American philosophy. Dr. Porter confesses that America" has produced few works of independent originality," and though his patriotism is pardonable, it would be well for the American, certainly for the English, reader had he cut out at least two-thirds of this section of his additions. The United States possess men of science and philologists of whom any nation might be proud; but Jonathan Edwards remains the one American metaphysician who has a claim to attention. It may seem ungracious to take objection to the additions; but it must be remembered they add seriously to the cost of the book; and we trust that in the future volumes of the "Theological and Philosophical Library" we may be spared similar accretions. A mania for collecting materials of very different values is a weakness of American editors, which we suppose, in its origin, is due to the absence of an International Copyright. NOVELS OF THE WEEK. Waiting for Tidings. By the Author of 'White and Black.' 3 vols. (H. S. King & Co.) Lescar, the Universalist. By the Author of 'Artiste.' 3 vols. (Chapman & Hall.) Frank Arnstein. By Frederick Armfelt. (Charing Cross Publishing Company.) Fantoccini. By Frank Barrett. 2 vols. (Tinsley Brothers.) 'WAITING FOR TIDINGS' is one of those novels of which it is difficult for the critic to make any capital. On the one hand, it is free from all glaring faults, either of style or construction; on the other, it is not remarkable, either for any particular brilliancy of wit in its conversations, or for vividness of description or subtle analysis of character. It is sufficiently interesting to make us read to the end of the last volume, even in spite of a certain heaviness of style, which reminds us of Mr. Gilbert, and which makes the process of reading it through take an unusually long time; and has a sufficiently well-arranged plot, which makes us think once and again that we have the secret, and as often throws us off the scent, only to wonder, when we reach the end, at our own dullness in not having guessed it long before. For the dénoûment, though improbable enough, as it must needs be in a story which depends upon this for its interest, is not impossible, nor does it involve any inconsistency; rather it is what we hope all the way through to find at the end, and the ingenuity of the author is shown in the way in which it is made to arrive at a moment when we seem far enough from a happy termination. It is quite clear that in a story of this kind it would be unfair even to indicate the nature of the plot further than this; nor do we, as a general rule, think it desirable to attempt any analysis of novels, except in the case where we wish to warn off possible readers. Then, again, there is little to say about individual characters. They all play their parts pretty satisfactorily, if the majority of them are somewhat commonplace. There are some novels, of which, as formerly of women, the highest praise is that there is nothing to be said about them, and 'Waiting for Tidings' is decidedly one. Let those who have leisure to read such read it and judge. 'Lescar' is a dull book. "The Universalist" means "the Internationalist": Victor Lescar, occurs twice. Barrett indulges in a pun wherever it can be inserted, and this thin kind of wit often mars a really humorous passage. Some of his fun he reserves for the notes, and it would, perhaps, be as well if all the regular burlesque jokes could be relegated to an appendix. In Mr. Barrett's case a residuum of merit remains after the elimination of such matter; but we own to regarding with much apprehension the possible productions of a school of comic novelists. BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG. The African Cruiser: a Midshipman's Adven tures on the West Coast. By S. Whitchurch Sadler, R.N. (H. S. King & Co.)-This story of the doings of an African cruiser and her brave sailors on the coast of Africa in suppressing the At a time when Africa has been so lately claiming a slave trade, is full of deeds of courage and daring. large share of our interest and attention, this little book will have a special attraction. The adventures are well told, and the book is nicely got up. Brave Hearts. By Robertson Gray. Illustrated by Darley, Beard, Stephens, and Kendrick. (Low & Co.)-Brave Hearts' is a stirring novel of the Far West before the days of the Pacific Railway put a stop to adventures with robbers and Indians. It is full of scenes of the wild life which the books of Bret Harte have made familiar to English readers. Kate Campbell, the heroine, is a fine, spirited young woman, who grows up under great social disadvantages; she declares she does not care "to shoot except at hill-grouse or two-bit pieces," that every reader will love her and forgive the but she is so true-hearted, and brave, and good, faults of her bringing up, if, indeed, they will not be entirely blind to them. For those who relish scenes of Californian life, 'Brave Hearts' will be a book of pleasant reading. 'Frank Arnstein' is a novel of incident, a little in the Lewis Arundel' and "Frank Fairleigh' style, which is neither long nor deep, and, as far as it goes, serves very tolerably the purpose of amusement. The New Zealand war, the great Continental war of 1870, and Paris under the reign of the Commune, are topics susceptible of lively treatment, and the plot, though sufficiently improbable, is stirring enough to satisfy a jaded appetite. Frank himself is a bit of a Bare-sark, with loose notions on homicide, Live Dolls: a Tale for Children of all Ages. and, being disappointed of his hopes of a marBy Annabella Maria Browne. Illustrated by Capt. quisate, takes the strange course for a British Dolls' is a fairy tale, with a pretty moral prettily inculC. Orde Browne. (London, Partridge & Co.)—' Live officer of becoming affiliated to the Inter-cated. It is to teach children, and grown persons also national, under the auspices of which mys- who may read the book, that if people make pets of any terious body he takes a leading part in the living creature they incur duties and responsibilities second siege of Paris. His erratic career is which they cannot neglect without doing wrong stimulated from time to time by long shots and failing in humanity. Even dolls, if they were inconveniently taken at him by a certain endowed with sense and life, would entail on their yellow-haired French amazon, who, for reasons, young possessor almost as many cares as if they were real babies; from which we may gather that bears a personal grudge against him. This nothing exists for the sake of giving amusement, damsel, Jeanne by name, eventually disguises unless it has no feelings of its own to be wounded herself as a Versaillais Zouave, and is the when neglected or cast aside. means of bringing about his execution on the collapse of the revolutionary party. His fate is shared by a young English girl, to whom he is engaged to be married, and whom he has rescued in perilous circumstances from the libertine designs of a wicked old Irish nobleman. The treacherous conduct of this worthy in exposing Arnstein, as an officer under his command, to almost certain destruction in New Zealand is, perhaps, the most glaring violation of probability in this slightly audacious work. But the reflection reminds us that we are dealing with fiction, whatever be the substratum of fact, and, perhaps, conveys a compliment to the verisimilitude of the tale. Mr. Barrett treats us to a collection of prose burlesques, which, at the outset, disgusted us by their extravagance, and, finally, moved us to laughter. The stories are of unequal merit, the most amusing being "Filoubon and the Little Marie," while "The Last Jest of Eolf," "Hun who slew the King," and others, show that the author has a serious vein, which might be wrought to advantage. Of course, after the manner of his kind, Mr. Lady Willacy's Protégées; or, Homes for the Homeless. By Agnes Grey. (Edinburgh, Oliphant & Co.)