Part 5 (1/2)
What idea could the Pacha of Egypt for never seen any till the french che water in his presence?
They told him of ice; that it was _cold_; that it would freeze; that whole streams were often frozen over, so that --it was a ”christian lie” This idea was confirmed on the first trial of the chemists, which failed of success But when, on the second attempt, they succeeded, he was all in raptures A new field was open before him New ideas were produced in his mind New qualities were learned; and he could now forions, which he had never seen; of _icy_ hearts, and storms of _frozen_ rain
We often hear it said, such a man is very _stoical_; another is an _epicurean_; and another is a _bacchanal_, or _bacchanalian_ But what idea should we form of such persons, if we had never read of the Stoics and their philosophy; of Epicurus and his notions of happiness and duty; or of Bacchus, the God of wine and revelry, whose annual feasts, or Dionysia, were celebrated with the ant licentiousness thro out Greece and Rome, till put down by the Senate of the latter
You can not fail to see the ie on which we here insist The ly diverse; and hence you are not always able to think alike, or understand each other, nor derive the sae The contradictory opinions which exist in the world reat s of which we speak, is limited, either from lack of means, or disposition to employ thes of which they know the least Did we all attach the sa to the same words, our opinions would all be the same, as true as the forty-fifth problem of Euclid How iht the say, viewed in this light, is a most important branch of science
Whenever a word is sufficiently understood, no adjective should be connected with it There is a ridiculous practice a to every noun one or more adjectives, which have no other effect than to expose their own folly So adjectives to all nouns, that they dare not use one without
You will not unfrequently see adjectives different in for; as, sad hts
When words can be obtained, which not only name the object, but also describe its properties, it should be preferred to a noun with an adjective; as _pirate_, for _sea robber_; _savan_, for a _learned_ or _wise man_[4]
In relation to that class of adjectives derived from verbs, ill be brief They include what have been termed participles, not a distinct ”part of speech,” but by some included in the verbs We use the in sos on the account of the action expressed by the verb from which they are derived ”The man is respected” _Respected_, in this case, describes the man in such a relation to those who have becoood qualities, that he now receives their respect He is respect_able_, (_able_ to command, or worthy of respect,) and of course, respected for his respectability To avoid repetition, we select different words to assist in the expression of a coe in phrases like the above, to show the nice shades ofto analyze, as far as possible, our words and thoughts, and show their mutual connexion and dependencies
What has been ter things in their present condition in reference to actions
”The _ describes the man in his present employment But the consideration of this s to the construction of sentences
There is another class or variety of words properly belonging to this division of grammar, which may as well be noticed in this place as any other I allude to those words generally called ”Prepositions” We have not tiive you a brief view of our opinion of them, and reserve the remainder of our remarks till we come to another part of these lectures
Most of the words called prepositions, in books of grammar, are participles, derived from verbs, many of which are still in use, but some are obsolete They are used in the true character of adjectives, _describing one thing by its relation to another_ But their enerally understood Our dictionaries have afforded no y They have been regarded as a kind of ce or i is knoe can not reasonably expect to draw theive theht
Many words, from the frequency of their use, fail to attract our attention as much as those less employed; not because they are less important, but because they are so faht are not observed in the choice made of them to express ideas
If we use words of which little is knoe ponder well before we adopt them, to determine whether the sense usually attached to them accords exactly with the notions we desire to convey by them The sae proportion of our language, and are, in fact,is es to convey their bodies, observe little of their construction, unless there is soular or fine in their appearance The common parts are unobserved, yet as important as the se, the vehicle of thought As the apostle says of the body politic, ”those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary;” so the words least understood by grauage
It is an easywith the words called prepositions, after they are all learned by rote; but when their rammarians have little to say of theed, is found in nearly every grammar, which scholars are required to co or use, only that they are prepositions when an objective word comes after them, _because the books say so_; but occasionally the same words occur as adverbs and adjectives There is, however, no trouble in ”parsing” theotten In that case, you will see the pupil, instead of inquiring after the o to the book and search for it in the lists of prepositions or conjunctions; or to the dictionary, to see if there is a ”_prep_” appended to it What will children ever learn of language in this way? Of what avail is all such graotten; and you will hear the the harvest of forone from them Poor souls! their uage as they ought There is a fault somewhere
To us it is not difficult to determine where it is
That certain words are prepositions, there can be no doubt, because the books say they are; but _why_ they are so, is quite anotherunderstood Little difficulty will then be found in deter their use
I have said they are derived from verbs, many of which are obsolete
Some are still in use, both as verbs and nouns Take for exanifies _joined_ or _united_ It is used to show that two things are soether so that they are spoke of in connexion It frequently occurs in common conversation, as a verb and noun, but not as frequently in the books as foret a _withe_ and cos of tough wood, twist theether, and _withe_ or bind them round these posts, so that one may stand firm _with_, or _withed_ to, the other A book _with_ a cover, is one that has a cover _joined_, bound, or attached to it ”A father _with_ a son, a man _with_ an estate, a nation _with_ a constitution”
In all such cases _with_ expresses the relation between the two things mentioned, produced by a _union_ or connexion with each other[6]
=In= is used in the same way It is still retained as a noun and is suspended on the signs of many public houses ”The traveller's _inn_,”
is a house where travellers _in_ theo _in_, for entertainment It occurs frequently in Shakspeare and in more modern writers, as a verb, and is still used in corain” ”_In_ with you” ”_In_ with it” In describes one thing by its relation to another, which is the business of adjectives It adrees of comparison; as, _in_, _inner_, _innermost_ or _inmost_ It also has its compounds