+DEFINITIONS+.

+Conjugation is the regular arrangement of all the forms of the verb+.

+_Synopsis _is the regular arrangement of the forms of one number and person in all the modes and tenses+.

+_Auxiliary Verbs _are those that help in the conjugation of other verbs.+

The auxiliaries are do, did, have, had, shall, should, will, would, may, might, can, could, must, and be (with all its variations, see Lesson 135).

+The Principal Parts of a verb, or those from which the other parts are derived, are the present indicative or the present infinitive, the past indicative, and the past participle.+

List of Irregular Verbs. [Footnote: Grammarians have classed verbs on the basis of their form or history as Strong (or Old) and Weak (or New).

Strong verbs form their past tense by changing the vowel of the present without adding anything; weak verbs form their past tense by adding ed, d, or t. Some weak verbs change the vowel of the present; as, tell, told; teach, taught. These are weak because they add d or t.

Some weak verbs shorten the vowel of the present without adding anything; as, feed, fed; lead, led; and some have the present and the past alike; as, set, set; rid, rid. They have dropped the past tense ending.

The past participle of all strong verbs once ended in en or n, but in many verbs this ending is now lost.

Since most verbs form their past tense and past participle by adding ed, we call such Regular, and all others Irregular. Our irregular verbs include all strong verbs and those that may be called "irregular weak" verbs.

Of the ed added to form the past tense of regular verbs, d is what remains of did; we did love, for instance, being written love-did-we. This derivation of d in ed is questioned. The d of the participle is not from did but is from an old participle suffix. The e in the ea of both these forms is the old connecting vowel.]

TO THE TEACHER.—It would be well to require the pupils, in studying and in reciting these lists of irregular verbs, to frame short sentences illustrating the proper use of the past tense and the past participle, e.g. I began yesterday; He has begun to do better. In this way the pupils will be saved the mechanical labor of memorizing forms which they already know how to use, and they will be led to correct what has been faulty in their use of other forms.

+Remarks.+—Verbs that have both a regular and an irregular form are called
+Redundant.+

Verbs that are wanting in any of their parts, as can and may, are called +Defective.+

The present participle is not here given as a principal part. It may always be formed from the present tense by adding ing.

In adding ing and other terminations, the Rules for Spelling (see
Lesson 127) should be observed.

The forms below in Italics are regular; and those in smaller type are obsolete, and need not be committed to memory.

Present. Past. Past Par. Abide, abode, abode. Awake, awoke, awaked. awaked. Be or am, was, been. Bear, bore, born, (bring forth) bare, borne. Bear, bore, borne. (carry) bare, Beat, beat, beaten, beat. Begin, began, begun. Bend, bent, bent, bended, bended. Bereave, bereft, bereft, bereaved, bereaved. Beseech, besought, besought. Bet, bet, bet, betted, betted. Bid, bade, bid, bidden, bid. Bind, bound, bound. Bite, bit, bitten, bit. Bleed, bled, bled. Blend, blent, blent, blended, blended. Bless, blest, blest, blessed, blessed. Blow, blew, blown. Break, broke, broken. brake, Breed, bred, bred. Bring, brought, brought. Build, built, built. Burn burnt, burnt, burned, burned. Burst, burst, burst. Buy, bought, bought. Can,[1] could, ——-. Cast, cast, cast. Catch, caught, caught. Chide, chid, chidden, chid. Choose, chose, chosen. Cleave, cleaved, cleaved. (adhere) clave, Cleave cleft, cleft, (split) clove, cloven, clave, cleaved. Cling, clung, clung. Clothe, clad, clad, clothed clothed. (Be)Come, came, come. Cost, cost, cost. Creep, crept, crept. Crow crew, crowed. crowed, Cut, cut, cut. Dare, durst, dared. (venture) dared, Deal, dealt, dealt. Dig, dug, dug, digged, digged. Do, did, done. Draw, drew, drawn. Dream, dreamt, dreamt, dreamed, dreamed. Dress drest, drest, dressed, dressed. Drink, drank, drunk. Drive, drove, driven. Dwell dwelt, dwelt, dwelled, dwelled. Eat, ate, eaten. (Be) Fall, fell, fallen. Feed, fed, fed. Feel, felt, felt. Fight, fought, fought. Find, found, found. Flee, fled, fled. Fling, flung, flung. Fly, flew, flown. Forsake, forsook, forsaken. Forbear, forbore, forborne. Freeze, froze, frozen. (For)Get, got, got, gotten.[2] Gild, gilt, gilt, gilded, gilded. Gird, girt, girt, girded, girded. (For)Give, gave, given. Go, went,[3] gone. (En)Grave graved, graved, graven. Grind, ground, ground. Grow, grew, grown. Hang, hung, hung, hanged, hanged.[4] Have, had, had. Hear, heard heard. Heave hove, hove,[5] heaved, heaved. Hew, hewed, hewed, hewn. Hide, hid, hidden, hid. Hit, hit, hit. (Be)Hold, held, held, holden. Hurt, hurt, hurt. Keep, kept, kept. Kneel knelt, knelt, kneeled, kneeled. Knit knit, knit, knitted, knitted. Know, knew, known. Lade, laded, laded, (load) laden. Lay, laid, laid. Lead, led, led.

[Footnote 1: Can, may, shall, will, must, and ought were originally past forms. This accounts for their having no change in the third person.]

[Footnote 2: Gotten is obsolescent except in forgotten.]

[Footnote 3: Went is the past of wend, to go.]

[Footnote 4: Hang, to execute by hanging, is regular.]

[Footnote 5: Hove is used in sea language.]

* * * * *

LESSON 133.

LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS—CONTINUED.

Present. Past. Past Par.

Lean, leant, leant, leaned, leaned. Leap, leapt, leapt, leaped, leaped. Learn, learnt, learnt, learned, learned. Leave, left, left. Lend, lent, lent. Let, let, let. Lie, lay, lain. (recline) Light, lighted, lighted, lit, lit.[1] Lose, lost, lost. Make, made, made. May, might, ——. Mean, meant, meant. Meet, met, met. Mow, mowed, mowed, mown. Must, ——, ——. Ought, ——, ——. Pay, paid, paid. Pen, pent, pent, (inclose) penned, penned. Put, put, put. Quit, quit, quit, quitted, quitted. ——, quoth,[2] ——. Rap, rapt, rapt, rapped, rapped. Read, read, read. Rend, rent, rent. Rid, rid, rid. Ride, rode, ridden. Ring, rang, rung, rung, (A)Rise, rose, risen. Rive, rived, riven, rived. Run, ran, run. Saw, sawed, sawed, sawn. Say, said, said. See, saw, seen. Seek, sought, sought. Seethe, seethed, seethed, sod, sodden. Sell, sold, sold. Send, sent, sent. (Be)Set, set, set. Shake, shook, shaken. Shall, should, ———. Shape, shaped, shaped, shapen Shave, shaved, shaved, shaven. Shear, sheared, sheared, shore, shorn. Shed, shed, shed. Shine, shone, shone. Shoe, shod, shod. Shoot, shot, shot. Show, showed, shown, showed. Shred, shred, shred. Shrink, shrank, shrunk, shrunk, shrunken. Shut, shut, shut. Sing, sang, sung. sung, Sink, sank, sunk, sunk, sunken. Sit, sat, sat. Slay, slew, slain. Sleep, slept, slept. Slide, slid, slidden, slid. Sling, slung, slung. slang Slink, slunk, slunk. Slit, slit, slit, slitted, slitted. Smell, smelt, smelt, smelled, smelled. Smite, smote, smitten, smit. Sow, sowed, sown, sowed. Speak, spoke, spoken. spake, Speed, sped, sped. Spell, spelt, spelt, spelled, spelled. Spend, spent, spent. Spill, spilt, spilt, spilled, spilled. Spin, spun, spun. span, Spit, spit, spit, spat, spitten. Split, split, split. Spoil, spoilt, spoilt, spoiled, spoiled. Spread, spread, spread. Spring, sprang, sprung. sprung, Stand, stood, stood. Stave, stove, stove, staved, staved. Stay, staid, staid, stayed, stayed. Steal, stole, stolen. Stick, stuck, stuck. Sting, stung, stung. Stink, stunk, stunk. stank, Strew, strewed, strewn, strewed. Stride, strode, stridden. Strike, struck, struck, stricken. String, strung, strung, Strive, strove, striven. Strow, strowed, strown, strowed. Swear, swore, sworn sware, Sweat, sweat, sweat, sweated, sweated. Sweep, swept, swept. Swell, swelled, swelled, swollen. Swim, swam, swum. swum, Swing, swung, swung. Take, took, taken, Teach, taught, taught. Tear, tore, torn. tare, Tell, told, told. Think, thought, thought. Thrive, throve, thriven, thrived, thrived. Throw, threw, thrown. Thrust, thrust, thrust. Tread, trod, trodden, trod. Wake, waked, waked, woke, woke. Wax, waxed, waxed, waxen. Wear, wore, worn. Weave, wove, woven. Weep, wept, wept. Wet, wet, wet. Will, would, ——. Win, won, won. Wind, wound, wound. Work, wrought, wrought, worked, worked. (to)wit, wot, wist, ——. Wring, wrung, wrung. Write, wrote, written.

[Footnote 1: Lighted Is preferred to lit.]

[Footnote 2: Quoth, now nearly obsolete, is used only in the first and the third person of the past tense. Quoth I = said I. Other forms nearly obsolete are sometimes met in literature; as, "Methinks I scent the morning air"; "Woe worth the day." Methinks (A. S. thincan, to seem, not thencan, to think) = seems to me. In the sentence above, I scent the morning air is the subject, thinks is the predicate, and me is a "dative," or a pronoun used adverbially. Woe worth (A. S. weorthan, to be or become) the day = Woe be to the day, or Let woe be to the day, or May woe be to the day.]

NOTE.—Professor Lounsbury says, "Modern English has lost not a single one [irregular, or strong, verb] since the reign of Queen Elizabeth"; and adds, "The present disposition of the language is not only to hold firmly to the strong verbs it already possesses but … even to extend their number whenever possible." And he instances a few which since 1600 have deserted from the regular conjugation to the irregular.

But it should be said that new English verbs, from whatever source derived, form their past tense and participle in ed. So that while the regular verbs are not increasing by desertions from the irregular, the regular verbs are slowly gaining in number.

* * * * *

LESSON 134.

FORMS OF THE VERB—CONTINUED.

CONJUGATION [Footnote: We give the conjugation of the verb in the simplest form consistent with what is now demanded of a text-book. Much of this scheme might well be omitted.

Those who wish to reject the Potential Mode, and who prefer a more elaborate and technical classification of the mode and tense forms, are referred to pages 373, 374. ]—SIMPLEST FORM.

REMARK.—English verbs have few inflections compared with those of other languages. Some irregular verbs have seven forms—+see+, +saw+, +seeing+, +seen+, +sees+, +seest+, +sawest+; regular verbs have six—+walk+, +walked+, +walking+, +walks+, +walkest+, +walkedst+. As a substitute for other inflections we prefix auxiliary verbs, and make what are called compound, or periphrastic, forms.

+Direction+.—Fill out the following forms, using the principal parts of the verb walk—present +walk+; past +walked+; past participle +walked+:—

INDICATIVE MODE.

PRESENT TENSE.

Singular. Plural. 1. (I) /Pres./, 1. (We) /Pres./, 2. (You) /Pres./, 2. (You) /Pres./, (Thou) /Pres./+est,[1], 3. (He) /Pres./+s;[1] 3. (They) /Pres./.

PAST TENSE.

1. (I) /Past/, 1. (We) /Past/, 2. (You) /Past/, 2. (You) /Past/, (Thou) /Past/+st+, 3. (He) /Past/; 3. (They) /Past/.

FUTURE TENSE.

1. (I) shall /Pres./, 1. (We) shall /Pres./, 2. (You) will /Pres./, 2. (You) will /Pres./, (Thou) wil-+t+ /Pres./, 3. (He) will /Pres./; 3. (They) will /Pres./.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) have /Past Par./, 1. (We) have /Past Par./, 2. (You) have /Past Par./, 2. (You) have /Past Par./, (Thou) ha-+st+ /Past Par./, 3. (He) ha-+s+ /Past Par./; 3. (They) have /Past Par./.

PAST PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) had /Past Par./, 1. (We) had /Past Par./ 2. (You) had /Past Par./, 2. (You) had /Past Par./ (Thou) had-+st+ /Past Par./, 3. (He) had /Past Par./; 3. (They) had /Past Par./

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) shall have /Past Par./, 1. (We) shall have /Past Par./, 2. (You) will have /Past Par./, 2. (You) will have /Past Par./, (Thou) wil-+t+ have /Past Par./,

3. (He)…will have…./Past Par./; 3. (They) will have /Past Par./.

[Footnote 1: In the indicative present, second, singular, old style, st is sometimes added in stead of est; and in the third person, common style, es is added when s will not unite. In the third person, old style, eth is added.]

POTENTIAL MODE.[2]

PRESENT TENSE.

Singular. Plural.

1. (I) may /Pres./, 1. (We) may /Pres./, 2. (You) may /Pres./, 2. (You) may /Pres./, (Thou) may-+st+ /Pres./, 3. (He) may /Pres./; 3. (They) may /Pres./.

PAST TENSE.

1. (I) might /Pres./, 1. (We) might /Pres./, 2. (You) might /Pres./, 2. (You) might /Pres./, (Thou) might-+st+ /Pres./, 3. (He) might /Pres./; 3. (They) might /Pres./.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) may have /Past Par./, 1. (We) may have /Past Par./, 2. (You) may have /Past Par./, 2. (You) may have /Past Par./, (Thou) may-+st+ have /Past Par./, 3. (He) may have /Past Par./. 3. (They) may have /Past Par./.

PAST PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) might have /Past Par./, 1. (We) might have /Past Par./, 2. (You) might have /Past Par./, 2. (You) might have /Past Par./, (Thou) might-+st+ have /Past Par./, 3. (He) might have /Past Par./. 3. (They) might have /Past Par./.

Singular.

[Footnote 2: Those who do not wish to recognize a Potential Mode, but prefer the unsatisfactory task of determining when may, can, must, might, could, would, and should are independent verbs in the indicative, and when auxiliaries in the subjunctive, are referred to pages 370-374.]

SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.[3]

PRESENT TENSE.

Singular.

2. (If thou) /Pres./ 3. (If he) /Pres./

[Footnote 3: The subjunctive as a form of the verb is fading out of the language. The only distinctive forms remaining (except for the verb be) are the second and the third person singular of the present, and even these ate giving way to the indicative. Such forms as If he have loved, etc. are exceptional. It is true that other forms, as, If he had known, Had he been, Should he fall, may be used in a true subjunctive sense, to assert what is a mere conception of the mind, i. e., what is merely thought of, without regard to its being or becoming a fact; but in these cases it is not the form of the verb but the connective or something in the construction of the sentence that determines the manner of assertion. In parsing, the verbs in such constructions may be treated as indicative or potential, with a subjunctive meaning.

The offices of the different mode and tense forms are constantly interchanging; a classification based strictly on meaning would be very difficult, and would confuse the learner.]

IMPERATIVE MODE.[4]

PRESENT TENSE.

Singular. Plural.

2. /Pres./ (you or thou); 2. /Pres./ (you or ye).

[Footnote 4: From such forms as Let us sing, Let them talk, some grammarians make a first and a third person imperative. But us is not the subject of the verb-phrase let-sing, and let is not of the first person. Us is the object complement of let, and the infinitive sing is the objective complement, having us for its assumed subject.

Some would find a first and a third person imperative in such sentences as "Now tread we a measure"; "Perish the thought." But these verbs express strong wish or desire and by some grammarians are called "optative subjunctives." "Perish the thought" = "May the thought perish," or "I desire that the thought may perish," or "Let the thought perish.">[

INFINITIVES.

PRESENT TENSE. PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.

(To)[5] /Pres./ (To) have /Past Par./

[Footnote 5: To, as indicated by the (), is not treated as a part of the verb. Writers on language are generally agreed that when to introduces an infinitive phrase used as an adjective or an adverb, it performs its proper function as a preposition, meaning toward, for, etc.; as, I am inclined to believe; I came to hear. When the infinitive phrase is used as a noun, the to expresses no relation; it seems merely to introduce the phrase. When a word loses its proper function without taking on the function of some other part of speech, we do not see why it should change its name. In the expressions, For me to do this would be wrong; Over the fence is out of danger, few grammarians would hesitate to call for and over prepositions, though they have no antecedent term of relation.

We cannot see that to is a part of the verb, for it in no way affects the meaning, as does an auxiliary, or as does the to in He was spoken to. Those who call it a part of the verb confuse the learner by speaking of it as the "preposition to" (which, as they have said, is not a preposition) "placed before the infinitive," i.e., placed before that of which it forms a part —placed before itself.

In the Anglo-Saxon, to was used with the infinitive only in the dative case, where it had its proper function as a preposition; as, nominative etan (to eat); dative to etanne; accusative e:tan. When the dative ending ne was dropped, making the three forms alike, the to came to be used before the nominative and the accusative, but without expressing relation.

This dative of the infinitive, with to, was used mainly to indicate purpose. When, after the dropping of the ne ending, the idea of purpose had to be conveyed by the infinitive, it became usual in Elizabethan literature to place for before the to, "And for to deck heaven's battlements."-Greene. "What went ye out for to see?"-Bible. "Shut the gates for to preserve the town."—K. Hen. VI., Part III.]

