Incorrect Form. Come and sit by my side in the high-seat where man has never sat, and I will tell thee of things that have and are yet to be. He is one of those consoling and hope-inspiring marks which stand forever to remind our weak and easily discouraged race how high human goodness and perseverance have and may be carried again. Correct Form. "Come and sit by my side in the high-seat where man has never sat, and I will tell thee of things that have been and are yet to be." The Story of Siegfried. "He is one of those consoling and hope-inspiring marks which stand forever to remind our weak and easily discouraged race how high human goodness and perseverance have been carried, and may be carried again." ARNOLD, Essay on Marcus Aurelius. can III. Use "cannot but "1 with the infinitive, or 66 not help" with the present participle. The expression "cannot help but" is incorrect, because both "but" and "help" are not necessary to the sense; e.g. 1. "The covetous, the angry, the proud, the jealous, the talkative, cannot but make ill friends." The Fruits of Solitude. 2. "And the boy on one side was scratching his name on the oak panelling in front, and he couldn't help watching to see what the name was. Tom Brown at Rugby. IV. Tense of the infinitive. The tense of a dependent verb must be determined with relation to the principal verb. (See Lesson XXII.) 1"But" is here used in the sense "otherwise than." See Lesson XXXI. When the action expressed by the dependent verb is previous to that expressed by the principal verb, use the perfect infinitive; when it is contemporaneous with it or subsequent to it, use the present infinitive; e.g. Incorrect Form. Little did I dream that I should have lived to have seen such disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honour and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to have avenged even a look that threatened her with insult. Correct Form. "Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honour and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult." Reflections on the Revolution in France. Comment on the tense of the infinitive in the examples that follow: 1. "It is good to have been young in youth, and as years go on to grow older." STEVENSON, Preface to Virginibus Puerisque. 2. "Mr. Mulliner was an object of great awe to all of us. He seemed never to have forgotten his condescension in coming to live at Cranford." MRS. GASKELL, Cranford. 3. "This was probably the effect of the superstitious belief impressed on his mind by Rudolph's tale respecting her mother, which was confirmed by her sudden appearance in a place and situation where she was so little to be expected. He had not much time, however, to speculate upon her appearance or demeanour, for, mounting the stairs with a lighter pace than he was able at the time to follow closely, she was no longer to be seen when he reached the landing-place." Anne of Geierstein. 4. "I should like to have been Shakespeare's shoeblack, just to have lived in his house, just to have worshipped him, to have run on his errands, and seen that sweet, serene face." THACKERAY, The English Humourists. 5. "When I seemed to have been dozing a long while, the master at Salem House unscrewed his flute into the three pieces, put them up as before, and took me away." David Copperfield. 6. "I am going, O my people, Many moons and many winters Will have come, and will have vanished, Hiawatha. 7. "Perhaps he wished to have seen the tomb of Nelson." CHARLES LAMB, Essays of Elia, The Tombs in the Abbey. 8. "And first he pretended to have forgiven Perseus, and to have forgotten Danaë." The Greek Heroes, Perseus. LESSON XXVIII. AGREEMENT OF VERB AND SUBJECT. Be sure that the verb agrees with its subject. Confusion is sometimes caused (a) by a misunderstanding in regard to the antecedent of a relative pronoun, (b) by the intervention of a modifying phrase containing a plural a. I am not one of those who thinks the people are never in the wrong. b. To be brief, there is scarce an ornament of either sex which one or other of my correspondents have not inveighed against with some bitterness, and recommended to my observation. Correct Form. "I am not one of those who think the people are never in the wrong." BURKE, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents. "To be brief, there is scarce an ornament of either sex which one or other of my correspondents has not inveighed against with some bitterness and recommended to my observation." EXERCISE. The Spectator, Monday, March 19, 1711. Select the correct word from those in brackets in the sentences that follow, and give the reason for your choice in each case: 1. The sound of clattering hoofs and ringing armour |