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nation and disarmed of his critical severity, must be made of sterner stuff than we can boast of. Nor could we make it quite consistent with the claims of gratitude, to speak ill of a book which has yielded us so much entertainment. There is nothing left for us, then, but to go with the multitude, and, giving up all hope of asserting in the present instance our independence of thought and superiority of insight, to acknowledge that for once the universal judgment is a right one, that at all events it does not err on the side of undue admiration. The epithets, "brilliant," and "amusing," which we have seen most commonly applied, appear to us inadequate. The work is amusing, certainly, as all the world would have expected it to be; and it is brilliant, even more, perhaps, than its author's previous writings would have authorized us to expect. But it has deeper and more solid merits. It is rich in interesting suggestions, in striking conceptions no less strikingly enunciated, in mature experience of life flowing forth with Horatian ease and humor, in glimpses of strange and rarely-trodden fields of thought and sentiment. It evinces a measure of poetic faculty, a richness of poetic fancy and feeling, for which, to own the truth, we had never given Dr. Holmes sufficient credit. His poetry, unless we have failed to appreciate it, is less poetical than some of his prose. We refer, of course, to his serious poems: his comic verses are among the best of their kind. The study and elaboration which they show, only make the humor more effective and irresistible. But in his serious poems there is, to our feeling, a something artificial, a slight stiffness and coldness, which prevent them, for the most part, from being thoroughly satisfactory and enjoyable. There are poets who can never fully conquer the difficulties imposed by rhyme and rhythm. The restraints of verse will not allow them to be entirely easy and natural. With much painstaking they give their thought the artificial form required; but the beauty and the delicacy, the freshness and the spirit, are nearly lost in the process. We do not say that Dr. Holmes is such a poet. But there are passages of prose-poetry in this volume, which we would not exchange for all his metrical compositions, so far as they have not derived their inspiration from the comic muse.

Probably the best course for a critic, who should attempt to make an article on the "Autocrat," would be to imitate very closely the procedure of a certain nursery hero, to "put in his thumb, and pull out a plum, and cry, what a brave-reviewer am I!" But if we should once commence quoting, it would be hard to stop, before we had far transcended the most liberal boundary which we could concede to this de

partment of our Quarterly. And why reprint what all our readers have already in their own possession? Let each of them put his pencil-mark of admiration against his favorite passages, and thus make out an anthology of his own. It may be less critically perfect than the one which we should give him; but it will probably be much more satisfactory to his own tastes and feelings.

About a year since "Thorndale, or the Conflict of Opinions,"* came to our hands in the English edition, and now we observe that an American reprint has been issued by Messrs. Ticknor & Fields, which, however, we have not had the pleasure of seeing. On reading it, we were so impressed with its rare power of intellect, and the uncommon attractions of its style, as also with its thoroughly anti-christian tendency, as to form the purpose of reviewing it at length. That purpose we may hereafter be able to execute. It will be extensively read, we do not doubt, by thoughtful and sensitive minds, and will charm every reader by its finished pictures of quiet beauty, as well as by its humane and gentle spirit. If any one finds himself likely to be haunted by its unbelieving spirit, we can only repeat the advice suggested by a lady, "after each sitting, read a chapter of the gospel of John."

PHILOLOGY.

We wish to call attention to the "Latin Analyst," which Prof. Gibbs has recently published. It is a very different book from any elementary Latin work that has preceded it in this country. It seems to have been the aim of our most modern text books, not only to make knowledge easy of acquisition, but also easy of communication; to lighten the task of the teacher as well as of the pupil. This is no evil in itself, but it leads to an evil, and a very serious one-indolence in teachers, a disposition to rely altogether on the book, to hear lessons rather than to teach, to sit as censors, applying the test guage to each scholar's performance, rather than as instructors, helping the youthful mind onward, and stimulating its full activity. With some teachers, no book will find favor that takes them out of the comfortable, sleepy,

Thorndale, or the Conflict of Opinions. By WILLIAM SMITH, author of "Athelwood," a drama, "A Discourse on Ethics," &c. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood & Sons,

1859.

By JOSIAH W. Gibbs,

↑ A Latin Analyst on Modern Philological Principles. Prof. Sac. Liter., Yale College. New Haven. 12mo. 1858. pp. 150.

cider-mill round of their own time honored and inveterate method. To such, this work does not address itself, but rather to those who move on with the world in the path of progress. It will seem quite novel to those teachers who have not yet acquainted themselves with the new philology; and, unless taken in connection with the "Philological Studies" of the same author, a more expanded work, on which it is based, it may seem uninviting, on account of the condensed form in which the new principles are here stated. But we are convinced, by experience, that it is available for beginners in Latin-always provided that the teacher himself be competent to understand the subject-and that if faithfully followed out, it will produce results of which the old methods are utterly incapable.

