6 be acquainted with the value of labour, and know the connection between it and property; that they should have intelligence, skill, and an acquaintance with the objects by which they are surrounded; that the higher sentiments, the social and moral part of their being, should receive a full development. The industrial occupation is gardening, pursued in a piece of ground connected with the school. It is divided,' says Mr Bache in the Report already quoted, 'one portion being reserved for the use of the school, another being subdivided into small gardens for the boys. The pupils work in the first under monitors, and receive a compensation in proportion to the useful results of their labour. The second they hire at fixed rates, and dispose of the produce as they please, always receiving, however, the market price for it from the school, if they choose to dispose of it there. The younger children are not allowed to undertake gardens on their own account, but work for others, or for the establishment. Partnerships are sometimes formed among them for the more advantageous cultivation of larger pieces of ground. An account current with each pupil is kept, in which he is charged with the rent of his ground, and the seeds and plants which he has purchased from the stock, and credited with the produce which he has sold to the school.' In-door occupations are less desirable in alternation with school instruction than these healthy out-of-door labours, but must have the effect of training to steady and persevering habits, not to speak of the actual skill conferred by them. As an example of a school in which such occupations are pursued, we select that of the Royal Military Asylum at Chelsea, where 600 children of non-commissioned officers are reared. Those above eleven are here taught handicrafts, about four hours a day of three days of the week being thus devoted. Rather less than a hundred boys,' we quote the Report of the National School Society,'' work as tailors; fifty each day alternately: about the same number are employed in a similar manner as shoemakers, capmakers, and in covering and repairing their old schoolbooks; besides which, there are two sets or companies of knitters and of shirt-makers, and others who are engaged as porters, gardeners, in kitchen-work, &c. Everything is done by those who work at the trades except the cutting-out. This branch, requiring more experience, is managed by the old regimental shoemakers, tailors, &c. who, with aged sergeants and corporals, and their wives, manage the concerns of the institution.. The system of monitors and teachers to overlook the other boys at work is generally adopted; while, in addition to the various branches of industry mentioned, the school furnishes a company of drummers and fifers, and an excellent band of music; the players necessarily devoting a considerable part of their time to the practice of their instruments.' Though there are some defects, the asylum is allowed to be an evidence that a greater degree of progress may be made in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and in other branches of learning, than is attained in the great majority of schools, and yet that the boys may be taught music, gymnastic exercises, and various useful trades; thus improving their health, increasing their means of enjoyment, and promoting their future interests, much more effectually than by the prevailing methods.'* Industrial education is practised with marked success in various institutions for the reform of young criminals, as in Parkhurst Penitentiary, Isle of Wight, and the Warwick County Asylum; in several for the refuge of destitute persons, as in that at Hoxton, and the Guernsey Hospital; in various schools for orphan and pauper children under the New PoorLaw Act, of which that at Norwood is a most interesting example; and in those charitable institutions commonly known as Ragged Schools (see p. 183, No. * Some Account of the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea, Second Publication of the Central Society of Education. P. 120. 62), which have been recently opened in many of our populous cities. It is not as an improvement, which may or may not be adopted, that industrial education is here to be advocated: it is called for as something absolutely necessary, to counteract an inherent tendency of all asylums for the maintenance and education of children to become monastic institutions, The children are kept apart from external nature, from human society, and from many or most of the common operations of life. They come out as helpless nearly as they went in. Industrial education presents itself as almost the only conceivable means of fitting such children for entering the world in anything like the same condition as other children. It is not essential that any one child be made a proficient in any one art; the great end is to make them generally acquainted with the arts of life, and to prepare them by habits of industry for earning their own bread when they grow up. From the attention which the Poor-Law Commissioners are giving to the subject, we have no doubt that in a short time we shall see the whole of the fortyfive thousand orphan and pauper children of England educated in this wholesome manner. In the late reports of the commissioners there are some excellent hints thrown out. Different arrangements are recommended for different districts. It is suggested, that in an agricultural