be sought. Thus the sentence, "He mentions Newton's writing of a commentary," is not entirely free from either of these faults. If the preposition be omitted, the word writing will have a double construction, which is inadmissible, or at least objectionable. Some would say, "He mentions Newton writing a commentary." This, though not uncommon, is still more objectionable because it makes the leading word in sense the adjunct in construction. The meaning may be correctly expressed thus: "He mentions that Newton wrote a commentary." "Mr. Dryden makes a very handsome observation on Ovid's writing a letter from Dido to Æneas."--Spect., No. 62; Campbell's Rhet., p. 265; Murray's Key, ii, 253. Here the word writing is partly a noun and partly a participle. If we make it wholly a noun, by saying, "on Ovid's writing of a letter," or wholly a participle, by saying, "on Ovid writing a letter;" it may be doubted, whether we have effected any improvement. And again, if we adopt Dr. Lowth's advice, "Let it be either the one or the other, and abide by its proper construction;" we must make some change; and therefore ought perhaps to say; "on Ovid's conceit of writing a letter from Dido to Æneas." This is apparently what Addison meant, and what Dryden remarked upon; the latter did not speak of the letter itself, else the former would have said, "on Ovid's letter from Dido to Æneas."
OBS. 10.--When a needless possessive, or a needless article, is put before the participle, the correction is to be made, not by inserting of, but by expunging the article, according to Note 16th to Rule 1st, or the possessive, according to Note 5th to Rule 4th. Example: "By his studying the Scriptures he became wise."--Lennie's Gram., p. 91. Here his serves only to render the sentence incorrect; yet this spurious example is presented by Lennie to prove that a participle may take the possessive case before it, when the preposition of is not admissible after it. So, in stead of expunging one useless word, our grammarians often add an other and call the twofold error a correction; as, "For his avoiding of that precipice, he is indebted to his friend's care."--Murray's Key, ii, 201. Or worse yet: "It was from our misunderstanding of the directions that we lost our way."--Ibid. Here, not our and of only, but four other words, are worse than useless. Again: "By the exercising of our judgment, it is improved. Or thus: By exercising our judgment, it is improved."--Comly's Key in his Gram., 12th Ed., p. 188. Each of these pretended corrections is wrong in more respects than one. Say, "By exercising our judgement, we improve it" Or, "Our judgement is improved by being exercised" Again: "The loving of our enemies is a divine command; Or, loving our enemies [is a divine command]."--Ibid. Both of these are also wrong. Say, "'Love your enemies,' is a divine command." Or, "We are divinely commanded to love our enemies." Some are apt to jumble together the active voice and the passive, and thus destroy the unity even of a short sentence; as, "By exercising our memories, they are improved."--Kirkham's Gram., p. 226 and 195. "The error might have been avoided by repeating the substantive."--Murray's Gram., p. 172. "By admitting such violations of established grammatical distinctions, confusion would be introduced."--Ib., p. 187. In these instances, we have an active participle without an agent; and this, by the preposition by, is made an adjunct to a passive verb. Even the participial noun of this form, though it actually drops the distinction of voice, is awkward and apparently incongruous in such a relation.
OBS. 11.--When the verbal noun necessarily retains any adjunct of the verb or participle, it seems proper that the two words be made a compound by means of the hyphen: as, "Their hope shall be as the giving-up of the ghost."--Job, xi, 20. "For if the casting-away of them be the reconciling of the world."--Rom., xi, 15. "And the gathering-together of the waters called he seas."--Gen., i, 10. "If he should offer to stop the runnings-out of his justice."--Law and Grace, p. 26. "The stopping-short before the usual pause in the melody, aids the impression that is made by the description of the stone's stopping-short.'"--Kames, El. of Crit., ii, 106. I do not find these words united in the places referred to, but this is nevertheless their true figure. Our authors and printers are lamentably careless, as well as ignorant, respecting the figure of words: for which part of grammar, see the whole of the third chapter, in Part First of this work; also observations on the fourth rule of syntax, from the 30th to the 35th. As certain other compounds may sometimes be broken by tmesis, so may some of these; as, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is."--Heb., x, 23. Adverbs may relate to participles, but nouns require adjectives. The following phrase is therefore inaccurate: "For the more easily reading of large numbers." Yet if we say, "For reading large numbers the more easily," the construction is different, and not inaccurate. Some calculator, I think, has it, "For the more easily reading large numbers." But Hutton says, "For the more easy reading of large numbers."--Hutton's Arith., p. 5; so Babcock's, p. 12. It would be quite as well to say, "For the greater ease in reading large numbers."
OBS. 12.--Many words of a participial form are used directly as nouns, without any article, adjective, or possessive case before them, and without any object or adjunct after them. Such is commonly the construction of the words spelling, reading, writing, ciphering, surveying, drawing, parsing, and many other such names of actions or exercises. They are rightly put by Johnson among "nouns derived from verbs;" for, "The [name of the] action is the same with the participle present, as loving, frighting, fighting, striking."--Dr. Johnson's Gram., p. 10. Thus: "I like writing."--W. Allen's Gram., p. 171. "He supposed, with them, that affirming and denying were operations of the mind."--Tooke's Diversions, i, 35. "'Not rendering,' said Polycarp the disciple of John, 'evil for evil, or railing for railing, or striking for striking, or cursing for cursing."--Dymond, on War. Against this practice, there is seldom any objection; the words are wholly nouns, both in sense and construction. We call them participial nouns, only because they resemble participles in their derivation; or if we call them verbal nouns, it is because they are derived from
