though his grammatical order must be systematic, he is under no obligation to confine himself absolutely to the narrowest possible grammatical field at each step. For example adjectives[1] may be, as they should be on other grounds, treated side by side with the substantives which they resemble in form, and the easy forms of possum (e.g., pot-es, pot-est, pot-eram) side by side with the corresponding forms of sum. Here we have material for the building of sentences. We may even go further and admit a certain number of forms which anticipate future grammatical lessons, provided they are not too numerous or of such a character as to confuse the grammatical impression which it is the purpose in hand to produce. For example, forms like inquam, inquit might be introduced, if necessary, long before the learning of the defective verbs was reached; they would, of course, be accompanied by their translations and treated as isolated words without any grammatical explanation. Tact in introducing only such forms as are not liable to lead to false inferences is necessary; and, of course, the fewer such anticipations there are the better. A certain latitude must also be conceded in regard to idiom and style. While it is of importance that the pupil should come across nothing which might react disadvantageously on his future composition, it is mere pedantry to insist on any exalted standard of literary excellence. The writer who works under the limitation imposed by the conditions of the problem should not attempt any high style of diction; it is sufficient if his Latin is up to the standard of such isolated sentences as usually form the mental pabulum of the beginner, though it might well be somewhat higher.
I would here anticipate a possible objection. Would not such a book be too easy? Would it provide a sufficient amount of mental gymnastic to serve as a means of training the faculties of
- ↑ Including Possessive Adjectives and Participles (Verb-adjectives).
