proposes to read κειναί instead of κεῖναι. It is this proposed emendation which Mr. Cox unwittingly interprets as "the hands without the arms," and Mr. Grote translates "as the hands with nothing attached to them." The emendation is unlikely, especially if the correct reading be ékeîvaι and not Keivai, and it is unnecessary, for two good meanings can be assigned in harmony with Herodotean usage. The words may mean, "and there the hands," or "the hands of those persons." In the first part Mr. Cox treats of the prehistoric times, and refuses to recognize any element of real history in the traditions. The tales are all solar myths or etymological legends. He does not give us a picture of Homeric life. He regards the geography of Homer as mythical. He will not allow any discussion of where Hellas originally was. Yet he is not always consistent with himself. He speaks of Agamemnon and Mycena as if they had both really existed. He has an allusion to the Homeric agora as if it were an historical fact. In the treatment of these myths Mr. Cox shows great knowledge. He has made a study of those works in English which have thrown light on the early stages of Aryan civilization, such as Sir Henry Maine's 'Village Communities' and Mr. Tylor's Primitive Culture,' and he has applied this knowledge successfully to the elucidation of some questions in early Greek history. But here Mr. Cox is inclined to be as credulous as he is incredulous in dis cussing Herodotus. Several of his explanations are based exclusively on doubtful etymologies. We are afraid that the application of the same principles would dissipate very many events of history. For instance, most of the members of the late ministry might easily be resolved into solar myths. Bright, Lowe, and the Speaker Brand bear direct evidence of connexion with the sun. Argyle contains the root arg, so frequent in Greek and Latin, and the "Shiny One" is therefore appropriately assigned to India. Ayrton (Air-town) points at once to the upper regions. With a little ingenuity all the other names could be shown to have some connexion with the sun. Having pointed out these shortcomings, we may say Mr. Cox's "History" is remarkably well written. The book is interesting in the highest degree. The tone of it throughout is healthy and high. The reader will find many instructive allusions to other fields of historical inquiry; and he will be able to form a clear picture of the development of the Athenian and Spartan characters and politics, and of part of the work which the Greek nation performed in the history of the world. FROM THE CHINESE. Yu-pe-ya's Lute. A Chinese Tale, in English Verse. By Augusta Webster. (Macmillan & Co.) A The Jade Chaplet, in Twenty-Four Beads. Collection of Songs, Ballads, &c., from the Chinese. By George Carter Stent. (Trübner & Co.) 'YU-PE-YA'S LUTE' is the poetical version of a translation by T. Pavie of a tale from the wellknown collection of Chinese stories, entitled 'Kin koo ke kwan.' Like most of those with which it is associated, it combines, as Mrs. Webster says, the ultra-prosaic with the ultrapoetic style of narrative. It abounds with the most exalted ideas thrown often into the midst of the most minute description of the most ordinary concerns of every-day life. For instance, in one passage we find a most fanciful description of a sleepless night spent by the hero, in anticipation of a visit from an acquaintance with whom, through the influences of an air played on his lute, he had sworn eternal friendship; and in the next line we have an accurate description of how, when the day dawned, he washed himself and combed his hair and adjusted his clothes, in preparation for the arrival of his expected guest. The tale deals with a time before the Christian era, when China was divided into numerous states, when internecine wars were frequent, and when the despatch of embassies from one chieftain to another, either to declare war or to preserve peace, was of constant occurrence. In the volume before us, Yu-pe-ya is sent on a mission from the State of Tsin to Tsou, his native principality. And on his return journey, when floating down a river, "through the whole length of Tsou," he is moved to play an air on his lute. Scarcely have his fingers strayed over the notes when, -suddenly, a shiver as of pain Crept through the unwilling lute, and then, while still of answering sound, the few forced notes were sighs Unconsciously his fingers sought their will And a chord snapped. Instantly perceiving, from this untoward accident, that some superior musician was near, or that some evil was impending, he lands to search the neighbourhood, and finds, to his surprise, a woodman, named Tse-ky, whose knowledge of the lute and its attributes is as deep, if not deeper, than his own. A night spent in converse serves to knit these two souls together, and Yu-pe-ya takes leave of the woodman' in the morning, promising to return in a year's time. He keeps his word, but, instead of embracing his friend, he meets Tse-ky's father, who, bowed down with grief, tells him that his son is dead. The news comes on Yu-pe-ya like a thunderbolt, but, recovering himself, he visits the tomb of the departed musician, and, in a moment of despair, he raises his lute and dashes it against the mound: The gold and jade And carved and scented woods and gems inlaid On the merits of Mrs. Webster as a translator we have already dwelt at various times. But her present work is not a translation or even a paraphrase. It is merely a metrical adaptation of a fantastic tale, told in verse which is well suited to its subject: quaint, musical, but thoroughly artificial. Sometimes the grotesqueness of the names with which the story deals perils its pathos, as when we read that that long shriek rang From the sixth chord, the grief chord of Wen-Wang. Sometimes the artificial structure of the verse interferes with what is intended to be a pathetic effect, as when Yu-pe-ya gave a cry, Piercing as though torn forth by agony Of some great wrench by torture, and he sank, Quivering and white, upon a ploughed-up bank, With tightening fingers clutching in the moulds, And gasped for tears that came not. Sometimes the ingenuity of the artist is more to be admired than the perfection of the image, as when we hear that— grown white and cold, Tired stars died singly round the moon's thin ghost. But these peculiarities are in keeping with the artificial nature of the story which the writer has undertaken to render musical, and may be considered to