PARTICIPLES

PRESENT PAST PAST PERFECT.
/Pres./+ing+. /Past Par./ Having /Past Par./

+May+, +can+, and +must+ are potential auxiliaries in the present and the present perfect tense; +might+, +could+, +would+, and +should+, in the past and the past perfect.

The +emphatic+ form of the present and the past tense indicative is made by prefixing +do+ and +did+ to the present. Do is prefixed to the imperative also.

TO THE TEACHES.—Require the pupils to fill out these forma with other verbs, regular and irregular, using the auxiliaries named above.

* * * * *

LESSON 135.

FORMS OF THE VERB-CONTINUED.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB +BE+.

[Footnote: The conjugation of be contains three distinct roots—as, be, was. Am, art, is, are are from as. Am = as-m (m is the m in me). Art = as-t (t is the th in thou).

Be was formerly conjugated, I be, Thou beest, He beth or bes; We be, Ye be, They be.]

+Direction+.—Learn the following forms, paying no attention to the line at the right of each verb:—

INDICATIVE MODE.

PRESENT TENSE. Singular. Plural.

1. (I) am ——, 1. (We) are ——, 2. (You) are —— or 2. (You) are ——, (Thou) art ——, 3. (He) is ——; 3. (They) are ——.

PAST TENSE.

1. (I) was ——, 1. (We) were ——, 2. (You) were —— or 2. (You) were ——, (Thou) wast ——, 3. (He) was ——; 3. (They) were ——.

FUTURE TENSE.

1. (I) shall be ——, 1. (We) shall be ——, 2. (You) will be —— or 2. (You) will be ——, (Thou) wilt be ——, 3. (He) will be ——; 3. (They) will be ——.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) have been ——, 1. (We) have been ——, 2. (You) have been —— or 2. (You) have been ——, (Thou) hast been ——, 3. (He) has been ——; 3. (They) have been ——.

PAST PERFECT

1. (I) had been ——, 1. (We) had been ——, 2. (You) had been —— or 2. (You) had been ——, (Thou) hadst been ——, 3. (He) had been ——; 3. (They) had been ——.

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) shall have been ——, 1. (We) shall have been ——, 2. (You) will have been —— or 2. (You) will have been ——, (Thou) wilt have been ——, 3. (He) will have been ——; 3. (They) will have been ——.

POTENTIAL MODE.

PRESENT TENSE.

Singular. Plural. 1. (I) may be ——, 1. (We) may be ——, 2. (You) may be —— or 2. (You) may be ——, (Thou) mayst be ——, 3. (He) may be ——; 3. (They) may be ——.

PAST TENSE.

1. (I) might be ——, 1. (We) might be ——, 2. (You) might be —— or 2. (You) might be ——, (Thou) mightst be ——, 3. (He) might be ——; 3. (They) might be ——.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) may have been ——, 1. (We) may have been ——, 2. (You) may have been —— or 2. (You) may have been ——, (Thou) mayst have been ——, 3. (He) may have been ——; 3. (They) may have been ——.

PAST PERFECT TENSE,

1. (I) might have been ——, 1. (We) might have been ——, 2. (You) might have been —— or 2. (You) might have been ——, (Thou) mightst have been ——, 3. (He) might have been ——; 3. (They) might have been ——.

SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.

PBESENT TENSE.

Singular. Plural. 1. (If I) may have been ——, 1. (If we) may have been ——, 2. (If you) may have been —— or 2. (If you) may have been ——, (If thou) mayst have been ——, 3. (If he) may have been ——; 3. (If they) may have been ——.

PAST TENSE.

Singular. 1. (If I) were ——-, 2. (If you) were ——, or (If thou) wert ——, 3. (If he) were ——;

IMPERATIVE MODE.

PRESENT TENSE.

Singular. Plural. 2. Be (you or thou) ——; 2. Be (you or ye) ——.

INFINITIVES.

PRESENT TENSE. PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.
(To) be ——. (To) have been ——.

PARTICIPLES.

PRESENT. PAST. PAST PERFECT.
Being ——. Been. Having been ——.

* * * * *

LESSON 136.

FORMS OF THE VERB—CONTINUED.

CONJUGATION—PROGRESSIVE AND PASSIVE FORMS.

A verb is conjugated in the +progressive form+ by joining its present participle to the different forms of the verb be.

A transitive verb is conjugated in the +passive voice+ by joining its past participle to the different forms of the verb be.

+Remark+.—The progressive form denotes a continuance of the action or being; as, The birds are singing.

Verbs that in their simple form denote continuance—such as love, respect, know—should not be conjugated in the progressive form. We say, I love the child—not I am loving the child.

+Remarks+.—The progressive form is sometimes used with a passive meaning; as, The house is building. In such cases the word in ing was once a verbal noun preceded by the preposition a, a contraction from on or in; as, While the ark was a preparing; While the flesh was in seething. In modern language the preposition is dropped, and the word in ing is treated adjectively.

Another passive progressive form, consisting of the verb be completed by the present passive participle, has recently appeared in our language—The house is being built, or was being built. Although condemned by many linguists as awkward and otherwise objectionable, it has grown rapidly into good use, especially in England, Such a form seems to be needed when the simpler form would be ambiguous, i.e., when its subject might be taken to name either the actor or the receiver; as, The child is whipping; The prisoner is trying. Introduced only to prevent ambiguity, the so-called neologism has pushed its way, and is found where the old form would not be ambiguous. As now used, the new form stands to the old in about the ratio of three to one.

+Direction+.—Conjugate the verb choose in the progressive form by filling all the blanks left after the different forms of the verb be, in the preceding Lesson, with the present participle choosing; and then in the passive form by filling these blanks with the past participle chosen.

Notice that after the past participle of the verb be no blank is left. The past participle of the passive is not formed by the aid of be; it is never compound. The past participle of a transitive verb is always passive except in such forms as have chosen, had chosen. (See have written, Lesson 138.) In the progressive, the past participle is wanting. All the participles of the verb choose are arranged in order below.

Present. Past. Past Perfect.

Simplest form. Choosing, chosen, having chosen. Progressive form. Being choosing,* ———, having been choosing. Passive form. Being chosen, chosen, having been chosen.

[Footnote *: This form is not commonly used.]

+Direction+.—Write and arrange as above all the participles of the verbs break, drive, read, lift.

TO THE TEACHER.—Select other verbs, and require the pupils to conjugate them in the progressive and in the passive form. Require them to give synopses of all the forms. Require them in some of their synopses to use it or some noun for the subject in the third person.

* * * * *

LESSON 137.

CONJUGATION—CONTINUED.

INTERROGATIVE AND NEGATIVE FORMS.

A verb may be conjugated +interrogatively+ in the indicative and potential modes by placing the subject after the first auxiliary; as, Does he sing?

A verb may be conjugated +negatively+ by placing not after the first auxiliary; as, He does not sing. Not is placed before the infinitive and the participles; as, not to sing, not singing.

A question with negation is expressed in the indicative and potential modes by placing the subject and not after the first auxiliary; as, Does he not sing?

+Remark+.—Formerly, it was common to use the simple form of the present and past tenses interrogatively and negatively thus: Loves he? I know not. Such forms are still common in poetry, but in prose they are now scarcely used. We say, Does he love? I do not know. The verbs be and have are exceptions, as they do not take the auxiliary do. We say, Is it right? Have you another?

+Direction+.—Write a synopsis in the third person, singular, of the verb walk conjugated (1) interrogatively, (2) negatively, and (3) so as to express a question with negation. Remember that the indicative and the potential are the only modes that can be used interrogatively.

To THE TEACHER.—Select other verbs, and require the pupils to conjugate them negatively and interrogatively in the progressive and in the passive form. Require the pupils to give synopses of all the forms.

* * * * *

LESSON 138.

MODE AND TENSE FORMS.

COMPOUND FORMS—ANALYSIS.

The +compound+, or +periphrastic, forms+ of the verb consisting of two words may each be resolved into an +asserting word and a participle+ or an +infinitive+.

If we look at the original meaning of the forms +I do write, I shall write, I will write+, we shall find that the so-called auxiliary is the real verb, and that write is an infinitive used as object complement. +I do write = I do+ or +perform+ the action (to) write. +I shall write = I owe+ (to) +write. I will write = I determine+ (to) +write+.

+May write, can write, must write, might write, could write, would write+, and +should write+ may each be resolved into an asserting word and an infinitive.

The forms +is writing, was written+, etc. consist each of an asserting word (the verb be), and a participle used as attribute complement.

The forms +have written+ and +had written+ are so far removed from their original meaning that their analysis cannot be made to correspond with their history. They originated from such expressions as I have a letter written, in which have ( = possess) is a transitive verb taking letter for its object complement, and written is a passive participle modifying letter. The idea of possession has faded out of have, and the participle has lost its passive meaning. The use of this form has been extended to intransitive verbs—Spring has come, Birds have flown, etc. being now regularly used instead of the more logical perfect tense forms, Spring is come, Birds are flown. (Is come, are flown, etc. must not be mistaken for transitive verbs in the passive voice.) [Footnote: A peculiar use of had is found in the expressions had rather go and had better go, condemned by many grammarians who suppose had to be here used incorrectly for would or should. Of these expressions the "Standard Dictionary," an authority worthy of our attention, says:—

"Forms disputed by certain grammatical critics from the days of Samuel Johnson, the critics insisting upon the substitution of would or should, as the case may demand, for had; but had rather and had better are thoroughly established English, idioms having the almost universal popular and literary sanction of centuries. 'I would rather not go' is undoubtedly correct when the purpose is to emphasize the element of choice, or will, in the matter; but in all ordinary cases 'I had rather not go' has the merit of being idiomatic and easily and universally understood.

"If for 'You had better stay at home' we substitute 'You should better stay at home,' an entirely different meaning is expressed, the idea of expediency giving place to that of obligation."

In the analysis of "I had rather go," had is the predicate verb, the infinitive go is the object complement, and the adjective rather completes had and belongs to go, i.e., is objective complement. Had (= should hold or regard) is treated as a past subjunctive. Rather is the comparative of the old adjective rathe = early, from which comes the idea of preference. The expression means, "I should hold going preferable."

The expressions "You had better stay," "I had as lief not be," are similar in construction to "I had rather go." "I had sooner go" is condemned by grammarians because sooner is never an adjective. If sooner is here allowed as an idiom, it is a modifier of had. The expression equals, "I should more willingly have going.">[

Compounds of more than two words may be analyzed thus: +May have been written+ is composed of the compound auxiliary +may have been+ and the participle +written; may have been+ is composed of the compound auxiliary +may have+ and the participle +been+; and +may have+ is composed of the auxiliary +may+ and the infinitive +have+. May is the asserting word—the first auxiliary is always the asserting word.

+Direction+.—Study what has been said above and analyze the following verbal forms, distinguishing carefully between participles that may be considered as part of the verb and words that must be treated as attribute complements:—

1. I may be mistaken. 2. The farm was sold. 3. I shall be contented. 4. Has it been decided? 5. You should have been working. 6. The danger might have been avoided. 7. He may have been tired and sleepy. 8. She is singing. 9. I shall be satisfied. 10. The rule has not been observed. 11. Stars have disappeared. 12. Times will surely change.

TENSE FORMS—MEANING.

The +Present Tense+ is used to express (1) what is actually present, (2) what is true at all times, (3) what frequently or habitually takes place, (4) what is to take place in the future, and it is used (5) in describing past or future events as if occurring at the time of the speaking.

+Examples+.—I hear a voice (action as present). The sun gives light (true at all times). He writes for the newspapers (habitual). Phillips speaks in Boston to-morrow night (future). He mounts the scaffold; the executioners approach to bind him; he struggles, resists, etc. (past events pictured to the imagination as present). The clans of Culloden are scattered in fight; they rally, they bleed, etc. (future events now seen in vision).

The +Past Tense+ may express (1) simply past action or being, (2) a past habit or custom, (3) a future event, and (4) it may refer to present time.

+Examples+.—The birds sang (simply past action). He wrote for the newspapers (past habit). If I should go, you would miss me (future events). If he were here, he would enjoy this (refers to present time).

The +Future Tense+ may express (1) simply future action or being, (2) a habit or custom as future or as indefinite in time.

+Examples+.—I shall write soon (simply future action). He will sit there by the hour (indefinite in time).

The +Present Perfect Tense+ expresses (1) action or being as completed in present time (i.e., a period of time—an hour, a year, an age—of which the present forms a part), and (2) action or being to be completed in a future period.

+Examples+.—Homer has written poems (the period of time affected by this completed action embraces the present). When I have finished this, you shall have it (action to be completed in a future period).

The +Past Perfect Tense+ expresses (1) action or being as completed at some specified past time, and (2) in a conditional or hypothetical clause it may express past time.

+Examples+.—I had seen him when I met you (action completed at a specified past time). If I had had time, I should have written (I had not time—I did not write.)

The +Future Perfect Tense+ expresses action to be completed at some specified future time.

+Example+.—I shall have seen him by to-morrow noon.

+Direction+.—Study what has been said above about the meaning of the tense forms, and describe carefully the time expressed by each of the following verbs:—

1. I go to the city to-morrow. 2. The village master taught his little school. 3. Plato reasons well. 4. A triangle has three sides. 5. To-morrow is the day appointed. 6. Moses has told many important facts. 7. The ship sails next week. 8. She sings well. 9. Cicero has written orations. 10. He would sit for hours and watch the smoke curl from his pipe. 11. You may hear when the next mail arrives, 12. Had I known this before, I could have saved you much trouble. 13. He will occasionally lose his temper. 14. At the end of this week I shall have been in school four years. 15. If I were you, I would try that. 16. He will become discouraged before he has thoroughly tried it. 17. She starts, she moves, she seems to feel the thrill of life along her keel.

+Model for Written Parsing adapted to all Parts of Speech+. Oh! it has a voice for those who on their sick beds lie and waste away.

[Transcriber's Note: The following two tables have been split to fit within Project Gutenberg line-width requirements. The first column of each table has been repeated for easier reference.]

|CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATIONS. ————-|————————-|——————————————————————-| Sentence.|Class. |Sub-C. |Voice.|Mode.|Tense.|Num. |Per.| Gen. |Case.| | | | | | | | | | | Oh! |Int. | | | | | | | | | it |Pro. |Per. | | | |Sing.| ad.| Neut. |Nom. | has |Vb. |Ir., Tr. | Act. | Ind.|Pres. | " | " | | | a |Adj. |Def. | | | | | | | | voice |N. |Com. | | | | " | " | " |Obj. | for |Prep. | | | | | | | | | those |Pro. |Adj. | | | |Plu. | " |M. or F.| " | who |Pro. |Rel. | | | | " | " | " |Nom. | on |Prep. | | | | | | | | | their |Pro. |Per. | | | | " | " | " |Pos. | sick |Adj. |Des. | | | | | | | | beds |N. |Com. | | | | " | " | Neut. |Obj. | lie |Vb. |Ir.,Int. | — | Ind.|Pres. | " | " | | | and |Conj. |Co-or. | | | | | | | | waste |Vb. |Reg.,Int.| — | " | " | " | " | | | away. |Adv. |Place. | | | | | | | | —————————————————————————————————————

TO THE TEACHER.—For further exercises in parsing the verb and for exercises in general parsing, select from the preceding Lessons on Analysis.

* * * * *

LESSON 139

PARSING.

+Direction+.—Select and parse, according to the Model below, the verbs in the sentences of Lesson 42. For the agreement of verbs, see Lesson 142.

+Model for Written Parsing—Verbs+.—The Yankee, selling his farm, wanders away to seek new lands.

CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATIONS. —————————————-|———————————————| Verbs. | Kind. |Voice.|Mode.|Tense.|Num. |Per.| *selling|Pr. Par., Ir., Tr.| Act. | — | — | — | — | wanders |Reg., Int. | — |Ind. |Pres. |Sing.| 3d.| *seek |Inf., Ir., Tr. | Act. | — | " | — | | | | | | | | |

[Footnote: Participles and infinitives have neither person nor number.]

(See Model for Written Parsing on opposite page.)

* * * * *

LESSON 140.

CONSTRUCTION OF MODE AND TENSE FORMS.

+Caution+.—Be careful to give every verb its proper form and meaning.

+Direction+.—Correct the following errors, and give your reasons:—

1. I done it myself. 2. He throwed it into the river, for I seen him when he done it. 3. She sets by the open window enjoying the scene that lays before her.

+Explanation+.—Lay (to place) is transitive, lie (to rest) is intransitive; set (to place) is transitive, sit (to rest) is intransitive. Set in some of its meanings is intransitive.

4. The tide sits in. 5. Go and lay down. 6. The sun sits in the west. 7. I remember when the corner stone was lain. 8. Sit the plates on the table. 9. He sat out for London yesterday. 10. Your dress sets well. 11. The bird is setting on its eggs. 12. I laid there an hour. 13. Set down and talk a little while. 14. He has laid there an hour. 15. I am setting by the river. 16. He has went and done it without my permission. 17. He flew from justice. 18. Some valuable land was overflown. 19. She come just after you left. 20. They sung a new tune which they had not sang before. 21. The water I drunk there was better than any that I had drank before. 22. The leaves had fell. 23. I had rode a short distance when the storm begun to gather. 24. I found the water froze. 25. He raised up. 26. He run till he became so weary that he was forced to lay down. 27. I knowed that it was so, for I seen him when he done it. 28. I had began to think that you had forsook us. 29. I am afraid that I cannot learn him to do it. 30. I guess that I will stop. 31. I expect that he has gone to Boston. 32. There ain't any use of trying. 33. I have got no mother. 34. Can I speak to you? 35. He had ought to see him.

