A Plea for the Queen's English. [2 ed.]

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— ——

8

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH,

1?

into a question, the shall assumes a ludicrous

form, because of the deliberative aspect given to the sentence; and

looks as

it

the person

if

putting the question had the option whether

he would destroy the universe or 11

whfchi seems

to

Five years ago I was visiting Loch

^25.

M aree

not.

n R ss-shire, with my family. We took a " trap " from the comfortable inn at j

^

Kinloch-Ewe, and lunched and sketched on the

cliffs,

about twelve miles down the lake.

When

our time was nearly up, our Highland

driver

appeared in the distance, shouting,

" Will I

yauk him?" which, being

interpreted,

to say, " Shall I harness the

meant

how even

I hardly see

pony ? "

Dr. Latham's explana-

tion will account for the usage here.*

* I venture to insert the following intelligent Irish correspondent

" Your

rules for the use of 'shall*

me, as far as they

go,

"I. No rule

is

'

will'

i

wilV seem to

But

I observe

down

:

for the use of these

In Ireland the tendency

in interrogation.

use of

and

the most simple and satisfactory

laid

I have ever read.

remarks of a very

:

in every case.

I

is

to

il

"

l

Will you?-

'Shall

is

youV

make

have collected several

examples from English writers which seem to suggest the following rules

words

me

a request.

a simple question as to the future

event. '*

'

Will he?

" Shall c

he

1

V

to

:

a simple question.

means

i

do you wish that he

shall.'

'

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

We

226.

179

often find persons using super-

&e

^p e ^ uous

^f^

prepositions in their Ka

fluous conjunctions or

that."

" Will IV is always incoiTect. Ui Shall IV has two meanings: '

1st,

asks the

it

simple question as to the future event, v.g., 'shall of age next

V

shall

month V

v.g.,

You

"II.

'

2nd,

it

asks,

you friend

shall I call

be

I

/

do you wish that

'

?

say nothing of the use of these words in

the secondary clauses of such sentences as the following

:

" He hopes that he shall not be thought,' &c. " He walked into a church knowing well he should '

'

find,'

&c.

"Phrases of

kind occur very frequently, and, I countrymen would be found to use will and would instead of shall and should. I may add this

think, almost all

that, as it

would

set

my

seems to

them

me nothing

found in your book

to be

right on this point, I

following principle for such cases

:

would propose the

—If we report in our

own words what another has said, or thought, or known, felt, we must use that verb which he would have used

or

speaking in the

if,

person, be

first

had himself related

the circumstance. * III. There is to be found almost every day in the Times (second column) a curious illustration of the dis'

tinction

between

i

and

shall'

advertises for a lost article

'will.'

When

we sometimes

person brings, &c, he shall be rewarded

we

find,

seem

t

a reward will be given.'

to be

The future

at fault.

giving of the reward,

is

Now

a person

read,

i

If

here your rules

event,

namely, the

dependent upon the will of the

speaker in the latter case as well as in the former. the rule hold good, therefore, shall be given.'

Yet

any

sometimes

:'

we might

say,

'

A

If

reward

this is never said."

list of exceptions menwhere the result is so spoken " A reward shall be of as not contingent but certain.

[This seems to

fall

under the

tioned in paragraph 214

;

N

2

t

;

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

180

usual talk.

Two

than others.

One

verb will

is

both found in print and heard " but "

The

in conversation.

necessary,

the use of but after the

" I do not doubt but that he

to doubt.

come,"

more frequent

cases are is

is

wholly un-

" I do not

and a vulgarism.

doubt

that he will come," expresses precisely the

same "onto."

thing,

and should always be used.

The same may be

227.

on

pression

the chair

"The

to.

said

cat

of the ex-

jumped on

to

" the to being wholly unneeded,

and never used by any

writer

careful

or

speaker. Defence of

Few xpoints mentioned in these "notes"

228.

it.

have provoked so much rejoinder as this reprobation of "on

to."

defenders, to be

It seems, to judge

an

especial favourite.

plea usually set up for

out "

to

by its many

The

that " on " with-

it is,

" does not sufficiently express motion :

that " the cat jumped on the chair n would

imply merely that the

cat,

already, there jumped.

being on the chair

To

this I

have but

may who is disposed to invent them ; but that they do mean

one answer; that no doubt the words

mean

this, to

meanings given,"

mined

:

is

for

one

the subjective dictum of

"a

him who has

reward will be given,"

is

the

so deterobjective

future certainty, the determination being lost sight of.]

;

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. "The

surely not true.

this, is

cat

181

jumped on

Who

the table, and began to lap the milk."

would ever misunderstand

this

Take an

1

man, I'm very

tired,

and

but I've got no money in right,

my

ever

a schoolboy

lad,

be late in

I shall

my

in-

"Coach-

cident of one's schoolboy long walks.

"All

pocket."

jump on the box." Was there who would fail to com-

prehend this 1 *

"on to" One correspondent asks why x *

229. is

not as good English as "into?"

"on"

because

is

whereas "in"

rest,

almost entirely a preposition of

mon

I answer,

ordinarily a preposition of

motion as well as of

on, to light on,

"onto" and "into."

and the

like,

is

To fall

rest.

are very com-

and we are thus prepared

for the use

of on to signify motion without an additional preposition.

229a. It will be manifest, that the diuxta'

position of " on"

and "

to" in

* Since the publication of the

such a sentence edition, several

first

correspondents have again vehemently controverted the

and I have been even urged to and confess myself in the wrong. I am

opinion here expressed

withdraw

it

afraid, therefore, that

very obstinate for

still

:

my

correspondents will think

maintaining

ing, that I cannot conceive

towards

is

view

:

"on

"on," or at

me

and say-

signification of

gained by the vulgarism

not already conveyed by

"ftpon."

what

my

motion

to" which all

is

events by

" holding onto."

