remarks which are intended to apply only to girls of the higher classes are comparatively few, and not without their interest to others. About a hundred pages of the second volume are devoted to instruction proper and to schools. The author does not seem to be acquainted with recent investigations into the methods of teaching, and contributes nothing to the determination of the comparative importance of the various kinds of knowledge, nor does she even discuss the propriety of girls in the higher classes extending their attention to studies commonly considered as belonging to the province of boys. The author has evidently a dread of innovations and of female monsters. She has heard of the various efforts made to open up new fields for the employment of women, but she shirks the discussion of how far a change in the mode of their education might prepare for these. She looks upon the boy and girl as beings entirely distinct. "The aim of education," she says, "is to fit children for the position in life which they are hereafter to occupy. Boys are to be sent out into the world to buffet with its temptations, to mingle with bad and good, to govern and direct. The school is the type of the life they are hereafter to lead. Girls are to dwell in quiet homes amongst a few friends, to exercise a noiseless influence, to be submissive and retiring. There is no connection between the bustling mill-wheel life of a large school and that for which they are supposed to be preparing. This alone is a sufficient reason for supposing, even on a cursory glance, that to educate girls in crowds is to educate them wrongly. Boys sin more openly, but less meanly, than girls; and because their offences are open, they are more easily known and punished, and have less enduring consequences. Girls in a large school may for months carry on a course of deceit which may injure them for life, and no one will be the wiser. These considerations alone may be sufficient to shew that the objection to crowding girls together in large schools is founded upon common sense and experience. Many other evils might be adduced, but public opinion, though in this case often exhibited in the form of prejudice, which can give no reason for its decision, is for the most part enlisted on the same side, and therefore the subject does not need to be enforced further. The best that can be said for the opposite view of the question is, that large schools are generally cheaper than those with limited numbers, and that it is hard that women, who have to labour in the arduous vocation of teaching, should not make a full profit by it." We consider this to be in many respects a false representation of the nature of boys and girls; but we adduce the passage, not to discuss it, but to give an idea of the author's sentiments. The author speaks strongly against the prevalent system of large boarding-schools for young ladies. "Whether," she says, "the effect of crowding young girls together in one bedroom, giving them no means of privacy, stinting them in the time necessary for their toilette, summoning them to hasty, ill-appointed meals, and hiring inferior servants to wait upon them, can be compensated for by any amount of first-rate masters, or any quantity of "classes" for imbibing "But there are other objections even more im- science and history, may be proved by the tone and portant, though perhaps less obvious. "A boy's mind is not so easily sullied as a girl's. Indiscriminate companionship may with the former have an injurious effect for the time, but it does not leave the same lasting stain as with the latter. Undesirable knowledge is not an equal shock to the moral nature. If a girl's natural delicacy and modesty are wounded by intercourse with those who have learnt evil, of which she has hitherto been ignorant, the scars of the wound remain for years, and the conversation of one hour will leave its stamp upon the memory for life. And so also the spirit of independence and determination, the conflict of opinion, the roughnesses even of a large school, are congenial to a boy's nature; they are utterly opposed to that of a girl. There is an element of good in these things, but when applied to girls the evil preponderates. Strong-minded, or, in other words, masculine, women, are no doubt useful in their generation, but we may well desire to be delivered from them as a race. And yet, further, there is amongst boys, especially at public schools, a recognition of the world's opinion, a traditionary honour which acts as a check to the pettiness, the deceit, and frivolity, that too often characterise assemblies of girls. VOL. II. style usually known as that of a school-girl. It is not the learning together which makes girls schoolgirlish; it is the living together-the being herded like animals in the fold-the sense of sham and pretence-the fact that the decencies of life are disregarded in the bedroom, though there may be damask and ormolu in the drawing-room. School girl tricks, a school-girl tone, are accepted by many persons as belonging to a certain age, but as being sure to pass away with that age. It is a great mistake. The school-girl tone is low, untrue, irreverent; it is based upon the belief that education is a mere matter of bargaining; and that, as the governess desires to make the most for herself in money, so the pupils may make the most for themselves in what they call fun, or, more truly, deceit. And it will last long after the period of school life is over. It will exhibit itself in an out. ward polish of manner, but no ease-a flimsy show of accomplishments, and very little information; a flippant tone of conceit, and a weak