The commerce of language in the pursuit of politeness in eighteenth-century England

English Studies

Volumn 79, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 309-328

  Fitzmaurice, Susan M ^a  

^a NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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EID: 0040614254     PISSN: 0013838X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00138389808599136     Document Type: Article

References (131)

1. He continues: 'and all those innovations of speech, if I may call them such, which some dogmatic writers have the confidence to foster upon their native language, as if their authority were sufficient to make their own fancy legitimate. By such a society I dare say the true glory of our English style would appear, and among all the learned part of the world be esteemed, as it really is, the noblest and most comprehensive of all the vulgar languages in the world.' (Defoe, 1698, 'Of Academies', in An Essay on Projects). Defoe may well have been speaking for himself: he had not himself the benefit of a grammar school education, and the lack showed, for example, in his frequent failure to choose the correctly case-marked relative pronoun in his own writing.
2. In Spectator 135 (August 4th, 1711), Addison ponders on the shortcomings in the treatment of English by her speakers. He remarks on abbreviation and ellipsis, on the fashionable contraction of past participles and on an increasing tendency to substitute colloquial -s for the -eth third person present tense singular verb termination.
3. An apposite example of a grammar produced in this context with these operating assumptions is A Grammar of the English Tongue (1711), by Charles Gildon, but often attributed also to Richard Steele (on account of the preliminary 'Approbation of Isaac Bickerstaff' which appears before the title page) and to John Brightland, who signed the new Dedication in the 1712 edition. Notwithstanding the preface's claims for the book's appeal to 'Children, Women, or the Ignorant of both Sexes, who must be the most numerous Teachers of [Grammar] in this Nation', Gildon's grammar draws substantially for its analytical method on the work of the Port-Royal Grammarians and of John Wallis. This body of work represents the 'rational' study of linguistic systems rather than the extraction of prescriptive rules. Gildon himself was a prominent publisher and editor of miscellanies.
4. Lawrence E. Klein, Shaftesbury and the Culture of Politeness: Moral discourse and cultural politics in early eighteenth-century England (Cambridge, 1994), p. 11.
5. See Dieter Stein's introduction 'Sorting out the variants: standardization and social factors in the English Language, 1600-1800', in Dieter Stein and Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade, (eds), Towards a Standard English, 1600-1800 (Berlin, 1994), pp. 1-17.
6. Klein, Shaftesbury and the Culture of Politeness, p. 8.
7. Donald Bond, Introduction to The Spectator (Oxford, 1965), Vol 1, p. lxxxvii.
8. Jon Klancher, The Making of English Reading Audiences, 1790-1832 (Madison, Wisconsin, 1987), p. 16.
9. Stephen Copley,'Commerce, conversation and politeness in the early eighteenth-century periodical', British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies Vol 18, No. 1, 1995, p. 64.
10. See Copley, 'Commerce, conversation and politeness', p. 64. Michael G. Ketcham, Transparent Designs: Reading, Performance and Form in the Spectator Papers (Athens, Georgia, 1985), p. 156.
11. See Copley, 'Commerce, conversation and politeness', p. 64. Michael G. Ketcham, Transparent Designs: Reading, Performance and Form in the Spectator Papers (Athens, Georgia, 1985), p. 156.
12. Kathryn Shevelow, Women and Print Culture: The construction of feminity in the early periodical (London, 1989), p. 116.
13. Thomas Lockwood, 'The Imaginary Periodical Press'. Paper presented at the 21st meeting of the South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, New Orleans, 22-25 February, 1996.
14. Lawrence E. Klein, '"Politeness" as linguistic ideology in late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England' in Dieter Stein & Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade, (eds), Towards a Standard English, 1600-1800 (Berlin, 1994), p. 43.
15. Carey McIntosh, Common and Courtly Language: the stylistics of social class in 18th-century literature (Philadelphia, 1986), p. 76.
16. Jacob Tonson and Samuel Buckley bought the rights to the collected edition of the periodical in November 1712, on completion of the publication of the first four volumes of The Spectator. Buckley sold his half-share two years later. The periodical was reprinted numerous times in 8vo and 12mo till 1788-9, with the publication of John Nichol's edition of The Spectator. See Donald F. Bond (ed), The Spectator, (Oxford, 1965), Vol I: p. lxxiii, p. cxii.
17. Jacob Tonson and Samuel Buckley bought the rights to the collected edition of the periodical in November 1712, on completion of the publication of the first four volumes of The Spectator. Buckley sold his half-share two years later. The periodical was reprinted numerous times in 8vo and 12mo till 1788-9, with the publication of John Nichol's edition of The Spectator. See Donald F. Bond (ed), The Spectator, (Oxford, 1965), Vol I: p. lxxiii, p. cxii.
18. Jacob Tonson and Samuel Buckley bought the rights to the collected edition of the periodical in November 1712, on completion of the publication of the first four volumes of The Spectator. Buckley sold his half-share two years later. The periodical was reprinted numerous times in 8vo and 12mo till 1788-9, with the publication of John Nichol's edition of The Spectator. See Donald F. Bond (ed), The Spectator, (Oxford, 1965), Vol I: p. lxxiii, p. cxii.
19. Copley, 'Commerce, conversation and politeness', p. 71.
20. The World (1753-57) was a weekly periodical devoted to satirising the vices and follies of fashionable society. Its circulation averaged between two and three thousand per copy. Mostly authored by Edward Moore, other contributors included Lord Chesterfield. Lord Lyttelton, Soame Jenyns, Horace Walpole and Edward Lovibohd. (DNB).
21. See Susie I. Tucker, English Examined: Two centuries of comment on the mother-tongue (Cambridge, 1961), p. 89. Actually, pedantry receives continual attention from the periodical writers from the beginning of the century. Steele concludes Tatler 244 (Tuesday, October 31, 1710) thus: 'Pedantry proceeds from much Reading and little Understanding. A Pedant among Men of Learning and Sense, is like an ignorant Servant giving an Account of a polite Conversation. You may find he has brought with him more than could have entered into his Head without being there, but still that he is not a bit wiser than if he had not been there at all.' And Addison's Spectator Number 105 (Saturday, June 30, 1711) deploys this contrast between the scholar and the gentleman in the characterisation of pedantry: '[Will] told us, with a little Passion, that he never liked Pedantry in Spelling, and that he spelt like a Gentleman, and not like a Scholar' (Bond (ed), 1965, The Spectator, Vol. I: p. 437).