-This is a book intended to set forth the advantages of "boarding out" orphan and destitute children, instead of allowing them to accumulate as little paupers in Union Workhouses. There is some cleverness in the story, and it is as interesting as a story made to pattern can be. The system of "boarding out" is on its trial throughout the country; if it proves eventually to be for the good and comfort of the poor little children, one great social problem may be, in a measure, solved. Clemène: a Sketch. By the Author of 'Echoes,' &c. (Bell & Sons.) The promise given by the author in her previous works is not thoroughly fulfilled in this longer and more sustained story. There is graceful and gracious feeling shown in the workmanship, but there is too much of the amateur in the style and treatment. The authoress is always in a state of she adorns with epithets of praise on every occasion; admiration and compassion for her heroine, whom and this gives a sickly sweetness both to the story and to the heroine. The author can do better things, if she will try to draw character instead of faney, and make her story more like what really happens in daily life. She may idealize her incidents if she Clemène seems as though she had been a conwill not loose her hold on truth and soberness. temporary with the Children of the Abbey, and heroines of that type. We repeat, the authoress g!: ོ་ ས། E can, and we expect will, write something much better. Under the Southern Cross. By the Author of "The Spanish Brothers.' (Nelson & Sons.)— Under the Southern Cross' is a book that need not be confined to young readers. It is a very interesting story of the period of the Spanish conquest of Peru, before the race of the Incas had died out; and there are glimpses of the people who had been under their rule. Indeed, the hero is himself one of the royal race, "a child of the sun." His name is Viracocha-Yntip-Churi, but, for the comfort of the English reader, he is generally called José, the name given him at his baptism by the good Fray Fernando, who redeemed him from slavery, and brought him up as his own son. There is no heroine, but the love and loyalty borne by José towards his adopted father is more touching than any love passages between youth and maiden. Fray Fernando, the good Spanish missionary to the Indians, is an excellently-drawn character, and, although he is too much given to doubting and questioning the articles of the Catholic faith for the age and nation to which he belonged, that does not detract from the reader's interest in the story. The author has gone to the old chronicles of the Spanish conquest of Peru. The descriptions both of scenes and people are clever; and, though the incidents are laid in lands so distant and times long ago, the real human interest that attaches to the conquered race has never passed away or grown out of date. A Lily among Thorns. By Emma Marshall. (Seeley & Co.)-A Lily among Thorns' is a pretty story enough; it lacks strength; the characters and incidents are delicately, though feebly, drawn. The moral enforced is an excellent one, namely, that all those liable to hereditary disease have no right to marry, and so entail suffering on their offspring, but ought, at whatever personal sacrifice, to stand alone through life, and so let the plague be stayed. It is to be hoped that as society advances in the knowledge of the laws of health and disease, this sense of responsibility will increase in force and distinctness, and become binding on the conscience of all. Meanwhile, Mildred Willoughby sets an example. She makes an honourable sacrifice to her sense of what is right, but she also escapes marrying a man who must, according to all the laws of human nature, have made her miserable ever after. The story is too short and sketchy for all the subjects introduced, and this gives an uncomfortable sense of inefficiency; nothing is thoroughly worked out. Miss Marshall can, we think, write a better book if she will give herself the trouble. Ashley Priors; or, the Beauty of Holiness: a Tale about Children. (Mozley.) This is a cleverlywritten story. The characters of the children are well drawn, and family life, as it could, would, and should be, in a noble family, and under the teaching of the highest Church of England doctrines, is attractively set forth. The daily services, the beautiful private chapel, the wonderful singing, and the excellent clergyman, are well described, and the home life of the young people is both natural and interesting. The children are all lifelike, except the young Italian, brought up as an adopted son, who turns out to be an Italian nobleman, and who resists all efforts to induce him to turn Romanist, although he is half-starved and imprisoned in the family dungeon of his ancestral palace, and, finally, disinherited. Laurence is the least probable personage in the book, and, after he becomes a hero and martyr, the least interesting. The writer does not understand the working of a boy's heart. Laurence is so completely made after English High Church pattern that he ceases to be a human being, and becomes an idea. For readers with high ritualistic sympathies Ashley Priors' will be a charming book. OUR LIBRARY TABLE. ONLY a bold man would venture to describe over again, with new lights and less artistic effort, the period of English history concerning which Mac aulay has left his brilliant fragment; but such an undertaking, if honestly entered upon by a competent writer, would be commendable. There is, however, nothing to commend in Mr. C. D. Yonge's History of the English Revolution of 1688, published by Messrs. H. S. King & Co. Mr. Yonge is Regius Professor of Modern History at Queen's College, Belfast, and has produced several volumes more remarkable for the slip-shod way in which they were written than for the research displayed in them. As this last book is chiefly compiled from Macaulay, it is not strange that its English should be above the average; but we doubt whether it was worth producing. It is too long for a schoolbook, and too superficial for more advanced