judgment; an intense secret worldliness, combined with the newest fashion in religion. It is not only essentially of the earth, earthy,' but it implies the lowest kind of earthliness. And let the instruction given in a X school be what it may; let the scriptural instruction be orthodox, the precepts of morality pure, the French and German teachers unwearied, the musicmaster first-rate this will be the result of school education, so long as the pecuniary profit is the first subject of consideration, and mean economies are practised in order to save money." Dictionary. We happen to peruse a poet, and the word wold" occurs; we turn up our Dictionary, but are again disappointed. We pic-nic near an ancient fortress, and our guide-book speaks of a fortalice; we turn up our Dictionary again and fail. We see a ship sailing past: we turn up for a definition of the special kind of ship. It is in the There are very many things in this book which book, and mention is made of the gaff. The defini we should like to have discussed or extracted. Our tion is useless, if we do not know the gaff. We space forbids. We quote only one or two sentences, turn up gaff, but no gaff is to be found. We see which may be taken as a specimen of reflections some ladies and gentlemen playing at croquet; we which abound in the volumes. "Seen through the turn up croquet, and fail. We are fond of golf, and grating" [of a boarding-school], she says, "marriage try our Dictionary to see if it knows anything of is the one end and object—the ultima thule of a drivers, putters, sand-irons, and such implements, woman's life. Seen as it really is, it is simply the and again we are disappointed. But in this last most important accident of life. It is this distinc- case we find no fault with the Dictionary, for such tion which creates the difference between romance names may be safely omitted. But the Dictionary and reality. should at least supply the student with the words "Romance says, 'And so they were married, and that occur in our best poets even of the present day, lived happily ever after.' and should help them to understand the unusual Reality says, 'And so they were married, and terms found in newspapers and journals. entered upon new duties and new cares.'" The Student's English Dictionary, Etymological, Pronouncing, and Explanatory, in which the words are traced to their ultimate sources, the root or primary meaning inserted, and the other meanings given fully according to the best usage. By JOHN OGILVIE, LL.D., Editor of "The Imperial" and of "The Comprehensive" Dictionaries; the Pronunciation adapted to the best modern usage, by RICHARD CULL, F.S.A. Illustrated by about one hundred engravings on wood. London: Blackie & Son, Paternoster Row; Edinburgh, and Glasgow. 1865. This Student's English Dictionary is distinguished by some features well calculated to recommend it. Special attention has been paid to the etymology, and the results of comparative philology are embodied in the work. Then great care has been taken to trace the meanings of words, the etymological meaning being first given in italics. Then pronunciation has also been attended to, and there is a copious supply of pictorial illustrations, an exceedingly useful feature in such a work. A compiler of such a Dictionary has, however, rather a difficult task to perform, and we doubt whether the editor of this one has been altogether successful. He has to omit a large number of words in order to bring the book within a practicable size, and a great deal of judgment is required to determine what words are to be omitted. We are afraid the editor of this work has omitted too many of the important words of the language. We have given it a trial for this last month, and we have been frequently disappointed. Reading a law report in the newspapers, we come upon the word cantankerous, but no explanation is given in the A Series of 132 Geographical Lessons on England, ers. 1865 This little work will be welcome to many teachIts object is to furnish a cheap, methodical comprehensive, geographical text-book, so arranged that the teacher can easily give a lesson out of it to be prepared at home. He will not, therefore, require to devote much time to the subject in the class, and yet he need not neglect it altogether, as he is tempted to do by the Revised Code. The work is divided into a series of lessons. Each of these lessons is distinctly marked off and numbered. The author has been very judicious in determining the size of the lessons and the character of the facts. Indeed, it contains a great deal of really useful matter, not to be found in much more ambitious works. The only defect we note is, that sufficient prominence is not given to our railway systems, either in the lessons or the map. In the work are contained coloured maps of the world and of England, and yet the price is low. The Elements of English Grammar and Analysis: This is a good and sensible book, and it will no doubt be welcomed by teachers who have felt, as many have, the difficulty of finding an elementary the safest and most serviceable author we can use grammar at once simple and explicit, without being for educational purposes; and that, whether as rechildish or meagre. The arrangement is good, and gards the matter of his works, and their power of the explanations are for the most part clear, while developing a pure and natural taste, or as regards they are interspersed with useful exercises. If we the regularity, force, and classical purity of their have any objection to the book, it is that the defi- style. The volume before us is one of several atnitions of the parts of speech, &c., while