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"These are the rules of grammar, by the observing of which, you may avoid mistakes." He says, it would not be proper to say, by the observing which, nor, by observing of which;" but the phrase, without either, would be right: as, by observing which." Observing is a noun, when we leave out both THE and OF. What is it that causes observing to become a noun, when we leave out both THE and OF? Answer, the preposition BY is the cause of its becoming a noun. Why? Because, by governs observing in the objective case.

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Rule. "The active participle is often used as a noun, that is, after a preposition, or an adjective: as, "In the beginning;" a good understanding." It is a noun after the possessive case: as, What do you think of my wife's spinning? (L. Murray's Gram. page 117.) Spinning is a noun for two reasons; first, because it is governed by OF; secondly, because it (spinning) governs the noun wife's in the possessive case. Rule. No part of speech governs the possessive case but nouns, or words and phrases which operate as nouns. (L. Murray's Gram. page 77.) Rule. The present participle, with a preposition before it, and still retaining its government, (that is, when it governs the objective case,) answers to what is called in Latin the gerund or verbal noun: as, "A noun may, in general, be distinguished by its TAKING an Article before it." (Alben's Gram. page 172. Lowth's Gram. page_103. Buchannan's Syntax, page 87.) I will parse the above example: A is an indefinite Article; noun is a noun, nom. c. to the verb may be distinguished ; in ge- | neral is an adverb. Rule. When an adjective has a preposition before it, the noun understood, it takes the nature of an adverb: may be distinguished is a verb in the potential mood; by is a preposition; its is a possessive pronoun, governed by the verbal noun taking; taking is a verbal noun in the objective case, governed by the preposition by; an is an indefinite article; article is a noun, in the objective case, governed by the verbal noun taking ;these verbal nouns govern two cases. Which of the cases do these verbal nouns govern? J. W. does not tell us in col. 733! I answer, the possessive and objective cases: before is a preposition; it is a neuter pronoun in the objective case, governed by before.

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Am

I is a pronoun, first person, in the common gender, nominative case to the verb am; am is a verb; weary is an adjective; with is a preposition; hearing a participle; him is a pronoun. This sentence is parsed rightly according to Murray; for he says, hearing is a participle. Now we will look into the government of the sentence. governs the pronoun I; weary has no government; with governs, what? It has no government, if hearing is a participle; if with has no government, it is not a preposition. Rule. Prepositions govern the objective case of nouns and pronouns, and words and phrases acting as nouns. Rule. When prepositions have no government, they become either adverbs or conjunc tions. By which of the rules in grammar, can with, in the above sentence, be called either an adverb or conjunction? Not by any rule: for it neither connects as a conjunction, nor has it the least appearance of an adverb.

Rule." Conjunctions connect the same moods and tenses of verbs, and cases of nouns and pronouns." (L. Murray's Gram. page 104.) But, here are neither moods, tenses, verbs, nor cases of nouns, to connect. Rule.

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Adverbs, though they have no government of case, tense, &c. require an appropriate situation in the sentence," &c. (L. Murray's Gram. page 186.) "I am weary with." Here, with goes after the adjective weary, it is not according to the rule, therefore it cannot be an adverb. We plainly see that with is a preposition, and it must govern some word in the sentence. Which word in the sentence does with govern? The verbal noun hearing; and hearing governs the pronoun him, in the objective case. I think, I have proved by rules, that hearing is not a participle, but a verbal noun; if so, Mr. Murray must be wrong. I also think, I may say, that the present participle ending in ing, is not governed by the article THE, but by the prepositions which are often written before these participles.

I will add another rule, which is the best in my opinion, that ever I saw on this subject," Participles, ending in

ing, are either governed by the helping | but unhappily three were left behind, verb am, or by some preposition: as, without light, without food, and withI am writing; in TEACHING children." out any place of safe retreat, exposed Wilson's Gram. page 93. to all the horrors of their situation.

I shall be glad, if ever I see the following sentence parsed in your Maga zine; perhaps some of your correspondents will take it in hand. I have not seen any sentence of this kind parsed, in any grammar which I have by me. I have seen 30 different grammars; but not one of them has any sentence in it like the following. "And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? and Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."-Job 1st chap. ver. 7. I am Sir,

Your very humble servant,

JAMES TAYLOR.

Musician in the Band of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards Blue.

Windsor, Nov. 27, 1819.

REMARKABLE PRESERVATION.
MR. EDITOR,

SIR, Should the following incident be deemed worthy of a place in your highly esteemed Miscellany, by inserting the account, you will greatly oblige

BENJAMIN EDWARDS.