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

182

as this,

"she continued holding on

door of the carriage," within the

scope

is

The

remarks.

these

of

" on" in this case belongs to the verb " holding-on to" 1

'

on "and

230.

How

the

to

not an example

and

:

equivalent to " clinging

is

to."

do our usages of "on"

and

upon.

" upon " differ

we

In the very few cases where

%

recognise any difference, the question

may

be answered by observing the composition of the latter word.

It

almost always, as the

dictionaries

observe,

stratum

something

;

"

thing spoken

" implies

that

But then

of.

some

sub-

underlies

the

so does also the

shorter preposition in most cases.

There

is

hardly an instance to be found of which

it

could positively be said, that we

may

use the

may

not use the other.

find one,

when we say that a

diver, describing his trip

beneath the water,

one preposition and

Perhaps we

may

would hardly report that he "saw

several

rusty guns lying upon the bottom," but " lying on the bottom." 231.

A

correspondent sends

me what

he

supposes to be an account of the distinction,

but

I believe it to

would

(should

?)

be an erroneous one. say,

c

upon a tower

; '

" I

on

the same principle, I would (should?) say, '

on a marsh.'

There would, indeed, be no

"

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. harm

in saying

'

on a tower

;

182

but there

'

would be an impropriety in saying

marsh

for

; '

up whether we

'

upon a

are attentive or

9

whether we have been a thousand

inattentive,

times wrong or never, means somewhat high,

somewhat

to

which we ascend.

speak correctly

upon me

if I said,

incorrectly,

:

'

should

I

Dr. Johnson flew

'

l

I said,

if

he

fell

upon me.' 232.

The

me

error here seems to

motion previous

to,

to be in

by up

referring the height indicated

to the

not to the position indi-

cated by, the action spoken

We

of.

cannot say " upon the bottom ever because we do not

;

"

perhaps

not how-

to get there, but

rise

because the bottom, being of necessity the lowest point, has nothing beneath reference to which

correspondent's last

upon me" would be at 1

Kings

ii.

with

it

my

high.

And

as to

dictum,

that

"he fell him look

it is

incorrect, let

25, 34, 46, in

which places

it is

said of Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei, respectively, that Benaiah, the

son of Jehoiada, "fell

upon him that he died." 233.

The expression "

open tip"

to

is

aTo" open up."

very favourite one with our newspapers.

may

have, as several of

insist,

my

a certain meaning of

It

correspondents

its

own, though

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH,

184

am

I

even now unable to

where

I

have found

it,

"open" would not be which

see, in

any case

the simple word

better.

The meaning

designed to convey, seems to be,

it is

to open for the

first

A railway

open.

why

is

time,

— to

break up and

said to open

up a com-

munication between two places not so connected before.

Thus

used, the

term may be

endured, but, surely, should not be imitated.

As

to

the instances from

"

Good Words,"

which have been produced against I

were responsible for them,

"He

me

as if

opens

up

n the parched desert a well that refreshes us ;" " These considerations

may

open up to

us one view of the expediency of Christ's departure;" I can only regard them as Scotticisms,

which certainly would not have been

written south of the Tweed. 234.

The

parallel

which the defenders of

the expression have drawn between open up

and

rise

up,

seeing that

grow up, in

these

is

hardly a just one,

cases

the adverb,

or

intransitive preposition, up, gives us the ten-

dency in which the progressive action cated

even

indi-

by the neuter verb takes place; and if it

precision.

do not that,

More

intensifies

apposite

and gives

parallels

would

have been found in rip up, tear up, pull

V

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. where up defines the active verb

up,

more up,

decisive one

still,

where up implies the

we ought

reason

term, and

opposite

we

shut

up a communi-

to

open

it

down rather

inappropriateness will be per-

its

A

ceived.

the

Put the word with any analogous

than up.

promotes,

the

If

open.

to

cation,

a

finality

hardly be used with

word

;

shut

and

should

;

to

for this

closing

and

act

indicated

term

in the

of the

say

185

new railway the

traffic

;

expands,

develops,

but we

could

not

develops up, expands up, promotes up,

it

traffic.

235.

Which

best.

is

"at

right, °

best'

9

or "at the " at

not stand alone involved in

;

several other phrases are It

it.

affects

"at

least,"

"at

most," " at furthest," and even such very

common

expressions as "at

first,"

and "at

last."

The answer,

it

seems to me,

is,

that the

insertion or omission of the definite article indifferent. its

omission before the very

;

"

adjective

this

common

super-

"most," "least," "fur-

but when we in

is

Usage has generally sanctioned

latives, "first," "last,"

thest

best,"

"at the It is plain that this question does bes t"

9

put

a

construction,

less

the

usual article

seems to be required, or a possessive pro-

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

186

noun

"The storm was at the (or, its ") highest at noon ; " " What is woman at her loveliest ? " And we somein its place.

"

times

out the phrase with the article

fill

when we want solemn

it

to be

more than usually

" If he did not love his father, at

:

the least he might have honoured him." the last" Bible

never

eight times

;

three times

;

Sam.

once « ail

of

we may " at

;

first,"

trust the con-

the

never

Luke 27)

" at the least," is

found twice

42) ; "at the most," but " at most," never.

xix. ;

of them," " both of them."

or not?

things,

When

I

These

Are they

expressions are often challenged. right,

twenty-

first," ;

while " at least "

xxi. 4,

236." All

of

" at

(1 Cor. xiv.

them,"

"both

last," if

cordances,

(1

At

found six times in the English

is

"at

;

"

have a number of

and speak of " one of them," " two of

them," "the rest of them," the preposition " of" has what It

may

among."

is

called its partitive sense.

be explained by " out

or

of,"

Thus, " one of them "

is

"from

" one from

among them ; " " two of them " is " two from among them " " the rest of them " is " all from among them that do not belong to ;

those already named." of

them " cannot be

But,

it is

" all from

because there would be none

urged, " all

among them," left.

