This example clearly shows you the meaning and the proper use of the second future tense. The verb "shall have finished" implies a future action that will be completely finished, at or before the time of the other future event denoted by the phrase, "when my brother arrives."

NOTE. What is sometimes called the Inceptive future, is expressed thus, "I am going to write;" "I am about to write." Future time is also indicated by placing the infinitive present immediately after the indicative present of the verb to be; thus, "I am to write;" "Harrison is to be, or ought to be, commander in chief;" "Harrison is to command the army."

You may now read what is said respecting the moods and tenses several times over, and then you may learn to conjugate a verb. But, before you proceed to the conjugation of verbs, you will please to commit the following paragraph on the Auxiliary verbs and, also, the signs of the moods and tenses; and, in conjugating, you must pay particular attention to the manner in which these signs are applied.

OF THE AUXILIARY VERBS.

AUXILIARY or HELPING VERBS are those by the help of which the English verbs are principally conjugated. May, can, must, might, could, would, should, and shall, are always auxiliaries; do, be, have, and will, are sometimes auxiliaries, and sometimes principal verbs.

The use of the auxiliaries is shown in the following conjugation.

SIGNS OF THE MOODS.

The Indicative Mood is known by the sense, or by its having no sign, except in asking a question; as, "Who loves you?"

The conjunctions if, though, unless, except, whether, and lest, are generally signs of the Subjunctive; as, "If I love; unless I love," &c.

A verb is generally known to be in, the Imperative Mood by its agreeing with thou, or ye or you, understood; as, "Love virtue, and follow her steps;" that is, love thou, or love ye or you; follow thou, &c.

May, can, and must, might, could, would, and should, are signs of the Potential Mood; as, "I may love; I must love; I should love," &c.

To is the sign of the Infinitive; as, "To love, to smile, to hate, to walk."

SIGNS OF THE TENSES.

The first form of the verb is the sign of the present tense; as, love, smile, hate, walk.

Ed—the imperfect tense of regular verbs; as, loved, smiled, hated, walked.

Have—the perfect; as, have loved.

Had—the pluperfect; as, had loved. Shall or will—the first future; as, shall love, or will love; shall smile, will smile.

Shall or will have—the second future; as, shall have loved, or will have loved.

NOTE. There are some exceptions to these signs, which you will notice by referring to the conjugation in the potential mood.

Now, I hope you will so far consult your own ease and advantage, as to commit, perfectly, the signs of the moods and tenses before you proceed farther than to the subjunctive mood. If you do, the supposed Herculean task of learning to conjugate verbs, will be transformed into a few hours of pleasant pastime.

The Indicative Mood has six tenses. The Subjunctive has also six tenses. The Imperative has only one tense. The Potential has four tenses. The Infinitive has two tenses.

CONJUGATION OF VERBS.

The CONJUGATION of a verb is the regular combination and arrangement of its several numbers, persons, moods, and tenses.

The Conjugation of an active verb, is styled the active voice; and that of a passive verb, the passive voice.

Verbs are called Regular when they form their imperfect tense of the indicative mood, and their perfect participle, by adding to the present tense ed, or d only when the verb ends in e; as,

Pres. Tense. Imp. Tense. Perf. Participle I favor. I favored. favored. I love. I loved, loved.

A Regular Verb is conjugated in the following manner.

TO LOVE.—INDICATIVE MOOD.

Present Tense.

Singular. Plural. 1. Pers. I love, 1. We love, 2. Pers. Thou lovest, 2. Ye or you love, 3. Pers. He, she, or it, loveth 3. They love. or loves.

When we wish to express energy or positiveness, the auxiliary do should precede the verb in the present tense: thus,

Singular. Plural. 1. I do love, 1. We do love, 2. Thou dost love, 2. Ye or you do love, 3. He doth or does love. 3. They do love.

Imperfect Tense.

Singular. Plural. 1. I loved, 1. We loved, 2. Thou lovedst, 2. Ye or you loved, 3. He loved. 3. They loved.

Or by-prefixing did to the present: thus,

Singular. Plural. 1. I did love 1. We did love, 2. Thou didst love, 2. Ye or you did love, 3. He did love. 3. They did love.

Perfect Tense.

Singular. Plural. 1. I have loved, 1. We have loved, 2. Thou hast loved, 2. Ye or you have loved, 3. He hath or has loved. 3. They have loved.

Pluperfect Tense.

Singular. Plural. 1. I had loved, 1. We had loved, 2. Thou hadst loved, 2. Ye or you had loved, 3. He had loved. 3. They had loved.

First Future Tense.

Singular. Plural. 1. I shall or will love, 1. We shall or will love, 2. Thou shalt or wilt love, 2. Ye or you shall or will love, 3. He shall or will love, 3. They shall or will love.

Second Future Tense.

Singular. Plural. 1. I shall have loved, 1. We shall have loved, 2. Thou wilt have loved, 2. Ye or you will have loved, 3. He will have loved, 3. They will have loved.

NOTE. Tenses formed without auxiliaries, are called simple tenses; as, I love; I loved; but those formed by the help of auxiliaries, are denominated compound tenses; as, I have loved; I had loved, &c.

This display of the verb shows you, in the clearest light, the application of the signs of the tenses, which signs ought to be perfectly committed to memory before you proceed any farther. By looking again at the conjugation, you will notice, that have, placed before the perfect participle of any verb, forms the perfect tense; had, the pluperfect; shall or will, the first future, and so on.

Now speak each of the verbs, love, hate, walk, smile, rule, and conquer, in the first person of each tense in this mood, with the pronoun I before it; thus, indicative mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. I love; imperf. I loved; perf. I have loved; and so on, through all the tenses. If you learn thoroughly the conjugation of the verb in the indicative mood, you will find no difficulty in conjugating it through those that follow, for in the conjugation through all the moods, there is a great similarity.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

Present Tense, or elliptical future.—Conjunctive form.

Singular. Plural. 1. If I love, 1. If we love, 2. If thou love, 2. If ye or you love, 3. If he love. 3. If they love.

Look again at the conjugation in the indicative present, and you will observe, that the form of the verb differs from this form in the subjunctive. The verb in the present tense of this mood, does not vary its termination on account of number or person. This is called the conjunctive form of the verb; but sometimes the verb in the subjunctive mood, present tense, is conjugated in the same manner as it is in the indicative, with this exception, if, though, unless, or some other conjunction, is prefixed; as,

Indicative form.

Singular. Plural. 1. If I love, 1. If we love, 2. If thou lovest, 2. If ye or you love, 3. If he loves, 3. If they love.

The following general rule will direct you when to use the conjunctive form of the verb, and when the indicative. When a verb in the subjunctive mood, present tense, has a future signification, or a reference to future time, the conjunctive form should be used; as, "If thou prosper, thou shouldst be thankful;" "He will maintain his principles, though he lose his estate;" that is, If thou shalt or shouldst prosper; though he shall or should lose, &c. But when a verb in the subjunctive mood, present tense, has no reference to future time, the indicative form ought to be used; as, "Unless he means what he says, he is doubly faithless." By this you perceive, that when a verb in the present tense of the subjunctive mood, has a future signification, an auxiliary is always understood before it, for which reason, in this construction, the termination of the principal verb never varies; us, "He will not become eminent, unless he exert himself;" that is, unless he shall exert, or should exert himself. This tense of the subjunctive mood ought to be called the elliptical future.

The imperfect, the perfect, the pluperfect, and the first future tenses of this mood, are conjugated, in every respect, like the same tenses of the indicative, with this exception; in the subjunctive mood, a conjunction implying doubt, &c. is prefixed to the verb. In the second future tense of this mood, the verb is conjugated thus:

Second Future Tense.

Singular. Plural.

1. If I shall have loved, 1. If we shall have loved, 2. If thou shalt have loved, 2. If you shall have loved, 3. If he shall have loved. 3. If they shall have loved.

Look at the same tense in the indicative mood, and you will readily perceive the distinction between the two conjugations.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Singular. Plural. 2. Love, or love thou, or do 2. Love, or love ye or you, or thou love. do ye or you love.

NOTE. We cannot command, exhort, &c. either in past or future time; therefore a verb in this mood is always in the present tense.

POTENTIAL MOOD.

Present Tense.

Singular. Plural.

1. I may, can, or must love, 1. We may, can, or must love, 2. Thou mayst, canst, or must 2. Ye or you may, can, or love, must love, 3. He may, can, or must love. 3. They may, can, or must love.

Imperfect Tense.

Singular. Plural.

1. I might, could, would, or 1. We might, could, would, or should love, should love, 2. Thou mightst, couldst, 2. Ye or you might, could, wouldst, or shouldst love, would, or should love, 3. He might, could, would, or 3. They might, could, would, should love, or should love.

Perfect Tense.

Singular. Plural.

1. I may, can, or must have 1. We may, can, or must have loved, loved, 2. Thou mayst, canst, or must 2. Ye or you may, can, or have loved, must have loved, 3. He may, can, or must 3. They may, can, or must have loved. have loved.

