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CHAPTER VII.

THE QUESTIONS ASKED AT THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION HELD ON THE 14TH AND 15TH DAYS OF MAY, 1873, WITH THE ANSWERS.

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Candidates were requested to write an essay or letter, not less than two pages in length, on one of the following subjects:

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1. Explain the different ways in which plurals are formed in English. Give instances of nouns having two plurals.

II. English Language.

There are seven methods of forming the plurals of English

nouns:

(1) By addiag s to the singular; as dog, dogs.

(2) By adding es when the singular ends in 8, x, sh, and soft ch; as loss, losses; fox, foxes; rusk, rushes; march, marches.

(3) By changing the y of the singular into ies when a consonant precedes the y; as lady, ladies; folly, follies.

(4) By changing the ƒ or fe of the singular into res; as wife, wives; except grief, relief, reproof, hoof, stuff, turf, ruff, woof, roof, reef, muff, cuff, dwarf, and staff in composition, as flagstaff, which all form their plurals by the addition of s to the singular.

(5) By changing the root-vowel of the singular; as man, men; foot, feet; tooth, teeth; goose, geese.

(6) By the addition of en, with or without some alteration of the singular; as ox, oxen; brother, brethren.

(7) By adding es to nouns ending in o, when a consonant immediately precedes the o; as cargo, cargoes; except canto, quarto, grotto, and proper names, as Cato, which form their plurals by the addition of s only.

Among nouns having two plurals may be mentioned

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2. State the rules for forming the degrees of comparison of adjectives. Give examples of irregular forma

tions. What sort of adjectives do not admit of comparison at all?

The comparative degree is formed by suffixing er to the positive; as bright, brighter.

When the positive ends in y, the y is changed into i, and er is suffixed as before; as holy, holier.

A final consonant, preceded by a short vowel, is usually doubled, as thin, thinner.

When the adjective consists of more than two syllables, it is' usual to express the comparative by placing the adverb more before the positive, as beautiful, more beautiful.

This method is sometimes employed with dissyllabic and monosyllabic adjectives; as, more graceful, more true.

The superlative degree is formed by suffixing est to the positive; as bright, brighter, brightest; or by prefixing most, as most amiable.

Adjectives compared irregularly are

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3. Are there any impersonal verbs, properly so called, in the English language? Explain the apparent instances.

4. Is there a "case absolute" in English, and if so what case is it?

5. Give adjectives of Latin origin corresponding to the

Adjectives denoting qualities that cannot be increased or diminished are incapable of comparison; a lunar rainbow, the solar system, a monthly holiday.

There are no impersonal verbs properly so called in the English language. In the three apparent impersonals, me-seems, me-thinks, me-listeth (lystan, to please), the subject is expressed in the words that follow or precede the verb; therefore these expressions are strictly speaking not impersonal verbs, as impersonal, when applied to verbs, implies that the source of the

action is unknown.

Yes. It is the dative absolute, but called by some grammarians the nominative absolute, because the case-endings are lost. Example:—

"With that she fell distract,

And her attendants absent swallowed fire."
Shakespeare.

In Latin the ablative is employed in detached sentences; in
Greek the genitive; and in Anglo-Saxon the dative.

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following nouns :

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-heart, heaven,

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In independent sentences:

(1) Shall with the first person, and will with the second and third persons, both in the singular and plural, express simple futurity:

I shall go to town to-morrow.
They will be condemned.

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(2) Will with the first person, and shall with the second and third persons, singular and plural, express the resolution of the speaker:

I will have my rights.

You shall go out of the garden.

(3) In direct interrogative sentences, the use of shall and will is the converse of the above, except that will is never used with the first person, singular or plural:

Shall I see my rights infringed?

Will this ever take place?

In dependent sentences, shall with the first person, and will with the second and third, express simple futurity:

It is certain that we shall all die.

:

It is uncertain whether he will recover.

Will with the first person is used to express resolution, and shall is used with the second and third persons to express.compulsion:

He says that he will not come.

Their sentence is that he shall die.

In " "foreign "the g has been inserted from a false idea that the word was connected with the root reg, as seen in regnum, whereas it is derived from foranus.

In "could" the 7 has been inserted from a false analogy to "would" and "should," the real form of the word being couthe or coud.

In "connection" the ct ought to be written a, as the word comes from the Latin connexio.

In "were" the final e is a true subjunctive suffix. The original plural form was "weren," but the n was afterwards omitted.

In "heart" the a comes from the Greek xapdía through the Gothic hairto.

In "sprightly" the g is wrongly inserted, for the word is the composition of " 'spirit-like."

In "whole" the w has been prefixed to distinguish the word from hole.

In "island," which should be written eyland (sea-land, or land girt round with sea), the is has been introduced from a false idea that the word was connected with the Latin insula.