Neither

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

187

can " both of them " be said of two, because

when you have taken

both, there

is

nothing

left.

But

237.

let

certain that the

us examine

Is

this.

it

so

"of" in the phrases "all of

them," "both of them," has the same meaning as the " of " in the phrases " one of them,"

"two

of them,"

for " all of

and

"some

them," put

for that, " the

sum

"

of them"'?

Let

us,

the whole of them,"

total of them," or, as

our newspapers would say, "the entirety of

them."

Now

these

good grammar, and that the "of"

is

it

mean

does not

" consisting of

"sum "

"a

"

manifest that any one of

from among" but

:" is

total," or

The sum

is

"entirety,"

total of

them,"

pint of beer."

Why

them," or " both of them the objection here

is,

because

it

had

of quantity.

not, then,

"

%

The

"all of

fallacy of

the assuming for the it

that

phrases apparently similar.

the

is

as legitimate as

is

preposition a sense which just

implies

spoken of the quality, as

need not have, sense

some

in

In other words,

mistake was, being misled by a

false

analogy.

237a.

"A

gallows fifty & 9 8 J cubits high,"

gallows of fifty cubits high"? expression is used in Esther

vii.

or,'

"a

The former

"fifty cubits high," or

"°f

fifty

9; the latter high"?

:

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

188

Clearly, both of these are

in Esther v. 14.

A

legitimate.

may

cubits, it is

high,

gallows whose height

is

fifty

be said to be " fifty cubits high "

and the measure of that height

is

Thus we have "a mile wide":

fifty cubits.

" ten thousand fathoms deep." Also, the same gallows

may

be said to be "of

fifty

cubits"

the " of" being used, as

(high, or, in height)

:

in the phrases " she

was of the age of twelve

years" (Mark ii.

v. 42),

"of a great age" (Luke

36), to indicate the class or standard of the

object spoken

The gallows

of.

is

high,

and

belongs to that class of things whose height is fifty cubits.

Adverb between "to' and the

238. usage,

A

correspondent states as his

and defends, the insertion of an adverb

infinitive

between the sign of the

He

the verb.

entirely

and

writers.

regard the

from

its

to

infinitive

mood and

gives as an instance, " to scien-

tifically illustrate"

tice

own

But surely

unknown It

this is a prac-

to English speakers

seems to me, that we ever

of the infinitive as inseparable

verb.

And when we have

already

a choice between two forms of expression, " scientifically to illustrate," scientifically,"

flying in the face of 'going" and coming." ;

'

and "to

illustrate

there seems no good reason

common

for

usage.

239. In a letter bearing after its address,

;;

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. "N*. B., 5

"I

am

'

am

I

asked whether the expression

coming to pay you a visit"

whether

correct

is

ought not rather to be "I

it

going to pay you a visit is

189

:

"

and the question

am

extended to the reply, "I

when any one

calls

which is

;

be incorrect, and

still

by

I

"directly."

more

:

am

coming,"

supposed to

also

when

so

followed

mentioned the address of

the letter to account in some measure for the inquiry

me

seems to

for it

;

to be one which

we Southrons should never have thought In both

making.

the former,

coming

cases,

we might use

is

In

right.

going, but

it

of

would

be in the temporal sense, not in that of

But

motion.

going at

all, if

we

indicated approach to the

An

person calling. for setting

we could not say

in the other,

apology

down things

but the doing so

may

sort of usages prevail

is

almost required

so simple

and obvious

serve to

show what

and are upheld

in

some

portions of our realm. 240.

When

I

used, in the early part

"

of

these notes, the colloquial expression would

have come

to grief,

censors that

gone

to grief.

it

I

was told by one of

my

ought to have been would have It is not easy, perhaps, to treat

according to strict rule what

is

almost a slang

phrase, or has but lately ceased to be one

^,et0

r

;

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

190 I

still,

venture to think that

We

of our usage. to

go

an end

to

villain,

say

to

we say

;

chose,

come

grief

to

come

the

to

we might

to

is

an end, not

young

of a desperate

that he will come

that he will go

we

to

more according to the analogy

of the two the

to

the gallows, not

Indeed,

gallows.

if

illustrate the difference

between the two expressions, by saying what I fear is often true of the effect of

our public

executions, that going to the gallows likely to other uses of

241. This use of go

"go" and

"come."

end

We

curious.

went to pieces

came to leaf,

is

but too

in coming to the gallows.

and come

rather

is

say of a wrecked ship, that she ;

but of a crushed jug, that

pieces.

it

Plants come up, come into

come into flower

;

they go out of flower.

but they go to It

may

seed,

be that in

we regard the above-ground state as which we ourselves are, and the being

this case

that in in leaf

and

in flower as those in

which we

wish them to be, and like to think of them

and

so the passing into those states

of approach to us

:

is

a kind

whereas the state of seed

being one leading to decay, and beyond what is

our own place and feeling as regards flowers,

they seem to depart from us in passing into it.

Thus the sun

goes in behind a cloud,

comes out from behind

it.

and

But we are not

"

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. He

consistent in speaking of the sun.

down

to go

up

in the evening

;

191 is

said

but never to come

in the morning.

And

2i2.

very minute shades of meaning

are sometimes conveyed

by the use

You

other of these verbs.

a public meeting with a friend will

be there.

If

you say

of one or

are talking about

to

who you know him " I shall

not come to the meeting," you identify him

with those who get up the meeting, and

imply that he If

there.

is

you

desirous

you should join him

say, " I shall not go to the

meeting," you tacitly ignore the fact of his

being about to attend, and half imply that

he would do well to stay away

you coming

to church to-day

the questioner to-day or

is

]

"

To

"Yes:

" implies that

whether he

this latter question one

are

" Are

also.

