[320] The interjection of interrogating, being placed independently, either after a question, or after something which it converts into a question, is usually marked with its own separate eroteme; as, “But this is even so:  eh?”—­Newspaper.  “Is’t not drown’d i’ the last rain?  Ha?”—­Shakespeare.  “Does Bridget paint still, Pompey?  Ha?”—­Id. “Suits my complexion—­hey, gal? so I think.”—­Yankee Schoolmaster.  Sometimes we see it divided only by a comma, from the preceding question; as, “What dost thou think of this doctrine, Friend Gurth, ha?”—­SCOTT’S IVANHOE:  Fowler’s E. Gram., Sec.29.

[321] Though oh and ah are most commonly used as signs of these depressing passions, it must be confessed that they are sometimes employed by reputable writers, as marks of cheerfulness or exultation; as, “Ah, pleasant proof,” &c.—­Cowper’s Task, p. 179.  “Merrily oh! merrily oh!”—­Moore’s Tyrolese Song.  “Cheerily oh! cheerily oh!”—­Ib. But even if this usage be supposed to be right, there is still some difference between these words and the interjection O:  if there were not, we might dispense with the latter, and substitute one of the former; but this would certainly change the import of many an invocation.

[322] This position is denied by some grammarians.  One recent author says, “The object cannot properly be called one of the principal parts of a sentence; as it belongs only to some sentences, and then is dependent on the verb, which it modifies or explains.”—­Goodenow’s Gram., p. 87.  This is consistent enough with the notion, that, “An infinitive, with or without a substantive, may be the object of a transitive verb; as, ’I wish to ride;’ ‘I wish you to ride.’”—­Ib., p. 37.  Or, with the contrary notion, that, “An infinitive may be the object of a preposition, expressed or understood; as, ‘I wish for you to ride.’”—­Ibid. But if the object governed by the verb, is always a mere qualifying adjunct, a mere “explanation of the attribute,” (Ib., p. 28,) how differs it from an adverb?  “Adverbs are words added to verbs, and sometimes to other words, to qualify their meaning.”—­Ib., p. 23.  And if infinitives and other mere adjuncts may be the objects which make verbs transitive, how shall a transitive verb be known?  The fact is, that the true object of the transitive verb is one of the principal parts of the sentence, and that the infinitive mood cannot properly be reckoned such an object.