 crous, as well as ambiguous, combinations, is evident from the fol- 
 lowing sentences: — 
 
 " To the group of Dinosaurs belongs the Iguanadon of the 
 Wealden beds, first made known by Dr. Mantell, whose body was 
 28 to 30 feet long." — Prof. Dana. 
 
 " At last the signal appeared to be given at the Osbum House 
 by the flaming up of a greenish light, which continued with bril- 
 liant effect for several minutes. This was followed by a very 
 handsome clianging piece, a hexagonal wheel, we judged, from 
 our position, which appeared very beautiful, and elicited the Ohs , 
 and cheers of the crowd." 
 
36 OUTLINES OP THE AET OE EXPRESSION. 
 
 THE COPULA. 
 
 Having considered, at sufficient length, tlie first elen-ent 
 in every act of tliought (the object about which we think) , 
 with the various forms that are used to express it in the 
 simple sentence, we pass to consider the third element 
 IN THE ACT OF THOUGHT — that is, the affirmation of 
 identity or non-identity between the primary object of 
 thought and the object, or quality, with which we com- 
 pare it. This third element is expressed by the copula. 
 
 40. What is the force of the copula, and what 
 its normal form ? 
 
 The copula is the life of the sentence, without which, 
 either expressed or implied, the sentence cannot exist. 
 Its force is always simply assertive. The elements of 
 time and manner are not essential to the copula ; but 
 belong, rather, to the predicate. The copula may assert 
 either affirmatively or negatively. Thus, when the ques- 
 tion arises, " Is John tall? " we may solve it either by the 
 assertion, "John is tall," or by the assertion, "John is 
 not tall." The act of negation is just as simple a mental 
 process as the act of affirmation. It is just as eas}' to 
 answer the question, "Is John tall?" by "No" as by 
 " Yes." Hence, in the sentence " John is not tall," we 
 have but three elements in the act of thought, though the 
 assertive element is expressed by two words, " is not." ^ 
 
 The regular form for the affirmatively assertive copula 
 is the verb "is." The regular form for the negatively 
 assertive copula is, " is not." Other expressions rnay be, 
 and indeed are, used to bind the first and second elements 
 in the sentence together ; but let it be distinctly borne 
 in mind that the forms indicated above are the normal and 
 regular forms of the copula. 
 
 41 . Illustrate the origin of the English verb " to 
 be," by reference to the Anglo-Saxon. 
 
 The forms of the verb "to be" (which furnishes us 
 with the assertive element in the sentence) are gathered 
 fi:om at least three defective A. S. verbs, as is shown by 
 the following table, in which the A. S. originals of exist- 
 ing English forms are italicized. 
 
 1 We may recognize, also, the interrogative copula — e.g. " Is 
 John tall?" and the negatiye-iaterrogative copula — e.g. "la 
 not John tall?" 
 
OUTUlfES OP THE ABT OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 37 
 
 Origin of English Verb " To Be." 
 
 o 
 
 03 
 O 
 
 a 
 
 ' ^ j- ic be6, 
 g < thii b'^st, 
 ^ i he bydh, 
 
 Present Tense. 
 
 eom, 
 eart, 
 is. 
 
 J J we, ge, hi, beodh; 
 Ph ( or be6 we, ge, hi.^ 
 
 CO (. 
 
 l^< 
 
 Inf. Pres. 
 Imp. Sing. 
 
 " Pl. 
 Gerund, 
 Part. Pres. 
 
 " Past. 
 
 Past Tense. 
 
 beon, 
 
 bed, 
 
 beodh or beo, 
 
 \ib beonne, 
 
 beonde, 
 
 synd or 
 syndon. 
 
 waes, 
 
 waere, 
 
 waes, 
 
 waeron. 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 a 
 
 CO 
 
 'bed, sy, 
 
 be6n, syn, 
 
 waere. 
 
 L 
 
 ■ waeron. 
 
 wesan, 
 
 wes, 
 
 wesadh or wese, 
 
 to wesanne, 
 
 wesende, 
 
 gewesen. 
 
 42. "What points of difference between the 
 Anglo-Saxon and the English verb are to be noted? 
 
 It will be noticed that our modern verb "To be " has, 
 in the present indicative, discarded all the plural forms of 
 the Anglo-Saxon, substituting for them the Danish ere, 
 which is more closely allied to those singular forms that 
 we have retained. A new past participle, "been," has 
 also been introduced, formed after the analogy of the 
 Anglo-Saxon. In other respects, our existing English 
 forms correspond very closely to those of the Anglo- 
 Saxon.^ 
 
 1 Instead of }i( (the regular plural of he, he6, hit) tha (the plural 
 of se, se6, Ihaet), early came to be used in northern England. 
 
 ^ Cf. with ic bed, our vulgarism, " I bo," which is sanctioned by 
 Lowth, Gram. p. 71; and with he bjdh, Shakspere's: — 
 
 " I think he he transformed into a beast." 
 
 Milton says; 
 archaic. 
 
 "If thou beest he;" though the form is now 
 
38 OUTLINES OP THE AET OP EXPRESSION'. 
 
 The table just given illustrates the fact that the Anglo- 
 Saxon verb had but two tenses — a past and a present—, 
 the auxiliaries which help make up the other English 
 tenses, being regarded by the Anglo-Saxons as independ- 
 ent verbs.i The facility with which we may dispense with 
 a future (which would, at first sight, seem absolutely 
 necessary to mark one of the natural divisions of time), is 
 illustrated by such modern English expressions as : " 2>o 
 you go to New York to-day?" — "No, I am going to- 
 morrow." Mr. Grant White claims that our modern Eng- 
 lish, like its Saxon original, has really but two tenses.'' 
 
 It may be well, in passing, to notice the fact that the 
 present active participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb did not 
 end in -ing as with us, but in -nde. It is probable that 
 the oft-repeated assertion that such verbal nouns as 
 " building," " singing," " riding," etc., are derived from 
 the present participle, should be substantially reversed ^- 
 the truth being, that the participle has exchanged its own 
 termination (^-nde) for that of a class of verbal nouns 
 corresponding to the German nouns in -ung. 
 
 43. State and illustrate the difiterent degrees of 
 identity which may be expressed by the copula. 
 
 In regard to the significance of the copula, it has been 
 already said that it expresses the relation of identity or 
 non-identity which exists between the ' subject and the 
 predicate. 
 
 It may be remarked that there are different degrees of 
 identity which the copula may express. For example, in 
 the sentence, "John is John," the identity is absolute — 
 we have, in the subject and the predicate, the same object 
 •of thought expressed by the same word. In the sentence, 
 
 1 Cf. Shakspere's: — 
 
 " I've seen myself, and served against, the French, 
 And they can well on horseback." — Hamlet. 
 
 Also Chaucer's: "For by the faithe I schal [owe] to God." 
 
 2 See his chapter on " The Gri-ammarless Tongue," supported 
 by "A Plea for Jack Cade," in Words and their Uses; also 
 Latham's English Grammar, p. 101. The Hebrew language, it may 
 be remarked, has but two tenses — or rather no tenses at all, but 
 two forms of the verb, one to denote complete, and the other in- 
 complete action. The Anglo-Saxon gave the preference to one of 
 its present forms (hed) in expressing futurity, the other (eom) being 
 tar less frequently employed in that sense. 
 
OUTLINES OP THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 39 
 
 «« The stranger whom you met is John," the identity is 
 only partial. The object of thought, in the subject and 
 in the predicate, is the same ; but it is expressed by 
 different terms. In the sentence, " John is a soldier," 
 the identity is still less perfect. Here, an individual 
 object of thought (John) is declared to be a member of 
 a given class (soldiers) . The objects of thought, as well 
 as the forms of expression, may be fairly said to differ in 
 the subject and predicate. 
 
 Absolutely identical statements are wholly destitute of 
 practical value.^ Statements in which the same object is 
 compared under different names, may serve to clarify our 
 ideas, or unfold them to others. Only those statements 
 in which different objects are compared, can add any 
 thing to our positive knowledge. 
 
 Besides the three degrees of identity already recognized, 
 there is a false, or only seeming, identity where the same 
 word, or phrase, is employed, but in entirely different 
 senses. This false identity underlies the humorous syllo- 
 gism : — 
 
 Feathers are light ; 
 Light is contrary to darkness : 
 Therefore, feathers are contrary to darkness. 
 
 THE PREDICATE. 
 
 We pass to consider the second element in the act op 
 THOUGHT — that is, the object, or quality, with which the 
 primary object of thought is compared. This is called, in 
 Grammar, the predicate. 
 
 44. What are the t"wo principal methods of ex- 
 pressing the predicate ; and what is the difference, 
 in thought, between them ? 
 
 The predicate may be expressed : — 
 
 1. By an adjective or a participle. For example: 
 "Grass is green;" "John is running;" "Charles is 
 wearied." By these sentences, we mean to attribute the 
 quality of greenness, the act of running, the condition of 
 
 1 Such sentences as Burns' s: "A man's a man for a' that" 
 (Humamis, homo est) ; " Money is money in these times ; " " But 
 Scotland was Scotland in those days" {Heart of Mid-Lothian, 
 vol. i. p. 75), are not absolutely identical propositions. 
 
40 OUTLINES OF THE ART OF EXPEESS.ION. 
 
 weariness, to the subject, among other qualities, acts or 
 conditions by whicli it may be characterized. 
 
 2. By a noun. For example: "Man is a mortal," 
 where, instead of attributing the quality of mortality 
 directly to man, we include man in the class of objects 
 that is characterized by mortality. The first class of 
 predicates may be regarded as abstract, the second as 
 concrete. 
 
 45. State and illustrate the subdivisions of 
 abstract predicates, and explain the difference 
 between abstracts that express quality and those 
 that express condition. 
 
 Abstract predicates may be subdivided into abstracts 
 that express : — 
 
 a. Quality — e.g. 'K&n is, mortal. 
 
 b. Action — e. g. The bird is flying. 
 
 c. Condition — e. g. The grass is wet. 
 
 d. Eelation — e. g. The place is near. 
 
 The first two classes (a. and 6.) are generally essential ; 
 the last two (c. and d.) accidental. 
 
 Quality-words express those attributes by virtue of 
 which the object to which they refer is what it is {qualis) 
 — those attributes that characterize' the object every- 
 where and always, and thus afford a basis for classifica- 
 tion. For example: " Man is mortal." " Mortal " is a 
 qualit3r-word, for mortality is an essential and inseparable 
 attribute of humanity. If not mortal, then not man. 
 " Condition-words " express those attributes of the 
 object to which they relate that are dependent not on its 
 essential nature, but on its circumstances. These attri- 
 butes are separable from the object, and do not afford a 
 basis for scientific classification. For example : " The 
 man is rich." Here " rich" is a condition-word, for man 
 is equally man whether rich or poor. 
 
 This analysis is of nearly equal value in inventing and 
 in arranging material for discourse. We shall find more 
 to say about any given object, if we ask : What are its 
 essential qualities ? What does it do ? Under what con- 
 ditions may it exist? What relations does it sustain? ; 
 than if we simplj' ask ; What shall I say about it? And 
 the method which helps us in the accumulation of material, 
 
OXTTLINES O-P THE AET OF EXPEESSION. 41 
 
 guides us in using it. We must separately and distinctly 
 enumerate the qualities, acts, conditions and relations of 
 an object under discussion. 
 
 46. State and illustrate the various ways in 
 •which abstract predicates may be abnormally ex 
 pressed. 
 
 Abstract predicates may be expressed not only by 
 adjectives and participials but, abnormally, by adjunc^s 
 (i. e. nouns governed by prepositions) , adverbs, inflnitives 
 and clauses. For example: "The moon is above the 
 clouds;" "The man is there;" "The star is to be 
 seen; " " The book is where you can find it." 
 
 47. "What do you understand by a verb ; a tran- 
 sitive verb ; an intransitive verb ; a neutet verb ; a 
 " neuter-passive verb " ? 
 
 As has already been remarked, the predicate (especially 
 ■when it denotes action) often exists in combination ' with 
 the copula. Thus, instead of saying " John is running," 
 we may say, "John runs." The combination of the 
 predicate and copula gives rise to 
 
 VERBS, 
 
 which, inasmuch as they include the copula, may be called 
 the assertive element in the sentence. 
 
 We recognize several different kinds of verbs : — 
 1. Transitive verbs, which express an action that 
 passes over {transit) upon an object, and which do not 
 make complete sense without the speciiication of that ob- 
 ject, e.g. " He obtained what he sought." 
 
 1. Intransitive verbs," which express action, but do 
 not require the specification of an object on which the 
 action is expended, in order to complete the sense, e.g. 
 " Mary sings." 
 
 3. Neuter verbs, which express existence, state or 
 condition merely, e.g. " He suffered greatly." 
 
 4. Neuter-passive verbs, which are compounded of 
 the neuter verb "to be," and a passive pai-ticiple. e.g. 
 " I am come," " He was graduated," " Brutus and Cas- 
 
 I See Harris's Hermes, p. 04. ^ gee Lowth, Grammar, p. 61. 
 4* 
 
42 OUTLINES OF THE AET OP EXPRESSION. 
 
 sius are rid, like madmen, through the gates of Eome." 
 The auxiliary " have " (which follows the analogy of the 
 Norman- French : e. g. J'ai ete) would be more usual in 
 such connections ; but the analogy of other Teutonic Ian 
 guages favors the neuter auxiliary. Thus the German 
 has : IcJi bin geJcommen, never : "I have come." It is a 
 positive gain to the English language to have both forms 
 of expression, as they indicate decidedlj^ different shades 
 of meaning — the auxiliary " have " emphasizing the act ; 
 the auxiliary "be," the state.^ 
 
 "With reference to verbs, we must recognize the follow- 
 ing distinctions. 
 
 48. What do you tmderstand by "voice"? 
 What voices are recognized in English, and to 
 what extent ? 
 
 YOIOE. 
 
 By " voice " we understand that form of the verb which 
 indicates the direction, with reference to the subject, of 
 the action, or relation, predicated in the sentence. Thus 
 we have the Active voice, which denotes the action as 
 proceeding from the subject, and terminating in some ex- 
 ternal object — e.g. "I strike." The Passive voice, 
 which denotes the action as proceeding towards, or ter- 
 minating in, the subject of the sentence, from without ; 
 and which is especially useful to render an object more 
 prominent — e.g. "I am struck." The Middle voice," 
 which denotes the action as proceeding from and, at the 
 same time, terminating in the subject of the sentence. 
 e.g. " I strike myself." 
 
 It is common to recognize in English only the active 
 and the passive voice ; but it would be difficult to show 
 why the middle, represented by such forms as have been 
 given above, is not just as worthy of recognition as the 
 passive. Cf. the French reflexives, se vetir, s'en a'Uer, 
 etc. The English has neither passive nor middle voice m 
 the sense that the Greek has. It indicates a change 
 in the direction of the action denoted by the verb, not by 
 a change in verbal inflection, but by prefixing certain aux- 
 
 1 See Lowth, Grammar, p. 83 sq. 
 
 ^ I retain the Greek term because it is familiar to most of my 
 readers [see Tancock's English Grammar, p. vi.] ; and, after all, 
 what more appropriate term could be chosen ? 
 
OTJTLrSTES OF THE ART OP EXPRESSION. 
 
 43 
 
 iliaries to the past participle, wMch is our only passive 
 form.'^ 
 
 49. What do you understand by "tonse," and 
 wliat distinctions with reference to tense are nata- 
 .ally recognized? 
 
 TENSE. 
 
 By tense (from the Latin tempus) , we understand that 
 form of the verb which denotes the time of the predicate. 
 I say: " the time of the predicate," because the copula 
 is, in strictness, simply and solely assertive — without 
 reference to time, circumstance or condition. Thus, the 
 Logical form of such sentences as " The man was rich," 
 is, " The man is one-formerly-rich." The point raised is 
 of less importance. Grammatically, because the copula 
 and predicate so often exist in combination. 
 
 Naturally, of course, we must recognize three times, or 
 tenses — the past, the present and the future.^ But with 
 reference to past time, we may express the action either 
 as simply past {e.g. "I loved") ; as past with reference 
 
 1 Even, that past participle is pronounced active, rather than 
 passive, by some recent critics. 
 
 ^ Harris [Hermes, p. 120) recognizes twelve tenses. Morris 
 {Primer of JEng. Gram,mar, p. 47) gives the following: — 
 
 TABLE OF TENSES. 
 
 TEKSE. 
 
 DTDEFINITE. 
 
 nffPEKFECT AND 
 PKOGEESSrVE. 
 
 PEEFECT. 
 
 PERFECT AND 
 PKOGBESSrVE. 
 
 Present. 
 
 (1) I praise 
 
 (2) I am praised 
 
 (1) I am praising 
 
 (2) I am being 
 
 praised 
 
 (1)1 have praised 
 
 (2) I have been 
 praised 
 
 (1) I have been 
 praising 
 
 Pftsi. . 
 
 (1) I praised 
 
 (2) I was praised 
 
 (1) I was prais- 
 
 ing 
 
 (2) I was being 
 
 praised 
 
 (1) I bad praised 
 
 (2) I bad been 
 
 praised 
 
 (1) I had been 
 praising 
 
 1 
 Future . 
 
 (1) I BliaU praise 
 
 (2) I shall be 
 
 praised 
 
 (1) I sliall be 
 praising 
 
 (!) I shall have 
 
 praised 
 (2) I shall have 
 been praised 
 
 (1) I shall have 
 been piaising 
 
 
 
 
 (1) Active Voice. 
 
 (2) Passive Voice. 
 
44 OUTLINES OF THE AET OP EXPRESSION. 
 
 to the present time (e.g. "I have loved"); or as past 
 with reference to some other past event {e.g. " I had 
 loved ") . And, with reference to future time, we may ex- 
 press the action either as simply future (e.g. "I shall 
 love), or as future with reference to some other future 
 event (e.g. " I shall have loved.") Thus we may recog- 
 nize six times, or tenses : one present, three pasts, two 
 futures. Furtlier, we may recognize the action, in each of 
 these tenses, either as progressive or without especial ref- 
 erence to its progression — which gives us two forms for 
 each tense. For example : — 
 
 Present, I write, I am writing. 
 
 Imperfect, I wrote, I was writing. 
 
 Perfect, I have written, I have been writing. 
 
 Pluperfect, I had written, I had been writing. 
 Future, I shall write, I shall be writing. 
 
 Fut. Per. Ishallhave written, I shall have been writing. 
 
 t2 
 
 50. "What grounds are there for recognizing 
 only two English tenses ? 
 
 It is to be noticed that the only English tenses formed 
 by inflection are the present and imperfect. Hence the 
 statement of Bosworth, Latham, Klipstein, Priestley and 
 others, that the English, like the Anglo-Saxon, has but 
 two tenses. It seems like an affectation of critical acu- 
 men, howevet, to refuse to those combinations that uni- 
 formly have the force of tenses, the convenient and 
 popular, though not altogether exact, name of "tense." 
 Every thing turns on our definition of a tense. If by 
 " a tense " we understand : a form of verb inflection that 
 indicates time, we have, in English, but two tenses. If 
 we understand by " a tense," a verbal form or comfiwa- 
 tion that indicates time, we have more than two. 
 
 51. What are regarded as the principal parts of 
 the English verb; and in what two methods are 
 they forrtied? 
 
 CONJUGATIONS. 
 In the inflection of the English verb, we recognize three 
 "principal parts" — the present and imperftct tenses 
 active and the past participle. Our language has two 
 methods of forming the imperfect active and the past par- 
 ticiple — or two conjugations. 
 
OUTLIITES OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 45 
 
 1. The Regular Conjugation (including more than 
 4,000 verbs), which corresponds to the Anglo-Siixon 
 " weak conjugation." e.g. Ic lujige, I love; ic lufode, I 
 Loved ; gelufod, loved. In this conjugation, the imperfect 
 active and the past participle are formed by adding 
 -d, or -ed to the present. The A. S. added -ode and -od 
 to the root. e. g. Love, loved, loved ; plead, pleaded, 
 pleaded ; heat, heated, heated. 
 
