verbs, and contend that they must have an object after them, either expressed or necessarily understood.  We can not yield this position till it is proved that causes can operate without producing effects, which can never be till the order of creation is reversed!  There never was, to our knowledge, such a thing as an intransitive action, with the solitary exception of the burning bush.[13] In that case the laws of nature were suspended, and no effects were produced; for the bush burned, but there was nothing burnt; no consequences followed to the bush; it was not consumed.  The records of the past present no instance of like character, where effects have failed to follow, direct or more distantly, every cause which has been set in operation.

It makes no difference whether the object of the action is expressed or not.  It is the same in either case.  But where it is not necessarily implied from the nature and fitness of things, it must be expressed, and but for such object or effect the action could not be understood.  For example, I run; but if there is no effect produced, nothing run, how can it be known whether I run or not.  If I write, it is necessarily understood that I write something—­a letter, a book, a piece of poetry, a communication, or some other writing.  When such object is not liable to be mistaken, it would be superfluous to express it—­it would be a redundancy which should be avoided by all good writers and speakers.  All languages are, in this respect, more or less eliptical, which constitutes no small share of their beauty, power, and elegance.

This elipsis may be observed not only in regard to the objects of verbs, but in the omission of many nouns after adjectives, which thus assume the character of nouns; as, the Almighty, the Eternal, the Allwise, applied to God, understood.  So we say the wise, the learned, the good, the faithful, the wicked, the vile, the base, to which, if nouns, it would sound rather harsh to apply plurals.  So we say, take your hat off ( ); put your gloves on ( ); lay your coat off ( ); and pull your boots on ( ); presuming the person so addressed knows enough to fill the elipsis, and not take his hat off his back, pull his gloves on his feet, or his boots on his head.

In pursuing this subject farther, let us examine the sample words which are called intransitive verbs, because frequently used without the object expressed after them; such as run, walk, step, fly, rain, snow, burn, roll, shine, smiles, &c.

“I run.”