Point, Cape Sorel, and West Point, on the west coast. The chief inlets of the sea, are Storm Bay, at the mouth of the River Derwent, and further north, Oyster Bay, on the south-east; the mouth of the Tamar on the north; Macquarrie Harbour on the west; and Port Davy on the south-west. The peninsulas are Tasman's, east of Storm Bay; Forestier's, connected with the former by an isthmus of half a mile's breadth; and Freycinet's, on the east side of Oyster Bay. The islands are Bruni, formerly mentioned, which is separated from Tasmania by D'Entrecasteaux Channel; Maria, north of Tasman's Peninsula; the Furneaux group, to the north-east; Hunter's group, to the north-west; and several others. The mountains are Wyld's Crag in the middle of Tasmania, which is 4,500 feet high; Table Mountain behind Hobart Town, 3,750 feet high, end for eight months of the year capped with snow; and Benlomond in the north-east, 4,200 feet high. The principal rivers are the Derwent and the Tamar; the former, 130 miles long, falls into Storm Bay, and the latter into Bass's Strait, admitting vessels of 500 tons at its mouth. The county divisions of Australia and Tasmania, with their chief towns, are given on the Map of Australasia itself. Norfolk Island, which is annexed to the government of Van Diemen's Land, and lies at the distance of 900 miles from the east coast of Australia, is a penal settlement; it contains an area of about fourteen square miles, and has an eminence called Mount Pitt, which rises to the height of 1,050 settlements, or none of any importance, we need not enlarge on the Map of Australasia. feet. As the other islands in our table of Australasia contain no LESSONS IN ENGLISH.-No. LXIV. By JOHN R. BEARD, D.D. THE preceding lessons have had for their object to make the The constructive process which I here contemplate bears in grammar the name of SYNTAX. The word is composed of two Greek roots, namely syn with and tasso (tag.) I arrange, and so denotes a systematic arrangement of words. Consequently syntax is to the grammarian what the science of architecture is to the builder; it teaches the art of construction. Now art, of necessity, implies rules, and science is a systematic aggregate of principles. Syntax, then, is not an arbitrary thing; it is not a mere jumble of authoritative assertions. It is true, that in grammar the authority of great writers goes a long way. Yet is their authority, in the last issue, resolvable into fact and law, the facts of our nature as declared and systematised in the laws of thought or the rules of logic. to These facts lead to the conclusion that the only proper way study grammar is to study it as the science of logical utterance. In order to study grammar as the science of logical utterance, we must trace an utterance to its simplest form, and consider the elements of which that form consists. Take then this sentence and study it : : The sick man drinks pure water copiously. What I now wish you to ascertain is, whether the proposition is in its simplest form. In order to ascertain this, you must distinguish between what is essentiai and what is not essential in the sentence. Take then word after word and put the question, Is this essential? If not strike it out, and strike out every word until you have reduced the proposition to its simplest form, that is, the form a deviation from which would involve no sense. The, is this essential? yes, because some particular man is intended. Sick, is this essential? No. Erase the word; you modify but do not destroy the statement. Man, is this essential? yes, because man is the very subject of the proposition. Drinks, is this essential? yes, because drinks declares what "the man" does; he drinks and does not spin. Pure, is this essential? no, for though pure tells us what sort of water the man drinks, yet the proposition is not destroyed by its omission. Water, is this essential? yes, because water tells us what the man drinks; he drinks water, not wine. the amount of water which the man drinks, but its omission by no Thus then we have the proposition reduced to this form :- By a second process of a similar kind the proposition may be still more simplified. idea of water being drunk, in its most elementary form, then you do Let it be supposed that you wish to have and contemplate the not need the article the; accordingly the proposition now assumes this form, Man drinks water. A third process of simplification brings the sentence to these two words, Man drinks, which set forth the simplest statement you can make on the subject. drinks, you have no statement. Consequently