IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET {MT-3) /. {./ k m^.r /^ i/.A c^ 1.0 I.I 150 ""^" M mil 2.0 iii 1.8 1.25 1.4 U ■^ 6" — ► V] » „ i"™«nsion. There whom such /entenceTJ th t " TlT ^"" °''' '» respect the genius of the S" „'^"t™-'^ " - "« * Murray's English Reader. 9 system of Newton, which is built on experiments and geometry, the two most ce 'tain means of discovering truth, will ever fail ?" are clearly intelligible— should they unfortunately be reading a lesson replete with such passages ; turn back to some simple narrative, and ask, " Who did this ? Who performed that action ?" If they all answer correctly and readily, they can all go on. It is necessary that they should comprehend clearly wliat they read, because it is to the meaning of words wefirst direct their attention, andit is that wliich, through the whole course, we keep in view. The nature of the knowledge they gain, the manner in which they acquire it, may be easily exemplified. Let us suppose that you wish to give two boys, of the same age and of equal abilities, intelliger. children eight or nine years old, some idea of rivers in general, and of one in their own country in particular. We will suppose too, that it is their holiday-time, their summer vacation, a season when the eye dwells with pleasure on running water. Throw the information you wish to convey into the usual form of a lesson, question and answer. Q. What is a river, &c? Leave the one under the charge of a friend possessing both the means and the inclination to give him every advantage of air, exercise, and amusement, appointing him, for every morning, a short lesson in your catechism. Take the other on an excursion through the country. In crossing a river lead him to observe the rapid current in one part, and the more gentle flow of the water in another ; and when you come to stwne of those rivulets, which wind between mountain and river or lake, choosing a spot where over sand or pebbles it flows softly, wide, transparent, and m 5 1 A: il 10 shallow— I«»f h;^i' "herea brook dashestbZr/ "^^ *"'" ^"^ *« '«"■. a«d if it i^„,3 f„^P,"^^»™ «■'»"« of a moun. ^ asoend to it, «,„„"" "J"™ »' fountain lake, let ^^ mention to wat» aloi^ T! f """* '^ -"fi-" course of the excursion iTL *™g'' *» whole that interests him and'rt ^="""™« «™'7 object when y„„ fi„d occasion, l;e^°' '"^'' b"' judiciously, childhood. ' '"^®<" *« natural curiosity of -t^et him next In^t *en flowing thr^ghaCrf l^r' ''''"' '^'^'^ «*"»<» loofang water, with the Won. . "^ S'^'-y ^™ok wi,^ ^^ p„e eCsroft "' *« """>-^- With the bright waves of fT • " "'obtain lake '"^cd his foot anlrZ:^ t' "J^"' """ ^o ~y to Wm the causes of.hw ^fff "" "-"«• I'oint ou* ho stream, let hin> JhJZT"^ '^^ t»™iug up »ts rocky bed. ^"^"'^ pure and rapid over Tien let him view fl,„> • ^t^-i h- to be bj':^:;:r^-«.»e Which you ^K or sailing on the bcomTf ,. "^"^ '•■°''« *l>o that every change in the 2 f' "'"'""' ''^ '^iU'ee channel, occasion^, a co^spoS f ''^ '»-^' '"'d Pcarance and velocity of th" . ^ "^^^ "■> the ap- at length mingling with !/,"""' '^ "^ hoholdU or.diseharging'its^w: t Itr "'""'^'"''^^ "- f-'tabla hour after you arrtal J ^ '''^^ *"'« «« boy,. J- '""™I at home to examine the ■■o uutlt ;r^^ t'-» ^ .et more, in so far. . "■eX-dth, Of theriverSlZrttr^''-''' "wi or at Its source, the 11 length of its course, &c. &c.; but the great probability is that of the knowledge contained in the lesson he has really appropriated but a very small portion ; that it has never mingled with the currrent of his thoughts ; never been made the sul^ject of his reflections, and that were you now to close the page, and not recur to it for a twelvemonth, you would then find that it had vanished from his mind; — and even now, does not all that his replies convey, seem meagre, very meagre, compared with the animated description given by the other? Spread before them a large coloured map. Let them go over 'it as they choose, and make their own remarks on it. The one will be pleased to find in it the subject of his studies, and will look at that part of ^e map with interest, and at the rest with some degree of curiosity ; but the other has treasured a store of vivid imgag^, a fund of new ideas aU linked to, and in accordance with, some leading truths j and if you have never before attentively observed the active mind of childhood expanding as it received fresh accessions of real knowledge, you will yourself be surprised at the ease with which, in his own simple language, he will deduce from general principles, now perfectly familiar to him, probable facts. You will see him, in tracing the course of a river from its mouth to its source, look for some neighbouring mountains or contiguous lake, to supply its waters, or if mountains first attract Ws notice, seek in the adjacent plains for the lake or river into which the little streams that rise among them may flftnr. You wiU hear him telling his companion that though too small to be marked on the map, there are brooks or Uttle riUs flowing frtmi tlie mountains to the plain ; and accounting for any apparent widening of a river, waCTs no iribiiiary »keam flows in to augment ■4 M i 12 it, by supposing that the character of the channel changes there. AU this and muchn.ore you wiU hLr .f you are disposed to listen to i,, and if anythingl^a; he ^i^trT"" 7'*' "'^ ''^'^ ^'^^'^ his attef tS he mil turn to you for an explanation. You will b<^ convinced that he runs little risk of losing the knowled« ll^Tl *T •""'"^ "■'"''™ "^"^ ' "■"' yo" will see that a sohd f„ua4,t.on is laid for his future acquirements in the ^.encj because, when any new fact is presented to him he IS disposed to consider and to compare. This Idea has been carried far enough ,• and parents Mid teachers may say "Maps must supply the place of the objects they represent. The plan you suggest is impracticable, atleast itis so, excepttoaveryfew. Who can carry a chUd some hundreds of miles to give him a lesson m geography, even though a valuable one." All this IS adnutted ; I merely put an imaginary case, bnt for examples of language you have no need to lead your pupils beyond the door of the schoolroom, no occasion to leave your seat in it. Examples of language, in all Its varieties, are in your possession ; you have but to pronounce them, and you cannot ask the most trifling question without giving one. Have you got the new book I desired you to bring ? Are you to walk home, or will you be sent for ? Are you to spend the vacatio,^ in the country ? It is with sentences more simple even than these that we begin. It is to be hoped your pupils have books containing " proper selections from the best English authors. It is with these we conclude. Here too there must be some leading idea, round which the others can with ease be marshalled. The subject of speech is action-action physical or 13 mental. Suffering still implies action, and even when being is spoken of, it is in connection with action, past, present, or to come, and some expression denoting that' always precedes or follows it. The word expressing action or being, which, as already observed, always implies action, is, in every sentence, the principal word, and this the name given to such words denotes. The importance of the name or noun, and especiaUy of that particular noun which is the subject of the verb is obvious. Without words expressing action there could be no language; without names to distinguish the agents or subjects of them, there would be no use of it. The first question, when we begin to consider any example, is— what is said to have been done, to bo domg, or to be about to be done ? the second—who ia said to have done it ? These clearly understood, the natural distinctions of time, past, present and future, and those of person— that is, whether the action belongs to the speaker or speakers, to one spoken to or spoken of, are easilv brought into notice. ^ Every thing, every object, animate or inanimate has some qualities belonging to it. ' To convince your pupils of this, let them compare a leaf with a piece of bark, or a wafer with a pencil • but qualities have no existence except in connection with some object, some person, animal, or thin- Every word expressing a quality must then belong Xo a word representing a person, an animal, or a tliL whether real or ideal matters not, and this connection well impressed on the mind, the degrees of comparison and the use of the adverb, follow as naturally as the d^istmct ions of time,of person, and of mood, come in luc irum 0? action, B ■•it m (4 'i m A\ '■ num. nH ii w iiii jiHij i 9 I- I l- i 14 Secondly, they must comprehend clearly what they read, because they have to supply the ellipsis, and this they are required to do from the first, or rather imme- diately on their coming to sentences in which it occurs. We do not, on commencing, separate Syntax from Etymology, because when pointing out the connections and variations of words we bring into view the reasons ior these variations ; and this is the basis of Syntax. Not only do pupils require to comprehend clearly what they read, but they should likewise be able to write, at least a legible text hand on the slate. It is easy to perceive that to children of even ordinary quickness of apprehension, these oral lessons can scarcely be called a task. A new field is opened before them j as they advance, interesting selections are substituted for simple sentences; and the current ol their thoughts is so directed, that, while considering these, they are discovering the distinctions and relations of words. Far from wishing to pause or to linger over a lesson, they press on. As soon as they find that they understand the subject last presented to their view, they want something new ; they would, if per- initted, grasp more than they could possibly retain ; but their task in writing, which is done in the class hour, demands from them application, close and steady apphcation, and tends to fix in their minds, in its pro- per order all they have previously learned ; for, such is the plan laid down for their exercises, that the sub- jects of the first lessons, the action and the agent, must still precede and the rest follow in order.* * As n preface is often read hastily over, the author must hp excused for again pressing on the considemtion of parers and teachers her conviction that the Prompter should notCliven to chddreu; because, instead of facilitating, it would prevent Xh- improvement. In a class taught in thf' manner su|geste^^^^^^^^ 15 I have here endeavoured to give a general idea of the plan. We will now proceed to its practical details. diflference between a pupil who had never seen and one who had the book, would be, that while the former would seek in his own mind an answer to the (question asked, the other would merely try to recollect something he had read : with him the interest whi«h he would otherwise have felt would be in a great measure destroyed by his already having an idea, though an imperfect, perhaps an erroneous one, of the inference to be drawn. .i:.»| ri^ THE PROMPTER. ACTION THE SUBJECT OF SPEECH. It is very easy in the outset to awaken the minds of your pupils to this truth, that speech, (allowing for a few exceptions) always relates to action, and that even where being alone is spoken of, it is still in connection with some action. This may be done in many different ways.* Con- * " Why do we speak ? Of what use is speech to us ? Tell me, what do we speak for ?" These questions — all tending to one point — ^were put in the same breath to a class of children — no previous warning given, no possibility of preparation on their part. " We speak when we want any thing." " Yes, that is one use of language. Any more ?" " We speak when we want to tell our feehngs." " Yes we do. Any thing more ?" " We speak when we want to relate any thing." Such were the replies. " Very welL Now you have told me some of the principal uses of speech. We speak when we want any thing, because we want something to be done for us by the person to whom we speak. For instance, if you want an apple, a piece of bread, or a book, you expect the person from whom you ask it either to hand it to you or to give you permission to take it, do you not •' And if you go to buy any thing, you expect the shopman either to give you one article or to place before you several to choose trom, and then to take the price, do you not ? So whatever you say when you want any thing relates to doing or action. It IS not quite so easy to explain what is meant by " to ex- Pffu T 5««""S«'" ^^^ we have feelings of the mind as well as of the body ; but when we say we rejoice, we grieve, or, when speaking of our thoughts, we say we purpose, we intend, we must consider such words as expressive of mental action— action 01 tne mind. ^OW trv if vmi nan nnn^^^^^ ,..:*U^..i •_ -■rf — J ->-v«..^icv TrjicOiii ;:;ayuig anv b2 '^j "J \i 't't 1' >''} I .'m$>¥ 1 I I. 18 ACTION THE SUBJECT OF SPEECH. Terse with them a few minutes concerning their coming to school, their going home, their lessons or amuse- ments.* Whatever turn you give to the conversation, it will still be found to relate to action of some kind. Lead your pupils to observe this. Let them next try to converse without speaking of any action. They will find all they could thus say would be limited to a thing about doing or action ; say what you please, only do not speak of any thing that has been done, is doing, or is to oe done. You can find nothing to say. Well, I can find a few short sen- tences. I am here. I was in the country yesterday. I will be there tomorrow. I Aare this book. I Aad a good pen yester- day. I can say such sentences as these, but can get no farther without speaking of action. I may say, you are here. But if I wish to add. When did you come ? When will you go ^ 1 speak of action. In saying I am, or We were, you speak of being, and when you say He has, or They had, you speak of possession. But these, as I have already said, are mostly used in connection with woi'ds expressing action. There was a little boy whose nume was Harry. Who would take the trouble to say this, or who would care about hearing it, if nothing more were to follow. But, There was a little boy whose name was Harry, and his papa and mamma sent him to school. There is something iu that to think about, and it is the beginning of a story. All the histories, and all the little tales that you hear or read, relate in like manner to past actions. To what certain persons, and sometimes, indeed, to what certain animals, have done, or what others have done to them. Now do you not think that as so much of what we say or read relates to action, past, present, or to come, the word that ex- presses action must be the principal word in the sentence ? * It may here be observed, that if among teachers who wish to give this plan a fair trial, there should be any that have been in the habit of keeping their pupils at a distance, and perpetually under the overpoweiing influence of awe or fear, they must in this instance condescend a little, and must take some pains to let their pupils see that they are doing so. No child, unless he be perfectly at ease, can either think with freedom or find words to express his thoughts. From such teachers children would re- quire an assurance that no displeasure will be manifested at a mistake, if they should make one. The subject should be in- troduced by something to this effect : "I wish to converse with you, and to ask you a few questions, not concerning your past lessons, nor any thing you are studying ; but be attentive, for I wish you to think about every question I ask you, and to tell me what you do think." Some such introduction is always necessary. WORDS EXPBESSING ACTION. 19 few short uninteresting sentences, and, when you ask them whether the word expressing action is not the most important in the sentence, will readily reply that it is. Or, read to them a passage from some well written'narrative ; and then, reviewing it, and asking tliem if they recollect any narrative, any tale of which the subject is not action, you may lead them to the same conclusion. I am not at present considering whether the verb be active, passive, or neuter. We first take a general view of the subject. Passive verbs imply action ; the action of another agent falling on the subject of the verb, and even those which have been termed neuter verbs, with very few exceptions, like- wise imply action. WORDS EXPRESSING ACTION. The proposition that the word which expresses ac- tion is the most important, once assented to, bid your pupils try to discover in every sentence you give them, which is that word. Give them first simple sentences, in which the nominatives are nouns and the verbs such as strikingly express action. Some such examples are subjoined. Q. Which is the word that speaks of Doing or Ac- tion? George broke a pane of glass. Edward tore Jane's map. Charles climbed up the ladder. Henry shook the tree. Richard pulled off some basswood bark. John and Richard twisted it into thongs. Jane ate a ripe plum. Mary gathered strawberries. Henry drank tea, and George drank milk. Rose bought a wax doii. i-l' i\ m mi m m its,. so WORDS EXPRESSING ACTIOW, Lucy dressed it. Mary gave June some fruit. Eliza braided little Helen's hair. Susan dressed the baby. Henry and George ran a race. William and Charles picked the apples. John and Edward rowed the boat across the stream. I^ucy, Caroline, and Amelia, went into the garden. Sydney, Frank, and Edward, rode in the waggon. The carpenter planed all these boards in one day. Ralph and Ned will mow the hay in that meadow to- moiTow. The mason will build the new chimney next week. The rosebuds will blow before Sunday. Mary spoke to him yesterday. My brother said so. George read a long story about a traveller. Henry believed it. But Charles said it was not true. Thomas wishes for a top. Edward rejoices because he will soon see his sister again. Mary hopes to see her grandfather soon. Lucy grieves for the death of her uncle. The lightning struck an old pine tree. The rain fell in torrents. It seems almost unnecessary to add that these sen- tences must, be read to them distinctly and with proper emphasis, giving each in turn a question, till the ex- amples have gone twice or thrice round the class. Very probably when you come to " will mow" you may be answered "mow." You have only to say, " More than that : it takes two words to make the sense complete — ^will mow j" and if to the next, " build" HElifG, OR FOSS£SSION. 21 should be the reply, " more than that" will immediately call forth the proper answer. They pass — or at least every class I taught did pass— from said, read, told, to believe, without the least hesitation ; but, after they have answered this, it is well to remark, "Yes, believed is an action of the mind, and to wish, to rqjoice, to grieve, likewise express mental action." Before giving such examples as these, " My father is here," &c., I have generally said, « Now recollect, we had at the beginning of the lesson a few sentences where the principal words did not express action, but being or possession j is, are, were, have, and had, were some of them, and here we come to them again. Q. The word expressing Being ? My father is here. My uncle and aunt are here. These doves arc very like each other. Q. The word expressing Possession ? Jano Md Helen have ?v rocking horse at home. My undo has a beautiful garden. My aunt will have ripe fruit next week. After such sentences have gone twice or thrice round the class, proceed to inquire whether there must not be some person, animal, or thing to do whatever is said to be done. This is a question for the class. You may either let it go round, or ask one or any of them to answer it ; and when you do get an answer, which you will very soon, and in the affirmative, ask if they all think so. Then go again over the same sentences with them, inquiring who or what did this. Thus : George broke a pane of glass. Q. The word that speaks of action ? ■/I. Broke. O The answer of course will bo I? ' ( £^ i ■IM m •■ X r ■ fT 1 *! 22 t( WORDS EXPRE88mO ACTIOIf OR BEING. George." Go on. They will answer readily and correctly; and where the action is attributed to two, three, or more individuals, they will, without any sug- gestion from you, name the several nominatives, not omitting one. Sydney, Frank, and Edward, rode in the waggon. . Q. The word expressing Action ? A. Rode. Q. Who rode? Q. Sydney, Frank, and Edward. This seems all veiy simple. It really is so— buc it is not on this account the less important; it is the foundation on which a lofty superstructure ; , Ul rise, and rise rapidly ; but it must be carefully and patiently laid. Man holds himself upright on his feet. His head is erect on his shoulders. He has arms and legs. He takes hold of things with his hands. The soles of his feet rest on the ground. The head turns to the right and to the left. Upon the head is the hair. Within the head is the brain. On the face are seen the eyes, nose, mouth, chin. The eyes are shut by means of the eyelids. The eye is moistened with a fluid called tears. Above the eyes are the eyebrows ; higher still is the brow. Man sees with his er , Tho nose is between rat yo' and the '^ loath. Under the mouth is Jav, chin. Within the mouth are the palate, the tongue, and the teeth. The teeth are fixed in the jaw hones^ AGENTS— SUBJECTel. The tongue brings the food under the toetli, and at the same time the saliva moistens it. While food is in the mouth, the tongue and the palate taste the flavour of it. The breath comes from the lungs. Tlie mouth, the lips, the tongue, the teeth, and the palate are the or- gans of speech. Man perceives smell by his nose. Man has Civq senses. These senses are sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. BEING-SUnjKCTS PRECEDING AND FOLLOWING. Your papa's wife is your mother. Your mamma's husband is your father. Your papa's father is your grandfather. Your papa's mother is your grandmother. Your mamma's father and mother are your grand- father and grandmother. Your papa's brother is your uncle. Your papa's sister is your aunt. Your mamma's brother and sister are your uncle and aunt. You are your uncle's nephew. Lucy is her uncle's niece. Your papa and mamma's child is your brother or sister. There are more examples furnished than can be re- quired, and though at first, whatever be the age of the pupils, verbs strikingly expressive of action must be given, yet the examples which exactly suit children eight or nine years old, are, when continued, uninteresting to those three or four years older; but when the class is composed of pupils of various ages, there is no help for this. Tt is hptfAi* *ha o/^^i-^.^ i i.i i "A .-ft t<€i iafcl 54 VERBS — NOMINATIVES — KOUNS. I i esting to some than unintelligible to others. For a class where none of the pupils are under twelve, the examples marked Sen. are more suitable. VEKBS— NOMINATIVES— NOUNS. As soon as you observe that thej answer readily , what has been done and who did it, go on, for it has a ' bad effect to keep them lingering over what they al- ready know. Proceed to inform them that names have been given to the dilTerent orders or classes of words ; tliat most of those names have been derived from the Latin j that words denoting action, suffering, or ex- istence, are called verbt*, as being the words, the most important words,— that the names of persons, of ani- mals, or of inanimate things, are called nouns ; and when they are subjects of verbs, are said to be in the nominative or naming case — nominatives to the verbs which respectively belong to them. Go on again with new exarnples. The frog from a corner look'd up to the skies. Q. The verb ? A. Look'd. Q. The nominative ? A. Frog. It is possible there may be a little hesitation at first on the transition from the term, "the word expressing action," to the verb. But it is easily got over. You will only require, when you observe any of your pu- pils hesitate at the question, « The verb ?" to add, " The word expressing action ?" and, in like manner,' should there be any pause at " The nominative ?" to repeat « Who or what did this or that ?" By the time these new terms have gone twice round the class, your pupils will answer to them with ease. VERBS — ^NOMINATIVES — ^NOUNS. 25 One day Willy saw several men. When the gardener plants a tree. The bricks rolled — some one way, some another. The bricklayer laughed outright. The bricklayers have finished. The painter gave him a small brush. Willy approached the house. Willy ascended the staircase. At length the boy reached the bottom of the chim- ney. A servant came in. The sweep was very glad. Our dog barks very loud sometimes. The buds will grow larger and larger. Said his mamma. The whole row of little buttons raised their sharp voices. The face of the button shone brighter than usual. " Oh no," replied the button. Copper is a metal. And metals will not burn. The tribe wept over him. And his name is honoured among the Arabs. Their father and mother met them. Iron is very hard. The ploughshare is made of iron. Iron will melt in a very hot fire. Knives and scissors are made of steel. His papa and mamma sent him to school. Columbus set sail from Palos. The village preacher's modest mansion rose. Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway. With ready zeal each honest rustic ran. Is there no hope ? the sick man said, The silent doctor shook his head, Q ' St ^V i'.!' '^5 m 26 VERBS— irOMINATlVES — ^NOUNS, Sen.. The Italian lakes spread their waves beneath a cloudless sky. There the wigwam blaze beamed on the young and the helpless. The wind rages with great fury. The spectator observes sometimes a sand-bank. Europeans may admire the views in this archipelago. A hurricane is generally preceded by an awful Still- ness. The air becomes close and heavy. The sun is red ; and the stars at night seem large. Frequent changes take place in the thermometer. Darkness extends over the earth. The higher regions gleam with lightning. The impending storm is observed. Foaming mountains rise suddenly. Land birds are driven into the ocean. The elements are thrown into confusion. Fertile valleys are changed in a few hours. Scenes of sudden desolation have been disclosed. Ruins of houses have been strewed over the land. If there are dny teachers -disposed to ask "why can we not at the commencement tell them these are verbs ?" the answer is, because expressing action or expressing being is a definition, a description of the word, which in the outset it is necessary to keep in view, while verb is a mere name, to be used oJily when they have learned to distinguish the object to which it is applied. . It is very probable you may now have to close the lesson ; but this depends on the degree of intelligence your pupils evince. Some require but a few exara- dIcS. and of P.nnrs«*> or* on fVia fa&fat* :Ar»/l *Iiq ■Poh+I.^^w SUGGESTIONS. «f to close the few exam- An hour at a time is as much as can be advantageously employed in these lessons, with the exception of the first, at the commencement of which some time is spent in desultory conversation. The high degree of interest they feel cannot be kept up much longer, and as soon as that begins to flag it is time to give over. Witli some classes, however, I went on through the ellipsis of the nominative, and the infinitive mood of the verb ; and, (leaving the length of the lessons to the discretion of the teacher,) we proceed to these now ; observing, however, that examples are given in pages 29 and 30 for exercises in writing, which may be here introduced. SUGGESTIONS EELATIVE TO THE EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Directions respecting the exercises to be written seem scarcely necessary, as tlie plan is so simple and 80 plainly laid down in the printed examples. The teacher has merely to desire the slates to be ruled for writing, and lines drawn, dividing each into columns — two columns at first, as, even after pronouns are introduced, they still stand under the denomination of nominatives, and are distinguished by P. placea close to them when personal, and P. R. when relative pronouns. The difficulty is in finding suitable sentences, similar to those given for the oral exercises, which must at first be — verbs, their nominative nouns expressed, without a pronoun, a participle, or a verb in the infinitive ; after that, verbs, the nom. nouns expressed or understood, and pronouns. The greatest difficulty, it may easily be observed, is at first, as the field gradually widens ; but at the commencement I have always been obliged to supply my pupils with written sentences. This, M 1 ■'ri 1^1 V 28 SUGGESTIONS. in however, is a labour which cannot fairly be expected of teachers, and for which, should the system come into general use, there would be no occasion, as suitable ex- ercises could be printed at a trifling expense. They could indeed be furnished without any additional ex- pense, as they would be good reading lessons. As soon as we pass the participle, all difficulty of that kind vanishes, and teachers who have not time or inclina- tion to copy sentences suitable for their pupils will be obliged to defer appointing exercises till the class has got that length ; for each of the pupils must have either a written sentence or a book for his own use. Two having to read on the same book, is apt to lead to assisting, or copying from, each other ; and any at- tempt of that kind must be denounced, and the recur- rence of it prevented. This may be effectually done. Should you detect, or even suspect any one of thus evading his task, you may give each of those who sit near each other separate exercises, and this adds nothing to the labour. No whispering must be allowed ; no as- sistance asked by one from another ; but every encou- ragement given them to come to you for an explanation of any thing they do not understand. A teacher has full employment in attending to a class engaged in these exercises. EXAMPLES. 29 09 1 00 •W ? M 'm* M S S ^ m' V so EXAMPLES. ^ m Q O H W ;?; til ^ m O) O 0) u 3 I w '^ P v ria OJ ^ UTS' Ot3 O f^' B^.li'S « ffl ^«-!|.§^a-a^ a-* 2-5 s "« 2? ^ > - -" X« ?» 3 oj' I X « « -* es » u>. ?<*-. a'C%S O > s^ " ii^gSSs bl ^a 11 3 § § g§^ 3 S ^:S W)^ ^1 § sr £'2^^ E 5§^ 5 §: s ^ bl3 3 3 S 3 D ;- O O o O 2 '2 3?^ 2 5 a R4Q OS EXERCISES— VERBS— NOMINATIVES— NOUNa The prophet spoke, when with a gloomy frown, The monarch started from his shining throne, Wliile round the prince the Greeks employ their care, The Trojans rush tumultuous to the war. The monarch spoke, and straight a murmur rose, Loud as the surges when the tempest blows. Tydides paus'd amid his full career, Then first the hero's manly breast knew fear, Here all the terrors of grim war appear ; Here rages force — here tremble flight and foar. Each generous breast with emulation glows. Where Calydou on rocky mountain stands, Once fought the iEtoliau and Curetian bands. '<€'! lu 3 3 3 ."* — ' o o s O 9 2 " 3 eS 03 ^ r. Mrs oi P * 9 5 I"! o.:3 ^W " I ihl-I^''"''"'^'?' ^^ ™'"^' ^"^^ ^'^^^ "^^ a"y other sentence to suit tneir respective classes. V 44 PERSONAL PRONOUNS. i "George, Edward, andlare going, and wc will return." " You would still say weV "Yes."- " Then, whether the party consists of two or two hundred, the speaker, speaking of himself and others, uses we ; and, when speaking of himself singly, uses 1 r Tell me now, do you always use people's names when you speak to them ? Would you say to your sister, ' Jane, will Jane come to the garden and see my pear-tree ?' " " No ; I would say, * Jane, will you come ?" " And, if you were asking both Jane and Emily, would you still use you ?" " Yes." " Then, in speaking to either one or more than one, you would still use the same pronoun ?"