LESSON XXVI. NOUNS OF TIME, DISTANCE, AND MEASURE. He lived twenty years. He was contined thirty days. They were imprisoned twenty seven years. The earth is 25,000 miles in circumference. Congress coatinued in session six months. Cook was three years in performing his first voyage. He resides twenty miles from Boston. The city is thirty miles distant. The wall was twenty feet in thickness. They were two hundred miles from Ohio. The last summer I visited New-Haven. St. Helena is 300 leagues from the African coast. He lived twenty years. He and lived depend on the fifth and sixth rules. Twenty is a numeral adjective agreeing with, years. Rule 3. Years is a common noun, of the third person, plural number, neuter gender, in the objective case without a preposition to govern it. RULE 26. Nouns signifying time, distance, and measure, may be put in the objective case without a preposi tion. LESSON XXVII. THE COMPARISON OF QUALITIES. They loved him more than me : i. e. more han they loved me. Thou art wiser than I: that is, than I am. The sentiment is better expressed by Addion than him; i. e. than by him. He reads better than I: i. e than I read. She suffers more than I: i. e. than I suffer. They loved him more than me. Me is a personal pronoun, of the first person, singular number, in the objective case, and governed by loved, understood. RULE 27. When the qualities of different things are compared, the latter noun or pronoun is not governed by the conjunction than or as, but agrees with the verb, or is governed by the verb, or the preposition expressed or understood. In the following sentences, there is an exception to the general rule. Alfred, than whom, a greater king never reigned. Beelzebub, than whom, Satan excepted, none higher sat. Here the conjunction than has certainly the force of a preposition, and supplies its place by governing the relative. The best modern writers, says Mr. Murray, avoid this mode of expression. But his assertions are not true as it respects all distinguished modern writers. Addison, Milton, Hume, and Jefferson, have made use of it. Blair and Priestly govern the relative which, in the same manner. Having explained the most important parts of parsing, I shall close the lessons with a few remarks. When the scholar has carefully studied them, and before any other book is substituted, it will be necessary for him to review them. This he should con"tinue to do, until master of all the sentences and questions. No unreasonable anxiety for new books should be allowed; for here the young grammarian will find a sufficient field in which he can extend his researches and acquirements. Diligence is a principal requisite to form accurate grammarians. Without this, no person can excel in any branch of education, but with it, and a careful attention to the preceding rules, all difficulties relating to Syntax, will, in a short time vanish. PART IV. OF PROSODY. PROSODY consists of two parts: the former teaches the true PRONUNCI ATION of words, comprising ACCENT EMPHASIS, PAUSE, and TONE; the latter, the laws of VERSIFI QUANTITY, CATION.. OF PRONUNCIATION. Section 1.-Of Accent. ACCENT is the laying of a peculiar stress of the voice, on a certain letter or syllable in a word, that it may be better heard than the rest, or distinguished from them: as, in the word presume, the stress of the voice must be on the letter u, and second syllable sume, which take the accent. Section 2.-Of Quantity. THE QUANTITY of a syllable is that time which it occupies in pronouncing it. It is considered LONG OF SHORT. A vowel or syllable is long, when the accent is on the vowel; which oc casions it to be slowly joined in pronunciation with the following letter; as, Fall, tale, mōōd, hōuse, feature. A syllable is short, when the accent is on the consonant; which occasions the vowel to be quickly joined to the succeeding letter; as, ănt, bŏnnět, hũnger. |