The Grammar of English Grammars Part 234

"My lord, you wrong my father; _neither is_ he, nor _am_ I, capable of harbouring a thought against your peace."--_Walpole cor._ "There was no division of acts; _there were_ no pauses, or _intervals, in the performance_; but the stage was continually full; occupied either by the actors, or _by_ the chorus."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Every word ending in _b, p_, or _f, is_ of this order, as also _are_ many _that end_ in _v_."--_Dr.

Murray cor._ "Proud as we are of human reason, nothing can be more absurd than _is_ the general system of human life and human knowledge."-- _Bolingbroke cor._ "By which the body of sin and death is done away, and we _are_ cleansed."--_Barclay_ cor. "And those were already converted, and regeneration _was_ begun in them."--_Id._ "For I am an old man, and my wife _is_ well _advanced_ in years."--_Bible cor._ "Who is my mother? or _who are_ my brethren?"--See _Matt._, xii, 48. "Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor _are_ the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering."-- _Bible cor._ "Information has been obtained, and some trials _have been_ made."--_Martineau cor._ "It is as obvious, and its causes _are_ more easily understood."--_Webster cor._ "All languages furnish examples of this kind, and the English _contains_ as many as any other."--_Priestley cor._ "The winters are long, and the cold _is_ intense."--_Morse cor._ "How have I hated instruction, and _how hath_ my heart despised reproof!"--_Prov.

cor._ "The vestals were abolished by Theodosius the Great, and the fire of Vesta _was_ extinguished."--_Lempriere cor._ "Riches beget pride; pride _begets_ impatience."--_Bullions cor._ "Grammar is not reasoning, any more than organization is thought, or letters _are_ sounds."--_Enclytica cor._ "Words are implements, and grammar _is_ a machine."--_Id._

UNDER NOTE III.--PLACE OF THE FIRST PERSON.

"_Thou or I_ must undertake the business."--_L. Murray cor._ "_He and I_ were there."--_Ash cor._ "And we dreamed a dream in one night, _he and I_."--_Bible cor._ "If my views remain the same as _his and mine_ were in 1833."--_Goodell cor._ "_My father and I_ were riding out."--_Inst., Key_, p. 273. "The premiums were given to _George and me_."--_Ib._ "_Jane and I_ are invited."--_Ib._ "They ought to invite _my sister and me_."--_Ib._ "_You and I_ intend to go."--_Guy cor._ "_John and I_ are going to town."--_Brit. Gram. cor._ "_He and I are_ sick."--_James Brown cor._ "_Thou and I_ are well."--_Id._ "_He and I are_."--_Id._ "_Thou and I are_."--_Id._ "_He, and I write_."--_Id._ "_They and I_ are well."--_Id._ "_She, and thou, and I_, were walking."--_Id._

UNDER NOTE IV.--DISTINCT SUBJECT PHRASES.

"To practise tale-bearing, or even to countenance it, _is_ great injustice."--_Inst., Key_, p. 273. "To reveal secrets, or to betray one's friends, _is_ contemptible perfidy."--_Id._ "To write all substantives with capital letters, or to exclude _capitals_ from adjectives derived from proper names, may perhaps be thought _an offence_ too small for animadversion; but the evil of innovation is always something."--_Dr.

Barrow cor._ "To live in such families, or to have such servants, _is a blessing_ from G.o.d."--_Fam. Com. cor._ "How they portioned out the country, what revolutions they experienced, _or_ what wars they maintained, _is_ utterly unknown." Or: "How they portioned out the country, what revolutions they experienced, _and_ what wars they maintained, _are things_ utterly unknown."--_Goldsmith cor._ "To speak or to write perspicuously and agreeably, _is an attainment_ of the utmost consequence to all who purpose, either by speech or _by_ writing, to address the public."--_Dr. Blair cor._

UNDER NOTE V.--MAKE THE VERBS AGREE.

"Doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and _go_ into the mountains, and _seek_ that which is gone astray?"--_Bible cor._ "Did he not fear the Lord, and _beseech_ the Lord, and _did not_ the Lord _repent_ of the evil which he had p.r.o.nounced?"--_Id._ "And dost thou open thine eyes upon such _a_ one, and _bring_ me into judgement with thee?"--_Id._ "If any man among you _seemeth_ to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain."--_Id._ "If thou sell aught unto thy neighbour, or _buy_ aught of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one an other."--_Id._ "And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee, _become_ poor, and be sold to thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond-servant."--_Id._ "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there _remember_ that thy brother hath aught against thee," &c.--_Id._ "Anthea was content to call a coach, and _so to cross_ the brook." Or:--"and _in that she crossed_ the brook."--_Johnson cor._ "It is either totally suppressed, or _manifested only_ in its lowest and most imperfect form."--_Blair cor._ "But if any man _is_ a wors.h.i.+per of G.o.d, and doeth his will, him he heareth." Or: "If any man _be_ a wors.h.i.+per of G.o.d, and _do_ his will, him _will_ he _hear_."--_Bible cor._ "Whereby his righteousness and obedience, death and sufferings without, become profitable unto us, and _are made_ ours."--_Barclay cor._ "Who ought to have been here before thee, and _to have objected_, if they had _any thing_ against me."--_Bible cor._

"Yes! thy proud lords, unpitied land, shall see, That man _has_ yet a soul, and _dares_ be free."--_Campbell cor._

UNDER NOTE VI.--USE SEPARATE NOMINATIVES.

"_H_ is only an aspiration, or breathing; and sometimes, at the beginning of a word, _it_ is not sounded at all."--_Lowth cor._ "Man was made for society, and _he_ ought to extend his good will to all men."--_Id._ "There is, and must be, a Supreme Being, of infinite goodness, power, and wisdom, who created, and _who_ supports them."--_Beattie cor._ "Were you not affrighted, and _did you not mistake_ a spirit for a body?"--_Bp. Watson cor._ "The latter noun or p.r.o.noun is not governed by the conjunction _than_ or _as_, but _it either_ agrees with the verb, or is governed by the verb or the preposition, expressed or understood."--_Mur. et al. cor._ "He had mistaken his true _interest_, and _he_ found himself forsaken."--_Murray cor._ "The amputation was exceedingly well performed, and _it_ saved the patient's life."--_Id._ "The intentions of some of these philosophers, nay, of many, might have been, and probably _they_ were, good."--_Id._ "This may be true, and yet _it_ will not justify the practice."--_Webster cor._ "From the practice of those who have had a liberal education, and _who_ are therefore presumed to be best acquainted with men and things."--_Campbell cor._ "For those energies and bounties which created, and _which_ preserve, the universe."--_J. Q. Adams cor._ "I shall make it once for all, and _I_ hope it will be remembered."--_Blair cor._ "This consequence is drawn too abruptly. _The argument_ needed more explanation." Or: "This consequence is drawn too abruptly, and _without sufficient_ explanation."--_Id._ "They must be used with more caution, and _they_ require more preparation."--_Id._ "The apostrophe denotes the omission of an _i_, which was formerly inserted, and _which_ made an addition of a syllable to the word."--_Priestley cor._ "The succession may be rendered more various or more uniform, but, in one shape or an other, _it_ is unavoidable."--_Kames cor._ "It excites neither terror nor compa.s.sion; nor is _it_ agreeable in any respect."--_Id._

"Cheap vulgar arts, whose narrowness affords No flight for thoughts,--_they_ poorly stick at words."--_Denham cor._

UNDER NOTE VII.--MIXTURE OF DIFFERENT STYLES.

