from this connexion, and hence owe has become regular. Own, as now used, is either a pronominal adjective, as, "my own hand," or a regular verb thence derived, as, "to own a house." Ought, under the name of a defective verb, is now generally thought to be properly used, in this one form, in all the persons and numbers of the present and the imperfect tense of the indicative and subjunctive moods. Or, if it is really of one tense only, it is plainly an aorist; and hence the time must be specified by the infinitive that follows: as, "He ought to go; He ought to have gone.” "If thou ought to go; If thou ought to have gone." Being originally a preterit, it never occurs in the infinitive mood, and is entirely invariable, except in the solemn style, where we find oughtest in both tenses; as, "How thou oughtest to behave thyself."-1 Tim., iii, 15. "Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers."-Matt., xxiv, 27. We never say, or have said, "He, she, or it, oughts or oughteth." Yet we manifestly use this verb in the present tense, and in the third person singular; as, "Discourse ought always to begin with a clear proposition."Blair's Rhet., p. 217. I have already observed that some grammarians improperly call ought an auxiliary. The learned authors of Brightland's Grammar, (which is dedicated to Queen Anne,) did so; and also affirmed that must and ought "have only the present time," and are alike invariable. "It is now quite obsolete to say, thou oughtest; for ought now changes its ending no more than must.”—Brightland's Gram., (approved by Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq.,) p. 112.

Do, will, and shall, must, OUGHT, and may,

Have, am, or be, this Doctrine will display."-Ib., p. 107.

OBS. 5.-Wis, preterit wist, to know, to think, to suppose, to imagine, appears to be now nearly or quite obsolete; but it may be proper to explain it, because it is found in the Bible: as, "I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest.”—Acts, xxiii, 5. "He himself wist not that his face shone.""-Life of Schiller, p. iv. Wit, to know, and wot, knew, are also obsolete, except in the phrase to wit; which, being taken abstractly, is equivalent to the adverb namely, or to the phrase, that is to say. The phrase, "we do you to wit," (in 2 Cor., viii, 1st,) means, "we inform you." Churchill gives the present tense of this verb three forms, weet, wit, and wot; and there seems to have been some authority for them all: as, "He was, to weet, a little roguish page."Thomson. "But little wotteth he the might of the means his folly despiseth."-Tupper's Book of Thoughts, p. 35. To wit, used alone, to indicate a thing spoken of, (as the French use their infinitive, savoir, à savoir, or the phrase, c'est à savoir,) is undoubtedly an elliptical expression: probably for, “I give you to wit;" i. c., "I give you to know." Trow, to think, occurs in the Bible; as, "I trow not."-N. Test. And Coar gives it as a defective verb; and only in the first person singular of the present indicative, "I trow." Webster and Worcester mark the words as obsolete; but Sir W. Scott, in the Lady of the Lake, has this line:

"Thinkst thou he trow'd thine omen ought?"- Canto iv, stanza 10.

Quoth and quod, for say, saith, or said, are obsolete, or used only in ludicrous language. Webster supposes these words to be equivalent, and each confined to the first and third persons of the present and imperfect tenses of the indicative mood. Johnson says, that, "quoth you," as used by Sidney, is irregular; but Tooke assures us, that "The th in quoth, does not designate the third person."-Diversions of Purley, Vol. ii, p. 323. They are each invariable, and always placed before the nominative: as, quoth I, quoth he.

"Yea, so sayst thou, (quod Tröylus,) alas!"-Chaucer.

"I feare, quod he, it wyll not be."-Sir T. More.
"Stranger, go! Heaven be thy guide!

Quod the beadsman of Nith-side.”—Burns.

