THE REVEREND P. H. ERNEST BRETTE, B.D

AND GUSTAVE MASSON, B.A., Past and Présent Examiner* in tke Unvuersity of London.

I Vol.; small 8vo, 360 pages,nicely bound, 2s. ; in full cloth, red

edges, Price 2s. 6d.

The unprecedented suoeess with which the French Reader has been received by the. public was an additional inducement for the editors to bestow spécial pains upon the new édition. The text has nndergone a thorough revision, and several new pièces hâve been introduced instead of others which were deemed either too well known, or not quite suitable for young persons.

Following the advice of kind friends, they hâve enlarged the Vocabulary to such an extent, that pupils possessing only an elementary knowledge of French ought to be able to get through the volume without the help of a dictionary.

The volume abounds, not with extracts, as we dreaded, but with charming and interesting stories, and some poems which every child ought to learn. We would especially instance Lamartine's " Hymne de TEnfânt à son Réveil," and Marmier's "La Vieille Mendiante au Cimetière, " as pièces which are certain to captivate both old and young. However, we would recommend parents and teachers to examine the " Reader " and judge for themselves, and they will nnd that this small volume is an exceptional publication, and likely to become one of the most popular educational works in this country. — Weekly Revicw t February i8th, 1871,

ttnsfts. HACHrm and Co. liste begun a séries of French xeading-books, the first volume of which is now before us, and requires a hriief mention at our hands. It has Ions been remarked that the varions reauils, or compilations of " élégant extracts," nsed in the schools are to a great estent nnsatisfactory. In the first place most of the pièces setated ue tak«n from dassical anthors of the serenleenth and «ighteenth centuries, and are limited to a certain nnmber of morœnsx, worn so threadbare by repeated qnotatkms that they cease to hâve any interest whatever. Boileau's "Repas Ridicule," Bossaet's exordiam of the funeral oration on' the Queen of Enghuid, a scène or two of Molière's, and long extracts firom Corneille and Racine, form the staple commodity of those dull volumes, where scarcdy any référence is made to anthors who hâve lived before the grand siècle, or to onr own contemporaines. Now we need not say hère that for two-thirds of the pupils who stndy the French language a thorough knowledge of its colloquial élément is the chief thing of importance, and tMs can be attained only firom the perusal of récent works. In the second place many readers object, with some reason, to fragments ; if extracts must be given they want each extract to be complète in itself, and to form a kind of distinct épisode, leaving a défaite impression upon the mind of the pupil. With the view of meeting the two critiques we hâve just mentioned,theRev. £. Brette,-French master at Christ's Hospital, and M. Gustave Masson, French 'master at Harrow School, hâve prepared the small volume we are nownoticing; as the préface states, it contains, withafew exceptions, pièces from modem writers, and posseases the advantage of novelty besides that of real literary mcs\L~Sctool Board Chronicle, *July i, 1871.

The Publishers hâve great pleasure in quoting the following extract from one of the numerous letters which they hâve received relating to their First French ReA>er : —

"Not only are the pièces selected with taste, : ïresh «nd striking at once by novelty and fluency of style, and thus ôffering Jute spécimens of modem. French litetature, but they hâve likewise that peculiar merit to contribute towards forming mind,,heart, and sentiment, things commonly overlooked in school-books."

Spécimen Pages vf jhe Tlrtt frendv Reader.

Adapted êo the U*> gf K ¥emng People. ' 239

BENJAMIN EfiANKLIN