New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-11-20
MR.. ARNOLD IN BROOKLYN.
DEFENDING GREEK IN EDUCATION.


ing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to
auspices of the Long Island Historical Society.
The Rev. DR.. StOrrs presided, and On
the platform were the members of the society, IN
Gliding ex-Judge Van Colt, the Rev. DR.. Chamber
lain, the Rev. John w. Chadwick, the Rev. Dr
Hall, the Rev. DR.. Cuyler. the Rev. DR.. Schenck.
S. b. Chttenden, the Rev. DR.. Farley, and Mayor
Low. The latter received hearty round of ap-
plause on entering DR.. Storrs, in q compliment
taTy speech introduced the lecturer whose subject
was Literature and Science" Mr.. Arnold, who
looked WELL and was heard quite distinctly In all
parts of the building. said:
Practical people talk with smile of Plato and his OBJ
soete IDEAS aud 1t is impossible to deny that his ideas
do often impracticable, especially when
placed in contrast with great working pop
ulatlon, like that OF these United States. He
regards such trade and mechanical work with
dsdain but what becomes OF the life OF great working
community II you take the rado life out Off Trade
says Plato brings about fatal decay Of nober growth In
man. and he has his body marred by grmy labor so
his soul within him becomes broken and decrepit Nor
do the working professions fare any better at his hands
He speaks OF the bondage OF the lawyer whose toll makes
him small and crooked Of SOUL that not possessing the
courage 10 stand by honesty and TRUTH he becomes with
out any soundness in him whatever.
PTATo's IDELs STILL RULE.
lures and though they belong to age widely differing
from Own, they yet command the respect OF
minds. They descend from a period when the warrior
and the philosopher were held most In honor the lower
trade and business. They handed on from Roman
to feudal times when also the warrior and the priest
nextto slaves Yet education Is stu mainly governed
GGs such 81 an men edpcdon as hs fitted only leisure
and unsued to the practical and matterofact issues OF
life Especially unsuod 10 the masses who are bound 10
dissatisfied with those pursuits YET fatos ycws arc IN
| those studies which result In his souls attain
| ing 10 soberness. righteousness and wisdom
hI5 is solidy good whether our future destination
be hereditary English House Of Lords. the
mnnty as the United states which shapes it, education
10 the standard Of its requirements and II one nnd l.
discovered 10 he unsuted very speedily adopt ahother
NEW NOTIONS OF EDUCATION.
The question now Is much raised whether to
meet the needs Of our age ought not to substitute
the cultivation OF becs-cttres for science Nowhere Is
this question eagerly and areny discussed as here.
II aims at aasng literary attainment in favor of scientific,
The present question which shall discuss Is whether
bcc-lcttn- ought To bo excluded from education. and
whether the present onslaught made upon tn,ni
will prevail. anticipate the objection that
may be made TO myself whose education mas been
almost wholly confined 10 belo~lrttes' discussing seem
nc questions, and shall make my remarks WIN becom-
Ing caution Ny small attainment tn science VIII now
Nc visible. and no one VIII be taken m lou may
remember remark OF mine that we ought to know the
be 4 taught
quoting TIL, remark and emphasizing H. says lne CElnLn
world may De Parcd a. one great Federation WorhgIo
common result aud having for it, outfit knowledge Of
Greek Roman ana Egyptian antiquity and ot one anoiher
assert that literature contains that hcb will enable Us
to know ourselves and the world But says Professor
! Iluycy - this knowledge will not COnducc to culture.
| neither will nation, nor an individual attain to
very very T Tccc.sary to have plain coinpre,
hcn,lon Of the precise moaning OF terms Professor
and ornamental hut not useful Renan sPeh too with
contempt a superficial humanism" which u taught
I In, we
! and tcnchcrs Now when speak OF Greek and Roman
! anil Romans their uie their morals. their
p'i All teaching ia thus scientific when
| followed up to it, source. All learning is
scientific which systematically laid out. TO know the
! creek. an. Romans means more than 40 much Yoca-
bulary. grammar, or extracts from authors II Is the
same a. knowing own, Other nations, 10y which we
arrive at a knowledge Of ourselves. Tho distinctive
Characteristic Of our times lies I'm the part played nv
/ physical science II commands more OF popular sym
rahy than the study oflitcraturc
I have -aid that We ought 10 know inc heSt tnAt hl-
been taught and said in literature Literature IL large
word. IT. may mean al that mas been colnprI ru
letters and considers that this Is ~ sufficient equipment
Tor criticism Of modern ne; As ny knowinG Sfe'R,
mean the understanding OF Greclan ART tho hhnlts anu
lie OF q people from whom We derived physics anu
tons have taught and said IA to follow
the progresses by which these results have been attained
n Ibrn 70 Ice said on behalf OF those who have been
! somewhat sconfully called tho levitcs OF humane
studies, IN opposition 10 those who may DO called Their
I'm" results have their visible bearing human
a
habit OF dealing with facts Il excellent mental ds"i
pllnc. We do not accept theory merely because II -
pcn For purpose Of attaining real culture. n-rc-
ton In science Is ~ necessary as instruction IA H''''
turc.
THE rR,INING THAT HUMAN NATURE NEEDS.
In natural science the habit OF dealing with facts Is m
excellent and valuable discipline But when 1t Is pro
posed TO make the training in natural science the chiet
part In education those who would do this leave out of
their calculation the necessities Of human nature IL
yyould be hard Ia deny that when We como to com
mcrnorate tho chief things that 9" TO build NJ human
lie, ~ beauty and conduct ana the po"TWrS
Of society literature takes greater and wider place We
need AN these none isolated. In the gcncihy ot
men there Is tendency TO relate pieces OI hho%l,dSr
A. We acquire piece of knowedsc aitrr 4h3ihcr W.
try TO connect them, and therein lies the hod Whch
letters have upcn ~. We feel n'ed 10 ri"tr I
piece, o. knowledge To our sense OF beauty ana codl
The Syhl told Socrates that man had tr desire ll e"l
should be present with HIM Love I, b9 ln' AP'Son
which cannot be related. / ycntured to assert III
hr senate House at Cambridge that tt mat1cnlI9
il The same with certain things In natural science
Education lays hold upon by relating our k,o"ruS'
Ihc great medieval universities calue INTO cA,lch's ne
cause OF the general man that tood should ever
present with him. We hnd mat humane IE,iS MAY
the power 10 engage human cmOtl"hS' ms putty
and II. qncncG THIS Pg"rTnLs lI Sye tbI. ctrc
- GaoTt bn, are they 10 he u,cd The great
philosopher spinoLa said that felicity CONSISTED IN m
LIE az" ,cct of tis from the sentence "What shall II
profit n man II he gain whole world and lose himself
Lot ~ avoid comparisons between humane letters anu
natural science have shown that there Is an uIucr!
ing depth in human nature, which requires '3at
rdc should connect itscf with sense of beauty ana
conduct. The study Of the h'nhnnHH, iuu, t,
/ nm why should H. loo Greek htcihturef nAyo
moi he English speaking race enough Of great minus
In Their literature
A DEFENCE OF GREEN.
I,nsvcr that the stuly OF Greek. against which the
urc.clt cutlery seems most strongly directed affords
symmetry OF Thought and idea. thlnk tho
lovers Of Greek literature have ho'nhS
10 fear; the time is coming whom women WIN KNOW
Greek ~ did Lady Jane Grey and when your Eirs wiz
De studying It in your schools of learning In the lar west
II opld he remembered that the glorious beauty OF the