Things used as Subject.

Complement of an intransitive verb.

Anintransitive verb, especially the forms ofbe,seem,appear,taste,feel,become, etc., must often have a word to complete the meaning: as, for instance, "Brow and head wereround, and of massive weight;" "The good man, he was now gettingold, above sixty;" "Nothing could bemore copiousthan his talk;" "But in general he seemeddeficient in laughter."

All these complete intransitive verbs. The following are examples of complements of transitive verbs: "Hope deferred maketh the heartsick;" "He was termedThomas, or, more familiarly,Thom of the Gills;" "A plentiful fortune is reckonednecessary, in the popular judgment, to the completion of this man of the world."

345.Themodifiersandindependent elementswill be discussed in detail in Secs. 351, 352, 355.

Phrases.

346.A phrase is a group of words, not containing a verb, but used as a single modifier.

As toform, phrases are of three kinds:—

Three kinds.

(1) PREPOSITIONAL, introduced by a preposition: for example, "Such a convulsion is the struggleof gradual suffocation, asin drowning; and,in the original Opium Confessions, I mentioned a caseof that nature."

(2) PARTICIPIAL, consisting of a participle and the words dependent on it. The following are examples: "Thenretreating into the warm house, andbarring the door, she sat down to undress the two youngest children."

(3) INFINITIVE, consisting of an infinitive and the words dependent upon it; as in the sentence, "She left her home forever in orderto present herself at the Dauphin's court."

347.The subject of a simple sentence may be—

(1)Noun: "There seems to be nointervalbetween greatness and meanness." Also an expression used as a noun; as, "A cheery, 'Ay, ay, sir!' rang out in response."

(2)Pronoun: "We are fortified by every heroic anecdote."

(3)Infinitive phrase: "To enumerate and analyze these relationsis to teach the science of method."

(4)Gerund: "There will besleepingenough in the grave;" "What signifieswishingandhopingfor better things?"

(5)Adjective used as noun: "The goodare befriended even by weakness and defect;" "The deadare there."

(6)Adverb: "Thenis the moment for the humming bird to secure the insects."

348.The subject is often foundafter the verb—

(1)By simple inversion: as, "Therein has been, and ever will be, mydeficiency,—the talent of starting the game;" "Never, from their lips, was heard onesyllableto justify," etc.

(2)In interrogative sentences, for which see Sec. 341.

(3)After"itintroductory:" "It ought not to needto printin a reading room a caution not to read aloud."

In this sentence,itstands in the position of a grammatical subject; but the real or logical subject isto print, etc.Itmerely serves to throw the subject after a verb.

Disguised infinitive subject.

There is one kind of expression that is really an infinitive, though disguised as a prepositional phrase: "It is hardfor honest men to separatetheir country from their party, or their religion from their sect."

Thefordid not belong there originally, but obscures the real subject,—the infinitive phrase. Compare Chaucer: "No wonder is a lewed man to ruste" (No wonder [it] is [for] a common man to rust).

(4)After"thereintroductory," which has the same office asitin reversing the order (see Sec. 292): "There was adescriptionof the destructive operations of time;" "There areasking eyes,asserting eyes,prowling eyes."

349.The words used as direct object are mainly the same as those used for subject, but they will be given in detail here, for the sake of presenting examples:—

(1)Noun: "Each man has his ownvocation." Also expressions used as nouns: for example, "'By God, and by Saint George!' said the King."

(2)Pronoun: "Memory greetsthemwith the ghost of a smile."

(3)Infinitive: "We liketo seeeverything do its office."

(4)Gerund: "She heard thatsobbingof litanies, or thethunderingof organs."

(5)Adjective used as a noun: "For seventy leagues through the mighty cathedral, I sawthe quickandthe dead."

Complement: Of an intransitive verb.

350.As complement of anintransitiveverb,—

(1)Noun: "She had been an ardentpatriot."

(2)Pronoun: "Whois she in bloody coronation robes from Rheims?" "This isshe, the shepherd girl."

(3)Adjective: "Innocence is eversimpleandcredulous."

(4)Infinitive: "To enumerate and analyze these relations isto teachthe science of method."

