A NEW EDITION, CORRECTED. HRER APARTL, Nam ipfum Latine loqui, eft illud quidem in magna laude ponendum; fed non tam fua fponte, quam quod eft a plerifque neglectum. Non enim tam præclarum eft fcire Latine, quam turpe nescire ; neque tam id mihi oratoris boni, quam civis Romani, proprium videtur. CICERO. LONDON, Printed for J. DODSLEY, in Pall-Mall; MDCCXCI. THE PREFACE. THE English Language hath been much cultiva ted during the last two hundred years. It hath been confiderably polished and refined; its bounds have been greatly enlarged; its energy, variety, richness, and elegance, have been abundantly proved, by numberless trials, in verse and in profe, upon all fubjects, and in every kind of style: but, whatever other improvements it may have received, it hath made no advances in Grammatical Accuracy. Hooker is one of the earliest writers, of confiderable note, within the period above-mentioned: let his writings be compared with the best of those of more modern date; and, I believe, it will be found, that in co rectness, propriety, and purity of English style, be bath hardly been furpaffed, or even equalled, by of his fucceffors. It is now about fifty years, fince Docter made a public remonstrance, addressed to t of Oxford, then Lord Treasurer, concer A 2 imperfect fate of our Language; alleging in particular, "that in many inftances it offended against every part of Grammar." Swift must be allowed to have been a good judge of this matter; to which he was himself very attentive, both in his own quritings, and in his remarks upon those of his friends: he is one of the best and most correct of our profe writers. Indeed the juftness of this complaint, as far as I can find, hath never been questioned; and yet no effectual method hath hitherto been taken to redress the grievance which was the object of it. But let us confider, how, and in what extent, we are to understand this charge brought against the English Language; for the author feems not to have explained himself with fufficient clearness and precifion on this head. Does it mean, that the English Language, as it is spoken by the politeft part of the nation, and as it ftands in the writings of our most approved authors, often offends against every part of Grammar? Thus far, I am afraid, the charge is true. Or does it further imply, that our Language is in its nature irregular and capricious; not hitherto Subject, nor easily reducible, to a Syftem of rules? In this refpect, I am perfuaded, the charge is wholly without foundation. The English Language is perhaps of all the prefent European Languages by much the most fimple in its form and construction. Of all the ancient Lan guages guages extant That is the most simple, which is undoubtedly the most antient; but even that Language itfelf does not equal the English in fimplicity. The words of the English Language are perhaps fubject to fewer variations from their original form, than thofe of any other. Its Subftantives have but one variation of Cafe; nor have they any distinction of Gender, befide that which nature hath made. Its Adjectives admit of no change at all, except that which expresses the degrees of comparison. All the poffible variations of the original form of the Verb are not above fix or feven; whereas in many Languages they amount to fome hundreds: and almoft the whole business of Modes, Times, and Voices, is managed with great eafe by the affiftance of eight or nine commodious little Verbs, called from their ufe Auxiliaries. The Conftruction of this Language is fo eafy and obvious, that our Grammarians have thought it hardly worth while to give us any thing like a regular and systematical Syntax. The English Grammar, which hath been laft prefented to the public, and by the Perfon best qualified to have given us a perfect one, comprises the whole Syntax in ten lines: for this reafon; "because our "Language has fo little inflection, that its conftruc"tion neither requires nor admits many rules." In truth, the easier any fubject is in its own nature, the harder it is to make it more eafy by explanation; and nothing is more unnecessary, and at A 3 the |