 2. The Irregular Conjugation, — including about 
 100 verbs, and corresponding generally, though by no 
 means always, to the A. S. "strong conjugation." e.g. 
 Ic healde, I hold ; ic heold, I held ; geJiealden, holden. In 
 this conjugation, a change is made in the root of the verb 
 (generally in its vowels) to form the imperfect and past 
 participle. The Anglo-Saxon participial termination in 
 -en is very frequently retained in this conjugation, e. g. 
 Break, broke, broken. 
 
 52. Inflect the Anglo-Saxon verb " Itiflan " 
 throughout. 
 
 To illustrate the similarity between the English and the 
 Anglo-Saxon verbs, I give the A. S. " weak" verb mean- 
 ing " to love," complete. 
 
 
 Pres. Indie. 
 
 
 Pres. Suhj. 
 
 
 c Ic lufige, 
 
 
 lufige, 
 
 Sing. 
 
 I thii lufast. 
 ( he lufadh, 
 
 
 
 Pl. 
 
 j we, ge, hi lufladh 
 (or lufige. 
 
 
 lufion. 
 
 
 Impf. Indie. 
 
 
 Impf. Subj. 
 
 
 I Ic lufode, 
 
 
 lufode, 
 
 Si NO. 
 
 } thii lufodest, 
 ( he lufode. 
 
 
 
 ri,. 
 
 we, ge, hi lufodon. 
 
 
 lufodon. 
 
 
 Imperative. 
 
 
 Infinitive. 
 
 Sing. 
 
 lufa. 
 
 
 luflan. 
 
 Fh. 
 
 lufladh or 
 
 
 Gerund. 
 
 
 lufige. 
 
 
 t6 luflgenne. 
 
 
 Participles. 
 
 
 Ties. 
 
 luflgcnde. 
 
 Past. 
 
 gelufod. 
 
46 OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION". 
 
 53. What statements may be made -witli refer- 
 ence to the regular termination for the imperfect 
 and past participle ? 
 
 The e in the regular termination for the imperfect and 
 past participle, is merely a connecting vowel which is 
 ordinarily inserted but seldom pronounced. In early 
 English, however, it was always pronounced ; and the 
 rhythm of many sentences in our old English prose :8 
 seriously marred by the shortening of the preterite ai.d 
 the past participle in our modem pronunciation. See 
 Tlie Spectator, No. 135. Modern usage generally requires 
 that the final syllable be separately pronounced when a 
 participle in -ed is used as an adjective, e.g. "A 
 learn-ed man." 
 
 The d, in this termination, is frequently exchanged for 
 its cognate t where euphony seeems to require the change 
 — that is, where, by the elision of the e in pronunciation, 
 a "smooth" sound would come in immediate contact 
 with the " middle " sound d.* ' Thus Lowth gives as pre- 
 terites {Orammar, p. 87) " Snatcht, checkt, snapt, mixt, 
 dwelt, past, dealt, dreamt, meant, felt, slept, bereft, left, 
 etc." These forms in t were formerly far more com- 
 mon than now — when our language, through the general 
 diffusion of a moderate degree of Grammatical knowl- 
 edge, tends to uniformity ; and are still used in England 
 more frequently than in this country, where the custom 
 prevails of writing d in many cases where we pronounce t. 
 One of Mr. Furnivall's recent reports to the Chaucer 
 Society contains : exprest, finisht, reacht, sketcht, re- 
 workt, publisht. 
 
 54. What -was the original significance of such 
 complex presents and preterites as: "I do love, I 
 did love ; " and in what ways are they now useful ? 
 
 Instead of the simple forms of the present ('i I love ") 
 and the imperfect (" I loved "), we may use the complex 
 forms, "I do love," "I did love;" but these are now 
 ased in assertion only when we wish to render our utter- 
 ance especially dignified and emphatic. They were for- 
 
 1 Two or more mutes of different degrees of sharpness or flat- 
 ness, cannot well be pronounced consecutively. Hence these 
 mollified forms. See Latham, Grammar, pp. 19, 40 
 
OTTTLINBS OP THE AET OF EXPEESSION". 47 
 
 merely used without any especial emphasis ; but are, at 
 present, useful for emphasis, in interrogation, in nega- 
 tion, and to avoid repetition.^ e^g. "Do you love?" — 
 "I do," " I do not love." 
 
 55. Give examples of English irregular verbs 
 derived from : — 
 
 (1.) The Anglo-Saxon strong conjugation. 
 (2.) The Anglo-Saxon weak conjugation. 
 (3.) Other sources. 
 
 The English irregular verbs are so familiar that a com- 
 plete list of them is hardly necessary in this connection.'' 
 ISxamples of irregular verbs from the Anglo-Saxon strong 
 conjugation are : — 
 
 Abide, abode, abidden or abode. 
 Begin, began, begun.* 
 Blow, blew, blown. 
 Break, broke or brake, broken. 
 
 Drink, drank, drunk or drunken [Not: " drinked," or 
 " drank."] 
 Get, got or gat, gotten or got.* 
 Hold, held, holden or held. 
 Lie, lay, lain [Not: "laid."] 
 Seethe, sod,^ sodden. 
 Sla}', slew, slain. 
 Thrive, throve, thriven. 
 
 Examples of irregular verbs derived from the Anglo- 
 Saxon weak conjugation are : — 
 
 Have (Jiahhe), had (Iiaefde). 
 Make (macie), made (macode). 
 Owe {age) , ought (ahte) . 
 Seek {sece), sought (sohte). 
 Teach (taece), taught (taeJite). 
 Think (thence), thought (tJiohte). 
 Work (wyrce), wrought (worhte). 
 
 1 See Lowth, Grammar, p. 78. 
 
 2 Cf. Latham, Enrj. Grammar, pp. 102-116. Morris, Primer of 
 Eng. Gram., pp. 58-64. 
 
 8 The pretei-ite of the Anglo-Saxon verb onciinnan (to begin) 
 would be inflected tlius : Ic ongann, tM ongilnne, he ongann. Heni,a 
 the association of such imperfects as be;iUn, sung, run, with the j 
 regular forms. Cf. Latham, Grammar, p. 98. 
 
 * A. S. getan, to acquire. Be careful to use the word only in 
 that sense and not too freely. 
 
 ' Gen. 25: 29. 
 
48 OUTLINES OF THE ART OF EXPEESSION. 
 
 Examples of irregular verbs wMch are derived from 
 neither the strong nor the weak A. S. conjugations, but 
 from anomalous A. S. verbs, or from other sources, 
 are : — 
 
 Am, was, been. 
 Do, did,' done. 
 Dare, durst, dared. 
 Go, went,^ gone. 
 
 In some verbs ending in d or t, the forms for the imper- 
 fect and the past participle are the same as that of the 
 present, e.g. Read, cut, sweat, set, etc. Such forms 
 must be regarded as contractions of the regular forms in 
 -ed, to avoid the repetition of the same, or a cognate, let- 
 ter. Cf. the Hebrew Double Ayin verbs, e.g. Sabhabh 
 = Sabh.» 
 
 56. What distinction is to be made in the use 
 of the auxiliaries "shall" and "-will" to express 
 simple futurity, and on -what grounds ? 
 
 To express the simple future, the English has two aux- 
 iliaries. " Shall " {sceal, from the A. S. sculan, to be 
 obliged) denotes, properly, obligation, the recognition of 
 which as resting upon ourselves leads naturally to the 
 thought of our future action. Hence " shall," when 
 used, in direct statement, with the first person, has come 
 to have the force of a simple future. When used in con- 
 nection with the second and third persons, it stiU involves 
 the idea of obligation, rather than future action. " Will " 
 (wille, from the A. S. willan, to will) denotes properly, 
 determination, the recognition of which in others leads, 
 naturally, to the thought of their future action. Hence 
 " will," when used, in direct statement, in connection with 
 the second and third persons, has come to have the force 
 
 1 " Did " is d, reduplicated preterite after tlie analogy of the 
 Maeso-GotWo — the only example in modern English. The O. E. 
 "hight" is of similar origin, from the Maeso-Gothic, haita, I call: 
 haihait, I have called. 
 
 2 "Went" is fi-om the A. S. wendan, to turn, the preterite of 
 which we have associated with " go " instead of edde, the A. S. 
 preterite of that verb. 
 
 ^ Hickes, Grammat. Saxon, chap, iv., says: "Verbs which, in 
 the infinitives, end in -dan or -tan [English d or t] in the preterite 
 and participle preterite commonly, for the sake of better sound, 
 Uu'ow away the final -ed." 
 
OTTTLnSTES OF THE AET OF EXPBESSION. 49 
 
 of a simple future; wMle, in connection with tie first 
 person, it still denotes determination. 
 
 Indirect question, "shall" is the proper auxiliary to 
 express simple futurity with the first person ; " shall " or 
 " will " with the second person ; " will " with the third. 
 
 In indirect statement, or indirect question, the auxilia- 
 ries used to express simple futurity are : ^or the 1 person, 
 "shall." e.g. "I wonder when I shall go." For the 
 2 |?erso?i, either "shall" or " will " when the principal 
 clause is in the 2 person, e.g. "Don't you know 
 
 when you | '.,, > go?"; "will," when the principal 
 
 " Do I ) 
 clause is in the 1 or 3 person, e.g. jj-p. , [• not know 
 
 when you will go? " For the 3 person, either " shall " 
 or " will " when the principal clause is in the 3 person. 
 
 e.g. " Does he not know when he < .,, [■ go?" ; " will," 
 
 when the principal clause is in the 1 or 2 person. 
 
 " Do I ) 
 ^•3- (IT-) T [• not know when he wt7Z go? " See Tan- 
 cock, Eng. Oram., p. 74. 
 
 The proper distinction in the use of these auxiliaries ' 
 is often overlooked in. the Middle, and almost invariably 
 in the Southern, States. Most foreigners are as much per- 
 plexed by it as was the poor Frenchman who exclaimed : 
 " I will drown, nobody shall help me." Bear in mind 
 that the proper simple future forms are: "I shall" and 
 "we shall;" but "you will," "he will," "she will," 
 "it will," "they will." 
 
 Besides the distinctions already indicated, there are 
 two other distinctions which relate to the predicate ele- 
 ment in "the combined predicate and copula," name- 
 
 mJMBER AND PERSOK 
 
 57. Explain, and illustrate, the verbal inflec- 
 tions which serve to express person and number. 
 
 In regard to the Logical basis of these distinctions in 
 the form of the verb, enough has already been said, by 
 
 1 See Grant White, " Words and Tlid,r Uses," p. 264; Craik, 
 'English of Shakspenre," p. 217 sq.; Sir Edmund Head, "Shall 
 and Will;'' " Proceedings of London Philological Society," 1&46, 
 1852; Lowth, "English Grammar," p. 78; Swinton, "Word 
 Analysis," pp. 118, 119. 
 
50 OUTLINES OF THE ART OF BXPEESSION. 
 
 implication, in treating of the noun and the pronoun. 
 The A. S. verb lujian, already given, may serve to illus- 
 trate the few and simple verbal inflections emploj'ed in 
 English to denote person and number. Thu lufast gives 
 us " thou lovest," he lufadh, he loveth — though the dh 
 is ordinarily exchanged for s, through the influence of the 
 Norman French invasion.^ But see "hath," "doth," 
 etc. From the A. S. io luflge we had the old English 
 personal form " I lovie," which has now — like most Eng- 
 lish inflectional forms — been lost. "The persons plu- 
 ral," saj-s Ben Jonson, "keep the termination of the first 
 person singular. In former times, till about the reign of 
 King Henry the Eighth, they were wont to be formed by 
 adding en [a manifest relic of the Anglo-Saxon] ; thus, 
 loven, sayen, complainen." 
 
 We pass to consider a distinction that has reference 
 rather to the copula than the predicate, namely : — 
 
 MOOD. 
 
 58. What do you understand by " mood " ? 
 "What moods are to be recognized in English Gram- 
 mar, and vrhat is their force ? 
 
 By mood (Lat. modus) we understand, that form of the 
 verb which serves to denote the manner in which the 
 assertion expressed by the verb is made. 
 
 1. The assertion may be made first, and most natural- 
 ly, in the Declarative Mood, which expresses the asser- 
 tive element, whether affirmatively or negatively," without 
 modification, e.g. "The sun shines." "The sun does 
 not shine." 
 
 2. The assertion may be made in the Necessary 
 Mood, which expresses the assertive element coupled 
 with the idea of necessity, e.g. " The sun mwsf shine," 
 which is equivalent to : " The sun is, of necessity, shin- 
 ing." 
 
 3. The assertion may be made in the Contingent 
 Mood, which expresses the assertive element coupled with 
 the idea of doubt or contingency. The contingent judg- 
 ments expressed by this mood are of a thi-eefold nature : 
 
 1 Cf. Marsh, " Origin and History of the Eng. Lan^," p. 257. 
 
 2 Or even mterrogatively. e.g. "Does the sun shine?' 
 "Does not th3 sun shine? " 
 
OUTLINES OP THE AET OF EXPRESSION. f)l 
 
 (1) Pure Contingents, e.g. " The sun may shine," 
 which express mere possibility. 
 
 (2) Optatives, e.g. "May the sun shine to-morrow," 
 which express desire. 
 
 (3) Goncessives, e.g. "The sun may shine for aught 
 I care," which express permission. 
 
 4. Beside the moods already recognized, we have what 
 is commonly called the Imperative Mood, being a form 
 of the verb used to express command or entreaty. The 
 imperative, however, hardly falls within our definition of 
 " mood," as it never asserts any thing. 
 
 To express the imperative, we use, in the second person, 
 the unchanged form of the verb. e.g. "Go," "Sing." 
 In the third person, we use the auxiliary " Let " — which 
 may, however, be regarded as an imperative of the second 
 person with an infinitive depending on it. e.g. "Let 
 the man go " = " Let (i.e. permit) thou the man to go." 
 
 59. Why do not we recognize an English Sub- 
 junctive ? 
 
 It will be noticed that no mention is made, in this con- 
 nection, of a Subjunctive Mood. The reason is, that 
 the English language has nothing corresponding to the 
 Gre.ek and Latin subjunctive ; and, not having the thing, 
 it is best not to retain the name. The distinct recognition 
 of an English subjunctive seems to be unnecessary and 
 undesirable in view of the fewness, and comparative sim- 
 plicity, of our hypothetical forms. Many English gram- 
 mars do not recognize the subjunctive ' at all ; and, of 
 
 1 To show the lack of uniformity in the treatment of English 
 moods : — 
 
 Ttie Indicative, Subjunctive, Potential, Imperative and Infini- 
 tive are recognized by Greene, Clark, Tower, Fowler, Brown, Jen- 
 kins, Kirkham. 
 
 The Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative, Infinitive, by Angus, 
 Welch, Arnold, Cohbctt, Itus!iton, Lowth. 
 
 The Indicative, Conjunctive, Infinitive, Imperative, by Latham 
 and Donaldson. 
 
 The Indicative, Conjunctive, Imperative, by Maetzner and Thring. 
 
 The Indicative, Conjunctive, Imperative, Potential, by Stoddart. 
 
 The Iiidicative, Imperative, Conditional, Infinitive, by Webster, 
 
 The Indicative, Necessary, Potential, Imperative, by Day. 
 
 The Indicative, Infinitive ( ?) by Booth. 
 
 The Indicative, Conjunctive, by Priestley. 
 
 The Indicative, Subjunctive, Potential, Imperative, by Kerl, 
 Swinton. 
 
52 ouTLnrais OF the art of expekssion. 
 
 those whichdo, no two give the same account of it. 
 There is more agreement among English grammarians in 
 saying that "if" is the sign of the subjunctive, than in 
 any other statement respecting this mood. But we have 
 many contingent judgments that are not introduced by 
 " if" ; and, on the other hand, the conditional " if" does 
 not, of necessity, involve a contingent form of the verb. 
 e.g. We may say: "If the sun sets behind a cloud it 
 usually rains," where we mean : " Whenever the sun sets 
 behind a cloud." '■ Or, again, we may say : " If he lives 
 as he professes, his example ought to be followed," 
 where, by the use of the declarative, we imply our convic- 
 tion that he does live as he professes. 
 
 60. State, and illustrate, the principle •which is 
 to determine whether we shall employ contingent 
 forms of the verb. 
 
 Whether we are to use a declarative or a contingent 
 form of the verb in a sentence, depends not on the pres- 
 ence or absence of any given particle, but on the nature 
 of the thought to be expressed. If the thought is simply 
 declarative, or if it implies a declaration, we use the 
 declarative mood ; if it is conceived as contingent, we use 
 the contingent mood. 
 
 To illustrate, still further, the principles that should 
 determine our choice between a declarative and a contin- 
 gent form. You are speaking to me of a man respecting 
 whom I am personally ignorant, and I say : " K he is 
 such a man as you represent him, he will do thus and so." 
 As I do not know the man, there must be, in my state- 
 ment, some degree of contingency — which is expressed 
 by "if." But, by coupling "if" with the declarative, I 
 imply my willingness to accept your testimony concerning 
 the man. My thought, fully expressed, is: " If [I, my- 
 self, know nothing about him] but if he is [as, on your 
 testimony, I am willing to admit] such a man as you 
 represent him, he will do thus and so." To say : " If he 
 
 The Conjunctive, Optative, Imperative, by Koch. 
 
 The Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative, by Tancock. 
 
 Twenty-six authors give us 13 different schemes. Only 15 (and 
 those mostly school grammars) recognize a subjunctive. 
 
 1 See Day, Art qf Composition, p 342, for a good discussion of 
 ,his subject. 
 
OTTTLEirES OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 53 
 
 be such a man as you represent Mm," would imply that 1 
 doubted either your veracity or your judgment. My 
 thought, expanded, would be: " If he be such a man as 
 you represent him [and, on that point, notwithstanding 
 j'our testimony, I have no opinion to express] he will do 
 thus and so." 
 
 The first form of this sentence might be described as 
 contingent-declarative ; the second, as contingent-contin- 
 gent. 
 
 The tendency to obliterate the distinction that has 
 been indicated, is very strong at the present day ; but it 
 ougM to be preserved, and must — in order to the intelli- 
 gent study of English literature — be understood. 
 
 61. Why do not we regard the Infinitive as a 
 Mood? 
 
 It will be noticed, further, that no mention is made, 
 under this head, of the Infinitive Mood. Our definition 
 of "mood," excludes a form which cannot be regarded 
 as in any sense assertive ; but which (as embodying, in 
 an abstract form, the significance of the predicate rather 
 than modifying the significance of the copula) may better 
 be regarded as a verbal noun. 
 
 62. State, and illustrate, the three Ways in 
 which the English language expresses contingency. 
 
 There are three methods of expressing contingency in 
 English — that is, three idioms which are appropriated to 
 the Contingent Mood. 
 
 a. The unchanged form of the verb. e.g. "Be this 
 as it may " : " If he give me the book, I will give it to 
 you." These unchanged forms are really derived, as we 
 have already seen, from the A. S. subjunctive. 
 
 6. The past tenses of the Indicative, which are usad 
 in English, as in aU Indo-European languages, to exj^ress 
 contingency.' e.g. " If I were you, I would go" — 
 where " were," though strictly an imperfect, has no 
 reference to past time, but expresses simple contingency ; 
 
 1 Cf . the Greek : EZ n elxev, iSiSav uv • also Ilof Sv, el tvxoi t liro 
 nvS 'Ofiripoi eiiTEV. — Bhet. Grmci, vol. 1: p. 263. 
 
54 OTJTLINKS OF THE ABT OF EXPEESSION. 
 
 " I had as lief go as stay ; " i.e. " I would hold as dear 
 (A. S. leof= dear) to go as to stay." ' 
 
 c. The auxiliaries, may, might; can, could; would, 
 should. 
 
 63. Distinguish the auxiliaries "may," "might," 
 "can," "could," "would," "should," with reference 
 to origin and significance. 
 
