LESSON XVI.—THREE ERRORS.
"On many occasions, it is the final pause alone, that marks the difference between prose and verse: this will be evident from the following arrangement of a few poetical lines."—L. Murray cor. "I shall do all I can to persuade others to take for their cure the same measures that I have taken for mine."—Guardian cor.; also Murray. "It is the nature of extreme self-lovers, that they will set a house on fire, as it were, but to roast their eggs."—Bacon cor. "Did ever man struggle more earnestly in a cause in which both his honour and his life were concerned?"—Duncan cor. "So the rests, or pauses, which separate sentences or their parts, are marked by points."—Lowth cor. "Yet the case and mood are not influenced by them, but are determined by the nature of the sentence."—Id. "Through inattention to this rule, many errors have been committed: several of which are here subjoined, as a further caution and direction to the learner."—L. Murray cor. "Though thou clothe thyself with crimson, though thou deck thee with ornaments of gold, though thou polish thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair." [552]—Bible cor. "But that the doing of good to others, will make us happy, is not so evident; the feeding of the hungry, for example, or the clothing of the naked." Or: "But that, to do good to others, will make us happy, is not so evident; to feed the hungry, for example, or to clothe the naked."—Kames cor. "There is no other God than he, no other light than his." Or: "There is no God but he, no light but his."—Penn cor. "How little reason is there to wonder, that a powerful and accomplished orator should be one of the characters that are most rarely found."—Dr. Blair cor. "Because they express neither the doing nor the receiving of an action."—Inf. S. Gram. cor. "To find the answers, will require an effort of mind; and, when right answers are given, they will be the result of reflection, and show that the subject is understood."—Id. "'The sun rises,' is an expression trite and common; but the same idea becomes a magnificent image, when expressed in the language of Mr. Thomson."—Dr. Blair cor. "The declining of a word is the giving of its different endings." Or: "To decline a word, is to give it different endings."—Ware cor. "And so much are they for allowing every one to follow his own mind."—Barclay cor. "More than one overture for peace were made, but Cleon prevented them from taking effect."—Goldsmith cor. "Neither in English, nor in any other language, is this word, or that which corresponds to it in meaning, any more an article, than TWO, THREE, or FOUR."—Webster cor. "But the most irksome conversation of all that I have met with in the neighbourhood, has been with two or three of your travellers."—Spect. cor. "Set down the first two terms of the supposition, one under the other, in the first place."—Smiley cor. "It is a useful practice too, to fix one's eye on some of the most distant persons in the assembly."—Dr. Blair cor. "He will generally please his hearers most, when to please them is not his sole or his chief aim."—Id. "At length, the consuls return to the camp, and inform the soldiers, that they could obtain for them no other terms than those of surrendering their arms and passing under the yoke."—Id. "Nor are mankind so much to blame, in their choice thus determining them."—Swift cor. "These forms are what are called the Numbers." Or: "These forms are called Numbers."—Fosdick cor. "In those languages which admit but two genders, all nouns are either masculine or feminine, even though they designate beings that are neither male nor female."—Id. "It is called Verb or Word by way of eminence, because it is the most essential word in a sentence, and one without which the other parts of speech cannot form any complete sense."—Gould cor. "The sentence will consist of two members, and these will commonly be separated from each other by a comma."—Jamieson cor. "Loud and soft in speaking are like the fortè and piano in music; they only refer to the different degrees of force used in the same key: whereas high and low imply a change of key."—Sheridan cor. "They are chiefly three: the acquisition of knowledge; the assisting of the memory to treasure up this knowledge; and the communicating of it to others."—Id.
"This kind of knaves I know, who in this plainness Harbour more craft, and hide corrupter ends, Than twenty silly ducking observants."—Shak. cor.
LESSON XVII.—MANY ERRORS.
"A man will be forgiven, even for great errors, committed in a foreign language; but, in the use he makes of his own, even the least slips are justly pointed out and ridiculed."—Amer. Chesterfield cor. "LET expresses not only permission, but entreaty, exhortation, and command."—Lowth cor.; also Murray, et al. "That death which is our leaving of this world, is nothing else than the putting-off of these bodies."—Sherlock cor. "They differ from the saints recorded in either the Old or the New Testament."—Newton cor. "The nature of relation, therefore, consists in the referring or comparing of two things to each other; from which comparison, one or both come to be denominated."—Locke cor. "It is not credible, that there is any one who will say, that through the whole course of his life he has kept himself entirely undefiled, without the least spot or stain of sin."—Witsius cor. "If to act conformably to the will of our Creator,—if to promote the welfare of mankind around us,—if to secure our own happiness, is an object of the highest moment; then are we loudly called upon to cultivate and extend the great interests of religion and virtue." Or: "If, to act conformably to the will of our Creator, to promote the welfare of mankind around us, and to secure our own happiness, are objects of the highest moment; then," &c.—Murray et al. cor. "The verb being in the plural number, it is supposed, that the officer and his guard are joint agents. But this is not the case: the only nominative to the verb is 'officer.' In the expression, 'with his guard,' the noun 'guard' is in the objective case, being governed by the preposition with; and consequently it cannot form the nominative, or any part of it. The prominent subject for the agreement, the true nominative to the verb, or the term to which the verb peculiarly refers, is the word 'officer.'"—L. Murray cor. "This is an other use, that, in my opinion, contributes to make a man learned rather than wise; and is incapable of pleasing either the understanding or the imagination."