resemble the beautyspots on the cheek of a perfumed and powdered shepherdess of the eighteenth century. There are many readers of poetry to whom simplicity has become tedious, and a natural form of expression appears bald and unprofit able. But it is not to them alone that 'Yupe-ya's Lute' may be recommended, for every one may fairly be satisfied with the neatness of its versification and the music of the echoes with which it rings. Mr. Stent is a most diligent translator of Chinese folk-lore. A volume of Chinese lyrics and another of Chinese legends have already appeared from his pen, and in 'The Jade Chaplet' he gives us a further collection of twentyfour songs and ballads. Some of these are on subjects well known to those acquainted with the Europeanized versions of Chinese popular tales which have appeared from time to time in the literature of the West. Others, again, such as those Mr. Stent took down from the mouths of street ballad singers, will be new to all. Let him, by all means, continue his meritorious "attempt to bring the ideas and feelings of a distant and strange race before the public"; but let him also at once discard the idea that the gods have made him poetical. Anything more horrible than his versification it is difficult to imagine. As long as he trans- In the palace at Pekin an old ash tree stands; And of his metrical facetiousness the following may be taken as an illustration :— Chuang still foxed-for he 'd no intention to die- In front of the tablet he piously stept, This awkwardish posture for some time he kept, While bumping his head on the floor. It is as sad to witness these antics on the part of a gentleman and a scholar, as to see a influence of an unwonted stimulant. Let us respectable citizen cutting capers under the entreat Mr. Stent at once and for ever to fling from off his limbs the tawdry trappings which he has mistaken for seemly singing-robes. ST. ALBANS. Chronica Monasterii S. Albani. Registra Quorundam Abbatum Monasterii S. Albani qui Seculo XIVmo. floruere. Vol. II. Registra Johannis Whethamstede, Willelmi Albon, et Willelmi Walingforde, Abbatum Monasterii Sancti Albani. Cum Appendice, continente quasdam Epistolas, a Johanne Whethamstede conscriptas. Edited by H. T. Riley, M.A. (Longmans & Co.) IN the days which are considered as the most flourishing period of the Abbey of St. Albans, the germs of its decadence were existing and active. At a very early period, as we learn from Mr. Riley's former volume, the abbots grew haughty and fell into evil ways. There was no selfdenial; there was more of banqueting than of fasting; and crowds of ladies glittered and prattled at the table and in the hall. In the present volume there are no such stirring incidents, though events illustrating the violent temper of the times are not wanting. In 1462 one Skelton was appointed to the vicarage of Saret, Roche, the former vicar, and several accomplices, having murdered a certain Richard Gloucester, and buried him in a field, on a Sunday! The old vicar had fled. Later, Prior of Bynham gave trouble by preaching in villages and market-places in a way offensive to the orthodox. The abbot asked of the King to seize this fifteenth century free-thinker, not because he wished to do him any harm, but that the proper medicine might be administered to him for his serious complaint-" Ut tantus morbus suscipiat medicinam." There was a sharp look-out being kept for "heretics" at this time, when Whethamstede died, 1465, without apparently causing much grief to the community or to the prior. The latter was elected to the vacant office. Albon's tenure of office was not greatly troubled. There is, indeed, record of blood being shed in a quarrel in the church at Watford, "per duos negligenter clericos parochiales." To wipe off the consequent pollution, Abbot Albon spent two days at Watford, riding over thither with twenty-four horses, as many servants, and with eight of his brethren. The little town had the honour to pay for all! But the church was made holy again! In 1476, "in crepusculo" of a July day, Albon died. in the clock-chamber; and nothing more is said of him, but that he was buried the day after. Walingforde, his successor, promoted Newlond the Kitchener to the dignity of Prior, and he made Nicholas Bostone, the Cellarer, Archdeacon. This Nicholas subsequently became Prior of Tynemouth, a position of great dignity. The ex-cellarer made his journey from London to Tynemouth leisurely. He seems to have been six weeks on the road; and the register says that he spent much money on his journey which might have been put to more useful purpose. This was in 1478; and two years later, Nicholas not only was no longer Prior of Tynemouth, but the Abbot of St. Albans writes to the new Prior to lay hands on and detain this wayward monk, charged as he is with "detestable excesses." Nicholas, however, could move quickly enough when it was necessary, and he was soon even beyond reach of the Bishop of Durham, who was earnestly entreated to secure him. It is not easy to make out the offences committed by Bostone. He is accused of roaming about from post to pillar, market-town to markettown, "vagabundo similis et apostatæ,"-and, possibly, the last word indicates that Nicholas preached in the highways what he had not been taught in the cloisters. But at that time a man was called "apostate" for very small offences. Nicholas, at the worst, had only resented what he considered unfair usage. He was ultimately restored to his priory, solaced with an annuity, pronounced to be a very good fellow, and he had the satisfaction of finding a friend in Richard the Third, who undertook, if the affair was amicably settled, to give 100l. towards the building of a water-mill at St. Albans ! Among the irregular incidents connected with the Abbey is to be reckoned the traffic in patronage, religious and secular. Among the personages to whom "grants of presentation " were made, .e., right of nominating to benefices at the disposal of the Abbey, we find "malmsey Clarence," his brother, Richard of Gloucester, and their mother, Cicely, Duchess of York. Politics influenced the lay appointments. In In 1479, the office of Seneschal, or Steward, "by reason of the singular love which William, Lord Hastings, hath heretofore been to us and our church, and which, we trust, in future he will bear," was conferred by Abbot Walingforde on the above nobleman with all its emoluments. It appears to have been partly held by one Forster, with Hastings; but at the death of