Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1870-08-26
LITERARY NOTES
ALIENS COURSE OF LATIN STUDY


progress IN Philology as well Ine -
years have witnessed no inconsidef"o'S
N the domain Of linguistic. lhe on APP
has almost universally been replaced by ne" anu
better tools. Compare the s'andAi1 s'u''i
lexicons, Latin and Greek ani other oi 'o-usy
with those of fifty years ago. The interoriiy
Of the latter IL every requisite Of dictionary
viii as.opish oae who has never tried to use
Schneider a. Ainsworth. In this latter, Tor in
stance, what q multiplicity of definitions, what
a tumble Of meanings. what queer etymoogies
Even Wetster's etyIaologies, not long since so
extravsc.1t,y Landed by those who were still
more IN the dark than he, have nov been mot
few Of theml revised - out of existence
His rules aud principles were long ago proved
erroneous.
The new science Of Comparative Philology
has horne rich and abundant fruit lives
LEGATIONS SIRE now made on sure basis, and IN
der the -afe guillnce of the historical spirit.
In spite Of al the clamor raised by the votaries
OF the "Practical'' sciences. the students Of
language pursue their chosen work with new
enthusiast. It has for them the same faseins-
tioa that the catching and classifying Of bugs
has to the entom9!ogist and We sre ready to
undertake to show that it has ut least an equal
practical 80 importance.
We have leen looling over new series Of
textbooks in Latin, ard comparing them with
- -. Ia.
Grafton before Us. The books are published by
Messrs. CHM Brothers s. Co, Of Boston, and
consist Of Primer, Grammar, Lessons, Reader and
oompendious Lexicon, and are soon to be follow
Ell by "Casar - and a work on Composition,
completing the preparatory series The authors
are Pref Wm. +. Allen Of TIE University OF
Wisconsin, AID Mr. Joseph H. Allen Of Cam
bridge, Mass
The hrs; thing which draws our attention is
the nes,uess and mechanical excellence Of the
volumes. Heavy tinted paper; handsome type,
ialiciously varied, the full-f-ced letter being
used to catch the eye; and neat strong binding.
these features serve to put these volumes in
a different class from the gIammars and read
ers of our time. We do not remember that they
were beautiful books, even before they came to
be dogs cared.
We next remark tier comparative brevity.
The Grammar contains, index and al, Ii3
pages the Lessons, including yOcabularics,
1874 page. The Old grammar % Andrews *
Stoddard has 40 pages. and great portion Of
5. Is in fne type. Yet We 70 not see hut these
books include about everything that the COM
pe;ent teacher can ask for at this stage Of the
study. We sly the r9npat-a, iascaer .1- we
think tina such only can uss these books TO ad-
vantage. There is more work lef. for the class
room than in some other manuals hut this
feature VII commend the books to such as know
Latia, and know what teaching is. The authors
say that their books are not designed 70 make
Latin easy,-:hat cannot he done but to re-
move all the difficulties which are caused by
attempting too much at time, or by taking
things in a wrong order To aualyze these
volumes would require more space than we can
give.
The Reader is simply a selection Of interesting
extracts from classical authors. arranged with
some reference TO their difficulty. They have
been 50 chosen, too, Ms to he ineligible and
complete. We give the authors and the number
Of pages which each occupies :-Pbaedru- Do,
Caesar %, Q. Cnrtius 10, Nepos 9, Sallust %,
Ovid IS, Virgi, Is, Plantus :, Terence Z. Cicero
Il, Pliny 10, Tacitus g. These excerpts have
been made with manifest care and taste; as an
example, from the last tgo authors are cited the
famous passages in which they make reference
to the early Christians. The Lexicon sppea led
Is sufficient, 50 far as We have tested If; bat We
judge that the scholar Will have TO learn how to
Use it to advantage. Its extreme cond-n alton
will oblige the pupil 10 have recourse now and
then to tic teacher.
Oar impression il regard TO these Iuauuals is,
that good latinists can be made by their use
in much less tine than by the cli text-b9aza, if
only the pupils come under the care Of those VINO
really know Latin and have ssill to dirlc, AMI
stimulate the student such instructors are
not g CONNER as some suppose There :, many
= teacher of Latin whoi unahl. even 90 coz
s;rue fresh page Of easy prose. without labor
Gus turning o. dictionary AMI grammar tou.
As FOR reading Latin in the same way that one
reads English OF French, they never make the
attempt. And yet they would ne both surprised
and indignant. # it were hiu,ei that they were
not yet qualified to teach in gooi sooth. the
little Latin Of the young men and women Of
orr time is more largely due to the ignorance Of
teachers than to the poor quality Of textbooks.
A skilful Atinis; will make good scholars with
any Of the books now in use. Iet even be can
net aff5r3 to use any but thu best If he has
not already seen these books, he will 10 well to
examine them, and compare them with those Of
Hardness. Smith, Andrews. Anthem and the
rest
The old method Of loA,'iac the mind with
parldiyms, rules and ezcepti 5ns, which after
all it might not have occasion 20 use for years,
Is now, We believe, very een, rally Discarded.
Yet it is not many years since the students Of
- College were able to "a lie off the rrosoii-
cal lists OF words in " And ,ews g. Stoiisrd.'
What the books said Of the "cesural pause"
they knew rer5atia what was The nature and
Use OF this pause, some Of he brightest Of them
did not know 7hey had learned more gram
mar than Latin. In 1t is series this aul; is
s.oiiod. Every parsii Em and principle given
is for use, and is flmi jaiized and fastened by
using it, Its authors - hold that the language
i'self, and TIE rterat ne which contains it, is
the real object Of study; an that every hour
spent on the details of Ct amman, which docs not
directly hep to this, is injury to the students
progress, and wrong to his intelligence" To
this very sensible state nent We most heartily
subscribe. Ifeely our Instructors had done so
NAsvIG's LAIN GRANULAR.
This octave Of over 500 pages is also issued
by CHM Bros & Co, and in the same admira-
bic style as Aliens Latin Course Prof Mad
wigs Grammar was rendered into English more
than twenty gears ago, and has ever since been
growing in use and favor There had come to
be so large demand for i: in this country that
Professor Ihacher Of Yale College was induced
to revise and edit the translation. This he has
done with constant reference to the latest Ger
man editions The book is not designed for be
ginners, but rather for instructors and college
students and others who need a complete as well
as philosophical exhibition Of the usages Of the
Latin tongue.
The merits OF the work will appear 70 any
one who will give It a critical examination.
The principle of order regns IN it from begin
ming to end. Everything is so systemstiaei
and classified tina, the intelligent sultor Of the
work need seldom fail Of finding at oEce Just
what he seeks The book is organised. so to
speak The hard problems Of the language are
treated with an apt combination Of common