expressions. To speak is a sort of verbal noun; spoken is a verbal adjective; speaking is a verbal adjective, or a verbal noun. Thus: "To speak is prohibited;" "Speaking is prohibited;" "The man was speaking;" "The words were spoken;" "The speaking-trumpet was used;" "Spoken language was the earliest."

3. A common definition of the verb is, that it expresses being, doing, or suffering. This definition, however, is a very imperfect guide to the discovery of a verb in a sentence. When we speak of the existence of any thing, the word "existence," though it expresses being, is a noun; also, when we speak of any thing as performed by the agency of another, the word "agency," though it expresses doing, is a noun; and again, we may speak of subjection to indignity, where "subjection" is a noun, and yet expresses suffering.

4. In the usual forms of bidding and questioning, the assertive character of the verb may seem to be disowned; but such forms are certainly abbreviations. Thus: "Bring the books" is used for "I request that you will bring the books." In like manner, "Have you brought the books ?" is, in the complete form, "I ask whether you have brought the books." These extended forms contain each two assertions; but the latter assertion in each is indirect and dependent, its realisation being the object of request in the one case, and of inquiry in the other.

It should be observed that abbreviation is naturally aimed at in questioning and commanding; and hence the conciseness of the interrogative and imperative modes of the verb.

5. Verbs are usually distinguished into three principal kinds, Active, Passive, and Neuter.

A verb Active denotes that the subject of discourse pro

*"Verbal Nouns have much the same relation to Verbs that Abstract Nouns have to Adjectives." - · Connon's Gramm. p. 17.

duces some effect; as, "I write a letter;'

"«The boy writes ;” “We have written ;” “He has received (something);” “The eagle flies;" "They heard a voice."

A verb Passive denotes that the subject of discourse is in a state produced by something else; as, "The letter is written;" "The book has been reprinted;" "Something was received."

A verb Neuter is neither active nor passive; as, “I sit;' "James stood;" "We have slept;" "Such things have been."

6. Active Verbs are of two kinds, Transitive and Intransitive. They are Transitive, when they denote action or energy passing over immediately to some object. They are Intransitive, when they denote action or energy of which no object is expressed, unless by a preposition interposed. Thus:

(Transitive.) "We sing an anthem;" "Vice enslaves the soul;" "I have finished the work;" "I received (from my sister) a long letter."

(Intransitive.) "We sing at concerts;" "I have walked from Bristol;" "Fortune smiles on him."

7. By the division of verbs into active, passive, and neuter, we do not mean that the Verb, as a distinct part of speech, is divisible into these three classes; for in English it is merely a participial adjective which denotes the passive state; the essential or asserting Verb is never properly passive.* Hence some grammarians divide the Verb simply into Transitive and Intransitive kinds, the former asserting action as immediately affecting an object; and the latter simply asserting, without reference to an immediate object.†

8. The purest verb is that which is termed the substantive verb, or verb of existence, viz. the verb to be. It is adapted to express assertion generally; and all other verbs are compendious forms involving. the

* It is accounted passive in a few idiomatic forms, such as, "The wine tastes sour;" "The poem reads smoothly;" "The air feels cold;" "The fields plough well."

† See Dr. Webster's Improved Gramm. p. 48.

power of this verb, and resolvable into expressions in which it appears. Thus, "The flowers fade" is equivalent to " The flowers are fading;" "Rome flourished" is equivalent to "Rome was flourishing."

As the substantive verb usually joins an attribute to a person or thing, it is called by logicians the Copula; and as other verbs involve the substantive verb with an attribute, they are sometimes called adjective verbs. Thus, in the assertion, "England was victorious," the copula was joins the attribute victorious to the noun England; but in the assertion, " England conquered," the adjective verb conquered is equivalent to was conquering, that is, involves the attribute with the copula.

9. These remarks anticipate an explanation of the structure of what is called a Proposition, that is, an Assertion.*

When I say "Grammar," I utter a name, and I convey a meaning; but I do not teach or assert any truth or falsehood; I neither affirm nor deny any thing. When I say "Grammar a science," I put together two names both of which convey meanings; but still I make no affirmation or denial concerning either. But when I say "Grammar is a science,"

I have united the two names into an assertion, by means of the connecting word is; and now the whole expression conveys a meaning which calls for belief, and which will be understood as true by those who, knowing what constitutes a science, know also that Grammar is a thing possessing the constituents of a science.

