Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1894-07-19

not be expected that each public school il
70 be converted into university. lido not
claim that Il would be the heightoffolly
70 do 50 But do hold that each child
that enters our public schools, after his
mind has been fsade capable Of receiving
and approaching the knowledge Of Latin,
should be taught the fundamental prinei-
pies Of the language. We should lay the
foundation upon which the structure must
be builded in aftes years. admit that in
our public schools there are many upon
whom IL would be waste of labour and a
waste Of time 10 bother with the study Of
Latin. To such il win ever remain a mat
ter Of indifference 70 know whether Cesar
fought, Horace wrote or Virgil sang. This
We must expect when we consider the class
Of those that attend the schools fn1m the
rural districts, but at the same time let us
remember that in that same class there are
many striving ever to elevate themselves
and these deserving ones are they TO whom
We wish to lend helping hand. As Is
well known the rich Can afford to equip
themselves at the great colleges and uni
versities Of the country, while many who
are poor in purse but rich in intellect have
TO look to our public schools for their ar
mour to battle with life. We must hold
out our hands TO them, we must eaualize
mankind, not by dragging the rich down.
but by raising the poor up. All of those
advantages that follow in the wake of the
knowledge Of Latin enjoyed by the rich
and thirsted for by the poor tend &c handi-
cap the latter 10 the advantage of the former.
And now, members, il is the prov
ince Of the public schools to remove this
gulf, to span this chasm tetween the poor
aud the rich, and so let merit prevail. Il
cannot be said then that wealth is of no
use. for we hinder the rich. We do not
hinder the rich, we help on the poor And
/ say that you aid insult TO injury when
you say that this boy or that girl are not in
know what they'll need. 1t is unjust and
unfair TO predestine any nan or woman to
this or that state Of life, TO brand them with
the stigma of despair because poverty is al
ready theirs, to crush out ambition, the life
blood of success. You must not forget thst
diamonds are oft found in the toughest ore
And repeat, that you do not know what
part in life they will be called upon to play,
for is it not matter of fact that many Of
the greatest statesmen, the greatest natural
lists, the greatest men that this globe has
ever known came from the humblest orr.
gins. Oh, yes, they were great without
the knowledge of Latin, but they would
have been greater with it For how often
do we learn Of worthy men, long past the
meridian of life, with school-boy zeal mas
tering the language of Cicero, Sallust and
Horace. Past history then precludcs the
entertainment of such notions.
Mr.. President, we are ever confronted
with the tiimsy argument of time, time,
time. We are told that time Is needed, that
the time which we have should be devote,!
to more important things. beg again o,
insist here that do not advocate for mo-
ment the study of Latin to the detriment
and prejudice Of more important things.
OF course it is out Of the question to occu.
py child's time with The study of for.
eign tongue and in consequence neglect
our own mother tongue, our reading, writ.
ing, geography, arithmetic and such stud
les as you know without my repetition.
But say, though may be treading upon
dangerous ground, that if much of the time
in our public schools devoted to this or tina;
formaliiy was spent in mastering the con
jugations and declensions 81 the Latin Ian.
guage, then the compensation TO the pupil
would be far greater. Don't understand
me To mean that the school room should b.
devoid of form and order; certainly not
but in many cases it is over done.
And now. Mr.. President, wherein is this
good that we speak of? l may be told tina
English is what we want TO teach, let plague
take the Latin. / would answer, there il
no better, no safer, no surer way of teach
ing the English than through the medium
of the Latin ! cannot COMPREHEND how
English can be thoroughly understood saw,
by Latin scholar. And this is natural
No matter what is said, our language, oui
customs and our manners are of COMPARE.
lively recent birth. 1t is the best culled
from the older tongues, especially the
Latin. Indeed, might it not be called
the offspring of the Roman tongue |
Is it not begotten of that language /
Analyze for a moment the composition, the
origin and the formation Of our language
GO per cent of the words used by US, the
mother tongue, the Sasis OF the structure,
is of course Anglo Saxon. Now of the 40
per cent. left don't think would be
taken to task if l said 30 per cent. of them
were either taken directly from the Latin,
pure or alleged, or from it through the
medium of the Norman-French, Spanish,
Italian and others all offspring Of the
Latin, together indeed with the mother
tongue itself much of which is corrupted
Latin. or course in their cosnate letters
and forms there is difference, still there is
u strong affinity between the different
tongues. Giving, then, due consideration
% the Welsh, the Danish and the others, il
may be readily seen what an important
factor in our language the Latin is. And
this is easily understood, for did not the
Romans hold sway over Britain for 500
years. Which fact, ofcourse, must have had
potent influence in shaping the style and