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"He but mocks you."

(2) As a preposition

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except:

None but the brave deserve the fair."

(3) As a conjunction:

"The day was warm but cloudy."

(4) As a negative relative (who not):

"There is no man but views such conduct with indignation."

As is sometimes a conjunction :

"Mine is as good as yours."

Sometimes it is an adverb:

"He did it as well as you."

As is employed as a relative when the antecedent is such,
same, and so much:

"I wish all men in the world did heartily believe so much
of this as is true."

Than is derived from the adverb then. It is a conjunction,
and in comparative sentences takes the same case after it as
before it :

He is more prudent than she (nom.).

9. Give a logical analysis of the following passage:-
"Our indiscretions sometimes serve us well,

When our deep plots do fail; and that should teach us
There's a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will."

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1. State what you you know of the following:-Bret walda, Frankpledge, Weregild, Bocland, Witanagemôt.

III. English History.

Bretwalda. This term has led to much controversy. It was applied to the (seven) kings who governed the states during the Saxon period.

Frankpledge came out of the laws of Edward the Confessor. It was a system by which all men were bound to be in a guarantee by tens to answer for the good behaviour of one another. By the men of York it was called "Tenmannetale."

Weregild was a fine imposed in the Saxon times for personal violence. The amount of the weregild varried according to the injury done, and rank and property of the individual. For this purpose all commoners were divided into three classes: first, the ceorl; secondly, the lesser thane; and thirdly, the royal thane.

Bocland. In the Saxon times, when land was granted to individuals in perpetuity as freehold, it was called boc-land, from boc, a book or writing, because after the introduction of writing, such estates were conveyed by a deed or charter.

Witanagemôt was the national council or legislature of England in the days of the Saxons. It was an assembly of the witans, or wise men.

2. Write a life of William the Conqueror.

3. State what you know of the part played by England in the Crusades.

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William I., the Conqueror, was the illegitimate son of Robert, Duke of Normandy, and was born at Falaise in 1027. He was brought up at the court of the King of France, and succeeded to the duchy at the age of eight. On the death of Edward the Confessor, King of England, William made a formal claim to the crown, alleging a bequest in his favour of Edward, and a promise which he had extorted from Harold. His claim being denied, he at once prepared for an invasion of England; effected a landing at Pevensey, and fortified a camp near Hastings. The decisive battle of Hastings was fought on Saturday, October 14, 1066; Harold was defeated and slain, and the Norman conquest was commenced. His rival, Edgar Atheling, was supported by some of the leading men for a short time, but they all made submission to William at Berkhampstead, and on the following Christmas Day he was crowned at Westminster by Aldred, Archbishop of York, a riot occurring, in which some lives were lost, and some houses burnt. The first measures of the new king were conciliatory, but served merely for a show for a short time. Early in 1067 William went to Normandy, leaving the government of his new dominions in the hands of Odo, bishop of Bayeux, and William FitzOsborn. Tidings of revolt in various quarters recalled him, and he was occupied through most of his reign in the conquest of the country. Of the military events the most terribly memorable is his campaign in the north in 1069; when he mercilessly devastated the whole district beyond the Humber with fire and slaughter. This campaign was followed in 1071 by the attack on the fortified camp of Hereward. The settlement of the country was as cruel as the conquest. The English were dispossessed of their estates, and of all offices both in church and state; William assumed the feudal proprietorship of all the lands, and distributed them among his followers, carrying the feudal system out to its fullest development; garrisoned the chief towns, and built numerous fortresses; reestablished the payment of Peter's pence, indignantly refusing, however, to do homage to the Pope; and converted many districts of the country into deer parks and forests. The most extensive of these was the New Forest in Hampshire, formed in 1079. He ordered a complete survey of the land in 1085, the particulars of which were carefully recorded, and have come down to us in the Domesday Book. According to tradition, the curfew bell was introduced by the Conqueror. In his latter years William was engaged in war with his own sons and with the King of France; and in August, 1087, he burned the town of Mantes. Injured by the stumbling of his horse among the burning ruins, he was carried to Rouen, and died in the abbey of St. Gervas, 9th September.

There were eight Crusades, but England took part only in the first, the third and the eighth.

In the first Crusade England did not take an active part. Robert, Duke of Normandy, mortgaged his dominions to William II. for a sum of 10,000 marks, to enable him, in conjunction with Stephen, Count of Blois, to take the command of one of the six armies mustered by Europe. After receiving the money, Robert, accompanied by a magnificent train, among whom was Edgar Atheling, set out for Jerusalem.

In the year 1187 the city of Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Sultan Saladin. Henry took the cross, but in the midst of the preparations Prince Richard, who was supported by Philip of France, took up arms against his father, and Henry, having to defend his dominions, abandoned the idea of joining in the Crusade.

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