strange to say, that the same absurdities are rendered still more objectionable by the universal use of these words in the acting case, which, as is the opinion of Dr. Gilchrist, are as revolting as usselves, theeself, and meself. Theirselves, until lately, was used in place of themselves.

ARTICLES.

95. Articles, we are told, are words placed before names, to point them out, and to shew the extent of their meaning. I shall quote Mr. Lennie's observations on the subject:

"There are two articles, a or an and the. A is used before a consonant.-An is used before a vowel, or silent h; as, an age, an hour. A is used before the long sound of u and before w and y; as, A unit, a euphony, a ewe, a week, a year, such a one.-An is used before words beginning with h sounded, when the accent is on the second syllable; as, an heroic action; an historical account. A is called the indefinite article, because it does not point out a particular person, or thing; as, A king; that is, any king. The is called the definite article, because it refers to a particular person, or thing; as, The king; that is, the king of our own country. A noun without an article to limit it, is taken in its widest sense; as, Man is mortal; namely, all mankind. A is used before nouns in the singular number only. It is used before the plural in nouns preceded by such phrases, as, A few, a great many: as, a few books; a great many apples. The is used before nouns in both numbers; and sometimes before adverbs in the comparative and superlative degree: as, The more I study grammar, the better I like it."

96. I will not impose upon your memory all the rules that my predecessors have heaped together relative

to the use of the indefinite articles, a and an, and still leave you in doubt, but I will say, that a word beginning in sound with a vowel must have an placed before it, and that a word beginning in sound with a consonant must have a placed before it.* Consult the leading sounds of the words in Lennie's examples, and then apply this rule, and you will see that it is applicable to every one of them—that it is just the thing you want.

97. If you feel at all at a loss for the leading sounds, refer to Walker's Dictionary, and you will find that unit, euphony, and ewe, begin, in sound, with y, and one with w. If you do this, you will, in every case, discover that there is no real exception to the rule I have laid down.

98. At the outset of my grammar, I gave you a sweeping classification of the articles, and the possessive, distributive, demonstrative, and indefinite adjective pronouns, under the head DESCRIBING WORDS. It is now necessary that I give you some reasons for so startling a deviation from the systems of established and honoured authors.

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99. Our forefathers, to signify unity, or one of a class, employed ae or ane, as, ae man," ane ox." These words have by celerity of pronunciation, like many others in our language, lost the final e. When the number one, as opposed to two or more, was expressed, greater emphasis, or stress, was laid upon the word signifying unity, ae or ane, to distinguish it from expressing mere species or kind, as opposed to another species or kind.

* A, e, i, o, and u, are vowels, and the other letters of the alphabet are consonants,

100. A, an, any, and one, are all nearly of the same import, and are all derived from ane, formerly the name of unity. Ane is now often used in Scotland instead of one. One distinguishes its self from a and an by denoting unity, as opposed to two or more. A and an merely express unity of species, not as opposed to two or more, but to every other species. "A child should be taught to love God," is not resolvable into "One child should be taught to love God." A man," means

"each man," or 66

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one man," means a single man out

of the whole race

of men, and one only-not two.

101. No objection can, then, I think be raised against classing a, an, any, and one, together.

These four
The Latin

words we will call, for the present, articles. any and one bear the same analogy as these words in our own language.

102. The article the seems to have proceeded from this or that, in the same manner as a and an from ae and ane. This, that, and their plurals these and those, and the, are all of Saxon origin, and the word used in Saxon as an equivalent for our this, that, these, or those, was indifferently employed as an equivalent for our the, and hence it is, that the is used before names of both numbers. Thæ, which is nothing more than our the, is now written in Scotland for these. If I had no other proofs, I should be inclined to give the, this, that, these, and those, the same name.

103. But the is called the definite article, because it refers to a particular person or thing. In " This or that man is ill," do I not refer as directly to some

particular person, as in "The man is ill?" Indeed, the very word this or that is synonymous with the, and either of them expresses the meaning in every respect

the same.

And when I have occasion to refer to more

than one man, dently" The men are ill." Thus we find, often be used as an equivalent for either this, that, these, or those, and the most consistent inference is, that if the is an article definite, this, that, and their plurals, these and those, must likewise be articles definite.

"These or those men are ill," is evithat the may

104. This, that, these, and those, differ from the in the same manner as one differs from a and an, with respect to emphasis, as is confirmed by a and an and the always requiring to be followed by a name, while this, that, these, those, and one, point out names so immediately, that they stand frequently alone. If I were to relate some circumstance to you, you might reply, "That I am unwilling to admit," but if you were to employ the instead of that you would have to supply circumstance understood, as, "The circumstance I am unwilling to admit." We say, " Cherries are good, I wish I had one." But "Cherries are good, I wish I had a," is incomplete, and requires a repetition of cherry to make full the sense. The names which that and one describe might be inserted, but the sentences are rendered more euphonic by omitting them. This practice of leaving out, or ellipsizing words, in order to deliver our sentiments with as much rapidity as possible, prevails to a very great extent. "The righteous shall live, but the ungodly shall perish." There is not a name in this sentence: man is so clearly understood after right

eous and ungodly, that it is quite unnecessary to insert it. When we hear a gentleman speak, and do not comprehend his meaning, we often employ " Sir," for "I did not comprehend what you said, sir." Under the same circumstances we sometimes employ "What," for "I did not comprehend what you said," or, "Repeat to me what, or the words which, you said." But, bear in mind, that when words are ellipsized, it does not alter the classification of those which are supplied, as is the opinion of many grammarians. "Providence rewards the good." Good, as it stands in this sentence, is, by many, considered to be a name, but the idea is erroneous. It describes people understood, and it is as much a describing word in its present station, as it would have been had people been supplied. The best method that I can suggest for discovering how words ought to be classed is, to supply all that is understood.

105. The term article is its self one of the most insignificant words that could possibly be imposed upon us, and possesses not the slightest characteristic of pointing, which is defined to be the office of the words it is employed to denote. I have given you Lennie's definition of the articles: he calls them pointers-out. Lowth, Murray, and others before him, did the same. According to Dr. Ash, article is from the Latin articulus, a joint. What a pity, as W. Hill observes, that such admirable sagacity stopped short of informing us whether the articles are the knee joints, the elbow joints, or the ancle joints !

106. I must really confess that I blush for the intellectual delicacy of the man who does not stand boldly