The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-07-28
r,,ee or four wears ago We had a pleasant

Three ar four years ago We had pleasant
controversy with venerable clereynHu'
beloved by all who know h'm) as 70 w.
proper passive forms Of certain Veios' w. aid
a long time we have known 'nA' tho
forIes who agree with him must 4" 1Uy,rr
wall in the end. RICHARD "*A'. uo h,,t
.o,,e 70 their rescue a few years ~
h;s ossavs ON this point provoked only oon-
-. g., those who understood 'he SUI
~. Th, American Pathological Assocla-
!.. =, Now Haven on Tuesday last.
~ ~" ,hst d,v the important question was
sat,,od: We quote from the New York
T,75unc's report:
ON THE IMPERFECT TENsEs
The battle royal Of the day and session
was opened by Professor Whitney, VINO
read an elaborate paper, bristling with cita-
tons and references utterly scouting tne
theory of the passive form Of the Vero Ia
such expressions as sis building,
burning" etc. The paper was written oy
FITZGERALD Hall, of Oxford, Eo2land, anu
deal. exclusively with the subject. Mr:
Richard Grant Whites arguments are met
bv EXAMPLES and illustrations from Lamp,
Macsulay. and the whole school Of English
classics. In defence Of - is being done,
the paper says:
In The grammar of Mr.. i. S. Skillem TO
be found in the British MuSeum), published
in 1902, find the passive voice thus lllustra-
ted ITO be being conquered" "l am being
CONQUERED :" 81 was being conquered
81 snail or will be being conquered !,
can, may. or must be being conquered,
ETC. Robert Southey writes: ielloW
whose uiic.mcst upper grinder Is beinE
to, GU, by the roots by mutton bai per-
P,ra.trd instances Of the same kind are
seen Ia Souhc,'s grayer writings. Cole-
riIrc wrote: .'Whlle my hand was oelpg
Diet by Mr.. Young. SPOKE etc. Charles
I,.ni, tn.aks OF .Iellties which are oelnG
ur,,G Le(:rc as Walter Savage Landor'
i'm h.s ,m,niuary conversations, represents
Pitt as Si,in.: The man VINO pos>essGs
Chem nav rc;,u -wcGcnhorS or helt VIM
heis Jetng Tossed in blanket" ne Qulhc!
speak, 0, the bride that "was DelnS mar
ried 10 him.
Further on, the paper says:
Having convicted Mr.. Grant White OF
mistaken analy sis, l am not CONCERNED ~
the observations which he tounds on MS
mistake. lis being built he represents
by ems 9ditcQtus est rs the supposed cor
responding Latin phrase. The Latin Is
il!critimate, and he infcrs that therefore
the English is the same. But Gd'Tcunl est,
a translation on the model which he offers
of the active is building is quite as illesti.
mate as ems 9d,fcatus est. BY parity OF nor
sequ,turs we are, therefore, to surrender
the active is building. Assume that phrase
in given language is Indispensable, unless
it has It's counterpart in some other Ian
guage from the very conception and dehni
ton of an idiom every idiom is illeSitlmate
The paper was of some length, and viva
ciously argumentative throughout. brlsb
debate followed, in which the sentiment o.
the majority sustained the is being done
form. Indeed, no one made direct ap-
peal for the "is building" style, save 10
explain its probable origin and usage. Pro.
fessors kendrick and Haldemann Thought
that the people were responsible fox it, and
scholars had only to adopt or reject as II
appeared servictable.