that name, have undergone a modification in both these respects, pronouncing C like ch in chair, and giving their verse the beautiful accentuated rhythm which their Latin ancestors themselves enjoyed in the ancient days before the Greeks had come in to drive out native manners and thought, and to convert Roman letters into a feeble repetition of their own great creations. As regards the selections for practice, they have been made chiefly in accordance with the object in view, and consequently not so much with a regard to their intrinsic value as specimens of Latin literature. The passages from the Scriptures are placed first, as being those which are more or less familiar to every pupil's mind. To insure the idea being always there, and this without any effort of memory, in the first two divisions of the work the English text is placed opposite to the Latin. The sentences should be thoroughly committed in English first, so that each thought is clearly retained in mind; and, when this is accomplished, the Latin sentences should be learned. At the very first utterance of the Latin sentence by teacher or pupil, the emphasis should be so given as of itself, if possible, to interpret the words. Thus, after repeating with proper emphasis, say Oúr Fáther, who árt in héaven, Páter nóster, qui és in cóelis, and the coincidence of rhythm will itself translate the words. What emphasis is to the ear, spatial arrangement may be to the eye; and the two texts have been placed accordingly on opposite pages, and so arranged as to enable the eye at a glance to detect the meaning of the Latin by recognizing the corresponding English phrase. It is recommended in every case, however, in memorizing the Latin, to commit to memory first the English, and then, in reciting the Latin aloud, to forget the English entirely, if possible, and let the ideas come forth clothed in Latin words. When the pupil has acquired the ability to think in Latin while reciting the Latin words, he has made the Latin language so far his own; to him it is a living language, and he will then, in speaking it, give it all the natural emphasis and vigor of expression which he would use in reciting the same passage in his mother-tongue. The healthy effect of having the pupil's mind stored with such passages of the Holy Scriptures as have been presented, carefully committed to memory, has not been an unimportant consideration in selecting this portion of the work. The dialogues of Corderius are too valuable an instrument in acquiring a familiar use of colloquial phrases, and also too interesting a monument of the old-time usages of the English schools, to be allowed to go out of print and out of use. It is believed they will afford attractive and amusing exercises to the boys in our grammar-schools and academies, and form a pleasing feature in the programmes of public exhibitions. A considerable space has been allotted to mediæval Latin hymns, as constituting the next division of the book, for several reasons: First, that the musical rhythm of accent of which they are capable facilitates their being readily committed and pleasantly recited; and, second, that, in subject-matter as well as in choice of words and construction, they form the natural transition from ancient to modern thought and expression. They are in many cases hymns which, in the Latin, have constituted not only hymns of centuries, but hymns of the nations, and out of whose vigorous root have grown up the most valued and extensively-used songs of Christian worship in many lands. In reciting these it is recommended to mark the rhythm with a strong accent. When practicable it will be found a pleasant and not unprofitable exercise to sing them. The first verse of each selection is furnished with accent-marks, to serve as a model for the whole. Hymns in Iambic Tetrameter can be sung to the regular long-metre tunes; Trochaic Tetrameter to what is called "8's and 7's," etc. No English version is given with the hymns or with the remaining selections in the work, it being supposed that the pupil will have little difficulty in making out the meaning of the hymns, and that a prose translation of these would, if committed to memory, only confuse the mind in committing the Latin stanzas. The Horatian odes have been selected with a view to presenting a variety of the more pleasing metres employed. The metre of each ode is indicated by accent-marks in the first stanzas. It is recommended that the student learn the rhythm by a repetition of the feet to the syllable la, la, as in reading musical notation, beating the accents with the finger. Thus, for the Sapphic stanza, he beats with his finger, on the table, five beats for three lines or verses, and two beats for the fourth: Lá-la, lá-la, lá: la-la, lá-la, lá-la, After fixing this well in his ear, he substitutes syllables of the ode in place of the la, la, letting the stroke fall on whatever syllable it may hit. (See the first ode, page 170, for an example of this metre.) In most cases this will give a perfectly correct scantion; when doubt occurs as to elision, contraction, etc., the student may refer to his rules of prosody. The prose selections from classical authors are few in number, and chosen because of their terse strength and their vehemence and animation of style, which can hardly fail to prompt the student who has fully mastered their contents to a similar style in delivery. To make a book illustrative of Latin oratorical literature would have been altogether beyond the scope of the present work, and the compiler has been content to afford to the student only a glimpse of what is furnished him in abundance in the pages of those authors whom he will meet with in his college curriculum. The longer extracts have been subdivided into portions convenient for committing to memory. In every case here, as in the preceding selections, the author would recommend the student first to make and write out his translation in English; then commit the English to memory and deliver it with perfect emphasis and gesture; then com |