(5)Gerund: "Life is apitchingof this penny,—heads or tails;" "Serving others isservingus."

(6)A prepositional phrase: "His frame ison a larger scale;" "The marks wereof a kindnot to be mistaken."

It will be noticed that all these complements have a double office,—completing the predicate, and explaining or modifying the subject.

Of a transitive verb.

As complement of atransitiveverb,—

(1)Noun: "I will not call youcowards."

(2)Adjective: "Manners make beautysuperfluousandugly;" "Their tempers, doubtless, are renderedpliantandmalleablein the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation." In this last sentence, the object is made the subject by being passive, andthe words italicized are still complements. Like all the complements in this list, they are adjuncts of the object, and, at the same time, complements of the predicate.

(3)Infinitive, orinfinitive phrase: "That cry which made melook a thousand ways;" "I hear the echoesthrong."

(4)Participle, orparticipial phrase: "I can imagine himpushing firmly on, trusting the hearts of his countrymen."

(5)Prepositional phrase:"My antagonist would render my poniard and my speedof no useto me."

351.Since the subject and object are either nouns or some equivalent of a noun, the words modifying them must be adjectives or some equivalent of an adjective; and whenever the complement is a noun, or the equivalent of the noun, it is modified by the same words and word groups that modify the subject and the object.

Thesemodifiersare as follows:—

(1)A possessive: "Mymemory assures me of this;" "She asked herfather'spermission."

(2)A word in apposition: "Theodore Wieland, theprisonerat the bar, was now called upon for his defense;" "Him, this youngidolater, I have seasoned for thee."

(3)An adjective: "Greatgeniuses have theshortestbiographies;" "Her father was a prince in Lebanon,—proud,unforgiving,austere."

(4)Prepositional phrase: "Are the opinionsofa man on right and wrong on fate and causation, at the mercy of a broken sleep or an indigestion?" "The poet needs a groundin popular traditionto work on."

(5)Infinitive phrase: "The wayto know himis to compare him, not with nature, but with other men;" "She has a new and unattempted problemto solve;" "The simplest utterances are worthiestto be written."

(6)Participial phrase: "Another reading,given at the request of a Dutch lady, was the scene from King John;" "This was the houralready appointed for the baptismof the new Christian daughter."

Exercise.—In each sentence in Sec. 351, tell whether the subject, object, or complement is modified.

352.Since the predicate is always a verb, the word modifying it must be an adverb or its equivalent:—

(1)Adverb:"Slowlyandsadlywe laid him down."

(2)Prepositional phrase: "The little carriage is creeping onat one mile an hour;" "In the twinkling of an eye, our horses had carried usto the termination of the umbrageous isle."

In such a sentence as, "He died like a God," the word grouplike a Godis often taken as a phrase; but it is really a contracted clause, the verb being omitted.

Tells how.

(3)Participial phrase:"She comes down from heaven to his help,interpreting for him the most difficult truths, andleading him from star to star."

(4)Infinitive phrase:"No imprudent, no sociable angel, ever dropped an early syllableto answer his longing."

(For participial and infinitive phrases, see further Secs. 357-363.)

(5)Indirect object:"I gaveevery mana trumpet;" "Givethemnot only noble teachings, but noble teachers."

These are equivalent to the phrasesto every manandto them, and modify the predicate in the same way.

Retained with passive; or

When the verb is changed from active to passive, the indirect object is retained, as in these sentences: "It is leftyouto find out the reason why;" "All such knowledge should be givenher."

subject of passive verb and direct object retained.

Or sometimes the indirect object of the active voice becomes the subject of the passive, and the direct object is retained: for example, "She is to be taughtto extend the limits of her sympathy;" "I was shown an immensesarcophagus."

(6)Adverbial objective.These answer the questionwhen, orhow long,how far, etc., and are consequently equivalent to adverbs in modifying a predicate: "We were now runningthirteen miles an hour;" "One waylies hope;" "Four hoursbefore midnight we approached a mighty minster."