22. See Susie I. Tucker, English Examined: Two centuries of comment on the mother-tongue (Cambridge, 1961), p. 89. Actually, pedantry receives continual attention from the periodical writers from the beginning of the century. Steele concludes Tatler 244 (Tuesday, October 31, 1710) thus: 'Pedantry proceeds from much Reading and little Understanding. A Pedant among Men of Learning and Sense, is like an ignorant Servant giving an Account of a polite Conversation. You may find he has brought with him more than could have entered into his Head without being there, but still that he is not a bit wiser than if he had not been there at all.' And Addison's Spectator Number 105 (Saturday, June 30, 1711) deploys this contrast between the scholar and the gentleman in the characterisation of pedantry: '[Will] told us, with a little Passion, that he never liked Pedantry in Spelling, and that he spelt like a Gentleman, and not like a Scholar' (Bond (ed), 1965, The Spectator, Vol. I: p. 437).
23. See Susie I. Tucker, English Examined: Two centuries of comment on the mother-tongue (Cambridge, 1961), p. 89. Actually, pedantry receives continual attention from the periodical writers from the beginning of the century. Steele concludes Tatler 244 (Tuesday, October 31, 1710) thus: 'Pedantry proceeds from much Reading and little Understanding. A Pedant among Men of Learning and Sense, is like an ignorant Servant giving an Account of a polite Conversation. You may find he has brought with him more than could have entered into his Head without being there, but still that he is not a bit wiser than if he had not been there at all.' And Addison's Spectator Number 105 (Saturday, June 30, 1711) deploys this contrast between the scholar and the gentleman in the characterisation of pedantry: '[Will] told us, with a little Passion, that he never liked Pedantry in Spelling, and that he spelt like a Gentleman, and not like a Scholar' (Bond (ed), 1965, The Spectator, Vol. I: p. 437).
24. See Susie I. Tucker, English Examined: Two centuries of comment on the mother-tongue (Cambridge, 1961), p. 89. Actually, pedantry receives continual attention from the periodical writers from the beginning of the century. Steele concludes Tatler 244 (Tuesday, October 31, 1710) thus: 'Pedantry proceeds from much Reading and little Understanding. A Pedant among Men of Learning and Sense, is like an ignorant Servant giving an Account of a polite Conversation. You may find he has brought with him more than could have entered into his Head without being there, but still that he is not a bit wiser than if he had not been there at all.' And Addison's Spectator Number 105 (Saturday, June 30, 1711) deploys this contrast between the scholar and the gentleman in the characterisation of pedantry: '[Will] told us, with a little Passion, that he never liked Pedantry in Spelling, and that he spelt like a Gentleman, and not like a Scholar' (Bond (ed), 1965, The Spectator, Vol. I: p. 437).
25. The World, Number 94, Thursday October 17, 1754. 'One great abuse of conversation has visibly arisen from our mistaking it's end, which is, the mutual entertainment and instruction of each other by a friendly communication of sentiments. It is seriously to be wished that this end were pursued, and that every one would contribute with freedom and good manners to the general improvement from his particular discoveries. On the contrary, we are apt to consider society in no other light than as it gives us an opportunity of displaying to advantage our wit, our eloquence, or any other real or imaginary accomplishment. It is our intention to procure admiration from it, not improvement, and to dazzle our companions with our own brightness, rather than to receive light by reflection from them' (p. 564).
26. The World, Number 30, Thursday July 26, 1753. A 'female reader' offers the following remarks: 'I am not learned enough to define the meaning of the word [taste], much less am I able to tell you all the different ideas it conveys; but according to its common acceptation, I find that it is applicable to every affectation of singularity, whether in dress, in building, in furniture, or in diversions: and the farther we stray from decency or propriety in this singularity, the nearer we approach to TASTE.'
27. See The World, Number 7, February 15, 1753, in which Fitz-Adam offers for 'the entertainment of polite life, and because polite life is sometimes a little in want of entertainment ... a conversation that passed a few nights ago, at an Assemblée in Thames-Street, between two Fretters at a Whist-table'.
28. See The World, Numbers 13 and 14, in which the periodical is praised for its work in the instruction of women: 'The story of Mrs Wilson is a lesson of instruction to every woman in the kingdom, and has given the author of it as many friends as he has readers among the sex' (p. 96).
29. Also see Lord Chesterfield's contribution (The World, Number 101, 5 December, 1754) in which he apparently celebrates women's talent for innovation, remarking 'They take a word and change it, like a guinea, into shillings for pocket money, to be employed in the several occasional purposes of the day' (p. 607). Later in the same issue he advises Johnson to publish 'by way of appendix to his great work, a genteel neological dictionary, containing those polite, but perhaps not strictly grammatical words and phrases, commonly used, and sometimes understood, by the BEAU MONDE' (p. 610).
30. Joseph Priestley, The Rudiments of English Grammar; adapted to the use of schools. With observations on style (London, 1761), p.77.
31. See Alexander Pope, Epistle to Bathurst, lines 385-386. Written 1730-32, published 1733. In John Butt (ed), The Poems of Alexander Pope (London, 1963), p. 585.
32. The OED offers 1762 (Goldsmith's Citizen of the World, p. xxxix: '[He] perceives that the wise are polite all the world over, but that fools are polite only at home') as the earliest attested use of 'polite' to describe manners exclusively.
33. John Truster, Distinction Between Words esteemed Synonymous in the English Language Pointed Out, and the Proper Choice of them Determined: Useful to all who would either write or speak with Propriety or Elegance, 2nd ed. (London, 1783), p. 3. Cited by James Raven, Judging New Wealth: Popular Publishing and Responses to Commerce in England, 1750-1800 (Oxford, 1992), p. 151. Raven notes (fn 47) that the distinction was not included in the first, 1766, edition.
