Higher Lessons in English

The plan of 'Higher Lessons' will perhaps be better understood if we first speak of two classes of text-books with which this work is brought into competition. * Method of One Class of Text-books - In one class are those that aim chiefly to present a course of technical grammar in the order of Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody. * Method of Another Class of Text-books In another class are those that present a miscellaneous collection of lessons in Composition, Spelling, Pronunciation, Sentence-analysis, Technical Grammar, and General Information, without unity or continuit. * The Study of the Sentence for the Proper Use of Words - It is the plan of this book to trace with easy steps the natural development of the sentence, to consider the leading facts first and then to descend to the details. * The Study of the Sentence for the Laws of Discourse - Through the study of the sentence we not only arrive at an intelligent knowledge of the parts of speech and a correct use of grammatical forms, but we discover the laws of discourse in general. * The Study of the Sentence for the Sake of Translation - The laws of thought being the same for all nations, the logical analysis of the sentence is the same for all languages. * The Study of the Sentence for Discipline - As a means of discipline nothing can compare with a training in the logical analysis of the sentence. To study thought through its outward form, the sentence, and to discover the fitness of the different parts of the expression to the parts of the thought, is to learn to think.