Now parse those nouns and neuter verbs that are distinguished by italicks, in the following

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

The book lies on the desk-The cloak hangs on the wallMan's days are few-Cathmor's warriours sleep in deathClatho reposes in the narrow house-Jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. The sunbeams rest on the grave where her beauty sleeps.

You may parse these and the preceding exercises, and all that follow, five or six times over, if you please.

OBJECTIVE CASE.-ACTIVE-TRANSITIVE VERBS, The objective case expresses the object of an action or of a relation. It generally follows a transitive verb, a participle, or a preposition.

A noun is in the objective case when it is the object of some thing. At present I shall explain this case only as the object of an action; but when we shall have advanced as far as to the preposition, I will also illustrate it as the object of a relation.

An active verb is transitive when the action passes over from the subject or nominative to an object; as, Richard strikes John.

Transitive means passing. In this sentence the action of the verb strikes is transitive, because it passes over from the nominative Richard to the object John; and you know that the , noun John is in the objective case, because it is the object of the action expressed by the active-transitive verb strikes. This matter is very plain. For example: Gallileo invented the telescope. Now it is evident, that Gallileo did not exert his pow ers of invention, without some object in view. In order to ascertain that object, put the question, Gallileo invented what? The telescope. Telescope, then, is the real object of the action, denoted by the transitive verb invented; and, therefore, telescope is in the objective case. If I say, The horse kicks the servant-Carpenters build houses-Ossian wrote poemsColumbus discovered America-you readily perceive, that the verbs kicks, build, wrote, and discovered, express transitive actions; and you cannot be at a loss to tell which nouns are in the objective case :-they are servant, houses, poems, and America. The nominative and objective cases of nouns are generally known by the following rule: the nominative does something; the objective has something done to it. The nominative gene

VERBS.-TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE.

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tally comes before the verb; and the objective, after it. When I say, George struck the servant, George is in the nominative, and servant is in the objective case; but, when I say, The servant struck George, servant is in the nominative case, and George is in the objective. Thus you perceive, that Case means the different state or situation of nouns with regard to other words.

It is sometimes very difficult to tell the case of a noun. I shall, therefore, take up this subject again, when I come to give you an explanation of the participle and preposition.

Besides the three cases already explained, nouns are sometimes in the nominative case independent, sometimes in the nominative case absolute, sometimes in apposition in the same case, and sometimes in the nominative or objective case after the neuter verb to be, or after an active-intransitive or passive verb. These cases are illustrated in Lecture X. and in the 21 and 22 Rules of Syntax.

ACTIVE-INTRANSITIVE VERBS.

An active verb is transitive, when the action terminates on an object: but

An active verb is intransitive, when the action does not terminate on an object; as, John walks.

You perceive that the verb walks, in this example, is intransitive, because the action does not pass over to an object; that is, the action is confined to the agent John. The following sign will generally enable you to distinguish a transitive verb from an intransitive. Any verb that will make sense with the words a thing, or a person, after it, is transitive. Try these verbs by the sign, love, help, conquer, reach, subdue, overcome. Thus, you can say, I love a person or thing-I can help a person or thing-and so on. Hence you know that these verbs are transitive. But an intransitive verb will not make sense with this sign, which fact will be shown by the following examples: smile, go, come, play, bark, walk, fly. We cannot say, if we mean to speak English, I smile a person or thing-I go a person or thing:-hence you perceive that these verbs are not transitive, but intransitive.

If you reflect upon these examples for a few moments, you will have a clear conception of the nature of transitive and intransitive verbs. Before I close this subject, however, it is necessary farther to remark, that some transitive and intransitive verbs express what is called a mental or moral action; and others, a corporeal or physical action. Verbs expressing the

different affections or operations of the mind, denote moral actions; as, Brutus loved his country; James hates vice; We believe the tale :-to repent, to relent, to think, to reflect, to mourn, to muse. Those expressing the actions produced by matter, denote physical actions; as, The dog hears the bell; Virgil wrote the Enead; Columbus discovered America ;—to see, to feel, to taste, to smell, to run, to talk, to fly, to strike. In the sentence, Charles resembles his father, the verb resembles does not appear to express any action at all; yet the construction of the sentence, and the office which the verb performs. are such, that we are obliged to parse it as an active-transitive verb, governing the noun father in the objective case. you may easily reconcile in your mind, by reflecting, that the verb has a direct reference to its object. The following verbs are of this character: Have, own, retain; as, I have a book,

This

Active intransitive verbs are frequently made transitive. When I say, The birds fly, the verb fly, is intransitive; but when I say, The boy flies the kite, the verb fly is transitive, and governs the noun kite in the objective case. Almost any active intransitive verb, and sometimes even neuter verbs, are used as transitive. The horse walks rapidly; The boy runs swiftly; My friend lives well; The man died of a fever. In all these examples the verbs are intransitive; in the following they are transitive: The man walks his horse; The boy ran race; My friend lives a holy life; Let me die the death of the righteous.