34. John Truster, Distinction Between Words esteemed Synonymous in the English Language Pointed Out, and the Proper Choice of them Determined: Useful to all who would either write or speak with Propriety or Elegance, 2nd ed. (London, 1783), p. 3. Cited by James Raven, Judging New Wealth: Popular Publishing and Responses to Commerce in England, 1750-1800 (Oxford, 1992), p. 151. Raven notes (fn 47) that the distinction was not included in the first, 1766, edition.
35. The Monthly Review (first established in 1749 by Ralph Griffiths, the first series running until 1789) and its rival, the Critical Review; or, Annals of Literature (first published 1756, running until 1790) set out to review a wide range of publications, 'without exception to any, on account of their lowness of rank, or price' (Carol Percy, 'Stereotypes of Women's Writing in two eighteenth-century periodicals', paper presented at the Symposium on Culture, Language and Style in Eighteenth Century England, St Catharine's College, 21-22 September, 1995).
36. The Monthly Review (first established in 1749 by Ralph Griffiths, the first series running until 1789) and its rival, the Critical Review; or, Annals of Literature (first published 1756, running until 1790) set out to review a wide range of publications, 'without exception to any, on account of their lowness of rank, or price' (Carol Percy, 'Stereotypes of Women's Writing in two eighteenth-century periodicals', paper presented at the Symposium on Culture, Language and Style in Eighteenth Century England, St Catharine's College, 21-22 September, 1995).
37. The Monthly Review (first established in 1749 by Ralph Griffiths, the first series running until 1789) and its rival, the Critical Review; or, Annals of Literature (first published 1756, running until 1790) set out to review a wide range of publications, 'without exception to any, on account of their lowness of rank, or price' (Carol Percy, 'Stereotypes of Women's Writing in two eighteenth-century periodicals', paper presented at the Symposium on Culture, Language and Style in Eighteenth Century England, St Catharine's College, 21-22 September, 1995).
38. (Carol Percy, 'Stereotypes of Women's Writing in two eighteenth-century periodicals', paper presented at the Symposium on Culture, Language and Style in Eighteenth Century England, St Catharine's College, 21-22 September, 1995).
39. For example, among the 'extracts from our English classics' which Joseph Priestley selects to illustrate 'the variety there may be in the style of good writers', is Addison's essay on omens in Spectator No. 7. Rudiments of Grammar, 1761. pp. 71-74. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English from the sixteenth century to 1870 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 172, observes that school anthologies like John Warden's A Collection (1737), The Edinburgh Entertainer (1750), James Buchanan's The Complete English Scholar (1753). Ann Fisher's The Pleasing Instructor (1756), The Moral Miscellany (Anon. 1758) and Burgess's The Entertainer (1759) devote more than three-quarters of their space to prose extracts, 'almost entirely from the periodicals, especially The Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, Rambler and The Gentleman's Magazine, and from works of history and geography'.
40. For example, among the 'extracts from our English classics' which Joseph Priestley selects to illustrate 'the variety there may be in the style of good writers', is Addison's essay on omens in Spectator No. 7. Rudiments of Grammar, 1761. pp. 71-74. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English from the sixteenth century to 1870 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 172, observes that school anthologies like John Warden's A Collection (1737), The Edinburgh Entertainer (1750), James Buchanan's The Complete English Scholar (1753). Ann Fisher's The Pleasing Instructor (1756), The Moral Miscellany (Anon. 1758) and Burgess's The Entertainer (1759) devote more than three-quarters of their space to prose extracts, 'almost entirely from the periodicals, especially The Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, Rambler and The Gentleman's Magazine, and from works of history and geography'.
41. For example, among the 'extracts from our English classics' which Joseph Priestley selects to illustrate 'the variety there may be in the style of good writers', is Addison's essay on omens in Spectator No. 7. Rudiments of Grammar, 1761. pp. 71-74. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English from the sixteenth century to 1870 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 172, observes that school anthologies like John Warden's A Collection (1737), The Edinburgh Entertainer (1750), James Buchanan's The Complete English Scholar (1753). Ann Fisher's The Pleasing Instructor (1756), The Moral Miscellany (Anon. 1758) and Burgess's The Entertainer (1759) devote more than three-quarters of their space to prose extracts, 'almost entirely from the periodicals, especially The Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, Rambler and The Gentleman's Magazine, and from works of history and geography'.
42. For example, among the 'extracts from our English classics' which Joseph Priestley selects to illustrate 'the variety there may be in the style of good writers', is Addison's essay on omens in Spectator No. 7. Rudiments of Grammar, 1761. pp. 71-74. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English from the sixteenth century to 1870 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 172, observes that school anthologies like John Warden's A Collection (1737), The Edinburgh Entertainer (1750), James Buchanan's The Complete English Scholar (1753). Ann Fisher's The Pleasing Instructor (1756), The Moral Miscellany (Anon. 1758) and Burgess's The Entertainer (1759) devote more than three-quarters of their space to prose extracts, 'almost entirely from the periodicals, especially The Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, Rambler and The Gentleman's Magazine, and from works of history and geography'.
43. For example, among the 'extracts from our English classics' which Joseph Priestley selects to illustrate 'the variety there may be in the style of good writers', is Addison's essay on omens in Spectator No. 7. Rudiments of Grammar, 1761. pp. 71-74. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English from the sixteenth century to 1870 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 172, observes that school anthologies like John Warden's A Collection (1737), The Edinburgh Entertainer (1750), James Buchanan's The Complete English Scholar (1753). Ann Fisher's The Pleasing Instructor (1756), The Moral Miscellany (Anon. 1758) and Burgess's The Entertainer (1759) devote more than three-quarters of their space to prose extracts, 'almost entirely from the periodicals, especially The Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, Rambler and The Gentleman's Magazine, and from works of history and geography'.
44. For example, among the 'extracts from our English classics' which Joseph Priestley selects to illustrate 'the variety there may be in the style of good writers', is Addison's essay on omens in Spectator No. 7. Rudiments of Grammar, 1761. pp. 71-74. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English from the sixteenth century to 1870 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 172, observes that school anthologies like John Warden's A Collection (1737), The Edinburgh Entertainer (1750), James Buchanan's The Complete English Scholar (1753). Ann Fisher's The Pleasing Instructor (1756), The Moral Miscellany (Anon. 1758) and Burgess's The Entertainer (1759) devote more than three-quarters of their space to prose extracts, 'almost entirely from the periodicals, especially The Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, Rambler and The Gentleman's Magazine, and from works of history and geography'.
