Chapter VI: Verbs (7)

_Beware_ also seems to be a needless compound of _be_ and the old adjective _ware_, wary, aware, cautious. Both these are, of course, used only in those forms of expression in which _be_ is proper; as, "_Beware_ of dogs, _beware_ of evil workers, _beware_ of the concision."--_Philippians_, iii, 2. "But we _must beware_[297] of carrying our attention to this beauty too far."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 119. These words were formerly separated: as, "Of whom _be_ thou _ware_ also."--_1 Tim._, iv, 15. "They _were ware_ of it."--FRIENDS' BIBLE, and ALGER'S: _Acts_, xiii, 6. "They were _aware_ of it."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: ib. "And in an hour _that_ he is not _ware_ of him."--_Johnson's Dict., w. Ware_. "And in an hour that he is not _aware_ of."--COMMON BIBLES: _Matt._, xxiv, 50. "Bid her well _be ware_ and still erect."--MILTON: _in Johnson's Dict._ "That even Silence _was took_ ere she _was ware_."--_Id., Comus_, line 558. The adjective _ware_ is now said to be "_obsolete_;" but the propriety of this assertion depends upon that of forming such a defective verb. What is the use of doing so?

"This to disclose is all thy guardian can;
_Beware_ of all, but most _beware_ of man."--_Pope_.

The words written separately will always have the same meaning, unless we omit the preposition _of_, and suppose the compound to be a _transitive_ verb. In this case, the argument for compounding the terms appears to be valid; as,

"_Beware_ the public _laughter_ of the town;
Thou springst a-leak already in thy crown."--_Dryden_.

OBS. 4. The words _ought_ and _own_, without question, were originally parts of the redundant verb _to owe_; thus: _owe, owed_ or _ought, owing, owed_ or _own_. But both have long been disjoined 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. e., "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. e., _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, l. 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?"--_Job_, 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 _oport-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: as, "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,

"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, l. 230.

"Forthwith on all sides to his aid _was run_
By angels many and strong, who interpos'd."
--_Id._, B. vi, l. 335.

LIST OF THE DEFECTIVE VERBS.

_Present. Preterit._ Beware, ------ Can, could. May, might. Methinks, methought. Must, must.[298] Ought, ought.[298] Shall, should, Will[299] would. Quoth, quoth. Wis, wist.[300] Wit, wot.

EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.

PRAXIS VI--ETYMOLOGICAL.

_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 riot 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. 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 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.

_Choice_ 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 he 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 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. _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 OBS. 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.

_Our_ is a personal pronoun, of the first person, plural number, masculine gender, and possessive case. 1. A pronoun 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 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 generally 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 degrees 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 pronoun 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 mates 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_.

"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 judicious 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_.

"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.

"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 Goethe 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 _zpadillo_ in her breast."--_Ib._, p. 371. "I guest the hand."--_Ib._, p. 372. "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."--_Ib._, p. 403. "I sate with delight, from morning till night."--_Ib._, p. 367. "Dick nimbly skipt the gutter."--_Ib._, 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 it even from Tmolus."-- _Ib._, p. 114. "He supt with his morning gown on."--_Ib._, p. 285. "There stampt her sacred name."--_Barlow's Columbiad_, B. i, l. 233.

"Fixt on the view the great discoverer stood,
And thus addrest the messenger of good."--_Barlow_, B, i, l. 658.

LESSON II.--MIXED.

"Three freemen were being tried at the date of our last information."--_Newspaper_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the participle _being_ is used after its own verb _were_. But, according to Observation 4th, on the compound form of the conjugation, this complex passive form is an absurd innovation. Therefore, the expression should be changed; thus, "Three freemen _were on trial_"--or, "_were receiving their trial_--at the date of our last information."]

