Those modest writers who, by bringing to their aid
a little sophistry, much duplicity, and a wholesale traffic in the
swelling phrases, "philosophy, reason, and common sense," attempt to
overthrow the wisdom of former ages, and show that the result of all
the labors of those distinguished philologists who had previously
occupied the field of grammatical science, is nothing but error and
folly, will doubtless meet the neglect and contempt justly merited
by such consummate vanity and unblushing pedantry. Fortunately for
those who employ our language as their vehicle of mental conference,
custom will not yield to the speculative theories of the visionary.
If it would, improvement in English literature would soon be at an
end, and we should be tamely conducted back to the Vandalic age.
As the use of what is commonly called the philosophy of language, is
evidently misapplied by those who make it the test of _grammatical
certainty_, it may not be amiss to offer a few considerations with a
view to expose the fallacy of so vague a criterion.
All reasoning and investigation which depend on the philosophy of
language for an ultimate result, must be conducted _a posteriori_.
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