45. For example, among the 'extracts from our English classics' which Joseph Priestley selects to illustrate 'the variety there may be in the style of good writers', is Addison's essay on omens in Spectator No. 7. Rudiments of Grammar, 1761. pp. 71-74. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English from the sixteenth century to 1870 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 172, observes that school anthologies like John Warden's A Collection (1737), The Edinburgh Entertainer (1750), James Buchanan's The Complete English Scholar (1753). Ann Fisher's The Pleasing Instructor (1756), The Moral Miscellany (Anon. 1758) and Burgess's The Entertainer (1759) devote more than three-quarters of their space to prose extracts, 'almost entirely from the periodicals, especially The Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, Rambler and The Gentleman's Magazine, and from works of history and geography'.
46. For example, among the 'extracts from our English classics' which Joseph Priestley selects to illustrate 'the variety there may be in the style of good writers', is Addison's essay on omens in Spectator No. 7. Rudiments of Grammar, 1761. pp. 71-74. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English from the sixteenth century to 1870 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 172, observes that school anthologies like John Warden's A Collection (1737), The Edinburgh Entertainer (1750), James Buchanan's The Complete English Scholar (1753). Ann Fisher's The Pleasing Instructor (1756), The Moral Miscellany (Anon. 1758) and Burgess's The Entertainer (1759) devote more than three-quarters of their space to prose extracts, 'almost entirely from the periodicals, especially The Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, Rambler and The Gentleman's Magazine, and from works of history and geography'.
47. For example, among the 'extracts from our English classics' which Joseph Priestley selects to illustrate 'the variety there may be in the style of good writers', is Addison's essay on omens in Spectator No. 7. Rudiments of Grammar, 1761. pp. 71-74. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English from the sixteenth century to 1870 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 172, observes that school anthologies like John Warden's A Collection (1737), The Edinburgh Entertainer (1750), James Buchanan's The Complete English Scholar (1753). Ann Fisher's The Pleasing Instructor (1756), The Moral Miscellany (Anon. 1758) and Burgess's The Entertainer (1759) devote more than three-quarters of their space to prose extracts, 'almost entirely from the periodicals, especially The Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, Rambler and The Gentleman's Magazine, and from works of history and geography'.
48. An Essay towards an English Grammar, with A Dissertation on the Nature and peculiar Use of certain Hypothetical Verbs, in the English Language (London, 1784). Attributed to John Fell. Advertisement, p. xv.
49. Robert Lowth, A Short Introduction to the English Language: with critical notes (London, 1762).
50. Ian Michael, English Grammatical Categories and the Tradition to 1800 (Cambridge, 1970), p.348, provides a brief survey of the use to which the Relative (name) is put: 'Martin (Institutions of Language, London, 1748) and Fisher (1750) both speak of "relative names or pronouns", and Hammond says "relative Names [are] call'd by the Latins Pronouns" (Samuel Hammond, A Complete and Comprehensive Spelling Dictionary (Nottingham c. 1760), sig. A 5 verso). Michael remarks, 'Seven later grammarians mention the term, sometimes restricting it to the personal pronouns, but none uses it regularly'. Mostly, it refers to the existence of an antecedent relationship, so covering such notions as cataphora, anaphora and conjunction.
51. Ian Michael, English Grammatical Categories and the Tradition to 1800 (Cambridge, 1970), p.348, provides a brief survey of the use to which the Relative (name) is put: 'Martin (Institutions of Language, London, 1748) and Fisher (1750) both speak of "relative names or pronouns", and Hammond says "relative Names [are] call'd by the Latins Pronouns" (Samuel Hammond, A Complete and Comprehensive Spelling Dictionary (Nottingham c. 1760), sig. A 5 verso). Michael remarks, 'Seven later grammarians mention the term, sometimes restricting it to the personal pronouns, but none uses it regularly'. Mostly, it refers to the existence of an antecedent relationship, so covering such notions as cataphora, anaphora and conjunction.
52. Ian Michael, English Grammatical Categories and the Tradition to 1800 (Cambridge, 1970), p.348, provides a brief survey of the use to which the Relative (name) is put: 'Martin (Institutions of Language, London, 1748) and Fisher (1750) both speak of "relative names or pronouns", and Hammond says "relative Names [are] call'd by the Latins Pronouns" (Samuel Hammond, A Complete and Comprehensive Spelling Dictionary (Nottingham c. 1760), sig. A 5 verso). Michael remarks, 'Seven later grammarians mention the term, sometimes restricting it to the personal pronouns, but none uses it regularly'. Mostly, it refers to the existence of an antecedent relationship, so covering such notions as cataphora, anaphora and conjunction.
53. Ian Michael, English Grammatical Categories and the Tradition to 1800 (Cambridge, 1970), p.348, provides a brief survey of the use to which the Relative (name) is put: 'Martin (Institutions of Language, London, 1748) and Fisher (1750) both speak of "relative names or pronouns", and Hammond says "relative Names [are] call'd by the Latins Pronouns" (Samuel Hammond, A Complete and Comprehensive Spelling Dictionary (Nottingham c. 1760), sig. A 5 verso). Michael remarks, 'Seven later grammarians mention the term, sometimes restricting it to the personal pronouns, but none uses it regularly'. Mostly, it refers to the existence of an antecedent relationship, so covering such notions as cataphora, anaphora and conjunction.
54. Grammarians did not agree on the label 'relative pronoun'. Michael, p. 470ff. surveys the labels adopted by different grammarians, from 'adjective' to 'substantive'. His discussion covers the grammars of most of the century.
55. John Collyer, The General Principles of Grammar; especially adapted to the English Tongue. With a Method of Parsing and Examination. For the Use of Schools (Nottingham and London, 1735), pp. 25-26.