Again; when I say "Grammar is not important," I employ two names, Grammar and not important, and I connect them as members of an assertion by the copula is. The words now appeal to a man's judgment; and he will know them to assert what is true, if, while he understands what constitutes being important, he knows also that Grammar does not possess the constituent of being important; otherwise he will reject the assertion as false.

10. A Proposition, then, is an Assertion, whether true or false, and is composed, explicitly or virtually, of two names, with an intermediate expression of affirmation or negation. The first of the three members is the Subject, or that concerning which something is asserted; the third member is that which is asserted, and has received the name Predicate;

* "Whatever can be an object of belief, or even of disbelief, must, when put into words, assume the form of a proposition."Mill's Logic, vol. i. p. 21.

† Some logicians take the words is not, together, as the negative

copula.

the second or intermediate member is the Copula, the expression whereby assertion is made.*

The Copula, however, along with the Predicate, is usually called simply the Predicate, in consequence of the two members being in a great multitude of instances compressed or comprehended in one term. Thus, in the assertions" Labour fatigues," Labour is fatiguing," the Subject is labour, the Predicate, fatigues or is fatiguing.

11. An assertion, then, may be regarded as consisting essentially of two parts, a subject and a predicate; and it will be found that generally one or each of these parts is more or less a complex expression. Thus, in the example, "The brother of the vicar officiated on Sunday," the subject is the brother of the vicar, the predicate is officiated on Sunday. The principal part of the subject, or that which constitutes more precisely the grammatical subject, is evidently the noun brother; and the principal part of the predicate, or that which constitutes more precisely the grammatical predicate, is the verb officiated. The words of the vicar form what is called an adjunct or complement of the subject; similarly, the words on Sunday form an adjunct or complement of the predicate.

A distinction is sometimes made between the logical and grammatical divisions of an assertion. Thus; the grammatical subject in the above example is brother; the logical subject is the brother of the vicar; the logical division comprehends the grammatical with its adjuncts.

12. When the Predicate contains a transitive verb, that verb has necessarily a direct object; and although the object may be included in the logical predicate, it is chief of all the adjuncts in an assertion, and is, therefore, in general, specified as a third element. Thus; "The brother of the vicar did duty on Sunday;" here, the verb, or simple grammatical predicate, is did, and the object is duty.

13. As a condensed illustration of what we have said respecting the structure of a Proposition, we shall exhibit the logical and grammatical resolution of the following example: —

66

King John had ignobly resigned his crown to the Pope's disposal." (a) The chief grammatical elements are the subject, John, the predicate or verb, had resigned, the object, crown.

complements or adjuncts.

All the other words are

(b) The logical elements are — the subject, King John, the predicate, had ignobly resigned to the Pope's disposal, the object, his crown.

* When mere existence is to be predicated, the copula itself is sometimes inclusive of the predicate; as, "John is," viz. "John is existing;" "Troy was," viz. "Troy was existing."

we have

(c) Otherwise; - according to the principle which makes every assertion logically consist of a subject, copula, and predicate, as the subject King John, the copula was, the predicate having ignobly resigned his crown to the Pope's disposal.

EXERCISES.

14. Name the parts of speech in the following sentences, - describing more particularly the Nouns, Adjectives, Pronouns, and Verbs. Analyse the structure of each Proposition.

The lake reflects the sky. Cook sailed round the globe. Novelty is not the only source of zeal. The subtle philosopher appeared in the new character of an historian. Addison contributed several papers to the Tatler. The Athenians had lost all concern for their honour. The island of Borneo is traversed by the equator. The rocky masses present on every side a steep acclivity. The brief revival of elegant literature in the twelfth century was a premature spring. Mount Hermon is always capped with snow. They would not listen to advice. The nephew of the physician rose to nearly equal celebrity. European mariners dread the rocky islets in the Chinese Sea. The young prince devoted a considerable portion of his time to the study of theology.

CHAP. VII.

OF THE PREPOSITION, ADVERB, CONJUNCTION, AND

INTERJECTION.

1. THE Preposition expresses, without asserting, the relation of one notion to another.

When we say "The fence round the park," we employ round to mark a relation between the fence and the park; but we do not affirm any thing by means of that relational 'word; round is therefore a preposition. If we should say "The fence surrounds the park," we should express not only relation, but assertion also, by means of the word surrounds; that word, therefore, is a verb.

C