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merely the apostrophe; as, "For conscience' sake;" "For righteousness' sake."

c. But when no unpleasant sound would be occasioned, both the apostrophe and s must be annexed; thus, "Moses' minister," should be, "Moses's minister, or, "the minister of Moses." "Felix' room," ought to be "Felix's room."

352. Short explanatory sentences must not be inserted between a possessive case, and the word which usually follows it; as, "They censured the governor's, as they called him, tyrannical administration," should be, "They censured the tyrannical administration of the governor, as they called him."

353. a. When the name of the possessor is complex, that is, consists of two or three terms considered as one, the sign of the possessive is annexed only to the last, whether the governing noun is expressed or understood as Henry the Eighth's reign;" "Alfred the Great's ;" "The Bishop of Llandaff's excellent book;" "The Duke of Wellington's statue."

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In all these instances, the title or epithet attached may be considered as per

manent.

b. When both the name and the office or occupation come together, the sign of the possessive is annexed to the name only, when the governing noun is understood; as, "I left the parcel at Mr. Smith's, the druggist." "This is Dr. Copleston's, the Bishop of Llandaff."

c. So, also, in these sentences, "I called at Mr. Thompson's, printer, bookseller, and stationer;""These psalms are David's, the king, priest, and prophet of the Jewish people;" "Whose glory did he emulate? He emulated Caesar's, the greatest general of antiquity." The omission of the governing noun is more common than its insertion.

d. When the governing noun is expressed after the occupation, the possessive sign is affixed to the occupation or title; as, "He called at Mr. Smith's the chemist and druggist's shop." "I am thy servant Jesse the Bethlemite's youngest son." If the governing noun is expressed between the name and profession, then the name takes the sign; as, Mr. Smith's shop, the druggist.

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e. Here the term Smith and Jesse are in the possessive case, but without the sign.

f. In phrases, however, in whicn several terms are applied to the same individual, it is better to use the particle of; thus, instead of saying. This is Paul's advice, the Christian hero, and great apostle of the Gentiles," it is preferable to say, This is the advice of Paul, the Christian hero, and great apostle of the Gentiles." So, also, "I called at the shop of Mr. Smith, the chemist and druggist," is better

354. a. Instead of the possessive, the objective case with of is frequently used; as, "The vote of the Commons;" "The house of Lords;" are preferable for the sake of sound, to "The Commons' vote;" "The Lords house."

b. For the same reason, instead of saying, "Whom he acquainted with the king's and the minister's designs," it would be better to say, "With the designs of the king and the minister." The too frequent recurrence of the particle of, should, however, be avoided; thus, "The severity of the distress of the son of the king," should be, "The severe distress of the king's son."

c. The particle of, joined to a substantive, is not always equivalent to the possessive case; it is only so when the expression can be converted into the possessive without altering the meaning; thus, "A cup of water" cannot be turned into "water's cup;" nor, "A crown of gold" into "gold's crown." "The Lord's Day" means" the Christian Sabbath;" but " The day of the Lord" signifies "the judgment-day."

355. a. When the thing possessed is only one of a number belonging to the possessor, both the possessive case and of are used; as, "A friend of his brother's," implies So, also, "A son of yours,"

that he has more than one. meaning one of several.

b. When there is only one subject possessed, the word immediately following of is in the objective case; as, "This picture of my friend," means a likeness of him.

c. "This picture of my friend's," signifies that it is one of several belonging to him; but "This picture of my friend," denotes a likeness of him. "A son of yours," denotes one of several; we cannot therefore say, "A father of yours," but "Your father." The former mode of expression may be varied thus, "This is one of my friend's pictures." This is one of his brother's friends.

d. When possessive pronouns are employed, My, thy, her, our, your, their, are used with nouns; Mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, theirs, without nouns; as, "This is my house, that is yours" As these words are indefinite with regard to number, when one of several is intended, the insertion of a numeral becomes necessary; as, "This is one of my houses, that is one of yours."

356. Participles, when used as nouns, govern nouns and pronouns in the possessive case; as, "Much will depend on the pupil's composing, but more on his reading frequently." "His being observed was the cause of so much quiet."

RULE 8. ADJECTIVES AND ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS.

LESSONS 57, 58.

