66 syntax, appropriated to distinguish these three things, a command, as "Stay not here;" a question, as "Were "they present ;" and a supposition, as "Had I known," from an assertion, as "Ye stay not here ;" "They were present" and "I had known." A few trifling phras es, as said he, replied they, are the sole exceptions in the simple tenses, at least in prose. In some instances, however, in the compound tenses the verb may precede without giving rise to any double meaning. In such cases it is not the auxiliary or the substantive verb that begins the sentence, as in supposition and interrogation, but the infinitive of the principal verb in the active voice, and the participle in the passive, as in expressions like these, "Go I must, whatever may ensue." "Avoid it he could not by any means." "An instance in the passive voice hath been given in the second example. I shall here observe, that in one passage of scripture our translators, by not attending to this small circumstance, that the import of the passive verb lies in the participle, have, without necessity, not only given up the emphatical arrangement, but, in order to be literal, have copied a figure, which, though forcible in the original, is, in the place assigned it in the translation, rather unnatural and insignificant. The passage alluded to is this," Another angel follow"ed, saying Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city*.' Here, as it was the event itself that chiefly occupied the angel's mind, the verb in the Greek with great propriety begins the proclamation: Again, as it was an event Rev. xiv. 8. Gr. Easy, swiat Kabudis ʼn modis pyn. As the expression is taken from Isaiah xxi. 9. the same order is found in the Hebrew, bao ban theo. All the Latin translations that I have seen, have followed the same order. "Cecidit, cecidit Babylon, urbs illa magna." Le Clerc and Saci in the French, both agree with the arrangement in the English. Babylone est tombee; elle est tombee; cette grande ville." Beausobre's version in that tongue is rather better, as it comes nearer the order of the words in the Greek. He begins with the pronoun, and puts the name after the verb. "Elle est tombee, elle est tom bee, Babylona la grande ville." This, I believe, is as near the original as the idiom of the French will permit. In the Italian, Diodati hath preserved entire ly the vivacity resulting both from the disposition of the words, and the redu plication of the verb, and hath given the passage that turn which the English interpreters might and should have given it: "Caduta, caduta e Babilonia in "gran cita." It is evident that in this matter the Italian allows more liberty than the French, and the English more than the Italian. The truth of this ob servation will appear more fully afterwards. of so surprising a nature, and of such mighty consequence, it was natural to attempt, by repeating the word, to rivet it in the minds of the hearers, ere he proceeded any further. The words is fallen in our language, answer to the single word by which the verb is expressed in the original. Our translators were sensible they could not say, "Is fallen, is fallen, Babylon that great city." This could convey no meaning, being neither affirmation nor interrogation, hypothesis nor wish. For this reason they have preferred the colder arrangement, prescribed by grammarians, though by so doing they have also lost the effect of the reduplication. A little attention to the genius of our tongue would have shewn them, that all the effect, both of the order and of the figure, would have been preserved by saying," Fallen, fallen, is Baby"lon the great city *." Often a particle, such as an adverb or preposition belonging to a compound verb (for it matters not in which way you consider it), emphatically begins the sentence, as in that formerly quoted for another purpose. Up 66 goes my grave Impudence to the maid." In the particle up, that circumstance is denoted, which particularly marks the impudence of the action. By the help of it too, the verb is made to precede the nominative, which otherwise it could not do. In negations it holds very generally, that the negative particle should be joined to the verb. Yet in some cases the expression is greatly enlivened, and consequently the denial appears more determinate, by beginning the sentence with the adverb. Not every one," says our Saviour, "that "saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king"dom of heaven; but he that doth the will of my fa"ther who is in heaven +." Vary but the position of Virgil. Somewhat similar is the admirable example we have in this passage of Me, me, adsum qui feci, in me convertite ferrum. Æn. L. ix. The emphasis here is even the stronger, that the pronoun so happily begun with and repeated is perfectly irregular, it being quite detached from the construction of the sentence. * Mat. vii. 21. Gr. Ου πας ο λέγων μοι, Κύριε Κύριε, ειςελεύσεται εις την βασιλική Twavy. All the Latin translators, however differently they express the sense, agree in beginning with the negative particle. So also doth Diodati in the Italian: "Non chiunque mi dice, Signore, Signore, entrera nel regno de' cieli.” Not so the French. Le Clerc and Beausobre thus: "Tous ceux que me dis the negative in the first member, and say, "Every one "that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall not enter into "the kingdom of heaven," and you will flatten the expression exceedingly. On so slight a circumstance in the arrangement does the energy of a sentence sometimes depend. We have some admirable examples of the power of this circumstance in Shakespeare. In the conference of Malcom with Macduff; after the former had asserted, that he himself was so wicked, that even Macbeth, compared with him, would appear innocent as a lamb, Macduff replies with some warmth, -Not in the legions Of horrid hell, can come a devil more damn'd, The arrangement in this sentence is admirably adapted to the speaker's purpose; whereas, if you dispose the words in the usual