The sun., 1893-12-24

distinct principles. At Harvard, the op-
tional or elective principle IL applied In Inn
| portant particulars even to the conditions
for admission. and II has full play from the
beginning to the end OF the college course.
At Yale. tho same principle receives no rec
ognitlon at ali until the beginning OF the
| junior year. But this matter is one Of 90
| much interest to the friends Of the higher
education that II had beet be examined In
| detail. To begin with Yale, we observe that
| all candidates for admission TO the fresh
man class must pess an examination In the
following books and subjects: First, In
Latin grammar, three oratione Of CICERO,
| elk books Of the Eneid and the Bucollce Of
VIRGIL. the Metamorphoses Of Ov1D. the
translation. at sight. Of passages from
NEPos and CESAR. the translation into
Latin Of connected passages OF Eng
lish prose. and finally. Roman history
till the death Of AUGUSTUS. Secondly,
Greek grammar. four books Of XENoPHoN's
Anabasis, three books of the Had, the
translation at sight into English from some
| work OF XESoPHoS. the translation into
| Greek OF connected passages Of English
prose. and lastly. Greek history. A candi-
date must also be proficient in algebra as
far as and including the binomial theorem.
and in plane geometry and the solution OF
numerical problems involving the metric
system. A candidate must further know
| enough French and German to translate at
sight easy prose into English. and also to
translate easy English exercises into the
foreign language offered. An applicants
familiarity with English literature will like
wise be tested by an examination Of his
knowledge Of certain specified classical
works in poetry and prose.
| Having thus demonstrated his qualifcs-
| tions, Yale undergraduate finds that, In
| the freshman and sophomore years, the
| whole work is prescribed. The kind and
amount OF study exacted in these two years
are believed by the Yale authorities to be
such as arc essential for laying the founda-
| tion OF liberal education, whatever the de-
partment or profession that may be pur-
sued in after life. They are also believed to
be no more than is needed to give the student
a proper basis OF knowledge and discipline
| for the study OF the elective courses which
follow. and that knowledge OF himself aud
| OF the subjects before him. which Is needed
| for q judicious choice. Greek. Latin. and
mathematics occupy weekly twelve and
| nine hours OF classroom work during the
| freshman and sophomore years respective
| ly: three hours OF classroom work per
| week during the freshman and sophomore
years are given to modern languages;
| three hours per week during the
| sophomore year. and one hour In
the freshman year are given to English.
and three hours per week during the sopho-
more year are given to physics. OF the
work OF the junior and OF the senior years
at Yale. over four-hfths is In elective
| studies. The whole number Of elective
courses open to the two classes Is at the
present time 149. and. in addition. there are
several courses OF lectures. attendance on
which is optional The juniors have open
to them elective studies in the English Ian
| guage and literature. the fine arts. history.
| political science. the natural sciences. and
music. in addition to those In the depart
ments OF the classics. the modern Ian
| guages. and mathematics. The seniors
have electives under all these departments.
along with others OF higher range.
| Now let US look at Harvard. Here an ap-
| plcant for admission Ia confronted by a
| somewhat complicated scheme OF require
| ments. There Is list OF elementary
| studies. and there Is also a list OF advanced
| studies. An applicant may present himself
| in any OF four ways. He may offer. first, all
| OF the elementary studies and at least two
| OF the advanced studies; or secondly, all OF
the elementary studies. except either Ger
| man or French. and at least three advanced
| studies: or thirdly, all the elementary
| studies. except either Greek or Latin. and
| Mt least four advanced studies; or fourthly,
| all the elementary studies. except either
| Greek or Latin and either German or
| French, and at least five advanced studies.
| The significant point Is that an applicant
for admission to Harvard may omit either
Greek or Latin from his preparatory
! studies. though he must have q rudl-
mentary acquaintance with one or the
other Of those languages. The language
omitted would OF course be Greek.
since even our English high schools.
llke the corresponding institutions in
Germany. consider some knowledge OF
Latin Indispensable t. the comprehension
OF ones native tongue. II. however.
an applicant at Harvard should offer both
Greek and Latin. as ha would have to do at
Yale. he would probably present not only
the elementary. but the so-called advanced
qunntum OF Greek and Latin; In which
event, about the same degree OF proficiency
would be required, though the tests applied
|
Harvard would have to translate at sight
average passages from HOMER. or less
difficult passages from both HOMER and
IiERoDorUs. and render passage OF con-
nected English narrative into Attic prose:
while in Latin. he would have TO translate
at sight average passages from CICERO and
VIRGIL. and translate into Latin passage
OF English prose. The amount Of mathe-
| nafin - iIaf af ha fug,A
colleges is about the same. but at Harvard
an applicant must show al elementary
acquaintance with physical science. which
is not requisite at Yale.
Once admitted to Harvard, an undergrad
uate finds himself az liberty to submit his
choice OF studies. the only prescribed sub
iects during the freshman year being
rhetoric and English composition. chem
"a. Il EHa. hs