The author is not here attempting to manufacture a garment to
shield him from rebuke, should he unjustly claim the property of
another; but he wishes it to be understood, that a long course of
teaching and investigation, has often produced in his mind ideas and
arguments on the subject of grammar, exactly or nearly corresponding
with those which he afterwards found, had, under similar circumstances,
been produced in the minds of others. He hopes, therefore, to be
pardoned by the critic, even though he should not be willing to reject a
good idea _of his own,_ merely because some one else has, at some time
or other, been blessed with the same thought.
As the plan of this treatise is far more comprehensive than those of
ordinary grammars, the writer could not, without making his work
unreasonably voluminous, treat some topics as extensively as was
desirable. Its design is to embrace, not only all the most important
principles of the science, but also exercises in parsing, false syntax,
and punctuation, sufficiently extensive for all ordinary, practical
purposes, and a key to the exercises, and, moreover, a series of
illustrations so full and intelligible, as _completely to adapt the
principles to the capacities of common learners.
Pages:
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40