all this may be more effectually acquired, and in less time by the study of Latin than by the study of English alone. If I were required to secure to an apt and intelligent pupil the best practical knowledge of English, in the space of three years, I would have him devote the first two exclusively to the study of Latin, and to give specific attention to the English only during the last of the three; and perhaps only during a limited portion of it. Those acquainted with both languages will admit that no great length of time is requisite for a pupil well versed in the Latin to acquire facility in applying the principles of grammatical construction correctly in English; and that he will experience far less difficulty and hesitation than the mere English scholar.

It is a familiar factor at least should be so that in all art and science our best progress is attained by means of comparison. A mineralogist, for instance, needs at the outset to become familiar with the appearance and character of a few well-marked specimens. When he has learned readily to distinguish genuine granite, he is prepared to judge by comparison of specimens that are merely granitic, such as gneiss or syenite. So in Botany, before the student can proceed with facility in the study and classification of plants, he needs to be familiar with at least a few characteristic specimens in the leading orders and genera. In penmanship the pupil acquires skill only by comparing the results of his efforts with the ideal which he has derived from his copy. The painter and the sculptor can excel only by a constant comparison of their work with the pictures and images existing in their own minds, gained either from nature or imagination; and even the humblest artisan makes progress in his craft only by comparing what he has made with some more perfect model.

Now something akin to this is needed by the student in the English language. He needs a standard of comparison, or rather a source whither he can repair for standards. If this is not indispensible it is very desirable; and to the want of it as I imagine, is due very much of the ill success and consequent disgust experienced by many of our pupils in the study of English Grammar. In the Latin may be found the requisite standard, or source of standards, for comparison. In the English the elements are heterogeneous, and the forms distorted; in the Latin both are comparatively distinct and well defined. In the English the rules of construction often appear absurd or even ridiculous. For example take one of the first and simplest :

"A finite verb must agree with its subject in Number and Person," and apply it in the inevitable

Here we have six different forms of the subject and but two of the verb. Will some ardent advocate of the study of English to the exclusion of the Latin tell us how he makes the application of the above rule intelligible to his pupils in this and similar cases? The mere tyro, with a little explanation, can understand the application of the rule in the Latin

or he can certainly do so with the subjects, implied in the inflection endings of the verb, supplied,

in which the six forms of the subject have six corresponding forms of the verb, in accordance with the rule. And so it is in instances almost numberless. The Latin is clear, consistent, intelligible; the English is far otherwise. The English abounds, so to speak, in granitic elements the Latin contains the true granite. Ranunculaceae grow in all the English fields; we find the genuine Ranunculus in the Latin. In the Latin the English artist finds —if not the models he is to imitate at least the models which most readily aid him towards perfection in his work.

Another important advantage derived from the study of Latin consists in the facility which it affords for acquiring a knowledge of the etymology and meaning of a large and important class of words which it has given to the English. These words abound especially in all scientific works, and to a very considerable extent in the popular and periodical literature of the day, and even in common conversation. Comparatively few sentences are uttered, either in business or in friendship, which do not contain more or less words of Latin origin.

A more satisfactory conception of the meaning of these, as every Latin scholar well knows, can be gained from the study of Latin than can possibly be obtained from an English Dictionary; and this can be effected, too, without any extra expenditure of time, for the necessary study is winning a harvest of knowledge in English fully equal to what could be gathered from the study of English alone during the same period.

The only way in which we can effectually learn to do any thing is to do it. We may learn how a thing is done by observing another; to know how to do it we must do it ourselves. It is in reference to this fact that the study of Latin is, in a very important sense, valuable to the English student. The main purpose, practically, of the English student is to acquire facitity and skill in the use of his mother tongue. In language, as in everything else, these are to be gained by practice; and I contend that the study of Latin, in a remarkable degree, calls for just the practice required. In the translation from Latin into English the first efforts of the student must necessarily be expended in ascertaining the thought, and then they must be employed in giving to the thought the best English expression in his power. He can employ no hackneyed forms; he can resort to no unvarying formulæ ; the exercise can never become humdrum and monotonous, nor can it be successfully performed by a half indolent kind of application,— all of which I fear are too often true in regard to pupils in the parsing and analysis of merely English composition, especially after they have acquired a considerable degree of familiarity with the usual forms. The study of Latin is almost wholly effected by the use of English; and this English must be original, and must vary with every new thought.