district there ought to be a large garden which the children should be taught to cultivate, in order to become acquainted with those duties which they will probably be called to perform when they are sent out into the world. They should also be taught to erect sheds or outhouses, to make wheelbarrows and other simple utensils, and to fashion desks and forms for the school. Thus, as farm-servants, they will be able to execute a number of little jobs in carpentry which would otherwise require the interference of the proper tradesman. To enable them to contribute to their own personal comfort and that of their household, without an expenditure of their earnings, they should be taught to make and mend their own clothes and shoes, to plait straw-hats, to make straw mattresses, and whitewash walls. In a manufacturing district the employments should bear a similar relation to the trades of the neighbourhood; and in or near a seaport, the arts connected with maritime life should be taught. Such, in brief, are the views of the commissioners respecting the boys: they recommend that the girls should be trained to the household duties of cooking, cleaning, and washing clothes, sewing and knitting, by having to perform those duties as far as required in the workhouse. It is worthy of remark, that in the Marylebone charity for girls, this plan has been for many years acted upon with excellent results. There the girls are accustomed to make their own beds, to clean their own knives, forks, and shoes, and to be scrupulously clean in their dress. Their chief employment' (Journal of Education,' i. 287) is needlework; but they are employed in rotation to scour the school-rooms, the play-rooms, and the washing-rooms, the tables, forms, and stairs, as well as to prepare and remove the meals of the rest of the scholars, and to wait upon the domestic superintendent and officers.' The reporter of these circumstances adds, and we fully concur in his sentiments:- The value of charities of this description is too obvious to require particular comment. By establishing good habits, they doubtless accomplish more than can ever be effected by mere precept; and they not only tend to make useful servants, but provident, neat, and intelligent wives and mothers. If it were possible to engraft some part of such a system on the national and other schools, these advantages would become generally diffused, and the consequence would be a great increase in the comfort of the houses of the poor, and an accompanying contentment, productive of the best results on the character, among young married men of the working-classes, whom the extravagance or mismanagement of untidy and ignorant partners often drives to alehouses, and other resorts of idleness and dissipation.' ENGLISH GRAMMAR. GRAMMAR (from the Greek word gramma, a letter) is, in its broadest sense, that branch of knowledge which refers to the component parts of language. The purpose of language is to express our ideas. Similar classes of ideas necessarily arise in the minds of every portion of the human family; for the mind is everywhere the same, in kind if not in degree, and the circumstances and desires of mankind are everywhere less or more alike. To express these classes of ideas, men, in all countries and in all stages of society, use corresponding classes of words, although the words may themselves be different. For example, men everywhere see tangible objects around them. To these they apply distinct names or appellations, which form, it may be said, one class of words-NOUNS. They see things perform acts; as, for instance, they see cattle browse and kids dance. Thus arises another class of words-VERBS. They see white cattle and black cattle; hence ADJECTIVES. These and other kinds of words, or, to use the common phrase, parts of speech, are found equally in the language of the North American Indian and in the refined discourse of the European philosopher. To exhibit the nature and power of words, taken singly and in combination, viewed as a vehicle of thought or a medium of communication, is the first and highest object of the science of grammar. rather to exhibit a few of the leading principles of our language, the complete understanding of which will supersede the necessity of minute observations on our part, as it will enable the student to make them for himself. We cannot approve of the exhaustive system of teaching Syntax-framing a rule for every peculiarity that the language contains; much better is it to conduct the student at once to the principles, which are, as it were, the fountain-heads of rules. In the one way, we should but exhibit to him everything by our torchlight; but, in the other, we kindle his own, and having pointed out the road in which he is to travel, leave him to himself. When the student is familiar with the principles, it may be desirable to exercise himself on minute details, and a school grammar (see list of school books in the preceding number on EDUCATION) should provide exercises on the minutest peculiarities of the language. ་་་་་་་་་་་་་ ETYMOLOGY. ETYMOLOGY, from the two Greek words, etumon, the root of a word, and logos, a discourse, is that part of grammar which treats of the various classes into which words are arranged, of the different modifications they undergo to express difference of meaning, and of their origin and history. I. CLASSIFICATION. In the speech of every nation there are also