lowed vision? It is a spectacle of men, and the likeness thereof is as the likeness of the Thirty-one Boston Schoolmasters still flogging boys and FLOGGING GIRLS!" - p. 164. He But enough of fault-finding. If our remarks have given pain, we are sorry for it; but a regard for judicial fairness leaves no alternative but to expose mistakes and errors, wherever they may be found. The attack of the Boston Teachers upon the Board of Education and its Secretary has failed, signally and disgracefully failed. Mr. Mann has not only amply vindicated his character and motives, but has gained a large accession of respect and influence by the proofs that have been exhibited of his zeal, his industry, and his untiring devotion to the cause. If he has shown any undue sensitiveness under the criticism of his favorite plans of improvement, or any improper warmth in defending them, he may still boast, that these very failings manifest the strength and heartiness of his attachment to the cause. should consider, that his especial office is to propose for consideration all schemes of reform in discipline and instruction, which may come under his notice; while that of others is to weigh them, and decide upon the propriety of their introduction into the schools. Strenuous objections to any of these plans do not necessarily convey any imputation upon him, or upon the propriety of his course in bringing them before the public. He can now afford to be generous, and to welcome his late opponents to a full participation in his labors for extending and perfecting the system of common schools throughout the State. The great business of educating the children of this commonwealth imperatively demands the undivided attention and active coöperation of both parties; and great will be the responsibility incurred by both, if they disregard this call in order to keep up a discussion, which now promises, if continued further, to degenerate into a miserable personal controversy. We can hardly conceive it possible, that the great enterprise of the Board of Education of Massachusetts should excite jealousy, distrust, or active opposition in any quarter. The evident disinterestedness of all the persons engaged in it; the impossibility of converting it into a means for the furtherance of political or sectarian ends; the union of all parties, sects, interests, and districts in its favor; the sacred character of the objects it proposes to accomplish; the good it has already effected; and the wide sphere of usefulness which yet remains for it ; — these are its titles to confidence and respect. The history of the few and insignificant attempts to check its progress is full of instruction. It has triumphed over every one of them, gaining fresh vigor and popularity by the effort, while its assailants have been silenced and disgraced. It has overcome the coldness and skepticism which were the most natural and formidable obstacles to it at the beginning, and it is now so firmly supported by the respect and gratitude of the community at large, that any direct opposition to it is not only futile, but pitiable. The Boston Teachers might as well attempt to dam up the Mississippi, as to stay its progress. They do not need to make the attempt; for if they are faithful to themselves and to the interests intrusted to their charge, it will redound to their own reputation and advantage. It will exalt the dignity of their office; it will surround them with the sympathies of the public; it will put into their hands new aids and appliances for the performance of their duties; it will advance the reputation of their schools; it will secure to them a richer harvest of esteem and gratitude from their pupils, who will be indebted to them for a more comprehensive, liberal, and profitable education than they now receive. Let them cheer it onward, then, instead of throwing themselves before it, so as to be prostrated and crushed by its irresistible momentum. ART. X.-CRITICAL NOTICES. 1.- The Library of American Biography. Conducted by JARED SPARKS. Second Series. Vol. III. Boston: Charles Little and James Brown. 1844. 12mo. pp. 438. WE have often called the attention of our readers to the successive volumes of Mr. Sparks's "Library," yet not with greater frequency than was warranted by the interesting nature of the matter contained in them, and by the great value of such fresh and well prepared contributions to the stores of American history. The thirteen volumes, to which the work now extends, em brace an amount of biographical and historical information, strictly American in its character, which would be vainly sought elsewhere, being derived in many cases from materials that now exist only in manuscript, or are very difficult of access. On the other hand, the portion derived from well known and easily accessible sources is so complete, succinct, and well digested, as either to obviate the necessity of applying to the original works at all, or materially to lessen the labor of consulting them. The great range of the editor's inquiries, and his long experience in historical investigations, enable him to point out all the fountains whence knowledge can be obtained, and his fellow-laborers have generally used the materials which he has put into their hands with diligence and good taste. If the patronage of the public should allow the work to be continued to a sufficient length, it will form an illustrative complement to the general history of this country, which will be invaluable to the student either of that history, or of the politics, the literature, the science, or the antiquities of our American confederacy. We consider it as a national work, which will not only richly repay immedi ate and continuous perusal, but will be of great value for preservation and reference in future years. It will be a matter of good omen for the taste of our countrymen, if, amidst the flood of trashy and ephemeral publications now issuing from the press, the worth of such a standard work should be generally recognized, and the editor be encouraged to carry it onward to its natural close. To show how much he has already accomplished, it may