of language. We will follow the
arrangements adopted by the most popular grammars.

"A _verb active_ expresses an action, and necessarily implies an agent,
and an object acted upon; as, to love, I love Penelope." A very
excellent definition, indeed! Had grammarians stopped here, their works
would have been understood, and proved of some service in the study of
language. But when they diverge from this bright spot in the
consideration of verbs--this oasis in the midst of a desert--they soon
become lost in the surrounding darkness of conjecture, and follow each
their own dim light, to hit on a random track, which to follow in the
pursuit of their object.

We give our most hearty assent to the above definition of a verb. It
expresses action, which necessarily implies an _actor_, and an _object_
influenced by the action. In our estimation it matters not whether the
object on which the action terminates is expressed or _understood_. If I
_love_, I must love some object; either my neighbor, my enemy, my
family, _myself_, or something else. In either case the _action_ is the
same, tho the objects may be different; and it is regarded, on all
hands, as an active verb. Hence when the object on which the action
terminates is not expressed, it is necessarily understood. All language
is, in this respect, more or less eliptical, which adds much to its
richness and brevity.

Active verbs, we are told, are divided into _transitive_ and
_intransitive_. Mr. Murray does not exactly approve of this distinction,
but prefers to class the intransitive and neuter together. Others, aware
of the fallacy of attempting to make children conceive any thing like
neutrality in the verbs, _run_, _fly_, _walk_, _live_, &c., have
preferred to mark the distinction and call them _in_transitive; because,
say they, they do not terminate on any object expressed.

A _transitive verb_ "expresses an action which passes from the agent to
the object; as, Caesar conquered Pompey." To this definition we can not
consent. It attempts a distinction where there is none. It is not true
in principle, and can not be adopted in practice.

"Caesar conquered Pompey." Did the act of conquering pass _transitively_
over from _Caesar_ to Pompey? They might not have seen each other during
the whole battle, nor been within many miles of each other. They, each
of them, stood at the head of their armies, and alike gave orders to
their subordinate officers, and they again to the