this unlucky lord, Forster, with a quick sense of the new condition of things, especially as he happened to be in prison, precipitately handed over his share in the office, in hopes of thereby purchasing his freedom. The Abbey authorities, quite as sagacious as Forster, "forthwith transferred the office, with all due obsequiousness, to William Catesby, Esquire of the body to King Richard." Catesby obtained many Catesby obtained many other appointments, offices, and also estates; but he and all other well-rewarded favourites of King Richard ultimately lost all they had gained. If any one would see how the friends of Richard were remorselessly stripped of all they possessed by Henry the Seventh, he has only to read the 'Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry the Seventh, from Original Documents preserved in the Public Record Office,' edited by the Rev. W. Campbell. To many persons the notices of the manumissions of native-born bondsmen of the Abbot, and their children, "born or to be born," will prove of interest. But the most novel portion of this volume is to be found in the Appendix, in the very curious details from which we obtain a complete knowledge of the organization of an English Grammar School, a foundation of the period of Edward the Second. That of St. Albans was famous in its day. It was partly supported by funds from the local almonry; and in some degree it was a charitable institution. John of Langley was, if not its founder, at least its great benefactor. He provided funds, gave a house for the school, and, rewarding the master for teaching poor scholars, left him to take fees from sons of richer parents, according to the old custom." By subsequent statutes, the master was bound to weaken, check, destroy, and root out all adulterine schools" within the Abbot's jurisdiction. The rules of this Grammar School are drawn up in obscure and ungrammatical Latin, though Priscian seems to have been the guide for the scholars in his De Arte Grammatica.' What would now be called "gentlemanly conduct" is prescribed to the students. The seat of the usher is near the door, according to his duty as "Huissier "regulating ingress and egress. But there are more important personages, namely, the "bacularii.” The degree of "bacularius" could be gained, not merely in a University, but in the school of St. Albans itself. The master of the school gave to the candidate a theme upon which he composed verses, a discourse, and "a rhythm" thereon; and then the theme was publicly dis cussed in the schools. The master at St. Albans could, however, remit this discussion. At St. Albans the "bacularius" punished all offenders when offence justified punishment. In one case, for assaulting the head master, the offender was to receive "salutary discipline" in school, in other words, a sound beating, "from all the bacularii" there. Throughout the notices of the Grammar School, the "bacularii" are mentioned as holding rank next to the master in the school. After referring to the duties of these officials as teachers who brought that rank with them from the University, or who had had it conferred on them, after due examination by the school authorities, Mr. Riley states that the meaning of the word is not far to seek, in spite of all that has been said and written as to the primary meaning of the University degree of "Bachelor." On this matter, "sua narret Ulysses," Mr. Riley may best speak for himself : "The Bacularii of St. Albans, whether University men or of their own domestic growth, were to assist the head master, and, under his guidance, to inflict 'salutary discipline'-flogging-when needed. The principal instructors in the Universities, from their standing, were the Masters of Arts, the younger among whom were officially known as 'ruling in the schools,'-otherwise, chief teachers in the University, and so continued in name for centuries after the duties had ceased to be obligatory upon them. The Bacularii, as we have seen the case at St. Albans, would also be University teachers in aid, and under the guidance, of the chief teachers, the younger Masters of Arts. The origin of their title (in spite of all that has been said and sity degree of 'Bachelor') seems hardly far to seek. written as to the primary meaning of the Univer The word throughout these statutes is Bacularius'; and we have seen that the administration of discipline or 'flagellation' was a recognized duty of the Bacularius, when acting as a junior teacher in the school. His duty in the University was probably of a similar character; in either case he would use a baculus,' or stick. The Masters of Arts, while 'ruling in the schools,' would feel the personal chastisement of their young pupils irksome, and a source of trouble and annoyance; but it was a rule among the ecclesiastics that corporal chastisement was never to be inflicted by an inferior, but always by an equal, if not a superior in rank. What is more likely than that they should substitute an order among the most advanced scholars denoting them to be higher in rank than others, probationary masters in fact, or far advanced towards that degree; and throw upon them the burden not only of teaching, but of punishing also, under their own supervision? The title of Dominus, or 'Sir,' would be appropriated, as tinguish him in the mode of addressing him from a mark of honour, to the young student, to dis the general class of students, he himself continuing to be in the meantime (as is still the case in our Universities to this day) in statu pupillari, pupil in rank. The Public School monitors of more recent date occupy exactly the same position, there can be little doubt, as that held by the 'Bacularii' in St. Albans School. And the original statutes of the ancient school of William of Wykeham (of which we have been hearing so much of late in reference to monitorial powers of chastisement), only eighty years later in date than those of St. Albans, now under notice, were in no less degree founded, in all probability, upon the system of teaching and discipline still prevalent in the English Universities in his day." We may aptly add to Mr. Riley's interpretation that of Mr. Stubbs (Select Charters and other Illustrations of English Constitutional History, from the Earliest Times to the Reign of Edward the First,' p. 514), who defines "bacheleria" as meaning "the body of persons aspiring to knighthood." Mr. Stubbs finds the word sometimes loosely used for "the gentry of England; the landed interest beneath the rank of