"Let us read the living page, whose every character _delights_ and instructs us."--_Maunder cor._ "For if it _is_ in any degree obscure, it puzzles, and _does_ not please."--_Kames cor._ "When a speaker _addresses_ himself to the understanding, he proposes the instruction of his hearers."--_Campbell cor._ "As the wine which strengthens and _refreshes_ the heart."--_H. Adams cor._ "This truth he _wraps_ in an allegory, and feigns that one of the G.o.ddesses had taken up her abode with the other."--_Pope cor._ "G.o.d searcheth and _understandeth_ the heart." Or: "G.o.d _searches_ and _understands_ the heart."--_T. a. Kempis cor._ "The grace of G.o.d, that _bringeth_ salvation, hath appeared to all men."--_t.i.tus_, ii, 11. "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom _teacheth_, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth."--_1 Cor._, ii, 13. "But he _has_ an objection, which he _urges_, and by which he thinks to overturn all."--_Barclay cor._ "In that it gives them not that comfort and joy which it _gives to_ them who love it."--_Id._ "Thou here misunderstood the place and _misapplied_ it." Or: "Thou here _misunderstoodst_ the place and _misappliedst_ it."--_Id._ Or: (as many of our grammarians will have it:) "Thou here _misunderstoodest_ the place and _misappliedst_ it."--_Id._ "Like the barren heath in the desert, which knoweth not when good _cometh_."--See _Jer._, xvii, 6. "It _speaks_ of the time past, _and shows_ that something was then doing, but not quite finished."--_Devis cor._ "It subsists in spite of them; it _advances_ un.o.bserved."--_Pascal cor._

"But where is he, the pilgrim of my song?-- Methinks he _lingers_ late and tarries long."--_Byron cor._

UNDER NOTE VIII.--CONFUSION OF MOODS.

"If a man _have_ a hundred sheep, and one of them _go_ (or _be gone_) astray," &c.--_Matt._, xviii, 12. Or: "If a man _has_ a hundred sheep, and one of them _goes_ (or _is gone_) astray," &c. Or: "If a man _hath_ a hundred sheep, and one of them _goeth_ (or _is gone_) astray,"

&c.--_Kirkham cor._ "As a speaker _advances_ in his discourse, and _increases_ in energy and earnestness, a higher and a louder tone will naturally steal upon him."--_Id._ "If one man _esteem one_ day above an other, and an other _esteem_ every day alike; let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."--_Barclay cor._ See _Rom._, xiv, 5. "If there be but one body of legislators, it _will be_ no better than a tyranny; if there _be_ only two, there will want a casting voice."--_Addison cor._ "Should you come up this way, and I _be_ still here, you need not be a.s.sured how glad I _should_ be to see you."--_Byron cor._ "If he repent and _become_ holy, let him enjoy G.o.d and heaven."--_Brownson cor._ "If thy fellow approach thee, naked and dest.i.tute, and thou _say_ unto him, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' and yet _thou give_ him not those things _which_ are needful to him, what benevolence is there in thy conduct?"--_Kirkham cor._

"Get on your nightgown, lest occasion _call_ us, And _show_ us to be watchers."--_Singer's Shakspeare_.

"But if it _climb_, with your a.s.sisting _hand_, The Trojan walls, and in the city _stand_."--_Dryden cor._

----------------"Though Heaven's King _Ride_ on thy wings, and thou with thy compeers, Used to the yoke, _draw_ his triumphant wheels."--_Milton cor._

UNDER NOTE IX.--IMPROPER ELLIPSES.

"Indeed we have seriously wondered that Murray should leave some things as he has _left them_."--_Reporter cor._ "Which they neither have _done_ nor can do."--_Barclay cor._ "The Lord hath _revealed_, and doth and will reveal, his will to his people; and hath _raised up_, and doth raise up, members of his body," &c.--_Id._ "We see, then, that the Lord hath _given_, and doth give, such."--_Id._ "Towards those that have _declared_, or do declare, themselves members."--_Id._ "For which we can _give_, and have given, our sufficient reasons."--_Id._ "When we mention the several properties of the different words in sentences, as we have _mentioned_ those of _the word William's_ above, what is the exercise called?"--_R. C.

Smith cor._ "It is however to be doubted, whether this Greek idiom ever has _obtained_, or _ever_ will obtain, extensively, in English."--_Nutting cor._ "Why did not the Greeks and Romans abound in auxiliary words as much as we _do_?"--_Murray cor._ "Who delivers his sentiments in earnest, as they ought to be _delivered_ in order to move and persuade."--_Kirkham cor._

UNDER NOTE X.--DO, USED AS A SUBSt.i.tUTE.

