The minimum annual subscription of honorary members is $2.50. -There are now 20,000 adult classes in France, against 7,855 in the winter of 1864– 5. Prizes are given by the government to such teachers as signalize themselves most in the management of these classes. GERMANY.-The government of Mechlenburg-Schwerin proposes to abolish the University of Rostock, because of the small attendance of students, and to adopt the University of Gottingen instead, which is already the national university, not only for Hanover, in which it is situated, but also for Brunswick and Oldenburg, and the free cities, Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck. SWITZERLAND.-The scholastic authorities of Lausanne have unanimously adopted the following resolutions in order to settle religious difficulties: 1. That religious instruction be confined to the historical facts related in the Bible. 2. That a summary of Bible History, and a collection of extracts from the Bible, and of sacred poetry, be introduced into the elementary schools. 3. That the catechism be excluded, as no longer meeting the religious wants of the scholars. ITALY.-A map has just been published by the Italian government, showing the degree of public instruction in each province by colors, as was done about thirty years ago by Dupin in France. The result shows that the education of the people is more and more imperfect towards the south. The district inost advanced is Turin, where, in a population of a thousand, there are four hundred and eighty-nine persons unable to read or write. In Lower Calabria we find the worst proportion, there being here, out of a thousand, nine hundred and twenty-seven; in Sicily aud Sardinia the proportion exceeds nine hundred; and in Florence it is seven hundred and fifty-seven. -Libraries are springing up in all parts of the country, and the number is now 210, of which 164 are open to the public. These libraries contain 4,149,287 volumes. Emilia possesses more than one-fourth, Lombardy has 800,000, Tuscany 600,000. The Abruzzi and Basilicata are the poorest. The total income of these libraries is 746,317 francs, of which 87,770fr. are derived from endowments belonging to the institutions; 486,986fr. are from government grants, 94,404fr. communal grants, 8,283fr. provincial grants. GREECE.-The National University has eleven hundred students. RUSSIA. In a letter addressed to Prince Dolgorouki, Governor-General of Moscow, the Grand Duchess Helena recommends the construction in that city of a superior school of music on the model of the Conservatoire of St. Petersburg. Her project has received the emperor's sanction. SYRIA. The American missionaries have established at Beyrout a girls' boardingschool under the care of natives educated at the mission stations. The funds for the building, which is in process of erection upon land belonging to the mission, were raised in New York, and the missionaries are to act as trustees of the school. But the most important educational enterprise in Syria is the college which is about to be established in Beyrout. As it does not come within the scope of a missionary society to found colleges, the American missionaries, feeling the absolute necessity for such an institution in Syria, set apart one of their number, the Rev. Dr. Bliss, to raise the necessary funds and take charge of the institution. It is a striking evidence of the life and vitality of our country, that he succeeded in raising a permanent fund of $100,000 for this purpose in America, in the midst of the war, which has been increased by $20,000 raised in England. The institution is incorporated in the State of New York, and the trustees are among the wealthiest merchants of New York city. A movement has been inaugurated by wealthy gentlemen in England to endow several professorships in this institution, on condition that one-half the necessary endowment of each professorship be raised in America. The plan of the college makes it really a university. There is a preparatory department already in most successful operation, with 150 students, under the direction of Mr. Butrus Bistany, formerly United States Vice-Consul, and one of the best educated natives in Syria. It is hoped that the college and the medical department may be opened during the coming autumn. The college will undoubtedly find plenty of students from the preparatory department and the native schools, while the medical department is certain to be the most popular, as it must be the most immediately useful branch of the institution. The language of the college is to be the Arabic, and it will thus be at once open to the whole population of Syria and Egypt. Indeed, it is estimated that there are 150,000,000 of the human race who speak Arabic, and this will be the only institution of the kind open to those speaking this language. JAPAN.-The English language has been officially adopted by the government, and permission has been given to have it taught publicly. CUBA.-Havana letters say that a Cuban gentleman, named Francisco San de Juan, who died recently, left his entire estate, valued at $400,000, to a Spanish female school, with a provision in his will that if the Spanish Government shall in any man ner interfere with the legacy, it shall revert to the United States. SANDWICH ISLANDS.-A high-school for foreign pupils has recently been established in Honolulu by M. B. Beckwith, A.M., It late Principal of the Royal School. commenced under the most favorable auspices, and with the experience and wellknown ability of Mr. Beckwith it can not be otherwise than a success. -J. R. Kinney, formerly of Chambersburg, Pa., and more recently Principal of San José (Cal.) Institute, has accepted from the Hawaiian government the appointment of Principal of the Royal School at Hono lulu. LIBERIA. Since this republic was founded, two hundred schools have been founded. Most of these are now in operation, and the number of pupils is nearly 20,000. IT CURRENT PUBLICATIONS. is most refreshing to find a new and original text-book. For this favor we are indebted to Prof. Fischer, of Rutgers College. We believe that Prof. Fischer is not yet popularly known in this country, though a few of our best American scholars, who are well qualified to judge, recognize him as the best Latin scholar in America, and quite the equal of the