* " Could you find no other to use in speaking to one sin'^le person ? Try if you can recollect whether in Scripture or in Poetry you have not sometimes met with another ?" « Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself." " King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets ? I know that thou believest." " Thou art walking the billows, and ocean smiles, Thou hast touch'd with glory his thousand isles ; Thou hast lit up the ships and the feathery foam, And gladdened the sailor like words from home." " Is not thou in these examples used in addressing one person ?" " Could it be used in addressing more than one ?" ♦ Very few of the answers supposed to be made by the chil- dren are given ; but the meaning of their replies will be such as is evidently implied in the succeeding remark made, or (juestion put by the teacher. PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 45 " You are right. Thou is a pronoun that formerly was often used in addressing one person, but now we generally use you in speaking to one as well as to more than one ; still in poetry we use thou, and the Society of Quakers or Friends have retained the use of it in conversation. This is not all j ye, which is never used when we are speaking to one, was, and is still sometimes used in speaking to more than one. Can you remember any other pronoun ? In speaking to your father, you would use you, but can you do so in speaking of him ? Would you, if he were going to build a house, say, " My father has bought land, and you are going to build on it ?" " No ; My father has bought land, and he is going." " Here, then, is another pronoun ; and if you were speaking of your mother, would you say, < My mother gave us flower-seeds, and he is going to get plants for us?" " And could you say, ' ITie book was left on the table, and now she is gone ?' " "And speaking of your sisters, could you say, 'Jane and Emily went to my uncle's yesterday, and she is to bring one of my cousins up ?" " And speaking of your brothers, could you use theyr " Speaking of books, could you use they ? Could you say, The books were lent, and now they are re- turned ?" ".Repeat* those pronouns, and count how many words called pronouns we have now ?" If in the class there are any who have studied Grammar, they should, as has been already stated, be always questioned last ; but while thus distinguishing the pronouns you will have to request them to be silent, as this arraiierement differs from thn>. liiey iiave learned. " *41 »-,% 46 PERSONAL PRONOUN g. I i " You have omitted one.* Let us arrange them, and then you will recollect them better. Of whom do you generally think first ? The books of all the scho- lars are lying on the desk. Tell me, Henry, if I were now to dismiss the class, whose books would you go to look for ? " And if you saw two or three of your class-mates going without theirs, you would perhaps say, ' Boys, are you leaving your books ?' But you would not re- turn and collect them, would you ?" " Certainly, no one has a right to expect another to do for him what belongs to him to do, and what he can as well do himself. So when any thing is to be done in which you are concerned, you think what part of it: What part of it I have to do." "Fortius reason, as each person naturally thinks first of himself, and calls himself /, we put / first among the pronouns, and call it the first person. " I is then the first person — the pronoun the speaker uses in speaking of himself singly ; but speaking of himself along with another or others, what pronoun does he use ?" " This, then, is still the pronoun of the first person ; but as it signifies more than one, we call it plural. Do any of you know enough of Latin or of French to tell me why we call it plural ? Plus signifies more, and from that comes our word plural, more than one." " 1 and we, then, are pronouns of the first person — the one singular, the other plural." "Is it not generally the case that the person you speak to is nearer you than the person you speak o/*?" This is generally the case. \- U PERSONAL TEONOUNS. 47 rould not re- irst person — " Yes, for the person to whom you speak must be near enough to hear you — the person you speak of, may be in a distant part of the world. The person you Fpeak to, is hving now ; but you may speak of one who has been dead a tliousand years. For this reason, the pronouns you use in speaking to others, arc called the second— itVonouns of the second jierson ; while those you use in speaking of them are called the third. Tell me now what pronoun you use in speaking to one person." " Yes ; that is what we use now ; but tell me the pronoun that was formerly used, and is so still in Scrip- ture and in poetry ?" " This, then, is the pronoun of the second person singubr ; for though we do use the other in speaking to one, it is plural. ^Ye use it as the French do vot/s, and likewise put the verb in the plural as they do. You will be able to observe this when we come to the variations of verbs. Tell me now what pronouns we use in speaking to more than one ?" " Thott and i/on, then, are pronouns of the second person — the one singular, the other plural." " Now what comes next to second ?" " Then the pronoun you use in speaking of, is the third person, and there are three of those pronouns corresponding with the different genders of the nouns they stand instead of. What pronoun do you use in speaking of your father or brother ?" "Yes ; he is the pronoun of the third person, mascu- line gender, and the masculine gender denotes animals of the male kind, as a man, a boy, a lion. What pro- noun do you use in speaking of your mother or sister ?" " Yes : she is the pronoun of the feminine gender and that denotes animals of the female kind, as a wo- man,, a girl, a lioness. What pronoun do you use in speaking of a book or pen ?" % i1 ■M '\i 'ill 'li V. 48 PERSONAL FRONOUNS. " And it is the pronoun of the third person, neuter gender. The neuter gender denotes things without life — as a house, a garden." " Here are three pronouns of the third person. Try if you can find a fourth. "What person do you use in speaking of your brothers ?" " What in speaking of your sisters ?'* •' "What in speaking of your pens or your book ?" " Then there are three different pronouns in the sin- gular of the third, and only one in the plural. Now let us hear them in their proper order ?" " I — thou — you — he — she — it — we — they." " How many have we now ?'' " Yes, eight — eight words, which are called personal pronouns." This is the proper order, for it is the natural one, and it is easier for pupils to remember them thus ; for each has its distinct character, and brings its plural along with it. It was said that the length of the lessons must be left to the discretion of the teacher ; but every expe- rienced teacher will see at once, that this lesson on the pronouns ought not to be divided j and to those who have but little experience, I would beg leave to say that their pupils will recollect the whole lesson, much better than they would a part of it. In the lesson following this, the first thing done must be to repeat and name the pronouns ; the next, to let exercises, replete with pronouns in the nominative case, (for as yet we have nothing to do with any other case, either of noun or pronoun,) go twice or thrice round the class, taking care that each pupil tell what person, O , i-l- -» «.-«rt5« *-»-»^*> ■4-l^rt+ 4-rtllci 4'r\ liiw« 4*r\ nr\OT¥T/\»« ^a PERSONAL rnONOUNfl. 49 ns must be Willy was much disappointed. " And why," said he, " cannot I build a wall that will stand firm like yours ?" " Because you have never learnt, my lad," replied the man. " When I was a boy I was taught to build walls."* Kosamond, a little girl of about seven years old, was walking with her mother through the streets of Lon- don. As she passed along, she looked in at the win- dows of the shops, and she saw many pretty things of which she did not know the use nor even the names. I tossed the kite up just as little John ran oflf. It rose with all the dignity of a balloon. Two children, a brother and sister, lived in a village in the United States. The name of the little girl was Ellen ; the name of her brother was Henry. One day, as they were going to school, Henry proposed that they should go to the woods and pick whortle-berries. To this Ellen objected, and said it would be wrong, be- cause their parents had given them no permission to do so. " But," said Henry, " we did not ask them. I dare say they would have no objections. It is very pleasant to pick whortle-berries. I love to ramble in the bushes, andf hear the birds, and fill my basket with the nice fruit." .1 The king has come to marshal us, All in his armour dress'd j And he has bound a snow-white plume Upon his gallant crest. 'i * It is to be presumed that no teacher will so far lose sight of the principle of this mode of instruction as to ask, " Which is the pronoun ?" or " Where is the pronoun ?" The first ques- tion must always be, " The verb ?" Then, " The nominative ?" Then, " Is it noun or pronoun ?" " Of -what person ?" &e. t Do not forget to desire them to supply the ellipsis here. £ V 50 EXERCISES ON VERBS, The champions had come from their fields of war, Over the crests of the billows fur; They had brought back the spoils of a hundred shoret Where the deep had foam'd to their flashing oars. The swell was gone from the harp's proud string, They had sumraon'd a softer voice to sing ; And a captive girl at the warrior's call Stood forth in the midst of that frowning hall. Lonely she stood — in her mournful eyes Lay the clear midnight of southern skies. Ten years I will allot to the attainment of know ledge, and ten I will pass in foreign countries. I shall bo learned, and therefore shall be honoured. Eveij city will shout at my arrival, and every student will solicit my friendship. As for me, I was packed in a bag with a great many other fleeces, and sent to some mills. They seized hold of us, and pulled us, and twisted us about, in such a wonderful manner, that at last we were all drawn out into worsted threads, so unlike wool that I hardly knew myself again. But it was still worse when, some time afterwards, they plunged me into a large copper ot dark, dirty -looking water ; and when I was taken out, instead of being white, I was of a bright blue colour, and looked very beautiful. Well, some time after this, I was sent to the oloth-mills, and my threads were stretched into a machine called a loom, and" there I was woven into a piece of cloth. I was then folded up, and lay quiet for some time." " Indeed," said Edward, " I think you required a little rest." " Souu uUer," resumed the voice, ''I was bought by AND PERSONAL PRONOUNS. 61 tailor, and lay on tlic shelf of his shop, when one lay you and your papa came in and asked to see some iloth to make you a coat. I was taken down and un- folded on the counter with several other pieces, and, if you remember, you chose mcon account of my beauti- ful colour." "So I did," said Edward; "but you arc not so bright a blue now as you were then." « Something the worse for wear," replied the coat. If you stain me and cover me with dirt, it is your fault, not mine." Edward was much entertained with the story of the coat. " But these bright buttons," said he, " are not made of wool; have you nothing to say about them?" " They were perfect strangers to me till they were sewn on," said the coat; "I know nothing about them; they must speak for themselves." * >;1 THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOOEB. Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corse to the rampart we hurried ; Not a s> Idier discharged his farewell shot O'er the grave where our hero we buried. No useless coffin enclosed his breast, Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him ; But he lay like a warrior calmly at rest, With his martial cloak around him. Few and short were the prayers we said, And we spoke not a word of sorrow ; But we steadfastly gazed on the f^r^A nF th^ a^.a And we bitterly thought of the morrow. ^1 i r : ) 62 EXERCISES ON VERBS, We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed, And smoothed down his lonely pillow, The foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, And we far away on the billow. Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him ; But little he'll reck if they let him sleep on In the grave where a Briton has laid him. THE VOICE OF SPUING. I have passed o'er the hills of the stormy north. And the larch has hung all his tassels forth ; The fisher is out on the sunny sea. And the rein-deer bounds through the pasture free. And the pine has a fringe of softer green, And the moss looks bright where my step has bQW. From the streams and founts I have loos'd the chain. They are sweeping on to the silvery main ; They are flashing down from the mountain brows, They are flinging spray on the forest boughs, They are bursting forth from their sparry caves, And the earth resounds with the joy of waves. ADDRESS TO TUB STARS. Ye are fair, ye are fair ; and your pensive rays Steal down like the light of departed days ; But have sin and sorrow ne'er wander'd o'er The green abodes of each sunny shore ? Hath no frost been there, and no withering blast, Cold, cold, o'er the flower and the forest past ? Does the playful leaf never fail nor fade ? The rose never droop in the silent shade ? AND PEBSONAL PRONOUNS. 53 Comes there no cloud on your morning beam ? On your night of beauty no troubled dream ? Have ye no tear the eye to annoy ? No grief to shadow its light of joy ? Plath death never sadden'd your scenes of bloom ? Have your suns never shone on the silent tomb ? Did their sportive radiance never fall On the cypress tree, or the ruin'd wall ? 'Twere vain to ask, for no eye hath seen O'er the gulph eternally fixed between. We hear not the song of your early hours ; We hear not the hymn of your evening bowers. The strains they wake in each radiant sphere Ne'er pour'd their sweets on a mortal ear ; Farewell, farewell ! I go to my rest, For the shades are passing into the west, And the beacon pales on its lonely height, Isles of the blessed, good night, good night I The teacher can choose such passages of the fore- going exercises as are most suitable to the class ; and as soon as the pupils answer readily every question, in sentences where there are personal pronouns, may pass on, without going through the whole, tc the relative pro- nouns, letting them introduce themselves thus : The man who treads mount JEtna, seems like a man above the world. " The first verb ?" " The second verb ? " The nominative to the second verb ? Who is it that seems ?" The answer will be " man=" " Yes ; man is the nominative to seems. The man E 2 ^\ :i 54 RELATIVE PEONOUNS. who treads mount JEtna seems. Tell me now what is the nominative to the first verb — to treads; the man who treads?" " Yes, who is the nominative to treads. It, too, is a pronoun — it is called a relative pronoun, and it relates to some noun in the same sentence witli it. Can any of you tell me to what noun it relates ?" " Yes, it relates to man. I asked you what was the nominative to the second verb, Jirst, to prevent your making a mistake which otherwise you might have done; for man being the noun, and the subject of the sentence, you would very probably have made it no- minative to the first verb, which it is not. After this, when you come to a relative pronoun, consider well before you name the nominative. In sentences where there are relatives, the first verb is seldom the princi- pal one. The man seems above the world. The no- minative here is separated from its verb by a clause pointing out what man it is who seems above the world — the man loho treads mount JEtna." This appearance, which is now familiar, filled the companions of Columbus with terror. " The first verb ?" *' The second verb ? *' The nominative to the second verb ? What was it that filled?" " Yes, it was appearance. Now, the nominati"<-e to the first verb ? This appearance, which is." " Yes, which is the nominative. Try if you can tell me what is the difference between who and which. Could we say the man which treads mount ^tna ?" *' You are right • we could not with propriety say 60. Could we say, this appearance who ?" RELATIVE PRONOUNS. 55 low what is b; the man It, too, is a id it relates . Can any hat was the revent your might have aject of the nade it no- After this, )nsider well jnces where the princi- [. The no- by a clause Q the world r, filled the What was minati-'-e to » if you can and which. iEtna ?" nnrinfxr coir " Nor that either, Well, tell me the difference be- tween man and appearance ?" " Yes, man is a person, and appearance is a thing. PF/io is the relative used for persons ; and which, for things. But what do we use for animals? Would we say, the butterfly, who flew into the room, or the but- terfly which ?" " Yes, we would say which. Could we say the horse which run the race ?" " You are right ; we would say that. That is like- wise a relative pronoun. We use it sometimes instead of who, sometimes instead of which, and it is often used in speaking of the more intelligent animals. Speaking of them, when in life and in action, we sel- dom use which ; we would say, " The dog who res- cued the child, rather than which rescued. Now here are three relative pronouns — who, ivhich, and that; and here, too, is a sentence with one of them : " Upon this the whole row of little buttons raised their sharp voices at once, which sounded like the jingling of so many little bells." " The first verb ?" " The nominative ?" Here you see no clause interferes between the nomi- native and verb. " The second verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Yes, which is the nominative to sounded. This sentence is differently arranged to those preceding it, on which we had relatives. In this the principal verb immediately follows its nominative. If there had been no relative, no ivhich to put in, what word could we lows " raised their voices ?" t ■ ■■*',, 'til i I i'. ■'il 't iill! 56 EXERCISES. « I think we would have required and, too, — * And their voices sounded.' Do you not think 'which sounded' preferable ?" Now, you have some idea of the use of the relative. A fter this I shall proceed in the usual way, asking you the nominative to each verb as it stands ; but recollect what I told you ; you must consider well when you come to a sentence that has a relative nominative in it, to which of the verbs it belongy. You will sometimes meet with that where it is no relative. We have already had the same monosyllable, but not the same word ;* because, though spelt with the same letters, it had a different signification. " King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets ? I know that thou believest." The relative that can always be turned into who or into which without altering the sense : the word that cannot thus be replaced either by who or by which is no relative ; the noun the relative refers to is called the antecedent. EXERCISES. The grand vizier, who opposed all his designs, was deposed about two months after. He slipped two ducats into the hand of the post- master, who exactly performed his orders. The king had a horse given him, that was both lame and restive. Leaves, which consist of fibres in a kind of network, perform functions of essential importance. Riga was defended by the old count d'Alberg, who joined the fire of a young man to the experience of eighty campaigns. * See Appendix. PERSONAL AND HELATIVB PRONOUNS. 57 The princes who were to have furnished their con- tingencies for the army, contributed nothing. Come, take our boy, and we will go* Before our cabin-door ; The winds shall bring us, as they blow, The murmurs of the shore ; And we will kiss his young blue eyes. And I will sing him as he lies. Songs that were made of yore. I'll sing in his delighted ear The island lays thou lov'st to hear. Oh, how one ugly trick has spoil'd The sweetest and the best I Matilda, though a pleasant child. One ugly trick possess'd, vVhioli, like o, cloud before the skies, Hid all her better qualities, Her grandmamma went out one day, And by mistake she laid Her spectacles and snuff-box gay Too near the little maid ; " Ah ! well," thought she, "I'll try them on, As soon as grandmamma is gone."! THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS. During the engagement, William had given the most signal proofs of personal bravery. Three horses had been killed under him, and he had been compelled to * Read the whole piece, for the sake of the connection ; but begin to question them only at " we will go." t We set aside for the present the remaining pronouns, and go on through the following exercises to the adjective. ,58 PERSONAL AND RELATH^E PRONOUNS. grapple, on foot, with his adversaries. Harold had also animated his followers, both byword and example, and had displayed a courage worthy of the crown for which he was fighting. His brothers, Gurth and Leoswin, had perished already ; but as long as he sur- vived, no man entertained the apprehension of defeat, or admitted the idea of flight. A little before sunset, an arrow, shot at random, entered his eye. He in- stantly fell, and the knowledge of his fall relaxed the efforts of the English. Twenty Normans undertook to seize the royal banner, and effected their purpose, but with the loss of half their number. One of them, who maimed with his sword the dead body of the king, was afterwards disgraced by William for his brutaUty. At dusk, the English broke up, and dispersed through the wood. William's intrepidity hurried him forward to the scene of danger ; his presence encouraged his mon; succours arrived; and the English, after an ob- stinate resistance, were repulsed. THE WANDERER OF AFRICA. He launched his boat where the dark waves flow, Through the desert that never was white with snow, When the wind was still, and the sun shone bright, And the stream glowed red with the morning light j He had sat in the cool of the palm's broad shade, And drank of the fountain of Kasrah's glade. When the herb was scorch'd by the sun's hot ray, And the camel fail'd on his thirsty way. And the dark maids of Sego their mats had spread, And sung all night by the stranger's bed ; And his sleep was sweet on that desert sand. For his visionB were far in his own loved land. NAMES OF QUALITIES, OR ADJECTIVES. 59 He was weary and faint in a stranger clime But his soul was at home, as in youth's sweet time • And he lay in the shade by his cot's clear pool And the breeze which came by was refreshing and cool And the look of his mother was gentle and sweet ' And he heard the loved steps of his sister's lightVeet • And their voices were soft, and expressive, and low, ' Like the distant rain or the brook's calm flow. NAMES OF QUALITIES, OR ADJECTIVES. And their voices were soft, and expressive, and low. " The verb ?" " The nominative ?" " There is n(, nominative following the verb to be here ,• but what are all these words clustering together ^soSt expressive, low? They seem to belong to one class, do they not ?" ° " They are neither nouns nor verbs ; what would you^call them ? Let us go back to the lines about Ma- Matilda, though a pleasant child. One ugly trick possess'd ; Which, like a cloud before the skies. Hid all her better qualities." " What do you suppose those better qualities we,.« t at Matilda had? She was-what ^o\oTsnlZ she ^ wasp Unkind, and greedy, and s^iteful,Tnd The answer will be " No." " What do you suppose she was, then ?" You will probably be told, "Good, kind, mild, &c." 5»i \i fM^ t«» These were her better qualities ?" i I 60 NAMES OF QUALITIES, OR ADJECTIVES. " Then the words you have just repeated, * good,' &c. are the names of qualities— good qualities,— and those 1 mentioned before—* unkind, greedy, spiteful, sullen,' are names of bad qualities, are they not ?" " And do not soft, expressive, low, likewise seem to be qualities ?" Let us try if we can find any more : And the look of his mother was gentle and sweet. « What qualities had the look of his mother ? What was it ?" I thought of the friends who had roam'd with me there. When the sky was so blue, and the flowers were so /air. " Any qualities in that line ?" " I thought of the river all quiet and bright ?" " I thought of the green banks, that circled around ?" " Yes ; we had blue before, and now we have gre€9i. Colours are qualities— a green bank, a purple flower ; and all qualities resemble colours in one point— they must belong to some person, animal, or thing. We may speak of the names of colours— pink, blue, yel- low— but we can never use them without having some- thing to put them on ; no more can we apply qualities without some object, animate or inanimate, to link them to. Back to our first example now : Their voices were soft, and expressive, and low. « What are said to be soft, and expressive, and low ?" " Yes, voices are said to be so." When the sky was so blue. v " What was blue ?" And the flowers were so fair. NA3IE3 OF QUALITIES, OR ADJECTIVES. 61 " What were fair ?" In that line each object has one quality only. About half way up was a verdant and pleasant spot. " The qualities in that line ?" " And the object to which they are linked ?" Spot has two qualities there. In the naidst stood a high and solitary palm. " The qualities ?" '' The object or noun to which they belong ?" '• Palm has two qualities there. One single thing, as well as one person, may have many qualities. One person may be intelligent, kind, benevolent, and self- denying-— another may be arrogant, selfish, and quar- relsome. No object, however trifling, is without some distinguishing quality. How many qualities do you think an apple may have ? Of what form is it ?" " Yes, apples are generally round ; and one apple may be hard, green, and sour — another may be ripe, red, soft, sweet, and juicy." " How many qualities do we reckon, belonging' to that one apple ?" " We will now go on with our exercises as formerly." In the following plan of Exercises in Writing, Inf. signifies Infinitive ; P. personal pronoun ; P. R. rela- tive pronoun; ant. antecedent; U. understood; O. ordinal; wa^. national; f after an adjective, signifies tliat it qualifies the noun which has a similar mark. F M\ ^ ,>jf EXAMPLES. C 'J5 O o CD ►-=- -^ « CO-- c fa S g fl 0) d t.^ .4_a CiM ^^ i 5f5 C4 S Oi a> " '-"Sol 'I tJ *- 5 o > i '£&•-' v> ; . u c «u 2 C Hi S3, *i =« s -^ a* ^g u3 "^ _ ^ji B "^ fi 03 CJ o,> "^ •1 ^ e-S S *- S 2 fee o !- o tX) S 2 « a> s "t: •- ■(£ ^ ,^ ^ o; »-C en if C OS'S 3 en > c3 !0, •J Sr^S -C " vj o ?- 'S 1 a tn _c i3 h-i 2'^a i S &'■'' g. tn o +i O S— ' s S o8 2 5i •^ fc. " Co a; js J? > a: Q !*: r^ p- S pq tipH <5 t- > S tn o ■S X -is -^ — a a £-i-^ s c •c '^'^ o t^ 3 -^ r?^ g^ t> ^ 3 0. s "C HH P 73 a; I s s ^ oj -s c C o "a — cs • '^ S 2 »; 53 ? V- S — - ' - -r) a o - C *" M s ^ * u S tg »r o i; w a* .a 3 » S^ ^ O f ,53 J3 NAMES OF QUALITIES, OR ADJECTIVES. EXERCISES. - ()3 Columbus wn3 the lirst European wlio set loot in the new world, which he had discovered. He landed in a rich dress, and with a naked sword in his hand. '♦ The first verb ?" " Tlie nominative ?" " Yes, you arc right ; two nominatives, both signify- ing the same person — Columbus, European." " The second verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Is it noun or pronoun ?" " The third verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Whom does it stand instead of?" " Any qualities in that sentence ?" " To what noun does new belons ?" He landed, he. " The first verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Whom does he stand instead of?" " Any qualities in that ?" " To what noun does rich belong ?" " Any more ?" " To what noun does naked belong ?" Heavy clouds obscured the sun ; and as they neared the laud, the sky grew dark and darker. •' The first verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Any qualities there ?" " Dark and darker. What does darker mean ? Is it not the same as dark ?" *' They are not exactly the same. AVell, can you luii iiiu wiiat io me ainerence .'■" " Then / must tell you. They express different de- -1 k" : 64 COMPAIUSON OF ADJECTIVES. grces of the same quality ; and there are very fow «iualitics which have not diiferent degrees. Suppose we had three mountains in view ; one might be lofty, another still " " Yes, loftier ; and the third, with its summit tower- ing above the other two ?" " Yes, the loftiest ; and of three brothers, one may be young, another younger, the third the youngest ; and one may be tall, another go on now V" " Yes, another taller, and the third, the tallest. One liorsc may be swift, another " " Yes, swift — swifter — swiftest. Now, when you say, that is a tall ti-ee, are you thinking of one or more than one?" " Yes, of one ; and tall is the simple or positive de- n-ree ; but yonder is another taller than it. Of Jiow many cow ?" *' Of two ; you arc thinking of two, and comparing the one with the other — so this is called the compara- tive degree ; and when you say, that farthest off is the tallest of the three, or of the group, you are thinking of several ; and tallest of all is the highest degree ; for that reason, it is called the superlative — from super, above — above, or over the rest. Repeat to mc now the three degrees of comparison ?" *' Our last lesson was on qualities, and we left off at their different degrees. Soft is the first, the simple or positive degree of that quality. Can you tell me the second and third ?" " Softer and softest ; and what name has the second degree ?" " Y'es, the comparative ; because, in using it, we are comparing one thing with another. Novv the name of the third ?"' C0MPAKI30N OF ADJECTIVES. 65 mit tower- " Superlative ; because it ia above, or highest of all." The pretty red squirrel lives up in a tree, A little blithe creature as ever can be ; He dwells in the boughs, where the stock dove broods, Far in the shade of the deep green woods. The pretty red squirrel lives up in a tree. " The verb ?" '' The nominative ?" " Any qualities in that line ?" " Can you compare pretty ?" It is very seldom we say redder, or reddest ; for the different shades of red have distinguishing names. As blithe, &c. " There is no verb there. Can you tell me the meaning of blithe ?" " Then i is a quality. We will say nothing about its degree at present." He dwells in the boughs where the stock dove broods. " The first verb ?" " The nominative ?" " The second verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Now I must tell you the qualities in the next line, lest you should make a mistake — * deep green woods/ There are two qualities there. The meaning is not woods, that are of a deep green colour ; but woods, that are both deep and green. Tell me, what degree deep is ?" -«.TT.-r7 givv? lu;; vuuipttittuvu uau supenauve aC" grees ''" ?» ,^f 'I •H 1 f2 ii I I 66 ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES. EXERCISES. In America have been found the bones of an animal, called the mammoth ; he was larger than the elephant. There are no living mammoths now. The elephant is the la gest animal we know any thing about. He is strone:, obedient, and sagacious. In Siam, a country of Asia, the people love elephants very much. ■ The king of Siam has a beautiful house for his elephants ; he feeds them upon the cleanest and the whitest rice. I have sent through the wood-paths a gentle sigh, And called out each voice of the deep blue sky, From the night-bird's lay through the starry time, In the groves of the soft Hesperian clime, To the swan's wild note, by the Iceland lakes, Where the dark fir-bough into verdure breaks. The general colour of the lion is yellow ; his look is bold ; his gait, proud ; and his voice, terrible. His face is broad, and some have thought that it resembles the human countenance. His teeth are terrible, and his paws, like thope of the cat. His eyes are bright and fiery. There came an eve of festal hours, Rich music filled that garden's bowers. ADVERBS. The Arab spake kindly to the stranger, and i) vited him to enter his tent. " The first verb ?" " The nominative ?" " The second verb ?'* " The nominative ?" " Is it expressed or understood ?" " The third verb ?" " No nominative ?" ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES. 67 The Arab spake kindly to the stranger. Perhaps some of you are about to say kindly is a quality ; but think again. A quality must belong to some particular object— -some person, animal, or thing. ' The voice of the lion is terrible'— it is a terrible voice. * The elephant is strong, obedient, and saga- cious'— he has all these qualities, but our present ex- ample does not say that the Arab was kind— always kind — or of a kind dispcsition—it merely says he spoke kindly to a passing stranger; and the word kindly, expressing the manner in which he spake,, belongs to the verb, not to the noun— it is attached to spoke, not to Arab. Did any of you ever observe fish in a clear stream ? Are not their motions quick when they dart along even against the cuiTent ? Would you not, in describing them, say that, in their own element they are swift? Does not the river, in some places, flow rapidly ? We say the current there is strong and rapid ; strong and rapid express qualities belonging to the flow of the water at that particular part of the river. Throw a bit of wood into that strong current : how would you describe its motion ? You would probably say, « It goes swiftly, rapidly down,' would you not ? But swiftly or rapidly would not ex- press qualities belonging to the wood — either or both of these words, if you were to use them, would only describe the manner of its motion ; they would belong to the verb, not to the noun ; it goes swiftly, it goes rapidly. liorehound is bitter ; here bitter is a quality belonging to the verb. The two children put their arms about each other's necks, and wept bitterly. Bitterly there is linked lo the verb wepf, is it not ? Kindly, swiftly, rapidly, bitterly, ail belong to a class of words which we have not yet considered. They are r 'j.'