The Grammar of English Grammars Part 176

and shall he not make it good?"--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 353; 12mo, 277; _Hiley's_, 139; _Hart's_, 181. "_Hath the Lord said it? and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken it? and shall he not make it good_?"--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 113; _Bullions's_, 176.

"Who calls the council, states the certain day?

Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way."

--_Brit. Poets_, vi, 376.

UNDER RULE III.--QUESTIONS INDIRECT.

"To be, or not to be?--that is the question."--_Enfield's Sp._, p. 367; _Kirkham's Eloc._, 123.[466]

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the note of interrogation is here set after an expression which has neither the form nor the nature of a direct question. But, according to Rule 3d for the Eroteme, "When a question is mentioned, but not put directly as a question, it loses both the quality and the sign of interrogation." Therefore, the semicolon, which seems adapted to the pause, should here be preferred.]

"If it be asked, why a pause should any more be necessary to emphasis than to an accent? or why an emphasis alone, will not sufficiently distinguish the members of sentences from each other, without pauses, as accent does words? the answer is obvious; that we are pre-acquainted with the sound of words, and cannot mistake them when distinctly p.r.o.nounced, however rapidly; but we are not pre-acquainted with the meaning of sentences, which must be pointed out to us by the reader or speaker."--_Sheridan's Rhet. Gram._, p.

lvi.

"Cry, By your Priesthood tell me what you are?"

--POPE: _British Poets_, London, 1800, Vol. vi, p. 411.

MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"Who else can he be. Where else can he go."--_S. Barrett's Gram._, 1845, p.

71. "In familiar language _here, there_ and _where_ are used for _hither, thither_ and _whither_."--_N. Butler's Gram._, p. 183. "Take, for instance, this sentence, 'Indolence undermines the foundation of virtue.'"--_Hart's Gram._, p. 106. "Take, for instance, the sentence before quoted.

'_Indolence_ undermines the foundation of virtue.'"--_Ib._, p. 110. "Under the same head are considered such sentences as these, '_he_ that heareth, let him hear,' 'Gad, a troop shall overcome him,' &c."--_Ib._, p. 108.

"TENSES are certain modifications of the verb which point out the distinctions of time."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 38; _Pract. Les._, p. 44.

"Calm was the day and the scene delightful."--_Id. E. Gr._, p. 80. "The capital letters used by the Romans to denote numbers, were C. I. L. V. X.

which are therefore called Numeral Letters. I, denotes _one_; V, _five_: X, _ten_; L, _fifty_; and C, a hundred."--_Id., Lat. Gram._, p. 56. "'I shall have written;' viz, at or before some future time or event."--_Id., ib._, p. 89. "In Latin words the liquids are _l_ and _r_ only. In Greek words _l, r, m, n_."--_Id., ib._, p. 277. "Each legion was divided into ten cohorts, each cohort into three maniples, and each maniple into two centuries."--_Id., ib._, p. 300. "Of the Roman literature previous to A. U.

514 scarcely a vestige remains."--_Id., ib._, p. 312.

"And that, which He delights in must be happy.

But when!--or where!--This world was made for Caesar."

--_Burgh's Sp._, p. 122.

"And that which he delights in must be happy.

But when, or where? This world was made for Caesar."

--_Enfield's Sp._, p. 321.

"Look next on greatness. Say, where greatness lies?

Where but among the heroes and the wise."

--_Burgh's Sp._, p. 91.

"Look next on greatness! say where greatness lies.

Where, but among the heroes and the wise?"

--_Essay on Man_, p. 51.

"Look next on Greatness; say where Greatness lies: Where, but among the Heroes and the Wise?"

--_Brit. Poets_, vi, 380.

SECTION VII--THE ECPHONEME.

The Ecphoneme, or Note of Exclamation, is used to denote a pause with some strong emotion of admiration, joy, grief, or other feeling; and, as a sign of great wonder, it is sometimes, though not very elegantly, repeated: as, "Grammatical consistency!!! What a gem!"--_Peirce's Gram._, p. 352.

RULE I.--INTERJECTIONS, &c.

Emphatic interjections, and other expressions of great emotion, are generally followed by the note of exclamation; as, "Hold! hold! Is the devil in you? Oh! I am bruised all over."--MOLIERE: _Burgh's Speaker_, p.

250.

"And O! till earth, and seas, and heav'n decay, Ne'er may that fair creation fade away!"--_Dr. Lowth_.

RULE II.--INVOCATIONS.

After an earnest address or solemn invocation, the note of exclamation is now generally preferred to any other point; as, "Whereupon, O king Agrippa!

I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision."--_Acts_, xxvi, 19.

"Be witness thou, immortal Lord of all!

Whose thunder shakes the dark aerial hall."--_Pope_.

RULE III.--EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS.

Words uttered with vehemence in the form of a question, but without reference to an answer, should be followed by the note of exclamation; as, "How madly have I talked!"--_Young_.

"An Author! 'Tis a venerable name!

How few deserve it, and what numbers claim!"

--_Id., Br. Po._, viii, 401.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE ECPHONEME.

UNDER RULE I.--OF INTERJECTIONS, &c.

(1.) "O that he were wise."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 111.

[FORMULE. Not proper, because this strong wish, introduced by "O," is merely marked with a period. But, according to Rule 1st for the Ecphoneme, "Emphatic interjections, and other expressions of great emotion, are generally followed by the note of exclamation." Therefore, the pause after this sentence, should be marked with the latter sign; and, if the "O" be read with a pause, the same sign may be there also.]

(2.) "O that his heart was tender."--_Exercises, ib._, p. 111. (3.) "_Oh_, what a sight is here!"--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 48. (4.) "Oh! what a sight is here."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 71; (Obs. 2;) _Pract. Les._, p. 83. (5.) "O virtue! How amiable thou art."--_Id._,, p. 71; _Pract. Les._, p. 82.

(6.) "O _virtue_! how amiable thou art."--_Day's Gram._, p. 109. (7.) "O, virtue! how amiable thou art."--_S. Putnam's Gram._, p. 53. (8.) "_Oh!_ virtue, how amiable thou art!"--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 191; _O. B.

Peirce's_, 375. (9.) "_O_ virtue! how amiable thou art!"--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 126. (10.) "Oh! that I had been more diligent."--_Hart's Gram._, p. 167; see _Hiley's_, 117. (11.) "O! the humiliation to which vice reduces us."--_Farnum's Gram._, p. 12; _Murray's Ex._, p. 5. (12.) "O! that he were more prudent."--_Farnum's Gram._, p. 81. (13.) "Ah! me."--_P. Davis's Gram._, p. 79. (14.) "Ah me!"--_Ib._, p. 122. (15.) "Lately alas I knew a gentle boy," _&c.--The Dial_, Vol. i, p. 71.

(16.) "Wo is me Alhama."--_Wells's School Gram._, 1st Ed., p. 190.

(17.) "Wo is me, Alhama."--_Ibid._, "113th Thousand," p. 206.