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3. In the English language, there obtains a peculiarity quite opposite: In the English, when we use common discourse, all substantive nouns, that are not names of living creatures, are neuter without exception. He, she, it, are the marks of the three genders; and we always use it, in speaking of any object where there is no sex, or where the sex is not known. In this respect, our own language is pre-eminently philosophical in the application of its genders, or of those words which mark the real distinctions of male and female. Yet the genius of the language permits us, whenever it will add beauty to our dis course, to make the names of inanimate objects masculine or feminine in a metaphorical sense; and when we do so, we are understood_to quit the literal style, and to use what is termed a figure of speech. By this means, we have it in our power to vary our style at pleasure. By making a very slight alteration, we can personify any object we choose to introduce with dignity; and by this change of manner, we give warning that we are passing, from the strict and logical, to the ornamental, rhetorical style.

4. Of this advantage, not only every poet, but every good writer and speaker in prose, avails himself; and it is an advantage peculiar to our own tongue; no other language possesses it. Every word in other languages has one fixed gender, masculine, feminine, or neuter, which cannot on any occasion be changed: coro for instance, în Greek; virtus in Latin; and la vertu in French; are uniformly feminine. She must always be the pronoun answering to the word, whether you be writing in poetry or in prose, whether you be using the style of reasoning, or that of declamation; whereas, in English, we can either express ourselves with the philosophical accuracy of giving no gender to things inanimate; or, by giving them gender, and transforming them into persons, we adapt them to the style of poetry, and, when it is proper, we enliven prose.

5. On this general principle, we give the masculine gender to those substantive nouns used figuratively, which are conspicuous for the attributes of imparting or communicating; which are by nature strong and efficacious, either to good or evil, or which have a claim to some eminence, whether laudable or not. Those again we make feminine, which are conspicuous for the attributes of containing and of bringing forth, which have more of the passive in their nature, than of the active; which are peculiarly beautiful or amiable; or which have respect to such excesses, as are rather feminine than masculine.

57. ARTICLES are little words prefixed to substantives, or to other parts of speech, used as substantives, to enlarge or circumscribe their meaning.

Illus. 1. When we survey any object we never saw before, or speak about an object with which we are not intimately acquainted, the first thing which we do to distinguish or ascertain it, is, to refer to its species, or to class it with some other objects of its species, of which we have some knowledge. (Art. 49. Illus:)

Example. We would say, a tree, a house, a horse, a man, when we wished to denote any individual of these classes which we had never seen before, and of which, from its appearance, we knew nothing, but its species. These objects are individuals of the species called trees, horses, houses, or men; and must therefore possess the common qualities of their respective species. (Art. 50. Illus.)

2. But, on surveying the same objects a second time, and recollecting our former acquaintance with them, or their own particular properties, we would not express our sentiments of them in the same language, in which we did at first. Besides referring them to their species, we would now signify the additional ideas of having formerly seen them, and of having been made acquainted with their nature, or distinction; and would therefore employ the following phraseology: the tree, the house, the horse, the man.

Corol. 1. The article a is called indefinite, because it refers the object to its species only, and denotes our conceptions of it no further than the common qualities of the species extend.

2. The article the is called definite, because it discriminates the object to which it is prefixed, from all others, of the same species, and denotes our previous acquaintance with it, or its own particular characteristics.

58. PRONOUNS are the class of words most nearly related to substantive nouns; being, as their name imports, representatives, or substitutes, of nouns.

Illus. I, thou, he, she, it, are pronouns, and they are no other than an abridged way of naming the persons or objects with which we have immediate intercourse, or to which, in discourse, we are frequently obliged to refer.

Corol. They are thence, with substantive nouns, subject to the same modifications of number, gender, and case.

Obs. 1. As the pronouns of the first and second person refer to persons who are present to each other when they speak, their sex must appear, and therefore needs not to be marked by a masculine or feminine pronoun. But as the third person may be absent, or unknown, the distinction of gender there becomes necessary; and accordingly, in English, the third person hath all the three genders belonging to it; he, she, it.