The foregoing development of the character of verbs, is deemed sufficiently critical for practical purposes; but if we dip a little deeper into the verbal fountain, we shall discover qualities which do not appear on its surface. If we throw aside the veil which art has drawn over the real structure of speech, we shall find, that almost every verb has either a personal or a verbal object, expressed or implied. Verbal objects, which are the effects or productions resulting from the actions, being necessarily implied, are seldom expressed.

The fire burns. If the fire burns, it must burn wood, coal, tallow, or some other combustible substance. The man laughs. Laughs what? Laughs laughter or laugh. They walk; that is, They walk or take walks. Rivers flow (move or roll themselves or their waters) into the ocean.

"I sing the shady regions of the west."

"And smile the wrinkles from the brow of age."

The child wept itself sick; and then, by taking (or sleeping) a short nap, it slept itself quiet and well again. "He will soon

sleep his everlasting sleep; that is, "He will sleep the sleep of death."

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Thinkers think thoughts; Talkers talk or employ words, talk, or speeches; The rain rains rain. Upon Sodom and Gomorrah the Lord rained fire and brimstone." "I must go the whole length." I shall soon go the way of all the earth."

Now please to turn back again, and peruse this lecture attentively; after which you may parse, systematically, the fol lowing exercises containing nouns in the three cases, and active-transitive verbs.

The printer prints books.

Prints is a verb, a word that signifies to do-active, it expresses action-transitive, the action passes over from the nominative "printer" to the object "books"-third pers. sing. numb. because the nominative printer is with which it agrees. RULE 4. The verb must agree with its nominative case in num ber and person.

Declined-1. pers. sing. I print, 2. pers. thou printest, 3. pers. he prints, or the printer prints, and so on.

Books is a noun, the name of a thing-common, the name of a sort of things, neut. gend. it denotes a thing without sex -third pers. spoken of-plur. num. it implies more than one -and in the objective case, it is the object of the action, expressed by the active-transitive verb "prints," and is governed by it according to

RULE 20. Active-transitive verbs govern the objective case. The noun books is thus declined-Sing. nom. book, poss. book's, obj. book-Plur. nom. books, poss. books', obj. books. RULE 20. Transitive verbs govern the objective case; that is, they require the noun or pronoun following them to be in that case; and this requisition is government. Pronouns have a particular form to suit each case; but nouns have not. We cannot say, She struck he; I gave the book to they. Why not? Because the genius of our language requires the pronoun following a transitive verb or preposition (to is a preposition) to assume that form which we call the objective form or case. Accordingly, the construction should be, She struck him; I gave the book to them.-Read, again, the illustration of "government" on page 52.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

NOTE 1. The words the, that, those, and his, you need not parse. 2. A noun in the possessive case, is sometimes governed by a noun understood; as, Julia's lesson is longer than John's [lesson.]

A's you have been analyzing nouns in their three cases, it becomes necessary to present, in the next place, the declension of nouns, for you must decline every noun you parse. Declension means putting a noun through the different cases: and you will notice, that the possessive case varies from the nominative in its termination, or ending, but the objective case ends like the nominative. The nom'ative and objective cases of nouns, must, therefore, be ascertained by their situation in a sentence, or by considering the office they perform.

DECLENSION OF NOUNS.

Now, if you have parsed every word in the preceding examples, (except the, that, those, and his,) you may proceed with me, and parse the examples in the following exercises, in which are presented nouns and active-intransitive verbs.

"My flock increases yearly."

Flock is a noun, a name denoting animals-a noun of multitude, it signifies many in one collective body-masculine and feminine gender, denoting both sexes— -third person, spoken of --singular number, it denotes but one flock-and in the nominative case, it is the active agent of the verb "increases," and governs it, according to RULE 3. The nominative case governs the verb. (Decline it.)

Increases is a verb, a word that signifies to do-active, it expresses action-intransitive, the action does not pass over to an object-of the third person, singular number, because its nomi