say how the real meaning of each pretended preposition came to be lost sight of?

"XXXV. S. By the negligence of Grammarians and Compilers of Dictionaries. Instead of producing examples which formed complete Sentences, (as in Dr. Johnson's Dictionary) wherein one might have discovered, (though Dr. Johnson did not) the real force, and consequently the meaning of the pretended preposition, they perhaps at first, for the sake of saving a little expence in paper, contented themselves with adducing parts of a sentence, the resolution of every one of which may have been clear to them: but, frequently, a part of a sentence can be understood only by means of another part, or some other parts, of the same; and, I am afraid a great deal of time will elapse before the mischief they have thus done can be repaired. I repeat it: they ought to have compared together several whole sentences, so framed as to point out the variations of meaning in each pretended preposition, and to enable one to reduce all such words to distinct classes."

We see no necessity for introducing into the Science of Grammar, a science already sufficiently perplexed by obscure terms and technical jargon, such words as operator, cooperator, forerunner, &c. &c. The author of the present treatise appears himself to be aware of the uselessness of such distinctions. "The name preposition," he admits, "would, after all, characterize that sort of words nearly as well as the name forerunner, if grammarians had been fully acquainted with the several meanings and functions of each, &c." In proportion, therefore, as grammarians and others make themselves acquainted with the several meanings and functions of certain classes of words, there is the less necessity for any new-fangled terms concerning them.

We are informed by Mr. Salmon, (p. 100.) that " a curve line may be so continued, that on the two extremes meeting, a sort of circle will be the result!" We do not imagine that the circle of mathematical science will be much enlarged by this discovery.

We know nothing of the author's age, nor have we any thing to do with it in passing a judgment on his work, but there appear to be strong marks of the garrulity of declining years in some of the anecdotes, which he has introduced, we suppose, to enliven the dulness of philological enquiries, particularly that respecting the name of Dubuisson, which is described as being corrupted by the vulgarity of English mouths into Biz-zawn;—the etymology of the word Guillotine;-the story of the crazy old woman, whom the author saw once on a time gleaning;-with others of a similar description. We select, however, with pleasure, from this general censure, the

anecdote relating to the corruption (commonly called the re finement) of the French language, on the arrival of Catherine of Medicis in France. (p. 11-12.)

Until the arrival of Catherine of Medicis in France, never had the French dipthong oi been pronounced otherwise than it is yet in Roi, in Exploit, (that is, of was pronounced as wah would be in English.) But, as the Italians with whom the Court became in undated, had not that sound in their language, they chose to substitute in its stead the sound of the open è (equal to the first e in the English word were;) and soon their pronunciation, affected by the courtiers in order to please the Queen, was adopted by the ci tizens. No one presumed, without running the risk of being called a pedant, to pronounce the national adjective François, Françoise, otherwise than Francès, Francèse. (Henri Estienne, du nouveau langage François italianisé, p. 22.)

In short, Mr. Salmon, who is by birth a Frenchman, though he has given us ample proofs of his familiar acquaintance with the English language, appears eminently qualified to instruct his country men in the fundamental prínciples of their language, in which they seem to have discovered more ignorance than any nation upon earth, having frittered it away at last into mere sound without sense; its periods" inopes rerum nugæque canora!"

We recommend, particularly, to every Frenchman, who wishes to understand his own language, the various observations contained in the explanations and resolutions of French prepositions, including the etymological remarks on the particle en, (p. 53-54.)-We are inclined, nevertheless, to doubt the validity of the author's decisions, when he tells us, (p. 160.) that the French verb connoitre is not derived from the Latin verb cognoscere, but from cunno, (knowing or cunning,) and istre, (for être, to be,) i. e. to be knowing; or, to know! We are rather disposed to trace the genealogy of the verb thus:

It would lead us, however, beyond the limits necessarily prescribed to us, were we to discuss the merits of every etymological investigation pursued in the present treatise, which we recommend to the philological student, as containing much information compressed within a small compass, and published, as such works ought to be, without any ostentation, parade, or unnecessary expence,

M. Fabii Quinctiliani de Institutione Oratoria Libri Duodecim, juxta editionem Gottingensem Johannis Matthiæ Gesneri. Accedunt Prafatio et Indices Copiosissimi. 2 vols. 8vo. Oxonii: E. Typegrapheo Clarendoniano. Price 19s.

THE excellence of Gesner's edition of Quinctilian has been long acknowledged by scholars, who, at the same time, have lamented that so valuable a work should have been disgraced by the gross typographical errors, which so frequently appear not only in the notes and indices, but in the text. From a laborious collation of the whole work, and particularly of the more difficult passages, we are enabled to assure our readers that these errors are now corrected in a manner highly creditable to the present editor, who evidently appears to possess no inconsiderable degree of accuracy and judgment, and that what he professes, in the following neat advertisement, to be the object of this new edition, has been most fully and faithfully accomplished.

LECTORI MONITUM.

