The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-07-21
The SEMI-WEEKLY MESSENGER: FRIDAY, JULY o, lsy

Greek and Latin writer's, would i
this essay Of Professor Harrington a
close reading. It is SO suggestive, SO
meaty, so quotable that there Is entice-
ment to copy freely IL we had the
be realized from a full reading OF ii.
Mere extracts will only serve to sharp
en- the appetite. He proves that the
classics are every whit as important as
the studies in science He answer ad-
mirably the objections urged by the
men Of science and the men of money
against the time required to perfect
students in the ancient languages so
they will be a profit and a delight to
them. It covers much ground, is ample
in its points handled, and is a thorough
replication to the enemies Of Latin and
Greek. He shows that a classical edu-
cation so far from being a drawback
| teal and important aid We make one
| quotation that is a non sequitur. He
says
"But classical teaching is not 'prac-
tical!' it doesn't train the young mind
to observe h phenomena OF the ex-
ternal world. and Is therefore a him
| drance to the scientific habit of
thought. It doesn't prepare men for
the mad struggle Of practical life In
| this age even as well as the self-made
| man is prepared. . In Germany,
where a severe classical training OF
nine years in the gymnasia precedes a
university course, such scientists as
l Dubois Raymond have often COM
| planned that the training for their sci
Ientifc work was still imperfect in the
matter OF Latin. grammar, and have
| urged the maintenance OF a full course
in Greek as a requirement for h uni
| versity in all cases. Hofmann, the cell
| ebrated chemist of the university Of
| Berlin, has expressed his views thus:
1.-The ideality of academical study,
the unselish devotion to science as sci
ence, the free exercise Of thought
| both the condition n the result Of
| this devotion-recede in proportion as
the classic basis, such as the gymna-
SUM furnishes as p~ropaedeutics for
! the university, is withdrawn"
It is very certain that the classics
| furnish excellent mental disciplin.
| Men who have studied and mastered
| the noble works Of antiquity that have
| come down to US in the most perfect of
| languages, the Greek, and in Latin, the
language of the world-cOnQuerers and
| the master-builders, have not shown
| any lack of capacity when they gave
themselves to practical affairs or to the
pursuit of science. The great defect,
! the great trouble in American educa-
| ton, is that far too little time is given
| to the study of the classics. We men,
| toned an educated Irish barOnet who
| lived and died in Granville who couid
| quote any Of Virgil's works at will and
| with wonderful beatty of pronuncia-
ton. He said he had not had a copy
Of Virgil in his lands for forty years.
We told Of an English gentleman we
knew we'll in 1873, an alumnus of Cam
| bridge university, England, who could
; repeat any Ode in Horace. A man to
| get real benefit from the classics must
learn them thoroughly, just as a man
cannot be truly scientific until he mas
| ters science. A mere smattering, he
| merest superf1ciality in either science
! or classics mounts to but little. Well
| and strongly does Professor Harring-
| ton press it home that hard work is
essential in the study Of the classics.
This is richly worth reading:
After finishing them, sandwiching
in a short course in Roman history and
a pitiful smattering Of Latin compost
ton, having performed a series Of SIM
liar operations in Greek, on an even
: smaller scale, he DurSueS a year or
two of required work in the classics in
some college, and in the majority of
: cases thea turns away from Latin and
Greek forever, to devote his attention
to a multiplicity of other subjects.
Even such a haSty and careless course
has doubtless been profitable in many
ways bur what wonder if it has failed
to give the student a mastery az
q~uaintance with the matchless civili-
cation and culture of Athens and
Rome? Where is the reason in spend
ing year after yea in repeated drill
upon the elementary principles of
arithmetic and ones native tongue,
and then imagining that a complex
language far more alien to an Ameri-
can boys natural mental processes can
be successfully handled in half the
same length of time? It is a most en-
eouraging beginning h has been
made in the public schools of Chicago,
where a six years curse in Latin is
reported as working very we'll, and
with advantage to other subjects of
study. A preparatory course of not less
than six years should become universal
, at no distant day"
Educate the boys. That means let
them become good classical scholars
first. Let pupils and parents and teach
ers and trustees all unite to this enc
Nothing short of this will ecure the
best results-the surest good to tbs
greatest number of students.
RREvlTIES
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