barons." Then, referring to the low Latin term "baccalarius," Mr. Stubbs says that it originally signified the owner of a Baccalaria, or grazing farm, from bacca vacca, a cow. In the Appendices there are further illustrations of the life of the olden time. Some of the fly-leaves of one of the manuscripts from which the text is taken, are covered with scribblings in Latin and English, by various hands, of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Here is a specimen of one of the Latin bits of humour, written probably by an idler who had seen a good deal of the world, and knew as much of its ways:— Vocativos oculos, ablativos loculos, amant mulieres, Si dativus fueris, quandocunque veneris, genetivus eris. An English entry is in much better style: A God and yet a man! Tablets, of a legend recording an account of a Deluge, apparently the same as that given in the early chapters of Genesis; and he also points out, by a comparison of the records on these terra-cotta tablets with those of Classical Antiquity, the value of this discovery, in that it is perfectly independent of any memorials preserved in the Greek translations of Berosus. This paper is followed by one scarcely less interesting, which he entitles 'Un Véda Chaldéen,' being a complete sketch of all we now know of the primeval story of the "Accadians," a very ancient race in S.W. Asia, to whom the late Dr. Hincks was the first to call attention. In this essay, M. Lenormant draws attention to the remarkable linguistic and literary history attaching to the terra-cotta tablets from Nineveh, many of which are now clearly shown to be records of a civilization and literature long antecedent to that of the Semitic rulers or population of Mesopotamia, and proves that these remains, unfortunately but too fragmentary, deserve the title of the Atharva-Veda of the Western Orientals. Many of these fragments he shows refer to a deity called Nouah (i. e. Noah), the divine spirit of the world, and at the same time the especial guardian of the waters. M. Lenormant adds an essay, which he terms 'Un Patriote Babylonien,' in which he traces the history of the king "Merodach-baladan," whom he considers, and fairly too, to have There are some of pious Herbert's lines that been one of the most prominent characters in seem echoes of such early hymns. PRIMITIVE CIVILIZATION. Les Premières Civilisations. Par F. Lenormant. (Paris, Maisonneuve & Co.) Two volumes have recently appeared in which M. François Lenormant republishes, with many additions, bringing them down to the current knowledge of the day, a series of papers or essays published by him in various journals during the last five or six years. As each of these contains matter of the highest moment at the present time, we have much pleasure in laying before our readers a brief analysis of their contents, premising that their chief value is that they form a résumé, generally conceived and stated in the clearest possible language, of discoveries and researches not always readily accessible, as they were originally made public in different periodicals. In his first volume, M. Lenormant discusses what he calls "L'homme fossile," that is, the researches made in the last few years on Man, his possible or probable origin, and the date when he first appeared on earth, together with papers 'On the Discovery of Metals, and their Introduction into the West,' and 'On the Egyptian Antiquities exhibited at the "Exposition Universelle" of 1867,' besides a very curious article 'On Domestic Animals,' chiefly in reference to those recorded on Egyptian monuments, but, by no means necessarily restricted to that country. M. Lenormant adds some curious notices of what he calls an ancient Egyptian romance, preserved in the celebrated" Papyrus d'Orbiney," now one of the treasures of the Department of Oriental Antiquities in the British Museum. the eighth century B.C. In this memoir, he shows how this monarch struggled with indefatigable energy, pro aris et focis, against the Assyrians, only surrendering with his own life, what had been a life-long struggle. Need we add, that nearly all this remarkable history is due to the decipherment, now beyond all doubt, of the monuments of ancient Assyria? M. Lenormant's second volume concludes with a paper, valuable for its compactness and the amount of research condensed into a few pages, and giving the legend of Cadmus and the Phoenician colonies or settlements in Greece. Both these volumes are replete with very various erudition, and are the more valuable as the references and foot-notes are honestly given and minutely correct. SCHOOL-BOOKS. MESSRS. BEMROSE & SONS have sent us Parnell's Hermit, with Notes, Paraphrase, and Appendix, by the Rev. T. Kirk; and at the same time we have received from Messrs. Longmans an edition of the same poem, with Notes by Mr. J. B. Allen. The doubt, due to the fact that Parnell's poem of the appearance of these two small volumes is, no 'Hermit' has been chosen as a subject for the Oxford Local Examinations in 1874. The annotators seem to have adopted rather different ways of treating of their subject, which enables us to distinguish between them without instituting a comparison. Mr. Kirk's book contains a paraphrase of a considerable part of the poem, and of a few passages even a double paraphrase. His notes are well selected and scholarly, and show care and attention. The chief improvements that we could suggest, are that he should do more than give such vague references as "Translators of Old Testament" and " Milton," as at p. 6. In the first case, he should have added "Esther viii. 14," and in the second case, "Sonnet on his Blindness." In his second volume, M. Lenormant land's 'Verbal Index to Milton,' generally so corIt is noteworthy that, in the latter instance, Clevedeals fully with the details of the late dis-rect, is at fault; he omits the reference to "Son. covery by Mr. George Smith on the Assyrian xiv. 13," under the word post. All inexact refer more ences, such as one commonly finds in the English dictionaries, Richardson's excepted, are annoying than useful; and it is really too bad of Mr. Kirk, on p. 11, to quote five passages running, at full length, illustrative of the word guise, without even mentioning the author's name in any case! Fortunately, four of them are in Richardson, under guise, and so can be recovered; and the fifth is in Richardson too, only under the heading enterprise. We notice this particularly, because, but for this, Mr. Kirk's book would be quite