19 NOVEMBER 1870, Page 25

Rudiments of English Grammar. By Ballen and Heycock. (Longmans.) —The

merit, or, at all events, the characteristic of this grammar is that it is assimilated in form to the grammars of the classical languages. The objection to it is that a great deal that is scarcely wanted has to be supplied to complete the resemblance. A. language, in fact, with very few inflections has to be forced into a likeness that cannot but be very artificial to languages that have very many. On the other hand, we can imagine that to a boy who has mastered his Latin grammar, and never dreams that his own language also has a grammar, the book may be very useful.