From numerals: once, twice. "This day, to-morrow, yesterday, alike Verbs. Kind of Sentence. Subject. (a) Principal ... Extension. this day, in my mind, alike tow'rds thee, towards thy silence, as thy speech. to-morrow, [in my mind, alike, &c.] 13. with (a) & (b). To illustrate by example the points most worth attention in the syntax of pronouns. (a) Pronouns should be of the same gender, number, and person as the nouns which they represent, as I see before me the gladiator lie, He leans upon his hand. (b) The relative does not agree in case with the antecedent, but it must be of the same gender and number He has bought some land, which is quite unproductive. (c) Who, whom, and whose represent rational being; which, irrational; whilst that is used for either Many more whose name are dark. Dreams are but interludes which fancy makes. He that loves a rosy cheek. (d) The antecedent is sometimes omitted when it is a pronoun in the third person. Who steals my purse steals trash. (e) The antecedent that and the relative which are combined, and the compound what is used. He knows what is necessary. (f) The relative is often omitted. He has drunk of the wine he loves the best. 14. Distinguish between syntax and prosody. Define a perfect rhyme. Syntax, from two Greek words, signifying "arranging together," is that part of grammar which describes the arrangement of words, and the correct construction of sentences. This is in all kinds of language. Prosody is that part of speech which treats of the various rules by which the formation of verse is determined, the quantity of syllables, and their accent. For a perfect rhyme three things are essential. (1) The vowel sound and the parts following it must be the same. (2) The parts preceding the vowel must be different. (3) The rhyming syllables must be accented alike. Sources and Growth of the English Language. (Continued from page. 45) Parker, Matthew, born 1504, as Reformer and Archbishop of Canterbury assisted in the compilation or revision of the "Liturgy," the "Thirty-nine Articles," the "Second Book of Homilies," and the "Bishop's Bible." Pearson, John, born 1613, was Bishop of Chester, and author of "Exposition of the Creed." Pepys, Samuel, born 1632, wrote a "Diary" full of gossip, which remained unpublished for a century and a half. This is full of humorous, quaint descriptions of persons, from royalty to the half-starved sailor of his day. 66 Pope, Alexander, born in London in 1688. He was deformed in body, weak in health, but of extraordinary cultivated intelligence, and published "Pastorals" at 16 years of age. He wrote an Essay on Criticism;" the mock-heroic poem, "The Rape of the Lock" ("a delicious little thing," as it is termed by Addison); "Windsor Forest," in the neighbourhood of which he had been brought up; modernized version of portions of Chaucer; and translated into verse the Iliad and Odyssey. Of the latter it was said it was a very pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer" (Bentley). He was also author of "Elegy to an Unfortunate Lady," "Eloise and Abelard," "Sappho and Phaon," and an edition of Shakespeare; the satire of the "Dunciad," against obscure writers of his day; "Epistles," "Essay on Man," "Imitations of Horace," "The Messiah," "Ode on St. Cecilia's Day," and "Epitaphs.” Quincey, Thos. de, born 1785; author of "Confessions of an Opium Eater," ""Murder considered as one of the Fine Arts." Raleigh, Sir Walter, was the most remarkable historical writer of his age. He was born in 1552, spent a short time at Oxford, and served in the Netherlands against Spain. He had a great love of novelty, and when only 27 years old attempted to found a colony, but in this he did not at first succeed. In 1580 he went to Ireland, where he visited Spenser. In 1584 he discovered and colonized Virginia, and brought home the tobacco plant. On his return he was knighted. During the Spanish invasion he commanded a force in Cornwall. In 1593 he offended the queen by marrying one of her maids of honour, but was again received into favour. In 1595 he discovered Guiana, the El Dorado. He published an account of his voyage afterwards. In 1597 he undertook an expedition against Spain in the Azores. He was sentenced to death in 1603, but afterwards committed to the Tower for 12 years. Here he wrote his "History of the World." In it he wished to shew the plan of Providence with regard to mankind. He began with the Creation, but only reached the second Macedonian war. It is written in a quaint, stately manner, and in pure English. Sir Walter Raleigh was liberated in 1615 by James, who listened to his promises of procuring gold from Guiana. But Raleigh totally failed in this enterprise, and his son was killed on the island of St. Thomas. On his return James had him executed in 1618. Richardson, Samuel, born 1689, was in early life a printer. He was the author of three romances of private life, written in the form of letters, viz., "Pamela," "Clarissa