56. 'When who and which are used as Relatives, who should always be used for Persons, and which for Things; as, He who doth Evil haleth the Light: The good that (which) I would do, I do not: but the Evil which I would not, that I do ... The Relative agreeth with its Antecedent in Number and Person. ... Who and what are also called Interrogatives when they ask a Question, who, of persons, and what, of things, as who is there? what is that?' Ibid., p. 27. By contrast, Samuel Saxon's The English Schollar's Assistant: or, The Rudiments of the English Tongue (London. 1737, 2nd ed.) treats the 'Relative' pronouns very simply, thus: 'A Pronoun Relative relates to some Noun foregoing; as, who, which, this, &c.' p. 47.
57. 'When who and which are used as Relatives, who should always be used for Persons, and which for Things; as, He who doth Evil haleth the Light: The good that (which) I would do, I do not: but the Evil which I would not, that I do ... The Relative agreeth with its Antecedent in Number and Person. ... Who and what are also called Interrogatives when they ask a Question, who, of persons, and what, of things, as who is there? what is that?' Ibid., p. 27. By contrast, Samuel Saxon's The English Schollar's Assistant: or, The Rudiments of the English Tongue (London. 1737, 2nd ed.) treats the 'Relative' pronouns very simply, thus: 'A Pronoun Relative relates to some Noun foregoing; as, who, which, this, &c.' p. 47.
58. 'When who and which are used as Relatives, who should always be used for Persons, and which for Things; as, He who doth Evil haleth the Light: The good that (which) I would do, I do not: but the Evil which I would not, that I do ... The Relative agreeth with its Antecedent in Number and Person. ... Who and what are also called Interrogatives when they ask a Question, who, of persons, and what, of things, as who is there? what is that?' Ibid., p. 27. By contrast, Samuel Saxon's The English Schollar's Assistant: or, The Rudiments of the English Tongue (London. 1737, 2nd ed.) treats the 'Relative' pronouns very simply, thus: 'A Pronoun Relative relates to some Noun foregoing; as, who, which, this, &c.' p. 47.
59. Michael, English Grammatical Categories, p. 476.
60. Ibid., p. 476.
61. 'The Relative Pronoun must be always applied to the Antecedent, and agrees with it in the same Gender, Number, and Person; as, That (a) Man is wise (b) who speaks but little ... Note, The Relative who (the Word directed) agreeth with the Antecedent Man (the word directing) in the Masculine Gender, Singular Number, and third Person, according to the Rule ... The Antecedent is the Noun preceding the Relative, and to which the Relative refers; as, Happy are (a) thev [the People] (b) who live a virtuous Life. The Relative is often understood; as, This is the (a) Reputation you've got; i.e. (b) which you've got ... [RULE VIII.] The Relatives who and whom are always used, when the Antecedent is a Personal Noun, but which and what to a common Noun; (as limited before) as. That (a) Youth is worthy of Praise (b) who loves his Book: This is the (a) Glory (b) which attends Virtue ... Note. The Relative who is applied to the Antecedent (or Personal Noun) Youth; but the Relative which, to its Antecedent (or common Noun) Glory: and agree in Gender, Number, and Person, with their Antecedents. Saxon, The English Schollar's Assistant, pp. 86-87.
62. Collyer, The General Principles of Grammar, p. 92. The chapter is entitled 'Of Sentences', and the first five rules, of which IV on the Relatives is one, are elaborated as circumstances in which 'sentences are compounded' p. 90.
63. See Carey McIntosh, Common and Courtly Language, p. 46 ff.
64. Charles Gildon (and John Brightland). A grammar of the English tongue, with notes, giving the grounds and reason of grammar in general (London, 1711); James Greenwood, An Essay towards a Practical English Grammar, describing the genius and nature of the English tongue: giving likewise a rational and plain account of grammar in general, with a familiar explanation of its terms (London, 1711). Dedication.
65. Charles Gildon (and John Brightland). A grammar of the English tongue, with notes, giving the grounds and reason of grammar in general (London, 1711); James Greenwood, An Essay towards a Practical English Grammar, describing the genius and nature of the English tongue: giving likewise a rational and plain account of grammar in general, with a familiar explanation of its terms (London, 1711). Dedication.
66. Thomas Dyche, A Guide to the English Tongue. In two parts. The first proper for beginners ... in which particular care is had to show the accent for preventing vicious pronunciation. The second, for such as are advanced to some ripeness of judgment, containing [sounds of letters; division of syllables; punctuation, etc] (Christ Church, Oxford, 1707). John Jones, Practical Phonography: or, the new art of rightly spelling and writing words by the sound thereof. And of rightly sounding and reading words by the sight thereof. Applied to the English tongue (London, 1701). Murray Cohen draws attention to the fact that Gildon distinguishes between 'practical and rational grammar by the difference between text and notes. Such a separation permits 'Children, Women, and the Ignorant of both Sexes (A4r) to read across the tops of the pages and affords "the reasonable Teacher" the "Reasons of Things" in the smaller type.' (Murray Cohen, Sensible Words: linguistic practice in England 1640-1785 (Baltimore & London, 1977) p. 53).
67. Thomas Dyche, A Guide to the English Tongue. In two parts. The first proper for beginners ... in which particular care is had to show the accent for preventing vicious pronunciation. The second, for such as are advanced to some ripeness of judgment, containing [sounds of letters; division of syllables; punctuation, etc] (Christ Church, Oxford, 1707). John Jones, Practical Phonography: or, the new art of rightly spelling and writing words by the sound thereof. And of rightly sounding and reading words by the sight thereof. Applied to the English tongue (London, 1701). Murray Cohen draws attention to the fact that Gildon distinguishes between 'practical and rational grammar by the difference between text and notes. Such a separation permits 'Children, Women, and the Ignorant of both Sexes (A4r) to read across the tops of the pages and affords "the reasonable Teacher" the "Reasons of Things" in the smaller type.' (Murray Cohen, Sensible Words: linguistic practice in England 1640-1785 (Baltimore & London, 1977) p. 53).
