The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-08-07
Grammatical Hints.
Richard Grant While writes.


To have There is very common use |
of to have, with a definite participle, which |
is altogether illogical Examples are found |
in the following passages from Blacks |
charming princess of Thule :" s'Ht ni"l
He would have liked to have shown off |
Shillah to some of his friends" page 272
Harper's edition)
.sOne friend she had who would have
rejoiced to have been, of the best assist
ance to her. page 2S2).
Now 1t is very plain that what MOzen-
burg would have liked, at a certain time,
was to show off at that time the charming
Sheilah to his friends who were present at
that time. "A He could not have Liked at
that time to have shown her off. 1t might
be properly said of him at an after-time
to have shown her off then would have
given him pleasure in the recollection.
The first part of the assertion in such SEN
tences is logically incongruOus with the
second. So, Shilah's friend would have
been glad to be of assistance to her. 7K
This error is very common, even among
| good writer's, and is not at all new. The
absurdity of the construction is made
more apparent than it is in the examples
from the princess of Thule" by the fol-
lowing from Mr.. Maliock's New Repub-
| lie: .7.Iiy 81 Hj -lH e
Leslie was going to have spoken
1
4 "Mr Luke was going to have answered" !"
Book I'LL, chapter g. ~ ~. = suiGas,
Leslie was going to speak: Mr.. Luke
| was going to answer. The miscOnstruc-
| ton here becomes ridiculous by the i'm
mediate juxtapositiOn of q present, or in
definite, participle, (going) asserting i'm
\ mediate future action, with verbal
phrase implying complete action Ito have
spokenl. The logical construction, how
| 60 oa4lx la in
Blacks phrase, Mr. Mallock had written,
Leslie would have begun TO have
i spoken."5 "Mr Luke would have begun
TO have answered." t,t. Ei...,- 81
As to the length of time that this mis-
\ construction has obtained even among
writers of repute, think that remem.
ber it in Bishop Latimer.s sermons preach
ed and printed more than 300 years ago,
but I find readily at hand only three
examples, from Clarendon .g67O),a and
i from Sir William Waller (1650). ii-,f, .-.ffl
This might very well have disposed his
Majesty to have hastened his march to Ok
ford" n ("History Of the Rebellion, ,',d book
WILL, page 542, edition 1889. gb iii no
I'VE were both very unwilling to have
gone in regard of that concourse Of people
at Westminster" (Sir w. Walters HVin-
dication," page 1861 10. dong Z 81 II
| This muddle of thought and consequent
mlScOnStruCt1On must not De cOn1OunueO
with a use of the same form in present
reference to past time. Thus in "a
Princess of Thule" we have this sentence
81 should like to have seen the old wo
man before she died" page 41sYsi Dips
Here the speaker expressed o. presen
! wish, indeed but that wish may reason
! ably be either for something unattained II
! the past; and it is the latter. There is ne
! logical inconsistency between the two part
, of the assertion. II the assertion had beer
with reference to time past, the sentenc.
. should properly have been: 81 shnuit
have liked to see the old woman before
, she died. But there is no time of which
! the assertion, Il should hsvelliked to hay,
/ seen the old woman, ETC., is consistent will
!. reason.
|, This is one illustration of the rational
of the construction of the English sentence
f Some people may. call it grammar, and 81
, they may call it FreemasOnry, and with a
/ much reason.-[N. Y. Times.