Latin allow on this article, renders it improper to denominate one order grammatical exclusively of others. I imagine, therefore, that perhaps the only principle in which on this subject we can safely rest, as being founded in nature, is that whatever most strongly fixes the attention, or operates on the passion of the speaker, will first seek utterance by the lips. This is agreeable to a common proverb, which perhaps, to speak in Shakspeare's phrase, is something musty, but significant enough, "Nearest the heart, nearest the mouth." In these .בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ The order is preserved exactly in the Vulgate : "In principio creavit Deus coelum et terram." That the same order is observed in disposing the substantive verb, appears from the fifth verse, The arrangement here is perfectly exhibited in the Latin ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום אחד 66 version of Junius and Tremellius, which is generally very literal: "Sic fuit vespera et fuit mane diei primi." Yet in English we should be apt to call the order in both passages, especially the last, rather unnatural. In the beginning created God the heavens and the earth." "And was evening and was morning day first." The same thing might be illustrated in the passive verbs, in the neuter, and in the reciprocal, if necessary. Nothing therefore can be more evident than that it is custom only which makes us Britons prefer one order of words, and others another, as the natural order. I am surprised that a critic of so much taste and discernment as Bouhours (see his Entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugene, 2. La Langue Française) should represent this as one of the excellencies of the French tongue, that it follows the natural order of the words. It is manifest, from what has been said, that its common arrangement has no more title to be denominated natural than that of any other language. Nay, we may raise an argument for confuting this silly pretence from the very laws that obtain in this language. Thus, if the natural order require that the regimen should follow the active verb, their way of arranging the oblique cases of the pronouns is unnatural, as they always place them before the verb; if, on the contrary, the natural order require that the regimen should precede the governing verb, their way of arranging nouns governed by verbs is unnatural, since they always place them after the verb; so that, whichever be the natural way, they depart from it in the disposition of one or other of these parts of speech. The like may be urged in regard to the nominative, which, though for the most part, it go before the active verb, in certain cases follows it. This happens frequently when the verb is preceded by the oblique case of the relative, as in this sentence: retardement, que souffre le lecteur, le rend plus attentif." And even in placing their adjectives, wherever use hath made exceptions from the general rule, it has carried the notion of what is natural along with it. They would call it as unnatural to say homme jeune as to say gardien ange. All therefore that can be affirmed with truth is, that the French adhere more inviolably than other nations to the ordinary arrangement established in the language. But this, as I hope to evince in the sequel, is one of the greatest imperfections of that tongue. The ease with which the Italian admits either order in the personal pronouns, especially in poetry, adds often to the harmony and the elegance, as well as to the vivacity of the expression, as in these lines of Metastasio's Artaserse ; Sallo amor, lo sanno i numi; "Le He Bouhours, in the dialogue above mentioned, has dropped the character of critic and philosopher for that of encomiast. He talks like a lover about his mistress. sees neither blemish nor defect. All is beauty and excellence. For my part, if I were to prove the inferiority of French to Italian and Spanish, the two languages with which he compares it, I should not desire other or better topics for evincing the point than the greater part of those which he has employed, in my judgment very unsuccessfully, for the contrary purpose. 5 Hamlet. transpositions, therefore, I maintain that the order will be found, on examination, to be more strictly natural than when the more general practice in the tongue is followed. As an irrefragable argument in support of this doctrine, it may be pleaded, that though the most usual, which is properly the artificial order, be different in different languages, the manner of arranging, or (if you like the term better) transposing, above specified, which is always an effect of vivacity in the speaker, and a cause of producing a livelier conception in the hearer, is the same in all languages. It is for this reason, amongst others, that I have chosen to take most of my examples on this topic, not from any original performance in English, but from the common translation of the Bible, and shall here observe once for all, that both in the quotations already made, and those hereafter to be made, our translators have exactly followed the order of the original. And, indeed, all translators of any taste, unless when cramped by the genius of the tongue in which they wrote, have in such cases done the same. It may be proper also to remark, that there are some modern tongues which in this respect are much more inflexible than ours. The next example I shall produce is very similar to the former, as in it the substantive verb is preceded by the participle passive, and followed by the nominative. In the acclamations of the people on our Saviour's