1 The winding stair of a castle. Wyntown VIII. 38. 74. 2. Any stair of a spiral form, built without a house, and resembling one of the towers of a castle. S. "A turnpike stair is the term used in Edinburgh, and over all Scotland, to denote a stair of which the steps are built in a spiral form, like a screen [1. screw] winding round the same axis, in opposi tion to straight flights of steps, which are called scale stairs." Arnot's Hist. of Edin. p. 246. N. "Thus the king accompanyed onlie with the sayde Maister Alexander, comes forth of the chamber, passeth through the ende of the hall, where the noblemen and his majestie's servants were sitting at their dinner, up a turnepecke. Account of Gowrie's Conspiracy, Cant's Hist. Perth, 1. 196. "But the earle Gowrie and his servants made for them another way, up a quiet turnepecke, which was ever condemned before, and was only then left open, as appeared, for that purpose." ibid. 202, 3. Teut. torn, toren, signifies a tower, baecke, a pharos, a place for observation. But whether this be the origin, is doubtful." It is not improbable, that the English term turnpike, applied to a toll gate, erected upon our public roads by act of parliament, had this derivation, and might have been imposed from such kind of barriers at first having simply consisted of a swivel bar, turning upon a central pivot in the middle or the side of the road. That a work of such magnitude and extent should be devoid of errors, or deficiencies, could only be expected by those linguists, whose knowledge of languages is a mere science of words, and who never attempted the arduous task of acof verbal signs, and the ideas they curately tracing between the nature were meant to represent. To pur sue every word through the meandering mazes it has descended, up to the original source, "hic opus et labor est ;" and even then to account satisfactorily for the subsequent applications, is not always the difficulties Dr. J. had to eneasy of performance. Sensible of counter, and the industry and perseverance he has used to surmount them, we must thank him for what he has accomplished. In this vote of thanks it is probable every friend of literature, who examines the work, will join; and doubtless on the north of the Tweed the author will be held in the highest estima tion. We venture to predict, that the work will be a lastig monument of his extensive learning, critical judgement, and discrimi nating taste. ART. II. An Inaugural Lecture on the Utility of Anglo-Saxon Literature, to which is added the Geography of Europe by King Alfred, including his Account of the Discovery of the North Cape in the Ninth Century. By JAMES INGRAM, M.A. Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Oxford, and Anglo-Saxon Professor. 410. IT is with pleasure we perceive lar foundation. The cultivation of a new impulse given to the study Anglo-Saxon literature was left to of Anglo-Saxon antiquities, by the the fortuitous partiality of a few foundation of a professorship at individuals. Oxford. Sir Henry Spelman's endowment at the Sister University sunk in the civil wars; and it was perhaps a discredit to the country that till 1755 it was succeeded by no simi Mr. Ingram in his inaugural lecture, endeavours to shew, first, that the study of Anglo-Saxon literature has never been neglected or vilified by men of learning, but on the contrary has been uniformly cultivated and promoted. He next examines the inducements there are for its cultivation: and finally suggests that it is not only of particular importance to Englishmen, but is capable of being made a subject of general interest in the pursuit of universal knowledge, and may serve as a medium of illustration to those who are disposed to study and investigate the philosophical principles of Grammar, and the true theory of language. It is a fact not a little curious, Mr. Ingram observes, in the history of Anglo-Saxon learning, that the Monks of Tavistock Abbey, many centuries ago, instituted in their monastery a regular school for the preservation of the language. This appears to be the earliest instance on record, after the conquest, of any professed attention being paid to it; and to this attention may be ascribed the preservation of many Saxon Manuscripts. Tavistock however was not the only monastery in which the knowledge of the ancient language was preserved. We find it cultivated both at Abingdon and Croyland. Among the encouragers of AngloSaxon learning in the sixteenth century, Mr. Ingram mentions Parker and Lambard with peculiar veneration; enumerating many other learned and indefatigable scholars, both in this and the succeeding century, who considered a knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon language as indispensably necessary in the study of English antiquities. In the seventeenth century we find Anglo-Saxon literature likewise cultivated by some of the most eminent scholars on the continent among others, by John Gerard Vossius the learned professor of chronology