good enough for grown-up readers as well as boys. Mr. Kirk adds a brief life of Parnell, and a few well-selected passages from other of his poems. Mr. Allen's book is chiefly concerned with the analysis of sentences, and contains an Introduction, with short rules for such analysis. This is followed by a Memoir of Parnell, and a brief paraphrase of the whole poem. Explanatory notes are appended. want, or it would not be here. If so, we think the We suppose the analysis is what the examiners examiners are hardly well advised. The time that will have to be spent in realizing the difference between an "appositional complement" and "a dative complement" might be far better and more pleasantly spent in obtaining a few elementary ideas on the subject of early English, and the difference between High and Low German. We observe, by the way, that, with respect to the word posting, Mr. Allen gives the same vague reference to Milton as Mr. Kirk does, and takes equal care to avoid citing the reference exactly. It is high time that English should be treated after a more scholarly, and less slipshod, fashion. The references to Anglo-Saxon are very few and Kirk derives it from Anglo-Saxon swan, which very feeble. Thus, with respect to swain, Mr. means a swan, instead of from swán; and Mr. Allen says, "Swains; Anglo-Saxon swan (why not swán ?), rustics, country-people"; which is excellently calculated to give the impression that swún means rustics, and is a plural. We may add, too, that a reference, at least, to Warton's description of Chapter lxxx. of the 'Gesta Romanorum' might very well have found a place in these books. See Warton's Hist. of Eng. Poetry,' ed. Hazlitt, i. 256. WE cannot say much in praise of Mr. E. Fowle's Short and Easy Greek Book, published by Messrs. Longmans & Co. It is folly to ignore, even in the most elementary book, the results of modern philologists. WE are glad to see that the abridgment of Prof. Conington's edition of Virgil is finished. The work of curtailment has been performed by Mr. H. Nettleship and Dr. W. Wagner. The book is published by Messrs. Whittaker & Co., and forms part of the "Grammar School Classics. OUR LIBRARY TABLE. MR. H. A. MEREWETHER, Q.C., publishes, through Messrs. Macmillan & Co., a bright little volume of travels called By Sea and by Land. Mr. Merewether flippantly but funnily describes the world; but his spelling of native names, and even of the names of well-known European persons and towns, is shameful. See, for instance, "Gold ing Smith" for Goldwin Smith! MESSRS. H. S. KING & Co. have reprinted Sara Coleridge's charming Phantasmion, written in th days before Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen, when thR art of writing fairy tales had not been lost. I ought to be popular, if good English, good taste and poetical feeling are still appreciated. MR. CAMERON, of Edinburgh, sends us what appears to be a useful book of reference, a School Board Directory, compiled by the clerk of the Edinburgh School Board, Mr. Mackinnon. It would have been as well to have mentioned on the title-page that the scope of the volume is confined to Scotland. To a new edition, the twenty-second, of the late Dean Ramsay's popular Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character, a memoir of the author has been prefixed. The writer is Mr. Cosmo Innes. He has performed the task fairly well; but some of the letters of recent date ought hardly to have been printed in full. The book is published by Messrs. Edmonston & Douglas. Jottings for Early History of the Levinge Family, by Sir R. Levinge, Bart. (Dublin, Brown & Nolan), is a mereregister of persons bearing the name Levinge, Leofwin, Leuuinus, or some similar designation, gathered from the whole field of English history, without any proof or even trace of genealogical relationship to the ancient family of Levinge, now represented by the author. We are, therefore, unable to see how the "jottings" can have any useful bearing upon the "history." THE new volume of the Annual Register seems nicely done. The narrative is plain and sensible. Messrs. Rivington are, as usual, the publishers. NOTHING more exquisitely perfect in style has issued from the press in France of late years than Paris et Versailles il y a Cent Ans, by M. Jules Janin. It is a batch of little sketches of court life under the old régime, and will repay the reader. M. Janin's volume is sold in London by Messrs. Dulau & Co. We have received Col. Wirgman's translation of Von Hellwald's work on Central Asia, published by Messrs. H. S. King & Co. The intention of the author, who we believe has not visited Central Asia, appears to have been to compile into a readable form all the information which could be got out of books and newspapers; we miss, therefore, the living interest, without which such a book is but a mass of more or less dry statistics, and the estimates of the characters of various personages who appear upon the scene are frequently quite erroneous. We may instance the paragraph which attributes the victory of Irdjaz to General Romanovski. The worst fault of the book is a somewhat reckless mode of using doubtful information without proper sifting, as may be seen in page 270, where a letter in the Daily News is quoted in extenso as good authority on the state of public opinion in England, Count Shuvalof being at the same time referred to as "Minister of Police." The translation seems to be accurate, but it is a pity that the translator has not taken the trouble to make his map a little more than a repetition of worthless old ones. We have on our table A Record of Parliamentary Elections, by G. F. Chambers (Stanford), -The Logic of Hegel, translated by W. Wallace, M.A. (Macmillan), Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Part I. 