REGIMEN. 



tonncd, it is the opinion ot foaie giammarians, tlir.t it would 

 be better to avoid the iifc ot" it altogether, and to give the 

 ieuiiraent another form ot expieiiion. 



io. Ailive verbs govern the objeftive (or accufative) cal'e, 

 as " Virtue rewards lier followers." In Englifli, the 

 nominative cafe, denoting the fubject, ufiially goes be- 

 fore the verb ; and the objedive cafe, denoting the objeft, 

 follows the verb attive ; and it is this order that determines 

 the cafe in nouns ; as, " Alexander conquered the Periians :" 

 but the pronoun having a proper form for each of thofe cafes, 

 is fometimes, when it is in the objeaive cafe, placed before 

 the verb ; and when it is in the nominative cafe, follows the 

 objed and verb ; as " -whom ye ignorantly worlhip, /jim de- 

 clare I unto you." Verbs neuter do not act upon, or go- 

 vern, nouns and pronouns. Part of a fentence, as well as a 

 noun or pronoun, may be faid to be in the objedtive cafe, 

 or to be put objectively, governed by the aftive verb ; and 

 fentenccs or phrafes under this circumftance may be termed 

 " objedive fentences or phrafes." The verb to be, through 

 all its variations, has the fame cafe after it as that which 

 next precedes it ; fo that this fubllantive verb has no govern- 

 ment, or cafe, but ferves, in all its forms, as a condudor to 

 the two cafes, infomuch that the two cafes which, in the 

 conftrudion of the fentence, are the next before and after it, 

 nmfl always be alike. Pafiive verbs which fignify naming, 

 and others of a funilar nature, have the fame cafe before and 

 after tht-m ; as " he was called Cafiir." It is evident alfo, 

 tliat certain other neuter verbs, befides the verb to he, require 

 the fame cafe, whether it be the nominative or the objedive, 

 before and after them ; fuch verbs are, to become, to wan- 

 der, to go, to return, to appear, to die, to live, to look, to 

 grow, to feem, to roam, and feveral others. The auxiliary 

 let governs the objedive cafe ; as " let him beware." 



11. One verb governs another that follows it, or depends 

 upon it, in the infinitive mood ; as, " ceafe to do evil," 

 " learn to do well ;" and the prepofition to, though generally 

 ufed before the latter verb, is fometimes properly omitted ; 

 as " I heard him fay it," inllead of " to fay it." This irre- 

 gularity extends only to adive or neuter verbs : for many 

 other verbs, when made pafTive, require the prepofition to 

 before the following verb ; as " He was feeu to go." The 

 infinitive is frequently governed by adjedives, fubftan- 

 tives, and participles ; and this mood has much of the 

 nature of a fubllantive, exprefhng the. adion itfelf which 

 the verb fignifies, as the participle has the nature of an 

 •adjedivc, fo that the infinitive mood does the ofhce of a 

 fubftantivc, in different cafes, as in the nominative, " to 

 flay is plcafant," and in the objedive, " boys love to 

 play." The infinitive mood is often made abfolute, or ufed 

 independently on the reft of the fentence, fupplying the 

 place of the conjundion that witli the potential mood, as 

 " to confefs the truth, I was in fault ." The prepofition to, 

 iiguifying in order to, was anciently preceded by for, as 

 " what went ye out for to fee ;" but the word for before 

 the infinitive, is now, in almoll every cafe, obfolete. 



12. In the ufe of words and phrafes which, with re- 

 fped to time, relate to each other, a due regard to that rela- 

 tion fhould be obfcrved. Thus, inilead of faying, " the 

 Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away," we fhould 

 fay, " the Lord ga-vc, and the Lord hath taken away." To 

 preferve confiflency in the time of verbs, and alfo of v.'ords 

 and phrafes, fays Mr. L. Murray, in his excellent treatifc 

 on Grammar, we inuit. recoiled that, in the lubjundive 



' mood, the prefent and the imperfed tenfes often cr.rry with 

 them a future feiife ; and that the auxiliaries jljtdd ar.d 

 luould, in the imperfed time, are ufed to exprefs the pre- 

 fent and future, as well as the palL With rcgavcj to verbs 



in the infinitive mood, fays the fame popular author, thr 

 pradice of many writers, among whom are foine of the moll 

 refpcdable, appears to be erroneous. They feem not to 

 advert to tlie true principles which influence the dif- 

 ferent tenfes of this mood. The following rules will, 

 according to our author's judgment, be found pcrfpicuous 

 and accurate. " Ail verbs exprellive of hope, defire, in- 

 tention, or command, mull invariably be followed by the 

 prefent, and not the perfect of the infinitive." Inllead of 

 the phrafe, " the lafl week I intended to have -written," 