public entry into Jerusalem, the historian informs us, that they cried out, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord"." Instead of this "He that cometh in the name of the Lord is blessed;" and by this alteration in the order of the words, apparently trifling, you convert a fervid exclamation into a cold aphorism. say, The third example shall be of an active verb, preceded by the accusative, and followed by the nominative. It may be proper to observe, by the way, that unless one of these is a pronoun such an arrangement is scarcely admissible in our language. These cases in our nouns, not being distinguished by inflection, as they are in our pronouns, are solely ascertained by place. But to come to the proposed example, we are informed by the sacred historian that when Peter and John ordered the cripple, who sat begging at the beautiful gate of the temple, to look on them, he looked at them very earnestly, expecting to receive دو 6 Gr. Meyaλn ʼn Apteμis Epeciv. Lat. Vulg. Erasm. Magna Diana Ephesiorum. Castal. Beza," Magna est Diana Ephesiorum." Ital. Diodati," Grande e la Diana degli Efesii." How weak in comparison is the French version of Le Clerc ! "La Diane des Ephesiens est une grande déesse." How deficient that of Beausobre ! “La grande Diane des Ephesiens." How ridiculous that of Saci! "Vive la grande Diane des Ephesiens.' 7 Matt. xxi. 9. Gr. Ευλογημένος ὁ ερχόμενος εν ονοματι Κυρίου. Lat. Vulg. Eras. Bez. "Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini." Cast. "Benè sit ei qui venit," &c. Ital. Diod. "Benedetto colui che viene nel nome del Signiore." Clerc, Beaus. Saci, " Beni soit celui qui vient au nom du Seigneur." Fr. Le something from them. Then Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walks." Here the wishful look and expectation of the beggar naturally leads to a vivid conception of that which was the object of his thoughts, and this conception as naturally displays itself in the very form of the declaration made by the apostle. But as every thing is best judged by comparison, let us contrast with this the same sentence arranged according to the rigid rules of grammar, which render it almost a literal translation of the Italian and French versions quoted in the margin, "I have no gold and silver; but I give thee that which I have: In the name of " The import is the same, but the expression is rendered quite exanimate. Yet the sentences differ chiefly in arrangement, the other difference in composition is inconsiderable. There is another happy transposition in the English version of the passage under view, which, though peculiar to our version, deserves our notice, as it contributes not a little to the energy of the whole. I mean not only the separation of the adjective none from its substantives silver and gold, but the placing of it in the end of the clause, which, as it were, rests upon it. "Silver and gold have I none." For here, as in several other instances, the next place to the first, in respect of emphasis, is the last. We shall be more sensible of this by making a very small alteration on the composition and structure of the sentence, and saying, "Silver and gold are not in my possession;" which is manifestly weaker. My fourth example should be one wherein the verb occupies the first place in the sentence, which often happens in the ancient languages with great advantage in point of vivacity. But this cannot frequently obtain in English, without occasioning an ambiguity; the first place when given to the verb, being, by the rules of our syntax, appropriated to distinguish these three things, a command, as Stay not here;" a question, as 8 Aets iii. 6. Gr. Αργυριον και χρυσιον ουχ ὑπαρχει μοι· ὁ δε εχω, τουτο σοι δίδωμι. Εν ονόματι Ιησου Χριστου του Ναζωραίου εγείραι και περιπατει. Lat. Vul. Eras. Bez. Argentum et aurum non est mihi; quod autem habeo, hoc tibi do. In nomine Jesu Christi Nazareni, surge et ambula." Castalio hath not adhered so closely to the order of the words in the original, but hath in this and some other places, for the sake of latinity, weakened the expression: "Nec argentum mihi nec aurum est; sed quod habeo, hoc tibi do. In nomine," &c. It would seem that neither the Italian language nor the French can admit so great a latitude in arranging the words; for in these the vivacity resulting from the order is not only weakened but destroyed. Diod. "Io non ho ne argento ne oro; ma quel che ho, io t'el dono : nel nome di Jesu Christo il Nazareo, levati e camina." Le Clerc, Beausobre, "Je n'ai ni or ni argent; mais ce que j'ai, je vous le donne: au nom de Jesus Christ de Nazareth, levez-vous et marchez." Saci's is the same, except in the last member, where, by transposing the words, "au nom de Jesus Christ de Nazareth," and putting them after "levez-vous," he hath altered the sense, and made that a circumstance attending the action of the lame man, which was intended to express the authority whereby the apostle gave the order. "Were they present?" and a supposition, as " Had I known," from an assertion, as "Ye stay not here;" "They were present ;" and "I had known." A few trifling phrases, as said he, replied they, are the sole exceptions in the simple tenses, at least in prose. In some instances, however, in the compound tenses, the verb may precede without giving rise to any double meaning. In such cases it is not the auxiliary or the substantive verb that begins the sentence, as in supposition and interrogation, but the infinitive of the principal verb in the active voice, and the participle in the passive, as in expressions like these, "Go I must, whatever