Pluperfect Tense.

Singular. Plural.

1. I might, could, would, 1. We might, could, would, or should have loved, or should have loved, 2. Thou mightst, couldst, wouldst, 2. Ye or you might, could, or shouldst have loved, would, or should have loved, 3. He might, could, would, 3. They might, could, would, or should have loved, or should have loved.

By examining carefully the conjugation of the verb through this mood, you will find it very easy; thus, you will notice, that whenever any of the auxiliaries, may, can, or must, is placed before a verb, that verb is in the potential mood, present tense; might, could, would, or should, renders it in the potential mood, imperfect tense; may, can, or must have, the perfect tense; and might, could, would, or should have, the pluperfect tense.

INFINITIVE MOOD.

Pres. Tense. To love. Perf. Tense. To have loved.

PARTICIPLES.

Present or imperfect, Loving. Perfect or passive, Loved. Compound, Having loved.

NOTE. The perfect participle of a regular verb, corresponds exactly with the imperfect tense; yet the former may, at all times, be distinguished from the latter, by the following rule: In composition, the imperfect tense of a verb always has a nominative, either expressed or implied: the perfect participle never has.

For your encouragement, allow me to inform you, that when you shall have learned to conjugate the verb to love, you will be able to conjugate all the regular verbs in the English language, for they are all conjugated precisely in the same manner. By pursuing the following direction, you can, in a very short time, learn to conjugate any verb. Conjugate the verb love through all the moods and tenses, in the first person singular, with the pronoun I before it, and speak the Participles: thus, Indicative mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. I love, imperf. tense, I loved; perf. tense, I have loved; and so on, through every mood and tense. Then conjugate it in the second pers. sing, with the pronoun thou before it, through all the moods and tenses; thus, Indic. mood, pres. tense, second pers. sing, thou lovest; imperf. tense, thou lovedst; and so on, through the whole. After that, conjugate it in the third pers. sing, with he before it; and then in the first pers. plural, with we before it, in like manner through all the moods and tenses. Although this mode of procedure may, at first, appear to be laborious, yet, as it is necessary, I trust you will not hesitate to adopt it. My confidence in your perseverance, induces me to recommend any course which I know will tend to facilitate your progress.

When you shall have complied with my requisition, you may conjugate the following verbs in the same manner; which will enable you, hereafter, to tell the mood and tense of any verb without hesitation: walk, hate, smile, rule, conquer, reduce, relate, melt, shun, fail.

* * * * *

PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

The changes in the termination of words, in all languages, have been formed by the coalescence of words of appropriate meaning. This subject was approached on page 49. It is again taken up for the purpose of showing, that the moods and tenses, as well as the number and person, of English verbs, do not solely depend on inflection.

The coalescing syllables which form the number and person of the Hebrew verb, are still considered pronouns; and, by those who have investigated the subject, it is conceded, that the same plan has been adopted in the formation of the Latin and Greek verbs, as in the Hebrew. Some languages have carried this process to a very great extent. Ours is remarkable for the small number of its inflections. But they who reject the passive verb, and those moods and tenses which are formed by employing what are called "auxiliary verbs," because they are formed of two or more verbs, do not appear to reason soundly. It is inconsistent to admit, that walk-eth, and walk-ed, are tenses, because each is but one word, and to reject have walked, and will walk, as tenses, because each is composed of two words. Eth, as previously shown, is a contraction of doeth, or haveth, and ed, of dede, dodo, doed, or did; and, therefore, walk-eth; i.e. walk-doeth, or doeth-walk, and walk-ed; i.e. walk-did, or doed or did-walk, are, when analyzed, as strictly compound, as will walk, shall walk, and have walked. The only difference in the formation of these tenses, is, that in the two former, the associated verbs have been contracted and made to coalesce with the main verb, but in the two latter, they still maintain their ground as separate words.

If it be said that will walk is composed of two words, each of which conveys a distinct idea, and, therefore, should be analyzed by itself, the same argument with all its force, may be applied to walk-eth, walk-ed, walk-did, or did walk. The result of all the investigations of this subject, appears to settle down into the hackneyed truism, that the passive verbs, and the moods and tenses, of some languages, are formed by inflections, or terminations either prefixed or postfixed, and of other languages, by the association of auxiliary verbs, which have not yet been contracted and made to coalesce as terminations. The auxiliary, when contracted into a terminating syllable, retains its distinct and intrinsic meaning, as much as when associated with a verb by juxtaposition: consequently, an "auxiliary verb" may form a part of a mood or tense, or passive verb, with as much propriety as a terminating syllable. They who contend for the ancient custom of keeping the auxiliaries distinct, and parsing them as primary verbs, are, by the same principle, bound to extend their dissecting-knife to every compound word in the language.

Having thus attempted briefly to prove the philosophical accuracy of the theory which recognises the tenses, moods, and passive verbs, formed by the aid of auxiliaries, I shall now offer one argument to show that this theory, and this only, will subserve the purposes of the practical grammarian.

As it is not so much the province of philology to instruct in the exact meaning of single and separate words, as it is to teach the student to combine and employ them properly in framing sentences, and as those combinations which go by the name of compound tenses and passive verbs, are necessary in writing and discourse, it follows, conclusively, that that theory which does not explain these verbs in their combined state, cannot teach the student the correct use and application of the verbs of our language. By such an arrangement, he cannot learn when it is proper to use the phrases, shall have walked, might have gone, have seen, instead of, shall walk, might go, and saw; because this theory has nothing to do with the combining of verbs. If it be alleged, that the speaker or writer's own good sense must guide him in combining these verbs, and, therefore, that the directions of the grammarian are unnecessary, it must be recollected, that such an argument would bear, equally, against every principle of grammar whatever. In short, the theory of the compound tenses, and of the passive verb, appears to be so firmly based in the genius of our language, and so practically important to the student, as to defy all the engines of the paralogistic speculator, and the philosophical quibbler, to batter it down.

But the most plausible objection to the old theory is, that it is encumbered with much useless technicality and tedious prolixity, which are avoided by the simple process of exploding the passive verb, and reducing the number of the moods to three, and of the tenses to two. It is certain, however, that if we reject the names of the perfect, pluperfect, and future tenses, the names of the potential and subjunctive moods, and of the passive verb, in writing and discourse we must still employ those verbal combinations which form them; and it is equally certain, that the proper mode of employing such combinations, is as easily taught or learned by the old theory, which names them, as by the new, which gives them no name.

On philosophical principles, we might, perhaps, dispense with the future tenses of the verb, by analyzing each word separately; but, as illustrated on page 79, the combined words which form our perfect and pluperfect tenses have an associated meaning, which is destroyed by analyzing each word separately. That arrangement, therefore, which rejects these tenses, appears to be, not only unphilosophical, but inconsistent and inaccurate.

For the satisfaction of those teachers who prefer it, and for their adoption, too, a modernized philosophical theory of the moods and tenses is here presented. If it is not quite so convenient and useful as the old one, they need not hesitate to adopt it. It has the advantage of being new; and, moreover, it sounds large, and will make the commonalty stare. Let it be distinctly understood, that you teach "philosophical grammar, founded on reason and common sense," and you will pass for a very learned man, and make all the good housewives wonder at the rapid march of intellect, and the vast improvements of the age.

MOOD.

Verbs have three moods, the indicative, (embracing what is commonly included under the indicative, the subjunctive, and the potential,) the imperative, and the infinitive.—For definitions, refer to the body of the work.

TENSE OR TIME.

Verbs have only two tenses, the present and the past. A verb expressing action commenced and not completed, is in the present tense; as, "Religion soars: it has gained many victories: it will [to] carry its votaries to the blissful regions."

When a verb expresses finished action, it is in the past tense; as, "This page (the Bible) God hung out of heaven, and retired."

A verb in the imperative and infinitive moods, is always in the present tense, high authorities to the contrary notwithstanding. The command must necessarily be given in time present, although its fulfilment must be future. John, what are you doing? Learning my task. Why do you learn it? Because my preceptor commanded me to do so. When did he command you? Yesterday.—Not now, of course.

That it is inconsistent with the nature of things for a command to be given in future time, and that the fulfilment of the command, though future, has nothing to do with the tense or time of the command itself, are truths so plain as to put to the blush the gross absurdity of those who identify the time of the fulfilment with that of the command.

* * * * *

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

You may read the book which I have printed. May, an irregular active verb, signifying "to have and to exercise might or strength," indic. mood, pres. tense, second pers. plur. agreeing with its nom. you. Read, an irregular verb active, infinitive mood, pres. tense, with the sign to understood, referring to you as its agent. Have, an active verb, signifying to possess, indic. present, and having for its object, book understood after "which." Printed, a perf. participle, referring to book understood.

Johnson, and Blair, and Lowth, would have been laughed at, had they essayed to thrust any thing like our modernized philosophical grammar down the throats of their contemporaries.

