If there are intuitive perceptions of moral relations, when actions of a certain kind are presented to the view of the rational mind, then it is certain that conscience may and will operate, whatever may be the opinions of the person on other subjects. No one, when he contemplates an act of flagrant injustice, is conscious of a reference to the existence of a moral Governor, prior to his moral judgment of the quality of the action. The perception of its moral evil is as immediate as that of the colour of the sky, or the grass. But how can a man feel a moral obligation, unless he admits that there is a superior to whom he is bound? how can he feel himself under a law, unless there is a law-giver? The answer is, that this part of the human constitution furnishes a conclusive argument in favour of the being of God. We have a law written within us, and from the sense of obligation to obey his law we cannot escape. The great Creator has not left himself without a witness in the breast of every man. It is possible that a man my be so abandoned as to believe in lies, and that he may come to desbelieve in the God that made and supports him. But he cannot obliterate the law written on his heart; EE ee. he cannot divest himself of the conviction that certain actions sound prolonged. are morally wrong; nor can he prevent the stings of remorse, when he commits sins of an enormous kind. indeed, spin out refined metaphysical theories, and come to the conclusion thas there is no difference between virtue and vice, and that these distinctions are the result of education, But let some one commit a flagrant act of injustice towards themselves, and their practical judgment will give the lie to their theoretical opinion. Men may, As those speculatists who argue that there is no external world, will avoid running against a post, or into the fire, as carefully as other men; so they who endeavour to reason themselves into the belief that virtue and vice are mere notions, generated by education, cannot, nevertheless, avoid perceiving that some actions are base, unjust, or ungrateful, and consequently to be disapproved of, whether committed by themselves or others. The inferences from what has been said are, that by no arts or course of conduct can men so eradicate the moral faculty, that there shall no longer be any sense of right and wrong. And again, it is evident that, although the belief of the exist ence of God is not necessary to the operations of conscience, yet from the existence of this faculty the existence of God may be inferred. And finally, that although the atheist cannot destroy the moral faculty, yet the firmer the belief of God's existence, and the clearer the knowledge of his attributes, the more distinct and forcible will be the dictates of conscience. Moreover, while the blindness of atheism continues, there will of course be no perception of the moral duties which arise out of our relation to the great Creator; and thus the largest and most important class of moral actions will be out of view. this is true, to a great degree, in regard to the practical atheist, who forgets God habitually; he feels very little sense of obligation to worship and serve him. LESSONS IN FRENCH PRONUNCIATION. Qui Name. French. Reet (trill the r.) Rite. 42. ii CIRCUMFLEX. Sound. Like the letters EE, in the English word SEE; EXAMPLES. Pronunciation. Abîme A-beem Assît A-see English. Abyss. O o. Like the letter O in the English word ROB. No. III. Lo-kal Mod Mo-ral Mo (long o) Moral, Word R'-po (long o) Rest. 44. Ô ô. Sound. Like the letter O, in the English word ROBE. EXAMPLES. French. Pronunciation. English. EE ee. Like the letters EE in the English word SEE. In these lessons, the vowel I i, will be represented by the two letters EE, when long or under the Circumflex accent, and by E, when it has the short sound. Rôle Tôt Trône Votr' Yours. 45. U u. The sound of this vowel is peculiar, and very difficult for foreigners to obtain. We have no sound in the English lan. guage exactly like it. The nearest approch to it, is the sound of U in the last syllable in the English word PICAYUNE, when pronounced with the lips drawn forward, as if to whistle. For instance; pronounce the word PICAYUNE in the most natural manner you can; now pronounce the last syllable of this word with the lips drawn forward and nearly closed. Do you not perceive a difference in the sound, when produced in this latter manner, from that produced in speaking the last syllable naturally? The sound produced with the lips drawn forward and nearly together, embraces the correct sound of the most difficult of all sounds-to the Englishman at least-th sound of the French U u. Let us now take away from the sound of the syllable YUNE, the sounds of all the letters except that of U u, viz: pronounce first, YUNE, then pronounce UNE: and, finally, pronounce U with the lips nearly closed and drawn forward. This last is the sound of the vowel we want to acquire. It must be acknowledged, however, that the English letter U, does not represent the correct sound of the French U, which is a combination of sounds not recognised in our language. Still, we must use it as the representative of the sound of the French U, for the want of a better one. The following rule has also been given and found useful. The sound of the French U, is based upon that of English E. Pronounce the English letter E as naturally as possible, observing at the same time the position of the internal organs of the mouth. Now keep these organs in the same position as nearly as possible; protrude the lips as if to whistle, drawing them nearly together at the same time, and then try to pronounce the English E again, which will give you the correct sound of the French U. Practise often ALOUD, according to the directions of this Rule, and success will crown your efforts. The rule has never yet failed to impart the correct sound of the French U in this manner, when seconded by the patient, PERSEVERING, and DETERMINED efforts of the pupil. EE ee. Like the the