PERSONS.

genitive, the dative, the accusative, the vocative, and the ablative. Now, for instance, magister in Latin signifies master, and to suit these six cases in the singular number respectively, it is spelled magister, a master; magistri, of a master; magistro, to a master; magistrum, a master; magister, O master; and magistro, by a master. Besides these, the same Latin word has three other forms in the plural number, while the English name is the same throughout the whole of the cases, the distinction being merely made by saying of, to, by, or from a master, showing the utility of our little connecting words.

78. Yet that there are two states or positions assumed by names in our own language, requires no demonstration. These two states or positions may be called cases, there being no defensible argument to call for the rejection of the term. If, however, the contrary were the fact, the effect could only be to throw aside the letter, while the groundwork of the theory would still retain all the soundness and reality it formerly possessed.

79. We may now recur to the subject of Fornames; and it may be observed, in the first place, that

Fornames are inflected, or changed, to correspond in number, person, gender, and case, with the Names for which they stand.

But having already said so much on their number, person, and gender, remarks for the present may be more immediately confined to the cases of fornames.

80. The Acting Cases of the fornames in the English language are I, thou, he, she, it, we, you or ye, and they.

Their Receiving Cases are me, thee, him, her, us, and them.

It and you are the same in both cases.

81. It has been said that names do not vary for case. Let the same example be taken as before:

"John strikes Richard."

Now Richard is in the receiving case, and John in the acting case, and you have before seen that if we transpose them, and make Richard the actor, by placing it first, and John the receiver, by placing it last, no change is effected in the spelling.

82. But it is entirely different with the forname, for if we take the above, or any other similar sentence, and supply the fornames instead of the names, that which goes before the verb, which is consequently called the actor, no matter whether it may mean Richard or John, must be he, and that which follows, and thus becomes the receiver, must be him, thus:-" Richard (he) strikes John (him);" or, transposed," John (he) strikes Richard (him)." Again, "Men (they) write books (them.)"

83. These two variations are all to which fornames are subject in the formation of the English cases, while the Latin in the instance of Ego, which means I, takes seven other forms in the singular and plural number to suit the six Latin cases, and so on with others.*

We are told by most English grammarians that Fornames are merely to prevent the repetition of Names, and hence it has been affirmed, that we could do entirely without them. That they answer something more than this has been already shown. They serve many very important purposes. "Thou, O God, seest me" could not be expressed with any comparative energy, if at all, without the forname thou. In asking questions, our language would be attended with no small degree of perplexity, could we not call forth the fornames. Instead of saying to our Saviour, "Art Thou not the Redeemer of mankind?" we should have to address him, "Is Christ not the Redeemer of mankind?"-a question, as it were, relative to a third person, when we are referring to the person addressed, and a question too, which implies the absence of him whom we address.

In speaking of the fornames thou and you, it may be observed, that the latter of these fornames has now, almost universally, set aside the former. "To thou a person," as it is commonly expressed, of higher worldly elevation than ourselves, is accounted a breach of decorum, for which the bended knee can scarcely atone. It may be observed, that brothers and sisters in poor families adopt thou in addressing each other, but with their advancement in the world, they disuse this vulgarism. The Quakers have long preserved the purity of our language in employing thou when addressing only one person, and you in addressing two or more, but the youth of this portion of the community

84. Before concluding the present part, some particulars may be given on Describing Words, that important class of words, which, according to the subdivisions of popular Grammars, comprises Adjectives, Nouns in the Possessive Case, Pronouns in the Possessive Case, Possessive Adjective Pronouns, Articles, Indefinite Adjective Pronouns, Distributive Adjective Pronouns, Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns, and other equally unneccessary classifications. 85. Every word which expresses the quality, size, colour, shape, number, or other property appertaining to a Name, is a Describing Word.

86. For instance, we can say good, tall, little, bad, but we can associate no positive meaning with these words when thus employed alone. They require to be followed by names in order to shew in what the goodness, the badness, &c., to which these words refer, exist. Thus: A good man. tall woman. A bad boy. A little child.

