, 1870-07-13


tenn Of culture
Let u zee how aod why this expression u
something more than tue mere transient eouE
ition Of gratitude toward any system OF edn~
cation which has carried one from the 1mma-
Turtles OF boyhood to the comparative knoWl-
edge and culture Of early manhood. First
because have yearly Increasing sense OF
the fact. that go far as regards the bouhdleas
sea Of scientific learning, the mere scqulsl.
tons that are within the reach OF few Years'
study in early LIE sfe s6solu1sly unworthy o.
times man who could be said 10 have COIL
pretended the whole scope Of contemporary
knowledge it WAS Goethe, yet he told Ecker
mann one day in the latter part Of bis LIE that
at the then present rate Of progress IN the
man to attempt more than the mastery Of
single specially. What was then t1ue ia Btil
more obvious now, and will force itself even
on average minds before the century Is out.
The tendency to devote the main etIorts OF
life time to the pursuit Of special fields Of in
to the sum Of our scientific knowledge, and to
the inventions for the observation OF natural
phenomena And We are in more danger OF
suffering from crude aud chaotic notions do
rived from mnnses Of unmastered pheu0mena
than We arc from the loss Of few years de-
voted more especially to the harmonious and
orderly development OF the faculties in such .
manner as enables ua to Study with method,
and to group into Bymmetery and to adjust to
higher uses all our acquisitions OF fact.
Bot does our college system give this sort OF
development, and would not scientific studies
answer the same puIpose2 Tho classics GER
tain1y hare been given too much prominence,
say many profound thinkers Perhaps 30, and
perhaps not. To those who hare acquired
sufficient knowledge Of etymology to compre-
hend the exact and full meaning Of the word
education, it is unnecessary to repeat the OBJ
1-1o %taf ia
different from instruction or the reception OF
facts. There are some things which m audi
ence like this must be presumed to know-as
the judge remarked to tie pettifogger who
wearied him with legal axioms. And it would
be absurd for me to waste your time and pa
for their strictly educational uses, primarily
and mainly. They take the young mind which
wanders riotously through a bewildering c!+Aos
Of external impressions aud enforce on it matl-
cd, application, continuity of thought, and the
observance Of tie relations of things They
tsach it to become equal to the mastery Of
many things by the mastery Of itself as the
first and essential condition of all other forms
Of intellectual achievement. They :" lead OUT
in harmonious proportion the undeveIoped fac
reason !; which enkindle the imagination;
which teach the habit Of Systematic obsery.-
ton. and WHICH impIe88 On the mind indeGbly
the value and meaning OF the words BY which
we receive and imIart all Of our acquisitions,
It is probably true that other studies than
those Of the Greek and Roman clasaics will
meaautably accomplish ali OF these objects OF
real education, but let US not for an instant
forget that it is education and not acquialtlon
OF knowledge that We are now considering,
and, with this fact burned deep into our cor
sciouHness, lot us see why tho ancient classics
are entitled to the place they have 30 long hold.
First, there is the obvious reas0n that they are
fundamental to all Of our modern iterature.
They underlio our thinking to an extent which
We can appreciate in exact proportion to our
knowledge OF ancient and modern books: Not
only are our systems Of laws lArgely derirahla
from the empire which first gsye lava to tho
civilized world not only il thorough knowi-
edge Of tho language in which the
Gospel Of the Lord was written q
necessity to all Who would know its
stores Of modem lear ming wrapped up in these
ancient form Of speech, but our own English
classics are so largely indebted for their con-
ceptions, and even felicities Of expression. to
the Greeks and Romans, that to know the for
mer, and 10 remain in ignorance Of the great
their significance and value. Moreover, the
very terrnino1ogy OF science itself is stripped
of half its meaning to those who hare not
learned that marvellously flexible language,
which furnishes ns with the names Of onrlateat
discoveries. I ssy nothing of the facility which
knowledge OF Latin and Greek gives in the
acquisition of the modern languages-an OF
yious and admitted fnct-bccanse / am conGn-
ing myself to tho strictly educational aspect Of
classical study.
