THE NOMINATIVE CASE INDEPENDENT.

Whenever a direct address is made, the person or thing spoken to, is in
the _nominative case independent_; as, "_James_, I desire you to study."

You notice that, in this expression, I address myself to _James_ that
is, I speak to him; and you observe, too, that there is no verb, either
expressed or implied, to which James can be the nominative; therefore
you know that _James_ is in the nom. case independent, according to Rule
5. Recollect, that _whenever a noun is of the second person_, it is in
the nom. case independent; that is, independent of any verb; as,
_Selma_, thy halls are silent; Love and meekness, my _lord_, become a
churchman, better than ambition; O _Jerusalem, Jerusalem_, how often
would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, but ye would not!--For a farther illustration
of this case, see Note 2, under the 5th Rule of Syntax.

NOTE. When a pronoun of the _second_ person is in apposition with a
noun independent, it is in the same case; as, "_Thou traitor_, I
detest thee."

OF THE NOMINATIVE CASE ABSOLUTE.

A noun or pronoun placed before a participle, without any verb to agree
with it, is in the nominative case _absolute_; as, "The _sun being
risen_, we pursued our journey."

_Sun_ is here placed before the participle "being risen," and has no
verb to agree with it; therefore it is in the nominative case absolute,
according to RULE 6.

NOTE 1. A noun or pronoun in the nominative case independent, is always
of the _second_ person; but, in the case absolute, it is generally of
the _third_ person.

2. The case absolute is always nominative; the following sentence is
therefore incorrect; "Whose top shall tremble, _him_ descending," &c.;
it should be, _he_ descending.

OF NOUNS IN APPOSITION.

Two or more nouns or pronouns signifying the same person or thing, are
put, by _apposition_, in the same case; as, "_Cicero_, the great
_orator, philosopher_, and _statesman_ of Rome, was murdered by Antony."

_Apposition_, in a grammatical sense, means something added, or names
added, in order more fully to define or illustrate the sense of the
first name mentioned.

You perceive that _Cicero_, in the preceding example, is merely the
proper name of a man; but when I give him the three additional
appellations, and call him a great _orator, philosopher_, and
_statesman_, you understand what kind of a man he w