specify Mr. Barham, who has written, under the pseudonym of Thomas Ingoldsby, a series of comic tales in easy verse;-wild and wondrous legends of chivalry, witchcraft, and diablerie, related in singularly rich and flexible metre; and in language in which the intermixture of the modern cant phrase of society with antiquarian pedantry produces a truly comic effect. Tennyson, Alford, and Milnes may be considered as the poetical disciples of Wordsworth. Thomas Babington Macaulay, celebrated as a brilliant critic and essayist in The Edinburgh Review,' having been struck with Niebuhr's theory, that the early history of Rome was compiled by Livy and other historians from popular metrical legends since lost, conceived the bold and happy idea of reconstructing some of these vanished ballads in rough picturesque plebeian metre; and producing in English some such fierce republican lays as might have been sung by the peasant heroes of ancient Rome. He has executed in this manner the stories of 'Horatius Cocles,' The Battle of Lake Regillus,' 'The Death of Virginia,' with a fire and animation which eclipsed even his own powerful ballads on events in the History of France; and has shown himself to be not merely a master of all the strength and muscular power of our early language, but also intimately penetrated by the spirit of antiquity and the rugged independence of old Rome. In thus investigating, however cursorily, the course of English literature from its remote origin in Chaucer-himself an emblem of the confluence, so to say, of three different streams of art and nationality-the original Saxonism, the Italian spirit of the Renaissance, and the free spirit of the Reformation-no one can fail to be struck with one singular and noble peculiarity; a peculiarity which it has in common with the nationality it reflects; and one which, though perceptible in the character of every branch of the Teutonic race, was never possessed so completely as by the English nation. We mean that intense and ever-present sap and vitality, which allowed no interval to interfere between the most gigantic and dissimilar exertions of creative energy. No sooner does any class of composition, any school of literature, decline from its period of highest fertility, than another springs up, as rich, as living, and as energetic as the former. The English intellect, thanks to the happy freedom of our institutions, and the strong virility of the national character, has no dull, dead, periods of feeble imitation and languid servility. The moment it has duly developed itself in one direction, it instantly takes and steadily maintains another: and our literature essentially the literature of a nation of men-rich in the finest and most unequalled models of every kind and class of excellence-is in every sense worthy of the greatest, freest, So and most thoughtful people that the world has ever seen. glorious a past can promise nothing but a future as illustrious. The same powers and influences which have enabled England to produce more and greater things than any other community can boast, are still at work; and will enable her to produce others, different in kind perhaps, but as durable, as splendid, as sublime. SCHOOL BOOKS. SCHMITZ AND ZUMPT'S CLASSICAL SERIES. VOLUME I. C. JULII CÆSARIS COMMENTARII DE BELLO GALLICO. WITH AN INTRODUCTION, NOTES, AND A GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX IN ENGLISH, ALSO, A MAP OF GAUL, AND ILLUSTRATIVE ENGRAVINGS. In one handsome 18mo. volume, extra cloth. This Series has been placed under the editorial management of two eminent scholars and practical teachers, DR. SCHMITZ, Rector of the High School, Edinburgh, and DR. ZUMPT, Professor in the University of Berlin, and will combine the following advan tages: 1. A gradually ascending series of School Books on a uniform plan, so as to constitute within a definite number, a complete Latin Curriculum. 2. Certain arrangements in the rudimentary volumes, which will insure a fair amount of knowledge in Roman literature to those who are not designed for professional life, and who therefore will not require to extend their studies to the advanced portion of the series. 3. The text of each author will be such as has been constituted by the most recent collations of manuscripts, and will be prefaced by biographical and critical sketches in English, that pupils may be made aware of the character and peculiarities of the work they are about to study. 4. To remove difficulties, and sustain an interest in the text, explanatory notes in English will be placed at the foot of each page, and such comparisons drawn as may serve to unite the history of the past with the realities of modern times. 