EXERCISE ON INFLECTIONS.

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2. May no rude hand deface it And its forlorn hic jacet !

3. But how can he expect that others should Build for him, sow for him, and at his call

Love him, who for himself will take no heed at all?

4. She was as good as she was fair, None-none on earth above her!

5. To live with them is far less sweet Than to remember thee.

6. Here's a sigh to those who love me, And a smile to those who hate.

7. Yes! where is he, the champion and the child Of all that's great or little, wise or wild;

Whose game was empires, and whose stakes were thrones ?

8. Whom the gods love, die young,' was said of yore. 9. Ave Maria! blessed be the hour,

The time, the clime, the spot where I so oft
Have felt that moment in its fullest power
Sink o'er the earth so beautiful and soft.

10. These affairs must be settled without a moment's delay.

11. I was not born for courts, or great affairs;

I pay my debts, behave, and say my prayers.

12. Of the amends recovered, little or nothing returns to those that had suffered the wrong, but commonly all runs into the prince's coffers.

13. I shall prove these writings not counterfeits, but authentic, and the contents true, and worthy of a divine original.

14. Can we with manners ask what was the difference ?

15.

In his hand

He took the golden compasses, prepared
In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
This universe, and all created things.

16. Animals in their generation are wiser than the sons of men; but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass.

17. For there is music here that softer falls
Than petals from blown roses on the grass;
Or night-dews on still waters between walls
Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass;
Music that gentlier on the spirit lies
Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes.

18. When he is best, he is little more than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.

INFLECTION OF VERBS-CONJUGATION.

1. The commonly enumerated inflections of the Verb are Voice, Mood, Tense, Person, Number.

VOICE.

2. Every Transitive Verb has an Active form, or voice, and a Passive form, or voice :-Columbus discovered America (Active); America was discovered by Columbus (Passive).

The object of the verb in the Active voice becomes the subject in the Passive voice:-the farmer sold the ox; the ox was sold by the farmer. Intransitive verbs have no object, and consequently have no passive voice. The Intransitive verbs- 'walk,' 'run,' 'fall,' are confined to the active form.

The forms-' was discovered,' was sold,' are not, properly speaking, inflections of the verbs 'discover' and 'sell.' To make the inflection, another verb-' was,' is called in. Hence 'was' is called an auxiliary or helping verb. Other inflections of the verb are helped out by similar 'auxiliaries.' The verb 'to be' is the auxiliary of the passive inflection.

EXPLANATION OF THE MOODS.

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MOOD.

3. The Moods are the Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative, and Infinitive. Under the same head we may include the Participle and the Gerund.

'Mood' is the manner or mode of the action.

The verb is said to be in the Subjunctive Mood when the action is affirmed or subjoined as a condition:-I will go to the meeting, if I be in town; I will tell him, if I see him.

The verb is said to be in the Indicative Mood when the action is simply stated, or indicated:-I am here; I shall be in town to-morrow; I saw him and told him.

A verb in the Imperative Mood expresses command, direction, entreaty:-go and tell him that I am here; keep your powder dry; spare my friend.

This is the mood usually named Imperative. Command' is expressed in other ways:-Thou shalt not steal; You must not do it.

A verb in the Infinitive Mood neither affirms nor commands, but merely names an action in the manner of a noun :—to walk is better than to run, for 'the act of walking,' and 'the act of running.'

To walk' is the form usually given as the Infinitive; but the form 'walking' often fulfils the same function :-walking is better than running. This form is called the 'infinitive in ing' it differs from the participle of the same form in being, like a noun, the subject or the object of a sentence.

These two infinitive forms-to walk, walking, to command, commanding-have thus something in common with the noun, and something in common with the verb.

They agree with the noun and differ from the other parts of the verb as follows:-They may be (1) the subject or the object of a sentence; (2) the form in 'ing' may be qualified by an adjective, especially a possessive adjective:— your walking is as fast as my running.

They differ from the noun and agree with other parts of the verb in taking an object (when transitive); to command (commanding) an army is a very high trust.

There are two Participles :-the imperfect or incomplete participle, expressing an action going on-passing, drawing, destroying; and the perfect or complete, expressing an action completed-past, drawn, destroyed.

In transitive verbs, the imperfect participle is activedragging, pushing, arresting; while the perfect participle is passive-dragged, pushed, arrested. In intransitive verbs the only difference of meaning is that of incomplete and complete-going, gone.

There is also a verbal noun in 'ing:'-there came a moaning on the wind; the sighing of the tempest. It has all the distinguishing marks of the noun, and differs from the infinitive of the same form (1) in taking the indefinite article before it, and (2) in not taking an object after it.

Farther, there is a participial adjective in 'ing:'-a startling cry; a striking appearance. This has all the distinguishing marks of the adjective, and differs from the participle (1) in not taking an object after it, and (2) in not expressing any particular time.

There are thus four different parts of speech having the same form-Infinitive, Participle, Noun, and Adjective, all ending in 'ing.' The Infinitive and the Participle differ in being used the one as a noun, the other as an adjective: at the same time, they differ from both noun and adjective,

and agree with each other in taking an object after them, as well as in less obvious particulars. What chiefly distinguishes the participle from all the other forms is its expressing time.

The perfect participle also is used as an adjective:—' a stiffled cry,' 'a muffled drum.' Some negative adjectives have the form of the perfect participle-' unopposed,' 'disinterested;' but there are no verbs unoppose,' 'disinterest,' and these must be parsed as simple adjectives of quality.

The Gerund is the infinitive form used with the sense of purpose or intention :-I went to meet him; prepared to go; difficult to get at; scissors to grind; made for selling; armed for fighting.

Exercise 16.

Infinitive, Participle, Adjective, Verbal Noun, and
Gerund.

1. It is a miserable thing to live in suspense.

2. Talking overmuch is a sign of vanity.

3. It is a task indeed to learn to hear.

4. A sudden trembling seized on all bis limbs.

5. Pushing rapidly on, we found our worst anticipations realized.

6. A piercing cry rang through the startled air.

7. Why let the stricken deer go weep

8.

The hart ungalled play.

We live on

Loathing our life, and dreading still to die.

9. Doing good, disinterested good, is not our trade.