The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-05-19
Writing BY. Classic. Models,

Without o s1iberal education" can
n write the best English? The Bos-
ton Advertiser maintains the negative.
Here is an essential for those schools of
journalism that. we read about. Says
the Boston paper:
"Given good subject and q competent
mind, it is doubtful if it could be written
out to the highest advantage, with true
propriety and in perfect taste, unless the
writer has been trained on the simple
and peerless models of the Latin and
Greek classics" . -.
This allegation shows that the allega-
tor is up in the classics, and it puts into
the category of the Philistines all that
deny.
But if the study of Latin and Greek
gave logical sense, it would perceive
that this assertion refutes itself; for if
the peerless models had any virtue, it
would be developed in English itera-
ture. The assertion that the sucking
writer must go behind this to the Latin
and Greek forms is the same as to say
that they have made no impress on the
English writer's of these centuries. Thus
does this pompous saying deny itself.
Dogberry was wiser when he said, "to
write comes by nature" Like poets,
orators and generals, writer's are born.
First catch your hare-frst be born
right. Then all training is good that
helps. Butjust what kind Of training
helps is what the school mem have not
found out. Educating hath this slight
imperfection, that no certain result can
be predicted. So much of writing comes
by nature that no man a tell what
Latin and Greek have done for him, or
whether he would not have put in his
time better in English literature. Surely
he would if the Latin and Greek classics
had formed the best English, for in this
he could go directly to the treasures that
centuries of following the peerless
models have gathered.
Plenty of college men are in Journal
ism in this country, but there are few
writers who have a competent mind"
to choose ga good subject" and write il
"'out to the highest advantage, with true
propriety and in perfect taste" o.
indeed who can write anything worthy
of distinction. IF performance were
any test of this dictum, we might cite
our American classic. Our creates
subject was the proposed national con
stitution. It was written out to thu
highest advantage by competent minds
in the Federalist papers.-1They are re
garded as models OF cogent reasoning
and perspicuous and elegant style
How much Latin and Greek could Ham
ilton have had, who wrote the most ant
best of these papers; who was a We
India counting house boy from twelve *
fifteen, a soldier at nineteen; who wrot'
a remarkable literary paper at fifteen
and distinguished himself at Seventeen
and eighteen as a writer on the question
between Great Britain and the. Colonies
A million might go through the classi
models without producing n sucl
genius.
Men Of inherent capacity do surviv
Latin and Greek. Whether better o
worse for it is what nobody can find out
Many who have made highest attain
ments in these studies and have becom
eminent, have denied their value. o
the other hand, a multitude continual
affirm their value, In whose Performance
no one can see it. 1t gives some ideas {
the powers of words-of ~etymology; bu
how much no one can tell, for in reaity
usage, not origin, governs. To alloI
that it gives more than the same stud
in English, would allow that the class
models have had no influence on Englis
literature. IF it has the effect of ''tru
propriety and perfect taste, it must b
IN the arrangement of the words in sci
fences. If the writer were actually
form these upon the peerless models, b
would be like the soldier of to-day in til
armor of the Greek Observation-Disclosures
G0zefte-