Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1840-11-28
Lecture. on Graf1Z7IkSI

Grammar, delivered lecture at the Clinton Hall
Wednesday evening. MIR. Peirce is bold inno-
vator in the science Of Grammar There 10 good
deal Of FEASIBILITY in his views, bat not
prepared 10 express decided opinion on the sub
ject. TIE evening which the lecture was deli
vered was stormy, and the attendance was not
! large Those present, however, were greatly inte-
re ted 10 ire matter and manner OF the lecturer.
| Mr.. Peiree said III SLOW 4
Westkeu has no regard for Grammar and as an
Offset, Grammar Should have no regard TO the wea-
Their ft..H
| / shall not detain you long. ] intend merely to
show you ~ little what great deal means;
| or in other words, TO show you, and to pre-
sent the proof Of what i say, that can imPart
more information on the subject OF Grammar, in
twelve Lectures, than can be acquired by studying
| Grammars only wien it is absolutely necessary
say to them in the language OF the cid tomb
| stones" Rest in peace wish % ask you, whe-
which advance, are in strict accordance with the
principles Of the language. Perspicnty is the in
dispenssbe feature in composition II l employ
wrong term TO express right idea, express
wrong idea, or none at all.
" hat is noun The grammar ans have diff
milton Of their own. use instead the word name
| am bound 10 call things as find them. name is
term used for dstingais hing an object or idea that
may be considered separately:
La respect to syntax my rules differ entirely from
those in the cid books. You would hardly know
that thew w. re written ON the same subject.
Ishall be obliged to the audience to act class
already orsaniz sd and will make my lecture IA
miliar and conversational-givisg examples and IL
| Illustrations. and desiring the audience to answer
freely and frankly.
..AIIenry died in Europe." New, grammar or no
grammar, which is the last name in this sentence!
q Europei'' responded half dozen boys, in differ
ent quarters Of the room.
Very weli-now for another example: Maria
visited her friends in Utica" Which is the first
noun here! A noun, according to the grammar, is
some thing that you see, hear, smell feel, taste,
or think about beg pardon for calling up the old
books again-but was annoyed by them in the
early Part of my life, that must have thrust at
them &C sionally out Of spite. II is the study OF
the old system that has caused the mental pa
ralysis under which many are suffering =
Which is the second name g Utica |" was the an
swer from half dozen voices. But we Will 90 TO
the frst-you were rght-but it is best to observe
order, as they do in putting motions. You were
wreng in point Of time-you spoke before raped
Pm a real Yankee for catch. l want to prepare
you to decide qsiekiy-this constitutes decision 81
character, and decision Of character is the grand
moral balance vince Of the machinery Of life
A substitute is something that takes the place OF
another If a man takes the place OF another, ne Is
sub titutc-so Of a word, Twill give you an ex-
ample, and wish you TO select the substitute
Don't speak unless you know, for grammar knows
s ioSp lost his book at school" Which is the
substitute I use the term substitute-not pronoun
my terms are such as the principles themselves
have suggested. - -
"Johs visited nv father" | wish you to find the
substitute nv friends-don't be in a hurry-we go
slow at first like a railroad car, but We are OIL on
the wigs Of shtn,ng, When 'h Ws sies"
tute My ~ shouted the boys. RigM-the sub
stitute must always be ready suppose was warn
ed to tran must stand in the rain until my suost
tate come on to the ground!
wish to touch the old grammars gently. Ihey
say pronoun is a term used to prevent tne 100
frequent repetition Of the same word now IN the
present example, the word which my represents,
has not been repeated at also you see the falacy
Of the definition. This may seem small game, but
shall meet with insects in abundance before We
get through.
| will now give you smother part Of speech. Ii
may seem small business to devote so much time to
nero words. But every idea must come through
some word and they not unimportant These
little words are the vehicles OF thought, and yeu
must learn to combine and arrange them as not to
be misunderstood. John gave me an apple, and
ate IT," Here's another part OF speech. What did
John dol Don't tell il you don't know-keep dark
be STILL but keep terrible thinking. This part OF
speech asserts, and it be so used as TO constr
tute assertion concerning the person or thing de-
noted by it. Another examp pie" William ran home
last week, on Wednesday" Here was something
down. and what was it !! Run - cried boy
Right--wss there anything more done F" No" -
IMr. Pierce here gave several Examples Of the met
aphorical and incorrect mode Of speaking now in
vogue-a Gle instance will show his manner Of
treating the subject.
''The villain broke Jail and cut stick" What is
the meaning Of thisl That he cut Ola stick? No.
escape. Twenty years ago, was at school,, study
ing grammar after the old fashion. In Parsing a
sentence one day, began in the usual strain "regu
lar active verb nnd'es.e %ood &c 49,,
try that again"
So began again "rexular active verb, indicative
mood
"Not indicative mood" said the ieacher-"try
again
'subjunctivef, saidI-
"No-guess again"
"lmperativef
ssNo! one more guess, you can miss il this time"
"Po,entialf" said l, and ! was right, for had
gone through the whole, and could not be wrsng
again. The teacher praised my proficiency, and
I was well pleased with my success ia guessing
But at this school at the foot OF the class, and
did not 60 up. One day the scholar at the head OF
the class missed a word, and Icunnngly conceived
plan to get to the head. There were nine In the
class, and nine parts Of speech. i watched eau
tiously and answered what none Of the others did IL
was right, necessarily, for there was no ether an
swer to give "Well done, nay boy, said the teacher
go up TO the head Of the esss-up went, and IL
had squash on my shoulders eould not have been
One more example. "Water flows down hill--a
most remar kable fact which is the asserer! fows''
said the boys. All correct-O. X.
John sung the two first verses
Anything wrong herel
How many first verses can there be!' inquired
boy-"Right, give II up. kirkham, IN his book
mikes this biander-but we must not blame him Tor
not writing grammatically-poo fellow, he had no
grammar to learn in. lie says good man is always
q great map-this does not necessarily follow. A
strawberry is sood fruit but they are not always
great
Mr.. Pciree gave many illustrations Of his views,
both and striking, and explained at length the
grounds which he had made his ipnov stons upsn
the systems Of others.
o. DO, Congress, pass q bankrupt law. About
10000 bsnkrupts want TO wipe out and begin again
BucxwHrAr CAxrs.-If you want any hot and
excellent, just try Pattin'ons, corner Of Ann aud
Nassau streets.
Ma woop's BrsEyIr last evening went of bril-
liantly. Mrs. Wood was truly splendid-Wosd