sound and tempts that have been made lately to render Cowper clear in their matter, are hardly convenient enough more directly available in school-work; and, as such, in form for committing to memory. it deserves consideration commensurate with the important position which, in this connection, we believe Cowper to hold. In a few points of detail, we differ from Mr Isbister. Two of them may be briefly referred to. The first relates to the function of the preposition. In the sentence," The book lies before me on the table" (p. 18), the preposition before, according to Mr Isbister, "shews the relation between the book and me; and the word on, the relation between the book and the desk." If this were true, the phrases "before me," and "on the desk," would both be attributed to "book" the book before me, the book on the table, lies. Not so; both phrases shew where the book lies; it "lies before me," it "lies on the table;" and the prepositions relate the words "me" and "table" respectively to the verb "lies." Mr Isbister is generally careful to keep his explanations, however simple, in harmony with modern philology. He has made a slip, however, in the word brother. He gives brether as an old form of brother, from which the plural brethren is derived. Now, brether is not an old form of the singular, but an old form of the plural, the plural being supposed to be sufficiently indicated by the modification of the root vowel o into e, just as in German, der bruder, de brüder. In the English, brethren, the addition of en modifies the root vowel of the singular, just as in women, the change of a to e modifies the preceding 6, giving it a y sound; and, indeed, in old English, we find the form wymen. Compare with this the German das haus, die haüser, der sohn, die söhne, and the English cow (ky-en, giving us the English kine) and the Scotch kye. The First Book of Cowper's Task (The Sofa). With Explanatory Notes, Exercises in the Analysis of Sentences, and a Life of the Poet. For the use of Colleges and Schools. By WALTER M'LEOD, F.R.G.S., &c. London: Longmans, Green, & Co. 1865. Cowper is one of our most valuable school-classics. Himself one of the sweetest of nature's poets, one of the gentlest monitors and most faithful expostulators, one of the sternest champions of the truth, his works, at the same time, afford some of the best material for studying the grammatical structure of the English tongue. More exact and concise than Thomson, more varied than Goldsmith, and less involved and puzzling than Milton, he is perhaps The book belongs to a class more useful than intellectual in conception, the main design of which seems to be to save both pupil and teacher as much trouble as possible. According to his model, Mr M'Leod has achieved a large measure of success. He has left hardly anything which presents itself in the form of a difficulty unexplained. The naturalhistory allusions give rise to short encyclopædic articles; the local references are illustrated by copious extracts from Hugh Miller, and from Cowper's own letters; and the grammatical and analytic notes make it nearly altogether unnecessary for the scholar to try his own powers, or puzzle his own brains. But surely this defeats the main purpose for which an author is studied, especially in connection with the last particular. Of course, if it be the end of such study to enable the pupil to pass an examination on the book or author prescribed, nothing could be better than Mr M'Leod's book; and all that the student need do is to cram up the notes. But if, as we incline to believe, the purpose of such study rather is to test the knowledge of, and to put in practice, the principles previously learned, it is surely a serious mistake to supply such and so much assistance as renders previous study or present effort all but needless. Some helps are doubtless necessary, and some are expedient. It is necessary to explain peculiar or unusual constructions,-points which involve a real or supposed departure from ordinary rules. It is also expedient to take advantage of passages which illustrate, in a striking manner, well-known principles. But to give a complete analysis of every passage which is likely to be pitched upon by an examiner, is to vitiate every right system of examination and of education, and to destroy the true end both of good teaching and of profitable learning. This is the error in principle committed by Mr M'Leod, and, indeed, by the whole of the Reverend John Hunter school of editors. They surround the learner with so complete a system of life buoy, that he cannot help swimming; but, should these at any time be cut away from him, he can do nothing but flounder and sink. We admit that there is a great mass of useful information collected in this little volume,-information which it would cost the pupil much labour and thought to glean for himself from many sources: but is not that labour well-bestowed? is not that thought both an instrument and an end rather say it is an adverbial of manner, or of cause, of the highest educational value? to the verb owes. We conclude with one or two remarks upon special notes that seem to us not altogether satisfac tory: Line 4. "Escaped is a past participle after being understood;" rather after having understood. Escape is an intransitive verb. 66 Line 6. Though the theme is humble;" we should suggest "be humble." Line 9. "None =no, not any, is an adjective. No when placed alone becomes none." None is not = no, but is = no one. It is not an adjective, but a pronoun. It is not correct to say that no ever becomes none. None is a pronoun standing for its noun together with no. In the line referred