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Of course there can be no attainments to any extent made, when the scholar wanders in a maze of perplexity, apt to be led astray, in search of the truth, by a resemblance in form, while there exists a difference in the reality. But there may be a question as to what goes beyond this. When we have ascertained that the Greeks used a form which, in ordinary cases, is connected with another, it may be plausibly said that the existence of the former presupposes that of the latter, although we do not find it actually in the writings now extant. To use the words of Salmasius (Commentar. de Hellenistica, p. 107,) on a kindred subject, Vix millesima pars restat eorum, qui aliquid Graece commentati sunt. Si omnes extarent, nulla vox tam μovýpys in nova et vetere pagina reperiretur, quin xpîjois ejus ex aliquo auctore qui periit confirmari posset. Granting the truth of this in such vocables as rarely occur, from the rare occurrences of the notions which they express, there are numerous words so necessary to the very use of speech, that if we do not find them in certain forms in the writings which survive, we may safely conclude that such forms were purposely shunned. If we cast a glance at the uses to which we put our knowledge of the forms of verbs, we shall find that there are mainly three-to understand the original writers themselves, or to express our thoughts in that language, or to ascertain from analogy, in disputed cases, what the Greeks actually wrote. For all of these cases, a certain knowledge of the forms of the verbs, and for the two latter an accurate familiarity with them, is indispensable. The last, indeed, is that on which the two former are based. Before we can interpret what

an author wrote, we must know what he actually did write. Where good MSS. agree, we have, of course, no right to pursue the question farther. This is all the evidence which we can have on the subject; and we must conclude, that whatever our notions may be of what an author should have written, he preferred to use such and such words. But where there is a discrepancy of MSS., or an uncertainty as to the reading anyhow arising, he is the only safe authority, who, with an accurate acquaintance of what forms authors of the same dialect and age were in the habit of employing, sagaciously suggests the very form which probability, thus derived, leads him to conjecture. This, certainly, is the noblest use to which this knowledge can be turned. But in the other cases, also, non absurdum est. More especially, in an extensive perusal of Greek authors, it is impossible to avoid perplexity and error without this knowledge. The forms and the senses varied in different times and in different parts of the country. How puzzled would a student of our own language be, if he took up certain American works, and did not know that the vocables were used in a sense, and often in a form, different from ours! Should changes and revolutions disgorge new authorities, the lost records of past ages, and the

missing trophies of byegone genius, we should be entitled to add to our stores of words and forms. But is the record closed? Then it is wise to search and know what our treasury actually contains, that accuracy in the knowledge of words may add to accuracy in the knowledge of thoughts and things.

It is curious that Scotland, by no means, of late years at least, generally distinguished for classical research, should have contributed more than her due share to the minute knowledge of the Greek verb. Matthiæ and Buttmann had done much. But the late Mr. A. N. Carmichael, of the Edinburgh Academy, a laborious and accurate scholar, whom we are surprised to find that Mr. Veitch does not even mention in his preface, by a careful perusal of the Greek authors, furnished a list much more complete than any that had preceded. The work was, however, notwithstanding Mr. Carmichael's minute scholarship, defective in certain particulars. He was not careful with regard to the editions to which he referred; and hence he introduces forms now rejected by the best critical authorities. And he did not discriminate sufficiently between the use of a simple verb and its compounds; if a tense was found in the one, he inferred that it might be found in the other,-a conclusion by no means safe, and which exposed the list to many chances of error.

Both these sources of mistake have been avoided by Mr. Veitch, another scholar of Scotland. The editions to which he refers are the best and the most accurate that have been produced. And he carefully distinguishes between the tenses found existing in the simple and in the compound verbs. Hence we have placed before us at a glance the result of the labours of many independent critics, and our trouble and perplexity are abridged and removed. Peculiarities in the signification are not overlooked, and much acuteness is evinced occasionally, in hints at the interpretation of disputed passages. The author seems to revel in minute verbal criticism, while now and then flashes of humour reveal the fact, that his has been a labour of love. It is above all refreshing, to find a man who reads and thinks for himself on matters, where we are all too much inclined to permit others to think and read for us. To all we cordially recommend this work as a trust-worthy guide; and the most accomplished scholar will not fail. to find remarks on points of criticism, both as to various readings, to meaning, and to quantity, which he will regard as valuable and suggestive.

We had almost omitted to mention that, in this work, the usage of the verb, as existing in the later prose writers, as well as of the later poets, is given, while the difference between them and the prose writers is carefully marked.

