changes of episodical excitement. This omission cannot be compensated by the laborious fidelity with which each separate topic is discussed. A complete collection of the Cyclic ballads of Greece would be neither a substitute nor an equivalent for the Iliad. The former would be valuable and attractive, as preserving the entire circle of poetic traditions, which had warmed the fancy and inspired the action of the Greeks; it would possess a peculiar charm as exhibiting the complete materials from which Homer had extracted an epic poem; but it would not furnish the Iliad, nor explain the enthusiasm with which it had been permanently welcomed. So it is in historical composition; the greatest diligence and the most rigid impartiality will not atone for the absence of the perfections of art. They rather collect, sift, analyse, arrange the elements of a future history, than produce a classic work themselves. Whatever be the value of Mr. Grote's labours and we are more inclined to overrate than to underrate them they leave the field still open for the triumph of an historian who, with greater impartiality, may bring to his task a larger and more lively perception of the unity of Hellenic development, and a more poetic apprehension of his subject. With less learning than Mr. Grote, or even availing himself of his erudition, his successor may achieve a brighter and more durable fame. We regret this unfortunate deficiency, for it lowers the grade of Mr. Grote's triumph. We regret it the more, because, as we have already intimated, he had occasional and intuitive perceptions of the epic character of his subject, but this epic character he has not preserved in his pages. His work is the best exposition that has been given of the career of the Greeks, and is full of new, luminous, and important views, but it is confessedly tedious, and has been abridged even before its completion.+ There is no abridgement of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; yet the defects of Gibbon are greater and less venial than those of Grote; but his merits as an historian, if not as an antiquarian and philosopher, are also of a much higher order; and it is to his excellences as an historical artist that he owes his immortality. In hazarding this criticism, we must add, that the course pursued in the examination of Grote's History of Greece, has compelled us to omit all notice of those important subsidiary topics, which add so much value to the work, and which are treated, often with daring originality, always with fulness and discernment. * Διὰ τί ποτε τῶν ἱστοριῶν ἥδιον ἀκούομεν τῶν περὶ ἓν συνεστηκυιῶν, ἤ τῶν Tεpi Toλλà Tрayμarsuguέvwv. Aristot., Prob., lib. xviii, c. 9, p. 917, ed. Bekker & Brandis. The same question is discussed by Hume in some of the editions of his essays. The discussion is given in the Boston edition, vol. iv, pp. 25–29. We refer of course to Smith's agrecable and instructive History of Greece. The Homeric question; the constitutions of Lycurgus, Solon, and Clisthenes; the rise and progress of the great gaines, and other evidences, causes, and effects, of the growth of a national Hellenic sentiment; the use and abuse of ostracism; the examination of the rise of philosophy, and the theories of the philosophers; the appreciation of the orators and sophists; the career and condemnation of Socrates; the consideration of the Attic drama and dramatists, comic and tragic; all these great subjects, and numerous others of less magnitude, are introduced, and estimated with great originality and care. If we object to the want of art in Mr. Grote's labours, there is never any deficiency of research; if his explanations and digressions are too frequent and exuberant, they usually diffuse a new or a clearer light; if he is betrayed into excesses by his unusual partialities for the democracy of Athens, his extravagance always serves to dispel inveterate misrepresentations; if his style is awkward, and his language uncouth, his views are habitually perspicuous and philosophical; if he is prolix in his narrative and untiring in his repetitions, he is singularly copious in the communication of information; and, if he has not produced a classic history of Greece, he has certainly the honour of having presented the best History of Greece yet written, and may justly be proud of having furnished a vast and orderly encyclopædia of the historical, political, and literary antiquities of Greece. More than this it was perhaps impossible to accomplish, when so many parts of Greek history had been previously misconceived, and so many were still in controversy. Moreover, his Positivist tendencies, while rendering his political philosophy more scientific, comprehensive, and acute, were not calculated to infuse that larger insight into history, which recognizes the progress of a Divine purpose in the movement of humanity, and passes by an easy transition into the reverential enthusiasm of art. The predilection for Hegelian fancies and the mythicism of Strauss, was still less likely to suggest such a mode of contemplation. Nevertheless, when we reflect upon the rare, great, and numerous merits of this last and most elaborate History of Greece, we can scarcely moderate our transports of admiration, or pardon the adventurous criticism which mingles even moderate censure with the highest eulogy. Grote must long continue to be the cherished companion of scholars, and will always be regarded with pride among the historical monuments which enrich the literature of the English tongue, and attest the learning of its scholars. *We have said nothing about Mr. Grote's innovations in the orthography of Greek names, and in the nomenclature of Greek divinities. We have not imitated, but we approve them. ART. V.-FREE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF SOUTH CAROLINA. Compilation of the Acts and Resolutions in relation to the Free Schools. Printed by authority of the Legislature of 1855. Columbia, S. C.: E. H. Britton & Co., State Printers. 1855. Reports on the Free School System, to the General Assembly of South Carolina, at the Regular Session of 1839. Printed by order of the Legislature. Columbia: A. H. Pemberton, State Printer. 1840. Report on the Free School System in South Carolina. By R. F. W. ALLSTON, Esq. Charleston, S. C.: Miller & Browne, No. 4 Broad Street. 