their conclusions adopted or rejected, and considerable original research has been utilized. Thus it is impossible fully to acknowledge all our obligations to every author, but this is done as much as may be both in the indexes and throughout the text. The arrangement of a scientific and yet popular Grammar of a language so composite as English demands a LiberalConservative mind-Liberal, as regards the present functions of words-Conservative, as mindful that 'Our Mother Tongue' can only be properly interpreted when historically considered. This composite character, synthetical and analytical, native and foreign, frequently renders the division into Accidence and Syntax merely conventional or arbitrary, as the briefest consideration of Case will prove. Where, with reason, authorities differ (see Conjunction versus Preposition), the writer has not dogmatized, but has briefly placed the opposing aspects and arguments before his readers, just as they are required to do in many examinations. My grateful thanks, for much valuable criticism and advice, are tendered to my friends Messrs. J. Fawcett and W. P. Beach, and to Messrs. J. Willott, B.A., and J. Burnham, B.Sc., for their kind assistance with examination papers. Any suggestions for the further improvement of the work will be gratefully received and carefully considered. GEORGE BEACH. |