"Personally, he is one of the pleasantest men I ever

met [have met]."

"He was the most successful merchant, in a way, the great metropolis ever [has] contained."

"The court officers say they never [have] had so parsimonious a prisoner in their custody."

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One of the finest bucks I ever [have] killed was shot in this way."

"That's the brightest woman I ever [have] met."

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I never knew [have known] anything so provoking"; better, "I never before have known," etc.

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Posterity will say that he [Cobden] was one of the most eminent men that ever [have] adorned the Parliament of this country."-John Bright. This great master of English, it will be observed, says 'men that," and not men who."

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'Though I have been trained as a soldier and [have] participated in many battles, there never was [has been] a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be [have been] found of preventing [to prevent] the drawing of the sword."-U. S. Grant.

"There never was [has been] a time since the beginning of the Christian era, and there never was [has been] a country, in which so many men and women," etc.— John Bright.

“Mr. Lincoln was a keen and accurate judge of character, and could detect fraud and imposture as readily as any man I ever knew [have known]."

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I never [have] heard Mr. Bright beaten in repartee except by one person, and that was by a bishop."-Chamberlain. This might be correct.

"There never was [has been] one more willing to go than I am."-Gen. Grant.

"He [Grant] was the manliest man I ever knew [have known]."-Com. French.

"His [Grant's] was one of the happiest dispositions I ever knew [have known]."-Gen. Horace Porter.

Implicate. See INVOLVE.

Implicit. Most writers use this adjective in what is called its vulgar sense—i. e., in the sense of absolute, unquestioning, unbounded, etc.—as in such phrases as "implicit faith," 'implicit confidence," "implicit obedience." Its primitive meaning is infolded, entangled, involved. Its secondary, metaphorical meaning, which is inferred; tacitly comprised, though not virtually expressed, is the meaning in which it is used in the following examples:

'An implicit [tacit, virtual] compact."

"To make explicit what is implicit in thought and its expression is a sign of intellectual progress."

"The author, by personally sending his work, or by directing his accredited agent, the publisher, to act for him, implicitly enters into an agreement that an opinion shall be pronounced; tacit and implied only, but still morally binding."

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'Why should it be unnatural to suppose that speech was at first implicitly [virtually] bestowed on us, and that it required time and experience to develop fully the implanted capacity?"

"Tito's implicit [inferred ?] desires were working themselves out now in very explicit thought."

Impropriety. As a rhetorical term, defined as an error in using words in a sense different from their recognized signification.

Impute. Nonpainstaking writers not infrequently use impute instead of ascribe. "The numbers [of blunders] that have been imputed to him are endless."-Appletons'

Journal. The use of impute in this sentence is by no means indefensible; still it would have been better to use ascribe.

In. Frequently used by very good speakers when they should use into. We say properly, "Come in" and "Go in"; but we can not properly say, Come in the house" or "Go in the house." Here, into is the proper word to use. We put into boxes, throw into the water. The distinction is commonly very simple.

In our midst. The phrases in our midst, in your midst, and in their midst are said to be of recent introduction. Though they have been used by some writers of repute, they nevertheless find no favor with those that study propriety in the use of language. They," says Webster's Dictionary, are contrary to the genius of the language as well as opposed to the practice of our best and most accurate writers, and should therefore be abandoned."

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"In the midst of them," on the contrary, is good English-is an old, elegant, and honored formula of the language.

In respect of. "The deliberate introduction of incorrect forms, whether by the coinage of new or the revival of obsolete and inexpressive syntactical combinations, ought to be resisted even in trifles, especially where it leads to the confusion of distinct ideas. An example of this is the recent use of the adverbial phrases in respect of, in regard of, for in or with respect to, or regard to. This innovation is without any syntactical ground, and ought to be condemned and avoided as a mere grammatical crotchet.' George P. Marsh, Lectures on the English Language, p. 660.

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Inaugurate. This word, which means, to install in office with certain ceremonies, is made by many lovers of

big words to do service for begin; but the sooner these rhetorical highfliers stop inaugurating and content themselves with simply beginning the things they are called upon to do in the ordinary routine of daily life, the sooner they will cease to set a very bad example.

Indecent. See IMMODEST.

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Index expurgatorius. William Cullen Bryant, who was a careful student of English, while he was editor of the New York Evening Post, sought to prevent the writers for that paper from using "over and above (for 'more than'); artiste (for 'artist'); aspirant; authoress; beat (for 'defeat'); bagging (for 'capturing'); balance (for 'remainder'); banquet (for 'dinner' or 'supper'); bogus; casket (for coffin'); claimed (for 'asserted'); collided; commence (for 'begin'); compete; cortége (for 'procession'); cotemporary (for 'contemporary'); couple (for 'two'); darky (for 'negro'); day before yesterday (for 'the day before yesterday'); début; decrease (as a verb); democracy (applied to a political party); develop (for 'expose'); devouring element (for 'fire'); donate; employé; enacted (for acted'); indorse (for 'approve'); en route; esq.; graduate (for 'is graduated'); gents (for 'gentlemen'); 'Hon. House' (for 'House of Representatives'); humbug; inaugurate (for 'begin'); in our midst; item (for 'particle, extract, or paragraph'); is being done, and all passives of this form; jeopardize; jubilant (for rejoicing"); juvenile (for 'boy'); lady (for 'wife'); last (for 'latest'); lengthy (for 'long'); leniency (for ‘lenity'); loafer; loan or loaned (for 'lend' or 'lent'); located; majority (relating to places or circumstances, for 'most'); Mrs. President, Mrs. Governor, Mrs. General, and all similar titles; mutual (for 'common'); official (for 'officer'); ovation; on yesterday; over his signature; pants (for 'pantaloons'); parties

(for 'persons'); partially (for 'partly'); past two weeks (for 'last two weeks,' and all similar expressions relating to a definite time); poetess; portion (for 'part'); posted (for 'informed'); progress (for advance'); reliable (for 'trustworthy'); rendition (for 'performance'); repudiate (for 'reject' or 'disown'); retire (as an active verb); Rev. (for 'the Rev.'); rôle (for 'part'); roughs; rowdies; secesh; sensation (for noteworthy event'); standpoint (for 'point of view'); start, in the sense of setting out; state (for 'say'); taboo; talent (for 'talents' or 'ability'); talented; tapis; the deceased; war (for ‘dispute' or 'disagreement').”

This index is offered here as a curiosity rather than as a guide, though in the main it might safely be used as such. No valid reason, however, can be urged for discouraging the use of several words in the list; the words aspirant, banquet, casket, compete, decrease, progress, start, talented, and deceased, for example.

Indicative and Subjunctive. "I see the signal,' is unconditional; 'if I see the signal,' is the same fact expressed in the form of a condition. The one form is said to be in the indicative mood, the mood that simply states or indicates the action; the other form is in the subjunctive, conditional, or conjunctive mood. There is sometimes a slight variation made in English, to show that an affirmation is made as a condition. The mood is called 'subjunctive,' because the affirmation is subjoined to another affirmation: 'If I see the signal, I will call out.'

'Such forms as 'I may see,' 'I can see,' have sometimes been considered as a variety of mood, to which the name 'Potential' is given; but this can not properly be maintained. There is no trace of any inflection corresponding to this meaning, as we find with the subjunctive. Moreover, such a mood would have itself to be subdivided