Letter 2.-Write to a companion an account of a long walk which you lately had. Tell him whether you were alone or in company. Mention what particular things struck you by the way; and enumerate all the incidents that occurred of any moment. Letter 3.--Write to a friend who is supposed to have sent you a present of books, and thank him for such kindness. Tell him the use you intend to make of them, and inform him to what particular books you are most partial. Conclude by giv ing some account of those you have been lately reading, and how you like them. Letter 4.-Write to a friend supposed to be going abroad. Describe to him how you would feel if called to leave your friends and your native country. Express your regret at losing him, but state your hope that you will not forget each other when seas roll between you. Request him to write to you frequently; and advise him to be careful about his health, and of the society he keeps. Letter 5.-Write to a friend at a distance, and give him an account of a sail which you lately had in a steamboat. Mention what places you visited, and state the objects that most delighted you. Tell him how long you were away, what sort of weather you had, and what were your feelings upon returning home. Letter 6.-Write to a friend an account of the church you were at last Sabbath. Tell who preached. Mention the psalms or hymns that were sung, and the portions of Scripture that were read. State the texts from which the minister preached; and give your opinion of the different sermons. 1163. These have been given as mere specimens of the subjects upon which the student who has acquired a knowledge of grammar may be required to write. The prudent and skilful teacher will be enabled to multiply and vary them at pleas ure to any extent. REPRODUCTION. 1164. Another method of exercising the minds of pupils in composition, consists In reading some simple story or narrative, till such time as they are acquainted with the facts, and then directing them to express these in their own words. A still further, and perhaps even a simpler method, is, to take advantage of a young person's having given some account of what he has either seen, heard, or read, and desire him to commit to writing what he has stated orally. THEMES. 1165. The next step in composition is the writing of regular themes. The subject, however, should always be such as is not above the capacity of the person who is desired to compose, for, if it is, the whole benefit resulting from the exercise will be nullified. 1166. A theme is a regular, set subject, upon which a person is required to write; or the dissertation that has been written upon such a subject. Some of the simplest subjects for themes are those drawn from natural history, or natural philosophy. At all events they should not, in the first instance, be drawn from subjects of an abstruse and abstract character. 1167. The following may serve as specimens in this department: Theme 1.-The horse.-1. Describe what sort of animal the horse is. 2. Tell some of the different kinds. 3. Mention the various ways in which this noble animal is serviceable to man. 4. State what would be the consequence of wanting him. 5. Mention the treatment to which he is entitled, and the cruelty of ill-using such a creature. Write themes upon the cow, the dog, the sheep, poultry; and follow the same plan as that followed in writing upon the horse. 2. Tell all you Theme 2.-The sun.-1. Begin by stating what the sun is. know of its size, figure, and distance from our earth. 3. Mention the effect it has upon the earth, and the benefits we derive from it. 4. State what would be the consequence if the sun were extinguished; and what our feelings ought to be toward the Supreme Being for such an object. Write themes upon the moon, the stars, fire, air, and water; and in all follow the same plan. Theme 3.-Day and night.-1. Tell what you mean by day and night.-2. State whether they are always alike long, and what is the advantage arising from their lengths being different at different seasons. 3. Mention the different purposes to which they are adapted. 4. Say of what the continued succession of day and night is fitted to remind us, and how this should lead us to act. Write themes upon the different seasons, and upon mountains, rivers, and the tides of the sea; and follow a similar plan in the whole. Theme 4.-On composition.-1. Explain what you mean by this term. 2. Point out the necessity of studying this art, by showing how much it contributes to add to the value of one's knowledge. 3. Mention what is necessary to fit one for composing well. 4. State the means by which skill in this art is to be obtained. Theme 5.-On company.-1. Explain what you mean by company. 2. Show how natural it is for man to seek society. 3. State the danger of keeping either too much company, or of keeping bad company. 4. Point out the advantages of good company. Write themes upon conversation, study, improvement of time, choice of books, memory, and the different organs of sense, &c.; and in all follow the same method as you did in writing on Company. Theme 6.--Narratives.-Describe the place or scene of the actions related, the persons concerned in, the time, posture of affairs, state of mind, motives, ends, &c., of the actors; results. Write themes upon the discovery of America, the French war, the Revolutionary war, the battle of Bunker's Hill, the French revolution. Theme 7.-Dissertations on remarkable events in sacred or profane history.The place, the origin, the circumstances, results, moral influence, &c. Following this or a similar arrangement of parts, write a composition on: the creation, death of Abel, the deluge, the world after the flood, the tower of Babel, the Israelites in Egypt, their deliverance from it, the giving of the law from Sinai, the advent of the Messiah-his death—resurrection, destruction of Jerusalem, &c., the siege of Troy, rise and fall of the Roman empire, the crusades, the burning of Moscow, the battle of Waterloo, the death of Bonaparte, &c. Theme 8.-Give an account of some of the most distinguished characters in different ages of the world-warriors, statesmen, artists, philosophers, poets, orators, philanthropists, divines-mentioning what is known respecting their country, parentage, education, character, principles, exploits, influence on society for good or evil, death 1168. The following list of themes is selected from Parker's Exercises in Composition: 32. On Genius, 33 54. On Poverty, 34. " Principle, Honor, 35. " 56. Perseverance, 36. "Humility, 37. " Hypocrisy, 66 39. " Hope, 41. " Industry, 47. "Moon, 48. " Novelty, 49. "Night, 51. Ocean, 53. 