SCHOOL AND CLASS Booxs.—The Agamemnon of 2Eschylus, with a Metrical
Translation, and Notes, Critical and Illustrative. By Benjamin Hall Kennedy, D.D. (Cambridge University Press.)—One strong point in this edition is the very clear way in which it brings out the drametio action of the play. In this respect, even those who are familiar with the text will scarcely fail to learn something from Dr. Kennedy's very careful study. The connection of thought is some- times very obscure, and this has been traced out with great skill. The notes are not very copious, scarcely copious enough, if the wants of nnadvanced scholars are to be regarded, though they are supplemented by a translation the accuracy of which may be relied on. The editor disclaims the "attempt to poetise Aschylus in English," but he might have made his version more euphonious, and we should say more agreeable (a merit which he owns himself to have aimed at). We take, for instance, the version of EListSpoom Si KoXocaiw, " The gracefulness of fine-formed statues Is held in detestation,
And in the famine of the husband's eyes All loveliness bath perished."
" Grace " would be better than "gracefulness," and "shapely" than " fine-formed ;" " detestation " is not a musical word, and we should -prefer "hunger" to "famine," even though it is followed by "hus- band." But a safer guide the student could not have.—Books and IL of the .lneid of Virgil. Edited, with Notes, by F. Storr, B.A. (Rivingtons.)—This is a very useful edition. Meant for the use of learners, though of the more advanced class, it wisely follows the plan of giving, for the most part, the one inter- pretation which the editor prefers. It supplies some excellent illustrations and some felicitous renderings. Generally, we have found little reason to differ from Mr. Stores judgments. We do not think, indeed, that auro barbaric:), in ii. 604, is " foreign,—taken from the foe." That rendering is doubtless logical, but the poet rather forgets that a Trojan is speaking, and speaks of Priam's palace from a Roman point of view ; and we are inclined to prefer Professor Conington's "vengeance for crime," to the editor's "unholy ven- geance," for seeleratas poencts, in ii. 574 ; but on the whole, we have followed his interpretation with pleasure. (The illustration of Saga warolvyneacra, from the "Antigone," is scarcely apposite. This is a phrase of unmixed praise. All that survives of the common meaning of wavouryeiv is the idea of boldness.)—The Anabasis of Xenophon. Book II., with English Notes, by Alfred Pretor, M.A. (Cambridge University Press), is one of the "Pitt Press Series," and has been prepared for the use of candidates at the Cambridge Local Examination. The notes are very good, neither above the heads of those for whom they are put together, nor written down to their level. They are what notes should be, at once practically useful and also suggestive of a higher and more subtle scholarship. The preface " On the Peculiarities of Xenophon's Style" seems to us out of place, though it might do very well for another audience. But neither " Juniors " nor " Seniors " will appreciate the criticism on the solecisms or quasi-solecisms of Xenophon. Why should they, when they are not required to write Greek prose ? Nor can we agree with Mr. Pretor's dictum on Caesar' " Commentaries," that " no duller treatise has ever wearied the youth of successive generations." We are the more emboldened to state this opinion, because the next book on our list is another of the same series, prepared for the same pur- pose,—C. Iuli Caesaris de Bello Galiico Commentariorum, IV.-V., with English Notes, by A. G. Pesketh. The portion selected includes the account of the British campaigns, a narrative which, if treated with any kind of intelligence by the teacher, can hardly fail to rouse some interest. The running commentary on the text is serviceable, while the chief points of interest or difficulty, such as the description of the bridge over the Rhine, the points of embarkation and dis- embarkation in the British expedition, the passage of the,Thames, &c., are fully discussed. We may remark, as to the last point, that be- fore the damming-up of the Thames for purposes of navigation, it was probably fordable in many places. Its appearance when the water is run off for any purpose will even now give some idea of what it was.—Selections for Latin Prose, by R. M. Millington, M.A. (Longmans), appears in a " fourth" edition, which has been consider- ably enlarged, and we may add, having been acquainted with the book in its earlier condition, much improved. The pieces set for translation are taken, for the most part, from papers set in com- petitive examinations ; the notes are helpful, while they require the exercise of some intelligence, before the information which they give can be appreciated. Useful exercises on " Connection of Tenses," and other familiar difficulties of Latin writing, are also given.—An. Introduction to the Latin Language, by Maurice C. Hime (Sullivan Brothers, Dublin), contains a grammar and exercises. There is a certain convenience in this. A boy should certainly be " exercised " in what he learns as soon as possible ; and it saves time to have the materials at band. On the other hand, the first Latin book that is put into the learner's hand should, for sufficiently obvious reasons, be small and brief. Mr. Hime adds some useful and interesting appendices.—The Latin Primer Rules Made Easy ; or, Elementary Rules for Latin Composition, by the Rev. E. Fowle (C. Began Paul and Co.), will doubtless be useful, but it might be improved. About demonstrative pronouns, for instance, it would have been well to say something about weak and strong demonstratives. Many boys have no notion but that is and ille may be used indifferently. If possible, no sentences that are not grammatical should be given in an• exercise. Why " pollicitus est so amatnrum esse," when it would have been easier to substitute an intransitive verb for " amatnrurn esse ?"--Henry's First Latin Book appears in a new edition, " edited and revised" by C. G. Gepp, M.A. (Riviugton.) The change in this very familiar book seems to have been made for the better.—The Greek Primer (Oxford, at the Clarendon Press), appears in a revised and enlarged edition.
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