The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1912-06-29

material. To sheer at Italy is to be-
tray q lack of learning and lack of
sense. The truly learned never incur
the odium of such foolish errors and
banal hostility.
To Italy went Alfred, the most IA
nous of English Kings, not only to
kneel in homage before the august
successor of ST. Peter, but to gather
treasures of literature to carry back
to his realm for the enlightenment of
his people. The King. himself trans
lated into Anglo-Saxon q famous book,
The Consultations of Philosophy
composed by Boethius, an Italian
statesman. St. Benedict is one of the
many glorious names which are the
boast of Italy and the Italians. The
order founded by him and still bearing
as its title his blessed name has been
one Of the chief agencies in promot-
ing the spread of learning through
out the world.
A learned man Is physician in the
world of mind. He points out the
mental remedies which books furnish.
Aside from the Sacred Scriptures
which give to mankind it's highest con-
ISOLATION and it's grandest hope, he
tells us to learn by reading Shake
speare's plays the similarity of human
nature the world over and how no.
blllty of character is sufficient in it,
self to compensate a man of noble
qualities for ''all the sings and ar
rows of outrageous fortune"
He finds salutary warning against
Ambition in the plays, Richard Third,
Henry VIII and Macbeth: a warning
t.,
10. illustrations of Nobility in the
characters Of Henry. V. and Co:delia.
Turning to German literature, he
discovers portrayal of the horrors
of a thoughtlcss, reckless pursuit of
pleasure in Goethe's Faust.
The same author gives him n most
charming picture of domestic felicity
In the poem, Hermann and Dorothea.
His soul is filled with a sense of
sublimity by a study of the poems of
Dante and of Milton.
And the conclusion which he me-
ccssarly reaches is that which GER
tain lines of the great epic, Paradise,
Lost declares:
THE mind is its own kingdom and of
Itself can make a heaven of hell,
hell of heaven"
His studies teach him the supreme
value of Peace and just horror Of
Wa:. He realizes that ST. Thomas
AGulnas. Dant, and Leo XIII have
added more glory to Italy than all the
con9uests of the ancient Romans and
their descendants.
Instruction in the classics in mathe-
mates. history, philosophy, literature
and the language has for many GEN.
turtles constituted what is we'll named
~ liberal education" Such a course
of instruction invests the student with
Il large amount of varied information
and furnishes him with mental dis
cipline the value of which is so great
as to be far beyond adequate esti-
nation. Men educated according to
that plan were not only athletes in
the field of intellect but their train
Ing was grand preparation for the
work of life whatever might be the
chosen vocation of the individual. The
revolutionary tendencies of the pres
ent day are all based upon an implied
and. sometimes openly expressed, ma
terialism. The study of the "humani-
ties' as the subject matter of liberal
education was termed, is now very
largely opposed and demand is made
for the supplanting thereof by a sys-
ing as 1t is called which will have
regard only to the preparation of the
student for some special pursuit. No
Intelligent man will oppose vocational
training but the scholarship of the
world must unite in declaring, urging
and insisting that vocational training
must not supplant but must follow
and complete the acquisition of gem
eral information and mental discipline.
Unless we enter our protest, general
culture will decline and the nation
will be filled with persons pursuing
trades and professions with view
alone to material gain and advance
mcnt No argument is needed to
prove that such a result would con-
tain all the elements of national
calamity.
Literature records all of human ex-
perience. One who has read widely
does not meet present day problems
with an ai~ of childish surprise. He
knows when and where they con-
fronted the men of former ages and
what solutions We're beneficial and
what were disastrous. The tickle por-
ton of any population is composed of
cline to follow wise leadership. Such
an element in the social state is often
called. "the mob and the scholar
knows the appropriateness of the
term which Is the first syllable Of the
Latin word. mobile meaning UNI
stable. movable, variable.
1t Is amusing to read the editorial
dissertations In American journals,
penned by individuals who never read
a line Of Suetonius. Livy or Of Plu-
tarch gravely advising their constitu-
ency of readers to adopt policies
which. ages ago. caused social and
political degeneracy and ruin in the
countries bordering the Mediterranean.
Washington's farewell address con-
tanned an impressive warning against
factionalism and he was surrounded
by advisers whom he constantly con-
suited. and upon whom he relied, men
who had drunk deep at the founts of
classical learning and knew the les
sons taught by the fierce controver-
nd %1,, 1t,