1. Those past tenses and perfect participles which are the first mentioned, are the most eligible. Obsolete words and such as are used only by the vulgar, are omitted. Such are wreathen, drunken, holpen, gotten, bounden, &c.; and swang, wrang, slank, strawed, gat, brake, tare, ware, &c. Several past tenses are contained in the authorised translation of the Bible, which are now obsolete in good conversation.

2. Ed, after verbs ending in ch, ck, p, sh, x, and ss, is pronounced as t; as, in preached, attacked, heaped, hushed, taxed, crossed.

3. In the preceding List, several Regular verbs are inserted, to show the difference between them and others spelled and pronounced the same.

4. It is recommended, that the pupil be taught to conjugate some of the Irregular Verbs throughout, that he may thus perceive the difference between the Regular and Irregular.

6. ADVERBS.

An Adverb is a word which qualifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, by expressing some circumstance of time, place, or manner, respecting it; as, "He writes correctly "A remarkably diligent boy;" "He speaks very fluently."

An adverb is added to a verb to denote the manner of the action, or some circumstance respecting it; as, "He writes correctly:"-to an adjective, to denote some modification of the quality; as, "A truly excellent scholar :"-to an adverb, to denote some degree of the modification of an action; as, "He speaks very fluently."

Some adverbs are compared; as, soon, sooner, soonest; often, oftener, oftenest. Those ending in ly are compared by more and most; as, wisely, more wisely, most wisely.

1. The term adverb is derived from ad, to, and verbum, a word or verb.

Nobly,"

2. An adverb may generally be known by its answering to the question, How? when? or where? thus, "He acted nobly;" "How did he act?" Answer, " the word nobly is therefore an adverb. "He read the paper lately;" "When did he read the paper?" Answer, "Lately." "It went upwards;" "Where did it go?" Answer, "Upwards."

3. The circumstances of the action expressed by moods and tenses, are of a nature too general to be sufficient of themselves for the purposes of communication. It is often necessary, therefore, to be much more particular in ascertaining both the time, manner, and place of an action. One important object of the adverb is to accomplish these ends. Thus, we may say an action was done lately, long ago; or, it is to be done now, immediately; or, it will be done hereafter; or, it will be repeated often, seldom, daily, once, twice, &c. So, we may say that it was done here, there, yonder; it was well or ill done.

4. Adverbs, in general, are abbreviations of two or more words. Thus, bravely, or "in a brave manner," is derived from brave-like, wisely from wise-like, happily from happy-like. Adverbs therefore express, in one word, what would otherwise require two or more words; thus, where denotes "in what place;" there, "in that place," &c.

5. Adverbs are divided into several classes, of which the following are the principal:-Affirmation; as, Certainly, doubtless, indeed, really, verily, surely, truly, undoubtedly, yea, yes.-Comparison; as, Alike, better, best, less, least, more, most, very, too, worse, worst.-Conjunction; as, Together, generally, universally.-Comtingence; as, Peradventure, perchance, perhaps, possibly.-Defect; as, Almost, nearly, less, least.-Explanation; as, Namely.-Gradation; as, Scarcely, hardly.Inference; as, Consequently, hence, therefore, wherefore.-Interrogation; as, How, why, wherefore; how is also sometimes an adverb of Manner or Exclamation.Likeness or Equality; as, So, thus, as, equally.-Unlikeness or Inequality; as, Else, otherwise.-Manner or Quality; as, Foolishly, justly, quickly, slowly, unjustly, wisely, &c. Adverbs of this kind are the most numerous, and are generally formed by adding ly to an adjective, as, bad, badly; or by changing le into ly, as, able, ably.-Adverbs of Negation are, Nay, no, not, not at all.-Number; as, Once, twice, thrice.-Order; as, First, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, &c., finally, lastly.-Place; as, Above, below, anywhere, backwards, upwards, downwards, homewards, elsewhere, forward, hence, thence, whence, here, there, where, herein, therein, wherein, hither, thither, whither, near, far.-Preference; as, Chiefly, especially, rather.Quantity; as, Abundantly, copiously, enough, sufficiently, much.-Separation; as, Apart, separately, asunder, off-Time; as, Now, already, before, heretofore, hitherto, lately, long ago, by and by, henceforth, henceforwards, hereafter, immediately, instantly, not yet, presently, afterwards, again, always, when, then, daily, ever, never, hourly, monthly, oft, often, oftentimes, oft-times, sometime, seldom, rarely, still, yet.