Are you going to church

" implies nothing as to

not.

rejoin,

is ;

?

you?" but not

is

might

so to the

former.

243. In nothing do

we

find

more frequent

isuse of '

mistakes in writers commonly careful, than in using the accusative case of a relative pro-

noun where the nominative ought

A correspondent, for

instance, describing

he thinks the disastrous cacy of "

it is

me"

to be used.

says,

effects of

my

what advo-

" I have heard per-

whom.

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

192

sons

whom

knew were

I

the form /it

say instead,

is I,'

Here, the mistake

in the habit of using '

it

"I

very evident.

is

me.'

is

"

knew"

merely parenthetical, put in by way of

is

—

voucher for the fact

•"

persons who, I knew,

The writer might have

were."

I knew

to

he" or "

have 'been

to

;

said,

"whom

" but as the

sentence stands, who must be the nominative case to the verb were.

A

244.

still

worse example occurred in the

Times a short time

since, in translating the

Count de Montalembert's famous speech favour of liberty of conscience.

perhaps be hard to speech cial

criticise

in

would

It

a report of a

but the sentence was quoted for espe-

;

comment

and no

in the leading article,

correction was made.

It ran thus

:

" The

gag forced into the mouth of whomsoever lifts

up

his voice with a pure heart to preach

his faith, that gag I feel between lips,

and

245. is

I

Now

clear that

right.

my own

shudder with pain."

The

in this sentence, first of all

"whomsoever

lifts"

indefinite relative

pronoun ought

to be the nominative case to the verb

and therefore ought

it

cannot be

to be whosoever

lifts,

and not

whomsoever. 24:6.

But

then,

how about

the construe-

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. tion

an

"

?

The mouth

of whosoever

Filled up,

elliptical clause.

mouth of him whosoever pletely,

In "

its

193

lifts" or,

"

lifts

will

it

is

be " the

more com-

"of him whosoever he he that lifts" shortened form we have the object,

him"

But we must not

omitted.

visit this

omission on the unfortunate relative pronoun

which

follows,

and degrade

in the sentence

by making

from

it it

place

its

do the work of

the missing member.

A

247. pression

own

I

" different to"

was not aware of

common tion

correspondent stigmatises the ex-

which he shows

Of course such a combina-

of late.

" Compare,"

says

English words

this

writer,

compounded

Latin preposition, for example, tinct,'

and analogy.

entirely against all reason

is

and

it

will

(I

has become very

it)

" any

other

this

same

of (

distant/

be seen that 'from'

is

\

dis-

the

only appropriate term to be employed in con-

The same

nection with them." I -venture to add,

" to differ"

which in joined.

fact is only

Taylor's

be seen,

by substituting the verb

in the places

For instance,

from Mr.

will

its

where "different" participle, is

thus

in the sentence quoted

Convent

Life

in

Italy,

" Michael Angelo planned a totally different

facade to the existing one,"

make

this substio

"different

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

-194

tution,

and read

" Michael Angelo planned

it,

a facade which totally differed to the existing one," respect (or, regard) of,"

&c

and the error

be immediately seen.

will

" in respect to" "with 248. " In respect of" ± J i

"in

•>

respect to

:

" which of these

right

is

The

?

question extends also to " in regard of" " in

For

regard to" " with regard to" regard,

though

when spoken

of as feelings of the mind, yet

in their primitive meaning,

treated

may be

which

it

will

that

now

be found that of and

indifferently used after these words.

Both words have the same act of looking hack is

is

are identical.

of,

249. I believe to

and

respect

from meaning the same

far

at.

signification

The former,

)

an

respect,

a Latin word, and the expression answering

to " in respect of,"

is

At the

used in Latin.

same time, the natural construction of the verb from which respect

with the preposition is

is

There

nothing in the meaning of the word to

forbid either construction

The same may be

to.

is

derived would be

to {respicere ad).

of

French

250.

—with

of or with

said of regard,

which

origin.

Still,

if

we agree on

this

much,

it

remains to be seen what preposition should

be prefixed.

" In respect of"

construction,

and seems on

is

the pure Latin

all

hands (but see

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

195

below) to be admitted as pure English

"ivith respect to,"

both found

and

"in

respect

am

u with respect

mistaken,

When

251.

to" are

the former I think the more

:

But, unless

frequently in our best writers. I

like-

the same with u in regard of;"

And

wise.

my

one of

of"

is

not found.

Censors said of a

sentence in these notes, that I had used " in

of" for " with respect to" he surely must

respect

have been speaking without his authorities

He

before him.

will find in the dictionaries,

that in the scanty

Bacon, Tillotson, plained

of.

lists

there given, Spenser,

use the expression com-

all

It occurs in Philippians

and Colossians

ii.

1 6,

and

is

11,

iv.

certainly as

much

used by good modern writers as that which

he wishes to substitute

What

252.

for

it.

the same Censor means

when

"inversely as.'

he

" inversely

that

says

" inversely to" I I can

am

" should

be

at a loss to understand.

comprehend "in

or " in inverse ratio

as

to

inverse proportion to"

;" but surely by

all

the

usages of mathematical language, from which the phrase

must be not

to,

is

borrowed, one variable thing-

said to be

another which

252a.

A

directly or inversely as, is

compared with

it.

correspondent asks the question, "

" contrast to" or "contrast with?" o 2

It

may

contrast

"With."

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

196

be answered that both of these seem allowable.

For

contrast partakes of

and that of comparison.

opposition,

oppose one thing

to

compare

monly)

another, and

one

as the idea

Still,

two ideas

thing

Now we we (com-

with

of opposition

that of

;

another.

is,

beyond

question, the prevalent one, I should prefer " contrast to." Meaning

of

Nor .can

253.