(a) Pick out subject, predicate, and (direct) object:—

1. This, and other measures of precaution, I took.2. The pursuing the inquiry under the light of an end or final cause, gives wonderful animation, a sort of personality to the whole writing.3. Why does the horizon hold me fast, with my joy and grief, in this center?4. His books have no melody, no emotion, no humor, no relief to the dead prosaic level.5. On the voyage to Egypt, he liked, after dinner, to fix on three or four persons to support a proposition, and as many to oppose it.6. Fashion does not often caress the great, but the children of the great.7. No rent roll can dignify skulking and dissimulation.8. They do not wish to be lovely, but to be loved.

1. This, and other measures of precaution, I took.

2. The pursuing the inquiry under the light of an end or final cause, gives wonderful animation, a sort of personality to the whole writing.

3. Why does the horizon hold me fast, with my joy and grief, in this center?

4. His books have no melody, no emotion, no humor, no relief to the dead prosaic level.

5. On the voyage to Egypt, he liked, after dinner, to fix on three or four persons to support a proposition, and as many to oppose it.

6. Fashion does not often caress the great, but the children of the great.

7. No rent roll can dignify skulking and dissimulation.

8. They do not wish to be lovely, but to be loved.

(b) Pick out the subject, predicate, and complement:

1. Evil, according to old philosophers, is good in the making.

2. But anger drives a man to say anything.

3. The teachings of the High Spirit are abstemious, and, in regard to particulars, negative.

4. Spanish diet and youth leave the digestion undisordered and the slumbers light.

5. Yet they made themselves sycophantic servants of the King of Spain.

6. A merciless oppressor hast thou been.

7. To the men of this world, to the animal strength and spirits, the man of ideas appears out of his reason.

8. I felt myself, for the first time, burthened with the anxieties of a man, and a member of the world.

1. Not the less I owe thee justice.

2. Unhorse me, then, this imperial rider.

3. She told the first lieutenant part of the truth.

4. I promised her protection against all ghosts.

5. I gave him an address to my friend, the attorney.

6. Paint me, then, a room seventeen feet by twelve.

(d) Pick out the words and phrases in apposition:—

1. To suffer and to do, that was thy portion in life.

2. A river formed the boundary,—the river Meuse.

3. In one feature, Lamb resembles Sir Walter Scott; viz., in the dramatic character of his mind and taste.

4. This view was luminously expounded by Archbishop Whately, the present Archbishop of Dublin.

5. Yes, at length the warrior lady, the blooming cornet, this nun so martial, this dragoon so lovely, must visit again the home of her childhood.

(e) Pick out the modifiers of the predicate:—

1. It moves from one flower to another like a gleam of light, upwards, downwards, to the right and to the left.

And hark! like the roar of the billows on the shore,The cry of battle rises along their changing line.

3. Their intention was to have a gay, happy dinner, after their long confinement to a ship, at the chief hotel.

4. That night, in little peaceful Easedale, six children sat by a peat fire, expecting the return of their parents.

Not compound sentences.

353.Frequently in a simple sentence the writer uses two or more predicates to the same subject, two or more subjects of the same predicate, several modifiers, complements, etc.; but it is to be noticed that, in all such sentences as we quote below, the writers of them purposely combined themin single statements, and they are not to be expanded into compound sentences. In a compound sentence the object is to make two or more full statements.

Examples of compound subjects are, "By degrees Rip'saweandapprehensionsubsided;" "Thename of the child,the air of the mother, thetone of her voice,—all awakened a train of recollections in his mind."

Sentences with compound predicates are, "The companybroke up, andreturnedto the more important concerns of the election;" "Heshookhis head,shoulderedthe rusty firelock, and, with aheart full of trouble and anxiety,turnedhis steps homeward."

Sentences with compound objects of the same verb are, "He caught hisdaughterand herchildin his arms;" "VoyagesandtravelsI would also have."

And so with complements, modifiers, etc.

354.Thelogical subjectis the simple or grammatical subject, together with all its modifiers.

Thelogical predicateis the simple or grammatical predicate (that is, the verb), together with its modifiers, and its object or complement.

Larger view of a sentence.

It is often a help to the student to find the logical subject and predicate first, then the grammatical subject and predicate. For example, in the sentence, "The situation here contemplated exposes a dreadful ulcer, lurking far down in the depths of human nature," the logical subject isthe situation here contemplated, and the rest is the logical predicate. Of this, the simple subject issituation; the predicate,exposes; the object,ulcer, etc.

