Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1894-07-19
Should Latin Be Taught In the Public
schoclsl
A paper read at the State Teachers Asso'
ciation ct Annapolis by
Mr.. G. MAYgIKG COMBs.

Mr.. PFesident, Ladies and Gentlemen -
In response TO an invitation from the exc.
cutiye committee of our Association, rise
your humble organ, hoping TO contribute
my simple, unvarnsshed views upon the
question ut issue and trusting that they
may be conducive 10 the attainment OF
that which must work material benefit to
our free and public system Of education.
in the outset would beg leave TO say that
il is not mere matter Of form when / ex-
press my deep appreciation of the consid-
Grafton Ihave received at the hands OF
shat committee. have been honoured be-
yond my desert and am not insensible OF
H. / thank its members. and /, at the
same time, beg your indulgence for those
shortcomings that must make themselves
manifest throughout this paper During
the closing hours of school had not the
time, end since then ill-health has render
cd il impossible for me to give TO its prepar-
alton that time and study which the topic
demanded.
Mr.. President, shall not endeavour to be
either very profound or very thorough in
my treatment Of this topic, for am not the
sufficient philologist, but shall discuss il
as IL seems to present itself to our every day
view. And hence | claim that the ques-
ton today, when sifted down, resolves IL
self simply into this: Would the study OF
Latin 10 the public schools of Maryland to-
day be practical would il be produc-
tive? / contend that it would be both.
If such were not the query, then our sub
ject would surely be an anomaly. an edu
cational anachronism, as II were, For !
defy anyone to successfully hold that Latin
abstractly could do harm, could initiate To
our disadvantage. could clog or impefe the
progress Of our learning. / do not think
that any one would have the temerity,
would jeopardize the respect for their
opinion by laying such claim. Then, /
say, Mr.. President, We are to consider
whether the study Of Latin, If engrafted
upon our system of public education, would
Justify the time given TO IL, would in the
end prove Of greater advantage and worth
to the pupil than the slime time and the
same labour devoted to other studies.
To be sure, fellow members, history re-
pca.s itself This month 200 years ago,
less years, within this historic old town
and within this very ha-. was about TO
say hall, but believe in 1704 the old house
was burned TO be rebuilded in 1706; at any
rate, in the then Capitol our legislative body
met and THUS petitioned His Majesty, the
King OF England THAT he would estab-
lish a system of free schools. in which
should be taught "Latin, Greek, reading,
writing and the like" Hence we see that
in the primeval stage Of this great COM
monwealth the study of the classics was
considered ofprime importance. The great
builders and fathers of our State seemed
then with unerring eye to realize the kin
ship between Latin and education itself,
and begged of their King first ofall schools
and after schools that the language of the
Romans be engrafted ,pon the education
of our youth; that it be taught with our
own native tongue, together with the read
ing, writing, arithmetic, geography and the
like in the same schools and by the same
teachers, that il 60 hand in hand with those
studies for the sake of which some today
wish to throw il aside. And now, If 200
gears ago, when this State was but an in
FAINT colony, when its people were fettered
with that undesired, class distinction herr
tage of England, when the poor was but
the lordlings's slave, when the rich monop.
olized not only the wealth and comfort,
but also the education of The province, and
the poor were 'the hewers of wood and the
drawers of water" iftheD, the public school
child should be taught Latin. certainly to-
day, when the times and customs have
changed in this land of liberty and equali-
~, while civilization has broadened out, the
need is all the greater. II the prophetic
eye OF the fathers Of our State could pene.
trate the wells of the future and realize that
to hold our proper place in the sisterhoo1
Latin must be taught; if in the grotesque,
unsettled brginning they could see this,
why car we not today, now that we have
thrown Off the swaddling clothes of youth,
see it all the more clearly?
Mr. President. what is the use of our pub
lie schools anyhow Why do we have
thems The first desideratuna, the under.
lying principle is TO elevate and to equal
iZe mankind.
"'Tis education that forms the common
mind;
just as the twig is bent, the trees inclined"
II is education that turns the barbarian INTO
civilized man. The civilization eta country
Is measured by its education, and The me re
complete the education the more rapid the
strides in progress. And i say that this
panacea is TO be distributed first and FORE
most through the agency Of our free
ant public institutions of learning, Cor by
them are the greatest numbers effected.
claim further. that that education is made
the more complete by the introduction OF
Latin.
But here reason, as in all successful un.
dcrtakiBgs, must be our guide. 1t must be