OBS. 6. Methinks, (i. c., to me it thinks,) for I think, or, it seems to me, with its preterit methought, (i. e., to me it thought.) is called by Dr. Johnson an "ungrammatical word." He imagined it to be "a Norman corruption, the French being apt to confound me and I.”—Joh. Dict. It is indeed a puzzling anomaly in our language, though not without some Anglo-Saxon or Latin parallels; and, like its kindred, "me seemeth," or "meseems," is little worthy to be countenanced, though often used by Dryden, Pope, Addison, and other good writers. Our lexicographers call it an impersonal verb, because, being compounded with an objective, it cannot have a nominative expressed. It is nearly equivalent to the adverb apparently; and if impersonal, it is also defective; for it has no participles, no "methinking," and no participial construction of "methought;" though Webster's American Dictionary, whether quarto or octavo, absurdly suggests that the latter word may be used as a participle. In the Bible, we find the following text: "Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz."--2 Sam., xviii, 27. And Milton improperly makes thought an impersonal verb, apparently governing the separate objective pronoun him; as,

"Him thought he by the brook of Cherith stood.”—P. R., B. ii, 1. 264.

OBS. 7.-Some verbs from the nature of the subjects to which they refer, are chiefly confined to the third person singular; as, "It rains; it snows; it freezes; it hails; it lightens; it thunders.” These have been called impersonal verbs; because the neuter pronoun it, which is commonly used before them, does not seem to represent any noun, but, in connexion with the verb, merely to express a state of things. They are however, in fact, neither impersonal nor defective. Some, or all of them, may possibly take some other nominative, if not a different person; as, “The Lord rained upon Sodom, and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire."-Gen., xix, 24. "The God of glory thundereth."-Psalms, xxix, 3. "Canst thou thunder with a voice like him?"-Jb, xl, 9.

In short, as Harris observes, "The doctrine of Impersonal Verbs has been justly rejected by the best grammarians, both ancient and modern."-Hermes, p. 175.

OBS. 8.-By some writers, words of this kind are called Monopersonal Verbs; that is, verbs of one person. This name, though not very properly compounded, is perhaps more fit than the other; but we have little occasion to speak of these verbs as a distinct class in our language. Dr. Murray says, What is called an impersonal verb, is not so; for lic-et, juv-at, and opport-et, have Tha, that thing, or it, in their composition.”—History of European Languages, Vol. ii, p. 146. Ail, irk, and behoove, are regular verbs and transitive; but they are used only in the third person singular: "What ails you?"—"It irks me."—"It behooves you." The last two are obsolescent, or at least not in very common use. In Latin, passive verbs, or neuters of the passive form, are often used impersonally, or without an obvious nominative; and this elliptical construction is sometimes imitated in English, especially by the poets: as,

as.

Meanwhile, ere thus was sinn'd and judg'd on earth,

Within the gates of Hell sat Sin and Death."-Milton, P. L., B. x, 1. 230. "Forthwith on all sides to his aid was run

By angels many and strong, who interpos'd."-Id., B. vi, 1. 335.

In the Sixth Praxis, it is required of the pupil-to distinguish and define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of the ARTICLES, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, PRONOUNS, and VErbs.

The definitions to be given in the Sixth Praxis, are two for an article, six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, seven for a verb finite, five for an infinitive, and one for a participle, an adverb, a conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection. Thus :

EXAMPLE PARSED.

"The freedom of choice seems essential to happiness; because, properly speaking, that is not our own which is imposed upon us."-Dillwyn's Reflections, p. 109.

The is the definite article. 1. An article is the word the, an, or a, which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The definite article is the, which denotes some particular thing or things.

Freedom is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. . A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gen

der is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb. Of is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a pronoun. 1. A noun

Choice is a common noua, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and objective case.

is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition. Seems is a regular neuter verb, from seem, seemed, seeming, seemed; found in the indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted upon. 2. A regular verb is a verb that forms the preterit and the perfect participle by assuming d or ed. 3. A neuter verb is a verb that expresses neither action nor passion, but simply being, or a state of being. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a ques* Dr. Crombie contends that must and ought are used only in the present tense. (See his Treatise, p. 204.) In this he is wrong, especially with regard to the latter word. Lennie, and his copyist Bullions, adopt the same notion; but Murray, and many others, suppose them to "have both a present and [a] past signification."