Would, an active verb, signifying "to exercise volition," in the past tense of the indicative. Have, a verb, in the infinitive, to understood. Been, a perfect part. of to be, referring to Johnson, Blair, and Lowth. Laughed at, perf. part, of to laugh at, referring to the same as been. Had, active verb, in the past tense of the indicative, agreeing with its nom. they. Essayed, perf. part, referring to they. Call this "philosophical parsing, on reasoning principles, according to the original laws of nature and of thought," and the pill will be swallowed, by pedants and their dupes, with the greatest ease imaginable.

* * * * *

LECTURE XII.

OF IRREGULAR VERBS.

Irregular verbs are those that do not form their imperfect tense and perfect participle by the addition of d or ed to the present tense; as,

Pres. Tense. Imperf. Tense. Perf. or Pass. Part. I write I wrote written I begin I began begun I go I went gone

The following is a list of the irregular verbs. Those marked with an R are sometimes conjugated regularly.

Pres. Tense. Imperf. Tense. Perf. or Pass. Part. Abide abode abode Am was been Arise arose arisen Awake awoke, R. awaked Bear, to bring forth bare born Bear, to carry bore borne Beat beat beaten, beat Begin began begun Bend bent bent Bereave bereft, R. bereft, R. Beseech besought besought Bid bade, bid bidden, bid Bind bound bound Bite bit bitten, bit Bleed bled bled Blow blew blown Break broke broken Breed bred bred Bring brought brought Build built built Burst burst, R. burst, R. Buy bought bought Cast cast cast Catch caught, R. caught, R. Chide chid chidden, chid Choose chose chosen Cleave, to adhere clave, R. cleaved Cleave, to split cleft cleft, or clove cloven Cling clung clung Clothe clothed clad, R. Come came come Cost cost cost Crow crew, R. crowed Creep crept crept Cut cut cut Dare, to venture durst dared Dare, to challenge REGULAR Deal dealt, R. dealt, R. Dig dug, R. dug, R. Do did done Draw drew drawn Drive drove driven Drink drank drunk, drank[6] Dwell dwelt, R. dwelt, R. Eat eat, ate eaten Fall fell fallen Feed fed fed Feel felt felt Fight fought fought Find found found Flee fled fled Fling flung flung Fly flew flown Forget forgot forgotten Forsake forsook forsaken Freeze froze frozen Get got got[7] Gild gilt, R. gilt, R. Gird girt, R. girt, R. Give gave given Go went gone Grave graved graven, R. Grind ground ground Grow grew grown Have had had Hang hung, R. hung, R. Hear heard heard Hew hewed hewn, R. Hide hid hidden, hid Hit hit hit Hold held held Hurt hurt hurt Keep kept kept Knit knit, R. knit, R. Know knew known Lade laded laden Lay laid laid Lead led led Leave left left Lend lent lent Let let let Lie, to lie down lay lain Load loaded laden, R. Lose lost lost Make made made Meet met met Mow mowed mown, R. Pay paid paid Put put put Read read read Rend rent rent Rid rid rid Ride rode rode, ridden[8] Ring rung, rang rung Rise rose risen Rive rived riven Run ran run Saw sawed sawn, R. Say said said See saw seen Seek sought sought Sell sold sold Send sent sent Set set set Shake shook shaken Shape shaped shaped, shapen Shave shaved shaven, R. Shear sheared shorn Shed shed shed Shine shone, R. shone, R. Show showed shown Shoe shod shod Shoot shot shot Shrink shrunk shrunk Shred shred shred Shut shut shut Sing sung, sang[9] sung Sink sunk, sank[9] sunk Sit sat set Slay slew slain Sleep slept slept Slide slid slidden Sling slung slung Slink slunk slunk Slit slit, R. slit Smite smote smitten Sow sowed sown, R. Speak spoke spoken Speed sped sped Spend spent spent Spill spilt, R. spilt, R. Spin spun spun Spit spit, spat spit, spitten [10] Split split split Spread spread spread Spring sprung, sprang sprung Stand stood stood Steal stole stolen Stick stuck stuck Sting stung stung Stink stunk stunk Stride strode, strid stridden Strike struck struck or stricken String strung strung Strive strove striven Strow strowed strown, or or strowed or strew strewed strewed Sweat swet, R. swet, R. Swear swore sworn Swell swelled swollen, R. Swim swum, swam swum Swing swung swung Take took taken Teach taught taught Tear tore torn Tell told told Think thought thought Thrive throve, R. thriven Throw threw thrown Thrust thrust thrust Tread trod trodden Wax waxed waxen, R. Wear wore worn Weave wove woven Wet wet wet, R. Weep wept wept Win won won Wind wound wound Work wrought, wrought, worked worked Wring wrung wrung Write wrote written

[6] The men were drunk; i.e. inebriated. The toasts were drank.

[7] Gotten is nearly obsolete. Its compound forgotten, is still in good use.

[8] Ridden is nearly obsolete.

[9] Sang and sank should not be used in familiar style.

[10] Spitten is nearly obsolete.

In familiar writing and discourse, the following, and some other verbs, are often improperly terminated by t instead of ed; as, "learnt, spelt, spilt, stopt, latcht." They should be, "learned, spelled, spilled, stopped, latched."

You may now conjugate the following irregular verbs, in a manner similar to the conjugation of regular verbs: arise, begin, bind, do, go, grow, run, lend, teach, write. Thus, to arise—Indicative mood, pres. tense, first person, sing. I arise; imperf. tense, I arose; perf. tense, I have arisen, and so on, through all the moods, and all the tenses of each mood; and then speak the participles: thus, pres. arising, perf. arisen, comp. having arisen. In the next place, conjugate the same verb in the second person sing. through all the moods and tenses; and then in the third person sing. and in the first pers. plural. After that, you may proceed in the same manner with the words begin, bind, &c.

Now read the eleventh and twelfth lectures four or five times over, and learn the order of parsing a verb. You will then be prepared to parse the following verbs in full; and I presume, all the other parts of speech. Whenever you parse, you must refer to the Compendium for definitions and rules, if you cannot repeat them without, I will now parse a verb, and describe all its properties by applying the definitions and rules according to the systematic order.

"We could not accomplish the business."

Could accomplish is a verb, a word which signifies to do—active, it expresses action—transitive, the action passes over from the nom. "we" to the object "business"—regular, it will form its imperfect tense of the indic. mood and perf. part, in ed—potential mood, it implies possibility or power—imperfect tense, it denotes past time however distant—first pers. plural, because the nom. "we" is with which it agrees, agreeably to RULE 4. A verb must agree, &c. Conjugated—Indic. mood, present tense, first pers. sing. I accomplish; imperfect tense, I accomplished; perfect, I have accomplished; pluperfect, I had accomplished; and so on.—Speak it in the person of each tense through all the moods, and conjugate, in the same manner, every verb you parse.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

These exercises contain a complete variety of Moods and Tenses.

I learn my lesson well. Charles, thou learnest thy lesson badly. John, do you write a good hand? Those ladies wrote a beautiful letter, but they did not despatch it. Have you seen the gentleman to whom I gave the book? He has gone. They had received the news before the messenger arrived. When will those persons return? My friend shall receive his reward. He will have visited me three times, if he come to-morrow.

If Eliza study diligently, she will improve. If Charles studies he does not improve. Unless that man shall have accomplished his work, by midsummer, he will receive no wages. Orlando, obey my precepts, unless you wish to injure yourself. Remember what is told you. The physician may administer the medicine, but Providence only can bless it. I told, him that he might go, but he would not. He might have gone last week, had he conducted himself properly; (that is, if he had conducted, &c.) Boys, prepare to recite your lessons. Young ladies, let me hear you repeat what you have learned. Study, diligently, whatever task may be allotted to you. To correct the spirit of discontent, let us consider how little we deserve. To die for one's country, is glorious. How can we become wise? To seek God is wisdom. What is true greatness? Active benevolence. A good man is a great man.

NOTE 1. Man, following great, and what, in the last two examples, are nom. after is: RULE 21. To seek God, and to die for one's country, are members of sentences, each put as the nom. case to is respectively: RULE 24. The verb to correct is the infinitive mood absolute: NOTE under RULE 23. May be allotted is a passive verb, agreeing with which, the relative part of whatever. That, the first part of whatever, is an adj. pronoun, agreeing with task; and task is governed by study. Hear, following let, and repeat, following hear, are in the infinitive mood without the sign to, according to RULE 25. To recite is governed by prepare: RULE 23. Is told, is a passive verb, agreeing with which, the relative part of whatever; and you, following, is governed by to understood: NOTE 1, under RULE 32.

2. In parsing a pronoun, if the noun for which it stands is not expressed, you must say it represents some person or thing understood.

LECTURE XIII.

OF THE AUXILIARY, PASSIVE, AND DEFECTIVE VERBS.

I. AUXILIARY VERBS.

Before you attend to the following additional remarks on the Auxiliary Verbs, you will do well to read again what is said respecting them in Lecture XI. page 140. The short account there given, and their application in conjugating verbs, have already made them quite familiar to you; and you have undoubtedly observed, that, without their help, we cannot conjugate any verb in any of the tenses, except the present and imperfect of the indicative and subjunctive moods, and the present of the imperative and infinitive. In the formation of all the other tenses, they are brought into requisition.

