specific objectivity, and each specific quality of objectivities, and our Words have become the symbols of separate and abstract ideas, we are able so to conjoin these abstractionsignificant terms together, that each word shall lose its individual signification in the formation and conveyance of some idea of greater specialization; for "words do not communicate thought by their separate power and effect only, but infinitely more so by their connexion." Indeed, individual words are to our thoughts what letters are to words-mere elements-whose proper power and efficacy are only fully evidenced when employed connectedly. Thus the term knowledge, is the name-sign of one separate abstract idea; the word power, a symbolism for another special notion; the thoughtsign is also possesses its own specific signification; but when all these three are colligated and conjoined, the special individual signification of each is partly lost to the view of the mind, and is merged in the more specific idea which is sought to be unfolded by the junction of the three terms, thus-"knowledge is power." That part of speech which thus re-synthethises ideas by the appropriate colligation of their symbols, and thus expresses the simple act of judgment, is denominated the Verb, and may be defined as that thought-sign whose principal use is to express the affirmations of the intellectual faculties—that word which denotes the energy of the mind, which connects two or more conceptions by an assertive or affirmational process. We have said "whose principal use is to express the affirmations of the intellectual faculties," because, that from the difficulty which the mentality experiences in reducing the concrete and synthetic notions which appear upon the stage of the mind, it has seldom succeeded in wholly disengaging and disjoining really separate and distinct ideas from each other, from which eircumstance it happens that the verb, although in reality it derives its very birth from the assertive power, i. e., the judgment, is very frequently employed to co-express other and clearly different ideas, viz.:

= I am a thinking being.

1st. An attribute or quality, as, I think 2nd. A connexion between that quality and the objectivity to which it belongs, as, I think I and thinking are conjunct, or thinking is a property belonging to me. 3rd. An assertion, either directly or indirectly, of the connexion which the judgment perceives.

There are besides several minor accidental properties, such as are technically denominated voice, mood, tense, number, person, &c., generally incorporated with the verb, but exertion is undoubtedly the generic connotation of the verb-that by which it is essentially distinguished from every other part of speech. The Verb is distinctly that term by which several special words are conjoined into one logical expression or compound Word, and hence its name.

The three preceding classes of verbalisms may be regarded as the most necessary signs requisite for thought-expression. But the activity of the mind permits it no rest, and it goes on refining," feeling new wants and supplying them, making a luxury even of Language, by exerting its aesthetic powers to render language musical, harmonious, and mellifluent. Man begins to feel fatigued with repetition-sameness jars harshly on his ear; it observes that nouns, while they enable him to express his thoughts regarding objectivities,

*See "Art of Reasoning," vol. i. p. 142, First Edition.

do not possess the capacity of indicating the presence or absence of the object, and that their use frequently leads to periphrastic tediousness; hence his inventive powers are called into action to supply a sign which might fulfil the following pre-requisites, viz.:

1st. Be a substitute, or that which stands for a noun. 2nd. Denote the presence or absence of the objectivity. 3rd. Indicate the gender of the objectivity.

4th. Distinguish the person of the objectivity.

All these ideas he has endeavoured to amalgamate in that class of words called Pronouns, or those words which stand as the representatives or substitutes of nouns.

As both adjectives and verbs are expressive of attributes or qualities, and as those qualities generally admit of modification, it is necessary to have a class of words adapted to express such modifications. The circumstances of an action, the place in which it occurred, the manner in which it was performed, the time at which it was begun or ended, the mutations and varieties of the qualities of objects, cannot be denoted with sufficient minuteness and accuracy by any modal change which it is possible to incorporate with any of the afore-mentioned classes of words; yet the circumstances of society, the happiness of man, the ultimate results of the most important negotiations of men and nations, or the most serious investigations of philosophers, frequently depend upon the accuracy or inaccuracy of the information conveyed regarding time, place, manner, circumstance, or modification of quality. The words which express these modifications are technically denominated Adverbs.