355.The following words and expressions are grammaticallyindependentof the rest of the sentence; that is, they are not a necessary part, do not enter into its structure:—

(1)Person or thing addressed: "But you know them,Bishop;" "Ye crags and peaks, I'm with you once again."

(2)Exclamatory expressions: "But thelady—! Oh,heavens! will that spectacle ever depart from my dreams?"

Caution.

The exclamatory expression, however, may be the person or thing addressed, same as (1), above: thus, "Ah,young sir! what are you about?" Or it may be an imperative, forming a sentence: "Oh,hurry, hurry, my brave young man!"

(3)Infinitive phrasethrown in loosely: "To make a long story short, the company broke up;" "Truth to say, he was a conscientious man."

(4)Prepositional phrasenot modifying: "Within the railing sat,to the best of my remembrance, six quill-driving gentlemen;" "At all events, the great man of the prophecy had not yet appeared."

(5)Participial phrase:"But,generally speaking, he closed his literary toils at dinner;" "Considering the burnish of her French tastes, her noticing even this is creditable."

(6)Single words: as, "Oh,yes! everybody knew them;" "No, let him perish;" "Well, he somehow lived along;" "Why, grandma, how you're winking!" "Now, this story runs thus."

Another caution.

There are some adverbs, such asperhaps,truly,really,undoubtedly,besides, etc., and some conjunctions, such ashowever,then,moreover,therefore,nevertheless, etc., that have an office in the sentence, and should not be confused with the words spoken of above. The wordswell,now,why, and so on, are independent when they merely arrest the attention without being necessary.

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES.

356.In their use, prepositional phrases may be,

(1)Adjectival, modifying a noun, pronoun, or word used as a noun: for example, "He took the roadto King Richard's pavilion;" "I bring reportson that subjectfrom Ascalon."

(2)Adverbial, limiting in the same way an adverb limits: as, "All nature around him sleptin calm moonshineorin deep shadow;" "Farfrom the madding crowd's ignoble strife."

(3)Independent, not dependent on any word in the sentence (for examples, see Sec. 355, 4).

357.It will be helpful to sum up here the results of our study of participles and participial phrases, and to set down all the uses which are of importance in analysis:—

(1)The adjectival use, already noticed, as follows:—

(a) As a complement of a transitive verb, and at the same time a modifier of the object (for an example, see Sec. 350, 4).

(b) As a modifier of subject, object, or complement (see Sec. 351, 6).

(2)The adverbial use, modifying the predicate, instances of which were seen in Sec. 352, 3. In these the participial phrases connect closely with the verb, and there is no difficulty in seeing that they modify.

These need close watching.

There are other participial phrases which are used adverbially, but require somewhat closerattention; thus, "The letter of introduction,containing no matters of business, was speedily run through."

In this sentence, the expressioncontaining no matters of businessdoes not describeletter, but it is equivalent tobecause it contained no matters of business, and hence is adverbial, modifyingwas speedily run through.

Notice these additional examples:—

Being a great collector of everything relating to Milton[reason, "Because I was," etc.], I had naturally possessed myself of Richardson the painter's thick octavo volumes.

Neither the one nor the other writer was valued by the public,both having[since they had]a long warfare to accomplish of contumely and ridicule.

Wilt thou, therefore,being now wiser[as thou art]in thy thoughts, suffer God to give by seeming to refuse?

(3)Wholly independentin meaning and grammar. See Sec. 355, (5), and these additional examples:—

Assuming the specific heat to be the same as that of water, the entire mass of the sun would cool down to 15,000° Fahrenheit in five thousand years.

This case excepted, the French have the keenest possible sense of everything odious and ludicrous in posing.

358.The various uses of the infinitive give considerable trouble, and they will be presented here in full, or as nearly so as the student will require.

I. The verbal use.(1) Completing an incomplete verb, but having no other office than a verbal one.

(a) Withmay (might),can (could),should,would,seem,ought, etc.: "My weekly bill used invariablyto beabout fifty shillings;" "There, my dear, he should nothave knownthem at all;" "He wouldinstructher in the white man's religion, andteachher how to be happy and good."

