New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-02
LEMAITRE ON TIE CLASSICS.
THE FRENCH ACADEMICIAN's PLEA FOR
MODERN STUDIES.


colonies Will not us unless we know now 10
manage them Every one agrees that We have need
OF the most serious reforms. Everybody knows
q so that the reform which envelops and condi-
tions all the others Is that OF the individual But
II IS no longer the time TO reform all the adult
and mature people among IL Is. then. on the
rising generation that should act 1t is our
children whom we should raise so that they might
DO healthier and stronger than we. Now. there Is
n terrible unsuitableness between the teaching
which is given the children. for tho most part.
Of the middle classes and what they VIII nave 10
do In life
81 would like first. to speak against the classI-
cal teaching. second, to speak for the modern
teaching and sketch. II can. the programme Tor
II. In spite OF the experimental and contradictory
notifications introduced within twenty years In
the programmes. secondary classical education Is
fundamentally what 1t was under I'll" ancient
regime 1t is given less well. that Is all What
does this mean? All has changed: the discoveries
OF science applied have profoundly modified tho
conditions OF life for the individual and for tho
people. and the face even Of the earth tho definite
reign Of industry and commerce has come. we are
a democratic and Industrial society threatened or
rather half-ruined already by the competition OF
powerful nations. and the children Of our small
tradesmen and number OF the children Of the
masses pass eight years In lcarn,ng-very badly
the same things that the Jesuit Fathers formerly
taught-very well-in a monarchical society. In
France whose supremacy recognized by Eu-
rome and AZ an epoch when Latin was the univer-
sal language. TO tho sons OF the nobility. Of the
judicial body and OF the privileged classes!
rs this not shameless anachronism? And III"
belief in the present utility OF this education, at
present is It not an extravagant prejudice But
would mistrust this argument priori II d'd
not feel II confirmed by my own personal expert
ence You know what the partisans OF the ancient
education say We the spiritual descendants
Of the Iains and Greeks To learn their language Is
to learn ours and TO know II better. 1t Is 70 com
muncate with tho glorious past; It Is 10 hold on TO
the most iliusrious OF traditions: II Is to broaden
our lives These studies the best discipline for US
These ancient books the treasures OF general
Ideas and OF generous thoughts. II was not WIN
out good that classical studies were formerly
called the 'huInanities" We drew from them the
,ove NJ IN. beautiful taste tho sentiment Of order
snd OF measure These languages and these utera-
lures are excellent educators. etc
GREEK THROUGH FRENCH CLASSICS.
Now At thi, moment no longer know word
OF Greek and II does not happen three times
year that read Latin: life 10 too short But per
haps these languages which ! neglect to-day nave
left IN store Of noble emotions hho OF iuoAS
from which I continue TO profit without perce'Vihs
f. Frankly | do not believe IT, Every time that
think OF some ancient work Am forced to con
Tess that | do not get Il direct view OF H. ~ no
longer appears to me except through the enriched
versions that the classical French has given H. ana
above all. through the interpretations OF con'en-
porary critics And It's beauty In sensihIe 10 m"
only BY the comparison which make % 1t with
works nearer 10 mo. And what is. then. THIS IA
nous treasury Of general ideas. OF educating ideas
OF which the Greek and Latin ieratur"s are sup
posed TO have the MONOPOLY
Let us not speak % tho Greek. winch oven
IN superior education. is we'll known only by
few special'sts This pretended sole and fireplace
able treasury Is some pages OF Lucrctus. whose
principal interest is IN being vaguely Dar~inian.
4, IS In GONE scenes OF Plautus and Of Terence.
almost inferior 10 the limitations that M"liere mas
made Of them n II IN Virgil. some selections rom
the Georgics which are not worth certain passages
OF Lamartins or Michelet. and the loves ~ pido'
which are equal TO the Racinlan loves o. Berfn'cs
and OF Roxsno II is IN the chapters Of Tacitur on
Nero: Il Ia In the letters OF Horace-the wisdom
OF BArsnger and Of Sarcey II is in the eclectic pail
osophical com patons Of Cicero is In tho hcatn-
cal stocism % tito letters and treaties OF Seneca:
and Analy in the rhetoric learned but almost A.
ways tresome Of Ivy md Of the 'oncones.
Nothing moro. IN truth
Now all this Is found gathered up by Montaisn"
alone. then all spread through tho writer's 81 the
seventeen tn century poets dramats,s philosophers.
orators where We have only 20 80 and take IT,
All the substantial marrow OF antiquity mas
been assimilated by our classics since the SIX
tcenth century They have discsted II for us. or
have done 80 well and uselcssly 20 begin again on
our own account this long Digestion
"In reality and We feel II well. T. is neither 70
the Greek. nor the Romans unless In very
accessory and Indirect Way) that W" owe the
formation Of our heart and mind, Il is above all.
10 tho Gospel II is t. the French classical writer's.
Il Is TO Montague. TO Pascal 10 La Bruy6re It Ia.
perhaps 70 Voitare and 20 Rousseau. II Is to
Chatcaubriand to Iamartine TO Vigny. 10 Michelet,
Sat- Rem n Rena o
And because | passed twelve years Of my life
in learning Latin and Greek ! recognize more and
more that know nothing. am ignorant Of Eng
lish which half OF the world speaks. and know
so Mttle OF German that It is shame. You will
say that had tho choice OF studying them when
was young: but IL II my fault IT, like almost all
other children. J possessed only a limited and
mediocre capacity for intellectual work. which was
entirely absorbed by these dead languages the
study Of which a blind tradition imposed upon mo.
and from which | was to draw so little advantage?
Tho beauty of German and OF English. which |
only half see. rich. profound. is closed 10
me. I not able even to travel with profit
have forgotten the little that | knew OF mathe-
mates and natural science. my limbs are awkward
DO possess manual trade. and would
be- In a desert island. the most helpless OF ROBIN
sons. ! good for nothing but TO write And
this ! would not dare to Affirm that ONO
to my Latin. for. after all. neither you nor san
pretend to write more purely than Louise Veuill9t
or George Sand. neither OF whom had regularly
studied the ancient classics.
OTHER KINDS OF MENTAL EXERCISE
THE fact remains. then. that tho study OF dead
languages Is valua bic simply exercise OF the
mind But why would the study Of living language
be less valuable In this respect SO far as am
able TO Judge. the German grammar r. more beAuti-
full, more harmonious in its complexhy. than the
Latin. and Is not less so than the Greek Ana as
10 the Intellectual and moral substance or ancient
literatures ii is not only through the classics
among us that 1t would penetrate into the minds
Of our children. II If stu more and how enrlchcd!
through modern languages and literature
IF the benefit OF Latin Is lost on me, VINO nave
known II for twenty years. ana who nav" been
what ono calls mandarin Il can say II without
vanity since thousailds). and IT.. on the
contrary 1t has prevented mo from acquiring. or
what profit Latin be for nine-tcnths or our
students who have only the appearance Of learning
IL but who do not and may never know II?
Thus they will have doubly lost the.r time. since
thew will have passed II In not learning language
which II they had learned II. would have been al