The Penn's Grove record., 1904-09-09
Why Study Latin.

The advantage derived from the stud,
OF Latin may be grouped under two
heads:
|. The mental discipline derived
therefrom.
IL. The practical results attained.
L. The MENTAL DISCIPLINE.
Latin has always been admitted to b,
II OF the most effective instruments fol
~tralnlDgthe mental powers. Some oil
the most conspicuous reasons for this arr
the following:
l. 1t has a well developed grammatic
al structure, whereas most of the moderr
languages are almost entirely without de
CLEMSON and infections, and EMPLOY aux.
iliary words to show the relation OF tht
different parts of speech. The mastering
OF the inf1ectional forms of Latin and tht
acquisition OF the vocabulary strengthen
the memory and develop the intellectual
faculties.
2. Latin is the most logical of Ian.
guages. Modern languages are not logi
cal, but idiomatic, in their structure,
ldloms are like exceptions to a genera
rule, and as such must be separately
committed to memory. These charistics
OF logical sequence and perspicuIty hell
to develop the logical faculties Of the
mind and promote clearness of thought
and OF expression.
3. Latin has a decided advantage Owe,
many OF the so-called disciplinary stud
les. 1t appeals to the imagination and
emotions. 1t introduces us 10 a world Of
great deeds and of great men. 1t thus
has for us a human interest, and we NAV
still draw inspiration from the self-sacri.
ficing spirit and patriotism of the old
Romans.
IL. THE PRACTICAL RESULTS.
l. 1t is necessary to have a KNOWLEDGE
OF the Latin language in order to have a
thorough and scholarly knowledge OF ON
mother tongue. A large part OF yocab.
ulary Of the English language is derived
from the Latin. TO comprehend the
real import of these derivative words if
is necessary to understand Latin.
2. One must be acquainted with Lat
in literature III order TO appreciate fully
English literature. English literature
in its origin was directly dependent upon
Latin, and throughout nearly all Of its
development has been powerfully infu-
enced by the great writers of Rome.
Such writer's as Milton, Dryden and Ten
nyson cannot be thoroughly understood
without an acquaintance with the Latin
writer's whom they used as models.
8. Latin is II of the best aids in ac-
curing a clear, logical, dignified style of
writing English. Logical sequence OF
thought, perspicuity and dignity are the
special characteristic OF the Latin, and
they are elements of style which writer's
need specially to cultivate.
4. A knowledge Of Latin greatly
facilitates the acquisition of the Romance
languages, such as French, Spanish and
Italian. These languages are derived di-
rectly from the Latin, and the Latin
student has all Unreasonable ADVANTAGE
i'll these studies.
5. A knowledge Of the Romans, which
is best attained by a study of their Ian
guage and literature, is requisite for the
student of modern civilization. The his
tory of no modern country can not be
understood without a knowledge OF the
history of Rome. The student of the
greatest republic of modern times needs
especially to study the history and to
learn the lessonso OF the greatest republic
of ancienttimes.
WHY STUDY GERMAN.
The usual purposes of studying Ger
man may be classed under the following:
l. Practical.
Especially in the sciences, pure and
applied, Germany stands foremost. On
sclentlsts-as physicians, chemists. en-
gineers, philologists, teachers and tie
llke-must be able to read German. in
order to keep abreast Of the times in
their chosen professions. MANY business
and nrATQCCInnot t,a,, E,,1 a.. M.
speak German of considerable money
value to them, as it enables them to
stand on a little closer footing with one
OF h most vigorous, thrifty and honest
element OF our population.
2. Disciplinary.
Nothing assists more toward success
than a trained mind. Minds are trained
by hard systematic thinking. The Ger
man language and literature, the product
OF one OF the most highly cultured peo-
pies OF Europe, if well taught and dill
gently studied, furnish a mental disci-
pine, or training, unsurpassed by the
ancient languages and literatures.
3. Cultural.
Literature is OF the brightest phas-
es of national culture. No literature can
be fully appreciated in TRANSACTIONS, how
ever good. The ability to read German
opens to the student the treasure-house
of German prose and poetry, of which
only a very small part has. been translate
ed into English, and that but Indifferent
ly well. In addition to the ability of
self-support, which all of the lower ami
mails possess, the thinking man should
seek culture of some kind, and that fur
nished by good literature is perhaps the
broadcast and most easily secured.
4. For IMPROVING -FOUR COMMAND OF
ENGLISH.
When we speak Of English, we are so
accustomed to ways of speech that
we use them automatically without ana
lysis or criticism. When we learn a
foreign language we are stopped at every
turn and obliged to consider the exact
meaning of words, phrases and sentences.
1t follows that our habit of clearness. OBJ
security, ambiguity or vulgarlty of express
sion will insenslbly be changed to clear
ness and elegance as we progress in our
studies.
Many a man has drawn up a contract,
a patent, or some other important docu-
ment, and it turned out that he did not
say what he meant, simply because he
had not been led to consider the exact
meanings of words by studying some 9th
er language OF languages. If he had
studied Latin, French, Spanish or Ger
man he would have discovered, for ex-
ample, that s common a word as WILL
has seven different meanings.
|. RIssMILLER.