 There is an appreciable difference in the meaning of 
 these auxiliaries." " May " and " might " (from the A. S. 
 magan, Ger. mogen, to be able) properly denote a 
 contingency which is dependent on external concession. 
 "Can" and "could" (from the A. S. cunnan, Ger. 
 konnen, to know, to ken) denote a contingency which is 
 dependent on internal power. " "Would " (from the A. S. 
 willan, to will) , denotes a contingency which is dependent 
 on the will, or desire, of the subject. " Should " (from 
 the A. S. sculan, to be obliged) denotes a contingency 
 which is dependent on external obligation. 
 
 1 Cf. " Whoever had seen Quentin Durward that fatal night, 
 not knowing the meaning of his conduct, had esteemed him a 
 raging madman." — Scott. 
 
 . " How much dearer were the pink-tipped daisies of the fields at 
 home." — Edna Dean Proctor. 
 
 Some modern grammarians tell us that we must say: " I would 
 rather," not "I had rather;" because, forsooth, they "cannot 
 parse " the latter expression. Now, " would rather " is perfectly 
 good English ; but " had rather " is, by usage and analogy, equally 
 good. " Eath" is an O. E. adjective, meaning " early " as in Mil- 
 ton's : " Bring the rath primrose, that forsaken dies ; " or Tenny- 
 son's: "Men of rathe and riper years." " Eather " = sooner, 
 earlier, is its comparative form. " Had " = " would have," is a 
 relic of the A. S. subjunctive. The whole expression means: "I 
 would sooner have" — with which compare the German: Ich 
 kdtte lieber essen, i.e. " I had liefer eat." Liefer, by the way, 
 (comparative of ledf) was formerly perfectly good English. The 
 best English writers, from the earliest times to the present day, 
 freely use, "I had as lief." See Shakspere, Hamlet, Act 3: Sc. 2; 
 Julius Caesar, Act 1 : Sc. 2. 
 
 In regard to the rejection of idioms which do not conform to 
 our Latinized syntax, Dr. Broadus very sensibly says : " If our 
 modern grammarians have not pigeon-holes enough in their would- 
 be systems of grammar to receive all the constructions established 
 Dy English usage, they had better make one large compartment for 
 those they cannot explain, than throw them aside because there is 
 tio place for them." Cf. Kushton, Itules and Cautions, pp. 90, 114 
 2 See Lowth, Grammar, p. 82, note. Cf.' Harris, Hermes, B. 1, 
 ch. 8, 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ART OF EXPEESSI05T. ' 55 
 
 64. Give the principle ■which determines the 
 construction of the verb, and discuss its applica- 
 tion with reference to the verb " to be." 
 
 CO]SrSTE,UCTION OF THE VERB. 
 
 In regard to the construction, or agreement, of the 
 verb, this general principle may be laid down : The pred- 
 icate and copula, whether they exist separately or in com- 
 bination, must agree with the subject of the sentence in 
 number and person ; and the predicate, when it exists 
 separately, must agree with the subject in case. 
 
 The rule that the predicate, when uncombined with 
 the copula, must be in the same case as the subject, 
 requires the nominative case after the verb " to be " in its 
 finite forms, and the objective case after the verb " to be " 
 in the infinitive. "^ For example: " It is /." " WJiom 
 do you think me to be ? " Many of our best writers 
 would, however, sanction the form " Who do j'ou thinii 
 me to be?" as a colloquialism which springs naturally 
 from the frequency with which " who " begins a sentence. 
 
 65. Discuss the propriety of such expressions 
 as "It is me." 
 
 Some are also inclined to defend such expressions as 
 "It is me," "It is him," by reference to the French 
 " c'est moi," "c'esf hit." " That the French use such ex- 
 pressions is, certainly, no suflScient reason why we should 
 do so. It is to be noted, however, that there is a tenden- 
 cy to indirectness in expressing this idea in many Indo- 
 European languages. Thus the Greek has tya u(ii, not 
 
 1 The distinction here indicated applies especially to pronouns, 
 as we have no separate forms for the noihinative and objective 
 case of nouns. 
 
 2 For example, Grant White, in the Bound Table, says : " I am 
 inclined to the opinion that in the phrase not entirely vulgar, ' It 
 is nie,' which Dean Alford has defended on insufficient grounds, 
 and Mr. Moon has attacked without sufficient Ijnowledge, the 
 pronoun is not a misused accusative ; but, as in the exactly cor- 
 responding French phrase, a remnant of the dative case of the 
 Saxon pronoun of the first person, which held its place in England 
 even as late as the 13th century; and that 'It is me' might be 
 traced down, step by step, from the earliest stages of our lan- 
 guage." — Cf. Words and Their Unes, p. 250. 
 
 Dr. Latham takes the same view. 
 
56 OTJTLLNES OP THE ART OP EXPRESSION. ,/ 
 
 tanv syoj, the Latin, ego sum, not est ego; the Gernan icff 
 bin es; the A. S. ic hit eom. j 
 
 66. "What principles regulate the form of the 
 verb when it has several subjects, or when its sub- 
 ject is a collective noun. 
 
 Under this general principle a few specific statements 
 require to be made, some of which illustrate the fact that 
 the clarification of our thought is regarded as more imporp 
 tant than the formal correctness of our sentences. 
 
 1. Where a verb has several subjects of different per- 
 sons and numbers, it agrees with the subject that is 
 most prominent in thought, e.g. "They, as well as I, 
 are to blame " ; " She, not I, is responsible." 
 
 2. When there is no subject that is especially promi- 
 nent in thought, the verb agrees with the nearest, e.g. 
 " Whether thou or I, am at fault." The following line, 
 from Byron's Cain, violates the rule : — 
 
 " Where are your God, or Gods ? " 
 
 3. A collective noun takes a plural verb, if the indi- 
 viduals whom it includes are held prominently before the 
 mind. e.g. "The class are nearly all here." It takes 
 a singular verb, if the prominent thought is that of the 
 group rather than that of the individuals composing it. 
 e.g. "The assembly was divided in opinion."^ Cf. 
 Rusliton, p. 131. It may, conceivably, take both a sin- 
 gular and a plural verb. e.g. "The jury, who were 
 candid and intelligent men, was divided in opinion ; " 
 "Behold the people is one, and they home all one lan- 
 guage." Gen. xi. : 6. 
 
 4. A compound subject, if it denotes but a single object 
 of thought, takes a singular verb.'' e. g^. " The states- 
 
 1 Ignorance of the principle here laid down, leads, occasionally, 
 tc a ludicrous misconception of one's meaning, e.g. "We re- 
 gret to hear that some of our friends, the Maennerchor, liave mis- 
 understood the phrase which we used yesterday in stating the fact 
 that their health was pledged at the Birds and Worms' dedication. 
 We said : ' The Maennerchor was drunk,' etc. If the report that 
 this good old method of expression has given offence be true, we 
 offer our best apologies." — Rodiester Express. 
 
 2 So also a plural subject that really denotes but a single 
 »bject. Thus the following sentence is wrong: " The Acts of the 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AET OP EXPRESSION. 57 
 
 man, the orator and the poet at last sleejis in death; " 
 " Toll, tribute and custom was paid unto them." — Ezra 
 iv. 20. Also, if it is used distributively. e. g. '■'■Each 
 man, woman and child lias a duty to do." In other 
 cases, a compound subject requires a plural verb. 
 
 Eushton's rules on this subject {Rules and Cautions, 
 p. 71) are worthy of consideration : 
 
 " itule 1. When the two or more nouns in the singular, 
 mean different things, or represent distinct ideas, put the 
 verb in the plural. 
 
 Rule 2. But when the two nouns mean the same thing, 
 or very nearly the same, strike out one of them, put the 
 verb in the singular, and learn to avoid using two words 
 where one is enough." 
 
 This author concedes, however (p. 65), that "Some- 
 times the meaning overrides the form ; and we have to 
 inquire whether the idea of unity or of plurality is 
 intended." 
 
 MODIFIERS. 
 
 In passing from the simple sentence to forms of thought 
 and expression that are more complicated, we find a 
 stepping-stone laid for us, in the modification of those 
 simple elements of expression which we have already con- 
 sidered. Taking, for example, the simple sentence, 
 "Man is mortal," each of the three elements maybe 
 variously modified, while 3'et the sentence, — as contain- 
 ing but a single subject predicate and copula, — remains 
 a simple sentence. We pass to consider then : — 
 
 THE MODIFIED SUBJECT. 
 
 67. Enumerate the seven diflferent methods of 
 modifying the subject of the sentence, and give an 
 illustration of each. 
 
 Attention has already been called to that modification 
 of the subject in itself, which expresses plurality. The 
 subject may be further modified : 
 
 1. By an indefinite article, e. g. " A man." 
 
 2. By a definite article, e. g. " The man." 
 
 A.postles were written by Luke." Yet the New York World ac- 
 cuses President Grant of "murdering the Queen's English"—, 
 alleging, in proof, *he following sentence: "With Her Majesty, 
 tlie Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, the United States is at 
 peace." 
 
68 OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 3. By an adjective, or an adjective phrase, e. gr. 
 " Good men ; " "A man carrying a burden." 
 
 4. By a noun in the possessive case. e.g. "Marion's 
 men." 
 
 5. Bj' an adjunct, i.e. a noun governed by a preposi 
 tion. e. g. "Men of weight." 
 
 6. By a noun in apposition, e. g. " Man, the lord of 
 creation." 
 
 7. By a clause, e. g. " Man, tJiat is born of woman." 
 Such modification would, however, give rise to a com- 
 plex sentence. 
 
 THE IKDEFINITE ARTICLE.* 
 
 68. Explain the use of the indefinite article, and 
 state when we are to employ " a," when "an." 
 
 The indefinite article, the most frequent of our modi- 
 fiers, serves to limit our thought to a single one of the 
 class that we have in mind, without determining which 
 one of the class we mean. The indefinite article is 
 derived from the A. S. form of the numeral one, ane=ae 
 — a form which is still preserved in the Scottish dialect. 
 "An" was the original form of the English indefinite 
 article; but there are now two forms — "a" being used 
 before a consonant ; " an " before a vowel, or a silent h. 
 In the application of this rule, w and y are, in modern 
 usage, regarded as consonants. Thus we say: "A 
 youth," "A war." We even say: " Such a one," more 
 frequently than " Such an one ; " and, " A universal," 
 more frequently than "An universal" — since, in these 
 and similar examples, the article precedes the consonant 
 sound of w or y, though not the characters. ' ' An " is 
 frequently preferred to "a," even when it precedes an 
 aspirated h, if the h stands in an unaccented syllable ; 
 because the aspiration is, in such circumstances, neccs- 
 BarUy weak. For example : " Such an hypothesis." ^ 
 
 1 On the Article, see Harris's Hermes, pp. 215-217. 
 
 ^ The only reason why " an " is ever preferred to " a " Is for 
 euphonic considerations ; and it should never be preferre( when 
 it makes a more diffloult combination. 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ART OF EXPEESSION. 59 
 
 THE DEFINITE ARTICLE. 
 
 69. What is the force, as a modifier, of the defi- 
 nite article ? 
 
 Again, the object of thought may be limited to a single 
 person, and, in expressing this limitation, we may imply 
 that we have some definite person in mind. To express 
 such limitation, we make use of the definite article " the " 
 (from the A.S. demonstrative se, seo, thaet), which at 
 once limits and defines. 
 
 The English definite article sometimes, like the Greek, 
 has a generic force, e. g. " The dog is an animal." 
 " The Theatre, as at present conducted, is a source of 
 corruption." Cf. De Quincey's '■^Historical Essays," v. 
 2, p. 133 ; and Hamilton's " Lectures on Logic," p. 532, 
 note. 
 
 We must be careful to repeat the article, whether it be 
 definite or indefinite, if we wish to discriminate two con- 
 nected nouns from each other. Thus: "The secretarj' 
 and treasurer" would indicate but one person; "The 
 secretary and the treasurer ' ' would be necessary, if the 
 ofllces were not held by the same individual. " A black 
 and white horse ' ' would be understood to refer to a 
 single parti-colored animal. 
 
 ADJECTIVE. 
 
 70. "What is the force, as a modifier, of the ad- 
 jective; and ho-w may adjectives be classified? 
 
 Again, the object of thought may be limited by calling 
 attention to some quality which it possesses, or some 
 relation in which it stands. Words which answer this 
 purpose are called adjectives, e. g. "Good men;" 
 " YoMer tree." Adjectives may be classified as : — 
 
 1 A j_L -L. J.- ( «• Definitives. 
 
 1 , Attributives. < , 
 
 Epithets, 
 ( a. Definites. 
 2. Demonstratives, ■< b. Indefinites, 
 c. Ordinals. 
 Definites. 
 Numerals, -i 6, Indefinites. 
 
 Semi-definitea. 
 
 ■1^ 
 
60 OUTLINES OP THE AKT OE EXPRESSION. 
 
 71. Explain and illustrate the distinction be- 
 tween definitives and epithets, and state the 
 principle -which should regulate the introduction 
 of the latter. 
 
 1. Attributive adjectives express some attribute, or 
 qualitj', of the object of thought. They are subdivided 
 into : — 
 
 a. Definitives (from the Latin de and finire) which, 
 bj' mentioning some quality of the object, mark it oflE 
 froii: other objects of the same class. For example: 
 " Honest men are a blessing to the community " — where 
 our thought is, that only such men as are honest are a 
 blessing to the community. 
 
 h. Epithets (from the Greek bti and riOrjfii) which 
 are used simpl}' to call attention to some attribute of the 
 object which seems to be worthy of especial notice, but 
 which we do not intend to make the basis of any limita- 
 tion. For example : ' ' Frail man is mortal ' ' — where our 
 thought is, that all men, being characterized by frailness, 
 are mortal. 
 
 Any attributive adjective may be used either as a de- 
 finitive or an epithet, according to our intention to limit, 
 or not to limit, by its use, the extent of the object of 
 thought. In regard to the use of epithets, it may be 
 remarked that we should be careful not to use them too 
 frequently — making them serve merely to round out a 
 sentence, or give it rhythmical proportion. When we 
 introduce an epithet, there should always be prominent to 
 the mind some quality of the object of thought which 
 requires, or, at least, deserves, expression. 
 
 72. Explain and illustrate the classification 
 under the head of " demonstrative " and "numer- 
 al" adjectives. 
 
 2. Demonstrative adjectives (from demonstrare, to 
 point out) do not express qualities, but point out objects. 
 Under this head, we have : — 
 
 a. The DEFiNiTES : "This," "that," etc. — which are 
 ordinarily classed as " adjective pronouns." 
 
 6. The INDEFINITES : " Former," " latter," "yonder," 
 etc. 
 
 c. The OKpiN4i,s : "First," "second," " third," etc. 
 
OUTLINES OF TIIE ART OP EXPRESSION. 61 
 
 — wjicli are not employed to indicate number, so mQch 
 as location, e. g. " I reside in the fifth house from 
 Meigs Street." 
 
 3. Numeral Adjectives do not express qualities but 
 number ; and that either : — 
 
 a. Depinitelt, as "One," "ten," "both," "no," 
 "neither." 
 
 b. Indefinitely, as "Few," "several," "many.' 
 
 c. Semi-depinitelt,'' as " AH," " some," " every." 
 
 73. State the object of Grammatical compari- 
 son, and, also, ■when -we are to use the positive, 
 comparative, or superlative degree. 
 
 Attinbutive adjectives are modified to express the degree 
 in which the object possesses the quality that they denote. 
 This modification gives us the Grammatical inflection 
 known as 
 
 COMPARISON. 
 
 There are three degrees of comparison, the positive, 
 the comparative and the superlative. The first is used, 
 where no comparison is instituted between the object to 
 which the quality is ascribed, and other objects ; the second 
 is used, where the object is compared with a part of a class ; 
 the third, where the object is compared with an entire 
 class. For- example: " Man is weafc; "" Man is weaker 
 than some animals ; " "Man is weakest of all animals." 
 
 It is a mooted point whether we should use such ex- 
 pressions as " John is the taller of the two," or "John 
 is the tallest of the two." The best English usage, fol- 
 lowing the classical idiom, decides for the former. The 
 latter has been vindicated on the ground that John ia 
 compared with an entire class, which, howeve: , nunbers 
 only two. 
 
 ^ e. g. "Some" is definite, in indicating that we do not riPao 
 " all ; " and indefinite, in failing to indicate just how many we da 
 mean. Hence, it is called semi-definite. See Hamilton, iec- 
 tures on Logic, p. 531. 
 6 
 
(52 OUTLINES OF THE ART OP EXPRESSION. 
 
 74. State the different methods of indicating 
 comparison. 
 
 The positive degree is indicated by the unchanged form 
 of the adjective ; the comparative, by appending -r or -er ; 
 the superlative, by appending -St or -est, to the positive. 
 These terminations are derived from the Anglo-Saxon, 
 ■which compared adjectives by appending -or and -ost; 
 and the e is simply a helping vowel, inserted for euphonic 
 considerations where the positive ends with a consonant. 
 Instead of using the Anglo-Saxon inflectional forms, the 
 tendency at the present day, especially in America, is to 
 compare almost all adjectives of more than one syllable, 
 by prefixing "more" and "most" to the positive — a 
 method which may be traced to the influence of the Nor- 
 man-French invasion of England.^ 
 
 There are some adjectives which a;re irregularly com- 
 pared ; though their irregularities can generally be ex- 
 plained by reference to their Anglo-Saxon originals.' 
 Thus the comparative and superlative of "bad," are to 
 be referred to the A. S. tveor, wyrsa, wyrst ; the compar- 
 ative and superlative of "good," to the A. S. [6af], 
 betera, betst. 
 
 There are also some adjectives which, from the nature 
 of the thought that thej'- express, do not admit of com- 
 parison. For example: "anterior," "prior," "supe- 
 rior," and other Latin comparatives that are used, in 
 English, as positives expressing relation. Also, " su- 
 preme," " extreme,-" " ultimate," etc. — which are Latin 
 superlatives that still retain, in English, their superlative 
 sense. Such English positives as "perfect," "exact," 
 " round," etc., are not, in any strict sense, susceptible 
 of comparison. 
 
 1 Prof. Seely {Rom. Imperialism, p. 225) uses: " wholesomer;" 
 Carlyle {Heroes, etc.), " BeautifuUer, beautif uUest ; " HoweUs 
 {Italian Journeys, p. 253), " Unrivaledest." 
 
 The A. S. compared adjectives by terminal Inflection; the 
 Norman-French by prefixing the equivalent for "more" and 
 "most." The Eng., as is natural, has both methods. Lowth, 
 Grammar (p. 59, cf. p. 112), restricts terminal comparison, in 
 accordance with American usage, to words of one syllable. Morris, 
 Eng. Accidence, p. 105, gives more specific rules than I have 
 attempted with reference to the employment of terminal com- 
 parison. 
 
 2 See March, A. S. Grammar, p. 65. 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AET OP EXPEESSION. 63 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF COMPARATIVE 
 
 SENTENCES. 
 
 75. What cautions are especially necessary 
 with reference to the construction of comparative 
 sentences ? 
 
 In the construction of comparative sentences, great care 
 is necessary : — 
 
 a. To avoid instituting comparisons between objects 
 that do not stand in the same category, and hence can- 
 not, legitimately, be compared with each other. For 
 example : " There is no nobler calling than a farmer." 
 
 b. To avoid ambiguity arising from the uninflectional 
 character of our language. For example : in the sen- 
 tence, " I esteem him more highly than Charles," the 
 thought may be "more highly than I esteem Charles," 
 or, " more highly than Charles esteems him." 
 
 c. Not to include the object compared in a class to 
 which it does not belong. For example : ' ' The fairest of 
 her daughters. Eve." — Milton. 
 
 d. Not to exclude the object compared from a class to 
 which it does belong. For example : ' ' John lived at a 
 period later than any of the apostles." ^ 
 
 Of the other modifiers of the object of thought, pos- 
 sessives and adjuncts have already been sufficiently treated 
 incidentally ; clauses will be treated under the head of 
 complex sentences ; nouns in apposition hardly demand 
 special treatment. 
 
