The Societies' Section. REPORTS OF MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETIES. The "Orange Street Chapel Mental Improvement Society" closed its fourth session, with a soirée, on Tuesday evening, the 28th April, 1863. The room in which it was held is a small space parted off from one end of the chapel, and is at all times very incommodious for the purposes of a public meeting. On the occasion referred to, however, it had been made to assume quite a festal and elegant appearance, and to form an attractive feature of the evening. The walls were draped with curtains, and adorned with numerous excellent engravings, kindly lent for the occasion, besides being tastefully festooned with evergreens and artificial white and red roses; whilst the tables were fragrant with the perfume from a profusion of plants and flowers of rare and choice description. The well-furnished" trays," supplied by the ladies, presented quite a glittering and costly appearance; and the materials for a repast were of the best, and in abundance. After the tables had been cleared, the Fresident, the Rev. R. E. Forsaith, occupied the chair, and delivered an appropriate address. From the report, which was commendable for its unusual brevity, we learnt that the present number of members is ninety, which was stated to be a decrease upon previous years: the causes for this were not traceable to anything in the society itself, but were regarded as the result of events entirely beyond the control of its conductors. Notwithstanding this decrease, the average attendance showed a slight improvement, as compared with the three preceding sessions; and the discussions were said to have been taken up and carried on with greater spirit, and that the essays read had displayed a considerable amount of talent and research, and their composition much literary ability. It was also stated that a movement was on foot for establishing "Union" of the various societies of this description, upon the plan of the Sunday School Union," and that a prospectus" would shortly be issued. Probably we shall have more to communicate upon this matter on some future occasion. The meeting was subsequently addressed by the Rev. Job Marchant, of Kennington, who, in an interesting and able speech, dilated upon the importance of a right cultivation of the powers of the mind, as well as a careful attention to the higher demands of man's "reasonable soul." Short speeches were also delivered by Messrs. Bright and Skegg, members of the society, whilst the humorous original productions of two others served to impart liveliness and spirit to the meeting. One of these latter was really a very clever and talented paper, by Mr. J. Price, read by the secretary, which excited much mirth, and gave universal satisfaction. During the evening, an efficient and well-trained choir sang several carefully selected pieces of music, which, with a trio and a reading from Shakspere's Henry VIII. (the latter, by-the-bye, scarcely audible), served to vary and enliven the meeting, and to relieve it from anything in the least approaching to dulness. A patient and appreciative auditory of nearly two hundred persons, crowded together into a space which ought only to have held some 130, testified to the interest felt in this society, and to the successful efforts which had been made to render this, the crowning act of their "fourth session" a most complete success. We augur well for the future of this Institution, and have no doubt (as was intimated in the report) that the present numerical decline will be but of a temporary character; and that ere long it will resume the position which it had previously held, of being one, it not the most successful of the London Mental Improvement Societies.-S. J. R. Our Collegiate Course; PART I. I. Figurate OR, AIDS TO SELF-CULTURE. 1. How often may 43046721 be subtracted from 22876792454961, what remainder have you, and state the rule, or explain the reason of the working. 2. Given the divisor, 654321, the quotient, 7, and the remainder, 222222, to find the dividend. Explain the words in italics. 3. Given the nine digits reversed, to be divided by the nine digits in their natural order, to find the quotient and remainder. Explain italics. 4. What abbreviations may be employed in working the following sum, viz 6424700000 divided by 1728000? Give the reasons. Write and explain the signs used in the four primary rules of arithmetic. Commercial.-1. Which is the more profitable, to buy, as required, hats which cost 158., and last 9 months, or those which cost 12s. and last 7 months? and what would be the advantage in money of wearing such hats durig 20 years? 2. By buying 22 sbares in a mine at £6 each, and 78 at £1 48., what would I lose if I so.d at £1 8s. per share? 3. If 5 cwt 3 qrs. 14 lbs. cost £6 per cwt, what will be the cost of one pound's weight after a fall equivalent to £7 16s. 8d. on the whole? 