G. J. Adler

“ The plan of learning a language by writing it, is not only the surest, but the only, road to its complete acquisition. Methods analogous to this, though unrecorded, must have been employed by those who have used, and who to some extent still use, the Latin as a medium of written communication, and not unfrequently with an elegance that reminds us of the Ancients. ”

“ If by my conduct I have incurred any censure or violated any law, or menaced the safety or the life or property of any man in or out of the institution, why in the name of reason and of common sense do not these gentlemen proceed in the regular way, to secure exemption from the fear of danger? ”

“ Tenetne fīlius sartōris cultrōs meōs bonōs an munīmenta digitī mea bona? — Tenet nec cultrōs tuōs bonōs, nec munīmenta digitī tua bona, vērum togās peregrīnī turpēs. Num mihi sunt bonās amīcī tuī taeniae? — Nōn sunt tibi bonae amīcī meī taeniae, vērum bonum vicinī meī pīlentum. Utrum amīcus tuus bella sutōris bācula habet, an venustōs sartōris meī bonī canēs? — amīcus meus pulchrōs sutōris meī bonī librōs habet; nōn autem habet nec bella sutōris bācula nec venustōs sartōris tuī bonī canēs. Utrum vīcīnus tuus vērē loquitur an errat? — Neque vērē loquitur neque errat. Utrum sitit an ēsurit? ”

“ G. A syllable may consist of either a single vowel or diphthong, or of the union of a vowel or diphthong with one or more consonants, e.g. ō-vum, du-ō, i-ste, cōn-stāns. The Latin language generally tolerates no more than two consonants at the end of a syllable or word; when there are three, the last is always an s, as in stirps. ”

“ Of the Declension of Adjectives. A. Adjectives are inflected like substantives of the first, second, and third declensions. Those in us, a, um and er, a, um belong to the first and second declension; those in er, is, e, those in is, is, e and all the adjectives of one termination, to the third. B. Some adjectives have a special termination for each of the three genders (e.g., bonus, a, um, ācer, ācris, ācre) , some have one common form for the masculine and feminine (e.g., vīlis, m. & f., vīle, n.) ”

“ I think experience will prove, that the labor of acquisition, if not easier, will at any rate be more attractive and remunerative, with the method here proposed, which makes the student assist as it were in the production of his Latin, instead of forcing him to lay up barren lists of words or unproductive rules.
I have in conclusion to add, however, that the course here pointed out does not by any means pretend to be the ultimate goal of the journey to be pursued. No method in the shape of grammar, or manual of any kind, can teach completely any language, ancient or modern. ”

“ Has any one my good letters? — No one has your good letters. Has the tailor's son my good knives or my good thimbles? — He has neither your good knives nor your good thimbles, but the ugly coats of the stranger. ”

“ As for myself I do not intend to be intimidated in the least, and if my life and health last, I shall find the means of defending both my honor and my position as a gentleman and a scholar. It is all idle to attempt to crush or gag a man by terror. The humbug of the spirit-rappers is no greater than the jugglery of door-and-desk-slamming, of vociferations and mystifications so successfully [Pg 28] employed at the University during the whole of last winter. ”

“ Iste has always reference to the person spoken to, and is hence called the pronoun of the second person; as iste liber, istud saccharum, that book, that sugar (of yours or mentioned by you) . It sometimes conveys the notion of disapprobation or contempt, as ille does that of honor; an iste homō, this fellow; ille Sōcratēs, the well-known (illustrious) Socrates. Is, when used as a demonstrative, points to a person or thing already mentioned, in the sense of the English "this man," "that thing" (of which I am speaking or have just spoken) , or of an emphatic "he, she, it" ”

“ I have retained the division into Lessons, as the most suitable arrangement for a book of this description. A strict separation of the etymology and syntax, and a connected scientific treatment of the principles of grammar, however desirable in themselves, would have destroyed the characteristic feature of the method, which begins with sentences instead of isolated vocables, and thus applies the simpler principles of construction at the very outset. It is however by no means intended that those divisions called Lessons should be the task invariably assigned to the student. ”