many peculiarities, both in the formation of words to express varieties of sense, and in the way in which words are arranged, these being partly the result of intellectual Words are the symbols of ideas, and they are classipeculiarities of the people, and partly the effect of ac-fied and named, not from their form, but from the naeident. Grammar also takes cognisance of such pecu-ture of the idea which they represent or for which they liarities. Hence there is not only universal grammar, stand. The class of any particular word is only to be which relates to whatever is common to the structure ascertained by observing the office which it performs. of all language, but likewise a grammar for each par- What it does, alone indicates what it is. ticular tongue; as, for instance, the Greek grammar, the Latin grammar, the French and the English grammars. Our present business is with English grammar, or to set forth, as well as we can, within small compass, the structure and the usages of the English language. There are four parts in English, as in other grammars, Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody. ORTHOGRAPHY, from the Greek words orthos, right, and graphé, a writing, is that part of grammar which teaches the nature and powers of letters, and the proper method of spelling words. PROSODY, from the Greek word prosodia, the accent of a word, treats of the pronunciation of words, and of the laws of rhythm or versification. On both these departments we mean to say nothing, principally because, as we apprehend, they can only be effectually taught by the living voice; besides, as far as relates to Orthography, so few general rules have been ascertained, that they afford little help to the young or inexperienced student. Practice alone can give facility and correctness in spelling. With regard to Prosody, we may further remark, that it relates to a mere luxury of language; because, to the effectual communication of thought, metrical arrangement of language is by no means necessary, and in an elementary work on grammar, it may, without impropriety, be omitted. This leaves us Etymology and Syntax, which undeniably constitute the chief parts of grammar; and of these we shall treat as fully as our limits permit. In ETYMOLOGY we shall be guided by this principle, which we hold to be established, that every word has of itself a distinct office to perform; and we shall endeavour to exhibit clearly the force and significance of words taken singly. In SYNTAX We shall not attempt to lay down rules, as they are called, for every mode of expression, but No. 87. It would be quite impossible to say, previous to actual inspection, how many sorts of words, or, as they are generally called, parts of speech, exist in any language; but upon examination, it is ascertained that all words used in the English language may be arranged under eight heads or classes. These eight parts of speech are-Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection. A definition of each of these classes of words ought to point out the characteristic or specific idea by which it is distinguished from all the others; and every individual word, brought under any of the eight heads, must agree with the definition, if it is adequate—that is, neither too extensive nor too limited. The Noun. A NOUN, from the Latin word nomen, a name, is the name of any person, place, thing, quality, or principle; or, more generally, it is the name of whatever can be an object of contemplation or subject of discourse. The characteristic of the noun is this: it gives of itself a distinct idea or object of thought; thus of the words, to, pen, just, alas ! he, terrify, and ship, the only ones that present a picture to the mind's eye' are pen and ship. These, therefore, we call nouns; but the others do not belong to this class. It should be carefully observed that every proposition, or sentence that asserts anything, must contain at least a noun and a verb-the noun to express the thing spoken about, and the verb to indicate what is affirmned concerning it. Grammarians usually divide nouns into two great classes-Proper and Common. Proper Nouns are such as are applied to individual persons or things only; such as, Victoria, Britain, Edinburgh, Pyrenees, Jupiter. 577 Common Nouns are applicable to whole classes of persons or objects; as, queen, island, city. Common Nouns are by some divided into three sub-classes, called Abstract, Collective, and Verbal; by which arrangement the class of Common Nouns, in the limited acceptation of the term, includes only the names of things obvious to some of the five senses. An Abstract Noun is the name of a quality thought of apart from all consideration of the substance in which the quality resides. The term bears reference to an act of the mind, called abstraction, by which we fix our attention on one property of an object, leaving the others out of view. Snow, chalk, and writing-paper are white, and from this quality are oppressive to the eyes. Abstracting the quality from the substance, we say, 'Whiteness is oppressive to the eyes.' Whiteness thus becomes an abstract noun.* An abstract noun may also be a name indicating the want of a quality, as unworthiness. Comprehensively, abstract nouns are the names of immaterial existences, acts, or states. Collective Nouns are those which, though singular in form, may suggest the idea of plurality. They are such as, army, clergy, crowd, class. The imperfect participle of a verb (which will be treated of afterwards), when used as the name of an action, is called a Verbal Noun. For example, in the sentence, The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing,' the words seeing and hearing are termed Verbal Nouns. 