Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/258

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io ih s. in. MARCH is, 1905.

wickshire ; Hugh Boyd, Bengal : Alex. R. A. Boyd ; Wm. C. Brown, Fifeshire ; Dudley Beaumont, Yorkshire (80th Regt.) ; Ilobb. Bond, Gloucestershire ; William Chaytor, Yorkshire; Thomas Cadell, East Lothian (now Col. Cadell, V.C.); Thomas Drummond ; Gordon Ducat, Midlothian (28th Foot) ; Andrew Douie, Kinross-shire ; Henry R Elliot, Madras (now major - general) ; W. T. S. C. Graham, Bombay ; Geo. S. Hills, Bengal ; Robt. D. Lowe, Bombay : Fred. Lake, Kent; John T. Mayne, Midlothian (17th Foot); John M'Dougall, Madras (14th Foot) ; William C. S. Mair, Edinburgh (12th Foot, now colonel) ; John T. M'Gown, Madras ; Donald Macdonald, Calcutta (now colonel) ; T. K. Morgan, Midlothian (63rd Regt.) ; John R. Maule, Calcutta (49th Regt.) ; John Macfarlane, Calcutta ; John J. S. O'Neill (20th Foot, now major- general) ; Robert V. Pitcairn, Batavia ; John W. Pitcairn (brothers); Alex. T. Rolland, Madras (now colonel) ; Edw. C. Ross, Down (now Col. Sir Edward Ross, C.S.I.) ; William Starke, Midlothian (15th Foot, now major- general); David H. Trail, Midlothian; Geo. W. Thompson, Midlothian (1st Foot) ; Alfred Trigge, Middlesex (66th Regt.); Albert Vidler, Surrey (93rd Highlanders) ; Thomas Walker, Stirlingshire ; W. M. N. Watson, Midlothian ; Robert A. Wauchope, Edin- burgh; Win. Digby Wentworth, Yorkshire (7th Dragoon Guards).

Among other pupils during at least part of those years were : F. Adams, Robert Blair (9th Lancers), Geo. Leslie Bryce (14th Foot), C. W. Campbell (now lieut.-col.), Farquhar- son (92nd Highlanders), Fairfax Fearnley (18th Royal Irish), Geo. Johnston (Royal Marines), John Liston (now colonel), R. R. Manson, Archd. Gibson Murray, Robert Murray, Charles M'Kay (97th Regt), A. H. M'Nab, the Earl of Rothes, Wm. J. Saul (45th Regt), Francis A. Stewart (Ceylon Rifles), Robert Vernor (88th Regt), Thos. Brodie Wardlaw (38th Regt).

The present Archbishop of York was a pupil for two or three years before he entered the Madras army in 1846. His father, Dr. David Maclagan, one of the " Ordinary Directors" in the years 1853-4, had the medal and clasps for Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, and Nive. remember him well. W. S.

SPLIT INFINITIVE (10 th S. ii. 406 ; iii. 17, 51, 95, 150). COL. PHIDEA.UX has started a most interesting discussion, which, it is to be hoped, will induce some grammatical pundit to settle once for all this nice point in our language

To aid such a one in coming to a decision, [ beg to offer the following observations. In the first place, we must clearly understand what a split infinitive is. I take it to be a verb infinitive, as, for example, to die, used in this fashion, to gloriously die. But there is no such verb infinitive as "to gloriously die"; we might say "gloriously to die," but " to die gloriously " would, it seems to me, be a better expression. Die we all must ; whether bravely or shamefully is another matter, which depends on character and cir- cumstances, and does not precede, but follow the event, and of which posterity is the judge, not we ourselves. I therefore hold it to be bad grammar to separate the to from the die, because, though they appear to be distinct words, the two together must be employed if we wish to translate Horace's " pro patria mori" or " Mourir pour la patrie"in Rouget de Lisle's thrilling ' Mar- seillaise.'

In the second place, the abuse of the split infinitive can only apply to the present tense of the mood, as "to love," " to act," " to be," " to have." If we take such a compound as "to be greatly loved," we are employing a per- fectly legitimate form of expression, because the infinitive, which is to be, is not split. But say " to greatly be loved " ; then we have the monster with a wanion ! If the former expression be regarded by any one as a split infinitive, then he must of necessity look upon such phrases as "I am much troubled," "I was very frightened," ifec., as split tenses. Whither will all this lead him ] "Inebriated with the cup of [grammatical] insanity, and flung upon the stream of recklessness, he will dash down the cataract of nonsense, and whirl amid the pools of confusion."

Let us take two phrases, such as "to be drunk" and "to be stupid"; what are the words "drunk" and "stupid" but adjec- tives, though we dignify the former with the name of a participle past? They can both be modified with equal propriety by an adverb, as " to be horribly drunk " or " to be extremely stupid," and in neither phrase is there a split infinitive. But change the posi- tion of the adverbs and say "to horribly be drunkj" and " to extremely be stupid," then we shall have two of the ugliest specimens that the new century has yet seen. If the author of ' Jude the Obscure,' and the writer of a recent letter on ' Marriage,' affect such novelties of diction as they are said to do I must conclude that their studies in ethics and grammar have led to results which few of their countrymen will approve.

The whole question of the split infinitive