participle, or pronoun.”—­Kirkham’s Gram., p. 187.  Or, (as a substitute for the foregoing rule,) say, according to this author:  “A verb in the infinitive mood, refers to some noun or pronoun, as its subject or actor.”—­Ib., p. 188.  Now what does he know of English grammar, who supposes any of these rules to be worthy of the place which they hold, or have held, in the halls of instruction?

OBS. 8.—­It is a very common fault with the compilers of English grammars, to join together in the same rule the syntax of different parts of speech, uniting laws that must ever be applied separately in parsing.  For example:  “RULE XI.  Articles and adjectives relate to nouns expressed or understood; and the adjectives this, that, one, two, must agree in number with the nouns to which they relate.”—­Comly’s Gram., p. 87.  Now, in parsing an article, why should the learner have to tell all this story about adjectives?  Such a mode of expressing the rule, is certainly in bad taste; and, after all, the syntax of adjectives is not here comprised, for they often relate to pronouns.  “RULE III.  Every adjective and participle belongs to some noun or pronoun expressed or understood.”—­Frost’s El. of Gram., p. 44.  Here a compiler who in his etymology supposes participles to be verbs, allows them no other construction than that of adjectives.  His rule implicitly denies that they can either be parts of their verbs in the formation of tenses, or be governed by prepositions in the character of gerunds.  To suppose that a noun may govern the objective case, is both absurd in itself, and contrary to all authority; yet, among his forty-nine rules, this author has the following:  “RULE XXV.  A participial noun is sometimes governed by a preposition, and may govern an objective case; as, ‘George is too fond of wasting time in trifles.’”—­Frost’s El. of Gram., p. 47.  Here again is the fault of which I am speaking, two rules in one; and this fault is combined with an other still worse. Wasting is a participle, governed by of; and time is a noun, governed by wasting.  The latter is a declinable word, and found in the objective case; the former is indeclinable, and found in no case.  It is an error to suppose that cases are the only things which are susceptible of being governed; nor is the brief rule, “Prepositions govern the objective case,” so very clear a maxim as never to be misapprehended.  If the learner infer from it, that all prepositions must necessarily govern the objective case, or that the objective case is always governed by a preposition, he will be led into a great mistake.