till theoretical scholarship and actual practice are more happily
wedded. In this field much valuable work has already been
accomplished; but it has been done largely by workers accustomed to
take the scholar's point of view, and their writings are addressed
rather to trained minds than to immature learners. To find an advanced
grammar unencumbered with hard words, abstruse thoughts, and difficult
principles, is not altogether an easy matter. These things enhance the
difficulty which an ordinary youth experiences in grasping and
assimilating the facts of grammar, and create a distaste for the
study. It is therefore the leading object of this book to be both as
scholarly and as practical as possible. In it there is an attempt to
present grammatical facts as simply, and to lead the student to
assimilate them as thoroughly, as possible, and at the same time to do
away with confusing difficulties as far as may be.

To attain these ends it is necessary to keep ever in the foreground
the _real basis of grammar_; that is, good literature. Abundant
quotations from standard authors have been given to show the student
that he is dealing with the facts of the language, and not with the
theories of grammarians. It is also suggested that in preparing
written exercises the student use English classics instead of "making
up" sentences. But it is not intended that the use of literary
masterpieces for grammatical purposes should supplant or even
interfere with their proper use and real value as works of art. It
will, however, doubtless be found helpful to alternate the regular
reading and æsthetic study of literature with a grammatical study, so
that, while the mind is being enriched and the artistic sense
quickened, there may also be the useful acquisition of arousing a keen
observation of all grammatical forms and usages. Now and then it has
been deemed best to omit explanations, and to withhold personal