.l 68 ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS. f I 'I f\\ called adverbs, because they are more frequently joined to verbs than to any other class or order of words. Those words which principally occupied our last lesson we have as yet only called by their natural name — names of qualities— but in Grammar they have another name. They are called adj ecti ves. Adverbs are some- times joined to them. Suppose you hear thundei- rolling and cording nearer. One peal is loud — the next ? " Yes, louder— and the third ?" " Now amongst your classmates are three ; one is studious — another, who studies still harder, is " " More studious ; and the third, we will say, the most studious. More and most are adverbs, and many of those adjectives which have two or more syllables, are compared by prefixing more to express the compa- rative degree, and most to express the superlative. A variety of words belong to the class of adverbs. At first view you would scarcely suppose that i/es, here, and late, could be words of the same class — ^yet they all have one common point of resemblance — each of them can answer a question. * Have you seen your brother?' 'Yes.' 'Where is he?' 'Here.' 'When did he arrive ?' ' Late.' Generally, however, in such replies the verb used in the preceding question, if not repeated, is understood. ' He is here.' ' He arrived late.' Here is an adverb of one kind, and late of an- other ; and, as there are several different sorts of ad- verbs, we will, before going farther, name some of those most in use, and say to which class they belong. Do you know the difference between to affirm and to deni/f Suppose I ask you a question, and you mean to answer in the affirmative, you say yes, do you noi r " Yes is an adverb of affirmation. Now there is ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS. 69 another little monosyllable, which says directly the re- verse of yes ?" '' No is an adverb of negation. Does not here mean in this place ?" " It is an adverb of place. There is another of the same kind, and so is yonder and hither, and there are many more such. Does not now mean at this time ?" " What is it an adverb of, then ?" " Yes, it is an adverb of time ; and presentlij, soon, long since, lately, are likewise adverbs of time. Per- haps and peradventure, are adverbs of doubt. Once, twice, thrice, &c. are adverbs of number ; and Jirst, secondly, thirdly, are adverbs of order. Rapidly, kindly, swiftly, bitterly, are adverbs of manner. They are formed from adjectives ; and, allowing for a few exceptions, we may form from any adjective an adverb of manner. From sweet comes sweetly; from bright comes brightly; from close, closely. More and most are adverbs of comparison, and so is as; it is used in what is called the comparison of equality, and does then signify equally— «* brave, as generous, as kind, as his father." The merchants of Arabia, Egypt, and Syria, employ camels to carry great loads across wide tracts of sand, where there are no springs of water, except at great distances from each other, and no shady trees. " The first verb !" " The nominative ?" " The second verb ?" '' What mode is it in ?" " The third verb ?" *• The nominative ?" r-, 70 ADJECTIVES AND ADVEUBS. I! Ii'll I " ' And no shady trees.' Supply the verb that is wanting there ?" " Now give the .nominative ?" " Form the adverb from it ?" " Any other adjectives ? " Great again. The same adjective should not be introduced twice in one sentence, if another can be found to supply its place. Let us see if we can amend this. Large distances would not be a correct expres- sion ; but we can say large loads, and great distances, and then there will be no unpleasant repetition. There is yet another adjective, and it belongs to trees. AVe can compare it ; we can say, a more shady spot — and we might even say, the most shady spot ; but it is sel- dom we thus use it — and we would not say, the most shady tree, but the tree that throws the deepest or the widest shade. We form no adverb from it." Tliis strong and patient animal endures both fatigue and thirst. " The verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Any adjectives ?" " Tell me the superlative of patient ?" " Form the adverb from it ?" The merchants who use the camel, do not travel singly, but in large companies, called caravans. '* The verb in that sentence ?" " The nominative ?*' " What class of words does singly belong to ?" '* What adjective is it formed from ?" " This is one of those adjectives that have only the degree. ' But in large companies,' &c. Supply the verb T ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS. 71 " Is there no adjective in the sentence ?" '•' Compare it ?" " Now can any of you tell me the difference between an adjective and an adverb ? Tell me, then, what an adjective expresses ?" " Yes, it expresses a quality ; adverbs generally ex- press some circumstance — the time, the place, the or- der, or manner in whicli a thing is done. An adjective always belongs to some noun, or to u pronoun, the representative of a noun ; an adverb belongs some- times to a verb, sometijnes to an adjective, some- times to another adverb. *A strong bow.' Strong expresses a quality belonging to bow. ' A (luick step.' l^uick is likewise an adjective belonging to step. ' But Charles walked quickly to school.' Here the adverb quickly expresses a circumstance the manner in wliich Charles walked — and is joined to the verb. 'From this point you have a more extensive view.' Extensive qualiiies view, and the adverb more is joined to extensive, and puts it in the comparative degree. ' lie ran very swiftly.' Here the adverb very is joined to the other adverb swiftly:' Do you pretend to sit as* high on Olympus as Her- cules sits ? Tiie calm shade shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze, that makes the green lea\-es dance, shall waft a balm to thy sick heart. The mossy rocks themselves, the old and ponderous trunks of once proud trees that lead from knoll to knoll, a causeway rude, or bridge,t -ae sunken brook, and their dark roots with all their earth upon them, breathe fixed tranquillit '. * As and high are adverbs. ~ t Bridge is a verb. 1^1 t ^ ■ ■ i |# ! i lll'l 72 ADVERBS. CLASSIFICAx'IOX OF ADVERBS. Affirma- tion. Yes, yea. Verily. Doubtless Surely. Certainly. Time. Now. Then. Snon. To-day. To-morrow. Yesterday. Ever, never Again. Always. Seldom. Duly, Daily Nightlv. WeeklV, &e Negation, No, na3'. Not. Notatall. Doubt. Perhaps. Perchance. Peradventure, Probably. Possibly I liter roga- tion. Number. ^Vhy. Once. Whither. Twice. W-hcn. Thrice. Place. Here. There. ! Near. jOff, far off. I Somewhere. Nowhert. Upward. Downward. Forward. Backward. Nigh. High,sig.ina high place Comparison. More, most, little, less. Kather,much quite. Almost, nearly. Better, worse. Too. As, sig. equally — in the same man- ner, in the same i*atio. Order. First. Secondly. Thirdly. Fourthly. Manner. So, thus, well, ill. Brightly, sweetly. Swiftly, &c. Like, sig. in the same manner. Adverbs of man- ner are mostly de- rived from adjec- tives. Immediately Low, sig. in a low place. Nearei', far- ther. EXEECISES. The congar is the largest animal of the cat kind, in America ; and has occasionally received the name of the American lion. Adam then proceeds to give an account of his condi- tion and sentiments, immediately after his creation. How agreeably does he represent the posture in which he found himself— the beautiful landscape that sur- rounded him, and the gladness of heart which grew up in him on that occasion. The conference between Gabriel and Satan abounds with sentiments proper for the occasion. In Switzerland, and along the whole line of their growth, larches supply the principal timber for domes- more especially fc uc purposes lUi" uulidmg. EXETICISES. 73 "The sun is not set yet, Thomr.s?" "Not quite, sir. It blazes through the trees on the hill yonder, as if their branches were on fire." " Do you pretend to sit as high on Olympus as Her- cules ?" Merrily, merrily goes the bark On a breeze from the northward free ; So shoots through the morning sky the lark, Or the swan, through the summer sea. Merrily, merrily goes the bark. Before the gale she bounds ; So darts the dolphin from the shark. Or the deer before the hounds. And oft he traced the uplands, to surrey. When o'er the sky advanced the kindling dawn, The crimson cloud, blue main, and mountain gray. And lake dim gleaming o'er the smoky lawn. Far to the west the long, long vale withdrawn, Where twilight loves to linger for a while ; And now he faintly kens the bounding fawn,' And villager abroad at early toil. [smile. But lo ! the sun appears, and heaven, earth, ocean And oft he traced the uplands, to survey " The first verb ?" " The nominative ?" " The second verb ?" Wben o'er the sky advanced the kindling dawn. "The verb?" " The nominative ?" Now pause a little on the next question. Do not answer hastily. Do you know what kindling ig? Q K lie "i i& 74 PARTICirLirS. Sometimes in verse, the natural or common arange- mcnt of words is altered. I will turn these lines into ]>rose for you. And often he traced the uplands, to survey the crim- son cloud, the blue main (the sea), and the gray moun- tain, andthe lake gleaming dimly over the smoky lawn, when (at the very time when) the dawn kindling ad- vanced over the sky. « Do you know what kindling is ? Does it express an action or a quality ?"* It does express action; but, except when com- pounded with a verb, it does not express it in the sti-ict and positive manner that the verb, as you have hitherto had it, does. It is not of itself a verb, but it is part of one> (though a distinct part); it is not an adjective, though sometimes used as one. It belongs to a class of words, which, partaking the properties of both verbs and adjectives, are, on that account, called participles. Standing in the same con- nection as kindling d6es here, these words are simply participles ; but compounded with the verbs we call auxiliaries, they help to form verbs and become part of them. You have often had sentences in which they were thus used, and always recognized the expression as a verb. Rosamond yvas ivalkint,-. Tha Urahhas hung all iiis tassels forth. Life is sporting. The vellow and scarlet tufts of ocean Are bending like corn on the upland lea. * Ilere-again is a question on which there will probably be a dinsiou of opinibn in the class ; but, in whichever way they an- .^^ -.^, :j :g ef.s"j nn\y that they understand the adjective to show that the participle partakes tiie nature of adjective and verb. rARTICIPLES. 75 On the other hand, when the action they express is continuous, they become adjectives, for then that ac- tion is considered as a quality or property of the noun to which it is ascribed. Thus when we say a foaming cataract, the action is continuous ; and ibaming, being a quality of the cataract, is liero an adjective ; but, when describing an inundation occasioned by a tempo- rary swell of a mountain stream, we say — The river, swollen to a threatening flood, came rushing and foam- ing down ; foaming and rushing are both participles. Threatening, as applied to flood, is an adjective; be- cause, while it continues a floods it may occasion loss of life or property ; when it subsides into its own channel, it ceases to be threatening, but then it is nolonger a flood. The first faint gleam of dawn is lighting the eastern sky. " The verb ?" " The nominative ?" The stars are disappearing. " The verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Is it noun or pronoun ?" " Spoken to or spoken of?'', For some time the struggle was most amusing ; the fish pulling, and the bird screaming with all his might ; the one attempting to fly, and the other to swim. " The verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Is there any adjective ?" " To what noun does it belong ?" " What degree is it ? Should I say, ' Jane was amusing her sister?' 'Was amusing' would be — yes, a verb." I ■X • I •Pi if t' . 76 rARTICIPLES. " Does pulling express action there ?" " Does screaming express action ?" " Then pulling and screaming are participles there ?" " The one attempting to fly ? Name the verb there?" *' What is attempting ?" " Yes, it is a participle there. The one attempting to fly and the other supply the ellipsis there ?" " Yes, attempting to swim.'' Now we will return to the passage in which we found kindlirrr " Are Uiere any adjectives in the third line?" Now neither of these adjectives can be compared in the usual way. Speaking of crimson, we say a deeper, or a brighter, crimson ; of blue, a deeper or darker, or a lighter blue ; of grey, a lighter or a darker grey. " To what noun does crimson belong ?" " To what does blue belong ?" And X\iQ\iikQ gleaming dimly over the smoky lawn. " There is no verb in this line ? What is gleaming ?" " What is dimly ?'• " What adjective is it formed from?" " Can you tell why, in the lines, as I 3 eagle, boy I Proudly careering his course of joy, ' Firm in his own mountain vigour relying ; Breasting the dark storm, the red bolt defying ; q2 r M 78 PARTICIPLES. His wing on the wind, and \iU eye on the sun, He swerves not a hair, but bears onward, right on. Boy I may the eagle's course ever be thine, Onward, and upward, and true to the lino. High sight it is, and haughty, while They dive into the deep delile ; Beneath the cavern'd cliff they fall, Beneath the castle's airy wall. By rock— by oak — ^by hawthorn tree, Troop after troop are disappearing ; Troop after troop their banners rearing, Where the eastern bank you see. Still pouring down the rocky den. Where flows the sullen Till ; And rismg from the dim-wood glen, Standards on standards, men on men, In slow succession still ; And sweeping o'er the Gothic arch, And pressing on in ceaseless march, To gain th' opposing hill. The Scottish host drawn out appears, Yor, fashing on the hedge of spears. The eastern sun-beam shines. Their front now deepening, now extending. Their flank inclining, wheeling, bending, Now drawing back, and now descending, The skilful Marmion well could know, They watch'd the motions of some foe. I dreamed I saw a rosy child, With flaxen ringlets, in a garden plitying. Now stooping here, and then afar off straying. As flower or butterfly his feetbeguikd. EXERCISES ON VERBS, PARTICIPLES, ETC. 79 The devout heart, penetrated with large and affecting views of the immensity of the works of God, the har- mony of his laws, and the extent of his beneficence, bursts into loud and vocal expressions of praise and adoration ; and, from a full and overflowing sensibility, seeks to expand itself to the utmost limits of creation. The young of all animals appear to receive pleasure from the exorcise of their limbs and bodily faculties, without reference to any end to Ye attained, and any use to be derived from the exertion. A child, without knowing any thing of the use of language, is in a high degree delighted with being able to speak. Its incessant repetition of a few articulate sounds, or perhaps of a single word, which it has learned to pronounce, proves this point clearly. Nor is it less pleased with its first successful endea- vours to walk, or rather to run, which precedes walk- ing ; although entirely ignorant of the importance of the attainment to its future life, and even without ap- plying it to any present purpose.* A child is delighted with speaking without having any thing to say ; and with walking, without knowing whither to go. The poor child of nature knew not the God of re- velation J but the God of the universe he acknowledged in every thing around him. He beheld him in the star, that sank in beauty behind liis lonely dwelling ; in the sacred orb, that beamed on him from her midni<'ht throne ; in the flower, that snapped in the morning breeze ; in the lone pine, that defied a thousand whirl- winds ; in the timid warbler, that never left its native grove ; in the fearless eagle, whose untired pinion was * See Appendix. tm^^>^ 80 EXERCISES ON VERBS, PARTICIPLFS, ETC. wet with clouds j in the worms, that crawled fit his feet ; and in his own matchless form, glowing with a spark of that light to whoso mysterious source he bent in humble, though blind adoratioh. If it was intended for us as well as you, why has not the Great Spirit given it to us ; and not only to us, but why did he not give to our foreftithers the know- ledge of that Book, with the means of rightly under- standing it ? We do not understand these things : we are told, that your religion was given to your forefathers, and has been handed down from fiither to sun. We also have a religion which Avas given to our forefathers, and has been handed down to us : it teaches us to be thank- ful for all favours received, to love each other, and to be united : we never quarrel about religion. MABCU. The stormy March is come at last. With wind, and cloud, and changing skies : I hear the rushing of the blast, That through the snowy valley flies. Ah ! passing few are they who speak, Wild stormy month, in praise of thee ; Yet, though thy winds are loud and bleak, Thou art a welcome month to me. For thou to northern lands again, The glad and glorious sun doth bring ; And thou hast joined the gentle train, And 'tvear'st the gentle name of Spring. VARIATIONS OP THE VERB. 81 And in thy reign of blast and storm, Smiles many a long, bright, sunny day, When the changed winds are soft and warm, And heaven puts on the blue of May. Then sing aloud the gushing rills, And the full springs, from frost set free, That, brightly leaping down the hills, Are just set out to meet the sea. The year 's departed beauty hides Of wintry storms the sullen threat ; But, in thy sternest frown abides A look of kindly promise yet. Tiiou bring'st the hope of those calm skies, And that soft time of sunny sliowers, When the wide bloom, on earth that lies, Seems of u brighter world than ours. VARIATIONS OF THE VERB. The stormy March is come at last. With wind, &c. Go on with the usual questions through the first and second verses. Thou art a welcome month to me. Art is then the verb, and thou and month the nomi- natives, and welcome an adjective belonging to month. If it had been 'thou art welcome,' welcome would have been an adverb. Thou — the month of March — art welcome ; but the lino means more — it means the month of March is always a welcome month to the 82 VARIATIONS OF THE VERB. 'I' 1 1 1 1 SI 'I 'i! Jl " Is not art part of the verb to beT* " Could I say I am here yesterday ?" " What then must I say ?" " Can I say I am here to-day ?" "What is the difference between to-day and yester- day?" " You are right. Yesterday is past, and to-day is not. We call it present. When we speak of periods of time, we say, the present year— the present month— the present week,— meaning that, till its course is com- pleted, some portion of the specified period of time is present or with usj and when we say the past year, the past or the last month or week, we speak of a period gone, and as surely belonging to that portion of time which is irrecoverably gone as is the last century. " Is to-morrow past ?" " Is it here now ?" " Where is it then ?" " To come ; that is right ; to-morrow is a portion of time to come, which we call future. We say, I was here yesterday ; I am here to-day ; and to-morrow yes, that is right— I will be here. There are thus three different periods of time— past, present, and future ; and yra see the verb has been varied so as to mark to which of these different periods the action or event which it expresses belongs. These variations form the distinctions of time, and are called tenses, and by them we can distinguish to which of the divisions of time an action belongs, even when no particular period is spoken of. ' George gathered grapes for me.' We know that is past. * George is gathering grapes for me.' This is present- he is doing it now. ' George will gather grapes for me'— at some future period of time he will do it," VARIATIONS OF THE VERB. 83 3 IS com- " Now I am speaking of present time, I say, * I am.' Can I say, * vre am ?' " " And why must I say, * we are ?' "VYJiat is the diiFerence between I and we ?" " Yes, / stands for one person, and we for more than one. That has led to another variation in the verb ; the word is changed to make the distinction between one and more than one. We say, * Summer is gone ;' but if we speak of summer and autumn, we say, * Summer and autumn' yes, *are gone.' " " Now though I say, ' I am,' I cannot say, < We am ;' because / is singular and we plural. But can I say, ' i^e am ?' Why not ? lie is singular as well as / — what difference is there between them ; they are both personal pronouns, are they not ?" " You are right ; / is the pronoun of the first per- son — the pronoun used by the speaker in speaking of himself, and he is the pronoun of the third, and repre- sents a person spoken of, — and the verb is varied to mark that distinction also ; but our English verbs have fewer of those variations which mark distinctions of person and number, than the verbs of other langua«^es, and that you will very soon be able to observe." " There is another, and a very important distinction in verbs j that is, whether the action be done b?/ or fo the subject or nominative of the verb." " Harry brought his old companion home." Here the action is done by the nominative. * Harry was carried home by his uncle.' Here it is done to the subject or nominative, by his uncle." Julius forbade his brother to say any thing more about it. " The verb ?" XllU lAUIUlIiUUVO .'^ 84 VARIATIONS OF THE VERB. " "Was the action done by or to Julius ?" Julias was forbidden to say any thing more about it, " Here Julius is the nominative again." '* Is the action said to be done by or to him ?" This distinction does not exist in verbs that express being or a state of being. It is caUed the distinction of voice. That which represents the action as acne by the subject is called the active voice ; that which re- presents it as done to the subject, or nominative, the passive voice. Those verbs which express being are called neuter. There is yet another distinction arising from the manner or mode in which the action is repre- sented . Whether certain, as it is done, it will be done ; uncertain, as it may be done, if it should be done ; or commanding, as be it done. All the different variations of any one verb form what is termed the conjugation of it ; and to go through them all in their proper or- der, is to conjugate it. I said that verbs in other languages were varied, to mark the distinctions of per- son'' and number; so, of course, they are to express those of time, voice, and mode. Here is part of the conjugation of a verb in Latin, in French, and in Eng- lish. I wish you to consider and compare the three. CONJUGATION. 85 INDICATIVE MOOD OF THE REGULAR VERB TO RECEIVE. PRESENT TEKSE. Singular. Plural, 1. Ego recipio. 1. Nos recipimus. 2. Tu recipis. 2. Vos recipitis. 3. Ille recipit. 3. Illi recipiunt. Singular. Plural. 1. I receive, or am receiving, 1. We receive. 2. Thou receivest, &c. 3. He receives. Singular. 1. Je re5ois. 2. Tu re^ois. 3. II re5ois. 2- Ye or you receive. 3. Tliey receive. Plural. 1. Nous recevons. 2. Vous recevez. 3. lis re9oivent. PAST TBICSE9— IMPERFECT. Singular. Plural. 1. Ego recipiebam. 1. Nos recipiebamus. 2. Tu recipiebas. 2. Vos recipiebates. 3. Ille recipiebat. 3. Illi recipiebant. Singular. Plural. 1. I was receiving, or I re- 1. "We were receiving. ceived. 2. Ye or you were re- 2. Thou wast or wert re- ceiving. ceiving, &c. 3. They were receiving. Plural. 1. Nous recevions. 2. Vous recGviez. 3. lis recevaient. 3. He was receiving. Singular. 1. Je recevais. 2. Tu recevais. 3. H recevait. SECOND, OR SIMPLE PAST TENSE.* Singular. Plural. 1. Recepi. 1. Recepimus. 2. Recepisti. 2. Recepistis. 3. Recepit. 3. Receperunt. ^■:€ f**"' * Be* Appendix. 86 Singular. 1. I received. 2. Thou receivedst. 3. He received. Singular. 1. Je regus. 2. Tu regus. a. II regut. CONJUGATION. Plural. 1. We received. 2. Ye or you received. 3. They received. Plural. 1. Nous regAmes. 2. Vous regiites. |3. Ilsregurent. FIRST COMPOUND, OR PERFECT TENSE. Singular. 1. Recepi. 2. Recepisti. 3. Recepit. Singular. 1. I have received. 2. Thou hast received. 3. He has received, Singular. 1. Je regus, or J'ai regu. 2. Tu regus, or Tu as regu. 3. U regut, or H a regu. SECOND COMPOUND, OR Singular. 1. Receperam. 2. Receperas. 3. Receperat. Singular. 1. I had received. 2. Thou hadst received. 3. He had received, Plural. 1. Recepimus. 2. Recepistis, 3. Receperunt. Plural 1. We have received. 2. Ye or you have re- ceived. 3. They have received. Plural. 1. Nous regiimes, &c. 2. Vous regutes. 3. lis regurent. PLUPERFECT TENSE. Plural. 1. Receperamus. 2. Receperatis. 3. Receperant. Plural. 1 . We had received. 2. Ye or you had re- ceived, 3. They had received. , CONJUGATION. hi Singular. 1. J'avais re^u, ou J'eus re^u. 2. Tu avais rec^n, &c. 3. II avait re9U. FIIIST, OR SIMPI. Singular. 1. Ego recipiam. 2. Tu recipics. 3. Ille recipiet. Singular. 1. I shall or will receive. 2. Thou shalt receive. 3. He shall receive. Singular. 1. Je recevrai. 2. Tu recevras. 3. II recevra. Plural. 1. Nous avions rc(;n. 2. Vous aviez re9u. 3. lis avaient re(;u. E rUTURB. Plural. 1. Nos recipiemus. 2. Vos recipictis. 3. Illi recipient. Plural. 1. We shall or ■will re- ceive. 2. Ye oryou shall receive 3. They shall receive. Plural. 1. Nous reeevroiis. 2. Vous recevrez. 3. lis recevront. SECOND Singular. 1. Ego receperim. 2. Tu receperis. 3. Ille receperit. Singular. 1. I shall have i<^ccived. 2. Thou shalt have receive; 3. He shall have received. Singular. 1. J'auraire9u. 2. Tu auras re5u. 3. II aura re^u. FUTURE. Plural. 1. Nos reccperimus. 2. Vos receperitis. 3. Illi receperint. Plural. 1. We shall have received \. 2. Ye or you shall have received. 3. They shall have re- ceived. Plural. 1. Nous aurons regu. 2. Vous aurez re^u. 0« -liJJ tVllAVXAt AVVVii 88 VARIATIONS OP TERBS. " Which of these verbs has the greatest number of variations ? It is always at the end or termination of the word you must look ; for it is there that in regular verbs the change is made. Now which has the most?" „; « Yes ; the Latin has no two persons exactly alike t " Has the French any that are spelt exactly alike. Look in the present tense. Yes it has two alike. In the past how many ?" " How many are there now that exactly resemble each other in English ?" " Now I have never before asked you, but I am sure you can tell me, how, when we speak of more than one person or thing, we change the noun from the sin- gular to the plural ? Here is a match ; but that is not enough ; I want a dozen of Yes, of matches. You changed the termination of the noun by adding c*. Here is a book, and there are other three Yes, books. Here you only added «." « Do we add any letter to change the verb from sin- gular to plural ?" " No ; on the contrary, there are fewer letters in the plural than in some of the persons of the singular.'' " How many persons are alike in the first or simple past of the English verb ?" " All except one. Whnt does that one end in ?" " What person is it ?" " Look at the present now ; what does the second person singular end in there ? Go now to the com- pound tenses— hast— hadst. Can you find any other person of the verb ending in that way ? Then the termination s# belongs to the 2d person singular. What other difference do you observe between the T afJn vprh ar\({ thf» Enfflish ?" KXERCISES. 89 " You are right. Tliere are two words in Euglisli in several places where there is bul one in Latin. In Latin, all the different tenses in this mode are formed 1)}' the variations in termination of the principal verb ; in English, we have fewer of these changes in termina- tion, and must use what are called auxiliary or helping verbs." " Try now if you can go through the present tense of the English verb." Singular. Plural. 1. I receive. 1. We* receive. 2. Thou 2. You 3. He 3. They " You will have to study this at home. We have time for a few lines of exercises." I drew near with that reverence which is due to a superior nature j and, as my heart was entirely sub- dued by the captivating strains I had heard, I fell down at his feet and wept. *• The first verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Is the verb present, past, or future ? Is it in the active or passive voice ?" ♦' What person ?" " Give the plural ?" *' The second person singular ?" « The plural?" " The second verb ?" [Here, if necessary, read the first section.] " That expresses being, and is a neuter verb, is it not ?" " The nominative ?" (N^ * Give the pronouns in their own order, I, we, and wait after each for the verb. k>x- II 2 90 EXERCISES. « It is a relatiire pronoun. To what word then docs it relate ? It cannot represent a person. ^^ What is it ? What thing is it which is said to he due ?" « Yes ; which relates to nrmncc— and reverence is the ailtecedent to which." «' Tlie third verh ?" " The nominative ?" " Is the verb in the active or passive voice?" " Is it in the present or past tense ?" "The fourth verb?" [Here repeat the former questions.] " The fifth verh ?" &c. &c. *' Are there any adjectives in that passage?" " You cannot compare superior. It is in itself a comparative ; and the meaning of the expression is a nature of a higher order than our nature--ii nature superior to ours." " Any other adjective ?" " To what nom does captivating belong?" " Compare it ?" &c. The genius smiled upon me with a look of compas- sion and affability, that familiarized him to my imagi- gination, and, at once, dispelled all the fears and ap- prehensions with which I approached him, u Supply the ellipsis that immediately precedes affa- bility. What word s it that is wanting there ?" " The fust verb r &c. &c. " Can you tell me the present of that verb ? If the genius were here now smiling on us, would we say, he smiled? What then?" " Yes, smiles. In all regular verbs, the third per- son singular in the present of the indicative, active ends in s— that is, the termination which belongs to it." DIPFERENT TENSES. di ;» " The P^cond verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Yes, that is a relative pronoun here. Is it who or which liiat it stands instead of?" " What noun does it relate to ? "What was it that familiarized ?" " The third verb ? The nominative ?" " Yes ; that, uuderstoud." " The fourth verb ?'» " The nominative ?" Now they dipped their noble limbs in your sedgy lakes, and now they paddled the light canoe along your rocky shores. Here they warred ; and when the tiger strife was over, here curled the smoke of peace. Here, too, they worshipped ; and, from many a dark bosom, went up a pure prayer to the Great Spirit. " The first verb ?" &c. Is it past or present r" &c. Do you know what tiger means there ? It means tiger- like — strife resembling that of tigers, and is, of course, an adjective. DIFFERENT TENSES. When first speaking of Time, we reckoned only three periods — Present, past, and future ; but in the verb which you have just gone over, you find four past tenses and two future. These are subdivisions of the period they respectively belong to. The first, past, or imperfect tense represents the ac- tion as going on and unfinished at a certain past time, and is generally expressed by the past tense of the verb to be, and the present or active participle of the principal verb. He was building a house last year. He was speaking when I entered the room. