Ch. 2. have not cafes whereby to distinguish the nominative, that is, the agent, from the fubject of the action, which is commonly in the accufative cafe in Greek and Latin; but for the accufative we have no fign any more than for the nominative.

And this leads me to speak of the regimen of verbs. And the common arrangement in English is, that the substantive governed by the verb follows it. But there is no reafon for this in the nature of the thing for it may often happen, that by nature, as well as the intention of the speaker, the fubject of the action is principal. But, as I faid juft now, the want of marks in English for the nominative and accufative cafes, makes it neceffary that they should be distinguished by their position; the one going before the verb, and the other following after it.

And here we may obferve the great variety of the Latin and Greek composition, in the combination only of three words; I mean the verb, its nominative, and the word governed by the verb; as, for example, Petrus amat Johannem, can be arranged in five other different ways. For I can fay, Petrus Johannem amat, -Johannem

hannem amat Petrus,-Johannem Petrus a- Ch. 2. mat,-Amat Petrus Johannem,—and Amat Johannem Petrus; in all fix. Whereas, in English, we can only fay it in one way, Peter loves John.

;

That this is owing to the reason I mentioned, the want of a mark for the nominative and accufative cafes, is evident from this, that where the fubftantive governed by the verb is in any oblique cafe, for which we have a mark, fuch as the genitive, dative, or ablative, there is no neceffity for the word governed by the verb following after. Thus we fay, Fired with anger, or, With anger fired; - He behaved with courage, or, With courage he behaved; though the last form of expreffion be more used in poetry than in profe; for what reafon I do not know. Or, if the word governed be a pronoun, which has a diftinction betwixt the nominative and accufative, it may likewife be put firft. Thus Milton fays, HIм the Almighty power hurled headlong, though even that way of speaking is not fo common in profe.

Hitherto I have gone upon the fuppofition, that the first place in the arrangement of words was the place of honour;

but

Ch. 2. but the last place may likewise be made the place of honour, as in fpeaking, more emphasis may be laid upon the last word than upon the firft. Thus Horace fays,

Quem virum aut heroa, lyrá, vel acri
Tibia, fumes celebrare, Clio?

Quem Deum?

On the other hand, Pindar fays, Tivæ deor, Tir ήρωα, τινα δ' άνδρα κελαδήσομεν ; Το here we have great authorities on both fides. And it may be faid in favour of Horace's order, that it very often happens in the Latin arrangement, and not unfrequently in the Greek, that the verb, which is often the moft fignificant word of the fentence, and always the hinge upon which it turns, is the laft word in it. It fhould, therefore, as I faid, be left to the fpeaker to place the words, as well as to lay the emphasis, where he thinks it will best convey his fenfe to the hearer. And the language which lays him under a reftraint in that particular is defective. If the defect arifes from fome fault in the grammar and constitution of the language, there is no help for it; but it ought not to proceed from custom, and an ill tafte of compofition.

CHAP.

CHA P. III.

Objection to the antient compofition anfwered, and fhewn to be an advantage to that compofition. This illuftrated by examples.

The prefent fashionable compofition altogether different from the antient.

IT

T may be objected, that in the fimple Ch. 3. compofitions mentioned in the preceding chapter, the arrangement may be either way, without any injury to the fenfe or the perspicuity. But what shall we fay to those artificial arrangements, by which the parts of speech that ought always to go together, are fet often at a great distance from one another, as a verb from its nominative, or the word governed by it, or the adjective from its substantive; by which means the mind is kept in fufpenfe, fometimes for a great while, and the words fo jostled out of their natural order, that it requires often a great deal of pains and fkill to restore them to that order; and, VOL. II.

Y Y

in

Ch. 3. in fhort, the fentence is made little better than a riddle.

The thing will be better understood by an example; and I will take one from the last stanza of an ode of Horace, which Milton has translated literally, and thereby indeed fhewn very clearly, that the genius of the English language will not bear fuch an arrangement. But the question is, Whether the genius of the Latin be equally ftinted? and whether there be any beauty or utility in ranging the words in fo perverse an order, as thofe gentlemen would call it? The paffage is as follows.

Me tabulâ facer

Votivá paries indicat uvida

Sufpendiffe potenti

Veftimenta maris Deo.

OD. 5.

Now, according to thofe gentlemen, the natural and proper arrangement is that which a schoolboy learning Latin is ordered by his mafter to put the words in. As thus: Sacer paries indicat tabulá votivá me fufpendiffe uvida veftimenta potenti deo maris. If this be elegant and beautiful, then indeed the Greeks and Romans were