r ones. There is no
occasion to stop here. Proceed, but slowly, and in the same method.
The tenses of the verbs, and the subdivision into active, passive, and
neuter, will require the greatest care and attention which the
teacher can use, to simplify them sufficiently for the children's
comprehension; as it will likewise enable them to understand the
nature and office of the other classes of words. As, however, it is
not my intention to write a grammar here, but merely to throw out a
few hints on the subject, I shall leave the further development of
the plan to the ingenuity of those who may think fit to adopt its
principles, as above laid down.

English Grammar doth us teach,
That it hath nine parts of speech;--
Article, adjective, and noun,
Verb, conjunction, and pronoun,
With preposition, and adverb,
And interjection, as I've heard.
The letters are just twenty-six,
These form all words when rightly mix'd.
The vowels are a, e, o, i,
With u, and sometimes w and y.
Without the little vowels' aid,
No word or syllable is made;
But consonants the rest we call,
And so of these we've mention'd all.
Three little words we often see,
Are articles,--_a, an_, and _the_.
A noun's the name of any thing--
As _school_, or _garden, hoop,_ or _swing_.
Adjectives tell the kind of noun--
As _great, small, pretty, white,_ or _brown_.
Instead of nouns the pronouns stand,
John's head, _his_ face, _my_ arm, _your_ hand.
Verbs tell of something being done--
To _read, write, count, sing, jump_, or _run_.
How things are done the adverbs tell--
As _slowly, quickly, ill_, or _well_.
Conjunctions join the nouns together--
As men _and_ children, wind _or_ weather.
A preposition stands before
A noun, as _in_ or _through_ a door.
The interjection shows surprise--
As, _oh!_ how pretty, _ah!_ how wise.
The whole are called nine parts of speech,
Which, reading, writing, speaking teach.

THE ARTICLES.

Three little words we hear and see
In frequent use, _a, an_, and _the_;
These words so useful, though so small,
Are those which articles we call.

The first two, _a_ and _an_, we use
When speaking of one thing alone;
For instance, we might wish to say
An _oak_, a _man_, a _dog_, a _bone_.

_The_ speaks of either one or more,--
The cow, the cows, the pig, the pigs,
The plum, the plums (you like a score),
The pear, the pears, the fig, the figs