EXERCISE 9. Select from the following passage seven adjectives, and compare those that admit of comparison : Thou sweet little flower with the bright blue eye, Thou art come from a source invisible, And thou hast some important words to tell.' EXERCISE 10. Gems of Sacred Poetry. In the following list of adjectives, distinguish between those that can and those that cannot be compared, and write them in the proper columns of the annexed diagram. Quick, snug, eternal, slow, nice, dead, sweet, living, bitter, good, endless, six, double, French, right, hot, infinite, noble, many, human, royal, low, wretched, true, high, gay, unlimited, old, some, each, fair, black, this, fourth, fruitful, mortal, easy, several, cheap. ADMITTING COMPARISON NOT ADMITTING COMPARISON EXERCISE 11. Pick out all the pronouns that occur in the following passage, and tell the case of each : '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, But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him But makes me poor indeed.'-Shakspeare. EXERCISE 12. Distinguish between regular and irregular verbs in the following list, and write them in separate columns : Beat, condemn, become, behold, trust, enjoy, beseech, bind, delight, punish, bite, commit, breed, rejoice, build, suggest, buy, can, complain, commune, chide, depart, choose, return, climb, mount, come, crow, smile, sail, protect, dig, do, draw, listen, fight, praise, roam, dwell, roll, forsake, betray, visit, hear, hurt, command, know, walk. EXERCISE 13. Distinguish between transitive and intransitive verbs in the following list, and write them in separate columns: Sleep, praise, dig, feel, compare, may, lock, fly, carves, laugh, must, pierce, arrives, can, salutes, has, shall, ought, stop, teach, sound, leave, sit, sow, betray, tremble, rebel, grow, wear, weep, write, swear, swim, think. EXERCISE 14. Tell the mood of each verb in the following sentences: 6 Teach me to feel another's woe.' 'And at length I too must leave it, and go hence.' 'Were I to ask him, he would not answer me.' Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' EXERCISE 15. Name the past tense and past participle of the following verbs: : Fall, am, know, arise, keep, see, slay, bring, break, begin, buy, choose, cling, come, crow, cut, creep, dare, give, do, go, draw, grow, drink, have, hang, fight, flee, fly, leave, forget, let, sell, get, lie, lay, shake, lose, shine, make, meet, shoot, ride, sing, rise, read, freeze, eat, weave. EXERCISE 16. Distinguish between the past tense and the past participle in the following sentences:— The Pantheon, built by Agrippa, and presented by him to Augustus, stood open. This said, He formed thee, Adam; thee, O man; dust of the ground. Having penetrated the suburbs and passed the gates, the scene suddenly changed. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Is bound in shallows and in miseries.'-Shakspeare. EXERCISE 17. Parse the following sentences after the manner of the examples parsed on page 168: 'Compassion is an emotion of which you never ought to be ashamed. Never sport with pain and distress in any of your amusements; nor treat even the meanest insect with wanton cruelty.'-Blair. 'Never hold any one by the button or the hand in order to be heard out; for if people are unwilling to hear you, you had better hold your tongue than them.'-Chesterfield. "The happiness of London is not to be conceived but by those who have been in it. I will venture to say, there is more learning and science within the circumference of ten miles from where we now sit, than in all the rest of the kingdom.'—Johnson. Simple diet is best; for many dishes bring many diseases, and rich sauces are worse than even heaping several meats upon each other.'Pliny. 'That friendship's raised on sand, 'Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good, A flower that dies when first it 'gins to bud; A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower, Lost, faded, broken, dead within an hour.'-Shakspeare. The daily labours of the bee DERIVATION. Derivation is that part of etymology which treats of the history, formation, and signification of words. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. As we have many reasons for believing that this country was originally peopled from the adjacent coast of France, the ancient Gaul, it is probable that the British language nineteen hundred years ago was the same as that dialect of the Gaulish called the Celtic. But about half a century before the Christian era, Julius Cæsar invaded Britain, and in the reign of Claudius a Roman colony was planted in the south-east parts of England, and, finally, under Domitian, the whole nation became a Roman province; when those Britons who refused to submit to the foreign yoke retired into Wales, and carried their language with them. From this period the Latin tongue was gradually introduced, and mixed in all other parts of the land with the British, which those first conquerors were never able to suppress. At length the Roman legions were called home; and then, the Scots and Picts making an irruption into the north parts of England, King Vortigern, about the year 450, invited the Saxons to his assistance. These allies came over with several of their neighbours, under the conduct of Hengist and Horsa, and, having subdued the Scots and Picts, had the isle of Thanet assigned them at first as a reward for their service, and afterwards the whole county of Kent, which they governed for some time, till, growing powerful and dissatisfied with their narrow limits, they at length took possession of all the country on this side the Welsh mountains, and divided it among themselves into seven kingdoms, called the Saxon Heptarchy. Thus the British tongue, before mixed with the Latin, was almost abolished, and many of the Britons obliged again to take refuge in Wales, where their language is still spoken, while the usurpers laid the foundation of new laws and a new language. * In this state England continued till about the year 800, when it was invaded by the Danes, who, after being several times repulsed, established themselves in the northern and eastern parts, where their power increasing, they at length, after a contest of two hundred years, made themselves the sole masters of England; and by this means the language became tinctured with the Danish. But as their government was of no long duration, it did not make so great an alteration in the Anglo-Saxon as the next revolution, when the whole was again subdued by William, Duke of Normandy, afterwards called William the Conqueror; for the Normans, as a monument of their conquest, endeavoured to make their language as generally received as possible. Thus the English tongue, which was anciently pure British or Welsh, became a mixture of a little British, a great deal of Latin, a yet far *According to Dr. Latham, the British language was extant in Cumberland in the tenth century, and in Cornwall in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. greater snare of Anglo-Saxon, some Danish, and abundance of NormanFrench. But since that time the revival of arts and sciences has added greatly to its embellishment. These have introduced a vast variety of words from the Greek, Latin, Italian, and modern French; our poets have added grace and harmony to their numbers, and our prose writers have strengthened and improved their periods, by selecting the most musical, expressive, and forcible terms from every known language; so that the English tongue is become the most copious and significant of any in Europe, adapted to all subjects, and expressive of every sentiment with elegance and propriety. The following contains specimens of words from the various sources which have contributed to the English language: From the Celtic or British.-Basket, crag, fagot, cower, tuck, waist, whiff, bard, bungler, cradle, sprig, mop, tackle, and some others. Also some proper names of places, mountains, and rivers; as, Abergavenny, Cardiff, BenMore, Esk, Usk, Exe, &c. From the Saxon.-About 23,000 of the smaller and most useful words of the language; such as, fire, water, good, bad, go, come, day, night, see, hear, sun, moon, &c. Our articles, pronouns, numerals, prepositions, conjunctions, and irregular verbs, are nearly all of Saxon origin. From this language we derive words descriptive of the earliest and dearest communions of life. It is the language of daily familiar converse.* From the Danish. - Craw, flask, down (soft feathers), leg, and several other words. The termination by, the Danish for town, and the word kirk, the Danish for church, are to be found in the names of several places in England; as, Whitby, Kirkby, &c.: so that these towns are probably of Danish origin. From the French.-All words containing the triphthong eau or ch sounded like sh; as, beau, beauty, portmanteau, chaise, chandelier, machine, &c. Also most nouns ending in ment, age, ee, ess; as, instrument, damage, committee, princess, &c. And many words relating to military affairs, dress, manners, and law; as, aidede-camp, vest, etiquette, judge, plaintiff, &c.† * Out of the words contained in the Lord's prayer, there are only six that are not Saxon; namely, trespasses, trespass, temptation, deliver, power, glory. Of the four seasons of the year, the Saxon supplies the names of three; namely, spring, summer, and winter. The names of the days of the week are all Saxon. + It is remarkable that though the names of different sorts of animals are Saxon, their flesh when prepared for food is indicated by words derived from Norman-French; |