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are the words,

h/acl, 'Whil·e, greol, /illle, 'Wift, e/D'

,uenl, ID 'Wrile, ID 'Wa/k, 19 fpeal,

&c. alJ of wbich are

the

a/lribulel DJJubjlanm .

T bus

blacl

is ao attribute

jm, 'While

fnD'W :-wiJe

and

elogt/wl,

as alfo,

'Wrilt

aod

!peal,

are attributes of

meno

lo cxamioing the different attributcs of fubnances, we

reaQily perceive that fome of tbem have their clfcoce io

lI/oliDn;

fuch are,

ID 'Wa/l, ID flj, lo jlrilt, Ir. live,

Oc.

Others have it io the

privalion

n,olion;

as,

jlop, IDrdl.IDceafi, IDdie. &c.

And others have it io

fubjctls that bave

nolhing IDdD

with either

molion

or its

privaliDn;

fueh are the anributes of

gual

and

lilllt,

'liJift

aodfoolifh, 'Whilt

and

blacl,

ando in.a word, the

fevcrallJuanliliu

and

gualilier

of alJ things. This there·

Core furoiíbes a natural divifioo of attributives of this or–

der; and grammarians have cal1ed alJ thofe. whofe ef·

fence confins io

mo/ioll

or its

privalioll.

VERSS ¡

an~lI

tbe others have beeo calJed ADJECTIVES¡ each of which

\IIe íball confuler feparately.

Of VE

lB!.

V!lBS are alJ thofe principal words which denote

al·

trihulu.

whofe elfence confills io

mOlion.

ener~it1,

(for we ehufe to make ufe of this lan term, as it implies

tbe exenions of the miod as welJ as thofe of!he body). or

tbeir

privaliDn.

This orderofattributives differs from tbe

other called

adjdlivtl

¡ not ooly io the particular above·

lIIentioned. butalfo becaufe adjetlives deoote onJy

qu~lities

er quaotines, which do not admit of aoy change of nate ¡

,..hereas the verbal attributives may be coofidered as io fe·

veral differeot nates,. aod therefore admit of feveral va·

riatioos io the term employed to exprefs thefe.

may,

the 6rll place, be coofidered as a fimple a\tribute or e·

oergy, without particulariziog aoy circumllance rela·

ting to the {late it may be in ¡ as io the word to WltTE.

Or, in the fecood place, as thefe are all attributes which

denote motions or energies, they may be reprefenced as

ill che nate of atlual motion or cxertioo ¡ as in tbe word

w'UTI"G . Or, lallly, che motion or eoergy may be

6·

nifhed, aod its effetl completed ¡ as in the word WRIT'

'rEN, Heoce, cherefore"everyverb admits of a threefold

nriatioo in every boguage, io eaeh of wbich language.

tbey are dininguiíbed by fome particular oames, Our

grarnmariaos have giveo tbe oame of the IN FINI.TIVE

MODE to the original verb itfelf, aod the other two vari

alioos of ic are botb dinioguifhed by !he oame of

CIPLES ¡ that variation wbich exhibits che verb io il!

/late of energy beiog calJed the PAl1·tCIPLE PRESENT

y¡,

aod the other

vaciation.is

called tbe

CIPLE PERFECT or PASTo

Thefe variarions of the verb are fouoded io the

na·

ture of thiqgs, and therefore mun be found in every lan–

guage uoder fome form or other. As to the other fup.

pofed variatioos of verbs relating tO perfoo, number, time,

ce.

the Ilighten re8etlioo on this fubjetl wiIl /hew, thac

verb, confidered as a fimple attributive, can admit of none

tbefe affetlions, but mun for ever remalo the fame at

alf timcs aod io all fituatioos whatever; for wbo does

~ot

f,e, tba\. the altribute

'Wrile

the fame whe!her

it is polfe/fed by

jaU,

mt,

or by any numuer of

dill':–

rent perfons

Nor does this a\tribute fuffer any cbange,

whether it is reprefeoted as baviog beco exerted a

Ihou.

fand jMrl ago,

or at

Ihis prtflnl 1II0nunl,

or at

anj

.. .

Ihu

allignable period of dumion ¡ but, like every other

attribute, it muCl remaio for ever the fame. For howcm

Juhjlanw

may vary with time, and be

ioee/T~otly

chlD'

ging ¡ yet

ol/rihutel

of every fort are altogether bcyond it.

power. And we mull eafily perceive, that tbe a\tribute

wbich is ex,prelfed by the IVord GOOD, is the fame oow

as it

WdS

at the creation, or will be while the world ell'

ins. And in the (ame maoner,

lo'Wali, ID 'Wrilt, lo

JI;,

denote a\tributes, which mull each of tbem prefme their

own particular nature during all the fuccellive agel of

time, Hence therefore we fee, that the verbal anributc

mun for ever remaio in tltac Ilate, or modi6catioo,

which it is at firn reprefeoted. Nor can it fuffer any

change, however diJl'ercot the circumnaoeel may be io

whieh it cao be applied io .1anguage.

AlI,

tberefore, tbat

can be faid of thefe feveral miatioos with whicb gram.

mariaos have ufually endowed verbs, is this, That, as

attribotive, it hath fuch ao intimate coanetlioo witb a fub·

Ilantive,

oeeelfarily to be uQited witb ooe, before it

ca.Q

make a priocipal figure)o language : And as that UOiOD

may be reprefeoted as takiog place at differeot times,

and uodcr diJl'ereot circumnances, the ioventon of fome

laoguages have cootrived to exprefs !hefe diJfcrent coo–

netlioos by a fingle word, ionead of doing it by differeot

words, as che thing io itfelf would oaturallyrequire ¡ in

the fame manner as tbofe who ufe the íbort·band method

of writing, make a fingle charatler exprefs a whole word;

or fcnteoce: Aod as it was mon oatural for the cootrivm

of thefe words to derive tbem from the verb itfelf of wbich

they arecompounded, they bave each of them become a

rlal

variatioo of tbe origioal

'Word

which expre/Tes the vcrbal

a\tribute ¡ and, from thus being avariatioo of the verbal

'W6r4,

they bave at lan come to be confidered as ao

"tf

finlial

variation of tbe

vtrh ilfe/j,

wbich

bas

occafionc~

!hofe cootradiélory de60itions, and thar coofufioo of t·

deas which we mee! witb amoog aU writer, 00 this fub–

jeél. But as we bere confider language UiD itfelf, with·

out regardiog the panicular forros uoder whieh it may

appear, we mun rejeél all thefe variatioos of

plr(cn"

nUl/lhm, 11IDd(J,

and

lenfil,

whieh the verb itfel{ has

ufually been fuppofed to undergo; aod confider them,

not as e/Tential variations of the verb iúelf, but as varia·

tioos produced io language by lhe combioatioo of the

verb with other pans of fpeech ¡ and thcrcfore relatiog tO

jjnlax,

and of courfe belonging to tI,ofe gtammatical diC·

quilitions alooe which !reat of the pecullaritiu of any

particular !anguase. But as thefe v¡riationsliaYc beeo

uoiverfally confidered

elfential part\ of the verb it,

felf, and as. the

term~

whieh this divifion of tbe

have iwoduced ioto grammar are fo frequently tO be

met w¡th, it wiIl be neceffary tooexplain in·fome mea·

fure the meaning of tbefe feveral,terlllS.

In the

n~tural

world, no a\tribute cao pollibly eKin

without

fubllance to which it belongl, oor any fub·

Ilamce witbout polfelling ceuain anributes. So nm/fary

and intimate il the cooncilioD

bm1CCn

thefe, that it is as

UnpoUiblc