1847. THE documents mentioned at the head of this article give a sufficiently complete view of the Free School system, as it was originally established, subsequently modified, and now prevails in this State. The first is not, as the title might lead one to suppose, a collection of all the acts and resolutions passed upon the subject, from 1811, when the system was inaugurated, to 1855, when the compilation was ordered to be made, but only of those which are at present of force. As it was designed chiefly for the use and guidance of the District Commissioners, whatever would swell the bulk, without increasing the convenience of the pamphlet, as a manual for them, has been excluded. It is a complete body of the existing laws, but by no means a complete history of the course of legislation. Those intermediate links, the appointment and reports of committees, so important to a full understanding of the progress of events, indicating at once the need and preparing the way for the successful introduction of change, are all omitted, together with those temporary provisions, if there were any, which expired with the occasion that gave them birth. The title of the pamphlet should be changed to correspond with the real nature of its contents. The origin of the second document in our series is this: in 1838, the Legislature appointed forty-six Commissioners, one from each district and parish in the State, except St. Philip's and St. Michael's, from which there were two, "to examine and revise the Free School system," and to report to the Governor, each individually, “such amendments and alterations as, in his opinion, were useful." The Governor was also requested to put these reports into the hands of a competent commission of one or more persons, who were to devise and digest a system for the consideration of the next Legislature. Twenty-six of these commissioners reported; their reports were submitted to Professors Elliott and Thornwell, who, in turn, executed the task assigned to them; their report, together with those of the commissioners, was laid before the Committee of Education in the Legislature, whose report upon all the documents in question concluded the matter. The Legislature did nothing but order the publication of all the reports; and that publication is the document which we have placed as the second in our list. It is an interesting pamphlet, containing the commentaries of twenty-six intelligent men upon the nature and operations of the Free School system, together with suggestions which reveal the real wants of the State, and indicate the measures by which these wants can be most effectually supplied. The third pamphlet in our rubric, the report of the Honourable R. F. W. Allston, was prepared at the request of the State Agricultural Society, and is a very satisfactory account of our legislation upon the subject up to the time of the report in 1847. It aims particularly to expose the defects of the system, which it has done with signal ability. But Col. Allston was not content to pull down, without being able to rebuild; he shows us the antidote in connection with the evil. We sympathize with the zeal for popular instruction which pervades his tract, and, though we cannot accord with all the measures he recommends, we honour the heart that conceived them, and admire the singleness of aim that proposed them. If we had a few more like-minded men in the Legislature, our system of public instruction, in a few years, would become as adequate and thorough as the circumstances of our people would permit. Col. Allston, it is obvious, has no personal ends of distinction or ambition to gratify; he looks exclusively to the public good, and is prepared for any scheme, whether originated by himself or others, that shall give a reasonable promise of promoting it. These publications afford a gratifying proof that South Carolina has not been infected with the apathy, which has sometimes been ascribed to her, in relation to popular instruction. The subject has engaged her anxious attention; she has expended no little thought and reflection upon it, invoked the wisdom of public societies and private individuals, and if she has not succeeded in devising a plan commensurate with her wants and resources, her failure cannot be attributed to indifference. From 1811, when she first put her hand to the plough, to the present hour, she has kept the question steadily before her; and though she has fallen very far below the standard of her own expectations, it is an extravagant statement to affirm that she has done nothing, that all her care and expenditures have ended in failure. Considered in the light of an adequate provision for the elementary education of the people, the Free School system is chargeable certainly with gross and serious defects; considered as a scheme for the benefit of the poor and needy, it has just as certainly rescued thousands from the doom of hopeless ignorance, and been the first step in the ascent of others to honours, usefulness, and fame. It has let down a rope into the sinks of poverty by which a few gifted minds have been drawn up into the clear light and bracing air of learning, refinement, and elegance. The ransom of these minds has been worth more than the whole amount appropriated by the commonwealth. Besides this, the Free School fund has been a blessing to the community at large in many neighbourhoods, which were too thinly settled to support a teacher by their own contributions. The bounty of the State has eked out their deficiency, and kept up a good school, where one could not otherwise have been maintained. In these respects the appropriation has not been in vain. It is the language of exaggeration, and not of truth and soberness, to condemn it wholesale, as an idle waste of the public money. It is something gained that there should be a standing confession of the obligation of the State to provide for popular instruction; something that thousands, to whom the book of knowledge would have been forever sealed, have actually been taught the rudiments of learning; and something better still, that here and there, a few generous minds have had a fire kindled within them, which never ceased to burn, until they themselves became lights in the world. The causes which have principally obstructed the progress of improvement, notwithstanding the solicitude and exertions both of the Legislature and individuals, have been a mistaken spirit of economy, and division of opinion as to what should be the real object of the system. It is impossible to obviate the defects of the existing scheme, or to institute another of greater efficiency and energy, without much larger means than the Free School appropriation amounts to; and as the frugal habits of our people are somewhat slow in recognizing the necessity of additional demands upon the public purse, which they resolutely identify with their own private pockets, things are doomed to "continue as they were, when the fathers fell asleep." A question has been raised as to the seat of honour; some have lodged it in one organ, and some in another; some have placed it before, and some behind; but if the part in which the spirit of liberty is most sensitive, be a just criterion for determining the place of its residence, there can be no doubt that its chosen retreat is the purse. The freeman is distinguished by the tenacity with which he holds its strings, and that bold look of defiance, with which he lifts. it up and shakes it, as much as to say, No fingers can enter here but mine! As the badge of slavery is to have no pocket of one's own, the impression prevails, perhaps very justly, that in proportion as the government is permitted to fumble with the purses of the people, it is permitted to tamper with the spirit of independence; and that, therefore, the safest way of preserving the liberties is to take good care of the pockets of the people. Hence as, in this country, we love freedom "above all earthly |