To enable our readers to judge for themselves,-though this is al

most impossible in the case of a work like the one under review,— we shall give beneath, the treatment of a verb chosen at random from Buttmann, (translated by Fishlake,) Carmichael, and Veitch.

BUTTMANN.

Kai'vw,1 I bend: fut. xλive; aor. 1. izλiva; aor. 1. Midd. ixλíváμny; aor. 1. pass. ixλívny and ixí‡nv, (ž) both forms in Homer;2 but ixλívny exclusively Ep. and Poet. much less frequent is the aor. 2. pass. and perhaps used only in the compounds, as xarxλžvñvai, Plato and Aristoph. Evyzaruλžvsís, Aristoph. Ach. 981. Perf. pass. xixλžμa, part. xixλłμévos.-MIDD.

CARMICHAEL.

Kaive, I bend, fut. xa, Dem. 1450, 3; Arist. Plut. 621; perf. xixλixa, Anthol. (Straton.) 12, 213, 1; perf. pass. xixλžμas, Il. y, 135; Æsch. Pers. 926 ; Xen. Eq. v. 5; 1 aor. pas. ixλíðný, Odyss. r, 470; Soph. Trach. 1228; Eurip Cycl. 540; Xen. Cyr. vIII. 7, 4; and ixλív9nv, Il. v, 360 ; 2, 468: Hes. Theog. v11. 11; Archil. Frag. xxv1. 4 ; Xen. Hist. Gr. Iv. 1, 30; 2 aor. pass. izλívny, (₹) Arist. Lys. 906, Vesp. 1208, 1210; Plat. Conv. XXXVII. 40, 60; for its fut., see Arist. Eq. 98; Plat. Conv. xLv. 17; 1 aor. Act. ixλīva, Il. 1, 37; Eurip. Alc. 277; Xen. Cyr. VII. 3, 3.

The Mid. has the intransitive sense of lean, incline, with fut. xλvouμa, Arist. Lys. 910; and 1 aor., Odys. 340.

Obs. The Act. is sometimes found with pure writers in the Mid. in sense, com. pare Herod. Ix. 16 ; Xen. Mem. 111. 5, 13; Apol. Rh. 1, 452. For the rejection of in the perfect of this and certain other verbs, see xgívw, Obs.

Construction. In the Act. the acc. with the dat., the latter varied by the acc. with gès; in the Mid. and Pas. the dat. varied as in the Act.

VEITCH.

Kai'vw, To bend, Il. xx. 171: f. late in simple xxiv, Lycophr. 557; (Dem?) Prooem. 1450, 3, iynara,—Ar. Plut. 621 : aor. xλīva, ll. vIII, 435; Pl. Tim. 77 : p. xixλixa, Polyb. xxx. 10; Anth. XII. 213: pp. xxλîμas, Il. v. 709; Xen. Eq. v. 5 : Ep. 3, pl. xixλíarai, Il. xvI. 68; aor. ixλíény, Od. xIx. 470; Pind. Ol. 1. 92; Eur. Hip. 212; Pl. Phaed. 109, xar-, Xen. Hell. IV. 1, 30: Epic and Poet. exclusively, ixλívény, Il. 111. 360; Hes. Th. 711; Archil. Fr. 30 (Toup's emend.); Theocr. III. 44 : f. xaraxλıdńcoμai, Eur. Alc. 1090: 2 aor. ixλž'vny, Her. 1x. 16 ? (Dind.) xar—, Ar. Lys. 906; Pl. Conv. 213 : f. xavaxλivńcoμai, Ar. Eq. 98; Plat. Conv. 222. M. xλívoμas, àzo—to lay oneself down, recline, &c. Her. . 104: f xλıvõõμas, xata—; Ar. Lys. 910: aor. ixλváμny, Od. xvII. 340. For f. xλsi, Dem. p. 1450, 4, Sauppe reads subj. zλí». 1 aor. forms with », ixλívén, and compounds, are not now admitted in prose. The only instance we know of 2 aor. ixλívny simple, is W. Dind. suggestion xλvas for xλiva, Her. IX. 15, the necessity of which we do

not see.

ولا

1 On the formation of the perf. and aor. 1. pass., see Tsiya.

* Examples, however, of λDña. may be found in Plutarch (See Stephan.

Thesaur.), and in Æsop. Fab. 143, Heusing., but in this latter the writing is uncertain.

