LITERARY DEPARTMENT. GOETHE AND HIS WORKS.* THER HERE are a few authors who belong to the world's literature, not to any nation's. Ignorance in them is an absolute lack of literary culture, whether we be German, French, Italian, English or American. No cultured German can be unacquainted with Shakespeare. A knowledge of the latter's works is as essential to him as is the knowledge of his own Herder, Schiller, or Lessing. Precisely so every English and American student of literature must acquaint himself with Dante as necessarily as with Tennyson, and with Goethe as necessarily as with Chaucer, Wordsworth, and Browning, or with Emerson, Longfellow, and Lowell. A library made up of Shakespeare, Milton, Longfellow, Lowell, Dante, Goethe, and Schiller, is more complete than one composed of all writers in the English language alone, or all in the German, Italian, or French alone. Hence in forming a poetical library at least, Goethe's "Faust" ought to be among the first dozen of books to be procured. For Goethe ranks with Shakespeare and Dante as one of the world's immortal poets. And it is fortunate for English and American readers, as well as for Goethe, that his greatest works have found such thoroughly qualified and able translators as Bayard Taylor for his Faust, and Carlyle for his Wilhelm Meister. The former has rendered his great poem into English with matchless skill. We consider it one of the most perfect specimens of poetical translation in existence in any language; and indeed it is conceded to be such by all the best authorities, while almost the same may be said also of Carlyle's version of what by many is regarded as the ideal and pattern of what a novel should be, though we do not entirely agree with this estimate. The "Correspondence with a Child," for which Goethe has often been blamed, and which purports to be the correspondence between him and Bettina Brentano, who "fills a larger space in the literary history of the nineteenth century than any other German woman," is shown by Mr. Lewes to be simply "a romance," and no real correspondence at all. Nevertheless, even if the eccentric, brilliant, gushing Bettina did invent nearly all of it, it is not only entrancingly interesting in many parts, but full of bright flashes of thought, and beautiful plays of fancy. Of her Mr. Lewes says, "She is one of those phantasts to whom everything seems permitted. More elf than woman, yet with flashes of genius which light up in splendor whole chapters of nonsense, she defies criticism, and puts every verdict at fault." She was about sixteen, Goethe sixty, at the period of her romantic and fantastic adoration of the poet. *The Select Works of Goethe: Faust, 2 vols., Wilhelm Meister, 2 vols., Correspondence with a Child, 1 vol., and Lewes's Story of Goethe's Life I vol. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 6 vols., 8vo., gilt top, price, $10. The Story of Goethe's Life, by George Henry Lewes, is so well and widely known, and so universally acknowledged to be the best account of the great man in the English language, that we need not describe it here. It is a most entertaining and interesting book, and at the same time that it gives so full and satisfactory a study of Goethe, gives us also an admirable view of the state of German literature and intellectual life during that brilliant period of German history when so many of the brightest lights and stars of the first magnitude in the literary firmament happened to be in conjunction. As a mere history of German literature during its period of most phenomenal greatness and fruitfulness, the story of Goethe's life is invaluable. Of these six volumes we would put the last at once into the Scholars' Library. The other five we would keep in the Teachers' Library, and use considerable discretion in the matter of placing them into the hands of scholars; they might be injurious to some, while to some again they would be most beneficial in their literary studies. Under no circumstances, however, should a wellequipped Teachers' Library be without Faust and Wilhelm Meister at least. It is needless to say that in mechanical make-up, paper, type, binding, etc., the books leave nothing to be desired, and are very low in price. OUTLINES OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY. By George Park Fisher, D. D., LL. D. Library Edition, in We noticed this excellent work in its one-volume form for school use in last month's Journal. As the character of the work is such, however, that its use will not by any means be confined to the school-room, the publishers have done well to issue it also in this beautiful Library Edition, with gilt top, on heavy uncut paper, wide margins, and binding that is as handsome as it is substantial. It is a book that will be welcomed not only in all public but also in many private libraries as well. For it is unquestionably the best universal history, in short and convenient form, that we have yet seen in our language. It has already been received with universal favor by a host of private scholars and school authorities. It needs only to be seen to be appreciated, and to be compared with others to have its superiority made manifest. STUDIES IN GREEK THOUGHT. Essays Selected from the Papers of the late Lewis R. Packard, Prof. of Greek in Yale College. 