" a term.

again what the comprehend ° x

I

Censor above-mentioned means when he says, in reference to

my having called

term," that an adverb ivord,

a part of a term.

to be given of "

usage,

is

term"

against him.

is

an adverb " a

not a term, but a

For the whole account its

derivation and

comes to us prox-

It

imately from the Latin terminus

used of language,

And

a word.

meaning

tt^e objections.

directly

when

our dictionaries give the

of the English term is

—

these,

not a clause, but

signify,

so

by which a thing Beason for mentioning

Both

" terme."

from the French

its

— "The

word

expressed."

25i. I mention this, not for the sake of self-vindication,7

of which forms no part x

my°

design in collecting these notes, but that I

may guard

others against being misled

this incorrect view of the

in I

need not

common 255.

by

meaning of a word

use.

With the same end

in view, I notice

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. "

another of his objections. J

not have navenl

,

troubled

He would

9

correct this to myself." " shoidd not have needed to trouble myself :

troubled myself'

"I

I need

197

saying, " the verb troubled, which

you have

put in the past, should have been in the present

you have

just as the verb need, which

:

put in the present, should have been in the JSTow in these

past."

of

my

mon

words appears the cause com-

It is the very

Censor's mistake.

one of confusing a

tense with

'perfect

" I need not have troubled

a past one.

self " is strictly correct

;

my-

being equivalent to

" I need not be in the present situation

of

Every perfect is in " I have troubled myself" de-

having troubled myself." fact a present.

scribes not a past action,

of a past action.

This

but the present is

now

result

so generally

acknowledged even by the ordinary grammarians, that find

it

is

strange in our days to

any one who attends to the matter

making a mistake about -

it.

256. Seeing, however, that this has been Caution -

done,

it

may

be as well to put

their guard, ever to bear in

my

readers on

mind the

tinction between the indefinite 'past perfect.

I

ence in a

former paragraph

;

it

dis- tenses.

and the

have said something on this

differ-

may be

enough to repeat here, that while the

respecting past and

indefi-

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

•193

verb must always be

nite past tense of a

constructed as a past, the perfect, consisting of the auxiliary " have " with the past participle of the

verb, denotes present possession

by that past

of the state or act described participle,

and must always be treated and

constructed as a present* Use of the present to signify fixed design.

257.

One more point noticed by x «/

mav J

serve for our instruction.

a sentence, " shall

be

•

."

.

is

This

present

he

I notice,

designates

and

the

as

future."

a mistake as to the usage of

There

the tenses.

•/

had begun °

The next point which

" confusing the

Here again

I

my Censor

is

a very

common

use of

the present, which has regard, not to actual "

time of occurrence, but to design.

Do you

go abroad this year ? "

"I

you when

through Macedonia,

for

I

I

shall pass

will

come unto

do pass through Macedonia,"

1

Cor.

In this sense the present was used

xvi. 5.

in the sentence complained

point which I notice,"

of.

means,

"

The next

" the

next

point coming under notice," "the next point

which I mean to notice in

my

lecture,"

It

who would write good grammar, and remark on the grammar of is

necessary for one

* See Dr. Latham's

guage,"

p.

557.

"History of the English Lan-

— THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

199

others, to

know the usages

tenses, not

merely to deal with these tenses

of the various

as they appear at first sight.

258. that of

iC

mention

I

many J

be

Sentences

wrongly is supposed

This

elliptic.

fills

a

up thus

it

:

"

it

many other people, of him" But surely

be a difficulty of

besides being

may

it

others besides him."

by one who

objected to

may

because

it,

difficulty

a moment's thought will convince any of us, that such a at

all, is

up, nay, that any filling

filling

position,

"

or

him "

itself,

governed by the pre-

is

adverb

transitive

" Others besides in

and beside the purpose.

quite wrong,

The pronoun

and

up

him"

is

no

needs

"besides.*

a clause filling

perfect

up what-

ever.

259.

And

this

may

up

sentences,

to

be

serve as a caution to caution

m

us against rashness

against rask

this matter of filling and

positive assertions

having hastily assumed them

about construction,

"

We

One

elliptical.

of

my

critics

hear clergymen sometimes say

than him, than

her,

than them

the verb after such words

and are

— and

than him

see

260. Here

is

is,

than them

first

.

.

it

is

makes

are."

an instance of that against

which I would caution writer

.

Only place

—place the words

what nonsense

than her

is,

I

says,

my

readers.

This

assumes that the construction of

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

200

the phrase

is

as he wants

reasons on his

the phrase

is

it

and then

to be,

own assumption

to prove that

The

wrongly expressed.

fact

is,

that the construction in this case does not

admit of any such (in

filling up.

I

have shown

paragraph 243), by the unquestioned and

unavoidable use of " than

whom"

that than

governs an accusative case directly, without

any

struction,

That the other con-

whatever.

ellipsis (C

than he

is," is

an admissible one,

cannot in the slightest degree tion whether this one

is

Yet

many

doubt not that

I

the ques-

readers of this

would be deceived by

critique

illogical

affect

admissible or not.

its

rash and positive character, and imagine the point in question to be proved. " con ~„

"What

261. , M struct and " construe." s tand

do you wish J

us to under-

by readers constructing the sentence '

Writers This

is

c

'

construct

readers

:'

said in reference to

my

e

?

construe? "

having written

that we ought not " to mislead the reader

by introducing the ing

the

possibility of

otherwise

sentence

And

writer intended."

construct-

than

the

as

the objection

is

in-

structive, as leading to the indication of the

exact meaning words.

Suppose

and I

difference

am

of

examining a

the two class of

boys, and, with reference to a given sentence,

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. direct one of

He knows

them

to construe the sentence.

what

perfectly well

turns the sentence

the

construct

He

mean

to know, that I

ought

explain the

I tell

him

knows, or

that he

is

to

construction of the sentence, to

and govern-

give an account of its concords

My

ments.

be in

if it

But suppose

sentence.

