dall by the affirmative in thys fashion: If an heretique falsely translate the New Testament into Englishe, to make his false heresyes seem the word of Godde, be his bokes worthy to be burned? To this questyon asked in thys wyse, yf he will aunswere true Englishe, he must answere ye and not yes. But now if the question be asked him thus lo; by the negative: If an heretike falsely translate the Newe Testament into Englishe to make his false heresyes seme the word of God, be not hys bokes well worthy to be burned? To thys question in thys fashion framed if he will aunswere trewe Englishe, he may not aunswere ye but he must aunswere yes, and say, yes marry be they, bothe the translation and the translatour, and al that wyll hold wyth them.”

CHAPTER XXI.

THE CASE ABSOLUTE.

§ 611. NOUNS standing absolutely are of two sorts: (1.) Those originating in an accusative; (2.) those originating in a dative, case.

In expressing distance or duration, either in time or space, we use the noun absolutely; as he walked ten miles (i. e. the space of ten miles); he stood three hours (i. e. the space of three hours.) Here the words stood and walk are intransitive; so that it is not by them that the words miles and hours are governed. They stand absolutely. Although not distinguished in form from the nominative case, they are not nominatives. They are virtually accusatives; and when, in an older stage of the Gothic languages, the accusative was distinguished from the nominative, they appeared in the form of the accusative.

§ 612. The door being open, the steed was stolen— the sun having arisen, the labourers proceeded to work. -In these sentences, the words door and sun stand absolutely; and, as the words being open, and having arisen, agree with them, they, also, do the same. In English substantives, where there is no distinction between the nominative and the objective cases, it is of no practical importance to inquire as to the particular case in which

the words like door and sun stand. In the English pronouns, however, where there is a distinction between. the nominative and objective cases, this inquiry must be made.

1. He made the best proverbs of any one, him only excepted:

2. He made the best proverbs of any one, he only excepted.

Which of these two expressions is correct? This we can decide only by determining in what case nouns standing absolutely in the way that door, sun, and him (or he), now stand, were found in that stage of our language when the nominative and objective cases were distinguished by separate forms. In Anglo-Saxon this case was the dative; as up-a-sprungenre sunnan = the sun having arisen. In Anglo-Saxon, also, him was a dative case, so that the case out of which expressions like the ones in question originated, was dative. Hence, of the two phrases, him excepted and he excepted, the former is the one which is historically correct. It is also the form which is logically correct. Almost all absolute expressions of this kind have a reference, more or less direct, to the cause of the action denoted. In sentences like the stable door being open, the horse was stolen,-the sun having arisen the labourers got up to work, this idea of either a cause, or a coincidence like a cause, is pretty clear.

In the sentence, he made the best proverbs of any one, him only excepted, the idea of cause is less plain. Still it exists. The existence of him (i. e. the particular person mentioned as pre-eminent in proverb-making) is the cause or reason why he (i. e. the person spoken of as the secondbest proverb maker) was not the very best of proverbmakers. Now the practice of language in general teaches us this, viz. that where there is no proper Instrumental case, expressive of cause or agency, the Ablative is the case that generally supplies its place;

and where there is no Ablative, the Dative. Hence the Latins had their Ablative, the Anglo-Saxons their Dative, Absolute. The Genitive Absolute in Greek is explicable upon other principles. In spite, however, both of history and logic, the so-called best authorities are in favour of the use of the Nominative case in the absolute construction.

In all absolute constructions of the kind in question one of the words is either a Substantive or a Pronoun, the other a Participle. The reason of this is in the fact of all such absolute constructions indicating either an action or a state.

EXAMPLE.

only in destroying I find ease

To my relentless thoughts, and him destroyed,
Or won to what may work his utter loss

For whom all this was made, all this will soon
Follow.

Upon this Dr. Guest remarks—

P. L. 9. 130.

Instead of this dative absolute, modern English writers generally give us the pronoun in the nominative. Bentley, in his edition of the Paradise Lost, corrects this syntax whenever he meets with it: for I extinct, 9. 629; thou looking on, 9. 312; thou leading, 10. 267; he not found, 10. 1001, &c.; he reads me extinct, thee looking on, thee leading, him not found, &c. His criticism was no doubt suggested by the laws of Latin grammar, but he would not have ventured upon it, had it not been borne out by contemporary English usage. The use indeed of the nominative, in these cases, does not admit of easy explanation. It is unknown to the older and purer dialects of our language, and probably originated in the use of the indeclinable pronoun, with which Milton was certainly acquainted.

CHAPTER XXII.

SYNTAX OF COMPLEX SENTENCES.

613. Syntax deals with (1) the connection of words, and (2) the connection of propositions. The Syntax that deals with the connection of words, and the structure of

EE

simple propositions has already come under notice. The Syntax that deals with the connection of propositions now commands attention. Attention, too, must be given to the word connection. It, by no means, follows that because we find a long list of propositions following each other, there is a connection between them. Like marbles in a bag, to use an old illustration, they may touch without cohering; having as little relation to each other, as so many different essays or chapters. This is the case with proverbs, riddles, and the like, where each sentence constitutes a whole. In ordinary composition, however, this extreme isolation is rare. In ordinary composition the chances are, that out of three propositions, the middle one will have a double relation; one with its predecessor, one with its follower. This relation, however, need not be grammatical.

Laying, then, out of our account those propositions, which, though they may stand in juxta-position with one another, have no grammatical connection, we come to the consideration of those sentences in which there is not only two (or more) propositions, but, also a connecting link between them: or, if not this, something in the nature of the one, which implies, or presupposes, the other. This is the case with questions and answers. But though questions and answers, along with a few other details of minor importance, come under this division of Syntax; they, by no means, constitute the most important part of it. The most important part of it is constituted by the Relative Pronouns and the Conjunctions. But it must be remembered that in the way of Etymology, the Relatives and the Interrogatives are identical.

This is one affinity. That of the Relative Pronouns with the Conjunction is equally clear. Though expressions like the man as goes to market instead of the man who goes to market are exceptionable, there is a reason for their having an existence. What they may be, belongs

to other investigations. At the present, we are looking for illustrations only. Nor are the most unexceptionable ones far off. The Latin language give us the relations of quod and ut, the Latin and Greek combined those of ut and it: with which we may compare our own that; a word which originally a Demonstrative Pronoun, is next a Relative, and, finally, a Conjunction.

1. That is right.

2. The man that has just left.
3. I fear that I shall be late.

Lastly, the Relative Pronouns and the Conjunction agree in this-they agree in introducing the Syntax of a new Mood-a Mood which is sometimes called the Conjunctive, sometimes the Subjunctive, and sometimes the Potential. Whatever we call it, it has this characteristic, viz. that it can only exist in the second of two connected propositions, the connection between them being effected by either a Relative Pronoun or a Conjunctive. Where neither of these exist, there is no Conjunctive, Subjunctive, or Potential Mood.

Such is a brief sketch of the reasons for considering the proposed divisions of our Syntax natural.

CHAPTER XXIII.

ON THE INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN.

§ 614. QUESTIONS are of two sorts, direct and oblique.

Direct.-Who is he?

Oblique. What do you say that he is?

All difficulties about the cases of the interrogative pronoun may be determined by framing an answer, and observing the case of the word which gives it. This,