5. The works, generally, will be embellished with maps and illustrative engravings,-accompaniments which will greatly assist the student's comprehension of the nature of the countries and leading circumstances described. 6. The respective volumes will be issued at a price considerably less than that usually charged; and as the texts are from the most eminent sources, and the whole series constructed upon a determinate plan, the practice of issuing new and altered editions, which is complained of alike by teachers and pupils, will be altogether avoided. From among the testimonials which the publishers have received, they append the following to show that the design of the series has been fully and successfully carried out: Central High School, Phila., June 29, 1817 Gentlemen:I have been much pleased with your edition of Cæsar's Gallic Wars, being part of Schmitz and Zumpt's classical series for schools. The work seems happily adapted to the wants of learners. The notes contain much valuable information, concisely and accurately expressed, and on the points that really require elucidation, while at the same time the book is not rendered tiresome and expensive by a useless array of mere learning. The text is one in high repute, and your reprint of it is pleasing to the eye. I take great pleasure in commending the publication to the attention of teachers. It will, I am persuaded, commend itself to all who give it a fair examination. Very Respectfully, Your Obt. Servt., JOHN S. HART, Principal Phila. High School To Messrs. Lea & Blanchard. Gentlemen: June 28, 1847. The edition of "Cæsar's Commentaries," embraced in the Classical Section of Chambers's Educational Course, and given to the world under the auspices of Drs. Schmitz and Zumpt has received from me a candid examination. I have no hesitation in saying, that the design expressed in the notice of the publishers, has been successfully accomplished, and that the work is well calculated to become popular and useful. The text appears to be unexceptionable. The annotations embrace in condensed form such valuable information, as must not only facilitate the research of the scholar, but also stimulate to further inquiry, without encouraging indolence. This is an important feature in the right prosecution of classical studies, which ought to be more generally understood and appreciated. H. HAVERSTICK, Prof. of Ancient Languages, Central High School, Phila. VOLUME II. P. VIRGILII MARONIS CARMINA. NEARLY READY. SCHOOL BOOKS. BIRD'S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. NEARLY READY. ELEMENTS OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, BEING AN EXPERIMENTAL INTRODUCTION TO THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. BY GOLDING BIRD, M.D., FROM THE THIRD LONDON EDITION. In one neat volume. "By the appearance of Dr. Bird's work, the student has now all that he can desire in one neat, concise, and well-digested volume. The elements of natural philosophy are explained in very simple language, and illustrated by numerous wood-cuts."-Medical Gazette. ARNOTT'S PHYSICS. ELEMENTS OF PHYSICS; OR, NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, GENERAL AND MEDICAL. WRITTEN FOR UNIVERSAL USE, IN PLAIN, OR NON-TECHNICAL LANGUAGE. A NEW EDITION, BY ISAAC HAYS, M. D. This standard work has been long and favourably known as one of the best popular expositions of the interesting science it treats of. It is extensively used in many of the first seminaries. ELEMENTARY CHEMISTRY, THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL. BY GEORGE FOWNES, PH. D., Chemical Lecturer in the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, &c., &c. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. BY ROBERT BRIDGES, M. D., Professor of General and Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, &c., &c. In one large duodecimo volume, sheep or extra cloth, with nearly two The character of this work is such as to recommend it to all colleges and academies in want of a text-book. It is fully brought up to the day, containing all the late views and discoveries that have so entirely changed the face of the science, and it is completely illustrated with very numerous wood engravings, explanatory of all the different processes and forms of apparatus. Though strictly scientific, it is written with great clearness and simplicity of style, rendering it easy to be comprehended by those who are commencing the study. It may be had well bound in leather, or neatly done up in strong cloth. Its low price places it within the reach of all. BREWSTER'S OPTICS. ELEMENTS OF OPTICS, BY SIR DAVID BREWSTER. WITH NOTES AND ADDITIONS, BY A. D. BACHE, LL.D. In one volume, 12mo., with numerous wood-cuts. |