the original proRemove the word man, you have no sense; remove the word position, when reduced to man drinks, is in its simplest form. Such then is the form to which all propositions or sentences may be reduced. What does the form involve? Here are two words. Those two words you recognise as a noun and a verb, the one denoting a being and the other an act. Being and doing are the great facts with which all science is concerned, and the relation of being to doing, so far as the utterance of that relation is concerned, is the affair of the grammarian. The simplest proposition consists of a noun and a verb so related that what the verb declares, is declared of the noun, which is the subject of the proposition. Agreement. cations. You may change the subject; for instance you may make a Agreement then is the grammatical correspondence of two or more words one with another; this kind of agreement, however, is in English of less prevalence than another, which may be called logical. Grammatical agreement is an agreement in form; thus in the above example, the question is whether or not, and in which case the s should be added to the verb drink. But when I say the sick man drinks, and declare that there is an agreement between sick and man, do I mean an agreement of form? No, for sick remains unchanged whatever noun you append to it; thus we say sick man, sick men, sick women, sick boy, sick girls. The agreement then is not in form. Yet the two words "sick man" do agree; in what? In sense; theirs is a logical agreement. Observe also that the grammatical includes the logical, but the logical does not include the grammatical. The last statement has just been illustrated. The former may be shown to be true, thus; when I say the man drinks, I make a statement in which the word man agrees in thought with the word drinks; that is, the two go together; the two are combined so as to make a proposition; the two agree in sense. Instances of agreement. Water then remains the same, whether it is a subject or an object. Consequently the agreement is not in form, as there is no change of form to meet a change in sense. In sense, however, water in the former sentence is dependent on drinks. It is in fact that on which the action of the verb falls. Hence it is the thought you must consult to know whether a noun is or is not an object. This remark is necessary, because for want of inflexions ambiguity may arise, as in cases when the subject may become the object, and the object the subject; for instance, Subject. Object. The man strikes the boy. These two statements are the reverse of each other, and observe that the reversal is made by a mere change of position; man, which in the first sentence is the subject, becomes in the second sentence You thus learn how the object, by being put after the verb. important a part position plays in English grammar. In the instances here considered, the dependence is that of a noun on a verb. There is another kind of dependence; that of a noun on a preposition, as seen in the following sentence, The water is drunk by the man. Here the man is in sense dependent on the preposition by. Not only nouns but verbs also are dependent on prepositions; thus, The physician orders the man to drink water. where in sense, or logically, drink depends on to. The sentence presents a third case of dependence, for you see that the verb drink is in sense dependent on the verb orders. Position here, too, is of consequence, for the dependent verb drink comes after orders, and after to; in no way could drink precede to, and scarcely could orders follow drink. Instances of dependence may also be considered as instances of government. One word is said to be governed by another when the former is dependent on the latter; as The man drinks the water, Verbs of different kinds. The government of a noun by a verb takes place only when the verb is transitive. A transitive verb is a verb, the action of which passes from the subject to the object; thus in the sentence, The man drinks water, the act denoted by the word drinking passes directly from man to water. Verbs that have an object directly dependent on them are called transitive, that is, passing over (from Lat. trans over, and eo I go). Transitive verbs have for their opposite verbs intransitive, that is, verbs the action denoted by which does not extend to an object but remains confined to the subject. Sleeps, in the sentence, The man sleeps, a new term or two. You already know that the man is the subject to the verb is, but what is good? The word good is an adjective, or it may be