79 Government of the Tongue, 83. The Power of Association, 88. Life is Short, 89. Miseries of Idleness, 90. Never too old to learn, 68." Sun, 69. " System, 70. " Truth, 91. Public Opinion, 92. Diligence insures Success, 93. Idleness destroys Character, 94. Contrivance proves Design, 95. Avoid Extremes, 96. Visit to an Almshouse, 101. Virtue, the way to Happiness, 106. "An honest man's the noblest work of God." 109. "A little learning is a dangerous thing." 110. How blessings brighten, as they take their flight. 111. Advantages derived from the invention of the mariner's compass-of the telescope-the steam-engine-the art of printing-of gunpowder.. 112. History of a needle-a cent-a Bible-a beaver hat. 113. Description of a voyage to England-coast of Africa-Constantinople→→ South America-East Indies-China. APPENDIX. APPENDIX I. THE PRONOUNS MINE, THINE, ETC. SOME grammarians have given it as their opinion that mine, thine, ours, yours theirs, are not pronouns in the possessive case, but that they are something or other in the nominative or objective case, but never in the possessive. This is surely a very singular notion. The anomaly which such an idea would introduce into our language, would be a curious one. According to this view, these words could belong to no part of speech hitherto defined. They are not nouns, for tuey are not the names of anything-nor adjectives, for they do not qualify nouns, nor can ever be joined with them-nor pronouns, for they never stand instead of a noun, but always instead of a noun and a possessive pronoun together. They have always the sense of the possessive case, and are always construed just as the possessive case of a noun is, not followed by a noun; and yet they are never in the possessive These words, standing by themselves, have no fixed or determinate meaning, and yet in sentences they may have as many different meanings as there are objects capable of being possessed. Mine, for example, may mean my horse, my farm, my hat, my stick, my gun, my-anything you please. And besides this, those of them which are singular in form, according to analogy, may have a plural verb, and those of them which are plural may have a singular verb; thus, "John's books are new; mine are old;" again, "John's house is built of stone; ours is built of brick." Such is the result to which this notion leads us; and if these words are not possessives, but in the nominative or objective, as some allege, there cer tainly are no more curious words in the English, or in any other language. case. APPENDIX II. What AS A RELATIVE. "VARIOUS Opinions have been entertained about the nature of the relative what. It is said to be a compound relative pronoun, including both the antecedent and the relative, and equivalent to that which, or, the thing which! Though this may seem plausible, yet we shall find, on examination, that what is nothing more than a relative pronoun, and includes nothing else. Compare these two sentences:I saw whom I wanted to see' "I saw what I wanted to see.' "If what, in the latter, is equivalent to that which, or the thing which, whom, in the former, is equivalent to him whom, or the person whom. 'Who steals my purse steals trash,' is equivalent to he who, or, the man who. "And, on the same principle, when the relative is omitted, the antecedent should be represented as equivalent to the relative and the antecedent. Thus, I saw the man I wanted to see.' Here, man should be represented as equivalent to the man whom. "The cause of the error in respect to what, is, that the antecedent is never expressed with it. It is not like the word who, which is used both when the antecedent is expressed, and when it is omitted. The relative that, however, was formerly used in many cases where we use what, that is, with the antecedent omitted. A few examples of this will help us to ascertain the nature of what: 'We speak hat we do know.'-English Bible.-' I am that I am.'—Ib. "Who had been seen imagine mote thereby, That whylome of Hercules hath been told.'-Spenser "Eschewe that wicked is.'-Gower. "Is it possible he should not know what he is, and be that he is.'-Shaks. "Gather the sequel by that went before.'-Ib. "In these examples, that is a relative, and is exactly synonymous with what. No one would contend, that that stands for itself, and its antecedent at the same time. The antecedent is omitted because it is indefinite, or easily supplied.". Butler's Grammar, p. 48. These remarks appear to me just, and conclusive on this point. APPENDIX III. Is as EVER A RELATIVE? That the word As should not be considered a relative in any circumstances, I think is plain from the following considerations: 1. It has neither the meaning, nor the use of a relative. Its office is simply to connect things compared, and, together with its antecedent word, to express the idea of equality, likeness, &c., between them; thus, "James is as tall as his father.' -"Your hat is such as mine." 2. It does not, like a relative, relate to a noun or pronoun before it, called the an tecedent. nor stand instead of it, or of any other word, but is related only to the comparative word, as, such, so, &c., in the preceding clause. Thus, in the sentence, "As many as received him," the second as relates to the first, and the two convey the idea of equality. Again, "Send such books as you have." Here, as refers not to books, but to such. Take away such, and as can not be used. 3. As can never be used as a substitute for another relative pronoun, nor another relative pronoun as a substitute for it. If, then, it is a relative pronoun, it is, to say the least, a very unaccommodating one. 4. In sentences in which as is said to be a relative, it evidently has the same meaning and use as in those in which it is allowed to be only a conjunction. Compare the following examples: "As many as five men received a reward.”—“ As many as received him."—" As many as they can give." In all these, the phrase "as many as" means, and is felt to mean, the same thing-equality of number. There surely, then, can be no propriety in calling the second as a conjunction in the first sentence, and a relative in the other two. The same thing will be evident if we change the antecedent word. Thus, "Such books as these are useful.""Such books as are useful."-" Such books as you can give." 5. If the word as in the preceding sentences and clauses is a relative pronoun, for the same reasons alleged for this, the word than must be a relative in those which follow. The construction is precisely the same: "More than five books |
