rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him ;""Though he were dead, yet shall he live again."

Note I. The sign of the condition is sometimes omitted; as, "Were he to read hard for the next six months, he would probably be admitted to the bar."

It must be remembered, however, that conjunctions like those quoted above do not govern the Subjunctive Mode because they are conditional, but because, in the particular condition which they accompany, there is an element of uncertainty. See § 262.

EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXII.

THE SUBJUNCTIVE MODE.

RULE XXXII.- -a. With whom, if he come shortly, I will see you. C. S.

b. Except I be by Silvia in the night, there is no music in the nightingale. C. S.

C.

Revenge back on itself recoils;

Let it; I reck not, so it light well aimed. C. S.

d. They deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers, that it move not. C. S.

e. If this be law (which it is for you this day to decide), such a man has no trial. C. S.

Note I.-a. Were he to confess his fault, he would be forgiven. C. S.

b. Were he ten times the villain that he is, he would still find supporters. C. S.

C.

Were death denied, poor man would live in vain;

Were death denied, to him would not be life;

Were death denied, even fools would wish to die.-YOUNG.

SYNTAX OF TENSES.

§ 392. To express the different relations of Time, the appropriate tenses of the verb should be carefully employed. See § 253.

1. The Past improperly used for the Present Tense: "A stranger to the poem would not easily discover that this was (is) verse;" "He announced to the world that air was (is) elastic."

2. The Present Perfect improperly used for the Past: "The Lord hath given (gave) and the Lord hath taken away;" "I have seen (saw) the coronation at Westminster last summer."

3. The Present improperly used for the Present Perfect: “They continue (have continued) with me three days."

4. The Past improperly used for the Past Perfect: "They arrived (had arrived) before we reached the city."

5. The Future improperly used for the Future Perfect; "The workmen will finish (will have finished) the business at midsummer."

6. The Present Perfect improperly used for the Present: "All the present family have been (are) much indebted to their great and honorable ancestor."

7. The Past improperly used for the Present Perfect: "This curious

piece of workmanship was preserved and shown (has been preserved and shown) to strangers for more than fifty years."

8. The auxiliary should is improperly used for would; as, 66 On the morrow, because he should have known (would know) the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews."

9. The Indicative Present is correctly used after the words when, till, before, as soon as, after, to express the relative time of a Future action; as, "When the mail arrives he will come."

10. The Infinitive Present Perfect is incorrectly used for the Present; as, "The last work I intended to have written (to write).”

11. When a verb in the Present Perfect tense is preceded by when, as soon as, before, till, or after, it performs the office of the Future Perfect; as, "Before he has been there, I shall arrive."

"There is something peculiar in the use of the Preterit tense. Take the following case: A servant calls on me for a book; if I am uncertain whether I have it or not, I answer, ‘If the book be in my library, or if I have the book, your master is welcome to it; but if I am certain that I have not the book, I say, 'If the book were in my library, or if I had the book, it should be at your master's service.' Here it is obvious that when we use the Present tense it implies uncertainty of the fact, and when we use the Preterit it implies a negation of its existence. Thus, also, a person at night would say to his friend, 'If it rain you shall not go,' being uncertain at the time whether it did or did not rain; but if, on looking out, he perceived it did not rain, he would then say, 'If it rained you should not go,' intimating that it did not rain.”—WEBSTER'S Dissertations, p. 263.

EXERCISES UNDER § 392.

THE TENSES.

1. a. If my readers will turn their thoughts back on their old friends, they will find it difficult to call a single man to remembrance who appeared to know that life was short till he was about to lose it. F. S. b. A cursory perusal would not enable you to discover that this was a poem. F. S.

2. I assure you I have seen the king last summer. F. S.

3. I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me three days. F. S.

4. He that was dead sat up and began to speak. F. S.
5. John will earn his wages when his service is completed.

F. S.

6. I have now been writing to my friend whom I wish to see. F. S.

7. This relic was carefully preserved these ten years. F. S.

8. Because he should have known the reason of his condemnation, he made the inquiry. F. S.

9. I shall wait in New York until my friend comes. C. S.
10. a. I intended last year to have visited you. F. S.
b. I expected to have plowed my land last week. F. S.
11. As soon as he comes I will invite him home. C. S.

SYNTAX OF PARTICIPLES.

§ 393. RULE XXXIII.-Participles belong to sub

stantives; as, "He, watching the coming storm, prepared to meet it;""The risen sun has scattered the collected clouds;" "Having slept during the night, the traveler went on his way. When used in this way, the participle is an adjective, expressing an attribute, though it differs from the adjective in expressing time.

Like adjectives, participles belong to sentences and parts of sentences. A participle with the prefix un often becomes an adjective; as, unbidden. If the verb also has the prefix, the participle retains the quality of a verb, instead of becoming an adjective; as, unfolding, from unfold. Many words originally participles have in use become adjectives; as, “Writing paper;" "looking glass."

Note I.-The Present and the Compound participles of Transitive verbs in the active voice govern the objective case; as, "He was striking him ;" "Having struck him, he proceeded to other acts of violence." In cases like these, the participle performs one of the offices of the verb, as well as that of an adjective.

EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXIII.

PARTICIPLES.

RULE XXXIII..-a. He, loving his work, performed it successfully. C. S.

b. Loved and admired by his friends, he fell a sacrifice to inordinate ambition. C. S.

c. Having lost his health, he was obliged to relinquish his profession. C. S.

d. Rasing, like Shakspeare's pirate, the eighth commandment from the Decalogue, the minstrels praised their chieftains for the very exploits against which the laws of the country denounced a capital doom.-WALTER SCOTT. C. S.

Note I.-a. Esteeming themselves wise, they become fools. C. S. b. After defeating his army, he took possession of the kingdom. C. S.

c. Having studied law at Litchfield, he devoted himself to his profession in his native state. C. S.

PARTICIPLES.

§ 394. RULE XXXIV.-The Present and the Compound Participles of Transitive and of Intransitive verbs, like nouns, are put in the Nominative case, or in the Objective case, or govern the Possessive case; as, "The

reading of the report occupied an hour;" "Writing requires more effort than talking;" "Its excesses may be restrained without destroying its existence;" "He was displeased with the king's having disposed of the office, or with his having bestowed it upon an unworthy man ;' "This did not prevent John's being acknowledged and solemnly inaugurated Duke of Normandy.'

When the present participle is preceded by a or the, it always takes the character of a Noun, and is generally followed by the preposition of; as, "We are expecting a rising of the people;" "The middle station of life seems to be advantageously situated for the gaining of wisdom."

Without the article preceding it, this participle becomes a noun in certain constructions; as, "Rising early is healthy;" "This is the advantage of early rising."

The forms by sending them, by the sending of them, are preferable to the forms by sending of them, by the sending them; though these latter are frequently met with in the language.

The form what do you think of my horse's running to-day? is a correct form of expression, rather than the form what do you think of my horse running to-day?

Note I.-The present participles of Transitive verbs are not unfrequently used in the Passive sense; as, "The nation had cried out loudly against the crime while it was committing."-BOLINGBROKE on History, Letter 8. "My Lives are reprinting."—Dr. JOHNSON. "The house is building."

If we use the phrase "the house is building," we speak of it as a thing, from its very nature, not acting itself, and we use the term building as expressive of a passive progressive condition of the house. If we say the "men are building," we then have active instruments, and the term building is an active participle, requiring to be followed by a noun; as, "Building a wall, a castle.'

Expressions like the following have for some years been stealing into the language: "While the house was being burned," instead of "while the house was burning:" "while the battle was being fought," instead of "while the battle was fought." Some expressions like these are awkward, and difficult to be dealt with. Is not better to say, "He will find the house will be building," than to say, "He will find the house will be being built?" Is it not better to say, "I knew the house to be building," than to say, "I knew the house to be being built ?"

These expressions are not yet sanctioned by the highest authority. On the other hand, the best writers of the present time use expressions like "is making," "is doing," instead of "is being made," "is being done." The analogous use of verbs in the active form with a passive meaning we have in the following expressions: "The verses you sent me read well;" "you will easily find a house to let." See § 385.

Note II. A participle is sometimes used absolutely, without any noun, pronoun, or sentence on which it depends; as, "It is not possible to act otherwise, considering the weakness of our nature;" Generally speaking, the heir at law is not bound by the will of the testator."

Note III.-The Past participle and the Preterit are sometimes indiscriminately used: Thus, begun is improperly used for the preterit began, and the preterit spoke is improperly used for the past participle spoken.

EXERCISES UNDER RULE XXXIV.

PARTICIPLES.

RULE XXXIV.— -a. Ambition often puts men upon doing the meanest offices: so climbing is performed in the same posture as creeping. -SWIFT. C. S.

b. The enjoying of the goods of fortune is more coveted than the winning of them. C. S.

c. The public were dissatisfied with the President for having bestowed offices upon mere party grounds. C. S.

d. The period of Napoleon's leading an army into Italy has already been described. C. S.

e. The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes. C. S.

Note I.-a. When in New York, I saw Trinity Church while it was building. C. S.

b. In three months from this date the City Hall will be being built. F. S.

c. The house has been being built for nine months. F. S.

Note II.-a. The articles of this charge, considering by whom it was brought, were not of so high a nature as was to be expected. C. S.

b. Speaking generally of that generation of authors, it may be said that, as poets, they had no force or greatness of fancy, no pathos, no enthusiasm ; and as philosophers, no comprehensiveness, depth, or originality. Lord JEFFREY. C. S.

Note III.-C.

From liberty each noble science sprung,

A Bacon brightened and a Spenser sung. F. S. b. Philosophers have often mistook the true source of happiness. F. S.

CERTAIN USES OF THE VERB.

§ 395. 1. He Is DRINKING, indicates a Present action; he drinks, may indicate a habit. He drinks wine at dinner, means that he does so habitually; while he is drinking wine at dinner, confines the act to a particular occasion.

2. DOEST is a form which occurs when the verb is used as a principal; DOST, when it is used as an auxiliary: “Which doest great things past finding out;" "He loves not plays as thou dost."