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we should cease to be enamoured with these brittle and tran sient joys; and should wisely fix our hearts on those virtuous attainments, which the world can neither give nor take away.

POETRY.

ORDER is Heaven's first law: and this confess'd,
Some are, and must be, greater than the rest,
More rich, more wise; but who infers from hence,
That such are happier, shocks all common sense.

Needful austerities our wills restrain ;

As thorns fence in the tender plant from harm.

Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,
Lie in three words, health, peace, and competence :
But health consists with temperance alone;
And peace, O virtue! peace is all thy own.

On earth nought precious is obtain'd,
But what is painful too;

By travel and to travel born,

Our sabbaths are but few.

Who noble ends by noble means obtains,
Or failing, smiles in exile or in chains,
Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed
Like Socrates, that man is great indeed.

Our hearts are fasten'd to this world,
By strong and endless ties;
But ev'ry sorrow cuts a string,
And urges us to rise.

Oft pining cares in rich brocades are dress'd,
And diamonds glitter on an anxious breast.

Teach me to feel another's wo,

To hide the fault I see;

That mercy I to others show,

That mercy show to me.

This day be bread, and peace, my lot;
All else beneath the sun

Thou knows't if best bestow'd or not;

And let thy will be done.

Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen:
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.

If nothing more than purpose in thy power,
Thy purpose firm, is equal to the deed:
Who does the best his circumstance allows,
Does well, acts nobly; angels could no more.

In faith and hope the world will disagree;
But all mankind's concern is charity.

To be resign'd when ills betide,
Patient when favours are denied,

And pleas'd with favours given;
Most surely this is Wisdom's part,
This is that incense of the heart,

Whose fragrance smells to Heav'n.

All fame is foreign, but of true desert;
Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart;
One self-approving hour whole years outweighs
Of stupid starers, and of loud huzzas;
And more true joy Marcellus exil'd feels,
Than Cæsar with a senate at his heels.

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life,

They kept the noiseless tenor of ther way.

What nothing earthly gives, or can destroy,
The soul's calm sunshine, and the heartfelt joy,
Is virtue's prize.

Pity the sorrows of a poor old man,

Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door,
Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span:
Oh! give relief, and Heav'n will bless your store.

Who lives to nature, rarely can be poor:
Who lives to fancy, never can be rich.

When young, life's journey I began,
The glitt'ring prospect charm'd my eyes;
I saw, along th' extended plain,

Joy after joy successive rise.

VOL. II.

C

But soon I found 'twas all a dream :
And learn'd the fond pursuit to shun,
Where few can reach the purpos'd aim,
And thousands daily are undone.

"Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours;
And ask them, what report they bore to Heav'n.

All nature is but art unknown to thee;

All chance, direction which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;

All partial evil, universal good.

Heavn's choice is safer than our own:
Of ages past inquire,

What the most formidable fate;

"To have our own desire."

SECTION 9.

Mode of verbally correcting erroneous sentences.*

When all the Exercises have been regularly corrected, in writing, it would tend to perfect the student's knowledge of the rules, and to give him an habitual dexterity in applying them, if he were occasionally to correct, verbally, erroneous sentences purposely selected from different parts of the book; to recite the rules by which they are governed; and, in bis own language, to detail the reasons on which the corrections are founded. The following examples will afford some idea of the manner, in which the verbal corrections are to be made. They may also serve to give a radical knowledge of some of the principal Rules of Syntax.

"The man is prudent which speaks little."

This sentence is incorrect because which is a pronoun of the neuter gender, and does not agree in gender with its antecedent man, which is masculine. But a pronoun should agree with its antecedent in gender, &c. according to the fifth rule of Syntax. Which should therefore be who, a rela

If any student wishes to see a general guide and set of directions, respecting the mode of Parsing and using the Exercises, from the commencement to the conclusion of his grammatical studies, he may find them at pages 10, 11, 12, 13, of the English Exercises in Duodecimo. They are not in all respects, adapted to the Octavo edition of the Grammar, and the objects which the author has in view.

Though the Key to the Exercises will be found, in many instances, of considerable use, and sometimes indispensable, it should, on no occasion, be consulted, till the sentence which is to be rectified, has been well considered, and has received the student's best correction.

tive pronoun, agreeing with its antecedent man ; and the sentence should stand thus: "The man is prudent who speaks little."

"After I visited Europe, I returned to America."

This sentence is not correct: because the verb visited is in the imperfect tense, and yet used here to express an action, not only past, but prior to the time referred to by the verb returned, to which it relates. By the thirteenth Rule of Syntax, when verbs are used that in point of time, relate to each other, the order of time should be observed. The imperfect tense visited, should therefore have been, had visited, in the pluperfect tense, representing the action of visiting, not only as past, but also as prior to the time of returning. The sentence corrected would stand thus: "After I had visited Europe, I returned to America."

"I have seen the Museum the last week; at least, I have seen it lately."

This sentence is irregular and ungrammatical. The perfect tense I have seen, when properly applied, refers to past time. with an allusion to the time present; that is, it comprehends a period which extends to the present time: and therefore it cannot accord with the expressions, the last week, and lately, which refer to past time, exclusive of any relation to the time present. The time signified by these expressions, is so clearly past, and so totally unconnected and inconsistent with the present period, that they cannot belong to a tense which has the definition of the perfect tense. The words last week and lately, correspond only with the imperfect tense; and therefore the sentence, in its true grammatical form, would stand thus: "I saw the Museum the last week; at least I saw it lately."

"The number of persons, men, women, and children,which were lost in the sea, were very great."

The sub

:

This sentence violates the rules of grammar. stantive number, though signifying many, suggests the idea of a whole or unity, and the assertion is made of it as such the latter verb were is therefore improperly put in the plural. The clause should be, "The number was very great." The pronoun which is also incorrectly applied. Its antecedents, persons, &c. are of the masculine and feminine gender. And therefore, as pronouns must agree with their antecedents

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in gender as well as number, the pronoun should be who instead of which, viz. "who were lost."-At first view, the words" The number of persons," appear to form conjointly the nominative to the verb: but this is not the case. The noun number is the prominent, leading object, to which the verb is attracted, and which supports the following adjuncts. These adjuncts are in the objective case, governed by the preposition of, and cannot therefore be nominatives. This appears from the last note under the first Rule of Syntax.The sentence in question, when fully corrected, would therefore be as follows: "The number of persons, men, women, and children, who were lost in the sea, was very great.'

"He and they we own as our rulers, but who do you submit to ?"

This is a very inaccurate sentence. The pronouns he and they, in the first member of it, are expressed as nominatives, without any verb or verbs, either mentioned or implied, to which they can relate; and they are not in the case absolute. The relative who, in the second member, is also in the nominative case, without any correspondent verb. The verb own is an active verb, and has for its objects the preceding pronouns ; they should therefore be in the objective case, him and them, conformably to the eleventh Rule of Syntax, which declares, that "Active verbs govern the objective case." The relative who is the object of the preposition to, and consequently should be put in the objective case whom, with the preposition before it; agreeably to the seventeenth Rule of Syntax, and the first Note under the rule; which require the objective case after prepositions, and that this case should be preceded by the preposition. The whole sentence regularly expressed would be as follows: "Him and them we own as our rulers; but to whom do you submit?"

"I know who he means."

This sentence is ungrammatical, because who is put in the nominative case, without any verb, expressed or understood, to which it can apply as such; and because this relative being the object of the active verb means, ought to be in the objective case, according to the eleventh Rule of Syntax, which says, that "Active verbs govern the objective case. The sentence should therefore be expressed; "I know whom he means:" or, "I know the person whom he means."

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