Most of the auxiliary verbs are defective in conjugation; that is, they are used only in some of the moods and tenses; and when unconnected with principal verbs, they are conjugated in the following manner:

MAY. Pres. Tense Sing. I may, thou mayst, he may. Plur. We may, ye or you may, they may.

Imperf. Sing. I might, thou mightst, he might. Tense. Plur. We might, ye or you might, they might.

CAN. Pres. Sing. I can, thou canst, he can. Tense. Plur. We can, ye or you can, they can.

Imperf. Sing. I could, thou couldst, he could. Tense. Plur. We could, ye or you could, they could.

WILL. Pres. Sing. I will, thou wilt, he will. Tense. Plur. We will, ye or you will, they will.

Imperf. Sing. I would, thou wouldst, he would. Tense. Plur. We would, ye or you would, they would.

SHALL. Pres. Sing. I shall, thou shalt, he shall. Tense. Plur. We shall, ye or you shall, they shall.

Imperf. Sing. I should, thou shouldst, he should. Tense. Plur. We should, ye or you should, they should.

TO DO. Pres. Sing. I do, thou dost or doest, he doth or does. Tense. Plur. We do, ye or you do, they do.

Imperf. Sing. I did, thou didst, he did. Tense. Plur. We did, ye or you did, they did. Participles. Pres. doing. Perf. done.

TO BE. Pres. Sing. I am, thou art, he is. Tense. Plur. We are, ye or you are, they are.

Imperf. Sing. I was, thou wast, he was. Tense. Plur. We were, ye or you were, they were. Participles. Pres. being. Perf. been.

TO HAVE. Pres. Sing. I have, thou hast, he hath or has. Tense. Plur. We have, ye or you have, they have.

Imperf. Sing. I had, thou hadst, he had. Tense. Plur. We had, ye or you had, they had. Participles. Pres. having. Perf. had.

Do, be, have, and will, are sometimes used as principal verbs; and when employed as such, do, be, and have, may be conjugated, by the help of other auxiliaries, through all the moods and tenses.

DO. The different tenses of do, in the several moods, are thus formed: Indicative mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. I do; imperfect tense, I did; perf. I have done; pluperfect, I had done; first future, I shall or will do; sec. fut. I shall have done. Subjunctive mood, pres. tense, If I do; imperf. if I did; and so on. Imperative mood, do thou. Potential, pres. I may, can, or must do, &c. Infinitive, present, to do; perf. to have done. Participles, pres. doing; perf. done; compound, having done.

HAVE. Have is in great demand. No verb can be conjugated through all the moods and tenses without it. Have, when used as a principal verb, is doubled in some of the past tenses, and becomes an auxiliary to itself; thus, Indic. mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. I have; imperf. tense, I had; perf. I have had; pluperf. I had had; first fut. I shall or will have; sec. fut. I shall have had. Subjunctive, present, if I have; imperf. if I had; perf. if I have had; pluperf. if I had had; first fut. if I shall or will have; sec. fut. if I shall have had. Imper. mood, have thou. Potential, present, I may, can, or must have; imperf. I might, could, would, or should have; perf. I may, can, or must have had; pluperf. I might, could, would, or should have had. Infinitive, present, to have; perf. to have had. Participles, pres. having; perf. had; compound, having had.

BE. In the next place I will present to you the conjugation of the irregular, neuter verb, Be, which is an auxiliary whenever it is placed before the perfect participle of another verb, but in every other situation, it is a principal verb.

TO BE.—INDICATIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense. Sing. I am, thou art, he, she, or it is. Plur. We are, ye or you are, they are.

Imperf. Tense. Sing. I was, thou wast, he was. Plur. We were, ye or you were, they were.

Perf. Tense. Sing. I have been, thou hast been, he hath or has been. Plur. We have been, ye or you have been, they have been.

Plup. Tense. Sing. I had been, thou hadst been, he had been. Plur. We had been, ye or you had been, they had been.

First Fut. T. Sing, I shall or will be, thou shalt or wilt be, he shall or will be. Plur. We shall or will be, you shall or will be, they shall or will be.

Second Fut. T. Sing. I shall have been, thou wilt have been, he will have been. Plur. We shall have been, you will have been, they will have been.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense. Sing. If I be, if thou be, if he be. Plur. If we be, if ye or you be, if they be.

Imperf. Tense. Sing. If I were, if thou wert, if he were. Plur. If we were, if ye or you were, if they were.

The neuter verb to be, and all passive verbs, have two forms in the imperfect tense of this mood, as well as in the present; therefore, the following rule may serve to direct you in the proper use of each form. When the sentence implies doubt, supposition, &c. and the neuter verb be, or the passive verb, is used with a reference to present or future time, and is either followed or preceded by another verb in the imperfect of the potential mood, the conjunctive form of the imperfect tense must be employed; as, "If he were here, we should rejoice together;" "She might go, were she so disposed." But when there is no reference to present or future time, and the verb is neither followed nor preceded by another in the potential imperfect, the indicative form of the imperfect tense must be used; as, "If he was ill, he did not make it known;" "Whether he was absent or present, is a matter of no consequence." The general rule for using the conjunctive form of the verb, is presented on page 145. See, also, page 135.

The perfect, pluperfect, and first future tenses of the subjunctive mood, are conjugated in a manner similar to the correspondent tenses of the indicative. The second future is conjugated thus:

Second Fut. T. Sing. If I shall have been, if thou shalt have been, if he shall. &c Plur. If we shall have been, if you shall have been, if they, &c.

IMPERATIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense. Sing. Be, or be thou, or do thou be. Plur. Be, or be ye or you, or do ye or you be.

POTENTIAL MOOD. Pres. Tense Sing. I may, can, or must be, thou mayst, canst, or must be, he may, can, or must be. Plur. We may, can, or must be, ye or you may, can, or must be, they may, can, or must be. Imperf. Tense. Sing. I might, could, would, or should be, thou mightest, &c. Plur. We might, could, would, or should be, you might, &c.

Perf. Tense Sing. I may, can, or must have been, thou mayst, canst, &c. Plur. We may, can, or must have been, you may, can, or must be, &c.

Pluper. Tense. Sing. I might, could, would, or should have been, thou, &c. Plur. We might, could, would, or should have been, you, &c.

INFINITIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense. To be. Perf. Tense. To have been.

PARTICIPLES. Pres. Being. Perf. Been. Compound, Having been.

This verb to be, though very irregular in its conjugation, is by far the most important verb in our language, for it is more frequently used than any other; many rules of syntax depend on constructions associated with it, and, without its aid, no passive verb can be conjugated. You ought, therefore, to make yourself perfectly familiar with all its changes, before you proceed any farther.

* * * * *

II. PASSIVE VERBS.

The cases of nouns are a fruitful theme for investigation and discussion. In the progress of these lectures, this subject has frequently engaged our attention; and, now, in introducing to your notice the passive verb, it will, perhaps, be found both interesting and profitable to present one more view of the nominative case.

Every sentence, you recollect, must have one finite verb, or more than one, and one nominative, either expressed or implied, for, without them, no sentence can exist.

The nominative is the actor or subject concerning which the verb makes an affirmation. There are three kinds of nominatives, active, passive, and neuter.

The nominative to an active verb, is active, because it produces an action, and the nominative to a passive verb, is passive, because it receives or endures the action expressed by the verb; for,

A Passive Verb denotes action received or endured by the person or thing which is the nominative; as, "The boy is beaten by his father."

You perceive, that the nominative boy, in this example, is not represented as the actor, but as the object of the action expressed by the verb is beaten; that is, the boy receives or endures the action performed by his father; therefore boy is a passive nominative. And you observe, too, that the verb is beaten, denotes the action received or endured by the nominative; therefore is beaten is a passive verb.

If I say, John kicked the horse, John is an active nominative, because he performed or produced the action; but if I say, John was kicked by the horse, John is a passive nominative, because he received or endured the action.

The nominative to a neuter verb, is neuter, because it does not produce an action nor receive one; as, John sits in the chair. John is here connected with the neuter verb sits, which expresses simply the state of being of its nominative, therefore John is a neuter nominative.

I will now illustrate the active, passive, and neuter nominatives by a few examples.

I. Of ACTIVE NOMINATIVES; as, "The boy beats the dog; The lady sings; The ball rolls; The man walks."

II. Of PASSIVE NOMINATIVES; as, "The boy is beaten; The lady is loved; The ball is rolled; The man was killed."

III. Of NEUTER NOMINATIVES; as, "The boy remains idle; The lady is beautiful; The ball lies on the ground; The man lives in town." You may now proceed to the conjugation of passive verbs.

Passive Verbs are called regular when they end in ed; as, was loved; was conquered.

All Passive Verbs are formed by adding the perfect participle of an active-transitive verb, to the neuter verb to be.

