you. 2. I like you better than him = I like you better than I like him.

341. But, in respect to its etymology, is be-utan = by-out. It is not difficult to see the connection in sense between such sentences as all but one, and all without (or except) one.

342. But, then, is a Preposition and an Adverb, as well as a Conjunction. Its Prepositional construction is-They all ran away but me, i. e. except me. Its Conjunctional Construction is-They all ran away but I, i. e. but I did not run away.

343. When two or more Nouns, in the Singular number, are connected by a Preposition, the verb is Singular.

The father, with the son, is coming.

344. When two or more nouns, in the Singular number, are connected by a Copulative Conjunction, the Verb is Plural-the father and son are coming.

345. No Conjunction can govern a case. A word that governs a Case, be it ever so like a Conjunction, is no Conjunction but a Preposition.

Yes and No are, perhaps, words sufficiently peculiar to justify us in treating them as a separate Part of Speech: for it may be observed that, unlike any word hitherto noticed, they constitute a whole Proposition by themselves. Yes it is, while no = it is At the same time, they depend upon what has preceded, for unless a question has been asked how is an answer to be given ? There is nothing to reply to.

not.

346. The Negative follows the Verb unless it be in the Infinitive Mood; in which case it precedes it;He spoke not, he moved not, he did not, he could not; but not to advance is to retreat; he did not speak, he could not move.

347. Two Negatives make an Affirmative. I have not not seen him = I have seen him.

348. A question to which no answer can be given is much the same as a Negative. A person who, in extreme perplexity, says what I am to do really means I know not what to do. These are called Questions of Appeal.

349. In all questions there is a transposition of the Terms. In what is this the word what is the Predicate. Yet it begins the sentence. In is he at home, the word is, though it begins the sentence, is a Copula.

350. When the Copula precedes the Predicate, the question is Categorical, and its answer is Yes or No. -Question. Is John at home? Answer. Yes or no as the case may be.

351. When the Predicate precedes the Copula the question is Indefinite, and the answer may be anything whatever. To where is John? we may answer at home-abroad-in the garden-in London-I do not know-&c., &c.

PROSODY.

352. Prosody delivers the rules for the construction and recitation of verses. English verse depends almost wholly upon accent.

353. In all sentences there is a certain number of accented syllables. In prose they recur at irregular, in verse at regular, intervals.

§. In the following lines every other syllable is accented :1. The way was lóng, the wind was cold,

The minstrel wás infírm and old.

2. To arms! to árms! the clánsmen róam
O'er hill, and dále, and glén;

The chief is dead, and tíme is come

To choose a chief agáin.

In all these instances it is the even syllables, i. e. the second, fourth, and sixth, upon which the accent lies.

§. In the following examples it is the odd syllables, i. e. the first, third, and fifth, which are so affected.

Láy thy bów of pearl apárt,

A'nd thy silver shíning quíver:

Give unto the flying hárt

Tíme to breathe, how shórt soéver;
Thou that mák'st a dáy of night,

Goddess éxquisítely bríght.—Ben Jonson.

§. In the word mérrily we have two unaccented to one accented syllable; the accent being on the first syllable of the three.

Mérrily, mérrily, sháll I live nów,

U'nder the blossom that hángs on the bough.

Here the first and fourth syllables are accented.

SHAKESPEAR.

§. In disable the accent is on the second syllable of the three; and in the following lines it is the second and fifth syllables on which the reader lays stress.

§. In

But vaínly thou wárrest,

For this is alóne in

Thy power to decláre,

That in the dim fórest

Thou heard'st a low moáning,

And saw'st a bright lády surpassingly faír.-COLERIDGE,

In my ráge shall be seen,
The revénge of a quéen,

the accented syllables are the third and sixth.

354. The length of a verse may be measured in two ways. We may say that it consists of so many syllables, or we may say that it consists of so many

accents.

S. In

The way was lóng, the wind was cóld,

the number of syllables is eight; that of the accents four.

In

But váinly thou wárrest,

there are two accents to six syllables.

It is best to count by the accents; but in doing this, we must remember that the last syllable of a line is not reckoned.

355. Metrical groups of syllables formed are called

measures.

1. The way

2. Time to
3. Mérrily,
4. But váinly

5. In my ráge

was lóng, the wind was cóld--
breathe, how short so ever-
mérrily, | sháll I live | nów-
thou wárrest-

shall be seén—

Here the number of measures is five; two of which are dissyllabic, and three trisyllabic.

356. Metre that is formed exclusively by means of the regular recurrence of accented syllables, is called blank verse.

Of man's first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse !-MILTON.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd.

It droppeth as the gentle dew from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice bless'd,
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes;
"T is mightiest of the mighty, it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His sceptre shews the force of temporal power,
The attribute of awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings:
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

It is enthronéd in the hearts of kings:

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then shew likest God's,
When mercy seasons justice.-SHAKESPEAR.

§. Though the Paradise Lost, the tragedies of Shakespear, and many other poems, are written in blank verse, the more usual metres exhibit something more than the simple harmony of the regularly-recurring accents.

§. They generally exhibit what is called rhyme.

Couplets.

O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,

Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free.
Far as the breeze can bear the billow's foam,
Survey our empire and behold our home.
These are our realms, no limits to our sway-
Our flag the sceptre all who meet obey.-BYRON.

Rhymes alternate.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene

The dark, unfathom'd caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,

And waste its sweetness on the desert air.-GRAY.

Rhymes sometimes alternate, sometimes in succession.
And yet how lovely in thine age of woe,

Land of lost gods and godlike men, art thou!
Thy vales of evergreen, thy hills of snow,
Proclaim thee Nature's varied favourite now
Thy fanes, thy temples to thy surface bow,
Commingling slowly with heroic earth,

Broke by the share of every rustic plough:
So perish monuments of mortal birth,

So perish all in turn, save well-recorded worth.-Byron.

§. For two (or more) words to rhyme to each other, it is ne

cessary

a. That the sound of the vowel be the same in both.

b. That the sounds following the vowel be the same. c. That the sounds preceding the vowel be different.

Beyond this it is necessary that the syllables, to form a full and perfect rhyme, should be accented. Sky and lie form good rhymes, but sky and merrily bad ones, and merrily and silly worse. The letter h counts as nothing. High and I, hair and air, are imperfect rhymes; because h is no articulate sound.

Whose generous children narrow'd not their hearts
With commerce, giv'n alone to arms and arts.-POPE.

Words where the letters coincide, but the sounds differ, are only rhymes to the eye. Breathe and beneath are in this predicament; so also are cease and ease (eaze).

In the fat age of pleasure, wealth, and ease,

Sprang the rank weed, and thrived with large increase.—

РОРЕ.

On the other hand, if the sounds coincide, the difference of the letters is unimportant.

Bold in the practice of mistaken rules,

Prescribe, apply, and call their masters fools.-POPE.

They talk of principles, but notions prize,

And all to one loved folly sacrifice. -POPE.

§. In order to go further into the investigation of the nature of rhyme, let us analyze a pair of syllables. Let told and bold be taken to pieces, and let the separate parts of each be compared.