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top of the Alleganies, surrounded by invincible legions, and marked the foe of freedom marching to defile by his footsteps the holy sanctuary of liberty, he could not have moved more effectually to repel the baleful intruder. As the accumulated force of the Susquehanna approached, the current of the ocean was again driven from the shores, and turned to the south.' p. 102.

Should our inquisitive readers not be satisfied with these specimens of the author's manner, and with this brief sketch of his theory, we can do them no better service, than to recommend the perusal of the work itself. We should be happy to unfold to them his new theory of the tides, but our allotted space is already filled up, and we can only assure them, that this is quite as novel and edifying, as the theory of the earth and of deluges. With true magnanimity he disdains the trammels of such men as Newton and La Place, and chooses to wear no chains but those of his own fabricating. If we have succeeded in gathering his meaning, the tides are caused by the rays of light passing through the atmosphere; but we will not diminish, by broken hints or imperfect descriptions, the pleasures in store for the curious, who may engage in a thorough examination of the subject.

Should the thought intrude itself upon any person, after reading the above remarks, that we have not a due respect for the science of geology, he will be in a mistake. We think it a noble and useful science, and worthy of the great minds by which it has been so much improved within the last half century. It is not the science to which we object, but the theory; not the facts, but the speculations; not the realities, but the dreams. Geology, in its legitimate objects, is a science of observation and analysis, and should be confined within its proper limits. The structure, the gradual revolutions, and the component parts of the earth, are subjects capable of investigation, and have their utility; but inquiries about the original elements of chaos, and the formation of the globe out of these elements, are as preposterous as they are fruitless, and, in the present stage of mental progress, they will rarely gain admittance into a mind, from which philosophy and common sense have not been banished.

ART. XV.-The Greek Reader, by Frederick Jacobs, Professor of the Gymnasium at Gotha, and Editor of the Anthologia. From the seventh German Edition, adapted to the Translation of Buttmann's Greek Grammar. Boston. Published by Oliver Everett. 1823, pp. vii, and 346.

SYMPTOMS of an increasing fondness for classic learning are showing themselves in various parts of our country. An improved edition of an elementary work for the study of Greek has recently appeared in Kentucky; and a part of the Illiad, with judicious notes chiefly selected from Heyne, has been printed at Andover, with the neatness and accuracy, which distinguish works from the press in that place. The College of Middlebury, in Vermont, has recently acquired the means of pursuing philological studies with success. We have before us an Address, delivered at Middlebury by Professor Patton, who is known to the public by his translation of the Tables of Thiersch.* In the Address,† the advantages of philological pursuits are explained, as tending to cultivate the faculty of discrimination, to form the habit of fixed attention and mental possession, to enlarge the capacity of the mind, and especially to produce the proportionate exercise of all the intellectual powers. From the printed catalogue of the books, which may be used by philological students at Middlebury, it appears, that they have access to the best critical works, and most valuable modern editions of the classics; a collection, such as till within a few years, hardly existed in any of the States.

In the attempts which are making to facilitate the study of the Greek language, and place it on a better foundation, the ancient seminary at Cambridge has done what might have been expected from its character and resources. The latest edition of the Collectanea Majora bears sufficient testimony to the fidelity and critical accuracy of Dr Popkin, who super

* Greek Tables, or a Method of teaching the Greek Paradigm in a more simple and fundamental Manner, by Frederick Thiersch, &c. &c. Translated by R. B. Patton, Professor of Languages in Middlebury College. Andover. 1822.

+ Address, delivered before the Philological Society of Middlebury College, on the Evening of the 19th August, 1823. By R. B. Patton. Middlebury.

intended it. If that work is to retain its place in our higher institutions, it is matter of congratulation, that the direction and responsibility of a new edition rest with a scholar so familiar, not only with the whole extent of Grecian literature, but also with the minutiae of the accents and the niceties of verbal criticism. We take the more pleasure in acknowledging the merit of our American editor, because his labors, having for their object the silent correction of the mistakes of others, presuppose great learning and industry, and at the same time. are not presented in a form to attract particular notice.