4. Two persons purchase a vessel: the one gave £4,536 as his share of the price, the other. £3,464. After a time they gained £860,- how much of this should each receive? III. Name the largest and smallest counties in England- Scotland Ireland. Name the chief rivers by which they are watered, and describe the chief towns in each. Arrange the counties of England in the order of their size; or Scotland and Ireland in the same way. Describe the British fisheries. Name the chief towns lying near the roadway from London to Holyhead, and mention the counties through which it passes. IV. Who was regent after Edward IV.'s death? In what relations did he stand to the family of Edward IV.? Describe the events of 13th of June, 1483. What became of Lord Hastings? What means did the Duke of Gloucester take to excite the people to petition him to become king? Analyze Rowe's play, "Jane Shore," or Shakspere's "Richard III." Who supported Richard III. in his usurpation of the crown? Who was Henry Tudor, and what were his claims to the crown? What "historic doubts" have been composed regarding this reign? Describe Buckingham's revolt, the progress of Richmond, and the death of Richard III. V. Write a notice of the life and works of Gibbon, Paley, Reid, Blair (Dr. Hugh), or Adam Smith; of James Macpherson, Chatterton, Churchill, Beattie, or Sir William Jones; of Murphy, George Colman the elder, Cumberland, Sheridan, or Mrs. Cowley. What influence did the American war exert on English literature? What effect had Percy's "Reliques" on Eng lish literature? How is literature popularized? What social changes hastened literature into new forms? VI. What are the categories? Criticize them, and compare the ancient with the modern categories. How do the several sciences group themselves round the categories? Who are the chief critics of the old categories? What are the predicables? Define and illustrate each. Define the classes of genus and of species. Give the rules which regulate the use of these predicables. Show how their use is implied in each step of ideation. What are terms? VII. What are synonyms, and what are the defects of style likely to arise from them, and what advantage do we derive from them? What law ought to regulate the use of derivative words? What is a sentence? Name and define the parts of a sentence. What is a clause? Of how many classifications are clauses susceptible? Construct examples of a simple sentence; a complex sentence; conditional, causal, inferential, comparative, and concessive clauses. In two complex sentences furnish instances of co-ordinate and subordinate clauses. What is the difference between grammatical and rhetorical style? Read "Julius Cæsar," act ii., scene i, to the entrance of the conspirators. Explain the precise meaning in this passage of the words fault, cause, swayed, proof, degrees, wasted, genius, favour, prevention [or Milton's "Paradise Lost," as before]. PART IL-FRENCH, GERMAN, LATIN, AND GREEK. I. Theoretical. What sound is given to q final-to qu? When is r silent? How is s final sounded; 8 between a vowel and a consonant, or two consonants; between two vowels? Write six words in which t final is pronounced. Write four words in which a has, 1st, the sound of ks; 2nd, of gs; 3rd, of ss: 4th, of z. Practical. Form first.-Parse the personal pronouns in the following sentences:-Je le vois; Nous avons pris un cerf: Le roi vous donne cela; Ils sentent; Elles dorment; Vous y êtes sujet; Nous en parlons; Je lui parle. Write out the simple possessive pronouns and the compound ones, in two forms, in both genders and numbers. Translate-Venez (come) avec nous; Je l'ai fait done) moi-même; A ma table et à la sienne; Je parle de leur jardin, et de vôtre; Le couteau avec lequel je coupe (cut) ma viande; Voici des maisons, laquelle voulez - vous acheter (do you wish to buy)? La table sur laquelle vous avez mis (put) votre pomme. Write twelve sentences. Form second.-Translate and commit to memory-L'intelligence humaine étant infinie de sa nature, exagère les choses qu'elle ignore, bien au-delà de la réalité. Homère est indubitablement le premier auteur de la langue Grecque. Après avoir observé quelle fut la sagesse des premiers hommes dans la logique, la morale, l'économie, et la politique, passons au second rameau de l'arbre métaphysique, c'est à dire, à la physique, et de là, à la cosmographie, par laquelle nous parvenons à l'astronomie, pour traiter ensuite de la chronologie et de la géographie, qui ea dérivent. Construct twelve sentences. Form third.-Colomb, continued in same manner as formerly. II. Junior.-Translate-Gott ist der Schöpfer und Erhalter aller Dinge. Er hat Himmel und Erde erschaffen und Alles, was darinnen ist. In der Luft schweben die Wolken. Decline each noun. To each noun add a suitable adjective. Write into GermanHercules was the son of Jupiter and of Alemena; Our Father who art in heaven; I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. Senior.-Continue "Undine." Quote the German for-I will readily supply you with as good a supper and bed as my humble cottage can afford. Explain -Mir ist ganz geheuer zu muth; Hielt stille: Allzuviel. Write in German, This house, the most beautiful edifice in the town, is for sale; The master of the house. III. Junior.-Nepos or Cæsar, underlining all pronouns and prepositions, arranging the latter in two columns, according to the case they govern. Translate-Per silvam volvitur amnis; Optimum est miscere otium rebus; Irasci se negant; Pulchrum eminēre est inter illustres viros; Deum cognoscimus ex operibus ejus. Senior. Continue translation as formerly. Mark the scansion, and translate into verse "Sapias. vina linques, et spatio brevi Spem longuin reseces Dum loqui mur tugerit invida Etas. Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." 