'The Constants of Nature,' by F. W. Clarke (Washington, Smithsonian Institution), A Treatise on the Nature of Man, by T. B. Woodward (Hodder & Stoughton),-Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, Norwich Meeting, 1873, edited by C. W. Ryalls, LL.B. LL.D. (Longmans), The First Book of the Epistles of Horace, edited by T. Nash, M.A. (Longmans),-Liber Psalmorum Hebraicus atque Latinus, ab Hieronymo ex Hebræo Conversus, edited by C. de Tischendorf, S. Baer, and F. Delitzsch (Leipzig, Brockhaus),-A Key to the Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Army, by Capt. W. D. Malton (Clowes),-TenMinute Talks on all Sorts of Topics, by E. Burritt (Low), The Man in the Iron Mask, a Poetical Romance by G. G. M'Crae (Melbourne, Robertson), -The Gingerbread Maiden, and other Stories, by L. Friswell (Low),-Angela, and other Poems, by G. Lamer (Skeet),-Supernatural Religion, 2 vols. (Longmans), Christianity in Great Britain (Hodder & Stoughton),-Tracts, Theological and Ecclesiastical, by J. H. Newman, D.D. (Pickering), -Present-Day Papers: 'Catholic Thoughts on the Bible and Theology,' by F. Myers, M.A. (Isbister), Whence and What is the Church? by a Free Church Layman (Glasgow, Maclehose), - Our Treasure of Light, by G. E. Jelf, M.A. (Mozley),— and Il Re Prega, by F. Petruccelli Della Gattini (Milan, Treves). Among New Editions we have History of the Modern Styles of Architecture, by J. Fergusson (Murray),-The Elements of the Theory of Music, by R. Sutton (Cocks),-and Traditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry, by A. Cunningham (Kerslake). Also the following Pamphlets: An Analysis of the Transactions of the Bank of England for the Years 1844-72, by R. H. I. Palgrave (Stanford),-The War Office and the Volunteer Force, by an Adjutant,-The Rules of Evidence as Applicable to the Credibility of History, by W. Forsyth, Q.C. LL.D. M.P.,(Hardwicke),-Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, Part 6 (Moxon),-Christopher Marlowe's Faustus, edited by Dr. A. Riedl (Berlin, Staude),-Answer to the Grand Worthy Chief Templar's Speech at Devonport, by N. B. Downing (Penzance, Cornish Telegraph' Office),-Disestablishment, What would come of it? by the Rev. J. C. Ryle, M.A. (Hunt), A Friendly Reply to the Seventh of Dr. Harrison's Tracts on the Eucharistic Doctrine of Romanists and Ritualists, by the Rev. G. A. Jacob, D.D. (Isbister),-Bishop Reinkens' Speeches on Christian Union and Old Catholic Prospects, translated and edited by the Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, M.A. (Rivingtons), The Church at Peace with the World, a Sermon, suggested by the Death of D. F. Strauss, by E. M. Geldart, M.A. (Williams & Norgate),Deutsche Zeit- und Streit- Fragen, edited by Fr. v. Holtzendorff and W. Oncken, Parts 32 to 34 (Williams & Norgate), and Sammlung gemeinverständlicher wissenschaftlicher Vorträge, edited by R. Virchow and Fr. v. Holtzendorff, Parts 191 to 194 (Williams & Norgate). LIST OF NEW BOOKS. Theology. Christlieb's (T.) Modern Doubt and Christian Belief, 10/6 cl. Fraser's (D.) Inspiration of the Bible, 12mo. 2/6 cl. Gibson's (Rev. C. B.) Philosophy, Science, and Revelation, 7/6 Kuenen's (Dr. A.) Religion of Israel, Vol. 1, 8vo. 10/6 cl. Lange's (J. P.) Commentary on Old Testament, Minor Prophets, royal 8vo. 21/ cl. Smith's (R. P.) Walk in the Light, cheap edit. 12mo. 1/ swd. Whence and What is the Church? by a Free Church Layman, 4/6 Philosophy. Abercrombie's (J.) Culture and Discipline of the Mind, 3/6 cl. Kant's Critical Philosophy, by J. P. Mahaffy, Vol. 1, 8vo. 12/ Fine Art. Aldis's (E.) Carvings and Scriptures of Worcester Cathedral, 42, Poetry. Colman's (J. F.) Knightly Heart, and other Poems, 10/6 cl. Binney's (Rev. T.) Memorials, edit. by Rev. J. Stoughton, 3/6 Horace's Odes in a Metrical Paraphrase, by R. M. Hovenden, Science. First Lessons in Astronomy, 8th edit. 18mo. 1/ swd. General Literature. Saigey's (E.) Unity of Natural Phenomena, cr. 8vo. 6/6 cl. Ramsay's Reminiscences of Scottish Life, &c., new edit. fcap. 6/ Roe's (Rev. E. P) What Can She Do? a Novel, cr. 8vo. 10/6 cl. Scramble of New Lights, 8vo. 5/ cl. Travers's (J.) Pure Benevolence, cr. 8vo. 5/ cl. Verne's (J.) Five Weeks in a Balloon, 2nd edit. cr. 8vo. 7/6 cl. Waverley Novels, Pocket Edit., 'Quentin Durward,' 12mo. 1/6 LOVE'S GLEANING-TIDE. DRAW not away thy hands, my love, The Autumn shall not shame us. Or death, and who shall blame us? The ear a nameless blending. The root is dead and gone, my love, The stem's a rod our truth to prove ; The ear is stored for nought to move Till heaven and earth have ending. WILLIAM MORRIS. He THE DICE OF TOSCANELLA. MR. ISAAC TAYLOR in his 'Etruscan Researches' has called my attention pointedly to the words inscribed on two dice discovered, by the brothers Campanari, some years ago at Toscanella. terms them "as invaluable "-in the absence of any bilingual inscription worthy of the name-"as the Rosetta Stone was to Champollion and Young," and manifestly the key to the great Etruscan secret," his proposition being that these words are, like One, Two, Three, &c., simple numerals; that they are interpretable as such by (what are called) the Turanian languages, in particular, by the Ugric family of those languages; and, consequently, that the view supported in my 'Etruscan Inscriptions' published last year, viz., that Etruscan was a Japhetan, Aryan, and Teutonic_speech, 66 cannot be maintained for an instant." I should innumerable rival theories to the verdict of time; have preferred to leave the decision between the but I should be a recreant knight were I to decline to take up the gauntlet thus chivalrously thrown down, and I can think of no champ-clos more worthy of such a combat than the columns of the Athenæum, should you be willing to grant me space for answering the challenge. My proposition is that, although occupying the place of, and perhaps echoing the current words for numerals, the words inscribed on the dice in question are (with the exception of the two last on each die) not numerals, but independent words forming a connected sentence expressing an adjuration or prayer; and that those words are (as asserted generally of the Etruscan language) Japhetan, Aryan, and Teutonic. The Dice of Toscanella' were described by Dr. Emilio Braun in the Bullettino of the Archæological Institute of Rome in 1848 (p. 60). They are inscribed on the six faces of each die as fol written KS, KSH, or SCH :-THU:-ZAL :-HỤT : lows:-MAX,-in which the final letter may be KI:-and SA. Compared with other ancient dice numbered in the usual manner, I., II., III., &c., these inscribed words were found to correspond exactly, MAX with I., THU with II., ZAL with III., and so on. (Ibid., p. 74.) It must be presumed, therefore, that we have the words-whatever may be their signification-in their proper sequence as above enumerated; and Mr. Ellis, in his work on 'Numerals as Signs of Primeval Unity,' ranks them accordingly. Mr. Taylor reads some of them in a different order, THU as V., HUT as VI., Ki as II., and SA as IV., in accordance with his theory of their Turanian origin; but he agrees with Braun and others in understanding MAX &s answering to the ace, or I.; and this is the more important, as MAX is in every sense the leading