To what extent was this license carried in the Choruses? Mention some other particulars in which the language of the Tragedians differed from the ordinary language of their Athenian contemporaries.

'Mention a few of the most distinguishing features of the four principal dialects of Greece, observable in the inflexions of the nouns and verbs.

In what parts of Greece and its dependencies were the Æolic, Ionic, Doric and Attic dialects spoken?

Explain distinctly the usages of the indicative, subjunctive, and optative moods after ås, öæws, ‘iva, "ó@ga.

'Give a short account of the Digamma, mentioning some of the words of most common occurrence to which it seems to have been affixed by Homer. By what later poets (any of whose remains are still extant) was it used? At what time did each flourish? How late can the use of this consonant be traced in any part of Greece? 'What signification does av give to the different moods of a verb? 'Give some of the distinctions observable between the Doric language of Pindar and that of the Bucolic poets.

Give some instances of the peculiar signification of middle verbs. How far can the middle be deemed a distinct voice from the passive? 'Explain the error of Grammarians which led them to assign a second future to the active and middle voices.

Translate the following passage into Greek and place the accents on the words: Thus we find, &c.'

10. Latin Language.

Trace the origin of the Latin language from the Eolic or oldest dialect of the Greek; and show the resemblance which exists in par ticular classes of words in the two languages, giving examples of each. 'Give instances of the changes made by Horace in each of the Lyric metres which he borrowed from the Greeks.

Who are the Greek poets, besides Homer, from whom Virgil bas borrowed? Quote instances of his evident imitations of each.'

paper,

and the

Such is the discipline, such are the tasks required of the students at this celebrated English university! In the performance of which, too, 'they are allowed only pen, ink, and limited period of two or three hours or more, according to the length and difficulty of the task.' At the period when we were at our own Cambridge, (we do not pretend to speak of its present improved state,) the very idea of performing such exercises would have petrified both student and instructer.

We might have extended these extracts from the works of Pro

fessor Monk much farther, if we had not been apprehensive of wearying the reader. Some persons may, perhaps, think that we have already gone beyond what was necessary. But in a question

of practical education, which is our great aim in this Journal, nothing would be more unsatisfactory than a train of general remarks, even though clothed in the most attractive language. As, in the common arts of life we must know the different processes and manipulations, so in the most important of all, the art of education, we must patiently and carefully examine details even to the minutest particulars; agreeably to the sentiment of that truly practical and admirable writer on education, Quintilian—‘ad minora illa, sed, quæ si negligas, non sit majoribus locus, demittere me non recusabo.** In the present instance, too, we have flattered ourselves, that many of our young readers, whose education is not yet completed, would take a lively interest in seeing specimens of the exercises and modes of study prescribed to those of their own age in that nation, which speaks the same language with ourselves, and whose literature is ours.

In order, however, to complete our view of the literary discipline of the English universities, it is proper for us to add some further remarks, relative to the manner of conducting the examinations of the students, including those which take place annually, or oftener, during the college course, and those which are preparatory to giving degrees. On the former, Mr. Wainewright observes

'In describing the incentives to the cultivation of general literature, it is perhaps impossible to mention any thing more conducive to this great object, than a regulation which has been for many years adopted by several of our collegiate bodies; nor need I apprehend any inclination to dispute the truth of this assertion, when I name the college examinations, which owe their introduction into this place of education to Dr. Powell, formerly master of St. John's College. The students are examined once, and in some instances twice, every year, in the halls of their respective colleges, not only in classical and mathematical learning, but on various points of history, geography, chronology, and antiquities. At the termination, a list is formed of all who have passed this literary trial, in which the names are arranged according to their comparative merit, and rewards are allotted to those individuals who compose the two first classes. Many, to whom the acquisition of fame has no charms, and who are content to keep the noiseless tenor of their way,' may elude the severity of the general or university examinations, as well as some share of the opprobrium inseparably attached to ignorance and stupidity, by an open avowal of their aversion to the branches of science particularly appropriated to those occasions, and their total indifference to the attainment of distinction. But in these more private examinations, the number of candidates being smaller, and the contest lying between those who daily associate with each other, the abilities of each can

not fail to be properly appreciated, and a spirit of emulation is per haps more effectually excited.'

But it is chiefly to the severe examinations for degrees, that we are desirous at this time of calling the attention of those who are entrusted with the education of youth in our own country. Our author gives the following account of them, as they are conducted in England:

It is required by the statutes, that every candidate for the first degree in arts should have resided in the university the greater part of nine terms; which, unless interrupted by casual circumstances, occupies the space of three years. In the month of January of every successive year, all who have completed this required residence, and have kept the appointed exercises in the philosophical schools, are called upon to undergo a general and public examination, before they can offer themselves for admission to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. This examination takes place in the Senate house; and commencing on the first Monday in Lent term, continues with scarcely any intermission for five days. The candidates, it should be observed, are previously divided into classes, each class consisting of those whose proficiency appears to be nearly upon an equality, as far as can be ascertained from their former disputations in the schools.

There are three orders of distinction, termed honors, held out to the ambition of these literary competitors, and in each of these divisions or orders are contained from fourteen to eighteen individuals, though they are not restricted to any precise number, nor can any thing be better regulated for the excitement of emulation and the complete developement of the mental powers. The examiners principally consist of those Masters of Arts who have presided at the disputations in the schools, and who at the same time are most distinguished by their experience as preceptors, by their attainments in science, and by their acknowledged impartiality of conduct; and so scrupulously attentive are they to the duties of their arduous and in many respects, ungrateful office. that it rarely or never happens that any real objection can be discovered to their decisions in estimating the comparative merits of the numerous rivals for pre-eminence.

