d history (or, as latterly expressed, 'literature--including books
selected by the candidate')'. It is the Language, Literature, and
History of Rome, Greece, &c. And the examination questions show the
exact scope of these adjuncts, and also the values attached to them, as
compared with the language by itself.

Let us consider this matter a little. Take History first, as being the
least perplexed. Greece and Rome have both a certain lasting importance
attaching to their history and institutions; and these accordingly are a
useful study. Of course, the extant writings are the chief groundwork of
our knowledge of these, and must be read. But, at the present day, all
that can be extracted from the originals is presented to the student in
English books; and to these he is exclusively referred for this part of
his knowledge. In the small portion of original texts that a pupil at
school or college toils through, he necessarily gets a few of the
historical facts at first hand; but he could much more easily get these
few where he gets the rest--in the English compilations. Admitting,
then, that the history and institutions of Greece and Rome constitute a
valuable education, it is in our power to secure it independently of the
original tongues.

The other branch--Literature--is not so easily disposed of. In fact, the
separating of the literature from the language, you will say, is a
self-evident absurdity. That, however, only shows that you have not
looked carefully into examination papers. I am not concerned with what
the _a priori_ imagination may suppose to be Literature, but with the
actual questions put by examiners under that name. I find that such
questions are, generally speaking, very few, perhaps one or two in a
long paper, and nearly all pertain to the outworks of literature, so to
speak. Here is the Latin literature of one paper:--In what special
branch of literature were the Romans independent of the Greeks? Mention
the principal writers in it, with the peculiar characteristics of each.
Who was the first to employ the hexameter in Latin poetry, and in what
poem? To what language is Latin most nearly related; and what is the
cause of their great resemblance? The Greek literature of the same
examination involves these points:--The Aristophanic estimate of
Euripides, with criticisms on its taste and justice (for which, however,
a historical subject is given as an alternative); the Greek chorus, and
choric metres. Now s