that are afflicted from their hearts; so the sham admirer is more moved than he that praises with sincerity. Certain kings are said to ply with frequent bumpers, and by wine make trial of a man whom they are sedulous to know, whether he be worthy of their friendship or not. Thus, if you compose verses, let not the fox's concealed intentions impose upon you. 66 If you had recited any thing to Quintilius, he would say, 'Alter, I pray, this and this :" if you replied, you could do it no better, having made the experiment twice or thrice in vain; he would order you to blot out, and once more apply to the anvil your ill-formed verses: if you choose rather to defend than correct a fault, he spent not a word more nor fruitless labor, but you alone might be fond of yourself and your own works, without a rival. A good and sensible man will censure spiritless verses, he will condemn the rugged, on the incorrect he will draw across a black stroke with his pen; he will lop off ambitious [and redundant] ornaments; he will make him throw light on the parts that are not perspicuous; he will arraign what is expressed ambiguously; he will mark what should be altered; [in short,] he will be an Aristarchus:5 he will not say, "Why should I give my friend offense about mere trifles?" These trifles will lead into mischiefs of serious consequence, when once made an object of ridicule, and used in a sinister manner. Like one whom an odious plague or jaundice, fanatic phrensy or lunacy, distresses; those who are wise avoid a mad poet, and are afraid to touch him; the boys jostle him, and the incautious pursue him. If, like a fowler intent upon his game, he should fall into a well or a ditch while he belches out his fustian verses and roams about, though he should cry out for a long time, "Come to my assistance, O my countrymen;" not one would give himself the trouble of taking him up. Were any one to take pains to give him aid, and let down a rope; "How do you know, but he threw himself in hither on purpose?" I shall say: and will relate the death of the Sicilian poet. Empedocles, while he was am 59 Aristarchus was a critic, who wrote above four score volumes of comments on the Greek poets. His criticisms on Homer were so much esteemed, that no line was thought genuine until he had acknowledged it. He was surnamed the prophet or diviner, for his sagacity. FRAN. bitious of being esteemed an immortal god, in cold blood leaped into burning Ætna." Let poets have the privilege and license to die [as they please]. He who saves a man against his will, does the same with him who kills him [against his will. Neither is it the first time that he has behaved in this manner; nor, were he to be forced from his purposes, would he now become a man, and lay aside his de sire of such a famous death. Neither does it appear sufficiently, why he makes verses: whether he has defiled his father's ashes, or sacrilegiously removed the sad enclosure1 of the vindictive thunder: it is evident that he is mad, and like a bear that has burst through the gates closing his den, this unmerciful rehearser chases the learned and unlearned. And whomsoever he seizes, he fastens on and assassinates with recitation: a leech that will not quit the skin, till satiated with blood."" 60 Ardentem frigidus Etnam insiluit. "In cold blood, deliberately." Horace, by playing on the words ardentum frigidus, would show that he did not believe the story, and told it as one of the traditions, which poets may use without being obliged to vouch the truth of them. The pleasantry continues, when he says, it is murder to hinder a poet from killing himself; a maxim, which could not be said seriously. SAN. 61 An triste bidental What crime must that man have committed whom the gods in vengeance have possessed with a madness of writing verses? Bidental was a place struck with lightning, which the aruspices purified and consecrated with a sacrifice of a sheep, bidental. It was an act of sacrilege ever to remove the bounds of it, movere bidental. FRAN. 62 In concluding the annotations on the Art of Poetry, I must beg to recommend to the reader's notice my translation of Aristotle's Poetic, with a collection of notes, as the two treatises contribute to each other's illustration in the fullest extent. THE END. LANE'S LATIN GRAMMAR $1.50 FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. By GEORGE M. LANE, Ph.D., LL.D., Late Professor Emeritus in Harvard University. In many respects this is the most thorough, philosophical, and complete Latin Grammar ever published in this country, representing, as it does, the crowning work and ripest conclusions of one of the most eminent teachers of the language. The work has the distinction, rarely accorded to a text-book, of being regarded both as a literary and as a scientific event. Its preparation engaged the author, during the intervals of teaching at Harvard University, for nearly thirty years. After his death the work was taken up and completed by his colleague, Dr. Morris H. Morgan, of Harvard University. Some of the distinguishing features and merits of the book are comprehensiveness and accuracy in detail, precision of definition and statement, combined with a remarkably clear arrangement and singular aptness of illustration. The supplementary aids are an important feature. These include a chapter on Versification written by Dr. Herman W. Hayley, a former pupil of Professor Lane, and brief expositions of such important subjects as Rules of Quantity and Figures of Prosody, Occasional Peculiarities of Verbs, Indirect Discourse, Use of Pronouns and Numerals. The book contains also a complete Index of Subjects and an Index of Latin Words with references. LANE AND MORGAN'S SCHOOL LATIN GRAMMAR $1.00 Prepared by MORRIS H. MORGAN, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of This book is intended for the use of students of Latin during their course in secondary schools. It is based on "Lane's Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges," and furnished abundant material for careful training in Latin pronunciation, for the study of leading principles under which Latin words are formed, for thorough drill in inflections, and for acquiring a good working knowledge of the most important principles of Latin syntax and composition. The arrangement of the material is clear and logical with cross-references to the to the larger grammar. Copies sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of the price. New York American Book Company Cincinnati Chicago WITH FULL INTRODUCTORY NOTES ON IDIOM By MAURICE W. MATHER, Ph.D. and ARTHUR L. WHEELER, Ph.D. Half Leather, 12mo, 216 pages Price $1.00 The present book furnishes all the essential material for the writing of average passages in Latin Prose. It is not intended to teach how to write isolated sentences, illustrative of given constructions, but the book assumes that the pupil, after a year or more of such practice, is ready to learn the art of writing connected narrative in Latin. The authors have based their exercises on Caesar's Gallic War Books III and IV, Nepos's Alcibiades and Hannibal, and Cicero's Manilian Law and Archias, inasmuch as these are not only models of good style, but are usually read in schools. As the book is not for beginners, the individual exercises have not been made vehicles for teaching any one or two constructions, but the authors have felt at liberty to introduce at any time even the more difficult constructions; indirect discourse, for instance, being taken up at the very beginning. While, in general, the vocabulary and the constructions for any exercise are supplied in the Latin text on which the given exercise is based, yet enough variation from the language of the model is required to give the pupil abundant practice in handling forms and constructions. By this means the pupil's power of observation is increased, his interest is quickened by the pleasure of discovery, and he will remember the word much better than if he found it ready at hand in a dictionary. A number of recent examination papers from various colleges have been inserted in the belief that they will be found useful for sight tests and occasional examinations. The notes accompanying some of the At the end of the book are English words and phrases papers belong to the original examinations. Copies sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of the price. New York American Book Company Cincinnati Chicago |