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RULE VI.-APPOSITION.

228. Nouns and pronouns added to other nouns and pronouns to explain them, are put in the same case: thus, Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is celebrated for its university." Here Edinburgh, being the subject of the sentence, is in the nominative; and the noun capital, with its adjunct of Scotland, being added to explain it, is in the nominative also. The two words, in cases of this kind, are said by grammarians to be in apposition.

229. "Brutus killed Cæsar in the Capitol; him who had been his friend." Here Cæsar is in the objective, governed by the verb killed; and as the succeeding pronoun refers to it, it must be in the objective too. If it were he, there would be no violation of any rule in grammar, but a misrepresentation of an historical fact, as it would lead us to believe that Brutus befriended Cæsar, whereas it was Cæsar that had befriended Brutus.

230. The construction of apposition is explained with great precision by Mr Latham in his " English Language,” p. 358. "Cæsar, the Roman emperor, invades Britain. Here the words Roman emperor explain or define the word Cæsar; and the sentence filled up might stand, Cæsar, that is, the Roman emperor, &c. Again, the words Roman emperor might be wholly ejected; or, if not ejected, they might be thrown into a parenthesis. The practical bearing of this fact is exhibited by changing the sentence and inserting the conjunction and. In this case, instead of one person, two are spoken of, and the verb invades must be changed from the singular to the plural. Now the words Roman emperor are said to be in apposition to Cæsar. They constitute, not an additional idea, but an explanation of the original one. They are, as it were, laid alongside (appositi) of the word Cæsar."

231. There seems to be an exception to this rule in such expressions as "I called at Smith's the bookseller," where Smith's and bookseller are evidently marks of the same idea, but yet the one has the sign of the possessive ('s), which the other has not. Perhaps the expression is elliptical, who is being understood; but, at any rate, as far as the possessive case (so called) is concerned, it is in most instances awkward

to add any explanatory word to it; and the sentence runs much more smoothly if we use the preposition of; thus, "I called at the shop of Smith the bookseller," where both words are obviously in the objective.

EXAMPLES.

1. The most vital discipline of that church, the secret of the power of its priesthood, the source of most of the good and evil it can work, is found in the confessional.- Hallam.

2. Wisdom and truth, the offspring of the sky, are immortal; but cunning and deception, the meteors of the earth, after glittering for a moment, must pass away.-Robert Hall.

3. Tarquinius Priscus, a son of a citizen of Corinth, popular from his wealth and liberality, was elected to the vacant throne.-Tytler. Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot.

4.

5.

Shakspeare.

So spake the fiend, and with necessity,
The tyrant's plea, excused his dev'lish deeds.

Milton.

6. To get beautiful allegories, a perfect poetic symbol, was not the want of men.-Carlyle.

7. It is seldom that the father and the son, he who has borne the weight and he who has been brought up in the lustre of the diadem, exhibit equal capacity for the administration of affairs.-Gibbon.

8.

Oh! many are the poets that are sown

By nature; men endowed with highest gifts,
The vision and the faculty divine,

Yet wanting the accomplishment of verse.-Wordsworth. 330. I have not found the rule of apposition violated by any writer of sufficient reputation to justify my quoting him; and as I have discarded the plan of manufacturing errors, I must content myself with laying these examples before the student, and so far violate uniformity by omitting Sentences to be Corrected.

RULE VII.-THE VERB TO BE.

232. The verb To Be and all apposition verbs, that is, verbs used as copula, have the same case after them as they have before them thus, "Alfred was a good king." Here the word king, coming after the verb was, is in the nominative, because it is descriptive of Alfred, the subject of the sentence.

"She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him." Here gardener is to be considered in the objective, because him, going before the verb to be, is in the objective, governed by the verb supposing. "She walks a queen." Here queen is in the nominative case, because walks, besides indicating a particular action, serves to connect the noun and pronoun together.

233. While the nouns and pronouns before and after the verb to be must be of the same case, they need not in all instances be in the same number or of the same person. "I believed it to be them," "It was he," "It was they," are all correct expressions. It must, however, be allowed that there is a natural congruity in having like numbers before and after the verb. It satisfies the ear always, and where it does not offend the judgment, it ought to be used.

