PREFACE.

IN the modern system of Competitive Examination great importance is assigned to the power of translating at sight a passage, taken, without clue to the context, from some standard author in the classical or modern languages. It is generally understood that a fair translation of an easy piece of French or German will enable a candidate to pass, so far as either language is concerned, the preliminary test or qualification which is now required for admission to most competitions; whilst a satisfactory rendering of harder passages from classical or modern authors will secure a solid foundation of marks in the subsequent competitive contest. This faculty of translating at sight implies undoubtedly a respectable acquaintance with the language in question, but habit, presence of mind, readiness of resource and knack contribute more to success than would be at first sight imagined. A boy who has for some weeks been compelled to sit down before detached passages, and hammer them out with the aid of nothing but brains, pen and ink and a sheet of paper, will, so far as any examination goes, soon find himself on a level with rivals much better read than him

self, and far his superiors in absolute scholarship. Want of practice in translation at sight is one chief reason why the average public school boy fails in competitive examinations, whilst pupils prepared by private tutors generally succeed. At school a boy is surrounded by the usual paraphernalia of grammars, dictionaries, and "cribs," with the final help of a friendly "construe" from an older and cleverer comrade. This is all very well for a time; but unless at frequent intervals, or at the end of his course, some enforced self-dependence is introduced, the boy never learns to walk alone, and finds himself helpless before the stern realities of the examination room, with its solitary deal table and book of blank paper.

During an experience of some years, the compiler of this little volume has found that a stock of suitable passages for translation has been of the greatest service in work with pupils, but that no such stock exists in a collective and handy form. Old examination papers are difficult to procure, and are easily lost or destroyed; the reprints of such papers in the Reports of the Civil Service Commissioners are buried under masses of other matter, whilst a passage marked in a book supplies the context, and so does not answer the purpose. The writer therefore determined, in the first instance, to print off his materials, gathered from various sources, for his own use, and then, as this proved somewhat expensive, he resolved to publish the collection.

Should the sale of the volume justify such a course, a second series will follow hereafter, and arrangements will

be made, if required, to print off the passages separately in the form of examination papers. The collection will, it is hoped, be found to contain, so to speak, typical specimens, representing most of the public examinations, and though no particular order has been observed in their succession, the earlier passages will for the most part be the easier. French verse is so rarely given in recent papers that no examples have been inserted, and for a similar reason the selections from German poetry are very few in number. In a second series these deficiencies might be remedied. Teachers are recommended to insist on the translation of these papers before their own eyes, without any extraneous aid. In this way alone will the real use of this little book be fully appreciated.