"While the house was being built, many of the tribe arrived."--_Ross Cox's Travels_, p. 102. "But a foundation has been laid in Zion, and the church is being built upon it."--_The Friend_, ix, 377. "And one fourth of the people are being educated."--_East India Magazine_. "The present, or that which is now being done."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 13. "A new church, called the Pantheon, is just being completed in an expensive style."--_G. A. Thompson's Guatemala_, p. 467. "When I last saw him, he was grown considerably."--_Murray's Key_, p. 223; _Merchants_, 198. "I know what a rugged and dangerous path I am got into."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 83. "You were as good preach case to one on the rack."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 285. "Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation."--_Psal._, cxviii, 21. "While the Elementary Spelling-Book was being prepared for the press."--_L. Cobb's Review_, p. vi. "Language is become, in modern times, more correct and accurate."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 16. "If the plan have been executed in any measure answerable to the author's wishes."--_Robbins's Hist._, p. 3. "The vial of wrath is still being poured out on the seat of the beast."--_Christian Experience_, p. 409. "Christianity was become the generally adopted and established religion of the whole Roman Empire."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 35. "Who wrote before the first century was elapsed."--_Ib._, p. 13. "The original and analogical form is grown quite obsolete."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 56. "Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, are perished."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 149. "The poems were got abroad and in a great many hands."--_Pref. to Waller_. "It is more harmonious, as well as more correct, to say, 'the bubble is almost bursted.'"--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 109. "I drave my suitor from his mad humour of love."--_Shak_. "Se viriliter expedivit. (_Cicero_.) He hath plaid the man."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 214. "Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Acts_, vii, 28. "And we, methoughts, look'd up t'him from our hill."--_Cowley's Davideis_, B. iii, l. 386. "I fear thou doest not think as much of best things as thou oughtest."--_Memoir of M. C. Thomas_, p. 34. "When this work was being commenced."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 10. "Exercises and Key to this work are being prepared."--_Ib._, p. 12. "James is loved, or being loved by John."--_Ib._, p. 64. "Or that which is being exhibited."--_Ib._, p. 77. "He was being smitten."--_Ib._, p. 78. "In the passive state we say, 'I am being loved.'"--_Ib._, p. 80. "Subjunctive Mood: If I am being smitten, If thou art being smitten, If he is being smitten."--_Ib._, p. 100. "I will not be able to convince you how superficial the reformation is."--_Chalmers's Sermons_, p. 88. "I said to myself, I will be obliged to expose the folly."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 3. "When Clodius, had he meant to return that day to Rome, must have been arrived."--_Adams's Rhetoric_, i, 418. "That the fact has been done, is being done, or shall or will be done."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, pp. 347 and 356. "Am I being instructed?"--_Wright's Gram._, p. 70. "I am choosing him."--_Ib._, p. 112. "John, who was respecting his father, was obedient to his commands."--_Barrett's Revised Gram._, p. 69. "The region echos to the clash of arms."--_Beattie's Poems_, p. 63.

"And sitt'st on high, and mak'st creation's top
Thy footstool; and behold'st below thee, all."
--_Pollok_, B. vi, l. 663.

"And see if thou can'st punish sin, and let
Mankind go free. Thou fail'st--be not surprised."
--_Id._, B. ii, l. 118.

LESSON III.--MIXED.

"What follows, had better been wanting altogether."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 201.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrase _had better been_, is used in the sense of the potential pluperfect. But, according to Observation 17th, on the conjugations, this substitution of one form for another is of questionable propriety. Therefore, the regular form should here be preferred; thus, "What follows, _might better have been_ wanting altogether."]

