W. I LIKE grammar!

Ion. So do I, really. I have written down the last lesson on a piece of paper, and have committed it to memory. Hear me say it.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR. Memory Lesson 1.—DEFINITION, Sc., ORTHOGRAPHY.

1. GRAMMAR teaches us how to speak and write correctly.

2. In order to do this, we must learn

(a.) Spelling, or

GRAPHY.

ORTHO

(b.) The "qualities" of words, and their different sorts, so as to arrange them into classes; this is called ETYMOLOGY.

(c.) The "uses" of words, in different parts of a sentence; this is called SIΝΤΑΧ.

3. ORTHOGRAPHY relates to letters, syllables, and words.

P. I have been listening to that lesson, Ion, and think you said it very well. You may all commit it to memory. Now for some Etymology.

Lesson 2. THE NOUNS. P. Etymology relates to the "qualities" of words. I think as you have had so many "Object lessons," you ought to be very expert in finding out qualities.

Ada. So we are!

P. Hitherto you have observed the qualities of things; these you can discover with your senses. But how will you discover the qualities of the words?

W. Oh, perhaps we shall feel them. Will you give us some to try?

P. Yes; here is a collection of words with different qualities. I shall not tell you how many sorts I have mixed up; but if you arrange together all that are alike, you will see how many classes they will make.

out a meaning, formed by one or more letters.

Boy-sheep-blue- wisdom

-wind-pretty-horror-Jupiter young-lady-bird greasy Constantinople - intemperate

syllables. Words have different names, according to their lengths, such as "monosyllables," "dissyllables," trisyllables," and " polysyllables."

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Now, do what you can with those words. If you want to observe, you must use your mind's eye-think.

L. We have arranged them, papa. We only make two classes

Class 1.-Boy, Sheep, Wisdom, Goodness, Leaf, Wind, Horror, Jupiter, Lady-bird, Constantinople, Rubbish, Street, Water, Cure.

Class 2.- Blue, Wonderful, Small, Pretty, Young, Greasy, Intemperate, Exhilarating, Invigorating, Warm.

L. But we cannot tell exactly the difference in their qualities. I only feel that there is a difference, for I can put "the" before any word in the first class. Thus -"the boy" "the wisdom" "the goodness"-but there is no such thing as "the blue,” or "the greasy."

P. No; there is no such thing. W. Ah! ah! I see something, papa-the first are all THINGS! There is such a thing as boy, or sheep, or wisdom.

P. Wait a minute, Willie! Grammar does not teach us of

objects, or things, it teaches of words. There is all the difference between the great object boy, and the little word boy.

Ion. To be sure. They are not the real things; they are all the names of things. What are we to call such words?

P. All words that are the names of things, are called

NOUNS.

L. But are all in the first class names of real things, papa?

Wisdom, and goodness, and horror, are real things, although we cannot see them with our eyes. But is Jupiter real?

P. No. Jupiter is the name of a heathen God; there never was such an individual-he was only imagined.

W. And there are no such persons as the fairies-Queen Mab, Friar Puck, Jack the Giant-killer, and the Liliputians; they are imaginary people.

P. True. Yet the words which represent them-their names-are Nouns.

W. Then, I know now what a Noun is; I will make its "definition."

A noun is a name that is all! P. True; but you may make your definition a little longer. W. Then, I will say

Definition-A word which is the name of any real or imaginary thing is called a NOUN.

Example-Girl, undertaking, rudeness, Apollo, Friar Puck, Willy.

L. Yes! and the way to be sure whether anything is a noun or not, is to think what the word represents, and to ask"Is it really a thing?" You can't make a mistake then.

P. You may now perform your "Parsing Exercise." Find out how many of the words in the underwritten exercise belong to the class nouns.

Lesson 3. THE ADJECTIVE. L. I think, papa, I should like another lesson before you leave off. I should like to see

why the words in the second

column are all alike.

P. Very well; proceed.

W. I have been noticing that they may all be used with the nouns. Try any of them! You may say small leaf; or warm water; or pretty sheep. So they show what sort of things the nouns represent.

Ion. Yes; I have noticed that they all express "qualities"; and if you add one to a noun, it shows directly that the noun has that quality.

P. That is quite true. Such words are very easy to understand; and because they are added to nouns they are called Adjectives.

L. Then I will make the "definition":

A word which is added to a noun to show its quality is called an ADJECTIVE- such as small, warm, pretty, invigorating, young.

P. Have you any other remarks to make on the adjective?

Ion. I notice a great difference between this class and the nouns. You can use a noun by itself; you may say horror, wisdom, goodness, boy; but if you try to use an adjective by

itself, it has no meaning. For instance: the small, a warm, a pretty-that is nonsense.