68. Thomas Dyche, A Guide to the English Tongue. In two parts. The first proper for beginners ... in which particular care is had to show the accent for preventing vicious pronunciation. The second, for such as are advanced to some ripeness of judgment, containing [sounds of letters; division of syllables; punctuation, etc] (Christ Church, Oxford, 1707). John Jones, Practical Phonography: or, the new art of rightly spelling and writing words by the sound thereof. And of rightly sounding and reading words by the sight thereof. Applied to the English tongue (London, 1701). Murray Cohen draws attention to the fact that Gildon distinguishes between 'practical and rational grammar by the difference between text and notes. Such a separation permits 'Children, Women, and the Ignorant of both Sexes (A4r) to read across the tops of the pages and affords "the reasonable Teacher" the "Reasons of Things" in the smaller type.' (Murray Cohen, Sensible Words: linguistic practice in England 1640-1785 (Baltimore & London, 1977) p. 53).
69. See the introduction to Bertil Sundby, Anne Kari Bjørge and Kari E. Haugland, A Dictionary of English Normative Grammar (Amsterdam, 1991) p. 199, for copious lists of terms used to judge vocabulary and construction in the grammars of the second half of the century.
70. Ann Fisher, A new grammar: being the most easy guide to speaking and writing the English language properly and correctly. Containing [I. Orthography; II Prosody; III. Etymology; IV. Syntax] To which are added, exercises of bad English, in the manner of Clark and Bailey's Examples for the Latin ... Designed for the use of schools, &c (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1745). 2nd ed. Newcastle, 1750; 3rd ed. London, 1753; 4th ed. Newcastle, 1754; 5th ed. Newcastle, 1757. Alston, Bibliography of the English Language from the invention of printing to the year 1800 (Leeds, 1965) Vol I, pp. 109-40, lists 35 numbered and many unnumbered editions to 1811.
71. Ann Fisher, A new grammar: being the most easy guide to speaking and writing the English language properly and correctly. Containing [I. Orthography; II Prosody; III. Etymology; IV. Syntax] To which are added, exercises of bad English, in the manner of Clark and Bailey's Examples for the Latin ... Designed for the use of schools, &c (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1745). 2nd ed. Newcastle, 1750; 3rd ed. London, 1753; 4th ed. Newcastle, 1754; 5th ed. Newcastle, 1757. Alston, Bibliography of the English Language from the invention of printing to the year 1800 (Leeds, 1965) Vol I, pp. 109-40, lists 35 numbered and many unnumbered editions to 1811.
72. McIntosh, Common and Courtly Language, p. 60. McIntosh counts among the 'authoritative leadership' of prescriptivism, Samuel Johnson, Robert Lowth, Lord Kames and George Campbell.
73. According to S.A. Leonard, The Doctrine of Correctness in English Usage 1700-1800 (New York, 1929 (repr 1962)), pp. 87-89. The citations under 'Ellipsis'(7.CLrel)
74. in Sundby et. al., A Dictionary, support Leonard's claim; see pp 247-249.
75. The contemporary grammarian, James Greenwood (1711, pp. 220-22), has no difficulty in accepting the ellipsis of the relative pronoun (This is the Man (that/whom) I kiss'd)
76. (Sundby et. al., A Dictionary, p. 242).
77. These include Addison's own 'In the temper of the mind [Ø] he was then' from Spectator No 549. Lowth continues (p. 137) with his examples and final statement: 'Swift, Gulliver, Part 1. Chap 1. In these and the like Phrases, which are very common, there is an Ellipsis both of the Relative and the Preposition; which were much better supplied; "In the temper of the mind in which he was then". "In the posture in which I lay". In general, the omission of the Relative seems to be too much indulged in the familiar style; it is ungraceful in the serious; and of whatever kind the style be, it is apt to be attended with obscurity and ambiguity'.
78. John Ash, Grammatical Institutes; or, an easy introduction to Dr Lowth's English grammar, designed for the use of school, 4th ed. (London, 1763).
79. For instance, James Elphinston, The Principles of the English Language digested, or, English grammar reduced to analogy (London, 1765) Vol. II, p. 147; Abraham Crocker, A practical introduction to English grammar and rhetoric (Sherborne, 1772) p. 38; Lindley Murray, English grammar, adapted to the different classes of learners. (York, 1795) p.203; Henry St. John Bullen, Rudiments of English grammar, for the use of schools. (Bury St Edmunds, 1797) p. 82.
80. For instance, James Elphinston, The Principles of the English Language digested, or, English grammar reduced to analogy (London, 1765) Vol. II, p. 147; Abraham Crocker, A practical introduction to English grammar and rhetoric (Sherborne, 1772) p. 38; Lindley Murray, English grammar, adapted to the different classes of learners. (York, 1795) p.203; Henry St. John Bullen, Rudiments of English grammar, for the use of schools. (Bury St Edmunds, 1797) p. 82.
81. For instance, James Elphinston, The Principles of the English Language digested, or, English grammar reduced to analogy (London, 1765) Vol. II, p. 147; Abraham Crocker, A practical introduction to English grammar and rhetoric (Sherborne, 1772) p. 38; Lindley Murray, English grammar, adapted to the different classes of learners. (York, 1795) p.203; Henry St. John Bullen, Rudiments of English grammar, for the use of schools. (Bury St Edmunds, 1797) p. 82.
82. For instance, James Elphinston, The Principles of the English Language digested, or, English grammar reduced to analogy (London, 1765) Vol. II, p. 147; Abraham Crocker, A practical introduction to English grammar and rhetoric (Sherborne, 1772) p. 38; Lindley Murray, English grammar, adapted to the different classes of learners. (York, 1795) p.203; Henry St. John Bullen, Rudiments of English grammar, for the use of schools. (Bury St Edmunds, 1797) p. 82.
83. For instance, John Ash, 1763; John Bell, A concise and comprehensive system of English grammar (Glasgow, 1769) p. 304; Anselm Bayly, A plain and complete grammar of the English language; to which is prefixed the English accedence: with remarks and observations on a short introduction to English grammar (London, 1772) Vol. II p.85; Hugh Blair, Lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres (Edinburgh, 1783) p. 470; Charles Coote, Elements of the grammar of the English language (London, 1788) p. 249.