It is certainly praiseworthy to improve the books, which are already in extensive use for the purposes of education; but it is still better to make or introduce superior ones. It is therefore with no common satisfaction, that we receive from the university press of Cambridge the excellent school book of Jacobs. If the Germans can claim to have excelled all other nations in any branch of letters, they certainly may claim to have done so in those humble but all important works, which are intended to familiarize the young with the severer parts of knowledge. This superiority is easily accounted for. The Germans have been more assiduous than the scholars of any other nation, in their efforts to improve elementary works; and further, this kind of literary labor has been performed among them by men of high intellectual gifts and attainments. Thus the editor of the Anthology, after having employed many years of his life in restoring to the scattered flowers of Grecian poetry their original freshness, and having founded his own reputation for learning, sagacity, and industry, on a labor, which will not soon be forgotten, has thought it in no wise derogatory to spend much time and patient research, in selecting from the Grecian literature the scattered phrases and passages, which seemed to him to be of all others the best adapted for the use of persons just entering on the study of the language.

Those, who are concerned in the duties of instruction, may now be relieved from the necessity of teaching the smaller work of Dalzel. The Scottish nation is not celebrated for its philologists; and certainly Dalzel has no claims to particular esteem as a scholar. His lectures, which have been printed, are barren and useless. The selections for the Minora have not been discreetly made, nor well illustrated;

they convey in themselves little valuable information; in parts they are much too difficult and obscure; and yet they contain no sentences sufficiently simple for the beginner. The Anacreontic odes, which form a considerable part of the book, contain sentiments of the coarsest sensual tendency; and deserve little commendation as poems. The Greek Reader, on the contrary, having been compiled by one of the leading scholars of the age, is prepared throughout in a pure and masterly manner; proceeds methodically from the simplest combination of words to the common Attic style; and is so composed, that while the rules of grammar are illustrated in easy succession, an outline is given of mythology, ancient geography, and Grecian history. It is used in almost all the good schools in Germany, and has there gained a decided expression of public opinion in its favor, as the best of the many similar works, which have been produced by the scholars of that prolific country.

In regard to the American edition, the chief question concerns its accuracy; and this quality it possesses in an eminent degree. As the notes and Lexicon are in English, it affords the means of learning Greek without the embarrassing intervention of another foreign tongue. That it contains references to the American translation of Buttmann's Grammar, will make it the more valuable to those, who possess that work, without diminishing its utility for those, who continue to use the more ancient manuals.

We hope the Greek Reader will come into immediate and extensive use; and in expressing this opinion without reserve, we are influenced, not by any predilection for the German systems, but by a sincere belief, that it answers its design better than any similar book. A general preference, even when it is in the main well founded, is but a poor support for an opinion. But while it would imply weakness to plead for a work, because it is of German origin, it would be quite as inconsistent with a real love for learning, to reject one for a similar reason. National education is of infinite moment and general concern. We claim as a people to be inferior to none in liberty and public honor; and we should be careful to rival the most enlightened nations in intelligence. Our freedom and national glory are of native growth; the means of education and the sources of knowledge must, from our relative situation, still

be introduced from abroad. It is, therefore, a solemn duty to search through the literary stores of all nations, and select for our use such works, as will at once impart the most knowledge, and best cherish principles in harmony with our institutions. No matter where they are to be found; we must prove all, and adopt the best. In this spirit, the gentleman who fills the Cambridge mathematical chair, with so much credit to himself and advantage to others, has had the merit of reforming and reinvigorating the study of the mathematics among us, by drawing the materials of instruction directly from the nation, which has made the most proficiency in the exact sciences. We look to the British, it may be, for our guides in practical morals and philosophy, in history, and, as far as modern times are concerned, in forensic eloquence. But without being insensible to the transcendent merits of men like Bentley and Porson, who possessed genius, wit, and erudition in the most happy union, and have left illustrious names, and exerted a powerful influence through their works, we believe that the palm in philological pursuits belongs to the Germans.

That it is so with regard to school books, (and this is the only part of the question, which it now belongs to us to discuss,) is obvious from the concessions of the English themselves, who, without any scruple, are constantly profiting by the researches of the continental scholars, and acknowledging their editions of the classics to be the best, by reprinting them. We have this moment examined such English school editions of the ancient authors, as we happen to have near us, and find that three out of four are sedulously reprinted' from the German. In the same year, in which Professor Everett introduced Buttmann's Greek Grammar to the American public, an English scholar was preparing Matthiae's for the English schools.* In the last advertisements of new books in the literary mart of London, we find the most approved Latin Grammar in use in Germany announced as translated. The best London edition of Dalzel's Collectanea Majora contains a text, reformed almost throughout after the standard German authorities, and the most useful part of the notes is taken from

The larger Grammar of Matthiae, in 2 vols. 8vo. has been before the English public for several years. Dr C. J. Blomfield abridged it for the use of schools in 1822.

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