234. Mr Latham* differs from most grammarians as to the rule for the verb to be. He lays it down thus, “Verbs substantive govern the nominative case." The idea of the nominative being governed is contrary to all received notions of grammar; and if I am right in giving "I believed it to be them," as correct, the rule does not express a fact in our language. I consider that the verb to be, in all its parts, acts merely as a connective, and can have no effect in governing any thing. Dr Lowth expressly excepts the infinitive mood, and with this exception Latham's rule, though the mode of stating it would still be objectionable, might be allowed to pass.

235. The subject, according to Rule I. (99), regulates the number of the verb. We should not say "Happiness are the reward and crown of virtue," but is, because the subject is singular. Murray gives the following as correct:

"A great cause of the low state of industry were the restraints put upon it;" but good use does not at all sanction this practice, and it clearly offends against logical accuracy. That the rule is often violated, and that there is a natural tendency to violate it, may be admitted; still it is a violation of a well established principle, and ought as much as possible to be checked. The very first rule of syntax is

* Elementary English Grammar, p. 155.

often violated by good writers, but yet it is much more frequently observed. Even in Buckingham's Canada, where it is seventy times violated, I have no doubt that it is a thousand times observed. In such cases, the grammarian's duty is clearly to recognise the usage of the greatest number. The same principle which led Murray to condemn, with more than his usual distinctness, such expressions as tranquillity and peace dwells there," would have led him, if consistently applied, to withhold his sanction from such as "To fear no eye and to suspect no tongue, is the great prerogative of innocence," for both are equally, and in the same way, contrary to the first principles of grammar."

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236. From what we have already said, the student may perceive that our seventh rule is included in the sixth, for the verb to be does nothing more, in such cases, than mark that the two nouns between which it is put are different names for the same thing. On this subject, Mr James Mill reasons with his usual acuteness. In showing how the name of a class comes to be used for the name of an individual, he says, "I have the name of the individual, John, and the name of the class, man; and I can set down my two names, John, man, in juxtaposition. But this is not sufficient to effect the communication I desire, namely, that the word man is a mark of the same idea of which John is a mark, and a mark of other ideas along with it; those, to wit, of which James, Thomas, &c., are marks. To complete my contrivance, I invent a mark which, placed between my marks John and man, fixes the idea I mean to convey, that man is another mark to that idea of which John is a mark, while it is a mark of other ideas, of which James, Thomas, &c., are marks. For this purpose, we use in English the inark is. By help of this, my object is immediately

attained."

237. Whoever will take the trouble to understand this dissertation, will immediately see the virtual identity of our sixth and seventh rules; but here, as in other cases, we have been anxious to depart as little as possible from the

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common doctrines, and the repetition of the rule, while it may be useful to some by presenting the same truth under a different aspect, can do harm to none.

EXAMPLES.

1. Work is the mission of man on this earth.-Carlyle.

2. Such men are the flower of this lower world; they are the vanguard in the march of mind.-Idem.

3. Humility is the first fruit of religion.-Hall.

4. In ancient times, Egypt and Libya, it is well known, were the granary of Rome.-Alison.

5. They [newspapers] are the literature of the multitude.Channing.

6. Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.—Gibbon.

7. His annotations are the earliest specimen of explanations founded on the original language.- Hallam.

8. The quality and extent of these ideal stores, and the degree in which they are available as materials for the other faculties to work upon, are the chief reason of the vast difference between one mind and another.-Isaac Taylor.

9. To see distinctly the right way, and to pursue it, are not precisely the same thing.-Hall.

10. The shame of apostacy and an anxiety not to embroil himself irreparably with a Protestant successor, were the motives for delay.-Mackintosh.

11. Economy, justice, and moderation, were the bases of its administration.-Alison.

12. Dante and Petrarch were, as it were, the morning stars of our modern literature.-Hallam.

13. Jealousy and discord were the effects of their conjunct authority.-Robertson.

238. There has been a good deal of discussion among grammarians about the relative in the question, "Whom do men say that I am?" but an English scholar will immediately see that it is wrong, though to one accustomed to the Latin idiom, the idea of the accusative or objective is so associated with that, that he finds it difficult to reconcile himself to its being connected with the nominative. In the same manner, we find in Addison, "It is not me you are in love with," which is obviously incorrect, the idea to be expressed by with being allowed to influence the language too

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