Wrexham, Nov. 30, 1819.

ON Monday, the 27th of September last, nineteen men, colliers, were employed in their usual labour at Pentefram, in the neighbourhood of Wrexham. As these were drawing near the boundaries of their right, the ground was measured and dialed, as is usual in such cases, in order to ascertain their limits, and prevent them from infringing on the territories of others. In this process, some incorrectness, however, happened; but whether this arose from ignorance or inadvertence, I take not upon me to determine.

While the labourers were busily employed, one of them struck the ground with his pick, when a large stream of water burst in upon their working, from an adjoining colliery. All immediately saw their danger; and a seene of confusion and distress instantly ensued, which no language can adequately describe. Acting with promptitude, sixteen made their escape, though with the utmost difficulty;

The whole colliery being quickly inundated by the rising torrent, to the distance of 52 yards from the pit through which they descended, every one was given over as being dead. In this situation the unhappy sufferers remained until the 6th of October, notwithstanding every possible exertion was made, either to rescue them, or to recover their bodies, but without being attended with the smallest success. And when the water was nearly exhausted, the inflammable air, generally called the fire-damp, rendered it dangerous for any one to venture into these caverns, which now exhibited the prognostics of an explosion. But the anxiety of the surrounding neighbourhood, and the cries of the widows and orphans, were too powerful to be withstood; and some workmen ventured down, though at the imminent hazard of their lives. After some search, two of the men were found very near each other, but the vital spark of life was extinct, and their numerous families had again to renew their sorrow at this assurance of their misfortune. Another, however, still remained; but of his being alive, no hopes whatever were entertained. Still the search was continued, and three days more elapsed before they reached the spot in which he was discovered. Ön approaching him, they found, to their utter astonishment, that life, though nearly exhausted, still remained, and he was instantly removed from this sepulchre of the living and the dead.

After four days had elapsed, I went to visit him, when he gave to me an account of his feelings and situation, of which the following is the substance.

When first the sound of danger assaulted his ears, he listened attentively, and soon perceived that a torrent of water was approaching towards him. This came with such violence, that a current of air was driven before it, which instantly put out his light. Involved in darkness, and missing his companions, his first endeavour was, to escape from the place in which they had been working. Having effected this, he moved onward in darkness and confusion, till, nearly overcome with apprehensions, he sat down a few minutes, and found himself overwhelmed

with fear. He again arose, and went forward, and again sat down about 15 or 20 minutes, in all the agonies of despair. Recollecting, however, that he was at no great distance from a place in which a horse was kept, that had been employed in drawing under ground, he bent his way thither, not without hopes, that as this had been used as a room in which the men frequently ate their dinners, and left their clothes, he might be able to find some means of subsistence for a season, in case the water should not force him from this retreat. Arriving at this subterraneous stable, his disappointment was almost unsufferable, as he could find neither food nor raiment, while the pursuing waters compelled him instantly to retire to some more secure resting place. Continuing to grope his way, he still mounted in the mine, as the waters ascended; and at length reached a spot, in which he expected speedily to perish. But providentially the torrent had reached its utmost height, without approaching this last and only retreat.

In this place he continued about what he conceived to be two days and a night, during which time the water remained nearly stationary. At length, conceiving that it had begun to retreat, he endeavoured to ascertain the fact, by throwing stones; by means of which he found that it had retired about 16 yards. But as no way for his escape appeared possible, he considered his prison as his grave, and waited his approaching dissolution with that stern resignation which despair inspires. In this situation he occasionally slept; but the dampness of the ground augmented the pangs which arose from the sensation of hunger, and the torments of anticipation.

Nor were these the only sources of his affliction. When the waters began to retire, he found the air so pernicious, that he was much affected by its deleterious quality. Against this, his only defence consisted in putting over his face some part of his flannel shirt, which was his only covering. In this state, being sometimes overcome with sleep, he found the air to occasion swellings in different parts of his body, and particularly his tongue. These circumstances, together with the falling of several parts of the roof, compelled him once more to change his situation. On reaching a spot in

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which he discovered many loose stones, he contrived to rear up a kind of building against one side of the work, into which he crept. This afforded him a little shelter, and here he remained until the happy moment of his deliverance arrived.

