The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-01-18

scholarship. 1T 1tS not q question: WnAl
d 40. rle 'v aestion n is sh niH' our oWa
university lower her flag or contiiiue
to maintain her thigh standnrdsp For
n very long. time there have been
md Latin in the scbn mo Of higher ed 4
ticutlon. but such EFFORTS have lgener-
ally failed because of the lntrinslg
usefulness Of those langlages. ~ =, view
81 ond i''G Rome still potent ii their in.
ifuence upon the thought mid litera-
lures Of the world, and In view Of the
adaptation ofthese two classical lam
i + r. IT Il has beeh Wisely concluded ttat
they should retain the place they woi,
In the days OF the revival OF let.
ters.
4. Is there any good reason for dlss
essary for acaulrii'g them 20 more
Certainty. / think, in many cases, the
pupil will do better to, give his time
te other studies. u Is not possiblr
scholarship. nor would It be desirable;
ard even among those capable OF high
education. special circumstances may
suggest the greater utility Of other
Is the opportunity and desire Of nc.
qulrins "a liberal education, such IA
Will ut a man for the church. The bar
medicine, teaching. authorship or even
for n life Of lettered ease, j do not
~ omitted. They enter very largely
particularly Latin) into the formation
OF English. French, Spans h and italian
and are Of great service in the critical
stltutee the vehicle OF much Of the
worlds greatest literature which. while
made familiar to mo Il OF us through
the medium OF TRANSACTIONS, is yet
IL
r In our youth we have gained some
kn,oWledSe OF 1t In the original.
think. however. that perhaps the
UNIQUE advantage of a study of these
classical languages lies in their train.
Ing power and that 1t Is an advantage
winch Is not so we'll supplied by an,
Of the modern tongues. nor by history
philosophy nor mathematics
~ far the greater number of the
problems Of life which we are, callet
upon to solve must be solved not bs
mathematical but by moral reasoning
we can rarely have mathematical GER
tainty in the thousand and one ques-
tirns which come up in our daily life
IN and we must exercise our bes,
Judgment in view or all the circum
stances The cultiva ton of the jEdg-
nlent is far more important than thu
study perhaps can inpart such SANITY
OF judgment. such mental clarity. az
| the study of these two classical Ian
guases. Take. for, instance. an od'
massage from Thucydides. The studen
| finds many words whose meaning h.
does not know. he turns to the lexi
con and finds n number of en:irel.
he is examining. The question is wha
| - the meaning of the word as uset
| by the author. ard here his iudgraen
| Is brought into play: he must make
| textua criticismi he must consider thu
connection. the subject matter, TIL
! thought OF tbs author. and in view o
| all the probabilities decide upon tn
meaning Of the word In the text. TIL
| process Of moral reasoning goes on an,
/ on. day after day. for several years
/ the student. who Is honest and con
scientious. and relies upon hirnsei
ard NOT upon translations made b.
| others.
Itseems to me that Latin and Gree
ought both to be In tire B. a. course
| certanlg. Latin ought not to be take
nut ofsiis. The Latin language is s
! .nterw"vsn with our own tongue ar
Its lit"rature;t there n re SO mnnS I.ati
/ uuotatinrs in our English authors tina
a bachelor Of arts who was ignoran
of Latin Off he did not cut rathe
sorry hgure among scholars) would n
least be often at great disadvantag,
! He could nnt have tiTat delicate an
intimate annreciation of his own Ian
guage which knowledge of Lati
would give him. for. not in our com
/ mon sneech. hut in literature. abou
1 one-half the words In use come frot
the Latin or the Romance language
When our, University s-rds out one &
her sons with the degree OF e. a. 4
4 ought TO mean some thing and shou'
not he sort Of lncue non lucerd.
4 a high standard nf scho1a~shiD rs.tha
than large number OF students me- kc
a great university. JOIN HUNTER.