Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-08-08
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NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 8. 1886.
The Contest Over the Classics.

The Contest Over the Classics.
The regular summer discussion OF the
magazines and newspapers touching the
classical and anti.classical question has
been going on for some weeks, and, as
usual, the champions Of the classics
have, we think, more than held their
own. Harvard has lately relaxed con-
siderably its requirements regarding the
study Of Greek and Latin. On the other
hand, the Boston Herald, which is pub.
lished under the shadow Of that insti-
tuition, is q strong advocate OF the old
system. In recent article the Herald
presents the following condensation Of
DR.. W. T. HARRIs's account Of his
personal education, which appeared in
the August Forum
"He had worked his way through
Yale College to about the middle Of his
junior year, when he began to disparage
the study of Greek and Latin as dead
Languages, and so cordially hated them
in favor of the three moderns-modern
science, modern literature, and modern
histoIy--that he concluded to withdraw
from college and educate himself. lie
soon found his mistake. He discov-
cred that his slender knowledge Of Latin
and Greek was bis chief instrument in
the acquisition OF new ideas, and that
the words in the English language which
ere used in the expression and communi-
cation Of general ideas are derived
almost entirely from the classic lam
gusges. This was not all that he dis
covered. He saw soon after that our
entire modern civilization is derivative,
resting on the Greek for its aesthetic
and scientific forms, and on the Roman
for the forms of its political and legal
life. This is the framework, so to
speak, Of our civilization, and modern
culture can only learn to know itself
by studying its smbryology in Latin
and Greek. In our schools we put on
for . while the spiritual clothing Of the
Greeks and the Romans aud look out
upon the world through their eyes. In
acquiring the ability to analyze and un-
derstand their civilization, we gain the
power to comprehend our own"
We agree with our Boston contem-
porary, that this is one Of the best ar
guments that have been adduced in favor
of the continued study Of tho classical
tongues in our colleges. But the
Herald does not rest the case upon the
authority Of DR.. HARRIS. 1t calls At
tenton to the remark Of Professor
JAMES BRYCE, "that the Greek and
Latin civilizations furnished the best
examples Of training in the art Of using
materials that could be named because
there was limit TO their extent,' and
by way Of comment adds
Ills professor Bryce's) experience
comedies with that Of DR.. Harris.
Both Of these men-the one an Oxo-
Man and the other an honored student
at Yale, where the classics have always
been held in favor--agrse that, for the
purposes Of the larger education which
the universities are expected to furnish,
there is no training that, on the whole,
is 50 fruitful rs that which is &C.
quired through the knowledge of these
tongues"
And We may add that the testimony
Of both the above-named gentlemen as
10 the value of the classics is supple
mented by that of some Of the most
eminent professors Of modern languages.
These not only find their own kno wledge
Of the classics indispensable when they
come TO impart instruction, but, ss one
Of them writes, they find that the pupil
who undertakes the higher course
in modern languages is apt to
"grope" unless be has had clas-
steal training. We have also the
testimony oil some OF the most proml-
nent workers in the domain Of science
that, apart from the fact that nearly all
scientific nomenclature is based upon
The classics, the study Of Latin and
Greek is invaluable in establishing the
mental discipline which is 30 necessary
In scientific studies. BULwER-LYT-
TON in his Caxtoniano Hints on
Mental Culturs), gives this advice !;
"In science, read by preference, the
newest works; in literature, tho old
cot. The classic literature Is always
modern" The consensus Of scholastic
opinion would seem to sustain Bull
/ wxR to the extent, at least, that the
classics constitute . factor in culture
and 4 stimulus to intellectual develop
msnt that cannot be supplanted.
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