human powers, and we must try our footing on the soil we have chosen, before proceeding further. We have by no means exhausted our own ideas on this subject by the scheme presented; much less, then, can we have filled up by our scheme the desires of our several readers. Such a plan as ours cannot be improvised; it requires a good deal of consentaneous arrangement, and provision must be made for the due supervision of the tasks assigned, as well as for the provision of new test-exercises, progressively advancing in difficulty. We have undertaken as much as the means at our disposal just now, and a regard for the uses and purposes of this serial, allow us. We anticipate, after experience, being able to manage and effect more, and to work out our plans into other ramifications. Meanwhile, we hope that our efforts will be seconded by the efforts of our readers; and that this additional endeavour to accomplish useful results will prove our desire more and more to make this Magazine an agent in the elevation of its readers. Only so can effort and energy be sustained; only so can the mind, set free by the performance of the duties of one month, bind itself down in preparing study, to acquire fitness for the next allotted task. All that we can really attempt to do is to help, unless we should haply have induced some one to aspire. We must take for granted the desire, the determination, and the persistent zeal of each entrant. As personal moral suasion is impossible, and type, too, is lifeless to show the flush of anger, or to exhibit the shades of regret, it is all the more necessary that we should postulate a personal moral restraint, operant in every student, and should advise him to determine, slowly but wisely, what he should most usefully, for his own nature and requirements, endeavour first to know, and what he may be able to do; and especially not to attempt too much at once, forgetful of the fact that the exercises given here are not intended to cover the whole amount of work in each branch performed by the student, but are only monthly tests of progress made, implying and necessitating much other work. Over-sanguineness may defeat its own aims, as much as inertness can. A medium course will be found best. RULES AND REGULATIONS. I. All letters and exercises referring to this department are to be addressed thus: Editors of British Controversialist, London, E.C. II. No communication on any other subject is to be contained in correspondence or exercises in this department [as any such matter may impede the practical facility of conducting the classes]. III. The exercises for each of the different classes must be posted separately, on or before the 14th of each month. IV. A matriculation fee of one shilling, for enrolment in the general list, and a class-registration fee of sixpence, will be chargeable from each student on entrance, as a contribution towards defraying a portion of the expenses of the practical management. V. The lessons must be each carefully and legibly performed, and the utmost regularity must be observed [as they must be placed in the hands of several class conductors at a fixed date]. VI. Class-lists will be duly prepared, in which the names of the students will be arranged in order of merit, and shall be, from time to time, published on the cover. Certificates of merit of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class, duly attested, will be presented to all deserving students at the close of the year. I. Books recommended:-Walsinghame's "Tutor's Assistant:" Tate's, Colenso's, Sang's, Smith's, Cornwell and Fitch's, Hutton's, Melrose's, the Scottish School-book Association's, for practice; for theory, De Morgan's Arithmetic;" "Arithmetic and Algebra," by the So 66 ciety for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; Cornwell and Fitch's Science of Arithmetic." N.B.-The questions given here are mere test-questions-attempts to discover a fitting start-point. Class 1, Figurate.-1. If light passes from the sun to the earth, a distance of 118,541,428 miles, in seven minutes, at the rate of how many feet does it travel in an hour? 2. In a shoal of herrings, seven miles in length, two and a half in breadth, and 350 yards in depth-how many herrings, if 172 occupy one solid foot? and how many casks, each containing 900, would they fill? 3. How much oftener will the small wheels of a coach turn, between London and Bristol-120 miles-than the large ones, the former being ten feet eight inches, and the latter eighteen feet four inches each in circumference? Class 2, Commercial. 1. On a country mercer taking his monthly estimate of silk stock, he found he had 79 yards at 2s. 6d.; 16 at 2s. 8d.; 47 at 3s. 6d.; 59 at 4s. 2d., and some remnants worth £5 Os. 4d. At his former valuation, his silk stock was worth £109 17s. 4d. How much has he reduced his stock during the month? 2. A sold B 34 lbs. of tea, at 2s. 9d.; 12 at 2s. 6d.; 18 at 2s. 4d.; and bought from him 182 lbs., at £2 6s. per cwt., and 245 lbs. hops, at £3 16s. per cwt. -what was the balance? and to whom was it owing? 3. 125 qrs. of wheat, at 31s. 6d., are given in barter for barley, at 18s. 9d. per qr.-how much barley was got? II. The conductor of this department has not yet quite determined what course to pursue on this subject; meanwhile he requests replies, brief, pithy, and plain, to the following queries:1. What is the use of book-keeping? 2. What is meant, in book-keeping, by debtor and creditor? 