6 The Adjective. An ADJECTIVE is a word that qualifies a noun- -that is, marks it out from other things that bear the same name. The characteristic of the adjective is, that it limits the application of the noun: thus the term island is applicable to every portion of land surrounded by water; but if the adjective fertile be affixed to it, all islands not distinguished by the property of fertility are excluded from our consideration. the definite article; but as they in all respects come under the definition of the adjective here given, it is unnecessary as well as improper to rank them as a class by themselves. In signification, a or an is equivalent to the numeral adjective one, and the to the demonstrative adjective that; and the only difference between them is, that a, an, and the, convey the idea less emphatically than one and that. Whoever reads Dr Crombie's remarks on the Article' must be convinced of the absurdity of reckoning it a distinct part of speech. Various other words, generally arranged under the head of Pronoun, seem more properly to belong to the adjective. For instance, the eight words, my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their, correspond exactly in office with the definition of the adjective; but as they are derived from, and answer to, the personal pronouns, they may be called pronominal adjectives with more propriety than possessive pronouns. If they ever stand alone, they do not exactly supply the place of a noun, but merely have it understood, and so, as will presently appear, do not come under the definition of pronoun. In like manner, the words this and that, with their plurals these and those, by many called demonstrative pronouns; as also the four words each, every, either, and neither, named distributive pronouns must in strict propriety be considered as adjectives, inasmuch as they both precede and designate nouns, but never supply their place. The Pronoun. A PRONOUN, as its composition indicates, is a word that supplies the place of a noun. Pronouns may be divided into three classes-Personal, Relative, and Interrogative. The Personal Pronouns are three in number-namely, I, thou; and he, she, or it. This part of speech seems to have received its name from an accidental circumstance, and not from any-equally interesting to the grammarian and the philothing essential to its nature. In the Latin language it was usual to place the word modifying the noun after it, thus tabula longa, while we prefix it, and say a long table; the Latin grammarians, therefore, called this class of words adjectives, from ad, to, and jectus, thrown, and we retain the term, although our modifying word goes first. If the student has learned to recognise the noun, he will feel no difficulty in knowing the adjective, because its office is to point out some peculiarity or quality which distinguishes the noun. 'Nouns adjective,' says Adam Smith,' are the words which express quality considered as qualifying, or, as the schoolmen say, in concrete with some particular subject. Thus the word green expresses a certain quality considered as qualifying, or as in concrete with the particular subject to which it is applied. Words of this kind, it is evident, may serve to distinguish particular objects from others comprehended under the same general appellation. The words green tree, for example, might serve to distinguish a particular tree from others that were withered or blasted.' Adjectives are generally divided into two great classes-Attributive and Numeral, or those which denote quality and those which refer to number. The words a or an (two different forms of the same word) and the, are reckoned by some grammarians a separate part of speech, and receive the common name of Article-a or an being called the indefinite, and the, *Though we thus distinguish one class of nouns-those, namely, which come from adjectives or are closely connected with them--by the title abstract, we are far from wishing it to be inferred that common nouns are not apprehended by the same faculty. On the contrary, metaphysical propriety compels us to interest in the question, we request him, before condemning our opinion, to peruse the third chapter of the third book of Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding,' and also Adam Smith's Dissertation on the Formation of Languages.' admit that such is the case; and if any of our readers feel an I is used when the person speaking refers to himself; thou, when he refers to the person addressed; and he, she, or it, when he speaks of some other person or thing. In Mr Mill's Analysis of the Human Mind,' a work sopher, we find the following account of the Personal Pronouns, and we confidently recommend it to the attention of our readers: In all speech there is a speaker; there is some person spoken to; and there is some person or thing spoken of. These objects constitute three classes, marks of which are perpetually required. Any artifice, therefore, to abridge the use of marks of such frequent recurrence, was highly to be desired. One expedient offered itself obviously, as likely to prove of the highest utility. Speakers constituted one