+Explanation+.—As ought is never a participle, it cannot be used after had to form a compound tense.

+Caution+.—A conditional or a concessive clause takes a verb in the indicative mode when the action or being is assumed as a fact, or when the uncertainty lies merely in the speaker's knowledge of the fact. But when the action or being in such a clause is merely thought of as a contingency, or in such a clause the speaker prefers to put hypothetically something of whose truth or untruth he has no doubt, the subjunctive is used. The subjunctive is frequently used in indirect questions, in expressing a wish for that which it is impossible to attain at once or at all, and instead of the potential mode in independent clauses.

+Examples+.—
1. If (= since) it rains, why do you go?
2. If it rains (now), I cannot go out.
3. If it rain, the work will be delayed.
4. Though it rain to-morrow, we must march.
5. If there be mountains, there must be valleys between.
6. Though honey be sweet, one can't make a meal of it.
7. If my friend were here, he would enjoy this.
8. Though immortality were improbable, we should still believe in it.
9. One may doubt whether the best men be known.
10. I wish the lad were taller.
11. Oh! that I were a Samson in strength.
12. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck.

+Explanation+.—In (1) the raining is assumed as a fact. In (2) the speaker is uncertain of the fact. In the conditional clause of (3) and in the concessive clause of (4) the raining is thought of as a mere contingency. The speaker is certain of the truth of what is hypothetically expressed in the conditional clause of (5) and in the concessive clause of (6), and is certain of the untruth of what is hypothetically expressed in the conditional clause of (7) and in the concessive clause of (8). There is an indirect question in (9), a wish in (10) for something not at once attainable and in (11) for something forever unattainable, and in (12) the subjunctive mode is used in place of the potential.

+Remarks+.—When there is doubt as to whether the indicative or the subjunctive mode is required, use the indicative.

The present subjunctive forms may be treated as infinitives used to complete omitted auxiliaries; as, If it (should) rain, the work will be delayed; Till one greater man (shall) restore us, etc. This will often serve as a guide in distinguishing the indicative from the subjunctive mode.

If, though, lest, unless, etc. are usually spoken of as signs of the subjunctive mode, but these words are now more frequently followed by the indicative than by the subjunctive.

+Direction+.—Justify the mode of the italicized verbs in the following sentences:—

1. If this were so, the difficulty would vanish. 2. If he was there, I did not see him. 3. If to-morrow be fine, I will walk with you. 4. Though this seems improbable, it is true. 5. If my friend is in town, he will call this evening. 6. If he ever comes, we shall know it.

+Explanation+.—In (6) and (7) the coming is referred to as a fact to be decided in future time.

7. If he comes by noon, let me know. 8. The ship leaps, as it were, from billow to billow. 9. Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob. 10. If a pendulum _is drawn _to one side, it will swing to the other.

+Explanation+.—Be is often employed in making scientific statements like the preceding, and may therefore be allowed, If a pendulum is drawn = Whenever a pendulum is drawn.

11. I wish that I were a musician. 12. Were I so disposed, I could not gratify you. 13. This sword shall end thee unless thou yield. 14. Govern well thy appetite, lest sin surprise thee. 15. I know not whether it is so or not. 16. Would he were fatter! 17. If there were no light, there would be no colors. 18. Oh, that he were a son of mine! 19. Though it be cloudy to-night, it will be cold. 20. Though the whole exceed a part, we sometimes prefer a part to the whole. 21. Whether he go or not, I must be there. 22. Though an angel from heaven command it, we should not steal. 23. If there be an eye, it was made to see. 24. It were well it were done quickly.

+Direction+.—Supply in each of the following sentences a verb in the indicative or the subjunctive mode, and give a reason for your choice:—

1. I wish it —— in my power to help you. 2. I tremble lest he ——. 3. If he —— guilty, the evidence does not show it. 4. He deserves our pity, unless his tale —— a false one. 5. Though he —— there, I did not see him. 6. If he —— but discreet, he will succeed. 7. If I —— he, I would do differently. 8. If ye —— men, fight.

* * * * *

LESSON 141.

CONSTRUCTION OF MODE AND TENSE FORMS—CONTINUED.

+Caution+.—Be careful to employ the tense forms of the different modes in accordance with their meaning, and in such a way as to preserve the proper order of time.

+Direction+.—Correct the following errors, and give your reasons:—

1. That custom has been formerly quite popular. 2. Neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. 3. He that was dead sat up and began to speak. 4. A man bought a horse for one hundred dollars; and, after keeping it three months, at an expense of ten dollars a month, he sells it for two hundred dollars. What per cent does he gain? 5. I should say that it was an hour's ride. 6. If I had have seen him, I should have known him. 7. I wish I was in Dixie. 8. We should be obliged if you will favor us with a song. 9. I intended to have called.

+Explanation+.—This is incorrect; it should be, I intended to call. The act of calling was not completed at the time indicated by intended.

+Remark+.—Verbs of commanding, desiring, expecting, hoping, intending, permitting, etc. are followed by verbs denoting present or future time. [Footnote: The "Standard Dictionary" makes this restriction: "The doubling of the past tenses in connection with the use of have with a past participle is proper and necessary when the completion of the future act was intended before the occurrence of something else mentioned or thought of. Attention to this qualification, which has been overlooked in the criticism of tense-formation and connection, is especially important and imperative. If one says, 'I meant to have visited Paris and to have returned to London before my father arrived from America,' the past [present perfect] infinitive … is necessary for the expression of the completion of the acts purposed. 'I meant to visit Paris and to return to London before my father arrived from America,' may convey suggestively the thought intended, but does not express it.">[

The present infinitive expresses an action as present or future, and the present perfect expresses it as completed, at the time indicated by the principal verb. I am glad to have met you is correct, because the meeting took place before the time of being glad.

I ought to have gone is exceptional. Ought has no past tense form, and so the present perfect infinitive is used to make the expression refer to past time.

10. We hoped to have seen you often. 11. I should not have let you eaten it. 12. I should have liked to have seen it. 13. He would not have dared done that. 14. You ought to have helped me to have done it. 15. We expected that he would have arrived last night. 16. The experiment proved that air had weight.

+Remark+.—What is true or false at all times is generally expressed in the present tense, whatever tense precedes.

There seems to be danger of applying this rule too rigidly. When a speaker does not wish to vouch for the truth of the general proposition, he may use the past tense, giving it the form of an indirect quotation; as, He said that iron was the most valuable of metals. The tense of the dependent verb is sometimes attracted into that of the principal verb; as, I knew where the place was.

17. I had never known before how short life really was. 18. We then fell into a discussion whether there is any beauty independent of utility. The General maintained that there was not; Dr. Johnson maintained that there was. 19. I have already told you that I was a gentleman. 20. Our fathers held that all men were created equal.

+Caution+.—Use will and would to imply that the subject names the one whose will controls the action; use shall and should to imply that the one named by the subject is under the control of external influence.

+Remark+.—The original meaning of shall (to owe, to be obliged) and will (to determine) gives us the real key to their proper use.

The only case in which some trace of the original meaning of these auxiliaries cannot be found is the one in which the subject of will names something incapable of volition; as, The wind will blow. Even this may be a kind of personification.

+Examples+.—I shall go; You will go; He will go. These are the proper forms to express mere futurity, but even here we can trace the original meaning of shall and will. In the first person the speaker avoids egotism by referring to the act as an obligation or duty rather than as something under the control of his own will. In the second and third persons it is more courteous to refer to the will of others than to their duty.

I will go. Here the action is under the control of the speaker's will. He either promises or determines to go.

You shall go; He shall go. Here the speaker either promises the going or determines to compel these persons to go; in either case the one who goes is under some external influence.

Shall I go? Here the speaker puts himself under the control of some external influence—the will of another.

Will I go?—i. e., Is it my will to go?—is not used except to repeat another's question. It would be absurd for one to ask what his own will is.

Shall you go? Ans. I shall. Will you go? Ans. I will. Shall he go? Ans. He shall. Will he go? Ans. He will. The same auxiliary is used in the question that is used in the answer.

No difficulty shall hinder me. The difficulty that might do the hindering is not to be left to itself, but is to be kept under the control of the speaker.

He says that he shall go; He says that he will go. Change the indirect quotations introduced by that to direct quotations, and the application of the Caution will be apparent.

You will see that my horse is at the door by nine o'clock. This is only an apparent exception to the rule. A superior may courteously avoid the appearance of compulsion, and refer to his subordinate's willingness to obey.

They knew that I should be there, and that he would be there. The same principles apply to should and would that apply to shall and will. In this example the events are future as to past time; making them future as to present time, we have, They know that I shall be there, and that he will be there.

My friend said that he should not set out to-morrow. Change the indirect to a direct quotation, and the force of should will be seen.

+Direction+.—Assign a reason for the use of shall or will in each of the following sentences:—

1. Hear me, for I will speak. 2. If you will call, I shall be happy to accompany you. 3. Shall you be at liberty to-day? 4. I shall never see him again. 5. I will never see him again. 6. I said that he should be rewarded. 7. Thou shalt surely die. 8. Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again. 9. Though I should die, yet will I not deny thee. 10. Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth my hand against the king's son.

+Direction+.—Fill each of the following blanks with shall, will, should, or would, and give the reasons for your choice:—

1. He knew who —— betray him. 2. I —— be fatigued if I had walked so far. 3. You did better than I —— have done. 4. If he —— come by noon, —— you be ready? 5. They do me wrong, and I —— not endure it. 6. I —— be greatly obliged if you —— do me the favor. 7. If I —— say so, I —— be guilty of falsehood. 8. You —— be disappointed if you —— see it. 9. —— he be allowed to go on? 10. —— you be unhappy, if I do not come?

+Direction+.—Correct the following errors, and give your reasons:—

1. Where will I leave you? 2. Will I be in time? 3. It was requested that no person would leave his seat. 4. They requested that the appointment would be given to a man who should be known to his party. 5. When will we get through this tedious controversy? 6. I think we will have rain.

* * * * *

LESSON 142.

CONSTRUCTION OF NUMBER AND PERSON FORMS.

AGREEMENT.—VERBS—PRONOUNS.

+Caution+.—A verb must agree with its subject in number and person.

+Remarks+.—Practically, this rule applies to but few forms. +Are+ and +were+ are the only plural forms retained by the English verb. In the common style, most verbs have one person form, made by adding +s+ or +es+ (has, in the present perfect tense, is a contraction of the indicative present—ha(ve)s). The verb be has +am+ (first person) and +is+ (third person).

In the solemn style, the second person singular takes the ending +est+, +st+, or +t+, and, in the indicative present, the third person singular adds +eth+. (See Lessons 134 and 135.)

Need and dare, when followed by an infinitive without to, are generally used instead of needs and dares; as, He need not do it; He dare not do it.

+Caution+.—A collective noun requires a verb in the plural when the individuals in the collection are thought of; but, when the collection as a whole is thought of, the verb should be singular.

+Examples+.—
l. The multitude were of one mind.
2. The multitude was too large to number.
3. A number were inclined to turn back,
4. The number present was not ascertained.

+Caution+.—When a verb has two or more subjects connected by and, it must agree with them in the plural.

+Exceptions+.—l. When the connected subjects are different names of the same thing, or when they name several things taken as one whole, the verb must be singular; as, My old friend and schoolmate is in town. Bread and milk is excellent food.

2. When the connected subjects are preceded by each, every, many a, or no, they are taken separately, and the verb agrees with the nearest; as, Every man, woman, and child was lost.

3. When the subjects are emphatically distinguished, the verb agrees with the first and is understood with the second; as, Time, and patience also, is needed. (The same is true of subjects connected by as well as; as, Time, as well as patience, is needed.)

4. When one of the subjects is affirmative and the other negative, the verb agrees with the affirmative; as, Books, and not pleasure, occupy his time.

5. When several subjects follow the verb, each subject may be emphasized by making the verb agree with that which stands nearest; as, Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.

+Remark+.—When one of two or more subjects connected by and is of the first person, the verb is in the first person; when one of the subjects is of the second person, and none of the first, the verb is in the second person. I, you, and he = we; you and he = you. We say, Mary and I shall (not will) be busy to-morrow.

+Caution+.—When two or more subjects are connected by or or nor, the verb agrees in person and number with the nearest; as, Neither poverty nor wealth was desired; Neither he nor they were satisfied.

When the subjects require different forms of the verb, it is generally better to express the verb with each subject or to recast the sentence.

+Remarks+.—When a singular and a plural subject are used, the plural subject is generally placed next to the verb.

In using pronouns of different persons, it is generally more polite for the speaker to mention the one addressed first, and himself last, except when he confesses a fault.

+Caution+.—A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender, and person; as, Thou who writest; He who writes; They who write, etc.

The three special Cautions given above for the agreement of the verb will also aid in determining the agreement of the pronoun with its antecedent.

+Remarks+.—The pronoun and the verb of an adjective clause relating to the indefinite subject it take, by attraction, the person and number of the complement when this complement immediately precedes the adjective clause; as, It is I that am in the wrong; It is thou that liftest me up; It is the dews and showers that make the grass grow.

The pronoun you, even when singular, requires a plural verb.

+Direction+.—Justify the use of the following italicized verbs and pronouns:—

1. Books is a noun. 2. The good are great. 3. The committee were unable to agree, and they asked to be discharged. 4. The House has decided not to allow its members the privilege. 5. Three times four is twelve. [Footnote: "Three times four is twelve" and "Three times four are twelve" are both used, and both are defended. The question is (see Caution for collective nouns), Is the number four thought of as a whole, or are the individual units composing it thought of? The expression = Four taken three times is twelve. Times is a noun used adverbially.] 6. Five dollars is not too much. 7. Twice as much is too much. 8. Two hours is a long time to wait. 9. To relieve the wretched was his pride. 10. To profess and to possess are two different things. 11. Talking and eloquence are not the same. 12. The tongs are not in their place. 13. Every one is accountable for his own acts. 14. Every book and every paper was found in its place. 15. Not a loud voice, but strong proofs bring conviction. 16. This orator and statesman has gone to his rest. 17. Young's "Night Thoughts" is his most celebrated poetical work. 18. Flesh and blood hath not revealed it. 19. The hue and cry of the country pursues him. 20. The second and the third Epistle of John contain each a single chapter. 21. Man is masculine because it denotes a male. 22. Therein consists the force and use and nature of language. 23. Neither wealth nor wisdom is the chief thing. 24. Either you or I am right. 25. Neither you nor he is to blame. 26. John, and his sister also, is going. 27. The lowest mechanic, as well as the richest citizen, is here protected in his right. 28. There are one or two reasons. [Footnote: When two adjectives differing in number are connected without a repetition of the noun, the tendency is to make the verb agree with the noun expressed.] 29. Nine o'clock and forty-five minutes is fifteen minutes of ten. 30. Mexican figures, or picture-writing, represent things, not words. [Footnote: The verb here agrees with figures, as picture-writing is logically explanatory of figures.] 31. Many a kind word and many a kind act has been put to his credit.

+Direction+.—Correct the following errors, and give your reasons:—

1. Victuals are always plural. 2. Plutarch's "Parallel Lives" are his great work. 3. What sounds have each of the vowels? 4. "No, no," says I. 5. "We agree," says they. 6. Where was you? 7. Every one of these are good in their place. 8. Neither of them have recited their lesson. 9. There comes the boys. 10. Each of these expressions denote action. 11. One of you are mistaken. 12. There is several reasons for this. 13. The assembly was divided in its opinion. 14. The public is invited to attend. 15. The committee were full when this point was decided. 16. The nation are prosperous. 17. Money, as well as men, were needed. 18. Now, boys, I want every one of you to decide for themselves. 19. Neither the intellect nor the heart are capable of being driven. 20. She fell to laughing like one out of their right mind. 21. Five years' interest are due. 22. Three quarters of the men was discharged. 23. Nine-tenths of every man's happiness depend upon this. 24. No time, no money, no labor, were spared. 25. One or the other have erred in their statement. 26. Why are dust and ashes proud? 27. Either the master or his servants is to blame. 28. Neither the servants nor their master are to blame. 29. Our welfare and security consists in unity. 30. The mind, and not the body, sin. 31. He don't like it. 32. Many a heart and home have been desolated by drink.

GENERAL REVIEW.

TO THE TEACHER.—See suggestions to the teacher, page 255*.

+Scheme for the Verb.+

(The numbers refer to Lessons.)

VERB.
Uses.
To assert action, being, or state.—Predicate (4, 11)
To assume action, being, or state.
Participles (37)
Infinitives (40)
Classes.
Form.
Regular (92).
Irregular (92, 132, 133).
(Redundant and Defective)
Meaning.
Transitive (92).
Intransitive (92).
Modifications.
Voice.
Active (129, 130).
Passive (129, 130).
Mode.
Indicative (131, 134-137).
Potential (131, 134-137).
Subjunctive (131, 134-137, 140).
Imperative (131, 134-137).
Tense.
Present. |
Past. |
Future. + 131, 134-138,
Present Perfect.| 140, 141.
Past Perfect. |
Future Perfect. |
Number.
Singular. + 131, 134, 135.
Plural. |
Person.
First. |
Second. + 131, 134, 135.
Third. |
Participles.—Classes.
Present. |
Past. + 131, 134, 136.
Past Perfect. |
Infinitives.—
Present. |
Present Perfect.| 131, 134, 135.