If you place a perfect participle of an active-transitive verb after this neuter verb be, in any mood or tense, you will have a passive verb in the same mood and tense that the verb be would be in if the participle were not used; as, I am slighted; I was slighted; he will be slighted; If I be slighted; I may, can, or must be slighted, &c. Hence you perceive, that when you shall have learned the conjugation of the verb be, you will be able to conjugate any passive verb in the English language.

The regular passive verb to be loved, which is formed by adding the perfect participle loved to the neuter verb to be, is conjugated in the following manner:

TO BE LOVED.—INDICATIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense Sing. I am loved, thou art loved, he is loved. Plur. We are loved, ye or you are loved, they are loved.

Imperf. Tense. Sing. I was loved, thou wast loved, he was loved. Plur. We were loved, ye or you were loved, they were loved.

Perfect Tense. Sing. I have been loved, thou hast been loved, he has been loved. Plur. We have been loved, you have been loved, they have, &c.

Pluper. Tense Sing. I had been loved, thou hadst been loved, he had been, &c. Plur. We had been loved, you had been loved, they had been, &c.

First Future. Sing. I shall or will be loved, thou shall or wilt be loved, he, &c. Plur. We shall or will be loved, you shall or will be loved, they, &c.

First Future. Sing. I shall have been loved, thou wilt have been loved, he, &c. Plur. We shall have been loved, you will have been loved, &c.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense Sing. If I be loved, if thou be loved, if he be loved. Plur. If we be loved, if ye or you be loved, if they be loved.

Imperf. Tense. Sing. If I were loved, if thou wert loved, if he were loved. Plur. If we were loved, if you were loved, if they were loved.

This mood has six tenses:—See conjugation of the verb to be.

IMPERATIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense. Sing. Be thou loved, or do thou be loved. Plur. Be ye or you loved, or do ye be loved.

POTENTIAL MOOD. Pres. Tense. Sing. I may, can, or must be loved, thou mayst, canst, or must, &c. Plur. We may, can, or must be loved, you may, can, or must, &c.

Imperf. Tense. Sing. I might, could, would, or should be loved, thou mightst, &c. Plur. We might, could, would, or should be loved, ye or you, &c.

Perfect Tense. Sing. I may, can, or must have been loved, thou mayst, canst, &c. Plur. We may, can, or must have been loved, you may, can, &c.

Plup. Tense. Sing. I might, could, would, or should have been loved, thou mightst, couldst, wouldst, or shouldst have Plur. We might, could, would, or should have been loved, you might, could, would, or should have been loved, they, &c.

INFINITIVE MOOD. Pres. Tense. To be loved. Perf. Tense. To have been loved.

PARTICIPLES. Present, Being loved. Perfect or Passive, Loved. Compound, Having been loved.

NOTE. This conjugation of the passive verb to be loved, is called the passive, voice of the regular active-transitive verb to love.

Now conjugate the following passive verbs; that is, speak them in the first pers. sing, and plur. of each tense, through all the moods, and speak the participles; "to be loved, to be rejected, to be slighted, to be conquered, to be seen, to be beaten, to be sought, to be taken."

NOTE 1. When the perfect participle of an _intransitive_ verb is joined to the neuter verb _to be_, the combination is not a passive verb, but a _neuter_ verb in a _passive form_; as, "He _is gone_; The birds _are flown_; The boy _is_ grown_; My friend _is arrived_." The following mode of construction, is, in general, to be preferred; "He _has_ gone; The birds _have_ flown; The boy _has_ grown; My Friend _has_ arrived."

2. Active and neuter verbs may be conjugated by adding their present participle to the auxiliary verb to be, through all its variations; as, instead of, I teach, thou teachest, he teaches, &c., we may say, I am teaching, thou art teaching, he is teaching, &c.; and, instead of, I taught, &c.; I was teaching, &c. This mode of conjugation expresses the continuation of an action or state of being; and has, on some occasions, a peculiar propriety, and contributes to the harmony and precision of language. When the present participle of an active verb is joined with the neuter verb to be, the two words united, are, by some grammarians, denominated an active verb, either transitive or intransitive, as the case may be; as, "I am writing a letter; He is walking:" and when the present participle of a neuter verb is thus employed, they term the combination a neuter verb; as, "I am sitting; He is standing." Others, in constructions like these, parse each word separately. Either mode may be adopted.

* * * * *

III. DEFECTIVE VERBS.

DEFECTIVE VERBS are those which are used only in some of the moods and tenses.

The principal of them are these.

Pres. Tense. Imperf. Tense. Perfect or Passive Participle is wanting.

May, might. —————— Can, could. —————— Will, would. —————— Shall, should. —————— Must, must. —————— Ought, ought. —————— ——- quoth. ——————

NOTE. Must and ought are not varied. Ought and quoth are never used as auxiliaries. Ought is always followed by a verb in the infinitive mood, which verb determines its tenses. Ought is in the present tense when the infinitive following it is in the present; as, "He ought to do it;" and ought is in the imperfect tense when followed by the perfect of the infinitive; as, "He ought to have done it."

Before you proceed to the analysis of the following examples, you may read over the last three lectures carefully and attentively; and as soon as you become acquainted with all that has been presented, you will understand nearly all the principles and regular constructions of our language. In parsing a verb, or any other part of speech, be careful to pursue the systematic order, and to conjugate every verb until you become familiar with all the moods and tenses.

"He should have been punished before he committed that atrocious deed."

Should have been punished is a verb, a word that signifies to do—passive, it denotes action received or endured by the nom.—it is formed by adding the perfect part, punished to the neuter verb to be—regular, the perf. part, ends in ed—potential mood, it implies obligation, &c.—pluperfect tense, it denotes a past act which was prior to the other past time specified by "committed"—third pers. sing. num. because the nom. "he" is with which it agrees: RULE 4. The verb must agree, &c.—Conjugated, Indic. mood, pres. tense, he is punished; imperf. tense, he was punished; perf. tense, he has been punished; and so on. Conjugate it through all the moods and tenses, and speak the participles.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Columbus discovered America. America was discovered by Columbus. The preceptor is writing a letter. The letter is written by the preceptor. The work can be done. The house would have been built ere this, had he fulfilled his promise. If I be beaten by that man, he will be punished. Young man, if you wish to be respected, you must be more assiduous. Being ridiculed and despised, he left the institution. He is reading Homer. They are talking. He may be respected, if he become more ingenuous. My worthy friend ought to be honored for his benevolent deeds. This ought ye to have done.

ADDITIONAL EXERCISES IN PARSING.

All the most important principles of the science, together with many of the rules, have now been presented and illustrated. But before you proceed to analyze the following exercises, you may turn over a few pages, and you will find all the rules presented in a body. Please to examine them critically, and parse the examples under each rule and note. The examples, you will notice, are given to illustrate the respective rules and notes under which they are placed; hence, by paying particular attention to them, you will be enabled fully and clearly to comprehend the meaning and application of all the rules and notes.

As soon as you become familiarly acquainted with all the definitions so that you can apply them with facility, you may omit them in parsing; but you must always apply the rules of Syntax. When you parse without applying the definitions, you may proceed in the following manner:

"Mercy is the true badge of nobility."

Mercy is a noun common, of the neuter gender, third person, singular number, and in the nominative case to "is:" RULE 3. The nominative case governs the verb.

Is is an irregular neuter verb, indicative mood, present tense, third person, singular number, agreeing with "mercy," according to RULE 4. The verb must agree, &c.

The is a definite article, belonging to "badge," in the singular number: RULE 2. The definite article the, &c.

True is an adjective in the positive degree, and belongs to the noun "badge:" RULE 18. Adjectives belong, &c.

Badge is a noun com. neuter gender, third person, singular number, and in the nominative case after "is," and put by apposition with "mercy," according to RULE 21. The verb to be may have the same case after it as before it.

Of is a preposition, connecting "badge" and "nobility," and showing the relation between them.

Nobility is a noun of multitude, mas. and fem. gender, third person, sing, and in the obj. case, and governed by "of:" RULE 31. Prepositions govern the objective case.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Learn to unlearn what you have learned amiss.

What I forfeit for myself is a trifle; that my indiscretions should reach my posterity, wounds me to the heart.

Lady Jane Gray fell a sacrifice to the wild ambition of the duke of Northumberland.

King Missipsi charged his sons to consider the senate and people of Rome as proprietors of the kingdom of Numidia.

Hazael smote the children of Israel in all their coasts; and from what is left on record of his actions, he plainly appears to have proved, what the prophet foresaw him to be, a man of violence, cruelty, and blood.

Heaven hides from brutes what men, from men what spirits know.

He that formed the ear, can he not hear?

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

NOTE 1. Learn, in the first of the preceding examples, is a transitive verb, because the action passes over from the nom. you understood, to the rest of the sentence for its object: RULE 24. In the next example, that my indiscretions should reach my posterity, is a part of a sentence put as the nominative to the verb wounds, according to the same Rule.

