[It follows from what has been said, that the Numeratives do not form of themselves a distinct class of words; but that they belong to the class of Nouns or of Adjectives, according to the genius of different languages.]

a relative man

ner.

Use of words in WE are often obliged to unite several words in an absolute and order fully to express the idea of the thing of which we are speaking. If I say “give me a horse," the word "horse" of itself fully expresses the thing of which I speak; but, when I say "give me a horse of pasteboard," I unite the idea of a "horse" to that of " pasteboard," that I may make the representation of the thing I speak of, complete. If some one should ask me, "what are you doing?” I might answer, "I am writing;" and this single word would give him an idea of the action about which I was employed: but if I wished to give him a more definite knowledge of what I was doing, I might say, "I am writing a lesson in Grammar;" he would then know, not merely that I was writing, but that I was writing a lesson, and that this lesson was a lesson in Grammar. In the first case, when I use but a single word to paint the idea of a thing or an action, this word is used in an absolute manner; when the principal word which characterizes the thing or action is followed by one or more nouns which are related to it and modify the principal idea, this word is two Nouns; and yet, by a very remarkable singularity, there exists between them and the thing numbered, an agreement of genders similar to that which exists in some languages (the French, for instance) between the Noun and the Adjective; so that their form is varied according as the thing numbered is of the masculine or feminine gender.

employed in a relative manner. In the example “Give me a horse," the noun "horse" is employed in an absolute manner; in the example "Give me a horse of pasteboard," the same word "horse" is employed in a relative manner, and the noun with which it is in relation is "pasteboard." In the example "I am writing," the verb "to write" is employed in an absolute manner; in the other example, "I am writing a lesson in Grammar," the same verb, "to write," is employed in a relative manner, and the noun with which it is in relation is lesson; but this latter noun itself is employed in a relative manner, and the noun with which it is in relation is "Gram

mar."

The relation between two words is not always the same. Thus between the words "I am" and "water," there may be a great number of different relations, as, "I am in the water," "I am upon the water," "I am under the water," "I am before the water," "I am behind the water," "I am near the water." To express these different relations we must employ in discourse different signs.

These relations are denoted sometimes merely by the places which the words occupy in a proposition; sometimes by the different terminations which are given to the same word; sometimes, finally, by certain words placed between the word which is employed in a relative manner and that which is in relation with it. These words are called Prepositions, from a Latin word which signifies "to place before," because that in Latin, as in English, they are placed before the noun which completes the relation.

In these words, " a horse of pasteboard," the nouns "horse" and "pasteboard" are in relation with each other, and the

* In some other languages, in the Turkish, Basque, and Greenlandish, for example, these words are placed after the consequent term; hence we cannot properly give them the name of Prepositions.

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nature of this relation is determined by the Preposition "of." In the other example, "I am writing a lesson in Grammar,” the verb "I am writing" and the noun a lesson" are in relation, and this relation is denoted by the place which the noun occupies immediately after the verb. The noun "lesson," moreover, is in relation with the noun "Grammar," and the nature of this relation is determined by the Preposition "in." Lastly, in all the examples, "I am in the water," "I am upon the water," "I am under the water," "I am before the water," "I am behind the water," "I am near the water," the verb "I am" and the noun "water' are in relation; but the nature of each of these different relations is determined by the several Prepositions "in," "upon," "under," before," "behind,” “near."

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A relation.

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A relation always supposes two things; these two things are called the two terms of the relation; the first is called the Antecedent, the second the Consequent. In these words, a horse of pasteboard," the two terms of the relation are "horse" and "pasteboard;" ""horse" is the Antecedent, and "pasteboard" the Consequent. The PrepoExponent of a sition which is employed to point out the nature of the relation which exists between the two terms,

relation.

is called the Exponent.*

In this sentence, "Moses gave the law of God to the Jewish people," there are three relations. The first has for its Antecedent term "gave," and for its Consequent term "the law."

The second has for its Antecedent "the law," and for its Consequent "God."

The third has for its Antecedent "gave," and for its Consequent "the Jewish people."

*This denomination is borrowed from Arithmetic. In that science, the Exponent is that number which expresses the relation existing between two other numbers. Three is the exponent of the relation of twelve to four.

In the first relation there is no Exponent.

In the second the Exponent is the Preposition" of."
In the third the Exponent is the Preposition" to."

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The same word which serves as the Consequent term to one relation, may serve at the some time as Antecedent to another. Of this, we have seen an example in the proposition, "I am writing a lesson in Grammar," where the word "lesson" serves at once as Consequent to "I am writing," and Antecedent to "Grammar." In this example, " I have bought a table of mahogany," we find the two following relations: first relation, Antecedent, “I have bought,” Consequent, a table;" second relation Antecedent, a table," Consequent," mahogany;" we see that the word table serves at the same time as Consequent to the first relation, and Antecedent to the second.

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[If the example previously given, "Moses gave the law of God to the Jewish people," were translated into Latin, we should have," Moïses dedit legem Dei populo Judaïco.”

The first relation has for its Antecedent term " dedit,” and for its Consequent "legem."

The second has for its Antecedent "legem," and for its Consequent" Dei."

The third has for its Antecedent" dedit," and for its Consequent “populo Judaïco."]

Cases.

Each of these relations has its Exponent; but this Exponent is not, as in English, a separate word; in the first, it is the final em of the word " legem;" in the second, the final i of the word " Dei ;" in the third the final o of the words "populo Judaico." These terminations are what are called Cases. We shall consider this subject further hereafter.

In a great many languages, both in those which admit Cases, as the Turkish, Basque, etc. and in those which do not admit them, as the Persian, the relation between two nouns is

denoted by placing the Consequent term immediately before the Antecedent, and making, as it were, but a single word; this may even take place in regard to several nouns forming different successive relations. Thus in the Basque language, instead of saying: "The ornaments of the altars of the churches of the Indies," they express themselves in a manner nearly equivalent to the following: "Indies-churches-altarsornaments. The Consequent term of a relation may also be called the Complement. If the nature of the relation is determined by a Preposition, the Consequent term of this relation is the Complement of the Preposition; if there is no Preposition, the Consequent term is the immediate Complement of the Antecedent.

CHAPTER X.

OF THE ADVERB.

THERE is no relation which may not be expressed by a Preposition followed by its Complement, or by an immediate Complement; but it is sometimes the case that instead of employing a Preposition and its Complement, we make use of a single word which combines at once the signification of both. Thus, instead of saying," to live in tranquillity," "to walk with slowness," "to write with rapidity," "to speak

* In this case the denominations Antecedent and Consequent would seem to be contradictory to the order of the words; but they preserve their propriety in relation to the order of the ideas. In the example cited from the Basque language, it is the idea of the ornaments which first presents itself to the mind and which is modified by the idea of the altars, as this in its turn is modified by the idea of the churches, and the idea of the churches by that of the Indies.

The use of our Possessive Case is somewhat similar. Thus we sayGod's house," instead of "the house of God.”—TR.