of, over, at, after, betwixt,
to, under, near, about, beside,
for, through, up, against, athwart,
by, above, down, unto, towards,
with, below, before, across, notwithstanding,
in, between, behind, around, out of,
into, beneath, off, amidst, instead of,
within, from, on upon, throughout, over against,
without, beyond, among, underneath, according to.
This list contains many words that are sometimes used as conjunctions,
and sometimes as adverbs; but when you shall have become acquainted with
the _nature_ of the preposition, and of the conjunction and adverb too,
you will find no difficulty in ascertaining to which of these classes
any word belongs.
By looking at the definition of a preposition, you will notice, that it
performs a _double_ office in a sentence, namely, it _connects_ words,
and also shows a _relation_ between them. I will first show you the use
and importance of this part of speech as a connective. When corn is
ripe--October, it is gathered--the field--men--who
go--hill--hill--baskets,--which they put the ears. You perceive, that in
this sentence there is a total want of connexion and meaning; but let us
fill up each vacancy with a preposition, and the sense will be clear.
"When corn is ripe, _in_ October, it is gathered _in_ the field _by_
men, who go _from_ hill _to_ hill _with_ baskets, _into_ which they put
the ears."
From this illustration you are convinced, no doubt, that our language
would be very deficient without prepositions to connect the various
words of which it is composed. It would, in fact, amount to nothing but
nonsense. There is, however, another part of speech that performs this
office, namely, the conjunction. This will be explained in Lecture IX.;
in which lecture you will learn, that the nature of a preposition, as a
connective particle, is nearly allied to that of a conjunction. In the
next place I will show you how prepositions express a _relation_ between
words.
The boy's hat is _under_ his arm. In this expression, what relation does
the preposition _under_ show? You know that _hat_ and _arm_ are words
used as signs of two objects, or ideas; but _under_ is _not_ the sign of
a thing you can think of: it is merely the sign of the _relation_
existing between the two objects. Hence you may perceive, that since the
word _under_ is the sign of the _relation_ existing between particular
_ideas_, it also expresses a relation existing between the words _hat_
and _arm_, which words are the representatives of those ideas.
The boy holds his hat _in_ his hand. In this sentence the preposition
_in_ shows the relation existing between _hat_ and _hand_, or the
situation, or relative position, each has in regard to the other. And,
if I say, The boy's hat is _on_ his head, you perceive that _on_ shows
the relation between _hat_ and _head_. Again, in the expressions, The
boy threw his hat _up stairs_--_under_ the bed--_behind_ the
table--_through_ the window--_over_ the house--_across_ the
street--_into_ the water--and so on, you perceive that the several
prepositions express the different relations existing between the _hat_
and the other nouns, _stairs, bed, table, window, house, street_, and
_water_.
A preposition tells _where_ a thing is: thus, "The pear is on the
ground, _under_ the tree."
Prepositions govern the objective case, but they do _not_ express an
action done to some object, as an active-transitive verb or participle
does. When a noun or pronoun follows a preposition, it is in the
objective case, because it is the object of the _relation_ expressed by
the preposition, and _not_ the object of an _action_.
I can now give you a more extensive explanation of the _objective case_,
than that which was given in a former lecture. I have already informed
you, that the objective case expresses the object of an action _or_ of a
relation; and, also, that there are _three_ parts of speech which govern
nouns and pronouns in the objective case, namely, _active-transitive
verbs, participles derived from transitive verbs_, and _prepositions_. A
noun or pronoun in the objective case, cannot be, at the same time, the
object of an action _and_ of a relation. It must be either the object of
an action _or_ of a relation. And I wish you particularly to remember,
that whenever a noun or pronoun is governed by a transitive verb or
participle, it is the object of an _action_; as, The tutor _instructs_
his _pupils_; or, The tutor is _instructing_ his _pupils_; but whenever
a noun or pronoun is governed by a preposition, it is the object of a
_relation_; as, The tutor gives good instruction _to_ his _pupils_.
Before you proceed to parse the following examples, please to review
this lecture, and then the whole seven in the manner previously
recommended, namely, read one or two sentences, and then look off your
book and repeat them two or three times over in your mind. This course
will enable you to retain the most important ideas advanced. If you wish
to proceed with ease and advantage, you must have the subject-matter of
the preceding lectures stored in your mind. Do not consider it an
unpleasant task to comply with my requisitions, for when you shall have
learned thus far, you will understand _seven_ parts of speech; and only
_three_ more will remain to be learned.
If you have complied with the foregoing request, you may commit the
following _order_, and then proceed in parsing.