The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1826-11-30
ONE OF TIE PEOPLE.
For THE yIRGIgIAS.
TO !. c. R.-No. 3.
ScuooL Roou, 9th. mo. 9th. 1926.

SCHOOL Room, 9fh. mo. ON 1870.
Esteemed Friend Thy letter Of the 2nd in
stant, was received on the 18th. / will now pro-
coed with my remarks in relation 10 several par
ticuIars, according to my promise in my last
communication.
Thou art OF the opinion that htc is sometimes
an adjective, and sometimes an advert and
thou hast adduced, IN thy first communication,
II number oflnstanccs showing when II IS an adj
jective and when an adyerh. Under the head
OF adjective, are the following examples 3.
probable, &c. as, it is like, or Meig. !. he is
like to become a great man, &c" In selecting
the fourth, thou hast been very unfortunate for
" he is lEe to become &c, is not good gram
mar. Like, IN this example, docs not belong to
he. Were it correct to use Ike, it must be re-
ierred to the fact" he is 10 become &c. -
But like is incorrect il should be- " He is Ike
Bto become great man, &c" Thou hast in
this instance been mislcd, it is probnhle, by the
rulc which requires an adjective to be connected
with the verb 10 be IN all its variations. This
rule, IT is true, will hold good generally, but not
always. I'll understand Murray correctly, ne
intended 1t only for general rule, This rule,
however, Is not much CONCERNED in tho present
ease. The expression IL 10 bccoRc. is intended
IN this sentence to convey one idea the advert
htciy Is used to quality this expression, and is
equivalent to probabig. Litsig is frequently us
eda an adjective: As, 3" Is AZ to become a great
man Ii is likely" What is Hkoigi 1his
tact-" lie is to become a great man for
which ii is a substitute, and likely is an adjec-
tive belonging TO II.
Twill only comment upon one example UNI
der the ad,crb. Il The truly religious mau, Ike
diamond, becomes mere aud more refined, by
, the fire ofpersecution." Thou cpntendcst that
there is no resemblance between the man and
the diamond but thnIl there is. The truly
religious man becomes NOR aud more refined
by persecution aud he is IN tins particular
IKE the diamond which become, more and more
refined by fire. contend that there must he
resemblance between the snan aud the diamond
IN some particular, otherwise the same effect on
each could not be produced by similar means.
The way in which thou hast the sentence. is not
precisely correct; for, thou mallest the fire Of
persecution to act upon diamond as we'll as up
on the man. Elemental fire, if | may be al
lowed o use tine expression, must at upon the
diamond. The fact IS, attribute expresses
sometimes the quality of thing, and las at the
same tine an influence over the verb =" open
thy hand sclde.' Here rude evidently denotes
tn quaaty of hand, and qualities the action of
the verb 9pea. For, il would not be correct TO
say, open thy ride hand Itwould also he
wrong to say Open thy hand Uldslg;;" for,
the hummer ofopening Is not brought INTO view
u dc IN this sentence, denotes the effect OF open
ng.
Horne Jooke considers as however and
whenever used in English 10 he substitute
and to mean the same thing as " IT, or that, or
which ! do not believe II locke is cor
rect in considering as always a substitute.
think | could propose examples in which II
would be impossible to make II (nS) substitute;
but am ofthc opinion that rs is frequently
preventative. In mis- example, In matters OF
serious moment, the sentiments OF the best and
worthcst may vary from those OF their friends,
according rs their lines of life diVcrge,e &C, |
believe ~ il pronoun. and is equivalent 10 that
--accordiag that: or that 6ccortRg mhich fol-
to1cy.-t Their lines of life diverge, &c.--nccOrd-
tag that faet; or, thu t1d ncc0rdipg-thc SEN
timcnls OF the best aud Worthiest, in matters of
serious moment, may vary from those OF their
friends That is a substitute for tine part of
the sentence" Their lines Of life diyergc, &C"
and is in the case absolute because ii is con-
nectcd with according and has no personal
tense eta verb. dccordsng is a partlciple and
belongs 20 that.
Though think there's an abundance of phi
losoply III Tins constituting tacsc words, yet do
rot nave them parsed in this way in my school,
for fear Of bcng charged with eccentricity,
and perhaps with ignorance. | have according
purscd as ! have heretofore stated and the
particle rs make conjunction, IN conformity
to the view of Murray. He says that as, "when
used by itself, is most frequently, if not always,
to be considered as II conjunction, perhaps
as an adserb.' think that as in this construc
ton, and III many others, performs the double
office off connective and n modihcr. II APP
pears TO me. that as has in this example an in
tuencc in qualify ing according, while it serves
as a connective in joining according taken in
connection with the part OF the sentence 10 which
| have made it (qccoriiHg) refer, and the subse-
qucnt part of the sentence. believe that the
particle so is likewise frequently used in per.
forming the two offices of connective and a
modifer.
TAe examples which have heretofore brought
fore ard, have been less favorable to my views,
than any perhaps could have selected. chose
such in order to elicit full dlcIssioD. viii
nea ossr few Instances rha. AZ" 5etter raic'.-