 THE MODIEIED PREDICATE. 
 
 76. Explain and illustrate how we may modify 
 the predicate. 
 
 Attention has been called already to those modifications 
 of the predicate in itself, which express "tense" and 
 " voice." The predicate may be further modified : — 
 
 1. If it is an adjective, by comparison, e. g. "John 
 is tallest." 
 
 1 Be very careful not needlessly to insert " ^ny " in a compara- 
 tive sentence, e. g. "It was tlie most critical period of any in the 
 history of the war." 
 
64 OTJTLINBS OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 2. If it is an adjective, or a participial, by an ad^erb. 
 e. g. " John is very wise, highly cultivated." 
 
 3. If it is a noun, by the various methods specified 
 under the head of the modified subject, e. g. " It is a 
 man — the man — good men," etc. 
 
 ADVERBS. 
 
 77. Define and classify adverbs, and state the 
 facts with reference to their derivation and com- 
 parison. 
 
 Adverbs are words (or phrases) which are used to 
 modify an attribute, or, as their name indicates, a 
 " verb." They may be classified as : — 
 
 1. Adverbs of quality. For example: "Sweetly," 
 " clearly," " wisely." 
 
 2. Adverbs of quantity. For example: "Largely," 
 "widely," "often." 
 
 3. Adverbs of relation. For example: "Now," 
 "formerly," etc., which express relations to time; 
 "there," "hence," etc., which express relations to 
 space; "ultimately," "equally," etc., which institute 
 comparison; "therefore," "consequently," etc., which 
 express relations to thought. 
 
 Adverbs, belonging to the first two of these classes, are 
 often formed by adding the termination -ly (from the 
 A.S. Mc= like ') to adjectives ; and many of them are com- 
 pared like adjectives — the terminal y being, however, 
 exchanged for i before -er and -est. 
 
 THE MODIFIED COPULA. 
 
 78. Explain, and illustrate, how we may modifjr 
 the copula. 
 
 "We have already noticed, under the head of " mood," 
 those modifications of the copula which indicate the man- 
 ner in which the assertion involved in the sentence, is 
 made. The various degrees of modality may be indicated 
 
 1 An A. S. adjective was made an adverb, by simply appending 
 6 — an ablative termination — which fact accounts for our fre- 
 quent use of adjectives witli an adverbial force, e.r/, " He strug- 
 gled 7tar(2," i.e. "yiolently." See Bushton, pp. 36, 17, 223 sg. ; 
 Morris, Accidencej p. 80. 
 
OUTLINES OB" THE ART OF EXPRESSION. 65 
 
 bj' the use of adverbs, adjuncts, or clauses, as well as by 
 a change in the form of the copula, e. g. " John is, pos- 
 sibly, coming;" "John is, probably, coming;" "John 
 is, certainly, coming ; " " John is, of necessity, coming." 
 Words thus used to indicate the modality of the copula, 
 are called " modals." 
 
 THE COMBINED PREDICATE AND 
 COPULA. 
 
 79. How may the combined predicate and 
 copula be modified ? 
 
 The combined predicate and copula — i.e. the verb — 
 may be modified, like the separate elements of which it is 
 composed : — 
 
 1. By an adverb, e. g. " John writes often." 
 
 2. By an adjunct, e. g. " He comes, of necessity." 
 " He gave liberally to the poor." " He was conquered 
 by strategy." 
 
 In the case of an " adjunct" the preposition may some- 
 times be omitted — e.g. "We receive letters every 
 mail " — where " mail " may be regarded as a relic of the 
 A. S. dative. 
 
 The combined predicate and copula may also be modi- 
 fied, or limited : — 
 
 3. When active in sense, by a noun in the objective 
 case. e.g. "I see the moon." The "cognate accusa- 
 tive " — e. g. "He dreamed a dream " — does not seem 
 to require special recognition ; though most grammarians 
 think differently. 
 
 Verbs of making, naming, etc., take two objectives. 
 e. g. "They made him king;" so, according to some, 
 verbs of teaching, etc. e.g. ^^Heta.agh.t me arithmetic" — 
 though I should prefer to regard " me " as a relic of the 
 dative, or " arithmetic "as an " accusative of specifica- 
 tion." ^ 
 
 4. When in the passive voice, verbs of making, nam- 
 ing, etc., take an appositional nominative, e. g. "Ha 
 was made king; " verbs of giving, teaching, etc., a com- 
 plementar}' objective, e. g. "He was given a book;" 
 " He was taught arithmetic." This construction follows 
 the idiom of the Latin and Greek rather than the Anglo- 
 
 l As has been ah-eady intimated, our lack of case-endings ren: 
 ders the point at issue a question of names, rather than of things. 
 
66 
 
 OUTLINES OP THE AET OP EXPRESSION. 
 
 Saxon ; aad the noun, in the latter case, may be regarded 
 as an " accusative of 'specification." See March, A. S. 
 Gram., p. 147.^ 
 
 5. When neuter in sense, by : — 
 
 (1) A noun in the nominative case. e. g. "John 
 became king." 
 
 (2) An adjective, e.g. "It seemed goocZ." 
 
 (3) An iniinitive. e.g. "He appeared to acquiesce.'' 
 
 6. The infinitive is also used after verbs signifying to 
 command, request, declare, perceive — both in their 
 active and passive forms, e. g. " He ordered the man 
 to come." " The man was ordered to come." 
 
 7. An objective indicating weight, height, time, dis- 
 tance, etc. (accusative of specification) , is also used with 
 verbs whether active, passive or neuter, e. g. "He ran 
 ten miles; " " The fort was cannonaded all day ; " " The 
 tower stands forty feet above the city." 
 
 The following tabulated statement may, perhaps, be 
 useful : — 
 
 VERB-MODIFIEKS. 
 
 ACTIVE VERBS. 
 
 Adverb. 
 Adjunct. ■ 
 Objective of 
 specification. 
 Objective of di- 
 rect object. 
 Two objectives 
 (with verbs of 
 making, naming, 
 etc.) 
 
 An infinitive 
 (with verbs sig- 
 nifying to com- 
 mand, request, 
 declare, perceive, 
 
 PASSIVE VERBS. 
 
 Adverb. 
 Adjunct. 
 Obj. of specif. 
 
 An appositional 
 noun (with verbs 
 of making, nam- 
 ing, etc.) 
 C o m p 1 ementary 
 obj. (with verbs 
 of giving, teach- 
 ing, «tc.) 
 An infinitive 
 (with verbs sig- 
 nifying to com- 
 mand, request, 
 declare, perceive, 
 etc.) 
 
 NEUTER VERBS. 
 
 Adverb. 
 Adjunct. 
 Obj. of specif. 
 
 A noun, or ad- 
 jective, in appo- 
 sition. 
 
 An infinitive. 
 
 etc.) 
 
 1 Eushton's rule on this point is (p. 15) : " When any transitive 
 verb, which, in tho active voice, governs two objectives, is em- 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 67 
 
 80. What is the nature of the interjection, and 
 to what class of sentences does it give rise? 
 
 THE INTERJECTION, 
 
 which, as its name indicates, is thrown into the sentence 
 and does not, in strictness, belong to it ; may be regarded 
 as modifying the entire sentence, by indicating the rela- 
 tion of the thought expressed to the feelings of the 
 thinker. Interjections are said to express feeling rather 
 than thought ; and the sentences in which they occur are 
 sometimes distinctlj' classified as "Emotive sentences." 
 It is preferable, however to regard the interjection as a 
 sentence modifier. 
 
 81. To what extent may modifiers and sub- 
 modifiers be employed in a simple sentence ? 
 
 STJB-MODIEIERS. 
 
 Each of the elements in the sentence may be more than 
 once modified in thought and expression ; and each modi- 
 fier may, itself, be sub-modified in accordance with the 
 principles already laid down. Thus, in the phrase, " A 
 very honest man," we have two modifiers of the object of 
 thought ("a" and "honest"), the second of which is 
 sub-modified. 
 
 82. State the principles which should regulate 
 the arrangement of the principal and the subor- 
 dinate elements in the sentence. 
 
 ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 The principal elements in a simple sentence should be 
 arranged in the order of thought, — i.e. first the subject, 
 second the copula, and last the predicate, — unless there 
 be some sufldcient reason for departing from this order. 
 The observance of this rule is especially necessary to 
 
 ployed in the passive voice, one of the ohjectives is turned into 
 
 the subjecl^nominative, and the other remains attached to the 
 
 verb — thus: — 
 
 ' Mr. Thomson taught Henry Arithmetic ' may be expressed : — 
 ' Henry was taught Arithmetic by Mr. .Thomson."' Cf. AnguK. 
 
 p. 275 ; See Dalgleish, Grammatical Analysis, pp. 14r-16. 
 
68 OUTLINES OP THE ART OP EXPEESSIOIT. 
 
 secure unity and clearness of expression. Inversion of 
 the Logical order is sometimes admissible for the sake 
 of emphasis and variety, to which, however, clearness 
 should never be sacrificed.^ e.g. " GrreaS is Diana of the 
 Ephesians." 
 
 Lowth {Gram. p. 126) remarks that such inversion is 
 more common in English with neuter verbs ; since, as 
 these cannot take an object, no ambiguity can arise. 
 
 The subordinate elements, or modifiers, should be so 
 arranged that they cannot possibly be connected with any 
 other word or phrase than that which they are intended to 
 modify.^ Especial care is necessary when modifiers are 
 inserted, or appended, as an after- thought.' Of course 
 the nearer they are, in space, to the word modified, the 
 less likely they are to be separated in thought. Brief 
 modifiers generally precede the word, or phrase, which 
 they modify. "Modals" that limit a compound copula, 
 properly stand between its parts. For example: "It 
 has, gcTierally, been found." The best usage forbids us, 
 however, to sandwich an adverbial into an English in- 
 
 1 In the following sentence, the meaning is obscured, by an in- 
 version which is foreign to tbe genius of our positional syntax : — 
 
 " But stings and sharpest steel, did far exceed 
 The sharpness of his cruel-rending claws." — Spenser. 
 
 2 Misplaced modifiers are the most frequent source of obscurity 
 In expression. For example : — 
 
 " The militia shall wear black citizens' hats." 
 
 " All that glitters is not gold." 
 
 " It appears that there are, by a late calculation, nearly 25 mil- 
 lions of inhabitants in Great Britain and Ireland." 
 
 "Railways had arisen, one may almost say, in England, since 
 Macaulay last sat in parliament, together with other phenomena." 
 — jBT. G. J. Clements, M. A. (Oxford.) 
 
 " Those verses on Solitude in Dodsley's Collection that Haw- 
 l^horne liked so much." — Lowell, 
 
 " The telegram from Washington of the petition of the women 
 In Viah, Jifty feet long, against polygamy, is news here." 
 
 " Neither can we admit that he was formed by himself, without 
 the greatest absurdity, or by mere accident." 
 
 " In the Rural Park Female Seminary every one of the scholars, 
 who were unconverted at the beginning of the year, with a single 
 exception, some twenty in number, was hopefully interested." 
 
 8 " Now it will be remembered that in the first of these mur- 
 ders (that of the Marrs) the same incident (of a knocking at the 
 door, soon after the work of extermination was complete) did 
 actually occur, which the genius of Shakspeare has invented." — La 
 Quincey, 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ART OP EXPEESSION. 69 
 
 finitive. Thus we should not say : "Visitors to the Ward 
 Cabinet are requested to not handle any specimen." 
 
 "When a word has several modifiers, that which is most 
 closely connected with it in thought, should generally 
 stand in the closest proximity. Thus we say: "He at- 
 tached himself to that society, for the benefit of its mem- 
 bers " — placing next to the verb its direct object, then 
 its indirect object, then an adjunct indicative of purpose. 
 So also, we say : " Those six tall men," placing next to 
 the noun a definitive of quality, then one of number, then 
 one of demonstration ."• 
 
 COMPOUND SENTENCES. 
 
 83. Distinguisli between simple sentences which 
 involve compound elements, and compound sen- 
 tences. 
 
 It is first to be noticed, that each of the elements in a 
 simple sentence may become compound. Thus, we may 
 have, in a simple sentence, a compound subject, as " You 
 and 7 were conversing," ^^ John and Jane are a hand- 
 some couple ; " a compound copula as, " This is, and shall 
 be, the capital ; " a compound predicate as, " The day is 
 dark and dreary." We may also have compound modi- 
 fiers, in place of the simple modifiers already introduced. 
 For example: "A diligent and prudent man will pros- 
 per." These, however, are still simple sentences, for 
 they consist of but a single combination of subject, copula 
 and predicate. A compound sentence consists of two, or 
 more, co-ordinate combinations of subject, predicate and 
 copula. For example: "The rain has ceased and the 
 sun is shining brightlj'." The simple sentences which 
 make up a compound sentence may be united either by a 
 
 1 TVe instinctively reject such a sentence as the following: 
 '■ The brirjht two birds walked about for a few minutes." 
 
 As a general rule, the adjective immediately precedes the noun 
 which it limits ; but in poetry we have such inversions as " Saviour 
 dear," and Shakspere frequently uses such expressions as "Good 
 my Lord." With "many," "such" and "what" joined to 
 nouns, there is an inversion of the usual order, even in prose. 
 e. (J. " Many a time ; " " Wliat a piece of folly ; " " Such a man." 
 A similar inversion takes place when an adjective is modified by 
 "too," "so," "how," "as." e. fi. "Te see how large a letter I 
 have written unto you." See Bushton, p. 153. 
 
70 OUTLINES OF THE AET OP EXPRESSION. 
 
 conjunction or a relative. " The day is pleasant, which * 
 I did not expect," may serve for an example of a com- 
 pound sentence whose members are united by a relative. 
 
 84. State, and illustrate, the different classes 
 into ■which conjunctions may be divided. 
 
 ooNJinsrcTioisrs 
 
 are of eight different classes : — 
 
 1. Copulative. For example : " The war is over and 
 gold has fallen." 
 
 2. Disjunctive. For example : " We shall finish this 
 lecture to-morrow or I am much mistaken." ^ 
 
 3. Adversative. For example: "The wind has 
 changed, but it still snows." 
 
 4. Inferential. For example: "I can't write, for 
 my fingers are numb." 
 
 5. Comparative. For example : "Women are fitter 
 for the fireside than they are for the forum." 
 
 6. Conditional. For example: "You may excel, */ 
 you have a mind to." 
 
 7. Clausal. For example: "I see that it is getting 
 late." 
 
 8. Final. For example: " You must wait <i7Z I come." 
 Clausal and Final Conjunctions, however, yield " com- 
 plex" rather than " compound " sentences. 
 
 IMPERFECT COMPOUNDS. 
 
 In the compound sentence, there is often an ellipsis of 
 one or more of the principal elements — in which case, a 
 compound sentence may assume the form of a simple sen- 
 tence involving compound elements. Some grammarians 
 regard every simple sentence which contains a conjunc- 
 
 1 Eemember that tlie relative has, itself, a connective force, and 
 do not insert a superfluous " and " before it. For example : — 
 
 " The principal and distinguishing excellence of Virgil and 
 which, in my opinion, he possesses beyond all poets, is tender- 
 ness." — Blair's Rhetoric. 
 
 2 The disjunctive " or " (e. g. " a baron or a knight " ) must be 
 carefully discriminated from the alternative " or " (e. q. " Whotio- 
 (!ver shall cause or occasion disturbance"). Be careful to uiaka 
 
 t plain in which sense " or " is' used. 
 
OUTLINES OP THE AET OF EXPEESaiON. 71 
 
 tion, as an abbreviated, or imperfect, compound sentence ; 
 but their position seems untenable. See Eushton, p. 59. 
 
 OONSTEUOTION" OF COMPOUND 
 
 SENTENCES. 
 
 85. What points are to be especially regarded 
 with reference to the construction of compound 
 sentences ? 
 
 In constructing compound sentences, great care should 
 be taken to secure a perfect correspondence between their 
 several parts. This general principle may be laid down, 
 that similarity of thought, in the diflFerent members of a 
 sentence, demands similarity of expression. The princi- 
 ciple just laid down is most frequently violated : — 
 
 1. By the use, in different members of the sentence, of 
 incongruous pronominal forms, e. g. '■'■Thou livest worse 
 than the heathen, and they might teach you wisdom; " 
 "He that weighs the matter impartially; and who also 
 considers," etc' 
 
 2. By a blending of the archaic and modern stjj^les. 
 e. g. " The glory that fills immensity and inliabiteth 
 eternitj-." 
 
 3. By the use, in precisely correspondent situations, of 
 different parts of speech, or different constructions, e. g. 
 " Where ignorance is not wilful and a sin." ^ 
 
 1 Great care Ig necessary when you affect the indirect style of 
 polite society. For example: " Mr. Smith's compliments to Mrs. 
 Walker; and he wishes that she would send him by the bearer, the 
 book which I, inadvertently, left at your house." 
 
 ^ Prof. E. A. Abbott, " How to Write Clearly," p. 34, gives the 
 following capital illustration of this defect: — 
 
 ■' He had good reason to believe that the delay was not an acci- 
 dent (accidental) hnt premeditated, ani for supposing (to suppose; 
 or else, for believing, above) that the fort, though strong both by 
 art and naturally (nature), would be forced by the treachery of the 
 governor and the indolent (indolence of the) general to capitulate 
 within a week." 
 The same author, p. 25, says : 
 
 " When ' not only ' precedes ' but also,' see that each is followed 
 by the same part of speech : — 
 
 ' He not only gave me advice but also help,' is wrong. Write: 
 'He gave me, not only advice, but also help.' On the other hand, 
 ' He not only gave me a grammar, "fiui also lent me a dictionary,' is 
 right. Take an instance: 'He spoke not only forcibly but ab:n 
 tastefully (adverbs) ; and this too, not onlyheiore asmall audience, 
 out also in (prepositions) a large public meeting; and his specclies 
 were not only successful, but also (adjectives) worthy of success.' " 
 
72 OTJTLINES OP THE ART OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 4. By a confusion of contingent and declarative forms. 
 e.g. "If thou bring thy gift to the altar and there 
 rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee." 
 
 6. By lack of correspondence in length, between mem- 
 bers that correspond in importance. 
 
 From the fact that the principle just given with refer- 
 ence to symmetry of construction is generally followed, as 
 well as from its obvious fitness, we have a right to assume 
 that auxiliaries connected by a conjunction are identical 
 in form, unless there be some plain indication to the con- 
 trary. Hence, where two different forms of the verb are 
 connected by a conjunction, such parts of the tense-forms 
 as are not common to both, must be inserted in full. The 
 following sentence is a violation of this rule : ' ' This 
 dedication may serve for almost any book that has, is, or 
 shall be published." ^ 
 
 When different verbal forms are connected by a con- 
 junction, the simpler generally takes precedence, e. g. 
 " Some are, and must be, greater than the rest." — Pope. 
 
 86. State the principles ^71x1011 should govern 
 the selection of tenses, and illustrate their applica- 
 tion. 
 
 SELECTION OE TENSES. 
 
 Great care is necessary not only with reference to the 
 management of our auxiliary and inflectional forms ; but 
 also with reference to the selection of tenses - — especially 
 in sentences that are at all complicated. Four points 
 deserve careful attention. 
 
 ' 1. If the principal verb be in the present or future, the 
 dependent verb cannot be in the past tense, e. g. " Ye 
 will not come unto me that ye migf/tf have life." If the 
 principal verb be in the past, the dependent verb cannot 
 be in the present or future, e. g. "I told him that I 
 will go." 
 
 2. The time indicated by a tense inflection should be in 
 harmony with any indications of time in the rest of the 
 sentence.^ This principle is violated in the simple sen- 
 tence, " I have been sick yesterday; " since " have been" 
 
 1 The sentence is, also, tautological. A book which feos been 
 published, of course, is pubHshed. 
 ^ See Lowth, Grammar, p. 147, note. 
 