2. The noun sacrifice, in the third example, is nom. after the active-intransitive verb fell: RULE 22. The noun proprietors, in the next sentence, is in the objective case, and put by apposition with senate and people: RULE 7, or governed by consider, understood, according to RULE 35.

3. In the fifth example, what, following proved, is a compound relative. Thing, the antecedent part, is in the nom. case after to be, understood, and put by apposition with he, according to RULE 21, and NOTE. Which, the relative part, is in the obj. case after to be expressed, and put by apposition with him, according to the same RULE. Man is in the obj. case, put by apposition with which: RULE 7. The latter part of the sentence may be literally rendered thus: He plainly appears to have proved to be that base character which the prophet foresaw him to be, viz. a man of violence, cruelty, and blood. The antecedent part of the first what, in the next sentence, is governed by hides; and which, the relative part, is governed by know understood. The antecedent part of the second what, is governed by hides understood, and the relative part is governed by know expressed.

4. The first he, in the seventh example, is, in the opinion of some, nom. to can hear understood; but Mr. N.R. Smith, a distinguished and acute grammarian, suggests the propriety of rendering the sentence thus; "He that formed the ear, formed it to hear; can he not hear?" The first he, in the last example, is redundant; yet the construction is sometimes admissible, for the expression is more forcible than it would be to say, "Let him hear who hath ears to hear;" and if we adopt the ingenious method of Mr. Smith, the sentence is grammatical, and may be rendered thus; "He that hath ears, hath ears to hear; let him hear."

EXERCISES IN PARSING. Idioms, anomalies, and intricacies.

1. "The wall is three feet high." 2. "His son is eight years old." 3. "My knife is worth a shilling." 4. "She is worth him and all his connexions." 5. "He has been there three times." 6. "The hat cost ten dollars." 7. "The load weighs a tun." 8. "The spar measures ninety feet."

REMARKS.—Anomaly is derived from the Greek, a, without, and omales, similar; that is, without similarity. Some give its derivation thus; anomaly, from the Latin, ab, from, or out of, and norma, a rule, or law, means an outlaw; a mode of expression that departs from the rules, laws, or general usages of the language; a construction in language peculiar to itself. Thus, it is a general rule of the language, that adjectives of one syllable are compared by adding r, or er, and st, or est, to the positive degree; but good, better, best; bad, worse, worst, are not compared according to the general rule. They are, therefore, anomalies. The plural number of nouns is generally formed by adding s to the singular: man, men; woman, women; child, children; penny, pence, are anomalies. The use of news, means, alms and amends, in the singular, constitutes anomalies. Anomalous constructions are correct according to custom; but, as they are departures from general rules, by them they cannot be analyzed.

An idiom, Latin idioma, a construction peculiar to a language, may be an anomaly, or it may not. An idiomatical expression which is not an anomaly, can be analyzed.

Feet and years, in the 1st and 2d examples, are not in the nominative after is, according to Rule 21, because they are not in apposition with the respective nouns that precede the verb; but the constructions are anomalous; and, therefore, no rule can be applied to analyze them. The same ideas, however; can be conveyed by a legitimate construction which can be analyzed; thus, "The height of the wall is three feet;" "The age of my son is eight years."

An anomaly, when ascertained to be such, is easily disposed of; but sometimes it is very difficult to decide whether a construction is anomalous or not. The 3d, 4th, and 5th examples, are generally considered anomalies; but if we supply, as we are, perhaps, warranted in doing, the associated words which modern refinement has dropped, they will cease to be anomalies; thus, "My knife is of the worth of a shilling;" "—of the worth of him," &c. "He has been there for three times;" as we say, "I was unwell for three days, after I arrived;" or, "I was unwell three days." Thus it appears, that by tracing back, for a few centuries, what the merely modern English scholar supposes to be an anomaly, an ellipsis will frequently be discovered, which, when supplied, destroys the anomaly.

On extreme points, and peculiar and varying constructions in a living language, the most able philologists can never be agreed; because many usages will always be unsettled and fluctuating, and will, consequently, be disposed of according to the caprice of the grammarian. By some, a sentence may be treated as an anomaly; by others who contend for, and supply, an ellipsis, the same sentence may be analyzed according to the ellipsis supplied; whilst others, who deny both the elliptical and anomalous character of the sentence, construct a rule by which to analyze it, which rule has for its foundation the principle contained in that sentence only. This last mode of procedure, inasmuch as it requires us to make a rule for every peculiar construction in the language, appears to me to be the most exceptionable of the three. It appears to be multiplying rules beyond the bounds of utility.

The verbs, cost, weighs, and measures, in the 6th, 7th, and 8th examples, may be considered as transitive. See remarks on resemble, have, own, &c., page 56.

EXAMPLES.

1. "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." "Let us make man." "Let us bow before the Lord." "Let high-born seraphs tune the lyre."

2. "Be it enacted." "Be it remembered." "Blessed be he that blesseth thee; and cursed be he that curseth thee." "My soul, turn from them:—turn we to survey," &c.

3. "Methinks I see the portals of eternity wide open to receive him." "Methought I was incarcerated beneath the mighty deep." "I was there just thirty years ago."

4. "Their laws and their manners, generally speaking, were extremely rude." "Considering their means, they have effected much."

5.

"Ah me! nor hope nor life remains." "Me miserable! which way shall I fly?"

6.

"O happiness! our being's end and aim! Good, pleasure, ease, content! whatever thy name, That something still which prompts th' eternal sigh. For which we bear to live, or dare to die."—

The verb let, in the idiomatic examples under number 1, has no nominative specified, and is left applicable to a nominative of the first, second, or third person, and of either number. Every action necessarily depends on an agent or moving cause; and hence it follows, that the verb, in such constructions, has a nominative understood; but as that nominative is not particularly pointed out, the constructions may be considered anomalous.

Instead of saying, "Let it [to] be enacted;" or, "It is or shall be enacted;" "Let him [to] be blessed;" or, "He shall be blessed;" "Let us turn to survey," &c.; the verbs, be enacted, be blessed, turn, &c. according to an idiom of our language, or the poet's license, are used in the imperative, agreeing with a nominative of the first or third person.

The phrases, methinks and methought, are anomalies, in which the objective pronoun me, in the first person, is used in place of a nominative, and takes a verb after it in the third person. Him was anciently used in the same manner; as, "him thute, him thought." There was a period when these constructions were not anomalies in our language. Formerly, what we call the objective cases of our pronouns, were employed in the same manner as our present nominatives are. Ago is a contraction of agone, the past part. of to go. Before this participle was contracted to an adverb, the noun years preceding it, was in the nominative case absolute; but now the construction amounts to an anomaly. The expressions, "generally speaking," and "considering their means," under number 4, are idiomatical and anomalous, the subjects to the participles not being specified.

According to the genius of the English language, transitive verbs and prepositions require the objective case of a noun or pronoun after them; and this requisition is all that is meant by government, when we say, that these parts of speech govern the objective case. See pages 52, 57, and 94. The same principle applies to the interjection. Interjections require the objective case of a pronoun of the first person after them; but the nominative of a noun or pronoun of the second or third person; as, "Ah me! Oh thou! O my country!" To say, then, that interjections require particular cases after them, is synonymous with saying, that they govern those cases; and this office of the interjection is in perfect accordance with that which it performs in the Latin and many other languages. In the examples under number 5, the first me is in the objective after "ah," and the second me, after ah understood; thus, "Ah miserable me!" according to NOTE 2, under Rule 5.—Happiness, under number 6, is nom. independent; Rule 5, or in the nom. after O, according to this Note. The principle contained in the note, proves that every noun of the second person is in the nominative case; for, as the pronoun of the second person, in such a situation, is always nominative, which is shown by its form, it logically follows that the noun, under such circumstances, although it has no form to show its case, must necessarily be in the same case as the pronoun. "Good, pleasure, ease, content, that," the antecedent part of "whatever," and which, the relative part, are nom. after art understood; Rule 21, and name is nom. to be understood.

The second line may be rendered thus; Whether thou art good, or whether thou art pleasure, &c. or be thy name that [thing] which [ever thing] it may be: putting be in the imperative, agreeing with name in the third person. Something is nominative after art understood.

EXAMPLES.

1. "All were well but the stranger." "I saw nobody but the stranger." "All had returned but he." "None but the brave deserve the fair." "The thing they can't but purpose, they postpone." "This life, at best, is but a dream." "It affords but a scanty measure of enjoyment." "If he but touch the hills, they will smoke." "Man is but a reed, floating on the current of time."

2. "Notwithstanding his poverty, he is content."

3. "Open your hand wide." "The apples boil soft." "The purest clay is that which burns white." "Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring."

4. "What though the swelling surge thou see?" &c. "What if the foot, ordain'd the dust to tread?" &c.

