English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Part 40

The sincere is always esteemed.

Not one of them are happy.

What avails the best sentiments, if people do not live suitably to them?

Disappointments sinks the heart of man; but the renewal of hope give consolation.

The variety of the productions of genius, like that of the operations of nature; are without limit.

A variety of blessings have been conferred upon us.

Thou cannot heal him, it is true, but thou may do something to relieve him.

In piety and virtue consist the happiness of man.

O thou, my voice inspire, Who touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire.

_Note_ 1. Will martial flames for ever fire thy mind, And never, never be to Heaven resigned?

He was a man whose inclinations led him to be corrupt, and had great abilities to manage the business.

_Note 2_. The crown of virtue is peace and honor.

His chief occupation and enjoyment were controversy.

RULE V.

When an address is made, the noun or p.r.o.noun addressed, is put in the nominative case _independent_; as, "_Plato_, thou reasonest well;" "Do, _Trim_, said my uncle Toby."

NOTE 1. A noun is independent, when it has no verb to agree with it.

2. Interjections require the objective case of a p.r.o.noun of the _first_ person after them, but the nominative of a noun or p.r.o.noun of the _second_ or _third_ person; as, "Ah! _me_; Oh! _thou_; O!

_virtue_."

RULE VI.

A noun or p.r.o.noun placed before a participle, and being independent of the rest of the sentence, is in the nominative case _absolute_; as, "_Shame being lost_; all virtue is lost;" "The _sun being risen_, we travelled on."

NOTE. Every nominative case, except the case absolute and independent, should belong to some verb expressed or understood; as, "To whom thus _Adam_;" that is, _spoke_.

FALSE SYNTAX.

Him Destroyed, Or won to what may work his utter loss, All this will follow soon.

_Note_.--Two substantives, when they come together, and do not signify the same thing, the former must be in the genitive case.

Virtue, however it may be neglected for a time, men are so const.i.tuted as ultimately to acknowledge and respect genuine merit.

RULE VII.

Two or more nouns, or nouns and p.r.o.nouns, signifying the same thing, are put, by apposition, in the same case; as, "_Paul_, the _apostle;_"

"_Joram_, the _king;_" "_Solomon_, the _son_ of David, _king_ of Israel, wrote many proverbs."

NOTE. A noun is sometimes put in apposition with a sentence; as, "The sheriff has just seized and sold his valuable library--_(which was) a misfortune_ that greatly depressed him."

FALSE SYNTAX.

We ought to love G.o.d, he who created and sustains all things.

The p.r.o.noun _he_ in this sentence, is improperly used in the nominative case. It is the object of the action of the transitive verb "love," and put by apposition with "G.o.d;" therefore it should be the objective case, _him_, according to Rule 7. (Repeat the Rule, and correct the following.)

I saw Juliet and her brother, they that you visited.

They slew Varus, he that was mentioned before.

It was John, him who preached repentance.

Adams and Jefferson, them who died on the fourth of July 1826, were both signers and the firm supporters of the Declaration of Independence.

Augustus the Roman emperor, him who succeeded Julius Cesar, is variously described by historians.

RULE VIII.

Two or more nouns, or nouns and p.r.o.nouns, in the _singular_ number, connected by copulative conjunctions, must have verbs, nouns, and p.r.o.nouns, agreeing with them in the _plural_; as, "Socrates _and_ Plato _were_ wise; _they_ were eminent _philosophers_."

NOTE 1. When _each_ or _every_ relates to two or more nominatives in the singular, although connected by a copulative, the verb must agree with each of them in the singular; as, "_Every_ leaf, _and every_ twig, _and every_ drop of water, _teems_ with life."

2. When the singular nominative of a complex sentence, has another noun joined to it with a preposition, it is customary to put the verb and p.r.o.noun agreeing with it in the singular; as, "Prosperity with humility, _renders its_ possessor truly amiable;" "The General, also, in conjunction with the officers, _has_ applied for redress."

FALSE SYNTAX.

Coffee and sugar grows in the West Indies: it is exported in large quant.i.ties.

Two singular nouns coupled together, form a plural idea. The verb _grow_ is improper, because it expresses the action of both its nominatives, "coffee and sugar," which two nominatives are connected by the copulative conjunction, _and_; therefore the verb should be plural, _grow_; and then it would agree with coffee _and_ sugar, according to Rule 8. (Repeat the Rule.) The p.r.o.noun _it_, as it represents both the nouns, "coffee and sugar," ought also to be plural, _they_, agreeably to Rule 8. The sentence should be written thus. "Coffee and sugar _grow_ in the West Indies: _they are_ exported in large quant.i.ties."

Time and tide waits for no man.

Patience and diligence, like faith, removes mountains.

Life and health is both uncertain.

Wisdom, virtue, happiness, dwells with the golden mediocrity.

The planetary system, boundless s.p.a.ce, and the immense ocean, affects the mind with sensations of astonishment.

What signifies the counsel and care of preceptors, when you think you have no need of a.s.sistance?

Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished.

Why is whiteness and coldness in snow?

Obey the commandment of thy father, and the law of thy mother; bind it continually upon thy heart.

Pride and vanity always render its possessor despicable in the eyes of the judicious.

There is error and discrepance in the schemes of the orthoepists, which shows the impossibility of carrying them into effect.