Note. This useful idiom enables us to adopt a kind of inverted order ([§ 5]), and thus to shift the emphasis. Contrast “That war was at hand was plain” with “It was plain that war was at hand.” In the former sentence, the noun clause is made prominent; in the latter, the adjective plain.
392. The following sentences, taken from distinguished authors of different periods, illustrate the usefulness of the noun clause in its various constructions.
- 1. That the king would ever again have received Becket into favor is not to be believed.—Southey.
- 2. That in education we should proceed from the simple to the complex is a truth which has always been to some extent acted on.—Spencer.
- 3. How great his reputation was, is proved by the embassies sent to him.—Coleridge.
- 4. It vexed old Hawkins that his counsel was not followed.—Fuller.
- 5. It became necessary, at last, that I should arouse both master and valet to the expediency of removing the treasure.—Poe.
- 6. There is no doubt that breeds may be made as different as species in many physiological characteristics.—Huxley.
- 7. The main definition you could give of old Marquis Mirabeau is, that he was of the pedant species.—Carlyle.
- 8. The fact seems to be that we have survived the tremendous explosion.—Brougham.
- 9. The question is, whether the feigned image of poesy, or the regular instruction of philosophy, have the more force in teaching.—Sidney.
- 10. I feared that some serious disaster had befallen my friend.—Poe.
- 11. I think with you that the most magnificent object under heaven is the great deep.—Cowper.
- 12. Aureolus soon discovered that the success of his artifices had only raised up a more determined adversary.—Gibbon.
- 13. Harold alleged that he was appointed by Edward.—Temple.
- 14. That we shall die, we know.—Shakspere.
- 15. Her Majesty has promised that the treaty shall be laid before her Parliament.—Swift.
- 16. Deerslayer proposed that they should circle the point in the canoe.—Cooper.
- 17. I remembered how soft was the hand of Sleep.—Landor.
- 18. I cannot see what objection can justly be made to the practice.—Reynolds.
- 19. No man knew what was to be expected from this strange tribunal.—Macaulay.
- 20. We may imagine with what sensations the stupefied Spaniards must have gazed on this horrid spectacle.—Prescott.
- 21. Observe how graciously Nature instructs her human children.—Coleridge.
- 22. My friend asked me if there would not be some danger in coming home late.—Addison.
- 23. A message came that the committee was sitting at Kensington Palace.—Thackeray.
- 24. Jeffreys had obtained of the king a promise that he would not pardon her.—Burnet.
- 25. The present age seems pretty well agreed in an opinion that the utmost scope and end of reading is amusement only.—Fielding.
- 26. He suddenly alarmed me by a startling question—whether I had seen the show of prize cattle that morning in Smithfield.—Lamb.
- 27. I am told that the Lancashire system is perfect.—Kingsley.
CHAPTER XI
THE MEANINGS OF SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
393. Subordinate clauses may be classified not only according to their use as parts of speech, but also, in quite a different way, in accordance with their various meanings. These distinctions in idea are of capital importance for the accurate and forcible expression of thought.
394. The variety of meanings which subordinate clauses may express is great, but most of these meanings come under the following heads:—(1) place or time, (2) cause, (3) concession, (4) purpose, (5) result, (6) condition, (7) comparison,[43] (8) indirect discourse, (9) indirect question.
The general meaning of the clause is usually indicated by the word which introduces it.
I. CLAUSES OF PLACE AND TIME
395. An adjective or an adverbial clause may express place or time.