Twelve days and nights, as he afterwards learnt, had now elapsed since his confinement, during which time his only sustenance was water; which, when the inundation had subsided, he discovered by hearing drops falling from the roof, in sound resembling that of the pendulum of a clock. Guided by this, he crawled to the spot, and contrived to make a small cavity in the rock, into which the water fell, and in which he found a sufficiency to slake his thirst. One circumstance he mentioned as particularly remarkable. The water, which at times furnished only regular drops, would occasionally yield a small stream, such as might be supposed to issue from a small phial, and this he observed to be the case when he approached his little reservoir to drink.

As the time of his deliverance drew near, he could distinctly hear the voices of the men who were searching for him; and one in particular he heard exclaim, "here are the marks of his hands and feet." He then hallooed with what strength he had remaining; but although the sounds he uttered were heard by the men, they rather occasioned a strange agitation, than awakened within them any hopes of his being alive. At length, after some considerable time had elapsed, he perceived at a great distance the light of a candle glimmering through the gloom of his solitary vault; and, as the men approached him, he soon convinced them that he was still alive. Great was their joy at meeting. He was instantly taken up, and, as a monument of little less than miraculous preservation, was restored to his astonished friends.

In closing his narrative, he said, that he frequently heard, or thought he heard, melodious music, resembling the sound of an organ, accompanied with voices singing in concert; and so powerful was the impression, that occasionally forgetting his melancholy condition, he mingled his notes with theirs, and found himself much soothed with the mysterious harmony. This frequently prevented him from becom

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ing a prey to dejection, and lulled his spirits into a sweet repose.

Having finished his own relation, I now beg to observe, that this is the second time in which James Evans, for that is his name, has experienced a providential deliverance. Some years since, an explosion of inflammable air took place in a mine, by which many lives were lost, while he sustain ed no injury. But it is melancholy to reflect, that the effects which these singular displays of providential care have produced, are not so favourable to piety as could be wished. Should they prove ineffectual on him, the writer hopes they may prove beneficial to others, who, in this incident, shall be led to see the mighty hand of God, in the various dispensations of his providence.

Buckingham, Dec. 16, 1819.

MR. EDITOR,

SIR, AS, no doubt, many of your readers are also readers of that useful little book, "Evening Amusements," " | and as in the volume for 1820 there are several inaccuracies, I have taken the liberty of selecting some of the most material errors, which I here subjoin, (with corrections,) not with the intent of vilifying the work, which I esteem, but for the information and use of those readers of it, who study the noble science of Astronomy, without the assistance of a master, and who may not have the Nautical Almanack, or an Ephemeris, at hand, to correct those inaccuracies by. Should you consider them worthy a place in your excellent Magazine, you will oblige,

Sir,

Your humble servant,

J. MASTERS.

Inaccuracies in "Evening Amusements" for 1820.

FEBRUARY.

Page 37.-MARS.-"His latitude on the 1st is four degrees seventeen minutes north, in the fourth degree of (Cancer) the fourth sign; and it decreases to nearly three degrees and a half, in the 17th degree of this sign, his motion being retrograde through about three degrees and a quarter."-Evening Amusements. This difference of longitude, mathematically expressed, will stand thus: 4° -3° = 17. In

| order to correct this error without reference to the Nautical Almanack, or the Ephemeris, let us turn back to page 18 of the work, and we shall find Mars's longitude on the 31st Jan. in the 20th degree of the 4th sign (Cancer), from which, if we subtract three degrees and a quarter retrograde in the month of February, it will leave him in the 17th degree of this sign; but if we refer to the Ephemeris, we shall find him on the 1st of February at noon in the 21st degree of Cancer; consequently, as his motion is retrograde the whole of January, and till the 25th of February, he must be in the 21st degree of the same sign, even at midnight of the 31st of January, and his motion is retrograde through about three degrees and three quarters between the end of January and the 25th of February.

MARCH.

Page 59.-It is stated that the Moon passes Ceres on the 22d, this Planet then being in the 29th degree of the 4th sign (Cancer). On referring to page 53, we find, "On the 22d the Moon is on the meridian at four minutes past seven at night, having above her to the east the two first stars of the Twins ;" consequently, she will not then have passed Ceres; for those two stars are said (page 59) to be to the west of Ceres: but it goes on to say, that "On the 23d, she (the Moon) is on the meridian at 55 minutes past seven, having now the two first of the Twins above her to the west." This corresponds with the place of Ceres, page 59; therefore the Moon passes her on the 23d, not 22d, of March; which will further appear by referring to the Ephemeris for the Moon's longitude at noon on the 23d, which is 24 deg. 15 min. of Cancer; consequently she cannot pass Ceres in the 29th degree of that sign till some hours after noon, viz. near eight o'clock.

