The Reformed Grammar, Or, Philosophical Test of English Composition |
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At first glance, Gerald Murray presents a common and tedious tome on the rules of writing, but there is much more. Peppered throughout are reasons and descriptions of why certain word order or rule emphasis is appropriate.
“Everything that tends to improve composition merits the highest attention, because it is intimately connected with our intellectual improvement. When we are studying composition properly, we are cultivating the understanding itself. Learning to arrange and express our thoughts accurately, teaches us to think correctly.” (218)
Murray, Gerald. The Reformed Grammar: Philosophical Test of English Composition. London: Darton, 1847. http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=BREEAAAAQAAJ.
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The Reformed Grammar, Or, Philosophical Test of English Composition Gerald Murray No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
absurd accent according acted action active adjective admit adverb agent answer assertive auxiliary called coincides common complete conjunction connects consequently considered consistency consonant correct definition denote descriptive detached past distinction Doctor ending English examples existence express finished future give given Grammar grammarians Grant happy hence imperfect implies indicative indicative mood joined kind knowledge language letter Lindley Murray lines Lowth manner meaning mind mode mood Murray's nature neuter nominative noun object observations opinion participle passing passive past perfect person plural possess preceding preposition present primitive principal pronoun proved question reader reason relation represents requires requisite respect Rule sense sentence signification simple speak substitute syllable tell tense term thing third thou tion transit truth verb virtue voice vowel word write written wrote
Popular passages
Page 242 - ... to dive into the depths of dungeons: to plunge into the infection of hospitals ; to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain; to take the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt; to remember the forgotten, to attend to the neglected, to visit the forsaken, and to compare and collate the distresses of all men in all countries.
Page 58 - The commonwealth of learning, is not at this time without masterbuilders, whose mighty designs, in advancing the sciences, will leave lasting monuments to the admiration of posterity ; but every one must not hope to be a Boyle, or a Sydenham ; and in — ^- an age that produces such masters, as the great Huygenius, and the incomparable Mr. Newton...
Page 242 - I cannot name this gentleman without remarking that his labours and writings have done much to open the eyes and hearts of mankind. He has visited all Europe,— not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces, or the stateliness of temples; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosity of...
Page 246 - Annual for me, the grape, the rose renew, The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew ; For me the mine a thousand treasures brings ; For me health gushes from a thousand springs ; Seas roll to waft me, suns to light me rise ; My foot-stool earth, my canopy the skies.
Page 230 - In faith and hope the world will disagree, But all mankind's concern is charity : All must be false that thwart this one great end, And all of God that bless mankind or mend. Man, like the generous vine, supported lives ; The strength he gains is from th
Page 247 - Tis she ; — but why that bleeding bosom gor'd, Why dimly gleams the visionary sword ! Oh, ever beauteous, ever friendly ! tell, Is it, in heaven, a crime to love too well ? To bear too tender or too firm a heart, To act a lover's or a Roman's part ? Is there no bright reversion in the sky, For those who greatly think, or bravely die...
Page 58 - Vague and insignificant forms of speech, and abuse of language, have so long passed for mysteries of science; and hard or misapplied words with little or no meaning have, by prescription, such a right to be mistaken for deep learning and height of speculation, that it will not be easy to persuade either those who speak or those who hear them, that they are but the covers of ignorance and hindrance of true knowledge.
Page 228 - Recreations, though they may be of an innocent kind, require steady government, to keep them within a due and limited province. But such as are of an irregular and vicious nature, are not to be governed, but to be banished from every well-regulated mind.
Page 188 - Can we be said to do unto others as we would that they should do unto us if we wantonly inflict on them even the smallest pain?
Page 106 - In general, the perfect tense may be applied wherever the action is connected with the present time, by the actual existence, either of the author, or of the work, though it may have been performed many centuries ago ; but if neither the author nor the work now remains, it cannot be used. We may say,
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Reformed Grammar, Or, Philosophical Test of English Composition |
| Author | Gerald Murray |
| Publisher | Darton & Company, 1847 |
| Original from | Oxford University |
| Digitized | 6 Oct 2006 |
| Length | 249 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |