Before we close the account of the verbs, it may afford instruction to the learners, to be informed, more particularly than they have been, that different nations have made use of different contrivances for marking the tenses and moods of their verbs. The Greeks and Latins distinguish them, as well as the cases of their nouns, adjectives, and participles, by varying the termination, or otherwise changing the form of the word; retaining, however, those radical letters, which prove the inflection to be of the same kindred with its root. The modern tongues, particularly the English, abound in auxiliary words, which vary the meaning of the noun, or the verb, without requiring any considerable varieties of inflection. Thus, I do love, I did love, I have loved, I had loved, I shall love, have the same import with amo, amabam, amavi, amaveram, amabo. It is obvious, that a language, like the Greek and Latin, which can thus comprehend in one word the meaning of two or three words, must have some advantages over those which are not so comprehensive. Perhaps, indeed, it may not be more perspicuous; but, in the arrangement of words, and consequently in harmony and energy, as well as in conciseness, it may be much more elegant.

CHAPTER VII.

Of Adverbs.

AN Adverb is a part of speech joined to a verb, an adjective, and sometimes to another adverb, to express some quality or circumstance respecting it: as, " He reads well;" "A truly good man;" "He writes very correctly."

Some adverbs are compared, thus Soon, sooner, soonest ;" ;" "often, oftener, oftenest." Those ending in ly, are compared by more and most : as, " Wisely, more wisely, most wisely."

Adverbs seem originally to have been contrived to express compendiously in one word, what must otherwise have required two or more: as, "He acted wisely," for, he acted with wisdom; "prudently," for with prudence; "He did it here," for, he did it in this place; "exceedingly," for, to a great degree;" often and seldom," for many, and for few times; very," for, in an eminent degree, &c.

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There are many words in the English language that are sometimes used as adjectives, and sometimes as adverbs : as, "More men than women were there" or, "I am more diligent than he." In the former sentence more is evidently an adjective, and in the latter, an adverb. There are others that are sometimes used as substantives, and sometimes as ad

verbs: as, To-day's lesson is longer than yesterday's;" here to-day and yesterday are substantives, because they are words that make sense of themselves, and admit besides of a genitive case: but in the phrase," He came home yesterday, and sets out again to-day," they are adverbs of time; because they answer to the question when. The adverb much is used as all three : as, "Where much is given, much is required;" "Much money has been expended;" "It is much better to go than to stay." In the first of these sentences, much is a substantive; in the second, it is an adjective; and in the third, an adverb. In short, nothing but the sense can determine what they are.

Adverbs, though very numerous, may be reduced to certain classes, the chief of which are those of Number, Order, Place, Time, Quantity, Manner or Quality, Doubt, Affirmation, Negation, Interrogation, and Comparison.

1. Of number: as, "Once, twice, thrice," &c.

2. Of order: as, "First, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, fifthly, lastly, finally," &c.

3. Of place: as, "Here, there, where, elsewhere, anywhere, somewhere, nowhere, herein, whither, hither, thither, upward, downward, forward, backward, whence, hence, thence, whithersoever," &c.

4. Of time.

Of time present: as, "Now, to-day," &c.

Oftime past: as, " Already, before, lately, yesterday, tofore, hitherto, long since, long ago," &c.

here

Of time to come: as, "To-morrow, not yet, hereafter, henceforth, henceforward, by and by, instantly, presently, immediately, straightways," &c.

:

Of time indefinite as, "Oft, often, oft-times, often-times, sometimes, soon, seldom, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, always, when, then, ever, never, again," &c.

5. Of quantity: as "Much, little, sufficiently, how much, how great, enough, abundantly," &c.

6. Of manner or quality: as, "Wisely, foolishly, justly, unjustly, quickly, slowly," &c. Adverbs of quality are the most numerous kind; and they are generally formed by adding the termination ly to an adjective or participle, or changing le into ly: as, "Bad, badly; cheerful, cheerfully; able, ably; admirable, admirably."

7. Of doubt: as, "Perhaps, peradventure, possibly, perchance."

8. Of affirmation: as, " Verily, truly, undoubtedly, doubtless, certainly, yea, yes, surely, indeed, really," &c.

9. Of negation: as, "Nay, no, not, by no means, not at all, in no wise," &c.

10. Of interrogation: as, "How, why, wherefore, whether," &c.

11. Of comparison: as, "More, most, better, best, worse, worst, less, least, very, almost, little, alike," &c.

Besides the adverbs already mentioned, there are many which are formed by a combination of several of the prepositions with the adverbs of place here, there, and where: as, "Hereof, thereof, whereof; hereto, thereto, whereto; hereby, thereby, whereby; herewith, therewith, wherewith; herein, therein, wherein; therefore, (i. e. there for,) wherefore, (i. e. where for,) hereupon or hereon, thereupon or thereon, whereupon or whereon, &c. Except therefore, these are sel dom used.

In some instances the preposition suffers no change, but becomes an adverb merely by its application: as when we say, "he rides about;" "he was near falling;" "but do not after lay the blame on me.'