best scholars of Germany, his native country. He began his philological studies under the masters of the palmy days of Gottingen. In addition to his natural ability and genius, he has a pure Latin style, simple, but rich and classical-a gift almost unknown in this country, and rare everywhere. His book is not molded after the fashion of the scores of Latin grammars which have been attempted. If only its spirit could be adopted, we should behold a new era in classical education. It is a mistaken notion that we have no time to be thorough. We have time enough; but it is frittered away upon an unsystematic and superficial course. While our teachers may deplore these defects, they have not the ability to remedy them. This book will be a guide alike to teacher and scholar. The author teaches the idiomatic structure and composition of the Latin sentence in the shortest possible time, by a severe and rigorous system, which leaves nothing behind it untouched. In Latin composition the "Exercises" are most important. In these our popular Latin text-books are most faulty. Prof. Fischer's are not the old "Standard Exercises," which have been handed down through half a dozen generations. They 1) MANUAL OF LATIN GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION. Part I. By GUSTAVUS FISCHER, Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J. seem to be new, and they are perfectly classical, thorough, and systematical. We make special mention of the fact that they are classical; for certain authors, extensively patronized by the public, profess to take their exercises from classical authors in order to insure their classicity, and yet exhibit a gross lack of classical learning in making the slight alterations necessary to adapt the sentences to use. The exercises in this book are so arranged that each lesson is an exercise on all foregoing rules, thus precluding the possibility of a clever student forgetting what he has before learned. The exercises are so full, too, that a student, under a good teacher, may acquire a positive and thorough knowledge of the language, without learning the rules, by writing the exercises. Thus, he will acquire it by the most natural method possible, short of hearing it spoken in the Forum, or at the baths of ancient Rome. This book is "Part I.," for beginners. No pretension is made to preparing Roman "confectionery for children." Nothing is sugar-coated in the "approved style" of some of our book-makers. Yet the exercises are so simple that the youngest may Scholars begin with ease and interest. cannot fail to detect in the book the foundations of a better system for teaching Latin than has hitherto been practised. If Parts II. and III. develop this system as the beginning promises, there will be a most vigorous sifting of the dry bones and fossils of the old methods and systems. The work promises to be a monument of classical learning and a most valuable contribution to classical education. The mechanical appearance of the book is not quite up to the standard. The wonder is that it is as good as it is; for we un derstand that the author, without any previous knowledge of the art of printing, has set the type and printed the book himself. The binding is, doubtless, done in some Jersey village. Some enterprising publisher will, doubtless, take hold of the work, and issue it in a style which its great merits richly deserve. For the present, copies may be obtained by addressing the author. The price by mail is $1.25. Dr. Livingstone's new work' is the narrarative of the expedition, undertaken by himself, Chas. Livingstone, Dr. Kirk, and others, up the river Zambesi and its tributaries. These gentlemen left England in March, 1858, and returned in July, 1864, having been completely successful. The primary object of this, as of nearly all British projects, was extension of commerce, although it had indirect reference to the suppression of the slave-trade. The country was, therefore, explored with a view rather to geography than ethnology. Among the most important discoveries made by this expedition are the lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. The latter is at the head of the river Shire, a leading tributary of the Zambesi, and was discovered in September, 1859. Its southern end is in S. lat. 14° 25', and E. long. 35o 30'. It is about two hundred miles long; in width it varies from six to sixty miles, and in depth from two to one hundred and twenty fathoms. Being inclosed by highlands, it is visited by severe storms, and in the rainy season rises three feet. It is thirteen hundred feet above the sea-level, and the population on its shores is denser than any previously seen in Africa by Dr. Livingstone. Lake Shirwa is situated not far from the Shire river, but evidently has no outlet, as its waters are brackish, tasting like a weak solution of Epsom salts. It is eighteen hundred feet above the sea; is sixty miles long, and twenty miles broad. The Shire was found to be navigable throughout from Lake Nyassa to its junction with the Zambesi, excepting a distance of thirty-five miles, where it is obstructed by a series of cataracts, named by the explorers in honor of Sir Roderick Murchison. NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION TO THE ZAMBESI AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. By DAVID & CHARLES LIV. INGSTONE. New York: Harper & Bros. 8vo, pp. 638. $5.00. On the Zambesi, about eleven hundred miles from its mouth, are the Victoria Falls, which were discovered in August, 1860. These have been formed by a crack right across the river, eighteen hundred and sixty yards long, eighty yards wide, and three hundred and sixty feet deep to the surface of the water. Into this chasm, twice the depth of Niagara Falls, the river, & full mile wide, falls with a deafening roar. The outlet is a chasm at right angles to the crack which causes the falls. This is not more than twenty or thirty yards wide, but must be of immense depth, as the river flows easily through it. At the falls, "the whole body of water rolls clear over, quite unbroken; but after a descent of ten or more feet, the entire mass suddenly becomes like a huge sheet of driven snow. Pieces of water leap off it in the form of comets with tails streaming behind, till the whole snowy sheet becomes myriads of rushing, leaping, aqueous