A FIRST LATIN BOOK; OR PROGRESSIVE LESSONS IN READING AND WRITING LATIN. BY E. A. ANDREWS, LL. D. Ordinis hæc virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor, NINETEENTH EDITION. BOSTON : PUBLISHED BY CROCKER AND BREWSTER, 52 Washington Street. HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY GIFT OF THE CONGREGATIONAL LIBRARY OF BOSTON DEC 11 1935 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. In preparing this work for a new edition, no essential alteration has been made in its original plan, but every part has been carefully revised, and such additions have every where been made, as the perfecting of its plan seemed to require. The syntax, in particular, has been enlarged by the addition of such subordinate principles and special remarks, as appeared to be most necessary for the student in the commencement of his Latin course. For the purpose of rendering the work more extensively useful, the derivation of the words in the Vocabulary has in most cases been given, and an Appendix has been added, containing a full account of Latin pronunciation, according to the usage in the English universities, and in most of the Colleges of this country. The student will also find in the Appendix a condensed view of the irregularities in the gender and genitive of nouns of the third declension, and also of the principal anomalies in the formation of particular cases in that declension. The following extracts from the preface to the first edition will show the general plan of the work. "The object of this book is, to connect the leading principles of the Latin language with exercises in reading and writing designed for their illustration. It is divided into lessons of convenient length, containing principles to be observed or forms to be imitated. To these are subjoined questions and exercises; the former to assist the student in preparing his lessons, the latter to show the practical application of such principles and forms, and to fix them more firmly in the memory. "The lessons are arranged with careful reference to their natural order, and in such a manner as not to anticipate, in the earlier lessons, those subjects which belong to later parts of the work. Hence the forms of words are first exhibited, and their construction is subsequently explained. "In the declension of nouns and adjectives, the principles of classifi cation and comparison have been brought to aid the pupil's memory, and at the same time, to save no inconsiderable portion of the time usually spent in the daily and hourly repetition of the paradigms. For this purpose, those cases in each number which are alike, have been classed together. "The lessons on the formation of the nominative singular from the root, supply a defect in most Latin Grammars in common use, and present a concise view of a subject of considerable practical importance. "The united declension of nouns and adjectives, as exemplified in the exercises under the latter, is another feature of the present work, of great importance in rendering the pupil practically familiar with the agreement of those parts of speech under all their variations of form and declension. "In the conjugation of verbs also, the principles of classification and comparison have been regarded, in so arranging the tenses of each mood, that those parts which are derived from the same root should stand together: while by presenting under each tense a comparative view of the four conjugations, their resemblances and differences will be fixed indelibly in the memory. By means of this arrangement the pupil may in a few weeks acquire a more familiar acquaintance with the peculiar form of each of the conjugations and of the distinctions between them, than is usually obtained by years of study when the ordinary arrangement is observed. "Sum is commonly the first verb to which the student of the Latin language is introduced, but on account of its irregularities, its early introduction tends to perplex his mind in regard to the regular forms of Latin verbs. To avoid this inconvenience, it is not exhibited in the present work, until the pupil has had opportunity to become familiar with the active voice of all the conjugations of regular verbs; after which he will more readily notice its irregularities and will have occasion to apply his knowledge of its forms to immediate use in conjugating the compound tenses of the passive voice. "In treating of the roots of verbs, the author has deviated in two particulars from the view given of the same subject in the Grammar of Andrews and Stoddard. The first relates to the form of the third root, which is here made to end in t, but in the Grammar is considered as including the u which always follows it. The other deviation relates to the second and third roots of the second conjugation, which, in the Grammar, are said to end in evi and ētum, but in this book terminate in ui and itum. "In the definitions and rules contained in this book, the author has had in view the language used in the corresponding parts of Andrews' and Stoddard's Grammar. Of the general approbation with which those definitions and rules have been received, no better evidence is needed, than a knowledge of the extent to which they have been copied and imitated by subsequent writers. As the design of that work, however, was essentially different from the one proposed in the present volume, a corresponding change has often been made in the language of the smaller work. The principles however of both works, so far as they are developed in each, are essentially the same, and the arrangement of their topics is in general similar. Hence the student who begins with this volume, will feel no sensible embarrassment in ultimately searching the larger work for the various exceptions and modifications of rules and principles, which were necessarily omitted in this. In arranging the rules of construction in such a manner as to avoid anticipating topics not previously treated of, it has been found expedient. in a few in stances, to separate the rules relating to a particular case, by the inter vention of rules relating to other cases; but such exceptions are few in number, and when once noticed will occasion no perplexity. "The principal points in which this book is supposed to differ from most other elementary Latin works, consist in a more careful attention to accuracy in rules and definitions, and to the principles of comparison and classification; in greater clearness of method. in consequence of presenting each subject singly and in its natural order, and illustrating it independently of other subjects; in a more perfect development of the doctrine of roots in inflected words, and of the uses of that doctrine in simplifying the knowledge of the forms of words; and in a far more complete exhibition of the nature of sentences, of their modifications and connections, than is to be found in any other similar work upon this subject, excepting the Grammar of Andrews and Stoddard. "The reading lessons at the close of this work consist partly of Fables and of Anecdotes of illustrious men, and partly of the same selection from the well-known Historia Sacra of Lhomond, which is contained in the author's First Lessons. The latter is retained in the full belief, that it is better adapted to the taste and capacity of the younger classes in Latin, than any thing which could be found to occupy its place; while the purity of its language renders it a safe, as well as an agreeable introduction to more difficult compositions. "In regard to the mode of using this book, the author has little to add to the suggestions contained in the body of the work. When the pupil is directed to write out an exercise, the teacher will of course decide whether this shall be done upon the black-board or slate in the presence of the class, or more deliberately at his desk. On reviewing a lesson, however, it is recommended that the exercise should be repeated from memory, and such inquiries made respecting it, as will satisfy the teacher, that the lesson is well understood. It may be added, that a daily review of the lesson of the previous day can hardly be too highly recommended. "As the author has aimed to exclude from this little work every subject which is not, in his view, of fundamental importance, he may perhaps be allowed to urge upon the student the necessity of a thorough knowledge of each lesson in all its parts. If this suggestion is heeded, he may rest assured that when he shall lay aside this First Book he will find himself fully prepared, by an accurate acquaintance with the common idioms of the language, to engage in the study of the more advanced works, by means of which his knowledge of the Latin tongue is to be perfected." The author hopes that, in its present form, the work will be found not wholly unworthy of the general approbation so kindly bestowed upon the first edition, and especially that it will prove useful in advancing the cause of general education. In this country, and particularly in New England, the study of the Latin language is now pursued to some extent by great and constantly increasing numbers of youth, both in public and in private schools, for the purpose of improvement in the knowledge of general grammar, and of a better understanding of that portion of their native tongue, which is derived from that language. In the origi |