OBS. 6.—­Cobbett, after his own hasty and dogmatical manner, rejects the whole theory of nominatives absolute, and teaches his “soldiers, sailors, apprentices, and ploughboys,” that, “The supposition, that there can be a noun, or pronoun, which has reference to no verb, and no preposition, is certainly a mistake.”—­Cobbett’s E. Gram., 201.  To sustain his position, he lays violent hands upon the plain truth, and even trips himself up in the act.  Thus:  “For want of a little thought, as to the matter immediately before us, some grammarians have found out ’an absolute case,’ as they call it; and Mr. Lindley Murray gives an instance of it in these words:  ‘Shame being lost, all virtue is lost.’  The full meaning of this sentence is this:  ’It being, or the state of things being such, that shame is lost, all virtue is lost.’”—­Cobbett’s E. Gram., 191.  Again:  “There must, you will bear in mind, always be a verb expressed or understood.  One would think, that this was not the case in [some instances:  as,] ‘Sir, I beg you to give me a bit of bread.’  The sentence which follows the Sir, is complete; but the Sir appears to stand wholly without connexion.  However, the full meaning is this:  ’I beg you, who are a Sir, to give me a bit of bread.’  Now, if you take time to reflect a little on this matter, you will never be puzzled for a moment by those detached words, to suit which grammarians have invented vocative cases and cases absolute, and a great many other appellations, with which they puzzle themselves, and confuse and bewilder and torment those who read their books.”—­Ib., Let. xix, 225 and 226.  All this is just like Cobbett.  But, let his admirers reflect on the matter as long as they please, the two independent nominatives it and state, in the text, “It being, or the state of things being such,” will forever stand a glaring confutation both of his doctrine and of his censure:  “the case absolute” is there still!  He has, in fact, only converted the single example into a double one!

OBS. 7.—­The Irish philologer, J. W. Wright, is even more confident than Cobbett, in denouncing “the case absolute;” and more severe in his reprehension of “Grammarians in general, and Lowth and Murray in particular,” for entertaining the idea of such a case.  “Surprise must cease,” says he, “on an acquaintance with the fact, that persons who imbibe such fantastical doctrine should be destitute of sterling information on the subject of English grammar.—­The English language is a stranger to this case.  We speak thus, with confidence, conscious of the justness of our opinion:—­an opinion, not precipitately formed, but one which is the result of mature and deliberate inquiry. ‘Shame being lost, all virtue is lost:’  The meaning of this is,—­’When shame is being lost, all virtue is lost.’  Here,