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I lii, lU Ui us IS IIIM m 1^ 2.5 M 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 M 6" ► Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 m 4i^ ///// ^w 92 VARIATIONS or VERBS. IK ^1 K f The second or simple past merely represents the ac- tion as past and finished, without reference to any par- ticular time, lie spake of you— lie built a house on the ground his father gave him. It can, however, by the addition of other words, such as adverbs of time, &c., be made to express continuity of action. He spaka from seven o'clock till nine, without interruption. ^ The Perfect, or Preterite, which you observe is in linglish a compound tense, represents the action either as just finished— I have written my letter ; finished within a particular period— 1 have planted fruit trees this year ; or it speaks of action done and completed in a past, perhaps a distant period of time— I have writ- ten both exercises and letters in that language, but se- veral years have elapsed since then. The Pluperfect represents the action as past and finished before another action or event took place, as— 1 had heard of her illness before I saw my uncle. The First Future merely represents the action as yet to come, without respect to the preceding time— I shall see them again. The Second Future intimates that the action will be completed before the time of another future action or event 1 shall have got out of the woods before sunset. VAKIATIONS OF VERBS. In a former lesson we considered the different varia- tions of the verb, and the causes of them, just as they chanced to appear. We will now put them in the or- der in which they generally stand in what has been termed conjugation. Voice is the first variation ; it arises from the con- sideration of whether the action is done by or to the nominative; and we place the active voice be- HODE. 93 fore the passive. Neuter verbs, it has already been said, have no change of voice, and the distinctions of person and number run through the whole verb, except the Infinitive Mood and Participles. Mode comes next to voice, and signifies the manner in which the action or being is represented. Certain — as in the Indicative, the mode always used in affirming ; commanding, or entreating, as in that termed the Imperative ; contingent, as in the Subjunc- tive. Besides these, there is a mode called the Poten- tial, which cannot be so well explained to you in any other way as by pointing out the auxiliary verbs, by the aid of which it is formed. i The time of the action or event is another cause of variation, and the different tenses of the verb denote the different periods of time — past, present, and future, with the subdivisions of the future and the past. It has been said, that the Indicative is the mode of affirmation. It indicates or declares a thing — as, They arrived yesterday ; or it asks a question — as, Did they arrive yesterday ? He received your letter. Did he receive your letter ? He did not receive your letter. These sentences are all in the Indicative — that same mode of the verb to receive which you have already gone over. The Subjunctive Mode represents the ac- tion or event as uncertain and contingent. We would not say : < If my brother goes to town tomorrow, he will bring it ;' but, * If my brother go.' Nor : ' If the bank gives way, the whole building will fall ;' but, * If the bank should give way.' The Imperative is a very brief mode. It is used in commanding and in entreating i and, as we must speak to the person we command or entreat, it has only th« second person. . 4 •¥*■ \ 'Lr i'M 94 MODB. I; I IMPERATIVE HODB. Singular. Plural. 2. Receive thou, or do thou 2. Receive ye or you, or do receive. ye or you receive. " You found, in the Indicative present of r€ceive,a va- riation — * I am receiving.' This is sometimes used to give emphasis, and sometimes to express continuation of the action : do receive, dost receive, &c., in the pre- sent, and did receive, &c., in the past, are likewise forms of the Indicative, which give emphasis to the assertion — and we also use do in asking and in an- swering questions." The teacher would do well, before going farther, to exercise the pupils on the Indicative Mode,* in affirm- ing, denying, and interrogating. " The past is no longer within the sphere of contin- gency : it is fixed and certain ; but there may be un- certainty with regard to it on the mind of the speaker. This uncertainty of the speaker influences, in some languages, the mode in which he speaks ; but in Eng- lish it seldom does.f Not only is the Indicative Mode used in surmising, when there is doubt on the mind of the speaker, but even when, knowing what has been done, he gives utterance to a supposition of the action or event having been different.''^ ♦ The best v/ay of explaining the distinctions of Mode, is to give a variety of examples in which their different significations are contrasted. See Appendix. f Thus, in the tragedy of King John, Falconbridge, seeing the dead body of Prince Arthur, yet uncertain whether Hubert had killed him, speaks in the Indicative : " There is not yet so ugly a fiend of hell as thou shalt be, if thou didst kill this child — if thou didst but consent to this most cruel act." J " If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." " If thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day." " Some writers express themselves in the Perfect Tense as fol- lows : * If thou have determined, we must submit.' * Unless b« VERB TO HAVE. 95 You observed that in some places where the sense was expressed by one word in Latin, there were two in Enghsh, and I then told you that instead of changes of termination we were obliged to use what are called auxiliary or helping verbs. These, with the exception of have and he, are defec- tive—that is, they want some modes or tenses. Have, when standing as a principal verb, signifies possession. < I have a horse ; he has a dog j Mary has a parasol.' The horse, the dog, the parasol, are re- spectively in the possession of the different individuals mentioned. As an auxiliary, have expresses the accomplishment of an action. TO HAVE. INDICATIVE MOOB. Present Tense. Plural. 1 . We have. 2. Ye or you have. 3. They have. PAST TENSES. Imperfect, or Simple Past. Singular. Phiral. !• I had. 1. We had. 2. Thou hadst 2. Ye or you had. 3. He had. 3. They had. Singular. 1. I have. 2. Thou hast. 3. He has or hath. have consented, the wntin^ will be void.' But we believe that few authors of critical sagacity write in this manner. SZc^l form seems to be, *If thou hast determined;' ' Unless EeTl consented ;' conformably to what we meet with m t£ Bible I have simamed thee though thou has " ' rai>, on Rule 19. I hast not known me.' " — Mvr. 96 Singular. 1. I have had. 2. Thou hast had. 3. He has had. Singular, 1. I had had. 2. Thou hadst had. 3. He had had. VERB TO HAVB. Preterite. Mural. 1. We have had. 2. Ye or you have had. 3. They have had. Pluperfect. Plural. 1. We had had. 2. Ye or you had had. 3. They had had. FUTURE TENSE3. First or Simple Future. Plural. 1. We shall or will have. 2. Ye or you shall or v'ill have. 3. They shall or will have. Singular. 1. I shall or will have. 2. Thou Shalt or wilt have. 3. He shall or will have. Second, or Compound Future. Singular. 1"^^^^^' 1. I shall or will have had. 1. We shall have^^d 2 Thou wilt have had. 2. Yeoryoushallhavehad. 3. He will have had. 3. They shaU have had. IMPEBiWTIVE MODE. Singular. P^^^^^^' , 2 Have, or have thou, or 2. Have ye or you, or do do thou have. 7^ ^^^ve. We come now to those Modes which represent the action or event under some doubt or uncertainty. Be- fore going through them, we will consider the verbs by the aid of which those Modes are formed, and also the other defective verbs, which have been termed auxiba- jieS. AUXILIART VERBS. 97 AUXILIAKY VERBS. From the verb to will, signifying to desire or to de- termine, is derived the auxiliary and defective verb toillt which, either promising or foretelling, indicates a future event. Singular. Plural. 1. I will. 1. We wiU. 2. Thou wilt. 2. Ye or you will. 3. He wUl. 3. They wiU. Would has been termed the preterite of will; it is, however, used both in the present and futm-e, as well as in the past ; and, though generally an auxiliaiy, it is sometimes an independent verb, signifying to desire,* Singular. Plural. 1. I would. 1. We would. 2. Thou wouldst. 2. Ye or you would. -3. He would. 3. They would. As an auxiliary, it denotes either past or future time, according to the connection in which it is placed. Shall is another defective auxiliary, belonging to the future. It is sometimes used to express a command ; sometimes to threaten or to foretell ; sometimes merely to indicate the plans of the speaker, f * And as ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them likewise. t If thy brother be waxen poor and fallen into decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall bo slain be- fore your enemies : they that hate you shall reign over you, and ye snali flee when none pursueth you. But soon the last dim morn shall rise, — The lamp of life burns feebly now ; When stranger hands shall close my eyes, And smooth my cold and dewy brow. " Mark Antony, here, take you Caesj^r's body ; you shall not in your funeral speech blame us." " And you shall speak in the same pulpit whereto I am goinc after my speech is ended." * ■I, .t, ■•A \\ t i H> V. 98 AUXILIARY VERBS. Singular. 1. I shall. 2. Thou Shalt. 3. He shall. Plural. 1. We shall. 2. Ye or you shall. 3. They shall. Should, when used without a conjunction, a conjunc- tive clause, or an adverb of time, denotes obligation or duty : as, * He should write to his father immediately.* With a conjunction or conjunctive clause, it assists in representing the action or event as doubtful or contin- gent. * Unless they should agree to it, nothing can be done.' ' If he should find them here, he would be much displeased.' It implies futurity, except when coupled with the auxiliary have. Singvlar. Plural. 1. I should. 1. We should. 2. Thou shouldst. 2. Ye or you should. 3. He should. 3. They should. May has two significations.* In the first, it ex- presses liberty or permission : * I may go,' — ^that is, * I have liberty to go ;' ' You may go,' — ' you have my per- mission to go,' In this sense, may is used to express " I'll not endure him." «' He shall be endured ! What good man, boy ? I say, he shalir I shall go from Liverpool to London. Will, except when applied to inanimate objects, denotes in- tention ; either the intention of the speaker, as in the first per- son — I will go, we will come ; or the opinion of the speaker re- lative to the intentions of another. They will not consent. He will proceed immediately. Yet, in spt-aking of a future event as probable, or of the expected move- ments of inanimate matter, will is generally used in preference to shall. " The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms." " The tide will begin lo ebb in an hour. ♦ This also tendeth to no more but what the king may do ; f()r what he may do is of two kinds — what he nay do as just, and what he mav do as nossible. AUXILIARY VEKBS. 99 resent or future time ; and might, with the auxiliary have, for the past. In the second, it implies probabi- lity or possibility.* In this sense, it cannot correctly ill? / , '''"^ '' P'"'*^"*' ^"^ '^"^''^ Pa«t 5 ^^^^t of use t. If ,v has any reference to time, conveys an idea of the future. ' We might ^o; coupled with the auxilia- ry have forms a past tense ; so likewise does may. M^ and might when signifying possibiUty, express either past or future time, according to the different connections in which they stand. First Tense. Plural. 1. We may, 2. Ye or you. 3. They may. Second Tense. Plural. 1. We might. 2. Ye or you might. 3. They might. Singular. 1. I may, 2. Thou mayst. 3. He may. Singular. 1. I might. 2. Thou mightst. 3. He might. May my cousin ride to town with me to-day ? No • vester- ^lT.^2^itl^l^,: ^°d"<>^v I have particular reasons for Under your guard, these holy maids ^ tohaU sate return to cloister shades : And, while they at Tantallon stay, Kequiem for Cochrane's soul wa;/ say. In these there is none of tho darkness or sadness of tho tomb ; but m many, so elevated and picturesque is the situat on that a traveller may pass hours with a book In his hand Se luU and valby are beneath and around him. ' tl,. A ^^'Ifi^ed <>n a place of residence in Spain, hoping that the dryness and tlie warmth of the cUmate in that^ colintrv we^A* mitigate tfte violence of his disease. country sti? rltSd,"''" ' '°^""*'"^^ ''^^^ *^ >^^« -^^* I -^i9ht have M^^Jo^- ''* ^''^ i«i«iediately for a Marmer climate, he ■ft* 100 AUXILIART VERBS. Can denotes present, but may also be used in speak- ing of future time : as, * I can give you the book now.' « lean go to the country with you next week.' But it lias no part in the formation of past tenses, and ought not to be joined in affirmation to the perfect of the In- finitive. We never read in any good author, nor do we ever liear in conversation, such expressions as these :— * The minister can have surmounted the difficulty.' ' He can have gained fiivourable terms for his allies.' ' We can liavc paid that visit yesterday.' * The troops can have taken possession of the fortress.' In all those instances, could is the proper word ; yet cannot, the compound of raw, with the negative adverb, is sometimes thus used : ' He cannot have consented to this.' And can, though rarely, is used interrogatively with have. For the rea- sons of this seeming inconsistency, sec Appendix. Could, with the present of the Infinitive, is used in speaking both of the present and future, as well as the past,— the connection generally determining to which period it belongs.* It is only with the perfect of the Infinitive that it forms a tense decidedly past. We have now gone through all the auxiliary verbs required to form the Subjunctive or Potential, and can has been retained among them out of deference to an- cient usage. In succeeding pages, teachers will find the conjugation of the verb To Be, and the Subjunc- ♦ « O ' I could divide myself and go to buffets for moving such ft dish of skimmed milk, with so honourable an action. "I cannot set out to-day ; but if the letters I am expecting should arrive this morning, I comW accompany you tomorrow. » Svbilla, who had supported, with such undaunted fortitude her hisband's misfortunes, while she imagined that they ca«M reach no farther than to dimmish his power and terntoru-s, felt all her resolition luil ua his life was thrcatenea. NEUTER, ACTIVE, AND PASSIVE VERBS. 101 live and Potential Modes and Passive Voice of the verb To Receive. So they are quite at liberty to carry on their pupils from the Imperative to these, or to lead them through the auxiliary and defective verbs to the conjunction, and then to those modes in the order in which they are here placed. I can, however, assure them, that the latter plan will give the scholars clearer ideas of the use of the auxiliaries, and enable such of them as may study other languages, to translate with much more case.* NEUTER, ACTIVE, AND PASSIVE VERBS. Neuter verbs are those which, from their nature, can have neither active nor passive voice. All verbs that signify Being, or a state of Being, come under this denomination ; but of these, there are comparatively few. The greater part of neuter verbs denote Action. Verbs have likewise been divided into Transitive and Intransitive. Transitive, when the Action passes from the agent to another person or thing ; Intransi- * This may seem rather a desultory manner of teaohinff • but let us look through the apparent regularity of other Grammar^ to the plans whicli teachers are advised to follow. ' "It may not, however, be generally proper for young persons begmning the study of Grammar, to commit to memory all the tenses of the verbs. If the simple tenses, namely the present and the imperfect, together with the future, should, in the first in- stance, be committed to memory, and the rest carefully perused and explamed, the business will not be tedious to the scholars snd their progress will be rendered more obvious."— Murrav ' " Explanations of the moods and tenses of verbs are inserted here for the sake of order ; but it would be highly improper to detain the learner so long as to commit them to memory • he ought, therefore, after getting the definition of a verb, to pro- • ceed to the mfleotion of it without delay, and when he comes to the exercises of the verbs, he can look back to the definition of a verb active, &c."— Zennie. These quotations are merely inserted to show that the order in which knowledge can be most easily communicated to the nunil is iaa,i whicn must at first be preferred. ^ "' x2 M 102 EXERCISES ON VERBS, tive, when it does not. But it is very difficult to class* verbs by this distinction ; so we will not at present ask you to attempt it, but merely to consider whether the action, in the passages you are parsing, centres in the agent or passes to an objcct-f EXERCISES. Ross, M' ntague, and Manloy, came. * * ♦ * Tembroke, "De Vere, and Argentine, Brought up the rearward battle-line ; With caution o'er the ground they tread, Slippery with blood, and piled with dead ; Till hand to hand in battle set, The bills with spears and axes met, And closing dark on every side. Raged the full contest far and wide. Then was the strength of Douglas tried, Then proved was Randolph's generous pride, A nd well did Stewart's actions grace The sire of Scotland's royal race ! Firmly they kept their ground ; As firmly England onward press'd, And down went many a noble crest, And rent was many a valiant breast, And slaughter revell'd round. Unflinching, foot 'gainst foot was set, Unceasing, blow by blow was met ; The groans of those who fell Were drown'd amid the shriller ckng. That from the blades and harness rang, And in the battle-yell. * See Appendix. ^ ^ ^ ^ _ .^^ ^^ ^ ^^ ^^^ ^^.^^^ + We Uttvw «*a yec aotning; iv uv mw smv -.vr^- — ;; ACTION, TRANSnriVB, OB INTRANSITIVE. 103 Pembroke, De Vcre, and Argentine, Brought up the rearward battle-line. " The verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Does the action rest with Pembroke, De Vere, and Argentine ?" " Are they said to bring, or to have brought, any thing?" " Yes, the battle-lino. The action, then, is said to pass from the agents to an object ; it is transitive ; and battle-line is the object on which the action falls." " What is up ? Can you tell me an adverb which has a signification exactly opposite to up ?" i ** Are these adverbs of time, place, or manner ?" " Do you know what rearward means, or can you tell me what rear means ? It is used in speaking of a troop or army. The front is generally called the van. Are those who are closest to the enemy in a battle in the rear?" " You are right ; those who are farthest off, or far- thest back rather, are in the rear ; and rearward battle- line means the last division of the army." " What class of words does rearward belong to ?" With caution o'er the ground they tread, Slippery with blood and piled with dead. " The verb ?" " The nominative ?" " Instead of whom does it stand ? If they had been said to tread the ground, the action would have been transitive ; here^ as it does not fall directly on ground, it is not so." " That battle was fought three hundred years ago ; Whv. then. dop.a Snntt.. in #1pcprihinr» ;♦ -.-.Br, *.l,.^ J. •h>» 104 fiXERCISES ON VERBS, ETC Could you tense, and say, ' they tread ?' Do you know ? This is frequently done in animated descriptions, in prose as well as in verse. It is done to bring the past event nearer, as it were, and make it in a manner present to the imagination." « What sort of participle is piled? Is it what is called the present or active, or is it the past ?" « The present is piling, the past piled. What is the compound ?" And closing dark, &c. « The verb ?" « The nominative ?" « Has the verb to rage any passive ? say, * The contest was raged ?' " " Then it is a neuter verb, is it not ?" « What participle is closing? Give the past or passive ?" Go on with the usual questions. And well did Stewart's actions grace The sire of Scotland's royal race. <« The verb ?" &c. « Does the action remain with th3 nominative actixms, or does it pass to an object ? Did actions grace any person or thing ? Then the action is transitive ? Name the object ?" &c. Here darkness began to encircle me. On one side, the black cUff stretched itself into a gigantic arch, far above my head, and on the other the dense and hissing torrent formed an impenetrable sheet of foam, with which I was drenched in a moment. The rocks were 60 slippery, that I could hardly keep my feet, or hold securely by them, while the horrid din made me think !_:-^„ oT^xro wArA tnmblinsr down in colossal tne precipices «^.•^.-'- « fragments upon my head. CONJUNCTIONS. 105 CONJUNCTIONS. " In considering the auxiliary verbs, we spoke of con- junctive clauses and conjunctions. You do not yet know what conjunctions are, cr what purpose they serve." " Many of them stand instead of short sentences, which indeed they originally were. *I stayed last night, because it rained.' Because, means by the cause. * If he has bought the animal, I will keep it. If is derived from give ; and in some parts of Britain, gif is used by uneducated people instead of if, give, or allow, — ^let it be allowed, — ^let it be provided. Give, or allow, that he has bought, &c. Si?ice, means as it is so. But, sometimes means contrary to expec- fcition — contrary to, or different from what preceded it ; regardless of, or in opposition to, objections or obstacles ; and sometimes, excepting." I then turned again to the vision which I had been so long contemplating ; but, instead of the rolling tide, the arched bridge, and the happy islands, I saw nothing but the long, hollow valley of Bagdat. "We can find nothing to explain and by — no words that exactly express its meaning ; also and likewise come the nearest to it. Conjunctions do not claim connec- tion with any particular order of words. A verb must have its nominative noun or pronoun ; a pronoun, a noun instead of which it stands ; an adjective must belong to some noun ; an adverb is attached either to a verb, to an adjective, or to another adverb ; but con- junctions are not thus limited. Some of them are used to connect sentences, and some for either sentences or words — words of any class. Many of those which connect sentences, have, as was already observed, ori- giuully been short Bcutences, and are so understood that , f f»» N*' .•.. 106 CONJUNCTIONS. they supply what those sentences contained. ' Either John or Charles has taken the horse again.* John has taken the horse, or (otherwise — ^if John has not taken the horse, Charles has taken him." EXAMPLES. Here Obidah paiised for a time, and began to con- sider. Go on with the usual questions. " "What sort of words does and connect there?" 1. Paused and began. Having thus calmed his solicitude, he renewed his pace, though he suspected. 2. He renewed, though he suspected. The uneasiness of his mind inclined him to lay hold on every new object, and give way. 3. To lay hold and to give way. The beasts of the desert were in motion, and on every hand were heard. 4. Were in motion and were heard. Tlie mingled howls of rage, and of fear, and re- venge, and expiration. 5. Of (expressed) and of (understood.) His deviations had perplexed his memory and he knew not. 6. Deviations had perplexed and he knew. His deviations had perplexed and he knew not. Here and connects two parts of a sentence ; but the verbs are not, nor is it necessary that they should be, in the same tense, though they are so generally ; here tlie meaning is clear, and the expression correct, and the verbs harmonize, though they are in different tenses. We could not say, * his deviations have per- plexed CONJUNCTIONS. 107 perplexed is a tense which, there, would touch on the verge of the present ; and Awcir, whi(*, being evidently a consequence of have perplexed, ought to foUow, would thus be made to precede it ; * But, could imagi- nation give us a glimpse of Obidah ; just as he is de- scribed by Dr. Johnson, at the moment when, after trying in vain to beguile his uneasiness by listening to every echo, and cHmbing every hiU, for a fresh pros- pect, and turning to gaze on every cascade, he read in the sinking sun that the time for loitering was now past ; jQt, unable to recollect in what direction he had come, or ought to proceed, stood pensive and confused ' We might say, ' His deviations ^are perplexed his me*- mory, and he knows not towards what point to travel.' TLe present there would immediately follow that tense of the past which touches on it. For similar reasons we may say, *He knew his duty, and has done it; he knows his duty, and will do it.' Conjunctions have been divided into Copulative and Disjunctive; and that division is retained here, though we never refer to it. Copulative.^AnA, if, that, both, because, therefore wherefore, then, (signifying in consequence of what has been said or admitted),— for,* (signifying because on account),— since, (signifying as it is so, it being so),' as, (the meaning similar to that of since),— and when' (though containing an adverbial sense, it likewise serves to connect and continue a sentence) ; in this latter sig- nification, we have no other word by which to express its meaning. < He is as generous as brave.' "We could explain the Jirst 'as' by equally, but not the „,,!„^!'!^r5*^^y^'^i*'^ the reason is introduced of something '.¥1 is ! ) f»* t 1 M 108 VERB TO RECEIVE. ncond. ' He is equally generous m lie is bra«/ The soeol^ m conueets the first «ith the second part of the '"i:^«««._But. or, nor, than, ^f:^^^^;'' though, unless, either, neither, yet, notwithstanding. VERB TO EECEIVB. We come now to the Subjunetive_a mode which repTelnts the action or event as uncertain or cont m- Inrand which consequently docs not refer to he plst The-e is always a conjunction or conjunctive clause with it. SUBJUNCTIVE MODE. First Tense. ct- .7^* Plural, 1 ffT^e'ive (or should. 1. If we receive (or should . s receive.) 2. If Aou receive (or 2. If ye or you receive (or shouldst receive.) should receive.) 3 If he receive (or should 3. If they receive (or "■ . V should receive.) receive.) Second Tense. Sinmlar. ^'"■'''- . , 1 It I received. 1- « ^« '^»«'™''- . , , 'A 2 If ve or you received. 2 If thou received. ^' ai ye v^* j :!. ; • r.A 3. If they received. 3. If he received. o, xi i :/ , . , , . The Potential Mode, as at present arranged, includes forms of the verb which represent the action as pos- :Z probable, under a condition &c., and like- :L'soL which -g^t^vT'^7^:rTris^°^^ ing two verbs. Thus, 'I dare do it, --that is, i have the courage to do it,' would b_econsideredj«^^ receive. See Appendis. VERB TO RECEIVE. 109 verts— the latter in the Infinitive, as dare is one of those verbs which do not require the sign to between them and the verb in the Infinitive immediately following. But, * I can do it,' ' I have the skill,' or * I have the power to do it,' (which is an expression similar to * 1 dare,*) has been taken into the Potential, and passes now for part of that mode. POTENTIAL IfOnS. Present Tens^e^ Singular. JPluraL 1. I may or can receive. 1. We may or can receive. 2. Thou mayst or canst re- 2. Ye or you may or can ceive. receive. 3. He may or can receive. 3. They may or can receive. Second Tense. Singular. Plural, 1. I might, could, would, or 1. We might, could, would, should receive. or should receive. 2. Thou mightst, couldst, 2. Ye or you might, could^ wouldst, or shouldst would, or should re- receive, ceive. 3. He might, could, would, 3. They might, could, or should receive. would, or should re- ceive. Perfect Tense. Singular. Plural, 1. I may have received. 1. We may have received. 2. Thou mayst have re- 2. Ye or you may have ceived. received. 3. He may have received. 3. They may have re* ceived. '^\ wm !'♦»• no VERB TO BE. I Pluperfect Tense. ^ Singular. ^^«^«'- 1 I might, could, would, or 1. We might, could,would should have received. or should have re- ceived. 2 Thou mightst, couldst, 2. Ye or you might, could, wmldst, or shouldst would, or should have have received. received. 3 He might, could, would, 3. They might, could, or shouldhavereceived. would, or should have received. ISFLNITIVE MODE. Present. Perfect. To receive. To have received. Participles. Perfect. Compound Perfect. Received. Having received. Present. Receiving. IRREGULAR VERB TO BE. INDICATIVE MOOD. Present Tense. Singular. -P'"'""^- 1. lam. 1. We arc. 2. Thou art. 2. Ye or you arc. 3. He, she, or it is. 3. They are. Past Icnse.* Singular. P^^^^^^' 1. I was. 1- ^e were. 2. Thou wast or wert. 2. Ye or you were. 3. He was. 3. They were. * See Appendix. VIERB TO BE. Ill Perfect Tense. Singular. Plural. 1. I have been. 1. We have been. 2. Thou hast been. 2. Ye or you have been. 3. He hath or has been. 3. They have been. Pluperfect Tense. Singular. Plural. 1. I had been. 1. We had been. 2. Thou hadst been. 2. Ye or you had been. 3. He had been. 3. They had been. First Future Tense. Singular. , Plural. 1. I shall or will be. 1. We shall or will be. 2. Tliou shalt or wilt be. 2. Ye or you shall or will be. 3. He shall or will be, 3. They shall or will be. Second Future Tense. Singular. Plural 1. I shall have been. 1. We shall have been. 2. Thou wilt have been. 2. Ye or you will have been. 3. He shall have been. 3. They will have been. IMPEEATIVE MOOD. Singular. Plural. 2. Be thou, or do thou be. 2. Be ye or you, or do ye be. POTENTIAL MOOD. Present Tense. Singular. Plural. 1 . I may or can be. 1 . We may or can be. 2. Thou mayst or canst be. 2. Ye or you may or can be. 3. He may or can be. 3. They may or can be. fhi" 112 VERB TO BB'. Second Tense. Singular. Plural. 1. I might, could, would, or 1. We might, could, would should be. or should be. 2. Thou mightst, couldst, 2. Ye or you might, could, wouldst, or shouldst be. would, or should be. 3. He might, could, would, 3. They might, could, or should be. would, or should be. Perfect Tense. Singular. Plural. 1. I may have been. - • 1. We may have been. 2. Thou mayest have been. 2. Ye or you may have been. 3. H«) may have been. 3. They may have been. Pluperfect Tense. Singular. ^ P^^^^^- 1. I might, could, would, or 1. Wemight, could, would should have been. or should have been. 2. Thou mightst, couldst, 2. Ye or you might, could, wouldst, or shouldst would, or should havelaeen. have been. 3. He might, could. Would, 3. They might, could, or should have been. would, or shouldhave been. SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. Present Tense. Plural. 1. If we be. 2. If ye or you be. Singular. 1. If I be. 2. If thou be. U, JLi ne wc, 3. If they be. VERB TO RECEIVE. 113 Singular, 1. If I were. 2. If thou wert. 3. If he were. Second Tense. Plural. 1. If we were. 2. If ye or you were. 3. If they were.* INFINITIVE MOOD. Present Tense, To be. Perfect, To have been. PARTICIPLES. Present, Being. Perfect, Been. Compound Perfect, Having been. REGULAR VERB TO RECEIVE. I PASSIVE VOICE. \ INDICATIVE MOOD. Present Tense. Singular. Plural. 1. I am received. 1. We are received. 2. Thou art received. 2. Ye or you are received. 3. He is received. 3. They are received. Past Tense. Singular. Plural. 1. I was received. 1. We were received. 2. Thou wast received. 2. Ye or you were re- ceived. 3. He was received. 3. They were received. Perfect Tense. Singular. Plural. 1. I have been received. 1. We have been received. 2. Thou hast been received. 2. Ye or you have been received. 3. He has been received. 3. They have been re- ceived. * See Appendix. ■*. k2 114 TERB TO RECKlTir. f1 :' 1 Pluperfect Tense. Singular. Plural. 1 . I had been received. 1 . We had been received. 2. Thou hadst been received. 2. Ye or you had been received. 3. He had been received. 3. They had been received First Future Tense. Singular. P^^^""^' 1. I shall or will be re- 1. We shall or will be re- ceived, ceived. 2. Thou Shalt or wilt be re- 2. Ye or you shall or will ceived. ^e received. 3. He shall or will be re- 3. They shall or will be ceived. received. Second Future Tense. Singular. -P'"'*"'- 1. I shall have been re- 1. We will have been re- ceived, ceived. 2 Thou wilt have been re- 2. Ye or you will have ceived. ^cen received. 3. They will have been re- 3. They will have been ceived. received. IMPERATIVE MOOD. Singular. ^'«^«^- 2. Be thou received. 2. Be ye or you received. SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. First or Present Tenee. Singular. ^'«'*«^- 1 If I be received. 1. If we be received. 2*. If thou be received. 2. If ye or you be re- ceived. 3. If he be received. 3. If they be received. VERB TO RECEIVE. 115 Second Tense, Singular. Plural. 1. If I were received.* 1. If we were received. 2. If thou wert received. 2. If ye or you were re- 3. If he were received. ceived. 3. If they were received. Singular. POTENTIAL MOOD. Present Tense. Plural. 1. I may or can be re- 1. "We may or can be re- \ ceived. ceived. 2. Thou mayst or canst be 2. Ye or you may or can be received. be received. 3. He may or can be re- 3. They may or can be ceived. received. Second Tense. Singular. Plural. 1. I might, could, would, or 1. "We might, could, should be received. would, or should be 2. Thou mightst, couldst, received. • wouldst, or shouldst be 2. Ye or you might, received. could, would, or should be received. 3. He might, could, would, 3. They might, could, or should be received. would, or should be received. ♦ Thip, likewise, is often and elegantly thrown into another ceived.' . . T *- U - - - V JL i,\j uv re- 5., 'f** «•' :. if m V ! J' 116 V2RB TO BECElVe. Perfect Tense. Singular. ^«''«'' 1. I may have been received. 1. We may bavc been received. 2 Thou may»t hare been 2. Yo or you may have received. *"="" "°T w„ 3. He may have been re- 3. They may have been J received, ce ved. Second Past, or Pluperfect Tense. Singular. P^^ral. 1. Iiuight, could, would, or 1. We might, could should have been re- would, or should . 1 have been received, ceived. . , . 2 Thou mightst, couldst, 2. Ye or you might, wouldst, or shouldst have could, would, or been received. should have been received. 3 He might, could, would, 3. They might, could or should have been re- would, or should g^^ed. have been received. INFINITIVB MOOD. Present. Perfect. To be received. To have been been received. Participles. Present. Past. Perfect. Being received. Been received. Having been received. Keffular verbs are those which form th nV r a.f * enso and past or passive participle by the adaition of d or ed. ,.„ ... i._ _.-i_t» . 