“ To all these ambitious and noisy enemies of intellectual freedom, whose littleness asperses, calumniates and levels whatever is gigantic and sublime, I would here say, once for all, that if they could but rationally comprehend this Goethe, this Jean Paul, this Fichte, Kant and Hegel, whom they regard with so much horror, their moral regeneration would almost be beyond a doubt, and if they could think and write like them, their title to enduring fame would never need an advocate or petty trickster to defend it. ”

“ Have I the notēs of the foreigners or those of my boy. — You have neither those of the foreigners nor those of your boy, but those of the great Turks. Has the Turk my fine horse. — He has it not. Which horse has he? — He has his own. Has your neighbor my chicken or my sheep? — My neighbor has neither your chicken nor your sheep. What has he? — He has nothing good. Have you nothing fine? ”

“ Is he sleepy or hungry? — He is neither sleepy nor hungry, but tired. Am I right or wrong? — You are neither right nor wrong, but your good boy is wrong. Have I the good or the bad knife? — You have neither the good nor the bad, but the ugly (one) . What have I? — You have nothing good, but something bad. ”

“ In words of several syllables, the last syllable but one is called the penult or penultima (sc. syllaba) , and the last but two, the antepenult or antepenultima.
The place of the accent is determined by the following laws:—
Monosyllables have the circumflex, when their vowel is long by nature, and the acute, when their vowel is short by nature or long by position, as flôs, spês, môns, fôns, but árs, dúx, fáx, párs. In words of two syllables the accent is always on the penult, and it is a) circumflex, when the penult is long by nature and the last syllable short, as jûris, lûce, mûsă, spînă ”

“ The attempts of certain parties in connection with the institution and ab extra to "smother" (to use one of their own cant words) and to crush my independence by gravely endeavoring to coerce me into an alliance with a questionable religionism, which is abhorrent to my ideas, my habits and my sentiments, and by fomenting internal disorders for the purpose of effecting an exclusion, are an unconstitutional, an unjust, an iniquitous invasion of my most sacred rights as a man, an American citizen, a scholar and a professor. ”

“ I final is always long, and a final always short, as dominī, librī, bona, fīla. The is of the dative and ablative plural of the first and second declensions is long, as taeniīs, dominīs, candēlābrīs. The terminations es and os are long, as canēs, lapidēs, dominōs, librōs. The vowel before the m final in all Latin words is generally considered short, as lapidem, canem, pānem, dominātōrem. the us of the plural of the fourth declension is long, but in ābus, ēbus, ibus it is short; as frūctūs, manūs; frūctibus, diēbus, hominibus. Examples. Exercise 14. ”

“ Utrum egō domōs habeō hāsce an illās? — Neque hāsce neque illās habēs. Quās domōs habeō (Quās domūs mihi sunt) ? — Anglōrum habēs (Tibī sunt illae Anglōrum) . Tenetne aliquis (Num quis tenet) orbiculōs fibulātōriōs aureōs sartōris? — Nemō tenet orbiculōs fibulātōriōs aureōs sartōris; tenet autem aliquis illōs amīcī tuī. ”

“ Much benefit can be derived from the guidance of the instructor, whose aid in reading over the advance lesson, in explaining and removing difficulties, in separating the essential points from those of minor importance, will not fail to contribute greatly to the encouragement and rapid progress of his studiosi. As in many lessons of the book the principles advanced are far from being exhausted in the exercises at the end, the teacher or scholar can easily expand them by adding others similar to those given,—a practice which cannot be too strongly recommended. ”

“ H. Rule. Adjectives and pronouns of the neuter gender, both singular and plural, are frequently employed substantively, as hoc, "this (thing) ", illud, "that (thing,) " haec, "these things," illa, "those things," triste, "a sad thing," multa, "many things," omnia, "all things," summum bonum, "the chief good".
Exercise 15. See the answers here.
Have you these horses or those? — I have not these, but those. Have you the coats of the French or those of the English? — I have not those of the French, but those of the English. Have you the pretty sheep of the Turks or those of the Spaniards? ”

“ From all that I have had occasion to observe of social disorder and discontent in the city for several years past, I am sure that there are men who foment intestine commotions, who shamelessly and openly conspire against the honor and the interests, if not against the property and lives of their fellow-citizens, and whom the State ought to prosecute and punish as offenders against a clearly defined law of the statute-book. ”