But though thefe degrees are infinite or indefinite in fact, they cannot be fo in language; nor would it be convenient, if language were to exprefs many of them. In regard to unmeafured quantities and qualities, the degrees of more and lefs, (befides those marked above,) may be expreffed intelligibly, at least, if not accurately, by certain adverbs, or words of like import: as, "Socrates was much wiser than Alcibiades ;" "Snow is a great deal whiter than this paper;""Epaminondas was by far the most accomplished of the Thebans ;" "The evening ftar is a very fplendid object, but the fun is incomparably more fplendid;""The Deity is infinitely greater than the greatest of his creatures." The inaccuracy of these, and the like expreffions, is not a material inconvenience; and, though it were, it is unavoidable: for human fpeech can only express human thought; and where thought is neceffarily inaccurate, language must be fo too.

When the word very, exceedingly, or any other of fimilar import, is put before the pofitive, it is called by fome writers the fuperlative of eminence, to distinguish it from the other fuperlative, which has been already mentioned, and is called the fuperlative of comparifon. Thus very eloquent, is termed the fuperlative of eminence; moft eloquent, the fuperlative of comparison. In the fuperlative of eminence, fomething of comparison is, however, remotely or indirectly intimated; for we cannot reasonably call a man very eloquent, without comparing his eloquence with the eloquence of other men.

The comparative may be fo employed, as to exprefs the fame pre-eminence or inferiority as the fuperlative. Thus, the fentence, "Of all acquirements, virtue is the most valuable," conveys the same sentiment as the following; "Virtue is more valuable than every other acquirement."

CHAPTER VI.

Of VERBS.

SECT. 1. Of the nature of Verbs in general.

A VERB is a word which fignifies to BE, to Do, or to SUFFER; as, I am, I rule, I am ruled.”

Verbs are of three kinds; ACTIVE, PASSIVE, They are alfo divided into REGU

and NEUTER.

LAR, IRREGULAR, and DEFECTIVE.

A Verb Active expreffes an action, and neceffarily implies an agent, and an object acted upon : as, to love; "I love Penelope."

A Verb Paffive expreffes a paffion or a fuffering, or the receiving of an action; and neceffarily implies an object acted upon, and an agent by which it is acted upon: as, to be loved; "Penelope is loved by me."

A Verb Neuter expreffes neither action nor paffion, but being, or a ftate of being: as, "I am, I fleep, I fit."*

The verb active is alfo called tranfitive, because the action paffes over to the object, or has an effect upon fome other thing: as, "The tutor instructs his pupils ;" "I efteem the man."

Verbs neuter may properly be denominated intranfitives, because the effect is confined within the subject, and

Verbs have been distinguished by some writers, into the following kinds. Ift. Active-tranfitive, or thofe which denote an action that passes from the agent to fome object: as, Cæfar conquered Pompey.

2d. Active-intranfitive, or thofe which exprefs that kind of action, which has no effect upon any thing beyond the agent himself: as Cæfar walked.

3d. Pafive, or those which exprefs, not action, but paffion, whether pleafing or painful: as, Portia was loved; Pompey was conquered. 4th. Neuter, or those which express an attribute that confists neither in action nor paffion: as, Cæfar ftood.

This appears to be an orderly arrangement. But if the class of active-intranfitive verbs were admitted, it would rather perplex than aflift the learner: for the difference between verbs active and neuter, as tranfitive and intranfitive, is eafy and obvious; but the difference between verbs abfolutely neuter and intranfitively active, is not always clear. It is, indeed, often very difficult to be ascertained.

does not pass over to any object: as, "I fit, he lives, they fleep."

Some of the verbs that are ufually ranked among neuters, make a near approach to the nature of a verb active, but they may be distinguished from it by their being intranfitive: as, to run, to walk, to fly, &c. The rest are more obviously neuter, and more clearly expreffive of a middle state between action and paffion: as, to stand, to lie, to fleep, &c.

In English, many verbs are used both in an active and a neuter fignification, the conftruction only determining of which kind they are: as, to flatten, fignifying to make even or level, is a verb active; but when it fignifies to grow dull or infipid, it is a verb neuter.

