time her fields and vineyards; and to these causes of diminution of population were soon added famine and pestilence. The most highly-cultivated districts of ancient Italy, as for instance Latium, with her hundred cities, now present the dismal aspect of desolation. How melancholy are these changes! The very temples and groves dedicated to Hygeia and Esculapius are now the chosen seats of malaria ! Similar examples of desolation, resulting from the same causes in other countries, might be readily adduced. In the history of Holland we have a noble instance of how a people, sustained by free institutions, have been enabled not only to triumph over the most discouraging circumstances of physical geography, but even to convert these very circumstances into so many sources of wealth. Were these stimulants to industry, however, taken away by the oppression, for instance, of domestic tyrants, we should soon have, in proportion as her dikes fall to decay, another example of desolation breathing pestilence, and as a consequence depopulation. It is thus seen that history clearly establishes an inseparable connection between health and longevity on the one hand, and social order and good government on the other. The true sign of a real and permanent increase of population is, says Baron Humboldt, the increase of the means of subsistence; and hence we cannot but admit that an important truth is represented by the metaphorical expression of a political economist-" Wherever there is a loaf added, there is a man born.” All investigations of this nature lead clearly to the irresistible conclusion, that if, in God's government of the affairs of men, there is one truth more plainly written than another, it is, that in proportion as civil liberty and virtue prevail, in proportion as the laws are just, securing the greatest good of the greatest number, and in proportion as the people are industrious and enlightened, will man be exempt from disease, his life be longer, and his happiness greater; and in view of the great mortality of the lower classes, in teaching the poor man how to be healthy, he will to the same extent be taught how to be virtuous, prosperous, and contented. These facts are, indeed, of the highest importance equally to the philanthropist, the philosopher, and the Christian; for, while health is improved and the mean duration of life is extended through proper hygiènic measures, crime is, at the same time, diminished and prisons are emptied. As the maximum of the happiness of the mass is to be sought in the maximum of individual happiness, and as the sources of happiness have their origin in the depths of man's physical organization, it ought to be the leading object of all communities to reach the perfection of this physical condition. Indeed, according to the perfection or imperfection of the latter, if the regular course of life is interrupted by no accident, is its length or brevity. These two conditions exercise a mutual influence. If the physical condition is neglected, the mental powers cannot be fully developed; and the enjoyment of happiness, in truth, presupposes a certain degree of perfection in the physical organization. A sound physical condition is itself a rich source of enjoyment; while this very corporeal soundness is still further improved by a permanent state of enjoyment. Were these two conditions, then, always in harmony-a perfection of physical organization and a permanent state of mental enjoyment-human existence would always be extended to the utmost bounds compatible with original conformation. Longevity then is an object to be desired; for it is, as a general rule, coincident with happiness. Happiness without longevity there may be ; but the converse-longevity without happiness-is not possible, inasmuch as long life is incompatible with the mental condition that necessarily accompanies bad health. If the mind is in a state of suffering, to maintain the physical functions in a natural and vigorous condition is impossible. Let our object, therefore, be to impart and receive the largest measure of the noblest, the most exalted enjoyment. Enjoyment, however, is not to be understood as the only aim of life; but so closely are happiness and longevity connected, that it is the only condition of life compatible with a protracted term of existence. Longevity, it may be repeated, is surely desirable, inasmuch as it infers a well-spent, happy life. How precious, then, as bad men seldom attain longevity, are the days of a good old man who has entered the vale of years with chastened feelings and matured experience : "Age sits with decent grace upon his visage, How exceedingly important, in the judgment of the Jewish legis-. lator, was the attainment of longevity, appears, when, as the motive to every moral duty and every religious observance, he made the promise, THAT THY DAYS MAY BE LONG IN THE LAND WHICH THE LORD THY GOD HATH GIVEN THEE. ART. VIII.—Grammar of the Greek Language, for the use of High Schools and Colleges. By Dr. RAPHAEL KÜHNER, Conrector of the Lyceum, Hanover. Translated from the German by B. B. EDWARDS, Professor in the Theological Seminary, and S. H. TAYLOR, Principal of Phillips Academy, Andover. Pp. vi, 604. Andover: Allen, Morrill, & Wardwell. New-York: Mark H. Newman. London: Wiley and Putnam. 1844. WE heartily congratulate our readers, and all lovers of sound learning, on the appearance of this volume; and this not merely because it opens to all access to a Greek Grammar very much superior to those which have hitherto appeared in the English language, and offers a most valuable aid in the more thorough study of the Greek-such an aid as was to be found only in the German language-but also because it brings us assurance of the advancement making by our countrymen in the scientific study of language. We have an honest pride in claiming for our countrymen the credit of having put into an English dress the most scientific Greek Grammar which has yet been produced. It only remains for our colleges and universities to sustain the enterprising publishers, and we confidently look forward to the day when the grammar schools and academies will be supplied with elementary grammars suited to guide the learner in his first steps in the acquisition of the Greek language. This is not the first indication that a better spirit is abroad, and that we cannot longer be satisfied with the miserably meager things which passed under the name of Greek Grammars, such as Valpy's, Fisk's, and