357 a. Every Adjective and Adjective Pronoun must agree with some substantive, expressed or understood; as, "A good man;" "The twelve," that is, "The twelve apostles ;" "This man ;" "These men."

b. In English, only certain adjective pronouns are varied on account of number.

c. Several nouns of weight or number, as, brace, dozen, pair, couple, score, stone, hundred, thousand, &c., having a numeral adjective, two, three, four, &c., prefixed, generally retain the singular form, as, three brace, twenty stone, &c.; but without the numeral the nouns take the plural form, as, " He bought them by pairs, by dozens," &c.

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358. a. The phrases, "This means," and "That means,' refer to one thing; "These means," and "Those means,' to more than one thing; as "He was diligent, and by this means he became learned;" "He was industrious, frugal, and discreet, and by these means he became wealthy."

b. Amends is used in the same manner as means; as, "Peace of mind is an honourable amends for the sacrifices of interest." "We have described the rewards of vice; the good man's amends are of a different nature."

c. The phrase," A mean," is employed to signify mediocrity, moderation, medium; as," This is a mean between two extremes.'

359. a. When two persons or things have been already mentioned in a sentence, and it is necessary to speak of them again, if we wish to avoid the repetition of the nouns, we use this in reference to the latter, and that to the former; as, "Knowledge and wisdom are very different; this enables us to do what is right, that to know what is right."

b. Former and latter are often used instead of this and that. They are the same in both numbers. Later and latest have respect to time, and are the regular comparative and superlative of late; latter and last refer to place or position.

360. a. The words each, every, either, neither, require nouns, pronouns, and verbs, to be in the third person singular; as, "Let each of them be heard in his turn." "Every man is accountable for himself.”

b. A plural verb, which affirms something of a number of particulars, is often followed by an adjective pronoun which assigns the affirmation to the particular objects; thus, "If metals have each a peculiar earth." This mode of expression is incorrect; it should be, "If each metal has."

Each relates to two or more objects, and signifies both or all taken separately. Each other is applied to two, when a reciprocal action or relation is intended; as, They struck each other; - one another refers to more than two, as, speaking of many, we say, "They killed one another."

Either signifies only one of two; as, "Take either;" that is, "the one or the other, but not both." Neither signifies not either.

Both is a plural adjective, and denotes the two collectively.

Every is applied to more than two objects taken individually, and comprehends all of them. It is sometimes joined to plural nouns, to denote a collective idea; as," He visits us every ten days."

All joined to a singular noun refers to quantity; to a plural noun it refers to number; as, "All the corn was sold ;" "All men are mortal."

Any is generally used indefinitely, and sometimes for every one.

None (no one) is used in both numbers. But none and any without nouns ex

"Much money

Much is an adjective of quantity, and of the singular number; as, was wanted."Many agrees with substantives of the plural number; as, “ Many men." In poetry, many is sometimes joined to a singular noun; as," Full many a gem of purest ray serene."- Whole can be applied to collective nouns in the plural, as, Whole nations:" but not to other nouns in the plural, thus," Almost the whole inhabitants," should be, "Almost all the inhabitants."

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361. a. When two persons or things are compared, the comparative degree must be employed; as, "He is the stronger of the two;" "William is taller than James."

When three or more persons or things are compared, the superlative must be used; as, "This is the sweetest of

the three." "He was the wisest of men."

b. When the comparison is made between two objects of different classes, the comparative is followed by than; as, "The Greeks were braver than the Persians." "When a selection from two of the same class is meant, the comparative is followed by of; as, "He is the wiser of the two."

c. The insertion of the word other after the comparative, confines the persons or objects compared to the same class; thus, when I say, that "Socrates was wiser than any other Athenian," I mean, that Socrates himself was an Athenian; but were I to say, "Socrates was wiser than any Athenian," my expression would imply that Socrates was not an Athenian, but wiser than the Athenians. The word other must be followed by than.

d. In the superlative degree we always compare one or more objects with others of the same class, consequently, the word other is, in this case, unnecessary; thus, instead of saying," Cicero, of all other Romans, was the most eloquent," we should say, "Cicero was the most eloquent of the Romans; that is, out of the whole class of the Romans.