4*a ^;flRai«i»nf van anon* Kecoive is a regular verb. it= vx.x.^.v,.- ,----—— ,re. med in the usual and regular manner, d being IRnfiOULAR VRRBt. 117 c been y have a. ve been could, should eceived. mighty aid, or re been , could, should received. ived. received, iv^f ense ion of d d being added to the final e to form its past tense, and past or passive participle. The Infinitive of a regular verb not ending in e has ed added to it to form those varia- tions : as, to obtain, he obtained, it wu8 obtained. There are in English many verbs which do not form their past tense and past participle thus ; these are termed irregular. A list of them is subjoined. IRREQULAR VERD8 ARE OF VARIOUS SORTS. 1 . Such as have the present and past tenses, and perfert participle, the same: as, I'reisent, Past. Perfect Part. Cost, cost. cost. Put, put, put. J 2. Such as have the past tense, and perfect partici- ciple, the same: as, Present. Past. Perfect Part. Abide, abode, abode. Sell, sold, sold. 3. Such as have the past tense, and perfect partici- ple, different: as, Present. Past. Perfect Part. Arise, arose, arisen. Blow, blew, blown. Many verbs become irregular by contraction ; as, feed, fed ; leave, left : others, by a material chango in the form of the word, besides the change of termina- tion ; as, am, was, been ; buy, bought, &c. Present. Abide, Am, Arise, LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS. Past. Perf. or Pass. Part. abode, was, arose. abode. been. arisen, tr ^ 132 THE OBJECTIVE CASE. are called prepositions ; and, though they do net seem very important, we could not do without them. * Here is a book that is merely stitched ; the stitches seem to be of very little importance compared to the leaves ; but suppose I should cut them, what would happen then ?' ' Yes, the book would fall to pieces ; and, un- less the stitches were replaced, the leaves would get all into confusion. Let as see, then, if taking these little words, that are called prepositions, out of a seutence, would not lead to confusion too. We will take another passage from the vision of Mirza, for a trial : As I looked more attentively, I saw several the passengers dropping the bridge the great tide that flo-w 3d it ; and further examination, perceived there were innumerable trap-doors that lay concealed the bridge, which the passengers no sooner trod but they fell them the tide. " Do you understand this ? Well, we will restore the prepositions" : — As I looked more attentinely, I saw several* of the passengers dropping through the bridge into the great tide that flowed underneath it, and upon farther exa- mination, perceived there were innumerable trap-doors that lay concealed in the bridge, which the passengers no sooner trod upon but they fell through them i?ito the tide. » Here the import of the adjective several is different from what it was in a former passage ; in the sense in which it is used here, it expresses something between few and mani/. We say, tnero were but few children there ; there were several children there ; there were mani/ children— according as the number (not being counted ) seems small or great. "To what noun does several belong ?" " Yes, to passengers, but not to the word following the. Mirza does not say, 'I saw several passengers,' but. having previously said, I see multitudes r -eop'" "-aeino- ovfir.' he now says. 'I saw several ot tnas is, lexoral passengers of— (out of or from among) the paasengew J — dropping.' " PREPOSITIONS. 133 re say, tnere "You understand it now. Well, let us see to what particular noun or pronoun each of those Httle words refers." As I looked more attentively, I saw several of the passengers dropping through the bridge. " Through vfhQ.i'r *•' IVhat case then is bridge in ?" " Yes, the objective." Into the tide that flowed underneath it. "Into what?" « What case is tide in ?" [Go on with the rest— underneath, upon, &c.J " Through them.— What case is them in ?" " What does it stand instead of?" " What pronoun is it ?" " Can you tell me the nominative case of that pro- noun ?" ^ LIST OF PEEPOSITIONS. of, to, for, with, from, through, upon, against, among into, athwart, unto, amid, towards, amidst, beneath, besides, underneath, betwixt, beyond, over, behind, beside, around, above, below, between, within, about, before, across. along, down, oflP, up, touching, till, throughout, until, respecting, near, regarding, nigh, since, during, concerning, out of. exceot, excepting, At !- -: ,; #*'*■ > •■ '■■ i^' 134 THE POSSESSIVE CASE. EXAMPLES. Our ships aro ladon with the harvests of eveiy cli- mate. Our tables are stored with spices and oils, and wines. Our morning's draught comes to us from the remotest corners of the earth. We repair our bodies with the drugs of America. THE POSSESSIVE CASE. (C Whose pencil is this, Henry*?" " George Clif- ton's, you say. His name is George Clifton ; why do you put an s to it ? Would you make me believe there are two George Cliftons ?" " Whose dictionary is this, George ?" " It is Henry Martin's ; and you have put an s to Henry's name. Why do you do so.^" " Be- cause, It is Henry Martin, would not be sense." " Not the sense you mean to express ; but you have not told me why ; tell me, however, whose fine horses those are that drew the carriage in which you rode yesterday." " Your uncle's, you say ?" " Which uncle ? Your uncle Wil- liam's ?" " Can you not tell me no^V, why you add s both to uncle and to uncle William ?" " Do you not think that the horses have something to do with it ?" " The liorses — the dictionary — the pencil — these respectively belong to the different individuals mentioned. What- ever belongs to any one is a possession, and puts its owner in the situation of a possessor. — What is amus- ing you ?" " A slate pencil is such a little thing to be a possession." " True ; nevertheless it is one ; and puts George's name in what is termed the possessive case as certainly and as well as your uncle William's fine horses do his ; and, what is more, a mere idea of the mind, a thought, an opinion — provided it be said to ♦ Some such questions as these must be asked ; not at the possessor, for then they would be answered by " mine.'.' sver^ cli- oils, and from the ur bodies )rge Clif- ; why do ieve there ry is this, have put " <« Be- ," "Not 3t told me e are that " "Your ncle Wil- idd s both not think '" " The spectively . What- I puts its ; is amus- ling to be one : and possessive William's re idea of be said to not at the tHE POSS SSIVE CASE. I35 belong to the person spoken o^-does the same. We say, your father's house; and we must likewise say, your father's .dea of the matter,-your mother's opinio^ on «u.t pomt. You may observe that the possessive '. « no exactly the same as the simple . which forms the plural; it has a little space with a comma, called an apostrophe, over that, between it and tlie last letter. case . Yes, any thing tliat belongs to the person- any possession, no matter what, large or small, real or Ideal, belonging or attributed to the individual tlie noun represents," I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan s cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat. " The first verb ?" " The nominative ?" " What person is the verb in ?" " The second verb ?" " No nominative ?" " The third verb ?» " The nominative ?" " What person is the verb in ?" " What noun does /le stand instead of?" " What case is Logans in ?" " What puts it in the possessive ?" At last they came to a shop, which appeared far more beautiful than the rest. It was a chemist's shop. " Take the last sentence—' It was a chemist's shop ' " " The verb ?" ^ ' " The nominative ?" " What person is the verb ?" i.^i,i„. xxaixibei, because it ana skon mean one thing." ' iN- '?'< 136 THE POSSESSIVE CASK. I 11 " What case is chemist's in ?" " Oh mother?" cried she, puUing her mother s iiand. [Ask the usual questions.] " Yes, it is hand that puts mother's in the possessive. Hitherto we have only had persons in that case ; but as we oftwi attribute possession to things, we find nouns representing them in it. ' Low in the dim and sultry west. Sinks the fierce sun of Syria's sky ; The evening's grateful hour of rest, Its hour of feast and joy is nigh. [Ask the usual questions.] « SyricCs sky— that is, the sky above Syria, which is thus considered as belonging to it." «' There is another form of the possessive which we often find in what is called the lofty, and at times even in the familiar style of writing." The sons of Jacob. Gehazi, the servant of Ehsha. The daughter of the emperor. The mansion of the duke. The eyes of the panther. « Turn these into the more common form. Jacob s sons, &c." « There is another way of expressmg property or l>o3se3sion. When, instead of saying, 'This is Wil- liam's book,' I say, ' This book belongs to Wdliam,— or ' I saw your cousin on a handsome poney yesterday; does (t belong to him ?' In these instances, the noun and pronoun are not in the possessive case ; they are referred to by the preposition to— io AVilliam— to hmi. What case are they in ? What case is a noun in when referred to by a preposition ?" VARIATIONS OF NOUNS. 137 'S uand. ssessive. ise ; but we find which is ^t^hich we mes even >f Elisha. on of the Jacob's 'operty or s is Wil- 'illiam,' — p-esterday; the noun ; they are I — to him. n in when THE VARIATIONS OF NOUNS. We will now place the variations of nouns as we did those of verbs— in their usual order. NUMBER. First comes Number— the singular being one, the plural more than one. We form the plural from the sin- gular of nouns ; sometimes by adding *,— as flower, flowers ; sometimes es,—as watch, watches ; sometimes by changing /or fe into ves,—a3 knife, knives ; some- times by changing y into ies. In the greater part of nouns, the plural is formed by adding only s; but nouns which end in ch, s, sh, x, or o, require e*,— as, church churches ; wish, wishes ; miss, misses ; motto, mottoes; box, boxes. Nouns ending in / or fe change these letters into i.^.,- as, life, lives j and nouns ending in y following a consonant, change it into ee*,— as, fly, flies. There are some irregular plurals,— as man, men ; woman, women ; ox, oxen j and nouns borrowed from other languages generally form their plurals according to the rules of the languages they are taken from. Some English nouns are the same in both numbers,— as sheep, deer, and some are naturally plural -, as. scissors, riches, lungs. GENDER. " You can tell me how many genders there are ?" " Yes, three ; the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter. The masculine denotes animals of the male kind. Do you recollect the examples ? A man— a boy-a lion. The feminine denotes animals of the female kind,— as, a woman, a girl, a lioness. T\w neuter denotes things without life,-as a ball, a book, a tree." ' There are three diflTerent ways in which our lan- guage marks the distinr^fmno r,f Cl^^A^., m2 m0 i..: is'i,- '<., #*■*■ 138 VARIATIONS OF NOUNS. 1. By different words : as — ^fasculive. Feminine, Masculine. Femin ine. King, Queen. Stag, Hind. Earl, Countess. Colt, Filly. Father, Mother. Buck, Doe. Son, Daughter. Bull, Cow. Brother, Sister. Horse, Mare. Husband, Wife. Duck, Drake. Uncle, Aunt. Gander, Goose. Nephew, Niece. Hart, Roe. Lord, Lady. Bam, Ewe. Friar, Nun. Steer, Heifer. Bachelor, Maid. Hart, Koe. Wizzard, Witch. Singer, Songstress 2. By a change of termination : as- Masculine, Feminine. Abbot, Actor, Administrator, Ambassador, Arbiter, Author, Baron, Duke, Bridegroom, Benefactor, Elector, Emperor, Enchanter, Hero, Hunter, Peer, Abbess. Actress. Administratrix. Ambassadress. Arbitress. Authoress, or Author. Baroness. Duchess. Bride. Benefactress. Electress. Empress. Enchantress. Heroine. Huntress. Peeress. VARIATIONS OF KOUNS. 139 3. By prefixing another word : as A man-servant, A maid-servartt. A male-child, A female-child. A cock-sparrow, A hen-sparrow. Some nouns belong to what has been called Common Gender i as, parents, relations, inhabitants, friends, &e. THE VOCATIVE CASE. We have already considered the distinctions of Case or Position, in the Nominative— the Possessive and Objective. The Nominative is the subject of the verb • the Objective, the object of a verb, or referred to by a preposition ; and a noun is said to be in the Possessive case when a possession— any thing, no matter what— is attributed to the person or thing it represents. " George Bolton ! What did I just now say ^ I pronounced your name, did I not? But I did not speak in such a tone as to make you suppose I was calling you, did I? You merely looked up.— You thought I wag going to speak to you— Well, I was addressing you. Can you tell me what case I put your name in when I spoke it ? Was it the subject of a verb ? Was It the object of one then ? I am sure it vvasnotputinthe;;o5^mwe? / must tell yow. Your name spoken in that manner is in the Vocative Case. The name of this Case comes from the Latin— from voco, to call. A person that calls, or speaks the name of another, may either mean to ask where the other is, or to make him come nearer, or merely to call his at- tention to what is to be said. The person thus spoken to is always addressed, sometimes summoned,— and we say his name is in the Vocative Case." f*» ^f 140 THE VOCATIVE CASE. EXiVMPLES. O ! mamma, see what a curious bird I have got ! « What is that for, Ann ?" said Willy. O! mother, mother ! how long my soul will live. Negro woman, who sittest pining in captivity ! Monarch, who rulest over a hundred states. Nations of the earth, fear the Lord ; families of men, call upon his name. O thou of little faith ! wherefore didst thou doubt? Jesus said, "Woman! why weepest thou ?" Men, brethren, and fathers ! hear ye my defence. At mid-day, O King, I saw in the way a light from heaven. Fing Agrippa, belicvest thou the prophets.'' I am no. jad, most noble Festus ; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. " Alexander, I am your captive ! I must hear what you please to say, and endure what you please to inflict, but my soul is unconquered • and if I reply at all to your reproaches, I wiU reply like a free man." " Son of night, retire ; call thy winds and fly ! Why dost thou come to my presence with thy shadowy arms? Do I fear thy gloomy form, dismal spirit of Loda .-' Weak is thy shield of clouds ; feeble is that meteor, thy sword." " My dwelling is calm above the olouds ; the fields of my rest are pleasant." « Dwell then in thy calm field, and let ComhaVs son be forgot. Do my steps ascend from my hills into thy peaceful plains ? Do I meet thee with a spear in thy cloud, spirit of dismal Loda? Hunter! leave the mountain chase. THE ARTICLES. 141 OtI ive. ■ J lilies of ioubt? ice. jht from ropliets? lak forth ear what o inflict, at all to r! Why vy arms? )f Loda? t meteor, the fields ihal's son 3 into thy ar in thy leave the arising THE ARTICLES. . The orderly arrangement of the variations of nouns, ''-om number and case, is termed declension. Before proceeding to this, we will consider the Articles — words which are often prefixed to nouns, and of which we have as yet taken no notice. The u-ticles are a or an and the. When I say, * The sliip sailed this morning for Li- verpool,' you suppose that I am speaking of some par- ticular ship, that had been previously mentioned, do you not ? But if I say, * A ship sailed this morning for Liverpool,' that may mean any ship. ' The boy has brouglit a basket of strawbernes' — the boy, in like manner, indicates some particular boy. But, 'yi boy has brought a basket of strawberries,' may mean any boy; it does not point out a particular individual. 'An hour has elapsed.' This simply says, that a certain period of time — an hour — has elapsed ; but * the hour has elapsed,' indicates that an hour appointed, or pre- viously spoken of, in some manner, is now past. An has a meaning similar to ow(?,* from which it is derived, so that it can only be used in the singular. A or an is called the indefinite article, because it does not de- fine or point out any particular object. An is used (with a few exceptions) before words beginning with \\ vowel, or silent /^, and a before those which begin witiv a consonant. The is called the definite article, because it points out what particular person or thing is meant. There is some resemblance between its signification and that of this or these. It is used both in the singular and plural. * Formerly ane. The, with a noiin in the singular, sometimes means a whole class or species : as, ' The sailor and the soldier lire exposed to dangers of different kinds ;' ' The horse is a noblu *** 142 DECLENSION OF NOUNS. DECLENSION OF NOUNS. THE QtJ££N. Plural. Singular. Nominative — The Queen. The Queens. Possessive The Queen's, or The Queens', or of the of the Queen. Queens. Objective The Queen, to The Queens, to tlie the Queen. Queens. Vocative Queen ! O Queen. Queens ! Queens. EXAMPLES. Singular. Nom. — The Queen entered Edinburgh. -The Queen's Consort; the sons of the Queen. -They paid homage to the Queen. -Queen of the Isles ! o'er earth and sea, Rings once again the peal of joy. Poss.- Obj.. Voc- Plural. The Queens met. The ancestor of the Queens. They conducted the Queens. Ye Queens, whose con- sorts rule these spa- cious realms. Hear what the fates or- dain. A VIOLET. Singular. - Plural. Nom. — A violet. Violets. Poss. — A violet's, or of a violet. Violets', or of violets. Obj. — A violet, by a violet. The violets, from the Voc. — Violet. violet ! violets. Violets. violets ! of the !ted the lose con- lese spa- 148 DECLENSION OP NOUNS. EXAMPLES. Singular. pj^^^^^ Violets remain long in A violet smells sweet. A violet'spetals-the roots of Th'T"; the violets. ^^' ^"^« «f the vio, T» • lets. iinng water for the violet «5K« • vioiet. She IS going to gather 0, earliest violets of the year I v;^w ^* , ineyearl Violets and roses,come! MAN. Singular, Nom. — Man. Poss.— Man's, of man. Obj. — Man, with man. Voc O man ! Man I Plural. Men. Men's, of men. Men, hy men. Men !. O men ! EXAMPLES. M , .J'"^"'""- Plural Manhadhispathassignedhim. Men have reason ItlZ.C;'"'' ""'■ ^"-^^ —n to he,p. T^us^shaU it be with thee, Men! stand firm. EXAMPLES. HENRY. c- , Tsj^ Tx lingular, Nom. — Henrv. rr . Ubj -^-Henry, for Henry. A present for Henry Voc-i — Henrv. O TT^ i tt . -neniy. -■ " •^■^"^•^ ^ -^^^^ i guard the wicket, i. r #»*' 144 DECLENSION OF PRONOUNS. k '' " We have put no plural* to Ilcnry ; do you know why ? Because Henry is the name of one single indi- vidual. There is a distinction in nouns, between par- ticular names given to individuals, and those which de- note a class — order — or species. Your two brothers are boys. Boy is a common name or noun — a noun which is common to all the individuals of tho same class ; but each of your brothers has a name — a distin- guishing name ; one is called Charles, and the other Richard. Charles and Richard are proper names. Your three sisters are girls ; girl is a common name ; but one is called Catherine, another Louisa, and the third Flora. These also are proper names. We some- times distinguish inanimate things in this way. Ships are always named ; and in speaking of them, the pro- noun of the feminine gender is generally used. The sun is spoken of as masculine, and the moon as feminine." DECLENSION OF PRONOUNS. PRONOUN OP THE FIRST PERSON. Sing. Plu. Nom. — I. We. PRONOUN or THE SECOND PERSON. Poss. — Mine. Ours. Obj. — Me. Us. Voc.— Sing. Thou. Thine. Thee. O thou ! Flu. Ye or you. Yours. You. Oye! PRONOUN OF TUB THIRD PERSON. Singular. Mas. Fern. Neut. Nom. — He. She. It. Poss. — His. Hers. Its. Obj.T—Him. Her. It. Plural. Mas. Fern. Neut. They. Theirs. Them. * There is an exception to this, when proper names are used to denote several individuals of the same name, or when persons of the same race have been successively rulers of the same realm : no t Thn Pfrk1flini(>s : the Csesars.' as, ♦ The Ptolemies : the Caesars.' PRONOUNS. 145 HELATIVE PRONOUNS. WHO. Norn*' w/''"- *'"'■"'• ^""•*"^-«-^'«. Poss.— Wiose. That and „■/,„< !,„« „o variation, trhal is a kind of co„u,o„nd ..dative, and is used instead of M«. „./,;^ .^ He found wl.at l.e 1, ad let, (Ma. „;i,y, ,,« ,.„d ■ p is Zl "";,". ■' ''r'' -tenogativcl^. .^"j »liiii .s Mai''S a „ou„ 0. p.onoun, e.xpressed or «nderstood,_but one stand ■ng as the nominative to , verb or as ^,11 ." or representing the pos.,essor of soC e^pr ed C' sess,on,_is an indefinite pronoun • < o!! ^ ..e,p getting interested in ^he eoTt... "^-^JTZ country. One's own relations ' « Tf „ In these e.„.p,es, one ^^^.TZ^JL^IIZ: to wlneh It ,s equivalent, i, has the advantaL o^t," ' ...ore eoneise and is more frequent,, useT ° ' '''"' Pounaedwith,orpreeededj^^^^^^^ nnite article, or when if «fnn^o , xi "^" * ii'-i .1 - ^ " • — — When thus used, they are termed interrc 'It 1\ ih>* res. N 146 ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS. prize what you have so heedlessly thrown away.' * We have no right to take that which is another's' * Others have done so ; why should not he ?' Noney derived from no one, though supposed to have been originally used only in the singular, is now used in boch numbers, both in the nominative and in the objective case, without variation. ' Ye shall flee when none pursueth.' ' He expects reinforcements ; but if he should receive none, he will advance without them. Sing. Flu, Sing. Nom. — An, or the, other. Others. Nom. — One. Poss. — An, or the, other's. Others'. Poss. — One's. Obj. — An, or the, other. Others. Obj. — One. One is sometimes used in the plural, but only with an adjective ; as, ' The great ones of the earth ;' ' the young ones ;' ' the old ones-, it has no possessive plural. Besides the compounds of the relative, whatever, Sec, there are pronouns formed by the union of possessive or personal pronouns with self. They are sometimes used to give emphasis : ' He did this himself. Some- times, to express the action affecting the agent : ' You will benefit yourself by it ;' ' They will injure them- selves; ' Himself, &c.,' though formed from the objec- tive case, are now used both in the nominative and objective. ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS. There are four sorts of adjective pronouns. 1 . The Possessive are those which express possession or relation — ' My, our, thy, your, his, her, their ; « My book ;' ' Your father's ; * His ancestors.'* * Mine and thine are sometimes used instead of my and thy, before wuids buginiiing with a vow el, y: < We * Others id to have now used md in the flee when ts ; but if lOut them. Sing. . — One. — One's. — One. only with le earth ;' possessive 2tever^ &c., possessive sometimes If. Some- nt : ' You jure them- 1 the objec- inative and is. s possession heir ; ' My f my and thy, ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS. 147 2. The Distributive are those which denote the per- sons or things that make up a number taken separately and singly. They are—^ac/*,* every, either, neither. Every relates to several persons or things, and signifies each one of them taken separately. * He furnished amusement during the whole voyage for every one on board the vessel' Either relates to two persons or things, taken separately. * I have not seen either of them.* H^either imi^ViQQ not either as ' NeitJier oi his brothers was there.' 3. The Demonstrative are those which precisely point out the subjects to which they relate. It has been already said that this and that, with their plurals, these those, are demonstrative pronouns. Former and latter also come under this denomination. 4. The Indefinite are those which we use in connec- tion with nouns, when speaking of persons or things in a general manner, and without expressly pointing out what individuals are meant. Some, any, other, (when belonging to a noun expressed or understood,) all, such; &c., are of this class. EXAMPLES. Some of the Rabbins tell us that the cherubim are a set of angels who know most, and the seraphim a set of angels who love most. As Cajsar loved me, I weep for him. O what a fall was there, my countrymen ! Then I and you, and all of us, fell down, Whilst bloody treason flourished over us. * Each relates to two or more persons or things, and siffnifies .hPr o, the two, or every one taken separately : as, ^ Each of cither of th ^na^i. ui ine iwo, or every one taken separately : as the party watched with silent interest his proceeding.' m ■<■ -'«» If 148 INTERJECTIONS* Look ye here ! Here is himself marred, as you see, by traitors. And each proud galley, as she past, To the wild cadence of the blast, Gave wilder minstrelsy, Let every man Follow the fashion of the clan. INTERJECTIONS. In some examples of the Vocative Case, the single letter appeared as a word: it is an ex- clamation or interjection, expressing a sudden emo- tion of the mind. There are several of the same class — O or Oh! Ah! Alas! Woe is me! Ho! Hark! Behold! Fie! Sha^ne! Possible! &c. Some of these are brief sentences, and others, though often thrown between the parts of a sentence, are so little connected with them, that their removal, though it would lessen the emphasis, would not affect the con- struction. "When properly introduced, they help to give to written language the pathos of earnest speech. In the lofty and pathetic style of writing, the absent, the dead, and even inanimate objects are often addressed, or (as this is termed) apostrophized. EXAMPLES. Oh, cruel reverse of fortune ! OIi, father Micipsa ! is this the consequence of thy generosity ? Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain on you, nor fields of offerings, for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away. The sky is changed, and such a change ! Oh night and storm, and darkness, ye are wondrous strong ! you see, ase, the an ex- en emo- he same e! Ho! Some though ?, are so !, though the con- help to t speech. e absent, Idressed, Micipsa ! , neither for there )h night njj ! EXAMPLES. 149 And this is in the night : most glorious night ! Thou wert not made for slumber ! let me be A sharer in thy fierce and fair delight — A portion of the tempest and of thee. Yet thus it shall be once— once more! my spirit shall awake ! And through the mists of death shine out, my coun- try ! for thy sake, Oh ! many-toned and changeless wind ! Thou art a wanderer free. If I forget thee, Jerusalem ! let my right hand forget her cunning. O spirit land ! Thou land of dreams, A world thou art of mysterious gleams. Thou'rt bearing hence thy roses. Glad summer, fare thee well ! Sweet summer, to the captive Thou hast flown in burning dreams Of the woods, with all their whispering leaves, And the blue rejoicing streams. Thou glorious sea ! more pleasing far. When all thy waters are at rest. And noonday sun, or midnight star. Is shining on thy waveless breast. More pleasing far, than when the wings Of stormy winds are o'er thee spread ; And every billowy mountain flings Aloft to heaven its fcamina head. §*t* n2 150 SYNTAX. SYNTAX. We have classed all the different sorts of words, and have found that, with the exception of interjections and the adverbs of affirmation and negation — yes^ yea, noy nay* — no word in a sentence stands unconnected ; each is linked to one or two of the others. We will take the following sentence as an example : The bashas, ignorant of his fraudulent intention, and eager to pay court to their sovereign at such an easy price, filled their letters with studied but fatal pane- gyrics of Mustapha, representing him as a prince worthy ta succeed such an illustrious father, and as endowed with talents which might enable him to emu- late, perhaps to equal his- father. The first and most obvious connection is between the verb — the word expressing action, being, or suffer- ing, — and its nominative — the name of the person or thing said to be acting, existing, or suffering, — or the pronoun, which stands instead of the name. bashas filled which might enable. The second connection is between the name or noun and the pronoun that stands instead of it — Mustapha him, — talents which. The third, between the adjective or adjective pro- noun, and the noun to which it belongs ; for every ad- jective and eveiy adjective pronoun must belong to some substantive, expressed or understood — ignorant,^ * And even these may be said to be always connected with a verb understood, if not expressed. t Here the first of these adject/ves is limited ; being is under- stood, and the clause does not imply that the bashas were igno- laut ill any other respecl, but that they were ignorant of'the fraudulent intention of the vizier. SYNTAX. 151 ords, and erjections -yes, yea, mnected ; We will itiou, and \\ an easy :tal pane- a prince .', and as I to erau- between Dr suffer- person or , — or the s or noun Wustapha tive pro- jvery ad- elong to norant,^ ted with a r is under- vere igno- ant of the eager, bashas,~his fraudulent intention.-their save rem,such ea^j pric.e,-their htters,-mdkd, fa- ti ious, Jat/ier, — his father. The fourtl. is between tlie verba to be or to become or other neuter verbs, or their participles withnoTn; .mmed-ately following them-/«>«, (being) pZe Ihe fiftli is between the verb in the Infinitive and he verb whieh it follows or depends upon. A 'l ■ t the Infinitive ean never be tlie only verb in asentenee and generally depends upon another verb or part" dple sometimes, however, its eoaneetion is withanSve' sometnnes with a noun. Sometimes, as has 1^^!- ready observed, it is itself the nominative to a mb _ Eager to pa,j-^orthj to suceeed,-enable to emulate —enable (understood) to equal. ' The sixth is between the verb or participle e.™resMn» that action m\B~payeourt,-fiUed letters.-representino e.pndrnl;^'sr;:.s^tt:h::e:■:~™ The eighth, between prepositions and the nouns or pronouns to which they refer, (for „ preposition alway brings along with it a noun or pronoun in the oW cZ <^-se)-onnte„tion. to sovereign, ,t price, withC" X/rtcs, o{ Mnstapha, with talaits. «'>/'«««- The ninth between adverbs and the verbs or adjec- t.ves to which they are joined, or, as is sometimesl!e case, between them and the other adverbs whi"h they compare or q«alify_p../,„j„, to eqt^al. ^ xne tenth, between conjunctions'and the words or sentences which they connect; for conjunctioS „" 152 SYNTAX* connected with the words or sentences between which they stand and connect them with each other^ignorant and eager,— studied hut fatal,— him SiS prince,— worthy and endmved. Lastly, each of the articles, deHnite or indefinite, belongs to some particular noun, and a noun in the nominative absolute, though apparently independent, is generally connected either with a participle or with some part of the verb to be (understood.) The study of Language has usually been divided into four distinct parts : Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody. Of these, your attention has been con- fined to two*— Etymology and Syntax ; and between these we have hitherto drawn no line of distinction, — for while studying Etymology, which classes the dif- ferent sorts of words and exhibits their variations, your attention has been led to the principles of Syntax, which treats of the proper arrangement of words in sentences, and of the influence, which, when connected in a sentence, some words have over others, — and you have »iven me, in your own words, several of the most important rules. We will now compare what you said with the rules generally made use of, to regulate the arrangement and variations of words. * Etymology and Syntax are the only portions of Grammar of which this work professes to treat. Etymology is usually consi- dered first, and as distinct from Syntax. It is obvious that no such distinction has as yet been introduced here ; for while study- ing Etymology, which classes the different sorts of words, and exhibits their variations, pupils have been led to consider the causes of those variations, and these, as has been already ob- served, form the basis of Syntax, and now, though the distinction is nf little importance, and would at the outset have tended only to perplex, it^is but right to place before them the generally re"- ceived terms and divisions of what they have been studying. SYNTAX. 153 ;en which -ignorant — worthy indefinite, >un in the >endent, is J or with vidcd into T, Syntax, been con- L between inction, — es the dif- rariations, )f Syntax, words in connected — and you f the most it you said jgulate the Grammar of sually consi- aoiis that no while study- ' words, and consider the ah-eady ob- le distinction tended only [generally re- tudying. .ou told me that we could not say, I receivcdst, because I is the pronoun of the first person, and st is the termination which belongs to only the second. Nor I'hey receives, because s is the termination which, in regular verbs in that mode and tense, be- ongs to the third person singular, and they is the pronoun of the third person plural. You understand, then, that a verb must be ot the same number and person with its nominative. This is what is meant by the rule. Rule l.