6. To-day, to-morrow, and yesterday, are properly nouns, though frequently included under adverbs.

7. Many adverbs are formed by a combination of a preposition and the adverbs of place, here, there, and where; as, hereof, thereof, whereof, hitherto, thereto, hereby, thereby, whereby, herewith, therewith, herein, therein, wherein, &c. Some are composed of nouns, and the letter a used instead of at, on, &c.; as, aside, athirst, ahead, aboard, ashore, aground, afloat, &c.

7. PREPOSITIONS.

A Preposition is a word placed before nouns and pronouns, to show the relation which they bear to each other, or to some verb; as, "He went from London to Leeds ;" 'They are instructed by him."

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1. "He went from London to Leeds;" here, from points out the place of commencement, and to that of termination. They are instructed by him;" here, by shows the relation that they have to him; the word him denotes the agent, the instructor. 2. The term preposition is derived from prae, before, and pono, to put.

The Prepositions in most common use are the following:

About, above, according to, across, after, against, along, amid, amidst, among, amongst, around, at, athwart; Before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, betwixt, beyond, by; Concerning; Down, during; Except, excepting; For, from; In, into, instead of; Near, nigh; Of, on, upon, over, out of; Regarding, respecting; Save, since; Through, throughout, to, touching, towards; Under, underneath, unto, up; With, within, without.

1. The principal use of prepositions in English is, to express those relations which, in some languages, are chiefly denoted by cases or the terminations of the noun.

The relation implied must always determine what particular preposition should be employed.

2. Prepositions were originally either nouns or verbs, and they still retain much of their original import. They were at first employed to denote the relations of place; but, in the progress of language, they have been applied to express other relations, which bear some analogy to that of place. Thus, as a person standing on the top of an eminence is above another who, standing at the bottom of it, is under him; hence, above and under distinctly express the relation which one place has to another. In like manner, as a king, by the superiority of his station, is of higher rank than any of his subjects, so, by the analogy of his condition to that of a person on the top of an eminence, we say that the king is exalted above his subjects, and that subjects live under the government of their king.

3. Prepositions govern nouns and pronouns in the objective case; as, In Leeds, to him, for us, with them. When prepositions do not govern nouns and pronouns, but are put after verbs, they become adverbs; as, "He rides about." "He dwells above." But in some instances, such words form part of the verb, as the words, up, on, over, out, in the phrases, "to call up," "to fall on the enemy,' ," "to give over,” ,, "to hold out."

4. Most of the English prepositions are derived from the Saxon;-the following is an explanation of the principal:

Above means high, overhead; as, "Above the skies."

About signifies limit, boundary; as, "The walls about the city;" about John."

"Those persons

Across, from side to side; as, "He steered across the river."

After, behind, following; as, "One after another."

Against, opposite, hostile; as, "Offences against the law."

Along, through the length of, in the direction of; as, "They marched along the river."

Amid, amidst, in the middle; as, "The hero amidst dangers."

Among, amongst, mixed with; as, "The tares among the wheat."

Around, round, about, on every side of; as, "The walls around the city.”

At, nearness, presence; as, "The Gaul is at the gates of Rome."

Athwart, across, wrested, twisted; as, "Athwart the glen."

By was formerly written be, and is the imperative of the Saxon beon, to be. By signifies the means, doer, time, and place; as, "A man is known by his actions;" "All things were made by God;" "He has visited us by day and by night;""By the rivers of Babylon we sat down." By is frequently joined with other words; in this case, however, it assumes the old form, be; as, in because, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond.

Because (conjunction), by the cause, the cause is.

Before, signifies advancement, priority (by the fore, be it fore part); as, "John is before Charles."

Behind, in the rear (by the hind, be it hind part); as, "The guard behind the coach."

Below, inferior or lower position (by the low, be it low); as, "Below the moon."

Beneath, lower (by the neath, be it neath, or low); as, "To place a cushion beneath one."

Beside, near (by the side, be it side); as, "Beside the waters."

Between, betwixt (by the twain, be they twain, or two); as, "York is between London and Edinburgh."

Beyond, passed, gone by (by the yond, be it yond, or passed); as, "India beyond the Ganges.

Concerning, relating to; as, "I wrote to you concerning that matter."

During, continuing, lasting; as, "During the space of a year."

Except, excluded; as, "All were involved except one."

For, cause, object, substitute; as, "I cannot go for want of time;" "He has done so much for you;" "An attorney is employed to act for his client."

From, commencement or source, distance; as, " From the beginning to the end;" "That be far from me."

In, enclosed, the state, time, or manner; as, "He is in the house;" "He is in health;""He was born in 1800."

Into denotes entrance, and is used after verbs which imply motion; as, "He retired into the country." In is used when motion or rest in a place is signified; as, "He is walking in the garden."

Near, nigh, approximation; as, "He is near the city."

