Page 173. "We are never all from The pronoun him is not here govern- home. Are is an irregular verb neuter, ed by any interjection, but by the pre-indicative mood, present tense, and position to, and therefore does not ex- the third person plural," &c. Are is emplify the rule. here not the third person plural, but the first person plural.

participle passive, agreeing with its nominative John or Thomas."

The proper way of parsing the sentence would be, we apprehend, thus. Will be blamed is a regular transitive verb, passive voice, indicative mood, first future tense, third person singular, agreeing with its nominative case, John or Thomas.

Page 174. "Let me alone. Let an irregular verb active, imperative mood, first person and singular number." Let is not the first person, but the second person, either singular or plural, agreeing with its nominative case, thou or ye, understood.

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Anarcharsis, whose travels I am reading. Whose, a pronoun relative, third person, singular number, masculine gender, genitive case, agreeing with its antecedent author." No such antecedent is either expressed or understood, Whose agrees with its antecedent Anacharsis in number and person; but as to its case, it is the possessive governed by the following substantive travels, according to Mr. S.'s 15th rule of Syntax.

Page 175. "Study your grammar daily. Your a personal pronoun, second person, singular number, and genitive case. "Your is not a personal pronoun, but an adjective pronoun; (see Mr. S.'s Gram. Pages 44, 45.) and if it have any case at all, it is not the genitive, but the objective, agreeing with its substantive grammar.

Mr. Sutcliffe's observations on the structure of sentences and the figures of speech, with the examples adduced by way of illustration, are interesting and instructive: they deserve the attention of all who are studying the refinements and delicacies of our language.

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Page 200. The dash is employed to confer attention to the preceding sentences," &c.

should be supplied, thus; by an author (who flourished) about a century ago.

Page 210." The fine taste of the reader will vary the quantity of syllables, as much as the semi-breve varies from the demi-semiquaver, that is, in the proportion of one to eight." One would suppose from this that the proportion of the demi-semiquaver to the semibreve is as one to 8; whereas the semibreve is equal in time to 32 demisemiquavers, and the proportion between them is as 1 to 32.

Page 225. “For my own part, I would never trust a man whom I thought was capable of giving those secret wounds." &c. This is unquestionably wrong. If the relative here be the objective case, the verb was is left without any nominative whatever. The verb thought has no influence on the relative; for I thought is a sort of parenthesis, equivalent to, as I thought; and the relative should be the nominative who, governing the verb was.

Page 243. "Terminative pronouns. Our difficulty here is insuperable. While we follow the Saxon, which beautifully associates with the subsequent relative or verb, we mostly leave the people, and deviate from the Greek and Latin, as well as the French."

We see no difficulty in the case. It is only necessary to remember, that neither than nor any other conjunction governs any case of a noun or pronoun; and to supply the verb omitted in the latter clause, which will shew what case ought to be used. Our rule here is not, as Mr. S. says, a deviation from the Greek and Latin. In such phrases as greater than I, more cruel than thou, younger than he; if the conjunction than be expressed in Greek or Latin, the construction is precisely similar to our own, and the latter noun or pronoun is the nominative. But when the conjunction than is omitted in Greek or Latin, their construction resembles the French, and the latter noun or pronoun is in one of the obPage 205. The distinction be-lique cases. On this and other points, tween accent and quantity, and the Mr. S. seems almost inclined to yield happy union of the two, are finely pen- to public custom; but when we consicilled by an author about a century ago." der that nine-tenths of those who speak This language is certainly incorrect. English, have little or no grammatical The present tense cannot be thus con- knowledge of the language, it must be nected with times perfectly past. Ei- allowed that the general practice of ther the verb are pencilled should be unlettered people cannot be the stanchanged into the past tense were pen- dard of propriety and accuracy. cilled; or some verb in the past tense

We think this phraseology to confer attention to, unclassical and improper. To confer attention on, or to excite attention to, would be correct.

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"The warriors who proud Athens

THE task of a compiler is not a very inviting one, and for a creditable accomplishment of it, we believe a degree of ability, by no means universally enjoyed, and not very generally supposed to be necessary, is requisite. It possesses few charms to the man who is ambitious of literary distinction, and to him who is desirous of the favours of fortune, it is "stale, flat, and unprofitable." We are not, therefore, surprised that few men of talents or taste, should be induced to enlist in the service, seeing the one or the other of these objects is the polar star of all literary exertion; and we are the more disposed to express our unqualified approbation of those compilations which bear the impress of good taste, and good intention.

For these reasons, we deem the Selection before us, fully entitled to our warm commendation. A short extract from the Advertisement, will serve to explain the object of the publication :

Though the primary design of the volume was for the use of schools, the compiler trusts, that the variety, beauty, and singular sublimity of the pieces, will recommend it to the admirers of poetical compositions."

We think, that in the attainment of both these objects, Mr. Grant has been eminently successful. Most of the pieces contain delineations of the objects of Nature; most happily employed for the purpose of inculcating moral lessons on the mind; and all of them are distinguished by a purity and elevation of sentiment, a harmony, force, and felicity of expression, which should be the inseparable accompaniment of books designed for the benefit of youth. The extracts cannot fail to gratify even those who may have seen the originals. They are not of that description of which the spirit evaporates on the first perusal; on the contrary, the beauties become more perceptible, and the gratification more exquisite, as we acquire a more intimate acquaintance with them. Seve

ral of them we have never seen before, and we presume they are original.

We could easily support the favourof this small work, by extracting at able opinion which we have expressed random any of the pieces; but, as the price is exceedingly moderate, we refer our readers, and teachers in ge

neral, to the Book itself, to be convinced of its justice.