"And I would avoid it altogether, if it could be _avoided_." Or: "I would avoid it altogether, if _to avoid_ it _were practicable_."--_Kames cor._ "Such a sentiment from a man expiring of his wounds, is truly heroic; and _it_ must elevate the mind to the greatest height _to which it can be raised_ by a single expression."--_Id._ "Successive images, _thus_ making deeper and deeper impressions, must elevate _the mind_ more than any single image can."--_Id._ "Besides making a deeper impression than can be _made_ by cool reasoning."--_Id._ "Yet a poet, by the force of genius alone, _may_ rise higher than a public speaker _can_." Or:--"than _can_ a public speaker."--_Blair cor._ "And the very same reason that has induced several grammarians to go so far as they have _gone_, should have induced them to go farther."--_Priestley cor._ "The pupil should commit the first section _to memory_ perfectly, before he _attempts_ (or _enters upon_) the second part of grammar."--_Bradley cor._ "The Greek _ch_ was p.r.o.nounced hard, as we now _p.r.o.nounce it_ in _chord_."--_Booth cor._ "They p.r.o.nounce the syllables in a different manner from what they _adopt_ (or, in a _manner different_ from _that which_ they _are accustomed to use_) at other times."--_L. Murray cor._ "And give him the _cool and formal_ reception that Simon had _given_."--_Scott cor._ "I do not say, as some have _said_."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "If he suppose the first, he _may_ the last."--_Barclay cor._ "Who are now despising Christ in his inward appearance, as the Jews of old _despised_ him in his outward [advent]."--_Id._ "That text of Revelations must not be understood as he _understands_ it."--_Id._ "Till the mode of parsing the noun is so familiar to him that he can _pa.r.s.e_ it readily."--_R. C. Smith cor._ "Perhaps it is running the same course _that_ Rome had _run_ before."--_Middleton cor._ "It ought even on this ground to be avoided; _and it_ easily _may be_, by a different construction."--_Churchill cor._ "These two languages are now p.r.o.nounced in England as no other nation in Europe _p.r.o.nounces them_."--_Creighton cor._ "Germany ran the same risk that Italy had _run_."--_Bolingbroke, Murray, et al., cor._

UNDER NOTE XI.--PRETERITS AND PARTICIPLES.

"The beggars themselves will be _broken_ in a trice."--_Swift cor._ "The hoop is _hoisted_ above his nose."--_Id._ "And _his_ heart was _lifted_ up in the ways of the Lord."--_2 Chron._, xvii, 6. "Who sin so oft have mourned, Yet to temptation _run_."--_Burns cor._ "Who would not have let them _appear_."--_Steele cor._ "He would have had you _seek_ for ease at the hands of Mr. Legality."--_Bunyan cor._ "From me his madding mind is _turned: He woos_ the widow's daughter, of the glen."--_Spenser cor._ "The man has _spoken_, and _he_ still speaks."--_Ash cor._ "For you have but _mistaken_ me all this while."--_Shak. cor._ "And will you _rend_ our ancient love asunder?"--_Id._ "Mr. Birney has _pled_ (or _pleaded_) the inexpediency of pa.s.sing such resolutions."--_Liberator cor._ "Who have _worn_ out their years in such most painful labours."--_Littleton cor._ "And in the conclusion you were _chosen_ probationer."--_Spectator cor._

"How she was lost, _ta'en_ captive, made a slave; And how against him set that should her save."--_Bunyan cor._

UNDER NOTE XII.--OF VERBS CONFOUNDED.

