- Rambler. Example of the fingular: "Seneca Speaks in the natural and genuine language of a man of honour, when he declares, that were there no God to fee or punish vice, he would not commit it."-Guardian.

There are some nouns called nouns of multitude, which fignify many, and have the pronoun and verb agreeing with them, either in the fingular or plural number; but if they convey a plural idea, the verb and pronoun fhould be plural likewife; if they convey a fingular idea, the verb and pronoun fhould be fingular: as, "the affembly of the wicked have enclofed ine"-Pfalm xxii, 16. inftead of hath enclosed me.

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My people is foolish”—Jer. iv. 22. instead of are foolish.

Two or more fingular nouns, joined by copulative conjunctions, have the verbs, nouns, and pronouns agreeing with them in the plural number: as, "Shakespeare and Milton were the most eminent poets of the English nation.”

But fometimes the verb follows in the fingular number, and refers to each of the preceding nouns taken feparately; as, "fand, and falt, and a mass of iron is eafier to bear than a man without understanding."

Nouns of number, weight, and measure, are often used in the fingular form, when they are joined to numeral adjectives; though they denote plurality as, an hundred thousand, inftead of thousands; an hundred pound weight; fix foot; forty fathom.

Nouns, whether of the mafculine, feminine, or neuter gender, always govern the same gender in the pronoun: as, “I have a friend, who, because he knows his own fidelity and usefulness, is never willing to fink into a companion." "I have a wife, whose beauty first seduced me, and whose wit confirmed her conqueft."-Johnson's Rambler.

Every noun in the nominative cafe belongs to fome verb either expreffed or understood, except the cafe abfolute, as will be seen hereafter; and when an address is made to a perfon, called the vocative cafe. Thus in the answer to this question, Who conquered the Perfians? Alexander; that is, Alexander conquered them.

Every noun in the poffeffive cafe has also some noun belonging to it: as, St. Paul's, that is, St. Paul's Cathedral ; St. James's, St. James's Palace.

The noun has no different form in English for the ob jective cafe, though this cafe be founded in nature and grammar: as, "books can never teach the use of books."

The PRONOUN, being a fubftitute for the noun, must confequently have the fame nature, with regard to the government and agreement of nouns and verbs.

When two or more pronouns of the fingular number are joined together, to make the plural pronoun agree with them in perfon, the second perfon is preferred before the third, and the first perfon before both: as, he and you did as you were commanded; I, thou, and he loft our characters by it.

The neuter pronoun it is employed in a threefold fenfe : -firft, it expreffes the fubject of any difcourfe: as, it fo happened; who is it?-fecondly, the ftate of any perfon or thing: as, how is it with you ?-thirdly, the thing that is the caufe of any event: as, it was I that did it; it is these that corrupt the mind.

PRONOMINAL ADJECTIVES have fome fubftantive belonging to them, either expreffed or understood.

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The definitives this, that, in the plural thefe, thefe, muft always agree with their fubftantive in number: thus, By this means thou fhalt have no portion on this fide the river.” Ezra, iv. 16. "I have wept not this forty years." It should be thefe means; thefe forty years. Again, "They are these kind of gods which Horace mentions in his allegorical veffel."-Addifon's Dialogues, ii. on Medals. Here it should be thefe kinds, or this kind.

The relatives who, which, that, have no variation of gender, and therefore must agree with their antecedent in this refpect. For every relative must have a noun or pronoun, to which it refers, either expreffed or understood; which is therefore called its antecedent: as, "Who fteals my purse, fteals trash."-Shakespeare. That is, the man who steals my purfe, fteals trafh.

VOL. I.

E

Who

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Who is applied to perfons only, and is either mafculine or feminine; which is now applied to things only, and irrational animals; that is ufed both for perfons and things, but it fhould be confined to the latter, particularly in the folemni ftyle; what ftands for both the relative and the antecedent is, this is what was spoken of before; that is, the thing which was spoken of before.

The relative is the nominative cafe of the verb, when no other nominative comes between it and the verb; but if another nominative comes between it and the verb, the rela tive is governed according to the fenfe of the fentence, as, "the God who made me, whofe I am, and whom I ought to ferve." In the different members of this fentence, the relative in used in a different fenfe; in the first member it stands for the nominative cafe of the verb, having no other nominative cafe between it and the verb; in the second member it ftands for the poffeffive cafe; in the third member it reprefents the object.

