190 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOR 



present. In order thus to measure to the eye the interval the 

 voice is taking, our pupil must not be constantly looking from 

 the book to the modulator, and from the modulator to the book. 

 He must first learn a few notes of his tune "by heart," and 

 then sing them from the modulator alone ; and so on till he can 

 point the whole tune from memory, and without the book. 

 Thus, if he is learning Exercise 5, let him just read and repeat | 

 to himself " DOH, son, ME, DOH," several times over. Then let 

 him, laying aside his book, turn to the modulator, and sing 

 these notes while he points to them. Next, let him learn to 

 "point and sing," without book, the phrase "ME, ME, DOH," 

 in the same manner, and after that the whole exercise. Very 

 extensive experience in teaching has made us feel increasingly 

 the importance of requiring the pupils thus to " see," and 

 themselves point out the intervals they sing on a perfect scale 

 like the modulator. 



Of the two other difficulties of students we must speak in 

 another lesson. 



LESSONS IN" LATIN. XIX. 



THE LATIN VEEB. 



IN form, the Latin verb has two chief divisions 1, active; 2, 

 passive. Thus, laudo is I praise, in the active voice, and laudor, 

 J am praised, in the passive voice. There are some verbs which, 

 though passive in form, are active in signification ; as hortor, 

 I encourage. The ending in i shows that hortor is of the passive ! 

 form. This form the verb, so to say, lays down, or lays aside, ! 

 and hence it is called deponent (from de, down, and pono, I 

 put). Deponent verbs, then, are verbs which, disregarding the 

 claims of their form, have an active import, just as if they were 

 active in form. As these verbs have an active meaning, their ] 

 j)ast participle has an active meaning : thus, hortatus, the past 

 participle of hortor, is not being encouraged, but having en- 

 couraged. This past participle joins with parts of the verb 

 sum, J am, to form the perfect tense : thus, hortatus sum means 

 I have encouraged. There are deponent verbs in all four con- 

 jugations. 



The tenses of the verb in Latin are pretty much the same aa 

 in other languages. Thus we have PRESENT, amo, I love, or I 

 am loving; IMPERFECT, amabam, I was loving, or I did love; 

 PERFECT, amavi, I loved, or I have loved; PLUPERFECT, ama- 

 veram, I had loved; FIRST FUTURE, amabo, I shall or will love; 

 SECOND FUTURE, amavero, J shall have loved. 



The present tense denotes either an action continued in the 

 present time, or an habitual action. The imperfect tense denotes 

 an action continued in past time. The perfect tense has two 

 meanings < first, it signifies an action done and completed in 

 past time indefinitely, and from the period in past time being 

 indefinite or undefined, it is called an aorist, or is said to have 

 an aorist import (aorist is a Greek word, denotes a tense of 

 the Greek verb, and signifies undefined or indeterminate) ; in the 

 second place, the perfect tense indicates an action which in 

 itself, or in its consequences, continues from the past to the 

 present, being somewhat the same as our phrase, I have dined 

 that is, I have just dined ; in contradistinction to the aorist I 

 dined that is, yesterday, or some time in the past. 



The Latin has three moods, the indicative, or the mood of 

 reality, the mood of simple statement ; the subjunctive, or mood 

 of dependence ; and the imperative, or mood of command. Mood 

 is a Latin word (modus), signifying measure or manner. It is 

 found in the French term mode, sometimes used in English. 

 The term mood, therefore, denotes the modes or manners in 

 which a statement is made. All propositions may be reduced 

 to two general classes ; they are either independent or dependent. 

 The independent are in the indicative mood ; that is, the mood 

 which simply indicates or points out. The dependent are in the 

 subjunctive. The word subjunctive (Latin, sub, under or to, and 

 jungo, I join) signifies that which is subjoined; that which is 

 connected in the way of dependence. The subjunctive mood, 

 consequently, is the mood which is dependent on the indicative. 

