ive. It is incorrect to say, I am _happily_; They
were _peacefully_; She remains _quietly_; The fields appear
_greenly_. These verbs in their common acceptation, do not express
_action_; for which reason we say, I am _happy_; They are
_peaceful_; &c. But in the expressions, The child sleeps _soundly_;
She sits _gracefully_; They live _happily_ and _contentedly_; we
employ the verbs _sleeps, sits_, and _live_, in an active sense.
When no action is intended, we say, They live _happy_ and
_contented_.

If, on scientific principles, it can be proved that those verbs
generally denominated neuter, _originally_ expressed action, their
present, accepted meaning will still oppose the theory, for the
generality of mankind do not attach to them the idea of _action_.

Thus I have endeavored to present a brief but impartial abstract of
the _modern_ theory of the verb, leaving it with the reader to
estimate it according to its value.

To give a satisfactory definition of the verb, or such a one as
shall be found scientifically correct and unexceptionable, has
hitherto baffled the skill, and transcended the learning, of our
philosophical writers. If its essential quality, as is generally
supposed, is made to consist in _expressing affirmation_, it remains
still to be defined _when_ a verb _expresses_ affirmation. In
English, and in other languages, words appropriated to express
affirmation, are often used without any such force; our idea of
affirmation, in such instances, being the mere _inference of
custom_.

In the sentence,--"_Think, love_, and _hate_, denote moral actions,"
the words _think, love_, and _hate_, are nouns, because they are
mere _names_ of actions. So, when I say, "John, _write_--is an
irregular verb," the word _write_ is a noun; but when I say, "John,
_write_--your copy," _write_ is called a verb.

Why is this word considered a noun in one construction, and a verb
in the other, when both constructions, until you pass beyond the
word write, are exactly alike? If write does not _express_ action in
the former sentence, neither does it in the latter, for, in both, it
is introduced in the same manner. On scientific principles, _write_
must be considered a noun in the latter sentence, for it does not
_express_ action, or make an affirmation; but it merely _names_ the