Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1860-06-07
coNTR1BUToR1AL.
Books.

S0N " Sn4A44s
-:o:-
Books. . N
It has occurred to US that Woman's Home
Bool.of Health is well worthy the attention Of
its special class of readers--wives and mothers.
It is by DR.. Wilson Of Columbus, Georgia. II
seems to be a scientific and practical work, de-
signed to give valuable and available informa'
ton: that is to say, an earnest and serious book
mot q catch penny Psychology whose design il
to stimulatea prnrient curiosity, and whose fnal
cause is to sell-both book and reader. We ven
ture to call attention to this work, though lit,
tie out of our line, because it is Southern pub.
ication, and not likely, therefore, to be hmm.
bug. It claims to be "Work for Mothers and
Families" . 4s
Perhaps hsvolume Of Humboldt's private Cor.
re,pondenes, recently translated and issued ir
New York, has created greater sensation il
continental Europe than>any book for lonl
while. It sbounds in gossip, and tells many
tale ont Of school.
Grammar. -. .... -- ..
We have been applied to for our opinion on {
point Of English Grammar, and we prefer to an
swer the inquiry in this way and place.
But antecedent to all detail, there are two
general Rules which we hold to be all-importan
just in this connection AMI we will give them a
the outset, that we may refer to them intelli
gently afterwards.
RULE L-Have common sense. -
RULE H.-Know the meaning Of words.
The matter submitted to US is this !: In thu
sentence, aThs house i, bang built" two points
are made; First, is it good English; Second, i
$50, how is ''is being buil'' parsed a
This matter was agitated some years ago. Al
that time we examined It somewhat thoroughly
We consulted and compared perhaps q score o.
authorities. We found an immense mass OF pc
dantry and good deal Of nonsense in the books
We read lot Of unmitigated twaddle in the news
papers and heard the opinion of maybe score
Of living grammarians-much that was good ant
sensible, also much that was stuff.
We will take the two points in order. .
Rrst-Is It good English?
Yes.
Seeond.-How is SIS being built' parsed?
SIS being buaf' is a transitive verb, passive
voice, indicative mood, present tense, progress
i've form, third person, singular number, agree
ing with its subject '.Houss." That's all. Ther'
is nothing remarkable about it that we can see
1t may be necessary to remark that late,
books on English grammar recognize three
forms of the present tense. For example, in tn,
active voice, they Infect the verb in three form
simple, progressive, and emphatic that is,-
81 build,""I am building" and II do build :
respectively. The passive present has two form
-"I am built lie simple, and 81 ON being built
is progressive form.
The objection, as we gather it, is not to thi
example but this example is used as decoy t
other forms Of infection that are questionable
kEuch as-"The house will have been being bull
BIZ years next Christmas" The opposition ask
in triumph-Is that correct? We respectfully
answer
Yes, Moan. And we refer to RULE II.
! The opposition here concsiviDg ourself to b
cornered beyond retreat, asks US agsin-"Woul
you use that form of expression ?" We yer.
meekly reply
No. And here we refer to RUL- 1.
We would probably express the idea in bet
ter form. But, finally, if that form should il
any sOay appear better than some others that "
might get up, We would use it, and parse it
and defend it, to the death. 1t is inelegan'
maybe; but that is a matter of rhetoric, not Q
syntax.
The opposition maintain that we should say
"The house is building" We answer by refer
ring to RULE II. The house Is not the agent o
an active transitive verb. A house cannot bull
anything. See RULE I.
We are perfectly aware that gray fathers O
learning-LL. Ds. and D. Ds.-have pronounce
on the opposition, and are against US. We ca
only respectfully suggest that said gray father
of learning review and study more carefully tn
principles of synta1. That is all.
Personal.
RAREY, the horse-tamer, is in Turkey-a
Constantinople, had on interview with the Sui
tan.
Miss ALM1RA LEWIS was convicted at Roches
ter, New York, for poisoning whole family, an
was sentenced to be confined at Sing Sing-te,
years.
SHELTON MCKENZIE is publishing kind o
Biography of BEAU BRuMMEL-the Prince o
Dandydom-him that devoted the best powers o
his genius to the development of a necktie.
P1coLoM1N1 is worth two hundred thousan'
dollars. She is soon to become DUCHESS GAE
TAM. Picolomini is the very quintessence o
Instability. ..
The Princess MArHlLDE appeared at baleos
tune in Paris recently in the character Of al
Egyptian Princess Of the olden time. She en-