According to the new philology, the proposition is regarded as the central point. The old method starts with the word, or as they are called in the grammar, the " parts of speech." The new is concerned with the thought, the old with the form. The new is subjective, the old is objective.

"The new grammar," says our author, "does not consist in a few practical rules to guard the student against plausible errors in speaking or writing the vernacular language, nor in the most minute or mechanical rules for imitating the latinity of Cicero; but it is the science of language. To understand a language is to understand its forms, whether of words or propositions, historically in their origin, philosophically in the want or occasion which called them into existence, and practically in the various applications of these forms in present use. It is, as it were, language itself subjectively conceived, apprehended, appreciated."

Reflection on the preceding statement shows that the new philology, however, need not, and does not supersede the old. We must understand the word and its formations before we can enter upon the proposition. Our Latin and Greek grammars may flourish unassailed. But, to our apprehension, the merit of the new philology consists in the introduction of a new element into linguistic study; in adding to the verbal criticism, oftentimes so dry, in which grammatical discussions are chiefly occupied, the study of the proposition, a study ever new and full of unflagging interest.

Chronologically, we must begin with the word; logically, with the proposition. We must collect our facts before we can reason upon them. Let the student, then, con his paradigms and the indispensable rules for the "common concords," by way of preparation, and then he

may begin with the study of propositions, in which he will find the "Latin Analyst " an invaluable assistant.

This work consists of select Latin sentences, arranged in about sixty sections, so as to exhibit a complete series of distinct propositions in the order of their natural development, from the more simple to the more complicated forms, so as to exhaust the strictly syntactical forms of the language. Each section is introduced by explanatory remarks, accompanied with references to the fuller statement of the same in the author's larger work. The usual references to grammars, found in elementary books, are here omitted, and left to the inclination and judgment of the teacher, as being foreign to the plan of this work. Nor is this any objection. A teacher who is qualified for his position, can better judge what his class requires, than any other. Some books are too much encumbered with help for any class; some give help injudiciously; some classes need more help, others less, and all differently. A few dialogues and fables are added, with such notes as are adapted to the general plan of the book, and a convenient vocabulary is provided at the end. The dialogues will prove an agreeable as well as an useful feature. The colloquial style has been too much neglected in our Latin Readers.

We look with some interest to the reception of this unpretending little work, by American teachers. It has a mission to fulfill, we have no doubt. Some teachers, who care to learn nothing beyond the inevitable requirements of the day, will ignore its claims; but it is equally certain that not a few who aim chiefly to teach their scholars to think, will learn and use what it has to communicate. There is not a little in the "Analyst" which will not be available to the young scholar without explanation and illustration by his teacher; there are some technical terms, too, which must be acquired and comprehended by the same. assistance. And if this little book will only rouse up the teachers, and make them more alert to think for and with their scholars, it will have accomplished a good work.

We have been assured by teachers who have begun to use the "Analyst" in their courses of instruction, that they have observed with interest and surprise the ease with which young scholars comprehend the principles of the new philology. It is a great mistake to suppose that these are beyond the comprehension of a child of twelve years. The distinction between the substantive, the adjective and the adverbial proposition, between the subordinate and coördinate, between the object and effect of an action, is as plain and as interesting to the boy

as to the man; and the boy, as well as the man, rejoices in something of which he can understand the reason: instead of the fossil facts of a petrified grammar, he craves the fresh product of living thought.

It is, then, not a matter of slight importance to know that the experiment has been tried and has been successful. The analysis of a proposition has long been a part of the daily drill of classes in some of the best schools of the country. With the assistance of Prof. Gibbs's latest contribution to philology, may we not expect to see this useful exercise take on a completeness and accuracy hitherto impracticable!

SCIENCE.

The peculiar views of Professor Agassiz, in regard to the origin of the human race, have led many religious men, both in this country and abroad, to look with some degree of suspicion upon all his scientific investigations. The great work bearing the title, "Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America,"* the mere commencement of a magnificent series, intended to give the result of his labors during the last twenty years of his life in this country, will do much to clear him from such suspicions. Among scientific men it will take the rank in elaborateness and care, if not in vastness of subject, with his great work, "Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles."

The two volumes now issued consist of three distinct treatises. The first, an Essay on the general principles of Animal Classification. The second, a Zoological classification and definition of the American Turtles, in which the principles proposed in the first are applied. And the third, an elaborate account of the Embryology of the same groupthe Turtles.

We have had in manuscript for some time a notice of this book, which we are obliged again to defer. We shall now only briefly allude to the work, and shall hope to return to the subject on some future occasion.

Although Professor Agassiz states that he has written with a view to interest every general reader, and hopes to find his work in the hands of farmers, fishermen and working men generally, yet it is evident that the two last parts require so much familiarity with science, or so careful a study of what is here written, that few, we fear, of those who are not

*Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America. By LOUIS AGASSIZ. 2 Vols. 4to. With 34 Plates. 1857.

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