ucation. The greatest orators, the most elegant scholars, and the most
accomplished men of business, that have appeared in the world, of whom I
need only mention Caesar and Cicero, were not only studious of grammar, but
most learned grammarians."--DR. BEATTIE: _Moral Science_, Vol. i, p. 107.

26. Here, as in many other parts of my work, I have chosen to be liberal of
quotations; not to show my reading, or to save the labour of composition,
but to give the reader the satisfaction of some other authority than my
own. In commending the study of English grammar, I do not mean to
discountenance that degree of attention which in this country is paid to
other languages; but merely to use my feeble influence to carry forward a
work of improvement, which, in my opinion, has been wisely begun, but not
sufficiently sustained. In consequence of this improvement, the study of
grammar, which was once prosecuted chiefly through the medium of the dead
languages, and was regarded as the proper business of those only who were
to be instructed in Latin and Greek, is now thought to be an appropriate
exercise for children in elementary schools. And the sentiment is now
generally admitted, that even those who are afterwards to learn other
languages, may best acquire a knowledge of the common principles of speech
from the grammar of their vernacular tongue. This opinion appears to be
confirmed by that experience which is at once the most satisfactory proof
of what is feasible, and the only proper test of what is useful.

27. It must, however, be confessed, that an acquaintance with ancient and
foreign literature is absolutely necessary for him who would become a
thorough philologist or an accomplished scholar; and that the Latin
language, the source of several of the modern tongues of Europe, being
remarkably regular in its inflections and systematic in its construction,
is in itself the most complete exemplar of the structure of speech, and the
best foundation for the study of grammar in general. But, as the general
principles of grammar are common to all languages, and as the only
successful method of learning them, is, to commit to memory the definitions
and rules which embrace them, it is reasonable to suppose that the language
most intelligible to the learner, is the most suitable for the commencement
of his grammatical studies. A competent knowledge of English grammar is
also in itself a valuable attainment, which is within the easy reac