The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-14
AGAINST TIE CLASSICS.
N. Jules Lemnitre Regards the Study or Latin
as q Waste or Time.

as o Waste or Time.
From the Paris Figaro.
1t 10 not to the Greeks and Romans that I owe
the formation OF my heart and mind. 1t Is not
to Virgil or TO Cicero; 1t is not to Seneca or to
Livy; it Is not to Sophocles and Plato that / owe
it. or even to the delicious Eurinides, who pleases
me simply because l am amused at discovering
in him moro or less of the modern dilettantism.
l owe 1t rather to the Bible, to the classic French
writers, to Montaigne, to Pascal, to La Bruyerc,
to Rousseau, to Chateaubriand, to Lamartine,
to Michelet. to Sainte-Beuve. TO Taine, and to
Renan.
But l am becoming more and more acquainted
with the fact that I know nothing. / am ig-
norant Of the English language. which is spoken
by one-half the world. and my German is
simply pitiable. Now you will say that it is my
own fault and that ! might have learned those
languages when I was young. But was it my
fault, when I had at my disposal only one
faculty of intellectual work. limited and medi-
OGRE. which was absorbed completely by the
study OF defunct languages. imposed upon me
by a blind tradition. and from which I derived
very little advantaRef And don't believe for a
moment hat l am the only man in this situa-
ton. The beauties of the German and Eng
lish languages. although I can get only
glimpses OF their richness, are to me a little
better than a closed book. l cannot even
Travel Will lnteilectunl prODJ. 1 nave forgotten
the little that 1 did know of physical and natural
science. My limbs are awkward and heavy. 1
have no manual training. / am like n man in a
deserted island, and more lonely than Robinson
Crusoe. l still feel the weight Of the evening
studies OF the Institution Massin, which lasted
three hours and q half. and which closed n days
work without fresh air, without recreation, and
during which I racked my brain over super
iuous Greek and Latin. I am good for nothing,
except to write. and 1 would not dare to say
that owe that to my Latin. because, IL / write
my native language correctly. I certainly do not
claim to write it more purely than Louis Veuil.
lot. who only went through the cOurs dc "la
mutueile." or George Sand. who did not receive
what is called a liberal education.
The study Of dead languages is useful as an
exercise OF the mind. But why should not the
study Of living lanGu ages be just as valuable :
SO far as ! can judge. the German grammar is
more beautiful and more harmonious in its COM
pleXity than the Latin grammar, and It is not
inferior to the Greek grammar And as for the
intellectual and moral substance of antique
penetrates the mind of our children; IL is rather
and how much enriched by the English. the
II, therefore, the benefit derived from Latin is
30 small for a man like me. who. twenty-five
be 10 nine.tenths OF our coliegians who appear
to learn 1t, but who do not know 1t and who
The faculty does not dare to erase Latin from
the programmes or to maintain the venerable
and proved method by which alone it can be
thoroughly acquired. There are no more Latin
themes, no more Latin verses. and, / might
almost say, no more Latin compositions. l have
seen the themes and exercises of some OF tho
students. They were simply lamentable. 1t is
clear that their Latin will never help them to
write French with propriety, unless they have
that gift naturally. or to understand the Latin
isms, OF our classic writer's. which. after all.
would only DO a little gain, out of all proportion
with the cost.
Therefore. they lose their time, since they
waste 1t by vainly attempting to learn a Ian
guage WHICH, even II acquired, would be almost
useless. Now all this time would be better en-.
ployod; / do not say in the study OF the living
languages or of natural sciences and geography.
because that, is evident, but in games. In gym.
nastics. and in the handling OF carpenters tools.