12 mo., pp. 186. Boston: Ginn & Co. Price $1. It has been with unusual interest that we have read this scholarly little volume. It consists of two essays, finished, learned, and graceful, on Religion and Morality of the Greeks, and Plato's Argument in the Phado for the Immortality of the Soul. These are followed by five other essays, less finished from a literary point of view, but equally learned, instructive, and interesting, on Plato's System of Education in the Republic, one of the best expositions of that great work with which we are acquainted; On the Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Kolonos, and Antigone, of Sopho cles; and on The Beginning of a Written Literature among the Greeks. This is not a book for Greek scholars only; but we might say especially for those who, while not masters of the Greek language, yet wish and ought to become acquainted with the spirit of Greek literature and culture. This volume will help them do this as thoroughly and pleasantly as any work of the kind we know. For it is just the author's deep and true insight into the old Greek spirit that was his distinguishing characteristic, and that makes one mourn that he did not live to give the world more such work as these essays proved him to be specially fitted for. POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND BEN JONSON. With a Memoir of each. Two Volumes in One. 8vo., pp. 387 and 425. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price $1.75. Probably not one person out of twenty-five who have studied Shakespeare's dramatic works has ever read his minor poems, minor only because of the overshadowing greatness of the dramas. Yet his sonnets have never been surpassed, and " deserve to be numbered among the finest compositions of the golden age of our literature." Some of them are simply exquisite, as nearly perfect specimens of that form of poetry as we have in the language. Their importance to the lover of the beautiful is, however, being more and more fully recognized; and it is becoming more and more inexcusable for any literary student to be unacquainted with them. With the checkered and romantic career of Ben Jonson many are familiar. But his poems to-day are even more neglected than Shakespeare's, by all but students. And, indeed, there is a great deal of coarseness to be met with in them. But there is also much that is true and good and beautiful, and well worth any one's attention. Of that brilliant galaxy that numbered among its stars Shakespeare, Bacon, Raleigh, Selden, Beaumont, Fletcher, Carew, Donne, and others, there was none that shone with a stronger and more original light than Jonson. As far as learning and scholarship were concerned he was the greatest of them all, except perhaps Bacon; and as a poet none of them, save Shakespeare, surpassed him. "The wonder of a learned age; the line Which none can pass; the most proportioned wit To nature, the best judge of what was fit; The deepest, plainest. highest, clearest pen; The voice most echoed by consenting men; The soul which answered best to all well said By others, and which most requital made." The double volume before us is one of the admirable series of British Poets, issued in excellent style, carefully edited and annotated, and beautifully printed, by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. The series is the most complete edition of the British poets pub. lished, and a library of English literature in itself. BACKLOG STUDIES. By Charles Dudley Warner. 16mo., pp. 262. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Price $1.00. We have several times spoken favorably of The Riverside Aldine Series of volumes. Our admiration grows with every new volume that appears. The more we handle them the better we like them. Each book is a thing of beauty in itself, so gracefully proportioned, so elegantly plain, so beautifully printed on soft, rich paper, there is a genuine satisfaction in merely holding them in the hand and looking at them. But perhaps the finest taste of the publishers is shown in the selection of their literary material, to make it fit in grace and charm of thought and expression the exquisite dress prepared for it. With no volume have they succeeded in this respect more perfectly than with this, the tenth and latest of the series. Backlog Studies seems to have been written specially for this form of publication. Light and graceful, yet full of thought and wisdom, it fairly crackles with crisp humor, or again glows with a deep earnestness, as before the open fire-place the author talks with us on all manner of social, artistic, and literary topics; discusses in genial mood the Great New England Pie-Line, the Furnishing of Rooms, the Lost Art of Reading Aloud, Women Novelists, Social Popularity, the Personality of Authors in their Books, and a score of other equally entertaining subjects. It is a book to read with enjoyment many times. HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. First Series: Adapted to Children reading the Third School Reader. Edited for School and Home use, by J. H. Stickney. 