—Addison cor. "The work is a dull performance; and is incapable of pleasing either the understanding or the imagination."—L. Murray cor. "I would recommend the 'Elements of English Grammar,' by Mr. Frost. The plan of this little work is similar to that of Mr. L. Murray's smallest Grammar; but, in order to meet the understanding of children, its definitions and language are simplified, so far as the nature of the subject will admit. It also embraces more examples for Parsing, than are usual in elementary treatises."—S. R. Hall cor. "More rain falls in the first two summer months, than in the first two months of winter; but what falls, makes a much greater show upon the earth, in winter than in summer, because there is a much slower evaporation."—L. Murray cor. "They often contribute also to render some persons prosperous, though wicked; and, what is still worse, to reward some actions, though vicious; and punish other actions, though virtuous."—Bp. Butler cor. "Hence, to such a man, arise naturally a secret satisfaction, a sense of security, and an implicit hope of somewhat further."—Id. "So much for the third and last cause of illusion, that was noticed above; which arises from the abuse of very general and abstract terms; and which is the principal source of the abundant nonsense that has been vented by metaphysicians, mystagogues, and theologians."—Campbell cor. "As to those animals which are less common, or which, on account of the places they inhabit, fall less under our observation, as fishes and birds, or which their diminutive size removes still further from our observation, we generally, in English, employ a single noun to designate both genders, the masculine and the feminine."—Fosdick cor. "Adjectives may always be distinguished by their relation to other words: they express the quality, condition, or number, of whatever things are mentioned."—Emmons cor. "An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner."—Brown's Inst., p. 29. "The joining-together of two objects, so grand, and the representing of them both, as subject at one moment to the command of God, produce a noble effect."—Dr. Blair cor. "Twisted columns, for instance, are undoubtedly ornamental; but, as they have an appearance of weakness, they displease the eye, whenever they are used to support any massy part of a building, or what seems to require a more substantial prop."—Id. "In a vast number of inscriptions, some upon rocks, some upon stones of a defined shape, is found an Alphabet different from the Greeks', the Latins', and the Hebrews', and also unlike that of any modern nation."—W. C. Fowler cor.
LESSON XVIII.—MANY ERRORS.
"The empire of Blefuscu is an island situated on the northeast side of Lilliput, from which it is parted by a channel of only 800 yards in width."—Swift and Kames cor. "The nominative case usually denotes the agent or doer; and any noun or pronoun which is the subject of a finite verb, is always in this case."—R. C. Smith cor. "There are, in his allegorical personages, an originality, a richness, and a variety, which almost vie with the splendours of the ancient mythology."—Hazlitt cor. "As neither the Jewish nor the Christian revelation has been universal, and as each has been afforded to a greater or a less part of the world at different times; so likewise, at different times, both revelations have had different degrees of evidence."—Bp. Butler cor. "Thus we see, that, to kill a man with a sword, and to kill one with a hatchet, are looked upon as no distinct species of action; but, if the point of the sword first enter the body, the action passes for a distinct species, called stabbing."—Locke cor. "If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbour concerning that which was delivered him to keep, or deceive his neighbour, or find that which was lost, and lie concerning it, and swear falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein, then it shall be," &c.—Bible cor. "As, to do and teach the commandments of God, is the great proof of virtue; so, to break them, and to teach others to break them, are the great proofs of vice."—Wayland cor. "The latter simile, in Pope's terrific maltreatment of it, is true neither to the mind nor to the eye."—Coleridge cor. "And the two brothers were seen, transported with rage and fury, like Eteocles and Polynices, each endeavouring to plunge his sword into the other's heart, and to assure himself of the throne by the death of his rival."—Goldsmith cor. "Is it not plain, therefore, that neither the castle, nor the planet, nor the cloud, which you here see, is that real one which you suppose to exist at a distance?"—Berkley cor. "I have often wondered, how it comes to pass, that every body should love himself best, and yet value his neighbours' opinion about himself more than his own."—Collier cor. "Virtue, ([Greek: Aretæ], Virtus,) as well as most of its species, when sex is figuratively ascribed to it, is made feminine, perhaps from its beauty and amiable appearance."—Harris cor. "Virtue, with most of its species, is made feminine when personified; and so is Vice, perhaps for being Virtue's opposite."—Brit. Gram. cor.; also Buchanan. "From this deduction, it may easily be seen, how it comes to pass, that personification makes so great a figure in all compositions in which imagination or passion has any concern."—Dr. Blair cor. "An Article is a word placed before a noun, to point it out as such, and to show how far its signification extends."—Folker cor. "All men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rights;—among which are the rights of enjoying and defending life and liberty; of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness."—Const. of N. H. cor. "From those grammarians who form their ideas and make their decisions, respecting this part of English grammar, from the principles and construction of other languages,—of languages which do not in these points accord with our own, but which differ considerably from it,—we may naturally expect grammatical schemes that will be neither perspicuous nor consistent, and that will tend rather to perplex than to inform the learner."—Murray and Hall cor. "Indeed there are but very few who know how to be idle and innocent, or who have a relish for any pleasures that are not criminal; every diversion which the majority take, is at the expense of some one virtue or other, and their very first step out of business is into vice or folly."—Addison cor.
"Hail, holy Love! thou bliss that sumst all bliss! Giv'st and receiv'st all bliss; fullest when most Thou giv'st; spring-head of all felicity!"—Pollok cor.