"But Moses preferred to _while_ away his time."--_Parker cor._ "His face shone with the rays of the sun."--_John Allen cor._ "Whom they had _set_ at defiance so lately."--_Bolingbroke cor._ "And when he _had sat down_, his disciples came unto him."--_Bible cor._ "When he _had sat down_ on the judgement-seat." Or: "_While_ he _was sitting_ on the judgement-seat."-- _Id._ "And, _they having kindled_ a fire in the midst of the hall and _sat_ down together, Peter sat down among them."--_Id._ "So, after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and _had sat_ down again,[or, literally,'_sitting down again_,'] he said _to_ them, _Do_ ye _know_ what I have done to you?"--_Id._ "Even as I also overcame, and _sat_ down with my Father in his throne."--_Id._ Or: (rather less literally:) "Even as I _have overcome_, and _am sitting_ with my Father _on_ his throne."--_Id._ "We have such a high priest, who _sitteth_ on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens."--_Id._ "And _is now sitting_ at the right hand of the throne of G.o.d."--_Id._ "He _set_ on foot a furious persecution."-- _Payne cor._ "There _lieth_ (or _lies_) an obligation upon the saints to help such."--_Barclay cor._ "There let him _lie_."--_Byron cor._ "Nothing but moss, and shrubs, and _stunted_ trees, can grow upon it."--_Morse cor._ "Who had _laid_ out considerable sums purely to distinguish themselves."-- _Goldsmith cor._ "Whereunto the righteous _flee_ and are safe."--_Barclay cor._ "He _rose_ from supper, and laid aside his garments."--_Id._ "Whither--_oh!_ whither--shall I _flee_?"--_L. Murray cor._ "_Fleeing_ from an adopted murderer."--_Id._ "To you I _flee_ for refuge."--_Id._ "The sign that should warn his disciples to _flee_ from _the_ approaching ruin."-- _Keith cor._ "In one she _sits_ as a prototype for exact imitation."--_Rush cor._ "In which some only bleat, bark, mew, _whinny_, and bray, a little better than others."--_Id._ "Who represented to him the unreasonableness of being _affected_ with such unmanly fears."--_Rollin cor._ "Thou _sawest_ every action." Or, familiarly: "Thou _saw_ every action."--_Guy cor._ "I taught, thou _taughtest_, or _taught_, he or she taught."--_Coar cor._ "Valerian was taken by Sapor and _flayed_ alive, A. D. 260."--_Lempriere cor._ "What a fine vehicle _has_ it now become, for all conceptions of the mind!"--_Blair cor._ "What _has_ become of so many productions?"--_Volney cor._ "What _has_ become of those ages of abundance and of life?"--_Keith cor._ "The Spartan admiral _had_ sailed to the h.e.l.lespont."--_Goldsmith cor._ "As soon as he _landed_, the mult.i.tude thronged about him."--_Id._ "Cyrus _had_ arrived at Sardis."--_Id._ "Whose year _had_ expired."--_Id._ "It _might_ better have been, 'that faction which,'" Or; "'That faction which,' _would_ have been better."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 157. "This people _has_ become a great nation."--_Murray and Ingersoll cor._ "And here we _enter_ the region of ornament."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The ungraceful parenthesis which follows, _might_ far better have been avoided." "Who forced him under water, and there held him until _he was drowned_."--_Hist.

cor._

"I _would_ much rather be myself the slave, And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him."--_Cowper cor._

UNDER NOTE XIII.--WORDS THAT EXPRESS TIME.

"I _finished_ my letter _before_ my brother arrived." Or: "I _had finished_ my letter _when_ my brother arrived."--_Kirkham cor._ "I _wrote_ before I received his letter."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "From what _was formerly_ delivered."--_Id._ "Arts _were at length_ introduced among them." Or: "Arts _have been of late_ introduced among them."--_Id._ [But the latter reading suits not the Doctor's context.] "I am not of opinion that such rules _can be_ of much use, unless persons _see_ them exemplified." Or:--"_could be_,"