12mo., boards, pp. 280. Boston: Ginn & Co. Price, 45 cts. They Hans Andersen's Tales never grow old. belong to the few books for children that children really appreciate and love to read, while they equally charm the grown-up reader. This volume contains only selections from the Tales; but among them are most of Andersen's best. They have been winnowed carefully, perhaps unnecessarily, in order to remove everything that might seem objectionable even to the most fastidious. But the special feature of the volume is the grading of the stories that has been done into three independent series, "the first embracing those of most interest to children of from eight to twelve years; the second, those from ten to fourteen ; the third, those of twelve and upward." The book is well printed and bound, and the price exceedingly low. SCRIBNER'S GEOGRAPHICAL READER AND PRIMER. A Series of Journeys Round the World, with Primary Lessons. 12mo., pp. 282, with illustrations and Maps. New York: Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co. Price, bo cts. Based upon Guyot's Introduction, this attractive volume is an improvement on most works of the kind. In an easy, rather colloquial style, it describes the nature and life of the different countries of the world in the First Part. Then, in Part Second, it gathers up the leading geographical facts, the location and commercial and political character of the countries, and presents them as a Primer of Lessons. The The illustrations and maps are good and helpful. Review Questions are sensible. The whole plan and method of the book seems to us to be admirable; while the mechanical make-up is certainly superior to that of most school books. FIRST STEPS IN LATIN. A Complete Course in Latin for one year. By R. F. Leighton, Ph. D. 12mo., pp. 507. Boston: Ginn & Co. Price, $1.25. We have long felt the need of an elementary Latin book for the young-introductory to the full and complete grammars for older scholars. This volume, in a measure at least, supplies the need. It is based on material drawn from Cæsar's Commentaries, has good and abundaut exercises for sight reading, and also a course of elementary Latin reading. We do not see why any scholar should not easily master the book in a year and if he does he will certainly be prepared to read and understand Cæsar and the less difficult Latin writers. The book is embellished with a map of Gaul in the time of Cæsar, to elucidate the Reading Lessons out of the Gallic war; has a Latin English and English-Latin vocabulary; and is well printed and bound, as indeed are all the books issued by this firm. N Germany they call him school-inspec IN a man of much weight in their school system. When he enters the school, pupils all rise, and when boys meet him on the street they respectfully remove their hats. The very name shows that his work is important. He does not merely visit the schools, he inspects them. The term "visiting schools," with the idea of official inspection, is new to our people, and their notion, that a visit means a fashionable call, has given rise to the opinion that the county superintendent is a superfluous piece of apparatus in our school economy; and, 1 do not doubt that many acts of ourselves and our predecessors have given proof that their opinion is well founded. If the stories told of our predecessors deserve any credence: That they would seat themselves comfortably in the teacher's chair, with their feet on the table or stove, and, taking their paper from their pocket, would fall asleep over it; or, that they would ask some puzzling questions and laugh at the chagrin of pupils and teachers in failing to answer them, the office surely did not gain strength thereby with the people, and the efforts of the Legislatures to abolish it need not surprise us. How we have been trying for the last four years to show by our work in the schoolroom, that we are needed, and that our office, with its incumbent, is not only a necessary piece of furniture, but one of the very pillars of our educational structure, is No. 12. How well we the theme of this paper. have succeeded in these efforts, is shown by the fact that the people feel the need of us, and the last Legislature, after a single effort to change the mode of election, has, at least, let us severely alone. I will give the actual practice of one of my experienced fellow-workers in a neighboring county (to give my own might seem pedantic), with whom I frequently exchange opinions and with whose practice I am in accord. If this work has been wrong, I trust it will be corrected here, and our new brethren will at least have learned how not to do. I will here re-affirm a few principles upon which my neighbor and I base much of our action in the school-room. 1. The county superintendent is, ex officio, a member of every school in the county. His teachers are made acquainted with this, and they understand that his appearance in the school-room must be considered as nothing extraordinary, and it should be attended with the least possible formality. 