EXAMPLES:—­John’s being my friend, saved me from inconvenience.  Seth Hamilton was unhappy in being a slave to party prejudice.”—­O.  B. Peirce’s Gram., 1839, p. 201.  The meaning of this third part of a Rule of syntax, is, in proper English, as follows:  “A participle not transitive, with the possessive case before it, may have after it a nominative denoting the same thing; and also, when a preposition governs the participle, a nominative may follow, in agreement with one which precedes.”  In doctrine, the former clause of the sentence is erroneous:  it serves only to propagate false syntax by rule.  See the former example, and a note of mine, referring to it, on page 531 of this work.

SECTION V.—­OF UNITY.

Unity consists in avoiding needless pauses, and keeping one object predominant throughout a sentence or paragraph.  Every sentence, whether its parts be few or many, requires strict unity.  The chief faults, opposite to this quality of style, are suggested in the following precepts.  PRECEPT I.—­Avoid brokenness, hitching, or the unnecessary separation of parts that naturally come together.  Examples:  “I was, soon after my arrival, taken out of my Indian habit.”—­Addison, Tattler, No. 249.  Better:  “Soon after my arrival, I was taken out of my Indian habit.”—­Churchill’s Gram., p. 326.  “Who can, either in opposition, or in the ministry, act alone?”—­Ib. Better:  “Who can act alone, either in opposition, or in the ministry?”—­Ib. “I, like others, have, in my youth, trifled with my health, and old age now prematurely assails me.”—­Ib., p. 327.  Better:  “Like others, I have trifled with my health, and old age now prematurely assails me.”

PRECEPT II.—­Treat different topics in separate paragraphs, and distinct sentiments in separate sentences.  Error:  “The two volumes are, indeed, intimately connected, and constitute one uniform system of English Grammar.”—­Murray’s Preface, p. iv.  Better thus:  “The two volumes are, indeed, intimately connected. They constitute one uniform system of English grammar.”

PRECEPT III.—­In the progress of a sentence, do not desert the principal subjects in favour of adjuncts, or change the scene unnecessarily.  Example:  “After we came to anchor, they put me on shore, where I was welcomed by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness, which was not then expected.”  Better:  “The vessel having come to anchor, I was put on shore; where I was unexpectedly welcomed by all my friends, and received with the greatest kindness.”—­See Blair’s Rhet., p. 107.