87. But it must be here observed that there are many words of this part of speech, which, when used alone, make sense of themselves. For instance, when we say, a straw bonnet, a silk hat, a gold ring, we employ straw, silk, and gold, to describe what kind of bonnet, hat, and ring are meant, and they are, consequently, describing words. When we say straw, silk, gold, we contemplate the simple

In

are gradually approving the current error. Modern usage, too, has superseded the purity and excellence of the Bible in this respect. Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, United States, has lately issued a New Testament from the translations of Doctors George Campbell, James Macknight, and Philip Doddridge, in which thou is substituted for you. And this is the compiler's candid apology for polite mischief: "A living language is continually changing. Like the fashions and customs in apparel, words and phrases, at one time current and fashionable, in the lapse of time become awkward and obsolete." this book it is unfashionable to thou any one but God, and how soon fashion may prevail in absolutely rejecting this awkward thou in addressing so great a being as our Maker, the lapse of time, and the progress of error will determine. There can be little doubt of the fact that extravagance generally takes its root in the pompous pageant arising from the unchastened inherent pride of human nature. And, with Elisha Bates, we might go on to remark, that "extravagant honours, from being paid to emperors and others possessed of power, by the prevalence of pride, became grateful to every inferior rank, and were freely bestowed on all. Hence the fashionable appellation of you to a single person, it being thought by minds inflated with pride to be too little to be regarded as a single individual-the idea of plurality must be conveyed."

B

substances, existing each in itsself, and they are insuch capacity Names. When we say common straw, richsilk, pure gold, the words straw, silk, and gold, are names, described by common, rich, and pure. We can say, a chimney stone, and a stone chimney, but in the former instance chimney is a describing word and stone a name, and in the latter, on the contrary, stone is a describing word and chimney a

name.

88. A befitting opportunity presents itself of explaining other matters while we are considering the Describers. The first may be the

CLASSIFICATION OF NAMES.

Names are usually divided into three classesAbstract, Common, and Proper.

89. The Names of those Describing Words which represent things without substance, and denote a mere property existing in some other thing of substance, are called Abstract Names. Examples-Whiteness, civility, chastity, purity, pity,

sorrow.

90. When we say, "A white horse," we employ the describing word white to imply that whiteness exists in some horse. But we cannot see the whiteness apart from the horse to which we may refer, or without associating the abstract property, whiteness, with some other thing of substance. We can see that some things are white, but when we attempt to contemplate whiteness, our imagination brings to our aid snow, chalk, or some other thing in which we have observed that colour.

91. In like manner, when we contemplate civility, chastity, purity, innocence, pity, or sorrow, some individual is immediately presented to the mind in whom we know the property exists. It may be a useful and profitable exercise to contemplate a square, a circle, or any other form, which will at once present an appropriate object in which the contemplated form is most commonly seen.

92. Common Names are those which apply to all of a species or kind.

Examples-Boy, girl, dog, town, city, country.

93. Proper Names are those applied individually, to each of a species or kind.

Examples-Thomas, Maria, Pompey, Leeds, York,

England.

94. Common and proper are words so simple of themselves, that further exemplification than the rules afford is scarcely essential. But take the word Thomas, for instance, and ask any one so called what is his proper name, and, of course, Thomas would be his reply, in contradistinction to the interrogator's own, which might be John. Suppose, however, the interrogated to be a boy, and ask him why boy is not also his proper name, and he would readily reply, because Henry Jones and William Swift, and his other play-fellows are called boys as well as himselfboy is the common name of each of them.

95. These sub-divisions form not an indispensible part of grammar science. They have, therefore, only been noticed to guard the student against confusion, should he come in contact with their names.

COMPARISON OF DESCRIBING WORDS.

96. With a few observations on the comparison of Describing Words, the first division of the subject may be concluded.

97. Many of the Describing Words are subject to Inflection, to express the proportionate properties possessed by contrasted objects.

Examples-The tall man. The taller man. The tallest

man.

98. Describing Words have three States, commonly called degrees of comparison-the Simple, the Comparative, and the Superlative.

That form of the Describing Word without comparison or contrast, is the simple state. Examples-Tall, little, kind, large.