OXJTLLNES OP THE ART OF EXPBESSION. 73 
 
 views the sickness from the present, while " yesterday " 
 suggests the past.^ In the following more complicated 
 sentences, the sequence of time which exists in the 
 thought is not correctly indicated. "I expected to have 
 gone to New York." " I returned to America after I 
 visited Europe." "Then were the seeds planted which 
 had already sprung up and were now bearing fruit." 
 
 3. The English language, unlike the classical tongues, 
 does not fix the time of an entire sentence by the princi- 
 pal verb, letting the dependent verbs date from that time 
 as a constructive present. For example, where the Latin 
 would say: " Qud Demetrius Phalereus dicebatur uti," 
 the English saj': " Which Demetrius Phalereus is said to 
 have worn." Where the Greek would say : egjj; oxi dStxEi, 
 the English would say: " He said that he was wrong." 
 
 4. Statements which are essentially timeless, are com- 
 monly made in English, whatever the sequence, in the 
 present tense. For example: "He confessed that God 
 exists." 
 
 COMPLEX SENTENCES. 
 
 87. Explain the origin and nature of complex 
 sentences. 
 
 We have already noticed the fact that the place both of' 
 the subject and the predicate in a simple sentence may, 
 abnormally, be supplied by a clause. A similar state- 
 ment may be made concerning many of the modifiers of 
 the subject, the predicate and the copula. For example, 
 instead of saj'ing : " I saw him there," we may say " I 
 saw that he was there" — where the clause "that he 
 was," takes the place of the objective modifier "him." 
 Again, instead of saying: "That difficult lesson is 
 learned," we may say, — expanding the adjective modi- 
 fier, — That lesson, which I thought difficult, is learned." 
 
 1 Compare the following sentences : — 
 
 " Several of the essays which are here collected have had the 
 good, or had, fortune to he much criticised at the time of their first 
 appearance." — Matthew Arnold. 
 
 " It would be just as difficult for the Greeks to do what the 
 moderns have done, as for the moderns to do what the Greeks have 
 done." — A Student. 
 
 " Of this admirable work a subsequent edition has been pub- 
 lished in 1822." —Alison. 
 7 
 
74 OTTTLDTES OP THE AET OP EXPEESSIOIT. 
 
 But, by introducing such clauses in the place of the nor- 
 mal forms of expression, the simple senlence becomes 
 complex. 
 
 Complex sentences are, then, sentences which contain 
 within them other sentences. They are made up of two 
 or more combinations of subject, predicate and copula, 
 which are not co-ordinated (that is : are not of equal 
 importance) , as in the case of the compound sentence. 
 
 The contained sentence, or clause, need not take the 
 place of any element or modifier in the sentence which 
 contains it. It may be thrown in, parenthetically, by 
 way of reference : — 
 
 1. To some thought of the speaker other than that 
 which he is directly expressing. For example : " Roches- 
 ter is, if I may he allowed the expression, an overgrown 
 village." 
 
 2. To the thought, or expression, of some other person. 
 For example : " Blessed be the man, said SancJio Panza, 
 who invented sleep." 
 
 Sometimes the contained sentence is simply suggested 
 by an adverb or conjunction ; but not fully expressed. 
 For example: "I would otherwise have aided him," 
 where " otherwise " must be expanded, in thought, into : 
 " had the circumstances been other than they were." 
 . Complex sentences do not require extended treatment 
 in this connection. The sentences by which they are 
 complicated must be so introduced that their reference is 
 unmistakable ; must harmonize, in construction, with the 
 sentence in which they are inserted ; and must conform to 
 the general principles already laid down for the etructure 
 of the simple sentence. 
 
OTTTLINES OP THE AKT OF EXPRESSION. 75 
 
 THE GEAMMATIOAL PEOPEETIES 
 OF STTLE. 
 
 88. Define Style, and give the classification 
 under this head. 
 
 Style may be defined as the manner of expressing 
 thought in language. The qualities which are involved 
 in expression are partly Grammatical, partly Rhetorical. 
 Grammar has to do with corkectness of expression ; 
 Rhetoric deals with clearness, energy, and elegance. 
 
 89. What is essential to Grammatical correct- 
 ness ? 
 
 There are four things which are essential to the cor- 
 rectness of an English sentence : — 
 
 1. Pdeity, which demands English words. 
 
 2. Concord, which demands English constructions. 
 
 3. Propriety, which demands words used in their ac- 
 cepted significance. 
 
 4. Precision, which demands an exact correspondence 
 between the expression and the thought. 
 
 90. How is Grammatical correctness to be 
 tested ? 
 
 It is evident that we are required at once to decide 
 'I'Vit are English words and English constructions ; and 
 s^vv, is their accepted significance. The supreme law in 
 these matters — the law which grammarians and lexicog- 
 laphers are merely to expound, not to enact — is: the 
 usage of the best writers and speakers.^ 
 
 A mere majority of writers and speakers is not enough ; 
 
 1 So Horace, Ars Poetica, 71, 72 : — 
 
 " TTsus, 
 Quern penes arbitrium est, et jus, et norma loquendi." 
 
 Cf. Quintilian, B. 1, c. 6: " Consuetudo, certissima loquemU 
 magistra." 
 
 See Campbell, Bhet. B. 2, ch. 2. 
 
76 OUTLINES OF THE AET OE EXPRESSION. 
 
 since the usage of many who write and speak is unworthy 
 of consideration, either because they are incapable of 
 forming a correct judgment on matters of style, or because 
 they unthinkingly imitate the blunders of others. It is to 
 a majority of intelligent writers and speakers that we 
 appeal in the matter of usage. As Campbell says : 
 ' ' The tattle of children hath a currency ; but however 
 universal their manner of corrupting words may be among 
 themselves, it can never establish what is accounted use 
 in language. Now what children are to men, that, pre- 
 cisely, the ignorant are to the knowing." 
 
 91. What characteristics are essential to " es- 
 tablished usage " ? 
 
 That usage may be regarded as established, which is : ^ 
 
 1. National, as opposed to provincial or individual. 
 
 2. Reputable, as opposed to colloquial or vulgar. 
 
 3. Pkesent, as opposed to past or future. 
 
 92. What principles should guide us when 
 usage is divided? 
 
 Sometimes, with reference to usage, the authorities are 
 fairly divided. Then we should give the preference 
 to: — 
 
 1 . The CLEAR rather than the obscure. 
 
 2. The ANALOGICAL rather than the exceptional. 
 
 3. The EUPHONIOUS rather than the harsh. 
 
 4. That which is likely to be sanctioned by usage, 
 rather than that which is becoming obsolete. Pope wise.y 
 and wittily says : — 
 
 " In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold, 
 Alike fantastic if too new or old ; 
 Be not the first by whom the new are tried, 
 Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." 
 
 93. What do you understand by a barbarism ? 
 
 An offence against Grammatical Purity, falls within 
 the province of Etymology and is called a barbarism." It 
 may be committed by the use of words which are : — 
 
 1 See Campbell, Rliet. B. 2, ch. 1. 
 
 2 See Grant White's chapter on " Words that are not Words." 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPEESSION. 77 
 
 1. Akchaic. e. g. " Who would /arde?s bear? " 
 
 2. Technical, e.g. "His mind was swaged by (;ir- 
 cumstances." 
 
 3. Foreign, e. g. " There is in Milton none of the 
 delicious imprevu of Shakspere." — Fortnightly Rev. 
 
 4. Pboyinciax. e. g. " I must hyper round and get 
 tea." » 
 
 5. Individual, e. g. " To suicide," " to donate," 
 " to approbate," " to loan," " to resurrect," " " to side- 
 track," "enthused," "cultured," " effeminized " {Qon- 
 temp. Rev.), " mediumistic " (iV. Y. Sun), " zenithal " 
 (Tyndall). 
 
 Under the latter head will fall new words (which are 
 onlj' to be admitted to the language when they correspond 
 to new things — e. g. " telegram," " photograph") ; and 
 also new compounds and derivatives from old words — 
 e.g. " To premiate," " infldelic," "reliable," "mon- 
 archiai;" "preventative."' Such compounds and deriv- 
 atives are especially to be shunned when the root and 
 
 1 See Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms for copious ex- 
 amples : tlaough any soldier of the rebellion who fought under 
 Sherman, can supply them. e. g. "Touuas don't wobble your 
 dodgers in ham-fat like weuns do." 
 
 " " The admirers of Andrew Johnson, who are vastly more 
 numerous now than they were three weeks ago, are busy resur- 
 secting [i.e. resuscitating] anecdotes of his eventful career." — St. 
 Louis Republican. 
 
 ' Our newspaper-writers (too frequently men who are deficient 
 alike in education and taste; and almost always compelled to 
 write hurriedly) are responsible for most of the new words and 
 new compounds that are being foisted upon our noble language. 
 They are especially objectionable when they try to be funny. 
 Witness the following typical " local : " — 
 
 " He excurted a day or two on been, and getting short he burgled 
 a little. But he was copped and jailed. The news was imme- 
 diately wired to his amiable wife, who railed to him at once." 
 
 For further illustrations, and for a manly and vigorous protest 
 against such ridiculous innovations, see Oliphant's Sources of 
 Standard English-, chap. vi. AJso, Lowell's Biglow Papers, 
 2 Series, Introd. 
 
 The young writer especially, should realize that it does not 
 afford very convincing pi'oof of his inventive genius to coin new 
 words that do not, as Horace would say (/Irs Poetica til, 58) 
 bear the impress of a present necessity. It is regarded rather a? 
 an evidence that one is not sufficiently familiar with the words 
 that have already found their way into our dictionaries. Edu- 
 cated men should rememb-T that the language will change rapidly 
 enough, even if the weight of their influence 'oe thrown in favor 
 of stability. 
 
 7* 
 
78 OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPEESSION, 
 
 the termination are derived from different languages. 
 e.g. " Newspaporial," "talkist," "walkist," " ballist," 
 " Bearine." 
 
 94. What do you understand by a solecism ? 
 
 An offence against Grammatical Concord falls within 
 the province of Syntax and is called a solecism. This 
 offence may be committed : — 
 
 1 . By the use of any one of the parts of speech in an 
 improper connection, e.g. "The alone principle." 
 "Apples are plenty." "He made a thorough expose of 
 the matter." ^ "We can't go in without we pay." " Give 
 me as good a recommend as you can." " Our members 
 will not work for the society like Prof. Child does." — 
 Fumivall. "The carious individuals who total up in the 
 Times the aggregate number of years those people lived 
 whose deaths are there recorded." — Nature. 
 
 2. By the violation of any of the rules abeady laid 
 down with reference to the construction of sentences. 
 e. g. " These sort of things." " It is not for such as us 
 to sit with the princes." — 8cott. " They there, we may 
 fancy, reading and talking with John the Irishman on 
 many subjects." — Hughes, Life of Alfred. 
 
 95. "What do you understand by an impro- 
 priety ? 
 
 An offence against Grammatical Propriety falls within 
 the province of Lexicography and is called an impro- 
 priety.^ This offence may be committed by using words 
 in senses that are not sanctioned by : — 
 
 1. Present Usage, e.g. "To demean one's self," 
 for, "to behave one's self." " Vulgar" for "com- 
 mon."' "We took up our carriages [i.e. burdens — 
 that which we carried], and went up to Jerusalem." 
 
 1 " The expose of the manner in which mediumistic feats are 
 performed, which the Professors Haudricovirt announce they will 
 give in Corinthian Hall next Monday evening will be very 
 interesting." 
 
 2 See Grant White's chapter on " Misused TTor-ds." 
 
 3 " The old vulgar translation of the Psalms." — Lowth, Gram- 
 mar, p. 58. 
 
 " The game of hall that we used to play was a very vulgar 
 game." 
 
OUTIilNES OF THE ABT OF EXPRESSION. 79 
 
 (Acts 21: 15 Greek, e7Uaxivaad[isvoi. Tyndale: "We 
 trussed up ouv fardels.") 
 
 2. Good Usage, e.g. "Learn" for "teach" ; "laid" 
 for " lay " ; " transpire " for " occur." ^ 
 
 3. Ant Usage, e. g. " California, one day, will be the 
 great wine granary of the world." 
 
 " The present Prince of Wales is reported to be a pro- 
 totype of that Prince of Wales who became George the 
 Fourth." 
 
 " The infant grasping between his succulent gums, the 
 traditional silver spoon." — A student. 
 
 " His arm hung limpid by his side." 
 
 96. What do you understand by Redundancy, 
 Tautology, Deficiency? 
 
 An offence against Grammatical Precision may consist : 
 1. In using too many words to express the thought. 
 This is called, in general, Redundancy, e.g. "He was 
 made a scholar of, and trained for the ministry." — 
 Froude's Inaugural. " Let us look, for a moment, at the 
 past history of this strange people." — A student. Where, 
 however, through excess of verbiage, the thought is re- 
 peated, it is called Tautology (from the Greek ravrd 
 Ityeiv to say the same things), e. g. "I should like 
 equally as well, to teach English." * Offences of this 
 
 1 " The force of the second syllable in such words as perspire, 
 inspire and expire must be known to a majority of those who use 
 the words. They also know, or should know, that trans means 
 over, through, etc. Why will they not remember and apply these 
 facts of derivation, and use the word transpire only in its legiti- 
 mate sense, — that is, to breathe through, to come out f It does 
 not mean to happen, to take place, and should never be used in 
 that sense. We need the word to express the idea of becoming 
 known. The event which tran^ires to-day may have happened ten 
 years ago. Over and over, all this has been said and urged ; but 
 still the absurdity keeps its place and has become ridiculously fre- 
 quent." — Boston Advertiser. 
 
 ' Cf. Addison's lines, (in which the same thought is thrice ex- 
 pressed): — 
 
 "The dawn is overcast: the morning lowers, 
 And heavily in clouds brings on the day." 
 
 Such sentences as the following are by no means infrequent in 
 hastily written compositions: " They returned back agaiti to the 
 same city from whence they came forth." Such expressions as 
 "from whence," "from thence," "from hence" are, always, 
 tautological — hence (hennes) etc., being proper genitives, which 
 in themselves indicate separation. 
 
80 OTJTLINES OF THE ART OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 sort are very common as the result of coupling up nouns, 
 adjectives, or verbs to pad out a sentence. Be very 
 careful that your desire for a well-rounded, sonorous sen- 
 tence does not mislead you into giving to every noun 
 two epithets ; to every subject, two verbs, etc. And, 
 when you do double epithets and verbs, see to it that 
 there is an appreciable difierence in their meaning. Swift 
 illustrates the defect which I censure when he writes : 
 "In the Attic Commonwealth, it was the privilege and 
 birthright of every citizen and poet, to rail aloud and in 
 public." 
 
 2. In using too few words to express the thought. 
 This is called Deficiency. We must be careful, as 
 Horace warns us, lest, in striving to be brief, we become 
 obscure. Dickens, in the following sentence (which is 
 admirable in many respects) , illustrates this defect : "A 
 narrow alley, leading to the river, where a wretched little 
 bill Found Deowned was weeping on the wet wall. ' — 
 Idttle Dorrit. 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ART OI' EXPEESSION. 81 
 
 FIGUEATIYE LAl^GUAGE. 
 
 97. What do you understand by Figurative 
 Language, and what is the classification under 
 this head? 
 
 In the expression of thought, we may use language in 
 its literal significance, or we may use it in a sense which 
 is only indirectly, and by acceptation, expressive of our 
 thought. The latter usage is styled "Figm-ative," and 
 tends to promote : — 
 
 a. A CLEAR AND DEFINITE IMPRESSION, by associatiug 
 the object of thought with objects better known, e. g. 
 " I am the way." 
 
 b. A VIVID AND PICTURESQUE EXPRESSION, by associat- 
 ing the object of thought with objects which more decid- 
 edly afiect the feelings, e.g. "Like as a father pitieth 
 his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." 
 
 Under the head of Figurative Language I shall not 
 attempt an exhaustive discussion ; but briefly note a few 
 of its most important forms, namely : — 
 
 Simile, 
 
 Metaphor, 
 
 Metonymy, 
 
 Synecdoche, 
 
 Personification. 
 
 98. Explain, and illustrate, the difference be- 
 tween " Simile " and " Metaphor." 
 
 A SIMILE (^similis) is an expressed comparison — as in 
 the second example given above, or in the following 
 couplet : — 
 
 " Him, like the loorking bee in blossom dust, 
 Blanched with his mill, they found." — Tennyson. 
 
 A METAPHOR (fiera and (ff'peiv) is an implied comparison. 
 e. g. " This tiger sprang into the thickest of the fight ; " 
 " Do not use 'climax' too freely. It is not pleasant to 
 be eternally going iip stairs." 
 
82 OUTLINES OF THE AET OP EXPEESSIOK. 
 
 A SIMILE is, generally, a comparison of attributes ; a 
 METAPHOR, a comparison of relations. The former is 
 clearer ; the latter, more vivid and impressive. A meta- 
 phor may always, if correctly instituted, be stripped of its 
 verbiage and reduced to an equation of ratios. For 
 example: "The ship ploughs the sea" = " The ship is 
 to the sea, as the plough is to the land." When we 
 attempt this reduction, it often appears that there is no 
 real similaritj' of relations ; or, that there are more than 
 two relations involved in our comparison. 
 
 99. Explain, and illustrate, what you mean by 
 " Metonymy," " Synecdoche " and " Personifica- 
 tion." 
 
 METOJrrMT (from [isici and ovoiui) consists in the sub- 
 stitution of a kindred object for the proper object, of 
 thought ; as the sign for the thing signified, the container 
 for the thing contained, the instrument for the agent, etc. 
 
 For example : " The sceptre of England is felt through- 
 out the world." "The country is jealous of the city." 
 " Thepeji is mightier than the sword." 
 
 Stkecdoche consists in the substitution of a part for a 
 whole; as " a blade" for " a sword," " a sail" for " a 
 ship," etc. 
 
 Personification consists in the representation of inani- 
 mate objects as endowed with life. e. g. " The moon 
 looked, with kindly sympathy, on their rejoicings." The 
 English language possesses peculiar facilities for the em- 
 ployment of this figure, in that it has no " constructive 
 gender," and can personify by a single monosyllable, as 
 "his" or "her." 
 
 100. "What rules should govern the use of Fig- 
 urative Language ? 
 
 The following rules are to be observed in the employ- 
 ment of Figurative Language : — 
 
 1. The point to be illustrated, and the image used in 
 illustration, should be held distinctly and unchangeably 
 before the mind. Different points may be illustrated ; 
 but they should be illustrated one at a time. Several 
 illustrations may be used ; but they should be used 
 severall3% 
 
OTTTLrfTES OP THE AKT OP EXPEESSION. 83 
 
 2. Our language should be entirely congruous. There 
 should be no mixing of metaphors — as when Shakspere 
 says : " Or to take arms against a sea of troubles ; " ^ no 
 blending of literal and figurative expressions — as when 
 we are told that " Boyle was the father of chemistry and 
 brother of the Earl of Cork ; " or assured that " An axe 
 is laid at the root of our fisheries." " 
 
 It must be borne in mind that much of our speech is 
 made up of " fossU metaphors," which still so far suggest 
 their original meaning as to make it desirable that our 
 language be consistent with that meaning. For example : 
 "To convey An impression," strikes a thoughtful hearer 
 less pleasantly than, " to malce an impression." 
 
 It must also be remembered that uniform usage has 
 caused many words to be so intimately associated with 
 each other, that there is a sense of incongruity, though 
 there is no real incongruity, if they are dissociated. 
 Thus, as Bain says, Gomp. and Bhet., p. 33, "One may 
 acquire knowledge, take degrees, contract habits, lay up 
 treasure, obtain rewards, win prizes, gain celebrity, arrive 
 at honors." Angus, Hand- Book, § 690, gives a list (which 
 will be found very useful) of the prepositions that are 
 appropriate in different connections. 
 
 3. The resemblance traced should be neither too fanci- 
 ful and remote ; nor too obvious and trite. We have an 
 instance of the defect first indicated in the statement that 
 a ship built on Puget Sound for the whale fishery, " is the 
 seed of a fleet which will, by and by, leave to New Bed- 
 ford nothing of the magnificent vexation of distant seas 
 
 1 The following examples still further illustrate this defect, 
 which is very common — especially with unpractised writers : — 
 
 " The young know not how soon the brittle thread of life may 
 be cut asunder." — A student. 
 
