The Russellville Democrat., 1877-04-26

ing; "Well, half crown won't be toe much will it?" The boy thought not and Trewel pursued his quest elsewhere, sometimes elicitlng five shillings as the possible figure. Certain I am that the aggregate number of pence received by any one boy during any one quarter never approached half crown.
 When I say that we seemingly did learn Greek under the auspices of Dr. Saunders, some readers may be of opinion that I contradict myself. But the opinion will cease when they learn what an utter sham our Greek was. A Scotch element, from some unknown reason or other, prevailed in the school. We had Dalzeps Greek and Ruddiman's Latin grammar, while our contemporaries looked up to Eton-alI had enough when com pared to the elementary books which, in obedience to German impulse, are con stantly published now. We had, also, Dalzel's "Analecta Minora," made up of presumably easy Greek experts; but the crack book was Glasgow edition of An acreon.
 suppose this book is still in vogue on the other side of the Tweed; for when ever have referred to it in the course of conversation with north-country friends, I have invariably found that they recognized the article. It was a very thin volume, clad in that irrepressi- ble sheepskin which was once regarded as the proper clothing for spelling books and "tutors' assistants" and at the bot tom of each page was literal prose translation of the Greek above.
 Now, only imagine two years of Greek study eliminating with Anacreon There is no need to inquire here how far the pretty poems attributed to the old debauchee of Teos arc spurious; but any one who knows anything about the mat ter knows that, if there is one author least fitted among others to familiarize student with the Peculiarities of the Greek language, that one is Anacreon.
 But with our Latin, of course, we did something Did we? As far as l my self am concerned, I can safely report that, if the Greek I learned was little, the Latin was still less. had learned no Greek at Mrs. Jackson's, and I will do Dr. Saunders the justice to say that under him did learn the alphabet; but as for Latin, all I could do was to keep up the amount I had brought with me from the preparatory establishment. In cultivating the. language of Cicero-t0 whom, be it remarked, not the slightest allusion was ever made-we were bound tight to that eminent classic Eutropius, with occasional deviations into the sec ond book of VirgiPs Eneid, in which latter region we were most literally as- sisted.
 All respect to Eutropius! Within the last few years he has shot up into some thing like celebrity as the historian who, in the most lucid manner, recorded the foundation of the Dacian colony by Ira ian, to which the Roumanians trace their origin; and of late the Danubian pro- vinces have figured among the threads which are entangled in that great knot, the eastern question. But half cen tury ago there were no Roumanians bearing that name, and the youth of twelve must have been marvel of geographical erudition if he knew any thing about Moldavia and Wallachia in connection with ancient history. The fact was, Eutropius, still known as very useful in his way, is remarkably easy, and was made even easier by the addi- tien of an ordo; that is to say, an ar rangement oi the Latin words in English order, placed under the proper text, but but the ordo, and this, be it repeated, was our crack book. There was vague tradition that somebody had once studied Cornelius Nepos; but set that down among the myths of the place.
 Many books were not purchased; but, thanks to the financial genius that per vaded the establishment, and which, I think, was embodied in the person of Trowel, some of those that were sold must have fetched high prices. The boys, as a rule, were of that happy-go- lucky kind who, when they quit school, do not care to be burdened with remi- niscences, but leave their books behind them. In that case the volumes were in variably sold over agaln; and he was a lucky youth, on the fy.leaf of whose Eutropius the name of former school fellow was not inscribed.
 There are many worthy people now living who are of opinion that, at our "great schools" too much time is ex- pended on the dead languages; and if they have followed me to this point they are probably admiring Dr. Saunders for the quantity of sound, useful Knowledge that he diffuses while thus lightly skim- ming over the surface of Greek and Latin. If so, they are egregiously mis- taken. If the reverend doctor aspired to anything besides the reputation of a popular preacher, it was to the character of a promulgator ot classical lore. No head master at Eton or Harrow, in the good old days, had stronger views in this matter than he. We all, indeed, learned writing and arithmetic under the guid- ance of an authorized assistant, but when some ill-fated wretch was compelled, at the request of his ignoble parents, to solve few problems in Bonnycastle's "Geometry,' l we'll recollect with what contempt the pursuit was regarded by his fellows. Geometry was all very well for a future carpenter, but what possible interest could be taken in it by any one who aspired to the character of gentle. man? Of course the vulgar science fell into the province of the assistant, for never would the august Dr. Saunders
 been seen witha pair of base mechanical compasses in his hands. Did they think highly of mathematics at Cambridge If so, so much the worse for Cambridge But the royal road to French discov cred by Rev. Dr, Saunders was n aster
 piece. Two of us were placed side | by side at desk, with an old-fashioned