nunciation
Prosody
Provincialisms
Punctuation
Rhetoric
Rules of syntax
Sentences, definitions of simple and compound
Transposition of
Standard of grammatical accuracy
Syntax
To
Tenses
Signs of the
The
That
Terminations
Verbs
Active-transitive
Active-intransitive
Passive
Neuter
Defective
Auxiliary
Regular
Irregular
Compound
Versification
Worth
What, which, who
You

PREFACE

There appears to be something assuming in the act of writing, and
thrusting into public notice, a new work on a subject which has already
employed many able pens; for who would presume to do this, unless he
believed his production to be, in some respects, superior to every one
of the kind which had preceded it? Hence, in presenting to the public
this system of English Grammar, the author is aware that an apology will
be looked for, and that the arguments on which that apology is grounded,
must inevitably undergo a rigid scrutiny. 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. The author ventures forward, however, under the
conviction, that most of his predecessor