84. For instance, John Ash, 1763; John Bell, A concise and comprehensive system of English grammar (Glasgow, 1769) p. 304; Anselm Bayly, A plain and complete grammar of the English language; to which is prefixed the English accedence: with remarks and observations on a short introduction to English grammar (London, 1772) Vol. II p.85; Hugh Blair, Lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres (Edinburgh, 1783) p. 470; Charles Coote, Elements of the grammar of the English language (London, 1788) p. 249.
85. For instance, John Ash, 1763; John Bell, A concise and comprehensive system of English grammar (Glasgow, 1769) p. 304; Anselm Bayly, A plain and complete grammar of the English language; to which is prefixed the English accedence: with remarks and observations on a short introduction to English grammar (London, 1772) Vol. II p.85; Hugh Blair, Lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres (Edinburgh, 1783) p. 470; Charles Coote, Elements of the grammar of the English language (London, 1788) p. 249.
86. For instance, John Ash, 1763; John Bell, A concise and comprehensive system of English grammar (Glasgow, 1769) p. 304; Anselm Bayly, A plain and complete grammar of the English language; to which is prefixed the English accedence: with remarks and observations on a short introduction to English grammar (London, 1772) Vol. II p.85; Hugh Blair, Lectures on rhetoric and belles lettres (Edinburgh, 1783) p. 470; Charles Coote, Elements of the grammar of the English language (London, 1788) p. 249.
87. For instance, Ash, Grammatical Institutes, p. 124; Joshua Story, An Introduction to English grammar, 3rd ed. (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1783) p. 36; George Neville Ussher, The elements of English grammar, Designed particularly for the use of ladies' boarding schools (Glocester, 1785) p. 81.
88. For instance, Ash, Grammatical Institutes, p. 124; Joshua Story, An Introduction to English grammar, 3rd ed. (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1783) p. 36; George Neville Ussher, The elements of English grammar, Designed particularly for the use of ladies' boarding schools (Glocester, 1785) p. 81.
89. For instance, Ash, Grammatical Institutes, p. 124; Joshua Story, An Introduction to English grammar, 3rd ed. (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1783) p. 36; George Neville Ussher, The elements of English grammar, Designed particularly for the use of ladies' boarding schools (Glocester, 1785) p. 81.
90. For instance, Lewis Brittain, Rudiments of English grammar. (Louvain, 1788) p. 158; George Campbell, The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1776), Vol. I p.450-51.
91. For instance, Lewis Brittain, Rudiments of English grammar. (Louvain, 1788) p. 158; George Campbell, The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1776), Vol. I p.450-51.
92. For instance, Robert Baker, Reflections on the English language, in the nature of Vaugelas's reflections on the French; being a detection of many improper expressions used in conversation, and of many others to be found in authors (London, 1770) p.101; Alexander Bicknell, The grammatical wreath; or, a complete system of English grammar; being a selection of the most instructive rules from all the principal English grammars. In two parts (1790) Vol. I p.106.
93. For instance, Robert Baker, Reflections on the English language, in the nature of Vaugelas's reflections on the French; being a detection of many improper expressions used in conversation, and of many others to be found in authors (London, 1770) p.101; Alexander Bicknell, The grammatical wreath; or, a complete system of English grammar; being a selection of the most instructive rules from all the principal English grammars. In two parts (1790) Vol. I p.106.
94. For instance, Patrick Lynch, The pentaglot preceptor; containing a complete grammar of the English tongue (Carrick, 1796) p. 89.
95. The rule, of course, concerns the development of norms of polite language, and it is therefore not surprising that Mr Spectator should make the first observation of the eighteenth century to question the propriety of this particular feature.
96. To take an example, Lowth returns to the relative clause in a section under the heading of 'Punctuation'. He outlines a system of pointing to deal with the punctuation of compound sentences, and in passing, he provides a basic, but time-honoured criterion for distinguishing between restrictive and non-restrictive relatives: Simple members connected by Relatives and Comparatives are for the most part distinguished by a Comma: but when the the members are short in Comparative Sentences; and when two members are closely connected by a Relative, restraining the general notion of the Antecedent to a particular sense; the pause becomes almost insensible, and the Comma is better omitted (pp 168-169) [my emphasis]. Lowth chooses from Addison's Spectator 73 essay for apposite illustration (note: Lowth here quotes Addison's balanced period with approval rather than opprobrium): 'Raptures, transports, and extasies are the rewards which they confer: sighs and tears, prayers and broken hearts, are the offerings which are paid to them' (Addison, Spectator 73). (Lowth quotes from the octavo collected edition of the periodical; in the Folio sheets, Addison's second which was originally that.) It is striking that while Lowth does not make the distinction between restrictive and non-restrictive relative explicit, he (along with his contemporaries) appears to endorse the grammatical and semantic difference in practice. This clear but not categorical distinction provides a neat illustration of the expository and descriptive methods that the grammarians adopt. That is, despite having a clear sense of the material distinction between two construction types, Lowth does not turn a tendency into a blanket rule which can be applied across the board. Instead, he is careful to instruct by illustrating individual examples, both incorrect, and felicitous, as in Addison's case. For further discussion of the implementation of strategies to 'clean up' the strong verbs and the irregular verbs of English, see Roger Lass's essay 'Proliferation and option-cutting: the strong verb in the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries' pp. 81-114, and Jenny Cheshire, 'Standardisation and the English irregular verbs', pp. 115-134. In Dieter Stein & Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade, eds, Towards a Standard English. 56 James Buchanan, A regular English syntax. Wherein is exhibited, the whole variety of English construction, properly exemplified (Edinburgh, 1767) p. 85.
97. Lowth, A Short Introduction, p. 49. Of course, the form 'you was' still occurs in many non-standard, social and regional varieties of British English. See Peter Trudgill, The Dialects of England (London, 1990), chapter 4; Jenny Cheshire, Variation in an English Dialect (Cambridge, 1972).
98. Lowth, A Short Introduction, p. 49. Of course, the form 'you was' still occurs in many non- standard, social and regional varieties of British English. See Peter Trudgill, The Dialects of England (London, 1990), chapter 4; Jenny Cheshire, Variation in an English Dialect (Cambridge, 1972).
