proposition states something, either directly or indirectly, about a voluntary act, usually the act of a human being. This is oftenest stated directly, as in the example above; but occasionally we find such sentences as the following,

"The door of Scrooge's counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk." — Dickens. Here the clause by no means denotes the door's purpose in being open, but Scrooge's purpose in keeping it open.

The clause of purpose may be introduced by the conjunctions that, so that, in order that. The negative purpose clause is introduced by lest (= that not); as, "We must both speak low lest she should waken." Brontë.

The clause of purpose is seldom met, not because the purpose of an act is seldom told, but because it can usually be told more briefly by means of the infinitive; thus, Garrisons were established in the larger cities to keep down revolt and to enforce the payment of tribute.”

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2. The Clause of Result. This denotes not an intention but the consequence of the act or condition expressed in the principal proposition; as, "The kingly power among the Jews was checked and hedged by other powers, so that an overgrown tyranny was difficult and unusual." - Lord.

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The clause of result is often employed to tell the degree of some quality or attribute, as in the sentence, Washington was so rigidly punctual that when Hamilton, his secretary, pleaded a slow watch as an excuse for being five minutes late, he replied, Then, sir, either you must get a new watch or I must get a new secretary."" Here the clause tells how punctual Washington was, but it does this by telling a result of his punctuality.

Notice that in the first example the clause may be said to modify the verbs in the principal proposition, was checked and was hedged, but in the second sentence it modifies the verb and its complement, was so rigidly punctual.

The clause of result is introduced by that, so that, or, if both principal proposition and clause are negative, by but or but that. These connectives except so that are usually associated with the correlative so or such in the principal proposition. This correlative modifies an adjective or an adverb, and serves as a hint that a clause of result is to follow. As an example of a negative clause of result, we have the following sentence, "The long, warm days of summer never return but they bring with them a gloom." - Lamb.

Exercise 14

Dispose of all final clauses in the following sentences.

I. The oak chooses the horizontal direction for its limbs so that their whole weight may tell, — and then stretches them out fifty or sixty feet so that the strain may be mighty enough to be worth resisting. — Holmes.

2. High forest-clad hills rose on every side, enclosing the river, so that its only method of escape was through deep rifts cut into their slopes. - Bolles.

3. Every pot made by any human potter or brazier had a hole in its cover, to let off the enemy, lest he should lift pot and roof, and carry the house away. Emerson.

4. Leonardo da Vinci would walk the whole length of Milan that he might alter a single tint in his picture of the Last Supper. Trevelyan.

5. Is the old Grecian spirit frozen in your veins, that you do crouch and cower like a belabored hound beneath his master's lash? - Kellogg.

6. I find myself so much like other people that I often wonder at the coincidence. Holmes.

7. He wished the other examinations over, that his own might come on. - Shorthouse.

8. The two young Cratchits crammed spoons into their mouths lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped. Dickens.

9. Even to this day they never hear a thunderstorm of a summer afternoon about the Kaatskill, but they say Hendrick Hudson and his crew are at their game of ninepins. — Irving.

10. She had pushed her bonnet entirely off, so that it hung by the strings at the back of her neck. -J. L. Allen.

II. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnized it with an undoubted bargain. — Dickens.

12. The new Ranee hated the seven poor Princesses, and wanted to get them, if possible, out of the way, in order that her daughter might have all their riches. - Old Deccan Days.

Exercise 15

Analyze the following sentences:

These lofty trees

Wave not less proudly that their ancestors

Moulder beneath them.

- Bryant.

2. Dante shows us the punishment of sins against God and one's neighbor in order that we may shun them and so escape the doom that awaits them in the other world. — Lowell.

3. A man cannot bury his meanings so deep in his books but time and like-minded men will find them. - Emerson.

4. Among people who submit to great physical suffering that they may have themselves handsomely tattooed, extremes of temperature are borne with but little attempt at mitigation. - Spencer.

5. He is not tempted to levity or impatience, for he does not see the joke and is thick-skinned to present evils.— Bagehot.

6. We should naturally think that excitement and pleasure and knowledge would make people happy, since they stimulate the intellectual powers. Lord.

7. Then she dropped her head quickly, so that her own face remained hidden, and silently plied her work. J. L. Allen.

8. Their visit was not wholly unexpected, for his house, which fronted the street, was strongly barricaded, the wicket gate of the prison was closed up, and at no loop hole or grating was any person to be seen. - Dickens.

9. The larger trees he had girdled and killed in order that their foliage should not cast a shade. — Wm. James.

10. The Watsons were doubtless rich people, for they had the confidence of conscious wealth in their bearing. — Brontë.

II. There are actually districts in Africa where three natives cannot be sent on a message in case two should combine and sell the third before they return. Drummond.

12. Here was one who never resisted any temptation, never had a desire but he coddled and pampered it. Thackeray.

13. A man cannot speak but he judges himself. - Emerson. 14. For every bucket of water that ye bring to us, that we may pour it into the tank, which is the Market, behold! we will give you a penny. - Bellamy.

15. A ruined man staggers down to ruin because there was not wisdom enough in him. - Carlyle.

16. Be clean, for the strength of the hunter is known by the gloss of his hide. - Kipling.

17. He only meant to walk up and down her street, so that she might see him from the window, and know that this splendid thing was he.

Barrie.

18. If we wore prints, instead of summer silks, it was because we preferred a washing material. - Mrs. Gaskell.

CHAPTER XV

THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF CONDITION

Function. We are seldom able to make unqualified statements, because few facts are universally true. On the contrary, we must carefully hedge in our statements by certain restrictions, and a useful means for doing this is the adverbial clause of condition. For instance, "The knight ever came to the rescue of a woman in danger or distress," is a sweeping statement, and would instantly be disputed unless we add the conditional clause, “provided she was a lady."

Such a clause is often so important that writers place it at the beginning of the sentence as if they wished to guard against contradiction or misunderstanding, by putting their readers at once into the proper attitude for comprehending their principal statement.

If we examine a few typical sentences, we shall see how useful is the condition clause in a variety of ways. I. "If nettles and thistles grow in my cabbage garden, I don't try to persuade them to grow into cabbages." Froude. Here the clause states a condition which is to be regarded as really taking place. The idea of time is also associated with that of condition.

2. "If, in the least particular, one could derange the order of nature, who would accept the gift of life?"

- Emerson. The clause here states an imaginary condition, but at the same time implies what is the real state of the case; namely, that no one can, in the least particular, derange the order of nature.