Thus you see, it is impossible for you to become a grammarian without exercising your judgment.  If you have sufficient resolution to do this, you will, in a short time, perfectly understand the nature and office of the different parts of speech, their various properties and relations, and the rules of syntax that apply to them; and, in a few weeks, be able to speak and write accurately.  But you must not take things for granted, without examining their propriety and correctness.  No.  You are not a mere automaton, or boy-machine; but a rational being.  You ought, therefore, to think methodically, to reason soundly, and to investigate every principle critically.  Don’t be afraid to think for yourself.  You know not the high destiny that awaits you.  You know not the height to which you may soar in the scale of intellectual existence.  Go on, then, boldly, and with unyielding perseverance; and if you do not gain admittance into the temple of fame, strive, at all hazards, to drink of the fountain which gurgles from its base.

EXERCISES IN FALSE SYNTAX.

NOTE 1, TO RULE 12.  A noun in the possessive case, should always be distinguished by the apostrophe, or mark of elision; as, The nation’s glory.

That girls book is cleaner than those boys books.

Not correct, because the nouns girls and boys are both in the possessive case, and, therefore, require the apostrophe, by which they should be distinguished; thus, “girl’s, boys’" according to the preceding NOTE. [Repeat the note.]

Thy ancestors virtue is not thine.

If the writer of this sentence meant one ancestor, he should have inserted the apostrophe after r, thus, “ancestor’s"; if more than one, after s, thus, "ancestors’ virtue;” but, by neglecting to place the apostrophe, he has left his meaning ambiguous, and we cannot ascertain it.  This, and a thousand other mistakes you will often meet with, demonstrate the truth of my declaration, namely, that “without the knowledge and application of grammar rules, you will often speak and write in such a manner as not to be understood." You may now turn back and re-examine the “illustration” of Rules 3, 4, and 12, on page 52, and then correct the following examples about five times over.

A mothers tenderness and a fathers care, are natures gift’s for mans advantage.  Wisdoms precept’s form the good mans interest and happiness.  They suffer for conscience’s sake.  He is reading Cowpers poems.  James bought Johnsons Dictionary.

RULE 4.  A verb must agree with its nominative in number and person.

Those boys improves rapidly.  The men labors in the field.  Nothing delight some persons.  Thou shuns the light.  He dare not do it.  They reads well.

I know you can correct these sentences without a rule, for they all have a harsh sound, which offends the ear.  I wish you, however, to adopt the habit of correcting errors by applying rules; for, by-and-by, you will meet with errors in composition which you cannot correct, if you are ignorant of the application of grammar rules.