Introductions have been recast, with some enlargement; the analyses of the
subject-matter in particular have been entirely remodelled. The Notes have
been in some instances reduced, in others amplified,--especially by the
addition of references to the standard treatises on grammar, history, and
philosophy. It was at first the intention of the American editor to
indicate by some mark the matter due to himself; but as this could hardly
be done without marring the appearance of the page, and thus introducing a
source of confusion to the student, it was not attempted. In the work of
revision free use of the principal German and English editions has been
made.

To some the notes of the present edition may appear too copious. The aim
throughout, however, has been not simply to give aid on difficult points,
but to call attention to the finer usages of the Latin, and to add also
whatever explanation seemed necessary to a clear understanding of the
subject-matter. Latin scholarship which shall be at the same time broad and
accurate, including not only a mastery of the language but also a
comprehensive view of the various phases of Roman life and thought, will,
it is believed, be best assured by the slow and careful reading of some
portions of the literature and by the rapid survey of others. Certainly of
the shorter Latin classics few would more fully repay close and careful
study of both language and thought than these charming colloquies on Old
Age and Friendship. While almost faultless in expression, they embody in a
remarkable degree that universal element which characterizes the literary
masterpiece, and makes it the valued possession not merely of an age or a
nation, but of all time.

FRANCIS W. KELSEY

LAKE FOREST, ILL., May, 1882.