Every relative is of the fame perfon with the antecedent to which it refers, and the verb must therefore agree with it: as, "I that (who) speak unto thee am he." John, iv. 22. “Thou that (who) dwelleft betwen the Cherubims." Pfalm lxxx. 1.

The relative is often omitted, and understood, without being expreffed; as, "the God I ferve;" that is, the God whom I ferve. The relative should seldom be omitted even in the familiar style, and never in the serious and folemn ftyles.

The proper use of the relative confifts in the property of prefenting the antecedent to the mind of the hearer or reader, without any ambiguity.

The diftributive pronominal adjectives each, every, either, always agree with the nouns, pronouns, and verbs in the fingular number only: as, "The king of Ifrael, and Jehofaphat the king of Judah, fat each (king) on his throne, having (both) put on their robes."-1 Kings, xxii. 10. "Every one

ught to cherish and encourage in himself this modefty and affurance I have here mentioned."-Spectator. Each figni

fies both taken diftinctly or feparately; either fignifies only the one or the other, taken disjunctively.

The ADJECTIVE, having no variation of number or gender, muft agree with its fubftantive.

The adjective is always placed immediately before the noun: as, a good man; except in the following inftances: first when something depends upon the adjective: as, "feed me with food convenient for me." Here the relative and the verb are understood: as, food that is convenient.-Secondly, when the adjective is emphatical: as, George the Third; St. John the Divine.-Thirdly, when the verb to be, or any auxiliary belonging to it, is placed between the adjective and the noun: as, "How beautiful are the tabernacles of the Lord of Hofts!" happy fhall he be.-Fourthly, when two or more adjectives belong to the fame noun: as, a general brave and skilful,"

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The article is placed moftly before the adjective, except the adjectives all, fuch, and many: as, all the men; fuch a man; many a man. Or when an adjective is joined to the adverbs so, as, how: as, not fo large a concern; as good a man; how fine a fight is this!

Every adjective has fome fubftantive belonging to it, either expreffed or understood: as, "the twelve," for the twelve apoftles.

Sometimes the adjective is used as a fubftantive, and has an adjective joined to it; as, the greatest evil, the chief good. At other times the fubftantive becomes an adjective, and has a fubftantive added to it, and linked to it by a mark of conjunction: as, animal-food, milk-diet.

The VERB, or attribute of a sentence, always agrees with the agent or nominative case.

For every verb, except the participle or the infinitive mode, bath a nominative cafe belonging to it, either expreffed or understood: as, awake, arife, or be for ever fallen;" that , awake ye, arife ye, &c. And when the verb is active, it hath, moreover, an objective case: as, “ God made man.” The nominative cafe in English is placed before the

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verb, and the objective cafe after the verb: except, first, when the agent or object is expreffed by a pronoun, in which cafe they are often reversed in their order: as, Whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."-Secondly, when the verb is neuter, the nominative cafe is fometimes placed after it: as, "prefently entered the troops."-Thirdly, when the adverb there is connected with the neuter verb: as, "there was a man in the land of Uz." Job, i. 1.-Fourthly, when the relatives are used, though in the objective case, they are always placed before the verb, as are also their compounds, whoever, whichever, &c. as, "whomsoever you choofe;" "this is he whom you feek."-Fifthly, when a fentence is interrogative, or when a question is asked, the nominative follows the principal verb, or the auxiliary: as, lovest thou me? or doft thou love me?-Sixthly, when the imperative mode is employed, or when any thing is commanded or requested to be done, the nominative cafe follows the verb or auxiliary: as, come thou here, or do thou come here; or the auxiliary let with the objective cafe is ufed: as, let me go; let us be gone.-Seventhly, when the conjunctions if or though, are omitted, the nominative cafe fometimes follows the auxiliary or the verb, and the verb is in the fubjunctive mode: as, "had he done this he had been right;" "fing The ever fo fweetly."

The neuter verb expreffing no action, but only a state or condition of being, it confequently can have no objective case expreffing the object of an action. Whenever a noun follows a neuter verb, it either expreffes the fame idea with the verb, or fome circumftance of the verb: a prepofition being understood as, to fight a duel; to ride a mile; that is, the space of a mile.

When the pronoun follows the neuter verb to be, it should always be in the nominative cafe: as, it was I; it was he. Except the verb be in the infinitive mode; as, it was thought to be him. Thus, "Whom fay ye that I am”—Matt. xiv. is improper; it ought to be, who fay ye, &c.

When a verb immediately follows another verb, the laft