—A verb must agree, or be in the same person and number, with its nominative. You told me, too, that W3 could not say, when speaking of the same person, 'My brother went to town yesterday, and */.e is coming back to-day,' beoause brother is a noun of the masculine gender, and she is the pronoun of the feminine ; nor, 'My sister went out to walk, find they will be home to dinner,' because sister signifies only one person, and they stands for more than one : sis^r IS singular, and they plural ; and that we could not say. ^ Henry went out to fly his kite, ami you will stay out till sunset,' because Henry, being spoken of, is in the third person, and you is the pronoun of the second. You understand, then, that personal pronouns must be of the same gender, person, and number as the nouns which they represent are. This is what is expressed in the loUowing Rule : Rule 2.— Personal Pronouns must agree in person a'id number, with the nouns they stand instead of. You likewise told me we could not say, ' The man xvhich treads mount ^Etna,' because man is a person, and xvho,not which,is the relative used for persons : nor, 'The appearance, u^/^o,' because iv^uch, not who, is the relative used for inanimate things. But that we could say: ' The butterfly, which.' Thus you are aware that the relative must agree with its antecedont,-that who must be used when ^ve speak of persons, and which when we speak of inanimate things, and (with some exceptions) when we speak of animals. '^ Kemember, too. that the relative is always considered to be of the same person as its antecedent, though it has no variation in termination to show it. Thus we would not sav : ' The sJstPr xvho lovest you,' but ' the sister who loves you,' because sister, being f**: 154 SYNTAX. n spoken o/, is in the third person, the relative must ikew.se be considered in the third person, and, being nommative to the verb, that Verb must also be in the same person-' the sister who love,. We say, 'Thou who seekest to avoid danger,' for here thou bemg the antecedent, the relative and verb are both in the second person. We will put this into few words. Rule 3.— The relative must agree with its antece- dent, and be of the same person and number that it is. You also told me that we ought not to say : ' Edward, Rose, and Frederick is cracking nuts,' because the action belongs, of is attributed to more than one, and the verb must be plural. \oxx understand this so thoroughly, that you can always with ease give the reason for it, and have no use for the Hule respecting copulative conjunctions, which has found a place in some Gram- mars. , , . • So, likewise, when I gave, as an example: 'Either the captain or the mate has given this order,' and asked what was the nomi- native to the verb, one of you said immediately, that there was a verb wanting, and supplied the ellipsis thus-' Either the ca,ptain has given this order, or the mate has given it. Captain is the nominative of vhe first verb, and mate of the second. Knowing that you understand this so well, I omit the Rule which relates to nouns connected by disjunctive conjunctions; because, to supply the eUipsis is a more certain method of finding the ricrht construction of a sentence, than to refer to the conjunction. We will go on to nouns of multitude, or collective nouns,-words .vhich sometimes mean one united body, though coiT^P^^ed of several individuals, and sometimes the individuals of which that body is composed. . Rule 4.— Collective nouns are those which express a collected number of individuals, persons, or things : as An army, a multitude, the people, the meeting, the parliament, a row, a group. In using them, the mean- ing of the word, in its actual connection, must always be considered, that the verbs and pronouns belonging to it may be put either in the singular or plural, to corres- pond to that. . , 1 ^ . tt: ^Qm out and disheartened,' (his whole army was) « The meeting was well attended.' «! have compassion on 8TNTAX. 155 cewise be the verb, ^ho hvea.' hou being 16 second J antece- liat it is. ard, Rose, ong8» of Is iral. You ; with ease respecting )ine Gram- the captain s the nomi- there was a the captain ptain is the I Rule which as; because, ■ finding the conjunction, uns, — words composed of f which that ich express or things : leeting, the , the mean- ;t always be Diiging to it I, to corres- is whole army compassion on the multitude, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat.' Here the persons composing the mul- titude are spoken of as being each and all in want of food. • A group of peasants surrounded the body, their lowering looks and muttered words strongly expressing grief and indigna- tion.' « That group of flowers is elegantly designed.' • I think that the row of houses with the terrace and lofty trees in front is the handsomest in the street.' ' The whole row of little buttons set up their sharp voices,'— (not the voice of a row, but the voice* of buttons.) Sentences occur in which several different appellations are given to the same individual ; it follows, of course, that the verb or pronoun must then be in the singular; as, 'Mrs. Bloomfield, Henry's mother, is coming here this afternoon.' 'The brig Mary, the first vessel that was built on this part of the coast, was stranded last week.' « Charles the Fifth, King of Spain] and Emperor of Germany, was a powerful and ambitious monarch.' You have often found one nominative preceding, and another fol- lowing the verb to be. It has sometimes an objective case before and after. Here follow the Rules respecting it : Rule 5. — The verbs to be and to become have the same case after that they have before them : as, Thou art she ; I believe it to be him ; she has become a very amiable member of society. The verb to be, instead of the auxiliary to have, is sometimes used in conjugating the neuter verbs— come, go, arrive, depart, &c. ; but these verbs must not on that account be considered as in the passive voice. I ^ayecome ; he has gone, &c. These ex- pressions are generally used when we speak of persons coming or going for a particular purpose : as. They have come to inquire respecting the truth of that report ; I am come ; They are gone, &c., are used when we merely speak of arrival or departure. Rule 6. — When a noun immediately follows one of those verbs which are not generally used to express transitive action ; in determining the case of the noun particular attention must be paid to the meaning of the verb in that sentence. #%.' 156 SYNTAX. In such sentences, there is frequently though not always an ellipsis. * The boy grew a man.' Here there is no ellipsis — (the sense is, the boy, by growing, became a man) — and man is in the nominative. ' She looks a goddess, and she moves a qucen.» Here the meaning can go no fiirthcr than this — She looks (as a goddess looks) ; she moves (as a queen moves), — for in whatever way Helen might look, she could not by looking become a goddess. ' He lay down a subject, and arose a king'-^he lay down (being) a subject, and (owing to the sudden death of the sovereign Avhom he was entitled to succeed), arose (being) a king. The mystic words were brei thed, in height he rose A giant towering o'er his pigmy foes. In rising, he became a giant. Here there is no ellipsis ; and giant, following rose, is in the nominative. You know thr.t one or more qualities, without an object to which we could say they belong, can form no fart of a sentence. There is a rule relating to this, and one concerning adjective pronouns. Rule 7. — Every adjective and eveiy adjective pro- noun must belong to some substantive, expressed or understood. Rule 8. — The adjective pronouns this and that must agree in number with the nouns to which they belong. This is used to denote the nearer person or thing, and that, the more distant. This refers to the person or thing last mentioned, and that to the first. You recollect that, when you were asked to whom any thing belonged, you always, in replying, put the name of the noun in tlie possessive case. • Henry Martin's ;' ' My uncle's ;' &c. The following is the Rule for this : Rule 9. — When two nouns — one of which signifies an object possessed — stand together in a sentence, the latter governs the other and puts it in the possessive case. When the possessor is spoken of by two or more appellations, the possessive termination is generally af- fixed to the last— as, My sister, Mrs. Granger's country liousc. m RITLES OP SYNTAX. 137 You told me that wo could not sav • t„i, i ^ ^ him.' You will fiad the reasons f!rfh,^' Take A.,' but ' Take Rules ; ^°' ^'"' ^^'' ^^'P^^ted in the folIoM'ing r«vem„,hepe„. Send him the book 1„ .^,!h . Rule 11.— The verbs o/t-e, ^e// /.«,/ o,, t-es attended b, .„o ob/ectiVe 1^:1^:^::,;°;"" ne-l"rttrSs"^.ah .!:'""" * ™^ -™'-'i liuf- both signifying the same person. ^ ' KcLE 13. A verb in the inenitive mode either fni lows another verb, which is then said to go et it i„" tat mode, or it is itself the nominative to "verb " W o„s. and is governed hy, an adjective or a ^on„ When governed by a noun or an adjective, orX,' use f the nominative, it is always preceded by 1 „a - It IS when following other verbs, with the c^t "n a very few : See, kear, let, &c., which hav7b el, already mentioned. "ve oeen ECLE 14. Prepositions govern the noun or pronoun to which they refer in the objective case. Edle 15. Adverbs are always connected with verbs participles, adjectives, or othfii- i)dvcrb= The wind rising, theflanics spread rapidly. ""The native troops p.,^ m^': 158 RULES OF SYNTAX. retreating, the invaders overran the country. Harold slain, the English did not long continue the contest. Here are three diffe- rent instances of nouns which are uuither nominatives to verbs, nor objects of an action, nor governed by another noun or preposition. Nouns so situated are said to bo in the nominatWo absolute. They are sometimes connected with active participles, as in the first and second examples,— wind rjsj«<7~troops retreat- ing. Sometimes as in the third with the passive participle ex- pressed and being understood. Harold (being) slain. Rule 16. A noun without either verb, preposition, or other noun to govern it, is in the nominative abso- lute. Rule 17. Conjunctions are connected with the words or sentences between which they stand, and connect them with each other. Some conjunctions have their correspondent conjunctions: or corresponds to tchethei^ and either ; nor to neither ; though to yet. Different associations require different conjunctions. We can say„George applied closely to his studies and gained the priae for mathematics, but not.— Henry exerted himself for a day or two and might have gained the prize for composition, and lost it by negligence at last. The latter sentence stands, in some measure, in opposition to the former ; the ideas are turned from the course in which they were flcwir.g, and hut is the proper Word. We say •' CsBsar conquered, and Pompey was defeated," but not Charles, opposing to the designs of those who sought to wrest from him his dominions, invincible courage and inflexible resolu- tion, rolled back the tide of aggression on the territories of tlw assailants, and liis inflexibility carried him too far when he per- sisted in saying, •* I will treat with the Czar atmoscow;"iMi must mark the change from approval of his resolution iu the first instance to disapproval in the second. Rule 18. The conjunctions and, also, likewise, &c., connect sentences, the significations of which are similar or in harmony with each other. When there is any opposition between that which precedes and that which is to follow, the latter should be introducjed by but, nevcrthelesn or notwithstanding. RULES OP SYNTAX. 159 " ClanronaWs Mliistling n certain tune was to bo the signal of their approach." Hero the active participle stands as the nomi- native to was, and at the same time governs tune in the objective; but, should an article be prefixed to it, it must bo considered a noun, and a preposition is required to govern the noun following It, as : The rushing of tho stream wore away the little mound. Rule 19. When the active participle has an article prefixed to it. it ceases to govern in tlie objective, and a preposition is required to refer to the noun follow- ing it. " He did not never do it." This might imply, he did it some- Umes, and is an awkward and ambiguous phrase. He never did It; or, he did not, are the proper negative phrases. He did it sometimes, the correct affirmative. Rule 20. Two negative adverbs must not be placed in the same clause of a sentence—but a limited affir- ' mative may with great propriety be expressed by a negative adverb and negative syllable prefixed to an adjective. The path though steep is noi leninyitmg. The coun- try, though wild, is not wwpleasino-. ^ Rule 21. Each article must belong to some substan- tive. The passage in which the difFerent connections of nouns was shewn, page 150, may be thus construed : Bashas filled— which might enable. What rule ? Rule 1. A verb must agree, &c. What person and number is might enable ? Third person plural agreeing with its nominative which. Why is which in the third person plural ? Because its ante- cedent talents is plural, and is spoken of. Mustapha him. What rule ? Rule 2. Personal pronouns, &c. Talents which. What rule ? Rule 3. The relative must agree, &c. Ignorant, eager, bashas— fraudulentmtention— such, easy, price —their letters— studied, fatal, panegyrics— prince, worthy, endow- ed — such, illustrious, father — his father. Wi>«^ ""i" "> l-l*'*. LtiaasE^ 160 RULES OF SYNTAX. Rule 7. Every adjective, and every adjective pronoun, &c. Eager to pay — worthy to succeed — enable to emulate — enable (understood) to equal. What rule ? Rule 13. A verb in the infinitive mode either follows, &c. Pay court — filled letters — representing him — enable him — emu- late father — equal father. What rule ? Rule 10. When the action is transitive, passing, &c. Of intention— to sovereign — at price— with panegyrics— of Mustapha— with talentt. -to* father. What rule ? Rule 14. Prepositions govern, &e. Perhaps to equal. What rule ? Rule 15. Adverbs are, &c. Him being prince. What rule ? Rule 5. The verbs to be and to become, &c. Him as prince — ignorant and eager — studied hut fatal — wor- thy and endowed — as (being) prince. What rule ? Rule 17. Conjunctions are connected. The bashas — a prince — an (illus'rious) father. Rule 21. Each article, &c. Instead of attempting to give rules for the formation of com- plex sentences, I shall merely say to teachers. " Let your pupils parse in selections from the best authors. In the usual mode of parsing, the spirit of the passage is in a great measure lost : not so in this. The questions essentially f are : What is here said to be done ? By whom ? Does the action rest with the agent ? and if not, on whom or what does it faU. Are there any qualities spoken of ? and to whom or what are they ascribed ? Any pos- tiossion, and to whom or to what is it attributed ? You cannot perhaps avoid using some histories which are far from being models of style ; but your pupils ought never to be loft in doubt as to the meaninr; of a sentence ; here follows one in which they might have difliculty in discovering it. " Richard, * To understood — it cannot well bo said that here transitive action is expressed and succeed to in this sense, is in accordance •with Johnson : "succeed, v. n., to follow in order, and to come into the place of one who has died. If the father had only daughters, they succeeded to him equally." f They are always thus understood by those who have at first been habituated to consider them thus ; and who are not taught the grammatical name till they understand the nature of that which it deaignates. UIl, &c. ate — enable ws, &c. ■ him — emu- c. 'gyrics — of fatal — wor- ion of com- ity our pupils lual mode of ire lost : not 3re said to be agent ? and ny qualities ? Any pos- hich are far never to be follows one " Richard, re transitive a accordance and to come er had only se who have who are not he nature of ANOMAJPIES or LANGUAGE. 161 surnamod Cociir de Lion, upon his coming to the throne was still inflamed with the desire of going upon the crusade; and at length the king having got a sufficient supply for his undertaking, having sold his superiority over the kingdom of Scotland, which had been acquired in the last reign, for a moderate sura; he set out for the holy land:'—Pinnoc/c's Goldsmith's England. When a passage so very obscure as this does occur in any of their readmg lessons, the best way is to alter the arrangement, and then let them compare the two and tell the error. Richard surnamed Coeur de Lion, upon his coming to the throne, was still inflamed with the desire of going upon the crusade; and at length, having sold for a moderate sum, his superiority over the kingdom of Scotland, which had been acquired in the last reign, and having got a sufficient supply for his undertaking, he set out for the holy land. ANOMALIES OF LANGUAGE. We come now to the anomalies of language, combi- nations of words, which, though incon. ^atible with its principles and rules, its usage has sanctioned. Of these the most important are impersonal verbs. At the com- mencement of this studj, your pupils are led to observe that whatever is said to be done, there must be some person or thing to do, and that a pronoun is the repre- sentative of a noun. But we look in vain for an ante- cedent noun to support the pronoun it, which is always their nominative. Their use seems to be that they express in two words occurrences or ideas, which would otherwise require several. Instead of saying "rain is falling," we say, " it rains." Instead of " lightning is Hashing and thunder is rolling," we say, " it thimders and lightens:' Instead of saying " the statements or the arguments we have heard, or the circumstances wo have observed, lead to the conclusion that," we say, " it seems that — itfolloios that — or as it seems. It is, or it was, may likewise be considered as imper- sonal, being used sometimes before two or more nouns o2 ' I wHRf I 162 ANOMALOUS EXPRESSIONS. sometimes before a noun in the plural. It ivas Helen and Jane that gathered the rose leaves. It tvas* the fleets of England, not her fortifications, that protected her shores. Methinks — methought" are correct as far as the sanc- tion of some of our best writers can make them so. This means — an adjective pronoun in the singular, with a noun, which, at first view, seems plural, has been considered another. The signification of means is, however, singular, heref. When we spealc of different expedients being employed, we say : by these means. Amends is sometimes used instead of compensation, but it has no plural. " Argyle he has chosen a hundred of his men." Here there is a superfluous nominative, the pronoun, \vhich is only required to supply the place of the noun, appears beside it, seeming to claim the verb. This was frequently used in the ancient ballad, and has always been tolerated in modern imitations of it, J and in the comic or burlesque style. I was told, instead of, it was told to me, likewise pleads the authority of long usage, but if the same license must be extended to deny, pro- mise, offer, &c., it is much to be regretted that from an ellipsis easy to trace, should have sprung so many false forms of speech. When several of these verbs follow close on one another, this form should be avoided. The following sentence, which I have seen adduced ad an example : " John was promised apples, then he * In stating that it was must be thus construed in such passages it is not the intention of the writer to recommend its use. In iamiliar conversation it cannot well be dispensed with ; but in (H imposition it is seldom required. f Mean is the middle between two extremes. " He that holds fast the golden mean," t Southov uses it. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 163 was refused them, then he was offered them," might be better and as briefly expressed thus : Apples were first promised to John, then refused, then offered to him. " I did send for certain sums of gold which you denied me."* From such expressions as these, and disregard of the ellipsis, have come, / zvas denied, I was promised, &c., and some or all of them, though really false Syntax, ?.re tolerated. t Teachers will observe that this work contains fewer rules of Syntax than other grammars. Rules corres- lionding to Murray's 2d and 3d, andLennie's 4th, 17th and 18th, are unnecessary here, owing to reasons which are stated in the 154th page. Indeed, they would rather perplex than instruct those who have studied the prin- ciples of language, for they substitute the effect for the cause — and the difference between supplying the ellipsis and construing by the conjunction, may be thus illus- trated : Suppose you have to go through a dark and wind- ing passage ; at the entrance one person says to you : " Feel on your right hand for a rail and go so many paces, then turn to the left you will find another, keep along by it so much farther, you will then have to ascend some steps — take care not to stumble." Ano- ther advances and offers you a lamp. If you carry the light, you have no need to grope your way. If your pupils supply the ellipsis, they will seek no aid from the conjunction. * See Appendix. t With respect to some doubtfiiil phrases— (iHti instead of with, as follows, &c. — as I cannot advance my own opinions without stating those of others, and wish to keep every thing that has the semblance of controversy out of the body of the work, I must refer to the Appendix. 164 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. .<:■ L For example : A singular and a plural nominative, separated by or or nor, require a verb in the plural ; as "neither the captain nor the sailors tvere saved." Lennie, 18th Rule. My pupils would supply the ellipsis thus : " Neither was the captain saved nor were the sailors saved," and give each nominative its proper verb. As to Murray's ISth and Lennie's 5th rule, they are at best unnecessary. Conj unctions may with strict pro- priety connect different tenses, provided that they har- monize with each other, nor is there any necessity for the nominative being always repeated in such cases, see pages 106 and 107. Such sentences as, "he and me might go," may be corrected by other rules. My pupils would correct the example thus: " me is the objective case of the pronoun and cannot stand as the nominative to a verb; it must be 'He and I.'" As to Murray's 6th, it is not from the position of the word, but from the meaning of the sentence, that we judge of the relative nominative. No rule respecting the article a or an being used only in the singular, is necessary for those who have learned its original signification; even setting this aside, where is the child who can read that would say, " an apples ?" Lest it should be supposed that in this work any useful rules have been omitted, I subjoin (from Murray and Lennie) copies of those relating to other points, on which I have inserted none. MURRAY. Rule 7. "When the relative is preceded by two nominatives of different persons, the relative and verb may agrtM) iu person with either, according to the sense ; as, "I am the man tcho covimand you," or " I am the man who commands you." LENNIE. Rule 16. Whca the relative is preceded by two antecedents of MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 165 different persons, it and the verb generally agree in person with the last ; as, Thou art the hoy that was dux yesterday.* EXAMPLES OP FALSE SYNTAX. I am the man who command you. Thou art he that driedst up the Red Sea before thy people.f Rule 13. The past participle is used after the verbs huve and be ; as, I have written a letter. He was chosen.— Lenvie. Would not this rule, to prevent it from excluding the present participle, require another ? The present participle is used after the verbs have and be; as, I have been writing a letter. He was choosing a seal. To say nothing of the time wasted in learnino- them useless rules have a bad effect. They tend to bewilder! Rule 13, and Observations from Murray. In the use of words and phrases, which, in point of time, relate to each other, a duo regard to that relation ought to be observed. " It is not easy to give particular rules, for the management of nioods and tenses of verbs, with respect to one another, so that they may be proper and consistent. The best rule that can be given, IS the very general one, ' to observe what the sense neces- sardy requires.' " Those who have been all along accusomed to consi- der in the first place the sense or meaning in sentences correctly arranged, will, when they come to composition naturally think first of the meaning they wish to con- vey and arrange their sentences accordingly. Teachers will likewise observe that there are few examples of false syntax, most of them occurring in the questions proposed to the children. These I have invariably found them able to correct without reference to any rule, for they had learned none. ^Vliat purpose * Sometimes the relative agrees with the former autecedenl - t When we address the Divine Being, it is, in my opinion, more pS'ln'ttTo to make the relativ. agree w^itlf the sCnd person. In the Scriptures this is generally done. See Neh ix 7 r],,c sentence may, therefore, staSd as it L~Ib. ' tp»*' 166 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. then does it serve to keep them toil: g over incorrect forms of expression which they have never heard and would never employ? I may be told that all children do not speak correctly. They do not ; there are very few whose language is faultless ; but the incorrect expres- sions used by any of them are those belonging to par- ticular localities, and are, when thus respectively con- sidered comparatively few, though in the aggregate they swell to a great number. It is obviously better then, that faultless models should be exhibited to all, and that the individual teachers should bring general rules to bear on local errors, than that the grammarian should attempt * to trace every deviation that has been or that may be made from purity of diction, and the pupils be thus kept contemplating and correcting fancied Or real errors into which they ran no risk of falling. I know Mr. Lennie compares with seeming exulta- tion, his " more than sixty pages of bad grammar with Murray's only seven," while at the same time he has but a third of that number of good: but to me it seems that it would be as rational for a student of painting to expect to acquire just ideas of proportion by spending a large portion of his time in correcting, by anatomical rules designs, exhibiting deformity, as for teachers to think of making correct writers and eloquent speakers by confining the attention of their pupils to the amend- ment of defective forms of language. They should first lead them to contemplate it in its beauty and per- fection. It may be said we have correct and eloquent * It can be but an attempt after all ; knowledge of what is cor- rect may be attained and communicated, but who can follow error through all its various forms ? Nine tenths of Lennie's improper expressions are such as we in this country seldom hear, at the same time we have some peculiar to ourselves, which have found no place in his catalogue. incorrect leard and hildren do very few t expres- g to par- vely con- jgate they tter then, [, and that rules to an should 3n or that pupils be id or real \g exulta- mar with le has but it seems linting to spending latomical achers to : speakers le amend- y should and per- eloquent i^hat is cor- oUow error i's improper ear, at the liave found MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 167 speakers, who have gone through Lennie's Syntax. True, and others who have toiled through Murray's Exercises— and writers and speakers equally correct who never studied either. Certainly the idea of numerous examples of false Syn- tax did not originate with Mr. Lennie ; but to me it seems he has more in proportion than any other writer on Grammar, while I have given so few, that I feel obliged to state my reasons for what some migjit think an omission. Teachers who have seen children often bewildered in their grammar lessons, will scarcely think it possible that they can supply the ellipsis without difficulty, eveii in simple sentences. Try them. You know not how much something in those very lessons may have been to blame for their bewilderment j but make tlie Hrst trial with those who have not previously studied grammar. Children who had, would not have given such answers as those on pages 153 and 154. And now, i's there any teacher who, after having perused the preceding pages, wiil feel disposed to say— " What advantages does this naode of instruction prof- fer in return for the energy and vigilance requisite to carry it properly on? The rapid improvement of your pupils— the pleasure they feel in learning— and the satisfaction which, espe- cially after the first few lessons are over, you will feel in directing their course — and even while they are repeating, and you listening to, the lesson they have committed to memory — as the conjugation of verbs that exercise, from their clear ideas of the reasons for the variations must be different— very differ ent both to them and to you. Compared to that which has been styled thc.uointei- ( I 168 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. lectual system, it is as if, instead of leading them on by a hard-beaten road, walled in so that you could only get occasional glimpses, through loop holes, of the surround- ing scenery, you should step at once into the open country, and travel on, over meadows covered with verdure and besprinkled with flowers. You do— for the whole field of English Literature is open before you. Instead of unconnected and uninteresting sen- tences from a book of Exercises, to be gone over twice, perhaps three times, you may turn to any page, the com- position of any good English author— you may lead tliera from the verse of Miss Taylor and the flowing prose of Mrs. Barbauld to the narrative of Miss Edge- worth— to the allegories of Addison or of Johnson— to the poetry of Scott, of Mrs. Hemans, or of Campbell- nothing need be excepted but that which is above their comprehension or unsuited to their years; and you never need to retrace your steps ; never require to return to the same passage. If then this mode of teaching requires vigilance and energy, there is in it much to rouse and cherish both, much to excite, to interest, and to delight teacher as well as pupil. THE END. APPENDIX lipHI ill' i i i ^Ml APPENDIX. • itfBifiwl.— XocAe on tU abuse 0/ ir')rd#. Phb raricty of opinions entertained respecting some points of construction must be apparent to every one whose attention has been particularly directed to EngUsh Grammar. In the list of English Grammarians stand the names of several whose minds were peculiarly fitted for laborious research, and patient investigation. Some of them, too, correct and elegant writers, yet we have Jchnson. Lowth and Priestly, each holding a different opinion respecting the extent of the subjunctive mood Murray and his successors deviating from Johnson's arrangement of can and could. We have Dr. Crombie opposed to Dr. Camp- bell and Mr. Murray respecting the construction of as follows ■ besides writers of less note offering their various suggestions on these and other points in dispute ; and we have Mr. Lennie, in one page proclaiming which to be the latter half of as, and in another, comparing notes and contrasting rules with Murray, and exulting in the excellence of his own. Nothing was further from the original intention of the author of this work than to venture amid this formidable array of dis- putants. Obvious reasons may suggest themselves to the reader for her feeing inclined to shun it ; and, setting these aside, no path mliteratiueisless Inviting than disc issions respecting words But the i.nnciple of her method of teaching made it absolutely necessary that every definition should be simple, clear, and ton- sistent with the import of the examples by which it was intro- duced, and with he general usage of the language; and this, as it was her sole i .ason, is her only plea for exam ning what seemed COL iradictor rejectiiig what «ppearfed incorrect. 4 ArPENPIX. Those who have perused the preceding pages may haveobscrv- ed that the work was originally the production, not of the closet, but of the school-room. Never in advance of my pupUs, but loading them along with me, looking occasionally at Murray, if 1 may be permitted to use a metaphor, as a traveller might at a pocket map of the country through which he was passing, and surveying from time to time the ground which we were next to traverse; when we arrived at the cunfinesof the subjunctive mode, I found that the map no longer corresponded with the face of the country, and that we could no farther proceed according to the directions it contained. How were children to whom everything relative to language had been exhibited iu a simple and natural manner, and who had been habituated to consider first, the meaning of the sentence, and to trace from that the grammatical arrangement of its parts, —to consider first, to which of the uittural divisions of time past, present or future, the action or event belonged, and then to find the appropriate subdivision of tense,— to be taught that, " If ho were to come we would ride out together to-morrow ;" an expres- sion so evidently denoting future time belonged to a past tense ?