1848.] German Conversations-Lexicon. 789 pearance of the third volume in 1798. The sixth and last volume was published in 1808. Of the fifth edition, 32,000 copies were printed. The ninth edition has the text of the eighth as its basis, but every article, without exception, was carefully revised, and where necessary, amended and enlarged. All the Articles that were in the Supplement, and not in the eighth edition, are incorporated into the ninth. An important number of new Articles in all branches of knowledge, especially in Ancient History, Geography and Special History, have been added. The original design of this work was to furnish facilities for self-education, to supply persons engaged in manual labor, or who were but partially educated, with the information necessary for common reading, for intelligent conversation and for the general business of life. "It is at the present time," in the language of the editor, "rather a thesaurus of all valuable knowledge, and embraces the entire circle of the sciences in all their particulars, as far as the same are important for an educated public; it forms a progressive chronicle of all remarkable events down to the present time, a mirror of all the outward and inward phenomena in society, the State, the church, science, art and literature. It is not merely a work for reference; but it is a manual for daily use, a reading-hook, attractive by its judicious selection and agreeable form of exhibition." In many respects, we may add, it is very valuable for the scholar. Among its contributors in the various editions were such orientalists and classical scholars as Rosenmüller, Gesenius, Rödiger, Kosegarten, Brandis, Becker, H. Brockhaus, Palmblad, etc. The principal deficiency in this great work is owing to the want of an evangelical spirit in some of its conductors and principal contributors. It cannot, indeed, be called a neological production. It does not openly attack or secretly undermine the Christian faith. It seeks to be, at least in many of the Articles, fair and impartial. It would not offend any prevailing taste in Germany. Its object is to bring out a work which shall be universally acceptable. But it ought to exhibit the truth fully, fearlessly and heartily. For such subjects as Luther, Calvin, Reformation, Pietism, Christian Missions, and many others, writers should be selected whose feelings fully accord with the theme. A neologist would necessarily give an unfair and imperfect representation of many topics. The Lexicon, in accordance with its objects, should not be indeed religious. It is scientific, historical and literary. Yet it is a work for Christendom; a vast number of its readers are Christians; many of its writers are professed ministers of Christ, or teachers of theology. Many of the above remarks apply to the American translation of the seventh edition. The great men of the church are thrust into a corner. Brief and imperfect notices are given of theologians of commanding inVOL. V. No. 20. 67 tellect, while some insignificant military general, who was in a successful skirmish or two, is conspicuously delineated and lauded. The writer, we have understood, of many of the biographical articles, relating to New England puritans and Presbyterian worthies, is a Roman Catholic. New Latin Lexicon. A new Lexicon of the Latin Language is in the process of publication, by Reinhold Klotz, Professor in the University at Leipsic, and, for many years, one of the editors of the "Jahrbücher für Philologie," a distinguished classical journal. Prof. K. is also well known as one of the ablest editors of Cicero's Orations. The Lexicon, which he has now undertaken, must be regarded, therefore, as the fruit of many years' study, under the most favorable circumstances, by an accurate and accomplished scholar. The work will appear in fifteen fasciculi, making two large octavo volumes, price in Germany about $6. When the work will be completed, we are not informed. It is published in a very superior style, by George Westermann of Brunswick. It is printed in double columns, on fair and strong paper, with a clear and new type. Indeed we have rarely seen a large Latin book printed so well. The author's aim is thus stated in his prospectus: "First, to exhibit the treasures of the Latin language itself, i. e. the roots of the Latin tongue and the single derivative words, as fully as the narrow limits of a lexicon will permit; to ascertain their derivation or relationship as far as possible; to fix their fundamental meaning, and to define them more exactly in their actual use, so as to develop the particular significations of a word from its fundamental sense, and to exhibit these significations in their natural order, and to devote a careful attention to the technical expressions of