We have received from Messrs. Longmans and Co. a series
of "Class-Books of English Literature." They are furnished with introductions, notes, and in some cases with questions. Of Sir Walter Scott's works we have The Lady of the Lake (1s. 6d.), Marmion (Is. 6d.), The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1s.), and The Talisman (abridged, is. 4d.) Each of these volumes is furnished, by way of introduction, with an admirably compressed biography of Scott by Mr. Andrew Lang. Other volumes are Milton's Paradise Lost, Books I., II., III. (separate volumes)—these have a short Biography of the poet by D. Salmon and Notes by W. Elliott, M.A.—Tales of King Arthur and the Bound Table (1s.), Adapted from the Book of Romance by Andrew Lang, with Intro- duction, &c., by J. C. Allen, and Illustrations by H. J. Ford; and Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome, with Biography by D. Salmon and Introduction and Notes by J. W. Bartram, M.A. (1s.) The remark that "though Macaulay loved the Classics, his exercises lacked the technical perfection achieved by boys who had been trained at the public schools," and that "therefore he did not graduate with honours," may lead to a misconception. He did not so graduate because there were no honours at that time in Classics. The Classical Tripos did not begin till 1823. Had it been in existence, probably Macaulay would have contrived to qnslify for it. His exercises were good enough to bring him to the top, or very near it.
Previous page