He

mean.

I

into English,

any other language. to

201

Censor's mistake

here

that

is,

he transfers the meaning of the verb " con-

when

struct"

building up

applied to

what

did not before exist, to the case of a sen-

The word tence given as already existing. " construing" in the sentence quoted, would

make

intended

meaning tion

:

but

itself,

a certain mean-

convey

removed from that which

not very far

ing I

and

sense,

would not convey that

it

that of supplying a construc-

—building up the sentence with reference

to its concords

A

262.

use

and governments.

correspondent says,

of the

adverb 'above' as an adjective.

Can you use the in the of,

correlative

word

'

below

'

The usage complained

same sense %"

"the above," meaning something which

has been before elegant,

may

"You make

though

easily

be

spoken it

is

of,

is

certainly not

not uncommon.

avoided,

by merely

It

filling

" above."

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

202

in the ellipsis,

and saying "the above-men-

tioned."

263. I

Adjectives

must say something on the question

used as adverbs.

of adjectives used as adverbs

or rather

:

common plied is,

rule, believed in

and universally ap-

by the ordinary teachers

that

of

The

the allowable forms of qualifying verbs.

we must always

of grammar,

verb by

qualify a

the adverbial form, and never by the adjec-

According to these teachers, such ex-

tival.

pressions as the following are wrong, " string of his tongue

"

plain"

was

The moon

loosed,

soft,

and he spake "

shines bright"

sweet the moonlight sleeps

"Breathe

The

upon

How

this bank."

ye winds, ye waters gently

now." 264. These,

we

are

been written with u siveetly"

told,

ought to have

" plainly"

and " softly"

But

" brightly"

this

is

a case

where the English language and the common

grammarians are at variance. which

I

The sentences

have quoted are but a few out of

countless instances in our best writers, and in the

most chaste and beautiful passages of

our best writers, in which the usage occurs.

On examining much matter

into

it,

we

find that it is very

Some

of arbitrary custom. .

adjectives will bear being thus used

:

others

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. Most of those which can be

will not.

seem to be of one

and the

right, wrong, it

may

syllable

;

like.

203 so used

plain, soft, sweet,

In

these cases

all

be more precise and accurate to say

'plainly,

sweetly, rightly, wrongly,

softly,

&c,

but we certainly can, and our best writers certainly do, use these

adjectives

memory

and other monosyllabic

adverbs.

as

Still,

as

far as

serves me, they do not often thus

use adjectives of more than one

We may

say,

so well say "

delightful"

:

what seems

One

to be the fact.

of

my correspondents tries to make

by suggesting that

of adjectives

is

this adverbial use

his pardon, this

We

prose,

and have

But, begging

assuming the whole ques-

is

tion.

so,

and ought

entirely poetical,

never to be allowed in prose.

being

The moon the reason

do not pretend to say; I only state

for this, I

all easy,

"

say,

What may be

shines brilliant."

265.

syllable.

He spake plain but we cannot He spoke simple" or " He spoke We may say, " The moon shines

but we can hardly

bright,"

my

undoubtedly have the usage in

to lay

it

abundantly

down a

be allowed in prose,

is

and

;

rule that

it

this

cannot

to prejudge the matter

in dispute.

266.

An

important consideration

may be^°Vj^of

—

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

204 qualifications,

introduced into this matter, which has not, I think, yet been brought to bear on

may

There

it.

be two uses of an adverb as qualifying a

One

verb.

of these

action indicated

mode

may have

by the

of performance

;

respect to the

verb, describing its

may have

the other

re-

spect to the result of that action, irrespective

of its

mode

We may, if we will,

of performance.

designate these two uses respectively the subsubjective and objective.

and the objective

jective

And

use.

them that

the latter of

it

is

to

would now draw

I

the reader's attention. 267.

verb

is

When

by which a

the adverbial term

qualified

is

objectively used,

has

re-

spect to the result, and not to the mode, of acting, there

seems no reason

not be an adjective.

why

it

should

Take the following

:

" Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? "

Now

in these last words, " do right,"

we may

take right either as an adverb, " do rightly," or as an adjective, " do that which " do justice"

In this particular

not appear which of the two

But take another, Neh. done

Here

right, it

but

seems

ix.

right"

is

intended.

33 — "Thou hast

we have done

wickedly."

almost

from the

parallelism, that right is

adverbially;

is

case, it does

certain,

meant

to be used

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. Now

268.

pass on to the other cases in

which the adjective

He

He

"

used.

is

Here

spake (that which was) plain."

again

it

immaterial to the logical sense

is

whether we take adjective or adverb. love

spake

"That which he spake was plain"

plain."

"

205

him

"They

that speaketh right," Pro v. xvi. 13.

And from

these let us advance yet further

to those cases where the adjectival sense

not so plainly applicable, but "

in the thoughts.

Here

it

is

The moon

plain, that

bright refers not

so

still

is

may be

shines bright."

the qualifying word

much

to the

mode

in

which the moon performs her function of shining, as to the result or product of that

shining

:

it

is

rather

objective

than sub-

jective.

"The moon

that light

is

as easily

understood, " Breathe that which

is soft,"

is

giving

"Breathe

bright."

light,

and

soft " is just

as " Breathe softly."

269. This after

all

account of the usage

seems to be the logical :

and by the

thought, not by the dicta of the

grammarians, must

all

rules of

ordinary

such usages be

ulti-

mately judged. 270.