+Questions on the Verb+.

1. Define the verb and its classes.—Lessons 92, 132.

2. Define the modifications of the verb.—Lessons 129, 131.

3. Define the several voices, modes, and tenses.—Lessons 129, 131.

4. Define the participle and its classes.—Lesson 131.

5. Define the infinitive.—Lesson 131.

6. Give a synopsis of a regular and of an irregular verb in all the
different forms.—Lessons 134, 135, 136, 137.

7. Analyze the different mode and tense forms, and give the functions of
the different tenses.—Lesson 138.

8. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the mode and tense forms, and of the person and number forms.—Lessons 140, 141, 142.

* * * * *

LESSON 143.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

Lesson 112.—What are Modifications? Have English words many inflections? Have they lost any? What is Number? Define the singular and the plural number. How is the plural of nouns regularly formed? In what ways may the plural be formed irregularly? Illustrate.

Lesson 113.—Give the plural of some nouns adopted from other languages. How do compounds form the plural? Illustrate the several ways. How do letters, figures, etc. form the plural? Illustrate.

Lesson 114.—Give examples of nouns having each two plurals differing in meaning. Some which have the same form in both numbers. Some which have no plural. Some which are always plural. What is said of the number of collective nouns?

Lesson 116.—In what four ways may the number of nouns be determined? Illustrate.

Lesson 117.—What is Gender? Define the different genders. What is the difference between sex and gender? The gender of English nouns follows what? Have English nouns a neuter form? Have all English nouns a masculine and a feminine form? In what three ways may the masculine of nouns be distinguished from the feminine? Illustrate. Give the three gender forms of the pronoun.

Lesson 118.—How is gender in grammar important? When is the pronoun of the masculine gender used? When is the neuter pronoun it used? By the aid of what pronouns are inanimate things personified? In personification, when is the masculine pronoun used, and when is the feminine? Illustrate. What is the Caution relating to gender?

Lesson 119.—What is Person? Is the person of nouns marked by form? Define the three persons. When is a noun in the first person? In the second person? What classes of words have distinctive person forms? Why is person regarded in grammar? What is Case? Define the three cases. What is the case of a noun used independently? Of an explanatory modifier? Of an objective complement? Of a noun or pronoun used as attribute complement? Illustrate all these.

Lesson 121.—What is Parsing? Illustrate the parsing of nouns.

* * * * *

LESSON 144.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

Lesson 122.—How many case forms have nouns, and what are they? How is the possessive of nouns in the singular formed? Of nouns in the plural? Illustrate. What is the possessive sign? To which word of compound names or of groups of words treated as such is the sign added? Illustrate. Instead of the possessive form, what may be used? Illustrate.

Lesson 123.—In what case alone can mistakes in the construction of nouns occur? Illustrate the Cautions relating to possessive forms.

Lesson 124.—What is Declension? Decline girl and tooth. Decline the several personal pronouns, the relative and the interrogative. What adjective pronouns are declined wholly or in part? Illustrate.

Lesson 125.—What words in the language have each three different case forms? What are the nominative, and what the objective, forms of the pronouns?

Lesson 127.—What one modification have adjectives? What is Comparison? Define the three degrees. How are adjectives regularly compared? What are the Rules for Spelling? Illustrate them. How are adjectives of more than one syllable generally compared? How are degrees of diminution expressed? Can all adjectives be compared? Illustrate. How are some adverbs compared? Illustrate the irregular comparison of adjectives and adverbs.

Lesson 128.—To how many things does the comparative degree refer? What does it imply? Explain the office of the superlative. What word usually follows the comparative, and what the superlative? Give the Cautions relating to the use of comparatives and superlatives, and illustrate them fully.

Lesson 129.—What is Voice? Of what class of verbs is it a modification? Name and define the two voices. When is the one voice used, and when the other? Into what may the passive form be resolved? Illustrate. What may be mistaken for a verb in the passive voice? Illustrate.

Lesson 130.—In changing a verb from the active to the passive, what does the object complement become? How may an intransitive verb sometimes be made transitive? Illustrate.

* * * * *

LESSON 145.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

Lesson 131.—What is Mode? Define the four modes. What is Tense? Define the six tenses. Define the infinitive. Define the participle. Define the classes of participles. What are the number and person of a verb?

Lesson 132.—What is Conjugation? Synopsis? What are auxiliary verbs? Name them. What are the principal parts of a verb? What are redundant and what are defective verbs?

Lesson 134.—How many inflectional forms may irregular verbs have? How many have regular verbs? What is said of the subjunctive mode? Of to with the infinitive? How is a verb conjugated in the emphatic form?

Lesson 136.—How is a verb conjugated in the progressive form? How is a transitive verb conjugated in the passive voice? Give an example of a verb in the progressive form with a passive meaning. What does the progressive form denote? Can all verbs be conjugated in this form? Why? Give all the participles of the verbs choose, break, drive, read, lift.

Lesson 137.—How may a verb be conjugated interrogatively? Negatively? Illustrate. How may a question with negation be expressed in the indicative and potential modes?

Lesson 138.—Into what may the compound, or periphrastic, forms of the verb be resolved? Illustrate fully. What is said of the participle in have written, had written, etc.? Give and illustrate the several uses of the six tenses.

Lesson 140.—Show how the general Caution for the use of the verb is frequently violated. When does a conditional or a concessive clause require the verb to be in the indicative? Illustrate. When is the subjunctive used? Illustrate the many uses of the subjunctive.

Lesson 141.—Give and illustrate the general Caution relating to mode and tense forms. Give and illustrate the Caution in regard to will and would, shall and should.

Lesson 142.—Give and illustrate the Cautions relating to the agreement of verbs and pronouns. Illustrate the exceptions and the Remarks.

* * * * *

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS.

+Suggestions for the Study of the following Selections.+

+TO THE TEACHER+.—The pupil has now reached a point where he can afford to drop the diagram—its mission for him is fulfilled. For him to continue its use with these "Additional Examples," unless it be to outline the relations of clauses or illustrate peculiar constructions, is needless; he will merely be repeating that with which he is already familiar.

These extracts are not given for full analysis or parsing. This, also, the pupil would find profitless, and for the same reason. One gains nothing in doing what he already does well enough—progress is not made in climbing the wheel of a treadmill. But the pupil may here review what has been taught him of the uses of adjective pronouns, of the relatives in restrictive and in unrestrictive clauses, of certain idioms, of double negatives, of the split infinitive, of the subjunctive mode, of the distinctions in meaning between allied verbs, as lie and lay, of certain prepositions, of punctuation, etc. He should study the general character of each sentence, its divisions and subdivisions, the relations of the independent and the dependent parts, and their connection, order, etc. He should note the +periodic structure+ of some of these sentences—of (4) or (19), for instance—the meaning of which remains in suspense till near or at the close. He should note in contrast the +loose structure+ of others—for example, the last sentence in (20)—a sentence that has several points at any one of which a complete thought has been expressed, but the part of the sentence following does not, by itself, make complete sense. Let him try to see which structure is the more natural, and which is the more forcible, and why; and what style gains by a judicious blending of the two.

Especially should the pupil look at the thought in these prose extracts and at the manner in which it is expressed. This will lead him to take a step or two over into the field of literature. If the attempt is made, one condition seems imperative—the pupil should thoroughly understand what the author says. We know no better way to secure this than to exact of him a careful reproduction in his own words of the author's thought. This will reveal to him the differences between his work and the original; and bring into relief the peculiarity of each author's style—the stateliness of De Quincey's, for instance, the vividness of Webster's, the oratorical character of Macaulay's, the ruggedness of Carlyle's, the poetical beauty of Emerson's, the humor of Irving's, and the brilliancy of Holmes's—the last lines from whom are purposely stilted, as we learn from the context.

The pupil may see how ellipses and transpositions and imagery abound in poetry, and how, in the use of these particulars, poets differ from each other. He may note that poems are not pitched in the same key—that the extracts from Wordsworth and Goldsmith and Cowper, for example, deal with common facts and in a homely way, that the one from Lowell is in a higher key, while that from Shelley is all imagination, and is crowded with audacious imagery, all exquisite except in the first line, where the moon, converted by metaphor into a maiden, has that said of her that is inconsistent with her in her new character.

1. It is thought by some people that all those stars which you see glittering so restlessly on a keen, frosty night in a high latitude, and which seem to have been sown broadcast with as much carelessness as grain lies on a threshing-floor, here showing vast zaarahs of desert blue sky, there again lying close, and to some eyes presenting

"The beauteous semblance of a flock at rest,"

are, in fact, gathered into zones or strata; that our own wicked little earth, with the whole of our peculiar solar system, is a part of such a zone; and that all this perfect geometry of the heavens, these radii in the mighty wheel, would become apparent, if we, the spectators, could but survey it from the true center; which center may be far too distant for any vision of man, naked or armed, to reach.—De Quincey

2. On this question of principle, while actual suffering was yet afar off,
they [our fathers] raised their flag against a power to which, for
purposes of foreign conquest and subjugation, Rome, in the height of her
glory, is not to be compared—a power which has dotted over the surface
of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts; whose
morning drum-beat, following the sun and keeping company with the hours,
circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial
airs of England.—Webster.

3. In some far-away and yet undreamt-of hour, I can even imagine that
England may cast all thoughts of possessive wealth back to the barbaric
nations among whom they first arose; and that, while the sands of the
Indus and adamant of Golconda may yet stiffen the housings of the
charger and flash from the turban of the slave, she, as a Christian
mother, may at last attain to the virtues and the treasures of a Heathen
one, and be able to lead forth her Sons, saying, "These are my
Jewels."—Ruskin.

4. And, when those who have rivaled her [Athens's] greatness shall have shared her fate; when civilization and knowledge shall have fixed their abode in distant continents; when the scepter shall have passed away from England; when, perhaps, travelers from distant regions shall in vain labor to decipher on some moldering pedestal the name of our proudest chief, shall hear savage hymns chanted to some misshapen idol over the ruined dome of our proudest temple, and shall see a single naked fisherman wash his nets in the river of the ten thousand masts,—her influence and her glory will still survive, fresh in eternal youth, exempt from mutability and decay, immortal as the intellectual principle from which they derived their origin, and over which they exercise their control.—Macaulay.

5. To him who in the love of Nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness ere he is aware. When thoughts
Of the last, bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony and shroud and pall
And breathless darkness and the narrow house
Make thee to shudder and grow sick at heart,—
Go forth under the open sky, and list
To Nature's teachings, while from all around—
Earth and her waters and the depths of air—
Comes a still voice.—Bryant.

6. Pleasant it was, when woods were green,
And winds were soft and low,
To lie amid some sylvan scene,
Where, the long drooping boughs between,
Shadows dark and sunlight sheen
Alternate come and go;
Or where the denser grove receives
No sunlight from above,
But the dark foliage interweaves
In one unbroken roof of leaves,
Underneath whose sloping eaves
The shadows hardly move.—Longfellow.

7. I like the lad who, when his father thought
To clip his morning nap by hackneyed praise
Of vagrant worm by early songster caught,
Cried, "Served him right! 'tis not at all surprising;
The worm was punished, sir, for early rising."—Saxe.

8. There were communities, scarce known by name
In these degenerate days, but once far-famed,
Where liberty and justice, hand in hand,
Ordered the common weal; where great men grew
Up to their natural eminence, and none
Saving the wise, just, eloquent, were great;
Where power was of God's gift to whom he gave
Supremacy of merit—the sole means
And broad highway to power, that ever then
Was meritoriously administered,
Whilst all its instruments, from first to last,
The tools of state for service high or low,
Were chosen for their aptness to those ends
Which virtue meditates.—Henry Taylor.

9. Stranger, these gloomy boughs
Had charms for him; and here he loved to sit,
His only visitant a straggling sheep,
The stone-chat, or the glancing sand-piper;
And on these barren rocks, with fern and heath
And juniper and thistle sprinkled o'er,
Fixing his downcast eye, he many an hour
A morbid pleasure nourished, tracing here
An emblem of his own unfruitful life;
And, lifting up his head, he then would gaze
On the more distant scene,—how lovely 't is
Thou seest,—and he would gaze till it became
Far lovelier, and his heart could not sustain
The beauty, still more beauteous.—Wordsworth.

10. But, when the next sun brake from underground,
Then, those two brethren slowly with bent brows
Accompanying, the sad chariot-bier
Past like a shadow thro' the field, that shone
Full-summer, to that stream whereon the barge,
Pall'd all its length in blackest samite, lay.
There sat the life-long creature of the house,
Loyal, the dumb old servitor, on deck,
Winking his eyes, and twisted all his face.
So those two brethren from the chariot took
And on the black decks laid her in her bed,
Set in her hand a lily, o'er her hung
The silken case with braided blazonings,
And kiss'd her quiet brows, and, saying to her,
"Sister, farewell forever," and again,
"Farewell, sweet sister," parted all in tears.—Tennyson

11. Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 't is something, nothing;
'T was mine, 't is his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.—Shakespeare.

12. When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent, which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he, returning, chide,—
"Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"
I fondly ask: but Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best: his state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait."
—Milton.—Sonnet on his Blindness.

13. Ah! on Thanksgiving Day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South come the pilgrim and guest;
When the gray-haired New-Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored;
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before,—
What moistens the lip, and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin-pie?
—Whittier.

14. That orbed maiden with white fire laden,
Whom mortals call the moon,
Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor,
By the midnight breezes strewn;
And wherever the beat of her unseen feet,
Which only the angels hear,
May have broken the woof of my tent's thin roof,
The stars peep behind her and peer;
And I laugh to see them whirl and flee
Like a swarm of golden bees,
When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent,
Till the calm rivers, lakes, and seas,
Like strips of the sky fallen through me on high,
Are each paved with the moon and these.
—Shelley.—The Cloud.

15. Sweet was the sound, when oft, at evening's close,
Up yonder hill the village murmur rose.
There, as I passed with careless steps and slow,
The mingling notes came softened from below;
The swain responsive as the milk-maid sung,
The sober herd that lowed to meet their young,
The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool,
The playful children just let loose from school,
The watch-dog's voice that bayed the whispering wind,
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind,—
These all in sweet confusion sought the shade,
And filled each pause the nightingale had made.
—Goldsmith.

16. To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell,
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene,
Where things that own not man's dominion dwell,
And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been;
To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,
With the wild flock that never needs a fold;
Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean;—
This is not solitude; 't is but to hold
Converse with nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled.
—Byron.

17. The drawbridge dropped with a surly clang,
And through the dark arch a charger sprang,
Bearing Sir Launfal, the maiden knight,
In his gilded mail, that flamed so bright
It seemed the dark castle had gathered all
Those shafts the fierce sun had shot over its wall
In his siege of three hundred summers long,
And, binding them all in one blazing sheaf,
Had cast them forth; so, young and strong
And lightsome as a locust leaf,
Sir Launfal flashed forth in his maiden mail
To seek in all climes for the Holy Grail.—Lowell.

18. Be it a weakness, it deserves some praise,—
We love the play-place of our early days;
The scene is touching, and the heart is stone
That feels not at the sight, and feels at none.
The wall on which we tried our graving skill,
The very name we carved subsisting still;
The bench on which we sat while deep employed,
Tho' mangled, hacked, and hewed, not yet destroyed;
The little ones, unbuttoned, glowing hot,
Playing our games, and on the very spot,
As happy as we once, to kneel and draw
The chalky ring and knuckle down at taw,
To pitch the ball into the grounded hat,
Or drive it devious with a dexterous pat;—
The pleasing spectacle at once excites
Such recollection of our own delights
That, viewing it, we seem almost t' obtain
Our innocent, sweet, simple years again.—Cowper.

19. Considering our present advanced state of culture, and how the torch of science has now been brandished and borne about, with more or less effect, for five thousand years and upwards; how, in these times especially, not only the torch still burns, and perhaps more fiercely than ever, but innumerable rush-lights and sulphur-matches, kindled thereat, are also glancing in every direction, so that not the smallest cranny or doghole in nature or art can remain unilluminated,—it might strike the reflective mind with some surprise that hitherto little or nothing of a fundamental character, whether in the way of philosophy or history, has been written on the subject of Clothes.—Carlyle.

20. When we see one word of a frail man on the throne of France tearing a hundred thousand sons from their homes, breaking asunder the sacred ties of domestic life, sentencing myriads of the young to make murder their calling and rapacity their means of support, and extorting from nations their treasures to extend this ruinous sway, we are ready to ask ourselves, Is not this a dream? and, when the sad reality comes home to us, we blush for a race which can stoop to such an abject lot. At length, indeed, we see the tyrant humbled, stripped of power, but stripped by those who, in the main, are not unwilling to play the despot on a narrower scale, and to break down the spirit of nations under the same iron sway.—Channing.

21. There are days which occur in this climate, at almost any season of the year, wherein the world reaches its perfection; when the air, the heavenly bodies, and the earth make a harmony, as if Nature would indulge her offspring; when, in these bleak upper sides of the planet, nothing is to desire that we have heard of the happiest latitudes, and we bask in the shining hours of Florida and Cuba; when everything that has life gives sign of satisfaction, and the cattle that lie on the ground seem to have great and tranquil thoughts.—-Emerson.