2. The ANABASIS OF XENOPHON; chiefly according to the Text of L. Dindorf. With Notes: For the use of Schools and Colleges. By John J. Owen, Principal of the Cornelius Institute. 6th Edition. New York.

1847.

The ODYSSEY OF HOMER, according to the text of Wolf; with Notes:
For the use of Schools and Colleges. By John J. Owen, Principal
of the Cornelius Institute. 5th Edition. New York. 1847.
The CYROPAEDIA OF XENOPHON, according to the text of L. Dindorf; with
Notes: For the use of Schools and Colleges. By John J. Owen,
Principal of the Cornelius Institute. New York.
New York.

1846.

THESE are all the works, we believe, hitherto published, of a set of classical commentaries, known in America as Owen's Classical Series. That they have arrived at a high pitch of popularity there, is evident from the numerous editions through which those of them first given to the world have run. We do not think that they are much, if at all, known to English Schools or Scholars. And we are glad to be the medium through which they are introduced to the British public, as they possess many excellencies, and are marked by few of the defects too often belonging to such works.

Our notice of them, however, must be brief. We intend to devote an article in an early number to that which is becoming of greater importance every day, an examination of the principles that ought to regulate School Commentaries. And from this series, as well as from other works, we propose to draw illustrations of our views. But it is due to Mr Owen to state, in the meantime, that so far as we have examined his Series, it presents a gratifying specimen of an accurate text, of notes in the main judicious, and a full array of those appliances, which, while they facilitate the progress of the learner, do not interfere with, nor impede the exercise of his own judgment or powers of thought.

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XXIII.

WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND.

Arnold's, T. K., Ecloga Historica; or, Selections from the Roman Historians: being the last part of the Lateinisches Elementarbuch. By Jacobs and Doering. 12mo., cloth. London.

Arnold's, T. K., Elementary Greek Grammar, 12mo., cloth. Bosworth, Rev. J., The Origin of the English, German, and Scandinavian Languages and Nations. Royal 8vo. cloth.

Bunsen, C. C. J., Egypt's Place in Universal History, vol. I. Translated from the German by Charles H. Cottrell, Esq. 8vo. London. Longman.

Buttmann, Dr. P., Intermediate or Larger Greek Grammar. Translated from the German, and Edited by Dr. Charles Supf. Third Ed. 8vo., cloth. - London.

Ciceronis Orationes Selectæ. By Anthon. U. S. 12mo., cloth.
Dobson's, W., Selections for Composition and Translation in Prose and
Verse. 7th Series. 12mo. Cheltenham.

Edwards' Eton Latin Accidence. New Edition. 12mo., cloth.
Edwards' Greek Delectus. New Edition. 12mo., cloth.

Euripides' Four Plays. Greek and English Notes. By Porson. 8vo., cloth.

Fellows, Sir Charles, Account of the Ionic Trophy Monument at Xanthus. London. 8vo. John Murray.

History of Rome. Tract Society.

Hitopadesa, or, Salutary Counsels of Vishnu Sarman: in a series of connected Fables. Translated from the original into English. By Thomas Johnson. 4to. London.

Key to the last Edition of Arnold's Latin Prose Composition. By
James G. Cowan. 12mo., sewed.

Kühner's New Greek Delectus. Translated and Edited by the late
Alexander Allen. Third Edition. 12mo., cloth. Taylor & Walton.
Origin and Progress of Language. 18mo. Tract Society.
Ovid's Fasti. Westminster New Edition. 8vo., bound.

Principal Tenses of the Irregular Greek Verbs. On a Sheet.
Sallust, with English Notes, Map, &c. Edited by Drs. Schmitz and
Zumpt. (Chambers' Educational Course.) 12mo., cloth.
Stoddart, G. H., New Latin Delectus. Second Edition.
Synopsis of Grote's Homeric Theory. Intended as an Appendix to
Fausset's Homer, 12mo., sewed. Dublin.

12mo.

Terence the Comedies of-with Text metrically arranged throughout, and copious English Notes, &c. By J. A. Phillips. 8vo., cloth. Dublin.

Veitch's, Rev. W., Greek Verbs, Irregular and Defective; their forms, meaning, and quantity; embracing all the Tenses used by the Greek writers, with references to the Passages in which they are found. Post 8vo. Edinburgh.

Virgilii Maronis Carmina, with English Notes, &c. Edited by Drs. Schmitz and Zumpt. 12mo., cloth. (Chambers' Educational Course.)

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