students. It is really a tedious epitome of English history from the time of Cromwell,-whom Mr. Yonge, not here following Macaulay, describes as "abler, no doubt, but far more arbitrary in his disposition, more severe in his temper, and more unscrupulous in his dealings, than his worst enemies had ever accused Charles of showing himself,"-down to the death of William the Third, whom Mr. Yonge, exaggerating Macaulay, credits with the solidification of a "constitution which, beyond any other ever known in the world, combines strength and stability with a capacity for improvement and the full maintenance of all legitimate authority with the most complete freedom to every individual.” THE contents of the two volumes of Essays, by the late Bishop of Winchester, which Mr. Murray has sent us, are already, to some extent, known to the public, from a notice in the April number of the Quarterly Review. The opening article,- -or we may say articles, as two are here printed as one, "The Naturalist in Sussex and on the Spey,'-is extremely pleasant reading, and a few of the others are worth looking at; but we cannot help thinking that it would have been best for the writer's reputation had the greater number not been republished. Dr. Wilberforce was essentially a rhetorician; and when he attempted to reason without the help of rhetoric, the result was failure. Such critiques as those on Essays and Reviews' and 'Aids to Faith' show but too plainly the author's weakness as a theologian. The former of them made a stir at the time of its appearance; yet those who then admired it must be rather ashamed of it now. It was a little too late, even in 1860, to rail at "the metaphysical mind of Germany, with its insatiable appetite for mystical inquiries into history, philosophy, science, morals, or religion," and, like the pious wish of the University preacher, that "Jarman philosophy and Jarman metaphysics were sunk to the bottom of the Jarman Ocean," it for the Faith. In 1874 it is preposterous. was not a particularly efficacious way of battling PROF. PIAZZI SMYTH has published, through Messrs Isbister & Co., an enlarged edition of Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid.. He has given in an Appendix, a paper of his which was rejected by the Royal Society, and the correspondence to Professor has also issued separately. which the rejection gave rise. This Appendix the DR. MAURICE DAVIES has been spoiled by success. His 'Unorthodox London' found readers, and so he presently brought out Orthodox London,' which was not so well done, but which, however, was greatly superior to the two volumes he has now produced, called Heterodox London. They are worthless specimens of wholesale bookmaking. Messrs. Tinsley Brothers publish them. PROF. ANGELO DE GUBERNATIS has reprinted from the Rivista Europea an interesting article of his on Count Alexis Tolstoi, the author of many well-known Russian works, a translation of one of which has lately been published under the title of Prince Serebrenni,' and which we reviewed the other day. As that book is available to English readers, we need not dwell upon the Tuscan Professor's eloquent criticism of its contents. But many of his remarks on Russia in general, and on the strange ideas about morality and religion entertained by the Russian peasant in particular, are well worthy of having attention called to them. Very interesting, for instance, is his record of the impressions he brought away with him after visiting several Russian prisons, of his astonishment at finding how naïvely criminals discussed their crimes, what an unfavourable view assassins frequently took of the homicides they had committed. Thus in one prison he found a young peasant-woman who had made away with her husband. With touching simplicity she avowed the fact, and affirmed that if her defunct spouse were to come to life and force her to live with him, she would be obliged to murder him over again. And then she proceeded, "con molta naturalezza" and with a "riso sereno," to ask for news from her village home. But her husband had probably been very aggravating. At all events, her fault appears almost a venial one when compared with that committed by one of the inhabitants of the rural Arcadia to which she belonged. He it seems, out of pure kindness of heart, had given a boy a lift in his cart-his telega, let us say, by way of giving the story more "local colour." Presently the little fellow rashly confessed to having about him a number of roubles. Whereupon the peasant instantly yielded to a diabolical instinct, and "sopprime il possessore, per entrare nel possesso dei rubli"-in other words, killed him with an axe. But no sooner was the crime accomplished than he became conscious of its enormity so he handed himself over to justice, and eventually complained bitterly of the undue clemency of his judges when they sentenced him merely to Siberia, instead of accommodating him with " una morte crudele." ; We have on our table History of Italy, by W. Hunt, M.A. (Macmillan),- The Hygiene of Schools, by J. B. Budgett, M.D. (Lewis),-Plato, by C. W. Collins, M.A. (Blackwood),-The Forest and the Field, by The Old Shekarry (Chatto & Windus),Swiss Allmends and a Walk to See Them, by F. B. Zincke (Smith & Elder),- Wayside_Wells, by A. Lamont (Hodder & Stoughton),-London Characters, by H. Mayhew (Chatto & Windus),The Circuit Rider, by E. Eggleston (Routledge),Song Drifts (Glasgow, Murray),-Autology: an Inductive System of Mental Science, by Rev. D. H. Hamilton, D.D. (Hodder & Stoughton), -The Anaesthetic Revelation and the Gist of Philosophy, by B. J. Blood (Amsterdam, in New York),Answers to Questions on the English Language, by R. F. Weymouth (Longmans),-Chambers's National Reading Books, Book IV. (Chambers),— Hampton and its Students, by Mrs. M. F. Armstrong and H. W. Ludlow (New York, Putnam),Enterprise, by A. G. Forbes (Low), The Unity of Africa: Geographical Exploration and Christian Creation, by F. K. Kingston (Trübner), - Our Children: How to Rear and Train Them (Cassell), —Compensations: a Text Book for Surveyors, by B. Fletcher (Spon),-Laocoon: an Essay upon the Limits of Painting and Poetry, by G. E. Lessing, translated by E. Frothingham (Boston, U.S., Roberts), -Shiloh; or, Without and Within, by W. M. Ľ. Jay (Ward & Lock),-Poems, by Austral (Adelaide),-Poems and Sonnets, by G. B. Johnson (Goodwin),-The Sacred Poetry of Early Religions, (Simpkin), Thoughts in the Twilight, by J. F. C. P. by R. W. Church, M.A. (Macmillan),—and Interpretation; being Rules and Principles assisting to the Reading and Understanding of the Holy Scriptures, by S. R. Bosanquet, M.A. (Hatchards). Among New Editions we have Wrinkles; or, Hints to Sportsmen and Travellers on Dress, Equipment, and Camp Life, by the Old Shekarry (Chatto & Windus,-Five Weeks in a Balloon, from the French of Jules Verne (Low),-History of the War in Afghanistan, by J. W. Kaye, 3 vols. (Allen),Greek Lessons, by W. H. Morris (Longmans),The Competitive Geography, by R. Johnston (Longmans),-Madre