and eloquence at Leyden, and of history at Amsterdam; by John de Laet of Leyden, the intimate friend of Sir Henry Spelman; by Hans Wor mias, at Copenhagen; and lastly by Franciscus Junius, whose indefatigable labours in Anglo-Saxon and Maso-Gothic literature were continued with increasing ardour to his ninetieth year, and who bequeathed some of the valuable fruits of those labours to the University of Oxford. "But above all, (say Mr. Ingram) Dr. Hickes, the great master of the Northern languages in general, and of the Anglo-Saxon in particular, accomplished the most arduous task in compiling and publishing, amidst the hardships of deprivation and poverty, his learned "Thesaurus Linguarum veterum Sep. tentrionalium." The names of Wanley, Bishop Gibson, Dr. Mill, Sir Andrew Fountaine, Dr. Wilkins, Bishop Nicolothers, form a respectable and numeson, Lye, Tyrwitt, Warton, Tooke, and rous list of scholars and antiquaries, by whose progressive labours and exertions the knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon language has been rendered of easy access to all, and having continued to be cultivated to our own times, it has become an object of relative importance even in this age of fastidious refinement." Having entered at considerable length upon the history and various ingredients of our present language, Mr. Ingram determines that four fifths, or at least three fourths of the words used on ordinary occasions, are immediately and origi nally derivable from the AngloSaxon. He next proceeds to consider, how far the study of Anglo-Saxon literature is connected with the ori ginal establishment of our LAWS, our LIBERTY, and our RELIGION. That no man can shine at the bar, in the senate, or in the pulpit, without a knowledge of Anglo-Saxon literature, he is not so ridiculous as to assert. But that a strong and steady light may be reflected from this quarter on many points of the municipal and comnion law, the theory of our political constitution, and the internal history of our religion, he contends without fear of controversy. The enumeration of collateral advantages forms the close of the lecture. "No person, says our author, can doubt of the indispensable utility of Saxon literature in elucidating the topography and antiquities of our own Is land, in explaining our proper names and the origin of families, in illustrating our provincial dialects and local customs; all which are the memorials of the ancient manners and character of our an cestors, and without a knowledge of which every Englishman must be imperfectly acquainted with the history of his own country. "It would be an invidious and an endless task to comment on the many imperfections, omissions, and errors, which are constantly to be observed in all those grammars, glossaries, lexicons, and dictionaries, that have been compiled by learned men, who unfortunately were not furnished with an adequate knowledge of the radical languages of ancient Europe, with respect to which, indeed, the more polished languages of Greece and Rome, with all their varieties of inflexions and terminations, are comparatively modern! Dr. Hickes has already remarked the numerous deficiencies and mistakes, to which some of the most learned writers before his time were unavoidably subject, in consequence of the imperfect state of Saxon literature in this country which arose from the scarcity of printed books, and the difficulty of consulting manuscripts. Dr. Hickes himself is not always an infallible guide; but he was the first of Septen trional scholars, who, by the publication of a laborious THESAURUS, paved the way for a more accurate and copious knowledge of all the Northern langua. ges, which, since the destruction of the Roman Empire, have been incorporated, more or less, into all the languages of modern Europe, and have even pene trated into Asia, WHENCE PERHAPS THEY ORIGINALLY SPRUNG! "Some acquaintance therefore with these languages is absolutely necessary to those European scholars, who are desirous of acquiring a scientific synopsis of universal Grammar, as well as an accurate perception of their own vernacular idiom. "And that the Anglo-Saxon language. has a peculiar share of importance and interest; that it is capable of elucidating the principles of grammatical science, and of leading us to a philosophical theory of language, has been sufficiently shewn by the ingenious author of the "Diversions of Purley." Indeed, an exclusive attention to the more learned and refined languages has too frequently beguiled men of the greatest talents and erudition into very erroneous conclusions on philological subjects.” "The Geography of Europe; extracted from king Alfred's AngloSaxon version of Orosius," will be found an historical document of no inconsiderable interest. It includes an original periplus round the North Cape, with two other voyages within the Baltic; written by king Alfred, from the reports of two Northern navigators Ohthere and Walfstan. In a few instances Mr. Ingram's translation differs materially from that which was published some years ago by Mr. Daines Barrington. He has, however, incorporated the whole of the curious notes by Mr. Reinhold Forster with his own; and here and there improved the original text by the examination of manuscripts. With this first effort of the professor's pen we cannot but confess ourselves pleased; particularly as it is only the fore-runner of other dissertations. CHAPTER X. CLASSICAL LITERATURE, TRANSLATIONS, AND CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY. ART. I. A Grammar of the Greek Tongue, &c. By JOHN JONES. 