Newark post., 1912-09-18
EDUCATIONAL DISCUSSION
A DEFENSE OF THE CLASSICS BY lamar HIRSHENSON

:
if we want them to become a part of
ourselves, we must love and understand
what they loved SO well. Every image,
every illusion, every suggestion inspired
from the classics, becomes to the reader
familiar with the sources, magic "Ses-
ame'' to gates revealing untold beaut-
les and wonders.
What is true in literature is equally
true in history-poltical, social, intel
lectual. We cannot get an idea Of the
continuity and Importance Of historical
development without going as far back
as ineligible records will carry us. We
cannot realize how great are our own
duties and responsibilities without know
ing what our forerunners did. We can
not profit from their experiences, we can
not view the present in the proper per-
Spective nor the future in the right light,
without a familiar conception of the past.
A course in history alone, indispensable
as it is, cannot suffice We must have
heart to heart talk, "a spiritual transfu-
sion. Not many o. us have yet reached
the stage when We find no inspiration il
the living accounts OF ancient hcroism,
in Socrates or Erictetus, 10 jot and ex-
ultation in Homer, and Eschy,us, am
Virgil AMI Horace.
To say that all this literature may he
found in translations, is to misunderstood
II antiraIv Ac;lo from, nh; ;lolou;ooI orrr
ments, which men of science will surely
appreciate in their work, from the fact
that they breathe life into our language
and make mere words a source of intel
lectual pleasure, their intrinsic value is
incalculable. Ours is not merely like the
treasure of the fable, that could not be
found buried in the soil, but only in the
telling of it. 1t is much more.
To turn the soil, and plow, and pull
the weeds, is a source of profit in it.
self, to which the field of classic educa-
tion bountifully responds. But it hides
also a concrete, real treasure, with
wonderful powers of expansion and in
spiration. The sublime tragedies of
Hellas have not yet been suppalnted, the
purity, the perfection of her lyrics are
yet unequaled, the simplicity and power
of Homeric verse that sways and lulls
and fires like musical symphony, still
remains unmatched.
What is especially unfortunate about
the preachers of new systems is that they
appear to consider the appreciation and
influence of such qualities not worth the
think that those who have
most at heart the welfare of children and
society should desire to rear nation
of tradesman, each to find in his own only
and unable to find relaxation in branches
which interest others, would be a sad
thought, indeed. We feel, instnctively
almost, that such is far from being the
case. The real reason which prompts
them to discard subjects of culture un-
tainted by commercialsm, is not because
they despise culture, but because they be-
lieve that these subjects do not attain
the end they ought to serve. They see
boys and girls studying Latin for four
years and many of them unable at the
end of that time to read a sight passage
with ease. Lovers of the classics also
see this and are rtoubled by it. But they
arc looking for remedy. The trouble
with Latin and Greek is not with them,
but with us. The trouble is not with the
aim, but with the method. What we
want is new, rational way of teach
ing language, so that we may acquire it
well, after a reasonable length of time.
intellectual acquisitions, hewevcr, are
very seldom easily gotten. We forget
-hat it takes us every day for eight years
to learn merely how to spell in our own
tongue. We forget likewise that many
of those who study French or German
four years in High School, know very
little more about it than others know of
Latin, and no one mentions the fact that
well obscured are those who, few years
after graduation, are able to repeat
single trigometric formula or write gra-
phically simple chemical reaction.
This is not the place for proving the
efficiency, nevertheless, of these, seem
ingly, volatile, studies. We do not plan
to discard what opens, nourishes, and
trains the mind and character. Far be
it from those who advocate the extended
study of the classics to restrict education
to Latin and Greek. Such an attitude
would alone suffice to condemn the sys
tenn. What we seek is Montessori meth
cd of learning Latin rs we have found
one for learning spelling. What We
claim is that ancient culture and classic
lore have a distinct and almost unique
role in certain stages of the school cur
riculum. This does not in anyway con-
flict with House of Childhood, Lit
tie Mothers Settlement, School of
Mothercraft, or cooking and manual
~ II.