To confirm these remarks, let it be considered that formerly _do_ and _did_ were almost invariably used with the verb; as _I do fear_, _he did love_; and the omission of these words in affirmative declarations is of a modern date. They are still preserved in particular modes of expression; as in the negative and interrogative forms, and in emphatical assertions. The present hypothesis will derive additional strength from another circumstance. Grammarians allege that the termination of the regular preterit tense, _ed_, is a corruption of _did_. If so, it seems to have been originally optional, either to place the word _did_, which expressed the _action_ of the object, before or after the _name_. Thus, _he feared_, is resolvable into _he fear did_, and must be a blending of the words in a hasty pronunciation. But it was also a practice to say _he did fear_, which arrangement is not yet lost nor obscured; but in no case are both these forms used, _he did feared_; a presumptive evidence of the truth of the opinion, that _ed_ is a contraction of _did_. Indeed I see no objection to the opinion but this, that it is not easy on this supposition, to account for the formation of _did_ from _do_. If _did_ is itself a contraction of _doed_, the regular preterit, which is probable, whence comes _ed_ in this word? To derive _ed_ in other words from _did_ is easy and natural; but this leaves us short of the primary cause or principle, and consequently in suspense, as to the truth of the opinion. Yet whatever may be the true derivation of the regular ending of the past time and perfect participle of English verbs, the use of _do_, _did_ and _to_ before the verb, is a strong evidence, that at least one class of affirmations are formed by the help of _names_, with a prefix to denote the action of the objects expressed by the names. _I fear_, therefore, is a phrase, composed of the pronoun _I_, and the noun _fear_; and the affirmation, contained in the phrase, is derived from the single circumstance of the position of the name after _I_. _I fear_ is a modern substitute for _I do fear_; that is, _I act, fear_; all originally and strictly _nouns_. But by a habit of uniting the personal name _I_ with the name of the passion _fear_, we instantly recognize an affirmation that the passion is exerted; and _do_, the primitive name of _act_, has become superfluous. EXAMINATION _of_ PARTICULAR PHRASES. Having made these few remarks on the formation of our language, I shall proceed to examin the criticisms of grammarians on certain phrases, and endeavor to settle some points of controversy with respect to the use of words; and also to detect some inaccuracies which prevail in practice. NOUNS.