“The river had overflown its banks.” Overflown is the participle of the verb to fly, compounded with over. It should be “overflowed,” the participle of “overflow.”
“They that sin rebuke before all.” The pronoun, which should be the regimen of the verb rebuke, is here put in the nominative case. It should, therefore, be them. The natural order is, “rebuke them, that sin.”
“There are principles innate in man, which ever have, and ever will incline him to this offence.” If the ellipsis be supplied, the sentence will be found to be ungrammatical; thus “which ever have incline, and ever will incline.” It should be, “which ever have inclined, and ever will incline.”
“Nor is it easy to conceive that in substituting the manners of Persia to those of Rome, he was actuated by vanity.”—Gibbon. “Substitute to,” is a Latinism. It should be, “substitute for.”
“I had rather live in forty Irelands, than under the frequent disquiets of hearing, that you are out of order.”—Swift’s Letters. “You had better return home without delay.” In both these examples would is far preferable, thus, “I would rather live,” “you would better return,” or “you would do better to return.”
“That he had much rather be no king at all, than have heretics for his subjects.”—Watson’s Philip III. Here is involved the same error. It should be, “he would.”
“The nobility of England consisted only of one duke, four earls, one viscount, and twenty-nine barons, all the nobles of the Lancastrian party having been either killed in battles, or on scaffolds, or had fled into foreign parts.”—Henry’s History. This sentence is ungrammatical. The word nobles joined to the participle having must be regarded as put absolutely, and therefore to the verb had there is strictly no nominative. But, even were a nominative introduced, the structure of the sentence would be still highly objectionable, the two last clauses, “having been killed,” and “they had fled,” being utterly discordant one with the other. The primary idea to be expressed is the fewness of the nobility; this forms the subject of the principal clause. There are two reasons to be assigned for this fewness, their destruction and their flight; these form the subjects of the two subordinate clauses. Between these two, therefore, there should be the strictest congruity; and in this respect the sentence is faulty. It ought to proceed either thus, “The nobility of England consisted only of one duke, four earls, one viscount, and twenty-nine barons; for all the nobles of the Lancastrian party had either been killed in battles, or on scaffolds, or had fled into foreign parts;” or thus, “all the nobles having been killed, or having fled.” The latter is the preferable form.
“He neglected to profit of this occurrence.” This phraseology occurs frequently in Hume. “To profit of,” is a Gallicism; it ought to be, “to profit by this occurrence.”
“The people of England may congratulate to themselves, that the nature of our government and the clemency of our king, secure us.”—Dryden. “Congratulate to,” is a Latinism. The person congratulated should be in the objective case governed by the verb; the subject is preceded by the preposition on, as, “I congratulate you on your arrival.”