articiple differs from these, as much as it does from a noun. But says our
author, "Participles, as simple adjectives, belong to _a noun_; as, a
_loving_ father; an _approved_ copy;--as parts of the verb, they have the
same government _as_ their verbs have; as, his father, _recalling the
pleasures_ of past years, joined their party."--_Ib._, p. 170. What
confusion is this! a complete jumble of adjectives, participles, and "parts
of verbs!" Again: "Present participles are often construed as substantives;
as, early _rising_ is conducive to health; I like _writing_; we depend on
_seeing_ you."--_Ib._, p. 171. Here _rising_ and _writing_ are nouns; but
_seeing_ is a participle, because it is active and governs _you_, Compare
this second jumble with the definition above. Again he proceeds: "To
participles thus used, many of our best authors prefix the article; as,
'_The being chosen_ did not prevent disorderly behaviour.' Bp. Tomline.
'_The not knowing how to pass_ our vacant hours.' Seed."--_Ib._, p. 171.
These examples I take to be bad English. Say rather, "The _state of
election_ did not prevent disorderly behaviour."--"The _want of some
entertainment for_ our vacant hours." The author again proceeds: "If a noun
limits the meaning of a participle thus used, that noun is put in the
genitive; as, your _father's coming_ was unexected."--_Ib._, p. 171. Here
_coming_ is a noun, and no participle at all. But the author has a marginal
note, "A possessive pronoun is equivalent to a genitive;" (_ibid._;) and he
means to approve of possessives before active participles: as, "Some of
these irregularities arise from _our having received the words_ through a
French medium."--_Ib._, p. 116. This brings us again to that difficult and
apparently unresolvable problem, whether participles as such, by virtue of
their mixed gerundive character, can, or cannot, govern the possessive
case; a question, about which, the more a man examines it, the more he may
doubt.

OBS. 27.--But, before we say any thing more about the government of this
case, let us look at our author's next paragraph on participles: "An active
participle, preceded by _an article_ or by _a genitive_, is elegantly
followed by the preposition _of_, before the substantive which follows it;
as, _the_ compiling _of_ that book occupied several years; _his_ quitting
_of_ the army was unexpected."--_Allen's Gram._, p. 171. Here the
participial nouns _compiling_ and _quitting_ are improp