placed in immediate dependence on an other verb, may also be governed by several different prepositions, (as à, de, pour, sans, après,) according to the sense.* In Spanish and Italian, the construction is similar. In Latin and Greek, the infinitive is, for the most part, dependent on an other verb. But, according to the grammars, it may stand for a noun in all the six cases; and many have called it an indeclinable noun. See the Port Royal Latin and Greek Grammars; in which several peculiar constructions of the infin itive, are referred to the government of a preposition. OBS. 4.-Though the infinitive is commonly made an adjunct to some finite verb, yet may be joined to almost all the other parts of speech, or to an other infinitive; as, 1. To a noun; as, "He had leave to go." 2. To an adjective; as, "We were anxious to see you." 3. To a pronoun; as, "I discovered him to be a scholar." 4. To a verb in the infinitive; as, "To cease to do evil." 5. To a participle; as, "Endeavouring to escape, he fell." 6. To an adverb; as, "She is old enough to go to school." 7. To a conjunction; as, "He knows better than to trust you." 8. To a preposition; as, "I was about to write."-Rev. x. 4. 9. To an interjection; (by ellipsis ;) as, "O to forget her!"-Young. OBS. 5.-The infinitive is the mere verb, without affirmation; and, in some respects, resembles a noun. It may stand for 1. A subject; as, "To steal is sinful." 2. A predicate; as, "To enjoy is to obey."-Pope. 3. A purpose, or an end; as, "He's gone to do it."-Edgeworth. 4. An employment; as, "He loves to ride." 5. A cause; as, "I rejoice to hear it." 6. A coming event; as, "A structure soon to fall."-Cowper. 7. A term of comparison; as, "He was so much affected as to weep." OES. 6.-Anciently, the infinitive was sometimes preceded by for as well as to; as, "I went up to Jerusalem for to worship."-Acts, xxiv. 11. "What went ye out for to see?"-Luke, vii. 26. "Learn skilfullie how "Each grain for to laie by itself on a mow."-Tusser. Modern usage rejects the former preposition. OBS. 7.-The infinitive sometimes depends on a verb understood; as, "To be candid with you, [I confess] I was in fault." Some grammarians have erroneously taught that the infinitive in such sentences is put abso lute. OBS. 8.-The infinitive, or a phrase of which the infinitive is a part, being introduced apparently as the subject of a verb, but superseded by some other word, is put absolute, or left unconnected by pleonasm; as, "To be, or not to be-that is the question.”—Shakspeare. OBS. 9.-The infinitive of the verb be, is often understood; as, I suppose it [to be] necessary." [See Obs. 2d on Rule xxiv.] OBS. 10. The infinitive usually follows the word on which it depends; but this order is sometimes reversed; as, "To catch your vivid scenes, too gross her hand."-Thomson. * "La préposition, est un mot indéclinable, placé devant les noms, les pronoms, et les verbes, qu'elle régit.-The preposition is an indeclinable word placed before the nouns, pronouns, and verbs, which it governs."-Perrin's Grammar, p. 152. "Every verb placed immediately after an other verb, or after a preposition, ought to be put in the infinitive; because it is then the regimen of the verb or preposition which precedes."-Gram. des Gram, par Girault Du Vivier, p. 774. FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XXIII. Ought these things be tolerated? [Not proper, because the infinitive be tolerated, is not preceded by the preposition to. But, according to Rule 23d, "The preposition to governs the infinitive mood, and commonly connects it to a finite verb." Therefore, to should be inserted; thus, Ought these things to be tolerated ?] Please excuse my son's absence. RULE XXIV.-INFINITIVES. The active verbs bid, dare, feel, hear, let, make, need, see, and their participles, take the Infinitive after them, without the preposition To: as, "If he bade thee depart. how darest thou stay?" OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XXIV. OBS. 1.—The preposition is almost always employed after the passive form of these verbs, and in some instances after the active: as, "He was heard to say."-"I cannot see to do it."-"What would dare to molest him who might call, on every side, to thousands enriched by his bounty ?"-Dr. Johnson. OBS. 2.-The auxiliary be of the passive infinitive is also suppressed, after feel, hear, make, and see; as, “I heard the letter read"—not, "be read." FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XXIV. They need not to call upon her. [Not proper, because the preposition to is inserted before call, which follows the active verb need. But, according to Rule 24th, "The active verbs bid, dare, feel, hear, let, make, need, see, and their participles, take the infinitive after them, without the preposition to." Therefore to should be omitted; thus, They need not call upon her.] I felt a chilling sensation to creep over me. I have heard him to mention the subject. Let no rash promise to be made. We sometimes see bad men to be honoured. A good reader will make himself to be distinctly heard. RULE XXV.-NOM. ABSOLUTE. A noun or a pronoun is put absolute in the nominative, when its case depends on no other word: as, " He failing, who shall meet success?"-"Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever?"-Zech. i. 5. "This said, he form'd thee, Adam! thee, O man! Dust of the ground!”—Milton. OBSERVATIONS ON RULE XXV. OBS. 1.-In parsing the nominative absolute, tell how it put so, whether with a participle, by direct address, by pleonasm, or by exclamation; for a noun or a pronoun is put absolute in the nominative, under the following four circumstances: 1. When, with a participle, it is used to express a cause, or a concomitan fact; as, "Thou looking on, Shame to be overcome or overreach'd, Would utmost vigor raise.”—Milton. 