* Oa the other hand, how could an individual think of setting * Mr Murray's remark, quoted below, is not sufficient to hide the ^iucon(?ruity exhibited in the example, for if the teuse bo only occasionally used when speaking of the future, it is the pronnce of the grammarian to state the exceptions, or to mention on what circumstances they gensrally occur, and if indiscrimi- nately used for the past and future, it should be introduced like the verb ought, as having its signification with regard to time determined by the connection in which it is placed :— " It is to be observed, that in the subjunctive mood, the event being spoken of under a condition or supposition, or m the form of a wish, and therefore, as doubtful and contingent, the verb itself in the present, and the auxiliary, both of the present and past imperfect tenses, often carry with them somewhat of a fuler tense : as, 'If he come to-morrow, I may speak to him ; It he should, or would come to-morrow, I might, would, could, or should speak to him.' Observe also that the auxihanes shovjd, would, and were, in the imperfect tenses, are used to express the present and future as well as the past : as, 'It is my desire that h.i should, or would, come now, or to-morrow ; as well as, It was mv desire, that he should or would come yesterday. It 1 were hungry, I would eat.' So that, in this mood, the precise time of the verb is very much determined, by the nature and dntt of the sentence." iveobscrv- the closet, pupils, but Murray, if might at issing, and re next to ;tive mode, fuce of the iiig to the > language id who ha<.I ? sentence, f its parts, 'time past, len to find lat, " If ho an oxpres- ast tense ?* of setting lent to hide le tense bo e, it is the to mention indiscrimi- jduced like ird to tirat> d, the event in the form Qt, the verb present and it of u fuller him ;' ' If Id, could, or iries should, express the desire that well as, *It day.' 'Ifl the precise are and drift APPENDIX. H aside the authority of a writer whose compilations had beem applauded by so many British Critics,* and of which, ohq of them touching on the very matter in question, had said: " The difficult tubject of the tenses is clearly explained : and with less encum- brance of technical phraseology than in most other grammars ?" But no authority can establish contradictory positions, and the more I considered all Mr. Murray had written on the subject, the stronger became my conviction that in part of it he mujt hav« erred. The natural course for any one to take in such circum- stances was to consult those who, from their education or profes- sion, might be supposed qualified to judge. This I accordingly did. Some took a lively interest in the subject, proffered and gave all the assistance circumstances would permit : others took very little ; but not one of the classical scholars or practical teachers to whom I applied ever said, " I think we may reconcile what to you seems contradictory," or " thus and thus I under- stand Murray, and to me his meaning seems clear." Subjoined are extracts from Murray, comprising the most important of those passages which seem to me contradictory They relate to the subjunctive mode and the imperfect tense of the indicative. There are also some from Lennie, that the reader may be enabled to judge whether he has thrown any additional hght on the subject. The extracts are copious that they may have all the advantages of the context, but the words particularly alluded to are marked in Italics : — Murray s English GRAMMAR.-This is the most complete Grammar of our language. My opinion is confirmed by that of the PfJ^S*''^? ^^'^ work now appears in the fourteenth edition."— Kttfs Elements of General Knowledge. Sixth edition. »• Murray's Grammar, together with his English Exercises and Key, have neariy superseded every thing else of the kind br concentrating the remarks of the best authors on the subject 1 hey are pieces of inestimable utility."— JSt-an*' Essay on th* Education of Youth. xr" The best English Grammar now extant, is that written by Mr. Lmdley Murray : who, by this publication, and by several others connected with it, and designed as auxiliaries to its princi- pal purpose, has become entitled to the gratitude of every friend to English literature, and to true virtue. "~J>r. Miller's Retroa- pect of the Eighteenth Centur". " p2 f«#' ArrENDix. Much of the confusion and The terms which we have nerolexitv, which we meet with adopted, to designate the thrte lu the wruxo^cs of some English past tenses, may not be exactly KrammariansT on the subject of significant of their vature and verbs, moods, and conjugations, distinction. Lut as they are has arisen from the misapplica- used by grammarians m general, tion of names. We are apt to and have an established autho- think that the old names must rity ; and, especially, as tbe always be attached to the iden- meaning attached to each ot ticai forms and things to which them, and their diiferent signi- thev were anciently attached, fications, have been carefully IJut if we rectify this mistake, explained, we presume that no and properly adjust the names solid objection can be made to to the peculiar i'oriv,s and nature the use of terms so generally of the things in our own Ian- approved, and so explicitly de- guage, we shall be clear and fined.— Murray, page 8.. consistent in our ideas, and, consequently, better able to re- present them intelligibly to fliose whom we wish to inform. — Murray, page 109. The different tenses also re- prehent an action as complete or perfect, or as incomplete or im- perfect. In the phrases, " I am writing," " I was writing," " I shall be writing," imperfect, un- finished actions are signified. But the following examples, " I wrote," " I have written," " I had written," " I shall have written," all denote complete, perfect action. From the preceding repre- sentation of the different tenses, it appears, that each of them has Its distinct c^nd peculiar pro- vince.— /6iV/. page 84. , y * Why then is this form, " I wrote;' denoting complete, perfect action ; this tense which ought to have its own distinct andpeculiar province, confounded with, and placed under the denomination of the imperfect in the definition of that tense, and substituted for it in the conjugation of the verb ? , , , , That the potential mood We phall conclude these de- should be separated from the tached observations, with one !ubiunctive. ilevident, from the remark which ™ay_be_useful to mtricacv and confusion which tne young scnoiai, imxr.^y , v..a. .re Suced by their being as the indicative mood is con- blendJd together; and from the verted into the subjunctive, by The imperfect tense repre- sents the action or event, either as past and finished, or as re- maining unfinished at a certain time past : as, " 1 loved her for her modesty and virtue." " They were travelling post when he met them."— Ibid. pojieSl. APPENDIX. it when be the expression of a condition, motive, wish, supposition, &c., being superadded to it ; so the potential mood may in like man- ner be turned into the subjunc- tive, as will be seen in the fol- lowing examples : " If I could deceive him, I should abhor it;" "Though he should increase in wealth, he would not be chari- table ;" " Even in prosperitj- he would gain no esteem, unless he should conduct himself bet- ter." — Murray, page 92, be useful to distinct nature of the two moods ; the former of which may be expressed without any condition, supposition, &c., as will appear from the following instances : ''They might have done better ;" " We may always act uprightly ; " lie was gene- rous, and would not take re- venge ;" " We shodd resist the allui-ements of vice ;" "I could formerly indulge myself in things, of which I cannot now tliink but with pain." — Murray, page 78. After perusing what has been advanced on this subject, it will be natural for the student to inquire, what is the extent of the subjunctive mood. Some grammarians think it only extends to what is termed the present tense of verbs generally, under the circumstances of contingency and futurity ; and to the imperfect tense of the verb to be, when it denotes contingency, &c.; because in these tenses only the form of the verb admits of variation ; and they suppose that it is variation which constitutes the distinction of moods. It is the opinion of other grammarians (in which opin- ion we concur,) that besides the two tenses just mentioned, ail verbs in the three past, and the two future tenses, are in the subjunctive mood, when they denote contingency or uncertainty, though they have not any change of termination, and that when contingency is not signified, the verb, through all these five tenses, belongs to the indicative mood, whatever conjunction may attend it. They think that the definition and nature of the subjunctive mood have no reference to change of termination, but that they refer merely to the manner of the being, action, or passion, signified by the verb ; and that the subjunctive mood may as properly exist without a variation of the verb, as the infinitive mood, which has no terminations differentfrora those of the indicative. — Ibid. (202.) If, with hut following it, when futurity is denoted, requires the subjunctive moud : as, "if he do but touch the hills, they shall smoke." " If he be but discreet, he will succeed." But the indicative ought to be used on this occasion when future time is not signified: as, " If in this expression he does iwfjest, no oflfenoe should be taken." " If she is but sincere, I am happy." The same distinction applies to the following forms of expression : " If he do submit, it will be from necessity." " Though he does submit, he is not convinced." " If thou do not reward this ser- vice, he will be discouraged." " If thou dost heartily forgive him, «adeuvour to forget the oflfence." — Ibid, page 197. mv. liirl I ii III? j« 8 APPENDIX. DEFINITIONS OF THE INDICATIVE AND SUBJUNC- TIVE MOODS. MURRAY. The indicative raood simply i ndicates or declares a thing, or it asks a question. The subjunctive mode repre- sents a thing under a condition, motive, wish, supposition, &c., and is preceded by a conjunction expressed or understood, and attended by another verb ; as, I willrespect him though he chide me. LENNIB. The indicative mood simply declares a thing* or it asks n quesaon. The subjunctive mode repre- sents a thing under a condition, supposition, motive, wish, &c., and is preceded by a conjunc- tion, expressed or understood, and followed by another verb ; as. If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up. RULES RESPECTING THE MOODS. Some conjunctions require the indicative, some the sub- junctive mood after them. It is a general rule, that when some- thin,*^ contingent or doubtful is implied, the subjunctive ought to be used : as, If I were to write, he would not regard it, &c. Conjunctions that are of a positive and absolute nature require the indicative mood : as, He is healthy because he is temperate. Conjunctions that imply con- tingency and futurity, require the subjunctive mood : as. If he be alone, give him the letter. When contingency and futurity are not implied, the indicative ought to be used : as. If he speaks as he thinks, he may be trusted. If, with but following it, when futurity is denoted requires the subjunctive mood ; when future time is not expressed, the indica- o be used. tive ought jVofe.— From Lennie, comparing the above rules — It is easy to explain contingency and futurity, but what is a. positive and abso- lute conjunction ?" MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. It is improper to vary the second person sing\ilar in the past subjunctive (except the verb to be ;) thus, if thou came not in time, &c. If thou did not submit, &c., should be, If thou comest not in time ; if thou didst not submit. The following phrases, selected from the Scriptures, are strictly grammatical : If thou knowest the gift. If thou didst receive it. [f thou hadst known. If thou wilt sa/e Israel. Though he hath* escaped the sea. That thou mayest be feared. We also properly say. If thou may si, mightst, couldst,wouldst or shouldgt love. — Lennie. * No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath es- capud ihe sea, yet vengeance buiicrcth not to live. Acts sxYii. C.4. SUBJUNC- [uood simply or it asks a mode repre- r a condition, e, wish, &c., i a conjunc- understood, lother verb ; 3 go not with it imply cun- rity, require ood : as, If im the letter, and futurity le indicative I : as, If he 3, he may be ivingit, when requires the when future d,theindica- ed. -It is easy to ve and abso- 'S. in the past came not in ; thou contest s,are strictly dst receive it. Though he id. We also St or shouldst [i he hath es- * ..*_ :: APPENDIX. 9 it may be easy to explain conticgency and futurity ; but per- haps Mr. Lennie will not find it quite so easy to name conjunctions that implt/ contingency and futurity. The whole tenor of his ex- amples goes to shew that the conjunction has no influence on the mode. " If he be, if he speaks ;" and, with the exception of lest, every conjunction mentioned in his list can be used with the in- dicative mood as well as with the subjunctive. Conjunctions which (according to Murray's definition,) are of " a positive and absolute nature," which " require the indicative mode," and cannot be used with the subjunctive, are, because, therefore, since and as, but these can all be used with the poten- tial. ^ Lennie, in his rule explicitly and positively limits the subjunc- tive to contingency and futurity ; yet in his observations he speaks uf the/jos^subjunctive, and gives, as examples of it, sentences which are really indicative, and which, according to his own rule, should bo considorod so. If thou didst not submit. If thou didst receive it. Though he hath escaped. Murray's more diffidently, or more cautiously, expressed rule, rather seems to imply than to assert ; but it does imply a similar limitation of the mode, unless its sole import be, that "conjunc- tions of a positive and absolute nature require the indicative." The observation " but the indicative ought to be used on this occasion, when futurity is not signified," seems to favor the former conclusion, yet he too speaks of the " three joa*/ tenses" of the subjunctive mood. Murray repeatedly gives " contingency and uncertainty" as distinguishing characteristics of the subjunctive, yet i*ever says whether by uncertainty he means real uncertainty attached to the action itself, or the mere uncertainty of the speaker concerning it. Finally, both grammarians assign to the subjunctive the use of five out of their six tenses of the indicative, together with all the forms of the potential. The remaining tenses or forms of the subjunctive are, in general similar to the correspondent tenses of the indicative mood, with the addition. Sec— Murray. Subjunctive : Present, if I love, &c. The remaining tenses of the subjunctive mood are exactly similar to the corresponding tenses of the iiuiicative, with the addition of a conjunction, &c. But some sa^ that the future perfect, when used with a coniunc- tiun, has shall iu nil luu persons. — Lennie. m* 10 APPENDIX. Enough has been quoted to show that there is contradiction in both ; and now instead of war'lering in the maze of contro- rersy, let us turn to the works of approved English writers, and »eek the subjunctive there. It will not be disputed that " Mood or mode is a particular form of the verb," a particular manner of representing tho being, action, or passion. Two modes, then, the same in form and signification, cannot exist. If we have a subjunctive mood it must be different from every other. The imperative commands or entreats. The potential asserts the possibility of an action or event, or the will or power of an agent. The indicative affirms or declares. Its signification is generally, though not always, affirmative ; it interrogates, (as does also the potential,) and it sometimes expresses a wish or states a condition.* Its most obvious feature is the certain and positive character of its terms, in which it is rivalled only by the imperative. The subjunctive is a mood which, without affirming, describes an action or event, representing it as doubtful or uncertain, f It neither affirms the action, like the indicative, nor the possibility of it, like the potential, nor does it, like the imperative, command, or entreat. *" If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it ; but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know ; for there is none to redeem it besides thee ; and I am after thee." And he said, " I will redeem it"— Ituih Iv. 4. f There are two sorts of uncertaintj', the one real uncertainty attaching to the action or event itself ; which, in that case, must be in the future, and is termed contingent, the other, merely the uncertainly of the speaker, who, ignorant or doubtful himself, speaks of the event, although past, as unascertained. An action, however,though unascertained, may be spoken of in a positive manner, and a supposition respecting it may be put in the same terms that a question would. Speak'st thou false ? " If thou speak'st false. Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, Till famine cling thee "*** " If that which he avouches, does appear. There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here." i Each alternative is here spoken of in turn and with its conse- quence annexed to it, in the indicative. al rtj. contradiction ,e of contro- writers, and a particular eseuting the ame in form mctive mood mtial asserts power of an unification is rrogates, (as ies a wish or > certain and i only by the ng, describes certain, f It le possibility t'e, command. It not redeem to redeem it [ will redeem I uncertainty It case, must r, merely the itful himself, An action, in a positive in the same th its coDso- APPENDIX. 11 - The one the only simple form we have, which is nndoubtedlr and e.clu.vely subjunctive, is WKHE. 1 u.re, 8co. It cannot^ UBedm affirmation we cannot say I u^ere here, nor he rvere ther^ ^ert, having m the infancy of the language, been confound^ mth was and used in affirmation, has lost Its distinctive char^ are lit T f. "' '' ''" *^"" ^"^ '' ^*^« indicativ Tmperf!! are hterally the same : still it is a complete tense, and each o to P^;r\^7^-ble by their standing in similar conlTlnl ub i^' '' ""''' '' ' -'- -^'' «"' - undoubte^;; Oh that I were as in months past. As m the days when God preserved mo. Were I Brutus and Brutus Antony. Job xxix. 2. ShaAespeare. Oh! that the Saracen were in St. Marks Thus would I do him homage ! there is a completeness which they hrvfn^ot^Thd j:::^ to fill Its place IS still more apparent in the fourth. «• Oh Jw thf of some ancient, and sometiresTn thoi p ^ !," ^^''^ c^'nposition, imitating the ancient style ^ of modern authors, wheu "But trust me Percy, pity 'tioere And great offence to kill, "^ Any of these our harmless men. iJ or they have done no ill." Chevjf CAate, '• There were an Anthony would set a ton*r„» In every wound of Csesar." ^^ . Shakespeare. airy irsuckT^ro" '11^,!^;'^ r?7 P-^^-rs of chir- Sj^echofDonnX!^ knighthood should pass unchastised 1 Tatler. '7W#r* dangerous . Byron's Manfred. I te^ 12 APPENDIX. fourth, " Oh ! that the Saracen might be," &c. Were image* forth the event in the instant of its accomplishment. In the second. "Could I become Brutus, and Brutus become Anthony," falls far short of the original form, but no other expression can shadow forth the meaning. We have no example of the subjunctive were being used in the past, nor can we have any. We cannot say, " If I were here when they arrived, I would have introduced them to your uncle." Nor, " If he were here last spring he would have got the situa- tion." It seems incompatible with any expression denoting time decidedly past. It can extend, while touching on the future, through the present to the past, embracing the whole period of the existence of an individual or of a nation. " If he were your father you might reasonably expect him to sacrifice something to promote your interest ; but as he is only your uncle, and has a family of his own," &c. " If Mexico were a powerful nation." '^ If the French were a cool and calculating people." But remove from the first example, the present and future, by supposing the life of the individud terminated, and were can no longer be used; but must give place to had been. " If he had been your father," &c. Add to the second, " uo such insult would then have been offered to her flag," and the same change must take place ; " If Mexico had been, &c. To rank amongst past tenses one which cannot be coupled with any imaginable expression denoting the past, must certainly be a strange misapplication of terras. Its signification is either present or future, and it either supposes or desires a complete change of existence, of circumstances, or of disposition, that change to be instantly accomplished. " that his heart were tender," not that it were in the process of becoming tender, but that it had hitherto been and were so now ; or that it could in- stantly become so. "Oh ! that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears." Let any one who may think that too much time is given to the consideration of this tense, reflect on its importance. Every part of the verb to Be ought to be cleariy exhibited, because on it depends the formation of the passive. And were gives to the passive voice, a tense which we have not in the active, and which we attempt to supply by were, with the pre- sent of the infinitive. " If I were to go." " If I were to wish for a proper person to preside over the public councils."— .drfrfiwn. 11 ! APPENDIX. 13 7ere image* nt. In tho B Anthony," iression can f used in the [ voere here your uncle." )t the situa- enoting time the future, le period of le were your something to i, and has a rful nation." But remOTe ipposing the iger be used ; I'our father," n have been 5 place ; " If t be coupled lust certainly ion is either 3 a complete position, that 3 heart were f tender, but , it could in- irs and mine hink that too se, reflect on to be clearly ^ the passive, ire have not in with the pre- re to wish for " — Addison. " Shrntld" d033 not. porhapi, give tho exact m3ani.g of Lhoso expressions. » If i ^h^^ go." " If wo should win," iL "o tTtpS.^ ^""^ " ' '"'''-' ^''^-^ - -^--- i^ a-orl W.'r., as an auxilliary. couple:! with the active participle ex presses action going on, anir Thomas'More. abandon- proved to can it be hakspcare isfd, is — having t inflection, isage above " would bo of Be does ideration is cnt to were. in our lan- as a princl- vo. 'With a , &c. stand- tand, is tho "I had him ime is speci- lomc expres- ; it is exelu- possession t express po.v- •,ent or future, pression that ,t T could have I woto nero you than his ich of.")— Sir APPENDIX. J 5 tlJldll'V"""" t'^' "f difference thatexists between .ere and could be is discernable between had and could have. 11 T^fi^H^"* I gave it away." it 1 had It I would give it to y ou. Jlere wo have an example of two words literally tho same, both component parts of the same verb, eaeh in its own peculiar con- i.ec ,on giving a different idea of possession, which is the import ot the verb, the one, as certain and past, the other, as desired and tuture. Had in the first person, then forms a second subjunctiv,. tcn^e vouldiUu,rb:„X^'""''''-""r>>'»-. «'"■'«■ ".ago •'Even if th.ni shouldst have won the gora, Twas not fur thee to wear." And we use the same form when speaking of a past and nu to ous event, and doubting the truth ^f thelccount g v of '^^ It seems strange that he should have ordered arms o L i h.s same form hkow.se serves to express a eomnletive future ^Though they should kave kft the house before wege the^ 'e" can soon overtake them." ^ ^^' *^ rnstances of were with the infinitive have already been ohen case o had, to be formed by combinations of «,^;v. and shou/d Ju the prmcpal verb alone, or with it and an auxiliarv '' Murray has touched on the probability of the sul.inn..- . n.g been originally formed b/the aid of an auv it 7.;"' «ee ,f there be any evidence of this-ne shall fimU,;. T .^h,arUyofapresumptivenature,a.s::f:^r^^^^ the truth which instead of assertfng itTrnj^L's '^''^^^'^^ ''"'''^ ^^ Chilian tw'm'SS!.^trvourhr ^'f rr^ ^^f^« ^<> Vour Spirit to them that aTht" Se'xTi?'^ '^""'' «"'« ^^'^ ''^'y , -It ye then be risen with Christ, seek ♦h-T '';-.. ? • , auove. I Colfossian iii. i w,>„„;u": . •;'^' "'^''8« "hi.;!, both in the indicati ve. Here the verbs /<«0M- and 6, «' riAin Mre Q2 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / O ^^j ^49 /MS> mA 1.0 I.I 1.25 IfrlM IIM "^ K 12.2 t li£ 112.0 1.8 1.4 ill 1.6 ^. ^^. ■^ V ^^ /^ #: V Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 ^ ^^' 'V ^'x 18 APPENDIX. exception of must, which eiuls in st, and never varies, and the aux liary wilt and wert, which have only the final f, without the «— the seccond person singular is always inflected, and has its own peculiar termination st^ except in the present subjunctive. Why has it not that there ? It is incorrect to speak of the subjunctive termination. A total want of inflection, proof of its infinitive origin, distinguishes that tense of the subjunctive. Admit that it is for- med by an auxiliary and the infinitive, this inconsistency vanish- es, for it is on the auxiliary that the inflection falls. 2d. The Subjunctive, formed by should, with the infinitive of the principal verb, makes its appearance at an early perioti, when the Syntajc of the language seems in a measure fixed, though the Orthography is very different from ours, and is visibly wanting in uniformity. " If the lordes of her kindred shold assemble m " the hinge's name, much people, they should give the lordes. " atwixte whom and them, hadde bene sometimme debate, to fear " and suspecte lest they shoulde gather thys people, not for the " king's savegarde, whom no man impugned, but for theyr destruc- " t'lon."— Sir Thomas More, 3d. This in not a form which was once used but is now obso- lete, -n V u In the compositions both of ancient and modern English au- thors, when this tense of the subjunctive occurs, iis auxiliary »hould seems to be inserted or omitted just as the flow of iLa writer's periods, or the measure of his verse demand. " And turned away lest anger of his smarte. Should cause revenger hard deale baleful blows." ♦' If by misfortune a right wise man offended " He gladly suffereth a wise correction." " If it assume my noble father's person, I'll speak to it though hell itself should gape. And bid me hold my peace." If on the tenth day following, ^ . . „ Thy hated trunk he found in our dominions. It is impossible that I should die, ^ •u.. nf>n\\ u Inwiv vassal as thvself,** Barclay. APPENDIX. 19 Thongh you untie the winds and let them fi^ht * Against the churches thouj^h the yesty waves, Confound and swalloiv luvigation ivp." They say in case of your most royal person, Ihat if your highness sho?M inttrnd to sleop, And charge that no man should disturb your rest." Shakspeare. Should we set ourhearts only upon these things, and be able to taste no pleasure but what is sensual, we mu.vt be extremely mis- erable when we come into the other world.— Tillutson. " If an academy should be established for the cultivation of our style. — Johnson. " And I do at the same time give this public notice to all mad- men about this great city, that they may return to their senses with all imaginable expedition, lest, if they should come int,) mv hands, &c." ' " I'^js humbly proposed that a proper receptacle or habitation be forthwith erected for all such persons as upon due trial and ex- amination shall appear to be out of their wi\.s"—Addisvn. ♦^ Just is your vengeance, my good Lord, "fis meet and right our daughter >lwxdd, in the sense of ought to, be consi- dered independent. Examples : I should, or ought to, take the same care of her 'a as of ray own. I .should, or ought to, have paid more attention to the advice of my friend. I should, or ought to, be there by ten o'clock tomorrow. Con Jngency : " If Jupiter should from yon cloud speak divine things, and tay, 'Tis true." If they should grieve. May, signifying permission, has three tenses. May, signifying possibility, has four. I may go. I might have gone. I might go. ■SAomW, expressing obligation, is seldom used with a conjunc- tion. I should or ought to go. I should or ought to have gone. I may go. I may have gone. I might have gone. I might go. Should, expressing contin- gency, is never used without one. Though I should go. Even ij'l should have gone. Subjoined is a verb, in which those modes are arranged in the manner proposed, and teachers can choose between this and that in the body of the work. I exhibit the active voice fully, that it may fairly stand the test of examination, and that teachers may have no difficulty in comparing it with the other. Active Voice of the Verb TO SEEK. INDICATIVE MODE. Present Tense. SlKQVLAU. 1. I seek 2. Thou soekest 3. He seeks or seeketh Plukal. 1. We spek 2. They seek ^' nf> APPENDIX. Past Tenses. Imperfect. 1 . I rt^as seeking 1. Thott wast seeking 3. Ho was seeking 1 . I have sought 2. Thou hast sought 3. He has sought 1. I sought 2. Thou soughtest 3. He sought 1 . I had sought 2. Thou hadst sought 3. He had sought 1. We were seeking* i. Ye or you were sealing; 3, They were seeking. Perfect. 1. We have sought 2. Ye or you have sought. 3. They have sought Indefinite Past. 1. We soug,ht 2. Ye or you smight 3. They sought. Pluperfect. 1. We had sought 2. Ye or you had sought 3. They had sought Future Tenses. First or Simple Future. 1. I shall or will seek 1. We shall or will seek. 2. Thou shalt or will seek 2. Ye or you shall or will seek 3. He shall or wilt seek 3. They shall oi- will seek. Second Future. 1. I shall or will have sought. 1. We shall or will have sought 2. Thou shalt or wilt have 2. Ye or you shall or will hare sought sought 3. He shall or will have sought 3. Theyshall or will have sought Imperative Mode. 2, Seek thou or do thou seek 2. Seek ye or you or do ye or you seek SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. First Tense Present or Future. 1 . If I seek or if I should seek 1. If we seek or if we should seek 2. If ye or you seek or if ye 2. If thou seek or shouldst seek should seek 3. If they seek or if they should 3. Ifhe seek or ifhe should seek seek Prompter, page 85.— The past tenses of the English verb, not corresponding exactly to those of the French, or the Latin, repe- tition is necessary in conjugating to receive, where the three are exhibited ; but, in to seek, these tenses appear in their own proper order, without r<^ference to those of any other language. ArPENDlX. 23 ins ht. ht vill seek eek. re sought will have ve sought do ye or lould seek or if ye ley should verb, not itin, repe- three are \\r\ proper feecond or Imperfect Tense, a' if fhon? '?^'"r- ^' ^^ ^« '■"^••e seeking 3. If he were seeking 3. jf (hoy wi re seekh.g Past or Completive Future. •2 If LfU'^l'^ have sought 1. If ho should have sought 2. If thuu shouldst have sought 2. If ye or you should huv. 3. If he should have sought 3. If they"!hould have sought of thVs form^Ifor^JhTnf/'? "''^'^^" ^ '^"" '''''^''' «"^ ^" ^'^'^">rl^- ..J V 1' " ,, of any circumstance that would reouire it. use-if used, it would be a past imperfect tense. ^ POTENTIAL MODE. Present Tense. 1. I may or can seek i Wo mav n.. «« 1 2. Thou mpyst or canst seek 2 Y. n? /. ^" "'*^'' 3. He may or can seek I' Th ^ " ""'^ ''' '"'" ^^^^^^ ;- Lan btcu 3. Jhey may or can seek Perfect. 3. He ™ay have .„ugh. » l ]^,^ q, ^ ^---S". Pluperfect. '' ^'"^f^^^'^^^^^^^ 1. We might, could, or would « riM """K'."^ have souffht Future, and in some connexions, Past I miglit, could, or would 1. We migiit, could, or would seek Thou mightst, couldst, or wouldst seek lie might, could, or would seek seek 2. Ye might, could, or would seek 3. They might, could, or would seek Conditional Mode. VTo would thus have should expressing obligation or duty an mdependent verb. Should with a conjunction, expressing contin- gency, subjunctive. May, denoting possibility, .«« and would denoting power and will, potential. Should and would used con ' ditionally as in the subjoined examples, are still to be di^^posed o' us not belonging to either of the foregoing. They are really eon ' *-^ l^f-. !l ,'■ 24 APPENDIX. didonal, and are distinguished by being either preceded or fol- lowed by a conjunctive clause.