Page:Philological Museum v2.djvu/265

Rh find the doctor of the parish's gown: in Swift (Vol. iv. p. 66. ed. 1824), "I doubt not but you are curious to know the secret of Monsieur Prior, an English gentleman's late journey to Paris ;"' (p. 353) "the first opportunity was that of the Prince of Denmark's death." But even in Queen Elizabeth's time such seems to have been, if not the only, at least the general practice. In the Palace of Pleasure, Vol. i. p. 1465 we read of "a great lady, which was one of the marshalles of Englandes wives,," that is, one of the wives of the marshals of England; and soon after of "one other of the kyng of Englandes marshaelles." It is remarkable that, as we learn from Grimm (V. 11. p. 96O), the same anomaly is com- mon among the lower orders in Germany, who say des Kaiser von Oestreich'^s Armee^ instead of the legitimate expression, des Kaisers von Oestreich. In explaining this way of speak- ing, Grimm remarks that we regard king-of-England as one word, from which we form a genitive : and no doubt, if we are to give a grammatical account of it, this is what we must say ; though at the same time, but for the indistinct- ness of our perceptions with regard to the proper nature of inflexions, we could hardly have so misapplied them. In the same manner we sometimes attach the plural s to a phrase. In the Witch of Edmonton, Act II, Cuddy applies to mother Sawyer to send him one of her what-d'ye-call-ems. Swift in his Journal is fond of the expression, " one of these oddcome-shortlies:" which as well as the former has gained a kind of conversational currency. With regard to names our usage is still unsettled : some persons would say the Miss Thompsons, others the Misses Thompson : the former mode is clearly more in keeping with the general practice of the language, and ones leaning at first would be toward it : but those who plume themselves on their accuracy adopt the latter; and at all events they can alledge the authority of Swift, who writes (Vok I. p. 64) " I went to the ladies Butler." At times too we allow ourselves to play the same tricks with other forma- tive terminations. In Wycherly's Country Wife, Act II Horner says, " Every raw, peevish, out of-humor'd, tea- drinking, arithmetic fop sets up for a wit." In his Gentle- man Dancing-Master, Act it, bashfulness is said to be " the only out of fashion'd thing that is agreeable." In the Double