limits of the volume were too contracted to render it possible to state the source whence every reference or suggestion has been derived. The grammatical notes of HERMANN are in the opinion of the Editor a most valuable portion of the work, whilst the vast and unparalleled erudition of LOBECK will tell its own tale to every reader. The wants of the tyro have also received a large share of his attention, as the numerous references to the Grammars of JELF, MATTHIAE, BUTTMANN, and KRUEGER will evince. Great efforts have been made to shorten and simplify the statement of important syntactical principles, and to illustrate them by repeated reference and comparison. Why add more? The book itself will explain most satisfactorily what has been done and what left undone. The Editor cannot, however, conclude this notice quite so briefly. It would be crime and shame if he did not seize the opportunity of referring in the most emphatic and grateful terms to the inestimable aid which he has received in the progress of this work from one who lives in the affections of all who are privileged to enjoy his acquaintance, and whose exquisite taste and consummate scholarship are only equalled by the unaffected modesty with which on every occasion he avoids their display. From the commencement of his labors to their close the Editor has appealed to that learning, and been supported by the ready extension of encouragement and assistance, whose importance to himself it is impossible to overstate. Palmam qui meruit, ferat, and if this book should meet with public favor, a result so fortunate will be as justly due to the aid afforded in its preparation by the Eliot Professor of Greek in Harvard University, as to the zeal and industry of the writer of these lines. America can justly boast of many advantages, but the noblest boast of every land is, after all, its scholars. The acknowledgments of the Editor are cheerfully tendered to the Publisher and Printer for the efforts they have made to present his book to the notice of the public in the attractive form in which it now appears, and in particular to Mr. Bigelow, for the great care and accuracy with which he has superintended the correction of the press. The Editor will no longer tax the patience of his readers, but will conclude by assuring them of the great gratification that he shall receive, if, in a distant land, it shall be his lot to hear that his book is regarded by those who are competent to judge as a useful contribution to the cause of sound classical learning in America. |