Greek play before Christmas, is indeed magnificent, and, if you execute it, you are not likely to fall under the censure justly bestowed on a class, who, you know, read the Electra of Sophocles as a "brag," but neglected more important matWhat you read, I have no doubt you will read to good purpose, and not before you ought to read it. ters. The Classical Journal has teemed, of late, with dissertations on the words of Nestor, Iliad, a. v. 282. αὐτὰς ἔγωγε Λίσσομ' Αχιλλῆϊ μεθέμεν χόλον, κα 7. λ. in your next let me know what Mr Keyt says of iooopas with a dative case. I am against it I confess, and consider Nestor as only pressing his suit again upon Agamemnon. Assure Mr Keyt of my affectionate regards, in which all here join; and, with the kindest remembrances from all here, and with my earnest prayers for God's blessing upon you and your studies, and your prospects, I am, my dear D your affectionate father and most sincere friend, DANIEL SANDFORD. Edinburgh, November 5, 1813. MY DEAR D———, I am delighted with your sensible and manly style of writing, and feel regard and grati tude which I cannot express towards my valuable friend, to whose kind instructions you are so much indebted. Your progress in Greek is to my heart's content. You know my earnest desire that you should be a good Greek scholar,—you are within reach of the fountain, and you may remember one of your own quotations, "juvat integros accedere fontes," &c. May every success attend you, my dear son. You are too well acquainted with the beautiful passage of Cicero pro Archia, c. 7. to need my reminding you of more than the first words, " Hæc studia adolescentiam agunt," &c. some read "alunt," and I am not sure whether that is not the better reading. If you knew the heartfelt gratification which it gives your parents to witness your improvement, and the earnestness with which they offer their prayers to God for blessings on you, your kind heart would rejoice indeed. The opinions of the critics, who, in the Classical Journal, have tormented the line of Homer, which I mentioned in my last, are too prolix to be written here. Suffice it to say, that they are pretty nearly balanced in point of number, I do not think so in point of authority; for I take it, Homer knew his own language at least as well as any modern Greek scholar, and it is observable, that the verb iooopas occurs nearly fifty times in the poems of Homer with an accusative, and there is only this one instance, if this be one, of its conjunction with the dative. Let the vicar 66 of Runcorn consider this, and as I am not unwilling to bow to him as a much more practised Greek scholar than I am, whatever, after careful examination of Seber, he pronounces, that I will not refuse to allow, though not without endeavouring at least, most respectfully, to justify my dissent. I would construe the passage as if Nestor were only addressing Agamemnon with more earnestness, led as I am to this judgment by the force of αὐτὰς and ἔγωγε. Έγωγε “ I, that Nestor whom Theseus, Cæneus, and a thousand other big-fisted fellows always regarded, I beseech you Agamemnon to remit your wrath against Achilles, who is the great support of the Greeks," &c. &c. I know I have a host against this exposition, but I have not a zgadín thápoio in this matter at present. When I have heard your answer upon this matter, I will send you for your entertainment, a passage in the New Testament, and another crust from the first Iliad to work upon. I am glad to hear that you do not neglect your Latin verse. Although I do not wish you to be nothing but a Latin poet, the practice of verses is so important to a Latin scholar, that at your time of life, you should be very much employed in it. By the by, I hope you will be able to read what I write, for I am obliged to write as fast as I can, as my time is occupied from morning to night. I have three pupils, who keep me at work, as I keep them at work, and I am now making the best of a presbyterian fast-day to be in time for you to-morrow, for I would not fail in my duty of writing to you, for any bribe that could be offered me. I only wish you may have a fourth part of the pleasure in reading that I have in writing to you. Well, I congratulate you on the Continental news. Buonaparte will probably, by this time, be able to understand experimentally, the meaning of a passage, which I read not above two hours ago, in the first Philippic of Demosthenes, who tells the Athenians of Philip κύκλῳ πανταχῆ ἡμᾶς περιστοιχίζεται. The Scholiast on this passage tells you, that περιστοιχίζεται is a μεταφορά, taken from the chace, and means "hemming in a wild beast.” The Bavarians are commanded by a very great rascal, a Frenchman at heart, general Wrede; but I hope his troops, who, they say, are good and well-principled, will keep him in order. I hope you have written to my dear He is very home-sick, as they call it, and has already begged to come here at Christmas. He will be comforted by a kind letter from you ;—and early in life cultivate the affections of your family, my dearest son, for they are the fastest friends, and the friends who will remain ever the most attached. With every affectionate and paternal blessing, my dear D, your affectionate father and friend, DANIEL SANDFORD. Edinburgh, Nov. 19, 1813. MY DEAREST D Perhaps it is superfluous for me to mention Heyne's opinion on II. ', 480. He disapproves, as I cannot help doing, the introduction of ιδών to supply the sense, and govern ἀνιόντα, and has recourse, as Dawes had recourse before him, to the so called Attic formula, by which sitem is found with an accusative: vid. Eurip. Andromeda, 646, “ τί δῆτ ̓ ἂν εἴποις ΤΟΥΣ ΓΕΡΟΝäv TAΣ as σopoí:" in Pind. Ol. xiv. 32, you will see the same construction. This makes sense of the passage in question; and I am inclined, perhaps, to be contented with it. For my Homeric crust you must condescend to go back to Il. a', v. 567, and tell me what you make of ooov love', which I cannot make out, and which no commentator satisfies me about. I am not convinced about the Dative in the same Il., v. 283, by appeals to Homer's omnipotence. As I do not find that in other places he has exerted this attribute, I am not willing to acknowledge it here; especially as I think I can make better sense of the passage without such a violent supposition: the whole, in my humble opinion, depends on auràg and eywys. I presume Mr Keyt looks upon the ἐνθάδ' άτιμος ἐων as incorrigible-v. 170; if in the line before you might read instead of 'ow, you might explain it easily. This was the proposal of Lord |