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place, a road on the left presents an abrupt approach. Of the period when this bath was made-so singularly situated, almost on the summit of a mountain, where one would have imagined there would have been little temptation to bathe, except, indeed, the fatigue of the ascent might have rendered the coldness of the water refreshing-who can now tell? The conveyance of the water to the bath must have been a work of considerable labour; and one would have thought that the wings of the Zephyrs so high up the mountain themselves would have been sufficiently refrigerating. That, however, which is most surprising, and renders this place an object of curious attention, is the immense labor which must have been exhausted in cutting the solid porphyry. Our wonder is excited by the Egyptian art and labor bestowed in working porphyry; and knowing that of all stone this species of granite is the hardest, and perceiving how very slowly modern art proceeds in the labor of cutting it, what must we think of this work of ancient American art! Can we believe that the ancient Indians, who were very superior to their present descendants, were as unacquainted with every species of metal instrument as some authors pretend? It is impossible. The fact is, they had copper either naturally so hard, or they had the art of rendering it so hard, that it answered all the purposes of iron to them; with copper tools, perhaps, this curious work might have been accomplished. There is something very picturesque in the appearance of this bath: the luxuriant green of the Nopal tree, the vegetation of which shoots all around, singularly contrasts with the purple of the granite, over which it seems as fain to spread its leafy protection. Having mentioned the name of Egypt, with reference to the cutting of granite, I cannot refrain from remarking one more analogy between the Mexicans and the Egyptians; it is this,—many and vast Pyramids exist at the present day not very far from Mexico. I know that some authors have denied this, and put a veto on the world's belief of it-however this may be, these Pyramids exist, and are likely to do so. Baron Humboldt, who has been in Mexico, particularly describes them, and gives a drawing of one of the small ones extremely curious; it has a staircase ascending to the top, itself being made of cut stone, and very high, on a basis very small proportioned to its height. It must be granted, then, that ancient Pyramids exist in some of the Mexican pro vinces, and that the most interesting antiquities are to be discovered in the New World.

VOL. XXIX.

Cl. JI.

NO. LVII.

N

194

NOTICE OF

A DICTIONARY OF LATIN PHRASES, comprehending a Methodical Digest of the various Phrases from the best Authors, which have been collected in all Phraseological Works hitherto published, for the more speedy progress of Students in LATIN COMPOSITION. By W. ROBERTSON, A. M. of Cambridge. A new Edition with considerable Additions, Alterations, and Corrections. London: Baldwin. 1824. 8vo. 15s. Pp. 1023.

THIS is a very bulky octavo, sold at a reasonable price, and in respect to paper and print got up in that plain and unambitious way, which is best suited to School-books, and reflects credit on those, who have projected and executed the Work. The valuable assistance, which it will afford to the Student and Schoolboy in Latin Composition, can scarcely fail to obtain for it a distinguished place in the list of School-books. Its pretensions to notice are so modestly, and, so far as we can in the absence of the old Edition judge, so correctly, and so concisely set forth in the Advertisement prefixed, that it would be injustice to the Work and to our readers to state them in any other words :

ROBERTSON'S LATIN PHRASE BOOK having been long out of print and become scarce, many eminent teachers of the classics have expressed a desire to see a new and improved edition. That there was ample room for improvement is obvious on the slightest inspection of the old work. The English is obsolete, the arrangement confused, the order of printing such as to render it difficult for consultation or reference, the redundancies so numerous as to increase most unnecessarily and seriously the bulk of the volume, and much of the Latin drawn from barbarous sources. It has been the aim of the present editor to remedy these evils, and to render the work better adapted to the use of the Middle and Upper classes in our schools.

It is a peculiarity in this Phrase Book that it comprehends all previous publications on the subject: but the present edition has this advantage over its predecessors, that it is enriched with many hundred phrases which have hitherto been unrecorded, and these have been drawn from the purest fountains, by actual perusal; froin Cicero, Tacitus, Terence, Plautus, &c.

Thus, while the size of the volume has been usefully diminished, its capacity for reference has been increased, and its value for purity considerably enhanced.

But while the editor is calling public attention to improvements already made, he would not be thought insensible to the necessity of future improvements, and will thankfully receive such animadversions as may render another edition still more useful.

The increasing attention paid to Latin Composition renders works of this description more important; and by the Lexicon Ciceronianum of Nizolius, and this improved edition of Robertson, the access to Latin peculiarities is made more easy and sure; for if correct Latinity were only to be acquired by an extensive and deep acquaintance with the various works of classic authors, it would be absolutely unattainable by any one in statu pupillari, and could scarcely be taught in our schools.

We congratulate the classical public on the multiplied facilities for writing elegant and correct Latin, which are afforded by this and similar Works. We would strongly urge on the attention of School-masters the propriety of giving every possible encouragement to so desirable an accomplishment, which has been often unattained even by Scholars, whose fame has extended over civilised Europe, and whose works will be read with in struction and amusement to the remotest period of time. To write Latin with facility may be a matter of easy acquirement to most scholars of extensive reading; to write it elegantly may be an object of no difficult attainment to a student of good taste and memory, intimately conversant with the language of the purest authors; but to unite rhetorical elegance and grammatical accuracy, hic labor, hoc opus est, and yet the student need not despair of uniting both, if he will depend on his own right hand, cheer his heart with contemplating the bright example of the venerable Dr. Parr, and pursue his career of improvement with that "soul of fire," which "no labors fright, and no dangers tire," and which takes for its device the animating words of the Latin poet: Possunt, quia posse videntur.