2. The teacher is the proper head of the school, and he has no right to surrender his position to any one. The pupil should recognize no one as superior to the teacher in the school-room; hence, whatever suggestions, questions, and other work the superintendent brings before the school, he does by the permission and consent of the teacher. His obtaining that consent in the presence of the school, establishes confidence in him by teacher and pupils, and leaves the impression that he comes there as their friend and fellow-worker: not as puzzler and tyrant. The teacher hereby retains his sense of authority, and carries on his work as one responsible for its management. 3. The county superintendent should correct evident faults of the teacher in the presence of school. By making the correction he has an opportunity of applying the remedy for the error at once, and of proving to the teacher that the correction is right and proper, not only in theory, but in principle and practice. The school thereby, unconsciously perhaps, becomes the tribunal before which the teacher is put upon his honor to make the correction. My neighbor's plan of work in visiting the schools is substantially as follows: When he enters the school, the teacher generally continues his recitation, and they exchange greetings with a nod or a word. After the recitation, they shake hands, exchange a few pleasant words, the teacher hands him the register, which should always be in the school-room when school is in session, and then goes on with his work. After noticing the wants of the school in regard to apparatus and supplies, and inspecting the register, taking from it the statistical items, the superintendent observes the teacher and his work as to manner, means and method. 1. Does the manner of conducting classes, the form of questions, the answers of pupils, the position of teacher and pupils at seats, recitations and boards, the form and general appearance of written work, the wording of solutions and other statements, the manner of passing to and from recitation, of dismissing and convening the school, exhibit an air of business, and prove the teacher master of the situation? 2. Does he employ such means as tend to establish correct habits of living and thinking in his pupils; such as bring about a normal development of all the faculties of the child's three-fold nature, moral, mental and physical; so that it will grow up not only well-informed in matters that it will use in life, but well-trained in all powers which it must exercise to make it a good, intelligent, worthy member of society? 3. Do his methods work out these means? Are they in harmony with correct principles of educational growth? Do they show that he has made a special study of the child, not as material upon which to work, but as an organism composed of soul and body, whose growth he has to direct? To illustrate as to manner : The class moves noisily and carelessly to the recitation. The superintendent asks permission to offer a suggestion. The class returns to seats. At the signal, "one" they rise, at "two" pass, at "three" sit. The class is pleased with something systematic in school tactics; the teacher sees that the suggestion is practicable and productive of discipline; all are instructed; the fault is corrected; yet nobody's pride is wounded. Again: The teacher permits the violation of principles in arithmetic; by permission the superintendent states the principle or writes it on the board; the pupil who made the mistake repeats the principle and applies it to his case; the class sees his mistake, and the teacher, if he is wise, will correct the deficiency and profit by the correction. Again: The teacher asks leading questions, or he reads them verbatim from the book. By permission, the superintendent asks the same questions in a different form, which requires the pupil to frame his own answer; the same ground of the text-book is covered, yet the pupil is thereby obliged to do his own thinking; new ideas are developed in his mind; his mind grows. The teacher sees that his method has been defective; both he and his pupils have learned a useful lesson, without any display of authority on the part of the superintendent. Again: The teacher makes all of his questions general; the answers given promiscuously and "in broken doses;" the pupils do not rise to recite. The superintendent asks that John please rise and answer the question; he asks that all who agree with him raise hands; after excusing John he calls upon some one who did not raise the hand, to rise and repeat John's answer. He asks William, who, perhaps, has not paid strict attention, if he sees the point. William, thinking that he is let off easily, nods his head, when he is asked to rise and state what he sees. By this time the state of mind of the class has been changed from the mere advertence to the subject to intense concentrated attention to the particular point under consideration. The eyes of every member sparkle with enthusiasm; the teacher sees that the superintendent's shafts have been leveled at him; and he seizes the first opportunity of admitting his deficiency in the plan of hearing classes, and, unsolicited, promises that a change will be made. Once more: The teacher is very busy with a class; a pupil in another portion of the room is out of order. The teacher is |