This, of course, calls for the exercise of ingenuity, discrimination and judgment, and thus affords another and an invaluable advantage, that of the very best kind of intellectual discipline. Certainly no other study calls into action a larger number of the faculties of the mind, or affords them a more healthy exercise. In addition to the rules for the construction of words and sentences, which require equal attention as in English, while they are more consistent and intelligible, the reason and judgment of the pupil are constantly called into exercise in deciphering the thought, while his skill and ingenuity are constantly tasked in selecting such words and forms as will enable him to the thought of the author with accuracy and in good idiomatic English.

express

But two or three questions will be likely to arise in the form of objections, which for want of time and space I shall be obliged to answer very briefly.

1st. Is the uniform introduction of Latin into our common schools practicable?

Not at present. Teachers properly qualified to give instruction in the language cannot be obtained in sufficient numbers. But this does not hinder the introduction of the study where teachers are qualified to teach it; and, were there a demand for it, our High Schools, Normal Schools, and Academies could within half a generation supply the requisite number. The facilities afforded by textbooks, now before the public, render the introduction of the study practicable for both teachers and pupils.

2d. But would the graduates of our High Schools, &c., be sufficiently thorough in their own attainments to promise success in teaching?

I see no sufficient reason to warrant a contrary opinion. It is true that Latin clumsily and imperfectly taught would be of comparatively little value. But this is equally true in other studies, and there is no good reason why a successful teacher in other branches should not be so in Latin. I think, in this case as in others, the supply would, both in quality and numbers, correspond to the demand.

3d. But our schools are already overcharged with studies. Can any time be found for Latin ?

I think so; and that, too, with an actual saving of time in the end. Let the study of Latin occupy much of the time now given to English, and I think without increasing the period of school attendance, our pupils would leave school educated, much better than at pretent.

I. F. C.

THE END OF THE WAR.

BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

Four summers coined their golden light in leaves;
Four wasteful autumns flung them to the breeze;
Four winters wore the shroud the tempest weaves;
The fourth wan April wept o'er hill and vale.

And still the war clouds scowled on sea and land,
With the red gleams of battle staining through,
When lo! as parted by an angel's hand

They open, and the heavens again are blue.

Which is the dream, the present or the past?
The night of anguish or the joyous morn?
The long, long years with horrors overcast,
Or the sweet promise of the day new-born?

Tell us, O father, as thine arms enfold

Thy belted first-born in thy fast embrace, Murmuring the prayer the patriarch breathed of old; "Now let me die, for I have seen thy face!"

Tell us, O mother!-nay, thou cans'st not speak,
But thy fond eyes shall answer, brimmed with joy—
Press thy mute lips against the sunbrowned cheek;
Is this a phantom-thy returning boy?

Tell us, O maiden!-ah! what canst thou tell
That Nature's record is not first to teach?
The open volume all can read so well,

With its twin crimson pages brim full of speech.

And ye who mourn your dead-how sternly true
The cruel hour that wrenched their lives away,
Shadowed with sorrow's midnight veil for you,
For them the dawning of immortal day!

Welcome, ye living! from the foeman's gripe
Your country's banner it was yours to wrest,
Ah, many a forehead shows the banner stripe,
And stars, once crimson, hallow many a breast.

And ye pale heroes, who from glory's bed

Mark when your old battalions form in line,
Move in their marching ranks with noiseless tread,
And shape unheard the evening countersign,

Come with your comrades, the returning brave;
Shoulder to shoulder they await you here;
These lent the life their martry-brothers gave-
Living and dead alike forever dear.