statesmen, diplomatists, jurists, rhetoricians, naturalists, husbandmen, architects, etc., which have not always been handled with equal felicity." "Secondly, to bring before the reader the connections in which single words appear, though not with the fulness of a thesaurus, yet with greater completeness than has been common and in a form better than has been attained in the larger lexicons, so as to point out more exactly the grammatical constructions in which the words are found, whereby, e. g. the prepositions, which sustain the relations of the Cases, and the other particles which make up the graminatical joints, shall be placed before the eye in the most careful manner." In order to accomplish these two great objects, the author says he has paid special attention to etymology, synonyms and antiquities. In respect to the synonymous forms of words, he has pointed out the differences, e. g. between abitio and abitus, abortio and abortus, actio, actus, actum and agmen, discessio and discessus, scriptio, scriptura, scriptus and 1848.] Literary Institutions in Switzerland. 791 scriptum, etc. Not seldom has he gone into the synonymous syntactical forms, e. g. he has indicated the difference between manere aliquem and alicui, subire aliquem rem and alicui rei, etc. What are the merits of this Lexicon, compared with that of Freund, we are not able to decide. A classical friend, who has made some use of Klotz in his daily studies, expresses high satisfaction with the sound judgment, discrimination and accurate knowledge of the language everywhere exhibited. In two respects, at least, Freund appears to us to have the advantage. One is, that he gives the history of the language, the biography, so to speak, of the words. The other advantage is in the arrangement. Freund makes separate paragraphs of the subdivisions of an article. Klotz presents all which he has to say in an unbroken mass, so that it is difficult for the eye instantly to catch what is needed. How Klotz will include his materials in two volumes, we do not perceive. Down to the word animus, there are 416 pages, while Freund closes that word on the 286th page, yet the latter fills four octavo volumes, making in all 4596 pages. Literary Institutions in Switzerland. We are pained to observe in the public journals that the literary institution or college at Lausanne, and also the one at Neufchatel have been discontinued, or suppressed by the radical governments of the two cantons. The college at Lausanne was founded in 1587; in this the late Dr. Vinet was professor. The college at Neufchatel was made illustrious for some years by the palaeontological discoveries of Professor Agassiz, now connected with Harvard University. He is a native of Neufchatel. His discoveries in the history of fossil fishes, it is said, have thrown more light on that branch of the study than those of any one since Cuvier. The college, standing near the lake, contains a valuable Museum of natural history, and the rocks and fossils illustrating very satisfactorily the structure of the Jura mountains. In 1834, a university or high school was established at Berne. The Museum contains a noble collection of the natural curiosities of Switzerland. The departments of mineralogy and geology are particularly instructive. A complete series of fossils, collected by M. Studer, are deposited here. The town-library contains 40,000 volumes and many valuable Mss.; among the latter are more than 1000 Helvetic Mss. The distinguished Haller, a native of Berne, was once librarian. The management of the university is in the hands of the city government. Attempts have been made, within a few years, as also in Zurich, to introduce teachers holding neological sentiments, contrary to the wishes of a large portion of the people. The University of Zurich was opened on the 29th of April, 1833. It has about 200 students. The building of the suppressed Augustinian convent has been appropriated to its use. Professors, expelled from other countries for liberal opinions, have found refuge here. Among the most eminent professors are Oken, Schönlein, J. E. Orelli and J. G. Baiter, the last two joint editors of the edition of Cicero, in eight volumes, Hitzig, the well known biblical commentator, Hirzel, the commentator on Job, etc. Among the individuals who have in successive periods rendered this city illustrious were Conrad Gesner, Zuingli, Bullinger, Hottinger, Heidegger, Bodmer, Breitinger, Lavater, Solomon Gessner, Hess, and many others. It was the native place of Pestalozzi.. Here the first entire English version of the Bible by Miles Coverdale was printed in 1535. The city is now distinguished for its large printing establishments and its trade in books. The library of the university contains many original Mss. of the early reformers. The town library has 45,000 