_men, a_ thousand _houses_, &c.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

A bird sings. An eagle flies. Mountains stand. The multitude pursue
pleasure. The reaper reaps the farmer's grain. Farmers mow the grass.
Farmers' boys spread the hay. The clerk sells the merchant's goods. An
ostrich outruns an Arab's horse. Cecrops founded Athens. Gallileo
invented the telescope. James Macpherson translated Ossian's poems. Sir
Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe. Doctor Benjamin Franklin
invented the lightning-rod. Washington Irving wrote the Sketch-Book.

I will now offer a few remarks on the misapplication of the articles,
which, with the exercise of your own discriminating powers, will enable
you to use them with propriety. But, before you proceed, please to
answer the following

QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED IN PARSING.

How many articles are there?--In what sense is a noun taken, when it has
no article to limit it?--Repeat the _order_ of parsing an article.--What
rule applies in parsing the _definite_ article?--What rule in parsing
the _indefinite_?

* * * * *

PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.

A, AN, THE.

In a scientific arrangement of grammatical principles, _a_ and _the_
belong to that class of adjectives denominated _definitives_ or
_restrictives_.

_A, an, ane_, or _one_, is the past participle of _ananad_, to add,
to join. It denotes that the thing to which it is prefixed, is
_added, united, aned, an-d, oned, (woned,)_ or made _one_.

_The_ and _that_. According to Horne Tooke, _the_ is the imperative,
and _that_, the past participle, of the Anglo-Saxon verb _thean_, to
get, take, assume. _The_ and _that_ had, originally, the same
meaning. The difference in their present application, is a modern
refinement. Hence, _that_, as well as _the_, was formerly used,
indifferently, before either a singular or a plural noun.

* * * * *

QUESTIONS ON THE NOTES.

Before what nouns is the article omitted?--Is the article _the_ ever
applied to adverbs?--Give examples.--What is the meaning of _a_ or _an_?
--When is _a_ or _an_ placed before a plural noun?--From what are _a,
the_, and _that_ derived?

EXERCISES IN FALSE SYNTAX.

NOTE TO RULE 1. _An_ is used before a vowel or silent _h_, and _a_
before a consonant or _u_ long, and also before the word _one_.

It is not only disagreeable to the ear, but, according to this note