The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-09

was a mule and that our revered George
Washington was monumental liar. BIV
common sense tells us that facts are
facts and that education, AS well as the
in dividuai, win always remain susceptible
Of improvement"
Are not dead languages taught in Eu-
rope. professor?
In higher education. yes: but no more
in secondary education. At the last edu-
cational congress held in Paris in 1889,
composed OF the most eminent scholars
and foremost educators Of every country
on earth the following resolutions were
adopted by an overwhelming majority:
In these days of rush for pre-eminence
having to limit our knowledge to those
which are all over the world considered
as being the most useful in life;
Resolved, That modern secondary ed
ucation ought TO be both scientific ana
literary. Latin nor Greek shall not be
admitted in 1t and greater weight shan
be given TO the teaching Of foreign lam
guages.
In most foreign countries these con
illusions have been adopted, and now sta
tistics show that in England, Germany
France Japan, Russia ana the United
States the study of modern languages Is
commenced a the age of 10 to Y at the rate
Of five and six hours weekly. Even here
in America, out of 1900 high schools, five
sixths of them have adopted this prin-
ciple ana right here in Geor-
gia, Atlanta, Macon and Augusta
can boast of being far ahead of Savannah
IN that respect. Why, then, should not
your city keep up with the procession, and
devote to modern languages the l,2OO or
800 hours now squandered in studying
grammatical veXations of Greek and
Latin?
Foreign languages are supremely use
full; they double and treble the library
IL l. he. dRurn thaa
great Napoleon said once that a person
possessing the knowledge of a foreign
tongue was worth two persons and so
on. We think he was right, and that
person who nowadays is ignorant or
foreign language resembles the man who,
being asked what kind of star was shin
ing SO brilliantly above his head, replied
he did not know, on account or his being
quite a stranger in the city.
Which foreign languages would you sug-
gest. professor?
.aThey are all useful, but the
modern language which as me-
dium Of culture and as a substitute for
the dead languages, derives consideration
above all is the French Its advantages
are numerous. Let us enumerate few
of them. For two or three centuries II has
been the language of refined society and
Of learned people all over the world. BY
reason Of it's clearness, 1t has become the
recognized language of science, of court
and OF diplomacy, and we oil know at
what disadvantag es the late Earl RUSSELL
and more recently Mr.. Blaine found them
selves for want of an adequate knowledge
of 1t.
Foreign languages are useful as a
branch Of science and research. Toll be-
ing the natural condition of mankind
the best capital a man or woman can
have is a first-class ability in the branch
OF industry that may place him or her
in position of earning a good living and OF
supporting honorably their families Fur
thermore. commerce needs foreign Ian
guages at home. II you want TO trade
with foreigners you must know their Ian
guage. But this is not all. Foreign Ian
guages also afford a means Of education
to develop the mind, to elevate the feelings
and widen the circle OF knowledge. Their
use is manifold; by comparative grammar
the pupil will better learn his own; by
translation they become accustomed to
expressing new ideas in their own YER
nacular, while by translating it into a
foreign language they learn TO apply rules
of syntax, and little by little, are led to
understand the beauties and the delica-
cies of foreign literature.
How gladly and probably would nine
tenths of our fellow citizens, and espe-
cially women, exchange their little Latin