King's English" again and again; not for suggestions as to the subjects to be discussed, because, as has just been said, these have in all cases been suggested by his daily work, but for assistance in giving a name to a problem, or in stating it—and almost never in vain. The section on "Common Parts," including "Correlatives," is an excellent instance: although all the various "cases" here mentioned under that heading—and some of them are not mentioned by the Messrs. Fowler—were in mind as needing attention, the possibility of grouping them all under one comprehensive title had not suggested itself.
In the Preface the authors say of the plan of their book, that it "was dictated by the following considerations. It is notorious that English writers seldom look into a grammar or composition book; the reading of grammars is repellent because, being bound to be exhaustive on a greater or less scale, they must give much space to the obvious or the unnecessary; and composition books are often useless because they enforce their warnings only by fabricated blunders against which every tyro feels himself quite safe. The principle adopted here has therefore been (1) to pass by all rules, of whatever absolute importance, that are shown by observation to be seldom or never broken; and (2) to illustrate by living examples, with the name of a reputable authority attached