Natura versus The Moloch of Fashion, by L. Limner (Chatto & Windus),—Record of Mr. Alcott's School, (Boston, U.S., Roberts), and Lectures on the Doctrine of Justification, by J. H. Newman (Rivingtons). Also the following Pamphlets: Head Culture and Heart Culture, by C. Playfair (Parker),—A Treatise on an Improved Method for Overcoming Steep Gradients on Railways, by H. Handyside (Spon),The Mobility of Field Artillery; Past and Present, by Capt. Hime (Woolwich, Boddy), -Inklings of Areal AutoCassell's metry, by W. Houlston (Simpkin), Arabian Nights, Part I. (Cassell),—Competition or Co-operation, by C. H. B. Hambly (Hamilton & Adams),- Charity: its Aim and Means, by the Rev. B. Lambert (King),—The Gospel, the Crucifixion, the Cross of Jesus, by the Rev. T. G. Headley (Trübner),-New Legislation for the Church, Is it Needed? by W. J. Irons, D.D. (Rivingtons),and Practical Instructions for Painting on China, Earthenware, Glass, and Enamel, by Aural (Lecher tier & Barbe). LIST OF NEW BOOKS. Theology. Allen's (Rev. R.) Words of Christ, cr. 8vo. 5/ cl. Hamilton's (Rev. D. H.) Autology, royal 8vo. 21/cl. Fine Art. Pollen's (J. H.) Ancient and Modern Furniture, &c., in South Glapthorne's (H.) Plays and Poems, 2 vols. 12mo. 21/ bds. Anderson's (R.) History of Scotland, 12mo. 1/6 cl. Englishman's Illustrated Guide to the United States and Lower's (M. A.) Wayside Notes in Scandinavia, cr. 8vo. 9/ cl. Schweinfurth's (Dr. G.) Heart of Africa, 2nd edit. 2 vols. 42/ Vizcaya, or Life in the Land of the Carlists, cr. 8vo. 9/ cl. Philology. Lanari's (A.) Collection of Italian and English Dialogues, 3/6 cl. Readings in English Literature (Prose), Selected from the Best English Authors, 12mo. 1/ Second French Book, 12mo. 1/ cl. swd. (Public School Series.) Science. Babington's (C. C.) Manual of British Botany, 7th edit. 10/6 cl. Bauerman's Treatise on the Metallurgy of Iron, 4th edit. 12mo. 4/6 cl. swd. (Weale's Series.) Beeton's Dictionary of Every-Day Gardening, coloured Plates, cr. 8vo. 3/6 cl. Haydn's Dictionary of Popular Medicine and Hygiene, edited by E. Lankester. 8vo. 18/ cl. Horton's Complete Measurer of Boards, Glass, &c., 2nd edit. 12mo. 4/ cl. swd. (Weale's Series.) Smith's (E.) Foods, 3rd edit. cr. 8vo. 5/cl. Thearle's (S. J. P.) Naval Architecture, Wood and Iron Shipbuilding, Vol. 2, Plates, 4to. 2/ cl. swd. Tyndall's (J.) Forms of Water, 4th edit. cr. 8vo. 5/ cl. Wilson's (R.) Treatise on Steam-Boilers, 2nd edit. 12mo. 6/ cl. General Literature. Aimard's (G.) Border's Rifle, cr. 8vo. 2/ bds. Carlyle's Translations from the German of Musaeus, &c., Chatterton's (G. Lady) Won at Last, 3 vols. cr. 8vo. 31/6 cl. THE DICE OF TOSCANELLA. I PERCEIVE from Mr. Isaac Taylor's letter that he considers I have not "really taken up" his mar "challenge, which was to prove that the six words on the dice correspond to the first six digits in High Dutch,"-and he adds, that my letter "virtually admits that this cannot be done." Mr. Taylor's compliment to what he terms my vellous ingenuity" would be but poor consolation were I conscious of having met him on a false issue. The challenge, as I understood it, was on the point, broadly, whether the Etruscan language, as tested by the words on the Dice of Toscanella, was Turanian, according to Mr. Taylor's own theory, or Japhetan, Aryan, and Teutonic, according to mine. The special word used in the 'Etruscan Researches was Gothic," not High Dutch; but the context implied a broader range. My answer was, that the words in question were, with the exception of the last two (I ought to have said the last only), not numerals, but independent words to the effect, doubtless, of rendering a discussion impossible on the assumption that the words were numerals; while, at the same time, I met Mr. Taylor's general proposition by what I conceive to be proof that the words, the common subject of dispute, were Japhetan, Aryan, and Teutonic, not Turanian. But even on the narrower numerical ground there is something to be said. After submitting in my letter my own interpretation of the inscription, I subjoined the remark that, although not numerals, the words, "especially the first, second, fourth, and fifth, seem to have been adapted so as to echo the current names of numerals in Japhetan, if not Teutonic speech." (The sixth was the numeral six in my translation.) I cut out what originally followed upon this remark in order to shorten my letter; but I must now appeal to your courtesy to admit the substance of it, and a few words of relative comment. 1. MAX-denoting, as I have shown, kúẞot, or "dice is an echo (in the sense premised) of the Japhetan word for "One," as preserved in an abraded form in the Sanskrit eka, Zendic aêva, and Pehlevi aévak, but which we have in nearer approximation to the (presumed) original form in the mi, meg, of the Armenian, that very ancient branch of Japhetan speech; while the Greek pía may, perhaps, belong to the same category. It is thus that mich is an older form of ich,-both ich and eka, “I” and "One," deriving, I suspect, from a common root and thought. 2. THU-which answers to Auf-, Aufos, in the phrase Aids Kúẞo-is similarly an echo of dú-o, "du-o," two. 3. ZAL-equivalent to zahl, and which I have translated "numeratim" and "number"-is the most puzzling among these words when considered in connexion with the numeral "three." The simple literal change of tri, tli (as in "Tros," "Tlos "), would suffice; but I know no example of this in the Japhetan, although there are many in the Semitic and Turanian forms of the numeral. On the other hand, the keil="tel-um "=gar, geir, "quir-is," spear, all denoting wedge, spear- or arrow- head, was the symbol of Tyr, Tys, the Scandinavian Ares, who stands at the head of Tyrs-aett, the third and last of the three families or classes of the Runic alphabet; while the TéλEKUS, or flint-axe, is the sign of Thurs, or th, the letter which stands third, and has the numerical value of three, in the first column of the same early alphabet. The spear or javelin was, I think, the earliest instrument used for lineal mensuration, in fact the first ruler; and thus zeil, zeile, a line, is an echo of keil, and stands in close proximity to ZAL. These appoximations are legitimate so far as they go, which is all I can say for them here. The fourth word, 66 4. HUT, signifying in the inscription" cad-," fall, is an echo of c'at-ur, quat-uor,' ," "pet-or," four. Many Etruscan philologers understand HUT as four. I have myself read it rather as cead, "centum," hundred. 