Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/187

 io* s. in. FEB. as. 1903.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

151

' X. & Q.' to reproduce the quotations from these selected writers, some of whom are, I believe, considered to be masters of English, though betraying no qualms when inserting unattached adverbs within their infinitives.

Dr. Hall came to the conclusion that the two writers who were especially addicted to the use of the phrase were Madame D'Arblay and Bishop Pecock, the latter furnishing such an instance as this: "forto perfitli, sureli, and sufficientli undirstonde Holi Scripture." I hasten to observe that I am not penetrated with admiration by this particular example, for it reminds one feoo much of those sepa- rable German verbs whose component parts are apt to be sundered by a swamp of paren- theses ; but it shows to what lengths an enthusiast will go in this direction. One may balance this with such half-hearted Shakespearean usages as "to proceed and justly and religiously unfold," and " to line and new repair our towns " (' King Henry V.,' I. ii. 10 ; 1 1. iv. 7). Besides these, there'may be also added to Dr. Hall's list Byron's "to slowly trace " (' Childe Harold,' II. xxv.).

If, therefore, there are some authors in whose works the split infinitive in all its naked shamelessness has escaped detection, it is obvious that there nevertheless exists abun- dant support for its use if the personal baste of a writer inclines him to regard the idiom with favour or indifference. But if he shares MARO'S fierce hatred of the construction, it will at least be judicious to so place the adverb that there can be no doubt as to what verb is qualified. J. DORMER.

Is not the question one of feeling rather than one of rules ] Is anything to be gained by using the split infinitive ? or is it a mere unnecessary vulgarism ? It seems to me that it may be used to increase the delicacy of our expression in certain cases, and that its use is therefore legitimate.

If we take a phrase like " I certainly think he is wrong " (see Sweet's ' English Grammar ' on position of adverbs), and turn it into an infinitive construction, we get three possible forms, corresponding to the three possible forms of the original.

1. I certainly think he is wrong.

Then you ought to certainly think I am right.

2. Certainly I think he is wrong.

Then you ought certainly to think I am right.

3. I think certainly he is wrong.

Then you ought to think certainly I am

right.

In No. 1 is not " I certainly think " equiva- lent to " I consider," the adverb being blended

with the verb to form a new compound, viz., the verb " to certainly-think," and do we not change the sense by writing "certainly to think"? Would not this sufficiently justify the use of the split infinitive in certain cases ? "I hardly open my eyes " is equivalent to "I half-open my eyes," and the infinitives would express the same difference. Thus, " What a pleasure it is to hardly open your eyes and look through the waving boughs ! " is, I think, preferable to " What a pleasure it is hardly to open your eyes and/" &c. P. G. WILSON. Amsterdam.

When MARO condemns such a phrase as. "the custom is a bad one," he condemns Addison. But Dr. Johnson says that this mode of speech is not elegant, though it is used by good authors. Dr. Johnson himself is one of those who have used the split infinitive. But, so far as I know, he has used it only once. In the Bible I have met with several instances of the adverb joined to the infinitive, but with no instance of the split infinitive. In ' Hamlet ' we find :

Rightly to be great

Is not to stir without gteat argument, But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honour's at the stake.

And in ' Paradise Lost ' is the line :

Strongly to suffer and support our pains. Ill the poetry of Gray there is no instance of an adverb being joined to the infinitive^ with the exception of the negative "not ta wound my heart" and "still to bring." la the poetry of one or two other well-known poets I looked in vain for such examples.

E. YARDLEY.

I Is to the sign of the dative in A.-S. ? I thought in to write = ihe act of writing, to, as in to-day, to-morrow, and V Archdeacon in Northern dialect=/ie, the definite article, not=Fr. a dire, Lat. ad dicendum. The verb is usually qualified by words following, but not always. T. WILSON.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON DICKENS AND THACKERAY (10 th S. iii. 22, 73, 131). The title-page of the printed music score of ' The Mountain Sylph ' is as follows :

"The Mountain Sylph, A Grand Opera in two Acts, as performed at the New Theatre Royal English Opera House. Written by T.J.Thacke- ray, Esq*. Composed by John Barnett."

WILLIAM H. CUMMINGS.

PATENTS OF PRECEDENCE (10 th S. iii. 90). Warrants of Precedence were issued certainly as early as 1660. I can think of one on record in Ulster's Office granted as early as 1669 to the daughters of Thomas, Viscount