The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1883-08-02
,T5EWBERRY, S. C.
1sDAY, AUGUST 2, 1888
Il PAPER ZOE THE PEopLE.
LATIN AND GREEK.


classics is wonderful, if not praise
worthy; and q few weeks ago they
began to congratulate themselves
that a new and powerful ally had
entered their ranks. In an ad-
dress at Harvard, Charles Francis
Adams, Jr., advocated practical
training for this practical, money
getting age, and many persons who
were too enraptured to give the ad-
dress critical attention, supposed
that he was in favor of banishing
Greek and Latin from our schools
and colleges. A number of news
papers of great power and intelli-
gence caught Up Theory, and leveled
chorus ofcondemnation at the
ancient efassics-all of which they
without being seriously affect
ed. But it seems that these op-
ponents were trife premature in
basing their arguments upon any,
thing said by Mr.. Adams. That
gentleman stated promptly and
publicly that his address had been
MISUNDERSTANDING he is not op-
posed to the study Of Latin and
Greek, but that he is in favor Of re-
tanning them in our schools. Then
the rustic of the newspapers died
away, and there was silence on the
subject; the ally was not an ally,
..at all, at ALL
Without advocating either side Of
this question, We wish to call atten-
ton to two very common errors
made by those who oppose the
study of the ancient classics. The
first is the belief that education is
the getting of knowledge; and that
only those studies are valuable
which furnish practical, money-get
ting knowledge. This is a very
natural error among those who are
accustomed to measure the value Of
labor by visible results; the people
at large do not see the Importance
of studying anything which cannot
be used as q tool III the labor Of
life. But education is not the
mere getting Of facts; it is dis
cipline and development. The
school boy is not able to say what
pursuit in life he will follow, and
no one is able to tell him; the con-
sequence is that he has no means Of
knowing what particular study viii
be of most practical benefit. The
school-man steps in and says, You
must aim at the fullest mental de-
yelopment while in college; you
may fit yourself for special call
ing after you have disciplined your
mind and tested your capacity"
2
ISmay seem paradoxieal, but we are
much more benefited by what we
forget at college than by what we
remember. Understand us. It is
not for the knowledge we get, that
Te spend our years at school, for
the few facts that we learn there
We could acquire in later life much
more easily IN much shorter time.
1t makes no difference whether we
remember a particle of the Greek
learned at college-we do not study
it for that purpose. The advan-
tage is not in the Greek and Latin,
but in the study of Greek and Latin
LIN the mental discipline afforded
by studying them diligently. The
athlete who uses dulnb-bells, and
bars and clubs to develop and
strengthen his muscle, does not
bring them into the arena when he
appears to display his acquired
strength and skill; and, just SO, the
diligent student leaves many stu
dies behind him, but carries the
discipline and development which
he derived from studying them.
But the advocates of s:bread and
butter wish to drive out the an
eient classics because, say they,
..The principles and general struc-
ture Of &ll languages is pretty much
the same, and the same kind of
mental effort is required for their
mastery That argument is cal
culated to mislead only those
who have not studied the subject.
The truth of the matter is, that s.the
priciples and general structure are
by no means pretty much the same?
The structure of the English Ian
guage has, practically, nothing in
common with that Of the ancient
classics. The esymology and syn
tax of the Latin and Greek Ian
guages are widely different from the
etymology and syntax of the mod
ern Languages, and their superiori-