The Writers' Circle

Last year the study of grammar was abolished from all educational institutions. Educationalists announce that all people should write and speak excellent English without learning rules, and that useless and defunct grammar, is exhaustively dull. 
Of course none of this is true. Everyone starts to learn simple grammatical rules from a very early age. The small child who talks about "two mans" instead of "two men" has clearly perceived the rule about the formation of the plural; and when he speaks about the "two mans" speaked to him he is applying another rule about past tense verb formation.  Consciously or unconsciously, we all grasp the basic principles of language and grammar simply defines these principles and gives terms which make explanation easier. 
It is too easy to charge Grammar with being dull. After all, the same accusation could be levelled at almost every subject in the curriculum. Geography, history, science, mathematics all could be made to appear boring, tedious or interesting depending on its presentation. Grammar is built on argument rather than imagination, but logical reasoning need not be dull. Unlike Latin and Greek both dead languages with rigid and definite rules, English is a living language in a state of continuous change.   As such the grammarian does not dictate the rules to millions of speakers but rather tries to keep pace with a language constantly changing by trying to reduce it to some sort of order.  
Grammar will always be a subject of discussion, particularly among writers whose understanding of certain words often differs. There will always be exceptions to the rules, much overlapping, and point stretching, but there is no ultimate authority to whom an appeal can be made.