5. KI, which, considered as a word, I have identified with "bi-," "bis," as in "bisseni,"-has been likewise understood by philologers as an abridged form of a word analogous to "quinque," and it probably stands here as its echo. I have elsewhere connected кI with zwi, two, as by the analogy of KIARTH, the Etruscan agnomen rendered in Latin by "Fuscus," and which I have, I think, identified with Schwarz. Lastly, 6. SA, answering to sei, "sex," "senio,” “-seni,” is, according to my interpretation, both substantive word and numeral. The reader must not understand me as laying undue stress upon these confessedly shadowy indications. My first impression on looking at the inscription was that the words were really numerals, and Japhetan numerals. But on consideration of the third word, ZAL, I could not make up my mind to accept it as a Japhetan numeral through a process so circuitous, however legitimate, as that above stated. The doubt presented itself whether the words were numerals, and whether, on the other hand, they were not rather independent words, forming a sentence, bearing probably a signification appropriate to the game of dice. It appears, in fact, strange that words should be substituted for the simple I., IL, III., &c., unless on such a supposition. The result of this second stage of inquiry is before your readers in the translation given in my first letter. The further suggestion, that the words had been adapted (in part) with reference to actual Etruscan numerals in the background, followed almost as a matter of course on consideration of the analogies just shown; and I have now, I trust, vindicated the probability of this. I have met Mr. Taylor's comments and re-stated challenge as fully as is possible under the conditions prescribed by the stubborn fact that the words on the dice are (according to my view) not numerals. It will be for others to decide whether those words-although not themselves numerals, but mere "simulachra," ghosts, or shadows of numerals-do not exhibit a nearer resemblance to Japhetan, Aryan, and Teutonic numerals than is shown by Mr. Taylor to Turanian. For I must again observe that my own comparison proceeds throughout on the assumption that the words are to be read in the natural sequence, MAX: THU: ZAL: HUT KI: SA, shown by the position of the numbers I., II., IIL, &c. on other ancient dice; whereas Mr. Taylor, unaware or forgetful of the careful comparison reported in the Bullettino of the Archæological Institute, affirms that "there is no clue to inform us how these six words are to be allotted to the first six numerals "-inverts the sequence as above prescribed-reads the words as MAX: KI: ZAL: SA: THU: HUT, and only brings them when thus transposed into approximation with the Turanian dialects. He agrees with me, it is true, in understanding MAX as the ace, or number L., and ZAL as corresponding with the number III, both preserving their proper places in the series; and he likewise understands KI as II., but transplants it from the end of the numerical sequence, where it corresponds to V., to the beginning, where only it can be entitled to the lower value. He has contrasted his version and my own in his recent letter, the actual contrast, I submit, should be sought by comparing mine, viz., Kúßot: Alòs: NUMERATIM: CADANT: BIS-: SENI-each word attended by the Etruscan PHINTHIAL or ghost of a numeral in the background, and marching in proper numerical order—with his own, viz., “ONE: FIVE: THREE: SIX : TWO: FOUR," in which the numerical order is lost sight of. Mr. Taylor remarks that THU, understood as "Zeus," would rather be TINA in Etruscan. The remark is just; but he has overlooked my observation that THU represents not Zeus, but the abnormal genitive of Zeus, Afos, which points to a lost nominative, Ais, identical, as I believe, with Tys, or Tyr, and as distinct, I may add, from "Zeus" as the alternate genitive Ζηνός, derived from Ζὴν, is from that title. I would add in conclusion that, while fully recognizing the importance of the words on the dice as amounting (under the circumstances) almost to a bilingual inscription, I by no means abandon the ground on which alone, in my opinion, the broad question under discussion can be settled. Numerals cannot afford very conclusive evidence in such a matter. Many numerals are common to Semitic -as and Turanian, as well as to Japhetan speech, and where such is the case, no sufficient inference can be drawn. It is on the identity of compound words in Etruscan with similar compounds in other languages, and on grammatical inflection-as well as on correspondence in manners and customs, as shown by collateral evidence- that the stress of probation ought to be laid. There is, for example, a very brief inscription on a cup of the black ware of the Tyrrheno-Pelasgic town of Care, which may illustrate this protest. The inscription is written without any break, but resolves, when analyzed, into words as follows: MINI-MUL VENEKEVELTHU IR-PUPLIANA. It was an ancient Teutonic usage that een goede maeltydt and een stoopwyn, a handsome feast and a stoop of winethe ehren-wein, or "vin d'honneur," of Germany and France-should be presented at the conclusion of a contract or bargain of sale to those who had acted as witnesses to the transaction, and who bore the title of weinkaufleute, that is, people, or company, of the weinkauff, or vinicopium". it was styled in medieval Latinity.* MINI-MUL may either be an equivalent for the goede maeltydtMINI answering to "bonus," O. Lat. "manus," and MUL to mahl, a feast-or, if we confine our attention (as perhaps is requisite) to the "propinatio," of which the cup was the medium, we may read it as a compound of MINI = minne, love, and MUL= mal, sign or token, MINI-MUL thus implying "lovetoken," analogously to denkmal, and in the special sense here of minne trinken, our English lovingcup. This last alternative will probably commend itself to the reader; but the word which follows, VENEKEVELTHU, subdivided as VENE-KEVE-LTHU, corresponds, unmistakably, syllable by syllable, with wein-kauff-leute, the word being thus a triple compound, and the Etruscan and Teutonic forms absolutely identical; while the Etruscan is in the dative case, a sign of kindred grammatical inflection. And lastly, and nearly as strong, while IR represents er, ehre, honour, and PUPLIANA is equivalent to PHUPHLUNS, the Etruscan Bacchus,+ we have in these two words, or rather in this compound, IR-PUPLIANA-understanding PUPLIANA in the same sense as when we speak of "veteris Bacchi pinguisque farinæ". a similarly exact equivalent of ehren-wein. The inscription thus reads, "Love-token," or propine, "to the bargaincompany," or witnesses, "vin d'honneur." The sense and sentiment are appropriate to the vessel on which the words are inscribed,-the ceremony or custom which the inscription bears witness to, as current among the Etruscans, is still, or was so till a late date, in viridi observantia among that Teutonic people, whose language preserves at the present day the technical words which (as here shown) the Etruscans were equally familiar with two thousand years ago; and those words group themselves in compounds which closely correspond in both languages,-one of them, VENEKEVELTHU-weinkauffleute, consisting (as observed) of three distinct words in combination, ranked, moreover, in the same sequence, which is not always the case even in the most unmistakable Etrusco-Teutonic compounds. It is, I submit, upon testimony like this, where compounds, grammatical forms, and national usages can be shown to be identical, as between an unknown and a known language, that the decision as to the family to which the unknown language belongs ought to proceed. It would be a curious problem to calculate the chances against three compound words, susceptible of the coherent interpretation above given to them, meeting together as they do in the present inscription, on the hypothesis that they belong to a language and family of languages-we will say, the Ugrian and Turanian-other than that which furnishes the coherent interpretation in question, to wit, the * The custom obtained on the solemnization of contracts (ie., sales) of marriage, as shown by the special use of ehrwein in the sixteenth century to express "vinum præstantius quod in nuptiis caupones post præbitam assam" (the goede maeltydt), "hospitibus offerre debent."