The maxim that "he who kno"s only one
language knows none," ia truo Of tho modern
languages Us q whole, in their relations to
those from which they 30 largely sprung
Take from tho former all the words which
grew out Of modern conditions, modes OF life,
habita, and neeeasities, snd examine solely
universal wants, thoughts. and emotions Of
men, and it will he found that surprisingly
large proportion Of these latter were coined,
l.; whole OF in part, in timaa apta-d1tinE our
modern civilizations. Time Was when the
Latin waa the not difficult and vsst1y useful
echolors OF Europe, as tho French now il be-
tween large proportion OF educated men.
Could the Greek hAye been added as n e4uhI-
! ly common acquisition, it would have Been
| demonstrated how adequate the Bo-called dead
| languages are Tor The expression Of nearly
merely local Origin, :Dcad languages"
| indeed-shey haye been aecumulating aiguid-
cameo in actual use during . score Of centuries,
and we're never 80 surcharged with I7ing force
| and beauty az now.
I 1t is because these Languages arc so en-
balmed and preserved in our OWL; because
| they are yet so Essentially different IN their
| construction, and because the very proceas OF
| learning them disciplines the mind to discover
that identity IN diversity which is the secret OF
all kowledge-that the ancient classics have
been go valuable as educators.
| Do We properly estimate the value to . young
| beginner in the study Of language Of passing
1t one bound outside of and beyond the in
mediate associations of the words he has
learned without remembered mental action, in
| 10 books which mirror 4 vastly different Life
! and under almost totally different conditions,
and among seencs which It requires tho full
vigor Of youthful Imagination to make fea!
and vivid? Can any other mode Of culture
| supply such parallax for the observation ol
the meanings OF modern words
It must 30 painfully evident to any cultured
and critical observer OF the current uttetancet
Of tho times-whether in tho shape Of politica
speeches and controversies, Of Newspaper artl
cles, or Of other common modes Of expressing
opinions on the passing topics Of the day
that vast amount Of fine nntural talent Il
measufsbly nisdirected, hampered, oreiouded
for lack Of that clear and definite apprehension
OF the meanlng OF words and that precision
in their use which classical education mos
surely gives, md without which even tho t1utl
is imperfectly and often injuriously held ant
proclaimed, Willie errors Of all sorts arc SURF
to find lodgment in the mind. Eine-tenths O.
the worlds controversies arc about words ane
their significance, and without an almost 70
lgious adherence to their proper meanings tn
best minds are likely to become confused witt
misaVprehcnBiona- say the least.
The Greek and the Latin are fixed languages
while al living topguca are in q constant state
Of flu1, Of accretion, OF change. and Of unccz
tainty. In the study OF these languages
which reached the perfection OF form ant
have come down to us in all of their orgiua
beanty, unimpaired through the lapse o
centuries, the mind Of the student rests o.
fccted by distEacting influences, the mystery
the symmetry, and the Significance Of tW'
languages which Providence seems to hav'
specially conserved for the perpetual dc
light and instruction Of the scholars OF a
ages.
As believe in the systeu OF, study whicl
has been peculiarly characteristic Of Amer
per perpetuation ' Of the he msin festures .
tbe government and discipline Of til
institutions Of which Yale and Beloit ar!
the senior and junior, the Eastern and West
EN- representatives. II there vaa ever
country in which the bright, full-b1ooded, &C
,, tive, impetuous, and high-strnng youth Of th
!, land needed to pass q few years under the il
fuences Of a mild, Jet firm, restraint; o
instruction, it ID the An,erica OF to-day. Ther
was time in our college history when th
evils Of IN undue 4nd intruBively exercise
authority, Of religious bigotry, and Of neei
lesaly multiplied regulations, chafed the spir
and hardened the Aearts Of many ingenuou
!, lads, who deserved, end would have nohly 81
banded under, more generous discipline
3 ihst era has passed. Tbs wholesome comPt
! tition between rival institutions viii hereafte
| prevent any un3re 2usscrlheH. and the splI
: Of tho times renders such auste1ities virtual
impossible.
; The1o is more danger Of 4 relaxation Of at
thority, Of Indifference on the part Of teacheI
to the morsl culture Of their pupils, and Of Ii
absence OF that devont and obedient spir
:; which is consistent with the noblest ambition
y fh4~o
. danger of that hateful and coEroaing selhn]
: ness which is apt to take hold Of Young NE