gant prose. This is one of the most useful and most popular subjects, on which lectures are given.

Politics and government, the master topics of the age, have found in Germany many eminent writers, who represent the science in three different points of view; either as the constitution and administration of states, as they should be organized, according to the principles of practical philosophy; or as the political history of states in their former rise, progress, and decay; or as statistics, or the description of the states, which the world has now established for the maintenance of civil society. Political science gives an account of the constitutions of the states of Europe, and the administration of their external and internal relations, in reference to the legislative and executive power. The administration of the states is founded upon a very complicated system of police, that requires great vigilance and constant revision. The present political system of Europe has taken a new direction since the declaration of the Holy Alliance (in 1815 and 1816), that government must be founded on Christian principles, and on the general law of nations. Many of the political publications since that period, have had a very salutary tendency, in conformity with that declaration, which purported to be significant and sincere. Whether this was its real character, or whether it was a mere pretence, will soon become manifest.

From these few remarks, the nature of the academic lectures on politics and statistics may easily be determined. They are delivered regularly in each university, by several professors, who follow their own courses. Standard works on politics drawn from history, the rich source of political wisdom, are Heeren's Reflections on the Politics of the principal Nations of Antiquity,' and his classic history of the system of the European states. A course of lectures on politics comprises national economy, political economy with its history, finances, the system of police, statistics, and the diplomacy of Europe.

The pure mathematics, throughout all the branches, have, on account of the preference given in Germany to the purely analytic methods, yielded brilliant results to the studious scholar. Both pure and practical mathematics afford useful and very popular subjects for lectures, a regular course of which is generally completed in three years. The single parts, taught in separate lectures, are, the elements of arithmetic, and analysis of finite and infinite quantities; differential calculus, or analysis of infinitesimals, and integral calculus; algebra, geometry, ge

odesy, analytic planimetry upon the principles of algebra, spherical trigonometry; higher mechanics (namely, statics, hydraulics, and aëronamics), optics, astronomy, chronology, gnomonics, civil architecture, and navigation. Besides these, separate lectures are delivered on cosmography; on physical astronomy, also in reference to chronology, geography, and navigation; on the theory of the motions of comets, on the theory of the motions of the heavenly bodies in elliptic orbits, and on the use of astronomical instruments; lastly, on meteorology and the theory of the earth.

It is generally confessed, that the application of physical science to the useful arts, has, in the present age, benefited life and promoted its practical interests, more than any other kind of knowledge. Besides, it wonderfully developes the mental faculties, enlarges the capacity, and increases our admiration of the wisdom of the Supreme Being. For this reason, the universities supply ample opportunities for the study of this science, which is pursued by students of all professions. The subjects of lectures are, natural history in all its branches, zoölogy, entomology, botany, mineralogy, and the description of its various systems, called systematology; geology and oryctology, treated separately; natural philosophy and chemistry, accompanied by experiments; agriculture and rural economy; physical geography; technology.

The large cities of Germany, and of other parts of continental Europe, contain excellent academies for the study and practice of the fine arts. The lectures, therefore, delivered in universities on this subject, convey general information to a mixed audience. The favorite topics are archæology, or the critical explanation and philosophy of the fine arts of antiquity, namely, architecture, statuary, sculpture, painting, etc. connected with their history; the theory and history of the fine arts of modern Europe, and of each art separately. Lectures are also given on heraldry, numismatics, and the theory and history of music.

The study of history is extensively cultivated in all the universities. The history of the states of antiquity; general history of mankind; history of modern Europe and its colonies; ethnography (or the description of the physical peculiarities of the different nations of the globe), in connexion with geography; the history of the middle ages; the history of Germany; literary history of modern Europe; critical history of German literature, and other similar topics are common subjects on which separate lectures are delivered.

Philology, or the study of classical antiquity in all its political, civil, and scientific relations, includes a correct grammatical knowledge of the ancient languages; hermeneutics, or the art of comprehending and interpreting the works written in these languages; criticism, which investigates and ascertains the age, correctness, and authenticity of every author, whether entire or mutilated, the complete number of whom is about sixteen hundred, excluding the fathers of the church; the principles of composition in prose and poetry; and the literary history of the Greeks and Romans. The chief auxiliary branches of philology are, ancient cosmography, divided into fabulous geography, historical geography, and topography; the general history of the nations of antiquity, connected with chronology and historical criticism; Greek and Roman antiquities; mythology; history of the philosophy and other sciences of the Greeks and Romans; critical history of the fine arts, poetry, and elegant prose of Greece and Rome; archæology, or a knowledge of the relics of the fine arts and monuments of Greece and Rome, in connexion with epigraphics or the knowledge of inscriptions, and numismatics or the knowledge of ancient coins; the history of philology; and, finally, philosophical criticism, discussing the comparative merits of classical writers.