called an attributive, because it assigns the attribute or quality of the noun man. This attribute is connected with the subject man by means of the verb is. A verb so connecting an attribute with a subject is called a copula, or link. And that copula in union with the attribute is termed the predicate. This name is given to the united copula and attribute, because when so united the predicate and copula predicate or declare something of the subject. These facts may be exhibited thus: In the second sentence you see drinks water, that is, a verb and its object, is the predicate, for it is they which there predicate or declare something of the subject. In the case of intransitive verbs, the predicate has no attribute as, A yet more abstract form of a simple sentence is found in this Here, however, where is is the predicate to the subject, the man. observe that the word is is employed in the sense of exists, and so is seen to belong to the general class of intransitive verbs. It may be added that the verb to be is sometimes called a substantive verb because it denotes existence in its most abstract form. I may subjoin here that intransitive verbs are also denominated neuter (neither) verbs, because they are properly neither active nor passive. LESSONS IN FRENCH.--No. LXXV. By Professor LOUIS FASQUELLE, LL.D. (1.) It is proper to repeat the personal pronouns je, tu, il, nous, ils, before every verb : * Je lis, j'écris, je me promène. I read, write, and walk. (3.) Remark: But if the verb in these persons of the imperative be used negatively, the pronouns will be placed according to Rule (1.): (2.) The omission of the pronouns je, tu, il, nous, vous, ils, Ne les voyez pas, do not see them. before the second or third verb of a sentence, is a matter of choice, and subject to the following restrictions: These pronouns must be repeated: 1. When the verbs are not in the same tense : Je prétends et je prétendrai toujours. I maintain and will always maintain. Si l'on vous propose de faire une Et ne me trouble pas par ces in- Ne leur parlez pas, do not speak to them. If they propose to you to commit a bad action, do it not. Dissipate thy grief, and trouble me not by these unworthy tears. (4.) 2nd Exception: With reflective verbs, when the régime 2. When the first verb is in the negative and the second in indirect✶ is a person, the pronoun representing it must follow the affirmative: Je ne plie pas et je romps. I do not bend and I break. 3. When the propositions are connected by conjunctions other than et, and; ou, or; ni, nor; mais, but:Nous détestons les méchants, fear them. We detest the wicked, because we parceque nous les craignons.. (3.) Although we would advise the student to follow the 1st rule of this section, particularly with regard to the pronouns je, tu, nous, vous, and thereby avoid all uncertainty, we give a few examples, where the pronouns after the first are Repeated. Je veux qu'on dise un jour aux Il fut des Juifs, il fut une insolente race. I wish that they may one day say to the frightened nations, there were Jews, there was an insolent race. Omitted. Il s'arrache les cheveux, se roule sur le sable, reproche aux Dieux leur rigueur, appelle en vain à son secours la cruelle mort. FénéLON. He (Telemachus) tears his hair, Il entend les soupirs de l'humble Juge tous les mortels avec d'egales Et du haut de son trône interroge The Eternal is his name, the world § 100.-PLACE OF PERSONAL PRONOuns used as the REGIMEN OF VERBS. (6.) When two imperatives, used affirmatively, are joined together by the conjunction et, the pronoun regimen of the second may be placed before it, or after it, as in English: After the Verb. Sortez et laissez-moi dormir. BOILEAU. March and follow us, at least, roi. RACINE. Cease, I tell you, and suffer me, Madam, to execute the commands of the king. Before the Verb. Leave me this chain, or deprive me of life. Vous attendez le roi; parlez et lui montrez, Contre le fils d'Hector tous les Grecs conjurés. RACINE. You expect the king; speak and depict to him all the Greeks conspiring against the son of Hector. (1.) The personal pronoun used as régime direct, (direct object or accusative) [§ 42, (4.)], and the pronoun used as régime indirect, (indirect object) with the preposition to, expressed or understood, in English, (dative of the Latin), [§ 42, (3.)] are § 101.