Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/441



LESSON I.--PARSING.

"In all gratifications, disgust ever lies nearest to the highest pleasures; and therefore let us not marvel, if this is peculiarly the case in eloquence. By glancing at either poets or orators, we may easily satisfy ourselves, that neither a poem nor an oration which aims continually at what is fine, showy, and sparkling, can please us long. Wherefore, though we may wish for the frequent praise of having expressed ourselves well and properly, we should not covet repeated applause for being bright and splendid."--CICERO, de Oratore.

"The foundation of eloquence, as well as of every other high attainment, is practical wisdom. For it happens in oratory, as in life, that nothing is more difficult, than to discern what is proper and becoming. Through lack of such discernment, gross faults are very often committed. For neither to all ranks, fortunes, and ages, nor to every time, place, and auditory, can the same style either of language or of sentiment be adapted. In every part of a discourse, as in every part of life, we must consider what is suitable and decent; and this must be determined with reference both to the matter in question, and to the personal character of those who speak and those who hear."--CICERO, Orator ad Brutum.

"So spake th' Omnipotent, and with his words   All seem'd well pleas'd; all seem'd, but were not all."--Milton.

LESSON II.--PARSING.

"A square, though not more regular than a hexagon or an octagon, is more beautiful than either: for what reason, but that a square is more simple, and the attention is less divided?"--''Kames, El. of Crit.'', i, 175.

"We see the material universe in motion; but matter is inert; and, so far as we know, nothing can move it but mind: therefore God is a spirit. We do not mean that his nature is the same as that of our soul; for it is infinitely more excellent. But we mean, that he possesses intelligence and active power in supreme perfection; and, as these qualities do not belong to matter, which is neither active nor intelligent, we must refer them to that which is not matter, but mind."--Beattie's Moral Science, p. 210.

"Men are generally permitted to publish books, and contradict others, and even themselves, as they please, with as little danger of being confuted, as of being understood."--Boyle.

"Common reports, if ridiculous rather than dangerous, are best refuted by neglect."--Kames's Thinking, p. 76. "No man is so foolish, but that he may give good counsel at a time; no man so wise, but he may err, if he take no counsel but his own."--Ib., p. 97.

"Young heads are giddy, and young hearts are warm,   And make mistakes for manhood to reform."--Cowper.

LESSON III.--PARSING.

"The Nouns denote substances, and those either natural, artificial, or abstract. They moreover denote things either general, or special, or particular. The Pronouns, their substitutes, are either prepositive, or subjunctive."--Harris's Hermes, p. 85.

"In a thought, generally speaking, there is at least one capital object considered as acting or as suffering. This object is expressed by a substantive noun: its action is expressed by an active verb; and the thing affected by the action is expressed by an other substantive noun: its suffering, or passive state, is expressed by a passive verb; and the thing that acts upon it, by a substantive noun. Beside these, which are the capital parts of a sentence, or period, there are generally underparts; each of the substantives, as well as the verb, may be qualified: time, place, purpose, motive, means, instrument, and a thousand other circumstances, may be necessary to complete the thought."--''Kames, El. of Crit.'', ii, 34.

"Yet those whom pride and dullness join to blind,   To narrow cares and narrow space confined,    Though with big titles each his fellow greets,    Are but to wits, as scavengers to streets."--Mallet.