The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-09-05
NEWS OF THE BOOK WORLD

N1WD Va Ill DVVA VAAy III
Educator Comes to the Defense Of the T
Classical !: Languages as Means Of Edu-
eating the Young-The "New" Eduoa-
tlon Has Failed In Many PoInts-Artced
by Professor Barrett Wendell! In the
North American Review. s.
The Uneasy Chair has always had a
lurking suspicion that there was very
great deal to- be said in defense of the
classical languages as a part of an educa-
tional system. It has never attempted to
say that "great deal" nor even a part
of it, because, perhaps, it felt that when
the time came it would be said, and said
by. one better qualified to speak, whose
word would have more authority. The
time has come, and the word has been
spoken & Our dear old Latin and Greek, |
whose declensions and conjugations andI
all that goes with them, were the gym
anstic apparatus on which our feeble minds
were saved from absolute imbecility, are |
apparently to come into use again. They
will, we believe If educators do not over-'[
look two means that for long centuries
proved of the highest efficiency as means
of developing sound minds for the con-
troll and direction of sound bodies, but
that In recent, years have been treated
with much Indifference. The voice that
has spoken, is that Of Professor Barrett
Wendell of Harvard: = s.-..
Americans believe that our national
salvation depends upon education, and in
that belief they spend. vast sums upon
schools and colleges What kind of edu
cation; do these institutions impart 2 The
answer which Professor Wendell gives to
| that question in the North American Be-
View for September is almost appalling.
He was for years a member of a commit
! tee In Harvard whose duty it was to
| scrutinize the qualifications of students
from other colleges who, desired to be-
come candidates for degrees at Harvard,
and his testimony is that the committee
were frequently confronted with bachelors
ofsarts who seemed virtually uneducated.
| In the course of his experience, also, it
has seemed to him that the, boys who
4 reach college from preparatory schools
are proving fabbier and labbier in mind.
! This phenomenon Professor Wendell Re
i CARDS as proof of the failure Of the new
4 method of educa ton, whereby, after the
fashion Of the kindergarten. the pupil is
1 permitted to confine himself to subjects
i which interest him. Such methods make
! no provision for the training Of the win,
l and 1T Is the faculty of voluntary, as dis
education, in the broad sense, ought sure
4 ly to cultivate Looked at from this point
1 of view, the classics and mathematics
were better Instruments of education than
s. for a long time many people have sup
J posed them to be- Professor Wendell
i says: -. re: -.
4 You can hardly imagine subject, essentially
y unintetesting, Which would not reward ploddihg
81 work with a similar result-with substantial
= ignorance, of the matter studied, but with i'm
= creasingE and lastingly. muscular power Of vol
untary attention. The only actual practical .yir-
tue which lies in the ira dtional subjects comes
mostly from the accident that they are tradi-
tiona1. AS a natural consequence. they; have
, acquired, thru the centuries a degree of precis-
, lon not yet attained by any rivals. Even unsym.
q pathetic and unintelligent teachers can, there
) FORE keep closer watch of them If the attenr
ton Of boys who study classics or mathematics
begins to wander. 1t can instantly be perceived
4 as vagrant If it errs, Its errors can swiftly
and certainly be corrected. And the very fact
that the classical languages are dead. and thai
the distractions of mathematics must general!
seem repellently lifeless is part of the secret
Of their educational vitality, OF late years, /,
has often been supposed that training in natura
T. science would do more for the power of volun
tary attention and therefore would have a highe
, educa tional value, than training in the old hu
4 manities: So far" as my observation has gone
4 this has not vet proved the case. And one rea
81 son why it has not, am. disposed to think
s1 is because the natural sciences are apt now
u adays to prove shade too interesting: I'm thf
= -
p often excite an attention nearly sponta
neous than voluntary. SO, the study of then
would inevitably result rather in technical In
formation and habitual aptitude of a specia
t kind, than in any broad general training, avail
able for any. other service than that Immediately
concerned. i, - =, ... -
: The September North American is on,
of interest to a wide range of readers. Fol
i example, in addition to Professor Wen
delrs article there are answers to the
question: who Should Be Our Mex
> PRESIDENT" Senator Lodge and William
Y F. Sheehan answer the question and yol
e may take either or neither. - y. ~.
... HBREATHLEss WE STRIVE"
Breathless we strive. contending for sue
-.". cess, = .-... 1928. ., ...,
g According to the standards of our day.
t What is success Is it to find a way
81 Wealth out of all proportion to possess
IS. .it5s to. care for simple pleasures less
A(Whiles grasping at q more extende'
n And sacrificing to our gods of clay,
/. Subrnerge the soul, at last, in .wordli
II ness? ' ...--' q" - : e.
: By Grasmere stands cottage small an
e| poor: ..' -
r The Dove was once it's emblem and tn
sign 49, . @'a = - = .~- ~
II r1Adl 11aedIhSu: 1LiHS q NdySlue I'LL w
Il scure: ,-,- 49,.
nj But, frugal. dwelt high conservation here
d And gratitude still guards it as a shrine
10 Hallowed by that success which etfnn
. =. but makes more dear! ..x
j. l-Fqorence Earle Coates in septembe
Isl Century. '.2~,i.:
& DR.. Henry Van Dyke has just been, dis
le covered by Dr.: Robertson Nicoll, who q
1t C1audius Clear, gives him three column
ST and a half of compliment in the Births
- Weekly, says The Critic. DR.. Nico1l er
20 tertained DR.. Van Dyke at luncheon
De London, and among the guests presef
ID were Thomas Hardy, Austin Dobson an
n Max Beerbohm. DR.. Van Dyke left Lor
-, don for visit to Mr.. Carnegie at SIKH
- castle. DR.. Van Dyke has long been a
intimate friend of Mr.. Carnegie, of who's
e intellectually he has the highest opinion
:, He says that Mr.. Carnegie is more
home in Shakspere than any other ma
he knows. After his visit at Skibo ca st
DR.. Van Dyke goes for a visit to 10,
", Balfour of Burleigh, and to Killarney
spend some time with Professor Butche
ur He returns to America during the presel
month. - The Uneasy Chair