 " And now, sir, I must embark into the feature on which this 
 subject chiefly hinges." — Lord Castlereagh. 
 
 " I bridle in my struggling muse with pain 
 Which longs to launch into a bolder strain." — Addison. 
 
 " There was still, Csesar apprehended, a germ of sentiment ex- 
 isting, on which a scion of his own house, or even a stranger, might 
 throw himself and raise the standard of patrician independence." 
 — Merivale. 
 
 ^ Compare Tennyson's lines : — 
 
 "O! somewhere, meek, unconscious doue, 
 That sittest, 'ranging golden hair." 
 
84 OUTLINES OF THE AET OP EXPEESS]OI>, 
 
 in pursuit of the whale, save its realized wealth and its 
 traditions." — Samuel Wilkeson. Throwing this sound- 
 ing sentence into an equation of ratios, we have. Ship : 
 fleet : : seed : tree. 
 
 But a seed possesses life out of which the tree is devel- 
 oped, while the ship does not. Hence the resemblance 
 traced is too remote and fanciful. 
 
 On the other hand, "Pure as snow," " cold as ice," 
 are too obvious and commonplace. 
 
 4. Figurative language should not be too freely used ; 
 and should not supersede literal and exact statements of 
 the points that we desire to make. The illustrations 
 should exist for the sake of the thought, not the thought 
 for the sake of the illustrations. ^ 
 
 5. Care must be taken that figures with which we illus- 
 trate our theme, are strictly in keeping with it. Abbott 
 saya, How to Write Clearly: "Do not use poetic meta- 
 phor to illustrate a prosaic subject. Even commonplace 
 subjects may be illustrated by metaphor; for it is a 
 metaphor, and quite unobjectionable, to say : ' Consols 
 jumped to 94^.' But commonplace subjects must be 
 illustrated by a metaphor that is commonplace." 
 
QtrTLINBS OP THE AKT OP BXPEESSION. 85 
 
 THE OOMPOSITIOS" OF AJ^ ESSAY. 
 
 Several points deserve careful attention with reference 
 to the composition of an essay. 
 
 THE CHOICE OF A STIBJECT. 
 
 101. What principles should determine us in the 
 choice of a subject for composition ? 
 
 1. It must be a real subject. Do not be deceived by 
 a sounding title. Be more anxious about the thing than 
 the name. Matters of fact are more easily treated by the 
 novice than matters of fancy. 
 
 2. It must possess UNITY — else there can be no unity 
 in its treatment. All the writer's thoughts must be 
 grouped about a common centre, and conduce to a com- 
 mon end. 
 
 3. It must be not too broad. It is a mistake to think 
 that the more extended the theme the easier its discus- 
 sion. Limit your attention, carefully, to a single aspect 
 of your theme, if you would avoid vague and meaningless 
 generalities. 
 
 4. It must be A subject to which one is equal. Cul- 
 tivate a wise distrust, rather than an overweening con- 
 fidence in your powers. Horace's advice is good : — 
 
 " Examine well, ye Pisoes, weigh with care 
 What suits your genius, what your strength wUl bear." 
 
 5. It should be fresh, and touch upon matters of vital 
 interest. 
 
 THE ACCUMULATION" OF MATERIAL. 
 
 102. What importance attaches to the accumu- 
 lation of material? 
 
 This is a matter of prime importance. There are two 
 
 reasons why the work of composition, as practised in our 
 
 schools, is so irksome and unsatisfactory. The first is, 
 
 that the themes assigned are, in every important partic* 
 
 8 
 
86 OTJTLIKES OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 ular, unsuitable. The second is, that the novice is set 
 to make bricks without straw. TThe beginner should be 
 supplied with material precisely adapted to his use, and 
 neither beneath his demands nor very much in excess of 
 them. At first, his whole attention should be given, 
 under competent supervision, to the work of expression. 
 Then he should be taught how to accumulate and select 
 material for his own use. In this process, reflection, 
 reading, discussion and analysis are important stages ; 
 and will be separately discussed. 
 
 103. In what relation should reflection, reading 
 and discussion stand to each other, with resference 
 to the work of composition? 
 
 1 . Reflection. Richter has wisely said : ' ' Never read 
 till you have thought yourself empty ; never write till you 
 have read yourself full." Before reading upon any sub- 
 ject, take account of what you already know or think. 
 There must be some reason why you chose that subject. 
 Expand that reason to yourself. You will thus secure 
 originality in the discussion of your theme. This was 
 Gibbon's constant practice. Do this preliminary work 
 pen in hand, if you find it easier. The reason why you 
 find it easier is, that the memory is unburdened, and you 
 are enabled to concentrate all your energies on the work 
 of invention. 
 
 2. Reading. Go to the encyclopsedias first to get a 
 comprehensive view of your subject and its surroundings. 
 Then go to the reviews for more detailed statements. 
 The indexes will help you. In the course of this prelim- 
 inary examination you will be referred to more " original 
 authorities " than you will have time, or need, to consult. 
 
 3. Conversation. This is all important, but you are 
 now first prepared for it, when you have read and thought 
 for yourself. Don't resort to your instructors, or pester 
 your classmates, till you are prepared to profit by their 
 suggestions. 
 
 104. What importance should we attach to the 
 analysis of our theme ? 
 
 A thorough analysis, which will bring your theme 
 under the microscope part by part, is absolutely essential 
 
OUTLINES OP THE ART OF EXPEESSIOIT. 87 
 
 to successful composition. Without it there can bs 
 neither fertile invention, nor methodical discussion. In 
 your preliminary reflection, it may be well to make a pro- 
 visional analysis. If so, now is the time to revise. Give 
 ample thought. Set down the results in writing. Adhere 
 to your plan in the work of composition. You can do so, 
 if you really think before you begin to write. 
 
 In making an analysis you must recognize the three 
 parts of an essay. 
 
 105. What rules are given with reference to the 
 introduction ? 
 
 1. The Introduction. This should be the last thing to 
 be determined on, if we except the title. It need not be 
 written last ; but you can introduce better when you know 
 what you are going to introduce. The introduction is 
 designed to prepare the wa}- for the thoughts which follow. 
 It should be brief, simple, and proceed on the assumption 
 that 3'our readers, or hearers, are not already interested 
 in your theme. You must get up steam before theireyes, 
 rather than start off with 120 pounds to the square inch. 
 
 106. What rules are given with reference to the 
 discussion ? 
 
 2. The Discussion. Two questions will determine its 
 nature. First, What do I wish to establish, illustrate or 
 explain? The answer to this question gives you your 
 proposition. Secondly, How shall I support mj^ proposi- 
 tion ? The answer to this question gives you the subordi- 
 nate heads to your discourse. Write down the various 
 answers as they occur to you, then test and combine. 
 Then arrange, according to natural relation and relative 
 importance. Marshal 3-our arguments, as a skilful gen- 
 eral does his forces, so that they may assure j'our advance, 
 cover your retreat and mutually support each other. 
 
 107. What rules are given with reference to 
 meeting objections? 
 
 Objections may be met at the outset, if they would 
 prejudice the reader or hearer against the reception of 
 your arguments ; at the close, if your line of argument 
 will render it easier and briefer to dispose of them then ; 
 
88 OUTLINES OF THE AET OP EXPEESSIOW. 
 
 as they occur, unless it would mar the symmetry of youi 
 composition. If j^ou defer replying to an obvious objec- 
 tion, give notice of your intention to meet it. 
 
 108. What rules are given with reference to 
 the conclusion? 
 
 3. The Conclusion should follow naturally from the 
 essay itself. The closing thought in your discussion may 
 form a fitting conclusion. A recapitulation of the points 
 adduced may be desirable. If the strongest points were 
 first suggested, make the recapitulation in the inverse 
 order. A fitting conclusion may be afforded by asking : 
 What inference shall be drawn from this discussion? The 
 conclusion should always be brief and energetic. Be sure 
 of variety. 
 
 COMPOSITION. 
 
 This is comparatively easy if the preliminary work be 
 well done. Write fast or slow as is most natural to you ; 
 but, if you write fast, take especial pains with the work of 
 revision. The young writer who composes with ^difficulty 
 is to be envied. There is a fatal facility in composition 
 which is utterly inimical to the highest excellence. He 
 who does pretty well without much effort will not be like- 
 ly to take pains enough to do very well. Be simple and 
 natural. Do not be anxious for finer bread than can be 
 made from good wheat. Call a spade, a spade — and not 
 an agricultural implement. 
 
 109. What three qualities of Style are especially 
 to be secured, and what is their relative impor- 
 tance? 
 
 In regard to the Rhetoeical Qualities op Style, 
 secure Clearness, whatever else you sacrifice. TallejTand 
 was not in sober earnest when he asserted that language 
 was invented to help men conceal their ideas. It is of no 
 use to write or speak unless you are understood. In a 
 production which is to be heard rather than read, make 
 sure that you cannot possibly be misunderstood. That is 
 the true idea of perspicuity — the impossibility of being 
 misunderstood. Do not presume too much upon the in- 
 telligence of your bearers. Do not presume at all vjpou 
 
OUTLINES OP THE AET OP EXPEESSION. 89 
 
 their candor or generosity. Next to Clearness, Energ;^ is 
 desirable; next to Energ3', Elegance. All can be com- 
 bined, however, by pains-taking effort.^ 
 
 110. What principles are laid down ■with refer- 
 ence to illustrations and quotations ? 
 
 Illustkations of the positions taken are, of course, 
 desirable. Your theme thus gains in clearness and be- 
 comes more interesting as it becomes concrete rather than 
 abstract. Your illustrations should, however, grow natu- 
 rally out of j'Our subject. Do not laboriously seek them 
 and painfully fasten them on to your essay. Beware of 
 Horace's purple patch. Make the essay the occasion foi 
 the illustrations, rather than the illustrations the occasion 
 for the essay. 
 
 Quotations should never be introduced for the sake of 
 showing your familiarity with a long array of sounding 
 names. But, on the other hand, never hesitate to quote 
 an author who illustrates your position and utters j'our 
 thought better than you can do it yourself ; or one whose 
 authority would be decisive with j'our audience upon some 
 vital point. Always give credit for what j^ou do quote. 
 In a speech, mere quotation-marks are not enough. 
 
 REVISION. 
 
 111. What importance attaches to the work of 
 revision ? 
 
 This is of the utmost importance, especially where one 
 writes rapidly. Somebody must do it. If the student 
 lets his essay get cold, he can do it himself to a very con- 
 siderable extent — approaching his work as if it were that 
 of another person. If he delay writing till the last mo- 
 ment, and hurry his essay, " with all its imperfections on 
 its head," into the professor's hand, that public function- 
 ary will have to do the student's work — which will be 
 pleasant to neither party. A student sometimes fails in 
 
 1 Something has already been said, in this treatise, on the 
 methods by which Clearness may be secured. The subject is still 
 further discussed in the author's treatise on Khetoric — where the 
 methods by which Energy and Elegance may be promoted, are 
 also indicated. Prof. Abbott's "Bow to Write Clearly " is worthy 
 of careful study. 
 
90 OUTLINES OP THE AET OP EXPRESSION. 
 
 criticising his own productions througli vanity. Tlien, 
 too, he is ready enough, generally, to strike out and write 
 in; but, almost always, reluctant to recast an entire 
 
 essay. 
 
 MECHANICAL EXECtlTION. 
 
 112. "What degree of attention should be paid to 
 the mechanical execution of an essay, and what 
 points demand especial care ? 
 
 Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well. 
 Even genius should not be above crossing its t's and dot- 
 ting its i's. Take pains with reference to : — 
 
 a. Spelling, 
 
 b. Punctuation, 
 
 c. Paragraphing, 
 
 d. The use of Capitals, Italics, etc., 
 
 e. Penmanship. 
 
 The one test to be applied to an essay with reference 
 to these mechanical excellences is, its fitness to be sent to 
 the printer with instructions to " follow copy." 
 
OtrTLINES OF THE AET OS" EXPRESSION. 9l 
 
 MISOELLAl^TEOUS EXAMPLES FOE 
 OEITIOISM. 
 
 Point out, name and correct, the defects in the 
 following sentences : — 
 
 1. "I cannot say, however, as I am sorry." 
 
 2. " The freight train should have side-tracked at the 
 junction, but, instead of doing so, kept right on." 
 
 3. " This liniment done him the most good of any thing 
 he ever used." 
 
 4. "The vice of covetousness is what enters deeper 
 into the soul than any other." — Ouardian. 
 
 5. " The book which you loaned me, laid on my table 
 all day." 
 
 6. "He has to work as hard, if not harder, than the 
 mechanic or farmer." 
 
 7. " Tell the cardinal that I understand poetry as well 
 as him." — Smollett. 
 
 8. " Him being here, there is no use of me staying." 
 
 9. "His anticipations of the future, were of the 
 gloomiest nature." 
 
 10. "The man was convicted and hung; though his 
 lawyer plead for him most eloquently." 
 
 11. " Either study or play are at your option." 
 
 12. " Washington specials differ as to the probabilities 
 of the president signing the finance bill." 
 
 13. " However, American intelligence and liberality 
 has as yet failed to accord to the journalist his full and 
 deserved rights." — A student. 
 
 14. " If I had not left off troubling myself about those 
 kind of things." — Swift. 
 
 15. " The legislature have adjourned." 
 
92 OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPEESSION. 
 
 16. "Them that honor me, I will honor; and them 
 chat despise me shall be lightly esteemed." — 1 Sain. 2 : 
 30. 
 
 17. "It is a kind of basin, enclosed by a wall which 
 comes from a distance of several miles and is of a brack- 
 ish, disagreeable taste." — Sae Wilson. 
 
 18. " His sole executive ability is the key-stone of the 
 entire arch of Mormon society." — A student. 
 
 19. . " In 1542, the king appointed him to the Order of 
 the Garter." — A student. 
 
 20. " Between you and I, he is mistaken." 
 
 21. " Boston has now forty flrst-class grammar-schools, 
 exclusive of Dorchester." — Boston Traveller. 
 
 22. " And all the way, the joyous people sings, 
 
 And with their garments, strews the paved 
 streets." — Longfellow. 
 
 23. "In the gay season, Mrs. Helen Hunt is enumer- 
 ated as among the Atlantic writers, too, who pass the 
 summer here who seeks her summer home in the White 
 Mountains early in June." 
 
 24. " Calico dresses, well lined, swung to the enti- 
 cing intonation of the ' muse of the many tinkling feet,' 
 which was produced by Schaick's orchestra, which is never 
 known to give any thing but satisfaction." 
 
 25. " Who should I meet but my old friend." — Steele. 
 
 26. " We passed through this lovely scene in a 
 bright, sunshiny day, with the thermometer at 75 degrees 
 at the rate of 40 miles per hour." 
 
 27. "His references to the frauds perpetrated by a pow- 
 erful and rich class through violations of the Revenue 
 laws, were not merely figures of Rhetoric." — If. Y. 
 World. 
 
 28. "A pedantic display of technical skill is more de- 
 Srimental in Rhetoric than in any other pursuit; since, 
 Dy exciting distrust, it counteracts the very purpose of 
 it." — Wliately's Rhetoric. 
 
 29. " It is probable that the average American student 
 never heard of more than 25 per cent, of the weirds men- 
 tioned by Garnett." 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AKT OF EXPRESSION. 98 
 
 30. " He was a gentleman of gieat energy of charac- 
 ter — industrious, enterprising and projectile. Occupied 
 a position in one of the largest dry goods stores in Eich- 
 mond." — From an obituary. 
 
 30. " Yesterday a man -was arrested here for a series 
 of burglaries committed in Columbia, South Carolina. 
 He gave his name as Eberhardt and asserted his inno- 
 cence. To-day an investigation proved that he was a 
 Chicago merchant and the case is one of mistaket 
 identity." 
 
 31. " You have cited a custom of the Catholic church, 
 the reason for which, though perhaps forgotten, has never 
 ceased to be practised." — Peter Schlemihl in America. 
 
 32. "Another's nose has fallen to bleeding and wants 
 the door-key put down his back." — Ibid. 
 
 33. " The nations not so blessed as thee." — Thomson. 
 
 34. "There is such a thing as a man endeavoring to 
 persuade himself, and endeavoring to persuade others, 
 that he knows about things, when he does not know more 
 than the outside skin of them ; and he goes flourishing 
 about with them." — Garlyle. 
 
 35. "Fourth — As to woman's wages, I hold them 
 inferior, partly because of her inferior strength, but mainly 
 because of her inferior skill. Nilsson has no cause to 
 complain ; and the whortleberries sold in our markets 
 bring no higher price when picked and offered by men, 
 than they would if he were a woman." 
 
 36. " If their leader had shown the virtues of a Eoman 
 before, he as strongly manifested his vices now." — A 
 student. 
 
 37. "After his death, Quintilian returned to his native 
 city aad commenced his professional life." 
 
 38. "And the house of Baal was full from one end to 
 another." 
 
 39. " I do not reckon that we want a genius more than 
 the rest of our neighbors." — Swift. 
 
 40. " None of this paper's contributors, like one of the 
 writers of the New York World, seems able to do himself 
 justice in less than a column and a half." — Harper's 
 Monthly. 
 
94 OUTLnSTES OF THE ART OF EXPEESSIOTT. 
 
 41. " Mr. Robert Bonner is said to have promised the 
 Yale Navy a duplicate of the $1,000 check he gave them 
 last year." 
 
 42. " I do not purpose to give you an account of the 
 meetings cliieflj', because other and pressing duties forbade 
 my attendance on but few of them, and I was compelled 
 to return home on Tuesday afternoon." 
 
 43. " He was educated for a Catholic priest, but his 
 moroseness and asceticism were so marked that no Papal 
 Bull or decrees of the Vatican were ever able to adoucir 
 his unconquerable will sufficient to render him a lovable 
 and honored father in the Catholic church." 
 
 44. " The climate was unsuitable for the growing of 
 fruit — the great amount of moisture in the air inducing 
 a quick growth, but retarding maturation." — A stu- 
 dent. 
 
 45. "He opposed fire and sword to the spread of the 
 plague." 
 
 46. "Having been moored across the river, and made 
 fast to the dock, Mr. Parsons made a few remarks." 
 
 47. " Natural history has received a similar impetus 
 under the Darwinian Theory that Astronomy did under 
 the older Copernican." — Westminster Review. 
 
 48. "A narrow corridor gave into a wide festival space, 
 occupied by many tables." — Their Wedding Journey. 
 
 49. " The extreme sensitiveness of the mammary func- 
 tions in cows to the influences of cold, fatigue, excite- 
 ment, unpleasant odors, etc., is indeed surprising." — 
 Agricultural paper. 
 
 50. " The fates that spin and cut the threads of 
 national life, have severed the unnatural tie which bound 
 her to a ruined and tyrannous kingdom ; and forth from 
 the fiery loom of battle there floats a golden thread which 
 points northward towards the magnetism of freedom, and 
 waits but the shuttle of time and the orders of the master- 
 workman to be woven into our own broad vestments of 
 liberty." 
 
 51. " The archaic forms are less lengthy than the 
 tnodern." — Eng. Lessons for Eng. People. 
 
OUTLINES 01" THE AST OF EXPEESSIOU. 95 
 
 52. " It is not less true that there are books which are 
 of that importance in a man's private experience as to 
 verify for him," etc. — Emerson. 
 
 53. " "What is it that the mere antiquarian wants, and 
 which the mere scliolar wants also ; so that satire, saga- 
 cious enough in detecting the weak points of every charac- 
 ter, has often held them both up to ridicule? " — Arnold, 
 Led. on Hist. 
 
 54. " The first project was to shorten discourse by cut^ 
 ting polysyllables into one." — Swift. 
 
 55. " None of the houses were more than one story 
 high, which often projected over the street." — Smith's 
 Greece, p. 386. 
 
 56. " Eoman garrisons were scattered all over the 
 land, some remnants of which are stUl to be seen in 
 Southern Britain." — A student. 
 
