The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-07-24
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49, All, ~ santenee IAN under the rule
.,sas.S hv Ia Dispdtck7 Il Rroadd ua mao
- sisrn & sfireacher, the sentences W0uld
asss been unqnest .onsbiy orrect. S n
- MA preacher does not appeal il. enc
Srnseaee The fault, then--tf sfanIt tneIs s
.,as,-lica NOT Id the grammaticals structure oI
- aentetce. but Id As statement Inc
& 1sSssa lsotl ,er :, would Introduce new loca
LTD che senteace- VIZ, that Bfoaaaus n'ss
Again, the sentence rnpy be deien DEG on
another ground. Concedlns. .lhas, 70 SDu,''
plefe II, the term !. o!bef is p psqu.su,
woy.a not every render. KnoWlng proaGu s,
shscIsinsisy This Is the opinion oil an emil
neas nrolessor, and one Of the most minute
and careful teacbersoi language whom we
4sxve known. II the rule quoted oy tne
fEsDntch iorbids the use OF the ellipsB we
question tts correctness.
Cnr main defence Of The sentence, how
eyer. IA that IL plainly, accurately, ana con.
ciseiy expresses our thought, and the Wora
g other" adds nothing to It's ciearness anu
force. .;uh
bit not infaliible, authority IN ques.io1s oi
rxanmar.-Senior Editor HerdsG-fsess'
9i01s Herald
We should like to convince our venera-
BILE conirere NOT OF our infallibiiitY Dnt OF
the fnfalhbi,ity OF the rules OF grammar.
they. like the common law, are tine per-
lection Of human reason"
The Hera.d's remarks as to "Lhe elllpsls :,
we need not notice at length. We are sorry
for the institution which has professor tif
he is professor Of English) who teaches tnat
che word . other . could correctly be omit
ted from the sentence under consideration,
az Z. el,ipitical.'' .s.Baptist conld Just as
correctly be omitted. as /" ellipticab1 il DR..
.5xrER had meant to say 7" any baptist 3
preacher" ~
Let us illustrate our main point. DR.. JE-
TER could correctly say: .t.e,..
stI like wine betterthan any kind Of solid
food.'' - sFs
But he could not correctly say:
81 like wine better than any kind OF
liquor" ...a
This latter sentence should read:
"I like wine better than any other kind OF,
liquor
So il BRoADDUs had been lawyer our
venerable friend might write:
~I liked Broaddus better than any preach
er."
But as BRoADDUs was preacher, ne can.
not correctly word bis sentence in that way.
He must write: (; f,..,'..gs...r +.
AZ liked Broaddus better than any Other
preacher" Tx. ...<1 81
To say EE.s "a
uIn gestures Broaddus excelled any
preacher that I have known p
Is equivalent to saying
cIn gestures Broaddus excelled Broad
lius himself -
Because the words "any preacher" ito
quote GooID BRowN] include and describe
BRo1DDUs himself, as our venerable friend
may perhaps see il be will write:
.fBroaddus excelled in gestures aU
preachers "-1.n ~
When he means only that
<sBroaddus excelled in gestures all other
preachers" ,:l ,a@a ~
So we must beg leave to,insist that the
sentence in question failed to 6 express
plainly, accurately, and concisely !" Dr..
~JETTER's thought. In our opinion, it did
not ex press that thought at all. r.JETER
meant that BRoADDus excelled any other
nreacher-not that be exceIled himself.
The word " other" Is indispensable.
The Herald says: e. -. ... -. ., =. =
@T6e word other, would Introduce q
new idea into the sentence-yiz., that
'Broaddus: was preacher" 49, -, i; 4.
Just .aBRoADDUs ,oas a.preacher. The
sehtence7as it stands conveys the idea that
he was not a preacher. Therefore it is
inaccurate. Bnt add the word /" other,"'
and the sentence becomes correct and tells.
the whole truth-that BRoADDUs pas a
preacher who exceTfed all other preachers
In:gestures; not a lawyer who excelled at
preachers In gestures. ,an s. "'..,.1
Let us try one more illustration. What
would DR.. JErER think Of this sentence:
tsBroaddus was a greater preacher than
any preacher" 81 ~
..Demosthenes was "a greater orator than
any orator." sg,t'k.&riat
We guess that DR.. JETER will say that
these sentences are absurd; yet grammati-
cally they are identical with the one under
consideration. Either OF them would still
he awkward, but would be dramatically
correct, if the word " other" were put into o
1t; as .t.sf.s,s4 s.. 'at.1E@2: si=sa
:. Broaddus was a greater preacher than
any other preacher" stai ~: r., .,1.,
lDemosthenes was q greater: orator than
any other orator. so ..t.sf&,.3 q p ~
Let nobody suppose that we claim to be
capable Of writing as well as DR.. JETER.
s. Nobody writes. better English" we re-
neat. We hayearead almost every, line that
he has written for the Herald during the
East ten years; aud we pronounce his style
clear, concise, and pure. Nevertheless,
nothing can supply the place OF learning.
No sort OF natural abilities will teach q man
how to spell or write correctly. These
branches OF knowledge must be learned
from books or from other persons. II IN
addition to mis- other qualifications, DR..
JErER possessed s. knowledge OF grammar,
he would be a model writer. Like the
Ephraimites at the passes OF the Jordan, tLe
man who does not Understand English gram.
r,sr will hiss out the word " Sibboleth Of
fhe very moment when be Is fattering him.
SELF that he is pronouucing The grammatical
Shibboleth." We take up this weeks
Herald, and in the leading editorial we ind
The three sentences following:
AConverted under such circumstances,
we may well suppose that the Roman house.
H.ofA haoonno ri ,iu}uor Christ ana pa