comets. * * * The vast body of water, separating in the comet-like forms described, necessarily incloses in its descent a large volume of air, which, forced into the cleft to an unknown depth, rebounds and rushes up, loaded with vapor, to form the three or even six columns, as of steam, visible at the Batoka village, Moachemba, twentyone miles distant." besi, from the Victoria Falls down, are the The only obstruction in the river ZamKebrabasa Rapids, which are impassable at ordinary low-water. In the neighborhood of these rapids Dr. Livingstone found eighty-four feet in diameter. The Doctor huge baobab trees, some of which were denies the great age of these trees, and asserts that, although he has examined hundreds of specimens, and counted the annual rings, he has never found one more than five hundred years old. Possibly he is right; but Adanson, in honor of whom ined quite as many, and states positively the tree received its specific name, examthat, in a specimen, thirty feet in diameter and seventy-three feet high, he counted five thousand one hundred and fifty annual rings. Botanists must choose between Adanson and Dr. Livingstone. Throughout the whole course of exploration, the country is exceedingly fertile. Cotton, indigo, tobacco, and the sugarcane grow luxuriantly, and all, except the last, reproduce themselves. Droughts of the severest character occur periodically; in some places, every five, in others every ten years. The country is covered with shrubbery, but there is little large timber, except ebony and lignuta-vitæ, which here attain extraordinary size. The great obstacle to commerce is the claim of Portugal to sovereignty. Dr. Livingstone shows that this claim is a mere pretence; for, so far from possessing any authority over the tribes, the Portuguese are really in subjection, paying an annual tribute for the sake of peace. This the Home Government terms "holding the natives in pay." The officials on the coast connive at the slavetrade, and derive large profits from it. The only means of destroying this traffic is to disregard the Portuguese pretensions, and to establish British colonies in the interior, which, the Doctor thinks, would be far more effectual and less expensive than the maintenance of a fleet on the coast. The Dr. Livingstone's work is an invaluable addition to geographical literature. book contains many illustrations and a map by Arrowsmith. We regret that the American publishers saw fit to omit the appendix, to which reference is frequently made in the body of the work. Mr. Wilson's "Emphatic Diaglott" 3 contains the Greek text of the New Testament, with an interlinear translation and a new rendering printed on the margin. In this marginal reading the more important words are distinguished by emphatic marks. The various disputed verses, such as Acts xiii. 87, and first Epistle of John v. 7, which are now generally believed to be spurious, are omitted, and the reasons for the omission are given in the foot-notes. Certain peculiarities of the new rendering impel us to the belief that at least some of the divines, who appear to have recommended the work, did so without careful examination. Mr. Wilson invariably translates bap tizo, to immerse; he carefully avoids the term hell, leaving the words Gehenna and Hades untranslated. In the appendix he defends his position in this matter by references to the use of these terms in the Septuagint, where, as he maintains, they never signify a place of punishment. Happily for himself, the translator not unfrequently discovers that clauses, interfering with his theory, have frequently been disputed. A little further examination might satisfy him that there are few passages of importance which have not been disputed. On the whole, the translation gives evidence of honesty of purpose. It is careful, and, in the main, accurate. The introductory papers are interesting; the notes on each page are full; and the lists of correlative texts is quite large. It is doubtful, however, whether the work will be of lasting value. To theological students and clergymen, whose knowledge of Greek is limited, it may prove advantageous; but the, perhaps, unintentional partiality and sectarian character of the rendering will, in all probability, cause it to share the fate of most of its predecessors. The "Lower Depths of the Great American Metropolis" is the title of a popular discourse recently delivered in this city by the Rev. Peter Stryker, D.D. By invitation of one of the Heads of our Metropolitan Police, he, with several friends, made a tour, by night, to the "lower depths" of New York city. He describes this tour in his graceful style, and discourses upon the prevalence of poverty and consequent crime in this overgrown city. The tenement houses he condemns, and suggests a remedy which the wealthy should heed. Our new Excise law he commends in rather handsome terms., Altogether the discourse is able, interesting, and full of information. The subject is worthy of the pen of this much-esteemed and rising young divine, and he has treated it in a style which will be appreciated. The publishers of the Pulpit and Rostrum have had the good fortune to secure the original manuscript copy of the discourse, and hence are able to present it to the public as No. 88 of their Pamphlet serial. This brings it within the reach of all. Silliman's Journal for May is filled with valuable and interesting matter. The Scientific Intelligence is unusually full. The number closes the current volume. The Journal is published in New Haven, at $6.00 per annum. (3) THE EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT. By BENJAMIN WILSON. New York: Fowler & Wells. Small 12mo, pp. 884. $4.00. (4) PULPIT AND ROSTRUM, No. 38. Price 15 cts. Schermerhorn, Bancroft & Co., Publishers, 430 Broome Street, New York. EDUCATIONAL MONTHLY. VOL. III. AUGUST, 1866. CROQUET.* No. 8. THERE HERE are so few out-door games in which both ladies and gentlemen can join, that any addition to the number is welcomed by every friend of healthful recreation and social amusement. Probably no game * For the illustrations of this article we are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. Hurd & Houghton, Publishers of "The Game of Croquet" by R. Fellow. The rules of the game are taken, with permission, from that book. |