"We know to what cause our past reverses have been owing and we will have ourselves to blame, if they are again incurred."—Alison's History of Europe.
Adverbial mistakes often occur in the best writers. The adverb rather is a word very frequently misplaced. Archbishop Trench in his "English Past and Present" writes, "It rather modified the structure of our sentences than the elements of our vocabulary." This should have been written,—"It modified the structure of our sentences rather than the elements of our vocabulary."
"So far as his mode of teaching goes he is rather a disciple of Socrates than of St. Paul or Wesley." Thus writes Leslie Stephens of Dr. Johnson. He should have written,—" So far as his mode of teaching goes he is a disciple of Socrates rather than of St. Paul or Wesley."
The preposition is a part of speech which is often wrongly used by some of the best writers. Certain nouns, adjectives and verbs require particular prepositions after them, for instance, the word different always takes the preposition from after it; prevail takes upon; averse takes to; accord takes with, and so on.
In the following examples the prepositions in parentheses are the ones that should have been used:
"He found the greatest difficulty of (in) writing."—Hume's History of England.
"If policy can prevail upon (over) force."—Addison.
"He made the discovery and communicated to (with) his friends."—Swift's Tale of a Tub.
"Every office of command should be intrusted to persons on (in) whom the parliament shall confide."—Macaulay.
Several of the most celebrated writers infringe the canons of style by placing prepositions at the end of sentences. For instance Carlyle, in referring to the Study of Burns, writes:—"Our own contributions to it, we are aware, can be but scanty and feeble; but we offer them with good will, and trust they may meet with acceptance from those they are intended for."