-Scherzii Gloss. Germ. + The process is-" pampin" = FaμжEλ = PHUPIL+ANS, UNS, or ANA PHUPHLUNS, PUPLIANA,-i.e. "God of the Vine"; while sumbl is the kindred word for "ale" in the speech of the less genial North; and the weinkauff was equally observed in the case of the humbler beverage. Teutonic. These concluding observations are in development of what I stated briefly at the end of my former letter, and with the view of more clearly discriminating the relative value of the evidence, for I should be sorry were it supposed that I staked my conviction that the Etruscan was a Japhetan and Teutonic language on the mere throw of the Dice of Toscanella. I have written both my letters with unfeigned respect for the talents and the great hereditary name which distinguish Mr. Isaac Taylor. CRAWFORD AND BALCARRES. THE TAMING OF THE SHREW. 3, St. George's Square, N.W., May 16, 1874. THAT is a funny reproach of Mr. Fleay's against Mr. Dyce and me, for, in fact, not using Goldsmith's History of England,' but preferring Froude and Macaulay. In 1857, that very able American Shakspere editor, Richard Grant-White, investiShakspere editor, Richard Grant-White, investigated the structure of 'The Taming of the Shrew' for himself, and gave his opinion on it. That opinion Mr. Dyce, in his second edition of 1866, quoted (evidently with approval) as follows: "1863. | Mr. Grant-White is of opinion that "in "The Taming of the Shrew" three hands, at least, are traceable; that of the author of the old play, that of Shakspeare himself, and that of a co-labourer. The first appears in the structure of the plot, and in the incident and dialogue of most of the minor scenes; to the last must be assigned the greater part of the love-business between Bianca and her two suitors; while to Shakspeare belong the strong clear characterization, the delicious humour, and the rich verbal colouring of the re-cast Induction, and all the scenes in which Katharina and Petruchio and Grumio are the prominent figures, together with the general effect produced by scattering lines and words and phrases here and there, and removing others elsewhere, throughout the rest of the play.'-Introduction to The Taming of the Shrew," Dyce, iii. 103. One might have supposed that this Grant-White view of the play, certainly true as it is, would have been taken as the starting-point of future critics. But, no: seventeen years after it had been put forth, Mr. Fleay ignores it, and not only starts from the incomplete Collier view of 1831 (which its suggester had partly given up), but actually accuses Mr. Dyce of injustice, and me of pretending to originality, because we adopt the later, though now old view of 1857 (I adding scene-figures to it), instead of the one it superseded, of 1831! Again, Mr. Fleay did not even take the trouble to find out what Mr. Collier's view was in 1831, or ascertain that it was thought so little of by its suggester, that he left it out of at least his last edition of 'Shakspeare,' and wrote notes more or less inconsistent with it. Mr. Fleay quotes the view secondhand from Hallam in this form, "That Shakspeare has nothing to do with any of the scenes in which Katherine and Petruchio are not introduced," whereas what Mr. Collier really wrote was a much more modified statement; and here it is, from the History of Dramatic Poetry, iii. 78, ed. 1831:-"I am, however, satisfied that more than one hand (perhaps at distant dates) was concerned in it, and that Shakspeare had little to do with any of the scenes in which Katherine and Petruchio are not engaged." This view, as I say, Mr. Collier did not reproduce in his last edition of Shakspeare's works, but only said that the plot of The Shrew' was obtained from 'The Taming of a Shrew,' and "that Shakspeare (in coalition possibly with some other dramatist, who wrote the portions which are admitted not to be in Shakspeare's manner) produced his "Taming of the Shrew' soon after 'Patient Grissill' had been brought upon the stage in 1599," ii. 440. And again, "It is evident that Shakspeare made great use of the old comedy, both in his Induction and in the body of the play," p. 441. This vaguer view" was further modified by Mr. Collier's mentioning, in his notes, lines as Shakspeare's that Mr. Fleay now agrees with me are spurious, in Act i. sc. 1, sc. 2, pp. 454, 66 458, 464, and that "Redime te captum... is quoted by Shakspeare as it stands in the Grammar," &c. In the face of these facts, is it not almost incredible that Mr. Fleay should write of Mr. Collier's theory as "one fully published and ably developed long since," condemn a scholar like Mr. Dyce for doing injustice in "summarily dismissing" this theory, and sneer at me for not making myself acquainted with the facts of the case? Do not such charges recoil on the maker of them? As to my producing as original "what I was pleased to call 'exact lines of demarcation between Shakspeare's work and his coadjutors," I never did so; but at our meeting (Mr. Fleay was not present) I started with quoting or stating Mr. Grant-White's view, complained that Mr. Fleay's paper threw us back from it instead of carrying us forward, and then went on to work out Mr. GrantWhite's scheme through act and scene. The Athenæum report, being obliged to be so short, naturally neither mentioned Mr. Collier's superseded view nor Mr. Grant-White's. Mr. Fleay's own report of his paper, in the Academy of April 25, p. 468, containing a column all but nine lines, mentions Mr. Collier thus: "He (Mr. Fleay) also agreed with Mr. Collier as to the date of the production of the piece, viz., in 1600-1601." In Mr. Fleay's paper of thirteen pages, he also mentions Mr. Collier's name once, and once only, in the lines I have quoted before. F. J. FURNIVALL. THE LATE PROF. RIGAUD. IN Mr. Agnew's third volume of Protestant lent father, in terms which I gratefully acknowExiles from France,' there is a notice of my excelledge; though, I venture to think, no more than his due. The volume is full of information, and students of this branch of history and biography are deeply in debt to Mr. Agnew. This being the case, I am the more anxious to correct a phrase in his notice of my father