But, admitting we do, does this
prove that such a mode of resolving sentences can be advantageously
adopted by learners in common schools? I presume it can not be
denied, that instead of teaching the learner to express himself
correctly in modern English, such a resolution is merely making him
familiar with an ancient and barbarous construction which modern
refinement has rejected. Our forefathers, I admit, who were governed
by those laws of necessity which compel all nations in the early and
rude state of their language, to express themselves in short,
detached sentences, employed _if_ as a verb when they used the
following circumlocution: "My son will reform. _Give that fact_. I
will forgive him." But in the present, improved state of our
language, by using _if_ as a _conjunction_, (for I maintain that it
is one,) we express the same thought more briefly; and our modern
mode of expression has, too, a decisive advantage over the ancient,
not only in point of elegance, but also in perspicuity and force. In
Scotland and the north of England, some people still make use of
_gin_, a contraction of _given:_ thus, "I will pardon my son, _gin_
he reform.
Pages:
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303