The _objective_ case expresses the object of an action or of a
relation. It generally follows a transitive verb, a participle, or a
preposition.
A noun is in the objective case when it is the _object_ of something. At
present I shall explain this case only as the object of an _action_; but
when we shall have advanced as far as to the preposition, I will also
illustrate it as the object of a _relation_.
An active verb is _transitive_ when the action passes over from the
subject or nominative to an object; as, Richard _strikes_ John.
_Transitive_ means _passing_. In this sentence the action of the verb
_strikes_ is _transitive_, because it _passes over_ from the nominative
Richard to the object John; and you know that the noun John is in the
_objective_ case, because it is _the object of the action_ expressed by
the active-transitive verb strikes. This matter is very plain. For
example: Gallileo invented the telescope. Now it is evident, that
Gallileo did not exert his powers of invention, without some object in
view. In order to ascertain that object, put the question, Gallileo
invented what? The telescope. _Telescope_, then, is the real object of
the action, denoted by the transitive verb invented; and, therefore,
telescope is in the objective case. If I say, The horse _kicks_ the
servant--Carpenters _build_ houses--Ossian _wrote_ poems--Columbus
_discovered_ America--you readily perceive, that the verbs _kick, build,
wrote_, and _discovered_, express transitive actions; and you cannot be
at a loss to tell which nouns are in the objective case:--they are
_servant, houses, poems_, and _America_.
The nominative and objective cases of nouns are generally known by the
following rule: the nominative _does something_; the objective _has
something done to it_. The nominative generally comes _before_ the verb;
and the objective, _after_ it. When I say, George struck the servant,
_George_ is in the nominative, and _servant_ is in the objective case;
but, when I say, The servant struck George, _servant_ is in the
nominative case, and _George_ is in the objective. Thus you perceive,
that _Case_ means the different state or situation of nouns with regard
to other words.
It is sometimes very difficult to tell the case of a noun. I shall,
therefore, take up this subject again, when I come to give you an
explanation of the participle and preposition.
Besides the three cases already explained, nouns are sometimes in the
nominative case _independent_, sometimes in the nominative case
absolute, sometimes in apposition in the same case, and sometimes in the
nominative or objective case after the neuter to _be_, or after an
active-intransitive or passive verb. These cases are illustrated in
Lecture X. and in the 21 and 22 rules of Syntax.