class, with numerous names; persons spoken to, a second class; persons and things spoken of, a third. A generical name might be invented for each class a name which would include all of a class, and which singly might be used as the substitute of many. For this end were the personal pronouns invented, and such is their character and office. "I" is the generical mark which includes all marks of the class speakers; thou" is a generical mark which includes all marks of the class persons spoken to; "he," "she," " it,” are marks which include all marks of the class persons or things spoken of. All pronouns refer to some noun, which, as it generally goes before, gets the name of antecedent; but as it may come after, correlative would appear a better term. In the case of one class of pronouns, the reference is so obvious and immediate, that they have been called Relative, by way of distinction. These are, who, which, that, and as. Who is used when the reference is to a person; which, when it is to a thing; that and as refer either to persons or to things. The Interrogative Pronouns, so called because they whether. When what is not used to ask a question, it are used to ask questions, are who, which, what, and gets the name of Compound Relative Pronoun, as it includes in itself the ideas of both correlative and relative; thus, Give me what is in your hand' is equivalent to Give me the thing which is in your hand.' The inseparable word self, with its plural selves, is in most other tongues. Ruddiman justly says, "That called the Reciprocal Pronoun, and denotes that the adverbs seem originally to have been contrived to object and agent of the verb are the same. express compendiously in one word what must otherSelf is added to personal pronouns for the same pur-wise have required two or more.' The truth of this pose that own is affixed to pronominal adjectives; that doctrine will appear by an inspection of the following is, to express emphasis or opposition. Thus, I did it table of Adverbs of Place :with my own hand;' that is, without the assistance of any other person: 'He did it all himself;' that is, without any help from another. The Verb. A VERB is a word that affirms something of a noun. The characteristic of the verb is affirmation; it may indeed, in common with the adjective, denote a quality; but this is accidental, and not essential to its nature. The attribute and the assertion are often conjoined in one word, as in the sentence,The man rejoices; but they may be separated, and then an adjective will denote the attribute and a verb will indicate the assertion; thus, The man is joyful. It is but fair to add, that this doctrine of the verb is not universally received; although, after weighing the adverse arguments of Horne Tooke and Mr Mill, we are inclined to consider it well-founded. This place, From. In. To. Hence There Thither Where Whither The Preposition. Thence Whence. A PREPOSITION is a word that connects two words together, in such a manner as to indicate the relation which the things or ideas signified by them bear to each other. This part of speech, like the adjective, which it resembles in other respects, has received its name from an accidental circumstance. It generally goes immediately before the object related to the other thing named; but the essence of the preposition, it should be carefully observed, is to signify relative position. Above LIST OF PREPOSITIONS. Till We subjoin a list of the prepositions in most common use, and we recommend the student to exercise himOn attending carefully to the nature of the idea pre-self in putting them all, one after the other, into sensented by verbs, we find that, while they all assert, tences. In this way he will learn to apprehend their they differ in this respect, that some of them express a real significancy; and instead of calling a word a presort of action which affects or operates upon some per- position, because it is so named in a compendium of son or thing different from the agent, and that others grammar, he will recognise it from its function. Doubteither denote no action at all, or else a sort of action less, by committing the list to memory, a practice as which is limited to the actor. The first class is called common as it is mischievous, he might soon be able to Transitive, and the second Intransitive Verbs. If the parse; but his knowledge would be mere deception, student consider with attention the state of his own and he himself would be but as sounding brass and mind when he repeats, with intelligence, the sentences, a tinkling cymbal.' 'James strikes the table,' and 'James walks,' he will have no difficulty in discerning the distinction that exists between a Transitive and an Intransitive Verb. We have already stated, but the importance of the remark will justify its repetition, that as the noun denotes the thing spoken about, so the verb indicates what we affirm concerning it. Without affirmation there could be no communication of sentiment; hence the class of words by which affirmation is made has been dignified by the appellation of VERB, or the word. Verbs, remarks Adam Smith, must necessarily have been coeval with the very first attempts towards the formation of language. No affirmation can be expressed without the assistance of some verb. We never speak but in order to express our opinion that something either is or is not. But the word denoting this event, or this matter of fact, which