"Tertius fere annus est, ex quo certiores facti M. F. Quinctiliant De Institutione Oratoria exemplaria, quæ communi usui inservirent, et modico pretio constarent, vix aut ne vix quidem inveniri, huie <incommodo remedium adhibere in animum induximus. Eo igitur - consilio, Gesneri Editionem, quæ A. D. 1738 Gottingæ prodiit, et optima notæ inter recentiores habebatur, typis Academicis repe- tendam censuimus; haud dubitantes quin nova Editio brevi ab(solveretur. Quæ quidem nos aliqua ex parte fefellit opinio. Vixdum enim juchoato opere tot tantaque in libro Gottingensi offendimus vitia, ut necesse fuerit pedetentim procedere, et recensionem quamdam istius Editionis inter imprimendum instituere. Itaque plurima passim correximus, et verba nonnulla hie illic, præ typographi Gottingensis incuria, ut videtur, omissa, textui restituimus: rerum tamen momentis prius diligenter perpensis, et probabili quaque Editione, Burmanniana præsertim, in consilium adhibita. Nec minus sedulam animadversionibus castigandis impendimus operam, quippe qui singula loca, sive ex veteribus sive ex recentioribus Auctoribus, a Gesnero citata conferri curavimus : rem eo magis molestie plenam, quod ille notitiam Editionum a se usurpatarunt, quarum nonnullæ haud ubiqué in promtu erant, plane nullam præmiserit. Indices porro non sine magno negotio recensuimus, notis numericis ad unam omnibus recognitis; unde factum est innumera fere menda fuisse sublata. Itaque dum Gesnem Editionem repetimus, emendatiorem quoque illam, et studizėsorum usibus magis accommodatam, in medium proferre speramus. Dabamus ex Edibus Clareadonianis, Oct. 24, MDCCCVI.

*The Rev. J. Carpenter, of Hertford College.

BIOGRAPHY.

The Life of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Forces during the War which established the Independence of his Country, and first President of the United States. Com piled under the inspection of the Hon. Bushrod Washington, from Original Papers bequeathed to him by his deceased relative. To which is prefixed an Introduction, containing a compendious view of the Colonies planted by the English on the continent of North America. By John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, &c. &c. Two Editions, in 5 vols. 4to. and 8vo.* Price 4to. 7 guineas, 8vo. 2 guineas.

THE lives and characters of illustrious men necessarily engage the attention of their contemporaries, and are at the same time calculated to excite the most lively solicitude on the part of succeeding generations. Among modern names, that of Washington, must be allowed to stand unrivalled in point of pre-eminence. Alike great in war and in peace, in arms and in the arts of government, he fought for what he considered the cause of liberty, and more fortunate than most of the heroes of antiquity, he triumphed also. After contributing not a little, to the salvation of his native country, he assisted in the conclusion of a peace, which rendered America independent. He then averted the civil strife, which threatened discord and disunion, and after living to complete a commercial treaty with a nation (Great Britain) best calculated to supply what was wanting to the prosperity of the United States, he was snatched away in the zenith of his reputation, and bewailed with tears excited by gratitude and attachment on the part of fellow-citizens. But this was not all, for no conqueror of the present, or almost any former day, stands so conspicuous on the score of disinterestedness. He fought, he freed, and he overcame not for himself, but for the land which gave him birth. No paltry ambition fired his mind. He aspired to no titles or distinctions for his own person, no aggrandizement for his family. With the sovereign authority, at one critical period, almost within his grasp, he never for a single moment yielded to the dictates of that ambition which has usually been considered as the infirmity of noble minds, but like Andrew Doria, after contributing to the emancipation of his country, remained content with the station of a private individual. It is thus that the fame of Washington will remain pure and unsullied, while that of some modern victors, must

This work was completed by the publication of the fifth volume in Novembey last.

be for ever disfigured with narrow views, and interested principles, by the furtherance of which, a single individual becomes great at the expence of a whole community!!!

In reviewing the five volumes now before us, we intend to follow the analytical method, and before we give a character of so important a work, which is at length completed, we wish to enable the reader himself to judge of its arrangement and of its merits.

The first portion of it consists of a dedication to the late Marquis of Lansdowne, who concluded that peace, which placed England and America in their present relative situations, and from whose collection, the portrait of the subject. of the present niemoirs was engraved.

In the preface the author points out the importance of the subject, and expresses his high opinion of the hero whose exploits he is about to celebrate.

"It was his peculiar lot," says he, "to be equally useful in btaining the independence, and consolidating the civil institutions of his country. We perceive him at the head of her armies, during a most arduous and perilous war, on the events of which her national existence was staked, supporting with invincible fortitude the unequal conflict. That war being happily terminated, and the political revolutions of America requiring that he should once more relinquish his beloved retirement, we find him guiding her councils with the same firmness, wisdom, and virtue, which had long and successfully been displayed in the field.

"We behold him her chief magistrate, at a time when her happiness, her liberty, perhaps her preservation depended on so administering the aflairs of the Union, that a government standing entirely on the public favour, which had with infinite difficulty been adopted, and against which the most inveterate prejudices had been incited, should conciliate public opinion, and acquire a firmness and stabilny that would enable it to resist the rudę shocks it was destined to sustain. It was too his peculiar fortune to afford the bright examples of moderation and patriotism, by voluntarily divesting himself of the highest military and civil honours, when the public interests no longer demanded that he should retain them. We find him retiring from the head of a victorious army which adored him, as soon as the object for which arms had been taken up was accomplished; and withdrawing from the highest office an American citizen can hold, as soon as his influence, his character, and his talents ceased to be necessary to the maintenance of that government which had been established under his auspices."

After this we are told, that the American Chief deserves no small title to glory, from the consideration, that he "never despaired of the public safety," and that in order to estimate his worth, we must "contemplate his difficulties."