A neuter verb, by the addition of a prepofition, may become a compound active verb. To fmile is a neuter verb it cannot, therefore, be followed by an objective cafe, nor be conftrued as a paffive verb. We cannot say, fbe fmiled him, or, he was fmiled. But to fmile on being a compound active verb, we properly fay, he smiled on him; he was fmiled on by fortune in every undertaking.

Auxiliary or helping Verbs, are thofe by the help of which the English verbs are principally conjugated. They are, do, be, have, fhall, will may, can, with their variations; and let and muft, which have no variation.*

In our definition of the verb, as a part of speech which fignifies to be, to do, or to fuffer, &c. we have included every thing, either exprefsly or by neceffary confequence, that is effential to its nature, and nothing that is not effential to it. This definition is warranted by the authority of Dr. Lowth, and of many other refpectable writers on grammar. There are, however, fome grammarians, who confider affertion as the effence of the verb. But as the

Let, as a principal verb, has letteft and letteth; but as a helping verb it admits of no variation.

participle and the infinitive, if included in it, would prove infuperable objections to their scheme, they have, without hesitation, denied the former a place in the verb, and declared the latter to be merely an abstract noun. This appears to be going rather too far in fupport of an hypothefis. It feems to be incumbent on these grammarians, to reject also the imperative mood. What part of fpeech would they make the verbs in the following fentence?" Depart inftantly improve your time : forgive us our fins." Will it be faid, that the verbs in these phrases are affertions?

In reply to these questions, it has been faid, that " Depart inftantly," is an expreffion equivalent to, "I defire you to depart inftantly;" and that as the latter phrafe implies affirmation or affertion, fo does the former. But, fuppofing the phrafes to be exactly alike in fenfe, the reafoning is not conclufive. 1ft. In the latter phrafe, the only part implying affirmation, is, "I defire." The words "to depart, are in the infinitive mood, and contain no affertion they affirm nothing. 2d. The pofition is not tenable, that "Equivalence in fenfe implies fimilarity in grammatical nature." It proves too much, and therefore nothing. This mode of reafoning would confound the acknowledged grammatical diftinction of words. A pronoun, on this principle, may be proved to be a noun; a noun, a verb; an adverb, a noun and prepofition; the fuperlative degree, the comparative; the imperative mood, the indicative; the future tenfe, the prefent; and fo on : because they may refpectively be refolved into fimilar meanings. Thus, in the fentence, "I defire you to depart," the words to depart, may be called a noun, because they are equivalent in sense to the noun departure, in the following fentence, "I defire your departure." The words "Depart inftantly," may be proved to be, not the imperative mood with an adverb, but the indicative and infinitive, with a noun and prepofition; for they are equivalent to "I defire you to depart in an inftant." The Superlative degree in this fentence, "Of all acquirements virtue is the most valuable," may pafs for the comparative, because it conveys the fame fentiment as, "Virtue is more valuable than every other acquirement."

We shall not purfue this fubject any further, as the reader must be satisfied, that only the word defire, in the equivalent fentence, implies affirmation; and that one. phrafe may, in fenfe, be equivalent to another, though its grammatical nature is effentially different.

To verbs belong NUMBER, PERSON, MOOD and

TENSE.

SECT. 2. Of Number and Perfon.

Verbs have two numbers, the Singular and the Plural: as, I run, we run," &c.

In each number there are three perfons; as,

Thus the verb, in fome parts of it, varies its endings, to exprefs, or agree with, different perfons of the fame number: as, "I love, thou lovest; he loveth, or loves :" and also to exprefs different numbers of the fame perfon : as, "thou lovefl, ye love; he loveth, they love." In the plural number of the verb, there is no variation of ending to express the different perfons; and the verb, in the three perfons plural, is the fame as it is in the first perfon fingular. Yet this fcanty provifion of terminations is fufficient for all the purposes of difcourfe, and no ambiguity arifes from it: the verb being always attended, either with the noun exprefsing the fubject acting or acted upon, or with the pronoun reprefenting it. For this reafon, the plural termination in en, they loven, they weren, formerly in ufe, was laid afide as unneceffary, and has long been obfolete.

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