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posed to polytheism or atheism.' It may be asked, then, Is theism capable of nothing else, except being opposed to polytheism or atheism? This is what the words literally mean, through the improper collocation of only. He ought to have said, Theism can be opposed only to polytheism or atheism.' Inaccuracies of this kind occasion little ambiguity in common discourse, because the tone and emphasis used by the speaker, generally make the meaning perspicuous. But in writing, where a person speaks to the eye, he ought to be more accurate, and so to connect adverbs with the words which they qualify, that his meaning cannot be mistaken on the first inspection.

So much for Dr. Blair. But, let me ask, how these grammarians, these "admirable grammarians," who reject the whole class of adverbs as a distinct part of speech, will guide and direct us in correcting the arrangement of the various parts of a sentence. They cannot give us a syntax, because they have no variety of classification; and if all the words of a sentence are nouns or verbs, it would appear, at first view, a matter of little import in what order they may be arranged, provided that the nominative case be "commonly placed before the verb." Thus it is, that one art or science shows its connexion with another, and rhetoric repays the obligations it is under to its sister science, by demonstrating the importance of the rules of grammar.

Again, it is well known to the oriental student, that the alphabet of the Hebrew,* as well as the other kindred languages, is, in fact, a list of names, and that the original form of the letters bore a resemblance to the objects which they were used to express. The letters Aleph, Beth, Gimel, &c., which, in the language of the country, denoted an ox, a horse, a camel, were at first rude pictures, or likenesses of a dwelling, and the two animals just mentioned, proceeding on the very familiar system, not yet wholly out of vogue in books for children, where an ass, a bull, and a cat are associated with the first three letters of the Roman alphabet. The process of abbreviation, which is rapidly applied by an improving people to all the technical properties of language, soon substituted an arbitrary sign for the complete portrait, and restricted the use

* See Russell's " View of Ancient and Modern Egypt." Harpers' edition, page 132.

of the alphabetical symbol to the representation of an elemen→ tary sound. Now, let me ask, why do not these grammatical refiners, or speculators, call them which you will, abjure the use of these arbitrary signs, and return through all the intricacies of the ancient epistolographic, or demotic,* the hieratic, and the hieroglyphic forms, to the simpler, if more difficult form of original picture writing. They will, in both cases, have the advantage of antiquity, if not of ease on their side. Nay, more; why will they not reject their own classification, because it is of "secondary formation," and return to the original, concise, and expressive forms of mere interjectional sounds. The same philosophy that would refine upon the component parts of language, should refer it all to its undoubted original; and the troublesome task of learning a language would be entirely superseded by proving, that, properly speaking, there is no such thing as language at all.

To be serious, it must be conceded, that, although all language, in its origin, must have been simple, and composed of but a few classes of words, in its progress toward perfection in the expressing of the various shades of meaning, the relations and circumstances of things, new classes of words must be formed, and new names given to those classes; for, in philosophical accuracy, there is no more reason for giving a name to the doer of an action, or for the action itself, than there is for calling by some name the manner in which the action itself is performed.

It does not belong to the lecturer, on this occasion, to call up in review the merits of that full array of authors, who have presented to the world their various and conflicting views of English Grammar. The task would be laborious, and would, moreover, appear invidious, especially as the lecturer himself stands in this relation. It will not, however, be deemed impertinent for me to say, that there is a great diversity in the scale of merit, and great choice among the treatises on the subject. In selecting a text-book on grammar, as well as on every other subject, the teacher should keep constantly in view the object of the science, namely, "to teach the art of speaking and writing the language correctly, or with propriety." Every treatise, therefore, should be rejected in which the

* For an account of these several modes of representing language, see the work to which reference has just been made, p. 133.

author has lost sight of this object. How fanciful soever may be his suggestions-how plausible soever his deductions how ingenious soever his speculations no matter what array of learning he has displayed in his etymologies of clearness in his definitions of skill in his arrangements of simplicity in his classifications if his work affords no rules for the correction of errors, no guide to the correct writing and speaking of the language, it should be set aside, as a useless appendage of the school-room-an ignis fatuus flitting in a dark path, deceiving the benighted traveller on an unknown road.