letters EE, in the English word BEE. This latter is also a word; that is, it is one of the parts of speech in the French language. It is usually an adverb, meaning there. It is also used as a Noun, and a Pronoun. When Y stands alone, and thus becomes a word, its pronunciation is invariably like that of the letters EE in the English word BEE, viz. :--Il y a-pronounced Eel ee a: this last A must be sounded like A, in the English word FAT. Y, is also pronounced like the letters EE in the English word BEE, when it BEGINS or ENDS a word; and also when it occurs in the body of a word, AFTER A CONSONANT, viz.: MOYEN, JOYEUX, should be pronounced as if printed thus, viz.: MOIEN; divided thus, viz.: MO1-1-EN, but pronounced in two syllables, viz.: Mor-IEN. should be pronounced as if printed thus, viz.: JOIIEUX; divided thus, viz.: Jo1-1-EUX, but pronounced in two syllables, viz.: JOI-IEUX. ROYAUME, should be pronounced as if printed thus, viz.: ROIIAUME; divided thus, viz.: ROI-I-AUME, but pronounced in two syllables, viz.: ROI-IAUME. The pupil need not attempt to pronounce these three French words used as examples, because the combination of vowels and other letters occurring in them, has not yet been illustrated. The pronunciation of Y with these and other combinations of letters will be explained in future lessons. In the two following words, the Y, though not placed between two vowels, is under the same Rule, viz. : nounced PA-EE. PAYS, meaning, A COUNTRY, should be pronounced as if printed PAIIS; divided thus, viz. : PAI-18, and proPAYSAGE, meaning, A LANDSCAPE, should be pronounced as if printed PAISAGE; divided thus, viz.: PAI-I. SAGE, and pronounced PA-EE-ZAZH. Name. U u. 46. U a CIRCUMFLEX Sound. Like the letter U in the English word PICAYUNE,— sound prolonged. LESSONS IN ITALIAN GRAMMAR.-No. XXXV. IX. Piacere, to please. INFINITIVE MOOD. complete. Instead of the intransitive verb rpexa, I will put a transitive verb, and then you will see another element of thought appears. the orderly arrangement of words. The order here implied ise.g.-ørɩ kaλŋ, is fair; who is fair, The sentence is inthe order of the thoughts, for words are uttered thoughts. Syntax, therefore, has its basis and its reason in logic, which expounds the natural laws of thought. Now, if you analyse a proposition, you will find that in its simplest state, a proposition or statement, called also a sentence or declaration, contains a subject, and something that is said of that subject. Take as an instance ή γυνη εστι καλη the woman is fair. Here yvvn is the subject. Of that subject it is said that it (she, ǹ yuvn) is fair, EOT Kaλn. We have then here two things to be considered, namely, ǹ yun and tσTi kakŋ. The former is the subject of the sentence, inasmuch as it is that of which something is declared. The latter is called the predicate of the sentence, inasmuch as it is that which is predicated or declared of the subject. Now, observe the subject consists of two words, and yuvn; the article and a noun. You may, however, have a subject without an article, as γυνη τρέχει a woman runs. The predicate also consists of two words, namely, sori kaλn; a verb and an adjective. The verb is a part of the substantive verb elva, or the verb which denotes existence; the verb which affirms one thing of another, a quality of a subject. Here the verb εστι predicates καλη οι γύνη. The verb tivat (or a verb of similar import, as yyveolai), united with an adjective forms what is called the predicate of a proposition; or that which is declared of the subject. Two things are requisite in a predicate, namely, a verb and an adjective; an adjective expressive of the attribute (hence called the attribute, and hence adjectives so circumstanced are termed attributives) or quality ascribed to the subject, and a verb which performs the office of ascribing or referring the quality to the subject. The verb as connecting the attribute with the subject, is called the copula, or link. Here, then, 1 present to you, with their logical designations, two Subject. 1. ή γυνη SIMPLE SENTENCES. Predicate. Copula. Attribute. εστι τρέχει 2. youn Είναι with an attribute ὁ Θεός εστιν αγαθος God is good Subject. ἡ γυνη the woman Predicate. TUTTEL Object. τον υἱον the (her) son. In these simple statements you have the essential elements; first of all Syntax, and secondly and specifically of all the Greek Syntax. Syntax has nothing else to do than to show in detail what is here set forth generally. With each of these elements Syntax has to deal; with each of them separately; with all of them unitedly. It is the office of Syntax to show how each part may be modified, and how the several parts must grammatically stand to each other. Greek Syntax then, you see, presents itself under two aspects; first, as Syntax in general, and secondly, as general Syntax modified by the peculiar usages or the peculiar forms of expression (words) of the Greek. It suffices for our purpose to point out this distinction. We shall treat of general Syntax as it appears in a particular form, namely, as observed by the best Greek prose writers. Of Greek Syntax the essential laws are implied in the sentences just given. Look, again, at the first sentence. You see that the predicate is in one sense identical with the subject; for the attribute fair belongs to or inheres in the woman; eσri is merely the connecting link. The copula identifies the two. This will be soon evident if you change the form a little; as ή καλη γυνη the fair woman and case. Here kaλn and yuvn are brought together so as to show that In the second place, advert to number. Suppose I had written kaλat; then I should have made the woman at once singular and plural; intimating that she was one and more than one person. In the third place, had I written kaλns, I If, now, you drop n yuvn, then you have no subject, and should have produced a different sense, for, by disconnecting ή consequently nothing of which a declaration can be made; I kaλn from yun, the predicate from the subject, I should have |