sexes still more are we to guard against those intemperate indulgences of pleasure to which the young are unhappily prone.*

III.-USE OF WORDS.

WORDS are divided, according to their use in expressing ideas, into nine classes; namely:

I. Articles, or words which limit the signification
of other words.

II. Nouns, or names of persons, places, and things.
III. Adjectives, or words which qualify nouns.
IV. Pronouns, or words used in place of nouns.
V. Verbs, or words which affirm.

VI. Adverbs, or words which qualify verbs, adjec-
tives, or other adverbs.

VII. Prepositions, or words which show the relation of one thing to another.

VIII. Conjunctions, or words which connect words and sentences.

IX. Interjections, or words which express sudden emotion.

The following are the changes of termination or form, which words undergo in expressing ideas:

I. The Indefinite Article is written a, before words beginning with the sound of a consonant; an before words beginning with the sound of a vowel; as, A book, a youth; an army, an hour.

II. Nouns change their termination to express Number; as, Book, books; box, boxes; hero, heroes; city, cities; knife, knives; ox, oxen; cherub, cherubim; mouse, mice.

Nouns change their form to express Gender; as,

* Punctuation may be also taught by making the Pupils write and point passages from dictation.

Abbot, abbess; father, mother; man-servant, maid

servant.

Nouns change their termination to express Case; as, Parent, parent's.

III. Adjectives change their form to express Comparison; as, Safe, safer, safest; great, greater, greatest ; useful, more useful, most useful; good, better, best.

IV. Personal Pronouns change their form to express Number and Case; as, He, his, him; they, theirs, them.

Possessive Pronouns change their form to express Number; as, My, our.

The Relative Pronoun who changes the termination to express Case; as, Who, whose, whom.

The Demonstrative Pronouns change their form to express Number; as, This, these; that, those.

V. Verbs change their termination to express Number; as, He writes, they write.

Verbs change their termination in the singular number, to express Person; as, I write, thou writest, he writes.

Verbs change their form to express Time and Mood; as, Write, wrote, writing, written.

VI. Adverbs change their form to express Comparison; as, Soon, sooner, soonest; nobly, more nobly, most nobly; well, better, best.

SECTION I.

ELLIPTICAL SENTENCES.

Supply the words omitted in the following examples:

VII. They travelled

wishes, and

no greater felicity, than to be able to look

employed. France

Italy.

our

virtue vice the progress is gradual. We are often our desert. this imprudence he was plunged new difficulties. The best preparation all the uncertainties futurity, consists a good conscience, and a cheerful submis

sion the will Heaven.

VIII. My father mother are in town,

my brother is

in the country. We must be temperate, we would be healthy. he is often advised, he does not reform. adversity has improved him. Her talents are more bril

perity

pros

There is nothing on earth stable to assure powerful to afford us constant pro

us of undisturbed rest,

tection.

me! what shall

! I have been too

IX. Virtue! how amiable thou art!
I do! Thou who reignest above!
often occupied with trifles. ! the delusions of hope.
Simplicity! source of genuine joy.

! how the tempest rages!

! how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Write out the following passages, changing, when the sense will permit, the articles; the number, gender, and case of the nouns and pronouns; the degree of comparison of the adjectives and adverbs; and the number, person, mood, and tense of the verbs :

EXAMPLE.

Seldom do we talk of ourselves with success. myself, more is believed than is expressed. much less.

If I condemn If I praise myself,

If I condemn my

Seldom do I talk of myself with success. self, more is believed than I express. If I praise myself, much

less.

You will seldom talk of yourself with success. yourself, more is believed than you expressed. yourself, much less.

If you condemn

If you praise