22. Did you never, in walking in the fields, come across a large flat stone, which had lain, nobody knows how long, just where you found it, with the grass forming a little hedge, as it were, all round it, close to its edges; and have you not, in obedience to a kind of feeling that told you it had been lying there long enough, insinuated your stick or your foot or your fingers under its edge, and turned it over as a housewife turns a cake, when she says to herself, "It's done brown enough by this time"? But no sooner is the stone turned and the wholesome light of day let upon this compressed and blinded community of creeping things than all of them which enjoy the luxury of legs—and some of them have a good many—rush round wildly, butting each other and everything in their way, and end in a general stampede for underground retreats from the region poisoned by sunshine. Next year you will find the grass growing tall and green where the stone lay; the ground-bird builds her nest where the beetle had his hole; the dandelion and the buttercup are growing there, and the broad fans of insect-angels open and shut over their golden disks, as the rhythmic waves of blissful consciousness pulsate through their glorified being.—Holmes.

23. There is a different and sterner path;—I know not whether there be any now qualified to tread it; I am not sure that even one has ever followed it implicitly, in view of the certain meagerness of its temporal rewards, and the haste wherewith any fame acquired in a sphere so thoroughly ephemeral as the Editor's must be shrouded by the dark waters of oblivion. This path demands an ear ever open to the plaints of the wronged and the suffering, though they can never repay advocacy, and those who mainly support newspapers will be annoyed and often exposed by it; a heart as sensitive to oppression and degradation in the next street as if they were practiced in Brazil or Japan; a pen as ready to expose and reprove the crimes whereby wealth is amassed and luxury enjoyed in our own country at this hour as if they had been committed only by Turks or pagans in Asia some centuries ago.—Greeley.

24. To sweeten the beverage, a lump of sugar was laid beside each cup, and the company alternately nibbled and sipped with great decorum, until an improvement was introduced by a shrewd and economical old lady, which was to suspend a large lump directly over the tea-table, by a string from the ceiling, so that it could be swung from mouth to mouth—an ingenious expedient, which is still kept up by some families in Albany, but which prevails without exception in Communipaw, Bergen, Platbush, and all our uncontaminated Dutch villages.—Irving.

* * * * *

COMPOSITION.

LESSON 146.

SUMMARY OF RULES FOR CAPITAL LETTERS AND PUNCTUATION.

CAPITAL LETTERS, TERMINAL MARKS, AND THE COMMA.

+Capital Letters+.—The first word of (1) a sentence, (2) a line of poetry, (3) a direct quotation making complete sense or a direct question introduced into a sentence, and (4) phrases or clauses separately numbered or paragraphed should begin with a capital letter. Begin with a capital letter (5) proper names (including all names of the Deity), and words derived from them, (6) names of things vividly personified, and (7) most abbreviations. Write in capital letters (8) the words I and 0, and (9) numbers in the Roman notation. [Footnote: Small letters are often used in referring to sections, chapters, etc.]

+Period+.—Place a period after (1) a declarative or an imperative sentence, (2) an abbreviation, (3) a number written in the Roman notation, and (4) Arabic figures used to enumerate.

+Interrogation Point+.—Every direct interrogative sentence or clause should be followed by an interrogation point.

+Exclamation Point+.—All exclamatory expressions must be followed by the exclamation point.

+Comma+.—Set off by the comma (1) an explanatory modifier which does not restrict the modified term or combine closely with it; (2) a participle used as an adjective modifier, with the words belonging to it, unless restrictive; (3) the adjective clause when not restrictive; (4) the adverb clause, unless it closely follows and restricts the word it modifies; (5) a phrase out of its usual order or not closely connected with the word it modifies; (6) a word or phrase independent or nearly so; (7) a direct quotation introduced into a sentence, unless formally introduced; (8) a noun clause used as an attribute complement; and (9) a term connected to another by or and having the same meaning. Separate by the comma (10) connected words and phrases, unless all the conjunctions are expressed; (11) co-ordinate clauses when short and closely connected; and (12) the parts of a compound predicate, and other phrases, when long or differently modified. Use the comma (13) to denote an omission of words; (14) after as, namely, etc., introducing illustrations; and (15) when it is needed to prevent ambiguity.

+Direction+.—Give the Rule for each capital letter and each mark of punctuation in these sentences, except the colon, the semicolon, and the quotation marks:—

1. Francis II., Charles IX., and Henry III., three sons of Catherine de Medici and Henry II., sat upon the French throne. 2. The pupil asked, "When shall I use O, and when shall I use oh?" 3. Purity of style forbids us to use: 1. Foreign words; 2. Obsolete words; 3. Low words, or slang. 4. It is easy, Mistress Dial, for you, who have always, as everybody knows, set yourself up above me, to accuse me of laziness. 5. He rushed into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell. 6. The Holy Land was, indeed, among the early conquests of the Saracens, Caliph Omar having, in 637 A. D., taken Jerusalem. 7. He who teaches, often learns himself. 8. San Salvador, Oct. 12, 1492. 9. Some letters are superfluous; as, c and q. 10. No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet To chase the glowing hours with flying feet!

Direction.—Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation in these sentences, and give your reasons:—

1. and lo from the assembled crowd
there rose a shout prolonged and loud
that to the ocean seemed to say
take her o bridegroom old and gray
2. a large rough mantle of sheepskin fastened around the loins by a girdle
or belt of hide was the only covering of that strange solitary man
elijah the tishbite
3. The result however of the three years' reign or tyranny of jas ii was
that wm of orange came over from holland and without shedding a drop of
blood became a d 1688 wm in of england
4. o has three sounds: 1. that in not; 2. that in note; 3. that in
move
5. lowell asks and what is so rare as a day in June
6. spring is a fickle mistress but summer is more staid
7. if i may judge by his gorgeous colors and the exquisite sweetness and
variety of his music autumn is i should say the poet of the family
8. new york apr 30 1789
9. some letters stand each for many sounds; as a and o

* * * * *

LESSON 147.

SUMMARY OF RULES—CONTINUED.

SEMICOLON AND COLON.

+Semicolon+.—Co-ordinate clauses, (1) when slightly connected, or (2) when themselves divided by the comma, must be separated by the semicolon. Use the semicolon (3) between serial phrases or clauses having a common dependence on something which precedes or follows; and (4) before as, to wit, namely, i. e., and that is, when they introduce examples or illustrations.

+Direction+.—Justify each capital letter and each mark of punctuation (except the colon) in these sentences:—

1. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; but it will stand, and it
will richly compensate for both.
2. Some words are delightful to the ear; as, Ontario, golden, oriole.
3. The shouts of revelry had died away; the roar of the lion had ceased;
the last loiterer had retired from the banquet; and the lights in the
palace of the victor were extinguished.
4. Send it to the public halls; proclaim it there; let them hear it who
heard the first roar of the enemy's cannon; let them see it who saw
their brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill: and the
very walls will cry out in its support.

+Direction+.—-Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation in these sentences, and give your reasons:—

1. all parts of a plant reduce to three namely root stem and leaf
2. when the world is dark with tempests when thunder rolls and lightning
flies thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds and laughest at the
storm
3. the oaks of the mountains fall the mountains themselves decay with years
the ocean shrinks and grows again the moon herself is lost in heaven
4. kennedy taking from her a handkerchief edged with gold pinned it over
her eyes the executioners holding her by the arms led her to the block
and the queen kneeling down said repeatedly with a firm voice into thy
hands o lord i commend my spirit

+Colon+.—Use the colon (1) between the parts of a sentence when these parts are themselves divided by the semicolon, and (2) before a quotation or an enumeration of particulars when formally introduced.

+Direction+.—Justify each capital letter and each mark of punctuation in these sentences:—

1. You may swell every expense, and strain every effort, still more extravagantly; accumulate every assistance you can beg and borrow; traffic and barter with every little, pitiful German prince that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles of a foreign country: your efforts are forever vain and impotent.

2. This is a precept of Socrates: "Know thyself."

+Direction+.—Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation in these sentences, and give your reasons:—

1. the advice given ran thus take care of the minutes and the hours will
take care of themselves
2. we may abound in meetings and movements enthusiastic gatherings in the
field and forest may kindle all minds with a common sentiment but it is
all in vain if men do not retire from the tumult to the silent culture
of every right disposition

+Direction+.—-Write sentences illustrating the several uses of the semicolon, the colon, and the comma.

* * * * *

LESSON 148.

SUMMARY OF RULES—CONTINUED.

THE DASH, MARKS OF PARENTHESIS, APOSTROPHE, HYPHEN, QUOTATION MARKS, AND BRACKETS.

+Dash+.—Use the dash where there is an omission (1) of letters or figures, and (2) of such words as as, namely, or that is, introducing illustrations or equivalent expressions. Use the dash (3) where the sentence breaks off abruptly, and the same thought is resumed after a slight suspension, or another takes its place; and (4) before a word or phrase repeated at intervals for emphasis. The dash may be used (5) instead of marks of parenthesis, and may (6) follow other marks, adding to their force.

+Direction+.—Justify each capital letter and each mark of punctuation in these sentences:—

1. The most noted kings of Israel were the first three—Saul; David, and Solomon. 2. When Mrs. B—— heard of her son's disgrace, she fainted away. 3. And—"This to me?" he said. 4. Assyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage—what are they? 5. I do not rise to supplicate you to be merciful toward the nation to which I belong,—toward a nation which, though subject to England, yet is distinct from it. 6. We know the uses—and sweet they are—of adversity. 7. His place business is 225—229 High street.

+Direction+.—-Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation in these sentences, and give your reasons:—

1. the human species is composed of two distinct races those who borrow and those who lend 2. this bill this infamous bill the way it has been received by the house the manner in which its opponents have been treated the personalities to which they have been subjected all these things dissipate my doubts 3. the account of a _____'s shame fills pp 1 19 4. lord marmion turned well was his need and dashed the rowels in his steed

+Marks of Parenthesis+.—Marks of parenthesis may be used to inclose what has no essential connection with the rest of the sentence.

+Apostrophe+.—Use the apostrophe (1) to mark the omission of letters, (2) in the pluralizing of letters, figures, and characters, and (3) to distinguish the possessive from other cases.

+Hyphen+.—Use the hyphen (-) (1) to join the parts of compound words, and (2) between syllables when a word is divided.

+Quotation Marks+.—Use quotation marks to inclose a copied word or passage. If the quotation contains a quotation, the latter is inclosed within single marks. (See Lesson 74.)

+Brackets+.—Use brackets [ ] to inclose what, in quoting another's words, you insert by way of explanation or correction.

+Direction+.—Justify the marks of punctuation used in these sentences:—

1. Luke says, Acts xxi. 15, "We took up our carriages [luggage], and went up to Jerusalem." 2. The last sentence of the composition was, "I close in the words of Patrick Henry, 'Give me liberty, or give me death.'" 3. Red-hot is a compound adjective. 4. Telegraph is divided thus: tel-e-graph. 5. The profound learning of Sir William Jones (he was master of twenty-eight languages) was the wonder of his contemporaries. 6. By means of the apostrophe you know that love in mother's love is a noun, and that i's isn't a verb.

+Direction+.—-Use capital letters and the proper marks of punctuation in these sentences, and give your reasons:—

1. next to a conscience void of offense without which by the bye life isnt
worth the living is the enjoyment of the social feelings
2. man the life boat
3. don't neglect in writing to dot your is cross your ts and make your
7_s_ unlike your 9_s_ and don't in speaking omit the hs from such
words as which when and why or insert rs in law saw and
raw
4. the scriptures tell us take no thought anxiety for the morrow
5. The speaker said american oratory rose to its high water mark in that
great speech ending liberty and union now and forever one and
inseparable

* * * * *

LESSON 149.

CAPITAL LETTERS AND PUNCTUATION—REVIEW.

+Direction+.—Give the reason for each capital letter and each mark of punctuation in these sentences:—

1. A bigot's mind is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour
upon it, the more it contracts.
2. This is the motto of the University of Oxford: "The Lord is my light."
3. The only fault ever found with him is, that he sometimes fights ahead of
his orders.
4. The land flowing with "milk and honey" (see Numbers xiv. 8) was a long,
narrow strip, lying along the eastern edge, or coast, of the
Mediterranean, and consisted of three divisions; namely, 1. On the
north, Galilee; 2. On the south, Judea; 3, In the middle, Samaria.
5. "What a lesson," Trench well says, "the word 'diligence' contains!"
6. An honest man, my neighbor,—there he stands—
Was struck—struck like a dog, by one who wore
The badge of Ursini.
7. Thou, too, sail on, 0 Ship of State;
Sail on, 0 Union, strong and great.
8. O'Connell asks, "The clause which does away with trial by jury—what,
in the name of H——n, is it, if it is not the establishment of a
revolutionary tribunal?"
9. There are only three departments of the mind—the intellect, the
feelings, and the will.
10. This—trial!
11. American nationality has made the desert to bud and blossom as the
rose; it has quickened to life the giant brood of useful arts; it has
whitened lake and ocean with the sails of a daring, new, and lawful
trade; it has extended to exiles, flying as clouds, the asylum of our
better liberty.
12. As I saw him [Weoster, the day before his great reply to Col. Hayne of
South Carolina] in the evening, (if I may borrow an illustration from
his favorite amusement) he was as unconcerned and as free of spirit as
some here present have seen him while floating in his fishing-boat
along a hazy shore, gently rocking on the tranquil tide, dropping his
line here and there, with the varying fortune of the sport. The next
morning he was like some mighty admiral, dark and terrible, casting the
long shadow of his frowning tiers far over the sea, that seemed to sink
beneath him; his broad pendant [pennant] streaming at the main, the
stars and the stripes at the fore, the mizzen, and the peak; and
bearing down like a tempest upon his antagonist, with all his canvas
strained to the wind, and all his thunders roaring from his broadsides.
13. The "beatitudes" are found in Matt. v. 3—11.

TO THE TEACHER.—If further work in punctuation is needed, require the pupils to justify the punctuation of the sentences beginning page 314.

* * * * *

LESSON 150.

QUALITIES OF STYLE.

+Style+ is the manner in which one expresses himself. Styles differ as men differ. But there are some cardinal qualities that all good style must possess.

I. +Perspicuity.+—Perspicuity is opposed to obscurity of all kinds; it means clearness of expression. It demands that the thought in the sentence shall be plainly seen through the words of the sentence. Perspicuity is an indispensable quality of style; if the thought is not understood, or it is misunderstood, its expression might better have been left unattempted. Perspicuity depends mainly upon these few things:—

1. +One's Clear Understanding of What One Attempts to Say.+—You cannot express to others more than you thoroughly know, or make your thought clearer to them than it is to yourself.

2. +The Unity of the Sentence.+—Many thoughts, or thoughts having no natural and close connection with each other, should not be crowded into one sentence.

3. +The Use of the Right Words.+—Use such words as convey your thought—each word expressing exactly your idea, no more, no less, no other. Use words in the senses recognized by the best authority. Do not omit words when they are needed, and do not use a superfluity of them. Be cautious in the use of he, she, it, and they. Use simple words—words which those who are addressed can readily understand. Avoid what are called bookish, inkhorn, terms; shun words that have passed out of use, and those that have no footing in the language—foreign words, words newly coined, and slang.

4. +A Happy Arrangement.+—The relations of single words to each other, of phrases to the words they modify, and of clauses to one another should be obvious at a glance. The sentence should not need rearrangement in order to disclose the meaning. Sentences should stand in the paragraph so that the beginning of each shall tally exactly in thought with the sentence that precedes; and the ending of each, with the sentence that follows. Every paragraph should be a unit in thought, distinct from other paragraphs, holding to them the relation that its own sentences hold to one another, the relation that the several parts of each sentence hold to one another.

II. +Energy+.—By energy we mean force, vigor, of expression. In ordinary discourse, it is not often sought, and in no discourse is it constantly sought. We use energy when we wish to convince the intellect, arouse the feelings, and capture the will—lead one to do something. When energetic, we select words and images for strength and not for beauty; choose specific, and not general, terms; prefer the concrete to the abstract; use few words and crowd these with meaning; place subordinate clauses before the independent; and put the strongest word in the clause, the strongest clause in the sentence, the strongest sentence in the paragraph, and the strongest paragraph in the discourse, last. Energetic thought seeks variety of expression, is usually charged with intense feeling, and requires impassioned delivery.

III. +Imagery—Figures of Speech+.—Things stand in many relations to each other. Some +things are (1) like each other+ in some particular; other +things are (2) unlike each other+ in some particular; and still other +things stand to each other (3)+ in some +other+ noteworthy +relation than+ that of +likeness+ or +unlikeness+. Things long seen and associated by us in any of these relations come at last readily to suggest each other. +Figures of Speech+ are those expressions in which, departing from our ordinary manner in speaking of things, we assert or assume any of these notable relations. The first and great service of imagery is to the thought—it makes the thought clearer and stronger. Imagery adds beauty to style—a diamond brooch may adorn as well as do duty to the dress.

A +Simile+, or +Comparison+, is a figure of speech in which we point out or assert a likeness between things otherwise unlike; as, The gloom of despondency hung like a cloud over the land.

A +Metaphor+ is a figure of speech in which, assuming the likeness between two things, we bring over and apply to one of them the term that denotes the other; as, A stately squadron of snowy geese were riding in an adjoining pond.

