Page:The king's English (IA kingsenglish00fowlrich).pdf/357

Rh

To go wrong with not is an achievement possible only with triple compounds, where the principal division is of course between the finite (would) and the infinitive with participle (have appealed). 'Would not have appealed' must be written. though at an enormous sacrifice of 'distinction'.

A single sentence is sometimes made to carry a double burden:

So unique a man as Sir George Lewis has, in truth, rarely been lost to this country.–.

The meaning is not 'Men like Sir G. Lewis have seldom been lost', but 'Men like the late Sir G. Lewis have seldom been found'. But instead of the late a word was required that