PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION. SINCE the completion and publication of my Grammar of English Grammars, it has frequently been suggested to me, that a new and critical revision of the Institutes and First Lines, to present them in a state of stricter conformity to that more elaborate work, and to obviate at the same time some remaining defects which had occasionally been noticed, might be the means of increasing the usefulness, and sustaining the reputation of these pretty widely known school-books. Such an improvement of the Institutes the author carefully prepared for the stereotypers during the last year. Having now performed, in like manner, and with proportionate pains, a new revision, or a sort of recasting, of the First Lines of English Grammar, he may perhaps, without lack of modesty, commend this little book to the managers of schools, as being, in his own estimation at least, the best and cheapest epitome of English Grammar yet offered to their choice. LYNN, MASS., 1855. GOOLD BROWN. PART I. ORTHOGRAPHY. DEVELOPMENT AND TEXT LESSONS. The development lessons are designed to assist the pupil in acquiring the elementary ideas on which grammatical distinctions are based. It is very important that these distinctions should be clearly conceived before any of the definitions or rules of the text are committed to memory. Lesson I.-LANGUAGE. What must we use to express our thoughts in speaking or writing? Words. What is this mode of expressing our thoughts called? It is called language. Do all people use the same language? No; people living in different countries generally use different languages. What language do we use in this country? We use the English language. How many ways of using language are there? How many kinds of language, then, are there? In what countries is the English language spoken? In England and in some other countries, as well as in the United States of America. To know how to use a language correctly, we must study its gram. mar. English Grammar is the art of speaking and writing the English language correctly. II.-IDEAS, THOUGHTS, AND WORDS. You can think of any object you have seen--a tree, for exampleso as to see it in your mind, like an image or picture. This image or picture is called an idea of the tree. The word tree enables you to express the idea, either in speaking or writing. Words serve to bring to the mind the ideas of things previously observed. Thus I will think of various things, and recall to your minds the ideas of them by the following words : A horse. A black horse. A man on horseback. A man riding a black horse. A horse running away with a carriage. Thus, you see, by means of words I can bring to your minds the ideas—pictures or images- of any thing or things you have seen; as I could also of things you have heard, smelt, tasted, or felt. Thunder. The thunder peals. A rose. The rose smells sweetly. An Thus: orange.-The orange has a sweet and acid taste. Velvet.-Velvet is soft and smooth to the touch. Try to think of these things, and you will find that, although you can seem to hear, smell, taste, or feel them, you cannot do this so clearly as you can see in your mind a tree, a horse, or other object of sight. Hence we say, the ideas of things seen are clearer than those obtained through any of the other senses. In thinking we combine ideas in various ways. Thus: Here we have several ideas combined in a single thought:—of the bird, of building, of a nest, of a tree; and these are related to each other in various ways:-the bird builds; the nest is built; the nest is in the tree. Thus you see there are four ideas of things, and several ideas of their relations one to another. We cannot think without constantly using many ideas; and we cannot think clearly, or communicate our thoughts to other persons, without using words to represent those ideas. These words, joined together in the right way, make language. What, then, shall we say language is? Language is the expression of our thoughts in speaking or in writing. |