The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1874-10-29
For The CLARION.
The SGnsy of the Classics.
no. /.

/ no. l.
The too earnest desire to do right, and
a too enthusiastic pursuit after what is
considered best, is often the very cause OF
many being foiled in their endeavors to
perfect their plans, and of their falling
into that error which they were seeking
4 especially tn avoid. In nothing else Is
this intake so frequently made, than in
the motive which actuates many to con-
denim and queer at that system of instruc-
ton, which makes an acquaintance with
the classics, a necessary portion of a
students education. It is urged that the
time spent i'll obtaining a knowledge Of
words, as some very enormously style the
study of L1tin and Greek, could better
be employed in storing the mind with a
knowledge Of thugs But when such an
argument is advanced, it is taEen for
granted that the only faculty of the mind
exercised, is the memory; and since this
department of the intellect can as we'll be
developed by the study Of geography, or
CHRONOLOGY, or, natural history, why COM
pei it to be burdened with a useless jum-
BILE of words Were this the only adj
vantage to be obtained by close atten-
ton to the classics, / would at once
coincide in the opinion that it is a useless
study, and that the time given in its
pursuit, might be more sdvantageously
laid out in The requirement of knowledge
more profitable.
But in being of this opinion, many
commit a great error. Since genius
seems to depend upon the degree Of
excellence. attained by all the great
faculties of invention, judgement, memory
and taste, it is natural to conclude that
that study, which is capable of exercising
all the faculties at once, is the one to be
preferred to all others. What is the
object Of an education? Every one will
spontaneously answer that its end is to
prepare man for some useful occupation or
profession in after life.
| will allow that this is the most impor-
tant consideration in the instruction 10 lie
pursued by the teacher with respect to
the scholar; but l contend, and with
reason, that there is no better way f. r
fitting him for his future employment,
than by exerci ing and invIgorating
every mental faculty-while at school or
college.
There is but one throughout the whole
curriculum of college studies which calls
into action all the intellects at once; and
that study is the one which is 50 often
arraigned and condemned as useless it
is the study of the classics Without
considering the other advantages, which
hang upon an acquaintance with the Latin
aud Greek languages, until hereafter, il
shall be my effort first to show that ii |
affords display for every department of the
understanding.
Bat in order tn he more clearly |
understood, let us analize the different |
processes the mind of Il student undergoes |
in translating from a Latin or Greek |
author into his own tongue. In order TO |
make Il translation, it IS requisite that |
the meaning Of the different words be |
known. For this purpose he consuls his |
under the word found there /
arc several meanings, differing somewhat !
from each other. He has to think, weigh |
AMI discriminate in order to determine |
which one will best convey the meaning t
of the author LII this way his judgment |
is matured. Again, his endeavor is to +
give his transl ltion the best possible I
shape, and his brain is, therefore, raciled |
for some suitable expression in his own |
language, to convey the corresponding |
idea of the Latin and Greek author before /
MIN. BY this means his invention is t
But in his search for suitable /
expressions to express the meaning of the
sentence before him, there are nearly |
NJ ways several, which warIed little I
but embracing the same ilea. /
arise in his mind, and in making his Sc
lection, the taste Of the scholar is i'm /
proved Again, IN his LltIn AMI Greek |
languages, there are certain rules and t
laws, upon which the disposition of worlds /
depend, ard in searching the grammar
for rule applicable in his particular case,
the habit or abstraction or thought is pro-
luced
H. l.. EDWARDS.
Oct. II, 1874.
TO BE CONTINUED. :