Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-03-24
AN ESSAY

school, at recent meeting OF the
teachers institute:
"Of late years much has been said
by the advocs ties of the so called new
education opposing the study of the
classics, and favoring the study Of
natural science. 1t is undoubtedly
true that scientific studies develop
many faculties of the mind that
classical studies fail to unfold; but, on
the other hand, no one can deny that
Ian gusge Ia the cornerstone Of educa-
ton. without this highest gift, man
would be little better than other ami
mals--a mere beast of prey.
THE first QUESTION, then, that
should engage tue attention Of the cd
ucator 10 how to secure command OF
language. To gain thorough under
standing and appreciation of any tub-
ject, We must not be content to dabble
at the surface, but we must plunge 10
the bottom Our first impulse must be
to SEEK The primal Cause, the origin of
tn pgS, as far rs finite reason can de-
ternDiue The composite character of
the English language presents broad
and fascinating field for the thought
full and inqutring student Even chill
dren very frequently manifest deep
interest in the relation and derivation
of words. If This interest IL enoour-
aged aud incrta ed by a judicious
guide, it. will lead 10 thorough I'M
derstanding OF large humber Of
words; and in many cases will create
taste for intellectual pursuits in gen
erul
"To the student of the English
language knowledge Of the Latin Is
au absolute necessity. IL is an undis.
puled fact that for almost every Saxon
word In our language we have cor
responding word of Latin origin. BY
means Of this parallelism Of terma, We
are enabled to arrive st nice 0is;ic.
tioua, and exsctness If expression An
acquaintance with few simple Latin
roots will often imIart light and
beauty 10 technical terms that would
otherwise be utterly devoid Of mean
Ing. Where would the orator, the
writer, the man OF science be, were il
not for the wealth of words they &c
qulre from this valuable treasury g.?
They would be in pit surrounded by
steep hills and dangerous pathwa,
whit nee every fort 10 ascend would
be painful and perhaps futile.
but The Latin Language is not only
q precious store'houee from which To
obtain supplies; 1t is also n powerful
educator. mental fertilizer. Latin
cannot be ''picked upn by few pass
ing glapcea, as French and some other
modern languages can. 1t requires
nnpl onA Anlikn,oEn
stand the ibflt ctional method of show
ing The relation Of words in q sen
tence. No one can pursue the study
or L4tin grammar thoroughly and
conscieutiOusly without forming log
icsl aud accurate habits OF thought
AS direct result of this mental dis.
cipline, the Latin student cen very
easily master other languages and es
pecislly the Romance Languages, viz:
the Italian, Wallachian, French. Pro-
VencAl, Spanish and Portugu. Sc. Since
these laI gua9es are an Out growth of
the ancient dialects spoken ia the Ro.
man provir Gee, they present few diff.
nculties 10 one we'll versed In Latin,
Besides enricbing the vocab larry
and training the mind, the Latin
language Is OF great Importance TO the
iure. To be cut Oft from Latin litera-
ture Is indeed a serious loss No trans
lation can possibly supply the place OF
the original. We might as we'll Mt
tempt To judge OF beautiful picture
In adimly lighted room as to appreci.
ate the beauties of q foreign lsneu gs
through a translation. We could ner.
haps d'srry the outline, and form n
faint conception of the blending of
colors, out we could no more resl,ga
tue full beauty than blind man can
realize the glory of the sun. The fol
lowing words Of Dr.. Wheyell fairly
estimate the value of the clas-icS.
No one can be considered as furnished
with the knowledge, ta-tes, aud avn
pathies which connect the snc
cessive generations of uberalIv
tducs'ed men, who ia no
familiar with Homer and IN.
Greek trsgedisns, ~ well as with Wiz.
gil, Horace aud Ovid. These twu
great iamilits of Writer'S, the q eek
and Roman classics, form the intel.
lectual ancestors Of the cultivated
minds OF modern times; and we nnst
oe well acquainted with their Ian.
gnsge. their thoughts, their forms or
composition, their beautitl, IN order
that we may have our suare no that in.
hrritance by which men belong 10 the
intelirc' usl aristocTacy of msnkind
rhe study OF these title deeds and mr..
ehieves Of The culture of our race must
De permanent portion OF The beat ed.
ucation OF men SO long as the tradition
OF such culture is preserved upon the
face Of tn EARTH
~ think no reader Of Latin autho. g
VIII he pr pa'ed To dispute DR.. Vine.
well's rtmarks Who that has read
ovid has not found him a ohsrm.
Ing story teller? VINO can tnrn
away unmovtd from the burning
eloquence Of Cicero. or the arti.tf,
ca ~ finished ver,es OF Virgil? Surelv
me rugged philosophy OF Horace. and
ms genial love OF nature and Of
friends, end'a him to ell that is Irue-t
auu oe-t In manki d Laying aside the
mere literary value OF l. atm, there are
SUI valid reasons why the ,itiz n.
.ne statesman. the philsnth,opist
should understand the lapuuage'
Present aud future nr,eraaa n',,s, 81