gression of 'Murray's Statutes,' of which he had been a hopeful student for the last half year; 'it cost too much to be used every day.' I recollect once, after having mastered the words, further deponent saith not, in the definition of a Preposition, of pondering what sort of "relation" those little important members of sentences exhibited. I will not trouble you with the mental process, however logical, but the end of the whole matter was, that my deliberations involved me in a doubt, whether it was a blood relation or a relation by marriage, though I rather inclined to the latter opinion." A truce, critic, a truce! "A word more 'to define my position,' which I fear savors too much of the assailant's and I will relieve your patience. It was not until years after, that "a light shone suddenly round about me," and revealed the mystery; these lights continued to break out from time to time, until English Grammar assumed a new, and I am constrained to say, interesting aspect. It is from a vivid recollection of the time that was thus wasted in repeating words without regard to sense, when the number of pages committed, was of far greater importance than the number of ideas acquired, that I have perhaps betrayed myself into a confession of unparalleled obtuseness during my juvenile years, and at the same time have done you injustice; while I would only express my honest indignation. against those men, who for the sake of embalming a bantling idea of their own, wrap its skeleton-frame in the productions of other men's brains, resolving themselves into mere copyists, the strongest evidence of which is exhibited in the hereditary blunders that are thus entailed upon a reading youth, to the third, yea the fourth generation. When looking back upon the days spent in the study of English Grammar, it appears to me that had I known how many avenues of pleasure its subject, language, opened up to me; had I known how much of the happiness in which my young spirit exulted, the companionship of friends and books, yea of the wide earth around, and the canopied heavens above; how language is as essential to thought, as it is to the expression of it; of thought, the birthright of mind wherever found, in the mines of Peru or the forests of Honduras; had I known how much all this was the direct gift of Language, the result of my study would have been widely different. Had I known what my teachers took for granted, that I did know, that the huge limbless trunk they bade me contemplate and admire, was only the frame of a living tree, clothed upon with its own peculiar beauty, and flinging its leaf-clad branches abroad, thus stripped of its glory for more minute inspection, I should have been cheered and encouraged, and even amid the bustle of a busy care-tinged life, should have turned from time to time, to contemplate Language, that wondrous limner of thought and feeling, as a recreation and delight. Then again, what an instrument of music are the organs of voice? What can surpass or even equal it? Its keys are as numerous as the emotions of the human heart; now tremulous with sorrow; now elevated with joy; now softened with affliction; now deepened with passion. And yet, how little did I know of it; I, who could finger the flute and flourish the bow with no contemptible skill; I, who knew the construction and tone of almost every common instrument; whom martial music could elevate and nerve, and almost transform into a warrior; I, who have almost wept at the strains of my own mellow flute, knew nothing of the construction and power of an instrument incomparably superior to all these, an instrument which I inherited at birth, and which I could only lose in the last soft breathings of death! Perhaps I have been too suspicious of the title, and that you have not written a Grammar, for I confess I have not even glanced at its contents. You may in fact have been gathering the branches and foliage of the subject, as I termed them, to interest and instruct the young Grammarian; to accompa ny and cheer him in his otherwise irksome task, and perhaps in the hands of him who has already passed the weary way, and who reverts with feelings far from pleasurable, to the labyrinths he threaded and the gloomy passes he trod, (for it is not then too late,) it may fling a ray of light back upon the dark valleys, lighting them up with a beauty which light only can impart, and awakening in his mind a new desire, to assume a branch of study, which once, more than all else, enhanced the happiness of his 'last day at school.". Give me your hand, critic! You are a person mei generis, that is, after my own heart, in your views of this subject, and have expressed (not to court a compliment,) my thoughts quite as well as I could myself. To tell you the truth, it was my intention to write a few pages upon this very subject, but as the sentiments which you have expressed are so strictly in accordance with long cherished views of my own, it would give me peculiar pleasure to substitute them. "I certainly have no objection, if my poor thoughts can in any way subserve the interests of education.”. CHAPTER II. Talk with the reader-What Language is-Conversation be- "Blessings on his head who invented writing!" exclaims the poor exile, that lonely tenant of a friendless home, when hẹ sometimes views a little messenger penned, folded and sealed in his own little cottage, away over the deep, and glistening with the tears of a wife or a mother. How often has the fond son, self-banished from the paternal roof to seek his fortune, uttered it, when a letter from that dear home, found him on a bed of languishing, and flushed his cheek, brightened his eye, and restored strength to his frame; while his physician, unconscious of the cause, idly marveled at the strange results of pills and powders. Who wonders at it, and yet what is this, compared with that nobler language, "That elder scripture writ by God's own hand?" Have you never wandered away by yourself, into the woods and fields, and felt a something like companionship with the blue sky, the murmuring streams, the rustling leaves, the bee's low hum, and the voices of the ephemeral race that sports in the sunbeam? Did it not seem to you that the din of the city would sound unpleasantly to you at such a time, and feel ready to exclaim, "The whole broad earth is beautiful, To minds attuned aright?" Then, at the evening hour, when gathered around the blazing hearth, you have gazed upon the countenances of your brothers, sisters and parents, did not a gushing of gladness almost drown your heart? As the light and shade alternately flitted over their faces, like shadows on a lake, how often did you detect yourself trying to read the thoughts which thus clouded or illuminated them. countenance. That was the language of the Go with me, if you will, and as we wander forth, we will listen to the language of nature; talk with the flowers, the stars, the seasons and the winds, for strange as it may seem, they all can talk. This is the language of Inanimate Na ture, """Tis unconfined, To Christian land or Jewry; fairly writ In language universal to mankind." Then, if you are not wearied, we will hearken to the birds that tell their little tales of love and fear and care; to the insects that hum their pleasures and their pains; see too, the beast that looks his gratitude and rage; and thence respect our fellow-tenants of the earth, which, as they have a language of their own, have feelings; who shall say, not thoughts? Then but I'll not stop to tell you now. The flowers-those stars of the lower firmament! Who does not love to contemplate their annual phases from bud to blossom, and from bloom to fall? With what varied light they shine. Perhaps you think they never talk; I presume your doubts will be removed, as were those of a young friend of mine. I will relate ah! here is the little convert with his moth er; let him tell his own story. "Why so thoughtful Charles?" said a fond parent to a lad who had seen scarce ten summers-"I hope that you had a pleasant walk." "Yes mother delightful, but I was thinking |