* 1 I sliould or would seek 1. We should or would seek 2 ThoushouUlstorwouUlstscek 2. Ye should or would seek I He should or woul.l seek 3. They should or would seek This arrangement of the modes claims examination; it may yet roquiro some alteration. With respect to the potential, as at present constituted, three questions naturally arise. Does it answer to any definition of mode ? Does it accomplish any of the ends for which the distinction of mode was instituted ? Does it tend to elucidate or to obscure. ?t VERB THE MOST IMPORTANT. T am aware that an eminent writer has said— "Nouns are the most important parts of speech." The world, and its component parts, includin'- its various tenants of every species, may in themselves be moreimportant than the actions which proceed from or affect them ; but in as tivr as regards langunge the u ords that express action, are the most important, that being the t:ubject and the end of speech ; and could we imagine a motionless creation, we would naturally suppose it mute. If there are any still disposed to claim prece- dence for the noun, I have no wish to carry the discussion far- ther But from experience and reflection am convinced that were a teacher to begin with the noun (without regard to case) the pupils would know little more at the close than at the commence- ment of the lesson; and should they be told to give nouns in the nominative, they could not do so without first finding the verb, ~*Tvere I to expose any vice in a good and great man, it should certainly be by correcting it in some one where that crime was f- most distinguishing part of the character.- .We. if I should remove this prop (he tree would fall— or, The tree would fall if I should remove this prop. I would seek it, if there were any chance of finding it. It wo had any hope of finding him, wo would seek him still. t Descending to detail, I would ask any one versed in grammar whether, in parsing, the meaning of "you may go if you wish it is as clearly kept in view by both verbs being termed the poten- tial of one (while "possibly he may go," likewise gets exactly the same term) as by their being thus divided; Ma,/, present of the verb may, signifying liberty or permission, go infimtive ot the d or fol- il seek 1 seek uld seek t may yet ed, three inction of B the most ent parts, nselves be feet thero ; iction, are jf speech ; naturally ,im prece- ission far- that were case) the omraeiice- ins in the the verb, I, it should ;rime was —or, The it. If we 1 grammar u wish it " ;he poten- jxactly the ent of the ive of the APPENDIX. g- I' has been «« that w ha l J ''■'"""^ '" ««'■"• «»-p. i.. .he possessive, we have n"'.'" ''"°«»''- »-"■"'•, .«nd .he L..i„ word c.su, fro^Zl ™"'"'™ '" "'™i""tio.,, " derived from ,he verb cLX Thi u?[""' ''™" '" °"S"'. «ew of the subject. The ea'^ses of .h!'^"*""""'"'"'''*'"' f«*e; but those different posi ions *T' ^\^ '" ""' *^« ^^"« of - our own,* and it is notrth Tere ll"'."^ dislinguishabj as a whole, that the term and tklon ''""'""*'«°' but to the word tion of ease, that is of lUtle mom n'if r* t' '^ ''^ ^-va- -ord. expressing condition. stalLZlTl^ ^^^ - English grammar was written. ' Po«"wn,t before any EngUsh f^orir^S^i:^^'^-^ -^-ions signified by the addi denominated cases. in^EnSan^^^^^^^ noun ^ay ^ropjyt THE VOCATIVE. ■L«* i. • language „i.h ara'dSl':,':::' '""ZT^T" '—■ "--r .he "om. exists whether grammariL flf ".•'"' P"''"™ <" 'ho ♦ 'j-jjg ^ : if^*^' ^" a few ob- &^"f «f tern^ination. In E[fsh fhr'^''^^"^ ^"^ic'te^ by lerent prepositions. -^ngush, they are expressed bv di/ t These that havp if of +„• j ^ ^- Quo.bh.L-^td-S'-t't'^S. ai^;s"s!'it":trh°uV';'hrff«-%-"''>^^^^^^^ ii.. ' P '■■I 26 APPENDIX. aoleto or seldom used expressions, but is constant^' occumng; f weadn.itca.e.we cannot well exclude this, wh.ch natur ly stands distinct from every other. The name .s -^^^y^^^^^ for the vocatioe formerly held a phce m some Lnghsh gramma s hough it does not appear in Murray's. Nouns m the position LTdesignated by t'h'at title occur ^^^^^fy^]^^,^^,^^^ Sequel, yet two examples only are to be found in his Exercises, Lt neither can the omission in the g-nimar of remark coneerm^ nouns addressed, alter their position, nor the -'=^"-" ^^ " from the exercises sweep away the examples abounding m Scrip ture and in the works of our authors. ThU cas. has by some been styW the nominative „,depcnden^ Naming it tlius, we had three different nonnnalive eases-and ^ader°s who distinguish the nominative f""- "S. from U,at p,.- eeding the verbs be, become, &e., (a real distmetion, for the non. naive' lling d^eribes or names the ftrst.) were obbged t. iit four. Finding that my pupils, someUmes paused to recol- iZL terms distinguishing theaW„« and 'f ?™*" — ^- ,t^e I exhibited the latter as a distinet case, and restoreil Us form- 'randeertainly appropriate, name. After that there was no 1«. ,i ation for natural distinctions are easily pointed out. The name ofa PC soror thing addressed is said to be in the vocaUve ease, Id trreeognition'of it, instead of adding to. lightens, the la- ^TbtteriSy said thattbere are but two instances of this eas 'n Murray's ExereUcs and that he gives no direcfons respect- Ing them Lennie gives several examples and a remark on the *'!. Mend, lend me three loaves. Friend is the nominative "Tn ^erS'm'ay he said to be na™,.. c,>ses, hut the n„- ,Jfe as we generally understand it, except in the case absolute, nCe 'the Infect of the verb. Friend ismore than named, he .s Sw! Admit the vocative, and in parsing t^at s»'e^« - merely say Friend, a noun in the vocative case, being addressed. Lennie makes it a nominative, and finds a verb for it, he says, " Supply the ellipsis." " O thou who art my friend,lend me, &c. InUilstheverbis only superfluous, in his other examples it "°:'T?:htplnce, O health-" "0 thou who art Health." APPENDIX. 27 And how would it suit with the fullowinff ' "As inr iho. (^^.^ "liravo peers of EnoIanocnLB Gi^NITIVE. " rfv;:^^:^:^;;'^^^:^^^^^^ and the bonietirnes, indeed, unless wo th mv^t. ^"" ^'""'^ >«'ewton'8." form, this method is absu lut^^ly n eo Lu''" ^'T' '"I-^' ^"^'h^'* the sense, and to give the idea ufnron, V ' "'!"''}'"' *» / the genitive ' -This picture of mv friend's " I l.Ji "" ,1'"^ Mond," and latter only is that of propert;- in fh? / •'■^' '^'^'''^''^ ^^eas The would, doubtless, be'l'r^^' , 'a b r^'^.n '^*"^^- /^^'« "^^"- This picture belonging to iny frLul '' ''""'''''' ^^ '^y^"S, "When this double genitive is '^ governor lege of the scholar 'was ne ei Xed '' ^'^S'" ' "Thatprivi- aftcrall that can be said for h s do bio o- ^r'^ ^''^^ ^«-) ^"^ some grammarians think tin it won li "?"'^''^' ^' '^ '« termed, nnses from no. pacing proper ro^ d to «.« „■ '''''"°' "'' " of Iho proposition o/: ,/ si!„ifvi';: ' ' '"^™"' ■"<«""■«» foree^ its occasions a peculiar propriet ™'-Jw^^^ IJo and did are (by the same writer ) brourrht mn.. njmentl, into view, as auxiliaries, and fron'twf TalZ bly arisen that in Jossc's Spanish and^En-lish GvTJ worU which inlS34 had gonf thro.,h six ^:t^^^^'^ Spanish in^perfcct is translated by did with the active parti 1 Of course in an English and Spanish grammar the corresZn ' English in the most approved grammars, instead of s.vil o!:"-''^.??" ^"' '^^ ^"^"^ «-^«//"-".whenIento StlS room , 1 our sister was singivg when I passed the window » iTe" oo"''.'' 1?7 '"'"" ""^ '"^ *"^'"^^ ^^'"'^ '^'^ when I en Jre'd Into the same error has Ducoudray Holstein boon led tI' appears, (in his French and English GrammaiO in ihl, i Of .he i^perfoe, and i„ .„„. „f .„„ c.l;: ^^ CX"-'"- habits of intercourse with an Eno-lish snralinrr ,. i .• , ^ sethim right in others. It r..yCj:^^TtT T do with the mistakes of foreignL r ^o.^^X'^:^Z r^ but when they do originate in our own mistakes or omissions' certainly something ;_and besides, errors of that kind nnf n ' recoil on tY . English student of a foreign lang'C ' "''"^ MURRAY AND LENNIE ON AS. " Some grammarians assert, that the phrases «, />/; appears, form what are called imnorson .1 vS. •^T'f*' "" therefore, be confined to the singuyn ber as ''11^ ''^""'^' ments advanced were nearly a/Mo«;"!'f The r! ■}■ ^ "''«"- as appears incontrovertible •' that is i „« if ^ **,'"^ ^^^^^ give (say they) the sentence' a differ n't tm-n? a"Estead '^ "^ say such as, the verb is no longer termed imnm-snnnl . f ^ ""^ ""^ agrees with its nominative, 17, the plu a Znber 'a^s '^Th^'"'^ guments advanced were nearly such as fSw^ ItL J^-f.^'' ^^;evesuch as appear incontrov^ertible.' NX-Tlle r^'^'''"' nans are supported by general usage, and by the aufhnrff '"?^" aimnent critic on language and comnositiJn ' VvJ '-^ ''{^^ used imoersonallv.' .sat« ^r. o„14i^R"''vV"-_ .When a verbis toric. ;it oughtiindoukediytTb^in h^^nciiar^^^^^^^^^ ther the neuter pronoun beWessed or undettoorTortS i,i 32 APPENDIX. reason, analogy and usage favour this mo..lo of expression : ' The conditions of the argument were as Jhllows :" and not as fullow. A few hite writers have inconsiderately ad-uments advanced were nearly those which follow.' ' It appears that the positions were incoutrover- tlhW—Murrays Grammar, paye 142. ''As is often \ised as a Personal and Relative pronoun, and m both numbers. This account of as, though in unison with Dr. Crombie's, is at variance with that of Dr. Campbell and Mr, Murray. They explain the following sentences thus, ' The ar- guments advanced were nearly as follows; 'Tlie positions were as appears inconirovertible.' That is, say they, ' as it follows,' ' as it appears.' Wiiat it ? The ihincj. What thing ? It or thin", cannot relate to arguments, for arguments is plural, and must" have a plural pronoun and verb. Take the ordinary method of finding out the nominative to a verb, by asking a question witli the verb, and the true nominative will be the answer. Thus, ' What folk)WS ?' and the an3wcr is, ' The arguments fallow.' It mu^t be obvious, then, that it cannot be substituted fur argu- iicnfs, and that as is equal to those which, and that the verb isnot impersonal, but the third person plural, agreeing with its nomina- tl\^ which, the last half of as. In the second example, as appears, is a mere parenthesis, and does not relate to positions at all ; but still the as is a pronoun. Thus, the positions, it appears, were incontrovertible. ' " They say, however, if we use such before as, the verb is no longer impersonal, but agrees with its nominative in the plural number ; as, * The arguments advanced were nearly srtch as follow: ' The positions were such as appear incontrovertible.' This is, if possible, a greater mistake than the former : for what has such to do with the following verb 'r—Lennie,page 146. Nothing with the verb, if it can be separated from the nomi- native ; but something with the decision of what the nominative is, for such stands much in the same position, with regard to the nominative of the verb, that, of two relatives, the one who could produce substantial evidence of their mutual title to an inheri- tance, would to the other, who had only been able to bring forward presumptive proofs. I turn to a sentence of exactly similar con- struction in which the nominative cannot be doubted.— Jifawi/cr, No. 137 : This diffidence, where the attention is not laid asleep by laziness or dissipated by pleasure, can only arise from confused ■ and general views, such as negligence snatches in haste. Such'is an indefinite adjective pronoun : and even according to Mr. Lennie's APPENDIX. 83 ror tie Itv \ "?"V^"-*^°"— d the answer, as tkose vie., (or he uewsXare) which negligence snatches in haste. same word V." "^"T '^"'"^ "^*"'-^' ^"^ J"«* ^^at when the same word occurs m two passages, in one of which its prober fTa?:tV-1?tf;^';^'^'^" the other clear, the colSn of that which IS doubtful is to be ascertained and regulated by Ll ^'°T"'^'''"'^''^"^^*^"*^^^ arguments-.«cA ar- Inal h"r' "''*'-" ''"^ ^^^"'"•^"^^ -« -A.cA-foUow. In all this there is no circumlocution-nothing but the supplying of the ellipsis,-and how frequently is ellipsis as extensive founi in our language. As appears-ln the foregoing quotation seems to be the imper. sonal verb with the ellipsis of it. ^ as"A'S;^r;£?!l!^"?Si^^"^'^^^ -ans the same whl'hl? • ^'* ^ ^''' ''''" """"^^^ *" P'-^^"^^ *h<^ --rk from which this IS an extract, and in which the learned author must have given his reasons for the assertion ; but, whatever its deriv- ation «. when coupled with a verb it marks the time or manner of an action, is certainly an adverb. "And as he reasoned of nghteousness, temperance and judgment to come, Felix trembled " And-when used as since might be, to connoct and to continue-'a coi^^unction. "^. he was not on the spot he can know nothing of the matter but by hearsay." *' Verbs difficult to class 102. This difficulty most teachers wiil readily acknowledge. To run is considered intransitive, yet, in to r»« a race, it is not so. What is a race but a trial of speed made by runmng-thus in to run a race, the action is as clearlv ransitive as m to make trial. To fight against and to^,//a r>attle furnish a similar example, and others might be cited To consider whether the action be transitive or not is a suri and simple method of deciding; for even where, as in to succeed, to mprove, &c., we have two verbs literally the same, and also the same in signification, one active, the olher neuter, it is oniy by the influence of the action that they can be distinguished. Study to improve, neuter; to improve yourself, active. f r . 34 APPENDIX. Different Modes used in an optative sense.— The only wish that can exist, respecting a past action or event, when known, must be, that it had hv i otherwise, and this is expressed by the pUiperfect of the indicative : " O that iny people had listened to my voice." A wish respecting the past when unknown is ex- pressed by the perfect of the potential : " I wish they may have arrived before that dreadful gale." A wish respecting the pre- sent, or rather, the future, following close on the passing moment, is sometimes, as has been already shown, expressed by the sub- junctive were; sometimes it is signified by maT/, in the first or present tense of the potential. " We wish that he may succeed in this undertaking." This form likewise extends through the future, however remote. " O that it 7iiai/ never be obliterated." A wish with less of hope or of assurance in it, is expressed by the third tense of mcf?/, signifying permission. " O that Ishmacl miyht live before thee. Local Eunoiis. — Those, which children in this country are most liable to, are, using a verb with the negative adverb before I dont think ; and substituting / seen for / saw. Such errors are most effectually corrected when recently made. " Ho won't come I don't think." " You expect him then." " No I don't expect him." Did you not say, ' I don't think he won't come;' is not that equivalent to, " I do think he will ?" " I meant I didn't think he would," — " I seen her do it." In wliich of the tenses do you find, "I seen?" WITH INSTEAD OF AND. With, is sometimes used instead of and, as he with his brother came to town, instead of he and his brother came to town. There is an ambiguity in such phrases, which leads to difficulty in the construction, except when the inflection of the verb determines the sense by marking the number. If he is the principal person — the subject of the verb, and his brother merely spoken of as accompanying him, then the verb agrees with he in the third person singular. If on the contrary with is used merely in the sense of and — then both he and brother are nominatives to it. There can, however, be no necessily for using ivith instead of and. If there be no reason for distinguishing one as principal : "lie and his brother came to town" is the proper expression. If one must be distinguished " He came accompanied by his brother," if he was the principal — and if not : He accompanied his brother, APrExNDlX. 35 -The only len known, sed by the listened to iwn is ex- { may have » the pre- ig moment, •y the sub- lie first or .ay succeed irough the hlitcrated" pressed by it Ishniacl ountry are erb before ach errors ' Ho won't ou't expect is not that t think he you find, lis brother wn. There Ity in the ietermines pal person ken of as the third ely in the iives to it. cadof fl«(/. )al : " He n. If one 3 brother," is brother, or he came to town with his brother." arc modes of expressing these different ideas without ambiguity. '• The King with his Life Guard passed through the village." "The King attended by his Life Guard passed," &c. would be preferable. " Prosperity with humility renders its possessor truly amiable," says Murra/ 1 his verb should be in the plural," says Lennie. While objecting* to the subordinate position which humility is made to hold, I must agree with iMurray in considering prosperity as the sole nomi- native, humility being only mentioned in the sentence as an ac- companiment. " That horse, with a light waggon, would draw them and their luggage." The horse cannot draw without the waggon, but we do not .ay the waggon draws-nor would we at the end of the journey say the horse and waggon have drawn. The second tense of the subjunctive, (active) of the verb to re- ceive was inserted when the writer intended that remarks on it and on the subjunctive in,^eneral, should immediately follow It was found they would occupy too much space in the body of the work, and the tense remains, exhibited as it stands in some other grammars, but not approved of by the writer. In verbs which rather signify habits than actions, expressions such as "if ve loved me," "if he esteemed her." generally include both past and and present, and form a subjunctive tense signifying if ye were m the habitual^exercise of love or esteem, &c. "If ye venerated your Maker ye would not abuse his image in your brethren of mankind," still the verb ought to be inflected, ''lUhon loved' st me, thou wouldst rejoice." ^ Such verbs are considered active; in one sense they are so; and It is better to make allosvance for their signification than to at- tempt to class them under any separate denomination ; but from their pecuHar nature, the distinctions of tense are less obvious in them, than in verbs which do not naturally imply continuity of action, the imperfect is omitted or rather is never required ; we say, I was dreading, we were expecting, but not, I was esteeminq he was venerating and these verbs are comparatively speaking so few m number that to take one of them for the sole example given of the conjugation of a regular active verb, as has been done by some English grammarians, was making rather an inju- dicious selection. I Prosperity is a mere circumstance showing to advantage that humility which renders its possessor amiable-but it is with the construction of the sentciiCe not with its tru'h that we have to do 36 APPENDIX. But; used in the sense of except, before a noun or pronoun, a8 in the following example : "I saw nobody but him," is a preposi- tion and governs the noun or pronoun it refers to in the objec- tive. Murray's construction of it as a conjunction with the elip- sis of I saw : "I saw nobody; but I saw him," is objectionable because it makes one part of the sentence contradict the other. Supplying real ellipsis always leaves the meaning clear. How strangely would such construction alter some sentences in the works of our best authors! "I saw nothing but the long hollow valley of Bagdad, with oxen, sheep and camels grazing upon the sides of it," "I saw nothing; but I saw the long hollow valley of Bagdad," &c. There may yet, on minor points of construction, be some omis- sions. It is hoped they will meet with indulgence, at least from those who know how difficult it must be to complete in the first edition, a work of this nature. If one important characte- ristic of this system, which peculiarly distinguishes it from every other, the taking the verb as the first and leading word, be approved of, a great point will be gained by the publication. THE END. INDEX. Action, the subject of speech ,,, ,3/;;^;^ ,^ Action, transitive and'intransitive,„. IdielT Tv 1- ''""'''''' ••••••••^3' '' '^ '' -d C3 Adverbs and adjectives Anomalies of language ZZ'Z'^Z Td^'^ll Articles, 101,162 Agents, '^^ Being, ^'' Can and Could, ..".*......,*".." '^' ^^ Case, Nom., 24 to 26, Obj**l*3o"to 133,""voc.; ,39 \Z Classification of adverbs, .,.. ' ^jf Comparison of adjectives, "^ of adverbs, ZZZZZ'' ^*' ^^ Conjugation, '^ Conjunctions 84 t* 87 Declension of nouns '.'.'. ^^^ *° ^^^ -, 142, 143 of pronouns, , . . / Etymology, '■•"" ^^* *» ^^^ Examples in repetition, ...."*' ^^^ f. "•^^f^^'^f ^° ^vriting;;;;;;:::::::::;: 29, 30, 62 of interjections, ' Exercises, 20, 25, 26. 31 to 34. 36 to 39, 49 to 53, 56 to 59, V2 to T , . . ^^' ''^' ^^' 89 to 91, 102 and 104, 124 to 126 Interjections, ' ^^ Introduction, ^^^ Miscellaneous observations, iro /*^,!f Mode [ " ^^^ ^° 168 Nominatives expressed ' ' ^"^ '■ ' V 25,26 expressed and understood 34 3- understood, ' Nouns " ^^ Number,.,,.. ^'^ 137 S 38 INDEX. PAOES Participles .' 74 to 80 Prepositions, 133 Pronouns adjective, HG to 148 indefinite, 145, 146 personal 41 to 53, 56 to 59 relative 54 to 59 this and that, 127 to 129 Repetition, 39 Subjects, 23 Suggestions to teachers, ,... 27, 28 Syntax 150 to 161 Rules of, 153 to 161 Tense, 91 Time, 82 Variations of nouns, 137 to 139 of verbs, 81 to 84, 92, 93 Verbs active, 83 auxiliary, 97 to 101 defective 123 and 124 irregular, 117 to 123 neuter, active and passive 101 Verb, to Be, 110 to 113 to Have, 95, 96 to Receive, active, 85,87,94, 108 tollO passive, 113 to 116 Words expressing action, 19, 20 • action or being, 22 being or possession, 21 INDEX TO THE APPENDIX. As — Murray and Lennie on as, 31 Be, verb to be, 13, 14 But, 36 Can and cannot, 29, 30 Case, 25 Conjugation of the verb to seek, 21, 24 Examples of the subjunctive mode, in the works of Eugliiih authors 14 to 19 INDEX. ExempJified— proposed alterations in conjuga- tion exemplified in to seek, Extracts from Murray and Lcnnie Imperfect tense, " I teas walking," See, Have andhad, Mode 10 — potential mode examined, Subjunctive mode formed by combination of were and should, Verb the most important, Were, " I were," &c., the only simiile form which is exclusively subjunctive Vocative case, 39 I'Aors m I 21. 24 fi to 9 30, 31 14, 16 19, 20 17 24 II 25 .to 27 ] .! eruata. In Pago 13, line 2, formats rend past. " 28, " 13, for on read in. " 78, " 12, for where read upon. * " 77, " 19, for i-iple read ripple. * In the line preceding this, reariiuj being a participle, sliouUl have been distinguished b}' italics. h\ page 23, line 22, the pru- noim you — " You are your uncle's nephew," has been allowed to appear prematurely, and the participle dress'd page 49 — "All in his armour dress'd" is liable to the same olyection ; so it will be necessary, in reading the exercises, to omit these lines. In poge 151, ««ccc(?(f is considered the active verb ; in page IGO, in the same connection, it is constj'ued as the neuter. This is one of those points that can only be decided by collecting and comparing the authorities on each side, which I have not yet been able tg do. 62 A 13. C. IX E. F. G. II. I. J. K. L.- N.- O.- r.- Q.- R.- s.- T.- KEY TO THE EXERCISES IN LANGUAGE. — Words expressing action. —Words expressing bt-iiig or possession. —Words expressing action, being, or possession— agents, subjects. — Verbs, tbeir nominative nouns expressed. — Verbs, their nominative nouns expressed and under.'stood. —Verbs in the infinitive. — Verbs, their nominative nouns anJ pronouns. —Verbs, &c. Names of qualities. -Verbs, &c. Names of qualities, adjectives. — Verbs, &c. Adjectives and adverbs.. —Verbs, &c. Participles. —Verbs, &c. Variations of verbs. — Verbs, &c. Action, transitive and intransitive. —Verbs, &c. This and that. —Verbs, &c. Objective case. —Verbs, &c. Possessive case. —Verbs, &c. Vocative case. —Verbs, &c. Variations of Nouns. -Verbs, &c. Variations of pronouns. —Verbs, &c. Apostrophe. 43 OriNIONS KESrrXTIXG TIIK SYSTEM DEVELorEl) IN THIS WOliK. From the Bishop of Toronto. 9th Xovemher, 1830 Ihavo road with much gratification p.ur Short Conversations m Gramnmr, an.l am qnite sati.lhnl that th. mu.lo you propose of teach.ngthat.-ior.co v>ill bo found a ^ruat improvcnu.nt. and will make it pk-asant and agreeable to children, instead of beini? dull uuj u-k:sume, as is at present too frequently the ease. Joiiv STrAcn.vx. From JIi,s Euston, Principul of the Female Seminar^;, Montreal. October 4, 1836. Aladum, T^ V . c , . ^ ^''"''' ^""*' ^^''^s«"»"S: "pon the nuUirc of tho English Subjunctive, and the application of its tenses, conclusive and It gn-cs mo plensun. to assure y,.u, that the change wldcli you purpose making will greatly facilitate the pupil's progress as It will simplify what has hitherto been almost too complex fo; explanation. I remain, &c. E. JI. Eastox. From Ale.r. Skuhef, A. M., Master oj the liojal Grammer School, Montreal 2\st November, \%iiQ. I have read with much -satisfaction the brief summary of the mode in which you propose to teach English Grammar. I think It a real improvement, as I am convinced that, by that method a knowledge of the science will be communicated with much more ease to the pupil, than in tho tedious, irksome way in which it U now taught. ^ "menu IS Alex. Skakel. From A. R Holmes, M.D. Montreal, 24th November, 1836. Your method, a. explained in the conversation I had'with vou Hpp.-.u'ed to me exceedingly simple, and, as employino- the think' ing powers of the child, decidedly superior to ^^hat"I believe is the ordinary method of learning by rote. There may be some difficulty, (which, however, you say, is not groat ), in ^etjin^- ,ho ehud s mind brought to understand how to look for th^ " doTn.^ or being word, but once that is conquered, it appears clear tint i\ 44 OPINIONS. the whole difficulty is surmounted, and the principles of Gram- mar may bo said to be acquired. So far, then, as I am capable of jud;j;ing, your method appears to me to be excellent; but how far superior to other modes I cannot say, from my want of acquaint- ance with the present state of education. A. F. Holmes. William II. Duff, Esq. Albany, 2d October, 1837. The perusal of your Elementary work on Language has affor- ded me sincere pleasure, m this science we have had too mucii theory, and have too long wanted something practical. Your plan appears to me to accomplish this desirable object. I have as you desired, laid it before General Dix, who, I am happy to say, entertains a very high opinion of it. W. 11. Duir. n. D .Barnard, Advocate. Albavy, 9lh October, 1837. I take this opportunity, in returning the IMS. you loft withrac, to express my hearty approval of the method of instruction which is proposed in these sheets. I am sure it is a great, and certainly it is a greatly needed impi'ovement. D. D. Barnakd. To William II. Duff, Esq. licv. Daniel Wilkie, L. L. D. Quebec, 31s< October, 1838. I have perused tlie papers which you left \\\i\\ me, on the sub- ject of English Grammar, with much satisfaction. I am also per- suaded that the mode of instruction exemplified in them, would, when reduced to practice, have the happiest tendency to arrest the attention of young persons, and to facilitate their progress in this important study. D. WiLKTE. Alex. Workman, Esq., Principal of the Union School Montreal, 26th February, 1838. I agree with you in your opinion relative to the Subjunctive Mood, and think yon have succeeded in elucidating that hitherto perplexing portion of English Grammar. A. Workman. les of Gram- Eim capable of ; but how f;tr i of acquaint- ' . Holmes. 1837. I go has affuv- md too miK'ii ["tical. Your ject. I have ira happy to , 11. DuiF. er, 1837. left with rac, miction which and certainly Barnard. obrr, 1838. ', on the sub- am also per- thera, would, icy to arrest ir progress iu ). WlLKfE. I Montreal, ; Subjunctive that hitherto IVORKMAN. oriNioxa. 45 I A. Campbell, W. S., late itf Edinburgh. Hamilton, 6th May, 1843. I have much pleasure iu being able to say that, so far as I can judge, I think highly of your method of teaching English Gram- mar, for the following reasons : 1. I think you have succeeded in reducing the first principles of the science to their simplest forms, so as to render them more easily understood by young minds. 2. Having so simplified the science, the understanding of the pupil is exercised in a salutary way as well as his memory. * * These, aniong other considerations, weigh \.ith me in vyish- ing to see your method in full operation in all the schools in the Province. I have the honor to be, etc., A. CAMrBELL. Mr. Willian. Tassie, Assistant Teacher of the District School. Hamilton, 6th May, 1843. Having had ample opportunities of becoming acquainted with Mrs. Fleming's system of English Grammar, I am fully satisfied of the great ac vantage to be derived from it. By seizing on the most prominent features of the science, and by inducing the child to think and give a reason for every thing, it simplifies and at once brings to the level of the capacity of the pupil its most diffi- cult parts; thus enabling the learner to acquire, in a very short space of time, what has hitherto been the study of years. W. Tassie, Rev. Alex. Gale. Hamilton, I5th May, 1843. Having becom? acquainted with your mode of teaching English Grammai', both iu your practical application of it in the process of instructing a class of pupils, and in the very distinct and satis- factory explanation of it contained in the Elementary work which you purpose to publish on the subject, I have no hesitation in saying that, in my opinion it is well worthy the attention of teach- ers, and that its introduction into our schools would greatly pro- mote the improvement of youthful learners. A. Gale. liev. Gamble GeJdess. Hamilton, 1 6th May, 1843. I have much pleasure n bearing testimony to the success with which you lately instructed a juvenile class in the District School iu the principles of English Grammar, on a new system of your f)wn invention, and whicl , I understnad, you intend to publish. The proficiency which your puj)ils— most of them boys about 46 OPINIOKS. /■ ii\ eight years old, and many of whom were perfectly ignorant of Grammar— exhibited, in the short space of six weeks, would have been incredible, had I not witnessed it with ray own eyes and ears. I have only to add, that I wish you every success in your praise-worthy endeavour to smooth the path of knowledge to the young beginner, and to render inviting and interesting a branch of education, which has ever been considered one of the driest and most repulsive. Gamble Geddes. Professor Caviphell, of Queen's College, Kingston, 5th July, 18A3. I have felt myself highly gratified by ilie perusal of the various sketches, which you submitted to me, on the subject of English Grammar, and the conveyance of instruction in that important and difficult branch of the education of the young, as well as by the conversations we have had on these topics. My own expe- rience agrees, with that of many others, in convincing me that of all the tasks which teachers and children have to encounter, les- sons in English Grammar are perhaps the greatest ; this arises partly, but only partly, from the nature of the subject, the great source of the difficulty is the mode of teaching, which, in an age of educational reform, has as yet received little or no improve- ment ; that you are well qualified to suggest such improvement, I can have no doubt, after observing the depth and originality of your mode of thinking on grammatical questions, and the evident marks of practical knowledge your conversation affords ; and I regret extremely that I have not enjoyed an opportunity of wit- nessing the working of your system. I sincerely desire that yon may receive every encouragement in the prosecution of your ben- evolent views. 1'. C. CAJiruELL. Extract from a letter from J. B. Meilleur, M. D., Superintendent of Education, Education Office {East,) Kingston, \Gth Juli/,l8'i3. I wish to be considered a subscriber for two copies, and if the mentioning my name can be of any service to your undertaking, I readily authorise you to say, that, having examined part of the work, I expressed a desire to see it published, especially as it is my principle to encourage Canadian publications, as much as is consistent with the progress of learning, and the cause of general education in the Province. I have the honour to be, etc. etc. J. B. Meilleuk. ignorant of 3, would have ivn eyes and ;cess in your viedge to the ing a branch of the driest 3 Geddes. f/i JmA/,1843. ol' the various !t of English lat important as well as by y own expe- ng rae that of jcounter, les- ; this arises cct, the great ich, in an age no impi'ove- iraprovement, originality of id the evident fords ; and I unity of wit- asire that yon 1 of yourben- Caju'bell. )uperinteti(lent yth Jul//, 1843. es, and if the undertaking, led part of the cially as it is as much as is use of general , etc. etc. Meilleuk.