And he persuades himself, that, however this work may yet fall short of possible completeness, the improvements here offered are neither few nor inconsiderable.

He does not mean to conceal in any degree his obligations to others, or to indulge in censure without discrimination.

He has no disposition to depreciate the labours, or to detract from the merits, of those who have written ably upon this topic.

He has studiously endeavoured to avail himself of all the light they have thrown upon the subject.

With a view to further improvements in the science, he has also resorted to the original sources of grammatical knowledge, and has not only critically considered what he has seen or heard of our vernacular tongue, but has sought with some diligence the analogies of speech in the structure of several other languages.