 57. " He was born in 1608, as the son of a country 
 gentleman in Wiltshire." — Three Centuries of Eng. Lit. 
 
 58. " He found time to write pamphlet after pamphlet, 
 in one instance opposing the King's views, when he argued 
 against a war with France for reasons which are verj' 
 honorable to him." — Ibid. 
 
 59. "Arbitrary power I look upon as a greater evil 
 than anarchy itself, as much as a savage is a happier life 
 than a slave at the oar." 
 
 60. " I do not remember that I ever spoke three sen- 
 tences together in my whole life." — Spectator. 
 
 61. " This telescope, the make of Messrs. Steinheil & 
 Sons, of Munich." 
 
 62. "He is always delightfully fresh, because he sets 
 before us the world as it honestly appeared to Geoffrey 
 Chaucer, and not a world as it seemed proper to certain 
 persons that it ought to appear." — Lowell. 
 
 03. "It will have been largest, too, at the time when 
 it was most needed." — Hughes's Life of Alfred, t^. IPl. 
 Cf. pp. 139, 152, 222. 
 
 64. " They were marching south, along the old Roman 
 road, the remains of which may still be seen near tlie 
 battle-field, heavy with the spoils of London, it is said, 
 
96 ' OUTLINES OF THE AET OE EXPEESSIOJS'. 
 
 part of which city they had succeeded in sacking." — 
 Ibid. 
 
 65. " ' Probabilities ' predict warm and cloudy weather 
 and very heavy rains." 
 
 66. " But as mankind in the aggregate is always wiser 
 than any single man, because its experience is derived 
 from a larger range of observation and experience, and 
 because the springs that feed it drain a wider region both 
 of time and space," etc. — Lowell. 
 
 67. " He flourishes his trumpet and pauses; the rocks 
 respond, the first return of the sound being almost as 
 strong as the blast itself." — Tyndall. 
 
 68. " The summit of their ambition reached no farther 
 than to have a gun which would carry a ball of an ounce 
 weight and about 20 or 30 dogs." — Coke's West Indies. 
 
 69. "Our correspondent fires some pretty rough shot 
 occasionally." 
 
 70. " No one had exhibited the structure of the human 
 kidneys, Vesalius having only examined them in dogs." 
 — Hallam. 
 
 71. "More commonly that against which what is 
 spoken of is proof is mentioned, as shame-proof." — 
 Sales. 
 
 72. " These institutions attract to themselves the 
 mental strength of the land, forming a focus from which 
 radiates, whether in Theology, Science, Literature or Art, 
 the new world of thought, which finds its way to the re- 
 motest regions, often filtered and unacknowledged." — 
 Matthew Arnold. 
 
 73. " Fancy sports on airy wing, like a meteor on the 
 bosom of a summer cloud." — Burke. 
 
 74. "A large number of seats have long been occupied 
 by the scholars, that have no backs." 
 
 75. " The day got so warm that he got ready and got 
 off half an hour before I got there." 
 
 76. " How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable 
 
 Seems to me all the uses of this world." — 
 
 iShakspere. 
 
OtTTLINES OP THE AKT OP BXPEESSION. 97 
 
 77. "I shall content myself by mentioning those 
 literary men whom it used to delight Maecenas to pat- 
 ronize, and them in turn to extol his manifold virtues 
 in the rarest productions of their divine genius." — A 
 student. 
 
 78. "In this battle, the barbarians suffered a greater 
 loss than in any battle during the entire war." — Rid. 
 
 79. " Few are the military men of highly cultivated 
 mind, men who have not allowed the pride of their profes- 
 sion to cloud their consciences, who wlU not say with 
 Gen. Sherman, ' "War is a terrible thing.' " — A student. 
 
 80. " The writer, when a boy, has heard an able 
 Anglo-Saxon scholar of that day maintain, that if one 
 of the churls who fought at Ashdown with Alfred could 
 have risen up from his breezy grave under a barrow 
 and walked down the hill into Ufflngton, he would have 
 been understood without diflSculty by the peasantry." — 
 Hughes's Life of Alfred. 
 
 81. " "William Shakspere was the sun among the lesser 
 lights of English poetry, and a native of Stratford-on- 
 Avon." 
 
 82. " The boundless plains in the heart of the empire 
 furnished inexhaustible supplies of corn, that would have 
 almost suflSced for twice the population." 
 
 83. "I am so much surprised by this statement that I 
 am desirous of resigning, that I scarcely know what reply 
 to make." 
 
 84. "He told his friend that if he did not feel better in 
 half an hour he thought he had better return." 
 
 85. " I had among my pupils a boy to whom I could 
 not succeed in teaching any idea of numbers." 
 
 86. " Battles have been fought and won with poor 
 armor ; and yet good armor is necessary and for the want 
 of it many a battle has been lost." 
 
 87. " Pleasure and excitement had more attractions for 
 him than his friend, and the two companions became es- 
 tranged gradually." 
 
 88. " Matters are drifting that way rapidly enough 
 when all the moral brakes possible are applied." — A 
 student. 9 
 
98 OtTTLINES OP THE AET OI" EXPRESSION. 
 
 89. " Success unduly elates liim, and failure casts down 
 in proportion." — A student. 
 
 90. "Next to thinking clearly, it is useful to speak 
 clearly, and whatever your position in life may hereafter 
 be, it cannot be such as not to be improved by this, so 
 that it is worth while making almost any effort to acquire 
 it, if it is not a natural gift : it being an undoubted fact 
 that the effort to acquire it must be successful, to some 
 extent at least, if it be moderately persevered in." 
 
 91. " I think they are very nice persons, for they kept 
 me amused for a long time together yesterday by their 
 nice stories aU about what they have experienced in Japan, 
 where they had been for ever so long, and where they said 
 that the natives ripped up their stomachs." 
 
 92. *' There are, indeed, but very few who know how to 
 be idle and innocent, or have a relish of any pleasures 
 that are not criminal ; every diversion they take is at the 
 expense of some one virtue or other, and their very first 
 step out of business is into vice or folly." — Spectator. 
 
 93. " What is his going or his advent to thee? " — The 
 Wooing o't. 
 
 94. " The general was quite conscious how treacherous 
 were the intentions of those who were entertaining him, 
 and of the dangers from which he had escaped lately." 
 
 95. " He replied, when he was asked the reason for his 
 sudden unpopularity, that he owed it to his refusal to 
 annul the commercial treaty, which gave great pleasure to 
 the poorer classes." 
 
 96. "He asserted that the biographer of Blanco White 
 had made use of private letters of his and his family's 
 against prohibition and legal warning." — Miss Marti- 
 neau. 
 
 97. " As when the excellence of the church, of the 
 House of Lords and Commons, of the procedure of law- 
 courts etc., are inferred from the mere fact that the coun- 
 try has prospered under them." — Mill's Logic. 
 
 98. " Tillotson died in this year. He was exceedingly 
 beloved both by King William and by Queen Mary, who 
 nominated Dr. Tennison, Bishop of Lincoln, to succeed 
 him." 
 
OUTLINES OP THE AET OF EXPRESSIOIT. 99 
 
 99. " Once Europe was peopled only here and there by 
 men who beat at the doors of nature, and upon the heads 
 of one another, with sharp flints." — Morley. 
 
 100. "He was the universal favorite of all who knew 
 him, and cemented many friendships at this period (mov- 
 ing in the highest circle of society, and, as he had certain 
 property, being independent of the profits of literature) , 
 and soon completely extinguished the breath of slander 
 which at the outset of his career had threatened to sap the 
 foundations of his reputation." 
 
 101. "I took the opportunity to visit the university; 
 though I did not expect to obtain any advantage from it." 
 — A student. 
 
 102. " Are the fruits of our present labors to be but 
 the stepping-stone into the future? " — A student. 
 
 103. " We may infer from the discussions upon the 
 truth or falsity of the statements that he took long jour- 
 neys from the monastery that he never went very &j from 
 the scene of his labors." — A student. 
 
100 OUTLnSTES OF THE AET OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 PEAXIS IN OOMPOSITIOl!?". 
 
 It is desirable that practice in composition keep pace 
 •with instruction respecting the methods of composition. 
 The blackboard should be kept in constant use, and the 
 student should be taught to construct illustrative examples 
 of the rules to which his attention is called and to criticise 
 the examples put upon the board by his classmates. 
 The influence of this daily exercise, if maintained but a 
 single term, on the constructive ability and critical acu- 
 men of a class will be something wonderful. 
 
 The author appends some examples for praxis which 
 suggested themselves in going over The Art of Expression 
 with a class, and which are arranged in the order in which 
 the information that they presuppose is given in the pre- 
 ceding pages. They should be given out, day by day, as 
 the student masters the precepts to which they refer, and 
 without calling the student's attention to them before- 
 hand. The entire work of construction and criticism 
 should be done by the class. Thirty bright boys can be 
 stimulated and encouraged to do it very thoroughly — 
 better, I have sometimes thought, than the average 
 teacher. And it must be done thoroughly. The student 
 must not be permitted, while illustrating one rule, to vio- 
 late others, however insignificant. 
 
 The topics here suggested for praxis will, perhaps, 
 afford the best possible means for testing not merely the 
 constructive ability of the student ; but his familiarity 
 with the principles and precepts laid down in the pre- 
 ceding pages — thus serving, on examination, a double 
 purpose. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 1. Hand in a letter (addressed to your instructor and 
 designed for criticism) stating what degree of attention 
 you have already given to the study of English.^ 
 
 1 These letters should all be read and criticised in the class- 
 room; and careful attention should be called to the minor ele- 
 gances of le',ter-writing. Many of us, in actual life, write nothing 
 but letters. It is all important, then, that we make letter-writing 
 a study. 
 
OTTTLINES OP THE AKT OF EXPEESSION. 101 
 
 2. Illustrate, in writing, how to make a paragraph. 
 
 3. Write sentences illustrating the use of the comma, 
 the semicolon, the period. 
 
 4. Write sentences illustrating the use of the colon and 
 the dash. 
 
 5. Write sentences illustrating the use of the interroga- 
 tion mark and the exclamation point. 
 
 6. Illustrate the different ways of indicating parenthetic 
 matter. 
 
 7. Write on the board : — 
 
 (1) Ten common nouns. 
 
 (2) Ten proper nouns. 
 
 (3) Ten concrete nouns. 
 
 8. Tell what you understand by a " mass-noun " as 
 distinguished from a " class-noun" — giving illustrations 
 of each. 
 
 9. Write on the board ten abstract nouns ending in 
 -hood. 
 
 10. Ten, ending in -dom. 
 
 11. " " " -ness. 
 
 12. " " " -ship. 
 
 13. " " " -ity. 
 
 14. Give illustrations of abstract nouns ending in any 
 other terminations. 
 
 15. Write, on the board, 20 collective nouns. 
 
 16. Give illustrations of all the cases in which capitals 
 should be employed. 
 
 17. Give as many nouns as you can recall, which form 
 the plural irregularly. 
 
 18. Give as many nouns as you can recall, which have 
 the same form for the singular and the plural. 
 
 19. Give as many nouns as you can recall, which form 
 only the plural. 
 
 20. Give as many nouns as you can recall, which have 
 two plurals used in different senses. 
 
 21. Give the plurals of the following nouns : — 
 
 Flagstaff, 
 Sow, 
 
 Miasma, 
 Flambeau, 
 
 Seraph, 
 Exanthema, 
 
 Jet-d'eao. 
 Stamina, 
 
 Chrysalia, 
 Stigma, 
 
 Caryatid, 
 Madame. 
 
 »• 
 
 
102 OUTLINES OF THE AKT OF EXPEESSION. 
 22. Give the plurals of the following nouns : — 
 
 Savant, 
 
 Pea, 
 
 Monsieur, 
 
 Sheep, 
 
 Cicerone, 
 
 Effluvia, 
 
 Libretto, 
 
 Omnibus, 
 
 Trout, 
 
 Penny, 
 
 Canto, 
 
 Die. 
 
 23. Illustrate the diflferent methods of indicating 
 gender. 
 
 24. Give the masculine, or the feminine, form corre- 
 sponding to the following words : — 
 
 Earl, 
 
 Sloven, 
 
 Czar, 
 
 Sire, 
 
 Don, 
 
 Doctor, 
 
 Eoe, 
 
 Swain, 
 
 Landgrave, 
 
 Buck. 
 
 25. Give the masculine, or the feminine, form corre- 
 EpOnding to the following words : — 
 
 Duck, 
 
 Maid, 
 
 Postmaster, 
 
 Vixen, 
 
 Nun, 
 
 Sultan, 
 
 Lad, 
 
 Songster, 
 
 Gaffer, 
 
 Stag, 
 
 Billy-goat, 
 
 Ewe. 
 
 26. Give ten nouns of the neuter, and ten of the com- 
 mon, gender. 
 
 27. "Write six sentences containing a noun in the sin- 
 gular number, possessive case.'^ 
 
 28. Write six sentences containing a noun in the plural 
 number, possessive case. 
 
 29. Write four sentences containing a phrase, the last 
 word of which shall be properly in the possessive case. 
 
 30 Write four sentences containing a phrase, the prin- 
 cipal word of which shall be properly in the possessive 
 case. 
 
 1 The student will, perhaps, need to be reminded that a higher 
 value is put upon illustrations that evince taste and culture than 
 upon illustrations which, however correct, are trashy and com- 
 mon-place. 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ART OF EXPRESSION. 103 
 
 31. "Write five sentences illustrating the use of the 
 nominative case independent. 
 
 32. Write five sentences illustrating the use of the 
 adjective as an " abnormal noun." 
 
 33. Dlustrate the use of each of the infinitives as an 
 " abnormal noun." 
 
 34. Write ten sentences containing an infinitive which 
 properly dispenses with the sign " to." 
 
 35. Write three sentences illustrating the use of the 
 present active participial as an " abnormal noun." 
 
 36. Three, illustrating this use of the past active. 
 
 37. " " " " " " present passive. 
 
 38. " " " " " " past " 
 
 39. Give three illustrations of a clause used, abnormal- 
 ly, as the subject of a sentence. 
 
 40. Three, of a clause, or phrase, used as predicate. 
 
 41. Three, of a clause used as object. 
 
 42. Three, of a clause used as as an " adjunct." 
 
 43. Write sentences illustrating the use of the weak 
 and strong pronominal possessives in each person of the 
 singular. , 
 
 44. In each person of the plural. 
 
 45. Write sentences illustrating the correct use of the 
 reflective pronouns. 
 
 46. Write sentences illustrating the different cases in 
 which "that" should be preferred, as a relative, to 
 "who" or "which." 
 
 47. Give five sentences, introducing a relative clause 
 that has the force of a " definitive." 
 
 48. Give five sentences introducing a relative clause 
 that has the force of an " epithet." 
 
 49. Write on the board, three totally identical judg- 
 ments. 
 
 50. Three partially identical judgments. 
 
 51. Three judgments in which different objects of 
 thought are compared. 
 
 52. Write four sentences containing abstract predicates 
 expressive of quality. 
 
 53. Four, expressing action. 
 
 54. " " condition. 
 
 55. " " relation. 
 
 56. Explain, in writing, what you understand by "an 
 abnormal predicate." 
 
 57. Give three examples of adjuncts used, abnormally 
 as predicates. 
 
104 OUTLINES OF THE AET OF EXPBBSSION. 
 
 58. Three, of adverbs. 
 
 59. " " infinitives. 
 
 60. " " clauses. 
 
 61. "Write ten sentences containing transitive verbs. 
 
 62. Ten, containing intransitive verbs. 
 
 63. Six, containing neuter verbs. 
 
 64. Six, containing neuter-passive verbs. 
 
 65. Give three illustrations of each of the "voices" 
 recognized in English Grammar. 
 
 66. Give a tabular view, similar to that under topic 49, 
 of the English tense forms in the passive voice. 
 
 67. Write five sentences containing simple present 
 tenses in the active voice ; five, containing continuative 
 presents. 
 
 68. Write five sentences containing simple present 
 tenses in the passive voice ; five, containing continuatives. 
 
 69. Write five sentences containing simple imperfects 
 active ; five, containing continuatives. 
 
 70. Write five sentences containing simple imperfecta 
 passive ; five, containing continuatives. 
 
 71. Write five sentences containing simple perfects in 
 the active voice ; five, containing continuatives. 
 
 72. Write five sentences containing simple perfects in 
 the passive voice. 
 
 73. Write five sentences containing simple pluperfects 
 active ; five, containing continuatives. 
 
 74. Write five sentences containing simple pluperfects 
 passive. 
 
 75. Write five sentences containing simple futures 
 active ; five, containing continuatives. 
 
 76. Write five sentences containing simple futures 
 passive. 
 
 77. Write five sentences containing simple future-per- 
 fects active ; five, containing continuatives. 
 
 78. Write five sentences containing simple future per- 
 fects passive. 
 
 79. Give the " principal parts " of as many " irregular 
 verbs as you can recall." 
 
 80. Illustrate the correct use of such complex presents 
 and pretorites as " I love," " I did love." 
 
 81. Give the "principal parts " of the following verbs : 
 
 Arise, Burst, 
 
 Bereave, Beseech, 
 
OTJTLINBS OF THE AET OP EXPRESSION. 105 
 
 Chide, 
 Cleave, 
 
 Lay, 
 Lie, 
 
 Climb, 
 
 Plead, 
 
 Crow, 
 
 Seethe, 
 
 Dare, 
 Drink, 
 
 Eat, 
 Freight, 
 
 Slay, 
 Speed, 
 Spin, 
 Shred, 
 
 Hang, 
 Hold, 
 
 SweU, 
 Thrive. 
 
 82. Give as many verbs as you can recall, which have 
 the same form for the present, imperfect, and the past 
 participle. 
 
 83. Illustrate the correct use of " shall" and " will " 
 to express simple futurity, in direct statement. 
 
 84. In direct question. 
 
 85. In indirect statement, or indirect question. 
 
 86. Give examples of the different forms of the " de- 
 clarative " mood which are possible — using " is " or "is 
 not " as the copula. 
 
 87. Give five examples of the use of the " contingent " 
 mood to, express " pure contingency." 
 
 88. Five "optatives." 
 
 89. Five " concessives." 
 
 90. Write five sentences containing verbs in the 
 " necessary " mood. 
 
 91. Give as many different forms of the "imperative 
 mood" as you can recall. 
 
 92. Give three sentences in which " if" is properly 
 followed by a " declarative " form of the verb. 
 
 93. Three, in which "if" is properly followed by a 
 " contingent " form of the verb. 
 
 94. Write sentences introducing each of the different 
 forms of the " infinitive." 
 
 95. Give three sentences in which the unchanged form 
 of the verb is used to express contingency. 
 
 96. Three sentences in which a past tense of the indica- 
 tive is used to express contingency. 
 
 97. Illustrate the correct use of the auxiliaries " may," 
 "might," "can," "could," "would," "should," to 
 express contingency. 
 
 98. Illustrate the correct use of the verb when it ha* 
 subjects of different persons and numbers. 
 
106 OTJTLIlSrES OP THE ART OF EXPEESSIOK. 
 
 99. Give five sentences illustrating tlie correct employ- 
 ment of a singular verb with a collective noun. 
 
 100. Five, illustrating the correct employment of a 
 plural verb with a collective noun. 
 
 101. Give sentences in which a compound, or even a 
 plural, subject properly takes a singular verb. 
 
 102. Illustrate, in writing, the different circumstances 
 in which "a" and " an " are to be used. 
 
 103. Give five sentences illustrating the generic use of 
 the English definite article. 
 
 104. Give five sentences which introduce adjectives 
 used definitively. 
 
 105. Five sentences which introduce adjectives used as 
 epithets. 
 
 106. Write three sentences containing " definite " de- 
 monstratives ; three, containing "indefinites;" three, 
 containing "ordinals." 
 
 107. Write three sentences containing " definite " 
 numerals ; three, containing " indefinites ; " three, con- 
 taining "semi-definites." 
 