(b) With the forms ofbe, being equivalent to a future with obligation, necessity, etc.: as in the sentences, "Ingenuity and cleverness areto be rewardedby State prizes;" "'The Fair Penitent' wasto be actedthat evening."

(c) With the definite forms ofgo, equivalent to a future: "I was goingto repeatmy remonstrances;" "I am not goingto disserton Hood's humor."

(2) Completing an incomplete transitive verb, but also belonging to a subject or an object (see Sec. 344 for explanation of the complements of transitive verbs): "I am constrained every momentto acknowledgea higher origin for events" (retained with passive); "Do they not cause the heartto beat, and the eyesto fill?"

359.II. The substantive use, already examined; but see the following examples for further illustration:—

(1)As the subject: "To havethe wall there, was to have the foe's life at their mercy;" "To teachis to learn."

(2)As the object: "I liketo hearthem tell their old stories;" "I don't wishto detractfrom any gentleman's reputation."

(3)As complement:See examples under (1), above.

(4)In apposition, explanatory of a noun preceding: as, "She forwarded to the English leaders a touching invitationto unitewith the French;" "He insisted on his rightto forgether."

360.III. The adjectival use, modifying a noun that may be a subject, object, complement, etc.: for example, "But there was no timeto be lost;" "And now Amyas had timeto askAyacanora the meaning of this;" "I have such a desireto bewell with my public" (see also Sec. 351, 5).

361.IV. The adverbial use, which may be to express—

(1)Purpose:"The governor, Don Guzman, sailed to the eastward only yesterdayto lookfor you;" "Isn't it enough to bring us to death,to pleasethat poor young gentleman's fancy?"

(2)Result:"Don Guzman returns to the river mouthto findthe ship a blackened wreck;" "What heart could be so hard asnot to takepity on the poor wild thing?"

(3)Reason:"I am quite sorryto partwith them;" "Are you mad,to betrayyourself by your own cries?" "Marry, hang the idiot,to bring mesuch stuff!"

(4)Degree:"We have won gold enoughto serveus the rest of our lives;" "But the poor lady was too sadto talkexcept to the boys now and again."

(5)Condition:"You would fancy,to hearMcOrator after dinner, the Scotch fighting all the battles;" "To saywhat good of fashion we can, it rests on reality" (the last is not a simplesentence, but it furnishes a good example of this use of the infinitive).

362.The fact that the infinitives in Sec. 361 are used adverbially, is evident from the meaning of the sentences.

Whether each sentence containing an adverbial infinitive has the meaning of purpose, result, etc., may be found out by turning the infinitive into an equivalent clause, such as those studied under subordinate conjunctions.

To test this, notice the following:—

In (1),to lookmeansthat he might look;to pleaseis equivalent tothat he may please,—both purpose clauses.

In (2),to findshows the result of the return;not to take pityis equivalent tothat it would not take pity.

In (3),to partmeansbecause I part, etc.; andto betrayandto bringexpress the reason, equivalent tothat you betray, etc.

In (4),to serveandto talkare equivalent to [as much gold]as will serve us; and "too sadto talk" also shows degree.

In (5),to hearmeansif you should hear, andto sayis equivalent toif we say,—both expressing condition.

363.V. The independent use, which is of two kinds,—

(1) Thrown loosely into the sentence; as in Sec. 355, (3).

(2)Exclamatory:"I a philosopher! Iadvancepretensions;" "'Heto die!' resumed the bishop." (See also Sec. 268, 4.)

364.In analyzing simple sentences, give—

(1) The predicate. If it is an incomplete verb, give the complement (Secs. 344 and 350) and its modifiers (Sec. 351).

(2) The object of the verb (Sec. 349).

(3) Modifiers of the object (Sec. 351).

(4) Modifiers of the predicate (Sec. 352).

(5) The subject (Sec. 347).

(6) Modifiers of the subject (Sec. 351).

(7) Independent elements (Sec. 355).

This is not the same order that the parts of the sentence usually have; but it is believed that the student will proceed more easily by finding the predicate with its modifiers, object, etc., and then finding the subject by placing the questionwhoorwhatbefore it.

