THE IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Walk home.

There is one more relation requiring to be expressed, that of commanding actions. This gives rise to an Imperative or Commanding Mood; which however, in English, only has a second singular and second plural; as

Walk. 2nd Sing. Walk. 2nd plur.

A command to a third person or persons is conveyed in English by the formula, 'Let him, or them, do so and so.'

Rules.

The Verb is said to be in a Mood, when it shows the manner in which action or existence is viewed.

The Moods are, the Indicative or Fact-Mood, which states a thing as a positive fact; as, 'He goes.'

The Conjunctive Mood, which represents the notions of supposition, uncertainty, or dependence, with respect to the thing spoken of; as, 'Were he to go.'

The Imperative, which commands; as, 'Go.'

The verbal Substantive also is said to be a Mood, the Infinitive Mood; as, 'To go.'

In discussing the English auxiliary verbs of mood, it is well to recollect that the actual meaning of all these verbs in the indicative mood is a mental impression or decision; in other words, that even as indicatives they represent mood-senses in some degree. Whilst this makes it somewhat difficult at times to distinguish the auxiliary and original senses, it leaves the simple principle very plain, that in no instance where the structure and idea of the sentence does not require the conjunctive mood, ought they to be considered as auxiliaries. But when the sense without doubt is non-fact and imaginative, as in many conditional sentences and others, nothing is gained by calling the verbs indicative; they represent a different sort of thought, just as much as formal moods do. On the other hand, it seems foolish in a language like English, which as much as possible does away with

these non-fact and uncertain verb statements, to call any verbs conjunctive because other languages better provided with moods and different in genius are in the habit of expressing subtleties of mood distinction in such cases by verbs of mood. For instance, in the sentence, 'Why should the poor be flattered?' the clause should stands thus really, 'You say the poor

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ought to be flattered tell me why.' Just as in the sentence, 'Why are the poor not flattered?' it stands, 'You say the poor are not flattered;' or, 'The poor are not flattered-tell me why.' In both cases the verb is indicative, 'should' as much as 'are.' And it does not matter that in Latin the sayings or thoughts of others are always put in the conjunctive mood. The genius of the English language is different.

OF VOICE.

I am loved.

Rules.

A verb is said to be in a Voice when it shows whether one acts or is acted on. There are two voices. These voices are called the Active Voice, and the Passive Voice, or Voice of Endurance.

There is no formal passive voice in English.

There is a necessity for expressing not only what we do, but also what is done to others or ourselves.

In some languages, the verb expresses both these distinctions formally throughout all its tenses and moods, and is then said to be in the active voice, when it expresses acting on others; and to be in the passive, or enduring voice, when it expresses being acted on by others. There is no formal passive voice in English, though there is one passive word, the passive participle; as, 'loved.' This necessity finds expression through auxiliary verbs joined to the passive participle; as, 'I am loved,' &c. The words ought to be accounted for separately, and then, if it is required, the whole expression may be thus summed up, 'I am loved.' Combination representing present tense, passive voice,

These

1st person, singular number, of the verb 'to love.' combinations however require no new rules, but follow all the laws of the simple verbs.

The Present Passive.

It will be found on examination, that the combination which has been called the Present Tense Passive, is only a present tense as far as telling the present state of a completed action. But where it is necessary to express the strictly present sense of the state of an action going on, it gives us no assistance. To meet this difficulty, the English language either employs the round-about combination of the participle of the auxiliary verb ‘to be,' with the passive participle; as, 'The house is being built,' an expression which, in reality, declares that a thing is going on, and finished at the same time; or else it makes the present participle active serve in a passive sense: as, 'The house is building,'' Corn is selling,' 'Lodgings are letting.'

This however is a colloquialism, though found in literature, e. g. Macaulay's Hist. of England, i. 238, ' While innocent blood was shedding under the forms of justice, the new parliament met.' Ib. 307, 'Chelsea Hospital was building?'

Ib. 666, 'While the foulest judicial murder which had disgraced even those times was perpetrating, a tempest burst forth.'

THE INTERJECTION.

Ah! Alas!

The Interjection, or thing thrown in, that is, an exclamation of surprise, sorrow, joy, &c. thrown suddenly into a sentence, as 'ah,' 'alas,' is sometimes called a part of speech. Interjections generally do not affect the construction, but sometimes they act as case-links or prepositions, and should then be called Interjectional Case-links; as, 'Ah me.' Sometimes they have clauses dependent on them; as, 'O that my prayers could such affection move;' in which instances they act as verbs.

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THE COMPOUND SENTENCE.

Of man's first disobedience, &c.

Sing heavenly muse, who, &c.

We have thus gone through all the parts of speech which, as single words in simple sentences, represent what passes in the mind. These parts of speech represent every class of notion that can exist; therefore if notions are not expressed by single words, these expressions, whatever be their form, must be considered as representing some part of speech or other: just as a pronoun stands in the place of a noun.

Now in examining words, we found only the more common relations expressed by a change of form: for it is the frequency of the relation to be expressed that gives rise to such a change in a word, and no other necessity. Now the same principle extends to the parts of speech themselves. Single words, as compared with combinations of words, are somewhat like changes of form, they only express the most frequent notions; whilst facts innumerable, things, qualities, &c., are expressed by combinations of words; and these combinations are often complete sentences in themselves. Thus it is possible for a sentence to consist of many clauses, each clause representing some part of speech, and each, as far as construction goes, a sentence in itself. And such a compound sentence cannot be considered as mastered till every such clause is resolved into the part of speech it represents, whether substantive, adjective, adverb, or &c., and is stated as a substantival, adjectival, verbal, adverbial, or interjectional clause. Let us examine on this principle the first ten lines of Milton's Paradise Lost:

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste

Brought death into the world, and all our woe,

With loss of Eden, till one greater Man

Restore us and regain the blissful seat,

Sing, heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire

That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning how the heavens and earth
Rose out of Chaos.

qualifying
'shepherd.