REMARKS.—According to the principle of analysis assumed by many of our most critical philologists, but is always a disjunctive conjunction; and agreeably to the same authorities, to construe it, in any case, as a preposition, would lead to error. See false Syntax under Rule 35. They maintain, that its legitimate and undeviating office is, to join on a member of a sentence which expresses opposition of meaning, and thereby forms an exception to, or takes from the universality of, the proposition contained in the preceding member of the sentence. That it sustains its true character as a conjunction in all the examples under number 1, will be shown by the following resolution of them.—"All were well but the stranger [was not well."] "I saw nobody but [I saw] the stranger." "None deserve the fair but the brave [deserve the fair."] "They postpone the thing which [they ought to do, and do not] but which [thing] they cannot avoid purposing to do." "This life, at best, [is not a reality,] but it is a dream. It [affords not unbounded fruition] but it affords a scanty measure of enjoyment." "If he touch the hills, but exert no greater power upon them, they will smoke;"—"If he exert no greater power upon the hills, but [be-out this fact] if he touch them, they will smoke." "Man is not a stable being, but he is a reed, floating on the current of time." This method of analyzing sentences, however, if I mistake not, is too much on the plan of our pretended philosophical writers, who, in their rage for ancient constructions and combinations, often overlook the modern associated meaning and application of this word. It appears to me to be more consistent with the modern use of the word, to consider it an adverb in constructions like the following: "If he but (only, merely) touch the hills they will smoke."

Except and near, in examples like the following, are generally construed as prepositions: "All went except him;" "She stands near them." But many contend, that when we employ but instead of except, in such constructions, a nominative should follow: "All went but he [did not go."] On this point and many others, custom is variable; but the period will doubtless arrive, when but, worth, and like, will be considered prepositions, and, in constructions like the foregoing, invariably be followed by an objective case. This will not be the case, however, until the practice of supplying an ellipsis after these words is entirely dropped.

Poverty, under number 2, is governed by the preposition notwithstanding, Rule 31. The adjectives wide, soft, white, and deep, under number 3, not only express the quality of nouns, but also qualify verbs: Note 4, under Rule 18.—What, in the phrases "what though" and "what if," is an interrogative in the objective case, and governed by the verb matters understood, or by some other verb; thus, "What matters it—what dost thou fear, though thou see the swelling surge?" "What would you think, if the foot, which is ordained to tread the dust, aspired to be the head?"

In the following examples, the same word is used as several parts of speech. But by exercising judgment sufficient to comprehend the meaning, and by supplying what is understood, you will be able to analyze them correctly.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

I like what you dislike. Every creature loves its like. Anger, envy, and like passions, are sinful. Charity, like the sun, brightens every object around it. Thought flies swifter than light. He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man. Hail often proves destructive to vegetation. I was happy to hail him as my friend. Hail! beauteous stranger of the wood. The more I examine the work, the better I like it. Johnson is a better writer than Sterne. Calm was the day, and the scene delightful. We may expect a calm after a storm. To prevent passion is easier than to calm it. Damp air is unwholesome. Guilt often casts a damp over our sprightliest hours. Soft bodies damp the sound much more than hard ones. Much money has been expended. Of him to whom much is given, much will be required. It is much better to give than to receive. Still water runs deep. He labored to still the tumult. Those two young profligates remain still in the wrong. They wrong themselves as well as their friends.

I will now present to you a few examples in poetry. Parsing in poetry, as it brings into requisition a higher degree of mental exertion than parsing in prose, will be found a more delightful and profitable exercise. In this kind of analysis, in order to come at the meaning of the author, you will find it necessary to transpose his language, and supply what is understood; and then you will have the literal meaning in prose.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

APOSTROPHE TO HOPE.—CAMPBELL.

Eternal Hope! when yonder spheres sublime Pealed their first notes to sound the march of time, Thy joyous youth began:—but not to fade.— When all the sister planets have decayed; When wrapt in flames the realms of ether glow, And Heaven's last thunder shakes the world below; Thou, undismay'd, shalt o'er the ruins smile, And light thy torch at Nature's funeral pile!

TRANSPOSED.

Eternal Hope! thy joyous youth began when yonder sublime spheres pealed their first notes to sound the march of time:—but it began not to fade.—Thou, undismayed, shalt smile over the ruins, when all the sister planets shall have decayed; and thou shalt light thy torch at Nature's funeral pile, when wrapt in flames, the realms of ether glow, and Heaven's last thunder shakes the world below.

ADDRESS TO ADVERSITY.—GRAY.

Daughter of heaven, relentless power, Thou tamer of the human breast, Whose iron scourge, and tort'ring hour, The bad affright, afflict the best! The gen'rous spark extinct revive; Teach me to love and to forgive; Exact my own defects to scan: What others are to feel; and know myself a man.

TRANSPOSED.

Daughter of heaven, relentless power, thou tamer of the human breast, whose iron scourge and torturing hour affright the bad, and afflict the best! Revive thou in me the generous, extinct spark; and teach thou me to love others, and to forgive them; and teach thou me to scan my own defects exactly, or critically: and teach thou me that which others are to feel; and make thou me to know myself to be a man.

ADDRESS TO THE ALMIGHTY.—POPE.

What conscience dictates to be done, Or warns me not to do, This teach me more than hell to shun, That more than heav'n pursue.

TRANSPOSED.

O God, teach thou me to pursue that (the thing) which conscience dictates to be done, more ardently than I pursue heaven; and teach thou me to shun this (the thing) which conscience warns me not to do, more cautiously than I would shun hell.

TRIALS OF VIRTUE.—MERRICK.

For see, ah! see, while yet her ways With doubtful step I tread, A hostile world its terrors raise, Its snares delusive spread. O how shall I, with heart prepared, Those terrors learn to meet? How, from the thousand snares to guard My unexperienced feet?

TRANSPOSED.

For see thou, ah! see thou a hostile world to raise its terrors, and see thou a hostile world to spread its delusive snares, while I yet tread her (virtue's) ways with doubtful steps.

O how shall I learn to meet those terrors with a prepared heart? How shall I learn to guard my unexperienced feet from the thousand snares of the world?

THE MORNING IN SUMMER.—THOMPSON.

Short is the doubtful empire of the night; And soon, observant of approaching day, The meek-eyed morn appears, mother of dews, At first, faint gleaming in the dappled east, Till far o'er ether spreads the wid'ning glow, And from before the lustre of her face White break the clouds away.

TRANSPOSED.

The doubtful empire of the night is short; and the meek-eyed morn, (which is the) mother of dews, observant of approaching day, soon appears, gleaming faintly, at first, in the dappled east, till the widening glow spreads far over ether, and the white clouds break away from before the lustre of her face.

NATURE BOUNTIFUL.—AKENSIDE.

—Nature's care, to all her children just, With richest treasures, and an ample state, Endows at large whatever happy man Will deign to use them.

TRANSPOSED.

Nature's care, which is just to all her children, largely endows, with richest treasures and an ample state, that happy man who will deign to use them.

NOTE. What, in the second example, is a comp. rel. The antecedent part is gov. by teach understood; and the relative part by to feel expressed. To shun and to pursue, in the third example, are in the infinitive mood, gov. by than, according to a NOTE under Rule 23. Faint and from, in the 5th example, are adverbs. An adverb, in poetry, is often written in the form of an adjective. Whatever, in the last sentence, is a compound pronoun, and is equivalent to that and who. That is an adj. pron. belonging to "man;" who is nom. to "will deign;" and ever is excluded from the sentence in sense. See page 113. Parse these examples as they are transposed, and you will find the analysis very easy.

ADDITIONAL EXERCISES IN PARSING.

GOLD, NOT GENUINE WEALTH.

Where, thy true treasure? Gold says, "not in me;" And, "not in me," the Diamond. Gold is poor.

TRANSPOSED.

Where is thy true treasure? Gold says, "It is not in me;" and the Diamond says, "It is not in me." Gold is poor.

SOURCE OF FRIENDSHIP.—DR. YOUNG.

Lorenzo, pride repress; nor hope to find A friend, but what has found a friend in thee.

TRANSPOSED.

Lorenzo, repress thou pride; nor hope thou to find a friend, only in him who has already found a friend in thee.

TRUE GREATNESS.—POPE.

Who noble ends by noble means obtains, Or, failing, smiles in exile or in chains, Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed Like Socrates, that man is great indeed.

TRANSPOSED.

That man is great indeed, let him to reign like unto good Aurelius, or let him to bleed like unto Socrates, who obtains noble ends by noble means; or that man is great indeed, who, failing to obtain noble ends by noble means, smiles in exile or in chains.

INVOCATION.—POLLOK.

Eternal Spirit! God of truth! to whom All things seem as they are, inspire my song; My eye unscale: me what is substance teach; And shadow what, while I of things to come, As past rehearsing, sing. Me thought and phrase Severely sifting out the whole idea, grant.

TRANSPOSED.

Eternal Spirit! God of truth! to whom all things seem to be as they really are, inspire thou my song; and unscale thou my eyes: teach thou to me the thing which is substance; and teach thou to me the thing which is shadow, while I sing of things which are to come, as one sings of things which are past rehearsing. Grant thou to me thought and phraseology which shall severely sift out the whole idea.

THE VOYAGE OF LIFE.