A +Personification+ is a figure of speech in which things are raised to a plane of being above their own—to or toward that of persons. It +raises+ (1) +mere things to+ the plane of +animals+; as, The sea licks your feet, its huge flanks purr pleasantly for you. It raises (2) +mere animals to+ the plane of +persons+; as, So talked the spirited, sly Snake. It +raises+ (3) +mere things to+ the plane of +persons+; as, Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own.

An +Antithesis+ is a figure of speech in which things mutually opposed in some particular are set over against each other; as, The mountains give their lost children berries and water; the sea mocks their thirst and lets them die.

A +Metonymy+ is a figure of speech in which the name of one thing connected to another by a relation other than likeness or unlikeness is brought over and applied to that other. The most important of these relations are (1) that of the +sign+ to the +thing signified+; (2) that of +cause+ to +effect+; (3) that of +instrument+ to the +user+ of it; (4) that of +container+ to the +thing contained+; (5) that of +material+ to the +thing made out of it+; (6) that of +contiguity+; (7) that of the +abstract+ to the +concrete+; and (8) that of +part+ to the +whole+ or of +whole+ to the +part+.

This last relation has been thought so important that the metonymy based upon it has received a distinct name—+Synecdoche+.

+IV. Variety+.—Variety is a quality of style opposed to monotonous uniformity. Nothing in discourse pleases us more than light and shade. In discourse properly varied, the same word does not appear with offensive frequency; long words alternate with short; the usual order now and then yields to the transposed; the verb in the assertive form frequently gives way to the participle and the infinitive, which assume; figures of speech sparkle here and there in a setting of plain language; the full method of statement is followed by the contracted; impassioned language is succeeded by the unemotional; long sentences stand side by side with short, and loose sentences with periods; declarative sentences are relieved by interrogative and exclamatory, and simple sentences by compound and complex; clauses have no rigidly fixed position; and sentences heavy with meaning and moving slowly are elbow to elbow with the light and tripping. In a word, no one form or method or matter is continued so long as to weary, and the reader is kept fresh and interested throughout. Variety is restful to the reader or hearer and therefore adds greatly to the clearness and to the force of what is addressed to him.

TO THE TEACHER.—Question the pupils upon every point taken up in this Lesson and require them to give illustrations where it is possible for them to do so.

* * * * *

LESSON 151.

PERSPICUITY—CRITICISM.

+General Direction+.—In all your work in Composition attend carefully to the punctuation.

+Direction+.—Point out the faults, and recast these sentences, making them clear:—

[Footnote: These four sentences and others in these Lessons, given just as we found them, have been culled from school compositions.]

1. He was locked in and so he sat still till the guard came and let him out, as soon as he stepped out on the ground, he saw the dead and dying laying about everywhere. 2. They used to ring a large bell at six o'clock in the morning for us to get up, then we had half an hour to dress in, after which we would go to Chapel exercises, then breakfast, school would commence at nine o'clock and closed at four in the afternoon allowing an hour for dinner from one until two then we would resume our studies until four in the afternoon. 3. Jewelry was worn in the time of King Pharaoh which is many thousand years before Christ in the time when the Israelites left they borrowed all the jewels of the Egyptians which were made of gold and silver. 4. When it is made of gold they can not of pure gold but has to be mixed with some other metal which is generally copper which turns it a reddish hue in some countries they use silver which gives it a whitish hue but in the United States and England they use both silver and copper but the English coins are the finest.

+Direction+.—Point out the faults, and recast these sentences, making them clear:—

(If any one of the sentences has several meanings, give these.)

1. James's son, Charles I., before the breath was out of his body was
proclaimed king in his stead.
2. He told the coachman that he would be the death of him, if he did not
take care what he was about, and mind what he said.
3. Richelieu said to the king that Mazarin would carry out his policy.
4. He was overjoyed to see him, and he sent for one of his workmen, and
told him to consider himself at his service.
5. Blake answered the Spanish priest that if he had sent in a complaint, he
would have punished the sailors severely; but he took it ill that he set
the Spaniards on to punish them.

+Direction+.—So place these subordinate clauses that they will remove the obscurity, and then see in how many ways each sentence can be arranged:—

1. The moon cast a pale light on the graves that were scattered around, as it peered above the horizon. 2. A large number of seats were occupied by pupils that had no backs. 3. Crusoe was surprised at seeing five canoes on the shore in which there were savages. 4. This tendency will be headed off by approximations which will be made from time to time of the written word to the spoken. 5. People had to travel on horseback and in wagons, which was a very slow way, if they traveled at all. 6. How can brethren partake of their Father's blessing that curse each other? 7. Two men will be tried for crimes in this town which are punishable with death, if a full court should attend.

Direction.—Each of these sentences may have two meanings, supply the two ellipses in each sentence, and remove the ambiguity:—

1. Let us trust no strength less than thine. 2. Study had more attraction for him than his friend. 3. He did not like the new teacher so well as his playmates. 4. He aimed at nothing less than the crown. 5. Lovest thou me more than these?

* * * * *

LESSON 152.

PERSPICUITY—CRITICISM.

Direction.—So place these italicized phrases that they will remove the obscurity, and then see in how many ways each sentence can be arranged:—

1. These designs any man who is a Briton in any situation ought to disavow. 2. The chief priests, mocking, said among themselves with the scribes, "He saved," etc. 3. Hay is given to horses as well as corn to distend the stomach. 4. Boston has forty first class grammar-schools, exclusive of Dorchester. 5. He rode to town, and drove twelve cows on horseback. 6. He could not face an enraged father in spite of his effrontery. 7. Two owls sat upon a tree which grew near an old wall out of a heap of rubbish. 8. I spent most on the river and in the river of the time I stayed there. 9. He wanted to go to sea, although it was contrary to the wishes of his parents, at the age of eighteen. 10. I have a wife and six children, and I have never seen one of them.

+Direction.+—So place the italicized words and phrases in each sentence that they will help to convey what you think is the author's thought, and then see in how many ways each sentence can be arranged:—

1. In Paris, every lady in full dress rides. 2. I saw my friend when I was in Boston walking down Tremont street. 3. The Prince of Wales was forbidden to become king or any other man. 4. What is his coming or going to you? 5. We do those things frequently which we repent of afterwards. 6. I rushed out leaving the wretch with his tale half told, horror-stricken at his crime. 7. Exclamation points are scattered up and down the page by compositors without any mercy. 8. I want to make a present to one who is fond of chickens for a Christmas gift.

+Direction.+—Make these sentences clear by using simpler words and phrases:—

1. A devastating conflagration raged. 2. He conducted her to the altar of Hymen. 3. A donkey has an abnormal elongation of auricular appendages. 4. Are you excavating a subterranean canal? 5. He had no capillary substance on the summit of his head. 6. He made a sad faux pas. 7. A network is anything reticulated or decussated, with interstices at equal distances between the intersections. 8. Diligence is the sine qua non of success. 9. She has donned the habiliments of woe. 10. The deceased was to-day deposited in his last resting-place. 11. The inmates proceeded to the sanctuary. 12. I have partaken of my morning repast. 13. He took the initiative in inaugurating the ceremony.

* * * * *

LESSON 153.

ENERGY—CRITICISM.

+Direction+.—Expand these brief expressions into sentences full of long words, and note the loss of energy:—

1. To your tents, 0 Israel! 2. Up, boys, and at them! 3. Indeed! 4. Bah! 5. Don't give up the ship! 6. Murder will out. 7. Oh! 8. Silence there! 9. Hurrah! 10. Death or free speech! 11. Rascal! 12. No matter. 13. Least said, soonest mended. 14. Death to the tyrant! 15. I'll none of it. 16. Help, ho! 17. Shame on you! 18. First come, first served.

+Direction+.—Condense each of these italicized expressions into one or two words, and note the gain:—

1. He shuffled off this mortal coil yesterday. 2. The author surpassed all those who were living at the same time with him. 3. To say that revelation is a thing which there is no need of is to talk wildly. 4. He departed this life. 5. Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated this bird of dawning singeth all night long.

+Direction+.—Change these specific words to general terms, and note the loss in energy:—-

1. Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes. 2. Break down the dikes, give Holland back to ocean. 3. Three hundred men held the hosts of Xerxes at bay. 4. I sat at her cradle, I followed her hearse. 5. Their daggers have stabbed Caesar. 6. When I'm mad, I weigh a ton. 7. Burn Moscow, starve back the invaders. 8. There's no use in crying over spilt milk. 9. In proportion as men delight in battles and bull-fights will they punish by hanging, burning, and the rack.

+Direction+.—Change these general terms to specific words, and note the gain in energy:—

1. Anne Boleyn was executed. 2. It were better for him that a heavy weight were fastened to him and that he were submerged in the waste of waters. 3. The capital of the chosen people was destroyed by a Roman general. 4. Consider the flowers how they increase in size. 5. Caesar was slain by the conspirators. 6. The cities of the plain were annihilated.

+Direction+.—Arrange these words, phrases, and clauses in the order of their strength, placing the strongest last, and note the gain in energy:—

1. The nations of the earth repelled, surrounded, pursued, and resisted him. 2. He was no longer consul nor citizen nor general nor even an emperor, but a prisoner and an exile. 3. I shall die an American; I live an American; I was born an American. 4. All that I am, all that I hope to be, and all that I have in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. 5. I shall defend it without this House, in all places, and within this House; at all times, in time of peace and in time of war. 6. We must fight if we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate our rights, if we do not mean to abandon the struggle.

* * * * *

LESSON 154.

FIGURES OF SPEECH—CRITICISM.

+Direction+.—Name the figures of speech, and then recast a few sentences, using plain language, and note the loss of beauty and force:—

1. Lend me your ears. 2. Please address the chair. 3. The robin knows when your grapes have cooked long enough in the sun. 4. A day will come when bullets and bombs shall be replaced by ballots. 5. Genius creates; taste appreciates what is created. 6. Caesar were no lion were not Romans hinds. 7. The soul of Jonathan was knit to that of David. 8. Traffic has lain down to rest. 9. Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 10. He will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. 11. Have you read Froude or Freeman? 12. The pen is mightier than the sword. 13. If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. 14. The destinies of mankind were trembling in the balance, while death fell in showers. 15. The threaded steel flies swiftly. 16. O Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb that carries anger as the flint bears fire. 17. I called the New World into existence to redress the balance of the Old_. 18. Nations shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. 19. The Morn in russet mantle clad walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill. 20. Homer, like the Nile, pours out his riches with a sudden overflow; Virgil, like a river in its banks, with a constant stream. 21. The air bites shrewdly. 22. He doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus. 23. My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar. 24. All hands to the pumps! 25. The gray-eyed Morn smiles on the frowning Night. 26. The good is often buried with men's bones. 27. Beware of the bottle. 28. All nations respect our flag. 29. The marble speaks. 30. I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent. 31. I am as constant as the northern star. 32. Then burst his mighty heart. 33. The ice is covered with health and beauty on skates. 34. Lentulus returned with victorious eagles. 35. Death hath sucked the honey of thy breath. 36. Our chains are forged. 37. I have bought golden opinions. 38. The hearth blazed high. 39. His words fell softer than snows on the brine. 40. Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund Day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain top.

+Direction+.—In the first four sentences, use similes; in the second four, metaphors; in the third four, personifications; in the last eight, metonymies:—

1. He flew with the swiftness of an arrow. 2. In battle some men are brave, others are cowardly. 3. His head is as full of plans as it can hold. 4. I heard a loud noise. 5. Boston is the place where American liberty began. 6. Our dispositions should grow mild as we grow old. 7. The stars can no longer be seen. 8. In battle some men are brave, others are cowardly. 9. The cock tears up the ground for his family of hens and chickens. 10. The waves were still. 11. The oak stretches out its strong branches. 12. The flowers are the sweet and pretty growths of the earth and sun. 13. English vessels plow the seas of the two hemispheres. 14. Have you read Lamb's Essays? 15. The water is boiling. 16. We have prostrated ourselves before the king. 17. Wretched people shiver in their lair of straw. 18. The soldier is giving way to the husbandman. 19. Swords flashed, and bullets fell. 20. His banner led the spearmen no more.

+Remark+.—If what is begun as a metaphor is not completed as begun, but is completed by a part of another metaphor or by plain language, we have what, is called a mixed metaphor. It requires great care to avoid this very common error.

+Direction+.—Correct these errors:—

1. The devouring fire uprooted the stubble. 2. The brittle thread of life may be cut asunder. 3. All the ripe fruit of three-score years was blighted in a day. 4. Unravel the obscurities of this knotty question. 5. We must apply the axe to the fountain of this evil. 6. The man stalks into court like a motionless statue, with the cloak of hypocrisy in his mouth. 7. The thin mantle of snow dissolved. 8. I smell a rat, I see him brewing in the air, but I shall yet nip him in the bud.

* * * * *

LESSON 155.

VARIETY IN EXPRESSION.

+Remark+.—You learned in Lessons 52, 53, 54 that the usual order may give way to the transposed; in 55, 56, that one kind of simple sentence may be changed to another; in 57, that simple sentences may be contracted; in 61, that adjectives may be expanded into clauses; in 67, that an adverb clause may stand before, between the parts of, and after, the independent clause; in 68, that an adverb clause may be contracted to a participle, a participle phrase, an absolute phrase, a prepositional phrase, that it may be contracted by the omission of words, and may be changed to an adjective clause or phrase; in 73, that a noun clause as subject may stand last, and as object complement may stand first, that it may be made prominent, and may be contracted; in 74, that direct quotations and questions may be changed to indirect, and indirect to direct; in 77, that compound sentences may be formed out of simple sentences, may be contracted to simple sentences, and may be changed to complex sentences; in 79, that participles, absolute phrases, and infinitives may be expanded into different kinds of clauses; and, in 130, that a verb may change its voice.

+Direction+.—Illustrate all these changes.

+Direction+.—Recast these sentences, avoiding offensive repetitions of the same word or the same sounds:—

1. We have to have money to have a horse.
2. We sailed across a bay and sailed up a creek and sailed back and sailed
in all about fourteen miles.
3. It is then put into stacks, or it is put into barns either to use it to
feed it to the stock or to sell it.
4. This day we undertake to render an account to the widows and orphans
whom our decision will make; to the wretches that will be roasted at the
stake.
5. The news of the battle of Bunker Hill, fought on the 17th of June in the
year of our Lord 1775, roused the patriotism of the people to a high
pitch of enthusiasm.

+Direction+.—-Using other words wholly or in part, see in how many ways you can express the thoughts contained in these sentences:—

1. In the profusion and recklessness of her lies, Elizabeth had no peer in England. 2. Henry IV. said that James I. was the wisest fool in Christendom. 3. Cowper's letters are charming because they are simple and natural. 4. George IV., though he was pronounced the first gentleman in Europe, was, nevertheless, a snob.

* * * * *

LESSON 156.

THE PARAGRAPH.

+The Paragraph+.—The clauses of complex sentences are so closely united in meaning that frequently they are not to be separated from each other even by the comma. The clauses of compound sentences are less closely united—a comma, a semicolon, or a colon is needed to divide them.

Between sentences there exists a wider separation in meaning, marked by a period or other terminal point. But even sentences may be connected, the bond which unites them being their common relation to the thought which jointly they develop. Sentences thus related are grouped together and form, as you have already learned, what we call a Paragraph, marked by beginning the first word a little to the right of the marginal line.

+Direction+.—Notice the facts which this paragraph contains, and the relation to each other of the clauses and the sentences expressing these facts:—

After a breeze of some sixty hours from the north and northwest, the wind died away about four o'clock yesterday afternoon. The calm continued till about nine in the evening. The mercury in the barometer fell, in the meantime, at an extraordinary rate; and the captain predicted that we should encounter a gale from the southeast. The gale came on about eleven o'clock; not violent at first, but increasing every moment.

1. A breeze from the north and northwest. 2. The wind died away. 3. A calm. 4. Barometer fell. 5. The captain predicted a gale. 6. It came on. 7. It increased in violence.

+Direction+.—Give and number the facts contained in the paragraph below:—

I awoke with a confused recollection of a good deal of rolling and thumping in the night, occasioned by the dashing of the waves against the ship. Hurrying on my clothes, I found such of the passengers as could stand, at the doors of the hurricane-house, holding on, and looking out in the utmost consternation. It was still quite dark. Four of the sails were already in ribbons: the winds whistling through the cordage; the rain dashing furiously and in torrents; the noise and spray scarcely less than I found them under the great sheet at Niagara.

+Direction+.—-Weave the facts below into a paragraph, supplying all you need to make the narrative smooth:—

Rip's beard was grizzled. Fowling-piece rusty. Dress uncouth. Women and children at his heels. Attracted attention. Was eyed from head to foot. Was asked on which side he voted. Whether he was Federal or Democrat. Rip was dazed by the question. Stared in stupidity.

+Direction+.—-Weave the facts below into two paragraphs, supplying what you need, and tell what each paragraph is about:—

In place of the old tree there was a pole. This was tall and naked. A flag was fluttering from it. The flag had on it the stars and stripes. This was strange to Rip. But Rip saw something he remembered. The tavern sign. He recognized on it the face of King George. Still the picture was changed. The red coat gone. One of blue and buff in its place. A sword, and not a scepter, in the hand. Wore a cocked hat. Underneath was painted—"General Washington."

* * * * *

LESSON 157.