may ensue." "Avoid it he could not by any means." An instance in the passive voice hath been given in the second example. I shall here observe, that in one passage of scripture our translators, by not attending to this small circumstance, that the import of the passive verb lies in the participle, have, without necessity, not only given up the emphatical arrangements, but, in order to be literal, have copied a figure, which, though forcible in the original, is, in the place assigned it in the translation, rather unnatural and insignificant. The passage alluded to is this, " Another angel followed, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city9." Here, as it was the event itself that chiefly occupied the angel's mind, the verb in the Greek with great propriety begins the proclamation Again, as it was an event of so surprising a nature, and of such mighty consequence, it was natural to attempt, by repeating the word, to rivet it in the minds of the hearers, ere he proceeded any further. The words is fallen in our language answer to the single word by which the verb is expressed in the original. Our translators were sensible they could not say, "Is fallen, is fallen, Babylon that great city." This could convey no meaning, being neither affirmation nor interrogation, hypothesis nor wish. For this reason they have preferred the colder arrangement prescribed by grammarians, though by so doing they have also lost the effect of the reduplication. A little attention to the genius of our tongue would have shown them that all the effect, both of the order and of the figure, * Rev. xiv. 8. Gr. Επεσεν, επεσε Βαβυλων ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγαλη. As the expression is taken from Isaiah xxi. 9, the same order is found in the Hebrew, ba bbb. All the Latin translators that I have seen, have followed the same order. "Cecidit, cecidit Babylon, urbs illa magna." Le Clerc and Saci in the French both agree with the arrangement in the English. "Babylone est tombée: elle est tombée: cette grande ville." Beausobre's version in that tongue is rather better, as it comes nearer the order of the words in the Greek. He begins with the pronoun, and puts the name after the verb. 66 Elle est tombée, elle est tombée, Babylone la grande ville." This, I believe, is as near the original as the idiom of the French will permit. In the Italian, Diodati hath preserved entirely the vivacity resulting both from the disposition of the words and the reduplication of the verb, and hath given the passage that turn which the English interpreters might and should have given it: " Caduta, caduta e Babilonia la gran cita." It is evident that in this matter the Italian allows more liberty than the French, and the English more than the Italian. The truth af this observation will appear more fully afterwards. would have been preserved by saying, "Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great city1." Often a particle, such as an adverb or preposition belonging to a compound verb (for it matters not in which way you consider it), emphatically begins the sentence, as in that formerly quoted for another purpose. Up goes my grave Impudence to the maid." In the particle up, that circumstance is denoted which particularly marks the impudence of the action. By the help of it, too, the verb is made to precede the nominative, which otherwise it could not do. In negations it holds very generally, that the negative particle should be joined to the verb. Yet in some cases the expression is greatly enlivened, and consequently the denial appears more determinate, by beginning the sentence with the adverb. "Not every one,' says our Saviour, "that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven." Vary but the position of the negative in the first member, and say, "Every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," and you will flatten the expression exceedingly. On so light a circumstance in the arrangement does the energy of a sentence sometimes depend. We have some admirable examples of the power of this circumstance in Shakspeare. In the conference of Malcolm with Macduff; after the former had asserted that he himself was so wicked that even Macbeth, compared with him, would appear innocent as a lamb, Macduff replies with some warmth, Not in the legions Of horrid hell, can come a devil more damn'd, The arangement in this sentence is admirably adapted to the speaker's purpose; whereas, if you dispose the words in the usual manner, and say, "A more damned devil in the legions of horrid hell cannot come to top Macbeth in ills;" we shall scarcely be persuaded that the thought is the same. If it were needful to multiply examples, I might easily show that other 1 Somewhat similar is the admirable example we have in this passage of Virgil: Me, me, adsum qui feci, in me convertite ferrum. Æn. L. ix. The emphasis here is even the stronger, that the pronoun so happily begun with and repeated perfectly irregular, it being quite detached from the construction of the sentence. 2 Matt. vii. 21. Gr. Ου πας ὁ λεγων μοι, Κυριε Κύριε, εισελεύσεται εις την βασιλειαν των ουρανών. All the Latin translators, however differently they express the sense, agree in beginning with the negative particle. So also doth Diodati in the Italian ; Non chiunque mi dice, Signore, Signore, entrera nel regno de' cieli." Not so the French. Le Clerc and Beausobre thus: "Tous ceux que me disent, Seigneur, Seigneur, n'entreront pas tous dans le royaume du ciel." Saci thus, "Ceux qui me disent, Seigneur, Seigneur, n'entreront pas tous dans le royaume des cieux." 3 Macbeth. |