Harlowe," and "Sir Charles Grandison." Robertson, William, born 1721; Principal of Edinburgh University, and author of "History of Scotland" (Mary and James VI.), "History of Charles V.," "History of the Discovery of America." Rowe, Nicholas, born 1673, was Poet Laureate, editor of Shakespeare, and author of the tragedies "Jane Shore," "The Fair Penitent," and "Lady Jane Grey." Scott, Sir Walter, born in 1771, of respectable Scottish parents. He studied and practised the law, but took more delight in collecting Border ballads, which he published as "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border." He next published the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," "Marmion," "Lady of the Lake," "Rokeby," "Lord of the Isles," "Field of Waterloo," &c. His next efforts were directed to the novel, and he first issued "Waverley,"-followed by about two others yearly, besides "Life of Napoleon," "Tales of a Grandfather," &c. By speculation and failure of the publishers, the Ballantynes, and by his own expenses in the erection of his house at Abbotsford, he became indebted to the amount of £120,000. He made a gigantic effort to wipe this off by industry, and died worn out when it was nearly accomplished. Shakespeare, William, was born at Stratford-on-Avon 1564; his family had lived in the neighbourhood for probably two centuries. His father, John, farmed his own land, was a glover, farmer, and dealer in wool, who in 1571 became chief alderman in Stratford. As he took the Corporation Oath, it is evident that he was a Protestant. He bore arms (his crest being an eagle shaking a spear), and therefore must at one time of his life, at least, have taken rank as a gentleman, though it is probable that he was straitened in his circumstances all his life. He was twice high bailiff, i.e., chief magistrate. (He was an alderman in consequence of having been bailiff.) He married Mary Arden, or Ardern, who had a moderate dowry, and was of respectable family. In spite of his position in society, there is good reason to believe he could not write his name, as such ignorance was not uncommon in those days. He had ten children. William was the third child, and the eldest of his sons. His eldest daughter married W. Hart, a hatter, whose descendants appear to be the sole survivors of the Shakespeare family. Three of his sons besides William attained to maturity-Gilbert, Richard, and Edmund; the last was an actor. It is most likely that William was sent to the Grammar School at Stratford, the masters of which during his schooldays were first T. Hunt, and afterwards T. Jenkins. There can be no doubt that he was fairly grounded in Latin and Greek, though Ben Jonson says "he had little Latin and less Greek." The main proof of his classical knowledge is that he almost always uses words of classical origin in such a way as to show that their derivation was present to his mind. As regards the Latin and Greek authors, he knew them mainly through the help of * Until the time of William IV. members of Corporations were obliged to take an oath that they were members of the Church of England. translations, which were more abundant in that day than they are in ours. It is most probable that when he left school he for some time assisted his father in his business. The common story that he was articled to a lawyer is quite without foundation. In 1582, when under 19, he married A. Hathaway, aged 26, the daughter of a farmer whose family was intimate with his own. The match, like all such early ones, was a very imprudent one, though it is known that the friends on each side consented to it, as there are witnesses in the register both of the Shakespeares and Hathaways, and there is no good reason to doubt that they were sincerely attached to each other, and that they were happy after Shakespeare had overcome his pecuniary difficulties. In 1583 their eldest daughter, Susannah, was born, who in 1607 married Dr. Hall, a physician of Stratford. In 1585 they had twins, a son named Hamnet, who died at the age of 11, and Judith, who seems to have been rather a weak person, who in 1616 married T. Quiney. In 1585, perhaps in a great degree under the pressure of pecuniary difficulties, he left his wife and children at Stratford, and came to London. The story of his being obliged to quit Stratford, having been convicted of deer stealing in Charlcote, the estate of Sir T. Lucy, is false; though it may possibly be an exaggeration of a mere frolic which provoked Sir Thomas, who is said to have been the original of Justice Shallow. More probably the somewhat straitened circumstances of his father, and the bent of his own genius, induced him to try another line of life in a larger sphere. He seems to have taken up the profession of an actor at once, and to have made rapid progress. The statement that he held horses at the door of the theatre is a figment, and probably arose from the fact that boys so employed