Of, possession, effect or consequence, source, privation; as, "The house of Thomas;""The father of the child;""The productions of wisdom;" "The loss of the ship."

On, upon, support; as, "He sat on a rock."

Over, higher; as, "The heavens over our heads."

Through (from thurh, a door), passage, means; as, "Water through the pipe." To or unto denotes end, act, and is opposed to from; as, "He rode from Leeds to York."

Toward, towards, in a direction to; as, "It moved toward the city."

With, joining; as, "A house with a party-wall;" that is, "joining a party-wall." Without has an opposite meaning to with; i. e. be out.

5. On, in common conversation, frequently becomes o' or a'; as, "o'clock;" that is, on the clock; aside, on side; asleep, on sleep. So also we say, "He went a hunting;" "a fishing;" &c.; that is, on hunting, on fishing.

6. For an explanation of the inseparable prepositions, see b, p. 57, under Derivation.

8. CONJUNCTIONS.

A Conjunction joins words and sentences together; as, "One and one make two;" "He and I must go."

1. In the phrase, "One and one make two," the word and expresses addition; that is, one added to one makes two. In the sentence, "He and I must go," the word and unites two sentences, and thus avoids an unnecessary repetition; thus, instead of saying, "He must go," "I must go," we connect the words He, I, as the same thing is affirmed of both, namely, must go. Sometimes also, conjunctions begin sentences after a full period, showing some relation between the sentences in the general tenour of discourse.

2. Conjunction is a term derived from conjungo, to join together.

Conjunctions are divided, in reference to their signification, into several classes.

Copulative Conjunctions connect things which are to be considered jointly; as, And, also, both.

Disjunctive Conjunctions imply diversity, negation, doubt, or opposition; as, Either, or, neither, nor, whether, lest, but, yet, notwithstanding, nevertheless, though, although.

The Causal Conjunctions are, because, for, since, that; the Comparative, than; the Conditional, except, if, unless, provided; the Illative, denoting an inference, then, therefore, wherefore; those of Equality are, as, as well as, so.

9.-INTERJECTIONS.

An Interjection expresses a sudden passion or emotion of the mind.

1. The most common interjections are, Ah! aha! alack! alas! behold! fie! foh! ha, ha, ha! hark! hem! hist! halloo! hum! hush! huzza! indeed! la! lo! O! oh! pshaw ! tush!

2. Interjection is a term derived from the Latin Interjectus, which denotes something thrown in between two or more objects.

3. Sometimes verbs, nouns, and adjectives, uttered by way of exclamation, are considered as interjections; as, Hail! heavens! shocking!

In many instances, the same word, without undergoing any alteration in form, belongs sometimes to one part of speech, and sometimes to another. Regard, therefore, must always be had to the particular signification of the words, since that must determine to what part of speech each belongs. Thus, the word light may be a noun, an adjective, or a verb, according to the sense in which it is employed; as, "The light (noun) of the sun;" "Light (adj.) rooms;" "To light (verb) a candle." Some words are distinguished by a difference of the accent; as, "The produce (noun) of the fields;" "The fields produce (verb) in abundance.

The same word must originally have been, both in signification and use, only one part of speech. But, in process of time, it would be employed to perform several distinct offices, and hence, according to its import, would be ranked under different parts of speech.

The words which generally occasion a difficulty to the young student, in ascertaining to what part of speech they respectively belong, are, as, after, but, for, either, neither, however, much, more, most, no, save, since, that, then, therefore.

As is used, 1st, as a Relative, as, "The terms are as follow;" 2nd, as an Adverb, thus, "As eloquent as Cicero;" 3rd, as a Conjunction, when it serves as a connective.

After, before, above, beneath, and several other words of the same kind, have sometimes the nature of adverbs; as, "They had their reward soon after;" "He died not long before," "He dwells above." But if the nouns time and place be supplied, they will resume their proper import of prepositions; as, "He died not long before that

time.

But may be considered, 1st. As a preposition; thus, "None but (except) a fool will say so." This sentence might, however, be resolved into two, thus, "None will say so; but a fool will say so;" according to this explanation, the word but would, in this instance, preserve its proper nature of a conjunction. 2nd. As a conjunction; as, "William resides in Leeds, but Thomas abroad." But is sometimes improperly used for only; as, "We are but (only) of yesterday."

For is used, 1st. As a preposition; as, " He contended for victory." 2nd. As a conjunction; as, I submitted, for (because) it was vain to resist."

Either, Neither, are used, 1st. As Definitive Adjectives; thus, "Take either of the two books." 2nd. As Conjunctions; as, "Either learn or depart." "He neither walked nor rode."