The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1858-06-11
How The Classics Ought To be Studied.

How The Classics Ought To be Studied.
Professor Rcubelt, in closing series of
excellent articles in the Nashville 1dvocatc
on the Study 9of the Classics, says: Tho
classics put into tho bandsof the student
| should be such as he'can master by dint Of
close study, and the application Of those
rules with which he is acquainted. Their
Translation will not only exercise all the
,mental faculties. of the student in tile Hap
picstimanner, but will give him also that
confidence i'll himself which is indispensably
necessary in order to insure success. Let
the text be given either without any note
at all, or with geographical, historical, and
| NEUROLOGICAL note, but in no case with snotes
which removes every grammatical difficulty,
translate every complicated sentence, and
do all the parsing besides. .Fromamy own
experience rs a teacher, do not hesitate to
say that such editions of classics as Antllon's
| edition Of Homer do invariably harm, and
ought to be scorned by boil, professor and
learner rs real ponies aSinorana: | would
rather my students to read only five lines
IN Homer at first, alone, thrown on their
own resources, than twenty-five or fifty
with Anthon's notes and glossary. We
would propose then, somewhat like the fol-
loving order in which The classics ought to
be studied: Let six first months or the
first year be devoted to grammar, ctymolo-
9y mainly, to exercises for Translation, tur:'
nnng OH etymology; then one session Cor
nellus Nepos; one year Cesar De Belio
Gathco and CiriHs; one session Livy or
Sallust;s one year Cicero, and six months
Iacitus; the Poets MAJ be commenced at
the session or the second year with parts of
Ovid, then Virgil, Horace, Juvenal Greek
we would recommend TO he commended
| after Latin has been studied at least one
year. Let then a whole year be given to
grammar and exercises for translations then,
while grammar is continued, Zenophon's
Anabasis, Thucvddcs or IIcrodotus, the
Memorabilia,or Plato may follow, OF the
poets, Homer ought to prccede Euripides,
Euripides Sophocles, Sophocles Pindar. In
this way-it will be seen that we do not ask
moro time for the classics than is ordinarily
gwen unto them. Let Latin be studied two
years in the preparatory department, Greek
one year, and then tho two, languages three
years in college, laying aside grammar as
textbook in the Sophomore class, and using
from that time larger grammar merely for
reference, and we guarantee that more than
one halfof our graduates will know how TO
express themselves readily i'll Latiums Ian
guagc, and all advantages to he derived from
the more beautiful language Of ilcllas will be
entirely within their reach.
One more remark, and l have done. 4
boy ought TO commence to study English
Grammar when about ten years Of age, nj
eleven or twelve he may commence Latin,
and at fourteen Greek, and at cightccn.o
nineteen he may graduate. Let him com
mcncc with the languages las stated, and
if he is a good arithmctician, if he has some
knowledge Of geography and history, lie
ought to be received as Freshman, (aitcr
he has finished N.cpos and Caesar, audacan
write an easy composition in Latin, and M
derstands the Greek regular, aud irrcgu-
lar verb.) But let the beginning in no in
stance be made with mathematical studies
and the sciences, SO that the students is i'll
these branches in the languages in the
higher classes of college, while he is in the
languages in the preparatory department.-
The consequences Of such an unnatural
course arc invariably evil; 49, s.-,s