2. In English, most of our grammarians hold the personal pronouns to have two cases, besides the nominative; a possessive or genitive, and an accusative-I, mine, me; thou, thine, thee; he, his, him; who, whose, whom; we, ours, us; ye, yours, you; they, theirs, them.

59. ADJECTIVES, or terms of quality, such as great, little, black, white, are the plainest and simplest of all that class of words which are termed attributive. (Art. 44. Corol.)

Obs. 1. They are found in all languages; and, in all languages, must have been very early invented, as objects could not be distinguished from one another, nor could any intercourse be carried on concerning them, till names were given to their different qualities.

2. Between adjectives and participles there is no difference, except that the latter, along with their primary signification, denote the additional idea of time. Both serve to notify the qualities or attributes, and to define and illustrate the meaning of substantives.

8. All adjectives which denote qualities susceptible of augmentation or diminution, and almost all the qualities which are so, are susceptible of comparison.

4. Though the degrees of augmentation of which a quality is susceptible may be almost infinite, yet the framers of languages have been content with marking two stages only of these degrees.

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5. By the former is signified that of two quantities compared, one is greater than the other; by the latter is understood, that of any larger number of qualities than two compared, one is the greatest among them.

6. The ancient languages express their degrees of comparison chiefly by adding terminations to the adjectives; the modern languages inmore to signify them by auxiliary words.

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60. The VERB is by far the most complex of the whole class of words which are called attributive. The chief characteristic of the verb is action or energy. The combination of ideas which it is thence employed to express, unavoidably renders it the most intricate of all the parts of speech.

Corol. Verbs, therefore, from their importance and necessity in speech, must have been coeval with men's first attempts towards the formation of language. (Art. 54.)

61. Of the various circumstances which must be communicated by the word denoting action, the chief refer to time and manner.

Illus. In relating an action, it is requisite to notify whether it is finished, is finishing, or will be finished. And it is no less important to communicate also the manner in which the action has been performed, is performing, or will be performed. Whether the agent operated with deliberation, confidence and resolution, or with embarrassment, hesitation, and suspicion; whether he commanded the performance of the action, or signified only his inclination that it should be performed.

Corol. Hence arose the necessity that the verb, along with the signification of action, should likewise express time, and that, with the signification of action and time, it should also denote manner. Here, then, we find the origin of moods and tenses.

62. As it was necessary that the circumstances of time and manner should attend the signification of action; the next important step in the formation of language, was, to determine by what means this combined communication should be accomplished.

Illus. One of two methods, it seems, must have been adopted; either to vary the terminations of the verb, or to conjoin with it auxiliary words, so as to convey these additional circumstances. The former of these methods, with a mixture of the latter, in the passive form of their verbs, was employed by the Greeks and Romans. The latter method, with a mixture of the former, in the active form of their verbs, has been adopted by the English, the French, and the Italians.

63. The structure of the verb was rendered still more complicated, because it was found requisite that along with the signification of action, time, and manner, it should also denote person and number, to adapt it for corresponding with the persons and numbers of nouns and pronouns with which it might be connected.

Obs. To combine so many important articles in one word, required a degree of ingenuity, which nothing could supply but the discernment and experience of ages.

64. Experience, doubtless, proved that the division of time into present, past, and future, was not sufficient for the purposes of communication.

Illus. 1. The fleeting nature of present time made any subdivision of it both difficult and unnecessary; hence, all polished languages have, in any mood, one tense only appropriated to express present time.'

