Excerpt from The English Grammar of William Cobbett: In a Series of Letters Addressed to His Son With NotesAmong recent writers on language, there is perhaps not one who has written more wisely, or exhibited a finer perception of the true means of acquiring the power of expression, than Mr. Richard Grant White. His two works, "Words and their Uses" and "Every-day English," are marvelously interesting and full of sound, wholesome instruction. These books will, by any one uninformed of his novel views, be read with surprise and even with incredulity; but they cannot fail to impress the reader with the conviction, that they possess a measure of truth which is confirmed by experience. Mr. White condemns as altogether useless, nay, as worse than useless, the grammar studies of our public schools, and recommends the study of authors instead of grammars.Now, although I agree in the main with Mr. White's views concerning the character of our tongue, and the unprofitableness of grammar studies in general; although I fully agree with him that our language must be learned, chiefly, from hearing good speakers and reading good writers; still I maintain that this is not enough; that in order to be able to write correctly, and to be sure that one does write correctly, a fair knowledge of well-defined principles is necessary; that the study of these principles, rightly pursued, is not only necessary to enable one to speak and write correctly, but is useful as a discipline of the mind and as a means of general culture. Theory Must be combined with practice.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com