of one of the smallest of particles in a passage of Cicero, he says: “Cur _hosce_ potiùs quàm _hos_? Rationem fortassè non reddam; sentiam esse melius,” _Instit._ ix. 4. “Aias” I would at once reclaim from the vulgar tyranny of “Ajax,” which, as we pronounce it, scarcely differs from _a jakes_. This pronunciation, be it observed, is purely British and German, for it is nearly certain that the Latins pronounced the word which they spelt _Ajax_ quite like the Greek _Aias_, _Ajax_ being pronounced _Aias_ in nearly all the languages of Southern Europe at this day. In this poem, accordingly, I spell the name “Aias.” In the same way I restore the ancient and true spelling of the name “Leonides.” (Herod. lib. vii. _passim._ Thucyd. i, 132.) Achilles I would retain because more musical than “Achilleus;” but I would expunge the word “Hectoring” from our language, as originating in disgraceful ignorance, because so far from being a bully, Hector was a hero of the noblest and most amiable character, and is so described by Homer. Helen thus apostrophizes his dead body: Ἕκτωρ, ἐμῷ θυμῷ δαέρων πολὺ φίλτατε πάντων, * * Ἀλλ’ οὔπω σεῦ ἄκουσα κακὸν ἔπος, οὐδ’ ἀσύφηλον· Ἀλλ’ εἴτις με καὶ ἄλλος ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ἐνίπτοι, * * σὺ τόνγ’ ἐπέεσσι παραιφάμενος κατέρυκες, Σῇ τ’ ἀγανοφροσύνῃ, καὶ σοῖς ἀγανοῖς ἐπέεσσι. _Iliad._ xxiv. 762. “Hector, to my soul far dearest of all my brothers-in-law! Never from you have I heard a bad or contumelious word; but if any other in all the household reproached me, you with admonishing voice restrained him--with your bland humanity and gentle words.” Yet with gross and disgusting ignorance this high-souled hero is thus slaughtered in all our dictionaries:-- “HECTOR--a bully, a blustering, turbulent, noisy fellow!!”