he so mistook “that able philologist” Murray; for he probably knew nothing of Walker in the matter; and accordingly changed the word “verbal” to “participial;” thus teaching, through all his hundred editions, except a few of the first, that participial nouns from verbs ending in y preceded by a consonant, are formed by merely “changing the y into i.”  But he seems to have known, that this is not the way to form the participle; though he did not know, that “coyless” is not a proper English word.

[456] The idea of plurality is not “plurality of idea,” any more than the idea of wickedness, or the idea of absurdity, is absurdity or wickedness of idea; yet, behold, how our grammarians copy the blunder, which Lowth (perhaps) first fell into, of putting the one phrase for the other!  Even Professor Fowler, (as well as Murray, Kirkham, and others,) talks of having regard “to unity or plurality of idea!”—­Fowler’s E. Gram., 8vo. 1850, Sec.513,—­G.  BROWN.

[457] In the Doctor’s “New Edition, Revised and Corrected,” the text stands thus:  “The Present participle of THE ACTIVE VOICE has an active signification; as, James is building the house. In many of these, however, it has,” &c.  Here the first sentence is but an idle truism; and the phrase, “In many of these,” for lack of an antecedent to these, is utter nonsense.  What is in “the active voice,” ought of course to be active in “signification;” but, in this author’s present scheme of the verb, we find “the active voice,” in direct violation of his own definition of it, ascribed not only to verbs and participles either neuter or intransitive, but also, as it would seem by this passage, to “many” that are passive!—­G.  BROWN.

[458] One objection to these passage is, that they are examples of the very construction which they describe as a fault.  The first and second sentences ought to have been separated only by a semicolon.  This would have made them "members" of one and the same sentence.  Can it be supported that one "thought" is sufficient for two periods, or for what one chooses to point as such, but not for two members of the same period?—­G.  BROWN.

[459] (1.) “Accent is the tone with which one speaks.  For, in speaking, the voice of every man is sometimes more grave in the sound, and at other times more acute or shrill.”—­Beattie’s Moral Science, p. 25. “Accent is the tone of the voice with which a syllable is pronounced.”—­Dr. Adam’s Latin and English Gram., p. 266.

(2.) “Accent in a peculiar stress of the voice on some syllable in a word to distinguish it from the others.”—­Gould’s Adam’s Lat.  Gram., p. 243.

(3.) “The tone by which one syllable is distinguished from another is the accent; which is a greater stress and elevation of voice on that particular syllable.”—­Bicknell’s Eng.  Gram., Part II, p. 111.