THE PARAGRAPH.

+Direction+.—-Weave the facts below into three paragraphs, and write on the margin what each is about:—

The Nile rises in great lakes. Runs north. Sources two thousand miles from Alexandria. Receives two branches only. Runs through an alluvial valley. Course through the valley is 1,500 miles. Plows into the Mediterranean. Two principal channels. Minor outlets. Nile overflows its banks. Overflow caused by rains at the sources. The melting of the mountain snows. Begins at the end of June. Rises four inches daily. Rises till the close of September. Subsides. Whole valley an inland sea. Only villages above the surface. The valley very fertile. The deposit. The fertile strip is from five to one hundred and fifty miles wide. Renowned for fruitfulness. Egypt long the granary of the world. Three crops from December to June. Productions—grain, cotton, and indigo.

Direction.—-Weave these facts into four paragraphs, writing the margin of each the main thought:—

The robin is thought by some to be migratory. But he stays with us all winter. Cheerful. Noisy. Poor soloist. A spice of vulgarity in him. Dash of prose in his song. Appetite extraordinary. Eats his own weight in a short time. Taste for fruit. Eats with a relishing gulp, like Dr. Johnson's. Fond of cherries. Earliest mess of peas. Mulberries. Lion's share of the raspberries. Angleworms his delight. A few years ago I had a grapevine. A foreigner. Shy of bearing. This summer bore a score of bunches. They secreted sugar from the sunbeams. One morning, went to pick them. The robins beforehand with me. Bustled out from the leaves. Made shrill, unhandsome remarks about me. Had sacked the vine. Remnant of a single bunch. How it looked at the bottom of my basket! A humming-bird's egg in an eagle's nest. Laughed. Robins joined in the merriment.

* * * * *

LESSON 158.

PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.

+Direction+.—Weave these facts into four paragraphs:—

Note that the several paragraphs form a composition, or +Theme+, the general subject of which is WOUTER VAN TWILLER (according to Diedrich Knickerbocker).

I. +Who he was+.—Van Twiller was a Dutchman. Born at Rotterdam. Descended from burgomasters. In 1629 appointed governor of Nieuw Nederlandts. Arrived in June at New Amsterdam—New York city.

II. +Person+.—Was five feet six inches high, six feet five in circumference. Head spherical, and too large for any neck. Nature set it on the back-bone. Body capacious. Legs short and sturdy. A beer-barrel on skids. Face a vast, unfurrowed expanse. No lines of thought. Two small, gray eyes. Cheeks had taken toll of all that had entered his mouth. Mottled and streaked with dusky red.

III. +Habits+.—Regular. Four meals daily, each an hour long. Smoked and doubted eight hours. Slept twelve. As self-contained as an oyster. Rarely spoke save in monosyllables. But never said a foolish thing. Never laughed. Perplexed by a joke. Conceived everything on a grand scale. When a question was asked, would put on a mysterious look. Shake his head. Smoke in silence. Observe, at length, he had doubts. Presided at the council, in state. Swayed a Turkish pipe instead of a scepter. Known to sit with eyes closed two hours. Internal commotion shown by guttural sounds. Noises of contending doubts, admirers said.

IV. +Exploits.+—Settled a dispute about accounts thus: sent for the parties; each produced his account-book; Van T. weighed the books; counted the leaves; equally heavy; equally thick; made each give the other a receipt; and the constable pay the costs. Demanded why Van Rensselaer seized Bear's Island. Battled with doubts regarding the Yankees. Smoked and breathed his last together.

+Direction.+—-Weave these facts into four paragraphs, write on the margin the special topic of each, and over the whole what you think it the general subject of the theme:—

The prophets of Baal accept Elijah's challenge. They dress a bullock. Call on Baal. Are mocked by Elijah. Leap upon the altar. Cut themselves. Blood. Cry till the time of the evening sacrifice. No answer by fire. Elijah commands the people to come near. Repairs an old altar with twelve stones, one for each tribe. Digs a trench. Sacrifices. Pours water three times upon it. Prays. Fire falls, consumes flesh, wood, stones, dust, licks up water. People see it. Fall on their faces. Cry out twice, "The Lord, he is the God." Take the prophets to the brook Kishon, where they are slain. Elijah ascends Mount Carrael. Bows in prayer. "Go up now, look toward the sea." Servant reports, "There is nothing." "Go again seven times." "Behold there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." Orders Ahab to prepare his chariot. Girding up his loins, he runs before Ahab to Jezreel.

* * * * *

LESSON 159.

PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.

+Direction.+—Weave these facts into as many paragraphs as you think there should be, using the variety of expression insisted on in Lesson 150, and write on the margin of each paragraph the special topic, and over the whole the general subject of the theme:—

Fort Ticonderoga on a peninsula. Formed by the outlet of Lake George and by Lake Champlain. Fronts south; water on three sides. Separated by Lake Champlain from Mount Independence, and by the outlet, from Mount Defiance. Fort one hundred feet above the water. May 7, 1775, two hundred and seventy men meet at Castleton, Vermont. All but forty-six, Green Mountain boys. Meet to plan and execute an attack upon Fort T. Allen and Arnold there. Each claims the command. Question left to the officers. Allen chosen. On evening of the 9th, they reach the lake. Difficulty in crossing. Send for a scow. Seize a boat at anchor. Search, and find small row boats. Only eighty-three able to cross. Day is dawning when these reach the shore. Not prudent to wait. Allen orders all who will follow him to poise their firelocks. Every man responds. Nathan Beman, a lad, guides them to the fort. Sentinel snaps his gun at A. Misses fire. Sentinel retreats. They follow. Rush upon the parade ground. Form. Loud cheer. A. climbs the stairs. Orders La Place, it is said, in the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress, to surrender. Capture forty-eight men. One hundred and twenty cannon. Used next winter at the siege of Boston. Several swords and howitzers, small arms, and ammunition.

+Direction+.—These facts are thrown together promiscuously. Classify them as they seem to you to be related. Determine the number of paragraphs and their order, and then do as directed above:—

Joseph was Jacob's favorite. Wore fine garments. One day was sent to inquire after the other sons. They were at a distance, tending the flocks. Joseph used to dream. They saw him coming. Plotted to kill him. In one dream his brothers' sheaves bowed to his. In another the sun, moon, and stars bowed to him. Plotted to throw his body into a pit. Agreed to report to their father that some beast had devoured Joseph. Joseph foolishly told these to his brothers. Hated him because of the dreams and their father's partiality. While the brothers were eating, Ishmaelites approached. They sat down to eat. Were going down into Egypt. Camels loaded with spices. At the intercession of Reuben they did not kill Joseph. Threw him alive into a pit. Ishmaelites took him down into Egypt. Sold him to Potiphar. Judah advised that he be raised from the pit. Jacob recognized the coat. Refused comfort. Rent his clothes and put on sackcloth. They took his coat. Killed a kid and dipped the coat in its blood. Brought it to Jacob. "This have we found; know now whether it be thy son's coat or no."

* * * * *

LESSON 160.

PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.

+Direction+.—Classify these promiscuous facts, determine carefully the number and the order of the paragraphs, and then do as directed above:—

Trafalgar a Spanish promontory. Near the Straits of Gibraltar. Off Trafalgar, fleets of Spain and France, October 21, 1805. Nelson in command of the English fleet. The combined fleets in close line of battle. Collingwood second in command. Had more and larger cannon than the English. English fleet twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates. Thirty-three sail of the line and seven frigates. He signaled those memorable words: "England expects every man to do his duty." Enemy had four thousand troops. Signal received with a shout. They bore down. The best riflemen in the enemy's boats. C. steered for the center. C. in the Royal Sovereign led the lee line of thirteen ships. A raking fire opened upon the Victory. N. in the Victory led the weather line. C. engaged the Santa Anna. Delighted at being the first in the fire. At 1.15 N. shot through the shoulder and back. At 12 the Victory opened fire. N.'s secretary the first to fall. Fifty fell before a shot was returned. "They have done for me at last, Hardy," said N. They bore him below. At 2.25 ten of the enemy had struck. The wound was mortal. At 4 fifteen had struck. The victory that cost the British 1,587 men won. These were his last words. At 4.30 he expired. "How goes the day with us?" he asked Hardy. "I hope none of our ships have struck." N.'s death was more than a public calamity. "I am a dead man, Hardy," he said. Englishmen turned pale at the news. Most triumphant death that of a martyr. He shook hands with Hardy. "Kiss me, Hardy." They mourned as for a dear friend. Kissed him on the cheek. Most awful death that of the martyr patriot. The loss seemed a personal one. Knelt down again and kissed his forehead. His articulation difficult. Heard to say, "Thank God, I have done my duty." Seemed as if they had not known how deeply they loved him. Most splendid death that of the hero in the hour of victory. Has left a name which is our pride. An example which is our shield and strength. Buried him in St. Paul's. Thus the spirits of the great and the wise live after them.

TO THE TEACHER—Continue this work as long as it is needed. Take any book, and read to the class items of facts. Require them to use the imagination and whatever graces of style are at their command, in weaving these facts together.

* * * * *

LESSON 161.

ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECT OF THE THEME.

+Analysis of the Subject+.—A Theme is made up of groups of sentences called Paragraphs. The sentences of each paragraph are related to each other, because they jointly develop a single point, or thought. And the paragraphs are related to each other, because these points which they develop are divisions of the one general subject of the Theme.

After the subject has been chosen, and before writing upon it, it must be resolved into the main thoughts which compose it. Upon the thoroughness of this analysis and the natural arrangement of the thoughts thus derived, depends largely the worth of the theme. These points form, when arranged, the +Framework+ of the theme.

Suppose you had taken The Armada as your subject. Perhaps you could say under these heads all you wish: 1. What the Armada was. 2. When and by whom equipped. 3. Its purpose. 4. Its sail over the Bay of Biscay and entrance into the English Channel. 5. The attack upon it by Admiral Howard and his great Captains—Drake and Hawkins. 6. Its dispersion and partial destruction by the storm. 7. The return to Spain of the surviving ships and men. 8. The consequences to England and to Spain.

Perhaps the 1st point could include the 2d and the 3d. Be careful not to split your general subject up into very many parts. See, too, that no point is repeated, that no point foreign to the subject is introduced, and that all the points together exhaust the subject as nearly as may be. Look to the arrangement of the points. There is a natural order; (6) could not precede (5); nor (5), (4); nor (4), (1).

TO THE TEACHER.—Question the pupils carefully upon every point taken up in this Lesson.

+Direction+.—Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these subjects:—

1. The Arrest of Major Andre. 2. A Winter in the Arctic Region.

* * * * *

LESSON 162.

ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.

+Direction+.—Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these subjects:—

1. Battle of Plattsburg. 2. A Day's Nutting. 3. What Does a Proper Care for One's Health Demand?

* * * * *

LESSON 163.

ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.

+Direction+.—Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these subjects:—

1. A Visit to the Moon. 2. Reasons why one Should Not Smoke, 3. What Does a Proper Observance of Sunday Require of One?

* * * * *

LESSON 164.

ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.

+Direction+.—Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these subjects:—

1. The Gulf Stream. 2. A Descent into a Whirlpool. 3. What are Books Good for?

* * * * *

LESSON 165.

HOW TO WRITE A THEME.

+I. Choose a Subject+.—Choose your subject long before you are to write. Avoid a full, round term like Patriotism or Duty; take a fragment of it; as, How can a Boy be Patriotic? or Duties which we Schoolmates owe Each Other. The subject should be on your level, should be interesting and suggestive to you, and should instantly start in your mind many trains of thought.

+II. Accumulate the Material+.—Begin to think about your subject. Turn it over in your mind in leisure moments, and, as thoughts flash upon you, jot them down in your blank-book. If any of these seem broad enough for the main points, or heads, indicate this. Talk with no one on the subject, and read nothing on it, till you have thought yourself empty; and even then you should note down what the conversation or reading suggests, rather than what you have heard or read.

+III. Construct a Framework+.—Before writing hunt through your material for the main points, or heads. See to what general truths or thoughts these jottings and those jottings point. Perhaps this or that thought, as it stands, includes enough to serve as a head. Be sure, at any rate, that by brooding over your material, and by further thinking upon the subject, you get at all the general thoughts into which, as it seems to you, the subject should be analyzed. Study these points carefully. See that no two overlap each other, that no one appears twice, that no one has been raised to the dignity of a head which should stand under some head, and that no one is irrelevant. Study now to find the natural order in which these points should stand. Let no point, to the clear understanding of which some other point is necessary, precede that other. If developing all the points would make your theme too long, study to see what points you can omit without abrupt break or essential loss.

+IV. Write+.—Give your whole attention to your work as you write, and other thoughts will occur to you, and better ways of putting the thoughts already noted down. In expanding the main points into paragraphs, be sure that everything falls under its appropriate head. Cast out irrelevant matter. Do not strain after effect or strive to seem wiser than you are. Use familiar words, and place these, your phrases, and your clauses, where they will make your thought the clearest. As occasion calls, change from the usual order to the transposed, and let sentences, simple, complex, and compound, long and short, stand shoulder to shoulder in the paragraph. Express yourself easily—only now and then putting your thought forcibly and with feeling. Let a fresh image here and there relieve the uniformity of plain language. One sentence should follow another without abrupt break; and, if continuative of it, adversative to it, or an inference from it, and the hearer needs to be advised of this, let it swing into position on the hinge of a fitting connective. Of course, your sentences must pass rigid muster in syntax; and you must look sharply to the spelling, to the use of capital letters, and to punctuation.

+V. Attend to the Mechanical Execution+.—Keep your pages clean, and let your handwriting be clear. On the left of the page leave a margin of an inch for corrections. Do not write on the fourth page; if you exceed three pages, use another sheet. When the writing is done, double the lower half of the sheet over the upper, and fold through the middle; then bring the top down to the middle and fold again. Bring the right-hand end toward you, and across the top write your name and the date. This superscription will be at the top of the fourth page, at the right-hand corner, and at right angles to the ruled lines.

TO THE TEACHER.—Question the pupils closely upon every point in this
Lesson.

Additional Subjects for Themes.

1. Apples and Nuts. 2. A Pleasant Evening. 3. My Walk to School. 4. Pluck. 5. School Friendships. 6. When my Ship Comes In. 7. Ancient and Modern Warfare. 8. The View from my Window. 9. Homes without Hands. 10. I Can. 11. My Friend Jack. 12. John Chinaman. 13. Irish Characters. 14. Robin Hood. 15. A Visit to Olympus. 16. Monday Morning. 17. My Native Town. 18. Over the Sea. 19. Up in a Balloon. 20. Queer People. 21. Our Minister. 22. A Plea for Puss. 23. Castles in Spain. 24. Young America. 25. Black Diamonds. 26. Mosquitoes. 27. A Day in the Woods. 28. A Boy's Trials. 29. The Yankee. 30. Robinson Crusoe. 31. Street Arabs. 32. Legerdemain. 33. Our Neighborhood. 34. Examinations. 35. Theatre-going. 36. Donkeys. 37. The Southern Negro. 38. A Rainy Saturday. 39. The Early Bird Catches the Worm. 40. Spring Sports 41. How Horatius Kept the Bridge. 42. Jack Frost 43. My First Sea Voyage. 44. Monkeys. 45. Grandmothers. 46. The Boy of the Story Book. 47. Famous Streets. 48. Pigeons. 49. Jack and Gill. 50. Make Haste Slowly. 51. Commerce. 52. The Ship of the Desert. 53. Winter Sports. 54. A Visit to Neptune. 55. Whiskers. 56. Gypsies. 57. Cities of the Dead. 58. Street Cries. 59. The World Owes me A Living. 60. Politeness. 61. Cleanliness Akin to Godliness. 62. Fighting Windmills. 63. Along the Docks. 64. Maple Sugar. 65. Umbrellas. 66. A Girl's Trials. 67. A Spider's Web. 68. The Story of Ruth. 69. Clouds. 70. A Country Store. 71. Timepieces. 72. Bulls and Bears. 73. Bore. 74. Our Sunday School. 75. The Making of Beer. 76. Autumn's Colors. 77. The Watched Pot Never Boils. 78. The Mission of Birds. 79. Parasites. 80. Well-begun is Half-done. 81. The Tides. 82. The Schoolmaster in "The Deserted Village." 83. A Day on a Trout Stream. 84. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine. 85. Of What Use are Flowers? 86. A Descent in a Diving Bell.

* * * * *

LESSON 166.

LETTER-WRITING.

Letters need special treatment. In writing a letter there are five things to consider—The Heading, The Introduction, The Body of the Letter, The Conclusion, and The Superscription.

THE HEADING.

+Parts+.—The Heading consists of the name of the +Place+ at which the letter is written, and the +Date+. If you write from a city, give the door-number, the name of the street, the name of the city, and the name of the state. If you are at a Hotel or a School or any other well-known Institution, its name may take the place of the door-number and the name of the street; as may also the number of your post-office box. If you write from a village or other country place, give your post-office address, the name of the county, and that of the state.

The Date consists of the month, the day of the month, and the year.

+How Written+.—Begin the Heading about an inch and a half from the top of the page—on the first ruled line of commercial note. If the letter occupies but a few lines of a single page, you may begin the Heading lower down. Begin the first line of the Heading a little to the left of the middle of the page. If it occupies more than one line, the second line should begin farther to the right than the first, and the third farther to the right than the second.

