5. My uncle, with his wife, is in town. 6. Charles and Emma are good scholars. 7. Charles, together with his sister Emma, is studying botany. 8. The crime, not the scaffold, makes the shame. 9. The ambition and avarice of man are the sources of his unhappiness. 10. Fire of imagination, strength of mind, and firmness of soul are gifts of nature. 11. Each battle sees the other's umbered face. 12. A coach and six is, in our time, never seen, except as a part of some pageant. 211. Subjects Connected by "Or" or "Nor." Rule XV.—A verb, with two or more subjects in the singular, connected by or or nor, must be singular. Rem. 1.-When the subjects are of different persons or numbers, the verb must agree with the nearest, unless another be the principal term; as, "Neither you nor I am to blame;" "Neither you nor he is in his place." Rem. 2.—When two or more infinitives, or substantive clauses, are connected by or or nor, the verb must be singular, and a predicate nominative, following the verb, must be singular also; as, "Why we are thus detained, or why we receive no intelligence from home, is mysterious;" "To be, or not to be, that is the question." Rem. 3.—When the subjects are singular, but of different genders, the verb is singular, relating to them taken separately; but a pronoun may be plural, relating to them taken conjointly; as, "Mary or her sister has lost their umbrella"-the umbrella being theirs by joint ownership. To be corrected. EXERCISES. 1. Has the horses or the cattle been found? 2. Were the boy or the girl badly bruised? 3. The ax or the hammer were lost. 4. Poverty or misfortune have been his lot. 5. Neither the horse nor the wagon are worth much. 6. Either you or I are to blame. 7. Neither the mule nor the horses is found. 8. He comes-nor want nor cold his course delay. 9. Neither avarice nor pleasure move me. 10. A lucky anecdote, or an enlivening tale, relieve the folio page. 11. Not the Mogul, or Czar of Muscovy, Not Prester John, or Cham of Tartary, Are in their houses monarchs more than I. To be parsed. 1. To give an affront, or to take one tamely, is no mark of a great mind. 2. Neither he nor she has spoken to him. 3. To reveal secrets, or to betray one's friends, is contemptible perfidy. 4. Either ability or inclination was wanting. 6. Neither poverty nor 5. Hatred or revenge deserves censure. riches is desirable. 7. The vanity, the ambition, or the pride of some men keeps them always in trouble. 8. Emma or Jane has lost her dictionary. 9. The breezy call of incense-breathing morn, 10. The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed, No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.-Gray. From the high host Of stars to the lulled lake, and mountain coast, All is concentered in a life intense, Where not a beam, nor air, nor leaf is lost.-Byron. 11. Time, nor Eternity, hath seen A repetition of delight In all its phases; ne'er hath been For men or angels that which is. 212. Infinitives. Rule XVI.—An infinitive may be used as a noun in any case except the possessive. Rem. 1. -An infinitive represents being, action, or state al· stractly. It is the mere verb, without limitation. As such, it may be used, 1. As the subject of a proposition; as, "To err is human." 2. As the predicate of a proposition; as, "To obey is to enjoy." 3. As the object of a transitive verb or of its participles; as, "He loves to play,;" "He is trying to learn." 4. In apposition with a noun; as, "Time to come is called future." 5. Abstractly, or independently; as, "To tell the truth, I was inattentive." Rem. 2.—The infinitive always retains its verbal signification. Hence, as a noun, it may be limited by a predicate adjective or predicate nominative, and, as a verb, be followed by an object, or modified by an adverb; as, "To spend money recklessly is criminal." Rem. 3.—The sign to should never be separated from the rest of the infinitive. "To correctly report a speech is difficult," should be "To report a speech correctly is difficult." Rem. 4.—The preposition for should not be used immediately before the infinitive. "I study for to learn," should be "I study to learn." Rem. 5.—The sign to should never be used alone. "I never told a lie, and never intend to," should be "I never told a lie, and never intend to do so." Rem. 6.-After the verbs bid, dare (venture), hear, feel, let, make, need, see, in the active voice, and let, in the passive, the sign to is generally omitted; as, “He bade him depart," "I saw him fall." The sign to is sometimes omitted after several other verbs. Rem. 7.-Verbs expressing hope, expectation, command, intention, &c., require the present infinitive after them; as, "I hoped to see you;" "I intended to call for you;" "He expected to see you yesterday." To be corrected. EXERCISES. 1. What came ye out for to see? 2. I never voted that ticket, and never intend to. 3. To greedily eat one's dinner is illmannered. 4. I dared him come to me. 5. He durst not to leave his room. 6. I saw him to write on his slate. 7. I have known him to frequently be tardy. 8. He made his horses to go very fast. 9. He needs study more carefully. 10. He need not to remain long. 11. He intended to have written to you. 12. They had hoped to have seen you before they left. To be parsed. 1. To do right, is to do that which is ordered to be done. 2. To die is to be banished from myself. 3. To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. 4. It is our duty to try, and our determination to succeed. 5. He had dared to think for himself. 6. She shall rejoice in time to come. 7. It is the curse of kings to be attended By slaves that take their humors for a warrant To understand a law.-Shakspeare. 8. Have ye brave sons? Look in the next fierce brawl 213. Infinitives not used as Nouns. Rule XVII.—An infinitive not used as a noun, depends upon the word it limits, or which leads to its use. Rem. 1.-An infinitive may depend upon, 1. A noun; as, "Flee from the wrath to come." 2. A pronoun; as, "I heard him declaim.” 3. A verb; as, "He went to see the show." 4. An adjective; as, "The gods are hard to reconcile." 5. A participle; as, "The rain threatening to fall, we left." 6. An adverb; as, "He told me when to come.” Rem. 2. The sign to is sometimes improperly omitted; as, "Please excuse James for absence." Supply to before "excuse." Rem. 3.—The infinitive is often understood; as, "I considered him [to be] honest." Rem. 4.-The sign to may be omitted before all but the first of two or more infinitives in the same construction; as, "They tried to cheat, rob, and murder me." To be parsed. EXERCISES. 1. I come not here to talk. 2. I can not see to spin my flax. 3. In sooth, deceit maketh no mortal gay. 4. I saw along the winter snow a spectral column pour. 5. Let the great world spin forever down the ringing grooves of change. 6. He lived to die, and died to live. 7. It is a brave thing to understand something of what we see. 8. It is better to fight for the good than to rail at the ill. 9. Let us be content in work, To do the thing we can, and not presume To fret because it's little. 10. One day with life and heart, Is more than time enough to find a world. 12. Learn well to know how much need not be known, 13. Let him not violate kind nature's laws, 14. But own man born to live as well as die. The blood more stirs To rouse a lion than to start a hare. 15. He that lacks time to mourn lacks time to mend. 214. Adverbs. Rule XVIII.-Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, participles, and adverbs. Rem. 1.—Adverbs sometimes modify phrases and entire propositions; as, "He lives just over the hill;" "Verily, ye are the people." Rem. 2.-Adverbs are frequently used as expletives; as, "Well, that is a strange story;" "There, now, you have said enough." Rem. 3.—The adverbs yes, no, aye, yea, and nay, are generally answers to questions, and are equivalent to a whole sentence. They are then used independently, or modify the sentences preceding or following them. Ex.—“Are you angry?—No." "Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord;" "Nay; but it is really true." Bem. 4.-Two contradictory negatives in the same clause are H. G. 17. |