4. We frequently meet sentences containing a phrase like that italicized in the following,—“Far from showing due reverence to St. Edmund, he did not even show him common justice.”—Carlyle. This phrase, it is plain, means “instead of showing due reverence to St. Edmund,” but in addition it implies there is a very wide difference between two things,—the thing he did not do and the thing he did do. It would be natural for us to say—“Instead of white, she wore pink”; and it would be just as natural to say—“Far from wearing white, she wore black.” Our choice of phrases depends on the degree of difference between the two things contrasted. The difference between white and pink is not great; but the difference between white and black is one hundred and eighty degrees.
When we analyze this sentence modifier we find it to consist of the adverb far for a base-word, modified by a prepositional phrase introduced by from. The object of the preposition is a gerund, which may be complete or incomplete, modified or unmodified.
It is not uncommon for far to be modified by so, which only intensifies its meaning; thus, “For the King’s subjects, so far from being charmed by his resolution to marry a woman out of their midst, are scandalized.”
Exercise 40
Dispose of the sentence modifiers in the following sentences.
1. Nevertheless, an important part of culture is to acquire the habit of finishing every work.—J. F. Clarke.
2. For my own part, I think there is such a thing as being too Anglo-Saxon.—Lowell.
3. People, as a rule, only pay for being amused or for being cheated, not for being served.—Ruskin.
4. Believe me, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that your modesty, so far from doing you any disservice, rather adds to your other perfections.—Jane Austen.
5. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech.—Webster.