6

Four days are appropriated to questions and problems in natural philosophy and the various branches of mathematical science, commencing so low as with examples in vulgar and decimal fractions, and the elements of Euclid, and at length extending to the most difficult parts of Newton's Principia, Cotes's Harmonia Mensurarum, the anaİytical works of Dr. Waring, and to the more intricate propositions of the Fluxionary Calculus. The remaining day out of the five, which in point of order is the fourth, is occupied by examinations in moral and political philosophy, natural theology, logic, and metaphysics.

One very excellent regulation takes place in these examinations, to which I bave already adverted, and which I cannot but consider as

in many respects superior to the mode adopted by the sister university; and that is, that every answer is required to be given in plain unperplexed writing, even in those cases which admit of oral explanation.

This method, while it removes the perpetual obstacle arising from embarrassment, is certainly conducive to a greater degree of accuracy, and at the same time creates no impediment to that readiness of reply, which, though it is in many cases an indication of quickness of mind, is frequently nothing more than the result of undeviating application. To whichever plan the preference be given, it is obvious that be who answers with precision the greatest number of questions in the same portion of time, must be entitled to the honorable distinction of precedence. These written replies are respective. ly subscribed with the writer's name, and at the close of each day, they are submitted to the careful perusal of the examiners, who keep an accurate register of the labors of the several candidates, accompa. nied with their appropriate marks of merit. At the conclusion of the fifth day, after a laborious investigation of the accumulated papers, the arbiters complete their final adjudication; on the following day a list of the honorati is publicly affixed in the Senate House and the scene terminates with the ceremony of admission to the first degree of Bachelor of arts.

'I should also mention,' says our author in a note, that at the commencement of the last day of examination, another classification or bracketing as it is here termed, is made of the different candidates, as it has now become more easy to fix upon those who are possessed of nearly equal merit. This new arrangement, of course, brings the matter within a narrower compass, and adds fresh vigor to the contest, which is now to decide the final situation of each individual. The point of difference is sometimes so imperceptible that two antagonists are opposed to each other in a separate bracket, and it is not till after repeated trials, that any superiority can be discovered in either party."*

* As nothing relating to the University, from which our own takes its name, can be uninteresting to us, we subjoin here an explanation of the honors mentioned in the preceding account of the examinations:

'The appellations given to these three orders of honors can only be familiar to those who have been educated at Cambridge-Wranglers, Senior Optimes and Junior Optimes. The envied student who passes the best examination in the Senate House is called the Senior Wrangler, a title which, however singular it may appear to strangers, confers a reputation never forgotten in after life. They who follow next in the same division are respectively termed second, third, fourth, &c. Wrangler. In a similar manner they who compose the second rank of honors are designated by the titles of first, second, third, &c. Senior Optime, as are the individuals of the last order, by those of first, second, third, &c. Junior Optime. All who, from idleness or inability, are not found to merit a place among the honorati, and cherish as their favorite maxim the sentiment in the Ajax of Sophocles, 'Ev τῷ ἐξονεῖν γὰς μηδεν, ήδιστος βίος, are merely arranged in classes ; but even the ot 76, as they are emphatically termed, take precedence according to their proficiency. It is also customary to print the names of those who have acquired honors, in two separate lists, which are afterwards publicly recited and distributed

We had intended to confine our remarks in this article to the university of Cambridge; but having before us an account of the examinations at Oxford also, we think it will be useful to lay before our readers in one view, all the information we can collect upon a subject of such importance. We therefore add here from a well known work, entitled a 'Reply to the Calumnies of the Edinburgh Review against Oxford,' a particular account of the examinations now adopted at that university:

Constant admonition, the consciousness of an overseeing eye, the fear of reproof, and the hope of praise, are of service, are even necessary, to overcome the desultory habits of youth, to check its wanderings, to fix its resolutions, and keep it to its purpose. These however are secondary and incidental powers; they serve to refit and keep the machinery in order; but the great spring, which moves and invigorates the whole, is emulation.

According to the last regulations, the university honors are obtained in the following manner.

When the student is about two years standing, he is subject to a public examination, which admits him, not to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, but to that intermediate step, which still retains its old title of Sophista Generalis. The old exercise was a logical disputation in the public schools on three philosophical questions, which had long dwindled into an insignificant form, before the present exercise was substi tuted in its room. At this previous examination he is expected to construe accurately some one Greek and one Latin hook at least: the most difficult works are not required or encouraged, as there is no competition between the candidates, and an accurate grammatical acquaintance with the structure of the two languages is the point chiefly inquired into. Xenophon, Homer, Herodotus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Demosthenes, among the Greeks, and Virgil, Horace, Sallust, Livy, and Cicero among the Latins, are the most usual books. Besides this, he is examined in some compendium of logic, (generally Aldrich's,) and in Euclid's elements of geometry. It is not thought reputable for a candidate to have omitted either of these branches, but one of them is absolutely required; and in all cases he is made to translate a passage from some English author into Latin. All this is done in public. Eight candidates may be examined in one day, who are all present during the whole time; and there is commonly merous attendance of junior students. Indeed there must of necessity be an audience, because every candidate is bound to attend one examination before he is examined bitself. The number however, far exceeds what the statute requires, and the school is often quite

a nu

in the schools, and in the presence of the Vice-Chancellor, the Proctors and other officers of the University.. One of these lists contains the names of the Wranglers and Senior Optimes, and the other, those of the Junior Optines; and they are respectively distinguished by the titles of the first and second Tripos.'