The door-number, the day of month, and the year are written in figures; the rest, in words. Bach important word begins with a capital letter, each item is set off by the comma, and the whole closes with a period.

+Direction+.—Study what has teen said, and write the following headings according to these models:—

1. Ripton, Addison Co., Vt., July 10, 1895.

2. 250 Broadway, N. T., June 6, 1890.

3. Saco, Me., Feb. 25, 1887.

4. Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., May 3, 1888.

1. ann arbor 5 July 1820 michigan 2. champlain co clinton n y jan 14 1800 3. p o box 2678 1860 oct 19 chicago 4. philadelphia 670 1858 chestnut st 16 apr 5. saint nicholas new york 1 hotel nov 1855

THE INTRODUCTION.

+Parts+.—The Introduction consists of the +Address+—the Name, the Title, and the Place of Business or Residence of the one addressed—and the +Salutation+. Titles of respect and courtesy should appear in the Address. Prefix Mr. to a man's name, Messrs. to the names of several gentlemen; Master to the name of a young lad; Miss to that of an unmarried lady; Mrs. to that of a married lady; Misses to the names of several young ladies; and Mesdames to those of several married or elderly ladies. Prefix Dr. to the name of a physician (but never Mr. Dr.), or write M.D. after it. Prefix Rev. to the name of a clergyman, or Rev. Mr. if you do not know his Christian name; Rev. Dr. if he is a Doctor of Divinity, or write Rev. before the name and D.D. after it. Prefix His Excellency to the name of the President, [Footnote: The preferred form of addressing the President is, To the President, Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C.; the Salutation is simply, Mr. President. ] and to that of a Governor or of an Ambassador; Hon. to the name of a Cabinet Officer, a Member of Congress, a State Senator, a Law Judge, or a Mayor. If two literary or professional titles are added to a name, let them stand in the order in which they were conferred—this is the order of a few common ones: A.M., Ph.D., D.D., LL.D. Guard against an excessive use of titles— the higher implies the lower.

Salutations vary with the station of the one addressed, or the writer's degree of intimacy with him. Strangers may be addressed as Sir, Dear Sir, Rev. Sir, General, Madam, etc.; acquaintances as Dear Sir, Dear Madam, etc.; friends as My dear Sir, My dear Madam, My dear Jones, etc.; and near relatives and other dear friends as My dear Wife, My dear Boy, Dearest Ellen, etc.

+How Written+.—The Address may follow the Heading, beginning on the next line, and standing on the left side of the page; or it may stand in corresponding position after the Body of the Letter and the Conclusion. If the letter is of an official character or is written to an intimate friend, the Address may appropriately be placed at the bottom of the letter; but in ordinary business letters, it should be placed at the top and as directed above. Never omit it from the letter except when the letter is written in the third person. There should be a narrow margin on the left side of the page, and the Address should begin on the marginal line. If the Address occupies more than one line, the initial words of these lines should slope to the right.

Begin the Salutation on the marginal line or a little to the right of it when the Address occupies three lines; on the marginal line or farther to the right or to the left than the second line of the Address when this occupies two lines; a little to the right of the marginal line when the Address occupies one line; on the marginal line when the Address stands below.

Every important word in the Address should begin with a capital letter. All the items of it should be set off by the comma; and, as it is an abbreviated sentence, it should close with a period. Every important word in the Salutation should begin with a capital letter, and the whole should be followed by a comma, or by a comma and a dash.

+Direction+.—Write these introductions according to the models:— 1. Prof. March, Easton, Pa. My dear Sir,

2. Messrs. Smith & Jones,
771 Broadway,
New York City.
Gentlemen,

3. My dear Mother,
When, etc.

4. Messrs. Vallette & Co.,
Middlebury, Vt.
Dear Sirs,

1. mr george platt burlington iowa sir 2. mass Cambridge prof James r lowell my dear friend 3. messrs ivison blakeman taylor & co gentlemen new york 4. rev brown dr the arlington Washington dear friend d c 5. col John smith dear colonel n y auburn

* * * * *

LESSON 167.

LETTER-WRITING—CONTINUED.

THE BODY OF THE LETTER.

+The Beginning+.—Begin the Body of the Letter at the end of the Salutation, and on the same line if the Introduction is long—in which case the comma after the Salutation should be followed by a dash,—on the line below if the Introduction is short.

+Style+.—Be perspicuous. Paragraph and punctuate as in other kinds of writing. Avoid blots, erasures, interlineations, cross lines, and all other offenses against epistolary propriety. The letter "bespeaks the man." Letters of friendship should be colloquial, chatty, and familiar. Whatever is interesting to you will be interesting to your friends, however trivial it may seem to a stranger.

Business letters should be brief, and the sentences short, concise, and to the point. Repeat nothing, and omit nothing needful.

Official letters and formal notes should be more stately and ceremonious. In formal notes the third person is generally used instead of the first and the second; there is no Introduction, no Conclusion, no Signature, only the name of the Place and the Date at the bottom, on the left side of the page, thus:—

_Mr. & Mrs. A. request the pleasure of Mr. B.'s company at a social gathering, on Tuesday evening, Nov. 15th, at eight o'clock.

32 Fifth Ave., Nov. 5_.

Mr. B. accepts [Footnote: Or regrets that a previous engagement (or illness, or an unfortunate event) prevents the acceptance of ——; or regrets that on account of —— he is unable to accept ——.] with pleasure Mr. & Mrs. A.'s kind invitation for Tuesday evening, Nov. 15th.

Wednesday morning, Nov. 9th.

THE CONCLUSION.

+Parts+.—The Conclusion consists of the +Complimentary Close+ and the +Signature+. The forms of the Complimentary Close are many, and are determined by the relations of the writer to the one addressed. In letters of friendship you may use, Your sincere, friend; Yours affectionately; Your loving son or daughter, etc. In business letters you may use, Yours; Yours truly; Truly yours; Yours respectfully; Very respectfully yours, etc. In official letters you should be more deferential. Use, I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant; Very respectfully, your most obedient servant; etc., etc.

The Signature consists of your Christian name and your surname. In addressing a stranger write your Christian name in full. A lady addressing a stranger should prefix to her signature her title, Mrs. or Miss (placing it within marks of parenthesis), unless in the letter she has indicated which of these titles her correspondent is to use in reply.

+How Written+.—The Conclusion should begin near the middle of the first line below the Body of the Letter, and, if occupying two or more lines, should slope to the right like the Heading and the Address. Begin each line of it with a capital letter, and punctuate as in other writing, following the whole with a period. The Signature should be very plain.

+Direction+.—Write two formal notes—one inviting a friend to a social party, and one declining the invitation.

+Direction+.—Write the Conclusion of a letter of friendship, of a letter of business, and of an official letter, carefully observing all that has been said above.

+Direction+.—Write a letter of two or three lines to your father or your mother, and another to your minister, talcing care to give properly the Heading in its two parts, the Introduction in its two parts, and the Conclusion in its two parts. Let the Address in the letter to your father or your mother stand at the bottom.

* * * * *

LESSON 168.

LETTER-WRITING—CONTINUED.

THE SUPERSCRIPTION.

+Parts+.—The Superscription is what is written on the outside of the envelope. It is the same as the Address, consisting of the Name, the Title, and the full Directions of the one addressed.

+How Written+.—The Superscription should begin just below the middle of the envelope and near the left edge—the envelope lying with its closed side toward you—and should occupy three or four lines. These lines should slope to the right as in the Heading and the Address, the spaces between the lines should be the same, and the last line should end near the lower right-hand corner. On the first line the Name and the Title should stand. If the one addressed is in a city, the door-number and name of the street should be on the second line, the name of the city on the third, and the name of the state on the fourth. If he is in the country, the name of the post-office should be on the second line, the name of the county on the third, the name of the state on the fourth. The number of the post office box may take the place of the door-number and the name of the street, or, to avoid crowding, the number of the box or the name of the county may stand at the lower left-hand corner. The titles following the name should be separated from it and from each other by the comma, and every line should end with a comma except the last, which should be followed by a period. [Footnote: Some omit punctuation after the parts of the Superscription. ] The lines should be straight, and every part of the Superscription should be legible. Place the stamp at the upper right-hand corner.

+Direction+.—Write six Superscriptions to real or imaginary friends or acquaintances in different cities, carefully observing all that has been said above.

+Direction+.—Write two snort letters—one to a friend at the Astor
House, New York, and one to a stranger in the country.

[Illustration: Envelope with stamp in upper-right corner. Addressed to

Master H. Buckman,
Andover,
Mass.]

[Cursive Text:

Ithaca, N. Y, June 15, '96.
My dear Friend,

You tell me that you begin the study of English Literature next term. Let me assume the relation of an older brother, and tender you a word of counsel.

Study literature, primarily, for the thoughts it contains. Attend to these thoughts until you understand them and see their connection one with another. Accept only such as seem to you just and true, and accept these at their proper value.

Notice carefully the words each author uses, see how he arranges them, whether he puts his thought clearly, what imagery he employs, what allusions he makes, what acquaintance with men, with books, and with nature he shows, and in what spirit he writes.

Your study of the author should put you in possession of his thought and his style, and should introduce you to the man himself.

Pardon me these words of unsought
advice, and believe me.

Your true friend,
John Schuyler.

Master H. Buckman,
Andover, Mass.]

A SUMMARY OF THE RULES OF SYNTAX.

We here append a Summary of the so-called Rules of Syntax, with references to the Lessons which treat of Construction.

I. A noun or pronoun used as subject or as attribute complement of a predicate verb, or used independently, is in the nominative case.

II. The attribute complement of a participle or an infinitive is in the same case (Nom. or Obj.) as the word to which it relates.

III. A noun or pronoun used as possessive modifier is in the possessive case.

IV. A noun or pronoun used as object complement, as objective complement, as the principal word in a prepositional phrase, or used adverbially [Footnote: See Lesson 35.] is in the objective case.

V. A noun or pronoun used as explanatory modifier is in the same case as the word explained.

+For Cautions, Principles, and Examples respecting the cases of nouns and pronouns, see Lessons 119, 122, 123, 123. For Cautions and Examples to guide in the use of the different pronouns, see Lessons 86, 87.+

VI. A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in person, number, and gender.

+For Cautions, Principles, and Examples, see Lessons 118,142.+

VII. A verb agrees with its subject in person and number.

+For Cautions, Examples, and Exceptions, see Lesson 142.+

VIII. A participle assumes the action or being, and is used like an adjective or a noun.

+For Uses of the Participle, see Lessons 37, 38, 39.+

IX. An infinitive is generally introduced by to, and with it forms a phrase used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

+For Uses of the Infinitive, see Lessons 40, 41, 42.+

X. Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.

+For Cautions and Examples respecting the use of adjectives and of comparative and superlative forms, see Lessons 90, 91, 128.+

XI. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs.

+For Cautions and Examples, see Lesson 93.+

XII. A preposition introduces a phrase modifier, and shows the relation, in sense, of its principal word to the word modified.

+For Cautions, see Lessons 98, 99.+

XIII. Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses.

+For Cautions and Examples, see Lessons 100, 107.+

XIV. Interjections are used independently.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB.

+Remarks+.—The scheme of conjugation presented below is from English text-books. In some of these books the forms introduced by should are classed, not as Future, but as Secondary Past Tense forms of the Subjunctive.

If we substitute this scheme of conjugation for the simpler one given in the preceding pages, we still fail to get a classification in which every form corresponds in use to its name. The following examples will illustrate:—

He returns to-morrow. (Present = Future.)

When I have performed this, I will come to you. (Present Perfect = Future
Perfect.)

If any member absents himself, he shall pay a fine. (Indicative =
Subjunctive.)

You shall go. (Indicative = Imperative.)

After memorizing all the terms and forms belonging to the conjugation here outlined, the student will find that he has gained little to aid him in the use of language. For instance, in this synopsis of the Subjunctive are found nineteen forms. As there are three persons in the singular and three in the plural, we have one hundred and fourteen subjunctive forms! How confusing all this must be to the student, who, in his use of the subjunctive, needs to distinguish only such as these: If he be, If he were, If he teach! Beyond these, the subjunctive manner of assertion is discovered from the structure of the sentence or the relation of clauses, not from the conjugation of the verb.

Those English authors and their American copyists who eliminate the Potential Mode from their scheme of conjugation tell us that the so-called potential auxiliaries are either independent verbs in the indicative or are subjunctive auxiliaries. With the meager instruction given by any one or by all of these authors, the student will find it exceedingly difficult to determine when these auxiliaries are true subjunctives. To illustrate:—

1. May you be happy. 2. I learn that I may be able to teach. 3. He might have done it if he had liked. 4. If he should try, he would succeed. 5. I would not tell you if I could. 6. I could not do this if I were to try.

The forms italicized above are said to be subjunctive auxiliaries; those below are said to be independent verbs in the indicative.

7. He may be there. 8. He might ask you to go. 9. You should not have done that. 10. He would not come when called. 11. I could do this at one time.

We are told that can and must are always independent verbs in the indicative, and that may, might, could, would, and should are either subjunctive auxiliaries or independent verbs parsed in the indicative, separately from the infinitives with which they seem to combine. But in parsing these words as separate verbs the student is left in doubt as to whether they are transitive or intransitive, and as to the office of the infinitives that follow.

Shall (to owe) and will (to determine) are, in their original meaning, transitive. May, can, and must denote power (hence potential); and, as the infinitive with which they combine names the act on which this power is exercised, some philologists regard them as originally transitive. Among these is our distinguished critic, Prof. Francis A. March. May denotes power from without coming from a removal of all hindrance,—hence permission or possibility. Can denotes power from within,—hence ability. Must denotes power from without coming from circumstances or the nature of things,—hence necessity or obligation. Should, would, might, and could are past forms of shall, will, may, and can.

The auxiliaries take different shades of meaning. In some constructions the meaning is fainter or less emphatic than in others. To say just how little of its common or original meaning may, can, must, shall, or will must have to be an auxiliary, and how much to be a "notional," or independent, verb would be extremely venturesome For instance, could in (6) above expresses power or ability to do, as does could in (11), yet we are told that the former could is a mere auxiliary, while the latter is an independent verb. May in (1) denotes a desired removal of all hindrance; may in (7) denotes a possible removal of hindrance. It is hard to see why the former may is necessarily a mere auxiliary, and the latter a "notional," or independent, verb. These are some of the difficulties—not to say inconsistencies—met by the student who is taught that there is no Potential Mode.

In a scholarly work revised by Skeat, Wrightson, speaking of I may, can, shall, or will love, says, "These auxiliary verbs had at some time such a clear and definite meaning that it would have been tolerably easy to determine the case function discharged by the infinitive; but these verbs, after passing through various shades of meaning, have at last become little more than conventional symbols, so that it would be worse than useless to attempt to analyze these periphrastic tenses of our moods."

A CONJUGATION OF TEACH.

Active Voice.

INDICATIVE MODE.

Present Indefinite…………He teaches.
Present Imperfect………….He is teaching.
Present Perfect……………He has taught.
Present Perfect Continuous….He has been teaching.

Past Indefinite……………He taught.
Past Imperfect…………….He was teaching.
Past Perfect………………He had taught.
Past Perfect Continuous…….He had been teaching.

Future Indefinite………….He will teach.
Future Imperfect…………..He will be teaching.
Future Perfect…………….He will have taught.
Future Perfect Continuous…..He will have been teaching.

SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.

Present Indefinite…………(If) he teach.
Present Imperfect………….(If) he be teaching.
Present Perfect……………(If) he have taught.
Present Perfect Continuous….(If) he have been teaching.

Past Indefinite……………(If) he taught.
Past Imperfect…………….(If) he were teaching.
Past Perfect………………(If) he had taught.
Past Perfect Continuous…….(If) he had been teaching.

Future Indefinite………….(If) he should teach.
Future Imperfect…………..(If) he should be teaching.
Future Perfect…………….(If) he should have taught.
Future Perfect Continuous…..(If) he should have been teaching.

IMPERATIVE MODE.

Present…………………..Teach [thou].

INFINITIVE MODE.

Present Indefinite…………(To) teach.
Present Imperfect………….(To) be teaching.
Present Perfect……………(To) have taught.
Present Perfect Continuous….(To) have been teaching.

PARTICIPLES.

Imperfect…………………Teaching.
Perfect…………………..Having taught.
Perfect Continuous…………Having been teaching.

Passive Voice.

INDICATIVE MODE.

Present Indefinite…………He is taught.
Present Imperfect………….He is being taught.
Present Perfect……………He has been taught.

Past Indefinite……………He was taught.
Past Imperfect…………….He was being taught.
Past Perfect………………He had been taught.

Future Indefinite………….He will be taught.
Future Imperfect…………..————————————
Future Perfect…………….He will have been taught.

SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.

Present Indefinite…………(If) he be taught.
Present Imperfect………….————————————
Present Perfect……………(If) he have been taught.

Past Indefinite……………(If) he were taught.
Past Imperfect…………….(If) he were being taught.
Past Perfect………………(If) he had been taught.

Future Indefinite………….(If) he should be taught.
Future Imperfect…………..————————————
Future Perfect…………….(If) he should have been taught.

IMPERATIVE MODE.

Present…………………..Be [thou] taught.

INFINITIVE MODE.

Present Indefinite…………(To) be taught.
Present Perfect……………(To) have been taught.

PARTICIPLES.

Imperfect…………………Being taught.
Perfect…………………..Taught.
Compound Perfect…………..Having been taught.