One important purpose of speech is to communicate information regarding the relations which the objectivities which surround us bear to each other. These relations are various, e. g., instrumentality, causation, space, motion, time, accidental connexion and separation, procession, &c. Objectivities, as they are viewed in different lights, or for different purposes, occupy to the minds thus engaged in observation, certain relations in reference to each other, and these peculiar relationships depend upon the particular view taken of objectivities by the perceptive agency. The earlier notices of relation would be confined to sensible objects; but when men began to look, with the eye of consciousness, within, they would observe many analogies between the external world and the universe of mind, and would hence apply those terms metaphorically to the mind which they had previously employed only in the expression of relations perceptible in the sense-impressing world. All such words as express the relation which objectivities bear to each other are called Prepositions.

When, however, we have attained a clear conception of the relations of objects, we cannot long continue insensible to the fact that sentences, or thoughts, also have their relations, e. g.:~

1st. Simple or accidental connexion, as, and, both, &c.

2nd. Connexion of cause and effect, as, therefore, wherefore, that, hence, &c.

3rd. Connexion of effect and cause, as, because, for, since, &c.

4th. Simple or accidental contrariety, as, but, either, or, neither, nor, &c.

5th. Coincidence, or co-existence, as, although, likewise, also, as, so, though, yet, &c. 6th. Essential contrariety, as, unless, else, neither, nor, &c.

7th. Contingency, as, if, lest, &c.

It is of the utmost importance in discourse to be capable of conjoining the sentences in which our thoughts are expressed, in such a manner as shall exhibit the proper and mutual relations which these thoughts bear to each other; and hence the necessity of a class of symbols indicative of the connexion of thought with thought. This office is fulfilled by the Conjunction.

Man cannot become wholly an artificial being; remnants of his natural, or at least of his less cultivated, state still cling to him; and, under the influence of his passions and emotions, when his nature is excited to such a degree as to hold the intellect for a moment in abeyance, the natural ejaculations of pain, pleasure, surprise, &c., rise upon his lips. Such emotional or passionate signs hold no place in intellectual forms, and are, properly speaking, incognoscible by grammar or logic, although among the minor elements of Rhetoric they doubtlessly hold a place-1st, as the signs of being moved by certain feelings; 2nd, as conveying a sudden judgment in a brief, expressive, and emphatic manner; 3rd, to give a command, communicate a desire, or crave a benefit, in such a way as shall indicate the conjoint operation of the intellect and the emotions. They are, in general, however, merely thrust into sentences by the force of feeling, and do not modify, in any degree, the flow of the intellect in the expression of our ideas. Such sounds, therefore, as are significant of passion, and symptomatic of emotion, and hold no syntactical connexion with the other thought-symbols in a sentence, are denominated Interjections.

The following formula will, we hope, give a clear and comprehensive view of " the parts of speech," and be serviceable to our readers as a "reference table" and a Mnemonic guide.

We subjoin an extract from Coleridge's Hymn in the Valley of Chamouni, in which the parts of speech are indicated by figures, in the following order-Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection:—

"A" or "An," and "The," are usually denominated Articles, although, in our opinion, "A" or "An "is a numeral adjective, and "The " a demonstrative adjective pronoun.

Keligion.

CAN CHRISTIANS, CONSISTENTLY WITH THEIR PRINCIPLES, RENDER SUPPORT TO THE BRITISH STAGE?

AFFIRMATIVE ARTICLE.-I.

"Pictured morals charm the mind, And through the eye correct the heart." In our path through life, what a strange contrariety of opinions spread themselves out before us! What conflicts of ideas and sentiments prevail around us! And how often are we called upon to select from the

maze thus created, the path most likely to lead us to right and sound conclusions ! But comes there no good of this? We think we may answer in the affirmative. By the wholesome exercise of the reasoning powers thus occasioned, we become better prepared for the great conflict of life. More