If the pupil will follow out the plan we have laid down, and which will be found neither tedious nor irksome, we are confident he will have acquired as much knowledge as can be obtained from any grammar for teaching the French language through the medium of the English tongue; whether he shall be able to converse freely will depend on the advantages he has received from his teacher, or from those with whom he associates; he may rest assured, however, that whatever may be said, he will never acquire the capability of speaking the language correctly, without making theory the concomitant of the earliest practice; any thing else would be attempting to raise a superstructure without a foundation. In conclusion, we beg to remark, that in the formation of our Exercises we have preferred selecting short phrases from the best French authors, which we have translated into English, that, by being put again into French, the idioms and construction of that language might be more easily and better attained; in these translations we have, for obvious reasons, been more literal than elegant. In the foregoing remarks we may, perhaps, have anticipated what the pupil will find stated in the body of the book, but we were anxious fully to explain ourselves and our views. Our excuse, if one be required, we shall give in the words of Larochefoucault "Pour bien savoir les choses, il faut en savoir le détail.”— For the explanation of the marks used in the Exercises, see p. 54. For the tenses represented by the letters of the Alphabet, see p. 64. 1st LIST.-Verbs with direct objects only, ---Verbs with a direct and an indirect object governed by de, -Verbs with only an indic. obj. governed by de, "-Verbs with a direct and an indirect object governed by à, "-Adjectives and Nouns governing à or de before the infinitive, 446 |