"This member of the sentence had much better have been omitted altogether."--_Ib._, p. 212. "One or [the] other of them, therefore, had better have been omitted."--_Ib._, p. 212. "The whole of this last member of the sentence had better have been dropped."--_Ib._, p. 112. "In this case, they had much better be omitted."--_Ib._, p. 173. "He had better have said, 'the _productions_'"--_Ib._, p. 220. "The Greeks have ascribed the origin of poetry to Orpheus, Linus, and Musæus."--_Ib._, p. 377. "It has been noticed long ago, that all these fictitious names have the same number of syllables."--_Phil. Museum_, i, 471. "When I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, I have determined to send him."--_Acts_, xxv, 25. "I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God."--_Ps._, lxxxiv, 10. "As for such, I wish the Lord open their eyes."--_Barclay's Works_, iii. 263. "It would a made our passidge over the river very difficult."-- _Walley, in_ 1692. "We should not a been able to have carried our great guns."--_Id._ "Others would a questioned our prudence, if wee had."--_Id._ See _Hutchinson's Hist. of Mass._, i, 478. "Beware thou bee'st not BECÆSAR'D; i.e. Beware that thou dost not dwindle into a mere Cæsar."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 183. "Thou raisedest thy voice to record the stratagems of needy heroes."--ARBUTHNOT: _in Joh. Dict., w. Scalade_. "Life hurrys off apace: thine is almost up already."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p. 19. "'How unfortunate has this accident made me!' crys such a one."--_Ib._, p. 60. "The muse that soft and sickly wooes the ear."--_Pollok_, i, 13. "A man were better relate himself to a statue."--_Bacon._ "I heard thee say but now, thou lik'dst not that."--_Shak._ "In my whole course of wooing, thou cried'st, _Indeed!_"--_Id._ "But our ears are grown familiar with _I have wrote, I have drank_, &c., which are altogether as ungrammatical."-- _Lowth's Gram._, p. 63; _Churchill's_, 114. "The court was sat before Sir Roger came."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 122. "She need be no more with the jaundice possest."--_Swift's Poems_, p. 346. "Besides, you found fault with our victuals one day that you was here."--_Ib._, p. 333. "If spirit of other sort, So minded, have o'erleap'd these earthy bounds."--_Milton, P. L._, B. iv, l. 582. "It should have been more rational to have forborn this."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 265. "A student is not master of it till he have seen all these."--_Dr. Murray's Life_, p. 55. "The said justice shall summons the party."--_Brevard's Digest._ "Now what is become of thy former wit and humour?"--_Spect._, No. 532. "Young stranger, whither wand'rest thou?"--_Burns_, p. 29. "SUBJ.: _Pres._ If I love, If thou lovest, If he love. _Imp._ If I loved, If thou lovedst, If he loved."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 51. "SUBJ.: If I do not love, If thou dost not love, If he does not love;" &c.--_Ib._, p. 56. "If he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."--_James_, v, 15. "Subjunctive Mood of the verb _to call_, second person singular: If Thou callest. If Thou calledst. If Thou hast called. If Thou hadst called. If Thou call. If Thou shalt or wilt have called."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 41. "Subjunctive Mood of the verb _to love_, second person singular: If thou love. If thou do love. If thou lovedst. If thou didst love. If thou hast loved. If thou hadst loved. If thou shalt or wilt love. If thou shalt or wilt have loved."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 46. "I was; thou wast, or you was; he, she, or it was: We, you or ye, they, were."--_White, on the English Verb_, p. 51. "I taught, thou taughtedst, he taught."--_Coar's English Gram._, p. 66. "We say, _if it rains, suppose it rains_, lest _it should rain_, unless _it rains_. This manner of speaking is called the SUBJUNCTIVE mode."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 72; Abridged Ed., 59. "He is arrived at what is deemed the age of manhood."--_Priestley's Gram._, 163. "He had much better have let it alone."--_Tooke's Diversions_, i, 43. "He were better be without it."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 105. "Hadest not thou been by."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 107. "I learned geography. Thou learnedest arithmetick. He learned grammar."--_Fuller's Gram._, p. 34. "Till the sound is ceased."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 126. "Present, die; Preterit, died; Perf. Participle, dead."--_British Gram._, p. 158; _Buchanan's_, 58; _Priestley's_, 48; _Ash's_, 45; _Fisher's_, 71; _Bicknell's_, 73.

"Thou bowed'st thy glorious head to none, feared'st none."
--_Pollok_, B. viii, l. 603.

"Thou look'st upon thy boy as though thou guessedst it."
--_N. A. Reader_, p. 320.

"As once thou slept'st, while she to life was form'd"
--_Milt., P. L._, B. xi, l. 369.

"Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest,
But may imagine how the bird was dead?"
--SHAK.: _Joh. Dict._

"Which might have well becom'd the best of men."
--_Id., Ant. and Cleop._