and his works. The last on which he was engaged before his unexpected death, in 1839, was the publication of 'Letters of Scientific Men,' viz., Barrow, Flamsteed, Wallis, and Newton, the autograph originals of which had been supplied by the Earl of Macclesfield. When my father died, the first volume had been printed, and the first sheet of the second. The latter was carried through the press by my late brother, then a Fellow of Exeter College. In his Preface he says, "It must be observed that, from the beginning, the printers declared themselves unable to work from the originals. There were so many different handwritings, so many various forms of spelling, different abbreviations, and distinct methods of notation, that it was found impossible for any one unacquainted with the general subjects of the letters to decipher or reproduce them ; and hence it became necessary to copy the whole correspondence. And this was done by my father." The two volumes (8vo.) contain little less than a thousand printed pages; and from this some estimate may be formed of the nature of my father's labours in this direction; while those, and there must be some left, who know what was involved in his edition of Bradley's Miscellaneous Works' will not require any illustration of his unwearied energy in such matters. Now, Mr. Agnew says, vol. iii. p. 235, "he translated for publication a series of Letters of Scientific Men · from 1706 to 1741." And it will be seen from what I have said that this conveys a very incorrect impression, as the letters were in English, and (unavoidably under the circumstances) omits what he really did. My father was so carefully accurate in all his investigations of the lives and works of other scientific men, who had passed away, that I feel a double call to make this correction in regard to his own. And I shall feel obliged, as I believe Mr. Agnew will be, if you will allow me space in your pages to do so. J. RIGAUD, B.D. PROF. AUFRECHT'S REPORT ON ETRUSCAN. AT the Anniversary Meeting of the Philological Society the President read an important Report from Prof. Aufrecht, as to the points which may be regarded as the ascertained certainties of Etruscan philology. Prof. Aufrecht believes that there are six grammatical forms, and ten words, as to the meaning of which there can be no further question. In his present Report he deals only with the six grammatical forms. These are the matronymic suffix -al, which means "child of," the suffix -isa, and its variations, which mean "wife of," the dative in si or -s, the preterite in -ce, and the suffixes -alchl and -zathrum, which denote decades. I do not think that any one will be found bold enough to controvert these cautious conclusions, which must henceforward be regarded as fixed starting-points for future investigators. Prof. Aufrecht does not offer any positive opinion as to the affinities of the Etruscan language, though he seems to think that it is not Italic, or even Aryan. I wish, therefore, to point out that all his six grammatical tests are satisfied by the hypothesis that Etruscan is one of the Altaic languages. The Etruscan -al and -isa, which mean respectively "child" and "wife," may be compared with the Tatar aul, “son,” and izi, “wife.” The Etruscan dative in si or -s seems to be the same as the Lapp dative in s, sa, or -ga, the Turkic dative in -je, -ge, and -ke, the Ostiak in -je, and the Tungusic in -ski. The Etruscan preterite in -ce is represented by the Tungusic preterite in -aca. The suffixes -zathrum and alchl, which represent decades, may be compared with -schaithjung and lekhl-on, which have the same power in the Yenisseian languages. On one point I am reluctantly compelled to differ from Prof. Aufrecht. He thinks that the suffix isa, which denotes "wife of," may possibly represent an old genitive in -as, -es, or us. I do not think this can be maintained. The Etruscan genitive seems to have ended in -na or -ni, herein agreeing with the whole of the Altaic languages. Fortunately, there is one proof of this which does not involve any questionable interpretations. Latin gentile names end, as a rule, in -ius, which is an old genitive form. So also the English surnames Williams, Roberts, and Richards, are formed by the addition of the genitive sign to the Christian names William, Robert, and Richard. This is also the mode in which Etruscan gentile names are formed. Thus from the common Etruscan prænomina Veltur, Vele, Spuri, and Teti, we get the common Etruscan gentile names Velturna, Vel-na, Spuri-na, and Teti-na. This mode of formation is almost universal in Etruscan. The conclusion is inevitable that the Etruscan genitive suffix was -na. Not only so, but we actually find that the Latin genitive in -ius is translated by the Etruscan genitive in na or -ni, as in the cases of the Etruscan gentile names Alph-ni and Cnev-na, which are Latinized Alf-ius and Gnæv-ius. I attach great importance to this genitive in -na, as it is such a conspicuous and characteristic feature of Altaic grammar. ISAAC TAYLOR. NOTES FROM PARIS. I TOLD you in my last letter that we have a new prose writer and a new poet, but I could not, and cannot hope ever to make you comprehend the anxiety with which for some years we have looked forward to these births, and the consolation that such events give us. A Frenchman who loves his country warmly, and does not despair of it, yet keeps his eyes open, knows that it is not only the government and the army that we have to remake: it is nearly everything. Agriculture, trade, commerce, manners, arts, letters, all need restoration. Even in matters in which we excel contemporary nations, an enlightened patriot finds much to blame; for he sees we are inferior to the great nations of antiquity, and our own fathers. That is why we watch for new men of ability in every branch, as during the siege of Paris we watched for the arrival of the carrier pigeons. Each pigeon, in those days, meant deliverance. To-day, each young man of promise seems a messenger of salvation. us. You are too good citizens in your islands to laugh at us if I confess that the first trial of the volontariat d'un an has interested and excited us more than any drama. It was a sort of test applied to the heart of the middle classes: were we to find it gold or lead? Of course, we were not so foolish as to imagine that twelve months of elementary manoeuvres would bring to light a number of young Vaubans, sucking Bonapartes and Berthiers; but on what can we place our hopes for the future, if we do not count a little on our youth. The same instinct makes us feel an eager curiosity about the writers of the new generation. The known men, those who have reached maturity, have no surprises in store for The tenth work of a respectable, or even of a famous author, is like the tenth child of a patriarch; we know beforehand that it will resemble its elder brother. It may be a handsome, or an ugly likeness, feebler or stronger, attest advance or the reverse, but that is all the margin left for