+ Dr. Crombie says, "This Verb, as an auxiliary, is inflexible; thus we say, he will go;' and he wills to go."-Treatise on Étym. and Syntax, p. 203. He should have confined his remarks to the familiar style, in which all the auxiliaries, except do, be, and have, are inflexible. For, in the solemn style, we do not say, "Thou will go," but, "Thou wilt go."

ster's.

"HAD-I-WIST. A proverbial expression, Oh that I had known. Gower."-Chalmers's Dict., also WebIn this phrase, which is here needlessly compounded, and not very properly explained, we see wist used as a perfect participle. But the word is obsolete. "Had I wist," is therefore an obsolete phrase, meaning, If I had known, or, “Ở that I had known."

tion. 5. The present tense is that which expresses what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The singular number is that which denotes but one.

Essential is a common adjective, compared by means of the adverbs; essential, more essential, most essential; or, essential, less essential, least essential. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A common adjective is any ordinary epithet, or adjective denoting quality or situation. 3. Those adjectives which may be varied in sense, but not in form, are compared by means of adverbs.

To is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a pronoun.

Happiness is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition. Because is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so connected.

Properly is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner.

Speaking is a participle. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb, participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding ing, d, or ed, to the verb. That is a pronominal adjective, not compared; standing for that thing, in the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case. [See Ocs. 14th, p. 290.] 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A pronominal adjective is a definitive word which may either accompany its noun, or represent it understood. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.

Is is an irregular neuter verb, from be, was, being, been; found in the indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted upon. 2. An irregular verb is a verb that does not form the preterit and the perfect participle by assuming d or ed. 3. A neuter verb is a verb that expresses neither action nor passion, but simply being, or a state of being. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5. The present tense is that which expresses what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The singular number is that which denotes but one.

Not is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner.

1. A

Our is a personal pronoun, of the first person, plural number, masculine gender, and possessive case. pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shews, by its form, of what person it is. 3. The first person is that which denotes the speaker or writer. 4. The plural number is that which denotes more than one. 5. The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The possessive case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the relation of property.

Own is a pronominal adjective, not compared. 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and gererally expresses quality. 2. A pronominal adjective is a definitive word which may either accompany its noun, or represent it understood. 3. Those adjectives whose signification does not admit of different dcgrees cannot be compared.

Which is a relative pronoun, of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun. 2. A relative pronoun is a pronoun that represents an antecedent word or phrase, and connects different clauses of a sentence. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb. Is imposed is a regular passive verb, from the active verb, impose, imposed, imposing, imposed,-passive, to be imposed; found in the indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted upon. 2. A regular verb is a verb that forms the preterit and the perfect participle by assuming d or ed. 3. A passive verb is a verb that represents the subject, or what the nominative expresses, as being acted upon. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb which simply indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5. The present tense is that which expresses what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The singular number is that which denotes but one.

Upon is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a pronoun. Us is a personal pronoun, of the first person, plural number, masculine gender, and objective case. 1. A pro

noun is a word used in stead of a noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what person it is. 3. The first person is that which denotes the speaker or writer. 4. The plural number is that which denotes more than one. 5. The masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition.

LESSON I-PARSING.

"He has desires after the kingdom, and makes no question but it shall be his; he wills, runs, strives, believes, hopes, prays, reads scriptures, observes duties, and regards ordinances."—Penington, ii, 124.

"Wo unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye enter not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."-Luke, xi, 52. "Above all other liberties, give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely, according to my conscience."-Milton.

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Eloquence is to be looked for only in free states. Longinus illustrates this observation with a great deal of beauty. 'Liberty,' he remarks, is the nurse of true genius; it animates the spirit, and invigorates the hopes, of men; it excites

honourable emulation, and a desire of excelling in every art."-Blair's Rhet., P. 237.

