One beats the bush, and another catches the bird.

Old Proverb.

Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,
Some in their wealth, some in their body's force.

Avoid extremes, and shun the fault of such

Shakespeare.

Who still are pleased too little or too much.-Pope.

VIII. THE COMPOUND PRONOUNS.

73. By adding -ever and -soever to the relatives who, which, and what, we form the Pronouns whoever, whichever, whatever; whosoever, whichsoever, whatsoever: all of which are used as Indefinite Relatives.

And, spite of pride, in erring reason's spite,
One truth is clear, whatever is, is right.—Pope.

All thoughts, all passions, all delights,
Whatever stirs this mortal frame,
All are but ministers of love,

And feed his sacred flame.-Coleridge.

And here she stands, touch her whoever dare.-Shakespeare. Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right that shall ye receive.—Matt. xx. 7.

PRONOMINAL ADVERBS.

74. Many Adverbs are closely connected with Pronouns : for example,

1. Demonstratives: there, thither, thence; then, thus; here, hither, hence; where, whither.

2. Interrogatives: Where? Whither? Whence? When? Why? How?

3. Indefinites: anywhere, anywise, somehow.

PART III.

The Verb.

75. The boys are at cricket. One bowls the strikes it, one stops it and throws it, one catches it.

ball, one Here are

five Transitive Verbs, each expressing the action of a subject (one of the players) on an object (the ball).

The forms of the Verb, in which we express the action of a subject on or towards an object, are called the Active Voice of the Transitive Verb.

Now put the sentences in this form-The ball is bowled by one, is struck by another, is stopped and is thrown by another, is caught by another. The object of the action is now the subject of the sentence, and the forms of the Verb suitable to the new arrangement are called the Passive Voice of the Transitive Verb.

Intransitive Verbs have, of course, no Passive forms.

THE ACTIVE VOICE.

76. Inflexions are changes made in words, to fit them to be parts of a sentence. The part of each word that remains, when the inflexions have been removed, is called the Stem. The Verb in English has but few inflexions.

77. The simplest form of speech is the command: go, stop, come. This mode of speech is called the Imperative Mood. In English, the Imperative Mood presents the stem of a Verb in its simplest form :

Fetch me a book.

Lend me a pencil.

78. The form called the Infinitive Mood names the condition or action expressed by the Verb, without any necessary reference to a particular person or thing. This form is to be regarded as a Neuter Noun, used occasionally as a nominative, and very frequently as an objective case.

The infinitive may, as a nominative, be the subject of a

sentence: as

To steal is disgraceful.

To resist was fatal.

The infinitive may, as an objective case, be the object of a Verb: as

I desire to go.

We learn to read.

Next observe that the Preposition to is no essential part of the infinitive; for example, in Shakespeare's line

Cease to lament for that thou canst not help

the words to lament and help are both infinitives; the former is called the Prepositional Infinitive, the latter the Pure Infinitive.

79. The Indicative Mood includes those forms of the Verb that are used in making statements of fact.

It has two Simple Tenses, or forms expressing the time assigned to a condition or action. These tenses are called the Present and the Past. Each tense is divided into two Numbers, Singular and Plural. In each number there are three Persons.

PRESENT.

Plur. 1. (we) love.
2. (ye or you) love.
3. (they) love.

Sing. 1. (I) steal.

2. (thou) stealest.

3. (he, she, it) steals.

Plur. 1. (we) steal.

2. (ye or you) steal.
3. (they) steal.

PAST.

Plur. 1. (we) loved.

2. (ye or you) loved.
3. (they) loved.

Sing. 1. (I) stole.

2. (thou) stolest.
3. (he, she, it) stole.

Plur. 1. (we) stole.

2. (ye or you) stole.
3. (they) stole.

80. The Verbs love and steal are types of the two classes into which English Verbs are divided: the Weak and the Strong.

81. Weak Verbs are those in which a new sound of -d, -t, or -ed, has been added to the stem of the Verb to form the past tense: thus

save, of which the past tense is saved,

82. Strong Verbs are those which have the past tense formed without the addition of -d or -t sounds. Generally, in such Verbs the past tense has been formed by a change of the vowels in the stem thus

run, of which the past tense is ran,

THE PARTICIPLES.

83. English Verbs have two Participles, that is, forms participating in properties of the Verb and the Adjective. The form called the Present Participle always ends in -ing:

As a Verb, this participle can be followed by an objective I found him buying corn.

case:

As an Adjective, this participle can qualify a Noun:

He is a loving father.

NOTE. A few Verbs, ending with e single, keep e in the participle; as, dye, dyeing; singe, singeing. Thus we distinguish dyeing from dying, singeing from singing, swingeing from swinging.

84. The form called the Past Participle is, in Weak Verbs, usually the same as the past tense of the indicative: thus

85. In Strong Verbs the form varies, for sometimes it keeps the Anglo-Saxon ending -en, as eaten, broken; sometimes the e is omitted, as sworn; sometimes en is dropped, as drunk; and sometimes it ends in d or t, and has the same form as the past indicative, as stood, fought.

86. The following are lists of Verbs in common use, having forms for the past tense or for the past participle, or for both, differing from the forms in the Verb Love. Whenever one of two forms is included in a bracket, as knit (knitted), it implies that the form in the bracket is used, but not so commonly as the form by its side.