and "_saw_."--_Id._ "If we _use_ the noun itself, we _say_, (or _must say_,) 'This composition is John's.'" Or: "If we _used_ the noun itself, we _should say_," &c.--_L. Murray cor._ "But if the a.s.sertion _refer_ to something that _was transient_, or _to something that is not_ supposed to be _always the same_, the past tense must be preferred:" [as,] "They told him that Jesus of Nazareth _was pa.s.sing_ by."--_Luke and L. Murray cor._ "There is no particular intimation but that I _have continued_ to work, even to the present moment."--_R. W. Green cor._ "Generally, as _has been_ observed already, it is but hinted in a single word or phrase."--_Campbell cor._ "The wittiness of the pa.s.sage _has been_ already ill.u.s.trated."--_Id._ "As was observed _before_."--_Id._ Or: "As _has been_ observed _already_"--_Id._ "It _has been_ said already in general _terms_."--_Id._ "As I hinted _before_."--_Id._ Or: "As I _have hinted already_."--_Id._ "What, I believe, was hinted once _before_."--_Id._ "It is obvious, as _was_ hinted formerly, that this is but an artificial and arbitrary connexion."--_Id._ "They _did_ anciently a great deal of hurt."-- _Bolingbroke cor._ "Then said Paul, I knew not, brethren, that he _was_ the high priest."--See _Acts_, xxiii, 5; _Webster cor._ "Most prepositions originally _denoted_ the _relations_ of place; and _from these_ they _were_ transferred, to denote, by similitude, other relations."--_Lowth and Churchill cor._ "His gift was but a poor offering, _in comparison with_ his _great_ estate."--_L. Murray cor._ "If he should succeed, and obtain his end, he _would_ not be the happier for it." Or, better: "If he _succeed_, and _fully attain_ his end, he will not be the happier for it."--_Id._ "These are torrents that swell to-day, and _that will_ have spent themselves by to-morrow."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "Who have called that wheat _on one day_, which they have called tares _on the next_."--_Barclay cor._ "He thought it _was_ one of his tenants."--_Id._ "But if one went unto them from the dead, they _would_ repent."--_Bible cor._ "Neither _would_ they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."--_Id._ "But it is while men _sleep_, that the arch-enemy always _sows_ his tares."--_The Friend cor._ "Crescens would not _have failed_ to _expose_ him."--_Addison cor._

"Bent _is_ his bow, the Grecian hearts to wound; Fierce as he _moves_, his silver shafts resound."--_Pope cor._

UNDER NOTE XIV.--VERBS OF COMMANDING, &C.

"Had I commanded you to _do_ this, you would have thought hard of it."--_G.

B_. "I found him better than I expected to _find_ him."--_L Murray's Gram._, i, 187. "There are several smaller faults which I at first intended to _enumerate_."--_Webster cor._ "Ant.i.thesis, therefore, may, on many occasions, be employed to advantage, in order to strengthen the impression which we intend that any object _shall_ make."--_Dr. Blair cor._ "The girl said, if her master would but have let her _have_ money, she might have been well long ago."--_Priestley et al. cor._ "Nor is there the least ground to fear that we _shall here_ be cramped within too narrow limits."--_Campbell cor._ "The Romans, flushed with success, expected to _retake_ it."--_Hooke cor._ "I would not have let _fall_ an unseasonable pleasantry in the venerable presence of Misery, to be ent.i.tled to all the wit that ever Rabelais scattered."--_Sterne cor._ "We expected that he _would arrive_ last night."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 282. "Our friends intended to _meet_ us."--_Ib._ "We hoped to _see_ you."--_Ib._ "He would not have been allowed to _enter_."--_Ib._

UNDER NOTE XV.--PERMANENT PROPOSITIONS.

"Cicero maintained, that whatsoever _is_ useful _is_ good."--_G. B_. "I observed that love _const.i.tutes_ the whole moral character of G.o.d."--_Dwight cor._ "Thinking that one _gains_ nothing by being a good man."--_Voltaire cor._ "I have already told you, that I _am_ a gentleman."--_Fontaine cor._ "If I should ask, whether ice and water _are_ two distinct species of things."--_Locke cor._ "A stranger to the poem would not easily discover that this _is_ verse."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, i, 260. "The doctor affirmed that fever always _produces_ thirst."--_Brown's Inst._, p. 282. "The ancients a.s.serted, that virtue _is_ its own reward."--_Ib._ "They should not have repeated the error, of insisting that the infinitive _is_ a mere noun."--_Tooke cor._ "It was observed in Chap.

III, that the distinctive OR _has_ a double use."--_Churchill cor._ "Two young gentlemen, who have made a discovery that there _is_ no G.o.d."--_Campbell's Rhet._, p. 206.

CORRECTIONS UNDER RULE XVIII; INFINITIVES.

INSTANCES DEMANDING THE PARTICLE TO.

"William, please _to_ hand me that pencil."--_Smith cor._ "Please _to_ insert points so as to make sense."--_P. Davis cor._ "I have known lords _to_ abbreviate almost half of their words."--_Cobbett cor._ "We shall find the practice perfectly _to_ accord with the theory."--_Knight cor._ "But it would tend to obscure, rather than _to_ elucidate, the subject."--_L.