Analyze the following according to the directions given:—

1. Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour.2. I will try to keep the balance true.3. The questions of Whence? What? and Whither? and the solution of these, must be in a life, not in a book.4. The ward meetings on election days are not softened by any misgiving of the value of these ballotings.5. Our English Bible is a wonderful specimen of the strength and music of the English language.6. Through the years and the centuries, through evil agents, through toys and atoms, a great and beneficent tendency irresistibly streams.7. To be hurried away by every event, is to have no political system at all.8. This mysticism the ancients called ecstasy,—a getting-out of their bodies to think.9. He risked everything, and spared nothing, neither ammunition, nor money, nor troops, nor generals, nor himself.10. We are always in peril, always in a bad plight, just on the edge of destruction, and only to be saved by invention and courage.11. His opinion is always original, and to the purpose.12. To these gifts of nature, Napoleon added the advantage of having been born to a private and humble fortune.13.The water, like a witch's oils,Burnt green and blue and white.14. We one day descried some shapeless object floating at a distance.15.Old Adam, the carrion crow,The old crow of Cairo;He sat in the shower, and let it flowUnder his tail and over his crest.16. It costs no more for a wise soul to convey his quality to other men.17. It is easy to sugar to be sweet.18. At times the black volume of clouds overhead seemed rent asunder by flashes of lightning.19. The whole figure and air, good and amiable otherwise, might be called flabby and irresolute.20. I have heard Coleridge talk, with eager energy, two stricken hours, and communicate no meaning whatsoever to any individual.21. The wordconsciencehas become almost confined, in popular use, to the moral sphere.22. You may ramble a whole day together, and every moment discover something new.23. She had grown up amidst the liberal culture of Henry's court a bold horsewoman, a good shot, a graceful dancer, a skilled musician, an accomplished scholar.24. Her aims were simple and obvious,—to preserve her throne, to keep England out of war, to restore civil and religious order.25.Fair name might he have handed down,Effacing many a stain of former crime.26. Of the same grandeur, in less heroic and poetic form, was the patriotism of Peel in recent history.27. Oxford, ancient mother! hoary with ancestral honors, time-honored, and, haply, time-shattered power—I owe thee nothing!28. The villain, I hate him and myself, to be a reproach to such goodness.29. I dare this, upon my own ground, and in my own garden, to bid you leave the place now and forever.30. Upon this shore stood, ready to receive her, in front of all this mighty crowd, the prime minister of Spain, the same Condé Olivarez.31. Great was their surprise to see a young officer in uniform stretched within the bushes upon the ground.32. She had made a two days' march, baggage far in the rear, and no provisions but wild berries.33. This amiable relative, an elderly man, had but one foible, or perhaps one virtue, in this world.34. Now, it would not have been filial or ladylike.35. Supposing this computation to be correct, it must have been in the latitude of Boston, the present capital of New England.36. The cry, "A strange vessel close aboard the frigate!" having already flown down the hatches, the ship was in an uproar.37.But yield, proud foe, thy fleetWith the crews at England's feet.38. Few in number, and that number rapidly perishing away through sickness and hardships; surrounded by a howling wilderness and savage tribes; exposed to the rigors of an almost arctic winter,—their minds were filled with doleful forebodings.39. List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest.40.In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas,Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand-PréLay in the fruitful valley.41. Must we in all things look for the how, and the why, and the wherefore?

1. Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour.

2. I will try to keep the balance true.

3. The questions of Whence? What? and Whither? and the solution of these, must be in a life, not in a book.

4. The ward meetings on election days are not softened by any misgiving of the value of these ballotings.

5. Our English Bible is a wonderful specimen of the strength and music of the English language.

6. Through the years and the centuries, through evil agents, through toys and atoms, a great and beneficent tendency irresistibly streams.

7. To be hurried away by every event, is to have no political system at all.

8. This mysticism the ancients called ecstasy,—a getting-out of their bodies to think.

9. He risked everything, and spared nothing, neither ammunition, nor money, nor troops, nor generals, nor himself.

10. We are always in peril, always in a bad plight, just on the edge of destruction, and only to be saved by invention and courage.

