n.' It remains, therefore, that of all things the reason be
first assigned; and then, if it can be done, we may bring forward
testimonies; that the thing, having every advantage, may be made the more
clear."--_Sanctii Minerva_, Lib. i, Cap. 2.

22. Julius Caesar Scaliger, from whose opinion Sanctius dissents above,
seems to limit the science of grammar to bounds considerably too narrow,
though he found within them room for the exercise of much ingenuity and
learning. He says, "Grammatica est scientia loquendi ex usu; neque enim
constituit regulas scientibus usus modum, sed ex eorum statis
frequentibusque usurpatiombus colligit communem rationem loquendi, quam
discentibus traderet."--_De Causis L. Latinae_, Lib. iv, Cap. 76. "Grammar
is the science of speaking according to use; for it does not establish
rules for those who know the manner of use, but from the settled and
frequent usages of these, gathers the common fashion of speaking, which it
should deliver to learners." This limited view seems not only to exclude
from the science the use of the pen, but to exempt the learned from any
obligation to respect the rules prescribed for the initiation of the young.
But I have said, and with abundant authority, that the acquisition of a
good style of writing is the main purpose of the study; and, surely, the
proficients and adepts in the art can desire for themselves no such
exemption. Men of genius, indeed, sometimes affect to despise the pettiness
of all grammatical instructions; but this can be nothing else than
affectation, since the usage of the learned is confessedly the basis of all
such instructions, and several of the loftiest of their own rank appear on
the list of grammarians.

23. Quintilian, whose authority is appealed to above, belonged to that age
in which the exegesis of histories, poems, and other writings, was
considered an essential part of grammar. He therefore, as well as Diomedes,
and other ancient writers, divided the grammarian's duties into two parts;
the one including what is now called grammar, and the other the
explanation of authors, and the stigmatizing of the unworthy. Of the
opinion referred to by Sanctius, it seems proper to make here an ampler
citation. It shall be attempted in English, though the paragraph is not an
easy one to translate. I understand the author to say, "Speakers, too, have
their rules to observe; and writers, theirs. Language is established by
reason, antiquity, authority,