FUNCTION OF THE CLAUSE OF PLACE 13. Even when they fail they are entitled to praise. Macaulay.. 59 14. The house keeper waited until the sobs changed to the regular breathing of sleep before she stole out. -Kipling. 15. Until a man can truly enjoy a draught of clear water bubbling from a mountain-side, his taste is in an unwholesome state. F. Harrison. Function. CHAPTER X THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF PLACE Just as all events occur at some time, so do they also occur in some place. We have not many adverbs of place in English, and few of these are very definite; for example, here, there, yonder, somewhere, anywhere, hither, thither, up, down, in. Hence we usually tell place by means of prepositional phrases, and we have many prepositions of place, such as above, across, along, amid, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, in, on, over, up. The value of the prepositional phrase denoting place is seen in the following sentence from Longfellow, which contains three such phrases: "It stood upon the brink of a little glassy pool whose tranquil bosom was the image of a quiet and secluded life, and stretched its parental arms over a rustic bench that had been constructed beneath it for the accommodation of the foot traveler, or, perchance, some idle dreamer like myself." But the prepositional phrase will not always serve our turn, for sometimes we wish to denote a certain place by telling what happens there, and to do this it is usually best to employ a proposition. This gives rise to the adverbial local clause. In the following sentence from Lowell, — "Where today the martyr stands, On the morrow crouches Judas with the silver in his hands," in order to tell the place where Judas crouches, the poet tells what happens in that place, namely, that it is the place where today the martyr stands. Introductory Word.— The local clause is introduced by the subordinating conjunctions of place, where, wherever, whence, whither, whencesoever, whithersoever. Whither conveys the idea of action going toward a place, and whence of action proceeding from a place. These two conjunctions and their compounds as well are not often used by modern writers. Wherever means in any place; as, "Wherever the Anglo-Saxon race goes, there law, industry, and safety for life and property are certain to arise." - Dickens. Just as when in a temporal clause often takes the correlative then, so where or wherever in a local clause is often accompanied by there in the principal proposition, as in the sentence just quoted. 66 Peculiarities of the Local Clause. Often a local clause denotes condition as well as place; for example, Wherever money is the principal object of life with either man or nation, it is both got ill and spent ill."— Ruskin. Sometimes the idea of time exists along with that of place; for example, "Where one person is really interested by music, twenty are pleased by good reading.” Hart. The adverbial clause of place is not common, and yet we frequently meet clauses introduced by where, whence, etc. Most of these are adjective clauses, and as such they have two uses, as may be seen in the following typical sentences: (1) "Being newly from a land where everything, morally and materially, was in good repair, I rioted sentimentally on the picturesque ruin, the pleasant discomfort and hopelessness of everything about me here.” — Howells. The clause here is restrictive, used to point out a certain land, and where is equivalent to in which. (2) "Dr. Livingstone, a Scotchman, spent many years in exploring Central Africa, where he finally perished."Here the clause is equivalent in meaning to an independent proposition, where meaning and there, but nevertheless it has the structure of a dependent proposition. Exercise 10 Select local clauses in the following sentences, telling what each clause modifies, what it denotes, and its connective: 1. We knew that we were standing at a time of high and palmy prosperity, where he had stood in the hour of utmost peril; that we saw nothing but liberty and security where he had met the frown of power; that we were enjoying everything where he had hazarded everything. - Webster. 2. Where'er a human heart doth wear Joy's myrtle wreath or sorrow's gyves, After a life more true and fair, There is the true man's birthplace grand. - Lowell. 3. Descending, I went wandering whither chance might lead, in a still ecstasy of freedom and enjoyment. — Brontë. 4. Wheresoever a thinker appeared, there in the thing he thought of was a contribution, accession, a change or revolution made. Carlyle. 5. Where boat conveyance along rivers could not be had, pack-horses and mules were resorted to for the transportation of merchandise. — Draper. 6. Coal is the means of transporting itself whithersoever it is wanted. Emerson. 7. Hendry had a way of resuming the conversation where he had left off the night before. — Barrie. 8. He was a soldier of fortune, and had fought wherever the Roman eagles flew. - Motley. 9. He discerned her not there where she stood. — Carlyle. 10. Beginning where it empties itself into the sea, and following it backwards, we find it from time to time joined by tributaries which swell its waters. — Tyndall. II. Where there is no honest poverty, where education is diffused and political intelligence is common, it is easy for the mass of the people to elect a fair legislature. - Bagehot. 12. Why did we stay here, where there is no shelter and no anchorage? Black. CHAPTER XI THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF MANNER Function. A common question in regard to activities is how? This is oftenest answered by means of an adverb or a prepositional phrase; as, sew neatly, study dili FUNCTION OF THE CLAUSE OF MANNER 63 gently, go with dispatch. But it is to be noticed that these elements tell how in an absolute way with no reference to a fixed standard, and are capable of many degrees of interpretation, for people's notions of neatness, diligence, and dispatch differ. Adverbs and prepositional phrases are unsatisfactory in another respect also; the manner of an action can seldom be characterized by one term, so unless we wish to call attention to only one characteristic, we must employ several terms, or leave the action incompletely described. But if we use a clause we may tell exactly how an action is performed by comparing it with some other action familiar and understood, which it more or less. precisely resembles; for example, "Sing out, children, as the little thrushes do." - Mrs. Browning. Here the clause conveys one clear and definite impression to all who have heard the thrushes sing, an impression that it would take a whole list of adverbs to convey, like sweetly, joyfully, thrillingly, spontaneously; but how like a catalogue these sound, and how little they appeal to the imagination. Frequently a mental action, an action of the emotions or of the will, or something else not immediately intelligible, is made clear by comparing it with something material, something evident to the senses. In such sentences we find the familiar figure of speech called simile; thus, "Poetry produces an illusion on the eye of the mind, as a magic lantern produces an illusion on the eye of the body." - Macaulay. Here the clause of manner modifies the entire predicate of the principal proposition. Introductory Word. The ordinary connective of the modal clause is the subordinating conjunction as, though |