The Grammar of English Grammars. Goold Brown
in my life."—Few Days in Athens, varied. "Singular, Vocative, o master; Plural, Vocative, o masters."—Bicknell's Gram., p. 30.
"I, i am he; o father! rise, behold
Thy son, with twenty winters now grown old!"—See Pope's Odyssey.
UNDER RULE XIII.—OF POETRY.
"Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,
lie in three words—health, peace, and competence;
but health consists with temperance alone,
and peace, O Virtue! peace is all thy own."
Pope's Essay on Man, a fine London Edition.
[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the last three lines of this example begin with small letters. But, according to Rule 18th, "Every line in poetry, except what is regarded as making but one verse with the preceding line, should begin with a capital." Therefore, the words, "Lie," "But," and "And," at the commencement of these lines, should severally begin with the capitals L, B, and A.]
"Observe the language well in all you write, and swerve not from it in your loftiest flight. The smoothest verse and the exactest sense displease us, if ill English give offence: a barbarous phrase no reader can approve; nor bombast, noise, or affectation love. In short, without pure language, what you write can never yield us profit or delight. Take time for thinking, never work in haste; and value not yourself for writing fast." See Dryden's Art of Poetry:—British Poets, Vol. iii, p. 74.
UNDER RULE XIV.—OF EXAMPLES.
"The word rather is very properly used to express a small degree or excess of a quality: as, 'she is rather profuse in her expenses.'"—Murray's Gram., p. 47.
[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the word she begins with a small letter. But, according to Rule 14th, "The first word of a full example, of a distinct speech, or of a direct quotation, should begin with a capital." Therefore, the word "She" should here begin with a capital S.]
"Neither imports not either; that is, not one nor the other: as, 'neither of my friends was there.'"—Murray's Gram., p. 56. "When we say, 'he is a tall man,' 'this is a fair day,' we make some reference to the ordinary size of men, and to different weather."—Ib., p. 47. "We more readily say, 'A million of men,' than 'a thousand of men.'"—Ib., p. 169. "So in the instances, 'two and two are four;' 'the fifth and sixth volumes will complete the set of books.'"—Ib., p. 124. "The adjective may frequently either precede or follow it [the verb]: as, 'the man is happy;' or, 'happy is the man:' 'The interview was delightful;' or, 'delightful was the interview.'"—Ib., p. 168. "If we say, 'he writes a pen,' 'they ran the river, 'the tower fell the Greeks,' 'Lambeth is Westminster-abbey,' [we speak absurdly;] and, it is evident, there is a vacancy which must be filled up by some connecting word: as thus, 'He writes with a pen;' 'they ran towards the river;' 'the tower fell upon the Greeks;' 'Lambeth is over against Westminster-abbey.'"—Ib., p. 118. "Let me repeat it;—he only is great, who has the habits of greatness."—Murray's Key, 241. "I say not unto thee, until seven times; but, until seventy times seven."—See Matt., xviii, 22.
"The Panther smil'd at this; and when, said she,
Were those first councils disallow'd by me?"—Dryden, p. 95.
UNDER RULE XV.—OF CHIEF WORDS.
"The supreme council of the nation is called the divan."—Balbi's Geog., p. 360.
[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the word divan begins with a small letter. But, according to Rule 15th, "Other words of particular importance, and such as denote the principal subjects treated of, may be distinguished by capitals." Therefore, "Divan" should here begin with a capital D.]
"The British parliament is composed of kings, lords, and commons."—Murray's Key, p. 184. "A popular orator in the House of Commons has a sort of patent for coining as many new terms as he pleases."—See Campbell's Rhet., p. 169; Murray's Gram., 364. "They may all be taken together, as one name; as, the house of commons."—Merchant's School Gram., p. 25. "Intrusted to persons in whom the parliament could confide."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 202. "For 'The Lords' house,' it were certainly better to say, 'The house of lords;' and, in stead of 'The commons' vote,' to say, 'The votes of the commons.'"—See ib., p. 177, 4th Amer. Ed.; also Priestley's Gram., p. 69. "The house of lords were so much influenced by these reasons."—Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 152; Priestley's Gram., 188. "Rhetoricians commonly divide them into two great classes; figures of words, and figures of thought. The former, figures of words, are commonly called tropes."—Blair's Rhet., p. 132. "Perhaps figures of imagination, and figures of passion, might be a more useful distribution."—Ib., p. 133. "Hitherto we have considered sentences, under the heads of perspicuity, unity, and strength."—Ib., p. 120.
"The word is then depos'd, and in this view,
You rule the scripture, not the scripture you."—Dryden, p. 95.
UNDER RULE XVI.—OF NEEDLESS CAPITALS.
"Be of good cheer: It is I; be not afraid."—ALGER: Matt., xiv, 27.
[FORMULE.—Not proper, because the word It begins with a capital I, for which there appears to be neither rule nor reason. But, according to Rule 16th, "Capitals are improper wherever there is not some special rule or reason for their use." Therefore, 'it' should here begin with a small letter, as Dr. Scott has it.]
"Between passion and lying, there is not a Finger's breadth."—Murray's Key, p. 240. "Can our Solicitude alter the course, or unravel the intricacy, of human events?"—Ib., p. 242. "The last edition was carefully compared with the Original M. S."—Ib., p. 239. "And the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews?"—ALGER: Matt., xxvii, 11. "Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame, that say, Aha, Aha!"—FRIENDS' BIBLE: Ps., lxx, 3. "Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame, that say unto me, Aha, aha!"—IB.: Ps., xl, 15. "What think ye of Christ? whose Son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in Spirit call him Lord?"—SCOTT: Matt., xxii, 42, 43. "Among all Things in the Universe, direct your Worship to the Greatest; And which is that? 'T is that Being which Manages and Governs all the Rest."—Meditations of M. Aurelius Antoninus, p. 76. "As for Modesty and Good Faith, Truth and Justice, they have left this wicked World and retired to Heaven: And now what is it that can keep you here?"—Ib., p. 81.
"If Pulse of Terse, a Nation's Temper shows,
In keen Iambics English Metre flows."—Brightland's Gram., p. 151.
PROMISCUOUS ERRORS RESPECTING CAPITALS.
LESSON I.—MIXED.
"Come, gentle spring, Ethereal mildness, come."—Gardiner's Music of Nature, p. 411.
[FORMULES.—1. Not proper, because the word spring begins with a small letter. But, according to Rule 10th, "The name of an object personified, when it conveys an idea strictly individual, should begin with a capital." Therefore "Spring" should here begin with a capital S.
2. Not proper again, because the word Ethereal begins with a capital E, for which there appears to be neither rule nor reason. But, according to Rule 16th. "Capitals are improper whenever there is not some special rule or reason for their use." Therefore, "ethereal" should here begin with a small letter.]
As, "He is the Cicero of his age; he is reading the lives of the Twelve Cæsars."—Murray's Gram., p. 36. "In the History of Henry the fourth, by father Daniel, we are surprized at not finding him the great man."—Priestley's Gram., p. 151. "In the history