"None of the faculties common to man and the lower animals, conceive the idea of civil liberty, any more than that of religion."-Spurzheim, on Education, p. 259. "Whoever is not able, or does not dare, to think, or does not feel contradictions and absurdities, is unfit for a refined religion and civil liberty."-Ib., p. 258.

"The too great number of journals, and the extreme partiality of their authors, have much discredited them. A man must have great talents to please all sorts of readers; and it is impossible to please all authors, who, generally speaking, cannot bear with the most ju licious and most decent criticisms."-Formey's Belles-Lettres, p. 170. "Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword."-Ezekiel, xxx, 21.

"Yet he was humble, kind, forgiving, meek,

Easy to be entreated, gracious, mild;

And, with all patience and affection, taught,

Rebuked, persuaded, solaced, counselled, warned."-Pollok, B. ix.

LESSON II.-PARSING.

"What is coming, will come; what is proceeding onward, verges towards completion."-Dr. Murray's Europ. Lang., i, 324. "Sir, if it had not been for the art of printing, we should now have had no learning at all; for books would have perished faster than they could have been transcribed."-Dr. Johnson's Life, iii, 400. "Passionate reproofs are like medicines given scalding hot: the patient cannot take them. If we wish to do good to those whom we rebuke, we should labour for meekness of wisdom, and use soft words and hard arguments."-Dodd.

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My prayer for you is, that God may guide you by his counsel, and in the end bring you to glory: to this purpose, attend diligently to the dictates of his good spirit, which you may hear within you; for Christ saith, He that dwelleth with you, shall be in you.' And, as you hear and obey him, he will conduct you through this troublous world, in ways of truth and righteousness, and land you at last in the habitations of everlasting rest and peace with the Lord, to praise him for ever and ever."-T. Gwin.

"By matter, we mean, that which is tangible, extended, and divisible; by mind, that which perceives, reflects, wills, and reasons. These properties are wholly dissimilar and admit of no comparison. To pretend that mind is matter, is to propose a contradiction in terms; and is just as absurd, as to pretend that matter is mind." -Gurney's Portable Evidence, p. 78.

"If any one should think all this to be of little importance, I desire him to consider what he would think, if vice had, essentially, and in its nature, these advantageous tendencies, or if virtue had essentially the direct contrary ones."-Butler, p. 99.

"No man can write simpler and stronger English than the celebrated Boz, and this renders us the more annoyed at those manifold vulgarities and slipshod errors, which unhappily have of late years disfigured his productions."-LIVING AUTHORS OF ENGLAND: The Examiner, No. 119.

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Here Havard, all serene, in the same strains,

Loves, hates, and rages, triumphs, and complains."-Churchill, p. 3.

"Let Satire, then, her proper object know,

And ere she strike, be sure she strike a foe."-John Brown.

LESSON III.-PARSING.

"The Author of nature has as truly directed that vicious actions, considered as mischievous to society, should be punished, and has as clearly put mankind under a necessity of thus punishing them, as he has directed and necessitated us to preserve our lives by food."-Butler's Analogy, p. 88.

"An author may injure his works by altering, and even amending, the successive

editions: the first impression sinks the deepest, and with the credulous it can rarely be effaced; nay, he will be vainly employed who endeavours to eradicate it." -Werter, p. 82.

"It is well ordered, that even the most innocent blunder is not committed with impunity; because, were errors licensed where they do no hurt, inattention would grow into habit, and be the occasion of much hurt."-Kames, El. of Crit., i, 285. "The force of language consists in raising complete images; which have the effect to transport the reader, as by magic, into the very place of the important action, and to convert him as it were into a spectator, beholding every thing that passes." -Id., ib., ii, 241.

"An orator should not put forth all his strength at the beginning, but should rise and grow upon us, as his discourse advances."-Blair's Rhet., p. 309.

"When a talent is given to any one, an account is open with the giver of it, who appoints a day in which he will arrive and 'redemand his own with usury.'"West's Letters to a Young Lady, p. 74.

