GRAMMAR. 



bles us to state a greater variety of cir- 

 cumstances in connection with the ante- 

 cedent, and occasionally to state them 

 more forcibly. The relative is equiva- 

 lent to a personal pronoun with a con- 

 nective of general signification. We do 

 not mean to affirm, that in the original 

 signification that connective will be 

 found; but that such is the present force. 

 The dependent clause may be joined to 

 the principal, either by simple juxtaposi- 

 tion, or by means of a connecting parti- 

 cle, or lastly by a word including the 

 force of a connective particle. Instances 

 of the first are. The ship he commanded 

 was wrecked, and, The man that (i. e. 

 that man) loves wisdom shall find her: 

 in both of which the dependent clause is 

 connected in that natural manner, which 

 is frequently adopted in our simple lan- 

 guage to express connection in ideas; and 

 in the same manner the early Greek wri- 

 ters employ their definite article for their 

 relative. As an instance of the second kind 

 we may adduce this mode of expression ; 

 A man if he do not love truth cannot be 

 virtuous ; in which the dependent clause 

 is joined by a connective, though of a less 

 general kind than what is implied in the 

 relative. This last mode is the most ge- 

 neral, and on the whole the most useful, 

 because most generaland least ambigu- 

 ous. Without venturing to assert that 

 who essentially differs in its original sig- 

 nification from that, it certainly does now 

 include more signification ; and that ad- 

 ditional signification we think to be what 

 is expressed by and, so that, Every man 

 who loves truth hates falsehood, means, 

 Every man and he loves truth, hates 

 falsehood, i. e. as Mr. H. Tooke has shewn 

 us, Every man and (this circumstance) 

 he loves truth, &c. 



IV. Of the Verb. 



29. As we do not profess to consider 

 the theory of grammar in general, we have 

 not mucli occasion to enlarge respecting 

 this important sort of words ; for our lan- 

 guage, simple in most of its procedures, 

 is here almost at the verge of simplicity. 

 Some languages have a great variety of 

 changes in the form of the verb, to denote 

 the subject of affirmation, and the mode 

 and time in which the affirmation is to be 

 taken : we have only four, and of those 

 three are, to say the least, is no way ne- 

 cessary. We have already said enough 

 respecting the nature of the verb ( 10.) 

 to render it unnecessary to. recur again to 

 ihat point, and we shall here direct the 



VOL. VI. 



attention of our readers to the modes of 

 signification assumed by the English verb; 

 only repeating, that the verb is a word, 

 which, when preceded by a noun or pro- 

 noun, or by what may be represented by 

 it, expresses affirmation. In English and 

 in other languages, words appropriated 

 to express affirmation are often used with- 

 out any such force : in such cases it might 

 in some respects be more scientific to 

 cease to give them the appellation of 

 verbs, but it would be inconvenient in 

 practice, and we prefer speaking of them 

 as in the noun-state of the verb ; so in the 

 expressions, Eat this, and He dares not 

 eat it, eat is in the noun-state. 



30. To denote that a name was appro- 

 priated to be used as a verb, our ances- 

 tors added a distinguishing termination, 

 like all other common terminations, al- 

 most certainly significant in its original 

 state. Why that was dropped does not 

 appear: but since it was dropped, the 

 verb in many instances ceases to have any 

 thing in its form to distinguish it from the 

 noun, and in a great variety of instances 

 it is used exactly as a noun. It is true, 

 it is generally, when in the noun-state, 

 preceded by the particle to ; but in most 

 instances to is used in its most customary 

 sense, and in the few instances in which 

 it stems to have merely the force of the 

 Anglo-Saxon termination, it has a sense 

 equally accordant with the original force 

 of the word. Mr. H. Tooke has shewn 

 that to (as well as do, which is certainly 

 the same word,) is a particle of a Gothic 

 substantive, signify ing art, effect, and we 

 presume object / now when we say, I am 

 going to walk, to shows that walk (which 

 is still the name of an action) is the object 

 of my going: but when we say, To walk 

 is healthful, to designates the word fol- 

 lowing as the name of an action, and the 

 expression means the act (viz.) -walk is 

 healthful. We must, however, admit, that 

 the use of to before the noun state of verbs 

 does not seem to be in every case consist- 

 ent with its meaning ; but such cases may 

 fairly be referred to the general tendency 

 there is to lose sight of the original force 

 of words, in the stress laid on them in 

 particular cases, or in the mode of their 

 employment in particular cases ; and 

 hence by degrees to extend the employ- 

 ment of them to similar cases, without re- 

 ference to their primary signification. 



3 1 . The infinitive mood, as it is common- 

 ly called, is the verb, divested of its pe- 

 culiar force, viz. of affirmation, and un- 

 compounded with those words which ren- 

 der it expressive of person, number, &c. 