printed volumes and Mss., Zuingli's Greek Bible, with marginal notes, chiefly Hebrew, by himself, a portrait of that reformer and his daughter, three autograph letters in Latin of Lady Jane Grey, and other inestimable treasures. The University of Basil was founded in 1460, the first important seminary for the advancement of learning established in Switzerland. It numbered among its professors, Erasmus, Euler and the Bernouillis. Several of the present professors have an European reputation. Dr. de Wette, now sixty-eight years old, is professor of theology, and stands at the head of living commentators on the Scriptures. He is the son of a preacher at Ulla, near Weimar, and was a professor in the University of Berlin from 1810 to 1818. He was removed from his office in the last named year, in consequence of writing a letter of condolence to the mother of George Sand. He came to Basil in 1822. He lectures on dogmatics, morals and exegesis. K. R. Hagenbach is well known as an orthodox theologian and able church historian. He is a native of Basil and was born in 1801. His father was professor of medicine. He was a pupil of Lücke, Neander and Schleiermacher. He has published two collections of sermons, History of Christian Doctrines, Lectures on the Nature and History of the Reformation, etc. The other professors of theology are J. J. Stähelin, who has written on the Messianic Prophecies, J. G. Müller, and William Hoffinann, the excellent successor of Dr. Blumhardt in the Mission Institute. In the philosophical faculty is C. F. Schönbein, everywhere known for his discoveries in chemistry, etc. William Wackernagel, born in Berlin in 1806, was made professor of the German language and literature in Basil in 1832. His publications are numerous and popular. The whole number of professors, ordinary and extraordinary, is thirty-one. The funds of this university are small. The public or city library, contains 50,000 volumes, among them the Acts of the 1848.] Literary Institutions in Switzerland. 793 Council of Basil, with chains attached to the binding, many inestimable Mss., some of the works of Erasmus, etc. Public instruction at Geneva is under the general direction of the Council of Public Instruction. This council has the control, 1. of the Academy, which is composed of four faculties, Theology, Law, Sciences and Letters, and which counts twenty-six professors, and about 150 regular students; 2. the colleges of Geneva and Carouge; 3. the secondary school for girls; 4. fifty primary schools, numbering 4000 scholars; 5. auxiliary establishments, viz. the public library, the botanic garden, the academical museum and the observatory. The College of Geneva was founded by Calvin in 1538. The pupils are divided into eleven classes, four of which are called French classes, in which students are fitted for industrial or commercial pursuits. The number of scholars is between 400 and 500. At the end of each academical year, about the middle of August, there is a public celebration, at which there is a distribution of prizes, etc. The successful pupils receive their medals at the hands of the chief syndic in St. Peter's Church. The venerable company of pastors has had in charge religious and theological instruction. The public library, in the basement of the college, was founded in 1551 by Bonivard, "the prisoner of Chillon." It contains about 40,000 volumes and 500 Mss. It is rich in works of ancient theology. It has a collection of the autograph letters of Calvin, of Beza, Farel, Viret, and other reformers, the homilies of Augustine, written on papyrus of the sixth century, translation of Quintus Curtius, found in the luggage of Charles the Bold, after the battle of Grandson, a beautiful Ms. of the four Gospels, etc. The Museum, commenced in 1818, has been augmented by the geological collections of Saussure, Brongniart, Jurine and Necker, and is very rich in ornithology. There is a complete series of the minerals of the country, and of the fishes of the lakes. The botanic garden was formed in 1818 by the celebrated botanist Decandolle. Among the distinguished individuals who have adorned this small city, were the Turretines, Calvin, Beza, Le Clerc, Cellérier, Casaubon, Scaliger, Godefroy, Burlemaqui, De Lolme, Dumont, Necker, Sismondi, Mallet, Bonnet, Saussure, who first ascended Mont Blanc, Prevost, Decandolle, Huber, Dacier, De la Rive, Madame de Stael, A. Decandolle, Maunoir, etc. For an account of the New Theological School, see Bib. Sacra, III. p. 786. The publications in all departments of literature have greatly fallen off since February last, except political books and pamphlets which everywhere spring up. Among the few in classical and theological literature we notice the following: Principia Grammatices Neo-Persicae cum Metrorum doctrina et dialo |