11. Where there is no honest poverty, where education is diffused and political intelligence is common, it is easy for the mass of the people to elect a fair legislature.—Bagehot.
12. Why did we stay here, where there is no shelter and no anchorage?—Black.
CHAPTER XI
THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF MANNER
Function.—A common question in regard to activities is how? This is oftenest answered by means of an adverb or a prepositional phrase; as, sew neatly, study diligently, go with dispatch. But it is to be noticed that these elements tell how in an absolute way with no reference to a fixed standard, and are capable of many degrees of interpretation, for people’s notions of neatness, diligence, and dispatch differ.
Adverbs and prepositional phrases are unsatisfactory in another respect also;—the manner of an action can seldom be characterized by one term, so unless we wish to call attention to only one characteristic, we must employ several terms, or leave the action incompletely described. But if we use a clause we may tell exactly how an action is performed by comparing it with some other action familiar and understood, which it more or less precisely resembles; for example, “Sing out, children, as the little thrushes do.”—Mrs. Browning. Here the clause conveys one clear and definite impression to all who have heard the thrushes sing, an impression that it would take a whole list of adverbs to convey, like sweetly, joyfully, thrillingly, spontaneously; but how like a catalogue these sound, and how little they appeal to the imagination.
Frequently a mental action, an action of the emotions or of the will, or something else not immediately intelligible, is made clear by comparing it with something material, something evident to the senses. In such sentences we find the familiar figure of speech called simile; thus, “Poetry produces an illusion on the eye of the mind, as a magic lantern produces an illusion on the eye of the body.”—Macaulay. Here the clause of manner modifies the entire predicate of the principal proposition.
Introductory Word.—The ordinary connective of the modal clause is the subordinating conjunction as, though its place is sometimes taken by as if or as though, both of which expressions it is best to consider one conjunction. In the sentence,
“The maiden paused as if again
She thought to catch that distant strain,”