How few, favored by ev'ry element, With swelling sails make good the promised port, With all their wishes freighted! Yet ev'n these, Freighted with all their wishes, soon complain. Free from misfortune, not from nature free, They still are men; and when is man secure? As fatal time, as storm. The rush of years Beats down their strength; their numberless escapes In ruin end: and, now, their proud success But plants new terrors on the victor's brow. What pain, to quit the world just made their own! Their nests so deeply downed and built so high!— Too low they build, who build beneath the stars.

TRANSPOSED.

How few persons, favored by every element, safely make the promised port with swelling sails, and with all their wishes freighted! Yet even these few persons who do safely make the promised port with all their wishes freighted, soon complain. Though they are free from misfortunes, yet (though and yet, corresponding conjunctions, form only one connexion) they are not free from the course of nature, for they still are men; and when is man secure? Time is as fatal to him, as a storm is to the mariner.—The rush of years beats down their strength; (that is, the strength of these few;) and their numberless escapes end in ruin: and then their proud success only plants new terrors on the victor's brow. What pain it is to them to quit the world, just as they have made it to be their own world; when their nests are built so high, and when they are downed so deeply!—They who build beneath the stars, build too low for their own safety.

REFLECTIONS ON A SCULL.—LORD BYRON.

Remove yon scull from out the scattered heaps. Is that a temple, where a God may dwell? Why, ev'n the worm at last disdains her shattered cell! Look on its broken arch, its ruined wall, Its chambers desolate, and portals foul; Yes, this was once ambition's airy hall, The dome of thought, the palace of the soul. Behold, through each lack-lustre, eyeless hole, The gay recess of wisdom and of wit, And passion's host, that never brooked control. Can all, saint, sage, or sophist ever writ, People this lonely tower, this tenement refit?

TRANSPOSED.

Remove thou yonder scull out from the scattered heaps. Is that a temple, where a God may dwell? Why, even the worm at last disdains her shattered cell! Look thou on its broken arch, and look thou on its ruined wall, and on its desolate chambers, and on its foul portals:—yes, this scull was once ambition's airy hall; (it was) the dome of thought, the palace of the soul. Behold thou, through each lack-lustre, eyeless hole, the gay recess of wisdom and of wit, and passion's host, which never brooked control. Can all the works which saints, or sages, or sophists have ever written, repeople this lonely tower, or can they refit this tenement?

For your future exercises in parsing, you may select pieces from the English Reader, or any other grammatical work. I have already hinted, that parsing in poetry, as it brings more immediately into requisition the reasoning faculties, than parsing in prose, will necessarily tend more rapidly to facilitate your progress: therefore it is advisable that your future exercises in this way, be chiefly confined to the analysis of poetry. Previous to your attempting to parse a piece of poetry, you ought always to transpose it, in a manner similar to the examples just presented; and then it can be as easily analyzed as prose.

Before you proceed to correct the following exercises in false syntax, you may turn back and read over the whole thirteen lectures, unless you have the subject-matter already stored in your mind.

* * * * *



LECTURE XIV.

OF DERIVATION.

At the commencement of Lecture II., I informed you that Etymology treats, 3dly, of derivation. This branch of Etymology, important as it is, cannot be very extensively treated in an elementary work on grammar. In the course of the preceding lectures, it has been frequently agitated; and now I shall offer a few more remarks, which will doubtless be useful in illustrating some of the various methods in which one word is derived from another. Before you proceed, however, please to turn back and read again what is advanced on this subject on page 27, and in the PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

1. Nouns are derived from verbs. 2. Verbs are derived from nouns, adjectives, and sometimes from adverbs. 3. Adjectives are derived from nouns. 4. Nouns are derived from adjectives. 5. Adverbs are derived from adjectives.

1. Nouns are derived from verbs; as, from "to love," comes "lover;" from "to visit, visiter;" from "to survive, surviver," &c.

In the following instances, and in many others, it is difficult to determine whether the verb was deduced from the noun, or the noun from the verb, viz. "Love, to love; hate, to hate; fear, to fear; sleep, to sleep; walk, to walk; ride, to ride; act, to act," &c.

2. Verbs are derived from nouns, adjectives, and sometimes from adverbs; as, from the noun salt, comes "to salt;" from the adjective warm, "to warm;" and from the adverb forward, "to forward." Sometimes they are formed by lengthening the vowel, or softening the consonant; as, from "grass, to graze;" sometimes by adding en; as, from "length, to lengthen;" especially to adjectives; as, from "short, to shorten; bright, to brighten."

3. Adjectives are derived from nouns in the following manner: adjectives denoting plenty are derived from nouns by adding y; as, from "Health, healthy; wealth, wealthy; might, mighty," &c.

Adjectives denoting the matter out of which any thing is made, are derived from nouns by adding en; as, from "Oak, oaken; wood, wooden; wool, woollen," &c.

Adjectives denoting abundance are derived from nouns by adding ful; as, from "Joy, joyful; sin, sinful; fruit, fruitful," &c.

Adjectives denoting plenty, but with some kind of diminution, are derived from nouns by adding some; as, from "Light, lightsome; trouble, troublesome; toil, toilsome," &c.

Adjectives denoting want are derived from nouns by adding less; as, from "Worth, worthless;" from "care, careless; joy, joyless," &c.

Adjectives denoting likeness are derived from nouns by adding ly; as, from "Man, manly; earth, earthly; court, courtly," &c.

Some adjectives are derived from other adjectives, or from nouns by adding ish to them; which termination when added to adjectives, imports diminution, or lessening the quality; as, "White, whitish;" i.e. somewhat white. When added to nouns, it signifies similitude or tendency to a character; as, "Child, childish; thief, thievish."

Some adjectives are formed from nouns or verbs by adding the termination able; and those adjectives signify capacity; as, "Answer, answerable; to change, changeable."

4. Nouns are derived from adjectives, sometimes by adding the termination ness; as, "White, whiteness; swift, swiftness;" sometimes by adding th or t, and making a small change in some of the letters; as, "Long, length; high, height."

5. Adverbs of quality are derived from adjectives, by adding ly, or changing le into ly; and denote the same quality as the adjectives from which they are derived; as, from "base," comes "basely;" from "slow, slowly;" from "able, ably."

There are so many other ways of deriving words from one another, that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to enumerate them. The primitive words of every language are very few; the derivatives form much the greater number. A few more instances only can be given here.

Some nouns are derived from other nouns, by adding the terminations hood or head, ship, ery, wick, rick, dom, ian, ment, and age.

Nouns ending in hood or head, are such as signify character or qualities; as, "Manhood, knighthood, falsehood," &c.

Nouns ending in ship, are those that signify office, employment, state, or condition; as, "Lordship, stewardship, partnership," &c. Some nouns in ship are derived from adjectives; as, "Hard, hardship," &c.

Nouns which end in ery, signify action or habit; as, "Slavery, foolery, prudery," &c. Some nouns of this sort come from adjectives; as, "Brave, bravery," &c.

Nouns ending in wick, rick, and dom, denote dominion, jurisdiction, or condition; as, "Bailiwick, bishopric, kingdom, dukedom, freedom," &c.

Nouns which end in ian, are those that signify profession; as, "Physician, musician," &c. Those that end in ment and age, come generally from the French, and commonly signify the act or habit; as, "Commandment," "usage."

Some nouns ending in ard, are derived from verbs or adjectives, and denote character or habit; as, "Drunk, drunkard; dote, dotard."

Some nouns have the form of diminutives; but these are not many. They are formed by adding the terminations kin, ling, ing, ock, el, and the like; as, "Lamb, lambkin; goose, gosling; duck, duckling; hill, hillock; cock, cockerel," &c.

OF PREPOSITIONS USED AS PREFIXES.

I shall conclude this lecture by presenting and explaining a list of Latin and Greek prepositions which are extensively used in English as prefixes. By carefully studying their signification, you will be better qualified to understand the meaning of those words into the composition of which they enter, and of which they form a material part.

I. LATIN PREFIXES.

A, ab, abs—signify from or away; as, a-vert, to turn from; ab-ject, to throw away; abs-tract, to draw away.

Ad—to or at; as, ad-here, to stick to; ad-mire, to wonder at.

Ante—means before; as, ante-cedent, going before.

Circum—signifies round, about; as, circum-navigate, to sail round.

Con, com, co, col—together; as, con-join, to join together; com-press, to press together; co-operate, to work together; col-lapse, to fall together.

Contra—against; as, contra-dict, to speak against.

De—from, down; as, de-duct, to take from; de-scend, to go down.

Di, dis—asunder, away; as, di-lacerate, to tear asunder; dis-miss, to send away.

E, ef, ex—out; as, e-ject, to throw out; ef-flux, to flow out; ex-clude, to shut out.

Extra—beyond; as, extra-ordinary, beyond what is ordinary.

In, im, il, ir—(in, Gothic, inna, a cave or cell;) as, in-fuse, to pour in. These prefixes, when incorporated with adjectives or nouns, commonly reverse their meaning; as, in-sufficient, im-polite, il-legitimate, ir-reverence, ir-resolute.