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

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Engiish 3fa class that has studied Latin and
those Of class that has not. Il viii
almost invariably be found that the former
IL Of superior worth. LIN the one ron will
find that clear cut. chasfe. serse and pene-
trating style that must carry conviction; in
the other there will be an absence of ii. Do
you suppose that n rnan could read SalIuss,
who csndenses more in one line than many
Of our writers get IN ten, and not get into
the desired rut, the happy faculiy OF ex.
pressing "multnm in parvoy' Could q
man read Horace's aArs Poetica" which by
the way Is masterpiece of criticism, whose
every line il pregnant with thought, switch
is brimful. bubbling over in It's advice. solid
advice for the student Of English to-day just
as well as for the student Of any other
language at any other time, could any
man, ] say, carefully scan those ATS lines
and be afterwards verbose; and careless
Afterwards hesitate 10 use the pruning
knife: No. Dir. President, by reading and
acquainting ourselves with the force, style
and expression of others. we unconsciously
initiate their style and find ourselves hap
PLY falling into their manner of express
sion.
The advantage Of Latin, fellow members,
It seems TO me challenges contradiction
And nowhere are these advantages more
readily recognised than in the pursuit of the
higher professions, especially the legal pro-
iession. Weflrd the language almost indis-
pensable in the study Of Law. In my slight
acquaintance with the profession and the
study Of 1t. / have found phrase after phrase,
maxim upon maxim and indeed, pages al
most at time that would be wholly uninfel-
telligible II / had not some knowledge Of the
Latin. Now this TO certain extent is true of
the Medical profession and the other high
professions. I ask you then, fellow-mem-
bers, are you going SD to conduct your public
school system that If want to study law
must go TO some college and prepare my
self for IL. If am poor the study Of law
necessarily then would be beyond my
grasp. No, give me In yourschools smat-
tering ofthe language and can still perfect
myselfin the study sufficiently to 60 on with
the law or the medicine as the case may be.
1t cannot be thus argued with the Greek for
though we have many derivatives from the
Greek, still they are generally Of technical
or scientific order not to be so often met with
10 ordinary life. II is unnecessary for me
TO add here'tbat thoseof our pupils who
leave us for college, their work there is
greatly facilitated by the Latin learned at
the public schools.
Mr.. President, lastly a salient point
that we should consider Is the study OF
ideas, OF the thoughts, of the style of the
ancient Latins. This. of course, might be
considered among the luxuries rather than
the necessities of education; it is higher
plain that We cannot hope 10 reach in the
public schools, but we can point it out to
our pupils, we can show them the road that
leads to it, and they can follow it in after
years. And now, when the mind has been
cultivated, made fertile, fit to receive II
where can you find richer food than that
bound up in the Latin tongue? From
what source can finer material be brought
Can We drink too deep of that fountain of
thought that finds its source in the old
Latin writersg Yes, "little learning is a
dangerous thing" but we will incite our stu.
dents TO drink deep of the Pierian spring.
Give US our Horace, our Cicero, Virgil, Sal
lust, Ovid and the rest of them and the
rest of them and the thought seed sown by
these noble Romans must ripen into rich
harvest of fruits
No matter what profession, what occu-
patton be ours, the knowledge of Latin can
never go awry. No education can thorough.
ly crystaliZe without the aid of Roman
tongue, Roman thought and Roman style.
Search into the early history of Rome and
in that itself You will find poetry, thought
and knowledge stored up without stint
The style, expression and all go to make
up the educated man and these are all of a
higher grade in the Latin student
We will be told that practical things
rather should be taught in the public
schools and that Latin is not sufficiently
practical. agree with this only To cs.-
tain extent. But. 1 say, that in our public
schools. theories first, then practice; when
both can go hand In hand then so much
the better, but il not, let theory be master
in the school room, practice will succeed
later on. Theories must, If / may use
the expression, be digested by practice.
DO not mean, of course, the build
ing of air castles and other wild vaga.
ries, but l mean that it is place of begin
niDgs. Every child in his young life must
learn many things that nothing but prac-
tice; actual contact with life will thoroughly
explain. We all get this actual contact /:
we must have this practice; we have got
to serve an apprenticeship. You might
spend years telling man or woman how
to teach, but they themselves will have to
teach before the art will be mastered
Mr.. President, believe thar the public
schools of Maryland can be weighed in
the balance with those of any other COM
monwealth and they will not be found
wanting. think that they can compare
iavorably with any other State in the
Union. bnt with all that we are not be-
yond improvement. THERE'S still higher
rung in the educational ladder that we
wish to reach. And, / believe, that the
next great step is to be q more thorough
introduction of Latin in our free school