Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

EXERCISES ON THE FIRST PARTICIPLE.

I saw a man laboring. He has his letter written. Having written his letter, he mailed it. A man just now passed me, leading a horse. Our work being finished, we returned. Having been confined to his house by illness, he had no time for the excursion. Pleased with his new acquaintance, he gave him an invitation to his house.

Few, having endured as much as he, have lived so long. Reaching the hotel at nine o'clock in the evening, he called for a room; which, being shown to him, he entered, and having pulled off his clothes, he went to bed. Caught in the very act, what could he do? and having been seized by the officers of justice, how could he escape?

Of these things put them in remembrance: charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit. Study to show thyself approved unto God: a workman that needeth not to be ashamed; rightly dividing the word of truth. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse: deceiving and being deceived.

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ.

II. THE SECOND PARTICIPLE.

The second participle, usually called the infinitive mood, is formed by placing the preposition to before the naked verb.

OBS. To in this position, should not be regarded as a preposition, but as a constituent of the participle.

The second participle has four varieties.

1. The first consists of the verb and preposition alone; as, To love, to see.

2. The second consists of the second variety of the first participle preceded by to have, of the verb have; as. To have loved, to have seen, to have struck.

3. The third consists of the same variety of the first participle, preceded by to be of the verb be; as, To be loved, to be seen, to be struck.

4. The fourth consists of the same variety of the first participle, preceded by to have been of the verb be; as, To have been loved, to have been seen.

OBS. The first and third variety express time indefinitely the second and fourth express time past relatively to some other ti ne; as, To have gone there, would have been prejudicial to his interests

The second participle partakes of the nature of a verb and

noun of a verb, in having an object; of a noun, in being the subject of a verb, or the object of a preposition or verb.

I. It has the nature of a verb, in having an object; as, To hate our fellow-men, is wicked. It would have afforded me great pleasure to have seen him.

II. It has the nature of a noun:

1. In being the subject of a verb; as, To steal is wrong. To have descended from such ancestors, would have entitled him, a hundred years ago, to a pension.

2. In being the object of a verb or preposition.

(a.) Of a verb; as, He loves to ride, he neglected to return, they will attempt to run.

OBS. The participle, in each of these examples is as truly the object of the verb before it, as a noun would be. What difference, for instance, is there between He loves to ride and he loves Charles, except in the objects?

(b.) Of a preposition; as, And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn. What went ye up in the wilderness for to see? I went up to Jerusalem for to worship.

Oвs. The preposition expressed, would not now be regarded as good English; though traces of the same usage may yet be found in the best writers; e. g. For an old man to be reduced to poverty is a very great affliction. The examples are adduced to show what was the practice of our ancestors. If that practice has gone into disuse, the principle upon which it was founded remains; viz., that the second participle, when not the object of a verb, is the object of a preposition understood: generally of for;* if not of for, of some other. The case is precisely that of unto after the adJective like. By our ancestors unto was always expressed; but by us, never.

GENERAL NOTE ON THE SECOND PARTICIPLE.-If any one should demur to my treating the infinitive mood, so called, as a participle, I can only reply, that a participle has that name because it participates in the properties of the verb and of other parts of speech: a reason which applies to the infinitive mood with as much force as to the part of speech which has that title by general consent; and why, if the same reason applies, it should not be called a participle, I am unable to divine. Still, I am by no means tenacious. If any one should choose to call it the infinitive mood, I have no objection, except that, additionally to what I have just said, it differs from every other mood in having no subject; while the term infinitive does not accurately express its relation to time.

* There are cases, doubtless, in which it may be difficult to perceive how for can be inserted and make sense: partly, because the disuse of this preposition before the second participle has rendered its insertion, once general and perhaps thought elegant, uncouth, and strange to modern ears; and partly, on account of abbreviations and elliptical forms to which time has given currency. E. g. An object so high as to be invisible. Most grammarians would say, that to be, in this example, is governed by the conjunction as; and at first sight, few would believe that for can be inserted without making nonsense. Supply a suppressed part of the sentence, however, and it will read thus: An object so high as [is necessary for] to be invisible. Again: The trial is to take place on Thursday. Supply the suppressed portion here, and we shall have the following: The trial is [destined for] to take place on Thursday

EXERCISES ON THE SECOND PARTICIPLE.

I rejoice to hear it. We were anxious to see you. They are preparing to go. That young lady wishes to be seen and admired. To have left, without bidding our friends farewell, would have been unkind. It might have satisfied him to have been there, if he had remained a few days longer. He was to have been called into their councils, but they altered their minds. To fear God, is the beginning of wisdom. He is to be punished next week. I asked him to lend me his pencil, and he chose to give me his knife. To have been ungrateful, was in his circumstances a great crime; but to have injured his benefactor in the tenderest points, as he did, without the slightest provocation, and with so many motives for a different line of conduct, was an atrocity to which we are unable to assign a name.

7. THE ADVERB.

An adverb is a word which qualifies a verb, participle, adjective, or another adverb in relation to time, place, degree, quality, manner, &c.; as, He then left, standing there, exceedingly great, justly said, very powerfully affected me.