473 IV. Junior-Translate A noav (were) τῷ Κροίσῳ δυο παιδες· ων ὁ έτερος μεν διεφθαρτο (was defective) γαρ δη ην κωφος δε ὁ ἕτερος μακρῳ πρωτος των ἡλικων τα παντα δὲ οἱ ονομα ην Ατυς. (It is arranged for literal rendering.) Decline each noun and adjective. Quote the first verse of the Gospel of St. John in Greek, and translate it. Senior-Continue to translate Xenophon as before. Reverting to the first chapter, explain the force and use of the particles μὲν . . . δέ; καὶ . .. δέ: also the ordinary uses of ὡς, οὖν. How do you explain the genitive, Tou βίου? Literary Notes. THE first and second volumes of "The Reign of Elizabeth"-being the seventh and eighth volumes of "The History of England, from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth," by James Anthony Froude, M.A. (born 1818), Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford-are in the press. The previous vols., I.— IV., relate to Henry VIII.; V. and VI., the reigns of Edward and Mary. Count Cæsar Galvanni - soldier, monk, canon, politician, littérateur, and exile-one of Italy's best historical writers, died in Prague, 14th April. King Leopold of Belgium has put his "Memoirs" under the editorial care of Ferdinand Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, his son-in-law, for publication. M. Lacroix has discovered some unpublished poems, &c., by La Fontaine, the French fabulist. &c., and is preparing them for the press. Buffon's grand-nephew is about to issue a second edition of the great naturalist's "Correspondence." The Rev. D. Macdonald, author of "Creation and the Fall," "Introduction to the Pentateuch," and other profound and scholarly works, died May 7. C. W. Hickethorn-a Swiss by birth, though a resident in London-is preparing a new edition of a metrical version of the Bishop of Wexioe's masterpiece -"Fritheof's Saga." Tegner's beautiful Swedish romaunt of the North has been at least twice laid before the pubiic in English-by Mr. Baker, and by Mrs. Garnet. Michel Chevalier (b. 1806), author of "The Material Interests of France," by command of Napoleon III., is eugaged on a work on "The Internal Resources of Mexico." At Rouen, a society of Norman bibliophilists has been established. The Rev. J. P. Hopps, of Sheffield, formerly assistant to Mr. George Dawson, has commenced a monthly magazine, bearing the title of one edited some years ago by Dr. F. R. Lees-the Truth-Seeker. Julius Mosen's (b. 1803) poems are about to be published by subscription, in eight volumes. This fine German poet has been, since 1848, like Heine, confined to a sick-room in Oldenburgh, and has been able only to scent the battle" of freedom and progress "from afar." Henry Alford, D.D., Dean of Canterbury, has in the press-to be issued in four half-volumes- The New Testa ment" for English readers. "The intent of the work is to put the mere English reader, as far as practicable, in possession of the principal results of the labours of critics and scholars on the text of the New Testament." It will include both " a critical and explanatory commentary." John Aiton, D.D., author of "The Lands of the Messiah, Mahomet, and the Pope," &c., died 15th May. Mr. J. O. Halliwell intimates the discovery of documentary materials, such that he says, "I believe it will eventually be in my power to throw so much new light on the outlines of the poet's material life, that those who come after me may, from my dry accumulation of materials, compose a biographical account of Shakspere more satisfactory than any which has yet appeared." A professorship of political economy is about to be established in Cambridge. The Kinglake and Crimean war controversy continues to rage unabatedly, but is rapidly degenerating into personality, as in Sir F. Head's pamphlet, entitled "Mr. Kinglake." H. Dunning Mac Loed's "System of Political Economy" has not only made a disciple of M. Chevalier, but an outline of it has been circulated under official patronage throughout France. It seems also to have gained the adhesion of the Scottish economists, for the Scotsman, the Times of North Britain, whose first editor was J. R. McCulloch, reviews it favourably, and quotes it as right and true. The Royal Society of Literature has issued a Report on the so-called Simonides-Discoveries of Ancient Papyri and Palimpsests, containing, as was asserted, old MS. copies of classical and sacred authors. Mr. Freeman advertises an "Index to the Times" This, which in reality is a work which ought to be supplied gratis to regular subscribers of the Times, is likely to be of great practical utility in consulting the daily history of the world's wide circuit in files. Literary men especially ought to insist on having an index for everything, and everything in an index. The idea was, we believe, first entertained by Mr. Foster, of the Chatham News but subsequently abandoned. It may be some time before people learn to appreciate its use. M Rayer has published an "Introductory Lecture to a Course on Comparative Pathology," to the chair of which, in the Faculty of Medicine at Paris, he has just been appointed. "A New Theory of Muscular Action," giving out some striking results, has lately been made known by the Rev. Samuel Haughton, of Trinity College, Dublin,-famous for the mathematical works he has issued in editorialship with the Rev. J. A. Galbraith. |