11. His opinion is always original, and to the purpose.

12. To these gifts of nature, Napoleon added the advantage of having been born to a private and humble fortune.

13.

The water, like a witch's oils,Burnt green and blue and white.

14. We one day descried some shapeless object floating at a distance.

15.

Old Adam, the carrion crow,The old crow of Cairo;He sat in the shower, and let it flowUnder his tail and over his crest.

16. It costs no more for a wise soul to convey his quality to other men.

17. It is easy to sugar to be sweet.

18. At times the black volume of clouds overhead seemed rent asunder by flashes of lightning.

19. The whole figure and air, good and amiable otherwise, might be called flabby and irresolute.

20. I have heard Coleridge talk, with eager energy, two stricken hours, and communicate no meaning whatsoever to any individual.

21. The wordconsciencehas become almost confined, in popular use, to the moral sphere.

22. You may ramble a whole day together, and every moment discover something new.

23. She had grown up amidst the liberal culture of Henry's court a bold horsewoman, a good shot, a graceful dancer, a skilled musician, an accomplished scholar.

24. Her aims were simple and obvious,—to preserve her throne, to keep England out of war, to restore civil and religious order.

25.

Fair name might he have handed down,Effacing many a stain of former crime.

26. Of the same grandeur, in less heroic and poetic form, was the patriotism of Peel in recent history.

27. Oxford, ancient mother! hoary with ancestral honors, time-honored, and, haply, time-shattered power—I owe thee nothing!

28. The villain, I hate him and myself, to be a reproach to such goodness.

29. I dare this, upon my own ground, and in my own garden, to bid you leave the place now and forever.

30. Upon this shore stood, ready to receive her, in front of all this mighty crowd, the prime minister of Spain, the same Condé Olivarez.

31. Great was their surprise to see a young officer in uniform stretched within the bushes upon the ground.

32. She had made a two days' march, baggage far in the rear, and no provisions but wild berries.

33. This amiable relative, an elderly man, had but one foible, or perhaps one virtue, in this world.

34. Now, it would not have been filial or ladylike.

35. Supposing this computation to be correct, it must have been in the latitude of Boston, the present capital of New England.

36. The cry, "A strange vessel close aboard the frigate!" having already flown down the hatches, the ship was in an uproar.

37.

But yield, proud foe, thy fleetWith the crews at England's feet.

38. Few in number, and that number rapidly perishing away through sickness and hardships; surrounded by a howling wilderness and savage tribes; exposed to the rigors of an almost arctic winter,—their minds were filled with doleful forebodings.

39. List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest.

40.

In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas,Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand-PréLay in the fruitful valley.

41. Must we in all things look for the how, and the why, and the wherefore?

Words left out afterthanoras.

365.Some sentences look like simple ones in form, but have an essential part omitted that is so readily supplied by the mind as not to need expressing. Such are the following:—

"There is no country more worthy of our study than England [is worthy of our study].""The distinctions between them do not seem to be so marked as [they are marked] in the cities."

"There is no country more worthy of our study than England [is worthy of our study]."

"The distinctions between them do not seem to be so marked as [they are marked] in the cities."

To show that these words are really omitted, compare with them the two following:—

"The nobility and gentry are more popular among the inferior orders thanthey arein any other country.""This is not so universally the case at present asit wasformerly."

"The nobility and gentry are more popular among the inferior orders thanthey arein any other country."

"This is not so universally the case at present asit wasformerly."

Sentences withlike.

366.As shown in Part I. (Sec. 333). the expressionsof mannerintroduced bylike, though often treated as phrases, are really contracted clauses; but, if they were expanded,aswould be the connective instead oflike; thus,—

"They'll shine o'er her sleep, like [as] a smile from the west [would shine].From her own loved island of sorrow."

This must, however, be carefully discriminated from cases wherelikeis an adjective complement; as,—

"She islikesome tender tree, the pride and beauty of the grove;" "The ruby seemedlikea spark of fire burning upon her white bosom."

Such contracted sentences form a connecting link between our study of simple and complex sentences.

The simple sentence the basis.

367.Our investigations have now included all the machinery of the simple sentence, which is theunit of speech.