word in the sentence. The word for die, and for the dice generally'tessera' in Latin-is kúẞos in Greek; but kúßos also specially denotes the μονας, οἴνη, ‘Unio, or ace, which, however, is more usually designated the Kov, Canis,' or 'Canicula.' The ace, or monad, being the worst throw of all, is currently qualified as the "damnosa Canicula" and “damnati Canes" by the poets,-the 'dog-luck' of our modern slang-speech. I have to premise that the dice were in ancient times considered prophetic-ministers (so to speak) of the divine will. Hence the deeper meaning of the words of Eteocles in the drama — ἔργον δ' ἐν κύβοις "Αρης κρινεί, and of the " Jacta alea est " attributed to Julius Cæsar. The issue of the throw did not depend on mere chance, but, as in the case of other sortes, on the guiding hand of God. Ejaculations or prayers to particular deities for a happy or fortunate throw were uttered when the dice were cast from the hand; and this usage, originally practised in devotional appeal, and still indeed observed in relation to the selection of numbers for the lottery in Italy, passed down the stream of tradition, along with the degeneration of manners, to the current gambling speech of later times. But the original and reverent belief survived even in the palmiest days of Athens; the dice were called emphatically Ads Kúẞo, or the 'Dice of Zeus'; and the popular faith in the provi dential direction of the throw is expressed in the Tpeîs Kúẞot-'All or nothing!' and by the proverb, versified (it is said) by Sophocles, Αἰεὶ γὰρ εὖ πίπτουσιν οἱ Διὸς κύβοι —that is, 'The Dice of Zeus always fall well.' We shall find, I think, that the inscription on these dice of Toscanella expresses this proverbial dictum almost in corresponding words, but, mutatis mutandis, in the form (as stated) of a prayer. I read the inscription as follows: I. MAX, otherwise MAKS, MAKSH, or MASCH.This signifies both Die, 'Canicula,' and Ace; but is used here in the general sense of 'Dice.' 1. As Die, or Dice, it corresponds with the Vedic-Sanscrit aksha (with which compare the Sanscrit prāsaka, pasaka, and pas'a, and also aksha, the eye, and the German augen, points), and with the German pasch, paschen, applied both to dice and to the raffle. The abrasion of the m=p in aksha is parallel to that in the Greek "Apms as compared with the Latin Mars' and Sanscrit 'Purusha,' or in the Welsh ap as compared with the older map; the equivalent of the Gaelic mac. 2. As 'Canis,' 'Canicula,' MAX is an abraded form of an ancient word correspondent with σráka, the Median word for a 'canicula,' or bitch, according to Herodotus. The word bitch stands on the same etymologic stage with ΜΑχ. Σπάκα, ‘Dog, κύων, all proceed from a common root. The association of the dog with the conception of the 'Unio,' or ace, is accounted for by the star Canicula, or Sirius, being associated with Mercury or Hermes, who was the special god and patron of dice, and whose name Hermes, traced to its ultimate root, signifies First.' 3. As the ace (asso, ass, dess), MAX is simply σnáкa with the two initial letters abraded. MAX, as stated, answers here to Kúßo, in the plural number-the Dice as in Διὸς κύβοι. II. THU.-This word, which corresponds with the number II. on the die, may possibly be the Etruscan form of the Pelasgic Ocou, but more probably corresponds with Atos in the conjunctive Διὸς κύβοι; and MAX THU may thus be rendered 'Dice of Zeus,' or of God. The god Tŷ, Tys, or Tyr, of Scandinavia, is the equivalent of Mars or "Apns in Valhalla; while the Assyrian Tir, who has points of relationship with Tyr, and whose symbol is the same, is connected with the planet Mercury. Tys may, perhaps, answer to the Aîs, who gives a genitive to Zeus. III. ZAL, answering to number III. on the dice, is the Teutonic zahl, number, whence zählen, to tell or number. This word is constantly found in Etruscan. The line of Martial (lib. xiv. 17, 1) may be cited here: Hic mihi bisseno numeratur tessera puncto. IV. HUT, answering to the number IV., corresponds with the Latin cad-ere, the Greek TET-, TEO-(the root of TinT and Teσσoì, draughts), and the Sanscrit pat (as in aksha-pata, cast of the dice), all signifying to fall; our English fall itself being from the same root. That root is represented by skhal, c'hala, and c'had (whence cheat, scato, and scelus) in Sanscrit, and by xtb (whence stumb-le) in Egyptian. From cad- proceeds casus,' chance, whence the "itur ad casum tabulæ," to the gaming-table,' of Juvenal. V. KI, occupying the place of number V., is, I think, zwi, zwei, two, the zw alternating with k, but used rather in the sense of 'bi-,' di-, 'bis,' dìs, for sßis, dvis, dvis, twice. Lastly, VI. SA, answering to VI., is the numeral 'sex, sechs, in Italian sei, or, in the language of the game, the 'Senio,' or sice. KI SA thus expresses the "bisseno puncto," or highest throw of the two dice, viz., twice six, or two sices, spoken of, as above, in the doubly illustrative line of Martial. The six words, in fine, thus form the sentence 'May the Dice of Zeus fall in number,' or, 'May the number of the Dice of Zeus fall-twice sixes,' or twelve; that is to say, e, or prosperously, in terms of the proverb, to the utmost extent of possibility. The aspiration thus defined shows that only two dice were used in the particular instance; the game was played originally with three, as shown by the phrase of desperation, "H 7pìs ër fragmentary line of Euripides, βέβληκα ̓Αχιλλεὺς δύο κύβω καὶ τέτταρα· doubtless to the match between that hero and -'Achilles threw two aces and a four,'-alluding ancient vases, although not (I believe) otherwise Ajax, which is not unfrequently depicted on recorded. The words of the prayer as thus interpreted, especially the first, second, fourth, and fifth, seem (as I have suggested) to have been adapted so as to echo the current names of numerals in Japhetan, if not Teutonic, speech; and I suspect that they were as such little less familiar on the dice than the numerals themselves. Χ .. HUT The extremely limited space to which each word in the inscription is confined-the longest not exceeding three letters-may sufficiently account the y in MAX may involve a plural); but, notwithfor the absence of grammatical formations (unless the inscription in question, taken in juxtaposition standing this drawback, I cannot but think that with the proverbial line of Sophocles in particular, and with that cited from Martial, offers a near approximation to that grand desideratum, a bonafide bilingual Etruscan inscription. Every