The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-07-22
THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE

6uC0 OL Ju0 dutHOF SOUL. HIGH
school pupils now read Chaucer and
Bacon and glowing themes are written
by fourth year pupils on the "Psychol-
ogy of the Emotions as Revealed in
| Macbeth. A Junior or senior in col
lege after having passed successfully
| through the required courses in logic,
psychology and ethics might we'll hesi-
tate before attempting the exposition
of theme of this kind But "festina
lente" is. not the watchWord of the
| modern secondary school. The cita-
| dels of literature must totter and their
sentinels capitulate in the mighty
onrush to the College Entrance Ex-
animation. The number of teachers
of English and of students of English
is steadily on the increase; but literary
taste is more than steadily seeking
lower levels. Nothing seems to be
carried from the classroom into the
reading of the leisure hour
This is serious problem that de-
mands serious attention.
History and Literature.
Without the historical background,
the study of any author loses half it's
interest, and more than half its value.
A past age looks upon life from the
standpoint of that age Without
sympathy with the authors time and
without knowledge of his literary
traditions, direct study of his writings
can be nothing but a superficial per-
formance that effects little good if
it produces any lasting effect what
ever. The literature of a people is
reflex of their history The history
of the literature of people has slight
significance if it is not informed with
knowledge of the political events
and economic changes that shaped
its destiny. History and literature
stand side by side in the march Of
the humanities They hold their
places side by side in the curriculum;
or, as history is withdrawn in part
or wholly, literature suffers a partial
or total eclipse.
Let us pause for moment for data
to bear out this assertion.
The three supreme poets of all time
are admittedly Homer, Dante and
Shakespeare. Greek has fallen out of
the secondary school How does it
fare In the college? This present year
in one of the greater universities, an
institution with an enrolment of six
thousand students, there were three
students in sophomore Greek-three
out of six thousand reading a line Of
Homer. Italian was never introduced
into the secondary school, AS a col
lege elective it is hardly more popular
than Greek. In another of the greater
universities, an institution with an
enrolment approximating seven thou
sand, an institution, moreover, possess
ing the richest Dante and Petrarch
collection in America, the Italian
department has often been without a
single student registered in the Dante
course. Shakespeare alone of the
triumyirate receives marked attention.
Is it mere coincidence that college
students no longer elect the History
Of Greece and Rome" and the Rise
and Development of the City States
of Italy," or the Survey of the Later
Middle Ages?" May it not be an
illustration of cause and effect that
these courses, the companions of
Homer and Dante are superseded by
the History of Russia and the Far
East" the South American Repub-
lies" Industrial Revolutions" and the
Rise and Development of Socialism,"
Greek has fallen out of the second
ary school. Latin seems likely to.
follow. Greek and Latin are being
steadily pushed into the background in
the colleges. And now the question
arises why Greek and Latin found,
place in the curriculum originally.
Not because the final expression Of
splendid thought is found in these
languages alone. We find splendid
thought in splendid dress in every
1 language, living or dead 1t is wholly
matter of historical accident. Were
it not for the disadyantageous loca.
tion of Hannibal's Celtic reserves
Rome might not have been the mis-
! CONTINUED on page 81