2. When, by direct address, it is put in the second person, and set off from the verb by a comma; as, "At length, Seged, reflect and be wise." Dr. Johnson. 3. When, by pleonasm, it is introduced abruptly for the sake of emphasis; as, "He that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him."-" Gad, a troop shall overcome him."-Gen. xlix. 19. "The north and the south, thou hast created them."-Psalm, lxxxix. 12. [See the figure Pleonasm, in PART IV.] 4. When, by mere exclamation, it is used without address, and without other words expressed or implied to give it construction; as, "Oh! deep enchanting prelude to repose, The dawn of bliss, the twilight of our woes!"-Campbell. OBS. 2.-The nominative put absolute with a participle, is equivalent to a dependent clause commencing with when, while, if, since, or because; as, I being a child,"-equal to, "When I was a child." " OBS. 3.-The participle being is often understood after nouns or pronouns put absolute; as, "Alike in ignorance, his reason [-] such, Whether he thinks too little or too much."-Pope. OBS. 4.—All nouns in the second person are either put absolute, according to Rule 25th, or in apposition with their own pronouns placed before them, according to Rule 3d: as, "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders."-Acts. Peace! minion, peace! it boots not me to hear The selfish counsel of you hangers-on."—Author. OBS. 5.-Nouns preceded by an article, are almost always in the third person; and, in exclamatory phrases, such nouns sometimes appear to have no determinable construction; as, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God."-Rom. xi. 33. The OBS. 6.-The case of nouns used in exclamations, or in mottoes and abbreviated sayings, often depends, or may be conceived to depend, on something understood; and, when their construction can be satisfactorily explained on the principle of ellipsis, they are not put absolute. following examples may perhaps be resolved in this manner, though the expressions will lose much of their vivacity: "A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!"-Shak. 66 Heaps upon heaps"-" Skin for skin". "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth"-" Day after day"-" World without end."-Bible. FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XXV. Him having ended his discourse, the assembly dispersed. [Not proper, because the pronoun him, whose case depends on no other word, is in the objective case. But, according to Rule 25th, "A noun or a pronoun is put absolute in the nominative, when its case depends on no other word." Therefore, him should be he; thus, He having ended his dis course, the assembly dispersed.] Me being young, they deceived me. Thee being present, he would not tell what he knew. Oh happy us! surrounded thus with blessings -Murray. But him, the chieftain of them all, Her quick relapsing to her former state, RULE XXVI. SUBJUNCTIVES. A future contingency is best expressed by a verb in the Subjunctive present; and a mere supposition with indefinite time, by a verb in the Subjunctive imperfect but a conditional circumstance assumed as a fact, requires the Indicative mood: as, "If thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever."-"If it were not so, I would have told you."" If thou went, nothing would be gained."— "Though he is poor, he is contented." NOTES TO RULE XXVI. NOTE I.-In connecting words that express time, the order and fitness of time should be observed. Thus: in stead of, "I have seen him last week," say, "I saw him last week;" and in stead of, "I saw him this week," say, "I have seen him this week." NOTE II-Verbs of commanding, desiring, expecting, hoping, intending, permitting, and some others, in all their tenses, refer to actions or events, relatively present or future: one should therefore say, "I hoped you would come"—not, “would have come;" and, "I intended to do it"-not, "to have done it;" &c. NOTE III-Propositions that are at all times equally true or false should generally be expressed in the present tense; as "He seemed hardly to know, that two and two make four"-not, "made." FALSE SYNTAX UNDER RULE XXVI. Examples under the first clause of Rule 26. He will not be pardoned, unless he repents. [Not proper, because the verb repents, which is used to express a future contingency, is in the indicative mood. But, according to the first clause of Rule 26th," future contingency is best expressed by a verb in the subjunctive present." Therefore, repents should be repent; thus, He will not be pardoned, unless he repent.] He will maintain his cause, though he loses his estate. I shall walk out in the afternoon, unless it rains. Let him take heed lest he falls. On condition that he comes, I consent to stay. Take heed that thou speakest not to Jacob. Watch the door of thy lips, lest thou utterest folly. Under the second clause of Rule 26. And so would I, if I was he. [Not proper, because the verb was, which is used to express a mere supposition, with indefinite time, is in the indicative mood. But, according to the second clause of Rule 26th, "A mere supposition, with indefinite time, is best expressed by a verb in the subjunctive imperfect." Therefore, wa should be were; thus, And so would I, if I were he.] If I was to write, he would not regard it. Though thou sheddest thy blood in the cause, it would but prove thee sincerely a fool. If thou lovedst him, there would be more evidence of it. If he was an impostor, he must have been detected. O that there was yet a day to redress thy wrongs! Under the last clause of Rule 26. If he know the way, he does not need a guide. [Not proper, because the verb know, which is used to express a conditional circumstance assumed as a fact, is in the subjunctive mood. But, according to the last clause of Rule 26th, "A conditional circumstance |