speculation. Jouffroy long ago said to us, at a distribution of prizes at the Collége Charlemagne, "Between twenty and thirty, a man forms all the fecund ideas of his life." He did not mean that nobody wrote anything of value after thirty. That would be absurd, but he was right in pointing out that after that age, the mind forms no germs. The more skilled it becomes in ripening its first conceptions, the fewer are the new ideas it forms. How often in our century have we seen a well-known author suddenly give us a work really superior to what was expected of him? Draw up a list of the writers who, in the course of their career, have come out in an unexpected guise. I can mention but two. M. Maxime du Camp, who, at the outset, made himself known as a Romantic poet, with a shock head, has become, almost at a bound, an eminent economist and admirable popularizer. M. Ludovic Halévy, the creator of a species of theatrical entertainment, author of twenty successful works, some of which are chefs-d'œuvre of high and sage buffoonery, suddenly came out after the war as the most lively, sober, and original of story-tellers. It might be said that Mérimée by some secret will left him his heir. His recollections and account of the invasion, published in 1872, by Michel Lévy, have revealed a new man to the few Frenchmen who read. M. Albert Aynaud, the prose writer whom I promised you, without naming him, also belongs to the school of Mérimée, which is and will remain the French school par excellence. He has the nervous style, concise diction, and exactitude of expression characteristic of Mérimée. I am not acquainted with M. Aynaud, and perhaps he is kept far away from Paris in some consular post; but people tell me he is very young, and I am willing to believe it. Precision of style, like precision in shooting, is not always a result of age and of study. The sure eye and steady hand may be natural gifts. Under the rather ill-chosen title of 'Scènes de la Vie Orientale,' M. Aynaud has put together three wellconstructed dramatic novelties, in which the interest is kept up from the first word to the last. The strange world which he has studied and put before us is excellently represented. Our author has neither been dazzled nor has he indulged in systematic depreciation. His East is not the East of the Romantic poets, nor that of weary and sutky tourists, but the true East that unprejudiced observers, rare aves, know and love. I cannot say whether the author of this charming little volume will prove a prolific writer-that is an affair of temperament and leisure,-I cannot say whether he will meet with, or imagine, a whole world of characters as interesting as his first heroes; but I can assure you that he wields with a master's hand a well-tempered weapon, and that it rests with himself to take an honourable place among écrivains de précision, the only ones who live. The poet whom I promised you-but nobody is obliged le prendre ni même le comprendre-is a young fellow of eighteen. His name is Maurice Bouchoir, and he has published, through Charpentier, a whole volume of Chansons Joyeuses. A Sceptic escaped from school, a young Rabelaisian, a beardless boy who swears by a hundred bottles, who amuses himself with deifying the stomach he does not possess, and pretending that his nose is covered with improbable pimplesthat is a strange phenomenon at all times and in all places, but particularly strange in the France of 1874. Our young men are out of spirits for the most part, and with reason. Here, however, is one who, in the midst of the universal melancholy, clambers to the topmost bar of his cage, and rolls out a bravura loud enough to awaken the dead. He mocks at everything, prattles nonsense, as if of set purpose; drinks like a fish-in theory; proclaims his real or assumed recklessness in slipshod, fantastic, incorrect verses, that yet sparkle with wit and gaiety. This curious little man has the devil in his body, and his nerve would warm into life the statue of the Commander. Add to this a pretty turn for literature, and some familiarity with good authors, notably with Shakspeare, to whom he has dedicated eight ballads: eight to Shakspeare, and two only to his friend Raoul Ponchon. Soleil aux rayons noirs, Ponchon, être étonnant! Je t'aime autant que le pale ale! There is a leaven of Bohemianism below all this, but Bohemianism is a malady of youth, like the small-pox. Those who do not die of it, get quit of it soon; their ability remains. M. Bouchoir sometimes, in his juvenile fanfaronnades, catches the superb grace and freedom of Courier and Musset at twenty. France has a specialty in these precocious roués, these innocent débauchés, these drinkers in imagination, who shock the bourgeois by a thousand Platonic abominations. For all the verses which are written on the school benches are the public confession of the sins of which the author would greatly like to have been guilty. We have, most of us, elaborated some variations on this old theme, "Vive l'amour et le bon_vin!" But few débutants have had, like M. Bouchoir, the knack of reviving it under a vigorous and original form. It is a lively, dashing, little Gaul, who has just seen the light on the shelves of the house of Charpentier. Our light literature has been enriched by some good novels: Une Vie Manquée' of Madame Th. Bentzon, 'Le Mariage de Juliette' and 'Une BelleMére,'-two volumes which follow one another, and form one of the strong studies of character in which M. Hector Malot excels,-and the 'Légendes Militaires' of M. Fiévée. The author is a distinguished officer, who, in the leisure of garrison life, has sought to revive the honours of his father's name. François Buchamor,' a tale of old France, by my friend, Alfred Assolant, is an ambitious novel, which deserves to be popular, and to do its part in regenerating our country. It is the story of one of our most obscure and most admirable ancestors, the peasant soldier, the volunteer of '92, who fought for the country, and not for promotion, fortune, or glory. The author takes up his hero on the eve of Valmy, and conducts him rapidly along till the defence of Paris, 1814. A grand spirit of patriotism pervades this animated and picturesque narrative, which is sometimes serious, sometimes comic, always excellently French in form and in substance. I am glad to see a distinguished writer protest against the work of depreciation which was effacing, bit by bit, the most noble page in our annals. A most sagacious inquirer, a versa tile scholar, and prolific writer, M. Jules Claretie, has painted, in two volumes, a brilliant picture of French society towards the close of the last century. You are aware that the Directory is all the fashion. From the masked balls to the exhibition of paintings, in the book-shops and theatres, one meets with nothing but "Merveilleux," "Muscadins," "Incroyables." This is one of the best and the most finished of M. Claretie's works. Its title is 'Les Muscadins.' The transition from fiction to history is supplied |