2. A similar opinion seems to have guided the construction of languages for expressing future time, which, including a long duration, was divisible into parts; but the total ignorance in which mankind are involved concerning actions that may take place in that period, must have divested them of all disposition to mark differences of future time, or to provide language with tenses for that purpose. Hence, all polished languages, except the Greek, have also been contented with one tense expressive of future time. The paulo post futurum of the Greeks is a specimen of their ingenuity to cultivate and improve their language, rather than as requisite for the communication of knowledge, since by this tense they intended to signify that the action was future, but would not be long so, because the time of its execution would quickly arrive.

3. The past, then, is the time which the framers of all languages have been chiefly anxious to subdivide. Most of the actions which could be the subject of discourse or writing, must have taken place in past time; and to render the accounts of them more conspicuous and intelligible, it must often have been requisite to specify the progress, or stages of their execution. Hence the various divisions of past time, and the different tenses significant of them with which all languages, even the most imperfect, abound. Of polished languages, the least complete, in this respect, have three divisions:

First, a pluperfect tense, by which is signified that the action is finished, and that some time has intervened since it was completed. Secondly, a perfect, which denotes that the action is finished, but that very little, or no time has elapsed since its completion.

Thirdly, an imperfect, which signifies that the action had been going on, but had not been completed. The language of ancient Rome possessed only these tenses significant of past time.

4. But the Greek language, the English, and the French, besides these tenses, employ another, which the Greeks called an aorist, and which denotes only that the action is completed, without distinguishing in what division of past time the completion took place, or whether the execution was pluperfect, perfect, or imperfect.

5. In the usual course of speaking and writing, this state of an action frequently occurs; and, therefore, a tense adapted to express it, is of singular convenience and advantage. When the completion of the action is the only circumstance of consequence to be communica ted, the proper tense to be employed is the aorist. The Latin language hath its ambiguous amavi, but the sense of the context only enables the learner or the reader to discover whether it denotes the aorist planoa, j'aimai, I loved; or the perfect past лeyilŋna, j'aî aimé, I have loved.

65. The use of moods is to denote the manner in which an action is performed, together with the dispositions and feelings entertained by the agent relative to its performance.

Illus. 1. The capital views of an action relative to manner or mood, refer either to its actual performance, or to the power, inclination, or obligation of the agent to perform it; or to the authority or right of the agent to entreat or command the performance; or, finally, to the exhibition of the action, without any consideration of the agent, or of the sentiments that he may entertain concerning the perform

ance.

2. These circumstances comprehend every general view of an action, that human affairs can well be supposed to suggest. For,

First, the agent may either possess power, inclination, or obligation, to perform the action, and actually perform it.

Ör, Secondly, he may possess power, inclination, or obligation, to perform the action, and without being able to put them in execution. Or, Thirdly, he may have a right, or authority, to entreat or command the power or inclination of some other agent to perform the action.

Or, Finally, the situation of the action may require only its bare exhibition, without any regard to the capacity, the duty, or the performance of the agent.

Corol. Hence, from these views, we readily discern the origin of the four moods of verbs commonly employed by polished languages. 1. The indicative denotes the actual performance of the action. 2. The subjunctive expresses the power, inclination, or obligation of the agent to perform the action, but leaves the performance to be decided by circumstances not yet come into existence; on account of which it is called the conditional mood.

3. The imperative exhibits the agent as entreating or commanding the performance of the action.

4. The infinitive represents the action in general, without connexion with any agent, or reference to him, or any powers or dispositions depending upon him.

Illus. 1. I write is an indicative assertion, because it denotes an action in actual performance.

2. I may write is subjunctive, because it denotes disposition or capacity only, and communicates nothing with respect to perform

ance.

3. I have written is indicative, because it denotes performance already past.

4. I might have written is subjunctive, because it communicates part, capacity, inclination, or obligation, but signifies nothing about performance.

5. Write thou is an imperative, because it does not necessarily infer performance, and imports nothing more than that the action of writing should be performed.

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66. Theory of moods. In the present and past tenses, therefore, the indicative denotes performance;-the subjunctive, intention or disposition;-the imperative is susceptible of no time but the present, when it also expresses dis

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