There are also some adverbs, which are composed of nouns, and the letter a used instead of at, on, &c.: as, "Aside, athirst, afoot, ahead, asleep, aboard, ashore, abed, aground, afloat," &c.

The words when and where, and all others of the same nature, such as, whence, whither, whenever, wherever, &c. may be properly called adverbial conjunctions, because they participate the nature both of adverbs and conjunctions of conjunctions, as they conjoin sentences; of adverbs, as they denote the attributes either of time or of place.

It may be particularly observed with respect to the word therefore, that it is an adverb, when, without joining sentences, it only gives the sense of, for that reason. When it gives that sense, and also connects, it is a conjunction: as, "He is good, therefore he is happy." The same observation may be extended to the words consequently, accordingly, and the like. When these are subjoined to and, or joined to if, since, &c. they are adverbs, the connexion being made without their help: when they appear single, and unsupported by any other connective, they may be called conjunctions.

The inquisitive scholar may naturally ask, what necessity there is for adverbs of time, when verbs are provided with tenses, to show that circumstance. The answer is, though tenses may be sufficient to denote the greater distinctions of time, yet, to denote them all by the tenses would be a perplexity without end .What a variety of forms must be given to the verb, to denote yesterday, to-day, to-morrow, formerly,

Tarely, just now, now, immediately, presently, soon, hereafter, &c. It was this consideration that made the adverbs of time necessary, over and above the tenses.

CHAPTER VIII.

Of Prepositions.

PREPOSITIONS serve to connect words with one another, and to show the relation between them. They are, for the most part, put before nouns and pronouns, as, 66 He went from London to York;"" She is above disguise ;" "They are instructed by him."

Of

to

The following is a list of the principal prepositions:

from

before

about

beyond

behind

against

for by with in

under through Verbs are often compounded of a verb and a preposition: as, to uphold, to invest, to overlook: and this composition sometimes gives a new sense to the verb; as, to understand, to withdraw, to forgive. But in English, the preposition is more frequently placed after the verb, and separately from it, like an adverb, in which situation it is not less apt to affect the sense of it, and to give it a new meaning; and may still be considered as belonging to the verb, and as a part of it. As, to cast, is to throw; but to cast up, or to compute, an account, is quite a different thing: thus, to fall on, to bear out, to give over, &c. So that the meaning of the verb, and the propriety of the phrase, depend on the preposition subjoined.

In the composition of many words, there are certain syllables employed, which Grammarians have called inseparable prepositions: as, be, con, mis, &c. in bedeck, conjoin, mistake, but as they are not words of any kind, they cannot properly be called a species of preposition,

One great use of prepositions, in English, is, to express those relations, which, in some languages, are chiefly marked by cases, or the different endings of nouns. See page 38. The necessity and use of them will appear from the following examples. If we say, "he writes a pen," "they ran the river,' ," "the tower fell the Greeks," "Lambeth is Westminster-abbey," there is observable, in each of these expressions, either a total want of connexion, or such a connexion as produces falsehood or nonsense: and it is evident, that, before they can be turned into sense, the vacancy must be filled

up by some connecting word: as thus, "He writes with a pen;" they ran towards the river;" "the tower fell upon the Greeks" "Lambeth is over against Westminster-abbey." We see by these instances, how prepositions may be necessary to connect those words, which in their signification are not naturally connected.

Prepositions, in their original and literal acceptation, seem to have denoted relations of place; but they are now used figuratively to express other relations. For example, as they who are above have in several respects the advantage of such as are below, prepositions expressing high and low places are used for superiority and inferiority in general: as, "He is above disguise;" "we serve under a good master;" "he rules over a willing people ;" "we should do nothing beneath our character."

܂

The importance of the prepositions will be further perceived by the explanation of a few of them.

Of denotes possession or belonging, an effect or consequence, and other relations connected with these: as, "The house of my friend;" that is, "the house belonging to my friend;" "He died of a fever ;" that is, "in consequence of

a fever."

To, or unto, is opposed to from; as, "He rode from Salisbury to Winchester.'

For indicates the cause or motive of any action or circum stance, &c. as, "He loves her for (that is, on account of) her amiable qualities.”

By is generally used with reference to the cause, agent, means, &c.; as, "He was killed by a fall:" that is, "a fall was the cause of his being killed;""This house was built by him;" that is, "he was the builder of it."

With denotes the act of accompanying, uniting, &c.: as, "We will go with you;" " "They are on good terms with each other."- -With also alludes to the instrument or means; as, "He was cut with a knife."

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In relates to time, place, the state or manner of being or acting, &c. as, "He was born in (that is, during) the year 1720" "He dwells in the city" She lives in affluence." Into is used after verbs that imply motion of any kind: as, "He retired into the country;" Copper is converted into brass."

Within, relates to something comprehended in any place or time: as, "They are within the house;" "He began and finished his work within the limited time."

The signification of without is opposite to that of within ;