-RESPECTIVE PLACE OF THE PRONOUNS WHEN in French placed before the verb : (1.) When two pronouns occur, one régime direct (accusaVous leur parlez, you speak to them.tive) and the other régime indirect (dative), the pronour. A ce prix je leur permets de régime indirect, if not in the third person singular or plural, must precede the pronoun régime direct: vivre. Il faut compter sur l'ingratitude Un fil t'arrête hélas, comme le des hommes, et ne laisser pas de moucheron Du bon Jean la Fontaine. AIMÈ MARTIN. Poor human science! a web stops thee, like the gnat of the good Jean La Fontaine. leur faire du bien. FénéLON. We should expect ingratitude from men, but not cease, on that account, to do them good. Il me le donnera. Il te le prêtera. Ils nous les montreront. Quand je puis obliger, ma joie est MME. DE MAINTENON, He will give it to me. He will lend it to thee. When I can oblige, my joy is great until they command me (i. e,, they enough, without my wishing to wait command it to me.) I repeat it to you; you om obtain the esteem of men only by real virtue. Object of the verb preceded in English by to, expressed or understood, the dative of the Latin. (3.) Remark: The reflective pronoun se, used as an indirect It is when we are far from our country that we feel, above all, the instinct which attaches us to it. All our days travel towards death, the last one arrives at it (reaches il). The things of the earth are not worth our attachment to them. 104.-PLACE OF EN AND Y. regimen, makes an exception to the above rule, as it takes pre-Rule (1.) § 100, for the personal pronouns. They are also sub(1.) The place of on and y is the same as that prescribed by cedence of the direct regimen : Si les hommes pensent mal les uns des autres, du moins ils ne se le disent pas. ANONYMOUS. If men think ill of each other, at least they do not say it to each other. ject to Exception (2.) and Remark (3.) of the same §. See examples above. (2.) En and y are always placed after the other pronouns régimes: Il nous en a parlé. Il lui en a dit quelque chose. Ne nous en parlez pas. Ne nous y renvoyez pas. He has spoken to us of it, Do not speak to us of it. I have referred him to it. (2.) The pronouns le nôtre, le vôtre [§ 34, (3.)], &c., unlike the adjectives notre, votre, &c., always take the circumflex accent: était très différente de la nôtre. VOLTAIRE. The music of the ancient Greeks was very different from ours. (3.) When the English possessit e pronouns, mine, thine, &c., come after the verb to be, they are often rendered into French by the indirect pronouns à moi, à toi : § 107.-THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN. (1.) The demonstrative pronouns [§ 36] can never be placed before nouns. They merely represent them :La meilleure leçon est celle des exemples. LA HARPE N'oublie jamais les bienfaits que tu as reçus; oublie promptement ceux que tu as accordés. BOISTE. The best lesson is that of examples. thou hast received; forget quickly Never forget the benefits which those which thou hast conferred. [§ 37, (2.)], are often used absolutely, not only in the nomina(2.) The pronouns celui, celle, ceux, celles, as has been said tive, but also in the régimes, direct and indirect. They have then the sense of he who, him whom, of whom; that which, of which. They apply, in this sense, as well to things as to per sons: LESSONS IN GEOLOGY.-No. XL. glacier makes, is marked by the distance to which enormous blocks of stone are carried, on its surface, in a given number of years. These blocks are so huge in size, and so remarkable in figure, that they cannot be confounded with other stones. By ON THE INFLUENCE OF ATMOSPHERIC AGENTS ON THE drawing a straight line from one of these blocks to either side § iii. EARTH'S CRUST. SECTION VII.-ON GLACIERS. of the cliffs of the valley, in a given year, and calculating the distance which they have gone downward in a future year, ON THEIR TRANSPORTING POWER, AND ITS RESULTS ON they mark the progress of the glacier as definitely as a log of floating wood tells the rapidity of a river. THE EARTH'S SURFACE. Fig. 90. The Glacier of Arolia, on each side Mont Collon, in the Valley of Erin. weathering, or have been brought down by avalanches from he higher flanks of the mountain. All these blocks and ridges nove downward with the glaciers, in the forms of lateral and edini moraines; which finally are deposited in one terminal oraine in the lower district where the glacier melts away. The progress, which the slow but irresistible motion of the stream of blocks in the course of years. When the ice is apparently stationary, immense heaps of debris accumulate on the surface of the glacier immediately at the base of cliffs on each side; but as the glacier advances, the entire accumulation is moved with it, until it deposits its charge in a terminal moraine. |