It is true that in many of these books we may find prefaces
which say, "All other books err in clinging too closely to mere system,
to names; but we will break away and give you the real thing." But they
don't do it; they can't afford to be too radical, and so they merely modify
in a few details the same old system, the system of names. Yet it is a
great point gained when the necessity for a change is realized.
How, then, shall we go about our mastery of the English language?
Modern science has provided us a universal method by which we may study
and master any subject. As applied to an art, this method has proved
highly successful in the case of music. It has not been applied to
language because there was a well fixed method of language study in
existence long before modern science was even dreamed of, and that
ancient method has held on with wonderful tenacity. The great fault
with it is that it was invented to apply to languages entirely different
from our own. Latin grammar and Greek grammar were mechanical systems
of endings by which the relationships of words were indicated.
Of course the relationship of words was at bottom logical, but the
mechanical form was the chief thing to be learned.
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