Seuem. BooKs.—We have to notice two of the useful series
of clas- sical text-books for which we are indebted to the Clarendon Prose, Selections adapted from Xenophon, by J. Surtoos Phillpotts, and The Commentaries of foiling Guar; the• Gallic: War, by Charles E. Moberly. Both editors are assistant-masters in Rugby School, and the work of both is as excellent as we should expect. The tendency of classical teaching is morn and more to give to the substance of ancient authors some, at least, of the attention that was once devoted oxolu- sively to the form ; and both. Mr. Phillpotts and Mr. Moberly recognize the fact. The first named of these two takes the Hollonies of Xeno- phon, ' boils them down " into about a fifth of their original bulk, prefixes explanatory introductions, and generally sets forth the history of the period,—a period which, as ho justly says, "is too often neglected, both by schools and universities." Towards the construing of the text ho contributes abundant help, first by simplifying the construction when sim- plification seemed necessary, a course that might be more often pursued than it is ; secondly, by marking the compound verbs, a frequent source of difficulty to the learner ; and thirdly, by copious notes. Altogether the volume makes a very complete and usof al text-book. Wo are glad to see that it is to be followed up by a selection of scenes from the "Retreat of the Ten Thousand." After all, nothing is better than that. It can be understood by itself, whereas he who has barely heard of Athens and Sparta cannot make much of the history of the Hellenicee Mr. Moberly helps to rescue Ccesar from the most unjust reproach of want of interest. Of course, no book can interest which is read at the rate of ten lines a lesson ; but put the work with such explanations and illustrations as are hero furnished into the hands of boys who could got through it at a reasonable speed, and could see something of the eon-
neetion of the narrative, and you have what could scarcely fail to attract attention. We see in the preface an emphatic testimony to the merits
of a work which has been unjustly depreciated, Napoleon book on Julius Omar, which, says Mr. Moberly, " deserves in a very high degree indeed the gratitude of all students of the Commentariee."—Greek and English Dialogues, for use in Schools and Colleges, by John StutPrt Blackie (Macmillan), strikes us as supplying teachers with a hint of the most valuable kind, Professor Blackie thus describes his method "I will intimate to the students of a class that to-morrow I shall address Borne remarks to them on a certain subject,—say, the seasons and the weather, and in preparation for this they will be so good as to look over the vocabulary of the chapter so named. In our Scottish Universities working is the rule [listen, Oxford and Cambridge] ; and there is no doubt that four-fifths, or perhaps nine-tenths, of a class will do this, or any other thing they are bid. Next morning comes, and I forth- with describe a snowstorm, or a frost with skating, or any other suitable subject, and by interrogations find that tho students, or at least those who aro worth fishing for, thoroughly understand me. I then intimate that I oxpeot the students themselves, or at least such of them as aro bent on improvement, to take my place on tho day after, and make the description vied voce before the class."
'We have always thought that colloquial teaching of the dead languages was unduly neglected, and we are heartily obliged to Professor 131ackie, an enthusiastic scholar to whom classical learning owes very much, for his Dialogues, which, we may say, are very lively and idiomatic. Wo hope that some one will follow it up with a book of Latin dialogues. There are comparatively but few schools where Greek dialogues are available.--A Series of Elementary Latin Prose Exercises, by J. Westley Davis, M.A.., (Longman), is a book of carefully graduated exercises after the manner of "Ellis," adapted to the principal Latin grammars in use, as well as to the "Public School Primer." Has Mr. Davis always taken his examples from the classics? "Oculi rotundi" for "round eyes," and "aperire ludum " for "to open a school," seem a little odd to us, though we say it not without fear. To Mr. Davis, in conjunction with Mr. R. W. Baddeley, we also owe Scala Graeca (Boll and Daldy) Greek Exercises (Longman).—I'reddie's Latin Lessons, by Mary Albert, (Longman), is a cleverly arranged little book on the plan of "Mary's 'Grammar." "Freddie "—we could wish that all our boys were "Fred- dies," so cleverly and quickly does he get on—is taught in what seems a very efficient way, having the reason of things explained to them, being taken skilfully past " the bitterness of his learning," and having that bitterness further mitigated by a sugar-plum in the shape of a story. Only we must say "Freddie" would have to unlearn some- thing when he went to school. He must not decline plus in this fashion:— N. and V. plus fructue. Ace, plus fructum. Gen. plus fructfts. bat. plus fructui. AU. plus fructu.
He may be misled also by being told without further explanation of a gerundive "dormiondus," Then, again, he will read this, "'They gained a great battle,' you would be tempted to write battle in the accusative ; but tho genitive would be the right ease to use, power being expressed," and he will probably write, " potitus out magme viotoriro," but will scarcely attain the success which he expects. And he will come to grief if he follows the advice "great suns must be put in the ablative" in rendering the sentence "The slave paid a great sum for liberty." Finally, we must caution him against Crecice for "at Greece," where, indeed, both Latin and English each equally strange. In fact the book wants re- -vision by a competent scholar.--.We have also before us a second volume of German Classics, by O. A. Buchheira (Clarendon Prose), con- taining Sohiller's " Wilhelm Tell."--Hachette's First French Reader, edited by Rev. E. P. E. Brette, B.D., and Gustave Masson, B.A. (Hachette), has the peculiarity which is certainly not without advan- tage, of taking its extracts from modern writers. French changes very
rapidly, and a boy fairly familiar with the language in its great classics may well be puzzled by some of its modern developments.—In English we have another of Mr. J. Hunter's useful editions of Shakespeare King Henry 1V., Part H. (Longman), and the Adventures of Telema- chus, Pope's Homer's Odyssey, 1-4 (John Ross); and in science an introductory Textbook of Meteorology, by Alex. Buchan (Blackwood), one of a series of scientific class-books which, as far as our experience coaches, we have found always excellent.—The Rev. F. Garden pub- aishos a second edition of an Outline of Logic (Rivingtons).
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