3. Who is always regarded as debtor in bookkeeping, and why? 4. Out of the matter of the replies to the two preceding questions, construct a rule for distinguishing debtor and creditor. What do the words, goods, stock, and 5. cash, respectively mean? 6. State the name and define the use of the chief "books" employed in book-keeping. III. Goldsmith's (Pinnock's), Clyde's, Forster's (Chambers'), Stewart's, Ewing's, Butler's, Milner's, Tomlin's "Geographies" recommended. Class 1, Intellectual.-1. Arrange the countries in Europe in two tables, in relation to (1) superficial extent, and (2) population. Arrange the coast-possessing countries of Europe in a table, giving them in the order, from N.E. to S.E., naming the seas they border on, and their chief export towns. 3. Arrange the countries in Europe in tables, founded upon their chief (1) crops, (2) commodities, (3) manufactures. Class 2, Draught.-1. Sketch the coast-line of Europe. 2. Compose parallelograms, set within each other, proportional to the respective areas, in square miles, of the several countries in Europe. 3. Set in triangles the respective mountain elevations of Europe. N.B.-Though these two classes are distinguished here, students may take their own choice as to which exercises, in either, they will do. IV. Goldsmith's, Corkran's, or Gleig's "History of England;" Chambers's History of the British Empire;" Collier's "British History," commended. 1. Give an account of the original state of Britain, its invasion by the Romans, and its condition under them. 2. Give a statement of events in British history, referred to the dates 55 B.C., 43, 57, 61, 79, 84, 120, 138, 211, 288, 297, 300, 303, 410-426 A.D. 3. What elements did Rome contribute to the civilization of Britain? V. Senior Division.-Give a literal, word-for-word translation of Sallust's Catiline," ch. i.; Virgil's "Eneid," book i., lines 1-30; or "Horace," Ode iii., book i. Note each irregular substantive and verb, explain allusions, as far as possible; and tell all you can learn regarding proper names used in these passages. Either write out five substantives differently inflected, or give the principal, i. e., the formative parts of Nihil est quod non expugnet pertinax opera, et intenta ac diligens cura. Quæ in vita usurpant homines, cogitant, curant, vident; quæque agunt vigilantes, agitantque, ea cuique in somno accidunt. Is mihi demum vivere et frui anima videtur qui aliquo negotio intentus, præclare facinoris aut artis bonæ famain quærit. Vera gloria radices agit, atque etiam propagatur; ficta omnia celeriter tanquam flosculi decidunt; nec simulatum potest quidquam esse diuturnum. Compose a table, and arrange in it the several words in the above excerpts, according to their classification as parts of speech, e..,— Parsing Lesson. Pronoun. Verb. VI. 1. Give the chief dates and events in Shakspere's life; name the plays attributed to him, and make an abstract of the plot of any one of them.* 2. Give a list of twelve dramatic poets of the Elizabethan age, with dates of birth and death, and naming one work by each. VII. What is Logic? What are its uses and chief parts? What is its place in study, and what are its peculiar claims? [See Neil's "Art of Reasoning," Chap. I.] Book I. O heavenly Muse," that on the secret top of Oreb or of Sinaic didst inspire that shepherda (Moses), who first taught the chosen seed, how, in the beginning, the heavens and earth Adverb. Preposition. Conjunction. VIII. 1. Reply to the same questions as those given above, substituting the word Rhetoric for Logic. [See Neil's "Elements of Rhetoric," Chap. I.] 2. Write out lines 26-81 of Milton's "Paradise Lost," Book I., first, in prose order; second, in a prose paraphrase; adding Scripture references and notes on proper names, peculiar words, or idioms, &c., underlining all inserted words, as in the under-given example. [See any edition of the work for the text.] O seraphic inspirer of song!-who on the darkness-shrouded summit of Oreb or of Sinai didst prompt that shepherd who earliest informed the elect race in what manner, at the creation, the vast Muse. The Muses were the nine daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, born in Pieria, at the foot of Olympus. As they were heathen deities, Milton could not, in a Christian poem, invoke them. He invokes the Holy Spirit. and Oreb ought to have been Horeb (see Judg. vii. 25; Exod. xvii. 6; Deut. i. 6), the name of the range of which Sinai was a special summit, Exod. xix. 20. Shepherd, Exod. iii. 1. Chosen seed, Gen. xii. 2. Beginning, Gen.i.1. 8 Chaos. Vacant and infinite * Neil's "Shakespere; a Biography," 1s. 6d., will be of service in this exercise. rose out of chaos, sing thou of man's first disobedience, and the fruit of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste brought Death' into the world, and all our woe-with loss of Eden,' till one Greater Man restorem us, and regain for us the blissful seat: Or if Sion" bill and Siloam's brook, that flowed fast by the Oracle" of God, delight thee more [than Oreb or Sinai], I thence invoke thine aid to my adventurous song that intends to soar, with no middle flight, above the Aonian mount," while it pursues things unattempted yet in rhyme or prose. And chiefly do thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer the pure and upright heart before all temples, instruct me (for thou knowest); thou from the first wast present, and sat'st, with mighty wings outspread, brooding, dove-like, on the vast abyss, and mad'st it pregnant. Illumine what is dark in me; what is low raise to the height of this great argument; and support me, that may assert eternal