I. Adverbs of time.

1. Of time present; as, now, yet, to-day, presently, instanty, immediately.

2. Of time past; as, already, yesterday, lately, recently, anciently, heretofore, hitherto, since, ago, erewhile.

3. Of time future; as, to-morrow, hereafter, henceforth, byand-by, soon relong.

4. Of time relative; as, when, then, before, after, while or whilst, till, until, early, seasonably, betimes, antecedently, subsequently,

5. Of time absolute; as, always, ever, never, aye, eternally, perpetually, continually.

6. Of time repeated; as, often, oft, again, occasionally, frequently, sometimes, seldom, rarely, now-and-then, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, once, twice, thrice, or three times, four times, five times, &c.

7. Of time as to order; as, first, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, fifthly, sixthly, &c.

II. Adverbs of place.

1. Of place in which; as, where, here, there, yonder, above, below, around, somewhere, anywhere, elsewhere, everywhere, nowhere, wherever, within, without, whereabout, thereabout.

2. Of place to which; as, whither, thither, hither, in, up,

down, back, forth, inwards, outwards, upwards, downwards, backwards, forwards.

3. Of place from which; as, whence, thence, hence, away, out. 4. Of place as to order; as, first, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, fifthly, &c.

III. Adverbs of degree.

Much, too, very, greatly, far, besides, chiefly, principally, mainly, generally, entirely, full, fully, completely, perfectly, wholly, totally, altogether, all, quite, clear, stark, exceedingly, excessively, extravagantly, intolerably, immeasurably, infinitely, enough, sufficiently, equally, so, as, even, little, scarcely, hardly, merely, barely, only, but, partly, partially, nearly, almost, how, however, howsoever, everso, &c.

IV. Adverbs of quality and manner.

Well, ill, wisely, foolishly, righteously, justly, quickly, heed lessly, mercifully, &c.; thus, so, how, somehow, however, like else, otherwise, across, together, apart, asunder, namely, par ticularly, necessarily, obviously, manifestly, &c.

V. Adverbs of affirmation and negation.

Yes, yea, ay, verily, truly, indeed, surely, certainly, doubt less, undoubtedly, certes, forsooth, amen; no, nay, not, nowise VI. Adverbs of doubt.

Perhaps, haply, possibly, perchance, peradventure, may-be. VII. Adverbs of cause.

Why, wherefore, therefore.

VIII. Adverbs of instrument.

Hereby, thereby, herewith, therewith.

OBS. The preceding enumeration, drawn mainly from Go Brown, is by no means complete, nor are the divisions in all respects the most accurate; still they present a general idea of the nature and uses of adverbs, and that is the principal thing cntemplated by their classification.

GENERAL NOTE ON ADVERBS.-Some of the adverbs enumerated above, frequently have the properties of conjunction; i. e. like conjunctions, they connect the parts of a sentence. The following are most frequently used in this way: Before, also, as, after, again, hence, even, else, besides, however, moreover, nevertheless, since, otherwise, therefore, thence, then, when, indeed, whither, thither, where, there, till, until, wherefore, while. They form three kinds of connection: the close, the compact, and the loose. (See close, compact, and loose sentences, pp. 71-77.) 1. The close; as, His father died before he arrived. His father died after, &c.

2. The compact. This connection occurs when two adverbs, or an adverb and a conjunction are used correlatively; i.e relatively to each other: dividing the sentence into two parts,

the first of which always implies the second; as whither I go. thither ye cannot come. When he comes, then fear. If one scale of a balance ascends, then the other must descend Therefore it cannot fly, because it has no wings. He will indeed receive, but he will not give.

OBS. Sometimes one of the correlatives is understood; sometimes both are; and whether expressed or understood, frequently have their order reversed. (See Classification Compact Sentences.)

3. The loose. When forming this connection, the adverbs are used singly, as in the close. Observe the examples sub

joined.

The mode of reasoning more generally used, and most suited to the train of popular speaking, is what is called the synthetic; WHEN the point to be proved is fairly laid down, and one argument after another is made to bear upon it, till the hearers be fully convinced.

By and by Clodius met him on the road, on horseback, like a man prepared for action; WHILST Milo is travelling in a carriage with his wife, wrapped up in his cloak, embarrassed with baggage, and attended by a great train of women, servants, and boys.

There are several customary combinations of short words which are used adverbially, and which some grammarians do not analyze in parsing; as not at all, at length, in vain.

But besides this consideration, there is another of still higher importance; though I am not sure of its being attended to as much as it deserves; NAMELY, that from the fountain of real and genuine virtue are drawn those sentiments which will ever be the most powerful in affecting the hearts of others. OBS. Adverbs often occupy the place of connectives at the beginning of a part of a sentence, and seem to connect, when the real connectives are understood.

EXERCISES ON ADVERBS.

I am now prepared. Presently he left him. I was recently told that he saw it. Anciently it was not so. The affair took place while he was there. Shortly after he died miserable. He never understood the subject: rarely spoke of it. will find another man equally stupid?

Where

Hence all the ca

you lamities which befell him, first in the country, secondly in the city, and thirdly on the ocean. Whence hath this man wisdom? It was foolishly said, and rashly done. I have ink enough for my purpose: indeed I have; but scarcely sufficient for yours additionally: so you must provide somehow for yourself; and when you have obtained a supply, then let me know yes, let me know it immediately. I am far more interested in the matter than you just now think. Therefore hasten, before it is too late. Where you find it, there buy it

« AnteriorContinuar »