manner, and say, "A more damned "devil in the legions of horrid hell cannot come to top "Macbeth in ills;" we shall scarcely be persuaded that the thought is the same. If it were needful to multiply examples, I might easily show that other adverbs, particularly those of time and of place, when such circumstances require special notice, may, with great advantage to the energy, appear foremost in the sentence. I proceed to observe, that when a sentence begins with a conjunction, whether it be expressed in one word or more, with naming or titling the persons addressed, with a call to attention, or even with a term that is little more than an expletive, the place immediately following such phrase, title, or connective, will often give the same advantage to the expression that fills it, as in other cases the first place will do. The first term or phrase is considered only as the link which connects the sentence with that which went before; or, if it have no relation to the preceding, as an intimation that something "ent, Seigneur, Seigneur, n'entreront pas dans le royaume du ciel." Sacì thus, "Ceux qui me disent, Seigneur, Seigneur, n'entreront pas tous dans le roy"aume des cieux." • Macbeth, 2 is to be said. Of this a few examples will suffice. The. place immediately after a conjunction which begins the sentence is sometimes emphatical, as in that of Milton: At last his sail-broad vans where the description is the more picturesque that the verb is preceded by its regimen. The possessive pronoun and the epithet, unless when a particular emphasis rests upon one of them, are regarded only as constituting parts of one complex sign with the noun. Secondly, the place after the address, as in that of the same author, Me, tho' just right and the fixt laws of heaven Nothing could better suit, or more vividly express, the pride and arrogance of the arch apostate, than the manner here used of introducing himself to their notice. Thirdly, the place after a call to attention, as in that of the apostle, "Behold, now is the accepted time: behold, "now is the day of salvation." Lastly, the place after an expletive: "There came no more such abundance of "spices as these which the Queen of Sheba gave to king Solomons." Perhaps the word there, in this passage, cannot properly be termed an expletive; for though it be in itself insignificant, the idiom of the language renders it necessary in this disposition of the sentence; for such is the power of this particle, that by its means even the simple tenses of the verb can be made to precede the nominative, without the appearance of interrogation. For when we interrogate we must say, "Came there" or "Did there come- A little attention will satisfy us, that the verb in the passage produced, ought to occupy the emphatical place, as the comparison is purely of what was brought into the country then, and what was at any • Paradise Lost, B. II. 2 Cor. vi. 2. + Ibid. The time imported afterwards. Even though the particle there be preceded by the copulative, it will make no odds on the value of the place immediately following. " And "there appeared to them, Elias, with Moses*." apparition is here the striking circumstance. And the first place that is occupied by a significant term is still the emphatical place. In all the three preceding quo tations from scripture, the arrangement is the same in the original, and in most of the ancient translations, as it is with us. The modern versions vary more, especially in regard to the passage last quoted.† I shall add one example more from scripture, wherein the oblique case of the personal pronoun, though preceded by two conjunctions, emphatically ushers the verb and its nominative. Among many nations there was no king like Solomon, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish woman cause to sint. My remark concerns only the last clause of the sentence. It is manifest that the emphasis here ought to rest on the him, who, from what immediately precedes, might have been thought Mark ix. 4. Gr. Kai wodn avleis HAIN; Cur Macri. + In Italian, Diodati renders it, "Et Elia apparue loro, insieme con Moise." In French, Le Clerc, "Ensuite Elie et Moise leur apparurent." Beausobre, “Ils "virent aussi paroitre Moise et Elie." Saci, "Et ils virent paroitre Elie et "Moise." It would seem that neither of these tongues can easily admit the simple tense to precede both its nominative and its regimen. By the aid of the particle there, this is done in English without ambiguity, and without violence to the idiom of the language. ་་ Neh. xiii. 26. The clause affected by this criticism stands thus in the origi The order is exactly the same in the נס אותו החטיאו הנשוס הבכריות : : nal Greek of the Septuagint; Και τετον εξέκλιναν αἱ γυναικες οι αλλότριας: and nearly the same in the Latin Vulgat; "Et ipsum ergo duxerunt ad peccatum mulieres alieni. genæe." Junius is rather more literal. "Etiam ipsum ad peccandum induxer. "unt feminæ alienigenae." Castalio, with at least equal energy, places the pronoun before the conjunction. "Eum tamen ad peccandum mulieres perduxerunt "extraneæ." In all these, as in the English translation, what is principally emphatical in the arrangement is preserved, the pronoun being the first among the significant terms. It is not so in Diodati's Italian version: "E pure le donne "straniere lo fuero peccare :" nor in Saci's French; "Et apres cela neanmoins "des femmes etrangeres le firent tomber dans le peche." It is remarkable, that though the ordinary grammatic rules, both of French and of Italian, place the pronoun governed before the governing verb, the reverse of which obtains in English, the latter language is more capable of accommodating itself to such an expressive disposition of the words, as has been now exemplified, than either of the former. The reason is, though these tongues make the oblique case of the pronoun generally precede the verb, they do not admit the nominative to intervene, but for the most part, except in asking a question, place it before both. |