The account above given

will at once "looking sadly," &c.

enable

us to convict of error such expres-

sions as " looking sadly," " smelling sweetly,"

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

206

For in

"feeling queerly."

mean

not

being, but to describe

by the

mode

to qualify the

of acting or

the result produced " smell sweetly "

To

act or state.

way

not meant to describe some sweet

describe that the

And

smell itself

in this case the verb

called neuter-substantive,

i. e.,

is

is

of

is

meant

is

sweet.

performing the act of smelling, but to

we do

these

all

of that class

and akin

neuter,

in construction to the verb substantive " to

" The rose smells siveet"

be."

much

tion

"

it

would

And

read oddly."

sweet"

is

look sad " is equivalent to "

You

to be sad." c


of°tw

to say, "lies at are

lies

"

and

my mercy

these

to be accounted for

I believe,

sense of the sentences.

one and the same act

is

all

apparent ?

by regarding the In each of them,

predicated of a

num-

ber of persons or things, considered as one.

In the two former sentences, these things are nearly synonymous:

in the

is

one

:

and

this fact

two

In either

are classed together.

latter,

case,

they

the act

seems to have ruled the

verb in the singular, instead of the more usual plural.

It has

been mentioned before

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

221

Greek language a

in these notes, that in the

plural of the neuter gender takes after

The things composing

singular verb.

it

it

a

are

considered as forming one mass rather than a plurality of individuals,

and the verb

ruled

is

accordingly.

294. Care

required in the use of several p? eof cer 1 tam con-

is

The ^ticTeT

conjunctional and prepositional particles. first

of these

I shall notice is " except"

which

means with

Except

-

1

exception

the

exempts from some previous

and

of:

some

or

list,

previous predication, the substantive or sub-

which

stantives, or clause or clauses, before is

placed. "All were pleased,

except Juno

"with the exception of Jwno" excepted"

And on

this

or,

it

:" i.e.,

"Juno

being

we must

account,

take care that the person or thing excepted

be one

which would have been included in

the previous category,

if

the exception had

not been made. 295. This rule

is

violated in the following

violation of this rule.

sentence taken ladies, except

from

a_

" except *

what out

here

list is

1

spoken

to

For how

Had

is

be understood

Her Majesty

Clearly not from of.

Few have made

newspaper

Her Majesty, could

themselves heard," &c.

the

"

:

the word ?

From

excepted, or taken

among the few sentence

stood

ladies

"All

— THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

222

except

ladies,

Her Majesty, would have proved

unequal to/'

&c.,

it

would have been con-

structed rightly, though clumsily;

meant

was that " Few

to express

what

it

ladies besides

Her Majesty, could have" done what was spoken of

:

word used.

and "besides" should have been the Besides (by the side of) does not

subtract, as except does,

we should have

very few ladies added her, Use

of

for unless.'

besides

:

that, I

" unless.'"

:

is

now hardly

mean, by which

" I will not

thou bless me."

mate

of.

a use of except, which was

is

once very common, but

found

that

viz.,

:

Her Majesty,

to

—could have done the thing spoken

296. There

cept ;

but adds ; and thus

the sense required

let

it

thee go,

This usage

is

except

quite legiti-

fact to saying, "

amounting in

ever

stands for

In no

case will I let thee go, excepted only that in

which thou shalt bless me."

This

is

found

constantly throughout the English version of

the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in

the New. '

without.

297.

Without

is

another word used in some-

what the same meaning. cases, its prepositional

junctional.

As

in the other

use has led to

its

con-

Take the following sentence from

Sir Philip Sidney

my age, without

:

"

You

will

never live to

you keep yourselves

in breath

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

223

with exercise, and in heart with joyfulness."

In

" without you keep "

this,

compounded

struction

and "

unless " or " except

What

298.

we

are

in fact a con-

is

"ivithout keeping"

of

you keep."

to think of the expres- "* mutual

"

What

sion, "

a mutual friend

Much

the same as " reciprocal"

?

is

" mutual

?

friend."

"

It describes

that which passes from each to each of two

Thus

persons.

Eomans

says to the

when

for example, (i.

12),

"That

Paul

St.

I

may

be

comforted together with you by the mutual faith

both of you and me," the meaning

"by

English,

my

And

confidence in me."

meant

in

that our translators

to be understood

this

is,

you and your

confidence in

is

clear

:

for

they deliberately altered the previous versions to this form.

Wiclif had "bi faith that

bothe youre and " through the

and

I

have

:

myn

to gidre:"

common

" so also

is

Tyndall,

which bothe ye

faith

Cranmer and the Geneva

Bible.

And mutual ought

299.

never to be used,

"The mutual

unless the reciprocity exists. love of

husband and wife "

is

correct

enough

:

but " a mutual friend of both husband and wife" is

is

meant

A

sheer nonsense. ;

a friend that

is

common

common

The word mutual has no place

friend

to both.

or assignable

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

224

meaning

and yet we occa-

in such a phrase,

sionally find

used even by those who pride

it

themselves on correct speaking,

"we win

300. There

an expression frequently

is

write you."

used in correspondence, principally by mer-

men

cantile

we

"

:

" we will write

will write

you

to

:

you" instead of

" " write

me

at

earliest convenience," instead of " write

Is this

an allowable

ellipsis

to

your

me"

It is universally

?

acknowledged that the " to " of the so-called

may be dropped " He did me a

dative case structions

sent

me

:

a birthday present 5'

a kind letter

:

which

or act

at once

all

He

;

"

"

wrote

raised

He me

them up

these cases, the object

the verb directly governs

But

expressed.

" "

The Lord

"

In

deliverers."

;

in certain con-

favour

if

it

is

be omitted, the verb

taken as governing the personal

is

pronoun or substantive, of which the dative case

"

He

thus elliptically expressed.

is

sent

me

to me," but

"The Lord not that

He

"

would mean, not "

he

sent,

as his

Thus

He

:

sent

messenger, me.

raised

them up," would imply,

raised

up some person

for them, but that

He

lifted

or thing

them up them-

selves.

301.