be worth while to give a full list of the individuals whose biogra phies are now included in the work, distributing them, for convenience, into three classes, according as they belong to the Colonial times, to the annals of the Revolution, or to the history of American politics, science, and literature. In the first class, we find the names of Cotton Mather, Sir William Phips, Sebastian Cabot, Robert de la Salle, General Oglethorpe, Jacob Leisler, Nathaniel Bacon, John Mason, John Eliot, John Smith, and Sir Henry Vane; to the second belong William Ellery, Israel Putnam, Baron Steuben, Patrick Henry, James Otis, General Sullivan, John Stark, Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold, Richard Montgomery, and Anthony Wayne; and in the third are ranked William Pinckney, Lucretia M. Davidson, David Rittenhouse, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, William Eaton, Alexander Wilson, and Charles Brockden Brown. It is obvious from this list, that the work is yet far from being complete, many names of much note and interest remaining for the future biographer. Among the writers of the lives already published, besides the editor himself, are the two Everetts, Henry Wheaton, W. H. Prescott, W. B. O. Peabody and his brother, General Armstrong, Professor Channing, William Ware, and C. F. Hoffman. The literary execution of the several volumes is quite as good as might be expected from such contributors. In the volume now before us, which is the one last published, we find a life of General Sullivan, by Mr. O. W. B. Peabody; of Jacob Leisler, by Mr. Charles F. Hoffman; of Nathaniel Bacon, by the Rev. William Ware; and of Major John Mason, by the Rev. George E. Ellis. No separate biography of either of these individuals has ever before appeared in print; and important manuscript materials having been freely used in the preparation of these memoirs, the book has the attraction of novelty, as well as high historic interest, and literary merit. Two of the persons here commemorated, Jacob Leisler and Nathaniel Bacon, were the leaders of the popular party in the two most remarkable contests between the government and the people which took place in the Colonial times, and which in some measure prepared the minds of men for the final separation of this country from the English dominions. In the language of their own day, they were rebels, and one of them perished, as such, on the scaffold, while the other was probably rescued from the same ignominious fate only by his sudden death. The general sentiment of posterity has reversed this harsh judgment of their rulers, and now honors them as martyrs to the true patriot cause. Few persons can read the brief and simple narrative, here given, of the events in which they were concerned, without acknowledging their claim to be considered among the earliest and most honored defenders of popular rights on this side of the Atlantic. The life of General Sullivan is a neat and interesting sketch of a man, whose character and services on the field during the Revolutionary contest, and in the civil affairs of his native State after the peace, deserve to be remembered with respect and gratitude. Mr. Ellis has shown the zeal and industry of an antiquarian, as well as the taste of a scholar, in commemorating the exploits of one of those stout old Puritans, ever ready to worship God and to fight the Indians, to whom our fathers were indebted for protection against the numerous perils which surrounded their home in the wilderness. 2.- Syntax of the Latin Language, chiefly from the German of C. G. Zumpt. By CHARLES BECK, Professor of Latin in Harvard University. Second Edition. Boston: James We are very glad to see, that this excellent and philosophical treatise on the syntax of the Latin language has passed to a second edition. As it was not noticed in our pages when first published, we avail ourselves of this late occasion to draw the attention of our readers to it, and to pay a just tribute to its merits. Though modestly stated on the title-page to be taken chiefly from the German of Žumpt, it is so much enlarged and improved, and so admirably adapted to the wants of the English student, that it might well claim to be an original work, so far, that is, as any complete work on a fixed topic which has been studied for centuries, like the Latin language, can be said to be original. Yet we commend the good taste shown by this modest announcement, which is in striking contrast with the arrogant ignorance of too many pretenders to scholarship in this country, who boldly stand forward as the authors of works on philosophical or classical subjects, which they have filched, either piecemeal or entire, from some European repository of learning. The high reputation of Dr. Beck has been well earned by the care and precision with which he has finished every work that has appeared under his name. He applies the file to his books with a degree of dexterity and exactness, that might be inferred from the neatness and idiomatic finish of his English style, which preserves not a trace of his German origin and education. This patient and thorough elaboration is very necessary in treating of Latin syntax, as the genius of the language requires so many subtile distinctions to be caught and expressed, and as very slight shades of meaning are indicated by differences of grammatical construction. We would refer the student of this little book to the chapter which treats of the subjunctive mood, for numerous illustrations of this remark. To remove the ambiguity or doubt which might still remain for the younger pupil, each principle is illustrated by a copious selection of examples, the analysis of which will afford a key to every difficulty. The division and arrangement of topics proceed on a simple and clear method, so that, especially with the aid of a very complete index subjoined to the work, one is at no loss to find a rule applicable to every case. The final section, on the use of the particles, embracing a very succinct account of some of the most troublesome peculiarities of the language, appears to us to be admirably executed. |