Review: A Practical Dictionary, containing concise yet comprehensive schemes of the most necessary subjects, Divine, Moral, and Literary. ByW. Sleigh. pp. 295. Octavo, Boards, price 7s. Blanchard and Richardson, London, 1817.

IN this work, which is professedly a compilation, the writer presumes to lay but little claim to those honours, which arise from that originality of thought and expression, on which most authors found their title to literary preeminence. He tells us, that "in this business, he has availed himself of the labours of Beddome, Beveridge, Bifield, Charron, Clark, Fisher, Flavel, Gouge, Hooton, Taylor, and others; so that he has often, little other claim to merit, than that which arises from selection and arrangement."

To the derivation of words, and their varied and primitive meaning, Mr. S. has paid no attention; his aim being to ascertain their distinct bearings on the various doctrines of the Bible, and on those branches of ethics, which have an immediate connection with the moral conduct and character of mankind.

To a superficial observer, who cursorily glances over its pages, this treatise appears to be a dictionary of words and doctrines found only in the inspired volume. But on a nearer inspection, many terms occur, which the sacred writers have not incorporated in their language. They are, however, such as invariably communicate ideas, on some important topics with which the doctrines of the Gospel are intimately connected; and in their explication, this association is invariably kept in view. As a specimen of the author's manner in this department of theological philology, we give the following article:

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DUEL, a battle or engagement between two persons, ordinarily fought by choice with sword and pistol, upon account of some real or imaginary affront. Of all the vices which disgrace our age and nation, that of duelling is

one of the most ridiculous, absurd, and omnipresence, Mat. viii. 20; thirdly, criminal; ridiculous, as it is a com- by the divine names given to him, as pliance with a custom that would plead the name of Jehovah, Is. xlv. 24, 25, fashion in violation of the laws of our Jer. xxiii. 6; El and Eloim, Psalm country; absurd, as it produces no xlv. 6, 7, Isaiah ix. 5; Adonai, Dan. test by which to determine on the ix. 17, Exod. iv. 10, Judges vi. 13; merit of the point in dispute, for the God, John i. 1, Rom. ix. 5, 1 John aggrieved is equally liable to fall with v. 18; fourthly, by the divine operathe aggressor; and criminal, (criminal tions attributed to him, as creation, in the highest degree,) as it arises from John i. 3, 10, Col. i. 3, 16, Heb. i. 2, pre-determined murder on each side. 10; the preservation and government Let no man so far disclaim his reason, of it, John v. 17, Heb. i. 3, Col. i. 17; as to rush upon a deed which every the power of miracles, John x. 25; forlaw, civil and sacred, condemns, which giveness of sins, Mat. ix. 6; sanctifican admit of no justification, which cation, 1 Cor. iv. 38; fifthly, by the inmust either involve his soul in the hor- stances of divine worship paid to him, rid guilt of murder, subject him to Acts vii. 59, 60, 2 Cor. xii. 7-10, 1. exile or imprisonment, to wander like Thess. iii. 11-13, 2 Cor. xiii. 14; the first shedder of human blood a sixthly, by his behaviour towards those wretched fugitive over the earth, or to who honour him, as commending their incur an ignominious death from the faith, Matt. viii. 8, 10; approving their impartial sentence of the law, or more requests, Mark ix. 24, Luke xvii. 5; fatal still, must dismiss him into the seventhly, by the patient suffering of tremendous presence of an eternal his saints, Rev. xii. 11; eighthly, by Judge, under the immediate guilt of the conquests the gospel hath made transgressing one of the strongest in the world, 1 Tim. iii. 16, and that commands, and for ever precluded not by any human power, Zech. iv. 6; from the possibility of repentance." ninthly, by the absurdities into which its most able opposers have been drawn, as labouring principally to invalidate those texts which seem most explicit on the subject, and setting aside some passages as no parts of revelation. There was a necessity that Christ should be God, for these reasons; first, that he might give full merit to the obedience and sufferings of his manhood, for a mere creature cannot merit of the Creator; secondly, tha the might give his Spirit to believers to sanctify them, for none but God could send him; thirdly, that he might be able to overcome the sharpness of death to which he was to submit ; fourthly, that he might raise us up from the dead at the last and great day; fifthly, that he might be a protector of his people for ever. sequences of the denial of this doctrine are awful; first, it tends to produce as its native fruit, the greatest indifference both to principle and practice; secondly, it contradicts the testimony of the faithful and true witness, and is a virtual rejection of it; thirdly, it leaves the soul in all its guilt, exposed to all the horrors of the second death. Let the doctrine work in us, first, a great esteem of his sufferings, Acts xx. 28; secondly, the celebration of his praises, Rom. ix. 5; thirdly, the adoration of his person, Heb. i. 4;

Of such words as occur in the sacred writings, the author gives the various senses in which they are used, referring to the particular passages both in the Old Testament and in the New, where they are found to occur. Nor are his observations exclusively confined to these simple facts. Having fairly stated them, he proceeds to notice the inferences that may be drawn from the propositions which they contain; and adverts to the consequences which must ensue, from the adoption of principles which lead either to virtue or vice. On many occasions the work assumes the form of a practical commentary on words of significant import; sometimes uniting them together in an expression, which embodies some momentous doctrine, that has a commanding influence on the heart and life. In this department also, we give the following article as a specimen.

“DIVINITY OF CHRIST, means his being the most high God. It may be proved, first, by the testimony of scripture, Isaiah ix. 6, John i. 1, Rom. ix. 5, 1 Tim. iii. 16, 1 John v. 20; secondly, by the divine attributes ascribed to him, as eternity, Isaiah ix. 5, John i. 1, Heb. ix. 14, omnipotence, John iii. 31, Phil. iv. 13; omniscience, John xxi. 17, Heb. iv. 13, Rev. ii. 23;

The con