The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-03-21
LATIN AS IT IS TAUGHT.
TBoston courier.1

the advantages of these studies if thev are to continue to enjoy public favor and patronage. If there is any practical ben eft resulting from these studies it seems that this should be sought in thestudent's use ot language; and in these times, at any rate, it will appear h. the ase Of Eng. fish. The time has gone hy when any species of writing is Go be done in Latin. To the view of the unprejudiced locker. on 1t appears to be . perfectly fair iudg- ment to estimate the value of classical studies by a comparison of literary work done by Greek and Latin scholars with similar work done by writers familiar only with English, and with, pe,haps, some other modern tongues. And this is not by any means assuming that all the ad- vantage to the individual which he is to derive from the study of the ancient lan- guages and their literature is to be shown in letters. There may be derived a de- velopment and discipline of the mental powers capable of yielding the possessor much enjoyment, but with these the pub- lie has little cencern. It judges of these pursuits, and 1t will continue to con- tribute to their encouragement, only as they yield some qualification in return. No delay need be experienced in mak. ing the comparison suggested. When. ever English exercises are required of Latin scholars as a test of their pro. fciency in their own language, the work will show for itself. In the examination papers used at Harvard year ago, there are given specimens of "bad English from papers written by candidates for ad- mission at former examinations. Most of these specimens seem to have been se- lected not so much for positive vicious ness of language as for incorrectness of use. They are the work ot young men presumably fitted for admission 10 the college. Of the eighteen specimens given, six show in a marked manner the influence of Latin as it is taught. Not a single example of Grecism, by the way, is to be noted in them all. This is point to which the attention of those who would banish Greek from the curriculum, but would retain Latin, may be perti- nently directed. Again, it is to be ob- served that the Latin influence betrayed is such as no pupil properly taught, and having the slightest appreciation of diff ferences of idiom, would ever yield to. Indeed, the proper training of pupil in Latin should guard him best of any in- struction he can have against these par ticular errors, for in no way can the cor rect use of English be more clearly shown than by bringing its construction into close comparison with that of Latin, and carefully marking the points of re- semblance and of disagreement.
 One or two of the examples of bad English given will exhibit the quality of work done in Latin outside of colleges. What may be done in the college class room to remedy the defects of earlier teaching is to be seen in a higher and a broader test than that of examination papers. The eighth specimen given pre- sents this elegant sentence with more of the same character:
 The son of the old noble, being treated lily by his oldest brother, goes to the court of the userping duke"
 Without regarding the manner of spell ing, or the uncouth derivative adverb, the reader will see at glance that the sem tence belongs to a narrative of events such as would for vividness of description scarcely admit in Latin the use of the historical present, and yet the use of this IS far more frequent in that language than in ours. The practice of employ. ing the historical present is consistently kept up throughout the passage from which the sentence is taken, and it clearly shows an unconscious influence of the Latin. Again, it will be noticed that the paTticiple which occurs in the sentence, aside from its incorrect form, would not be employed by a careful writer of En- glish to subordinate the statement in its clause to that of the main proposition. He would not leave it doubtful whether that clause were introduced to show the time when, or the reason why, the young man sought the court of the duke.
 Another specimen of "bad English" will serve to illustrate this matter of using the participle, and will, at the same time, suggest still another respect in which the Latin seems to Have moulded the pupils English.
 Atlast the appointed day arrived, and from far and near people focked to see the spc.t, among whom being Celia, Fred erick's daughter of the banished duke"
 In this instance it is not easy to discov- CT whether the difficulty which the writer evidently found in expressing his thought arose from the suggestion of the parti- ciple or of the relative pronoun. Ger tainly such combination would not be likely to occur to the miad of one who had been trained to write after English models. The person who is familiar with the usage in Latin which often employs two relative words in one and the same clause, will see at once from what quarter and by what way the barbaious expres- sion, "among whom being," came in. The fault cannot be charged upon the Greek.
 One more specimen will be enough to show defective instruction. There is no neglect of Latin implied in this teaching. On the contrary, that language is doubt less taught with scrupulous exactness. The neglect is of English which can in no way be taught more proftably than in connection with the Latin.
 Everybody except his brother tried to persuade him from his made intention, but he would not heaz them.n