The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-23
THE STUDY or GREEK.
One Of the Most Distinguished scholars
Comments on Lis Decline.


To THE EDITOR or The SuN-SH: 1t
always seemed 10 me that the question
whether Greek should be retained as a nee
essary qualification for a university degree
was easily answered. II never can be worth
while to force anybody TO study a subject
which he cannot hope to master. or twenty
students at Oxford who took up Greek a.
a compulsory study for their degree. not
more than one mastered il: IL is doubtful
whether one in twenty ever looked into a
Greek book after passing his final exami-
nation.
II is not that | underrate a knowledge
Of the tongue Of Hellas, the unsur passed and
unsurpass1ble manifestation and school
of beauty We have now some exec llent
TRANSACTIONS Of the Greef prose writers.
We have 81 ilful Transitions even Of the
poets. But wide l. still the diff erence le-
tween the Transitions and the originals.
Till | went to Italy | thought the casts
must lie about as good as the statues.
II i needless to say how much the prac-
teal value Of the knowledge Of Greek has
been reduced since the Renaissance, when
the classical languages, Greek espe ciallv.
were the key to the casket in which not
only all literary beauty but all knowledge
worthy Of the name was stored.
new use was found for classics at a
later time as instruments Of culture for the
leisure or wealthy class by which the En-
glish universti were frequented. The
result in the case of a select few was not
only linguistic discipline and refinement
of taste, but a classical type of character
which showed itself distinctly in English
politics and life. For the many the result
was little better than the waste Of three
years and the cost Of a university edu-
cation.
One practical use Of a secondary kind
the study Of Greek has acquired in these
later days, II is the key To the vocabulary
Of science, which is almost entirely bor-
rowed from the Greek the language of
modern nations in general and that Of
England in particular having been ruined
for scientific purposes by the Eruption of
the barbarians. But this il not a sufficient
object for years of study
On the other hand, culture is a tribute
which the rich and leisure class. now in.
creasing in the United States, still owes
the country, and facilities for paying which
universities are still called upon to AFT ord
An eminently successful man of business
tells us that business is the only pursuit
which really expands and liberalizes the
mind. Agreement with him will not be
unanimous. Nor shall We all chime in with
the politician who, addressing an academic
cal audience, congratulated the universit y
on having introduced the study Of carrots
and turnips. which he said were much more
succulent than the roots of Greek verbs.
Compulsory Greek will go, at Oxford
As elsewhere. But a modern language
however useful, is not exactly substitute,
for Greek. Nor would it seem worth while
to go To university for the purpose o.
acquiring modern languages, A montl
Of France or Germany would probably dc
more than six months Of Harvard or Yale
At Oxford the Taylor institution afford
special facilities for those who wish L
study French, German, Spanish or Italian
but those languages are not nor l confes
do | wish to see them made, qualification
for a degree. GOODWIN SMITH.
TORONTO, Nov. H.