"Go, and reclaim the sinner, instruct the ignorant, soften the obdurate, and (as occasion shall demand) cheer, depress, repel, allure, disturb, assuage, console, or terrify."-Jerningham's Essay on Eloquence, p. 97.

"If all the year were playing holydays,

To sport would be as tedious as to work:

But when they seldom come, they wish'd-for come,

And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents."-Shak., Hen. V.

"The man that once did sell the lion's skin

While the beast liv'd, was kill'd with hunting him."—Id., Joh. Dict., w. Beast.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS OF VERBS.

LESSON I-PRETERITS.

"In speaking on a matter which toucht their hearts."-Philological Museum, Vol. i, p. 441. [FORMULE.-Not proper, because the verb toucht is terminated in t. But, according to Observation 2nd, on the irregular verbs, touch is regular. Therefore, this t should be changed to ed; thus, "In speaking on a matter which touched their hearts."]

"Though Horace publisht it some time after."-Ib., i, 444. "The best subjects with which the Greek models furnisht him."—Ib., i, 444. "Since he attacht no thought to it."-Ib., i, 645. "By what slow steps the Greek alphabet reacht its perfection."-Ib., i, 651. "Because Goetho wisht to erect an affectionate memorial."-Ib., i, 469. "But the Saxon forms soon dropt away." -Ib., i, 668. "It speaks of all the towns that perisht in the age of Philip."-Ib., i, 252. "This enricht the written language with new words."-Ib., i, 668. "He merely furnisht his friend with matter for laughter.”—Ib., i, 479. "A cloud arose and stopt the light."-Swift's Poems, p. 313. "She slipt spadillo in her breast."-Ib., p. 371. "I guest the hand."-Ib., p.

372.

"Dick

"The tyrant stript me to the skin: My skin he flay'd, my hair he cropt; At head and foot my body lopt."-Ib., On a Pen, p. 338. "I see the greatest owls in you, That ever screecht or ever flew."-lb., p. 403. "I sate with delight, From morning till night."—Ib., p. 367. nimbly skipt the gutter."-lb., p. 375. "In at the pantry door this morn I slipt."-Ib., p. 369. "Nobody living ever toucht me but you."-Walker's Particles, p. 92. "Present, I ship; Past, I shipped or shipt; Participle, shipped or shipt."-Murray the schoolmaster, Gram., p. 31. "Then the king arose, and tare his garments."-2 Sam., xiii, 31. "When he lift up his foot, he knew not where he should set it next."-Bunyan. "He lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time."-2 SAM.: in Joh. Dict. "Upon this chaos rid the distressed ark."BURNET: ib. "On whose foolish honesty, my practices rid easy.' ."-SHAK.: ib. "That form of the first or primogenial Earth, which rise immediately out of chaos.”—BURNET: ib. "Sir, how come it you have holp to make this rescue ?"-SHAK.: in Joh. Dict. "He sware he had rather lose all his father's images than that table."-PEACHAM: ib. "When our language dropt its ancient terminations."-Dr. Murray's Hist., ii, 5. "When themselves they vilify'd."-Milton, P. L., xi, 515. "But I choosed rather to do thus."-Barclay's Works, i, 456. "When he plead against the parsons."-School History, p. 168. "And he that saw it, bear record."-Cutler's Gram., p. 72. "An irregular verb has one more variation, as drive, drivest, drives, drivedst, drove, driving, driven."-REV. MATT. HARRISON, on the English Language, p. 260. "Beside that village Hannibal pitcht his camp."-Walker's Particles, p. 79. He fetcht Tmolus."-Ib., p. 114. "He supt with his morning gown on."—Ib., p. 285. her sacred name."-Barlow's Columbiad, B. i, 1. 233.

"Fixt on the view the great discoverer stood,

And thus addrest the messenger of good.”—Barlow, B. i, L. 658.

it even from "There stampt