Excerpt from A Compendious Grammar of the Greek Language It may be added that the Greek, from the much greater fulness of its forms and variety of its constructions, cannot be as adequately treated as the Latin, except in a larger volume. Mr. Marsh, in his able Lectures on the English Language, thus distinguishes: The grammar of the Greek language is much more flexible, more tolerant of aberration, less rigid in its requirements, than the Latin. The precision, which the regularity of Latin syntax gives to a period, the Greek more completely and clearly accomplishes by the nicety with which individual words are defined in meaning; and while the Latin trains us to be good grammarians, the Greek elevates us to the highest dignity of manhood by making us acute and powerful thinkers. The greater need of explanation which results from this fulness and freedom, calls for additional space for, as Professor cur tius has well remarked, Memory can neither accurately grasp the great variety of Greek forms nor retain them, unless it be supported by an analyzing and combining intelligence, which furnishes, as it were, the books and cement to strengthen that which has been learned, and permanently impress it upon the mind. In respect to form, the present treatise should not be judged as an independent work, but as a condensed edition of a larger work, from the form of which it was deemed important to depart as little as pos sible. Thus, some references to authors, which are there fully made, are here given partially in preference to omitting them altogether. For fuller illustration and explanation on many points, will the reader pardon, once for all, a reference to the larger grammar? And will he permit the statement of principles and acknowledgments in its preface to be here understood without repetition, the rather for a reason which will appear in the next paragraph? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.