MAY.

Page 85.-"The Moon's latitude on the 1st at noon, is 5 deg. 9 min. in the 3d degree of the 10th sign (Capricorn); and it then decreases to the 8th." The whole of this passage is rendered incorrect by an error in the day of the month; but if we read, The Moon's latitude on the 2d,' &c. instead of the 1st, it will then stand correct: this may be proved by referring back to page 68, where we find the Moon on the last (of April) midnight, 4 deg. 52 min.

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(south) in the 12th degree of the 9th sign" (Sagittarius); so that if she be in the 3d degree of the 10th sign at noon on the 1st of May, she will pass through 21 degrees of longitude in 12 hours!

JUNE.

Page 103.-The Moon is stated to be at the end of the month, passing the ecliptic in her ascending node between ten and eleven at night, in the 27th degree of the 12th sign (Pisces)." If we pass on to page 117, we shall find her on the 1st of July, between ten and eleven at night, in the very same place; therefore, supposing both accounts to be correct, she will either stand still for 24 hours, or make a complete revolution in that time! If we refer to the Ephemeris, we shall find that the Moon does not arrive at this place till the 1st of July; consequently the account, page 103, is incorrect, and that, page 117, is the correct

one.

JULY.

Page 126.-Saturn's motion is said to be direct till the 12th, and after that, retrograde during the whole month. By the Ephemeris, it appears that his motion is direct till the 25th.

AUGUST.

Page 142.-Venus is stated to be stationary on the 23d. By the Ephemeris, it appears that she is stationary on the 21st, then direct.

Page 146.-" The Sun enters the sixth sign (Virgo) on the 23d at 54 min. past 5 in the morning." But the Ephemeris states that the Sun does not enter Virgo till 7 minutes past 7 that morning.

OCTOBER.

Page 180.-Venus, it is stated, will pass the ecliptic in her ascending node on the 20th: this, it appears by the Ephemeris, will occur before noon on the 19th.

NOVEMBER.

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Page 198.-Saturn. "His latitude, on the 1st, is 2 deg. 42 min. south, in the 9th degree of the 1st sign (Aries); and it decreases about six minutes, his motion being retrograde through about 70 minutes. The Moon passes him on the 7th." From the above statement we must infer, that on the 7th, Saturn will be in the 8th degree of the 1st sign (Aries): let us now refer back to page 190, in order to find when the Moon will reach this longitude: we are there informed, that on the 1st she is in the

22d degree of the 6th sign (Virgo); on the 8th in the 22d degree of the 9th sign (Sagittarius); and on the 15th in the 21st degree of the 12th sign (Pisces); therefore cannot yet have reached Saturn, though approaching him, and will evidently pass him on the 16th, but not on the 7th. This is confirmed by the Ephemeris, which states, that a conjunction of the Moon and Saturn will happen on the 16th, at three quarters past three. DECEMBER.

Page 212.-" Venus is a morning star. Her latitude on the 1st is 2 deg. 8 min. north, in the 29th degree of the 7th sign (Libra), and it decreases to about a degree and a quarter, in the 4th degree of the 8th sign (Scorpio)." From this passage, we are of course led to conclude, that on the 31st of Dec'. Venus will be in the 4th degree of Scorpio; but if we refer to the Ephemeris, we shall find that she arrives at that place on the 5th, and passes on, in a direct motion, till the end of the year, when she will be in the 6th degree of the 9th sign (Sagittarius)!

Page 216.-It is stated that the Sun enters the 10th sign (Capricorn) on the 21st, at 50 min. past 8 in the morning; but, by referring to the Ephemeris, it appears that the Sun's longitude at noon on the 21st, is 29 deg. 37 min.. 29 sec. in the 9th sign (Sagittarius), and does not enter the 10th sign (Capricorn) till 52 minutes past eight at night.

MR. EDITOR,

SIR.If the following astronomical occurences are approved of, your insertion will much oblige

Your's, &c.

AN OBSERVER.

Astronomical Occurrences for February. THE Sun enters Pisces on the 19th, at eight minutes past four in the afternoon. The Moon enters her last quarter on the 7th; she is new on the 14th, enters her first quarter on the 20th, and is full on the 29th: she will pass the Georgian planet on the 9th, Mercury on the 12th, Jupiter on the 13th, Venus and Saturn on the 15th, and Mars on the 24th. Venus is an evening star, setting on the 1st about seven, and on the 29th about half past eight. She is first seen under, and near to, the ele

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