It is too often the case, that, in common schools, the analysis of sentences, or, as it is technically called, parsing, constitutes the only part of the study of grammar to which the attention of the pupil is directed. Now, this is mistaking the means for the end. As an intellectual exercise, the acquisition of skill in parsing is well worth the time and pains that it requires. But it should be borne in mind, that this analytical part of the subject is designed as a preparation only for the more important part, the synthesis of a sentence. What should we think of the navigator, who, professing to impart the knowledge of that sublime art which "forces a path upon the waste, and finds a way where all is trackless," should employ all the time of his pupil in acquiring skill in boxing the compass? And yet, parsing is to the science of grammar what boxing the compass is to the science of navigation. It is a means only of arriving at the proper import of a sentence through the intricacies of case, and mode, and the various relations in which words stand to one another; and he who would teach his pupils the science of grammar, simply by teaching them to analyze a sentence, or teaching them to parse, is like the intrepid navigator, who would teach the science, the foundation of his art, by boxing the compass; the mechanic, who would instruct others only by taking his work apart; or the agriculturist, who would convey a knowledge of the nature and character of the soil, by showing that the plant takes root downward and bears fruit upward.

It must be acknowledged, that a knowledge of analysis is indispensable to the knowledge of synthesis - that an acquaintance with parsing is necessary to the correction of errors in syntax, but this exercise must be rendered subservient to the higher objects of grammar, not a substitute for them. Thus, when a pupil is taught to parse the articles in such expressions

as the following: "A humble situation, a historical account, such an one," &c., he should also be taught that the article a is not to be used before a silent h, or an h not silent, when the accent is on the second syllable; and that as the o in the word one has the sound of w prefixed in the pronunciation of the word, and the w beginning a word is to be considered as a consonant, the expression "such an one," is incorrect, and should be "such a one." He thus learns that the expressions just considered are incorrect, and should be "an humble situation, an historical account, such a one," &c.; and thus it is that he is first brought to see that grammar teaches how to speak properly, and to write correctly.

With this view of the importance of parsing, in teaching the science of grammar, I deem it proper, on this occasion, to state the method which I recommend for adoption, by those who would proceed rationally and systematically in communicating a knowledge of the analysis of the English language. It is customary for teachers, in general, to begin with the nominative and its verb; and, after the pupil has acquired some conversance with these two elements, or principal parts of a sentence, to take up the objective case, the adjective, the pronoun, adverb, conjunction, &c. Now, if I were to enter a room filled to repletion with both light and cumbrous articles, with the intention of removing its contents and clearing it up, the course I should adopt would be to remove, first, the lighter articles, which would impede the easy movement of those which are cumbrous, and of course difficult to be moved. So also in teaching a pupil to parse, I should begin with the small words, the syntax of which is neither complicated nor difficult. Two advantages are thus acquired; for, in the first place, the pupil is encouraged in the onset by seeing that he makes progress; and, secondly, by removing the light articles in his crowded room, or, in other words, by disposing of the less important words, he will be less perplexed by the rest. cordingly, I begin with the articles, and having taught the pupil the easy syntax of these little words, I proceed, in the next place, to the prepositions, with their objective case. The list of prepositions, or words generally used as prepositions, is committed to memory, and the pupil is taught that these words have an object, or objective case, which, technically speaking, they are said to govern. The readiness with which even a very young child can be taught to parse such words, even in

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the most complicated sentences, will surprise those who have never attempted to teach the analysis of sentences by beginning in this way. It will, of course, be understood that the nature of a noun, with its persons, numbers, and genders, is to be previously explained, so that the pupil will readily recognise it at sight. "This will easily be done by giving him to understand, that "all words which signify anything that we can see, hear, feel, smell, taste, or talk about, are nouns. This definition includes every kind of noun, whether abstract or substantive.

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Having taught the pupil how to parse the preposition and its objective case, the next step is the application of what he has learnt in the correction of errors. This is done by making him acquainted with the cases of the pronoun, and giving him such expressions as the following to correct: "He gave the book to 1;"" I took it from she," &c. &c. Such exercises enable the pupil to proceed understandingly; and these familiar examples and application of his rules, cause him to see, that "Grammar is," as he has been taught, "the art of speaking properly and writing correctly."

I will here observe, that it is desirable that every principle should, if possible, be applied as soon as it is learnt and understood. In the Grammar published a few years ago by your lecturer, in connexion with another teacher, called "Progressive Exercises in English Grammar," the analysis and synthesis of the language form the subject of two separate volumes. They were printed in this form for the convenience of those teachers who prefer teaching the subjects separately; but the two parts are also bound together for the convenience of those who prefer the course which I have recommended. I deem it indispensable for a clear understanding of the subject, that precept, example, and application of principle, should go hand in hand; and although, perhaps, the progress of the pupil may at first be slow, yet, in a given time, more will be learnt, understood, and practised, than by any other mode.

Having learnt, and having been thoroughly exercised on, the article, the preposition, and its objective case, the next principle, in the order of simplicity, is the possessive case, which is always governed by the next noun that follows it, expressed or understood." The rules relating to this case are all simple, practical, and almost tangible. Indeed, they are among the few things in the science, which address themselves

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