12mo. thong, as in the subjunctive, is some- ART. II. A Vocabulary, English and Greek, arranged systematically. By N. HOWARD. 12mo. pp. 168. THE object of the author, in the present work, has been to connect the acquisition of the Greek language, with the improvement of the learner in scientific knowledge. The substantives are systematically arranged according to the most ap proved classifications of science; the adjectives and verbs are selected from the primitives of the language, and alphabetically arranged. The design is useful, the execution commendable. ART. III. Sophoclis tragedia septem, cum scholiis veteribus, &c. Ex editione R. F. P. BRUNCK. 2 vols. 8vo. THOUGH England abounds, perhaps, not less than any other country, with men of considerable, and even eminent attainments in Classical Literature, and though some of the first names of which ancient criticism can boast have adorned our island; yet, in the labour of editing the Greek and Roman writers, it must be confessed, that we yield the precedence to some of our neighbours. It is not a necessary imposition on an Eng lish man of letters to publish a book before he can aspire to the fame of literature, and our distinguished scholars have commonly in view ob jects more lucrative than the profits of literary labour. A new edition of an ancient author is therefore a rarity in this country. Meanwhile, the prevalence of classical studies is sufficient to preserve the demand for those authors unabated, and we believe, indeed, that of late years it has experienced a considerable increase. The channels by which the supply was furnished, have recently been closed; and the English booksellers have been reduced, it appears, to the necessity of reprinting some valuable foreign editions of ancient writers. It were rather to be wished that we could furnish to the rest of Europe, editions like that of Euripides, undertaken by the late Greek professor. In the want of these, we are pleased to see some very valuable foreign publications rendered accessible in a commodious form to the English student, at a cheaper price than the various expences of importation will permit. Three editions of Sophocles were published by Brunck; the two first differing from each other only in form; the last omitting the scholia of Triclinius, and containing some additional notes and some variation in the text. The present Oxford edition professes to unite in a considerable degree the advantages of both, the text, notes, and scholia being printed from the latter, the preface and index from the former. Some notes omitted in the third edi tion of Brunck are likewise inserted at the end of the first volume. The scholia of Triclinius are not of much importance, yet we wish that this edition had been rendered complete by retaining them. The anonymous life of Sophocles certainly possesses sufficient importance to deserve its place, and it is repeatedly referred to in the index, yet the reader will search for it in vain. We should have been glad also to have seen a mark of reprobation placed on a few unfortunate conjectures of Brunck, which he has introduced into the text. We are sorry to see the page of Sophocles again sullied with a corruption so manifest, as the angos xua, Philoct. 36. The merits of the original work are too well known to need recommendation. The present republication deserves all the praise to which it aspires, that of elegance and correctness. The notes are commodiously placed on the same pages with the text. A more correct index of authors quoted in the scholia, than that of the original is given, which was drawn up by Mr. Porson, and printed for private circulation among his friends. That eminent scholar has in some degree enlivened even an index with strokes of his sagacity and learning.. et Schaferi. 2 vols. 8vo. ART. IV. Herodotus Reizii THIS is likewise a useful republication of a foreign edition. The first volume of the original was published at Leipsic, 1777, by F. V. Reizius, a well known and very acute critic and grammarian, who adopted the text of Wesseling as his basis, carefully reviewed, and in some passages well corrected. An interesting dedication addressed to Garve explains the plan and object of the editor. It was his intention to have completed the publication of the text, to have added a new Latin version, and notes, and a Roman character. "Lexicon Herodoteam." His pur |