is the subject of our affirmation, must always be a verb.' The Adverb. An ADVERB is a word that qualifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. As a description of a fact in grammar, this is unobjectionable; but it cannot be received as a definition, since the word defined is made use of in the definition. Its application may be thus explained. If we wish to modify the noun or subject of a sentence, we must use an adjective; but if the predicate is to be modified, or any additional modification to be put on a word already qualifying it, the word then used must be an adverb: thus, in the sentence, The sun shines,' we have a simple subject, 'sun,' and a simple predicate, shines.' If we wish to express any quality of the subject, we must use an adjective; and if the predicate is to be modified, we must bring in an adverb: thus, The bounteous sun shines,' and The sun shines equally on all.' Adverbs may be divided into four great classes:1. Adverbs of Manner; as, well, ill, justly, wisely. 2. Adverbs of Time; as, now, then, soon, when. 3. Adverbs of Place; as, here, hence, there, where. 4. Adverbs of Quantity; as, much, considerably. The adverb, it may be observed, is an abbreviated mode of expression, and the idea could in all cases be conveyed by the use of two or more words. They have a close affinity to adjectives, not only in English, but In The following remarks on this part of speech by Adam Smith, and his scarcely less illustrious disciple, Mr Mill, will amply repay an attentive examination:Prepositions are the words which express relation considered in concrete with the correlative object. Thus, the prepositions of, to, for, with, by, above, below, &c. denote some relation subsisting between the objects expressed by the words between which the prepositions are placed; and they denote that this relation is considered in concrete with the correlative object. Words of this kind serve to distinguish particular objects from others of the same species, when those particular objects cannot be so properly marked out by any peculiar qualities of their own. When we say "The green tree of the meadow," for example, we distinguish a particular tree, not only by the quality which belongs to it, but by the relation which it stands in to another object.' And again, Every preposition denotes some relation considered in concrete with the correlative object. The preposition above, for example, denotes the relation of superiority-not in abstract, as it is expressed by the word superiority, but in concrete with some correlative object. In this phrase, for example, "The tree above the cave," the word above expresses a certain relation between the tree and the cave, and it expresses this relation in concrete with the correlative object, the cave. A preposition always requires, in order to complete the sense, some other word to come after it, as may be observed in this particular instance.' To the same purpose Mill says- It is easy to see in what manner prepositions are employed to abridge the process of discourse. They render us the same service which, we have seen, is rendered by adjectives, in afford * # ing the means of naming minor classes, taken out of larger, with a great economy of names. * Prepositions always stand before some word of the class called by grammarians nouns substantive. And these nouns substantive they connect with other nouns substantive, with adjectives, or with verbs.' The Conjunction. God,' it is not implied that the man of piety' secures the favour of God, and that the man of virtue' secures the same; but that the man uniting the two qualities, the marks of which are united by the conjunction and, secures it. Mr Mill himself, indeed, would appear not to have felt quite satisfied as to the conclusiveness of the mode of reasoning which we have been animadverting on, for he immediately shifts his ground, and argues A CONJUNCTION, as its name imports, is a word used that, because in such a sentence as, His bag was full to join words and propositions together. of hares, and pheasants, and partridges,' we may subConjunctions are of two sorts, Copulative and Dis-stitute the preposition with, and read,His bag was junctive. The Copulative not only join the words, but indicate that the things are to be united; while it is the office of the Disjunctive to unite the words, but keep separate the things. The youngest child cannot fail to perceive the difference between these two sentences: Will you have an apple and an orange?' and Will you have an apple or an orange?' In the first case,supply the want of forks by their fingers, that therehe is to get both things-we therefore use a copulative conjunction: in the second, he is to have one only-we therefore use a disjunctive conjunction. In one respect the preposition and conjunction agree -they both connect words; but each class does something not done by the other. The preposition indicates the nature of the connection, which the conjunction does not; and on the other hand, the conjunction can connect not merely single words, but clauses or sentences. If I say, 'Give me a knife and the book,' you may present the objects named separately or together-the knife being under the book, in the book, or on it, and in each case my request will have been complied with; but if I say, Give me a knife in the book, the relative position of the objects is fixed, and there is only one way of complying with my demand. · full