important word in the two lines of Sophocles and Martial is represented either literally or by implication in the inscription as above interpreted. The inтоvσ oi Aios Kúßol, compared with MAX THU... form a remarkable sequence in this respect. The verb "numeratur" supplies the equivalent of ZAL. The " tessera" is the MAX, or Kúẞos. The aleì is merged (as it were) through the conversion of the dogmatic or theoretic proposition into a practical prayer; and the e, which generalises the dogma, is specialised in the "bisseno... puncto," represented by KI SA, as the highest throw by which the prayer could be answered. The actual number of the dice as discovered, two not three, is in conformity with the aspiration "bisseno" thus given voice to; and the fact that the inscriptions are actually on dice, and that the passages cited relate to dice, bring the words in question, Greek, Latin, and Etruscan, into positive approximation. inscription, the Dice of Toscanella thus afford very In this sense, as virtually (at least) a bilingual valuable evidence. I had overlooked them, as I also neglected many of the minor inscriptions in the great collection of Fabretti, on the principle, first, that the stress in probation ought to be laid involving & multitude of words which must all be on the longer and more important inscriptions as shown to reveal a connected meaning, and one equivalent to the importance and publicity of the respective monuments; and, secondly, that it was on the identity which I had found (as I believed) to exist between compound words and sequences of phrase, more especially of technical and legal phraseology, in Etruscan and German, that the most satisfactory mode of proving that Etruscan was merely (archaic) German under another national name was to be found. It is even conceding too much to speak of another national name,'- -we are, in fact, misled by the use of the title Etruscan in lieu of Tyrrhenian; for, as 'Tyrrheni,' the Etruscans are, as I have shown, in name and in race, congeners with the Tervingi or Visi-Goths, the Thuringi of Central Germany, and the Tyrki of Scandinavia. а CRAWFORD AND BALCARRES. LE SANCTUAIRE ET LES INSCRIPTIONS DE ВАІТОСЕСЕ. Jérusalem, 1874. Je viens de recevoir à Jérusalem le Statement, No. 2 de la Palestine Exploration Society américaine, et de lire avec un grand intérêt les divers articles qui y sont contenus. Mon attention s'est particulièrement portée sur la notice consacrée par le Rév. Samuel Jessup aux ruines et aux inscriptions vues par lui à Husn Suleymân, au cœur de la montagne des Ansariyés ou Nosayris. A la page 33, il donne la copie, très-partielle, d'une inscription grecque de dix-sept lignes, accompagnée d'une inscription latine de quatorze: la première est considérée comme indéchiffrable; la seconde, à peu près exactement copiée, est traduite d'une façon assez peu satisfaisante. beaucoup souffert depuis quelques années, car elle Il faut que la première de ces inscriptions ait était encore fort lisible lorsqu'elles a été vue par les voyageurs qui l'ont publiée et d'après qui elle a été insérée dans le Corpus Inscriptionum Græcarum,' No. 4,474. L'inscription latine figure également tout au long dans Orelli, No. 3,657. Enfin dernièrement encore ces deux textes ont été publiés à nouveau et magistralement commentés par M. W. H. Waddington dans les Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie' (Paris, 1870, p. 630). Il s'agit tout simplement d'un rescrit impérial des empereurs Valérien et Gallien adressé au gouverneur (is qui regit provinciam), Aurelius antique appelée aujourd'hui Husn Suleymân, les Marcas, confirmant aux habitants de la localité par les Séleucides. L'inscription grecque n'est priviléges qui leur avaient été accordés ab antiquo autre chose que la reproduction, faite à cette occasion, de la lettre adressée à ce sujet par le rci Antiochus à un certain Euphemus, satrape de la province, suivie d'un décret de la ville. Il est d'autant plus regrettable que les éditeurs n'aient pas en connaissance de ce fait qui leur eût épargné des hypothèses hasardées, que ces textes contiennent la réponse à la question posée par le Rév. Samuel Jessup à la fin de son intéressant article: "What is the story of grand old Husn Suleyman?" La lettre d'Antiochus nous apprend en effet que la ville antique, ou plutôt le village (kóμm), s'appelait Baitocace (Barokaίkn), et possédait un sanctuaire très-vénéré consacré au dieu éponyme de l'endroit Ads Baiтokαikηs. C'est ce temple dont l'auteur de l'article a vu et décrit consciensieusement les ruines. Le seul texte nouveau et réellement important dont ces recherches aient enrichi la science est la courte inscription gravée au fond de la corniche audessus de la porte orientale du Temple, et que l'auteur donne sous cette forme : ΘΕΩΒΑΙΤΟΧΕΙΧΕΙΟΙ ΚΑΤΟΧΟΙ ΕΚΤΩΝ (MH) (?) accompagné de cette lecture et traduction conιδίων εν τω βπχ ετει εποίησαν. jecturales: Θεοβαιτορ (?) ειχε. οικεται οι εκ των "Theobaites possessed it. Servants of his household built it in the 682nd year." Le véritable sens est facile à rétablir et s'éloigne assez de cette version: "Pour le dieu de Baitocace les habitants ont fait (le temple, ou la porte) à leurs frais en l'an 682 (ou 482.)" Károɣou avec l'acception d'habitants se trouve déjà employé dans la lettre d'Antiochus. La forme BaroxεIXEL (BaιTOXEIXEvs) par x au lieu de κ, si elle est sûre, est très-intéressante, comme variante orthographique de βαιτοκαίκη. L'année de la construction est douteuse, la copie hésitant entre ẞv еt ẞлу, 482 et 682; de toutes façons il est évident que cette date doit être calculée non pas d'après l'ére locale d'Antioche, mais d'après l'ére des Séleucides, ce qui nous donnerait pour la première lecture 160, et pour la seconde 370 J.C. Cette dernière date, qui ferait descendre la construction ou la restauration d'une partie du sanctuaire paien jusqu'au règne de Constantin le Grand, est historiquement et épigraphiquement inadmissible, si l'on peut toutefois tenir pour exactes les formes des caractères reproduits. La première date qui nous ramènerait au règne d'Antonin le Pieux est beaucoup plus vraisemblable. Il semble que Baitocæce n'ait été uniquement qu'un grand centre religieux, un sanctuaire et n une ville; les inscriptions ne parlent en effet que des habitants de la bourgade; ces habitants devaient être peu nombreux et groupés autour du temple au service duquel ils appartenaient peutêtre presque tous. C'est précisément ce que nous constatons à l'origine pour le Kaaba, autour de |