 The imperative mood, though differing in form from the other 

 two, may logically be considered as a subdivision under the sub- 

 junctive. How closely the subjunctive and the imperative are 

 allied, may be seen in the fact that the subjunctive is often used 

 for the imperative ; it is so used when a kind of softened com- 

 mand is desired. In the older Latin grammars, you will find 



the potential mood, and even the optative mood ; but these are 

 mere figments ; they have no corresponding reality in the lan- 

 guage. Another form of the verb has a better claim to be 

 termed a mood ; I allude to what is called the infinitive, as 

 legere, to read. This, however, might probably be more rightly 

 described as the verb in its abstract form. If, however, it is 

 acknowledged to be a mood, then we must say that the Latins 

 have four moods, the indicative, the subjunctive, the imperative, 

 and the infinitive. The infinitive, however, must stand in the 

 class of dependent, modes of utterance, since it makes no sense 

 unless when joined to a verb in another mood. Thus, vult 

 legere, lie ivishes to read. Here legere has meaning by being 

 united with vult. Vult is said to be a finite word, as legere is 

 said to be an infinitive ; finite and infinitive are the opposites 

 of each other. The two words come from the same Latin word 

 finis, end or limit; the former, therefore, means the limited; 

 the latter, having the prefix, in, not, means the unlimited ; that 

 is, the definite and the indefinite mood. 



Another form in which the verb appears is the participle. In 

 Latin there are four participles; 1, the active, ending in ns, as 

 amans, loving ; 2, the passive, ending in tus, as amatus, loved; 

 3, the future, ending in rus, as amaturus, about to love; and 4, 

 the corresponding passive participle, which ends in dus, as 

 amandus, to be loved that is, he who ought to be loved. The 

 usages connected with these participles will be set forth here- 

 after. The Latins have no active participle of past time ; they 

 cannot by means of a participle say having loved. But the 

 past participles of their deponent verbs have an active signifi- 

 cation, since the verbs themselves have an active signification ; 

 thus, hortatus means having exhorted. 



Connected in form with the passive participle in dus, is what 

 in Latin is called the gerund; as, amandum, which wears the 

 appearance of being the neuter singular of the participle 

 amandus. The gerund exists in the nominative as amandum, 

 in the genitive as amandi, and in the dative and ablative as 

 amando. It is not easy to set forth the distinctive meaning 

 of the gerund in one English term. Its proper and full force 

 must be learnt in reading Latin prose. I place before yon a 

 few instances of its use. 



Scribendum est, one must write. 

 Scribendi ars, the art of writing. 

 Scribendo aptus est, he is ready at writing. 

 Inter scribendum, during writing. 

 Scribendo exerceor, I am exercised in writing. 



Hence, you see that the gerund denotes under certain circum- 

 stances the whole act implied in the verb, as here the act of 

 writing. Yet is it nearly connected in meaning as in form with 

 participles. Similar, indeed, is the case with our word writing ; 

 and generally our active participles in ing, besides having a 

 participial force, assume now a verbal, and now a substantive 

 force ; a verbal, as in writing the letter, say, etc. that is, ivhile 

 you write, or when you write ; a substantive force, as, the writing 

 is bad. 



As in form the gerund, so also the supine is peculiar to the 

 Latin tongue. There are two supines, one ending in um, as 

 amatum, in order to love; the other ending in u, as amatu, to 

 love or to be loved; the former is called the first or active supine; 

 the latter, the second or passive supine. The former is used after 

 verbs of motion ; the latter is used after certain adjectives ; 

 thus: 



SUPINES. 



1st. Venio rogatum, I come in order to ask. 



2nd. Jucunda auditu, pleasant to hear or to be hearo,. 



You may see here an illustration of the propriety of my ques- 

 tioning whether the infinitive should be designated a mood. 

 If it is a mood, is not the supine equally a mood ? And if you 

 admit the claims of the supine, can you deny the claims of the 

 gerund ? But if the gerund is a mood, equally is the participle 

 a mood. Properly there can be no mode or manner of utterance 

 where there is not a complete utterance ; that is to say, moods 

 imply propositions, for without a proposition there is no mood. 

 If so, the infinitive can be called a mood only by some latitude 

 of expression. 



These, then, are the forms of the verb which you have to 

 understand, to recognise, to construe, to form, and to employ in 

 Latin. I will here recapitulate them : 



