Page:The Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology, Volume 1, 1854.djvu/295

 Notices o/Neiv Boolcs. 285 graphy. By their help he has produced a work which, in point of information, interest and impartiality, may be favourably contrasted with most English books on the subject Dr Hallam's amongst the number. Its great defect is, that it appears to be based more on secondary autho- rities than on an independent study of original texts. This may be inferred (for instance) from such a note as this (Vol. I. p. 144) : " Nes- torius appears to have answered this attack with moderation."] J. E. B. M. Lyra Grceca : Specimens of the Greek Lyric Poets from Callinus to Sout- sos. Edited, with Critical Notes and a Biographical Introduction, by James Donaldson, M.A., Greek Tutor to the University of Edinburgh. [This little work, thus accurately epitomised in the title-page, does credit to the taste and judgment of its editor, and will, we doubt not, find its way into our classical schools. In making his selection, the Editor has been guided by various considerations. He says in the preface, " I have sometimes chosen a poem because of its beauty; sometimes because of its historical interest; sometimes because it is representative of a large class of poems : and sometimes because it is the best, or most convenient, specimen of the poet which could be obtained/' The word Lyric is used by Mr Donaldson as a general term including Elegiac and Bucolic, so that we find here specimens of Solon and Theo- critus as well as Pindar and Sappho. We may be permitted to doubt whether Soutsos and Kokkinakes are entitled, either by the matter or the form of their poems, to be joined in the same volume with the old bards. Not that we undervalue the study of Romaic, or, as it is the fashion to call it, Neo-Hellenic. The advanced scholar will always find himself repaid for the trouble of its acquisition by the light which it throws on many perplexing questions of Grammar and Prosody: but boys commencing the study of the old language will only be puzzled by the attempt to learn simultaneously the modern jargon. Moreover the efforts, highly creditable in themselves, which have been made of late years to restore the ancient idiom, have spoilt the interest of modern Greek as a philological study. It is always worth while to trace the natural changes of a language, its progress or decay not so when, as in this case, the natural decay has been artificially arrested. So a restored ruin is no object of architectural study when the new work cannot be distinguished from the old. Such at least is our opinion ; but, as our friend Professor Blackie tells us, we have many prejudices south of the Tweed. Now that we are by way of making objections, we may say that per- haps it would be better in a second Edition to omit the Biographical summaries, the sources of which are easily accessible, in Dr Smith's Dictionary to wit, and to devote the space to additional notes.