On each one of these single branches, separate lectures are given during the period of the common academic course in Germany. An encyclopædia of philological pursuits, of which a number of manuals have been published, serves as a proper introduction into this extensive science. Oriental philology has derived a new impulse from the present spirit of inquiry. Besides the regular lectures on the grammar, literature, and history of the Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic, Arabic, Aramaic, and Persian languages, new elementary lectures are given on the Sanscrit tongue, formerly spoken in Hindostan. There is generally a single professorship of the Oriental dialects. In some universities, however, as in Berlin and Munich, a separate chair is filled by the professor of Sanscrit literature. This study was first introduced into Germany by A. W. Schlegel, professor in the Prussian university at Bonn; and by his younger brother, F. Schlegel, now residing at Vienna; both of whom have for some time been publishing a journal for Sanscrit literature. The number of students who attend such lectures is small, and consists generally of those who wish to prepare themselves to become candidates for professorships of those languages.

There is a great supply of critical and historical knowledge on classic authors, which is regarded in the German schools as the basis of all solid improvement; and justly so, because of its intimate connexion with all the learned professions and their literature. A competent portion of it is necessary for a learned theologian, very important for a systematic lawyer, indispensable for a scientific physician, and no acute philosopher ever neglects it. Its absence would be severely felt in Europe, and cause a great revolution in the whole system of every profession, and produce a violent change in the literary world; for which there is no occasion at present, or, if the necessity of an innovation was really felt, it could not be accomplished for ages to come. Since the Latin tongue is used in the examinations and disputations of all the faculties; and since dissertations and all other performances of the professors, candidates, and students in their relative duties, must be written in that language, every student is anxious to continue and cultivate an acquaintance with the faithful companions of his early life, by attending, during the course of his professional studies, to lectures on classic writers. Such a familiarity is so much the more necessary for a lawyer, because the civil code of Justinian, the basis of the law systems of continental Europe, and the canon law, are studied in no other language than the original. A profound knowledge of Christianity, and of the sacred literature of the Jews, can be derived only from the critical study of the original text of the Holy Bible. The scientific phraseology of the medical, physical, and other sciences, and the numerous essays thereupon, will ever remain a secret to the student who is without a knowledge of the Greek.

The works of the Greek poets, commonly read and explained, are the two poems of Homer, the writings of Hesiod, Pindar, the Gnomic authors, the epigrammatists, Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Theocritus, and Apollonius Rhodius.

The study of the Greek historians, philosophers, critics, and biographers, keeps pace with the explanation of the poets. Herodotus, the father of history, often attracts a considerable number of hearers. Thucydides is a greater favorite with the professors than with the students. The conciseness of his diction, displayed in complicated sentences, is intelligible to all but a few young men of superior talents; and the brief severity of his judgment, however excusable in an author describing the civil war of his own country, in which he had endangered himself, VOL. XXVII.-NO. 61.

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does not please the majority, even after the profuse amplification of the interpreters. The attic urbanity of Xenophon has at all times been admired. The power of sound argument, and the Socratic art of reasoning called dialectic, are best learned from the writings of Plato. Competent judges have asserted, that they have derived greater benefit from the critical study of one of his Dialogues, than from a course of lectures on logic. Aristotle's abstruse works are at present rarely expounded in academic lectures.

Oratory furnishes the best means of arriving at civil and political distinction. A man, however great his genius, and however useful and thorough his knowledge may be, will never attract attention without this art. It is, indeed, not necessary that a man should be born an orator. Nature can certainly do much to facilitate the practice of the art; but there has never yet been an eminent speaker, without severe study and constant application. The greatest orator that ever harangued freemen, acquired this art only by the most unwearied and long continued efforts. The intelligent study of Demosthenes as, in every respect, the best pattern, has always led to great results. His example teaches to speak with propriety and elegance, and his speeches exhibit all the requisites of truly popular eloquence. Concise with the greatest perspicuity; perspicuous with the greatest accuracy; accurate with the greatest purity of language, he instantly arrests the attention, persuades by the invisible power of argument, assisted by all the graces of manner, and thundered out with flashes of genius. It is for this reason, that distinguished statesmen of every age and country, have studied his works and honored his memory. The national glory of Great Britain rests, in no small degree, on the refined taste and classical education of her politicians; and the portion of her oratory acknowledged to be the most energetic, bears the greatest resemblance to the spirit of Demosthenes. Among the continental neighbors of England, especially among the Germans, there are fervent admirers of Demosthenes, who read and illustrate his orations with enthusiasm. They feel the rush of his noble spirit in their closets and lecture-rooms, and pour it forth upon their youthful hearers, in whose minds it excites congenial feelings; but it soon evaporates for want of nutriment from practical life. In a country, where this vivifying principle pervades the whole nation, and forms its very soul, the impulse imparted by the judicious study