e. VIOLATIONS OF THE RULE. - The phrases, of all others, of any other, with a comparative or superlative, are improper; thus, "A vicious course of life, is the saddest slavery of all others," should be, "is a sadder slavery than any other," or, "the saddest slavery of all." By the expression, "of all others," we improperly refer the subject of comparison both to the same and to a different aggregate; the word of referring it to the species to which it belongs, and the word others referring it to a different species. The word others should therefore be expunged.

f. "Demosthenes was more eloquent than the Athenians," or, "than any Athenian," is incorrect; because Demosthenes was himself an Athenian, one of the class with which he is compared, and therefore we cannot say that he is more eloquent than himself. As the objects compared belong to the same class, the comparative cannot be employed, unless by placing them in opposition, or referring them to different places; as, "Demosthenes was more eloquent than any other Athenian." Here, the word other denotes that opposition, that diversity of place or species, which (except when the word of is used) is essentially implied in the use of the comparative.—“ Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children;" this is incorrect. Joseph being one of his children, the sentiment expressed involves an absurdity; it sould be "more than all his other children."

"Thomas is the wisest of his brothers," is incorrect; for Thomas cannot be one of his own brothers. We should use the comparative form, and say, "Thomas is wiser than his brothers." The superlative cannot be used unless some term be employed which includes both Thomas and his brothers; as, "Thomas is the wisest of his father's sons." Here, the word sons is applicable, both to Thomas and his brothers.

362. Louble comparatives and superlatives should be avoided; thus. "The lesser number; "The most liveliest

man;" ought to be, "The less number; "The liveliest

man.

363. a. Adjectives which in their simple form imply the highest or the lowest possible degree of the quality, do not admit the comparative or superlative form superadded; such as, chief, extreme, right, true, perfect, universal, supreme, &c. To say, chiefest, extremest, rightest, truer, truest, &c., is therefore, improper. We should also avoid using any qualifying words to the preceding adjectives; thus, it is incorrect to say, so universal," perfect," &c.

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b. Many writers frequently use the terms "more and most perfect;" more and most universal;" instead of "more and most excellent;" "more and most extensive;" but this mode of expression ought not to be adopted, except in very strong and impassioned language. We can say, "nearer or nearest to perfection;" or, "less and least imperfect." Should these terms be too weak, others may be adopted; but, at all events, we must avoid the violation of grammatical accuracy. "The glass is as full as it can hold." "The glass is full," or, "It can hold no

more.'

364. a. Adjectives must be so placed with respect to their substantives, as clearly to show which noun is qualified; thus "John's great coat," and "Great John's coat," evidently convey very different ideas

b. So, "The two first in the row," "The three highest in the class," have a dif ferent signification "from the first two," "the highest three." The "two first," "three highest," are elliptical expressions referring to priority of position; thus, the two (which are placed) first; the three (that stand) the highest. But the first two (the ordinal preceding the cardinal), the highest three, refer rather to a series of twos and of threes, and these are respectively the first. So, also, the two others and the other two are different in their meaning. The sense must determine which mode is to be employed." A good enough judge," should be, "A judge good enough."

365. a. Adjectives must not be used for adverbs, nor adverbs for adjectives. An Adjective refers to a noun or subject, but an Adverb indicates the time or manner of some verb, or some modification of an adjective or adverb.

b. The poets frequently deviate from this Rule, by using adjectives for adverbs; thus, "Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring." "Heaven open'd wide her everlasting gates." "Soft sighed the lute." But, though this deviation may be allowable in poetry, it is not in prose.

c. Two adverbs ending in ly should not be placed together, when an unpleasant sound would be occasioned; thus, instead of saying, "He spoke extremely improperly;" it would be more agreeable to the ear to say, "He spoke very improperly;" or, in stronger language, "He spoke with the greatest impropriety."

d. In the following instances, adjectives are improperly used for adverbs: "Indifferent honest:"Excellent well;" they should be, "Indifferently honest;' "Excellently well." "They acted conformable to his instructions ;"-conform ably. The following phrases contain adverbs improperly used for adjectives: "They were found rambling in a forest solitarily and forsaken;"-solitary; that is, in a solitary and forsaken state or condition. "Their manner of living was agreeably to their rank and station;"-agreeable; that is, their manner was agreeable. "The study of Syntax should be previously to that of Punctuation ;" -previous; that is, a study previous to that of Punctuation.

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