 108. Give as many adjectives as you can recall, which 
 are compared irregularly. 
 
 109. Give as many adjectives as you can recall, which 
 do not admit of comparison. 
 
 110. Write five sentences which introduce an adjective 
 in the comparative degree. 
 
 111. Five sentences, which introduce an adjective in the 
 superlative degree. 
 
 112. Five sentences, in which the subject is modified by 
 a noun in the possessive case. 
 
 113. Five sentences, in which the subject is. modified by 
 an adjunct. 
 
 114. Five sentences, in which the subject is modified by 
 a noun in apposition. 
 
 115. Illustrate the different ways of modifying an a6- 
 stract predicate. 
 
 116. Illustrate the different ways of modifying a con- 
 crete predicate. 
 
 117. Write five sentences introducing adverbs of 
 quality. 
 
 118. Five, introducing adverbs of quantitj\ 
 
 119. Five, introducing adverbs of relation. 
 
 120. Write sentences illustrating the use of " modals." 
 
 121. Illustrate the different ways of modifying an active 
 «erb. 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ABT OF EXPEBSSIOK. 107 
 
 122. A passive verb. 
 
 123. A neuter verb. 
 
 124. Write sentences introducing as many different 
 verbs as you can recall that take two objectives. 
 
 125. Write as many sentences as you can, introducing 
 an objective which indicates weight, time, pleasure or 
 degree. 
 
 126. Write as many sentences as you can, introducing 
 an active, or a passive, verb modified by an infinitive. 
 
 127. Write six sentences illustrating the use of the 
 interjection. 
 
 128. Write three simple sentences in the first of which 
 the subject, in the second of which the copula, in the 
 third of which the predicate, is variously modified and sub- 
 modified. 
 
 129. Write three simple sentences illustrating the use 
 of a compound subject, a compound predicate, a com- 
 pound copula. 
 
 130. Write sentences illustrating the use of as many 
 different compound modifiers as occur to you. 
 
 131. Write three compound sentences the members of 
 which are connected by a relative. 
 
 132. Write compound sentences introducing copulative, 
 disjunctive and adversative conjunctions. 
 
 133. Write compound sentences introducing inferential, 
 comparative and conditional conjunctions. 
 
 134. Write three sentences which introduce a clausal 
 conjunction ; two, which introduce a final conjunction. 
 
 135. Write sentences introducing the following con-ela- 
 tives : 
 
 When . . . then. 
 Where . . . there. 
 Whither . . . thither. 
 As . . . so. 
 So . . . as. 
 The . . . the. 
 So . . . that. 
 If . : . then 
 Though . . . yet. 
 
 136. Give five illustrations of complex sentences in 
 which the complicating clause takes the place of an ele- 
 ment or modifier, 
 
 137. Five, in which the complicating clause is paren- 
 thetic. 
 
108 OUTLINES OP THE ABT OE EXPEESSION. 
 
 138. Bring in as many illustrations of Barbarism aa 
 you can find.^ 
 
 139. Give aS many illustrations as you can find, or 
 recall, of the first kind of Solecism. 
 
 140. Bring in as many illustrations as you can find of 
 Impropriety. 
 
 141. Bring in as many examples as you can find of 
 Redundancy and Tautology — carefully discriminating 
 between the two. 
 
 142. Bring in as many examples as you can find of 
 Deficiency. 
 
 143. Bring in as many illustrations as you can find of 
 figures of speech which tend to promote clearness — 
 selecting them, in part from the sections of this book 
 which are devoted to Figurative Language. 
 
 144. Bring in as many illustrations as you can find of 
 figures of speech which tend to promote vividness, or 
 pioturesqueness . 
 
 145. Bring in as many similes as possible, which you 
 regard as particularly fine. 
 
 146. Bring in as many metaphors as possible, which 
 you regard as particularly fine.* 
 
 147. Give an original ULustration of Simile and Meta- 
 phor. 
 
 148. Give an original illustration of Metonymy, Synec- 
 doche and Personification. 
 
 149. Bring in as many good illustrations as you can 
 find of Metonymy, Synecdoche, Personification. 
 
 150. Bring in as many illustrations as you can find of 
 Figurative Language which is particularly bad — naming 
 the figure and stating wherein it is defective. 
 
 151 . Fill up the gaps in the following sentences with 
 the verb which is sanctioned by the best usage ; — 
 
 1 The student should never, in exercises of this kind, be re- 
 quired to construct defective senteuces. He will make blunders 
 eL ough without being taught to do so. 
 
 " Of course, the teacher must see that no illustration which is 
 -adically defective, or in violation of the canons of good taste, 
 passes mustei. 
 
OUTLINES OF THE ART OE EXPEESSION. 109 
 
 He means to detect the thief. 
 
 He measures " " " " 
 
 He an oath of fealty. 
 
 He the side of virtue. 
 
 He me no malice. 
 
 He an honorable course. 
 
 He an honorable warfare. 
 
 She a great sensation. 
 
 This may for a warning. 
 
 152. Supply the appropriate prepositions in the follow- 
 ing sentences : — 
 
 We value ourselves this. 
 
 This matter fell their cognizance. 
 
 If poesy can prevail force, etc. 
 
 He prevailed me to go. 
 
 He differed me the matter. 
 
 This differs that. 
 
 He conferred me about conferring the oflSce 
 
 you. 
 
 He reduced them a state of fear and brought them 
 
 subjection. 
 
 153. Supply the appropriate prepositions in the follow- 
 ing sentences : — 
 
 Boast not to morrow. 
 
 Call me, this evening. 
 
 Call me if you need help. 
 
 I am averse doing it. 
 
 They will be useful testing one's progress. 
 
 It is conformable my desire. 
 
 It was compliance my request. 
 
 It was derogatory his dignity. 
 
 It is foreign my purpose. 
 
 He is recreant his principles. 
 
 He was expert this game. 
 
 I was disappointed the office which he secured and 
 
 which he is disappointed. 
 
 It has been the author's intention that individual mem- 
 bers of the class should attempt to give the examples 
 thus far required — the entire class sharing only in the 
 work of criticism. The exercises that follow are de- 
 signed, not for the individual student, but for the entire 
 iO 
 
110 OTJTLINBS OF THE ABT OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 class ; and those exercises are deemed by the author, of 
 the utmost practical importance. The work indicated has 
 been done in the author's class-room over and over again ; 
 and has always been done promptly, easily, well — and, 
 at the same time, with a degree of interest that no other 
 class-room exercise creates. In order to excite the 
 liveliest interest, and, at the same time, secure the besfi 
 practical results, it is desirable that neither teacher nor 
 pupils bring to the work any special preparation. 
 
 154. Give a practical illustration of the rules which 
 should determine the choice of a subject for composition 
 — testing such subjects as may occur to you till a suitable 
 one is found.^ 
 
 165. Examine your subject with reference to the spe- 
 cific views of it which may be taken and decide which 
 view you wish to take — that is , fix upon a " proposition ' ' 
 which you wish to establish, illustrate or explain. 
 
 156. Write down the various answers to the question: 
 "How shall I support my proposition?" which may 
 occur to you, without stopping to test their significance, 
 combine them, or arrange them. 
 
 1 To illustrate: one of the author's classes suggested the follow- 
 ing subjects, passing upon them the criticisms indicated and final- 
 ly deciding to make a plan on " College Athletics." 
 
 Theme. Its merits or defects. 
 
 " <5r.i.infr " 5 Eeal, 3, Unit, too broad, not well adapted 
 
 "That Spring is f An improvement on the first in that it is not 
 pleasanter ttiau Sum- i too broad ; but still poorly adapted and 
 mer." ( stale. 
 
 " The Authorship of j Real, a unit, sufficiently fresh ; but too 
 Shakspere's Plays." ( broad and not well adapted to the class. 
 " Libertv " i ^^^^ ' '"^' defective in every other particu- 
 
 " John Brown." < Stale and devoid of present interest. 
 
 "The present Condi- ( Real and fresh; but too broad, deficient in 
 tion of Europe." ( unity [?], and too difficult. 
 
 " Treasurer Spin- ( Real, a unit, not too broad, well adapted to 
 ner." ( the class ; but devoid of interest. 
 
 " The Canal R nff " i I^e^,!, a unit, but too broad, not well adapt- 
 ^ s- -J g,j tQ the class, stale and uninteresting. 
 
 ,,Tx . ,, I Met all the requirements of a theme; but 
 
 Jiazmg. ^ ^jjg ^.jg^gg jjjij ^^^ gj^^g ^g ^^-^^ j^_ 
 
 » College Athletics." ■( '' AH right." 
 
OUTLINES OF THE AKT OF EXPEESSIOK. Ill 
 
 157. Carefully revise the points that you have noted 
 down and throw out any which are untrue or not 
 especially significant. Some that are fess significant 
 may be ultimately useful for an introduction or a con- 
 clusion. 
 
 168. Combine any of the points retained which overlap 
 each other.' See if any of the points can be grouped 
 under some more general head. 
 
 159. If the points retained divide themselves into con- 
 siderations for and against the view of your subject which 
 you had intended to take, decide, definitely, which side 
 you propose to maintain. 
 
 160. Re-arrange the considerations in favor of the view 
 which you propose to maintain, so that they may be pre- 
 sented in the most natural, and effective order. If there 
 are considerations against the view which you propose to 
 maintain decide what to do with them. These now con- 
 stitute so many " objectioils " which j'ou wOl have to 
 meet if you discuss your theme in all its aspects. Is it 
 necessary to do so ? If so, decide how and when to meet 
 these objections. 
 
 161. Decide upon a suitable conclusion for your essay. 
 
 162. Decide upon a suitable introduction for your 
 essay. 
 
 163. Make careful search for any facts or illustrations 
 that may be useful in amplification of the points that 
 you propose to make. 
 
 164. Select a suitable title for your essay. 
 
 165. Write your essay — adhering closely to the plan 
 developed in the class-room.^ 
 
 1 The following plan was developed In the class-room by tho 
 process indicated above. 
 
 THE BENEFITS OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Introduction. — Rude systems of telegraphy perfected by Amer- 
 ican enterprise and ingenuity. Benefits of the invention taken for 
 granted through a vague notion that there is some magic virtue in 
 *' annihilating time and space." 
 
 Objections. — There are obvious objections to the electric tele- 
 graph. 1. It keeps the world in a state of feverish excitement. 
 2. It is an instrument of linguistic and moral corruption. 3. It 
 lends itself as readily to ignoble as to noble ends. 
 
 These objections are incidental — not essential. They hold 
 rather against the abuse of the telegraph than the telegraph Itself. 
 They are of little weight in comparison with the following : — 
 
112 
 
 OUTLINES OP THE ART OP EXPEESSION. 
 
 166. Upon review, give on the blackboard, in your own 
 language, an adequate discussion of each topic in the 
 entii-e treatise. 
 
 Considerations in favor of the Telegraph. 
 
 a. Wants of 
 
 1. It promotes intelligence. 
 
 2. It facilitates commerce. 
 
 communities made 
 known. 
 ■ b. State of markets made known, 
 c. Demand for material and labor 
 created. 
 
 Preventing accidents. 
 Allaying anxiety. 
 Arresting crime. 
 . Promoting national unity. 
 . Increasing international comity. 
 Averting, or intensifying, war. 
 Concl'jMon. — An invention in the interests of peace, humanity, 
 commei :e and intelligence is an invention in the interest of civili- 
 sation. 
 
 3. It alleviates distress. 
 
 4. It fosters peace. 
 
 (c. 
 
 fa.: 
 
 b. 
 
 (c. 
 
INDEX. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 * 
 
 Accusative of specification, 65, 
 
 66. 
 Adjective, defined and classified, 
 
 69. 
 Adjective pronouns, 60. 
 Adjuncts, 41, 58. 
 Adverbs, 64. 
 Agglutinative stage of language, 
 
 18. 
 Analytic stage of language, 18. 
 "Are," origin of, 37. 
 Arrangement of sentence, 67. 
 Art of Expression, defined, 5. 
 Article, the definite, 59. 
 Article, the indefinite, 68. 
 Anxiliaries, discriminated, 54. 
 Auxiliaries, none in A.S., 38. 
 
 Barbarism, defined, 76. 
 "Be," origin of verb, 36. 
 " But," as a relative, 32. 
 
 Capitals, rules for, 11. 
 
 Case, dative in English, 26. 
 
 Case, nominative, 22. 
 
 Case, objective, 22, 65, 66. 
 
 Case, object of Grammatical, 17. 
 
 Case, possessive, 19. 
 
 Clauses, used as nouns, 24. 
 
 Clearness, dependent on use of 
 pronouns, 34. 
 
 Clearness, importance of, 88. 
 
 Collective nouns, defined, 12. 
 
 Collective nouns, construction of, 
 56. 
 
 Comparative sentences, construc- 
 tion of, 63. 
 
 Comparison, 61, 64. 
 
 Composition of an essay, hints 
 respecting, 85, 109. 
 
 Composition, praxis in, 100, 
 
 Compounds, imperfect, 70. 
 
 Conclusion, rules for, 88. 
 
 Concord, defined, 75. 
 
 Concord, offences against, 78. 
 
 Condition-words, 40. 
 
 Conjugations, regular and irreg- 
 ular, 44. 
 
 Conjunctions, 70. 
 
 Contingency, expression of, 62, 
 63. 
 
 Conversation, a help to composi- 
 tion, 86. 
 
 Copula, defined, 10. 
 
 Copula, force of, 36, 43. 
 
 Copula, how modified, 64. 
 
 Copula, often combined with 
 predicate, 10. 
 
 Correctness, essentials to Gram- 
 matical, 75. 
 
 Criticism, miscellaneous exam- 
 ples for, 91. 
 
 Dative, still recognized in Eng- 
 
 Ush, 26. 
 Deficiency, defined, 80. 
 Definitives, 33, 60. 
 Discussion, rules for, 87. 
 Dual, traces of in A. S., 13. 
 
 Epithets, 33, 60, 80. 
 
 Essay, how to write, 85, 109. 
 
 Expedients, Importance of Khe- 
 
 torical, 20. 
 Expression, art of discriminated, 
 
 6. 
 Expression, its relation to 
 
 thought, 6, 34. 
 Facility, fatal to excellence, 88. 
 Figurative Language, defined and 
 
 classified, 81. 
 
 Genders, recognized in EngUsh, 
 
 Ifl. 
 Gerund, relics of Anglo-Saxuu, 
 
 16. 
 Grammar, defined — its relation 
 
 to Ehetorio, 5. 
 Grammar, universal and particn 
 
 lar elements, 7, 8. 
 
 * Tlie references are to pages. 
 
 H5 
 
116 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 " Had rather," 54. 
 
 Identity, different degrees of, 38. 
 " I do love," "I did love," 46. 
 Illustrations, use of, 84, 89. 
 Imperative, not a mood, 51. 
 Impropriety, defined, 78. 
 Infinitive, not a mood, 53. 
 Infinitive, relation of to A. S., 23. 
 Inflections, their development 
 
 and decay, 18. 
 " In our midst," 21. 
 Interjections, 67. 
 Introduction, rules for, 87. 
 Inversion of sentences, when 
 
 permissible, 67. 
 Isolative stage of language, 18. 
 "It," excessive use or, 35. 
 " It is me," propriety of, 55. 
 " Its," origin of, 27. 
 
 Letter-writing, 100. 
 
 Linguistic change, stages of, 18. 
 
 " Lufian," inflection of, 45. 
 
 Mass-nouns, 12. 
 
 Material for composition, how 
 accumulated, 85. 
 
 Mechanical devices for expressing 
 thought, 6, 11. 
 
 Mechanical execution, import- 
 ance of, 90. 
 
 Metaphor, defined, 81. 
 
 Metaphors, mixed, 83. 
 
 "Methinks" and "methought," 
 26. 
 
 Metonymy, defined, 82. 
 
 Modals, 65. 
 
 Modifiers, 57. 
 
 Modifiers, arrangement of, 69. 
 
 Mood, defined and classified, 50. 
 
 Neuter-passives, 41. 
 Newspaper English, 77. 
 Nouns, abnormal, 22. 
 Nouns, defined and classified, 11. 
 Number, Grammatical, 13. 
 Number, verbal forms iot, 49. 
 Numerals, 61. 
 
 Objections, rules for meeting, 87. 
 Objective of specification, 66. 
 Objectives, verbs taking two, 65. 
 "One says," origin of expres- 
 sion, 29. 
 " Or," different senses of, 70. 
 
 Padding, 60, 80. 
 Paragraphing, rules for, 6. 
 parenthetic^ matter, how indi- 
 cated, 5. 
 
 Partloipials, 24. 
 
 Participle, termination br pres- 
 ent, 38. 
 
 Parts of speech variable, 32. 
 
 Personification, 82. 
 
 Person, verbal forms for, 49. 
 
 Plural of pronouns used for sin- 
 gular, 28. 
 
 Possessive case, origin of Eng- 
 lish, 19. 
 
 Possessive case, significance of, 
 21. 
 
 Possessives, weak and strong, 29. 
 
 Plurals, illustrated from A,S., 16 
 
 Plurals of foreign origin^ 16. 
 
 Plurals, rules for formmg Eng- 
 lish, 14. 
 
 Praxis in composition, 100. 
 
 Precision, defined, 75. 
 
 Predicate, defined, 11. 
 
 Predicate, discussed and classi- 
 fied, 39. 
 
 Predicate, how modified, 63. 
 
 Predicates, abnormal, 54. 
 
 Preterite, regular termination of, 
 46. 
 
 Pronouns, construction of, 34. 
 
 Pronouns, interrogative, 34. 
 
 Pronouns, personal, 25. 
 
 Pronouns, reflective, 30. 
 
 Pronouns, relative, 31. 
 
 Pronouns, uses of, 25. 
 
 Proposition, how determined, 87. 
 
 Propriety, defined, 75. 
 
 Propriety^ offences against^ 78. 
 
 Punctuation, hints respectmg, S. 
 
 Purity, defined, 75. 
 
 Purity, offences against, 76. 
 
 Qualitj^-words, 40. 
 Quotations, use of, 89. 
 
 Heading, essential to composi- 
 tion, 86. 
 
 Eedundanoy, defined, 79. 
 
 Eeflection, essential to composi- 
 tion, 86. 
 
 Eelatives, must refer unmistaka- 
 bly to antecedent, 34. 
 
 Eelatives, unusual, 32. 
 
 Eevision, importance of, 89. 
 
 Sentence, arrangement of simple, 
 
 67. 
 Sentence, elements in, 10, 36. 
 Sentence, simple, defined, 9. 
 Sentences, complex, origin and 
 
 nature of, 73. 
 Sentences, compound, 69, 74. 
 Sentences, construction of com- 
 
 potind, 71. 
 
rBTDBX. 
 
 117 
 
 "Shall" and "wiU," 48. 
 Simile, defined, 81. 
 Solecism, defined, 78. 
 Specification, objective of, 65, 66. 
 Style, defined and classified, 75. 
 Subject, choice of, 85, 110. 
 Subject, compound or plural with 
 
 singular verb, 56. 
 Subject, Grammatical, 10. 
 Subject, how modified, 57. 
 Subjunctive, no English, 51. 
 Sub-modifiers, 07. 
 Synecdoche, defined, 82. 
 
 Tautology, defined, 79. 
 
 Tense, defined and classified, 
 
 43. 
 Tense, present used for future, 
 
 38. 
 Tenses, only two English, 38, 44. 
 Tenses, selection of, 72. 
 
 "That," when employed as a 
 relative, 32. 
 
 Thought, elements Involved in, 9. 
 
 Thought, its relation to expres- 
 sion, 6, 34. 
 
 " To," omitted with infinitive, 23. 
 
 Usage, how determined, 76. 
 ITsage, the supreme law of 
 speech, 75. 
 
 Verb, construction of, 55. 
 Verb, defined and classified, 41. 
 Verb, how modified, 65. 
 Verbs, irregular, 47. 
 Voice, defined and classified, 42. 
 
 "Which," derivative force of, 31. 
 Words, introduction of new, 77. 
 Words, named according to their 
 office, 32. 
 
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