Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1915-03-26

tanned from the study of Latino I'm
doubleday. First of all, were it not
for Latin where would be much OF
the knowledge We possess at the
present day? 1t would not be!
From the Latin writings we have
acquired most valuable information
regarding nature, life, science, econ
omics, civilization, and in fact any
thing we may mention. The knowl-
edge of ancient civilization has come
down to us through Latin and Greek
mediums. Now, the. contention OF
the writer that Latin is lost art,
dead language, must hold all along
the line, must permit of application
in it's entirety. Suppose it does hold
all along the history of the world
down to our own day. Then, no
one would know Latin; no one would
ever have cared to master it, or to
translate it, because, then as now,
the assertion would have been true
| that it had mo connection with
such sordid things as bread and but
ter" Would the world be better off
without the knowledge of civilization
| impaired through the Latin Clas-
sizes? Would science have reached
the place it now occupies without
the treatises that on every branch
of physiology, psychology, botany,
paleantology ETC., have been written
| in Latin, and which, it is universally
admitted, serve as the basic prin-
ciples of later development? Would
| the world be better off without
knowing the economic, social and
religious conditions of the countries
| in which once flourished the Ian
guages that are now claSSed among
the requirements Of pure culture?"
Evidently, then, Latin and any 9th
er language has it's own value in
ordinary every day life, even though
| that value may not always appear on
the surface To discourage the study
of it shows a marked tendency in
the direction of narrowness Of opin-
ion, lack of foresight and fore
| thought.
Moreover, is it true that man must
learn only those things that have
connection with such sordid things
as bread and butter?" A sensible
and reasoned reply must be in the
negative. There is a saying which,
even though we do not accept as a
fact the Divinity of Him from whom
it came, contains a great deal Of
truth; it is this: mot in bread alone
doth man live" Some years back
| it was the tendency of the supposed
ly learned, if they had any particu-
lar system of philosophy, to lean
tows rds Materialism; but the age of
Materialism is long since past, and
only those who are far behind the
times will care to subscribe to the
tenets of that oft refuted system.
Still, is it not a return to the chief
tenet Of Materialism, and we might
almost say barbarism, to assert that
the studies of higher culture must
be neglected? Is practical utility the
only criterion whereby a system
must stand or fall? Is the one
standard of acceptance or rejection
of a science or a working hypothe-
sis to be it's greater or lesser adapt
Utility to increase the dollar in the
pocket? Assuredly not. Why do men
go to church? Religion has surely
mo connection with such sordid
things as bread Or butter" except
as far as the minister is concerned.
knowledge of God will hardly in
crease our bank account. Yet, who
will deny the utility of religion, who
will gainsay it's absolute necessity?
We may, therefore, logically con-
clude that Latin has value, and a
practical value. 1t is one of the
greatest factors in the development
of thought, and thought is the prime
factor in the management of life and
business. When we become acquaint-
ed with the genius of a language we
acquire a new way of expressing
ourselves, We perceive new aspect
| to an idea. To translate a sentence
properly w must change the ar
rangement, and that change general
| ly puts before us a phase Of the
word or the sentence which we had
not known before And is this
nothing? Every new idea means
much for practical life if we only
knew how to utilize that idea. Then
| too, it must be remembered that
there is no small amount of truth
in the old saying that man is
worth as many men as he knows
languages. We can in no small way
gauge his worth by the languages he
has mastered. Is not this practical
utility coming from one of the con-
stituents of "pure culture?" Hence
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