5. "But the Puritan soldier and magistrate was not a man to be turned aside from his well-considered scheme, either by dread of the wizard's ghost, or by flimsy sentimentalities of any kind, however specious."

The House of the Seven Gables. Here the preposition "by" is repeated, since without it the meaning might be, "or dread of flimsy sentimentalities."

b. On the same principle it is sometimes necessary to repeat a noun in order to avoid ambiguity; e.g.

"But besides Sundays I had a day at Easter and a day at Christmas, with a full week in the summer to go and air myself in my native fields of Hertfordshire.”

Essays of Elia, The Superannuated Man.

c. Do not omit "to," the sign of the infinitive, when there is any danger of the infinitive's being mistaken for some other part of the verb; e.g. —

"I am very glad to have your letters, and to see that you are on the whole well, and happy in your work." RUSKIN, in a letter.

Here "to" is kept to indicate that "see" is a second infinitive following "I am glad," and not a second verb in the indicative with the subject "I."

II. To make clear the interdependence of clauses in a sentence it is sometimes necessary to repeat in a second clause, the conjunction, the subject, or the auxiliary of the verb of a preceding clause.

1. "I guessed at once that she was also of Athenian lineage, and that in my prayer for Athens her heart had responded to mine." The Last Days of Pompeii.

Here the conjunction "that" is repeated in order to indicate that the clause "in mine," is not a second independent clause, but is dependent upon "guessed."

2. "By which means he never made a single mistake, and he saw all the wonderful and hitherto by-no-mortalman-imagined things, which it is my duty to relate to you in the next chapter."

The Water-Babies.

Here the pronoun "he" prevents ambiguity; without it, the verbs "saw" and "made" might be taken together as a compound predicate, modified by "never." The meaning would then be, "he never made a single mistake and never saw," etc.

3. "We all know that the nightingale sings more nobly than the lark; but who, therefore, would wish the lark not to sing, or would deny that it had a character of its own, which bore a part among the melodies of creation no less essential than that of the more richly-gifted bird?" RUSKIN, Modern Painters.

Here the auxiliary "would" is repeated to prevent ambiguity; without it "deny" could be taken to be a second infinitive depending upon "wish."

III. It is sometimes necessary in order to avoid ambiguity to repeat the verb or the preposition after "than," "as," or other conjunctions.

In the examples that follow notice the ambiguity in meaning when the verb or the preposition after "than," "as," is omitted.

1. "But that matter concerns his grandson more than it does Matthew Maule." The House of the Seven Gables.

2. "But the gift of a white man lies more in his arms than in his legs. As for myself, I can brain a Huron as well as a better man can; but when it comes to a race, the knaves would prove too much for me.”

EXERCISE.

The Last of the Mohicans.

In the passages that follow, point out the difference in the meaning when the words in brackets are omitted, and show where it is necessary to keep them.

1. A black and [an] abrupt passage, which was not visible save at a near approach, closed round as it was with jutting and [with] sharp crags, yawned before her.

2. She knew that here was some one who would not deceive her and [she] trusted her implicitly.

3. To find the born and [the] educated lady we need look no farther than [to] Hepzibah.

4. Remember the town and [the] country mouse.

5. Brutus loved Cæsar far more than Cassius [did].

6. I perceived that the author of the Iliad and [the author of] Waverley made the kings, or king-loving persons, do harder work than anybody else.

7. I shall be more than satisfied provided you keep your word, and [shall] forgive all the rest.

8. Shylock cared more for his money than [for] his daughter.

the names

9. I should only confuse you by giving you of marvellous artists, most of them little familiar to

British ears, who adorned this century in Italy; but you will easily remember it as the age of Dante and [of] Giotto, the age of Thought.

10. I cannot bear that he should die with no gentle hand to comfort him, and [I] fear to think of the conflict that must ensue for the government if there be a disputed succession.

11. A quiet smile lighted up the haughty features of the young Mohican, betraying his knowledge of the English language as well as [of] the other's meaning.

12. Whether from love of form or [from] curiosity they had assembled in great numbers.

13. Only sip a little of it, my dear Proserpina, and you will instantly cease to grieve for your mother, and [will] have nothing in your memory that can prevent your being perfectly happy in my palace.

14. And he grew, and grew strong as a boy must grow who does not know that he is learning any lessons, and [who] has nothing in the world to think of except things

to eat.

15. The habit of the old and [the] great painters of introducing portrait into all their highest work, I look to as the very source and root of their superiority in all things.

16. We feel sure that the Red Cross Knight will keep his promise to kill the dragon and [will] marry Una.

17. I will go to the church steeple to see that the little church goblins polish the bells and [I will] bring down all the stars.

18. Now, I have no doubt that, as we grow gradually wiser we shall discover at last that the eye is a nobler organ than the ear; and [that] through the eye we must in reality obtain, or put into form, nearly all the useful information we are to have in this world.

19. We must now leave King Agenor to sit on his throne and [must] go along with Queen Telephassa and her four youthful companions.

20. He resolved to send Perseus on a dangerous enterprise, in which he would probably be killed, and then [to] do some great mischief to Danaë herself.

21. I will conduct you by the secret paths of the forest, known as well to me as [to] any forester that ranges it.

22. They said to the little bird: "For our parts, we don't care to fill our beaks with such long words, but [we] sympathise with you quite as much. If we don't do anything else, we can walk about with you everywhere, and [we] think that the best thing we can do.”

Point out the meaning given to the sentence by each of the two words in brackets.

1. I will carry you and your brother home to meet your father and make your peace.

[will]

2. And now your son, as long as he lives, and as often as he pleases, will be at liberty to plunge into the sea, and

[will]

traverse the vast empires it contains in its bosom.