to, none = no clothing. Line 24. "Such, an adjective, is here used as a noun." Such is sometimes an adjective, sometimes a noun. In the text here, it is simply a noun. Lines 118-121. "How oft... austere. These lines are a noun sentence to of, line 117." Why not to remember, line 116? You" remember how:" you do not "remember of how " Line 131. "And not a year but pilfers." Mr M'Leod supplies he as the subject of pilfers, and makes the clause "but he pilfers," &c., adverbial to "there is not a year." But is the well known negative relative, which not (cf. quin qui non), and the clause is attributive to year. Compare with this, = = Line 307. "No tree in all the grove but has its charms." Mr M'Leod correctly enough paraphrases, "that has not;" but unfortunately adds in a note, 'or but what has its charms;'" which, we need hardly say, is not English. Line 134. "They spare." It should have been pointed out that the proper construction requires the singular here, the subject of the clause on which it depends being he. Cowper had obviously before his mind the "our years" of line 129, to which, indeed, the reference is, in the connection, more correct. = Line 371." And lives but while she moves." Mr M'Leod says, "But only is an adverb, and modifies the verb lives." We say it modifies the clause, "while she moves." The meaning is not "she [only lives] while she moves;" but "she lives [only while she moves]." Line 384. "More fixed below, the more disturbed above." Mr M'Leod makes more fixed below "an enlargement of the subject monarch." We should Line 491. "Whom call we gay." We are told that "whom is the object of call," an instance of over-annotation; but we are not told what gay is, which might have been useful information. Gay is the complement or secondary object of call; not £ attribute to whom, as we suspect the editor world call it, judging by the following note: Line 534." Whom better days saw better clad.” Clad is an attribute to whom." Not so; it is the complement of saw. The meaning is not that better days saw Kate, who was better clad; but that better days saw Kate to be better clad: otherwise, the being "better clad " was the thing seen, with reference to or in connection with Kate. They are The Progressive English Reader. By JAMES DOUGLAS, NOTES. Notes and Queries. I. PHILOLOGICAL AND CRITICAL. = And a gloom that was STARK." What about stark? asked our worthy friend, as we finished reading one of Shelley's poems. The query elicited stark knave, stark blind, stark mad RED wud (Scot.). Now in the Gaelic, dearc a berry, dearg =red, i. e. the colour of the berry when ripe, and dearg mature - complete; hence stark from dearg=complete, and stark gloom, a gloom that has been matured into complete darkness. Burns says, when I was stark: = ripened into manhood. Again, in the Greek we have bagɣndia: a festival of Apollo in Midsummer, "cum pro PRIMITIIS sacra (The continuation of the Analysis of "Enoch Arden," and the Mathematical Notes, are unavoidably postponed till our next Number.) Education at Home. UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE. OXFORD. The Master and Fellows of Balliol College have decided on the admission of Roman Catholic undergraduates, who will be exempted from attending service in the college chapel and other religious exercises required in the case of Protestant students. It appears from a letter sent to the Times by Professor Daubeny, that the new Waynflete Professorship of Chemistry will be given to Sir B. Brodie, the present Aldrichian Professor of Chemistry, and that the latter office will then be suppressed. The new Professorship is one of four to be founded and maintained in Magdalen College by direction of the University Commissioners. The only other yet founded is the Professorship of Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy, the holder of which is Mr Mansel. The Rev. R. Payne Smith, M.A., the newly appointed Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford, was educated in Pembroke College, graduated with second-class honours in 1841, and obtained the Boden (Sanscrit) and the Pusey and Ellerton (Hebrew) University Scholarships. He has published an elaborate Latin catalogue raisonné of the Syriac MSS. belonging to that library. He has edited those works of St Cyril of Alexandria which are extant only in Syriac, from the MSS. brought to this country by Archdeacon Tattam; and he has also translated the curious ecclesiastical history of John of Ephesus, which had been found in the same collection of MSS. by Dr Cureton. Mr Smith is at present engaged in preparing for the delegates of the Oxford Press a Syriac lexicon, based on that of Castelli, but a new and much larger work. He passes also for an excellent Arabic scholar, and he is a profound Hebraist. How Mr Smith can teach theology, and apply his erudition to the great questions of the day, may be seen in his "Messianic Interpretation of the Prophecies of Isaiah," and will be soon further shewn by a commentary on Jeremiah, which he has engaged to contribute to the large work that is to appear under the auspices of the Speaker. CAMBRIDGE.-The annual examination for the Carus Greek Testament Prize for Bachelors will commence in the Arts School on the 6th prox. There will be Congregations on the following days of the ensuing Michaelmas Term, viz., Monday, October 2, at ten; and Thursdays, October 12 and 26, November 9 and 23, and December 7, at twelve o'clock each day. LONDON.- University College.-Dr Joseph Sharpe has resigned the Professorship of Jurisprudence in University College. His successor will be appointed in November. DURHAM.-Some important changes have recently |