W. Ah, papa! I have such a good thought! These classes of words are just like men, all the world over. They are dependent, and independent. There is a class of men called servants, who are dependent; and there are masters, who are independent. The adjective is the noun's servant; for you see it is dependent on him-it follows him to show his quality.

L. So it is, Willie. And now we have heard of dependent letters, dependent syllables, and dependent words, let me say them over.

b is a dependent letter, because it cannot be sounded without the help of a vewel.

a is an independent letter, because it may be sounded by itself.

oy is a dependent syllable, because it has no meaning by itself. boy is an independent syllable. because it has a meaning by itself (and is thus a "word").

small is a dependent word, because it cannot be used by itself. girl is an independent word, because it has a meaning by itself.

P. You may now attend to your parsing exercise. Draw a line under all the adjectives you find, or write them on a slate.

"MY DEAR CHILDREN, "I landed at Constantinople with the Greek merchant.

"I dare say you remember our conversation. You know that the city was so called after Constantine the Great, who established the eastern empire of Rome here. (The ancient name was Byzantium.) You learned that the city is situated on a triangle, and that it is said to be built on seven hills, in imitation of ROME. You heard, too, of the beautiful Bosphorus, which leads into the Black Sea; and of the appearance of the city from the water. I wrote to you also concerning the Golden Horn; the New Seraglio, which forms a "city within a city"; the Mosque of Solyman the Magnificent; the ancient Aqueduct; and the slender Watch-tower. Another remarkable place in the city is the Hippodrome, formed by the Greeks for horse exercises, and racing. This large open space is 400 paces long, and 100 paces broad. It is said that altogether Constantinople and its suburbs contain 14 imperial mosques; 200 ordinary mosques; 300 chapels; 80 bazaars; more than 500 fountains; and about 100,000 houses; so that you may imagine it to be a very large place.

As, led by the Greek merchant, I wended my way up some of the narrow streets, I cannot say that I was pleased. After

the view of the city from the river, a scene, said to be the most imposing and magnificent in the whole world, I was grievously disappointed at the narrow, crooked, dirty, ill-paved streets. There were also large spaces strewn with blackened ashes, which told tales of fires that had recently happened. Soon I began to be very angry. I had to pick my way up steep, slippery places, midst filth of all kinds, and midst dirty, mangy cur-dogs, who were snarling over some putrid substance. I was at once reminded of the accounts of Eastern cities, and the scavengers-the jackals.

"The houses of these streets were light and gaudy; they were composed of light timber, and the spaces between the timber were generally filled up with earth or brick. They are very combustible, and very fragile; and if they escape fire, they seldom last more than thirty or forty years. According to the customs of the East, men and women are separated; so, each house is divided by a very narrow passage; one side of the house belongs to the women, and the other to visitors and friends.

"The 500 fountains in the city pleased me more than the houses. The number of these fountains may be accounted for, 1st, because of the Roman aqueducts, from which a good supply of water is obtained; 2ndly, according to the cusstom of the Turks, and the Mahometan religion, frequent baths and washings are necessary.

"The inhabitants of Constantinople next engaged my attention. There is a great variety of people; the principal kinds are the Mahometans, the Greeks, the Armenians, the Jews, and the Franks. The name 'Frank' is applied to most foreigners: English, French, Russians, Austrians, and others are all called Franks; they visit each other frequently and live on friendly terms. They are thus separated because they are not Mahometans, but the separation causes them to forget their national differences, and to be more sociable.

without a veil which hides their faces.

"The characters of the various people are also as different as the colours of their boots. You see this more particularly when doing business with them. It is said that the Armenians and Turks seldom ask too much for their goods; the Greek merchants and the Jews, however, are crafty, and not to be trusted. These people meet in the public market-places, or besestins, as they are called.

"My guide, the Greek merchant, knew many of them, but I had no wish to make their acquaintance; for, so far, all was disappointment. I had heard much of the Turkish cemeteries, and thinking they would be even more pleasant that the city itself, I resolved to visit them.

nearly all languages are spoken in Constantinople. The variety of dress is almost as great as the variety of language. The colour of the boots is an important distinction: -the Mahometans wear yellow boots, the Armenians red, the Greeks black, and the Jews blue. The wives of the Turks and the Armenians are dressed alikethey never appear in the streets

d'hote,' I met with a Russian Countess, an agreeable chatty lady. As, like myself, she was a 'Frank,' we soon got into conversation; and finding that she was going to the cemeteries, I offered to accompany her, and was accepted. Next week you shall hear of our visit, from

"Your affectionate friend,
"UNCLE RICHARD."