the like; nor even with the valuable but imperfect grammar of Buttmann, which, having accomplished its noble mission of good, must give place to others occupying a more advanced position. We shall now be able to put into the hands of our youth a grammar which cannot be mastered without not only securing a respectable knowledge of the language of which it gives the grammatical forms and the syntax, but, what is of more moment, giving a healthful exercise to the mind. This is a great gain for with regard to the poor apologies for Greek Grammars which most of our colleges, and our academies almost without exception, have adopted and retained as the vehicles of grammatical instruction in the Greek language, one might know everything contained in them and yet have no really accurate knowledge of Greek, and be as ignorant of the science of grammar as of Chinese. We can now judge whether our colleges mean to plod on in the old way, or to bestir themselves, and make an effort to keep pace with the progress of knowledge in this department by substituting copious and accurate grammars for the dull trash which too many of them have continued to countenance. We are glad that no school of higher grade can longer find an apology for wasting the time and means of youth in superficial and merely empirical teaching, and that we may hope to take out of the hands of the enemies of classical learning their most formidable weapon of attack. The English translation of Matthiæ's Greek Grammar was too copious and too expensive to be generally used in colleges, and was wholly unsuited to preparatory schools. It was adopted as a text-book in but one public institution in the country, so far as we are apprised, namely, the Virginia University, and there only for the graduating class. Rost's Greek Grammar, which has been translated in England, and deservedly has a very high reputation in Germany, has not been accessible to the American student unless conversant with German; and although it has very great merits, among which may be reckoned by some the simplicity of its classification, it is, at the same time, less satisfactory in its exhibition of the grammatical forms of words, and in the syntax gives a less complete view of the present state of grammatical science in this department. It seems to us that the translators have done a better service by selecting Kühner's Grammar to present to the American public, and that their offering should be thankfully accepted. Of the execution of the translation we have not the means of forming so accurate a judgment as we could desire, having before us only the first edition of the original, from which the second edition used by the translators would seem to vary considerably. The task of translating a grammar written in German is attended with difficulty, from the fact that the German language is so much richer than the English in forms by which to express, without circumlocution, the more exact relations between thoughts, and that it admits so much more readily compounds, however new, which can be imitated in English only to a very limited degree. Besides, to most merely English readers, the more recondite doctrines of grammar, and the terms in which they are conveyed, are more or less novel, and forms of expression which, to one familiar with the German writings on philosophy, are easy and of obvious import, can hardly be rendered directly and literally into English so as to convey a clear and definite sense. The translator has to choose between two difficulties; either he must render the original less literally, or he must appear in a dress somewhat foreign, and adopt forms of expression which may offend the English reader's taste. The translators have chosen the latter course, and by adhering closely to the original have sometimes admitted expressions which to many readers may seem obscure or harsh. We are not sure that it would not be better, in the general, to attempt no more than to seize the idea of the author, and aim simply to transfer it into the more usual forms of the English language. What is the obvious meaning of the term "principal sentence?" (§ 259.) In English we speak of the chief or leading as opposed to the subordinate member of a proposition; but the term "principal sentence" conveys quite another notion, and one not intended by the original. It may be hoped, however, that the careful student will hardly fail of apprehending the sense of the translated text, aided especially, as he will be, by the examples adduced in illustration. And, so far as we have found opportunity to examine the translation, we can commend it as furnishing as good a version of the original as the liberal mode adopted could be expected to afford. The occasion of introducing to our readers a translation of a highly-valued grammar would seem to allow us the privilege of saying something of the absolute merits of the original work itself; and under other more favorable circumstances, namely, with less constraint than our narrow limits and the necessary character of this notice impose on us, we would willingly, though with much diffidence of our qualifications for it, address ourselves to the task. As it is, we will venture briefly to set down some things which our acquaintance with Dr. Kühner's Grammar has suggested to us. While we cordially concur in the general sentence of approbation which Dr. Kühner's grammars have met with, we have at the same time found in the Schulgrammatik, as well as in his Ausführliche Grammatik, what we conceive to be defects and errors worthy of note. Thus the foundation of the etymology is laid in the nature and relations of the sounds represented by the letters; and the explanation of these we expect to find in the definition of the two great classes of letters, vowels and consonants. The former are articulate sounds formed by the uninterrupted emission of the air through the vocal tube; and the difference between one vowel sound and another is made by the peculiar shape given to the vocal tube, and its compression or expansion at certain points: compare a and o, e and i. The latter are articulate sounds formed by the interruption of the air as it proceeds along the vocal tube; and the difference between one consonant and another is made by interrupting the air at different points, and with greater or less force: compare b with c, or g, d, t, uttered at the end of a syllable, as eb, ec, ed, et. Again, the liquids or semivowels are formed by a parVOL. IV.-40 |