 though common, the infinitive being in the pafl time, as well 

 as the verb whicli it follows, it ought to be, "the laft week 

 I intended to write :" for how long foever it now ie fince I 

 thought of writing, " to WTite" was then prefent to me, and 

 mult flill be confidered as prefent, when I bring back that time, 

 and the thoughts of it. Some writers on grammar, however, 

 maintain that the former fentence is corredt and gramma- 

 tical, becaufc, as they aflert, it fimj)ly denotes the (peaker's 

 intention to be hereafter in poffeflion of the finifhed 

 adion of writing ; but this reafoning admits of the fol- 

 lowing anfwcrs, according to the flatement of Mr. Mur. 

 ray. The phrafe " to have written" is, in Englifh gram- 

 mars, the eflablifhed pafl tenfe of the infinitive mood, and 

 as incontrovertibly the pafl tenfe of the infinitive in Eng- 

 lifli, as feripfiffe is the paft tenfe of the infinitive in 

 Latin ; nor can any writers be warranted in taking fuch 

 liberties with the language, as to contradid its plainefl 

 rules, for the fake of fupporting an liypothefis. Moreover, 

 thefe writers might, on their own principles, and with equal 

 propriety, contend, that the phrafe " I intended having 

 ivritteti," is proper and grammatical ; but by admitting fucfi 

 violations of eflablifhed grammatical diflindlions, coiifufion 

 would be introduced, the language would be diforganized, 

 and the mofl eccentric fyflems of grammar might be ad- 

 vanced, and plaufibly fupported. In fhort, fays our author, 

 the phrafe " I intended to have written," appears to involve 

 the following abfurdity ; " I intended to produce hereafter 

 an adion or event, which has been already completed." Some 

 may haflily infer from the rule above ftated, and from the 

 near relation between the verbs to defire, and to iiiifh, that 

 the latter verb, like the former, muft invariably be followed 

 by the prefent of the infinitive. But when any one confi- 

 ders, that the ad of dejiring always refers to the future, and 

 that the ad of ivijliing refers fometimes to the pafl, as well 

 as fometimes to the future, he will perceive the diflindion 

 between them, and that, confequently, the following modes 

 of exprefiion are flridly juflifiable : " I wifhed that I had 

 written fooner," " I wifhed to kaxe ivritlen fooner ;" and he 

 will be perfeftly fatisfied, that the following phrafes muft 

 be improper : " I defired that I had written fooner," " I 

 defired to have written fooner." Mr. Murray, having con- 

 fidered ar.d explained the fpecial rule, refpeding the govern- 

 ment of verbs, expreffivc ot hope, defire, intention, or com- 

 n-.and, proceeds to flate and elucidate the general rule, on 

 the fubjed of verbs in the infinitive mood. " This rule," he 

 fays, " is founded on the authority of Harris, Lowth, Camp- 

 bell, Pickbourr, &c.; and we think, too, on the authority 

 of rcafcn and common feiife. " When the adion or event, 

 fignified by a verb in the infinitive mood, is contemporary or 

 future, with refped to the verb to which it is chiefly related, 

 the prefent of the infinitive is required ; when it is not con- 

 temporary, nor future, the perfedt of the infinitive is necef- 

 fary." To comprehend and apply this rule, the fludent has 

 only to confider, whether the infinitive verb refers to a tim.e 

 antecedent, contemporary, or future, with regard to the go- 

 verning or related verb. When this fimple point is alcer- 

 tained, there will be no doubt in his mind, rc(peding the 



form 



