COPYRIGHT, 1892 BY SAMUEL RAMSEY Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by PREFACE. MUCH of what is contained in the following pages was first written for purposes of private instruction, and without any view to publication; but as one chapter was added after another, it began to be thought that some portions might interest a larger class of readers. There are many persons who would be glad to know more about the English language than can be gained from the formal routine of the public schools, who, nevertheless, are unable to procure and read the great number of valuable works on the subject that have issued from the press within a period of fifty years. Such persons are in a position to appreciate a work taking a somewhat wider view than the common text-books, and presenting some of the more familiar results of modern philology. There are two classes for whom this book is not intended. The first are those who are already familiar with all the results of past labors, and who, therefore, can find nothing here to add to their present ample stores of knowledge, there being no claim to original discovery or invention. The second class are those who neither know or care anything about the history or philology of their native tongue. Between these extremes is the large and important class who already know something and desire to know more. There was a fable of the Rabbins that the first pair of blacksmith's tongs were made during the six days of creation, because, without such primordial instrumentality, no tool could ever have been fashioned. I cannot but think that many have unconsciously imbibed a somewhat similar belief in regard to English grammar. It may not be distinctly taught, but everything tends to impress the learner with a |