of hares, with pheasants, with partridges,' the word and is properly to be considered a preposition. To this extraordinary specimen of reasoning it is sufficient to say, that by a similar process we might conclude, to use a homely illustration brought forward by Dugald Stewart on a like occasion, that because people can fore a finger and a fork are the same thing.' On the whole, we consider that nothing can well be clearer than that these great grammarians have taken up a wrong position; but perhaps we have said as much already as the importance of the subject warrants. The Interjection. An INTERJECTION is a word used to express any sudden emotion or excitement of mind. Pure interjections are mere instinctive emissions of the voice, few in number, and unimportant in character; and, as to other parts of speech used interjectively, the expression is, we apprehend, elliptical; but this circumstance cannot properly change the nature and character of a word. Horne Tooke considers that 'interjections have no more claim to be called parts of speech than the neighing of a horse or the lowing of a cow;' but as there are words in the language which express mental emotion, and nothing else, we must have a name for them, and it would be difficult to find a better than the one in universal use. PARSING. We have asserted that the conjunction couples individual words as well as propositions; but as in this we go against authorities so respectable as Ruddiman, Harris, and Mill, we must take some pains to make good our position. Ruddiman says, ' A conjunction is an indeclinable word, that joins sentences together, and thereby shows their dependence upon one another;' and in a note to his rule of syntax- Conjunctions The student should now be able to analyse, or parse, couple like cases and moods'-he tells us, that the as it is generally called by English grammarians, any reason of this construction is, because the words so sentence submitted to him. Various artificial rules coupled depend all upon the same word, which is ex-haye been devised to enable one to know what part of pressed to one of them, and understood to the other.' speech any word belongs to; but these we mean not to To much the same purpose Mr Mill says-The con- mention, being fully persuaded that such helps are aljunctions are distinguished from the prepositions by together from the purpose' of grammar, inasmuch as connecting predications, while the prepositions connect they render thought first unnecessary, and then imposonly words. There are seeming exceptions, however, to sible. No person can parse a sentence which he does this description, the nature of which ought to be under- not understand, and when he does so understand it, he stood. They are all of one kind; they all belong to those can have no difficulty in referring each individual word cases of predication in which either the subject or pre- to the class to which it belongs. All he has to do is to dicate consists of enumerated particulars, and in which compare the idea suggested in his mind by the word to the conjunction is employed to mark the enumeration. be parsed with the definitions of the various classes Thus we say, "Four and four, and two, are ten." with which he must be familiar; and by this mental Here the subject of the predication consists of three effort it will soon be ascertained to what class the word enumerated particulars, and the conjunction seems to belongs. The idea suggested by any word, and the connect words and not predications.' We do not think characteristic idea of a class, being brought before the that Mr Mill's argument is conclusive. There is no mind at the same time, their identity or difference seeming about the matter. We wish it, however, to must be at once apparent. But not to deal in general be distinctly understood that we do not charge his reasoning more, we shall present the analysis of a short doctrine with being altogether erroneous; it is only sentence by way of example:not complete. It is right, so far as it goes; what we maintain is, that it is too limited. A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he has lost no time; but that happeneth rarely.'-Bacon's Essays. A is an adjective, because it limits the signification of the noun man. Man is a noun, because it is the name of a class of beings. Is is a verb, because it asserts something (existence). Ruddiman is correct in maintaining that in the example, Honour thy father and thy mother,' the word honour' is again understood before mother; but this will not do in every case. The sentence, Charles and John rode to town,' may certainly be resolved into two clauses, Charles rode to town,' and 'John rode to town.' But can the sentence, Charles and John carried fifty pounds,' be resolved into the two, Charles carried fifty pounds,' and 'John carried fifty pounds?' Obviously not. The conjunction and, in that case, connects the two words Charles' and 'John,' and *It must be confessed that it is not in all cases easy for the shows that conjointly they are the subject of the pre-mind to apprehend the nature of the relation pointed out by a dicate carried.' In like manner, in the sentence, preposition. The student will do well to familiarise his mind The man of piety and virtue secures the favour of with physical relations in the first place, and moral will after In is a preposition, inasmuch as it points out the relation that years' has to young man.'* |