Our further study will be in sentences which are combinations of simple sentences, made merely for convenience and smoothness, to avoid the tiresome repetition of short ones of monotonous similarity.

Next to the simple sentence stands the complex sentence. The basis of it is two or more simple sentences, which are so united that one member is the main one,—the backbone,—the other members subordinate to it, or dependent on it; as in this sentence,—

"When such a spirit breaks forth into complaint, we are aware how great must be the suffering that extorts the murmur."

The relation of the parts is as follows:—

This arrangement shows to the eye the picture that the sentence forms in the mind,—how the first clause is held in suspense by the mind till the second,we are aware, is taken in; then we recognize this as the main statement; and the next one,how great ... suffering, drops into its place as subordinate towe are aware; and the last,that ... murmur, logically depends onsuffering.

Hence the following definition:—

Definition.

368.Acomplex sentenceis one containing one main or independent clause (also called the principal proposition or clause), andone or moresubordinate or dependent clauses.

369.Theelementsof a complex sentence are the same as those of the simple sentence; that is, each clause has its subject, predicate, object, complements, modifiers, etc.

But there is this difference: whereas the simple sentence always has a word or a phrase for subject, object, complement, and modifier, the complex sentence hasstatementsorclausesfor these places.

Definition.

370.A clause is a division of a sentence, containing a verb with its subject.

Hence the termclausemay refer to the main division of the complex sentence, or it may be applied to the others,—the dependent or subordinate clauses.

Independent clause.

371.Aprincipal, main, orindependent clauseis one making a statement without the help of any other clause.

Dependent clause.

Asubordinateordependent clauseis one which makes a statement depending upon or modifying some word in the principal clause.

Kinds.

372.As to their office in the sentence, clauses are divided into NOUN, ADJECTIVE, and ADVERB clauses, according as they are equivalent in use to nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

Noun Clauses.

373.Noun clauses have the following uses:—

(1)Subject: "That such men should give prejudiced views of Americais not a matter of surprise."

(2)Object of a verb,verbal,or the equivalent of a verb: (a) "I confessthese stories, for a time, put an end to my fancies;" (b) "I am aware [I know]that a skillful illustrator of the immortal bard would have swelled the materials."

Just as the object noun, pronoun, infinitive, etc., is retained after a passive verb (Sec. 352, 5), so the object clause is retained, and should not be called an adjunct of the subject; for example, "We are persuadedthat a thread runs through all things;" "I was toldthat the house had not been shut, night or day, for a hundred years."

(3)Complement: "The terms of admission to this spectacle are,that he have a certain solid and intelligible way of living."

(4)Apposition. (a) Ordinary apposition, explanatory of some noun or its equivalent: "Cecil's saying of Sir Walter Raleigh, 'I know that he can toil terribly,' is an electric touch."

(b) After "itintroductory" (logically this is a subject clause, but it is often treated as in apposition withit): "Itwas the opinion of some,that this might be the wild huntsman famous in German legend."

(5)Object of a preposition: "At length he reached towhere the ravine had opened through the cliffs."

Notice that frequently only the introductoryword is the object of the preposition, and the whole clause is not; thus, "The rocks presented a high impenetrable wall,over whichthe torrent came tumbling."

374.Here are to be noticed certain sentences seemingly complex, with a noun clause in apposition withit; but logically they are nothing but simple sentences. But since they arecomplex in form, attention is called to them here; for example,—

"Alas! it is we ourselves that are getting buried alive under this avalanche of earthly impertinences."

To divide this into two clauses—(a)It is we ourselves, (b)that are ... impertinences—would be grammatical; but logically the sentence is,We ourselves are getting ... impertinences, andit is ... thatis merely a framework used to effect emphasis. The sentence shows howitmay lose its pronominal force.

Other examples of this construction are,—

"It is on the understanding, and not on the sentiment, of a nation, that all safe legislation must be based.""Then it is that deliberative Eloquence lays aside the plain attire of her daily occupation."

"It is on the understanding, and not on the sentiment, of a nation, that all safe legislation must be based."

"Then it is that deliberative Eloquence lays aside the plain attire of her daily occupation."

Tell how each noun clause is used in these sentences:—

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