Her conscious tail her joy declared; Her coat that with the tortoise vies, Still had she gazed, but, midst the tide, The hapless nymph with wonder saw: She stretched in vain to reach the prize: Presumptuous maid! with looks intent, Eight times emerging from the flood, No dolphin came, no Nereid stirred, A favorite has no friend. From hence, ye Beauties! undeceived, And be with caution bold: Not all that tempts your wandering eyes Nor all that glistens, gold. THOMAS GRAY. DEVELOPMENT I. The exercise called Development is designed to give practice in original composition. In the following selection much that the imagination can supply has been omitted. For example, we might tell who the little girl is; we might tell something of her home at this glad Christmas time; whose kind hands tucked her snugly in bed; who bade her close her eyes in sleep; what gifts she desired from Santa Claus; the contents of the stocking, etc. It is not necessary to keep strictly to the statements; they may be varied to suit the story as you prefer to state it. Be careful to supply all that is needed to make a connected story; avoid introducing anything not consistent with every other part; and develop the parts proportionately. CHRISTMAS. THEY put me in the great spare bed, and there they bade me sleep: Right opposite that lonely bed, my Christmas stocking hung; I counted softly, to myself, to ten, and ten times ten, And went through all the alphabet, and then began again; I repeated that Fifth Reader piece-a poem called "Repose," And tried a dozen other ways to fall into a doze When suddenly the room grew light. I heard a soft, strong bound— 'Twas Santa Claus, I felt quite sure, but dared not look around. 'Twas nice to know that he was there, and things were going rightly, And so I took a little nap, and tried to smile politely. “Họ! merry Christmas!" cried a voice; I felt the bed a-rocking; 'T was daylight-Brother Bob was up! and oh, that splendid stocking! BESSIE HILL, in St. Nicholas. CHAPTER V. CONCORD. Concord is derived from the Latin concordia, and signifies agreement. The process called Concord enters very largely into all inflected languages—languages in which the forms of the words show their mutual relations. In all such languages, concord means the adjustment of words to one another chiefly by correspondence of form. The Latin, Greek, French, Italian, German, and other inflectional tongues, possess this correspondence of form in a high degree; modern English, on the other hand, possesses it only to a very limited extent. In our language, inflection consists mainly in the forms of the pronouns, the possessive case of nouns, and a few forms of the verb; hence concord, in English discourse, has also reference to the principles regulating the proper conjunction of words. The following rules and examples illustrate the leading requirements of Concord: RULE I. The subject of a sentence or of a proposition should have the nominative form. Thus: "James and I came home," not, "James and me." There is a child who I think deserves encouragement," not, "There is a child whom I think," etc. "He was by nature less ready than she," not, “than her.” as them." "As mad as they," not, "These men, no matter who spoke or who was addressed," not, "whom was addressed." “I will question whoever stands at the gate," not, "whomever stands," etc. 'Close to him was a strange, unearthly figure, who Gabriel felt at once was no being of this world," not, "whom Gabriel felt," etc. RULE II.—The object of an action or of a preposition should have the objective form. Violations of this rule are frequent in the use of pronouns that are subject to a change of form. "Whom are you speaking to?" not," Who are you speaking to?" "Whom servest thou under?" not, "Who," etc. "You can keep this letter and show it to whomever you like," not, "whoever," etc. "Them that honor me I will honor," not, “They," etc. Whom do you think I saw yesterday?" not, "Who," etc. "Him that confesseth me I will confess," not, "He," etc. Thee, Nature, partial Nature, I arraign," not, “Thou," etc. "Whom should I meet the other day but my old friend?" not, "Who should I meet," etc. RULE III. — In an abridged proposition, if the verb be changed to an infinitive complement, the subject of the complement should be in the objective case. Thus: Let him speak. Let us go. For me to hope for something better seems idle. I believe him to be an honest man. Note the following errors: Let he who made thee, answer that. Let they who raise the spell, beware the Fiend. Will this matter bring both he and I to give up the lady? RULE IV.- In an abridged proposition, if the verb be changed to a participial noun, the subject should be changed to the possessive. Thus: I am opposed to your going. His having done his duty was a sufficient reward. The king's persisting in such designs was the height of folly. This did not prevent Napoleon's being forced to abdicate the throne. Correct the following: I did not object to him helping me. He had no knowledge of his wife being there. They have hope of John being elected sheriff. Instead of the man coming with all haste, he loitered on the road several days.* RULE V.-A noun or pronoun used as the complement of an intransitive or a passive verb must be in the nominative Thus: case. This is he. He became a scholar. He shall be called John. Who do you think it is? Let him be who he may. I do not know who they were. Correct the errors in the following: I think that it is him. This sly creature, my brother says, is me. If there is one more infamous than another, it is him. RULE VI.—A noun or pronoun following the infinitive of the verb "be," or of any other copulative verb, must be in the *NOTE.-There has been much discussion and disagreement among grammarians as to whether the participle should be preceded by the possessive case; yet this construction has the sanction of the best authors, and is almost uniformly adopted. Doubtless the sense can often be better expressed by a clause containing a finite verb; as, "There was convincing proof of his being the thief" changed to, "There was convincing proof that he was the thief." The phrase, however, is briefer, and is often needed to express a thought by means of a simple sentence. |