were called "Shakespeare's Boys," owing to his having organized the business of the theatre with his usual good sense, and constituted the boys regular servants of the theatre. It is most likely that Shakespeare's taste for the theatre had been cailed out at Stratford, where he must have seen performances of strolling players, who were in the habit of playing in barns, town halls, large rooms, &c. We know actually nothing of his life in London until six years after his arrival, when there appeared a pamphlet entitled "A Groat's Worth of Wit, bought by a Million's Worth of Repentance." This was written by Greene, a dramatist of loose character of the day, just before his death, and was published by his friend Chettle. There is an allusion in it, "to an upstart crow beautified by our feathers, that with a tiger's heart wrapt in a player's hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out blank verse as the best of you, and being an absolute 'Joannes Factotum' (i.e., 'Jack of all Trades') is in his own conceit the only shake-scene* in the country." The designation "Factotum" refers to that practical activity and good sense which afterwards showed itself so favourably in the management of his affairs. It is evident that he was one of those ready to do anything in the line of his duty, however humble. Greene's allusion to him was evidently the result of sheer jealousy. It would seem that soon after the publication of the pamphlet, Shakespeare became acquainted with Chettle, who then brought out a pamphlet of his own, in which he plainly refers to * Shakescene is here evidently a play upon the name of Shakespeare. Shakespeare, speaking of his "civil demeanour, uprightness of dealing, and facetious grace in writing;" thereby expressing his regret at the former allusion to Shakespeare. It is evident that by the time he was twenty-five Shakespeare had attained to sufficient eminence to excite envy, and that he had obtained a fair reputation in regard to money matters. Strolling players under the Tudor sovereigns had been a great nuisance to society. They were for the most part men of abandoned lives, and their performances were rarely such as to instruct or improve, and they often made their profession a mere pretext for unlawful conduct. [They interfered also with the interests of those more respectable bodies of actors who acted in established theatres, and each of whom took the name of some royal or noble patron. One company called themselves the Queen's Servants, another the Lord Chamberlain's, &c.] What they chiefly acted were Mysteries" and "Moralities;' "* the former were founded on incidents taken from the sacred history (preposterously caricatured), and the latter were allegories. They were written without literary skill, and were generally acted in a buffoon-like style. The first regular play in the language was written in the time of Edward VI., and published 1551. It is a low comedy, but regular in its structure; the title is "A Right, Pithy, Merry Comedy," entitled "Gammer Gurton's Needle." In 1572 an act was passed to put down strolling players, and to secure the interest of authorized bodies of players, who performed under the patronage of the queen, lord chamberlain, or some powerful nobleman. These bodies occasionally made surveys through provincial towns, and were everywhere regarded as under the protection of their patrons. The old bodies of strolling players fell more and more into the back-ground, though for a long time afterwards they occasionally distinguished themselves by their quarrels with the police. There were about this time seven or eight theatres in London. The theatre of that day was, however, a very simple structure, resembling, in fact, a square inn-yard, with one or two galleries round it of the plainest construction. Some of them had roofs, and were called "winter theatres;" others were open, and were only used in summer, with one or two galleries round three sides. There was no scenery, but it was usual for a sign-board having the name of the scene painted upon it to be placed behind the actors. No women performed in the theatres till after the Restoration; female parts were taken by boys. The use of scenery seems to have come in by degrees; the dresses were, however, an important feature, and Shakespeare was for many years the keeper of the wardrobe of his own theatre; but there was probably no very great attention to propriety in the style of dress, and so lately as the time of George III., Garrick performed the parts of Romeo and Macbeth in the dress of a gentleman of his time, with a bag-wig, and ruffles. In 1592 Shakespeare is named in a list of 16 proprietors of Blackfriars Theatre, erected 1575. It stood where the Times printingoffice now stands. It was a winter theatre, with a roof, and the company were called the Queen's servants, or the Lord Chamberlain's servants. (To be continued.) * The characters being virtues and vices impersonated. |