And

so,

when we drop the substantive

directly governed

by the verb

in the phrase,

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. "

He

me

wrote

me

a letter," or " he wrote

word,"

and merely say "he wrote me" we

cannot

properly

understand

the

sentence

in any other way, than that "me" governed by the verb " wrote" That this

nonsense,

is

not to the purpose.

The

is is

con-

struction of such a phrase necessarily halts,

and

not only

is defective,

say in

"write

all cases,

word" 302.

or the like

;

elliptical.

to

me"

We should

or "write

me

never barely " write me."

Very curious blunders

in construction " and vrhich.

are

careless use of "

made by the

the relative "pronoun, coupling

which

will not bear

it

and " with

to a sentence

such coupling.

I take

these two instances from one and the same

page of a charitable report offer their grateful

liberal support

and

ivhich

:

" The Board

acknowledgments

for the

hitherto so freely extended,

has so greatly contributed to this u It

satisfactory result."

was feared that the

untimely death of the surgeon to the hospital, occurring as opening, and

did so very shortly after

it

to

Institution mainly owes seriously

affect

its

whose untiring energy the

its

its

future

existence,

might

prospects

and

position."

303.

Now

junction "

in

and"

both these instances the conis

wholly unneeded,

is

Q

indeed

— .THE QUEEN' 8 ENGLISH.

226

quite in the

way

clauses connected

home and which

"

by

You

constructed.

Two

of the construction.

and " must be similarly

cannot say, " Then I went

Yet

quite true."

is

this is

the construction of both the sentences quoted:

and the

one of the very commonest

fault is

in the writing of careless or half- educated persons.

304. In the Times of this very day, Nov. 11, 1863, I find the following sentence, occur-

ring in the translation of M. Casimir Terrier's to

letter

body

:

the President

" I

of the

hoped to procure

Legislative

the

placard which was posted on the

original

walls

of

Grenoble on that occasion, but which I have

been unable to do."

The buted

following "

Form

widely by a

" Please send

London

me a copy

Memorial, and

for

Postage Stamps"

I

of Order"

publisher

:

of the Shakespeare

which I

enclose

was surprised to

Murray's Handbooks

is distri-

for Italy

Eighteen find,

that

abound with

this vulgarism. cc

one"

joined to "his."

305. There

is

an unfortunate word in our

language, which few can

use without very

soon going wrong in grammar, worse, in

common

sense.

It is the

which is word " one"

or,

used in the sense of the French " on" or the

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. German, " man," and

meaning

227

people

in

general.

" What one One

has done,

when one was young,

ne'er will do again

;

In former days one went by coach,

But now one goes by

So It

is

far,

"one"

pretty sure to be right.

is

only when this

the danger

arises.

train."

is

carried

Suppose

on

further, that

wanted to put

I

into English the saying of the French gour-

mand, which, by the way, Englishman did not cette sauce

pere

" ;

originally utter

am

I to express

how am

I to take

possessive, in English

With

father.

5'

mean not,

this sauce

Is this

myself

Avec

it

is

%

The French, we

?

In

any

or with

see,

one could eat his own

an English usage

the meal, but the grammar)

though

"

:

up the "one "

with the possessive pronoun,

say, "

glad an

on pourrait manger son propre

— how

other words,

am

I

%

(I

don't

I believe

becoming widely spread in

current literature. " In such a scene one might forget his cares, And dream himself, in poet's mood, away."

And one of my correspondents

says,

" When

writing on language, grammar, and composition,

one

ought to be

more than usually

Q2

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

22S

endeavours to be himself

particular in his correct."

me

These sentences do not seem to

Having used

right.

"

one" we must

" one's " cares, and " one's " the risk of

at

say,

to be

also use

"We must

self.

elegance

sacrificing

of

sound, 11

In such a scene one might forget one's

And dream

The

fact

one's

I

all

'hadn't used," &c.

it

by "he

followed not only

and " their" and

stages of

happy

306. There

''didn't use,

" one "

is

to get into a long

have sometimes seen

" they "

cares,

in poet's mood, away."

that this

is,

awkward word

self,

"

in our newspapers,

and " his" but by

" ive "

and "our"

in

confusion.

another word in our

is

a very

sentence.

common

difficult to keep English very It is & r right. o J " use" signifying to be accustomed. the verb

" I used to meet

the verb there

is

wrong. it

is

no

him

at

my

uncle's."

affirmatively put in this manner, difficulty,

These

arise

in the negative

;

and no chance of going

when we want

then we find rather curious " didn't use" I

used."

This

to put

to speak of something

which we were not accustomed to

I

When

do.

And

combinations.

" hadn't used" I " ivasn't

latter

would

be

legitimate

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH. enough,

the verb were "used to" mean-

if

ing " accustomed by use

"I wasnH

used

be plain that

which

me

But

say,

it

will

a different meaning of

is

it

We may

to."

the practice."

to

am now

I

229

A

speaking.

friend tells

that in his part of the world the people

say,

" didn't use to

was

:

and a midland

"

correspondent, that he has heard in his town,

even in good society, the phrase, " used

to

could."

me what we

307. If you ask

must reply that

this case, I

I

are to say in

can answer very

well on paper, but not so well for the pur-

poses of

by

"

common

IUsed

" I used "

talk.

pression does not do the talk.

"I used

not

to

work

him

see

does not convey the idea that habit to meet

is

negatived

But unfortunately,

not."

him

there.

It

at it

this ex-

in

common

my

uncle's"

was not your

rather means,

that he was there, but that for some unex-

You

plained reason you did not see him.

meant

to express, not something which

your practice not it tvas is

to

do,

not your practice

better,

but

afraid there

is

it

many

but something which to do.

"

I never

be too strong.

used" I

am

no refuge but in the inelegant

word "usedn't" us have

may

it ivas

to which I suppose

times been driven.

most of

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

230