Apprehensive, however, that no
explanatory effort, on his part, would shield him from the imputation of
arrogance by such as are blinded by self-interest, or by those who are
wedded to the doctrines mid opinions of his predecessors, with _them_ he
will not attempt a compromise, being, in a great measure, indifferent
either to their praise or their censure. But with the candid, he is
willing to negotiate an amicable treaty, knowing that they are always
ready to enter into it on honorable terms. In this negotiation he asks
nothing more than merely to rest the merits of his work on its practical
utility, believing that, if it prove uncommonly successful in
facilitating the progress of youth in the march of mental improvement,
_that_ will be its best apology.
When we bring into consideration the numerous productions of those
learned philologists who have labored so long, and, as many suppose, so
successfully, in establishing the principles of our language; and, more
especially, when we view the labors of some of our modern compilers, who
have displayed so much ingenuity and acuteness in attempting to arrange
those principles in such a manner as to form a correct and an easy
medium of mental conference; it does, indeed, appear a little like
presumption for a young man to enter upon a subject which has so
frequently engaged the attention and talents of men distinguished for
their erudition.
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