We shall cite from the Work under consideration two specimens of the manner, in which the Editor has executed the task assigned to him; and these specimens will convey to our readers a pretty good idea of the plan and utility of the book for assisting the student in Latin composition:

"To abandon, renuntiare, amovere, amandare, remittere etc.; as, To abandon one's friendship, amicitiam alicui renuntiare, Cic.: He has abandoned virtue, nuntium virtuti remisit, Cic. He has abandoned or renounced all civil offices or employments, Civilibus officiis renuntiavit: I abandon my province, provinciam remitto: To abandon one, whose reputation is attacked, dimicanti de fama deesse, Cic."

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Lean, macer, macilentus, gracilis, tenuis, exilis, strigosus. As lean as a rake, ossa atque pellis, misera macritudine; nihil aliud quam Syphar hominis; nudior Leberide. Ita proverbialiter dicitur de vehementer tenuibus; Leberis enim serpentis exuvium significat. Night watchings make bodies lean, vigiliæ attenuant corpora."

From the last instance our readers will perceive that due attention is paid to proverbs, which contain the condensed force of the languages, as well as the collected wisdom of the people. The proverbs of the one tongue are translated by the corresponding proverbs of the other.

EXAMINATIONS FOR THE CLASSICAL TRIPOSES,

first instituted at Cambridge, January, 1824.

To be translated into GREEK PROSE.

My son, you are yet young: time will make an alteration in your opinions; and of many, which you now strongly maintain, you will hereafter advocate the very reverse: wait, therefore, till time has made you a judge of matters, so deep and so important in their nature. For that, which you now regard as nothing, is, in fact, the concern of the very highest moment; I mean, the direction of life to good or bad purposes, by corresponding investigations into the nature of the Gods. One thing, and that not trivial, I can at least venture, in all the confidence of truth, to assure you respecting them; the sentiments, which you now entertain, are not solitary, first originated by you or your friends; they are such as, at all times, have found advocates, more or less in number; but I speak the language of experience when I say, that not one of those, who in their youth had been led to think that there were no Gods, has found his old age consistent in opinion with that of his more juvenile

years.

To be translated into ENGLISH.

REM populi tractas? (Barbatum hæc crede Magistrum
Dicere, sorbitio tollit quem dira cicuta.)

Quo fretus? dic hoc, magni pupille Pericli.
Scilicet ingenium, et rerum prudentia velox
Ante pilos venit? dicenda, tacendaque calles!
Ergo, ubi commota fervet plebecula bile,
Fert animus calidæ fecisse silentia turbæ
Majestate manus; quid deinde loquere? Quirites,
Hoc, puto, non justum est; illud male; rectius illud.
Scis etenim justum gemina suspendere lance

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Ancipitis libræ ; rectum discernis, ubi inter
Curva subit, vel cum fallit pede regula varo :
Et potis es nigrum vitio præfigere Theta.
Quin tu igitur, summa nequicquam pelle decorus,
Ante diem blando caudam jactare popello
Desinis, Anticyras melior sorbere meracas ?
Quæ tibi summa boni est? Uncta vixisse patella
Semper, et assiduo curata cuticula sole.

Expecta: haud aliud respondeat hæc anus. I nunc.
Dinomaches ego sum; suffla: sum candidus. Esto,
Dum ne deterius sapiat pannucea Baucis,
Cum bene discincto cantaverit ocyma vernæ.
Ut nemo in sese tentat descendere! nemo!
Sed præcedenti spectatur mantica tergo.
Quæsieris: Nostin' Vectidi prædia? cujus?
Dives arat Curibus, quantum non milvus oberret.
Hunc! ait? hunc, Diis iratis, Genioque sinistro!
Qui, quandoque jugum pertusa ad compita figit,
Seriolæ veterem metuens deradere limum,
Ingemit, Hoc bene sit! tunicatum cum sale mordens
Cope; et, farrata pueris plaudentibus olla,
Pannosam fæcem morientis sorbet aceti.

20

30

I. Ver. 1. Magistrum.] What remuneration did the Sophists usually receive for their instructions? Did Socrates require any from his disciples? What was the accusation brought against him? Before what court was he tried? What time intervened between the representation of the Clouds and his death?

II. 3. Pupille.] Give an account of the life of the person here addressed, with the dates of the events you mention.

III. Theta, 12. Anticyras, 16. Mantica, 24.] Explain these allusions, and confirm your assertions by quotations.

IV. State the arguments used in the dialogue of Plato, of which this Satire is an imitation.

To be translated into ENGLISH.

ALTERA jam teritur bellis civilibus ætas;
Suis et ipsa Roma viribus ruit.

Quam neque finitimi valuerunt perdere Marsi,
Minacis aut Etrusca Porsenæ

manus,

Æmula nec virtus Capuæ, nec Spartacus acer,
Novisve rebus infidelis Allobrox;

Nec fera cærulea domuit Germania pube,
Parentibusve abominatus Hannibal;

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