Providence, and justify the ways of God to man". k spaces of the sky and this nether globe sprung from void immensity-chaunt thou regarding the primal sin of the human race, and the result of their partaking of the interdicted tree, the fatal eating [of the fruit] of which introduced Death into the earth and all our grief, besides the forfeiture of Eden, till one Mightier Partaker of our Nature shall lead us back to it, and re-acquire for us the beatific heritage: Or if Sion mount and Siloam's rill, which runs near to the Temple of the Lord, please thee better, I thence beseech thy help in my too-daring lay, which purposes to aspire, with no mediocre aim, higher than the Heliconian hill, during the time that it seeks to accomplish themes yet untried in ordinary composition or in poetry. And do thou, O Divine Essence! who dost rather choose the holy and righteous soul than any other sanctuary, peculiarly inform me (because thou art acquainted with the facts); thou from the earliest of times wast there, and thou, with huge wings expanded, didst hover (as a bird does) with life-giving influence over the mighty void, and didst cause it to teem with being. Anything obscure in me enlighten; anything debased elevate to the topmost pitch of this grand theme; and uphold me, that I may affirm God's over-ruling care, and prove the equity of the dealings of the Almighty with the human race. 0 space; not the rudis indigestaque moles of Ovid, but the "formless void" of Scripture and of Hesiod, Gen. i. 2; Heb. xi. 3. Disobedience, Rom. v. 12, 14, 19. i Tree, Gen. ii. 16, 17; iii. 6. Death, Rom. v. 17. Eden, Gen. iii. 23; Ezek. xxviii. 13. "Restore, 1 Cor. xv. 22. "Sion, or Zion, Psa. cxxxii. 13; Isa. i. 8. The southernmost of the hills on which Jerusalem was built. Isa. viii. 6; John ix. 7. A rivulet on the S.E. of Jerusalem. Psa. xxviii. 2. Song, see "Paradise Lost," vii. 3; ix. 13; i. 14. "Aonian mount. Helicon, the fabled home of the Muses, a range of hills in Boeotia, between Lake Copais and the Gulf of Corinth. Gen. i. 1-3. u Rom. xi. 23. 8 Siloa's, Neh. iii. 15; P Oracle, Temple, "Paradise Regained," Spirit, John iv. 24. N.B.-Notes should be brief and apposite. Any one taken verbatim from any source must be specially acknowledged. The paraphrase should be free and flowing, but strict to the text; and the prose order should only alter any inversions of the common style of composition. It is proposed to go through Book I. thus in the course of the year. Literary Notes. How ought Homer to be translated? is a perennial subject of controversy among classical scholars. The Very Rev. Henry Alford, D.D., Dean of Canterbury, whose early work on "The Poets of Greece" was a remarkable one, has contributed a volume to its practical solution, containing Books I.-XII. of the "Odyssey," translated into linefor-line English hendecasyllables. Philip Stanhope Worsley, M.A., scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, has rendered the same books into the Spenserian stanza. These, in addition to Arnold, Newman, Wright, Blackie, &c., &c., will surely at least do something more than help us to discover how Homer is not to be translated. J. M. Ludlow, barrister-at-law, is about to sketch the "History of the United States, from Independence to Secession;" and Thomas Hughes, the creator of "Tom Brown," is to tell the 'Story of Kansas." Public Opinion, a paper consisting of selected extracts from news-sheets, magazines, reviews, books, &c., is said to be editorially managed by Mr. James Ballantine, once the editor of the Edinburgh Courant, more recently of the Statesman (able though now defunct) and of a "Selection from Carlyle's Writings." The Cambridge Gownsman has sent out his card. The Day, a halfpenny paper, is on the eve of dawn. Miss Nightingale, in the intervals of her illness, is said to be writing a new work. Lord Palmerston has subscribed for the national edition of Dante's works. A handsome edition of Dickens's works is published in Germany, and sells well. The Philological Society's Dictionary appears to be about to be given piecemeal to the public; for under the editorship of F. J. Furnivall, its secretary, two concise English Dictionaries are announced, one of Early English, 12501526, the other of Middle English, 1526-1674. We think this a highly ridiculous idea and form of publication; useless, troublesome, expensive, and tantalizing. The Rev. George Rawlinson (translator of Herodotus) has been elected Camden Professor of Ancient History, Oxford, in room of the late Dr. Cardwell. The new professor is brother of Sir H. C. Rawlinson, and was formerly a Fellow of Exeter. Rev. J. B. Lightfoot, A.M., Trin. Coll., Cam., has been chosen Hulsean Professor of Divinity. "Robinson Crusoe" has been translated into Arabic, and is on sale in parts in the land of Mahomet. The Abbé E. A. Blampignon has issued a series of "Studies on Malbranche," founded on MS. authorities. J. P. Collier is to edit a complete edition of "Spenser's Works," with Life, Notes, and Glossary, for Messrs. Bell and Daldy; and the same publishers are to issue Bishop Butler's "Sermons and Remains," with hitherto unpublished additions, and a Memoir, by Rev. E. Steere. "Popular Papers on Health," republished from "Good Words," from the pen of Dr. John Brown, M.D., Edinburgh (born at Biggar, Lanarkshire, N.B., in 1810), are to be issued at an early date. The "Poems by a Painter," advertised by Blackwood, are from the pen of Joseph Noel Paton (born at Dunfermline, 1823), the artistic delineator of the "Pursuit of Pleasure." |