99. Lowth, A Short Introduction, p. 49. Of course, the form 'you was' still occurs in many non- standard, social and regional varieties of British English. See Peter Trudgill, The Dialects of England (London, 1990), chapter 4; Jenny Cheshire, Variation in an English Dialect (Cambridge, 1972).
100. For comment on late eighteenth-century usage, see Noah Webster. Dissertations on the English Language (Boston, 1789). He remarks, 'Notwithstanding the criticisms of grammarians, the antiquity and universality of this practice must give it the sanction of propriety; for what but practice forms a language?' p. 233.
101. Hugh Blair, Lectures, p. 484.
102. Lowth, A Short Introduction, p. 137.
103. Ibid., p. 127.
104. Robert H. Robins, 'The Evolution of English Grammar Books since the Renaissance'. In The English Reference Grammar: Language and Linguistics, Writers and Readers, ed. by Gerhard Leitner (Tübingen, 1986), p. 295.
105. Carey McIntosh, 'The Gentrification of English Prose, 1700-1800', in Language and Civilization: A concerted profusion of essays and studies in honour of Otto Hietsch, ed. by Claudia Blank (Frankfurt-On-Main, 1992), pp. 720-735.
106. Carol Percy, 'Stereotypes of Women's Writing in two eighteenth-century periodicals'. Here, Percy discusses the ways in which reviewers condemn the language of writers by colouring them as 'feminine'.
107. Michael Shinagel, Daniel Defoe and Middle-Class Gentility (Harvard, 1968), p.238.
108. The ways in which Defoe in his Review, and Addison and Steele sought to reform their readers on the matter of gentility were different, of course. See Shinagel, ibid., chapters 10 and 11 for suggestive discussion.
109. For detailed discussion and case studies, see Peter Earle, The Making of the English Middle Class: Business, Society and Family Life in London, 1660-1730 (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1989).
110. James Raven, Judging New Wealth, p. 140.
111. Ibid., p. 141.
112. John Ash writes, in his preface to his Grammatical Institutes, 'The Importance of an English Education is now pretty well understood ... not only for Ladies, but for young Gentlemen designed merely for Trade.'
113. Samuel Edwards, 'Schoolmaster in Golden-Lane, Dublin', An abstract of English grammar, including rhetoric and pronunciation (Dublin, 1765). In 1735, Edwards had published Proposals for educating children, particularly those designed for trade, in an English method. This was reprinted in his Abstract in 1765. Cited by Michael, The Teaching of English, p. 377, 444.
114. Samuel Edwards, 'Schoolmaster in Golden-Lane, Dublin', An abstract of English grammar, including rhetoric and pronunciation (Dublin, 1765). In 1735, Edwards had published Proposals for educating children, particularly those designed for trade, in an English method. This was reprinted in his Abstract in 1765. Cited by Michael, The Teaching of English, p. 377, 444.
115. Samuel Edwards, 'Schoolmaster in Golden-Lane, Dublin', An abstract of English grammar, including rhetoric and pronunciation (Dublin, 1765). In 1735, Edwards had published Proposals for educating children, particularly those designed for trade, in an English method. This was reprinted in his Abstract in 1765. Cited by Michael, The Teaching of English, p. 377, 444.
116. For extensive discussion, see Earle, The Making of the English Middle Class, p. 68ff.; Geoffrey Holmes, Augustan England: Professions, State and Society 1680-1730 (London, 1982) p.57 remarks that schoolmasters 'remained ... the most poorly paid of any large professional body in the country'.
117. For extensive discussion, see Earle, The Making of the English Middle Class, p. 68ff.; Geoffrey Holmes, Augustan England: Professions, State and Society 1680-1730 (London, 1982) p.57 remarks that schoolmasters 'remained ... the most poorly paid of any large professional body in the country'.
118. Raven, Judging New Wealth, p. 153.
119. R.C. Alston's prefatory note to the (1968) Menston facsimile reprint of Lowth's A Short Introduction to English Grammar. This went through at least forty British and ten American editions to 1838. Noah Webster's A grammatical institute of the English language was published in Hartford in 1784.
120. R.C. Alston's prefatory note to the (1968) Menston facsimile reprint of Lowth's A Short Introduction to English Grammar. This went through at least forty British and ten American editions to 1838. Noah Webster's A grammatical institute of the English language was published in Hartford in 1784.
121. That is, Rudiments of English Grammar; adapted to the use of schools. (London, 1761). Priestley also published a distinguished religious journal. Theological Repository (1769-71, 1784- 88). See Josef Altholz, The Religious Press in Britain, 1760-1900 (Connecticut, 1989), p. 73 ff.
122. That is, Rudiments of English Grammar; adapted to the use of schools. (London, 1761). Priestley also published a distinguished religious journal. Theological Repository (1769-71, 1784-88). See Josef Altholz, The Religious Press in Britain, 1760-1900 (Connecticut, 1989), p. 73 ff.
123. That is, Rudiments of English Grammar; adapted to the use of schools. (London, 1761). Priestley also published a distinguished religious journal. Theological Repository (1769-71, 1784- 88). See Josef Altholz, The Religious Press in Britain, 1760-1900 (Connecticut, 1989), p. 73 ff.
124. Sundby et. al., A Dictionary, p. 439, for instance, note that at least 187 grammars were written between 1700 and 1800, 159 of them after 1750. For a compendious list of textbooks used in the teaching of English (grammars, readers, spelling books, rhetorics, etc.) published between 1571 and 1870, see
125. Ian Michael, The Teaching of English.
126. For example, Lindley Murray's English Grammar (1795) went through no fewer then 300 editions before 1850.
127. See Ian Michael, The Teaching of English, p. 592, for full bibliographic details.
128. Paul Langford, A Polite and Commercial People: England 1727-1783 (Oxford, 1989) p. 121.
129. Robert Baker, Reflections on the English Language, p. 118. Quoted by Sundby et. al., A Dictionary, p. 255.
130. Robert Baker, Reflections on the English Language, p. 118. Quoted by Sundby et. al., A Dictionary, p. 255.
131. So says Jane Austen's Emma of the Cole family, newcomers to Highbury, with ideas above their station, despite the fortune they had made from trade.